Birthday Girl

Yup, it is my birthday.

Sorry I haven't posted much. I have been super busy helping hubby get ready for an extended trip to China. It wasn't a planned thing and there are a lot of preparations to make. I wish I could go with him! I do promise to update the blog soon though. I have just gotten my annual test results back and will do a posting on all the new information that brings to light.

I am walking a lot again, as the weather is super duper fantabulous!!! So happy birthday to ME and many many more...especially now that I am going to be able to enjoy my 'senior' years in a much healthier fashion!

Walk-on my dear readers! Hugs to you all!

Neigh . . . not negative

If things were different now, I would own a horse again. You really need a small farm or a good job to afford to board your horse at someone else's farm. I don't have either at this time.

I used to own a lot of horses. I had a stallion, three mares, a few yearlings, and foals. I have had horses in my life from about age 13 till age 50. I miss them a lot. I've trained a lot of horses. I never showed them in competitions much and spent more time brushing them and working with them on the ground, rather than riding. I always felt sorry for the horses when I was riding them because I was so fat.

I wish I could have a horse now. I wouldn't  want to train one anymore.  I would just like to have one to entice me outside to go visit him or her. I'd feed it an apple. I'd brush it. I'd comb the tangles out of the mane and tail. Once in a while I'd saddle it up and go for a ride. I wonder how it would be to ride a horse when I am at the weight I am at now? I bet the horse would like it, or at least not dislike it so much.

Here is a tidbit that you may not know about me. The name Walker Lady came from the horses I used to raise. I loved the breed of horse called a Tennessee Walking Horse. They don't trot like other breeds do. They do what is called a running walk, which is very smooth and not bouncy at all.

It is autumn here and the cooler weather makes me think of all the horses I used to ride all those years ago. I live in the 'burbs now, and sadly, they won't allow me to keep a horse in the backyard, even though we do have a large yard. But a girl can dream.

Hope you are all doing well! I've been walking every day for 30 minutes, so I am on track for the 30/30 challenge. Are you? If not, walk-on dear readers, walk-on!

30/30 Challenge and FitBit Flurry

I've not been a happy camper. I upped my exercise a little bit and am tracking my food again and guess what? The scale went up. BAH! Yes, it could be I am building some muscle, but somehow I don't think it is. It could be stress. I tend to pooh-pooh the stress levels I live with, as normal living that everyone does. Maybe I have more stress than I think I do? Whatever the reason, I am not thrilled that the scale is not going back into the 180's, like I think it should be. I am not over exercising. Sometimes you can over exercise and under eat. That isn't the case with me.

One constant throughout the past six months or more, has been my yoga class, twice a week. I have slacked off on walking. Biking stopped when the hot weather hit. I did finally get back in the gym and am still going there. The workouts have been mediocre at best. My heart is not in it. I wish I had money for a trainer, but I don't. The trainer I used to work with is affordable but is not available. I am trying to suck it up and do something that resembles a workout in the gym, but so far it has been hit and miss.

What am I going to try to do next? Well, I bought a FitBit and have been using it for almost two weeks now. I am liking this gadget a lot! I can see where it isn't for everyone, but for me, it is almost perfect. I like it best for tracking steps, activity, sleep patterns, and their badges help motivate. You get new badges for accomplishing things. Two that I recently got were this one for flights of stairs walked:

I was actually walking in a very hilly area. I was surprised that hills count as flights of stairs. (duh) I like that I can walk stairs without actually walking stairs. Hills are easier on knees than actual stair steps.

The other recent badge was this one for having walked over 10,000 steps:

Fitbit has motivated me several times. I seem to have a competitive nature inside me. When I noticed I was only a few hundred steps from 10,000, I made it a point to walk extra steps to achieve that! 

I really love the sleep tracking feature. I found out I slept more than I thought I did. I sleep about the same when using medication vs no medication. That really surprised me. I thought when I was on my medication, I slept better. I found out that wasn't true. 

Next week I go in for my annual checkup. I plan to ask doc about my meds. I originally took them to help 'turn off my brain' so I could fall asleep and not be anxious about things in life. I do not like taking a chemical aide to control anxiety or depression or sleep. That includes smoking and alcohol too. This is the part of changing my lifestyle that has become the hardest. The mental issues. Yes, I just said I am mental. I think most of us are. I'd like to say all of us, but I don't believe in absolutes. 

So what am I doing to change things around this time? I am starting a 30/30 challenge! Starting today I pledge to walk 30 minutes a day for 30 days in a row. I already got my first 30 done this morning! I am including the support group where I co-teach weight loss and healthier living classes. I was pleasantly surprised at the positive response from the group members! This will keep me more motivated as well as hopefully motivating my fellow support group at the same time!

This afternoon I plan to go to the gym before getting my son at school. I have been going in the mornings, but I would rather walk in the mornings. I don't know how this will go, but I am going to give it a try. I also need to make a chart to put up at the center so the group and I can track how well we are doing with this 30/30 challenge. 

That's it for today. I hope you have a great weekend! Join in the fun and pledge to do a 30/30 challenge with me! After all, it is one way you can "Walk-On"!!!

