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.

1. 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.
2. 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?
3. 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.
4. 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!
5. 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!

XX, Cathy

It kinda makes sense, you know? I’m not advocating abandoning your fitness routine (I’m not quitting) nor is Rush or the article because exercise does give many good health benefits. What it all boils down to is, you eat more calories than your body burns and that’s why we gain weight.

I fell victim to the in-between eating pitfall. Who hasn’t? I made excuses for it by saying, I’m going to workout a little longer today. Well, that’s the wrong approach. It takes about 30-minutes of cardio to burn 200 calories. How many times per/day do you eat snacks?  Think about that for a moment. Scary, right? I committed myself last week to to not have any snacks. I didn’t entirely, but the diet change along (I actually exercised less and ate normal foods) was enough to shed 2.5 pounds from last Sunday weight check. Coincidence? I don’t know, but it’s an exciting and surprising development.

This is a wake up call to rethink my diet. I’m not keeping a food journal nor am I counting calories. The thing I’m doing is making well-thought out choices in what, when, and how much I eat. I am determined to Do It or Else die Trying to Do Right!

Do you have successful diet tips and secrets to share? If so, I can’t wait to read about them!

It’s time to hit the road again and I hope you’ll hop in the backseat for the ride as I head over to meet a few of my fellow A2Zroadsters. Thanks for stopping by!

 Good-morning, kittens & dawgs! This week I spied vintage footage of women exercising in the 40s. Dang, I’m doing it all wrong, too! You can guess where this morning giggles are going, right? Join me for more exercise humor on Sunday Sillies!

This is what I would see, if….

And, this is what guys want to see…

Maybe, the male/female brain isn’t so different after all.

What works…

What doesn’t work….

Okay, maybe our brains are different after all!  If you want more dieting & exercising humor, click here and here!  Let me leave you with a song that’s sure to make you smile!

That’s all for now, folks. If you have giggles to share, then we’d love to see ‘em! Until next time, keep smiling and have a laughtastic week! Do you like music? If so, hop back each day this month for a song of the day entwined with a snippet from my life in Blogging from A to Z!

However, I am a real person with short comings and the only way to see an end to these self inflected body flaws due to motherhood is cosmetic surgery. Basically, I have two options. They are: I can fret over my imperfections or laugh at them. Hmm, I chose to laugh.  Having the last laugh on me (maybe you, too), let’s take a light approach to diet & exercise.

 I found this video floating on Facebook Friday. Warning: This might offend some, but I found it totally obnoxiously funny. Let’s just say, I would hate to be the butt end (pun intended) of this gag.

Keep smiling and a have laughtastic week!

Good morning, my lovelies! This week I am hitting my new elliptical trainer hard. Today’s inspired giggles are from the long, tiring workouts and hopefully these will keep me motivated to stay movin’!

 ~ images borrowed from Google~

Keep smiling and a have laughtastic weekend!

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I’m in total combat mode! Why? I’ve been a major slacker in my dieting. At the start of the New Year I felt charged with enthusiasm to get things cranking. The truth is I just wasn’t emotionally on board. However, warmer weather is on the loom, and it’s painfully clear it’s time to push myself to melt some unwanted pounds pronto. It’s won’t be an easy battle and it may get down right ugly. Determined to my guns and if necessary going completely nuclear with my approach.

I am tracking my daily food-intake with an iPhone app or if you don’t have a smartphone, then you can access My Fitness Pal on the web. I am limiting myself to 700 calories. I truly DO NOT recommend this for you. This is only a temporary move to jump-start my metabolism. I have learned my limitations. At 5’2″ with a current weight of 116.5 my idea calorie range is 1000-1200. The thing is, I know I have to cut my intake by 500 calories a day to burn one pound per/week. What seems like a drastic trim in calories initially, really isn’t for me. One thing that plays against me is my age.  My body’s furnace to burn off calories is slow. Of course, it is never all about dieting. Re-setting my metabolism through food restrictions and exercise will so-to-speak turn up the fire melting those pounds away.

Cardiovascular activity is an essential part in my role to looking and feeling my best. My calories are too low to enlist in boot-camp cardio-aerobics. Doing more than my body has fuel to do will only stress my body, which could cause my body to reserve the calories in the form of fat. That I do not want. My energy level is strong enough to endure  60-minutes on my stationary bike each day. I have to admit a terrible pitfall of mine is sitting for long stretches of time. I aiming to stand more throughout the day. According to Health Status calculator, I can burn 63 calories for every hour that I stand. You can get other calculations by using this site, if you’re interested. Over an 8-hour period at that rate, then I can drop those 500 daily calories without breaking a sweat. That’s cool!

