Sunday, March 10, 2013

Real Estate Investment - WHERE DO YOU WANT TO LIVE

This is a squatters shack from the Great  Depression.  I used this pic because this would have been 'temporary' housing.  How long do you plan to live in your shack?
You only have one body.  Your body is your home for the duration of your life.  Why not invest in making sure that it is as healthy and disease free as it possibly can be?

I started watching a documentary on Netflix the other day.  http://www.fatsickandnearlydead.com/
Joe Cross was on a mission to lose weight on a juice fast.  He'd stop to talk with people on his journey.  There was an obese man in a restaurant that Joe had a conversation with.  The guy said that he was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, and wasn't in denial about having the disease.  He was in denial about having to do something about it.  That's deep.

Many people know that they are headed to a life filled with disease and illness but refuse to make the changes necessary to prevent it.  Why is that?  Is it because we don't love ourselves?  Is it because of fear of failure?  Why don't we value our personal real estate as much as we value our homes or cars?  I witness people everyday that will spend money on building decks, gutting bathrooms, and installing a state of an art sound system in their home.  These same people hate the thought of even walking to their mailbox.  Is it because change is too hard to manage?  Is it easier to be the fun girl with the fancy nails and cute shoes vs the overweight girl with the fancy nails and cute shoes that finally decided she needs to make some changes? I guess it's easier to be 'cute' than acknowledge anything else.  The bad thing is: Denial will kill you.  It is also a river in Egypt.  Sorry, please keep reading.  :)

The money that we're spending at Saks, Dillard's and Nordstroms could be spent on hiring a personal trainer, purchasing a treadmill or at the very least a decent pair of walking shoes.  It amazes me that we will only buy top of the line colognes, perfumes, shoes and clothes to put ON our diseased bodies.  But we won't spend the extra dollar to buy a leaner cut of meat to put IN our body that we HAVE to live in.  You can buy all the baubles and toys that you want.  At the end of the day it doesn't change the physical state that you're in.  Your hair can be perfectly highlighted.  Your face may look like it's been beat buy the baddest makeup artist on the planet.  But your blood work and medical diagnosis will remain the same, (even if you are wearing your butter soft leather Donald J. Pliner driving shoes to the doctor's appointment).  LOL

This whole YOLO (you only live once) mentality is irresponsible and will have serious repercussions when the dust settles.  Stop leaning on the fact that your great grandmother lived to be 101 or that your grandfather smoked a pack of cigarettes everyday for 55 years without getting cancer.  We have to be realistic and look at the times that our elders lived in.  For the better half of their lives they were not exposed to the chemicals, preservatives and carcinogens that our found in our present food supply and environment.  Most of our elders were active.  They weren't necessarily running half marathons and lifting weights.  They were likely working in the fields, or on farms.  They cut their own grass, planted their own gardens and didn't sit on their posteriors for 8+ hours a day in fancy ergonomic office chairs. They also didn't spend decades playing beer pong, "popping bottles' at the club and eating Hardee's Memphis BBQ Little Thickburger® (A 100% Black Angus Beef Thickburger®, Pulled Pork, BBQ Sauce, Crispy Onion Strings all on a Seeded Bun).  <Sigh>

Now back to the real estate.  It's up to you to design your dream "house".  Invest in the things that will help you end up in the house that you want to live in.  It doesn't matter if your dream home is a modular home, a ranch, two story or split level. Perhaps your dream is a futuristic space pad like The Jetsons or a deeee-luxe apartment in the sky like George and Weezy.  The bottom line is that you have to work for it.  Forget about all the frills that you are using to camouflage the real issue.  Don't wait until you get bad news from the doctor to finally decide to put your old house on the market.




Sunday, February 24, 2013

Dranking Swamp Water

 I've been drinking an abundance of green tea lately.  For one, I absolutely love all of the health benefits that are associated with green tea.


















Check out this article on Webmd.  Green tea contains an antioxidant, epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) that helps lower cholesterol, fight heart disease block fat and most importantly inhibit cancer growth and kills cells that are growing inappropriately.  

The second reason why I've upped my green tea intake is also because of the fact that...
C.R.E.A.M./Cash Rules Everything Around Me. 
 Spending $25-$30 a month is not helping me stay on my target with my monthly budget. So something had to give.  I will say, the brand of water that I was purchasing is divine.  I tried to switch to other brands but, they just didn't do it for me.  This was the only brand that I could sit at my desk and drink continually without having to force it down.  I love drinking plain water during my work outs, but I have a hard time consuming ounce after ounce when I'm not being active.  I'm not a fan of 'lemon water' so drinking that everyday is not an option.  I decided to dust off my box of green tea, buy a 2 quart, (64 ounce pitcher) and brew my green tea every day when I'm in the office.  I'll be completely honest, green tea does not taste like your grandmama's sweet tea.  It just doesn't. Is it delicious?  I think so. My friend Cheryl refers to it as "Swamp Water" hence the title of this post.  LOL.  I will say I prefer mine over ice and not warm.  The flavored varieties are my favorite.  I choose to use little or no sweetener; only allowing myself a few packets of stevia each day.

