Today I will

Today I will stay strong

Today I will stay on plan

Today I will treat my body as a temple

Today I will be kind to myself

Today I will believe in myself

Today I will increase my stamina

Today I will increase my strength

Today I will succeed


Today is the first day of the rest of my life



What will you do today?

best intentions gone awry

When I found out that a fellow blogger was moving to the area I told her we'd have to get together for coffee once she got settled in. Last Wednesday was our day to meet and something was plotting against me.

We agreed on a meeting area close to her home, I didn't mind driving towards the other end of my county, there were a few shops I wanted to visit on my way home and I had been looking forward to this coffee date for weeks.

I left the house 15 minutes earlier than I needed to...I can't help it, I like to get places early most of the time. I think my Dad told me too many times to be prepared for anything and that being late was one of the worst things you could do. So my whole life I've been habitually early. But something wasn't right. I knew I needed to stop for gas but there was this little check engine light on the dashboard and my heart sunk. I wasn't in my car, I was driving my sister's car. I knew she had work done on it Monday so after a quick phone consult with Ken I decided to loop back around and take it to the place where she had it fixed and have them take a quick look at it.

I went in and quickly explained to the man working there what had happened and he told me that it would be an hour before he could get some one to look at it and that I should have made an appointment. Right about then my head exploded on the inside. I should have made an appointment for a mystery light that may or may not come on? Should I just always have a standing appointment after your shop does work? But no I didn't say anything like that. I calmly explained that I was hoping they could look at it quickly since it was just in there shop two days earlier.

Then he stopped what he was doing and gave me the look. I don't know if you know the look or not. Its the look someone gives with a slight sneer on their face and they start at the top of your head and slowly move their eyes down to your feet and then back up again. The body check look. Oh no you didn't just body check me! I glared back at him with my best I know you have a small penis and can't help but compensating with a power trip so stop trying to bully me look. There was more, as I waited for him to answer a phone call, Ken called, then this man eavesdropped on my conversation with Ken and somehow assumed that every word I was saying was about him and then when I hung up the phone, he felt the need to confront me about it...oh yeah, dude I'm so over you.

I left and made my sister deal with her car and emailed my coffee date, three times, explaining what happened and she graciously agreed to reschedule for TODAY! Lets hope a cow doesn't jump in front of the car or a rainbow doesn't end in my path and I have to plow around that pesky leprechaun holding a pot of gold because in serious need of a coffee and good conversation and nothing is getting in my way today!!


UPDATE: We had a fabulous time, Ashley is just such a lovely young woman. Natalia was able to join us too and as usual the girl talk was just what we all needed.

Healthy You Challenge Check In Week 30, 2009

Welcome to week 30! I hope everyone is having a great week. I've been struggling to stay afloat but treading water is better than trying to swim up stream.

WELCOME!!

In search of me
http://madaroundfood.blogspot.com/

Obeskinny
http://obeskinny.blogspot.com/

insert title now
http://inserttitlenow.blogspot.com/

Losing it Now
http://losinitnow21.blogspot.com/

breakfastOfjailbirds
http://breakfastofjailbirds.wordpress.com/

If you'd like to join the HYC please read about it HERE and then email me at healthyyouchallenge at gmail dot com with your blog name and blog URL.

For the rest of us, lets sign in below!

reality check for one please

I had one of those moments at the grocery store the other day. I looked up at the checkout clerk and realized it was the teenager who lives across the street. I felt like I had to acknowledge that I recognized her but she didn't seem to recognize me. I knew she worked for that particular grocery store chain however I thought it was a different location. As she bagged up the last of my stuff and I paid I did a quick mental assessment of what I had purchased and was it skinny food or fat food, healthy food or binge food: organic milk, blueberries, bread, a few spices, asparagus, zucchini (courgette), salad dressing and oh...that. The ice cream...but but but it was for Ken, not for me, I had no intentions of eating it, I was just buying it but suddenly I felt guilt and a slight sense of panic.

Rationally I know how much this sounds like I just missed the last u-turn before Crazytown because I'm certain the teenager across the street didn't go home and say to her parents, sister and dog "hey that fat woman across the street was in the store today and she bought banana split flavored ice cream" I'm sure she doesn't care what I bought yet today when I had to return to the store I was making my list while visiting with my sister and I told her that I wasn't going back to that location because the teenager across the street works there. Yes she looked at me like I had sprinkled crazy powder in my morning coffee.

