Okay. Sometimes things just jump out in perfect clarity. I wore my pedometer all day and was amazed.
Remember those studies? The Amish walk 14,000 steps a day, an average American woman walks 5000, and an obese woman walks about 3500 a day.
Okay. My first day I logged in with two different numbers. I'm looking for a baseline of how many steps I walk in a normal sedentary day. And it's not much. I am not very proud to announce that the number of normal baseline steps I walked this first day was a paltry 3500. That's the bad news.
Or is it? If I walk the number of steps overweight women walk, then I can also increase the number of stops I walk and become less overweight, right?
That's the good news. And another note of good news ... My back has been sore because I've been spending so much time in my computer chair trying to finish my latest novel, so I decided I'd better start walking.
So I walked for thirty minutes. (A year ago I was walking for sixty minutes a day and my husband commented that I looked more fit than doing anything else). Anyway, by walking for thirty minutes, I added 3200 steps to y daily total. I nearly doubled my number of steps by taking a thirty minute walk.
That's good news.
And, of course, the ultimate good news -- I have a Savior. And if our baby steps aren't pointed back to Him and to our Heavenly Father, the other steps we take don't really matter.
© Copyright 2010 Heather Horrocks
February 10, 2010
February 2, 2010
BABY STEP 32 - Baseline of my actual steps (Feb 1)
I’m so excited. I received my pedometer in the mail yesterday. So today, bright and early, I figured out how to use it and I’m wearing it all day today. I’m going to get a “baseline” number of steps. The number of steps I normally walk if I’m not exercising in any way (I actually did walk this morning, but I’m going to subtract those steps off to see what I have been walking in the normal course of my sedentary days.
And then I can start making changes for the better, changes that will slowly bring me to vibrant health.
Do you have a pedometer yet? If not, I challenge you to get one. If you do, I challenge you to get it out dust it off, hook it on first thing in the morning, and get your own baseline.
Once we each know what our own baseline number is, then we can each modify by adding to it. If you normally walk 6000 steps and someone else walks 2000, then you’ll need to make different modifications, but we’ll all big kids here and can handle the math (it’s so simple there’s nothing to handle, really).
I’m excited. Like when I figured out how much debt we had three years ago. The number scared me but was also a great relief to know that was really the number and it would never be larger than it was at that moment (and now it’s zero, which is an awesome feeling). So soon I’ll know the number. It may well be pathetically small- -but that’s a good thing, right? I mean, if I was walking 10,000 steps a day and was this overweight and out of shape, I’d figure there wasn’t much hope. But if it’s 2000, I can look at that number, nod, and realize that I can increase that number and improve my health, slowly, one baby step at a time.
So let’s find out the magic number. Where we’re beginning (that’s a more interesting number than our weight, because if we weigh and it’s higher than we like, we’ll feel depressed; if we find out we’re not moving nearly enough, we can just start moving a little more, easily and effortlessly moving toward vibrant health.
I’ll race you. On your mark, get set.....go get your pedometer!
© Copyright 2010 Heather Horrocks
And then I can start making changes for the better, changes that will slowly bring me to vibrant health.
Do you have a pedometer yet? If not, I challenge you to get one. If you do, I challenge you to get it out dust it off, hook it on first thing in the morning, and get your own baseline.
Once we each know what our own baseline number is, then we can each modify by adding to it. If you normally walk 6000 steps and someone else walks 2000, then you’ll need to make different modifications, but we’ll all big kids here and can handle the math (it’s so simple there’s nothing to handle, really).
I’m excited. Like when I figured out how much debt we had three years ago. The number scared me but was also a great relief to know that was really the number and it would never be larger than it was at that moment (and now it’s zero, which is an awesome feeling). So soon I’ll know the number. It may well be pathetically small- -but that’s a good thing, right? I mean, if I was walking 10,000 steps a day and was this overweight and out of shape, I’d figure there wasn’t much hope. But if it’s 2000, I can look at that number, nod, and realize that I can increase that number and improve my health, slowly, one baby step at a time.
So let’s find out the magic number. Where we’re beginning (that’s a more interesting number than our weight, because if we weigh and it’s higher than we like, we’ll feel depressed; if we find out we’re not moving nearly enough, we can just start moving a little more, easily and effortlessly moving toward vibrant health.
