The year is starting well.

I did everything I said I would do yesterday.   I did my weight routine, walked 35 minutes (and saw an awesome gator sunning himself on the bank), ate an appropriate breakfast and lunch, ate only an entree and a drink at the Puerto Rican restaurant, ate a banana and a sugar free Italian ice for a bedtime snack.  I tried to estimate the calories, which is hard from a restaurant like that one, and I think it was around 1800 for the day.  That's too many to lose weight on a regular basis, but on the first day of a diet it works.  I dropped a pound.  I'll take it.

Today Mark and I are driving to Plant City for our monthly NARFE meeting at the Outback Steakhouse.  We always say no to the bread and have a salad, steamed veggies, and tilapia. I never feel that it's a bad meal.  For dinner tonight Mark is making our "spaghetti."  That's a low-carb pasta sauce with soy crumbles served over steamed cauliflower.  We used to put it on the shiritake noodles or miracle noodles, but we both have decided the cauliflower is better!  We like cauliflower; it's cheaper and easier to make; and it has more nutritional value.  I highly recommend trying it.  Any pasta sauce on cauliflower will taste great.

When we return from the meeting today, Mark has to do our weekly grocery shopping, but when he gets back from that, I hope we can take a thirty minute walk.  Walking is the key.

Mark found a pedometer app for the cell phone and decided to track his steps on our walk yesterday. It was 1.2 miles and he used a bit over 2000 steps.  He has decided he wants to do that 10,000 steps a day routine.  That's around five miles, but it counts all the steps in a day.  I'd like to find a good pedometer that knows when you are sitting still in a car and doesn't need to be turned on and off.  Mark's program thought he was still walking when we were driving home.  Not helpful.  I don't want to pay an arm and a leg for it either.  I used to have a cheap one that was extremely inaccurate.  One or two steps could just as easily register as 60 steps on it.  I want something trustworthy!