We are currently in the process of getting ready to go to shul. Mark is reading Haftarah this morning, so he does not want to be late! It's Easter Weekend, so the last few miles to the shul that go past WDW could be backed up today.
The last two days were pretty relaxed. We did some household chores, went to the Farmer's Market for some fresh fruits and veggies, got a few items at Publix, watched a lot of TV, took some naps and long walks. It's been an easy few days.
This afternoon is going to be sunny and low 80s, so we might finally get to take Frank up to the pool after shul and lunch. We might have a shul and pool day again!
I started my alligator jigsaw puzzle yesterday. It's shaped like an alligator and has all sorts of other Florida animals inside the shape. I have never done a puzzle that wasn't a rectangle, so this is really challenging. I tried to sort out the side pieces, but it seemed like almost anything could be a side piece. Once I made the first pass on sorting, I grouped the "side" pieces together by color and finally tried to put some together. I worked about two hours on it each of the last two days. Needless to say, not many pieces have been put together! LOL! This is definitely going to last me a long time. Once I get this one together, I think I will glue it and put it on the wall of the lanai since it's Florida themed. It would look good over the door.
I hope everyone who is celebrating Passover is still enjoying the week and the matzah. For those celebrating Easter tomorrow, I hope you have good weather wherever you are and enjoy dressing up in your new Easter outfits!
Saturday, March 30, 2013
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Seders are all done.
The Passover seders are now over. I hope everyone had wonderful ones; ours were certainly wonderful. Passover continues for another 7 days, but there are no more seders. This morning begins the second full day, still a holiday, still a day to attend services. Mark is making matzah meal pancakes, like he does every morning during Passover. Yum.
It's really cold in the house this morning. We hit record lows for this date last night. In 1979 it hit 42, and last night it broke the record by hitting 40. Tonight they expect another record to be broken. In 1955 it was 43 on this date; tonight it is expected to go to 41.
I haven't forgotten that it's weigh-in Wednesday. I'm up, well, DUH! Two seders, lots of sodium in everything, and too much to eat at all the meals is just asking for trouble. I am up to a new record high (record since I lost all the weight anyway) of 270.8. Yes, that's a seventy. Haven't seen that for awhile.
Today there will be no big holiday dinner and no company coming. Mark is making our usual Wednesday dinner of pasta sauce on cauliflower with a salad. The difference tonight is that the sauce will have real ground beef in it and the leftover meatballs from the first seder. We also hope to get outside and take a walk this afternoon since there are far less preparations and no company to prepare for. It's going to a sunny 66 for a high today, perfect for a nice walk.
Right now, breakfast is over and it's time to get a shower. We are going to be much later today getting to services than yesterday. Haha! What else is new!
Have a great day wherever you may be.
It's really cold in the house this morning. We hit record lows for this date last night. In 1979 it hit 42, and last night it broke the record by hitting 40. Tonight they expect another record to be broken. In 1955 it was 43 on this date; tonight it is expected to go to 41.
I haven't forgotten that it's weigh-in Wednesday. I'm up, well, DUH! Two seders, lots of sodium in everything, and too much to eat at all the meals is just asking for trouble. I am up to a new record high (record since I lost all the weight anyway) of 270.8. Yes, that's a seventy. Haven't seen that for awhile.
Today there will be no big holiday dinner and no company coming. Mark is making our usual Wednesday dinner of pasta sauce on cauliflower with a salad. The difference tonight is that the sauce will have real ground beef in it and the leftover meatballs from the first seder. We also hope to get outside and take a walk this afternoon since there are far less preparations and no company to prepare for. It's going to a sunny 66 for a high today, perfect for a nice walk.
Right now, breakfast is over and it's time to get a shower. We are going to be much later today getting to services than yesterday. Haha! What else is new!
Have a great day wherever you may be.
Monday, March 25, 2013
Happy Birthday to Lowell and Hag Pesach Sameach
Lowell got a snow day today in Baltimore! Emily's school system closed for the day, so Lowell worked at home. How nice for him to celebrate his birthday at home.
We picked Frank up at the airport about an hour past his original landing time because of the snow in Baltimore! We got home about 1 p.m. and had a nice lunch with egg matzo, cheese, and tuna fish.
Like most Jewish families around the world, the rest of the afternoon has been spent in food preparation, seder preparations, and napping. Our seder will begin around 7:15 or so tonight and probably go until about 11 or 12. Napping is essential!
Happy Birthday to Lowell.
Happy Passover to everyone who is celebrating.
We picked Frank up at the airport about an hour past his original landing time because of the snow in Baltimore! We got home about 1 p.m. and had a nice lunch with egg matzo, cheese, and tuna fish.
Like most Jewish families around the world, the rest of the afternoon has been spent in food preparation, seder preparations, and napping. Our seder will begin around 7:15 or so tonight and probably go until about 11 or 12. Napping is essential!
Happy Birthday to Lowell.
Happy Passover to everyone who is celebrating.
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Pesach is a'comin'
Tomorrow is my son's birthday and the first seder night of Passover. I am missing my kids today as I finish the preparations for turning the kitchen over to a Pesadik one. I sent them both a lot of Passover chocolate and cookies through the mail so that at least I know they are having some fun foods!
I doubt if either of them will have the opportunity to go to any seders this year. When we bought this house, I wanted to be sure it had a big open dining room, and I got a gigantic table that can seat 14. I always had the thought that there would be big Passover seders here with my kids and maybe their kids in the future. I am pretty sure now that it is not going to happen. It's far for them to travel, and they would all prefer to use their limited funds and vacation days at other times of the year. I understand that, so I will take them whenever I can get them!
Instead we are having a total of 6 the first night and 7 the second night, drawing from neighbors and friends from our new synagogue. In fact, we are making new traditions. Along with Frank here for the third time, we have our local friends Jonathan and Susan coming over for the third time as well. New traditions are good, too.
It's always difficult to prepare for Passover: shopping, cleaning, emptying out the fridge, freezer, and pantry of chametz, making space for the Passover dishes, washing, cooking....the list could go on and on.
Every year Mark gets out the Conservative movement guidelines for what is and what is not kosher for Passover and what does and does not need to be cleaned. There's always some little change from year to year. Last night, for some perverse fun, I read an article online from an Orthodox point of view called "Easy Cleaning for Passover." Easy is very loosely applied in that article. It made me VERY glad I do not follow those guidelines. It included things like covering up the vent hood on the range so Pesadik steam does not up in it, covering up all the walls behind your counter and stove, and washing all of your clothes that you intend to wear during the week because they might have a crumb lurking somewhere and then hanging them up separate from your other clothes. That is only a small sample of what to do in an Orthodox household. I have already done some of the things they demand because they are the same in the Conservative movement. I also will go out and clean out the cars today.
We are pretty far along in the process this year for several reasons. I now have a kitchen big enough to keep the island open for chametz and turn the other counters over to Pesach. I have made half the pantry, fridge, and freezer for each (Passover and everyday) since Tuesday when we first brought in Passover food. Mark and I do not bake things for the holiday, so at least we don't have that pressure that I know so many other families have.
This year we are using Frank P's Passover dishes, gold flatware, and beautiful stemware. Alice and Frank hosted us at their first night seder for around 30 years until she passed away. Then we started hosting Frank; it was the least we could do for him. Last summer he asked me to take all of her Passover things, which I did. Last night I got them all out and washed them all up. They are beautiful, and our seder table will be amazing this year. I think Frank will truly enjoy using these lovely things once again. It's been quite a few years since Alice passed away and many years since she even got all these things out to use at her seders. I remember that it was at her seder that I first learned how really nice the new plastic plates look!
In about a half hour Mark will be heading to Publix to buy all the fresh fruits and vegetables as well as eggs, milk, and salmon. While he is gone, I will finish cleaning out the final areas in the fridge and freezer, covering all the surfaces in tin foil. A lot of people pour boiling water on their counter tops to make them Pesadik, but Mark's mother always covered every surface in tin foil. He loves that look; it makes him feel like it's the holiday. So I have everything covered now except the island, which will stay uncovered until later tonight. That will be the last thing to become Pesadik.
I hope everyone who is celebrating the holiday of freedom enjoys it. Once the work is done to get the shopping and cleaning finished, the rest is truly a wonderful holiday. Unlike many people, I really enjoy matzah, and I like eating some of the special Passover foods, like cookies and cakes, that only come around for one week each year. It's a special time, for sure.
If you are not celebrating Passover but are getting ready for Easter next Sunday, I hope you have a great time getting ready for your holiday as well. I have enjoyed my share of chocolate bunnies, Peeps, and Cadbury eggs over the years, too. The Reese's peanut butter eggs are THE BEST! Have some for me.
I doubt if either of them will have the opportunity to go to any seders this year. When we bought this house, I wanted to be sure it had a big open dining room, and I got a gigantic table that can seat 14. I always had the thought that there would be big Passover seders here with my kids and maybe their kids in the future. I am pretty sure now that it is not going to happen. It's far for them to travel, and they would all prefer to use their limited funds and vacation days at other times of the year. I understand that, so I will take them whenever I can get them!
Instead we are having a total of 6 the first night and 7 the second night, drawing from neighbors and friends from our new synagogue. In fact, we are making new traditions. Along with Frank here for the third time, we have our local friends Jonathan and Susan coming over for the third time as well. New traditions are good, too.
It's always difficult to prepare for Passover: shopping, cleaning, emptying out the fridge, freezer, and pantry of chametz, making space for the Passover dishes, washing, cooking....the list could go on and on.
