It's going to be a long and busy day

Just had breakfast of an egg, thin slice of Canadian bacon and English muffin. It as a frozen store brand, Fred Myers here, but probably Kroegers in the rest of the world. It was a "Lite" version at 220 calories. Not sure of Points since not in Weight Watcher scan app, and I'm too rushed (or lazy) to put in the PointsPlus app. Love these app. Sort of tasty, fast breakfast.

Great visit with my sister last night. She couldn't stop crying when she saw me. I told her I sure hoped they were tears of happiness and not sadness. She laughed.

Husband is here and we're heading out to see my sister this morning, then appointments and then the house (the dreaded house and mass of paperwork).

No internet until I get home on Sunday morning.

Happy New Year!

Fairbanks, Alaska...hell has frozen over

I'm in the hotel dining room and just had a quick dinner of a salad and a hamburger patty. I took off the bun, and just ate the patty with the lettuce and tomatoes. I said no fries and a salad instead, they still brought the fries and the salad. They're the skinny, seasoned fries and look really salty. I didn't eat any, didn't really even want them. I honestly can't remember the last time I ate beef. Actually, it tasted pretty good.

About Fairbanks, the most God-forsaken place I've ever been when it's thirty-three degrees below zero. I can't believe I lived in the interior Alaska for thirty years before I left here. I forgot how miserable it is when it's this cold. It literally hurts.

It was pitch dark when I got here at 3:30pm, and so cold I thought I had frostbite by the time I got the car scraped off (covered in ice and snow). It has awesome heated seats...a new requirement for any future Fairbanks rental cars in the winter.

I had a bit of an anxiety attack on the plane. Actually, I had it at work before I left for the airport and it just continued on the plane. A sort of mental breakdown after reading an email from my brother (who I thought liked me). He said I was too hard on my crazy niece, and our sister would want me to be kind to her and help her. I couldn't stop crying. This same thing happened to me after I think my third trip up here. Where the tears wouldn't stop and my heart ached with pain.

Honestly, I'm out of kindness, forgiveness and love when it comes to my niece. She's attacked me for the last time, and I will not fall for the false sweetness which turns to mean, hateful and very hurtful behavior.

I saw a quote in the Oprah January magazine that I left up in the room. Basically, it was about running away from toxic people. I get that. My niece is toxic. If I was to put a label on her, I would guess it's bipolar. I'm not sure, but there's definitely something wrong with her.

My husband is flying in later tonight. Thanks to Sarah's comment, we'll be having a bonfire of paperwork outside at my sister's house. She doesn't have a fireplace, but she has a 123 acres of land, no neighbors and the house sits on a river. Lots of snow too. Of course, not sure how I'll be able to handle the -40 temperature since her place is always ten degrees colder than in town.

Thanks you guys for all your kind comments. Your support and kindness continues to amaze me.

I'm off to see my sister. I hope I don't cry when I see her. It's just so sad, but it's life and I have to make the best of it.

Really? Fairbanks again?!

I swear I have the most dysfunctional, crazy, weird family in the world, and I don't mean that in a good way.

After weeks of listening to the whining and complaining about cleaning out their mother's house, one of my nieces (the most crazy of the crazy) called me yesterday (the first time since she changed all her phone numbers a month ago). She demanded to be paid for her time for helping her mother by cleaning out her mother's house, as well as for her gas for driving the six miles to the house.

Oh.My.God. Are you serious? Yes, she was serious and NO-FREAKING-WAY will she get paid. I don't get paid and darn it...you don't get paid. May I remind you, this is for your mother! I'm just totally flabbergasted over this latest event. Who are these people?! Their mother, my sister, practically dedicated her life to them and this is how they repay her?

After contacting my attorney, I decided to fly up to Fairbanks tomorrow night. Friday morning I'm having all the locks changed on my sister's house. Then I'm meeting with an auctioneer at the house to discuss how to go about auctioning off all my sister's personal belongings and household items, then to the realtor to sign the listing agreement. My brother will visit the house once a week to make sure it's okay.

The children...they are DONE. I don't want to hearing about it anymore. They seem to take joy in telling me what a mess it is and how they're mother had a shopping problem and how hard they're working. I've had enough. Keep in mind these aren't young people, they're between the ages of 46 to 49 and neither of my nieces even have jobs.

Here's the forecast for Fairbanks, and where my sister's house is located twenty-three miles out of Fairbanks it's always ten degrees colder. That would make it a low of -46 degrees. Yuk.

I'm probably going to stay at my sister's house, which is going to be very weird. No internet, TV, or phone (and my cell phone barely works out there), I had it all turned off to save money. The main reason I'm staying there is I'm on a shredding mission while I'm there, to shred as much paperwork as possible in a day and a half. My sister doesn't own a shredder. That alone should tell you something.

The diet and exercise
Still at it, gym every day as usual. I didn't track my food today, but I don't think I ate enough because my family situation was stressing me out. The worst thing about going to Fairbanks is that I'll miss my Saturday Weight Watcher meeting. Very frustrating.

The good thing about this trip, I get to see my sister, even if it is for a short time. I really miss her.

