A story about popcorn

I have not liked popcorn since I had braces way back in junior high. The kernel's getting stuck in my teeth and trying to get them out was awful. Now it seems all the toxins and chemicals added to the microwave stuff is not worthy of ingesting.

So this Christmas we bought an air popper, my husband loves popcorn! The first batch he was so-so about, but after that he's not popped one bag in the microwave. Our newest addiction has me craving popcorn too, cinnamon sugar. I know, it has sugar. But it's less than in cookies and muffins or brownies so it still helps us snack lightly and deliciously.

Here is proof that if you are open to change you can develop new loves, even if previously you had not liked a particular item.  I've learned this with mushrooms, onions, cauliflower and now with popcorn.  I'm going to continue being open to embracing new vegetables and bringing health and balance back into my life. I hope you remain open to change as well.

a Christmas gift from my sister-in-law, I love it!

final version

Cinnamon sugar mixture.

Weight Watchers because I need more support with my change

So in my journey towards health and managing my PCOS, I've learned many things about foods and carbs, about how important sleep and fish oil are, and a bit about how I deal with the stress of everyday life.  I've also begun to make peace with the fact that my mom is not hear, my sister lives far away, and my husband does not understand what I mean by "support".    The realization of these things has lead me to work with others, looking for support and assistance, but none of these have lasted.  Friends have only so much time, energy and effort to give out if they are not on the same plan.

I have a co-worker who is doing Weight Watchers, and my sister-in-law did it once a long time ago, along with countless other friends who loved it and did well.  I've tried the counting on my own before, and was not successful.  To be honest I need the accountability more than I need the points.  I can eat with hunger and stick to it, if I have support, encouragement and something to hold my feet to the fire. Weight Watchers really won't hold my feet to the fire, but each week they will weigh me so it's a draw in that respect.

I need the constant hand holding and encouragement, and I need the support to not get tired and exhausted with me.  So, having people who will do this whether I am there or not is a huge bonus for me.  They are committed already, now I just have to join in myself.  The first week was a learning curve, and I'm hoping that this next week there will be better results.  I may have to check just to make sure.

So, here is where all the food stuff gets to be paired down to understanding the proper portion size, and hopefully all will be right with the world again.

Livestrong article about Interval training

Good exercises for PCOS, Interval training. This is not something I know a lot about, so here is what I'm finding.   

 

10 Minute Interval Exercises

Dynamic Stretching

Due to the high amount of movement you are going to experience with an interval workout, perform dynamic stretches beforehand. This will help prevent muscle injuries, according to Sports Fitness Advisor. Dynamic stretches are performed in motion, unlike static stretches which are held. Perform stretches like deep knee bends, leg swings, lateral lunges, arm crossovers, trunk twists and high knees. This does not count toward your 10 minutes.

Squat Thrusts

Squat thrusts work the lower and upper body simultaneously. To begin, stand with your feet about hip-width apart and arms at your sides. Lower yourself into a deep squat and place your hands on the floor. Quickly kick your legs back behind your body and form a straight back by tightening your abs. Hop your feet back forward, stand back up and repeat. You can make this exercise more challenging by adding a couple variations. When you kick your legs backward, go right into a push-up. Then kick your feet forward and rise back up. To increase the challenge even more, hold dumbbells in your hands. Place them on the floor when you lower your body and raise them above your head when you stand up.

Mountain Climbers

Mountain climbers work the abs, glutes, thighs and arms from a face-down position. They also cause a fast rise in heart rate. To start, position your body on the floor as if you were on a track and about to do a sprint race. Your hands should be spaced about shoulder-width apart with one foot forward, one foot backward. Keep your arms fully extended and quickly shift your foot position by hopping into the air. Alternate back and forth in a fast, but controlled motion. While you are exchanging your foot position, keep your hips as low as possible.

Prisoner Squats with Twists

Prisoner squats with twists work the legs, glutes and abs from a standing position. Begin by interlacing your fingers behind your head and spacing your feet about shoulder-width apart. Keeping your back straight, lower yourself into a squat until your thighs parallel the floor. Steadily rise back up and twist your torso to your right side as far as possible. Twist back to center, lower yourself back down and repeat to your left side. Alternate back and forth with each repetition.

Crunch Sit-ups

Crunch sit-ups specifically target the upper and lower abs, and they are performed from a face-up position. To begin, raise your shoulders and legs from the floor so you are balancing on your butt and lower back. Steadily move your torso forward as you pull your knees into your chest. Hold for a second, then move back to the starting point. Alternate back and forth in a steady motion. You can either place your arms at your sides or cross them on your chest.

