Temptation

The temptations for over-eating are all around you. The most important thing is to stay away from the fast food places where you can eat fat, carbs, and salt any time of the day. Another good thing is to not watch commercials on TV or other places. Keep on your plan, drink your water, and do your exercise - the basics are good. And you can resist temptation.

Sue

Down 1

Well, I went down one - yeah! Nametags on the brain. I'm determined to learn my kids' names this year. Good day today. Now I have seen all my kids at least once. Nice group of students this year.

Sue

Made It

Well, I survived. I had a good lunch and tried to drink my water, but didn't do too well on the water. I'm trying to get my routine down so I can drink the water. It's very difficult this year because the classes come right on top of each other, one right after another. The kids are responding well to Responsive Classroom though. This is good. Tomorrow I don't have 11 classes, so it will not be quite as tough.

I'm going to bed.
Sue

A Record

Tomorrow I have 11 classes. This is an all-time record in one day. Every Monday I will teach 11 classes. I am prepared and ready. I have some snacks ready and a good but fast lunch. If I'm still alive tomorrow night (ha) I'll let you know how it goes.

Sue

Looking East

Yesterday went well - all 10 classes of it. Best start of school ever. B and I went out to a nice dinner. Today was a normal day - nice weather, food shopping, stopped at Kohls to pick up some new shoes. Even my feet weren't hurting too bad today. I took Essi for a nice walk this morning.

I hope the hurricane isn't tearing things up too much out east. I'm worried for my sister and family in Virginia Beach and my beloved Rehoboth Beach. Right this minute it is directly on top of Rehoboth. I hope the sea grass holds.

Sue

Good Day

Kids excited. Me too. Good first day. Things started on the right foot. Drank my water. Salad for lunch. Nice dinner that B made. I'm tired, so I'm going to bed.

Sue

Hurricane Irene

It's heading for Virginia and Rehoboth. Batten down the hatches. And just after the earth quake. I hope it isn't as bad as they think it will be.

Tomorrow is our first day of school. I'm excited to meet my kids!

Sue

How to Stay Focused

OK, I need hints from everybody as to how to stay focused on the health plan despite the change of schedule. Please, help.

Sue

Plan Ahead

What do you do when you're tired and you come home not feeling like cooking? You plan ahead, so you don't have to decide what to have. You already have the meal ready to go, just take it out of the refridgerator and cook it. That's what I did tonight. I came home and took Essi for a short walk, then did some work on my computer while sitting in the backyard catching up on my water. Then I came in and cooked swordfish, sliced tomatoes, and green beans. OK, it's not a gourmet meal, but it tasted good.

Sue

Preparing for the First Day

Tomatoes are really coming in now. Yum. We have our teachers district meeting tomorrow morning at 8 am. Then other meetings at our school and in our rooms for the rest of the day. I went over today and my room is almost ready. I have put away quite a lot of stuff for a cleaner look. I think it will be better. Took a walk with bob and essi too. Ate some blueberries today, the perfect food. Took my neighbor some tomatoes.

Waiting in Line

I did a lot of this today. Everybody seemed to have the same idea I had and went to the same stores at the same time. It was teacher day at Staples and their checkout computers were down. Yikes! I did get to Dorothy Lane Market and did a nice shopping for the first week of school. One more day before Teacher Day on Monday.

Sue

Clean

We had our windows cleaned today - wow! It is so wonderful to see out with clean screens and windows. We also cleaned our rugs this week. So we are feeling great here. I cleaned up my piles in my den and am readying my room at school. I'm looking forward to trying out some new stuff to start things off great. One more weekend and it starts.

Sue

How to Plan a Meal

I stole this from my WW meeting.

Pick a vegetable. Decide what to do with it, like stuff it, saute it, cut it up.
Add a power food like fruit, greens, other veggies that go with it.
Add a whole grain (NOT white flour based).
Add a protein. What are you going to do with it?
Add a healthy fat.
Don't forget the herbs, spices, condiments.
Assemble.

Notice that the meal is NOT built around meat, but around the veggies. This is how you stay healthy for life, by focusing on the veggies and fruits, the power foods. I like this. So when somebody says, "what are you having for dinner?" You say, "eggplant, tomatoes, with some wild rice/quinoa/whole grain pasta, cheese." Or something that does not focus on the meat. Half the plate is veggies and fruit. Wild, eh? What do you think?

Sue

Tomatoes

I love tomatoes fresh from the garden. There is nothing better. They are now starting to come in. I love the juices squirting all over your face and down your chin when you eat a slice. I love the sweetness. Yum! This is the season when we eat them breakfast, lunch, and dinner. My favorite dinner: tomatoes, corn on the cob, and green beans. I don't care about anything else.

