What I Noticed W/E 3-29-10

Another week to recap.

1.  The muscles I was feeling a couple of weeks ago are "rectus abdominis".  I remembered to get a book on anatomy from the library last week.  I will keep it checked out for the time being.....I may need more part names. 

2.  I am getting older, faster, every year....my birthday is next week!  Didn't I just have one???  The years seem to be on "fast forward".  I will be 60...not sure what to make of that!!  But it's better than dead!!

3. I noticed most bloggers I read eat oatmeal for breakfast..so I have learned how to eat oatmeal also.  I eat steel cut--more palatable I think

So it goes!

I can, I will!!

I Was Inspired!!

A few days ago, I posted about being out of control.  I mentioned that I was going to go back and re-read some of MY posts.  I am so glad I did.  January was a particularly good month for blogs.  Most of them did in fact inspire me.

Yup, I can and will inspire myself.

The last 3 or 4 days have been great and I have been to the gym twice.  I have to remember to cheer myself on.......because...I am the only person I live with 24/7 and I have my own best interest at heart and I have to quit indulging myself with food.

I believe in indulging myself, but with not with food. 

I want to feel good.  I want to be healthy.  I want to live a purposeful life. 

I can , I will!!

Cellulite Anyone?

My legs look AWFUL!!  They are lumpy, bumpy, and have some loose skin on them (happy to have lost some weight, but this skin is a challenge).  On top of that, no matter how often I put lotion on them, the skin on my legs seems dry.  So what can I do about this??

I don't know if it will make much of a difference or not, but I have decided to massage my legs each evening with safflower oil.  I am massaging toward my heart.  Will this improve my cellulite?  I don't have a clue, but I can't help but feel it won't do any harm.  AND if nothing else I think my skin will look a lot less dry.  I'll keep you posted on how this turns out.

I guess this falls in the category of improving my body.

I can, I will!!

What I Noticed Week Ending 3-21-10

I like to recap what catches my attention each week.  Here are some of the things I noticed last week.

CHECK AT THE END OF THIS POST FOR INFO ON ANOTHER GREAT GIVEAWAY!!

1.  Sarah Jio blogged about a yogurt I have been eating for about 3 or 4 months.  It is  "Oikos" organic Greek yogurt by Stonyfield.  I have seen it in plain, blueberry, honey, chocolate, and vanilla flavors.

I really like the vanilla because I stir cinnamon in it.  Dr. Oz says to eat cinnamon daily.

2.  Another thing I learned on Dr. Oz...make a mask using 2 tablespoons raw honey and mix it wih 1 tablespoon of clay.  Thin it with water and smear it on your face.  This moisturizing mask draws the impurities and toxins out of your skin.  Leave on for 15 minutes.                                                                                                                

3.  French people tend to eat slowly and really savor their food.  It is mindful eating and a habit that needs to be generated by all of us.                                                     

I guess we all should stop and smell the roses!!

I can, I will!!

Jen, at http://www.priorfatgirl.com/ is giving away a yoga video.  Must enter by midnight tonight!!

But I'm Going To.

Remember a couple of weeks ago, when I said- "No I don't want to"?  Well today I came to the conclusion that I need to.  And why do I need to?  Because I am not eating enough.  Ya that's right, I am not eating enough and it is affecting my progress.  I need to keep eating between 1200 and 1500 calories a day but I am not doing that, at least that is what I have decided.  So I am going back to basics and journaling. 

I will journal this week.  I know I am never going to be a daily journaler  but a week at a time is doable for me.  So that is what I am doing this week.

I have been so frustrated the last couple of days, my Internet connection keeps kicking me off and I can't make get to my blogging pages for more than a minute or two at a time.  Errrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!

I can, I will!!

In Control

Last week, I felt strong and in control.  I was superwoman, I couldn't be tempted by mere food, I worked out a lot.  I was strong......this week....not so much.

What is the difference?  I don't have TOM  anymore so that isn't it.  The weather is great, sunny and warm, so that isn't depressing me.  What is making me feel like I am spinning out of control and overeating?  I have only gained 2 pounds so I haven't gone over the moon but I still feel disappointed in myself for backsliding at all.  I absolutely hate to have to loose the same pounds over and over.  Talk about inefficient.

