Aloha

Aloha! A simple and short word that means many things to the Hawaii people including: hello and good by; love; to consciously manifest life joyously in the present and as a way of life, to name just a few.

I was privileged to experience aloha on the island of Oahu over the past 10 days. Many members of my family traveled to this beautiful island for the wedding of a good family friend.

Coming from a very much wintry Upper Midwest I was taken a back by the incredible majestic beauty of that beautiful state. The vibrant flowers delighted my heart and fed my soul. 

The wedding reception was held in a beautiful botanical garden on the north shore of Oahu. Beautiful setting. Beautiful couple. Amazing to spend time with my adult children, their partners and some of their off spring.

I ate well. I was enthralled by the taste of lettuce of all things. I eat good produce and everyday. But the lettuce I eat in MN tastes nothing like that in Hawaii. We went to many farmers’ markets and became quickly spoiled by the variety of vegetables and fruits.  I exercised well, too. I rented a bike and logged over 100 miles on it. The area we stayed had an excellent bike path and some hills that made it easy to hop on every morning. Plus, we swam and played in the water nearly everyday.

We hiked up a couple of mountains, too, a few times.

It was a remarkable trip and remarkable in healthy ways, too. Throughout I was mindful to eat well and enjoy things in moderation. I had a little ice cream most days, and of course enjoyed a nice piece of wedding cake. I also became familiar with the wonderful world of Hawaii smoothies at Lanikai Juice;  made with a variety of fruits and a little yogurt they were delicious and refreshing. I never binged or even wanted to. My healthy eating and living life style is really part of who I am now. 

I enjoyed island time and tried to live aloha every day. My plan is to keep living aloha every day. It is now back to work for a few days before I head north to Barrow, Alaska to supervise some students. Take care. Stay strong and keep moving forward toward better health. 

Aloha,

Michele

What is working for me and off to a cyclists paradise!

Greetings!

Over the last two weeks we have seen some mixed weather in the Upper Midwest. We hit 50 degrees a week ago for the first time. The very next day we were down in the low 30’s. For me this meant that I was able to get outdoors and bike and surprisingly get in a little more cross-country skiing. My biking miles last week were 43 and cross- country skiing just about 10. I put my skis away now, and I think for good. I logged over 76 miles of cross-country skiing this winter. Biking season is slowly getting underway. There was a lot of snow to melt (as you can see from the picture with Ellery).

I put my trainer away too, with means I am optimistic that I will be outdoors and cycling.

I dropped another pound last week, which puts me at 44 pounds off since I started. I am very encouraged by the fact that the scale is going downward. This has not happened in a long time. I am on a very regular pattern of eating, plus I exercise about 500 calories worth at least 5 times a week. Both of those measures are making a difference for me.

Here is what is working for me as far as what I eat:

Breakfast
Two pieces of toast (bread is 100 calories a slice), one with tsp PB and one with one tsp jam. Except on Sunday when I make a two-egg omelet with a ton of peppers and onions.
Juice (ruby read grapefruit light) with ¼ cup of OJ

Lunch:
Most often times I have a frozen meal that is less than 300 calories, sometimes Kashi, sometimes Lean Cuisine. I usually have a piece of fruit, too.

Dinner:
6/7 days are a green salad with a variety of toppings (such as a handful of beans, shredded carrots, cucumbers, craisins, hard boiled eggs, grilled chicken, green peppers, strawberries, apples, or other fruit) with 1 tablespoon of my favorite light salad dressing.

Snacks:
Three snacks a day, yogurt smoothie everyday. I have a snack midmorning, mid-afternoon and usually after dinner. I mix and match from the following list:

1 cup Fage yogurt with forzen strawberries (smoothie)
Honeycrisp apple
20 small pretzels (for one serving)
Frozen Weight Watcher yogurt bar
Cup of grapes or strawberries or other fruit
Crackers
½ cup or one serving of chocolate ice cream

My calorie totals are between 1200-1500, although I have to be honest and say that I do not keep track anymore. I wrote everything down for over two years. I feel pretty confident that I know what 1200-1500 calories are now. I am very diligent and deliberate about what I eat and plan my food when I am away from home. I enjoy making my food, including all the food prep that is involved in chopping up all the veggies for my salad. I am always on the look out for really good produce because it is one of the main staples of my diet. Looking forward to the farmer’s market, which opens in my area at the end of April.

I cooked up a storm over Easter weekend. Cajun food is becoming a family favorite. I am slowly learning how to get a real nice kick in the side dishes that I make: red beans and rice and  jambalaya. I made some Dutch treats including apple tart and these wonderful filled cookies, called gevulde kok. I had some tart, but none of the cookies. I saved my extra calories for the chocolate eggs by See’s that I love (100 calories each). I allowed myself one a day, except for Easter when I had two. Other than that chocolate I had TWO M&M’s and 10 jellybeans. That was it. And we had Easter and the Easter egg hunt (128 eggs) at our house! So, I think I am getting eating through holidays down, too.

Many in my family will be traveling to the island of Oahu (yes, in Hawaii!) for a family wedding late next week. I worked hard to organize my teaching schedule so that I could go in the middle of the semester. Everything is falling into place nicely. I have never been to an island like Hawaii. I look forward to learning more about the natural history and beauty of this lovely area of the world. I intend to rent a bike as soon as I can so that I can cycle in paradise!

Thank-you all so much for the very positive comments from my last post about my good health news. Your support and encouragement help me to stay focused. Hope you are all doing well in your getting healthy and fit goals.  Stay strong! TTFN,

Michele

Health News!

Greetings Bloggers! 

