Weight Loss Update

I have been working out and trying to eat right. I am on week 5 of the couch to 5k program. I have also started strength training. That is going to be the hardest part for me. I hate lifting weights, but I am going to make myself stick to it. I have also decided that I am going to start Weight Watchers. The Best Life Diet just was not working for me. It says that there are some things that you cannot have in your diet, and I just don't believe that. Everything in moderation...isn't that what they say. So I ordered the WW guide and calculator off of Ebay. Yes, I am too cheap to actually join the program, plus I do not think I need the group support. Not for that anyway. I have already started my daily food log while I am waiting for my items to arrive. This actually helps me watch what I eat. And "they" also say that keeping a log is good for you. Maybe I should start listening to "them".

I have also decided that I am not going to weigh myself at all in October. This is going to be hard for me. I weigh myself all the time. I never like what it reads, but I do it all the time. All it does is go up and down and it is frustrating. I think it is detrimental to my goals. So no weighing myself in October. I will see if this helps me lose weight. I will see.

Going Green: Buying Organic for the Budget Conscious

I am the type of person who buys organic without thinking of the price. I know, bad, bad. But right now it is just me and the hubs so we do that. It most likely will not be that way forever and I will have to put myself on a shopping budget. I still want to buy organic, but what if it does not fit into my budget? Well, there are some things that you should buy organic (whether you are trying to go green or not) and there are some that it does not make that big of a difference. So when should you make the investment to go organic.

The Environmental Working Group scored food pesticides levels on a variety of produce from 1 to 100 (1 being the lowest). These pesticides can cause a variety of health problems including risks of cancers and hormone imbalances.

These fruits and vegetables have higher rankings due to pesticide use or absorption:

The Worst (you definitely need to buy these organic)

• peaches


• apples


• bell peppers


• celery


• nectarines


• strawberries


• cherries


• kale


• lettuce


• grapes (imported)


• carrots


• pears

The Cleanest (save the money if you cannot afford it)

• onions


• avocados


• sweet corn


• pineapples


• mangoes


• asparagus


• sweet peas


• kiwi


• cabbage


• eggplant


• papaya


• watermelon


• broccoli


• tomatoes


• sweet potatoes

Check out the Shopper's Guide to Pesticides here. Happy and Healthy shopping.

Going Green

The Thornton household is going green. This can be extremely overwhelming, but we are going to take baby steps. There are already some green things we did in the household, some intentionally and some not. We use some eco-friendly cleaning products. I use EF hair products, but that was more for my hair than the environment, so its a two for one. So as we use up our products, we will be replacing them with EF ones. We will be changing the soap we use, the food we eat and where we get it, and many other things. So we will be going to farmers markets and trying to buy local and organic, etc. I somehow convinced Eddie to be on board with this, which is good. So I have been reading so much info and some things I just cannot do. But we will see. I will be updating my progress.

Punctuality

I always wondered how very punctual people ended up married to people who are notoriously late. I first observed this in my parents. Why dad is one of those people that believes if you are 15 minutes early (sometimes 30) you are on time, if you are on time you are late. Every year my as a Christmas gift my dad get tickets for our family to go see a play on New Year's Eve. So every New Year's Eve me, my mom, dad, grandmother, one of my cousins, and one of my aunt's goes to see a play. I love it. But anyway, every year my dad is in the car waiting for my mom, blowing the horn getting frustrated, and every year my mom is moving at her own pace. This is their routine when they go places together. And they have been married for 30 years, so I guess it is not a deal breaker.

Well I have inherited the punctuality gene (I don't think this really exists) from my father. While I usually don't get places early, I am always on time. The Hubs on the other hand. I don't even think he attempts to be on time. How he ended up in a profession where punctuality is key I will never know. To try not to frustrate myself whatever time he tells me he is going to be somewhere I usually add 1/2 an hour. But obviously this is not enough time either. I don't know why it frustrates me so much. I mean, I know he is not going to be on time so I don't see why if I give him that 1/2 hour buffer and he doesn't get there for 45 min. I am upset, but I am. Then he complains about his best friend who is also notoriously late. I know he is worse than him, but how do you complain when someone does the same thing as you?

I just don't understand why he can't be somewhere at the time he says he will be. Is it really that hard?