Low down at the gym, and super easy cake recipe!

I am still going to the gym twice a week. I feel I am not fully back on track yet, but I am not giving up. I was able to talk to the manager of the gym and told him of all my experiences. Even after telling him I was almost 59 years old, he did not rush me or make me feel like I was being a pain in the puddin'. (as my friend Robert would say) I have found other people are not as respectful towards their elders. This guy was. Good for him!

He listened to me and cleared up a lot of misunderstandings. That was the good thing. The bad thing is that most of my experiences were actually pretty close to how this gym is run. While I am not thrilled about it, I will deal with it and not use this as an excuse to give up. He did say they are adding classes and he thanked me for valuable feedback. He thought those that were doing the assessments were doing a better job than they were. He liked some of my suggestions and said he would like to see those implemented.

The one thing I think they should have is an intro to their machines. Just show folks how to adjust the weights and seats. Most machines are similar, so just showing that on a few of them would help beginners get off to a good start.

I don't expect a full workout when joining, but I still was disappointed in not being shown how their machines worked. Anyway, I feel placated and will continue on. Better news is that my old trainer finally got back in touch with me and he is a member of the same gym! His wife has been ill and that is why he hadn't been in touch. I am hopeful that I will be able to work out with him again soon. I would feel better with a little more guidance.

In other news, I am a member of Sparkpeople.com. I like their web site for tracking foods or exercises or weight. I have been a member for a little over two years. It is free, so the price is right. I got an email from them saying I had earned an award because I had walked 700 miles! It was true though, over the past two years I really had walked that many miles!!! Yeah me!


I am still not back where I'd like to be. I have been struggling. I have not given in, but there have been ups and downs. What am I doing about it, you ask? Ok, maybe you didn't ask, but I am going to tell you anyway. First off, I made myself go to the gym and workout. It wasn't pretty. It wasn't professional. It wasn't perfect. It was exercising on purpose though!

Today I also went back to the zero fat Fage. Not because I am concerned about fat, but more-so because I eat at least two containers per day and by going to the zero fat one, I save 100 calories per day. Every little bit helps. I preach it. I teach it. I need to also believe it.

Speaking of food, I found this fantastic recipe for cake today:  

ONE INGREDIENT NO BAKE CAKE

1. Buy one cake from a bakery or grocery store. Make sure it is one you really like.
2. Scrape off all the frosting and set that aside for later.
3. Cut the cake in large cubes and place in food processor or blender with a pulse feature.
4. Pulse the cake several times until it is all crumbly.
5. Pour cake crumbs out on a cake plate.
6. With your hands, form crumbs into the shape of a cake.
7. Get the frosting you set aside and re-frost the cake. You can microwave it for a few seconds to make it easier to use.
8. Serve to family and tell them you made it with your own two hands!

Doesn't that sound great? You don't even have to warm up the kitchen with a hot oven!

Lastly today, I have a more serious topic. I broke down and bought myself a fitbit. It is a gaget for tracking activity, including sleep, and a whole lot more stuff.

I will report on what I think of it once I have started using it. They normally cost about $100 but I am a savvy shopper and ended up paying $10 for mine. How's that for a bargain!!!

Till next time, Walk-On and be happy. Life is too short to not live happy.

Gym Games - Take Two

Yesterday I did a mile and a quarter walk and a yoga class. Yeah me!

Today I went back to the gym. Since I last posted here, I tried contacting their customer service person by phone and email. So far, no response. I also was looking at my credit card charges (I habitually keep close tabs on my finances) and saw they had charged me 11¢ on my card. I had paid them 11¢ in cash. No big deal, but it is irritating.

I also talked to a gal in the yoga class yesterday who said she was assured she would be shown all the equipment when signing up for this gym. When in the gym today I watched and it sure looked like all these new people were being shown machines to use. Remember, I had specifically asked about being shown some of the machines when I joined. I also asked the person at the front desk where the locker rooms were. She didn't ask me if I had ever had a tour of the facilities or if I wanted a tour, but she did point me in the right direction.

Maybe I am getting crabby in my old(er) age. Maybe I expect too much. Maybe I AM right in wanting to question this gym's practices and procedures! I am out there, in the community. I could be a wonderful resource for new customers for this gym. Maybe they really don't care, as long as they get the upfront fees? I hope I am wrong about that.

Ok, enough complaining. I figured out how to use several machines for an overall workout and finished up with 25 minutes on the spin bike. I wanted to add the bike so I can rebuild up my muscles for fall biking excursions with the family.

The weather is going to warm back up for a while again. This might slow down the urge to get back into walking. However, I now have the gym as a backup. It is close to home. It is easy to stop off at, after dropping my son at school. I hope to get the negative vibes taken care of so that I keep going to this gym. I think once I take my concerns and critiques to the management, I will feel I've done my best. I shall keep you posted!

Have a GREAT weekend and maybe, Walk-On!

Gym Games

I did it. I signed up and did my first visit to the gym. Thank goodness it is cheap because if I had to pay full price for what I experienced, I would have been very unhappy! I've been through this before though. I don't know why I thought maybe this would be different.

