Health

I have a job where I sit ALL DAY in front of a computer and basically do monotonous things (like copying and pasting stuff from the Internet).  So to occupy my time, I listen to a lot of news and podcasts.  I also tend to read a lot of blogs during the day.

I was listing to On Point, and the show I was listening to was concerned with health and the fact that we get too many unnecessary tests.  The other day I listened to a show done by Diane Rehm with a similar hypothesis.  In addition to that, I understand that being overweight obese as I am that I am at risk for many things including hypertension and diabetes so my doctor is keeping an eye on various test results that I get every year.

But all of this begged the question of what it truly means to be healthy.  Is it just physical?  Or is it also emotional, psychological, spiritual, etc?  I think that it might very from person to person, but that every aspect of it is linked.  For me, I think that being healthy has a large part to do with feeling good about myself, which is something that I struggle with.  I have a horrible body image and I don't like looking in the mirror.  I don't like to see how large I've let myself become.  That is something that is very emotional with me, and in a sense psychological as well.  But, it very much has to do with my physical health.  For too many years, I've not been active enough, I've ate too much chocolate and other foods while not eating enough fruits and vegetables.  In order to "right" my emotional health, I really need to work on my physical health and eat more of those veggies, less cookies and get up more often.  That is what I am focusing on in my life right now.

Today's Victories (so far)!

1. Breakfast consisted of overnight oats that had half a banana in it, some oats (clearly), chia seeds and Greek yogurt.
2. My mid-morning snack was a banana.
3. Lunch included a whole wheat wrap with turkey, spinach, sprouts, some mozzarella cheese and a small amount of mustard.  Additionally, I had some low-fat vanilla yogurt with raspberries and blueberries.

What does this add up to?  At least two servings of fruit, about 1.5 servings (if not 2) of veggies and some lean protein in every meal!  The best part is that my afternoon snack is going to be some delicious homemade salsa that is CHOCK FULL of veggies including corn, black beans, red pepper and avocado.

I will say that I did have a bagel and cream cheese this morning.  But I'm rather confident that the good outweighs the bad so far today. :)

Oh, and Zumba is tonight!  So excited!

Lists Galore!

Goals:
Be able to do a sit-up with good form without struggling
Go to bed at or before 11pm at night (especially work nights)
Wake up in time to take the beagle on a good walk in the morning
Wake up no later then 9am on weekends
Finish the active.com beginning weight loss fitness plan

Victories since starting to exercise most days:
I sleep better at night
I wake better rested in the morning
I'm generally in a better mood and more cheerful

Geocaching, kettlebell and Zumba make the world go round...

The title to this post says it all.  I am in love with geocaching, kettlebell and Zumba.  I went to Lansing for the weekend to celebrate (mourn) my sister's continued existence on this earth and we ended up going geocaching on both Saturday and Sunday.  The one thing that occurred to me is that I should wear a pedometer and even consider wearing my heart monitor while geocaching.  I'm very curious how much I actual walk while geocaching.  Perhaps there's some sort of function that I can utilize on my gps unit to measure the distance traveled or something...  Anyway, there also seems to be lots of hills and such that I end up climbing in search of the cache which brings up my heart rate.  Maybe it's enough for vitality points?  At least it's something to consider.  But, on Saturday we found three caches and on Sunday we found two.  That brings me up to finding twenty caches total.  Added to that, I got some other people to enjoy it as well.  My obsession is spreading!

I also bought a kettlebell last week, and so far I really like it.  It's something that I'm going to keep perusing the Internet for more information about, specifically for new exercises to do with it.  Admittedly I'm very basic, but I like it and think that it's something that I can stick with.  What I would really like is for my gym to have a kettlebell class that I can go to.  When that happens, I will be there.

Zumba is tonight, which I'm really excited about.  I also have to go grocery shopping and get my alternator tested on my car, but Zumba is the priority.  The rest may not happen until tomorrow.  Oops.  My friend Ashley may end up going to Zumba with me, which would be incredibly awesome! 

With the beautiful weather expected this week and the March that feels like summer, I'm really wanting to cook using my grill.  I keep trying to find some delicious grilled food recipes on the internet to try out.  So that is mostly what I'm up to this week. :)

Until next time!

Beautiful weather!

