Today I officially cut soda out of my daily diet. I'm going to replace soda and tea with water. This should cut 250 calories out of my daily amount.
And now that the time has changed, it's light when I wake up. This should make it easier to stick to a morning exercise plan. There were other things going on in the beginning of the week, but I feel confident that I can get on a schedule.
I did my elliptical this morning for twenty minutes and felt like I was going to pass out at the very end. This too will get better once I get back into the swing of things. Then I can slowly add more resistance.
Let's just hope that I don't get back into a slump as the holidays approach.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Monday, October 27, 2008
Fireproof
My husband and I went on a date last night, dinner and then a movie. We saw Fireproof. It's the story of a couple who are about to get divorced. The husband, played by Kirk Cameron, holds off for forty days as a promise to his father. During this time he takes part in the Love Dare. Each day he's given a task to complete, which ultimately opens his eyes and draws him closer to God.
The movie has it's faults, mainly with some of the acting, but I found that was easily overlooked because the story was compelling. It was nice to see a movie with no cursing, sex, or violence. I heard that the end scene is darkened out because Kirk Cameron didn't want to kiss anyone other than his wife. That's pretty amazing. I hope they make more movies. I'm sure each one will be better and better until you see real Christian big blockbusters.
The movie has it's faults, mainly with some of the acting, but I found that was easily overlooked because the story was compelling. It was nice to see a movie with no cursing, sex, or violence. I heard that the end scene is darkened out because Kirk Cameron didn't want to kiss anyone other than his wife. That's pretty amazing. I hope they make more movies. I'm sure each one will be better and better until you see real Christian big blockbusters.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
A pound a week
My work hosted a health fair yesterday, where I picked up a handout showing how much exercise you need to do in order to loose weight. You need to burn 3500 calories more than you use. It sounds pretty intimidating. However, at the bottom of the page there is an equation that says if you burn 250 calories and cut 250 calories from your diet each day then over a week you will loose a pound. (250 +250 =500; 500 x 7 = 3500)
Basically you need to pick an activity like walking briskly for an hour a day, which will burn about 300 calories. Then you need to drop something from your daily diet. A large sugar cookie has 362 calories, a medium order of french fries has 380 calories and a 16 oz. soda averages 140 calories. Remember not to replace what you are cutting out with something else high in calories.
This page had a neat calorie burn counter. http://www.healthstatus.com/calculate/cbc. You put in your weight and how many minutes you do for each item and it will tell you how many calories you burn a day. Then you measure what you eat versus what you burn.
My new goal is to get up and work on my elliptical during the weekdays. The weekends I do other activities like cleaning house that helps burn calories so I don't have to do the elliptical on those days. I have some Cokes in the refrigerator, but once those are gone, I'm going to cut soda from my diet. I'll also cut back on sweets.
This sounds somewhat hard, but after a while it'll become the norm. Let's hope that I can get up in the dark.
Basically you need to pick an activity like walking briskly for an hour a day, which will burn about 300 calories. Then you need to drop something from your daily diet. A large sugar cookie has 362 calories, a medium order of french fries has 380 calories and a 16 oz. soda averages 140 calories. Remember not to replace what you are cutting out with something else high in calories.
This page had a neat calorie burn counter. http://www.healthstatus.com/calculate/cbc. You put in your weight and how many minutes you do for each item and it will tell you how many calories you burn a day. Then you measure what you eat versus what you burn.
My new goal is to get up and work on my elliptical during the weekdays. The weekends I do other activities like cleaning house that helps burn calories so I don't have to do the elliptical on those days. I have some Cokes in the refrigerator, but once those are gone, I'm going to cut soda from my diet. I'll also cut back on sweets.
This sounds somewhat hard, but after a while it'll become the norm. Let's hope that I can get up in the dark.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Dark Mornings
I do not like these dark mornings. It is very hard to get out of bed when the sun is not yet up. Plus it's been cold. It's much more cozier in the bed.
For the past couple of weeks, I hit the snooze button until the last possible minute. Today, I got up a little earlier , but not as early as I would have liked. My alarm wend off at 6:19. After snoozing, I finally got up at 6:35. The plan was to get a twenty minute workout on my elliptical.
Unfortunately, I was moving slow. I tried to sneak downstairs, but dogs heard me and started barking to be fed and taken outside. Of course it was still dark. My husband goes downstairs and works out all the time, but the dogs don't bark at him. They wait for me.
So, by the time I got the dogs fed and taken out to their yard I was only able to manage ten minutes on the elliptical. I guess ten minutes is better than none. I hope the rest of the week will be better.
For the past couple of weeks, I hit the snooze button until the last possible minute. Today, I got up a little earlier , but not as early as I would have liked. My alarm wend off at 6:19. After snoozing, I finally got up at 6:35. The plan was to get a twenty minute workout on my elliptical.
Unfortunately, I was moving slow. I tried to sneak downstairs, but dogs heard me and started barking to be fed and taken outside. Of course it was still dark. My husband goes downstairs and works out all the time, but the dogs don't bark at him. They wait for me.
