Healthy You Challenge

I hope everyone has had a great week and has a wonderful week ahead. Has spring finally sprung where you are? I hope you've been able to get outside and enjoy the beautiful spring air.There are 9 more months in the year for us to really make a difference in our lives, lets make the most of every moment.

Life Blooms has changed the name of her blog to Totally Losing It and her URL has changed to: http://www.totallylosingit.com/

Nicole wrote a beautiful post the other day called Take Care. It really spoke to me on such a personal level because I've always been the person who did what she should do instead of what I wanted to do. I think if you read her post, you'll agree that it has a true sense of purpose.

Enjoy!

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Take Care

The other day I read an article about a pill that could possibly be the "miracle cure" to obesity. *sigh* As a society we are deeply entrenched in the idea that pills are what we need to cure us of all sorts of ills. I'm not disputing the fact that pills can indeed BE miracles. I have no doubt that I'd still be depressed and stuffing my face on the couch right now if it weren't for my antidepressants. However, I also acknowledge that if I'd taken proper care of myself, I probably wouldn't have needed the pills.

If speaking kindly to a friend makes her feel good, why do we expect our body to respond positively to comments like "You're so fat!" or "Look at those WRINKLES. Ugh!" We wouldn't say such things to our worst enemy, but how many times a day do such destructive thoughts flit through our heads?

I am firmly convinced that the keys to keeping myself happy are exercise and nurturing my spirit. Funny, but with all the very competent doctors I've seen regarding depression, not one EVER mentioned caring for my soul as being important, and they only discussed exercise with me if I brought it up.

I'm afraid that we've become a society that only believes what can be proven by science after years of study. Sure, in many ways that's fantastic, but one side effect is that we're trained to ignore our intuitive side. We "can't" take an art class because we don't have time. You know, because we're so busy multi-tasking things that a month from now aren't going to make a bit of difference to anyone. We refuse to set boundaries and ask people to respect those boundaries. We wear clothes that fashion magazines say are in style or decorate our homes and yards in a manner that's currently in vogue, all the while ignoring our desire to have a living room with purple walls or pink flamingos on the yard. For what? What does that get us, really? Sure, maybe we won't be judged for decorating tastes, but rest assured you WILL be judged for something. YOU WILL BE JUDGED. Get over it.

The other day I ordered a canvas bag from LL Bean for my yoga stuff. I thought I "should" get a color scheme that is fairly conservative so that I can carry it and look somewhat sophisticated. I "shouldn't" get a monogram, or if I did, it "should" be just my initials or it "should" be Nicole.

You know what I DID, though? I got white canvas--which of course, I "shouldn't" have gotten because it gets dirty too easily--with lime green accents and a monogram that reads, "Nicki." Because I feel more like a "Nicki" than a "Nicole" lately. And when I take that bag into the high end rec center where my yoga class is, I'll be happy because it makes my heart sing. And I could care less if I get judged because I'm a Nicki instead of a Nicole.

Welcome to another wonderful week!

Happy Earth Day everyone! I hope everyone has had a happy and healthy week. Sorry for the late start posting this today I had an internet outage. I was just about to head to the library to post when service was restored!

Some of you may have noticed that I’ve done a bit of redecorating around here to freshen up the blog a bit. I hope you like your new home! The only problem I have with it so far is that I’ve somehow broken the clickable header function so to fix this without driving myself crazy, I’ve added a button in the side bar that says HOME so you can quickly and easily navigate back to the home page. I’m sure once I have a few free hours again I’ll edit again make the blog even more functional but for now, this will have to do.

Leslie has moved to http://lowcarb-leslie.blogspot.com/

Danielle has moved to http://journey2healthyme.wordpress.com/

If your blog has moved, please let me know so I can update your link in the blog roll!

WELCOME

Alittlelessme

One mans trip to the half

Little by Little

Fluffy Donna

Losing It

The Path to Health

1 foot forward

Girl Gone Healthy

Extreme Makeover: Stephanie Edition

La Vida Blueberry

I know we have many HYC'ers who are also runners but I think the advice in this article from Runner's World has something for all of us.