This is off-topic, but then again that’s part of the random fun each Tuesday, right? This question is for seasoned WP bloggers. How do I keep my comments from all being held for moderation? I looked over my settings, and the only one I can see possibly holding things up is the one that says comment author must sign fill out name and email address.

Another thing is since making the switch from Blogger to WP, I have gotten more spam-like commentors. Some of it is obviously spam and some aren’t as easy to figure out. What are some of your sure-fire techniques for spotting those ify few?

While I am on my WP blog subject, I want to know what elements you use, that you think I should use. I have learned WP uses plugins for everything, so please give me a list of your must-have plugins to consider! You can leave your suggestions in my comments or if you would rather, then shoot me an email at curiousasacathy@gmail.com! A friend is always welcomed at my in-box anytime.

Grab a cup of coffee and join me as I visit my lovelies….

Les from Time Out For Mom prompts  us to answer the following question…

What is the one question you would ask everyone you meet?

Without fail, I always ask how the other person and her family are doing? Perhaps, it’s out of politeness or maybe, it’s just an automatic icebreaker for that slight awkward pause at first meet. The next words out of my mouth usually relate to jobs, is your husband still with…or are you working at… Of course, there are occasions when I meet up with someone who is looking particularly fabulous because of weight change, and I immediately ask how did you do it? From a personal stand,  I know how good it makes me feel when someone notices my hard efforts to make unwanted pounds vanish, so I like paying it forward while getting someone’s secret weight lose tips. Everyone likes to have a cheerleader in her pocket, right?

Patrice’s chats on the farmhouse porch questions for this week haven’t gone live yet, but I will revise this part of my post later on in the morning when I have them.

For now, did someone say coffee? Oh yes, that was me. Hee-Hee! It’s time to get another refill of Joe. As luck will have it, my last stop takes us to Starbuck’s home state to visit Stacy Uncorked. She is now back in Blogosphere doing what she does best  ~ random musings on Random Tuesday Thoughts ! I’m gonna to join her linky party now. Wanna come with?

Have a terrific Tuesday!

Here are 5 Ways to burn 500 calories that are totally doable!

1. Breakfast:

• Replace whole milk for skim.
• Say goodbye to bacon and sausages, but stick with your eggs for an excellent source of protein which will maintain you longer throughout the morning hours.
• Sub high caloric condiments such as mayo with mustard or hummus to put on your bread.
• If you must have ready to eat cereals, then choose flakes over granola. These are generally lower in calories. Better still go with a bowl of old fashion oatmeal sweetened with Splenda or sprinkle cinnamon on top. This will satisfy you better than cold cereals, too.
• Avoid the fancy lattes. A 16oz version made with whole milk has a whopping 400 calories!

2. Snacks:

• Eat slowly. By doing so, you’ll eat 70% per meal because when you thoroughly chew your food this allows your body time to activate the appetite-related hormones. Set your folk down in-between bites or keep your little paws out of the potato chip bag.
• You can have your cake and eat it too, just share it with a friend.
• Don’t ever eat out of a large multi-serving container. You can’t track your portions and are more lightly to over eat.
• Never allow yourself to give into rewarding good dieting with no-no foods. Keep everything in moderation.

3. Dinner:

• Avoid cooking with refined oils by replacing with olive oil.
• Eat vegetables cooked with no oils or butter, don’t serve rice as an option.
• Begin your meal by having a broth base soup. This will slow your eating and curb your appetite. Creamy soups are high in fat and calories, so avoid!
• Use fat-free Italian dressing on your salads or bring out the flavors of your salad by using only spices.

4. Eating Desserts:

• Skip ice cream shop ice creams by replacing with fruit and berries or melons.
• Omit oils when baking by replacing with equal parts of applesauce in the recipe.
• Make your own skim milk ice cream alternative, instead of buying premium store-bought vanilla ice cream.

5. Dining Out:

• Don’t buy separate entrees. Usually, they are large enough for two people to share. Just ask for a second plate. Restaurants are happy to oblige.
• Drink a warm beverage such as hot tea sweetened with Splenda or have a low-calorie soup before your meal. Having hot liquids before a meal decreases your appetite. Another alternative is to have a salad before your meal arrives, which also helps to fill you.
• Steer away from deep-fried foods and think grilled lean meats like fish or chicken.

The first three days of any dieting regiment are the hardest, but if you can push through them then you’ll find it becomes easier and I have found the same principle to be true with exercising. Tenacity is the key!

TIP: According to a University of Michigan researcher, sleeping an extra hour a night could help a person drop up to 14 Pounds a year. (removed broken link attached to tip)

What tricks do you have up your sleeve when it comes to shaving calories from your diet?

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