Figure Friendly Fridays

A Half Cup of Joy

If you know me well, you know that I love mint chocolate chip ice cream or just about any ice cream with chocolate slivers in it. Just imagine it: rich, velvety chocolate melting in your mouth mixed with smooth, minty goodness. Yummmm.

STOP! I know it's not very figure friendly!

Well, to compromise on cutting the fat I usually buy the Weight Watchers little mini cups of mint chocolate chip ice cream. It satisfies my taste buds and it's already measured in half cup sizes because, you know f the measuring is up to me, I would make it a generous third or even a full cup of ice cream.

But lately, I haven't been able to find my mini half cups of mint chocolate chip joy!

I stopped by Walmart this week to purchase some nonperishables before I went to the YMCA and found myself wandering down the ice cream isle. They were also out of my half cup of joy. So I immediately found every mint chocolate chip container and compared fats, sugars, cholesterol and settled on the Dryers Light SlowChurned Girl Scouts Thin Mint Cookie ice cream (that's a mouth full).

As I put it in my cart and walked away the thought occurred to me that I was on my way to the YMCA which meant if I had ice cream I'd have to go home first to drop it off and even have a little taste test. I knew very well if I went home, I may not go back out again to work out.

So I slowly and humbly took the ice cream back to the freezer section, checked out with my nonperishables, and went to the YMCA which saved me from my half cup of joy but also added calories and regret.

Figure Friendly Friday on Monday

Just Walk Out the Door!

I know every excuse in the book but God designed our bodies to move.

The first step is walking out the door to whatever your exercise of choice.

I haven't wanted to move lately. Call it mid-fourty hormones but honestly it takes all I have to walk out the door!

Today I found the energy to attend a late morning Reformer Pilates class. That's all I was going to do but once I finished the class, I decided to do 30 minutes of cardio on the elliptical. All it took was just walking out the door.

Once I started, I went further than I intended to. I usually works that way.

So that's my Figure Friendly Friday tip on Monday. Move it!

Grandma's Riding Shotgun!

Albeit, Grandma would prefer to drive, I'm changing my weekly blog post to "Grandma's Riding Shotgun!" since that is the "correct" colloquialism.

Good Deed for the Day, or Not

Grandma was disturbed to see the homeless Veteran on the side of the road, holding up a sign for money. She couldn't bear to look and said so herself. Her son--my uncle is a Vet and I'm sure it struck a cord with her.

I quickly pulled out a few dollars, rolled down my window and gave it to him. The Vet and I both said, "God bless you" at the same time. I know the typical story. I grew up in West Lost Angeles near MGM Studios. On one corner, it was not unusual to see a homeless person and on the next, a movie star.

The church my dad pastored was on the famed Venice Blvd. that fed into the ever so unusual Venice Beach and it was common place at services to have transients in and out of the building. We saw what would happen if we handed a homeless person cash. They would walk across the street to the liquor store and immediately spend it on their liquid of choice. My dad quickly learned how to distinguish between someone who really needed help and an addict by offering them menial work. If they took the work, he would pay them. Usually the panhandlers cursed him and moved to the church across the street.

But with Grandma in the car visually disturbed by this homeless Vet, I felt compelled to give him cash. She seemed relieved.

After her doctor's appointment and running some errands, we happened upon another corner where a middle aged, weathered woman stood holding a sign. Grandma once again was disturbed and said, "Now what's her story?"

As I quickly started pulling money out of my wallet, Grandma did the same and we both handed over our cash once again saying, "God bless you."

As we drove off, she perked and said, "That was our good deed of the day." But I take no pride in what I did. There are too many needs in our world to have one good deed of the day, I explained to her. And even if they do spend it on "liquid" maybe someday they'll turn around, decide to come clean, and remember that there was someone who cared and reached out to them, if only with a few dollars.

Figure Friendly Fridays

Laughing My Calories Away!

As I was uncontrollably laughing on the elliptical this morning, the gal next to me gave me a strange look. After I continued to laugh loudly and looked over at her and said, "This show is hilarious!", she turned her TV to the same channel and laughed right along with me.

So, today, I've figured out the secret to staying on the elliptical longer! Just watch the Bonnie Hunt Show at the same time. The time flies by and you'll laugh while exercising! Laughter really is a good medicine!

That's my first tip of the week.

Before I go onto the next one, I just want to say that I absolutely hate strength training. I don't know why, except that maybe it's boring, repetitive, and painful! I have never found any pleasure in it. I suppose I need to feel like I'm killing two birds with one stone, like exercising and laughing.

So that leads me to my second tip:

Find a strength training workout that you can enjoy. In the last week, I've taken up Reformer Pilates, which is Pilates on a machine. It is painful and I probably won't see any benefits for at least a month. I think I'll be the walking wounded for quite awhile. But I do feel like I'm killing two birds with one stone while doing it.

First of all, I'm in a class with other women, potentially making new friends, Secondly, I'm strengthening my core, and lastly, I'm possibly making my short body look leaner and longer. (Hey, I can dream!)