To lose weight without sacrificing energy or performance, you have to eat the right foods at the right times.

To read the rest of this article, head over to Runners World to check out The Runners Diet in their Nutrition and Weight Loss section.

On Friday night the HYC suffered a bit of a "wardrobe malfunction" I've updated the template and the links and everything seems to be working. Should you find any missing or broken links, please let me know!

All the best,
Diana

Sometimes when I read the posts of women in their 20's my advice to them is to do something because inside I wish I would have done it at their age. The other day I read one of Lora's posts, Life is What Happens When You're Busy Making Other Plans... and I wish she would have said these words to me 20 years ago and more importantly, that I would have listened.
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Life Is What Happens When You're Busy Making Other Plans...

I was recently at a friends house for Sunday Brunch and tried this soufflé. I couldn't believe that 1/6 of this delicious dish was only 143 calories!! The recipe comes from Cooking Light and I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I did.


Spinach and Feta Soufflé

Spinach and Feta Soufflé




Cooking spray
1/2 cup dry breadcrumbs
10 ounce (about 8 cups) baby spinach
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 1/4 cups 1% low-fat milk
1 large egg yolk, lightly beaten
1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled feta
6 large egg whites
Dash of cream of tartar
2 teaspoons chopped fresh dill

Preheat oven to 350°.

Coat a 2-quart soufflé dish with cooking spray; sprinkle breadcrumbs over bottom and sides of dish.

Cook baby spinach in boiling water 15 seconds or until wilted, and drain in a sieve, pressing until barely moist. Finely chop; place in a large bowl.

Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Place the flour, salt, ground nutmeg, ground red pepper, and black pepper in a medium saucepan. Gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until blended. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Cook 1 minute or until thick.

Gradually stir about one-fourth of hot milk mixture into egg yolk, stirring constantly with a whisk, and add to remaining hot milk mixture, stirring constantly. Cook 30 seconds, and remove from heat. Stir in baby spinach, cheese and dill. Cool slightly.

Place egg whites and cream of tartar in a large bowl, and beat with a mixer at high speed until stiff peaks form. Gently stir one-fourth of egg white mixture into baby spinach mixture; gently fold in remaining egg white mixture. Spoon into prepared soufflé dish. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes or until puffed, golden, and set. Serve immediately.

Yield: 6 servings

CALORIES 143 (26% from fat); FAT 4.1g (sat 2.1g,mono 1.1g,poly 0.3g); PROTEIN 10.1g; CHOLESTEROL 47mg; CALCIUM 167mg; SODIUM 490mg; FIBER 1.5g; IRON 2.1mg; CARBOHYDRATE 16.5g


There are so many fabulous recipes, menus and meal planning tips on Cooking Light, its a great site to bookmark!

Laziness is nothing more than the habit of resting before you get tired – Jules Renard

The world is full of willing people, some willing to work, others willing to let them – Robert Frost

To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift – Steve Roland Prefontaine

Those who believe they can do something are probably right – and so are those who believe they can’t – Unknown

People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily – Zig Ziglar

Don’t be fooled by the calendar. There are only as many days in the year as you make use of. – Charles Richards

There is a difference between interest and commitment. When you’re interested in doing something, you only do it when its convenient. When you’re committed to something, you accept no excuse, only results. – Kenneth Blanchard

Know the true value of time; snatch, seize and enjoy every moment of it. No idleness…never put off till tomorrow what you can do today. – Lord Chesterfield

A man who wants something will find a way; a man who doesn’t will find an excuse. – Stephan Dolley Jr.

Please share your favorite motivational quotes in the comments!

Welcome to another wonderful week on this journey to find a healthier version of YOU! I hope everyone has had a great week, I know I’m really looking forward to making this week a great week!

We have a LOT of new members this week I thought it would be a good time to restate the guidelines we decided on earlier in the year.

If you are actively blogging and want to give and receive support, sign into Mister Linky on Tuesday’s.

If you sign into Mister Linky you will be considered “active” that week.

