Maharaja Chai Tea Oolong Tea Review (From Teavana)

(photo credit: Me)

Here comes another Teavana tea review. It’s been a long time since I’ve done a tea review. I usually receive three Teavana teas from my parents for the holidays, and this holiday is no different. Here’s the first one I tried. This is the Maharaja Chai Oolong Tea. Here’s some basic information and how to prepare it.

Ingredients:

-Cinnamon

-Oolong tea

-Ginger pieces

-Carob pieces

-Chicory root

-Artificial flavoring (disappointing to see)

-Pepper

-Nutmeg

-Cloves

-Cardamom

How To Prepare:

For every 8 ounces of water, use one teaspoon of tea leaves. The water should be heated to 195 degrees, just before boiling. Steep the tea for three minutes and enjoy!

They recommend to use more tea leaves for a stronger flavor, but I’ve found that steeping the tea longer has the same effect. For some of the teas from Teavana, I’ve steeped the tea for as long as 10 minutes. The only tea you really need to pay attention to time-wise is the green tea.

There is no mistaking this flavored tea. The scent screams chai. I love the smell of chai tea, with the cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon scents being the strongest. The container this tea comes in is very well sealed. It comes with a plastic pop top type cap under the tin lid. You can’t smell the tea until you pop open the top. Signs of good packaging.

The tea tastes fantastic too. I was a little worried the tea might taste a bit weak. I’m used to getting chai tea lattes from coffee shops, and the chai is so strong from those places, it would be hard to beat. The Teavana chai tea is a little weaker than coffee shops, but that can be remedied if I steep it longer.

I can separate out most of the ingredients by taste if I really try. I’m not sure what cardamom, or carob taste like on their own, but I can definitely pick out the cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. This is definitely going to be one of my favorites from Teavana. Nice to have on a cool afternoon. I’d like to say “chilly evening”, but for one, it doesn’t get too cold here, and two, I try not to drink anything after 6 or 7 PM.

I recommend this tea to anyone, it’s fantastic!

Check out my other tea reviews!

Mileage Monday

Not too many pictures to share this time around. I've been slacking big time. Need to get moving again. One big change around here...we got a dog! He's a little over year, and we got him at a pet adoption fair several weeks ago. He's a Chihuahua/Dachshund mix, and we named him Jax. He's smart, but stubborn. He'll learn who's boss though soon enough. He had a few health issues, but they're clearing up.

Back to the workout front. I've done nothing basically for about three weeks. With the dog and other schedule interruptions, it's been tough. I did do 1/2 mile on the elliptical Saturday, just to get me going again. And Sunday, I took a bike ride while my husband walked the dog. We went almost two miles. I was surprised the little pup went as far as he did. He conked out for a while once we got back.

Here are the pictures that I have from the virtual walk site. Looks like it's just one picture. Oops. Get moving Tee!!!!

Mile 710.8 (elliptical for .5 mile)

(photo credit - http://exercise.lbl.gov/index.html;jsessionid=1F4E2B8269D80C6DF557FB31D1D6D77B)

Mileage Monday And Unofficial SparkPeople Turkey Track (100,000 Step Challenge – FitBit)

(photo credit - http://weyrcat.blogspot.com/)

So, about a month or so after I got my FitBit Flex, SparkPeople came out with their own fitness tracker. It’s not as high-tech as the FitBit, but it’s great for beginners I think. SparkPeople set up a “Turkey Track” challenge for November, where members challenged themselves to walking 100,000 steps for the month of November.

When I got my FitBit, I joined the SparkPeople team “FitBit Users Unite”, and the leaders on that team decided to hold their own challenge. I jumped on board, and racked up a total of 179,885 steps for the month of November. Since I easily went past the 100,000 step mark in mid November I earned the neat little picture you see above. Near the end of November I slowed down with my workouts for various reasons.

That team is holding another challenge for the month of December, so I’m going to be taking part in that one also. I chose a goal of 200,000 steps for the month of December. I should be able to accomplish that, I just need to get back into my exercise routine, and not let things overtake me.

For the last few days the virtual walk site has been yelling at me because I haven’t entered any mileage in for over a week. Tomorrow, I’ll be back at it. I only have two pictures from the site this time around, and those are from over a week ago.

Mile 709.4 (elliptical for 1 mile)                             Mile 710.4 (elliptical for 1 mile)

               

(photo credit - http://exercise.lbl.gov/index.html;jsessionid=1F4E2B8269D80C6DF557FB31D1D6D77B)

Keep moving. I need a good kick in the rear!

Mileage Monday

Feeling a lot less sluggish than I was last week. I am glad I took last weekend off from exercise. I am also taking today (Sunday) off. It’s important to take days off every now and then or it can you can get run down. Haven’t made up my workout schedule for the week yet, but it might just be random. I am planning on strength training Monday, Wednesday and Friday, but cardio might just be whatever I do and whenever I do it. My niece (“K”) is down this week, and we’re planning on a bike ride Monday through Friday. Might squeeze in something else during the week.

