"Piggy" Update

The battle rages on! Over the last few weeks, since I committed to losing weight, I've lost 7 pounds, gained 5, lost 3, gained 4...  I can hardly call it a victory so far, but I have made some positive changes and learned a few things along the way.

First, I learned to stay away from the scale as much as possible. It is easy to get discouraged when you feel you've been doing well on your diet only to find, after checking the scales, you've actually gained a pound. It is better to work on small changes in your exercise and eating habits and to work on making those changes permanent.

Secondly, I've found I do better when I allow myself the occasional indulgence. I love the ham and swiss on croissant from my sister Terri's restaurant, "Classics Cafe." I allow myself the half sandwich/cup of soup combo along with her small helping of cole slaw. It probably isn't the lowest calorie meal I could have, but it is very satisfying and it fills me up nicely. Then I can enjoy a lighter dinner because I'm still pretty satisfied when supper rolls around.

I can feel pretty guilt free about my delicious and satisfying lunch after I've walked 3 - 4 miles on the treadmill. Monday through Friday, I've teamed up with my mom to work out at the local community center gym. We meet each morning at 10 am and chat while we walk beside each other on treadmills. My weight may not be falling off, but I'm enjoying the benefits of starting my day with a nice visit with mom and I'm finding I have quite a bit more energy after a good workout!

Weekends are a challenge. With my family home from work and school I tend to want to "veg" and enjoy their company. And that often translates into eating! Either I'm making us all an over-indulgent meal or we're going out to dinner and I'm making some very bad choices. On the weekends I'm out of my daily eating and exercising routine, too. I can easily lose a few pounds during the week only to gain them back over the weekend!

Of course, I know what needs to be done. The secret here is to work on making and eating healthier meals for myself and my family over the weekends. We need to get back to spending our family time together doing active things like going on family bike rides. Unfortunately, they all love being lazy (like me) after long, busy weeks at work and school. Gotta work on motivating all of us to get moving! Ugghh! With winter coming we have more of an excuse to eat and veg! I'm hanging in there... the cruise is just over 8 months away and I'm just getting started!

Steve Jobs Preaching the Gospel?!

Steve Jobs' death prompted a flood of articles in the various news media. Most celebrate the contributions he made to the technology world, and remind us of the virtues of America's free market system. Others are not so flattering, discussing the dark side of his personality. Collectively these profiles give a fascinating glimpse into an extraordinary public figure. But the one I find the most interesting comes from one of my favorite bloggers, Dan Phillips. In getting to the core of what made Steve Jobs Steve Jobs he hits the nail on the head. This is a long post, but well written and very insightful. I hope you enjoy it. I also highly recommend the article Mr. Phillips links to in his post. Good stuff!

  http://teampyro.blogspot.com/2011/10/how-steve-jobs-and-christ-defeated.html

Baby Play in the 21st Century

It isn't obvious from this video that this baby actually thinks a magazine is an ipad. It may just be normal baby exploration using her under developed fine motor skills. But... it's still cute and it makes you think.

http://youtu.be/aXV-yaFmQNk

The Silent Treatment... Ugghhh!

One week into my new blogging adventure and my page has been viewed 136 times.  Not bad for starters. My dilemma is that for now my blog is completely one sided. I can't tell you how strange it feels knowing people have read what you have to say, but not having any idea of their reaction to it. It's rather unsettling - a little like getting the silent treatment. Unfortunately, some of you have tried to post a comment and haven't been able to because you don't have a Google or other account.

So, I did some experimenting and found an easier way to post a comment. If you'd like to leave a comment you can bring up the comment box by clicking the bottom of the post where it says comments. After you've typed your comment in the box, choose anonymous from the select profile drop down menu, then click the post comment button. Voila! Of course, the trick here is to type your name inside the box with your comment. Otherwise the blog will only show it as anonymous and we really want to know who the comment is from!

A Big, Fat, Gross Pig!

