Morning Rituals - The Coffee

This morning, I thought about my blog post the other day about the little extra efforts we make for loved ones.  Every morning during the workweek, here's what my counter looks like by the Keurig machine.

I line up my husband's and daughter's travel cups and my my own regular cup with our reusable K-cup filters ready to go with the proper kind of coffee in each (daughter & I drink decaf most of the time.)

It's a small extra effort but another nice timesaver for my family.

In case you didn't know about these resuable K-cup filters, I found ours at Kroger in the coffee aisle.  I think they were on sale for $10 (regular $15, I think.)  It costs less than disposables and is better for the environment, too.  We keep some disposables for mornings when we're all in a hurry, but I much prefer the reusable filter, and it's rare that I use a disposable.

A Powerful Ally It Is

Have you ever watched hummingbirds for an extended amount of time?  They are amazing little creatures.  We have had a hummer feeder for many years now.  My husband once remarked, "It's a good thing hummingbirds are not big, because boy, they are mean!"  He's right.  A hummingbird will fight and chase off others that try to come to the feeder.  They chitter away at each other, dueling in the air, and you can hear their little beaks clashing.  They are tiny birds with big attitudes.

I am physically small in stature - about 5'4" and very petite.  I can identify with hummingbirds in a way, because I don't feel small at all.  Our former pastor once told me I'm like a "hummingbird on speed" which he demonstrated by flapping his arms rapidly and saying, "Vzzzz!  Vzzzz!  Vzzzz!"  I'm usually busy and full of energy.

Those who are Star Wars fans are familiar with Yoda, the wise Jedi Master.  One of his most famous lines is, "Judge me by my size, do you?  And well you should not.  For my ally is the Force, and a powerful ally it is."

In the Star Wars universe, the Force gives a Jedi his power.  Hummingbirds get their power and energy from the sugars found in nectar.  With what and with whom can we ally ourselves to build strength and power?  Perhaps, like the Jedi, it's a focus on prayer and spirituality.  Perhaps, like the hummingbirds, it's a healthy lifestyle and surrounding ourselves with like-minded people.

Each of us is small, but collectively, we are part of something much bigger.  My daily morning visits at SparkPeople strengthen me for the day.  How about you?  Is there a community that makes you feel powerful?

Edited to add:  Funny that my mother and I blogged about the same idea this morning.  Of course, she is far more eloquent, so if you haven't seen her blog this morning, I suggest you check it out.  "To Have and Have Not - an Unexpected Spark Lesson."

Lower Sugar Dried Cranberries

I think it's time for another "new food"-related blog entry.

I've been working on getting more fiber in my diet after a few weeks of tracking my nutrition.  One day, I planned to make a new recipe (Cranberry-Quinoa Salad).  I needed Craisins.  Craisins are loaded with added sugar which raises their calorie content, and they're not all that high in fiber.  (I looked at the nutritional information while standing in the grocery aisle.)  But then, I noticed these:

1/3 cup has only 13 grams of sugar, which is half of what's in Craisins.  There are 100 calories per 1/3 cup (40g).  However, the fiber content was most surprising to me.  14 grams of fiber!  I'm not sure why it's so much higher than regular Craisins.  I think regular Craisins had only 3 grams of fiber per 1/4 cup.

I think they taste just as good and they worked fine in the recipe.  They are less sweet, but still delicious.  I have to measure them out so I don't eat the whole bag as a snack in one sitting, but so far, so good.  They get a big thumbs-up from me.

The Rudest Sparker of All?

I've been on & off SparkPeople for several years now.  (Mostly off.)  There is so much to see & do here and so many people to interact with in different ways.   I sometimes can't keep it all straight.  One SP feature I've pretty much ignored has been SparkGoodies.  I'd see the little GIFs in the left-hand side of my SparkPage, and I'd think, "Aw, that's cute" and keep on with whatever I was doing.  I mostly concerned myself with thanking people who had responded to my posts, reading their blogs, commenting on them, and learning about who they are.  However, as my friends list gets bigger, I was getting concerned that at some point I have probably forgotten to thank some people.  I hope I have never hurt anyone's feelings by accident.

To make sure I never again miss responses to my friend adds or blog entries, I recently turned on email notifications.  Today I got an email that said I received a SparkGoodie from BlueJay 1969.  We call each other the Jeanne1969 Twins because we have the same name and were born in the same year (obviously, from our handles.)

In the email, I saw that there was a note attached to this goodie.  I was like... what????   Have other people written personal notes when they sent SparkGoodies????  So I clicked on the link in the email that said, "View Your Goodies."

Oh. My. Gosh.

I must seem like the rudest SparkGoodie recipient in the history of SparkPeople.  I have 45 SparkGoodies - all with kind notes attached - and I never thanked anyone or sent one in return or anything.  I had no idea they were so special.  I read every single one, back to October of 2012.

Thank you, Sparkers, for your kind support and the SparkGoodies!  I can see this is the next part of the site I will have to figure out.

That Little Extra Effort for People We Love

One thing I do for my family is prepare our daily lunches.  My kids are all over the age of 15, so they're certainly capable of making their own and sometimes remind me I don't have to do it if I don't want to, but I like to do it.  It's one fewer thing for them to have to do in the morning, and they all have to leave before I do, anyway.

However, I admit there's one thing I don't like about the lunch preparation, and that's making sandwiches.  I don't know if it's the hassle of getting out all the different ingredients and then having to put them all away or what.  I dislike so much standing at the counter making a sandwich for myself that I usually eat leftovers from dinner instead.  I often pack those for my husband, too.  However, the kids don't have access to a microwave and they like sandwiches of all kinds... ham & cheese, egg salad, PBJ, etc...

So, because it's not like it really takes all that long to do, because I'm grateful that we have the food to eat, because my kids like sandwiches, and because I like to have my family's lunches ready to go every morning, I simply suck up my dislike and make the sandwiches.  You'd think that I'd slap them together hurriedly, but no... I make myself take my time.  I make them neatly and even cut them in half before putting them in the containers.  I'll tell you why.

