Choose my plate

Yesterday the USDA released their new dietary guidelines called Choose My Plate

From the website:

Balancing Calories

• Enjoy your food, but eat less. 
• Avoid oversized portions. 

Foods to Increase

• Make half your plate fruits and vegetables.
• Make at least half your grains whole grains. 
• Switch to fat-free or low--fat (1%) milk. 

Foods to Reduce

• Compare sodium in foods like soup, bread, and frozen meals - and choose the foods with lower numbers.
• Drink water instead of sugary drinks

Gone are the days of the food pyramid and now we have a more simple and easier way to understand how to eat healthy and within guidelines. The website is also a wealth of information about how to get these good foods in as well as ideas for activity.

Source

One aspect of the website that I like is how there are different topics for specific audiences, particularly weight loss. It talks about choosing nutrient-dense foods, tracking and getting activity in. The basics that us weight loss bloggers/community at large have been talking about all along. 

You can even get a "personalized plan" for tips and ideas about how and what to eat. 

Of course, if you've been trying to loose weight or eat healthy, this version of the plate should come as no surprise to you, it's very similar how we've been taught to eat. It's nice to see the federal government catch up. Hopefully this will allow public schools to address concerns and help teach children about proper nutrition and making healthy choices. 


I am really excited about this new choose your plate methodology, I think it will be easier to teach children about health eating habits and help fight obesity in children and adults. Let's face it we could all be taught a lesson or two. 


I urge you to check out the website and just poke around, there are a wealth of resources there. 


What do you think about the new healthy food guidelines? 

Weighing in, in more ways than one

There is a lot going on in my world right now, some I openly talk about here on the blog and other stuff in my private life. It's been a really trying time and I've been stressed out. Hopefully after last night, things will begin to mellow out.

Today is National Donut Day, I purposely avoided Dunkin' Donuts and opted to forgo my iced coffee, because I knew that with any beverage purchase, Dunkin' Donuts was giving out a free donut. I didn't want to give in to temptation, so I oped out. Not going to lie, it felt really good to be able to do that for myself. I didn't want to sabotage my day.

Also, today is Friday, my weigh in day, I stepped on the scale to see a 304. Which is a loss, and not only a loss of the gain I had last week, but still continuing down beyond that. Since starting tracking again with My Fitness Pal, I've lost 13 pounds. That is since May 1st. So in a little over a month I've lost 13 pounds. I am sure it's a lot of water weight, because that seems like a lot of weight to loose in one month.

Still a bit bittersweet for me, this is only like the fourth time I've lost the same weight, but I need to remain focus and celebrate the small victories for me, and hopefully, I will be able to end the madness that is the 300's for me.

I am now on day 22 of being sick, and I am waving the white flag, I will be starting the new antibotic tonight, I really didn't want to, but I am not getting any better and really I need to. By the time I finish the medicine, I will have been sick for over a month, which is just insane. HOPEFULLY I will begin to feel better....

I am looking forward to starting Steve's Marathon Week Challenge on Monday, I think it's going to be challenging to find time to get that amount of activity in, but that's why they call it a challenge. I think it will be a great accomplishment and a huge motivator for me. Have I mentioned that I love Steve! He's always there when I need a pep talk...or a swift kick in the pants (virtually, of course)

Happy June First!

Well it's the start of a new month, June... which brings on the beginning of summer and my birthday. I'll be turning 29 this year. The last year of my twenties! Which also means changing my blog tagline.... I wonder what my new tagline will be!

But today is the first of June, which is also National Running Day, makes me a little sad since I can't run right now. Being sick sucks (pity party of one....). I do plan on getting some activity in, since I can't run, I think I'll try to go horseback riding and let the horse do the running for me!


Of course that is going to be dependent on the weather, here in New Hampshire we are supposed to get some strong thunderstorms this afternoon. Probably not a good idea to ride horses in thunderstorms....

I would like to do some birth month challenge, but I am having a hard time coming up with something. For now I am going to continue with the Strong for 23 challenge. As well as doing Steve's Marathon Week Challenge next week.

But for now, it's National Running Day, hopefully you are able to get out there and be active!

End of May 2011

So I have impressed myself this month. I've completed the month with at least 23 days of activity, in fact, I completed 24 days of activity.

I am both happy and pleased with my efforts this month, despite being sick. My weight is still fluctuating, but I won't get discouraged. I am determined.

An update on being sick, I went back to the doctor's today, I was put on a z-pac to resolve my sinus infection last Tuesday. Well the sinus infection and sinus pressure did resolve, but now it's just a lingering cough, semi productive. So after going to the doctor today, I was told to wait another day or two, if the symptoms still persisted I was given a prescription for another antibiotic. And I was told to rest, relax, and take some cough syrup.

