I did three short exercise videos this morning – ‘warm-up,’ ‘stretches,’ and ‘weights.’ (30 minutes total)
I JUST finished doing the week’s ‘2a workout’ from morelifehealth.com – 30 minutes.
So I’m patting myself on the head a bit. :0)
Soon I’ll walk out to the garden to see what needs doing, then back out to the tomato planters and further out to where our greenhouse used to be, then back again. I’m trying to do that several times each day when the weather is cooperative to round out the mix of moving more.
Later I’ll do 30 minutes of ‘senior’ stretching yoga to finish off my exercising for the day.
This is our cat, Abby. She was advertised as a ‘lap cat’ in the paper years ago – an apt description. She has been a part of our family for years now. She tolerates Amber, our yellow lab, allowing her to use her dog beds if she isn’t in the middle of them, taunting her by stretching and yawning and looking as comfortable as only a cat can look. She doesn’t have an audible purr, but if you leave your hand on her, you can FEEL it. :0)
“Cats are smarter than dogs. You can’t get eight cats to pull a sled through snow.” ~ Jeff Valdez
Zoran Milutinovic 2013 – via 500pxBlog
“In a cat’s eye, all things belong to cats.” ~ English Proverb
Scientific American
“Dogs come when they’re called; cats take a message and get back to you later.” ~ Mary Bly
Pumpkin Pet Insurance
“Some people say that cats are sneaky, evil, and cruel. True, and they have many other fine qualities as well.” ~ Missy Dizick
Cat Grass Pet Talk-Texas A&M College of Vet Med
“I got rid of my husband. The cat was allergic.” ~ Anonymous
National Today
“As anyone who has ever been around a cat for any length of time well knows, cats have enormous patience with the limitations of the human kind.” ~ Cleveland Amory
The Humane Society of the U S
“What greater gift than the love of a cat?” – Charles Dickens
Brass Baron Dorothy Bronze-outdoorartpros.comRobert B. Parker – Penguin Random House
Robert B. Parker is one of my favorite authors. I think I have all of his books.
His “Jesse Stone” series is wonderful. I have the books AND the movies. (The fact that the main actor in the Jesse Stone series is ANOTHER favorite – Tom Selleck – lets me win twice. :0)
“In 1997 Robert Parker introduced the world to Jesse Stone, who comes to the small town of Paradise to serve as police chief, running from a past in Los Angeles where his alcoholism led to a failed marriage and a failed career in law enforcement.”
He’s a flawed man, but honest and strong and admirable. You want him to get through his problems.
I’m re-reading the books now, savoring the way Parker can say things in a very straightforward manner where you forget the ‘writing,’ concentrating on the characters and the story. He has quite a sense of humor, a dry wit, having his characters see the humor in a situation, providing sparkling dialogue that sometimes makes me laugh aloud.
I will continue to buy and watch the Jesse Stone movies created by Tom Selleck and Michael Brandman, but I consider the ‘continuation of the book series’ by Ace Atkins or Reed Coleman a nice honor, but pale-in-comparison imitations of the master.
I’m in celebration mode this morning. I would love it if you would celebrate with me.
I have finally reached my first goal of losing the pandemic lard I gained. I’mback to my long-time basis of 30-pounds-down from my heaviest, plus an 28.7 inch decrease from my most voluminous.HOOORAAAAAAAAY!!!!!!!!!
30 pounds down
This is a huge motivational boost. I was beginning to think that no matter what I did, I would never get control and would continue to yo-yo.
Now I’m breaking into ‘NEW TERRITORY!’
I now know that if I record everything I’m planning to eat for the day on MyFitnessPal.com (and then stick to it) I will stay within my eating parameters. (Tonight we’re having “bacon-wrapped cheesy chicken” – Suzanne Ryan, Simply Keto, plus salad and I will eat a low-carb biscuit and my husband will have a deli dinner roll.)