I was inspired by Marge Simpson.  I think it was the episode many, many years ago (before I had kids, I think!) where Homer bought a bowling ball for her birthday - inscribed with HIS name!  She was angry that he didn't really buy her a present, and felt taken for granted and unappreciated.  His predictable response of, "Oh, well... if YOU don't want it, I'll gladly use it" prompted her to accept the "gift" and take bowling lessons, to boot.  In case you want to watch this episode, I won't spoil the whole plot, but toward the end of the episode, Homer feels bad and says to Marge something like, "You know, I just wanted to tell you that when you make my sandwich, I really like the way you spread the jelly to the edges of the bread instead of just lumping it in the middle.  It's really nice of you and I wanted to let you know that I noticed."  It was a sweet moment that made this viewer go, "Awwwwwww..."

I was always a "jelly-lumper" or a "squiggly-mustard-squirter" because I hurried through making sandwiches as I slapped them together.  That statement by Homer Simpson changed my sandwich-making ways for good.  Every morning, I still think of Marge Simpson and her love for her family.

Making a little extra effort for the people I love didn't begin with changing my sandwich-making habits, and of course it didn't end there, either.  There are plenty of things all of us do in our lives to show people we care.  They don't have to be big things.  They can be small.  As Mother Teresa used to remind people, "Not all of us can do great things.  But we can do small things with great love."  We might enjoy the things we do and we might not, but what we definitely enjoy is the happiness and pleasure that results from our efforts.

Our own journeys for good health are part of that.  What better way to show our loved ones that we want to be around for them than by taking care of ourselves?  So the next time I'm thinking about bingeing on cookies or skipping a workout, I will try to remember this blog entry.  If I don't feel like doing it for myself, I think I will want to do it for them.

(On a related note, I wrote this blog - The "I Love You" Napkin - over a year ago.  It's probably a lazy way to remind my kids I love them, but it's something I've done since my eldest entered kindergarten in 2002!)

Thankful for the Gift of Life

Part of my job as a Director of Music & Liturgy is planning funerals.  Right now I'm in the middle of planning two of them - one of which is tomorrow morning.  It's for a 57-year-old man who lost his battle with cancer.  His wife is roughly my age and a friend of mine.  Funerals like this one really give me pause and make me reflect on things.

This morning, my husband dropped a small container of coffee grounds in the kitchen.  It didn't make too much of a mess, but he was mad at himself for dropping it and was grumbling while cleaning it up.  I said I would do it, and he responded, "Why should you clean up my mess?"

I said, "Because it is bothering you and it wouldn't bother me.  It's not that big of a deal."  

He cleaned it up anyway, because that's the kind of guy he is - taking care of his own mess.  But afterward, I gave him a big, long, tight hug and a kiss and I said, "You know, [our friend] would give anything to be able to simply do anything for her husband right now.  I'm just so glad we're both here."

Our pastor often reminds us to be thankful for the gift of life.  It is such a great gift.  We have to remember not to sweat the small stuff.  Love each other.  Help each other.  That's what's important.

Living Honorably

I have been a lifelong fan of Star Trek.  I love imagining what technology might be like in the future.  I love how for over 50 years, the various shows have explored important issues and timeless moral questions.

I love imagining what kind of life might be out there in the vastness of space, and for that reason I especially love learning about the cultures of the different races they create.

One race that fascinates me greatly is the Klingons.  If you don't know what a Klingon looks like, here you go:  This is Worf, the Security Chief from Star Trek:  The Next Generation, and one of my favorite characters.

The Klingon culture is quite violent.  Klingons tend to be quick to anger and settle their differences in an, um, physically aggressive way.  Vengeance is a big part of the Klingon culture and dying in battle (against a worthy opponent) is the ultimate glory.

I've always been fascinated by their code of honor.  It's probably sometimes the only thing that keeps the weaker ones alive, as there is no honor in fighting a weak opponent or someone who is unarmed.  To kill under those circumstances would bring the aggressor great shame, and there is nothing worse to a Klingon than dishonor.  Dishonor is even worse than a natural death outside of battle.

I wouldn't want to live as a Klingon, as I much prefer settling conflicts in a peaceful way (a way that keeps everyone alive!)  However, whenever I watch an episode that focuses on Klingons, I find myself pondering the concept of living honorably within our own society.  What does living honorably mean to me?

Being loving, kind and generous
Remaining calm when dealing with an unpleasant situation
Taking care of my responsibilities cheerfully

When my husband and I were preparing to be married, we went on a weekend retreat for engaged couples.  One thing I remember them asking us was, "What kind of home life do you want to create?  Do you want it to be loving and peaceful?  What can you do to foster that kind of environment?"  I think trying to live honorably helps create that safe, positive environment where my children can learn and grow.

SparkPeople is a similar environment.  There is an abundance of SparkPeople living honorably.  People take the time to share stories, information, and be supportive of others.  Positive attitudes abound, and I don't see anyone complaining about their responsibilities.  I haven't seen snarkiness or an unpleasant or uncomfortable exchange take place.  When I imagine Sparkers dealing with an unpleasant situation in real life, I picture them staying cool.

You may have your own definition of what it means to live honorably.  This is just what it means to me.  Feel free to share your own thoughts and additions in the comments.  Thank you for making SP such a great community.  Or as the Klingons would say...  "Satlho'!"

A Full-Body Workout (in Our Minds!)

To renew a teaching license in Virginia (which a person needs to do every 5 years), you can do a variety of things - one of which is to take 6 credits of college courses.  Since I already have my Master's degree in Education, this frees me up to explore other areas of interest.  In the past, I took several semesters of Spanish and an Information Technology course.  Currently, I am taking a Health class.

You've heard the phrase "Never stop learning!"  Several times over the years, when I was taking a class, or teaching myself web design, or practicing piano accompaniments for local instrumentalists, I remember remarking to my husband, "It's almost like I can feel the cobwebs clearing from my brain."  It was almost hard to think at first, and gradually things became easier to understand or perform.

So I'm finding the current chapter in the Health book very interesting.  It talks about the nervous system.  Do you remember being taught that people are born with a certain number of neurons and then they just die off as you age?  Well, apparently we DO produce more neurons as we age!  This was such good news to a 47-year-old woman!

Now keep in mind, I am not a neurologist - I'm just a student - so this is what I think I understand from the book:  Apparently as you grow and learn, your nervous systems builds new pathways for these new activities.  If you quit doing an activity for an extended period of time, then that pathway deteriorates.  As an example, that is why after many years of not playing a musical instrument, you can't do it so well anymore (if at all!)

