Cleaning A Keurig 2.0

How I Inadvertently Learned to Deep Clean Our Keurig

I don't drink coffee, but my honey does. He's been frustrated with the sluggish and post brew drip with his Keurig, which didn't clear up even after running it through the automatic cleaning process.

Today I went to make myself some tea and as I was rinsing the K-cup holder (I didn't want coffee in my tea), a chunk of coffee came out, which prompted me to scrub it. As was going to place it back in the machine, I noticed build up in the well, so as I was wiping it, I felt something move... that also is removable, so I washed it too. Then I wiped the inside of the well.  Just as I was about to put it all back together, I noticed the pieces are numbered and the part that holds the pod is a two part piece. So, I further dismantled and cleaned it some more.

Finally it is all put together, brewing fine and no more post brew drip. My love is very pleased. He will be bringing home the one he has in his office to be dero cleaned as well.

The Cleaning Part

Step 1: Using cleaning pod included with your Keurig, run through automatic cleaning cycle. Remove cleaning pod, discard spiked water and rinse.

Step 2: Clean removed pod holder (part that pierces KCup) and wash. Use caution when cleaning inside, so as not to poke yourself. This is the two part piece. On the side you will see the number 2, squeeze both sides and the inside piece will pop out. Thoroughly clean both piece. The outside pice eill have to small openings that will require creativity to clean. I used a straw cleaning brush. For some of the crevices, I used small scrub brushes, which I keep on hand on my sink.

Step 3: Remove small treat inside well and wash. It is not too detiled, but I also used a small scrub brush for this, Jo ensure all if the gung was removed.

Step 4: Using a wet paper towel, wipe the inside of the well. I used two and followed up with a dry one.

Step 5: Reassemble and you're done.

Note: This is also a good opportunity to wash the drip tray and wipe down the outside of the Keurig. This I do about once a week.

Questions? Please comment and I will be glad to help.

Be well!

#Keurig #CleaningAKeurig #CleanKeurig #PostBrewDrip #CloggedKeurig #KCup #Coffee #CoffeeLover #OCDWife #HappyHusband