For many years now I've ridden the diet and exercise roller coaster. I'm guessing many of you have ridden the same ride. You diet and exercise for a while, start to drop the pounds, feel great when you hit your goal, run into a major holiday or crisis (we women have plenty of those) and start pigging out again. Then you get mad at yourself for eating so you drown your sorrows in more food. You think about starting a new diet... on Monday... or next Monday. You start to gain back weight and you stop exercising (because it hurts when your legs rub together when you walk) and you can't breathe. Then your clothes start to get tight and you have nothing to wear. You tell your husband he's crazy for finding you attractive because you're a "big, fat, gross, pig" so you start the process all over again determined to go back to skinny you.

Well, I've reached the "big, fat, gross pig" stage now and I'm on my way back up the first roller coaster hill. I'm determined this time is gonna be it. No more roller coaster! I'm takin' it off and keepin' it off! So, I'm trying something different this time. For starters, I'm using this blog to hold myself accountable. I'm saying right here and right now that I am going to lose my weight and keep it off. Whether 2 people read this or 200, at least I will have written it down. I plan to keep coming back to this as a reminder of what I said I was going to do.

To be specific, I plan to lose 30 pounds by the end of June, 2012. We have a cruise planned on July 9, and I really want to look my best. The hard part will be after the cruise, when I've had a week of eating all the delicious food from the endless buffet. That's when I'll come back here and remind myself again!

If you happen upon my blog and can relate, even if you can't relate, I'd love to hear from you. I'd appreciate a word of encouragement and knowing people are watching is a big motivator. Check in frequently and I'll keep you posted on my progress.

Little Girls

I happened upon a video the other day and it made me think of Sveta, but it also made me think of my niece Jen's daughters. The little dark haired girl in the video could be the Beez or Boo or Sveta. She was born with a cleft lip and the video shows her reaction to having it repaired. It reminded me of God's loving kindness and how He delights in blessing.

http://youtu.be/4nUkE1moT-g

Seeing Pink!

With apologies to members of the pink "save-the-ta-tas" sisterhood, I'm starting to see red about seeing pink. It could be that I'm the only chick on the planet who is beginning to feel manipulated by the Susan G. Komen Foundation, American Cancer Society, the AstraZeneca drug company and any number of other non-profit or for-profit organizations involved in the Breast Cancer Awareness campaign. Pink warning flags have begun springing up in my mind.

I'm not sure who to give the credit to, but someone is an advertising genius. Tons of corporate sponsorships, Races for the Cure in every town, lighting up entire cities in pink, football teams dressed in pink. Then there's the pink ribbon. Ooohh... that little pink ribbon. It's everywhere, and it has attained the kind of "brand recognition" that most advertising executives can only dream of.  We see the pink and we know it stands for breast cancer awareness, as surely as the golden arches stands for McDonalds. Add that to the emotion of personal experience with breast cancer and the human need for community (the pink sisterhood) and you have the perfect advertising storm. Brand recognition + emotion + sisterhood = $$$$$ That's an awful lot of money going into those coffers. Do we really know that it is being used for the noblest of purposes.. to find a cure?

Just to clarify, I'm not a heartless spendthrift who wants women to die of breast cancer! When I do give money to a worthy cause I want to know how and by whom it is being used. I'm not willing to assume P&G (for example) is practicing due diligence to make certain the extra quarter I spend on mouthwash is going directly to finding a cure for cancer. And, considering the millions of dollars already raised by this campaign, it seems we should be hearing about the progress these organizations are making to find a cure. To date I haven't seen any evidence that we're any closer to a cure now than we were ten years ago. Call me a skeptic, but whenever I see that much money and effort concentrated on one worthy cause I get suspicious.

I think it's possible that this campaign has reached it's saturation point. Great advertising campaigns are effective only until people feel they are in control of their money. The minute they feel manipulated they will begin to close up their pocketbooks.