Dusting off the cobwebs.

Dusting off the cobwebs.

So far been all talk and no action on doing anything at all about weight, health, nutrition and fitness.

Only positive in 2018 is that I really did start to use my Instant Pot electric pressure cooker. Whole chickens, 15 bean soup, black bean soup. Some really flavorful and better for me meals than the usual.

Other goals..
Get Moving.
Add Veggies!@

2012 October 1st

October is here, my favorite month! Halloween, cooler weather, fall colors, hot apple cider, hot cereal in the mornings...

My journey this year has continued. Rather than thinking of it as a diet or weight loss plan, its just some small incremental changes I needed to make in my life.

Thanks to my friend Kat I finally have started down the road of adding regular exercise to my life again! THANK YOU THANK YOU! 2x a week is my goal. Saturday morning was my first real exercise in forever and while I didn't work too hard (wanted to avoid burnout) I did have some sore Ab muscles along the place where my C-Section scar is. I felt good after working out, and that is part of what I miss about the times in my life when I was exercising.

My weight this morning is 192, my size 18 jeans (which i have been wearing so long and stressing the seams by being overweight they are actually getting holes in them) are looser on me. I want to dig out their size 16 exact copies out of storage to avoid having to buy new jeans. My dressy pants which were just bearable to wear last winter are now comfortable. I have been checking my weight only at the beginning of each month and it has seen a slow and steady decline, just a lb or 2 a month.

I continue to avoid milk, sour cream, cream cheese, most cheese (all soft cheese), dishes made with cream, milk chocolate and items which were made with small amounts of milk or butter. I didn't see a complete eradication of lactose intolerance symptoms so I have started to be more lax on the "items that are made with milk and butter" part. I continue to rotate in places for lunch I didn't go to before with healthy options like Subway, Pho Tai, Chipotle, and Panera.

I still eat fast food entirely too often, and have from January till now not done but maybe one or two workouts. We also have not really increased our nights where we eat dinner at home together, I know if we did that it would even greater help my healthy food choices.

Nutrition: The severity of my attacks has gone down dramatically however the frequency doesn't really seem to have. Goal going forward is to take better track. Found out in Sept that I'm not allergic to any spices (a sometimes cause of intermittent attacks). 
Home: Started cleaning out excess stuff, got rid of 270 items from my house this year, and started packing up and moving out things that were always in the way but that we don't want to sell or give away like clothes and toys from Lydia that we want to keep for the next kid, clothes too small for me that I want to shrink back into etc. Preserved a lot of the tomatoes from the garden, and even got some peppers frozen just last night. Still some green and under ripe tomatoes camped out in the kitchen. If they turn then there will be more processing to do! 
Finance:  Refinanced our home with a loan modification(summer), got a bad charge removed from my credit report (summer), started a more permanent solution to an emergency back up fund with a CD Ladder(fall).
Family: SHad a great fall vacation with my husband and kid. Short but a great introduction to family centric vacations with young kids. Only had one public meltdown (the 3year old not the parents). Continued chore chart with my daughter and contemplated starting one of my own for keeping track of eating well, working out and other habits I want to reward!
Weight: 192

May 2012

April was a whirlwind. Continued incremental changes in diet, didn't get up to speed exercise wise. Made slow progress on home projects.

APRIL 
Nutrition: Managed to continue to cut out sources of lactose and have been having less attacks. Started going to Chipotle again more regularly, getting rice, black beans, meat, lettuce, this is much healthier option than our usual fast food.
Home: Started garden planning, continued to clean out Office so most of the clutter is now empty boxes!
Finance:  Started process of preparing for home refinance.
Family: Started craft time with Lydia with a fun mothers day project, learning to cut with kid scissors under supervision, and some of the usual play dogh and coloring time. Also started doing "homework" in a prepare for preschool book, Specifically wanted one geared to preparing for math concepts. Lydia gets a sticker after each page which she loves. Resumed using the chore chart with Lydia and hope to swap out some old tasks she is good at now (like potty) and add new ones, specifically ones that help with our house cleanliness.
Weight: I didn't write down what my weight was in early April, but I remember having maintained around 202 to 205.

MAY (plan)
Nutrition: Snacks more at work, less at home in the late evenings. Keep working in Subway, Pho Tai, and now Chipotle in as "healthier" options for lunch.
Mental: Sleep more! Wind down the end of each day with planning out the next day.
Home: Lots of projects we want to get done before appraisal for the home refinance.  Finish clutter busting in office and extend clutter busting to Kitchen, basement etc.
Finance: Clean up credit report. Pay down mortgage to be ready for refinance end of June.
Weight: May 1st was 202.5. Plan for May is Exercise! Choose some form of exercise every other day. Walk at work, walk with Lydia at night, cleaning for 1 hour, gardening for 1 hour, Exercise class at RAC.