I’ll race you. On your mark, get set.....go get your pedometer!
© Copyright 2010 Heather Horrocks
February 1, 2010
BABY STEP 31 - Getting used to the view (Jan 31)
“Vegetables are a must on a diet. I suggest carrot cake, zucchini bread, and pumpkin pie.” (Jim Davis)
I gave up soft drinks a few years ago, suddenly, and went through three or four months of hellish withdrawal. Headaches and incredible cravings.
This last year, I started drinking diet Pepsi with cherry again and enjoyed every can. But, even when I began drinking it again, I told myself that I would allow myself to drink it, and enjoy it, until the end of the year.
On January 1st, I stopped drinking it again. Only this time, because I allowed myself time to ‘get used to the view,’ I have not had the horrible withdrawals. A few times I’ve had a mild headache, but even that felt more like a sinus allergy headache. But definitely not the horrible headaches I had before.
I also haven’t had the horrible cravings. Before, even three months later, we went over to a furniture store that had Boy Scouts serving free hot dogs and cups of Coke--and every cell in my body put out it’s little arms and cried out, “Gimme!”
I haven’t experienced that this time. Sometimes just giving ourselves freedom to fully enjoy what we want, without guilt, and also give ourselves a date, our subconscious can help us give things up instead of adding to our cravings.
What does your body cry out, “Gimme!” for? Enjoy. For a time. You choose the thing to give up. You choose the time.
Our power to choose is one of the most fantastic gifts our Heavenly Father gave us.
This year, we will choose wisely.
© Copyright 2010 Heather Horrocks
I gave up soft drinks a few years ago, suddenly, and went through three or four months of hellish withdrawal. Headaches and incredible cravings.
This last year, I started drinking diet Pepsi with cherry again and enjoyed every can. But, even when I began drinking it again, I told myself that I would allow myself to drink it, and enjoy it, until the end of the year.
On January 1st, I stopped drinking it again. Only this time, because I allowed myself time to ‘get used to the view,’ I have not had the horrible withdrawals. A few times I’ve had a mild headache, but even that felt more like a sinus allergy headache. But definitely not the horrible headaches I had before.
I also haven’t had the horrible cravings. Before, even three months later, we went over to a furniture store that had Boy Scouts serving free hot dogs and cups of Coke--and every cell in my body put out it’s little arms and cried out, “Gimme!”
I haven’t experienced that this time. Sometimes just giving ourselves freedom to fully enjoy what we want, without guilt, and also give ourselves a date, our subconscious can help us give things up instead of adding to our cravings.
What does your body cry out, “Gimme!” for? Enjoy. For a time. You choose the thing to give up. You choose the time.
Our power to choose is one of the most fantastic gifts our Heavenly Father gave us.
This year, we will choose wisely.
© Copyright 2010 Heather Horrocks
BABY STEP 30 - Add chocolate to your list. (Jan 30)
“Make a list of important things to do today. At the top of your list, put "eat chocolate." Now, you'll get at least one thing done today.” (Gina Hayes)
I bet that’s not what you expected to read today, is it? I think today will be a piece of heaven. Find a piece of chocolate. Your favorite kind. Make it a delicious piece, and enjoy every second as it melts in our mouths (if we can keep from chomping it).
Yesterday, I ate too much sugar. You know those days, when you start and then keep going and can’t seem to stop? Coincidentally enough, by the end of the day I felt crappy. Do you suppose there’s a correlation between the two events? Perhaps even a direct correlation?
Does that mean I should cut back on sugar? Eep!
Okay, okay. I do want to give up sugar except on special occasions. I know I feel better when I don’t eat it.
I spent several years researching different diet plans to see what they agreed on and disagreed on (is salt good for you? bad for you? etc). The only thing they all seemed to agree on was to drink sufficient water (have you had your extra glass today?) and to give up sugar. I kept searching, I guess for that one elusive plan that would say sugar is good. But I never found it. Drat it all.
So today, let’s put several things on our list, chocolate included. Write a list of things you feel you wish you could give up (like sugar, soft drinks, cigarettes) or would like to add (water, exercise, service). Then choose just one of the ‘give-up’ items and write a date at least two months out beside it.
