Down a pound.

I had an excellent day yesterday.  I exercised and ate right, so I was not surprised to be down a bit over a pound this morning to 270.8.  Now if I can only get back into the 260s this week and stay there.

Most of you have probably heard of a set point for weight.  The book that I just finished (see yesterday's blog) also talked about that.  I really have no idea where my set point might be because I have been at so many weights over so many years.  Whatever my set point might be, I surely hope it's not in the 270s, LOL!

I took so many little videos of dolphins and orcas on Sunday that it took nearly 24 hours to upload them.  Finally, this morning they are ready, so I can post some pictures on the blog today.

I also ordered myself a muumuu from Maui to take back to Hawaii in August.  Kind of ironic, I know, but I wanted one to wear to the luau on the final night of our stay.  I also wanted it to be made in Hawaii and all cotton and a 2X.  That is not so easy to find.  I never found a color or style exactly to my taste.  All the ones I loved were out of stock and would take too long to make and ship, so I couldn't order them.  I finally chose a light pink floral one that was in stock and will arrive by the end of next week, and it had free shipping and no tax.  That was a plus.  It's a paler pink than I would have liked, but it will be perfect for the luau!

Today is my sister Flyn's birthday.  She is turning 64, so this is the six week period when we are the same age!  I will be sure to call her some time today. I did already send her a card and a little gift.
Happy Birthday, Flyn!

I'm not sure what else we are doing today.  It might rain; it might not.  We might go to the Cove and swim and do some jumping around in the water without our aerobics leader, who has gone to NH until September.  We might go back to the indoor track.  When we go to Anaheim for the D23 convention in August, after the Hawaiian trip, we have to walk a mile ONE WAY from the hotel to Disneyland's entrance.  Then there will be miles of walking inside the park followed by that mile long walk back to the hotel late at night and exhausted.  We really need to get in shape for that!

Enjoy these pictures from Sea World.

Well, the blog is not uploading any pictures today for some unknown reason.  So, no pictures right now.  Maybe later I'll try again.  Check back.  If it never works today, I'll try again tomorrow.

For some reason, the next day the blog liked putting up pictures.  Here are some Sea World pictures.

Showing off my new Sea World t-shirt.

Mark has a new shirt, too.

Who wants to join me petting a dolphin someday?

Pilot whale!

Waiting  for the Shamu show.

Mother and calf

Waiting for the concert.

An awesome, full 45 minute performance including a lot of my favorites like "My Next Thirty Years" and "Carlene."

Waiting for the night time Shamu show.

What a great day at Sea World!

Body of Truth

I just finished reading a fascinating little book called Body of Truth: How Science, History, and Culture Drive our Obsession with Weight and What We can Do About It, by Harriet Brown.  I saw a reference to it on Facebook, downloaded it on my Kindle, and read it very quickly over just a few days.  It's not a very long book, and about 1/3 is acknowledgements, footnotes, and the index.  In fact, I just started it on Friday and finished it today.  I don't even think I read anything yesterday, so really it was just three days.  Boom.  Done.

All I can say is that it was eye-opening, and it felt like she was talking directly to me about me and my issues with weight my whole life.  I have never read anything like it.  One thing she said was what I just mentioned a few blogs ago.  Most people who lose weight, a lot of weight like I have several times, know how to lose weight.  They just don't know how to maintain a weight.  She also said only 5% of the population who loses a lot of weight is able to maintain that weight loss forever, forever being defined as five or more years.  She also said what I've intuitively believed, that losing and gaining weight is far less healthy than just staying heavy.  Every time you lose weight, your metabolism slows down just a little bit so that the next time you try to lose weight, it's much harder.  There is so much more to this book, but I can't even begin to tell all of it in the blog.  I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is worried about their weight, trying to lose weight, has already lost a lot of weight and/or gained it back, or knows someone in that position.  Hey, that about covers everybody!

Meanwhile, we went to the gym this morning and walked a mile in the track again. 

Yesterday we walked over 13,000 steps, a bit over five miles, at Sea World.  It wasn't hard.  We walked and then sat in a show and repeated that.  Still, it was very hot and I sweated a lot and drank three big bottles of water during the day.  I ate a lovely lunch at Panera after the movie and dinner at the park, but I did not gain any weight.  In fact, I went down a half pound from yesterday morning to this morning.  I still have a gain of half a pound to report for this week, up from 271.5 last Monday to 272 this morning.  I'm okay with that.

