The Most Awesome Event Update EVER!

Today we had the most awesome event EVER! We kayaked down Turkey Creek. If you weren't OYB today, you missed a lot! Here are just a FEW of the pictures that Heather took (I wasn't feeling confident that I wouldn't drown my camera so Heather was kind enough to do the photography work for me today.) There are tons of other pictures as well, these are just the highlights. Click the photos to embiggen:

 Me and HFC David, attempting to kiss without capsizing our kayaks. That sounds way dirtier than it is.

 We had an awesome turnout today. In addition to Heather and HFC David, we were joined by Paul...

and Ibrahim...

 and Dawnell...

 and the lovely Kristen, our fearless tour guide!








This was about the coolest thing I have ever seen. A manatee actually came about 1/2 way out of the water to nom on some grass. Really amazing!

 David, looking good as always.

 There were a total of 9 canoes on the trip.

 Heather took all of the pictures today, I thought this one is amazing, definitely the picture of the day!

 An anhinga drying its wings.

 Me, David and Dawnell during our picnic lunch.

 A cute picture of Ibrahim.

 The kayaks, also taking a lunch break.

A soft-shelled turtle.

 Heather thought it was funny that my life jacket had an ad for Vodka on it.

 Me, looking like an adventurer.

 I think this will be the new DeeMotivation icon.

David, my little adventurer

The divine Ms. Heather. I finally got up the courage to take a few pictures, and I didn't even drop the camera!

 Our fearless tour guide, Kristen, taking a picture of me taking a picture of her.

 This picture made me laugh, the turtle was goofing off with his legs sailing in the air. I think he was practicing his Superman moves.

 A cool shot of a manatee.  We saw quite a few today, and one even swam right under Dawnell's boat!

A scary alligator. I lie, he was actually very cute and not too big. But I'm glad he stayed on shore. As I explained to Dawnell, you don't have to outswim the alligator, you just have to outswim the other people in the water!

Today was an awesome trip. Thanks so much for everyone who came out and especially to Kristen from FLOC for making it such a safe and enjoyable trip. If you are looking for a great, fun thing to do on a weekend, be sure to check out her web site and business, located in Captain Hirams in Sebastian.

Event Update: McKee Botanical Gardens

We finally made it out to McKee Botanical Gardens on Easter Sunday. If you didn't GOYB, here's what you missed (click photo to embiggen):

 There wasn't a ton of stuff in bloom, but the water lilies were pretty.

 Another waterlily.

 They have been doing a Dr. Suess exhibit with sculptures throughout the park. They were very cool. Here is me and HFC David with the Cat in the Hat.

 Me, with the Grinch.

 Me and David with the Grinch. You can just barely make out Max's antler in front of me. One of the park volunteers too the picture for us.

I took this picture for my friend Karen. It reminded me a fateful camping trip to the white mountains, specifically the great turtle incident in Storyland.

 David does not like green eggs and ham.

I do not like, ah, who I am I kidding, I've been off sugar for 39 days, I'll eat ANYTHING at this point!

For those who couldn't join use, I hope to see you on the next outing!

Event Update: Pelican Island

Today was another great walk, this time it was 3.6 miles out at Pelican Island.  If you didn't choose to GOYB, here's what you missed (click photos to enlarge):

 Well, you missed lots of fun and interesting conversation, but I will admit you didn't miss much in the way of birds or critters today. Here are Heather and Ibrahim starting at... absolutely nothing... there wasn't even water out there today!

 Your fearless leader, also staring at... absolutely nothing!

 We did stumble across lots and lots of Galardia in full bloom. Very pretty.

 Heather took this neat artsy shot of the galardia.

This was the only interesting critter shot of the day. A momma ... something or other... goose? duckie? with it's babies.

As always, it was a great day out in the wilderness. And, even if we didn't see a ton of stuff today, we still saw more than everyone who stayed in today! Hope to see you out there next week!

What not to say...

