Let's Laugh

Okay so sometimes you just need a laugh. Diabetes is really hard. So, I have looked around and found you some diabetes humor.  I will easily tell you that some of these are funnier than others. Humour is in the eye of the beholder, right?

Videos

http://www.tudiabetes.org/video/video/listTagged?tag=funny – this is a group of short videos from tudiabetes.org.  There are 28 of short videos for you to check out. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=092NbybLsOI     Wilford Brinley seems to be the target of several video paradies.  Here is the link to one – you can find several more on the side bar of the page with this video. 

http://www.funnyordie.com/topic/diabetes These may be a bit cruder than others.  (consider yourself warned…)

Cards and Quotes

http://www.healthline.com/health/type-2-diabetes/quotes

http://www.pinterest.com/courtneyasams/type-1-diabetes-c-est-funny/

Gifts

http://www.zazzle.com/funny+diabetes+gifts

http://www.cafepress.com/+funny-diabetes+gifts

http://diabetees.spreadshirt.com/

Book or Article

http://www.amazon.com/Whats-So-Funny-About-Diabetes-ebook/dp/B007D6C5XY

http://www.diabetesforecast.org/2013/mar/diabetes-is-no-joke-mdash-except-when-it-rsquo-s-funny.html

So, I hope that you find something to make you laugh and brighten your day. 

Thanks for reading!

Do You Tweet?

Are you familiar with Twitter? I know, it is one of the social media darlings that might be overlooked for the benefits that you can gain from it. 

What? You can gain something from Twitter? 

Yes, I think you can. 

A tweet is a 140 character message. So, let’s say that you are watching a hockey game and you want to express your excitement or disappointment about what is happening in the game. Now, you could go to Facebook and post about the game. Let me be the first to tell you that your friends don’t really appreciate this. I hate to hurt your feelings but Facebook is not really the ideal place for this. 

BUT TWITTER IS –

Yes, Twitter with the 140 characters is just great for you to make shout outs to your favorite team. One of the things about Twitter is that when you tweet about your team, you can add a hashtag (another word for the # sign) and that will classify your tweet by subject. Then anyone interested in the subject “#gohawks” can see your tweet. It is like watching the game with people all over the country.  The best part?  Those people want to hear your cheers during the game.

What does this have to do with diabetes?

Well, just as there is a “#gohawks” subject, there are “#diabetes” subjects. You can use twitter to see about current articles and research on diabetes. You can find out what the diabetes online community (DOC) is talking about currently. Since most companies and writers these days will tweet when there is news. People will tweet when  they see something they think should be shared. 

The fastest growing demographic on Twitter is the 55-64 year age group.

Twitter can be a great tool to help you find out information or find others that have the same interests as you. When you see a tweet by someone who you find interesting, you can “follow” that person. When you “follow” them, then when they post something to Twitter, it will come up on your feed. If you decide that you are not interested in them anymore then you can simply “unfollow” them. 

But how to start?

I could go through and explain it step by step but I found that it has been done by others and I am going to refer you to one of those guides. Please click here to get instructions on “How to Use Twitter.” This guide will start you off and you can investigate the world of twitter. 

WARNING - 

I am sure that you know already that not everything that you read on the internet is factual. If you are considering making any changes based on something you read, ask yourself two questions. 

        1. Does this make sense?

  2. Does this sound too good to be true?

If it does not make sense to you or it sounds too good to be true, then don’t do it. Ask your doctor. Really, ask your doctor. Diabetes is a serious disease and you don’t want to go off on someone else’s flights of fancy with your health.

 

Always regard everything you read on the internet with a certain amount of cynicism. (Except, of course what I write…) 

If you are really interested in Twitter, there is a new book by one of the founders.  The title is Things a Little Bird Told Me and the author is Biz Stone. (If you want to read a review that I wrote, you can find it here.) 

I suggest that you take a look at Twitter if you haven’t already. You may find it to be more fun and interesting than you would have expected. 

You are welcome to follow me @9inchplate.  

Thanks for reading!

Go Take a Walk

Post 5K walk - they are smiling!

Have you noticed the explosion of articles on walking? I don’t think that is a magazine these days that isn’t talking about what a great exercise it is for your health.

What is the best part about walking as an exercise? It is great for everyone. Even if you have been sitting on the couch for the last 20 years, you can start slowly and build your endurance. Short bursts of waking during the day seem to have a cumulative effect. You can go for an hour or you can walk around for 10 minutes every hour for 6 hours and it can have the same affect. 