Here's how it went this time:
I went in and said "I'd like to join and take advantage of their current special."
I was asked which level membership I wanted and I said the $10 one.
"Why don't you want the $20 membership? You don't want free tanning?"
(what? am I a pasty ghostly looking person...you think I need a tan?)
I say "No thank you."
I am shown the computer and told to type in my information, and I do.
I actually READ the agreements and am asked three times if I needed help at that point. They couldn't believe I was really reading the fine print!
I give them eleven cents (ten cents plus a damn penny tax), and make an appointment for the next morning to come in for my assessment and workout.

Next Day:
I come in and am weighed and have to fill out health forms. I am again urged to consider the $20 membership. I said no thanks again.
Now we get to the workout. I am not expecting much and I got even less than that.
The "workout" consisted on me riding a spin bike for 5-10 minutes to get my heart rate up. This trainer type person uses the exercise theory of maximum heart rate workouts. He wanted me to get my heart rate up around 130. I kept pushing up the resistance and couldn't get my heart rate to go over 92. The trainer must have been running out of time and said it didn't matter. He wanted to get on with the rest of the workout.
The rest of the workout consisted of some squats using an exercise ball, some arm lifts using free weights, and some push ups. Huh? No one shows you how to use the machines? Nope. I asked what was I supposed to do if I didn't understand how a machine worked? I was told they all have instructions printed on signs by each machine...oh, but you CAN have a trainer for $50 per one hour session. Or for a better 'deal' you can buy a package of sessions for as low as $45 per session. Sorry, I can't afford that.

I expect a gym to try to up-sell. I also expected a full tour of the facility. I don't know where the locker room is yet. I asked about the plugs on the exercise machines. Were they for earphones so you could hear the TV's? The answer was, "I don't think those are hooked up yet." What??? I was also given no information about additional classes. Part of the $20 membership includes free classes. If they want to up-sell, shouldn't they tout all these terrific classes they have?

I was disappointed about the lack of affordable trainers as well as the lack of direction from the gym staff. I must say, this isn't typical. I've joined other gyms over the years and this was the first one that didn't even show you how to use the machines!

So I will be on my own. I plan to give it a good try. I am going to figure out a routine that works for me and fine tune it as I go along. If, after eight weeks, I feel it isn't working for me, I plan to go another route. I WILL get strength training exercise worked into my exercise regimes though, one way or another. I am stubborn that way.

Tomorrow...gorgeous weather forecast and Ziva says we WILL go for a walk!

Till next time,
Walk-On dear readers!

New Month, New Day, New Beginnings

From now till Sept. 10th you can sign up for 10 Fitness for ten cents. (Regular price is $59 for the $10/mo. plan or $19 for the $20/mo. plan) This also covers the first month. Now the Premium plan for $20/mo. requires a 12 month contract, but the Regular $10/mo. plan has no contract and you can cancel at will.

I think I am going to give it a try. I decided to go with the $10/mo. plan vs the $20/mo plan because I don't think I need to spend money on a computer generated food plan or workout plan that isn't geared towards crazy old(er) women. :D

If I save $10 a month, I could afford a trainer for a few sessions too. Just thought I'd let you know in case you wanted to try it too. I will bring it up at the Wednesday meeting as well. I want to do a Tuesday/Thursday and either Saturday or Sunday session with the strength training. (3 days a week)

I will be covering goal setting in the support group and setting myself up as an example. I think this will put the push to get back on track, in my brain! I'll keep you posted.

Oh, and the weather is due to change within a week, to the cooler side. I plan to walk on again...I hope you will too!

Tootles!

Taking Charge, Taking Control

Often our lives can spiral out of control and before we know it, we have backslid into something we don't like, or are doing something that is not good for us. When this happens we need to become aware of it. Then we need to change the problem and take control. It is better for us to dictate where we are headed rather than outside influences dictating and pushing us where we shouldn't be.

This has all happened to me recently. I've been on a slow spiral that has slid down to where I don't want to be. I am dangerously close to gaining too much weight back and letting that dictate how my life is going. I tried to deny there was a problem. I didn't want to say anything because I always think I have to be so perfect in order for people to believe in me and therefore believe in themselves that they (and I) CAN make this new lifestyle work!

That is the key word, isn't it? Work. It really is not laborious work, but since we learned that the way we used to live does NOT work, we DO have to learn how to make things work, in the healthier way. We have to be more mindful than the naturally thin folks that we imagine are out there. You know those folks, don't you? They eat everything and don't have a care in the world. We hate them. We imagine every skinny person we see has some sort of advantage over us. Blah. Blah. Blah.

Maybe they do and maybe they don't. One thing is for sure though, WE are not THEM. WE have to work at learning how to live the life we want to live. What works for them, doesn't necessarily work for us.

My excuses for spiraling backasswards are that summer was not conducive to my normal exercise routine. I was sick for a few weeks and that slowed me down. I was distracted by outside stress factors. I didn't feel like it. I thought I could live with being 20+ pounds overweight as long as I kept that initial 100 pounds off. I am too old. I am tired.

I realize this is not going to serve me well...this train of thought of just accepting this is the new me and it is good enough. It is not good enough. I know it. I feel it. I need to own it. The old me would have gained all the weight back and just have had a major pity party about it. The new me is stubbornly refusing to give in. I am not where I would like to be, and I plan to do something about it.