Here are some more pictures from the virtual walk site. Since last week’s post, I’ve passed through Vincent, KY in Owsley county. I have about 38 miles until I reach Irvine, KY in Lee county.

Mile 692.8 (elliptical for 1 mile)                           Mile 696 (watp for 3.1 miles)

            

Mile 697 (elliptical for 1 mile)                              Mile 698 (elliptical for 1 mile)

             

Mile 706 (watp for 5 miles)                                  Mile 708.4 (elliptical for .3 mile)

             

(photo credit - http://exercise.lbl.gov/index.html;jsessionid=1F4E2B8269D80C6DF557FB31D1D6D77B)

Hmmmm. my miles seem to be off. Oh well. Not sure what happened. I must have had a brain fart along the way when I was organizing the pictures. Pretty area of the country still! A little more than 700 miles in, and the trees are still green.

I’m getting close to getting caught up on the pictures. I have one left (from Saturday). Have a great week, and keep moving!

My Walking Progress

(photo credit - www.visualphotos.com)

It’s hard for me to tell just how much progress I have made with my ability to walk. Once I sit down and think over the last several month, I realize I have made significant progress, in many areas of walking.

Walking with others. This is probably the most significant aspect lately. In an earlier post I talked about how I basically just other people’s ability to help me based on their body type and how strong I think they are (wow, I just read a bit of that post, and my mindset has changed drastically since then). That’s very bad on my part. I talked about how I needed to trust others more, and trust myself more. I have done that.

Since that post, I’ve had five other people help me walk somewhere. Five! That doesn’t count the chiropractor or assistant #1, let’s call her “D”. I’m now completely confident (more like 90% confident) with Dr. Van Loon. I am getting more and more confident with “D”. I have also had assistant #2 (let’s call her “Y”), help me a few times and am getting used to her. Plus, my niece “K” has been helping me around a bunch lately, and it’s getting easier.

About a week and a half ago, I went somewhere with my “K” and my in-laws. During the time we were out, both my mother in-law and my father in-law helped me. Those were probably the scariest times for me. My judgmental state of mind rearing its ugly head. My in-laws are older, and they both have bad knees and have a hard time walking themselves. I let that get the better part of me that day, so I was more hesitant and unsure of myself. But, it all worked out. I had a few bobbles with my mother in-law, but I stayed on my feet. I did take a Xanax that day, but it wore off while we were out (we were gone a long time). So the walking I did with my mother in-law was without anything in me. Good thing was I didn’t have a panic attack. My heart was racing, but I was able to control everything else.

Think that covers everyone who has helped me so far. And there will be more people in the future who will help me also. The thought of that actually makes me anxious, but it will happen. I need to get used to it. Side note, I went to the doctor for an annual checkup and the doctor and I talked about my anxiety. She says that I need to not be afraid to ask for help. I’m not afraid really to ask for help, but I don’t like to ask for help either. I like to do things on my own if I am able. She said people are more than willing to help others, some actually want to help because it gives them a good feeling. I understand that, and I’m trying to get that in my head. If I need help, ask. I still feel sometimes that I’m putting pressure on people when I ask, or that it’s an annoyance to help me. Need to get that out of my head.

So, I have made quite a lot of progress. I have a ways to go to where I want to end up (totally able to walk unassisted like I did when I was a kid), and I think I can get there. I haven’t fallen yet when someone else has helped me. Came close a few times (once with “K” and once with my mother in-law). But not yet. It’s best not to think about that. I’m not putting a goal date for when I want to walk alone after all I have done that already, little bits at a time. It will happen when it happens.

The major thing I need to work on still is the fear, anxiety, and panic attacks. I did get my own Xanax prescription the other day too. I don’t plan to take it too often, only when I really think I’ll need it.

And that’s that. I’ll be working on all of this forever, so I will send in updates on my progress when ever I think I’ve made more progress. Practice make perfect (except with oral presentations, still going to avoid those like the plague. No amount of Xanax can help me with that, hehe). Walking with cerebral palsy is tough no matter how severe the case is. But, it's better to walk than not.

One More New Gadget I’ve Come To Love

(photo credit – nutribulletblog.com)

Seems like I’ve gotten a lot of new gadgets over the last several months, and I love them all. I’ve talked about my new adult trike, my FitBit Flex, and the FitBit Aria scale. Still need to write up reviews on the FitBit gadgets, and I’ll be doing that in the next few weeks. Today though, I want to talk about my new friend in the kitchen. The NutriBullet is awesome. This is more than just a blender. You can put anything into this thing and it will pulverize the heck out of it.

I’m sure most everyone has heard of the VitaMix and the Ninja blenders. Those are super duper blenders, but to be honest, I can do exactly the same thing with the NutriBullet, and for way cheaper. My husband surprised me with the NutriBullet a few months ago, and got it at Bed, Bath & Beyond. Around $95 dollars retail, and he used a 20% off coupon. So, great deal. If I ever have a problem with the blender, I can take it in and exchange it for another one as long as I have the receipt. BB&B are great like that. They don’t care how long you’ve had a product. As long as you keep your receipt, you can take it back.

