New blog!

I've started posting about personal life & writing at www.rachelmoss.com.

You can find all my health information at Veggie Bee!

Veggie Bee

You can find me now at Veggie Bee, my new blog on healthy living!

I really need a new sports bra!!

Is that TMI? No matter, I entered the Gracie Gear Giveaway, but if I don't win I'll just have to go out and buy one. It has a pocket! Runners will agree with me how necessary this is :)

Check out Roni’s Weight Loss Blog for more information.

Also check out Roni's other site, Green Lite Bites, for tasty, healthy recipes and food ideas.

Golfing old-school style!

Yes, David wears this all the time to golf!

Thy will be done

I have read the passage below from a devotional from Joyce Meyer over and over again the last couple of years when things are not going as I expected, it helps me to focus again on God's will for my life, rather than my own will or wish for how I think my life should be. I was reminded again of this after listening to Joel Osteen, when he says "Tough times don't happen to you, they happen for you", meaning if you stay in faith, good will come out of the tough times even when you don't see at the moment how that can be possible.

From Joyce's devotional:

Beloved, God has a good plan for you, and He will manifest it right on time. Fear not, God is with you and He will never leave you nor forsake you. He will not leave you without support! If you need financial support, He will provide. If it is physical support you need, He will sustain you while you are waiting for your full manifestation of healing. If you need emotional support, He will comfort you with the kind of comfort that only the Holy Spirit can give. He will nourish you and bring you back to a place of strength in every area of your life. God is for you. He is not against you. Satan is against you, but God is for you. The greater One lives in you!

More Disneyland!

No tickets to the "gun show"

As you know, I love running, walking, any type of cardio. But the only strength training I've found that I like to do is in the context of a class, like pushups during my boxing class, or making the effort to do a pilates class before boxing. But I've never really been able to consistently add any type of weight training routine. So I told my class last night that the next thing I would try would be to keep my weights by the TV or by my computer and I would lift periodically throughout the morning while I'm working at home. It's working so far!! I take little breaks to do short bouts of lifting. I'm not sure if it will make a great impact in my "guns" but I think if I can start some consistency with this strategy, I may learn to like weight lifting enough to incorporate an actual consistent routine a couple of times a week. I stumbled across these 10 lb. weights when I was looking for my heavier weights (which I was dreading using, but they were my only weights)... do these look familiar David? I found them in the "storage" bedroom :)

What's your favorite type of exercise? Cardio, strength, or none at all?

Think About It

You need to learn to be happy by nature, because you'll seldom have the chance to be happy by circumstance.
---- Lavetta Sue Wegman

DAVID ROCKS!!!!!

David is the biggest stud because, yes, I know he's hot... but more importantly than that, he woke up at 3:30 AM with me to walk with me to the starting line at the Disneyland Half Marathon! That's hot people... Then he positioned himself on the course to find me as I was running. Now, we have to get a good system going for the actual picture-taking. Other runners did not move out of the way and kept running in front of me just at the moment he was going to take the picture, the nerve!! Well, he was persistent and got some good shots :) and after the race we spent the next 10 hours or so at Disneyland. I got to ride Space Mountain twice!! Wheeeeee!!

It's really more of a miracle that I woke up

at 3:30 in the morning than anything else.

Overlooking the start of the race.
It's only mile 3 so I'm still very excited to
be here :)
Me, Heidi and her brother Wes, who ran
the race with a broken middle toe!
Immediately after Space Mountain, yes, I look crazed.

And what's new with you?!

Where have I been you may wonder? Or maybe you don't, but humor me please. I've been really trying to figure out what I really want to do when I grow up and what that might look like. I've been doing a little bit of freelance writing and editing, contemplating keeping this blog going and deciding which areas of my work life about which I feel most passionate. Here is where I will be focusing my direction:

• Creating a focused blog & website on weight management and related topics. I should have the blog up and running soon and will focus my energy there once I have it functional. Since I've been working at IHM, I've had someone else doing the programming for me, so I'm a bit rusty in that area. I'm sure it's like riding a bike though right? :) Please say right, or I'm afraid I will pull all my hair out trying to figure it all out again! I'll also be working on a more interactive web site for people to use in various stages of weight management, more to come on that later.
• Continuing this blog as a personal, stream-of-consciousness blog related to anything I might think of. Once my other blog is functional I'll be posting here less. I'll try to post here at least 3 to 4 times a week in the meantime though.
• I'm working on a book proposal on a topic near to my heart but not related to weight management. I'm realizing this is a teaser post :) I don't want to share too much info since I'm still working on all my plans.
• I'm deciding if I want to return to school to pursue my PhD in Educational Technology. I specifically want to research the viability and effectiveness of online interventions for the various stages of weight management and I have some ideas as to how I want to pursue that. I'll have to see if more education plays a role in that.

On the personal front, things are fabulous, except that the Chargers are starting the season 0-2. Heidi and I ran the Disneyland Half-Marathon which was a blast. Yes, the run was a blast, but the whole weekend was so much fun! It was my first trip to Disneyland. I'll post pics soon.

Also, I hope to start working on my bathroom remodel starting in earnest this weekend. I'll have before, during and after pics of all the ensuing chaos on here as well.

So, what are you going to be when you grow up?! ;=)

I love...

Cabo San Lucas! From the moment we arrived it was all about relaxation and fun...

Here's the view from where I'm sitting:

Our room is so fabulous, David says "bang, bang!". You'd be giddy too, if you had the view from our room:

Can you tell we spent our second day by the pool? The group all went out to dinner at a restaurant in town called the Trailer Park. Don't let the name fool you, the food was great, and they made a veggie platter especially for me that was really tasty.

