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February 2018

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Three Things I Can’t Live Without When On a Weight Loss Plan

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“You can’t manage what you don’t measure.” – Peter Drucker

Even though Peter Drucker was a marketing guru, his quote can work in the world of weight loss too. If you don’t take measurements or pictures for that matter, it can make it hard to manage your weight loss. It can make a difference in your  journey to release weight. You won’t know how your body responds to different foods. Some people can eat rice all day long, but some of us can gain weight if we do. If you don’t know what your starting point is and don’t track your measurements along the way, it will be hard to see the progress. Progress can be slow and if you know that your scale is reading the same number but your hips lost an inch, it can make all the difference. If you know you lost an inch then you will be less likely to give up if you see the scale hasn’t moved.

It is up to you how often you weigh and measure your progress. Getting on the scale EVERY DAY (which I am SO guilty of doing) can sometimes mess with your head as it is normal for your weight to fluctuate a little bit from day to day due to many factors (ex: that time of the month for ladies is when you can retain water and causes your weight to increase 1-2 lbs).

Generally once a week is an acceptable frequency to weigh in. You could also do once every two weeks or once a month. Whatever you feel is best. But I would do a weigh in and measurements at least once a month to stay on track. When you weigh and measure, do so on the same day of the week, at the same time of day. Preferably right after you wake up in the morning, naked, and after using the restroom.

These are the typical measurements that I take. You can do more or less:

Chest: Just below the armpit. You can measure directly under your breasts, as high up as possible.

Bust: Measure all the way around your bust and back on the line of your nipples. I usually do chest only. 

Waist: The narrow part of your torso, typically right above your hip bone.

Hips: The widest part of your hip bones.

Thigh/Leg: Measure around fullest part of upper leg while standing. This is typically right under the gluteal fold for me.

Arm: I measure where the largest circumference is. This is optional, but I do it as I have a lot of fat here so I measure this area.

You can also measure above the knee, above the elbow, and around the calves. You can pretty much measure anywhere as long as you are consistent with where you measure. Also while measuring the chest, bust, or waist, I measure at the end of a normal exhale.

I use a digital measuring tape to help make my measurements consistent and easy to take. This is easier for me rather than using a regular measuring tape. I feel like my measurements are a little more consistent. This is one that I use:

Weight: I measure in lbs. with a digital scale. I highly recommend a digital scale for the most accuracy. There are many different types out there but you don’t need anything too fancy. This one has worked well for me:

Body Fat %: I use a handheld body fat monitor. This may not be exact like a “Bod Pod” or hydrostatic static weighing. But it was actually not too far off from my “Bod Pod” measurement and it way is cheaper and more convenient. After inputting my stats such as weight, age, etc., I use the device to get three readings total and use the average of the three. I like this one:

You can also get a scale that measures body fat % built in. This one appears to be a Best Seller on Amazon:

I know that the body fat calipers are supposedly more accurate but I’ve never been able to do it correctly. They are a bit tricky for me but feel free to use it if it works for you.

If you are taking measurements, it is very helpful to make a graph with them so that you can see your progress over time.

What are your favorite measurement tools? I’d love to hear from you!

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In Mom Life

Have You Talked to Your Kids About This?

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After last week’s sad and tragic event that was the school shooting at a high school in Florida, I got to thinking about how I was going to talk with my kids about the incident. I have four kids ages 14, 11, 8, and 6. Even though I think that it most likely won’t happen at my kids’ schools, the reality is that you just never know what can happen.

I’m sure those families thought the same thing. That those types of things only happen to other people. I knew I had to start opening up a dialogue with all of my kids, even my 6 year old, about the possibility of something like a school shooting or a shooting anywhere for that matter. I knew I needed to research what to tell them to do if they or we find ourselves in the situation of an active shooter nearby.

Of course if you have really young children, there may not be much you can talk to them about so as not to scare them or overwhelm them because they just may not understand. I will give suggestions of what to do for those with children most likely 5 years and up that attend school.

Here are things I did to help my kids feel more prepared if they came across an “active shooter” situation:

First find out if the school has any type of Active Shooter Emergency Plan: Do they have practice drills?  How often? Does it involve just teachers or students as well? This is what our local school district stated regarding that:

“We have proactive plans and procedures to protect our students. We frequently conduct practice drills and constantly improve measures for responding to emergency situations. We work closely with area law enforcement to continuously review, evaluate and strengthen security at our schools.” -Wake County Public Schools. 