Anyway, I now have come to enjoy oatmeal. I’ve never been a huge fan of oatmeal, sadly, because I couldn’t get over the texture. It tasted, honestly, like snot. Bleh. Maybe I cooked them wrong, but I couldn’t take it. With the NutriBullet, I put in 1/2 cup of dry oatmeal and use the “milling blade” that comes with the NutriBullet. The milling blade basically turns oats or any other dry ingredient into a fine powder.

Once I have my oats powdered, I then add in about one cup vanilla soy milk (Silk), one full banana (fresh or frozen), and sometimes I add in some peanut butter. Put on the “extraction blade” and let her rip. Blend it for about 30 to 45 seconds and you’re good to go. It is a bit of a thick smoothie, so it takes some getting used to. You can of course add in whatever fruit you want. The other day I used a medium apple, and also added about a teaspoon of cinnamon. Yum.

So I now have a way to enjoy oatmeal. That’s not the only thing I’ve come to enjoy because of the NutriBullet. I also now enjoy Greek Yogurt. Can’t stand the stuff plain, but add it into the blender with a bunch of fruit, and it’s great! Kale also. I’ve added kale with frozen raspberries, a banana, and just plain water, and that’s a great snack.

I mainly use the NutriBullet for my afternoon snack, although I’m using it more now. I have the oatmeal shake a few times a week, and then I’ll have green smoothie with a sandwich for lunch. Then my afternoon smoothie. Yum, yum, yum.

And it’s super easy to clean too! Just rinse off the blade and you’re pretty much done. Once I’m done with my smoothie, I like to fill up the cup 1/3 of the way with water, add a little dish soap, put the blade on, and blend for 10 seconds.

Awesome little gadget if you like smoothies. It is small, so you make one smoothie at a time. But it’s so fast, and you get three cups with the blender (two small cups, and one tall cup), that you can make multiple smoothies in no time.

I see no reason for buying one of the over-priced blenders, when the NutriBullet does exactly the same thing. You can see some videos on YouTube that show the proof. I’ve even made tuna salad with it. Hehehe. Highly recommended by me!

Great way to make sure I keep moving!

Mileage Monday

Still going strong with the virtual walk. I’ve been feeling a bit sluggish for the last several days, but I make sure to keep moving. Took the weekend off from exercise, and that helped a bit. Back at it today though. Since my last Mileage Monday post, I’ve passed through Booneville, KY in Owsley county. I have about 3.5 miles until I reach Vincent, KY. Should get there tomorrow with the five mile Leslie Sansone I have scheduled. Here are more pictures from the site.

Mile 681.6 (elliptical for 1 mile)                               Mile 684.8 (watp for 3.1 miles)

                

Mile 687.8 (watp for 3.1 miles)                               Mile 689.8 (watp for 2 miles)

                

Mile 690.8 (watp for 1)                                           Mile 691.8 (elliptical for 1)

                 

 

(photo credit - Copyright 2006 Lawrence Berkeley Lab)

Have a great week! Happy Veteran’s Day!

Mileage Monday

Back to regular Mileage Monday postings. For now, I plan on only including mileage from the elliptical and walk at home DVDs and videos (Leslie Sansone). For now I won’t include the miles I achieve with my adult trike. I may change my mind eventually. The virtual walk does allow for mileage from biking as well as swimming. For now though, I won’t include that. That may change soon though depending on my mood. I also won’t include any miles I rack up just marching in place as I watch TV shows or my YouTube subscriptions. I have no idea how many miles I get from doing that. I like being accurate in my mileage, so if I’m not sure it will drive me nuts.

On to some of the mileage pictures I’ve had saved for a while.

Mile 665 (watp for 3.1 miles)                          Mile 667.4 (watp for 2 miles, elliptical for .5 mile)

                 

Mile 670 (watp for 3.1 miles                              Mile 672.6 (watp for 1 mile, elliptical for 1 mile)

                 

Mile 675.6 (watp for 3.1 miles)                               Mile 680.6 (watp for 5 miles)

                

Keep moving!!!

This Week’s Workout Schedule

(photo credit - www.fitsugar.com)

I love all the trainers on The Biggest Loser. So glad this season has started. I always ask myself every season who I would choose if I could have one of these guys train me. I usually flip flop, but I think I’ve settled on Bob. He can kick your butt, be sympathetic, AND take no excuses from anyone. All at the same time. Plus he seems to have a great sense of humor (I love his laugh). Dolvett is a close second, and Jillian is a close third.

I’ve decided to plan out my workouts for the week from now on. Leslie Sansone’s October challenge made me decide to do that. Having my workouts planned ahead of time made me get it done faster and earlier in the day.

This week’s schedule looks like this:

Monday – Full body strength training and 5K With A Twist DVD

Tuesday – Elliptical for 1 mile

Wednesday – Full body strength training and 5K With A Twist DVD

Thursday – Elliptical for 1 mile

Friday – Full body strength training and 5K With A Twist DVD

Saturday – Elliptical for 1 mile

Sunday – Elliptical for 1 mile or take a rest day depending on how I feel

This schedule does not include any marching in place I will do as I watch TV or my YouTube subscriptions. It also doesn’t include biking. Hopefully I can get my workouts done early in the morning this week. That’s my goal. At least the strength training.

