My children often wondered why I felt history was important. If you don't study the hisotry of the past, your future history will not show improvement. Failure to understand breeds mistakes. Failure to study and remember past mistakes provides a shaky past on which to build the future. Knowledge is power and too many people don't want to accept it's gift. It's a lack of intellectual curiousity that is bringing down the United States while the crafty, immoral politicians take advantage of it. It would sure be easier to correct a present error than to go back and try to fix the results of the error somewhere down the road.
A friend and I got a firsthand glimpse into the mindless mind set of voters during the last presidential election. We were attending a Rosary making event at a Catholic church with Catholic people yet they gave the definite impression they were voting for the abortion candidate. My friend and I looked at each other in shock and then proceeded to bring up some proven points about the abortion candidate who wanted to run our country and kill our future citizens in the womb. The interest was minimal and the most reaction was a few muttering that they might go home and do some checking. I'm willing to bet they didn't bother and the Catholic vote shows they weren't the only ones.
To me, this was sad. It used to be that you could talk freely about a problem politician or candidate on your parish grounds and be confident that you would meet up with like-minded people. Not these days! If I hear one more Catholic (even some priests included!) say that we have to respect an abortion president, I may be even more irate than I am right now. Yes, I respect everyone's personhood but I cannot respect the aims of a president who is out to destroy the personhood of the tiny, unborn persons of the world. History comes into play here as who knows what part these slaughtered children would have played to the betterment of our country . . . if they had been allowed their constitutional rights?
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Choices, Procrastination, and Making it Work . . .
Several pregnancies and a bout with anemia gifted me with some unwanted weight over the years. The children are grown up but refused to take back the extra pounds they demanded during their residence within me! Although I tried to be more active and cut back on the 'good aka fat' stuff for snacks, a few extra inches remained stubbornly around my middle. I didn't even DARE glance behind!
I've finally figure it out and it helps with avoiding the bad stuff and doing the good stuff. First of all, I had to come to the realization that is is okay to be hungry between meals. There is no rule that you have to be totally content 24/7. In fact, if you are entirely comfortable, you are spending more time eating than doing!
I watched some talk show one evening and it dealt with a gentleman with much, much greater weight issues, like 500-plus pounds. The recommendation was not an immediate starvation diet but they picked out one indulgence and started there. He enjoyed a large bowl of ice cream every night to the tune of around 400 calories extra an evening. Check the labels! Even the 1/2 fat type of ice cream packs in over 100 calories for HALF a cup of the stuff and who can stop there? They figured out that by omitting just the ice cream, he would be eliminately 2800 calories a week and in the space of a year . . . well, you do the math! It was a relatively easy way to start what would show some immediate results.
I inadvertantly tried this in my life one Lent. I gave up my all-time favorite - cola along with any type of soda for the entire six weeks. At Easter, I decided that with the negative medical viewpoints on soda, I would see how long I could continue without it. It's been almost six years now. After just a year of no soda, I noticed my jeans had 'stretched' out and discovered that I had shrunk one size without any effort except for the lack of soda in my diet. The next Lent, it was my favorite StarBucks and, a year later, another size down. Hey, still heavier than I'd like to be but a reduction! I had now run out of much-craved and enjoyed food items to give up and realized that I'd have to start exercising, too. Always a catch!
My husband and I gave each other an elliptical machine for Christmas one year. You've probably seen the commercials on television for various types. The super slender athletes show you how easy it is to carve out abs with only 30 minutes, three times a week. The first time I tried the elliptical, I managed THREE, LONG, exhausting minutes before I stumbled onto the the sofa for a much-deserved rest. I lost about 5 calories!
The exercise required to work off a substantial amount of calories isn't a minor endeavor. My 15 minutes of elliptical in the morning burns off about 115 calories and only because I have it hiked up high effort. Really makes you start paying attention to what you put into your mouth vs. what you know you can work off in the course of a day.
My visual picture when I head for a snack is this: A gooey, nutty candy bar gives your hips around 250 calories. It would take an hour of hard jogging to burn off 250 calories. When I go for the snack, it doesn't take me long to figure out that an apple with vitamins/fiber at around 50 calories will fill me up just as well as that 250-calorie candy bar and no permanent inches to deal with when I want to get my jeans to zip up.
