WHO? ME?

Just stopping by to say another quick hello! We are snowed in and I am missing my exercise classes. I knew I liked them, but I didn't know how much I liked them until I'd been deprived of being able to go to them!!!

I think I have gained about ten pounds over the holidays so far. Wayyyyy too many carbs...that chex-mix is wicked good! I hope to walk to the store today to get some much needed fresh produce. We can't drive out there yet and might not be able to for a few more days. My wrist got tweaked and I can't even shovel snow, which I would gladly have done for exercise!

My favorite Fat 2 Fit podcast sent out a notice that they plan to be back in 2013. I sure hope so! I miss that podcast a lot. It won't be the same guys, but I am hoping it will be the same theme...I can't imagine it won't be! "Eat like the thinner person you want to become." That is it in a nutshell. MMMMMMM nuts, cashews, pecans, almonds....we have a lot of those in the house right now too. I think I gained a pound, just thinking about them!

I hope you are having a wonderful holiday season as well. Be kind to yourself and get back on track as much as you can, as soon as you can. That is what I plan to do!

Till next year, walk on my friends!!!

Dashing through the snow...

Just dashing in for a quick hello! 

Hello!

No snow here yet. Perhaps by Christmas Day!
Today begins a five day stint with no exercise classes. Whatever will I do?
I am going out to dinner tonight, to celebrate with my husband. It is his birthday today!
I am glad the world didn't end, as some feared.
I refuse to change the number above, that says what I weigh. I've been all over the place and even saw a 180 for a day. I will see what happens in 2013, after the holidays and all the goodies I plan to enjoy!

Has anyone noticed that chicken prices are not very good right now? I have a freezer full of beef roasts and ground beef. I have one package of pork. I have no chicken. Well, I suppose I could have chicken if I bought regular chicken and wasn't waiting for the organic chicken to be on sale. How dare I want to wait for a sale price? It might have something to do with the organic chicken being higher priced per pound than the steak that I buy sometimes!!!
I should look into raising chickens in the back yard. But then I would have to butcher them myself as my hubby and child would hightail it out of here if they saw me wielding an ax.

For the first time that I can recall, I am looking forward to enjoying a goodie or two this holiday season. For the first time, I am not afraid of having a treat or two! For the first time I am not worried. For the first time, I feel in control of what I choose to eat. I will over indulge a bit here and there and I might gain a pound or so. THIS year though, I know I can take it back off as I get back into my routine of exercising and eating right.

It is still SO very easy! I cannot believe how successful I have been and continue to be! Really, if you are struggling, don't give up. Figure out what works for you and in the words of Picard, "Make it so."

On a serious note, yes, I DID walk in remembrance for the children and adults who died in Newtown. It felt good to pay homage to them. I am doing more, but for today, this was the right thing to do.

Now dear readers...enjoy the holidays, your families, your lives, and as always,

Walk On

Time on the 21st

I just haven't felt like posting anything since Friday's tragedy in Connecticut. How does anyone deal with the horror of those little lives being taken so violently? I don't know. I do know I was immensely happy to hug my 6th grader when he came home from school that day. I felt guilty because I had a child to hug.
I have heard some talk of folks saying they are walking for at least 27 minutes on Friday the 21st, in order to remember those 27 lives lost, both young and old. For 27 minutes they will walk in silent contemplation and reverence. I plan to do something similar during my Friday walk. I don't want to hold it to a specific 27 minutes, but will dedicate 30 minutes without music or podcasts playing in my ears...to remember all that have been lost too many times in too many places. Join me?

Being Comfortable

I am enjoying a most delicious apple right now. I take a bite and type and bite and type. As long as I don't drool on the keyboard, I think this will work out just fine!
Speaking of working out, I was thinking about my exercise regimen yesterday. I really like the balance I have right now:

• Sundays I often go for a very long walk. 
• Monday is yoga and I like how I get to stretch all my muscles after having done whatever I've done on the weekends. It seems to start the week out right.
• Tuesday is a short walk in the morning and upper body weight training class in the afternoon.
• Wednesday I am back in yoga class. After the workout on Tuesday, I find yoga relieves tight and sore muscles.
• Thursday is a short walk in the morning again. In the afternoon I go to weight training class for the lower body and legs.
• Friday is a free-for-all day. I usually schedule some sort of errand running or I might do the short walk. Sometimes I don't leave the house, but I will do some housework. I also have recently made a morning appointment with myself to sit for 15 minutes and work on my art journaling.
• Saturday is a toss-up day. I can go for a walk, work on the strength machines, go in the pool, or do major yard work or housework or shopping or nothing. 

I am comfortable. Not TOO comfortable, but just the right amount of comfortable. As each week passes and my weight does not go up, I am thinking..."Is this real? Why is this time SO different? How can this be SO freakin' easy???" Is it because I give myself permission to not be perfect? Is it because I don't need to be 120 pounds to be healthy? I think for each of us, the answer is a different reason.

