Diet Tracker

Make this the year you snuff out your last cigarette

2012-01-03T17:01:00.000-09:00

We all make resolutions at the start of the year. Unfortunately, for so many, those resolutions are short lived at best. If you are tired of having the smell of old cigarettes lingering about your home and person, then you should snuff out your last cigarette this year and pick up an electronic cigarette like bluCigs.

Blu is an electronic cigarette, also known as an ecig, that produces a thin vapor to give the look and feel of a paper cigarette, but blu does not have the same unappealing smell or second hand smoke that causes so many issues with paper cigarettes.

Blu is for adults (age 18+) who want to put down the stinky paper cigarettes, but are unable to stop smoking. Note that blu is not a stop smoking aid, it is an alternative for those who smoke and as such should not be used by certain persons, including pregnant women or those with heart disease or asthma. It is available in nicotine levels that range from 0 mg non-nicotine cartridges to 16mg full flavor cartridges.

The blu ecig works by using a small rechargeable battery to activate a special cartridge and release vapor that contained a dose of nicotine and, if desired, flavoring such as menthol, cherry, java and more.

Made using distilled water, nicotine, glycerine, citric acid and both natural and artificial flavors, the blu ecig is able to be used in places where paper cigarettes are banned. Users should, of course, check at a location they wish to use the ecig, but blu can be used in many areas such as bars, night clubs, movie theaters - even on airplanes.

You can order bluCigs online or ask for them at a local bluCigs retail partner.

Blu is made in the USA, using USA made ingredients.

No Dieting Resolution This Year

2012-01-03T16:07:00.000-09:00

I will not me making any dieting resolutions this year, instead I am going to be simply promising myself that I will live a healthy life in 2012 and resolve not to let other people's problems cause me stress as it has in the past.

As I looked forward to this year I was surprised to realize that the major stress of the past, which caused me to gain the added weight, was all caused by my concerns for other people's issues. I would stress out because I could not solve someone else's problems and that would lead me to stress eating.

Hopefully, by simply not letting others stress me out, I will manage to avoid a lot of the stress eating that has so far foiled my efforts to diet all this time.

Playing The Weight Loss Game

2011-12-30T16:58:00.000-09:00

Video games of the past were all about standing at the game machine and moving side to side and up and down as you tried to find the perfect balance that would let you bump the side f the game just hard enough to get the silver ball where you wanted it, but not have the machine flash "TILT!"

Even when the video games came along, players would still stand at the machine and move side to side in an effort to use their body language to manipulate the little images on the screen as they rocked the joystick side to side and tapped the buttons to perform a variety of actions in the game world.

Then along came Pong on the Atari system and gamers became TV viewing couch potatoes.

The new generations of video games have brought back the interactive 'get up and move' quality that the old arcade games had to them, and taken it up a notch back to the days of pinball. Once again you really can change things in the game world by a well timed hip-bump. It is a major victory for every old time gamer like myself that moved away from the world of gaming to escape the evils of couch potato weight gain.

Not all games are interactive, but the ones that are made to get us up off the sofa and on the move are at least a nice justification for us to go ahead and buy that fancy game system we want and a few of the couch potato types of games. We just need to be sure that we try to moderate just how much time is spent vegetating out on the sofa compared to getting up and moving.

Cartoons

2011-12-25T20:17:00.002-09:00

I appreciate the guest post, Ignacio Phillips

I have two young children, and I sometimes question the kids programming on television. We have our televisions programming through Direct TV from www.expertsatellite.com, and we have several channels that are dedicated to cartoons or kids programming in general. However, when I watch many of these cartoons, I see shows that are very flashy and fast-paced. They are very loud, and they often jump from scene to scene. It concerns me because I it creates such a fast-paced form of entertainment. I am an elementary school teacher, and I see students every day that cannot sit still or have difficulty paying attention to anything for a long period of time. It is my opinion that some of the television programming today is actually assisting with this problem in the schools. I no longer let my children watch some of the programming that I once did, not because of the content of the shows but because of the format of the shows. I just wonder if they get too used to being entertained constantly they will struggle in school if they do not find it entertaining.

Icicles for the tree

2011-12-25T20:09:00.000-09:00

I have wanted to make some hard candy for a while now, but I hate to make it if it is just going to add to the calories I do not want. So I took the opportunity that the season offered me and made clear peppermint candy that I poured into lines on waxed paper. When it was hardened it made perfect icicles to decorate the tree.

Slightly caramelized hard candy was used to make lollipops without sticks that I used to decorate the tree in golden disks.

It is a very sweet looking tree, that will be so much fun to take down at the end of the holiday season. If the sweets last that long that is.

Popcorn in cold weather

2011-11-20T11:54:00.000-09:00

It is cold in here, like neatly into the 40's inside, so I am making the caramel popcorn for Thanksgiving a bit early and letting the hot air popper add to the meager warmth of the house. Provides me with some munchies and gets the hot air going when I can use it rather than that nice warmth going to waste. I might just go on a popcorn diet for the next few days until the weather gets back to normals and not at record lows.

G Series Fit bars for Athletes

2011-11-04T23:42:00.000-08:00

I got some G Series Fit from someone the other day, but now I can not find where it is sold. I assume that it is from one of the local gyms or other workout type places, but I find it weird that I can not even find out how to order it from the Gatorade website.

The little bite deals seem to be good for a quick energy boost. I used two of them eaten a few hours apart while doing a bunch of house cleaning going into winter, and they seemed to give a really good boost - although I do not yet know if that was actually from the bars or if it was just a normal second and third wind kicking in as I worked.

The pack suggests eating one to four bars based on planned workout intensity and duration, and each has a calorie count of about 50 calories.

I would really like to figure out where I can buy more of them, but so far have not found any on the Gatorade website or via their store search, and there is just a information page at Amazon, I did not find how to buy them there.

Thyme Tea for coughs from flu

2011-10-28T03:48:00.001-08:00

I have spent something like two weeks now sick with one of the worst cases of the flu I think I have ever had. For the first time in 20 years I was able to just tuck myself into bed and try to sleep through the worst of it - at least I tried, then the coughing hit and now I can't lay down or I start coughing - really bad.

I have discovered that thyme tea works nice to fight off coughs. Surprising discovery when looking about online for home cures because I could not get to the store for medicine. I heard that thyme was good for coughs, and made up the following recipe:

1 tsp thyme leaves
1/4 tsp powdered ginger
3 whole cloves

Pour 1 cup boiling water into small teapot and add thyme, ginger and cloves. Let steep at least 10 minutes. Add 1 cup of boiling water to rewarm tea.

Pour into teacup and sweeten with 1 or 2 teaspoons of honey.

Also tastes good cold. I can't wait to try this as a summer cold tea next year. My one drawback at the moment is I am not sure just how much thyme tea is too much thyme tea. I need to look it up and see if there is any warnings against too much thyme use.

Why do we need a flu season?

2011-10-18T21:05:00.000-08:00

It has been a long time since the flu has hit me hard, and all I can think is that it is my body's way of purging itself of the negativity of the past month and a half, but oh gawd I wish there was no such thing as "flu season".

I caught a sore throat from the young man I take care of in the daytime, and it went from sore throat to two days of being unable to think and losing balance when I tried to walk, and in to its current state of sitting bundled up in a blanket at the computer trying to catch up on work I missed out on because of drama and preferring the thought of going to bed early tonight rather than working.

Thankfully I am at the tail end of this, so tomorrow I should feel well enough to go to town and get some comfort foodstuffs to see me on through the rest of the recovery process. So far it has been so bad that I have not even had a chance to think about what I need to do before I pass out at night, and that means there has been no exercise going on. There has, thankfully been little in the way of indulging - unless you count cocoa with whipped cream on top of it. But I have the Fat Free Nestle that has only about 22 calories a cup - and it is gooood! :-D

Crestor Lawsuit

2011-10-08T20:18:00.000-08:00

Most of us will take some kind of medication at one time or another during our lifetimes. As we get older medications become more necessary to help keep our bodies healthy. One group of drugs, known as "statins" is intended to aid in helping to lower cholesterol and help keep our hearts healthy.

In 2003 the FDA approved the Astra-Zeneca statin drug Crestor for use in the U.S. Since its approval there has been off and on issues raised about the drug, including an instance in 2009 when CBS News reported that the FDA had Crestor under scrutiny due to some misleading safety claims that Astra-Zeneca had in the advertising for the drug.

All of the ups and downs are going to invariably bring up the discussion of rather or not there could be grounds for someone to file a Crestor lawsuit for injury sustained by taking the drug. Those wishing to know more about if they may or may not have grounds for a lawsuit should consult an attorney that specializes in product liability lawsuits to see what their rights are and what the drug manufacturer might be held liable for in such a case.

This has been a sponsored post

Weight Watchers recipe book

2011-10-08T14:12:00.000-08:00

I stopped in the second hand shop the other day and picked up the Weight Watchers "New Complete Bookbook" for a couple of dollars. I still have the books that explain the points and everything from when I was using the Weight Watchers system a few years back, so I am thinking I might drag everything out and start shopping and cooking based loosely on the information for the Weight Watchers system and see if that can help me to drop the weight. So far Weight Watchers has been the only one I was ever able to stick with for a while and the only one that had actually shown a decrease in weight, and it was definitely the only one where I ate more than I was normally used to.

Sleep is still good for you

2011-10-07T22:00:00.000-08:00

According to an article at Web MD, less than 6 hours of sleep per night can contribute to poor heart health. A 2008 study by the University of Chicago linked short sleep cycles to increased calcium deposits in the heart and increased hypertension.

Another article, over at the Mayo Clinic website, notes that blood pressure will start to rise when you get up in the morning and reaches its peak around mid day. During the late afternoon and into the evening it will begin to drop.

The Mayo Clinic site's hypertension specialist Sheldon G. Sheps M.D., notes in one answer, to a question about high blood pressure and sleep deprivation, that sleep is thought to help the body regulate the stress hormones and lack of sleep might interfere with the body's ability to regulate those, leading to high blood pressure.

The trouble area seems to be under five hours of sleep a night, however even those who get five to six hours of sleep can be at increased risk, so the rule of thumb is still to try to get at least seven to eight hours of night for optimal health.

Cherry Pie and Wii Tennis

2011-09-04T16:36:00.000-08:00

Okay, so maybe making a cherry pie when I have been trying to loose weight playing Wii tennis is not the best plan in the world, but when I went to search though my pantry for something that I could make that was semi-healthy, believe it or not, cherry pie was the healthiest thing I could find. Very pitiful.

