Category Archives: Health

Chunky Dunker’s Night, Week 11!

Good evening!

Welcome to week 11, of the Chunky Dunker’s Club!! Welcome back to those who join us every week, including those of your who silently follow us, and welcome to those who may be new to my blog this evening. I am happy to say, that after last week’s slight hiatus, we are no back on with our regular weekly meeting.

Every week I post a new Chunky Dunker’s article ever Wednesday evening, and you have the opportunity to comment, and cheer each other as you each go through your journey to get fit and healthy!!! We will discuss hints, tips, and ideas on losing weight, staying motivated, and achieving your fitness goals, whether that is to lose 5 pounds, to do 10 sit-ups, or just incorporate some healthy habits into your daily life!!

Tonight’s topic: Cleaning Out the Kitchen!

There is something that I am sure a lot of you have already done, me?? Well, apparently I am having a tendency to do some of my fitness tasks a little out of order. This week for our house is a week of getting out kitchen ready for fitness, which means we need a Major Kitchen Cleanup STAT!!! That means, throwing out the junk food (sugary, processed, chemical-laden, energy sucking food) and replacing it with healthy substitutes (whole, once alive, colorful, energy giving foods).

So for our kitchen that looks something like this:

LESS OF/NONE OF MORE OF
  • Sugar
  • Nuts
  • Sodium
  • Beans
  • White/bleached/enriched flours
  • Seeds
  • Unnecessary chemicals
  • Fresh fruits
  • Processed foods
  • Fresh vegetables
  • Saturated fats
  • Whole grains
  • Trans fats
  • Lean protein
  • Polyunsaturated fats

Now, I realize that that is easier said than done, but I have to tell you that the man that I have been married to for almost 17 years, the man I love, the meat and potatoes man made me the MOST DIVINE vegetarian dinner this week, and I WAS SHOCKED!! It was light, delicious, filling, and we both commented on how GREAT we felt after we had finished eating it!! Not only were we not overly full, we felt good about having made such a healthy choice! I want to have more nights like that!!

And knowing that Jason has lost about 6 pounds, and I am down a little over a pound from last week, I have to say that we must be starting to doing SOMETHING right!!! 😉

So, in the comments section tonight tell me how you are doing, but also what changes you have made in your kitchen to help make your fitness goals easier!!

I am rooting for you!!

Have a FABULOUS evening!! 😉

A Surprising Evening!

Good evening!

Let me just start out by saying, I am soooo thankful it is Friday tomorrow, because I am not sure how many more bad days at work I can handle without getting a break!!! In my office, my boss hands out colored, and funky shaped paperclips if you have done a good job, and a red one if you’ve made a big boo-boo!! We display our paperclips like medals of valor or something!! LOL!! So, it is kind of a fun competition between our team! Now, we don’t really get paperclips very much, we are all just too busy to really even notice, but my co-worker Chris and I were talking about it the past few days, how it really would be nice to get a few more handed our way! Silly, right?? Anyway, I was having one of those horrible, wrotten, no good, yucky days, and this is what I saw on my desk when I got back to my office, which was after EVERYONE else had already gone home!!

This simple little sign literally MADE MY DAY!! I left knowing that someone loved and cared about me enough to remind me to smile, and then when I looked closer, I realized that Chis not only left me this sweet little sign (it is in her perfect handwriting!!), she gave me ONE OF HER PAPERCLIPS!!!! OH!! When I realized that I had to sit down, because it had made me a little verklempt!! Thank you, Chris!! You probably didn’t even realize this seemingly small gesture meant to me!! I owe you one, friend!! 😉

Tonight I had my belly dancing class!! Are you sick of hearing about that yet?? I am finding that I am catching on to the moves a little bit better every week, and although I am struggling a little to flow smoothly from one move to the next, I am still having such a GREAT time!! 😉 The class is an hour long, which is just long enough to get me on an endorphine high and I go home feeling ultra jazzed!! What a FABULOUS feeling!! 😉

At the end of tonight’s class, we got to choose which type of belly dancing we wanted to go into – there are three main kinds (I think): tribal, cabaret, and oriental! However, don’t quote me on that, I think that is what our instructor said!! I am choosing to go into tribal-type belly dancing! It is more free flowing, more gypsy-like, you get to more freely express yourself in your costuming, and the dances are more of an improv, follow-the-leader-with-subtle-clues  type of dancing. She once described it as, you all could have grown up in the same village, so your costume fabric is similar, but you dress and dance a little more freely and it is more representative of your own personal style. Right now, my own personal style is the goal – so that is where mamma is going!! YEAH!!

