Our Outdoor Sink On Cinder Blocks

This is my outdoor sink.

First off, I must apologize for not blogging any time sooner.  I have not wanted to keep repeating myself, especially about my diet and weight loss efforts, which, by the way, have stalled; however,  I think I've got a cool subject to cover.

As you can see, I now have an outdoor sink.  

I've been wanting this set up for quite a while, and my hubby did it this past weekend.  I should give some background about this project, though.  My hubby's friend was updating a house rental, and my hubby stopped at a yard sale and bought a used, stainless steel double sink that the friend could use.  We had lived in that rental for a few months, and I remembered the old, white single sink with the built-in counter on both sides.  I knew how I could incorporate it into my outdoor area so...

my hubby and his friend did an exchange.  

Yes!

This is a side view of the sink standing on 8 upright cinder blocks.

With this sink, wash up will be easier after gardening.

I asked my hubby to install a shelf underneath the sink.  If you look carefully, you will notice that there are two horizontal, parallel 2 X 4's holding up a piece of plywood.  I wanted to have a space to hold watering cans, pots, and soil.  It's still a work in progress to move things out of my sauna-like metal storage, but the sink setup has very promising storage of its own. 

This is the underside of my outdoor sink.

I wanted to show the underside of the sink.  My hubby found old, plastic pipes, including elbows to direct the dirty water into a container, which is located to the left.

This is a closeup of the left side of my outdoor sink.

The dirty water drains out into a 5 gallon Home Depot bucket.  I will reuse the dirty water to hydrate my parched plants.

My outdoor sink faucet was hooked up to the outdoor faucet.

The special feature to the sink is that my hubby installed a metal, flexible hose so that water can come out of the faucet above the sink.

I knew that it was possible to have a sink outdoors!

I had faith that my hubby could put it together.  All it took was some imagination to dream the possible.  This idea was inspired by a picture I saw on Facebook about a couch made out of cinder blocks.  I believe it was from an article in the Better Homes and Gardens website.  I think someone had pinned it on a board at Pinterest.com.

Well, thanks for reading about our outdoor sink.  I hope it has inspired you to create your own cinder block projects.  

How about you, my readers?  Have you created anything special with cinder blocks or other such sturdy material for your oudoor areas?

This blog entry will be placed under Family Fun Fridays.

Healthy Choices: Update on Health Habits for April 2012

Veggies and fruits are healthy choices.

Choices, choices--what is healthy to eat?

What meat can I eat?  Grass fed beef, without hormones and antibiotics is a good option.  Salmon is good for the heart.  It has Omega 3 oils.  Chicken, free range, and while you're at it, the eggs are great, too.

What about the type of oil to cook with?  

Canola oil is out.  Wait, what is vegetable oil?  Olive oil has been my option.  I've heard coconut oil is best.  

Can I eat tortillas?

What about grains?  Well, am I gluten intolerant?  Then, I should stay away from wheat.  Barley is delicious.  What about couscous...they are a bunch of mini-balls, a funny texture to the mouth.

Of course, there are other considerations.  

 

One should stay away from processed foods.  One should stay away from Genetically Modified foods.  One should stay away from high fructose corn syrup.  One shouldn't eat so much takeout.  Given all of this, the food choices are very limited.

 

What am I supposed to eat?

 

Well, there are fruits and vegetables and nuts.  I've heard chickpeas are a good source of protein.  I think I can still eat my pinto beans, but I don't think I should eat white rice.  Brown rice is a better choice.  The vegetables like potatoes, tomatoes, spinach, and lemons are wonderful choices to consume as are fruits, like apples, bananas, and pears.

You may be asking, what brought on all this compilation of information?

I have been keeping a good food diary of what I've eaten.  It has lead me to consider what I should be eating versus what I am actually eating.  Also, my husband and I finally saw Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead, a documentary about Joe Cross, a very sick man, who went on a quest to get healthy by juicing.  By the way, my husband finally understands my desire to eat healthier.  We've even discussed buying a juicer.

I pray that my journey to making healthier choices for foods drastically improves.  I pray that the cravings for junk foods and takeout decreases.  I pray that my family joins me at every step.  I pray that I have the energy to make positive changes to my health.  I pray that I can institute the changes, as well. 

How about you, my readers?  Are you keeping up with any health goals for the month of April, related to your New Year's resolutions?  How do you plan to improve your health at this point?  Have you seen Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead?  I encourage you all to consider seeing the movie, which can be viewed through Netflix.  It's a great opportunity to have some tangible proof of how one man lost weight and got healthier through consuming fruits and vegetables.  

