Nanea Hoffman – SweatpantsandCoffee – via Lisa Bearnes Richey
Filed under Encouragement, Favorite Quotes
Emory Austin via Zen to Zany via Cathy Ruggiero
Filed under Attitude, Encouragement, Favorite Quotes
coolnsmart.com via David Michael McCune
I lost another pound yesterday, so I’m down 10.6 officially since we started Nutrisystem, and 32.6 lbs down since my lardiest. I have a long way to go, but I’m feeling good that we have a good start now.
My husband doesn’t have much weight to lose, but he is diabetic and his blood sugar numbers have been a real challenge for about two years now. His sugar was off the chart. He had double vision and pain in his feet. He is now registering the lowest numbers we’ve seen since we’ve been monitoring AND he gets to eat fruit again! He really looks forward to his SMARTCARB snack of an orange or an apple, since it’s been two years since he could enjoy them. He also likes to have some blackberries on his cereal on FLEX BREAKFAST day. His attitude about Nutrisystem is good, and for that I’m truly grateful.
“I” am the one who really needs this program for weight loss. Several years back my thyroid was completely radiated away due to Grave’s Disease. A couple of years ago I said goodbye to my gallbladder, which then made the low-carb diet we were trying to follow a challenge, because my body had trouble handling the fat. My blood pressure is a problem, and triglycerides are high, so I’m hoping that getting the lard off and eating healthy will make my doctor realize I’m serious at our next regular appointment in August.
We both are calmer about portions since we know we’ll eat again in 3 hours. Neither of us has been hungry. My appetite has always been voracious – when we were dating my husband would say, “We need to get you something to eat!” his code for me being ‘snappy.’ My husband said last night, “I don’t see any reason we can’t stay on this plan as long as you want to.”
We quit several years ago because Nutrisystem kept doing away with the choices my husband liked. Finally, he was so upset we had to stop. Now they have SO many more choices – also adding frozen choices – that it will take us several months before we have tried everything. We like the fact they let you know when the deadline is for making changes for our programs, and that we can make changes any time we like up until then.
SO – a Good Start on getting healthier!
becstrordinary.wordpress.com
Do you realize that May is almost over? We just started 2018 and it’s almost half gone! What happened? Where did all the days go?
My husband has always told me – usually when I’m complaining about having too much on my to-do list – that “if you’re busy, you’re happy – and the days go flying by.”
We have been retired for quite a while now, and we honestly don’t know how we managed to work full-time most of our lives. The day starts and it’s over. The year starts and it’s over. We move from one thing to the next, enjoying living our lives, and the time passing makes our hair blow.
I honestly have trouble understanding boredom. I’ve been so lucky to always have WAY more to do than I have the time or energy. And mostly, I love what I’m doing. How’s THAT for a nice life?
I never expected that my husband and I would create ‘critters’ out of metal. We have trouble now finding scrap metal, since the junk yards and metal places are saddled with liability issues in letting people wander around finding treasures in the piles, but occasionally we find old small propane tanks and old farm implements, etc., and a critter is born.
This is a sample of a critter made from scrap metal. He weighs a TON (or seemed to when we were trying to hang him on this tree at the top of our driveway.) All of our critters are one-of-a-kind, since we can’t ever find the same scraps, but we really enjoy seeing a ‘critter’ emerge from pieces we find. Some of our biggest disagreements now are about what to make, how to make it, and what colors to use to paint it. :0)
We also love making metal decorations for our mailbox at the bottom of the driveway.
This Calvin & Hobbes decorations is one of my favorites.
We make stained glass and mosaic pieces when we can make the time.
We have a raised bed square foot garden where I’m trying to raise a bunch of our own salad stuff, as well as tomatoes. We built a greenhouse last year and I’m experimenting, trying to lengthen our growing season. We built brick planters – 14 of them – all around our yard so that we can enjoy flowers as much of the year as possible.
My husband is trying now to record our DVD collection onto a special bunch of equipment. If he’s successful, he wants me to sell most of the physical collection. This is a big project, and will take some time.
I’m trying to go through our 30-year-old + home, purging/giving away/throwing away/cleaning/reorganizing. I do this every 30 years, so I’m hip deep or more in ‘stuff’ right now.
You get the picture. We’re happy as clams, busy as bees (and any other cliché’s you can think of) to describe two people loving life and loving living it together. The days, weeks, months and years whiz past our heads – going faster and faster as we get longer in the tooth….
Filed under Attitude, Encouragement, Favorite Things, quality of life
lifehack.org-via-EmilyQuotes.com-via Evie Zimmerman
I tend to live in my comfort zone. I feel sure of myself and I like feeling that I’m in ‘control,’ even though I ‘realize’ that is delusion.