You do realize how crazy this sounds...of course I realize how crazy this sounds. Good. Now go to the store. On the way there I thought about my past trips to the grocery store. I've had people comment on the contents of my shopping cart. I've been embarrassed by the amount of junk food in my cart. I've even paid for things separately and told the clerk I needed a receipt because the cakes, chips, etc. were for work and I'd have to turn in the slip to get my money back from petty cash...I couldn't make this level of crazy up, I swear!

When I go to the store these days I mentally check out. I try to turn off and shop by my list. I don't look at the end caps showcasing the buy one get one free cookies, I don't look at the cakes that are on sale. I don't even go up and down most of the isles because there just isn't anything there I should eat. In the past I'd look at the special offers and tell myself that those buy one get one cookies or corn chips were a must have because they were on sale. I couldn't miss out on such a good bargain. I'd often look at my cart and see it filled with unhealthy things and go pick out a few healthy things for balance. I think I've told you before about helping my sister clean out her pantry and she had dozens of bottles of salad dressing that had been expired for years. She would go to the store and buy junk food and a bottle of salad dressing. In her mind she was justifying the purchase of junk food because surely the check out clerk would think she was balancing this junk food with a salad. It looks like its hereditary.

Today I didn't even notice if the teenager was working. Something else caught my attention. I wrote these words to a friend in email:

I went to the grocery store and bought healthy foods but while I was there I saw a woman in a motorized shopping cart and honest to god that will be me in 10 years if I don't change now. Her face looked so tired, her eyes had bags under them, she'd long given up on her hair and makeup...why bother, oxygen tubing and pain were the only thing gracing her face. Then I glanced down at her legs. She wore a housecoat type dress and her legs and feet. Red, swollen to the point where it looked like the skin would burst if it were strained any further. I looked at her and our eyes caught for a second and she just looked at me. She didn't say a word, her eyes said it all. I felt her telling me to save myself now before its too late. Reality check for one please.

I may not know where to go from here but I know where I don't want to go. Its refueled my motivation and made me realize that its time for me to stop doing this for all of the wrong reasons and do this for the most important reason and never ever lose sight of what is most important.

the meaning of life

I've discovered the meaning of my life. When I was young I had a very close call with death and my Dad always told me that I was special, that I must be destined to do something great in life because I lived when everyone told him I'd die.

Today I've realized what the purpose is and much to my dismay, its not anything like the picture my Dad painted. I'm not here to cure disease or change the world. I'm not here to do something that will impact the lives of millions of people...or even any other people. My purpose while simple to some has great meaning to two very important creatures in my life.

I exist to open the door every 10 minutes of the day so that Sadie can wander outside and think about having a potty but then not go and so that Max can go out with her and chase all frogs and lizards from our patio. To serve every whim and whine of two cute black fluffy dogs.

Thats it.

My great meaning.

My great purpose.



I should have bought a doggie door.

Healthy You Challenge Check In Week 29, 2009

Welcome to week 29! I hope everyone is having a great week. Mine has been full of ups and downs but I guess thats just a part of life. You might notice (or not) that it looks a bit different around here. I did a bit of remodeling over the weekend and I'm still tweaking a few things here and there but for the most part, this is my new layout for a while.

I've worked with the Mister Linky people to get us back up and running again, hopefully we won't have another outage this week. Should you try to check in and Mister Linky isn't showing, just leave a comment letting me know and I'll contact them to get us back up again. 

We have LOTS of new members this week, please check to make sure your name appears on the blog roll, apparently a few weeks ago I announced new members but forgot to add them to the blog roll...yeah, old age? Lost my mind? Crazy busy? All of the above? :-)

Welcome

Gathering My Roses
http://gatheringmyroses.blogspot.com/

The Road Curves Ahead
http://theroadcurvesahead.blogspot.com/

Lose with Lisa
http://www.losewithlisa.blogspot.com/

My Weight Is Over
http://blog.myweightisover.info/

My Bites
http://charmaewl.wordpress.com/

Rachel's Road
http://www.rachelsroad.com/

Reduced to Ashes
http://reducedtoashes.blogspot.com/

The Mess And The Magic
http://aimtoannoy.wordpress.com/

Taryl's Weightloss Chronicles
http://www.aurorafiberarts.com/weightloss/

If you'd like to join the HYC please read about it HERE and then email me at healthyyouchallenge at gmail dot com with your blog name and blog URL.

