Tag Archives: Walt Disney World

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Making a Menu of Meals

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Day 184 in my planning for my meeting with Mickey at the Magic Kingdom in October (8 months and 5 days to go!)

Today my plan is to write out my menu for the week and prepare my shopping list.  I’m going to do it a little differently this time.  In order to add more steps into my daily routine, I am going to organize my list by days and stop off every day after work to pick up the ingredients for that evening’s meal.

I found a cookbook on my shelf with quick and easy meals for diabetics.  I am pre-diabetic, but I am trying to avoid full blown diabetes so I will pick some recipes from this cookbook this week.

That’s the plan, man.  Meet you at the Kingdom!

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Accepting the Challenges

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Day 183 in my challenges as I try to change before meeting Mickey in October (8 months and 6 days to go)

I have made a habit out of hiding behind my weight.  I would participate in some activities; however, I would, in general, try to avoid leadership positions.  But I am taking a huge first step to turn that around.  I have volunteered to lead our Women’s Retreat at church in April.  I have two distinct feelings about this.  (1) I am excited at the thought of experiencing this retreat with our ladies.  It’s called Cafe Chocolat.  It will be a study on the extravagant grace of God.  AND (2) I am absolutely terrified at the prospect of “the buck stopping here.”  I am asking women to pay $35 for fellowship, worship, Bible study and lunch.  This will inevitable drive me to my knees in prayer.  “Help, me, Jesus!

My plan for today was to get a complete overview of the retreat by re-reading all the materials.  And then to start formulating plans to implement the retreat.  So I did.  It took me approximately four hours to get through it all.  I came away (1) excited and (2) overwhelmed.  but mostly excited.  This will be a wonderful retreat if the women will embrace it, AND we get chocolate.  Just a little, but enough to feel a bit pampered.  (And I hope to find good sugar-free chocolate for those of us who are avoiding the white stuff.)

So here’s to the new me: the person who welcomes the challenges that God sends my way and even thanks Him for those challenges.  🙂

Meet you at the Kingdom!

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Adding 5 Habits

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Day 182 in my journey to meet up with Mickey (8 months and 7 days to go)

My plan for today is to research the Mayo Clinic Diet.  I want to see if it’s something to consider.  In the first two weeks, called Lose It!, you are supposed to:

  1. Add 5 habits
  2. Break 5 habits
  3. And then there are a Bonus 5 habits

Here’s what they say about adding habits:

  1. Eat a healthy breakfast.
  2. Eat vegetables and fruits.
  3. Eat whole grains.
  4. Eat healthy fats.
  5. Move!  30 minutes or more every day.

It sounds pretty sensible, right?  I’ll let you know more when I know more.

Meet you at the Kingdom!

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Blew It!

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Yesterday was day 181 and I am losing my mind on my way to meet Mickey

I completely forgot to post yesterday.  And BTW I did not have a great day.  I have had a tendency in the past to comfort myself with food when I’m feeling sorry for myself.  And that is exactly what I did yesterday.  I stopped at Walgreen’s after work to pick up some gauze pads and paper tape (I’m allergic to latex/tape on my skin) for my bloody, throbbing  toe.  I also picked up some Skinny Pop.  It’s really great popcorn with no additives, and a low calorie count.  Jake (my son) wrote an article for Forest and Bluff Magazine.  The man who came up with Skinny Pop did so because his own child has allergies and also cannot eat gluten, so he wanted to create snacks that his child could eat with no negative consequences.  Quite brilliant, really.

Anyway, on my way back to the checkout counter I walked through the Valentine’s Day goodies aisle, and there they were…Russell Stover Strawberry Cream Hearts.  My palms got sweaty, and all I could think about was my next fix.  I succumbed.  Four hearts later I was on a sugar high.  The first in a long time.  I hate that I love it so much  🙂

So there you have it: confessions of a full blown sugar addict.  Fear not, for I am back on the wagon and ready to leave sugar behind once again.

Meet you at the Kingdom!

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Eating for My Health

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Day 180 in eating my way to a healthier me to meet Mickey at Walt Disney World in October (8 months and 9 days to go)

My plan for today is to eat healthy meals.  I had a healthy breakfast and a very healthy lunch.  I am staying sugar-free and watching my portions and my salt intake.  Tonight I have a Damascus Road (the contemporary band at my church) rehearsal; then Mike and I will dine out on the way home.  Salad is on my agenda for dinner, preferably with some grilled chicken on it.

I feel so much better when I eat this way.  If I have an occasional treat, I really notice the difference.  I don’t feel well after I ingest sugar now.  I think my body has had it with foods that offer no nutritional value.  I ate that way for too many years, I guess.  Enough is enough.

Meet you at the Kingdom!

