Weight and Finances!

I think for many people (not all) ... if they are undisciplined with their money and budget, they are also undisciplined with their diet, or managing their weight. Many people who have trouble managing their weight, also have trouble managing their checkbook. 

Things that are important require planning and patience ... you need to plan your meals, what you're going to eat, when you'll eat it, maybe prepare the food ahead of time, etc. Money is the same thing. You have to pay attention to your input and output, credits and debits. 

I think too often people suffer with the 'I want it now" disorder. They have no concept of delayed gratification. It's easier to put it on a credit card then it is to save money for it. It's easier to go through the fast food drive through then it is to go home and cook a meal. 

I also believe in the domino effect. Focus on getting ONE thing in line, and doing it well, and then that often leads to other things falling into place. You can't try to change your whole life in one day. Which leads me to the other disorder I run into a lot ... "all or nothing" disorder. You either do everything perfectly, or you say screw it, and don't even try at all. 

My mantra has always been about habits. Focus on changing one habit, replace one bad with a good. Then do another one, then another one. 

If this doesn't apply to you - then just smile and move on, not trying to step on any toes or anything. But if it strikes a nerve with you, maybe it's something to work on or think about. How do your finances look? Are you happy with your weight management? If they're both a mess, maybe they're connected to something bigger you need to work on. 

One last thought, if you have not read The Spark book. Read it. I have two copies. It is awesome. (click here for Amazon:  Spark Book)

As always, make champion choices,

Debra

Superbowl Sunday

My day started with my 4 yr old son throwing up all over me and in my face, literally. Yeah - that was just lovely. Had to laugh -what else can you do. Then later, I started feeling crappy and got a fever. Fun times. My 7 yr old son says to me, "you know mama, that was kind of rude for James to hurl on you and get you sick". Ahhhh well my son, not rude, just part of the job. Besides, it gives me a great story to tell his girlfriends about him when he's older. 

Meanwhile, I guess there is some kind of football game on today that everyone is talking about, and something about commercials. :) Yeah, I'm not watching it, I'm watching a documentary on Alaska. I'm such a rebel that way. 

Whenever I think of Superbowl Sunday I think about my sweet hubby and when we were just newly dating, 20 years ago. It was a Sunday afternoon, and he came to pick me up at my dad's house. My dad says "hey, where are you guys going?". We answered we were going to walk around Washington, D.C. (I lived in VA). My dad was like "WHAT? It's Superbowl Sunday, aren't you going to watch the game???" ... clearly my dad was shocked. My sweet Tom just looked at him with a surprised look on his face, and said "Oh, is that today?". He had no clue. Neither did I. It's not that my husband is anti-athletics or sports or anything, and he can watch a game now and then with the best of them ... but he just hadn't been paying attention. My dad told me to hurry up and marry that man because I had a keeper. My dad was right. I did marry that man. We will celebrate 20 years of marriage in April. 

At any rate; hope you enjoyed your Superbowl Sunday - - whether you were watching television, looking at monuments or dreaming of Alaska.

Here is our wedding pic:  (Happy to say I'm smaller now than when I got married)  ;)

As always, make champion choices,
Debra

Groundhog Dog - Different Meaning to Me

On this day in history, when I was 12 years old, my mother had a heart attack.  At that time, she was only 40 years old.  It was unheard of, really.  She had a major heart attack and was in the hospital for probably 3 weeks I think.  She was overweight and had been a heavy smoker.  This, of course, was the day she quit.  It's hard for me to remember that my parents were smokers before then, but they were.  This was in the 80's, and low-fat everything was all the rage.   So after mom got out of the hospital, we became a low-fat, low-salt household.  I remember her buying some sort of fat-free potato chips and thinking 'why bother?'! LOL   ....

She started an exercise routine after that to help rehabilitate herself.  She got to where she was walking about six miles a day.  She lost a good bit of weight, in addition to quitting smoking.

