NEW CAR!!!

I was so busy yesterday that I didn't have time to write a blog. 

I bought my new car at Carmax.  It's a 2013 Ford C-Max hybrid wagon.  I haven't taken any pictures yet, but when I do, I'll be sure to put some on the blog.  We were in and out of Carmax in two and a half hours, which is very fast for car buying! We took our four suitcases to be sure they fit, which they did.  As soon as the salesman drove it up, I was in love!  There will be a steep learning curve about all the gauges and most efficient way to drive.  There's a gauge that grows leaves as you drive efficiently and drops leaves off when you don't.  How cute is that?  It's a candy apple red color, so I have named her Candy. 

Before car shopping, we went to the doctor.  I wasn't my best on Tuesday, eating an entire bag of salty pita chips.  Stupid.  Other than that I had a good day, but only a 20 minute walk for exercise.  So...of course, when I woke up Wednesday, I was up three pounds of fluid.  I was sure the doctor would yell.  Surprise!  She did NOT!  She wasn't super happy either, but she didn't jump all over me.  She was okay with all my numbers, including the sugars.  She said don't worry about the RDW.  The 15.5 was not significant when all other numbers were so good.  Next time I see her I'll be on Medicare!  LOL!

Then the day ended with four out of five of us booking our cabins on the Carnival Sensation for January 26, 2017.  Mark W and his wife Carol booked a cabin on the Empress deck next to Flyn and Jim.  Kip and Denise booked a cabin on the Riviera deck opposite my inside cabin.  Now we are just waiting to see where Cindy books.  There was one funny moment when I found out that Kip and Denise had accidentally booked on the Carnival Fascination instead of the Sensation.  I called her right away, and we had a good laugh over it.  Then she called and changed it!  Thank God I was trying to tie the reservations together on the phone with Carnival so we could all eat dinner at the same table.  That's when the mistake was discovered.  That could have been a disaster!  LOL!

I had a great day on my diet yesterday, under my calorie allotment.  This morning the extra fluid weight is gone, and I'm back to Monday morning's weight.  Yay.  I plan to have a great day today that will include the water aerobics and lap swimming.  Breakfast and lunch will be controlled food from home, but dinner will be at Lakeside.  Tom and Cathy are treating us to dinner out.  It is possible to eat well at Lakeside, so I have to make that commitment.  No appetizer, no dessert, healthy entree, and a glass of wine.  Have to have the wine!  It's free wine night at Lakeside!

Ming Court went well.

We had a delicious dinner at Ming Court in Orlando last night.  Mark and I were determined to try something different, hopefully healthier, than our usual choices.  This restaurant has a very large menu and a lot of things you don't see in other restaurants.  I ordered asparagus and mushroom trio in white wine garlic sauce, and Mark ordered one of the house specialties, water-cooked spicy fish.  Both were super spicy, which we liked, and they did not feel like there was a significant amount of sugar or cornstarch in the sauces.  Steamed white rice came with it, and I did eat more than I intended.  Still, I tried to count up all those calories.  It's really hard to do when you don't know the recipes and they aren't listed on any calorie counting programs.  Rice is easy to do.  LOL!

At my best guess for dinner, my calories yesterday came to 1562.  My new allotment after losing a little weight is 1576, so I was perfect.  I also burned 544 calories in exercise: 40 minutes of water aerobics, 20 minutes of swimming laps, 15 minutes of weight lifting machines.  This morning I did weigh myself again because I wondered how that dinner went.  I am the same today, so I'm excited.

Tomorrow I have my doctor's appointment for the twice-a-year check up.  This morning I am 8 pounds higher than last visit in October.  When I weigh in at the doctor's office around 10:30 in clothing, I'm sure it will show I'm over 10 pounds up.  She will NOT be happy.  Also our blood work has arrived online in the Quest Patient Portal.  My fasting sugar is 104; six months ago it was 105. I had forgotten that I was over 100 last time.  Also my A1C was 5.8 last time and this time it is 6.0.  Those are flagged as slightly high and could lead to diabetes.  Mark's endocrinologist in Maryland would not be concerned about those numbers AT ALL, but I'll see what she says.

The only other concern is something called RDW.  I never heard of it before, but it was flagged as high. Up to 15 is normal, and I was 15.5.  I will be interested in hearing the doctor's take on this.  A google search shows that it mostly shows anemia but can also be liver disease.  I'm not really worried about anything serious because I feel very well, but I could be a little anemic.  I just looked at my  multi-vitamin and saw that it does not include any iron.  I might need to add an iron pill to my daily routine.  I'll let you know after I talk to her tomorrow.

I also will be talking to her about the muscle relaxants.  My visit with her in October found me in severe back pain.  She gave me a prescription that I took as directed for a couple of days, and the situation was resolved.  Then a few weeks later, I was having bad leg cramps at night, as I would have frequently.  So one night I took that muscle relaxant to help it settle down.  Then I took it the next night and the next until they ran out last week.  I only had three, very mild, leg cramps in the last six months that I took them.  I want to talk to her about staying on them forever, but I'll need another prescription.  I hope she says it's okay to do that because those nightly leg cramps were sometimes very, VERY BAD!  She has blamed them on decades of statin drugs.  I'm sure she's right.

Today is going to be rainy all day.  It's raining right now, so we are not going to go over to the Cove today after all.  No water aerobics for us today or tomorrow (doctor's appointment).  Instead Mark and I hope to get up to the indoor track to walk for 20 minutes.  Cathy and I also plan to go to WalMart to pick up some things we need to improve the house and help my philodendron get healthier.  It should be a fun, low key day.