We need to gear up for big changes. To get used to the view. We need to do some things that might help us not crave sugar. Are there vitamins and minerals that could help? I’ll find out and pass it on.
So today I'm going to choose a day--far out in the future (say about two months--right around April 1, which makes me kinda laugh, but that doesn’t mean this is a joke) that I'm going to give it up.
And each day that I eat sugar in the form of candy, candy bars, etc, I'll just tell myself that on April 1st, I'll give it up.
I'll still allow myself to have a baked dessert once a week (probably Sunday). Mainly because baked desserts don't have nearly the bad effect on me as the candied kinds.
Okay. Whew. Breathe a sigh of relief. I don't have to give it up today.
Neither do you.
But today you also need to set a date--as far out as you need to--and make it definite. And start telling yourself that you're giving it up on that day. And decide exactly what you're giving up and what you'll still allow yourself.
That way, it won't seem like such a deprivation. Because we don't want deprivation. We want success and vibrant health. And chocolate...but only until April 1st. If you choose.
© Copyright 2010 Heather Horrocks
I bet that’s not what you expected to read today, is it? I think today will be a piece of heaven. Find a piece of chocolate. Your favorite kind. Make it a delicious piece, and enjoy every second as it melts in our mouths (if we can keep from chomping it).
Yesterday, I ate too much sugar. You know those days, when you start and then keep going and can’t seem to stop? Coincidentally enough, by the end of the day I felt crappy. Do you suppose there’s a correlation between the two events? Perhaps even a direct correlation?
Does that mean I should cut back on sugar? Eep!
Okay, okay. I do want to give up sugar except on special occasions. I know I feel better when I don’t eat it.
I spent several years researching different diet plans to see what they agreed on and disagreed on (is salt good for you? bad for you? etc). The only thing they all seemed to agree on was to drink sufficient water (have you had your extra glass today?) and to give up sugar. I kept searching, I guess for that one elusive plan that would say sugar is good. But I never found it. Drat it all.
So today, let’s put several things on our list, chocolate included. Write a list of things you feel you wish you could give up (like sugar, soft drinks, cigarettes) or would like to add (water, exercise, service). Then choose just one of the ‘give-up’ items and write a date at least two months out beside it.
We need to gear up for big changes. To get used to the view. We need to do some things that might help us not crave sugar. Are there vitamins and minerals that could help? I’ll find out and pass it on.
So today I'm going to choose a day--far out in the future (say about two months--right around April 1, which makes me kinda laugh, but that doesn’t mean this is a joke) that I'm going to give it up.
And each day that I eat sugar in the form of candy, candy bars, etc, I'll just tell myself that on April 1st, I'll give it up.
I'll still allow myself to have a baked dessert once a week (probably Sunday). Mainly because baked desserts don't have nearly the bad effect on me as the candied kinds.
Okay. Whew. Breathe a sigh of relief. I don't have to give it up today.
Neither do you.
But today you also need to set a date--as far out as you need to--and make it definite. And start telling yourself that you're giving it up on that day. And decide exactly what you're giving up and what you'll still allow yourself.
That way, it won't seem like such a deprivation. Because we don't want deprivation. We want success and vibrant health. And chocolate...but only until April 1st. If you choose.
© Copyright 2010 Heather Horrocks
BABY STEP 29 - Sweetening the pot (Jan 29)
“The reality is that there is epidemiological work done in children as well as adults that links obesity and Type 2 diabetes with the consumption of sodas.” (Dr. Sonia Caprio, Yale University professor of pediatric endocrinology)
Okay, I want us to try a simple experiment today. When you get your glass of water, pour anywhere from seven to thirteen teaspoons of sugar in it. If you have high-fructose corn syrup to add instead, all the better. Now take a sip.
Now why would I ask you to do this? Seems pretty silly, doesn’t it?
Because I want us to try a common sense experiment. A single 12-ounce can of soda contains between seven and thirteen teaspoons of sugar, usually in the form of high-fructose corn syrup.
So let’s stir in the sugar, take a sip, and see how much sugar we’ve been drinking in our soft drinks. (You may choose not to do this, but I’m going to just for the experiment part of it. I’m curious.)
