My efforts to lose the lard are more of a challenge lately. I’m maintaining the 30 lbs and about the same inches off, but haven’t made more progress. Other health issues and ‘life’ are getting my attention, so I’m basically just trying to keep my mouth shut, rather than caving into emotional eating. Also concentrating on adding the foods and drink I found that may help dissolve plaque, so am doing a bit of juggling, trying to plan my eating better.
One of my friends who loves me gave me a tin of chocolates for Christmas. hahahahahahahahahaha :0)
My husband and I are trying to incorporate trying to lose the lard (me more than him), trying to avoid as much sugar as possible for his diabetes II, and trying to incorporate food and drink that may improve my plaque-in-my-carotid-arteries situation.
Part of MY retirement is NOT having to come up with home-cooked meals every night for the rest of my life. I still cook pretty regularly, but I try to cook in a more healthy fashion, and then put the leftovers to the original meal into individual serving containers that we can simply put in the microwave.
After actually reading the labels of the two meals we like the best from Stu’s Clean Cookin’, we discovered that our choices are higher in sugar than we would like. We are now splitting ONE individual dinner and eating a veggie on the side.
Eating continues to be a work in progress, but I am making some good lifestyle changes. Hopefully, this will also include losing more of the lard my body seems to prize. :0)
On the one hand, I’m trying to limit the amount of food I eat. I don’t eat anything after dinner until lunch the following day – unless I’m up in the middle of the night and have no willpower. (I tend to think I’m starving to death then. :0) )
My husband and I have been eating individual frozen meals from REAL FOOD or STU’S CLEAN COOKIN’, both in Greenwood, for dinner. I noticed that our choices from Stu’s are too high in sugar for us, so now we’re splitting ONE individual meal and I’m fixing a veggie side. We also have a roll with that.
Lunches are 1/2 slice of ham, sugar-free jello, a hard-boiled egg, two green olives, and sometimes I have a slice of cheese or a cheese stick.
Snack in the afternoon has been raw veggies and a spoonful of ranch dressing with less than 1 gram of sugar.
Since a doppler ultrasound showed 50-70% occlusion in my right carotid artery (not enough to have a procedure) I have found a list of food and drink that is supposed to dissolve the plaque, and hopefully prevent me from getting more.
List for cleaning arteries – SALMON, FLAX SEEDS, BLUEBERRIES, STRAWBERRIES, GRAPEFRUIT, SQUEEZE OF LEMON/LIME, EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL, AVOCADOS, BEANS, PEAS, CHICKPEAS, LENTILS, TOMATOES – EXP COOKED OR SAUCE, GARLIC, CINNAMON, ONIONS, GINGER, TURMERIC, BROCCOLI, CAULIFLOWER, WALNUTS, BEETS, SPINACH, DARK CHOCOLATE. GREEN TEA.
I’m now eating grapefruit in place of the raw veggies some days. I’m drinking a glass of green tea daily. When I eat raw veggies, I’m including broccoli and cauliflower, and I’m fixing spinach as a side for dinner, using walnuts and flax seed in my salads, etc.
My dilemma is that including so much ‘good stuff’ in my daily diet is resulting in my eating more. And GUESS WHAT HAPPENS THEN – my scales scoff at me, laughing and sneering at the poundage creeping up. ARRRRGH!
So now I’m vacillating between throwing my hands up in the air and eating a cheeseburger and fries, eating the good stuff and skipping yet another meal, or……
I will work it out, but right now I’m feeling that getting old sucks.
I hate to use this CUTE mail carrier by Shelley MacDonald to illustrate my point, but though I love the artwork, I DON’T want to personally imitate its shape…
I thought I ate quite reasonably yesterday, but I gained the weight I had lost back – again. Hrmpf! I refuse to worry about it, though. We will enjoy turkey sandwiches today, and then I have a month to be good until one or two days at Christmas.
Oh, please. This is cute – and depressing at the same time.
I will tell you, though, that I’m making a bit of progress on getting the lard off. I lost another pound, so my total off now is 31, with almost 29 inches gone. It’s especially hard during the holidays to try to keep my mouth shut. My goal is to TASTE it all, enjoying every bite, but TRYING to maintain my dignity…. :0)
I did discover – to my horror – that some of the meals we have been getting from Stu’s Clean Cookin’ have too much sugar for us. Last night we decided to SHARE one individual meal and eat an extra veggie on the side. That worked out well, and gave us half the amount of sugar we would have ingested otherwise. We need to be more vigilant. The food is high quality and excellent, as is that of Real Food. They are not made for diabetics and weight-challenged, though, and we need to keep tweaking what we are eating more intelligently. Stu’s lists sugar, salt, calories, etc. Real Food doesn’t, but lists ingredients. Both help us keep our portions good. So we will try to do better homework, plus do more sharing.
