Pokemon GO-Cheating, Trios and Love Spats

 

Play safe-don't drive and catch critters

 In his never-ending quest to keep up with current trends in the high-tech world, Jeff has succumbed to the pressure to join the Pokemon GO movement with me. It's become an enormous virtual cult invading the real world and dragging gamers of all ages out of their digital habitats and into the great outdoors. Or at least outside of their own front doors and into new and foreign enclosures like the local mall (everyone knows that true "techies" do all of their shopping online!). Unfortunately this means that some of our other apps are being neglected in favor of levelling up in our Pokemon game. Our Nike Running apps have been discarded like those leftovers that have begun to grow fur in the back of your fridge. This presents a problem in the wardrobe department. How will I know when I have walked 300 miles in my sneakers and need to go shopping for new ones??? Actually, the Pokemon GO app tracks my distance, but in kilometers. I just have to keep an eye on the "Jogger" medal. I have to walk 482.803 kilometers before I get new shoes. (So not fair! It's only 300 in miles! *Yes, that is a dumb blonde joke. I know it's the same distance. Sheesh!*) I had 21.5 miles logged onto the Nike app (since my last new pair), so I convert that to kilometers, add the 58.27 kilometers I've racked up on Pokemon so far (OH THE MATH!!!!!) and I'm 92.8709 kilometers to shoe shopping day!

Let me grab my purse...

 So what you guys want to know is, "Is this game of yours REALLY getting you and Jeff out walking? Are you TRULY seeing any benefits to your health?" I'm going to say mostly yes. Like 85 to 90% yes. We are definitely getting out and walking. I've logged 36 miles (I did the conversion for you. You're welcome.) in the 18 days since I started playing. No, I haven't been playing every day, but yesterday I got up early and walked down at the Silverdale waterfront for about 45 minutes BEFORE going to work. In my 46 years on this Earth I have never once done any kind of exercise BEFORE going in to my job. Pokemon GO just may be the end of the world as we know it. And since Jeff has joined me in the game, we are getting out for walks a little more often. Now, in all fairness, our walking is sometimes fairly slow or stop-and-go due to the demand for concentration required to capture some of the more difficult critters. And Jeff (having done some internet research, as is his nature when tackling any new venture) has discovered a few ways to cheat the game. If you drive under 10 miles an hour with the app open, it will count as "walking". He is able to accomplish this safely when he is working in areas on military bases where slow driving is required. Also, if you open the app, plug your phone in and leave it on your desk at work, you will gain a very miniscule number of kilometers walked. Like maybe half a kilometer in a work day. But MOSTLY we don't cheat. And Jeff more so than me. He's such a rebel! 

Bad to the bone!!!

 If you're interested in trying out this game, you should know that it will have an affect on your relationships and contact with the general public that you may not have expected. First off is Poke-fights. As I have mentioned before, I am not a gamer by nature. Jeff most definitely IS. When Jeff joined my team I was completely ignorant of how gaming can get quite heated when attempting the multi-player version of a virtual battle. In the Pokemon game, you can fight other Pokemon players in a virtual "gym". Sounds fun, right? Jeff and I were getting the hang of this combat thing and taking over a handful of local gyms one evening. We stopped at the park by our home for the last takeover of a long evening. Sitting in the car (don't judge-we walked a lot that night!) my phone was not allowing me to compete, giving me the "This gym is too far away" message. I had voiced my irritation with my phone, but Jeff hadn't heard me and charged ahead into battle without me. He got really frustrated because he was losing the fight without my assistance. (Don't judge. He's a tough guy.) I showed him the notification on my phone that I was too far away and he hollered, "Well get out of the car then!!!" Oh, really? Apparently (and Katie has confirmed this to be true) when gamers are not performing up to snuff, it is perfectly acceptable and fairly common for  their associates to become verbally abusive toward not only the game, but also toward themselves and others. So this was my introduction to collaborative game-play. I should note that Jeff was very sweet and apologetic afterward. And, might I add, quite forgiving the next day when a certain short, blonde woman he lives with became hot-tempered over his failure to drive home the "right way" so she could collect more needed items from Poke-stops as her virtual bag of gadgets and gizmos was barren (we're not naming names here). So we both have that competitive spirit (you guys knew THAT) and can get a little carried away in the heat of combat. Which makes us an invincible team when we're tearing down other players' gyms. BOOM!!!!!

