My New Personal Trainer

I have a goal - Lookin and Feelin Great by 48. To that goal, I've lost 25 lbs. I have 15 - 25 more to go.  The thing is, I've been stuck at 25 down for about 8 months...I go up when I travel and back down when I get home. I have been eating 1,000 - 1,400 calories a day, work out 6 days a week (60 min cardio).....but I deal with Hashimotos and so my metabolism is sluggish and I simply am not going to lose a lb a week. LOL 


I've learned I have to set goals other than weight loss. I really can't control what my metabolism will do. I CAN set new goals with diet and  exercise and reach them. 


I've been told NOT to run due to my knee...but I've lost 25 lbs and I'm ready for a workout that is a bit of fun and different. I love my walks, but they don't make me sweat. High impact aerobics lead to swollen knees by evening. Enter C25k - Couch to 5 K. I figure it's light enough to start off that it may not blow out my knee....and I may slowly build up to 5 K. This may be a mid-life crisis. I want to run again. The runners in the house are great cheer leaders.  I'd love to be able to run 5K next time in Korea - for our regional conference. I may settle for brisk walking and jogging...but hey....it's something.

I finished week one today. That means I can jog for 8 minutes and do a brisk walk for 22 minutes.  I do the elliptical on the off days. I'm considering doing 30 min of elliptical after the 30 min of  "wogging" to keep my workouts at 60 min. The nutritionist and trainer from GAFB all assure me with my thyroid induced sluggish metabolism and age I need to do 45 - 60 min of cardio 6 days a week...so I'm a bit leery of  this 30 min run thing.....but we shall see.

Things I learned this week:

• In high school you can get away with skipping the stretching. A middle aged female should stretch. 
• My knee is NOT swollen and doesn't really hurt....just sort of feels "off"....so 
• Don't do this every day and be prepared to stay at the wogging stage if the knee can't handle running. 
• My knee may be able to handle this is I build up GRADUALLY (ala C25K) and now that I've lost a significant amount of weight. 
• I may reward myself with an armband for my ipod so I can have music cues, watching for potholes, keeping my eye on the tiny second hand, and avoiding snakes is getting a bit scary. 

In addition, I've hired Zander as my Personal Trainer. He's currently obsessing about fitness. I tend to go with his obsessions....what else is an aspie mom to do? This means I'm doing bridges, planks, and all manner of strange stretches..... This a.m.

Zander: "Mom, do this...."

Me: "Why, what is it good for?"

Zander: "It's a bridge, I don't know - but it hurts. Do it."

As I do push ups  - which I would not do except for the little nazi at my side.....

Zander: "GREAT you've done 10 - I bet you can do 18 more."

Me: "You have GOT to be kidding!"

Planks.....

Me: "Why am I doing this again?"

Zander: "It hurts so it's a good one to do a lot of."

Zander: "Mom, I love you."

Oh - hearing him say that still sends me over the roof when I think of him sitting and rocking......

Me: "I love you more."

Zander: "I love you most."

I'm hoping he will see me working on something really hard and be motivated to continue working on that blasted, elusive phonics. He's smart as a whip and will get this reading thing soon. Meanwhile I continue to feed his mind with great science books which I read to him - because he LOVES science.

One last tidbit  - I'd been in the midst of a sugar/chocolate fast in March and never reported. Earthquakes and tsunamis have a way of changing one's focus. I continued for 3 months. It wasn't that tough. I began eating more refined treats when we went to the states in May.....I need to cut way back again. I'm not sure if I'll go to a fast again or just to a once a week treat. We shall see.  I need to do some praying on it.

Choosing Joy!
©2011 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Search for a New Family Member

We continue to look for a dog that will be fun, but not CRAZY jumping excitable.....small enough for a trailer -as Mike evidently plans to live in a travel trailer when he retires- but not a toy breed, not a lot of hair, provide companionship.....good with kids - though it would appear our youngest is about to be 6 and so good with "older kids" will work fine.  Michael seems to be averse to poodles or dogs that may EVER show up with a cute bow in their hair. ::snort::  Care to see what we found as we searched the internet last night?

We looked at Shiba Inus....but here they are a bit arrogant and tend to socialize with one owner....Mike is also concerned about the size.....I think most we've seen are mixes and therefore bigger...because the sites say Shiba Inus are not much more than 18 inches.  These are still in our minds....or most of our minds.

Beagle - which keeps coming up as a match for us - and I know they piddle...so do I. ::snort:: 

American Hairless Terrier - so ugly he's cute and I'm drawn to him - but I appear to be in the minority.

Beaglier

Bedlington Terrier - OMW

Rasta dog - Mike was adamant this one is not for us. ::snort:: 

We've been trying to find one on base - they mostly seem to have "shiba mixes".....we started looking for breeders but then are not sure they will ship HERE.... and what IS the difference between a breeder and a puppy mill...how do we tell? 

We're trying to decide if we "settle" for what we can find here, because 2 years after the loss of our Beatrix we are all finally ready to find a new dog to smother...really ready.....or do we wait until we are in the states and can buy a beagle..... Beatrix was a corgi/basset/something else mix according to vets. 