I’ve been very good lately and finally saw some improvement on my scales this morning! I am now a bit past my 30-lbs.-off point and am happily hopeful I can keep it up and continue the downward trend.
We went to Ft. Smith first thing this morning. As luck would have it, on the way home, my husband decided he wanted to stop for breakfast at the Greenwood Waffle House. :0( Happily, when we went in, the place was over-flowing with hungry people and no place to sit down. We left, and I’ll fix us some lunch in about an hour. I love to eat – love even more to eat out – but I am happy that this time I didn’t have to lose my progress.
I hope you’re having a great weekend with nice weather and people you love.
Tonight we’re heating up a frozen meal we bought at Real Food in Greenwood. These are meals made by a lady who is an eater’s dream. They are good for us in that there are no preservatives, no additives with unpronounceable names, reasonable portions, and a moderate amount of salt, sugar, etc. We eat these a lot, but tonight we’re trying something a bit different.
We bought a container of ‘meatballs,’ rather than a regular dinner for one. We will heat this, find out how many servings we have, and go from there. I will fix a veggie to go with it, and we will indulge in some green grapes.
I say, ‘indulge,’ because my husband is a Type II diabetic (although he won’t be labeled this – he says he has a ‘sugar problem.’) We try to avoid sugar as much as possible. The grapes this year, though, are absolutely incredible. We feel that, since life is short anyway, we should enjoy something on the ‘avoid’ list if it is really good.
So tonight we splurge, enjoying each and every grape!
In spite of my efforts, I gained back two pounds. UGH. I didn’t do it like this sweet doggie, by eating popcorn or anything on the deliciously bad list. My scales are laughing at me. I can feel it.
I will continue to be ‘good,’ and see if those two, plus some more, will come off.
I’m back to “Ground Zero” this morning with 30 lbs. off. I’m hopeful that I can continue the onward and downward trend now, even though it’s Lunch Bunch today.
I’ve been able to talk myself out of over-eating at our mid-afternoon snack, and I’ve been sleeping better, so I’m not up in the middle of the night – my biggest temptation time.
I’m trying to talk to myself (I do that a lot :0) ) telling myself how happy I will be if I start a new 5 pound goal instead of re-losing what I’ve lost before.
Hopefully, the next time I report, I’ll be able to tell you I’m into new territory!
I start each day determined to keep my mouth shut – and then life happens. Choose whatever excuse and it applies to me. I have AGAIN gained some poundage and AGAIN am getting it off.
When I was young and living in Tulsa, Oklahoma, we knew a lady who owned a nice small women’s clothing store in an outdoor mall. She was very overweight. She was a really nice woman who made you feel happy you had entered her store. (She actually HIRED me to play my guitar and sing there, trying to draw customers in.) Later, I heard that she had entered the hospital and had had her mouth wired shut (REALLY – I’m not kidding) in an effort to lose weight. It worked. I don’t remember how long she was there. The next time I saw her she was slim and looked really nice in a beautiful dress, heels, etc. It wasn’t a good thing, though, because she wasn’t healthy. I don’t remember the details. I just remember the shock when I read in the paper that she had died suddenly.
That’s the first time I remember being aware of weight, as such. At that point, I had no problems. It wasn’t until I finished getting pregnant and having babies that I had trouble losing the lard. Now I’m older than dirt, have lost 30 lbs. and have become the world’s best ‘yo-yo’ expert – losing and gaining the same 3 or 4 lbs.
So, I’m a bit disgusted with myself at this point. So far today, I’ve done well. I will eat my normal lunch with my husband and then the temptation for the day begins. :0)
I have always had an extremely healthy appetite. I wish I were the type of person who ‘forgets’ to eat. Maybe in my NEXT life…
I had a good session on the elliptical trainer in the garage yesterday and put a gold star on my calendar. Today, however, my right knee is complaining. I chose to get the elliptical trainer several years ago because it is NOT hard on your joints while allowing you to –
Can Aid Weight Loss. An elliptical machine or trainer is great for weight loss. …
Low-Impact Exercise. …
Targets The Lower Body. …
Tones The Entire Body. …
Boosts Cardiovascular Health. …
Improves Cardio Stamina. …
Reduces High Blood Pressure. …
Improves Balance And Mobility.
