Tag Archives: diet

November 30, 2025 · 12:50 am

Losing the Lard November Report

Sharp_Requirement803-Reddit

It’s the end of November, just after Thanksgiving with little time before Christmas, but I promised that I would report my progress each month on my efforts to lose the lard and get healthier.

The short report is that I have now lost 84 pounds – 29 of them since I moved to Thailand. There is about 77 inches less of me now. I think my goal is to lose around 6 more pounds. I want to see how I feel at that weight and then will make a decision as to whether to lose more or go to maintenance.

The thing that has helped the most since I moved to Thailand in April is that Brian and I eat two meals a day. Our heaviest meal is breakfast after working out at the gym. We treat ourselves to a chocolate drink or an iced coffee many afternoons a week. We eat pretty lightly at dinner. I’m not worrying so much about eating low carb these days. The food in Thailand is almost all full of carbs. Even if you’re trying to watch carbs it’s difficult. I’m controlling my portions. We order a meal that serves one. I eat 1/3 of that and Brian eats the rest. We may have a side of some fruit or a small portion of pistachio nuts with that.

I’m taking supplements to help my digestion. I let Chia Seeds sit in a full glass of water for at least 10 minutes in the morning and then drink it down. I take a tablespoon of olive oil. Before dinner I drink 1/3 of a bottle of probiotic liquid. Before bed I take a probiotic pill. This combination has been truly wonderful for me. This has solved digestion problems here, but it also has made me more regular than I have been in my entire life.

I’m exercising every day. I will never be an exercise enthusiast, but I realize how important it is to my health now. I walk a mile on the treadmill every morning, 7 days a week. I used to hold on to the bars on the treadmill for dear life because my sense of balance was impaired by my surgery in February. Now I can walk not holding on at all. I still have to correct at times, but basically am comfortable so that I can now increase my speed a bit as well as the incline percentage.

I do either yoga stretching or exercises for my arms with water bottles on alternate days for half an hour. I also do some daily balance exercises I found on the net, plus dance daily for several minutes to some really great music on my computer.

Problem areas:

  • My belly will be the last to go. I’m trying to include belly exercises, but I’m also reading that some of these may actually make my problem worse. Encouraging, right?
  • My sense of balance is controlled by my inner ear and my brain. My balance and hearing were both impacted by either the anesthesia or the fact that my heart stopped twice on Feb. 11th and had surgeries to install a temporary, then permanent, pacemaker. I am now wearing hearing aids. I’m adapting to wearing them, while re-training my brain and body is a slow process.

Otherwise, I’m feeling better. I have more energy. I’m feeling more sure on my feet. Brian says I’m stumbling less over the very uneven sidewalks and streets here now. My blood pressure has improved to the point I’m on half the dosage I started on back in April. I haven’t been sick in the 7 months I have been here. Soon, I hope, I can shop for jeans that fit and a few new tops.

Onward and downward – I hope!

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October 26, 2025 · 2:17 am

“Take Less of Me….”

“Give your all to me
I’ll give my all to you
You’re my end and my beginning
Even when I lose, I’m winning
‘Cause I give you all of me
And you give me all of you, oh-oh”~ “All of Me” by John Legend

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This is a selfie taken just a few minutes ago. I’m going ahead and providing a progress report on my efforts to lose my lard for the end of October 2025.

This is my husband and me at “Lunch Bunch” at The Pizza Barn in Arkansas about a year and a half ago. At my heaviest (two years or more ago) I weighed 205.

As of today, I’ve lost 80 pounds and 85 inches. I still have about 10 lbs or so to go, but I can finally see the end goal and believe I can actually reach it.

I feel better now, since I’m finally in the normal, healthy range of the BMI chart for my height. I’ll make the final decision on where I want to maintain and concentrate more on fitness after I lose the next 10 lbs.

I don’t know if you can tell a difference or not. I can tell you I’ve had to alter the waist in my jeans 4 times now since I moved to Thailand in April. I will celebrate, getting two pairs of jeans that FIT when I reach my goal weight.

It’s funny. Although I’m pleased about the weight and inches loss, I’m wondering from time to time whether it’s better to have smooth skin filled out by fat or to be thinner with lots of excess skin and lots of wrinkles. I think of myself now as a Shar-Pei type of person…

Reddit

I will just concentrate on meeting my weight goal while continuing to exercise to increase my strength and stamina, plus regain my sense of balance since I lost it after being in the hospital in February. I’m walking a mile each day on the treadmill at the gym. I also do a session of yoga stretches one day and dance to really bouncy music with water bottles in my hands as weights with which I do exercises for my arms on the next day. My son, Brian, and I also try to walk to places that are close to the condo to get more exercise in.

It would be nice to meet my goal by the end of 2025. I’m not in any huge hurry. I’m trying to eat healthy things, enjoying trying Thai cuisine as well as eating “Western style” low carb meals. We’re eating breakfast and dinner each day, and I have an iced coffee mid afternoon. No snacks. I’m drinking lots and lots of water until I feel my eyeballs are floating. All this is working together to undo some of the damage I had before I moved here. I want to be healthy to be able to enjoy exploring this fascinating country!

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September 30, 2025 · 12:48 am

“Losing the Lard” Progress Report

Noemar – @noemardau.bsky.social

I absolutely LOVE this mug. No words are needed. One look and you react.

The progress report for September 2025 is encouraging, though slow, as usual. My “Losing the Lard” project started a couple of years ago. I have hit every snag, bump in the road, pothole, plateau and stagnation possible during that time. I have become a master of making excuses for what went wrong.