Giving Weight Watchers a chance

I went to my Weight Watchers meeting on Saturday. I adore, love, admire, respect and practically worship my Weight Watcher leader. Every time I go to one of her meetings I learn something new, and in the process, I get entertained because she's really funny (and smart and sweet). I'm very fortunate to have such a wonderful Weight Watcher leader.

A little history about me and Weight Watchers. I joined in February 2008. I'd joined before, a few times over the years, but I never stuck with it for more than a week. This time, I was on fire. My first blog post was May 13, 2008 (in my "Old Diana's Journey"...long story on what happened and why I had to create a new one). I followed Weight Watchers to the letter. I did exactly what they said to do and guess what? It worked!

It's weird to go back and look at those old posts. I kept writing posts, almost every day, putting my heart and soul into each post. Back then, no one read my blog and no one ever commented. It's pretty funny to go back almost four years ago and read how I was struggling and working so hard when I started out. No one ever commented for several months, and I didn't care. I was dead set on losing weight and keeping a record of it.

I really believed in Weight Watchers, even though I stumbled and fell many times. Gained back a few pounds, lost a few, gained a lot, lost a lot. Back and forth over the years. This year has been particularly difficult. I even completely quit Weight Watchers last August. I decided the BodyMedia was the way to go.

I've missed the meetings and the support. I've really missed my leader. I've missed the accountability. So why did I quit? This is so stupid that I hate to even write it. I didn't like the zero-Point fruit. Pretty silly in hindsight. I wonder if I'd followed the program faithfully and eaten the free fruit without worrying about it, where would I be right now? Probably at goal.

Instead, I made a big stinking deal about the fruit. "Oh my gosh! I can't eat all the fruit I want! I'll gain weight!" That is my lame excuse for wasting an entire year.

So I'm back. Back on plan, back to following the Healthy Eating Guidelines. Back to loving my meetings and my leader. Back to following Weight Watchers as perfectly as life will allow. Back to being on fire.

My weigh in wasn't great, but it could have been much worse. In the four weeks since my last meeting I lost one pound. Saturday's weighin: 183.4. No excuses because really, I don't have any worth talking about.

One other really important, at least for me, is blogging. I feel like I've been so wrapped up in my sister's mess, that I forgot about me. I forgot about my life and what I like and what I want to do. I love blogging and reading other blogs. It's fun and something I've enjoyed for almost four years. I don't want to quit and go off and drown myself in my sister's troubles. That's her life, not mine. It's horrible and sad and I wish to God I could change her situation, but I can't. I can only live my life the best I can, and enjoy whatever pleasure and happiness I can find in it.

In other words, I'm really back.

Merry Christmas

Instead of crying myself to sleep last night, I went on a house cleaning rampage. From 8:30 p.m. (when my went to bed) until 4:40 a.m. I cleaned house like I was on speed. I even had a cup of coffee at 10 p.m. to keep me going, and it worked.

The house is spotless, at least the kitchen, dining and living room. Cleaning isn't something I enjoy, but it's a mindless task that kept my hands busy (no night-time eating).

After three hours of sleep, I got up and we put up the tree. We can't find the angel for the top. She's missing. I need to go out to the store anyway to get a few gifts for my husband, so I'll pick up another tree-topper angel. I'm sure the old one is packed away in the garbage somewhere, but I can't find it.

I thought about my sister when I finally crawled into bed. It's truly a sad situation, but there's nothing I can do to make it better. Just make sure she's in a warm, safe environment with good medical care.

A few people mentioned maybe I should see about moving her down here to live near me. I really thought about that while I was in Fairbanks the week after Thanksgiving. I was ready to do it. Then I watched my sister's interaction with her youngest daughter (she's 46). When this niece would walk into the room, my sister would light up with the biggest smile. When my niece bent over to kiss my sister, my sister took her good hand and reached up and touched my niece's cheek and stroked her hair. The particular niece has always had a very close bond with my sister. She visits my sister every day and gives me updates. The other niece (the crazy one) that lives in the same town has only been to see her mother once in five weeks.

Because of the love between my sister and my one niece (the sweet one), I can't break them apart. Even though it would make me feel better to have my sister near me, it would break my sister's heart, as well as my niece. I decided moving her to Seattle wasn't an option I was going to pursue.

I did talk to my sister's doctor a couple weeks ago about taking an anti-depressant and she agreed it would be a good idea. She's been on one for almost a week now, and the non-stop crying has stopped, but she's still not cooperative in her therapy.

About the diet and exercise
Yes, this is still a weight loss blog, even though my sister's situation has consume me lately. The eating has been pretty good. No junk food except a handmade candy cane three days ago (and it was awesome). I started tracking my food about three days ago, using the BodyMedia website and phone app.

My exercise has been really good this week, with the gym every day for the last seven days, plus 55-minute power walks at lunch on two days. Did I mention I have a new gym? L.A. Fitness and I love it! They bought out Bally Fitness (my old gym) and closed the one near my home. The L.A. Fitness I go to now is actually closer and about a hundred times nicer than Bally Fitness. Plus they have THREE really nice, always in working order StairMasters. Love it.

The only thing I don't love about L.A. Fitness is the free weight area. There's only one and it's too small with only about seven weight benches. Bally had three free weight areas and about fifteen benches. It's always packed with guys lifting super heavy weights. Really though, I appreciate it's new and clean, with nicer equipment.

