Monthly Archives: August 2011
Sometimes life gets in the way of living…
Ah… the proverbial path littered with “good intentions”. I know thee well. It’s been about two weeks since I’ve posted.
First some housekeeping: I’m still trying to get back into the groove and routine of being on Jenny Craig. Notice that I said “trying”. *sigh* More on that in another post. Second, I’ll try to catch up the weekly progress photos and charts this weekend. I took the photos and I have the data but haven’t had time to post them yet. There is no real visible difference yet in the photos and alas, my net weight remains almost the same. 😦
The big news and the reason I’ve been not blogging is that I’ve had drama in my life: things going on at work, a couple unexpected car repairs and, dealing with the realization that I can’t afford to do ProAms at the UCWDC World Championships in Jan. Ugh. Bleech even! Paatooie! With all that, I’ve not had a lot of time for the blog.
I haven’t talked a lot yet about dancing here on the blog. So a bit of background for those of you who are not into the sport of Country Western Dancing: “ProAm” is a concatenation of two words: Professional and Amateur. The ProAm division is where a Coach or “Professional” dancer teams up with a student or “Amateur” dancer. Both dance together on the floor during the competition, however, only the student is judged in the competition and receives a score. The Pro’s job is to be on the floor with the student, dancing, and try to make the student look as good as possible and to help them out, if possible, during any glitches…things like the student forgetting what comes next in the routine. Not that has EVER happened to me! If you believe that then send me your credit cards and your bank account routing number so that I can deposit a kabillion-zillion dollars into your account. 😉
Anyway… I do digress at times don’t I? Moving on… So, when I say that “I can’t do ProAms at Worlds”, this… Is. A. BIG. DEAL!. *sigh* Read the rest of this entry
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What is a Healthy Body Fat Percentage?
Unfortunately there isn’t a definitive answer. Everybody seems to have a different study that they base their numbers upon. And some people can be healthy and fat!
The good news is that while none of the published “recommended body fat percentage ranges” match each other exactly, there is some overlap in the ranges. Take a look at these “suggested” ranges, then do an honest self-evaluation, then set goals that are realistic and good for you!
As with any measure of fitness, these numbers are merely guides. Listen to what your body is telling you. Talk to your doctor and monitor your situation regularly. I encourage you to get these books and read the accompanying information that goes with these charts. If your local library doesn’t have them, they can request a copy of the book from another library through a process called Interlibrary Loan. Or you can buy the books through Amazon (just click on the links below).
Now, let’s look at some numbers!
…
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2011-08-04, Week 3, Weekly Stats
This week, I gained weight but if you look at the numbers you’ll see that while my total body weight went up, my body fat percentage went down which indicates that I gained muscle. Which is good. On my spreadsheet that I maintain, my lean body mass increased while my fat body mass decreased. So, we’ll call this week a win. 🙂
Related articles
- What is a Healthy Body Fat Percentage? (txcowboydancer.wordpress.com)
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New Jenny Craig Tips and Tricks
While I was fixing breakfast this morning I thought of some more tips and tricks that have helped me so far. Check out my earlier tips by clicking on “Jenny Craig Tips and Tricks” under the “Diet and Fitness Drama” up in the header at the top of this page.
When preparing the Sunshine Sandwich, nuke, ahem, microwave the sandwich according to the instructions but before putting the sauce on the sandwich, put the English Muffin in the toaster for just a bit. This firms them up and adds a bit of crunch to the sandwich making it a more enjoyable eating experience.
When spreading the sauce on the Sunshine Sandwich put the sauce on the bread, not the egg or meat. The texture of the muffin keeps the sauce in place while you spread it evenly across the bread. Putting it on the egg or meat is putting it on a smoother surface and the knife will just push it around in clumps making getting an even spread of sauce more difficult.. .
When having a fruit like a banana for breakfast, chop it up into a lot of small chunks and eat it with a fork.
This makes it feel more like a meal instead of a snack because you are increasing the number of bites you’re taking and you’re using the fork instead of your fingers. Fingers = snack in my twisted brain while fork = meal. Go figure. 😉
See ya on the dance floor!
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Healthy at every size!
Ragen Chastain, dancer and author of ‘Dances With Fat’ — Photograph by Richard Sabel (used with permission of the photographer)
I have a good friend, Ragen Chastain, who blogs over at “Dances With Fat“.
Her blog is awesome! She’s a very talented writer. And dancer. And Choreographer. And a beautiful person, both inside and out! It is simply not fair that so much talent and niceness be packed into one person! 🙂
Be sure to check out her blog and subscribe, especially if you’re on a quest to get healthy. Why? Because she makes an extremely valid point which, unfortunately, is not widely accepted:
You can be healthy at any size!
What she says, in my own words, is that just because you are fat, that does equal being unhealthy. And just because you’re thin, that does not equal “good health“. There are large people who are perfectly healthy. There are skinny people who are unhealthy.
A medical study that Ragen mentions in a recent post to her blog supports this. Be sure to read the post and the study. I read the study. Ok, ok, I only read the abstract. The details of the study soon put me to sleep, plus they were using them thar big ole words tha’ cowboys like me from ta piney woods of East Texas jus’ get all befuddled ’bout. 😉
The conclusion of the study says, and I quote: Read the rest of this entry
5-6-7-8 Dancing My Way to a Healthy Me! 