Making Friends with Your Tracker

Posted on October 19, 2020 by Marcia Stehouwer

Wanna lose weight? If you do, you have heard about calorie trackers and probably more than you want.. And if you’re like me…you probably resist that idea like the plague. You would rather wear a mask than count calories.

Part of the Pahla B Fitness Program I am following includes calorie tracking. “If you do nothing else”, she says, “eat a moderate amount CONSISTENTLY every single day”. Even party days.

I’ve tried a few in my struggle to sort this all out. Spark People has one. TOPS has one. Healthline reviews 5 of them, including the one I use – My Fitness Pal. Among my friends who buzz in Pahla’s Killer Bee Hive on Facebook, Lose-It is also popular and you will see it reviewed in the article linked above. But I already had an account with MFP, and went with it. To be sure, I did try one where you took pictures of your food. It wasn’t as easy as it seemed!

This is the tracker I’ve been hanging with daily for the last 169 days and counting. Am I in love? No. But it works and I can make it work quickly and efficiently every day. That’s a win in my books.

But whatever counter you choose to use (which kind of rhymes when you say it out loud) you have to make friends with it. And here are some things I’ve learned along the way.

  1. None of them are easy to get along with at the beginning.
  2. You are strangers who need to spend some time getting to know each other.
  3. Once it knows what you like to eat, logging your energy in will be easier.
  4. Create some patterns in your work together. Eating the same breakfast every day makes it a lot easier to track because you can “copy yesterday’s meal”. I use this feature for both breakfast, lunch and snacks.
  5. Don’t complicate your relationship right from the start. You might want to begin by just logging breakfast, for example.

If you want to be friends – check me out on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/A-journey-of-Ten-Years-432709687093508/

In the meantime – here are some links that might prove helpful!

  1. Pahla B Fitness I love her workouts, podcasts and the Killer Bee Hive on Facebook.
  2. The Lentil Soup I’m making for lunches this week – with kale and carrots from our garden!
  3. How to use My Fitness Pal There’s more there to explore, but this applies to me!

Have a great day, and stay tuned for more about my journey!

Marcia

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Working It Out

Posted on July 8, 2020 by Marcia Stehouwer

So – it is Wednesday and that’s the day I usually weigh in at TOPS (Take Off Pounds Sensibly) I rejoined in January 2019 at 265.8 pounds, but I had played with numbers in the 270’s and that scared me into action!

Fast forward a year and I started this year at 265.3 pounds. One year and I lost half a pound. Hmmm. At this rate, it’s going to take more than forever to reach my goal.

Now, I don’t even know how I found these workouts. I remember doing a strenuous workout by Leslie Sansone and needing something much gentler the next day. I was ending the year well and working out regularly. Anyways, I ended up meeting a new workout trainer, Pahla Cragg Bowers.

Pahla B Fitness - Let's work out together! Over 500 FREE ...

You can find her videos and podcasts on Youtube, which is probably what I did – looking for something gentle. I found The 31 Day Weightloss Challange, and I’ve been busy ever since.

Did you know your body changes? Well, yeah! I’m 61 and I don’t have periods any more. I’m post menopausal. Our bodies change as we grow and grow up. I got a step counter in Beijing and was getting 10,000+ steps every day. I was eating well and not losing weight. That bugged me. It bugged me for 4 years, and I did not lose weight at all.

The 31 Day Challenge gave me new information. Like MODERATE workouts. Don’t stress your body. It was an eye-opener.

It’s been 6 months. Covid-19 didn’t start well for me and I gained weight. BUT since I got into counting calories on My Fitness Pal and eating in a caloric deficit, I have lost weight. Before the summer solstice I reached my goal of 25?. My goal for the Fall Equinox is to reach 24?. I’ll keep you posted.

Theses are the tools I’m using for weight-loss this year.