Tomorrow will be rainy also and crazy.  Doctor's appointments in the morning, car buying in the afternoon, quick dinner at home, and then a Shalom Club meeting at 7 p.m.  There will be almost no time to even SEE Tom and Cathy! 

Great weight loss!

This morning I weigh 276.3, a lost of 4.7 pounds for the week.  FANTASTIC!

I ate 1206 points, burned 80 walking, for a net caloric intake for the day of only 1126.  When you do the right thing, good things happen.

Tom and Cathy arrived about 3:15 yesterday, and we had a great time talking with them last night.  Mark made all of us a perfect dinner, and we took a 20 minute walk.  Great day!

Today's plan is to go the Cove for water aerobics, do my weight lifting, and if possible, also get a little walking in.  I want to do a LOT of exercise today because we are all going up to the fancy Chinese restaurant, Ming Garden, for dinner.  We took Tom and Cathy two years ago up there and they loved it.  They have requested that we go back.  My plan for that is NOT to order my usual, which is veggie egg roll and Hunan chicken over tons of white rice.  My plan is to find steamed veggies and maybe brown rice.  I don't know if I can do it because Hunan chicken up there is excellent and my favorite thing to have.  This will be a challenge.

Meanwhile, I will eat my usual light breakfast and lunch, do my exercise, play Mah Jongg all afternoon, and then go to dinner and do my best.

 I have my six month check up with the Family Doctor on Wednesday morning.  This morning my blood test results came in.  She will NOT like them.  My fasting blood sugar was 104 and my A1C was 6.0.  Last time my fasting was 106, actually a smidge higher, and the A1C was 5.8, a little less.  I guess I'm not far off from last time, and I KNOW I've been eating terribly for the last six months, too.  No matter how much she might yell at me, I am going to tell her to leave me alone and let me retest in six months.  I bet it will be perfect if I keep eating like I have the last two weeks.  I will report Thursday what she says.

Tom and Cathy arrive today at 2 p.m.

We haven't seen Tom and Cathy in about two years, and we're really looking forward to having them stay for a week with us.  They are Cove people like us, so the upcoming week will be filled with many days at the Cove, relaxing, swimming, catching up, and soaking up some Florida sun.

Yesterday I had another great day with food.  I also lifted the weights and took a 20 minute walk.  My calories for the day were 1252, subtract the 125 burned in exercise, and I get a net caloric intake for the day of 1127.  I'm starting to get excited for stepping on the scale tomorrow morning!  It's been a great week.  I will report it first thing tomorrow.

It's amazing how having a great week of eating right and exercising regularly makes you feel so good.  LOL!  Well, that's not really a surprise to anyone is it?  The problem is that I also feel good when I stuff myself silly...at least while it's happening.  Then I feel terrible and beat myself up about it later.  This feels better.  I hope I can remember that the next time I start to feel out of control.

I am seriously considering getting a new car (well, used car) pretty soon, like Wednesday.  I have been wanting to buy a hybrid for a very long time, and now may be the time.  I have debated among a Hyundai Sonata Hybrid, Prius V hybrid, Ford Fusion Hybrid, Toyota Camry Hybrid, and Ford C-Max Hybrid.  There are plenty of others out there, but I never considered them.

I polled people I know with various types of cars.  I also just couldn't bring myself to buy non-American.  Eventually, I realized I couldn't leave the Ford family.  Just been there way too long.  So...that narrowed it down to the Fusion or the C-Max.  I got great letters back from Ron with his C-Max and Eliot with his Fusion.  Both love their cars and gave them highest marks.  Then it came down to finding the right car for sale. I also don't want a white, black, or silver car.  I have had all of those, and recently there have been too many black ones in our family.  Currently, Mark's Focus is silver, and although we have had the same color of car before (two black Focuses), I just don't feel like doing it now.  I'm really craving a new color! That eliminated a lot of possible cars.  I also want it to be no more than two years old and have no more than 25, 000 miles on it and not cost an arm and a leg.  But, the biggest thing is that it MUST hold our four suitcases in the trunk!

Finally, the right car popped up.  Carmax in Orlando has a red Ford C-Max SEL with 25,000 miles on it for 20,998.  I now have an appointment for Wednesday afternoon to go see it.  I called the same salesman who worked with Mark a year and a half ago when he bought his 2011 Focus.  The man is the son-in-law of the man who owns All Cars in Kissimmee where we have been having our cars services for the last five years down here.  We enjoyed the car buying experience at Carmax, so I'm hoping it goes as smoothly for me.  I plan to take the suitcases with me and test the trunk. I'll also do a serious test drive because I've never driven a hybrid.  In fact, I've never even ridden in one.  At least I don't remember doing so.  I'm looking forward to that test drive on Wednesday.

One more interesting thing...the Ford Focus is assembled in Mexico.  The C-Max is assembled in the USA.  I know I'm making the right decision!

One final thing is the very sad situation in Baltimore.  I have been watching what's going on with the protests and riots in the city over the death of Freddie Gray. How sad!  It's sad that he died in police custody. It just seems like one more incidence of police making bad decisions.  But the mostly peaceful protests over the last few days descended into riots around the Camden Yard stadium last night.  Ridiculous. It does not promote your cause to loot stores, smash windows, and turn over cars.  Fans in the stadium were not allowed to leave after the game ended.  It ended late, too, because the O's beat the Red Sox in the tenth inning.  Who knows what will happen today? The sister of the man killed was on TV calling for peace and an end to the violence.  Six police officers have been suspended because of it, pending a full investigation.  The black female Mayor of Baltimore and the  white male police chief have both admitted the police did not follow procedures.  What more can you ask of city officials at this early stage?  It seems like they are doing all they can.  Rioting and acting like hoodlums does not promote anyone's agenda, in my opinion.  And I am SO GLAD that Lowell is married and lives in Columbia now!  Wow!  For about three years he lived in a condo right next to City Hall where all the protesting started.  Crazy.  That would have made me very afraid.