Fast forward five years, 1987 - she is 45 years old - she unexpectedly died in her sleep from another heart attack.   I was just 17 at the time.  I use to be angry and bitter that she worked so hard, only to die anyway, just 5 short years later.  However; now I realize it was a gift from God.  Her 1st heart attack was so severe, she almost died then.  All of her hard work bought her those 5 extra years, and if you think about it - the five years that a young girl goes through from age 12 to 17 - well those are pretty darn important.

So whenever I think of Groundhog Day - I don't really think about groundhogs or predictions of summer.  I remember coming home from school to an empty house (which NEVER happened) and wondering what the heck was going on.   I remember how everything changed that day.   Happy to say that my father, who is now 70, is definitely still smoke-free, and alive and well.

Present day, I am 43 years old.  I definitely think about the reality of my own mortality - especially given that my mom died so young.  But I'm doing well.  I still have weight to lose, but all my numbers are good (blood sugar, blood pressure, cholesterol, etc.).  I'm a work in progress, but thankfully I've never had to battle smoking or drugs or alcohol or anything like that.  Just food :)

This is a photo of my mother holding me as a baby.

As Always, Make Champion Choices,
Debra

30 Day Challenge Over

So, I just finished up a 30 day challenge that I did privately.  I did not tell a soul about this, not even my husband.  I just kept it to myself.  

You see, I often listen to contemporary Christian music, and here in town, the radio station is KLOVE.  But I never listened to it exclusively.  I would jump around between KLOVE and the local country station, and sometimes a pop station.  I'm not new to Christian music, I've been in love with it since I was a teenager, but it's never been an exclusive choice.

Anyway, the KLOVE station frequently promotes their 30 day challenge, where you make a promise to listen ONLY to Christian music for 30 days, whether on the radio or your iPod or whatever.   I took this challenge and actually did it for 31 days, all of January.  I started New Year's day (obviously).  Again, I never told anybody.

About the 3rd week in, my teenage daughter says to me in the car, 'you know mama, you sure have been listening to a lot of Jesus music lately'.   I just said 'yep'.  She then responded with she thought it was nice.  That was pretty much the end of the conversation.

I must say, I really did enjoy this whole past month of listening exclusively to Christian music.  I'm not saying I'm going to do it that way forever, but I did not change my radio station today, even though it is now February.  One unexpected value that I received from this is the confidence in completing something.  That probably sounds minor, but in all of my heath and fitness quests and challenges and things going on, it's nice to just quietly complete and accomplish a goal.  I find it very motivating.  It makes me want to set MORE goals and meet them/beat them.

Another neat thing happened, I discovered new music ... and found some great workout music.  I finally redeemed some iTunes gift cards I'd been hanging onto and loaded up with a ton of new songs (all Contemporary Christian music).

I also realized that I like listening to the news on the KLOVE station.  You see - in the past - that is always when I would change the channel, because I didn't want to listen to talking.  Once the news or jibber jabber came on, I'd switch to country or something else until I found music.  Participating in this challenge forced me to just leave the station alone and listen to the talking and the news and the testimonies and prayer requests.  I really found this uplifting and encouraging.  I must tell you; I had no idea I was missing out on some of the best stuff from the station.

Anyway, just thought I'd share that.  I'm more motivated, and have been slowing creeping out of this funk I had been in lately.  The month of January did wonders for me.   What goals will you set?  What can you accomplish in February that will put you in a better place?

And speaking of February - - I made a calendar of tasks to do each day this month.  I'm sharing it here, in case you want to participate as well.  Feel free to steal it, borrow it, share it, change it, etc.

As always, make champion choices!

Debra

Grapefruit Anybody?

So I promised I would try Grapefruit this week.  Well, the verdict is in:  It is adequately average.  Well, it's okay.  It's not fabulous to my tongue, but it didn't make me hurl either, so I guess that makes it okay in my book.  The surprising twist is that my kids loved it.  I was shocked - - truly  - - and the reason I was shocked is because I did not ask them to try it.  They had it out and cut up before I even came downstairs in the morning.  Hmmmm ... maybe this 'try new things' is rubbing off on them.