Eventually, I will put up pictures of Sea World.  They are still in the process of uploading to the web.

SeaWorld day.

We never did go to shul yesterday.  We did go to the gym and walk a mile in the indoor track.  I had forgotten how nice the indoor track is.  With music, air conditioning, good views, and a spongy walkway, I can walk faster than outdoors.  I walked 20 laps (one mile) in twenty minutes.  I worked up a sweat and felt great.  I also read a lot and watched two movies on TV in the evening.  It was a wonderful day.

I never take any wonderful day for granted.  I am thankful that I can have my husband and my health and my house to enjoy every day.  You never know when you might lose one of those. We still marvel over our community and our home whenever we drive into Solivita and walk into our house.  We are constantly amazed that we have this life together.

Today we are doing something new, going to Sea World for the second time in the same month.  We went on June 1 with Rudy, and today we are going back.  We are going to see Jurassic World first and then head up to the park.  Phil Vasser is the performer there today, so hopefully we will get into one of his two shows.  We might even stay late and catch the night time show, which we've never done.

Yes, looking forward to another great day in paradise.

Eight hours at the Cove. Now THAT'S a Good Day.

Yes, we spent eight hours at the Cove yesterday.  We got there at 10:30 for water aerobics and stayed until about 6:30 in the evening.  We had lunch there, swam in the pool several times, and worked in the ANRL library from 1-4.  We ran into people we know and enjoyed some lovely conversations several times during the day.  I also finished reading a novel, The Magicians, that Lowell had given Mark for his birthday.  When we got home, Mark heated up some leftover chicken mole and rice for Shabbat dinner.  What a fantastic day!!

I'm not sure what today will bring. It's Shabbat, so normally we head out to shul.  That might yet happen, but Mark and I have not discussed it.  We both got up around 7 a.m., and he's been watching his morning TV as always while I have been playing on the computer.  I haven't even eaten breakfast yet, so if we are going to shul, I had better get started on that.  There is a bar mitzvah this morning at SOJC.  We don't know the family, so we often don't go to those.  They are crowded, and you have to get there early, or at least on time, to get a seat.  I honestly don't see that happening right now.  LOL!

No matter what else happens today, we will go to the gym for weight lifting and walking, maybe swimming at the Cove if it doesn't rain in the afternoon.  We will see.

Finally died.

My scale finally died.  It's probably a dozen or more years old, and I never changed the battery even once.  I guess I should be happy it went this far.  Every morning for a year, I've had to hit it multiple times to get it to come on.  Today, it just wouldn't come on.  It would probably go another dozen years if I just put a new battery in.  Maybe that's what I'll do, but not today.

It might be good that the thing didn't come on today.  I have not eaten right the last two or three days, and the weight has been inching up.  I finished off a bag of salty pita chips last night, so I was pretty sure there was going to be more weight today.  Also, we ate lunch out at Chipotle yesterday where I had a sofritas salad (spicy tofu on romaine with rice, black beans, shredded cheese, and a big bag of tortilla chips).  Probably not a great choice.  Today we are eating lunch out at Cheeks between water aerobics and working in the library.  Mark and I have been craving the kosher hot dog and fries lunch.  It's the BEST!  Well, the best in taste not sodium or calories.

Soon we are going to water aerobics.  This is the last time we can do the outdoor aerobics at the Cove until mid-September.  The lady who leads it is a semi-snowbird. She's heading up to NH this weekend.   Mark and I have discussed trying out the water aerobic classes in Solivita.  Maybe....if we do, I'll let you know how it goes.

Costco and Calories

We took the plunge yesterday and joined Costco.  We have been BJs members since we moved to Florida, but Costco sells kosher chicken breasts in a bag as well as marinated salmon, also kosher.  We are hoping that those two items make it worth it because to go to Costco is farther away (and going even farther in February) and they only take the American Express card or cash.  We paid cash yesterday because we have no intention of ever getting an Amex card.  We put EVERYTHING on our Disney Rewards card and use those rewards to buy our two WDW annual passes every year.  The man selling us our membership yesterday told us that they are probably going to add a Visa card next year, so we are hoping they do.