It's Friday.

My choir, which includes Mark, did a great job last night at the Israel Independence Day Celebration.  We got there around 6:30, had a small falafel for dinner, hung around with the other choir members, listened to some other groups, and then sang our three songs.  The crowd was large and noisy, but by the time we went on, a lot of people had left.  That worked to our advantage because it was easier for those who were there to hear us.  We got a lot of applause and compliments.  I'm proud of them and happy we did it.

I didn't go over my calories yesterday because the small falafel and the sorbet that one of the choir member's bought me as a treat did not push me over.  I was pretty happy about that.  I only had a banana at bedtime, making my total calories only 1362 yesterday.  I also had the exercise, so it was a great day.  After subtracting the exercise calories (376), my net calories were only 987.

Today we will once again head over to the Cove for the water aerobics and lap swimming.  We will also go up to The Palms for the weight lifting routine.  I am only doing seven machines right now with such little weight and so few reps that it only takes 10 minutes.  Next week I'm going to boost the weight or the reps, which varies on different machines, and try to make it take up to fifteen minute.

We are having our friends Tom and Cathy arrive on Sunday for a week.  Mark is planning to cook at home most of the time and hang out at the Cove a lot.  I am hoping this will be one time that when we have company, I don't gain weight.

I already have my calories all planned out for today in the Lose It! app. It's Shabbat tonight, so Friday dinner is always a bit higher for a meal at home because of the challah and wine.  This week it's the same meal as last Friday, coffee-rubbed steak with red-eye beans.  Oh, BOY, was that good!  My total calories today should come to 1476 with 421 burned in exercise, net 1055 calorie day.  Pretty sweet.

Here's my menus for today:
Breakfast:  3 Morningstar Sausage Links (120) and Sugar Free Greek Yogurt (80)   Total 200 cal.

Lunch:  can of low sodium tuna (140), can of low sodium green beans (70), 2 small plums (61)  Total 271 cal.

Dinner: shot of whiskey on the rocks (96), 2 ounces of moscato wine (94), 2 ounces of challah (132), 2 T Smart Balance spread (100), 1 serving of Diabetic Living Coffee-Rubbed Steak with Red-Eye Beans (294), 1 cup steamed broccoli (20), 1 1/2 cups tossed salad (15)  Total 752 cal.

Snacks: medium banana (105) and pint of Arctic Zero ice cream (148)  Total 253 cal.

That adds up to 1476, subtract 421 for exercise, and the day's final net total calories is 1055.

And look how well I ate!  Yummy food, good exercise.  Doing this every day will most definitely get me very close to my goal by August 2 when we head to Hawaii.  There are always obstacles to being this good every day, but as long as I'm close to it most days, I will get very close.  Currently, my goal is to be at 250.  If I lose two pounds per week, which is attainable, I think I will make it.  If I lose a little more than two pounds a week on some of the weeks, I would be into the 240s again and I'd be THRILLED!

SOJC Low Stress Choir performs tonight at the Israeli Independence Day Festival in Maitland.

This is a big night tonight.  Except for performing at the Rosen Center for the Cantor's 13th Anniversary party in January, my little SOJC Low-Stress Choir has only performed inside the building and mostly only at the High Holidays.  Tonight at 7:40 p.m. they are performing three songs at the JCC up in Maitland at the big Israeli Independence Day Celebration.  There will be ten of us singing three songs.  The first two are a cappella, "Im Tirtzu" and "Lechi Lach" by Debbie Friedman, and we are finishing with a two part arrangement of "Kachol Yam Hamayim," a song composed before 1948 about the beauty of Israel.  I think they will be AWESOME!

Last night we had a fabulous dinner party with Chris and Laurel.  We spent the whole afternoon around the Cove pool with them and then came back for dinner.  I marked down all my calories, did some water aerobics and laps, and stuck to my plan. Yay for me!  I ate 1600 calories exactly.  I'm pretty pleased with myself.

Today we are eating dinner up at the festival, so who knows what we will find. I have had an excellent breakfast and lunch, did the 40 minutes of water aerobics and swam 10 minutes of laps.  There will be a good bit of walking  and standing at the festival tonight as well.  I have about 1100 calories left for tonight, and I feel confident that it is enough to account for anything we might find to buy for dinner.

I looked back at my weights that are recorded in my Lose It! program.  Back in December of 2013, I hit my lowest point since we have moved to Florida.  It was 232.5.  Wow!  Instead of staying the course and losing another 10-20 pounds and being back where I was in 2010 when we left for Hawaii, I gained FIFTY pounds.  Actually I gained a bunch, lost a bunch, and gained it again.  Ridiculous.  I had forgotten that I had gotten down that low in 2013.  I know I hit about 236 in April of 2014 after blossoming back up to the 270s, so here I am just trying to go back down again.  When will I ever learn to STAY DOWN????

Happy Earth Day

In honor of Earth Day, I bought a re-useable water bottle at Epcot this past Sunday.  I used to use an aluminum water bottle.  It's kind of big and heavy.  I used it for years when I was working because it didn't bother me when it was mostly sitting on a desk.  Now that I'm mostly carrying it to the parks or on walks or even the car, that big aluminum bottle just didn't work for me.  I fell back into using the plastic bottles you buy in the store.  Even though I would re-use that same plastic bottle for at least one whole day, maybe more, it would still end up in the recycle bin eventually.

