Progress In Recreating A Healthy Lifestyle

Today is my 26th day off of appreciable levels of caffeine. I did have some chocolate which started with chocolate chip cookies on the Solana Beach Presbyterian Church Men's Retreat the weekend before last. I understand that the caffeine level in chocolate is not that high compared to say, Diet Coke, and I will check that out. This is my 15th day of no appreciable levels of the big artificial sweeteners like Nutrasweet, Splenda, and Saccharine. I started again with no processed sugar yesterday, so this is day 2.

I am now using a pedometer and starting last Thursday I registered this number of steps - 4132. The other days are as follows: Friday 4716, Saturday 6743, Sunday 5729, Monday 6571.

I slept straight through from a little before 11 last night to a little before 5 and got up and walked the dog for 2422 steps before 5:30! I spoke with one of the top exercise physiologists, Richard Cotton, who happens to go to my church, and he said that doing one healthy thing at a time and adding one thing a week is a good way to go. That way, you're not trying to quit or start everything all at once. Richard Cotton is the founder of MyExercisePlan.com and he's available as a coach through RichardCotton.com.

Personally, I do find that having at least one pretty long "streak" going encourages me to keep moving ahead and I don't want to break that streak. I compromised when I was on retreat, but I didn't go back to square one on everything.

Click on the title of today's post to see what I wrote about caffeine affecting your mood.

Off Caffeine It's Easier When I'm Tired

I've gotten more sensitive to weather changes, exercise, and food intake as regards sleep. Now that I'm safely esconced in my mid-40's, I've started to question whether we need caffeine. On the way to school this morning I was telling my son, Stuart, that I'm pretty sure this is the first time I've gone without caffeine for this long since I was 16. But, at least the amount of tiredness is what I call reasonable relative to what I usually felt like when I was using caffeine and tired. Today is my 12th day off of caffeine.

4th day of no appreciable processed sugar intake.

3rd day of no appreciable amount of bread.

1st day of no diet soda.

Yes, I've been having Caffeine Free Diet Pepsi & Diet Coke up to this point. Not today.

I've got to get some tea and yes, I will be careful as so many teas have caffeine. Oh, that reminds me. Did you know that Decaf Coffee is not truly decaf? If you drink "unleaded", don't have a half dozen cups! And the cups! My mom probably had a cup that was 8-10 ounces. Circle K and 7-Eleven and Starbucks and even Peets are happy to sell you 24 ounce cups of coffee and larger.

What Can You Do In 11 Days?

I'm sure you can do more than you realize in 11 days. What have I done to improve my health?

This is the end of my...

11th day of no caffeine except what might be in chocolate.

3rd day of no appreciable level of processed sugar.

2nd day of no appreciable level of bread.

Helium Published My Article Right Away

Click here to read "Do Artificial Sweeteners And Caffeine Affect Your Mood?"

Click on the title of today's post to view the profile of a personal development person in Jamaica I connected with this week. Are you using Myspace? Are you using LinkedIn? Who would you contact for a mutually beneficial relationship? Who would contact you?

Substances Can Affect Your Mood Preview

I'm not an expert on nutrition. I don't think you have to be an expert to notice that some stuff we put in our bodies affects our mood. I wrote an article on Helium that they should approve in the next week or so. For now , you can click on the title of today's post to see another article/recipe I wrote a little while ago. Stay tuned.

Not Yet 4 AM Super Bowl Sunday

Do you think well early in the morning or late at night? Shakespeare said they're the same thing. As someone who has stayed up late and gotten up early more times than I can count, I mostly agree. Your thoughts and mood have a lot to do with it. I wouldn't mind going back to bed, but I want to say something. I'm tired enough to not quite know what.

I remember an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation where Captain Picard finds himself in an alternate reality where he didn't make such a bold choice at a pivotal point in his life and now finds he's not perceived as the leader he sees himself to be. Anything like that ever happen to you? Are you perceived as the person you want to be?

Perceive my "fun" personal blog by clicking on today's post title. Click below to see my Business Owner Investment blog. Perceive away.

http://businessownerinvestment.blogspot.com

Happy Super Bowl. ;-)

Attention Men!

I was watching the stock market with ESPN's Cold Pizza on and Joe Theismann was being interviewed. More than the Super Bowl is on his mind. He cares about men's health and wants us all to live longer. This is important stuff. [No prejudice here, ladies, it's just that you don't have one of these.]

http://www.prostatecare.com/

Click on the title of today's post to see how to win a golf weekend including a round of gold with Joe Theismann [at least that's what I think I read...].

Visit my Business Owner Investment blog and see how we're doing!
http://BusinessOwnerInvestment.blogspot.com

I'm Following Mia Hamm's Advice

In my previous post, the Mia Hamm quote is about celebrating your success and setting the bar higher. That's my goal. I just finished a motivational speech contest in Toastmasters and on February 17th, I will compete at the next level. Mia and others say we should enjoy our victories and [then] keep going. I will do that. Starting now. WAHOO! YIPPEE! HALLELUJAH!

And I'll keep writing. [You can click on the title of today's post or click here to read one or two of my recent articles.] Writing has helped me think about a lot of diverse areas which has helped me in creating my speech. I was told that The judges really noticed my creativity and noticed much of my speech was "from scratch." My goal was to be unique, memorable and motivational. In addition, I wanted to give the listeners tools to help them motivate themselves.

At different points in my speech I drew upon experience in personal and professional development work, years in Toastmasters, Bible reading, telling stories, watching movies, watching TV, listening to music, reading books, public and Catholic education, and more. I thank God for this chance and for the competition that brought out the ability to "take it up a notch" as one of my opponents and friends, Dori Klass put it. Today I'll go to Dori's house for our quarterly Toastmasters party and live it up a notch!

Celebrate Success - Mia Hamm

I receive motivational and inspirational quotes every day through email and I share them with you. Check out what Mia Hamm says about celebrating success by clicking on the title of today's post.

If you're in sales or even if you think you're not, visit my Business Owner Investment blog through the link below to receive access to a valuable tool.

http://businessownerinvestment.blogspot.com/2007/01/we-are-all-in-sales.html

Good Things Happen When You Do Good

Have you heard about the guy who saved a man in a New York subway by covering him with his body while the subway ran over the top of them? His name is Wesley Autrey and I saw him on Letterman the other night. He's a hero and the title of today's post is a quote from him. Click on the title of today's post to see a little bit more on my Myspace blog.

Always Dream And Shoot Higher - William Faulkner

Click the title of today's post for more inspiration from William Faulkner and others at my Myspace site or use the link below to visit my blog on stocks and small business.

http://BusinessOwnerInvestment.blogspot.com

Unparalleled Success - Andrew Carnegie

Those of you familiar with my blogs know that I enjoy sharing motivational quotes. I am transitioning into a new way of doing that. You can click on the title of today's link to go to the exact quote by Andrew Carnegie or you can click the link below to go to my Myspace blog where that post is one among many.

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.ListAll&friendID=102972234

Start your year wonderfully!

Happy New Year!

Charlie