10 March 2007

It's kind of funny really.

My last post about eating refined carbs generated quite a few comments from folks agreeing with me. So now I have a question for you all. If you know refined carbs make you crave more refined carbs, and you know they are bad for you in general, and if you're trying to drop a few pounds (or more), why the heck do we eat them??????

The only decent answer I can come up with is that I forget. I go for long stretches eating clean and suddenly I will feel like a little treat, like Starbucks, and bam - it starts. I ate pretty crappy on Thursday but was able to recover and make Friday a success.

Actually, when I stop and think, that's a huge victory. It used to be that I would eat an innocent little Starbucks treat for breakfast and it would start a 3 or 4 day binge that would involve candy, cakes, cookies, whatever I could get my grubby little hands on. So the fact that I was able to contain it in one day, 2 meals really because dinner was good, is a huge, huge victory. Wow!! Maybe I am getting better at this whole healthy living thing :)

09 March 2007

The things you learn if you pay attention.

So yesterday I went a little tiny bit crazy with food, Starbucks for breakfast and pizza for lunch. Yesterday afternoon all the way home all I could think of was chocolate. I had to fight with myself not to stop at a convenience store and get chocolate. After dinner last night, you guessed it, I caved and had chocolate.

So this morning I realized that I need to get my act together, I couldn't eat like that again. So I had my oatmeal for breakfast and a salad for lunch and some fruit and am feeling very proud of myself. Well guess what?? I have no desire for chocolate today. There's chocolate here and I don't even want it.

I've been doing a lot of nutritional reading and they say when you eat refined carbs (Starbucks, pizza) your body will crave more. It's true. Also, my lunch yesterday was around 800 calories. My lunch today was around 350 calories and I'm still comfortably full. So let's review. Highly refined foods are high in calories and cause you to crave more. While whole, healthy foods fill you up for a lot less calories and it lasts longer. Hmmmm, which should I eat more often???

Discounts

I am a huge fan of discounts, doh, who isn't??? If I can save a couple of bucks it makes my day, or week, or month.......

Anyway, I just found this site that provides coupons for stores, coupons.

The best part is they have a discount for audible.com. I love this place because I love to run while listening to a book. Reading is my favorite thing on earth but I just don't have enough time for it anymore. Plus with my ADD I ;have trouble sitting still for long :) Anyway, I put a book on my iPod and I'm set. I listen to my book, when I bored I play some music, it's awesome. They even have a coupon where you can save $100 off an iPod hmmm, I wonder if I could get a Nano then I could get the Nike+ system.........

Not so successful today.

I have not been sleeping well. I go through these periods and it really sucks. I must have woke up 10 times last night. I was too hot, too cold, there was noise outside, the dog was moving, blah, blah, blah....... What I do know is that is pisses me off and I can't get up to exercise.

So the alarm went off this morning and I just could not get up. I decided to take another day off and concentrate on trying to get a couple of really good night's sleep this weekend. Let's hope.

Yesterday was International Women's Day and I read a couple of posts that got me thinking. One post in particular mentioned the word feminist a number of times. When I hear the word feminist the hair on the back of my neck stands up and I get all defensive. Not that I don't believe in feminism. My mother taught me to be independent, self sufficient, and not to rely on any one let alone a man, long before the word feminist was coined.

As I was growing I watched my mother and learned. My parents had 7 kids and a couple of times my father left and my mother had to fend for herself. In my father's defense, he left to try and make some better opportunities for his family and he always returned. But my mom did what needed to be done. No fanfare, no whining, no patting herself on the back. She just did it. That's what I learned. That's how I learned to be a "feminist"

When I entered the workforce feminism was peaking. Women were getting jobs they'd never done before and becoming bosses. My first boss was the first woman supervisor at Prudential Insurance. I was not dumb, I knew the attitudes some people had about women in the workplace and, as I learned from my mother, I had to get in there and do it better than any man. That's how I lived my life.