Every year Mark gets out the Conservative movement guidelines for what is and what is not kosher for Passover and what does and does not need to be cleaned. There's always some little change from year to year. Last night, for some perverse fun, I read an article online from an Orthodox point of view called "Easy Cleaning for Passover." Easy is very loosely applied in that article. It made me VERY glad I do not follow those guidelines. It included things like covering up the vent hood on the range so Pesadik steam does not up in it, covering up all the walls behind your counter and stove, and washing all of your clothes that you intend to wear during the week because they might have a crumb lurking somewhere and then hanging them up separate from your other clothes. That is only a small sample of what to do in an Orthodox household. I have already done some of the things they demand because they are the same in the Conservative movement. I also will go out and clean out the cars today.
We are pretty far along in the process this year for several reasons. I now have a kitchen big enough to keep the island open for chametz and turn the other counters over to Pesach. I have made half the pantry, fridge, and freezer for each (Passover and everyday) since Tuesday when we first brought in Passover food. Mark and I do not bake things for the holiday, so at least we don't have that pressure that I know so many other families have.
This year we are using Frank P's Passover dishes, gold flatware, and beautiful stemware. Alice and Frank hosted us at their first night seder for around 30 years until she passed away. Then we started hosting Frank; it was the least we could do for him. Last summer he asked me to take all of her Passover things, which I did. Last night I got them all out and washed them all up. They are beautiful, and our seder table will be amazing this year. I think Frank will truly enjoy using these lovely things once again. It's been quite a few years since Alice passed away and many years since she even got all these things out to use at her seders. I remember that it was at her seder that I first learned how really nice the new plastic plates look!
In about a half hour Mark will be heading to Publix to buy all the fresh fruits and vegetables as well as eggs, milk, and salmon. While he is gone, I will finish cleaning out the final areas in the fridge and freezer, covering all the surfaces in tin foil. A lot of people pour boiling water on their counter tops to make them Pesadik, but Mark's mother always covered every surface in tin foil. He loves that look; it makes him feel like it's the holiday. So I have everything covered now except the island, which will stay uncovered until later tonight. That will be the last thing to become Pesadik.
I hope everyone who is celebrating the holiday of freedom enjoys it. Once the work is done to get the shopping and cleaning finished, the rest is truly a wonderful holiday. Unlike many people, I really enjoy matzah, and I like eating some of the special Passover foods, like cookies and cakes, that only come around for one week each year. It's a special time, for sure.
If you are not celebrating Passover but are getting ready for Easter next Sunday, I hope you have a great time getting ready for your holiday as well. I have enjoyed my share of chocolate bunnies, Peeps, and Cadbury eggs over the years, too. The Reese's peanut butter eggs are THE BEST! Have some for me.
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Wednesday news
Last Wednesday I was 262.5 and also the same at the doctor's office on Friday, despite weighing 268 on my home scale that morning. The news this morning is neither good nor surprising. I'm back to 268. I have not done anything to lose weight since Friday. I overate in restaurants, at home, and at friends' houses. I did virtually no exercise. So this is what happens, a gain of five and a half pounds in one week. I'm not even upset because I knew this was coming. I'm not whining about it; I'm just reporting it objectively.
Yesterday Mark and I learned a valuable lesson. At this stage of our life, we can do about six and a half hours of driving and shopping before we just crash! We left the house at 11:00 a.m. and got home at 5:30. We drove up to a Winn-Dixie in Maitland for Passover shopping because many people in our shul had told us that it had a huge selection of Passover items, including fresh meat. We ran into our rabbi and his wife as they were leaving, and they thought that it was a pretty good place to shop. That raised our hopes greatly because we had a HUGE list. As we got to the Passover section, we ran into two others who told us we shouldn't have come because they had nothing left. UH...that's a completely different story than we got from the rabbi at the other end of the store. We saw two other shul families also shopping, and they both seemed pleased with their purchases.
As we began to look for ourselves, we found they were all sort of right. We did get many of the basic necessities and some meat, including the turkey, chicken breasts, gefilte fish, and a kugel, but we certainly did not get everything. We then drove further north to the kosher market in Longwood owned by Frank's friend. She usually works on large orders phoned in so the store is not well stocked. Still, we found some more items, including ground beef, pasta sauce, salad dressing, and a few more things. It still wasn't everything, so off we went to the Publix in Altamonte Springs. We found the ever important box of egg matzah, a few boxes of frozen things, and other items. Three stores, over $500 spent, and our shopping list only half finished, we headed home. At least that was the half that included most of the really special Passover items.
We left the Publix around 4 p.m. and found the rush hour traffic to be a lot worse than we anticipated. We made it home at 5:30. Unfortunately, we were supposed to leave at 4:50 to go to a NARFE meeting in Lakeland that started at 6. As we were inching along, Mark called and explained that we would be at least a half hour late, so we would probably not come at all. Fortunately, the president, Pat S., was very understanding. By the time we got in the driveway and emptied out the many, MANY grocery bags, and put all the refrigerator and frozen foods away, it was 5:45. We wouldn't have gotten to the meeting until nearly 7 because the GPS said it was an hour and five minute drive. We were both glad that Mark called Pat around 4:30 or so when he did to give her a heads up to our plight.
Instead we had a low key night watching TV and eating a nice dinner that I actually fixed for Mark. LOL! That almost never happens in our house! LOL!
Today we are driving about an hour north again and plan to go Total Wine and the SuperTarget, both at Millenia Mall. We also have to go to Mark's comic book shop and the party store for special pastic plates and table ware. In addition, we have a Living Social coupon deal for a frozen yogurt at a palce near the party store, and we have to hit the health food store to find Passover artificial sweetener. This is a total of six more stores for today. It's gray and rainy right now and likely to stay that way all day. We expect another five to six hour shopping event, and it still won't be over. This shopping will still not include fresh fruits and vegetables, milk, eggs, or other things that can be bought normally right before Passover on Sunday, but with any luck, it will include everything else from our list. Passover is exhausting and expensive. In the Baltimore area, we would still have had to go to a regular store for the fresh things, a party store for the special pretty paper/plastic things, and a kosher store, but each of those would have been only ONE store. We would go to only three places and probably spend a lot less on the kosher items, not to mention the extra gas for all the driving around down here. Yes, I say again, Passover is expensive and exhausting.
Yesterday Mark and I learned a valuable lesson. At this stage of our life, we can do about six and a half hours of driving and shopping before we just crash! We left the house at 11:00 a.m. and got home at 5:30. We drove up to a Winn-Dixie in Maitland for Passover shopping because many people in our shul had told us that it had a huge selection of Passover items, including fresh meat. We ran into our rabbi and his wife as they were leaving, and they thought that it was a pretty good place to shop. That raised our hopes greatly because we had a HUGE list. As we got to the Passover section, we ran into two others who told us we shouldn't have come because they had nothing left. UH...that's a completely different story than we got from the rabbi at the other end of the store. We saw two other shul families also shopping, and they both seemed pleased with their purchases.
As we began to look for ourselves, we found they were all sort of right. We did get many of the basic necessities and some meat, including the turkey, chicken breasts, gefilte fish, and a kugel, but we certainly did not get everything. We then drove further north to the kosher market in Longwood owned by Frank's friend. She usually works on large orders phoned in so the store is not well stocked. Still, we found some more items, including ground beef, pasta sauce, salad dressing, and a few more things. It still wasn't everything, so off we went to the Publix in Altamonte Springs. We found the ever important box of egg matzah, a few boxes of frozen things, and other items. Three stores, over $500 spent, and our shopping list only half finished, we headed home. At least that was the half that included most of the really special Passover items.
We left the Publix around 4 p.m. and found the rush hour traffic to be a lot worse than we anticipated. We made it home at 5:30. Unfortunately, we were supposed to leave at 4:50 to go to a NARFE meeting in Lakeland that started at 6. As we were inching along, Mark called and explained that we would be at least a half hour late, so we would probably not come at all. Fortunately, the president, Pat S., was very understanding. By the time we got in the driveway and emptied out the many, MANY grocery bags, and put all the refrigerator and frozen foods away, it was 5:45. We wouldn't have gotten to the meeting until nearly 7 because the GPS said it was an hour and five minute drive. We were both glad that Mark called Pat around 4:30 or so when he did to give her a heads up to our plight.
Instead we had a low key night watching TV and eating a nice dinner that I actually fixed for Mark. LOL! That almost never happens in our house! LOL!
Today we are driving about an hour north again and plan to go Total Wine and the SuperTarget, both at Millenia Mall. We also have to go to Mark's comic book shop and the party store for special pastic plates and table ware. In addition, we have a Living Social coupon deal for a frozen yogurt at a palce near the party store, and we have to hit the health food store to find Passover artificial sweetener. This is a total of six more stores for today. It's gray and rainy right now and likely to stay that way all day. We expect another five to six hour shopping event, and it still won't be over. This shopping will still not include fresh fruits and vegetables, milk, eggs, or other things that can be bought normally right before Passover on Sunday, but with any luck, it will include everything else from our list. Passover is exhausting and expensive. In the Baltimore area, we would still have had to go to a regular store for the fresh things, a party store for the special pretty paper/plastic things, and a kosher store, but each of those would have been only ONE store. We would go to only three places and probably spend a lot less on the kosher items, not to mention the extra gas for all the driving around down here. Yes, I say again, Passover is expensive and exhausting.
Monday, March 18, 2013
Fellowship
Yesterday afternoon we went to the SOJC 20th Anniversary Celebration at the Rosen Center in Orlando. It was a great party, including free pictures, free wine as well as a cash bar, a silent auction, DJ for dancing, a plated dinner of delicious red snapper, and a lot of speeches. It ran from 3-8 p.m.
What was really lovely was that we knew everyone at our table! Some of the first events that we attended for SOJC were the kind of thing where we knew no one. Everyone was introducing themselves to each other. Not last night. Nice.
We certainly did not know everyone who was in the room, but we knew about half. I felt that was quite an accomplishment after being members for only two years.