If you need to improve your health, in any form, please ask God to help you; He will, if you pray for His guidance.

This is an entry for Medical Mondays.  For past entries, click here.

Disclaimer: The viewpoints that I discussed here are just my opinions.  Please consult your physician before altering anything relating to your health.  I am only suggesting here to take charge of your health.  Don't just leave your health in the hands of your doctors; become your own advocate.  You know best how your body is doing.

Food Journaling: Update on Health Habits for April 2012

I plan to eat more of this healthier foods.

I have a confession to make.

I haven't been eating right.  Are you surprised?  You shouldn't be surprised because I haven't really lost any substantial weight.  Sure, I've lost perhaps up to 5 lbs., but I haven't been serious about weight loss.  I've been more concerned with changing some of my habits, like drinking no soda and drinking more water, which I am still practicing, by the way.

I am wanting to ratchet up my eating plan.

I am serious about eliminating more foods out of my diet.  When I speak of diet, I don't mean that I am going on a special eating plan, like the South Beach Diet.  By diet, I mean what I want to put into my body, or rather, what I don't want in my body.  

It's time to jump to the next phase.

I knew that if I wanted to change my lifestyle of health, I would have to do it piecemeal.  That's how I did it to lose 30 lbs. a few years ago.  I had to go radical on what I eliminated.  Like Dr. Phil says, "How's that working for you?"  If you don't change certain behaviors in favor of others, you won't see any progress in life.

...So what exactly will I be eliminating?

I plan to exclude from my intake potato chips, cookies, cake (except on a birthday), sweets from the bakery, and candies.  I will continue to eat my meats and proteins and drink my 1% milk.  I have decided to drink 1% as whole milk does not agree with me.  Also, I will stay away from most breads, to reduce my chances of a yeast infection.  Of course, it won't be easy, but I will try my best.

I had already spoken to my husband about my plan to eliminate certain foods.  Do you think that's made a difference?  No.  He still bought candies yesterday.  That means I have to do what I can to stare down all those bad foods in the face and say NO to them.

How will I be held accountable for my actions?

Besides having the consequences of what I eat showing up on my body, I will be journaling for the next few weeks.  I will write down what I consume from today until the end of this month.  I am not planning on showing you all my food diary.  No.  I will be holding myself accountable to me.  

Food journaling will keep me honest.

It was suggested in the healthy moms group on Facebook (of which I'm a member) that it would be a wonderful idea to jot down what we eat for a few weeks.  I loved that idea.  I felt that would keep me honest about my efforts.  I readily admit that I've been floundering at my health quest.  I have an opportunity to see what foods will and/or will not help me lose weight and get healthy.

I sincerely hope that food journaling will yield good results.  I want to see if I lose more weight with the elimination of certain junk foods.  I want to see what will happen when I eat more fruits and vegetables.  I encourage you, my readers, to join me in this journey as I fill out my food diary.  You don't have to share your diary with anyone.  It would be for your benefit.

How about you, my readers?  Are you keeping up with any health goals for the month of April, related to your New Year's resolutions?  How do you plan to improve your health at this point?  Have any of you ever kept a food diary?  I encourage you all to consider it.  It's a great opportunity to have some tangible evidence of what foods can be beneficial or harmful to your health and efforts to lose weight.  

If you need to improve your health, in any form, please ask God to help you; He will, if you pray for His guidance.

This is an entry for Medical Mondays.  For past entries, click here.

Disclaimer: The viewpoints that I discussed here are just my opinions.  Please consult your physician before altering anything relating to your health.  I am only suggesting here to take charge of your health.  Don't just leave your health in the hands of your doctors; become your own advocate.  You know best how your body is doing.

Spring Gardening: Update on Health Habits for April 2012

These are plants that were started indoors.

Been wanting to let you all know about our gardening.

Indoors, I started some seeds for various plants including tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, and herbs.  I love springtime.  We get to grow what we eat.  Best of all is that we shop right in our backyard.  After all, who can afford the gasoline to get to the local farmer's market?

My hubby tore apart old flooring from a storage shed.

My husband salvaged some wood.

My husband's workplace had a storage shed that deteriorated with time.  It was to be torn down.  My husband and some of his co-workers took whatever they could.  For example, some took old wiring.  My husband took some of the walls and floor.

We made these garden beds this past weekend.

By now, you must be asking yourselves, how does this all relate to  health habits?

