Nice Meme

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I told you I was going to ‘change things up’ trying to shed some of my lard.

I started eating breakfast again – namely Cheerios and milk. I started using MyFitnessPal.com again, listing what I’m eating. It tells me that “You may not be eating enough,” but I know that’s not true in my case. Since I’m listing everything I eat, I’m very aware and try to plan. Then I KNOW if I can ‘afford’ to eat a bit of a snack before bed or not (something I know isn’t the best, but might keep me on track.)

The result thus far is I’ve lost 6.4 lbs. This is just a drop in the bucket as far as what my goal is, but it IS a start. I AM seeing a difference on my scales each morning. I also know that this will probably come to a screeching halt one morning soon, but it’s nice NOW, and I know it IS possible.

GymQuotes.co

Diet

Silies

Tuesday Thoughts 5-2-2023

“Dorky Dogs” – BoredPanda.com – Liucija Adomaite and Justinas Keturka

This picture made me laugh out loud. I have no clue what’s on the other side of the fence, but they’re sure interested. :0)

I have a new lease on life this morning. A package arrived from Amazon with new jeans and a top. This is usually not a cause for “celebration,” but I’ve gained some weight recently and my jeans have become too tight for any comfort at all. I now have some with elastic at the top, rather than a zipper and button, so I’m sitting here comfortably for the first time in quite awhile.

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I told you, though, that I’m trying really hard not to eat anything in-between meals. I’ve lost 4 of the pounds I gained so far. I’m determined to keep doing this. We were up in the middle of the night (Imagine that!) last night, and my husband asked if I wanted him to make us hot chocolate. Oh, wow. I said, “Yes, but no thank you.” I’m patting myself on the head just a bit. :0)

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I’m also doing my yoga sessions daily, albeit more slowly and carefully than I was previously, in an effort to try to relax, stretch out, alleviate some pain and stiffness, etc. I’m putting silver sparkly stars on my desk calendar, earning two stars per day the last few days. If I can keep this up, I’ll be delighted.

I’m heading out to my tomato planters now to see what they need. I hope you have a wonderful Tuesday.

It’s In the Stars

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I’m going back to an ‘old faithful’ for me – rewarding myself with a sparkly star on my desk calendar when I achieve one of my goals.

• I’ve been stress eating and I’m really trying to stop that.
• I’ve been liberally sprinkling salt on everything, plus eating salty snacks
• I’ve been making excuses for not doing my daily yoga session

Otherwise, I’m a reasonably nice person… :0)

SO

I started yesterday (DAY 1) in a serious effort to mend my ways. I got one star for not eating in-between meals and not putting any extra salt on anything. I made an excuse for not doing my yoga, so I only got one star yesterday, but put that silver sparkly star on my calendar a couple of minutes ago.

Today I’m trying for 2.

Cookies

Forwarded by my friend Marsha

She and I are trying to encourage each other in our efforts to lose the lard and exercise.

She has lost a pound or two already recently and purchased a peddler that she can use several times a day, rain or shine, to try to build muscle and stamina. Huge kudos!

I, on the other hand, am a dismal failure. I do pretty well, and then my husband, trying to be nice, brings me a dish of ice cream with chocolate syrup. Or, failing that excuse, I decide I’m starving to death mid afternoon and have some pretzels, even after drinking a bottle of water first and waiting to try to curb my hunger. I’ve also been using my meager yard work as a substitute for my yoga practice. Bah. Humbug.

I’m trying to do one day at a time – even one morning at a time. I’ll try to get my act together VERY SOON – if not TODAY…

taolife.com

Spelling

The mission to quit stuffing my face continues, some days more successful than others, trying to watch my portions really carefully.

I did an experiment a couple of nights ago. I started to bake some chicken breasts and discovered that the seasoning/coating I thought I had in the pantry wasn’t there. I didn’t want to just use flour, but I wanted to use something that would hold the juices in and give the breasts a bit of flavor, too. I did have some seasoning I use for pork chops. I went ahead and used that and my husband raved. :0) I had cooked two chicken breasts, cutting them in half lengthwise and serving each of us 1/2 breast, plus veggies for our dinner.

