Moving the Bulk

Melsanie.tumblr.com – boredpanda.com

I won’t say I have built a ‘habit’ of doing my approximately half-hour of old lady yoga stretching daily, but it HAS become a grudging ‘responsibility to myself.’ I highly resent that I don’t get a flood of endorphins, or whatever you’re supposed to get that makes you happy to be alive, raring to go, climbing Mt. Everest in the morning, and what not. I just do my stretches the best way I can, usually feeling a bit ‘looser’ than I did when I first got down on my mat, and put my sparkly star on my calendar.

Women’s Health

Yesterday I started a new thing – a few exercises to strengthen my arms with 5-pound weights. I only did 5 reps of each movement, but it’s a start and I’ll build up from here. I’ll do this M-W-F. (I put TWO stars on my calendar yesterday.)

vgajic – Getty Images – Fit and Well

Today I’ll do 10 minutes or so on my Elliptical Trainer in the garage – after cleaning off quite-a while’s-worth of dust off and finding my MP3 player. (I just FOUND it – plugged into its charger behind my computer screen, along with the earplugs that go with it. :0) ) I’ll plan to do this right after lunch, and the plan is to do this T-TH-S and increase the time as I can.

Since I’ve already been out weeding and harvesting my veggie planters this morning, the yoga and the elliptical will round out my day nicely on moving the bulk.

1st Star of the Day 12-31-2022

vgajic- Getty Images -Fit & Well

I’m patting myself – and my husband – on our heads right now. THAT -while typing this – is quite a feat! :0)

Because my husband found a new MP3 player and loaded some of my favorite music on it for me last night, allowing me to charge it overnight and have it ready for my elliptical trainer session today, I just finished 30 minutes of good exercise.

It had been quite awhile since I had been on the elliptical regularly, and the last two sessions I had to do it in complete silence, except for a squeak on my machine, making it just awful time. It seemed as if I had been on there forever, and it had only been a few minutes when I gave up each time. Just too boring and tedious. This old broad doesn’t need many excuses not to exercise…

So today, listening to songs I hadn’t heard for quite awhile playing on my MP3 player I had clipped to my shirt, was truly a pleasure. Doing my elliptical practice with my eyes shut, keeping time to the music, felt good almost all the way to the end. (Remember, I’m NOT an exercise nut and it had been quite awhile since I had done any real time on the machine.) I started peaking at the timer between the last three songs and then breathed a sigh of relief when I finished.

I thanked my husband again and put a sparkly gold star on my desk calendar. I giving myself one for the ellliptical trainer session or the warm-up and weights videos I’m doing in the mornings on alternate days, and a second star, this one silver sparkly, for my yoga session in the afternoons. Any other exercise I manage will be gravy.

Mirror, Mirror…

Source Unknown

Can you say, “yo yo” three times fast?

All the goodies are finally gone. My scales are not only smirking – they are guffawing.

guf·faw

/ɡəˈfô/

Learn to pronounce

noun

noun: guffaw; plural noun: guffaws

1. a loud and boisterous laugh. :0(

123RF

_______

This generates hostility and frustration, obviously. Since we’re not planning any more holiday stuff, I can hopefully get back on track. (I know. You’ve heard this before. Whine.)

SO –

today is a new day. I have not eaten breakfast yet, since I’ve been trying to reach a tech to work on our dishwasher. I also haven’t gotten out in the garage to do my elliptical trainer session for the day.

I’ll go do both NOW.

“Slow Progress is Better Than NO Progress”

lifestyle.livemint.com

So says Lynn, my wonderful massage therapist who saves my life once a month. I’m kind of in “assessment” mode this morning, looking back to gauge lifestyle changes.

• This is DAY 162 of my effort to make daily yoga practice a habit. I’m definitely one of the hard-heads on how long it takes to make something a habit. I looked it up and found, according to some estimates, that it takes from 18-245 days to make something a habit. Day 162 finds me consciously making myself practice each afternoon – still finding myself quietly trying to make excuses for ‘missing-a-day’ and then just slogging around getting my mat, pillows and just doing it. It HAS become a normal part of my day, and I AM seeing some differences.
• I’ve added some new poses to my practice: Cobra, Downward Dog, ‘Basket,’ Boat, the Plank, and some abdominal exercises thrown in. My practice is about 45 minutes now, but it varies. Sometimes I concentrate on exercise numbers – other times the relaxation and stretching.
• I am listening to my body more since I started doing the daily practice. I’m aware when my shoulders and neck are ‘hunched,’ and I’m able to concentrate and relax more. I tell myself, “relaxing jaw, relaxing face,” and I can FEEL my shoulders GIVE, when I wasn’t aware how tightly I was holding myself. I’m able to stretch a bit farther now, breathing into the poses, holding them longer or doing a few more repetitions.
• I’m still putting the gold or silver glittery stick-on stars on my desk calendar. I guess I’ll never outgrow that being a motivator for me, but the emphasis is changing in my actual practice. I’m doing it for ME.
• I started trying to do the plank pose at the end of October. The first time I tried it, I held it for a quick count of 10. I worked up to holding it for a quick count of 45, but many times I couldn’t do much the next day, having strained myself. I found an article that said for for a woman of my ‘mature years,’ it’s actually more effective if I do the pose multiple times, holding it for a short while each time. Yesterday I held it for a count of 20 seven times.
• Since it’s too cold to work outside most days now, I’m going to try to add two things: (THING ONE – a short time on my elliptical trainer in the garage. It’s cold, but I think I can do several minutes out there every other day. THING TWO – I’m going to start doing the seated exercises with weights from Mike at MoreLifeHealthSeniors.com again. I’ll alternate these with the elliptical.

