I had a well established blog about my geocaching adventures but I came to the conclusion that sometimes I wanted to tell you about other places I go, or things I felt like talking about, so a year ago I decided to start this new blog. I have tried to tie the two of them together, but never succeeded. Now that this new one has a good following, I'm thinking I might just put the future geocaching adventures in here too.
Blogging has been quite an experience for me. This is my 77th entry in this new one, and I've published 82 comments so far. The most popular post so far was called Nothing Natural About Art. I was in an online webinar by Johannes Vloothuis with at least a thousand other students at the time. I happened to mention the blog post in one of the forums about that at the time, and so it's not surprising that so many people decided to check it out. The second most popular post was Girls Just Want To Have Fun, and that's not too surprising either. It was about Red Hatters and Elvis Impersonators, so I'm sure it popped up well on the search engines. The third most popular post is my own personal favourite. It's called In Case You Didn't Know . I just felt the need to explain why it is that I am always offering so much unnecessary, and likely unwanted, information and advice. The next three most popular posts all have to do with food. They are either about testing Chatelaine recipes, or about the 17 Day Diet.
Statistics show that I not only have a following across all of North America, but also in Russia, Germany, the United Kingdom and even Singapore. Others have dropped in from Sweden, Iran, Hungary and South Korea, among other places. I can't help wonder what it was I said that drew people from such far away locations to my page, but I do hope they continue to drop by.
Most of the comments I get are from people I have never met, and I love that they take a moment from their lives to let me know what they think. I often click on their link, if they have one, and follow it back to their own blogs and leave a comment there too.
Because of that, this year, through blogging, I have enjoyed watching one family adopt 3 little girls, to add to the 4 children they already have, and then try to get to a point where life could continue in some sort of normal fashion. I really enjoyed stories another mother writes about her "twinnies" and younger daughter....and sometimes her hubby who, like many men, is often just one of the kids anyway. I have followed several art related blogs, where I learn all kinds of interesting ideas and techniques. I have recently become more interested in multimedia and art journals, and always enjoy stopping to watch the videos by Donna Downey, where I learn not to be afraid to just try something different. There's no telling where it, or blogging, will take me.
I actually feel like I've made a few new online friends this past year, and I even got a lovely homemade Christmas card from one of them. So, please, if you're reading this, feel free to comment at any point. I'd love to hear what you think.
Showing posts with label 17 Day Diet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 17 Day Diet. Show all posts
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Weighing In
I’ve been asked a few times lately how the 17 Day Diet is going. Well, I was really good at sticking to Cycle 1, and I did lose some weight rather quickly. Then Cycle 2 allowed me to have carbs on alternating days. Not a good idea since I’m definitely a carb addict, but it did confuse the body enough to allow me to lose a few more pounds. However, I never did get into the swing of the menu plan for the second cycle and was off the diet as often as I was on it.
There were lots of meals out, and they were special celebrations, so, no I wasn’t eating salads with a vinaigrette dressing on those occasions. I had a special birthday, quickly followed by Mother’s Day. Then I had 3 really great Red Hat functions to attend. The menus for those had already been decided on, before I started this diet, so I just tried to be good the rest of the week, when those events came along.
I don’t think you can say I’m actually on the diet anymore, but I learned a few things along the way. I don’t eat as much bread or potatoes or pasta as I used to. At least not on a daily basis.
I’m down a total of 12 pounds and two holes on my belt, so I have to say, I still think this was a worth while experiment. I have not gained back any of what I’ve lost, even though I was at a Pizza Party this week, on the same day I had another big meal including apple strudel for dessert at the Red Hat Queen’s Council Luncheon. I’d definitely recommend the 17 Day Diet to anyone who wants to kick start a weight loss program.
There were lots of meals out, and they were special celebrations, so, no I wasn’t eating salads with a vinaigrette dressing on those occasions. I had a special birthday, quickly followed by Mother’s Day. Then I had 3 really great Red Hat functions to attend. The menus for those had already been decided on, before I started this diet, so I just tried to be good the rest of the week, when those events came along.
