Android vs. Apple

I hate my phone. Truly, deeply, viciously, I hate my phone. This is my phone, which I paid only $5 for through Tracfone:

The reason I use Tracfone is that I barely use my cell phone, and it's much, MUCH cheaper for me to pay $30 every two months for minutes (that never seem to run out) than to pay hundreds every month.

There's An App for That

There's a great little app for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad called "myfitnesspal". It's also available online here. With this app, you can set goals for weight loss, daily calorie consumption, etc. Then, each day you use the diary to enter what you've eaten (and drunk) and all your physical activity, to see where you end up. There is also a social aspect-- you can have "friends" whose progress you follow, and who can see yours as well. 

A year ago, I started using it to track my calories and exercise, after being invited by my sister. After using it a while, however, I started feeling rebellious. I remember thinking "you can't tell me what to do!" So I stopped using it. I didn't like the feeling of accountability (even only to myself) and being able to see just how bad my diet is... and it is bad. This morning I had a Fiber One bar and a handful of salt & vinegar Pringles for breakfast. And orange juice. That counts for something, right?


However... recently, I've lost about a size and a half, just from not eating as much or as frequently (my full time job has really taken over my life) and I realized that even feeling skinnier, I have absolutely no endurance. If I had to climb a mountain or run a mile, I would make it about 10 steps and fall down dead. 


So I've reinstalled myfitnesspal and I'm trying again. I went for a walk today, thinking I would take a quick 20-minute walk and warm up to doing so a few times a week. I made it 10 minutes. Sigh... Mostly the problem was that my feet and ankles felt extremely itchy and funny in my socks and walking shoes. I think I need better equipment... but it's a start. 


I don't weigh myself-- I never have, but I do notice when my pants are too loose or snug. I'm hoping to get down another size and a half and fit back into my pre-fourth-child jeans. Fingers crossed...

Lament for a Lost Luxury

Yesterday, much to my personal misfortune, my iPod went rogue. I remember it like it was yesterday... because it was... I was sitting on the loveseat and I tapped over to Facebook, whereupon I discovered a note from a friend arranging a time to come pick up a book I'm loaning her. I realized I had forgotten to hunt down said book, and, leaping up from the loveseat (no, really, I leap all the time. What!?) I dropped the iPod into my hoodie pocket.

I went first to my sons' room-- a Bermuda Triangle swirling with books, papers, clothes, and mysterious boy items such as a papier-mache mask and fishhooks. I thought one son might still have my loaner copy on his dresser. No luck.

I crossed the hall to my own room, where most of my books are on shelves stacked two-deep. I found what I sought, but wanted to make sure I knew where my keeper copy was, so I took the book in my hand and trudged (what? I trudge...) down to the basement, where the majority of the boys' books are. I found my other copy, and thinking it is a great deal thicker than the other, though both are paperback, I wanted to compare them.

I returned to the kitchen, where I opened both books to the same page number and compared. I was surprised that they are the same... so why was one thinner? A mystery, no doubt. But I was out of time. I had to return to work. I set my copy down on the desk, writing a short note-to-self about the whereabouts of the loaner copy (so that in 3 months, when I've forgotten loaning it out, I can recall the borrower's identity) and I grabbed another sticky note to write a quick message to my friend, should she come while I was at work. As I was doing this, I realized I wasn't sure where my iPod was.

I went through my pockets quickly, but it wasn't there. I didn't have time to look, as the clock was yelling it's tick-tock at me by this time (okay, not really...) and I had to go.

That night, we tore the house apart looking for it. I even pulled back the lining on the loveseat, but I don't think it's in there. There's no thump when I tip it on its back. I even looked in the garbage, though, admittedly not very well. We tried "I'll send you a text and we'll all listen for it". I think the battery was almost dead when it disappeared, so it's likely RIP now.

In daylight, I looked again. No luck. I will probably have to paw through the trash again. Yuck. Thank heaven for latex gloves. Thrice. Wish me luck.

Too bad I can't listen to my audiobook while I'm hunting. I consoled myself by having an entire can of salt & vinegar Pringles for breakfast.