How do I do this? The first thing is to do more than yoga twice a week. That is the ONLY exercising I have been doing....twice a week, yoga class. Good for me for doing that much! Bad for me to not be doing the strength training that I preach and preach and preach to the folks in the support group. How can I be a leader and not do what I say? It really IS good advice!!!

So I plan to do some goal setting in the classes and to set myself up as a model goal maker. Then I plan...I WILL work on achieving those goals. I know I can do this. I have just gotten lazy. My first goal is to incorporate two days a week of strength training. Today was the first day for this week. I plan to do it again on Thursday.

A note about goal setting. What I have in mind will be to commit to two 30 minute strength training sessions per week. Now I CAN do more, but I do not want to do less. That is the secret to successful goals...set them up so that you can easily achieve them. You can increase your goals later, but to start with, make it easy! Then build on that. Remember, when I started my journey, I could only commit to ten minutes a day! Even now I am still committed to two days a week of yoga classes. I need to add the strength training though, so two 30 minutes sessions per week should be quite doable!

I can hardly wait till this current oppressive heat wave is gone! I think that getting back to walking the trails again will help everything too. I miss being able to walk-on!!!

Till next time...just do something!!!

Oh no, she's going batty!

MY time of year is around the corner! I feel so jazzed! We have had a week of a fall weather teaser. The humidity is low, the temps are lower than the air conditioner setting and gasp...I have been able to open the windows! OH what joy and rapture that is!

I love fall. October is my birth month. The air is crisper. The kid is back in school. I am free to do things on my time line. I am pumped.

I am also a little batty. I changed my tracker at the beginning of my blog page to show some bats. I'd like to see if I can loose 25 pounds. I am not sure I can, but I am ready to make some changes to see what might happen. This is not an unreasonable goal. I just don't know for sure if I will do it. Stay tuned to find out!

The good news, to me anyway, is that I have the food part of the equation down. I have not been calorie counting for several months. My weight is staying pretty much the same. I have really slacked off on my exercise though. That is about to change. (insert eerie mysterious music here)

Speaking of changes, here is a shot of part of the trail I like going on, near my house:

 

Yesterday I took a different route home. It goes right by this area of my trail. 

I was shocked to see what happened to my beautiful trail when looking the other way:

It had been scalped!!! It used to be just as pretty as the first photo. The actual old trail bed is there in the center. On the left is Locust Street. There used to be trees and landscaping filling in the left side ditch. On the right side were trees with a pretty stream flowing through it. Now it is just ugly!

I am not sure if this means they will be paving this section or not. I know there was a lot of tree damage from the storms we had last winter, but I didn't think it warranted taking out all those trees! It hurts to think of the birds and other animals that were un-homed because this happened now...after many nests would have been established. And the pretty stream with the rock slab sides...it used to be so natural and serene looking!
Sigh....sometimes progress seems like such a bad thing.

I hope to be posting more again, as my life changes into fall/winter mode. Until next time, walk-on!!!

It feels like summer is more than half overwith!

I recently did a body fat test, using one of those gizmos that runs a current through your body. It doesn't hurt by the way. Now if you have a pacemaker, it could hurt you, so use with caution, if you do use such a tool. It showed I had a little over 38% body fat. I should be about 5% lower for my age.

According to the manual that came with it, I should weigh about 165 pounds. This new information gave me pause to consider setting that as a goal-weight to achieve. I would have 24-25 pounds to lose. Do I want to really put in the changes to achieve this? I honestly am not sure yet.

I saw this on FaceBook the other day and thought it worth sharing:

Clever!!!

Some of you know that I struggle with self perception. I found this photo of five women who all weigh 150 pounds:

I feel like I look like the second woman from the left. Today I am not so concerned with what I look like I weigh. I know, to most others, that I am at least a little overweight but not grossly so. I can live with that...for today. Tomorrow I might change my mind. I am female. I can do that if I want to...so there!

Have you ever wondered how some of those diet ads get their before and after photos? Take a look at this one:

Would it surprise you to know that this was a before and after that was stolen from someones blog? And that it took at least a year for her to lose her weight? She did not put the days on there, the ad-stealers did. Her name is Roni. I like her, and her blog, a lot! You should visit her blog that she calls Roni's Weigh. She shares so much information (and has two adorable little boys). She was none too pleased about her photo being used. Then, to add insult to injury, the FaceBook comments were not very nice either! Some of the comments were that she looked anorexic, had no fashion sense, and that she looked better in the first picture.

Why are fat people so despised? I've seen some really nasty comments on other blogs. I have not gotten any here yet. I say yet, and hope it never happens. Roni has a good attitude about this all and is attempting to get her photo taken off the pill pushing web site it appeared on. I don't blame her for being angry! I don't know if I could have been as gracious about it all.

Anyway, this goes to show, as if we didn't already know, that those miracle ads do not guarantee that the people in their photos are real representatives of users of their products. I hate, hate, hate, loath, detest, and despise those who exploit the fluffy among us and who to try to make a buck off of us and our vulnerability.