Not a fan of green tea?  Try infusing water with fruits and herbs.  
Cucumber/Mint Water
Strawberry/Watermelon/Rosemary....(yes, Rosemary)

Raise your glass to health!




Saturday, February 23, 2013

The Elephant in the Room

Time for a reality check.  Let's stop ignoring the issues and behaviors that keep us from meeting our health and fitness goals.

  "Elephant in the room" is an English metaphorical idiom for an obvious truth that is either being ignored or going unaddressed. The idiomatic expression also applies to an obvious problem or risk no one wants to discuss.


There is freedom in truth

Making excuses about why you can't lose weight or get in shape is unproductive and leaves you feeling powerless.  Why not take control of your health by starting small and addressing the elephant that you've allowed to take up residence in your home?

I've had to have a 'come to Jesus moment' a time or two in order to identify the habits that have kept me from reaching my full potential.  I still struggle with staying on task, but refuse to revert back to living like I once did.

Some of the obvious truths that keep us overweight and unhealthy are: laziness, indifference, fear and denial.   It doesn't help that so many people are ignorant about nutrition or live in 'food deserts' where fresh, healthy foods are difficult to obtain.

Some of the things that hold us back aren't entirely our fault, but at what point do we pull out our dart gun and take that goal defeating elephant out?

When I first started getting serious about my work outs: I hired a personal trainer, drove across town, spent A LOT of  $$$$$ and still would end my evening work outs with a 32 oz Sweet tea from McDonald's on the drive home.  How ignorant was that??????? The ignorant side of my conscience said, "at least you're working out".  The reality was that I was drinking nearly 300 calories (280 per the McDonald's website) a day in tea.  The  website states there are approximately 69g of carbs in a 32 oz serving.  If you're not big about carbs and calories let's compare the tea with a McDonald's Strawberry Sundae.....

32 oz Sweet tea - 280 calories/69g carbs/0 fat
Strawberry Sundae - 280 calories/49g carbs/6g fat
You'd be better off with the Sundae and a glass of water IMHO.

 I can remember some days during the summer that I'd make 2-3 pit stops at a McDonald's drive through for a 32 oz tea.  I wasted hundreds of dollars each month only to drink 900 calories in glorified brewed sugar water.  I was killing myself in the gym but nullifying all the hard work I was putting in because of my vices.  I am happy to announce that the McDonald's Sweet Tea elephant has been massacred.   :)     (Ok, well, he does make an appearance once or twice a year in heavily diluted form and lasts me at least two days).  

Here are a few examples of several elephants I meet quite regularly.  These are the:


  • I don't eat that much elephant
  • I'm really not that big elephant
  • I only need to lose my stomach elephant
  • I don't want to lose my breasts elephant
  • I'm not that out of shape elephant 
  • I don't have time elephant 
  • I don't want to sweat my hair out elephant 
  • Eating healthy is too expensive elephant

The list goes on.....

It's time that we pull these elephant's cards.  

It's a shame that we would rather have perfectly 'coiffed' hair then lose the amount of excess weight that we carry around on our bodies.  Our joints, organs and heart our affected by being overweight.  But......later for hitting the gym 'cause I have a hair appointment today. O_o

 Some of these elephants will ultimately kill us.  We might as well stand in front of a herd in Zimbabwe and let them trample us based on the lackluster approach we take on our health and personal preservation.

You say you don't eat that much, but still can't lose more than two pounds in a year.  How about taking a moment to journal your food?  There are plenty of free online programs and cell phone apps that will allow you to track your food intake.  It's not about the volume of food you eat, you need to know how many calories are associated with these foods.  Try Spark People, MyFitnessPal, Calorie King, or the host of other calorie counter/food trackers that are online.  Chances are you're consuming way more calories then you are burning.  Everything that you put in your mouth counts.  Candies, beverages and snacks all can affect the scale.  That handful of chips could be a fourth of the calories you should be eating daily.  Or those two mini Twix could have as many calories as two Cutie (mandarins). <<<< I know this one from personal experience.  LOL.  Clearly the fruit would have been the better choice.  Too bad I waited until after I ate the Twix to find out how many calories I consumed.  You can't expect to lose the weigh if you keep doing the things that made you overweight.

Everyone's fitness goals are not the same.  Being fit and healthy doesn't necessarily mean being thin.  Don't worry about society or what the media portrays as 'attractive'.  Worry about strengthening your cardiovascular system.  Worry about eating healthfully to avoid those diseases that have been plaguing your family for the last three decades.  Even if you don't think you're out of shape ask yourself these questions.  Could I RUN for longer than two minutes if my life depended on it?  Could I do it comfortably?  How strong am I?  Can I hold up my own body weight?  Try doing push ups, pull ups, planks etc to determine this.  These exercises will help you build strength in your legs, arms and core that will help you perform everyday functional activities.  If you find that you aren't as in shape as you thought you were, no need to become discouraged.  GI Joe said that,"Knowing is half the battle".  You know there are things you should improve on, so do just that.