I'm still going to Weight Watchers and need to get going for the 11:15 a.m. meeting, then the gym before they close at 2 p.m. today. I love the new Weight Watcher scanner app for my phone (see T.J.s post about it here). It's the coolest thing ever. Although I'm not tracking Points this week, doing calories with BodyMedia. Maybe next week I'll try Points again just so I can use the scanner.

Take care and everyone have a Merry Christmas!

Trying to find the spirit of Christmas

I'm not in a very festive mood this Christmas. After a lot of debate about whether we should go to Fairbanks, we decided against it. The trip would be rushed since I have to be back at work on Tuesday. We chose Christmas at home.

Home...were there isn't a single Christmas decoration or wrapped gift. I haven't sent a single Christmas card this year or purchased a single gift. I'm just not feeling it. My husband is following my lead. I guess my dark mood is contagious.

My husband has asked me numerous times what I want for Christmas. I keep telling him nothing because it's the truth. There's nothing I want this year. No cool new gadget, no new clothes, no jewelry, nothing. There's nothing that can make me happy.

I know Christmas is more than decorations and gifts, and that's where I'm really feeling sad. My faith is shaken. I can't find any explanation why such a dreadful, horrible thing has happened to my wonderful sister. None of it makes any sense.

The status of my sister isn't good. She's very healthy and eating well. The prognosis is that she will live for many more years. That sounds good, but it's not. She won't participate in any physical, occupational or speech therapy. She refuses to cooperate with the therapists. In fact, she gets angry, screaming gibberish at them and pointing to the door of her room, wanting them to leave.

She refuses to even get out of bed and into a wheelchair. True, it's quite an ordeal for her since she's completely paralyzed on the right side it takes two people to assist her into the chair. I just don't understand how she can just lay in bed 24/7.

Last week she demanded all the family pictures be removed from her walls. She kept pointing to the wall and the door and finally my niece realized she was pointing to the pictures and wanted them out of her room. Now her walls are bare.

I didn't mean for this post to be about my sister, but she's always on my mind. I worry about her. I feel bad I'm not there, cheering her on. I know she's lonely and bored. She doesn't even enjoy watching TV. Our brother bought her an iPad and she refused to even touch it. He bought her a Nook and she wouldn't even look at it. She use to love her computer and loved to read. The words don't make any sense to her and she doesn't even seem to understand the concept of the computer.

I guess not being in a happy, festive mood is normal. I'm still shell-shocked over losing my sister. Basically, that's what happened. She's gone. I can't call her and talk for three hours, finding out we bought the exact same item or did something exactly the same that week. We had a lot of strange coincidences where we did the exactly same thing or had exactly the same thought. I'll never forget when she picked me up at the airport one summer and we were wearing the exact same designer sunglasses, with the same rhinestone pattern. I remember laughing hysterically when we'd talk on the phone for hours. I really miss her.

Tomorrow perhaps I'll write a more cheerful post. Maybe we'll put up the tree, buy a few presents. Maybe I'll write about my plans to lose twenty pounds by the time of the Big Climb on March 25. Or about my Weight Watcher meeting I'm attending tomorrow morning. For now, I think I'll just go cry myself to sleep.

What you should know if you have a stroke

Please note: if you don't want this entire post, I beg of you, scroll to the bottom and read the part about stroke symptoms. It's extremely important. Paste it into an email and send it to everyone you know and love.

Where has the time gone? I haven't posted for four weeks. Have I really been that busy?

I have been busy with trying to keep my sister's medical and financial manners in order. It's not an easy task and not one I would wish on my worst enemy. Lesson learned from this catastrophic event: DO NOT HAVE A DEBILITATING STROKE! More on this later.

I've been busy with work. I'm back at it and have a giant, scary project in front of me. Scary, as in I don't know how the hell I'm going to meet my deadline.

I've also been getting back into a daily exercise routine, which is something that was severely lacking for the last three months. Since my sister's September 21 stroke, I have not made myself a priority. My sister was number one on my radar. I fell into second place.

I read my last post and actually laughed out loud. I was really in the spirit of weight loss the day I posted that entry. Then I went to Fairbanks for a week and got caught up in the circumstances surrounding my sister. Weight loss and my health weren't important anymore.

Then I came down with the flu while in Fairbanks. Right in the middle of my week that was jam-packed with tasks. Somehow I made it through it, after holding up in my hotel room for 24 hours, living off of NyQuil.

Then it was back to work, to a world from where I'd been missing for most of four months. Since I broke my wrist August 6 I've either been out on extended illness leave for my wrist or on PTO for my sister.

I forgot what normal felt like. It's actually kind of nice to sit in my cubicle, in front of my computer and think about something other than my sister's tragedy. Her health and how I'm going to pay her bills, and function as her guardian and conservator have consumed me for the last three months. Stepping back into my real world was nice, but a shock to my system.

The last two weeks I've been exhausted. All I want to do is sleep. I'm not sure if it's the after effects of the flu or post traumatic shock syndrome of dealing with all things related to my sister. It's probably been a combination of both.

I didn't follow Weight Watchers nor did I count calories or track my food. Not even for a single day.