TOPS: http://www.tops.org

Pahla B Fitness: pahlabfitness.com (THe Killer Bee Hive on Facebook)

The 31 Day Weightloss Challenge: You tube playlist at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxEW_OukMMsrOqQAfvEzMPQycsixLejyx

I’ll end this with a quote from Day 8 of the Challenge

Your body is going to do its own work in its own time.

Pahla C. Bowers, Day 8 of the 31 Day Weightloss Challenge

I hope this is encouraging to you. It certainly has been good for me!

Marcia

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It’s 2020

Posted on July 7, 2020 by Marcia Stehouwer

It has been a few years since I wrote anything – here or elsewhere. I was trying to make money blogging and got lost along the way. It happens. And then, last week I got notified that someone was following my blog, and the thoughts that were percolating under the surface, bubbled up and here I am.

There have been many changes. Most of them have been good. Some of them, I still struggle with. I would like to share them with you. (The good, the bad, and sometimes the ugly.)

Maybe you can identify with the struggle. Maybe it is your struggle as well.

I divide my life into 5 colours. Not the rainbow, but red, yellow, green, blue and white. I got the idea on the island of Terschelling while trying to figure out the colour of my parachute.

Red is my health, physically and mentally. I used to print recipes on pink paper. Now I store them in something red, or in the RED file on my Bookmarks ribbon. I wish I could colour them, but at least I can name them. I have a red notebook for writing in my workouts! (I haven’t missed a day this decade!)

Yellow is for my career. Currently I teach ESL in Canada, but I have spent some time in Beijing. That’s for another day. It is also where I put websites and information about career changing.

Green is for…….. finance$ This is handy for sorting tax papers, receipts and stuff related to improving my financial situation and that of my family.

Blue is the colour I use for my creative pursuits. Over the past while these have been full of yarn and needles. That may, however, change. (When I use up all my yarn!)

White is the colour of my spiritual life. White is also all the colours, spinning together in unison to make one colour. This has gotten more complicated over the past few years and I am still sorting it out. I am figuring out what part of my faith is following the Creator of Life and what part of it is following the ideas of white men, long dead. This also involves unpacking my racism and my ideas of white supremacy.

I don’t know what kind of writing schedule I will have – but I want my colours to balance.

I want to share my journey as a white follower of Jesus as I build my life and the life of my family!

Welcome to this part of my Journey!

To restart the journey – here’s a picture of me near Sokcho, South Korea, standing by one of the balancing rocks!

Destination

Have a great day!

Marcia

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Literacy and Wild Blue Flamingos!

Posted on June 11, 2017 by Marcia Stehouwer

Wild Blue Flamingo

Great Blue Heron: London, Ontario

This is a “wild blue flamingo” according to my three year old granddaughter.  Or at least it was until I spoiled it all by telling her and her sister that it was called a Great Blue  Heron.   But…”wild blue flamingos”  is an amazing construct based on experience – and I believe it is a key ingredient in literacy and the ability to read well.

This post came about as the result of one of Janet Lansbury Facebook posts and a blog post about school readiness by Teacher Tom .  I appreciated his comments – because I had tried to “delay” reading with my own daughter.  She was just too determined to wait – and caught on very, very quickly.

Literacy is more than just reading words on a page.  Well chosen words, carefully crafted into sentences and paragraphs have the power to create a picture.  Our ability to enter into that picture is determined  by the ability to join our experiences with the authors intent and enter into the story more completely.

By giving our children and grandchildren a rich set of experiences – touch, taste, feel, sound, emotion, we create not just readers but the connection of two minds.  I think this is pretty cool.  Nature walks, new foods, textures, art, painting, cooking…. all these activities lead to better readers!

When my grandchildren meet a heron within the pages of a book – they will know what they are reading about.  They have seen, heard and watched them.  They have made a connection between the flamingos at the zoo and this wild bird that shows up while we are walking.

