Focus on my Focus and Never Say Never!

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Watched The new Karate Kid movie last week and loved every minute! Learned some new things and caught a renewed breath of keep-it-up and keep sparkinī. Inspired me to keep on keepinī on this healthier journey!

Have a few quotes (pertinent to MY Life) going īround in me head now -

Mr. Han: You have taught me very important lesson, Xiao Dre. Life will knock us down, but we can choose whether or not to stand back up.

Dre Parker: How'd you do that out there? You, like, didn't even punch them. They beat each other up.
Mr. Han: When fighting angry, blind men, best to just stay out of the way.

Mr. Han: Your focus needs more focus.

That list I wrote last week is working out, except for the eating in front of the TV. Wonīt be watching TV much this coming week so guess I wonīt struggle so with it. Began drinking a cup or less of coffee with cream each afternoon. That is not interfering with my sleep. Something else has been interfering, sadly. Dealing with several issues. One is that a good friend was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma. Another is the appearance of several people who have caused misery for me in the past. I am dealing with my emotions on these things and know - better days are ahead. Rough days for my friend. Hopefully, I can stay busy, focus on my focus, and work out my work. Basically, what hapīns during certain stressful times is that the old thoughts return and my energy wanes.

One thing is certain though - I WILL not return to the old ways AND I WILL keep doing what I know is the right thing to do with MY Life.

It is MY Life, after all!

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Been reading about Bananas and Green Banana Flour, which is considered prebiotic. They "possess the ability to change the bacteria in the intestines from the harmful type of bacilli to the beneficial acidophilus bacilli."

“Vitamins and minerals are abundant in the banana, offering 123 I.U. of vitamin A for the large size. A full range of B vitamins are present with .07 mg of Thiamine, .15 mg of Riboflavin, .82 mg Niacin, .88 mg vitamin B6, and 29 mcg of Folic Acid. There are even 13.8 mg of vitamin C. On the mineral scale Calcium counts in at 9.2 mg, Magnesium 44.1 mg, with trace amounts of iron and zinc.”

From the article Know the Benefits of Banana for Health

www.articlesbase.com/wellness-articl
es/know-the-benefits-of-banana-for-hea
lth-427997.html

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9 Ingredients to avoid in processed foods
shine.yahoo.com/channel/health/9-ing
redients-to-avoid-in-processed-foods-1
268429

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Came across this song in ASL this morning. I would like to have a better perspective on how to love others.

"Give Me Your Eyes" in American Sign Language
www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxPCHfEA4RY&
feature=related

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You're the Best Around Lyrics (From the first Karate Kid movie)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXO3gKfOUN8&
feature=related

Justin Bieber ft. Jaden Smith - Never Say Never [ Lyrics ] (From the new Karate Kid)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sz0F0C3o9hk

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So What Am I Going To Do About It?

Sunday, January 16, 2011

This is a spot where I like to look out the window watching the bird visitors while I eat breakfast or have tea.



I like lychee, a fruit I have never tried before today, a gift from a girlfriend. They originated in China and are now being grown in Brazil. High in vitamin C and potassium. Hereīs a link for more info:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lychee

Okay, so what am I going to try for a while to see if I can get off this frustrating plateau? Nothing crazy - a few sensible things. Would love your input.

~Breakfast must include 2 whole eggs.
~Supper by 7 (may make exceptions on meeting nights if I do not manage to eat before, usually Sunday and Wed.)
~Do not eat after supper, no matter what. (A cup of tea is okay.)
~Eat just enough; do not stuff food, even when I have not eaten my calorie limit for the day!
~Do not eat when I am not hungry.
~Only 3 oz of meat at a meal, 1 1/2 oz cheese, or 2 eggs.
~Cut back on the fruit - I am NOT a pig!
~Choose recipes or meals with fewer ingredients.
~No more than 3 servings of grains a day.
~Choose good fats: unsweetened coconut, coconut milk, coconut oil, olive oil, real butter, whole eggs, avocados, raw nuts.
~Watch TV without food - only drink.