So, by the time I got the dogs fed and taken out to their yard I was only able to manage ten minutes on the elliptical. I guess ten minutes is better than none. I hope the rest of the week will be better.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Night Terrors
I had a night terror last night. I've had these since I was a child. They're a little hard to describe since I'm asleep at the time, but I have reports from my mom, roommates and husband about some of it, and in some cases I've woken up and have some sort of memory.
As a child they were textbook. I'd let out a blood curdling scream, thrash about, and then roll over and go back to sleep. Mom told me how one night, while I was sleeping in the bed with her, I got up, walked around on top of the bed while grabbing at the air, all while screaming at the top of my lungs. After a minute or so she was able to calm me down. I went back to sleep and had no recollection the next day. I'd wake up some mornings and mom would say, "You did your screaming thing again last night." I'd laugh. However, now as an adult, it's not funny anymore.
Night Terrors are classified as a children's sleeping disorder, although, some adults are known to have them; technically you're supposed to out grow them. Mine have changed over the years and now may not be seen as actual night terrors. However, I think it's more that I have changed and not the terrors. For instance, a lot of time I wake up and remember now. I think this is because an adult wakes easier than a child.
I've described what the observer sees. Someone screaming and thrashing about, a nightmare acted out. However, for the person having them, they are very different than a nightmare.
When a person describes a nightmare or dream, you hear stuff like I was at the mall, but it didn't really look like the mall, or I was at my childhood house, but there were vines growing up the walls. In my night terrors, I'm where I actually am and seeing the room as it actually is. It's a dream on top of reality.
One example, though not a night terror, was when I was in college. My roommate and I slept across from each other in loft beds. In the middle of the night I said, "Kay." No answer. "Kay." No answer. "Kay." "What?" she snapped. "Don't move!" I said. She looked at me. I was hanging over the side of the bed looking at the floor. Oh no, she thought. Then I said, "The floor is caving in." My eyes were open and I was actually looking at our floor, but dreaming at the same time.
In the ones I remember, there is no dream sequence. It's more like a feeling of dread just comes over me. I'm in my room and all of a sudden I think someone is standing at the foot of the bed. Some of this is could be shadows. Maybe I opened my eyes and saw a shadow and am now convinced it was something else, a person, spider, snake, etc.
I don't remember much of the one I had last night. The scream may have been what woke me. Afterward, my throat was scratch and sore. My body was very shaky and I felt drugged, I assume from a big jolt of adrenalin. It's a very strange feeling. From downstairs, my husband yelled, "Did you have a night terror?" "Yes," I said. Then went back to sleep.
I've been told that they are caused by anxiety or stress. However, last night I wasn't stressed, and in general, I don't think of my self as having a lot of anxiety, at least not more than other people. Hmm... I don't really know why I have them. I just wish I would out grow them.
As a child they were textbook. I'd let out a blood curdling scream, thrash about, and then roll over and go back to sleep. Mom told me how one night, while I was sleeping in the bed with her, I got up, walked around on top of the bed while grabbing at the air, all while screaming at the top of my lungs. After a minute or so she was able to calm me down. I went back to sleep and had no recollection the next day. I'd wake up some mornings and mom would say, "You did your screaming thing again last night." I'd laugh. However, now as an adult, it's not funny anymore.
Night Terrors are classified as a children's sleeping disorder, although, some adults are known to have them; technically you're supposed to out grow them. Mine have changed over the years and now may not be seen as actual night terrors. However, I think it's more that I have changed and not the terrors. For instance, a lot of time I wake up and remember now. I think this is because an adult wakes easier than a child.
I've described what the observer sees. Someone screaming and thrashing about, a nightmare acted out. However, for the person having them, they are very different than a nightmare.
When a person describes a nightmare or dream, you hear stuff like I was at the mall, but it didn't really look like the mall, or I was at my childhood house, but there were vines growing up the walls. In my night terrors, I'm where I actually am and seeing the room as it actually is. It's a dream on top of reality.
One example, though not a night terror, was when I was in college. My roommate and I slept across from each other in loft beds. In the middle of the night I said, "Kay." No answer. "Kay." No answer. "Kay." "What?" she snapped. "Don't move!" I said. She looked at me. I was hanging over the side of the bed looking at the floor. Oh no, she thought. Then I said, "The floor is caving in." My eyes were open and I was actually looking at our floor, but dreaming at the same time.
In the ones I remember, there is no dream sequence. It's more like a feeling of dread just comes over me. I'm in my room and all of a sudden I think someone is standing at the foot of the bed. Some of this is could be shadows. Maybe I opened my eyes and saw a shadow and am now convinced it was something else, a person, spider, snake, etc.
I don't remember much of the one I had last night. The scream may have been what woke me. Afterward, my throat was scratch and sore. My body was very shaky and I felt drugged, I assume from a big jolt of adrenalin. It's a very strange feeling. From downstairs, my husband yelled, "Did you have a night terror?" "Yes," I said. Then went back to sleep.