Doctors and scientists have known for a long time that it's important to keep your mind active as we get older, but modern advancements in science help them explain why.  Someone shared this video on Facebook a while ago, and as a pianist, I found it very interesting.  Apparently simply listening to music is a great way to engage the brain, and performing it is the equivalent of a "full-body workout."

What Your Brain Looks Like While Playing Piano

The Virginia teaching license renewal requirement probably helps our educators stay sharp and out of a rut in their own classrooms.  I think we would all like to say the same for ourselves.

So... let's remember to exercise our minds as well as our muscles every day.  Never stop learning!

Schedule for Success

Yesterday, I posted about the realization that if I am going to run after work, I need to simply do it directly from work.  I can't go home; otherwise, it's too easy to skip the workout.

Since the New Year, when I came back to active status at SparkPeople, I've been tracking my nutrition and weight, blogging, and reading & commenting on others' blogs.  Suddenly I found myself going a few days without piano practice.  I wondered why I didn't have time for it.  SP was the only new thing in my life, so I decided to start my stopwatch the next time I logged on.

To my surprise, I found I spent 70 minutes online, and there was still so much I hadn't seen.  There were so many more blogs to read and people I wanted to contact.  I had to force myself to close the tab and do other things.

As I confessed yesterday, I can easily waste time on the couch.  I think there is likely time in my day for all the things I would like to accomplish... piano, running, SparkPeople, cooking dinner, homework (I'm also taking a class right now).  I just need to make a daily schedule and stick to it.

This blog post from FeedTheHunger has inspired me to create a "Schedule for Success" - a new routine for my day - as well as this blog entry.
"It's Really Routine"

I Can't Go Home

OneKidsMom reminds us often about the importance of planning our day so that we can be successful in our journeys to achieve and maintain good health.  This morning as I was planning, I realized something that often determines my daily success or slip-up (I hate to say failure, but maybe I should.)

I CAN'T GO HOME.  At least, not on a workday.

With the exception of the very hot & humid Virginia summers, I usually plan my runs for after work. Many times, I pack a bag and intend to run somewhere in town or on the trails in the park just outside of town.

Lately I haven't been doing that.  I might be a little hungry, or a little tired, or a little grumpy, and I just want to go home.  I convince myself to go home and I'll run from THERE.

However, I bet 90% of the time, once I get home, I don't run.  I plop on the sofa for an hour and then it's time to start making dinner.

After dinner, well... who among us feels like running 5 miles after eating meatloaf and mashed potatoes?  Blehhhhh.

Today I will make a concerted effort to resist the temptation to go home, and go for that run instead.  I know my body (and my mind!) will be glad I did.

Strength Training... Medieval Style

One of my good running friends (Carter) is very active in the SCA - the Society for Creative Anachronism.  I had never heard of it until I started seeing pictures of her on Facebook in medieval garb.  Sometimes she was in dresses, but much of the time she was dressed as a knight for what's known as "heavy combat."

My daughter was always very interested to look at pictures of Carter's latest adventures in the SCA.  She said she would like to learn how to fight, too.  This did not surprise me, as from the time she was a toddler, she'd walk around with a toy lightsaber saying, "Fight me!  Fight me!"  One of her older brother's friends took her up on it.  He was 5 and she was 2.  He stood, facing her, doing his best ninja moves with his lightsaber, waving it this way and that.

My daughter stood, holding hers in front of her with both hands, watching intently.  Then all of a sudden... WHOMP!  She bonked him on the top of the head.  My son's friend jumped in surprise and exclaimed, "She hit me!"  My husband and I just about fell over, laughing.  Well, he *did* say he would fight her.

When she was 7, all her friends were Disney princesses for Halloween.  My daughter was a princess too, although she was Eowyn, Shield-Maiden of Rohan (from The Lord of the Rings.)

So when she said she was interested in the SCA and learning to fight, I told her we'd see about it when she got a little older.  She is now 15, and this past Monday, I took her to her first day of combat practice.  Wow, it's really intense.  She was a little intimidated, especially after watching two of the big guys go at it.  One of them was using a sword (I guess a more accurate description would be a big stick that looked like a sword) and holding a shield that I swear was the size of a UPS truck door.   The other was hitting at him with what looked like a long pole with a hammer on the end.  The trainer said to my daughter, "Trust me, they're really not feeling all that much, with all their armor."  I could tell she wasn't too keen on going back out there for more instruction, so after they finished, I was like, "You know, she is also interested in trying the archery.  Could we try that for a while?"  So we went outdoors to the archery range.

She was a natural.  She hit the target every time.

She told me that she had learned a little bit about archery from reading The Ranger's Apprentice book series, as the mentor explains to his young apprentice what he needs to do to shoot more accurately.

The next day, she told me that her back muscles were a little sore.  I think she only shot 3 rounds (5 arrows each.)  I think it was a 30-pound bow.  I shot it 4 times, and I can tell you my arms were shaking a little bit as I tried to aim.  Apparently I need to aim a little higher, as all my arrows went into the ground in front of the target.  My instructor was very kind though, and praised my consistency.  Ha ha.

I was surprised how much we both enjoyed archery, and the people we met seem really nice and interesting.  We plan to keep going back to the SCA meetings and train up a bit more.  I wonder if as she becomes more comfortable, she might eventually try the fighting.  She told me later that while watching those men fight, she actually felt fear.  She is not normally afraid to try anything.  There was a 19-year-old petite woman suiting up in her armor while we watched, and I wonder if seeing her fight in the future might give her some confidence.

However, if she NEVER gets into heavy fighting, this mother won't be disappointed.  I'm glad that she has found a physical activity she enjoys that will build her upper body strength.  We'll see if she decides to stick with it.  In the meantime, I can't wait to get out the sewing machine again and make us some medieval garb!

Happiness Is Bad for the Economy?

A Facebook friend shared a photo of a page from a book - Reasons to Stay Alive by Matt Haig.

"Happiness is bad for the economy.  If we were happy with what we had, why would we need more?  How do you sell an anti-aging moisturizer?  You make someone worry about aging.  How do you get people to vote for a political party?  You make them worry about immigration (you could choose any issue to put there, so please no political discussion in the comments.  I'm just quoting the book.)  How do you get them to buy insurance?  By making them worry about everything.  How do you get them to have plastic surgery?  By highlighting their physical flaws.  How do you get them to watch a TV show?  By making them worry about missing out."

