Hello Kittens & Dawgs, I can’t believe it’s almost mid-January. This morning’s feature artist is new-to-me. I like asking Google for suggestions and discovered this girl, Dua Lipa. She’s an English singer, songwriter, and model who started her career at the age of 14. The above YouTube playlist consists of two of her best songs, # 1, “New Rules” was a number one single in the UK and #5 “Be The One” hit the UK top 10 singles chart.
Over the weekend I wanted to share 5 goals for this week in my Sunspiration slot but failed due to a shortage on time. Anywho, I decided to share them now.
- Exercise daily. I stopped sometime around Halloween after getting consumed with holiday prep and never returned. WomensHealthMag says, the National Institute of Health recommends to lose weigh you need to do moderate aerobic activity for 30-45 minutes at least three times per week. I will shoot for my normal routine of 60-minutes for 4-5 days this week which is totally doable.
- Food journal. Okay, this stinks but I know I need to do it for at least two weeks. This forces me to focus on my diet causing me to question every bit. Am I hungry? Am I thirst? FYI: Being thirsty sends mixed signals to the brain making you think you’re hungry. Learn how to tell the difference, here. Am I bored?
- Stand often. I do way too much sitting down. There are so many studies showing that’s bad for you. Duh, like I need someone to tell me why? That’s just common sense but what I didn’t realize is that standing burns significant calories. Lifehacker.com says this about standing versus sitting for three hours per day….Standing caused the volunteers to have a higher heart rate (around 10 beats per minute higher), which adds up to burning about 50 calories more per hour versus sitting. Over a year, that adds up to about 30,000 more calories or 8 pounds of fat.
- Lose the junk. This is an ongoing chore 365 days and after nearly 39 years of marriage we have stuff that needs to go. However, after reading this article, I think I will dedicate 5 minutes each day to finding items to toss with the hopes of filling at least one trash bag per week. Sounds like a good plan to de-clutter our home!
- Create. Last year, I discovered by forcing myself to sketch it revealed I had some hidden talent but another thing I found out is by creating it relieved stress and boosted my mood. My goal is to do something creative every day. There are many mental health benefits for everyone to take advantage of if one is willing to unlock his/her ability to test the waters.
Sketch created on iPad Pro using Apple Pencil in Procreate following YouTube illustrator.
Next week, I’ll report how my progress went with working these steps into my day. I’m sure I will struggle to get going but I know I will eventually get back into the groove of doing the things that I’ve allowed to slide.
I’m trying to find that happy balance between the blog world and life after the holidays. I haven’t quite gotten it just yet. This week I made a concerted effort to get back into using the elliptical for an hour every day. That’s one of the goals I set over the weekend and I hope to bump that to two hours after I my building my stamia. I haven’t exercised since…gosh, I can’t remember maybe Halloween. There’s no excuse for dropping the ball on keeping active and I seriously don’t think raising my fork and spoon to my lips qualifies as weightlifting. smack forehead
I love my Zumba videos but haven’t used them in years. Our living room is small and when we got the elliptical it made it even smaller, so I’m hoping when we move this year, I know that’s not guaranteed but if I keep saying it enough then maybe it will happen, we can find a home that will accommodate this need. An unfinished basement is an ideal place for a workout room, don’t you think?
In keeping with getting back my blogging basics, here are this week’s Thursday Two Questions. Feel free to answer these in comments, borrow to create your own T2Q post or come up with your own. This is a great way to initiate conversation while learning new things about one another.
1. Do you exercise more for weight loss or just for general health?
It took me years to figure this out but exercise isn’t the key to weight loss as much as it is my diet. So, now I exercise mostly for my overall health. Using my elliptical is about the only way I get some serious aerobic activity and while it’s important to keep the heart rate up, I think it’s essential to keep your body moving to prevent muscles and joints from growing weak and stiff. That makes a person feel old.