I happen to be obese. (I hate that word! But it probably accurately and technically describes my body.) I also happen to have family who have Type 2 diabetes, the type you develop from lifetime of eating too much sugar.
I no longer choose to be obese.
I no longer choose to eat in a way that will trigger Type 2 diabetes.
I choose vibrant health.
This year, everything changes (but in tiny little baby steps that don’t frighten us).
So I’ll sweeten the pot (as it were). Can you ‘see’ yourself giving up soft drinks? If you can see it, it can happen. Let’s sweeten our lives with joy, no longer with high-fructose corn syrup.
But today, just taste the sugar water, and see if you think it would be better ifyou added a whole bunch of chemicals, some flavoring, some bubbles, and some phosphoric acid? No? Me, neither.
© Copyright 2010 Heather Horrocks
Okay, I want us to try a simple experiment today. When you get your glass of water, pour anywhere from seven to thirteen teaspoons of sugar in it. If you have high-fructose corn syrup to add instead, all the better. Now take a sip.
Now why would I ask you to do this? Seems pretty silly, doesn’t it?
Because I want us to try a common sense experiment. A single 12-ounce can of soda contains between seven and thirteen teaspoons of sugar, usually in the form of high-fructose corn syrup.
So let’s stir in the sugar, take a sip, and see how much sugar we’ve been drinking in our soft drinks. (You may choose not to do this, but I’m going to just for the experiment part of it. I’m curious.)
I happen to be obese. (I hate that word! But it probably accurately and technically describes my body.) I also happen to have family who have Type 2 diabetes, the type you develop from lifetime of eating too much sugar.
I no longer choose to be obese.
I no longer choose to eat in a way that will trigger Type 2 diabetes.
I choose vibrant health.
This year, everything changes (but in tiny little baby steps that don’t frighten us).
So I’ll sweeten the pot (as it were). Can you ‘see’ yourself giving up soft drinks? If you can see it, it can happen. Let’s sweeten our lives with joy, no longer with high-fructose corn syrup.
But today, just taste the sugar water, and see if you think it would be better ifyou added a whole bunch of chemicals, some flavoring, some bubbles, and some phosphoric acid? No? Me, neither.
© Copyright 2010 Heather Horrocks
BABY STEP 28 - Stolen calcium (Jan 28)
“Pepsi is like a party in my mouth.” (Diane Stoddard, author and friend)
But sometimes the party needs to come to an end.
I have a question for you. Do you have enough calcium in your bones? Do you have an excess that you can stand to dump?
Answer: No, you do not have enough if you drink soft drinks, which leach calcium from our bones. You know, leach: to dissolve out soluble constituents from [bone/teeth] by percolation. In this case, the percolation is caused by the bubbles that contain way too much phosphorus.
Leach, as opposed to leech, which is what the soft drink makers have become (I mean, come on--soft drink machines in schools? Give me a break). A leech is a person (or company) who clings to another for personal gain, especially without giving anything in return, and usually with the implication or effect of exhausting the other's resources; parasite. (Both definitions were found at dictionary.com) In this case, the companies don’t care what the soft drinks do to our bodies, as long as their bottom line looks good.
(I’d like my bottom line to look good, too, and that’s what this year is all about.)
Okay, I’m a writer, so I’m going to tell you a story. A horror story.
Once upon a time there was company that made soft drinks. And that company added many chemicals to the bottles and cans.
One thing they added was phosphoric acid, to help the many little bubbles effervescing. Because people won’t buy soft drinks with flat bubbles, and they want to sell as many bottles and cans of soft drink as they can.
And then along came a thirsty consumer who bought one of this company’s soft drinks, and drank it.
And the phosphoric acid went into the body and stole some of its valuable calcium and ran out, laughing. The end.
Okay, okay, once again I’ll force myself to get serious. (Although you’ll see that this is actually what excess phosphorus does to our bodies.)
For good health, our bodies need to maintain a one-to-one (1:1) balance between calcium and phosphorus. If that balance is kept, our bodies retain their calcium or, if it dips, our bodies are able to create more. Drinking soft drinks drives this balance up much higher, as high as 4:1 or 5:1. Unfortunately for us, when we drink a soft drink and the excess phosphoric acid hits our systems, our bodies attempt to re-balance the ratio by releasing calcium from the teeth and bones into our bloodstreams.