He goes on to say (on this one page that I saw) that being calm and happy with our "non-upgraded, messy, human selves" becomes a sort of revolutionary act, and is not good for business.

At first, it is easy to read this page of text and agree with him.  We certainly do spend a lot of money on products and services to increase our happiness or, at least, decrease our level of worry.  How many of us joined gyms or diet plans because we were unhappy with our health or appearance?  I recently updated my own SparkPeople bio and the final sentence is:  "I need to find motivation again because I don't really like the way I look or feel."  I've been buying new products (vitamins, herbal supplements, health foods) and started going to the gym again.  I guess my unhappiness with my physical state did its own little part in boosting the local economy.

However, I don't think people only buy products or services when they're unhappy.  I buy and do plenty of things just because I like them.  I'm not looking for those things to change me in any way.  It's not like they make me any happier.

I don't know where the author of this book goes beyond his opening statements, as all I saw was the first page.  The thing I take away from this excerpt is the reminder that material things don't bring happiness.  That has to come from within.  Buying things to make a positive change in your life is not bad and it can help you on the road to happiness, but we know that momentary happiness from material things fades rather quickly.  If there is something we want to change, we can take steps to change it and our attitude.  We can choose to focus on the good things in our lives and the progress we've made and be grateful - an attitude of gratitude.

Money can't buy happiness.  But if an already happy person wants to spend money on a trip or a new big-screen TV, good for them...  and good for the economy!

Ice Baths - Brrrrr!

I had tendinitis just about everywhere in my lower body at some point after taking up running.  I'm not kidding.  I had posterior tibial tendinitis, patellar tendinitis, iliotibial band syndrome, and Achilles tendinitis.  I didn't have them all at the same time, thank goodness.  I never get it anymore, but now I've been running for about 18 years.  In this time, I learned that I absolutely must stretch properly afterward, not increase my distances too drastically, do self-massage (and pay for real massages from time to time), and apply ice if needed.  After all this time, I'm sure my body is quite simply kind of used to the exercise as well.

But now, thanks to re-entering the world of piano competition and performance, I've got tendinitis in my arms and hands.  Virtuoso level repertoire is physically demanding.  It takes a lot of muscle to play heavy-duty powerhouse pieces, and for just about any piece, you have to stretch and twist your hands and wrists into unnatural positions to hit all the notes and to voice and connect them properly.

So, what led me to this point - me, a seasoned runner who understands the causes of tendinitis?  I didn't think about the fact that I was taxing my muscles and they needed to work up to it.  I just jumped in and started practicing 2 hours a day.  I often practiced at full speed and full volume.  I should have known better.  I wouldn't tell a new runner to run 2 hours a day.  I would tell them to work up gradually.  I wouldn't tell ANY runner to do speedwork every day.  That's just asking for trouble.

So now I need to approach piano practicing the way I do approach running, and I need to heal this tendinitis, to boot.  I'm practicing for a shorter amount of time, doing slow practice sometimes, and being conscious to relax while I play.  I'm getting massages and lifting weights to strengthen the tendons.  I'm also doing ice baths after I play.  Its not very fun, although after the first minute it doesn't feel quite so bad.  Here I am soaking in the sink after practicing Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue.

If you're experiencing tendinitis in the lower body (like IT band syndrome), you can do this in the bathtub.  My advice for that is to wear something warm on the upper half of your body and bring a hot beverage along.  Some of you might think an ice bath is a crazy idea and that ice packs should work just as well, but the advantage of an ice bath is the cold gets absolutely EVERYwhere.

For more information on how to do an ice bath SAFELY, check out this web page:

Ice Bath Dos and Don'ts

It is never easy to convince myself to do an ice bath but once I've done it, I am usually glad I did.

6 Days On, 1 Day Off

In 1999, my sister and brother-in-law gave me the book "Body for Life" by Bill Phillips.  I was getting into fitness for the first time, and I read it, cover to cover.  I gave away my copy years ago so I can't refer to it directly, but what I think I remember is that you eat six smaller meals a day, with a serving of protein, a fist-sized serving of some complex carbohydrate, and a lot of vegetables.  If you do this faithfully for 6 days out of the week, on the 7th day you eat whatever you want... and as much as you want.

Since getting back on to SparkPeople in the New Year, I've been tracking my nutrition every day, with the exception of Sunday.  I wanted one day to not have to worry about it.  Sunday the 7th, I did pretty well in terms of eating healthfully even though I didn't track every calorie & nutrient.  However, on Sunday the 14th, I decided I had done well for 13 days and I was going to eat whatever I wanted.  This included nearly an entire bag of Craisins and a lot of those mint chocolate chips that were in the pantry.  (Remember my "Resisting the Baking Frenzy" post?)  I have no idea how many grams of sugar I ate, but it was a lot, and I also had 2 glasses of wine that evening.

The result was that I woke up not feeling all that great.  I don't think I did any great damage, but I definitely noticed a difference in the way I felt.  Is this how I used to feel all the time and just didn't realize it?

I still think I will do 6 days on, 1 day off in terms of tracking, but I will try to make smarter choices on my day off.  I need to keep in mind JannieWannie's quote from my blog entry yesterday - about each day renewing my commitment to my health.

The First Day of the Rest of Your Life

A few weeks ago, I became SparkFriends with JannieWannie.  In her bio, she says, "Each day I renew my commitment to my health.  I am willing to invest time and effort into my well-being."

This morning, I read a post on my Facebook newsfeed from a friend (Jenifer P.), who said, "Having big, hairy, scary goals is important, but breaking them down into steps, even daily steps, is also important.  Don't get overwhelmed with the 'bigness' of your big goal.  Stay focused on what you can do today to get you a tiny bit closer.  Spend a few minutes today planning ahead for the week.  What are you eating?  When are you working out?  What are your after school and work activities that could lead you to the drive-thru, and how will you avoid that?  Use today to rest, rejuvenate, and prepare."

SparkPeople's tools and community are a great way to help us prepare each day.

Many of us have heard someone say, "Today is the first day of the rest of your life."  However, as our pastor often reminds us, "EVERY day is the first day of the rest of your life."  That's true.  What has happened before is now in the past.  Remember the wise baboon Rafiki in Disney's Lion King?  "Ah yes, the past can hurt... but you can learn from it."  Every day marks a new opportunity to stay the course or make a change.

