Using Apps for Health

This weekend, after a very strong 8.5 mile run that was very comfortable; I have declared myself ready for my half marathon scheduled in three weeks. Two years ago when I started my focus on fitness and health, I couldn't run up stairs without breathing hard. Now, I can run a mile in 9-10 minutes and not move my blood pressure. 

I have said this before, and I'll say it again, if you want to try something like what I have done....start with what you know historically has worked for you in the past. Not just had some ehhh kind of results but solid, good results. Calorie counting works for me, so I do it.

Then have some fun and take it into the modern world, and use apps! If you have a device of any kind practically (Droid, iPhone, iPad, iPod, Kindle, Samsung Galaxy, etc) you can use all of the apps I am about to tell you about. I am also a big believer that there are so many good, free apps out there, this shouldn't cost you anything.

So what if you are thinking to yourself, "It would be nice if there was a thing that could clock how many times I look at the moon today." I am not kidding, there is some truth to the cliche' "there's an app for that." I found these two apps simply by searching for them in my app store on my device. There are health apps out there for yoga poses and setting up a routine. There are apps for specific workouts and tracking/timing them. Apps for bulk up diets for body builders. I am not kidding, the health apps out there, most being free, are better than any commercial offering a pill to block fat. Blocking fat is easy, don't eat it. Getting it off your body, that is hard! And yet, there is an app for getting fat off your body. Here are the two I use. 

January 2011, I have had weight loss success with calorie counting using a pen and paper. This time, I did calorie counting on an app called MyFitnessPal. Don't have a smart device? Login on their website at myfitnesspal.com and start that way. It is a free app. It has an amazing database of restaurants and brand name foods. Just punch in Kraft macaroni, and instantly you know your calories. It also has a scanner on it. I have had the fun of standing at Starbucks, picked up a package of nuts, scanned the bar-code, and instantly those calories are logged for the day. I can honestly say, I could not have achieved what I have achieved without this app.

So I lose a bunch of weight and decide in January 2012 to start running. I find that as I start this little venture into a sport, I want to know information. How far did I just run? Was it a good pace? I found myself taking a walk/run, then taking the car out to find out the distance I had just run. And all I would know at that point, was distance.

Yep, there's an app for this as well. There are lots of apps for this. If you own an Apple product, you might have Nike+ already installed on your device. Since I had a Droid at the time, I just started looking in my app market and found Endomondo. To use these sorts of apps, you need a smart phone plan of some kind. You need the GPS to be able to follow you around as you run/walk your little feet off. I got the free version of Endomondo and later upgraded and paid the $4 for the enhanced version. Both are fine.

One nice feature with Endomondo, it is not running specific. You punch in your are walking, roller skating, biking, skiing, kayaking, tennis, rugby, etc. I kid you not, the list of sports it will track for you is amazing, and not specific to running. You just need to start the app when you're starting your sport, attach your device to you and go play. It will clock your distance and calories burned when you are done and click stop. Because it has such a library of sports, it does a much better job of tracking workouts than MyFitnessPal.

Cool new feature with these apps now? They can now sync. I punch in a run on Endomondo, and it will sync with MyFitnessPal and log in that exercise and calories burned. I play a rugby match (ain't happening, but for an example) and it will log the results on Endomondo AND MyFitnessPal.

Another interesting, albeit expensive, app I just read about today. A personal coach wristband device that clocks everything you do all day and gives you feedback. Click here to read this interesting article. I am not sure I want to plunk down $150 for this device. However, I can see this kind of device coming down in price in the next few years. I also see this as a great thing for those folks who don't have time to pay attention to their health because of their level of job stress or lifestyle. We all know people who say something like, "The day got so hectic I haven't eaten since last night." And they wonder why they are exhausted and strung out on coffee. It might be good for this little electronic personal coach to give them a reminder to eat something, drink water, move around, etc. especially if they have health concerns and want to start taking control of them.

So what kinds of numbers do I track on my two apps? I track my daily calories and I track my distance/calories burned while running. I track calories because if I don't very slowly bad habits creep in. Larger portion sizes, thinking little "snacks" are zero calories, etc. And suddenly I am getting larger and discouraged. For myself, I must keep track of this. Since I am wanting to complete a half marathon, I want to work up my distance and keep track of those numbers.

Why is this a big deal to me? When I see commercials for diet pills, gadgets, plans, and potions, it frustrates me. Weight loss/health shouldn't cost as much as these pills/gadgets and a little pill never fixed an entire problem. Losing weight and getting healthy is about making significant lifestyle changes, and you need to ask yourself if you are willing to do that. 

My doctor gave me good words to live by in this little two year journey, "It's all about the numbers. How much is coming into your body and how much is going out. Forget the fat, sugar, proteins, etc. At the end of the day it boils down to have you expended the same amount of fuel you have taken in." Once you have that in line, then start paying attention to eating protein, laying off sugar, avoiding fat, etc.

