I read an interesting news article from a link on the Daily Spark: Mandatory Daily Activity in Schools – What Do You Think? Based on proposed legislation in Ohio.

My comments?

This is a tough one – lots of pros and cons. I guess the key is proper implementation.

At first glance, it seems like a wonderful idea. Yes, the health and well being of the students is primarily the parents’ responsibility — but with the amount of time spent in school, a healthy & active lifestyle should be supported & encouraged by the schools.

As always when our “well-intentioned” politicians [cough, cough] get involved, there is more to it than what first appears on the surface.

First, will the kids, especially the obese ones, be medically screened for safe participation?

Will BMI and weight stats be treated with the HIPPA privacy they deserve as elements of a medical record?

Kids are horribly cruel. Just ask this former fat kid. Will the schools be able to create a supportive environment that won’t further traumatize the kids that need it the most and further ingrain a loathing of exercise, group activity, and self?

Will the schools be able to create a program with enough variety in the types of activities offered to instill a love for exercise and a desire for creating healthy lifestyles rather than another competitive playing field for the jocks?

Will the schools make sure that ALL kids are participating in these healthy activities by NOT scheduling tutoring, make-up work, remedial studies, etc during this valuable time? And will the library and computer labs be unavailable as alternatives – removing the element of choice for the student?

Can, and will, they open the program to FAMILIES? When I was growing up, the playgrounds, tracks, and fields were open to the public after hours, on weekends, and through the summer. The schools in my area are fenced and locked down before parents get home from work. PTA/PTO could get involved here with rotating volunteers to make facilities open to parents and kids while still protecting the property.

Will they back-up the nod to this element of a healthy lifestyle by removing the cr@p from the breakfast & lunch menus and the vending machines? Healthy meal and snack choices should NOT be *optional* for the student on school property – even the well-intentioned parent has no control over what their child spends his or her lunch money on.

And while I’m on that rant, can the school begin to teach by practice PORTION CONTROL in both the cafeteria and vending machines??!! And, and, and … what about enough TIME to actually eat lunch?

Sounds like a good idea on the surface, but it all boils down to implementation.

What do you think?!

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20
May

I am DOWN consistently so far this week, and no major stall! FOUR pounds in 10 days! I usually bounce up a pound or two on the weekend – but even if I do, this will be my best week yet! 6.5 pounds to go to hit my first goal — and I finally believe I’m going to make it! {insert Snoopy Happy Dance}

I’ve been really conscious about getting my water (goal – 3 20-oz bottles), making sure I’m getting 2 fruits and 3 veggies every day, and not snacking after 9pm.

Breakfast this morning a bit different – 1c cantaloupe, 1 100-cal bagel, and 1T Chunky Almond Butter. 5 points. Really good.

Last night’s meatloaf went over well. Dumping the whole 8-oz can of tomato sauce in the mixture made it alittle wet and the result was alittle crumbly. Dumb. I knew it the minute I did it. Next time, I will only use what “feels” right, and dump the rest ON TOP.

Never found a WW potato recipe that I wanted to try. Ended up putting the way I usually prepare them through a recipe calculator, and it turned out to be 3 pts per potato, so that’s what I did.

7 small red potatoes (approx 2″ in diameter), quartered with skin on and boiled (timer for 15 minutes once they came to a boil). Drained and tossed with butter & chives. They were so good, I had another potato for my evening snack :-)

Here’s the deal. I usually toss with 3T of stick margarine, so I know exactly what I use.

I have the Land O Lakes Light Butter Spread w/Canola Oil. Running the recipe, points per potato were NO DIFFERENT for 3T or 4T. So I used 4. lol Just for grins and chuckles I ran the recipe with regular (tub) Sheds Spread and stick margarine. Again, same points for 3T and 4T. The Land O Lakes has Omega 3’s, so I used that. Now. To be honest, the only reason I went 4T vs 3 (or even cutting back to 2) was that I had had NO fats all day. ;-)

Larry cracked me up … “Can we really eat these?” HELL YEAH!

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I am done with South Beach for the most part, I am switching to the Weight Watchers Points System.

