7th Sunday

Actually, this past week we spent most of it on vacation with family on a reunion, so lots of food, lots of sitting and chatting, and not a whole lot of exercise. I did manage to take as many walks around the neighborhood as possible, so we did accomplish a lot with that.

One major thing I think I needed was a way to track my exercise. I was looking up apps on my iPhone and found this, the MyFitnessPal app. It is pretty fantastic. It helps you track your food intake and exercise and helps you calculate total calories. Most importantly it breaks down the nutrition of the food you've eaten and tells you if you've reached your limit on vitamins, minerals, cholesterol, etc. I really love using this and it really helps you realize how much you eat even if you don't realize it. At the end of the day it also tracks your progress and lists what your weight would be if you continued on the same path. It's helpful, very helpful and I love it and am using it in my daily trackings.

Back from vacation now and resting, but just bought a bunch of healthy groceries so hoping this week will be a success. Til then :) Tah tah!

6th Sunday

Feeling gross again. Perhaps it was the Del Taco for dinner? Perhaps it is my monthly cycle? Last week was a wash, mainly because it was my "week off" but also because it was that time. One awesome thing is that I survived and I did not take any pain killers but managed to make do the whole week.

One fabulous thing though. We went to a birthday party for a friend at a bar, and a new person I met asked me innocently enough, if I was pregnant. Holy S. I told her I was just fat, and she was like, no and she tried very sweetly to cover up and say nice things, but truth is, she thought I was pregnant. Great.

Well, so that's my week. Today we went for a long bike ride around town and loved it and really enjoyed it. I can see us doing that activity regularly and having fun with it.

So will continue the healthy lifestyle stuff. I want to add taking multivitamins daily as well as exercising 4 times a week one hour at a time. I am hoping the regular exercise won't make me overly hungry. Although the 5 servings of fruits and veggies should help cover that. Overall though I feel my increased activity has been a definitely healthy activity.

Weight, well I feel heavy and not feeling great. Goal is to stay the same or reduce my weight, ever so slowly. Below are my regular goals. Must keep this up. Also keeping the larger goal in mind and not give up.

Also alternatively, bought some skin care stuff from Philosophy brand at Macys. I think it will help the overall process. Skin care, personal care, health stuff should be good.

This coming week, family reunion time. Am hoping the family time will be a very increased healthy time and good for the body and soul. Til then :) Tah tah!

Nutrition

1 multivitamin per day

5 servings fruits & veggies

Drink 1 liter of water daily

Exercise

Stand at desk at work as long as possible

Exercise 4 times a week 1 hour each

Mind

Read 2 books this week

Personal care

New skin care products!

Heart

In the right place

Weight per Week

1 - 144 lbs

3 - 143 lbs

5 - 144 lbs

5th Sunday

So, another Sunday checking-in.

First off, am feeling good, almost great. I ate pretty well this week. The 5 servings a day had me focused on eating more healthy stuff. Although I wasn't always healthy, it's an easier focus for me to eat more good than to cut out bad. Naturally by eating more good we naturally margin out the bad.

I weighed myself on Sunday morning and was a bit sad I was 144lbs. Then I thought about it and said "eh, F it". I was doing really well for myself despite the weight. It was nice to not have the weight be the final issue, even in my heart/mind. I still felt really good about myself for all the good work I was doing. I have really been eating healthier and really been more active, even if marginally. I've been feeling better too overall, and for the first time I feel like the journey is more important than the destination so I'm sticking happily to it.

This week, nothing new to try. I'll give myself a week to continue my good eating habits, exercise when I can, slowly and stretching lots, and we'll reassess next week. I find planning helps me in my eating well and exercise, in order to have time for it or be mentally prepared to do things. I also think that since we have family gatherings coming up, and I survived mother's day eating healthy, I can do it with the family stuff too. Gotta keep the "more healthy" stuff in mind, and just keep at it and not give up.

More things regarding a healthy lifestyle. Been reading a lot and I find this exercises my brain and makes me a more interesting and lively person. Read 3 books this week which I will rate and comment on later. We've also been fixing up the house which feels really good in taking care of things that need taking care of. Been weeding stuff out too, which is also healthy in not hanging on to things we don't use. Put some pictures in frames, replaced light bulbs, have other home projects in mind and am feeling very healthy these days. Another weird thing is we wake up naturally early at like 7am on weekends, so it feels like we have more time and longer weekends which is fabulous. We get started on home projects and personal stuff earlier in the day, and it's nice. All this free time off school has helped me re balance and get working on things I didn't have time for before.

Til next time, cheerio!