I need to get to the store and stock up on the healthy things again, it has been over a month since my last serious grocery shopping trip and my pantry shows it - in a bad way for my hips.

Smart Phone Diet Apps

2011-08-24T14:07:00.000-08:00

When I was a kid, I had to poke my finger into the little hole that corresponded to the number I wanted and rotate the dial around to the little stop bar, then wait as it rotated back so I could dial the next number in the phone number. Those old rotary dial phones have vanished now, and not long after they went another contact staple of my childhood went - the public phone booth. (Where does Superman change now?)

Today we all carry a little pocket sized phone that, if we want it to, will call anyone we want simply by us saying "Call, ____". We no longer need to dial anything, the phones will do it for us. And they will do a lot more than just that.

Smart Phones are simply small pocket sized computers now. You can do so much of the same things on a Smart Phone as you can on a laptop that they even have one out now that plugs into a large keyboard and monitor to transform itself into a laptop.

And this is actually good news for dieters, because that places the power of the internet in the palm of your hand at supermarkets and restaurants.

Uncertain how healthy something is? Check the Web using your Smart Phone. Not sure how you would cook something? I used my Smart Phone last month to look up what an unfamiliar fish was and how it is supposed to be prepared, before I took it out of the store cooler and put it into my cart! I also discovered that a unfamiliar vegetable I was considering went great with chicken, only deciding to skip it when the produce kid advised me that Chayote Squash has a very strong peppery spicy flavor. Something the recipe site failed to mention.

My Smart Phone has several applications on it that I loaded up to use for helping me manage my weight, including my favorite:

WWDiary

WWDiary is a powerful Weight Watchers points counter program that has come to be about the only app I use anymore. It lets me calculate what the points are in any given food before (or after) I eat it. I can tap a little barcode scanner and scan the barcode on something, then enter what it is, tap the calculator and enter the fat and carbs and other details to get how many points each serving is. My entries are recorded on a screen on the main page of the app, counting down how many points I have used from my total.

There is also a entry area for exercise that lets me enter how long and at what intensity I have performed a specific exercise to calculate my points for that activity.

A weigh in area allows me to enter my weekly weigh-in weight, with a weight log to show me what my past weigh-in numbers were and when each time I weighed in was.

I can also browse back through days, so if I was unable for some reason to enter something, I can go back to the specific date and enter it.

I highly recommend WWDiary for anyone that is looking for a good weight loss tool, and for anyone on the Weight Watchers diet plan.

What Smart Phone diet and fitness Applications do you recommend?

I hate roommies

2011-08-24T13:42:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Olga Quinn

I really appreciate that some people like having roommates but I am just not one of them. I can’t stand having people all up in my face or messing up my house. I tried having roommates all through college but it just didn’t work for me so as soon as I could when I hit my mid 20s I bought my own place and that’s where I’m living now, happier than ever! I think the only time I ever wish I had roommates is at night when it’s dark and I’m alone but I went to Http://www.home-ALARM-systems.com to get an alarm which makes me feel better. I’m thinking about getting a dog but even that’s a big step since I’m not sure if I can handle the responsibility or the extra mess a dog is inevitably going to make. I like my space and my private time and I plan on keeping both just as plentiful as they are right now which means I’m probably always going to live alone if I have my way!

This post has been a

Lessening the impact of unhealthy eating options

2011-08-24T13:30:00.000-08:00

I suppose that it would be easier to maintain a diet if the only things I find when I open my freezer were not pizza or ice cream. Then there is the small problem of every time I hunt through the kitchen in search of something to munch on I am always far more attracted by the idea of assembling scratch cookies than getting a salad.

I have done some things to try to limit the damage, though, and am feeling better for it.

For the cookies: I keep plenty of things on hand to make peanut butter or oatmeal cookies, adding little sugar and lots of peanut butter or oatmeal. I then limit myself to one, two cookies at most, and put the rest into storage containers in the freezer so that they need to be thawed out to eat more of them.

And for the pizza: I have stocked up on items like bell peppers (assorted colors) and other pizza friendly, yet healthy, toppings. I keep them frozen in the freezer and when I want to make a pizza I will get a few slices of bell pepper out and dice it on the counter to add to the pizza, or add on some mushrooms, whatever I feel like to increase how filling a single slice will be, while adding healthiness to it. That way when I have pizza just one slice will have enough added goodies that I feel content and do not go back after a second... well, maybe one more if I am really hungry, but since I started loading the pizza with more goodness I do not think I have ate more than two slices, and usually only one slice. (Pizza sliced so to make 8 wedges).

It is not a perfect solution, but it has allowed me to eat the things I adore and not pack on the pounds. Now if only I could find a substitute for Ben & Jerry's Mudslide...

I have tried keeping yogurt and frozen fruit on hand, and will make myself smoothies in the summer rather than just grab ice cream, so that helps a bit there.

What options have you tried to work with to help make unhealthy eating a bit healthier?

Define 'Diet'

2011-08-02T15:10:00.000-08:00

I was reading a blog entry by Meg Selig in her blog on Psychology Today and was caught by her comment that the word "diet", in and of itself, is confusing. It can, she points out, simply refer to customary food and drink. And she is right, simply by eating and drinking you are on a "diet", you are eating and drinking the things that make up your customary food and drink intake.

With so many different subtle interpretations of what the word means, saying that you are "on a diet" is a little like saying that you are in clothing. There are hundreds of thousands, or more, different possibilities for what you might be wearing, and just the same, there are hundreds of thousands of things that you might be consuming if you are on a diet.

And "diet" has come to mean a rather harshly strict manner of consuming food and drink that, let's face it, is a lot of hard work and stress and quite often ends in failure. I don't know how many people make a new year's resolution to loose weight by going on a diet and exercising more, but I think it is likely only slightly more than the number of people that have broken that resolution by the third week of the year.

We need to restructure our definition of the word "diet" and stop using it in ways such as "Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we diet".

There does not have to be a loss of enjoyment when someone seeks to lose weight, and restructuring what you eat to lose weight is a bad plan, because people tend to drop back into old habits and at some point after the weight has been lost, the pizza or glazed raised donuts are going to call and the weight will return with them.

The goal is not to restructure your diet to exclude things you love, it is to restructure your eating so that you are able to better enjoy the things that you love - and that way you can eat less of them and still lose weight.

We have all heard the advice to never snack while watching television, right? It is actually not a really bad thing, but the trick is to replace that bag full of potato chips with a cup full of celery stalks. Or a sliced up apple (and no, packaged baked apple chips do not count).

Save the chips to have a few the next time you are enjoying a hamburger grilled on the back porch or at a local park. Make the chips a treat that are enjoyed when you are out doing something active, not munchies to forget how much you are eating while you watch a movie.

Rather than pick up a book on the newest fad in dieting, pick up a book on healthy meal preparation and how foods work with your body. Then redefine your idea of what it means to be on a diet, and focus not on depriving your body of food, but on assuring it gets the right kinds of food to make it healthier and you feeling better. And you might, as I did, discover that you really do not even like the taste of chocolate cake or chips anymore. There are, surprisingly, much tastier, and healthier, foods to enjoy.

Shoulder Pain

2011-07-27T14:46:00.000-08:00

I am not sure what I did to upset my right shoulder, but for a few days now I have had a nasty stiff shoulder and neck that makes it all but impossible to work at the computer. I suspect it was how I slept a few nights ago, with a dog trying to curl onto that shoulder, since the same dog did that last night and my arm hurts even worse today than it had before - but I really don't know for certain and trying to take aspirin really did not help at all.

A cold compress at least eases off the pain a bit - unfortunately where the stiffness and pain is located I can not easily reach to put the cold compress. Work today has dropped to what I can hunt and peck type left handed.

Walter Reed Hospital Closing

2011-07-27T01:55:00.000-08:00

Throughout my lifetime, each time my parents would talk about military medical care, there was often one hospital in particular mentioned. Walter Reed.

With the motto: "We Provide Warrior Care", the Walter Reed Army Medical Center has been the flagship of the U.S. Army's hospitals since 1909. This year it will close and send its civilian staff off to other hospitals.

A sad ending to a hospital that has had a long and colorful history with care given to the range of ranks from privates up to presidents. I hope that there are plans to create some kind of memorial or museum to the century of history Walter Reed witnessed.

Special K Chocolate

2011-07-25T20:26:00.000-08:00

I was in the store today and saw boxes of Special K cereal on sale, including their chocolate variety. Okay, why not? They were under $3 a box, so why not give it a try.

I'm usually not too excited about new cereals. My dad and I got the Chocolate Cheerios that came out a little while back because the Honey Nut Cheerios were really good and he thought the chocolate would be too. Turned out to not have much of a chocolate flavor. He really did not like them and I don't even remember if we finished the box.

The Special K chocolate cereal, however, I really like. It has just the right level of chocolate taste to it to taste like I am having some chocolate - which combats that 'must have chocolate!' craving I was just having, and gives me some good real food that keeps me from going after that pizza I bought on impulse this evening.

Now to just see if it gives me some energy, or puts me to sleep. Won't know that for a little while though. I do know I will buy more of it, if it does not end up making me sleepy.

CoolSculpting

2011-07-19T03:08:00.002-08:00

Have you heard about CoolSculpting by ZELTIQ?

CoolSculpting is just that cool sculpting, as in freezing away undesirable fat cells that seem to be immune to diet and exercise.

Done without surgery, CoolSculpting uses a device to pull a section of fatty skin between two cool panels that will, over the course of around an hour, cool the area to freeze the fat. The goal is to gently cool the unwanted fat cells to encourage the body to begin a natural elimination of the fat cells over the next few weeks.

You can visit the CoolSculpting website at http://www.coolsculpting.com to find out more about what CoolSculpting is and how it can help you beat those problem spots.

Note that this is not intended as a way to loose weight. The procedure is intended for persons who are already near their desired weight, and are living a healthy lifestyle, but have 'pocket' fat areas that are resistant to their efforts.

ZELTIQ was founded in 2005, and developed the CoolSculpting procedure based on a science called Cryolipolysis, which found that subcutaneous fat cells are naturally more vulnerable to cold than the surrounding tissue.

Also, check out the CoolSculpting 12 Weeks to Change Challenge and while you are there visit and 'like' the CoolSculpting Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/coolsculpting for all kinds of information on health and fitness.

This post was sponsored by CoolSculpting.com to help promote their website and their 12 Weeks to Change Challenge.

