Motivation Monday

Well, it seems that today is our two month anniversary....


...of not posting anything over on this poor, little, blog! :P

Guess it's time to rectify that situation. cracks knuckles

O.k, I saw this graphic over on a Google Plus fitness community.....

This is something I remind Jackie of, at times, and something I've always repeated to myself in many situations. 

I won't go through the cliched conversation about out "fast food/give it to me now" society, but just say that we need to follow the advice of the Pandarens, from the World of Warcraft game....

"Slow down. Life is to be savored."

I'll be the first to admit that I'm a huge fan of quick rewards and immediate gratification, but I also know that good things are worth waiting for (hence my late-in-life marriage) and do take time. 

In trying to get healthy, one of the worst things we can do is get discouraged, so hang in there!

What's a favorite motivational message that you like to remember when things get tough?

Paleo-brother

I've been badgering Jackie to post something here for the past few weeks.

"But I'm not interesting." she told me.

"Trust me....you're plenty interesting. Being interesting is the least of your worries." I've been trying to convince her that people don't follow your blog if they don't find you, at least, a little interesting.....but, what do I know? :P

Anyway, since she's dragging her virtual heels, a bit, I figured I'd jump in and give you all a quick update on our health journey.

We've plateaued a bit on our eating healthy. We haven't fallen behind much, but we're not making any big headway into becoming more fit, either. We're still, for the most part, watching what we're eating and juicing when we can.....though not as much as we were or should.

No excuses.....we're just dropping the ball and letting things like work and convenience get in our way.

One major change that Jackie is wanting to try is going "Paleo". I've been reading The Primal Blueprint, off and on, for a while and have been following Julie Bauer over at PaleOMG! for the past few months. Both have been pretty interesting and eye opening and I've been wanting to give Paleo a try for a while, but Jackie wasn't 'ready' at the time....which was fine...we all have to what's best for us, at the time.

Then, she found out her cousin lost some sixty odd pounds doing paleo and using the book Practical Paleo as a guide.....so, now, I think she's ready :)

We went out today and picked up a copy at our local Books A Million ($39.95 retail) and, I have to say, it's been pretty interesting just on a skim. There's even a section about what your poop is telling you about your diet (for those of us you who talk to your poop)....I kid you, not.

Anyway, we're going to dig into it and give it a shot with the most important step being 'baby steps'.

We'll keep you all advised as to how it's going and, hopefully, I'll wrangle Jackie into doing the follow up post.

To paraphrase the Dos Equis commercial...."Stay healthy, my friends."

Calling for Backup!

As with many things in life, some things are just easier when you have a partner.....or, at least, someone who can relate. The police know this, as do firefighters. Some things you just don't want to do alone.

You need backup!

I ran across this article from the 'Reboot With Joe' site and it, kind of, paralleled our experiences with the whole 'reboot' thing and trying to get fit.

Recently, I've taken a part time job and met a guy there who's about my age...maybe a year younger. We got to talking about health and I mentioned juicing. He told me that he has been looking into it and, almost at the same time, asked each other if we'd seen Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead. I told him that my wife and I had been juicing and trying reboots for a few months now, and asked if his wife was juicing with him.

"No", he said, "she's content just sitting around and watching t.v." He sounded sad when he told me this and it was then that I really and truly appreciated that my soul-mate was also my 'get fit' partner.

Regardless of whether we fail or succeed....we'll be doing it together.

I'm betting, though, by supporting each other....we'll succeed :)

What's your support system like? Do you have one?

The Deep End.

In my opinion, eating healthy is just one part of the overall 'getting in shape' picture. To really maximize your weight loss potential you have to do.....yes, the dreaded "E" word.....exercise!

Now, a huge mistake in getting started with exercise is how we get started with exercise. By that, I mean, jumping with both feet first and winding up in over your head. When it comes to exercising, the difference between sinking and swimming is which end of the pool we hop into.

I can't tell you how many times I've made this mistake. I get all gung-ho about wanting to get in shape and jump into an exercise routine that is over my head for my current fitness level.

I always seem to do this and wind up getting discouraged because "it's too hard" or "I'm not seeing an results"....always after a couple of weeks, mind you. I'm guilty of 'fast food' thinking....wanting it NOW and not wanting to wait. 

In the back of my mind, I know that these things take time and nothing but some hard work and dedication to a routine are going to help me achieve my goals. So, with that in mind, I hit the Internet (not too hard, as not to leave a bruise) and started looking for simple exercise routines. Just something easy to start and help get me out of the computer chair. 

I wound up coming across the video below. The best thing is you don't need an expensive weight machine (even though we have one),any sort of cardio machine (which we have one of those, too), or even a lot of room to get a great workout. All she uses is a couple of small hand weights. I really think this is a great 'starter' routine and seems fairly low impact. 

(Disclaimer: Be careful how you do your crunches. The example in this video doesn't look quite right as it looks like she's bending her neck up, which you should never do when crunching.)

My only advice is, when starting, go every other day for the first few weeks....just to allow the body to adjust to the new strain you'll be putting on it.

Give it a look and see what you think:

I also wanted to share a tasty looking Summer Fruit Bake recipe from the Reboot With Joe website. I hope we can give this a try (hint, hint, Jackie!).

Looks simple enough, right?

Pulp Fiction!

We've been talking, for a while now, about uses for our pulp after juicing. It seems a shame to throw out something that has so much potential. Our initial thought was to do a compost pile with them but, since we don't currently have a compost pile, that idea is out the window.

As I was looking around the Reboot with Joe  website, I came across an article highlighting nine ways to use that pulp.

Here's a quick summary if you don't feel like checking out the whole article:

• A veggie broth
• Mixed in with a veggie burger
• Added to your next smoothie
• Composting
• Added to some spaghetti and veggie balls.
• Homemade dog treats
• Freeze for later use.

I found another site that had some very cool ideas for pulp use. These are a few I'd really like to try, so I'll keep you updated if/when we give them a shot.

This site also has a few good pulp ideas. Ah, the wonders of the Internet.

We've also thought of using the pulp from fruit juicing to bake a nice dessert. We'll keep you updated on that one, as well.

Until next time, make healthy choices!

Beets be warned!

We tried a beet juice the other day and it was so difficult to get down.  I just got an update on my Facebook page with this adorable little girl with a red mustache from the Fat, sick and Nearly dead Facebook page.  If she can do it so can I, Im going to give her juice a try.  How cute is she!

I cant believe all the benefits Beets have for your body especially for a woman's body.  Here are a few links I found on the Reboot with Joe page.  

Fibroids/Ovarian Cysts

High Blood Pressure

PMS/Menopause

Liver Disease

Depression

Im going to be on the hunt for a beet juice we can both like if this one doesnt work.  There are just too many benefits to not eat them.  So beets be warned Im coming for you!

My husband showed me how to do "Links" on a website so hence the massive amounts of Links I put up.  :)

A do-able juice/food plan for the Meanses

Not sure if its our age or maybe that we just aren't in the right mind frame to do an all juice reboot.  I know how great I feel when we juice but the hunger pains and headache this time were over the top.

We are going to try and do mostly vegetable and fruit juicing with minimal healthier food.  Making smarter choices is the key for us and exercising right now.

My brother and sister in law became vegan for health reasons and I can understand how they can be satisfied eating only vegetables.  But, my husband and I aren't at that place yet, we enjoy meat just not every night like we use to.

Today we are going to try and juice our citrus with the rinds they have important phytonutrients and I want to get all that we can from our juices.