Gold Star

17 Thursday Nov 2011

I know that I have written about my sticker reward system for exercising, but I thought I would mention it again since I’ve started to exercise regularly again. I stopped my system because who wants to see only 1 or 2 star stickers on the calendar in one month. It’s kind of depressing. I much rather enjoy seeing my monthly calendar full of star stickers!

Here is the plan (it’s pretty simple):

Every day that I exercise I put a star sticker on my calendar. It’s not just gold stars. They are different colours and when I run out of stars I use whatever little stickers I have around. It’s nice that something so little is so motivating. And just because kids love stickers doesn’t mean that adults can’t either!

It has to be 15 min or more of exercise. Whether that is walking, jogging, weights, workout video, swimming, tennis, skating, biking, snowshoeing (can’t wait for winter), or some other type of exercise. Cleaning the house or walking up and down the stairs because my room is in the basement doesn’t count!

What motivates you to get up off the couch or out of bed in the morning to exercise? Or does it just come to you naturally?

Remember, just because you exercise doesn’t mean you can eat whatever you want! Sometimes I forget this (maybe a lot of times). Healthy eating and portion size are very important. Something I am continually working on (like so many other things). I just really love chips and candy and sweets. It doesn’t help that I have a huge bowl of candy on my desk from Halloween. Amazingly the last two days I have not gone into it … that much!

How are you trying to live a healthier lifestyle? Or does it even matter to you?

This has nothing to do with this blog (except it’s a gold star). I found it while I was looking for a picture of a gold star sticker. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Perhaps because I’m a bit of a slowpoke at times. 🙂

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Facebookless: 1 Week Already!

16 Wednesday Nov 2011

Posted by jackmansjourney in facebook, Self Improvement

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So far tonight I’ve come home and shared supper with family, cleaned up the kitchen a bit, fed the animals and finally have come to the computer. This is not much different then any other night, except for the fact that I didn’t think about Facebook at all during this time. I haven’t thought about Facebook at all today. When I say that I haven’t thought about Facebook, I mean that I haven’t thought about needing to check it and see what is going with my FB Friends or worried about not having my FB account.

It has been a week since I decided to take a break from FB. It doesn’t seem like it’s been a week, maybe a couple days, but not a week. I look at that as a good thing! The first couple of days it was very weird not signing on every time I used my laptop, not giving a status update, not creeping on peoples page to see what they were up to or saying to other people, and not spending hours looking at videos on Youtube after being linked to the site when I watched a video someone posted. There was a feeling of disconnect the first few days.

The only thing I miss about FB is how easy it was to connect with friends (the ones that I would send messages to or talk to often through this social media). How do I do it now? I send an email or Skype them. I do have a twitter account and have tried not to up my usage just because I don’t have FB. I’m not obsessive about it like I was with FB. It has been a bit of a substitute for status updates, but I am still trying to not use it that much.

What I have been doing instead of being on FB? Homework. Reading. A little chalk art. Going to bed at a decent time enabling me to wake up early to exercise. Dealing with life. Trying not to substitute something else as a procrastination tool.

That’s been a little bit about my experience on giving up FB. I think that as I continue with this it will be refreshing and I do hope that I don’t substitute the lack of it for something else, like Twitter. If you see me on there too much, let me know! I doubt I will post on this topic again unless I am really struggling with it. I will also be honest with my readers and let you know if I gave in and signed on to FB. I don’t want to have to tell you that, so this will help me to keep myself from signing in.

See you again on Facebook after the semester is over – after my last exam!

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Facebook Escape

09 Wednesday Nov 2011

Posted by jackmansjourney in Self Improvement

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Facebook. A social media. A connection with friends. A information hub about others. A huge distraction!

I’m sure Facebook means something to you. At this point in my life Facebook has become a distraction. I want to go on it all the time and perhaps that is part of procrastinating from school work, but I can’t do it anymore. Yes, I might find another way to procrastinate, but I am hoping this will help the problem.

I will loose the ability to connect with friends easily and let everyone know what I am doing all the time, but really, does everyone need to know what I am doing ALL the time?
It makes it so easy just to check on FB instead of actually picking up the phone or writing an email (which I heard some people talking the other day saying email is a thing of the past. I’m not sure if I agree with that just yet.). There are definitely ups and downs to leaving FB, but for now it’s only until the end of November. After that I will revisit and see how things go. I’m debating on doing again for longer during Lent.