This is like fighting a war.  You can never relax your vigilance.  It's why maintaining weight loss is so hard because you are never finished.  It  also is not easy to commit, because real success is committment  FOREVER!!! Not only that, I have become comfortable with a 20# weight loss.  Not at all logical.....if 20# feels this much better, how incredible will 30#, 40#, or 50# feel?  I have to really fight to not lose sight of the ultimate goal.  THIS SHIT NEVER ENDS!!  Frustration is running rampant within me.  I've decided to go back and read some of my previous blogs to re-motivate myself and to remind myself of actions that are successful. 

Because......

I can AND I will!!

Overload

My God there is a lot of information out there!  I am trying to find a new way in 2010.  That isn't exactly accurate, I have read all of my life and have always been interested in self improvement.  I've wanted to improve myself and am reading a lot of material on a variety of  topics.  Mostly, the overall theme is health, fitness, positive mental attitude.  All geared toward improving myself and my life.  BUT, there is just way too much. 

I can only absorb and act on so much.  I have to sift through a lot of information and decide what makes sense for me and my lifestyle.  I do have to say I am making overall progress which is my aim. 

I can, I will!!

A Nice Ass

I got a NSV (non scale victory) thrown my way today.  Rex told me I had a nice ass..that it looks smaller.  Wow, my Yoga trainer on Wii Fit Plus says some poses improve your gluts.....I think that was his way of  saying you would get "a nice ass".   Works for me!!

I can, I will!!

Another Weeks Wrap-up 3-14-10

This week was sort of lean as far as what caught my eye but here goes.

Resveratrol is an important nutrient that comes from red grape skins.  It is found to have the following health benefits:  Improves heart health, reduces risk of cancer and other diseases. It also slows aging and some diseases associated with aging.  WOW--how can we ignore this wonderful stuff??  I decided to get mine via a glass of red wine daily.  I take way too many pills already. (none prescription, all supplements).

I found feedjit.com to add a widget to my blog that tells me where my readers are coming from.  So far it's just me and strength faith hope at http://www.roadto50andhealth.blogger.com/.  She just started a blog to chronicle her weight loss journey and has been kind enough to become a follower. THANK YOU!  I found a reference to her on http://www.fab50.blogspot.com/. 

The community of women out there all working on this goal is amazing.  Most are articulate and  creative.  Really cool!! I realized, I need to find blogs that are interesting to me, from a variety of age groups.  I find it interesting to hear different points of view.

Another week has flown by, where does all of this time go?? 

I can, I will!!

I LOVE To Dance!!

I came home from work tonight (Saturday) and had a couple glasses of wine-a new one I have been wanting to try.  Then, since there wasn't anything on TV I wanted to see, I decided to listen to the 60s and 70s radio stations.  The music was great and made me want to dance. OK so I got up and danced for 1.5 hours!!  Now that is what I call BONUS exercise......effortless and so much fun I was shocked at how much time had gone by.

Oh and by the way, I was a fabulous dancer in the 60s and 70s......and I am a fabulous dancer now!!

I can, I will!!

A giveaway:
Where: http://www.embracingbalance.com/
When:  blog dated March 15, 2010

Enter for a chance to win!!

I can, I will!!

No I Don't Want To

This blog is about my journey to improve myself and my life.  Part of that journey is  trying a variety of techniques to attain positive results.  I have been on a diet as long as I can remember. I am not good at it because I don't want to journal, I don't want to count calories, and  I don't want to count reps while exercising.  So I have decided I don't want to be "on a diet" but I do want certain results. 

This is how I want to achieve the results I am interested in.

Cooking and food.  I select a recipe based on whether or not I have the ingredients, it sounds interesting or challenging to make, and if the ingredients are "healthy".  I choose to eat  proper portions.  I follow the recipe and divide it up and take it for my lunch at work.  Eating the same thing everyday is not that big a deal to me.  Next week I will find another recipe that sounds good.  I just want achieving results to be the result of the  decisions I have to make on a daily basis no matter what my lifestyle is. I don't want to feel like I have to find extra time or make extra work for myself.  It has to be easy and efficient.

Moving or exercise.  I make time most weeks to go the gym and do Wii Fit Plus.  In addition, I use a stretchy band for only minutes at a time, I might run or march in place if I have 1 or 2 minutes left on my timer or during commercials.  The point is, I stretch, run in place, lift a dumbbell or two while just moving around the house.  It all adds up and at least I don't ever do "nothing". 

