Who Do You Know That Eats An Apple A Day?

In case you were wondering, I have been doing the Friday dance all day. It’s been a good day, I walked, it’s quiet and productive and I have a nice weekend planned.

Tonight, I am having dinner with my folks, then a bunch of friends are gathering together at David’s house so it should be fun. I can’t be out too late though because tomorrow, I have to get up bright and early. My Dad, Oma and I are headed to Chattanooga to hang with our family. I will get to see my Grandma and Brenda! I will also get to see my Great Aunt Allie and some others so it should be fun. There will be food and pool time so it will be a good time. I am ALSO going to hang out with my friend from Spalding, Colleen. She is a librarian at UTC so we are going to grab some late night food. It will be cool to catch up.

I wanted to tell you about a new snack...




These are Quaker Rice Snacks and they are very tasty. I know when you think rice cake, you don’t think to yourself, “MMMMM...sounds delicious,” but they are actually kind of delicious. Maybe my taste buds have changed. I currently have the ranch and the vanilla crème brulee which both make for convenient snacks and they are only one point. I’m not sure how the other flavors taste, but I’m sure they make for a nice snack too. My mom said that Orville Redenbacher makes a caramel flavored popcorn cakes that she really likes, so I may try those too. I’m not sure how they are in points but I’m sure it’s not that much different.

I am not sure if my weight will go down after this week. I kind of cheated this morning and weighed and it looks like I’m going to be about the same. That is sort of expected because as I’m sure you remember, I’ve been cheating on Saturdays for a few weeks. I knew that July would be like this, it’s no surprise and now that I’m going to Chattanooga this weekend and I just found out that next weekend, Colbie Caillat is coming to Birmingham, I don’t anticipate much losing in my near future. That’s OK...as long as I don’t gain...I should be fine for when I start being more strict again in August. I have been thinking a lot about health and dieting lately. There has been much to think about. There are certain diseases that run in my family like diabetes and high blood pressure. There are certain symptoms that come with these two things that you may be aware of if you’ve been diagnosed or if you’ve seen trends of those symptoms (ie...you know your BP is high when your head hurts a certain way). Even though you may be able to feel certain symptoms of these things, most of the time, you won’t know that it’s not just a headache or not just that you have to use the bathroom all the time...you might have a serious problem. I have been getting checkups at the doctor for years now and I get them every 6 months or so they can check my thyroid level. If I didn’t have hypothyroidism, I don’t know if I’d be going to the doctor for checkups at all. I think it is SO important that you go to the doctor at LEAST once a year and tell him what’s going on. You have even more of a reason to do this if you have a history in your family or within yourself of medical problems. The reason that high blood pressure and diabetes are so deadly is that many people walk around with them and have no idea that anything is really wrong with them. I have a friend who was feeling tired all of the time and his mother finally made him check his blood sugar because she is a diabetic and it was so high, her machine couldn’t read it. Once he finally got to the doctor, it was over 700. If you know anything about blood sugar, you know that’s astronomical. He is lucky to still be here. I am really not trying to sound preachy but taking care of yourself is SO important. I haven’t always taken care of myself and the difference is noticeable. I am just a believer that if you don’t care of yourself, it’s hard to take care of the ones you love. I will get off my soapbox now because I know that you have to prepare yourself mentally to do the things that you know you need to do. I have been yoyo-ing for years and so I know how it feels but I hope that this will be the last time I try to get my life together. I hope things only continue to get better from here.

I don’t know why I decided to go against my cheerful Friday spirit and rant but I guess I have been thinking a lot lately and if you know me, I have pretty extreme anxiety worrying about the people I love the most, so it’s just concern. I am by no means perfect, I imagine that there will be some rule breaking the next two days but I guess that’s the point too. Nobody is perfect. You are going to make mistakes...but does that mean you should make no effort at all? I know I’ve had that mindset before. Anyway, I hope you have a safe, wonderful weekend!

“I've spent half my lifetime
watching time go by
And wonderin' where it went
And when I try to fall asleep at night
I lay there feeling spent
Contemplating what the next day's
Gonna hold for me
Tossing, turning
My mind is churning
thoughts won't let me be
Every morning meets me
With a list of all I have to do
And every evening greets me
With the knowledge that I'm never through
And every taste of success
Makes me vow to never fail
Feels like I just chase my tail.” Something More-Ginny Owens