People, people, people...it is all about LIFESTYLE CHANGES!!! It is not going to be found in a miracle drug, a shot, a surgery, starvation, or without being able to move at least a little bit. It is not that hard! Really!

Ok, off my soapbox now.
I hope you are all having a wonderful end to the summer! School will soon be back in session and I hope to make a few changes to see what I might be able to do with those 25 pounds. Best of all, when the weather turns cooler I will again be able to.....

WALK ON

dear readers
walk on.....

Wasn't it JUST the 4th of July?

I have just not felt much like posting boring posts and have also been super busy in my life, so a lot of this posting is from the 4th of July...over THREE weeks ago!

First up are the parfaits I made. I used blueberries, raspberries, angel food cake, and whipped cream made from real cream! It was my tribute to the "Red, White, and Blue" theme of the holiday:

It was good, but would have been better if I had been able to find edible strawberries that day. I am getting super picky about the foods I buy!

Here is my husband and me at the park, waiting for darkness to fall so the fireworks would begin! I was wearing my shirt tucked in! Fat people aren't supposed to do that, are they? hehehehe

My son.  That smile makes me think he's up to something!

My hubby. My Irish folk singer!

And some of the fireworks:

ooooooooooooo

aaaahhhhhhhhh

ooooooooooooo

aaaaahhhhhhhh

My lettuce growing experiment has had mixed results. I had put it in a sunny window. They got too much sun and started sending out seed stems. Once they do this, the leaves will be bitter.

I tried a mini-hydroponic type planter that did not work. Now I just snip the leaves as soon as they are a few inches tall. Those that sent out the long stems were tossed. Was it worth the hassle? Not really.

Soon it will be time to transplant the pineapple into dirt. I hope I have better luck growing that!

That's it for today! Hope you're having a wonderful summer...Walk-On!

A Little Taste of Sunday

We went for a bike ride this morning. Unbeknownst to me, my husband took a little video of me riding along in front of him.

It isn't much and it isn't flattering to my butt! The ride was very nice though. We are so lucky to have so many EASY bike trails to choose from in this wacky state we live in!

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

I started this post shortly after I finished the last one a week or so ago. In reading Crabby's blog today, I realized that I should just finish this one and get it out there! I hope it makes some sort of sense to you.

GUILT: Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive. We lie, cheat, and steal. You say you don't do such things? You have never lied about what you've eaten? You have never cheated on your diet? You have never stolen a taste of something decadent? I bet you have a bridge for sale too, eh?

Much has been written about the psychology of over eating. Theories abound about some past trauma leading to eating to self-medicate so we feel better. How can we feel better though, if while trying to lose weight, we lie, cheat, or steal an evil food substance? There is no room for guilt in a diet. A true diet is just a blanket term for the total sum of the foods we, or any other living thing, eats. Animals all are on a diet. Some eat grass as their only food source. Some eat meat. Even plants have a diet.

Most folks think of being on a diet as some trial by fire they have to deal with in utter agony. This means that if they are successful and lose the weight, they will go off their diet. OR if they are unsuccessful and quit, they are also going off their diet.

• I say, don't think of it as a diet; it is a lifestyle change. 
• Don't think of what you eat as seeing how much deprivation you can deal with before giving up.
• Don't go ON a diet that implies you will get OFF a diet.

Instead...change your life. Eat like you think a person with your ideal weight would eat. For example, say your goal weight is 150 pounds. Live your life as close to a person who weighs 150 lives. How much do they exercise? What do they eat? Do they NEVER have cheesecake? Maybe they do if they are lactose intolerant. A normal weight person will have that cotton candy at the fair. They won't have it every time they see that stale crap in a plastic bag at the grocery store though.

Every little change you can make will count. Every tweak you make, will make a difference. Take the power over what you eat and learn how to not give food so much power over you! Self medications are things such as smoking, liquor, drugs, food, etc. What does it get you? What is the reward you get for abusing your body so? Instead, can you maybe ride through the rough spots and realize that things will get better? If you need help, get it!  But don't self medicate by abusing your body even more. Strive to make things better and eventually they will. I never thought so until I hit my mid 50's. I firmly believe that if I want things to get better I have to believe they will get better and then you know what? They DO get better!    

MY LIFE:
So I am still stuck in the upper 180's. It is my own fault. I keep pushing to see how much I can eat and how little I can exercise and still maintain under 200 pounds. So far, so good. BUT, is it good enough? Am I willing to take the next step to either lose a bit more weight or to accept this is my lowest weight?

I am not sure.

I am going to turn 60 next year. For some reason, that number is weirding me out. My parents both passed in their 60's. If I knew I was going to die at age 64, like Mom did, would I do anything differently?

INDOOR GARDEN:
The lettuce is growing like a weed! I currently have six plants. Two of them are getting some serious roots started. I am experimenting with a mini hydroponic planter made from plastic water bottles.

I am also trying to grow a pineapple. I just started one in water and have a second one drying out before putting it into water too. I always thought you started with a sliced top. You don't, you start with the crown of 'leaves' that you twist off the top.

Not much walking in the heat and humidity but we've been to the pool a few times and maybe soon I will be able to get back into the gym with my favorite trainer from last fall!

