RSS
 

Healthy Android Apps

22 Jan

Last December I got an Android phone after my trusty Lotus bit the dust. I had a free data plan and figured I might as well make good use of it! I’ve gone a little nuts with the apps, but there’s something out there to help with literally anything you need to do. Since my word of the year is health, I’m using it to help me get healthy.

There are so many apps out there, but my favorites are the CardioTrainer and Calorific apps from WorkSmart Labs. CardioTrainer is free and records all of your workouts…anything from yoga to running to weight training. It tells you how many calories you’re burning, how far you’ve gone, and even plays your workout playlist to keep you motivated. I highly recommend upgrading to Pro (For $9.99…it was given to me as a gift by my mom.) if you can afford it. This gives you additional options, including interval training and premium features like a weight loss trainer which I’ve found very helpful in planning my food intake and calorie burn goals.

Calorific is also free and makes it easy to make good food choices. Each food is categorized as green, yellow, or red. Your green foods are things  like fruits and veggies, whole grain breads, brown rice, beans, and fat free dairy products. These are supposed to make up 50% of your calorie intake. Yellow is mainly lean meats, white breads, nuts, oils, and low fat dairy. Yellow foods should be 35% of your daily caloric intake. Red is beef, fried foods, butter, ice cream, soda, cake, and all of those things we love but should eat in very small doses. They should make up the remaining 15% of your diet. It’s a much more simplified version of the calorie counters you might find on SparkPeople or Weight Watchers, which makes it much easier to use and much more effective for people like me who tend to get easily frustrated trying to nail down every single food as specifically as possible.

I also really like the Daily Workouts from Daniel Miller. He has them for abs, butt, and arms. These apps are free and give you an easy 5 minute workout, but for 99 cents each you can upgrade them and get an additional workout so you can switch it up a little.

There is also a free heart rate monitor out there for Android phones. It gets fairly accurate results when used correctly. Knowing your heart rate helps you be sure your hitting your target during exercise.

I know there are many more apps out there, but this is what I’ve found and like so far. Do you have one you love?

 
No Comments

Posted in Couch to 5K, Free Stuff, Health, Sites to See

 

My word for 2011?

09 Jan

Health. Simple, but such a big goal, right? I’ve seen a lot of people refuse to make resolutions and instead choose one word to represent their hopes for the year. And while mine may be something a lot of people choose, it is something I need desperately.

I’ve worked out (running, walking, elliptical) almost every day this year. I’ve only skipped 2, mainly because I am afraid of injury if I push myself too hard. I am tracking my nutrition with a great app (more on this in another post!) and doing a wonderful job of staying within my calorie limit and eating healthy ratios of good, less good, and not good food items. I’ve already lost 2 pounds and this is just the beginning. My goal is to lose 25 pounds by April. After that, we’ll see what happens. I definitely plan to continue after that…I have much more than 25 pounds to lose…but that is my immediate goal. I believe I’ll have no trouble reaching it if I can keep going like I have been.

But I don’t just wish physical health for myself this year. I’m also working on my mental health. Last year, I slowly dropped out of every activity I was involved in until all I was doing was school and family. And while I excelled at school, family was a distant second. And everything else pretty much dropped out of sight. I feel really, really bad about it. I had made commitments that I was unable to honor when my anxiety reached the critical point last fall that made me realize I needed some help. I’m embarrassed. I’m ashamed. Most of all, I’m frustrated. Because I’m afraid people won’t trust me again, even though I’m now in a much better place.

Even my house suffered. I don’t think I’d done any sort of cleaning in months. And when I sat down and looked around, the mess was overwhelming. I felt like I was living in an episode of Hoarders. Things weren’t quite that bad, but they were bad enough. The cleaning fairies (aka, my friends and husband!) have helped me get the worst of it back under control now and I currently have a sparkly clean kitchen that I can keep clean with minimal effort each night, a play room that is organized, and a boys bedroom where I can see the floor. There’s more to be done, but I don’t feel so overwhelmed by it that I just don’t know where to start any more.