Dying twice February 11th in the hospital in Arkansas, having to have a temporary, then permanent pacemaker installed, then moving to Thailand and having a baseline assessment doctor totally concerned about my sky-high blood pressure – with orders to take a medication, lose weight and exercise – finally ended that. No more excuses. I needed to quit opening my mouth, start seriously moving my body, and embrace the fact that I have been given a second chance.

Since Thai food has LOTS and LOTS of carbs, my low-carb plan has been a challenge. “Western food” as it’s known here, is much more what I would like to eat, but it’s a lot more expensive. So I have changed to eating two meals daily – breakfast and dinner – with an iced coffee or chocolate in the afternoons, and sharing dinner with my son – with him eating 2/3 of whatever we get an me eating 1/3. We are eating chicken, pork, rarely beef, bacon, salad stuff, fruit, eggs, nuts, and some veggies. We are drinking mushroom tea with some beef bone broth mixed in each morning.

I moved to Thailand in April. Since the assessment by the doctor, I have lost 23 pounds. I am walking on the treadmill daily at the gym, doing yoga stretches, and dancing to music with water bottles for weights daily, plus regular walking.

PROGRESS TO DATE – I’ve lost 78 pounds total since my heaviest, and there are 74-3/4 inches less of me than at my heaviest. I’m undecided whether I want to lose 10 or 15 pounds at this point. I want to be in the middle of the ‘healthy weight’ section of the chart. I want to feel stronger, more flexible, and handle the uneven streets and sidewalks here in Thailand with more agility. I need to improve the balance issue I’ve had since being in the hospital. I’m working on that at the gym by not holding on to the handlebars of the treadmill, forcing my brain and my body to keep correcting to not fall on my head. It’s amazing to me how much more trouble I have staying balanced when the video on the screen in front of me is following a really curvy path and going in and out of dark places…

It’s good to be able to finally see reaching my goal in the relatively near future. Working toward my goal makes me feel that I am doing something good for myself.

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September 19, 2025 · 10:14 pm

Happy Milestone

Harvey is behind the couch. The fat lady on the right end of the couch is me in May of 2013, according to the date stamp.

This was taken about a year ago when we still lived in Arkansas. I had lost weight; but as you can see, I needed to close my mouth and move a LOT to get things more under control.

I don’t know if you can tell any difference here. It’s hard for me to take a selfie.

Here’s a view from the side.

And here I am, looking at you.

The milestone is that I’m under 130 pounds today for the first time in years. When I saw the scales, I measured twice to make sure, then decided to go ahead and do measurements for the month, since I won’t change that much in 10 days.

I’m down 73 pounds from my heaviest weight and there is 74-1/2 inches less of me now than at that time.

I’m still trying to watch my carbs, but we are limited here because of several factors –

  • Brian is trying to work full time plus take care of his dad in the nursing home plus take care of his mom. He likes ordering food and having it delivered rather than our cooking together or me cooking at his place.
  • Choices for delivery are limited as to how far away they are and whether they participate in Grab Delivery. Also, Thai food is not low carb. We can GET low carb, but it’s more expensive and usually the food here is spicy.

I have decided not to worry so much about how many carbs I’m eating, but limiting my meals and my portions. We eat breakfast and dinner. Sometimes I get an iced coffee mid-afternoon. We share our order for meals, with me eating 1/3 and Brian eating 2/3.

I’m walking at the gym most every morning. I’m concentrating on balance by not holding on to the bars of the treadmill, but the main thing is the moving every day. I’m doing long sessions of old lady yoga stretches, breathing into the stretches so I feel really loose by the end of my practice. I’m putting on headphones and bopping to dance music on my computer while holding a water bottle in each hand, doing exercises for my arms and back.

I am finally able to see a new beginning sometime soon where I stop the concentrating on losing weight and start concentrating maintenance and on getting more fit. I figure that 10 or 15 more pounds will get me where I will feel the healthiest.

I am having difficulty REALIZING that my weight is down, even though I just had to take in my jeans again. I want to wait and get jeans that FIT when I reach my final goal. I got some sweatshirts recently, and Brian had to insist I not get the one I had in my hand. I was used to having to go really large to cover my bulk. I went down two sizes and they are still quite roomy over another shirt!

I am trying to make the most of my second chance at life by listening to my body, trying to get as fit as I can, and showing discipline in my eating. 😜

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June 28, 2025 · 9:31 pm

“Take Less of Me…”

Willie Nelson – “Take All of Me…” – Wikipedia

“All of me
Why not take all of me?”

I love this song by Willie Nelson. I immediately started humming it when I was weighing and measuring for my end of the month reporting on my efforts to lose the lard – except I sang, “Less of me – Why not take less of me?”

I’m finally entering a phase where I can actually see what might be the end of my efforts to LOSE and the beginning of maintenance. I’ve been at this a LONG time and I had honestly begun to doubt my ability to actually achieve my goal.

As of today, I’ve lost almost 67 pounds and 60 inches since my heaviest. Even though Lynn, my much appreciated and much missed massage therapist did what she could to make me taller, it didn’t work. So I’ve continued to eat low carb and exercise more. I’m now finally within sight of my goal to be in the middle to lower end of the healthy range on a BMI chart and to continue my efforts to get more fit and flexible.

I talked to Brian this morning at breakfast. He has been helping and supporting me, but has lately been getting further and further from strict low carb, trying to introduce me to nice food here, plus just pamper me. We have agreed to be stricter about the low carb, and that instead of each of us getting half of whatever we order, I’ll get one-third and he’ll get two-thirds. I would LIKE to get to my goal weight by my next visit to the doctor – in about two months. Brian and I have agreed that I’ll aim to lose 1 kilo a week (or 2.2 pounds.)

