Category: Diet

Dieting Adventures

Pizza Hut, Isometrics, and Stretching, Oh My!

Morning,

Today is Day 7 after my surgery! And my leg seems to be healing quite nicely indeed.

One of the exercises for which I had been given a go-ahead is isometrics (that of tensing and releasing your muscles). Thus, yesterday saw me, and my husband and my kids sitting at Pizza Hut for a treat. The children were having a blast playing with the menus, and I decided to start isometricizing my surgerized leg, contracting and releasing my thigh muscles ( rectus femoris and vastus lateralis and satorius ) for counts of 5 seconds. This worked out rather well.

At home, I practiced balancing and stretching my good leg. Hey, I can’t do my usual gym workouts, so anything that gets me vaguely moving I view to be a good thing!

This goes to show you, even when you’re physically in lousy condition, you can still turn on a dime and find something, anything, that will give you a bare minimum of exercise. I’m pretty pleased with my success.

Time to make the donuts,

Barbara

ps -Want some thigh workouts? Consider:

Pregnancy diet – staying healthy during those 9 months

Morning!

Being pregnant can be a wonderful thing…and staying healthy during that time is even better!

Pregnant moms get bombarded all over the place with how they should eat and how they should exercise and how they should take care of themselves during this crucial time in their lives. So I’ve gathered some great pregnancy forums and resources to help you zero in on the advice you want. Check out:

If you’re pregnant (or someone you care about is), do yourself a favor and check out the above resources! You will be pleasantly surprised at all the goodies you uncover for yourself and your baby.

Enjoy,

Barbara

ps – Not sure you’re pregnant? How ’bout:

Not only I can DO this, but hey! I DID!

Life is a hero’s journey, and I am constantly grateful to my guardian angel that I can meet any and all challenges with a brave soul and clear vision.

Let’s see….I was sliced and diced on Tuesday, hobbling about on crutches on Wednesday, walking with a cane on Thursday, walking without a cane yesterday, and went with my family to the Princeton Chinese buffet today.

Now, I don’t know why I’m apparently healing so rapidly….is it because my body doesn’t have to carry around 40+ pounds of excess fat? Is it my attitude? Is it my belief that no matter what happens, I can DO this and not give up until it’s done?

I have not a clue, but wow, let me tell you – I’m feeling rather humble today. I was expecting weeks and weeks of recovery time, and to be faced with my superb health and recuperation abilities….it’s, well, humbling. What would knock down most people similar to me leaves me asking for more.

Now, I’m not completely recovered by any long shot (seeing the doctor this Thursday!), but every single challenge I’ve encountered (every single one of them!) had me saying, I can DO this and my gosh, I WILL and I WILL DO IT NOW.

Self-confidence – it’s truly a remarkable gift.

Enjoy,

Barbara

ps – Sports Authority is offering 25% off until tomorrow! So I bought myself 2 foam blockers. Here are other kinds of blockers:

Reviews of Shawn’s Hip Hop Abs

Morning,

One of the most popular infomercials out there today is Shawn T’s Hip Hop Abs. The question is, of course…..does it work?

Well, I’m a firm believer in, if something gets you up and moving with consistency, of course it will probably work. But researching it for yourself is a very good idea as well!

Here are some great resources:

I think you’ll be able to get lots of great answers for any of your questions.

Enjoy,

Barbara

ps – you can get some great hip hop abs over at:

Graduated to a cane, healing going well

Morning!

Well, yesterday saw me graduate to using a cane for my hobbling about. I’m pleased to say it appears that I’m healing relatively well, but of course, I’m making darned sure I don’t push it!!

Yesterday was spent being actually quiet (ha ha! Yes! It did happen! I was quiet!) and resting and designing graphical banners for The Safe and Smart Internet Weight Loss Edge and …well, you know, that sorta stuff. Today I have to write a few ezine issues and then start promoting it to the waiting world. The fun never stops!

Speaking of canes, did you know you can use a cane for self-defense? It’s really quite an extraordinary weapon (especially in the hands of a master). Here are some neat sites about that:

I had the pleasure of taking a cane class from my karate dojo awhile back, and wow, it was great! I hope to attend it again.

Enjoy,

Barbara

ps – More canes!

Diet and weight loss motivation – coming right up!

Morning,

One of the most difficult things to instill within regarding dieting and weight loss is a constant, never-say-die motivation. After all, it’s the motivation that keeps you on the straight and narrow path towards getting healthy and losing weight….and it’s the motivation that stops you from inhaling 3 donuts when Krispy Kreme comes calling at your office.

So! Where do you go for motivation? I wrote a post about that here.

Motivation is what helps you keep on going, even when your little voice says, give it up you idjut, it just ain’t a’gonna work!!

Motivation always works differently for each person; what might make me stay the steady path might cause others to leap off the bandwagon. So you need to ask yourself, what kinds of motivation would work best for you?

Is it keeping sexy clothing around (like sleeveless karate uniforms)?

Is it going to the gym and realizing you can now handle far more workouts than when you started?

Is it having your friends cheer you on?…..MORE….

Everyone is motivated by different things. And I did find some super resources for you:

5 Great Reasons to Get Moving

11 Ways to Sneak Exercise Into Your Day

50 Ways to Beat Exercise Boredom

Beating the Urge to Eat

Can You Outwit Your Weight?

As you can see, there’s lots of places online where motivation can be conjured up! It’s up to you to uncover what will work the best.

Enjoy,

Barbara

ps – more motivational things are:

Looking for The Biggest Loser resources online?

Morning,

One of the most popular shows on TV these days is the reality show The Biggest Loser – the TV show in which lots of overweight people compete to lose the most weight possible.