For the rest of us, lets sign in below!

Updating

I'm changing the way things look around here a little bit so if you're visiting and you think my site is missing something, be patient, I'm working on putting it all back together again!

Diana

Why I'm Not Crazy (or maybe why I am)

I woke up this morning and stumbled to the kitchen to say good morning to Ken and the puppers. I grabbed a glass of water and took my medicine. I like to drink a full glass of water first thing in the morning, even before coffee.

Ken left for work and I took the puppers for a 1 mile jaunt around the hood. They were happy. They love being out in the neighborhood even our path is filled with, frogs, lizards, cats, ducks and a few suspicious humans.

Once I got back to the house I was quite hot because despite the early 6:30 time, it was already in the mid 80's and quite humid. I had another glass of water and sat down at the computer to answer a few emails...suddenly, I started craving chocolate! Chocolate cake specifically. Where the heck did that come from?

Yesterday was a good day, 100% on plan. Why would I suddenly crave chocolate cake? I emailed a few friends and I even told one I was craving chocolate cake for breakfast and I had no idea where this craving was coming from.

I went to the kitchen and decided to have a cup of coffee. As the first drops left the pot and headed towards my waiting cup it hit me like a ton of bricks. That smell, that delicious smell, not just coffee but coffee and CHOCOLATE! I WASN'T CRAZY!!

I went to the cupboard where we keep the coffee and there it was, the new coffee that Ken bought yesterday. He had stopped at Fresh Market and picked up coffee since we were out of our normal coffee and didn't have a Costco trip planned until Friday.

I grabbed the bag and sniffed the beans hard. They smelled like CHOCOLATE!! I grabbed my coffee and took a sip...smooth, coffee flavor with a distinct chocolate flavor. The only thing better than chocolate coffee for breakfast is having a husband who makes the chocolate coffee for you! I'm in loooovvvvvvvveeeeeeee...and chocolate coffee makes me sinnnnnggggggggggg.

At first I worried it would fuel my chocolate cravings but honestly it hasn't. Early morning chocolate cake cravings explained and I'm not crazy!

Manageable Goals Measurable Progress

I heard a bit on the radio today talking about managing stress and they advice they gave seemed fitting for weight loss or anyone who is like me and has unfinished projects. It talked about breaking it all down into manageable chunks and then tackling the smallest project first and getting it done.

The same holds true with debt, if you have a lot of credit card bills they say you should pay off the smallest one first then apply that money towards the next smallest until you're left with just one or two larger debts that seem a lot less overwhelming. When I clean the house I start with one room, finish it and then move on to the next room. If I ran from room to room doing one task here and another task there I'd never feel like I was accomplishing anything.

I've talked before about transitioning slowly to better food choices, trading white rice for brown rice, white bread for whole grain bread, regular dairy products for low fat organic, etc and that has really worked for me. I've made these changes slowly over time and they have become habit. So I know that slow and gradual changes work long term so someone please tell me why I can't wrap my head around the fact that weight loss takes time.

I didn't gain this weight overnight. A good friend of mine recently told me that one cookie didn't make me fat and she was right, it wasn't that one cookie, it was the contents of the bakery and then some that I manged to eat over time. So to keep this theme going I'm breaking my weight loss goals into 25 pound increments.

Ten pounds to lose doesn't sound so bad does it? People with only 25 pounds to lose will eventually lose those 25 pounds and move on to maintenance but for me, I'll just move on to the next 25 pounds.

So what are your weight loss goals? Are you still looking at the big number? If you have a 25 pound weight loss goal, why not try to lose 5 pounds at a time? I know that once I get closer to goal I'll make the pounds between goals smaller. This is something we can all do for ourselves. Be it making lifestyle changes, paying off debt, cleaning the house or losing weight, when its manageable it isn't overwhelming. When it isn't overwhelming we can achieve it.