Luckily, I have had a lot of friends, not to mention my husband and children, stick with me through the personal crisis. They kept calling, texting, and inviting me to stuff even when they knew I probably wouldn’t respond. And when I started responding again, they told me how much better I looked, how much they had missed me, and how awesome I was for taking steps to get better. I felt like the prodigal daughter come home to the father I’d treated badly but was loved by unconditionally. I am so, so blessed by my beautiful and amazing friends.

School starts back tomorrow. But I won’t let it dominate my life. I have a family who loves me, a house to take care of, and friends who know exactly when I need encouragement. And I’m going to start adding back in those obligations I enjoyed, one at a time. (Assuming I can re-earn the trust of the people I abandoned…I’m guessing some are closed to me forever. I understand, but it still makes me sad.) When someone asks me to do something, I’ll think before saying yes. And I won’t feel bad for saying no if I decide that’s what I need to do. But most of all, I’ll take time for myself and remember that I deserve a hot bath, a good workout, or some time alone when I start feeling anxious and overwhelmed.

I deserve a healthy mind and body, and this year I’m going to make that my priority!

 
1 Comment

Posted in Me Stuff

 

2011

04 Jan

Eh, so it’s January 4th. I guess it took me this long to figure out what a big year this will be for me and my family. I am a little blown away by the enormity of some of the things we’ll experience this year…

  • Next week, I will apply to the nursing program at CCCC. I’m not sure I’m ready for it mentally or emotionally, much less financially, but I believe it’s something I’m being called to do and that I will manage somehow. I don’t have any idea when I’ll know whether I got in, but I already have a back-up plan in the even there aren’t enough spaces. (Though my 4.0GPA and high TEAS test score certainly make it unlikely that I’ll have any problems.)
  • In 16 days (!!!16 days!!!) my baby girl will be two years old. How is that even possible? Wasn’t she just born? I can’t even believe it, much less wrap my head around the fact that she is my last baby ever and that I need to enjoy this time watching her grow up.
  • In April, my husband and I will celebrate 10 years of marriage. Big milestone!
  • In May, my dad will have been gone for 10 years. Though I have made my peace with his death, it is still a hard time of year for me and this year will be no exception.
  • Sometime this summer (June? July?) I will reach the age where I have known my husband for more than half my life. Which doesn’t seem so significant until you remember that I am only 35. The idea that one of my children could meet their future spouse at the age of 17 is a little terrifying, but it worked out well for me. We have been together (in some form or another) for over 17 years now. Wow!
  • In late June, my middle child will be five years old. I remember when my oldest turned 5 it really seemed like a big step…to me, a 5 year old has truly left babyhood and is firmly into childhood. Can we just stop them from growing up for a little while?
  • Then in July, my oldest son will enter the 3rd grade and my younger son will enter kindergarten. Kindergarten!?!?!? How is he old enough for that? It seems like just yesterday I was in the hospital, hoping he’d get the hang of life outside the womb so we could take him home instead of ending up at UNC. And now he’s going to kindergarten. Deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep breaths!
  • Hopefully I’ll enter a nursing program somewhere in August. Like I said, I have a back-up plan in the event that CCCC doesn’t take me but I really hope that’s not necessary!
  • In October, my oldest son will be 9. One step closer to double digits, the teen years, and (eventually) leaving us. Halfway to 18, the age of legal adulthood. Where does time go?

I’m sure there’s much more that I haven’t stopped to consider. That is probably a good thing, considering how overwhelmed I feel right now! I believe that 2011 is going to be a much better year than 2010 was for us. We’ll be making positive steps towards improving our financial situation in a permanent way and marking some major milestones in our lives. I’m excited for everything that’s going to happen!

 
1 Comment

Posted in Back to School, Family, Love & Marriage, Me Stuff, Parenting

 

We must be doing something right!