Know Your Meme

________________

I’m definitely making some kind of progress. It’s definitely slow, but it’s steady, and I’ll drink to that. :0)

Fitness

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I’m still doing my old lady yoga stretching, but I’m finding it harder to do my elliptical trainer now. It is in the garage, the only place with a hard, bare floor. It’s 38 degrees F. outside right now. I’m TRYING to do my elliptical in the afternoon, when it warms up a bit, but am not having much luck convincing myself yet. I’ll keep trying.

Right now my ‘moving more’ efforts are concentrated on cleaning up planters in the yard before winter settles in. I’m going to try to do one planter each day. (We have 14 brick planters around the yard, plus pots on the deck.) Once these are done, “I’ll get more serious about the ellipitical,” – (she said…. :0))

Good Job for an Old Broad

Wiffle Gif

I’ve been moving a LOT more lately, but I’m not nearly as cute as this sweet girl.

Yesterday I started going through things that I brought home from the booth I shared with a friend in town. I’m planning to add more of my products to my page on Amazon Handmade. I will then put away the other stuff. This means a lot of bending over, cleaning out boxes and bags, stacking things I want to list, taking some stuff to my art room upstairs, taking other things out to my bins in the shop, etc.

I had gotten a pretty good start on this when we discovered that the work on the house would be starting at 8am this morning. That meant that everything on the porch needed to go elsewhere. My husband was working on our mower, so I spent a couple of hours going up and down on a step stool, taking down our decorations and taking them out onto the deck or into the garage, depending on whether they could stand to be rained on or not. Now the deck and garage are full of stuff and the porch was clean and empty.

Today I will do a bunch of weed whacking since my husband is doing the mowing. I will also do clean up of the debris with the leaf blower.

In the meantime, I’m weeding the new spring garden, cleaning out planters, getting flowers to plant, and we will check the irrigation system for the yard, repairing any blowouts or leaks.

If there is time and energy, I’m trying to work in my yoga stretches and time on my elliptical trainer in the garage.

This old broad is moving! Just hope that this makes and keeps me stronger and stronger. It DOES help me sleep well…

New Month – New Chance

Spoon University

My scales are finally beginning to take notice of my efforts to lose the lard.
Though I vary on eating between meals, my basic program remains the same. I am eating healthy individual portion frozen dinners prepared by good people at either REAL FOOD or STU’S CLEAN COOKIN’ in Greenwood. The ingredients and amounts are listed on the meals. No unpronounceable additives or preservatives are used.

Otherwise, a sandwich or tuna salad, sugar-free jello, and olives or grapes for lunch.

Now that our weather is finally warming up, I don’t dread spending time on my elliptical trainer in the garage as much. I’m trying to do 35 minutes on it three times a week and my yoga stretches every day. I’m doing pretty well at that, even though I have missed days due to helping my husband fix all the stuff that is falling apart around here lately.

I gave up on my efforts to start seeds. I got some messy sprouts, but all were trying their best to die, so I stopped. My title as ‘Serial Seed Killer” remains. :0( Happily, some plants are available locally. I’m trying to decide if I should go ahead and plant things, even though our average last frost date isn’t until April 5th.

I hope that today is a good day for you.

Frozen

Alliance of Therapy Dogs

I just came in from doing 35 minutes of my elliptical trainer in our garage and I’m FROZEN. The garage is the only place we have a hard floor that isn’t in the way, so the trainer lives there. In summer, I have a fan on the wall right in front of the trainer so I don’t melt. In the winter, I’m on my own.

Today the computer says it’s 33 outside. It MAY be 40 up here on our ridge line, but it’s COLD in the garage. I had on a long-sleeved shirt and my puffy vest, but it wasn’t enough. Tomorrow I’ll wear a sweatshirt, THEN my puffy vest, and some gloves….

I did give myself a gold star on my desk calendar, so I feel good about my efforts right now.

This afternoon, I’ll do my yoga stretches.

I hope that YOU are feeling good, too.

Exercise?

“Exercise” –

ekser,siz – verb

a verb, believed to be a myth

Tiebreaker

I love this picture. I’m still smiling. :0)

Penn Fitness Warehouse

My elliptical trainer is in our garage. It’s the only place we could put it where it would not be on carpet and wouldn’t take up too much room. Therefore, the outside temperature affects my willingness to use it. Most of the year, this is not a problem. My husband mounted a nice box fan on the wall in front of the elliptical. I can turn it on all spring, summer, and fall to make it more comfortable to be out there. I have a problem when it gets too cold in the winter.

Right now it is 27 outside. Even with the effort on the elliptical, I freeze. I use that as an excuse not to do it. That works for today, and possibly tomorrow, but my excuse won’t be good when it warms into the 40s and 50s by the end of the week.

BoredPanda.com

I AM doing my super gentle yoga for old broads daily, though, and that is truly helpful. Without it, I tend to fold up like a tent. I notice this in particular when I have monthly massages. My therapist spends a lot of time pulling on arms, legs, and head, trying to ‘pull my head out of my rear’ (if you’ll pardon the expression) because I tend to implode. Right now I’m not getting my massages because my therapist is recovering from surgery. I’m hopeful we will be able to resume in February or March, when she is feeling sassy again.

My yoga is not the ‘fold-yourself-into-a-pretzel-or-paper-airplane’ type. It’s good, quiet, long, gradual stretches that make my body say, ‘ahhhhhhhh!’ when I finally am able to relax into each pose. I move into it as far as I can, then just BREATHE. I can FEEL my body giving a bit at a time, stretching more and more. I started my practice a few years ago, when I was 71. I’ll be 74 in March, and I’m hopeful I can continue this the rest of my life. I want to get and stay as flexible as I can. It also helps with my back, plus my balance.

