I'm composing this as I lie on my side in bed.
Credit for a healing body.
I didn't make green juice today. I don't know why except that I was resisting something good for me.
I put off my walking today too then remembered I can walk on the spot so I did that.
Diet Coaches/Buddies – Huge success, CREDIT moi, riffling through several stacks of unordered papers - of the sort that sit in a pile marked "To Be Dealt With". Most had served their purpose by sitting there in case they were needed and went into the trash. Another bunch went to the folder to be shredded. When done, I felt exhilarated and exhausted. Not sure why it's so mentally taxing - perhaps because it's always stuff that should have been taken care of right away. Excitement was to find a BOGO card for Ben & Jerry's ice cream. The good news is that I've had it for at least a year and haven't indulged. The bad news is that I drool just looking at the card. We're just past the season to try to cajole DW into a walk about to get an ice cream cone, LOL. It goes back in the stack for a hot day next summer.
Eating was on plan with no daytime snacks, CREDIT moi. Dinner was a new trial of mushroom ravioli from a package from Whole Foods. Was good. Surprising amount of protein - possibly from the whole wheat flour. We're on a kick to increase the amount of mushrooms we consume for their nutrition benefits. Fun to be a vegetarian for the day.
onebyone - Kudos for walking on the spot when you didn't get outside. Maybe today is the day for green juice.
Erika (eusebius) – Congrats to your scale for continuing to drop. And to you for your contribution to that. Yay for a clearance sale on a zero-points popcorn popper.
Silverbirch - Great that your eyes correct to 20/20. Yay for the marvels of optics. Also great news that your DD solved her transportation to work problem with a borrowed e-bike.
maryann – Congrats for being recognized as a computer wizard. Terrific motto, "we are only bringing what we love."
Readers -
Quote:
Chapter 7Stage 4 - The Think Thin Lifetime Eating Plan
Before You Move On
Keep increasing your exercise, filing out your Stage 4 Success Skills Sheet, contacting your Diet Buddy, and adding to your Advantages Deck and Memory Box.
Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Complete Beck Diet for Life (Green book), Pg 185.
I slept in yesterday and then the day got away from me. Friday's success was mowing most of the lawn; the mower kept stopping because the build up of grass was so much at times so I finally gave up and will finish later this week. My friend told me her husband lost 30 pounds and now his bone on bone knee arthritis is no longer painful, which is a huge incentive to me. So I resolved I would do a 7 day challenge of no sweets (although I did finish off a few homemade banana muffins but they're all small) and nobly ignored everything DD has lying around. I didn't even have a popsicle.
Last night I made a fabulous dinner of salmon, broccoli, and cauliflower rice with zucchini and onions, finished off with lemon and fresh basil. It's a bit too lemony but fabulous otherwise. All wonderful food but my goodness it does take awhile to cook, clean up etc. I haven't mapped out a plan for dinners this week but I have groceries and some vague ides. DD wants me to make lentils at some point which would be a good staple.
Today I'm meeting a friend for brunch and will plan to bring some food home because its always too much.
Maryann- so fun to read about the house plans! Great that you will get to keep that beautiful chair.
Silverbirch-glad you've been sleeping better and yay for a good haircut.
Onebyone-good job walking on the spot.Yay indeed for a healing body.
Bill-great job getting rid of paper, it is indeed exhausting.
Eusebius-great job losing the 15 pounds! 0 point popcorn is a good snack.
Quick post from the DD's whilst she makes cauliflower curry for tea. Have said no thanks to homemade naan (so noble of me) and we'll have rice. My noble behaviour today is linked to having eaten more sugar than I want to in a day. For example, a couple of homemade biscuits on arrival when I'd already eaten a large flapjack on the journey. It's all very nice here and we've just been on a 8k steps walk around the river and various historical buildings. This has to count in my favour.
Waving to all of you. More tomorrow as I journey onward. I'll miss all this travel when it stops!
Last edited by silverbirch; 09-25-2023 at 01:00 AM.
