Poor sweet little blog is sitting here still sending out its messages with no input from me, the blog owner. What a brave little puppy of a blog, thank you for your faithful action of being here for those who stop by.
I'm going to actually post something today, and I hope will be posting more into the future. Blogging is a thing that goes in cycles - one second blogging is the most important thing in the blogger's life, and then something else takes over. In my case it was life and other blogs that got most of my attention. I've kept my interest in healthy eating though, and exercise to a lesser extent.
This year I've been promoting my other interests - I have written several books and selling them by connecting with interested people and chatting with them is a favourite things to do. I have a funny little book about dogs and gardening. I have a poetry collection dealing with sex abuse, and child abuse. And I have my most recent book, which is about multiple sclerosis from the viewpoint of a person dealing with it, me.
The dog book 'Dig it! Gardening Tips for Dogs' is the oldest of them, and I did another print run recently, so have copies for sale. The poetry collection 'Damaged Children Precious Gems' is a very personal work, and I don't feel any need to push that one, it's more for sharing with people who may gain from having the poetry there to find comfort from. Knowledge that others understand is a healing thing ...
The MS book 'Mick, Jane and Me, Living Well with MS' is the main and most recent one. It's a more substantial book, a memoir, with some poetry in it. The writing process was an interesting one - I had a mentor to assist me as I went through the writing of it. I'd decided I wanted to write the book in verse, and that took some work - without my mentor, this book wouldn't have been the helpful but lovely book that it is, I don't think.
I know have a brand new way to make a little money with my writing. This is an online article writing site - Hub Garden, and the reason I began this blog post is to share my most recent article posted there. This the link. It a post about healthy snacks.
If you have any healthy snack ideas, I'd love to read about them - feel free to leave a message here!
This is me in 2009
Happy, healthy, size ten jeans!
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
Friday, September 14, 2012
Losing Weight At Home
I don't go to a gym, I much prefer to exercise at home. I don't do lots of hard exercise, but I try to do a little.
I switched on the family Wii Fit machine today, to catch up with what my weight is currently, and to do a bit of a workout. The machine told me I hadn't been there for 19 days, which surprised me. It embarrassed me a little bit too - I know how good it is for me to do regular exercise.
This is good for all of us, but particularly good for people like me - I have a chronic illness (multiple sclerosis), and keeping my ability to walk around and keep active depends on actually keeping active. So I was happy that a comment from a friend on Facebook prompted me to get active again.
Having friends who can/will give these little prompts can sometimes be the difference between exercising and just sitting around. So I say a hearty Thank You! to Irma, for tweaking my conscience earlier today.
I usually have no problems with eating relatively well. I know what's good for me nutritionally, and I generally stick to what I know is the best to eat. If I go out for a meal, I make sure I choose low calorie foods, or if I want something higher in calories, I amend my diet for the day, and eat even better at home for the few days around my 'dining out' meal.
I was happy with my weight earlier today - the machine told me I'd lost a little weight. It also reminded me I still had a long way to go to meet the weight loss goal I'd set myself earlier. I'll work at that goal, and hope that I will meet it.
So the points I want to stress to readers are these:
I switched on the family Wii Fit machine today, to catch up with what my weight is currently, and to do a bit of a workout. The machine told me I hadn't been there for 19 days, which surprised me. It embarrassed me a little bit too - I know how good it is for me to do regular exercise.
This is good for all of us, but particularly good for people like me - I have a chronic illness (multiple sclerosis), and keeping my ability to walk around and keep active depends on actually keeping active. So I was happy that a comment from a friend on Facebook prompted me to get active again.
Having friends who can/will give these little prompts can sometimes be the difference between exercising and just sitting around. So I say a hearty Thank You! to Irma, for tweaking my conscience earlier today.
I usually have no problems with eating relatively well. I know what's good for me nutritionally, and I generally stick to what I know is the best to eat. If I go out for a meal, I make sure I choose low calorie foods, or if I want something higher in calories, I amend my diet for the day, and eat even better at home for the few days around my 'dining out' meal.