I am trying to do some walking, but again, the weather is a factor. I’m not desperate enough to get out my “Walking-with-annoying-Leslie’ DVD yet, but it may come to that as winter sneaks in.

I hope you’re trying to take care of yourself, too.

Making Calories Scream

Pinterest

I am trying to get outside about 30 minutes to an hour each afternoon to continue making the yard as presentable as possible for the coming winter. I’m doing it in the afternoons because right now it’s 32 degrees F. and absolutely too cold to care about yard work. If it warms up to the low 50s as it’s supposed to, I’m planning to stick with my plan.

I enjoy working in the yard unless it involves lots of hauling or things that make my back hurt. Happily, most of the things I’m doing are simply good exercise. I can enjoy the sun, fresh air, get some good exercise, and earn a gold star to go on my desk calendar while making the yard look a bit nicer. :0)

Yesterday I PLANNED to weed whack in the garden area. I MEANT to do it, PLANNED to do it, THOUGHT about doing it, but didn’t actually get out there and DO it. My only excuse is sloth. I DID so some cleaning and cooking, but hopefully I’ll do a better job today.

I’m also trying to do a half hour or so on my elliptical, but the yard work is tending to take the place of that – particularly since it is in our garage, and the priority is to get the yard work done while the temperature is warmer. I AM doing a session of yoga to stretch everything out before the afternoon is over daily.

All this makes me wish I were what I call an ‘exercise nut,’ who LIVES to run a million miles a day, or work themselves into a frazzle at the gym, or fold themselves into a pretzel while touching their nose to the floor – their feet stretching to the wall behind them, forgetting to eat in their zeal for a lithe, slim, limber body.

I’ll have to content myself with the IDEA that I might be making a few calories scream…

An Old Broad’s Exercise

I gave myself TWO gold stars on my desk calendar yesterday:

One for 35 minutes on my elliptical trainer in the garage; and another for the 30 minutes or so of old lady yoga stretches I did in the afternoon. :0)

Clipart Library

I am planning to do this again today – not making excuses or giving other things priority – a difficult thing for me.

Even though I KNOW that I actually feel better when I exercise – feeling more in control, a bit ‘virtuous,’ and actually looser – I fall into my bad habits over and over.

I’m hoping that the fact that I keep trying is a good thing overall.

I will get some added exercise today – we had a freeze overnight. I thought my plants had come through it, or it didn’t actually get to freezing, but just discovered I was wrong.

Before the freeze

My elephant ear plant leaves are hanging over, completely done in by Mother Nature. It’s really cold outside now – 29 degrees F. with a stiff wind, but I will go out and try to cut the leaves off and bring the bulbs into the garage for storage in peat moss and potting soil.

Maybe with the added work outside, I can give myself THREE stars today…

Good Food

LiveAbout

Isn’t this the sweetest dog? I really like this gif!

I LOVE the fact that I am losing weight AND enjoying the food we’re eating from REAL FOOD in Greenwood, Arkansas. We will pick up our newest order today.

I’m doing a better job of staying active, too, now that the weather is more fall-like. My elliptical trainer is in the garage, and – even though I have a fan in there – I really get too hot out there. NOW it’s great. I’m trying to do 35 minutes daily. I’m doing a half hour or so of old lady yoga stretches daily that are really good for trying to building strength and flexibility, plus even some balance. It’s also good for getting rid of the sore muscles I get from doing other physical stuff. Rounding these out with the yard work I’ve been doing means that I’m getting a good workout most days.

taolife.com

Weighty Issues

Bored Panda

I am encouraged this morning. I lost pound # 41. I think I am finally in a downward trajectory after a LONG time of the scales frowning or smirking at my efforts.

What is helping now is the advent of two new frozen food places in Greenwood: Real Food and Stu’s Clean Cookin’. Both are excellent. We find very few things we don’t care for (a really welcome thing after a LONG time of being very unhappy). The portions are controlled. We eat the meal, sometimes licking the container. (SHHHH!) We are okay when we finish. Our stomachs don’t think our throats have been cut. We certainly don’t feel stuffed, but we aren’t feeling deprived. The food is GOOD.

We build our day around this meal. We don’t eat breakfast. We have tuna fish salad for lunch – and I have green olives and my husband has sweet pickles. We eat a snack mid afternoon if we need it. We are trying really hard not to have ‘a little snack’ before bed.

I’m drinking a LOT of water (for me). My eyeballs are floating. I get lots of exercise running to the bathroom. :0) Otherwise, I’m working in the yard this time of year, plus doing my elliptical trainer several times a week, plus trying to do my yoga stretches on a daily basis. This varies, depending on how MUCH I’m working in the yard.

I’m happy not having to figure out what to cook every night. I cook something each weekend. I have a full plate on my to-do list that keeps me busy and active. If I can continue like this, I am a happy camper.

Lisa Slavid – Peadoodles – coolpun.com

Thoughts on a Tuesday 9-22-2020

“The one red leaf, the last of its clan,
That dances as often as dance it can,
Hanging so light, and hanging so high,
On the topmost twig that looks up at the sky.”
~Samuel Taylor Coleridge

 

Evgeni Evgeniev-Unsplash

Fall is my favorite season.

I love it when I am a bit too cool and need to throw on a hoodie to be comfortable. I enjoy snuggling under my throw in my recliner and nodding off when I get sleepy. One of my favorite drinks is hot chocolate. A fire in the fireplace is a luxurious, comfort thing. The colors of the leaves lift my spirits.  I hope we get a good, long autumn this year!