Hope everyone has a successful and active week. Keep moving! Who’s your favorite Biggest Loser trainer?

Results From Leslie Sansone’s October Challenge

(photo credit - hellaheaven-ana.blogspot.com)

I am quite pleased with my results from Leslie Sansone’s October challenge. I followed the workout schedule pretty well. I did take a few days off here and there, but for the most part, I kept moving every day. I used the elliptical, Leslie Sansone DVDs and videos, and my adult trike.

I also received an early birthday gift…the FitBit Aria (scale). I’d been mulling that over for a while, and the husband ended up getting it for me last week. I’ve only used it a few times, but so far, I think it’s pretty accurate. I started the challenge off using my needle scale, and my weight was at 140 (close as I can tell)). I weighed in on November 1 and the Aria said I was 137.5. So, woohoo for me. I also weighed in this morning, and it said 136.6.

I plan to weigh myself daily for now, to see how much the new scale fluctuates. But I do like seeing the “3” in my weight again instead of the “4”. I think the combination of my elliptical, the DVDs, the Trike, and my FitBit Flex has had a great deal of impact on my activity level lately. I’m aiming for 10,000 steps a day, and it’s tough. I’ve made that goal a few times, and will keep trying.

I’m also starting to march in place as I watch certain shows. The Biggest Loser being one of them. I watch it on demand, and can’t fast forward the commercials, so I march in place. I usually take breaks during the commercials, to check my step count on my FitBit app, and to see who all I passed along the way. It’s fun to try and beat people’s step counts.

I hope Leslie Sansone does another of these challenges again. I enjoy them! Keep moving!

Leslie Sansone’s October Challenge – Final Week

It’s hard to believe it’s already the end of Leslie Sansone’s October challenge.I’ve done fairly well at sticking to the exercise routines. I did swap some of the walking miles for biking miles, but I was active every day. Monday’s are my weigh in days, and this morning I am still down 2 pounds. I was down 2 pounds last Monday, and it’s holding steady. The schedule for the last 3 days (she’s giving everyone a day off for celebration on the 31) is up. Here it is.

Monday, October 28 – 2 interval miles (she suggests The Big Burn dvd. It’s on youtube I think)

Tuesday, October 29  - 2 miles and core strength training

Wednesday, October 30 – 2 interval miles (again The Big Burn)

Thursday, October 31 – No structured exercise, but she says to celebrate by being active.

For today, I took a 2 mile (or almost) bike ride with my niece. So, that’s going to be my workout for the day. I’ve enjoyed this month’s challenge, and I hope she does another one soon. I like having a schedule to follow. I might make up a weekly plan from now on. I seems to follow it better and actually get it done sooner than if I have no written plan.

Have a great week, and keep moving!

New Addition To My Fitness Regimen

(photo credit – amazon.com)

I’m not sure if anyone caught it, but in my week three post of Leslie Sansone’s October challenge, I mentioned going for a bike ride instead of the one mile walk for a few of the challenge days. Bike ride? Yep. Well, more like a trike rather than a bike.

A few weeks ago, I finally bit the bullet and bought myself an adult tricycle. I had one for years when I was growing up, and I loved it. The main reason I hadn’t bought here yet is because it’s so stinking hot for 6 to 8 months out of the year. So what if it’s hot. I’m going for a bike ride darn it.

I got the Schwinn Meridian Adult 26-inch 3-wheel bike. I love it! Of course I got it in blue. Was there any doubt? If it comes in blue, it’s mine! It’s just a one-speed trike, but that’s OK. There are front and rear breaks, both controlled with your hands. The trike I had as a kid was able to break either by hands, or pedaling backwards. With this trike, you’re able to pedal backwards and not break. I like that a lot. Sometimes I need to back pedal to get more of a push. The large basket in the back is able to fold flat so that’s kinda neat.

I took a few days to get used to riding it. After all, I haven’t been on a trike for almost 20 years. Didn’t take too long to get used to it though. Depending on the terrain, I still feel like I’m going to tip over, but not too much. The only time I feel like I’ll tip is when I’m getting it out of the back yard gate. I have to go through grass which is bumpy, but it’s not big deal.

I’m not used to riding on hills either. I grew up in Miami, so everything was flat. Here, there are slight hills, which causes you to work harder. That’s a good thing. Right now, I’m riding around our block, which is about 3/4 of a mile around. The big block just adds an extra 1/4 of a mile, and you have to go up a fairly steep incline. I did that for the first time on Saturday, and it was a bit tough. I made it though. That incline is actually easier than getting up our driveway, which is a lot steeper than it looks.

I love my new trike, and I wish I had gotten it a long time ago. I can ride that sucker for a long time. I rode for about 45 minutes Saturday, and I could have have gone a lot longer. Yeah for new fitness and fun gear! Keep moving!