Whoa. Did I hear that correctly? Like I have extra calcium in my teeth I want to toss out, or extra calcium in my bones I can afford to lose?
And what happens after the body dumps its much-needed calcium in its attempt to balance the excess phosphorus that just hit it? Eventually our bodies excrete the phosphoric acid, but out with the bad goes the good: the calcium our body released.
Hmmmm. I wonder if there’s a correlation between the increase in soft drink consumption and the increase in osteoporosis?
Michael Murray ND and Joseph Pizzorno ND, in the Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine, Revised Second Edition, stated that, "Soft drink consumption may be a major factor for osteoporosis as they are high in phosphates but contain virtually no calcium. This leads to lower calcium levels and higher phosphate levels in the blood."
I don’t know about you, but I don’t want soft teeth and weak bones.
Now there’s some food for thought to chew on. If we have strong calcium-rich teeth left to chew with, that is.
© Copyright 2010 Heather Horrocks
But sometimes the party needs to come to an end.
I have a question for you. Do you have enough calcium in your bones? Do you have an excess that you can stand to dump?
Answer: No, you do not have enough if you drink soft drinks, which leach calcium from our bones. You know, leach: to dissolve out soluble constituents from [bone/teeth] by percolation. In this case, the percolation is caused by the bubbles that contain way too much phosphorus.
Leach, as opposed to leech, which is what the soft drink makers have become (I mean, come on--soft drink machines in schools? Give me a break). A leech is a person (or company) who clings to another for personal gain, especially without giving anything in return, and usually with the implication or effect of exhausting the other's resources; parasite. (Both definitions were found at dictionary.com) In this case, the companies don’t care what the soft drinks do to our bodies, as long as their bottom line looks good.
(I’d like my bottom line to look good, too, and that’s what this year is all about.)
Okay, I’m a writer, so I’m going to tell you a story. A horror story.
Once upon a time there was company that made soft drinks. And that company added many chemicals to the bottles and cans.
One thing they added was phosphoric acid, to help the many little bubbles effervescing. Because people won’t buy soft drinks with flat bubbles, and they want to sell as many bottles and cans of soft drink as they can.
And then along came a thirsty consumer who bought one of this company’s soft drinks, and drank it.
And the phosphoric acid went into the body and stole some of its valuable calcium and ran out, laughing. The end.
Okay, okay, once again I’ll force myself to get serious. (Although you’ll see that this is actually what excess phosphorus does to our bodies.)
For good health, our bodies need to maintain a one-to-one (1:1) balance between calcium and phosphorus. If that balance is kept, our bodies retain their calcium or, if it dips, our bodies are able to create more. Drinking soft drinks drives this balance up much higher, as high as 4:1 or 5:1. Unfortunately for us, when we drink a soft drink and the excess phosphoric acid hits our systems, our bodies attempt to re-balance the ratio by releasing calcium from the teeth and bones into our bloodstreams.
Whoa. Did I hear that correctly? Like I have extra calcium in my teeth I want to toss out, or extra calcium in my bones I can afford to lose?
And what happens after the body dumps its much-needed calcium in its attempt to balance the excess phosphorus that just hit it? Eventually our bodies excrete the phosphoric acid, but out with the bad goes the good: the calcium our body released.
Hmmmm. I wonder if there’s a correlation between the increase in soft drink consumption and the increase in osteoporosis?
Michael Murray ND and Joseph Pizzorno ND, in the Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine, Revised Second Edition, stated that, "Soft drink consumption may be a major factor for osteoporosis as they are high in phosphates but contain virtually no calcium. This leads to lower calcium levels and higher phosphate levels in the blood."
I don’t know about you, but I don’t want soft teeth and weak bones.
Now there’s some food for thought to chew on. If we have strong calcium-rich teeth left to chew with, that is.
© Copyright 2010 Heather Horrocks
BABY STEP 27 - Singing an ode to chocolate (Jan 27)
“Money talks. Chocolate sings.” (Tee-shirt from Zazzle.com)
Addition and cravings are interesting things. What makes us crave stuff? Sometimes it’s the situation (sitting down for a movie without popcorn? I don’t think so!). Sometimes it’s the chemistry (I’ve never smoked, but my sister-in-law said it was easier to get off cocaine than it was to give up smoking; now that is some serious chemistry). Sometimes it’s our frantic need to push down our emotions (my husband’s ex-wife is coming to town? Bring out the chocolate!).