I feel good about myself when I step out of it, though – when I learn something new that is empowering.
Example: Since my husband is really good on computers and is finishing getting my new computer to work the way I want it to, I tend to be lazy and ask him how to do things, rather than figure it out for myself ( a VERY time-consuming, frustrating thing for someone the complete opposite of a computer/electronics nerd.) My husband tries to be patient when I ask him something, but it’s hard for both of us. He wants me to be specific, telling him exactly what I need in the proper terminology. (If I knew the proper terminology for my problem, I probably wouldn’t have the problem!)
I was trying to find some files on my computer. I tried to explain what I needed. The more I tried, the worse it got. Finally, we were totally frustrated with each other and gave up.
THAT’s when I stepped out of my comfort zone and actually started learning. After a LOT of flailing around, grinding of teeth, and more than a few bad words and tears, I managed to FIND the information I needed for my insurance detailing project – both the information that is on what I’m now calling the ‘old DVD’ and the spreadsheet on which I’ve started detailing what we own, what we paid, making sure we have a pic, etc. (including our first grade report card, thumb print, and….
When we talked about it later, I calmly told him I had found what I needed and had relocated them so I wouldn’t have trouble next time. He tried not to show it, but I THINK he was a bit disappointed that I didn’t need help on this anymore.
I stepped out of my comfort zone and now feel empowered – until the next time.
quotesgram.com
Filed under Attitude, empowerment, Encouragement, Favorite Quotes
Today we have officially finished the 1st month of Nutrisystem.
I’m particularly pleased by my husband’s progress. He is disappointed that he hasn’t lost that much weight, but he doesn’t have NEAR as much to lose as I do. He’s lost about 4 lbs, but I can SEE a difference in his tummy (though he won’t let me measure or do it himself.) The biggest thing that makes me happy is the lowering of his blood sugar number. It was 117 this morning, the lowest since we’ve been monitoring. (I saw a ‘353’ in my records). Lower than 100 is considered normal, and he actually might achieve that!
He is particularly pleased by getting to eat a piece of fruit daily. We had both given that up entirely before and it’s really a treat to welcome fruit back into our diet. There are some really nice big oranges right now at Walmart and we share one each day. We also have some apples in the fridge, in case the oranges aren’t available, plus some blackberries for fruit on his flex breakfast for the week. He has found several of the cookie snacks really good, and he likes their oatmeal. He thinks the frozen orange dream type bars better than the ones we were eating before the diet!
My Nutrisystem progress to date is 9.2 lbs and 11.8 inches gone. (My total weight loss efforts since my ‘lardiest’ are 21.4 lbs and 26.2 inches.)
Lifestyle changes other than the Nutrisystem eating plan:
We were both really happy to finally eat our way through Order #1. We were both down to things we really didn’t care for, and so cheered when we finished the last of the first order and could dive into Order #2. It was funny, though, because our first lunch we each had “White Bean Chicken Chili.” We are wusses when it comes to hot, spicy stuff, and this was almost too hot for us to eat! I read the ingredients and found they had put jalapenos in it. We could get it down by having a veggie in our mouth and then adding a bit of the chili in there, too. The flavor was nice, other than the hot, but I went to the website and took that particular choice off of Order #3 for both of us… :0)
We feel that our first month on Nutrisystem has been successful. I enjoy planning the flex dinner we’ll eat each week. (We’ll have salmon and steamed broccoli this week.) My husband is learning to put his glasses on so that he can SEE the color coded choices in his bins in the pantry and the freezer. He is also learning to actually read the directions for nuking his food, rather than just winging it. I’m still spoiling him by bringing his snacks to him (like his 1/2 peeled orange and 2 oz of nuts mid-morning) but he’s learning to be a bit independent, otherwise.
On with Month # 2!
16quotes.com
imperfectwomen.com via Desiree Angelique Hackett
Filed under empowerment, Encouragement, Favorite Quotes
My husband has lost weight and his blood sugar numbers are looking a LOT better! (I’m trying not to invade his privacy by printing numbers, but I’m really happy for him.)
Exercise:
Practical Differences:
Week 3 has been a success. I’m feeling motivated and happy to be getting less of me!
Filed under Attitude, Challenges, Changes, DIET!, empowerment, Encouragement, exercise, Healthy Eating, taking care of yourself
Since starting the ‘Nutrisystem for Fat Ladies’ program two weeks ago, there is less of me!
*(Couple this with what I lost before Nutrisystem – and my total loss since “MY WORST” is 19 lbs and 15.5 inches.)
