217 Days To Lose Weight

We're mid-way into the year and many have become discouraged with their weight loss journey. Today is the 148th day of the year....leaving 217 days before it becomes 2008. So, to look on the bright side of things, there are more days left in this year to be on the right track.

Today is a good day to start a weight loss program. Whether it be for the first time or starting over, today is a GOOD.

I've started my day with a cup of green tea, 16 ounces of water and two pears. I'm off to watch my husband play the bugle and the Memorial Day ceremony at our local Court House.

Lunch today will be a salad with low cal dressing, along with some fresh strawberries. YUMMMM

I better go.....don't want to be late.

Put a kick in your step and look at the bright side..we have 217 days left in this year to lose weight. So put down that soda and grab a glass of water, take a walk....even if it's a short one. Each positive change we make will lead to a healthier you. Whether it's losing weight or just wanting to feel better.....today is a good day to start!!!!

My Pedometer....Measures Part of the Yardwork

It's hard to believe I'm calling summer already. The temperatures have been in the high 80's and the next week looks to be the same. I'm sure not use to weather like this so early. I'm not complaining. I just keep the house nice and cool.
We've back in the lawn business. We don't have as many customers as we had up north yet, but we're building our cliente. I have found down here, my Omron pedometer hasn't been as helpful as it was up north. I know that sounds kind of strange. I find down here, I'm doing more trimming and landscaping than I did in Illinois.
I felt pretty good when we finished this 87 year old ladies yard. I pulled a ton of weeds out of her flower beds and my husband trimmed and cut down trees that were growing hap-hazardly along the edge of her property. She was so happy with our work, she actually gave us an extra 10 bucks. Told us her place hadn't looked that nice since she had her heart attack in 1992. That sure made us feel good. We always take pride in our work....we like doing little extras for people.
To keep track of approximate calories I've burned, I monitor the amount of time I spend doing the different tasks I perform in a yard. There is much more to keeping a yard looking nice other than running a lawnmower back and forth across the lawn. Ability.org is a good place to check out the amount of calories one burns doing various tasks.
My plans for today:
1. Drink more water
2. Eat Healthy
3. Use my treadmill for at least 30 minutes (two times)
4. Help my husband finish building a cover over a picinic area for a customer.
Time for me to go....husband will be wondering where I'm at.

Ditches.....dirt goes out....dirt goes back in

We've got this yard so dug up...it has to appear we are looking for hidden treasure. There is light at the end of the tunnel with all these holes. 1. We now have a water faucet out at the garden site leaving us with an extra 300 feet of hose. That much hose was too heavy for me to dragging around. Filling in that ditch was pretty easy. The water line is only 1/4 inch pipe so it was a narrow (but long) ditch. 2. We now have water out to the new garage (upstairs and down).That was a medium size ditch. The telephone and cable lines are going to run through that ditch as well. It's now covered in and is slowly disappearing as the new grass is coming up. 3. Digging the septic field had to be the worst. There were so many roots to contend with. But there are two working bathrooms in the garage. A person wouldn't be able to tell now where that's dug. Nature has a way of rejuvenating itself. 4. The biggest ditch is over 3 inches wide. This is for the underground electrical line for the garage. I helped put the heavy conduit pipes together. It's funny but I not only felt sore in my shoulders and arms, but the back of my legs hurt too.

Today I have been filling in the ditch that holds the 3" conduit we had to use for electrical wire. As I'm typing, I can already feel it in my shoulders. About 20 more feet and that project will be complete.
I'm not sure how many calories I've burned off with this work...but it's just another step in this weight loss journey. I'm getting a tan doing it too.

2424 milk

Just a note to remind everyone, there are only two days left to enter online for the sweepstakes offered by 2424 milk. Who wouldn't like a free 3 day trip to the carribean? This site also offers some weight loss tips.

Good Luck!!!

Fence building equals muscle toning

We are finally blessed with good weather. After that terrible frost, everything seems to be bouncing back. New leaves are popping out amidst all the dead ones which are slowly falling off the trees. All this warm weather has really got the grass growing.

We had a lawn business before we moved down here. It's over 500 miles so there isn't anyway we could keep those customers. We only had about a dozen customers but the extra $1300 a month really helped. We decided to try and get a lawn business going here.

We've been advertising in the paper the past three weeks. (little town...paper comes out once a week) Although we advertise lawn service, our first call was to install a privacy fence around a back yard. Of course my husband said yes. I knew it was going to take twice as long as he had figured up and knew I was going to have to help besides. (actually it took 3 times as long with both of us working)

Have you ever tried to dig a two foot post hole in soil that has the consistency of clay? Believe me, it's tough. We had 27 of those little puppies to dig. About half way through, I asked my husband if there isn't a machine that does this kind of digging. I couldn't believe it when he said yes. I threw that dumb digger down and said let's go get it. I thought to myself....Yea...this torture is over. I was wrong. We got the machine...but the soil was so tough, we still had to break it up every few inches because the machine would just sit and spin...it couldn't cut through the stuff. My joy was short lived.

After getting the posts set in concrete, we let them set up for about a week and then went back to put up the 8 foot sections of fence. Ohhhh, are those things heavy. (Another great muscle toner) It took us two days to hang them. My husband had to build two gates as well. He sure is handy. I wouldn't know the first thing about how to do build a fence or make a gate. It is a completed project. The people were thrilled with the construction of their new fence. I have to say, I was quite proud of the job too.

Through all this I lost two pounds, did some real toning on my muscles and got some sun as well. A win-win situation for all.

Mom just got up....time to go have a cup of coffee with her.

Gaining Weight to Lose Weight

Gaining weight to lose weight.......that doesn't sound like it makes much sense, does it. So often when we gain weight, we become more sedetary due to the fact it's harder to get around. So, when we decide to start working out and eating healthy to lose weight, we find we've gained. It can be discouraging. I always recommend measuring yourself....your upper arms, hips, waist, upper and lower legs before you seriously begin a weight loss program.

Don't rely on the weight loss/gain the scale tells you. The scale(I use a Taylor Scale) is only part of the weight loss process. The percentage of body fat is what needs to be reduced. Depending on how much you need to lose, you could actually gain weight to be healthy by toning your muscles.

I need to do both....tone and lose weight. My post hole digging and fence building I recently undertook has been a good start for me. I'll talk about that in another entry.