I don’t think you can say I’m actually on the diet anymore, but I learned a few things along the way. I don’t eat as much bread or potatoes or pasta as I used to. At least not on a daily basis.
I’m down a total of 12 pounds and two holes on my belt, so I have to say, I still think this was a worth while experiment. I have not gained back any of what I’ve lost, even though I was at a Pizza Party this week, on the same day I had another big meal including apple strudel for dessert at the Red Hat Queen’s Council Luncheon. I’d definitely recommend the 17 Day Diet to anyone who wants to kick start a weight loss program.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Moving On While Holding Steady
I am more than two weeks into my 17 Day Diet. In fact, I have started the second cycle a couple of days early. I lost a total of six pounds on cycle one, which is what they call the first 17 days. I lost seven pounds the first week, but gained back three when I ate at Wendy’s, even though I did just have one of their small salad bowls. I lost just two of those pounds last week, but I lost several more cm from around my hips and waist, which is more important to me than any number I see on the scale. I actually fit into something now that I couldn’t button up two weeks ago, so I know I’m making progress.
The two other meals I’ve had at restaurants in the past couple of weeks have not affected me at all. That’s truly amazing when you consider what I ate on Saturday. For lunch we went to East Side Mario’s and I ate a large quarter chicken (white meat) and a salad that was dressed in far more oil than vinegar (even after I got the vinegar bottle from the waitress and tried to drown it). For supper I had steak and peas and a caesar salad. I really did expect to see the scale jump the next morning as this was the first red meat and non cleansing vegetable I’ve had in the past two weeks. And usually there is something magical about restaurant food that instantly puts three pounds on me overnight, no matter where we go, or what I choose from the menu. Yet it simply didn’t happen. My weight held at the same level as the day before.
So now, under the second cycle, I can eat other sea foods and various cuts of beef and pork as well as oatmeal, rice, potatoes, corn, beans and a lot of other things that were not included in the first cycle. At least, I can do that every second day. The idea is to keep my metabolism from getting used to what I’ve been putting into my body lately. I’m now trying to shake it up a little. It will be interesting to see what happens now. I’m still entitled to liberal portions, and I have never felt hungry during this experiment. I am happy that I can switch things up a bit now though.
Stay tuned.
The two other meals I’ve had at restaurants in the past couple of weeks have not affected me at all. That’s truly amazing when you consider what I ate on Saturday. For lunch we went to East Side Mario’s and I ate a large quarter chicken (white meat) and a salad that was dressed in far more oil than vinegar (even after I got the vinegar bottle from the waitress and tried to drown it). For supper I had steak and peas and a caesar salad. I really did expect to see the scale jump the next morning as this was the first red meat and non cleansing vegetable I’ve had in the past two weeks. And usually there is something magical about restaurant food that instantly puts three pounds on me overnight, no matter where we go, or what I choose from the menu. Yet it simply didn’t happen. My weight held at the same level as the day before.
So now, under the second cycle, I can eat other sea foods and various cuts of beef and pork as well as oatmeal, rice, potatoes, corn, beans and a lot of other things that were not included in the first cycle. At least, I can do that every second day. The idea is to keep my metabolism from getting used to what I’ve been putting into my body lately. I’m now trying to shake it up a little. It will be interesting to see what happens now. I’m still entitled to liberal portions, and I have never felt hungry during this experiment. I am happy that I can switch things up a bit now though.
Stay tuned.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Perhaps a Slight Change of Plans
As of Saturday I have been on the 17 Day Diet for a week now, and I’ve lost 7 pounds so far. My hubby is not on the diet, but he has lost 10 pounds in the same time frame. He’s eating what I’m eating, plus the usual carbs in his oatmeal at breakfast, sandwich at lunch time and potatoes or rice at supper. But since I’m trying to lose weight, he thought he’d try too, and he’s cut back on cheese, desserts, and cereal at bedtime. I said cut back, not eliminated, and yet he’s lost 10 pounds. I don’t quite understand this.