I used one of the remaining half-breasts for dinner last night. I cut it up and added chopped onion and chopped mushrooms, plus some cream of chicken/mushroom soup. I served this over rice and my husband complimented the dinner – twice.

I’ll cut up the remaining one tomorrow to make a big chef type salad.

A Small Pat on the Head

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I made it through the day yesterday without stuffing my face the way I have been. I’ll try to do it again today.

Another arrow in my quiver – I’m NOT going to loosen the fastening on my jeans to make myself more comfortable during the day. I’m going to keep them fastened, reminding myself that my overeating has CAUSED this discomfort, and that acting ‘maturely’ might relieve that if I keep it up.

I’m in this fight by myself, since my husband insisted we stock up on a bunch of assorted chips. Maybe a bit of frustration and anger will help me in my goal…

Each person makes a decision – or a series of them – when he or she wants to change, in the effort to STOP a bad habit or START a good one. I’m trying to look at all the excuses for what they are – smoke.

TODAY I will eat healthy meals and try not to eat anything in-between. I will drink a bottle of water if I get hungry, and I will do a good session of yoga this afternoon. Maybe I can earn another small pat. :0)

Tenor

Dreaming…

memes.com – wattpad

I don’t understand people who ‘adulterate’ their food and drink. Like putting weird flavors in their coffee. I want PURE coffee. I don’t want flavors. I don’t want fancy. I just want black coffee, and lots of it, at all hours of the day.

I feel the same about chocolate. I don’t want people messing with mine. I have no interest in fancy boxes of chocolate. I don’t want fillings, toppings, dark chocolate, etc. I want milk chocolate. PURE milk chocolate. Like Hershey’s kisses. Just perfect.

As much as I love chocolate, though, my diet downfalls are two: THING ONE – salty, like chips. THING TWO – white, like rice or pasta. I could actually give up desserts forever, including chocolate, without a backward glance. I essentially HAVE. Every other year or so I get myself a bag of Hershey’s kisses and put them in the freezer. Then I take out two at a time and enjoy them.

I would rather have REAL food rather than try to eat the things dieters are supposed to substitute for the good stuff, like cauliflower when you want rice, or zoodles when you want noodles. I DO this stuff, but it makes me hostile.

My dream would be a switch in my brain that makes me wish for nice fresh salads, fish, and veggies. That same switch would have a setting that said, “FULL” soon after I started eating, making me feel full, saving the rest for later or another day. The switch might even make me FORGET to eat, having to remind myself to refuel…

If you’re going to dream, do a GREAT JOB OF IT!!!!!!!

Unsplash – dennisvdw-Getty Images – iStockphotos

Sunny, Bright Sunday 1-15-2023

I found this and walked with them yesterday. I was reminded how much I need this by my hips talking to me a couple of times, but I think this will do me a lot of good. It’s short, gets me moving, and I like this mother and daughter.

I also did a careful, abbreviated version of my yoga practice yesterday for the first time in a couple of weeks. I have no clue why my right upper arm is hurting, but I’ve decided to try to work through it very carefully and see how it goes. ONE DAY AT A TIME.

I’m also being more successful in NOT eating in-between meals. This week has been a good start. If I think I’m hungry, I’m trying to drink some water and see how I feel later. If I’m STILL hungry, I have some dried fruit to eat. 2-1/2 pounds down for the week.

Our weather is nice today, so I’m planning to at least walk around outside this afternoon. It’s hard to believe it’s January. The high will be around 62!

I’m thinking about at least spending some time in my art room today. I have ideas rattling around in my brain during the day, and am dreaming about them at night, so it’s time. :0)

I hope you’re enjoying your Sunday, too.

A Little Bit of Hope

Reddit

Except for enjoying a surprise brunch at The Waffle House when out with my husband, I’ve been good this week. In fact, when my husband said we should go somewhere out to eat when we found out our friends wouldn’t be at Lunch Bunch yesterday, I convinced him to stay home and make our own lunch – even though it was nice of him to suggest it.

I’m hoping that my new “One Day at a Time” affirmation will continue to give me the strength of purpose to keep my mouth shut, not eating in-between meals or in the middle of the night when I am finding it hard to sleep, and getting back into my exercising daily.