A Story of Health Lost and Regained

2016-12-02: Today as I was reviewing my blog, I noticed I had a a forgotten draft from 18 July 2016. I don't know why I didn't post it, but here it is now.
**********************************************************************************
As I sit here writing my to get done list for today, I write down the date and it dawns on me that it is a significant anniversary in my life.
It was 18 years ago today that my struggle with with my health and fitness began. It was the day that I incurred an injury during training with the Army, at the National Training Center, Fort Irwin, CA. In spite of the accident, I was able to resume my duties for the remainder of our training days. However, as time progressed, so did the effects of the injury, until one day I was unable to move because my back locked up. I spent the rest of that day flat on my back, because any movement would shoot pain through my body. When you are just barely 30 years old and you are incapacitated, it mind f#¢%$ you.
Even before I was rendered immobile, I was slowed down and gradually losing the my physical fitness abilities. Before the accident I was scoring pretty high in my PT tests. I was on profile and back then, the mindset was that when you are on profile, you don't do any physical training (PT). This was the start of the roller coaster ride with my physical fitness, weight and health issues. The three really are connected. If you are not taking care of your fitness and eating right, your health suffers. If you are unhealthy, your physical fitness suffers. If both are off, you can gain weight and lots of it, quickly.
For the next 16 years I dieted using the Atkins diet, weight watchers, eating less and even resorted to diet pills. Healthy right? I would get into a routine of going to the gym and even taking classes, then life would happen or I'd get bored and not go as often. To be honest, it was just too much hassle to go to the gym, especially after a long day at work and I hated the locker room drama. I tried at home workouts, which were actually preferred, but I had no real structure with them. Although I do love me some Taebo.
In 2010 via an infomercial, I was introduced to P90X, ordered it, did it and was pleased with the results. I intended to do a second round, but never got around to it. I had no accountability, so it was easy to keep putting it off. In the fall of 2012 I was loaned the first part of Insanity, but not the second, so I didn't complete it. A few months later my son-in-law gave me his set of Insanity and it took me a couple of months to get back into it and just when I started, our life changed. We started a remodeling project and if that wasn't crazy enough, in the middle of that we decided to buy a new house. So with the contractor's tools and supplies in my primary workout area and all of the boxes we were packing my secondary area, the workout halted.
In the the preceding years I not only had one setback or another with my physical fitness due to injuries, I also had health issues. Each time I would get one or the other handled, another would come along and stop me in my tracks. The final straw was after working with a nutritionist at the hospital and getting great results the healthy way, I started to regain weight in spite of my efforts. The diagnosis was Hypothyroidism. When your thyroid is out of whack, you're in a "storm" and feel like your'e going insane. You go from being depressed to angry, even rages. I about gave up trying to get back to the healthy me I knew I could be and just work at not getting any fatter or more out of shape. I was going to resort to maintaining my then unhealthy state. Crazy isn't it?
Then one day I woke up and the fighter in me shook me and said don't give up, try again. I made a plan, dusted off the set of Insanity and that following Monday, set out dig deep. And dig deep I did. I had not one, but two ailments in the midst of that 90 day program. The old me would have stopped, but the new, resolved to lick my health issues me said "Not this time!" There are no modifications offered in Insanity, so I came up with my own. I finished the whole damn program, missing only one day when I my back pain was so bad, I had to give my body that break.
What kept me going? First, my determination to change. Being sick and tired of being sick tired kept me going. The other thing that kept me going was this quiet motivation from someone on my friend list. Whenever I would post a completed workout, or shared a victory, she would be there silently clicking like. From seeing her posts, I knew she had recently made changes in her health and had also become a Beachbody Coach. There were other Beachbody Coaches on my friend list, but she was the one that helped keep me motivated. She was never pushy, just supportive. She did invite me to an accountability group once, but I wasn't quite ready. One of the cast members of Insanity is a coach and towards the end of the program, I started thinking I wanted to do the same. I didn't know exactly what coach did, but it sounded like something I wanted to do. So, I contacted this gal and from then on I became part of a bigger circle. A circle that offered the missing component of being successful at reclaiming my healthy and fitness... ACCOUNTABILITY. That is what I had when I was in the Army and the Navy, a regular PT test kept me ACCOUNTABLE. Once I lost that, I lost my motivation and some of my fighting spirit. Now I had it back! Thank you to my coach Kayleigh, for being my encourager and supporter when I needed it most.
Since then, I have made great strides. Not only did I lose the weight, I regained strength and confidence. My goal with my thyroid health was to stabilize it and eventually get off of medication. I was told by doctors that I would always be on medication for Hypothyroidism. I had proven them wrong before with previous health issues, and I was intent on doing it again and I did. I have been medication free for nearly two years and feeling healthier than ever. I am stronger than I have been in a long time. Yes, there have been many obstacles along the way. I have dealt with an ulcer and hiatal hernia. I have fallen and thought I broke my knee cap. I have fallen on the ice, injuring my back. Most recently, I have incurred a torn tendon in my shoulder, which I am still dealing with. However, this time I have not let these illnesses and injuries stop me. I simply adapt, improvise and overcome. I would dare say I am the queen of modifications. I may do it slower, I may do it differently, I may do it less intensely, but I WILL do it. When life gets crazy and there is a threat to my lifestyle, I find a way around it. I have set personal policies about putting my health and fitness goals first. I may have to compromise, but I will not stop.
This my friends, is why I share my post workout selfies. Why I talk about nutrition and share meal prep activities. Why although rare, when I manage to catch a bug from one of my many grandchildren, I share that I keep going and burn it out. Not because I want to say look at me, I am awesome! I do it because I want to motivate others, to encourage them to do the same. I want YOU to be healthy too. I want you to see that no matter what life throws at you, you CAN reclaim and control your health. You CAN be fitter. You CAN be stronger. If watching my journey has inspired YOU in any way to take steps towards a healthier, fitter you in healthy way, then I have been doing my job right. I don’t care if all you do is walk and eliminate just one bad food from your regular diet, as long as you do it and do it consistently, because it is a start.
Lastly, but definitely not least, thank you to my husband Mike. Your support throughout the years have been instrumental in me getting to this point. You help make it possible for me to keep going. I love you.
If you would do me a favor and let me know if I have motivated you in any way to be healthier, I would appreciate it. Maybe even share with me motivational quote (meme) that helps you.

Be well!

A Different Kind of Transformation

By now, you may have seen my transformation from when I was overweight and unhealthy.  Now, for the first time since I began this phase of my journey to reclaim my health, I am sharing with you my way back before transformation.

