Mileage Monday: Back In The Swing Of Things!

I think I'm finally getting back into the exercise groove! Last week I worked out 5 days, Tuesday through Saturday. Today (Sunday) is going to be an active rest day. Active in that I'll be giving our dog a bath. Luckily he is very cooperative with bath time, but it's still a lower back workout.

What did I do for the last five days for exercise? Well, I bought myself a new walking DVD. This one is by Jessica Smith. She's got a ton of workout videos on YouTube, so check her out there. If that link doesn't work, just go to YouTube and search Jessica Smith TV. I ended up buying the DVD because I had enough Amazon gift cards to buy me a splurge. I think this will kick start me into exercise again. The DVD I bought (which I'll get into more info in another post) is four workouts in two DVDs. Each workout is 30 minutes each, which is the perfect amount of time in my opinion. On the fifth day I did a mile on the elliptical. I'll start up the DVDs again tomorrow (well today since it's Monday).

Needless to say, I have more mileage pictures to share! It is definitely good to get back into exercise! I feel a ton better, and feel like I'm accomplishing something. So, let's get to those pictures. Since my last Mileage Monday post, I've passed through several cities in Kentucky. I've passed through Howardstown, White City, and Buffalo, all of which are in Larue County. I have about 13.6 miles until I reach Sonora, KY.

Mile 889.4 (Leslie for 2.4 miles)

Mile 890.4 (elliptical for 1 mile)

Mile 891.8 (Jessica Smith for 1.5 miles)

Mile 893.6 (Jessica for 1.7 miles)

Mile 894.8 (Jessica for 1.2 miles)

Mile 895.4 (Jessica for .7 mile)

(photo credit - Virtual Walk Site)

I am on the move again, which is good! Hope everyone is doing well. Keep moving!

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!

One Disturbed (sick, sick, sick) Woman

(photo credit – FoxNews.com)

I read this story last week, and planned to write a blog post on it, but every time I re-read the story, I got so angry, I couldn’t write about it without fuming. So I apologize ahead of time if this blog post turns into a rant. Tina’s recent post reminded me I haven’t written about this yet.

OK, so this woman, Chloe Jennings-White fantasizes about being disabled. She wants to be a paraplegic so badly that she’s looking for a surgeon to perform an operation to make her legs stop working. This woman has a “rare psychological condition” called Body Integrity Identity Disorder (BIID). She has actually found a doctor who will perform the surgery (Hippocratic oath?), but she doesn’t have the $25,000 for the procedure.

I can’t access the entire article anymore, but in it, Chloe says she’s never been comfortable with the fact that her legs work normally. At the age of four, her aunt had an accident and had to use leg braces. From then on, Chloe wanted braces also. She wanted them so badly she hand-made some for herself to “pretend”.

She also uses a wheel chair to “pretend” to be paralyzed. She pretended in secret for years, and finally divulged her secret to her partner. The woman she lives with now does all the housework, and helps Chloe do things. Chloe also has gone so far as riding her bike off of a four-foot stage, landing on her neck in order to paralyze herself.

Chloe also enjoys skiing. She admits to going skiing sometimes because of the possibility she will have an accident and become paralyzed. She skis recklessly, and scares her family.

I still have a hard time wrapping my brain around this. A completely healthy able-bodied woman wanting to damage herself to be stuck in a chair the rest of her life?

Tina made a good point in her blog. Tina said that in the video, Chloe uses a wheelchair, but when she gets to a spot where it’s difficult to maneuver the chair where she wants to go, she stands up and pushes it to where she wants to go. Tina can’t do that. I remember when I watched the video, Chole was “transferring” herself from the bed to the chair. She tries not to move her legs, but when she scoots herself into position, her legs help her out.

OK. So let’s say Chloe does have this surgery (it still boggles my mind that any sane doctor would agree to do this), and ends up paralyzed. What happens when she can’t get her chair to go where she wants it to go? What happens when, as a result of the surgery, she’s in pain the rest of her life? Even if she’s not in pain from the surgery, your butt is going to be sore from sitting for so long. You won’t be able to stand up and stretch your legs.

Paraplegics can ski, but it won’t be same. So, Chloe’s passion for skiing will have to be altered. Her partner won’t be able to help her 24 hours a day (I assume she works for a living), so how will Chloe manage to do things? That’s one (one in a million) thing that bugs me. Paraplegics can manage housework and they also go out and work for a living. But, even without the surgery, Chloe has her partner do everything.

You get the picture here. Chloe is a sick, sick, woman and needs help. She does see a psychotherapist, but he indulges Chloe with her fantasies. He allows her to use a wheelchair at the sessions.

I could go on and on about how angry this woman makes me. I’m not alone in my feelings. Many disabled people feel she is insane, being ridiculous, or just being lazy. I hope she doesn’t end up getting this surgery, but if she does, I don’t want to hear her regrets. She won’t have my sympathy.

I think this is the full video from the news story. She’s got several clip on YouTube, but I can’t stomach to watch her anymore.

YouTube

http://youtu.be/O5o2hFrUk4g

Fox News

Fox News link to The Sun’s story.

Mileage Monday…A Bit Late

Normally I write up my Mileage Monday posts sometime on Sundays. This Sunday was a big blur for me. I woke up at 4:30 AM because we had a loud rain storm, and I was up at that point. Two cups of coffee and a mile on the elliptical didn’t wake me up at all. I took a 45 minute nap (I can’t remember the last time I took a nap), and just felt blurry the rest of the day.

We ended up watching part of the Buffy The Vampire Slayer marathon on SyFy, so didn’t spend too much time on the computer. Went to bed around 9 PM, slept for about an hour and a half, then woke up (one of the reasons I hate taking naps). Took a Melatonin (natural sleep aid, non addictive, and I don’t take them very often) and was out the rest of the night.

Still feeling blurry today for some reason. Might just take today as a rest day (it’s almost noon, and I’ve gotten nothing done), and get moving again tomorrow. I’m glad these blurry days don’t happen often, they’re no fun. Feel like I can sleep for days on end, but when I do fall asleep, I don’t stay asleep. Annoying.

Got some good miles in last week though. I found a few Leslie Sansone videos on YouTube that I’ll be using off and on in combination with her DVD I own and my elliptical. I’ll share those videos in another post. Here are last week’s pictures from the virtual walk site.

Mile 605.4 (watp for 3.1 miles)                              Mile 605.8 (elliptical for .5 mile)

                

Mile 609.8 (watp for 4 miles)                                 Mile 611.8 (watp for 2 miles)

                

Mile 612.8 (elliptical for 1 mile)



 

(Photo credit - Copyright 2006 Lawrence Berkeley Lab)

Keep moving!

A Date To Add To My Calendar

Yes, I am alive. I'm going to be getting on the blog wagon again very soon. This is just a quick post to mention a date that I'll be adding to my calendar from now on.

I became aware of this a few days ago, thanks to Charisse, an 18-year old girl with CP. I guess from now on, the first Tuesday in September is World Cerebral Palsy Day. You can read all about the day here. Really great thing in my opinion, and I want to thank Charisse for posting about it on her FaceBook page.
I highly suggest you check Charisse out on either her Facebook page or on her YouTube channel. She is one awesome girl!
I am coming back, but for now, Keep Moving!