This one is just for Jeff

  Also, date nights are a lot different now. Last night our walking/Pokemon playing took us down to the Bremerton waterfront boardwalk, a place where we don't generally spend a lot of time. We walked for about 4 hours, along with a sizeable population of fellow Pokemon players. It's quite amusing seeing such large groups of people wandering back and forth, all staring at their phones. People will strike up conversations with total strangers, especially when they overhear your Pokemon-related conversations and outbursts. Early in the evening, Jeff and I were discussing a Pokemon character that Jeff refers to as "Tits McGhee" and I call "Jugs" when a guy interrupted, asking if we were talking about "Jynx". Jeff pointed out that this fella and I were both wearing "Book of Mormon" T-shirts. We chatted a moment and resumed our walking, with this guy discussing all things Pokemon, often keeping step in-between Jeff and I, making our "couples evening" a trio for much longer than was comfortable for me. We eventually engaged in conversation with another guy and then broke free from the two dudes to continue our romantic stroll for two.

Tits McGhee

  
  We have also walked through the nearby cemetaries playing the game because there are a plethora of Poke-stops and gyms there. I know, I know. I feel a little creepy about it. There is a part of me that feels there is something a little disrespectful about playing a video game in the sacred resting place of others. Jeff has a number of family members there and we both have some friends interred in this particular cemetary, so we visit the gravesites, clear away dead flowers and pay our respects. This area is up quite a steep incline, so it's a heck of a workout, too. Date-night at the cemetary? THAT'S a new one. 

  ENOUGH about the game already! There's more to us than some silly game!

  I may have forsaken my Nike app, but I am still quite enamored of my Jawbone Up band. I try to get those 10,000 steps every day, or at least several times a week. I try to get at least 500 steps in before I leave the house for work. Every morning after my shower I'm walking around the house brushing my teeth wearing a towel. It's a challenge to brush my teeth, walk and  not drop the towel. I'd just as soon forget the towel but, you now, windows. (For you tech-geeks I don't mean the Microsoft operating system, I'm talking about the glass squares in the walls that, when opened, create glare on your screens.) 

This Pokemon obsession has to stop!!!!

 For the last couple of months I seem to be losing and regaining the same 5 pounds. So I started taking my measurements again a few weeks ago and there is definitely a drop in inches. So it isn't the SAME 5 pounds, I think it's 5 pounds of fat lost versus 5 pounds of muscle gained. That's the theory I'm going with because it sounds so much better than complete and total failure. Power of positive thinking!!!
  I'm still trying out new low-carb recipes to vary our diet and keep things interesting. We had been eating an awful lot of grilled animal flesh and roasted veggies. While Katie, Jeff and I really like these meals, they were getting extremely monotonous. Jeff hasn't fired up the barbecue in a number of weeks. Oddly enough, he prefers grilling in the rainy season. He's not a huge fan of standing outside in the hot summer sun, sweating over our dinner. And, since we are blessed with air-conditioning, turning on the oven in the sweltering heat is not a big deal. My Pinterest addiction for recipes of a low-carb nature is rivalling my Pokemon obsession right now! And with summer school being over, I have even more time to experiment. I'm hoping to have an arsenal of at least 10 go-to meal ideas by the time school starts in a month so I don't have to try to think when I get home from work.
 So what are some of the ways that you're getting in 10,000 steps a day? What are your thoughts on playing Pokemon GO at a graveyard? Comment below or email me at: sprout624@gmail.com 
  Want to try some of the recipes I'll be test-driving this summer?  Check out my Pinterest board at: 
https://www.pinterest.com/missgigi70/low-carb-meal-ideas/
  Thanks for reading!

For my puppy parents and dog-loving friends.

  
  

   
  

Pokemon GO! A Fitness Tool?

  Yes, I admit it. I'm one of THOSE people. I'm playing Pokemon GO and I don't care who knows it. It started with the best of intentions. I thought it would be a fun way for Jeff, Katie and I to get walking and enjoy our exercise. Jeff is a self-proclaimed "gamer". Katie loves to play video games and has collected Pokemon cards for years. I heard about this app and thought, "Won't my family LOVE this! What a cool new way to get motivated to move!" You know how things seldom work out the way you thought they would? Yet another experiment goes awry! 

Catching Pokemon in the Park

UP, Up and Away!!!