4th Sunday

Start of week 4. Ok so the whole "strengthening exercises" daily and eating slowly, didn't really work. I definitely failed doing that for week 3. I ended up just eating more and the "strength" exercise didn't really motivate me. I also ended up overthinking the gaining weight thing, and ended up eating more. This week was a wash.

Inevitably I eat more when I start worrying about health and I end up gaining weight. Instead of focusing on NOT eating things, I'm going to refocus on eating good stuff. Forget the 70/30 rule. I'm going for 5 servings of fruits or veggies a day.

I almost thought of adding an exercise program, but I think my diet needs focus first. Also it will help if I only do one thing at a time. We'll see how it goes. I'll do as much "exercise" as possible but no goal.

Also I came up with a rewards system. It won't be based on weight since that has never worked. It'll be based on what I do. IF I am able to eat 5 days of 5 servings of fruits/veggies daily, I'll buy myself some clothes/accessories. Part of my motivation for living healthier is fitting into clothes I currently don't fit into. If I buy something fun for myself every time I achieve something, it's like reinforcing the goal.

Good news is - I've been drinking my water regularly and I am very comfortable with my standing desk. I still get tired and rest, but I am more fidgety and want to stand if I sit too long.

Cheers!

War Dogs

Saw this on the news today and wanted to say how badass dogs are. They're helping the military in missions overseas.

Doggles - from article on Yahoo about combat dogs.
Intense interest surrounds dog who may have participated in bin Laden raid

Also another article showing a dog jumping out of a helicopter. Dude!
War Dog Article

Here's another article about parachuting dogs.
Dog joings troops on parachute jump in Norway.

Adventures in LA

So the LA Times had an article recently on 11 micro-itineraries to explore the San Fernando Valley. Even though I've lived here much of my life, I realize there's a ton of stuff in LA that I haven't seen. Recently I went to the LA Times Festival of Books for the first time and had a lot of fun. Below are a few of the things I'd like to do. That's one fantastic thing about LA. You can't really get bored and there's always tons of new things to do and explore. Summer is also coming up so, more festivals, farmer's markets and things to see.

Some items suggested by the LA Times article on 11 micro-itineraries to explore the San Fernando Valley
Eat at Burbank Bob's Big Boy, explore North Hollywood and check out the Warner Brother's Studio Tour. Just a few things I need to check-off the list.

Downtown LA Art Walk
On average the 2nd Thursday of every month, it's a chance to walk about downtown LA, see some art, hang out with friends and eat out. Actually someone told me it feels like a real urban downtown city with everyone walking around.

Skirball Cultural Center Museum
The Houdini & Magician's Exhibit going on until September which we should really check out.
Noah's Ark exhibit which sounded really interesting last time I heard about it and looks like a fun and cute kid's thing.

TruckFest
According to the website, this brings together the best of LA's mega hip and tasty Food Trucks, over 200 of the hottest local artists as well as live music and much more.
Union Station Event Dates:
Sunday, May 1st 11am-5pm
Sunday, June 5th 11am-5pm
Sunday, July 3rd 11am-5pm
Sunday, August 7th 11am-5pm
Sunday, September 4th 11am-5pm

Walt Disney Concert Hall
I want to take a free tour of the place and just check it out finally.

Autry Museum
I hear it's a good place to go, so I want to check it out sometime.

Little Ethiopia
I had no idea this was even here, but drove by it on the way to a birthday party. Apparently the food is supposed to be amazing. It looked like a cute little street to walk around or spend an evening, so we'll try it sometime.

The Getty Villa
Haven't been to the Villa since I was a kid and it was the original location of The Getty. I want to check it out and I remember liking it more than the new Getty which we've visited many times.

LACMA & MOCA
Yup, never been and really need to go. Get cultured! Supposedly there's a Tim Burton exhibit coming up end of May to October. That sounds awesome.

La Brea Tar Pits
I think I probably went here as a kid but don't remember a thing. Or maybe I'm confusing memories with movies, but I don't remember this place and would like to visit.

Griffith Observatory and Griffith Park
Haven't seen the Observatory since it reopened. As a kid I got a bit bored by the observatory but might appreciate the park and such now that I'm older.

Hollywood Forever Cemetery and Movies at the Cemetery
The insanity. Watching a movie in a cemetery - how fun! Plus seeing Hollywood Forever cemetery would be interesting too.

Taking the Metro in LA
Park at a station and explore LA via Metro subway. Might need an experienced tour guide for that (hint hint) but it's something we've been wanting to try for awhile.

Da Vinci Museum in Hollywood
Apparently, there's a temporary exhibit of Da Vinci's work in Hollywood. Pretty cool! Only until end of 2011 so we should go this year sometime.


Food Places
A few places I've heard great things about that I really should try while here in LA.