So I bought a really cool Mickey and Minnie plastic water bottle. It has a handle for easy carrying; it's fairly light weight even when filled; it fits into the car cup holder.  I'm very happy with it! 

Yesterday I was very pleased with my hair color and highlights.  I asked my stylist to lighten it up a shade over what I've been doing for the last four years.  It looks much more like my original color now.  Mark and I both agreed it's an improvement.

Our dinner party last night went very well.  Everything was delicious and it's fun to talk to Barb and Ed.  I did not eat as well as I should have, unfortunately.  I exceeded my calories by 350.  If I had done the same amount of exercise as I did on Monday, I would have been a little under my allotment because I burned 423 calories in exercise that day.  Sadly, I did not exercise yesterday because of the long time in the salon.  My total calories for the day yesterday was 1957, and I'm allowed 1606.  For a more rapid weight loss I need to burn those extra calories and not eat them back.  Losing weight for me works best if I stay between 1200 and 1400.

As I thought about it when I went to bed last night, there were several decisions that I made that were poor and caused me to go over my calorie allowance.  I ate a good breakfast and lunch in preparation for the big dinner.  I also ate nothing else after dinner.  Those were not the problem areas. Of the 1957 calories, 1293 were at dinner!  Here's my mistakes.  I ate two servings of the main dish. I ate two sourdough dinner rolls with real butter.  If I had eaten only one, I would have saved 200 calories.  For dessert I took two of the sugar free cookies.  If I had eaten only one, I would have saved 100 calories.  If I had not had BOTH a glass of wine AND a shot of whiskey, I would have saved another 100 calories.  Boom.  I would have been within my daily calorie amount by just changing that little bit.  One roll, one cookie, one drink.  Unfortunately, I did not think of that at the dinner table, so I kept reaching for that second thing.

Tonight we are having yet another dinner party with a couple who have just arrived at the Cove from Massachusetts for a few days. We got a call from them yesterday, so we invited them to dinner.  Hey, we have a lot of leftovers, so we are serving some of the same things: same rolls, salad, broccoli, sugar free cookies, wine and whiskey.  The main dish last night was a Spanish Potato Omelet in a slow cooker, which really looked and tasted like a frittata. Tonight we are having Pasta with Romanesco sauce.  I have programmed my day with two servings of the main dish but only one roll, one cookie, and no wine.  That should make my calories 1600 on the dot, six less than I'm allowed.  I will be going to the pool this afternoon and will do some exercise, so the day is going to look much better than yesterday! 

It was hard not to get that scale out.

I put the scale away myself yesterday, so I know where it is.  I really, REALLY wanted to get it out and weigh myself this morning.  I had SUCH a very, very good day yesterday. I ate only 1190 calories, and I did all my workouts (40 minutes of water aerobics, 10 minutes of swimming laps, 10 minutes on the weight machines.)  I drank a lot of water, and I just feel like I MUST have dropped some weight.

But I didn't do it.  I resisted the temptation.  Yay for me.

The new machines at The Palms are the same brand as the old ones.  I used to do 9 of the weight machines.  One of the types for the calf muscle is no longer there, so now I have only 8 to do.  Of the 8 that I did, two of them are somewhat different, but they are both still very good.  Mark and I are both satisfied with the new machines.  The whole layout of the room is different, but it's going to be fine.

Today I have "The Works" at Nature Hair at the Cove.  That means I'm having my hair colored, highlighted, cut, a spa pedicure, a gel manicure, and a facial waxing.  It will take about five hours and cost around $300.  Wow!  Good thing I only do this about every four months.  I haven't had a mani/pedi in six weeks because of the big trip.  I've done my own nails twice and filed my toenails down twice, too, but I can't wait for Nicole to give them her professional touch.

After the appointment, I will do some shopping to pick up more dinner supplies because we are having a dinner party with our friends from a few blocks up our street, Ed and Barbara.  They have recently bought into DVC, so we are hosting them for dinner to talk all things Mouse Related!  We might even play a Disney game after dinner. 

Mark is making an omelet in the slow cooker.  Who knew you could do that?  I am picking up the salad fixings and some broccoli to go with it.  I might get some cut fruit and sugar free cookies for dessert as well.  They are bringing rolls.  It should be a lot of fun, but I have to watch myself with the dessert part.  As long as I eat very sensibly the rest of the day, I am hoping the dinner party will be okay. 

Monday Weigh In and Mah Jongg and Choir

It's going to be one of those busy, compartmentalized day.  At 10:30 a.m. I have water aerobics and lap swimming over at the Cove.  At 1 p.m. I have Mah Jongg at my neighbor's house.  At 7:30 I have choir at SOJC.  Each is in a different location, of course! 

This is our last choir rehearsal before the performance Thursday night at the Israeli Independence Day Celebration at the Maitland JCC.  Along the way of rehearsing for this event, two of my members have had to withdraw.  Still, we will be 10 people up there, and I think they will be fine. 

Yesterday we did everything we planned, and it went very well with no rain to interfere. The Starliters show was just SO MUCH FUN!  It was great fun looking at all my friends up there, doing such a great job.  I miss hanging out with them, but I surety did NOT miss the number of hours and days they had to put in over the last nine 7 months to get to that point.

This whole weekend was just perfect.  It allowed us to enjoy and participate in all the various venues that we love down here:  Solivita (Starliters and our beautiful home), Cypress Cove (water aerobics, pool, relaxation, ARNL library, hanging out with friends), SOJC (fabulous services on Shabbat), and Disney (Downtown Disney for a movie, Epcot).  I often feel like these four places are all pulling on us, and sometimes we can't keep up with all of them; however, when you haven't been at any of them for a month or more, then having a weekend where you did a little of everything was very enjoyable.