I know why I’m losing weight. Carbohydrates create energy. The body needs this energy to function. When people eat less carbohydrates, their bodies turn to fat for energy. It doesn’t matter if it gets the fat from something you just ate, or the fat around your middle. If you didn’t eat any fat, then your body starts using what you’ve stored and you lose weight. That accounts for my weight loss. If I could figure out what accounts for his, I’d include some of the extras I see him eat.
Actually, on Sunday we had to go somewhere and ended up eating at Wendy’s. I chose a salad that came with chicken, while he had our usual chili with his side salad. The pecans that came with my salad came in a bag, and while I tasted them (they were sugar coated!) I didn’t put them on my salad. For dinner we had a chicken stir fry. I was supposed to just put garlic and ginger and soya sauce on that, but I made our usual sauce, which contains, amoung other things, cornstarch and brown sugar. I even got into the rice a bit. Hey, I’ve been good all week and 7 pounds in one week sounds wonderful, but seems like an unhealthy drop to me. Well, sure enough, my weight is up a couple of pounds this morning.
I’m also a bit dizzy, so I think I’m going to have a carb included day today, and eat the rest of the stir fry for lunch. I love seeing those numbers on the scale go down, but it won’t do me any good if I’m not healthy when I’m finished. Checking things out on the web, I find that low carb diets are good for lowering blood pressure. That’s the last thing I need, as mine is considered low to start with. It would likely explain the dizziness though.
I’ve enjoyed my meals on this plan though, so perhaps what I’ll do is skip ahead to the next 17 day cycle, as various carbs are included in that one. It’s still a weight loss plan, just not so accelerated as the first 17 day cycle is. I’m not giving up, just modifying the plan to suit my own body.
I know why I’m losing weight. Carbohydrates create energy. The body needs this energy to function. When people eat less carbohydrates, their bodies turn to fat for energy. It doesn’t matter if it gets the fat from something you just ate, or the fat around your middle. If you didn’t eat any fat, then your body starts using what you’ve stored and you lose weight. That accounts for my weight loss. If I could figure out what accounts for his, I’d include some of the extras I see him eat.
Actually, on Sunday we had to go somewhere and ended up eating at Wendy’s. I chose a salad that came with chicken, while he had our usual chili with his side salad. The pecans that came with my salad came in a bag, and while I tasted them (they were sugar coated!) I didn’t put them on my salad. For dinner we had a chicken stir fry. I was supposed to just put garlic and ginger and soya sauce on that, but I made our usual sauce, which contains, amoung other things, cornstarch and brown sugar. I even got into the rice a bit. Hey, I’ve been good all week and 7 pounds in one week sounds wonderful, but seems like an unhealthy drop to me. Well, sure enough, my weight is up a couple of pounds this morning.
I’m also a bit dizzy, so I think I’m going to have a carb included day today, and eat the rest of the stir fry for lunch. I love seeing those numbers on the scale go down, but it won’t do me any good if I’m not healthy when I’m finished. Checking things out on the web, I find that low carb diets are good for lowering blood pressure. That’s the last thing I need, as mine is considered low to start with. It would likely explain the dizziness though.
I’ve enjoyed my meals on this plan though, so perhaps what I’ll do is skip ahead to the next 17 day cycle, as various carbs are included in that one. It’s still a weight loss plan, just not so accelerated as the first 17 day cycle is. I’m not giving up, just modifying the plan to suit my own body.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Jumping Hurdles
Yesterday I was at a social event where there are usually a lot of good sandwiches and some sort of other goodies to be had. I was determined not to get into that stuff, and luckily some nice person also brought along some red grapes. Red grapes are an acceptable food on the 17 Day Diet, and a great treat, so I didn’t feel that I missed out on anything.