Plus I will say this. I have heard it from three friends just this week. Counting calories doesn't work for them. Try this. Count your calories, 1200, for a month without weighing yourself. Period. Nothing else. Just focus on the calories for a month. No cheating on two things; food intake or weighing in. If you haven't lost weight, then yes, go see your doctor. You can't count calories for three days and have weight loss that will make you happy. I promise. Count that month as your trial period for the significant lifestyle change I hinted at above. Can you do it for a month? Can you do it for two months? Then yes you can. Plus, bottom line; you can do anything you want. It's your body, your health. 

Tell me more about the fun apps you use for your health! Be sure to post your comment telling us the app, its features and what makes it work so well for you. 

Caramel Apple Crisp

4 cups diced apples

Dry Ingredients

1 cup of flour

3/4 cup oatmeal

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup melted butter

Caramel Sauce

1 cup white sugar

2 T cornstarch

1 cup water

1 tsp vanilla

Cook white sugar, cornstarch, and water until thick. Add vanilla. Mix dry ingredients with butter until crumbly. Press half into greased 9-inch pan. Cover with apples, caramel sauce then the remaining crumb mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour and serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. 

Treats for the Pooch

Pumpkin Dog Biscuits

2 eggs
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
2 tablespoons dry milk

1/4 teaspoon sea salt
2 1/2 cups brown rice flour *
1 teaspoon dried parsley (optional)

Preheat oven to 350.

In large bowl, whisk together eggs and pumpkin to smooth. Stir in dry milk, sea salt, and dried parsley (if using, optional). Add brown rice flour gradually, combining with spatula or hands to form a stiff, dry dough. Turn out onto lightly floured surface (can use the brown rice flour) and if dough is still rough, briefly knead and press to combine.

Roll dough between 1/4 – 1/2″ – depending on your dog’s chew preferences, – and use biscuit or other shape cutter to punch shapes, gathering and re-rolling scraps as you go. Place shapes on cookie sheet, no greasing or paper necessary. If desired, press fork pattern on biscuits before baking, a quick up-and-down movement with fork, lightly pressing down halfway through dough. Bake 20 minutes. Remove from oven and carefully turn biscuits over, then bake additional 20 minutes. Allow to cool completely on rack before feeding to dog.

* Brown rice flour gives the biscuits crunch and promotes better dog digestion. 

Makes up to 75 small (1″) biscuits or 50 medium biscuits

What a Difference Two Years Can Make

Two years. In some memories, it seems like yesterday. In other memories, it's a lifetime.

When it comes to my health, its a huge milestone.

Two years ago, I was at my heaviest in my entire life. I can stop here and really just start going inward and deep to tell you why. Not sure I want to do that in this forum, so I won't. I will use a phrase I read in a book once that is very true. "Weight loss is between the ears."

Like I think so many of us have said who have this struggle, I did the weekly, "I need to lose weight." And I would make a few choices that may or may not be drastic for a few days, then weigh myself, with little or no results. That turned into a "give up" and continue down failure.

I, like so many people, did this over and over and over and over and over.....for years. I have had some great seasons in my life where I have had great success. I thought I conquered this beast, only to have some impetus bring me back.

 

Me, September 2010
I remember these pictures being taken. And cringing because I had a good idea of what I looked like. Then when I do see the picture, I look worse than I imagined. 

September 2010
During this time, my body was giving me signs. I couldn't walk very far without
getting very painful, burning shin splints.

September 2010
And I was very much in the public eye and knew people snapped pics of me, and I hated it. 

Lots of things have changed, and I get asked almost daily by those who knew me then and know me now, "What did you do?"  

I will tell you what I did, but I want to caution you before you start taking a turn around the path I just described above of the cyclical path of failures in weight loss. I have some philosophies I want to tell you about that I did first, and then made my gazillionth plan on how to conquer this beast. 

1) I started out with a list of things I have done to lose weight that have lead to success and have lead to failure. DO THIS! Do not do what doesn't work, and do what is successful. 

Perfect example. This happens to me all the time. I tell people what I have done, and they pipe up with, "Oh I do a points system, you should try it. It worked for my cousin......" Nope. Stop. Halt. I tried it, cost me a lot of money, and was a failure. Don't do what doesn't work for you. Now, my friend's cousin, yes, she should count it as a success 

The bigger picture here, there are all kinds of ways to be successful at this, do what works for you. Period. 

2) Do not look for results in 72 hours. I know this about myself. I will do a "plan" for two days, weigh myself, give up, and eat ice cream. Failure. I put this on my list of things I do that lead to failure, and decided not to do it. It sounds funny, but many of you know what I am talking about.

3) I had a lot of weight to lose. I did not go into this thinking I could even lose half of it. I just wanted to lose something. I wanted to just lose 20 pounds. I knew I could take a stab at that. That is what I wanted to call success, not lose 20 pounds and know I have a million more to go. Again, I am looking for a way for success here.