I was happy with my weight earlier today - the machine told me I'd lost a little weight. It also reminded me I still had a long way to go to meet the weight loss goal I'd set myself earlier. I'll work at that goal, and hope that I will meet it.
So the points I want to stress to readers are these:
- having a buddy to keep you on track can be a great help with exercise and weight loss
- eating out requires thought if it is not to lead to gaining weight
- keeping track of your exercise and weight are great ways to keep at it
Happy exercising, and Happy Weight Loss
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Lose Weight in Summer
Can you lose weight in Summer? You sure can!
In Australia, we're in the beginning of the second month of Summer. Some states have certainly been having hot summer weather, sending people inside where it's cool. That means people may not be doing their usual jogging or walking to keep fit. They're staying inside instead, and maybe they're raiding the fridge in their search for coolness.
This can lead to eating too many sweet and cool things. This, added to the lack of exercise and combined with the usual Christmas season partying and good food, all adds up to danger time if you're trying to lose weight. There are some ways you can stock the fridge though, that can help you.
Keep the fridge topped up with calorie free drinks - water is still the best thirst quencher there is, so make sure you always have a jug of water in the fridge. There are a great many diet soft drinks available if you want a change from water every now and then.
There are some great cooling foods available in summer, especially grapes. Crunchy sweet grapes are a lovely snack, and don't add too many calories. Other good food ideas are sandwiches - cheese with pickles says summer to me, and I love the sandwiches nice and cool, sometimes with some chicken or turkey slices, yum!
Nuts are also a good snack. Yes, nuts are high in fat, but the fat they have is a fat that's healthy for you body. This doesn't mean you should go overboard and eat nuts all day, the weight would pile on if you did that. Nuts are high in protein though, and they have fibre too, so they fill up your tummy, and your body shouldn't get hungry as it would if you were eating sweet foods.
In summer, salads come to mind, and they can be a great way to have a healthy and low calorie meal. Be careful with the dressing you use though. There are some excellent low cal mayonnaise products available in the shops, and of course lemon juice is a great way to give raw vegetables a zing. Another interesting and no fat dressing is balsamic vinegar - excellent with fresh mushrooms and baby spinach!
For people with Wii Fit games and good air conditioning, there are lots of fun ways to exercise, alone or with friends. And of course summer in Australia is synonymous with the beach or the pool. Go outside and play in the water, fun, fun, fun!
So there are some ideas to help you lose weight over summer, enjoy!
In Australia, we're in the beginning of the second month of Summer. Some states have certainly been having hot summer weather, sending people inside where it's cool. That means people may not be doing their usual jogging or walking to keep fit. They're staying inside instead, and maybe they're raiding the fridge in their search for coolness.
This can lead to eating too many sweet and cool things. This, added to the lack of exercise and combined with the usual Christmas season partying and good food, all adds up to danger time if you're trying to lose weight. There are some ways you can stock the fridge though, that can help you.
Keep the fridge topped up with calorie free drinks - water is still the best thirst quencher there is, so make sure you always have a jug of water in the fridge. There are a great many diet soft drinks available if you want a change from water every now and then.
There are some great cooling foods available in summer, especially grapes. Crunchy sweet grapes are a lovely snack, and don't add too many calories. Other good food ideas are sandwiches - cheese with pickles says summer to me, and I love the sandwiches nice and cool, sometimes with some chicken or turkey slices, yum!
Nuts are also a good snack. Yes, nuts are high in fat, but the fat they have is a fat that's healthy for you body. This doesn't mean you should go overboard and eat nuts all day, the weight would pile on if you did that. Nuts are high in protein though, and they have fibre too, so they fill up your tummy, and your body shouldn't get hungry as it would if you were eating sweet foods.
In summer, salads come to mind, and they can be a great way to have a healthy and low calorie meal. Be careful with the dressing you use though. There are some excellent low cal mayonnaise products available in the shops, and of course lemon juice is a great way to give raw vegetables a zing. Another interesting and no fat dressing is balsamic vinegar - excellent with fresh mushrooms and baby spinach!