Back when I was a young, and I mean young mother, I was in a bad place.  I had this precious baby girl, but was in an abusive marriage.  Although he made great money in the oil field, we lived in poverty like conditions, because most of his paycheck went to drugs and alcohol.  I had to scrounge for ways to feed our daughter, which included getting government commodities… cheese, powdered milk and anything else they would give me. These items I had to haul home, hung on the back of an umbrella stroller.  If it weren’t for the generosity of his mother, father and extended family, things would have ironically been worse.  Most of the clothes I wore, were hand me downs from his cousin.

 

It is with pleading to him for some money and help from his family that I was able to host two parties (one for family only and one for neighborhood children) for my daughter’s first birthday. When I look at pictures from then, I only smile because of how happy my baby girl was.  I also feel a mix of sadness and anger, because of the condition we lived in. Due to our situation, I made sure that my daughter was fed before I was.  Plus anything that I did eat, was soon transferred to her as I nursed her until she was 18 months old.  I was her main source of nourishment.  With nursing, not eating enough and walking everywhere, the result was me being underweight and unhealthy.  I felt awful!

Some people are naturally thin and healthy.  For me, being that thin was unnatural and unhealthy and I couldn’t keep living like that either.  Perhaps that is why for a while, I accepted being overweight as better than how I was way back then.  The reality is, that neither was healthy.  Both ways put a lot of stress on my body.  Today I am at a “normal” weight and healthier than I have ever been.  Now I determine how healthy I am, not because of what the scale says, but how I feel.  I feel great!

When I say I want to help you reclaim your health, I mean that I want to help you take charge of your health and how you will feel when you do.  To you it could mean losing weight and replacing fat loss with muscle, or gaining weight by increasing your muscle mass. Whatever it means to you, I will help you with it.

Be well.

Two Years of Transformation and Counting

Time flies when you are having fun. Yes, fun. Two years ago, after planning and scheduling, I started this phase of a long journey to reclaim my health.

For many years after getting injured during military training, I struggled to regain control of my fitness and soon my health. When your fitness tanks, eventually your health does too. Each time I would make progress, I’d either get reinjured or ill. With each set back I would get further discouraged and would just want to give up trying. But, I don’t give up easy.

In 2009 I started yet another path to reclaim my health and in turn my fitness, but it didn’t last. Not because I was lazy or was eating poorly, but because my own body was fighting a battle within. In spite of my efforts, the gradual weight gain began. Fatigue set in and no amount of sleep would help. I started to blame peri-menopause and did what I could think of to control it. Then at my annual exam, based on information I provided about what I was experiencing, my Female Health NP ordered blood tests. As it turned out, the symptoms I had were the same as for peri-menopause. I had Hypothyroidism. According to my NP and primary physician, I would be on medication for the rest of my life. As with I did with past health issues, I set out to prove them wrong.

First things first, get my thyroid regulated. That is no easy feat. As I am doing this, I learn that my aunt, on my mother’s side died from complications of unmanaged Hypothyroidism. This scared the hell out of me and I vowed to not let it happen to me. There were so many setbacks along the way that I came very close to giving up, believing that I met an obstacle I could not hurdle. But, remember, I don’t give up that easy.

One day something clicked and I set out again to conquer this obstacle. This time however, when I hit a road block, instead of letting it stop me I crashed right through it. It hasn’t been easy, but it has been worth it. I am healthier than I have ever been. I am fitter than I was in my younger years. I feel fantastic. I look forward to working out, because it fills me with energy and I feel good when I am done. Oh, and that medication for life prognosis? Yeah, I proved both of my health care providers wrong. I have been managing my thyroid medication free for over a year now.

If you are struggling with health issues, or simply would like to take your fitness to a new level, I am here to guide you through it. All you need to do is comment with “I need your help!”, or send me a message and together we can get you started.

Nothing worth having comes easy, but it's worth it.

Be well!

‪#‎Hypothyroidism‬ ‪#‎LivingWellWithHypothyroidism‬ ‪#‎Healthy‬‪#‎ReclaimYourHealth‬ ‪#‎HealthIsWealth‬ ‪#‎FitOverForty‬ ‪#‎FitOver40‬‪#‎FitGrandma‬ ‪#‎NothingWorthHavingIsEasy‬ ‪#‎WorthTheEffort‬

A True Story of Health and Fitness Struggles

Beginning this past summer, there were situations that made it difficult to stay on track with my nutrition.  Each time I would get back on track, something else would come up to shake things up.  The holiday season didn't help either.