Here is my timeline of a journey, and I will give the most details at the beginning because that is where I set out the rules for myself for my journey.

January 2011: Yes, this began as a New Year's Resolution to get this body on a healthy path. Again, lots of personal stuff going on in my head, some of it still is, but my body is healthy. 

Rules:

I have had a lot of success counting calories in my past lifetime of dieting. It works. My doctor says it's a practical way to figure out portion sizes and keep things in check. It's the basic rule of expending the amount of fuel your body takes in, making sure it doesn't store any. My calorie intake, as a sedentary person, was set at 1200 calories a day. That is tough, but I knew I could do it because I have done it before.

Cutting out the white. I have had a lot of success in my lifetime of dieting cutting out all white sugar and flour products. Bummer, I have a family that doesn't follow that regime and it's very difficult to hold to that kind of a diet for very long. I counted the cost of success vs failure. I can't be that strict on myself and hope for success. I chose not to follow this closely. However, if I did eat these things, I must count the calories. If I eat cheesecake, I must count them. I don't recommend that, because I would get to eat one piece of cheesecake all day long, and nothing else, but I could if I wanted to.

I also got a calorie counter app and put it on my electronic device. That could be your smart phone, computer, tablet, iPod, etc. Back in the "old days" before the gadgetry, yes, I had a calorie counting book. It's the size of a paperback book and I looked up my food that way.  

Great example. I was working with a person today, we hit dinner time and went into a fast food place and I had 349 calories left for my day. I punched in my phone the franchise's name along with the word "chicken". I found a sandwich for 310 calories. Done. I am good to go.

Okay, I had my guidelines for calorie counting. Next.

Forgiveness. If I messed up a day, forgiveness. Tomorrow is another day and I must not allow my mess up to continue by messing up again. Tomorrow is a new day, with zero calories on the books when I awake. Fresh slate, no mess ups. Let's do it right. No more of the wallowing in failure and continuing in it by eating poorly two days in a row. Or worse, grabbing a spoon and quart of ice cream and making it an epic failure. 

Don't look for results for six weeks. Again, we have all done it. A diet for two days and then getting into a mental spin out because we gained two pounds after two days of killing ourselves trying to lose weight. I wanted to set myself up for success. That spin out sure wasn't success. Some of you reading this know exactly what this spin out is.

So, no weighing for about 4 to 6 weeks. Find it on the calendar. I started January 1, so I said at the earliest, I could weigh myself on February 1. However, I couldn't do it unless I had done the calorie counting faithfully, daily for a month.

Someone out there just gasped out loud at that. It's pure logic. Here it is. You ready? 

Why in the world would I want to weigh myself after knowingly messing up a diet? I wouldn't. I can assure you of this, unless something is wrong with you and you need to see a doctor, if you have eaten 1200 calories a day for four weeks straight, that is a recipe for successful weight loss. Period. And I knew if I did that, I would want to continue.

Plus it took the focus of my weight loss off the scale and onto my daily habits. Big difference!

First time I weighed in, I lost 22 pounds. Mid February 2011. I could stop there or continue. It was a success no matter what. It felt great. I wanted to do it again. Let's do this again, same simple rules. for six weeks. 

April 2011, I go visit a friend (Hi KB!) and she and I are both on this kind of a journey. Hers has different choices than mine, but the support we have for each other is constant.

This trip was key for me in this journey. You remember how I start dismissing the friend's cousin's advice? I also listen to others. She had talked to a nutritionist about focusing on protein in my diet. Protein builds muscle, helps the circulatory system, and makes you look skinny. Not hard to do. No need to go get crazy protein drinks or anything. She got me turned onto Greek yogurt (yes, it's double the protein grams than regular yogurt), and a protein supplement. No big deal, just something to think about. I mention this because I do think focusing on protein helps, but it isn't crucial. 

 April 2011, the "leaning"effect was beginning to show in my face. 

This is about a month after focusing on protein in my diet. I have lost about 35 pounds total.

At that point, when I visited her, I had lost 30 pounds and people were starting to notice. In the following month after visiting her, focusing on the protein, I hadn't lost much more, but the "noticing" increased. The protein was having it's desired effect. It builds lean muscle mass and had an effect on my appearance. It was making me look thinner although I hadn't changed much in my numbers. This is key, and will come up again later.

Let's stop for a moment here. Had I had bad days in this first four months? Yes, several. Did I lose my starting out rules and throw them all out? No. Did I take a bad day and end it at the end of that day and make the next day a new start? Yes. Did I have success in doing that? Yes. 

Did I still have the nagging underlying, deep rooted problems going on? Yes, still do in fact. 

Oh did I mention exercise? I haven't done any at this point at all. None.

And so it continued for the remainder of the year. I kept on it, bad days lasting no longer than a day. Counting calories. Weighing in about every 4 to 6 weeks. We had a death in our family, we had some catastrophes, we had extremely happy moments. I continued the daily routine and didn't let the stress take away from the routine. 