Gardening Know How

I got SOME of the onions harvested yesterday before I pulled one and a gazillion ants swarmed out. Thankfully, I was armed with my new 2-gallon sprayer of Eight Bug Killer and hosed down the planter box again. It’s raining today (Tropical Storm Beta) but I’ll try it again when the weather is cooperative.

 

Depositphotos

I also managed to file (or throw away) the huge pile of paper sitting on the table beside my computer yesterday. Today I will tackle August bookkeeping. Hopefully, I can get that accomplished today – since September’s stuff will be staring me in the face soon.

 

“Caught Red-Pawed” – Audrius P. – Bored Panda

My husband and I enjoyed Cranberry Pecan Chicken Salad for our dinner last night from REAL FOOD in Greenwood. It was truly YUMMY. We are so lucky it is so good and so convenient for us. I also lost a bit more weight! I looked at my records for South Beach and BistroMD, and I’m losing at the same – if slow – rate. If I live 100 more years, I’ll eventually reach my goal! :0)

Penn Fitness Warehouse

Another thing I love about the fall – I can use my elliptical trainer in our garage in a lot more comfort. My husband mounted a wall fan on the wall in front of it for the summer, but I still end up overheated when the temperatures and heat indices go nuts in the summer. I won’t say I look forward to going out there, but putting in the time is much more palatable now.  My yoga stretching in the afternoons is rounding out my exercise nicely.

I don’t have a big project for the day. We drove the trash down to the bottom of the driveway, and I have load #2 in the clothes washer. The dishwasher is running. I’ll go do the elliptical (hopefully doing 35 minutes) and then hit the bookkeeping. I live such an exciting life! :0)

I hope that things are good for you today.

Earning Gold Stars

Penn Fitness Warehouse

My first gold star for the day was my practice on my elliptical trainer.  I made it to 35 minutes today! This is the first time in MONTHS that I have made it this long, so I’m feeling good about it. I have a box fan attached to the wall in front of the trainer, so I don’t melt into a puddle out in the garage. I also have my MP3 player, with some of my all-time favorite music on it, to listen to. Pretty nice set up, except for when it’s really hot or really cold.

 

 

Bored Panda

I am about to go do my yoga practice for my second star of the day.

I do about 30 minutes or so, mostly of old lady stretches, but also abdominal exercises of various types. I am beginning to feel a difference in how my body is reacting to my practice, after about a month of practicing daily.  I am still fighting general stiffness everywhere (I AM old, you know) but I feel looser, and I have less discomfort. I definitely feel more relaxed after I finish.

I am happy about my daily exercising now. I’m trying to stay motivated, listing elliptical and yoga on my to-do list each day now.

Time for my yoga practice!

 

Getting the Lard off Progress Report

Early Morning Showers

I’m feeling good that I am “back in the saddle again” on my efforts to get the lard off and get stronger. I fell off, using everything excuse from the pandemic,  to my husband going to the store with me, and back again, but the fact was I had stopped exercising and I had gained some of my lost weight back again.

We signed up for the South Beach Diet Plan, deciding we would try that for two months to get back on track. It was the closest to our keto eating plan and would remind us how we are supposed to be eating, hopefully giving us a boost. The second month’s order should arrive any day now.  It’s a good thing. We are down to meat sticks and some shakes, so I am DIYing a lot now.

 

http://www.fanpop.com

To date – since my lardiest – I have lost 36.6 pounds and 40.45 inches. I’m working my way back down to where I was before, and I feel really happy about that.

My exercise regimen – motivated by gold stars on my desk calendar – is helping me feel stronger, a bit more energetic, and definitely looser and more flexible.

Penn Fitness Warehouse

I’m trying to do my elliptical in the mornings, since my trainer is in the garage. I won’t get it done in the morning today, but I can do it when I get back from errands. I started a couple of weeks ago, at 10 minutes. I’m doing 20 each day now.

 

You Tube

I am doing about half an hour of yoga stretches plus abdominal exercises each afternoon. I have no clue why I tend to ‘hunch up’ during the day, but I’m almost looking forward to my yoga sessions now, where the first thing is to lie flat on my back, trying to get my back muscles to relax. Thankfully, this is accomplished more quickly now and I am seeing progress in my ability to push a bit farther into the positions, breathing into them. I feel relaxed when I finish, and pleased with my efforts.

By the end of this next month on South Beach, my husband will have probably met his weight goal. I would like to lose another 30 pounds. I am seeing progress on both the scales and the tape measure, plus I feel more in control.

taolife.com

Muggy Monday

Attack of the Cute

My husband and I did a few errands this morning and then I got on my elliptical trainer for the first time in umpteen months. My trainer lives in the garage and it’s really hot out there. I managed 15 minutes this morning – better than nothing. I’ll try it again on Wednesday and see if I can do 20. I will, of course, do my 35+ minutes of yoga stretching and abdominal exercises this afternoon. (I gave myself a star for the elliptical and will earn another with the yoga this afternoon.) :0)

One of our errands this morning was refilling our sweet Molly’s prescriptions for antibiotics and pain/inflammation relief medicines. I’ve told you she has malignant cancer. It’s in one side of her jaw. She has quite a sizable, firm lump there that is growing. The vet and I talked frankly. Molly was 15 in February. We decided to try to keep her as comfortable as possible, giving her as many happy dog days as we can in the time she has left. She is still able to eat and drink, and enjoys demanding to go out, and then come in again – for a treat. I’m making sure we have PLENTY of the two treats she loves, and am VERY freely dispensing them. She has been with us since she was a small puppy. We are cherishing each day.