Duke's Malibu - Hawaiian and beach food.
Spago's - Wolfgang Puck's famous starter restaurant.
Neptune's Net - I have been here, just never had the fresh seafood which I want to try.
Fogo de Chao - Something the husband suggested that looks yummy and worth a try. Brazillian meat and sides buffet.


Honorable Mention
DiscoverLosAngeles.com
This is a really cool website. In my research on Little Ethiopia I found a ton of stuff on here. There was an article on "Hidden Gen Neighborhoods" and first area on the list was Eagle Rock! I grew up there and it was just a little low-end town, but has become very hip and cool lately. I'll have to explore the hidden gems, as well as check this website regularly. There are various itineraries, lists of free things to do and upcoming events. This is definitely to add to my regular bookmarks to check for things to do in LA.

This is already a ton of stuff, just in LA area vicinity that I have NOT done yet. We're pretty adventurous and have already done a ton, yet the list seems to keep growing. I thought about adding a Catalina Island visit but that's for another blog post. Perhaps "California to-do" list to add Yosemite, Carmel and other places. I plan on adding to this list regularly. Anyway this is what it is for starters. I'm always up for suggestions and field trips, so share if you have a fun/cool thing in LA that people should check out!

3rd Sunday

Hello again Sunday. New day to rethink and restart a healthier lifestyle. Overall the past 2 weeks I think I've been about 20% healthier. It's not much, but at least it's a start.

Goals

This week, I want to actively try eating slower. I did it a few times this week and it seemed to work, so I want to try it as my new thing of the week. I eat fast in general. Sometimes I'm starving and I eat too fast and feel sick afterwards. When I actively tried to slow down eating, I found I felt full and wanted to leave the rest for leftovers, no matter how yummy it was. The crazy hunger thing only lasts a little while and if I can hold out, I can avoid all the extra calories. So will actively try savoring every bite, chewing more to get all the nutrients and eating slower.

My finals are this week and thank goodness because I cannot wait to be done! It will give me more free time to work on my exercises. I don't want to force myself to the gym with a rigid schedule because it never works. I also want the option to do little exercises at home, outside for walks, or other types of workouts, not just at the gym. I want to give myself flexibility yet a specific exercise goal. I also want to work on my perspective about workouts. I don't like calling it exercise or gym time because that's limiting as well. It implies work. I think I'll call my workouts "strengthening exercises" for now. This is true. I'm working on strengthening my body's muscles and flexibility.

So now to set the goal. I think I'll work on doing 20 minutes a day of "strengthening exercises". This can be gym time. This can also be taking two 10 minute breaks throughout the day to walk during work. It might be at home stretching or going on a quick after work walk. It could be bouncing on my trampoline. 20 minutes daily is do-able, no matter what with school or not.

In order to avoid overload, I think every 4th week, no new change or updates to my healthy lifestyle. It'll be a break and a way to reflect on my current lifestyle, see what's working, so I know what to tweak and what to keep or do new. So this will be all for now.

Motivators

One other thing that got me motivated. My mom has been dieting and doing really well. She is now 122 lbs, and her goal is 115. I'm a bit competitive so I want to reduce and eat healthy so I can beat her :) Although I must NOT focus on the weight, because I have NEVER taken off weight by focusing on the weight. I've got to focus on other parts of the healthy lifestyle.

As I'm writing this looking out my window, I see our neighbors who like to smoke on their balcony a lot. Probably at least 6 or 7 times a day. The girl is gigantic. She's the loud one who likes to talk about her gynecology appointments on her cellphone on the balcony so everyone can hear. She says she has trouble quitting smoking and she just keeps gaining weight. Such an inspiration. What could happen if you don't change your ways.

Also - I started wearing a piece of jewelry to remind me to live healthier. It's like my own version of a kabbalah red string bracelet or a WWJD plastic bracelet. It's a little ornamental ring that's all viney and pretty. I suppose if you want to get sentimental or metaphorical about it, you could say it's a way to remind that living healthy will make me well rooted, help me grow and blossom beautifully. So whenever the urge to indulge in french fries or eat an entire family size bag of chips, I may just get the smaller size or opt for the healthier snack when I reach out and see my ring. It might also help me keep everything else in perspective, to avoid the overwork or the over indulgences. Finding the middle way. The goal is to get the ring to fit comfortably on my middle finger, for the middle way.

Wk 1 - Eat 70/30

Wk 2 - Standing Desk + Water

Wk 3 - Savour food and eat slowly + daily 20 minute strengthening exercises.

Weight today = 143 lbs! :) 2 lbs less than week 1.

WHEN I reach 140, I will give myself a present. Not sure what yet, but I will :)