Let's get started with the new way I'm going to post so I can keep myself honest. From now on I am adding Guilt or No Guilt to track my exercise. You'll likely get tired of seeing that Athena and I walked 6.7 miles, but if it gets me out 2 more times a week it's good for about 2000 calories burnt per week and I need to make the final push.
GUILT OR NO GUILT? No guilt. Athena and I walked 6.7 miles in 1:25 averaging 4.75 MPH.
Product deal alert: The Grocery Outlet Bargain Market has Muir Glen's Tomato Basil soup for $.99 a can. This stuff is really good. It is not the creamy style tomato soup so it is just waiting for you to add some veggies or a little pasta to jack it up and stretch it out. The stuff is usually twice that price. While you are there they have artichoke hearts for $1.99 a can as well.
I'd love to read some comments with adaptations from some of you. I know there are some great cooks out there, so buy some - jack it up - and give us the recipe.
The Sierra Club is pushing Obama to make the San Juan Islands a National Monument which would give them permanent protection. If you like that idea email the president and tell him to get it done.
Be well and more soon....
Monday, July 16, 2012
Sunday, July 15, 2012
You Can't Judge A Trail By It's Description
I agreed to the Grand Park by the Back Door Trail for Sunday because I hadn't done it before and what the hell. It sounded a little too easy, but Pam does her homework so I figured there must be something to it.
I think everyone should look up the directions and get their asses up that trail! If you go in the next 1 to 4 weeks you will see so many wild flowers to go with the Mt. Rainier views that you WILL be back. Other than that you will hike less than a mile to Lake Elinore which is really great looking and peaceful as well on your way to Grand Park.
Don't go solo. We saw tracks from a cat that was at least 100 pounds and a solo hiker that came up after us saw a black bear and cubs in a meadow just past the lake. We were talking and making noise so I'm sure she walked the cubs into the woods as we came through.
These were taken from the meadow in question.
I think everyone should look up the directions and get their asses up that trail! If you go in the next 1 to 4 weeks you will see so many wild flowers to go with the Mt. Rainier views that you WILL be back. Other than that you will hike less than a mile to Lake Elinore which is really great looking and peaceful as well on your way to Grand Park.
Don't go solo. We saw tracks from a cat that was at least 100 pounds and a solo hiker that came up after us saw a black bear and cubs in a meadow just past the lake. We were talking and making noise so I'm sure she walked the cubs into the woods as we came through.
These were taken from the meadow in question.
There is only 1500 feet of elevation gain in the 4.5 miles we hiked into the Grand Park area so virtually anyone could do this hike. The Mini made it to the trailhead but it did get dirty.
Once you get to the Grand Park area the trail heads straight for Mt Rainier and the Crystal Mountain area. The open meadows today were mostly yellow, but there were areas with blues and purples and reds coming up as well.
We had our second breakfast after a brisk 4.5 miles with a fantastic view in front of us and were finished in under 4 hours including breaks. This is now on our list of must hikes.
Starting with the next post I am adding a guilt or no guilt section that will report on my exercise activity or the lack of activity. I hope it keeps me honest and gets me skinny. We'll see I guess.
Be well and more soon.....
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Who Wrote This Crap Anyway
I just had a thought that is worth passing on. That means it's not like most of what I pass on anyway because I haven't thought of anything worthwhile to say. So here it is.
Live your life like it was YOU writing the script. It's too vague Mr. Paully! Explain!
Often, we walk through life acting out the parts that we have accepted as who we are. We are the husbands and wives and the lawyers and accountants and school teachers and chefs and writer and whatever. We act out the script.
We tell ourselves we don't have the time to change anything because it is all we can do to keep up. and we keep acting parts that were written for us to play.
We go on dreadful family outings and dinner with people we don't like because that is what the script says we do. We hate every minute of it, but we follow the script as written.
I'm not suggesting we chuck everything and ad lib life, but we need balance between what we TRULY need to do to stay alive and what we TRULY need to do to stay sane and happy. We need to have at least some editorial control over this script that we are acting out every day.
