That's easy to say since I have been at the same weight for more than a year. That would be great if I wasn't 15 pounds from where I want to be. The old saying that the last 10 or 15 pounds are the hardest to lose is, at best, a cop out and at worst crap.
I know what I need to do and I haven't been doing it. That IS the answer. Luckily, I have the tools to keep my weight where it is, but to take the last step I have to recommit to exercise and that means some cross training.
Since we have a full gym in the basement complete with elliptical, stair stepper, ergometer (rowing machine) and bikes on wind trainers it shouldn't be so hard, but I hate to workout indoors. Give me a pack and a trail and I'm a happy camper (hiker?), but on an ergometer in the gym I am instantly bored and uninspired.
I can walk fast for an hour every day in the sun wearing shorts, but by the time I gear up for a walk in the rain and wind blah.
I have said in prior posts that you should tell others what you are doing and where you plan to go so here I am telling all of you that I am going to make the last push no matter what it takes to lose the last 15 pounds.
To begin I am going to seek out a yoga studio where I can work on my flexibility and core strength. I will also get back to walking rain or shine with Athena. I will make an effort to use the ergometer as well. I know Pam will like the potential of some ab definition.
That's what I'm going to do. If you need to tell someone what you are going to do to get to a better you there is no time like the present to take step number one. That is true even if you are doing it for the 50th time.
More soon.....
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Natural Resources
It's time to list some of my favorite sources for food and health stuff. It's easy to talk about switching over to organic spices, but knowing where to get them at a decent price is another thing. So here we go.
I use Spicesinc.com for spices. They have an organic section which makes it easy. They do free shipping for orders over $35.00. I have been ordering 8 oz bags which fill a pint size ball jar. My favorites of their products are the Saigon Cinnamon and their Medium Heat Curry Powder. All of their stuff is good - those 2 just stand out.
For dry organic beans I use Amazon.com . They have Eden Organics Garbanzos and Bergin Nut Company's Black, red, etc. Amazon is also a great source for organic popcorn with the Eden Organics product. It pops nice and tastes great and you won't become a pesticide producing organism eating it. Nice bonus, huh? You can set up a subscription and get a lower price if it is something you know you will reorder anyway.
For Organic cereals, flours, and meals Bobsredmill.com is great. They have tons of stuff. The trick with their site is to just see the organics or the gluten free stuff you go to "filter" on the right hand side of the page and then select either organic or gluten free. Then it only shows the stuff you pick.
I have been buying our probiotic from Vitacost.com. They have good products and good prices and you can set up a subscription purchase like Amazon if you just want the stuff to come so you don't run out.
For organic nut butters like peanut, almond and hazelnut I like Amazon.com. If you are ordering a lot from Amazon you should do their Prime deal where you get free 2 day shipping and streaming movies for $79.95 a year. I also use them for coffee because they have a great tasting organic and fair traded coffee available from Camano Roasters.
I know I'm missing some sources so just ask me in a comment and I'll pass it on.
More soon....
I use Spicesinc.com for spices. They have an organic section which makes it easy. They do free shipping for orders over $35.00. I have been ordering 8 oz bags which fill a pint size ball jar. My favorites of their products are the Saigon Cinnamon and their Medium Heat Curry Powder. All of their stuff is good - those 2 just stand out.
For dry organic beans I use Amazon.com . They have Eden Organics Garbanzos and Bergin Nut Company's Black, red, etc. Amazon is also a great source for organic popcorn with the Eden Organics product. It pops nice and tastes great and you won't become a pesticide producing organism eating it. Nice bonus, huh? You can set up a subscription and get a lower price if it is something you know you will reorder anyway.
For Organic cereals, flours, and meals Bobsredmill.com is great. They have tons of stuff. The trick with their site is to just see the organics or the gluten free stuff you go to "filter" on the right hand side of the page and then select either organic or gluten free. Then it only shows the stuff you pick.
