Work it like your grandma

I visited my grandparents this weekend (to fix a computer issue and beg them to let me store some containers in their spotless-eat-off-the-floor basement). Gosh, their life is so simple now at 87—but they’re happy. We cheered on grandma as she got out of her chair 10 times to try and kill flies on the window–it struck me oddly as a form of exercise for her. We also played 20 questions (not really, gpa just fires the questions at me every time I see him—he’s so concerned that I will not find a parking spot), and contemplated how I would get all the dead bugs off my car.

It got me thinking about how life is different now than when they grew up (yes, grandma walked to school uphill both ways in the snow, etc.).

Then I was thinking about the way I’m approaching food now (I’d call it traditional nutrition), and that I could apply it to exercise too. Especially now that I’m mostly working at home (I’m not going to stop talking about how much I love this fact).

I’m going to do an experiment with fitness/activity over the first two weeks of September. I’ll fill you in tomorrow or Thursday. I hope some of you try it too…I’ll explain why, etc., then.

Random things from this week so far:

I had a 3 hour class last night. It was our first class, with a new smartboard in the classroom. First issue: they changed the classroom number and didn’t tell anybody. Second issue: the smartboard wouldn’t connect with the computer so I couldn’t show my syllabus, online classroom, power point, or videos that I had planned on.

I laughed.

I cried.

Not really—I just laughed, and then called Tech Support.

His response: Oh sh*t.

Truth: I let them go 30 minutes early because of the tech issue (it was annoying to them, I’m sure)

 

I finally found a way to do my texting-based scavenger hunt in the grocery store. The idea is that I’ll send them to the grocery store with a clue. They’ll have to go to a certain area/product and answer a question by texting it to a certain number. When they get it right, they’ll get a text back with the next clue.

I will definitely include some nutrient questions…and high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oil facts. Do you have any other ideas for what I could send them to do/learn in the grocery store?

I found a parking spot. Kind of. I gave up asking neighbors if I could rent a spot from them. It’s annoying to ask and most people don’t have the space anyway. I used my sleuthing techniques and found public overnight parking just a few blocks away. Of course, there are designated spots within the lot for parking on alternating nights of the week.

Here’s where it is (my place is the blue star and the potential spots are where the blue lines are):

Yes, I made that map. And it’s not because I have nothing else to do, I just felt like being really clear on where it was. I also printed out the downtown parking map provided by the police station and highlighted it by area where I have to park on each night. Joe parked there last night, and said that he left the highlighted map on his dashboard–it’s like a parking pass. See, we can park here legally and we know it!

I vow to have my apartment be presentable by Saturday (and I told Joe this too, so I better do it).  Then I’ll probably have more pics.

There is lack of interesting food in my life right now, and also lack of interesting photo ops since I’ve been working non-stop. (Not a complaint. I like it. Remember—at home!).

Last thing:

Big overhaul on the blog soon. New logo, new plan…related to business changes, but I don’t plan to be more business-y on the blog, just so you know. I am anticipating being more informational at some point–I’m teaching a Contemporary Nutrition course that is awesome, and I’d like to share some of the content with you.

What are you up to this week? I noticed blog world is a little lacking right now—must be everyone is back to school!

I’m glad you all love eggs as much as I do 🙂