In previous blogs, I wrote about weight loss goal pictures and my fondness for Disney World.  This week my 19 year-old daughter, Emily, agreed to one more Disney family vacation when she turns 21.  That's a big deal because a couple of years ago Emily announced she was too old to join us on family vacations.  The fact that Emily is still here is a miracle.  Three heart operations and a heart transplant in her future makes every moment with her a blessing and MAGICAL!

Today I decided to add our next [probably last] Disney Family Vacation as a foursome [dh, ds13, dd19 and me] as a weight loss goal.  It's two years away and I want to lose 88 lbs, so completely doable!  When Emily is 21, Evan will be 15 and I'll be 50!  We've done the kiddy Disney vacation dozens of times.  This time we'll be focussing on teen and adult Disney.  I look forward to researching Disney For Teens and Adults! Feel free to make suggestions!  Stay tuned for more progress and planning!

Life gets busy.  Grocery shopping and cooking healthy food often end up scribbled at the bottom of the list.  Exercise hasn't even been on my list for ions.  It was so much easier to hit the drive through on the way home and take the car to work instead of walking less than a kilometer.  

That needs to change.

In September 2012, I ended up in the emergency room with chest pain.  The fact that I'm dreadfully over weight and my father died of a heart attack a month after turning 61 cut my emergency room wait time down to ZERO.  They rushed me in and started the cardiac tests. Turns out my chest pain was from lifting an over loaded box the previous day.  Still, I was scared.  I was 47 years old.  Over weight, stressed, with a history of heart disease in my immediate family put me at the TOP of the heart attack risk list.

Time to examine my lists.

Here are 3 food changes I made this week and lost 5 lbs!

1.  Making the switch to healthy food was really easy once I made it a priority.  I cleaned out the fridge and cupboards, ridding the house of junk.  I went shopping with healthy meal plans and bought FRESH food!

2.  The cyber world is full of diet and exercise apps, so I downloaded My Fitness Pal [app is great, but I'm not thrilled with their Twitter presence ---- that's the social media manager in me talking] it helps me track my food intake and exercise.  I especially like the bar code reader on the app.  I don't have to type in foods and guess portion and serving sizes.  The app has restaurant calories too!  It also tracks vitamin and mineral consumption.  But they really have to improve their Twitter.

3.  Coffee and tea are staples in my day.  When I added up the sugar I used in these beverages, I was shocked.  They totaled an entire meal worth of calories.  Cutting down sugars and margarine not only rid my diet of empty calories, it made me feel so much better!

I'll keep you posted on my progress and welcome Diet Buddies!  

From: The Heart and Stroke Foundation.

What you don’t know about CPR may surprise you. Take the quiz now.

Zombies teach you CPR! Check out The Undeading, our three-minute horror movie with a message. Since its launch in October 2012, The Undeading has gone viral around the world.


Cardiopulmonary resuscitation
(CPR) has changed and it’s easier than ever to save the life of someone in cardiac arrest. Test your knowledge with these questions.

1. If someone has collapsed and is not responding, what is the first thing you should do?
a) Check for a pulse
b) Call 9-1-1 or your local emergency number
c) Check to see if they’re breathing
d) Run away

Answer: (b) Call 9-1-1 or your local emergency number right away. 

2. Who can perform CPR effectively?
a) Doctors and nurses
b) Paramedics
c) People who have special training in CPR
d) You
e) Zombies
f) All of the above

Answer: (f) All of the above; this means you! CPR training can help you know what to do but it’s not necessary. Even without training you can still perform CPR – and maybe save someone’s life. 

3. CPR involves pushing down on the person’s body using the heel of your hand, with the other hand on top, fingers interlocked. Where do you push?
a) On the person’s navel
b) In the centre of the chest
c) Two inches below the collar bone
d) Over the top rib on the left side

Answer: (b) Push down in the centre of the chest – that is, right between the nipples. You’ll be pushing on bone.

4. How fast should you push?
a) Once per second
b) Twice per second
c) Three times per second
d) As fast as you can.

Answer: (b) Push down twice per second, or about 100 times every minute. An easy way to remember: Push to the beat of the Bee Gees’ 1977 hit “Stayin’ Alive.” (Too young? Ask your parents or check out this video from the
American Heart Association.)

5. How hard should you push?
a) Lightly – you don’t want
to hurt the person
b) Two inches down
c) As hard as you can

Answer: (b) Push down two inches. That’s pushing hard – for  most people that means using all your body weight to push.

6. True or false: If you do it wrong, CPR can harm or even kill a person.

Answer: False. Don’t hesitate to do CPR; you are helping, not harming. You may break the person’s rib, but that doesn’t matter if it helps them survive.

7. When you perform CPR on a person in cardiac arrest, what are you actually doing?
a) Circulating blood to the organs
b) Trying to restart their heart
c) Killing time

Answer: (a) By compressing the heart you’re keeping the blood circulating – and moving life-giving oxygen and nutrients through the person’s body until they can get emergency medical care. In rare cases the person’s heart starts beating again during CPR, but that is not the main purpose.

8. If you use an automated external defibrillator
(AED) along with performing CPR, how much can you increase the person’s survival chances?
a) Zero
b) Up to 10 per cent
c) Up to 75 per cent

Answer: (c) Using an AED along with CPR can increase a person’s chances of survival up to 75 per cent.

9. Where can you find an AED?
a) In many community centres and sports venues
b) In public libraries and malls
c) In many office buildings
d) In train and transit stations
e) All of the above

Answer: (e) All of the above. Start looking around in your daily routine and note where you see AEDs. You never know when you’ll need one.

10. How can you learn CPR?
a) Take a course in  your community
b) Learn at home with a CPR Anytime Family&Friends
kit
c) Watch the zombies in this video
d) All of the above

Answer: (d) All of the above. So what are you waiting for?

 Find a CPR course near you.

Heart and Stroke Foundation http://www.heartandstroke.com/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=ikIQLcMWJtE&b=4016859&ct=12256477