Do you have any suggestions for me? Started up the exercises once again although still feeling exhausted. Hoping they will help me to energize!

This is MY Life, after all!

********************



"Friendship is unnecessary, it has no survival value; but it's one of those things that gives value to survival." - C. S. Lewis

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What Faith Can Do (Lyrics) by Kutless
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTNBWv33-QI

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My Birthday and WhatNot

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Have not been feeling well this week and have not done much exercise, which is unusual for me. Today it got worse and I will be heading for bed once I finish this blog. Missed doing my usual weekend blog and do not want to just skip over it. Will try to do another on the weekend coming up.

The photo is me in my home office sitting in my new chair from hubby. He gave it to me for my birthday and as payment for acting as his Personal Trainer for his marathon in December. I love it! Think it goes well with my desk, donīt you?! And that is one of my Siamese cats - Mars. Queen Venus was asleep in the armoire!

It has been months since I cleaned my desk. I was glad for cleaning it the day before the picture taking. A very good excuse to show it off. I always have little stacks of things to do across my desk which makes it challenging to clean. This office is where I spend most of my time on the computer, exercising, sewing, researching, studying, and making things for our various activities. The other rooms I use most are the kitchen for meal prep and the bedroom for sleep and reading.

I designed the floor plan of this house. Actually, I designed a dozen or so floor plans and hubby picked this one. It is large and airy with lots of windows. We do not need to heat our house and only use room a/c so donīt need to economize on size; in fact, high ceilings are an advantage in the heat! (We are in Northeast Brazil, remember.) Our previous house had shutters that eventually would not open because of numerous coats of varnish that hubby refused to sand off. Consequently, I felt like I lived in a cave - very depressing! I am most grateful for these glass windows - made by my husband. He is quite the Jack-of-all-trades!

I have been thinking about making a few changes in my office. I want it to keep improving in regard to exercise-friendly. Need to get a rubber mat and two more kettlebells in 2011. Want to remove some of the framed pictures, add some others, and paint the walls. Will see. Depends on finances.

I have been working in the yard a lot lately. Hubby had pretty much abandoned the flower boxes (made of red bricks), grass took over some of them, and many of the plants died. A girlfriend had offered me an orchid, and I was trying to figure out where it should go - needs shade. So with my orientation, hubby bought a sack of soil prep, mixed it in where I wanted to plant the orchid, and then a week later, covered that area with grass!!!

Well, I decided not to say a word and began working on those flower boxes. I would put the orchid in one of the fully shaded ones and, on my birthday (Jan. 7), buy a bunch of new plants - enough to fill all the empty places. As I worked on getting the grass out, I came across several BIG ant homes, stirring them up, getting lots of stings! Poisoned and waited. Stirred again, poisoned and waited. Have flowers in all but two boxes now and they are happy! Just planted them on Monday, and because of rain, they have already perked up, a few are blooming or shooting out new leaves!

Even the roses I was able to salvage have new growth already. Found a huge ants nest under a flowering bush in the backyard. Every time I go out and turn the dirt, it caves in more and fire ants come pouring out after me!!! So I have been poisoning them and waiting 24 hrs before stirring it up again. This morning I decided that I will remove the flowers that are there, put them in another prepared box, and then I can get deeper into that box to get rid of those ants.

It seems impossible that I will ever have an ant-free home! They are everywhere! Thankfully, they are not in my bed at night! I hafto be careful not to snack there - would NOT want to be carried off in the night!

This is MY Life, after all!