So far this week my scales are still laughing at me, but I AM showing about 2 lbs less now. I’m hoping for 2 to 3 pounds per week, or at least that I hold whatever I’ve lost from week to week before showing more loss. Onward and downward.

“Diet” vs “Lifestyle”

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I KNOW this, and yet, seeing this in writing really caught my attention. Since I’m a ‘sparkly-stars-on-my-desk-calendar’ type of gal, I DO tend to feel like a failure and lose momentum when I ‘mess up.’ It takes me a bit to get going again.

I also have to admit that I have been TRYING to change my thinking for a long time. If I had a gravestone, I guess it would be the truth if it said, “All or nothing.” My house is either ready for House Beautiful to come photograph it for their magazine, or looks like an explosion (or six) has occurred. I’ve either cleared out my garden and covered it neatly or it’s completely overflowing with weeds. I’m either eating exactly what I ‘should’ or have gone off the rails and am enjoying a bacon cheeseburger. I’m still on my ‘first husband’ after almost 54 years. Do you see a pattern here? :0)

A resolution I’m trying to keep this year is giving myself a break. Not only realizing that I’m not perfect, but ALSO realizing that it’s what I do MOST of the time that will make the difference I want. If I mess up, or I’m not feeling well, no one else CARES whether I did my yoga for the day, or ate more comfort food than I should have. What MATTERS is that each meal is a chance to eat in a healthy manner. Each day is an opportunity to be good to my body, giving it what it NEEDS, rather than what my mind might be craving at the time. Each day is an opportunity to keep my body moving, making my future full of what I would like to do, rather than only what I CAN do, given my limitations.

“Let Them Eat Cake”

BoredPanda.com

________________

Yeah, it’s the holidays and the latest excuse for stuffing my face. We’ve been gifted pumpkin bread, Mt. Dew Cake, a box of chocolates and more. Add on that the weather has been encouraging comfort food, and the excuses pile up. UGH

I’ve been trying to keep my food diary on MyFitnessPal.com, but there is no real way to list the wonderful goodies above, so it’s a ball park estimate. We have almost eaten our way through these, so that problem will be gone. The weather is improving a bit each day, making the desire for comfort food less. As the excuses drop off, hopefully willpower will increase.

I wrote a letter to Santa the other day, posting in here on the blog. A selfish addition to it would be for me to lose my food addiction. It sounds wonderful to me to be the rare person who doesn’t think of food, who actually has to be reminded to eat – at least until further notice. Is that too much to ask Santa?

Smirking Scales

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_______________________

Beachbody on Demand

MyFitnessPal.com is helping me get through the holidays and not cause the scales to simply give up on me, though they ARE definitely smirking.

I really like this site because they do a lot to make it easy to keep track of what you’re eating. I particularly like their extensive data base of what others have added so it’s usually quick to find and list it. If you’re making a home made thing that is not on the list, you can add the ingredients once and then save it so you can easily add it again by name and others can use it, too.

Exercise can also be added, plus how many glasses of water you’re drinking, plus note about eating or exercise. I keep the tab open on my computer so that I can add things during the day, or plan what I’m eating and then modify, if needed, BEFORE I make a mistake.

The scales and the app are both doing THEIR part – I just need to do mine…

Okay – More Info

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I’m making tweaks on what I’m eating each day in order to get closer to the number of calories MyFitnessPal.com says I should be eating. Yesterday it decided that I likely wasn’t eating enough! I would LIKE to lose a couple of pounds a week until further notice to meet my goal. I’m trying to pay attention to what this app is saying, get as close as I can to their suggestions, and see what happens.

I THOUGHT I had been paying attention and reading labels, but one thing got by me – deli baked beans. We’ve been enjoying a very small ramekin of beans with our lunches. It turns out that one serving is 28 grams of sugar! ARRRRRGH! I don’t even care how much a ‘serving’ is – it’s too much. So that is gone.

It said I shouldn’t be skipping breakfast, so this morning, after waiting an hour after taking my thyroid med, I ate a hard boiled egg.

We’ll watch our sugar again more carefully, but basically, the rest of what we’ve been eating at lunch is fine, and I’ll try to watch the fat and sugar more carefully on the frozen dinners we’ve been eating.

