The Pedometer Update

The Pedometer Plan is not going so well. Okay, that's not completely true. I've been getting my 10,000 steps--or, at least close. The problem is that I dropped it the darn thing just now. Yeah, and it reset itself. Actually, I had take the battery out and back in before it would start working properly. So, I'm totally bummed.
And...I gave in to chocolate. I ate some Dove chocolate, although I don't need it. It is such a waste of calories.
Life Lesson: Don't let a disappointment set you on the path to destruction. Chocolate will not cure everything, no matter how much I want it to.

ONE STEP BACK today...but, now I will take TWO STEPS FORWARD.

Pedometers, Pedometers, Pedometers!

I won a new pedometer last week at work. An email went out to all employees, advocating alternatives to commuting alone by car: like walking, bicycling, or taking a bus. The first fifty people to reply to the email could win a pedometer and I won.

The New One

I like the new one, it is so much better than my old one. First of all, it has more functions: time, steps, calories, and miles. My old one only recorded steps and miles. Second, the new one lets you adjust the sensitivity of the pedometer. My old one was simply super sensitive. Last of all, the new one has a cover and is more comfortable to wear. The old one was just a pain in the butt.

The Old One

My goal is to wear my pedometer every weekday for the rest of October. It is recommended that you take at least 10,000 steps a day, so that will be my minimum daily goal.

A High-Protein, Vegetarian Dinner

A year ago, when I made my first steps towards a healthy lifestyle, I began eating a lot of lentils. Once the weather became warmer, I stopped eating them. Now, the weather is getting cold again: this means its lentil time again!
I made one of my favorite cold weather dishes tonight: Lentil Stew. So yummy and filling. Lentils are great for me because I'm a vegetarian. They provide a lot of protein and iron.

Click Here for the Lentil Stew Recipe

My husband has been fairly patient with my "one bowl meals"--you know, rice and beans, lentils and rice, soups. So, I decided to add another component to this meal: cornbread. However, cornbread isn't the healthiest. Let's not even talk about how many calories it has! I altered a recipe I had, switched around ingredients, to make it healthier. Then, I made muffins, instead of bread. This way, the serving sizes are pre-portioned.

Here is the Cornbread Muffin Recipe

It was a pretty good dinner: very filling, and healthy. How do you make your dinners healthy?

Great Pumpkin Muffins

It's October...which means that the holidays are coming upon us. I love this month because it is my birthday month, plus the spookiness of Halloween brings me joy.

However, October also marks the beginning of holiday treats and snacks. How do we remain healthy when constantly faced with temptation? I'm going to try to make healthier options.

For example, Michal loves pumpkin pie. I'm not a big pumpkin pie fan, which is great because it is a very high-calorie food. But, I like pumpkin breads and muffins. I made some Pumpkin Pie Muffins last night. They were pretty good. But, because I made healthy baking substitutions, the muffins turned out to be a lot healthier than the original recipe would have been.

Here's the Recipe for Pumpkin Pie Muffins.

If you make 12 muffins, each muffin's nutritional info is:

Calories		95.4
Total Fat		0.9 g
	Saturated Fat	0.2 g
	Polyunsaturated Fat	0.1 g
	Monounsaturated Fat	0.2 g
Cholesterol		15.6 mg
Sodium		289.0 mg
Potassium		104.8 mg
Total Carbohydrate		20.5 g
	Dietary Fiber	2.2 g
	Sugars	2.3 g
Protein		3.1 g

Not bad, huh?

Bring Wealth to Your Health

Along my journey, I've met some pretty amazing people online. We are all traveling along different paths, but heading in the same direction. Some of us move faster along the path than others--yet, the most important, and amazing, part is that we are encouraging each other along the way.

A lot of my focus, so far, on this journey to health has been about weight loss. It is important, of course, and I want to continue to lose weight. However, I always need to remind myself that there are a lot of other factors that are just as important when it comes to living a healthy lifestyle. It is important to find ways to relieve stress (I'm starting a yoga class this week). A good night's sleep, every night, is great for your health (and weight loss goals). Exercise (cardio and strength training) brings so much wealth to your health: it's good for your heart, good for your lungs, good for your muscles, I could go on and on. Don't be a smoker. Choose fresh foods over fast foods. The list can go on and on.

But, back to the amazing people I've met so far along this journey. One of them is someone we call Julie Rabbit. I've copied something she wrote on a bulletin board on www.sparkpeople.com and pasted it here.

Warm up was great. Starting line, I stood way in the back, behind the 4:30 pace bunny. The race started and went really well for the first half, about 2:10. At about 27km my hips really started to hurt and I started a walk/run. As it went I began to do my walking then running LOL.

At about 35km I just wanted to get it done so I started running more. I managed to finish in 4:45.

I had friends and family all along the course and the volunteers were amazing. Even with pain and missing my goal I had a great time.

It was also really great to know that my body is capable of this again and that my hip pain and missed time were from lack of training not from my cancer.

I am proud to say that I am a 1 year remission, 1 lunged, 4:45 marathoner

Looking forward to a little break and concentrating on my diet.

She has inspired me to move forward. Lately, I've been floundering in the healthy choices department. I'm still doing so much better at making the healthier choice, but I am slacking a lot.

I'm ready to keep moving forward. I don't like how I feel right now, staying in one place, it's like treading water, than floating, than treading water. I'm not getting anywhere this way.

The Truth About 100 Calorie Snack Packs

Just how healthy are these snack packs? Do they really serve as a healthy snack, or are they helping your waist band grow? This article has a pro/con list for the popular packs, plus asks for your feedback/opinion.

read more | digg story

So, read it, check it out, tell me what you think.

Here's the link for the article: The Truth About 100 Calorie Snack Packs


I find that I really need to keep snacks with me all day--healthy snacks that have been portioned out. Lately, I've been wanting to snack a lot. And, carrots might not be as tasty as chocolate, but they are better, right?

My weight hasn't been dropping, it actually went up by two pounds this month. But, that isn't awful, it's one step back before I take two steps forward. In the past, I wouldn't have even realized I was up two pounds--which is why it was so easy to gain fifty in the first place!

This picture, on the right, is my latest "Before & After" creation...just to show the difference in my face. Not as chubby, huh?