Bucket List

I have been thinking about things that I want to do in my life before I leave this earth. Everyone is telling me I should do x,y, and z before I have kids. I don't see how I am going to get any of this done before that, but maybe if I plan right and stay healthy I can do some of these things in retirement and hopefully be young enough to enjoy it.

1. Go to the 4 tennis Grand Slams (Australian, French, Wimbledon, and US)
2. Run a 5K and then a 10K
3. Look better at 30 than I did at 20 and then better at 40 than I do at 30
4. Come up with one fabulous gift that will really surprise my husband (and not care about the price)
5. Get back into swimming
6. Figure out a way to grow bra strap length hair
7. Start my own business
   

Hopefully I will add to this list and start checking some things off.

Changing the face of the blog

I have changed the look of my blog. I will probably do this often. If I could change the paint colors and decor of my house this often I would. I get bored with the same decoration easily. Changing my blog makes me think of how bad I want to redecorate my home. I have wanted to change my the color of my living room since....well since it was painted. I think I just want a richer color. Obviously there are some things that I cannot change (lack of finances). So, I have chocolate furniture. So whatever I do must coordinate with that. I do have accessories in my living room, a painting, vases, not so much that it couldn't change though. I just want something different. I also want to repaint my bedroom. Also a color I have wanted to change for a while. I think most of the problem is I let the hubs pick the colors, so it was never what I wanted. Why, oh why did I do that? Then we also need to paint our guest bedroom. I think we are going to do something in the green family. That way if we have a child (cannot believe I am even thinking about this), the color could apply for a babies room. Never would have thought that changing the color of my blog would lead to so many thoughts.

Obama's School Speech

Today President Obama is giving a speech for school age children. This speech is supposed to inspire children to stay in school, do well, and stress the importance of school. Think this is a great idea, you know, the first Black president explaining to children that you can accomplish anything if you work hard and do well? NOOOOO! This is the biggest controversy since his health care plan. So what is the issue. Some parents and law makers are afraid Obama is trying to push his political agenda. Yes, push his political agenda on kids that cannot even vote. Yes, because they are going to go home and tell their parents..... I cannot even finish that statement because I don't know what negative impact this speech could possibly have on children. Many of them may not even listen, but for the ones that do I don't think it would be anything but inspirational.

There was this woman on the news last night crying about the effect this speech would have on her child if they were forced to listen to it by the school district. She said she would have to keep her kid out of school to avoid it. And there are district that are refusing to play his speech in school. I will not even get into how this is public school and really in my opinion they should not have a say or send your child to private school. So what do you think it is? Is it ignorance, is it racism, is it complete lunacy? I really do not know. I just hope that after the speech is made and the true contents of the speech are out for the public that these naysayers will admit that they were wrong and maybe even decide to show the speech later. But they will never admit they were wrong. God forbid Obama actually have something inspirational to say that could really affect the way children look at school. God forbid this is positive for our nation. I know if I had a child they would definitely be watching this speech. I would probably record it so they could watch it at the beginning of each school year. Just to see a black man make it to president is inspiring to me. Makes me feel like I could achieve anything and I am in my 20's. What kind of impact could that have on a child?!

Read the speech here.

From the Couch to a 5K

So....I am trying to lose weight and get fit. So my friend on the ND told me about this program "from the couch to a 5K" and I am doing it. I started on week 4 of the program since week 1-3 were more walking than running and I had already been running. Well, it was hard. So I did week 4 for 2 weeks. So 3x a week this was my routine.

Walk for 5 min
Jog 1/4 mile (3 min) - that means going at 6.0 on the treadmill, which for me is running

Walk 1/8 mile (90 sec) - i think this is at 4.0 on treadmill
Jog 1/2 mile (5 min)
Walk 1/4 mile (2.5 min)
Jog 1/4 mile (3 min)
Walk 1/8 mile
Jog 1/2 mile

You can run for time or distance. I do for distance. In the beginning I can do the jog at 6.0 but then the further I go the slower I get. So I did that for 2 weeks.

This week I am starting week 5.

3x a week

walk for 5 min
Jog 1/2 mile
Walk 1/4 mile
Jog 1/2 mile
Walk 1/4 mile
Jog 1/2 mile

I will let you know how I do. Might be another 2 week program.

When I complete the program I plan on finding a 5K in my area and running in it. So that is my plan. Now if I could just get myself to do the strength training portion consistently.