Hi everyone! Hope you’ve had a more productive week than mine. Have you heard of the phrase “Yo-Yo Diet”? Well, sadly to say I used the weight scale and and it read 144.6 and just three days ago it went back up 1 lb.! Maybe it was the breakfast and lunch all together. But I’ll keep on grinding. If you’re like me maybe we shouldn’t expect to lose all in a short pan of time. Got to remember it takes time and moderation. There I’ve said it. Now if I could keep repeating that to myself every day.

Physical exercise is just not the only way to lose weight, so don’t feel too bad if you’ve skipped a day or two out of your routine. Don’t forget running after your kids and cleaning house is another way to lose weight, if and only if you end up sweating in the process .

Alright so let’s keep on grinding and see if we could at least lose 1/2 lb per week to start off with. And soon after we’ll focus on loosing 1 lb/wk. And don’t forget to guzzle up to H2O! Stay hydrated, stay healthy and have fun at it!

- Mom on a Mission

Hello World! How’s your Sunday so far? Mine was a good wrap for a very productive week. So far I’ve done a Tae Bo exercise by Billy Banks and boy was I out of shape! Usually I could whip through the whole video without taking a break. Well this old gal (I’m only 31)needs a lot of work to do. Carpooling, house chores, and taking care of the kids add to the list so I’m pooped!

Yesterday I weighed myself 144 lbs. This morning when I hopped back on the scale it said 145 lbs! Hmmm… Had to be the pork chili and Pepsi. I rewarded myself too fast too soon. Let’s see what next week brings.

Good luck on your journey to shed excess pounds and don’t forget to guzzle up to lots of H2O. Here’s to staying true to our new year’s resolutions!

- Mom on a mission

Are you one to have a new year’s resolution and stick by it? Me, I don’t think so but I try working on it. This year I’ll work on losing my post baby/pregnancy weight… So far I have not start on it but I will eventually. Do you procrastinate like I do? If so then we have to get off our derriere ends and get on with the program. Now that I’ve said that I’m going to stick to the “plan.” So starting tomorrow, Sunday the 8th, 2012 here’s to the starting of my hopefully long lived journey to losing weight and staying healthy. I hope you’ll join me in your own time and do this with me. And every Sunday I’ll come in here and tell you how I’m progressing. Notice I didn’t say try, which is another resolution of mine. Try not to say try.

Alright here goes:

Starting weight: 145.6 lbs (can’t believe I just said that)

Goal: 125-130 lbs (Let’s face it and I’m just keeping it real. We’re never going to weigh 115lbs like we did in our high school days. But if you’re able to get back to that shape and form more power to you.)

I’ll wish you luck and let me know how you’re progressing. Here’s to losing that excess fat and staying healthy! CHEERS!!!!

Foursquare® is a cool little social network. Foursquare®, like Facebook® Places, allows you to check-in to places that you frequent and earn badges and more. It allows you to get in touch with your buddies out there in the social scene when you need to. If you frequent a place often enough, then you become the mayor of that place upon your check-ins. It also allows you to check out what others may think about that restaurant across town, or that club that you and your friends frequent. It is a good little social app to keep not only in the know but to also keep up with your buddies travels!

What I do not like about Foursquare® though that I have become aware of, as of late especially, is that it is a sure-fire way for you to get yourself into some deep doo-doo. Foursquare® pretty much relies on you to check-in. When you are “too connected” and everyone knows you and your business, always checking-in will leave your “social trail” on your whereabouts. Some habitual users check-in at the same time everyday, which is like leaving a calling card and invite.

I have friends who are in the marketing industries and need to stay socially connected. They know how to use social tools to their advantage and do not put themselves in harm’s way. Of course they, like you I hope, know that publishing personal information is a no-no on social sites like this. Because if you do, you leave yourself open to criminals who can exploit your social good times for good times of their own.

So do some of the following on your Foursquare® account to keep connected but safe:

• Foursquare®, like most social networks, have their own privacy settings which should be utilized.
• Ensure that you hide your phone number and that your email address cannot be retro-traced back to some online public profile like via Yahoo! or the like.
• Ensure that if you link your Foursquare® account to your Twitter® and/or Facebook® accounts that your profiles on these two networks have minimal personal information on them as well. Remember, when you begin daisy-chaining and linking social accounts, you open yourself up to more exposure but many of those you do know and many of those you do not.
• Your profile picture, be careful what you post. If folks who don’t like you are looking for you and find your picture, game on!
• Sign-up for the Foursquare® Newsletter and keep in the know of changes that are coming from Foursquare®
• Finally, check-in with care. Be aware of where you check-in at and have a good reason too. Check-ins can be made public knowledge in a heartbeat to the wrong people at the wrong time (i.e. your employer, friends). Be aware that you date, time and location can be tracked!

Don’t be deterred from using Foursquare®. It is a fun social network to join and be a part of. I (Ward – aka zenthat) am on Fourquare® and invite you to friend me. But remember, just be smart. Just be smart!

Facebook®, Twitter®, LinkedIn®, MySpace®, to name a few, welcome to the social era.

Too many of us have one or many of these accounts today to catch up with old friends, classmates, family, co-workers, you name it. While they are very fun, they can also be very detrimental to you as well. The harm in connecting with folks is not the issue, the harm is what you type out there in cyberspace.

Too many times I have seen people blast others or discuss inappropriate things on social networks. Many think it stays within the walls of the social network, but oh they think so wrong. Social networks, search engines, the internet, they are on the same platform folks. Regardless of what Facebook® and the like tell you, your privacy is not private! You have to be careful what you post out on these sites because when it comes to you trying to connect with others for any reasons, chances are that those folks know more about you then you probably know. They not only know who your friends and folks are , but they probably know what you drank in your drunken stuper last night!

So be very careful what you post on the social networks. Make sure that you have your privacy settings set accordingly. And lastly, always know that what you type is being seen by someone else always, whether you think so or not.

Look for more coming regarding social networking from the zenthat series, “The Social Etiquette”. Until then, safe socializing!