Ah, chocolate. Now there’s a craving worth talking about. I gave up chocolate for an entire year (well, I did allow myself chocolate in baked goods or I couldn’t have handled life, but I don’t bake very often any more). And my father, a founding member of the fat police (every visit, he would mention that I could probably lose a few pounds, said by a man who chose his last psycho wife based on her skeletal body form; hmmm, I wonder if there’s any baggage there?), convinced me to buy a big box of hand-dipped chocolates to give as Christmas gifts several years back. And I resisted them for at least a month.
And then I caved. (Anyone here surprised at that?)
I listened to a talk a few weeks ago: It’s easier to avoid than to resist. I avoided chocolate all year. And then I brought it into my house and was not able to resist it.
Another interesting thought in this talk? That if you don’t avoid a temptation, then you have to not only resist the temptation, but the chemistry. The speaker gave the example of giving up chocolate chip cookies, but if his wife has set two dozen warm-from-the-oven cookies on the kitchen counter, he won’t be able to resist.
The chemistry. Chocolate has caffeine. It also has something that calms my once-a-month chemistry (any other women out there ever come across that one?). If it’s in my house, I will eat it. If not now, then eventually.
I’m working on giving it up again. I have given up regular candy bars, because if I don’t I can’t even run into a gas station to pay for my gas without thinking, “Oh, look, a Three Musketeers.” I do allow myself dark chocolate (I prefer the Lindt brand with chili in it, because it’s a lighter dark chocolate and because the chili gives it just enough kick to keep me from eating too much) and chocolate chips, either baked into cookies or just poured into my hand.
Today, let’s look at when and how we cave to cravings. What triggers our cravings?
And what changes can we make to make sure we are avoiding temptation rather than resisting both the temptation and the chemistry.
© Copyright 2010 Heather Horrocks
Addition and cravings are interesting things. What makes us crave stuff? Sometimes it’s the situation (sitting down for a movie without popcorn? I don’t think so!). Sometimes it’s the chemistry (I’ve never smoked, but my sister-in-law said it was easier to get off cocaine than it was to give up smoking; now that is some serious chemistry). Sometimes it’s our frantic need to push down our emotions (my husband’s ex-wife is coming to town? Bring out the chocolate!).
Ah, chocolate. Now there’s a craving worth talking about. I gave up chocolate for an entire year (well, I did allow myself chocolate in baked goods or I couldn’t have handled life, but I don’t bake very often any more). And my father, a founding member of the fat police (every visit, he would mention that I could probably lose a few pounds, said by a man who chose his last psycho wife based on her skeletal body form; hmmm, I wonder if there’s any baggage there?), convinced me to buy a big box of hand-dipped chocolates to give as Christmas gifts several years back. And I resisted them for at least a month.
And then I caved. (Anyone here surprised at that?)
I listened to a talk a few weeks ago: It’s easier to avoid than to resist. I avoided chocolate all year. And then I brought it into my house and was not able to resist it.
Another interesting thought in this talk? That if you don’t avoid a temptation, then you have to not only resist the temptation, but the chemistry. The speaker gave the example of giving up chocolate chip cookies, but if his wife has set two dozen warm-from-the-oven cookies on the kitchen counter, he won’t be able to resist.
The chemistry. Chocolate has caffeine. It also has something that calms my once-a-month chemistry (any other women out there ever come across that one?). If it’s in my house, I will eat it. If not now, then eventually.
I’m working on giving it up again. I have given up regular candy bars, because if I don’t I can’t even run into a gas station to pay for my gas without thinking, “Oh, look, a Three Musketeers.” I do allow myself dark chocolate (I prefer the Lindt brand with chili in it, because it’s a lighter dark chocolate and because the chili gives it just enough kick to keep me from eating too much) and chocolate chips, either baked into cookies or just poured into my hand.
Today, let’s look at when and how we cave to cravings. What triggers our cravings?
And what changes can we make to make sure we are avoiding temptation rather than resisting both the temptation and the chemistry.
© Copyright 2010 Heather Horrocks
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