If things aren't as you wish they were, see what small changes you can make each day for the better.  If you're in a good place, stay the course... or maybe spread those wings and see if you can soar a little higher.  As OneKidsMom said when she replied to one of my blogs: "Catch the updraft!"

Where will you let the winds of change take you today?

The Perfect Time to "X" - According to Weatherunderground

A week ago, I posted about the RunKeeper app and how wonderful it is.  You can track all kinds of activities (not just running), and set it up to sync to your SparkPeople fitness tracker.

I've got another app I used for many years before they recently came out with a neat feature that helps me with daily fitness planning.

WeatherUnderground now has "Smart Forecasts."  This will show you what times of day are perfect for your outdoor activity, based on parameters set by you.

You can choose from running, landscape photography, kite flying, biking, hiking, wildflower photography, walking, fishing, gardening, sailing, surfing, "ice possible" (I guess if you like sledding or skiing?), and star gazing.  You can have multiple smart forecasts, so you're not limited to choosing one activity.

When setting your parameters, you tell the WeatherUnderground app what conditions you're looking for.  You choose two settings for each weather condition - "acceptable" and "ideal" ranges.  Primary conditions include:  temperature, wind speed, chance of precipitation, and humidity.  Other conditions you can add include:  "feels like" (because wind and humidity affect what the outdoor temp actually feels like), wind direction, pressure, mugginess, rain intensity, snow intensity, dewpoint, cloud cover, and UV index.

One of the first things I do every morning is check the daily weather forecast (and my Smart Forecast) on my WeatherUnderground app.  It has a little bar graph that shows which times of day will be best for me to plan my run or walk.  The taller the bar, the better that time.  You can click on the day and it will spread the bar graph out so you can see it better, hour by hour.  You can click on a specific hour and it will tell you what the predicted conditions at that time will be.

For example, I see I can run comfortably outside for much of the day today, but I'd like to go around 10 AM.  I can see at 10 AM, WeatherUnderground predicts it will be 54*F with 5 mph winds, humidity at 78%, and only a 2% chance of precipitation.  Sounds pretty good to me!

Of course, it was never any trouble to look at a regular forecast and figure out when I wanted to be outside, but I have enjoyed my Smart Forecasts and thought I'd pass along the info.  Now for more info, in case you are a person who enjoys weather and gadgets...

Two years ago, we joined the WeatherUnderground as an official station.  My husband had wanted to do that for years and I surprised him with a weather station for his birthday.  It was quite easy to set up.  If you have wireless internet at your home and are interested in this, check out this one that was recommended by WeatherUnderground.  We and many other customers have been very satisfied, as evidenced by its high ratings on Amazon.

Ambient Weather WS-1001-WIFI OBSERVER Solar Powered Wireless WiFi Remote Monitoring Weather Station with Solar Radiation and UV

At the time we bought it, it was through WeatherUnderground.  They've got an official buying guide here where they list it and a couple others they recommend.

I hope some of you may have found this information useful!

Whey? No WAY... unless...

Since beginning to track my nutrition, I'm finding it's hard to get the recommended daily amount of protein.  I like meat and nuts, but I just don't eat a lot of them.  Eggs are something I like quite a bit, so maybe I can add in some more eggs to my diet.

However, one day at Kroger, I saw this and thought maybe I could stir some into my Silk Dark Chocolate Almond Milk to boost my protein quite a bit.

So I tried it.  All I have to say is... YUCK!!!!!  I tried freezing the mixture, thinking I'd eat it later as a sort of ice milk treat.  Again... YUCK!!!!!

There's no way I'm going to add this to my daily food intake.

Now I've got this container of whey protein that's likely going to go to waste unless someone can give me suggestions on what I might do with it.  It needs to taste good.

Comments are welcome!

Sacrifice and Strength

Yesterday I posted a blog entry that began with St. Augustine saying that prayer is more powerful when accompanied by sacrifice.  I thought a bit more about sacrifice over the course of the day.

In the season of Lent, some Christian denominations have the practice of giving up something in spiritual preparation for Easter - a sort of self-denial and sacrifice.  I confess I never really understood this practice and I never did it.  However, in 2010, it was explained to me that it helps strengthen you.  If you can purposely deny yourself something you enjoy, it helps strengthen you to resist other temptations.  That seemed like a practical reason to try it, if nothing else.  I decided to give up "cake, cookies, candy, pie, and ice cream" for the 40 days of Lent.  This was going to be quite a sacrifice for me.

So I went a step further and decided to tie it to my prayer life by choosing one specific thing to pray for each day.  Every day, I posted that prayer intention on my Facebook timeline, mainly to help myself remember it.  When I found myself wanting to eat a sweet treat, I went to my FB page and read my prayer intention.  So I found myself praying an awful lot - much more than I would have normally.

But something else happened, which surprised me.  That was the number of "likes" I got on my daily prayer intention posts.  I even got likes from loving, caring people who are not religious.  I asked one friend about it and he said, "Hey, I figure if you think it will do something, have at it!"  In the end, my prayers, accompanied by my sacrifice, wound up being a lot more powerful by reaching so many people who joined me in prayer and support.

In a similar way, SparkPeople does the same thing.  By sharing our thoughts, our successes, and our trials, we are lifting up one another and building a powerful community.

Sacrifice and Appreciation

A couple weeks ago, our pastor reminded us how St. Augustine said that prayer is most powerful when accompanied by sacrifice.  I have Googled for an exact quote, but I can't find one, so I guess if you want to know exactly what St. Augustine said, you'd have to read his writings.  Whether you agree with St. Augustine or not is up to you.  It is not my intention to get into a theological discussion here or in the comment section.

The reason I brought up this idea is because it got me thinking about sacrifice in general.  As a parent, I love my children.  I want to make them happy.  Sometimes they ask me for something, and naturally, I want to give them this thing to see the joy it brings them.

There's nothing wrong with giving gifts now and then.  However, I can't make a habit of giving them everything they want when they want it.  What would I be teaching them if I did?  Would they truly appreciate the gifts they receive?

Don't we all appreciate a bit more the things we have to work for?  Putting in time - sometimes even blood, sweat & tears - to achieve something makes it more precious.

