My brother Sam will be serving a mission in the Santa Rosa CA mission...SPANISH speaking! WAHOO!! I love ya Sambee!
I saw and X-boyfriend on campus and couldn't believe he lives here in Logan. I think that's crazy sauce! He was trying to make sure I knew he was married and unavailable. UM...HELLO??? I AM A LOT MORE UNAVAILABLE THEN YOU MR.!! Look, we don't have to be friends, we don't even know each other anymore!! Yea, well I didn't say any of that of course. The good stuff always comes to ya after the fact doesn't it! I hope he's different than when I knew him, I know I sure am. He put us both through a lot of crap, but I was a complete mess too. It taught me a lot, but I definitely think it's insane that we both ended up moving to Logan with our spouses...not to mention living 6 blocks away from each other!! Too weird!
School and life is busy as usual. We watched a documentary called Food Inc. Click there for a preview. We both were amazed at all that we learned and it really affected me, in a good way. We've thought so much about it and really have tried to implement a lot of what we learned into our diet. We HIGHLY recommend you watch it. We rented it and ended up buying it afterwords. In light of all we learned from that we've also been re-reading the Word of Wisdom and other scriptures in the Bible that talk about the use of meat from animals and other foods. The documentary really seems to be in line with the guidelines in the scriptures, which is great!
It's been really neat and we're working hard to get a good balance. We have been eating more vegetarian then we did a few weeks ago. It's been good in some ways, but I've felt really REALLY faint, tired, I'm paler than usual, and clammy. I have hypoglycemia and protein gives me the energy I need to function. I've tried all kinds of nuts, brown rice with veggies, cottage cheese, peanut and almond butter, soy milk, etc. but it's not doing the trick. It's almost been two weeks and I think I need to re-vamp things. I talk to a Registered Dietitian about it and order a book full of Vegan recipes too. I hope to find a way to eat meat less, but still get the energy I need. It takes a lot of work and time to figure all this out, but it's WORTH IT!! Anything that is hard is also worth it.
We are excited to weigh in on Friday and see if we've maintained or lost any more weight. We get to hear from an "Iron Man" Thursday night, that should be interesting...haha!
Is anyone else tired of the bitter cold and snow? Utah County is warm compared to Logan. What a crazy difference 2 hours makes...
I miss our baby Nayia, as usual. But the waves seem to come stronger at different times. I can't believe she'd be almost 26 months. Before I know it her 3rd B-day will be here! I wish that I could be watching over her grave better, it's almost the only thing I can do as her mommy right now. I also wish we had someone looking over it for us, but I know that some family members go to see her and spend time there. That means so much to us...we love you!
2.03.2010
1.28.2010
Healthy habits!
I’d like to post about our Biggest Loser Competition (BLC). I’m sure you all want to know how we are doing. As of last Friday, Emil has lost 11lbs and I have lost 10lbs! We only started January 11...! WOW. We’re ELATED!! I'm in a Nutrition 1020 class and have been learning there but our meetings in the BLC and talking with a Registered Dietitian have been really great! Now, this some of what we're learning AND what we trying to do:
We are eating on average, 1400-1600 Calories a day. However, we are making sure that 30% or LESS of what we eat a day, is fat. Like oils, nuts, fats from meat and brown rice, etc. That is actually the suggestion amount given my Registered Dietitians as well as the USDA food guide, which is based on a 2000 Calorie diet a day. As far as "Carbs/CHO" go, we are cutting it to WHOLE wheat, WHOLE grains, fruits, and veggies. ALL of these foods contain CHO. In fact, fruits and veggies contain quite a bit and because they are Energy Dense foods they fill you up and give you large amounts of nutrients your body cannot produce on it's own. We spend one day a week doing the shopping, and the other doing the cooking/preparing meals in containers/baggies. This is also something suggested by many many programs out there, and it's working for us! This is time consuming at first, but I'm getting faster!
We are making sure we drink plenty water. How much water? Well, take a 30oz "hospital" mug. Fill that up 4 times a day, drink water before and after working out, as well as another fill up of the mug, and that's about the amount of water we drink each day.