  With summer break in full swing, I've been trying desperately to find ways to get more steps in each day. I can easily get in 5 or 6,000 steps when I'm working just moving around my school. But now that I'm chilling at home, I have to try harder to get my feet moving and my metabolism jump-started. I continue to go for walks with Jeff and shoot hoops with Katie (she is destroying me out there. Maybe it's the shoes. I must need basketball shoes. It couldn't possibly be my lack of skill, short stature or the 30-year age difference!). Maybe we'll try some bike rides in this gorgeous weather, too! 
  I've been doing really well this week meeting my daily mark. But yesterday morning tragedy struck. My trusty step-counting sidekick, Jawbone UP died. She just UP and died!!! It's probably my fault. I was pretty hard on her. The button had fallen off the end, so each time I had to re-sync her to my phone I had to get the button, cram it into the hole it fell out of and jab her with my finger repeatedly to get the lights to flash. Then yesterday, the cap on the little plug/jack thingie wouldn't click into place anymore. She was in bad shape. I charged her for several hours, but in the end, UP could not be revived. She's down for the count. 

Protein Shakes and Pancakes

  This past week has found us in a lopsided cycle of trying to stick to our goals, failing occasionally, rallying in an epic fashion and then defiantly ignoring the rules we have set for ourselves. I think it may be due to the fact that there is a big ball of fire in the sky here in the northwest which is scorching our typically frosty fortitude right out of us! No, it hasn't been HOT weather, but when the clouds part and the grey dissipates into a beautiful blue, Washingtonians tend to lose our minds a little bit. We become blinded by the bright light. So I'm going to blame the sunshine for our unbalanced commitment. Yeah, that seems legitimate.

  Katie challenged me to a little basketball earlier this week. I held my own for the first round, but as she got warmed up, my teenage competitor wiped up the court (ok, driveway) with me. Yeah, I kinda figured that would happen. Or maybe I LET her win. Yeah! Let's go with that!!! I did get in a couple of pretty cool shots-one from behind the backboard and one left-handed-over-the-shoulder-tossed-behind-me. No, I have no idea how I did either of them and No, I will most likely never be able to do them again. Also, Katie is the only one who saw them, my only proof that I'm THAT cool. No video. No photos. Maybe Google Earth caught some of my super-smooth moves? If somebody finds those, can you send me the shots? 

Me sharpening my skills. Jeff and Katie are going DOWN!

  Katie had her wisdom teeth pulled on Wednesday so her career in basketball has been put on hold (someone alert the Seattle Storm WNBA team). She had all four teeth yanked out. I have a hilarious video of Katie right after surgery (she ASKED me to video her!). She would put out a hit on me if I posted it, so I won't, but it is so funny! Whatever the oral surgeon used to knock her out caused her to be able to "See Colors", so it must've been some pretty good stuff! The healing process has totally revoked her capacity for tolerating a low-carb diet. She hasn't exactly been able to gnaw on a steak or crunch up veggies. I suppose I COULD put all that in a blender and make her a "low-carb protein shake", but I'm 100 percent certain there is no way she would even attempt to consume it. Bacon and eggs shake anyone? Are you sure you want to pass on the chicken and asparagus smoothie? Probably a good call. Katie has been surviving on yogurt, pudding, soup and over-cooked macaroni and cheese. Starches and sugars are what her mangled mouth can handle right now. But we'll get her back up to par as soon as she can masticate once again. (Yes, I said masticate. I know big words, too.) 

My new diet strategy. THIS one's gonna work!

  As an employee for a school district, I have the incredible good fortune of the freedom to enjoy SUMMER VACATION!!! WooHoo!!! And although this allows me the liberty to move about the cabin freely for the next couple of months, on the downside, I have very little reason to actually force myself out of bed in the morning. Oh, I was acting in a nursemaid capacity for Katie for a few days and was attentive to her needs. But there is not a lot of physical activity involved in serving pudding and meds, fetching ice packs and warm compresses and administering the healing properties of snuggles. And now that she is feeling better, I find myself with less motivation in the morning.

  And then there was my birthday (what? 29 again?) on Friday when, although I ate a low-carb brunch of bacon and eggs, a healthy dinner of salmon and salad (all lovingly prepared by Jeff, current champion and title-holder of Best Boyfriend Ever), I also was treated to cake and ice cream and a "slightly" indulgent serving of wine. Hey! It was my birthday!

