Author Archives: Tony New (TxCowboyDancer)
I’m featured in Diabetes Health Magazine!
They Like Me! They really really Like Me!
I’d like to thank the Academy…. 😉
Ok, ok, so it ain’t an Oscar, but it does feel pretty good! You, my loyal readers, should know by now that I’m a shy retiring wall flower…
What? Do I hear howls of disbelieving laughter from the galleries?
Ok, ok, tis true… I love to talk about uhmmm, well “Moi” so when this very nice reporter Tanya Caylor from Diabetes Health Magazine emailed me and said she wanted to do a “profile” of me, I thought “This has got to be a joke”
So, before replying I checked and discovered that “Yes” there really is a magazine called “Diabetes Health” and yes there really is a reporter named Tanya Caylor who has written for them and who also blogs online and who writes a column called “Adventures in Food and Fitness,” which is published every other Monday in the Health Section of The Fort Wayne News-Sentinel.
So, having determined that this was not a phishing attempt and not spam, I replied back and set up a phone interview. She called me; I had a lovely conversation with Ms Caylor. And that was that. Then about a week ago, I got an email saying….
Tah-DAH!
…the article had been posted on the Diabetes Health website. It will be appearing in the next paper issue of the magazine as well, but it is now live on their website:
Woo Hoo! Uh-huh! Doin’ a happy dance while typing! Woot! YeeeeeeeeeeeeeHaaaaaaaawwwwwww
I invite you go go check it out. And click the “share” buttons! Woot! You can click on the image up above or if you like here is the text link: Diabetes Diagnosis Gets Derailed Dance Champion Focused on Health
And, for the record, the lovely and very talented lady in the photo featured in the article is one of my dance coaches, Natalja Sawal. We danced together for two years.
See ya on the dance floor!
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Tony’s Take on: The Perfect Survey Site
What should you look for in an
Online Survey or a MicroTasking Site?
When I first started doing “online surveys” to make a little bit of money, I didn’t know much of anything — about anything, so I had pretty low expectations. Actually, I had no expectations — I didn’t know enough to have expectations.
After doing this for over two years, thus having learned “in the school of hard knocks” as it were, there are certain things which I look for in a “good” survey site. And things which you should look for too.
Ahhhhh, Grasshoppah, you seek and you shall receive the wisdom of Master Yoda, ahem “Mastah Tony.” Yessssss, Grasshoppah, Master Tony will reveal all…
— and you folks in the back can stop sniggering like, uhmmm now! 😉 And yes, I know I was mixing up my movies. I can do that… it is called creative license.. grin
Show me the CASH!
Let’s face it. I’m doing online surveys for the money. Not for fun. Not to “improve products.” Not to further academic research. Not to better mankind.
I live on a very small monthly pension plus whatever I can scrape together through half-a-dozen different means, including taking online surveys.
Don’t misunderstand me. I am not cheating. I am not trying to scam the system. I am not just randomly clicking answers.
I actually do read the questions. I try to do a “good job” by answering honestly. But when all is said and done, I would not be answering all those surveys IF I wasn’t PAID for my time!
So, like any other “job” that is “just a job” — I’m in it for the money.
I am not asking for much — Read the rest of this entry
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307.4 OMG! OMG! OMG! 307.4!!!!!!!!!
307.4 lbs!!!! OMG!
Did I mention that my weight today on the scale was 307.4 lbs? I did, oh, then that’s it . I now return you to your normally scheduled…
BUT WAIT! 307.4!!!! Didchagetthat?!?!
That, my dear readers, is LESS THAN 310!!!!! OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG!
I do declare I may faint from happiness! The vapors; the VAYpoors…. I haz tha VAYpoor…. Swoooooooon
[yes, the image of a hairy balding 50 something white dude swooning
like an old time silent film star is going to be stuck in your head for the rest of the day]
But I haven’t seen 310 in AGES! let alone been UNDER 310 — that, my friends, is swoon worthy!
THIS IS HUGE (pardon the pun)
BIG
COLLOSUL… COLLOSEL ? COlluseaoul?
REALLY REALLY BIG!
Darn you spell check! You failed me when I needed you most! How do you spell that word anyway!
For those of you keeping count. That makes my total weight loss just a teeny bit under 25 lbs — close enough to round to 25!!!
Woot! Uh-huh! WHO da man? Huh? WhoseYerDaddy?!! Take THAT foul fatness!
Why the sudden and dramatic downward trend?
Dude, I’m doin’ drugs.
Don’t getcher panties in a twist. They are legal “diabetic” drugs. But because my body is starting to behave the way it should, it is no longer sending FEED ME messages all the time
Which means that I’m not eating as much.
Which means that I’m using the abundant supplies of food I have stored in the subcutaneous and intramuscular spaces in my body and TAH DAH! WEIGHT LOSS!
Whew! I’m worn out! I need a cigarette. Well not really, but you get the gist… wink wink
Did I mention I weighed 307.4 lbs today? Oh, I did, ok then.
See ya on the dance floor!
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The future is looking brighter…
Yes, I’m aware that it ain’t gonna be easy…
…but for the first time in a VERY long time I am optimistic that I will actually get fit, healthy and dance again! What’s that? Do I hear the teeming masses asking “But why do feel this way Tony?” I thought I did… 😀
Brace yourself, you’re about to enter Tony’s brain…. where you’ll see a chain of thought that will mystify and amaze you!