I used to get so angry at these feminists who would demand equality yet at the same time want the rules changed to accommodate them. I could never understand that. Up until then it had been a man's world. If you want to change that you need to go in there and play their game better then them. That's how I viewed it. You can not walk into a workplace and say I want equality but at the same time I want you to change this and this and this. I have always said the best way to change a system is to get inside, work the system, then change it. That's what I would do. I would get a job, do it better than anyone there, and then say if you want me to stay here's what you need to do. I never really worried about equal pay because again, I would outdo anyone there and if they didn't compensate me, I was gone.

I'm not sure I'm making myself clear. I believe in the theory of feminism I just don't like the way they go about it. It's the same with racial equality or any kind of equality. You can not stand there and demand to be treated as an equal and then demand special considerations. It doesn't make sense. If you want to be equal you have to struggle under the same conditions or others will never consider you an equal. They will look at you and think, well they got special treatment......

Having said that I must say I've tried to live my life as an example to my daughter. I've always taken care of myself even when married. I was a working mother although I wish I hadn't been, but that's water under the bridge. I think that's the true point of feminism, choice. Woman should not be trapped into one role or another, neither should men, but have the choice to live their life as they want.

Okay, that's it. I'm off my soapbox.

08 March 2007

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Hmmmmm, lunch!!!

So what happens when you don't exercise in the morning and you have Starbucks for breakfast??? Why, you have pizza for lunch of course. I always say, If you're going to go, go big :)

No, that's not true. I was dying for pizza so I got a microwave one for lunch. Not the best lunch, but not that bad either.

Today seems to be a pretty quiet day in blog world. Either that or I'm on the computer way too much. It's very quiet at work so I'm spending lots of quality time with the keyboard :)

I understand why people hate blogger.

I've been trying to fix my archive problem for 2 days now and can not get a response from their help team. You can't email them, you have to post a question to the help center. Well there are a million people posting questions and yours quickly gets lost in the onslaught. It would probably help if Blogger didn't have so many problems. What's really annoying is that people have been posting my same problem for 2 months and not one has got a response from a Google employee!!! Hopefully I've found a sneaky way around it.

On to me!!! Yesterday was weight day. I've upped my weights a little and can feel it today, oh baby!!!! That's a very good thing :)

Guitar class ran late last night, so this morning when the alarm went off I said no way!!! I figure I need a rest day anyway. Of course not working out lead to Starbucks for breakfast, don't ask me how that's related but they are.

Well, I don't have anything to say. I'm working on something and my mind is a little distracted. Hopefully I'll be back to normal soon.

07 March 2007

Calling any blogger experts...

I need help. If you look to the right you will see my archives. Notice the date at the top, 2006?? And the month, February??? Okay, it's 2007 and it's March. I don't know how to change it. The date is right on my posts but my archives are all screwed up. Does anyone know how to fix this??? It's important because I'm trying to get on a site and they keep rejecting me because of this (I'll explain more later). Please, any help would be most greatly appreciated.

06 March 2007

Snatching victory from the jaws of defeat.

I am not a night owl. Not at all. I am a morning person - big time. I love to be up before the sun and to get things done. Nothing better than hitting 9 a.m. with most of my chores behind me. Maybe it goes back to my time in the Army, who knows. So most nights I'm in bed by 9 p.m. If I'm up to watch the 10 p.m. news, I'm up late!!!

Monday night is my drawing class. It ends at 8:30 p.m. and it's a 20 minute drive home. Do you see where I'm going with this??? Generally when I get home I can't go to bed right away. I need to take time to decompress a little. Luckily I learned rapidly to eat dinner before I go or else I would be up until midnight ( I can not go to bed right after I eat). Wednesdays are worse because I don't get out of class until 9 p.m.