Have a FABULOUS evening!! 😉

Finally Getting Back to Swimming!!

Good evening!

My family stopped by today for lunch and swimming!! Instead of completely taking the day off, I thought I would share some of the pics that I took today!!

This is our nephew Morgan AKA Little Man!!

This is our Niece Megan, and her new toothless grin! Isn’t she cute??

She is so silly! 😉

This is our nephew, Chris!! I am so glad he held still for this picture – thank you, Chris – you are such a hottie!! 😉

This our nephew, John!!

I know he is hard to see, but this is our nephew, David!

Here are the newlyweds, Michael and Lynette!! 😉

Here is the beloved Uncle Jay-Jay!! 😉

Here is the entire brood!! Apparently I forgot to come out from behind the camera!! 😉

This is what we all really look like!! Having fun!! I just love this group of zany, crazy, people!! 😉

Have a FABULOUS evening! 😉

An Afternoon of Living Life!

Good afternoon!!

Before I head out the door to go back to the art studio, Create a Memory, to work some more on my glass fuse project, I thought I would stop and organize my thoughts a little bit, not only for this weekend,but for the week.

As you may have noticed, I have started tracking my food, and sharing my daily eats out here with you for the past two days! In looking at what I have been eating, I realize I need to do a more diligent job of making sure that I have plenty of healthy foods on hand, so that I can do better at avoiding the candy jar at work, and make sure that I am not purchasing food from the work cafeteria. Now, please don’t get me wrong, the food is delicious, BUT I don’t know what is in it, AND when nothing sounds good I get fried chicken strips and fries! DEFINITELY NOT health food!!! I am asking my body to be so much more physical than it has in a while, and I just need to make sure that I am getting it the nutrients it needs so that it can stay powered up for me to keep going!! AND for every pound I move, all movement is just going to get easier and easier, and I will be able to lesson my knee, ankle and foot pain!!! So, I don’t know if you just heard the Rocky sound track going on in my head, but it just did and it is BLARING!! 🙂 It is reminding me to get out there and MAKE it happen!! Anyone have any chickens I can chase??? 😉

So, today, I need to create our week’s menu for breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and all snacks, then I am heading over to Create a Memory and I will be over there for a few hours, working on my glass project. Next I will head over to the grocery store and pick up needed groceries to meet our menu’s needs, and then I am going to come back put it all way, and make my way over to our pool!! I haven’t dipped in a couple of weeks, and that is my second FAVORITE workout, second to belly dancing, of course!!! (Walking is my third favorite, just in case you were wondering, and biking is fourth!!)

Also, I want to make sure that I share this quote that I found this morning, as I was doing some early morning reading,

“Chance is always powerful.
Let your hook be always cast;
in the pool where you least expect it,
there will be a fish.”
~Ovid

This quote really seemed to be fitting as I am out there trying to feel my way to my art medium, and it reminded me to keep looking. Even if you think that something is not what you want, try it anyway, you just might find that it is EXACTLY what you have been looking for!! POIGNANT!!

Anyway, I will try and post again this evening!!! My day is not complete unless I am able to get a post out at least once a day, but I prefer twice!! not only to stay in touch with you, but to stay in touch with myself too!! I am learning that that is VERY IMPORTANT!!!

Have a FABULOUS afternoon!!

Belly Dancing Night!

Good evening!