I have been buying our probiotic from Vitacost.com. They have good products and good prices and you can set up a subscription purchase like Amazon if you just want the stuff to come so you don't run out.
For organic nut butters like peanut, almond and hazelnut I like Amazon.com. If you are ordering a lot from Amazon you should do their Prime deal where you get free 2 day shipping and streaming movies for $79.95 a year. I also use them for coffee because they have a great tasting organic and fair traded coffee available from Camano Roasters.
I know I'm missing some sources so just ask me in a comment and I'll pass it on.
More soon....
Monday, March 12, 2012
Dinner - Sleepover - Snowshoe - Get Your Coat Paully - Snowshoe - Return
Pam and I headed to Packwood Saturday to check out some friends' "cabin." It was actually a 3 bd 2 bath house. We brought along some ingredients for dinner and breakfast. For dinner we made shrimp tacos and black beans to go with a great platter of fresh veggies.
Breakfast was Bob's Red Mill 6 Organic Whole Grain cereal with blueberries and strawberries. With breakfast over one of our hosts headed up to White Pass to ski while the other opted for quiet time with her Kindle. Pam and I headed out to snowshoe.
We first drove the 20 minutes to White Pass and parked at the trailhead off of the closest forest service road to the ski resort. That is where I realized I had left my jacket with the appropriate pass to display for using the trail at the cabin. We decided to get a couple of miles in on the trail even though we were sort of illegally parked.
We scrambled back to the cabin to get the jacket and then headed to the trailhead for Packwood Lake for a little more exercise. It was snowing pretty good and we were able to get 1.5 miles from the car and up the trail before the trail had an area that we would have passed through with 4 people but it was more than the 2 of us should attempt. We ended up settling for about 3 miles there to go with the 1.5 earlier.
Breakfast was Bob's Red Mill 6 Organic Whole Grain cereal with blueberries and strawberries. With breakfast over one of our hosts headed up to White Pass to ski while the other opted for quiet time with her Kindle. Pam and I headed out to snowshoe.
We first drove the 20 minutes to White Pass and parked at the trailhead off of the closest forest service road to the ski resort. That is where I realized I had left my jacket with the appropriate pass to display for using the trail at the cabin. We decided to get a couple of miles in on the trail even though we were sort of illegally parked.
We scrambled back to the cabin to get the jacket and then headed to the trailhead for Packwood Lake for a little more exercise. It was snowing pretty good and we were able to get 1.5 miles from the car and up the trail before the trail had an area that we would have passed through with 4 people but it was more than the 2 of us should attempt. We ended up settling for about 3 miles there to go with the 1.5 earlier.
All of the pictures are courtesy of the "Pam Cam" since I elected not to carry my big camera in the weather.
More soon....
Friday, March 9, 2012
How Much For A Steak Mister?
The real question when it comes to beef is what we have to give up to get, say, 1 pound of beef. Is the final cost worth whatever pleasure we get from eating it. Here are the facts.
It takes 2800 pounds of grain to bring a cow to slaughter. That grain requires 125,000 gallons of water to grow. Along with the other 2500 gallons of water the cow needs is a whopping 127,500 gallons of water. But what does that mean Paully? Let me break it down.
It requires between 2.07 and 2.24 pounds of grain and 100 gallons of water for every one pound of beef. The amount of grain it takes to bring 1 cow to slaughter would feed 6 people for 1 year. The meat from that 1 cow will not.
The grain that would feed the 6 people would fit into what we now call an anti-inflammatory diet which has been shown to reduce the risks of virtually every chronic disease. The beef has the exact opposite effect. Eating beef has long been shown to contribute to heart disease, cancer, arthritis, diabetes and others.
The environmental effects of raising cattle are numerous and mostly negative. In an organic farm setting cattle can be raised in a n environmentally neutral way, but on large factory farms the sheer quantity of animals and the waste they create destroys the soil and ground water not only on the farm raising the cattle but other land and ground water nearby.
