Shape Shifters Team Chat - JUNE 2023
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looneycatblue wrote: »Do any of you pay for the MFP membership, currently it costs $79.99/year.
If so, do you think it is worth it?
I don’t pay for the membership but I use many of the free features, such as the short videos on specific topics, etc. I think @jessicakrall8 pays for full membership and finds it useful. So, she may be able to point to the paid features that she values (if my memory is correct about her MFP status).
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@Itadakimasu7 - I love your sense of adventure — and also your sense of humor!
My older son will celebrate his 23rd birthday in August so I feel your (aches and) pain. I also understand the paradox of not feeling old at heart — I’ll embrace it with you!
You might want to consider moving to Kanazawa or Kyoto in Japan. Kanazawa is a quieter location the really seems to embrace the idea of introducing the Japanese language and culture to international visitors. Kyoto attracts more tourists, of course, but it still feels much smaller than Tokyo. There are also places like Hakone that are closer to Tokyo but have more ‘rural’ areas.
Have you heard of the JET program? Many of the locations are quite rural or suburban. Here’s a link: https://jetprogramusa.org/
When I first moved to Japan, I taught English and lived with a family who had a daughter that wanted to practice her English so she could attend a college in the United States. I lived in the outskirts of Machida, which is about a 35 minute train ride to the center of Tokyo. I had to take a bus to Machida (about 20-30 minutes, if I remember correctly) so my family considered the area to be ‘inaka’ (rural, countryside).
My home stay family also took me to visit their hometown in Nagano, which I enjoyed. I traveled there again with my husband, uncle, and a friend when my Dad was one of the coaches for the 1998 Olympic team (USA men’s ice hockey) and explored the area a little more. If you like the mountains, Nagano and Sapporo (on the Hokkaido island) might be fun.
For some reason, I picture a trip to Studio Ghibli in your future. Are you a Miyazaki fan? We took our boys there in 2011 while visiting some friends and family because they loved Tonari no Totoro My Neighbor Totoro) and his other animated films. My husband is half Japanese so he has some cousins and other relatives there. He was born and raised in Boston but teaches karate and works with Japanese clients in his current business (and as a government employee before retirement). I’m thinking about visiting Japan with him during one of his future trips but I have to get my passport renewed first.
One place I want to visit is Toyota’s Woven City but I’m not sure if it’s open to everyone so I’ll need to do some research first:
https://www.woven-city.global/
Japanese food is so delicious and I find it relatively easy to find healthy options. Since I do a lot of walking and use a bicycle to get to the train station, it’s probably easier to stay fit through every day life, too! I’ll look forward to hearing more about your travels as your plans develop!
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PatriceFitnessPal wrote: »looneycatblue wrote: »Do any of you pay for the MFP membership, currently it costs $79.99/year.
If so, do you think it is worth it?
I don’t pay for the membership but I use many of the free features, such as the short videos on specific topics, etc. I think @jessicakrall8 pays for full membership and finds it useful. So, she may be able to point to the paid features that she values (if my memory is correct about her MFP status).
Yes @patricefitnesspal and @looneycatblue I pay for the annual membership. I like having some of the extra tracking features like ability scan items into your food history...I also HATE ads, so don't have to deal with those...
Jess3 -
Long day at the office day and stayed later to finish up something. Got a lot done today, but can never keep up with all of the emails...
Air quality is in the dangerous zone...can only imagine what it's like in NY and in Canada...they have my sympathy!!! So can't walk outdoors without a mask and it's humid too...so walked inside today. I do that a lot anyway because of the heat/humidity.
Very tired and getting ready to lie down. Having a weird food day...eating my breakfast for dinner...way under on calories...so my planning wasn't shabby.
Have a nice evening!
Jessica3 -
@PatriceFitnessPal - Wow, thanks for elaborating on your time in Japan. I've heard a lot of mixed reviews from love to hate. I've spent a lot of time learning the culture and attempting to learn the language because I wasn't sure how long I would have there and wanted to understand what I was seeing and how things worked. I have friends that have gone for a couple of weeks on vacation and come back with discovering a few food dishes, but not much else, lol. I didn't want to get put into a fish bowl of foreign traveler.
My husband wants to teach English and since his step Dad was an English professor at a major University his skills are really good in that department, although he's a tech / security expert - he thinks teaching English would be relaxing at least for awhile. I would rather teach tech or art. I would definitely love to visit Studio Ghibli.