This is a bit of a ramble – but an important one I think.  I too am a reader and so are you.  You may have the opportunity to speak into the lives of people who do not yet read.  Save the ABC’s for another day.  Give them and yourselves the gift of experience, of knowing, and later they will engage with the printed word with all their senses engaged!

Enjoy your books!

Marcia

 

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Getting Behind on Life…

Posted on May 22, 2017 by Marcia Stehouwer

This feels like it is going to be a discouraging kind of post – most likely because I am feeling discouraged.  I feel like this holding pattern is going to last forever and there will be no end to it.  I know this is NOT TRUE.  I know that it will change, but at this moment the feeling of impotency is very strong.

So, in order to get out if the rut, I’m going to “blog outloud”  and see if I can’t find some direction….

PROBLEM:  JOB HUNT;  I am my own worst enemy here, feeling that everyone is more competent than I am and not going for it.  Time, energy, focus… SOLUTION:  Don’t make the resume issue so complicated.  Start volunteering.  Make those phone calls.

PROBLEM:  WEIGHT LOSS;  The walking app by Leslie Sansone is really helping with the exercise part of it.  So the calories in part is the problem.  SOLUTION:  Focus on the success I’m having with exercise.  Make a strong effort to eat less at supper and in the evening.

PROBLEM:  FINANCES;  This has been a family wide stressor, so the solution has to be involve the whole family.  We are making headway with this one, but again, I need to be bringing in my own income if we are to reach our goals of having a home of our own.  SOLUTION:  We have moved away from denial to honesty.  This helps all of us know what needs to be addressed and how to address it.  Thanks to Dave Ramsey’s Debt Snow Ball and Vertex42 we have a plan and a date for eliminating family debt.  This is a forward move for all of us!

ACCOUNTABILITY:  This is important.  I blog about my weight loss journey at One Year, One Week, One Pound so for my weightloss efforts, you can check that out.  I promise to be regular.    For the rest of it – stay tuned.  While there will be other posts about other things, I will let you know how we are doing.

This post was rather cathartic.  It gave me the opportunity to think with my fingers and come to grips with certain actions that need to be taken.

Great Blue Heron: London, Ontario

The pictures are of the wildlife we see on our nature walks every day!

Have a great week!

Marcia

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Annual Check-up, 2017

Posted on May 2, 2017 by Marcia Stehouwer

If my memory is correct, I started this 10 year journey on my 55th birthday.  And today Google informed me that once again I get to celebrate.  They even supplied some candles!  What a nice thing for them to do….I think.

I have this 5 subject notebook that matches the 5 colours that order my life, so I thought I would quickly share some goals and accomplishments (or not!)

Most of my blogging is about my health – which is for the most part pretty good.  Sadly I am still overweight – but I now have only 94 pounds to lose to get to my goal weight.  I thought I could lose 10 pounds per year without too much difficulty but that has not proved to be the case.  In fact I’m about 30 pounds behind.

Front
Side
with some blossoms!

I don’t always realize who other people see.  I thought it would be a good idea to post a picture or three, just to be honest.  I’ve just embarked on a year of Fitness walking which I talk about more on “One Year, One Week, One Pound” here at WordPress.  My birthday present to myself was Leslie Sansones “Your Daily Walk” app that I have faithfully done for the last week.  And I did lose more than one pound!

Career-wise I’m a bit at lose ends just now, other than being a full time Oma.  I left my work in Beijing, China due to mental health concerns here at home.  I have a book I want to read, ideas I want to try, but just the task of writing my resume feels daunting.  I’m hoping to find an opportunity to teach ESL Literacy, but I’m also trying to expand my horizons.

In the Green zone, I am still debt free.  I guess at 58 that’s a good thing, but I’m definitely lacking in assets.  Teaching in China definitely helped me save some money…but being unemployed right now is eating into that little nest egg.

Creatively (BLUE) I did design and publish a crocheted afghan square.  I keep knitting and crocheting but mostly I follow someone else’s patterns.  That is beginning to change and I’m glad of that.