  The latest gig for Katie and I is "Operation New York!", which involves contradicting components for our health management. Let me explain-Katie is involved in the choir program at her school, Bremerton High (Go Knights!!!). The choir goes on tour to regions outside the great northwest every other year for spring break. This year she went to DisneyWorld in Florida. 2018 will be Katie's senior year of high school and the choir is heading to NEW YORK!!! I will be going with her this time as a chaperone, which is going to cost us about $4,000.00. I don't have $4,000.00. So to raise that money, Knights on Tour (the choir booster club) has a deal with Ivar's, a Seattle-based seafood restaurant chain. Ivar's has concession booths at our local sports arenas-Century Link Field (home to the Seattle Seahawks and Seattle Sounders), Safeco Field (Home to the Seattle Mariners) and Husky Stadium at the University of Washington (Go Dawgs!). We get to work events and money goes into an account for us with the choir. 

  The good news (other than the money!) is that we can walk from the ferry to the Clink and Safeco and then walk up to the food stands (so far I've been on the 300-level. Yay for the uphill climb!) and of course, walk back to where we came from. So that can add up to some serious steps! The bad news is that once we're there, we pretty much stand in one spot for a few hours. Rough on the knees and back, totally destroys step count. Oh, and they do feed us for working. But the food is all high-carb. I LOVE Ivar's fish and chips and chowder! SO GOOD! But it's not diet-friendly food. The work also leaves you with a pungent aroma. With the overpowering scent of garlic fries, I'm pretty sure I'll be vampire-free for the year. And after so much quality time with frying fish and clams I find myself with an entourage of stray cats following me to the ferry home. Yep, pretty popular with the feline population after a hard days work. Jeff, however, does not appreciate the "Eau de Seafood and Stinking Rose" aroma that accompanies me into his car. I can't imagine why.

We know you have the fishes! Hand them over and nobody gets hurt!

  Last Saturday Jeff offered to chauffeur me to one of these events (sans Katie). He was stranded in Seattle for 4 hours waiting for me to get off work so we could go have dinner with friends and decided to take advantage of the opportunity to get caught up on his step-count. He walked the streets of the Emerald City while I stood in one spot at the top of the Clink. Jeff racked up an impressive 22,433 steps-more than TWICE our daily goal! Even more amazing-he didn't seem tired or sore at all! We met with friends and had sushi for dinner, drove home and CRASHED! I am going to have to get way more motivated if I'm going to keep up with Jeff!

  In my previous post I was so excited about how successful my low-carb baking exploits have been. That came to a screeching halt with my first attempt at a low-carb pancake recipe I found on Pinterest. This was an EPIC FAIL!!! The photo that accompanies this recipe showcases beautiful, fluffy pancakes. With strawberries and whipped cream made with sugar substitute, this seemed like a viable option to shake up our breakfast routine. Um, nope! I followed the recipe exactly and tried frying these things up in a pan, just like it said. The result was a hot mess that looked like very pale scrambled eggs. And tasted very egg-y. The recipe has 6 eggs in it, so yeah, that makes sense. My mother happened to stop by while I was elbow-deep in this culinary disaster and suggested I microwave the slop. This resulted in something more cake-like, but microwaved food turns chewy REAL quick. Next attempt was to bake it in a glass pie plate in the oven (I was running out of batter and didn't want to waste any more ingredients. Coconut flour is expensive!!! The texture was WAY better, but the flavor can only be described as sweet scrambled eggs. It was like those joke jelly beans that became popular with the Harry Potter books and movies. "Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans-Now with flavors like booger, vomit, earwax and Low-Carb Pancake!" So Gross! There just wasn't enough strawberries and whipped cream to make these "pancakes" palatable. I think I may have to turn in my chef's hat. No toque for me. 

Pinterest Fail-Pancakes. Doesn't that look delicious???

  Jeff ordered me a ton of sugar-free chocolate, which means I need to get my Pinterest search on for new recipes to satisfy my sweet tooth. Meantime, if you find those Google Earth basketball pics OR have a low-carb pancake recipe that doesn't taste like chicken embryos, comment below or email me at sprout624@gmail.com

  

  

Baking and Basketball-BOOM!!!

Jeff and I at the "Art of the Brick" exhibit at the Pacific Science Center. Found this piece that looked oddly familiar.

 I've traded in my nurse's cap for a toque (that's the fancy name for a chef's hat) this month! NO, I didn't get a new job. My brother is all healed up from his heart surgery, he's moved to a new location and feeling better than ever (just in time for his 45th birthday today!). Since I've been released from my temporary position as "Neophyte Nurse" I've been experimenting more in the kitchen, baking up goodies with healthy alternatives to all things high-carb. And let me tell you, a lot of the recipes I've been trying out in the test kitchen have been pretty darned tasty! Check out my beautiful baked goods:

Mountains of Fun!