Walking is practically free also. I say practically because I would urge you to buy a good pair of shoes that fit well and are comfortable to wear while you are walking.  Going to a store that sells running shoes and has knowledgeable salespeople will really help you get the right fit. Other than that, you can wear whatever you would like and just walk out the door. 

Fit Bit band

There are, of course, things you can spend money on to enhance your walking. Fit Bit is a product that seems to have become very popular. (Fit Bit on-line store) I have several friends who wear a fit bit band and monitor their steps each day. There is also a community (or competitive) element as you can have “friends” on the fit bit site and you can motivate each other with the number of steps per day. 

I like to use the site Map My Walk to see how far I have walked. I really wanted to check this when I was getting ready for 5K walks. I wanted to make sure I could walk the 5K so I would track my progress. It was easy and fun.  Silent Sam uses Map MyRun to track his running progress. He uses the app on his phone to keep track while he is running.  I also noticed on line that you can see the paths that others like to walk in your area. It might bring an area to mind that you had not thought about. 

I like to walk without holding anything. I have an iPod that has a case that clips on my shirt and I will pin my keys in either the waist band of my pants or in the pocket. The one thing I often wished that I had carried with me was a camera. Sometimes you see wonderful things on your walks and it would be nice to catch a picture. For example, there was a fox that lived down by the lake in my town. I would see him sometimes on my morning walks. It would have been fun to take a picture of him. 

A serious walker

In the current issue of Weight Watchers magazine, they talk about how “moderate aerobic activity or exertion that raises your heart rate but allows you to carry on a conversation won’t hurt your joints. And it will help you maintain weight loss without increasing the risk for Osteoarthritis of the knee, according to a new study of 1,522 adults ages 45 and older published in Arthritis care and research.  (page 48, May/June issue) So there is another reason to go out for a walk. 

Now that the weather is finally beginning to get better, it is time to join the legions and hit the sidewalks.  Maybe the local school track is just the place for you or you might prefer to walk around the block. Whatever path you choose (and you might want to vary it from time to time), I hope you enjoy it. 

Thanks for reading!

A Contest?? What?!

Yes, it is a contest but before you get excited, please know that the prize will be pride and appreciation!  Hey those are good things! 

The Set Up –

I made a new recipe last night. It was from Taste of Home magazine. I have talked about this group of magazines before. I used to have a subscription to Taste of Home Healthy Cooking but I don't think that magazine is around anymore.   

Here is the recipe –

Chicken Pesto with Pasta

Serves 8

1 pkg (16oz.) cellentani or spiral pasta

2 cups cubed rotisserie chicken

2 medium tomatoes, chopped

1 container (7 oz.) prepared pesto

¼ cup pine nuts, toasted

In a Dutch oven, cook pasta according to package direction; drain and return to the pan.  Stir in chicken, tomatoes and pesto; heat through and toss to combine. Sprinkle with pine nuts.

Per serving: 433 calories

18g. fat (5 g. sat. fat) 40 mg cholesterol, 239 mg. sodium, 45 carb, 3 g. fiber, 24 g protein.

So, if you have been reading this blog for any period of time, you know that I always adjust the recipe. Here are the adjustments that I made –

½ package of (about 7 oz.) whole grain spiral noodles

4 Market Day chicken steaks

1 medium tomato chopped (okay, that was a mistake – I thought it only called for one)

1 cup of fresh spinach

1 container of prepared pesto

I cooked the chicken steaks on the stove top in a frying pan sprayed with Pam. At the same time, I cooked the pasta; drained the pasta and put it back in the pot. I then added the cut up chicken, the chopped tomato, the pesto and the spinach to the pot and stirred while it heated. 

It was DELICIOUS! I mean really good. 

The first mistake I made was that I thought that the recipe served 6. At this point you might be wondering if I need new glasses. I don’t think I was paying enough attention. So, when I halved the pasta, I was thinking that we were down to a recipe for three. Of course it would have made sense to cut the pesto in half but I didn’t.  (No wonder it was so good.)

Where does the lame contest come in to play here?

Here it is – how do you make a pesto that is really delicious but not all the calories that are in most pesto recipes? 

I want to make this recipe again but I just can’t afford the calories in the pesto. (Yea, it will be so many less when I cut the pesto in half…) 

So load me up with your proven ideas for a lower calorie delicious pesto. 

It isn't really this exciting...

The winner will get his or her name and recipe in a post and will have my gratitude for finding a way to make this recipe one that won’t make me feel guilty. 

You can put your recipes in the comments or you can email me at footbloggerchick@gmail.com .

Thanks for reading!