Alternating Arm and Leg Raises

Alternating arm and leg raises work the glutes, hamstrings, shoulders, back and abs all at once. To start, get onto all fours with your knees straight down from your hips and hands straight down from your shoulders. Steadily raise your right arm in front of your body as you extend your left leg behind your body. You should form a straight line from your hand to your foot at this point. Hold for second, lower your arm and leg and repeat with your other side. Steadily alternate back and forth.

Timing

When doing your workout, have a clock nearby for quick reference. Perform each exercise for 30 seconds, and take 30-second rest breaks in between. Once you have finished the series, take another 30-second rest and repeat the sequence one more time.

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/347704-10-minute-interval-exercises/#ixzz1AkhOFmva

About this Author

Kevin Rail has worked in the fitness industry since 2001 and has been writing since 2004. He has professional experience as a certified personal trainer, wellness coach, motivational engineer and freelance fitness writer. He currently writes a monthly column for Ron Jones High-Performance Health. Rail has a bachelor's degree in sports management: fitness and wellness from California University of Pennsylvania.

Table Settings and other formailities

I like to have nice dinners, I'm used to them for Holidays.  Spending time with my grandma and grandpa (dad's parents) taught me to enjoy festive occasions with the good china, the good silverware, the pretty stuff.  We celebrated in style.  The kids had their table, and the adults had theirs, until we were older and  could behave well at the table with the parents.  I missed the kids table, but the formal dinning area was amusing and adventurous in our family.  Grandma would eat off the people's plats next to her, my father, uncle and grandpa would talk "shop", and the ladies kept the kids in line and had conversations between themselves.  There were moments of fights between my aunt and grandma, they loved each other but were both very strong willed and rarely ever saw eye to eye on anything. Conversations were loud, and rambunctious.  It was fun just trying to keep up with it all, let alone try and interject a comment or two.  This differs greatly from my husbands family dinners.  They are more casual, but also more mannered in their conversation.  There is no raising your voice over the conversation of others to be heard.  They will move or talk later to finish a conversation.  It is much easier to speak and be heard, but I miss the more elegant table setting.  So, when I host dinners, I do it with all the formal trimmings that I'm used to, and a few more at times for fun.  My husband thinks I'm nutty, and he teases me about it, but when else will we ever use the fine china? When else will we pull out the fancy linens?

me as a kid at the grown up table in the formal dining area.

I have learned one very important lesson in the death of my mother, and that is, life is short.  There are no more times to celebrate with her, those have ended.  So, now I celebrate the moments I have left with the ones I love with flair.  I want them to know how special they are, how important and loved they are, how this celebration is worthy of the good stuff.  They are worth the fine things, the extra attention to detail, even the extra effort in cleaning up.

My Sister at the kids table, the room behind her is the formal dinning area, this is the kitchen.

I now go all out when I invite friends over for tea as well.  It's easy for me to post recipes and pictures of friends and family, but sharing how I set it up and what goes into the planning, that takes more effort.  I can plan for a while on how, and what I will share, what food I will present, what table settings I will use.  These are the rituals that I enjoy, and savor but they are hard to explain.  I will do my best though.

Setting up for tea

A More informal Thanksgiving setting

Partially set Christmas ever dinner table, the tea cups were out of place but we did not have a bread plate.

I was watching a comedian with my hubby, Larry the Cable Guy go to visit interesting sites Only in America.   One of his stops was at the home of Emily Post.  Only in America with Larry the Cable Guy — Episode Guide — History.com Larry Makes Moonshine. (2011). The History Channel website. Retrieved 4:15, March 25, 2011, from http://www.history.com/shows/only-in-america-with-larry-the-cable-guy/episodes/episodes-guide.This was hilarious to me, Larry is not known for manners at all and Emily Post was the Etiquette Queen.  If you get a chance watch the episode, the family of Emily Post is continuing the legacy.
All of this started me thinking about how many people I know here in my circle, who are not familiar with formal dinner settings, or many other formalities that I was raised to know.  I thought I should share.  I do not have kids to pass this stuff down to yet, and so you reading have become my students in this post. I hope you will allow me to share.

The glass was moved on this place setting, and I'm still teased about the place cards. Everyone was family, but the holders are Christmas themed, and we only host the Christmas Eve dinner with family each year.