Though my measuring tape isn’t showing anything yet, I’m hoping it will soon. I’ve mapped out my exercise regimen for the week and am giving myself gold stars on my desk calendar as I do things each day. I am starting to FEEL a difference. My exercise for the day is a part of my ‘to-do’ list now, given 2nd highest priority, right under the ‘have-to’s.’ :0)
We have two tomato planters. We converted two brick planters on the opposite side of the house from the garden to square-foot-garden planters, though I used bags of potting soil to top them off this year. The one in the picture above we call the “niche” planter, since it’s tucked in beside the back porch and is shielded by the house.
This is an 8-foot brick planter east of the house. It’s more ‘out-in-the-open,’ much more subject to wind and gets more sun that the niche planter. Sometimes all of the plants do equally well. Sometimes the plants in one planter or the other do better in a given season. I’ve planted 8 plants in this long planter and 4 in the niche planter this year.
I found a good video on pruning tomato plants to increase yield. Usually I just leave our plants and they end up with vines all over the place – an unmanageable ‘mess’ with treasures here and there throughout. I would like to learn to prune the plants so we have plenty of greenery, but they don’t get out of hand. The video I found is “How to Prune Tomatoes for Maximum Yield and Plant Health” by Epic Gardening on YouTube. So far, I’ve learned that the type of tomato plants we grow are “indeterminate,” meaning that they continue to grow until Mother Nature kills the plants.
I’ll watch it over and over again before I actually try to prune the plants, and then I’ll take my time to sit beside each plant and really study it in a way I’ve never done before. Fingers crossed it’s a successful experiment.
They’re getting a good watering with the rain we’ve gotten overnight and today.
It’s too rainy to be out working in the garden or the yard today, but –
“Save a boyfriend for a rainy day – and another, in case it doesn’t rain.” ~ Mae West
David Hobson – Better Homes and Gardens – QuoteMasterMy veggie garden is doing well. I’ll start harvesting some lettuce and spinach probably in the next week or so. Leaf Lettuce – RomaineI have to admit I’m not really sure whether this one is broccoli or cauliflower. SpinachIf you look closely, you can see the CUTEST broccoli ever in the center of this plant.Zucchini
“Do not be angry with the rain; it simply does not know how to fall upwards.” ~ Vladimir Nabokov
Rover.com
Guess what?!? It’s raining again!! Oh, NOOOOOOO!
“And when it rains on your parade, look up rather than down. Without the rain, there would be no rainbow.” ~ Gilbert K. Chesterton
5News
We are just southeast of Fort Smith, so the big green blob with severe yellow and orange blobs encroaching show our day today will be full of storms. A great day to stay inside where it’s safe and warm and dry.
PopSugar
“Life is full of beauty. Notice it. Notice the bumble bee, the small child, and the smiling faces. Smell the rain, and feel the wind. Live your life to the fullest potential, and fight for your dreams.” ~ Ashley Smith
I ended up doing a good amount of exercise yesterday, but had listed more than I could do. I did the ‘workout for week 2″ online, and that took half an hour, following by videos for warm-up, stretches, and exercises with weights – another half hour together. I also did half an hour of yoga stretches. This was a good amount of exercise for this sedentary broad. I also had elliptical trainer on the list, but was too pooped to do it. I’m going to think again about what I’m doing, since I’m doing more and more online videos, balancing the exercise time and load a bit better. I’ll try my regular trio of videos, the elliptical, and yoga today and see how that goes.
“Never run in the rain with your socks on.” ~ Billie Joe Armstrong
I consider MyFitnessPal.com an indispensable tool in my efforts to lose the lard. I’m trying to eat 20 carbs or less per day and stay under a certain calorie count. I’m also trying to watch my salt, sugar, the percentages of my carbs/proteins/fats and more.
I basically eat the same lunch every day except Fridays, when we go to Lunch Bunch, so the only thing I’m having to ‘figure out’ is dinner and snacks.