It is NOT hard to leave Japan with a dog. Japan is rabies free. No one hassles you when you bring a dog from Japan to their country. It is HARDER to move to Japan with a dog...but now we fly directly from Seattle to Misawa and so even that is easier.  Maybe we should look for a breeder in Seattle and see if I could hop over, pick up the dog and hop back the next week.....

The Sheba would be a bit of Japan to carry with us......but the hair and the arrogance...since most we see are older, the personality would be set....

Choosing Joy!
©2011 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Arachnid War of Summer 2011

Every morning, EARLY (4:00 - 5:00) I tryst with the Love of my soul here......and EVERY morning for the past month I've been joined by another one of God's creatures.  

I take the web down. It's back the next a.m......I was told you must kill the spider to get rid of the web. Yesterday, the boys had some friends over to hang out and they FOUND the little guy.....and took him out. 

  It's a pity you can't see how truly impressive he was....they got to him before I got a photo of all eight legs waving around in the air....I went to bed with the happy knowledge that THIS morning there would be no one but Jesus and I on the porch........but someone was busy in the night...flies don't just HANG in the air in Misawa....

The epic Arachnid War of Summer 2011 continues......


Choosing Joy!
©2011 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Just PURE Jello

I mentioned we'd finally come up with a "healthy" jello that we LIKE at PWOC Book club....just fruit, gelatin, juice and a bit of sweetener. Tara, here's the recipe.  We tried all sorts of things and the texture was wrong, or they were flavorless. This is what is working for us. 

Ingredients: 
2 pks of unflavored Gelatin (2 T)
2 C juice (choose your own we like crangrape best!  or mixed berry)
2 C of pureed fruit (frozen gels quicker, but any fruit will work)
1/4 C Agave Nectar (or honey if you prefer)*

With a wire whisk, stir gelatin into juice and let stand 5 min (softens the gelatin)

If you have extra juice, put it in the blender and throw in the frozen fruit. Puree until you have 2 C. 

I blend WELL to get rid of seeds and chunks which my crew doesn't want in their jello. 

Heat gelatin and juice to boiling, stir constantly with wire whisk. Heat until gelatin dissolves. Add Agave Nectar.

Combine puree and gelatin mixture. Pour into dishes and chill. 

Yes, we eat this for dessert and if it's a special occasion I  cave and top with a dollop of whipped cream.

1/2 C serving is about 100 calories.

*I'm fully aware of the Agave Nectar debate. We use honey often but in some things we want the sweet without the taste. I HAVE personally discovered that AN create less sugar spikes for me.  I really notice this in lemonade - which gives me a headache - always...with sugar or honey...but doesn't with AN. Choose another sweetener if you don't like AN. ::grin::




Choosing Joy!
©2011 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Gardening

I don't know that it's a REAL garden....but it's growing. We've had strawberries, a few blueberries, carrots, lettuce, and broccoli. This a.m. I replanted more carrots and lettuce of some sort. The cauliflower got attacked by some blight that turned the veggie part BLACK. Ugh. After doing container gardening in Japan for a few years, I think we're working up to square foot gardening when we get stateside with a real yard. 

Zander was amazed that we can grow eggs from this. ::snort:: I should have set him straight? 

I KNOW I planted one container of watermelon and one of squash....I now have two of squash.....suspicious isn't it? I'm not sure what to do about it at this late date. LOL 

Mike had a great idea. He suggests we talk to the farmer about renting out a part of his unused horse field or field directly behind us. I wish we'd thought of this in the spring. For now, we have containers. Last year the farmers kept bringing us cabbage as we were out watering our little garden. ::snort:: I hope they plant something a bit more exciting over there in the next few weeks. They have some squash thing in half of the field and re-plowed the other part yesterday. 

Choosing Joy!

©2011 D.R.G.

~Coram Deo~

Living all of life before the face of God...

They're EVERYWHERE!

Picturesque, isn't it? Yes, it IS a squatty potty and it isn't much different than those who put toilets in their yards in America....but it surprised and amused me on the beach. LOL 

Choosing Joy!
©2011 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Tuesday - Wednesday

Tuesday is PWOC.....This week it was Japan 101. It was fun to learn new spots to explore from each other....


Tuesday is also becoming farewell at Misawa AB day...the Patriot (plane contracted to fly weekly from here to Seattle)  leaves on Tuesday afternoon. We said goodbye to a couple of more families this week and sent a chaplain on deployment. 


The highlight of Wednesday was PWOC's Summer Book Club. We met at New Delhi and discussed  "The Great Divorce". A winner all the way around. BTW I had the garlic Nan and Dal (lentil) curry - yummo.

Tuesday and Wednesday were both sweltering days. We cool one room in the house. I'm coming to love energy shortages, really. In the winter we huddled in the living room to stay warm and played games and read. In the summer we huddle in the living room to stay cool and play games and read. I had been contemplating earlier this year how to make the living room CENTRAL to family life.....energy shortage seems to be the answer. LOL

Tuesday and Wednesday were also GREAT school days.

Wednesday I decided to take up running again. Not sure why - mid-life crisis?


Choosing Joy!
©2011 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...