I woke up this morning to discover I had lost another pound. That’s 5 pounds in five days. Amazing. But I had another challenge ahead of me. I happen to be Queen of the local Red Hat Society Chapter, and I had arranged for our group to gather for lunch today. Going to a restaurant for a meal could prove to be rather difficult with the current limited food choices.
A funny thing happened the moment I entered the establishment. One of the waitresses greeted me with an expression of amazement and said, "Aren’t you on a diet?" Clearly that meant, what the heck are you doing in here! I admitted that I was, and wondered how she knew. Facebook, of course. Our lives are open books to everyone these days, between Facebook, Twitter and Blogs like this one. I had to laugh, but told her I’d manage, but might be calling for some extra vinegar for the salad I planned to have. She agreed most of their dressings seem to have sugar in them, and oil and vinegar would likely be my best choice, under the circumstances. I was lucky today as their soup special was a chicken leek, which has a clear broth, so I had both soup and salad. The soup, of course, came with the usual crackers and a lovely fresh bun, that had just come out of the oven. Tempting, but I never touched it, or the crackers.
I made it through two days of minefields and never strayed off the prescribed course. Mind you, no matter how careful I am in a restaurant, there is something about their food that tends to make me weigh more the next day. I’ll just have to wait and see if I made it safely over the hurdles.
I woke up this morning to discover I had lost another pound. That’s 5 pounds in five days. Amazing. But I had another challenge ahead of me. I happen to be Queen of the local Red Hat Society Chapter, and I had arranged for our group to gather for lunch today. Going to a restaurant for a meal could prove to be rather difficult with the current limited food choices.
A funny thing happened the moment I entered the establishment. One of the waitresses greeted me with an expression of amazement and said, "Aren’t you on a diet?" Clearly that meant, what the heck are you doing in here! I admitted that I was, and wondered how she knew. Facebook, of course. Our lives are open books to everyone these days, between Facebook, Twitter and Blogs like this one. I had to laugh, but told her I’d manage, but might be calling for some extra vinegar for the salad I planned to have. She agreed most of their dressings seem to have sugar in them, and oil and vinegar would likely be my best choice, under the circumstances. I was lucky today as their soup special was a chicken leek, which has a clear broth, so I had both soup and salad. The soup, of course, came with the usual crackers and a lovely fresh bun, that had just come out of the oven. Tempting, but I never touched it, or the crackers.
I made it through two days of minefields and never strayed off the prescribed course. Mind you, no matter how careful I am in a restaurant, there is something about their food that tends to make me weigh more the next day. I’ll just have to wait and see if I made it safely over the hurdles.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Probiotics Is Not a Dirty Word!
I'm a BzzAgent. It seems the best form of advertising is word of mouth, and since I like to talk, I decided to give this a try a couple of years back. The idea is that I will join a campaign to tell my friends and family, and anyone else who will listen, anything and everything about whatever product I have been lucky enough to be asked to buzz about.
Being an aging female, one would think they would happily get me involved in some campaigns dealing with cosmetics, or other creams (oh, oh). Or since it's spring now, maybe a cleaning product of some sort would be appropriate. But no. I have had 3 campaigns so far, and every one of them involved putting something in my mouth.
First there was the Ontario Pork campaign. They sent me a sample of something to sprinkle on pork to give it a nice flavour, or to tenderize it. I like this stuff, but I have no idea what it's called. Too bad as I'd happily buzz about that! But I did enjoy talking to people about pork and that was certainly easy enough. Everyone likes to eat, after all, even if some of them don't like pork.
The second campaign was for Dan Active. Now, this was something new to me, but I had some coupons, both for myself, and to give away, so I got some strawberry flavoured Dan Active to try, and found I really liked it. I still buy the product from time to time. I did have more trouble having discussions about Dan Active, or even giving away the coupons. The minute people heard the word Probiotics, they shut me down. They told me their system was fine. They almost seemed offended that I would offer them a chance to try this product. Another common response was, "I already eat yogurt, so I don't need that!" Hmmmm.....
