Health and Fitness, December, 2009

[Twins' Mom]

Last of the year and I'm starting better eating habits (again) this week, with the understanding that I need to eat wisely on New Year's Eve and Day, when we are invited to parties.

Who else is in?

[Cowinkie]

I'm in Twins...and need to continue healthy eating for more than just a few days

[Nancy]

I need to get back to the exercising so today
[I will be paying attn. to the floors].

[Cowinkie]

I'm with you Nancy...getting back into my walking routines. Also am filling my refrig with healthy foods. Want to ease into no process foods, white stuff like sugar and flour, as well as limited dairy.

I know what I need to do, now I just need to do it

[lucylee]

Me, too, Cowinkie... know what I need to do.

I definitely MUST do better w/exercise this year. I just completely quit when school started, apparently. So, I'm in, Twins & Nancy -- I WILL get back on track Monday, when we return from our trip and school starts back. I've got to make that my priority -- for stress relief and better health, even if it doesn't help me lose a single pound!

[Nancy]

Today I swept snow off the deck and front steps plus
shoveled the patio and helped with the neighbors drive way
for some exercise and did a bit of a work out
while waiting on the tub to fill.
I feel better after doing this stuff the fresh air and stretching
seems to always help!

[Harmony]

Didn't do too bad over the holidays. I did worse once I got back home. I have one extra pound to remove, but kept all the rest of the weight loss, yay!

It is tough when there is so much starch and sugar around. I divided stuff up and put it in the freezer. We are on chocolate overload with all the goodies people gave us and DH found a 1/2 price big bag of chocolates the day after Christmas. I wasn't happy he bought that because it calls to me all day long up in the candy dish.....

DD1's fiance and family have funny holiday traditions...egg noodles with gravy, fresh corn, sweet potato casserole with marshmallows. All in the same meal. I didn't eat some of that and nobody noticed. They skipped dessert. See I'd rather have a salad and leave some calories for dessert...but to each his own!

[Cowinkie]

Good going Harmony....

I've cleaned my pantry, removed all the sugary food, and am ready to start the New Year right. The goal is to eat God's food. We eat pretty close to that around here...its at school that does me in. Gonna bring an extra pair of walking shoes to school and hope to walk rather than eat during my lunch. I've decided there's too much negative talk going on in my lunch room, so if I can't change the atmosphere in there, then I need to avoid it. We'll see how this strategy works.

[Smile*Lee]

I'll probably repost some of this on the January thread when it pops up.

I want to be more health-conscious in my eating for 2010. Get back into all the fresh food that I used to make. Last year, I let a lot of things slide and my energy and focus levels suffered a lot because of it. I love high energy, which I can achieve if I keep my food clean and a high percentage of it fresh. Letting too much processed food into my diet causes lethargy and fogbrain.

Here are few websites and people that I'm following to gain their perspective. A couple of these are raw vegan sites. I'm not interested in going totally raw vegan - nor vegetarian, but I do want my diet to be mostly raw/fresh. No way can I give up my beans and rice.

http://www.cleaneating.com -- balanced -- This is so I have food for my guys. The magazine is good too.
http://www.jordanrubin.com -- balanced
http://www.gardenoflife.com -- Jordan's promotional website
http://www.rawlife.com -- Paul Nisson - raw vegan for many years - just added raw goat dairy to his food choices - haven't read why yet. Paul did an interview with a guy that had been raw vegan for 17 years (I think). He'd felt increasingly better for the first 14 - then starting losing energy and not healing as well. Maybe after you detox, you need to start rebuilding. Very interesting. If I find it, I'll post it.
http://www.rawdivas.com --
I'm also still have a subscription to http://www.savingdinner.com. This is easy!

In the Kitchen!

breakfast: fresh juice > sweet pea shoots, mixed greens, wheatgrass, fresh ginger, fresh turmeric, celery, lemon, apples, carrots, cuke - YUM!
lunch: TBA
supper: TBA

*soaking 1/3 c. cashews to make cashew milk tonight - LOVE nutmilks.
*soaking 1/3 c. chia seeds in 2 c. water -- great energy source - just be careful - start out slow (maybe a T. of the mix) and drink lots water with it.

Also going to buy a breadmaker and start making my own bread again.

[Harriet]

Can you think of walk-friendly snacks for lunch, Cowinkie, like a banana or a granola bar, along with a water bottle. (I guess water could be after the walk, or sipping through the day - not necessarily to be carried.) Hope you turn the lunch idea into a new healthy habit.

God-made foods... ... yep, yep. Always best.

Housekeeping/exercise combinations... ... always the most virtuous! Note to self: follow Nancy around!

Tiny holiday weight gain... ...terrific, Harmony!

Got to check out those links... ...
I'm going to do what Smile Lee did, and post a little sum-up here on our last 2009 day. Might repost a couple points 'next year'.

Quick update on me - There have been a lot of things I could have come in and posted, but I wanted to wait until the dust settled. As it turns out, two procedure-ideas that have been considered for me have eventually been shot down anyway. I will not even be having an endoscopy (camera down the throat) to view my inflammation. And a gall stone turns out to be of the user-friendly type, something to be ignored. So, a lot of tests (barium, x-ray, ultrasound) and head-scratching (and $ out of my pocket) to say that the acid reflux is a lone problem causing varied symptoms. I am to stay on the Nexium until mid-March, continuing my acid-reflux healthy habits (elevation to sleep, no food for 3 hours before bed, no caffiene/citrus/tomato) in a wait-and-see mode.

My exercise for the 3.5 months will be modified. I'll still do T-Tapp, but change up a few of the bend-at-the-waist moves and flat-on-the-floor moves. I'll likely do the T-Tapp walking DVDs more often. I read that cardio trims the tummy - I need that, so it's all good.

In 2010, I'll also be trying to reduce my stress, which is my worst health enemy. Interestingly, this dovetails right in to the "Arts, Crafts and Needlework" and "Decluttered Home" threads, doesn't it?