The past week I made it to the gym four times, two 30-minute workouts, one hour and 20-minute workout (Thursday) and yesterday for an hour. I feel my strength and energy coming back, although my left arm is still weak. Three months in a cast has pretty much decimated most of my muscle in my left arm. I still use 15 or 20 pounds on my right arm, but only 10 or 12 pounds on my left arm. Even the lighter weights are a struggle. I guess it'll just take time.

My weight today at home is 183.4. Since I was 184.4 at Weight Watchers four weeks ago, this means I've really gained a pound or two (since I weighed with clothes and after breakfast at Weight Watchers). If you're wondering, I'm going back to Weight Watchers today.

Considering all I've gone through in the last four weeks, there will be no "beating up of Diana" today. If there's one thing I've learned from the last four months, it's don't sweat the small stuff. There's enough big shit to worry about in life without worrying about the minutia.

Two pounds will come off easily, and the other thirty or so will come off too (albeit not quite as easy). I feel back in control of my eating and exercise. I care about what happens to me. I don't want to end up like my sister, stressed out about life, with high blood pressure and having a stroke. Trust me, you really don't want to go there. It's truly a fate worse than death.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Read this!

I took the information below from www.stroke.org. A family member that talked to my sister at 10 a.m. on the day of my sister's stroke said later that she had slurred speech that morning. Since my sister doesn't drink, this was a definite sign of a stroke. The family member is a trained CNA, and has taken numerous nursing classes. Yet she didn't recognize the slurred speech as a symptom of a stroke. She has expressed great remorse about this, but it doesn't matter now. It's too late for my sister, but maybe this will help someone else.

My sister wasn't taken to the hospital until 10 p.m. that night. Twelve hours after her first sign of having a stroke. This unfortunately sealed her fate to a life of being unable to speak, paralyzed and bedridden. If only she'd been taken to the emergency room that morning, things probably would have turned out so much better.

Please read it and remember it. The most important thing is to remember is get to an emergency room as quickly as possible. Time is critical. There's a drug they can give you that will actually stop the damage from the stroke. It's called a t-PA drip (one of the clot-busting drugs, there are others). The doctors in Fairbanks told me about it, but you have to get it within three hours of the first stroke symptom. It doesn't always work, but it gives you a fighting chance. My sister got to the hospital too late, and it's ruined her life.

Every minute-and-a-half, on average, someone in America suffers a stroke.

Warning Signs of Stroke

Learn the many warning signs of a stroke. Act FAST and CALL 9-1-1 IMMEDIATELY at any sign of a stroke.

Use FAST to remember the warning signs:

NOTE THE TIME WHEN ANY SYMPTOMS FIRST APPEAR. If given within three hours of the first symptom, there is an FDA-approved clot-buster medication that may reduce long-term disability for the most common type of stroke. There are also two other types of stroke treatment available that might help reduce the effects of stroke. Read more about stroke treatment.
Learn as many stroke symptoms as possible so you can recognize stroke as FAST as possible. Click here to download the FAST Wallet Card to keep a reminder of stroke warning signs with you wherever you go!

Stroke symptoms include:

SUDDEN numbness or weakness of face, arm or leg - especially on one side of the body.
SUDDEN confusion, trouble speaking or understanding.
SUDDEN trouble seeing in one or both eyes.
SUDDEN trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination.
SUDDEN severe headache with no known cause.

Call 9-1-1 immediately if you have any of these symptoms

Weight Watchers...it was like going home again

I love Weight Watchers! Actually, I love my Weight Watcher leader, Janis. She is absolutely amazing, and very inspiring. She makes me think, makes me want to do better and best of all, she makes me laugh.

The thing about Weight Watchers is that it makes you focus on eating healthy, something that calorie counting alone doesn't really require. I feel excited to be back on a plan. Of course, this means what I eat and how much I exercise will become somewhat of an obsession for me (again). But that's okay. It's what I need right now

Now for the weighin, the post Thanksgiving Day weighin where I ate too much, including pumpkin pie and apple pie. The apple pie was a frozen pie made by Plush Pippin. If you've never had a Plush Pippin pie, well, you haven't lived. They're the best! It's all gone now, so now worries about it until Thanksgiving 2012. The Plush Pippin factory is actually in Kent, Washington, very near to where I live. Funny story but about ten years ago they had an overstock sale and you could buy pies for $1.00 each at their warehouse. I remember standing in line and buying ten pies. They were delicious...and I weighed about 240 pounds then. Now I get one pie a year and share it with my husband...only on Thanksgiving. They're off limits the other 364 days of the year.

I digress...I went from talking about my weighin to talking about pie. Not good. This is what I weighed this morning at Weight Watchers, after two cups of coffee, breakfast and I was fully dressed (obviously!). It's my true weight.

184.4

I'm really not upset by it, which is pretty amazing for me. I knew I'd gained weight the last few weeks because I wasn't paying attention. I'm one of those people that absolutely must constantly be aware of what I'm eating and how much. I gain weight easily when I'm not being careful.

This is my starting point. I have goals and the first one is to get under 180. I have a very busy schedule this next week, but I will eat carefully, and track my Points on my phone. I have a brand new Android Samsung Galaxy II S (the best phone ever!). The Weight Watcher app is easy to use so I won't have any excuses to not track.