It’s quickly developed its own cult following and is extremely popular online. I really have to give credit to the marketers behind the scenes – you can buy Biggest Loser membership access, the Biggest Loser cookbook, the Biggest Loser DVD, the Biggest Loser apparel and much much more. It must be an awesome moneymaker for the investors!

That being said, here are some great resources if you want to commune with other Biggest Loser fans.

These links above, btw, are part of the 900+ categorized resources I offer in the Safe and Smart Internet Weight Loss Edge. Cool, eh?

Enjoy!

Barbara

ps – more BL goodies are:

What I’m thankful for

Today is Thanksgiving!

I just returned from bundling the kids and husband into the van and visiting my folks up north. We had planned on going to the local Chinese buffet but imagine our surprise when we discovered it had the audacity to be closed! Thus, instead we droveto the local Korean restaurant and had turkey-from-the-sea (shrimp), turkey-that-goes-moo (beef), and turkey-that-looks-like-kimchee (kimchee)…..utterly yummy beyond belief. I’ll have to work out later on today and work it off. No dishes to wash, yay!

As always, however, I was moved to think on that for which I am thankful this year. And you know something? It’s a heck of a lot, including:

1.) My husband, my soulmate. We’re so nutty we’re perfect together. :)

2.) My kids. “Astonishing” doesn’t even begin to describe them.

3.) My family. My parents, my brothers, my nephews and neice. How my parents survived my childhood is one of the great mysteries of life. :)

4.) My weight loss success. 11+ months ago I was 170+; now I’m 132 and in the best shape of my life.

5.) My handicap. Being forced to confront my own insecurities has made me stronger by far.

6.) My karate dojo and senseis. I have learned so much about my own abilities and courage that it’s kinda sorta impossible to believe. Never would I have thought years ago that the wimp I was back then could be the magnificent mom and warrior I am today.

7.) My friends. They been with me thru thick and thin and have really been there when needed.

8.) My technical abilities. The requirements to launch an ebook involve:

  • Writing the ebook
  • PDFing it in a marketing format
  • Designing the book cover
  • Designing the software box cover
  • Setting up the affiliate backend
  • Writing the affiliate tutorial
  • Setting up the 7 day autoresponder
  • Writing the ezine
  • Writing the customer care followup AR
  • Designing the helpdesk

I was able to do ALL of the above…by myself. No assistance needed.

9.) My attitude. No matter what happens to me nowadays, instead of panicking or feeling despondent, I react by thinking, okay, what am I supposed to learn from this today? Such a mindset makes all the difference in the world.

In short, I have a pretty blessed life…and I’m grateful to the universe for putting in my path all of the challenges and joys that I’ve encountered and dealt with. Or as my mom would say, my guardian angel works overtime. :)

Enjoy,

Barbara

ps – ‘course, smart moms would also be grateful for:

5 Days and Counting – The Gift of a Day

Morning,

Well! 5 days and counting until the slicing and dicing. And it just can’t come a moment too soon!

But in other good news, today is a positive day for me leg-wise; I woke up feeling rather refreshed and capable. After designing my FabFitMom affiliate tutorial, I went off on my beloved circle walk. It wasn’t too cold but you could tell rain was in the air with lots of gusting wind that buffeted my body while walking.

Oh, it was glorious! It so reminded me of those days in college when I’d sneak out during any rainstorms or hurricanes or what have you and experience the elements. And I realized….this morning was the Gift of a Day for me. In 5 days, I’ll be on crutches and not able to walk for the foreseeable future; I’m extremely grateful to the universe for having experienced this one adventure before I go to the hospital.

Life is never stagnant! Just because you might today possess the body shape of an overgrown eggplant and have the flexibility of a chuck of concrete…that doesn’t mean tomorrow will see you the same way.

The future is yours and what you choose to make of it. So honor yourself…and make it well.

Happy Thanksgiving,

Barbara

ps – want Thanksgiving goodies? Consider:

6 days and counting – breaking your boundaries

Morning,

Well! 6 more days and I shall be sliced and diced and hopefully have my leg problem resolved.

That’s the good news.

The bad news is that I’m fast running on empty with regards to all of this. I find myself besieged with emotional roller coasters…and sometimes just want to give myself permission to give up and be despondent.

Idiot me, however, can’t even manage that!! Walking-wise, my legs were quite lousy today, so I opted to miss (only for the second time I can imagine) my karate classes (even my beloved kendo). I figured I’d stay in bed and watch TV, but oh no! I had to idly glance down at my legs and think, gee, I wonder how difficult balancing on my left foot (the one with the 1/2″ shortened fibula) really has to be?

I never learn (or…I simply continue to grow). I spent several minutes trying to keep myself balanced and amazingly, was able to achieve more than 3 seconds (something I’ve never done before). But not only that – I can bend my knee a fraction of an inch more, thus helping my balance improve.

But wait! That was supposed to be impossible to achieve…I always thought my physical condition was WHAT IT WAS and it would never change. And one thought led to another which led to me thinking, gee, I wonder how hard a split would be to do?

Answer – quite difficult, I cannot achieve it. But…just because I cannot now, doesn’t mean I cannot in the future.

All these years I’ve been limiting myself by what I thought were my boundaries…and not giving myself permission to actually see if they’re rock-honest facts, or merely another challenge I can overcome.

I’m humbled by this knowledge. It’s really kinda sorta priceless….the idea that sometimes, it’s your own mind’s blindness that keeps you stationary and unmoving.

6 days and counting,

Barbara

ps – I’ve heard that yoga is great for splits: