May 1st

Well, my trip to Cali is over and I'm back in my old routine. That's not so good. For some reason that old routine has gradually come back to mindlessly eating peanuts by the handful for fiber. That old routine seems to think that when the hubby wants treats, that I need treats too. That old routine seems to include watching television during the day and sitting in front of the computer for long periods of time, when I could be up and puttering around.

When my sister and I were together, we were on the go. Now I know that we were trying to pack in all the sister goodness that we could in those three days, but it did get me thinking about how little I move on a daily basis. When I was going from one end of the airport to the other, I was moving like crazy. My two months of treadmill work really helped there. Man, it felt good, being able to move like that while carrying two shoulder bags. I was passing people like I was a young gal.

While out in California, I was surprised to see numerous real size ladies, as well as some quite obese folks. This is surprising because when I started going out to see my sister seven years ago, everywhere we went we were the only ones who weren't skinny minnies. I was glad to see the real size gals, but was thinking about the obese ones. Were these the real size gals from seven years ago. I'll bet so.

Thoughts like these, and the fact that I couldn't find any slacks that fit me exactly the way I wanted, led me to offering up a challenge to my sisters. We discussed that we thought realistically we could all lose twenty pounds by my next visit in October. Basically there are twenty or twenty 0ne weeks until my next trip and I know that you are supposed to be able to lose 1-2 pounds a week on a healthy plan. So that's the challenge. Lose twenty pounds by October. Can I do it this time? I'm praying that I can. I don't want to be one of the real size chicks that ends up being morbidly obese in five years.

For the first three weeks, I'm going to use Larry North's 21 day plan, Slim Down For Life. Although it is a ten year old publication, it's still a good guideline to get me back on portion control, as well as eating three meals and two snacks. I tend to either graze all day, or not eat at all and then overeat at dinner.

We all know that exercise is a great way to ramp up weight loss and good health in general and he lists lots of one minute exercises that almost anyone can do. I plan on adding these moves to my current program of treadmill walking and I'm sure as each day goes by, I'll have more energy and drive to continue.

So that's it for me today. The first of a new month, a great time to start getting healthy. My last treat was a strawberry shortcake with ice cream at the local Strawberry festival. Hey, it's to support the kids.

Look at the heart shape randomly formed by two strawberry slices, aww it loves me as much as I love it.

Have a great weekend and let me know if you are interested in cheering me on in my six month challenge. Join me if you want. Come on, it'll be fun!

Back from trip

Just to let my friends know, I'm back from my quick trip to CA. Check out the pictures of my sister and me here. Enjoy. I'll be back soon with new weight loss challenges and lots of motivation. Stay tuned.

I'm just sayin'

Just popping in to say hi and to let you know I'm still kickin'. I am firming up! I have been walking on my treadmill at least 3 times a week and am trying to walk for at least 30 minutes. Sometimes I kick it up a notch and run for 30 seconds at a time. I know athletes would laugh at someone saying they could only run for 30 seconds, but some of you out there, know that this is a pretty good start. In this 3o minutes I can almost always walk one full mile, sometimes more. Those same athletes would giggle at that milestone, but did you know that one mile is equal to 17.6 football fields laid end-to-end? But I digress...

Anyway, I was walking through the dining room yesterday with my stretchy pants and my long tee-shirt on and the hubs just came right out and ask "are you losing weight?". I had to tell him, no, but I'm firming up. He said he could tell. I can only figure if I continue to work out several days a week, I will eventually lose some weight. I take vitamins, drink water and eat healthy. One of these days, I'm going to look at the scales and realize that I have lost pounds. Until then, I'm gaining endurance, stamina and flexibility and have ordered new shoes that will help stabilize my alignment. Someday I just may be able to run for more that 30 seconds.

Well, that's the news for me. Take care and hang in there!

Saturday Session

Saturday Session....If you're from my town, you will recognize the name of a high school dance show from the 50's, 60's and 70's that was done live from a nearby town each Saturday. I don't know if my sister ever got to go on the show, but I did. It was 1969 and we were in 10th grade and it was a blast. The only bad part is you never got to see yourself on television. It was a live show and there were no VCR's or DVD's back then. You had to rely on someone else to tell you how cool you looked doing the Skate, or the Shing-a-ling or the Jerk. I guess you have figured out that I'm no spring chicken.

I tried searching for the show on the web, but only one clip came up. This is the same year that I was on, and apparently this young guy was fairly local and had cut a record. I guess that's why he got a tape of the show. You have to wait until after the interview, but you will get the gist of the show. Check it out.

I hope your Saturday has been a good one. I'm still hanging in there. Not eating as healthy as I should. Tired of always worrying about the numbers on the scale or the size in the jeans. But if that's all I have to worry about, I'm doing pretty good. I stay happy, healthy and have a wonderful life.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend. Peace.

