Friday, May 27, 2011

New thought


Here is what I love:  I ask for inspiration and it comes back to me in the most interesting ways possible.  Check out this video!  What an amazing thing!  What an incredible idea!  I love this!

I am actually thinking that I can do this!  Who would have thought?  A hula hoop!  I used to have one when I was a kid, who would have thought that it is a high aerobic, no impact work out?

Watch this video and let me know if you are as inspired as I am!

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Obsession

I've been thinking a lot lately about my journey and why I am stalled.  I have come to one conclusion.  Exercise.  Exercise has become my new Myron!  I can not seem to get myself motivated to get moving (literally).  Here is my answer:

I need to find a way to become obsessed with exercise!

I have no idea how to do that, but I need to.  If I can become obsessed with it, I can get myself going.  When I get an idea in my head and become obsessed with it, even for awhile, I can make it a habit.  

I can do that!  That is a plan.  Oh wait, I need a new exercise bra!  I have this really awesome Zumba DVD that I am excited about, but there is a lot of jumping up and down and I am afraid that I am going to end up with a couple of black eyes!  Okay, new bra and exercise.  I can handle that one!


Next on my agenda was my 'cheating'.  I keep having these awful sweet cravings and I haven't been able to figure out how to stop them.  So, I have decided to use a subtle reminder.  This afternoon, I put the following sign on the refrigerator:


A little subtle reminder of what is at stake.  I hate to lose!  And this journey is way too important to let a little smarmy dude like Myron win!  NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!!


All right, so now I have a new plan. Tomorrow is my birthday, so I think I have come up with a pretty good birthday present to myself!

Tomorrow is weigh in day, as well. . . . . .

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Enlightening Assignment

I don't know if I told you, but I am taking a "Hippy" class this term.  It is called Relationship Centered Skills for Health Professionals.  I am LOVING this class!

Our assignment for tomorrow is to do a Parts map.  Basically it is a visual representation of all the different "parts" of me.  I thought it was going to be easy, I could not have been more wrong!

I started at about 9:00AM and I have just now finished.  It really made me think about who I am and what 'parts' make me up.  I have the mom part, wife part, work part . . .


I ended up doing a collage of the different parts of me.  It took a lot of thought.  The background is an open book, which alludes to my love of reading as well as the fact that since we started this journey, I have had to be an open book.  clever, huh?

This really involved a lot of soul searching.  I was surprised how much I figured out about myself and which parts I considered important.  Do I value the "working Katie" more than the "student Katie"?  What about the wife and mom parts, where do they figure in?

Think about it.  If someone asked you to make a graphic representation of your "parts" what would you do?  What would end up on that page?

Monday, May 16, 2011

Weigh in . . a day late

Sorry I am a day late on the weekly report.  The scale deity was smiling on me again yesterday.   I am down another pound.  It may be slow, but as long as that number is lower than the previous week, I'm a happy girl!  
 
I have recently felt like I was walking down a long, dark tunnel.  When I think I see a light, I find myself praying that it isn't a train!  This week at least, it seems to be the sun.


I am struggling right now with putting together a weekly meal plan.  When I was doing Dtour (Outsmart Diabetes), the program did the planning for me.  Now that I am not doing it, I am on my own.  This is hard.  Yes, I have the basic idea, but sitting down and trying to put it all together is hard.


Imagine that!  Yeah, I know.  That is why I'm back at school, right?


Okay, okay, off to the cookbooks I go!

Friday, May 13, 2011

Heads up!

As much as I try otherwise, sometimes I am slow on the uptake.  Last week I had the opportunity to spend some time with my wonderful friend.  We hadn't spent any time together in awhile because she didn't want to distract me from studying.  That's just how wonderful she is!

We went to have a pedicure.  (One of the upside to Diabetes!)  We passed the time talking and catching up.  During the conversation she said that she was really happy for me.  That this past winter she didn't hear or see any of the signs of depression that I seem to fall into every winter.  She said that I sounded happy and busy.  She was really proud of me for that!


I hadn't thought about it . . .but she was right!  For the first time in many, many years I had avoided the horrible dark hole I usually slip into after the holidays.


Then, as I was leaving work one day this week (after a particularly brutal day) I realized that I was looking at the trees, not the cement.  Okay, I know that sounds a bit odd, but most of my life I have walked with my head down and eyes on the ground.  Not anymore!  Somewhere in the last year or so, my head has come up so I can see the trees and sky about me instead of the cement and dirt!


Just a couple more gifts that have come from this journey.  


I wonder what will be next . . . . .