So, today is day 25 without sugar. Here is a tip.  Say that someone tells you that they are on their 25th day without sugar. An appropriate response to that is NOT: "Ohhhh, I know a great bakery in Vero Beach!" Seriously, I can't believe how many people have said stuff like that.  WTF? Why would you say that to someone you know is going without sugar. Here are more appropriate responses:

• Ohhh, I found a mouse head in a snickers bar once. 
• That's great! Lets celebrate by doing a trip through Goodwin!
• Cool. I wonder if I can do that! 

But I digress. 

I read a really interesting article today theorizing that sugar is toxic (Click here to read it.) There are many really interesting points in there, but the one that jumped out to me was the fact that both sugar and HFCS behave the same way in the human body. It seems to me that there is a huge misconception that HFCS is bad for you in a way that sugar isn't. That isn't the point, and I think the manufacturers know that too. The problem is that because it is a cheap filler, HFCS is overused and is in almost everything you can buy in the grocery store, it is the second ingredient in everything from bread to "low fat" soups.

The funny thing is, I read that the manufacturers want to change the name from HFCS to "Corn Sugar". I actually think this is a really good idea, I think even people who generally aren't inclined to read labels will think twice when they pick up a container of "low fat" blueberry yogurt that has more sugar than blueberries.

So, if you are going to join me in being sugar free, remember to read the labels, HFCS = Sugar. In a candy bar, who cares? But in low-fat "healthy" foods, you need to make sure you are getting what you paid for! 

Event Update: Goodwin

Today's walk was an early evening walk at Goodwin. Unfortunately, I was alone on this one. For those of you who didn't or couldn't GOYB, here's what you missed (click photos to enlarge):

 I thought this might be a Wurterman's at first, but it is actually just a very young great blue heron. But he was really pretty.

 The biggest herd of deer I've seen to date out there. I couldn't get them all in one shot but there were about 8 or 9.

As I was returning to my car I saw this adult great blue. I've mentioned it before, but I just love how the light plays at this time of day. 

I want to start actively promoting this blog, trying to get more people to come out and play. This is the current business card:

This is fine if I've been talking to people about the site and I've explained what the site is about, but it is pretty meaningless if I haven't explained the whole thing. So, I am looking for something catchy to put on my card so I can hang it on bulletin boards (like, at the gym and stuff).  I'm offering a DeeMotivation.net t-shirt to anyone who can come up with something catchy that conveys the following points in a form that will work on a business card:

• You don't have to be in shape to get in shape (Specifically, I really want other obese people to know this isn't about marathon training, it's about getting outside and having fun, regardless of your fitness level)
• Almost all of the events list on the site are free
• I'm not selling anything, there is nothing to join, there are no catches

Thanks so much for any input to improve the website!

A Taste of Tuesday

So, I have decided that I really like having sandwiches for breakfast. I find I don't get the mid-morning munchies nearly as bad. Even if I have a BA omelet or something, I still get hungry earlier. So anyway, I had tuna sandwiches for about 2 weeks and got a little burnt out. This week I made some really yummy chicken salad. Here's how I made it:

Dee's Chicken Salad
===============

• Chopped cooked chicken (you can broil some, I slow-cooked a bunch of boneless/skinnless thighs)
• Mayo - I  used the Walden Farms calorie/fat free stuff. I'm not a huge fan of mayo and this doesn't really taste anything like mayo, but it's great to hold chicken or tuna salad together.
• Shredded cheese (I am a creature of habbit, I used the cabot 50% light again)
• Pecans
• Raisins

Mix together and put on something.

Note: It is REALLY hard to find bread that does not have HFCS or sugar as the second ingredient. I found some weird little round things put out by pepperidge farm called "Deli Flats" that have "sugarcane fiber" and honey in them. I can't find much nutrition information about "sugarcane fiber" other than a few web sites that say it should not be considered real fiber.  So, I have no idea if it is any better than just sugar, other than the fact that it was pretty far down the ingredient list, so at least this bread isn't loaded with it. They taste ok. Honestly, the chicken salad is good enough that it overpowers the bread anyway!