Guess where I got the grapefruit from?   Nope ... not Wal-mart.  ... there was a lady at Church who said that she has a very busy grapefruit tree and it is producing more than she can handle, so she brought lots and lots and lots of grapefruit to Church and was giving them away freely.   I definitely took her up on her generosity. Gives new meaning to 'fruit of the spirit', huh?

I also saw on a Facebook page somewhere, not sure where, the combination of orange slices and grapefruit slices together in a bowl.  That combination had not occurred to me before, but it looked interesting enough. SO I tried it that way too.  Yes, I like it better mixed with oranges.  Duh - should have guessed that I would.

Anyway - Grapefruit is very healthy and definitely something that should be a regular visitor to our kitchens.  So if you don't like it, or have not tried it in a while - I suggest you do so.  I promise you'll likely live through the experience to tell the tale.  Note:  However; it does interfere with certain medications, not sure which ones, so make sure you are aware of such.

As always, make champion choices,

Debra

21 Day Challenge

One of the biggest names in Positive Psychology is a gentleman named Shawn Achor. He has written several books about The Happiness Advantage. in Psychology Today magazine blog, he shared a 21 day challenge. If people have told you that you are negative; if you are posting about what is going wrong in your life and what hurts more than what you have accomplished or what is going well; or if you feel unhappy in your life, give this 21 day challenge a try. 

Try an experiment right now called the 21 Day Challenge. Pick one of the five researched habits and try it out for 21 days in a row to create a positive habit, then comment on this blog or msg me with your results.  (You can do more than 1 or all 5 if you wish, but at least do 1)

1. Write down three new things you are grateful for each day into a blank word document or into the free app I Journal. Research shows this will significantly improve your optimism even 6 months later, and raises your success rates significantly.

2. Write for 2 minutes a day describing one positive experience you had over the past 24 hours. This is a strategy to help transform you from a task-based thinker, to a meaning based thinker who scans the world for meaning instead of endless to-dos. This dramatically increases work happiness.

3. Exercise for 10 minutes a day. This trains your brain to believe your behavior matters, which causes a cascade of success throughout the rest of the day.

4. Meditate for 2 minutes, focusing on your breath going in and out. This will help you undo the negative effects of multitasking. Research shows you get multiple tasks done faster if you do them one at a time. It also decreases stress and raises happiness.

5. Write one, quick email first thing in the morning thanking or praising a member on your team. This significantly increases your feeling of social support, which in Shawn Achor's study at Harvard was the largest predictor of happiness for his students.

I am thinking of starting this February 1st, but I am going to do all five.  I am already a pretty positive and optimistic person anyway ... but this experiment surely can't hurt.

Information from my friend and professional therapist: Cyndi Tucci

Zucchini for me?

Guess what?  Zucchini is good for you.  I bet you probably knew that.  Do you eat it regularly?  I never have, never did.  This was the food of the week in Deb's world.  I promised I would try Zucchini.  My biggest question was what the heck to do with it?  Just chop it up into a salad, broil it -  make Zucchini chips or what?  I posted the question to my FB page and got a ton of responses, too many to handle actually.  I figured out that Zucchini basically has a mild flavor and usually takes on the flavors of things around it.

So first, I tried it raw, just a slice, just to see what it was like.  It was okay.  I did not have a horrible or adverse reaction, but I tell you the truth, it took me quite a long time to actually take that bite.  This is part of my problem, the food phobia thing.  But I didn't die - I'm still alive and well, and Zucchini is not my enemy.  So now that I know it is harmless, the question remains -what can I really do with it.  I just ate it with some strawberries and that seemed to work well for me.   I'm wondering what other combinations would work well, and even considered slapping on some natural peanut butter to the thing.  Maybe next time.  Oh, and yes, there will be a next time.  I promise.