I still have no real concept of how many carbs things have. For dinner tonight, I was planning in my head to eat a bacon-wrapped hamburger patty, steamed asparagus, and a low-carb biscuit from the bunch I made a couple of days ago. When I typed these in, the asparagus was 7 carbs for a cup, throwing me over my carbs for the day. I substituted spinach, and all smoothed out.
I’ll have the steamed asparagus another evening, but it’s taking me awhile to learn what combinations of food are meeting my goals right now. The MyFitnessPal website is saving me.
I’ve been feeling a bit blah the past two days – not sick, just very little energy. Instead of my list of exercises yesterday, I only managed planting tomatoes and my half hour session of yoga. Today I’m fighting with myself about how much I’ll do.
I’m TRYING to just put my head down and plow through it, but I don’t know if I’ll be successful. I know I’ll do my yoga, but the other things on the list – elliptical trainer and 3 video exercise programs of warm ups, stretches, and weights, are still on the iffy list….
The sight of the sun yesterday and today is really bringing up my spirits. I usually enjoy rainy days, but lately it seems we’ve had more of our share. We’re due for storms tonight-into-tomorrow. :0)
Petr Vaclavek – Dubanci.cz
I bought 12 tomato plants yesterday afternoon and got them planted. I’ll take pics in awhile and share them with you. I’ll also check on my garden. My plan is to use each sunny day to clean out ONE planter in the yard. We have 14 of them, so this will take awhile. We’ll see how I do. We have errands to run first, so we’ll get some fresh air and sun while we’re out.
I was feeling a bit off yesterday, so only did the tomato planting and my yoga for exercise. I’ll try to do my full list today. I’m doing a month-long exercise plan by Mike of MoreLifeHealth.com and I’m eager to see what the new workout is for the week. I’m supposed to do this every other day during the week.
Unsplash
I’ve been cooking up a storm (for me) lately, trying to rely on meals I make, rather than only the Real Food and Stu’s Clean Cookin’ meals. They are too high in carbs for me right now. Two days ago I made a bunch of ‘Bacon-Wrapped Cheesy Chicken Breasts” by Suzanne Ryan of Simply Keto. Yesterday I made her “Keto Chili.” Tonight I’m making bacon-wrapped hamburger patties. I’m freezing the leftovers in individual serving (or one meal for two) packages so that I won’t need to spend a lot of time in the kitchen for awhile. This saves me work, plus decreases the temptation to eat something I shouldn’t.
Have a great day. I’ll check back with you when we’re back from errands and I have pics to share.
It seems that winter is having trouble saying goodbye this year. The coasts of the U.S. are both braving snow this week, while the mid-section is suffering through waves of severe spring storms. It’s really a challenge.
mountainbreaths.com
Snowflakes are one of nature’s most fragile things, but just look what they do when they stick together. ~ Verna M. Kelly
Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face. – Victor Hugo
In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer. Albert Camus
Winter is on my head, but eternal spring is in my heart. Victor Hugo
When there’s snow on the ground, I like to pretend I’m walking on clouds. Takayuki Ikkaku
Many human beings say that they enjoy the winter, but what they really enjoy is feeling proof against it. ~ Richard Adams
It’s only 50 degrees F. here in Arkansas this morning, but the sun is shining brightly.
Amazon.com
If it warms up some more, I’m planning to go buy and then plant tomato plants today. I’m eager to get them in the ground because sliced ripe tomatoes are one of our very favorite things. I’m researching how to prune the plants because it would be nice if we had more tomatoes and less greenery. Usually they get to the point where they spill over the planters and I’m afraid to do anything except enjoy the tomatoes we get.
Giphy
Today I start WEEK 4 on my low-carb eating and exercise regimen. I’m making “Low-carb Keto Chili” by Suzanne Ryan of Simply Keto. Last week I tried a new recipe, “Tender and Fluffy Keto Almond Flour Biscuits” by heathyrecipesblogs.com. I made a double recipe, so I have plenty for the coming week. My husband is still eating one deli dinner roll per day until he finishes them before switching to low-carb on bread. I’m enjoying these biscuits.