How do we get there, Paully? At some point we all have to decide which parts of our life are not worth keeping in the script and pull out a red pencil and delete them. If every time you go to Uncle Bob's house for Thanksgiving you want to cry for three days then RED PENCIL Uncle Bob out of the script. But he's family, Paully! So what! If going to Fred Jones' house for dinner made you feel bad you would quit going without question. Why is Uncle Bob any different? Write your own script.
If every time you go on a cruise you gain 15 pounds and hate yourself for 4 months RED PENCIL the cruise or the way you eat on the cruise. Write a new script where you use the gym facility every day on the ship and do the margarita night once instead of every night and dance with your spouse instead of dumping money in the casino. Write a better ending for the cruise chapter.
If your job turns you into a stress monster who nobody wants to be around who couldn't find their way to health with a road map and GPS then write a story that includes dusting off your resume and looking for a new job that allows you to be a healthy and sane person who likes them self. Write a better script. (You'll notice I didn't suggest you red pencil the job until you found another one)
My last thought is this. Write a script where you make decisions ONCE and stick with them. RED PENCIL the one where you keep having to make the same decision over and over. If you need to do it - do it. Write a script with a more decisive you. A little mix between James Bond and Gandhi.
Be well and more soon....
Live your life like it was YOU writing the script. It's too vague Mr. Paully! Explain!
Often, we walk through life acting out the parts that we have accepted as who we are. We are the husbands and wives and the lawyers and accountants and school teachers and chefs and writer and whatever. We act out the script.
We tell ourselves we don't have the time to change anything because it is all we can do to keep up. and we keep acting parts that were written for us to play.
We go on dreadful family outings and dinner with people we don't like because that is what the script says we do. We hate every minute of it, but we follow the script as written.
I'm not suggesting we chuck everything and ad lib life, but we need balance between what we TRULY need to do to stay alive and what we TRULY need to do to stay sane and happy. We need to have at least some editorial control over this script that we are acting out every day.
How do we get there, Paully? At some point we all have to decide which parts of our life are not worth keeping in the script and pull out a red pencil and delete them. If every time you go to Uncle Bob's house for Thanksgiving you want to cry for three days then RED PENCIL Uncle Bob out of the script. But he's family, Paully! So what! If going to Fred Jones' house for dinner made you feel bad you would quit going without question. Why is Uncle Bob any different? Write your own script.
If every time you go on a cruise you gain 15 pounds and hate yourself for 4 months RED PENCIL the cruise or the way you eat on the cruise. Write a new script where you use the gym facility every day on the ship and do the margarita night once instead of every night and dance with your spouse instead of dumping money in the casino. Write a better ending for the cruise chapter.
If your job turns you into a stress monster who nobody wants to be around who couldn't find their way to health with a road map and GPS then write a story that includes dusting off your resume and looking for a new job that allows you to be a healthy and sane person who likes them self. Write a better script. (You'll notice I didn't suggest you red pencil the job until you found another one)
My last thought is this. Write a script where you make decisions ONCE and stick with them. RED PENCIL the one where you keep having to make the same decision over and over. If you need to do it - do it. Write a script with a more decisive you. A little mix between James Bond and Gandhi.
Be well and more soon....
Monday, July 9, 2012
Off By A Couple Of Zeros
I'm human and I make mistakes. I was off by 3 zeros in my last post so here it is. We each pay $14.65 to have them poison our corn every year. Here are the numbers overall.
| Corn | 4610464817.00 |
| Soy | 2073454838.00 |
| Wheat | 2023951310.00 |
| Cotton | 1297599264.00 |
| Rice | 383393018.00 |
| Sorghum | 288238887.00 |
| Tobacco | 191218926.00 |
| Barley | 104051071.00 |
| Peanut | 86548038.00 |
| Sunflower | 76220109.00 |
| Canola | 43213770.00 |
| Livestock | 41421317.00 |
| Tree | 8146404.00 |
| Oat | 5961479.00 |
| Flax | 3095700.00 |
| Wool | 1720621.00 |
| Safflower | 1637081.00 |
| Diary | 992062.00 |
| Total | 11,241,328,712.00 |
| US Population | 313,911,682 |
| Crop Subsidies per person | $ 35.81 |
So a family of 4 spends over $140 per year so factory farms can cash in on farm subsidies and congressmen can be reelected.
