I Want To Be My Valentine

I like to remind myself on Valentine's Day, that the #1 person to love is myself.  Now is the time to be focused on putting the right foods in my body, exercising and getting the right amount of sleep.  I know without taking the steps to insure my health is intact I can't possibly be there for the Valentine's in my life.  So today, I won't treat myself to a box of chocolate's as they are full of saturated fat, which is completely the opposite of loving myself.  Instead, I will melt down some 70% chocolate chips in my microwave, and I will dip them in some strawberries. I am so grateful for the education I have received in the past few years when it comes to what I put in my body.

A few tidbits about having those chocolate dipped strawberries.....

1) Dark Chocolate has been shown in studies to lower blood pressure
2) Dark Chocolate has been shown in studies that it lowers your bad cholesterol LDL
3) Contains Serotonin, a natural mood-boosting anti-depressant
4) Stimulates endorphins

5) The saturated fats in dark chocolate do not elevate cholesterol levels

6) Dark chocolate is hearty in antioxidants

Team that up with Strawberries:

1) A cup of strawberries is approximately 50 calories

2) Strawberries are a natural source of Folate & Potassium

3) Strawberries are an excellent source of Dietary Fiber & Vitamin C 

4) Strawberries are an excellent source of Maganese which utilizes several key nutrients, keeping your 

bones strong and healthy, helping your body to synthesize fatty acids and cholesterol, helps maintain normal blood sugar levels , promotes optimal function of your thyroid gland, maintains the health of your nerves and protects your cells from free-radical damage.

So today I toast my Valentine with Dark Chocolate dipped strawberries.  2 tbs of 70% dark chocolate  teamed up with a cups worth of organic strawberries.  Total calories on this plate of strawberries made in 2 minutes by me, 190 calories.  

Here is some typical other Valentine's Day choices:

2 Hershey kisses: 50 cal / 2 gm fat

1 Dark chocolate dipped strawberry = 48 cal / 2 gm fat (not homemade!)

1 Lindt truffle = 80 cal / 6 gm fat

1 Godiva truffle = 110 cal / 13 gm fat

1 Godiva liquer truffle = 100 cal / 7 gm fat

1 small piece of chocolate fudge (1 piece, .6oz) = 70 calories, 1.8g fat 

Chocolate martini (1) = 438 calories, 20g fat 

1 pound box of chocolate = 1400 calories

I have many Valentine's in my life with my husband and family, but I am staying focused on #1, just as the flight attendant says, "put your oxygen mask on first, before helping others".  I am taking care of #1 so I can love the ones that love me.

Happy Valentine's Day to YOU!!

Ups N Downs N Ups Again

My husband said, "write your blog", "make a post", reach out!  I have had such a hard time writing anything lately, shown obviously by my lack of post.    Here it is "66" days till my return to Fitness Ridge, and as I sit here I have not had the number go down in the last 2 weeks.  I eat good, and see the scale drop a few pounds as it did when I did the jump start with Cinch.  Then I go back and do my best to eat right, and succeed pretty much.  If I was on a maintaining program I would be golden.  But I am still trying to shrug off the pounds that continue to haunt me.  I spoke of this year being the year that I get a emotional understanding of my lifestyle.  Its obvious I can work out and eat right, its been documented within this blog.  Its discovering my pitfalls and reconstructing how I deal with things that I need to work on.

I am taking everything I have learned from my daughter, the Cinch plan and more and am now doing a new program.  For the first time in my life I feel as though I can succeed and work with this for my life!  I will share my information but not till it proves me great success.  All I can say about it right now is that for the first time in my life I am soooooo excited about what I am doing and feel it will keep me from falling into my previous traps during times of stress and anxiety.  I believe that I can live with the structure of what I am doing for the rest of my life, which I hope to be many many decades from now!

I must address my knee problems and try and get moving more.  Going outside is not an option right now with 3 feet of snow surrounding the curbs of my neighborhood.  I have been nagged off the treadmill due to my pain and am trying to gain strength through my elliptical.  I thank those of you that have commented and give me advise, as life is all trial and error.  I think I have learned that I forever am trying to improve on what I am, both physically, mentally and spiritually.

Today I send out this blog post as I struggle to stay in check and improve on myself.  I am a little more than a month away from my first goal of the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame Inductions, and I hope to be in the 160's when I am there.  So starting immediately, I am going to change that word "hope" into "I will" be in the 160's by then.  Thanks for reading, sharing and being patient with me at my time of struggles.  I will come out of this a winner, but I feel it is important to share my struggles too.  And thanks to my husband Alan for pushing me to write today.

Here's to being a more positive person and making it happen!