As always, make champion choices,
Debra

Is Arugula Awesome?

Um, the very first thing on our 'try new foods' adventure is Arugula.  I cannot say I was excited by this prospect.  Truly, the thought was getting more and more daunting as the week waned on.  I had planned to try it this Friday (Today)... and I knew I had to do it - just wasn't really thrilled to do such.  I had been reading and hearing that it had kind of a bitter and peppery taste, and that was really making me nervous.  But a promise is a promise, and thus -I had to dive in and do it - - whether I really wanted to do it or not.

Guess what?  It wasn't nearly as bad as I had made it up to be in my mind.  No, I'm not in love with this green mess.  Not at all.  It was a chore to get in a few bites.  But I added lemon juice, and then it wasn't so bad.  I don't really like salad dressings at all, so lemon juice usually will do it for me.   I also tried it mixed with spinach and mandarin orange slices and sunflower seeds.  Kind of like a mini salad, if you will.  Again, it was okay.  Not totally in love with this in the least, but it was different.  I definitely will try it again, in a different combination perhaps.  What about you?  What do YOU do with Arugula?

As always, make champion choices,

Debra

2013 Goals

Happy New Year ... long time no blog. Hope everyone is moving towards their goals and/or resolutions. One goal I have for 2013 is to cover at least 1,000 miles via walking/biking/swimming or whatever. I even have a great group for this on Facebook which is fun. Part of this goal includes wearing my FitBit consistently and aiming for 10,000 steps/day and 10 flights of stairs/day. 

Another goal? Climb Enchanted Rock to the top and complete the trail around the bottom (more on that later).  

Hardest Goal?  I must work on getting more vegetables into my body. NOT sure how to quantify or measure that yet, but I will before this blog is done.

Some of you in here are aware of my weird eating habits, some call it a disorder. BUT if you're not familiar and happen to be interested, there is a link below where I write about it a bit. At any rate; a big weakness of mine is that I do not eat nearly enough vegetables. I've just GOT to get them in me. Right now I take an Alive multi-vitamin and make-do with some smoothies. I had spent a long time in broadening my diet and expanding with the 300 new foods experiment. It was pretty successful, but also stressful, so I took a LONG break. Time to get back at it. Must start making and finding ways to get more veggies in my body without them coming back up!  So I accidentally got a great idea from a Facebook friend about trying ONE new vegetable a week and we'll be each other's accountability partner.  Oh the pressure!  But I think I'm ready.  What will I do this week?  I have no idea.  Waiting to hear from her and what she thinks.  So how about I quantify that veggie goal to say, one new fruit or veggie a week (whether I like it or hate it) for a minimum of 31 weeks. That takes me up until right before my 44th birthday which is 8/21/13.  That way I can celebrate my birthday knowing I tried at least 31 new things, which is kinda like a month of new food, tee hee.   I did an experiment before where I tried a new thing every single day, but that was very stressful for me.  I like the weekly idea much better for this time around.
http://healthyhabitgal.blogspot.com/p/my-disorder.html

And in other news, last weekend I climbed a big fat rock . I didn't quite make it to the top of Enchanted Rock, my stupid knee wouldn't let me ... but I came darn close. Next time, that mountain is MINE! I will climb that rock and do the trail around the bottom before the end of 2013 for sure. It is part of my plan for 2013.  I really need to find a good knee brace. Hiking is my true love. I'd rather be outside climbing a hill or walking a trail, than in a gym any day. Tom ( hubby ) also suggested maybe a walking stick when we're on the trails to help me with my knee. Here is a pic as we started out of hubby and baby James getting going. The other 3 children had taken off already.

As always, make champion choices,

Debra

New Year Greetings

I don't really do the whole resolution thing ... but I do believe in goals and habits.  Here are some ideas I've got floating around in my head for a healthy and prosperous 2013.  Most people won't believe me, but 13 is my lucky number, so I have very high hopes for this coming year.