Mileage Mondays Are Back

It’s been a while since I’ve done a Mileage Monday post. With Leslie Sansone’s October challenge, I’ve been posting the week’s schedule on Monday mornings. This week however, she posted it early enough on Sunday I decided to bring back the Monday posts.

On my last Mileage Monday post it wasn’t much of a post, since my computer decided to have a brain fart. I had to reinstall Windows 8, and I lost just about everything I didn’t have backed up to “the cloud”. The pictures from the virtual walk site were among the casualties.

Good news! I was able to retrieve them from the web site! There is a way to enter in a specific mileage point on the walk to bring up that mile’s picture. So, I went through the SparkPeople’s  Virtual Walk/Run Challenge team’s (I help co-lead this team) Where Are You now? thread to get my mileage points that I was missing.

Right now, I have about two week’s worth of pictures to get uploaded. So let’s get started.

Mile 653.8 (watp for 4 miles)                                  Mile 654.8 (elliptical for 1 mile)

                 

Mile 655.8 (elliptical for 1 mile)                                Mile 657.8 (watp for 2 miles)

                 

Mile 659.8 (watp for 1 mile/elliptical for 1 mile)       Mile 661.8 (watp for 2 miles)

                 

 

(photo credit - http://exercise.lbl.gov/index.html;jsessionid=1F4E2B8269D80C6DF557FB31D1D6D77B)

Since my last Mileage Monday post, I’ve passed through Chavies, KY in Perry county, and Buckhorn, KY in Breathitt County. I have about 17.4 miles until I reach Booneville, KY in Breathitt county.

Have a great week, and keep moving!

Leslie Sansone’s October Challenge: Week Four

(photo credit - www.sharecare.com)

Hey hey! Leslie Sansone has this week’s schedule up already. Good deal. Only ten days left of this challenge, Time flies when you’ve got daily assignments. I think I may plan my weeks from now on. I usually just play it by ear. During this October challenge, I’ve been adding all of the workouts to my calendar, so every morning I have an email sitting in my inbox yelling at me until I get it done.

Week four looks like it’s right up my alley. I may add in my elliptical on one or two of the “strength training only” days though. I want to keep that up. Looks like I’ll be doing the 5K With A Twist dvd a lot this week. Fine by me, that’s my favorite DVD. I did that a lot last week also.

Here’s the plan for this week.

Monday, October 21 – Full body strength training only.

Tuesday, October 22 – 3 miles.

Wednesday, October 23 – Full body strength training only.

Thursday, October 24 – 3 miles.

Friday, October 25 – Full body strength training only.

Saturday, October 26 – 3 miles.

Sunday, October 27 – Full body strength training only.

There you have it. Week four. She gives some suggestions on her blog about which dvds to do 5K With A Twist being one of them. I can’t recommend that particular dvd enough. I absolutely love it.

Have a great week, and keep moving!!

Leslie Sansone’s October Challenge: Week Three Schedule

(photo credit:http://www.walkathome.com/)

I need to get my butt in gear. I took multiple days off last week again. Excuse after excuse after excuse. So, this week, I will be doing my best to get in a daily workout. I can at least get in one of Leslie’s miles. It is only 15 minutes to do one of her miles after all. No excuses!

So we’re on to week three already. This week is the same thing every day, and totally up to you as to what you want to do. We’ll be doing at least two miles every day, and then we have the option to a “bonus” activity, which means strength training. So you can do two miles one day plus upper body work, or you can choose to do three miles and do no strength training.

Check out Leslie Sansone’s full blog post for more details. Here’s my plan for this week.

Monday, October 14 – 3 miles

Tuesday, October 15 – 2 miles and full body strength

Wednesday, October 16 – 3 miles

Thursday, October 17 – 2 miles and full body strength

Friday, October 18 – 3 miles

Saturday, October 19 – 1 or 2 miles or a bike ride depending on what we’re doing that day. May be a chiropractic morning.

Sunday, October 20 – 1 or 2 miles or a bike ride depending on what’s going on that day.

I am getting back into my strength training slowly. My left arm is finally starting to feel a bit better. I pulled a muscle somehow a while ago, and it’s been giving me issues since. Stretching it helps a lot though.

So a full week of activity is planned. And I will be sticking to it! No excuses! Keep moving everyone.

Leslie Sansone’s October Challenge: Week Two Schedule

(photo credit - www.collagevideo.com)

Well, week one went OK. I missed two days though, oops. Oh well, on to week two. I don’t plan on missing days this week. I weigh in every Monday morning, and this morning I was down one pound. I actually checked it three times, because I wasn’t sure if the scale was flat on the floor. But the needle was down one tick (yep, a needle scale, still thinking about the FitBit Aria scale).

So, the week two schedule has been posted. Here we go.

Monday, October 7 – 2 (or 3) miles.

Tuesday, October 8 – Full body strength (see the bottom of her blog post).

Wednesday, October 9 – 2 (or 3) miles.

Thursday, October 10 – Full body strength.

Friday, October 11 – 2 (or 3) miles.

Saturday, October 12 – Full body strength.

