Healthy Lifestyle Bloggers

How many times have you canceled your workouts because you were going out? How many times have you cut them short because of some social appointment? Have you ever gotten in your car to drive to the gym and then decide that you simply have something else to do or somewhere else to be? If you have, then you’re not alone.

I used to do this on a regular basis. It was never intentional, I simply have a busy life and things would pile up. I had appointments, meetings, friends to see, family to have dinner with and in the middle of it all, my workouts were relegated to a lower priority. I knew that I needed to work out but when faced with the choice of going to the gym or going to hang out with friends, I always chose to avoid the gym.

Then I discovered a quick and simple method to avoid this problem, my calendar.

Schedule It!

I’ve been using calendars for years. I have one for work through Microsoft Outlook and one for personal activities on Google Calendar. Because I hate forgetting appointments, I put every single activity on these calendars. Meetings, dinners, conference calls, movies with friends, they all go on my calendars. That way I avoid scheduling conflicts where I accidentally book myself for two different events at the same time plus I can set reminders. These reminders pop up ahead of the event and remind me that I need to do something.

Unfortunately, even though I’ve been using calendars for years, I never thought to actually schedule my workouts. The gym was something I did in my spare time, right? So I just assumed I would find some time for it everyday. Well, guess what? I didn’t. Until that is, I started seeing the gym as an important activity that I shouldn’t avoid, and that’s when I started scheduling it.

Gym Appointments

If you don’t use any kind of calendar, I would recommend starting. It’s a very useful organizational tool that comes in quite handy in all areas of your life. I use Google Calendar which you can get a free account for right here. Because it’s online, I can see my schedule from any computer. Google Calendar also allows me to share my calendar with other people. So I can put appointments on it which my wife sees. For you readers out there in a relationship, giving each other visibility into our calendars has been one of the best relationship tools my wife and I found! But since this is a fitness blog and not a relationship blog, I’ll stick to telling you about my scheduled workouts. 

Schedule a recurring appointment. This is an appointment that occurs multiple times. Any calendar will let you do this. You can set something up like “every weekday between 3 and 4:30pm” or “every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday between noon and 1pm.” Whateveryour gym schedule is, set it up with a specific time and day. Now just follow this schedule.

Stick To Your Schedule

You have no idea how much this little tip helped me. Putting my workouts on my calendar increased my success rate (the percentage of times I was supposed to be at the gym and actually went) from somewhere in the 50% to above 95%. I still miss the occasional workout but it’s usually due to serious issues.

Extra Tips

• Think about letting people know about your gym time - Some people will respect gym time and some will not. I have my gym time on my calendar as “Personal Quality Control”. My wife and friends know what this is and they respect that. I’m also honest with those coworkers who ask about it and I let them know that this time is important to me. I have no problem meeting with them during this time but they better wear their gym clothes to this meeting and be ready to sweat. Everyone else simply sees an appointment on my schedule and assumes that they shouldn’t schedule meetings for this time.
• Add others to your gym appointments - One of the best benefits of a gym partner is the extra incentive to actually show up. It’s easy to skip the occasional workout when it’s just you. It’s not so easy when someone else is counting on you to show up. So schedule you gym appointments and then see if anyone else wants to go with you.
• Don’t forget the commute time - Make sure your gym appointment includes enough time to get to and from the gym.
• Not too late - Late night workouts will sometimes cause sleep issues. Try to finish your workouts two to three hours before your bed time.
• Make it regular - Try not to change your workout schedule too often. A regular day and time really helps you get into the gym habit.

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Your workout time is just as important as any other meeting. In fact, it may be more important than most since I can’t think of too many conference calls I’ve attended lately that can prolong and improve my life. Why not treat it like the important appointment it is and get it on your schedule?

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This morning I did a little browsing around on the web to see if there was any good content on emotional eating as it relates specifically to death and grief. And while there certainly was something, I really had no luck in finding in-depth analysis of why food makes us feel better when we’ve lost someone we love.