It's a nice congregation, and we really love the young rabbi, his wife, and their two small children. Still, Mark went home saying that he has not bonded with any of the men in the congregation. There are only a few men that he even talks to at all. He still misses the friendship and fellowship with his Mishkan Torah friends. I miss those friends as well, both male and female, but I'm trying to form some new bonds with these ladies and these couples. They are nice people, but they aren't our MT friends. Maybe after 30 years...
It's hard to compare the bonds of a 35+ years friendship with people that you grew up with from age 25 to 60+ with people that you are meeting in your sixties who are also in that age group. But we're trying.
This afternoon I will enjoy the fellowship of my neighbors as I play Mah Jongg in Maureen's house. I really love this. I am blessed to have moved to this street where the ladies all get along and enjoy playing Mahj weekly whenever they are home. I have heard some stories that not all neighbors and not all streets are this congenial. This evening we are invited to dinner at another friends' house with a third couple that is down visiting from upstate NY. We had met the NY couple up in Massachusetts when we used to vacation in Lenox, MA, and they also were there. Then it turned out that they had been friends with the couple whose house we are going to for about 15 years! Small world!
When you uproot yourself and move a thousand miles away, you hope for new friends, but it's not guaranteed. In general, I think we are doing OK. It's important to keep the social ties going as you age. Every book about aging says that. We're trying!
Now for the E and E report. They CALLED us last night on FACETIME. How cool! We spoke to them face to face on our iPhones for 40 minutes! It was 9 p.m. our time on Sunday night; it was 1 in the afternoon on Monday for them. They were in a park with a view of downtown Sydney. They used the Facetime feature on the phone to show us the park, the view, and some local birds nearby. It was so much fun to talk to them and SEE them and know that they were on the bottom half of the planet on the opposite side of the world. Technology today is amazing! We truly live in an amazing world.
Yesterday after we spoke to them they got some lunch and then took an hour bus ride to go to a rugby game. Then today (tomorrow our time) they are going to a zoo and ending up at the opera to see La Boheme. That's the end of their trip. They will fly home on Wednesday, arriving back in San Francisco BEFORE they ever left Sydney. LOL! I have never understood time travel stories.
What was really lovely was that we knew everyone at our table! Some of the first events that we attended for SOJC were the kind of thing where we knew no one. Everyone was introducing themselves to each other. Not last night. Nice.
We certainly did not know everyone who was in the room, but we knew about half. I felt that was quite an accomplishment after being members for only two years.
It's a nice congregation, and we really love the young rabbi, his wife, and their two small children. Still, Mark went home saying that he has not bonded with any of the men in the congregation. There are only a few men that he even talks to at all. He still misses the friendship and fellowship with his Mishkan Torah friends. I miss those friends as well, both male and female, but I'm trying to form some new bonds with these ladies and these couples. They are nice people, but they aren't our MT friends. Maybe after 30 years...
It's hard to compare the bonds of a 35+ years friendship with people that you grew up with from age 25 to 60+ with people that you are meeting in your sixties who are also in that age group. But we're trying.
This afternoon I will enjoy the fellowship of my neighbors as I play Mah Jongg in Maureen's house. I really love this. I am blessed to have moved to this street where the ladies all get along and enjoy playing Mahj weekly whenever they are home. I have heard some stories that not all neighbors and not all streets are this congenial. This evening we are invited to dinner at another friends' house with a third couple that is down visiting from upstate NY. We had met the NY couple up in Massachusetts when we used to vacation in Lenox, MA, and they also were there. Then it turned out that they had been friends with the couple whose house we are going to for about 15 years! Small world!
When you uproot yourself and move a thousand miles away, you hope for new friends, but it's not guaranteed. In general, I think we are doing OK. It's important to keep the social ties going as you age. Every book about aging says that. We're trying!
Now for the E and E report. They CALLED us last night on FACETIME. How cool! We spoke to them face to face on our iPhones for 40 minutes! It was 9 p.m. our time on Sunday night; it was 1 in the afternoon on Monday for them. They were in a park with a view of downtown Sydney. They used the Facetime feature on the phone to show us the park, the view, and some local birds nearby. It was so much fun to talk to them and SEE them and know that they were on the bottom half of the planet on the opposite side of the world. Technology today is amazing! We truly live in an amazing world.
Yesterday after we spoke to them they got some lunch and then took an hour bus ride to go to a rugby game. Then today (tomorrow our time) they are going to a zoo and ending up at the opera to see La Boheme. That's the end of their trip. They will fly home on Wednesday, arriving back in San Francisco BEFORE they ever left Sydney. LOL! I have never understood time travel stories.
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Up but unsurprised
I am up two pounds, but I'm not surprised because I really did overeat last night. 'Nuff said.
Last night's party was a lot of fun. Our friends Jeff and Bill wanted to learn to play Mah Jongg, so neighbors Dorothy and Tom came to help out. Mark made a great dinner, and Jeff and Bill brought four fantastic loaves of bread from Panera. I ate way too much of all the breads, but at least I had the good sense to send the leftovers home with them. Jeff and Bill learned the game very quickly. We played four or five games. Jeff won once and I won once. The rest were wall games, no winner. It was a wonderful evening.
It was somewhat bittersweet, too, because Tom and Dorothy are moving away to the Palm Beach area on March 28. We will miss them very much.
Today is a special day, not only St. Patrick's Day, not only our friend Al N's birthday, but also the 20th Anniversary Celebration party for our new shul, SOJC. We have to be at the fancy Rosen Center in Orlando at 3 p.m. for a silent auction and dinner. It should be fun.
Meanwhile, we are having a relaxing morning. I caught up on episodes of Amazing Race and Survivor because I never get to watch them when they are on. Mark doesn't watch them, so we watch other shows when they are really on and I catch them online when I have the time.
Last night's party was a lot of fun. Our friends Jeff and Bill wanted to learn to play Mah Jongg, so neighbors Dorothy and Tom came to help out. Mark made a great dinner, and Jeff and Bill brought four fantastic loaves of bread from Panera. I ate way too much of all the breads, but at least I had the good sense to send the leftovers home with them. Jeff and Bill learned the game very quickly. We played four or five games. Jeff won once and I won once. The rest were wall games, no winner. It was a wonderful evening.
It was somewhat bittersweet, too, because Tom and Dorothy are moving away to the Palm Beach area on March 28. We will miss them very much.
Today is a special day, not only St. Patrick's Day, not only our friend Al N's birthday, but also the 20th Anniversary Celebration party for our new shul, SOJC. We have to be at the fancy Rosen Center in Orlando at 3 p.m. for a silent auction and dinner. It should be fun.
Meanwhile, we are having a relaxing morning. I caught up on episodes of Amazing Race and Survivor because I never get to watch them when they are on. Mark doesn't watch them, so we watch other shows when they are really on and I catch them online when I have the time.
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Doctor Shock
I was so shocked that I nearly fell off the scale. When I got called into her office yesterday, (at 12:10 p.m., an hour after my appointment time due to an emergency coming in), I weighed exactly 262.5 on her scale. That was down six pounds from my own scale at home that morning and exactly what I weighed four months ago on her scale. She was happy with me. Sigh. I was happy. Also my BP, cholesterol, fasting sugar, and A1C (5.6) were all excellent. For a fat, 62 year old, I'm remarkably healthy. LOL!
I ate perfectly yesterday, 1250 calories, and weighed 263.5 this morning on my scale. Clearly our two scales do not agree, but I'm still happy.
Tonight we are having four people over for dinner. Mark made an enchilada casserole that we've had before. There will also be steamed asparagus and tossed salad. For dessert we have Key Lime pie and ice cream, also fresh strawberries and blueberries. Our company is bringing wine and Panera bread, two loaves. Clearly, I need to stay away from the bread and eat only a small piece of pie. The rest of the dinner will be no problem. Breakfast was my usual and lunch will be at home, so I can control it. I am hoping for another reasonable day.
The doctor suggested that I need to ramp up the exercise. I told her that we walk 30 minutes, about 1.3 miles, most days of the week and try to do the weights three days a week. She was right when she said that is not sufficient for weight loss. I know that, but it's hard to get more time for the exercise. She wants me to do chair yoga and beginner Tai Chi at the Solivita fitness center. She knows about the classes there because she has other patients doing them. I think I could do those, but I have to check the schedule. It's really all about making time and making priorities.
Today's priority is to go to shul this morning, and I'm already behind schedule on that. We will be terribly late, as always. When we return around 1:30 p.m., we will have lunch. Mark got up very early, so I'm sure he will need a nap. I need to do some tidying up and make the salad for dinner. The company is coming at 5:30, so that's not a lot of time to be running up to the gym. There are no classes today, so it would be just to use the weights and take a walk. The weather is going to the low 80s today, so swimming outdoors would be possible, but with company coming at 5:30 and chores in the house to do to get ready for them, it's not likely that I'm going to go swimming. See how easy it is to make excuses not to exercise?
Meanwhile, Evey texted me last night that she loved snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef, but they were so exhausted that they slept about 12 hours straight. The next morning, which was last night when she texted me, they rented a car and drove up to the Daintree Rainforest, planning on hiking to Cape Tribulation for a view of the ocean. By now that is over, and they are probably back sleeping. When they wake up, they are flying back to Sydney for a few more days. What an experience!
I ate perfectly yesterday, 1250 calories, and weighed 263.5 this morning on my scale. Clearly our two scales do not agree, but I'm still happy.
Tonight we are having four people over for dinner. Mark made an enchilada casserole that we've had before. There will also be steamed asparagus and tossed salad. For dessert we have Key Lime pie and ice cream, also fresh strawberries and blueberries. Our company is bringing wine and Panera bread, two loaves. Clearly, I need to stay away from the bread and eat only a small piece of pie. The rest of the dinner will be no problem. Breakfast was my usual and lunch will be at home, so I can control it. I am hoping for another reasonable day.
