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PUDLECRAZY's Recent Blog Entries
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Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Can you see mama robin up in her nest? She is nesting on the path through the woods where I walk Stella.
It is great to have the warmer weather! Our walks have been so much more pleasant, not having to bundle up and deal with a bitter chill. The spring is at such a lovely juncture right now. The flowering trees are budding out, some are blooming. The forsythia, tulips, and daffodils are looking so bright and cheerful, and new wildflowers are in abundance in the woods. The fields are green instead of brown. The birds are singing love songs. One of my favorite times of year.
I figured out why my fitbit nutrition tracker was posting everything double. Apparently, it automatically synchs with my SP nutrition tracker without my doing anything other than recording what I ate on my SP nutrition page. I had been using the Synch With Fitbit button on the nutrition page, thinking I had to do that. The end result was that my foods were counted twice and I had to erase all of the duplicates. It's great to know that all I have to do is record my food on SP and it is automatically in both locations! I love the way SP and FB interface now.
It has been really good to get back to tracking. I see that I have not been getting enough magnesium, calcium, and potassium, so I have been making adjustments in my diet to make certain I have included enough foods rich in those ingredients. I am also trying to better balance my carb/protein/fat ratio. As I mentioned in my last blog, I eat quite a bit of healthy fat in the form of nuts, avocados, olive oil, etc. While I try not to overdo on them, I will likely eat more fat than is recommended on the tracker.
This is my 5th day with no sugar, honey, syrup.... you know, those added sweeteners. Any sugars I am getting are from fruit and veggies. Decreasing inflammatory foods, and increasing anti-inflammatory foods has already made a difference in how my hands are feeling. The swelling is down and they are a lot less painful. That was a main goal. In addition, I have lost one pound in those five days ~ a nice side benefit.
So far, very pleased with my progress!
Aren't those robin's eggs beautiful?
Monday, April 22, 2013
I'll bet that if I went back and read past blogs from this time of year, they would be the same. This time of year is a major stressor for me as I get children ready for the big spring musical. It is a huge production and I am responsible for it. As well as keeping my own students on track academically. This is followed by the end-of-the-year camping trip I take them on. This spring, I have had the additional responsibility of heading the hiring committee for the new teacher.
Not complaining. I love my job, and I love what I do. But it is stressful nonetheless.... and I gain weight. 5 pounds this time.
Granted, DH has been bringing home desserts and I have succumbed to them. 
Stress, weight gain, carpal tunnel syndrome (inflammation).... okay, okay ~ I can put two and two together. Time to clean up my nutrition act!
1.  OUT with the sugar. All of it. Bye bye. I have been sugar free for three days and already I do not crave it.
2.  Focus on foods that fight inflammation and eliminate foods that are inflammatory.
3.  Back to the food tracker.
I have been away from the food tracker for so long that I did not realize that it syncs with my fitbit. That is yet another motivator.
(There is a wee problem with it though; it seems to record everything twice on my fitbit nutrition page. The first time I checked it out on fitbit after syncing, it said I was 1200 calories over. I knew this couldn't be true because I was under my limits for the day. It was then that I noticed that everything was recorded twice. I have no idea if this is an SP or an FB glitch, but I have to delete all of the double listings on my FB tracker. It's still easier than recording my nutrition manually on both pages.)
So far, so good. It is very helpful to know where I go over. I do eat more fat than recommended, but I always have. Very little animal fat; but I eat walnuts, avocado, use olive oil and coconut oil, there's fat in the coconut milk I drink, etc. I am not certain what to think about this. I have been on maintenance for several years and this has not caused weight gain, and I have excellent cholesterol numbers. In fact, doctors continue to be amazed that I need neither cholesterol nor blood pressure medications at my age. I am definitely doing something right.
Yesterday, I went over my limit by a few hundred calories. I knew I was going to a party so I limited my calories earlier in the day and had a small snack before I went. My friend from Mexico is going home after an extended visit and wanted to prepare a meal for his friends. Pazole, gorditos, and nopolitos. Yum! If I had not had the second gordito and the Negra Modelo beer, I would have been within my limits. However, I'm not worried about that. It was a goodbye party with friends, and the food was excellent and made from scratch. I'll make up for it today.
As for stress, I cannot control the amount of work I have to do. I need to spend a little more time meditating. I have also decided that next year may well be the last year I teach full time. I need to check with a financial advisor before committing to this, but I find it really helps stress reduction knowing that I will not have to drain all of my energy every spring forever.
Remember I lost all of my chickens last spring? I just got two new girls.
I haven't named them yet. They had been named Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, but I'm not crazy about those names. Suggestions anyone?
Sunday, April 14, 2013
This past week was H-A-R-D! I don't know why but people seemed to be at their craziest; not the quirky kind, the rude kind. I was so tired when I got home, I left the key in the ignition without completely turning the car off. I've never done that stunt before.
Saturday, I had the blues. I think the anger I was feeling on Friday turned inward to depression. The end result was that I enjoyed a day of being a hermit and just tinkering with things. I did not want to go out at all or be with people, but I had tickets with a friend to go to the symphony. I seriously thought about backing out and not going, but music can be so healing I decided to go. The concert was Beethoven piano concertos with guest musician Norman Krieger. What a wonderful concert! I left feeling renewed and happy again.
Today was a gorgeous day; too beautiful not to go out exploring to see what new wildflowers were blooming. I got in 17,800 steps, 7.31 miles, and 30 flights of 'stairs'. Quite a few more flowers were blooming since last Monday. Let me share them with you:
Snow Trillium
Nodding Trillium
Toad Trillium
Trout Lily
Bloodroot
Yellow Violet
Spring Beauties
Dutchman's Breeches
Bell Flower
May Apple ~ just now budding
Hepatica
I love the way flowers grow right out of the nooks and crannies of the old limestone.
Look who came on the walk with me. She fits right in!
Hopefully, I'm rested and rejuvenated enough to launch into this work week centered and cheerful. It's going to be another relentlessly busy week, but maybe the adults will behave better.
Monday, April 08, 2013
Over spring break I was able to get back into the swing of things in terms of fitness. It started out cold, but warmed up nicely by the end of break. I got in several hikes, which includes today when I, now back at work, took my students for a spring wildflower walk
My fitbit reports my progress for this week:
101,818 steps taken 145% of goal of 70,000
188 floors climbed 269% of goal of 70
41.83 miles traveled 120% of goal of 35.00
I am happy with that.
We met a couple of little wildlife today; this beauty
and this beauty:
The wildflowers are a bit on the late side this year, but there were a few newer blossoms out. Today's count included:
Bloodroot, which has just made its debut. I didn't seen any bloodroot blooms several days ago.
The Virginia Bluebells are just now starting to bud.
The Snow Trillium has gotten more plentiful in the last couple of days,
but the Toad Trillium has yet to bloom. It will have a small red flower on it when it opens. The bloom next to it is a Hepatica.
And speaking of Hepatica, it is one of my favorite spring wildflowers because it comes in so many hues.
And the Dutchman's Breeches have opened!
I love spring!
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I went to Trader Joe's and got yummy organic veggies and salmon for dinner tonight, which I'm cooking as I type. 
I have gotten in 5 miles so far today and plan an after dinner walk. 
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-- Lou