I’m walking a mile on the treadmill at the gym each morning and I’m doing yoga stretches (now in the afternoon) as well as 3 new exercises to strengthen my back.

I hope there will be ‘less of me’ at the end of July!

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May 30, 2025 · 9:32 pm

A Bit of Progress 5-31-2025

Time

Since today is the end of May here in Chiang Mai, I’m doing my official accounting of my efforts to lose the lard.

I have a new set of digital scales from the one I had in the states, so I’m not sure of the accuracy, but I think weight is a relative thing, and that ALL signs of downward results should be celebrated loudly, with great enthusiasm. 🤣

I am now down 62 pounds from my heaviest, and have lost 51.75 inches.

We went to a clinic here a couple of weeks ago to get a baseline on me since our move to Thailand. It was showing a fairly alarming blood pressure and lesser concerning reading of high cholesterol, relatively speaking. I started a combination of two blood pressure meds, taking one-half pill for 6 days and then switching to a whole pill daily until I see her again on June 23rd. She advised me to lose the lard (imagine that!) eat low carb (we’re already doing that) and exercising (I’m walking the mile on the treadmill every morning, walking to places close to our building during the day, and doing yoga stretches at night). The scale is showing I’m down almost 4 pounds since the initial appointment, and I’m hoping to have a good amount down by the time I see her again, plus better blood pressure and improved numbers otherwise.

I go to a 2nd main place for hearing aids this morning. We found a good candidate at another place awhile back, but wanted to see what this second place offered before we make a decision.

In each place, I am asking that I go outside wearing the pair I think is the best so I can hear how they perform with lots of background noise. We will study, read a lot of reviews, and then decide what seems best to do.

I still find it amazing that I could hear normally before I was admitted to the hospital for my low blood oxygen, ending up with heart failure and a pacemaker, plus a significant loss of hearing when I was released. No one can find anything physically wrong, and I’m very grateful that hearing aids may help.

Onward and downward, I hope, becoming healthier as the days pass.

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April 17, 2025 · 7:43 pm

Day 11 in Hospital

Today we have an appointment at the local visa place. We’ll then go to the bank, and then to the hospital.

We will talk about low carb with the therapist who feeds Harvey, plus the head nurse and the doctors who come to the room. It makes no sense to US to give him daily shots in the stomach to try to bring down his high blood sugar while feeding him a high carb diet both in the therapy feedings and the nutrient bags he’s still getting via the feeding tube.

We have seen the delirious behavior before in the states when he was drinking a bunch of chocolate milk and eating potato chips. This behavior wasn’t repeated at ALL once he agreed to quit cheating and we went to a strict low carb diet. Right after breakfast yesterday, he was out of it. He didn’t know we were there yesterday. He didn’t react to commands.

We have lots of details to handle outside the hospital and inside. We will try to do as much as possible on each of the areas.

Otherwise, the water festival is a thing of the past for another year. Workers were taking down the scaffolding used to protect the front of the huge mall Maya during the festival. I have truly never seen that many people in one place before. The Grabs are no longer having to detour around the area as much as possible to get people where they are going. There were still a huge number of people walking around, but that is the norm in Chiang Mai. I find it fascinating to see everyone, see what the people are wearing, where they are congregating, watch in amazement as the Grabs dart through the lanes of traffic as the motor scooters and motorbikes dart in and out, everyone seeming to know how to navigate, when they need to stay in there lane and when it’s okay to dart out. Only the motor scooters dart in and out. All others are very calm, taking every opportunity to change lanes when needed, but remarkably competent in getting where they are going.

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March 25, 2025 · 7:03 am

Hard to Believe

Pam Grout

It’s hard to believe that tomorrow we’ll be on our way to a new life.

We are happy that Amber’s new parents, Tim and Lisa, will come this afternoon for a visit. I’m sad that they live down the road from here and we just met them. They are a wonderful family, surrounding Amber with attention, good care, and lots of love. It will be nice to relax and get to know them better this afternoon. We have promised each other to text and email each other so we can keep up the new friendship (and kind of extended family).

My husband has a last haircut this morning. Michael Remillard of Tangles has taken care of us for years. We may find someone else who will do a decent job on our hair, but we’ve shared a friendship with Michael, and that is not replaceable.

Lots of details left, but we’re closing in on being able to leave tomorrow.

My husband is doing really well with the strict low carb. (Though he had started to eat some pretzels yesterday when I saw him. I snatched the bag out of his hand, admonished him, and threw that and another bag that had been in the pantry a long time into the trash. We then made a low carb snack for him. (He realized that he had just ‘thought’ about eating something, wasn’t really hungry, and felt guilty.) We took a walk around the house and out to the shop. Later on, HE announced he was taking a walk. I ‘graciously’ accompanied him. :0) We went around the house again and out to the shop, and then a bit farther, out to the old garden area. We’ll try to do that again today.

We’re finishing last-minute details. The three of us will work together to get my husband packed, organized about what he’ll wear on the trip, and our backpacks carefully packed tomorrow.

Hope your day is a good one.

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March 5, 2025 · 10:01 am

Details 3-5-2025

Freepik

I’m trying to do a bit each day in our efforts to get ready to move. Most of the details will be handled by an auctioneer who has a really good reputation and has worked in our area as long as I can remember.

My task lately has been to go through a four-drawer file cabinet to see if there are things that should be destroyed or saved or left for the auction company. Added to the task is the stuff we got from our safe deposit box at the bank.

I think I’ve finished going through the files. I’m still trying to make my way through the pile that is now on my desk. I will try to finish that today.