Without the subsidies WE pay for with our taxes these large factory farms would not be able to raise cattle how they currently are raising them and continue to profit. The corn subsidies allow them to feed cattle for less than the actual cost of growing the corn. Does that make any sense to anyone?
Why do we need to make cheaper beef? So you can get a burger for a dollar at a fast food joint? So the ground round that you buy from the store (which is sprayed with ammonia to kill off the e-coli) doesn't cost so much that you can't afford the box of Hamburger Helper?
The simple fact is that red meat should be eaten rarely if at all. It is the new tobacco. We KNOW it isn't healthy for us, but we refuse to leave it. At least cigarettes have warning labels.
More soon....
It takes 2800 pounds of grain to bring a cow to slaughter. That grain requires 125,000 gallons of water to grow. Along with the other 2500 gallons of water the cow needs is a whopping 127,500 gallons of water. But what does that mean Paully? Let me break it down.
It requires between 2.07 and 2.24 pounds of grain and 100 gallons of water for every one pound of beef. The amount of grain it takes to bring 1 cow to slaughter would feed 6 people for 1 year. The meat from that 1 cow will not.
The grain that would feed the 6 people would fit into what we now call an anti-inflammatory diet which has been shown to reduce the risks of virtually every chronic disease. The beef has the exact opposite effect. Eating beef has long been shown to contribute to heart disease, cancer, arthritis, diabetes and others.
The environmental effects of raising cattle are numerous and mostly negative. In an organic farm setting cattle can be raised in a n environmentally neutral way, but on large factory farms the sheer quantity of animals and the waste they create destroys the soil and ground water not only on the farm raising the cattle but other land and ground water nearby.
Without the subsidies WE pay for with our taxes these large factory farms would not be able to raise cattle how they currently are raising them and continue to profit. The corn subsidies allow them to feed cattle for less than the actual cost of growing the corn. Does that make any sense to anyone?
Why do we need to make cheaper beef? So you can get a burger for a dollar at a fast food joint? So the ground round that you buy from the store (which is sprayed with ammonia to kill off the e-coli) doesn't cost so much that you can't afford the box of Hamburger Helper?
The simple fact is that red meat should be eaten rarely if at all. It is the new tobacco. We KNOW it isn't healthy for us, but we refuse to leave it. At least cigarettes have warning labels.
More soon....
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
The Real Cost Of Better Food
What you always see and hear is that organic foods cost more. They do. They like to interview someone who insists that they can't afford to eat organic whole foods. In one interview I saw the woman was talking about how they had to pick between food and her husband's diabetes medicine. Duh!
If you eat a bunch of fast and processed foods it allows you to save up for co-pays, prescriptions and deductibles. I suppose that's one way to approach life.
When I didn't eat right and get exercise I was good for 3 or 4 extra co-pays at the doc in the box and the inevitable prescription they would write me. Any other related stuff like physical therapy or massage is subject to a deductible as well so the first $250 or so is on you.
The same was true for Pam since I was cooking and wasn't much help when it came to exercise. So lets figure 4 co-pays at $30 for $120. Lets also add 4 prescription co-pays that average $12 or $48. And then add in just one $250 deductible for a total of $418.00. The extra $35 a month just from that pays the difference in organic versus non-organic.
If you take out red meat and replace it with beans, quinoa and other plant based proteins that your body can more readily use you save much more. If you aren't ready to give up your beef at least cut down to the one serving a week that most doctors recommend now and you'll save some money there.
Let's talk about hunger and what it means. People say they are hungry all the time and wonder why. If you are feeding your body without providing it the nutrition it needs you are just wasting whatever you did eat. Of course you are always hungry when your body isn't getting what it needs. That is the definition of a vicious circle. You're hungry so you eat, but the food doesn't give you nutrition so you eat more and get the same result.
Eating for nutrition first and "pleasure" second will help you be healthier and lose weight. Those should be 2 goals most people can get behind.
More soon....
If you eat a bunch of fast and processed foods it allows you to save up for co-pays, prescriptions and deductibles. I suppose that's one way to approach life.