I’m here! I’m here! I am sorry, I had forgotten that my e-mail account was hacked into a couple of days ago and it broke my connection to my Blackberry, so I wasn’t able to blog today like I had wanted to. To make it up to you, I will make this one a little long to tell you about all the things going on with my day!!

I did not get a post up this morning, I was running around like a buzy bee trying to get out the door in time this morning! I am not sure why but time seemed to pass really quickly, and before I new it, I had my flat iron in my hand and it was 7:30! AAAACK!!! 10 minutes AFTER I normally leave for the office!!!

Then by lunch time, my day had completely flipped, and was now going SOOOOOOOOOOOO VEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERY SLOOOOOOOOOOOWLY!! I almost couldn’t stand it!!! 😉 I was soooo jazzed about my belly dancing class tonight – I just wanted to get out there and get to it!! It was supposed to be veil night!

 VEIL NIGHT!!!

WHOO! HOO!!

I mean, come on! What little girl didn’t dream about playing dress up and being a little Indian Girl layered in veils, dancing beautifully, while being adored by her audience??? No? Not you?? Oh, so it was just me then?? Oh. Ok. Man I am so wanting to learn how to do an actual dance, and I realize we are learning all of the kinds of moves you can do so that way when you do put dances together you know what you are doing – BUT, PUT ME IN COACH!! I AM SOOOO READY TO PLAY!!! 😉

My co-workers were SUPER UNDERSTANDING this afternoon, seeing that even the boss wasn’t too into the idea of getting any work done, so they spent a little time talking about all of their plants that are coming up in their vegetable gardens, and I was soooo jealous!! I want a garden too, but that is kind of difficult when you live in a condo. However, they gave me all sorts of ideas on how to grow plants in my own container gardens, or even in small greenhouses that I can use year round! Isn’t that just DIVINE??? Really! I am so inspired! and you HAVE TO KNOW, my hubbie would just LOVE that!!! I can’t wait to tell him all about it!!

After work tonight, I started my artist date with myself and did a lot of walking around downtown, going from craft place to craft place looking for art or craft classes that I could take, and I have to tell you I found quite a bit of them that I am going to look further into. One is an encaustic painting class. I had seen an artist doing that on a craft program some years back and it has always intrigued me, so I put it on my life list! It is the one about painting with wax – that is was encaustic painting it. I also found a quilting class I want to take and a collage class that I am going to take!! They all sounds REALLY FUN and EXCITING! and I am sure they will be, but what I am most excited about is a class that I have signed Jason and I up for tomorrow!! We are going to be taking a glass fusing class at one of our local art studios here in Salem. This is going to be a first for both of us, and I JUST KNOW we are going to have A BLAST!! My co-worker was just SHOCKED that Jason agreed to do this for our date night, but he WAS TOTALLY GAME!!! Jason has a bit of an artistic streak running through him too!! I told you we were MFEO!!! (Made For Each Other!!)

We will do all of our glass cutting/designing/assembling tomorrow evening, and then the studio will kiln fire it for us, and we will pick it up in 7 days! I hope they turn out looking FABULOUS!!! I can’t wait to share pictures!!!

Oh, talking about pictures! I spoke to my belly dancing class mates tonight, and besides myself, the vote for me taking pictures of the class was a RESOUNDING HELL NO!!!

BUMMER!!

I was shocked (doesn’t EVERYONE put there life out on the internet for public perusal??? LOL!), and a little bummed (boo! hiss!), but I will respect the wishes of the class, and refrain from taking , for now! HOWEVER, if we should ever perform, you had better believe that I am going to task Jason to take as many pictures as he is able to, and HONEY I AM SHARING THEM ALL WITH YOU!!! 😉

So, I will be taking pictures of our glass class tomorrow! (I hope that is alright???) and I will share them with you tomorrow! They should be GREAT!!! Until then…

Have a FABULOUS evening!! 😉

NOTE TO CHUNKY DUNKERS: I did 1/2 an hour of walking downtown, and an hour belly dancing class today! I at a strawberry smoothie for breakfast, a small whole wheat english muffin ham sandwich for snack, mini-bite Crunch candy bar, baked carrots, a baked potato with sour cream, and some baked turkey for lunch, a large chocolate chip cookie in the afternoon, and then I had a super healthy chicken, veggies, and rice for dinner! Looking at this, I can see that there is a lot of room for improvement, so I will be conscious and try to do better tomorrow! GO CHUNKY DUNKERS!!!