It also states that each school practices a “code red” every year which is a full lock down if there is a shooter inside the school. It also stated that each school has several cameras. Our elementary school, as most of the schools in our district, has locked doors at all times. Visitors have to be “buzzed in” to the front office after staff looks at you through their camera. It is a pain at times, but I am glad we have it. You then have to sign in on the computer after scanning your driver’s license. You get your picture taken and then wear a printable badge identifying yourself and why you are there. Then you can exit through another set of doors into the school building where the classes are. I feel like this is a fairly secure system.

The only issue is that I know that this isn’t consistent for all schools in our district. My child used to go to a local public middle school nearby that is several years old. There is no “buzzing in” to the office nor are all the doors locked at all times to all the buildings since it is set up like a college campus where you have to walk outside into different buildings for your classes several times a day. It is definitely not a secure environment in my opinion. My middle schoolers now go to a secured private school with security similar to our elementary school.

On the bright side, the new schools that are being built in our area, are being built with the more secure system. But at the same time, our current elementary school is currently building 8-9 classroom trailers due to overcrowding. I’m worried that now it will be less secure than being in a classroom inside the main building.

Discuss the Run, Hide, Fight plan:

This is a great video detailing what to do if there is an active shooter in the school. These same principles can be applied to situations outside the school, like in a mall, movie theater or other place of public gathering.

Bullet Proof backpacks: Some people have even gone as far as purchasing bulletproof backpacks or inserts for their children. While I don’t think it would hurt to purchase them as an extra tool of protection, the best thing for protection is prevention, frequent training of teachers and staff as well as frequent drills for students.

See something. Say something: If your child hears or sees something at school or on social media that sounds like someone is thinking of bringing a gun or a weapon somewhere, they need to tell you or a teacher. Even if they think the person is just joking, tell them to report it anyways. It is better to be safe than sorry.

Teach your kids to always be aware of their surroundings in school and public places: I know I am guilty of staring down at my phone while walking and not being fully aware of my surroundings. In addition, always notice where the closest exit is when inside a public building.

Follow your instincts: You hear often of people’s instincts alerting them to something not being quite right and their hair standing up on the back of their neck, for example. Or they get an uneasy feeling. Tell your children that if something doesn’t seem right, pay attention to it and tell an adult.

Use a code word: I will admit that at times, when we are in public, my kids don’t always listen to me the first time when I tell them it’s time to go. They are more of the “dawdling” type and move slowly. Choose a code word if there is potential danger that signals them there is danger and you need to move quickly.

Those are a few of the ideas I learned about active shooter situations. I am glad I was able to have the conversation with them today so they can be a little more prepared in the rare event they find themselves in this situation.

Have you talked to your kids about what to do in this situation? Any good suggestions or tips you want to share?

 

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In Travel

Three Things I LOVE about New York City

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I have recently returned from my 4th visit to the great city of New York. This time, I brought my almost 12 year old (Tween). As mentioned in a previous post, one of the ways I like to share bonding moments with each of my kids, is to take them on a one-on-one weekend trip. Just the two of us. They get to choose where, but the rules are that it has to be somewhere in the continental United States (not Hawaii or Alaska). My daughter chose to visit New York City.

My last trip to NYC was when my older daughter was 12 years old, a couple years ago. We took our trip with Adventures by Disney which was great because everything is planned out including most meals and transportation.  It was low stress.

This trip, I planned it all on my own so it took quite a bit more work. We did some of the same things as my last trip like the 9/11 Museum, the One World Observatory, the Tenement Museum, etc. But we also threw in a few new things such as being an audience member for a live TV show, taking a walking food tour, and attending a fashion show since it was New York Fashion Week. I decided to make a list of the top 3 things I love about NYC.

Things I LOVE about New York City:

  1. The Food! Everything I ate in NYC was so good. From the bagels, to the white pizza, to the pirogies. It was a smorgasbord of deliciousness from different cultures and countries.
  2. The Architecture! I love looking at the ornately designed, hundred plus year old buildings juxtaposed with the newer, modern, sleek buildings.
  3. The Entertainment! There is so much to do in NYC such as watching a Broadway play, catching a fashion show, or seeing characters re-enact the life of those who once lived in tenement housing.