My husband refuses to do anything but weigh, and he’s lost 3 lbs. He’s drinking stuff during the day, but doesn’t want to even think about drinking 64 oz of water per day. He’ll eat fruit and nuts, but fusses about anything else as his PFs and SCs each day, eating some of what I bring him, but not all. He will eat a salad, but fights other veggies, mostly, so I’m doing veggies and dip for lunch and salad for dinner. He’s on the diabetic program, and his blood sugar readings, which we take twice per week, are the best he’s had since we started monitoring him!
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I’m still feeling a bit obsessed with food, since I’m setting the alarm so I don’t miss one of our ‘feedings’ at the zoo, and am fixing PowerFuels, SmartCarbs and Veggies a good part of each day. I’m still needing to ‘read the list’ of what is good, but I’m getting better at it. I’m finding it easier to drink the 64 oz of water daily. In-between, I have a cup of coffee in the morning and another during the evening. My body is still trying to get used to the different eating regimen, but I’m gradually feeling more comfortable.
My husband and I are going to sit down together at the computer tomorrow and make final decisions about what will be in our order that will ship soon for month #2. He found he had chosen several things he didn’t care for. I’ve been letting him eat some of my choices to get him through this first month and he wants me to help him choose for next month.
I’m learning some general things on how to eat so that we can keep this weight off as we go and through the rest of our lives:
I think the weight loss after week 1 is supposed to average 1 to 2 lbs per week. I would be very happy with that. I want to get the lard off and KEEP it off, becoming healthier in the process.
On to Week 3!
sayingimages.com
Filed under Attitude, Encouragement, Favorite Quotes
sayingimages.com
We made it through Day 1 of Nutrisystem. We have to say that they have improved a lot since we tried it years ago. I am eating and drinking out of the ‘magic red box’ (Turbo 13) in the Uniquely Yours for Fat Ladies program, and my husband is in the Diabetic Uniquely Yours program. His reaction yesterday was, “This isn’t half bad!”
Honestly, we were so busy eating or drinking at the proper times we hardly had time for much else. :0) We weren’t hungry. We did have a pang after dinner when we would usually have an ice cream sandwich or an orange dream bar, but we can have an after dinner snack NEXT week.
I drank the 64 oz of water, plus a couple of cups of coffee, so I got my exercise running to the bathroom during the day and four times last night…
We have Lunch Bunch today. We’ve done this for a hundred years or so, seeing good friends and catching up, and we’ll continue doing it regardless of what eating program we’re on. Starting next week, we can have Lunch Bunch be our flex lunch, as we’ll have our ice cream after bowling be our flex snack. Today I’m going to have a salad and write it up as the one I would have had with my lunch later, as one of my 4 servings of veggies per day. I’ll try to keep my husband on track for the rest of the day, but he’ll make the decision whether to cooperate or not.
I’ve started losing the expected water weight, so my body is recognizing that things have changed. Good start!
Bernard Meltzer – SayingImages.com
Filed under Encouragement, Favorite Quotes, Good Thoughts
PersonalizationMall.com
I finally got the hang of bookmarks on the new PC! Most of the stuff I’m doing on the new machine, including trying to write blog posts, I’m like an elephant trying to walk between two buildings high in the air on a tightrope – and I’m afraid of heights. I feel extremely awkward, brain-challenged and get frustrated really quickly.
BOOKMARKS – on the other hand – are now good. :0)
I now have all the ones we imported from the MAC, and the others imported that I had put on FireFox, on the new PC. I can now save a website to a bookmark I’ve created, change one to another section, change the name of one, create a new bookmark, etc. Yesterday I figured out how to create SUB-directories, so I was able to organize the many websites I’ve bookmarked for gardening. HOOOOORAAAAY!
One thing learned, a gazillion to go; but the empowerment has begun!
Filed under Challenges, Changes, empowerment, Encouragement
PersonalizationMall.com
This old lady ain’t dead yet! I’m learning a LOT about how to create and manage bookmarks on the new PC using Microsoft 10 and Chrome.
I now have ONE list of bookmarks, all on Chrome. (I deleted Firefox as a browser)
I now can –
I’m in the process of looking at each one, deciding if I still want it, figuring out what folder to put it in if I want it (or create a new one). I’m actually making progress now and feeling much less frustrated.
Thanks to those of you who offered encouragement, commiseration, or wished good luck. It has really helped!
Filed under Acting Like a Grownup, Challenges, Changes, Encouragement, opportunities
Robert Mallet via GrowingBolder.com
creativeartworksblog 