My husband is grinning because our grass is at the PERFECT stage, according to him – brown and crunchy! He wishes it would stay that way the rest of the summer. We are due for some rain this week, though, so he’ll have to enjoy it while he can. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday forecasts show a good chance of rain, plus a little bit of relief from the humidity.

I made Suzanne Ryan’s (Simply Keto) recipe for keto chili yesterday, and we ate a bowl last night. My husband sighed with pleasure. We will enjoy a bowl for the second DIY dinner, plus one of the DIY lunches this week.

I haven’t decided what my next clean up project will be. I’ll look around and decide priorities, planning on taking a donation to the Disabled Vets in Fort Smith by the end of NEXT week.

I hope that YOU are having a good day today.

 

Diet Progress

You Tube

Weight comes off MUCH more slowly than it goes on. The older you get, the harder it is to get the lard off.

 

Lovethispic.com via Pinterest

 

In our current quest to get ‘back in the saddle” of the keto eating plan, my husband and I have signed up for two months of the South Beach Diet. That is the closest plan of prepared meals to how we are trying to eat. We are about 2/3 of the way through the first month.

So far, we have each lost 5 lbs. We are not very pleased with the number of choices on the food plan, or the taste of many of the entrees. We DO really like anything they offer that comes in a small cup and the shakes. My husband really likes the candy bars ( both snack and entree) and I love the small bags of nuts. Otherwise, it’s a very good thing we have fresh, ripe tomatoes to eat alongside the entrees for lunch and dinner.

That said, the first month is helping me re-realize what a “portion” is. We were eating many of the right things, but we glossed over – or ignored – the portion amounts. When we are doing the DIY dinners, lunches, breakfasts, and snacks each week, I am trying to pay particular attention to how much I am serving.  Also, my husband is saying he will cooperate with not throwing things we shouldn’t be eating into the grocery cart. If they aren’t around, they can’t call to you from the pantry…. “Linnnnnnnn dahhhhhh!”

By the end of the second month (approximately mid-September) my husband may REACH is weight loss goal. We have talked about the fact that his ‘cooperation’ will need to continue so that he can KEEP the weight off. I have consoled him by pointing out that he can increase enjoy some fruit then, and that we may buy the candy bars he likes A LA CARTE from South Beach to tide him over, or to simply keep a supply for him. He also readily admits that he really likes many of the recipes we have found by Suzanne Ryan in Simply Keto.

For example, I have Suzanne’s recipe for Keto Chili in the slow cooker right now for one of our DIY dinners tonight.

I will earn Gold Star # 7 this afternoon with my yoga practice.

Next week, I will TRY to add a few minutes of my elliptical trainer to each day. It’s very hot here, and my trainer lives in our garage, so I’ll have to get out there early and limit the minutes I spend – Maybe I’ll try Mon, Wed, and Fri to start. I figure that even though I won’t be doing 35 minutes out there, anything I’m doing is better than none.  AND, if I do the time out there, I’ll give myself another Gold Star!

My weight loss journey will be much longer than my husband’s. That’s okay. If I am seeing a reasonable amount of progress – either from the scales, the measuring tape, or my flexibility – I will try to “keep on keepin’ on. “

Wish me luck?

Trying to Lose the Lard

PictureQuotes.com

Actually, I’m feeling encouraged that I am back on track since yesterday.  I am planning what I will eat using MyFitnessPal.com, trying to get as close as possible to my macro percentages again today.

We came through another tornado warning last night with no damage that I have seen so far. I’m am truly thankful. This is one of the days that we are thankful we live on top of a hill because flash flooding is forecast. I will be glad when this mini-monsoon season we’ve been having is over.

To celebrate that, I’m planning to get on my elliptical trainer in the garage after lunch and do at LEAST 15 minutes. I’m hoping that I will be able to do my ‘regular’ 35 minutes;  but since I’ve been a slug lately, I don’t want to push it too hard. I also plan to do at least 30 minutes of my “Gentle Yoga” stretches before the afternoon is over.

I am again planning to bake a loaf of keto bread, plus a Twice-Baked Cauliflower Casserole” by Suzanne Ryan. My husband isn’t fond of cauliflower, but I’ll just serve him quietly and see what he says.  We will have a hamburger patty and a salad, so he should have plenty to enjoy even if he isn’t fond of the casserole. We’ll see.

It feels good to have a plan and feel in better control. Fingers crossed.

 

 

 

Keto Cooking

“Keto Chili” from Suzanne Ryan, Simply Keto

My husband requests this chili regularly. We both love it. A nice comfort type food for cool, rainy days as we have been having.

 

myketokitchen.com

This keto bread has allowed me to stay on my eating plan without feeling deprived. I was REALLY missing bread. My husband, who is almost at the weight he should be, and who is only having to watch sugar, eats regular rolls, bagels, toast, etc.   I tried to be upbeat about it, but it was bothering me more and more. Sometimes I just gave in and had some of his bread, and then felt really guilty. The scales, of course, told me how bad this was.

I finally found this keto bread recipe. I wanted ONE recipe that could serve several purposes – I could butter a slice as if it were a roll with dinner,  I could put a slice in the toaster and eat it with bacon and eggs. I can even use it for a sandwich, though it’s a bit crumbly for that. It doesn’t rise as much as a regular loaf of bread, but I like it – a LOT.

Eating like this, plus doing my yoga daily (this is Day 3 of my restart) and planning to add back my elliptical trainer sessions starting tomorrow, will hopefully help me shed my excess poundage.

