Sunday, July 4, 2010

Happy 4th of July

Hey Ladies:

Well first of all, it doesn't seem like the 4th of July. Due to the rainy weather all day, we were unable to go to the parade and the city has postponed the fireworks until next weekend. I'm hoping they have the fireworks next Sunday night so we can still attend the fireworks in Ankeny that are on Saturday night (I think). We may ride in the parade in Ankeny with Jon and throw candy since he's supposed to drive his work truck in the city festival and represent his employer.

The week has been a little more difficult to manage food-wise. Thanks to a certain time of the month that is approaching, I am craving a lot of foods so it's been tough not to snack. Fortunately, I've been trying to make healthy snack choices. I bought some candy bars from Weight Watchers and those are extremely helpful. I got the chocolate caramel bars and they had a new flavor...cookies and cream. They are packed with fiber and help me get over the need for sweets and actually fill me up nicely. I also have whole wheat English muffins on hand and sugar free Jello cups on hand too. Sadly I've not been craving fruit much which is irritating since it's summer and things are in season. Needless to say, I'm a little nervous about being weighed tomorrow at Weight Watchers...any kind of loss will be nice to have.

My mom, sister, Gavin, and I are going to Adventureland and I have full intentions to get a funnel cake and share it with Gavin. Funnel cakes have to be my favorite amusement park/fair food. I'm hoping my results tomorrow will cause my funnel cake indulgence to be a reward.

I'm somewhat anxious to start my walk/run program on the treadmill. Anxious because I know how much the extra energy output will help on Monday weigh-ins. My energy levels have increased but exercise will boost them further.

I was waiting at the pharmacy last week and decided to read some of their free literature while waiting for an prescription. The article that caught my attention was about triglycerides. My triglycerides are always sky high and the article helped me to understand what the long term consequences could be. Excess triglycerides contribute to atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) which can increase my chances of heart attack or stroke. The article reminded me that 2 or more servings of fish each week (omega-3 fats) can help reduce my triglycerides too. When I had my physical earlier in the year, my triglycerides were 242 and the acceptable range for my age/gender is 35-160 mg/dL. Hopefully that number is dropping.

1 comment:

LeAnn said...

I agree about the 4th, but we celebrated on the 3rd, which was the ideal weather, so I wasn't too bummed by yesterday's weather. I just want the humidity to go away.

You're definitely not the only one struggling with healthy eating. For awhile, Jason was a lot like Dad in that he would by candy (at Video Connection) and bring it home. So I'd have a Milky Way or Twix. Well, then I got myself into a habit of expecting a candy bar dessert all the time. I have gotten over that, but it's not hard to crave and surrender to those sweet, salty, or fried foods. It's good that Weight Watchers has an alternative that can help that. Since we live very close to a Fareway, we've been good about including fruit in our diet. I'm actually craving watermelon right now.

Your information on triglycerides was scary/interesting. I still haven't had any blood work done, so I don't know how I am doing in that department. There are a lot of yummy things you can do with tuna and I know you like that walleye stuff, so get on it!

Have fun at Adventureland! Make sure Mom and Alissa ride some cool ones for once. I'm not sure if I'll miss the funnel cake, but they are good to have at least once a year. I'm sure you'll have a good walk around the park - there's a perk! We are leaving for Indy soon, so I don't know when I'll talk to you. However, now that we have Verizon, we won't be roaming in Indy, so I'm only a phone call away. You might hear from me while I am sitting poolside drinking a margarita! Lol!