The work in the yard is an on going process.

A few pictures from today 4/13/2014

 

My wife and Dusty

 

My wife and dusty in the blue bonnets .

 

The front of out home after finishing the flower beds

 

 

Our Texas fountain and cowgirl and cowboy.

Our baby Diamond Dove has left the nest

Today the baby is two weeks old and it is already out of the nest.

My thoughts for the day 9/25/2013

I am at a point in my journey that my weight is only doing the normal day to day fluctuations, but now every few weeks to a month I am noticing changes in my body. A smaller waist, my thighs getting smaller, I have finally lost my man boobs.  I have had to learn that the NSV is more important and not to worry if I see a change of a few pounds every week. So I have started weighing myself and logging it in my journal and then average that out every few weeks. And what I am seeing is the same average within a half-pound over the last couple of months. So I have to wonder if I have hit my body’s set point or if I have just hit a plateau that is being very hard to get past. I am still eating a calorie budget that should be giving me about a half pound of weight loose per week, and it does not seem that it matters that much anymore how much I exercise, but I know I have to exercise because if I do not my blood pressure goes up.

If I have hit my set point that is great and if at some point I start to drop a little more weight that is also OK. I believe that I am doing what is right for my health and fitness and that is all that really matters to me anymore.

Meet Dusty she is our new Min Pin.

Meet Dusty she is our new Min Pin.

What I have learned from my journey to health and fitness.

As I was doing my morning walk this morning I was thinking about what I have learned over the last 32 months of my journey to better health and fitness. I know what I am about to say is going to rub some of you the wrong way, but I hope it will make you do some thinking about your own journey.

When I started my journey I was like everyone else I was looking at the finish line that golden weight goal and also the golden rule of the BMI numbers. But I have come to understand that they are just that numbers, and now I use them as reference and nothing else. What is most important and what is my goal now is the bottom line:

·         Are my lab results all in the healthy range for me and my age? (This is the most important of all)

·         Am I eating a balanced diet? (The most important thing here is it a diet that is suited for me, and the way to know that is with your lab results and your blood pressure, and your physical health)

·         Am I exercising enough to keep myself healthy and fit? (The key here is am I doing the exercise that is best suited for me at my age and my capability)

·         Am I able to keep a stable weight? (This means that my weight is stable and I am not fluctuating, more than what is normal from day to day)

·         Am I keeping my blood pressure within a safe range that keeps me healthy?

·         Am I able to handle the stress in my life? (I have found that as long as I exercise most days of the week, I eat correctly, and I get enough sleep nightly; that my stress is well under control.

·         Am I socializing with friends and family as much as I should? (This is very important for overall health, fitness, and mental health)

If you eat a healthy balanced diet and you keep your intake at the correct level for you and you exercise your body will seek and level out at a weight that is correct for your body make up.  Will this level be your goal weight or within the BMI chart range? (Who Knows?) I have come to realize that I do not need to worry about that, all I need to know I is answered by a yes of the seven questions above.   As my doctor even said the BMI calculation is just a reference and it is incorrect for more people that it is correct for. Also we have some engraved ideas in our head of what we should really weight and at least for me it was close to what I am weighing now. The rule that I was given by one of my first doctors was, if you were healthy and fit at 21 and 22 years old that is a fairly good reference point of what your weight should be. As we age we lose muscle and that muscle is normally replaced with fat cells. So we need to stay active and move a lot and it is a good idea to do some weight training exercises. I do not wish to be some hulk but adding muscle does mean that you burn fat easier and that you have more strength and better fitness.

So what I have learned is simple and complicated at the same time:  Eat a balanced diet that your body needs, control your portions, exercise most days of the week, give yourself time to recover from the exercises, know your numbers of your lab results, know and monitor your blood pressure, socialize with friend and family, sleep at least 7 hours a night, and keep your life as free of stress as is possible.

The Newest member of our Family

This is Dusty Caroline the newest member of the our family. She is 5 weeks old now and is a Min Pin.

She will be coming to us from South Carolina.