One of the nice things that is happening is that as I tell my friends we’re moving, I’m inviting them over to either freezer-dive, taking whatever they would like, and/or giving them things I think they would like. It makes me happy to give people I care about a bit of a boost. :0)

Our son is trying to help us clean up our habits, otherwise. I’ve been snacking like a fiend on Ritz Crackers like they won’t be made anymore. Actually, I don’t know if I’ll be able to get them in Thailand or not, but that isn’t the issue. The issue is eating between meals and I need to stop that – particularly eating things like crackers. Our son is cooking us some really nice meals, and I’m going to redouble my efforts to hold my eating to those.

My husband is ignoring all that, of course. Last night he had a bad night. We were up over and over with him being sick. So we talked to him when he came downstairs this morning about letting his stomach rest, and eating sicky food today. So what does he do? He got a jar of jelly and a knife and proceeded to eat the jelly straight from the jar. We have thrown up our hands now and he will do what he will do.

Our son has researched and found some supplements that he thinks may help my high blood pressure, so I’m embracing that change. Hopefully in time I will regain my strength, continue to lose my lard, take the new supplements, and resume my exercise schedule once we recover our general health and then recover from the grueling flight schedule to Thailand.

We will all fly together and we only have to do it once, so I am gearing up for that.

It’ll be amazing to ONLY pack things appropriate for the summer. In Thailand they have summer, wet summer, smoky summer, and more summer. That will be interesting to get used to. :0)

I hope you have a nice day today.

Take care.

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January 18, 2025 · 10:22 am

Different Measurement

TikTok

I’ve told you that I’m trying to lose the lard and get as healthy as possible as I age.

On the eating front, I’m fasting from dinner the night before until lunch the following day, eating a low-carb diet using MyFitnessPal.com to log what I’m eating and drinking each day. My scales, though, better, are still laughing at me and GRUDGINGLY giving me good news from time to time.

On the exercise front, I do exercises with 3-pound weights in-between writing blog posts, several repetitions of many different moves before writing another post, then doing some chair exercises that are supposed to strengthen my abdomen (core.) In the afternoon, I’m doing half an hour to 45 minutes of yoga stretches. I’m consciously trying to move more, taking on projects like standing on my head (figuratively) in my closet upstairs, cleaning it out, trying on clothes, and bagging up stuff to donate to the Veterans Thrift Store in Fort Smith the next time we go. I’m trying to choose things – or they choose me – that involve a lot of pulling and hauling, going up and down stairs, in and out to the garage, or something similar. I measure at the end of every month to see if I’ve made any progress.

In cleaning out my closet, I’ve found another standard of measurement in my efforts – jeans.

When I started trying to lose the lard, and until I started going through my closet this past week, I was delighted to discover that I could do away with my fattest jeans. (The ones that had elastic at the waist, rather than a zipper.) As I tried on more things, I discovered that the next jeans size down was ALSO too big! HOOORAAAAAY! I’m now wearing jeans that are 3 sizes down from my worst. Now THAT is motivation to try to keep my mouth shut and continue my efforts. They AREN’T in vain. I AM making progress!

There is one jean and shorts size smaller than I now have stacked on the top shelf in my closet. It will probably be some time before I can wear those, but again, they are motivation. Fingers crossed.

I will weigh and measure at the end of the month, as usual, and report to you as I have promised, but I was grinning as I showed my husband. :0)

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December 6, 2024 · 10:09 am

Character-Building Exercises

Indian Hills Signs – Vince, the Sign Guy

If you’ve been reading my blog, you know that I whine from time to time that my efforts to lose the lard and get stronger are frustrated.

I’m into a routine now.

I’m eating low carb and monitoring what I’m eating and drinking on MyFitnessPal.com. This is a wonderful site with a free part that allows you to (1) set your goals (2) plan what you’re going to eat and drink ahead of time BEFORE you mess up, and (3) chart your progress with exercising, measurements and weight logs.

Womens Health

In-between posts on the blog to you, I’m doing short sessions of exercises with 3-pound weights, several reps of lots of different moves – some to the beat of music videos of ladies doing ‘drumming exercises’- and then I go back and write another post. This takes the ‘curse’ off of things for me. I have the weights on my computer counter right next to me, so it’s easy to stop, do a session, and then get back to what I was doing. I end up doing 4 to 5 sessions daily.

The Indian Express

I try to get in a session of “old-lady-yoga-stretches” – 30 to 45 minutes – every afternoon. I do NOT fold myself up into a paper airplane shape and sail across the room. I’m concentrating on relaxing, stretching my poor, aching body as far as I can into each position and breathing into it. I’m making progress because I’m stretching farther and able to relax into it better than I could when I started. I’m getting more flexible, looser, and my balance is improving. I can relax – unless Monster Cat decides to jump onto my feet and bite them.

Getty Images – Health

If the weather permits, I try to take at least a couple of walks around our yard daily. At one point, I decided I would walk down and get our mail every day. Doesn’t sound like much, does it.

Well, we live on top of a ridge line in Arkansas. Our driveway is 650+ feet from the house down to the road that runs in front of our property. It is graveled and STEEP. I tried to do this, but almost fell on my head several times trying to walk down, and then, even stopping several times to bend over and try to catch my breath, it felt like Mt. Everest to this old lady. Once was enough.

Now I walk out to our shop, around it, past our old veggie garden area, back to the house, around it, and do the round again. If the weather is nice, I put my gardening gloves on and carry my pruning shears so I can stop and cut something down while I’m out. (The woods are continually trying to recapture the land we took when we built our home 37 years ago now.)

