Smile when the world is groaning
Posted by: aviddiva on: January 28, 2010
Many things have happened this week. The theme for this week is to keep going even if the world seems to be against you.
Notice that I said the world SEEMS to be against you. I did not say the world is against you. There are several reasons why I used the word seems. First of all, we teach others how to treat us. If we never show support and caring for others, we cannot expect others to care and support us. The second reason why I say seems is because our perception is not reality.
How many times have you seen someone staring at you in a strange way only to find out later that the person is nearsighted and did not even notice you standing a few feet away? How often have you gone to the store and smiled at the cashier, only to get an otherwise serious person to gift you with the most beautiful smile back. Think about it. How much of your perception that the world is against you, real? Are you sure? Do you really have no support?
I can tell you from personal experience, that every time I start a new journey (like living my home country to start again in the US at 43 years young), for every person that thinks I am crazy, I have another that wishes they had the guts to try something new. There is a lot of fearful people in the world. They might show their fear as lack of support when the reality is that it is something about them that they have to work through.
So what is my message to you today. When you are going for your goals, smile no mattter what. When the whole world seems to be groaning, smile and keep going toward your goals anyway. I can guarantee you, most of the time, it is not about you. The rest of the people in this world, have their own concerns, you may or may not be a priority to them. What better example for them to follow than to see you achieving your goals and smiling all the way through.
If you are feeling tired…
Posted by: aviddiva on: January 19, 2010
you should make sure that you are getting nourished, get plenty of sleep and relax. Feeling tired is your body’s way of telling you that something is not right. Figure it out and take care of it.
Yesterday, I went out for a training. On the way back, I rode the bus system. It took me two hours to ride 16 miles. Needless to say, by the time I got home, I felt frustrated, hungry and tired. I was lucky enough that my daughter had made dinner, and I ate heartily. Then I took a nap. When I woke up, I was more tired than when I took my nap. I looked at my day and I realized that I had not eaten anything since breakfast, I had no water, and I walked, carrying a heavy bag for over a mile. I love walking so I did not notice the weight on the bag was stressing my back…until I woke up this morning.
Today, I am going for the second part of the training. What to do? I have snacks in my bag, I ate some cream of wheat, I packed my water bottle and I am more relaxed, having done some breathing exercises. Now all I need is to get some transportation set up for next week, because I cannot count on the bus system.
My question to you is this: what is making you feel tired? Look back on your day, or the last week, and identify those things that are wearing you out. Are you eating well? Do you need to supplement with a vitamin? Do you need to relax? Keep yourself accountable and take care of yourself.
Are you having fun?
Posted by: aviddiva on: January 18, 2010
- In: Lifestyle
- 2 Comments
Taking time to have fun is one of the fundamental principles of taking care of yourself. Being there for you is as important as being there for your friends and family. Think about this for a moment.
In order for us as women to take care of others, we have to take care of ourselves first. There are several issues that should concern you. Some are obvious, like nutrition, general health, plenty of sleep. Other things are not so obvious. One of the best ways to take care of yourself is having fun. Fun is described as different things for different people. For me, fun could be going to the beach, reading a good book or watching a movie with some friends. For you, having fun could be going to a water park, taking a vacation, rock climbing. You should find what works for you and include it in your routine.
Make a list of fun things that you like to do. Make sure to include small things and big things. Include things that take less than an hour and things that take several days. Once you pick those things that you like to do, start adding them in your agenda. Just like your calendars have appointments for work, school and special events, include fun things to do in between.
Above all, HAVE FUN. When it is time to do the thing that you want to do for fun, go full tilt. Enjoy doing fun things with good company or alone. Take the time to savor the experience.
Let me know how it goes.
Can you keep a food journal?
Posted by: aviddiva on: January 11, 2010
Two weeks ago, I started a challenge by tweeting my food journal. Somebody mentioned they had seen a news report about people becoming healthy again after keeping food journals. I have never been good at it, so I decided to go through the public scrutiny. Here is what I learned.
Out of the 12 days I did it, I actually posted 9 on twitter and six on my blog. I give myself credit for using the baseline weeks to keep track. I feel like is a little obsessive to spend that much time on what I ate. It takes all the fun out of the experience of eating. I came to understand that the reason why I have never been able to keep it up is because I just don’t want to spend that much time on what I ate, how I felt, etc.
