Tag Archive | Drinking water

Brilliant!

Sep17

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This really stuck with me today. It can’t express how I feel any better.  It also reminds me of what I need to do in my life. What I think about constantly, but don’t follow through with. That I need to just speak and not walk on eggshells. That I need to do more for myself and what makes me feel good.  

I want to thank, Rachael, a friend on Facebook. One of the very few friends that I have on Facebook, that I have never actually met in person. I adore your drive for life. For peace. For health. For education.  ♥

xo

The Land of Medicine Buddha

Apr30

This morning I dropped my children off at school then headed to explore Land of Medicine Buddha.  I heard that it was beautiful from two different friends and it was time to take my own hike and see what it was all about.

It is a Buddhist retreat that is open to the public.  It is very well-kept and absolutely gorgeous to hike though.

I read that the hike was about 6 miles, but I did the 8 Verses Loop Trail and calculated 2 to 2 1/2 miles.  Perfect for a nice stroll and a time of reflection.  In would be great with the kiddos.  Not too short and not too long.  It would be great for them to go and read the Verses and reflect a little as well.

I look forward to going back and exploring the Enchanted Forest.  Maybe that is where the longer hike wraps around.  I look forward to finding out.

Anyway, it was just what I needed this morning, before the rest of the day got away from me.  The forest is so amazing where I live.  I will never tire of it.

As I passed by all of he ferns, I was reminded of my Grandma Marge.  When we would go to Oregon, she would go into the mountains and dig up small ferns and bring them home to plant in her yard.  I have her love for ferns as well.  She was a beautiful woman.

Next time I take this hike, I won’t be taking any photos, so I decided to take them all today.  It was so beautiful I just couldn’t help myself.  It was all worth being documented.

I used the prayer wheel as soon as I arrived.  I’m not religious, but it never hurts to put out what you would like to receive in this universe.  I just felt, right.

I hope you enjoy the many photos I took today.  🙂

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xo

Food Freak-Out

Feb11

This commercial freaks me out every time I see it. Scares me really.

When I was at the grocery store today getting some tortilla chips and cereal for my Boys, along with a few other items, I look around freaked out. I bought the  few things I needed, then I only bought Bananas, Grapes and Cuties in the produce area. I didn’t even see a reason to get anything else. I told myself that I would just hit the fruit stand today later on.

What it all comes down to, is that things have really changed since I was a kid. Yeah, the soda and snacks are still around, but the ingredients have changed. It scares me. I also scares me how much more of it all there is. I don’t want to give my children something that I would regret for their health later. Yes, I said regret. I say that, because I don’t believe in regrets for myself, but for my children it would kill me if I wasn’t feeding them healthy enough today and it affected their health later.

It is up to me to teach them right from wrong. Healthy, and non healthy. I most comfortable with beef, chicken and seafood. Along with fresh vegetables and fruit. Rice on occasion. Pasta on occasion too. It’s hard to care for others.

Don’t get me wrong, I still bake with sugar, butter and flower.  I would way rather bake for my children than to buy them junk from the store.  It’s not every day though.  I’m hoping that I can teach them some balance.

I saw this video again today after Super Bowl, because I was in my Weight Watchers account. Logging my 3.7 ounces chicken breast that I just ate for lunch. I clicked on the link and it just struck me.  Hard.  Sometimes I feel like what they eat is so out of my hands, it freaks me out.  Sigh, I just worry about their healthy future.

Just thought I would share my thoughts. 🙂

xo

Chia Seeds For My First Time

Oct18

Today I added a scoop of Chia Seeds into my water bottle as I was heading to for my days worth of Pop Warner Football Games.

I’ve read a lot about them.  Have friends and family that use them in there daily diet and food preparation.  Wy not me? They are supposed to have over a dozen different health benefits.  Such as, helping with dehydration, boosting energy, stabilizing blood sugar, aiding digestion, and lowering cholesterol. These are just a few that I have read about.

I’m hoping that if I use them regularly that I will see some changes.  If you know of any that I need to be aware of, please post them in the comments area.  Thanks!  🙂

xo

52 Small Changes – Week 1

Jan2

52 Small Changes from The Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans started a new group at their community, The Hood. I’m so excited about this challenge as I am a horrible goal keeper for myself and I think that this will give me a good start.  There is a book called “52 Small Changes: One Year to a Happier, Healthier You” and as a group we are going to go through and make small changes in our lives! These changes involve getting enough sleep, drinking enough water, remembering to breath and exercise, etc.

“The 52 Small Changed Program is designed to encourage small, yet meaningful, changes that will ultimately lead to the big change of living a happier, healthier lifestyle. The idea is simple: make one small change per week for 52 weeks and at the end of the year, you’ll be healthier and happier.”  If you want to get on board with this challenge go here for details (there is a giveaway for the book as well). I know that I would love to win the book at the end of the week.  If not, I am planning on uploading it to my Kindle.

Starting today with Week 1

“Drink an adequate amount of water each day to maintain a healthy level of hydration.”

This week our small change and challenge is to simply drink water. I love this change because I know drinking the proper amount of water is a great way to drop a few pounds right away. If you are dehydrated, your body will retain water. If you are hydrated, your body will release the retained water. Plus, you’ll feel better and look better.  When I don’t drink my water I feel it immediately the next day.  I get constipated and my skin starts to look rough and sometimes break-out.  If you know me, that is a rare thing for me.  Stay hydrated people!

