The Uphill Climb

Why does everything worth having/ doing have to be an uphill battle? I tell you, if I could get credit for that alone I'd be in the best shape of my life.

I had a great time with my friends last week... and gained 4 pounds. So I'm back to the drawing board. Good thing is, hubby is also gone for the next 2.5 weeks so I can stay on track and see if I can get it off. I've already lost 2 of the gained pounds in a week so I'm doing something right.

It's been cold and dreary for the past week. Downright miserable for May. Today is a bit more spring-like and I'me feeling like doing something again. Before it gets too hot - and we all know weather seems to go from one extreme to another - I'll be getting a lot done out in the garden. Hubby taught me how to run the tiller so I can get more of the spots tilled up that I want. It just wouldn't dry out soon enough for him to do it AND complete the living room remodel before our guests arrived for the long weekend.

The bonus to the living room remodel is I have room to work out again. I LOVE to dance. I keep looking at ZUMBA. It looks like a blast. But then I look at all the dance/ exercise videos I have on my shelf and think maybe I should give them a chance before I invest in any more. Don't laugh but I love Richard Simmons dance workouts and have 4 or 5 of them. I also have Latin, Country, Hip Hop... and the list goes on. I have a wide variety, to say the least. I'm just going to start trying them all until one hits me that I want to do routinely.

My goal is still 1 pound a week but if I could squeeze in 2 per week here and there, I'd be ecstatic.

In all the chaos I never got in here to post the results of that new Pumpkin Spice cake recipe. One word... YUM! okay.. maybe 2 ... HEALTHY! And I have Hungry Girl to thank for the inspiration! I promise to post the recipe on Wednesday.

Until next time...

Enjoy the Journey!

Off to a slow start

Did you get your pedometer? Did you check out the 10,000 Steps website? I hope you did both. I was so excited about getting out and walking. But as usual, when I set a course a wave will crash into my plans. The Monday after my last post we began getting rain... and rain... and more rain. It rained pretty much for seven days straight, leaving us 17" of rain. For three days we couldn't even get out our road. Needless to say, I wasn't walking anywhere.

Treadmill might have been an option. However, everything from the living room was stripped out and piled in front of the treadmill in preparation for a complete room remodel. LOL I told you it crashes!

I did walk a lot today. It was finally a beautifully sunny, dry day in the Ozarks. I have two writer friends visiting from central IL. I treated them to a surprise field trip to the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum and homestead in Mansfield MO. We walked through the gift shop, the museum and both of the houses Almonso and Laura lived in after they made the move from DeSmet S. Dakota to Mansfield MO.

After leaving there, we went in search of lunch. Not a lot of great options but we ate light in anticipation of our dinner later. Then we went back uptown to a used book store where we wondered and shopped.

Then we made the 2-hr drive back East to West Plains MO where we walked the entire Town Square going into shops that were still open (it was after 5) and just window peeking in others.

Dinner was at Kings Garden Buffet where I enjoyed Mongolian stir fry while my friends ate their fill of fresh-made Sushi. I don't care for sushi rice but doing the Mongolian stir fry was a healthy alternative to the normal buffet stuff drenched in sauces.

We then walked our dinner off in the WalMart SuperCenter while Cheri (one of my friends) shopped for the ingredients she needed for the Cuban dinner she is making for us tomorrow. I LOVE her black bean soup. YUM! And she drove down here special to make it for me. What a friend!

The only thing detrimental to my journey this weekend is the alcohol. I don't drink a bunch but I have had 1 Cowgirl Quencher each night they've been here. After they leave, I'll be lucky if I have more than one over the course of the next 3-4 months.

I guess the moral is here that everything in moderation and it's okay to treat yourself once in awhile as long as you keep that 'moderation' thing in mind.

Enjoy the Journey!

Stepping it Up!

So are you curious about today's topic? I suggested you go shopping for a pedometer. I know it was short notice, so I'm going to give you the rest of the week to purchase one. But come Monday morning I'd love to see all of you joining me on this challenge. It really is a lot of FUN!

One of the things about exercise is for the most part it's BORING! I mean, who wants to do the same routine over and over again? When we get the living room remodeled (within the next two weeks- Yeah!), I'll have a bit more floor space for putting my many work out tapes/ dvds to use. But one thing I really enjoy is WALKING! And it's the best exercise you can get.