I love sharing recipes and other things, but the real satisfaction is from the whole package. I did Medifast, and although the food was nourishing, and my hunger was satisfied, I was never completely sure that I had really eaten.  I started to bring my lunch with real utensils, and cloth napkins, to aid in the appearance of an actually dining experience.  I am eating real, whole foods now, and I am truly thankful.  There are some things that make sitting down to a meal together, magical.  People talk, ideas are shared, there is a time to relax and just be in the presence of those we love and cherish.

Buffet Table Setting

Remember to use the utensils on the outside first and work your way in.  That is a helpful thing to remember if you are in a social setting where you are using unfamiliar utensils. 

Here are some links to help you if you need to brush up, or learn it new entirely.
Table Settings with cheat sheets. 
Tip of the day: Properly Setting The Table

Table Settings

Settings Tips
Entertaining Table Setting

Have fun entertaining, and hosting family events.  Use the good stuff, and savor the memories.

Eliminating Plastic from my life

What to do without plastic? How will I store my left over’s? How will I take things to parties? And why should I care to change?

These are some very good questions. I’m sure that you’ve all heard the talk about BPA, both hype for fear and the down-play of BPA’s affects.
Here are some links to look at in your research to learn more about the subject.
Incyst Part One: BPA PCOS What to do?
Incyst Part Two: BPA PCOS What to do?
Incyst Part Three: BPA PCOS What to do?

My primary concern is not brain development, but it’s affect on my hormones. For those who are not planning families and are not in the major brain development cycle of life, maybe the affects of BPA are not a primary concern of yours, and that makes sense. Ease and convenience will be a huge factor in your decision making. These also affect mine, but I’ve decided to look for ways to make the transition work for me in the most easy and convenient way possible.

I’m a creature of habit, and habits have been hard for me to break. So, this task was taken with a fervor, but in the understanding that I would have to commit to it. I know, fervor and commitment in the same sentence? Who are you kidding? Tupperware and Rubbermaid are an part of everyday life, storing leftovers to save money and time preparing meals throughout the week. How do you replace such an integral part of life?

Slowly, and one step at a time was what I found to be most effective, along with throwing out a piece of plastic every time I purchased a glass replacement. This tossing out of the old really helps in sticking with the commitment. I only have three pieces left, hiding under our food storage, because I’m going to be giving them away to a friend. I have not used them in over a year, they are difficult to get to and I have pieces to replace them.

 I do have one thing that I have not swapped out, my Brita water pitcher. But I did swap it for the water trucked in by our company, we ran out the other week and I brought it my pitcher, so I could filter the tap water. I have not been drinking the other bottled water since. I’m not sure about the levels of BPA in their product, but my water at home is filtered through our fridge directly so there is no storage of water in containers, until I fill up my water bottles.

I have found that the Pampered chef prep bowls work wonderfully for taking food to work.

I have also love the Arc bowls, but I have not found them online yet. This is the closest I have found to what I actually purchased at Costco.

I have also found some glass through Crate and Barrell.  These have proven invaluable to me as I make the transition to glass storage rather than plastic.  For any of you who are thinking of making the transition, but have little kids, I would find other bamboo alternatives for things they can play with and toss around.  I will also begin looking to see what other non-breakables are out there that are BPA free for when I need to child proof some of my everyday food things as well.

Obsessive

There are moments in my life that I can recognize the obsessive behavior that entangles me a bit. I'm not needing therapy, and it does not run my life, but it can interfere at times.
I have begun a habit of checking my art pages viewing stats, a couple of times a day.  This really is unnecessary, it does nothing except show me if someone has viewed my work.  It does not encourage others to view, it does not bring about a sale, it does not change anything, and yet I have not been able to stop myself.
I'm writing about it because saying it out loud for others to know helps me keep things like this under control, it makes me re-think these actions before I continue to engage in this behavior.  So here it is, my little habit of checking page views, it's annoying me and taking to much time up in my day. I need to give it up. I need to relax and wait for my weekly report and smile when it comes, being excited to see the changes once a week. So, what is one little habit that has become a bit obsessive in your life, and how are you taking steps to change? I would love to hear how these habits have been overcome.

Love Peace and Yoga Booty Ballet

"Yoga May Help Fight Depression" - this WebMD article was encouraging and inspiring, not because of what is said really, but because of what it confirmed.  I was told that Yoga would be good for me to include in my daily routine, along with doing some Sumi-e painting at night.  These both have positive benefits for my health, exercise and helping me stay focused.  I tease my hubby but there are more times than not that I'm the one that needs to focus in our relationship, it's just odd when he gets sidetracked and I remind him to get back to center.  I need him to be centered, since I most definitely am not.
All of that to say I will have to start up my Yoga-Booty Ballet again.