Well, the work related to gardening is intensive.  It tests one's patience.  It takes planting seeds and waiting for them to grow.  It takes putting hammers to nails to remove them so that we can have boards to create the bed frames.  It takes shoveling soil into the frames for new garden beds.

I had immense movement of my body.  

On Saturday, the whole family was involved in using hammers and crow bars to take apart sections of an old storage shed.  My husband rented a large trailer and hauled the wood to our house.  My three older children and I hammered out the nails.  Mind you, this all happened in 90 degree weather.  Even the youngest one collected the old nails and stored them in a white bin.

Then, on Sunday, my husband bought nutrient-rich soil from Fertile Garden (here in San Antonio).  While my husband nailed some beds together, the children and I shoveled as much as we could of the 1 cubic yard of soil into the new beds.  Just like Saturday, it was extremely hot.  

We took precautions due to the heat.

My husband brought out some heavy duty fans on Saturday.  We made sure to drink lots of water both days.  On Sunday, my husband set up our canopy over the empty beds.  That way, we would have shade while we shoveled the soil from the trailer onto the beds.  We even had ice cream as a treat.  In all, we basked in a lot of Vitamin D, while constructing our garden beds.

Now, I have a dilemma.  

Should we place the plants in the garden beds or wait?  We have been having heavy rains, and I am afraid my smallish plants might get drowned.  Also, we might be going on vacation soon and don't want to neglect watering the plants properly.

I do hope you liked this different take on spring gardening relating to my health habits.  I could have related the same information about how much weight I've lost (or not) or how much water I have consumed.  I thought this blog entry merited a different format from enumeration of accomplished goals.  God bless you for reading about our garden.  I'll post updates about our garden throughout the year.

How about you, my readers?  Are you keeping up with any health goals for the month of April, related to your New Year's resolutions?  How do you plan to improve your health at this point?  Are any of you gardening?  I encourage you all to consider gardening.  It's a great opportunity to get some exercise and to grow some organic vegetables.  

If you need to improve your health, in any form, please ask God to help you; He will, if you pray for His guidance.

This is an entry for Medical Mondays.  For past entries, click here.

Disclaimer: The viewpoints that I discussed here are just my opinions.  Please consult your physician before altering anything relating to your health.  I am only suggesting here to take charge of your health.  Don't just leave your health in the hands of your doctors; become your own advocate.  You know best how your body is doing.

Listening to My Body: Update on Health Habits for March 2012

My trusty pedometer is helping me listen to my body.

I'm at the same weight.

I did not do much by way of exercising last week.  I thought that I should avoid doing any sudden movements so that my gums would not throb in pain.  I wanted to avoid the accompanying pain in different parts of my head.  Instead, I took some supplements to aid the healing of my gums, which won't be 100% better without a dentist's help.

I took a proactive approach to my dental problems of last week.

I used tea tree oil directly on the abscesses.  I downed some probiotics.  I also used some echinacea (antibiotic) in my smoothie.  I'm sure that together with prayer, I feel a lot better now.

Here is an update on my health habits:

1. The pain in my mouth has dissipated.

2. I've continued to use my pedometer.

3. I've been drinking lots of water.

4. I haven't drank any soda.

5. Set up an appointment with a dentist.

Goals for the upcoming week:

1. Continue with my supplements to aid the curing of my gums.

2. Try to exercise a few days in the week.

3. Drink lots of water to flush out toxins.

 

4. Stay away from whole cow's milk and bread.

Been trying to listen to my body.

There are some big myths out in the media that have persisted for years.  The nutritionists tell people to eat a balanced diet of dairy, vegetables, fruit, and meat.  However, what if you feel sick after eating bread or whole milk?  That's what is happening to me.  That's why I am going to limit myself from those two things.

Well, thanks for letting me update y'all about listening to my body to aid my health.  I ask you all, my beloved readers, to please continue to pray for me, as I wait for my dental appointments to resume.

How about you, my readers?  Are you keeping up with any health goals for the month of March, related to your New Year's resolutions?  How do you plan to improve your health at this point?  I encourage you to assess your current health.  It's a great opportunity to adjust your habits to improve your life.   

If you need to improve your health, in any form, please ask God to help you; He will, if you pray for His guidance.

This is an entry for Medical Mondays.  For past entries, click here.

Disclaimer: The viewpoints that I discussed here are just my opinions.  Please consult your physician before altering anything relating to your health.  I am only suggesting here to take charge of your health.  Don't just leave your health in the hands of your doctors; become your own advocate.  You know best how your body is doing.