Isn't it a little distracting to play golf with a view like this? And it's a Jack Nicklaus designed course, good times!

More pics to come...

The Man Rules

Note: Due to misunderstanding by my mother, David did not write this list of rules for me to follow... although he agrees with all of them :)

At last a guy has taken the time to write this all down... We always hear "the rules" from the female side. Now here are the rules from the male side. These are our rules!

Please note.. these are all numbered "1" ON PURPOSE!

1. Men are NOT mind readers.

1. Learn to work the toilet seat. You're a big girl. If it's up, put it down. We need it up, you need it down. You don't hear us complaining about you leaving it down.

1. Sunday sports ~ It's like the full moon or the changing of the tides. Let it be.

1. Crying is blackmail.

1. Ask for what you want. Let us be clear on this one:
Subtle hints do not work!
Strong hints do not work!
Obvious hints do not work!
Just say it!

1. Yes and No are perfectly acceptable answers to almost every question.

1. Come to us with a problem only if you want help solving it. That's what we do. Sympathy is what your girlfriends are for.

1. Anything we said 6 months ago is inadmissible in an argument. In fact, all comments become Null and void after 7 Days.

1. If you think you're fat, you probably are. Don't ask us.

1. If something we said can be interpreted two ways and one of the ways makes you sad or angry, we meant the other one.

1. You can either ask us to do something or tell us how you want it done. Not both. If you already know best how to do it, just do it yourself.

1. Whenever possible, please say whatever you have to say during commercials..

1. Christopher Columbus did NOT need directions and neither do we.

1. ALL men see in only 16 colors, like Windows default settings. Peach, for example, is a fruit, not A color. Pumpkin is also a fruit. We have no idea what mauve is.

1. If it itches, it will be scratched. We do that.

1. If we ask what is wrong and you say "nothing," we will act like nothing's wrong. We know you are lying, but it is just not worth the hassle.

1. If you ask a question you don't want an answer to, expect an answer you don't want to hear.

1. When we have to go somewhere, absolutely anything you wear is fine... Really .

1. Don't ask us what we're thinking about unless you are prepared to discuss such topics as baseballor golf.

1. You have enough clothes.

1. You have too many shoes.

1. I am in shape. Round IS a shape!

1. Thank you for reading this. Yes, I know, I have to sleep on the couch tonight; But did you know men really don't mind that? It's like camping.

Chickin Feed

I thought this was a great idea for getting your kids involved in paying attention to their own nutrition! It's called Chickin Feed nutrition tracking and created by a mom in Atlanta just trying to involve her kids in keeping track of what they ate for the day. Hopefully it makes it feel like a game for kids to make sure they're getting in healthy foods into their diet. Since I don't have kids, I have no idea if it's effective or not, but I would love to know if anyone does this type of tracking with their kid's food intake and whether or not it works.

"...it's got to be good!"

I love me some Smucker's Sugar Free Breakfast syrup! I eat it every morning with my Multigrain Cereal and a Fuji apple. Sometimes I eat it for dinner too! It would be good over regular oatmeal with a dash of cinnamon, or a whole-grain waffle. It's also yummy poured over cut up banana barely heated in the microwave and topped with a little fat-free cool whip... I know, sounds crazy, but delish.

One of my fave web sites

I picked up this magazine, Women's Health, a couple of times and subsequently started visiting their web site. Now I find myself returning to it more and more. Much of what is in the magazine is on the web site and I just love their tag line ~ "It's good to be you". It IS good to be you :) check it out.

Congratulations David!!!

My baby is a stud! He made his sales goals for 2007 and as a reward, his company takes everyone who makes their goal plus a guest on a trip each February, whoo hoo! We're going to Cabo San Lucas and I am so excited! :) I'm so proud of my man, he worked his booty off to make it and he deserves the reward. Wheeeeee!!

Back to business

I can't believe it's 2008, but now that the bustle of the holidays is over it's back to business and setting new goals for the year. David and I are moved in together and it is a very exciting time for both of us, and I'm trying to stay cheery about the unpacking process :) I never realize how much stuff I have until I have to move it! I've moved quite a bit over the years, but it's nice to know that now I am settling in with someone that I love and now I get to share my life with my best friend.

One of my goals for this year is to make this blog a place for positive information and inspiration, especially from a health perspective. I want to help people feel vibrant, not just to be thin. There are a lot of risks that come with obesity and now is the time to get into the specifics of being healthy. I hope I can do my part to help with that.

I'm going to start by expanding on the issues that I put in the poll at the end of last year. Hopefully that will be a helpful start to kick off the new year. I hope everyone is preparing for a positive and joyous new year!

Romance isn't dead

I stole this from CreoleinDC... this one's for the ladies!

And David is...

THE SNOW SWORD
Your Superhero Name is The Snow Sword
Your Superpower is Seduction
Your Weakness is Glitter
Your Weapon is Your Flame Bombs
Your Mode of Transportation is Snowboard

All of this is spot on for David, and here's a bit of TMI that he's probably very proud of... he has some serious weapons of mass destruction with his Flame Bombs. Yes, it's what you think it is.

Seduction :) check. And now I know his weakness. Either this means I need some glitter body lotion, or his weakness is a stripper named Glitter. Hmmmm, I'm going to get my body lotion either way.

If you only knew ;)

You Are a Champagne Woman

A true mystery, no one can quite figure you out... That is, until you start drinking. Then you tend to let loose. You're fun to drink with, but it definitely takes you a few drinks to loosen up. You prefer to date a man who likes the finer things in life... like a five star dinner with that champagne.

What Kind of Drinking Woman Are You?