The doctor suggested that I need to ramp up the exercise. I told her that we walk 30 minutes, about 1.3 miles, most days of the week and try to do the weights three days a week. She was right when she said that is not sufficient for weight loss. I know that, but it's hard to get more time for the exercise. She wants me to do chair yoga and beginner Tai Chi at the Solivita fitness center. She knows about the classes there because she has other patients doing them. I think I could do those, but I have to check the schedule. It's really all about making time and making priorities.
Today's priority is to go to shul this morning, and I'm already behind schedule on that. We will be terribly late, as always. When we return around 1:30 p.m., we will have lunch. Mark got up very early, so I'm sure he will need a nap. I need to do some tidying up and make the salad for dinner. The company is coming at 5:30, so that's not a lot of time to be running up to the gym. There are no classes today, so it would be just to use the weights and take a walk. The weather is going to the low 80s today, so swimming outdoors would be possible, but with company coming at 5:30 and chores in the house to do to get ready for them, it's not likely that I'm going to go swimming. See how easy it is to make excuses not to exercise?
Meanwhile, Evey texted me last night that she loved snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef, but they were so exhausted that they slept about 12 hours straight. The next morning, which was last night when she texted me, they rented a car and drove up to the Daintree Rainforest, planning on hiking to Cape Tribulation for a view of the ocean. By now that is over, and they are probably back sleeping. When they wake up, they are flying back to Sydney for a few more days. What an experience!
Friday, March 15, 2013
Never knew THAT!
Yesterday I wasn't really surprised that I was up three pounds in one day. I WAS surprised to do it again today. Yes, six pounds up in two days. I'm now higher than when I got off the February cruise vacation by one pound. I am dumbfounded.
I ate a normal breakfast and a very small dinner. In between I ate a buffet lunch in Sarasota at Der Deutchman, an Amish restaurant. I made a nice salad, including some cole slaw and potato salad and cheese, but small amounts of all on a small salad plate. From the main buffet I had a roll with butter, a small bowl of cream of broccoli soup, 2 salmon patties, green beans, mashed potatoes, two bites of sweet potatoes, and a piece of white cake for dessert. Yes, I guess that's a lot of food, but it was no more than most people at my table also took. It seemed like a normal amount, and I did not go back for seconds. I also walked around a lot in the museum, an hour at least.
So, no, I did not see this coming. I thought I'd lose the three I gained yesterday. At worst I thought I'd wake up with those three still on and be depressed. Now I'm up six in two days. I'm REALLY depressed. I have to go to the doctor's office in two hours. Four months ago I weighed in at 262.5, which was my weight two days ago. This morning, naked on my scale, I weighed 268.5. I can only imagine that with clothes on the doctor's scale I am going to hit 270 easily. She will NOT be happy. I will NOT be happy.
The good news is that the South Florida Museum trip yesterday was a lot of fun. Snooty, the 64 year old resident manatee, was adorable. The planetarium was interesting, and the museum was a great source of history. Mark and I wouldn't mind going back some day to go through the museum at our own pace. We were on a guided tour for an hour, so sometimes we stayed longer in certain areas than necessary and skipped through whole other rooms with barely a glance.
Evey and Eric sent pictures of themselves snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef. They both looked adorable in wet suits and snorkels. Their next adventure involves renting a car, driving into the Daintree Rainforest, and hiking to Cape Tribulation. The next day they will fly back to Sydney.
Have a great weekend, everybody.
I ate a normal breakfast and a very small dinner. In between I ate a buffet lunch in Sarasota at Der Deutchman, an Amish restaurant. I made a nice salad, including some cole slaw and potato salad and cheese, but small amounts of all on a small salad plate. From the main buffet I had a roll with butter, a small bowl of cream of broccoli soup, 2 salmon patties, green beans, mashed potatoes, two bites of sweet potatoes, and a piece of white cake for dessert. Yes, I guess that's a lot of food, but it was no more than most people at my table also took. It seemed like a normal amount, and I did not go back for seconds. I also walked around a lot in the museum, an hour at least.
So, no, I did not see this coming. I thought I'd lose the three I gained yesterday. At worst I thought I'd wake up with those three still on and be depressed. Now I'm up six in two days. I'm REALLY depressed. I have to go to the doctor's office in two hours. Four months ago I weighed in at 262.5, which was my weight two days ago. This morning, naked on my scale, I weighed 268.5. I can only imagine that with clothes on the doctor's scale I am going to hit 270 easily. She will NOT be happy. I will NOT be happy.
The good news is that the South Florida Museum trip yesterday was a lot of fun. Snooty, the 64 year old resident manatee, was adorable. The planetarium was interesting, and the museum was a great source of history. Mark and I wouldn't mind going back some day to go through the museum at our own pace. We were on a guided tour for an hour, so sometimes we stayed longer in certain areas than necessary and skipped through whole other rooms with barely a glance.
Evey and Eric sent pictures of themselves snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef. They both looked adorable in wet suits and snorkels. Their next adventure involves renting a car, driving into the Daintree Rainforest, and hiking to Cape Tribulation. The next day they will fly back to Sydney.
Have a great weekend, everybody.
Thursday, March 14, 2013
I knew it.
Up two and a half pounds this morning. That's what I knew.
Yesterday I ate only an 80 calorie yogurt for breakfast because I got so busy. I shopped at Wal Mart for some new pillows and a few other odds and ends while Mark did the grocery shopping. Then we went to Sweet Tomatoes for lunch. I was ravenous and overate. I knew it. I did not get to the gym or do any walking other than around Wal Mart. Then we went over to two friends' house for dinner. She served a hot crusty bread with a garlic oil dip, salad, baked tilapia, baked potato, mashed yellow squash, and string beans with wine. Dessert was homemade Ghiradelli brownies with strawberries and Cool Whip. I didn't eat more than anyone else did, but it was enough couple with the big lunch.
Up two and a half pounds.
Wow! Tomorrow morning I have an 11 a.m. appointment with my family doctor. She won't be happy that I did not lose any weight from last November, and I might have gained some. We shall see.
Today Mark and I are going on a bus trip with the Solivita Travel Club to Bradenton for the planetarium, aquarium, and museum, and a buffet lunch in Sarasota. We should be home by 6 p.m., eat our small dinner that Mark prepared in advance last night, and go to the 7 p.m. Solivita movie. Everything Thursday night at 7 is a free movie on a big screen in the ballroom with free popcorn and lemonade. At least I never take the popcorn and lemonade!
I guess there is a small chance those two and a half pounds could drop off today or overnight. We'll see tomorrow at the doctor's office.
Meanwhile, here is an update on Evey and Eric. They have finished their camping and hiking expedition in the Outback. They posted a picture of the sunrise over Uluru on Facebook this morning. They also hiked to King's Canyon and went to Alice Springs Desert Park. Today they are off to the Great Barrier Reef.
Yesterday I ate only an 80 calorie yogurt for breakfast because I got so busy. I shopped at Wal Mart for some new pillows and a few other odds and ends while Mark did the grocery shopping. Then we went to Sweet Tomatoes for lunch. I was ravenous and overate. I knew it. I did not get to the gym or do any walking other than around Wal Mart. Then we went over to two friends' house for dinner. She served a hot crusty bread with a garlic oil dip, salad, baked tilapia, baked potato, mashed yellow squash, and string beans with wine. Dessert was homemade Ghiradelli brownies with strawberries and Cool Whip. I didn't eat more than anyone else did, but it was enough couple with the big lunch.
Up two and a half pounds.
Wow! Tomorrow morning I have an 11 a.m. appointment with my family doctor. She won't be happy that I did not lose any weight from last November, and I might have gained some. We shall see.
Today Mark and I are going on a bus trip with the Solivita Travel Club to Bradenton for the planetarium, aquarium, and museum, and a buffet lunch in Sarasota. We should be home by 6 p.m., eat our small dinner that Mark prepared in advance last night, and go to the 7 p.m. Solivita movie. Everything Thursday night at 7 is a free movie on a big screen in the ballroom with free popcorn and lemonade. At least I never take the popcorn and lemonade!
I guess there is a small chance those two and a half pounds could drop off today or overnight. We'll see tomorrow at the doctor's office.
Meanwhile, here is an update on Evey and Eric. They have finished their camping and hiking expedition in the Outback. They posted a picture of the sunrise over Uluru on Facebook this morning. They also hiked to King's Canyon and went to Alice Springs Desert Park. Today they are off to the Great Barrier Reef.
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
post-birthday, Weigh-in Wednesday, and Iditarod winner
I think Mark had a fantastic birthday yesterday. I have posted some pictures from it on this blog.
We had all three meals out, as I said we would. For me, breakfast was a Fit Fare Slam at Denny's, which was egg whites scrambled with spinach, a fruit cup, and an English muffin with butter. I also ate about half a cup of Mark's oatmeal with nothing added to it and half of one of his pancakes with a little butter. Lunch turned out to be half of a gigantic chocolate Butterfinger cupcake. Dinner at Landry's included a shot of Crown Royal whiskey, too many onion rings, plain grilled gouper, half a plain baked potato, and some broccoli. At home, I ate one serving of Mark's home made banana-pineapple pie concoction, very tasty. I guess I had at least 2000 calories for the day, but we did walk a lot at the Disney Studios.
Yesterday morning I was down two pounds, which made me very happy. I had been 264.5 on Monday and 262.5 yesterday morning. Much to my surprise, I am still 262.5 this morning. I gained nothing yesterday. I cannot believe it. I can only conclude that all the walking did it for me. 262.5 is exactly what I weighed in the doctor's office last November. I have to weigh-in again this Friday with her for my four month check-up. I am hoping I can hold on to this weight, or even lose a bit more, by Friday morning. We shall see.
