BYE-BYE BLOG BOOTIE

This last week I have been AWOL from the blogosphere. I have a new internet obsession. And hopefully, it will help me lose my big blog ass. The one I have from sitting on my butt all day and talking smack over the netwaves.

You:  WHAT YOU TALKIN BOUT, SEXY ?? I love you just the way you are.

Me:  Of course you do, but that is because we are virtual friends and you don't have to watch my thighs jiggle. 

See it goes like this. Matt really wants to go to Cozumel for two weeks this winter. Of course that sounds spectacular. Sign me up. I am ready.

Oh, helz no. I am not. If I dare to put on a bathing suit in a foreign country INTERPOL will surely issue a warrant for my arrest for all kinds of crimes against humanity. Seriously, this summer when I went to put on my fatty shorts, I could not get them buttoned.  I wanted to cry.  So I had this great plan.  I would just take my dogs on a couple extra walks and that would solve all my problems. Surely that would cancel out the barrels of  red wine and gallons of popcorn popped in coconut oil that I live for. Well guess what? That plan failed miserably and I actually got fatter!  How did that happen??

I needed some serious intervention my friends.  So I remembered this website http://www.livestrong.com/ that tracks calories and what-not.  Well anyway, it has gotten so much easier to use and it has become my new obsession. I have to share it with you.

oh and guess what peeps? IT IS FREE!!! My favorite.

First the boring part:

You can set your calorie goals (or it will set it for you based on your stats).  I set mine at the lowest possible (to keep me from fainting) because I am impatient. Then you start tracking.

  
The site knows the contents of almost every food product imaginable.

It keeps track of the nutritional breakdown.

And makes it easy to see exactly where you are at any given moment.

And you can see how you are doing historically.

Now,  on to the fun part. The part that makes me feel like I am starring in my very own video game.  It uses google maps for the coolest thing ever.

Below, I have mapped out my favorite dog walk from my house that I do on a regular basis. It the EXACT route even  through the woods!  The little green numbers are mile markers. I never knew how far it was.  I always thought it was 5 miles.  It is not.

I have dubbed this route the "super looper" and have saved it as one of my regular routes.  The site breaks the super looper down for me.

How cool is that? BTW, it takes me so long because Murphy has to stop and pee on every third tree that we pass.

It even keep track of my elevation.

Here is my big bike ride on Sunday (in map view) which gave me a big calorie deficit.  "Calorie deficit" is a new concept for me : )  Yes,  that is really a 20 mile marker.

Here is another view of the end of the same route.

And another.

I can't get enough!  Especially when I see stats like this.

Of course everyday is not a 1200 burner.

But, I am happy with something like this.

You should check it out.  It is super easy to use.

That's all for now. I will keep you posted on my results.

Sadly, this was my best angle.

I am off to do some work and a workout and maybe a (tiny) bit of blog reading.

BYE-BYE BLOG BOOTIE

This last week I have been AWOL from the blogosphere. I have a new internet obsession. And hopefully, it will help me lose my big blog ass. The one I have from sitting on my butt all day and talking smack over the netwaves.

You:  WHAT YOU TALKIN BOUT, SEXY ?? I love you just the way you are.

Me:  Of course you do, but that is because we are virtual friends and you don't have to watch my thighs jiggle. 

See it goes like this. Matt really wants to go to Cozumel for two weeks this winter. Of course that sounds spectacular. Sign me up. I am ready.

Oh, helz no. I am not. If I dare to put on a bathing suit in a foreign country INTERPOL will surely issue a warrant for my arrest for all kinds of crimes against humanity. Seriously, this summer when I went to put on my fatty shorts, I could not get them buttoned.  I wanted to cry.  So I had this great plan.  I would just take my dogs on a couple extra walks and that would solve all my problems. Surely that would cancel out the barrels of  red wine and gallons of popcorn popped in coconut oil that I live for. Well guess what? That plan failed miserably and I actually got fatter!  How did that happen??

I needed some serious intervention my friends.  So I remembered this website http://www.livestrong.com/ that tracks calories and what-not.  Well anyway, it has gotten so much easier to use and it has become my new obsession. I have to share it with you.

oh and guess what peeps? IT IS FREE!!! My favorite.