An article suggested I eat more nuts and seeds, so I’ll have a few cashews or almonds as a snack during the day sometime.

The app is happy with what I have listed to eat today. Hopefully, the scales will react in a few days, smirking at me a bit less.

Immaturity

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I’ve been a really ‘good girl’ lately. I gave up added salt. I’ve been eating healthy meals. I have not been eating between meals. I’ve been drinking water. I’ve been working in the yard and doing daily yoga sessions. I’ve started doing the plank pose. And are my scales impressed? THEY ARE NOT!

It’s been two weeks now, and one would THINK that the scales would at least wave a little in encouragement, but NOOOOO. Bah. Humbug.

I’m TRYING to be an adult about this, telling myself that it will take awhile for the scales to show anything. It will probably be a month or so before the measuring tape gives me any encouragement. I tell myself that changes take time, to give myself a break, to concentrate on other things. Do I listen? NOOOOO. :0(

SayingImages.com

Managing Holiday Weight

Tee Public

2 Good Reasons to Keep My Mouth Shut

REASON 1 –

CardboardExpressQuoteDiary

REASON 2 –

I now feel good almost every day. My switch to a Mediterranean style of eating from Low Carb – Keto is now complete. I’m still a bit sad to leave the Keto because I was losing weight, but my lack of gallbladder – and maybe my lack of thyroid – and the resulting serious problems with digestion forced the change.

The simple injecting of more veggies and fruit into our diet has resulting in my feeling good with all systems working (with the exception of my current needing to change my dosage of thyroid medication).

The problem from the change is that I’ve been gaining weight – weight I REALLY didn’t want or need. We go to the doctor for our routine appointment tomorrow. I’ll grit my teeth as they record my weight. I have to go back in 8 weeks for another blood test to see if the new thyroid hormone dosage is correct. I’m using this 8 week period to see if I can now switch my focus to eating LESS as well as eating healthy. 8 weeks should be long enough to see some results from the changes I’ll make.

FOCUS 1 – ONLY raw carrots in-between meals. If I don’t want carrots, I’m not really hungry.

Trying to Keep My Mouth Shut

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My efforts to lose the lard and increase my movement continue with varying degrees of success.

I’ve changed from a low-carb approach to a more Mediterranean style of eating. The low-carb approach helped me get some weight off and I enjoyed that style of eating, but because I don’t have a gallbladder and I’m old with a cranky system, I ended up having a lot of problems and had to switch.

I describe our eating style now as “Mediterranean Style” because I can’t find “Mediterranean recipes” that my husband will eat, so I’m simply adding a lot more veggies and fruit to our diet. I’m feeling a lot better physically now, but my weight is creeping up because I have trouble not eating in-between meals and in the middle of the night when I can’t sleep.

I’m trying to keep raw veggies and dip ready to grab from the fridge for my snacking, but my downfall is wanting salty stuff. I can skip desserts. I can monitor my portions. I can eat healthy foods. But when I decide I’m ‘starving to death ‘ (hahahahahahaha) in the middle of the day or worse – in the middle of the night – I want something salty.

Each day I start with the best of intentions. I try to stay away from my husband’s stash of chips of all flavors. I’ve even asked him to hide them from me. The last few days I’ve been able to eat our regular lunch, then some cottage cheese after I do my yoga practice for the day, and then dinner, and drinking enough water to make my eyeballs float, in an attempt to get on the right track.

So far, the scales are NOT impressed. I’ll just keep on keepin’ on, and hope for the best.

Too Much

Bright Drops

I’ve been trying to include lots more veggies and fruit in our diet. I’m trying to ‘eat clean,’ eating more whole foods, cooking more and freezing individual portions for us for future meals. It’s working out pretty well, except for the weight loss part.

Beachbody on Demand

The biggest wrench in my plan is pretzels. The mini-ones with salt. I am TRYING not to buy anymore until further notice. When they are in the house, they call to me without mercy. Maybe not having these will help me in my efforts to NOT eat between lunch and dinner, or in the middle of the night. Maybe if I wire my jaw shut…

Trying

boredpanda.com

I’m disgusted, but determined.