For people with Wii Fit games and good air conditioning, there are lots of fun ways to exercise, alone or with friends. And of course summer in Australia is synonymous with the beach or the pool. Go outside and play in the water, fun, fun, fun!
So there are some ideas to help you lose weight over summer, enjoy!
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Are You Really Hungry?
These days there are so many people who are trying to lose weight! There are many businesses out there too, who claim to be there to help people rid themselves of the unwanted weight.
Some of these businesses are honest and do a good job, but others don't really seem to be trying to help, they just want to keep on selling their services or goods and making money. It seems they just don't care about the person with the weight loss problem. This can become expensive and saddening for people who pay their money but don't get the results they want.
There are cheap ways to lose weight though. One of the first things people need to do is to think about the reasons why they may be overweight. It's a simple maths problem - if you eat more food than you burn off by doing things, your body will store the excess weight as fat on your body. Simple! Don't eat too much and you will lose weigh.
As we all know though, not eating too much can be the hardest thing to do. We feel hungry, so we eat. But often the messages your body is sending you may not be about hunger. Feeling thirsty can be mistaken for feeling hungry. If you think you're hungry, why not try having a drink of water before you eat anything. Leave it for a while, then, if you still feel hungry, eat something. Often, the drink will satisfy your body.
Another reason people eat may eat because they feel sad. Eating may help them to feel happy and loved. This type of 'comfort eating' though, can lead to a person going from feeling happy and loved to feeling sad and unloved. A phone call to a friend may help a person feel happy and loved, without the extra and unneeded food!
Boredom can be another reason some people eat more than they need. If you're feeling bored, try going for a walk instead of getting stuck into the food. Walking, of course, has the extra benefit of using up the food you eat, and also making you feel fitter.
So, next time you think you're hungry, think again. Are you really hungry, or could you be thirsty, sad or bored instead? If you start thinking about these things before you eat, you may surprise yourself, and start losing the weight you don't want!
Some of these businesses are honest and do a good job, but others don't really seem to be trying to help, they just want to keep on selling their services or goods and making money. It seems they just don't care about the person with the weight loss problem. This can become expensive and saddening for people who pay their money but don't get the results they want.
There are cheap ways to lose weight though. One of the first things people need to do is to think about the reasons why they may be overweight. It's a simple maths problem - if you eat more food than you burn off by doing things, your body will store the excess weight as fat on your body. Simple! Don't eat too much and you will lose weigh.
As we all know though, not eating too much can be the hardest thing to do. We feel hungry, so we eat. But often the messages your body is sending you may not be about hunger. Feeling thirsty can be mistaken for feeling hungry. If you think you're hungry, why not try having a drink of water before you eat anything. Leave it for a while, then, if you still feel hungry, eat something. Often, the drink will satisfy your body.
Another reason people eat may eat because they feel sad. Eating may help them to feel happy and loved. This type of 'comfort eating' though, can lead to a person going from feeling happy and loved to feeling sad and unloved. A phone call to a friend may help a person feel happy and loved, without the extra and unneeded food!
Boredom can be another reason some people eat more than they need. If you're feeling bored, try going for a walk instead of getting stuck into the food. Walking, of course, has the extra benefit of using up the food you eat, and also making you feel fitter.
So, next time you think you're hungry, think again. Are you really hungry, or could you be thirsty, sad or bored instead? If you start thinking about these things before you eat, you may surprise yourself, and start losing the weight you don't want!
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Pre News Years Eve Resolution
We all mean to do well over the Christmas period. We say or think we'll eat wisely and not have too much, and we'll do some exercises too. Sadly, for many, that doesn't happen.
Not meeting these goals though, doesn't mean all is lost. The best time to get back on track if you're trying to lose weight or get fitter isn't next week, or next month. The best time to get back on track is right now!
Right now, you can decide whether you're truly hungry, or simply bored. Right now you can walk up those steps instead of catching a lift. Right now you can eat a piece of fruit instead of the tasty but fat laden cake you've been thinking about.
