Hills and Valleys

Wednesday, January 09, 2013

Like most long term projects, there are hills and valleys in my health and fitness journey. I had lost a bit prior to Christmas and despite the impending holiday, was able to focus and concentrate on my fitness and right foods. I am now experiencing a lack of focus. I haven't eaten all my calories today, but might before the day is done. I didn't eat many veggies though. I have had trouble making myself drink my water too. I haven't been getting in too many fitness minutes either. I AM doing a few, just not a big block like I was.

A lot of participation is happening on the 13-13-13 challenge and that's great. There are more than 400 people who say they are in the challenge. Don't think all really are, but a few have used the mailing list from email I sent to spam everyone and a few participants are irritated. I tell them just to delete the emails, block the senders if they want, or reset their account so they don't get notices of the emails while at work. I sent everyone a note asking them never to send email to the group, especially updates and encouragement--do it on the team page, but a few have still persisted. I guess since the team is composed of people aged 50+, there might be some that are not computer savvy. Maybe they have no experience with challenges and think email is the way to communicate. I just hope it subsides before people get all fired up about it.

ANYWAY, I have been enjoying fixing treats from Hungry Girl cookbook. I think my real hobby is cooking. Today I made everyone an after-school treat of individual pizzas. The crust is a low carb/high fiber tortilla. I used leftover canned spaghetti sauce (from the lasagna yesterday), and leftover mozzarella cheese. The pizzas were met with positive feedback. I will try other variations in time. The cookbook has quite a few variations to peruse.

Keep on sparking, y'all!

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Choogling

Saturday, January 05, 2013

402 people in the challenge at last count. The emails have stopped pouring in. In fact, I think I only got one new one today. For me to lose 13 pounds in the first 13 weeks of 2013, I need to get away from the computer some and do my fitness, plan my good eating, chug my water, which means visiting the water closet!

Have you noticed that a lot of TV programming is centered on weightloss? I guess I always knew it was true that January is the month when we all think about our waistlines. You expect it on Dr. Oz, but I caught a bit of 20/20 last night and it was about BLC people and Ruby.

I went over to AARP site looking for fitness that doesn't hurt my knees for strength training. Martina Navratolova is their health and fitness guru. She has some exercises I want to try. I don't think I'm in Coach Nicole's league.

Made a tasty casserole for my husband this morning. The yield was high and we've both had seconds. It is from Hungry Girl's new cookbook To the Max. This gigantic book has 650 recipes in it that are easy to make, and low in fat and calories. Plus, the serving sizes are satisfying. She uses some unusual ingredients like Fiber One Cereal ground up to make a coating for mock fried things, but whatever she uses can usually be found easily at both of my groceries. If you are looking for inspiration for something good to eat that won't wreck your diet, I can't recommend any other source more highly than Hungry Girl. Her recipes are online too and if you look carefully, she has a show on Food Network and Cooking Channel. I've seen her on Dr. Oz.

I've been doing okay on my eating. Last night I made a Thai curry that was pretty rich and exceeded my calorie allotment. Oh well. It was mostly veggies so that's good. I would make and eat it again, because I love Thai curry! I got the recipe from Food Network. It's a Melissa D'Arabian recipe and pretty easy if you have the ingredients. Despite it's being kind of rich, it was chock full of veggies as I used two bags of stir fry mix veggies from Publix. I needed to up my veggie eating!

I've been getting on my Wii Fit faithfully. I know there are more strenuous workouts a girl could do, but Wii Fit is better than nothing at all. I like how the Wii keeps up with the time I have spent doing it. It lets me know if I have gotten in 30 minutes of time or not. If left to my own devices, I tend to guessimate. I know I need to do more strength training. I want to have the strength to get off the floor with ease. Hopefully losing weight will make this easier.

If you made it this far, that's pretty impressive! This blog is not very exciting, but here is something that will excite you: just losing 10 pounds can reduce your risk of heart attack by more than 50%! At least that is something I read on Facebook! Keep on sparking!

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382 at last count!