Me trying to keep up with Jeff

  The last couple of months have been real hit-or-miss with our goals, what with all of the excitement around here. Not only the health scare with my brother, but all of Katie's activities, our job demands, etc. Less time spent walking, a lot of time spent sitting in hospitals, doctors offices, high school auditoriums, etc. 

Getting Heart-Healthy

It's still good! Get me a straw!

  You know how it goes when you're making a smoothie, and you decide to try some new things, and you don't follow a recipe, you're just tossing all kinds of stuff in a blender, and you hit "puree" but you forgot to put the lid on, so sticky, green-ish, clumpy goo splatters all over your kitchen, but the muck left in the bottom of the blender after you shut it off tastes pretty good in a not-what-I-expected sort-of way? So that's been the last 2 1/2 months. Some unexpected events but it's all OK (now that we got the sticky stuff off the ceiling).

Into The Wilderness

   

There's nothing more romantic than a moonlit walk with my sweetie!

Every week we are tweaking our healthy lifestyle to make it better, more realistic and simpler to stick to. Last year we had pledged to get in 10,000 steps EVERY SINGLE DAY, and we did. All through the 40 days of Lent. And then Easter was upon us and we took the day off from our daily walk. A day became a week which stretched into a month and suddenly we weren't walking anymore. So now we are devoted to going for a walk at least 3 times a week which is WAY more do-able. Jeff and I have been trying out some new walking routes, too. One of the biggest challenges I face is getting bored with our routines. Do you have that problem, too? We walk the same three routes in our neighborhood and aside from the occasional dead raccoon (so gross), the scenery never changes. Jeff could probably continue on the same path every day and it wouldn't bother him a bit, but I have the attention span of a toddler loaded up with birthday cake and pixie sticks. I need new environments and shiny things to amuse me! Preferably ones that are not decaying and covered in maggots. 

Mall Rats

 

It just takes a little ingenuity...

  Welcome to the weekly weigh-in! Care to join us? 
  Katie has been sick this week, staying in bed for a few days trying to recover. Without any physical activity she posts a 3 pound gain this week. Fear not, for she is youthful and determined! Once this illness is behind her, Katie will be back to dancing at play rehearsals, racing around school to her classes and maybe joining Jeff and I for walks or a bike-ride. Something to celebrate-Katie's report card! First semester grades are A's and B's with one D, which she had mixed emotions about. Katie has never received a "D" in her entire academic career. This grade is in her AP World History-a really tough class with a TON of homework. With all of Katie's extracurricular activities and a few illnesses, she fell behind in the class and struggled to complete assignments she missed. However, she was failing the class shortly before the end of the semester, so to be passing with even a D was a great relief. It's a good life lesson for Katie about having priorities and not taking on more than you can realistically handle (something her mother struggles with at times). So, lesson learned, ever forward and regroup for second semester! I'm super-proud of this kid!

Healthy Living Through Costco

 

Dinner at our house! Yum!

  We are well into the middle of the rainy season here in wet western Washington, which means only 4 more months until Mr. Sun upgrades from his cameo appearances to a full-on cast regular. It is really hard to find the motivation to go for long walks (or even short ones) when there are few to no breaks in the precipitation. I am too cheap to pay for a gym membership just to have an indoor track, so I'm gonna have to think outside the box to get in my daily exercise. 

Pennies From Heaven

  We're off to a pretty good start! Weigh-in day was Friday morning, so we only had two days to show any improvement and we KILLED it! Katie lost 2.4 pounds between Wednesday and Friday! She had let her commitment to healthy eating slip quite a bit over the last several months and she has been drinking a lot of soda. So just giving up the carbonated demon and keeping active with dance rehearsals for the high school musical, Katie is set up to take control once again. 

  Jeff lost 1.2 pounds bringing his weight to 277.4 pounds. Over the last week Jeff and I walked Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday logging in a respectable 14.74 miles. Katie hasn't joined us for a walk yet. She fully intended to pull on her sneakers and head out with us Friday morning, but when I tried to wake her up at 7:00 a.m. to hit the pavement, she had changed her mind, favoring sleeping in over exercise. Shocker! A teenager who wants to sleep in on the weekend????? That is entirely unexpected!!!

The Return for Lent

 

Time to re-think our fitness goals

 
  Hello dear friends! I know it's been a long while, but we are back and ready to kick off once again with a new resolve to lose weight and get healthy! So much has happened since August (has it been THAT long?) and I fear it will take more than a few blog posts to get you all caught up. So let's begin today with a recap of where we were, where we're at and where we're going. Ready?