2. What’s the best diet tip you found works for you?
The best thing I found that works for me is realizing how many calories I’m consuming each day. Unless you’re a highly motivated person who always makes the right food choices then this isn’t a problem but if you aren’t like me then keeping a diary ensures I don’t over eat. After a long break away from my normal diet routine, I found keeping a food journal for a couple of weeks is a huge help to reset my diet habits.
Speaking of diet/exercise, you may want to check out the “Dear Diet Diary” funny I shared last Friday. I hope you enjoyed my little Q&A session. Eventually, I hope to include other Thursday hop connections. If you visit my Daily Blog Hop page you’ll find a few listed. Some of which I participated in last year but my timing was off and I couldn’t latch on to them properly. I hope to change that this year. Wish me luck! I invite you to stroll back over tomorrow for some giggles and a whole lot more of Friday Fun Stuff!
X💋X💋, Cathy
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I love Alf, great collection of comedy to start my Friday!!
That is a great list of goals for the year. I am sure you will accomplish all that and more.
Ellen,
I think I will, too. It’s just getting started and then not having complications to knock me off track like I did this week. Oh well…next week wil be better! 🙂
My problem is not sitting, not with work. My problem is that work is not exercise, even if i am on my feet and moving the whole time, and by the time i get home, i don’t want to do anything else!
Mimi,
Oh, I understand. It’s hard to do anything extra after working all day. I remember when I worked outside the home, I found it hard to exercise afterward and I was in my 20s. Of course, I did go to aerobic classes with some girls from work a couple two or three times each week which helped and it was a lot of fun. After becoming a mommy had to learn to motivate myself and do it at home which I did. The biggest hurdle was getting started but once I did I was unstoppable. The same thing holds true today. Despite my set back, I managed to get a couple of days in on the elliptical and I plan to use it today, too.
I do need to lose weight. i know part of my weight gain is menopause, my mom gained 30lbs during that time. With my joint problems it makes it hard to exercise but I can walk which i want to do. I also love chocolate and I shouldn’t have any of it since I am hypoglycemic so i will get back to my diet which is no sugar, caffeine or starch. I don’t drink coffee so that’s aok. I do like potatoes and french fries so they are out but I will have potatoes once per month. I can have all the meat and dairy, veggies and fruit except for bananas as they are very high in starch, the same with brown beans. I love your basket of fruit and would like to see another but coloured in this time:)
Birgit,
I gained a lot of weight in 2006, probably 20-30 pounds. That was six years after my hysterectomy. I pinned it on the depended hormones with the onset of menopause. My doctor did not put me on HRT since I had one ovary. It took me awhile to get off but I did. Now, I’m on HRT and generally I exercise and diet. All of these factors help to keep my weight in line. The holidays are a weak time for me. I must stay strong next year because I hate fighting it off now. I will have to try the basket of fruit and fill it with color. Best of luck to you on your diet and thanks for visiting. 😉
We’re doing the declutter thing here. Long overdue. It’s really not that hard if you do a sections at a time. It was overwhelming when I was trying to do a whole room each day.
Exercise and eating right can be hard and especially during the holidays. We go out to eat now and then and then get right back to our eating regimen. It’s helped a great deal. It’s hard though and it’s even tougher when we get older.
Have a fabulous day, Cathy. ♥
Sandee,
Decluttering a small section at a time is manageable and easier. I’m making it a habit when I come across something that needs tossing to do it and not put it off. Everything is harder the older you get, so I reckon this will be a battle for life. lol I know I’ll get back into the groove.
Good advice, Cathy. I exercise for general health. I eat a lot of salads and vegetables. I make myself get up and stand or do light exercises every 30 minutes or so. I like to dance so my light exercises are moving to the music. Make it a great day!
Eugenia,
Great suggestions! I need to definitely make myself get up every 30-mins. I love salads and for months that’s what I had for dinner but I’m going to try to eat regular food for a while. I know my biggest culprit is snacking during the day. I just need to get out of that habit again. I love listening to mewsic while I do house chores which always makes me boogie around the room and it puts more pep in my step. This week isn’t going as planned due to unforeseen reasons (more on that next week) but I’ll get myself back in gear hopefully within a few days. Thanks for hopping by!
😉