 

Stars

India TV

I earned my second star in a row today for two days of doing my old lady gentle yoga. I’ve been lax for a long time, and proved to myself, once again, that my BODY feels the difference over time.

Yesterday I woke up stiff and sore with my hips hurting after a restless night of trying to get comfortable – a definite wake up call. So while my husband was reading and watching TV, I spread out my mat, greeted Amber, our 95 pound yellow lab warmly, and got her to get on her bed so that I could start.

Though she continued to ‘ooze’ over, getting as close to me as I would allow, I continued to try to relax. I’m back at the point where it takes a minute or two of lying on my back quietly before everything finally relaxes and quits hurting! After I went through a whole lot of slow stretches – about 45 minutes worth – my body was finally relaxed and I felt good.

Today it was easier to grab the mat, stretch out, hug Amber, and get on with it. I’m breathing into the stretches and am already feeling a difference. It’s kind of pathetic that I have to KEEP realizing this over and over, but at least I’m back on the mat.

I give myself a gold star on my desk calendar for each day I do my practice. Since we’re staying at home a lot now, as soon as my body gets into the yoga routine again, I’ll add some elliptical trainer time in the garage…

Macros and Exercise

Trish’s Treasures

The short version is I have 5 pounds to re-lose before I’m on track again. An indulgence here, a bite there, and here I am. I would be disgusted, but I did it, knowing exactly what I was doing, and I enjoyed every bite of falling off the wagon.

Now that we’re officially into 2020, I’m starting to pay attention to my eating again and exercising.

Penn Fitness Warehouse

The weather is helping in my efforts to do my exercising. The highs are in the low 50’s now so I don’t freeze my parts while doing my 35 minutes on the elliptical trainer in the garage. I take my MP3 player and earphones out, turn on the trainer, start my music, hit ‘User 1’ and ‘Start’ and I’m in the zone for the duration. My husband says I do it ‘too slowly.’ (He doesn’t do it at ALL, so I’m ignoring his opinion.) I’m doing it every day (when I’m being good) and I’m doing it in a way that doesn’t cause my joints to complain or ache, so I’m declaring a win.

 

Mother Nature Network-Jaymi-Heimbuch

 

In the afternoons, I am trying to do half an hour or so of Gentle Yoga stretches. My husband gave me a mat that he got for camping out a million years ago. It’s much thicker than the normal yoga mat, and I love the extra cushioning. Oddly enough, the only area in our house that is large enough for me to fully stretch in all directions is our living room. I again ignore my husband’s ‘helpful suggestions,’ doing my own routine of slowly stretching everything in all directions, breathing into each position, based on the guidance I received from Cat Kabira in the “Gentle Yoga” DVDs. I can really feel a difference if I do this every day. I feel looser, able to stretch in all directions more and more over time, lessen aches and pains due to other activities. If I’m lucky, I can do my practice without the help of our animals, who tend to want to lie down on top of me.

Since even at 72, I’m a little kid at heart, I reward my efforts with actual gold star stickers I bought on the net, putting one for each exercise on my desk calendar. It’s a bit embarrassing that I do this, but not enough to stop. I will always be motivated by gold stars…

Pinterest

I am doing a combination of intermittent fasting (not eating after 9 in the evening until about 1:00 or 1:30 the next afternoon) and then following my macros in the keto plan. A great website called Cronometer.com is helping me record what I’m eating as it applies to what I’m SUPPOSED to be eating for the day. My biggest problem at this point is that I tend to eat too much protein and not enough fat. I have read that eating too much protein can throw me out of ketosis. I’m working on adding more fat. I’ve tried eating an avocado each day, but I really don’t like them, so I’m trying to find other alternatives. I’ll keep reading on the net and see what else I can eat to make my eating match my macro.

Once I re-lose my 5 holiday pounds, I can hopefully get into new territory on my weight loss efforts. My best thus far is losing 43 pounds and 45 inches. My goal is another 30 lbs or so (until the BMI charts are happy with me) and whatever inches go with that. My goal is to be as healthy as I can for whatever my current age is for as long as possible. My husband and I both have health issues that improve as we follow the keto plan, so I’m hoping that 2020 is a great year for us.

Slow but Steady Progress in Getting the Lard Off

Spoon University

I have been on the plateau from Hell for a long time now.  I’m FINALLY in a regimen that is breaking through that. My eating plan is intermittent fasting and keto, paying particular attention to macros.

 

 

Pinterest

I was kidding myself, THINKING I was eating keto, but didn’t actually make any progress until I started making sure I was eating according to the percentages of fat, protein, and carbs I should have daily. I use a program called Cronometer    which allows me to log what I plan to eat, modify if necessary, and add the exercise I’m doing.  I’m still doing a bit of yo-yoing, since eating out is a bit of a challenge, or life gets in the way, but at this point I’ve lost a total of 43 lbs and am showing signs of a smirking set of scales in my future.

 

Rabbit Care Tips

My bigger news is my exercising efforts. I have gotten more serious about doing 35 minutes on my elliptical trainer and 35 or so minutes of yoga stretching daily, adding gold star stickers to my desk calendar when I have been a good girl. My efforts have yielded some definite smirks from my measuring tape this month. I have now lost a total of 47.2 inches. 

Though my weight loss goals remain the same (I’m planning to lose another 30 or so pounds and whatever inches go with that), the exciting thing is that I FEEL BETTER. I have much less pain in my joints and back. I have more energy to do what I want to do (like play in my art room). I am feeling more confident now that I can continue losing the lard and one day meet my goal.