Does folic acid make you smarter?

2011-07-19T02:23:00.000-08:00

A video from ABC news caught my attention a little while ago. The video is about a new study that was published in the August issue of Pediatrics that suggests folic acid may help with academic success.

Watch the ABC News video, that discusses the possible link between folic acid and academic success with Dr Ivor Horn of the Children's National Medical Center, for more on how folic acid works in our bodies.

Folic acid is included in foods such as breads and pastas that are fortified with it in the United States by mandate. In addition folic acid can be found in spinach and other green foods such as green peas and broccoli, and in citrus fruits.

Low folic acid can lead to discomfort and diarhea, but low folic acid is very rare, especialluy in the United States. A proper amount is about 400 micrograms of folic acid, although those with Ciliac disease can be at a higher risk for low folic acid levels.

Can soy protiens lower blood pressure?

2011-07-19T01:55:00.000-08:00

A study from Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine in New Orleans seems to indicate that the replacement of some of the refined carbohydrates in your diet, such as white bread and white rice, with soy or milk protein, may lead to lower blood pressure.

The study is by no means conclusive, in part because of the limited duration of the study, it is, however, something that I believe to be a good starting point for more investigation into the links between lower refined carbohydrates, higher soy protein and lower blood pressure.

For more about this study see the Health News at www.healthfinder.gov

Mini road trip to the water park

2011-06-21T14:58:00.000-08:00

Guest post written by Emma Winston

Living out in what the middle of what many people would consider is nowhere has its certain perks. But then there's the trouble of having to drive so far to get to most places. I had to do that one day last week when I finally decided to make good on my promise to my kids and take them to the water park. But first it was a matter of getting there.

I did my research online and looked for the best directions to get there, which was tour and a half hours away! While I was looking up more info on the park, I ran across the site CLEARTVBundle.com. I read through it some and after that I decided to switch over our home internet service to it.

I was almost too exhausted from the drive by the time we got to the water park, but the long road trip was worth it because all of us had so much fun together! We spent a whole lot of our time in the wave pool and I was absolutely fine with that.

FDA's new warning labels for cigarettes

2011-06-21T14:56:00.000-08:00

I've heard several people over the years make comments about how they would gain weight if they quit smoking. It has always been made in a light-hearted good humor manner. What is neither light-hearted or humorous is the new idea the FDA has for getting people to stop smoking.

This is one of the kinder warning labels the FDA will soon require all cigarette packages to bear...

They will demand 50% of the front, and back, of all cigarette packs to display one of nine different warning labels. 20% of the top portion of all advertising will also be required to bear the very graphic images. And, as I said, this is one of the tamer images that I have shown here, there are a few (such as the man on an autopsy table) that I would not want to show on my sites.

It is a shock campaign aimed at showing people what can happen when they light up a cigarette. What do you think? Is this going to stop anyone from smoking?

Purdue University study finds fat substitutes might not make you lean

2011-06-21T14:47:00.000-08:00

A study out of Purdue University has determined that the lower calorie fat substitute Olean might not be the way to lose weight after all.

Rats in two test groups were given a high-fat diet and either normal full-fat potato chips, or a mix of regular full-fat potato ships and potato chips made using Olean. The rats taking the Olean chips were found to gain more weight than the rats that were eating the full-fat potato chips.

This was explained by Purdue University psychology professor Susan Swithers; "fat substitutes can interfere with the body’s ability to regulate food intake, which can lead to inefficient use of calories and weight gain."

The danger is more than scientific than we might suspect. It seems that taste and texture play a role in how our bodies will handle a food when it is digested.

According to the research, the body will prepare itself for how many calories it will get based on factors such as a sweet or fatty taste. Get that taste without the expected calories to be burned and the body stops expecting high calories when it is sent those triggers.

This is based on the rats mentioned above, the ones that got to snack on potato chips, advancing to a second study. In this second study the potato chips were all taken away and the rats, both groups, were given a high-fat diet.

While both groups of rats ate the same high-fat diets, only the group that had previously ate the potato chips made using Olean were found to gain weight though over-eating. They had, apparently, had changes to their bodies normal processing of high-fat foods.

Swithers said: “Eating food which is naturally low in fat and calories may be a better route than relying on fat substitutes or artificial sweeteners.”

Topamax Lawsuit

2011-06-09T20:44:00.000-08:00

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a safety announcement on March 4, 2011 concerning the risks of Topamax (topiramate) to fetuses when taken by women while pregnant.

A topiramate drug, Topamax is used either alone or in combination with other drugs in the treatment of epileptic seizures and to prevent migraine headaches. It could also be prescribed for what are known as "off-label" uses, those uses for treatments that the drug has not been approved for.

New information, collected from human data since the drug was released, has lead the FDA to reclassify topiramates such as Topamax, from a Pregnancy Category C drug, which is one that may cause birth defects, to a Pregnancy Category D drug - one that has shown positive evidence in human data for risks to the fetus when taken by pregnant women.

If you took Topamax while pregnant, personal injury lawyers O’Hanlon, McCollom & Demerath would like to invite you to contact them for a consultation. You could have just cause to file a Topamax lawsuit for compensation to assist in paying the costly medical bills needed to treat your child's birth defect.

O’Hanlon, McCollom & Demerath
Personal Injury Lawyers
808 West Avenue
Austin, TX. 78701

phone: 512-494-9949

Note that the FDA stated in their safety announcement that there are cases where the risks of taking Topamax, and other topiramates, by pregnant women may be acceptable due to the specific benefits of the drug in the treatment of epileptic seizures.

Would you consider viper exercising? - ViPR

2011-06-09T18:31:00.000-08:00

ViPR, pronounced 'viper' stands for Vitality Performance and Reconditioning. It is a new workout that employs a rubber log that mirrors tasks that are already familiar to the exerciser. Tasks such as carrying bags, putting things away, sports moves and more. In fact, ViPR has over 9,000 movements in its exercise list.

ViPR was created by French-Canadian Michol Dalcourt, who based his idea for the fitness routine on the simple fact that he realized children from farms excelled at school sports. Dalcourt realized that unlike children that went to the gym, the farm kids were exercising on the farm as they did basic farm-related activities such as bucking hay and moving logs. As a former farm kid myself, I could have told him bucking hay, chopping firewood and building fences was a good workout.

The idea of ViPR is to get multiple muscles working together in the movements, it trains the whole body rather than single muscle focusing exercises like bicep curls or crunches.

Have you tried ViPR? If so I would love to hear what you think of it.

Nicotine does help keep off the weight

2011-06-09T17:27:00.000-08:00

It has long been known that people that stop smoking tend to start gaining weight, and now researchers have accidentally discovered that it is not because of a impulse to be doing something with the hands that translated to snacking.

Yann Mineur, a researcher at Yale, was conducting an experiment designed to find chemicals that could be used to treat depression. As a part of the experiment he gave mice a chemical quite similar to nicotine. During his observations of the mice, Mineur realized that they were eating less than the other mice. In follow-up experiments it was determined that nicotine might decrease the appetite.

Brain cells in the hypothalamus region of the brain as well as a type of nerve cell called POMC. POMC cells are known to be involved in eating behaviors and the hypothalamus is the part of the brain that regulates the appetite.

After they determined that nicotine did, indeed, make the POMC cells more active, the researchers began to investigate how it affected them. The answer was discovered in a very surprising place. The researchers discovered that nicotine affects the receptors associated with the fight-or-flight impulse. Researchers pieced the puzzle together and determined that it made sense - when the fight-or-flight impulse is triggered, the appetite would naturally be decreased. Nicotine triggered that receptor in the cells.

Scientists are quick to clarify they do not recommend smoking or nicotine based products for those who wish to lose weight. This is merely a step in the science of learning how to help people lose weight. Scientists are working on non-nicotine drugs such as the natural alternative to nicotine known as the chemical cytisine - which comes from the laburnum plant and is already in use in Eastern Europe as an herbal aid to stop smoking.

FDA Safety Announcement on Topamax and Pregnancy

2011-06-09T11:34:00.000-08:00

We tend to trust that when the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves a drug it is safe for us to use. We trust even more than when a doctor prescribes a drug it is a safe medication for us to use. Recently the danger of that trust was brought to light in an FDA safety announcement regarding the prescription medication Topamax when the medication is taken by pregnant women.

In a safety announcement issued on March 4, 2011, the FDA released details of new human data studies for the prescription drug Topamax and the risks of taking it during the first trimester of pregnancy. Formerly classified as a Pregnancy Categoty C drug, which had potential risk of birth defects when taken by pregnant women, Topamax and other topiramate drugs, have been reclassified as a Pregnancy Category D drug – one that has in human data shown to have positive evidence for risk to human fetuses during the first trimester of pregnancy.

If you took Topamax while pregnant and have concerns that your child's birth defect might have been caused by the medication, personal injury lawyers O’Hanlon, McCollom & Demerath would like to invite you to contact them for a consultation. You could have just cause to file a Topamax lawsuit for compensation to assist in paying the costly medical bills needed to treat your child's birth defect.

O’Hanlon, McCollom & Demerath
Personal Injury Lawyers
808 West Avenue
Austin, TX. 78701

phone: 512-494-9949

Note that in their safety announcement the FDA stated that there are cases where the risks of taking Topamax, and other topiramates, by pregnant women may be acceptable due to the specific benefits of the drug in the treatment of epileptic seizures. Topamax is a topiramate drug that is used, either alone or in combination with other drugs, in the treatment of epileptic seizures and to prevent migraine headaches.

Ankle injury

2011-05-22T13:42:00.000-08:00

I think I might have somehow developed a minor sprain in one of my ankles. It started hurting, so after a little while of realizing it was starting to really feel uncomfortable to try to walk around, I wrapped it up in an ACE bandage to help support it and have been keeping off of it as much as reasonably possible, It feels a lot better, but I don't think I will be doing any exercise that might strain it for a week or two. That knocks out playing tennis on the Wii. ::sigh::

The University of Maryland Medical Center has a article on Ankle Pain - Treatment that is well worth looking over for anyone that might have ankles prone to pain.

Wait... Do I have to get up and exercise still?

2011-05-21T19:27:00.000-08:00

It is after 6pm local time on May 21st 2011... does this mean I still have to get up and exercise every morning?

The rapture was supposed to have started at 6pm local time today, but... I think i missed it. Either my ideal heaven is sitting at the computer writing blog posts, or I was not Raptured today.