I am hoping that I won't need to use the other antibiotic. I also am unable to continue running. The doctor said, it's best to wait until I am feeling 100% better. I can walk, but no running. I am a bit upset about being sick for 19 days, and not being able to continue with my couch to 5k training, this is a set back for me. But I know I will be back and in full force. I may have to do some weeks over again, I am not sure how far this is going to set me back, I am glad my 5k isn't until September.

I am going to be participating in Steve's Marathon Week Challenge. To walk/run 26.2 miles in one week (Monday June 6th through Sunday June 12th). I am hoping that I am feeling better and able to really kick butt in this challenge. You can follow on twitter, we'll be using the hashtag #MarathonWeek

Memorial Day Weekend

Hello Everyone, the weather is looking gorgeous for this coming holiday weekend. Hot and humid with a chance of thunderstorms every afternoon.

I am feeling much better, still 2 more days of my Z-pac, so I will be bringing that with me, as well as my Advil cold and sinus, but I think I am only going to take that when I need it. 

I won't have my laptop with me this weekend, even though the campground has free wifi, I wanted to experience camping, and laptop doesn't say camping to me. I will have my iPhone on me, so you'll probably see me lurking a little. I will hopefully be taking more pictures that I will share when I get back. 

Onto this week's weigh in, well I was up a tad, 306.7, to be honest, I wasn't feeling this week, being sick was really a drag, and I just didn't track my food. 

I will share a NSV, in that I went back to work on my first day (Wednesday, this week) and I started stress/mindless eating, I happen to look down and see Prior Fat Girls's One Bite One Decision bracelet and stopped the senseless eating. 

I am hoping that with me feeling better, I can get back into the tracking mode, however, I am going camping for 4 days, I am at least going to write everything down, that is the goal I am setting for myself. I am also planning on getting a lot of walking in. I am still not allowed to run, as I am still recovering. 

But come Tuesday, I'll be itching to get back on (the) track!

What are your Memorial Day weekend plans?

Oh hello, old friend... I haven't missed you!

So today is day twelve of being sick and although most of my symptoms have resolved, my clogged sinuses have remained. Last night I went to bed and I was miserable (H2B can tell you!) I just could not get comfortable, I finally had to add a second pillow to elevate my head and allow my sinuses to drain just a bit. I knew I needed to seek some help.

I went to my chiropractor this morning and got my usual adjustment and also got my sinuses adjusted. That did loosen things up, but she agreed that I probably had a bad sinus infection.

So then I made the call to my primary care, and was given an appointment with the nurse practitioner, after going over the course of my illness and my current symptoms, she examined my throat, nose and ears. Thankfully, I did not have an ear infection, but I did have a lot of fluid behind my ears, which could have led to an infection. But I do have a nasty sinus infection. The nurse practitioner mentioned that I also had a sinus infection in April last year, and that perhaps it's a yearly event in the Spring. It's quite possible that the changes in the season, weather, temp help add to my sinus infection.  Either way, I was given prescriptions for a nasal spray and a Z-Pac, and told to rest and stay hydrated. I asked her if I could continue training with my interval running and my Couch to 5K program, she advised against it, she said, I could walk, but that running probably wouldn't be a good idea. Which means I'll probably have to restart week 4 or even week 3 depending on how things go once I am feeling better.

I went home and posted this picture on twitter: 

I am hoping that at least now I can start feeling better and hopefully will be feeling better before we go camping this weekend! I am keeping my fingers crossed for great weather.

One thing I realized here on my blog is that I don't post many pictures in general, so I am going to try to make a more conscious effort to post pictures.

Memorial Day and SwagBucks

One thing I am looking forward to is going camping next weekend. Every year my friends, family and co-workers all come together for Memorial Day weekend and we go camping. We've been going for about 10 years now, it's always been a great time. I cannot wait to take some time and chill with some good people!

Some people have asked me about some of the ways I "earn money" online. I do many online surveys, but one of the easiest ways to earn "money" is SwagBucks. Just by searching the web, I have the potential to earn SwagBucks, which are points that I can use to purchase items. I use the bucks to purchase gift cards, typically Amazon and PayPal. With PayPal, I am literally earning cash just by searching the web.

And they are running a SwagBucks new member registration. Sign up through my referral link and enter the code MEMORIALDAY when prompted - it'll pad your account with an extra 50 Swag Bucks on top of the 30 that everyone starts with. Get started earning your reward points today!

Swagbucks, the best place to get free stuff from searching and more is celebrating Memorial Day next week with a special Score Four and Twenty Swag Bucks promotion - they'll have 4 special Limited Edition collector's bills available, and if you can snag all four by the end of Thursday, you'll get a bonus 20 Swag Bucks. ALSO, this Thursday they're have a Swag Code Extravaganza, a day filled with fun, games and the opportunity to snag over 40 Swag Bucks worth of codes throughout the day. Be sure to visit Swagbucks all this week for opportunities to win big!