About Us

About Greg:

My writing is about several of the major obsessions in my life — staying lean and fit and eating healthy whole foods. Being in my forties and having been an avid workout nut for most of my adult life I needed something to focus on when my obsession with playing basketball ended. The knees just couldn’t take that pounding anymore.

So while I had been lifting weights for years it was more as a way to maintain strength and compete at the highest level that I could for myself. As time went on I found that the need to compete remained strong but there was no longer a scoreboard so I started competing with myself. Gain more muscle, lose  fat. Up the weights, decrease the amounts of days lifting weights per week, try different cardio routines, etc.

My family has had the good fortune of living in various cities around the country from Michigan to Texas, Colorado, California, back to Colorado, Louisiana, back to Texas, Pennsylvania, back to Colorado, back to Michigan and finally back to Pennsylvania. No we are not in the military but went to where the best job was at that time.

The first pick part of my adult life was spent in the restaurant business and there I got a chance to experience a wide variety of food from healthy grilled Mexican food to the lavish European flavor of the French.  The last 15 years has been spent working for catalog and internet companies.

It was when I started paying meticulous attention to exactly what I was consuming, how much, the timing of meals, how frequently I ate throughout the day and experimenting with different types of foods that I found the most amazing changes start taking place. I have read everything I could get my hands on as far as nutrition and getting leaner. The daily manipulation of calories has been one of the great ah ha moments. What I also discovered were some things that made my workouts more intense and shorter.

So what I plan on discussing the most is the food. Choosing what works best from my experience, what new foods that I discover and healthy recipes. I will also touch on building lean muscle, cardio training, calorie cycling. I will also give my opinions on eating local and in season foods as much as possible.

And sometimes I am sure that I’ll be asking questions.
____________________________________________________________________________________

About Penny:

My writing is also about obsessions – but mine are more about getting fit and being healthy, making smarter food choices and figuring out how to get past the plateaus.  I am not, nor have I ever been, an athlete.  I do not compete with myself or anyone else.  I want to look good, feel good and be as healthy as I can be.   In my 40s, I am still a work in progress.

I workout because it is good for me and has always been something that Greg and I can do together.  I feel better when I work out.  No matter where we have lived, we have always belonged to a gym and we have always worked out together.  I have a trainer 3 days a week who tortures me with heavy weights and gets me to do things and work harder than I would on my own.  I have 2 cardio days, either on the treadmill or elliptical or both.   I walked/ran in a 5K this summer – which is something totally out of my element – but it was fun and I felt good after I did it.   In the past 3 years I have dropped 20 lbs and would like to lose about 20 more.   More importantly, I have been able to go from a size 16-18 to a comfortable 14 and even a 12 on a really good day.   My goal would be to get to a comfortable 12, but I try not to get too wrapped up in the scale.

Then there is the food. Greg is very mathematical and exact about food with his ‘daily manipulation of calories’ while I am much more emotional about the process.  I love the taste, the texture and the connection to food.  Food is social, comforting and satisfying.  How can one not be comforted by ‘red velvet’, ‘dark chocolate’ or ‘melted cheese’?  Don’t get me wrong, I strive to eat healthy and for the most part I do, but I admittedly cheat more than I should.  I can be easily tempted where as Greg has the most amazing discipline.

We do like to cook.   For most of our 26+ years of marriage I have cooked for us as a family.  We have always been able to stay with a pretty healthy menu.  We never got into a habit of eating fast food and really very rarely eat out at all.  We like to know what goes into our food and make changes to recipes that are pleasing to us.   Now that we are experiencing the ‘empty nest’ syndrome, Greg has taken more of an interest in cooking.  At first, I was afraid we would only eat beige foods, oatmeal, chicken, brown rice etc… If he thought cardboard would fuel his workouts he would probably eat it.  However, he has been surprisingly experimental as he incorporates what he knows and continues to learn about food and spices.  He has become quite adept in the kitchen and I have come to enjoy someone cooking for me.

My blogs will be about wellness.   Food, exercise, stress, frustration and happiness all are a part of the process for me.   I strive to be happy from the inside out.

While Greg is about teaspoons and scales and I am more about pinches and palm-fulls.   He will educate you and I will tell you how I feel about it.  We ‘balance’ the other while we continue to learn and we hope that you can learn a little from us too.

____________________________________________________________________________________

We own a online retail site, SpicesInc.com that sells quality spices and herbs.  We will link to products on that site as appropriate when posting recipes or lifestyle information.  We are passionate about what we do and hope that you can find help and information through the sharing of ideas on this site.

We are happy to link to sites that also promote healthy lifestyles and welcome other sites who choose to link to information on our site.  Please email us directly if you have an interest in exchanging links with Spicebalance.com.  You can reach us by email at gpatterson@spicebalance.com

Information on this site is provided for informational purposes and is not meant to substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or dietitian. Information and statements are based on our personal research and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.