We are active, at least 40mins-1hr a day. However, we have missed work outs some days, but mostly to let our muscles recover. FYI, your muscle DO NEED to have to rest after working out. Most of the time, we just work out a different part of our bodies the next day. Then once out muscles are warm we stretch good. 15 seconds each stretch.
Here are some tips we've been following about diet:
-Have meals and snack ready to grab if you are busy. It takes time to be healthy, so if you really want it, put the TIME in!
-If you prefer recipes, get ONLINE to find low fat/low calorie recipes, you'd be surprised how many there are!
-Most of the time, when you are "hungry" you actually need to drink water. So try this first before you eat.
-Keep it simple. A serving size of most meat is 2-3oz, which is the size of your fist. (In fact, this as a guide for MOST serving sizes, even fruits and veggies.) Veggie and fruit serving sizes are usually 1/2 Cup, or medium sized apples, oranges etc. Example: about 35 grapes is a serving size.
-WHOLE wheat and WHOLE grain. Non of this multi-grain stuff. It is different.
-Get RID of the junk in the house! If you don't have it lying around, it may help with how tempting it is to eat.
-It is cheaper to be healthy IF you plan!! Know what you are doing a week at a time, then you will use all the food you bought AND go out to eat less!
-Use butter and salad dressing sprays for flavor. Keep condiments to the serving sizes! A spoonful is about 1 tbsp. (Another thing you can do on toast if you like eggs is sunny side up eggs, use the yolk for butter and add some salt..YUM)
-Keep your meals colorful!
-Drinking juices is fine, but they have a lot of sugar in them. Don't use juice as a substitute for fruit.
-If you can help it, try not to cook ALL your veggies, the nutrients is at it's best raw.
-Smaller portions, just eating less.
-Learn how to read Nutrition Fact labels!! If it claims whole wheat or grain there is sometimes a sticker on the package to prove it. LOOK AT SERVING SIZES. If the ingredients are too long or you can't really read them, you probably shouldn't eat it!
-Eat 2-3 snacks a day, and 3 meals each day. No crash and burn stuff! If you have a food plan each day, week, or even just for dinner, and have snacks ready, this shouldn't be a problem.
-One day, document your intake and be honest. Then add up how many calories you eat a day... A soda, with fries and a hamburger is typically 1680 calories. That's how much Emil and I eat a day!! Wow.
-Go online! But be careful to ONLY trust sites with .org, .edu, or .gov. Here's a really great one I'm learning about in class http://www.mypyramid.gov/ Look and make sure the sites are UPDATED and no quick fix claims are all over. If you watch for this, you can be sure you'll get the correct information and not some bogus claims. This applies to most internet searches in general actually. :)
The best ways to get a REAL work out & do it w/o injury is:
-ONLY USE THE MUSCLE YOU ARE WORKING OUT. Do NOT try to do it all at once. If you notice yourself straining in your back, neck or other areas your not focusing, get focused and try again.
-Do 10-15 reps, focusing and flexing only the muscle you are working out. (Example: Do slower reps, starting with lower weights, flexing muscle you are trying to work out. As you get stronger only increase the weights, NOT the reps.)
-Try to ALWAYS flex your abs. during a work out. It will take strain off neck and back.
-Use the internet for excersing if you can't/don't want to leave the house. There is SO much you can do just at home useing you body weight, to work out. Example: the picture I posted, all of those positions will get you a good work out if you do them 15 times, slowly.
-When lunging, squatting, lifting weights, of working out in a class, focus on staying STRAIGHT, and SQUARE. (Example: when squatting, don't allow knees to shadow over shoes. When doing crunches, DO NOT use your neck just use your abs. If you cannot go up all the then DON'T. Don't push it, it will NOT work out your abs, only strain your neck and back. As you get stronger, you'll be able to do a full crunch!)
-Trick your body, and continue changing how and when you work out. Even walking 10mins 3 times a day will do it! It's working for me!
-Warm up before you start, and cool down when you are done. Not doing this can harm your organs, mostly your heart and cause injury in bones and muscles.
-Stretch! 15 seconds each stretch. This will assist in the break down of lactic acid created by your body from exercise, which will in turn increase weight loss and decrease sore muscles. It's best to stretch before and after a work out, but be sure your muscles are warm.
