Welcome to Week 8 (better late than never!)

Yeah, I know, it's Saturday. Not even close to Tuesday or even Wednesday. Well, so what. I can't see my puter screen so well outside, and that's where I like to spend my days ... OUTSIDE.

Yes, while I may notice it's not as hot as I like my summer days, it sure is pretty sunny, only partly cloudy, which still requires certain amounts of shade, but not the indoor kind. Baseball caps, beach hats, the table umbrella in the back yard, and the occasional tree on my neighborhood walk, all suffice for shade. Because it's not really that hot out.

So how'd I do this past week? Goal #1 was read labels. And my boys reaped the rewards this week, when I picked up a box of fruit snacks. They haven't seen fruit snacks in ages. All that Red #9 or whatever number it is, that phony coloring stuff and high fructose corn syrup and all the other ingredients I can't pronounce or spell, just plain scare me. So. Enter Annies Organic Bunny Fruit Snacks (they do not contain any actual bunny parts, whew!). And a chance stop at my nearby Fruitful Yield, where reading labels, and price tags, illuminated the fact that there are plenty of items that are cheaper than Target, and better for me, my family, my whole damn neighborhood (aka the environment). Yes, label reading was a success.

I just have to save the fruit snacks for the children. Just step away from the fruit snacks. Just Keep Walking.

Which brings me to item number two on my goals list: Identify negative thoughts and replace them with more positive thinking. Well, not very good at finding the negatives. I think I just blithely ignore them anyway, and therefore they can't be very damaging. I mean, if I can't even notice a negative thought. A Temptation, though, now that's the real danger. So every temptation (and the grocery store is full of them!) has to be drowned out by Just Keep Walking. And it works, mostly. I tried it, I use it daily. Hard to bend down and reach into the back of the fridge to get at the last chocolate chips when I Just Keep Walking.

I said hard, I didn't say impossible.

So this week's emphasis is on blood pressure. And the first thing I did was get a perfect score on the quiz. Well, again, I have the genes on my side here. Low bp is more my norm. And as for managing stress, well, I have two little boys who have been giving me lessons in stress management for the last ten years. I think I've got this one.

But I'm following a new suggested goal: adding balance and flexibility to my exercise regimen. I found some yoga workouts at yoga-tv.net, and some other exercises at my homeschool fitness trainer's site (fithomeschoolmoms.com, coach Angela Ramos is one tough trainer, I love her!)

So making time for Yoga, adding it to my afternoons when I can, reduces stress, and may improve my terminal balance problem. I've done it before, how else do you think I made it through two pregnancies without any major falls? Yes, it works. Just have to squeeze it into the day. And as for the stress reduction ... well, I know a couple of little guys, and one bigger guy, who are glad I do yoga, even if they don't know it!