To help me really not go on FB I will deactivate my account, because let’s face it, if my account is still active I am going to go on there. If it is deactivated then I won’t do it. That’s how I went cold turkey with Farmville and it worked, so here’s hoping!

If you connect with me normally on FB, you can always send me an email or give me a call or add me to Skype (jackmastere). I’m not getting rid of all forms of communication, just the one that leads me to not focus on school. I hope you enjoy FaceBooking while I am gone! Bookmark my blog and maybe you will see a few blogs here and there.

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Ontario Bucket List #3 – Wasaga Beach

25 Tuesday Oct 2011

Posted by jackmansjourney in Ontario Bucket List

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Before I left Ontario there was a few places I wanted to visit. I had never been to Wasaga Beach before, so while my parents were visiting in July we went. It was crowded and hot and lovely!

We only stayed for a couple of hours, which was just enough since it was so hot that day. I don’t think that I had been to a beach with that type of atmosphere before. It made me think of something you would see in the movies with all the beach shops and people. We also visited a candy store (one of many that I went to this past summer). That is where I discovered peanut butter M&M’s.

Here are some pictures from my point of view.

The shops and bars at Wasaga. There are many others, but this is just from the beach area.

So many umbrellas! Us included.

I loved the water here. The temperature was perfect. Although I prefer the salt water of the ocean, the benefit here is not having to worry about jelly fish!

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Jackman’s Whole Wheat Shake ‘n Bake

20 Thursday Oct 2011

Posted by jackmansjourney in Cooking

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A couple years ago I wanted to make chicken with a crispy outside but didn’t want to use Shake ‘N Bake. I also wanted a healthier alternative so I looked up a recipe. I remembered this tonight when I was cooking fish for supper, but I didn’t bother to look up a recipe. I thought I would get a little creative and just try out using whole wheat flour and some herbs. Did it work? Read on and find out!

This is what I did:

I took some whole wheat flour and put it in a bowl (enough that you think will cover the amount of meat you have – can be used on any meat like fish, chicken, pork chops, etc.).

Then I added crushed basil leaves, parsley flakes, pepper, dried lemon and herb to the flour. You can add whatever herbs or spices you would like. Don’t be afraid to be generous with the herbs and spices. Sorry, I don’t measure when making this type of thing. I just throw it in and see how it ends up. If you are stuck on measurements, just try it out and see what happens. Be creative with your cooking!

After you mix the whole wheat flour and the herbs and spices together prepare the meat (I used fish) by covering it with olive oil or egg white. I’ve always used olive oil, but my Sister asked if I wanted egg white, so I tried it out. It was awesome. A little tip from my Sis: use the egg white and yoke and mix together to get a thicker coating on your meat.

Do one piece at a time. I find it more manageable. You can put your mix in a bag and shake it all about, but I just put it in a bowl and use a spoon or my fingers to get it all over the fish. Once it’s all battered up, put it in a pan with about a tbsp of olive oil. (You might need to add oil depending on the size of your pan and how much meat you are cooking) Then pan fry your fish until it is cooked to your likeness.

For oven baked fish or meat, you can do the same. Try cutting up fresh, local veggies like sweet potatoes, carrots, and yellow beets and cooking it in the pan with your chicken or pork chops. You could also cook them in a pan separately. I loved baked veggies. This combo is my favourite. Mix the veggies with olive oil and your favourite herbs/spices and bake until desired tenderness. Lovely meal combo!

When cooking meals, remember to try and be creative.

P.S. I’m sorry I don’t have a picture. It was so good that it was gone before I even thought of snapping a picture. Oh, and yes, it sure did work! It was mighty fine tasting!

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Ontario Bucket List #2 – Erin

18 Tuesday Oct 2011

Posted by jackmansjourney in Ontario Bucket List

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Before I moved from Ontario I wanted to visit a couple of places. One of those places was the Town of Erin. Why wouldn’t I want to go to a town that was named after me! I didn’t stay as long as I would have liked to, but I went through on the perfect day. So many things were named after me! Where is your town?

I hope you enjoy the pictures and if you are in Ontario and you miss me, just go visit Erin for the day. Relax and take in the small town and think of me. In case you did not know, I love visiting small towns and exploring the shops and cafes. Sometimes you find a lot and sometimes there are only a couple. I did like Erin but my favourite was Elora.