Healthy Snack That Can Help You Loose Weight!

First On A Personal Note...
You will notice that I now have a profile picture. And here it is. Yes, it is a cow. So you may ask, "What is up with the Cow?!" Well, the last race a ran before my accident was in Pittsboro, NC. The temperature was 19 degrees Fahrenheit. It was cold. I ran it in 22:19 and I took second place in my age group, just behind a 60 year old man from England, that holds the worlds record for the fastest 5k in the 60-65 year old age group. But that is another story. Anyway, aside from a nice glass trophy, I won this cow. This cow has sat on my night stand ever since. But NO MORE!



The Running Cow
From now on this cow will go with me to every race and I will carry the cow from start to finish. This will become my symbol! The Running Cow!

Now, Healthy Snack That Can Help You Loose Weight!
My wife and I find we have the munchies late at night while we watch movies. While she is at work she has the munchies. While I am doing taxes, I have the munchies. So we have been looking all over for snacks that are healthy and in many cases actually help you loose weight. A couple of these are less of snack and more of good eating habits that can help reduce the munchies. I hope you enjoy them.



Stop Drinking Soda! Even Diet Soda!
If you drink a soda everyday, lets say a 20 oz. soda, you drink in an average of 350 calories. That's 127,750 calories a year. Cut out that soda a day (and don't replace it with anything but water) and it would be like not eating food for 42 days. Imagine how much weigh you could loose of just that! So what is up with diet sodas? Research is still out, but current findings show that diet sodas actually cause you to crave more sugary foods? Ever see the person drinking a diet soda then eating a candy bar also? There you go.

Drink More Water
In many studies of athletes, it was found that when the athlete got the munchies, the person was actually thirsty. Simply increasing the amount of water they drank, reduced the urge to snack. It was then tested on regular people. Regular people cut the urge twice as much as athletes. (I hope I didn't offend any athletes by referring to non athletes as regular people. I just could not think of a non offensive way to refer to us couch potatoes.)

Eat A Fruit And A Vegetable With Each Meal
Now when I say vegetable, I mean a real vegetable. Sorry, chocolate is not a vegetable. Neither is that frozen or canned broccoli and cheese meal. I mean and Actual vegetable like steamed broccoli. 1 cup will do just fine. And when I say fruit, I mean an apple and not canned or dried fruit soaked in sugar.

Great Snacks By Themselves
Eat a Banana, an apple, a pear, fresh cut (not ever from a can) pineapple, a carrot, 5-6 baby carrots, tomato slices with salt, 6-8 cherry tomatoes, avocado slices, and celery. Eat those when you get the munchies. Don't for get a 1/2 cup of Berries. Blue Berries, black berries, and raspberries are great. Just don't add sugar!

3/4 of a Cup of Plain or Vanilla Yogurt Topped With Fruit
Studies have shown that women in particular are more likely to loose weight when they eat a yogurt for breakfast. My wife an I find it makes a great movie snack and it also reduces are munchies craving.

Chunky Salsa
Just pour a cup into a bowl and eat it with a spoon. After all, salsa is nothing more than tasty vegetable. Watch for salsa with added sugar or high fructose corn syrup. Also, no chips though or this snack will back fire.

Smoothies
You can either use vanilla protein powder or yogurt as the base and these are great! I love them! If you make them right they can fill you up and quench that thirst!

Cereal Bars or Granola Bars
Look for the kind that are low in sugar (less than 8grams) and have 140 calories or less. These are high in fiber and tend to be high in protein.

Popcorn!
The air popped, no butter or other fat added. I have not been able to find any microwave popcorn that was healthy, if it is low in fat, they actually add high fructose corn syrup. Can you believe that? I have found many good brands that come in a bag. You'll find them next to the chips. Speaking of sugar on popcorn, caramel popcorn or Cracker Jacks don't count either.

So You Can Snack!
Eat the above items, and it can help reduce your munchies, and help you loose weight. Many of these munchies you can eat to your hearts content and stay healthy.

Get Your Rear In Gear 5k - Lots of Fun!