I have 10 pounds to lose to meet my next 25 pound mark and I'm going to reward myself for every 25 pounds lost!

Healthy You Challenge Check In Week 28, 2009

I've said it before and I'll say it again, this year is flying by! I hope everyone is having a good week. I saw a few of you have been struggling and working your way back on plan, I'm in the same boat but I feel like I'm back on track and ready to rock the rest of the year! Sometimes we hold on to past mistakes and have a hard time getting back on track.

For those of you struggling I give you the reset button! Just reach out to your screen, press the button and give yourself a fresh start!

WELCOME!!

Thinspiration
http://thinspiration14.blogspot.com/

Erin Starts Living
http://erinstartsliving.wordpress.com/

Exquisite Christine
http://exquisite-christine.blogspot.com/


Jones' weightloss journey
http://jonesweightlossjourney.blogspot.com/

Such a Pretty Face
http://mariwantsthebody.blogspot.com/


If you'd like to join the HYC please read about it HERE and then email me at healthyyouchallenge at gmail dot com with your blog name and blog URL.

For the rest of us, lets sign in below!

Hey Artistic, Craftsy and Etsy sellers

Have you heard of Etsy? I'm thinking about selling some of my hand crafted items on there but I recently found a very similar site called Artfire. Its similar to Etsy but no listing fees, they allow you to have a basic set up and sell for free...no fees! Or you can pay just $12 a month and have UNLIMITED listings and very customizeable store! Check it out and sign up here Register on ArtFire.com

I have a goal of having a few things set up and listed before the end of the month, once I'm up and running I'll be sure to share the link with you so you can check out what I'm making.

In the mean time, why not sign up at Artfire?

Register on ArtFire.com

Diana

Going Green? Understanding food labels

A few years ago I started eating better and by better I mean cleaner. I cut out the highly processed white stuff, the high fructose corn syrups and the trans fats. So far so good. While that transformation took place over several months I educated myself on eating clean and learned to make better choices including some organic foods where possible.

As many of you know I've told you how much better I've felt since I've started eating cleaner. I've seen a decrease in health complaints including allergies. Its interesting to note that my European husband never really had allergy problems until he moved to the US. Since then he's had allergic reactions to foods he's eaten his entire life. European regulation of food and US regulation of food are not the same, especially when it comes to GM/GE free foods, but more on that later.

I don't know about you but the food labels can be confusing and when we're talking healthy food labels for organic or natural foods, they throw around a lot of terms I didn't understand. So I started compiling a little cheat sheet for myself as I learned and recently I've been asked so many questions I thought it would be a good time to share a few things. 

Natural: This doesn't mean organic. USDA standards for Natural mean that no artificial ingredients or food color was added and the the food was minimally processed.


USDA Organic: 95% of listed ingredients are organic.  The USDA defines this as organic food produced without using most conventional pesticides, fertilizers made with synthetic ingredients or sewage sludge; Bioengineering, ionizing radiation. Animals products should be produced without antibiotics or growth hormones.
You may see this label on produce, meat, milk, eggs, cheese and processed foods


Certified Naturally Grown:  Becoming USDA Organic certified is an expensive process. Certified Naturally Grown is non-profit alternative often used by smaller farms who sell locally but follow the USDA Organic standards.

Grass Fed: There is debate over the health benefits of grass fed vs grain fed meats. What does grass fed mean? I found out what it doesn't mean. It doesn't necessarily mean an animal was raised in a pasture. If eating grass fed meat is important to you, also make sure the label doesn't state grain finished. Often an animal is fed grain prior to slaughter to fatten them up.

Free-range: By USDA definition, for poultry and eggs to be labeled free range, produces must demonstrate that the birds must have been allowed access to the outside.

Hormone or Antibiotic Free: Produces have to provide documentation and prove that no hormones or antibiotics were used in the production of the meat. You'll see this label on beef and lamb. You shouldn't see it on poultry or pork because federal regulations ban their use in poultry and pork. I was looking at chicken breast in the store recently and I asked for organic chicken and the man working there tried to boast to me that THEY only carry hormone and antibiotic free chicken and then he said "its the same as organic" No its not. Yes companies will label their chicken and pork as hormone and antibiotic free in an attempt to capitalize on the consumers desire for healthy products but all they are really telling you is that they follow the law.