Today we are eating lunch at Sweet Tomatoes because Mark has a birthday coupon for a free lunch for himself. It's a soup and salad place, so it's possible to behave or to overeat. I will do my best. Dinner is at a friend's house. She said she is baking tilapia, so I hope that will go pretty well.
Also the Iditarod winner came into Nome this morning. He made history because he is the oldest winner ever in the history of the Iditarod, AND last year his son was the youngest winner ever. Now that's just not likely to ever happen again. Congratulations to Mitch Seavey for his win of the 41st Iditarod. Quite a race! 9 days, 7 hours, 36 minutes, 56 seconds was his winning time for traversing 1000 miles of Alaskan wilderness from Anchorage to Nome. Talk about an Amazing Race! LOL!
We had all three meals out, as I said we would. For me, breakfast was a Fit Fare Slam at Denny's, which was egg whites scrambled with spinach, a fruit cup, and an English muffin with butter. I also ate about half a cup of Mark's oatmeal with nothing added to it and half of one of his pancakes with a little butter. Lunch turned out to be half of a gigantic chocolate Butterfinger cupcake. Dinner at Landry's included a shot of Crown Royal whiskey, too many onion rings, plain grilled gouper, half a plain baked potato, and some broccoli. At home, I ate one serving of Mark's home made banana-pineapple pie concoction, very tasty. I guess I had at least 2000 calories for the day, but we did walk a lot at the Disney Studios.
Yesterday morning I was down two pounds, which made me very happy. I had been 264.5 on Monday and 262.5 yesterday morning. Much to my surprise, I am still 262.5 this morning. I gained nothing yesterday. I cannot believe it. I can only conclude that all the walking did it for me. 262.5 is exactly what I weighed in the doctor's office last November. I have to weigh-in again this Friday with her for my four month check-up. I am hoping I can hold on to this weight, or even lose a bit more, by Friday morning. We shall see.
Today we are eating lunch at Sweet Tomatoes because Mark has a birthday coupon for a free lunch for himself. It's a soup and salad place, so it's possible to behave or to overeat. I will do my best. Dinner is at a friend's house. She said she is baking tilapia, so I hope that will go pretty well.
Also the Iditarod winner came into Nome this morning. He made history because he is the oldest winner ever in the history of the Iditarod, AND last year his son was the youngest winner ever. Now that's just not likely to ever happen again. Congratulations to Mitch Seavey for his win of the 41st Iditarod. Quite a race! 9 days, 7 hours, 36 minutes, 56 seconds was his winning time for traversing 1000 miles of Alaskan wilderness from Anchorage to Nome. Talk about an Amazing Race! LOL!
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| The day started with his free Grand Slam breakfast at Denny's. |
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| Lunch was half a giant Butterfinger cupcake at Starring Rolls Cafe in the Studios. |
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| We walked around the park for about 25 minutes to burn up the cupcake sugar before taking a break. |
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| We specifically came to see this new attraction. |
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| Mark also enjoyed going through an old favorite exhibit. |
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| Our dinner spot |
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| Opening his present from Evey and Eric, a gift card to take the Keys to the Kingdom tour. |
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| Thanks to Lowell for the Hellblazer book and an Amazon gift card. |
Monday, March 11, 2013
Never Give Up!
YES, I threw out the rest of the raisin challah yesterday morning right after I wrote the blog. No chance of oversnacking on it again.
YES, the movie, Oz, the Great and Powerful, was a lot of fun. I would highly recommend it.
YES, the Mickey Dolenz concert at Epcot was great, but it seemed almost exactly like last year's. That didn't stop my enjoyment of it all. It was also fun that we were able to meet up with our friends Barb and Al and two of their other friends for some conversation after the concert.
YES, I ate my lunch at two different food kiosks at Epcot. I had the brie tart with kumquat jelly in England and the ratatouille tart in France. The brie was a fairly generous portion of cheese cooked inside a pastry dough, sort of crescent shaped, with some jelly drizzled on the side. It was warm and delicious. The ratatouille was a three inch square that looked like a little pizza piece, but it was not pizza dough. It was a flaky pastry crust with a tomato, onion, green pepper, eggplant sauce on top with some chopped bits of cheese. It was also quite tasty. It's hard to estimate calories in things like this, but I guessed the two together couldn't be over 500 because the portions are not large.
YES, I behaved myself at breakfast and dinner and no snacking other than my nightly banana.
YES, I walked over two miles.
NO, I did not lose any weight.
AAAAARRRRGGGGGHHHH!
YES, I am the same this morning.
Even though I denied myself all the desserts and all the yummy-sounding alcoholic foods at Epcot and ate a super small dinner and went to bed hungry, I was not rewarded with a weight loss in the morning.
YES, Sometimes I just want to stop this. I get so tired of thinking about calories all day, every day.
NO, I will not give up.
YES, the movie, Oz, the Great and Powerful, was a lot of fun. I would highly recommend it.
YES, the Mickey Dolenz concert at Epcot was great, but it seemed almost exactly like last year's. That didn't stop my enjoyment of it all. It was also fun that we were able to meet up with our friends Barb and Al and two of their other friends for some conversation after the concert.
YES, I ate my lunch at two different food kiosks at Epcot. I had the brie tart with kumquat jelly in England and the ratatouille tart in France. The brie was a fairly generous portion of cheese cooked inside a pastry dough, sort of crescent shaped, with some jelly drizzled on the side. It was warm and delicious. The ratatouille was a three inch square that looked like a little pizza piece, but it was not pizza dough. It was a flaky pastry crust with a tomato, onion, green pepper, eggplant sauce on top with some chopped bits of cheese. It was also quite tasty. It's hard to estimate calories in things like this, but I guessed the two together couldn't be over 500 because the portions are not large.
YES, I behaved myself at breakfast and dinner and no snacking other than my nightly banana.
YES, I walked over two miles.
NO, I did not lose any weight.
AAAAARRRRGGGGGHHHH!
YES, I am the same this morning.
Even though I denied myself all the desserts and all the yummy-sounding alcoholic foods at Epcot and ate a super small dinner and went to bed hungry, I was not rewarded with a weight loss in the morning.
YES, Sometimes I just want to stop this. I get so tired of thinking about calories all day, every day.
NO, I will not give up.
Sunday, March 10, 2013
I get so pissed off.
I am pissed off about my weight. I'm up a pound and a half to 264.5, and I have no idea why.
I did my weight routine, even adding more reps to everything, and then we walked 1.45 miles in 32 minutes, which was pretty fast for us. I drank a lot of water, also. I really felt like I would have dropped a pound and a half today and undo what happened on Thursday, or at least have stayed the same. BUT NO!
Yesterday we did have an unexpected lunch at the synagogue because we had forgotten that there were two families celebrating birthdays and anniversaries. They provided everyone a lovely sit-down luncheon. I took a big helping of the tossed salad, which did have mandarin oranges and raisins in it, a deli flat (100 calories), a small scoop of tuna salad to make a sandwich on the deli flat, less than a tablespoon of hummus, 3 low carb tortilla flax chips, a few carrot and celery sticks, and 2 small wedges of pineapple. I also had a small bowl of home made veggie cholent (stew), which was spectacular but did have potatoes and carrots in it. Considering what was on the table that I could have had, that was a small lunch! It's hard to estimate calories in this sort of thing, but my best guess is 700. That's too much for lunch regularly, but I thought it would be off set by a low calorie dinner.
Breakfast was the usual 200 calories of sausage links and yogurt. Dinner was a plate of salad (lettuce, carrots, grape tomatoes and red, yellow, and green peppers) with a can of low sodium tuna on it and sprinkled with grated Parmesan cheese. I estimated 125 calories in the cheese and 140 in the tuna plus the veggies (maybe 60), pretty low calorie dinner all in all, 325.
My big mistake was my snack choices later in the evening. I ate a banana, as always, a small wedge of watermelon, and about 5 ounces of raisin challah. It was a really big banana, so maybe it had more calories than I estimated. I also know I should have skipped the challah, but it was calling me in the last half hour before bed. Total snack calories are estimated at 600. I know that's where I made a big mistake. It was a bad choice at 10:30 at night, symptomatic of being out of control again.
Anyway, the total for the day was approximately 1825. I know that there's not usually a weight loss on that amount, but it really should not have caused a pound and a half weight gain. Also the exercise that I did should have accounted for 225 calories, bringing the net calories for the day to 1600. That should have meant I stayed the same.
I know this blog sounds a little whiny, and Evey would call me on it if she was in the country and reading this blog! She'd say stop whining. Quite honestly, I don't mean for this to be a whine or a rant. It's me trying to explain to myself what the heck happened. What happened is that I lost control at night and overate on snacks. That can happen to anybody. If my lunch had been at home and in the 300-400 calorie range, then the snacking wouldn't have made such an impact.
OK, back on the horse. I can only try to do better today. I'm having my extra big Sunday morning pancake breakfast today that Mark likes to make. He serves it with two scrambled eggs and two sausage links, making it about 450 calories for breakfast. He's making a Tex Mex salad for dinner, which will provide about 285 calories. That gives me 735 already and a day of eating at Epcot for lunch. It's the Spring Flower and Garden Festival, so we are going to eat some of the tapas portions of two or three items as we go see Mickey Dolenz perform at the American pavilion. There will be at least two miles of walking today as well. I have no idea what the calories or sodium content will be for lunch today, and I can only hope the walking will undo some of it. You'll find out tomorrow.
Now for the Evey and Eric update. I don't think I'll have any news directly from them for a few days because they are starting their Outback camping trip. They flew to Alice Springs yesterday, as I reported, and today they are heading to the Outback. They will be picked up at 6 a.m. local time (which will be near my bedtime tonight) for an outback camping adventure to Uluru, visiting the Aboriginal Cultural Center, taking a sunset walk, and camping in swags. I hope they get to sing "Waltzing Matilda!" Even though Eric's phone works world wide, it doesn't work in the outback, so there won't be any updates directly from them for a few days. They are sleeping out for two nights!