The Chunky Dunker’s Club, Week 9

Good evening!

Welcome to week 9, of the Chunky Dunker’s Club!! Welcome back to those who join us every week, including those of your who silently follow us, and welcome to those who may be new to my blog this evening.

Every week I post a new Chunky Dunker’s article ever Wednesday evening, and you have the opportunity to comment, and cheer each other as you each go through your journey to get fit and healthy!!! We will discuss hints, tips, and ideas on losing weight, staying motivated, and achieving your fitness goals, whether that is to lose 5 pounds, to do 10 sit-ups, or just incorporate some healthy habits into your daily life!!

Last week we talked about visualizing your fit, healthy, and vivaciously energetic, most perfect self. This is still one of my favorite exercises because all it takes is closing your eyes, holding still and visualizing yourself as that person. Did you notice anything in yourself that would need to stop or start doing to get to that person in your mind??? I know I did, and still do.

Tonight’s topic: Hitting a Plateau

I am not sure about any of you, but have any of you hit a plateau in your fitness/weight loss goals? I really have!!! I am not sure if it is my lack of motivation, lack of face-to-face support, or if I have just have myself too busy learning to tap back into my creative self, or it could be that I am just sore! Besides my belly dancing class once a week, I really haven’t done much in the way of exercising! BOO! HISS!! I know!! I can’t believe it either!!!

AREN’T I SUPPOSED TO BE OUR SUPPORT GROUP LEADER???
AAAACK!!

Ok, that might be a little melodramatic, I know that I am human just like all of you are too! So, instead of kicking my booty about it, I am hopping back on the bandwagon! I am making my fitness a priority, and I have got to start making healthy eating more of a priority – although I have to say that most of my fruits and vegetables are now organic, so that has got to count for something, I think!?!?! 😉

So, I recommit!

Here is my contract with

you,

but even more importantly, my contract with

myself!

I, Christina, hereby solemnly swear to move my body with some kind of an aerobic activity for at least 1/2 an hour every day.

I, Christina, also vow to make sure that I carry a small journal with me at all times so that I can write down whatever I eat or drink, no matter how horrific or terrifying my food choice is at the time. I will not berate myself for what I write, but will use the log as a learning tool to do better next week.

I, Christina, will treat myself nicely, gently, and lovingly, as if I were my own best friend. I will keep an eye on my self-talk to make sure that I remind myself that I am happy, I am blessed, and I am healthy, because I deserve it.

I, Christina, will remember that this process is a journey, and not a destination; that once I hit my ideal weight/size, that life doesn’t stop there. This is about living and loving life to it’s fullest, and looking for ways that I can be a blessing to those around me every day!

Signed & Dated this Wednesday, April 27, 2011, at 6:00 pm.

Do you need to make a contract with yourself?? If so, that is your homework!!

GO CHUNKY DUNKER’S!!!

Have a FABULOUS evening!

Creative Affirmations!

Good evening!

I know I have already posted my blog tonight, but I am going through my Artist’s Way Chapter for the week, and I realized there are a couple of thoughts that I may want to call upon later during this week, and maybe longer. So, I had thought, seeing that this is my online journal, I would share them here so I may refer back to them!