Now, this latest campaign is for Multibionta Probiotic Vitamins. There's that word again. I'm having even more trouble with this campaign. The coupons I have are for a free month's supply and I'm not having much luck at giving them away at all. There is even a line on the coupon that says the company is so sure you will feel better that they guarantee your money back! That's a funny thing to put on a Free coupon, but I'm sure they still meant they stand behind their product, even if you paid for it. It's that probiotic thing again, I think, since many people I've offered these coupons to admit they do take mulivitamins. Still, they turn me down. Yesterday I was in a room with about 20 people, and only managed to give away two.
Well, hey people, I just won a book called The 17 Day Diet, and you will likely be hearing more about that as time goes on. It came just in time for me to try to lose some of my winter weight. In this book, written by a Dr Mike Moreno, it says probiotics are good for helping you lose weight. It seems there is lots of new evidence that part of the obesity problem might be caused by an imbalance of bacteria in the intestinal tract. So, if you have a set of very efficient bacteria, as you would get from probiotics, they would be more efficient at extracting calories from what you eat and help you manage your weight. At least that's what this book claims. Now that should get some folks excited. I'll be passing on that tidbit next time I try to tell someone about this new product. The probiotics in Mulitbionta not only help improve you digestive tract, but they are also supposed to improve your immune system. At this time of year, with all the nasty flu around, one would think people would be happy to get all the help they could, especially since I'm offering to let them try it for free.
I doubt I'll sign up for any more campaigns for products that are supposed to be good for you!
Being an aging female, one would think they would happily get me involved in some campaigns dealing with cosmetics, or other creams (oh, oh). Or since it's spring now, maybe a cleaning product of some sort would be appropriate. But no. I have had 3 campaigns so far, and every one of them involved putting something in my mouth.
First there was the Ontario Pork campaign. They sent me a sample of something to sprinkle on pork to give it a nice flavour, or to tenderize it. I like this stuff, but I have no idea what it's called. Too bad as I'd happily buzz about that! But I did enjoy talking to people about pork and that was certainly easy enough. Everyone likes to eat, after all, even if some of them don't like pork.
The second campaign was for Dan Active. Now, this was something new to me, but I had some coupons, both for myself, and to give away, so I got some strawberry flavoured Dan Active to try, and found I really liked it. I still buy the product from time to time. I did have more trouble having discussions about Dan Active, or even giving away the coupons. The minute people heard the word Probiotics, they shut me down. They told me their system was fine. They almost seemed offended that I would offer them a chance to try this product. Another common response was, "I already eat yogurt, so I don't need that!" Hmmmm.....
Well, hey people, I just won a book called The 17 Day Diet, and you will likely be hearing more about that as time goes on. It came just in time for me to try to lose some of my winter weight. In this book, written by a Dr Mike Moreno, it says probiotics are good for helping you lose weight. It seems there is lots of new evidence that part of the obesity problem might be caused by an imbalance of bacteria in the intestinal tract. So, if you have a set of very efficient bacteria, as you would get from probiotics, they would be more efficient at extracting calories from what you eat and help you manage your weight. At least that's what this book claims. Now that should get some folks excited. I'll be passing on that tidbit next time I try to tell someone about this new product. The probiotics in Mulitbionta not only help improve you digestive tract, but they are also supposed to improve your immune system. At this time of year, with all the nasty flu around, one would think people would be happy to get all the help they could, especially since I'm offering to let them try it for free.
I doubt I'll sign up for any more campaigns for products that are supposed to be good for you!
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Year One.... A Summary
A year ago I decided to start this new blog. I had one before, but it was all about my geocaching adventures. I felt that sometimes I'd like to tell you about other places I go, or things I happen to be thinking about, so that's why I called this blog Other Rambles. I tried to link them together, but was not successful, and I think, now that this one gets so much more traffic, I'll just plop the geocaching adventures into this one too, in the upcoming year.
