I Think I'll Have an Awesome Week

I'm trying to keep the mindset that you are responsible for your day. If you think you're having a bad day, you will. If you think you're having a good day, you are.  Most things, bad or good, stem from how we respond to the situation. So I've decided I'm going to have a great week. No matter what happens this week, I'm going to roll with it and look for the positive. Any troubles/worries that arise I will give to God. He has bigger shoulders and can carry more weight than I.

So my dietbet game is going surprisingly well. I weighed in just a few minutes ago and I've lost 3.2 pounds. I barely did anything resembling exercise. Had good intentions, but life got in the way. I just concentrated on eating well and watching portions. I've tried to follow the 80/20 rule, eat well 80% of the time and just carefully 20% of the time. I'm trying to limit sugars, but heat and frozen treats go so well together. So guess what's been my 20%. I am trying to stop at one a day.

I had planned on stepping  up the exercise by going for a run this morning...yeah, hasn't happened yet. I still am planning on doing yard work, and I think I'll lift weights and get in some upper body training in later.

Anyway, I need to get off of here if I'm going to be productive at anytime today. I hope all my dear readers have a great day.

Mine got cancelled...

My Dietbet game got cancelled because I couldn't get anyone else to signup. So I joined one that had a couple players already. This Dietbet game starts Wednesday and goes through to July 10th.  So if anyone is interested just click HERE and sign up. Right now there are three players, so the pot is 30.00. It's only a 10.00 bet to play and you only have to lose 4% of bodyweight to win and there can be more then one winner.

My game plan is: to cut sugar out for the next month, to increase protein (aiming for 30g at breakfast and spread the rest throughout the day), decrease processed foods (I would love to cut them out completely, but Hubby doesn't like cooking from scratch and I don't cook every meal), workout for a minimum of 45 minutes a day plus make sure I am sitting no more then 30 minutes at a time.

I'm hoping small changes=big results

DietBet Postponed

I'm still trying to get people to sign up for the DietBet challenge. The site postponed my challenge until Tuesday the 11th due to me being the only one participating. I just need two people to have the game. It's still only 10.00.  If any of my dear readers would like to check it out go HERE .  I'm hoping everyone has wonderful plans for this beautiful weekend.

DietBet Game Starts Saturday

I went ahead and setup a Dietbet game/challenge. It starts on Saturday and lasts through July 6th.  The bet is only 10.00 because sometimes the challenges are too rich for my budget and I can do 10.00. Anyway here is the LINK for the challenge and I hope to see lots of people sign up.

19 Days till Mini-Vacay

I'm so excited, we are taking our first little mini vacation. We've taken weekend trips to see family in Missouri, but visiting family definitely does not count as a vacation. We are taking a two to four day camping trip in the hills of West Tennessee (yes there are hills here, somewhere). At a small lake called Lake Placid. I'm getting such a kick out of that name, my baby sister says there is no way she could camp there. I'll be on the lookout for a Betty White look-a-like leading a cow to the water.

Of course, water + swimming = swimsuit. Ugh, I am so not swimsuit ready. I last wore my suit when splashing around in the kiddies little pool (it comes up to my knees and is 12ft wide) last summer. So I need to pick up the clean eating and exercise. I know no miracles are going to happen in just over 2 weeks. However, exercise increases confidence levels and that will make me feel better in my suit.  It's not like I'm squeezing myself into a string bikini and letting it all hang out. I have a perfectly reasonable tankini that covers the belly fat and has a little skirt to hide some of the dimples on my hips/thigh areas.

So, I'm thinking of starting a dietbet challenge to encourage myself and others to eat healthy and exercise for the next month. Most dietbets go for four weeks, after that whoever loses 4% of their bodyweight wins/splits the pot. For me 4% would be like 7 and 1/2 pounds. Totally doable.

Anyway, I'll make that decision in the next day or two and will probably start Friday or Saturday. So if you're interested look for a link here.

Also I signed up for the June Cara Box at Wifessionals, the theme is carnival/fair time.  Lots of ideas bouncing around my head, can't wait.

My Texas Cara Box

I had found Cara Box on another blog and signed up for the May box. It's not your usual subscription service. You sign up and you're matched to two great people. One who will send  you a box and another that receives the box you send. This month's theme was "Lets Be Regional" and I really wish I could of gotten time to hit every boutique in the Mid-South/West Tennessee/Memphis area because I know I could of done better than I did. I really wish cotton would of been blooming because I could of picked up some that falls off the trucks and made a neat shadow box with the map of Memphis and other paraphernalia. Finals, work and kids' sports got the best of me and before I knew it, it was time to send the box. So I sent what I thought of immediately when I thought of the region I live in: Memphis, Elvis, BBQ, Tn VOLS and Memphis Tigers. I also think of the blues but could not find a cd of one of the more well known Memphis Blues artists, wish I had a cd or mp3 of Rudy Williams, who was the sweetest street musician I had ever seen. Here is a video from YouTube I found:


Too bad he's passed away now, I've not been down Beale since he's passed to see if another future great is playing in his spot yet. I do hope Ashley from Track Suit Friday  enjoyed what I compiled and does something creative with the Tennessee orange bandannas ( I was thinking matching collars for the doggies).

And without further ado, here is my Cara box from the sweet lady of Confessions of an Army Housewife, Kodie.

A whole smorgasbord of goodies

She sent from her region: A margarita mix, margarita glass, two grow kits and one packet of peppers (of which the Hubby snatched and went and planted), some mango chili pepper suckers (that I really want to like, but the taste is very different than my buds are used to), gardening gloves, Body by Vi shakes (I tried these at a Women's dinner at church once and they are yummy, a scentsy room spray and two of my favorite magazines and a few more things. You out did yourself Kodie :) and make me feel really bad about my little box (though if it was winter I would of went and got some chocolate from the local candy maker,Dinstuhl's)
Anyway, I enjoyed putting together my little box and will sign up again for June's box. If you would like to try it go to Wifessionals and look for the June signups coming soon.

Found the link or a link supporting increasing protein at meals, especially breakfast.

Here is a link to an article by the speaker, Dr Donald Layman, who spoke of protein needs at the Ohio Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. This is the speech I referred to in the Quinoa Scramble post.

He writes about meal content of protein about half way through:

The meal content of protein is also a key factor for satiety and appetite regulation [9,10]. Protein has greater satiety value than either carbohydrates or fats and reduces food intake at subsequent meals [27]. Studies of energy regulation for weight management show that replacing carbohydrates with protein reduces daily energy intake by ~200 kcal [9]. The mechanism for this satiety effect may be mediated by intestinal hormones or by reducing peak post-prandial insulin response. While the mechanism remains to be elucidated, it is clear that the improved satiety response requires >30 g of protein at a meal and that breakfast has the greatest impact on total daily energy intake [27]. As with protein turnover in muscle and bone, limiting protein intake to a single large meal late in the day reduces the satiety benefits of dietary protein [22].

 Dr. Layman also writes on how increased protein diets can help with fixing body composition while traditional low fat, low calorie diets result in a loss of lean body mass.  Preventing lean tissue loss is important, especially as you age and want to avoid osteoporosis and sarcopenia.

Anyway it's a very interesting read and here is the link again so you can check it http://www.nutritionandmetabolism.com/content/6/1/12