Last night drawing class was really good. I'm actually pretty darn good at drawing. I got home at 8:50 and farted around for a while. Finally about 9:15 I forced myself to go to bed. Well I ended up reading until almost 10 when I finally shut the light off. I did not sleep well. I must have woke up about 5 times for various reasons. Finally at 4:30 a.m. my alarm went off. I turned it off and planned on getting up to workout. Umm, yeah, not so much. I fell right back to sleep, of course it has to be the best sleep all night, and did not wake up till hubby was leaving at 5:30. Since this morning I was supposed to do weights and now did not have enough time, I lay there beating myself up. Then I decided to do HIIT again. It's 20 minutes, I have plenty of time and it's better than nothing. Technically I'm not supposed to do 2 days of HIIT back to back but it was that or nothing. I jump out of bed, throw my workout clothes on and head to the studio. I did my 20 minutes and felt phenomenal!!!! Yeah!! So victory was snatched from the jaws of defeat this morning. Woo Hoo!!!!!! (I will take success anywhere I find it :)

What does this all mean? It means I have to change my workout schedule. I'm not going to get up on Tuesday and Thursday mornings after having classes Monday and Wednesday nights. So I'm shifting my schedule around to accommodate my classes/sleeping schedule. So there, problem solved.

05 March 2007

Not sure what's going on....

but I'm feeling very unsettled. It's almost like I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop but I haven't heard the first one.

I am a little worried about Xena, the warrior moluccan. I've had her just about a month now and I think she's depressed. She has this habit of twirling her chest feathers so they all stick up, other birds pluck their feathers, she twirls them. Well, she's started doing that. She's become extremely quiet which is totally unlike her and she just seems kind of down and listless. I'm hoping she's just sad and not sick.

Other than that everything is okay, I guess I'm just worried about her.

The alarm went off at 4:30 a.m and I rolled right over and went back to sleep. I did get up at 5:30 but that blew my weight training this morning, so I did HIIT.

Okay, nothing really to say. I'm feeling kind of antsy and just can't focus my thoughts. I'll try and write more later.

04 March 2007

A bike ride for groceries.

So after I wrote that post this morning I got to thinking. When I went to Africa I saw poverty that was like nothing I've ever seen before. I also swore to myself that I would never feel sorry for myself again and I would be thankful for everything I have. I hoped I would never experience poverty and conditions like that. Well, bet you can guess what happened. I got back, got busy and forgot. I got so busy living my life that I forgot there are people who struggle every single day to live theirs. That special last night really brought it back to me. I am so incredibly lucky and I need to keep that in mind. As my theme song says, Remember you're blessed!!! I am. A lot more than some, not as much as others, but still blessed!!!

On that note, I've decided to make my life a little harder in order to highlight how blessed I really am. Makes sense huh?? Most Sundays I get up, workout, clean house, and go grocery shopping. My grocery shopping is usually fruit and veggies (hubby does the cooking so he does the heavy shopping). Not much really. So today I decided to ride my bike to the store. I figure if those children can walk to get water I can ride my bike to the store. So I did and it was really fun. The store is only 4 miles away and it's a fairly easy ride and I really enjoyed it. I'm going to do this as often as possible primarily because it's fun :)

While doing this I came to a realization. I function much better when I have a purpose. For example, I've been trying to ride my bike for the past few weekends but keep getting sidetracked by one thing or the other. However, since I had a purpose today I was really looking forward to the ride. Even though it was drizzling when I left I didn't wus out.

That thought lead to a decision. The Honolulu marathon clinic starts next Sunday and I'm going to do it. Although it won't be a purpose run, by having a purpose to get up every Sunday I'll be more likely to do it. I know that's the general idea behind group training, you have someone you're accountable to, but I really don't do well in groups. I had to find my reason for joining another group. And I have. I'm excited.

Meanwhile, I also got a haircut and died my hair bleach blond this weekend. I'm going to try and get a new profile picture up so ya'll can see the new me :)

Well, I think that's enough for today. I'm going to finish watching my soaps, that Alexander Cambis is evil, and read my book for a while. Did you ever know anyone who had anything happen to them like happens on a soap?? Your dead father, who's not dead, kidnaps your wife and rigs a poison to her with a deadman's switch..... Yeah, that happens a lot.

This has nothing to do with training.

Last night I watched the special on Oprah's Leadership Academy and I really have to comment on it. It struck me on so many levels I'm not even sure I can cover them all here.

