Got Cravings?

On the weekend we got visited by the Girl Guides and their addicting cookies. I wasn't home, so my husband (bless him) bought two.

There are many things in this life I can easily resist. Vanilla Girl Guide cookies aren't one of them.

On my long walk on Sunday I was listening to an excellent podcast called "Get Fit! Stay Healthy!" Tina Anderson, the host, talked about a quick way to deal with cravings: splash cold water on your face and brush your teeth. I thought that was a great idea.

I came home and did some more research on dealing with cravings, and look at this cool page I found: Food Cravings

So, keep a travel toothbrush in your pocket, and arm yourself with the RIGHT food from that list, and you should be set!

Oh, and don't succumb to the Girl Guide Cookies!

Happy Walking!

Darlene

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Take care!

Brandi Murray

403-829-6783

THE BLOG (recent sessions & news)

Huge Spring Fling Giveaway!

I'm celebrating the first day of Spring with a HUGE CONTEST!!!

Oh, I'm so excited!

As you probably know, over the past few years I've been walking - not just for weight loss, but for overall health. I noticed how when I started walking the weight came off quite quickly, but soon, even with doing 100km or more a WEEK, I was still dragging around my jiggly middle!

This year I decided to get serious and take a good long look at nutrition. I am not a nutritional expert, so I spent some time researching and discovered a lovely lady by the name of Dee McCaffrey who lost 100 pounds almost two decades ago and has never gained it back!! She's big on eating good nutrition, and on living in the "real world" so we started talking.

Not wanting to keep all her good info to myself, we decided to work together to release her plan to the world (she already has it written up in a book, and has been on national TV!) and we'd accompany it with some walking training, some inspiring yoga-type stretching, and some super-quickie strength training (I get bored easily, and have a desperately short attention span. Besides, like you, I'm incredibly busy).

After MANY months, huge frustrations, and delightful surprises along the way, IT'S READY TO GO!! (Man! I never thought this day would come!)

To release it, we're hosting a huge contest with fantastic wellness prizes supplied by all the folks involved.

Entry is easy, and the course is fantastic (even if I do say so myself...) so why not join us and give yourself a new body for Spring?

Start by clicking here:

BLINK!

Here is yet ANOTHER great idea from ANOTHER awesome Mom entrepreneur. We rock, ladies!!!



I had fun at this party, I learned a few things, and I looked GREAT when I left. And the effects were lasting, as I have been replacing old makeup, taking an extra few minutes to do my makeup each day, and therefore, feeling just a bit more confident when I head out the door. Nice work, Kara!

www.smallwonder.ca

Post Frostbite "Kit"

Ok, so it’s a week since my Sunday Frostbite fiasco. Winter walking will never be the same.

First of all, there seems to be some permanent damage – especially in the fourth toe on my left foot – the one that went gray. Dead as a doornail, that one. The rest are tingly at the tips, some are still a little tender, but not bad. Yesterday I was able to wear my normal shoes without pain, though, so that was great.

Last night I visited some “new” friends – well, I was actually his Gr. 12 prom date, and haven’t seen him since… I found him on Facebook, connected with his brilliant wife – who seems to be my twin separated from me at birth – and she’s into Essential Oils. Last night while we visited at their lovely country home, Sue offered to massage my feet with some Essential Oils (not many people have offered to massage my feet EVER, let alone after knowing me for fewer than 12 hours…). This morning my toes felt irritated more than usual, which gives me hope that this oil mix/massage might be waking up some of those dead nerves. We’ll see what happens over the next few days.

I saw the doctor on Friday and he made it clear that I must now be extremely cautious for the rest of my life as I am now 10x more likely to get frostbite again. As someone who has freezing feet even at the height of summer, I felt somewhat doomed by that statement, and knew I had to re-think winter walking.

SO…

Frostbite

I was so proud of myself for getting out for my 3 hour walk yesterday in spite of the -19°C/-2°F temperatures. I bundled up, set up my technology, and headed down what was actually a beautiful pathway with fresh snow that sparkled in the sun.

As usual, my toes got pretty cold when I started out, but I knew that once I hit training speed, they'd warm up and be fine. Or, so I thought. Yesterday was a "ladder" walk, a kind of Interval walk where you jump around into different heart rate zones, several of which are quite slow. At times my feet felt fine. Other times, my toes were quite cold, but not painfully so.

On the way home, however, I began to feel quite uncomfortable and about 1km from home, when I should have been in HR Zone 2 (HR in the mid-90's) I just kept it up in HR Zone 5 (HR in the mid 130's) because my right foot felt numb, and both feet were feeling uncomfortable.

Read More Here: www.PraiseWalker.com

Print and Storyboard S.A.L.E.

Simply Connected Photography is having a SALE!

For a limited time take 25% off all prints and storyboards!!

{Collection D} is here from January 22 - March 15, 2010. It includes 5 digital files and a $350 print credit for $500. That is a $200 savings.....not to mention how far your print credit will stretch with the 25% off sale ;) ;) Available to all clients that book and hold a session between Jan. 22 - March 15, 2010.

Book now to reserve your session and take advantage of the New Year savings.

Simply Connected is a local photography studio located in the N.W. of Calgary. Unique for the "Style" infused into each image, the studio now has even more selection of backgrounds and props (hats, scarves and clothing) to choose from! Simply Connected also does location photography in urban or country settings.

Displaying your session images on a Canvas is a great way to decorate your home. Art for your home....invest in your memories.

Join artforyourhome (Simply Connected) on twitter!

Happy New Year!

Brandi Murray

www.simplyconnectedphotography.ca

www.simplyconnectedphotography.ca/blog

403-829-6783

Walking with the Bible

Still WAY too cold (-11°C /12°F ) , but I went out anyway (she da man!) I'm having trouble getting my Garmin to read my heart rate. It's given me an average heart rate today of 61bpm. I wish I was in that kind of shape! I think the strap is actually too loose - probably made for a man. I'm going to shorten it, and then try again.

It did "beep" me through my workout, though, and I did an interval workout to get some more of this fat blasted off. Woohoo. Toes are still thawing out, but otherwise I'm feeling pretty good.

I thought I'd share what I'm listening to. Last year I started listening to the Bible while I walked, and this year I've decided I want to go much deeper into the scriptures. Here's how I'm attempting to do it:

Read about it here: www.PraiseWalker.com

Darlene