The new year means party time for many, and party time often goes with lots of food, fattening food. Arm yourself if you go to a party with some low fat and calorie snacks, such as rice crackers. Either take them with you, or eat a meal before you go out, and stay firm when you tell others you're not hungry.
If it's too difficult to do, stick to the healthiest foods you can see at the party, and have lots of water to drink. The water will help you to feel full, and will be good for your body too.
Christmas time is often holiday time too. Get out, walk around your neighbourhood. You can often find interesting things quite close by if you travel by foot. Driving around means you can sometimes drive past things you would have enjoyed, if you'd been going slowly.
There are many things to do to lose weight that a free or at least cheap. Walking is always a good one, swimming is too. Most biggish towns have a heated indoor pool which is available to the public at a reasonable price.
If you've been a couch potato for many years and think you can't do anything, at least get up and walk a little bit. It doesn't have to be a 20 hike to do you good. Just walking to the letter box and back a couple of times can be a good start. Do it twice one day, then slowly increase the number of times every day. Before you know it, you might be going beyond your letterbox!
These small things can all add up. As you get fitter, you may feel more like getting out and about. Getting fitter isn't just about getting slimmer, it's about becoming more comfortable with your own body too. You may realise your body loves the new fitter you you've become!
Not meeting these goals though, doesn't mean all is lost. The best time to get back on track if you're trying to lose weight or get fitter isn't next week, or next month. The best time to get back on track is right now!
Right now, you can decide whether you're truly hungry, or simply bored. Right now you can walk up those steps instead of catching a lift. Right now you can eat a piece of fruit instead of the tasty but fat laden cake you've been thinking about.
The new year means party time for many, and party time often goes with lots of food, fattening food. Arm yourself if you go to a party with some low fat and calorie snacks, such as rice crackers. Either take them with you, or eat a meal before you go out, and stay firm when you tell others you're not hungry.
If it's too difficult to do, stick to the healthiest foods you can see at the party, and have lots of water to drink. The water will help you to feel full, and will be good for your body too.
Christmas time is often holiday time too. Get out, walk around your neighbourhood. You can often find interesting things quite close by if you travel by foot. Driving around means you can sometimes drive past things you would have enjoyed, if you'd been going slowly.
There are many things to do to lose weight that a free or at least cheap. Walking is always a good one, swimming is too. Most biggish towns have a heated indoor pool which is available to the public at a reasonable price.
If you've been a couch potato for many years and think you can't do anything, at least get up and walk a little bit. It doesn't have to be a 20 hike to do you good. Just walking to the letter box and back a couple of times can be a good start. Do it twice one day, then slowly increase the number of times every day. Before you know it, you might be going beyond your letterbox!
These small things can all add up. As you get fitter, you may feel more like getting out and about. Getting fitter isn't just about getting slimmer, it's about becoming more comfortable with your own body too. You may realise your body loves the new fitter you you've become!
Friday, December 23, 2011
New Years Eve Resolutions
It's Christmas time as I write this post, and New Years Eve will follow. Christmas for most means lots of fun, and lots and lots of lovely food.
New Years Eve often means New Years Eve resolutions about losing the excess weight you have, some of it caused by that lovely food. I'm not here to bring you down and tell you not to eat any of that yummy food. I'll leave it up to you to find a way to get through this time in a way that suits you.
I have written an article about these issues though, and you might like to go here to find out some health reasons to help you to do the right thing for your body.
I'm going out for Christmas lunch tomorrow, and I know I'll eat more food than I actually need. I can deal with that later, and I will deal with it, and not ignore it. I intend continuing my current exercise program tomorrow morning, even though it's Christmas.
I have multiple sclerosis MS and I'm doing my best to keep active. Doing my best currently means I get up in the morning and switch on my Wii Fit Plus, and do 30 minutes of exercise. I try to do some of the more difficult exercises, not just the easy ones. I feel as though this is helping me to keep mobile.