This is a beautiful time of year.  70 degree temps, warm sunshine...  But of course that's not really supposed to happen in March, but I'll take it.  With the warm weather, I am discovering my new obsession, so to speak.  I absolutely LOVE geocaching.  I love going out in the nice weather with my usually trusty handheld gps unit and walking around parks until I find the hidden treasure.  It's great.  The fact that it also means getting off my butt and in the sun is only one of the benefits.  Sometimes it's even aerobic as it often involves walking up and down hills a lot, maybe some climbing, etc.  One of the cool things about geocaching is that it can be as easy or as difficult as you want it to be.  Regardless, it's definitely turning into an obsession for me.

In addition to geocaching, I've also picked up Zumba, which I find to be really fun.  It is my new Monday night activity.  Tonight I am going to Fit Barre at my gym, which is more resistance training.  I'm really trying to not focus completely on cardio work because, while the benefits of cardio can't be denied, resistance training is also an integral part of it.

I'm also intensely curious about kettlebell; so much so that I'm half tempted to buy one on the way home.  Clearly I'd buy the lightest one (7lbs) as I'm a beginner and I don't have any experience with it.  But I'm extremely curious about it and it looks like something that I might like.

Finally, nutrition is a key component of weight loss as well.  I've been increasing the number of servings of fruits and vegetables.  But, I've also given up pop for the time being.  There is really no reason to drink pop from a nutritional perspective.  Maybe someday I'll drink pop again, but right now I'm trying to get used to how I feel not drinking it.

Happy thought of the day:  my best friend informed me that if I keep going the way that I am currently, I will visibly be losing weight in the next few months.  Hopefully that's right!

Extended Hiatus: Over

So the last month to two months haven't been the greatest in terms of healthy living accomplishments.  But there have been a host of other accomplishments that I've achieved.

• The Big One: I GRADUATED!!  School is officially and perhaps forever over!  No more worrying about papers, no more worrying about blackboard, no more crappy professors.  IT. IS. OVER!
• The other, not quite so big, one is that I made it through Christmas.  It was touch and go there for awhile.  My family loves to pile on the stress, guilt and what-not to make something that is supposed to be wonderful absolutely awful.  But I made it through Christmas and, even if the weeks leading up to Christmas were pretty much horrifying, Christmas Eve and Christmas day were actually rather relaxing and drama free.  

New Year's also went very well though it wasn't exactly what I was planning/hoping/expecting.  But, que sera sera.  I was extremely happy to see the New Year though because it inevitably means that December 2011 is over.  January means more free time, more time to accomplish the other goals that I have, those that are more healthy living oriented.  January means less stress, less drama and in general a quieter life.  I had been craving January for a several weeks.  So far, it's lived up to it's expectations.  I am started to get my equilibrium back.  I'm starting to NOT feel exhausted all the time because I simply don't have time to sleep.  I've been walking my dog more and I've been cooking more.  It has been wonderful.

This brings me to the purpose of this post.  It's a little late for New Year's resolutions, but it's never too late for goals.  That said, I am starting out simple.  I would like to increase my cardio workouts.  I think that this will help me in the future for dealing with the aforementioned familial stress.  Maybe next Christmas won't make me so crazy.  To start, I am going to try to make it to the gym 1-2 times per week to use the elliptical, take my dog on at least one half hour walk every day and give one of the classes at the gym a try.  Probably Zumba, because I've been extremely curious about that.

I'm also going to go back to my meal planning on the calendar.  I would like to plan to prepare about three nutritious dinners every week.  I say "about" because the leftover situation may call for more or fewer nights cooking.  I'm also going to try new things for lunch because I'm really tired of the sandwiches that I've been bringing.  This week I made a pasta salad that is delicious.  I substituted whole wheat penne pasta for the egg noodles and didn't use all of the dressing to reduce the calories.

Last night I made a delicious batch of minestrone soup, courtesy of Clearly Delicious.  That, combined with the good lunch of the pasta salad means that I am currently feeling a lot better then I have been.  I just have to keep this up!

Anyway, toodles for now.