Christmas 2011. Yes, I splurged a little bit. I allowed myself bites of goodies. Not servings. Bites. Christmas goodies are crazy full of bad stuff that pack on pounds, and if you don't know this by now, then you don't have a weight problem.  I did count my calories but I was relaxed about it. I didn't have any kind of "over the top" crazy overeating days either.

After Christmas I weighed in and found I had gained 3 pounds. You know what? I just about did a happy dance for a day! I should have, I might have lost that 3 pounds. I was excited it wasn't the 15 I would normally gain around the holidays. I could actually still fit into my, then, skinny jeans.

Christmas 2011

Here comes January 1st again. I was feeling good. I had lost, during 2011, a total of 56 pounds. Honestly, if I had stopped there, life would be grand, and I would be happy. I could be at that weight and be happy. I mean it. If I were that weight right now, after losing more, I would be happy. 

I wanted to set a new goal. I knew my history of losing weight also consisted of losing it, then not making a "new goal" that would support this new weight. So let's make a new goal. 

Several of my friends had taking up running. I had tried it years ago, and frankly, hated it. It hurt, it was uncomfortable. But okay, let's try it. 

Around New Year's of 2012, I took the dog out walking (remember that walking alone used to be extremely painful) and decided to take a few shots at running. Let's just see how far I could go before dying? Let's see how much it hurts. Let's see if this is the new goal.

On my first walk/run, I was completely shocked. On a walk of about 2 1/2 miles, I could run about half of it, and it didn't hurt. In fact, it felt great! I was completely and totally shocked. 

Running is the new goal. I wanted to run a half marathon for 2012 and you can look back at a previous blog post to see those specifics. 

Calorie counting is an easy habit after a year. It's like brushing my teeth or combing my hair. I do it.

I am fully able to handle bringing another goal into the mix.

The weirdest thing that happened when I started running was what happened with the weight loss. From January 2012 to the beginning of April 2012, my weight did not budge one bit. Nada. None. Yet I am steadily increasing my runs, my distance and my calorie burns. Huh? 

I had to be very vigilant of my attitude during this time. This kind of "lack of success" can easily cause me to throw my hands up in the air and give up any of this at all. Many times I had to have a conversation with myself that my success is not a number on a piece of plastic on the floor. My success is in my health, my stamina, etc. 

I was able to easily count one huge success during that time. While the numbers on the scale never moved, boy my size sure did. I went down two whole sizes in clothes, yet my weight stayed the same. I compare this 3 month period to my "protein" focus the year before. While the scale didn't change, my appearance sure did. The "noticing" factor jumped again.

What happened at the beginning of April that changed this? I went to visit my friend, KB, again. She took me to a gym and we did a crazy boxing/shred workout that just about killed me. I couldn't move for days afterwards. I went into that experience knowing it would be crazy hard, and was glad to say I did it, I never stopped, I did everything that was asked of me, I wasn't a whiny diva, and I finished what I started. I also lost 4 pounds when I got home and weighed in. Whatever happened that day jump-started something. 

The weight loss continues slowly; 1 to 2 pounds a month. I have lost 80, yes 80 pounds since January of 2011. I never ever thought in a million years that I would be here. I just wanted to lose something when I started.

I am going to be honest, I am not sure if a half marathon is going to happen in 2012. That is okay.

At the time I am writing this, I am up to running three times a week 5 to 6 miles at a time. I am running about 5 mph, about a 10-11 minute mile. I have had some running set backs this summer, especially with side stitches. In the last 3 weeks, those have been under control and I am back to increasing my distance. I am ready to start thinking about entering a half marathon again.

I have my sights set on January 2013. I want to keep running, and I may need to re-up my half marathon goal.  But I do want to continue my success. What goal can I put out there for myself that would continue my healthy lifestyle? That is what I want to do every year from now on. It may not be as huge as 2011 or 2012 were, but I want to keep it up. I am having too much fun.

September 2012

September 2012

"I'm From the Government and I'm Here to Help"

That famous quote from Ronald Reagan, "The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.'

My very first important memory of Reagan's words played out in reality on a big scale was Hurricane Katrina. I watched as those who understand this quote and it's intentions lived out one side or the other of this quote. There really is no middle ground.

On one side, you have people that understand in their daily lives, the government is not prepared to be at the people's beck and call. Those were the people that evacuated early. If they couldn't evacuate, they prepared by stockpiling supplies, hoarding generators, and knowing every detail of how to survive a hurricane. Now does this kind of preparedness prepare anyone for the kind of hurricane Katrina was? Does it guarantee survival? No. However, we all saw these people on the news. They were the ones who had a newscaster's microphone in their face saying, "Yep, we have extensive damage, and the house is a loss. But we have tents in the backyard, cans of food, and two generators." They were fine.