My scales are still impossibly snide, sneering at my efforts to lose the lard.

Most of the time I’m ‘good,’ only eating what I should. Other times – like in the middle of the night – I could eat the wall and not be satisfied. I’m frustrated and stressed, as we ALL are from time to time for various reasons. I’m trying to deal with that WITHOUT resorting to stuffing my face.

I’m using MyFitnessPal.com to record what I’m eating – except when I binge and all common sense and responsibility goes out the window. I’m 98% ‘there’ on trying to develop good habits of eating, drinking lots of water (my eyeballs are floating), and today is DAY 62 of my daily yoga practice.

98% is pretty good, but it’s the 2% that is killing my efforts. My husband said last night that the pain in my legs and hips at night might be due to my carrying a bit of extra weight. The result of THAT comment is that I can now add a bit of depression to the mix. He followed that up today, on the way back from the phone place, in stopping at Sonic and wanting to get us shakes! I told him to go ahead and managed to NOT get a chocolate shake. I did NOT bite him in the leg. (It’s a good thing because I haven’t had my rabies shot.)

So I’m going to fix our lunch now, drinking a full glass of water with it. I’ll drink a bottle of water mid afternoon, hoping that will curb my voracious appetite, and I’ve planned our good dinner, with lots of veggies, a bit of meat, and some fruit.

One day at a time…

Fitness Diet

sent by a friend

Thursday 8-18-2022

PH-Hay-whats-up-Reddit-user-ThraShErDDoS-via-Imgur

Hi! We’re having another ‘cool’ day, at 86, for the high this afternoon. We tried to just have open doors and ceiling fans yesterday, but it was too humid. It’s humid again this morning, so we’re going to keep the a/c on, but I’ll take it. Such a nice relief.

Active Babies – Smart Kids

I had a good time in the art room yesterday and finished the cards that I hope my friend will like. I sent her pics to see what she says.

Facebook

Today is DAY 34 of my daily yoga practice. I’m having to push myself again, because my hips and knees have been talking to me for the past several days, but I’m concentrating on slow and steady, with fewer reps to get me through it.

Times of India

I’m now muttering to my scales that I don’t appreciate “sarcastic scale humor” whatsoever, but mine is delighting in its newfound ability to smirk and laugh at me. One of these days, I’ll wipe the smile off its face.

Nizar Fahmi

Just as I’m finishing my ‘last’ Linda Thomas paperback, I received part of my new order of her books yesterday. It’s getting harder to find used paperbacks by Linda Thomas, but I’ll redouble my efforts when I start getting low again. Right now I feel rich in books. :0)

One of the things on my to-do list today is to work on reorganizing some of my books. Hopefully, by the end of the day, I’ll have a better handle on things.

Have a wonderful day.

Well, Shut My Mouth!

iStock

I told you recently that I’m really trying to turn my focus to losing some of my lard, now that the Mediterranean style of eating is agreeing with my digestive system and my thyroid medication is finally working again after some unfortunate meds interaction.

Unfortunately, my appetite would kill a horse. It’s too late to ‘complain,’ now that I’m older than dirt, but when the “you’re full” signals got passed out, they skipped me. I can eat a full meal, and eat another one an hour later, or snack to the point that a pig would put out his paw and say, “No more!” I have had this problem ever since I started getting pregnant a hundred years or so ago. My signal left, never to return.

My SIL suggested that I do something that has helped her on snacking. She puts her snack for the day into a small container. When she’s hungry, she takes out the container and eats what’s in it. Sounds simple, doesn’t it. I hope it will help ME, too.

My exercise program actually makes my appetite problem WORSE, if possible. The other thing I’m trying to do is be content with eating some cottage cheese mid afternoon (or after my yoga practice) along with a big bottle of water.

Otherwise, I will just strive to keep my mouth shut.

Renewed Focus

HuffPost

I’m getting into the practice of adding more veggies and fruits to our diet, eating in a more Mediterranean fashion, and my husband and I are feeling better for it.

I’m on DAY 18 of my daily yoga practice, having increased the length of my practice from 30 minutes to 45 minutes, adding a few more poses and some abdominal exercises. I’m trying to build a HABIT/ROUTINE/REGIMEN where I just DO it, rather than having to talk myself into it, shame myself into it, etc. I AM noticing some differences, so that’s encouraging.