I've been told that they are caused by anxiety or stress. However, last night I wasn't stressed, and in general, I don't think of my self as having a lot of anxiety, at least not more than other people. Hmm... I don't really know why I have them. I just wish I would out grow them.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Beef Burgundy
Yesterday I made beef burgundy in the crock pot. I know it's probably not technically the correct, original, or best way to make it, but it turned out well.
As always, I modified the recipe. I reduced the onions to 4 instead of 5. Everything else, I increased because the meat I bought was more than it called for. It took me over an hour to get it all set to go, but I was doing other things in between. I had to take a break from chopping onions because my eyes were watering. Here's approximately what I did.
4 onions thinly sliced
3 lbs of stewing beef
6 oz sliced mushrooms
1/4 heaping tsp of dried marjoram
1/4 heaping tsp of dried thyme
salt to taste around 1 tsp
pepper to taste
2 cups of Burgundy wine
1 cup beef broth
I put it in the crock pot in this order then cooked on low for ten hours. When it was done, I served it over small egg noodles with french bread. I thought it was pretty tasty. My husband was a little more iffy about it. He said he didn't care for roast beef. I'm not sure what he meant, but I guess he didn't like the onions and the texture of the meat. Of course all the things I liked.
The only thing I would do different is add more mushrooms, maybe 8oz instead of 6oz. I also would have put it on the big noodles instead of the small.
It was nice to cook it in the crock pot. I'll have to start using my crock pot more. I've picked out some other recipes. Look for those coming soon.
As always, I modified the recipe. I reduced the onions to 4 instead of 5. Everything else, I increased because the meat I bought was more than it called for. It took me over an hour to get it all set to go, but I was doing other things in between. I had to take a break from chopping onions because my eyes were watering. Here's approximately what I did.
4 onions thinly sliced
3 lbs of stewing beef
6 oz sliced mushrooms
1/4 heaping tsp of dried marjoram
1/4 heaping tsp of dried thyme
salt to taste around 1 tsp
pepper to taste
2 cups of Burgundy wine
1 cup beef broth
I put it in the crock pot in this order then cooked on low for ten hours. When it was done, I served it over small egg noodles with french bread. I thought it was pretty tasty. My husband was a little more iffy about it. He said he didn't care for roast beef. I'm not sure what he meant, but I guess he didn't like the onions and the texture of the meat. Of course all the things I liked.
The only thing I would do different is add more mushrooms, maybe 8oz instead of 6oz. I also would have put it on the big noodles instead of the small.
It was nice to cook it in the crock pot. I'll have to start using my crock pot more. I've picked out some other recipes. Look for those coming soon.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Will Power
Does anyone know where will power comes from? Is this some sort of ancient mystery that only a few people know and hide from the rest of us? Someone could make some serious money if they could sell it by the bottle.
I blogged before about my non-diet diet/health quest. Well, last week I went to visit my parents in Myrtle Beach. And we all know how diets work on vacation. This week I've had a bit of a cold and haven't had the energy to work out, and haven't had the motivation to really cook, leaving us to eat stuff we probably shouldn't.
Vacation is over; my cold is gone. Time to buckle down, right? Wrong! We're having a pizza party at work on Monday, and I'm going to a wedding next Saturday where you can bet I'll have a piece of the cake that Shawna has made sound awesome. My family has birthdays coming up which means large birthday dinners and, of course, birthday cakes. Then there is Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's. Not to mention my own weakness of not always wanting to eat the lunch I brought. Ugh!
So does that mean I'm doomed to diet every other day or every other meal? I guess since I'm making up this diet as I go along I can do whatever I want. However, is it worth it? I guess eating healthy now and again is better than eating bad all the time. Right? Can you make lasting change this way or do you need to go hardcore diet? Is the key to real success the ever unatainable will power? Anyone know where I can get some?
I blogged before about my non-diet diet/health quest. Well, last week I went to visit my parents in Myrtle Beach. And we all know how diets work on vacation. This week I've had a bit of a cold and haven't had the energy to work out, and haven't had the motivation to really cook, leaving us to eat stuff we probably shouldn't.
Vacation is over; my cold is gone. Time to buckle down, right? Wrong! We're having a pizza party at work on Monday, and I'm going to a wedding next Saturday where you can bet I'll have a piece of the cake that Shawna has made sound awesome. My family has birthdays coming up which means large birthday dinners and, of course, birthday cakes. Then there is Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's. Not to mention my own weakness of not always wanting to eat the lunch I brought. Ugh!
So does that mean I'm doomed to diet every other day or every other meal? I guess since I'm making up this diet as I go along I can do whatever I want. However, is it worth it? I guess eating healthy now and again is better than eating bad all the time. Right? Can you make lasting change this way or do you need to go hardcore diet? Is the key to real success the ever unatainable will power? Anyone know where I can get some?
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