I created a video of the highlights of our trip here:

If you haven’t been to New York City. I highly recommend going but make sure you do your planning before hand. Especially when it comes to using the subway. I’ll admit, I did get on the wrong subway a couple of times but I did better than I thought I would overall with getting around town.

Since only 4 of the 6 people in my family have visited New York City, I will now have to start planning another trip for all of us to enjoy!

What is your favorite thing about New York City? What should we do or see on our next visit? Let us know by commenting below!

 

 

 

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In Travel

What Is Your Favorite Island In The Bahamas? Try This One…

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Many have visited popular islands in the Bahamas such as Nassau, Grand Bahama, Paradise Island, Castaway Cay, and others. Each one has their own unique character. I recently visited a quaint little place called Spanish Wells. It is actually located on a small island called St. George’s Cay.

According to Wikipedia it is: “2,000 ft wide by 9,380 ft long, located approximately 500 m (1,600 ft) off the northern tip of Eleuthera island. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 1,551 residents. Spanish Wells is extended, however, by a bridge that links it to neighboring Russell Island, which is 5.8 km (3.6 mi) long and has become an integral part of the community.[3]Spanish Wells is so small that many residents get around the island using golf carts instead of full-sized cars. The first colonists were the Eleutheran adventurers from Bermuda (intending to be some of the first settlers of Eleuthera), who suffered shipwreck on a reef, known as the “Devil’s Backbone” off Eleuthera in 1647. After living in a cave known as “Preacher’s Cave” on Eleuthera, they ended up at Spanish Wells. Among other, later, groups of settlers were Crown loyalists, who left the United States after the American Revolutionary War. Historically, the island was used as a last stop for Spanish ships returning to Europe, where these ships refilled their water supply from wells created for this purpose – thus the English name of the settlement: Spanish Wells.”

My husband, Donnie, and I celebrated our 19th anniversary in December 2017. We like to go on an Anniversary/Planning trip each year right after the New Year. We make our goals and plans for 2018 while on this trip. We also do fun stuff and just take time to connect.

My husband, the pilot and entrepreneur, had been wanting to fly his TBM 700 (six seater, turbo prop) to the Bahamas for a while so we decided to give it a go. There was only one requirement: he had to do a trial run first. Being that it was going to be his first time flying his own plane (he’s flown international before as an Air Force Reserve pilot on KC-135’s) to the Bahamas and over open water, I didn’t want to be the guinea pig. Since he had to do his annual recurrent training anyway, he took his instructor, Brett, along to North Eleuthera which is next to Spanish Wells to kill two birds with one stone.

For an open water trip, there are a few essentials that he had to secure before taking the flight. To be prepared, he purchased a Garmin In Reach Explorer beacon. It has satellite coverage for 2 way texting from anywhere, tracks your location every 10 minutes, and has an SOS trigger that has a direct link to the search and rescue center. We also had to get an inflatable water-activated life raft, as well as life vests. He also had to familiarize himself with customs procedures for entering the countries, getting a customs decal for the aircraft as well as filing the flight plan as usual. We also made sure to bring extra cash to tip the airport employees for their services. It is always a good thing to show appreciation to the people taking care of your aircraft. In addition, a lot of foreign countries don’t use credit cards in many areas, especially on smaller islands, and getting to an ATM can sometimes be a challenge.

Fortunately, Donnie’s training flight went well without any issues so I felt more confident flying with him over the ocean. I am not a fan of flying and I’m always a bit anxious, especially when we fly our plane because I am not a pilot. If something happens to my husband, Donnie, while in flight, I have to know what to do. I try to learn as much as I can each time I get in the cockpit. I do have plans to get some training in case of an emergency. I won’t get my license per se, as that would require me to fly a solo flight which I do not want to do.

My husband has the best training in the world from his time in the Air Force and he has kept up with his training on his airplane, way above the minimum required by the FAA so I know he is a great pilot but I still get anxious, regardless.

There were many storm clouds we had to fly around so our decent into North Eleuthera airport was a bit bumpy. Of course the view was beautiful. A few airlines such as United, Delta, and Jet Blue have flights that go into North Eleuthera, the closest airport to Spanish Wells.

The owner and caretakers of the cottage arranged for a taxi to take us to the ferry where we then took a 5-10 minute ferry ride to St. George’s Island where Spanish Wells is located.

