Oh, now I've forgotten.

Have you ever gone on the computer to do one thing and did ten things that is not the one thing you wanted to do then turn off computer with that one thing still not being done?

While at work yesterday I knew I wanted to look up something so I went to Google and sat there for a few minutes looking into space because I couldn’t remember what I wanted to look up. I thought, ‘Why am I doing this? Is there a certain food that will help boost my memory?’
So I decided to look up memory boosting foods. I found a few interesting pages. Although one page listed that a few “Brain Blockers,” such as eating the combination of proteins and starches will have a negative effect on brain functions because it takes more energy to digest them, which means that less blood is going to the brain. I thought this was interesting because with all my researching, other people have said you should eat protein with your starches because it not only lowers your blood sugar level, you digest it slower making the food stay in you longer, so you don’t get hungry as quickly. It just goes to show that there are so many schools of thought on nutrition.
Then, Oooh! Memory games! I can test to see how good my memory is! I started playing a few memory games. Not bad so far, inputting my answers. Oh yeah, I had to input segment times on our Master Control playlist (for work purposes).
There I am looking for a scrap piece of paper, from a whole pile of papers on my desk, to write down the times when I realized that I had been cutting up some good labels. Earlier I took some DVD label sheets that had already been used. I wanted to cut out the side labels that we were never going to use so I could bring them home. I realized that some of the ones I had been cutting up were good ones. Oops. Well nothing I can do about those now.
I had a whole bunch of useless labels on my desk that were just taking up a lot of room. I wanted to get rid of them. Can you recycle labels? I would have gone back to Google to find out the answer except that I realized that I was pretty hungry so I went to get some food. When I got back to my computer to go back to Google search, Dogs in Outfits? Do I really want to go to that page? (Yeah, I do.) Looking at the dogs in funny outfits, a co-worker walks by and says hello. Ok right. Back to work. I still had to input those game times, now I have to find the email. Oh there’s my Google search page. So finally I got the segment times then did my search for memory boosting foods. Feels good to get that done! Among many listed were blueberries, apples, spinach, onions and broccoli. Strange because I do eat all of those.

What was I looking up originally? Oh, now I’ve forgotten.

Busy in the Kitchen

I've been remembering the days after I graduated from high school and had no where else to go. At the time I was tired of school and felt I needed a break for a while before going back so I didn't apply anywhere. All I wanted to do is work for a bit and save up some money. Well it took me about nine months to do so, and between interviews and dropping off resumes there wasn't a lot I was doing. I got extremely bored. What do I normally do to fill time when I'm bored? I eat. Except at the time I was on Weight Watchers and could do that so easily either. I did the next best thing. On my mother's dime, I bought a whole bunch of Weight Watchers cookbooks and groceries and did a lot of cooking. I liked experimenting with different recipes and different types of food. It was fun and new to me. Unfortunately that interested diminished as soon as I went crazy and left WW and eventually started school again.

Now things have gone somewhat back to that but this time it's different. I have been really trying the last few months to improve my eating habits (except maybe a day or two, or ten when I maybe went a little overboard on the eating). But I have been trying to eat better, way better than I have even with Weight Watcher: proper portion sizes, maximizing good foods, minimizing bad foods, and of course exercises is all a part of it too. On WW I was just obsessed with how much food I could get with the least amount of points and the only bit of exercise I did (mostly just walking) was done so that I could eat more! (On that note, I don't not recommend Weight Watchers, I just figure it just wasn't for me.)

Now I'm back to cooking again! I love looking for recipes! And although I love love love LOVE my slow cooker, I'm always looking for recipes that I can experiment with when I have the time.

I recommend these websites. Spark People is really good for recipes and articles. I get a new recipe emailed to me everyday and they're very healthy and always look quite tasty! The name of the second really explains itself. Calorie Count a good source for those who are counting their calories.

Spark People

Calorie Count

If you do count calories, remember to make sure you are getting the right amount of protein and fibre in your diet. Don't always go for the no fat/low fat because they might have more sugar to compensate and that's probably much worse, depending on what it is. Remember, fat doesn't make you fat, it just clogs your arteries, unless they're good fats. Make sure you choose the right types of fat and don't eat in excess. Sugar and simple carbs, to put it simply, make you fat. I'm also not big on low carb diets.

Anyway, I also recommend the book, Magic Foods for Better Blood Sugar. I picked it up the other day because I wanted to get a index-type of book with superfoods which list what they're good for, and although this one is somewhat specific to blood sugar, it was still pretty much what I was looking for. It lists a number of foods that lower your blood sugar level, what else they do and how you can use them in cooking. On top of that they have a number of breakfasts, lunch, dinners and desserts that are popular and explain how you can improve it. Additionally, they include lots of yummy recipes. I plan on making the Oatmeal-Peanut Butter Trail Bars tomorrow. Me and a bunch of friends are having a game night for Earth Hour. I'll also be making a Seven Layer Taco Dip.

Settlers of Catan and and yummy food. What could be better?

Three pounds down, 82 to go!

I admit I haven’t really been doing much for my heavy bag. This is mostly because the sand I have is kind of wet and it takes forever for it to dry. So what I’ve started doing is roasting my sand to dry it out. It’s a long process because it takes a little while to dry in the oven then I have to let it cool before putting them in a bag but I’m keeping costs down so I don’t mind. I will have to buy some more sand eventually though.
The picture on the left is the sand in the milk bag before I covered it in gaffer tape and the picture on the right is after. I wanted to put the pictures together because the one on the right on its own closely resembles a heroin brick. I didn’t want people to get the wrong idea! :)
Right so the next step is to make roughly 28 more of these, wrap them with foam and put them in a canvas duffel bag. That’s it!


Also, big news! I'm going back to school!! I'm super excited and I'm moving to Toronto, which is great because I really need a change in scenery. I'll be taking Fitness and Health at Humber College.