It's time to call yourself AND your pet elephants to the carpet.  Make this year about returning these large mammals back to their indigenous environment and not allowing them to camp out in your backyard!


Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Mom Mom's Things

So..... I wanted to start off the new year with a 'profound' blog post.  Well, not sure if I'll accomplish that and blow you away with the post.  I guess my main concern should be to empower and educate you.  If you walk away basking in the glow of my 'profound' words, well that's just an added bonus... LOL

  A few months ago I was in the gym and noticed a considerably older woman walking around with a tote bag that had "Mom Mom's Things" stitched on the side.  This woman had to be late sixties to mid seventies.  She walked slowly and her back was bent/curved.  She was the quintessential "little old lady".  The thing that struck me most was her bag.  It was a cheesy little bag.  More than likely it was a gift from her grandkids.  The bag broadcast that she was their "Mom Mom" and this tote, carried her "things".  Mom Mom didn't have youth or agility on her side.  Watching her move around the gym from equipment station to station proved that she wasn't the definition of fitness.  But what I did see, was DETERMINATION.  Somebody's Mom Mom was in the gym! Somebody's Mom Mom was making an effort to improve her quality of life. 

  Many of us let an entire year go by and still don't achieve any fitness or weight loss goals.  Having kids, a busy schedule or just simply being lazy prevents us from making progress on our goals.  If a Mom Mom can take the time, despite her age and physical limitations.... why can't you?

  You have 365 blank pages to write your story.  How will your 2013 end?

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Aging.... a year closer to perfection

I turned 35 less than a week ago!  On the eve of my birthday I got a little down about turning 35.  There was a melancholy gloom hanging over my head.  However, the next morning I woke up with feelings of thanksgiving and joy.  Thank God I'm still here!  No, I haven't accomplished, 'everything' I planned to by this age.  But let's look at the awesomely wonderful things I HAVE accomplished.  When I decided to take the 'glass is half full' approach I was able to really see my true blessings.


I'm not going to let my age, gender, weight or anything else hold me back.  I'm a force to be reckoned with.  I promise you I'm getting closer to 'perfection' as each year passes.

I'm so glad that I was able to accomplish this in a lifetime... and I ain't even through yet!

 Slow and Steady wins the race ~  "The tortoise and the hare"







My new favorite meal - Chicken Meatballs & Sauteed Spinach

Recently I've been trying to add new meals to my daily repertoire.  Eating the same old thing everyday doesn't work for me.  It's time to shake up my workouts and eating.  I'm still on my mission.



This past Friday Night I prepared:

Chicken Meatballs with sauce & Sauteed Spinach

I've got my protein and veggies going on.  Low carb, aside from the small amount from the crackers. AND it was pretty easy to make.  Everyone knows that tomato sauce tastes even better a day or two later, so I'm still enjoying my meatballs on Sunday afternoon.

OMG.. it was Slap yo' Mama good.  (Sorry Emma Jean)

I don't have a recipe per se, because I'm a 'dump' cooker.  There were no exact measurements.  Add more or less of an ingredient based on your personal preferences.  Here's the jist....

Chicken Meatballs
1 lb ground chicken breast
4-5 crumbled crackers (I used Ritz)
1 Beaten Egg
Chopped Onion
Shredded Carrot
1 Tbsp Fresh Parsley (chopped)
Dash Garlic Powder
 Salt & Pepper
Bottled *chunky style* Spaghetti Sauce

Preheat oven to 375
Mix all ingredients.  Roll into balls.  Bake on grease foil lined cookie sheet for 12-15 mins or until meatballs test done.

Place baked  meatballs into sauce pan.  Pour chunky spaghetti sauce over meatballs.  Simmer on low for 15-20 minutes.

*the mixture was quite sticky.  I'm sure there's a trick to this, but I haven't gotten there yet.  I'll keep trying until I get it right.

Makes approximately 20 meatballs depending on size ....

Sauteed Spinach
2 Bunches fresh Spinach, (washed with stems chopped)
3 garlic cloves (minced in Garlic press - or use approx 1 tbsp jarred minced garlic)
Red Bell Pepper (sliced into strips)
1 Tbsp Fresh Parsley (chopped) 
Sea Salt
Fresh Ground Pepper
Balsamic Vinegar to taste

Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in non-stick pan over medium heat.  Add Red Pepper strips to pan and cook for 2-3 minutes until they begin to soften.  Add minced Garlic, then parsley.  Add spinach in batches.  Stir, allowing the leaves to wilt after each addition. Cook spinach to desired tenderness.  Season with sea salt and pepper.  Remove from heat.  Drizzle lightly with balsamic Vinegar.