Video du Jour

Saturday, October 01, 2011

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpbImVaTutw
&NR=1

Maybe I need to add some gymnastics to my exercise routine?

  

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REDSHOES2011 10/1/2011 1:34AM

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I Want To But... Part Two

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

I have a hard time understanding how people say they can't eat within their calorie ranges. My range is 1200 - 1550 calories, and today I ate 1392 calories. My day was positively indulgent!

Breakfast - A homemade banana-dark chocolate-oatmeal whole wheat pancake with margarine. I also had two cups of coffee with Silk French Vanilla cream.

Snack - Oh, found some cake in the lunch room!

Lunch - Steamed vegetables with brown rice, tofu and homemade peanut sauce. Yup, it was full of peanut butter, soy sauce and sesame oil (and some other stuff too... but you get the idea).

Snack - Oh, someone gave me a can of Dr. Pepper!

Dinner - A ginormous salad with leafy greens, a quarter can of chickpeas, grape tomatoes, sliced strawberries and sunflower seeds, with a slice of whole-wheat toast (and the margarine!) on the side.

Cake! Olive oil! Peanut butter! Margarine! Coffee cream! Dr. Pepper! Sesame oil! Bread! In less than 1400 calories! I could still have a Kashi Pumpkin Pie granola bar and be within my limits.

I totally understand that sometimes people fall outside their suggested calorie ranges, especially due to extenuating circumstances (last week I accidentally ate my entire daily caloric limit in one snack of chocolate-covered almonds... that was a THREE THOUSAND calorie day!)... but what I don't understand is how people who actually plan out their meals are unable to usually fall within the recommended calorie range. It's not rocket science!

  

99% Healthy

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

I made it to boot camp yesterday and yoga tonight! Tomorrow I've got another fitness class (mostly cardio) and then Thursday I go back to my Spanish classes at the community college. It's nice to do stuff other than watching daytime TV!

  

Walk Away the... Flu?

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

I've got a bad case of the flu, and I'm eating way more than usual (yesterday was a bit of a bust... I misread the printout on my bulk chocolate almonds... I thought it was 90 grams and it was actually 190 grams... ooops!) and feeling less energetic than usual. I'm also home from work, as I NEED to be healthy in time for Thursday (when I have to work from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm and look good doing it). So I'm thinking for exercise... maybe I'll do a Walk Away the Pounds video! They're way too easy for me, and I get bored fast, but it's gentle and it will get me moving, which is probably what the doctor would order. Let's see if I can Walk Away the Flu!

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

CAPECODLIGHT 9/21/2011 10:59AM

I feel for you! I'm am just about over my bout. I didn't feel like eating at all because of my fever. Other than taking the dog for short walks, I didn't have any energy for activity. Nonetheless, I was -7.5 lbs. at the end of the week. Feel better soon! Report Inappropriate Comment

I Want To But...

Monday, September 19, 2011

I like earning Spark Points. And one of the ways to do that is to post in the forums five times a day. Sadly, I'm finding myself more and more annoyed with the posts in the forums.

"I want to eat healthy but I'm a busy student!"
"I want to eat healthy but I've got three kids!"
"I want to eat healthy but my husband doesn't like healthy food."
"I want to eat healthy but I work two jobs!"
"I want to eat healthy but but but but but..."

I absolutely cannot understand how people develop this mindset. If I want something, I figure out what I need to get it, and I take the necessary steps.

I realized I wanted to eat healthy when I was twenty-one, living overseas, cooking in an ancient kitchen (no microwave, no blender, questionable gas oven that had to be lit by match, etc.), unable to read local cookbooks, with no internet access to look up recipes and out of the house from 7:00 am to 9:00 pm five days a week. So I figured stuff out. I made it work. Growing up I'd been prohibited from being in the kitchen during meal preparation time (my parents are awesome but they just thought I got in the way) so I had no background knowledge to draw on either. I just had to figure it out and make it work.

I don't understand how perfectly sane, capable adults come on Spark and make excuses for why they can't eat healthy (or exercise). It's not rocket science. And most of the people posting live in developed countries, with access to almost infinite amounts of free online health information and cooking advice. You've got a microwave! You can buy lunch kits and ice packs at the grocery store here! There are labour laws saying you have to be entitled to a lunch break! I would have killed for those things when I was twenty-one and taking three buses across town to the single Chinese supermarket where you could buy tofu... only to find it didn't come in a package so the shopkeepers wrapped it in newspaper and tied it in a plastic bag, which then dripped all over the place for the three bus trips it took to get back home!

I don't imagine many of the people who start their journey on Spark with a "BUT" will be successful. They've already sentenced themselves to mental and emotional failure. There is hope for these users "BUT" not until they realize that the ONLY barrier to their success is their own mindset.

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

CHAMPAGNEKISSE7 9/19/2011 4:30PM

i like this alot... many blessings headed your way! good luck! Report Inappropriate Comment