I'm acting like I don't care about losing weight or being healthy again. I've taken my eyes off the prize and if I don't get my eyeballs straightened out I will be climbing the scale. As it is I am holding at 310. 310. OMG. "What is the matter with me?" is all I want to say and then I hear my compassionate side say "it's ok just move forward. You'll get there."
When stress overcomes me or deadlines loom large, me and my health take a backseat so I can "push through". I've always pushed through. Always managed. I want to do that less and less. Maybe even lessen the deadlines and burdens. Maybe simplify things. I moved a bit toward that as I watched the volunteer from Diabetes Canada pick up my one garbage bag of clothes (1/2 mine 1/2 DH's) off the porch this morning. Yesterday I pulled all the CD's off the shelf and thought I'm getting rid of all of these. And then I couldn't do it. I managed to move them into boxes but I couldn't get further. DH said "You're doing what? I probably don't want anything in there but I want to look at it." By then I had 2nd thoughts as well. ALL those CD's were a rescue from the trash that *I* did a few years ago. My studio landlord was getting rid of them (no one listens to CD's anymore he said) and I just took the whole box to go through them. A few ended up in the car but the rest just occupy space on the shelves. Looking through them I thought "why don't I listen to music instead of obsessively checking in on the latest "news" from the US former guy with 90 indictments?" I am full of questions to myself today. What brought me down was pain in my jaw. I'm clenching those muscles again. I was worried over the students glaze work from last week and getting that sorted and then this week's class and what will we do with next week's class if I do have that second surgery and what about the work I need to complete before the potential surgery to populate my 8 foot space in the Boynton House Historical site where I am with my new Artists' Coop for 12 weeks? And my poor soap lady client. She just never gets soap dishes from me. I have 9 to pass along tomorrow. They will sell in in a day. AND I had to write the newsletter for the Coop today cause the group is way behind on their social media outreach. Once more I fought for hours with an "easy to use software program (Canva) and I know that's what made me clench my jaw! Credit I got it done except for typos and details like dates, times and address and do I have to put our social media links too and what about the website-- details. I did play with the Canva AI image generator. Such a HUGE kerfuffle in the artworld over that. I asked the AI generator to create an image of an artist doing artwork. It gave me 4 choices, all people at an easel with some circels of bland colour. The one I used for the newsletter was of the artist who had three arms. Ine arms holding paintbrushes. One are hold a big brush and working on the canvas. And the other arm falling out the frame along the bottm. # arms. I feel I could use the extra hand today so to me that was perfect. I'll try and post it here. Here we go. Artist Doing Artwork by A. I. --actually that would be a good pseudonym.
Hopefully by writing that all out I can leave some of the anxiousness here as well. It's no wonder I am not losing weight by leaps and bounds. My energy really is directed elsewhere.
No walk yet. I am going outside for my walk soon. I did Big Credit order my new walking shoes from the store I bought my last ones at. They carry the same ones. I may have a new colour. That would be nice but I really need new ones and they cured my feet of plantar fasciitis--the shoes and the salesperson who was excellent and actually fitted me properly. I will know on Tuesday if they can get my size or not. I hope so. If not I'm taking the drive north to get fitted for some other athletic shoe.
silverbirch I would never have assumed that a curry goes with having tea. I feel very sheltered. Very unworldly. An 8km walk is a good walk! Credit to you! curlyjax I'm in for that 7 day no sugar challenge. I haven't had any today so I can say I have begun. Thanks for the inspiration. BillBlueEyes I read somewhere that Canadians are among the top mushroom eaters in the world. A "Canadian" pizza is pepperoni, mushroom, bacon. I ate a poutine with mushrooms last week. (I suppose that's a confession.) maryann I love that chair.
Big day today! We are going to go get our melons. We rent out ground to melon growers. Our field is ready to harvest, DH and I will head out and pick multiple varieties - honeydew, canary, watermelon, cantaloupe. You have not eaten anything as heavenly as a ripe ( I mean really ripe but not over ripe) honeydew. I wait for this day all year. In Japan, one of this melons could cost upward of $200. I live in abundance in so many ways.