It’s not that I think SB doesn’t work. I lost 10 pounds over the first 4 weeks. Nothing to sneeze at. I’m sure if I stayed on it, I would continue to lose, but I seem to be having some fundamental problems with it.

First, I was not able to stick with Phase 1 for even one of the three weeks I was on it. Switching to Phase 2 saw an immediate weight gain, even though it was alittle easier and I was sticking to it fairly well. It took a couple of weeks after the switch to start seeing anymore weight loss. A single day of falling off the carb wagon saw the gain of every painful pound loss that week. For the 6 weeks I was on Phase 2, the scale had just continued to bounce up and down. This doesn’t bode well for sustained weight loss for me.

I can’t explain it. I’ve been tracking calories, and my intake remained low (sometimes too low) even when I was not staying on program. What I did see was the % of fat seemed alittle too high – even though most of those fats were “good” fats. That may be the source of the problem for me, but drop those fats down, with the restricted carb list, and I was miserably hungry and moody.

And, I am tired of the restricted carbs. Period. I “get” the good carb vs bad carb.

What the 6 Week Body Makeover taught me about sodium, South Beach has taught me about carbs and fats. I feel I have been successful in reducing the refined carbs as much as is feasible. I’ve replaced all white breads, bagels, and muffins with whole grain/high fiber varieties – even using “light” 100-calorie versions of those. I’ve replaced all regular pasta with the Smart Taste (higher fiber) brand, and white rice with brown — and reduced pasta/rice consumption to once or twice a week.

As far as fats go, we have nearly eliminated red, fatty meats from our diet. We are eating more lean poultry and fish, and getting more nuts and beans in our diet.

Sweets & added sugars are a no-brainer. First to go on any diet, and I don’t miss them. Much.

I did WW a long time ago. The exchanges program, well before points. Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been sort of watching points as well. To eat enough on SB to not be miserable took me well over the recommended points allowance on a regular basis. What I remember about WW, and see with the Points System, is that the biggest pitfall is not choosing wisely. There is also a danger of becoming delusional with the 35 weekly “bonus points” But I think that as long as you are determined to adopt healthier eating habits, it is a no-fail system. More important, for me, there is no “avoid list.” My daily allowance is 20 points. If I want 2 9-point slices of Meat Lovers Pizza, I plan for it. And still have 2-7 points for the rest of the day.

Counting points can be problematic until you have a cheat sheet of points for the foods you eat the most of. I’ve found some lists if you are interested.

The daily allowance of points drops as you lose weight, but like the weight loss, the points drop is gradual. There’s a short series you use to calculate your daily points:

  1. The first two numbers of your weight. (So if you are 150-159, you get 15)
  2. Add 2 points for females (12 points if nursing) or 8 point for males.
  3. Add points for age: 17-26 add 4 points; 27-37 add 3; 38-47 add 2; 48-57 add 1; and over 58 add 0.
  4. Add points for height: under 5 ft add 0, between 5′0″ and 5′9″ add 1, and over 5′10″ add 2.
  5. Add points for activity: If you spend most of your day sitting down, add 0 to your weight watchers points total. If you are occasionally sitting but mostly standing add 2. If you are walking most of the time add 4. If you do physically difficult work, add 6. This one was tricky. While I sit most of the work day, I stand for phone calls, cooking, cleaning, and laundry and move around as much as I can – and I add as much activity or exercise as I can. I split the difference between the lower two and gave myself 1 point.

This site is difficult to navigate, but has alot of good lists and menus:

http://quiddity.cc/rachel/diet/wwfoods.htm

Wish me luck – I’ve adjusted my goal to be down another 10 by the 4th of July, and back into the “healthy range” by the end of summer!

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Category: my life  Tags:  One Comment

TipJunkie is giving away prizes every hour! And! There are four fabulous Grand Prizes up for grabs …

1.  A $125 Gift Certificate from The Vintage Pearl.

2.  A SET of custom Shaggy Mosaic Jeans or Capris.

3.  One Sizzix Big Shot Machine and one month subscription to Creative Cards Homeschool.

4.  A Custom Blog Design for Wordpress, Typepad, or Blogger from Simply Delightful Designs.

I am SO wanting that Big Shot!