The bottom line on moving:  Move your body in such a way as it feel good to you.  Hold yoga poses, stretch, stretch, and stretch some more, run.  Do whatever "off the to top of your head" moves you can whenever your have a minute or two.  Start today......and remember:  doing SOMETHING is better than doing NOTHING.

Another thought:  Success breeds success!!

I just want to make life  simple and efficient.

Remember, your success is NOT measured by how much time you spent journaling, counting calories, but by the change in attitude, food choices, and how your body moves and looks.  In other words: visible results!!

I can, I will!!

How Do You Visualize Obesity?

When I see an obese or morbidly obese person, I visualize them as a normal sized person encased in a mountain of   lard.  Layer upon layer of fat surrounding and trapping their bodies.  Sadly I don't have far to look.....my son is morbidly obese.  Because of this he has had a very sad and lonely life.  I wish he would find a way to break out of obesity but, as yet, he has not.
 
I have been obese most of my life and  am currently working hard on getting rid of my layers.  I am feeling better and better about my results.  It's not fast enough but it is there. I am noticing changes and  they are improving my life.  Removing layers is fun and exciting.  It is a lot of hard work.  Actually as I say it is a lot of hard work, I realize that no, it is a way of life.  A way of life that requires one to be "mindful" of what and how much you are eating and how you are moving your body.  To be successful, I think it is essential that mindful eating and exercising become second nature.  Just one more thing to add to your daily schedule.

Obesity and morbid obesity are horrible problems and giant burdens to live with.  I don't care what anyone says..nobody wants to have this problem and unfortunately, it has become "runaway".  The problem is rampant in our society.  How did it get to be so incredibly common place?  Why did our society become so fat?  I suspect the reasons are as diverse as the people that are carrying around these tons of unwanted pounds.  I grew up on a farm and my daily life included physical activity, unfortunately, I see today's kids as not having physical activity as part of their daily life.  On top of that, way too many people decide that "take out" food is "what's for dinner", breakfast, and lunch too for that matter.  And most of that food is high fat, carb loaded, "super" sized portioned, or just plain unhealthy.  There is certainly no shortage of reasons of why we got in this sorry state but what are we going to do about it?  There is a ton of information out there to tell us what to do.  The problem, as I see it, is we all have to get over our laziness and our lack of commitment and our willingness to make excuses.  If you want to change your "obesity" status, you have to make the commitment and change the way you live your life.  It is not easy (at first) but it is DO-ABLE!!

I can, I will!!

You can too!!  Will you??


I can, I will!!

Exercise-Why Do It?

I read a blog the other day that asked the question:  Why do you really exercise?  So I started thinking about how I would answer.

I exercise so my body will move easily, look fit,  and be strong.  I have spent a lot of time in an atmosphere that allows me to observe people, a lot of them senior citizens.  Because of my observations, I decided that I don't want to amble, I don't want to shuffle, and I don't want to be bent and stooped. (Quite honestly, observing senior citizens smoking, was good incentive to quit before I became one).  Seeing what your fate could be  at an older age can  give you a lot to think about when you are faced with choices.  More and more, the healthy choices look to be the ones for me.

I exercise because I can.  Seeing people with a wide variety of physical disabilities made me realize how very lucky I am to be healthy.  I can no longer squander that  good health by not nurturing it and taking care of myself.  I have come to believe what we pay attention to, give thought to, and work at, is what will be reflected in the lifestyle we are able to live.  I intend to be as healthy as I possibly can.  I am willing and determined to work at it.

I exercise because I want to always be capable.  I want to take care of my life myself.

I exercise because I want to give my body every opportunity to feel great and look good.  My body is a wonderful machine and I have come to understand that exercise and whole foods are the fuel it needs for optimum performance.  It needs to be appreciated.

I can, I will!!

Random Thoughts W/E 3-7-10

OK so this week, I'm not sure if I noticed things, or just had random thoughts.  Here goes.

While out walking, I noticed muscles in my ab area, not really sure what they are called - I need to look up muscle names.  As I feel them, I want to visualize them.  Precisely which ones have escaped the bonds of blubber and are finally doing their intended job?  It is so cool!  It's like removing layers....now I can't wait until the next layer goes away!!

I noticed that several bloggers list the nutrients values  of  foods, for example, walnuts have omega 3 oil.
Is it important to you to know this?  If someone like Dr. Oz endorses the addition of, say walnuts , to your diet would that be enough information for you to include them?  Would knowing the specific nutritional information be important to you or is it just enough to just know something is good for you? 