First the boring part:

You can set your calorie goals (or it will set it for you based on your stats).  I set mine at the lowest possible (to keep me from fainting) because I am impatient. Then you start tracking.

  
The site knows the contents of almost every food product imaginable.

It keeps track of the nutritional breakdown.

And makes it easy to see exactly where you are at any given moment.

And you can see how you are doing historically.

Now,  on to the fun part. The part that makes me feel like I am starring in my very own video game.  It uses google maps for the coolest thing ever.

Below, I have mapped out my favorite dog walk from my house that I do on a regular basis. It the EXACT route even  through the woods!  The little green numbers are mile markers. I never knew how far it was.  I always thought it was 5 miles.  It is not.

I have dubbed this route the "super looper" and have saved it as one of my regular routes.  The site breaks the super looper down for me.

How cool is that? BTW, it takes me so long because Murphy has to stop and pee on every third tree that we pass.

It even keep track of my elevation.

Here is my big bike ride on Sunday (in map view) which gave me a big calorie deficit.  "Calorie deficit" is a new concept for me : )  Yes,  that is really a 20 mile marker.

Here is another view of the end of the same route.

And another.

I can't get enough!  Especially when I see stats like this.

Of course everyday is not a 1200 burner.

But, I am happy with something like this.

You should check it out.  It is super easy to use.

That's all for now. I will keep you posted on my results.

Sadly, this was my best angle.

I am off to do some work and a workout and maybe a (tiny) bit of blog reading.

Yesterday I ate dog food (let's hope today goes better)

It is the beginning of the end people.

Let me back up to 2007. That is the year I met my soulmate, Murphy.  He joined our household, which included Cali and the now-departed Samson.

Samson was the sweetest, fattest Beagle ever.  He looooved to eat.  Nothing came between him and a morsel of food.  He also liked to steal any bits of food from any source he could find.  He had such a belly that I used to tell people he was a Peagle (part pig -- part beagle). Some people actually believed me. HAHA!!


Anway, when Murphy joined the tribe, feeding time was chaos.  Samson was so food aggressive that Murph would just grab a mouthful of nuggets from his bowl and eat under the dining room table. It was sad.

awwww I miss Samson. and that red couch (that thing was comfy).

At this point in his life Samson was too husky to jump up on the furniture so we started feeding Murph on my chair so the poor little fellow could eat in peace.

My chair is still where Murphy likes to eat --even though our sweet little piggy pie, Samson, has gone on to doggy heaven.

Flash forward to yesterday after feeding time. There I sat blogging away and eating a graham cracker.

Ooops. I dropped a piece. Without taking my eyes off the screen I reach down and put it in my mouth.

This tastes funny. Not sweet at all. What the? What is it? 

Holy crap! I ate a piece of dog food that Murph left behind!!!!!!!!!

I ain't gonna lie. It was not that bad.

Yesterday I ate dog food (let's hope today goes better)

It is the beginning of the end people.

Let me back up to 2007. That is the year I met my soulmate, Murphy.  He joined our household, which included Cali and the now-departed Samson.

Samson was the sweetest, fattest Beagle ever.  He looooved to eat.  Nothing came between him and a morsel of food.  He also liked to steal any bits of food from any source he could find.  He had such a belly that I used to tell people he was a Peagle (part pig -- part beagle). Some people actually believed me. HAHA!!


Anway, when Murphy joined the tribe, feeding time was chaos.  Samson was so food aggressive that Murph would just grab a mouthful of nuggets from his bowl and eat under the dining room table. It was sad.

awwww I miss Samson. and that red couch (that thing was comfy).

At this point in his life Samson was too husky to jump up on the furniture so we started feeding Murph on my chair so the poor little fellow could eat in peace.

My chair is still where Murphy likes to eat --even though our sweet little piggy pie, Samson, has gone on to doggy heaven.

Flash forward to yesterday after feeding time. There I sat blogging away and eating a graham cracker.

Ooops. I dropped a piece. Without taking my eyes off the screen I reach down and put it in my mouth.

This tastes funny. Not sweet at all. What the? What is it? 

Holy crap! I ate a piece of dog food that Murph left behind!!!!!!!!!