The hotel I stay at in Fairbanks has a decent gym, with ellipticals and treadmills and a variety of weights. Unfortunately, there isn't a Stairmaster, but there are stairs in the hotel. Only eight floors, but it's something. I can do the elliptical then run the stairs a few times, plus do weights.

I just got home from the gym and now I have to pack. My left arm is still really weak. I can do dumbbell curls easily with my right arm at 15 pounds. My left arm can barely lift eight pounds. It's really pathetic. I'm surprised how three months in a cast and then another two weeks in a splint completely weakened my left arm. I don't have any noticeable muscle tone in my left arm. It's all flab. Really awful.. After my workouts it's so sore it aches. My right arm feels nothing because I kept lifting weights with it the entire time I had the cast. The doctor said it'll take at least six months to even get it close to what it was before my accident. More likely a year. Oh well...at least no surgery on it or it would have been a lot worse.

I probably won't have time to post while I'm in Fairbanks, but when I get back, hopefully life will calm down a bit and I can get back to reading blogs and posting regularly (and leaving comments on all your blogs!).

I'm really excited about Weight Watchers. After four years of being on and off of it, I feel like this is the right thing to do for myself right now. I need the structure and the accountability. It provides both. It's still hard work, but losing weight on any plan is hard work.

Weight Watchers...again!

I quit Weight Watchers several months ago, right before I broke my wrist on August 6. It had lost it's charm, and I never like the new program that was introduced a year ago. Eat all the fruit you want "until you're full" confused me.

I started using the BodyMedia in August and dropped twenty pound in three months, but I've put some of that weight back on. Life happened, and I stumbled.

My sister had a major stroke, and I was in Fairbanks for six weeks of the last nine-week period dealing with a lot of family drama. These are excuses for my slip, but for once in my life I'm cutting myself a little slack on gaining weight.

The last few months have been hideous. It's not over yet, but I see some light at the end of the tunnel. I'm returning to Fairbanks tomorrow for five days. A lot of very serious financial decisions have to be made to secure my sister's future. I have meetings with a real estate attorney, an estate planning attorney, a tax accountant, two real estate agents, the tax assessor (who highly over-appraised her rental property) and my sister's doctor and her speech therapist.

So here I am, a year later, and I weigh close to what I weighed a year ago...at least I think I do. I didn't weigh this morning, but I know I'm within a few pounds (I was 180.4 January 3, 2011).

This means after a year, I've not accomplished much regarding my weight. I guess you could call it maintenance, but at 180+ I really need to lose weight, not maintain. I'm better off than I was in February 2008, when I weighed 240 pounds. I'm happy about maintaining a 60-pound loss, but I really need and want to lose weight.

Today, it's back to Weight Watchers. I just signed up online for the meetings. My plan is the 10 a.m. meeting. I have a lot to do today, do laundry and pack, but there are two things I have to do: Weight Watchers and the gym, in that order.

I'll post my weigh-in results later today. Since it's post-Thanksgiving, and I'll be dressed versus not dressed when I weigh at home, I'm sure I'll be up a few pounds. That's okay. I have to start somewhere.

Jogging the Cheapest and Affordable Exercise

Health is wealth an old saying, which is probably true, but in today’s life when every one is busy with there career, family, home, relationship, finance and planning for there better future they try to make 100% effort to manage all thing successfully but between this there is an important thing which needs more attention which make us to achieve all the thing in our life and enjoy with our family and that thing is health and fitness, which we neglect, some time for to save money or sometime to save time due to this we put our health on the risk and make health a secondary issue in our life but believe me no can achieve their dream of life when a person is unhealthy, unhealthy person can not win the battle even ones can not take the right decision for him and to his family and there is a proving thing that unhealthy body has a unhealthy mind and vise verse with an unhealthy mind including your personal life professional life also suffer and one fail to manage all the other important things and to more on this is the world which gets challenging day to day even today’s life style is getting tuff and tuff and it is true that many people on this planet has no time go to a gym and exercise regularly but there is one exercise which is good enough to make us healthy, smart and improve our life style and that exercise is jogging which is cheapest ,affordable and time saving among all other exercises in the world believe me and there is a list of benefits of jogging some of are as follows

You can burn 100 calories approximately when you run a mile
Jogging increases your heart ability to pump stronger and more efficiently and your muscles to use oxygen more efficiently
Jogging or running help to lose weight
Jogging makes you sleep better. Which is the most One of the most important factors for improving fitness after exercise and diet is getting adequate sleep
Running or jogging help you to cope up depression and increases the capacity to work and lead an active life

The jogging also help to make strong bones because the weight bearing nature of jogging make its effective to strengthening bones by increasing bones density
Jogging reduce the risk of Osteoporosis is a disease of bones that leads to an increased risk of fracture when the bone mineral density (BMD) is reduced but because of jogging which weight bearing in nature as we explain it ,make your bones strong and increases bones density

These are some of the benefits of jogging there is many exercise which can be alternate to jogging but this is a very cheap way to maintain your fitness all other exercises may contain a cost like swimming, gym where you need to go to club, take membership spent lots of money but jogging is the only cheap, affordable exercise which need only determination and a pair of joggers so be healthy take care of your health because as I says earlier health is wealth and I mean it all other things come second.