We Had An Early Start
It all started at 5:00 am. My wife and I got out of bed, showered and got dressed. While she showered I fed the kids, and helped them get dressed. My Eldest had to dress of her first Soccer game that would be just after the race. We had hoped to be on the road by 6:00am. We picked up my mother-in-law at 6:10am so not too bad. We didn't preregister and we wanted t-shirts, so we wanted to be one of the first one there. We made it just as they opened and got out t-shirts.


What A Lot Of Booths
I was surprised at how many booths there were. All kinds of health information booths, a booth for a gym, a day spa, and a massage place. I had to get a back massage. It was great. The race had plenty of food, water, snacks, and soda (not too healthy, but very nice), and face painting for the kids.




Inaugural Run
Since this was the first race, I didn't expect more than 100 runners. I believe they did well pas that. This event turned out to be really big! Having organized a 5k race to raise money for boy scouts, I was very impressed. Lots of volunteers, well organized, and a friendly atmosphere. My race had live music and theirs had a DJ.

The Weather Was Great!
You could not ask for better weather. I thought an 8:30 start time would be too early, but the temperature that time of the morning was perfect. I believe it was between 65 and 69 degrees. Sunny, no wind, no rain, and it was not humid. Only 60% humidity that day.


Who Was There?
Several people we expected were not able to come. All from illness. It is cold and allergy season around here and that is what kept them home. So there were 3 actually runners for our team. My wife, mother-in-law, and our friend Rayna.

Jogging For Georgia
Our team was running for our dear from Georgia Cloutier and we were running in memory of two of our dear friends that recently passed away from cancer, Karen Larsen and Marti Linford.

What About You?
Did I run? No. My wife and I have this deal worked out, I run, she watches the kids. She runs, I watch the kids. This race happened to be her turn to run, so I watched the kids. I still had fun and so did the girls.


The Kids Fun Run
I expected the fun run to be a mile. Only two of my kids wnated to run it. One of which was my 3 year old. She was a little young and small to be running a mile, so we didn't register her. Well, we go to the kids fun run finish line on a soccer filed for the start. That should have been a sign that it wasn't going to be as long as expected. They waled the kids down the field and had them run back. Each kid got a medal. My daughter that ran loved it. If I had know how long it was going to be, I would have registered my 3 year old.


The 5k Course
Of course it is in Hilly Raleigh, North Carolina. So the course was hilly. Though it was hillier than what my wife and mother-in-law expected, they really enjoyed it.

The Times
The winner of the race finished in 19:27. For a high attending 5k race, that is a slow time, but it shows the hills were a factor. My wife and her mom had hoped to finish in under 45 minutes. They finsihed in 49:48. Considering the course they did great. Oh, I must through in that my wife had the baby in a ouch and was carrying her. My wife did great!


The Age Groups
Except for the first 2 age groups, they were grouped by 10 year increments. The first two were 14 or younger, 15-19, 20 to 29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69, 70-99. I understand with smaller races why they would do age group like this. But this was a big race! I actually prefer races that do age groups by 5 years. This gives more people an opportunity to win and in my opinon is more fair. Since I have been both, there is a big difference bewteen 20 year old and a 29 year old.

Over All!
Over all the Get Your Rear In Gear 5k was a great race. If they do it again next year, we will probably be there.

Whats Next!
The Cooper River Bridge Run in Charleston South Carolina! See you there!

Best Advice Ever - Stop Whining and Do It

Top 10 Lists
It seems that every magazine has a top 10 list of what ever. I recently received an e-newsletter with a top 10 list of things to improve my running. Number 8 was the most intriguing. It was Stop Whining and Do it.

Why We Whine
First we have problem and sometimes these problems, though are actually small, at the time seem insurmountable and we need support. So we whine. Sometimes we whine out of frustration. Sometimes we loose our ability to see that everyone has problems and we whine about the grass being greener on the other side. It may be that we can't see the other persons perspective and can only see our own, so when things don't go our way, we whine. This list could go on and on.