All those years of trying to lose weight and failing over and over again...why am I successful now? In part I think it comes down to the fact that I educated myself and continue to educate myself about foods and new discoveries in the world of heath. I remain a skeptic about most things (especially the NEWEST things) and stick to the basics that keep working well for me, time and time again. In part, I...

• eat sensibly and mindfully.
• add vegetables every time I can.
• make changes where I can and don't stress about the changes I can't make.
• keep active in life or in exercise classes.
• utilize a support group that helps me stay motivated and is very therapeutic.
• change up my exercise routine if I get bored doing what I am doing. 
• if something keeps tripping me up, I figure out how to not trip over it!

My weight has remained down from where it was a month ago. The more I live, what seems normal to me, the more I am amazed that I am not gaining, and in fact I lost a bit. This is exciting...well to ME it is!

Till next time, Walk-on!!!

Granny was right

Granny was right about more than we realized at the time.

Remember when she was doctoring her family? 

It has been so long ago since I've seen this show but I still recall one episode that has stuck in my mind all these years. There was an episode where a woman asked Granny for help. She couldn't sleep at night. Did Granny have some hill-country medicine that would help her sleep?

What did Granny prescribe? I seem to recall butter churning, floor washing, wall washing, washing clothes by hand with a washboard, and various chores that were normal for Granny to do every day. The woman was well off and had a maid that did all her household chores. When she followed Granny's advice she slept like a baby that night.

I've always remembered that part of that episode. If you're lazing around and at the end of the day you can't sleep, SOMETIMES it is because you haven't been active enough during the day.

A parade of wheat

It has been a whirlwind around this household! After the 'Big Dam Bridge Full Moon Walk' we had a birthday for my son. We then followed up that with a parade! The three of us were in the parade group from Fit 2 Live out of North Little Rock.

That is my son on the left, my husband in the middle and myself on the right. The parade theme was "A Psychedelic Christmas" so I found my original big bell, bell bottom jeans from 1974. Funny how tight they fit back in '74 and how lose they were now! I had to wear a belt to hold them up. What a fun way to get a 4+ mile walk done for that day's exercise!

So many things are on my mind! Before I forget all of them, I am trying to type really really fast! Here are the tidbits from my mind today:

• My weight started a downward trend again! I am not sure why but I am not going to argue the fact that over the last four weeks I've dropped at least two pounds!
• It has now been over a week since I quit smoking. I've been off the patch for four or five days. I declare that I have again, quit!
• I like having a trainer to work with on weight training. He keeps track of what I am doing and what I need to do and when I need to change it up. I like the freedom to not have to think about every detail and to just DO what he says I should.
• I like the structure of the yoga classes too, for the same reasons as the weight training sessions. 
• Having two days a week of structured yoga and structured weight training is plenty for me. The other three days are toss up days to exercise how I want to. I do make it a point to do something in the name of exercise each day, but I no longer am worried that I am not doing enough or doing exercise hard enough.
• I am starting to wean myself off of calorie counting. My New Year's goal is to stop all together. It is scary but at the same time exhilarating to think I can do this!
• My eating habits are getting more and more second nature. I love not having to be so damned obsessive about every morsel that goes into my mouth.
• I enjoy helping others with their weight issues. The longer I am successful at this the more empowered I feel that I CAN make a difference in someone else's life so that they do not have to suffer like I did.
• When I 'cheat' or just have to have something extra I am making it a point to have some mixed nuts, or a piece of fruit, or Greek yogurt. My theory is that since those are more natural foods, they will be absorbed better, health-wise, than a processed food would be.

I saw this on Facebook the other day:

I love the one that says the unopened registers

are there for decoration only! hahaha

My eating habits are leaning more and more towards eating more protein, vegetables, fruits, and drinking more water. I am trying to cut more and more wheat carbs out of my diet. That is an experiment I am working on to see if it makes a difference in how I feel or if the belly fat that I still carry around goes away more.

There is a theory out there that says the wheat we eat now is so far removed from the wheat our grandparents ate, that it is the cause for every ailment under the sun! I am undecided about *GMO stuff, but heck, this is worth a try! (*GMO = genetically modified organism) We often eat too much wheat anyway. Look at the processed foods and just see if there is any wheat in it. We are supposed to be surprised at what does actually have wheat in the ingredients.

We think of breads and such as having wheat, but I think we forget just how much wheat we use in other products. Maybe it IS something and maybe it isn't. I am ever the skeptic, so I can't take anyone's word for it. I will be my own guinea pig again. I'll keep you posted on the results.

That's it in a nutshell for today! My exercise of choice today is decorating the house for the holidays. It is a lot of work but it is also a fun way to exercise!

Till next time...walk-on!