References

1. http://www.livestrong.com

2. http://www.medicinenet.com/

3. http://bodyfitnesshealth.com

Books

Brian K Alldredge; Koda-Kimble, Mary Anne; Young, Lloyd Y.; Wayne A Kradjan; B. Joseph Guglielmo (2009). Applied therapeutics: the clinical use of drugs. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. pp. 101–3. ISBN 0-7817-6555-2

Fast food, Junk food or bad food

Before we get into the details about is fast food a bad food or not? first lets talk about the term fast food, the term was coined by Michael Jacobson who was the director of the centre for science in the public interest 1972 .its is a informal term which is perceived as a food which contained little or no nutrition value and have ingredients which is unhealthy if we eaten regularly but in today’s life where every one is busy, professionals living alone in the city away from their home or family , at the end of a hard-working day, when one returns home all tired and hungry, there is nothing better than a ready made meal. No matter how much the chefs praise the benefits of fresh food a pizza or a burger can be god gift. Besides the time an individual has to spend in the kitchen, cooking a meal also requires one to make a trip to the supermarket to buy the ingredients for the dish. Then there is the added effort and time consumed in washing and peeling the vegetables. All this makes eating fast food more preferably over cooking a meal for a busy individual and its also cost saving which give fast food an edge over the conventional dish or meal prepared in the kitchen if one lives alone fast food is a batter option instead go supermarket and cook at home you can also estimate the popularity of fast food in the world as only in united state of America more the 13000 MacDonald and 8000 KFC restaurants are working.

Apart from these huge Advantages success of fast food which we discuss prior there are many more disadvantages of eating fast food which make it so unhealthy and bad food that even one can not considered. And the greatest disadvantage of eating fast food is the adverse effect that it has on one's health, that’s is so true that fast food is more unhealthy then a home made food because it contains higher value of salt, oil, sodium, salts and sugar which have a longer shelf life. And these ingredients are harmful to the human body because they cannot be broken down and therefore they build deposits in the body. Along with that they also prevent the absorption of important minerals and nutrients in the body and therefore directly affect a person’s immune system.

According to the study by Paul Johnson and Paul Kenny conducted at The Scripps Research Institute in (2008) says that junk food consumption alters brain activity similar to a person is addictive to drugs like cocaine or heroin.

One of the main reason of obesity in youth is because of fast food which leads to obesity because in this days when children prefer to play on video games, Xbox or play station and elders used to watch TV laying on a coach leads to reduced physical activity which do not allow the food to be broken down and there fore fats deposits in the form of layer which cause obesity.

Fast food is the invention of modern world and like every thing else it has also advantage and disadvantages. However by making smart choices while placing order and follow an active life style we can minimize the negative effect of fast food and minimize the effect of fast food which makes it bad food.

References

High-bred diet????

Sometimes I wonder what's wrong with my brain. Sweet Ida posted that a "hybrid" diet of Weight Watchers and Body Media would probably work for me.

I read "hybrid"and thought "oh...so that's how you spell it!". I wrote "high-bred" diet this morning. It didn't look right and of course spell check didn't catch it either. Sometimes I scare myself with my stupidity.

Today didn't go well for eating or exercising. 4:30am wake-up call from work for a problem in Montana, then no gym because I had a 7 a.m. physical therapy appointment, then to work. No time for gym or breakfast, and no time to drink water today.

I came home feeling like I was starving to death. Overate.

Tomorrow will be better...I'll have a "high-bred" day of good eating and good exercise. :)

What is the Difference between Taking HGH and an HGH Releaser?

There has been a lot of buzz around the media lately about Human Growth Hormones and their affects on anti-aging. And it certainly can be difficult to sift through all the information to determine which product out there is truly the most affective and which will work with you to help you feel younger and more alive.

But as simple as it may be to just order the lastest miracle pill, you really do need to do some research to make sure that you are not just hopping on the latest ineffective anti-aging bandwagon. There is a significant difference between products that claim to produce HGH and products that claim to be an HGH releaser.
HGH is the hormone that has been linked to anti-aging for a few reasons. As we age, our bodies start to produce less of the youthful hormone and therefore we start to show signs of aging. These symptoms include an increase in wrinkles in our faces, sagging skin, loss of memory, lack of sex drive, less energy, more age spots — you get the drift.
But products out in the market that claim to use your body's natural responses to produce more HGH are probably not as true as you would like to believe. There has not been any definitive prove that these products actually work. The pituitary gland is the gland responsible for those youthful attributes and mimicking the production of that gland has been quite deterring for scientists so far.
However, the effects of a product like GenFX are a little different. This anti-aging tonic works to trigger the pituitary gland so it can produce more HGH itself. The difference may seem subtle but the results are in less wrinkles, more libido, less memory loss, increase in weight loss and energy among many other things.
So the key is to find the right product that really gives results that you are looking for. There is no point in spending your precious time or money on something that is just a waste. You really want to know that whatever you put in your body is going to work. The GenFX anti-aging tonic is just that product for you. You can be confident that after just a few weeks of taking this tonic you will start to see results. You will feel and look younger and more vibrant. People will start asking you what's different. Did you cut your hair? Did you lose weight? Your confidence will increase and soon you will start feeling like your younger self again — only older and wiser.
So there is no need to let old age get you down. Try out a risk free 3 month trial of GenFX today and receive a bonus fourth month for free. You will be satisfied with the results of your money will be returned to you, no questions asked. So what are you waiting for? Take a step backwards in the time machine of life and order your GenFX today and start to feel younger and more vibrant before you know it. It will be worth it — guaranteed!
For more information, go to GenFX.com.

