carrie actually

Music to Match your Pace While Working Out

December 30, 2011 · 1 comment

I’ve been spending a lot of time at the gym lately (though this week I’ve got a terrible head cold with congestion, snot, and a nasty sore throat so I’ve been sparing the other gym goers and staying home).

When I’m at the gym I’m still chipping away at Couch to 5k. I’ve completed week 6 but now I keep repeating it because week 7, which calls for 3 days of jogging 2.5 miles or 25 minutes without stopping, intimidates me so much.

One thing that’s helped me immensely through weeks 1 through 6 is listening to the right music. I’ve been using a couple different tools to create my playlists.

How to Determine the right BPM for your walking, jogging, or running pace

The first is Jog.fm (free website). I tell it what pace I jog at (14 minutes miles for me – I can jog but not fast) and it tells me what the right BPM (beats per minute) is. Imagine each time I put a foot down being a beat and matching those movements up to the music. It’s sort of a subconcious way to maintain the right pace. I run on a treadmill at the gym so I have to keep the pace or I’d fall off the back but I’ve set up walking playlists that I’ve used while walking outside and can see from my Runkeeper (free iPhone GPS app that tells you how far you went and how fast) data that I naturally keep the pace my music sets when I use it there.

After I tell jog.fm that my mile time is 14 minutes, it tells me that the right BPM for that pace is about 110 and gives a list of songs at or very close to that number.

But I’ve already got a massive iTunes library and I love to make use of what I already have. So I found a second tool that helps me determine the BPM of the songs I already have.

How to find the BPM of the songs you already have

From the Apple App Store I purchased the app Cadence Desktop Pro for $6.99. I’ve experimented with other software over the years and this is the first one I found that really worked. It analyzes your songs (took overnight for the first go of many thousands of songs in my library) and then export that BPM data back to your iTunes library.

How to create playlists that will have your favorite songs at the right BPM for your pace

In iTunes, I make smart playlists for various paces so my 14 minute mile jogging playlist uses the rule BPM is in the range 108 to 112. I add a few other optional rules like the song should have 4 or 5 stars and not been played within the last week to keep it to the songs I really like but haven’t just heard and then play that playlist while I’m on the treadmill doing my Couch to 5k workout at the gym.

Disclosure: Some links in this post are affiliate links. If you order through my link I’ll get a small commission that’ll help me pay my hosting fees. I’ve purchased this product myself at full price and truly recommend it.

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Set Your Browser Home Page to a Random Wikipedia Page

December 28, 2011 · 1 comment

I’m currently listening to the audiobook of The Art of Non-Conformity (while I walk my dog, while I drive around doing my errands – I’ve found audiobooks are a really awesome way to mix it up a bit when you get bored of all 9502 songs on your iPod) and I’m just in love with one of the tips in the book.

There’s a section where he talks about an “alternative graduate school experience” and one of the to do items for it is to set your browser homepage to a random Wikipedia article using this link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random

Then every time you open your browser you’ll be taken to a random page, you can read it (or you’ll probably just glance or skim it) and learn a little something new.

I’m also currently a little bit obsessed with The Art of Non-Conformity blog and recommend you check it out.

Disclosure: Some links in this post are affiliate links. If you order through my link I’ll get a small commission that’ll help me pay my hosting fees. I’m currently listening to this audiobook (I got it free from my local public library) and truly recommend it.

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Things I’d Love To Do in 2012

December 27, 2011 · 5 comments

I’m not making New Year’s resolutions this year because a) I never stick to them and b) I like having room to let things change and evolve.

So inspired by this post at Be More with Less, this is my list of things I’d love to do in 2012 that is subject to adjustment throughout the year.

Try yoga again.
Go on vacation and completely unplug (this is a must for my honeymoon in August but my fiance and I will probably do a long weekend in the spring for me to practice).
Read a book a week or more.
Walk Lucky more. Get my fiance to go with us more of those times.
Make homemade bread every week.
Focus on quality over quantity. In how I spend my time and my money.
Declutter something every day. Regularly list those items on eBay or donate to Goodwill (in which case be sure to get a tax receipt).
Eat more fruits and vegetables. Ideally at least one with each meal.

Are you making New Year’s resolutions or doing any other sort of goal setting right now? Tell me about it or link me to a post you’ve written on the topic.

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Meal Planning with MacGourmet

December 22, 2011 · 1 comment

I’ve been pondering how best to manage my meal planning for a flucuating schedule for a few weeks now and I’ve found a solution in a piece of software I already owned and had neglected.

MacGourmet is a recipe database that I originally explored because “it’s like iTunes for your recipes”.

What makes it work for me now when it didn’t work before is the iPad app. Now I can sync my database and cook from my iPad when I’m in the kitchen.

The core of MacGourmet is a recipe database (to get access to the meal planning and nutritional calculating featuers you either need to purchase those features individually or buy the MacGourmet Deluxe version that includes them all).

You type in your recipes or import from any website. You can search and create lists based on ingredients. You can indicate which recipes you’ve tried and which you have not. You can categorize. You can rate. And then you can use all that information to narrow down what you’re looking for and create your meal plan.

After you’ve got your recipes in, you can drag and drop them to create your meal plan. Each week I indicate what meals I might want to cook for based on which both my fiance and I will be home for plus one or two where only I’ll be home and can make something he won’t like. Then I drag and drop recipes from my database.

I start by searching for perishable ingredients I already have on hand to make sure I get those used up. Then I usually use my “Top Rated” smart list of our favorite recipes to fill in the gaps. And I can easily scale recipes to make sure we’ll have the right amount of leftovers for our other meals without making any permanent changes to my recipe entry.

Here’s a screen shot of this week’s plan:

After my meal plan is complete I can create a shopping list with the click of a button. I can sort that shopping list by store and by aisle or department. I can also delete any items I already have and add any staples and snacks I need to be sure I pick up. That list can either be printed or synced to my iPhone for handy access while I’m at the store. I like to sync to the iPhone app so I can check off items as I put them in my cart.

MacGourmet Deluxe (affiliate link to the Apple App Store) is a little pricy at $49.95 but I think it will quickly pay for itself in saving extra trips to the grocery store or having to go out to eat because I thought we had an essential ingredient but really didn’t. Once you’ve got MacGourmet Deluxe, the iPhone (affiliate link to iTunes) and iPad (affiliate link to iTunes) apps are must haves if you have either of those devices.

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The Dress

December 19, 2011 · 6 comments

(photo from the designer’s website)

We’re just under 8 months out and the wedding planning gears are kicking into full speed.

Saturday I went dress shopping with my mom and sister and my fiance’s mom and sister. I showed the consultant this dress that I had liked most from browsing online and she found me an even better version. I tried on 5 dresses total and went with the 3rd one I tried on.

The photo above is the dress I selected. I’ll be getting it in ivory lace over a light gold lining since I’m very pale and that darker shade makes me look less ghostly. I also really wanted a dress that wasn’t strapless and I just adore the cap sleeves on this style.

What did your wedding dress look like or what do you imagine your dream dress looking like?

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