Deviant Art

Finally, just for giggles, my husband helped me get our old Wii Fit to work again after several years. I stopped using it years ago due to my general laziness and it’s predilection for snark when I got on to measure my weight and when I tried to do the activities. I’m ignoring that and talking back to it now. :0)

I whine because even with watching what I eat like a hawk and pushing myself to move the lard daily, I’m having trouble meeting my current interim goal. I just bobble with 2 to 3 pounds over and over rather than actually meeting my goal and being able to set a new one. It’s aggravating, to say the least.

I guess it’s also character-building, because I AM sticking to my eating and exercise plan and I WILL – EVENTUALLY – reach this interim goal of 45 pounds off from my heaviest. Right now the result is 44 pounds down and almost 44 inches less. I. AM. DETERMINED.

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November 13, 2024 · 10:11 am

Wednesday 11-13-2024

Source: CatLover1 – Pinterest (sorry, image is backwards and I can’t make out the whole url.) It made me smile, so wanted to share.

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LINDA’S CRAFTINESS – 19 x 12 x 1/4 heavy straw mat for a one-of-a-kind, hand-painted “Southwest Turtle.” Ready to hang. $42.99 with Free Shipping. There are 3 others in this series. Contact me at lindawlewis1@gmail.com if you’re interested in more details about the collection.

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LAZY LOW-CARB FINDS – I’m really happy to have found 4 things to share with you!

Great Value – Walmart
  • We have always driven to See’s Seafood in Fort Smith to buy fresh shrimp, maybe a couple of times per year – lately not that often. The shrimp is fresh, beautiful, but expensive for us, plus a lot of work for me. I found this Great Value x-large Frozen Shrimp at Walmart recently and I’m really happy with it. All I have to do is thaw it, pull the tails off, and serve to have a nice shrimp cocktail, which we enjoyed last night. The shrimp is already cooked, peeled, deveined. There is a jumbo size, too, I think, but this was really nice. We had a shrimp chef salad two nights ago and then the shrimp cocktail last night. I have another bag in the freezer. I’m looking for a good, low-carb recipe for a shrimp casserole. (2 carbs per 3 oz serving (about 5 shrimp) 0 sugar.)
  • I feel as if I hit the mother lode with the next three on the list of finds – KETO bread, ready to eat. I’ve tried to make myself make keto bread, rolls, etc. from recipes. I’m just too lazy. I don’t want to spend all day, every day, fixing food. I just want to lose the lard, get more fit, keep the lard off, without a whole lot of hassle. Yesterday we shopped at our local Harps grocery. I checked the bread section, not really expecting to find anything. I found KETO sandwich bread, KETO hot dog buns, and I just found out there are KETO hamburger buns available, as well. AND, just to put frosting on the cake, the brand name is “LEWIS Healthy Life.” You can’t beat THAT with a stick! The hot dog buns are 1 carb per bun. The sandwich bread is 0 net carbs per slice. The hamburger buns are 1 net carb per bun. All are high in fiber, something I’m trying to increase, so it’s a win/win. Since bread is one of the main things I’ve been missing, I’ve been eating Mission 0 Net Carb Tortillas in place of bread, and they’re all right, but this will be a really nice change.

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We’re having a quiet day so far today, and I’m hoping to make it up to my art room today. Enjoy your Wednesday.

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November 8, 2024 · 11:48 am

Beautiful Phrases for Us

Danie Franco – Unsplash

As we get older, we are FINALLY learning how important it is to read the labels on the things we eat and drink. I’m trying to stay low-carb and watch my sodium. My husband is a Type II Diabetic and must watch his sugar (or, more accurately, I’M watching his sugar.)

To this end, I’m embracing products we find that make our lives easier. I’m trying to find substitutes that are healthier as we go.

“Sugar-Free” –

The G. Hughes Smokehouse Sugar-Free BBQ Sauce was a huge find for us. I got two more bottles while we were out today, and discovered that the company also makes sugar-free teriaki sauce, sugar-free stir-fry sauce, and sugar-free honey mustard. I bought all three today to add to our pantry. As we were checking out, the lady at the register told me they also offer Sugar-free Ketchup, so that’s on the list for next time. I also found their website and will go back and see if I’m missing other wonderful things.

Other products we’ve found are Sugar-Free Maple Syrup. My husband is using this in his morning coffee, instead of the two spoonfuls of sugar he has always used. ZERO soft drinks are so much better than the full sugar pop he has always insisted on.

“No Sugar Added” – This is another beautiful phrase, because it allows me to substitute more things my husband has been missing. They are not sugar-free, and you have to read the labels carefully, but there are more and more good products out there. A recent example for us is Marketside No Sugar Added Blueberry Streusel Muffins. These contain 2 grams of sugar per muffin. (The apple fritters my husband was insisting upon were 22 grams per fritter.) I breathed a sigh of relief on the way home from the store today when he told me he had thrown out the last of the fritters today. We bought two containers of the no sugar added muffins today, but I was really trying to keep my lips zipped as much as possible, encouraging, rather than condemning. HOOOORAAAAAAY!

“Low Carb” – this is very important to me. I’m almost to an interim weight loss goal and I’m checking everything I eat and drink, listing all I plan to eat on MyFitnessPal.com before I start the day. You have to be super careful here, though, too. “Low carb” seems to be a relative term. I’ve picked up several things labeled that way, and then read that they’re much too high in carbs for what I’m doing. I also have to really pay attention to the sodium content, as I have blood pressure and water retention considerations.

One place we are really happy with is Stu’s Clean Cookin’. They have a website that lists everything they offer, giving full information on the nutrition content of each frozen meal. They also divide their offerings into categories to make finding things easier, such as low carb. I can go online, read through the offerings, making a list for me, another for my husband before we go to their store. We have our order ready so shopping is quick and easy.