But first because I’m in SUCH a good mood, I’m going to give you the “short version” — I’m going to tell you the ROOT SOURCE of all this awesome positiveness:
The diabetes medications I’ve been taking for a little over two weeks now are working.
Which means I’m not as hungry all the time.
Which means I’m loosing weight.
Which means I’m feeling better, both physically and psychologically.
I’m moving more. I have more energy. This morning, I saw a number on my scale that I’ve NOT seen in a long time… [drumroll please] … 310 lbs! Yay me!
One of the most frustrating things over the past couple years has been working to get fitter and healthier and NOT seeing any friggin results!
Who knew that there was this underlying obstacle called “diabetes” which had to be dealt with first BEFORE my hard work would produce? Well, now I know. Now the meds are doing their job. Now I’m working at getting fit. And best of all… …Now I am seeing results. Life is good.
About that tour of my brain…. heh he he heh
I updated my Event Calendar / Schedule
You can clicky click on SCHEDULE any time up in the menu at the top of my blog from any page in my blog. Or if you are really not into scrolling you can click this awesome link I put here just because I like you: SCHEDULE / CALENDAR
I have spent most of today updating my calendar, looking at the events listed on the IAGLCWDC website, the UCWDC site, the ACDA site, and the World OutGames site, evaluating them, looking at the dates and considering costs, timing, etc.
Toss in a few side trips to AmTrack, to Southwest Airlines, Eurorail and American Airlines, well you kinda get the picture of what I’ve been doing since I got up: day dreaming about competing in dance again!
Well, not really day dreaming, exactly.
Let’s be generous and call it “long range planning” and “goal setting” and “motivational imagery.”
I love that last one… “motivational imagery.” Sounds cool don’t it?
Goal Setting
When setting goals you need two kinds: Read the rest of this entry
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Tony’s Take on: SweetLeaf Stevia
Tony’s CowboyStar Rating on SweetLeaf Stevia:
Welcome to the latest installment in an ongoing review series I call “Tony’s Take on…” where I review all kinds of “stuff” because we all of us use “stuff” and we either like the “stuff” or we hate the “stuff” and we love to talk about “stuff…”
Today I’m yackin’ ’bout SweetLeaf Stevia. For those folks who want the “stars” and nutin’ but da “stars” well, here they are!
4.5 CowboyStars!
Tah-DAH!
Introducing, my good friend, “Stevia” — da Plant!
Since Wikipedia says it VERY well, I’m just gonna let them talk for a bit:
Stevia is a sweetener and sugar substitute extracted from the leaves of the plant species Stevia rebaudiana.
The active compounds of stevia are steviol glycosides, which have up to 150 times the sweetness of sugar, are heat-stable, pH-stable, and not fermentable.
[Stevia has] …a negligible effect on blood glucose, which makes stevia attractive to people on carbohydrate-controlled diets.
Stevia’s taste has a slower onset and longer duration than that of sugar, and some of its extracts may have a bitter or licorice-like aftertaste at high concentrations.
I love Wikipedia! 🙂
Tony’s Translation:
Stevia is a dieter’s and diabetic’s best friend
- Basically Stevia is used in place of sugar.
- It is a LOT sweeter to the tongue so a teeny-tiny bit goes a looooooonnnng way.
- It is the ground up leaves of a plant – 100% all natural.
- It is ZERO CALORIE! Did-cha-get-that? !!!! ZERO! as in zip, nadda, NUTHIN!
- You can cook with it.
- You can put it in your coffee (which is my main way of using it).
- And for those who are diabetic…. [drumroll please] It has a ZERO Glycemic response!
Some info about who uses this stuff and where it came from:
- The stevia plant is from South America and has been used as a sweetener for over 1,500 years!
- Japan is crazy about the stuff! It has been commercially available there since the 1970’s. Japan currently consumes more stevia than any other country, with stevia accounting for 40% of the Japanese sweetener market.
- It is approved for use as a food additive in both the USA and in the European Union.
I figure that if people in South America have been using this stuff for 1500 years AND if Japan, a major industrialized nation and one of the most safety aware nations on the planet, has had no issues with this stuff for decades, and they use TONS of the stuff, then hey, I can use it it in my morning coffee with no worries!
Woot! Uh-huh! Doin’ a happy dance!
Why I like SweetLeaf Stevia
I have tried several different brands of stevia. SweetLeaf Stevia is my favorite. And the Packets are my favorite variety.
I used to use a brand called NuStevia, made by NuNaturals, (which is a good brand).
But to get it, I had to go to one of those specialty “Healthfood / Vitamin Stores” that smell funny when you walk into them and they have all these New Age kinda flyers about cleansing your body and yoga under the moon and… well you get the idea.
Just to be clear: neither the smell nor the New Age bits bothered me…
Nope. The PRICE bothered me! NuStevia was $10 a box! And the fact that I had to make a special trip to this store to get ONE item. Sheeeesh!
Then I ran across SweetLeaf Stevia and I’ve never used anything since. Here is why I like SweetLeaf Stevia. Read the rest of this entry
5-6-7-8 Dancing My Way to a Healthy Me! 