I bet just about every person on SparkPeople would agree that their journey to a healthier lifestyle and weight loss was/is not an easy one.  At times we have all felt tired, discouraged, or even deprived.  It is probably tempting to say, "The heck with it" and go back to old habits.  The challenge during those times is to look at the big picture and try to envision the future result of our sacrifice.  We will eventually get there.  When we do, because of the difficult journey, we will appreciate the achievement that much more!

Last minute addition:  A Facebook friend just posted this motivational quote which is quite relevant.  "Challenges are what make life interesting and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful."

Pepper Spray

I've told you before that my favorite cardio activity is running.  Like many people, I prefer to run outside as opposed to indoors on a treadmill (although I don't dislike that, either.)

A few days ago, I wrote about RunKeeper Go and how it makes me feel safer knowing my family can find where I'm running at any given moment.

Another thing I carry with me is pepper spray.  When a strange dog runs at me, barking and/or growling, I stop and loudly shout, "YOU STAY!  GO HOME!" while pointing the pepper spray right at them as if it were a gun.  Most of the time, that's enough to make them freeze in their tracks or even turn around and leave.  However, a couple of times it wasn't.  The dogs continued to come toward me and I had to spray them.

One of those dogs belonged to one of my nearby neighbors.  This dog had already attacked my elderly next-door neighbor and her little dog while they were walking.  The police and rescue squad came and everything.  I don't know why the family continued to let the dog run loose after that.  However, after I sprayed it, it left me alone.  I've heard the same thing from fellow runners, cyclists, and people who were being harassed in their own yards.  Apparently the dogs learn who they should not mess with.

I've not had to use it on a human and I hope I never have to.  They say you're pretty safe around here as long as your family likes you.  In this area, violent crime tends to be domestic in nature.

I originally bought my pepper spray from a local gun shop, but they quit selling the kind I like, so now I buy it from Amazon.  It's very convenient to carry, as it has a velcro strap that goes around your hand.  This way, you have it at the ready at all times... no fumbling to get it out of your pocket or unclip it from a belt.  It has an expiration date on it, so make sure you buy a new canister from time to time, and of course, in some places, pepper spray is illegal.  I've heard of other people carrying whistles or large sticks when they run/walk.  What do you use?

Sabre Pepper Spray with Adjustable Hand Strap

An Anti-Inflammatory Concoction

I've been struggling with tendinitis issues in my arms lately, which is not good when you're a concert pianist.  So a caring, health-conscious good friend of mine (who also happens to be a professional violinist) gave me a recipe for an anti-inflammatory concoction she & her husband drink twice a day.  They are around the age of 70 but look and are as active as people 15 years younger than they are.  So I decided to give it a try.

Boil 1 cup of water
Add a 4-inch piece of organic ginger, peeled and sliced thin.  Slightly boil for 5 minutes.
Remove ginger and discard.
Add 2 tablespoons of organic coconut oil
Add 1 package of gelatin (whisk in while warm)
Add 1/2 teaspoon of organic turmeric

Drink a half cup of this mixture twice a day.  It helps to mix it in some orange juice.  You will need to microwave the second serving because the coconut oil & gelatin will solidify during the day.

My review...

Well... it's not horrible-tasting (mixed with orange juice) but it doesn't taste very good (no surprise) and I know I'm not going to take the time to make this every day.  The other thing that I wasn't crazy about was the calorie content.  Coconut oil is really high in calories.  One tablespoon has 120 calories.  That means I'd be getting about 250 calories each day from this concoction.  I'm a little person.  250 calories is a sixth of my daily caloric intake, so I try to choose them carefully.  I just don't see myself drinking this every day, as there have got to be other lower-calorie options.  Another friend suggested I look into turmeric capsules, so I think I will hit the health food store and see what I can find.

In the meantime, I had bought a pound of turmeric in anticipation of making a lot of this concoction.  I think I will give it to my friends.  It clearly works for them, and if you have the time to make this, you might find it works for you, too.

RunKeeper Go

I discovered fitness 18 years ago, at the age of 29.  At that time, I discovered that running is the cardio exercise my body is best suited for and that (coincidentally?) I like the best. Now, I'm not going to try to sell anyone on running in this blog entry, because I believe the best cardio for anyone is the cardio THAT THEY ENJOY, or at least don't hate.  (This is why I don't swim.  I hate, hate, hate swimming laps.  But others, like my dad, enjoy it.)  So, do the cardio you enjoy the most.

Back to my topic of the day.

In the "old days" (meaning the early 2000's - ha!), I tracked my mileage in yearly logbooks.  I knew roughly how far I was going on the roads because I used my car's odometer to measure.  Sometimes I ran race courses or on a school track or on a treadmill, so I knew those distances, too.

Then my husband surprised me around 2004 (I think) with a Garmin Forerunner 201 GPS.  What a nifty gadget.  I wore it on my wrist.  I could glance down and see exactly how far I had gone up to that point.  I loved it.  It had a special cable to plug into the computer and some kind of software to download the information.  I never really used that though, as I continued to write in my paper logbooks.

Then in 2009, I got my first smartphone - an iPhone 3GS.  On my running forum, I heard of this neat free app called RunKeeper.  I downloaded it.  Oh my goodness, this was even better than the Forerunner.  Not only did it do everything the Garmin did, but I could even swipe the screen to look at a map to see where I was!  Everything was so much clearer.  My data was automatically uploaded to the RunKeeper site, where I could log in and do even more with it.  How convenient!

Note:  If you are thinking, "But I'm not a runner.  What would I do with this app?"  Never fear - you can enter ALL KINDS of activities.  Running, Cycling, Mountain Biking, Walking, Hiking, Downhill Skiing, Cross-County Skiing, Snowboarding, Skating, Swimming, Wheelchair, Rowing, Elliptical, Yoga, Pilates, CrossFit, Spinning, Zumba, Barre, Group Workout, Dance, Bootcamp, Boxing, Meditation, Strength Training, Circuit Training, Core Strength Training, Arc Trainer, Stairmaster/Stepwell, Sports, Nording Walking, and "Other."

It wasn't long before I could connect RunKeeper to Facebook as well.  I don't often share my workouts on Facebook, but sometimes if I have a particularly good one or if I take an interesting picture while on my run, I'll share it so people can see.