Choices! It's always choices in life but some give better results than others! Another way to look at it is that if you start today, six weeks from now you can look back and know you have done it. If you procrastinate, six weeks down the road, you will realize how much you could have accomplished . . . if only!
I've finally figure it out and it helps with avoiding the bad stuff and doing the good stuff. First of all, I had to come to the realization that is is okay to be hungry between meals. There is no rule that you have to be totally content 24/7. In fact, if you are entirely comfortable, you are spending more time eating than doing!
I watched some talk show one evening and it dealt with a gentleman with much, much greater weight issues, like 500-plus pounds. The recommendation was not an immediate starvation diet but they picked out one indulgence and started there. He enjoyed a large bowl of ice cream every night to the tune of around 400 calories extra an evening. Check the labels! Even the 1/2 fat type of ice cream packs in over 100 calories for HALF a cup of the stuff and who can stop there? They figured out that by omitting just the ice cream, he would be eliminately 2800 calories a week and in the space of a year . . . well, you do the math! It was a relatively easy way to start what would show some immediate results.
I inadvertantly tried this in my life one Lent. I gave up my all-time favorite - cola along with any type of soda for the entire six weeks. At Easter, I decided that with the negative medical viewpoints on soda, I would see how long I could continue without it. It's been almost six years now. After just a year of no soda, I noticed my jeans had 'stretched' out and discovered that I had shrunk one size without any effort except for the lack of soda in my diet. The next Lent, it was my favorite StarBucks and, a year later, another size down. Hey, still heavier than I'd like to be but a reduction! I had now run out of much-craved and enjoyed food items to give up and realized that I'd have to start exercising, too. Always a catch!
My husband and I gave each other an elliptical machine for Christmas one year. You've probably seen the commercials on television for various types. The super slender athletes show you how easy it is to carve out abs with only 30 minutes, three times a week. The first time I tried the elliptical, I managed THREE, LONG, exhausting minutes before I stumbled onto the the sofa for a much-deserved rest. I lost about 5 calories!
The exercise required to work off a substantial amount of calories isn't a minor endeavor. My 15 minutes of elliptical in the morning burns off about 115 calories and only because I have it hiked up high effort. Really makes you start paying attention to what you put into your mouth vs. what you know you can work off in the course of a day.
My visual picture when I head for a snack is this: A gooey, nutty candy bar gives your hips around 250 calories. It would take an hour of hard jogging to burn off 250 calories. When I go for the snack, it doesn't take me long to figure out that an apple with vitamins/fiber at around 50 calories will fill me up just as well as that 250-calorie candy bar and no permanent inches to deal with when I want to get my jeans to zip up.
Choices! It's always choices in life but some give better results than others! Another way to look at it is that if you start today, six weeks from now you can look back and know you have done it. If you procrastinate, six weeks down the road, you will realize how much you could have accomplished . . . if only!
The Last Quote is my Favorite . . .
"Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative."
-- Oscar Wilde
-- Oscar Wilde
"Never try to tell everything you know. It may take too short a
time."
-- Norman Ford
-- Norman Ford
"What we call 'Progress' is the exchange of one nuisance for
another nuisance."
-- Havelock Ellis
-- Havelock Ellis
Prayers for the 2012 election . . .
Interesting open-mike opportunity for the United States to understand more fully that our president doesn't seem to have the best interests of the United States in mind. The issue at hand dealt with the missile defense of the United States against other world powers . . . like Russia yet here is our president making promises of compromise. The administration is trying to smooth it over but, it is what it is and it doesn't seem noble or proper for the president to do business like this.
President Obama: On all these issues, but particularly missile defense, this, this can be solved but it's important for him to give me space.
President Medvedev: Yeah, I understand. I understand your message about space. Space for you...
President Obama: (reaching over and putting his hand on Mr. Medvedev's knee): This is my last election. After my election I have more flexibility.
President Medvedev: I understand. I will transmit this information to Vladimir.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)