What are the Important Roles that Human Growth Hormone Plays within the Body?

Our bodies are very complex systems with a lot of components that can start not to function as well, causing a myriad of complications. As we age, the potential to have organs, tissues, glands, or hormones to start to deteriorate increases. All of these essential parts of our bodies work like a finely tuned machine that needs constant attention and the proper fuel to run effectively. When one part of our body starts to slow down or lose its effectiveness, that's when the trouble can begin and we start to notice health problems in other seemingly unrelated areas.

Human growth hormones (HGH) are critical to a healthy body. When we are young, HGH is what essentially makes us grow. How much HGH is naturally produced in our bodies will help determine how tall we get. Other effects that HGH has on the body are:

Increases the amount of calcium retained and helps to strengthen the mineralization of bone.
Increases the way that protein is absorbed and used
Increases the amount of muscle mass
Stimulates the grown of all of the internal organs, such as the liver, heart, kidneys etc
Helps to promote proper liver function
Stimulates the overall immune system, promoting good health and an aversion to contracting diseases.�

So you can see having a healthy production of HGH is essential to overall good health and a strong immune system. Having a strong immune systems means that you are able to fight off potential germs and stave off illness. This is the best way of ensuring your health and maintaining a strong body and mind.
However,� as we start to age, the production of HGH naturally starts to slows down. Our bodies produce less HGH and so the affects of less HGH starts to show, both on the surface and internally. By supporting the pituitary gland and having it pump up the amount of HGH in our systems, we can essential slow down the effects of aging. Essentially it's a fountain of youth waiting to be ingested and by taking a supplement such as GenFX, an anti-aging tonic; we can start to actually see the effects ourselves. From a decrease in wrinkles, to less hair loss in men, to an increase in memory, to effective weight loss, to clearer eye sight and more lean muscle, it will feel like finding your long lost youth in a bottle.
The GenFX anti-aging tonic is like no other anti-aging product on the market today. It is especially formulated with natural amino acids and herbal ingredients that are guaranteed to show results or your money back. It's a holistic approach to supporting the production of GHG that will have positive affects and make you feel young again. Why not take a risk free trial and see how it goes? You have nothing to lose except a few years off the calendar and a few wrinkles off your face. You'll soon be feeling young, alive and vibrant again. You will soon be wondering why you didn't try GenFX years ago!
For more information, go to GenFX.com.

The dreaded Monday morning weighin

Today's weigh in:

181.4

My last weigh in was on October 31, and I was 173.4. That's an eight-pound gain in three weeks. Ugh! It just proves I have to be vigilant and borderline obsessive when it comes to my weight and what I eat.

I have work to do. The Big Climb is March 25, 69 floors in the Columbia building in Seattle. Last year I was 176 pounds for the Big Climb, and it was hard! My goal this year is to weigh 160.

Four months and twenty pounds to lose.

Now I need a plan! I'm tossing around the idea of rejoining Weight Watchers. It helps me to weigh in every week with someone else. That alone is worth the $40/month, plus I love my Weight Watchers leader.

Most likely I'll still do my calorie counting because I love my BodyMedia. It's weight loss plan is exercise, calorie counting and journaling (online). Maybe a hybrid diet of Weight Watchers and BodyMedia. Sound good?

A gain of 5 or 6 pounds? Who did I think I was kidding?

I'm all dressed for the gym. My BodyMedia is on my left arm, along with my Polar Heart rate monitor (which I LOVE!). I've entered my food into the BodyMedia website, calories consumed (so far, 867 and it's 3:45 p.m. - I allow myself 1500).

I noticed something. My workout shirt feels snugger. In my last post I casually mentioned I thought I'd gained a few pounds in the last ten days. The shirt I'm wearing, a t-strap tank, is definitely tighter than it was ten days ago. I remember it billowing around me and that it felt too big. Now it fits, but I prefer the "billowing" effect.

I still haven't weighed. That alone is a sign that in my heart I know I've gained probably more than a "few pounds". My last weigh-in was October 31, 173.4. I bet I'm at least 180 right now, or even more. I know my body. It feels heavy. I felt it yesterday on the StairMaster, the strong pull of gravity when my body gets to a certain weight.

So far today the food has been good. I've really missed fresh fruits and vegetables. Even though my hotel had a microwave and fridge, we ate out almost every meal during my ten days in Fairbanks.

Tomorrow will be my big weigh in, to figure out where I am and what I need to do. I have the Big Climb 2012 on March 25, and I'd really like to lose 20 pounds by then. Regardless of my current weight - which is unknown right now - I want to lose 20 pounds.

The skies are almost black here, looks like rain or maybe even snow. Guess I'd better get my big, fat derriere to the gym before I find an excuse to stay home, all warm and cozy by the fireplace.