You can now link your RK account directly to your SparkPeople activity tracker.  I don't know when this became an option, but it is.  You don't have to enter your exercise into SP if you do it through RK.  It's all automatic.  You can also link your activity tracker to your nutrition tracker so that it raises the calories you can eat for that day based on your physical activity.

This was a great revelation for me because up until now, I thought you had to enter your exercise manually at SP and mentally keep track of the extra calorie burn in regard to your daily food intake.  That was a big reason I quit entering my nutrition (and activity) here at SP a couple years ago.

It's so convenient that I have no excuse not to track everything.

One last feature about RK that I love is the option (for a yearly fee) to purchase RunKeeper Go (formerly called RunKeeper Elite and RunKeeper Live.)  This allows people to see where you are in real time as you're running/cycling/walking/etc.  If you just use the free version, your workouts won't show up on the RK website until you are finished and it automatically uploads.  I like RunKeeper Go because I often run in the countryside and my family can look online and find me if they want.  Now, you have to make your activities "public" for this, so that's something to consider in case that bothers you.  However, I feel safer knowing that my family can find me at anytime.  It's a matter of personal preference.

There are other popular smartphone apps out there for tracking.  A lot of people I know use MapMyRun and I think SparkPeople has its own device that measures activity.  However, I thought I'd share my RK experience because my mother asked me the other day about borrowing my old Garmin Forerunner.  First of all, I'm not even sure where it is.  And second, I think the apps that are out there now are a lot better than my 12-year-old Forerunner 201 (although if you still use one and it gives you what you need, great!)

Please feel free to share your own experience with apps that you use in the comment section, because there are a lot of options out there!

Resisting the Baking Frenzy

As you may know, I've recently begun tracking my nutrition again after a long, long time away.  Boy, was I overeating.  Here's one thing that causes me to struggle with overeating (and eating poorly).

Baking treats for my family.

My kids are older now (15, nearly 18, and 20), but I still love to bake goodies for them and my husband.  However, none of us are terribly good at self-moderation when it comes to goodies, so they disappear rather quickly and then I make more.  Sometimes I make a whole ton of dough at one time.  Sometimes I freeze a lot of it to make at a later date, but other times I just make dozens and dozens of cookies.  My husband refers to these times as my "Baking Frenzies."

I reorganized our pantry a few days ago, and here's what I found on my "baking shelf."

Whoa!  Leading up to Christmas, the stores have those Nestle Winter morsels for sale.  I always buy a bunch because that's the only time of year they sell them.  Normally I'd probably only have 2-3 bags of chips in the pantry.

I don't like clutter, and seeing all those chip bags nearly sent me into another baking frenzy.  However, I resisted.  I didn't make any goodies this week.  This certainly helped with my food choices, but I don't want to go the rest of my life without eating treats.  I'm sure my family doesn't, either.

Perhaps I will make one batch per week and that's it.  Maybe it would help to put them in individual containers for each person so we each have a better idea what we're consuming.  Our kids are fortunate to have inherited our fast metabolisms, but unfortunately some of them seem to have inherited my mindless snacking.  I hope I can help them learn to curb that behavior now so they don't have to struggle with it like I am now.

Creatures of Habit

It's a unusually cold, snowy morning in the south as I write this.  The birds are in a feeding frenzy around our feeders.  There are about 30 birds out there, including 6 finches on the thistle seed feeder alone.

We have a large picture window in the family room which provides a great view of the feeders.  I have noticed over the past two years that the feeders experience a flurry of activity at certain times of day.  It's like the birds somehow know it's time for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

A few years ago, I used to listen to Jillian Michaels' daily podcast.  She often talked about taking control of our nutrition by tracking what we eat.  She said it doesn't have to be hard to do because we are creatures of habit.  She said she basically eats only 5 different breakfasts.

I realized that I'm the same way, and not just for breakfast.  There are probably 5 dinners I make often for my family.  I might not make them all every week, but I'm sure we eat those 5 things multiple times every month.

Even SparkPeople realizes this and provides "groupings," "favorites," and "recent" in the daily nutrition tracker.  You can enter your intake quickly when not having to do it item by item every day.  What a great timesaver!

Even the birds, without realizing it, are creatures of habit.  Right now the challenge for me and many other human creatures is... changing our habits.  Stay strong and positive, fellow Sparkers.  We are in control!

A Little Jam Goes a Long Way

I've started tracking my food intake again.  It's been a couple years since I did this.  No wonder my weight has slowly creeped back up.  Once I started tracking, I was also appalled at my poor nutrition.  So I started entering my proposed diet of the day into SP to make sure I was getting everything I need.

One of my favorite sandwiches to make again is good for either breakfast or lunch.  If I'm home during the day, I have it at lunchtime, but if I'm going to work, I have it for breakfast.  It's a toasted whole wheat English muffin with 33g of peanut butter and 20g of strawberry jam.

What I have discovered, using my food scale, is that 20g of jam is one heaping teaspoon (not a measuring teaspoon, but the kind you eat with.)

Anyhow, the first time I made this sandwich, I was tempted to glop on another teaspoon "to give it more flavor," but I didn't.

What I discovered was that I could indeed taste the heaping teaspoon of jam.  If I had used double the jam, it would have added extra calories to the sandwich, and I don't think it would have added any extra goodness.  Maybe it would have had a little more jelliness in texture, (I think I just invented a new word, there) but who needs that?

Now I suppose I need to learn that eating extra cookies one after the other doesn't add any extra goodness.  Hmmmm.  That's a blog post for another day.

Stop Wishing, Start Doing!

I've recently come back to SparkPeople after gradually losing fitness over the past two years.  I wrote my first blog post in about 15 months, titled "It's Not Like You Have to Saddle Up the Horse", which is basically about no longer making pathetic excuses to not work out.

A couple days later, I found this blog entry by another Sparker - "My Superpower" - which had a quote in it that I like.

"Stop wishing, start doing!"

In addition to the pitiful excuses I've been making over the past two years (I don't want to drive one mile to the gym), I also find myself saying that I just don't have the time to do everything I want to do.  "I *wish* I had more time so I could do X."

However, if I'm honest with myself, I have more free time than I'd like to admit.  How many minutes do I spend browsing Facebook, even after I've caught up with everyone?  Ditto for browsing news sites  - "Let's see if anything interesting has happened in the last two hours."  Or sitting in front of the TV (and usually snacking) "because I'm tired."