March 2012

As of first of March weight is 202.5 lbs
Jeans size 18/20

Still not willing to move to a specific restrictive diet, i.e. anything that says don't eat XYZ. Been adding lots of black bean dishes the last week, and got a big batch of pre-cut fruit which worked great for meal accompaniments and for just a snack.

I found one 8:30 am class at my health club I want to try out, and one 5:30 PM class. Next week I hope to get there.

Mid February Update

Well friends, 3 changes made.

1. Started walking at work after lunch (30 min)
2. Eating about once a week at Subway instead of always fried fast food 
3. Alternating my daily coke with Diet Cherry Coke. 

What changes have you made? Next up for me is actually getting to the Gym I pay so dearly for. One morning a week and one evening a week is my goal.

Start 2012 with a whimper...

Is it possible to sustain interest and energy in changing our lives beyond Feb 1st or March 1st, I sure hope so because I intentionally started 2012 out with a whimper instead of a bang! In 2012 I'm looking to make incremental small improvements in EVERYTHING! Also a strong focus on keeping going, checking in monthly and recruiting others with similar goals to keep up motivation. January was focused on house improvements. Painting, organizing, getting the main living areas of our house to a more "visitor ready" state. These projects will continue long past January but my husband and I went from talking about changes to making them in January. Changes are focused on things that keep our existing supplies organized, and areas of the house that tend to be the dumping ground, like papers on the counter, craft boxes in the office and books on the stairs. I participated in a 2 week "boot camp" to organize my home, treating it like a self paced correspondence course rather than a day by day task. About at day 5 right now :) I also started reading Health at Every Size by Linda Bacon. February is working on my nutrition and exercise, starting with finding allies, both local and friends and family members from far away, hence starting up this blog again. I can't think of a better way to solicit and continue support across the miles, and at the convenience of the contributes time. The Mayo Clinic Diet was recommended to me by a friend who is currently reading it and trying to put its advice into practice, so I will read that next. What will the focus in March be? Career, Entrepreneurship, Travel, Spouse relationship?? Give me some suggestions!?!?

Hot and Healthy Out the Window

Fitness and nutrition have gone completely out the window the last year. Job uncertainty, lifestyle changes from starting a family and general "getting oldness" has been the norm for me the last 2 years. I need a mind shift from planning exercise into my life to planning my life around exercise and nutrition.

The Geek in Me

For the first time in my entire life I have a product in my hands before its publicly available. I feel an obligation as a geek to post something about it. The Samsung Google Chrome laptop becomes avail on Tuesday June 14th. I tried to get on their beta test list to get a free one in Dec 2010, however didn't make it. They did however give me the chance to order one early with an email last week!

http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/11/stub-official-samsung-reveals-chrome-os-laptops/

I like it. Still working through some printing issues (seems to not like sending duplex jobs to my network attached printer), and will have to figure out how well it works with my current digital cameras and picture organization. Also some confusion on plug in's (doesn't view embedded windows media player file out of the box).

Power on time is really nice compared to my Thinkpad x60, and suspend/wake time is awesome. I look forward to trying out the 3G this weekend when we do some travel.

This laptop doesn't run windows, doesn't run linux, is just an environment running a super browser and it keys in to my extensive use of Google Applications. Because of this people will complain that the cost of $500 is too much, but I disagree. Its got a specific purpose and it does it well. ALSO in my personal use, web based content is 95% of what I need.

Pro's

• Camera/Mic/Speakers are serviceable
• Web browsing without the bloat of a zillion installed programs, virus scanners, task management
• Responsive and intuitive setup of wireless and login to access existing google information
• Multi SD card readers and USB 3.0 USB 2.0
  

Cons

• Duplex Printing to our printer seems not possible
• Heavier than I expected for the size of screen (mac books have ruined us all on this front)
• Won't be possible to store and manage even the last 3 months of my personal photo and video content

If you have not made any attempts to get into or understand "the cloud" this device combined with a google account would be a feasible place to start. If you already leverage google documents, contacts, calendar in your life this device will be GREAT!

Updated Goals

Friends,

Anyone have a change in goals for health or fitness? Mine were stale so I updated them today.

-Danielle

I resolve to...

Resolutions should not just be on your mind in January, this last week has brought some big changes in my life and it has made me re-evaluate some things in my life.

#1) Health - I have started going to a class at my gym.
#2) Stuff - I am having a garage sale, forcing me to go through some piles with a critical eye!

Have you had any mid-year resolutions come up? Are you in the process of working towards a goal, where are you at with it?