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Coach Nicole mentioned this today and I really enjoyed it-

5 Reasons Why Sparkpeople Sucks!
www.cuttingfitness.com/5-reasons-why
-sparkpeople-sucks/#comment-11

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25 Best Nutrition Secrets
health.yahoo.net/experts/eatthis/25-
best-nutrition-secrets

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19 Weight Loss Secrets From Around the World
www.rd.com/living-healthy/19-weight-
loss-secrets-from-around-the-world/art
icle172978.html#slide

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Perfect Time by Moya Brennan with Lyrics
www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0ApvHVFIVw

One Moment in Time by Whitney Houston with Lyrics
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wx4v6cO1GMk&
playnext=1&list=PL865F654A5221D02A&ind
ex=18

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My Inner Lion

Friday, December 31, 2010

Yep another year has hit the fan and we are moving into 2011. It is impossibly amazing how this year has zoomed by and I have so much to do! I am thrilled (not an exaggeration at all)!

What do I get a star for in 2010?
I stuck with a healthier lifestyle. I have not reached all my goals yet I have reached many. I am healthier (need to go back and read how it was before SP). I have more stamina and can do more. I make healthy food choices most of the time. I am getting better about emotional eating, that is, I am doing it less.
I walked a LOT more than I have ever walked before! I was my husbandīs personal trainer for a marathon he walked on the 13th of Dec. He tied for first place with 2 other guys!
I keep walking away from old habits. A biggie is depression. I believe it became a habit for me, one that I lean towards when I am sad, disappointed, grieving, and at a loss as how to deal with something. I do not say "habit" lightly - it is not easy to deal with depression and I have not had the privilege to have a good doctor or counselor because my husband does not believe that we should spend money for this. I tried on a couple of occasions to get help and did not find it. I have found my own way without meds. I am grateful for my spiritual life because I know that I would not have made it through without it.
I did some impressive things this year that I have never done before. I spent nearly 6 months putting together a presentation that was given raving reviews, one that I will work to put into movie format this year. I participated in my Dadīs memorial service shortly after his April 29 death. I then helped my family for a month with my momīs care, sorting a lot of their stuff for storage, and going through Daddyīs files for a 2nd time with different priorities than the year before. I spent 3 weeks helping our daughter prepare for her wedding - nothing was catered, we did it all, except the beautiful tasty cake given and served by friends! Had some delightful conversations and laughter with her during that time! I made a personal gift for our sweet daughter-in-law - a poem with an illustration completely done by me! What fun! What concentration! So thankful for some uninterrupted hours to complete it before Christmas.
I learned a lot more about exercise and diet. Out of frustration of not reaching certain goals, I keep researching. One of these days I will figure this out and I will win! I am counting on it! I am adopting a new attitude about my body. If I cannot have a slim trim physical appearance, I will stop obsessing about it. I will continue to see the beautiful woman in the mirror that I am. I will accept that I am doing everything within MY power to be the best I can be. I refuse to go back to the place where I was before SparkPeople entered my life, where I hated the person in the mirror!

And what do I hope to accomplish in 2011?

*Finish that project started last Spring.
*1000 or more cardio minutes per month.
*3-5 strength exercise sessions per week.
*Maintain the Sunday off from exercise unless on vacation.
*Eat under 1700 calories every day.
*Later in the year, begin studying the Portuguese language with a teacher to improve my translation skills.
*Begin a writing project mid-year.
*Read through the Bible.
*Read The Spark.
*Read several business books and a few for pleasure.

It is My Life, after all!

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The Science of Fat-Loss: Why a Calorie Isn’t Always a Calorie
www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2008/0
2/25/the-science-of-fat-loss-why-a-cal
orie-isnt-always-a-calorie/

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10 Surprising Benefits of Exercise
shine.yahoo.com/channel/health/10-su
rprising-benefits-of-exercise-2431570/

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You're My Favorite Song - With Lyrics - Joe Jonas ft. Demi Lovato - Camp Rock 2
www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQNoqVON728

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Takinī a Magnifying Glass to My Life

Saturday, December 18, 2010

This week has been a tough one. It is the 11th anniversary of our youngest sonīs death. I grieve every day. During the 1st years, it was definitely more intense than it is nowadays, most days. Hubby has his times and doesnīt usually share them with me until after the fact. I pretty much grieve alone and share with my closest friends. I donīt want to always bring seriousness and sadness to any given situation, so I try not to talk about whatīs going on inside of me when those around me are being positive. I do not see grief as "being negative"; I see it more as a part of life - a realistic part of life. I also do not see it as something that can be healed, as so many people do, even professional therapists and the like. I had a healthy discussion of that idea with a close friend these past couple of days - it helped me a LOT.

