Cory's Quest for a Healthier Life

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I did good today with food. Ate around 1300 calories. I did not get a full 10,000 steps in though, due to a variety of reasons. Usually I walk at work during my breaks (morning and afternoon) and lunch. I didn't get to walk during my morning break because I was busy waiting for the contractor to show up and fix my roof. I got to work around 11. I fully admit that I ditched walking at lunch to flirt with this really cute new guy at work. So, I only managed to walk during my afternoon break. That meant that I needed to walk a lot more after work than I typically do. But then it started raining. I did go horseback riding though.

Speaking of, I don't get to lease that horse. He's lame. Fortunately, there's a home lined up for him where he can go live and be a pasture ornament.
 
Excellent day of calories!
Glad you got a flirt & an afternoon walk on.
It would have been wrong to miss out on lunch time flirting.
 
Mystic - yeah, I'm really glad he has somewhere to go. Unfortunately it isn't economically feasible for my barn to keep him. We already have too many horses we can't use or can only use in a limited fashion. :/

Oaks and carrie - Flirting isn't something I'm that good at, but this guy makes it easy so I figure, "Why not?"

So, I think I need to find a new form of cardio. I'm having a huge problem making myself go to zumba at the rec center. It just isn't fun. I have definitely learned that not all zumba classes are created equal and this one does not compare to the one I used to take through my university. It seems to primarily be full of women who feel like they have to be there because their doctor told them to lose 20 lbs and who aren't there because they actually enjoy it and have fun. It really impacts my experience there. I'm just not sure what I want to do instead. :/

Today was really good. I had oatmeal, strawberries, and blueberries for breakfast; a salad with bacon, tomato, and ranch followed by watermelon for lunch; and chicken stew for dinner. I might have some watermelon later this evening. Haven't decided yet. The calorie count is somewhere around 1500. I walked my 10,000 steps and then went on a hike too. Here's some pics. These are things I see all the time where I live, but they make me happy. It's why I love living in Appalachia.

Here's a neat bug I saw on the trail:
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Here's a wild primrose. It's pink and cute:
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Here's a purple flower:
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A wild fern. I particularly love these:
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Got a couple more pics int he following post.
 
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Sweet nature pics!

The "bug" is a millipede or diplopodan if you want to be classy*.

Beneath the bolder are two radial leaved plants. The larger palmate leaves belong to mayapple or Podophyllum peltatum that make an edible fruit that is sort of a hybrid of apple and strawberry in flavor. The five leafed smaller one is Virginia creeper or Parthenocissus quinquefolia. Podophyllum means foot leafed and peltatum means armed with a crescent-shaped shield. Parthenocissus means virgin ivy and quinquefolia means five leafed. I can also tell you that it's an upland because the plant indicator status for both of those is FACU which means it prefers fairly dry conditions.

I'm not sure on the fern, but my best guess would be Christmas fern Polystichum acrostichoides. The Latin is "many rows" and "resembles a leather fern", but I had to look both of those up.


*That's funny if your a bug nerd because diplopoda is the class millepedes belong to.
 
Thanks for the info, Quercus!

We always called the bug Cherry millipedes. My brother and I used to find a couple in the woods and race them (don't worry, we let them go at the end). Mayapples are actually one of my favorite woodland plants (along with the fern). My grandma used to make jam out of the fruit, but I know it's a lot less common today because every other part of the plan is very poisonous. I find it interesting that these plants prefer dry conditions. For roughly half to 60% of the year, it can be very wet here. Especially right now. I think we've gotten at least a little bit of rain every single day for the past three weeks. Plus all the leaf litter means that it's rare for the ground to completely dry out. Although from my observation, both the Virginia creeper and the Mayapple can be pretty resilient as long as there isn't too much sun.
 
