Orowheat Health-full 10 grain Bread
I’m trying a new thing of being a BzzAgent, and my first campaign for them is to try 
for free! So far, the high protein and high fiber in the bread is helping me “keep fuller longer” as the bread is supposed to. It tastes surprisingly good too! Super moist, and thicker than most breads without being dry or crumbly. I love it. So I’m spreading the Bzz. 🙂
Losing Weight 2012
So, like most people, I decided my New Year’s resolution was to lose weight. However, unlike many, I’m actually doing it.
Since I started teaching full time, while going to school in the evenings, and coaching a sport, I managed to put on 40+ lbs. That is not cool. Until I finally finished my evening classes, I was literally sleeping 3 hours a night because I simply had no time. Well, now I have the time, so I’m putting in the effort to fit back in to my old clothes!
So here’s the plan:
Goal: Lose 40 lbs
Time frame: 4 months from January 1 to May 1.
Rationale: Improve health, fit into old clothes so I don’t have to keep spending money on new ones, feel better about myself, and have more energy. (Has anyone else noticed being overweight makes you sluggish?)
The Plan: 1. Calorie tracking (intake and exercise!) with a free app on my iPhone and online called My Fitness Pal , 2. upping protein and fiber while lowering simple carbs and fats so I don’t feel hungry or spike sugar levels, and last but not least 3. upping exercise.
So I need to lose 10 lbs per month to stay on goal. In reality, I have a wedding in September, so that’s my real target date, but I find challenging myself to get healthy sooner helps me stick to it. If I leave my time limit too long, when I start losing the weight faster than I need to, I “cheat” and go on binge eating fests. What can I say, I love food!
So far, I am on track. I have lost 10 lbs, and plan to lose another 9 in the month of February (it’s a short month, and I already booked tickets for wine tasting with chocolate next weekend at the Lodi Wine and Chocolate Weekend. I figure I can make up the extra pound in a longer month.
So friends, I think that wraps up my weight loss plan for 2012, wish me luck, send me tips, and encourage me to get thin again! If you want to join my on MyFitnessPal, we can friend up to encourage each other that way, or if you want to be weight loss buddies through exercise let me know. I have a bike ride planned for tomorrow! 🙂
Back to Blogging with Shopping!
So it’s been a while… a long, long while. I’ve decided it is time to blog again!
And I’ve decided to create another category of the blog that is going to be all about nifty things I’ve found, and where you can buy them. I kid you not, this winter when Christmas shopping, it took me FOREVER to find cute personal gifts for people. So, I’ve decided to put things all in one place on my blog, so I can remember where to find cute items to make gifting easier.
Today’s shopping theme: Warm cozy snack items for the kitchen:
Also, since it’s still cold and wintry, I LOVE these soup mugs with built-in cracker holders! So cute, and means I don’t have to carry a separate plate to keep my crackers from getting soggy in soup! Soup Mug
Keeping warm with tea is my new thing for winter, but I hate the dripping tea bag, so these Kangaroo Mugs are totally perfect. when I leave the kitchen I can put the tea bag and sugar packs in the mug and serve tea that way. Time saver, and as a bonus, you can put the wet tea bag back in the pouch so your tea bag doesn’t drip everywhere, and your tea doesn’t get over steeped. Love them!
Also for tea lovers, I hate having loose tea leaves floating around when I make loose leaf tea, but cleaning the tea leaves out of those wire mesh grates is a pain. My auntie found the perfect solution in this Pretty glass teapot with infuser I love it! And it looks much prettier than the standard tea strainers pots.
And on the trend of cute mug holders, I love the idea of this Mug with space for cookies built in! though, the face is a little creepy. I want a cookie monster one, but can’t seem to find it. Let me know if you see one anywhere online in the comments section!
I’ll stop here for now, but there are sooo many adorable gifts! I look forward to having a list on here. 🙂
An Empty Glass is Better than No Glass At All
I recently decided that I’m both a glass is half full and glass is half empty kind of gal, depending on how I feel that day. But, what do you do when you have an empty glass? I’ve decided an empty glass is better than no glass at all. Life is all about perception of life.
And on that note, I’ve become very interested in Anabel Jensen’s pet project, 6 seconds, and emotional intelligence. Check it out.
Hiking Half Dome: what to bring
Just bought CamelBak Women’s L.U.X.E. 3-Liter Hydration Pack
Sow now I have no idea what else I need. Gloves, but what kind? Hiking boots, got any recommendations that are pretty cheap? I found this mineral sun screen Peter Thomas Roth Instant Mineral Powder SPF 45
that I can use to make sure my scalp doesn’t burn without putting liquid sunscreen in my hair. But I’m totally at a loss at what else to bring. Suggestions?
Tail chasing for humans… I need to find more adventures. Got any ideas?
The tiny towering love of my life, Penny
Penny is chasing her tail and has been for over 2 minutes. She’s having a blast. I’m having a blast watching her because she looks like such a goof circling over and over until she collapses into a heap chewing on her tail. It’s pretty adorable.
2009 has been an unfortunate year of financial and personal woes, and Penny’s tail chasing and other assorted tricks of adorable puppiness have been worth waking up in the middle of the night to let her out and cleaning up her potty accidents before she was house trained. And now she’s still got the puppy adorable cheeriness, with minimal puppy exhaustion factor. I highly recommend getting a dog if you want unconditional love, snuggles, and way too many puppy kisses.
So, inspired by Penny, I’ve decided I’m getting old and stuffy and need to do some tail chasing of my own. I started with the obvious, the gym.
I have to admit, I doubt I looked as fulfilled barely being able to move after a two hour gym session as Penny does after her ten minutes of chasing her tail followed by her frantic running back and forth just to run. But now that I’m a few months in, and 7% less body fat, this gym thing seems OK. I still hate the running for no purpose. Why my dog loves it the world may never know. But even though I’m constantly sore, I feel good. I sleep better at night. I don’t get winded climbing up a few flights of stairs. I was even able to shop with a bride to be, and stay awake for her 14 hours wedding with plenty of energy. This tail chasing business does seem to up my energy and counteract the sluggishness I feel increasing with every passing year. (Yeah, yeah, I know I’m only 25, but boy has it been a decline in energy every year past 14)
So now I need to find more tail chasing for people. I need ideas, and they don’t just have to be exercise related. I tried rock climbing, and am terrible at it! But it was fun. I went hiking. Always fun. Been swimming. I’m itching to try caving. Can’t wait or another road trip, or to have the money to backpack some foreign country. I’ve been cooking just to cook, and baking for everyone I know. I want to climb half dome before the end of the season. Anything to keep amused and not sit around on my butt watching TV.
So after all that, my boring is showing. I need more things to do. Little adventures to stay active and out of a rut. Any ideas? Thing to do in the Bay Area or all over California? I wouldn’t even mind roadtripping a state or two away for some seriously fun tail chasing activities.
Fairlybrutal Birdwalks of the Brain 