When I didn't eat right and get exercise I was good for 3 or 4 extra co-pays at the doc in the box and the inevitable prescription they would write me. Any other related stuff like physical therapy or massage is subject to a deductible as well so the first $250 or so is on you.
The same was true for Pam since I was cooking and wasn't much help when it came to exercise. So lets figure 4 co-pays at $30 for $120. Lets also add 4 prescription co-pays that average $12 or $48. And then add in just one $250 deductible for a total of $418.00. The extra $35 a month just from that pays the difference in organic versus non-organic.
If you take out red meat and replace it with beans, quinoa and other plant based proteins that your body can more readily use you save much more. If you aren't ready to give up your beef at least cut down to the one serving a week that most doctors recommend now and you'll save some money there.
Let's talk about hunger and what it means. People say they are hungry all the time and wonder why. If you are feeding your body without providing it the nutrition it needs you are just wasting whatever you did eat. Of course you are always hungry when your body isn't getting what it needs. That is the definition of a vicious circle. You're hungry so you eat, but the food doesn't give you nutrition so you eat more and get the same result.
Eating for nutrition first and "pleasure" second will help you be healthier and lose weight. Those should be 2 goals most people can get behind.
More soon....
Monday, March 5, 2012
The Fourth Time Could Have Been A Charm
We decided to change our snowshoe plans twice last weekend. First we decided not to do Lena lake on Saturday and go check out SunTop cabin in the Mount Tahoma Trails Association system on Sunday instead. The cabin had burned down and they have been rebuilding it for a while. Sunday, as we were heading to the trailhead it was getting nice out near the trail so we decided to head up to High Hut - also in the MTTA system to try for the great views possible from there on a nice day.
I have been to High Hut 3 times before and have little to show photographically. As I was getting my gear on I realized that I had left my camera on the bar at home. Luckily Pam had her trusty point and shoot so up we went.
We were accompanied by Xavier and Sherrie for our journey. We reached the hut and were greeted by a 2/3rds view of Mount Rainier as well as a full view of Mt St Helens.
I have been to High Hut 3 times before and have little to show photographically. As I was getting my gear on I realized that I had left my camera on the bar at home. Luckily Pam had her trusty point and shoot so up we went.
We were accompanied by Xavier and Sherrie for our journey. We reached the hut and were greeted by a 2/3rds view of Mount Rainier as well as a full view of Mt St Helens.
No matter where we go outdoors it seems P[am runs into someone she met in a climbing class or something and Sunday was no exception. These guys were in a Climbing Volcanoes" class she took.
We waited a good half hour waiting for the last clouds to clear from Mt Rainier, but it wasn't to be so we headed down the trail for home. I guess I still have a date with High Hut on another clear day. Maybe I'll even remember my camera.
More soon....
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Great Reasons To Get/Stay In Shape
I'll let the pictures tell the story today.
7/2/11 Mt St Helens Summit Looking at Mt Rainier and Mt Hood and some interesting cornices.
The rule is that you can't slide down unless you first climb up.
Upper Lena Lake 7/8/11. A place to ourselves.
High Rock Lookout 7/31/11 - A birthday outing for Pam.
I'll do more posts like this. They are a great reminder to me of where I came from and what I am capable of. I hope these pictures at least give you pleasure and maybe a reason to be healthier and stronger if you need one.
7/2/11 Mt St Helens Summit Looking at Mt Rainier and Mt Hood and some interesting cornices.
The rule is that you can't slide down unless you first climb up.
Upper Lena Lake 7/8/11. A place to ourselves.
High Rock Lookout 7/31/11 - A birthday outing for Pam.
Norse Peak 7/31/11 It's not always clear on top, but it's always worth the effort.
Camp Muir 9/2/11 A beautiful day for a workout with great friends.
I'll do more posts like this. They are a great reminder to me of where I came from and what I am capable of. I hope these pictures at least give you pleasure and maybe a reason to be healthier and stronger if you need one.
More soon....
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