Thursday, January 03, 2013

I keep a word document with all the people that joined the challenge, and I'm up to 382 now! If all 382 of the people lose their 13 pounds, the earth will be better for it! It's exciting to have so many people responding to the challenge. I have to do more than run the challenge in order to lose my pounds though!

This morning my daughter wanted to make pancakes. We found a recipe on Food Network for buckwheat and whole wheat pancakes and cooked them up. I ate 3, and they were really yummy with the sugar-free syrup I used.

Yesterday I got an entire hour on my Wii Fit. I have tried the strength training and yoga before and they are so hard for weak little me with the bad knees and all. But I did quite a few yesterday. Surprisingly, I am not really sore right now although I thought I would be.

I have recommited myself to tracking my food and so far in 2013, I have had good days eating-wise. I could really get in more veggies though to be honest. I get in my water even if it is a chore. Many of the challenge participants report that this is one of the hardest things to do. I used to resist getting it myself, but I am just chugging pure water from the tap out of my big cup with gusto! I started a streak to drink at least 6 cups but I am getting 8-9 now most days. Progress not perfection.

Hope everyone is reinvigorated with the new year with new commitment to health and fitness goals. Keep on sparking!

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JumpStart!

Monday, December 31, 2012

I am leading the 50+ team and we decided to have a 13-week challenge in which we attempt to lose 13 pounds. I sent an email to all the team members and the response was fantastic! There are about 300 people that want to get in on the challenge. I hope we can all hang in there for the duration. The worst thing any of us can do is quit. Even if we don't shed all 13 pounds, even losing 5-10 would be great. It would be for me, because I'm up 5 pounds! Christmas is NOT a good season for my health and fitness goals! If you would like to get in on this challenge, visit the 50+ team with 50-100 pounds to lose and join. Another great challenge is the Official Jumpstart Fitness Challenge. I joined that one too, and I encourage everyone to join it. I'm sure Coach Nicole has some great ideas for us to try and you get a trophy for finishing the challenge. I've never been one to get in on a challenge, but now I'm in on 2!

I went shopping yesterday. My dad gave me some $ for Christmas and I had a coupon at Sports Authority so I bought some fitness gear. I haven't even taken it out of the box yet, but I have a ball, mat, and stretchy band. I did my Wii Fit Plus today and logged 46 minutes. Fun! I hope that when I shed the 13 pounds, I will be looking and feeling terrific. These tools will help.

Happy New Year, Y'all! I hope to keep on sparking and being your Diet_Friend for another year!

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Getting my Spark points

Friday, December 28, 2012

To get spark points, I have started doing the trivia questions found on Healthy Lifestyle page. I quit when I have answer 3. This is a great way to get points and learn tidbits at the same time.

I am listening to SparkRadio right now. It's such a perky podcast. Still, there is much to learn.

On my 50+ team, some of the members are starting a challenge in January that lasts until Easter. We are planning to lose 13 pounds in 13 weeks for 2013. If you are interested, join us!

Went to the movies and saw Django Unchained. Very bloody with extremely dark humor. Not a movie for everyone. Today we went to see Lincoln and took our son (he's 12-going-on-13). This movie was interesting and despite having occured over 100 years ago, the political machinations reflect what's happening in Washington DC today. This movie is really talky and my son was a bit bored by much of it. It is a movie for history buffs.

I have not completely gotten my spark mojo back yet, but I DID work out on Wii Fit today and yesterday and even Christmas Day. I still need to get eating under control. I don't see truly getting into all my routines until my husband goes back to work on Tuesday. I WILL keep on pushing water and working out and eventually I'll get the eating back in check. I did okay today except for a tasty calzone. At least it was a veggie calzone and I had water as a beverage. I need to get in more veggies though.

Dr. Oz had a program regarding Omega 3 supplements. Should we take them? I had just read a passage in a book that advocated taking them and then this segment came on Dr. Oz! He says yes. It's good for more than heart health. I have been trying to make it a daily habit to take a few supplements including Omegas. I'm going to make that one of my streaks: to take my supplements. Do you guys take them?

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