Walk it off

When we were first starting to figure out how to lose weight and live in a healthy manner, I was directed to the Dr Oz book "You, On a Diet". This book has some good stuff in it, even though it is written in a manner that is often silly and irritating. One of the things that the good Dr. says is that we all need to walk 30 minutes per day, no excuses. Now, I'm not going to claim that I have done this since we began this monster of a project. Heck, I didn't even walk most of the days last week. However, today I did and it struck me- This is a really easy way to benefit your body. Here's why you should be walking:

1. It's Free. You don't need any special equipment, trainers, memberships, or dvd sets to do it. You have shoes- put them on and start walking.

2. You get to know your area. I mean really get to know it- not just knowing the names of your neighbors, but rather you start noticing things as you are strutting along about peoples houses, likes, schedules, and yard upkeep. One thing- make sure you look up. Don't just stare at the sidewalk in front of you. Notice the trees, buildings, etc that are all around you.

3. It starts your day off right. Walking is a great way to get you into the mindset to be successful today- you break a little bit of a sweat, and you loosen up your muscles.

4. Walking is easy. With the exception of about your first year of life, you have been walking for a long time. You are probably pretty good at it already.

So, kick your excuses out the door, put on your shoes, and walk. You'll be glad you did.

Cookin' Cajun Style

Folks, if you see Nicole this week, ask her for the recipe of the Shrimp Etouffee that she cooked last night. It was out of our Weight Watchers cookbook, and was delicious. I was a bit skeptical when she asked to make a shrimp dish at first- who is this lady in my house asking for shrimp, and what did she do with my wife? However, I guess she is getting tired of chicken, and wanted a change. Yeah, it made our house smell funny and our live-in room mate (whom doesn't eat shrimp) politely declined the offer to join us for dinner, but let me tell you, the dish was really good.

Well played, honey!

I am such a girl…

****Posted by Nicole

A couple days ago I mentioned that I was nervous about going to a wedding back in Kentucky where I went to high school. I had to rerecord my old tape that kept telling me I was fat and old. Well we had a great time! We laughed, we danced, and we got to catch up with people that I hadn’t seen in almost ten years. I’m such a girl. Created all this drama in my head and everything was fine.

One of the people I got to talk to was a girl that I would like to refer to as Regina George, as in, the mean girl from the movie “Mean Grils”. This would be a hint as to what she might have been like in high school. As we talked throughout the night she opened up and told me that after college she had developed an eating disorder. Normal counseling was tried, but didn’t work. She finally decided to pack up her bags and move to Florida for about three months to get really deep into therapy. She said that she was so worried about what everyone thought and she dealt with it by controlling what she ate. What if they didn’t like her, what if they thought she was stupid, or said the wrong thing or that she was fat? This was beginning to sound very familiar…..

Fast forward to this morning as I was reading Luke 6. I came across a verse that I’ve heard a million times but for some reason hit me different. Everyone has heard it, “The golden rule”.

Luke 6:31 – Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

It got me thinking. I have been too busy thinking about what other people think of me rather than making others feel at ease about themselves. I don’t care what people are wearing or if they are overweight or what their hair looks like. So why would they care about the same things? Why am I almost 30 and just now figuring this out? I am such a girl. So much drama in my head and everything is fine!

September 1 Weigh in and Pic

Ain't it pretty?

I weighed in this morning at 319. That means I've only collectively gained 1 lb since our last official weigh in, which makes me a bit happy. It also means I'm down 36 pounds on the year, which is good. I'm not happy that I gained, but happy that we didn't completely tank everything. I'm looking forward to getting back into this, eating healthier, and working out when I can. The work schedule makes all of that tough, but I can also learn to go to bed earlier.


****Posted by Nicole



Unlike my handsome husband, I have gained ten pounds since my last weigh in. Ugh, sounds like I’m confessing to a priest. So that puts me at 203, again. Oh well, I’ll lose it. So my plan of attack while at work is no coke, vending machine goodies, or eating lunch without checking out the calories first.

Today, of all days, my boss is buying all of us lunch from Buffalo Wild Wings and I had to really study the menu to make a final decision. By Googling "Healthy things to eat at Buffalo Wild Wings" I was able to find something with only 260 calories. The veggie burger it is. (blech) I substitued the fries for a salad and presto, a helathy lunch. Thanks for reading and go Ninja's!