I ain't gonna lie. It was not that bad.

I am turning 100 (but I don't look a day over 41 and 1/2)

source 

I have finally hit the big 100 y'all!!

Pretty pathetic since I started this blog in 2005.

Post Stats:

2005 = 3
2006 = 0
2007 = 0
2008 = 0
2009 = 2
2010 = 95

How to mark this auspicious occasion?

I have seen other bloggers post "100 things about me" for their 100th post. Meehhh. I don't think so. I thought I would do something a little different because I am certain that you already know way more about me than you would ever want to.

(If you really want to torture yourself, read this post.)


Then there are other bloggers who have sponsors and do "giveaways" of products they receive. I don't play that game and I just say NO to all commercialism.  I don't judge other bloggers for that, it is just not my style. And it has nothing to do with the fact that I have zero sponsors. If you have ever read my blog,  I am sure that you would not be surprised to learn that Nike, Diet Coke and Boone's Farm are all dying to get in on the action.

 Well what is it then????

DRUMROLL PLEASE . . .

 +

 =

What is that supposed to mean you ask?

In the interest of keeping things really real around here, I thought I would combine my love of thrift stores with a chance to get to know YOU better.

HERE IS THE DEAL-IO.

Leave me a comment on this post either describing yourself or linking to a post on your blog that describes you. I look forward to and will read all comments!!! The randomly selected winner will receive a thrift store prize personally selected by yours truly especially for you.

Contest ends Sunday night. 

Note to future winner: The prize will probably be between $5-10 and you will have to wait until I get around to going to Denver for my next shopping trip.

Good luck and mucho love,

I am turning 100 (but I don't look a day over 41 and 1/2)

source 

I have finally hit the big 100 y'all!!

Pretty pathetic since I started this blog in 2005.

Post Stats:

2005 = 3
2006 = 0
2007 = 0
2008 = 0
2009 = 2
2010 = 95

How to mark this auspicious occasion?

I have seen other bloggers post "100 things about me" for their 100th post. Meehhh. I don't think so. I thought I would do something a little different because I am certain that you already know way more about me than you would ever want to.

(If you really want to torture yourself, read this post.)


Then there are other bloggers who have sponsors and do "giveaways" of products they receive. I don't play that game and I just say NO to all commercialism.  I don't judge other bloggers for that, it is just not my style. And it has nothing to do with the fact that I have zero sponsors. If you have ever read my blog,  I am sure that you would not be surprised to learn that Nike, Diet Coke and Boone's Farm are all dying to get in on the action.

 Well what is it then????

DRUMROLL PLEASE . . .

 +

 =

What is that supposed to mean you ask?

In the interest of keeping things really real around here, I thought I would combine my love of thrift stores with a chance to get to know YOU better.

HERE IS THE DEAL-IO.

Leave me a comment on this post either describing yourself or linking to a post on your blog that describes you. I look forward to and will read all comments!!! The randomly selected winner will receive a thrift store prize personally selected by yours truly especially for you.

Contest ends Sunday night. 

Note to future winner: The prize will probably be between $5-10 and you will have to wait until I get around to going to Denver for my next shopping trip.

Good luck and mucho love,

Wordle me this Blogman

Hey all you bloggin super heroes.  Have you heard of Wordle?  You simply go to the website and plug in your RSS blog feed and presto. Your blog in pop art. You can change the font, color, layout. etc.

Good fun if you are way into yourself like I am. I just did a few quick ones for demonstration (using this blog feed), but you can make some really neat wordles if you have the time and inclination.

Once you create your wordle, you have to take a screen shot to "save" the wordle and then convert it into another format.  I am running Windows Vista and it has a Snippet tool that allows me to directly convert a screen shot into a jpeg image, then you can edit or whatever you want. If I was cool and had a Mac, I am sure I could do something extra groovy. I am oldish and pretty computer unsavy, but I figured it out. If you are as self-absorbed as me, check it out.

 i  LIKE HOW i REALLY KNOW a LITTLE.   HA!

The whole wordle thing reminds me of a cartoon I had taped on my fridge for years.

A man and woman are dining together and the woman is saying to him:

"What? Moi? Self aborbed? How do you think that makes me feel?"

Haha. I wish I still had that.