Extreme Couponing,
If you haven't scene this show on TLC, its a show that has shoppers who use  stacks of coupons to save hundreds of dollars.
My wife and daughter love it. To me its a little ridiculous.  I was semi watching an episode where a woman had 500 bucks worth of goods in her baskets. After all the coupons where tallied she ended up paying 45 dollars. On the surface it sounds great. Is it though? The program shows a few of the items that were purchased. This episode showed that the shopper ended up with 60 bags of candy. (She had a buy one get one free, no limit) 45 frozen dinners. Also 10 bottles of dish soap. I thought to myself, she ended up with a bunch of crap. Literally crap. A TV dinner that was originally $3.25 that is reduced to $0.50after a coupon is still a bad deal. Buy one bag of jelly beans get one free. Again why waste your money on such a nutritionally voided item. The second thought I had was,I never get a buy one get one free on spinach. Matter of fact no simple whole foods ever have coupons.
My way of shopping for great deals is coupon free. When I'm at the grocery store I always keep an eye out for discounted items.
Foods that are a day or two from expiring. Foods that are not selling good.(The latter often applies to healthy foods sense a lot of people don't buy healthy foods)  My latest great find at the store came on Monday when I ran in for a few items. After getting what I needed I scanned the meat section to see if anything was discounted. To my surprise I found three grass fed sirloins. They were going to be expired the next day. So to move them fast the store drastically cut the price. Original price was $14.50 each. I got them for $2.25 each. All three in total were less than 1/2 of one at regular price. All three were cheaper than the cheapest corn fed ground beef the store sells.
The extreme couponers may get on TV and show us all how to save 95% off a bill that's filed with junk. I will never get on TV to show people how to find real, healthy food at discounts. When its all said and done and I'm enjoying my steak I know that I'm much better than anyone on "Extreme Couponing!"

I don't own a boat, but I have found a great use for the boat ramp by my house. The ramp is roughly 450 feet and has a grade that isn't very friendly. This is where I go to do some brutal interval runs. The ramp is 1/2 mile from my house. Just enough to warm my legs up. My routine is to jog down the ramp, then sprint up as fast as possible. Repeat 10 times then jog back home. I consider myself to be pretty fit,but this little exercise really makes me suck wind. Its a great tool to fit into my weekly workouts. Especially the days when I didn't make it to the gym and not in the mood for a 45 minute run. I can do this in under 25 minutes.
Running is such a great way to stay healthy. Minus the cost of shoes and clothes its a very cheap activity. I am always looking for ways to make it more of a challenge. Trail runs, racing passing cars,sprinting from  one phone pole to the next, and running up the boat ramp.keeps it fun and exciting.

I love carbs, I am addicted to them. My diet is 65-70% carbs. I cringe when people say they limit carb intake. Thank you Dr. Atkins for putting the fear of starch into people.  Living a fast paced active lifestyle I eat a lot. Running daily,sometimes twice a day, and lifting weight for an hour 6 days a week makes me hungry. Nothing is worse when half way through a workout I get weak. Weak because my blood sugar level is dropping. This is rare. I do eat properly prior to starting. Two cup of oats, honey and a banana before my morning run. Natural peanut butter sandwich and eggs before the gym. Always a heavy dose of carbs. More carbs after the gym, carbs at dinner carbs before bed. My blood is literally flowing with slow burning fuel almost nonstop. All the time maintaining a weight of 185 lbs. (No weight gain here!) For those who think carbs=fat. Everyday I make my meals to take to work.
Enough so I can eat every 3-4 hours.Today I forgot one of my meal containers. This put me in a situation that had me eating my post workout meal at 12:00. I had nothing until I got home at 4:45. I usually have raisins or Clif bars in the car, but hadn't restocked my glove box. So I just had to suck it up and wait. I got home and had two eggs, two slices of toast and a few dates. This really hit the spot. I felt strong and I was no longer grumpy.  My son had football practice in an hour, and on practice days I run the nature trail by the fields. I dropped him off and started my run. My legs were tired. The day before I did squats and ran. Today I had biked 6 miles and ran 30 minutes of Hiit. So another run my 3rd in 24 hours was really hurting me. I chose to just run at a n easy  pace. Not really pushing myself. After about 4 miles I started to get the feelings of weakness. My blood sugar was dropping.
My eating schedule was off from earlier and I was now paying for it. Being a nurse I have a blood sugar monitor in my work bag. Out of curiosity I checked my level. I was at 56. A normal blood sugar is between 80-120. I was low, very low, and I felt like crap. The only thing I had to eat was the banana I brought from home for after my run. I ate it, and within 5 minutes my level was 114. Instant sugar. I felt 100% better, no shakes, no weakness no problems.  When you push yourself day in and day out, sugar in the form of starch,fruit or honey is your best friend. For anyone who honestly believes that their weight problem is from carbs is looking at the wrong problem. Its not the carbs you put into your body. Its the lack of exercise.
And a side note, don't confuse brown rice, whole wheat pasta,Quinoa or other grains with twinkies coca cola and cupcakes. Those carbs never get past my lips.