Which leaves me to assume that I should not have had pizza for dinner after all and should go hop on the exercise equipment to undo the damage. Dang-it.

Taking control of Slim Fast

2011-05-17T23:13:00.000-08:00

New technique for how to loose weight. I drink Slim Fast when my stomach is too knotted up from stress to eat more solid things, unfortunately it is something I like, or at least the Chocolate Royal and Cappuccino ones are. So, in order to stop my drinking any more than is necessary, I have stopped buying those and instead buy one that I can tolerate if I have to, but don't really like the taste of. That way I don't just reach for it when I want something to drink, I use it how it is meant to be used - an occasional meal replacement.

A Heart-Healthy Pantry

2011-05-10T22:13:00.000-08:00

Web MD has an article for a well stocked kitchen that is heart-healthy. Before you hit the supermarket check your shopping list against some of the good for you foods that they suggest.

It is not surprising to see the top of their list being fresh fruits and vegetables. They also tell you what fats and cooking oils to watch for to add to your pantry, and what spices are good choices for giving flavor to low salt and salt-free dishes.

Even what snacks are best to stock up on for on the go and snacking on during movie time.

Page two of the heart-healthy list covers condiments gravies and sauces. It's good to me to see my favorites of honey Dijon mustard and barbecue sauce on their list of suggestions.

Roller Blades

2011-05-06T11:55:00.000-08:00

A few days ago I got out one of my old pairs of roller blades, not the ones I want, but I the good pair is somewhere in the basement.

The ones I dug out were from the shed out behind the house and they were a bit... worse for wear. The wheels, of which there are only two on each one rather than four, were frozen in position on the things.

Not finding my WD-30, I dug the 3-in-One oil out of the back closet and dripped some into the wheels and worked them to loosen them up. One rather tough one I resorted to glancing blows to the wheel using a rubber mallet. It worked though. Took about twenty minutes of work, but all of the wheels eventually unfroze and I was able to skate back and forth a few times through the dining room and living room.

Now I just need to figure out where my wrist guard gloves, elbow and knee pads and helmet went so I can take the roller blades up to the bike path to get used to roller blading again.

What does water do for a diet?

2011-04-27T16:33:00.000-08:00

You hear people tell you to drink eight glasses of water a day, but... what does it do? Why eight? and... how big is a "glass" of water?

My first stop was the great urban legend busting website Snopes. At Snopes.com they say that the claim is that you need to drink eight glasses of water to avoid being "chronically dehydrated." They also say that it is false.

They quote a Los Angeles Times article in which the reporter had spoken to a lady by the name of Barbara Rolls, who wrote a book on water, and she was unable to tell the reporter where the rule of drinking eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day had come from.

So, we at least now know it is supposed to be 8 ounces of water eight times a day. For the average American trying to do the math in their head... a soda can holds 12 ounces. So we are talking less than half a soda can worth of water. And since the water does not HAVE to be in the form of clear drinking water we tend to take in more than we realize anyway.

If we stick with the eight 8 ounce servings of water rule, then someone that has drank two bottles of water has likely already consumed a little over half of their daily requirement for staying properly hydrated.

I picked up a bottle of Arrowhead water that I have in the pantry and on the side it says: "700ml (1PT,7.7 FL OZ)" ... now, for a moment I thought they were out of their mind. No way is that bottle 7.7 ounces! Then I reread it and realized they had the ounces and pints lumped together. It would have been much kinder to the dieter if they instead said "700ml (23.7 FL OZ)" Then I would know at a glance that is two, almost three, of my daily 8 ounces, and not a bit under one because of a error in calculations when I was in a hurry.

Add into the two bottles of water a drink here and there, melted ice in drinks, the water content in soups or fruits and I can hit eight 8 ounce servings pretty fast in a day, likely on an average day I take in more than just the 8 ounces eight times.

Now, your requirement will, of course, fluctuate. It is based on the amount of activity you do, how old you are, what the temperature is and a number of other factors.

My personal rule of thumb? If I am feeling thirsty or run down I will drink some water. I'm likely starting to get dehydrated. I don't worry about counting the water I have drank, although I did count my dad's water intake when I cared for him. It is a rule of thumb, and the best rule (in my I'm-not-a-nutritionist opinion) is to drink a bit when you can throughout the day and don't force yourself to drink more water when you really can't stand the thought of drinking more water. If you are consciously drinking a little throughout the day, then you likely don't have to worry about dehydration.

Just make sure you consult your physician rather than taking any medical level advice from the Internet.

Depuy lawsuit

2011-04-22T21:48:00.000-08:00

on August 26, 2010, DePuy Orthopedics announced a recall of 93,000 hip replacement systems. The recall was initiated due to a large number of patients that required either a second hip replacement surgery or revision surgery, and concerns the ASR™ XL Acetabular System and DePuy ASR™ Hip Resurfacing System used in hip replacement surgery.

O’Hanlon, McCollom & Demerath knows that big companies might not always be prompt in providing the care promised during such recalls, so would like ot reach out to anyone that has been affected by the DePuy Orthopedics recall and might need the help of O’Hanlon, McCollom & Demerath in a Depuy lawsuit product liability claim.

O’Hanlon, McCollom & Demerath invites you to contact them at the above link or using the below information:

O’Hanlon, McCollom & Demerath
Personal Injury Lawyers
808 West Avenue, Austin, TX. 78701
512-494-9949

5 minutes on the Stride Trainer

2011-04-19T19:35:00.000-08:00

It might not seem like much, just a few minutes, but I have made a decision to take five minutes whenever I can a few times a week to work out on my stride trainer while I watch a video or listen to a podcast of some kind.

My first time doing this was day before yesterday, and I ended up working out closer to 10 minutes in it rather than 5 minutes because the video I was watching had some issues loading and froze up a bit midway through. I kept going as I sorted out how to fix the issue and rewatched the start of the video.

It works good to help me focus on what I am watching and not think about the fact that I am also working out.

A smaller size

2011-04-13T14:13:00.000-08:00

I found a new way to determine if I am losing weight or not. I make some of my clothing, including a few pairs of pants that were designed to fit me exactly. It was with a nice surprise I realized one of the pairs were not quite fitting right the other day. I checked and there has been no stretching of the fabric, but the pants are much looser in fit. I'll be taking them in to the new smaller size and hoping they need to be taken in again before too long.

Sometimes the diet just fails

2011-04-09T22:45:00.000-08:00

Sometimes, no matter what good intentions someone has, the diet just fails.

Too much stress causes a need for the stress calming influence of dark chocolate, exhaustion causes a need for coffee - which requires sugar to sweeten it, and frustration upon stress upon tension causes a tendency to grab quick to eat foods.

It all adds up and when you combine it with lack of time and energy to exercise you end up with any efforts you do manage to do no more than maintain your current weight.

Wii Biggest Looser Day 1

2011-01-17T00:59:00.000-09:00

I have decided that I need to either give up on losing weight or get my backside in gear and get to work on the losing. So, I reset the Wii Biggest Looser game that I have to the beginning and for day one on a 20 min core-light workout I scored 3 outta 5 stars and burned 29 calories... but that was with a few breaks to see what someone was saying on AIM. Favorite exercises are definitely side steps and wood chopping. Now to see if I can keep this up each day - or at least 3-5 days a week.

No time to workout yet this year

2011-01-16T19:53:00.000-09:00

This year has got off to such an insane start that here I am, two weeks into January, and I still have not managed to actually get my diet on track. I have got in some working out with the Wii here and there, mostly using the tennis game, but I have not got a regular schedule of working out with it going yet. Just too busy with other things and sleeping when I am not at a fast run here or there.

Be Medication Aware

2010-12-04T18:53:00.000-09:00

As a family caregiver I got extremely familiar with all kinds of medications, such as metoprolol and other medications in the 'beta-blocker' category of medications. I also learned that it is extremely important that you understand what you are taking and why you are taking it.

Some medications, such as metoprolol, can have adverse effects with other medications, and it is not always caught by your doctor or pharmacist. So be highly aware of what medications you take and check reactions with any new prescriptions.

Living for fitness?

2010-12-04T18:44:00.000-09:00

I have been thinking about the idea of moving things around in my house so that I can have easier access to the fitness equipment I own and be able to use it without having to move other things around or dig equipment out.

It might be a consideration for something to do with the spare bedroom - create the fitness room I have always wanted to have by putting all of my home fitness equipment in there.

Something to consider at least. Along with my thoughts to arrange my living room around me Wii so I can play fitness games without moving furniture.

High Blood Pressure

2010-12-04T18:39:00.000-09:00

If you do not yet have enough reasons to exercise and follow a proper diet, then here his one more. High blood pressure.

High blood pressure is caused by a poor diet, obesity, inactivity, and stress.

It is important to keep alert and know what high blood pressure symptoms are. The warning signs of high blood pressure include: headache, fatigue or confusion, chest pain, pounding in chest neck or ears, and difficulty breathing.

It is important to react quickly if you suspect you might have high blood pressure symptoms. Consult your doctor to find out if that is the cause of your symptoms and what your treatment options are.

Healthy diet

2010-12-04T18:34:00.000-09:00

I need to make myself up a menu that I can follow for the month so that I will start eating healthy and stop just eating whatever is handy. Over the past twenty years I got into a bad habit of grabbing quick to eat food and wolfing it down quickly. I need to stop that and get back into a healthy diet so that I can eat better and not just grab a can of soup to warm up, instead I want to get back to making a slow cook stew or baked chicken that will be followed the next day by chicken and dumplings.

Signs of Menopause

2010-12-02T03:57:00.000-09:00

Do you know what the signs of menopause are? Healthline.com wants to help you educate yourself on what the signs are and how you can better manage your symptoms. Healthline invites you to visit their website to find out more about the signs of menopause and how you can help prevent it with preventive measures such as a healthy diet, restful sleep, and a healthy lifestyle. Just click on the preceding link to visit their website and learn the signs of menopause and what options are available to you.

Hip Replacement Recall

2010-10-23T21:02:00.000-08:00

What if you could no longer go out for a jog? What if your hips would not allow you to? Now, what if it was not your fault? What if you had got hip replacement surgery, only to have issues that required a second replacement surgery within five years?

That was the situation faced by 1 in 8 hip replacement patients that had received hip replacement surgery after July 2003 with the ASR XL Acetabular Hip System and the DePuy ASR Hip Resurfacing System by DePuy Orthopedics.