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Another Daytona 500 has come and gone, with Jamie McMurray taking the checkers in an exciting finish. Denny Hamlin came in 17th, and we’ll take it! Anytime your driver finishes at this unpredictable track, and in the top 20 no less, is a good day.

I’m not sorry to see Jamie win. He was part of my Fantasy Team when I was playing, and he’s a good guy. Last season was not a good one for him, and leaving him Roush’s odd man out and without a ride when NASCAR implemented a new four-car rule for owners. It was good to see him start off with a bang, and refreshing to see so much emotion in Victory Lane.

The race was a good one, with a record setting number of lead changes and lots of close racing. A few wrecks, no “big one” — and no injuries. Well. Unless you count the asphalt. A pothole between turns 1 and 2 resulted in two red flags for repairs – nearly 2-1/2 hours of down time.

I had to agree with some of the drivers who said, “Just set a cone on it, and we’ll drive around it – it’s not like we don’t know it’s there.” But calmer heads and safety prevailed. A tire blow out in a turn at 190 mph would make for a pretty ugly outcome.

You couldn’t ask for more excitement when they finally came to the finish with three Green-White-Checker restarts. Love the new rule allowing multiple attempts at a GWC restart if the leader doesn’t take the white flag before a wreck causes a caution.

In the past, if a caution came out on the restart, the field was frozen and the race was effectively over. And it happened enough to make many race finishes boring. Great move by NASCAR – this is going to make for some thrilling finishes.

Dale Jr’s comment after the race really sums up why the Daytona 500 is just so much fun, “It was all a blur — I was just going wherever they weren’t, I really don’t enjoy being that aggressive. But if there was enough room for the radiator to fit, you just kind of held the gas down and prayed for the best.”

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… along with the rest of the world

Tony Stewart took the checkered flag at Daytona in the Nationwide Series this afternoon! This makes it his 15th win in a stock car at Daytona, moving him into a tie with Cale Yarborough for third all time wins at the legendary track.

Good racing! Great finish!

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I promise. Unless she pulls a rabbit out of her helmet and actually wins. lol

I’m sitting here watching the recording of the Nationwide Series season opening in Daytona. The race is long over, and everyone knows who won.  Except me. I’m at alittle over halfway through the race, and I need to vent.

The one thing I knew, for sure, before starting the DVR, was Danica did not win. I’m sure if she had, I’d have never avoided the breaking news. And, now I’ve witnessed the reason why. She wrecked. Poor thing. Now I can watch the rest of the race without all the Danica hoopla.

And here comes the vent.

I am thrilled to see a female taking on NASCAR. But she’s not the first. In fact, she wasn’t the only female in today’s race. Chrissy Wallace was taken out in the first few laps. Yes, you recognize that last name. She’s Rusty’s niece. She’s made a handful of races since the 2008 season in the Truck Series, and is attempting a move into the Nationwide series this year.  Bet you hadn’t heard that, had you?

Of course not.  She doesn’t have the marketing panache of the Go Daddy Girl.

Jennifer Jo Cobb is made her rookie debut in the Truck Series race tonight, too by the way.

And there was Shawna Robinson, who attempted all three series, including Sprint Cup from 1991-2005. Damn, I really wanted it to be her. ;-)

Erin Crocker made four Nationwide starts in 2005.

I can take you back to the beginning from NASCAR’s Strictly Stock and Grand National Series.  Sara Christian 1949-50. Louise Smith 1950-51. Ethel Mobley 1949. Ann Bunselmeyer, Ann Chester, Sandy Lynch. Marian Pagan, Fifi Scott. Goldie Parsons in 1965. Christine Beckers in 1977. Janet Guthrie 1976-1980. Lella Lombardi 1977. Robin McCall 1964.

I guess we’ve all but forgotten Patty Moise. First woman to lead a Busch Series race in 1987. First to win a qualifying race in 1988.  In 1990 she broke the one lap closed course speed record at Talladega with a lap of 217.498 mph. In 1995 Patty set a speed record for qualifying at Atlanta.