Sunday, October 13 – 2 (or 3) miles.

There you have it. Two or three miles today. Totally up to everyone as to what they want to do. I’m thinking I may do one or two miles with a DVD and then a mile on the elliptical. No miles to be done Tuesday, Thursday, or Saturday, but I may do a DVD anyway since I skipped a few days last week.

Keep moving everyone. I have some blog posts I want to put up this week. Still need to write them though. Will work on that today. Have a great week!

World Cerebral Palsy Day 2013

Today’s the day! What is World Cerebral Palsy Day? Well, this sums it up. “World CP Day is a global innovation project to change the world for people living with cerebral palsy and their families. It is designed to gather ideas from people around the world and make the best of those ideas a reality.
The project is led by a group of non-profit cerebral palsy charities, and supported by organisations in over 30 countries.” (from http://en.worldcpday.org/about/)

You can find the World CP Day on FaceBook also, and a few weeks ago, they posted an interesting informational graphic.



(photo credit - http://en.worldcpday.org/about/)

I don’t know how big this picture will be on the blog, so go to this website to blow it up. http://en.worldcpday.org/assets/Uploads/about/WorldCPDayCP-Infographic.pdf

I found this information interesting, particularly all the statistics at the bottom. I usually describe my CP as ataxic, but I’ve recently discovered that I was never diagnosed with any particular type. Looking through the various types of CP, I’m leaning more toward the spastic description. My muscles and tendons are very tight and stiff. I also identify with the ataxic type because i do have bad balance. I don’t think my “sense of positioning in space” is impacted at all. Not really sure what that means, depth perception maybe?

The parts of me that are impacted are my right arm and left leg. My gross motor skills are technically level 2, but right now, I act more like a level 4. I’m working on that though. Get myself back to a level 2.

My manual ability is OK. I have no problems with eating, dressing, writing, or catching a ball. Although I do get hit in the head by a ball if I’m not expecting someone to throw it at me. When people start playing catch, I pay very close attention to who is throwing it. Been hit in the head by flying objects a lot over the years. The only real issue I have with getting dressed is buttons. I have a hard time with really tiny button on shirts. Also, the button has to be on correct side of the pants for me (the right side in my case).

I can walk and I can talk. I do experience pain from time to time, but it’s not as bad as is was a year ago before I started going to the chiropractor regularly. I have very tight muscles in my upper back and neck that are a pain frequently. I don’t have epilepsy, don’t have a behavior disorder, and I don’t have an intellectual impairment. I have no vision problems (almost 39 and still don’t wear glasses). I thankfully don’t have bladder control problems or a saliva control problem. And I don’t really have any sleep disorders other than the occasional hard time getting to sleep.

So, there you have it. Me in a nutshell. Not too bad. I got very lucky. My CP could have been a whole lot worse. I was lucky enough to have parents who didn’t treat me any different from my older sister. If I couldn’t do something, I’d get creative and find a way to get it done (still do that).

CP doesn’t get worse with age, although the impact on the body (joints, tendons and such) can deteriorate if they’re not worked. Walking ability also suffers if it’s not utilized often. That’s why I’m keeping up with exercise and trying to regain my confidence with walking.

I hope this information helps anyone out there wanting to know more about CP. Every case of CP is totally different. There are a lot of people with cerebral palsy that are trying to get more awareness of CP out there and help people understand this disability more. Here are links to a few of the people I keep up with whether it’s on FaceBook or through their blogs.

Charisse – FaceBook Page and YouTube Channel

CP Family Network – Website and FaceBook Page

Tina’s Blog – Living With Cerebral Palsy

Amelia's Blog - Life In The Blue Ridges

Have a great day and keep moving!!

Leslie Sansone’s October Challenge: Week One Schedule

(Photo Credit - http://www.walkathome.com/sansone/walk-it-off-in-30-days-challenge-week-1/)

OK, so Leslie Sansone posted the schedule for week one on her blog yesterday. She wants participants to choose a measurable goal to keep track of during the month. Either weigh yourself, take your measurements (waistline, hips, and upper arms), choose an outfit and see how the fit of it changes throughout the month, or have your healthcare provider check your vitals (blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol (blood lipids), resting heart rate, body fat percentage, and that sort of thing. You can also take not of how you feel mentally throughout the month.

Everything starts October 1. Weigh or measure yourself Tuesday and write it all down. Get your outfit picked out and ready to go. I think I’ll pick my weight. Even though I’m smack dab in the middle of my weight range, I would like to lose another 5 pounds. Set aside 30 to 45 minutes every day for exercise this months and write it down down on your calendar! This is why she’s posting the schedule every Sunday, so we all can plan our weeks.

Here’s the schedule for week one:

October 1 – Two mile walk.

October 2 – One mile in the morning, one mile in the evening, and core (abs) strength training.

October 3 – Two mile walk.

October 4 – One mile in the morning, one mile in the evening, and upper body strength training.

October 5 – Two mile walk.

October 6 – One mile in the morning, one mile in the evening, and lower body strength training.