Well, that's all I got for now! The last thing I will say is that it takes time. Even tho we've lost weight quickly, it's taken hard work and a pretty extreme diet change to do it. We are in a competition and want to win! But we are still staying within the guidelines for healthy weight loss because we are still EATING. And doing it 5-6 times a day.
Until next time!
We are eating on average, 1400-1600 Calories a day. However, we are making sure that 30% or LESS of what we eat a day, is fat. Like oils, nuts, fats from meat and brown rice, etc. That is actually the suggestion amount given my Registered Dietitians as well as the USDA food guide, which is based on a 2000 Calorie diet a day. As far as "Carbs/CHO" go, we are cutting it to WHOLE wheat, WHOLE grains, fruits, and veggies. ALL of these foods contain CHO. In fact, fruits and veggies contain quite a bit and because they are Energy Dense foods they fill you up and give you large amounts of nutrients your body cannot produce on it's own. We spend one day a week doing the shopping, and the other doing the cooking/preparing meals in containers/baggies. This is also something suggested by many many programs out there, and it's working for us! This is time consuming at first, but I'm getting faster!
We are making sure we drink plenty water. How much water? Well, take a 30oz "hospital" mug. Fill that up 4 times a day, drink water before and after working out, as well as another fill up of the mug, and that's about the amount of water we drink each day.
We are active, at least 40mins-1hr a day. However, we have missed work outs some days, but mostly to let our muscles recover. FYI, your muscle DO NEED to have to rest after working out. Most of the time, we just work out a different part of our bodies the next day. Then once out muscles are warm we stretch good. 15 seconds each stretch.
Here are some tips we've been following about diet:
-Have meals and snack ready to grab if you are busy. It takes time to be healthy, so if you really want it, put the TIME in!
-If you prefer recipes, get ONLINE to find low fat/low calorie recipes, you'd be surprised how many there are!
-Most of the time, when you are "hungry" you actually need to drink water. So try this first before you eat.
-Keep it simple. A serving size of most meat is 2-3oz, which is the size of your fist. (In fact, this as a guide for MOST serving sizes, even fruits and veggies.) Veggie and fruit serving sizes are usually 1/2 Cup, or medium sized apples, oranges etc. Example: about 35 grapes is a serving size.
-WHOLE wheat and WHOLE grain. Non of this multi-grain stuff. It is different.
-Get RID of the junk in the house! If you don't have it lying around, it may help with how tempting it is to eat.
-It is cheaper to be healthy IF you plan!! Know what you are doing a week at a time, then you will use all the food you bought AND go out to eat less!
-Use butter and salad dressing sprays for flavor. Keep condiments to the serving sizes! A spoonful is about 1 tbsp. (Another thing you can do on toast if you like eggs is sunny side up eggs, use the yolk for butter and add some salt..YUM)
-Keep your meals colorful!
-Drinking juices is fine, but they have a lot of sugar in them. Don't use juice as a substitute for fruit.
-If you can help it, try not to cook ALL your veggies, the nutrients is at it's best raw.
-Smaller portions, just eating less.
-Learn how to read Nutrition Fact labels!! If it claims whole wheat or grain there is sometimes a sticker on the package to prove it. LOOK AT SERVING SIZES. If the ingredients are too long or you can't really read them, you probably shouldn't eat it!
-Eat 2-3 snacks a day, and 3 meals each day. No crash and burn stuff! If you have a food plan each day, week, or even just for dinner, and have snacks ready, this shouldn't be a problem.
-One day, document your intake and be honest. Then add up how many calories you eat a day... A soda, with fries and a hamburger is typically 1680 calories. That's how much Emil and I eat a day!! Wow.
-Go online! But be careful to ONLY trust sites with .org, .edu, or .gov. Here's a really great one I'm learning about in class http://www.mypyramid.gov/ Look and make sure the sites are UPDATED and no quick fix claims are all over. If you watch for this, you can be sure you'll get the correct information and not some bogus claims. This applies to most internet searches in general actually. :)
The best ways to get a REAL work out & do it w/o injury is:
-ONLY USE THE MUSCLE YOU ARE WORKING OUT. Do NOT try to do it all at once. If you notice yourself straining in your back, neck or other areas your not focusing, get focused and try again.