And my last tip of the week:

Check out www.dailyburn.com. My husband turned me onto this website for tracking daily calories, exercise, water... It also has a phone app where you can take a picture of a food USP code and it'll feed the nutrition info into your nutrition area. Pretty cool!

Now to consistently track my food. I made it four out of seven days this week and pretty much maintained my weight. But a new day is coming to try, try again. In the meantime, I'll be laughing my calories off while watching the Bonnie Hunt Show!

Grandma's Driving Shotgun!

Grandma's Packing Marlboros

Unloading Grandma's electric cart on the grocery store conveyor belt, I discovered a pack of Marlboro cigarets. Mind you, Grandma doesn't smoke. When I showed them to her, she said they were probably from the gentlemen in isle 4 who was also in an electric cart and asked her if she wanted to race. We surmised that he was trying to slow her down by throwing the cigarets in her basket, jokingly, of course.

That's a birds-eye-view into a day with my 90 year old Grandma. Like Tuesdays with Morrie, written by Mitch Albom (I highly recommend) and the movie Driving Ms. Daisy, I spend most of my Tuesdays driving Ms. Grandma to the bank, lunch, doctor appointments, grocery shopping, etc.

Each week I plan to blog in my "Grandma's Driving Shotgun!" section about our happenings, conversations, and lessons learned. Just like parenting, caring for the elderly can be similar in that it is enlightening and humbling.

Figure Friendly Fridays

If you were to choose one figure friendly improvement to do for a year what would it be? Would you eat five fruits and vegetables a day for a year, exercise five times a week, give up sugar, drink eight cups of water a day...?

I decided that I'm going to journal my food everyday for a year and blog "Figure Friendly Fridays" for accountability. Here's a picture of me at my current weight and hope within this year, I will lose some weight, as a result.

The reason I choose this one figure friendly improvement for a year is because it's all inclusive for me. It not only helps me keep my calories down but it helps me make wise and nutritious food choices throughout the day and exercise. I follow the Diabetic Exchange Diet (http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/diabetes-diet/DA00077) which helps me track starches, protein, fruit/veg, dairy, water, fat, exercise... Other similar free sources are www.mypyramid.gov or www.sparkpeople.com, especially since I have an app for Spark People on my phone.

To eat about 1400 calories a day in order to lose weight, I would stay within the exchanges below:

6 oz. of starches

5+ fruits/veg (1/2 cup servings)

5-6 oz. of lean protein

5 fats (equates to 5 gms of fat per exchange, equaling about 25 gms of fat a day)

2-3 cups dairy

6-8 cups water

Exercise minimum of 30 min. a day, at least 5x a week

Below is today's example of which is showing that I've already reached my starch and fat limit. So if I want a snack, it needs to be something like carrots, celery, small amount of peanut butter, and a glass of milk.

Breakfast: Cup OJ, packaged berry oatmeal w/1% milk,

Lunch: Slice wheat bread, scrabbled egg, lg pinch of shred cheese, strawberries, Activia, tblp granola

Snacks: Almond cookie, power bar

Dinner: Bowl beef stew

Starch: //////// = 8

Protein: //// = 4

Fruit: /// = 3

Veg: / = 1

Dairy: / 1/2 = 1 1/2

Fat: ///// = 5ish

Exercise: 33 min on elliptical

So, what's your Figure Friendly commitment for the year? If you don't have one, I challenge you to and let me know about it! I'll be posting tips on Fridays for motivation! Wish me well!

Here Comes the Sun

Here Comes the Sun

Have you ever had one of those supernatural moments where you know, beyond a shadow of the doubt, that God exists?

Rounding a corner on my morning walk, I was contemplating some of the year's tough circumstances, questioning what would become of them. As I walked into the sunlight, it's warmth enveloped me while listening to the words, "Here comes the sun, here comes the sun, and I say it's all right. Little darling, it's been a long cold lonely winter. Little darling, it feels like years since it's been here. Here comes the sun, here comes the sun, and I say it's all right..."

A sudden awareness came over me that God was talking to "me" and calling "me" "Little darling." Tears, tenderness, and a knowing that God cares about where I've been and where I'm going brought a new hope that a new day is coming.

Read the words imagining God is speaking to you, if you've been in "a long cold lonely winter":

Here comes the sun, here comes the sun,
and I say it's all right

Little darling, it's been a long cold lonely winter
Little darling, it feels like years since it's been here
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun
and I say it's all right

Little darling, the smiles returning to the faces
Little darling, it seems like years since it's been here
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun
and I say it's all right

Sun, sun, sun, here it comes...
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes...
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes...
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes...
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes...

Little darling, I feel that ice is slowly melting
Little darling, it seems like years since it's been clear
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun,
and I say it's all right
It's all right

Yo-Yo Ma & James Taylor's version is especially good listening on "Yo-Yo Ma & Friends Songs of Joy & Peace" album