There is a kinda other worldly vibe to Japan, it's like that on the Oregon Coast too - not the same vibe, but a vibe that makes you feel like you've arrived at a different sort of place.
Hey thanks for sharing, I'll add you to my friends list if that's okay!4 -
Good morning Shape Shifters. I biked to a new area yesterday morning. I read in my photography book that kingfishers could be found there. That's a bird I have never seen and would love to see. I didn't expect to find any on my first try and I didn't. Overall the morning was pretty boring. The weather wasn't great and the sun only came out a few times. There was a 3,5 km walk around the area and that was also fairly boring. Everything was super overgrown and untouched, fields with grasses twice as tall as me. It's great for all the animals, but photography wise, I couldn't see a thing.
I did a lot of garden work later in the day. Finished weeding the front yard with the weedpuller. Then I raked two small areas, threw in some clover seeds and watered it all. Curious to see how that will go. I also watered the empty plot that will get the flower seeds next week. Seems a little wasteful, but I need to water it every now and then to make sure no weeds are coming up. So far so good.
In the evening I got a new bike battery delivered. I just went for it and used a big chunk of my vacationmoney to buy it. This will make it much easier for me to get to new spots because I have over doubled my biking range with the second battery. I am really excited about that. Today I am taking a break, but I hope to go somewhere again tomorrow. This weekend it's getting super hot though, so not sure how much I will go out since nothing drains my energy faster than heat. Happy Thursday everyone
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Here is the daily card
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Just trying to see if I can add a photo2
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Steps for June 6: 2880
June 7: 49943 -
@Pupowl I always enjoy reading your posts about your walks and gardening and your photos are always stunning. You have a real great eye for capturing beauty!
@jessicakrall8 @PatriceFitnessPal and others in the path of the wildfire smoke, I hope it gets better soon for you! Yesterday was awful here! Even with a mask on I came from outside with an ash taste in my mouth and my clothes smelled like smoke. We have a little reprieve this morning so both my dog and I were very happy to get back outside for a walk. The smoke is supposed to come back later today, so will head out at lunch for another walk before it comes back. I really take the fresh and clean air for granted!5 -
@Pupowl thank you for your tips but as you can see above my photo posting under the spoiler still wasn't successful!
I'm having a lovely time in Greece,my son & his girlfriend arrive tomorrow so it will be good to see them.
I wanted to ask to be removed from the step challenge for June please.Unfortunately my Garmin watch tracker has died on me 🙁
I did go in the sea with it on yesterday but as far as I know it's OK to swim wearing it.I have no other way to track steps as I don't want to stroll up & down the beach holding my mobile phone.
Great reading everyone's posts.Just going to have an afternoon siesta to prepare for another night of eating & drinking 🍸4 -
Here's the photo I tried to add.
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Step Update
6/6 - 17,167
6/7- 10,3974 -
Here’s my weekly weigh-in report:
Name - PatriceFitnessPal
Weigh-in Day - Thursday
PW - 134.4
CW - 134.1
SW - 168
LtD - 33.9
I hope everyone is doing well. Go Shape Shifters!5 -
Wed, Jun 7th
Steps = 10,085 (had to do a bit of house stepping to make it to 10k)3 -
looneycatblue wrote: »Do any of you pay for the MFP membership, currently it costs $79.99/year.
If so, do you think it is worth it?
I have the paid subscription for the past 3 years, after years of being a user of the free app. I decided to pay for the premium version when I wanted to better track macronutrients, as well as vary my calorie and macro goals each day (based on my lifting days). I really like seeing my macros per meal, the time stamps for everything I eat, and seeing exercise calories without it affecting my target calories for the day. I use the data to share with my coach weekly, and can spot trends in my macros to compare to my weight, body fat, and waist size trends.
The ability to scan barcodes was taken away from the free version a few months ago, so that's a nice perk. Though it makes you wonder what else they'll push to the paid version. At the end of the day, I was a long-time MFP user and I was willing to pay the developers for the content that I found so beneficial.8 -
Steps
6/6 14,819
6/7 14,906
6/8 14,2354 -
June 8th steps 57205
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@Pupowl -- Not sure you're active in your local art community / guild / gallery but your photos are professional quality and would be appreciated anywhere you showed them. You have a real knack for capturing several types of layouts and appreciating how light works. That's not a good camera, that's a good eye.4
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