Running and jogging are hard on your heels, knees and hips. Why anyone would promote them as healthy is beyond me. I think it's all in that 'he who runs the fastest wins' thing. I like competition but not at the expense of damaging my body.

Walking is a smooth, easy pace that gets your heart rate up as your walking speed increases without doing damage to the body you're trying so hard to make BETTER!

Almost three years ago, right after we moved down here to the Ozarks, I set the course to get in better shape. I loved the Jorge Cruise thought process of eating the right foods in specific portions. I'll talk more about Cruise later in the blog. As part of the program I joined a Yahoo group of ladies also using the Cruise program. Our big exercise push was to WALK. Not just walk but to strap on the pedometer and strive to walk 10,000 Steps in a day. 10,000 Steps is equivalent to 5 miles and is one of the best things you can do towards having a healthy heart when it comes to exercise.

Last week, the choke cable went out on my riding lawn mower. I discovered this when I went out to mow a BADLY needed lawn. I let it go another week and finally couldn't stand it anymore and decided to get out the push mower. How bad can it be to push mow, right? And it's good exercise. So out of curiosity I clipped on the pedometer and hit the turf.

2.5 hours and 5 miles later, the lawn looked good. Surprisingly I was not as sore the next day as I thought I'd be. Might have had something to do with the 2 analgesics I took before I went to bed. hehe But it got me to thinking. Why haven't I been wearing my pedometer and keeping track of my steps/ miles? It was motivating me when I did it before? Well, it all went back to my daughter/ granddaughter moving in and my routine falling apart.

At first I couldn't remember how many miles the 10,000 steps equaled so I went searching the net and found a terrific sight called. 10,000 steps.org It's a great site put together by a group from Australia who started the 10,000 steps phenomenon.

On this site you create an account (which requires your email and a password - super easy). This gives you access to log your daily step count PLUS you can enter the number of minutes you spent doing every day activities (either moderate or easy) and it will calculate it into steps for you! Next to each day there's a notepad. Clicking on it will give you a pop-up to enter any notes about your day. Maybe keep track of what location you walked that day (if you used a specific walking track) or what you did to gain that many steps (like my mowing the yard). It all helps to give you a visual! I'm a visual person so this really helps me a ton!

I recommend looking at their LIBRARY tab. Some Great information there! Don't try to absorb it all at once though. You don't want to get overwhelmed. You want to be MOTIVATED. So just click on the links that apply to you now and know the other information is always there when you need it.

You can even request a buddy or join a challenge to help motivate you. Right now I have my own personal challenge. As you'll see to the right, I want to walk the miles equivalent to walking the Ozark Hiking Trail. I figure if I do it a couple of times in bits and pieces, I'll be in the condition I need to make the journey for real.

Maybe you'd like to climb Mt. Everest. Or walk across America from coast to coast. What about walk across your state? Find out how many miles your destination requires and divide by 5. That will tell you how many 10,000 step increments you need to walk to meet your goal. Or you can cheat like I did and just go to tickerfactory.com and set up your own goal chart. hehe.

So as I look out the window at a cloudy sky and storms threaten, I'm clipping on the pedometer and heading into town to walk for a bit. I love walking out here in the country but don't do it so much when Bob's gone. Safety first and being out on back roads alone really isn't safe - even in broad daylight. And right now with people's yards starting to show signs of spring, It seems like a good way to spend the morning before the storms arrive.

So come on! Leave a COMMENT and let me know you'll join me on this quest. I CHALLENGE you!

Enjoy the Journey!

Monday Musings

Good morning!

It's another beautiful day in the Ozarks. Storms are in the forecast for this evening. For now I'll enjoy the sunshine.

I've discovered when I hit Maintenance, I'll have it down to a science. For the third week in a row I've hung in right at 183. Geez - will these scales never move? The answer - NO! At least not until I do the things that will encourage them. And that's going to be my topic for tomorrow. But to give you a hint...

WALK! Go out today and by a Pedometer. I'd love to have you all join me. On what? You'll find out tomorrow :-)

Enjoy the Journey!

Kelly

Recipe Wednesday

Yep... I might actually get us all on track before this summer is over with.

We're looking into satellite internet. I am just too engulfed in business right now to get it all accomplished on Dial-Up. I wouldn't change my living location for anything, but a faster internet connection would certainly be my one luxury request :-)

Last fall I found a website called Hungry Girl . If you've never heard of Hungry Girl, sign up for her newsletter! She shares great, healthy alternatives or 'swaps' to our favorite foods.