A few weeks ago, when in spite of being consistent with my workouts (six days a week), I wasn't all too surprised to look in the mirror and see the effects this had on the shape of my body. Disappointed yes, surprised no. So, I set out to fix that and did.

Somehow in spite of the reflection in the mirror, I had managed to maintain below my goal weight. However, right after Christmas I even saw that creep up and was a bit over a pound over my goal weight.  That may not seem like a lot, but over the course of the aforementioned time, it was a gain of nearly ten pounds from the lowest weight I have been since I began this journey.  I set out to fix that too and in one week I managed to lose 3.4#, simply by tightening up my nutrition and I even had my regular date night cheat meal.

Why am I sharing this?  Because the former, frustrated me would have simply given up yet again.  The new and improved, healthy me takes control and changes things.  The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different results.  My new definition of insanity, is now the name of a fitness program and changing what isn't working.

Because of my slip ups, I am not where I want to be physically, but I am back on track and on my way to where I visualize myself.   As long as I am making progress, I am happy.

This is the real me, human like anyone else who struggles with health, weight and fitness.  After years of quitting time and time again, I have found a healthy, no fad way to reclaim my health.  I can help you do the same.  You don't have to wait for my next monthly accountability group to start your journey, because I will welcome you when you are ready to join me and the other members who have committed to improving their health.  You don't need a new year, just a new day, but it's a new year, so you may as well take advantage of it. :)

To learn more about how you can be healthier and fitter, comment or send me a private message and I will be glad to help you.

Why I Quit Wearing a Fitness Tracker

Lately it seems that almost everyone that I run into, is wearing a fitness tracker of some sort.  This in itself is a great idea, to help keep you active.  I myself wore one for over two years. 

I cannot say for sure why my husband bought me one.  Maybe because I showed interest in his?  Maybe because he thought he was helping me get more active, because at that time I was overweight and out of shape.  However, I wasn’t like that because I was lazy, I was battling a health condition that at the time was winning.  So after he realized just how active I truly was through the course of my day.  I may not have been exercising as often and vigorously as I am now, but I was technically a homemaker and we have stairs in our home.  The house didn’t clean itself, nor did dinner make itself, or errands get run on their own.  In spite of my poor health, I was still carrying out my responsibilities and I even took on a part-time job.  Add to that, our son moved home after completing his service in the military.  With him he brought two very active toddlers.  Guess who helped him with them for the seven months they lived with us? Mom, course! So yes, I was active. 

For over two years, 843 days straight I met my goal.  I was racking up the badges for most points in a day, most active day and etcetera; I became a badge whore.  The most coveted badge was the Every Damn Day badge, which is awarded when you meet your goal every day for 365 days - I earned TWO.  I didn’t initially start off with the intent to go a year straight of meeting my goals.  Truthfully, I wanted to show my husband that I was in fact more active than he figured.  Many days I made my goal and he didn’t.  In his defense, his tracker pooped out on him and he had to have it replaced twice.  Mine however, if it pooped out I would contact tech support and poof, it was fixed and my earned points restored.  However, as I racked up the badges, it became a game for me.  I was out to beat my best days, earn the holiday and birthday badges.  I was on a mission to earn as many as I could.  When my tracker started to wear out, I decided that I would keep tracking until it gave up for good.  On 12 August 2015, it quit completely and would no longer track or hold a charge.  I was able to do one final sync before I retired it.

The story doesn’t stop there.  You see, my husband had switched to a different brand tracker, because it was given to him for a fitness challenge at work and when he upgraded, he gave me his freebie tracker, so I was simultaneously wearing both trackers to compare the features so that I could decide if I wanted to upgrade the one I had been using, or switch over.  This past spring my husband was given another upgraded tracker for the challenge, which he passed on to me and I passed along the older one to our daughter.  I was still wearing both simultaneously until my original one died. Up until about three weeks ago, I was still wearing the newer tracker. 

