AK Homeschool Fun

New fitness blog

akhomeschoolfun — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 07:44:06 +0000

I have finally started on the fitness blog I discussed earlier. It’s http://fitness4frankie.wordpress.com I don’t have much there yet, but keep checking back in. I’ll post new fitness, diet, and health topics there including nutrition tips, exercise reviews, and personal fitness reflections. So check it out and let me know what you think. I’ll still post here too. I just wanted to break the fitness part away.

A year later, 7 pounds heavier

akhomeschoolfun — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 21:53:48 +0000

Ugh. Down. Up. Down. Up My weight has fluctuated over the same 7 pounds for the past year. Although I haven’t been following a fad diet, I now know why they call most diets yo-yo diets. My problem is lack of commitment long term. I know I can lose the weight. I’ve done it several times. I just need to stay with my plan long term and not give in to temptation as much.

I have all the tools and knowledge I need. Several of Tosca Reno’s Eat Clean Diet books, a subscription to a fitness magazine, and 4 different exercise DVD programs and on my shelves attest to that. I need to take them off the shelves and put them in my life, permenantly. Not just a few days, weeks or month. No. I need to eat healthy and exercise daily. That’s the same advice I’ve given countless others, but fail to follow myself. Let’s face it. I’ve become a hypocrite and hate it.

That realization yesterday sparked this post and determination to change (again!). I used to use my job as a fitness instructor to help manage my weight. However, since I quit due to personal reasons last spring, my weight has inched back up. I’m now heavier than ever. I know exercise will help not only lose weight, but also combat the winter blues.

I can already hear the old excuses raising their heads. I’m too tired at night. The house is too cold in the morning (54 yesterday because the fire went out during the night. Its 62 as I type this.) No convenient place to shower since I don’t go to the gym anymore. The kids. An unpredictable schedule. Family wants to watch videos together in the living room.

The good news is that I can fight many of these. Although there’s not much I can do about the morning temperature when fire goes out. We bought a DVD drive for the small laptop so I can exercise in my room while the someone is watching tv in the living room. Lack of shower is nasty but won’t kill me like being overweight will. The kids have started encouraging me to exercise since they know it helps my mood and they are old enough not to get into mischief while I do.

I read recently that of the people who make exercise a New Year’s resolution and actually start a program, only 40% will stick with it until May. That’s a disturbing statistic. I don’t want to be included in that, but fear if I continue as I have this winter that I will be. No more excuses. I’m going to reaffirm my motto: FITNESS- JUST DO IT!

Good carb, bad carb

akhomeschoolfun — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 18:39:16 +0000

I’m not a nutrition expert. I have taken some couses on it though. Carbohydrates seem to be a point of confusing for many, especially dieters.

Fruits, veggies, sugar, and grains are all carbohydrates. Your body uses carbs for energy. Generally when people refer to “carbs” when dieting, they are referring to grain carbs. However, grain carbs are not all the same or all good for you. Simple grain carbs are bad. They have no fiber and very little actual nutrition, but are mostly empty calories. They are things made from processed/refined grains. Usually they are white since the fiber and germ has been removed. Since they have no fiber, they are quickly digested and spike your blood sugar faster. Complex carbs like from whole grains have the fiber which slows their digesting so you don’t spike blood sugar as much. Plus, the fiber fills you up and keeps you full longer so you eat less.

Fruits and veggies have natural sugars and fiber in various amounts. They are good for you, unless you are diabetic and need to more strictly manage blood sugars. They are usually lower in calorie than grain carbs and have more nutrition so you should eat more of them than grains.

You should generally have about 1/4-1/3 of your daily calories from grains (preferably whole grains), but 1/2 of your foods should be fruits or veggies. Have lots of different fresh fruits and veggies with each meal and as snacks instead of things like chips, cookies, crackers, bars, etc. Even supposedly healthy varieties and 100 calorie packs aren’t as good for you. An easy way to do this is divide your plate into quarters. First fill half the plate with veggies. The other quarters are for whole grains and lean protein.