Taken from Julia Cameron’s book, The Artist Way, pgs 37-37

Creative Affirmations:

  1. I am a channel of God’s creativity, and my work comes to good.
  2. My dreams come from God and God has the power to accomplish them.
  3. As I create and listen, I will be lead.
  4. Creativity is the creator’s will for me.
  5. My creativity heals myself and others.
  6. I am allowed to nurture my artist.
  7. Through the use of a few simple tools, my creativity will flourish.
  8. Through the use of my creativity, I serve God.
  9. My creativity always leads me to truth and love.
  10. My creativity leads me to forgiveness and self-forgiveness.
  11. There is a divine plan of goodness for me.
  12. There is a divine plan of goodness for my work.
  13. As I listen to the creator within, I am led.
  14. As I listen to my creativity I am lead to my creator.
  15. I am willing to create.
  16. I am willing to learn to let myself create.
  17. I am willing to let God create through me.
  18. I am willing to be of service through my creativity.
  19. I am willing to experience my creative energy.
  20. I am willing to use my creative talents.

Have a FABULOUS evening!

A Morning of Questions!

Good morning!

You know I have always heard that life is what happens while you are busy making other plans. After the past day and a half, I am starting to believe that!

Well, starting with work! I won’t go into too many details, but there are some big changes going on there, that has proven that we are all expendable. There may be no such thing as job security anymore. I have heard that before, and I am not sure why I am just now thinking that is true, but apparently I have been living with my head blissfully stuck in the sand! OUCH!! That is hard reality to learn, right?

In my personal life, things have been going, at least I thought, pretty damn near perfect! Last night, I got another wake up call in that arena too! Let’s just say that someone who I love dearly is struggling with their own inner demons, and there is just not a lot I can do fix the situation. I can just love and support that person while all the time praying for them. Sad. I wish I could do more. To be able to say, “See this is how I fixed this with myself, you can do exactly the same things and you can fix yourself too!” Doesn’t work that way – we are all unique, and we all have to move through our stories our own way. We are kind of like those “Choose Your Own Adventure” books that I used to LOVE reading as a child!! You never know where you will end up, but you know that somewhere along the way that there will be a decision that will lead you to a happy ending, or too an early dramatic death. Now, maybe real life isn’t that simple, matter of fact, I am sure of that – but I feel like my life is one of those books, and at every fork in the road, I have to make the decision – “Yes, or no?”. Every answer seems to be leading me to a completely different destination!

Last night, I had this intense desire to pack up my entire life and just run away from this life. I realize that would NEVER solve anything because no matter where I end up, there I will be! 🙂 Yes, momma, I was listening!! 😉

Some good news though! I have been doing my morning pages (from The Artist’s Way program), and somewhere along the way, within the past 5 years, I seemed to have lost the ability to dream, which has always really bothered me because I have ALWAYS been a very avid dreamer. Since starting my morning pages, I am into week 4 starting this morning, my dreams have started coming back, however they have been really disturbing! Last evening my sweetie and I were out for a drive out in the country and we were talking about a couple of my more disturbing dreams, trying to psychoanalyze them. Well, in doing this I was able to get some mental clarification on what my subconscious is trying to tell me. I think that through my work on my inner self, using The Artist’s Way program, I have tapped into a place deep down inside of me that I thought was dead. My authentic self, my creative self. Now that I realize that know that not only is it alive and kicking, it is screaming to be let out!!! However, I am scared that someone is going to come along the way and tell me that I am not allowed to tap into this inner creativity that I have rediscovered, and it will die again. How is that for deep??? I know, I sometimes even surprise myself!!! LOL! 😉 But honestly, I am really thankful for having this program come into my life at the exact right moment I was ready to put it into action – I know I must sound like some kind of commercial for it, but I don’t get any kind of compensation or anything from The Artist’s Way people, I am literally just a reader, and a doer, whose life is changing for the better because of this insightful program!!

Alright, that is enough of my soapbax this morning!!! 😉 I am going to get some more cleaning done, I am hope that I can get all of the laundry done and put away, including the bedding for bed this evening! Which mean, I had better get hoppin’!!!

Have a FABULOUS evening!! 😉

Groovin’ to the Music!

Good morning!!

I can’t help groovin’ to the music playing throughout the house this morning!! Belly dancing has infiltrated my soul!!! SO MUCH FUN!! and really any song that has a strong 4/4 beat can be belly danced too! I am sure my sweetie thinks I have lost my blessed mind!!! LOL!!