There you go! The first week of exercise is planned out for you. I have my own strength training routine, but I don’t normally spread it all out. I do abs, arms, and legs all at the same time. However, I’ve done no strength training at all for the last several months, because my left arm has been bugging me. So this is a good way to ease back into it.

Leslie also says that if you have no way of tracking mileage, you should walk for 15 minutes or walk 2,000 steps to go approximately one mile. She also gives some suggestions for strength exercises on her blog post, so check it out.

Plan out your week, and let’s get it done! Important things is to keep moving no matter what!

Oops…Error No Mileage Monday Post

 

(photo credit: blog.extreme-advice.com)

My computer farted this morning, and I had to reinstall Windows 8.  Not sure what happened. I wasn’t even in the same room when it messed up. I came in and found my computer was shut down. When I started it, I got the blue screen of death. I’ve been installing programs and setting this up again for a while. Yippee.

So, no mileage Monday tomorrow. I do have several posts I need to write up and upload. I was hoping to write one of those today, but the schedule hasn’t been posted yet. Leslie Sansone is doing another month-long challenge, and is supposed to be posting the week’s workouts to her Twitter page sometime today. As soon as I get that, I’ll post it. I plan on doing some sort of Leslie Sansone workout every day in October, while still including my elliptical. Even if it’s just one mile (15 minutes) of Leslie Sansone.

Hopefully my computer won’t have any more problems. At least most of my files are stored on the cloud in one place or another. I did lose some stuff, but…that’s life sometimes. Keep moving!

Twenty Years Ago…

(photo credit - www.homoeopathynow.com)

I don’t remember the exact date, but it’s around this time of the year. Twenty years ago, I had one of the scariest experiences in my life. It was my first year of college, and that was scary enough. I’d never spent more than a night away from my parents, and even when I did spend the night at a friend’s house, I’d call to come home early (I was such a wimp). So, being away from home was a big deal.

About two or three weeks into the first quarter, I was on the phone with a friend who lived in the Atlanta area (about 90 miles from where I was). We were talking, and everything was fine. All of a sudden, I felt a dull ache in my lower back on the left side. I thought I was sitting oddly, so I shifted around a bit. Didn’t help, so I decided to stand up. Still didn’t help, and it in fact was getting worse.

I told my friend I had to go. Which was true, I was going to meet a friend from my English class for dinner in a bit. So I hung up, and I tried laying on my bed. The pain in my back just kept getting worse and worse. I tried laying on the floor, and still it got worse. I was starting to get scared at this point. Not sure what to do, I went and knocked on my suite-mate’s door (my roommate was out). No answer. I tried my friends down the hall, no answer. Luckily, the dorm’s resident assistance came out and saw me. I told her what was going on. As I was talking, I just couldn’t stand any longer. I slunk down along the wall, and actually laid down in the hallway.

She called 911 and an ambulance came. Freaked me out. I’d never been in an ambulance, let alone being laid out on a stretcher. The EMTs wheeled me out on the stretcher and put me in back of the ambulance. Everything after that point was a blur. I don’t remember much. I know I was sitting in a wheel chair talking to someone about medical insurance. I remember almost puking when I was being wheeled on a gurney (NEVER look at the ceiling if you’re being wheeled on a gurney). I remember having an unpleasant “womanly” exam (first ever, so was freaked out by that).

They came to the conclusion that it was either an ovarian cyst that had burst or a kidney stone. There was a test that they did to confirm it, and I remember signing a form that said one of the risks of the tests was death. I don’t remember the test other than having to be on an x-ray table in several awkward positions.

Turns out it was a kidney stone. I was in the hospital for 12 hours, 8 of which I was in excruciating pain. They didn’t want to give me anything for the pain until they knew what was wrong with me. It wasn’t pleasant I’ll tell you that.

The doctor said the cause of my stone was dehydration. I wasn’t getting enough water. I was drinking plenty, I was just drinking the wrong things, When I got thirsty, I grabbed a root beer or orange juice. I rarely drank straight water. Since that day twenty years ago, I usually drink water with every meal. If I’m out of town, I’ll have an alcoholic drink, but I also have water. I don’t think I’ve ordered a soda during a meal since that day. If I have, it’s only been a few times. Water for me all the way.

Too much soda, or even too much juice (orange and apple in particular) can lead to kidney stones. I make sure I only have one serving of juice when I do drink it.  Haven’t had any more kidney stones since, and I hope I never do again. I’ve heard several people who have had kidney stones say that the pain from a kidney stone is worse than the pain of childbirth. Ugh.

For several years after this incident, if I got a twinge in my lower back, my first reaction was always “Am I having another one?”. So far so good. As long as I keep chugging water, I doubt I’ll have any more of those nasty buggers.

So please, drink your water every day. Be careful with how much juice you drink. And please cut back on the soda. OK. I’m off to drink a gallon of water.