Yesterday, I ate exactly what I planned and programmed.  I walked over three miles because we went to Disney.  I expected a nice weight loss for that.

Hm....I remember writing about the quirkiness of my scale before.  I got on the scale first thing this morning and was UP a LOT.   ????  How can that be?  I moved the scale and got on and was down four pounds, right then from the previous weighing.  Long story short, I got on and off about 10 times, some before my shower and some after, some on one tile in the bathroom and some on another.  Now I don't know what to report for my weight.  I got so many different numbers that I have no idea which is right.  They varied from the lowest of 280.6 all the way up to 284.3.  So which one is it? 

To be honest, if I had stepped on the scale and gotten the lowest number first, I would have said Hooray and written it down.  Unfortunately, I got something in the 283 range, which made me mad.  That would have meant another pound up from yesterday.  I didn't believe that was possible with eating 1440 calories and walking three miles.  Instead, I just got on and off another eight or so times and got eight different numbers. 

Last Monday I reported a weight of 284.6.  Today I have NO idea what to report.  Clearly it is something between the lows and highs I just mentioned.  The LAST time I got on the scale it said 281 even, so I have decided to keep that one.  That might be a mistake, but I'm going with it anyway.

So my official report for the week is that I weighed in at 281 this morning for a lost of 3.6 pounds.  That's an excellent week.  I just hope it's true.

Back to WDW at last.

Mark has been having Disney withdrawal for awhile, so today we will finally scratch that itch.  We will have our usual Disney Sunday, a movie at the AMC theaters in Downtown Disney, lunch out, and an afternoon visit to Epcot.  We can't stay too late at Epcot today because at 7 p.m.  we have tickets to the Solivita Starliters performance.  It will be fun to see my friends up there performing.

We are having lunch at Subway or Qdobas today because in the transition from Downtown Disney to Disney Springs our favorite lunch place (five bean veggie chili and a fruit cup) has been closed.  Instead we will go out to the nearby shopping center to one of the other places.  At Epcot we will go see the special 12 minute preview of the new movie Tomorrowland, which currently is in the Journey into Imagination pavilion where Captain EO is usually shown.  We'll also have time to stroll around and look at some of the Flower and Garden Festival topiaries.  I know that the walking will be good for me, but I'm concerned that I won't be able to do it.  This is good motivation to lose this weight, at least 40-50 pounds of it, so that I can easily walk all around the parks again.  Right now, my Florida lifestyle is seriously compromised by my weight.

Today is a good example of why I need to get rid of the scale after I weigh in tomorrow morning.  Yesterday I weighed 281.3.  I had an excellent day yesterday that included eating only 1450 calories and 25 minutes of water aerobics.  This morning I am up one pound to 282.2.  And that is why weighing everyday is BAD.  It is not encouraging to see a pound gain from a day where you ate all your meals at home, had low sodium content, and did some exercise.  It's probably some water retention or whatever, but it still sucks to see that. 

So...I will weigh myself tomorrow, report it, and hide the scale.  No more weight reports except on Mondays.

At last, Shul and Pool!

It has been months since we had a Shabbat that included shul and pool.  If it doesn't rain this afternoon, we will definitely head to the pool.

I had an excellent day yesterday in terms of food and exercise.  I did what I said I would do and a little more, 40 minutes of water aerobics and 15 minutes lap swimming.  My meals were planned and logged in.  I had 1609 calories, just 15 under my allotment, but the exercise calories burned made it look like I only had 1176.  I am rewarded this morning with another pound gone.  I'm only going to check my weight two more days, Sunday and Monday.  Then that scale is getting put away for a week.

The last three days our closest gym, The Palms, has been closed to replace all of the equipment.  We are apprehensive that we won't like the new machines.  The other gym, Riviera Fitness Center, has terrible machines that I hate. I refuse to go there.  I'm really hoping they have not put that type in The Palms.  Between the shul and the pool, Mark and I might go up there and take a look at the new equipment.  We have used lots of gyms on various cruise ships and hotels.  There are many companies that make these weight lifting machines.  Some are good and some are not.  We are hoping that we like the new machines they have chosen.

Back to the Library

Obviously we have not volunteered in the ANRL library at the Cove for over a month, so today is our day!  It should be fun to get back to that.  We will start out the day with water aerobics at 10:30, which I'm very much looking forward to.

I dropped about half a pound since yesterday, down to 282.2 this morning.  I am going to continue to weigh in daily until Monday morning.  Then I'm going back to the weekly weigh-in.  Weight Watchers always has recommended once a week, but I've recently read some articles saying once a day is better.  Who really knows, but I go crazy when I get on and off the scale too often.  Plus there's the element of that big surprise when you step on it Monday morning!  So that's one big thing I'm planning on changing for my Weight Loss Journey Part Two!

We ate in a French restaurant in Mt. Dora yesterday.  It was really amazing.  I did not do as well as I could have.  I did one thing right, no alcohol.  Mark and Susie both had wine, but I decided to stick with black coffee and water.  I did one thing wrong.  I ordered the Roasted Red Pepper and Gouda soup instead of the salad.  Should have had the salad, but the soup was certainly delicious.  I probably should have ordered a quiche, but I ordered a broccoli and cheese crepe.  I'm not really sure whether a crepe or a quiche is higher in calories honestly.  The other good thing I did was log it all into my Lose It! program as best as I could.  I looked up other crepes and soups and estimated the meal at 900 calories.  I logged all my foods in.  Breakfast and dinner were at home and very good.  I ate only a banana and a small orange later in the evening.  My total calories came to 1723, which is too high for any serious weigh loss.  My app is allowing me 1624 right now because my weight is so high.  It's set to allow for a two pound loss per week, so as your weight goes down, the calorie allotment goes down, too.  I walked around Mt. Dora a lot, so I programmed one hour of slow walking in, which then allowed the app to show that I was under my allotment by a little bit.