Blogging has been an interesting adventure for me. This entry will be the 76th of the year. I've had 82 comments so far, and I seem to have a following not only from all over North America, but also quite a bit from Russia, Germany, Singapore and the United Kingdom. Various other have wandered in from Sweden, Hungary, Iran and South Korea, among other places. I can't imagine what I've said to attract such far away readers, but I do hope I can hold onto them as I continue to ramble on.
Not surprisingly, the most popular post so far was the one called Nothing Natural about Art. I say this was not surprising as I was taking an online course with with Johannes Vloothuis and at least a thousand other people at the time, and I mentioned the blog in a forum connected with that. The second most popular one was called Girls Just Want to Have Fun! Since this was about Red Hatters and Elvis impersonators, I'm sure it popped up well in the search engines. The third most popular entry is my own personal favourite, In Case You Didn't Know. I just felt I had to tell the world why it is that I'm always passing along unasked for, and probably unwanted information and advise. After those, the next 3 most popular entries were all about food, whether it was because I was testing some recipes for Chatelaine magazine, or simply trying out the 17 Day Diet.
As I mentioned, there have been a number of comments through out the year. Most of these have come from people I don't know. I love that. Not only does it let me know that I'm not just spouting off for my own benefit, it lets me know what others think. I often follow the links back to these readers own blogs, and sometimes leave comments there too. I actually feel like I've made a couple of new online friends this past year. I was pleasantly surprised to receive a lovely hand made Christmas card from one of them by snail mail recently.
I closely followed the adventures of one family as they adopted 3 little girls from the Philippines, adding them to the 4 children they already had and continued on with life, trying to make things as normal as possible for everyone in the family. And I got some good giggles as a mother told stories of her twinnies and their younger sister....and occasionally her hubby, who , like many men, is often like another child in the family. I also follow a few artistic blogs, where I pick up all kinds of new ideas and techniques.
It's been a great year, both reading and writing, and I'm looking forward to sharing more of my life, and taking a peek at yours. Go ahead and comment so I can find you!
Blogging has been an interesting adventure for me. This entry will be the 76th of the year. I've had 82 comments so far, and I seem to have a following not only from all over North America, but also quite a bit from Russia, Germany, Singapore and the United Kingdom. Various other have wandered in from Sweden, Hungary, Iran and South Korea, among other places. I can't imagine what I've said to attract such far away readers, but I do hope I can hold onto them as I continue to ramble on.
Not surprisingly, the most popular post so far was the one called Nothing Natural about Art. I say this was not surprising as I was taking an online course with with Johannes Vloothuis and at least a thousand other people at the time, and I mentioned the blog in a forum connected with that. The second most popular one was called Girls Just Want to Have Fun! Since this was about Red Hatters and Elvis impersonators, I'm sure it popped up well in the search engines. The third most popular entry is my own personal favourite, In Case You Didn't Know. I just felt I had to tell the world why it is that I'm always passing along unasked for, and probably unwanted information and advise. After those, the next 3 most popular entries were all about food, whether it was because I was testing some recipes for Chatelaine magazine, or simply trying out the 17 Day Diet.
As I mentioned, there have been a number of comments through out the year. Most of these have come from people I don't know. I love that. Not only does it let me know that I'm not just spouting off for my own benefit, it lets me know what others think. I often follow the links back to these readers own blogs, and sometimes leave comments there too. I actually feel like I've made a couple of new online friends this past year. I was pleasantly surprised to receive a lovely hand made Christmas card from one of them by snail mail recently.
I closely followed the adventures of one family as they adopted 3 little girls from the Philippines, adding them to the 4 children they already had and continued on with life, trying to make things as normal as possible for everyone in the family. And I got some good giggles as a mother told stories of her twinnies and their younger sister....and occasionally her hubby, who , like many men, is often like another child in the family. I also follow a few artistic blogs, where I pick up all kinds of new ideas and techniques.
It's been a great year, both reading and writing, and I'm looking forward to sharing more of my life, and taking a peek at yours. Go ahead and comment so I can find you!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)