Graduation: It's kind of a big deal

Graduation is coming up and hopefully soon after I will finish all of my coursework.  With that, I will have a Masters in Library and Information Science, which is pretty cool.  After I finish my coursework and graduate, I will be able to come home from work and do whatever I want.  I won't have to worry about the paper that is due in a week or the discussion board stuff that I have to do that night or anything like that.  Because of this, there are several things that I am looking forward to:

1. Reading:  I have a list of books longer then I care to admit that I would like to read.  Now that I'll be able to read for something other than school, I'd like to read some of those books.
2. Social activities: I have many friends that I've lost touch with or just don't see as often as I'd like.  Since I'll have more free time, I'll be able to spend more time with these wonderful people who have put up with my absence during my Master's program.
3. Exercise: I really want to give this healthy living thing a shot.  The lack of schoolwork will eliminate excuses to not exercise, which I really need to do more consistently.  I would like to try geocaching and I would also like to explore the border to border trail that I have found here in Washtenaw county.  I'm also thinking about giving biking to work a try next year, especially since the company that I work for will reimburse me for some expenses related to biking depending on how much I actually bike to work.
4. Food: In addition to not exercising as consistently as I should, I also haven't been cooking as consistently as I should.  I can definitely tell the difference when I eat good, real food instead of food filled with additives and such.  There are a lot of recipes that I'd love to try my hand at and I'd really like to explore cooking in my crock pot more as well.
5. Hobbies: I really like knitting and I'm looking forward to finishing some of those projects that I started two or more years ago and starting new projects as well.  I also hope to learn new techniques along the way.

I trotted, sort of...

My friend Amy and I, along with 3000 other people, participated in the Lansing Turkeyman Trot on  Thanksgiving day.  Of course, I completed this event after only two hours of sleep since I was up most of Wednesday night cooking for Thanksgiving.  But, I still completed it!  Hopefully next year I won't be so sleep deprived.  Also, next year, Luna the Puppy-Dog will be joining us, possible dressed like a Turkey.  I'm sure that she'll enjoy that, or not.  But she doesn't have a choice in the matter.

But Amy and I walked the entire way, except for the last 50 feet or so at which point we jogged.  We completed the entire thing in 57 min and 4 seconds.  The goal for next year is to beat that time, along with the beagle dressed like a turkey and my friend Amy.  But, regardless of the time it took to complete, I will get Vitality points.  Especially since I already turned in the form to get those points.

In other news, I am now coming on the last couple weeks of school until GRADUATION!!  I'm so excited about graduation, but really NOT excited about the work I have to do before then.  That includes:

• Finish the ePortfolio
• Finish the Microsoft Encoder video
• Write the 15-20 page paper on some information behavior (I'm thinking the topic is going to be blogs)
• Maybe buy yet another textbook and take each chapter quiz as I read the chapter
• Continue to keep up with the discussion board

Hopefully that's all.  Hopefully...  The 15-20 page paper is actually due AFTER the graduation ceremony, but my goal is to complete it beforehand so that the ceremony actually is the end and there is some sense of closure there.

Anyway, wish me luck!

"Planning out meals for the week can help cut out processed foods for families"

Here's an interesting article that was published in the Lansing State Journal about clean eating and processed foods which, by the way, are indeed mutually exclusive.  I've known that processed foods are the reason that waistlines are expanding for awhile now, I just never acted on it until recently.

Yummy Bean Soup

Yesterday I made a pot of yummy bean soup for dinner.  Here's the part that was amazing.  It was INCREDIBLY easy and tasty.  Additionally, I had less then a ladle last night for dinner along with a little bit of bread, and I was comfortably full after that.  I also have a huge pot still, which means I probably don't have to cook again this week except for Thanksgiving stuff to take to my sister's.  If I think of it, pictures may be forthcoming.

Before cooking the soup, my kitchen was in dire need of being cleaned.  When I was almost finished cleaning, my garbage disposal decided it didn't like me a broke down.  :(

Otherwise, I think that I've mostly regained my emotional equilibrium which is good.

Also, the Turkey Trot is on Thanksgiving!  I'm pretty excited about walking the 5k with my good friend Amy, who I haven't really been able to chat with in several months.

Inadequacy

For some reason today, I am plagued by feelings of inadequacy.  I know that I have something to contribute to this world.  Well, I know in my head that I do.  I also know in my head that there are people that care about me.  But there are more important parts of me that aren't always completely convinced of these things.

The last 24 hours have been crazy stressful.  My computer stopped working when I was trying to work on a paper.  After some running around, I figured out it was the cord, but nonetheless it was extremely stressful.  This is especially true considering that I have a paper due in five hours that I can't seem to bring myself to work on.  Or even open the document up for that matter.

I was supposed to drive to Detroit today to pick up graduation stuff.  Luckily I was able to reschedule that.

