its monday

And there is a lot to talk about.

First this one is short. The COLTS WON!!! yay! but i missed the halftime show which was Prince who I love. But my daughter was ready to go and I didn't want a meltdown so we left and I missed it. But I did catch some of it on youtube. I love the marching band with the glow in the dark stripes. And any time Prince makes love to his guitar you know its a good show.

Second. I have finally bought a scale for home so I can weigh myself Au natural now. I got a baseline this morning and I am at 165lbs. (that's even after all the crap I ate at the Superbowl party.) So my goal for February since there is a lot going is to lose 5 lbs. I want to be 160 by march. Since I start a new a job on the 12th, I have two birthday parties to plan and attend for Silver. One for friends and one for family. I don't expect much out of myself. The biggest thing I am doing is trying to cut down on my portion sizes and eat less carbs, (i love pasta and bread) and move more. That brings us to our third topic.

Third. Is heart disease awareness. As I said last week the number 1 killer of Women in the US is Heart Disease. This disease is brought on by many factors. 1 of course is genetics. but the others are mostly environmental or things you can change.
The #1 thing to do is if you smoke - QUIT!. The way to do this ? Cold turkey baby. It takes two weeks to get rid of the nicotine in your system the rest is all mental.
The #2 thing is to Move More. Just move 15 minutes a day, go for a walk, ride a bike, do jumping jacks, chase your kids or your pets around the house. Just exercise. We all hear these articles that Americans are all overweight and obese and all of that. The way to fix it is to just move. I have started exercising while watching TV. While interspersed with knitting. I exercise for a few minutes and then take a break. But you can do whatever you want as long as you are moving and getting the blood moving. Park farther away from the door, take the stairs. Join a gym that has a pool.
#3 is to eat healthier. Stop going to McDonald's and fast food restaurants. They lure you in with those salads which are not very healthy either. And those gourmet deli sandwiches? They are better than the quadruple heart attack on a bun but they are still not good for you. Eat less red meat and more poultry and fish.

I have joined a knit along that is ongoing and its Knit Red. You just knit something red. You can wear it yourself, donate it to someone. And it doesn't even really have to be knit.
But I suppose you wonder why I am harping on this? My biological mom died at the age of 40 because of a genetic heart problem (but its still considered heart disease). My step-grandfather had multiple strokes throughout his life before he died. One of those strokes left him paralyzed for life, another one of those strokes left him with the inability to speak. Another one made him fall and he needed knee surgery at the age of 82. He died at the age of 85.

Think on this strokes may not kill you but they can cause severe brain damage and paralysis. If you had a way to stop that wouldn't you take it?

Now some of things I have learned while trying to lose weight is that eating healthy out can be expensive. But if you buy all of it at the grocery store and bring it home its much cheaper.