Cloth Diaper Blog

I am entering a contest for some free cloth diapers and I get an entry for posting this on my blog :)

http://www.clothdiaperblog.com/fysf-super-sized-giveaway-nov-20-dec-4-2009/#comment-20026

Anyone want to chat cloth diapers sometime just give me a call!

-Danielle

Health Plan

Step 1: Any time I feel like eating a chocolate bar, I will drink a full glass of water first. If I still feel like eating it fine.
Step 2: increase my intake of Omega 3 Fatty acids with a supplement AND having fish once a week.

This is kind of a joke, but its because I'm not a dieter. Never have been, never will. I just plan to start making some better choices.

I do have a serious goal, I weigh 191 today. When I lose 10 lbs I will get a reward of a ladies night out up in the cities! Who is with me?

Habits

Have you developed any new good habits? Bad habits?

I have a bad chocolate eating habit right now... I'm planning on weaning myself off of it as the Halloween candy disappears!

I think I developed some good habits when visiting my in-laws a couple of weeks ago. I didn't avoid the treats, just made sure I filled up on real food first, and then if I still had room/cravings I would have a treat.

Baby Lydia is HERE!

This won't come as a surprise to any of my close friends, but baby Lydia was born on June 14th.

Next week is my 6 week post birth appointment, and I will find out how my C-Section scar is healing and what the outlook is for exercise, swimming, sex etc :)

I hope everyone is taking advantage of the cooler than average week we are having in the upper midwest and getting outside!!

No Gestational Diabetes!

No problems on how my pregnant body handles sugar! Horay!

I'm celebrating by eating jelly beans :)

February Fitness Goals

To start out with in 2009 I just wanted to ease back into exercise after a prolonged break.

January - 0-3 short periods of light exercise and stretching.

February 2nd - 20 minutes on the treadmill at any speed/incline 3x this week.

February 9th to 20th - 1 mile on the treadmill at any time/speed 3x a week. (substituted one day walking around the Home Show).

February 23rd - 1 arms, 1 legs strength training session per week.

One thing that has been concerning me lately is my hereditary predisposition to Gestational Diabetes, and I have that test this coming Thursday along with my regular monthly pregnancy checkup. I'm obsessing a bit about it this week, but I'll know for sure by the end of the week if I have it or not!

2009 Goals

Anyone making 2009 goals?

As most of you know I'm pregnant, so my fitness and health goals involve having a healthy baby and staying active throughout my pregnancy.

To quantify that..
30 minutes of aerobics and stretching 5 days a week.
Veggie or fruit with every meal (shooting for 1/2 my plate each meal)

What are some of your 2009 goals?

Food For Thought

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/15/AR2008111502467.html

Some food for thought on the current economic times. Perspectives from the older generation.

Some additional thoughts from my Grandpa "People these days don't know how to stretch a dollar like we had to, one batch of cornbread would be lunch for the whole week".

And from my Granny Lou "You never know when you might need it and might not be able to get it. so you saved it. It didn't matter what it was".

New Program

My husband and I have started a new program at our gym that focuses on both diet and exercise. We are starting our 4th week and I can finally say I'm getting results! The first 3 weeks I stayed the same weight or went up. I lost 2 lbs in the past week and probably 3 lbs overall so I have now reached the weight where I was when I started to loosely follow "You on a Diet". I have a target weight in mind, but my goal is to lose a couple inches in the waist.

Meeting with a trainer has helped me stay consistent with strength training. Its helping strengthen and stretch the muscles I need to improve my poor posture (which is another goal). For cardio, we are doing target heart rate exercises; they definitely have made me bump my cardio up a notch (or 2). I really feel like I was slacking during my workouts for the past few years!

Its the first time I've tracked calories and I'm surprised of how many calories are in things when paying attention to the number of servings and the portion size. Or when comparing the calories in one food to its "healthier" counterpart. I don't mind fruits and veggies, but now I make a point to eat the 5-9 everyday. Since I'm keeping a food log, the dietitian has helped me understand why I may have been really tired or starving on certain days and avoid it in the future (too many carbs, not enough protein, etc). We've only been changing one thing each week in our diets so I hope that it will make it maintainable after the program is over.

So far it has helped me go to the gym A LOT; I feel like I've made a commitment to 4 people during the program so it helps make me go. Its especially challenging now because this time of year when it is dark after work, I just want to go home and stay there but I fight the urge and go anyways. Or I go in the morning.

The dollar diet

This is not a diet in the conventional sense of the word, but this is a blog of 2 people who decided to learn more about poverty and the food they were eating by spending $1 or less per person on food for every day in a month.

Inspiring and interesting! What do you think?

http://onedollardietproject.wordpress.com/

-Danielle