Thanks to Suzanne Ryan of Simply Keto, and Makinze of Delish.com, I’m finding lots of good recipes to try. My husband is VERY pleased with my cooking efforts and actually requests that I make many of the recipes again. The latest favorites are “Keto Chili” and  “Sausage, Egg & Cheese Bake” – both from Suzanne. A close second is “Keto Fried Chicken” by Makinze of Delish.

Feeling in more control and that I CAN one day meet my goals is making me a much happier person. I want to stay as healthy as possible for as long as I can.

 

Thoughts on a Saturday – 10-19-2019

Marcie Patterson – LinkedIn

We have a good chance of rain today and tomorrow, plus deliciously cool weather and sunshine now. I have absolutely no complaints!

We took our son to the airport this morning for his trip back home to Thailand. We are SO lucky to have a caring, compassionate son who loves my husband and I to pieces. We’ll miss him terribly, but he has set up good communications so we can talk daily, plus a conference call program where we can see each other and talk, when we’re all up at the same time. (There is 12 hours difference between us.)

 

I am finally into new territory on my efforts to lose the lard!  Lately I have been re-losing poundage, so imagine my JOY this morning when the scales smirked at me, showing me new, lower numbers!  I am finally getting the hang of the keto eating plan. To me, the key is the macros (5% carbs, 25% protein, and 70% fat.) You can cut way back on carbs, but if you eat too much protein, it throws you off and prevents weight loss. If you concentrate on eating so that your percentages stay close to right, you get results, even if you’re old, like me. :0)

Pinterest

I am on DAY 47 of doing 35 or so minutes of daily yoga stretches, and DAY 32 on getting-serious-about-the-keto-macros. I’m also doing 35 minutes daily on my elliptical trainer. I’m hoping that the combination of all this will result in my measuring tape smirking at me by the end of this month.  Since I’m immature, even at my advanced age, I give myself a gold star on my desk calendar each time I do my yoga, elliptical, or work hard outside in the yard.  This is shaping up to be a 16-gold-star week!  To date, weight loss is 44 pounds and I’ve lost 45 inches. 

I am having a blast playing with the Unicorn Spit stain/glaze kit my sister-in-law sent me. I am trying to finish a second plaque today. I’ll take pics of it and post them when it’s finished.

I hope you are having a nice Saturday, too.

 

Thoughts on a Tuesday 10-15-2019

We Love Earth

It’s not raining yet, but severe storms are forecast for us this afternoon. We scooted out the door this morning to avoid the worst of it while we did our errands. It only sprinkled on us a bit.  I’m hoping we just get a good bit of rain, rather than flying hairballs.

We put up a different mailbox decoration while we were out –

I added some Day-Glo orange paint to this one, so it shows up nicely when headlights hit it in the dark. :0)   Because of Columbus Day yesterday, the mail is being delivered later than usual.  We’ll check again after lunch sometime to see if we received anything.

I’m having a wonderful time playing in my art room, experimenting with the Unicorn Spit stain/glaze. I’m trying to use it on a wooden plaque we cut out years ago. I did the first layer yesterday. I’ll add a second layer today. I have no clue what I’m doing, but it’s exciting and fun.

Elliptical and yoga await later in the day. FIRST, I’ll play in my art room before I need to fix lunch. :0)

Have a glorious Tuesday!

 

Trifecta!

NPR

I had a GREAT day.

1. I worked in the yard for an hour – finishing cleaning out the tomato planters and weed-whacking around them, and around in the back yard.
2. I did 35 minutes on my elliptical trainer, and
3. I did my yoga session.

This may not sound like much, but it’s a great day of movement for me – a THREE GOLD STAR DAY!

Thoughts on a Monday – 10-7-2019

Jeff Jett

Our weather is perfect today – sun shining and 73 degrees F.  Just gorgeous!

We went shopping this morning. Ever since then I’ve been working to get my second Etsy shop opened. It isn’t completely finished yet. I’m back to the drawing board on banners. I don’t like the way any of the ones I made looked. But if you’d like to see it without the banner, the shop is called, Totably Yours.

Last week was a 12-Gold-Star week  (7 for yoga practice and 5 for elliptical.)  I’m now doing a new exercise regimen I started yesterday, doing 20 minutes on the elliptical trainer every morning and yoga practice for 35 minutes every afternoon. I’m thinking about adding either Annoying Leslie’s Walking Video or a Dance Video in the middle several days, but we’ll see. The cooler weather is making me want to move more, so I’m looking forward to a good week. :0)

I’m heading upstairs to work on a new banner now.

I hope that the weather is such where you are that YOU feel more energetic these days, too!

 

 

Thoughts on a Thursday – 10-3-2019

Jeff Jett

Seeing this cute photo of a raccoon reminds me how HAPPY I am that we finally seem to have encouraged all the raccoons to go elsewhere. At least for a while.

We love seeing animals around our place. We see deer, possums, racoons, squirrels, road runners, birds of all kinds….   We have lots of feeders on our deck because we love watching all kinds of birds flit around while we sit at our dining area table. This comes to a halt suddenly, several times in the spring, summer, and fall, when we find ALL the feeders empty, hanging at half mast, or down on the deck, ruined. Our raccoons seem to arrive in families. We use a humane trap to catch them, one at a time, and then drive them out further into the country about 5 miles or so, and let them out at a creek to hopefully catch up to the ones we’ve relocated before and go on to live a happy life – away from us.

If they would SHARE or wouldn’t trash our feeders and make a mess, we could live in harmony. SADLY, they want it ALL.