BTW: My little foot-doc appointment yesterday turned into a “procedure” whereby the side of my nail was removed and treated so it will not grow back.  So now I have a bloody toe that hurts like crazy.  Sometimes things have to get worse before they can get better, and to quote one of my favorite movies, Tootsie, “I just have to feel this way I until I don’t feel this way anymore.”  🙂

 

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Back to the Doc

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Day 179 in my limping toward seeing Mickey at the Magic Kingdom in October

Today’s plan is is to see my podiatrist.  I have a very sore toe.  I think it may be an ingrown nail, but I am not a doctor, so in I go.  It’s the sort of thing that’s been bothering me for a few weeks and then by the time I was able to get an appointment, another week had gone by.  I’m sure I will leave the doctor’s office with an even more sore toe, but then hopefully it will finally start to heal.  This toe has made walking very uncomfortable for awhile now.  I want to get this taken care of so I can up my walking game.

Meet you at the Kingdom!

BTW: My cell phone died today.  If you need to call me, please use my work or home phone number.  I’ll answer; I promise. 🙂

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Blizzard Clean-up

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Day 178 in my quest to meet Mickey

Today was the day after.  We got 20+ inches of snow, and for northern Illinois that’s a lot to get at once.  We were buried here and didn’t get dug out until this afternoon.  So my plan for today was to work from home and not lose a day of work.  Luckily I brought some work home yesterday after church just in case.  Anyway, mission accomplished. I had a very productive work day by using a link to my work computer.  Gotta love modern technology!

Meet you at the Kingdom!

 

 

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Just Worn Out

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Day 175 in my crawl toward meeting up with Mickey

Today’s plan was to take care of business.  I am a bit fried and very mentally exhausted after having been at the church for the last eleven days in a row.  I worked last Monday through Friday, sang at a funeral on Saturday, attended worship and the annual financial meeting on Sunday, then worked Monday through Thursday, and went back Thursday night for a rehearsal.  I needed a day away, and I got it today.  Now don’t get me wrong; I love my job and am very grateful for it.  But I find that I do need one day a week to not be there.

So today I was at home most of the day taking care of personal business.  Much needed!  I will do more of the same tomorrow.  I find my motivation to stay on course flagging, and I really believe that it is because I am genuinely worn out.  So I will rest up and rejuvenate one more day, then I will get back to it.

Don’t give up on me, dear readers.  I haven’t.  Meet you at the Kingdom!

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Be Still

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Day 174 in my healthier lifestyle as I wend my way toward meeting up with Mickey  (8 months and 14 days to go!)

Today’s plan was to take the Mayo Clinic Health Assessment online.  Done!  It’s part of my health insurance plan.  Each year I can earn $150 in Wellness Dollars by taking the assessment.  The money is loaded onto a dedicated credit card and can be used to pay for any medical expenses.  Mike is also on my plan so he can do the same.  That’s $300 in out of pocket health costs paid just by taking the Mayo Clinic Health Assessment.

Once I have completed the assessment, I can begin to qualify for another $350 (and so can Mike) by doing some activities and recording the results online.  This is what put me on the sugar-free road last year.  And it actually got Mike to eat a healthy breakfast for six weeks in a row.  So all totaled we can earn $1000 toward those out of pocket health costs.  We’d be crazy to NOT do this, right?

It’s a bit tougher this year.  Our choices are:

  1. Be Still: Tend to my emotional well-being through daily prayer practice for 6+ weeks
  2. Keep a Fitness Journal: Tend to my physical well-being by tracking physical activity for 10+ weeks
  3. Keep a Food Journal: Tend to my physical well-being by tracking all food and drinks for 10+ weeks.

The Fitness Journal seems like a no-brainer, since I am already trying to increase my activity level, but honestly, I think I need the Be Still path.  I believe that my emotional well-being had a lot to do with the weight I’ve put on in my life.  I think some more concentrated God-time can only benefit me.  So that’s the plan.

Meet you at the Kingdom!

BTW: I think Mike will choose the Fitness Journal, since he’s swimming four to five mornings a week.  🙂

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Like a Bull in a China Shop

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Day 173 in my  vigorous forward motion until I meet up with Mickey in Lake Buena Vista  (8 months and 15 days to go!)

Today’s plan is to choose the grunt work, the heavy lifting, the physical stuff at work.  I will seek out and complete some more physically active types of jobs.  Not a very fancy plan for today, but it will keep me moving more.

Have you ever watched Mythbusters?  It’s a show on The Discovery Channel.  Adam and Jamie attempt to prove/disprove common sayings like, “She’s like a bull in a china shop.”  They did test that saying, and it was hilarious.  They set up row upon row of glass shelves with sets of china on all the shelves.  Then they turned a bull loose into this maze of glass.  Results?  Not one piece of china was knocked down or broken.  I would never have believed it, if I hadn’t seen it.  So I guess “She’s like a bull in a china shop” means she’s graceful and careful.   🙂

Well, I’m off to get vigorously energetic.  Meet you at the Kingdom!