On August 26, 2010, DePuy Orthopedics issued a voluntary recall on the ASR XL Acetabular Hip System and the DePuy ASR Hip Resurfacing System used in hip replacement surgery. The products included in the voluntary Depuy recall affected roughly 1 in 8 hip replacement patients who requiring a second surgery within five years of their initial hip replacement surgery.

The law offices of personal injury lawyers O’Hanlon, McCollom & Demerath, would like to invite you to contact them, information below, or to visit their website at the included link, and find out how they can assist you with your liability claim if you had hip surgery involving a DePuy product after July 2003.

O’Hanlon, McCollom & Demerath
Personal Injury Lawyers
808 West Avenue, Austin, TX. 78701
Phone: 512-494-9949

This post was sponsored by O’Hanlon, McCollom & Demerath

Exercise Fail

2010-10-23T11:11:00.000-08:00

I fail at exercise. I was going to work out several times a week, but one thing after another derailed the plans. I'm not going to give up, but I'm not exactly managing to meet my goals either.

I think I need to step back and look at the things I have to get done over the next few weeks and sort out the best time in which I can get in a half hour of exercise each day for the next couple of weeks. Then go on a week to week basis on what my routine will be until I get into a habit I can maintain.

No, I do not plan to hold my breath on this plan working.

Wii Biggest Loser Game

2010-10-11T10:49:00.000-08:00

I began a determined workout session today with the Wii Biggest Loser game. I picked it up off of eBay a while back, and now that the Wii is set up in the living room, I am going to make full use of the machine and try to lose some weight.

Last night I played a bunch of the tennis from the Wii Sports disk that game with the system, and today I started a new profile on the Biggest Loser game and started working out with it. We'll see how long this goes before I forget or skip a workout.

Right now, after half an hour of exercising, all I want to do is crawl back in bed and sleep a few hours. I thought exercising was supposed to wake you up, not make you sleepy.

Scale not working

2010-10-11T10:45:00.000-08:00

My bathroom scale stopped working a while back, at first I thought it had been broken, but after taking a look at it, I think it might just be that something got set on it just enough to have kept it turning on, and run the battery down completely.

I have been resorted to using the mechanical scale of my mom's until I can replace the battery or just get a new electronic scale.

Diversify your portfolio with precious metals

2010-09-27T13:46:00.000-08:00

If you want to diversify your portfolio with the purchase of silver, gold or other precious metals, then the United States Gold Bureau would like to invite you to stop by their website and find out more about how they can help you do that.

As an investment product, precious metals such as silver and gold bullion are excellent ways to diversify any portfolio. And the hard asset professionals at United States Gold Bureau are ready to assist you in the purchase of precious metals for investment purposes and can help you arrange for the purchase to be delivered to you via personal delivery, or help you arrange for your investment to be placed in an independent bank or depository.

Started in 2003, United States Gold Bureau was incorporated as an LLC in Austin Texas in 2008. Their large, dedicated staff of hard asset professionals are committed to serving your precious metals investment needs and provide their customers with competitively priced precious metals.

To find out more about the United States Gold Bureau visit their website at the link above.

Note that no investment, even one in a precious metal such as gold, is without some risk. Enter into any investment with care and careful planning. The United States Gold Bureau is not associated with the United States government.

Wii Workout Wednesday starting this wednesday

2010-09-27T13:03:00.000-08:00

I decided that I am going to officially start the Wii Workout Wednesday this coming Wednesday. That will give a day for weighting in and getting a baseline fitness score for the coming week. It also allows for a menu to be made up for the coming week and any goals set, then the first official Wii Workout Wednesday will be on Wednesday, October 6th with weekly check ins at the meme every Wednesday after that.

I'm still considering rather or not to make the official meme base of operations here on this blog, or to move it to my Diet Tracker Online website. I will decide that by this coming Wednesday when I post the official announcement for the meme.

Coming soon: Wii Workout Wednesday meme

2010-09-27T12:45:00.000-08:00

I want to set up my Wii Workout Wednesday as a full weekly meme that others can participate in. It is easier to keep motivated if there is some kind of communal effort going on, so I want to start it up as a Wii Meme that others with Wii systems, and even those who do not have a Wii, can participate in and share in goals, achievements, and setbacks.

I'll be working on some kind of banner when I have the time, and working on how to set the meme up for participation.

Investing in gold

2010-09-27T11:35:00.000-08:00

Ready to start investing in your future? The hard asset professionals at the United States Gold Bureau would like to invite you to stop by their website to find out how they can assist you in the purchase of precious metals for investment. Either as bars or ingots of gold bullion or other precious metals.

Also find out how they can assist you in arranging for your purchase of precious metals to be sent either to you via home delivery, or sent for safe storage at an independent bank or depository.

Started in 2003, and incorporated as an LLC in Austin Texas in 2008, the United States Gold Bureau provides its customers with competitively prices precious metals. The United States Gold Bureau is not associated with the United States government. To find out more about the United States Gold Bureau visit their website at the link above.

Note that no investment, even one in a precious metal such as gold, is without some risk. Enter into any investment with care and careful planning.

Sore Throat & Cough Lozenge Recipe

2010-09-27T10:41:00.000-08:00

My dang nephew gave me a head cold of some kind that resulted in a nasty sore throat starting up day before yesterday, and by last night I was out of sore throat drops (only had about 8 to start with), so last night as the throat got worse I made my own sore throat drops using a orange spice tea as the base for a basic lollipop recipe.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1.5 cups strong tea
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup kayro syrup
1/2 tsp ginger

Boil on stove until a bit dropped into cold water forms a ball as it sinks. [250 degrees on candy thermometer] Pour onto buttered marble meat board and score with knife, cool then break apart and wrap in small wax paper rectangles.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My tea choice was an orange spice type of tea to give me lots of good cold fighting herbs and a bit more vitamin C from the orange in the tea. Rose hip tea would also make an excellent choice, since rose hips are high in vitamin C too.

My cold has escalated to coughing today, in addition to a bad enough sore throat that when my friend called me as she walked between classes she declined to keep me on the phone and told me to go back to bed I sounded so lousy.

Wii Fitness Challenge: Wednesday Wii Workout coming soon

2010-09-27T10:32:00.000-08:00

I want to start working out with my Wii a few times a week, it is, after all, why I bought the thing. I'm going to be getting my living room organized and everything in order over the next couple of days so that starting on October 1st I can start into a weekly Wii challenge. First thing I need to do is figure out what happened to my bathroom scale. I think the battery might have gone out on it, if it is more severe than that I am going to be highly ticked off, because I can't afford to buy a new scale right now.

So, anyway, if you have a Wii and would like to hop in on the comments and things, I am thinking to have like a Wednesday Wii Workout or something like that for posting updates on how things are going with the Wii workout and my efforts to loose approximately 30 pounds.

Gold Bullion

2010-09-25T23:05:00.000-08:00

So, assuming that you already know that it is not a soup ingredient, do you know what bullion is?

Bullion refers to gold and other precious metals formed into a mass such as bars or ingots. A gold ingot is also known as a gold coin. So ingot, coin, bar... they are all different kinds of bullion, and the hard asset professionals at the United States Gold Bureau can assist you in sorting through all of the confusion to purchase precious metals for investment, then assist you in arranging for home delivery or safe storage at an independent bank or depository.

Note that no investment, even one in a precious metal such as gold, is without some risk. Enter into any investment with care and careful planning. The United States Gold Bureau is not associated with the United States government.

Popcorn for munchies

2010-09-25T22:12:00.000-08:00

I love popcorn, particularly air popped with a spray of butter and very lightly salted. I need to start making up more kinds of variations, such as kettle corn and sweetened corn and stuff. I used to make various flavors of popcorn years ago, but when everything went to microwaved bags and stuff I just stopped bothering. I have microwaves though, so now I will start getting back into creating snacks from popcorn that I can munch on throughout the day rather than eating as much candy as I have been.

Honey Candy

2010-09-25T22:06:00.000-08:00

When I was looking around the store earlier this month I found a cool deal. It is intended to be a sugar substitute, but I like to use it as either a kind of candy or to suck on one as a sore throat drop - which is what I am doing now.

The honey drops are made from pure honey, but are solid like a hard candy. Each one is in its own little sealed packet, so you can toss them into a pocket or purse. And it is very tasty, at least it is if you are like me and love honey.

Gold Investing

2010-09-25T20:26:00.000-08:00

The United States Gold Bureau would like to invite you to stop by their website to find out how investing in precious metals could help to diversify your investment portfolio. You work hard to live a healthy lifestyle, but how healthy is your financial future?

The hard asset professionals at the United States Gold Bureau can assist you in the purchase of gold coin or other investment types, then assist you in arranging for home delivery or safe storage at an independent bank or depository.

Note that no investment, even one in a precious metal such as gold, is without some risk. Enter into any investment with care and careful planning. The United States Gold Bureau is not associated with the United States government.

Healthier Eating - what is that?

2010-09-23T21:54:00.000-08:00

You hear people talk about healthier eating all the time, but what exactly does that mean? I've noticed that there are a lot of different ideas for what is healthy. Low fat, low sodium, low this and low that. No meat, only white meats, only seafood, no seafood. No gluten, no sugar, no starch...

There are dozens, perhaps hundreds, maybe even millions of different perspectives on what healthy eating means.

For me, healthy eating is going to be to avoid processed foods as much as possible. To eat more fruits and vegetables. I do not intend to avoid salt, but I will not be consuming more than necessary. And, I will continue to enjoy a few cups of coffee a day, some wine on occasion and my comforts such as chocolate and Chambord.

Stress and chocoholics

2010-09-23T21:39:00.000-08:00

Being a chocoholic and a stress eater means bad things when you are trying to lose weight. When the stress begins to build up, the desire to have some chocolate builds exponentially. I would just banish chocolate from the house, but I have figured out that I need to have a bit of dark chocolate now and then to keep the stress in check. Such as I just finished off a half a pint of chocolate ice cream that should have lasted me another week at least. Argh! Okay, tomorrow I start my diet. Really... if there is not a lot of stress to be dealt with.

Investing in gold

2010-06-18T13:05:00.000-08:00

At 40 I have even more awareness than ever before that I need to look toward my own future and my retirement years. One investment opportunity that my mom always believed in, other than buying property, was gold.

If you are interested in buying precious metals for investment the United States Gold Bureau is a precious metals commodities seller that would like to help you with your investing needs.

