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Home > DD 17 - 19; Short Road Trip, Vegas Contest

DD 17 - 19; Short Road Trip, Vegas Contest

September 24th, 2016 at 03:32 am

I'm still managing to stay away from soda. I'm finding out again, like other times I've managed to go more than two weeks avoiding it, that it gets to where I'm not sure why I wanted it in the first place. I'm at that point now - where a sip of DHs Cherry Coke doesn't even tempt me.

As far as the Daily Dozen - I'm still doing fairly well with it. I think I may modify it a bit ... such as making beans a 1/2 cup per day UP to 3 servings. Eventually I may work up to 3 servings daily, but most nights all I want is something simple like a bowl of cereal and maybe some fruit. When it gets colder, it'll be easier too ... soup or a sweet potato w/beans, etc.

DH didn't like the spaghetti squash too much. We have 3 mo I'm going to try making a spaghetti squash "pizza" and see if he'd go for that. I had lots of leftovers to eat this week because DH wasn't too keen on any of what I made on Sunday. I'm going to have to toss some of it, because I couldn't even eat it all.

One thing going to work on this weekend is coming up with a meal plan mainly using what we already have on hand, but using it in a different way (to make it more palatable to DH.) He was mentioning to me that he thought we shouldn't be buying more perishable items until we used up what we have. (I didn't say that if BOTH of us were eating them ....)

*Exercise - Fallen a bit short on this this week, due to 2 days of evening meetings and a road trip. Got in a 30 minute walk today though!

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DH may have found his winter vehicle - just an hour away! Thursday when I got off work DH called me and asked me if I wanted to take a road trip to O city to see the car. Although I was pretty tired and really wanted to get a walk in, etc., I said yes.

It's a 98 Subuaru - not sure how many miles - $1400. Needs new tires and a driver's side mirror and the windshield replaced. DH was supposed to call the dealer today to talk to them - I forgot to ask him if he did or not.

I really hope this car is workable. A 1 hour road trip is much preferable to a 12 hour roundtrip!

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One of our local gyms is running a contest starting on Monday for a trip to Vegas. You enter as a team of 4, and earn points based on exercise, tracking food, weight loss, participation in nutrition events, etc. You get free access to their gym for the duration of the contest.

The winning team of 4 gets a 3 day/2 night trip to Vegas. Airfare and hotel only.

So ... I got the light duty lady to agree to partner up with me - we'll be assigned two more people.

Doubt we'll win, but it'll be fun anyway. Smile

(This contest is mainly a marketing gimmick to get people to join their gym - it's a new company taking over the locations a defunct gym.)

It's free. Smile (Although you can earn more points by buying stuff at some place, or also by scheduling a chiropractic consultation / visit (sponsors).) I may go ahead and do the chiropractic thing - check to see if a visit would be covered under insurance. Smile

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I ended up getting 6 hours of overtime this week! Two meetings from 5 - 7, and then a 3rd meeting I wasn't supposed to be at initially, from 3 - 5. Due to my union contract, that 30 minutes of OT HAS to be 2 hours. Big Grin

2 of the meetings had about 125 people each, and one had 49 .... lots of twiddle the thumb time at that one.

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I received my signup bonus for the AE Charge card - 25000 points plus another 1000 for my "purchase." (paid medical debt) Let's just say I'm underwhelmed at the choices.

Most likely we're going to go with using it as Amazon credit. 26,000 points translates into $182 at Amazon.

Or we may keep it around in case we do some traveling, and then we could use it on a more dollar for point basis at hotels com.

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I'm going to try contacting N e l n e t again tonight to see if they accept a 3rd party check. I've already sent them two emails through my husband's account (that I set up for him online ...) with no response. (student loans)

DH and I agreed that if we don't get a response within two weeks this time, that we'll send the $600 in rewards from Citi to the mortgage instead. That'd be more than a one-month payment. (The mortgage company responded to my inquiry within about 6 hours!)

Once that finally clears out the rewards points, then I'm going to check into having that card changed into the Double Cash back card (that doesn't have an annual fee.)

11 Responses to “DD 17 - 19; Short Road Trip, Vegas Contest”

  1. VS_ozgirl Says:
    1474687056

    The Vegas contest sounds fun, good luck!

  2. alice4now Says:
    1474763237

    Gimmick or not, free use of a gym, woohoo!

  3. rob62521 Says:
    1474764309

    Good luck on the Vegas contest!

  4. PatientSaver Says:
    1475103265

    I'm convinced there's something addictive about Diet Coke. I mean, I haven't purchased it for at home use in YEARS, yet I STILL have a craving for it. Just THINKING about it now makes me want some. It's just darned refreshing. I still can't resist sometimes ordering it if I'm eating out, but I really try to minimize that.

    Eating beans daily is hard. I know it's great for you but I may manage a few times a week, even though I'm mostly vegan already. But you're right, it's easy to add them to soups and stews, and actually they're pretty good right out of a can in a big green salad.