Once we arrived at the dock in Spanish Wells, the caretaker picked us up and drove us a short ways to the cottage. The location was amazing…the beach is protected by a reef and the depth of the ocean floor is only about 4 feet max for a long ways out, making it ideal for kids and families. I knew the water would be cold in January but the air temps were also chilly, in the low to mid 60’s, cloudy, rainy and gusty for much of the time so even sitting out on the beach wasn’t really an option. We just had back luck with the weather.

The cottage we rented was a 1 bedroom with a loft that slept about 6 people total. It had a kitchen with pretty much had everything you would need. It also had amazing views of the ocean.

We were hungry since we didn’t eat or drink much the whole day. We try not to eat or drink much the morning of our flight since our plane doesn’t have a bathroom and we knew the flight was going to be two and a half to three hours long.

We rented a golf cart since that is the most common form of transportation there although some still drive vehicles. We rode over to Wreckers, an outdoor restaurant on the harbor side of the island. Most of the restaurants are outdoor there with little to no indoor seating. The BBQ nachos were yummy!

We went to the only grocery store on the island, Food Fair, to get a few things. It had limited hours and limited food. It closed at 12p on Wednesdays. Pretty much everything other than fish, conch, or lobster has to be imported so options were limited. The produce looked bleak and the selection was small. There was no milk at all the entire time we were there and we went to the store 2-3 times while there. There was no deli or bakery, although there was a shelf where you could buy home-baked goods from the locals. Darlene & Skeeter made some really good sweet breads.

The next morning, we did our “vacation workout” that included sit-ups, push-ups, squats, bent over row, and a run on the beach.

Later we went to eat at Eagle’s Landing, one of the only indoor restaurants on the island. We tried the conch fritters and the conch chowder. It was so good that we ordered them the other two times we went there to eat.

Since this trip was a planning trip, we spent most of our day making goals for 2018. Due to the poor weather, we stayed indoors most of the time. So when we went out, it was pretty much to eat. Donnie also got me a massage appointment with the local masseuse (probably the only one) in town.

Our cottage came with kayaks and bikes. Since the water was too rough to kayak, the next day we decided to take a bike ride for our workout of the day. Sorry I don’t have any pictures of the bike ride as I didn’t have anywhere to put my camera. We biked over a bridge that lead to another island, Russell Island. This island was similar in size but less developed. It was mostly land for sale and homes, one makeshift store and one restaurant, The Sandbar. It was VERY hilly for a cruiser bike so after an hour, I was exhausted. Workout was done for the day!

We wanted to go on a boat tour but due to the weather and rough water, we had to sideline it for this trip. We want to return when it’s warmer to try to swim with the pigs, snorkel for huge star fish, deep sea fish, spear fish, reef fish, bone fish, tour nearby islands, see turtles, scuba dive.

After our bike ride, it was time to…you guessed it. Eat. For lunch, this time we tried out the Shipyard.

Later for dinner, we went back to Eagle’s Landing to get some conch fritters and conch chowder again. We stopped at the store again and then spent the rest of the day planning. We tried to get ice cream at Eagle’s but they ran out. The other ice cream place, Papa Scoops, was only open from 730-1030p at night and it wasn’t time to open yet. So we stopped at the Generation Gap restaurant and got some chocolate lasagna. It was pretty good.

The next day, we did our vacation work out in the living room of our cottage again. Then we got ready to go…eat. We went back to Wrecker’s, where we ate on the first day since the food was pretty good.

We did some more planning and then packed up for our departure the next day.

The next morning we drove our cart to the dock and then loaded onto the ferry to do the same thing in reverse. We had to go through customs again on the way out. Then we loaded the plane and took off. Weather was much better and smoother this time. We flew to Wilmington where there was only one employee to process customs which took 5 minutes and then flew back to Raleigh.

I would call our first flight to the Bahamas a success. We look forward to coming back and also checking out many of the other islands. Even though the food was really good, I like Spanish Wells because it has a calm, quiet, laid back charm. I feel that it is a very safe oasis in the Bahamas compared to the bigger islands. The beach where our cottage was located would be great for families with children because the water is relatively shallow, clear, and calm. Not to mention riding in a golf cart is a blast, especially for kids! Everything is so close and just a few minutes ride on the golf cart. There are so many things to do.  We plan to go back to experience all the water activities when it gets warmer and to eat some more conch chowder!

What is your favorite island in the Bahamas and why? Comment below.

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