I'm going to try really hard this time to learn how to eat right in restaurants and in other people's homes or at parties.  These occasions are still hard for me.

We had a great time yesterday with Susie and Ed in Mount Dora.  It's a beautiful town up on a hill of 183 feet, overlooking Lake Dora.  We had a two hour boat ride around Lake Dora, through the Dora Canal, and briefly into Lake Eustis before returning to dock.  We strolled around town, ate lunch in the French restaurant, shopping in a few places, visited the little museum, and took the historic old train up to the next town of Tavares.  We learned that Tavares means "center" in Portuguese and Tavares is the actual geographic center of Florida.  The rain held off until our drive home.  It was HORRIBLE at that point, so kudos to Ed for staying alert and driving us safely home.

Enjoy these few pictures from Mt. Dora.

A REALLY big gator swam across the lake right up to the boat dock and then under the dock.  We estimated it at 10 or more feet in length.

We were the ONLY passengers on the 10 a.m. cruise.  We got lots of personal attention, which was great!

Heading into the Dora Canal.

Peaceful cruising through the canal.

Awesome gator sunning on a plank.

French restaurant for lunch.

The little history museum is in a building that used to be the city jail and fire house.

Lots of really cool stuff in here.

We allowed to TOUCH anything!  I tried to play the old pump organ, but it didn't work.  We had one like this in the house when I was growing up.

There are six jail cells back here.  There was only one breakout ever and the prisoner said it was just too cold, so he would come back for his trial.  And he did.

Looks like there have now been TWO breakouts.

Susie had a friend who said be sure to stop here!

Lots of flavored oils and balsamic vinegars to taste and buy.

Next we walked over to the Lakeside Inn.

Built in 1883 it is the oldest, continuing operating hotel in Florida.

Mark finds jails, but I find rocking chairs.

Then it was off to catch the 3:15 train to Tavares.

Great day yesterday and looking forward to a great day today.

Getting back into the pool for water aerobics followed by 10 minutes of lap swimming felt absolutely wonderful yesterday.  Because I'm so heavy and out of shape, I did not move as fast or as hard during the aerobics, and 10 minutes of lap swimming was all I could do, too, BUT it's a START! Yay! A little later in the day I also walked 20 minutes.  I feel like I kicked off my new weight loss journey very well.

I also ate very well and logged it all into Lose It!  I had almost exactly 1200 calories.  I went to the Perkins website and looked up their dinners and nutritional data.  They have an excellent nutrition calculator.  I ordered the Fit Fare Tilapia, substituted a plain baked potato for the rice and added broccoli on the side.  The total for that was only 455 calories. It was also delicious and filling.

For this perfect day, I was rewarded with a one pound weight loss.  I am now only five pounds up from when we left for MD on March 12.  If I can drop those five pounds in the next week or two, I will be able to focus on getting back to around 250 by the day we leave for Hawaii, August 2.

My SOCJ choir rehearsed very well last night.  Next Thursday they have their first performance outside of the building, so we are all very excited for that.  They are performing at the JCC in Matiland for the big Israeli Independence Day Festival on Thursday, April 23.  Our scheduled performance time is 7:40 p.m.  I hope I can get someone to take some pictures of us on stage!

Today we are having Tourist Tuesday on Thursday with Susie and Ed Goldberg.  We are driving up to Mount Dora, a bit over an hour north, to explore.  We have reservations for a two hour canal boat tour from 10 a.m. to noon.  Then we'll have three hours to have lunch in Mt. Dora, explore the shops, and maybe even go to their local area history museum.  At 3:15 we board their historic train for a 9 mile ride along the lake to the nearby town of Tavares and then back again.  If the predicted thunderstorms don't get us, it should be a wonderful day.

My breakfast and dinner will be at home.  Lunch will be somewhere in Mt. Dora.  I pledge to do the best I can.  I don't know the restaurant we will go to, so I cannot prepare for it like I did yesterday at Perkins. In general, the rule for restaurants has to include things like no appetizers, alcohol, or dessert.  If I just order a reasonable entree, all should be well. 

As for exercise, I have nothing specific planned, but there should be lots of time for walking around Mt. Dora.  My iPhone 6 will record my steps, which is nice. 

Hope everyone reading this blog also has a nice day!

Good to be home.

The train ride was smooth and uneventful.  It even arrived an hour earlier than scheduled.  Since there were only 74 cars and 149 people, it did not take too long before our car was called.  The train will take 600 passengers and nearly 300 cars north today.  I'm sure Amtrak loves the snowbirds very much.

We picked up Mark's comic books, picked up my car where it had been sitting at the shop for a month, and then split up.  Mark went grocery shopping for a few things to tide us over while I went home and started to unload the car.  UGH.  That seemed to take forever. I had about half of it done when he got home, so he finished.  We had lunch and then slept about two hours before unpacking everything.  I guess we didn't sleep all that well on the train this time.

Today I am starting over.  I weigh 283.6 this morning, which is one pound lost since Monday, so at least I'm going in the right direction.  I have to lose ALL my weight over again.  This really is a complete do-over.  I'm kind of disgusted with myself, but I'll get over it.  I just have to do it again.  I do know how to do that.