This is not the first time I’ve lost someone. It’s also not the first time I’ve packed on a few pounds due to my grief. The most significant period of emotional eating I ever went through was after the loss of my father seven years ago. Check us out all 80’s style:

My father lost his battle with multiple myeloma (a blood cancer) after about seven months, so it was quite fast. Fuck cancer. Anyways… I spent the next year or so packing on about 40 pounds as I dealt with the loss of someone very special in my life. Some of that could be attributed to quiting smoking, which I did shortly after he was diagnosed. But really, that 40 pounds was all cheeseburgers and ice cream with some beer and vodka thrown in.

Eating to deal with grief makes sense. You’re feeling all shitty and here comes some chocolate chip cookies or pound cake or whatever goodness somebody sends you or you encounter on a random trip to Wal-Mart, and ahhhhhhhh the first bite sends those crack-like endorphins to your brain and you feel for a second like everything is better. So you take another bite and another. And another. And pretty soon you’ve sucked down a dozen or so cookies. But the unfortunate reality of your grief returns just as soon as you put down the pie.

I don’t want to go down that road again. A cousin of mine said yesterday, “…at some point you have to find another way to cope… things will keep happening, people will die, jobs will be lost, there really is no end to the stress of life… binging gets you nowhere”. And right she is. Shitty things happen in life. People do die. Stuffing yourself with crap isn’t going to change any of that, nor is it going to make you feel any better for any significant length of time.

Perhaps acknowledgment is the first step….

xo

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Welcome to my desk!

And believe me, this is actually a cleaned version. I've been trying to keep it tidy this year. It used to be worse.


1) My flat paneled monitor, open to a blog page and Mirc, which is the chat program I use to talk to most of my friends.

2) my pink water bottle. I have a light blue one too, but the pink one is the one I use most.

3) my 3 pound hand weights. I don't really have a better place to put them, so they live on top of my desk.

4) Darcy's art-box. It's filled with crayons, markers, stickers, small coloring books, paints, etc.

5) My notebook. Open to today's to-do list.

6) Jane Austen Action Figure. This was a gift from my friend Toby, and I really love it.

7) My 3-month Weight Watcher's Points Tracker journal.

8) Books on my to-read list. Jim Butcher's White Knight and The Tomorrow Log by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller.

9) My mother's Christmas present. Yes, it's been sitting there for a While Now. I know.

10) Valentine's day basket that Darcy made for me. At the moment, I'm keeping coupons in it.

11) My Muse. He's been hanging near my desk in that little cage for... about 20 years now.

12) Anniversary card from Thomas. It says "Because Ten years is just a start..."

13) My mouse. I'm sort of left handed. This bothers a lot of people who try to borrow my computer.

These two words always go together in my house. If I have a craving, it is ALWAYS for chocolate. So what do I buy for dark chocolate? I most often buy the Lindt Dark chocolate bars, and anything that is 70% or higher dark chocolate. The darker the chocolate, the more satisfying it is and the less I will indulge. I also like to add a little bit of organic peanut butter, just to change it up a bit.

Here is what WebMD has to say about dark chocolate:

“Dark chocolate — not white chocolate — lowers high blood pressure, say Dirk Taubert, MD, PhD, and colleagues at the University of Cologne, Germany. Their report appears in the Aug. 27 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association.

But that’s no license to go on a chocolate binge. Eating more dark chocolate can help lower blood pressure — if you’ve reached a certain age and have mild high blood pressure, say the researchers. But you have to balance the extra calories by eating less of other things.

Dark chocolate — but not milk chocolate or dark chocolate eaten with milk — is a potent antioxidant, report Mauro Serafini, PhD, of Italy’s National Institute for Food and Nutrition Research in Rome, and colleagues.

Our findings indicate that milk may interfere with the absorption of antioxidants from chocolate … and may therefore negate the potential health benefits that can be derived from eating moderate amounts of dark chocolate.”

Because of dark chocolates great benefits, I dont’ always feel guilty for eating it. Who am I kidding! I NEVER feel guilty for eating chocolate! Bring it on! YUMM!