There was no middle ground on this issue, there was only the other side. That was the side that got mad at George Bush for not getting the National Guard into the ravaged area within moments. I would contend that would have actually been a governor's and city mayor's job to beckon the President to make that call, which they didn't, but Bush suffered the consequences. Why do I say that? Because our republic has a system where state's rights are more important the Federal rights. The Feds just can't swoop in and take over, yet that is what this side of this issue believed would just happen with no question. It was amazing to me how these unspoken expectations, and serious lack of knowledge of a state's responsibilities, ended up harming people.

I saw the same newscaster put the microphone to these people, and I remember one man saying, "I have worked all my life, paid my taxes, and now I have nothing." I remember distinctly asking myself, "Since when does working and paying taxes guarantee you won't be hit by a hurricane and then guaranteed you will have compensation when you are?"

So here we are, years later, and this mindset is hitting us fast and furious, daily in the news. Here are a few examples:

*Friend of mine lives in Southern California. A city ordinance states there are to be no laser tag games in public parks because it might scare children because the laser tag guns look real. Well, I would contend, kids already know what real guns look like. I also contend it's not the government's responsibility to regulate if a kid gets scared or not. I thought that was a parent's responsibility? Do you see that once we abdicate it away to the helpful government, suddenly we don't have it anymore? As you read more, we probably want to keep the responsibility to ourselves and think twice before giving it up.

*In my city, last fall, city ordinance passed forcing me to compost. I was already an avid composter voluntarily before that, but that didn't count. Now, I have to compost. So since I have to compost, I only need garbage pick up every two weeks. Try keeping your garbage bin to one bin every two weeks with a family of four. Remember, the government is "helping" me here. Trust me, I didn't want to give that responsibility up, in fact, I was doing my part in spades. And in fact, shame on my city's council who shoved that decision through, foisted it upon the city, with little or no voter input. Sometimes the decision is taken away from us, and we should scream a little louder, but I digress.

*How about the countless stories I have heard (just google this kind of story and you will find them). Intruder in the house, home owner in the house is on the phone to 911 begging for the police to arrive and get this intruder out, home owner is terrified as they hear the intruder approach the owner's hiding place, and one of two things happens here. One, the home owner is armed and uses their right to defend themselves against their intruder. Two, the police don't make that fifteen minute drive fast enough, and the intruder wins, the homeowner loses their life. There is also one I know of in this scenario where the wife was against the husband having guns in the house, yet he did. Intruder is beating the husband and the wife shoots the intruder as he is beating her husband. The family of that intruder is still in litigation today over a wrongful death lawsuit. But they are alive.

*Or how about this funnier one in my community. My mayor seems to think we'll all put away our cars and ride our bikes hither and yon very soon. He wants to eradicate cars. So two years ago, to make things easier for bikes, he spent $38,000 to stamp bicycle symbols on our city's streets. I guess cyclists don't know where it is appropriate to ride their bikes and need a white stamped symbol to show them the way?? Remember, the government is helping. To show a cyclist where they can ride their bike to the tune of $38,000 isn't helping anyone. It's wasting my hard-earned tax dollars.

I could go on and on and on.

Here are my thoughts to you. Be prepared. I believe that as a member of a republic in a society that recognizes individual rights and responsibilities, we have to take our responsibilities seriously. Here's a few:

1) Be prepared for an emergency. Period. Does that mean knowing the location of the sleeping bags in your house? No. It means much more than that. It means each household needs to have supplies of everything to sustain their household for a week if that household were to suddenly lose everything in a disaster including shelter. It means you can take care of your family if Katrina hits your house. What does that mean for this family. Food supply for a week, water supply for a week, shelter enough to shelter all four of us, power supply, home defense (with disasters comes looting), sanitation, ability to reach outside family for help, fuel, clothing, ability to create heat and light, etc. It isn't just making sure we know where the Coleman stove is. We also need to make sure we know where these items are and also be prepared some of it could be destroyed in said disaster. This is serious business. Why? The government won't be coming in a few hours to cart us households away to our safe place. It doesn't exist. We, you and I, are the most highly motivated to take care of ourselves to the very best of our abilities. The governement cannot, and historically hasn't, taken care of it's populace as well as individuals can.

Let me repeat that.
The government cannot, and historically hasn't, taken care of it's populace as well as individuals can.

Ask Katrina survivors.

2) Be prepared for safety on a daily basis both in your home and on your person. Why? Crimes happen in a split second, police and security take several minutes to arrive. That is the difference between life and death. So it should alarm us when we have our gun rights whittled away on a daily basis by our government that won't allow us to defend ourselves. Repeat Reagan's quote. No, taking away those rights isn't helping. In fact, it is deadly.