Excellent triathlon yesterday. I completed two hours of yardwork, 2 hours of pickleball and than swan in the beautiful outdoor pool of my club. I am close to 4 mins in the cold plunge. It is just wonderful. I am so happy that I am really embracing exercise again. I have no idea why I have so many stops and starts. But I am happy I alwasy return to movement.
I have solved a puzzle with the century house. We want seating for six but there will only be at most 3 of us for now. There is a gorgeous hug picture window onto the fields. we do not want clutter in front of it. I hd an epiphany. We raise the existing LONGGGGGG window bench to seating height. We put our ancestor' s 18th Century round table in front of a small corner and voila. A banquet that can be stretched with the table leaves. The table came across to California on a covered wagon. Then for everyday eating we will have a large island that sits three bar chairs.
Wow! End of the day I didn't post this. We had a wonderful time going through open houses in Sacramento. lots of great ideas.
Monday - Balboa crosses Panama Isthmus: 1st European to see the Pacific Ocean (1513)
Diet Coaches/Buddies – Received an unexpected gift. Today's the first day in the U. S. that one can ask that the government mail FREE COVID-19 tests. In preparation for this, I looked up the three different kit boxes we have that are expired - expired even from their first extension dates. Turns out that there are new extensions; the test kits are still good even some until next February. I don't have to order new test kits. And I don't have to take these to some medicine disposal facility. Feels like a victory.
Achievement, CREDIT moi, was to make further progress on sorting papers. My box of medical records is usable again. I found my original COVID-19 vaccination card with all its entries. This was what I had been digging for since I want to bring it to an appointment this week for the new COVID-19 booster and for the seasonal Flu vaccination - both in one visit. It was in front of the file labeled "Vaccines" - not IN it - in FRONT of it. Loosey goosey filing forced me to go organize the whole shebang. Mixed blessing, I suppose, it needed organization. Feels odd to have a box of folders labeled by body part: heart, eyes, ears. Seems to me that I'm on the way to having a doctor for each organ, humbling for a guy who for years prided himself for never going to a doctor. My PCP (primary care physician) recently suggested that I get an appointment with a podiatrist to show me how to cut my toenails to better guard against in-grown toenail. I don't even know if fingers and toes are covered by the same doctor.
Eating was on plan with no daytime snacks, CREDIT moi. Dinner was pork chops - notable because that means it's winter by our kitchen calendar. In the hotter months, there are too many cool dishes to have room for pork chops.
Evening conversation got triggered when her sister asked DW why folks applauded and cheered at the end of Madama Butterfly when a child has just died. Named opera after opera that ends in death. Aida dies for lack of air in a cold, dark tomb and the audience roars in applause. Shakespeare's Macbeth litters the stage with bodies and the audience goes wild. DW dug up a definition of catharsis: the purification or purgation of the emotions (especially pity and fear) primarily through art. I'm not there just wallowing in amazing music, I'm purgating (cleansing like in Purgatory) my soul. Never thought of it that way.
onebyone - Great insight to be able to see, "it's ok just move forward. You'll get there." Amazing that your soap dishes sell so fast. Lovely compliment there. Good luck getting the walking shoes that work for you. By-the-by, when I see each amazing new picture from the Webb Telescope, I'm reminded of your statement, "It's all seen through Canadian eyes."
Silverbirch - Yes, noble, indeed, to turn down homemade naan. I presume that your DD's flat came with a proper tandoor oven.
maryann – You got me drooling for a ripe honeydew melon. Agree, there's nothing like it. Love that you're using a table brought by covered wagon to California by your ancestors.
curlyjax - Kudos for "nobly ignored everything DD has lying around" - a challenge. Mowing your grass in sections with pauses between sounds like a good plan.
Readers -
Quote:
Chapter 7Stage 4 - The Think Thin Lifetime Eating Plan
Before You Move On
I would like you to proceed to Stage 5 right away. But be alert for times when you may need to reread Stage 4. You may want to try additional experiments, assess whether you are slipping into loose eating, change your general plan, or decide if you should declare yourself in maintenance.
Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Complete Beck Diet for Life (Green book), Pg 185.