I’m ready to focus on losing the lard again, after putting some health issues behind me.

My starting point is

• 26.8 pounds down from my heaviest
• 24.15 inches down from my largest

I’m going to focus on 5 pound increments on the weight loss, and plan to measure again at the beginning of September.

I will give it my best shot.

Concentrating on Eating Healthy

news-medical.net

I’m gradually deciding that I’m going to concentrate on ‘eating healthy’ rather than ‘losing weight.’

We’ve been feeling better – and our systems are working better – since I started adding more fruit and veggies to our diet – while watching my husband’s blood sugar readings carefully. As long as his numbers look good, and he’s feeling good, I’ve decided I’m not going to worry about anything else.

Technically, since he’s a Type II diabetic, he’s supposed to avoid all sugar, including fruit. I’ve just decided to change from ‘low carb’ to a more Mediterranean style of eating, although it’s my own form, since I’m having trouble finding recipes that he will eat. He looks at me in horror when I mention most veggies, and does things like stop me when I’m serving veggies at dinner. He DOES agree that he’s feeling better since I’m concentrating on serving him more veggies. As long as his numbers are good, I’m serving fruit, too.

As far as my dieting goes, I’m trying to either not eat at all between meals, or be very careful what I’m snacking on, watch my portions at meal times, and exercise.

I love having a ‘colorful’ plate of food. It lifts my spirits. Hopefully, all this will come together to give us the results we would like. :0)

ASMR – Pinterest

Splurge in Moderation

Eat This, Not That

Most diets and diet cookbooks spend a lot of time and energy creating sweets to eat instead of the things you shouldn’t eat a bunch of, particularly if you’re trying to lose the lard.

I have a complaint – it seems that almost NO time is spent on the salty food group. They only say, “avoid,” or “don’t eat.” When time is spent producing a food that might satisfy the ‘crunchy food group,’ it doesn’t include SALT.

I can avoid sweets. I can avoid white, starchy food. I can avoid sugar. I can watch my portions. I can avoid added salt, but the essentially salty food group CALLS to me.

I have a raw veggie tray in my fridge right now. It’s beautiful, with carrots, broccoli. snap beans, cherry tomatoes, and cauliflower, all ready to chomp with even a dip included.

What do I crave? Pretzels. Fritos. Potato chips.

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Healthy Alternatives to Salty Snacks

• Nuts and Seeds. Adding unsalted nuts and seeds to your diet in moderation can be a great way to combat your salty cravings. …
• Kale Chips. You don’t have to deprive yourself of the crunchy, salty goodness of potato chips, just try using kale instead. …
• Edamame. …
• Hummus. …
• Popcorn.

18 Flavorful Salt Alternatives

• Garlic. Garlic is a pungent spice that boosts flavor without increasing sodium content. …
• Lemon juice or zest. …
• Ground black pepper. …
• Dill. …
• Dried onion or onion powder. …
• Nutritional yeast. …
• Balsamic vinegar. …
• Smoked paprika.
• _______________________________

All this is lovely, but it just DOESN’T take the place of a nice salty pretzel, or a bunch of fritos, or potato chips…

My good friend and I were talking about cravings the other day, and we came up with a new meme –

‘SPLURGE IN MODERATION.’ Think it’ll catch on?

Food Deception

Funny signs – Giedre’ Vaiciulaityte – BoredPanda.com

Today I’m deceiving my husband. I admit it. I’ll be sneaking around this afternoon, putting together a casserole that he THINKS is our ‘normal’ tuna casserole – that we haven’t had for ages due to the carbs – but NOW are including in our diet because it’s a way I can get my husband to eat lots of veggies in our new Mediterranean style of eating.

I’ll pack it with veggies like broccoli, asparagus, onion, mushrooms, etc. and, because I’ll also put it together like our ‘old-style’ tuna casserole, he won’t be aware of the new, healthier version. It’ll count as another night this week we are eating fish. Another good thing is that I’ll make enough that I can freeze individual portions for us to enjoy other nights. Win/win/win. :0)

Enjoyable Lunches

yourshot.nationalgeographic.com- Mayte Moya

We don’t eat breakfast. This is for a variety of reasons, but mostly because of my medications, interactions, working at cross purposes, etc.