However things look here – and sometimes they feel a little bleak – I know that I am so very blessed to have the love of my family, my friends and my Creator.  This has been a year of grace, mercy and great blessing!  I am looking forward to the future, knowing that so many good things come – most of them unexpectedly!

Thanks for travelling with me!

Marcia

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It’s Been a Month…

Posted on April 1, 2017 by Marcia Stehouwer

IMG_20170307_101533

It’s hard to believe, but it has been over a month since I left Beijing.  I think I’m over the time change mess, but sleep still doesn’t always come easily.  I have to remember that this was also true in Beijing, and that sleeping challenges aren’t related to geography.  It’s probably just me and maybe my age.

Still, I look back and wonder what I have accomplished – and what I would have liked to have accomplished by now.

Accomplishments:

  • I have my Ontario Driver’s License ($90 for five years)
  • As of today I have a cell-phone.  This took a bit of time, but I’m happy.  It has Google Play Store and I’m downloading apps like crazy!
  • I got myself a library card and a library day with my granddaughters.  This is good!
  • We have a community garden plot and seeds that are ready for planting! (And cheques so that I can pay my fees!)
  • Two books on designing a new life path are waiting to be read.
  • I am up to date (sort of) on my ESL Literacy course.

On the “Still to do” list:

  • write up my resume
  • Work through the life design books.
  • Catch up on my weather scarves which are very behind!
  • Build a healthy routine that incorporates my big rocks.  (I think I need to get some stones and make a visual)
  • Understand my new role in my family.  It’s not easy.

In leaving Beijing I left behind a quiet private space (and it was very quiet, maybe too quiet) with a routine and a sense of newness and surprise.  Here I have shared accomodations in a tight space, lots of noise (mostly good noise! and no snoring) and many demands.  The switch was more drastic than I thought it would be!

The fact that I am at the dining room table and writing, instead of tossing and turning in bed, is a step in the right direction.

That I am going to post this and move on to my course (I love on-line learning!) means I’m moving forward just a little bit more in embracing my new adventure.

Thanks for following along!

Marcia

PS: The knitigator is a carving at our library.  It reminds me that people do change their life work and move on to different things.  I don’t think wood carving is on the agenda, but I’m glad it was for this artist!

 

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Back to Work!

Posted on March 20, 2017 by Marcia Stehouwer

Bussing to Chuncheon
Working my way across.

A few weeks ago I updated my LinkedIn profile, and I somehow added a new job.  I now work at “A Journey of Ten Years”  which began a few years ago, as a way to slowly reach my goals, especially the seemingly impossible one of getting to a healthier body weight.

Today I’ve decided to make the journey and this blog part of my work day.  It’s also helpful that today is Monday, I’m not so jet-lagged any more, and my suitcases are almost all unpacked.  It’s taken me three weeks.

So…if you are moving from the other side of the world (Beijing, China) to a very different lifestyle (living with my daughter and her family)  understand that this takes time and working doesn’t always happen on a regular basis.  But it does happen, and this is what I’ve learned from my three week adjustment time!

  • Cut yourself some slack.   I have given myself a month, and I think that was a good gift.
  • Pick your big rocks…self-care is vital during transition.  Sleep was the biggest rock and I slept and rested as needed.
  • Ease into your new life – getting a library card and establishing Tuesday as Library day is grounding.  It is also something I can do with my whole family or just one or two grandchildren.
  • Try to do one or two things that move you forward, after the big rocks are taken care of.  I am taking a course on Literacy ESL.  I feel chronically behind, but I’m really not too far.  I am learning and I am preparing for the next stage of my journey!

Just now it is time for tea!

Thanks for travelling with me!

Marcia

(The pictures are from my trip to Korea!)

 

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Adjusting to the CHANGE!

Posted on March 6, 2017 by Marcia Stehouwer

It’s 10:30 pm, and I’m at my computer sipping Valerian tea.  Because I had a nap before supper, I need all the help I can get to fall asleep.  Jet lag is not fun!  But the tea is nice!

valerian-tea

(Just a note that I chose this picture because I do like the teas they make, especially the one for sore throats!)

