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Measuring my daily steps

Posted on May 1, 2009 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

It is confession time here at Chez Angel. When in elementary, middle and high school I was the student that could not stand PE class. I hated running, jumping, and climbing. The weeks that we did gymnastics I would cringe. Just the thought of getting sweaty and having to change made me physically ill.

Through the years I have always made excuses about not having time to work out. Several years ago I was lucky and lost a lot of weight with Weight Watchers and never did anything above and beyond that. This time around sticking to points did not cut it. I was older and my metabolism had changed after my second pregnancy. As I have previously mentioned on my blog, I finally found a workout that I really like. Leslie Sansone makes a Walk at Home DVD series. Sure walking sounds easy, but Sansone makes you move and use all of the muscles in your body. Over the last few weeks, I have grown to love these daily workouts and actually get upset if I skip a day.

As I was walking, kicking and sweating away, I was curious about how many steps I was doing. Everyone would always talk about the magic 10,000 daily steps that are key to your health. Was I getting these without my workout or did these 2-5 miles with Leslie Sansone push me over the edge? I started to investigate pedometers. I wanted something that was not going to break easily and that I could toss in my pocket. Below is what I finally found and decided to splurge on:

My new Omron HJ-112 pocket pedometer finally arrived on Tuesday. I quickly calibrated it and put it on. After a few hours I had 1,508 steps. Then it was time to do a 3 mile workout with Leslie Sanson. In 45 minutes I was able to do 39 minutes of Aerobic moving and 4,083 steps! So in the few hours that I wore the pedometer I had almost 6,000 steps.

Wednesday I wore the pedometer the entire day. In the morning, while I finished up my laundry and the little guy slept, I put The Biggest Loser on my DVR and watched it while power walking. I walked for 51 minutes (Aerobic according to the pedometer) and did 6,195 steps. Later in the day, the boys went outside to play. I stayed inside for part of it and did 3 of the Fat Burning Miles with Leslie Sansone. That was another 38 minutes of Aerobic exercise and 4,144 additional steps. For the day I had 13,394 steps.

I am hooked and love this handy dandy little gizmo. It motivates me to do more and lets me keep track of what I have done during the day. I can not wait to see how many steps and miles I log while at Disney World.

So my question for this week:

Have you ever had a pedometer or thought about buying one? If you have used one, do you find that you walk more when you use it?

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Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the Mr. Linky there if you are participating.

Aloha #46

Categories:
Aloha Friday exercise me moments milestone photos

I do not want to go

Posted on April 27, 2009 8:27 am by TheAngelForever

A little less than a year ago I made a decision to make a switch, a switch of medical practices that is. For years I had been unhappy with several of the doctors in my OB/GYN group (I have written about this before – especially after JSL’s birth). Still I stayed. Why? Well, when I was pregnant with NHL a new doctor came into the practice. This doctor was young, fresh, a woman and also pregnant herself. She actually sat, listened to me and did not rush from the room. In addition to her, I loved the staff at the office. I stayed out of pure laziness and knowing what I was in for at this practice.

What finally put me over the edge was what happened when I was pregnant with JSL. Numerous times the other doctors were uncaring, got nasty and turned their ear the other way which landed me in surgery. When I went to make an appointment with the doctor I loved for my follow up exam last year, I was told she would only be in the far away office. Very odd.

Lucky for me, when we were at a craft event for kids one weekend, I heard a familiar voice. I looked up and there was the doctor that I really liked. She asked if I had heard the news. After five years, she was moving to a new practice because she could not tolerate what the other three doctors were doing to the practice. I was stunned. I got the information about the new practice and waited a few weeks to call. The new practice had a policy that I had to be seen even if it was not time for my annual visit. So in the early fall I went in and chatted with my doctor in her new office. When I switched my files over I was able to read through them and had some questions for her. She agreed that there were several instances that indicated nobody listened after JSL’s birth. Signs were there on the placenta that it may not be intact. Yet, for weeks they allowed me to bleed and never once looked at the report right in my chart. It sealed the deal that I had made the right decision. Clearly the other doctors had become too busy with things to take a patient who knew something was wrong seriously.

About a month ago, I finally had my annual GYN visit scheduled at the new office. To say that I am not a fan of the nurse the takes you back would be an understatement. I truly do miss the ladies from my old office that did these things. After that I went back to the waiting room. 45 minutes later I was called to the desk. I was told that my doctor was off at a delivery, even though she was not on call. I was offered to see one of the other doctors, but I declined. That’s the beauty of not being pregnant, I can wait and see the person I want to and nobody can say boo.