Whining About Our Weight and Health
I hear a lot of people whine about their weight, their health, and their inability to do certain things because of their health. These people whine for many of the reasons I have listed above and it is always accompanied with a reason or frustration. "I just don't have time to exercise." "There is no way anyone could live off that little amount of food." "So and so looses weight so easily, why can't I?" All of these complaints focus on an external condition, and not on the whiner.

Be Proactive
Being proactive means to first recognize that we have more control over our situation than we dare admit, even to ourselves. Second, it means to recognize that our response to uncontrollable circumstances is just as important as the circumstance itself.

Where Is The Time
All of us have busy schedules. Work, kids, cleaning house, school, church, and the list can go on and on. The things we do take time for are the things we have decided are important. you may say "No, I go to work because I have to." That is not true, and to say that is to be reactive not proactive. What you should say is "I have a choice of weather or not I go to work. I have decided the rewards for going to work are worth more than the consequences of NOT going to work." It is the same with everything we do in life.

Make Time to Get Fit
When I look at my schedule, and then compare it with what I actually did, there is a lot of down time where I watch TV of spend too long on the computer. I have chosen to cut some of that time out and I walk and run. you don't have to do it all at once either. Do at least 30 minutes of a fitness activity a day and you will see the change.

Wanting To Look Good Is Not Enough
The hardest things to do are those we have very little motivation to do. For example, it would be very hard to go to work, if they quit paying you. Simply loosing weight so that you will look good is very hard for this reason. Unless your are a supermodel or a professional athlete, no one will pay you to loose weight or stop paying you if you don't. It has to be more than that.

Body Image Problems
People who loose weight to look better often don't keep the weight off. On reason is that don't end up with that perfect body when the weight is gone. People who are healthy and loose weight and keep it off, do not have body image problems. As soon as you are happy with yourself, regardless of what you look like (even if you are really over weight) the easier it will be to accomplish anything.

I Can Do It Now
Be proactive and start a fitness and nutrition program today. You will feel better and be healthier than you ever imagined.

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rssHugger.com
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Run Fat Boy Run

Looking For Motivation
I am always looking for good motivation to help me get my fat butt in shape. When I find this motivation I will share it. Some times I will share it even if I don't like it.

The Movie "Run Fat Boy Run"
While doing a search on NetFlix, I found the move "Run Fat Boy Run". It looked good and it sounded motivational so I got it.

Basic Movie Information
"Run Fat Boy Run" is a British romantic comedy directed by David Schwimmer, written by Michael Ian Black and Simon Pegg, and starring Pegg, Dylan Moran, Thandie Newton, Harish Patel, India de Beaufort and Hank Azaria. This film is rated PG-13 for mild language and semi nudity and (for lack of a better way to describe it) potty humor.

Plot
Dennis is distressed about getting married and leaves his pregnant fiancee at the alter. Dennis' life is down hill from there. He never finishes anything and has an excuse for everything. 5 years later Dennis is a security guard at a women's clothing store, is late and behind on his rent, and a failure of a father to his now 5 year old son. Dennis especially becomes distressed when his ex-wife gets a new boy friend. The boy friend is a successful American business man, good looking, and runs marathons for charity. Dennis has a plan to get his ex-wife back. He too is going to run a marathon. He enlists that help of his good friend Gordon (who is also his ex-wife's cousin) and his landlord, to help him get in shape. He even proposes his ideas to his ex-wife who is less than thrilled. This puts Dennis into a tail spin and quits the idea of running. Running this marathon becomes a metifor for Dennis' life. He has quite everything he starts. No Dennis' son runs away from home. This is a wake call for Dennis who decides to finish he training and run the marathon in hopes of turning his life around.

Does he finish? Does he get the girl? What about then new boy friend?

What did I think?
Simon Pegg is a hilarious and skilled actor. I was laughing through most of the movie and I especially like the ending. I saw way to many men's butt. Evey movie I seem to see with Hank Azaria (the new boyfriend) he has to have a seen where he is without any cloths. This movie is no different.