Raspberry antifreeze, please

akhomeschoolfun — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 21:51:09 +0000

Last night we went to dinner at Carl’s Jr. I ordered the grilled chicken salad and ice tea (unsweetened). The dressing I chose was the raspberry vinaigrette. I did not eat the croutons. It was good, lowfat, and I thought fairly healthy. That was until I read the label of the dressing.

It had not only 140 calories in the small packet, but was full of additives. One food additive I’ve been noticing a lot lately is propylene glycol. It was in my dressing. The name sounds amazingly similar to ethylene glycol, aka antifreeze.

When I got home, I decided to look into it. What I found was shocking and sickening. There’s a very good reason propylene glycol and ethylene glycol sound so much alike. They are very similar chemically with similar industrial uses. They are both made from petroleum, just like your car’s oil, gasoline, and diesel. Ethylene glycol has the chemical formula C2H6O2. Propylene has the chemical formula C3H8O2.Yet, one is supposedly safe to eat, and the other deadly.

However, upon deeper research, I found lot of warnings against ingesting or direct contact with either of them. PG is used as not only antifreeze, but also airplane deicing solution, making polyester, and as a solvent for the paint and plastic industries. Yummy, huh?

Propylene gylcol is common in household products such as soaps, shampoos, skin creams, cosmetics, fabric softener, and even baby wipes. However, it is known to cause skin irritation. Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) warns to avoid contact because it is a strong skin irritant and can cause liver and kidney problems. (Keep in mind that MSDS for table sugar says it must be used under a fume hood in laboratories though).

Despite this, the FDA has deemed propylene glycol “generally recognized as safe for use in food”. The European Propylen Glycol producers website says that PG has a low degree of toxicity. It is rapidly converted to lactic acid in a similar fashion as sugar is during exercise.

As such, it is a cheap ingredient for managing water content in cosmetics, medicines, and FOOD products like salad dressings, beer, sweets, and baking mixes. It “is the ideal carrier of a large variety of flavours that give most of today’s food and beverage their distinctive taste” (Propylen Glycol). It evenly distributes flavorings and colors in foods such as drinks, candy, and sweets. I checked my pantry and fridge and also found it was in Kraft salad dressings. Granted, it was toward the end of the ingredient list, so there wasn’t much in it, but it was there.

That’s just one of many industrial components that have made their way into our food supply. Is it any wonder that food related health problems are sky rocketing in recent years? We aren’t eating real food anymore.

SOURCES USED:

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, Propylene Ethanol, http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/substances/toxsubstance.asp?toxid=240#10

Propylen Glycol, http://www.propylene-glycol.com/index.php?page=safety

It’s coming off!

akhomeschoolfun — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 02:49:46 +0000

Last week I started eating clean. That meant cutting out sweet, fried, processed, junk, and fast foods. Eating lots of fresh fruits and veggies with each meal and as snacks instead of chips, cookies, crackers, bars, etc. No seconds. Drink just plain water or unsweetened tea. Switched to whole grains and smaller portion sizes for pasta, bread, cereal, and rice. I eat 3 small meals and 2 healthy snacks daily. It’s actually a lot of food, but not a lot of calories because of the fruits and veggies. My family loves this way of eating, including my kids (ages 7 and 9).

Another thing I’m doing which I’ve been talking about is dividing my plate into quarters. First fill half with veggies. The other quarters are for lean protein and healthy carb. No seconds. If I’m still hungry, I’ll have fruit later. Remember, it
takes 20 minutes for your stomach to signal your brain that it is full.

Then 3 days ago, I began The 30 Day Shred by Jillian Michaels. It’s great for beginners, or people like me getting back into fitness. Just 20 minutes a day for a month. While I have trouble sticking to the longer routines, I can (and have) fit 20 minutes in my day though.

I’ve lost a pound and half and can feel my body tightening up already! I’m at 170.5 today. My goal for the month is 168. At this rate, I should make it easily.