(We made a mistake the last time we were in there. We grabbed some BBQ’d ribs in a big foil package. They were easy to heat up and delicious, but the BBQ sauce obviously wasn’t for us, as our blood sugar numbers were up the next morning. OUR fault, not theirs.)

We’re learning as we go – even though being older than dirt, one would THINK we would have learned before now. We’re tweaking things, learning about new products and new ways to cook things that are healthier and healthier. It feels good that we’re not TOO old to learn how to be as healthy as we can be.

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October 31, 2024 · 5:01 pm

Snap, Crackle, Pop!

Nourish, Move, Love

I sound like the older-than-dirt Rice Krispies commercial when I exercise. I’m drowning that out with earphones plugged into my computer where I listen to “Ladies Drumming” exercise videos where they use drumsticks to beat on exercise balls on platforms just below chest level to some fun music. Instead of their equipment, I’m holding 3-pound dumbbells and doing exercise moves I’ve learned elsewhere, keeping up with the beat. It makes the movement ALMOST fun. I just finished doing two of the videos before I was feeling it in my neck and shoulders.

I did quite a bit of walking (for me) when my husband and I went to do errands this morning. I’ll walk more before dinner.

Now I’ll go do a session of old-lady stretching yoga that will nicely fill out my exercise for the day.

I’ve tweaked my eating by adding the protein shake my doctor recommended daily, plus eating Zero Net-Carb Mission Tortillas, one for lunch and another for dinner, adding 14 grams of fiber daily. I’m drinking more water in-between.

I’m almost to another milestone for me – one of my interim goal marks, and I hope to be able to claim that by the end of this week.

I splurged, though, today, because my husband wanted to stop at our local grocery so he could get a chicken/mashed-potato-bowl for lunch. I caved and got two chicken tenders. I ate one with lunch today and will have the other tomorrow. This allows me to realize that this is a lifestyle change for the rest of my life, not just a ‘diet’ that will end at some point, and that small splurges from time to time add motivation while keeping me from feeling deprived.

We enjoyed delicious BBQ ribs from Stu’s Clean Cookin’ last night. I divided the rack we bought into two pieces. I put one in the fridge to eat last night and the other piece in the freezer for another time. When it was cooked, I divided it again so we both enjoyed 4 ribs with a side salad. My husband had a roll and I had a tortilla. Tonight we’re eating some leftover “Simply Keto Chicken” by Suzanne Ryan.

If you need a laugh, you can picture me on the floor, snap, crackling and popping my way through my yoga stretches while Monster Cat either tries to bite my toes, sit on my stomach, or walk under me as I stretch up on my hands and knees…

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October 15, 2024 · 10:20 am

Tuesday 10-15-2024

Ayse Cakan-Pinterest

Good morning! I’m having a slow start getting to my blog this morning. I had a note on the chat program from our son, asking me to open a PDF file. It’s from the IRS, saying he owes them money. Since our son lives across the world from us, I wrote the check, signed the form and will mail everything later today or tomorrow. Our son pays us back right away, so it isn’t a big problem.

I started a new account on Facebook two days ago because I wanted to read a new blog there. Someone hacked my account years ago and Facebook wouldn’t help me, so I closed my account. I started looking at things there, joined a few local groups, tried to find some of my old friends, commented on a few posts, etc.

I received a notice in my email later from Facebook saying my account was suspended because I hadn’t followed their rules. They didn’t point to anything, so I have no clue. I appealed the decision, saying if they would let me know what I had done, I would make every effort not to repeat it. I haven’t heard anything since, and I’m still suspended, so you MAY be reading the words of a ‘terrorist,’ though, from what I’ve read elsewhere, Facebook allows THAT…

Montgomery Child Care Association

We don’t have anything scheduled today. I’m hoping that things will be quiet around here. I’m working on a couple of signs in my art room, have ideas for two more, and am getting supplies gathered to try to paint some new stationery and/or note cards.

Freepik

I’ve been trying to walk more, to add to my weights videos and my yoga stretching. I ordered a competitor of the Fitbit watch. I don’t need the brand name and all I really want is for it to track my steps so that I can keep track and try to increase it each time. I should get it Thursday, I think.

Source Unknown

I’m on a bit of a plateau on my efforts to lose the lard since I started the protein shakes. I’m tweaking what I’m eating otherwise. I’ve read that eating too much protein can knock you out of ketosis, but I’ll keep doing this until my body has a chance to settle. It’s important that I increase the protein, so the tweaking and increasing movement will continue, hoping for the best.

The weather here has gotten so much cooler in the mornings and nights that not only have we turned off the a/c, but we wait to open the doors until closer to lunch time. What a welcome difference! Monster Cat is a bit ticked because she likes going out on the back porch. In the early evenings there are some bunnies running around and she fantasizes about catching them and eating them. Amber enjoys lying on the tiles right in the doorway to catch the nice breezes.

Our terrific tree guy wasn’t able to take the stray pup who has been visiting us. I didn’t see the pup yesterday, though, so I’m hopeful he’s moved on.

Hope your Tuesday is a fun one.

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October 2, 2024 · 10:57 am

Comforting Thought

Crafty Angel Designs

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August 25, 2024 · 8:49 am

Sunday 8-25-2024

cannister with attitude-sususummer.com

I LOVE the creativity and humor shown in this piece!

This is the latest wood-burned piece. I’ll list it on HandmadeHavenByLinda on Etsy later today. I attached magnets to the back so that it’s ready to ‘stick’ to the fridge.

I’m slowly making order out of chaos in my art room each day. Yesterday I did three sessions – working on the piece plus going through more ‘stuff’ each time I was up there. It’s slowly looking like ‘someone might have had a problem,’ rather than ‘aftermath of the bomb.’