Those days that I did keep up with it, I found out that my real problem is not the chocolate, it is the carbohydrates. I have to make adjustments in my daily nutrition in only to have better choices like fruits, veggies, brown bread. I also noticed an abundance of white stuff when money is a consideration: white rice, white pasta, white bread.
The most important lesson that I got out of this experience is that you should always do what works for YOU. Food journals do not work for me. Moving, works for me better than anything. The words I choose work on me. That is why on my daily goals I list “Drink plenty of water”. This statement is an action statement. It is not about the negative aspect of my decisions on what to drink. It is about choosing the good ones. In the two weeks I have been doing this, I have had one soda. Normally I would have one a day. That is progress. The second goal that I set for myself is “Move one hour every day”. Out of the 11 days of the month of January, I have done that for eight. Most days, it has been walking. I have done some other exercises, and more importantly, I am going to the gym. Interestingly enough, I have not let the cold weather affect my walking schedule. I am taking things slow and using baby steps. That works for me. For some of you, giant leaps might be more your style. That is OK too.
The important thing is that you do something. I am curious though, can you keep a food journal? Let me know. I can’t wait to see what you think.
Food journal ~ Day 6
Posted by: aviddiva on: January 7, 2010
Wow, shocking. I am still doing this.
My mood today – testy. My hubby is going back to PR tomorrow. We watched him pack and we kept the mood light. It is still painful. He is the one with the full time job and there are some loose ends to tie up over there.
I am also cold. I did not realize that Florida got this cold. I figured cold would maybe be 40, not 20. It has been an interesting adjustment.
Now for the actual meals.
10:15 AM 2 ounces of Cracklin Oatbran dry, plenty of water after.
12:15 PM Handful of bow tie pasta and meat sauce, more water after.
3:00 PM Two slices of Angelo’s pizza – extra cheese, onions and bacon. Snapple lemon tea.
5:30 PM Four ounces of Activia strawberry yogurt.
10:15 PM It makes no sense, but I found some old Cookies and Cream BR Ice cream and I had about three spoonfulls.
11:15 PM Less than an ounce of dark chocolate. I am still drinking water as I write this.
Food journal ~ Day 5 was Tuesday
Posted by: aviddiva on: January 6, 2010
Since I promised to keep this up, no matter what, I will.
In the exercise front, I had this interesting situation with my right leg. A muscle got upset at me and pain was unbearable. After 3 massages, and a lot of screaming, on Tuesday I was able to walk in 35 degree weather for half an hour. I am very proud of myself for being able to brave the elements.
And now to the food entries, and remember, the first week I am eating what I usually eat in order to figure out what I am really doing wrong. I can tell you that chocolate is my downfall. There are other mistakes on my food choices.
9:30 AM I ate 2.1 ounces of Frosted Flakes dry. I don’t drink milk which makes having milk on cold cereal impossible.
12:30 PM Spaghetti and fresh shrimp on vodka sauce, excellent meal. 2 squares of 60% dark chocolate with caramel
6:00 PM Pulled pork on Jack Daniels sauce and jazmin rice. 2 squares of the dark chocolate with caramel
10:30 PM 10 Fish Sticks with mayo ketchup sauce.
Drank water all day long. Wow, I did not have any fruits or veggies today. This is really bad.
Highlight: I just joined the Biggest Looser Challenge where for every pound you loose, they donate a pound for the needy. You can get more info here
Food journal ~ Day 4
Posted by: aviddiva on: January 5, 2010
Wow, today was not a good day at all. I was so busy I did not exercise (it was too cold to walk and I only walked to the bus station, etc, probably did not walk more than 7 minutes at a time, four times, that is 28, which did not account to much. Real exercise, no. Using daily tasks to walk some, yes.
The food journal was even worse. I woke up at 9, did not have anything to eat until 11. Here it goes
11:30 AM 2 ounces of Heartland cereal, ran out. Drank water.
2:40 PM had a massive drop in sugar levels. When that happens, my favorite life saver is a slice of bread with peanut butter. Since we no longer buy white bread, we are trying different varieties of brown bread and this one was spectacular in flavor (Nature’s Pride Whole Grain).
2:50 PM ate 6 fish sticks baked in an oven instead of deep fried. Had them with some mayo-ketchup (for those not familiar with this, it is equal parts mayo and ketchup and a little bit of garlic for flavor. Had more water.