Last week was a truly great week for me. First of all, I lost three pounds!!!! I am now down to an even 170. This is my first loss in 18 months. I cannot tell you how inspiring it is to finally knock off some pounds. I think I am hitting my stride now with eating and I am keeping to the same basic eating habits every day. It is paying off. I will blog more about my daily eating habits next week, because I have MORE great news to share with you.

I had my annual physical last Thursday. I was a little nervous, not because of the exam part, but, because I knew I would have a bunch of lab tests, including fasting glucose and my first diabetes screen the: HEMOGLOBIN A1C. My mother was diabetic, my younger brother is diabetic, and being still in the obese category I am at high risk. Here are my results: 

Here is the message from my doctor:

Michele, 
Your cholesterol is about the same as at your last check, it does not need to be monitored annually. Your blood sugar is excellent and your A1C is in the non-diabetic range.

I was astounded that my blood glucose has gone from 90 last year to 66 this year!! Plus, my overall lipid panel has improved as well. As you know, I  maintained the same weight loss (40 pounds) for almost 18 months. However, it is not just weight loss that is a measure of my vastly improving health. I kept up my exercise and continued to eat, for the most part very healthy. It has paid off in spades! With that 3-pound loss, well, I have not had a week of good healthy news in a long, long time.

As far as exercise,  I rode 27 miles this week on either my trainer or my Dutch bike (14). I am getting in at least 30 minutes 5 times per week on one bike or another.

Last week was a fairly intense week professionally. It was our once every 6 year programmatic accreditation by the North Central Association for Teacher Education (NCATE) and the Minnesota Board of Teaching (BOT) licensure review. We passed it all with flying colors. As  matter of fact, we were commended by NCATE for such a high quality evaluation. I was not too worried about the evaluation, but I was concerned about all the FOOD that would be part of every event, including some large gatherings with NCATE/BOT folks and alums over the lunch/dinner hours. I am happy to report that I passed on all the buffet food: chips, wraps, cookies, bars, pasta, gourmet sandwiches, etc., by planning ahead carefully and having my own food in my little cooler or a lunchbox. It was so busy, that I do not think a single person noticed that I was not eating most of the delicious foods served by our great kitchen at the college where I teach. I did  get a plate at times, but my plate only hosted tomatoes or carrots or fruit. It was a great strategy and got me through what could have been a solid 72 hours of overeating.

One more event: Saturday was my granddaughter’s tenth birthday. She asked for a carrot cake, which is one of my specialties. I planned for that, too. I rode my trainer bike for 30 minutes in the morning. Later that morning I went out for another 7.5 miles on my Dutch bike. I banked about 500 extra calories from the double rides enough for a nice slice of carrot cake. I enjoyed every single delicious bite!

So, folks, planning, planning and more planning are the keys to my success.  If I can do it, so can you. Really you can.  Don't give up. You are worth it. 

Have a great week! TTFN!

Michele

Exercise of many kinds and status quo in weight loss

Greetings !

Already the middle of March. Wow!

Cross country skiing is about over for me for this year. Temperatures are pushing over 32 degrees during the day, which means the snow is just too icy to ski safely. I am proud to say I got in about 66 miles this winter of cross country skiing! That is over 10, 000 kcals burned, too, by the way. My goal was 50 miles, so obviously I went past that. I know many of you live in areas of the country where you can not cross country ski. If you get a chance, give it a try. It is one of the best, low impact, full body exercises that you can do. My legs and arms are both much stronger because of it, plus you are outdoors which is for me one of the best parts. Here is a picture of my skis on one of my last runs. 

I am skiing in a snow mobile track that my neighbor made so that I wouldn’t have to make my own tracks and sink in. 

Last Wednesday I spent the afternoon with two of my favorite girls: Ellery and Nani. Nani will turn 10 next week, so we celebrated a little with just the three of us. Nani got to pick what she wanted to do and she chose the very popular indoor park in our area. As you can see from the pictures the indoor park has quite a climbing apparatus. Well I was thinking I would sit on one of the benches and just keep an eye on the girls. Well, no, they invited Oma to come play with them. So, why not? I climbed in the hamster cages and went down the slides, too (except the long tunnel one~I am a little claustrophobic!). I was pleasantly surprised to see how much more agile I have become, more than likely due to all that skiing. I can’t compete with those two girls, but I could keep up and climb up all the steps. It was actually fun! Getting in better shape allowed me to have fun with my two favorite girls and not be afraid that I could not play along with them. I forgot to snap a picture so you will have to make do with one taken last year at Nani's First Communion.

In other fitness related news, I rode my bike and trainer last week for 17 miles. Now that biking season is nearing, I am working on getting some of my rhythm back. That trainer is way easier for me this year. I can easily do 5 miles without stopping. If you never rode a bike hooked to a trainer you may not know that the tension on the wheel can be significant. Yes, you can adjust it, but there still is more tension than a typical ride. All that skiing and cycling from last year has definitely increased the strength in my legs that I can get on the trainer and ride steady.

Lastly, I am still holding my own with weight. Nothing lost this week. Clothes feel loser, but that is it. The last two weeks have been pretty much perfect for me in terms of eating. I have shared with you that my basal metabolic rate is 1070 kcals per day. Meaning that is what my body expends at rest, naturally. 1070 is VERY low. I am guessing that most of your metabolic rates are closer to 2000 kcals if you are a woman and men well you probably top off way over 2000. I exercise regularly, eat well, and the pounds do not just fall off. I try not to be discouraged, but last week there were a few low points. I picked myself up though. What choice do I have? I want to lose the weight. I really want to get out of the obese category... Eventually it will come off. Right?

How do you keep from being discouraged?

Have a great week. Stay strong and steady in your getting healthy efforts!

TTFN,

Michele