January 18, 2009

Whether you call it a resolution or a goal or whatever, I know that many of us – most of us – are trying to eat better this New Year. I certainly am trying to. I wonder how you're all doing so far now that we're a little over 2 weeks into January?

For me, the first step toward a healthful day of eating is a great breakfast followed by a second great breakfast! First breakfast on weekdays is always a 6 am smoothie made with vitamin powder, ground flax seed, unsweetened vanilla Almond Breeze, a splash of juice (orange or cranberry usually), and frozen blueberries and strawberries. That's it. I whip it up in my new pink KitchenAid blender and I'm set for 3 hours.

Second breakfast is around 9 or 9:30 and is a serving of McCann's Quick Cooking Irish Oatmeal nuked in the office microwave. I do splurge and put a pat of real butter (gasp) on it. I heard from our Aunt C that her daughter-in-law puts a drizzle of olive oil on her oatmeal, so I tried it today, and it wasn't bad!  It needed a dash of salt, but I think I could get used to it.   Weekend breakfasts may have a little more variety since the time crunch isn't in turbo mode. I might skip the smoothie and have a banana, and then later have a couple of scrambled eggs on wheat toast. No matter what though, I never skip breakfast.

We've all heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and I totally believe that to be true. Without a breakfast of some kind to get your body going and rev up your metabolism, you start the day out sluggish and droopy. It's been shown that kids who eat breakfast do better in school and tend to be healthier overall. And did you know that eating breakfast will actually help you lose weight? We might think that skipping a meal saves those calories and that we're ahead of the game, but that isn't only untrue, it has just the opposite effect. Want more info? Check out this WebMD article on losing weight by eating breakfast.

I hear all of you out there saying “I'm not hungry in the morning so I've never been able to eat breakfast.”  I found some interesting info on WikiHow that will tell you how to change that, and show you how to feel like eating breakfast.  Just because you haven't been a breakfast eater in the past doesn't mean that you can't become one!  Maybe the solution is something as simple as changing what you perceive breakfast food to be.  You don't have to eat cereal or eggs; anything that you enjoy for dinner or lunch can become breakfast.  I went to RecipeZaar and searched for breakfast, and found 1970 recipes!  There has to be *something* there that you would enjoy eating in the morning!

Vegetarian Big Breakfast (Flickr photo by Ellesil)

LilSis, I know that love of breakfast is something that you and I share, along with Big T!  I still remember that great breakfast he made for me and SisMama and all of you when we were visiting last June…biscuits, roasted potatoes, fruit salad, and eggs with mushrooms and asparagus!  There's something really awesome about someone making you breakfast, don't you think?  What's your favorite breakfast, LilSis?

~BigSis

December 28, 2008

It's definitely a busy time of the year and we all have more to do than usual. When I'm feeling overwhelmed and stressed, it is even more important to make sure that I exercise every day. On the days when I may not want to go to the gym or if it's not nice enough outdoors to go for a run, our new Wii Fit game is going to make it so much more fun to do something at home. I've never been good about doing exercise videos at home, so having a Wii fit game that can help me is great. Even if you don't have a Wii at home, you can use an emulator similar to the Dolphin iOS emulator to turn your phone into a Wii console! If this is something you're interested in, you can learn how to install dolphin emulator here. Not only is it great for keeping you fit but it makes a great Christmas gift!

The Wii Fit is really an amazing game! Thanks Bo for the great Christmas gift! I'm not going to lie, I was a bit skeptical about this game at first, but once I realized how popular it was amongst people who enjoy playing the Nintendo Wii, I just knew that I had hit the jackpot. I would even go as far as saying that it's on the same level as these options for wii games download because these are very enjoyable too. My friends are just some of the people that would know how good these games are. So, we couldn't wait to get stuck into the Wii Fit. On Christmas Day, we all took turns getting weighed and getting our BMI calculated. (Sounds like fun, huh?)

I intentionally have not stepped on a scale in a long time. And, I really had no intention of doing so on Christmas Day after a week of parties and overindulging. So, when we got the Wii Fit, HayHay persuaded me to get on the balance board. Not only does it weigh you very precisely, it also calculates your BMI. First, you take a body test and go through a few balance tests that enables the Wii Fit to calculate your BMI and your Wii Fit Age. (And it also tells you if you're overweight.) If you're not happy with your weight or your BMI, you can set a goal and track your progress daily. Visit the Nintendo site to check it out!

Once you start training, you can choose from yoga, balance games, strength training or aerobics. I had a friend from my yoga class tell me that the yoga on Wii Fit was really hard and she was right! It's really good and the hula hoop is a hoot! I think HayHay and BigT like the snow skiing the best.

My BMI was good, but I've set a goal to lose a little weight. I've recorded my goal on the Wii Fit and am now putting it in black and white so the pressure is on! My first New Year's Resolution is to lose five pounds in the next month.

If I crank up my regular exercise routine and add some fun aerobics from Wii Fit, I'm hoping, and praying, that I can accomplish this goal.

~LilSis

October 11, 2008

I am happy to say that we earned almost $400.00 today from our Rummage Sale/Bake Sale to benefit Komen San Diego Race for the Cure. My team members showed up with an amazing assortment of baked goods and loads and loads of items for the rummage sale.  I had tremendous help! Most of the team members arrived at the “crack of dawn” to help me set up and stayed for the duration all the way to the point of loading up what was left to haul off to their charity of choice.

My rice krispie treats turned out fine, even though at one point, I was unsure about how the German Chocolate Treats were going to turn out. They looked like a bit of a mess when I was trying to mix.

Sticky Mess!

I made three different kinds, the rice krispie recipe with mini chocolate chips on top, plain rice krispie treats with pink sprinkles on top, and the German Chocolate treats made with the Cocoa Pebbles, coconut, and pecan. Here's what they looked like before cut up.

Three batches before cut up.

Here they are wrapped and ready to go!

We had such a great assortment of goodies.  We had marvelous homemade carmel apples, really nicely decorated pretzel rods, lovely brownies, donuts, cookies, and more.

Beautifully Wrapped Carmel Apples

Krispie Treats & Pink Ribbon Cookies

I loved the Pretzel Rods made by J.

Starbucks donated a large container of coffee, cups and stirrers.

Coffee Table

We're excited about our upcoming Race on November 2, 2008.  If you are interested in participating in a Race for the Cure in your area, it's not too late. Just visit the Susan G. Komen for the Cure website to find the location and date in your area.

~LilSis

October 9, 2008

Since I'm Captain of our team for the Komen San Diego Race for the Cure, I've volunteered to have a Rummage Sale/Bake Sale at my house on Saturday morning.  Garage Sales, I can do.  But Bake Sales?  I'm out of my league!! This is just another time when I wish I lived closer to SisMama and BigSis!

Last year, BigSis held a Bake Sale at her office to benefit Share our Strength, an organization working to end childhood hunger all over the country. The Great American Bake Sale was also supported by Food Network. BigSis raised approximately $1200 with the baked goods made by her, SisMama, and her co-worker, K. I know BigSis and SisMama worked for weeks baking and freezing goodies to prepare for their sale. It was a huge success!!

I sure could use their help now.  I'm not a baker and everyone knows that I'm not a baker, so I'll probably end up making rice krispie treats!  Luckily, I have alot of team members contributing baked goods for the Sale.  All proceeds will go to our team goal for the Komen San Diego Race for the Cure.

~LilSis