Page 4 - MidWeek Kauai - Nov 2, 2022

4 KAUA‘I MIDWEEK NOVEMBER 2, 2022
ICoffee Lovers, Say Hello To Jell-O
’m happy to welcome a friend and colleague, Wayde Nakasone, the
‘Rocky’ XXII
mortgage guru at Aloha Mort- gage Advisors, into the kitchen this week. Nakasone hails from the Valley Isle and is a graduate of Maui High School. He lives on Oʻahu now with his wife, Erika Buder-Nakasone, and has two sons, Logan and Treyden.
Imagine in your head that we cue up my column this week to the iconic training music of the Sylvester Stal- lone Rocky movies. The reason is I’ve been trying to get in shape for a recent epic event.
LANAI
No, I wasn’t fighting Apollo Creed, Hulk Hogan, Mr. T or Dolph Lundgren. I was getting ready for my in-person appointment with my primary care doctor. I guess the word “heavyweight” does come to mind, but after the last few years of remote doctor visits, I finally had to make an ap- pearance in my actual body.
He leads a team of custom- er-centric, solution-oriented, committed individuals (a branch of Kama‘āina Mortgage Group), whose sole aim is to get the job done right. An avid golfer, he’s also tried to help me improve my game. I’m still working on that.
COFFEE JELLO
Ingredients:
• 3 cups hot water
• 4 envelopes plain gelatin
• 3 teaspoons instant coffee
(Folgers preferred)
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 can condensed milk
RUBEN CARRILLO PHOTO
Directions:
Mix water and gelatin, making sure to remove any lumps. Add coffee, sugar and condensed milk. Stir thoroughly.
Strain into 8-by-8-inch pan. Chill until solid. Cut and serve.
But instead of looking like Rocky, I had become more like his brother-in-law, Paulie. Since my doctor’s office had scheduled my appointment months ago, as usual, I procras- tinated on getting in presentable shape until just a couple of weeks before that big day. That being the dreadful weigh-in.
The author and Wayde Nakasone
RYAN SAKAMOTO PHOTO
In this issue, he whips up coffee Jell-O, a true favorite when our gang gets together.
However, a week before my appointment, I had to have a full blood work-up. That meant fasting and figuring out how to rid my blood of all the cholesterol I’ve accumulated during the pandemic, eating every comfort food known to man.
You can watch episodes of “Cooking Hawaiian Style,” presented by Aloha Mortgage Advisors at Ka Laʻi Aloha Estate, on OC16 channels 10 and 1012, as well as nationwide via LifeStyle Network, FNX Network, Roku and Hawaiian Airlines in-flight entertainment. “Cooking Hawaiian Style” airs in over 43 million homes worldwide. Get this free recipe and thousands of others at cookinghawaiianstyle.com.
SPEED BUMP by Dave Coverly
But it is what it is, and so my blood and urine test would just have to yield whatever results I had subjected my body to over the last 30 months. I did start to watch what I was eating, practiced portion control and even gave up alcohol. Not that I was a big drinker, but it was time.
ATurn! Turn! Turn!
big part of feeling better about yourself and your life is to practice “turning away” from situations, circumstances and people before
they have a chance to negatively impact you and bring you down.
Turn away from arguments that you know will go nowhere. Turn away from people-pleasing and resist subordinating to those that do not appreciate your val- ue. Turn away from people who judge you, as they have no idea what you have been through. Turn away from getting down on yourself for your past mistakes, and instead see how you’ve grown from them.
In all situations, you have the power to decide the direction you move in. Start by turning away from anything and everything that doesn’t fuel your spirit.
alice@yourhappinessu.com
For my appointment, I was also required to bring a record of daily blood pressure checks. It was kind of like the current stock market: up and down and unpredictable. On the morn- ing of my checkup, I actually had to decide what I was going to wear, not because of appearance but because I wanted to wear the lightest clothing possible. If I could go barefoot I would have, as my shoes must be at least 2 pounds!
I ditched my belt, took off the extra keys on my keyring and removed rarely used credit cards from my wallet. It was like I was trying to make weight for the wrestling team. I even skipped my morning coffee before heading in for my appointment.
My doctor’s office is still following strict protocols so I masked up, took my temperature and checked in. The waiting room chairs were alternately taped off with yellow “police” tape. My doctor’s medical assistant called me in and led me directly to the digital scale. Gone are the balance beam scales, which you can usually tip in your favor by half a pound.
I’m happy to report that I had lost weight since my last visit. But the relief was short-lived as the blood pressure cuff was slowly wrapped around my arm and likely to reveal the salty popcorn I had the night before.
rnagasawa@midweek.com