Can a pair of 20 dollar piece of rubber replace my arsenal of footwear?
I do a lot of activities. Run on the road in the early mornings(usually 2-5 miles). Lift weights at the gym daily and run trails in the evening.On Saturdays I go for a long(for me)run. Each activity has its own shoe.

My morning run and lifting shoe are these New Balance 790. I run in these for short distances, mainly to keeps as many miles
off my longer run shoes. I really like lifting in them because they have a very thin sole and my gym doesn't allow being barefoot.

For my weekend long runs I wear my Asics Gel Nimbus. Not being a person who wants to spend money on shoes every 6 months or so, I use these sparingly. Once a week and race day are the only action they get.

Then their are my Tevas. I love these sandals. Versatile, dependable and durable. Since 1993 I have owned three pairs. These shoes are what I wear for casual wear. Going to the movies, football games, kayaking, just about everywhere.

So Is it possible for a cheap pair of rubber shoes replace all of the above? Yes,well almost yes. My invisible shoes have for the time replaced all but my Asics. Until I get completely conditioned for runs over 10 miles with my new minimalist shoes the Asics stay. For short runs and trails they are fine. I am running a bit slower, still on a learning curve. Daily practice will fix that! I even ran to the lake and went swimming with them on. 

The Tevas are also on the shelf.  Now when I go out I wear the invisible shoes. My sons football game, the movies,the grocery store etc.

When I look at it, these shoes are minimal in two aspects. The 1st is obvious, the 2nd is the fact that I now only have two pair of shoes to keep track of.

If you would like a pair or want some great information visit  http://www.invisibleshoe.com/

I had many reasons to loose weight. Living longer, being able to do more fun things. Tying my shoes and not hurting myself.OK some reasons were serious and some weren't so. Besides bettering my mortality rate, I didn't want my children looking at me and thinking it was normal to be so big. I wanted them to learn that eating right and being active was not only fun,but vital.
Our kids are very athletic. The have always exceeded in every sport they joined.I did to, yet ended up in a bad situation. My goal is to keep them active and to eat pretty healthy. My constant preaching about food, making them try green smoothies and taking them on jogs is paying off. Tonight I did get a surprise. It was 7:30 and I had settled into my lazy boy to do nothing productive.
My 12 year old came to me and asked if we could go workout in out gym. I was tired, and did a pretty killer chest workout already.
I knew telling him no,maybe tomorrow would hurt my cause. So I got changed and we headed down to the day room I call my gym. He is starting football this year,1st game in in 1 week. He wants to start weight training to get a more "meatier" build.
He is build more like a runner,long and thin. So far he loves football and in the future will need some more muscles.wen we do weight training I keep him to a short routine. Nothing to extreme. Its more education really,learning the techniques and motions.
In time we will advance, in the present we are setting a foundation for a lifetime of health.