Spring is here

This week the sun has been shining and we have broken several temperature records. It seems like it has gone directly from being sweater weather to shorts and flip flop weather. Now that I am passed age 55, the skorts are usually for home wear only, but if these temps stay up there, you never know.

Springtime brings out the quirky little urges in us. In addition to wanting to clean and rearrange things, mine this week was to work out. Yesterday I followed my personalized SparkPeople routine, and even though I took it fairly easy, I am sore today.

I was scheduled to do cardio today, but I couldn't bring myself to do much. I cleaned and organized my art supply closet so at least I did get some movement. I have accumulated a lot of things that I need to donate, so I'll be going through things like jewelry, clothes and art supplies.

I went to the mall yesterday and tried on clothes and talk about depressing. I have been lulled into a false sense of security by....yoga pants. They are so stretchy and comfortable, that even though the scales kept going up this winter, my pants still fit. Fast forward now to me trying on my regular tops and jeans and none of my clothes fit. So what do you do? Hide all summer and try to lose enough weight to get in your clothes or bite the bullet and buy the next size up? I'm at such a strange place, size 16 is too tight and size 18 is too big. Ahh, well.

Did I mention that I have a cough? A bit of bronchitis, we think, but it sure hurts when I cough.

I hope everyone had a good weekend and is prepared for a wonderful week. Remember to keep the families of the fallen miners in your prayers. My mother used to say "there, but for the Grace of God, go I". I can understand what she meant. I may be overweight and dealing with less than optimum health, but my family is safe and not touched by grief. For this and many other things, I am thankful.

Hang in there friends. Take care and enjoy the rest of your week.

Mixed martial arts (reposting because of holiday)

Recently I mentioned on my other blog something I often call "guilty pleasures". It usually consists of a comfort food that you love, or a television show that you sneak and watch. One of the ones I didn't mention in that post is Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). I like to watch this and have for quite some time. I have utmost respect for the training and preparation that goes into being an athlete, especially a UFC fighter. The program showcases fighters that are proficient in various types of martial arts. Initially when I started watching, there was a strong underlying element of what I suppose would be called street fighting. Over the years this has since been toned down quite a bit and is now considered a much more respectable sport. I am not a physical person really, but there is something empowering about watching the athletes execute some of these moves. You start to think...."man, I'll bet I could do that".

Being from the old school, to me, martial arts was considered self defense. I mean, even Elvis had a passion for martial arts and who wasn't done their version of a karate kick (or two). I never got around to studying any martial arts, but it's probably not too late. All this being said, recently, out of the blue, I was contacted by Alexia Krause. She came across my blog while researching blogs on fitness and weight loss. She is affiliated with MMA Industries and they are trying to gain some new exposure for mixed martial arts. I told her that my blog isn't for commercial purposes, but more for promoting healthy living for the every day person. She was quite understanding and respectful of my stance on this. After several e-mails, and getting to know each other better I have decided to include excerpts from an article that she has written regarding the MMA industry.

Average People Can Enhance Their Overall Strength and Endurance by Adding Aspects of an MMA Workout Routine into Their Daily Fitness Regimen

By Alexia Krause

It’s pretty obvious that the workout regimen and strength training of a mixed martial artist is gravely different than that of your average day-to-day gym goers. A MMA fighter has to build a body that can both take and outlast the punishment of the sport. This is much different than average gym goers who are usually looking for a healthy workout just to maintain their physique. However, this doesn’t mean that a MMA workout can’t fit in with the workout routine of an average person.

One of the biggest differences in a fighter's workout routine is that it focuses on the whole body in one session rather than the different sets of muscle groups. Most people workout legs and back one day and arms and chest the other. Fighters, on the other hand, need their bodies to work as one complete unit.

An exercise you don’t always see in the gym is jumping rope. Based on this fact, it would seem that most people don’t consider that jumping rope requires all aspects of the body to be moving in order be done correctly. Mixing this exercise into a workout routine adds enormous value to your level of endurance while sharpening reflexes and reaction time.

This doesn’t mean that average gym-goers can’t maximize their own workout. By adding aspects of the MMA fighter routine into their workout 2 or 3 times a week, an average person can build up a higher level of endurance and strength than they would normally be accustomed to achieving. This may not get them ready for the cage anytime soon, but it will definitely make their workout more effective.

I personally like the part about jumping rope, as you may remember. I also like the thought that you can workout your entire body as a complete unit.

At the risk of sounding like a commercial, which I hope I don't, I have always thought that anything worth doing was worth doing right. I know that I'm much more motivated to work out if I have my good shoes on and my workout clothes. For this reason, I'm linking Alexia's website MMA Industries, because MMA gear isn't just a fashion statement. It's the real deal.

If you are interested in learning more about mixed martial arts, or want to add some elements of MMA to your workout, why not do some research. There are several local studios listed in my yellow pages and I'll bet there are in yours also.

Happy Easter