I had a perfect breakfast this morning of Fiber One cereal with blueberries and 80 calorie Greek Yogurt on it.  Lunch will be at home, tuna on salad.  Then dinner will be at Perkins tonight.  We were going to go to Sweet Tomatoes, but I'm not that great at control in buffets, even ones that are mostly soup and salad.  Perkins has a Low Calorie meal section with tilapia and sides that I've had before.  If I order that I will be okay.  Plus Mark got a coupon for one free entree.  Hard to pass that up.

Tonight we have a lecture at the synagogue at 6:45 on the Holocaust for Yom Hashoah.  Then we have the choir rehearsal afterwards.  Our little three-song performance is next Thursday night.

In just a few minutes, Mark and I are heading to the Cove to do the 10:30 water aerobics class.  I did it once before we left for Maryland, but basically we haven't done it regularly in a year.  It's time to get back to doing that at least two or three mornings a week.  Eventually the lady who leads it will go north since she's a partial snowbird herself.  Last year she left at the end of June. If I can squeeze a walk in today as well, that would be wonderful.  Thunderstorms are predicted for the afternoon and evening, so we will have to wait to see how that goes.  At 4:45, we are heading over to the Perkins near Disney for a 5:30 dinner time and then the lecture and rehearsal.

It's very good to be home.

Heading home at last.

I didn't think I would have time to write a blog today, but it looks like I have about 10 minutes to spare before heading down to breakfast in the hotel lobby.  So here goes.

First, it's Monday, so my weight report is due.  I am 284.6 this morning, which means I gained 2.1 pounds this week.  It's not uncommon to gain weight during Passover, but in general I have gained way too much weight during this trip.  When we left on March 12, I weighed 277.8.  I have gained 7.8 pounds in a month.  Now I'm going to try very hard to lose at least that much, if not more, in the next month.

We should be checking out of the hotel in about 2 hours and should be at the train station by 1 p.m. today.  Although I gained a lot of weight, I sure had fun!

The Orioles lost yesterday 10-7, but it was still fabulous going to a game with Lowell. I also got to have a little bit of time with my friend Tom and two of his kids.  That was also a treat.  Here are the game pictures I promised.  Now I also promise there will not be a blog until Wednesday.

Mark with the statue of Jim Palmer

View from our seats in section 330, row 10.

GREAT picture of my two guys.  They both look gorgeous.

Tom and his son Jake and daughter Abby.  I met Tom in the 1990s when we were both music teachers at Pikesville MIddle.  He moved into technology and eventually out to Carroll County, but we have kept in touch.

Me and Tom!  We sure had fun working together.  He looks great here, but this picture just shows all the weight I have put on.

Seventh Inning stretch.

Me and my son!  Love him so much!

Dinner in Linthicum at the Olive Grove after the game.  I would be sadder saying good-bye if I didn't know I would be seeing him in just three months in Florida.

Last Full Day in MD and Ball Game with Lowell

We originally planned to go home today, but when I saw that the Orioles were playing a home game today, I extended our stay until tomorrow.  Luckily, the hotel was able to add that extra day on for us without changing rooms!  The game starts at 1:30, so we are meeting Lowell at the North Linthicum Light Rail station to head into the game.  My friend and former co-worker, Tom Walker, will also be there, very near our seats.  We are going to try to meet up at some point during the game to say hi.

Yesterday we went to shul for the Triple Play: Shabbat, Last Day of Passover, Yizkor services.  That brought out a pretty big crowd, so it was a lot of fun.  Ha Ha!  If Yizkor can be called fun.  The cantor led the whole thing because the Rabbi was not able to come due to an illness in the family.  We didn't get any more details on it.  That was okay with us because we had fun listening to Phil sing. 

After shul, we ate our last Passover meal for lunch.  We planned the food pretty well this year, so there wasn't too much left over to deal with.  We took a nice walk outside and then sat on the outdoor rocking chairs to read for half an hour as we waited for the maid to finish in our room.  Once we got back inside and took a much needed afternoon nap, we took out all the Passover things, packed up our dishes, threw out all the tinfoil, and put the kitchen back to its normal look.  Then we called out for pizza to be delivered at 8:30 p.m. to officially get back to eating chametz.  It was DELICIOUS!

I'm looking forward to going to the game with Lowell today.  Then we will take him out to dinner.  Emily declined because she has too many papers to grade.  I totally get that.  We will see them both for a week in July and a week in August, so I'm not too sad to say goodbye to him tonight.

We are already planning when to come back next year.  It looks like June is a good contender.  I'm sure we will be firming up those plans in the fall. 

I probably won't have time to write a blog tomorrow because we have to get out of here around 10 in order to go to Cindy's to collect the rest of our belongings and return her cart. That cart was a LIFESAVER for moving everything in and out of this apartment.  We want to be at the Lorton train station by 1 p.m.  We will arrive in Florida Tuesday morning around 9 a.m.  You never know how long it will be before your car is called, can take an hour or more, but then we will head south to the Orlando area, pick up Mark's month of comic books, get my car from the repair shop where it's been the entire month, pick up Mark's meds at Publix and get some groceries.  We hope to be home not much after 1 p.m. so we aren't too tired before unloading all this stuff and putting it away.  We have both agreed that once we get in the house on Tuesday, we won't want to go back out the rest of the day!  I will write a blog Wednesday morning catching up on everything, although I believe it will go exactly as I have just outlined it.  LOL!

There will also be pictures of us at the game posted on Wednesday!

Opening HOME Day in Batimore.

The Orioles played three games against the Tampa Bay Rays in Florida, taking 2 out of 3.  Today they have their opening day game at HOME at 3 p.m.  Mark and I have tickets for the Sunday game, but we will be glued to the TV to watch today's game.  Unfortunately, thunderstorms and rain showers are predicted from 3-8 p.m. or so.  There could be a delay or even cancellation.  That would be so sad for those who have tickets and/or took off work to go to the game.  It's going to be bright and sunny with a high of 65 degrees Sunday afternoon when we go with Lowell!