I should clarify. "Dry" is relative. I mean dry as opposed to wet enough to support hydrophytic (wetland) vegetation. It's all about the combination of frequency and duration of the water in the soil so that a well draining soil won't hold water long so it's dry in the sense that it doesn't retain water very long. the soil is probably a sandy loam or sandy if it rains frequently. The same plants might be found in a clay loam in an area that had less and/or less frequent rains. So "dry" in the sense that they don't like having their roots in saturated soil long rather than arid. Their is an UPL or upland indicator status that says that species occurs only within uplands. FACU (Facultative Upland) means it can be in wetlands but has a strong preference for uplands. FAC means facultative which means it is equally at home in a wetland or upland setting. Sweetgum (Liquidambar straciflua) is a really good example of a FAC species. FACW or facultative wet means it can be in uplands but strongly prefers wetlands. A lot of sedges (Carex spp.) are FACW. And last there is OBL or obligate species which only occur in wetlands like lilly pad or cattail. When you do this for a living you use the term true to emphasize how well the plant conforms to its status. Like sweetgum is a true FAC because you will see it in wetlands and uplands frequently whereas loblolly pine isn't a true FAC because even though that is its status it is more frequently in uplands than wetlands; just not enough to warrant a FACU status. I'll stop plant nerding now. Very pretty pictures. it looks like a nice hike.
 
Nerd away. I love this stuff. Also, it's probably clay loam. We have A LOT of red clay here. I know more than some about local plants, but less than others. Next time I pass something and wonder, "What's that?" I'm snapping a pic and posting it here so you can tell me. :p
 
That's cool with me. I'll admit I don't have a clue what the purple flower is, but it's pretty. I'll give myself the excuse that I can't see the plant it's attached to, but that probably wouldn't help. Spring wildflowers are challenging. Grasses and sedges are still the biggest pain in my butt, but flowers can stump me too. Trees are easiest, shrub and vines are about equally a bit harder than trees. I like athropods, but there are too many and it isn't my occupation to identify them so I comparitavley stink at it. There are more than 10,000 described species of millipedes for example. Cherry millipedes are cool in that the excrete the same chemical that gives cherry their distinct aroma. Most millipedes have stinky bitter excretions they use for defense. Not sure what defense advantage could be had by smelling like a cherry.
 
Ok, this whole weekend was probably kind of a wash. I ate like shit and drank a bit of alcohol, but I was VERY active. Saturday I worked at the barn all day long and today I first went on a hike and then we decided to go on a cave tour. FYI, expect about 500 stairs on a cave tour. Will read other diaries tomorrow, going to sleep for now because I am pooped.
 
Oaks, I think it's because a lot of us live in areas that are great for hiking. If you live in a good area for it, you should try it. I like it better than the gym a lot of the time.

I have no idea how this week is going to play out. I think it's going to be one of those weeks where you just try to maintain rather than lose. My dad's birthday was yesterday, which included eating a big restaurant meal and cake. I'm also throwing a party on Thursday. Well, I say party but it's more like the cute guy from work and another work friend are going to come over and we're going to get smashed and watch the Lego movie. And there will be a lot of unhealthy food. In some ways I feel a little guilty, but this is one week out of my life and you can't get so wrapped up in losing weight that you don't actually live either. So, my main goal this week is not to gain. If I lose I will be ecstatic.
 
The Lego movie... "Everything is Aweeeesome! Everything is cool when you're part of a team!" haha. Get's stuck in my head every time I hear that movie mentioned. I'll be singing it all day now. lol.

Hope you're doing well! :)
 
Not dead, ya'll! Just been really busy, but my weight loss has been good the last couple weeks. I'm now down a total of 11 pounds. Been eating pretty well, but not doing so great on the exercise. This is mostly due to the fact that we're having a heat wave and it's been about 95 degrees outside every day.
 
Ok guys, the last couple of weeks have been pretty good. I haven't done as well with avoiding soda, but I have done pretty well with food and I'm now down 14 lbs. To be honest, I'm about to start my period and I'm thinking I won't weight myself this week. I always gain like 5+ lbs and it always just upsets me.
 
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