Well, time to eat my delicious pancake, eggs, and sausage breakfast. Then off to see the new Disney movie, Oz, the Great and Powerful, before heading to Epcot. It's going to be sunny and 81 degrees, making walking two miles around Epcot a pleasure. I'll do my best to choose wisely at the food kiosks for lunch and hope for a little weight loss tomorrow.
I did my weight routine, even adding more reps to everything, and then we walked 1.45 miles in 32 minutes, which was pretty fast for us. I drank a lot of water, also. I really felt like I would have dropped a pound and a half today and undo what happened on Thursday, or at least have stayed the same. BUT NO!
Yesterday we did have an unexpected lunch at the synagogue because we had forgotten that there were two families celebrating birthdays and anniversaries. They provided everyone a lovely sit-down luncheon. I took a big helping of the tossed salad, which did have mandarin oranges and raisins in it, a deli flat (100 calories), a small scoop of tuna salad to make a sandwich on the deli flat, less than a tablespoon of hummus, 3 low carb tortilla flax chips, a few carrot and celery sticks, and 2 small wedges of pineapple. I also had a small bowl of home made veggie cholent (stew), which was spectacular but did have potatoes and carrots in it. Considering what was on the table that I could have had, that was a small lunch! It's hard to estimate calories in this sort of thing, but my best guess is 700. That's too much for lunch regularly, but I thought it would be off set by a low calorie dinner.
Breakfast was the usual 200 calories of sausage links and yogurt. Dinner was a plate of salad (lettuce, carrots, grape tomatoes and red, yellow, and green peppers) with a can of low sodium tuna on it and sprinkled with grated Parmesan cheese. I estimated 125 calories in the cheese and 140 in the tuna plus the veggies (maybe 60), pretty low calorie dinner all in all, 325.
My big mistake was my snack choices later in the evening. I ate a banana, as always, a small wedge of watermelon, and about 5 ounces of raisin challah. It was a really big banana, so maybe it had more calories than I estimated. I also know I should have skipped the challah, but it was calling me in the last half hour before bed. Total snack calories are estimated at 600. I know that's where I made a big mistake. It was a bad choice at 10:30 at night, symptomatic of being out of control again.
Anyway, the total for the day was approximately 1825. I know that there's not usually a weight loss on that amount, but it really should not have caused a pound and a half weight gain. Also the exercise that I did should have accounted for 225 calories, bringing the net calories for the day to 1600. That should have meant I stayed the same.
I know this blog sounds a little whiny, and Evey would call me on it if she was in the country and reading this blog! She'd say stop whining. Quite honestly, I don't mean for this to be a whine or a rant. It's me trying to explain to myself what the heck happened. What happened is that I lost control at night and overate on snacks. That can happen to anybody. If my lunch had been at home and in the 300-400 calorie range, then the snacking wouldn't have made such an impact.
OK, back on the horse. I can only try to do better today. I'm having my extra big Sunday morning pancake breakfast today that Mark likes to make. He serves it with two scrambled eggs and two sausage links, making it about 450 calories for breakfast. He's making a Tex Mex salad for dinner, which will provide about 285 calories. That gives me 735 already and a day of eating at Epcot for lunch. It's the Spring Flower and Garden Festival, so we are going to eat some of the tapas portions of two or three items as we go see Mickey Dolenz perform at the American pavilion. There will be at least two miles of walking today as well. I have no idea what the calories or sodium content will be for lunch today, and I can only hope the walking will undo some of it. You'll find out tomorrow.
Now for the Evey and Eric update. I don't think I'll have any news directly from them for a few days because they are starting their Outback camping trip. They flew to Alice Springs yesterday, as I reported, and today they are heading to the Outback. They will be picked up at 6 a.m. local time (which will be near my bedtime tonight) for an outback camping adventure to Uluru, visiting the Aboriginal Cultural Center, taking a sunset walk, and camping in swags. I hope they get to sing "Waltzing Matilda!" Even though Eric's phone works world wide, it doesn't work in the outback, so there won't be any updates directly from them for a few days. They are sleeping out for two nights!
Well, time to eat my delicious pancake, eggs, and sausage breakfast. Then off to see the new Disney movie, Oz, the Great and Powerful, before heading to Epcot. It's going to be sunny and 81 degrees, making walking two miles around Epcot a pleasure. I'll do my best to choose wisely at the food kiosks for lunch and hope for a little weight loss tomorrow.
Saturday, March 9, 2013
Fanniversary
We just loved the Fanniversary. The two hosts covered any major Disney park or film that had an anniversary on a 3 or an 8, so that's anniversaries like 10, 20, or 15, 25, etc. We even got a program book that listed every anniversary that was going to be discussed. There were some lovely old video clips and pictures shown that had never been seen anywhere before. That was very cool. The Atlantic Dance Hall, as all Disney places, was very beautiful, art deco style, but not very large. There were hotel-style chairs set up on the dance floor facing the stage with a large screen in front of the curtain for the pictures and videos. It really didn't hold that many people, so I guess that's why they had two shows yesterday.
I took a 1.3 mile walk in a half an hour in the afternoon in addition to walking a LONG way from the outer most parking lot at Boardwalk to the Atlantic Dance Hall. I ate my 200 calories for breakfast, 320 calories for lunch, 540 calories for dinner, and a 130 calorie banana for a total of 1190. Excellent day. I am rewarded by being down some of the water weight I had gained, 262.9 this morning. It's a start. Today all meals will be at home, and I'm going to the gym for the weights and another walk. I am looking forward to another loss tomorrow morning.
I got some lovely pictures from Evey and Eric this morning on my phone. They look great outside the Sydney Opera House and at Manly Beach on the Pacific Ocean. I'm so excited that Eric's phone works all over the world and that he's able to share their experiences as they happen. Technology is amazing!
Today they are flying out of Sydney to Alice Springs, where they hope to have time to visit the Desert Park and the Royal Flying Doctor Service. I hope I see some pictures tomorrow morning when I wake up!
PS I went to take a shower before I finished the blog. I did not eat breakfast, but I did have a cup and a half of black coffee. When I got in the shower, I was still 262.9, when I got out of the shower, I was 265.7. Not possible to gain nearly five pounds in the shower in 10 minutes or less! My scale is nearly ten years old. Might be time to get a new one.
I took a 1.3 mile walk in a half an hour in the afternoon in addition to walking a LONG way from the outer most parking lot at Boardwalk to the Atlantic Dance Hall. I ate my 200 calories for breakfast, 320 calories for lunch, 540 calories for dinner, and a 130 calorie banana for a total of 1190. Excellent day. I am rewarded by being down some of the water weight I had gained, 262.9 this morning. It's a start. Today all meals will be at home, and I'm going to the gym for the weights and another walk. I am looking forward to another loss tomorrow morning.
I got some lovely pictures from Evey and Eric this morning on my phone. They look great outside the Sydney Opera House and at Manly Beach on the Pacific Ocean. I'm so excited that Eric's phone works all over the world and that he's able to share their experiences as they happen. Technology is amazing!
Today they are flying out of Sydney to Alice Springs, where they hope to have time to visit the Desert Park and the Royal Flying Doctor Service. I hope I see some pictures tomorrow morning when I wake up!
PS I went to take a shower before I finished the blog. I did not eat breakfast, but I did have a cup and a half of black coffee. When I got in the shower, I was still 262.9, when I got out of the shower, I was 265.7. Not possible to gain nearly five pounds in the shower in 10 minutes or less! My scale is nearly ten years old. Might be time to get a new one.
Friday, March 8, 2013
If I could only predict winning lottery numbers as well...
Yesterday I predicted a weight gain for this morning due to too much sodium in the restaurant meals and more calories than I have been consuming. Yes, I was right, but I am surprised by the amount. I posted a weight of 261.8 yesterday, so I was stunned to see 265 on the scale this morning.
I ate about 2000 calories. That's my best guess. It just has to be the sodium. Today and tomorrow will be all meals at home (except for the Subway salad for lunch today), plus there will be time for long walks, so I hope to lose all of that today. It would be lovely to go up 3.2 in one day and then back DOWN the same 3.2 pounds the next day!
So what did I eat that did this to me?
Breakfast: the usual 200, 3 Morningstar Sausage Links, 1 lo-fat sugar free yogurt
Lunch at Outback: house salad no dressing, baked tilapia, steamed vegetables
Dinner at Cohen's: pea soup, 3 bites of challah, half a baked chicken (no skin), Israeli salad (half cup)
Snack: banana
Really, does that seem like so much? Is it such bad choices? Should it seriously add 3.2 pounds in one day?
This morning Mark and I are going to a D23 Fanniversary event at the Atlantic Dance Hall on the Boardwalk at WDW. I really don't know what to expect. Mark took Reuben Cohen to the last one, which was last summer at the Hollywood Studios. Each D23 member can attend and bring one guest. Yeah, I'm the guest this time. Very exciting.
When we get out, we will eat our Subway salad lunch, which is never more than 320 calories. I'm having my 200 calorie breakfast and my 320 calorie lunch. That leaves plenty of calories for dinner tonight, which Mark is making at home. That with lots of walking should make a good day.
Meanwhile, Evey and Eric landed safely and probably did everything they set out to do. Here's their next agenda, which they will be doing tonight while we sleep! I just can't get over that. LOL!
This day is somewhat up in the air because all of their original plans had to be canceled. They had planned to take a train to Katoomba, explore the Blue Mountains Three Sisters, Giant Staircase, Federal Pass, waterfalls to Scenic World, and ride a cable car up mountains. (and NO, I have no idea what most of those things are!) That is all gone now because not too long ago there was a massive landslide in that area, making all of it inaccessible.