03 Jan

Christmas was scaring me. I didn’t know how we could afford to buy gifts for the kids, much less anyone else. But people stepped up to help us…someone bought gifts for the kids so that Santa would be able to stop at our house. Then we suddenly received a little over $1000 from various sources and we were able to not only make sure the kids had gifts, but we also were able to get caught up on some bills and buy much needed shoes and clothing for ourselves. I couldn’t believe the blessings we received so unexpectedly from friends and family!

And then, on New Years Eve, my father-in-law called. My husband’s parents and his aunt and uncle had bought us a new mini van. They would be delivering it sometime after midnight on New Years Day. It’s nothing fancy, but it runs and we can fit all of the children and their carseats into it! We’re once again a 2 car family. But most significantly, with a spare vehicle that will hold 3 carseats, I can get a job wherever I can find one. UNC, Moore Regional, WakeMed…all of these hospitals are now options for employment. Another option is home health care, something I’d really love to explore because I think it would give me some insight into what I might experience as a hospice nurse, since many of these positions are traveling/home health care positions.

So I don’t know what we’ve done to deserve such largesse, but I have to say that it’s so appreciated. We’re still struggling with the mortgage, but I believe that will work itself out if we’re meant to stay in this house. So this year has started off well. Hopefully it will continue to go well and be much, much better than 2010 was!

 
1 Comment

Posted in Faith/Religion, Me Stuff, Money/Finances

 

Christmas Wishes

18 Dec

Someone asked me what I wanted for Christmas and I had to admit that I just didn’t know. All of my focus this year has been on making sure the kids receive gifts and though there’s plenty of stuff I want, I just hadn’t even thought I might receive gifts, too. Of course this had me thinking…

First and foremost, I want my kids to have all of their needs met. Luckily, we’re able to continue doing this with the help of others occasionally. Food, clothes, and shelter with heat and running water are being maintained for the time being. No greater gift than that, right? Unfortunately, we don’t know how long the shelter part will be available. Our mortgage payment hasn’t been paid since August because our total monthly income has been less than the mortgage since then. We’ve managed to cover everything else (Thank God!) but we owe the mortgage company an astronomical amount of money right now…on January 1st, we’ll be about $5000 behind and I don’t know if we’ll ever be able to make up such a huge deficit. So if I had to choose one thing, it would be to a) get that mortgage caught up and b) earn enough money to maintain it from here on out. Luckily that second wish is within our grasp with my husband’s new part time job and the job opportunities I now have. And we’re hopeful that the mortgage company will work with us on that first part…it would be great if we could stay in our home and minimize the upheaval to the kids.

But frivolously? What would I ask for if there was a magical dude in a red suit who gives gifts to not just children, but adults who need a little something? That’s a bit harder, but the number one thing I would like to have is an electric blanket. Crazy, right? But with the recent bone-chilling cold and the need to keep our thermostat low so we can afford the electric bill, my bedroom (the coldest room in the house) has been absolutely arctic at night. Even sleeping in sweats and fuzzy socks doesn’t keep me warm. Electric blankets are pretty expensive, if you can even find them…and for a king size bed they can cost as much as $100. A cheaper alternative would be a small space heater, something that we could turn on long enough to warm the room up before we go to bed so it’s a bit easier to get comfortable and go to sleep. A warm bed would be a lovely Christmas gift!

As for the other things I want, they’re unimportant. There’s a long list of things that I’ve wanted for a while and haven’t gotten due to cash flow problems but the truth is they just don’t matter much to me any more. I’ve learned what’s really important in life and that is a true gift. My faith, my family, and love sustain me on the days when I start thinking life can’t possibly get worse. With those three things I know I can face anything. My hope for you this Christmas is that you experience the same gift. Merry Christmas, and thanks for reading, commenting, and sending your prayers and good wishes to me and my family!

 
No Comments

Posted in 12 Days of Christmas, Faith/Religion, Family, Me Stuff

 
« Older Entries
Newer Entries »