So, I slathered my knee with Hyland’s Muscle Therapy Gel with Arnica and just ordered more. I read that Arnica is from the sunflower family. It was recommended to me by my SIL, and it works for me on easing pain. I will take it easy today, just doing my yoga stretches.
Earlier in the week I told you I felt I had an answer for my efforts to try to lose the lard. I was tweaking what I’m eating, plus exercising, and had lost 5 lbs last week. Well, The weight gods heard me and definitely smirked at my audacity, slapping 2 pounds back on. Shoot.
Between that, and now my right knee rebellion, I’m feeling a bit down this morning. I will keep on keepin’ on mainly because I’m stubborn. :0)
My tweaking is working! Since last week I’ve lost a bit over 5 pounds. I was pleased this morning that my scales were finally taking notice. They are still smirking at me, but my plan is to make them send up balloons at some point in the future.
Since summer’s back has finally been broken, even if we revert back to Indian Summer around here, this week I’m starting back on my elliptical trainer. It’s in the garage, so the outside temperature matters. It has been way too hot and humid for me to last more than 5 minutes, so it will be interesting to see if I can do a reasonable amount today. I plan to do it MWF, and will go from there.
I am continuing to tweak my eating habits in my determination to lose the lard. This has become a “character-building exercise” and SHOULD be listed on the list of exercises you can log each day on cronometer.com.
I had already switched my mid afternoon snack to raw veggies and a bit of dip. Now I’ll try cutting back the AMOUNT of that. I’ve been eating some no-added-sugar ice cream (a small amount while my husband has more with strawberries.) I’ll try to not have that.
Now that the weather is cooler, I’ll try to get started again on my elliptical trainer in the garage, doing a session before lunch.
Hopefully, the tweaking and moving more will get my body’s attention…
Yesterday on the way home from our errands, a white-tailed doe jumped across the road in front of our truck. She was absolutely beautiful. Amber was in the back seat – one of her favorite places, but Amber didn’t see her. This gives you an idea –
WDFW
I worked an hour and a half on side 2 of “Wonder Wart-Hog” yesterday. Right now he looks like a big green blob with a head. Hopefully, I can get that to change. :0) This is the front –
It rained while I was working on the mailbox decoration in the shop. We’re supposed to get more rain today, tomorrow, and Friday. We may need a boat! All this rain is bringing cooler temperatures, though, and for that I’m grateful. We have our doors open to get a nice breeze through the house.
Unsplash
I’m tearing my hair out trying to find a replacement for our phone carrier. We changed the credit card used to make our automatic payments. We got a late notice. I called and they told me, “It takes 6 to 8 WEEKS for our system to recognize a change like that.” I’m still having trouble believing that. Anyway, I asked them to take us off the family plan and the unlimited everything we’re on. Only one of our phones is smart and we basically use our phones for emergencies and some texting. After spending almost an hour on the phone with them, they told me the plan we’re on is the cheapest they have. Since we’re seeing ads for half the price, I’m trying to research the question.
joemarino.org
My scales confirmed that I am past the 30-pounds-off mark now and have begun to make progress toward the next goal. :0)
As of this morning I have reached my first weight goal- to regain the 30-pounds-off mark! Can you see the balloons, streamers, confetti? Can you hear the horns? :0)
My next goal will be 5 more pounds down. This sounds doable – thanks to Maria – who suggested I break down my goals into doable chunks, rather than looking at the entirety.
As of this morning I’m half a pound away from regaining my 30 pounds off. Once I reach that, I’ll enter new territory. :0)
I’m feeling more confident about my food choices now. Cronometer.com is helping me SEE what I’m eating more clearly, particularly as to calories, protein, carbs, and fat. I’m determined to continue eating the REAL FOOD and STU’S CLEAN COOKIN’ frozen meals for dinners as long as my husband is happy with them. When two people are involved, eating is more complicated than it is when one person can decide to “only eat blue food.”
We tend to eat the same lunch each day (except for Lunch Bunch on Fridays), so I’m tweaking that carefully. I’m being particularly mindful about snacks – mid-afternoon and any after dinner “dessert”.