So we were out almost six hours shopping yesterday.  The Barnes and Nobles that Mark thought was in the Florida Mall was actually across the street from the mall.  We had lunch in the food court and enjoyed walking inside the mall for awhile.  Then we drove across the street and got the guide to Disneyland at Barnes and Nobles.  Mark also bought me two great paperbacks for our big summer trip.  Thanks, Mark!

After that we did our Costco shopping, which was kind of fun.  By the time we got home, it was too late to play Mah Jong.  We were out from 10 a.m. to 3:30 in the afternoon.  I had no energy for anything except a nap on the couch.  Around 5:30 Mark went up to the gym, but I was feeling so lazy by then that I didn't even feel like putting my socks and shoes on for it.  I worked on my jigsaw puzzle out on the lanai for a few hours until Mark called me in for dinner.

I ate lunch out at the mall, and it was Chinese food: spicy tofu, mixed veggies, veggie lo mein, and a spring roll.  Lots of sodium in that, I'm sure.  I also bought a bag of snacks made out of snap peas.  They were also quite salty and I ate way too many of them.  So it's no surprise that I'm up three and a half pounds today.  I'm sure it's just water weight.  I plan to behave today, so tomorrow I'm sure those pounds will be gone.

In an hour we will be heading to the pool for water aerobics.  After lunch, I'm finally getting my mani/pedi again.  I had to wait three weeks because Nicole, my nail and hair girl at Nature Hair, was on vacation last week, and I didn't want to go to anyone else.  My toes are starting to hurt from growing in, so I can't wait for her to get at them!

It will be a lovely day at the Cove all day.  I LOVE those kinds of days.  Hope you love your kind of day today no matter what you might be doing.

Day after Father's Day

First my weight report, 271.7, a loss of  2.3 pounds for the week.  I'll take it.  We ate a LOT of calories and sodium yesterday, but when you walk over six miles in the same day in the heat, sweating a lot, it doesn't seem to matter!

Yesterday I posted pictures of my dad.  I also put most of them on Facebook and received a ton of "likes" and comments on that.  Today I am going to put up pictures of our day yesterday at WDW.

Mark picked out everything that we did yesterday.  We were gone from the house about 14 hours and came home tired and exhausted, but happy.  It didn't rain, and everything went very smoothly.

We enjoyed the new Pixar movie, Inside Out.  Then we headed over to Animal Kingdom for lunch and a bunch of attractions.  Around 6 p.m. we went to the Grand Floridian for an incredibly delicious dinner at the GF Cafe.  We had a blast! 

Waiting to see Finding Nemo, The Musical.

The puppeteering and singing are outstanding in this show.

Going down under the huge Tree of Life to the Tough to be a Bug 3D movie.

Talking to Lowell on the phone on the Maharajah Jungle Trek.

Despite the heat of the day, the animals were surprisingly active.

Still talking to Lowell.  Here he is standing outside Mr. Kamel Burgers, the vegetarian kiosk in Asia.  We ordered lunch there, but the name always makes me laugh.

On safari

I tested out the drums in Africa.

Relaxing in the air conditioned comfort of the Grand Floridian lobby while listening to the band play.

Whiskey on the rocks to start dinner and toast to a great day.

Raspberry Ginger Mojito for me.

Showing off the two books he got for Father's Day from his kids.

Happy Father's Day!

I have to run out of the house very soon to start the fun for Mark's Father's Day at WDW.  There will be details and photos tomorrow.

Today I wanted to post some pictures of my own father, the Rev. Dr. Billie Getson Meese, who passed away in August of 1988.

I wish I had time to write more about him, but I don't.  I will have to put that off for another day.  I do have time to post a few photos that I took this morning from old photo albums.

Here he is teaching science at Brooklyn Park Jr-Sr High in MD, somewhere between 1952, when I know he started, and 1956ish, when I'm guessing he took the job in Laurel at the D.C. Children's Center.  I think of all the jobs he ever had, he loved teaching the most.

Daddy with me at my wedding in December of 1975.

Not sure where or when this was taken, but he looks very happy here.

Sitting in the living room of his home in Pasadena after marrying Jackie, probably taken in the mid-'70s.

Summer of 1980, holding his grandson Lowell.

Spring of 1987, holding his granddaughter Evey.