Be well and more soon....
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Corny Mr Paully -Corny
Did you get your $14,650 worth of corn last year? That's what we each paid to subsidize corn production - NO KIDDING. In 2011the subsidies for just corn were $4.6 Billion dollars. The US population is under 314 million which equates to $14,650 per US citizen to subsidize corn production.
Feeling full yet?
Not one penny of that money went towards growing organic corn. Every penny that actually went into growing corn went to "conventionally" grown corn which means that it went towards growing GMO corn. $14,650 for every person in the US went to overgrow corn that isn't fit for human consumption. Too strong a statement?
Recent studies that I have reported on in this blog have demonstrated that the genetic modification in corn remains stable and ready to alter bacteria cells to create pesticides. Since the main component to the human digestive system is bacteria the problem is obvious. I for one do NOT wish my digestive bacteria multi-tasking. I want them just to break down food to feed my body.
Ready to blame one political party or the other for this nonsense? Me too. The only problem is that this is a bipartisan issue. The 15 senators who push the hardest to keep the subsidies alive have only 2 things in common - proximity and contributions from Monsanto, Archer Daniels, National Corn Growers Assoc., Poet LLC, Growth Energy, and Iowa Renewable Fuels Association. The senators are from the Midwest.
They have received campaign contributions from these companies in amounts from $10 to $15,000 all the way to $36000. They are as follows:
Grassley Rep Iowa $36,000
Bond Rep Mo, Harkin D. Iowa, Nelson D. Neb at least $20,000 each
Thune R SD and Conrad D ND between $10 and $15,000 each.
Our silence on this issue contributed $14,650 each to this stupidity. $14,650 each!
They stand behind ethanol to justify this. How many of us could eat and fuel our cars on $14,650? We may not be able to get both done, but I'd like to try. How about you?
Be well and more soon....
Feeling full yet?
Not one penny of that money went towards growing organic corn. Every penny that actually went into growing corn went to "conventionally" grown corn which means that it went towards growing GMO corn. $14,650 for every person in the US went to overgrow corn that isn't fit for human consumption. Too strong a statement?
Recent studies that I have reported on in this blog have demonstrated that the genetic modification in corn remains stable and ready to alter bacteria cells to create pesticides. Since the main component to the human digestive system is bacteria the problem is obvious. I for one do NOT wish my digestive bacteria multi-tasking. I want them just to break down food to feed my body.
Ready to blame one political party or the other for this nonsense? Me too. The only problem is that this is a bipartisan issue. The 15 senators who push the hardest to keep the subsidies alive have only 2 things in common - proximity and contributions from Monsanto, Archer Daniels, National Corn Growers Assoc., Poet LLC, Growth Energy, and Iowa Renewable Fuels Association. The senators are from the Midwest.
They have received campaign contributions from these companies in amounts from $10 to $15,000 all the way to $36000. They are as follows:
Grassley Rep Iowa $36,000
Bond Rep Mo, Harkin D. Iowa, Nelson D. Neb at least $20,000 each
Thune R SD and Conrad D ND between $10 and $15,000 each.
Our silence on this issue contributed $14,650 each to this stupidity. $14,650 each!
They stand behind ethanol to justify this. How many of us could eat and fuel our cars on $14,650? We may not be able to get both done, but I'd like to try. How about you?
Be well and more soon....
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Just When I Was Struggling For An Idea
Along comes a new Burger King Ad about their Texas Barbecue Whopper and Sweet Potato Fries. Intrigued, I looked up the nutritional information on the pair and found the following:
The burger has 820 calories with 51 grams of fat (78% of your daily limit based on 2000 calories a day) and 18 grams of the fat are saturated fat (90%). It also has a whopper size 1840 milligrams of sodium which is more than a days supply. I keep coming back to this, but this isn't nourishment. It IS punishment.