Remember: Many little steps taken consistently over time can add up to huge results toward living a happier, healthier life.

1. Aim for 10 flights of stairs per day.
2. Aim for 10,000 steps a day.  {1,000 miles in 2013 is my goal}
3. Try a new food once a week - many of which need to be vegetables.
4. Cook one new recipe from scratch at least per week.  Must do this!
5. Prepare a large batch of something on the weekend I can easily reheat for meals during the week.
7. Include fruits or vegetables with every meal.
8. Seek out healthier version of the things I love to eat.  For example:  I love caramel frappes, fish sticks, canned chili and canned new england clam chowder ... how can I make these myself?
10. Replace sweet tea with water or unsweetened tea - I'm already pretty good at this one, and very pleased I gave up diet coke once and for all! Whew!
11. Drink less Starbucks.
12. Continue to reduce and/or eliminate foods containing High Fructose Corn Syrup or artificial sweeteners - already pretty good at this one.
13. Take a walk every day - already pretty good at this one.
14. Look in the mirror and say something nice to myself every day ... easy peasey!
15. Start the day with a healthy breakfast - I already do this!
17. One day a week, choose an unexplored area near me and go for a hike (urban or nature). Love this.
18. Get regular sleep - easier said than done.  Big problem for me, trouble with insomnia.
19. Try a new physical activity that sounds fun.  I have so many ideas it's not even funny.
20. Schedule at least 1 hour of “me” time a week and use it to do something I enjoy that relaxes me.  Hmmm?
21. Commit to Meatless Mondays.  Not so hard.
22. Journal and blog.
23. Sit less, stand up more.
24. When buying processed foods, choose products that contain ingredients you understand or 5 ingredients or less.  Try to get the whole family on the 'clean' eating bandwagon.  
25. Commit to shopping at my local farmers market whenever possible.
26. Park as far away from the store as possible and walk - I do this a lot.
27. Reduce or completely eliminate foods containing partially hydrogenated or hydrogenated oils. Yes!
28. Sign up for an event like a 5K walk or run and train for it.
29. Replace negative thoughts about the way my body looks with positive thoughts about the things my body can do.  Important.
30. Donate or put away clothing that does not fit and flatter me right now!  I am bad about this.
31. Prepare vegetables and fruits ahead of time so I have healthy, easy to grab snacks ready when I want to munch something - for me and kids too.
32. Watch less television and spend less time on Facebook.
33. Try more smoothie recipes.
34. Take a cooking class?  Hmmm, maybe.
35. When I eat something indulgent, eat it slowly and enjoy it, guilt free.  Then move on.
36. Play the XBOX Kinect with the kids.
37. Take up a new hobby that is outdoors or a hobby that keeps me occupied when watching television (less mindless snacking).  Yes, I need a new hobby.  No clue what it will be.
38. Every day, turn on some music I love and dance when nobody is watching.  I am good at this :)
39. Read the Bible through entirely in the year 2013.
40. Be more social with church groups, SparkPeople team, etc.  Need to meet more people, "in real life" people, not just online people! :)

I have so many things I want to try this year.  I want to complete a 5K (Have never done that).  I want to try Zumba again, and kickboxing and roller skating.  I want to go bowling more often.  I want to try Golf and Tennis.  I want to play basketball with my boys. I want to give Yoga another try. I love hiking - I want to climb Enchanted Rock and climb more hills and hike more trails.  I live in an awesome city and I intend to make very good use of the resources I have.

So, what can you add to the list?   A lot of this came from a blog I read at this link, but I modified it to suit me.

http://thisisnotadiet-itsmylife.com/2013/01/01/need-a-2013-goal-forget-lose-weight-actions-anyone-can-take-for-a-healthier-life/

As always, make champion choices,
Debra