Why did I stop?  After all, I was able to challenge my friends to daily, weekend and weekly goals.  It kept me going even when I was low on motivation.  I wanted to be top dog in each challenge.  Yes, I am competitive.  But you see, I don’t need those challenges to really motivate me.  I just need to remember how I felt before I reclaimed my health and became fit again.  I just need to look at pictures of me when I was unhealthy and out of shape.  In addition:

• I was growing weary of having to meet a goal to deem my day successful.  I wanted to shut off and have a lazy, guilt free day.  I could never just relax, because I was goal oriented and needed to make goal for the day.  There were times when it was near bedtime that I would walk around, up and down the stairs, did what I took to make my goal.  Even on days that I was under the weather, I would make sure I earned those points.
• Unless I was doing a workout that had running, jumping and punching in it, they didn’t “count” on my tracker.  So when I am weight lifting, or doing PiYo, it isn’t tracked completely.
• Washing dishes didn’t count, because I had to remove the tracker, so as to not damage it.
• The tracker kept popping off.
• It didn’t go well with my outfits when I would dress up of an occasion, so I had to decide whether or not to wear it.
• Because my husband I both wore a tracker, holding hands while walking became an issue because it interfered with the arm swing.  One of us had to switch our band to the other hand so that we could hold hands.  Oh, and I have a purse too, so that hand was holding on to the purse.  It got to the point to we just went without holding hands.  That was just way too much for me. 

I was being held hostage by the little band around my wrist and I was done with that.

Yes, there are still times I wonder how many points I am earning when I have another awesome daily workout, or getting stuff done around the house, or out running errands.  But, then I remember how much anxiety I started to feel because I had to meet my daily goal.  Maybe one day again I will fish out the tracker, charge it and put it back on.  But for now, I am enjoying my freedom without it.  I will get satisfaction that I did do enough today.  That the workout I did today was excellent.  I know I am not lazy and I know that.  Best of all, I will be happy to hold my husband’s hand, no matter which one it is.

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Step Parenting Insight

As I'm putting away laundry and get to this dress that my granddaughter's step mom made for her, it gave me food for thought.

Step parenting is not easy. When you enter into a relationship with and maybe eventually marry someone who already has children, you are consciously choosing to own some responsibility for and love their children. You often face resistance from not only the children, but also their other natural parent. Add your own children and maybe a step parent on the other side and it can get quite complicated.

Ideally everyone would get along for the sake of the children. Decisions and actions would be made in their best interest. Egos, anger, jealousy and all of the many emotions would be controlled, again for their sake. Alas, that is not the case in many blended family situations.

Back to the dress and my original thought. My first ex husband was not involved with our two children, so there really wasn't an issue there because they were my sole responsibility. However, my second ex husband was involved with our son. Early in our ex status he entered a relationship with a lady who although we didn't really get along, we also weren't catty, we just were part of each other's lives and made the best of it.

As the years went by, I learned to appreciate her, because I realized that it was she who took care of our son when he went for his weekend and summer visits. She cooked him some amazing meals, which he told me all about when he'd return home. I was a bit jealous, because I was at the time, not a good cook. However, the important thing was that he was fed. She would take him to bible camp in the summer and do all kinds of neat things with him throughout the year on his visits. Step-mom was good to my son, which was THE most important thing to me.

Although I didn't realize it back then, my heart was at ease, because probably deep down I knew that should something happen to me, my little boy would be well cared for, because she would ensure it. Just as I know that if need be, my grandchildren's step-mom would take care of of them as she does her own. She did it for year while their mama addressed some health issues, so the proof is there. I was blessed to have two mama's myself.

My experienced advice to you is, if your children do have, or will have a step parent, learn to get along with them. Get to know them as the other parent that will have influence on them. Learn to co-parent for the sake of your children. Your children will appreciate it and not be anxious about the constant quibbling. Trust me, this way is better. We have dealt with both the positive and the negative.

Also, when you make the choice to be a step parent, truly love the children as your own. They will know if you genuinely care for them, or are merely tolerating them. I wasn't perfect, but I did my best and love all of my "steps" and I refuse to refer to them as my step children.

One more thing, make it lovingly clear that you, as the natural parent are not the other parent, you are the parent. To your children, you are not the other mother, or the other father, you ARE the mother, you ARE the father.

Oh, and Little Miss really likes this dress and when she gets complimented on it, she proudly says her step mom made it for her.

Be well.