3) Here's an interesting story. Several years ago, in front of my in law's home a deer was struck by a car and was wounded. My father in law was a gun-toting veteran. Normally, he would have grabbed a gun and put the animal out of it's misery and possibly even checked to see if the meat could be harvested. It's a fresh kill after all. But of course, in Oregon, a law was passed......So he called the local municipality and said this suffering deer needed to be put down, please come take care of it. No one came. Deer suffered a horrible death, good venison went to waste, and rotted on the side of the road. He decided after that, if that happened again, he wouldn't be calling for the help that wasn't really there.

4) Example of a recent friend of mine who works for a car manufacturer. I am so guilty of this one. Your "check engine" light on your car. How many of us drive around with that thing on? I am raising my hand too. Did you know some municipalities are considering making a law where if you are pulled over by an officer, and your "check engine" light is on, you could get cited? Now, when my light goes on, do I panic and pass out? No, but I do get it checked eventually. However, we all know those people who drive around for years with that light on, and that is what that new law would be targeting. Let's just think for a moment, let's not let our "check engine" light go so long and maybe some brilliant law maker won't have cause to pass more helpful legislation. Oh, also have you noticed, when that kind of legislation passes, it's punitive with a fee attached to it that we must pay the helpful government.

So my point is to ask, which side of this quote are you on.The one where I expect my tax dollars to take care of all my needs, or that I respect that my government is limited and I have responsibilities? I also recognize if I don't take care of my responsibilities, I am just asking for the government to come and babysit me, take care of me in a way that isn't helpful, and is in fact, expensive.

Musings of an App Junkie

I have been the proud owner and prolific user of a smart phone for coming up on three years now. I have used all the major brands on the market starting with a Blackberry, next an Android and currently using an Iphone. I will say this, my parents have my three year old Blackberry and are loving it. I no longer have the Android and have no desire to put the money out for another one.

So in three years of using these phones, I have played with a lot of apps. Some are fun. Some are silly. Some are as useful as a corded phone. Some have been invaluable to me and I am a little shocked at how handy they have been in my day to day life. If you want to look any of these up, just do a web search or look in your app store on your phone.

Here are my favorites:
1) Kindle. Even if you don't have a smartphone, if you are reading this on a computer/laptop, you are missing out if you have not downloaded this app that is available on anything that plugs in. Thousands and thousands of books are free through the Kindle app. Not just classics anymore either. Many new authors cut their teeth in the market by making their first few books free. I have over 2,000 books in my Kindle app, and very few I have paid for. I love to read, and this is an amazing app. I also recommend downloading the Nook app (Barnes & Noble's version of the same thing). Free books as well. I rate this very high because I have six, yes six, devices in my possession that have this downloaded. I never stand in line bored ever, I always have a book with me.

2) Shazam. This is a fun one. How many times are you in your car, or just somewhere and you hear a song, you love it, you want it, and you have no idea who it is and no one else seems to know either. It is usually a new artist who has a great first hit and it takes you a month or two of hearing it to finally figure it out. I have to say it took me a year to figure out the difference between Vertical Horizon and Three Doors Down songs because they are so similar. No more! Shazam is here! Click the app, hit their listen button, it does a listening scan of the song and identifies it for you. No kidding. Just a head up on this one, it takes a lot of data. Your Android will start screaming it's low on data if you have, oh let's say four other apps (oh look, there was some sarcasm in that sentence).

3) There is also all the social networking apps that I use constantly. Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo Messenger, Pinterest, and Foursquare. You may use all, some or none of these on your computer already, but again, having it on your phone is invaluable. Especially as our culture's communications leans away from email (don't shoot the messenger on trends, I am just saying what we already know) and moves towards networking sites. I use them all for all kinds of various reasons. These are all available for free making it so I can use them on my phone and be mobile.

4) I like games...a lot. About ten years ago, I found myself just kind of foggy in my memory and really started to wonder if I was going crazy a little. I read somewhere that playing simple word games helps keep you sharp. So I found a silly little handheld game for Scrabble, which I love anyway, and played it. Sure enough, found the memory getting sharper, and not worse. With the onset of smartphones, I can play those games in spades. My favorites are Words With Friends (another company's version of Scrabble, and yes, Alec Baldwin is known for playing it), Angry Birds (Asteroids with birds), and Bejeweled (again, one of the games mentioned that keeps over-30-somethings mentally sharp).

5) Kids games. Boy is it nice to hand the phone or any small device to a kid who has been standing in the DMV with me for an hour and let them play a game. Cool games for kids include Angry Birds as well. But the same creators have a cool little game called Cut the Rope. This one is a dollar or two but it is fun! Picture a piece of candy hanging from a rope and it swings. It swings over a little critter that opens its mouth hoping to catch the candy. The player must cut the rope at exactly the right time to land the candy in the critter's mouth. Okay, now add in rubber bands, balloons and all kinds of variables to make this hard to do. I have stretched my geometry skills playing this game and the kids love it.

Lego lovers, oh the apps you can find. We have Creationary which is a Lego app game where you create a thing with Legos and others have to guess what it is.

I am sure I haven't even touched the kid game market for apps. Not sure I want to either.

