Sunday, September 09, 2007
I've taken to sitting on a swiss ball instead of a chair when I'm in my room. If I had to get up extraordinarily early and fall asleep every two or three verses of morning Bible reading, I can sit on this and hurt myself when I give in to sleep and fall over. Very useful, really. I find myself constantly bouncing up and down. Given that fact, I don't know how long it will be before it explodes and I bruise myself by landing on the floor.
The extra exercise provided by the constant bouncing and twitching gives me the
rationale for eating chocolate. I looked for a stock picture of a chocolate bar and found plenty of "free" stock photos. However, "free" things are not always without a price, in this case a membership fee of $199 a month. Thanks to my sister, who always lets me borrow her camera
(even though I once deleted all her pictures accidentally!), I was able to make my own picture. I even took the wrappers out of the trash can I was absentmindedly throwing them into. I had to unwrap three bars for this shoot. Of course, it wouldn't do to wrap those candy bars back up and put them in the bag they came out of. That would just be unhygenic. I think instead I'll do with them as I've done with the rest...unwrap them, set them on their wrapper, and place the wrapper next to the output of my laptop's cooling system. Viola, perfectly warmed, soft chocolate.
According to WIN - Weight-control Infomation Network, nearly two thirds of the population 20 years and older are overweight. Do you fall under that statistic? According to the Census Bureau the population of the US is currently over 302,000,000. According to CBS, 45 million of those each year go on a diet - that's 14%. If you're overweight and are ready to take some action to leave the flab behind, check out this article called 15 Rules For Fat Loss. I've been part of the statistics, weighing in at nearly 20 pounds more than I do now. Click here to see the pudgy faced, 13 year old Bonnie.
I used to hate exercise and complained when my mom asked me to walk with her. My knees "hurt" and I was tired, blah blah blah. Then somehow I started running and I started losing weight. I didn't just start running and become a runner. I must have quit 5 or 6 times, each time losing interest. I'd invariably find a new plan someplace and start running again. I remember running for almost a whole year and thinking that was pretty cool, that was the longest I stuck to ONE running program. I remember somewhere in the middle of that period thinking that I couldn't run a mile, it was just too hard. Then a friend said any able bodied teenager could push themself to run a mile*, so the next time I went out I pushed myself and I finished a mile. After that running continuously instead of running/walking was no big deal. And if I did take a break every mile or so, that was fine with me - I was a real runner!
Now due to an ankle injury caused by pushing too hard too soon (IE 5-6 mile barefoot runs at paces as fast as I could run them without feeling nauseated) I'm not actively running, but I'm pretty sure I could go out there and run a mile without much trouble. I'm still a runner, I'm just not running right now!
So now, through gradual changes to my eating and exercise, I have managed to keep most of the fat off. You can too, just try!
*Don't take this as medical advice, just because a friend of mine said it doesn't mean it applies to you.
The extra exercise provided by the constant bouncing and twitching gives me the
rationale for eating chocolate. I looked for a stock picture of a chocolate bar and found plenty of "free" stock photos. However, "free" things are not always without a price, in this case a membership fee of $199 a month. Thanks to my sister, who always lets me borrow her camera (even though I once deleted all her pictures accidentally!), I was able to make my own picture. I even took the wrappers out of the trash can I was absentmindedly throwing them into. I had to unwrap three bars for this shoot. Of course, it wouldn't do to wrap those candy bars back up and put them in the bag they came out of. That would just be unhygenic. I think instead I'll do with them as I've done with the rest...unwrap them, set them on their wrapper, and place the wrapper next to the output of my laptop's cooling system. Viola, perfectly warmed, soft chocolate.
According to WIN - Weight-control Infomation Network, nearly two thirds of the population 20 years and older are overweight. Do you fall under that statistic? According to the Census Bureau the population of the US is currently over 302,000,000. According to CBS, 45 million of those each year go on a diet - that's 14%. If you're overweight and are ready to take some action to leave the flab behind, check out this article called 15 Rules For Fat Loss. I've been part of the statistics, weighing in at nearly 20 pounds more than I do now. Click here to see the pudgy faced, 13 year old Bonnie.