The United States Gold Bureau specializes in gold, silver and other precious metals in coin and ingot form. Their staff of hard asset professionals can assist their customers in the purchase of precious metal commodities,such as gold or silver, for investment purposes. For those wishing to buy gold eagle coins, or other precious metals, the hard asset professionals can help arrange for either personal delivery or for their investment to be places in an independent bank or depository.

Started in 2003, and incorporated as an LLC in Austin Texas in 2008, the United States Gold Bureau provides its customers with competitively prices precious metals. To find out more about the United States Gold Bureau visit their website at the link above.

This post was sponsored by the United States Gold Bureau of Austin, TX

An Apple A Day

2010-06-14T15:20:00.000-08:00

I have taken to keeping a bag or two of apples in the refrigerator and whenever I get the munchies I spend a few minutes deciding if I am actually hungry or just want something to nibble on. If I just want something to nibble on then I get an apple and a small saucer and take a few nibbles of apple whenever the desire to nibble hits. Even a small apple can last me an hour, and it prevents me grabbing a handful of cookies or something as equally nasty on the diet efforts.

The apple trick is particularly good for stress eating, since it not only gives me the low calorie fruit to munch on, but I can work out some frustration chomping on the crisp apple.

Marmalade is not a diet food, but it is good!

2010-06-11T12:52:00.000-08:00

Okay, so, Orange Marmalade is not exactly a diet food, but when you spread it over hot home made baking soda biscuits it is so good.

I made my dad some orange marmalade the other day, and it is such a tasty little confection.

The picture here shows three of the jars of finished marmalade with a small platter of baking soda biscuits.

ORANGE MARMALADE

Prep Time: 30 min
Cook Time: 45 min

Servings: 4 pints

Ingredients:

2 larges Oranges Thick skinned variety
1 teaspoon Lemon Juice
2 cups Water
3 cups Sugar Approx amount

Directions

NIGHT BEFORE

Wash oranges to remove any dust or possible pesticides. Peel oranges and carefully trim the inner white layer off the rind. Julienne the rind, making each sliver approximately one half inch in length. Discard the pith and seeds from oranges, then finely chop the fruit over a container to catch the juice.

Combine water, juice, minced fruit, and rind in an enameled or heavy stainless steel sauce pan. Bring mixture to a simmer and slowly simmer, uncovered, for ten minutes.

Cover, cool and set in refrigerator overnight.

NEXT MORNING

Wash and sterilize canning jars. Expect to need at least 4 8oz jars or 6 4 oz jars. Set jars on cookie sheet in 250 F oven until ready for use.

Measure fruit mixture. Add 1 cup sugar for each cup of mixture. Heat to boiling over medium heat, stirring until sugar melts.

Position a candy thermometer in the mixture and continue to heat uncovered. stirring occasionally, until candy thermometer reaches 215. Monitor closely as temperature raises to 220 degrees F.

Marmalade can be tested for when it is done using a large metal spoon. Scoop a little juice into the spoon and cool slightly. Tip spoon and watch the droplets. Marmalade is done when the juice slides together on a tilted spoon, sheeting down off of the spoon rather than pouring as a liquid.

When marmalade sheets during spoon test, remove from heat and stir for one minute.

Skim froth off surface and gently scoop marmalade into prepared jelly jars. Fill to 1/8" of top. Wipe rims with clean damp cloth, set tops and gently tighten rings.

Cool jars, then test seals. Lid should be vacuumed down and not pop up and down. With ring removed, you should not be able to lift lid away from jar with very gentle effort. Put ring on jars, do not tighten, leave the rings loosely screwed onto the jars. Store in a cool dark place.

Approx. 50 calories per tablespoon.

Diet Math

2010-05-01T15:20:00.000-08:00

One pound of weight is equal to 3,500 calories. Right?

Maybe not.

While many of us would love to have a simple formula that tells us exactly how many calories we need to cut back on to loose the weight, but it might now be that simple.

An article in the Wall Street Journal provides information on a new diet study that seems to indicate that rather than steadily building up all of the calories I eat in stress binges into massive calories that equate to massive pounds, my body might actually adjust itself to the added calorie intake and maintain its weight provided I am not overindulging.

How do you remember to shop healthy?

2010-04-30T03:26:00.000-08:00

I am going to be headed for town in the morning to get stuff to replenish the munchies around here. I am going to try to get healthy stuff to help me stay on track with the diet, but somehow I just know that things like candy and donuts and stuff will sneak into the cart instead.

So, my question is: How do you keep the junk food out of the cart?

I make this promise every month, and every month I seem to forget to pick up lettuce and apples and stuff. Well, the lettuce I can understand, since my dad can't eat it while on Coumadin (a blood thinner), but come on, why can't I remember I want things like apples and pears and other fresh fruits and veggies?

And yes, I do make up a shopping list, I just seem to repeatedly forget to put them on that too.

Morning Coffee Sweetener

2010-04-29T16:51:00.000-08:00

I have decided that to try to lessen the damage my coffee habit has on my diet efforts, I will start using some artificial sweetener... maybe. I need to research before I fully commit. I did buy some little packets of Sweet'N Low^® when I was at the store. They were inexpensive and I decided to test them out and see how they taste. Can't say it has lost that off aftertaste, but it works reasonably well.

This morning, in a sleepy half awake fog, I was really wanting my morning coffee, and I knew the coffee was going to be a bit bitter cause I had made it a bit stronger than normal, so I decided I would put two packets instead of one into the cup. I like sweet coffee, which is why I need an alternative to sugar. Well, half asleep I grabbed my two packets of Sweet'N Low^® and tapped them down, and tore the ends off and upended them over the cup. And realized I had not two, but three packets.

Ooops.

I managed to remove some of the powdered sweetener, and while the coffee was a bit extra sweet, it wasn't too bad.

Oasis Advance Wellness

2010-04-19T19:32:00.000-08:00

Looking for a whole health approach to healing and wellness? Oasis Advance Wellness provides its customers with natural whole health products that avoid the use of drugs, surgery or radiation. Their website specifies their focus objectives as being in a "whole-body" approach to hormonal health, women's issues, detoxification and cleansing strategies that focus on methods of increasing energy levels and giving the body what it needs to aid in disease prevention.

Products offered by Oasis Advance Wellness include the Oregano Oil Oregasil, which is a highly concentrated type of oregano oil, and Bio D-Mulsion, a vitamin D micro-emulsion.

Find out more about these and other products offered by Oasis Advance Wellness by visiting their website at any of the above links.

Oasis Advanced Wellness was founded by Loretta Lanphier, ND, CN, HHP, who is a Doctor of Naturopath, Clinical Nutritionist, Holistic Health Practitioner and Clinical Herbalist in the Houston, TX area.

This post was sponsored by Oasis Advance Wellness

Walking on the phone

2010-04-19T19:18:00.000-08:00

Talking on the telephone has come to be a great way for me to work in some exercise. I pace when I am talking on the telephone, and if I average a fifteen minute call a couple times a day, that is half an hour of walking from one end of the house to the other. And the best part is, while I am not walking fast enough to make talking on the phone difficult, I am up and moving around rather than sitting still. Gets a little more exercise into the day, even if it is very low intensity walking for roughly half an hour broken into a few calls throughout the day about 4 days a week.

Gold Investing

2010-04-19T17:19:00.000-08:00

In addition to getting in shape physically, it is always a good idea to think about what kind of shape you are in financially. Particularly when it comes to your retirement portfolio.

One of my favorite investment options that I would love to add to my own retirement portfolio is gold. Over the years, even with occasional declines, the price of gold has risen steadily. This steady increase in long term value makes it an ideal investment for long term investing for retirement.

If you are looking to diversify your portfolio, you might buy gold coins or ingots, or perhaps another precious metal, such as silver.

The United States Gold Bureau, a precious metals investment company headquartered in Austin, Texas, can assist investors in buying gold and other precious metals in coin or ingot form, with the coins being available for personal delivery or the hard asset professionals an assist in arranging for storage in an independent bank or depository.

This post sponsored by United States Gold Bureau.

Stride Trainer

2010-04-19T15:35:00.000-08:00

In an effort to get in more exercise, and make use of the equipment I have that got buried under things back at Thanksgiving, I spent yesterday moving things around until I was able to unearth my Stride Trainer exercise machine in the bedroom.

Now I have the Stride Trainer where I can use it once again, and a renewed determination that I am going use it for a few minutes at a time throughout the work day - whenever I need to get up and stretch my legs.

The Stride Trainer lets me 'walk' around some, while still being in the house where I can hear my dad if he needs me for something.

I'm contemplating now setting it up where I can walk on the stride trainer when I watch television. Make myself a rule that I have to be exercising if I am watching TV.

Mini Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

2010-04-19T15:26:00.000-08:00

In creating different things for my dad to enjoy as snacks, I started buying the mini loaves of cocktail bread. The rye bread and pumpernickel. I use them to create mini grilled cheese sandwiches for him, then quarter each sandwich to create a bite sized mini grilled cheese sandwich.

They are fast to make, just spread butter (or margarine) on one side of each slice of bread, place one slice butter side down in hot pan, lay a slice of cheese (your choice in variety) on top of the bread, place the second slice of bread on top - butter side up.

Heat on medium high until browned, carefully turn over and brown on second side. Cut into quarters and serve warm.

Tasty, but I think they do bad things to the diet - not as bad as full-sized grilled cheese sandwiches though, so since i can get away with only one or two of the minis it is better than one or two full-sized ones.

Regency Beauty Institute

2010-04-19T13:54:00.000-08:00

Has being on a diet had changes in the rest of your life, like maybe in what you would like to do career-wise? Have you been thinking about maybe getting into a career in cosmetology?

If so then the Regency Beauty Institute would like to invite you to take a look at their website and browse through the information they provide for their cosmetology school in Wisconsin. With a growing network of over thirty campuses in nine states, there is a good chance that you are closer to a career in cosmetology than you expected.

Regency campuses mirror upscale salons and provide students with cosmetology training that is fully accredited by the National Accrediting Commission of Cosmetology Arts and Sciences (NACCAS), so they are able to offer federal financial aid to those who qualify.

Regency Beauty Institute got its start in the 1950’s as Myndall Cain Beauty Academy, assuming the name of Regency in the 1980’s. Regency got its latest makeover in 2002.

This post sponsored by Regency Beauty Institute

Planning pancakes and eggs for breakfast tomorrow

2010-04-14T02:55:00.002-08:00

I got fixings for making buttermilk pancakes and eggs tomorrow for dad for breakfast, including Log Cabin syrup. First of next month, though, I want to get real 100% pure maple syrup instead of the corn syrup stuff that most of the stuff like Log Cabin and Aunt Jemima is.