We enjoyed the first ripe tomatoes in about a month last night at dinner. I was truly amazed to find tomatoes ready to harvest yesterday. I had gone out there to see if the plants needed to be pulled for the season. It was such a nice surprise, and the tomatoes we shared were delicious. We have more waiting to be enjoyed and more on the plants. I’m in Heaven.

garetsvisual-freepik.com

I was a good girl all day yesterday. I fixed us hot dogs for dinner, with my husband having hot dog buns with his and my having Mission Zero-Carb tortillas to hold mine. I turned to put them on the plate and my husband had poured out potato chips for each of us. SIGH. Guess who ate each. and. every. one. P.S. they were delicious.

Today is a keep-on-keepin’-on kind of day. I’ll start a new piece in the art room and continue my efforts to make it look like a real human lives there. I’m finding a group of things that I’ll probably list on my Etsy site to see if someone wants to adopt them. Leftovers for dinner, so I’ll probably be able to make time to do a good session of yoga this afternoon.

Make this day a good one.

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August 13, 2024 · 10:56 am

Definition

Snaccident-Vintage Market Eugene-Etsy

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July 19, 2024 · 9:55 am

Eyes Open, Mouth Shut

Migle Miliute – BoredPanda.com

Re-losing the poundage I gained because of caving when my husband insisted we stop at Sonic so he could get a large banana milkshake. “Somehow” a medium chocolate shake appeared in my hand while we were there. This was followed that day by some potato chips from my husband’s stash with our dinner….

I’m ALMOST back now to my 33 pounds down level. I’m hoping to be there tomorrow, and then I can zero in on getting to my current interim goal of 35 down.

The key to all this, of course, is keeping my eyes open and my mouth shut. I am now using MyFitnessPal.com to ENSURE that when I plan my eating for the day, the result, including any snacks will be the website concluding, “You’re not eating enough.” When you’re old and you don’t live for exercise, this seems to be the key in seeing a difference on the scales.

I’ve also decided to concentrate on my yoga each afternoon plus a video or two daily using weights from my More Life Health Seniors guy, Mike with the wonderful Australian accent.

Reddit – r/midjourney

“Eyes open – mouth shut – body moving” SING IT! :0)

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June 3, 2024 · 9:39 am

Monday 6-3-2024

Izzy Park – Blue_Jean – Unsplash.com

I’m beginning to feel a bit more confident about my ability to lose some of my lard. This is a BIG thing because I’ve tried lots of different things to no avail. I’m following a low carb eating plan now, cutting WAAAAAY down on salt, as well, plus am trying to move more.

To date, I’ve lost 29.6 pounds and 28 inches since my heaviest.

I’m using MyFitnessPal.com to log what I’m planning to eat and drink each day so that I can make adjustments BEFORE it’s too late. I’m making substitutions, finding alternatives for things I miss the most, like bread. I’ve found Zero Net Carb Mission Tortillas. (Each has 7 carbs, but also 7 grams of fiber, which, since fiber can’t be digested, offsets the carbs, resulting in zero net carbs.) I was used to eating one dinner roll with dinner, we ate sandwiches for lunch, etc. Now I can use these, instead, and not feel guilty. I fixed grilled turkey and cheese sandwiches last night, for example, using bread for my husband and tortillas for me. :0)

I have found that if my total on MyFitnessPal says, “It’s likely you’re not eating enough,” I tend to lose a bit of weight. For me, this works, so I plan to continue. I’m eating so that I’m not hungry. If I am, I eat a snack, so I’m not feeling deprived. I have tried to lose the lard for many years now, so this slow, steady loss is really gratifying.

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May 27, 2024 · 9:58 am

Truth

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May 19, 2024 · 11:05 am

Moving the Lard

I am currently doing three things to move the lard in an effort to keep all my parts moving in as pain-free a manner as possible for as long as possible.

THING ONE– Senior Online Exercise Videos by Mike from More Life Health Seniors – There are a whole series of these. If you’re interested, click on the link above to scroll through the offerings. I’m trying to do at least two different ones daily.

THING TWO – a 30 – 40 minute session of old lady stretching yoga daily. I have made my own series of stretches and positions now, but I started with a “Gentle Yoga ” DVD I purchased through Sixty and Me by Kat Kabira. She got me over my intimidation of the whole yoga idea, stressing that stretching toward, and breathing into, stretches and poses was as good for beginners as ACTUALLY being able to bend over and touch your toes, for example. I do a lot of “stretching toward” and “breathing into”, and I can tell you that I really feel the difference if I don’t take the time to do my practice.

thumbpress.com-boredpanda.com

THING THREE – And finally, I try to get outside daily (if Mother Nature is feeling cooperative) to get some fresh air, walk around, and do something good in the yard. It may be half an hour harvesting veggies, weeding flower beds, weed whacking, spraying bug spray or weed control spray, etc.

The combination of these three things plus watching my carbs and sodium is all working together in my efforts to lose the lard. MyFitnessPal.com is a free website where I can list my exercise, my weight and measurements, and the foods I eat daily to make sure I’m staying on track. I believe I have finally found a good, healthy combination to accomplish my goal of staying as healthy as possible as the years pile on. :0)

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May 13, 2024 · 2:22 pm

Did It!

I cooked a turkey breast this morning, then put it in the fridge to cool. I just finished cleaning up after using my new electric meat slicer for the first time.

I have to admit I was intimidated after reading the manual, which was mostly safety stuff warning me about cutting my arm off or electrocuting myself. It’s kind of amazing that anyone would try to USE this thing after all the warnings. (Kind of like the medicine advertisements that list all the side effects, including death).