New fitness blog

akhomeschoolfun — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 02:05:23 +0000

Hey everyone! I’m considering creating a spin off blog for fitness. I want to separate my fitness and homeschooling sites. I’ll likely call it Fired Up Fitness or a variation if that’s already taken, unless someone has a better suggestion. So the new blog should be up and ready by New Years. I hope to have some of it in the next few weeks. Stay posted here for the latest updates on it.

On the site I’ll have all my product reviews, fitness and diet tips, healthy living advice, and even some yummy recipes.

Mom died today

akhomeschoolfun — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 18:10:16 +0000

I wish I had better news to report. Dad called this morning and told me that Mom died at 915 this morning. She had been suffering from MS for many years. She was 65 years old and actually lived longer than doctors were expecting. She died in peace.

The kids and I saw her about a week ago when we went down for a quick trip. She was fairly alert and knew who we were. The nurses said she was having the best day she has had in a long time. I’m grateful for that last happy visit. I’ve told the kids about it. Karen is still young to understand. Richard seems a bit upset.

Please pray for Dad as he adjusts to the finality of her death. Even though it has been expected for quite awhile, it was still a shock. My brother and I are just glad she isn’t suffering anymore.

Yummy, easy rice pudding

akhomeschoolfun — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 05:14:48 +0000

I had some left over rice tonight and decided to try making rice pudding. I’ve never made it before and always imagined it was a lot of work. However, this recipe was very easy and good. The kids helped measure and stir.

2 cups milk, divided
1.5 cup cooked rice (I used brown rice)
1/3 cup white sugar
1 egg, beaten
2/3 cup golden raisins
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

In a saucepan, combine 1 1/2 cups cooked rice, 1 1/2 cups milk, sugar and salt. Cook over medium heat until thick and creamy, 15 to 20 minutes. Stir in remaining 1/2 cup milk, beaten egg and raisins. Cook 2 minutes more, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, and stir in butter and vanilla. Serve warm sprinkled with nutmeg and cinnamon.

Mail ordering a car

akhomeschoolfun — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 04:26:52 +0000

Living in Alaska, we mail order a lot of things including clothes, electronics, medicines, and books. Well, today you can add cars amount that list.

That’s right. I said we mail ordered a car. We’ve never seen the actual car in person, just an image on the dealer website. However, my husband test drove a similar one in Europe and was impressed enough to try to buy one if we could find it.

It’s the Nissan Leaf all electric car. They are very hard to find and not currently sold anywhere in Alaska. We located one in Spokane, Washington and arranged purchase over the phone. The paperwork was sent to us by mail and we mailed the completed package back this afternoon. So we have officially bought a car via mail order.

Now we will go down in a couple of weeks to bring it back. The car goes about 100 miles on a charge (which takes 8 hours) so we are going to put it on a trailer and tow it to Alaska. We will likely have to wait until spring to get the quick charge unit since there are no authorized ones for sale in Alaska until then. However, it can be plugged into a regular wall outlet without it. That just takes overnight to fully charge instead of a few hours.

Fairbanks was where Nissan did there cold weather testing so it should do fine, but we still don’t plan to drive it in the middle of the winter. Supposedly, there is a super cold weather package you can get for up here, but that won’t be available until spring and is pretty pricy. So for now, we’ll park in when the mercury drops.

A joyful noise to the Lord

akhomeschoolfun — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 06:10:13 +0000

Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise.

-Psalm 98:4

Tonight was the monthly singing party for our church. Even though I’ve gone to this church for over 2 years, I’ve never been to one of the get togethers they have during the year. However, we were invited by several other members to this one. I was originally told it was last week, but it got changed to tonight. Unfortunately, my husband made other plans for tonight so the kids and I went without him.

It was a great party. Our pastor has a huge house so that is where we met. The first half everyone sat around and visited while eating a pot luck light meal. Then we all (adults and children) went upstairs for singing. When we sing, we do not use instruments. There were probably 50 people there like a giant, all-ages choir. It was amazing!

Around 930 the party broke up because the young kids (mine included) were getting tired. Still they had enough energy to play a last game of freeze tag in the dark outside on the way to the vehicles.