Last night we had Cindy over for dinner.  It was the last time we will see her on this trip, so it was fun to hang out in the apartment with her, have a big meal, and watch some of our favorite shows together.  I must admit that I teared up when we hugged good-bye.  I love her so much.  She is just one of those truly wonderful women!  No matter what we might do for her, it will never be enough.

Today Mark and I will be going down to the lobby to read for awhile so that the maid can come in.  We stayed in the apartment all day yesterday, reading, doing puzzles, and watching TV, until it was time to make dinner.  I guess we should get out for a little while today and let her in!  We do enjoy staying in this little apartment.  It's got everything we need and is very comfortable for the two of us.  Going away for the holiday like this makes it really seem like a holiday, especially since we spent so much of it with family and friends.  Next year we will NOT come up here for Passover.  We have promised too many other people in Florida, as well as Frank up here in MD, that we will stay home and make Seders for them in our house.  That's nice, too, but shopping down there is not as easy as shopping up here for Passover food.

Well, it's 3 p.m. and the Opening Day Ceremonies are on the TV.  Now to wrap up this blog and watch the game.  Play Ball and Go Os!

The master bedroom on the right and the guest bedroom (with Duffy and Olaf) on the left.  LOL!

View of the "master bedroom" and bath on the left with the "dining room" and kitchen on the right.

We've had fun referring to all the areas of the suite.  The left side of the table with the cloth is the "dining room."  The right side of the table with my computer on it is the "den."

The TV swivels far enough to be in the dining area, the bedrooms, or even to the "living room."

Mark is working some crossword puzzles in the "living room."

Kosher for Passover kitchen.  It's all we really need.

it's Monday! It's Opening Day!

We have been up here a bit over four weeks.  Today marks the day that we have exactly one week left because we take the auto train home next Monday.

I have not done well with the weight since the last report.  Today I am 282.5.  Sad, I know.  It's up one and a half pounds since last Monday.  Actually, it's up four pounds since Wednesday when we moved into the apartment.  Now that Passover has started, I have eaten a lot of matzoh, snacks, and desserts. Today we are going to the Rosens for lunch.  I'm sure the food will be plentiful and delicious.

Yesterday, Mark and I went to Mishkan Torah for the second day holiday services. Only 9 people total came, so it was a bit of a truncated service.  Still, it was lovely seeing those who came, and Rabbi Cohen did a great job of reading and discussing the Torah service.  When we came back, we decided to take a walk after lunch.  We walked 10 minutes down the road and the same 10 minutes back, just 20 minutes.  Unfortunately, at this weight, my back can barely support the weight, so it was cramped and hurting after 10 minutes.  if i had walked in a circle and was back where I started from in 10 minutes, I would have been happy and sat down.  That wasn't the case, however, so I had to turn around and walk back in pain that increased as the time went on.  It wasn't even a one mile walk.  Ridiculous.

I remember back in 2009 when I first started losing weight and walking that I could only walk short distances before I had to sit down and let the back muscles relax a bit.  Clearly, I am back to that point.  i can hardly believe that I've allowed myself to get tot his point.

Well, except for eating at Arlene's house on Wednesday while we play Mah Jongg, the rest of my meals through Saturday afternoon will all be in the apartment to keep kosher for Passover.  That's not necessarily going to keep the calories down though because I have a lot of high calorie foods here.  Even the dinners that Mark makes won't be as low calorie or low carb or low fat as usual.  We definitely have certain holiday foods that we like to have.

Today after we leave the Rosens, Mark will listen to the opening day game of the Orioles, who are playing their first game of the season at Trop Field against the Tampa Bay Rays.  We will get a chance to go to a game here in Baltimore at Camden Yards on Sunday with Lowell before we head home.  That will be fun.  Today we also have to do a little bit of shopping and pick up Mark's new glasses in Arundel Mills Mall.  If we have time, I will try to walk around that oval track just once.  I bet I can't even get around one time without sitting down to rest my back, just like back in 2009.

Best Seder EVER!

It was truly the best seder ever at Cindy's house on the first night of Passover.  We had a great time with all of us.  It had been 8 years since Evey attended a seder, and it was the first time for Eric.  I think it might have been 12 years since Evey and Lowell were together at a seder.  Since it was also her birthday, we realized it was 11 years since Evey and Lowell celebrated her birthday together.  Crazy.

On Saturday we put Evey and Eric on the train to go to NJ to celebrate Easter with his family.  That's today!  They had a lovely walk on a the ocean and then a late afternoon dinner out.  Lowell and Emily also went out to a restaurant with her parents for Easter.  Later, they were playing with the dogs in Pat and Phil's backyard.  Mark and I went to Mishkan Torah this morning, had lunch in our little apartment, took a walk, and then read and relaxed in the apartment.

it's been a great holiday so far!

Breakfast at the Linthicum Luncheteria on Evey's birthday, April 3.

Evey made pareve Passover frosting for the cake I bought.

She added some letters and decorations to it.

Emily, Lowell, Evey, and Eric getting ready for a birthday party before the seder.

She had a lot of fun opening presents and cards.

Then they cleaned up and set the table again for the seder.

It's all looking great!

About to sit down and start the seder.

Mark especially enjoyed the opportunity to bless both of his children!

The next day they got on the train to NJ.

We shall see them next in Hawaii for my birthday.

Mark and I had a very low key seder the second night in our Towneplace Suites apartment.