The most popular and easy way of figuring how much you should drink is to take your weight and divide it by 2. That’s the minimum! If you’re exercising, drinking Cosmos, Beer, tea, soda, etc… stop!  This is about Water, so get on it.  Water is the very best think that you could ever give your body.  So this week, let’s drink our water!  🙂

xo

It’s A New Day In My Skin – Day 106

Sep8
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)

Image via Wikipedia

Weight:  182

Size:  14

Exercise:  6.4 miles

I hit the pavement today thanks to a couple of my friends throwing me some encouragement.  Thank goodness, or else I wouldn’t have gone today.

I stretched in my front living room before I took off.  Grabbed my 30 ounce ice water and strapped on my Pink Nano then walked out of the house.  I did good the first 10 minutes, then here came the shin splints.  Lovely!  I had them for about 20 or 25 minutes, then my whole right leg started to ache.  Even lovelier!  At about 50 minutes I was all good!!  YEAH!!  So I though.  Ha!

The breeze was amazing today.  Even some light overhead clouds, which were good for blocking out the sun every now and then.  I walked along the canal, saw a few Great Blue Herons (one of my favorite birds), some huge fish and even a big turtle poking its head out of the water.  All was going good.

At one point I looked over at my shoulder before I reached my halfway point and noticed that I was starting to get sun burnt.  Needless to say, I left at the completely wrong time of day, which was 10:40 a.m. and putting on sunscreen didn’t even cross my mind.  I just kept walking.

About 1/8 of a mile before I reached my halfway point I was ready to call my Husband to pick me up.  I guess it is a good thing and a bad thing all at one time that I decided on NOT bringing my cell with me.  As I walked behind my Dentists office I was soooo tempted though.  I was just exhausted today for some reason.  I usually don’t have a hard time even walking 5 miles.  Anyway, I again trudged along.

I hit my half way point at Pecos and Lindsay.  Stopped and stretched for a few minutes.  Went to have a drink of my water and it was hot!  Yuck!  I couldn’t believe it!  Figures, this is Arizona and the Arizona temperatures are well, pretty shitty at times unless you are sitting in your pool and enjoying it.  That I was definitely not doing, but looking so forward to it.  After my stretch and water break I started to make my way back.  I also started to get very, very thirsty, nauseous, and my heart was trying to pound out of my chest.  I even had the chills… that was when I knew I was sun-burnt.

I started searching for a shady spot to sit down for a while and take a rest.  Unfortunately, there really aren’t any along the canal where I walk.  The only one that I could think of that was coming up on my way back was where Andrew and I saw some kids sitting last month when he took a walk with me.  Just great, I was thinking.  That is almost 2 miles from where I was, so I pushed ahead.  Finally I made it there, sat down for 5 or 6 minutes and drank some more hot water.  Then I noticed that I only had a very small amount of water left.  Hot water at that, which just isn’t that refreshing when you are thirsty and dehydrated.  Damnit!  I decided that when I got up to the Fresh and Easy I would stop and fill up with some fresh water out of their drinking fountain.

In the mean time, I was back on my feet again.  Slowly, but moving forward.  Still getting the chills, still feeling like vomiting.  This time I was looking forward to the Green Belt about a mile up on the other side of the canal. Grass & shady trees.  Damn strait I crossed over that bridge when I came to the right one and headed for that shade.  Scoped out a grassy spot and laid down for about 10 minutes, or so.  Got up, finished my water and made my way to Fresh and Easy.  Oh man did it feel sooooo good when I walked into that place.  I must have looked like I was going to keel over.  LOL!  I sure as hell felt like it!  I headed straight back to where I knew the fountains were.  I put my hand under the water… it was cold and I was so happy!  I started to fill up my water container, chugged a bit, then finished filling it up.  Had one last sip, put the cap back on and headed for the door.  One more mile to go.

As I walked by the golf course the wind was blowing the fountain my way and I was able to catch a little of the mist.  It felt great.  I looked ahead and saw the sprinklers on.  Oh yeah!!  I headed for those and stuck my head in one just as I was reaching my neighborhood.  That felt even better!

I made it home.  I couldn’t f’ing believe it!  I never felt that exhausted before, or dehydrated.  I walked in the door, sat on the couch.  Stripped off my Nano, Body Bug, watch, shoes, socks and all of my clothes.  As I headed for the backyard I grabbed my water and towel.  I walked right into that pool.  Oh man did that feel good.  It felt cool and took the pressure off of my body.  I stayed in there for a good while, floating and stretching my legs.  I felt like it was saving my life.

Andrew came out to check on me after he got off the phone and commented that I was “burnt up.”  Now that I look at myself I guess that is kind of an understatement.  He then went inside to check todays temperature.  He came back outside to tell me that it was 102.  Yuck!  The clouds and breeze did fool me.  No wonder I was having such a hard time.  Fricking Arizona!

3 valuable things I learned today… eat breakfast (more than just a protein shake), bring a ton of cold water and rest every so often.  All good and such important things.

What’s ahead for me tomorrow?  Walking on the treadmill in the cool gym and yoga for an hour.  Hopefully!  🙂

xo