6) Fitness apps. This is where I have found invaluable tools, for free, at my finger tips. I would not have made the progress I have made in my weight loss/regaining of my health in the last year without the apps. Here are the two I use, daily:

     a) My Fitness Pal (MFP) is simple yet genius. It is a simple calorie and nutrition counter with as huge database of calorie and nutritional information. I have always done good on diets where I count calories. This app is great, because it is on my phone. So I can sit at a restaurant or anywhere, have a meal put in front of me and count my calories. In the past, I had a huge paperback book with me and hoped what I was looking for was in it.

Now, for those who don't have smartphones, again, this is an easy program you can do online as well. You track your daily food intake, keep track of your weight/measurements and your progress, and share with friends. The thing about diets and plans. In my 43 years of wisdom, not everything is for everybody. You have to find your "thing" that works for you. Some of my friends have joined me (and we can connect and encourage each other on it as well) and it just isn't for them. That is fine. Once nice thing with MFP, it is free to try. If it doesn't work for you, you are not out money unlike huge diet plans.

 b) Endomondo. This has been fun with the running I have been doing since December. You need to have gps capability on your phone.. But no matter what the sport, running, walking, biking, skating....it will track your distance and calories burned. You take those calories burned and enter it into MFP and you now have a really efficient way to track your nutrition and exercise. So even if I do a power walk, which I have been doing lately, I have turned it on just to see what kind of distance I am traveling and what kind of calories I am burning. It's been interesting.

Side note. I want to inspire those of you who started like I did just over a year ago. Very discouraged, slightly scared, and concerned how to get my health back. I couldn't walk six blocks without serious leg/calf pain that made it impossible to do anything remotely fitness related. I decided to get some of the weight off first, and that made all the difference. Simple walks are a great way to get started. You can easily burn 100 calories walking a mile. It is great to see the progress, in numbers, officially recorded somewhere and see that simple actions create outcomes.

Okay, I will quit channeling Jillian Michaels, back to apps...

There is the simple free app for Endomondo that I used for a long time. I plunked down the $4 recently to upgrade it. But the basic app is great. Nike also has a similar app but I like my Endomondo very much. I use it almost daily.

 7) Real Estate apps. Those apps where you can look up real estate listings. The most popular one right now is Zillow. I use it so I can dream a little.

8) GPS. I use my GPS daily. And I mean daily. When I switched from the Android to the Iphone I lost my plan's GPS, which didn't set well with me. So I have had to go on the app market and find one that works, and it's been a challenge. Once I find one...or does anyone know one?

9) Radio stations now allow you to stream in their radio programs via free apps. Nice if you live right outside the listening area, or on vacation, you can listen to favorite programs. 

9) Then there are all kinds of little ones I use every now and then. I have a crockpot recipe app, a scanner for all those stamp sized bar codes you see everywhere, Netflix (login using your account, and watch movies on your phone) and the Weather Channel.

There is truth in the statement, "There's an app for that."

Let's Think This Through Just A Little

So yesterday was International Women's Day or something like that.

I have a friend who hasn't liked my sentiments on the subject because she thinks I don't appreciate the amazing suffering women internationally have experienced.

Oh let me speak.
I understand that as an American woman I have access to rights, privileges, and equality unmatched by my peers in other countries.
* I can vote.
* I own property.
* I am married in a legally equal partnership, I am not owned.
* My husband can't legally rape me.
* Worse, a man can't rape me then claim me as his wife because of his actions. Sick!
* I can create my own wealth and destiny and not depend upon a male to do that for me.
* I can hold public office.
* I can practice my own religion.
* It is illegal to victimize, maim or hurt me sexually or otherwise. I can also prosecute anyone who tries. 

That is what I can think of in the last ten minutes, I am sure there is more in my brain, give me a minute.

Here is where my pro-life irritation comes in. Especially in light of recent headlines.

Women's reproductive rights. Right now there is the big Rush Limbaugh vs Fluke verbal sparring. She is a Georgetown student who wants free birth control. Well, let's be honest, she wants it free, but for someone else to pay for it. Our current government is in a battle with the Catholic church over forcing a religious organization to pay for birth control for it's employees when it smacks in the face of the foundations of their beliefs. We also have Rush Limbaugh giving an apology to the Georgetown woman for calling her names, because she (it seems to me) is going broke over her birth control. There is a question to be begged there that I won't entertain here......but I digress.

And I am getting vilified because I put this post out there and laughed about it. Now I will warn you before you read it 1) it is not for young eyes 2) it is intended to be funny 3) it will make you uncomfortable until the very end when the message is hit home, with a home-run I might add. Please take a moment and read it to the end then read my rant.