If you are active try to visit a few other blogs to give support

If you need support, please ask.

If you need a break, take one!! Don’t get derailed from your healthy life just to keep up with blogging or the challenge.

Don’t feel like you have to visit every blog in the blog roll, just visit a few of the people who’ve signed into Mister LInky in the current week. We said try to visit a few above your name and a few below your name, that seemed to work for most of you.

Don’t sacrifice things in your life for the challenge, always remember, this about YOU!

The challenge is and should always be about staying accountable and giving and receiving support.

With all that being said, lets give a warm welcome to our newest members!

Welcome!

From Behind The Wall

Overcoming Inconsistency

Skinny Momma

FIT NEW ENGLAND CHICK

Girl Stuck in a Rut

Foode Fight

My Journey To a Healthier Me

Mama Christina

WVSooner’s Weblog

My Life

Between the Tick

Absolutely Fabulous By Forty!!

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Sometimes we read a post and it just breaks it all down in such a way that you're left saying YES thats EXACTLY what I needed to hear and HOW I needed to hear it to make it click in my brain. Several people pointed me to this post for just that reason and after I read it, I had to agree, Briy packed a powerful message into her post and she said it in several thought provoking ways.

Don't take my word for it, head on over to Briy - Bikini-Bound's blog and check it out for yourself! I've also posted the entry below for future reference.

Thank you Briy for this amazing post!

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There were a few things rolling around inside my head that I was thinking about blogging tonight, but today my thoughts have been pretty consumed by the following quotation:

You know that when I see a headline like that it stops me in my tracks and I have to read all about it and answer the questions we all ask: how did they do it, how long did it take.

This article from MSN Health and Fitness features Katie Ciarcia who was refused bariatric surgery by her doctor and told she could do it on her own. With the guidance of her doctor and the Weight Watchers program, she was able to shed more than 100 pounds in just over a year.

Isn't that just amazing!!

Here is a link to the article, I'm Half My Former Size on MSN so you can read all of the details!!

Today brings us to our week 14 mark, the start of the 2nd quarter of 2008! Lots of people said they were ready to recommit to their plans last week, if you weren't one of them and you need to, today is a great day to start!

Have a great week everyone!

Loser Irene has moved to a new blog address, please look for her at:
http://loserirene.wordpress.com/

Welcome to our newest Healthy You Challenge Team Members!!

Metamorphosizing

Time To Uncover The Real Me

Necessary Steps

Sunny Days

Running Knitter

Nothing Is Too Hard

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We all hear about the older person who slips and falls on the ice and breaks their hip or leg but a friend of mine who just turned 50, got a stress fracture after a slip and fall accident and also found out that he was in danger of many more as he aged.

His doctor recommended that he add resistance training to his cardio routine.

I found an article on SparkPeople called Strength Training: Good For Muscle, Great For Bones.

It only takes a few days a week to really make a difference. Why not take action, build some muscle and protect your bones!!

I know we have a lot of runners in the challenge and people like me who are trying to run. One of my friends sent this article from Runners World and I wanted to share it with you.

I told her good news! I’m already eating all of these foods!

So what’s on the list?

• Almonds
• Eggs
• Sweet Potato
• Whole Grain Cereal with Protein
• Oranges
• Canned Black Beans
• Mixed Salad Greens
• Salmon
• Whole Grain Bread
• Frozen Stir-Fry Vegetables
• Whole Grain Pasta
• Chicken
• Frozen Mixed Berries
• Dark Chocolate
• Low Fat Yogurt

Even if you aren’t a runner, head on over to Runners World and check out this great article. It gives the reasons behind each food and recipe tips too!

Welcome to the last week of the first quarter of 2008!!

I've personally decided to challenge myself and make the next 14 weeks really count! I've committed to staying faithful to logging my food intake and intensifying my daily exercise while continuing to nurture my spirit. Oh yeah, I'm drinking plenty of water too!

As we look back and reflect on the past 12 weeks, congratulate yourself for a job well done, count your progress and refuse to dwell on the "could of" "should of" would of's"

Thank you all so much for being a part of this group!!