Instead they have the day wide open. Evey said they might rent a kayak and check out Manly Beach. I guess we won't really know what they did until they get home, but whatever they do, I'm sure they are going to love it.
I ate about 2000 calories. That's my best guess. It just has to be the sodium. Today and tomorrow will be all meals at home (except for the Subway salad for lunch today), plus there will be time for long walks, so I hope to lose all of that today. It would be lovely to go up 3.2 in one day and then back DOWN the same 3.2 pounds the next day!
So what did I eat that did this to me?
Breakfast: the usual 200, 3 Morningstar Sausage Links, 1 lo-fat sugar free yogurt
Lunch at Outback: house salad no dressing, baked tilapia, steamed vegetables
Dinner at Cohen's: pea soup, 3 bites of challah, half a baked chicken (no skin), Israeli salad (half cup)
Snack: banana
Really, does that seem like so much? Is it such bad choices? Should it seriously add 3.2 pounds in one day?
This morning Mark and I are going to a D23 Fanniversary event at the Atlantic Dance Hall on the Boardwalk at WDW. I really don't know what to expect. Mark took Reuben Cohen to the last one, which was last summer at the Hollywood Studios. Each D23 member can attend and bring one guest. Yeah, I'm the guest this time. Very exciting.
When we get out, we will eat our Subway salad lunch, which is never more than 320 calories. I'm having my 200 calorie breakfast and my 320 calorie lunch. That leaves plenty of calories for dinner tonight, which Mark is making at home. That with lots of walking should make a good day.
Meanwhile, Evey and Eric landed safely and probably did everything they set out to do. Here's their next agenda, which they will be doing tonight while we sleep! I just can't get over that. LOL!
This day is somewhat up in the air because all of their original plans had to be canceled. They had planned to take a train to Katoomba, explore the Blue Mountains Three Sisters, Giant Staircase, Federal Pass, waterfalls to Scenic World, and ride a cable car up mountains. (and NO, I have no idea what most of those things are!) That is all gone now because not too long ago there was a massive landslide in that area, making all of it inaccessible.
Instead they have the day wide open. Evey said they might rent a kayak and check out Manly Beach. I guess we won't really know what they did until they get home, but whatever they do, I'm sure they are going to love it.
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Chaplaincy
I never thought I'd ever be a chaplain of anything, but today I gave my first invocation and benediction as the chaplain of our NARFE chapter, the Plant City Strawberry Chapter, 1224. I was asked to do this back in January, but we didn't go to the February meeting because of a cruise. I never did this sort of thing before, so I did some research and used some online help to craft both. I wrote them out because I didn't want to trust my memory! I actually enjoyed doing this very much. Unfortunately, my next opportunity to do this will be in October. That's crazy, but our travel schedule means we are missing every monthly meeting between March and October. Ah, the busy life of an active retiree!
I'm down another half pound today! I was 261.8 on the scale this morning. Wow! I haven't weighed under 263 since December 20, 2012. Sad, I know. Still, I've been doing so well lately that I'm scared. I'm not sure why my control has kicked back in or how long it will last. I'm glad it's here right now, and I hope I can keep it around for awhile.
I had lunch at Outback today: house salad with croutons and no dressing, steamed veggies, and baked tilapia. Except for a lot of sodium that always seems to be in anything at a restaurant, that's probably an acceptable amount of calories....for a dinner. Unfortunately, that was lunch, and we are going to the kosher restaurant, Cohen's Deli, for dinner. Today's calories will be far above what I've been eating lately.
Even though I have not been writing the calories down in a book or in the phone app, I've been tallying then up on the calculator. The last six straight days, Friday through yesterday, have been 1100 calories or less. I have also walked at least thirty minutes each of those days. Even if I try to eat as well as possible at the deli, I expect today's calories to top 2000, and there is not going to be a walk. No time. I am sure that I will be up a little tomorrow due to the extra sodium and water retention. We'll see. The main thing is not to let that get me down, but to focus on the progress and the knowledge that I can drop that water weight with another few good days of 1100 calories or less.
I already explained yesterday about how many meals in restaurants there are for us coming up. Tomorrow we are having lunch out also, but we have already decided it will be a salad at Subway, so I know that's an excellent lunch on a diet.
Meanwhile, Evey and Eric are in the air right now as I'm typing. They should land in Sydney at 8:30 a.m. Sydney time on Friday, March 8, which will be about 4:30 this afternoon March 7 in Florida time! I find that really hard to grasp! All the days of activity that they have are while we are sleeping. It is, after all, the other side of the world, so while we are having day, they are having night. Fun!!
I'm down another half pound today! I was 261.8 on the scale this morning. Wow! I haven't weighed under 263 since December 20, 2012. Sad, I know. Still, I've been doing so well lately that I'm scared. I'm not sure why my control has kicked back in or how long it will last. I'm glad it's here right now, and I hope I can keep it around for awhile.
I had lunch at Outback today: house salad with croutons and no dressing, steamed veggies, and baked tilapia. Except for a lot of sodium that always seems to be in anything at a restaurant, that's probably an acceptable amount of calories....for a dinner. Unfortunately, that was lunch, and we are going to the kosher restaurant, Cohen's Deli, for dinner. Today's calories will be far above what I've been eating lately.
Even though I have not been writing the calories down in a book or in the phone app, I've been tallying then up on the calculator. The last six straight days, Friday through yesterday, have been 1100 calories or less. I have also walked at least thirty minutes each of those days. Even if I try to eat as well as possible at the deli, I expect today's calories to top 2000, and there is not going to be a walk. No time. I am sure that I will be up a little tomorrow due to the extra sodium and water retention. We'll see. The main thing is not to let that get me down, but to focus on the progress and the knowledge that I can drop that water weight with another few good days of 1100 calories or less.
I already explained yesterday about how many meals in restaurants there are for us coming up. Tomorrow we are having lunch out also, but we have already decided it will be a salad at Subway, so I know that's an excellent lunch on a diet.
Meanwhile, Evey and Eric are in the air right now as I'm typing. They should land in Sydney at 8:30 a.m. Sydney time on Friday, March 8, which will be about 4:30 this afternoon March 7 in Florida time! I find that really hard to grasp! All the days of activity that they have are while we are sleeping. It is, after all, the other side of the world, so while we are having day, they are having night. Fun!!
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Good Wednesday
I can finally report a decent loss on a weigh-in Wednesday. This morning I hit 262.3, the weight that I hit in the doctor's office four months ago. It means I lost 5.7 pounds this week! Wow! I haven't been able to say that in a long time.
This coming week has its own challenges. Tomorrow I have the NARFE luncheon meeting at Outback and dinner at Lakeside, free wine Thursdays. Sunday we are going to Epcot for the Spring Flower and Garden Festival and to hear Mickey Dolenz, formerly of The Monkees, perform. At least that involves a lot of walking, over two miles, but this year they have added food kiosks around the lake like they have at the Food and Wine Festival in the fall. Our plan on Sunday is to make those kiosks our lunch. Hopefully the walking will counter-balance the food. Then next Tuesday is Mark's birthday. We are eating all three meals out, and I'm buying them as part of his presents. Denny's sent him a coupon for a free Grand Slam breakfast on his birthday, so that's only costing me his cup of coffee! Nice. Lunch will be at the Commissary at Disney's Hollywood Studios, where we will spend the day walking all around (yay for walking) and go to the new Jack Sparrow exhibit. We eat the Asian Salad Bowl, so that's not too high in calories for me. Dinner will be at an upscale fish house, Landry's, near WDW. I have a $25 gift card, so that price won't be too bad either. Still it's a lot of opportunity for over eating in one day, right before the next weight-in.
I have been successful this past week because almost all of our meals were at home, plus I did not snack between meals unless it was a planned piece of fruit. I ate only two lunches and one dinner out in the entire week. This week, out of 21 meals, I will be eating 1 breakfast, 4 lunches, and 2 dinners out. I had better be careful since the doctor visit is next Friday! I'd really like to be down a few more pounds by then.
Yesterday when i went for my blood draw and noticed that she had ordered an A1C, along with all the usual fasting blood work. I think she really is convinced I am, should be, or will be a diabetic! I can't wait to get that number. I've never had an A1C before!
I know it's snowing like the dickens in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast. Be safe and warm. Wow! It's mid-60s, breezy, and sunny here. That's a cold day for us because yesterday Mark and I spent the afternoon putting sun tan lotion on as we lay around the pool in 79 degree sunny weather. We love Florida!
And finally, Evey and Eric are flying off to Australia tonight for a two week trip of a lifetime. Tomorrow I'll post up their itinerary. They don't really have a tomorrow! LOL! As she said to me, "March 7 is lost to me." They leave tonight and arrive in Sydney, Australia Friday morning. Good luck to them.
This coming week has its own challenges. Tomorrow I have the NARFE luncheon meeting at Outback and dinner at Lakeside, free wine Thursdays. Sunday we are going to Epcot for the Spring Flower and Garden Festival and to hear Mickey Dolenz, formerly of The Monkees, perform. At least that involves a lot of walking, over two miles, but this year they have added food kiosks around the lake like they have at the Food and Wine Festival in the fall. Our plan on Sunday is to make those kiosks our lunch. Hopefully the walking will counter-balance the food. Then next Tuesday is Mark's birthday. We are eating all three meals out, and I'm buying them as part of his presents. Denny's sent him a coupon for a free Grand Slam breakfast on his birthday, so that's only costing me his cup of coffee! Nice. Lunch will be at the Commissary at Disney's Hollywood Studios, where we will spend the day walking all around (yay for walking) and go to the new Jack Sparrow exhibit. We eat the Asian Salad Bowl, so that's not too high in calories for me. Dinner will be at an upscale fish house, Landry's, near WDW. I have a $25 gift card, so that price won't be too bad either. Still it's a lot of opportunity for over eating in one day, right before the next weight-in.