Right now we still have hummingbird feeders up and filled since we are still seeing up to 4 at a time, darting between the two feeders and our wave petunias. We’ll keep them up to feed late stragglers who haven’t gotten the memo yet that it’s probably time to head south. (Mother Nature is still giving us summer here, so it’s no wonder the sweet hummers are confused.)

We also have black oil sunflower seeds and small seeds so everyone can find something to their liking. We had kept the feeders empty, trying to discourage the raccoons, for a LONG time, so it’s good to be back to normal now.

I just finished the first of 2 sessions on my elliptical trainer in the garage. I overdid a couple of days ago, and ended up like a slug in my chair most of the day yesterday. Dividing up my time into two sessions will hopefully allow me to keep moving without my body going on strike. I do another session later today plus a session of yoga.

My creative juices are starting to rummage around in my brain, so I’m hoping to get up to my art room this afternoon and start plotting, planning, and playing. (I hope you get a kick out of alliteration :0) )

*Today is Day 31 of daily yoga. Day 16 of getting-serious-about-keto-macros, and Day 5 of three-times-a-week elliptical trainer time. I’m going to give myself a gold star EACH time I do an elliptical session, hopefully making it so I don’t slough off the second session of the day, so I can earn THREE today. I cooked “Cheesy Bacon-Wrapped Chicken” by Suzanne Ryan, Simply Keto last night. Both my husband and son said, “YUMMY!”

The weather people are saying a cold front is coming through over night. I’m holding them to their word that this will happen, and will finally break the back of the too-hot temps with too-high humidity that have become the norm here. Fall – here we come!

I hope YOU have a star-filled and raccoon-less day, too!

Getting the Lard Off Progress Report 12/13/2018

BBC

I MAY be making some progress again, after hitting a plateau and going back and forth above and below the 30-pounds-off mark. I’ve also lost about 30 inches, though that hasn’t changed in a bit.

I’m going to add the Wii Fit Plus to my regimen starting tomorrow. Yesterday I did yoga and abdominal exercises. Today I did 35 minutes on the elliptical trainer. The Wii tomorrow and the “Annoying Leslie Walking Video” will round out my routine for the next several days and I’ll see how I feel about things after that.  I’m determined to use my good tools, even though the person on the Wii insults my efforts, and Leslie Sansone is really annoying, telling me how GOOD what she’s doing feels and being truly annoyingly perky.

I AM feeling looser. More flexible. A bit stronger. I want to feel secure in my footing and I would like to feel more energy.

I’ll try this for a week and will report the results next Thursday. Wish me luck?

Moving More, Hopefully Getting Somewhere

yourellipticals.com

I wish I looked like this woman when I’m on the elliptical.  I just finished doing 30 minutes, so I’m feeling good about my efforts.

The bad part is that the elliptical trainer is in our garage – the only flat place in our home with a bare, hard floor where it isn’t in the way. The good part is that I’m not in the bright sunshine, and my husband rigged a big, square fan on the wall right in front of the machine. Otherwise, with the temperatures here in mid-summer mode already, I just couldn’t do it.

I can go out to the garage, start the machine and the fan, clip my mp3 player to my shirt, put in my earphones, hit ‘start’ and do mindless walking while listening to some of my favorite tunes. :0)

I chose the elliptical several years ago because it’s designed to be easy on your joints. This is really crucial for me. I want to strengthen everything while not causing knees, hips, and shoulders to hurt any more than they do now. If I keep at it, plus get enough lard off, I may actually be able to LESSEN the pain in my joints!

According to articles I’ve read on the net, “when you use the elliptical, you can work the upper and lower body at the same time. Elliptical machines work the legs, chest, shoulders, back and arms. With this machine, you can complete a full-body workout in as little as 20 minutes.”

As I gulp down another bottle of water, I feel good for having gotten a good start on my day. Later on, I’ll do the over-the-door-shoulder-pulley thingie (I’m doing 100 pulls a day now – sitting in a chair)

Walmart

plus an exercise with a 3 lb weight

Walmart

to ease the tightness of my shoulder muscles, and then I’ll do 30 minutes of yoga stretching

 

http://www.active.com

to try to loosen everything else! :0)

Moving These Old Bones

YourEllipticals.com

Week 2 of the Nutrisystem program suggests that you resume – or start – exercising. No longer having any excuses, I’m trying to work in a session on the elliptical trainer and a session of deep stretching through Yoga each day.

The first day I could only do 15 minutes on the elliptical. Yesterday I was able to do 30 minutes. I wear headphones and an MP3 player clipped to my shirt as this poor old body works out. I use the elliptical trainer because it’s so much easier on the joints than other exercise machines. I can move as fast or slowly as I need to. I can decrease or increase level of pressure needed to move the pedals. I can choose how many minutes I exercise. You can smile, picturing this old broad slogging away on the elliptical in my garage, eyes closed, singing along with my favorite tunes…. :0)

 

fffound.com

I’m not yet using my DVDs for my yoga. I’m moving really slowly on my mat, holding stretches for as long as I can, breathing into them, trying to get my muscles to relax. Relaxing seems to be more of a problem than anything else. That – and getting back up off the floor! :0)  I feel much better after I’ve finished, though – more loose and flexible – so I’m determined to get on the mat every day.

The biggest problem at this point is that with eating every three hours, drinking four 16 oz bottles of water each day and the running to the bathroom that causes, plus the exercising leaves a much shorter day to do everything else that I’m used to doing.

I’ve decided though, that my health is my first priority. I’m trying to do ONE thing on my to-do list otherwise each day, and see how that goes.  Today it’s cleaning off the back porch so that we can enjoy meals out there before summer hits.

We finish Week 2 on Thursday and I’ll provide an update then.