I must say I have never begrudged anyone who's worked hard their money. I'm not the type to say oh they've got too much money. If you want to work you're tail off there should be no limit to what you can make. And I don't think anyone has an obligation to do anything with their money. It's their money, they earned it, they can do whatever they want with it. Having said that, I have an amazing amount of respect for people who do use their money for really good things. The Bill and Melinda Gates foundation - wonderful idea. Side note, the Gates have created trust funds for their kids and that's all they are getting - wonderful idea!!! Warren Buffet - he's donated a huge amount of money to the Gates Foundation. I have lots of respect for these people because they don't have to do this and yet they do.

Then there's Oprah. I don't agree with a lot of her views or her politics but I have an amazing amount of respect for this woman. She worked very hard to get where she is and she puts her money where her mouth is. She has spent 5 years building this academy. She oversaw every single thing. So she would record her show in Chicago and then fly to South Africa. She personally picked out every detail for these girls. She personally interviewed every girl. She's a very rich, very busy woman. She could have had other people do this but no, she did it herself amazing. And I can't even imagine the money spent. I know they've been throwing around numbers, 46 million, or some such. I think it was probably much, much more when you factor in Oprah's time and bringing all those celebrities over for the opening. Also, she is going to make it possibly for every girl that attends the academy to be able to go to college anywhere in the world. Unbelievably amazing!!!

Then there are the girls!! Talk about amazing!! These girls live in poverty we in this country can't even imagine. They have seen people die from AIDS or murdered right in front of them. They get up at 4:30 in the morning to walk through horribly dangerous areas to get a bus to go to school. They walk and carry water because they don't have indoor plumbing. They study by candlelight because they have no electricity. Their parents, or grandparents, work to pay their tuition and for their uniform so they can go to school. And these girls are the top of their classes. The best and the brightest South Africa has too offer. And positive - oh my god!!! They are confident and sure of themselves and absolutely positive they can change things. One little girl wants to be the president of South Africa. I think she'll probably do it.

I know when the news came out about the Academy Oprah took a lot of heat. At the time, even though I really didn't know anything about the Academy, I said that's crazy. I've been to Africa, I've seen how bad it is there. Nothing in this country compares. Every child in America has the opportunity for an education. In Africa that's not the case. So I thought at the time what she did was fantastic. Now, I think it's even better. When you educate or empower a woman you touch the future. She will use that to better her family, her children, her grandchildren. When you educate or empower a male, that's all you do. I'm not bashing men here, but it's true. Woman will think of improving the lot of their family and future generations. Men will tend to think of themselves. Sorry guys, but it's a proven sociological fact of life. If you really want to improve things improve the women. The education level of the woman determines how many children the family will have. The education level of the man doesn't matter. Sorry but that's how it is.

Watching these little girls who's family's are dirt poor speak English better than most children in the US really had me thinking. What has happened in this country?? We have a free education system, okay, it may not be the best but it's really up to the student and parents to work the system to their advantage. Some incredibly gifted students come out of that system, so it's not impossible. I don't want to make this into a political rant, cause it's not. But think about it. We are handed an education, yet how many drop out before they graduate. The younger generation doesn't seem to value education at all, which totally boggles my mind. If you're not educated all kinds of people can take all kinds of advantage of you. People seem to think the government exists to take care of them. Look at New Orleans, it's still a mess. And when I hear about it all I hear are people complaining about the government not helping. Every time something happens people look to the government. We've become a society that literally can not take care of itself. People look to the government to. I could go off on how this has happened or why, but that's not the point. The point is that it is the situation now. It's really sad when a 3rd world country can do better than we can in self sufficiency.

Okay, I'm going to stop here. Watching this last night just really made me sad. I happen to believe that we live in the greatest country on earth. I believe we have some of the greatest people on earth. I believe that we will be okay but I think it's going to get worse before it gets better. Do you realize at some point in the not too distant future, South Africa may outdo us educationally??? How sad would that be????

Conversation with Hubby

 So yesterday morning I presented my idea of working out at home to the Hubby. Once I presented it to him, he said he was in. I told him I h...