We work together on making our lunches, and this is very enjoyable. We each add small things to the plates. We don’t eat all of the same things, but much of it is the same. We’re trying to include a bit of protein- a slice of turkey or something similar. We enjoy a bit of cheese. I have a hard-boiled egg. My husband likes sugar-free jello. We both like fruit. We end up with a healthy, quite colorful, happy-looking lunch which we enjoy in the living room while we catch up on the news on TV.

For dinner I’m trying to eat as Mediterranean as possible. We’re loading up on veggies, eating a lot more fish, some chicken or turkey, a LOT less red meat. We include a bit of fruit at dinner, too.

My husband is veggie-averse, mostly, so I’m treading VERY carefully here, trying to convert recipes we like into healthier versions, sneaking extra veggies in. I’m concentrating on veggies he likes as side dishes where the veggies are identifiable. Since I haven’t found any recipes that aren’t loaded with stuff he won’t eat, I’m concentrating on cooking fish, casseroles with sneaked-in veggies, soups and stews, etc. So far, it’s going well, but it’ll be nice when I build a list of things we both like and are easy to cook. It’s a work in progress.

The Eating-NOT Eating Problem

Denise Hazime

I downloaded this to my new Kindle this morning and have been pouring over it while I made a new system disc and new data backup disc for my computer.

This appeals to me because of the limit on ingredients and inferred simplicity of the recipes, particularly since I’m just trying to get started.

So far, I’ve started a notebook of generalities about the Mediterranean eating plan. It may very well be that I just collect recipes here and there and end up with a new lifestyle using their suggestions for healthy eating, but not-so-much their actual recipes.

My main concentrations are on

• including LOTS more veggies,
• some fruit – but mainly as a ‘dessert’ or substitute for sweet things,
• a LOT less meat, (little red meat. Chicken and turkey are okay)
• more fish, (twice a week)
• more whole grains,
• more nuts and seeds.
• beans
• less dairy (twice a week, rather than every day)

I’m a bit worried about the fruit. I love it, but it contains a lot of sugar – something we’re trying to avoid. We’ll see how our numbers do.

Of COURSE they want us to drink more water and exercise.

Squirrel Cam – dailymail.co.uk

Chomp, Chomp, Crunch, Crunch…

Tagagif.com – Wiffle Gif

I’m finally beginning to get used to reaching for raw veggies as snacks.

I had to switch from keto and low-carb eating to a Mediterranean type eating plan because this old body with its lack of gallbladder just wasn’t able to handle all the fat of the former plan, though I really enjoy eating that way. I searched the net high and low and tried every suggestion, but couldn’t find a way around my problems.

I’m now eating lots and lots of veggies, raw and cooked, meat used as a flavoring, mostly, careful portions, and exercise. My scales are beginning to notice, and I’m feeling a lot better now.

On exercise, I’ve decided that if I have a bunch of yard work to do, THAT is the exercise for the day and will suffice. If I don’t, I do my video exercises (warm up, workout, and weights) from my nice guy from Australia plus my yoga stretches in the afternoon. I’m adding to my poses with the aid of my new book

I do about a half hour of stretches now, and I’m adding other poses gradually to see how they add to my practice. I may get to an hour of poses as a new goal. We’ll see.

A Bit Less Lard

cafepress.com

Nothing noticeable by others yet, but the scales are starting to notice my efforts. A couple of pounds less of me this week.

I’m starting to feel more confident in food choices, preparing, and eating now, loading up on veggies, fruit, nuts, etc. For the moment – while we’re trying to work outside, plus I’m doing some deep cleaning inside – I’m relying on Healthy Choice Cafe Steamers for dinners for me, with another veggie or raw ones on the side while my husband mainly eats Lean Cuisine. We’re having a salad night once a week, plus I cook something big enough (soups, stews, chili, casseroles, fish) that we can have several meals from one cooking session.

My working outside in the garden or inside doing deep cleaning is sufficing right now for my exercise. I’m feeling GOOD.