Today is March 5, so it’s been a good week since I left my studio apartment in Yizhuang, Beijing and moved my baggage north to the 21 Century Hotel in Liangmaciao.  That was a good decision because it gave me some peace and quiet near my church and the airport – as well as internet, which had been shut down at home!

Since the afternoon of February 25th, I’ve enjoyed my first massage (Shoulders and feet), said good bye at my church (and met some people from London, Ontario at the same time!) enjoyed some uniquely named craft beer at Slowboat, and farewell knitting with my friends.

Flying from Beijing to Chicago was very relaxing.  The plane was not full, so I enjoyed the luxury of three seats to stretch out in!  Even so, I enjoyed the extra legroom that American Airlines offered on this flight.  My ankles were not complaining while I was sitting up! Their commuter plane from Chicago to Toronto had good legroom aSs well, I thought!

The Chicago airport experience was disappointing.  I didn’t find the geocache I went looking for, and I didn’t find Chicago Deep Dish Pizza at the airport either.  Just “Wolfgang Puck” and I wasn’t paying for just a regular pizza in Chicago.

I’ve spent the first week of my new bend in Toronto, visiting my parents, playing Scrabble and Rummikub, shopping and swimming in my new bathing suit, as well as trying to get myself used to being awake while Beijing sleeps.  It’s a challenge!  The Valerian tea helps.

Now I’m in London and working at building a life and routine that works for all of us.  I’m living with my daughter, so we have a full house.  Grandchildren wake up and need to make sure I”m still there.  I wake up because I hear them stirring!

Change seems to be a constant in our lives, so I’m hoping that my journey will be an encouragement to those who are also in the midst of big changes in their world.

Thanks for travelling with me!

Marcia

 

 

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Goodbye Beijing!

Posted on February 17, 2017 by Marcia Stehouwer

I haven’t finished sharing about my trip to Korea yet, but I’m back home and in the middle of getting ready for my move to Ontario.  Big changes as I transition from independent teacher in Beijing to Oma with responsibilities at home.

One of the things I needed to do was get a criminal check here in China.  This is best done here but there wasn’t a lot of information that I could find.  So after being rescued by many strangers along the way, I will share my adventure with you.  Keep in mind that things change, but today, February 17, 2017 this worked.  I took the subway.

From line 2 or line 5 get off at Yonghegong Lama Temple station.  Exit B is the best exit as you are facing, east, the direction you want to walk.  And it’s a walk.  But there is a pretty nice coffee shop tucked into Gehua Tower.  More about that later.

Keep walking past the big Entry-Exit office.  My logic told me this was where I needed to go, but it is not!  Keep walking a little further and there is a very nondescript building. It doesn’t look in any way official, but it is your destination

The pink line shows the wrong place and the way to the correct place.  I got the gentleman at the Security Bureau to write the characters I needed!  The top pictures are of the front of the building.

I brought all my resident permits, but you really only need the current one.  I just wanted to make sure all the time I was in China was covered.  And since I was only in Beijing, this is the only place I had to go.  If you lived in other locations, you may need to travel back. And don’t forget your passport!!  If you can, make copies of all your visa pages, the picture page and your resident permit.  But there is a copier on the premises.  

The cost for the check (2 copies), translation and courier fees to Canada was just under 700 rmb.  It takes 17 business days to get this done, so if you want to save the courier fees, get on this well before you leave.  

After all that stress I needed a coffee so I stopped in at the Gehua Tower.  Tucked away on the west side is a coffee shop called the Nut Cafe.  It was such a nice place, that I took some pictures.  I’ll just share one, so you get an idea!  

Being tired, phoneless and with my iPad rapidly losing power, I hopped on the subway and headed back home to recuperate.  Moving is a stressful business!

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