Exercise for today: 1) exercise videos by Mike of MoreLifeHealthSeniors – ‘warm-up,’ ‘stretches,’ ‘weights,’ and exercise workout 2a. Then I’m doing half an hour of yoga and planting tomatoes.
I’m pleased that I am taking control of myself. I consciously think and plan what I’ll eat for the day BEFORE I eat or drink something that will sabotage my efforts. A HUGE HELP in this is MyFitness Pal.com. Yesterday I made some low-carb biscuits that had nice texture and tasted good. Today I’ll make bacon-wrapped cheesy chicken from Simply Keto and we’ll have a side salad and biscuit. I’m able to smell the popcorn my husband makes and watch him eat it without kicking the wall. :0)
I’m consciously planning what my exercise for the day will be. I’m using a monthly exercise planner by Mike, an Australian who has created MoreLifeHealth.com – a whole series of videos to help seniors get and stay in better health. In addition to his programs, I’m doing yoga stretches daily and my elliptical trainer 3 times a week. Yard work and house work count, too, on moving more on a daily basis.
I’m happy to see the scales acknowledging my efforts. The weight is coming off slowly, but steadily. As long as I’m showing some progress each week, it keeps me motivated. I’m researching how to break through any plateaus that will inevitably occur.
I’m FEELING a bit more energetic. Even though I still have aches and pains, I now have more arrows in my quiver on how to deal with them. I’m doing the warm-up and stretching videos by Mike daily, plus my yoga helps. A heat pad usually takes care of any residual. If not, some Tylenol.
I’m feeling happier. The world is too much with us these days, and I find myself feeling pretty down unless I consciously look for the good things – and there are a lot of them – in the world around us. I’m finding more and more coping mechanisms, and getting healthier, stronger, and more flexible is one of those things. My mantra remains –
I wish you a happy day, a happy celebration, a quiet, calm day.
ACEGIF.com
Yet another rainy day here in Arkansas. After today, we’re supposed to have something appear in the sky that lights everything up and warms the air. I’m interested to see what that is. Maybe we can find and plant some tomato plants either Monday or Tuesday!
Pinterest
I have Easter memories swirling.
Fuzzy SOFT pink angora sweater that made me feel very feminine for the first time a hundred years ago. Sweet rabbits my parents got for the family as pets – we named them “Welsh” and “Peter” Rabbit. Dyeing Easter eggs. Hunting for Easter eggs with a big basket. Eating Easter eggs. Then, many years later, Dyeing and Hiding Easter eggs for our son, plus for my students at school where I taught. Beautiful services. Soul-filling songs.
I’m having a busy day and about half of it is already gone!
The sun came out about 10:30 this morning and the rain stopped (for awhile) so I went out and uncovered my veggie plants. They seem to have come through the trauma of the storms, hail, and heavy, wet sheets fine. I wheel-barrowed the wet sheets back to the house and am washing and drying them, 2 at a time. One more load to go in the washer. Then I’ll fold and put them in the trash bag and take them out to the shop for next time.
I just took a new (double) recipe for “Tender and Fluffy Keto Almond Flour Biscuits” out of the oven to serve with dinner later. The recipe is from Healthy Recipes Blog. The author is Vered DeLeeuw. They are gluten free. The serving size is 2 biscuits, but I’m going to try to be happy with one. My husband will weigh in, also. I’ll check out more of the recipes there. Next up will be a recipe for low carb bagels from my friend, Susy.
I’m about to start my exercising for the day – 3 short exercise videos and yoga.
Astronaut Takes Blame for Gas in Spacecraft That’s what he gets for eating those beans! ————————————————- Kids Make Nutritious Snacks Do they taste like chicken? ****************************************
Depositphotos
Local High School Dropouts Cut in Half Chainsaw Massacre all over again! *************************************************** Hospitals are Sued by 7 Foot Doctors Boy, are they tall! ******************************************* And the winner is…. Typhoon Rips Through Cemetery; Hundreds Dead Did I read that right? ***************************************************
creativeartworksblog 