I've also know about healthy diet, and I'm working toward eating healthy food as much as I can. Nuts and seeds, fruit and vegetables, some dairy and meat. These are my main sources of food. I'm trying to lose some extra weight, but I'm keeping within my ideal weight range.
I hope my words on this blog and here may be of assistance to you if you're struggling to reach your own ideal weight. I have further help for you here. It may be the thing that kicks off the new and slimmer you!
New Years Eve often means New Years Eve resolutions about losing the excess weight you have, some of it caused by that lovely food. I'm not here to bring you down and tell you not to eat any of that yummy food. I'll leave it up to you to find a way to get through this time in a way that suits you.
I have written an article about these issues though, and you might like to go here to find out some health reasons to help you to do the right thing for your body.
I'm going out for Christmas lunch tomorrow, and I know I'll eat more food than I actually need. I can deal with that later, and I will deal with it, and not ignore it. I intend continuing my current exercise program tomorrow morning, even though it's Christmas.
I have multiple sclerosis MS and I'm doing my best to keep active. Doing my best currently means I get up in the morning and switch on my Wii Fit Plus, and do 30 minutes of exercise. I try to do some of the more difficult exercises, not just the easy ones. I feel as though this is helping me to keep mobile.
I've also know about healthy diet, and I'm working toward eating healthy food as much as I can. Nuts and seeds, fruit and vegetables, some dairy and meat. These are my main sources of food. I'm trying to lose some extra weight, but I'm keeping within my ideal weight range.
I hope my words on this blog and here may be of assistance to you if you're struggling to reach your own ideal weight. I have further help for you here. It may be the thing that kicks off the new and slimmer you!
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Winter and Comfort Food
Does winter mean you always look for comfort from the cold with sweet puddings and chocolate? Do you always put on weight over winter and have to try to lose it again for summer?
Why not do yourself a favour this winter and find comfort in hearty casseroles and soups instead! Winter afternoons can become cosy and warm if you have a delicious smelling casserole slowly cooking on the stove or in the slow cooker.
Casseroles are so easy - just chop up the meat and vegetables, add herbs and water and turn on the hotplate. Nothing is much easier than that. Add garlic and wine for extra flavour boosts that will smell delicious!
Soups on the stove top can bubble all afternoon and give you a wonderful warming and healthy meal if you serve the soup with multigrain breadrolls. Any soup that doesn't get eaten can be stored in the fridge, to make another appearance the next day. You can add more to the soup, adjust the seasonings and it will be even better.
This is a terrific way to make the most of winter vegetable when they're at their cheapest price. Soup is also a good way to use up the vegetables hanging around in the crisper. Once the vegetables are chopped up, it won't matter that they're not the freshest ever.
Casseroles can be made without added fat, just saute the meat and then onions and capsicums with a little stock, add the rest of the vegetable chopped and then add more stock. Bring to the boil, reduce heat and then simmer until you're ready for a yummy meal!
Why not do yourself a favour this winter and find comfort in hearty casseroles and soups instead! Winter afternoons can become cosy and warm if you have a delicious smelling casserole slowly cooking on the stove or in the slow cooker.
Casseroles are so easy - just chop up the meat and vegetables, add herbs and water and turn on the hotplate. Nothing is much easier than that. Add garlic and wine for extra flavour boosts that will smell delicious!
Soups on the stove top can bubble all afternoon and give you a wonderful warming and healthy meal if you serve the soup with multigrain breadrolls. Any soup that doesn't get eaten can be stored in the fridge, to make another appearance the next day. You can add more to the soup, adjust the seasonings and it will be even better.
This is a terrific way to make the most of winter vegetable when they're at their cheapest price. Soup is also a good way to use up the vegetables hanging around in the crisper. Once the vegetables are chopped up, it won't matter that they're not the freshest ever.
Casseroles can be made without added fat, just saute the meat and then onions and capsicums with a little stock, add the rest of the vegetable chopped and then add more stock. Bring to the boil, reduce heat and then simmer until you're ready for a yummy meal!
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