Is this maintenance?

I always say that I have never maintained a weight. I am always either going up or down.  Through most of my life, I have gone up or down very large amounts of weight, sometimes over short periods of time and sometimes over long periods of time. 

Yesterday I had a reasonably good day.  I didn't log anything in, so I can's say for sure, but except for eating some crackers and the rest of a container of hummus plus a large handful of dried cherries as a late afternoon snack, I only ate normal meals at home.  I also did my water aerobics and went to shul in the evening. 

I weigh 272.5 this morning, which is up three-tenths from the last time I posted a weight on Thursday morning. 

So in the last two weeks I have posted these weights:
Monday, June 1   274.5
Monday, June 8 (after the five days of diarrhea)  269.1
Thursday, June 11  275.5
Saturday, June 13  278.5
Monday, June 15  274
Wednesday, June 17  272.9
Thursday, June 18    272.2
Today, June 20    272.5

Is this maintenance?  Am I just maintaining something in the low to mid 270s? 

I don't know because I don't understand maintenance and have never done it for very long.  I am always thinking that I'm dieting and trying to lose weight or I'm binging out of control and packing it on. Still, I weigh about the same that I did two years ago despite a forty pound loss and regain in between.  Is that maintenance?  I am the same as two years ago, for Pete's sake!  I did not maintain that forty pound loss back in the summer of 2013. 

I have heard other people say they check their weight daily, like I do, and when they are up one or two pounds, they change their eating habits by cutting back a little one day.  Then they are back to their normal weight.  I never think that way.  I often fluctuate far more than one pound a day, but it doesn't always spur a change in behavior.  I have not learned to change my habits of grazing for snacks in the house or eating appropriate amounts and types of food at restaurants or parties.  These are problems that are KNOWN to me that I persistently do nothing about.  Being up a pound or two does not change my schedule either.  If we are scheduled to eat out several days in a row, I know I'm going to gain some weight, but I go and overeat anyway.  Then I write on this blog about how much I've gained. 

Why do I keep doing this?  I am nearly 65.  Why have I never learned to control my appetite?  I have no idea.  Evey says I should go to counselling for Binge Eating Disorder.  She is probably right.

But I'm not going to do it.

Sometimes I think I should have bariatric surgery.  I know a lot of people who have done it, some with great long term success and some with only short term success followed by a big regain of most of the weight. 

But I'm not going to do it.  I just know I'd be the one who regained the weight eventually, so why bother going through all of that.  Even though the stomach is smaller, I could see myself grazing small amounts all day long, essentially still getting thousands of calories a day.

The brain and its habits are a mysterious thing, that's for sure!!

Well, today, Mark and I are having a relaxing Shabbat.  We will go to the gym for our weight routine.  Other than that, there are no particular plans.  We might go to the pool, but it's really, REALLY hot.  Yesterday, we spent several hours poolside, as I did on Tuesday.  The pool water is like bath water, not even refreshing to go in.  Almost nobody was out around the pool yesterday because of the heat.  It's too hot to go for a walk outdoors, too.  I suspect we will do the weights at the gym, but that might be our only foray outside.  I see a lot of TV in our future for today.  With any luck, I will eat only my planned meals and snacks and stay the same or drop a little before tomorrow morning.

Tomorrow is Father's Day.  For a present, I am giving Mark a day of his choice when I pick up all the tabs.  We are going to the new Disney movie, Inside Out at Downtown Disney.  Then we are going to Animal Kingdom for a vegetarian lunch at the Asian kiosk, some Fastpasses for the safari and other attractions, wandering around in the high heat and potential thunderstorms to look at animals, followed by a big dinner at the Grand Floridian Cafe.  There is a lot of high calorie eating involved, but there is also a lot of walking. 

Hopefully, Monday morning will show that I maintained by weight for the week!  I was 274 last Monday.  I'm 272.5 this morning.  If I maintain my weight for the week, it will mean I gain a pound and a half tomorrow.  That will be interesting to me to see how it turns out! 

Maintenance?  A concept I have never mastered.

Kona Cafe

We had a wonderful day yesterday with Barbara and Ed.  Lunch at the Kona Cafe was delicious, and we expected nothing less from a Disney Resort restaurant!