I might time myself and see how much time I spend doing those two things.  I have a feeling I might find I have at least an hour or more of free time each day that I could be DOING something I enjoy.

"This Beer Tastes Like Llama Spit."

I've been a fan of humor writer Dave Barry since I was in my teens.  A line from one of his columns has always stuck in my mind.

"This beer tastes like llama spit."

I thought of my first experience drinking beer (in college at a frat party), and I totally agreed with Dave Barry.  I couldn't figure out why anyone would drink this stuff except to try to get drunk.  Surely no one drank it for the taste.

Now, granted, being a frat party, I'm sure they were probably serving Milwaukee's Best (more commonly known as "Beast"), so it wasn't exactly top quality, but in my younger days I really could not discern any difference between that and supposedly better beers.  They all tasted like llama spit (or, what I imagine llama spit might taste like)

Fast-forward a couple decades.  I no longer hate beer.  It's not my beverage of choice and I don't drink it very often.  Maybe part of it is that we only buy craft beers now, which my husband swears are a lot better, but I imagine my 21-year-old self would still say it tastes like llama spit.

What's going on here?  I can think of several things I eat or drink now that I hated as a child.  Coffee.  Fish.  Coconut.  Yogurt.

Also... Grapefruit.  I remember the first time I ever saw a cut grapefruit when I was a kid.  It looked lusciously delicious.  I was told to sprinkle a little sugar on it (so I did) and then I scooped out a section.  BLEH!!!!  I remember sprinkling sugar on it over and over again so it wouldn't taste so sour.

This weekend, Kroger had grapefruits on sale, so I bought a bag of 6.  I almost didn't because I remembered how much I disliked it as a child, but I wondered... maybe it will be different now.

I suppose I should not have been surprised, but I only had to sprinkle a half teaspoon of sugar on my cut grapefruit and it tasted just fine to me.

What's going on here?  Why do our tastes change over time?  I joke that maybe our taste buds die off as we age.  Who knows.  That might be a fun question to Google someday when I have some spare time.  At least my taste buds seem to appreciate healthier foods these days.

If you're interested in the "llama spit" column, I found it (thanks to Google).  It still makes me laugh as much as it did in 1992.   The Beer Facts

Spreading Our Wings

Buzzards are probably not considered the most attractive birds out there.  In fact, they look downright creepy sometimes.  I once hit a buzzard as it flew right into the windshield of my pickup truck as I came by.  I remember after my shock and sadness at hitting it, my next thought was, "That is one big, ugly bird."  However, over the years, I have noticed buzzards perched in several places, with their wings spread wide, soaking in the early morning sun.  I see them most often atop the library wing of the middle school, and on the way to work, there is one buzzard who perches in a particular tree on the side of the highway.  They look positively magnificent silhouetted against the sky.

At that moment, they look as beautiful as any eagle.

There's a metaphor there, I think.  Spreading one's wings and trying something new is always a beautiful thing.  Sometimes it can be challenging or even scary.  However, the reward from growing and learning will surely feel as good as the warmth of the morning sunshine.

Starting your day with Snap! Crackle! Pop!

Anybody around my age (47) or older should definitely remember those commercials for Kellogg's Rice Krispies, with the 3 little elves(?) pouring milk in the bowl. The kid at the table put an ear to the bowl and listened, smiling, to the noises the cereal made as it absorbed the milk.

As a side note, I never cared for Rice Krispies too much, as they seemed to get soggy awfully fast. Maybe I was too slow of an eater.

In any case, I thought of Snap, Crackle, and Pop today as I did my morning stretches. I've been having some shoulder pain in the mornings and so I've started doing stretches and exercises to get things moving. As I said, I'm 47. When I start doing arm circles, it's a constant snap, crackle, and pop.

So today I googled "Start your day with snap crackle pop" and the top two hits were these:

"Rice Krispies Snap, Crackle & Pop Bowl - KelloggStore.com"

and

"Snap, Crackle, Pop: What You Need to Know About Joint Noises"

along with this Google Image result:

Ha ha!

Hopefully after a few months of stretching and exercise, I'll be able to report a less noisy morning routine.

Practice Makes Perfect!

My daughter always wanted to know how to juggle, so my husband taught her.  At first, she could only catch one ball before dropping one.  Then after a while, she could catch two, and then three.  Her goal was to catch 20 times before dropping.  After a few days of practice, she reached it.  Then she set a new goal of 50.

I think our SparkJourneys are like this.  We start out with a small goal and as we reach it, we challenge ourselves a little more.  Or maybe you have a big "hairy, scary" goal for the future, but you have little milestones along the way to measure your progress with each smaller success.

Whichever way you do it, I'm thankful for the opportunity to put all my goals in one place and cheer others on their journeys, too.  Here's my daughter, mid-juggle.

"It's not like you have to saddle up the horse."

Yesterday was January 1st and part of my New Year's resolutions are to move my body every day. Over the past two years, I have run and worked out less and less. I've made all kinds of excuses. The main excuse is that since I moved to a different house, I can no longer just go "running out my door in the beautiful countryside." Well, I suppose I *could* do that in this house - run or walk a bit to get to safer roads, but it's really not safe, as I'd be on a 55 mph 2-lane highway for a half mile. 14 years ago, a good running friend of mine was hit and killed by a car while running. (She and her running buds were not even in the roadway.) So I'm very leery of running on roads with much traffic.

In any case, my excuse is: "I hate to have to drive a mile and a half to go running."

I realize that is a lame excuse and I need to just go do it. However, after spending 6 hours at work yesterday and another 4 with my daughter at Urgent Care (she's fine, nothing serious), I found myself making that excuse again. "Ughhhh... I've got to get in the car and drive a mile to the gym."

I gave myself a mental smack and said to myself, "Oh, come ON Jeanne... it's not like you have to saddle up the horse!"

Really, simply putting my butt in a car, turning a key, and mashing the gas pedal - that's what I've been complaining about for two years. How stupid is that? It's akin to, "I don't feel like stretching across the couch to reach the TV remote on the other end table." (I've made that excuse recently, too.) I think of my great-grandmother walking up and down the mountain to buy staples for her kitchen, chopping the heads off live chickens... what would she and others of that era think of my excuses??

I don't think I want to know.

So, whenever I'm feeling like something is too much effort, I think my new motivational catchphrase will be: "It's not like you have to saddle up the horse."