I can admit failure

So, I set some Anticancer goals in the beginning of the month, and I'm doing just okay. The book says that it is important to get fruits and vegetables any way you can. I have definitely done that by making sure I have some with every single meal. The book gets into how some are best eaten raw or prepared a certain way, but also states that any vegetable or fruit is better than none at all. I'm pleased to say I've been doing that- and skipping potatoes.

The green tea goal is going awesome. I love it! I don't miss coffee at all. A couple times this past week, Mike and I went out and had some coffee in the afternoon. It's just something we like to do once in a while together, especially when it's cold. It's important to me that I still allow myself to do things that make me happy.

Here comes the failure part: Soda. What a nightmare for me to get rid of! I've cut back, but not enough to make me happy. Not only will I drink it on its own, but I like to have rum and coke at night after a tough day (I think that was 3 days last week). I drink water all day and when I get home, I am looking for something else. Red wine contains resveratrol, which protects healthy cells from aging and slows cancer growth (slowing growth means that you should not drink red wine if you are pregnant). You can only have 1 glass per night, or it can actually increase your risk of cancer. Maybe I should try that?

I'm not going to push the soda thing. I will do a little at a time, and I know that I will get there eventually. Since taking away soda is not working, I am going to drink one glass of red wine each night 3 nights per week, and that should FORCE me to cut back on soda even more. Let's see how that works.

I also need to start working out more. I was feeling bad until I read that shoveling snow can burn up to 300 calories an hour! Getting back to the gym might be next month's goal. After all, according to this Time article, attendance at the gym should be back to normal by mid- February.

Also, I found this article online. Very interesting:

The 7 foods experts won't eat

Who can finish this line?

I love when I am reminded of very funny stories that I nearly had forgotten. This memory is so funny to me, but you really had to be there to get it. It popped into my head the other day, and I was laughing hysterically for 15 minutes, by myself, of course. Unfortunately, I tried to explain the story to others, and they thought it was funny, but they couldn't really appreciate the humor of it. For those of you few friends who were there, finish this line and I dare you not to laugh!:

Boy, put dat rock down 'bfoe ya hurt yourself...

Snow Day!

I've never seen this much snow come down in one storm and so fast! I measured the snow about an hour before it stopped, so I would guess we got about 20 inches.

Somewhere, under all of this snow, is my car.

Willie loves the snow! He would probably stay out in it all day if I let him. He takes huge bunny hops through the snow, and it doesn't bother him one bit that the snow is over his head. As you can see from the pictures, this boy loves to dig.

These are just some more pictures of our snowy home.

New Year's Resolution

Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.

~Oprah Winfrey

Has anyone else watched OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network) yet? It looks like it will be so good!

Whenever I get the time to sit down and watch an episode of Oprah, it always inspires me to better myself in some way. I was disappointed to hear that she was ending her show, but thrilled to see she would have her OWN network. Oprah's commitment to self-improvement brings me to my New Year's Resolution. Last year's resolution was to watch my portions and exercise more. I am proud to say that I really stuck with it last year! I cut down on portion sizes, I played a lot of soccer in the winter, and I ran in the summer and fall. I felt so good!

This year, I have a slightly different resolution in mind. I started reading a book called Anticancer: A New Way of Life by David Servan-Schreiber, MD, PhD.

source

I started thinking about all the toxins I am probably putting into my body daily. I can't even begin to list all the habits (having to do with foods I eat and my lifestyle) that put me at a higher risk for cancer. So, I've decided that I will take baby steps to make positive changes according to the rules from the Anticancer website. I posted the rules under a new page so they could be more easily referred to.

Anticancer Goals for January:

1. Seriously limit soda. The plastic lining inside the cans contain BPA. I am not going to say that I will have none because that would be like asking a pack-a-day smoker to quit cold-turkey. No more than 1 a week.

2. I will swap out coffee every morning for green tea and my afternoon soda will be swapped out for a second cup of green tea. I didn't think I liked green tea, but I tried Tazo and it is excellent!

3. Buy more organic foods.