Losing an arm, for example, can only heal at the place it was cut off; you canīt bring back an arm! That canīt be completely healed like a lizardīs tail is. You can, however, learn to live with the situation. You can learn to use your other hand more and maybe the stub, if any of the arm remains. Losing a loved one to death is similar in that you must learn to live with all the empty places where they used to be, the target of your love for them, and the myriad of places that they met and perhaps challenged you are now different. Every holiday is different without them in it. You keep NOT seeing them in the places they used to be present. You keep catching yourself starting to do things you would do with and for THEM. I remember one time, many years after our son died, unloading the groceries and seeing that I had bought, in prep for something - a holiday maybe, canīt remember, I bought one of HIS favorite foods to have on hand. I fell to pieces in my kitchen and could hardly breathe!

Well, I am sharing this with you, my cyber-friends, because all of this relates to my healthy living choices. When I am particularly affected by the hard things in my life, I have always tended to reach for easy comfort, and the easiest for me is food. Comfort food or food for comfort is one of the most accessible things we have and we can fill up our emotional emptiness in a place where noone will criticize us for it and sometimes others who are also trained by their mothers (sorry, Mom, but you did help me learn this well) to smother the emotion with chocolate syrup or hidden Brachīs chocolate-covered raisins (my motherīs favorite choice - I prefer other carbohydrates, thank you!).

The problem is that the euphoric sugar high ends in a lower low and a blast to my self-image that crushes my self esteem, putting a giant magnifying glass on my bloated body and my under nourished inner being (my spirit, psyche, essential nature). It is a lot of work to get beyond this. I keep trying to do it on my own. I canīt. I call on God. I call on a few friends who care about me and who are not critical of my weaknesses. And, sometimes, I venture cautiously into the cyber world of my online acquaintances.

Then, I get back to the job of making healthier choices.

This week, I have actually done a pretty good job of avoiding the carb overload. Sometimes I do surprise myself! Iīve also been exercising. Although Iīd hoped to do some cardio yesterday, I did not. A few strength exercises were done. Did I mention that grieving is exhausting? I managed to put most of my energy into the projects on which Iīve been working. A good thing because I do have a deadline on them. So now I move on to a new day, a new week, with plans to get in more cardio and more fun.

I always learn something new during these grieving events (and, remember, there are many kinds of losses for all of us). I no longer dread them, I give myself permission to let grief be in the forefront, or at least schedule a time with myself to do just that (an appointment I always keep), and I walk through them to the other side. I was surprised too to find that when I went through the kitchen looking for something to eat (carbs), I left with nothing because nothing filled-the-bill! Perhaps I am learning that food is not what is needed and I do not need to cover up what is going on inside. That is reality, and this is My Life, after all!

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Women's Conference: Dealing With Grief (sorry no manuscipt)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlqFlk7G1YE

Working Out to Improve Self Image (no manuscript)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kzoVOFzebk

EFT helps - Death of Son Grief & Loss (looking but havenīt been able to find these with closed captioning)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQsObcl_nMg&
playnext=1&list=PLD406B17FC70FCEBD&ind
ex=17

The Gifts of Grief (no manuscript here)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnY7FqtF0ik&
playnext=1&list=PLD406B17FC70FCEBD&ind
ex=10

The Pain Of Loss (this one is a poem and shows the words)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAwu88ydStk&
feature=related

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MercyMe - Move
www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmUDDxflt6o

Here it is with the lyrics!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZOOisccC9E&
feature=related

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