While America doesn't participate in "in your face" victimization of women, I would contend we do and we do it really well, secretly. For example:

* Telling our middle schoolers (12-15 year olds) they need birth control and mandating birth control based education in public schools. Why not hand them a loaded firearm? Oh wait, that might kill them. Folks, so will the sexually transmitted disease (STD) that birth control doesn't protect them from either. Keep reading.
* Indoctrinating women that abortion is a "reproductive right". It isn't. It kills a fully developed human being that just needs to get bigger. Period.
* Feeding our young women that sex is entertainment, and since we are a an entertainment based culture, get it all while you can.
* We are all "sisters" and it's "us" against "them".
* Men? Men who?
* Birth control is a right, and not a responsibility.
* Sex trafficking of our own youth. In our own communities. I live in one of the worst cities in the country for this, and it's absolutely shocking and shameful. But it is a byproduct of making sex entertainment, instead of a loving, intimate act between two people who are committed and love each other.

So while a few of my friends are angry at me that I don't appreciate what is happening to our "sisters" around the world, I answer back that they are not paying attention to our "sisters" and even worse, our "little sisters" here at home.

How about this, while Americans continue to think having entertaining sex without consequences is their right, let's stop and think about how this idiotic message is harming our little sisters. We are forgetting to remind our sisters of these consequences:

* One in three people walking on American soil right now, has an STD and doesn't know it.
* One in three pregnancies end in abortion.
* In the state of New York, one half of the population has an STD and doesn't know it.

So I may not be all over the international map caring for our sisters in the Middle East or Africa or South America. But do NOT accuse me of not caring for women, when I have spent the better part of ten years of my life trying to save our youth from our own culture's message. Try again.

I do appreciate men! I love how they are wired so differently than myself. As a result, when you read that alphabet list in the above link, I can appreciate a man wrote it, and that he is enjoying the differences in men and women as well. And truthfully, he is acting like a man, and it's kind of fun to read for that reason alone.

The video makes me sick. Why? Since when is it one man's responsibility to apologize for the last millennium's worth of wrongs done to women? How about all the wrongs done to men? How about the learned men of the Jewish nation who were slaughtered because they were educated? How about the educated men who lived under Saddam Hussein's regime and were slaughtered because they were educated? How about the African slaves who were beaten, slaughtered, maimed, and harmed because they were black? And were also separated from their wives and children for their value as livestock? And yet master's wives stood by and watched? Oh wait, I apologize as a woman for not appreciating the masculine god-ness.......sorry, I can't do it.

Folks, we live in a fallen, sick, and diseased world where violence and oppression is not gender specific. I certainly don't celebrate and I will always speak out against it, and I won't make it gender specific. I will declare it wrong, no matter what, every single time. I won't be chastised, and I won't receive chastisement for celebrating that God created us differently.

I won't be made to feel guilty for not having enough compassion for women in other countries when we need to take care of our own, and deal with our own overt oppression on our own soil.

I love men. I love that my husband loves me. I am not a form of entertainment for him, and he isn't entertainment for me.

Reason #48 Why I Believe In Open Adoption

Open adoption, by definition means there is some kind of communication between the birth parent(s) and adoptive parent(s) of a child. It can be a spectrum of communication. It can range from visiting each other weekly, to sending a postcard once a year. It also includes exchanging family medical information. By definition almost ALL domestic (US adoptions) are open just by the mere fact that it is standard procedure to at least pass on the family medical background to adoptive parents.

Why am I glad? Today I come home from running and my youngest tells me his heart hurts. So what does that mean? Well for 99% of the time I would give a hug and kiss and have him lay down.

Except for one thing.

I know his family medical history.

Called the doctor and we are off to see our medical professional this afternoon.

I am sure it is nothing. I would never forgive myself if it was something.

One of My Favorite Recipes

I need to post this yet again. I got it from my friend, Kathi, and it's a family favorite. I have printed, reprinted, etc this recipe so many times. I decided, let's just post it on the blog so it's in one spot instead of bits of paper in corners of my kitchen. It is the best soup to cut the chill out of a fall or winter's day. Add garlic to the onion mixture for a bit of pep. Also, be flexible. I have used canned corn when frozen wasn't around. Use a spicy sausage for a kick as well. The lemonade in the background? What can I say... I have kids.

Corn and Kielbasa Chowder 

8 oz kielbasa, thinly slices
2 onions, finely chopped
1 T butter
1 14.5 oz can chicken broth
1 large baking potato, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 cup half and half (milk can be a substitute)
1 1-lb bag of frozen corn thawed (have used canned as a sub)
1 tsp marjoram
salt and pepper


Heat a deep skillet or a wide 4-6 quart pot over medium heat. Add kielbasa and cook, stirring, until lightly browned, about mins. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate.

Add the onions and butter to the pan and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 6 mins. Add the broth, marjoram, and potato and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover, and let simmer until potatoes are tender. About 10 mins. Add the half and half and corn and cook, stirring until heated through.

Using a blender or food processor, puree 1 cup chowder until smooth. Stir the puree back into the chowder along with browned kielbasa and season to taste.

Dig in! Prep time 10 mins, cook time 15-25 mins.