See? Things DO get better....ya just gotta believe!

Walk-on!

Water, Water, Everywhere...but here

Learning how to live my new healthier lifestyle:
The more I test the waters, both negatively and positively, I am learning. I am trusting myself more and trusting my judgement more, on what I eat or what I do for exercise as well as what I don't eat or what I don't do for exercise. Remember, this is all new territory for me. I have never been this way before. I am still learning how to live as a semi-normal healthy woman...and I LIKE IT!

Summer:
Summertime is here with a vengeance in central Arkansas. Yesterday it was over 100º with the humidity around 50% and no rain for days. Yuk. My 12 year old son and I are still hitting the local swimming pool to exercise and cool off. I love the water! Plus I scored those water-dumbbells at that rummage sale last fall and can do a real proper exercise session, in the pool. Playing catch or water-shooting each other has been fun too.

Gardening:
Something new I discovered is that you can grow your own lettuce from what normally you toss in the trash! I am experimenting with romaine lettuce. I cut off the end of the lettuce and put it in about a half inch of water. The water needs to be changed daily as the lettuce gets its nutrients from the minerals in the water.

Here is a photo of three lettuce heads. 

They were all started within a few days of each other:

 The one on the bottom right is the oldest one. 

Here you can see I added a forth head-end of lettuce:

 Look how much the first one has grown in less than a week!

Within two days the forth head has sprouted leaves in the center.
The oldest head is almost ready to start harvesting if you want to eat baby romaine:

A few more days pass, and I have a 'garden in a cup' on my window sill!

 

I will let you know if this turns out to be real food that is edible. I read that you can do this with celery ends, onions, sweet potatoes, potatoes, and pineapple too! I have an onion and sweet potato in a cup on my window sill to see if I have any luck there as well.

In the kitchen:

Something that is a little more normal than growing lettuce in the window, is pie. I don't eat pie very often. I do like a good blueberry pie though and this one is from fresh blueberries:

I have mine with plain 2% fat Greek yogurt (Fage of course) instead of whip-cream or ice cream. Since I only have pie once or twice a year, I don't feel guilty about it at all! You do NOT have to be deprived to live healthy.

In the background are banana muffins. I made these without sugar, buttermilk, or oil. I used whey from homemade yogurt that I made from raw milk. The bananas are very ripe so they add the needed sweetness. These turned out great! They were not as chewy as when I've made them with yogurt or applesauce instead of the oil. I also tossed in a few handfuls of rolled oats to thicken the batter. I love experimenting in the kitchen. I had to show this again as this really is one of the best looking pies I have ever made:

Pizza Crust:
I have made pizza crust using cauliflower in the past. I always thought you had to precook the cauliflower and then run it through a ricer. This method takes raw cauliflower to make the 'dough' and is not as much work! For preparation and cooking specifics go to this video on YouTube by Buff Dudes.

Here are the ingredients from the video:
CHICKEN PIZZA
 2 Cups Cauliflower
1/2 Cup Cheese
6 oz Chicken
Dash of Parsley & Oregano
3/4 cup Tomato Sauce
Handful fresh Spinach
2 Full Eggs

1 Slice Contains:
90 Calories
4.3 grams Fat
2.7 grams Carbs
10 grams Protein

Whole Pizza Contains:
726 Calories
35 grams Fat
22 grams Carbs
81 grams Protein
This recipe is for chicken pizza, but you can change up the toppings as you like.

That's it for today! Till next time, Walk-On!

Summertime arrives early

Now that my son is out of school for the summer, it is swimming season! The ninety-plus heat sent he and I to the pool last week. As predicted, no one seemed to take note of my saggy skin when I went to the pool. Of course, I did take note of others! 
I saw several rather large women there. I could have made two or three swimsuits for myself out of their suits. Were they there so they could soak in the water to keep cool? (Fat adds a layer of insulation as I well know!) They certainly weren’t there to exercise. If they were not laying in a lounge chair they were laying on a air-mattress and hanging on to the edge of the pool so they didn’t move around when the breezes blew. I wanted to go up to each one and say “I used to be like you.” Then I would offer help and ‘save’ them from themselves. What gives ME that right? No one ever said such things to me, except for my parents as they were trying to save me from being overweight.

Instead of saving the world, I exercised with the floatation dumbbells that I found at the thrift store last fall. I did that for about half an hour. The second half-hour I played with my son. Remember, he is almost as tall as me. We played like little kids, with full abandon. We both had these pump-action water guns and were chasing each other around the pool, trying to soak each other even more. I felt so young again. I felt like my son and I were bonding and will remember this moment as he goes into his teenage years and all the drama that will come from that!

Weight loss: I was shocked to find I had gone down four pounds from the week before. Today I was back up by two. I am content to just be in the 180’s now.  I haven't been tracking my food. I am happy with how things are going. For now, this is all good enough for me.

I am reading Secrets of a Former Fat Girl and hope to have a book review soon.

I've been working on this post for over a week now! Instead of trying to achieve perfection in blog posting, I am going to call this quits for today and get it published.

Hope you are having a great beginning to your summer season! Walk-on...even if in a pool!

