A Slice of My Life

Wow, its turning out to be such a busy week. I've hardly got time to type a post, much less think of a topic.

Anyway, here's what's going on this week.

1. Diet and Exercise. I'm back on the wagon. One of my mottoes for the moment is "move more, eat less". I need to go for my annual doctor's check up, and don't want to be told to lose weight. I'd rather do it before I go, so I've decided to try to eat more nutritiously, try to eat breakfast and just move more. I'm not usually a breakfast eater and research definitely shows that people who eat breakfast are able to lose weight more easily. I'm not hungry until mid morning, so this week I took instant cheese grits to work with me to make in the office microwave. Two packs of grits are 200 calories and when eaten about 9:00 A.M. seem to satisfy my appetite so that when lunch time comes I'm not starving. Then I can get by with something light. A fat free yogurt for a mid afternoon snack holds me over to supper time. Then I try to eat a balanced meal in moderation. The key word is "try". :o) I did see a 2 pound weight loss on the scale this morning which is encouraging. But, I know that if I don't keep working on this, it'll come right back!

2. Walking. I have been walking on the treadmill for 15 or 20 minutes in the morning before work and even though its pretty hot, I've been able to walk about 20 minutes during my lunch break at work. The weather this week hasn't been too hot at noon time, usually about 82 or 83. It gets up into the 90s before the day is over though. If I check the temperature on the computer for my area and its already approaching 90at noon, I just won't go!

3. Pedometer. My friend gave me a pedometer that she got for free from her insurance company. Yesterday I walked over 8,000 steps which I was pleased with! It is recommended that you walk 10,000 steps a day which is about 5 miles. I'm not sure I can get that many steps in without being totally exhausted, since last night I was pretty fatigued with walking 8,000 steps.

4. Cakes. No cakes this week. My future step-son-in-law's birthday is July 4th, but I won't see him since he will be at the beach. And since we are trying to lose weight at our house (perpetually!), I really shouldn't be making so many cakes anyway..... (sigh). We have another family reunion to attend in July, so I am planning to make some sort of cake for that. I'm thinking a chocolate pound cake with some decorations on it, since that is one of hubby's favorites.

5. veggies. We are getting fresh squash and green beans from the garden daily now. Yum! Cooked the right way, these are great for eating on a nutritious diet. I can pretty much have all the green beans I want. If only we could grow spaghetti, pizza and hamburgers in the garden!

6. Feed your soul. Another motto of mine lately is "feed your soul". Its hard for us women sometimes to take time for ourselves. Its important for our emotional health to do something every day that helps us calm down and just "be". In fact my doctor recommended that I just "be" at my last check up a year ago. If the doctor orders it, I have to do it, right? I'm constantly doing something or planning to do something. How can I just "be"? Here are some ways:

..... no plans at lunch. No errands, just eat lunch or take a walk just because I enjoy it.

...... spend time in my flowers. Watering, pulling weeds, dead heading. Early in the morning is best.

....... read a book. Bible reading is best, of course. Wouldn't it be nice to spend an afternoon reading a good book? When's the last time anyone had time to do that?

....... Sit on the porch and watch the world go by.

....... Sewing or other hobby. What do you enjoy doing that you lose track of time while doing? What did you enjoy doing as a child?

....... Shopping. No, I'm not talking about having a spending spree! This is a frugal blog after all. But, I'm always in a hurry when I go shopping. Its either at lunch time at work or after work. I'm always rushing around. Wouldn't it be nice to just go browsing around in stores at your leisure? I am badly in need of some new summer clothes. I am so tired of staring into the abyss every morning trying to find something to wear. Today I think I will have some retail therapy and just "be" at a store somewhere. Don't know how or when, but maybe.....

Remember, you can't take care of others if you don't take care of yourself.

I will leave you with this Bible verse. I like both these translations of Psalms 139, verse 3:

"My Journeys and my rest you scrutinize, with all my ways you are familiar" or

"You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways". Wow! God scrutinizes my rest.... Think about that.