One result of exercising consistently and regularly is a different physical carriage, I am a lot more aware  of my posture.  Oprah referred to this effect as one's "strut".  I would add more self confidence to the list of benefits as well.

That is what I noticed this week.

I can, I will!!

Vibram Five-Fingured Shoes

I recently posted about my Vibram Five-Fingered Sprint shoes.  After wearing them for a while, I must confess that I absolutely LOVE them and am thinking about getting another pair.  I put them on within 10 to 15 of getting up in the morning and don't take them off until I either go to work or bed.

I wanted these shoes because I kind of thought I might be able to run (God knows why I thought that!)  Dr. Oz had them on his show and demonstrated how our ancestors ran for hours barefooted.  It looked doable to me.  I even thought it might be fun to train for a 5K-not going to do that.  Anyway I DO run in them.  I don't, and most likely won't,  ever do long distance running, but I do a lot of little sprints and I feel they benefit me in many ways.  The sprints vary in time from 30 seconds to 4 or 5 minutes. 

Who knew I would  EVER feel this way about running???  I sure didn't.

I can, I will!!

Stretchy Bands

I am becoming a "fidget-er".  It is part of my "move more" campaign.   Lately I have been using stretchy bands while reading on line.

You can do a lot of different exercises with a stretchy band.  Just use your imagination and move your body however it feels good.  I have even started taking one to work with me to use during my breaks.  Everything I have read indicates that doing little things during your normal day will add up so I am trying to do something whenever I can.  I still make time for exercising like using the Wii Fit Plus and going to the gym but incorporating movement while doing other things is a bonus.

ALSO I am adding a link to the current "momontherun" blog.  She has a great giveaway:

http://www.healthymomontherun.com/

REMEMBER to enter before Monday.

I can, I will!!                                                                                                                         

Lifestyle Change

I keep striving to change my lifestyle, I want it  to reflect the  healthy decisions I have been making.  Recently I have been making turkey burgers. The recipe is one of Rachel Ray's.  Using the same ingredients as she did, my yield is 10 to 12, but hers makes 4.  So I gotta think mine are pretty low calorie .

The bun is grilled portabello mushroom caps.  Very, very good and healthy.     I have made this recipe several times and keep changing the ingredients I mix with the ground turkey breast.  For example, if I want it to be spicy, I mix in niblet corn, black beans, cumin, salsa, and cilantro.  Of course I also add bread crumbs and an egg so the meat will hold together, but you can make them any way you want.  I rarely eat beef anymore.  The one thing I got hungry for was hamburgers, now I have solved this problem with turkey burgers.

I can, I will!!                                     

An Essential Message

Louise Hay.....You Can Heal Your Life.  A guide to lovingly improve your life.  I mention this book because it stresses loving and encouraging yourself and that is an important skill for each of us to learn.

The bog by Stephen at http://www.whoatemyblog.com/ on 2-24 shares the message given to him by his trainer regarding setting and achieving fitness & weight loss goals.

As I understand it, the long and short of improving your life on many different levels begins with becoming  our own  CHEERLEADER.  We have to compliment each and every success we have  AND we have to love ourselves. 

Another part of this formula is :  success builds on success.  That is why it is so important to notice when things go right, each and every time.  I have first hand proof that this is true.  When I quit smoking over 7 years ago, I started counting minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, and eventually years.  It went, every minute built on other minutes, then you're talking hours, then day, months, and years.  I really didn't want to have to start over with the first minute again.  I never, ever took another puff on a cigarette once I got past the first minutes.  I just kept encouraging myself more and more with every passage of time. The result of this "self encouragement":  A non-smoker for over 7 years!! 

That same encouragement can help you succeed!!

I can, I will!!

Things Of Interest W/E 2-28-10

I like to think back to what I noticed this week.

1.  My shadow looks thinner.

2.  Bitter Melon-A vegetable I have never heard of, and is suppose to fight breast cancer cells.  The picture I saw looked like a shriveled cucumber with nubby spikes on it.

3.  A Sarah Jio blog recommending these four foods for runners: almonds, oranges, sweet potatoes, and tuna.  I have no problem with anything but tuna.  I do eat a lot of salmon hopefully that will be a good substitute..

4.  I realized why people have bald cats.

Sometimes what catches my attention is interesting to me.  Does that sound stupid??  Goes back to paying attention-you just might learn something.  How right your were Dad!

I can, I will!!