Still getting used to my September schedule. Quick flyby today. So far Weight Watchers is agreeing with me. A slightly more intense walking workout this morning brought the endorphins so I may try for a bit higher intensity in general.
Fairly productive meeting yesterday for the summer festival and it’s nice to feel that for once I don’t have to do everything myself. Grateful for this.
BillBlueEyes - it's true about operas. Somebody always dies. (Usually the woman.) I find it interesting that films can't get away with it nearly as often unless it's a bad guy.
Quick wave as I'm zipping off before work to draw blood for labwork in prep for my dr's visit later this week. I finally got some paperwork done for my dad that i've been putting off, and went to my brunch feeling good that I had already been productive. I brought some of my omelette home but indulged on toast-warm bread with butter is the best! Exercise was cleaning the kitchen including finally finding homes for some things like the instapot, and clearing out some CDs tapes etc. I have a pang getting rid of the old tapes we used to play for the kids in the car, but its certainly not stuff i'm going to listen to again. I didn't eat that much and only when I was hungry, so yay for that.
Onebyone- I'm sorry, its very hard to be in that state of losing resolve and what is the matter with me, I really hear you on that. I'm tired of being in pain so that is pushing me alone, at least for today. And when you're so busy/stressed, its so hard to focus on the eating (and I find it takes up a lot of time too, its a lot easier to just get takeout than plan and prep healthy food).
It was strange to go to the grocery store and walk by the lettuce as if it was nothing to do with me. I have enough lettuce for today's salad and it's the last salad I will eat until after my colonoscopy on Friday (and maybe a day or two more until my tummy feels like it's ready for a salad and I can procure the fresh lettuce for it).
I spent much of yesterday figuring out the details of how to feed ourselves this week when my diet will be weird and there will be a day or two when I won't be of any use in the kitchen, leaving DH to fend for himself.
I baked white bread yesterday (the dough looks really weird, like paste). Today, I'm turning half the loaf into stuffing made with white bread, chicken stock, herbs and spices. I'm a little afraid that I'll feel like the low-fiber diet of the next couple of days won't have any flavor. My stuffing will have flavor!
Exercise: 50, 1300/1500 minutes for September
onebyone: I so relate to the feeling that I need to "push through" whatever the current thing is, letting other things take a back seat. Right now, I'm pushing through this colonoscopy week. I have such a long list of things that I intend to plan to do when the colonoscopy is complete that I'm starting to stress about that! I suspect the solution is going to lay somewhere in the realm of "done is better than good" AND allowing things to take the time that they take (i.e., patience) AND saying 'no' to some things that I feel I should do but maybe they don't need to be done at all or maybe someone else can do it.
Just checking in before bed. I have a non-scale victory to report. I went walking this morning and spontaneously decided to explore this cut-through that links one block to another. A ridiculous sign considers it a park. Tomorrow I'll show you a picture. Tis but a path.
I took the path searching for wild grape to make vine charcoal from. I have a artist friend who is happily exploring making ink from local plants
I had the book for that written by a Toronto artist Make Ink: A Forager's Guide to Natural Ink Making
It was an xmas gift the year it came out from my sister-in-law. Anyway my friend G (watercolourist) has fallen down the rabbit hole of natural inkmaking. The vine charcoal recipe is in there as well as ink made from the wild grapes. He brought me some (gorgeous purple ink!) and its in the fridge. He says it will ferment if left out. I decided to refrigerate the bright yellow golden rod ink as well. Tomorrow or Wednesday I.will bring him some rusty nails provided to me by my potter friend K.who brought them up from her farm yesterday. It goes with acorn caps to make silvery grey ink. A must have! He also showed me Coreopsis ink.
An orange that sings.
Alas he didnt have enough to share.
but wait. Ive digressed.
So I walked that extra bit easily as somehow, today, I was enjoying my walk and wanted to go a little further. How.did that happen? Mystery to me but it made me happy all day.