I know it is a diet disaster waiting to happen, but if I am going to eat half my days' calorie count in one meal, then I want everything used in that meal to be delectable enough I want to savor each bite slowly.

Stress - Chocolate = Sloth

2010-04-07T10:53:00.002-08:00

I am fairly certain that there is some kind of connection between stress and feeling slothful, which would be why stress triggers an intense desire to attack the nearest chocolate bar. This is nothing scientific, just my personal observation of my own formula of:

stress - chocolate = no energy

Also known as, when I don't hit the chocolate to ease the stress, I lose all of my energy and just want to sit about and not do anything more strenuous than watch television.

I have chocolate in the kitchen. Mini Hershey bars, mini Mounds bars, Oreo cookies, the fixings for fudge, several brownie mixes, hot cocoa, Hershey Syrup, M&M's, Double Chocolate granola bars, Chocolate Royal Slim Fast, chocolate chips, candy making chocolate, three kinds of chocolate cake mix, the makings for chocolate frosting... the list goes on and on. And yes, those are all really in my kitchen right now, and no, I am not attacking the cabinets in a chocolate driven craze.

I should be.

But I'm not. I am practicing the fine art of convincing myself that I don't like the taste of chocolate. It is a question of mind over matter and is a skill that I have had to spend decades learning, but I can look at a Hershey bar and think to myself how awful it would taste. Wonderful skill, but it has its down side, and that downside is a steep drop into zero energy when the stress hits and I don't grab chocolate - like I have done the past couple of days.

At first I did not make the connection. I just thought I was tired. Then I realized that I was sleeping - a LOT. And when I was not sleeping, all I really wanted to do was grab the comfy blanket and the TV remote and curl up on the sofa. I had no energy and did not want to work, did not want to think about doing stuff, even the thought of getting online and chatting with my friends seemed like far more effort than I had real energy for.

I have been feeling very slovenly. And yes, I still feel that way today, but today I have a idea for why I was feeling that way, so I am able to stand up to it - just as I have stood up to the chocolate attacks.

The trigger point for my slothfulness was a moment of intense stress brought on by the thought that I might not have the funds to pay all the bills this month. Which slammed a hard left hook at me that made me wonder why I should even care, left me contemplating the thought of just forgetting trying to pay the bills at all. That was dismissed as not being an option, so I went for the next option. Sit back and let the bills hit the banks like flies on a car windshield and ignore the splat sounds of the ones that came along too late to find funds in it. Yeah, weird analogy, but I'm forcing myself to not watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer on Netflix, so what kind of mental gymnastics do you want?

Anyway, the point of the whole sitch is - I stressed out, major stress, and when I deprived myself of the chocolate that has always been my friend in times of stress, it lead me to feeling so lowly and unenergetic that I just slept through yesterday and want to sleep through today.

I can either hit the chocolate and feel better, or I can tell myself I don't need the chocolate crutch and limp my way through the feeling of depression and laziness that hits when I am stressed without chocolate. And as I work to fight through without the chocolate is when I realized this whole rambling epiphany - if I stress out and do not have (or refuse to give in to) the chocolate that eases the stress, then I will instead be crushed under the stress and escape it through sloth instead of chocolate.

I don't wanna be slothy - green algae in the hair is not a good look. So, I am going to tell myself that I am in control and am not feeling tired, and I am going to drink MASSIVE amounts of coffee... and make it though the tiredness one minute at a time until I am no longer stressed out so much that all I wanna do is curl in a blanket and watch television.

Healthy, sweet snack fruit

2010-03-25T15:39:00.004-08:00

A couple weeks back I bought a box of mini oranges at the store. Nice little golf ball sized mandarin oranges, and oh so sweet tasting. I have decided that I need to buy another box of them, since they have lasted long enough to make them worth the $10 price, and they made a great sweet to grab rather than hitting the mini candy bars when I felt stressed out.

I still hit the candy bars from time to time, but nowhere near as bad as I had been, and I love the little oranges as a quick snack.

Picture courtesy of
www.blogonade.de
via SXC.hu

FDA hydrolyzed vegetable protein recall

2010-03-16T20:37:00.003-08:00

The FDA issued a recall on certain products that contain hydrolyzed vegetable protein, including products such as McCormick & Company Onion Gravy Mix, two flavors of Pringles (Restaurant Cravers Cheeseburger & Family Faves Taco Night), and many more well known products that contain hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP) paste and powder distributed by Basic Food Flavors, Inc.

For a complete listing of products included in the HVP recall visit the FDA website.

Wii for Exercise - Stress eaters

2010-03-11T13:15:00.002-09:00

I have determined that the best thing for a stress eater is the Wii Sports game that comes bundled with the Wii game system. When I feel stressed out during the day I go back to my room and play tennis on the Wii. Last night I hit Pro level on tennis. I'm getting in some good exercise too, since I set myself a rule that if I am going to play a video game, I am going to use the cleared area in front of the set to move around in. So I get in there and step into the swings and stuff. Very good for getting up and moving to help stay in shape, and trying to keep at pro level is resulting in focusing enough that by the time I finish one match, I have forgot I was stressing and am destressed a bunch.

Playing tennis to reduce stress

2010-03-08T13:12:00.002-09:00

I have a new commitment for my efforts to lose weight. Rather than grab munchies when I am feeling stressed out, I am going to try to go play a round of Wii tennis. I have a bag of oranges on hand for when that is not possible, but so far I have managed to play tennis with reasonable success when I am getting stressed out. We'll see how it is working when I find where my bathroom scale vanished to back around Thanksgiving.

Eyeglasses

2010-02-14T15:16:00.002-09:00

Zenni Optical would like to invite you to stop by their website and take a look at the Zenni brand eyeglasses they manufacture. Rather than selling name brand eyeglasses, which can for some brands get quite expensive, Zenni Optical keeps the prices of their eyeglasses affordable enough for nearly anyone to be able to afford stylish looking eyeglasses.

Stop by the Zenni Optical website and look at the eyeglasses they offer, then compare their prices to other optical sites. They feel you will agree that they offer very high quality eyeglasses at affordable prices.

For many of us eyeglasses can be a very expensive investment, and our budgets limit us to only the most inexpensive frames available in our local discount eyeglass store. The prices that Zenni Optical eyeglasses are priced at, however, make it an affordable enough option to allow for a much wider choice of frames selection than even the most inexpensive of local optical shops (at least for the ones near where I live).

Make sure that you check out their returns page before you order, so that you are familiar with their return policy, which is to offer a 50% refund on the custom made eyeglasses if returned within four weeks.

For more information check out the Zenni Optical website at the above link, or the article at Examiner.com that has more information on Zenni Optical as well as how to get inexpensive eye exams.

This post was sponsored by Zenni Optical.

Happy Valentine’s Day

2010-02-14T13:53:00.001-09:00

Wishing you a very happy Valentine’s Day, whether you are in a relationship and looking forward to an evening of romance, or are one of many singles this year that will be taking advantage of a day made for self indulgence and pampering yourself like you never take the time for throughout the rest of the year.

Today is the day when all of us singles should take a few hours to indulge our desire to be pampered. To give ourselves an excuse to relax and not stress. To soak in a hot tub with candles and aromatherapy. Prepare our favorite meal and put on a movie that we adore.

This is the day when we might treat ourselves to a new soft bathrobe or comfortable pajamas. Indulge in a home perm. Maybe have a girls night out with friends that will end in a slumber party and a night of games and pampering reminiscent of our teen years.

Precious Metal Investing

2010-02-13T19:18:00.001-09:00

Gain is a bad thing when one is dieting, but when you have invested in stocks it is a good thing. For a few weeks now I have been doing a bit of dabbling in the stock market, which is a bit unnerving given no more than I can afford to invest.

Now, I admit that it is fun to look into the different companies I can buy shares in, but there is one weighty one investment I am particularly interested in adding to my portfolio; precious metals.

The trouble has been, I was not sure that you could buy gold bullion the same as you can buy stock in a company.

After doing a bit of research I have discovered that not only is it possible to invest in precious metals, but there are several different kinds of metals, including platinum and palladium, in which I can chose to invest in the same way I would invest in stock – buying and selling on the stock market.

If you are looking to find out more about the precious metals platinum and palladium as an investment possibility then you should look into the recently launched Securities Physical Platinum Shares (PPLT) and Physical Palladium Shares (PALL). These are physically backed exchange-traded funds that allow investors to invest in physically backed holdings that are equal to one share equals one tenth of an ounce of metal.

This post was sponsored by USGoldBureau.com

Valentine’s Day

2010-02-13T13:45:00.001-09:00

Well, there it is. Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. Hearts and flowers and candy and all the other fluff fill the aisles of the stores. And those of us that are not in a relationship look for some redeeming quality to a holiday made for couples.

Yeah. I don’t see one either.

I say that the days before and after Valentine’s Day should be National Single’s Week. Which highly amused me until I did a Google search and discovered there actually *IS* a National Single’s Week – in September.

Ah well. I still think it should be set during the second week in February so that us singles can have reason to pamper ourselves with some of those guilty pleasures in the stores.

New Diet Plan

2010-02-10T18:13:00.003-09:00

I have a new diet plan. I am going to drop back on the Weight Watchers plan. When I was in town the other night I bought ten assorted Smart Ones meals so I can track my meals with the plan, although, had I realized they were microwave cooked meals I would have skipped that. I hate microwaves.

I made a Chicken Marinara with Mozzarella Cheese flatbread sandwich last night, it was not too bad, but I hated to have to microwave it. Considered cooking in oven, and ended up needing to put in oven for a few minutes to melt the cheese that had not fully melted in my rarely used microwave.

Now I just have to ditch the stress so I can stick to the diet.

Romantic Vacation

2010-02-06T05:58:00.000-09:00

If after weeks or months of dieting, getting ready for this one perfect day of romance on Valentine's Day, you daydream of escaping to white sand beaches on the Riviera Maya, then post sponsor Karisma Hotels wants to invite you to escape to one of their five luxury hotels on the Riviera Maya.

Their five resorts include the El Dorado Seaside Suites. An adults only resort on the Riviera Maya. Just one of the five romantic vacation riviera maya luxury hotels that is offered by Karisma Hotels, the El Dorado Seaside Suites is located on the white sand beaches of Kantenah. A secluded hotel, it offers a relaxed casual atmosphere that offers visitors a touch of rich design with amenities that cater to those seeking a sensual experience.