    Artichoke hearts are supposed to be really good for you too. And berries, every day. Are these on your daily dozen list?

  5. FrugalTexan75 Says:
    1475106170

    vs, Alice, Rob - Sorry I didn't respond before! Thanks! (though I decided not to do it)

    PS - I definitely agree that there's something addictive about Diet Coke. My mom can go through a 12 pack in two or three days ...She's very health aware in everything else, but just CANNOT give up the DC.


    One thing I'm doing to get a serving of beans every day is to eat hummus as an afternoon snack with some cut up veggies or fruit. I also have been taking a serving for lunch. Once I get roasted chickpeas perfected, then I can snack on those too. Then I'll have my 3 servings. Smile
    The Daily Dozen - berries (1); other fruit (2); whole grains (3); beans (3); cruceferious vegetables (1); greens (2); other vegetables (2); turmeric (1/4 tsp); ground flaxseed (1 TBSP); nuts (1), spices; drinks (5 12 oz); exercise (90 min)

  6. PatientSaver Says:
    1475153701

    That's very close to my ideal diet plan except for a few things:

    I have eliminated meat, dairy, eggs.

    Also, I try to eat about a quarter cup of nuts daily, preferably unsalted, and seeds are also nutritional powerhouses. They say a single Brazil nut gives you an entire day's worth of Vit. E, but there are a lot of there reasons to eat other nuts as well, like walnuts, especially.

    If you look into the veggie category, which is very broad, you can also focus on eating veggies that give you the biggest (nutritional) boost, since you can only eat so much, and if you fill up on, say, potatoes, you won't have room for more nutritional veggies like ONIONS and MUSHROOMS.

    I have an excellent book on the nutritional value of spices and how to work them into your diet; i can give you the title if you're interested.

    90 minutes of daily exercise is a huge goal; i can hit that occasionally, but not every day...so good for you if you can do it!

    I take daily turmeric supplements and the ground flaxseed is part of my homemade granola, which i eat daily. You can buy mixed seed packets at Trader Joe's, and it's great when sprinkled on hot steel cut oats, for instance.

    Which book(s) did you say your diet is based on? Just curious.

  7. FrugalTexan75 Says:
    1475155652

    PS - Our diets are actually very similar. Smile I've been a lacto-ovo vegetarian for many, many years. Stopped drinking milk (though will use it in cooking once in a while) at least ten years ago. I haven't 100% eliminated eggs and cheese and ice cream ... but am limiting them quite a bit. About the only time I eat cheese anymore is on pizza .... Eggs I go back and forth on, but currently haven't had one in at least 6 weeks. Ice cream, if I eat it, is only on Saturday nights and in small portions.

    The daily dozen list isn't the only foods I eat, it's more of a list of basics to attain. I got the list from the book How Not to Die by Dr Greger.

    I'm eating 5 or 6 Brazil nuts a week now (no more than 2 in a day) both for the heart healthy benefits, and the thyroid control benefits. My morning smoothie currently consists of 1 cup of mixed berries, 1/2 cup of old fashioned oats, 1/4 tsp of turmeric, a couple shakes of black pepper, a couple shakes of cinnamon, a banana, a 1/2 scoop of pea protien powder, and enough water to make it blend. I was adding 1/2 cup of beans to it too for a few days, which I may do again. (Just have to figure out how to have beans ready for the blender and also ready to eat normally without using canned beans constantly.)

    Yes, I would love the title of the spice book. It's very interesting to me seeing how spices can affect our health so much. I'm just starting to drink green tea with ground ginger, and am planning on trying hibiscus tea.

  8. PatientSaver Says:
    1475169895

    Oh, that's right..i loved the Dr. Greger book too. That's a key component contributing to my diet strategies.

    I hear ya on the eggs. I love eggs and while i haven't had any in months, i'm sure i will again, but if i do, i buy them locally farm-rasied never store-bought. The only cheese i eat semi-regularly is parmesan on pasta, and as soon as that is done, i'll switch over to the vegan version...hoping it tastes decent.

    The spice book is called "Healing Spices: How to Used 50 Everyday and Exotic Spices to Boost Health and Beat Disease" by Bharat B. Aggarwal, PhD. I like the book a lot. BTW, a half teaspoon of cinnamon daily is very helpful in terms of moderating high blood pressure and may help prevent Alzheimers. I'm sure you already know about turmeric. Even my dad's mainstream doctor has him taking turmeric supplements now, so that's saying something.

  9. PatientSaver Says:
    1475169971

    When i was working, i would make cold hibiscus tea with lemon in my thermos instead of water. I need to figure out how to incorporate cranberries into my diet more without a lot of added sugar. They're very tart.

  10. FrugalTexan75 Says:
    1475170089

    Thanks for the spice book.

    It looks like our Peep has laid her first egg. Smile So now I can eat eggs from my local farmer (DH) Smile

  11. FrugalTexan75 Says:
    1475170536

    Would an overripe banana offer enough sweetness, or a couple of prunes? Cranberries aren't something I'm looking at yet. Eventually will though.

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