I have been successful this past week because almost all of our meals were at home, plus I did not snack between meals unless it was a planned piece of fruit. I ate only two lunches and one dinner out in the entire week. This week, out of 21 meals, I will be eating 1 breakfast, 4 lunches, and 2 dinners out. I had better be careful since the doctor visit is next Friday! I'd really like to be down a few more pounds by then.
Yesterday when i went for my blood draw and noticed that she had ordered an A1C, along with all the usual fasting blood work. I think she really is convinced I am, should be, or will be a diabetic! I can't wait to get that number. I've never had an A1C before!
I know it's snowing like the dickens in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast. Be safe and warm. Wow! It's mid-60s, breezy, and sunny here. That's a cold day for us because yesterday Mark and I spent the afternoon putting sun tan lotion on as we lay around the pool in 79 degree sunny weather. We love Florida!
And finally, Evey and Eric are flying off to Australia tonight for a two week trip of a lifetime. Tomorrow I'll post up their itinerary. They don't really have a tomorrow! LOL! As she said to me, "March 7 is lost to me." They leave tonight and arrive in Sydney, Australia Friday morning. Good luck to them.
Monday, March 4, 2013
These are good days.
Yesterday was great, and today will also be great!
We went to see the movie Quartet yesterday. It was Dustin Hoffman's directorial debut about retired musicians, starring Maggie Smith. Love it! Mark slept through some of the middle. Guess that says it all.
Then we met Barb and Al for lunch at Sweet Tomatoes. Lunch lasted three and a half hours. I'm not exaggerating! We ate; we talked; we laughed; we cried. I'm not exaggerating. It was an awesome time. Al's bout with spinal fusion surgery and facing radiation and chemo for myeloma is giving him such an uplifted spirit that it is amazing to behold. The force is strong in this one!
When we went home, I talked to both of my kids, always a treat, and then watched the real start of the Iditarod. Mark made an excellent dinner from his diabetic friendly magazine. Delicious.
I never did any exercise, but I was down a pound this morning to 265. 4. That made me very happy.
Today I'm doing whatever I feel like! I have no agenda at all except Mah Jongg from 1-4 this afternoon, which I do every Monday. Mark and I plan to go exercise after Mahj. Other than that I am having a slow, relaxing morning, watching TV, playing on the internet, writing emails and this blog. There's no hurry.
Have a great day wherever you are and whatever you are doing. Keep an open mind, an open heart, and your spirits positive. That should guarantee a good day no matter what happens.
We went to see the movie Quartet yesterday. It was Dustin Hoffman's directorial debut about retired musicians, starring Maggie Smith. Love it! Mark slept through some of the middle. Guess that says it all.
Then we met Barb and Al for lunch at Sweet Tomatoes. Lunch lasted three and a half hours. I'm not exaggerating! We ate; we talked; we laughed; we cried. I'm not exaggerating. It was an awesome time. Al's bout with spinal fusion surgery and facing radiation and chemo for myeloma is giving him such an uplifted spirit that it is amazing to behold. The force is strong in this one!
When we went home, I talked to both of my kids, always a treat, and then watched the real start of the Iditarod. Mark made an excellent dinner from his diabetic friendly magazine. Delicious.
I never did any exercise, but I was down a pound this morning to 265. 4. That made me very happy.
Today I'm doing whatever I feel like! I have no agenda at all except Mah Jongg from 1-4 this afternoon, which I do every Monday. Mark and I plan to go exercise after Mahj. Other than that I am having a slow, relaxing morning, watching TV, playing on the internet, writing emails and this blog. There's no hurry.
Have a great day wherever you are and whatever you are doing. Keep an open mind, an open heart, and your spirits positive. That should guarantee a good day no matter what happens.
Sunday, March 3, 2013
Ups and Downs
My do-over on the bone density scan took less than 20 minutes, even in a crowded office with no appointment. They were very apologetic and fit me in quickly. Apparently, the protocol years ago was for the arm, so that's what I had done back in Maryland. By the time I had to do one here, the protocol was changed to lower spine and hip. The snafu at the office on Wednesday was that last year they took the right hip, but now the protocol is for the left hip. The technician took the left hip, and only when she went to pull the two pictures together for comparison for the radiologist did she notice that last year they took the right hip. She called Mark's cell phone right away, but even though it was only about five or ten minutes later, we were already in the car and his phone was off. So I got in, had the right hip taken, and now I'm good for whatever happens next year! I still anticipate nothing wrong.
As for the weight, it goes up and it goes down. I went up to 269 yesterday morning, and I was surprised. This morning I'm back to 266.8, a smidge up from Wednesday but still acceptable.
I have been talking to Mark and Evey about switching up what I'm doing for dieting. I'm not doing enough, clearly. Little by little all that weight has been creeping back. I'm not interested in writing the calories down anymore like I used to. For awhile the Lose It! program was interesting, but it's tedious. I tried the Weight Watchers online program, but I never bonded with the points system and found it hard to figure out.
Recently I've heard about two other diet plans. The first was a big hit in England. It's called the Fast Diet, which allows you to eat whatever you want five days a week and follow a modified fast of only 500 calories the other two days. I bet that would work, and it was intriguing; however, I don't know if I can go hungry two days a week. Also, if left to my own devices, I could eat A LOT on the other five days if someone tells me I can have anything I want. I actually thought I'd try it on Thursday, and Friday, and Saturday. Nope! Couldn't do it at all.
The other one was on the news, but I can't remember it's name. It was touting eating small meals every three hours, 4 meals and 3 snacks a day. The main thing I remember from that one is that the portions are pretty small each time. That might work because eating every three hours is good.
Finally, I am thinking about pulling out the American Diabetic Association diet. I always liked the exchanges on the old Weight Watchers plan, and they still work that way. Mark has been making great dinners from a diabetic friendly magazine that lists the exchanges. I'd like to pretend I'm a diabetic and stick to that for awhile, or forever. The problem with that is that in the back of my mind I do know that I'm not a diabetic. Will I be able to be that disciplined when I don't have to? I don't know.
These are just some thoughts I've been having lately. I was great yesterday. I walked a mile, even though it was blustery and cold, and I had only 1100 nutritious calories. This morning's breakfast was higher than usual because Mark makes us his special biscuit breakfast. I had a low carb biscuit, 2 veggie sausage links, and a two egg and cheese omelet. Yummy. Lunch is going to be out at the Sweet Tomatoes buffet. I will probably eat too many calories, but they will be reasonably healthy calories, mostly soup and salad. Dinner is at home, but I'm sure my count today will hit over 2000 without any problem at all. I bet I'm up tomorrow from the sodium in the soup alone.
On the fun side, we watched the ceremonial start of the 41st Iditarod in Anchorage yesterday. It was free online. Today we will watch the actual start, which we can see online because Mark subscribed to the Iditarod Insider. We have been doing this for about five or six years. We love watching the dogs and following the mushers as they make their way to Nome.
My sister-in-law, Denise, wants to go up there for the start some day. Mark and I would love to go, too, so maybe we'll be standing on that downtown Anchorage street, all bundled up, watching the sleds take off in person. The place completely books out years in advance, so we had better start planning now!
As for the weight, it goes up and it goes down. I went up to 269 yesterday morning, and I was surprised. This morning I'm back to 266.8, a smidge up from Wednesday but still acceptable.
I have been talking to Mark and Evey about switching up what I'm doing for dieting. I'm not doing enough, clearly. Little by little all that weight has been creeping back. I'm not interested in writing the calories down anymore like I used to. For awhile the Lose It! program was interesting, but it's tedious. I tried the Weight Watchers online program, but I never bonded with the points system and found it hard to figure out.
Recently I've heard about two other diet plans. The first was a big hit in England. It's called the Fast Diet, which allows you to eat whatever you want five days a week and follow a modified fast of only 500 calories the other two days. I bet that would work, and it was intriguing; however, I don't know if I can go hungry two days a week. Also, if left to my own devices, I could eat A LOT on the other five days if someone tells me I can have anything I want. I actually thought I'd try it on Thursday, and Friday, and Saturday. Nope! Couldn't do it at all.
The other one was on the news, but I can't remember it's name. It was touting eating small meals every three hours, 4 meals and 3 snacks a day. The main thing I remember from that one is that the portions are pretty small each time. That might work because eating every three hours is good.
Finally, I am thinking about pulling out the American Diabetic Association diet. I always liked the exchanges on the old Weight Watchers plan, and they still work that way. Mark has been making great dinners from a diabetic friendly magazine that lists the exchanges. I'd like to pretend I'm a diabetic and stick to that for awhile, or forever. The problem with that is that in the back of my mind I do know that I'm not a diabetic. Will I be able to be that disciplined when I don't have to? I don't know.
These are just some thoughts I've been having lately. I was great yesterday. I walked a mile, even though it was blustery and cold, and I had only 1100 nutritious calories. This morning's breakfast was higher than usual because Mark makes us his special biscuit breakfast. I had a low carb biscuit, 2 veggie sausage links, and a two egg and cheese omelet. Yummy. Lunch is going to be out at the Sweet Tomatoes buffet. I will probably eat too many calories, but they will be reasonably healthy calories, mostly soup and salad. Dinner is at home, but I'm sure my count today will hit over 2000 without any problem at all. I bet I'm up tomorrow from the sodium in the soup alone.
On the fun side, we watched the ceremonial start of the 41st Iditarod in Anchorage yesterday. It was free online. Today we will watch the actual start, which we can see online because Mark subscribed to the Iditarod Insider. We have been doing this for about five or six years. We love watching the dogs and following the mushers as they make their way to Nome.
My sister-in-law, Denise, wants to go up there for the start some day. Mark and I would love to go, too, so maybe we'll be standing on that downtown Anchorage street, all bundled up, watching the sleds take off in person. The place completely books out years in advance, so we had better start planning now!
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