Random observation time

2010-02-05T17:26:00.002-09:00

Two hours of waiting in the doctor's office is roughly equal to a dozen packets of sugar in small cups of complimentary coffee.

That is what I estimate I had in coffees while trying to stay awake in waiting room when I took my dad to the doctor yesterday. Would not be so bad, except he was waiting that two hours as well, then a third hour in back waiting for the doctor to get around to seeing him.

Doctor waiting rooms are bad for diets.

Fish Oil

2010-02-01T18:52:00.002-09:00

Growing up I always heard how bad tasting cod liver oil was, and how it had been the cure-all of choice of so many grandmothers back in the day. As an Alaskan I know that fish such as the Alaskan salmon are a wonderfully healthy resource, so I can understand how fish oil would be seen as a healthy supplement.

The sponsor of this post, www.fishoil.com provides information on some of the benefits of fish oil as well as possible side effects of fish oil supplements.

As with any supplements, you should consult your primary doctor and thoroughly research any possible side effects or possible interactions the supplement might have with any medications you might be taking.

Fishoil.com invites you to stop by their site to find out more about fish oil and why your mother or grandmother might have had the right idea when they got down that bottle of cod liver oil.

Wii and a complaint about Blockbuster Online

2010-01-30T19:33:00.003-09:00

I got my Wii hooked back up finally. Took me a while, but I got it. Can't wait to get back to using it as an exercise tool either.

I had a subscription to Blockbuster Online so that I could get Wii games from them, but am going to cancel that. Costs me $19.99 a month for the subscription, then each month I get a video game they charge me another $7.99 for getting the game. If I don't get it back to them by the time the next billing cycle hits they charge me another $7.99. Now, I live in Alaska, so there is no way I can play a game a few days and have it back to them in time to not be hit a second time on the fees, so each game costs me an additional $15.98 to get from Blockbuster Online. Add in $19.99 for two months and it is costing me $55.96 to rent games through Blockbuster Online. Screw that. I'm dropping them and going with just buying my games.

Beating the stress

2010-01-14T12:14:00.002-09:00

There has to be a good way to beat the stress that builds up to the point it explodes in the middle of the candy bowl. One of my preferred stress busters is to watch something on the television.

I have made a rule with myself that I can not eat anything when I watch TV. And, watching TV is a bit of a luxury for me, since I never have a lot of time for it. So a good way around stress eating is to relax watching something on TV for a little while. It lets me de-stress and I feel better without taking a dip in the chocolate bowl.

Still getting new start for the new year

2010-01-09T13:18:00.003-09:00

I certainly noticed that I have started taking vitamins, at least until they wore off last night and then in minutes I went from focused and alert to wanting to crawl into bed and sleep for hours.

That is a good thing, though. Rather than feeling tired and unfocused all day, I was awake and fairly focused for most of the day after the vitamins kicked in. And I slept good. Did not wake up until 9am, but that is an improvement. For a couple days before that I was waking at 6am, but before that it was sleep until after noon. I am going to try very hard to keep up the waking up at six in the morning every morning. I think that would be a good way to kick off a healthier year. Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise and all that.

Here's to a healthier new year

2010-01-08T10:31:00.004-09:00

I'm not sure where 2010 is going, but it seems to be off to as fast a start as 2009 had got off to. Full week past without notice.

I have got some vitamins and stuff to help me make a better start on 2010: One A Day Energy, Ginkgo Biloba, Vitamin D, and Korean Ginseng. I added in the vitamin D because of the joint issues I have had most of my life and because I know dad has severe osteoporosis, so I want to get a bit of a head start on combating it myself.

Now I just have to work in the exercises that I want to make a part of my new healthier year and I'll be all set.

Happy New Year!

2010-01-01T23:22:00.001-09:00

New Year, new start to my diet. As I enter into 2010 I have decided that I am going to stop wanting to lose weight and start losing it.

I have my Wii and the fitness things that go with it, I have a few good pieces of exercise equipment and I am determined that I am going to make this the year I start making serious headway on my effort to get back down to 165 pounds. Then I aim for 135, and 105. For my height 105 is I think the so-called "ideal" weight.

What are your weight loss goals? I'll be drawing mine up and getting them posted tomorrow, and i would love to see what other's goals are for the new year.

Gold's Gym Stride Trainer 500

2009-11-09T19:40:00.002-09:00

I was down at Wal Mart the other day and back in the back area where they have the marked down things they had a Gold's Gym Stride Trainer 500. Very very nice machine sort of like the one pictured below, but a bit different in style and bigger than the one shown below.

They had it tucked into the back because it was missing the adapter and the hardware for assembling it. After I got it home, which was not easy, had to take it all out of the box to get it into the car in pieces, I read through the manual and it never did have the power adapter with it, and the hardware was an wasy fix. I went to the hardware sore and stopped about $10 on replacement parts according to what the instructions said should have been in the box.

It is working great now and is a lot of fun, even if it is meant for a man roughly 6 feet and I am only about 5 feet tall. Thing went for $250 to $395 new (box said $250, but the Wal Mart website said $395), they had it marked down to $20. Yeah, twenty dollars. So, $20 for the machine, $10 to $15 in hardware, for $35 I got a $250 to $395 exercise machine that is a lot of fun to use. I love it. Now I have to build myself a actual exercise room sometime in the future to put all my goodies into.

The holiday diet fail

2009-10-16T22:49:00.003-08:00

Okay, I have decided that Halloween is an evil time of the year for dieting. In fact it kicks off a long line of evil times of the year. First we have the candy overload that is Halloween, then we fall directly into Thanksgiving and the year's largest dinner. Follow that with candy canes, boxes of chocolates, a dozen different desserts and two dozen different kinds of cookies that make up Christmas... By the time the New Year arrives it is no wonder we want to drink enough that we're drunk enough to think we could possibly lose that weight we put on over the holidays! And then, just as we think that we have the momentum for losing the weight on our spring exercise kick, Easter arrives and we toss out the New Year's resolution in favor of the chocolate bunny ears and creamy sugar filled chocolate eggs!

I think I need to make up a less calorie filled plan for celebrating the holidays!

Wii for exercise

2009-10-01T13:28:00.003-08:00

Okay, I have scratched and saved and collected every penny I have passed and was therefore delighted when I walked into a store yesterday wanting to get the Wii and found out that the price had just been lowered from $249 to $199. It's within my budget!

Yes, I went ahead and got it, but not until after several years of wanting to get one, and even as I paced the store contemplating the purchase I texted one of my friends and consulted with her on if I really could afford to get one of the systems or not. We ended up running the battery on my cell phone all the way down going back and forth on the issue of rather or not I could afford to get a Wii system and finally decided that given the use I would get from it being unable to get outside and exercising, and the game system having a remote that is used with just one hand so my dad can use it.... yeah, I bought a Wii.

Only time of the year I can afford to splurge on myself, and I really need something to help me get more exercise, so it was a good purchase and I have only played it a few hours (my nephew spent the entire night playing the thing lol) but I love it and it's a lot of fun so you don't even realize you are up moving around exercising.

Now I just have to get it hooked up to one of the old TVs so that I don't have to wait for my dad to go to bed before I can play the Wii. LOL!

Soda Tax

2009-09-24T08:00:00.003-08:00

I just have to laugh when I see those commercials on television that show the woman getting her groceries out of her car and walking into the house, and as she walks she says how the tax on sweetened soda, juice and such would be a hardship on families trying to buy groceries.

That is such a load of crud. Where was her "oh please don't raise the taxes!" when they decided to tax cigarettes? I am sure that my dad is not the only one that has been told that stopping smoking would be worse on his health than keeping smoking. But, everyone was fast to jump on the tax bandwagon when it was cigarettes because they are, of course, bad for you.

Sweetened soda is bad for you too, so why are they sparing it and spoiling the child? Cigarettes were originally taxed under the excuse of making them too expensive for children to afford to buy them (as if kids ever bought the things), so why not tax sweetened beverages so that kids can't afford to buy them?

I don't know about your family, but I can do without a Coke a heck of a lot easier than my dad can do without a cigarette, and I don't mind if my neighbor's Coke habit helps pay for the health care reform stuff. Sweetened beverages might be enjoyable, but they are hardly a necessity of life for people. And the information I saw said that diet soda's would be excluded, so what is the worst case scenario? Everyone switches to healthier beverages and they have to start taxing something else?

Destination Weddings at the Karisma Hotels Resorts

2009-09-16T09:39:00.003-08:00

One of the reasons for wanting to lose weight that many women will give is to look better in their wedding dress. All brides want to be the most lovely woman in the room on their big day and I think that is probably is particularly true for those who are planning beach-side Destination Weddings where the after wedding parties are likely to include swimsuits.

Those planning destination weddings should consider the all-inclusive package vacations that can help alleviate much of the stress from them on their big day. One chain of resorts to consider is the Karisma Hotels Located on secluded white-sand beaches on the Mexican Riviera Maya.

Note that the Karisma Hotels resorts do include both adult only and family friendly resorts, so make sure that you know which one you are planning for and be sure that your guests are aware of what the resort is going to be like when you select your destination -

Adults Only:
El Dorado Royale Spa Resort
El Dorado Seaside Suites

Family-Friendly:
Azul Beach
Azul Blue

Naturalist:
Hidden Beach Resort

Some of the amenities to be found at the resorts include beach butlers, fine food, iced bartops, swim-up rooms, white gauze curtains around the beds, hot tubs, hammocks and more. Check out the listings for each resort for more details on which resort offers what services and for details on services offered exclusively by each resort, such as the milk baths and aromatic massages of the El Dorado Royale Resort, or the kid-sized bathrobes and coloring books offered by the family friendly Azul Beach Hotel.

Check out the link above for more information on each of the properties that Karisma Hotels resorts offers.

Slow getting going in morning

2009-09-15T06:26:00.002-08:00

I was a bad girl. Today should have been the first day of my exercise, but instead I slacked off and got some sleep in the time I should have been exercising. I felt (still feel) sickly, so decided that rather than get physically ill, I should let body rest a bit and gather itself for the day ahead.

I should have done meditation instead probably, a nice calming meditation to focus me for the day would have made sense too, but I did not think about that. I think I'll do that from now on though, start the day with a few minutes of meditation to help me wake up slowly and get focused on the day ahead, then do a little exercise, and then dive into my day's work load.