This is a dish I made last night. I made it up as I went, turned out great. Even the kids loved it.
You will need
1 Broccoli 1 cup or more
2 Cauliflower 1 cup or more
3 Peas 14-1/2 cup
4 Bell peppers 1 small or 1/2 large
5 red pepper(or any hot pepper) 1-3 depending on preference
6 Onion
7 Banana pepper 1-2
8 Coconut oil
9 Shredded cheese of choice
10salt&pepper
I start of by caramelizing items 4-7 in the oil on low heat
after a few minutes I add items 1&2. Let them cook until they get good some nice grill marks. Add your peas after the veggies are
done. Stir all together to mix them up. I then transfer everything into a large bowl and mix again. Then back to the pan. This helps the onions and peppers stick better to the veggies. Add salt and pepper and the cheese. As for the cheese just add enough to cover the dish, not to much is needed. Maybe 1/2 cup. Turn of the heat and cover. let sit for a few minutes.
This is very easy and very tasty

Youth soccer is growing in popularity. When my oldest was 6 he wanted to play. Like most Americans I thought that soccer was a lame waist of time. I wanted a football player. Living in Texas its expected. He wanted soccer, so my wife signed him up.
I was not happy, I knew nothing about this game,well only that the goalie could use his hands. My education in the sport was interesting. After watching a few practices and then the 1st game, I was hooked. Unlike baseball or football every player on the field is doing something. No standing around and waiting. You are running 80% of the time. The thing I noticed with soccer is how the players developed dexterity and agility. Not to mention building up a great cardio baseline. In soccer their are no set drill, or plays. You run to the ball and advance it. Running as fast as you can to beat the opposition, then using your ability to win the ball and continue on. I have five children,and all started in soccer. Some stayed with it exclusively, and some branched off to other sports. What I noticed with the three that played football and basketball later on was they were the best athletes on the team. Maybe not the best player,but as far as physical ability went,no one could come close.I credit that to all the years spent on the soccer field. All the running, the use of legs and feet to win battles. This made my kids more fluid in the abilities. Not to mention having the lung capacity of an antelope. This year my youngest who is 12 is playing football for the 1st time. The last 6 years was soccer. He is one of a handful of new to football kids on the teams. The aspect of football is new to him and their is a learning curve. The physical training drills are second nature.watching him practice and perform is fun. Seeing how he is the only one not hunched over with his hands on his knees gasping for air shows his fitness level. Soccer may still be an odd sport to us, but when it comes to molding a great all around athlete its the best youth sport in the world!

How many times have you heard someone say"I workout all the time and can't loose any weight!" I often tell myself that maybe they are putting in the gym time,but probably are still eating terribly. A friend of mine would go walk around a track for 30 minutes then go to Dairy Queen for a reward. Not really accomplishing anything. The last few days at my gym I noticed why the people who workout but can't loose weight might be having troubles. I normally mind my own when at the gym. Sunday however I saw a woman in the 30 minute circuit workout area. She was doing the steps station. For 1 minute you go up and down 2 steps to get a good cardio rush. She was texting the entire time. taking 1 step then stopping. in 1 minute she may have taken 15 steps. I kept peaking over to see if she would take the circuit seriously. She didn't, she would move to the next exercise and not do much work(well other then her thumbs) So this 30 minute all body workout that would burn a good amount of calories was basically worthless. This person didn't burn much. Her heart rate couldn't have gotten over 80.
Today I saw a person on a spin bike. He was reading a book. He was reading a book and pedaling at a very slow pace. Almost at a standstill. Again his heart rate was pumping at a nice normal rate. No cardio at all.
I feel confident that these two people will talk about how they go to the gym and workout. then complain that they aren't getting any thinner. Then after a while just give up all together. The key to breaking through on weight loss is to push yourself. To give everything you have when doing cardio. your heart should be in well over 120. when at the gym, the only thing you should have with you is an ipod. No books, no texting. Give those up for the time your in.

Running on a treadmill is really boring. I honestly hate it. Nothing compares to running outside in the elements. I did buy one however from a yard sale. It was $45, so the price was good. I have found a way to make my treadmill runs a lot more fun. I use it in interval training. I run on it for 1 minute at a fast pace, hop off and pound the heavy bag for 1 minute. This goes on for 15-20 minutes.  The 1 minute punching bag breaks the dreadful monotony of running in place. The time goes by faster then my heart rate. I end up with a fun workout, many calories burned and the satisfaction of beating the boring treadmill blues.