Tonight is date night in our household!! YEAH!!! I LOVE DATE NIGHTS!!! Tonight Jason is taking me to dinner and a movie – although I may talk him into doing dinner, and a walk around River Front Park, or bowling, or miniature golf, or just strolling around downtown – I haven’t decided yet! I just want to do something that would be fun for both of us, but keeps us off of our booties!!!

One thing I will need to make sure that happens, is that Jason gets some walking shoes! He doesn’t have any decent ones, so going anywhere or doing anything that requires a bunch of walking is really uncomfortable for him – so I will have to help him look into that!!! He is now wearing a size 18, so you can imagine how difficult it can be to find ANY shoes in his size!!! UGH! We usually go up to the Nike outlet store where they have the reject shoes from the Portland Blazers. Sometimes those really work out, but USUALLY we find all sorts of CRAZY colored shoes, and I don’t care how hot my hubby is – and he is pretty hot, but NO MAN LOOKS GOOD WALKING AROUND IN BRIGHT ORANGE HIGH TOPS!!! No thank you!!! 😉 HAHAHA!!!

It looks like it is going to be another nice sunny day here in good ol’ Oregon, so I am VERY excited about that! I have charged one of my camera batteries, so now I am ready to go out and take a bunch of pictures! I am working on getting my old “Style File” on my PC that is filled with other peoples’ artwork, and creating a new Style File with all of my OWN artwork!!! That way I will have a wealth of pictures to use for posting on my blog! Oh, the idea of that just gives me shivers of JOY!! YEAH!!!

Anyway, I have got to zip out the door to get to the office! I am planning on treating myself to only working a half day and then getting outside to go enjoy this BEAUTIFUL weather before my date this evening with my love!!! 😉

Have a FABULOUS day!!

The End of My Creative Day!

Good evening!

Thursdays have become my FAVORITE day of the week!! I am SOOOO IN LOVE with belly dancing!!! Each week the moves I had learned the previous weeks get easier and easier and the new moves we learn each night are just challenging enough to make the class fun!!

I know I must sound like a broken record, but I am telling you there is something so AMAZINGLY EMPOWERING about teaching your body to do moves it had never known it could do before. Being in a 300 + pound body, you reach a certain level of acceptence that there are some physical things in life that are just not for you!

WHAT A CROCK OF CRAP!!!

WHO DOLES OUT THAT MISINFORMATION?!?!?!?


NO, I am not a slim chicky! No, getting my junk to jiggle isn’t as difficult as it is for the other girls in the class (Hah!!!), but am getting out there and getting my groove on, having a blast, and feeling FABULOUS for all of my efforts!! I will never need anti-depression medication if I just belly dance with friends! It is THE ULTIMATE mood lifter!!!

Tonight I was also very excited to go out and be a photographer for the evening. The first and most important rule of being a photographer, I have learned this evening is…

MAKE SURE YOUR BLINKIN’ BATTERY IS CHARGED!!!

UGH!!

:-

Not only was my battery dead, but so was my back up! How is that for well prepared??? LOL!! I did manage to get a few pics in, but I was heartsick, when at the end of our class this evening, the more advanced class did an impromptu dance for us! It was beautiful, and sensual, and awe-inspiring! and unfortunately, my camera was dead! DAMN!! One of the advanced dancers even had this UNBELIEVABLE henna tattoo up one side of her abdomen!! It was STUNNING!!! I will have to do that when I get brave enough to perform, which I will do, just for the record!!! LOL!!! 😉

All of the pics that are posted throughout this blog tonight, are pics of the dance studio’s bathroom! It was tres chic, and I didn’t feel like I had to chicken out to take pictures in there!! HAHAHA!! I know, I can be such a Dork with a capital D!

Have a FABULOUS evening!!! 😉

Please note: To those of you whose pictures I have ever used on this blog without permission, or without giving credit where credit was due, I apologize! I have been naive, but am naive no longer. I am vowing to use my own photographs from now on, or to make sure that all pics that are not mine, will be credited to their rightful owners. It is what I would want from others, and it is the right thing to do.