I overate.  No surprise to those who read this blog regularly and/or know me personally.  I often don't do well in restaurants.  There are only a few choices at that restaurant if you are not eating meat.  I had the parsnip and ginger soup for an appetizer.  I highly recommend that.  It was a smooth, pureed soup with a delightfully interesting flavor. Then I had the Pan Asian Noodle Bowl with Tofu, also delicious and full of vegetables.  It was also full of sodium, so I'm up a pound and a half today.  Well, that's no surprise.  Later I had a Dole Whip from the new Pineapple Lanai kiosk on the first floor of the resort. 

We enjoyed our time with Ed and Barbara.  They are easy to talk to and fun to be with.  I'm glad they moved to our neighborhood and on our street!

Once we got home, I didn't go out again, but Mark did the grocery shopping.  i just sat and watched TV from about 3:30 until 11:30.  I ate a good dinner that Mark prepared, but I ate too many cherries and raisins as snacks in the late afternoon.  UGH.  They actually upset my stomach.  Foolish me!

Today we are heading to the pool for water aerobics, lunch poolside, and then our three hours in the library volunteering.  Tonight Mark is making a kosher Italian sausage dinner for Shabbat.  I hope it doesn't take too long to make because we won't get home until 4:30 and at 6:30 we are heading out to shul.  Tonight they are having our friend Ezra play guitar at the beginning of the service.  This is the first time SOJC has ever had a guitar as part of the service, so we don't want to miss it.  Since we're going to shul tonight, we will skip it tomorrow morning.  Tomorrow we'll go to the gym and probably exercise on our own at the pool.  The temperatures are HIGH right now, running at or a bit over 100 for the heat index.  Good time to be indoors or in a pool!

Here are pictures from the Polynesian Village Resort with our friends Barbara and Ed.

View from the front door all the way to the back.  Very open and airy lobby.

Water fall and Tiki god in the center

Mark and Ed entered the lobby after parking the car.

Barbara and I were waiting for them in these very comfortable chairs.

The new place for Dole Whip is outside the back door of the lobby.  No air conditioned space to eat other than going back in the lobby, which is what I did.

Looking over the balcony on the second floor down at the new lobby. 

The 2 BR DVC bungalows on the water out on the beach.

Beef O'Brady's

I have only eaten in Beef O'Brady's three times since we moved to Florida.  Until then, I had never seen or heard of that restaurant chain.  It's a sports bar/restaurant casual place.  The first time, Mark and I stopped at the one in Kissimmee for lunch.  The only thing I could find to eat was a vegetarian rice bowl that had melted cheese in it.  It was okay, but I was sure it was very high in carbs and fat.  Mark had that, also, so I don't think there were any other choices.  I said I didn't want to go back there.  That store later closed and turned into some Mexican restaurant.

Still, our NARFE chapter holds its Board meetings at the Beefs in Lakeland.  Mark was on the board long before me, and he would go by himself.  In 2013, I took a position on the board, so I had to go to the meetings, too.  In two years, I was only available to attend twice.  Yesterday was the second time.

Fortunately, they had the same Big Catch Salad that I got a year ago.  It was FABULOUS!  A very large piece of tilapia (choice of lemon grilled, blackened, or fried) on a bed of romaine lettuce, chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion rings, and croutons.  Choice of dressing, but anyone who knows me knows my choice is always NO dressing!  It was delicious and only $9.99.  The coffee was also very good.  That was the only choice of lunch that we could eat on the entire menu, but I'm okay with that.  I don't need choices.  I do much better with only one good choice.  This was low carb, low fat, and highly delicious.  Beef O'Brady's just got bumped up to one of my favorite lunch places.

When we got home, I napped about 40 minutes, practiced my SOJC music, had a great dinner of leftover soup that Mark had made, and went to the rehearsal.  Great day!

Today we are heading up to the gym around 10 a.m., and then our friends, fellow Disney fans Barb and Ed, are picking us up to go to the Kona Cafe at the Poly for lunch.  I hope I find an appropriate lunch choice there like I did yesterday.  I actually lost another half pound yesterday, 272.2 this morning.  I was pretty excited.  I would really LOVE to get out of the seventies and stay out forever!  It is just so much harder to lose weight now.  It's a struggle every day.  Seriously, in Maryland, going to work plus not entertaining or eating out several times every week, made weight loss SO much easier.  Maybe being in my 50s instead of 60s helped as well.  Not an excuse, just an observation.