Trigger is more than a horse...

I read a post on Roni's Weigh blog that talked about trigger foods. It was quite thought provoking to me. Here is her posting: Trigger Foods.

It gave me pause to think about my trigger foods. If wine can be considered a trigger food, that would probably be my biggest temptation. I can leave candy alone but if there is a bottle of wine and a weekend involved, I find it hard to resist a bottle of my favorite wine. Another trigger food would be ice cream drumsticks. Yum. Sometimes it can be cookies...they have to be ooey, gooey ones though!

Roni talks about why she thinks certain foods are trigger foods for herself. That got me to thinking about why mine are trigger foods. The wine? I think it is because I like the buzz. I like the way it mellows the mood and relaxes me. How do I handle this trigger? Avoidance. I just don't buy it unless it is a special occasion. The ice cream is a combination of childhood memories of trips to DQ. Ice cream was a treat and a special occasion. Same for the cookies. I handle these by avoidance too.

Of course there are modern day reasons for wanting some of the trigger foods that are not related to childhood memories. These reasons are things like the way a food is made up. A lot of processed food has a bunch of science behind it. Hundreds (and I am guessing a LOT more) of dollars are spent on research to find the right combination of salt, sugar, and fats that make our brains crave more and more. Think potato chips...nobody can eat just one!

Do I plan to avoid certain foods all my life then? Nope. I do not buy them every time I go shopping though. I also try to buy as small a quantity as possible too. If I want a cookie, I either make it myself and share with my neighbors or do it on a day that I might be going to an event, and bring them to share with others.

Do I ever give in to temptation completely? Sometimes. I am pretty happy with myself though. If I buy a box of drumsticks and keep it to one per night for dessert, then I think that is ok. As long as I don't do this day after day, week after week, month after month, I feel it is ok. I also try to push eating a little lighter during the day, pushing big salads and lower fat foods to make up for the treat.

What is your trigger food? How do you handle the temptation? Do you know where your trigger food's roots originated? Do you think that that knowledge would help you resist your trigger foods?

One last note about trigger foods...if you can't resist temptation, can you make it healthier? Can you find a substitute that is better? Can you eat less of it? Sometimes I can, sometimes I can't. The difference is that now I can resist or change foods to healthier versions of favorites. When I can't resist, I enjoy the smallest portion, slowly, mindfully, and with relish! THEN I do NOT beat myself up over it. I really try to not let food rule me...I rule the food...as much as I can, as often as I can and it is getting easier.

Walk-on till we meet again!

Kranky Post

It is a busy time of year here. Soon school will be out though, and we will change the way we do things. Of note, my 12 year old and I will be free to ride bikes or go to the local swimming pool. I must say, I am looking forward to both.

We are also gearing up for a performance soon. We actually combined riding bikes and practicing music for the show. On Monday we rode a little over four miles to a little park where we sat around a picnic table and played some of our tunes for the birds and squirrels. Much to our surprise, when we finished the last song, we heard clapping behind us! This was so fun that we plan to do it again this summer.

In other areas of life, it is just going along pretty slow and quiet. I don't have any earth shattering things to talk about. I am up and down on the scale. I am currently not smoking. I think about how ugly my legs and belly look with all the loose skin and fat hanging. I will be making mad dashes from the pool side to the water so most people won't see my whole body and all its wrinkles. blah!

Oh, I just saw that ABC's Extreme Weight Loss show is starting back up tonight. I wonder if it will be as lame as the last 17 episodes were? I can hardly believe they have had that many shows! Do people watch it and other shows like Biggest Loser for inspiration? Or to find out answers as to how to lose weight? Or to make fun of fat people? Or to find that losing weight can be done if you can get on a TV show? (I admit it, I am a cynic).

When the 'in between times' of the television seasons start, the really sucky shows come out for a while. Time for me to get caught up on all those hundreds of hours of recorded programing on the DVR. Wanna watch Christmas with the Krunks or was it Kranks?

(searching...searching...searching....) KRANKS....ya, it was Christmas with the Kranks. I'll bring the popcorn! And if you think I am going to watch that show tonight, you can have all the popcorn I am not going to make, too. (sticking my tongue out)

Walk-On dear readers!

A Little Biking Today

We just got back from our first family bike ride. We were out for about an hour and went about 8 miles. Oh my goodness the bike trails they have here, are awesome! We went across the Big Dam Bridge to the Two Rivers Bridge through a pine forest stand to a rest stop that had a full bike repair station and restrooms...even a solar dumpster. 
It was 80 degrees out but we had a breeze and a great workout. I am surprised how well biking has been for us! Now for brunch and then yard work. Busy Sunday at our house! :)

Don't you just love that tie-dyed tee-shirt I am wearing? The fanny pack does wonders for my silhouette ... NOT!!! We had a great time though and plan to do it again, packing a picnic lunch and taking our instruments along to play. I can't believe how much I actually have enjoyed this new form of exercise!

Till next time, Walk-On!