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I bought my own domain and have since moved to it. That domain is:

More Motion, Less Food .

Why? Because the title tells it all. c'mon over and see what you see. Make a comment or two, and tell us what you think.

And remember...the only diet secret out there is one that we all have known for years.

Move more.

Eat less.

That's all, dude.

Namaste.

This is a classic Greek side dish, which can be served with meat and vegetable dishes, as well as accompanying souvlaki or gyros.

Ingredients

1 cucumber
2-3 cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon medium wine vinegar
300g full-fat strained Greek yoghurt
100ml extra virgin olive oil
½ tablespoon finally chopped dill leaves


Preparation

Remove the skin of the cucumber and grate it. (not finely)

Finely grate the garlic.

Salt the cucumber and leave it in a colander for half-an-hour and then drain well.

Put it in a bowl with the garlic and the rest of the ingredients.

Mix them all well with the help of a fork.

Put the dip in a bowl, add salt and decorate it with few dill leaves.


Eat and Enjoy!

In our quest for the Fountain of Youth, perhaps some consideration should be given to how society is going to react to all of us "age defying" seniors. Baby Boomers can take some action now...

I am guest posting over at Diet Blog, please stop by and visit for “5 Amazing Things You Can Learn From a Toddler”.

Have a healthy day!

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Take a detour

In the March 30th edition of Parade magazine, which is distributed in local newspapers throughout the country, there was an article titled "6 Superfoods to Know". I was surprised at the list because few of them matched Dr. Oz's list. I like the list because it enables me to confidently add a little more variety into my diet while knowing it is a healthy choice.

1. Coconut Milk-contains an antibacterial fatty acid called lauric acid-one of the immune-boosters babies get from breast milk.
**Mix coconut milk with a pint of chicken stock and some grated ginger for a coconut chicken soup. Maybe even add some spice for a quick and easy Thai dish.

2. Grass-fed Beef-contains less fat, less saturated fat, more CLA (an anti-cancer fat) and more omega-3 fatty acids than grain-fed beef.
**Grass fed beef is very lean. Use it ground for spaghetti sauce, chili and meatloaf.

3. Nuts-These are on Dr. Oz's list. Almonds, cashews, macadamia nuts, hazelnuts, walnuts, and brazil nuts are all great choices.
**Put nuts in a blender with a little olive oil, milk or water for fresh nut butter.

4. Cinnamon-can regulate blood sugar, inhibits cancer cells and is an anti-inflamatory. It's a favorite choice of kids too.
**Sprinkle it on french toast, oatmeal, hot buttered bread or a cup of hot chocolate. Also try it on sauteed bananas.

5. Raw Honey and Molasses-Raw honey contains many phytonutrients and enzymes to aid digestion. Molasses is a surprisingly good source of iron and many other minerals.
**Molasses is a great substitute for white sugar in baking.

6. Olive Oil-contains monounsaturated fats (which reduce inflammation), phenols (cancer fighting antioxidants) and Vitamin E (which lowers the risk of heart disease, protects skin from damaging agents, and prevents nerve damage).
**Gently saute vegetables in it, drizzle it on salads or use it in pesto.

A recent study by a national foundation of sandwich generation caregivers suggests that children are helping to care for grandparents or other elder adults in their lives who have Alzheimer’s disease. Nearly three out of five caregivers said their children aged 8 to 21 are involved in caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s [...]

A couple of years ago I noticed that one side of my neck had more and deeper wrinkles than the other . It took me a while to realize why, but one morning as I looked in the mirror it dawned on me....

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  ****BIG VIRUAL HUGS TO ALL****  Tomorrow is my one year anniversary here at the Diet Pulpit and to celebrate I want to give a HUGE Thank You to everyone who visits Diet Pulpit and also an extra thank you to Entrecard members who drop here.  Below is a list of the top 10 droppers for the past 30 days:  Juliana’s World. WORLDWIDE [...]