Mileage Monday

Still loving my FitBit Flex! It’s helping me to stay moving. I check my FitBit dashboard periodically throughout the day and watch those steps increase. Great motivator. Plus, I added a few SparkPeople members who also have FitBits to my FitBit friend list, and that’s another good motivator. See how many people I can beat step-wise. Not many. Some are able to get in 20,000 steps a day. How? I have a hard enough time getting 5,000. Right now, my daily goal is 8,000.

Am flying through the virtual walk lately because of my increased activity. Since my last Mileage Monday post, I’ve passed through the cities of Emmalena, KY and Dwarf, KY, both in Knott county. I have about 15.75 miles until I reach Chavies, KY in Perry county. Here a the pictures from the site!

Mile 639.8 (watp for 3.1 miles)                               Mile 640.8 (elliptical for 1 mile)

                

Mile 641.8 (elliptical for 1 mile)                               Mile 642.8 (elliptical for 1 mile)

                

Mile 646.8 (watp for 3.1 miles)                               Mile 648.8 (watp for 2 miles)

                

What’s motivating you to move more? Have a great week!

FitBit Flex: First Impressions

  

(photo credit – Me)

(left from top to bottom and left to right – 2 wrist bands, dongle, FitBit tracker, and USB cable)

(right from left to right – FitBit tracker and my wrist band)

This is not going to be a full review. This is just going to be my first initial impressions. I’ve had my FitBit Flex for a little over two weeks, and so far I love it. The setup on the FitBit website is super easy.

You plug your FitBit device into the USB port and it prompts you to download the desktop dashboard. It asks you to enter your name, age, height, and weight. From there, it syncs your information to the website, and generates basic goals (set up as “tiles”) for you to achieve. Daily step count, daily calorie burn, distance/miles, very active minutes, sleep, badges, and friends. I think those were the original tiles. I also added the weight tile, the calories in versus out tile, and the food plan tile. I’ll go into more detail about the tiles in my full review.

Thoughts on the wrist band. It’s very comfortable. It’s like wearing a watch. It’s very light weight, and the band is adjustable. They send you two wrist bands, a large and a small one. I wear the small band. The FitBit Flex counts steps every time your arm moves, so I had a wild thought the other day. I thought maybe the large wrist band would fit around my ankle. No such luck. So, it’s on my wrist. Some people choose to place the tracker in their sock, or for the ladies,  in their bra. I’ll stick to the wrist.

Charging the FitBit Flex is great. The website FAQ says the Flex should last about five days until it needs to be charged. Mine lasted for eight days, so I am very impressed by that. Charging the device is simple. You plug in the charging cord into a USB port, pop the tracker out of the wrist band, and pop it into the charger. I timed it, and it took about two hours to charge. It’s fully charged when all five lights are lit up. The first four lights popped up in about an hour. That last light took about another hour. Not too bad though. Two hours of charging for eight days usage.

Calorie calculation is interesting. Especially on my elliptical. On SparkPeople. when I enter the calories for a Leslie Sansone video it comes up as light aerobics and is about 230 calories burned. On FtBit, when I look at the time frame that I did the video, it comes up to about 286 calories burned. For my elliptical workout, my machine tells me I burn about 280 calories in 30 minutes. During that time frame on FitBit, it usually comes out to around 180. I believe that’s about right. I’ve always heard that cardio machines overestimate the calories burned. So, I’m trusting FitBit with my calorie burn.

The sleep tracker is awesome. I know I wake up several times during the night, so I was curious as to how this would register. To get the FitBit Flex to go into “sleep tracking” mode, you need to tap it several times until you feel the device vibrate and you see two lights (one on either side) flash. Now you’re in sleep mode. You do the same thing to get it out of sleep mode, just tap it several times until it vibrates.

Each morning I look at the sleep tracker tile on the FitBit website. It tells you how long you were in sleep mode, how many minutes you were restless, and how many times you woke up. I’m not sure how it knows when you actually wake up, probably by how active your arm is. But it is accurate. I tested it a few times. I mentally remembered the times I woke up, and it was there on the tracker in the morning. Wednesday night for example, I was restless for 13 minutes and was awake for three. That’s right. I remember exactly when and why I woke up Wednesday night.

The last thing I’ll talk about is the mobile app and the fact (and I love this) that SparkPeople and FitBit have joined forces. The FitBit mobile app is great. You can check out all of your goals on your smart device. You can also access their food and fitness trackers from the app. Here’s what I love. You can sync your FitBit account with your SparkPeople account. What happens with this, is your active minutes (I’m still not sure which minutes are chosen) from FitBit will sync over your your SparkPeople fitness tracker But, whatever activity you enter on SparkPeople won’t sync over to FitBit. Vice versa with the food trackers. Your SparkPeople food tracker will sync over to FitBit’s, but not the other way around. Fine with me as I have all the food entered on SparkPeople. Plus, if there’s a food that’s not on Spark, I can add it quickly with the bar code reader. My iPod Touch can scan a bar code and the food information will magically appear. FitBit does not have a bar code scanner option.

OK, so these are my first impressions. A little longer than I had intended. but I tend to ramble (at least in writing) when I’ve found something I really enjoy. I’m going to wait another month or so before doing a full review. I may break that review up into parts, we’ll see.