Walking...As We Get Older

The Importance of Walking 

Walking can add minutes to your life.
This enables you at 85 years old
to spend an additional 5 months in a nursing
home at $7,000 a month. 

I like long walks,
especially when they are taken
by people who annoy me.

                     

 The only reason I would take up walking with a companion
is so that I could hear heavy breathing again.

 I have to walk early in the morning,
before my brain figures out what I'm doing..

  I joined a health club last year,
spent about 400 bucks.
Haven't lost a pound.
Apparently you have to go there.

   Every time I hear the dirty word 'exercise,
I wash my mouth out with chocolate.

                                        


The advantage of exercising every day
is so when you die, they'll say,
'Well, she looks good doesn't she.'

If you are going to try cross-country skiing,
start with a small country.
 

I got a lot of exercise
the last few years,......just getting over the hill.

 We all get heavier as we get older,
because there's a lot more information in our heads.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

 

AND

Every time I start thinking too much
about how I look,
I just find a Happy Hour
and by the time I leave,
I look just fine.

Hot Chocolate Recipe

The chocolate cravings have begun!
I happened to have mentioned on Laura's No Sugar No Soda blog that I was craving hot chocolate. She was kind enough to research a recipe for me that is sugar free AND fat free. I wanted to share it with you.

Ingredients
3 cups nonfat dry milk powder
1 cup Splenda granular
1/2 cup baking cocoa
1 (1 ounce) package fat-free sugar-free instant vanilla pudding mix
Directions:
Prep Time: 1 mins
Total Time: 2 mins
1. 1 Mix all ingredients together.
2. 2 Store in airtight container.

Add 3 Tbsps mixture to mug
Add COLD water (helps with clumping)
Heat to desired warmth

I didn't add the Slenda to mine only because I have the Sun Crystals I am going to try. I am just going to add them to the mug. I have it mixed up and can't wait to try it!!


Here is the WEBSITE if you want to take a look!!

Thank you Laura!!

Candace, you HAVE to try this....and even share it on your blob!!

BPA<---->Throw it Away!

BPA....are you familiar with it? I had heard things about it here and there but never really gave it much thought until a few weeks ago when Dr. Oz had a segment about it on his show. I really paid attention, or so I thought. I was telling my family about it at Christmas and the more I tried to tell them about it, the more I was confusing myself and them.

If you look at the bottom of any plastic water bottle, childs sippy cups, bowls, the hard plastic bottles we use to carry water to the gym.....on the bottom of all of these there should be a number present between the triangle shaped recyle arrows. Here is where the confusion came in.....what numbers are harmful, which ones are not. I had to go to my computer and do a little research.

First of all you may be asking, what is BPA? BPA, Bisphenol A is a xenoestrogen, a known endocrine disruptor, meaning it disturbs the hormonal messaging in our bodies. Synthetic xenoestrogens are linked to breast cancer and uterine cancer in women, decreased testosterone levels in men, and are particularly devastating to babies and young children. BPA has even been linked to insulin resistance and Type 2 Diabetes.

To be certain that you are choosing a bottle that does not leach, check the recycling symbol on your bottle. If it is a #2 HDPE (high density polyethylene), or a #4 LDPE (low density polyethylene), or a #5 PP (polypropylene), your bottle is fine. The type of plastic bottle in which water is usually sold is usually a #1, and is only recommended for one time use. Do not refill it. Better to use a reusable water bottle, and fill it with your own filtered water from home and keep these single-use bottles out of the landfill.

                                 

For a list of good and bad numbers LOOK HERE!

Not only is BPA found in water bottles, some cans that our canned veggies, tuna, etc. come in, also contain BPA. I have started buying all of my tuna in pouches. It costs a little more, but I am investing in my health, so I feel it is worth the small extra cost. I may be going overboard too,but I also have replaced all of my plastic drinking cups with drinking glasses. They were only $8.99 for 10 glasses at Ross. I just feel better mentally drinking from the glasses.

                            Plastic Coding System

HERE is a better definition of the recycle codes. Can you understand now, why I was confused trying to explain this to my family ;)

There are many articles online to better explain BPA leaching and how to avoid it. I hope I have made you just a little more aware of it. Pass it on!!

Raspberry Lemonade

I am trying to find substitutions for soda, so I thought I would try to make raspberry lemonade made with Stevia sweetener with my juicer. I used an entire bag of lemons, there were 8 or 9 in the bag (I forgot to count them) and a whole container of fresh raspberries.

                                                     
                                   My little helper washing the lemons.

        We rotated adding raspberries and lemons, adding lemons last.

I used 3/4 cup of the lemon/raspberry mixture, 3 cups of water and 6 packettes of Stevia. It turned out really good!

Fruit Phobia

As strange as this may sound, I suffer from "Fruit Phobia." Although I have not done a Wikipedia search on this (maybe I should) I feel like there really is such a thing! I will not eat any type of fruit at all. If I even think about taking a bite, I get nervous! I know, I know, you can go ahead and say, "SHE'S WEIRD." I've been told that a time or two. I think a better term might be "fruit texture challenged." I caught part of  an episode of Dr. Phil once that had a gentleman on the show that was the same way about vegetables. Now I know I'm not alone with this strange phobia! I did meet Dr. Phil once * and I wanted to say, "remember that nutty veggie guy....I'm the fruity fruit girl!"

On the serious side, I decided I need to purchase a juicer. It would be the only way I would be able to have fruit in my diet. I will drink any fruit that has been juiced, except for apples. I have never tried an apple, probably never will try an apple,  and for whatever reason, I won't add one to my juicer. Strange, I know.

I shopped around for my juicer to find the best price. I waited until Kohl's sent out a 30% off coupon and I bought my Jack LaLanne juicer then. Regular price was $99 and I was able to purchase it for around $70. My daughter told me sometimes the GNC store also has them for $70.

So this morning, with the help of my grandson Callan, we made juice!

                                      
Preparing the fruit is the most time consuming part of the process. I usually do the washing, peeling etc. the night before. I don't have any fancy citrus peelers, so I use a teaspoon. It seems to work well for me!

                                          First we add pineapples....YUM!

 

Then we threw in some strawberries, grapes and oranges. The juicer comes with a recipe book, but most of the time I just throw in whatever I have in the fridge.

Our finished juice! It was very good!

I buy the small plastic cups at the Dollar Store. They fit perfectly under the spout.

To make clean up a little easier I put a Wal Mart bag in the pulp catcher.

*Meeting Dr. Phil.....he was with his wife Robin at a book signing in Waco. He said "Hello" I said "Hello."That counts as meeting, right? :D

Happy Birthday Callan!!

Where does the time go? I remember my mom saying the older you get, the faster times flies. I have really started to realize that we need to savor every moment in life, because it's gone in a flash!

Today my grandson Callan turned 4 years old. It just seems like yesterday he was born. We had a fun day of celebrating. I need to add, I didn't eat ONE bite of birthday cake! It sure was hard to turn it down!

I just wanted to share a few pictures from today.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEET BOY!

New Year Prayer

Here we are, starting the 2nd day of the New Year. I have something I would like to share with you HERE