My ePortfolio was essentially rejected.  They didn't like the color scheme or the layout.  Said the background color made it functionally illegible and that the organization of it was unorganized.  That's all in the eye of the beholder, I suppose.  I thought it was clearly organized.  Added to that, the background is a dark texture with light colored text.  It passed all accessibility standards according to the world wide web consortium, but apparently my school has different standards.  I have until November 28 the make the changes that they want made.

Maybe part of my problem is that my three closest friends live so far away.  Sometimes I'm here in Ypsi and I feel like I'm all alone.

Anyway, it's times like these that I tend to gorge on cookies, and yesterday really wasn't an exception.  I have been introducing more healthy foods like vegetables, fruits, whole grains, etc, into my diet.  But then I start feeling like this, gorge on cookies, and I feel like everything that I've accomplished so far is down the drain and I'm starting from scratch.  That doesn't really help with the feeling inadequate thing.

Blood Screening

For the Vitality program at work, I had to get a blood screening where they test your blood for cholesterol, glucose, whether I'm a smoker, etc. They also weighed me and took my blood pressure.  I already knew that my BMI wouldn't be in range, but some of my cholesterol numbers were surprising.  My bad cholesterol number was within range, as well as my overall cholesterol number.  A couple other numbers were high and low, depending on which is bad.  In terms of blood pressure, it was on the high range of normal.  I'm cool with that because it's not incredibly high.  Overall, I think that my health is a little better then I was anticipating, and everything can get better if I stay on track with healthy habits.  I'm calling that good news.

In addition to these numbers, this also adds vitality points to my overall score.  I hope that my due points are going to be posted soon.  But this means one step closer to lower health care premiums next year!  Oh, and my vitality age (similar to WiiFit age, but probably more accurate) went down four years because of my blood screening results.  Woohoo!  Also, vitality will generate goals based on the information that they have about me.  They just created a goal for me to MAINTAIN my cholesterol, not lower it.  I find that something to be proud of. :)

In other news, I bought a new cookbook.  It has a lot of yummy looking recipes using fresh ingredients, some of which I've never heard of.  That last part is one of the reasons I bought the cookbook; I want to encourage myself to try new things, particularly healthy foods.  This should be an adventure.

Turkey Trot

It's official!  I am registered for the 2011 Lansing Turkeyman Trot!  I'm pretty excited about it because this is my first 5k.  By no means am I running, because I'd like to not break my ankle or anything.  But walking it will be beneficial for me, and it will provide a great baseline for future 5k events that I sign up for.  Additionally, I will get vitality points for work which is never a bad thing.  Especially since it looks like next year they will be basing how much we pay for our monthly health care premiums off of how many points we earn this year.  That means that I need to earn more points to pay less. 

Small Victories

Sometimes it's easiest to achieve goals one day at a time.   That said, yesterday was a good day for my health goals, but a bad day for homework.

After work I went to the gym and did thirty minutes of cardio.  I know that I need to do more resistance training but at this point I think I'm going to stick to working mostly on cardio.  After that, I went home and cooked a stir-fry with delicious veggies (red pepper, onion, carrots, sugar snap peas).

Therefore, I'm going to start to rate my goals of eating, exercise and motivation on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being that I feel that I did very well.  For yesterday, those ratings are:
Eating: 8
Exercise: 10
Motivation: 9

Eating is 8 because I did partake in more treats during work then was necessary.  One of my co-workers is getting married and we had a cake, ice cream bars and a cream cake thing.  I tried both of the cakes but, and this makes me quite proud, I didn't have an ice cream bar.  On the bright side, dinner was home cooked and healthy, I packed a relatively healthy lunch that included vegetables and breakfast was an oatmeal breakfast cookie.

Exercise is 10 because I made it to the gym for the first time in a week.  I hope to keep up going to the gym at least three times a week and taking walks or doing something at home (like WiiFit) the rest of the week.

Motivation is 9,  mostly because I didn't really think about my goals before having a second piece of cake.  Even if I choose to disregard those goals for a piece of cake, I would like to consider them.

New Month = New Start

So the last couple weeks have been crazy (vacation, ePortfolio, Halloween and birthday) and I've neglected my goals in regards to getting some of this weight off.  So to get myself back on track, here's a motivational picture to help myself along.


So here is a reiteration of my goals, maybe with a few changes.
1) Exercise at least three times per week for at least thirty minutes each session.
2) Plan my meals by making a menu and grocery list.
3) Continue planning when I exercise and what I cook using my dry erase calendar.
More goals are forthcoming as these goals become habit.  But I'm trying to keep it slow and steady as the tortoise won the race, not the hare.