Last week, I had to cancel the make up appointment on Tuesday. Thank goodness I did since JSL’s temeprature spiked to 104 Monday evening. Today I am supposed to go again. My grandmother is watching JSL, so he will not have to endure waiting with me at the office during his typical nap time. The problem, I just do not want to go. I want to call and cancel. I do not want to deal with the witchy nurse or any of the rest of this.

These are the days that men should be happy they are not a woman and do not have to think about this "fun" event.

Categories:
decisions doctor looking back me moments vent

Grilling Goodness – Take 14

Posted on April 24, 2009 9:58 am by TheAngelForever

1. When you were in school, did you study hard or cram the night before? – In High School I never studied too much. At pharmacy school I learned better ways, but it always seemed like cramming. While doing my Education studies there were not many tests honestly.

2. What can pull you out of a really funky mood? – A hug/kiss from my boys.

3. Do you keep the invoice after you’ve paid the bill?– Yes, you never know IF you may need it. Now I just need a better system of filing things.

4. Do you have yard sales? Shop at them? – Debating having one soon, but not sure if it is worth the effort. Have not shopped at one in a long time.

5. When was the last time you rode a roller coaster? – I believe I went on one last summer with my son at Six Flags. Hoping to go on the Rockin’ Roller Coaster at Disney Hollywood Studios soon :)

6. Spring cleaning…do you do such things as wash your windows? – No, have not done this in way too long. Something we should do, but other things always crop up that are more important.

7. How often do you clean out your refrigerator? – Weekly we go through the refrigerator and empty things out when it is garbage night. We also do a massive cleaning before Passover.

8. Have you ever been a victim of identity theft? – Yes, hubby’s identity was stolen a little over a year ago. It was a huge mess, but I think I caught things quickly since the thief was stupid and we were sent the credit card. Still it means a complete lock down for our protection and it complicates getting credit checks and everything. Really wish the government helped victims a little more than punishing us more.

Head over to Golden Goodness to play along!

Categories:
Grilling Goodness me moments web fun

Grilling Goodness – Take 13

Posted on April 18, 2009 8:37 am by TheAngelForever

1. Do you prefer reality tv or dramas or comedies? – Used to really love comedies, but there have not been many good ones in recent years. Like to watch Dancing with the Stars, The Biggest Loser, and a few other reality shows. Still, my favorites are dramas like Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice and Desperate Housewives.

2. If you could have free cosmetic surgery, what would you have done? – Probably breast reduction surgery. Of course since I saw the surgery on television once I now am sure I will be a chicken and never consider it.

3. What are you itching to get but you have not ‘bitten the bullet’? – My little digital camera died not even a year after I bought it and I still have not replaced it. There are just other things that we need. For now I will share hubby’s camera.

4. Do you have a bad habit that you hope your children don’t pick up? – I hope my kids are not as wishy-washy as me. When pressed hard I can easily make a decisions, but on the little things I have a hard time.

5. What was your favorite meal growing up? – Loved my mothers chicken soup with matzah balls. She put dill in it and it made it extra yummy.

6. What meal did you have as a youngster that you don’t have as an adult? – I remember going to have steamed clams with my mother and friends after swim lessons. Not something I do now.

7. What is your earliest memory of a "vacation"? Where’d you go? – I still remember going to Disney World with my family when I was really little. The first trip I have major memories of was when I was in kindergarten or so and we went with family friends.

8. What was the "Best Thing" you ever got for Christmas, before age 12? – Most years my birthday came at about the same time as Chanukah, so a lot of the gifts blended together. My cabbage patch kids or Barbie Town House would probably rank way up there.

Head over to Golden Goodness to play along!

Categories:
Grilling Goodness me moments web fun

Lots of lists

Posted on April 17, 2009 12:03 am by TheAngelForever

I admit it, I am a list person. For some reason I do better when I have lists of items that need to get accomplished and can manually cross them off as they are finished. In the past, I have made the following lists:

Things to do during a given day
Groceries needed
Questions to ask the doctor
Coupons needed for a store run
Presents that we need for upcoming birthdays/holidays
Meals for the upcoming week
Items to do at home (when I was teaching)
Phone calls that need to be made

As you can imagine we had a lot of lists for Passover. Now that Pesach is officially over, I can concentrate on the lists that need to be made for our upcoming trip to Disney World. Off the top of my head I need to do the following:

Documents that need to be taken with us
Clothing that needs to be bought before trip (shorts for everyone)
Questions for TSA about bringing medication on the airplane
Items we need to pack (clothing, diapering needs, food, medicine, toiletries and the like)
Things to bring on the airplane to keep the kids entertained (this will be their first flight)
Rides/shows we hope to see at each of the parks

Call it the teacher in me, but lists work well for me. It helps me to organize my thoughts and work toward the goals needed. So my question for you this week:

Are you a list person? Why or why not?

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Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the Mr. Linky there if you are participating.

Aloha #44