My New Bestest Breakfast

We recently switched from *skim milk to 2% milk, and now to **almond milk in our house. I have been using Silk's 30 calorie unsweetened almond milk:

I was surprised that my usually fussy 12 year old son, liked the almond milk on his cereal in the morning. I tried it in my coffee and did not like it. I've tried it in Kraft Mac n Cheese and both the son and fussier husband said it was just fine! I've used it in mashed potatoes too, with positive results. Today I made oatmeal with it. I like steel cut oats and usually make eight batches at a time in my crock pot, using water.

So today I made a single serving on the stove top, using almond milk instead of water. I didn't want to waste a bunch of steel cut oats in the crock pot in case I didn't like the taste. OMG!!! I did not need to worry about that! The cooked oats in almond milk not only tasted good, it tasted decadent!

I always have a sliced banana, 2% Greek yogurt, and cinnamon in the bowl too. The results of this experiment were beyond wonderful! It tasted rich, fatty, and nutty. It was a little chewy (in a good way) so it was quite palate pleasing as well as textured.

I plan to make a crock-pot-batch using the almond milk. I will then divide it up into containers and freeze it for my version of instant oatmeal. (Quick note here, be careful as this has the potential to bubble up and boil over just like milk will....ask me how I know!)

FYI this is a big breakfast that really carries you through the morning, without needing a snack. It has about 460 calories using 2% Greek yogurt. If you use fat free Greek yogurt, SUBTRACT about 40 calories.
Subtract 170 calories of the 2% Greek yogurt and using skim milk instead, you'll add 80 calories.
OR
Subtract 170 calories of the 2% Greek yogurt and use 2% milk, and add 160 calories.
You don't even have to add more milk as you are already using the almond milk.
(all yogurts and milk are figured as 8 ounce servings)

Because of the banana and steel cut oats, it digests slower and keeps the thungeries away longer. I hope you'll give it a try!
NOTE: My math was wrong and as of Saturday morning, May 18th, I edited this post with the correct figures)

Bike riding is going well, walking is not...mostly due to higher temperatures outside, busy schedules, and today, rain. My spirits are really good! I still have a back injury that is slowing me down in Yoga...a pulled muscle I think. But I am eating clean and the scale has been kind to me for a week now.

That's it for today! Walk-On dear readers...with wheels if you want. 

*I've read a lot of disturbing things about how skim milk is made. I think it is over-processed. Allegedly powdered milk is added to make skim milk less chalky and to give it a whiter color, among other reasons. If I understand it right, the FDA does not require the addition of powdered milk to be labeled as an ingredient

**I love that almond milk has a longer shelf life in the fridge, compared to milk. I can buy several cartons at a time, especially when it is on sale.

When is good enough, good enough?

We often define ourselves by our jobs, achievements, talents, money, or other such markers of success. In the case of weight loss, we define ourselves by how much weight we have lost, how much exercise we do (or don't do), and by what we eat...whether it is good or bad food! But what really makes one good enough?

I am a quilter. I see a project and start it. Sometimes things go wrong and I have to pick out a bunch of stitching to redo it better. Quilting is a process where you make the top and then sandwich some fluffy type batting in the middle and usually have a solid pieced backing. The top is where the work is most intense. Some are pieced with geometric shapes. Some have fabrics cut in specific shapes and then they are sewn down onto a background fabric. Below is a sample of each.

This is appliqué. All the shapes are cut out and sewn down to the background fabric. In this example the edges of each piece are folded under before hand stitching them in place. It is VERY labor intensive and often takes hours of work to achieve.

This is pieced where the geometric shapes are cut apart and then sewn together to make blocks. Those blocks are later sewn together to make the quilt top. Quilters pride themselves on making perfect joinings of each piece so the points are crisp and match up perfectly.

I am not a perfect quilter. I don't always have the pieced fabrics perfectly joined with pointy points and matched up seams. I then get tripped up on the quilting part, where you actually sew together the three layers. Here is an example of someone elses quilting:

 Jill is an online friend of mine, and a most excellent quilter and designer of quilts!

And here is an example of mine:

I have not come even close to the fancy quilting in the first example. I often let myself know I am not good enough to quilt like that. I don't give myself credit for being able to quilt tops the way I do it. There are quilters that cannot even do what I do. If it isn't straight stitching they often won't try to quilt like I do. What I do is called 'free motion quilting'. That is quilting squiggly lines with no pattern in mind.

That first example is free motion quilting of a specific design. In particular, note the stitching that looks like a feather. I am not at that level of quilting yet. I say yet, like I will be that good someday. I don't know that I will EVER be that good. But it is ok. I still can create works of MY art and it will be good enough. This doesn't mean I won't always strive to quilt better...just that until I am there, it IS good enough!

I will also be good enough with this weight loss stuff. Sure, I have gained a few pounds and often feel like a failure in weight loss, but really I am NOT a failure and I need to work on not feeling like a failure. Somehow I gotta believe that I not only WILL be good enough, but that I already am.

My Mother's Day present arrived a day early. A brand new purple and orange bike with old fashioned coaster brakes and no gears. I love it!

 

That is my 12 year old son with me. He just learned how to ride a bicycle a few weeks ago. He's already making plans for us to go on bike rides. THIS is a good thing.....

So walk-on my friends....even if it is with wheels!