Sue

Just under 1

Got our rugs cleaned today. They look much better. Meetings and preparation today. Hair done tomorrow. More meetings.

Oh yes, I forgot.... I lost .8 lb this week. I'll take it.

Sue

Productive

Productive day - checked out my room, met with principal, walked Essi, rode the bike at the Y, lunch and dinner with Bob. Tomorrow we get our carpets cleaned.

Sue

Walking and Keeping Going

I've been doing a lot of it this summer. I can't believe I only have one more week to go before school starts up again. Wow, where did the summer go? Still walking, still working on my eating plan. I really want to keep it up when school starts. Some hints please from anybody reading out there.

Sue

Kinds of Yoga

Our Y now has a version of yoga that's exercise yoga, all the moves of yoga with none of the breathing and meditation. I think of it as yoga without the heart. They did this, I believe, because hatha (traditional) yoga was too spiritual. The Y is a Christian organization. I miss the real yoga classes. We had a fantastic instructor, Eva, who was really great. Every time I take the class now, I try to do the breathing anyway, but they move in and out of the postures too quickly for me. I like to find a posture and hold it there, not moving up and down like a yoyo. Maybe I could get a DVD and try to use that. I can't see spending the money extra when we have the facility over there, the largest Y in the country (no kidding). What kinds of yoga do you like? Have you tried it? If not, it's wonderful and I recommend it highly.

Sue

Out to Dinner for Less

We went out to dinner tonight. Good meal. I counted all my points and went over by six points. I have a lot of activity points and all my extra points that I haven't used. I always enjoy going out to dinner. When I was little we rarely went out, so it was always a special treat to me. Now I think most Americans go out all the time.

Weather is still nice. I am really enjoying it. Walked Essi today and rode the bike for 30 minutes. That should do something.

Sue

Beautiful Day

It was a gorgeous day. Walked Essi. Sat outside doing work. Hummingbirds have discovered my feeder after all summer. There must be a half dozen flying around chasing each other. They are very entertaining. Down to fifties !=(!) tonight. Good points day.

OK, I'll send this good weather to you all.
Sue

Food as Medicine

A lot of people now realize that the right food can function as medicine. Here are the top 5 functional foods and what they help (per USA Today):
Salmon - heart, memory, brain
Blueberries - anti-aging
Apples - lung function (includes the skin)
Nuts - antioxidants, good fat
Legumes - blood sugar, heart

Have a good night's sleep,
Sue

a bit of a back-slide

Well, I gained a lb last week. I was expecting it to be worse. I did a lot of snacking and not much sleeping. I tried to move, walk, etc. but mostly I sat all day and used my brain. OK, back on it now. I went to the meeting this morning and got inspired again. There was a woman who had just reached the 30 lb mark. Did she ever feel good about herself. We talked about what your plate should look like: 1/4 protein, 1/4 grains, 1/2 veggies and fruit with veggies making up a bit more than fruit. Good plan! I find I am drinking less milk, but I still have cheese and cottage cheese.

Hope you're doing well,
Sue

When to workout

Morning - eat some some complex carbs and protein before
Lunch - eat healthy protein and veggies after
After dinner - eat more at breakfast and lunch and less at dinner

I find I do better working out in the morning rather than afternoon or evening. Morning workouts energize me for the day.

Sue

Back on Schedule

Got back yesterday and was exhausted. Very valuable week, but difficult and challenging. Can't wait to apply what I learned with my students. Great stuff!

Regular nice day with normal Saturday activities. It's very hot and humid still. Gardens are doing better than last year however.

Sue

Business Traveling

(R., this one's for you!)

Phew... is it ever difficult, business travel, that is. And I'm even staying in the same bed for four nights. I know you travelers already know about the wonderful in-room air conditioner/heater that goes on and off LOUDLY, that's either freezing or boiling. Well, I had the added thrill of jets taking off just outside my room (or at least it sure sounds like it) from 5:40 am to 11:30 pm. My school paid for the room, so I couldn't switch hotels. But, my bed and pillows are ok and there's plenty of hot water. Decent food at the seminar, but not diet. I tried, but I don't think I did too well. Argh. I learned a lot. This was absolutely life changing as far as my teaching goes. I am on over load now. I hope I can figure out how to incorporate all this. Good stuff!!!!! Home tomorrow to a decent night's sleep. Essi is moping. I can't wait for the joyous yelps. Yeah!

Sue