I used to hate exercise and complained when my mom asked me to walk with her. My knees "hurt" and I was tired, blah blah blah. Then somehow I started running and I started losing weight. I didn't just start running and become a runner. I must have quit 5 or 6 times, each time losing interest. I'd invariably find a new plan someplace and start running again. I remember running for almost a whole year and thinking that was pretty cool, that was the longest I stuck to ONE running program. I remember somewhere in the middle of that period thinking that I couldn't run a mile, it was just too hard. Then a friend said any able bodied teenager could push themself to run a mile*, so the next time I went out I pushed myself and I finished a mile. After that running continuously instead of running/walking was no big deal. And if I did take a break every mile or so, that was fine with me - I was a real runner!
Now due to an ankle injury caused by pushing too hard too soon (IE 5-6 mile barefoot runs at paces as fast as I could run them without feeling nauseated) I'm not actively running, but I'm pretty sure I could go out there and run a mile without much trouble. I'm still a runner, I'm just not running right now!
So now, through gradual changes to my eating and exercise, I have managed to keep most of the fat off. You can too, just try!
*Don't take this as medical advice, just because a friend of mine said it doesn't mean it applies to you.
Labels: chocolate, exercise, food, Running
Friday, October 20, 2006
One more night in Kentucky, Lord willing. Tomorrow we head to Cullman, AL, then Sunday we have two concerts in Jasper, AL. Monday we have a concert in Phenix City, AL. We have two weeks left tomorrow.
Soo...I'm not sure exactly what to say. Again, I've got stuff on my mind, but I just don't feel like I can blog them, or even write them. I've been trying to write out a few sentences in Spanish every morning - I can just say random sentences and still feel like I'm doing something productive. I really feel like I need to push hard on the Spanish front. I've never met so many Spanish speaking people on a trip. Not only Spanish speaking people, but people who ONLY speak Spanish and very little English. Other than that, I've been slacking on guitar practice and all of the other practices I'm supposed to be doing.
I went for a run yesterday with a few of the Van Horns (the family we're with) and I only made it the first mile, and miserably at that! About a quarter into the return trip home I started feeling nauseated, and then my chest started aching and my breath was catching (or maybe that was just my lack of discipline and I was imagining it, I'm not sure). I haven't run for about a month, so I guess I'm reaping what I've been (or not) sowing. I could feel at the beginning of the run that I was going a little fast, but it was only fast for the amount of running I've been doing lately; it was slower than my normal pace. How discouraging :p
Today the Van Horn girls took us out on their horses. It was so much fun! The horse I was on reared up while I was trying to get her to go someplace (following the rest) that she didn't want to go. I was glad I didn't fall off, the son said later that a horse once reared up and he fell off and it fell on top of him :( Anyhow, they were great teachers and I made it home alive and in one piece :) (or, the millions of tiny pieces that make up a human body).
Soo...I'm not sure exactly what to say. Again, I've got stuff on my mind, but I just don't feel like I can blog them, or even write them. I've been trying to write out a few sentences in Spanish every morning - I can just say random sentences and still feel like I'm doing something productive. I really feel like I need to push hard on the Spanish front. I've never met so many Spanish speaking people on a trip. Not only Spanish speaking people, but people who ONLY speak Spanish and very little English. Other than that, I've been slacking on guitar practice and all of the other practices I'm supposed to be doing.
I went for a run yesterday with a few of the Van Horns (the family we're with) and I only made it the first mile, and miserably at that! About a quarter into the return trip home I started feeling nauseated, and then my chest started aching and my breath was catching (or maybe that was just my lack of discipline and I was imagining it, I'm not sure). I haven't run for about a month, so I guess I'm reaping what I've been (or not) sowing. I could feel at the beginning of the run that I was going a little fast, but it was only fast for the amount of running I've been doing lately; it was slower than my normal pace. How discouraging :p
Today the Van Horn girls took us out on their horses. It was so much fun! The horse I was on reared up while I was trying to get her to go someplace (following the rest) that she didn't want to go. I was glad I didn't fall off, the son said later that a horse once reared up and he fell off and it fell on top of him :( Anyhow, they were great teachers and I made it home alive and in one piece :) (or, the millions of tiny pieces that make up a human body).