There are more. Deborah Renshaw in the Craftsman Truck Series 2004-05. Kelly Sutton, trucks 2003-05.

The list is short, for sure. But it’s there. And it’s going to take someone like Danica and the marketing monsters behind her to bust the doors open and make a female racer starting in the field just another day at the track.

The women and girls out there, who want to be serious competitors in this sport and earn their way into the big league, need the opportunity that Danica & Co are forging.

They need to be seen, not only as serious competitors, but as contenders, to earn those almighty sponsorship dollars — and keep them. But the media frenzy is driving me nuts.

And it has me worried. Her Go Daddy sponsor worries me more, with its T&A sex-sells strategy.

Danica has to perform.

She has a solid Indy record to bring to the table.  Five years, two teams, 81 IRL races, 3 poles, 41 top 10’s, and 1 historic win, with season rankings progressing from 12th to 5th. Compare that to Tony Stewart’s five years, 25 IRL races, 8 poles, 15 Top 10’s, 10 Top 5’s, and 3 wins. Solid. Not spectacular. Either one of them.

But, Tony didn’t have to make the open wheel to stock car transition in the fish bowl Danica is doing it.

Yes, Tony set stock car racing on its ear by tearing up his 1999 Rookie Season with 3 Cup wins and finishing 4th overall. But he spent two seasons in the conversion before that, entering only enough races to get that all important “seat time” you hear Danica talking about.

Danica has the sponsors (read money), the background, and the attention. She’s going to need to do something with it before she irritates the shit out of the 40% female fan base, the dwindling slew of hardcore redneck Neanderthals, and the other competitors on the track with the frenzied marketing strategy.

Kyle Busch nailed it on the head. “The only thing I will say is that TV has been doing a horrible job because they’ve been covering her way too much, which isn’t a problem. That’s fine, you’ve got all these people watching TV, and they want to hear about Danica. Well then, take advantage of that and show the less funded-team, the underprivileged people that want to have funding so they can race the rest of the year. Danica is only going to be here for 12 races or whatever it is this year. It would help the rest of those teams that want to try to make a full run at it get the coverage that they need and the exposure that they deserve to try to race the full season. Just my opinion.”

To her credit, Danica has shown nothing but deference to the veteran drivers. But, too much of that sentiment, and the publicity blitz backfires.

She is poised to make huge inroads for women in NASCAR. I want to see it. I really do. And, already, I dread the media spin. But if it will open doors and create opportunities, I can live with it.

If she cracks under the pressure, or just can’t make the transition, my fear is that she will set women back 20 years, and they will continue to struggle, like Chrissy, for sponsorship.

So, dammit, Go Danica! Go get ‘em! And take Chrissy with you!

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I know what you’re thinking. “She doesn’t write in forever, then she bores me to tears with NASCAR.” I’m sorry. Indulge me.

I missed the Nationwide race. Mom was moved to a nursing home for physical therapy today. I’ve carefully avoided any mention of this afternoon’s and am watching the recording. More on that later.

So this post’s question answers the burning question, “So what about the Truck Race and who won?!”

The season opening for the Camping World Truck Series at Daytona was supposed to be Friday night. It was rained out and postponed to this evening, after the Nationwide Race. I made it home in time to watch live, and it was just the kind of race NASCAR fans love – close racing, plenty of lead changes, beating and banging, crazy tear-em-up wrecks without the death-defying terror, and no one hurt. Except maybe for feelings. And, a finish that failed to disappoint – anyone but Todd Bodine.

Watch for yourself as Timothy Peters makes a last lap pass on Todd Bodine for his second career win: Peters Takes Daytona

“I can’t believe it — this thing drove like a Lexus tonight,” Peters said of his No. 17 Toyota Tundra. “We just won Daytona! I was just content where I was at, but the No. 23 [White] came up and gave me a great run. “I can’t believe it — I’m going to Disney World!”

And, from second place Todd, “”We’re disappointed. There’s no doubt about it. But second’s nothing to sneeze at.”

Indeed.

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