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

I am so happy that I have my blog back!  Why would anyone want to hijack my blog??     At least they didn't post anything.  But you all would have known it wasn't me anyway, right?

I've been thinking a lot about menu planning and meditation.  No, I don't think that they are supposed to work together, just two separate things on my mental agenda.

I am taking a class this summer that makes me really excited.  It is about interpersonal relationships and intentional interviewing.  It makes my head swim with all sorts of plans and ideas every time I think about it.

 

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Good Morning!

I didn't disappear on all of you, someone hijacked my account!  I have it back now, but if anyone received anything weird from me in the last few days, please ignore it, it wasn't me!

Now that I have control again let's get back to business!

Weigh in on Sunday had the following result:  I was down a half pound.  Okay, not amazing success, but every little bit helps and as long as the number went down instead of up, I'm a happy girl.

Friday, May 6, 2011

The things people say!

Last night was the big end of year concert by our amazing high school bands.  It was a huge success with wonderful music and a few laughs thrown in.  Every time I see these kids perform I marvel at the skill and talent that they have!

I saw a lot of people that I haven't seen in awhile.  I haven't been around so much since I now have my head buried in a book (computer).


Needless to say, quite a few people asked me where I had been.  When I replied with "Class", most people wanted to know what I was taking and what degree I wanted.

Except for one person.  This particular individual looked me up and down and said.  "That's interesting, I suppose you do need it."

I was shocked!  My first impulse was to say "Who do you think you are to judge me?"  But I didn't.  I am attempting to be calm and cool in the face of adversity.  It's working, most of the time.

I don't remember what exactly I said, but I muttered something and then continued on my way down the hall.  When we got home, I suddenly thought of the perfect response, but by then it was long past time to deliver it effectively!

Why do people do that?  How insensitive, rude, and insulting, could they be?  I am always surprised at what people say.

But it did get me thinking.  I need to really buckle down and get to work.  No one will listen to a fat dietitian!


I hate it when rude people actually have a valid point!

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

GRADES ARE IN!!!

My fist term back at college is complete and the grades are in!

Computers:  A
Biology:  C
Algebra:  B-

I can not believe that I got a B in Algebra!  I've never gotten a B in math in my life!!!   I am so excited I can hardly stand it!

Being proud of myself is a new experience for me.  It's a little odd and I'm not sure exactly how to deal with it.  Okay, I know that sounds weird, but there it is.

All my life, I've been the screw-up.  The emotional one, the book-worm, but never the academic.

My brother was the academic in the family.  He would never crack a book and walk out of class with an A!  I never understood how he did that.

I was three years behind him.  I'd get into a class, the teacher would do roll, when they got to my name they'd say "Oh, your Mark's sister.  I know what to expect out of you."  Then when my grades didn't measure up to what they had 'expected' the disappointment was obvious.

I know it sounds silly, but that has followed me all of my life.  When I was younger I used to be really mad at my brother (like it was his fault!).  I've gotten over that as I got older.

After all this time, I have given myself the gift of finishing my education and taking my life in a new direction!  Yes, it means sacrifice.  Not just for me, but for the family and my friends as well.

I'm proud of myself!  I am actually proud of myself!

That's pretty cool!

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Guess what is depressing us now. . .

Sunday reporting first . . .
Me:  -2.2 lbs!
Wonderful Hubby:  +3 lbs
Charming Son:  stayed the same!

We are well on our way with the new plan!

I was flipping through my monthly Diabetes Forecast magazine today and I found this article:

Fats and Depression

What you eat may affect your mood. Researchers who studied more than 12,000 people for an average of six years found that consuming trans fats ups the risk for depression, while monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats protect against it. (Saturated fats weren’t studied.) At the start of the trial, no participants suffered from depression; by the end, 657 people were depressed. Those who ate plenty of trans fats had a 48 percent increased risk for depression compared with those who ate none. The researchers also found that olive oil was linked to a lower risk of being depressed.
Source: PLoS ONE, January 2011
Where the Fats Are
The good stuff: monounsaturated and polyunsaturatedCanola oil, corn oil, olive oil, peanut oil, safflower oil, sesame oil, soybean oil, sunflower oil, avocado, peanut butter, salmon, herring, trout, walnuts
The bad stuff: transFast food, baked goods, margarine, cheese, whole-fat milk

Okay, so now  fats not only make you. . . well fat, but they also make you depressed!   

Here I thought I was depressed because of being fat, when in truth, it was the very act of eating fat that made me depressed.   Is it just me, or does this seem sorta poetic?

I'm sorry, even if it's bad for me, I don't think I could replace cheese with herring!  I do get the point though.  Fat bad, olive good!