Tuesday - The Beatles release "Abbey Road"; tops the charts in 11 countries (1969)
Diet Coaches/Buddies – Walked, CREDIT moi, to include some errands, even though the rain was drizzling a bit. I wore a hat and jacket; carried an umbrella. Have grown annoyed with myself for giving up walks for fear of getting damp. Gardens along the way had their Fall look. Made it to the pharmacy when, much to my surprise, I discovered DW in line getting a prescription. Was a joyful discovery - as if we'd never seen each other. She'd made the mistake of arriving exactly at the start of the pharmacy's forced half-hour lunch (they're so busy that they enforce a lunch break so the folks don't faint). Grabbed a ride home with her just to have a chance to chat. Unusual to give up half a walk to have a short car date with my wife, LOL.
Eating was on plan with no daytime snacks, CREDIT moi. Dinner was a new concoction made from garbanzo beans, kale and cherry tomatoes both from our garden, and various herbs and spices. It's a keeper recipe. Served with pita chips even though it called for a baguette. Lately, every meal has called for a baguette. Dinner was rushed so I could make my evening Zoom event.
(that's an Amazon link because my computer wouldn't do the link you provided). The reviews on that link make me want to go out foraging. Ink as motivation for extra walking is just a gas.
Joy (gardenerjoy) - Ouch for the period of strange eating in the name of colon health. Love that you're going to beat the system by having white bread with flavor.
Erika (eusebius) – Good to hear that your summer festival marches forward. Don't worry about "Still getting used to my September schedule" - October will be here on Sunday, LOL.
curlyjax - Congrats for getting rid of more 'stuff'. Yep, old tapes that carry the memories of playing them for your kids would be hard for me to toss, also.
Readers -
Quote:
Chapter 7Stage 4 - The Think Thin Lifetime Eating Plan
Before You Move On
Use Stage 4, as needed, for the rest of your life to ensure that you enjoy all of the benefits of flexible eating.
Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Complete Beck Diet for Life (Green book), Pg 185.
Back to bouncing around between a couple of numbers but at least they are lower than before. Sigh. Consistency continues.
I am sorry that I keep making posts without personals. My days at the university are very, very long when combined with evenings working as well so it’s tough to find time to post. Tomorrow I should have some more time.
There was pizza for lunch and a rainy day so I ended up eating it, but I did not get into any sweets at all. I went to PT and am adding to my exercises which is good. Then I went to the fish place again for clam chowder. The guy didn't have any change as he wasn't officially open, so I added some cornbread in for my 10.00 bill. So it wasn't a good eating day, but was yummy. Not impressed by the cornbread, it tasted like it was from a mix.
I got the results of my labs already and no surprise they are basically the same as last year, indicating just pre-diabetic. I am taking it seriously this year! It's a challenge to exercise when my hit is hurting so much, but hopefully when I get back to the gym I can use some equipment that will work.
Gardenerjoy-I'm always so amazed at how much discipline I have around eating when I HAVE to ie for a surgical procedure-its a reminder that I can indeed do this. Yay for homemade white bread.
Bill-so funny to run into DW! yum, that dinner sounds really good, can DW come cook for me
Onebyone- great to extend the walk through enjoyment! So interesting about homemade ink.
OP yesterday. Super sore from the workouts on Sat. Sigh. I did do yoga yesterday which brought relief. It will be another triathlon today: yardwork, climbing machine and swimming. It will be a sprint triathalon today though because I have a meeting at 6:00.
A zoom retirement meeting with the state pension office confirms my numbers. I can retire at 70% in June. I am very excited. I want to enjoy these last months but it is almost like I am already becoming a ghost around campus - not with the students. They would never allow you to disengage. But the bureaucracy, workmates. It is like any major life change. It is healthy to start separating early. I know from experience the precious moments are rarely felt in the moment. They become memories to be processed and cherished later.
Curly: Re: tunes you and your kids played. I actually put a few on my spotify list ( you may do apple tunes) Every now and then one pops up and it is an instant memory. We have kept one shelf of books that DS and I have curated together. Eusebius: No need for apologizing for no personals. Life has its seasons. the most important thing for me is to keep checking in.
fast one
Sunday - Latter-day Saints abandon polygamy (1890)
I am losing my resolve. I have to get it back.
(I suppose that's a confession.)