I’m pleased that, though I’ve been downstairs reading at o-dark-thirty several times in the past few weeks – the worst time to NOT eat for me – I’ve managed to not eat anything. :0)
Using the cronometer.com records and tweaking what I’m eating seems to be working. I had already found that I was eating an acceptable number of calories. Since I wasn’t losing any weight (or have been gaining and losing the same lardage for awhile now) I decided to tweak WHAT I was eating.
I started this 3 days ago.
I’ve lost 3.4 lbs since then, so this seems to be a valid approach. I’m ALMOST back to the 30-pounds-off place.
Hopefully, I can get to that point and then continue on to new territory.
The use of cronometer and tweaking resulting in losing a couple of pounds in the past two days, although FIRST feedback from the scales yesterday showed the opposite. This morning the scales were smirking at me a bit less – always a good way to start the day.
I listed the typical foods I eat everyday with the app to see where I was on sticking to 1200 calories or less per day – what cronometer suggested would result in less lardage. I found that although my calorie count was good, I seemed to be eating too much fat. Since my weight has been yo-yo-ing lately, I decided to try some tweaks to get my body’s attention.
This seems to be good strategy! Fingers crossed that the ‘downward’ trajectory continues!
I started using cronometer.com a couple of days ago – first to get some idea of
how many calories I should aim for each day to lose weight
how many calories were in my normal eating day now
how I was doing nutrition-wise
After I filled out the information, the website said that I should aim for 1200 calories per day in order to lose the lard. My normal eating plan now is right about there, even with snacks, so that’s good, but the nutrition part showed I was eating too much fat. I decided to tweak that, plus I decided to pare down a bit on what I’m eating.
Yesterday I left off the one slice of bread I’ve been splitting to make a ham sandwich for lunch. I pared down my mid-afternoon snack, cutting out the slice of ham and a slice of cheese and just eating a hard boiled egg.
When I weighed myself this morning, I was UP half a pound. ARRRGH!
Cosmopolitan
I’m telling myself that this could be water retention and not to worry about it. I’m going for the WEEK’S eating – not just one day. Since I’m supposedly a ‘mature’ woman, not dependent on instant gratification, I will see where I am at the end of the week with these changes.
It WOULD be encouraging to see some progress by the end of the week…
I used to dread Mondays. They meant back to work, loss of freedom, etc. Now I wish there were more. For some reason Mondays are motivating to me – a chance to start with a clean slate – refreshed goals, new determination.
I’m kind of frustrated right now with my efforts to lose the lard, so I am signing up with cronometer, a calorie counting website recommended by our son awhile back. I’m going to start fresh, log what I’m eating, log my exercising, etc. to give myself a fresh look. Then, based on what I’m seeing, I’ll make tweaks in what I’m doing and see if I can get back on track again and make some serious progress.
We went to bed at around our normal time – about midnight. We were both up again, downstairs reading at about 1am.
That is the worst time for me to NOT eat. I could eat a house at that hour. I found this cartoon yesterday and thought if our fridge were like this, it would help a lot. It would remind me that I’m not REALLY hungry at that hour, just needing comfort, and maybe some water, as well as my book…
“Rich, fatty foods are like destiny: they too, shape our ends.”
“I am in shape. Round is a shape.” ~ Garfield
“Inside me is a thin person trying to get out, but I can usually sedate her with 4 or 5 cupcakes.”
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thedietchat.com
NotSalmon.com
My personal weight loss efforts are like a trampoline. For quite a while now I’ve been losing the same 4 lbs and then regaining them.
I’m happy that I’m down 30 lbs from my heaviest weight and that I’ve lost almost 29 inches, but I would like to go to the next level. My husband has made even more progress and is holding his own against being a Type II diabetic.
The reason for the latest gain is fried fish calling to us from the deli at the grocery store. We were in there with a careful list – and their special for Mondays is friend chicken (so we thought we were safe) but they had just finished a batch of as we walked in. The fish started calling and we answered. And so we’re up again.
It’s harder when there are two people involved. I can’t blame my problems on my husband, for sure, but it would help if we were feeling strong at the same time.
“I’ve decided I’ll never get down to my original weight. I am OK with that. After all, 6 lbs., 3 oz, is just not realistic.”
“I am not overweight. I am just nine inches too short.” ~ Shelley Winters
“I tried every diet in the book. I tried some that weren’t in the book. I tried eating the book. It tasted better than most of the diets.” ~ Dolly Parton
“Diet is wishful shrinking.”
“I am on a 90-day wonder diet. Thus far, I’ve lost 45 days.”
creativeartworksblog 