-Do 10-15 reps, focusing and flexing only the muscle you are working out. (Example: Do slower reps, starting with lower weights, flexing muscle you are trying to work out. As you get stronger only increase the weights, NOT the reps.)
-Try to ALWAYS flex your abs. during a work out. It will take strain off neck and back.
-Use the internet for excersing if you can't/don't want to leave the house. There is SO much you can do just at home useing you body weight, to work out. Example: the picture I posted, all of those positions will get you a good work out if you do them 15 times, slowly.
-When lunging, squatting, lifting weights, of working out in a class, focus on staying STRAIGHT, and SQUARE. (Example: when squatting, don't allow knees to shadow over shoes. When doing crunches, DO NOT use your neck just use your abs. If you cannot go up all the then DON'T. Don't push it, it will NOT work out your abs, only strain your neck and back. As you get stronger, you'll be able to do a full crunch!)
-Trick your body, and continue changing how and when you work out. Even walking 10mins 3 times a day will do it! It's working for me!
-Warm up before you start, and cool down when you are done. Not doing this can harm your organs, mostly your heart and cause injury in bones and muscles.
-Stretch! 15 seconds each stretch. This will assist in the break down of lactic acid created by your body from exercise, which will in turn increase weight loss and decrease sore muscles. It's best to stretch before and after a work out, but be sure your muscles are warm.
Well, that's all I got for now! The last thing I will say is that it takes time. Even tho we've lost weight quickly, it's taken hard work and a pretty extreme diet change to do it. We are in a competition and want to win! But we are still staying within the guidelines for healthy weight loss because we are still EATING. And doing it 5-6 times a day.
Until next time!
12.14.2009
Our New Place
We are really enjoying were we are at now. We didn't move too far, but are renting a sweet little house, with a closed off yard, garden spots and lots of trees.
This area of Logan has many post-war homes and our little place is among them. We've been here since mid-October and still haven't officially met our neighbors. We are hoping that we get a chance this week, before we head out of town. Did I mention we'll be spending some time in St. George and Vegas soon? We're stoked! We are going to go see my Aunt & Uncle, Kingston & Hoku's cousin doggies, and go watch The Lion King with my cousin! Then we'll of course head North again to see our families for Christmas. We haven't been on a trip that long with our doggies yet and I hope they enjoy it. We love having them with us…when they aren't we're constantly wondering how they are doing. What a WONDERFUL trip this will be!!
USU is having a Biggest Looser competition and you have to apply to be accepted…and it's official…EMIL AND I WERE ACCEPTED!!! WAHOO!! We are incredibly excited! Out of all the applicants only 20 are allowed to compete! It starts in January and ends in March, and we are REALLY determined to win!! Wish us luck!
Since we will be gone until January, we'd like to shout out to all of you, our dear friends and family! Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Holidays, Happy New Year, or just enjoy some time off this December!!!
12.02.2009
Trying SOMEthing new...
i Am wRitiNg my pOst in miCrosoFt woRd. In my class Computer Literacy, I learnedhow to post here And make it FUN! School is goodforsomething!!haha!
SO speaking ofschool i've been studying ALL day! serious. since 2:00p.m.UGH. i am getting a lot done. i really do enjoy school, it's tough but i'm really looking forward to what is to come of it all. i have a STRONG desire to be a nurse! this is what i want to do. but i want other things too. for now school is what i should be doing. it sure feels good to have direction
in my studies and what it is i need to do, and to be DOing iT. ya know? things keep working out too... i depend so much on prayer and putting HIM first. i'm not the greatest at it, but when i do my best to depend on Him, i see results that i know i could NOT have had any other way. this goes for everything in my life, not just school.
i better get back to the books...SAD! it's 1:00a.m.!! hopefully i can go to bed before i have to go to work...
p.s. check this out. introducing: India Arie. she's a musician i really enjoy. she's been keeping my company as i study ANDreally knows how to WRiTE.
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