6:00 PM I went to take a test for a job opportunity and they gave us a dinner break. We did not know that was going to happen and without a car, I found out why I should always have a snack handy. This is specially funny because I just got pecans and fruits from the grocery store, which I should have packed and taken with me. Lesson learned. I had a variety of ill choices from the vending machine. I picked the bag of white cheddar popcorn because in a recent tv show I found out it was the lesser evil. Had half the bag and my hubby had the other half. Down it with two fast swigs of Coca Cola, which, if you come from Puerto Rico, and you are used to CC in PR, you don’t drink it in the states, too sweet, and not enough sizzle. Plus, I want to keep drinking other things.
9:20 PM Ironic that today I decided to go for the regular spaghetti box instead of the brown ones I usually buy. Today,we ate late, after coming home from the job interview. I had a big serving with about four ounces of Shrimp in vodka sauce. The sauce was Berttolli (sorry, I am a big fan). I need to learn to make my own pasta sauce. The dinner was great and it was a fitting end to a strange day. The reason why I am not feeling very guilty is because it is close to midnight and I am not sleepy yet. This means that it will be over 3 hours before I go to sleep and I will be a little less full.
I have taken my 60% Cocoa dark chocolate with caramel and I am pretty sure I will eat the whole thing before I go to bed. I am bad some times. I do need to find healthy substitutes for my sweet tooth. I did purchase some fruits and I will see how it goes tomorrow.
Food journal – Day 3
Posted by: aviddiva on: January 4, 2010
Before I post my daily journal, there is something I should mention. One of the six goals for the month is to exercise one hour a day. Today, I exercised for 25 minutes. Surprise. I did not berate myself for failing. I gave myself a break and listened to my body. I avoided injury. I did not give up. The important thing when you set a goal is to go for it, not the destination, the journey.
My daily journal today went something like this.
9:30 AM Sleepy mood, ate 3 ounces of Heartland cereal dry. Drank water after.
1:30 PM After a short walk (where I experienced pain on my leg) I had a bowl of white cheddar popcorn. Drank more water.
2:30 PM Felt guilty about the popcorn and ate some nachos with humus. Humus is one of those healthy spreads that I love to eat with pretty much anything.
About 10 minutes later I had a Hershey chocolate almond bar.
3:30 PM Ate a banana. I am not sure if I am anxious, hungry or bored.
7:15 PM Salmon with couscous, excellent choice. Feel it was a healthy meal. My desert was one ounce of dark chocolate.
It is now 12:45 PM and I did not add any more food to my consumption. See you tomorrow.
Food journal ~ Day 2
Posted by: aviddiva on: January 3, 2010
Wow! Today was my first real challenge, pizza without soda. This was the time to test my need to drink only water (or water like products).
First off: I went to bed a little after midnight and so I woke up at 9 AM. At 10 AM I had 3 ozs of Heartland Cereal (dry – no milk) and at about 11:30 AM I had an ounce of dark chocolate.
Later on I went for a sight seeing walk – a little over two miles. Great walk, very refreshing.
At 3:30 PM I ordered a pizza from dominoes with extra cheese, onions and bacon. It came on garlic crust (not what we ordered, very tasty). I ate the pizza with Perrier water. I double checked that carbonated water did not have any extra ingredients.
At some point after that I had three chocolate turtles: those are made with caramel and peanuts. Excellent.
It is 7:30 PM and I just took some Alka Seltzer for cold and flu because I needed something to take the sinus pressure away (I usually don’t keep medication in the house, which is why when I need meds I take the one that most closely handles the symptoms). Maybe this would be a good time to say that I do not have a car yet and the closest store is four miles away, which is a $12 cab ride or a $2 bus ticket (one way) assuming that it is early enough during the day. Yes, that limits the choices I have of food and medications. We are hopeful that this month we will either have a scooter or a car to get around (that will depend on job prospects). I had a massive sinus headache and the medication got rid of it, which made me hungry. So I ate a serving of Frosted Flakes. No milk.
Sometime, at about 9:30 PM, I had the leftover bow tie pasta and meat with some mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. It was tasty.
I have noticed that when I am short on options (close to shopping day) I eat a lot of carbohydrates. I want to see if this continues over the coming days.
This is a test of my ability to keep a food journal for 30 days. This is the second day and all the entries are extracted from my twitter account at: www.twitter.com/aviddiva
Right now it is 11:19PM and I am guilty of having another ounce of dark chocolate.
I am in good spirits and looking forward to a great year.
Biggest Looser Challenge