I was introduced through a recipe for Chocolate brownies. Now who doesn't crave those on occasion? Well, unless you don't like chocolate and I understand there are a few of you out there. I'll be trying an alternative to the following recipe this week and if it's a success, I'll share it next week.

For this week, the recipe is incredibly simple, healthy and great for those of you who are Vegan. Take 1 standard sized boxed Chocolate Cake mix. I prefer Milk Chocolate as the dark seems to 'promote a slight aftertaste'. Add 1 standard can pureed pumpkin (like for making pumpkin pie)

Mix these together - Just THESE TWO ingredients. Do Not follow the cake mix directions. You won't need eggs or oil. The moisture comes from the pumpkin.

Bake in paper-lined muffin cups and bake at 350 for about 15 min or until done.

I bake mine in a 9" 'PAM' sprayed cake pan. Then I cut it into wedges.

I love mine warm with a dollop of Sugar Free CoolWhip.

Next week, I want to try this with a Spice cake and raisins. I'll let you know how it turns out!

A Good Week

It's been a quiet and productive week here. I managed to lose the 2 pounds I gained while Adrian was here. With Bob being gone, I cook better for myself. I think also because when I'm home alone, I don't eat out as often as we seem to do when he's home. It seems like no matter how much we pledge to eat at home more, we still seem to be on the go go go.

I've done some labor around the property. It took me 2 days to get all the laundry caught up and I still have 1 load of sheets to do. But we got rain today so no hanging anything out. I try not to use my dryer for both energy efficiency and I wear and tear on the fabrics. Besides, nothing says a good night's sleep like snuggling down into sun-dried sheets.

I bought 9 fruit trees this week. If I treat them right, eventually I'll have fresh peaches, apples and cherries from my trees. You can't beat fresh fruit right - not drenched in preservatives or pesticides but fresh off the tree and rinsed in clear spring water from the well.

I had hoped to start getting them planted but I can't mow the orchard because the mower refused to start. I'll fiddle with it on Thursday when it's nice and see if it will cooperate with me. Otherwise I'll be getting LOTS of exercise mowing this 1+ acre of property with the push mower.

One thing I've been trying to remember to do is include fresh fruit with at least 2 meals and a vegetable with 2. It's helping to give me that 'full' but not 'bloated' feeling and prevents me from going back for seconds on things I don't need extra helpings of. I also bought 10" paper plates to use while Bob is gone. Remember, we talked about what the eye sees in a earlier post. Besides, paper plates means I'm spending less time washing dishes and more time writing and creating.

Enjoy the journey!

Progess and Delays

We had an AWESOME time with our granddaughter. The second day she was here, she woke with gunky eyes. The next day I had them. Her eyes cleared up and she was fine the rest of the visit. Me? Not so much. I wound up battling a head cold the remaining 2/3rds of her visit. We had a good time anyway. But I sure didn't feel up to doing anything.

So now that she's gone I feel better and am trying to play catch-up on everything. I also gained 2 pounds while she was here until I remembered that soda does NOT help the cold but only makes the sinuses worse. I've lost those 2 pounds since Tuesday. So by Monday I should be back on the downward side of things. I'm still determined for the 2 pounds a week.

I forgot to remind Bob to grease the treadmill so I'm going to focus on the garden work that needs done when weather is nice. I'm planting fruit trees (about 12), berry vines, putting in a huge herb bed and prepping the rest of the garden area for vegies. While my granddaughter was here (She's 3.5) we planted jack o lantern, tomato, green pepper, pumpkin, flower seeds in jiffy peat pots. Most everything is coming up and I need to get them transplanted into holding pots until Bob is home in 3 weeks to till the garden areas.

I also have plenty of wood to cut and haul from the timber and furniture to move around so I won't lack for exercise over the next 3 weeks.

I'm also sticking to healthy eating. I've been drinking sweet tea but I'm down to only about 1/4th the amount of sugar I used to use. And while Bob's gone I can layer in lots of vegies and salads without fixing 2 separate meals. Bob is NOT going to eat vegies though I keep telling him he needs to if he wants to lose the weight and be healthy. He just makes a mooing sound LOL

How's your journey going? Share please!