NARFE and Choir

First, yesterday's report.  GLORIOUS.

Mark had a lot of NARFE things and other things to do around the house, so I left at 10 a.m. and went to water aerobics alone.  I was the only attendee with the instructor.  That was weird, but we went through the whole 45 minute routine.  Then I swam laps for 20 minutes.  I stayed poolside for lunch, which I brought from home.  I read an entire issue of Time magazine, played games on my phone, and swam some more when I got hot.  Around 3:30, Mark joined me for swimming and relaxing.  We were home by 5 p.m. and I worked on my jigsaw puzzle for nearly 90 minutes before eating dinner and watching TV until bedtime.  It was nearly a perfect day in paradise!

Today we are heading over to the Beef O'Brady's in Lakeland for our NARFE chapter's board meeting.  I only did this once before, but I think I had a tilapia salad.  I'm hoping they have the same thing again.  This morning I am down another pound, 272.9.  That makes me pretty happy.  Tonight I will be going to SOJC choir, so that means less time to snack in the house! 

Tomorrow we have lunch at the Kona Cafe.  We have had breakfast and dinner at that restaurant in the Polynesian Village Resort at WDW many times, but this is actually going to be the first time for lunch.  I have no idea what the lunch menu has on it.  I hope something that won't pile on the pounds!  It will also give us our first look at the new lobby.  It has been under renovation for close to two years, and now we will see it completed.  With any luck, we might even get a peek at one of the new DVC studios if it's allowed.  At least we can walk out to the lake and see the bungalows from a different perspective.  I have watched them under construction from over at the Grand Floridian and from the ferry to Magic Kingdom.  It should be fun to see them up close.  There will be pictures of it for sure in Friday's blog.

Trying to get back to normal

My weight this morning is 274.  That is officially a gain of 4.9 pounds for the week since last Monday, which I did not record, was only 269.1 due to the five days of diarrhea.  Saturday morning, I recorded that I was up eleven pounds, up to 280.1 after so much eating on Thursday and Friday.  I did a little better on Saturday and Sunday, not perfect, but better.  I must have because I dropped 6.1 pounds in those two days.

As I said in a previous blog, misquoting Dorothy, "Weight comes and goes so quickly here."

Mark and I went to the last day of the five Star Wars Weekends at Disney's Hollywood Studios yesterday.  James Arnold Taylor, voice actor extraordinaire, was the host, as he has been for the last five years.  He voices Obi Wan in a cancelled Disney cartoon series and now voices Ezra in the new series on Disney XD called Star Wars Rebels.  The main three guests were Ray Park, who played Darth Maul.  We saw him last year, as well, and he is a most entertaining guest.  New for us this year were Peter Mayhew, Chewbacca, and Frank Oz, Yoda and many Muppets.  Both were just extraordinary and made for a wonderful weekend.

We also had Fast Passes for the new and improved Great Movie Ride, which was a lot of fun, Star Tours, and The Little Mermaid show.  We also were able to go to Muppet Vision 3D and stayed for the fireworks.  AWESOME fireworks! 

We ate the veggie wrap and house made chips for lunch.  I also had the tomato basil soup.  For dinner we had the salmon, broccoli, and quinoa/couscous with the no sugar added strawberry parfait.  Between the two meals, it was SO HOT that I ate a frozen lemonade.  Yum.  There was a lot of sweating in the heat and walking around. I guess that's why I dropped some weight, probably mostly water.

Now it's a new week.  I have three occasions to eat out.  We are having lunch out on Wednesday with NARFE at Beef O'Brady's, lunch out on Thursday with friends at Kona Cafe, and lunch AND dinner out on Sunday for Father's Day.  With any luck, I can exercise more and eat less the rest of the week and bring in a small loss this week.  We shall see.

Meanwhile, here are a few pictures from Star Wars Weekend!

Ray Park, on the left, was Darth Maul.  Giving a demo to the host, James Arnold Taylor.

Peter Mayhew, Chewbacca.  He was in a wheelchair because he just had knee replacement surgery.

Talking to Lowell on the phone while standing in line.

Frank Oz played Yoda.  His first time at the Star Wars Weekends.