Locally Grown: This doesn't necessarily mean the food was produced in a safe and healthy manner. However by buying locally you are supporting local economy, costs are often less because transportation costs are reduced. You'd have to check with the farm to find out how the food was produced.

Fair Trade Certified: I first encountered this in the mid 1990's when my auto repair place introduced me to the fair trade coffee the brought back from their mission work in Guatemala. You'll often see this label on coffee, tea, chocolate, sugar and even bananas. This label means that the farm workers were paid fairly for their work and it was produced using sustainable farming practices.

GM or GE Free: This is a tricky one. Unfortunately the USDA does not require genetically engineered or genetically modified food to carry this label. There isn't enough space in my blog for me to go into all of the reasons why I would always always pick GM/GE free foods. In a nutshell: genes from various organism (human, plant, animal, bacteria or virus) are inserted into crops. Its not natural. Our very crowded planet has a lot of people to feed and they are always trying to find ways to do that but the long term effects are unknown. Where do you find GM/GE foods: soybeans (products containing soy) corn (products containing corn or corn byproducts) canola oil and cotton seed oil. So basically crackers, cookies, breads, soft drinks, salad dressings and corn chips/tacos. Kind of makes me glad I've already given up most of these foods 90% of the time but there are kids out there who live off this stuff. Whats it doing to them and future generations? Many European countries already ban these products and use of these products, I hope that the United States soon follows suit.

This is NOT an all encompassing guide. Its a place to start. I would encourage you to do further research on your own as to what foods are best for you and your family and what is best for your health. This is merely, food for thought.

Healthy You Challenge Check In Week 27, 2009

Hi everyone! I hope you're enjoying the 2nd half of 2009. I've been enjoying the summer weather and staying very active. It feels great! What have you been doing to stay busy?

MOVED

My Thinspo has moved to http://jesslosing.tumblr.com/ and changed her name to Jess Losing please update your bookmarks

WELCOME

Amos the Lion Heart
http://amoslionhorse.wordpress.com/


If you'd like to join the HYC please read about it HERE and then email me at healthyyouchallenge at gmail dot com with your blog name and blog URL.

For the rest of us, lets sign in below!

At the mall with Natalia

I was at the mall on Thursday with Natalia and she brought her four year old son J, we hung out in the kids play area and chatted while he had fun.

Nat to J: stop growling at the little kids, they don't know you're playing

Nat to Me: I worry that other little kids won't know he's not being mean, he just growls because he's pretending to be an animal

Me to Nat: I know what you mean, Max (my dog) growls at people sometimes and its not a mean growl, sometimes when he's happy he makes a growling noise

later....

Nat to J: stop walking in front of Diana, she isn't used to having someone walk in front of her at intermittent speeds and weaving as they go

Me to Nat: Oh don't worry about that, Sadie (my other dog) does that all of the time too, at least J doesn't have paws for me to step on.

Yes, I totally went there and compared my DOGS to her child....TWICE...and her eyes didn't even glaze over, what a good friend!!

Hey at least I'm getting out of the house more, now I just need to work on my social skills a bit.

Its getting hot in here

Our air conditioner isn't working. Its blowing air but its not COLD air. We just had it repaired at the end of May and a new one would cost about $4000 that we just don't have right now. They will be here some time this afternoon so please send good thoughts for an inexpensive bill.

It was a rough night last night, we were quite hot and the dogs were so hot they kept crying to be let out of their crates to get a drink. Ken actually got up at 2am and got a cool shower.

Its another very raining morning here, we didn't get to go for a walk but the the guppers don't seem disappointed. I really think they just want to sleep. I can't even let them play in their pool to cool down because its raining so much. Poor babies. Yes they have their own kiddie pool. Its really cute, I'll try to take some pictures or video of them playing it in this weekend.



The rain has brought extreme humidity so here I am: 1. I'm hot, 2. I'm pretty sure I smell bad, 3. I'm miserable and 4. my hair looks like a frizz bomb. I guess the only good news is that I don't have much of an appetite with the heat. Maybe I shouldn't fix the air conditioner after all :-)

Here is Max trying to stay cool...