I am...my sister (well, sort of)

Joyce, 1992...on their property in Alaska, before they built their house. This was an old travel trailer where they stayed on weekends while their house was being build. Check out those legs.

This is Joyce November 13, 2011. She'd just had her first shower in five weeks. Since she started eating again two weeks previous to this picture (after four weeks of not eating anything), she decided she wanted to get better. I'm doing her hair. She was beautiful after the hair and makeup, but the pictures of her with the family were weird. Something was wrong with her smile. It was more of a grimace. Her best friend told me I couldn't show them to anyone because Joyce would be horrified.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Joyce update (my sister, 73 years old, had a stroke on September 21, 2011)

I'm home and filled with emotions.

My last post was the day of the court hearing. That day was actually very easy. Even though I was a little nervous sitting in front of a judge, in a court room, it went well. I was represented by the assistant Attorney General as well as the Adult Protective Services. It was a done deal before the hearing even started. I was appointed to be my sister's guardian and conservator.

This gave me full control over her medical decisions, and full responsibility of her financial obligations. Unfortunately, all her assets, her home and 100 acres, her apartment complex she owns, her savings and checking accounts, as well as a stock portfolio, were all tied up inside of a family trust. The person in control of that trust, yes, you guessed it...the crazy niece who was refusing to pay any bills.

This meant I had to hire an attorney and petition the court to become the successor trustee. It took about three days for my attorney to gather affidavits from everyone involved, including affidavits from my other niece and my brother to renounce their positions as successor trustee in the second and third positions. The Attorney General stepped in and put a lock on all assets with a TRO (Temporary Restraining Order which the court awarded in 24 hours). This prevented the other niece from touching the assets.

After all of this, "the" niece called my attorney and agreed to voluntarily renounce her position as the #1 trustee. She signed the paperwork at my attorney's office yesterday. She also left a giant box of paperwork regarding my sister's finances at my attorney's office.

I'm now the successor trustee of the trust, and now the real work begins. Sorting out my sister's finances, paying bills (including filing her 2010 income taxes), and selling some of her property. This is all on top of dealing with her doctor, her physical, occupational, and speech therapists. As well as the staff at her assisted living home, that I'm in contact with several days a week, checking on the status of my sister.

I'm returning to Fairbanks the week after Thanksgiving to meet with a real estate attorney and an estate attorney. I need help figuring out how to best manage all this stuff. Apparently there are laws regarding managing an apartment complex, either I have to manage it (representing my sister as the owner), or hire someone with a real estate license. There's also a thing called a Miller Trust that may help protect her home. All stuff to ask the attorneys.

I've taken on quite a bit of responsibility and feel a bit overwhelmed right now. Since I'm being watched by the courts, my every move has to be documented.

This morning I'm going to dig into QuickBooks, so I have a complete accounting of her finances.

The good news is my sister is eating like she's probably never eaten in her life. Yesterday she had apple pancakes and bacon. I doubt she's eaten like this since she was a teenager. For as long as I've known her she's always been on a diet. Always watching every bite she ate, being super careful. She's getting stronger and getting into a wheelchair twice a day for an hour at a time. She's totally different than she was three weeks ago. Her will to live has returned. Thank God.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The diet and exercise update

There's not a lot to say on this topic. I tried to eat healthy while in Fairbanks during my last stay (ten days in a hotel...ugh!).

My sister's best friend flew up from Palm Springs and stayed with me for the ten days I was there. She's now my BFF. I love her! Her name is Charlie and she's hysterical to be around. She had me laughing at the most serious situations. I met Charlie a few times in the past but never spent much time with her. This gave us a great opportunity to become fast friends. Now I totally understand why she and my sister have been BFFs for over 25 years.

Charlie is skinny and gorgeous, but she works hard to look as fabulous as she does (she's 60, but my God that woman has a hot body). I followed her lead on eating, but after about five days I felt like I was starving to death and started eating a little more.

I cropped my sister out of this picture. Even though she really is gorgeous, with her hair all curled and makeup, the picture doesn't look like her. She's always had perfect teeth (still does) and a perfect smile. It's like she can't remember how to smile. Since I promised Charlie I wouldn't show it to anyone, I cropped her out. Isn't Charlie gorgeous? The woman should be a standup comic, and she has a heart of gold. Love her!

I know I've gained some weight and I haven't been on the scales yet. Not a lot of weight, probably about five or six pounds. My clothes all fit, but I feel fluffier. Although Charlie works out at home on a regular basis, she just wasn't into it while we were in Fairbanks. In those ten days I only worked out three times. Not good.

I was back at the gym yesterday, doing the StairMaster (preparing for the Big Climb 2012, March 25). I managed 30 minutes but thought I was going to die. I only completed 105 floors. How on earth was I doing 130 floors on that thing a year ago? I swear I couldn't have gone any faster.

Today, it's the gym again, but now I'm wearing my BodyMedia and tracking my food. Just because I have some major things going on, it's not a reason to stop paying attention to my diet and exercise. In fact, it's really important right now that I stay healthy.

Did I mention how happy I am to be home? I'm super happy to be home with my husband and kitty. Yes, in that order. :)

One last picture for you...the Fairbanks International Airport, November 15, at 2:30pm. Check out that sun. It was -20 degrees (that's below zero), and dropped to -36 that night.

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