Add the fries and you add 290 calories and 16 grams of fat with 3 grams of saturated fat as well as 530 milligrams of sodium. That takes your fat total to 67 grams which is more than you should get all day if you are a healthy weight active male and 21 grams of saturated which is also over the amount. The sodium amount of 2370 milligrams is obscene. Most doctors and nutritionists/dietitians are recommending 1500 as a max - making this "meal" a day and a half wroth of sodium.
So what to do? If you make yourself a chicken burger with 1 tbsp of BBQ sauce it works out to 180 calories with 5 grams of fat and 1.5 saturated fat and a total of 250 milligrams of sodium. Bake your own sweet potato fries at 400 for 20 minutes and add 150 calories with 6 grams of fat 0 saturated and 245 milligrams of sodium.
You will have taken 1110 calories down to 330 and 67 grams of fat to 11. The saturated fat goes from 21 grams to 1.5 and the sodium from a heart stopping 2370 milligrams to 495. If you don't use the BBQ sauce you save half of the sodium as well.
This version will provide some nourishment instead of pure punishment and allow you to have breakfast and lunch too.
Be well, have a safe 4th and more soon.....
The burger has 820 calories with 51 grams of fat (78% of your daily limit based on 2000 calories a day) and 18 grams of the fat are saturated fat (90%). It also has a whopper size 1840 milligrams of sodium which is more than a days supply. I keep coming back to this, but this isn't nourishment. It IS punishment.
Add the fries and you add 290 calories and 16 grams of fat with 3 grams of saturated fat as well as 530 milligrams of sodium. That takes your fat total to 67 grams which is more than you should get all day if you are a healthy weight active male and 21 grams of saturated which is also over the amount. The sodium amount of 2370 milligrams is obscene. Most doctors and nutritionists/dietitians are recommending 1500 as a max - making this "meal" a day and a half wroth of sodium.
So what to do? If you make yourself a chicken burger with 1 tbsp of BBQ sauce it works out to 180 calories with 5 grams of fat and 1.5 saturated fat and a total of 250 milligrams of sodium. Bake your own sweet potato fries at 400 for 20 minutes and add 150 calories with 6 grams of fat 0 saturated and 245 milligrams of sodium.
You will have taken 1110 calories down to 330 and 67 grams of fat to 11. The saturated fat goes from 21 grams to 1.5 and the sodium from a heart stopping 2370 milligrams to 495. If you don't use the BBQ sauce you save half of the sodium as well.
This version will provide some nourishment instead of pure punishment and allow you to have breakfast and lunch too.
Be well, have a safe 4th and more soon.....
Monday, July 2, 2012
No Better Time
Every day - no every second - is another chance to take your life back. We sit around waiting for an epiphany to tell us what we already know. If we quit listening for voices from outer space and act on what we already know we will be closer to where we need to be sooner.
That being said, I'm really tired of seeing the exact same number every morning when I get on the scale. I know how to lose the last 20 pounds because it's the same way I lost the first 50 or 60 pounds. I need to get back to walking my ass off. I was walking 35- 40 miles a week and getting lighter and lighter.
I am going to do what Athena wants and get back to daily walks. The good news is that the more you exercise the more you want to. It sounds crazy when you are just getting started, but it is true. The other good news is that I now know how to maintain my weight. I've been doing it for a solid year now.
Here is your epiphany moment for today. If you start right away - you'll finish sooner.
Be well and more soon.....
That being said, I'm really tired of seeing the exact same number every morning when I get on the scale. I know how to lose the last 20 pounds because it's the same way I lost the first 50 or 60 pounds. I need to get back to walking my ass off. I was walking 35- 40 miles a week and getting lighter and lighter.
I am going to do what Athena wants and get back to daily walks. The good news is that the more you exercise the more you want to. It sounds crazy when you are just getting started, but it is true. The other good news is that I now know how to maintain my weight. I've been doing it for a solid year now.
Here is your epiphany moment for today. If you start right away - you'll finish sooner.
Be well and more soon.....
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