Anyway, I was determined to use it, and do it safely. Here I am, typing away at my computer after using the new equipment, with arms and legs intact and not having been electrocuted, with the whole turkey breast neatly sliced and in a big bowl with a lid in the fridge.

Clean up was easy, as well. Mostly making sure I got all the little snibbles of turkey wiped off, then wiping it down with a soft, warm cloth. I took the blade off, too, to make sure there wasn’t anything caught behind it, and put it back on securely. (That’s done very well with the locking piece in the center. You turn it to unlock it with your fingers, hold onto the locking thing to move the blade, clean it, or whatever, and then use the holding thing to put it back on and turn the locking piece to secure it again. No touching the sharp part of the blade unless you want to.)

They warned not to use the slicer for over 10 minutes. I think I used it for 5 or less. It made quick work of the two halves of the turkey breast. There is a dial thingie to indicate how thick or thin you want the slices.

It’s all cleaned up and covered again. The sliced turkey is in the fridge. Instead of eating approximately 764 mgs of sodium with the deli turkey as a part of my lunch, I’ll be eating around 71 mgs. :0)

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May 10, 2024 · 11:22 am

Getting My Act Together

My new electric meat slicer was delivered yesterday. I reorganized part of my kitchen counter so the slicer is now on an easily moveable place mat so I can slide the slicer out a bit for use, with a NON-slide place mat on top of THAT so the slicer won’t slide when I’m using it. :0) I just ordered a cover that’s made for this particular slicer, rather than the towel I’m using now. I’ll read the manual for this later today.

Here’s the cover.

I’m set up now so I can cook and slice most any meat to eat for my lunches, taking the place of the deli turkey I THOUGHT was healthy, but turned out to be sky high in sodium. (Same with salami. )

I did find some lunch meat that’s half the sodium or less than what I’m finishing up now while I’m gearing up to do all my own.

I also found some low carb, much-lower-sodium frozen dinners at Stu’s Clean Cookin’ in Greenwood. I will try all of these, but some are higher sodium than I would like for the long run. It will depend on how the food changes come together (shown clearly on MyFitnessPal.com) before I make long term decisions.

Meanwhile, my doc has increased my thyroid hormone dosage, so that should help, as well, though it will probably take several 6-week trials before we zero in on my new good dosage.

I’m finally getting my act together on eating healthier, plus I’m working in the yard most every day and doing a session of yoga stretching in the afternoons at least 3 times a week if not every day. Hopefully, the lard will start coming off in a more steady manner and my next routine blood tests in October will show significant improvement. :0)

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May 8, 2024 · 10:27 am

Searching and Adapting

123RF

I’m trying to eat 20 or less grams of carbohydrates per day. I’ve cut out added sugar, and try to buy no-sugar-added or zero sugar products. I’ve cut out most starches, like most everything white (potatoes, rice, pasta). I’m not eating desserts.

I told you recently that I’ve discovered I’m eating too much salt, even though I quit sprinkling it heavily on almost everything I ate for years. (This has been a huge, difficult change for me). I have now found that even though I’ve stopped adding salt to everything, I’m eating it IN the food I’ve been eating – particularly deli meats.

I found an article that listed some much lower sodium lunch meat offerings, including the brands of Boar’s Head, Hillshire Farm, Applegate Naturals, and Oscar Mayer. Today, if we get to the store, I’m going to look for these with my lower sodium “READ-THE-LABELS” cap on firmly. Meanwhile, I’ll buy some frozen turkey breasts to cook. I have ordered an electric meat slicer that is supposed to be delivered Friday, since it looks like I’m going to be cooking and slicing my own meats for lunches in the future.

As of this morning, I’m 24 pounds down from my heaviest (nothing to write home about, but a good start). This new emphasis on avoiding sodium might result in decreasing many of the bad effects of eating too much salt, as well as hopefully resulting in a steadier loss of the lard.

“Eating healthy” is a very complicated subject and seems to be different for each of us. Cooking for two complicates things, as things I’m willing to change my husband firmly isn’t. I’m trying to research and improve what I’m eating or avoiding to make the best result for me.

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May 7, 2024 · 9:44 am

Hopes Dashed, But Not Gone

Ronak Valobobhai – Unsplash.com

As you know, I’m in a never-ending effort to lose the lard. I’ve been logging what I eat on MyFitnessPal.com in an attempt to eat mindfully, keeping my carbs for the day at 20 grams or below.

I suddenly ‘realized’ (I know, I’m slow on the uptake at times) that even though I’ve given up adding salt to anything except the hard boiled egg I eat with lunch, I’m eating too much sodium. This is carried by the deli turkey I eat, mostly, which I thought was healthy.

I looked up “low sodium deli meat” and found a couple of brands I recognize. I went to a new store (DG Market) in Greenwood that just opened because my computer said they carry Boar’s Head Lower Sodium Meats. There were a couple of refrigerator areas not yet stocked, but they didn’t have ANY of the choices on the careful list I had with me. :0(

I did another search this morning, finding that I MAY be able to find them in the meat section of the store that has pre-sliced meat in small tubs. I’ll try that next, wearing my careful-reading-labels-hat when I go.

If I can find some low sodium deli type meats, I’ll try some. If I can’t, I plan to buy a couple of frozen turkey breasts. I keep one frozen and cook the other, slicing it myself. I’ll also look for an affordable meat slicer, since it looks like there will be a lot of that in my future of trying to avoid salt.

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March 13, 2024 · 9:06 am

Well, Shut My Mouth!

Asier_Relampago – Freepik.com

I’m down 21.6 pounds since my heaviest. One day at a time.

I’m going to get a spaghetti squash today to bake so that I can make the third in my trifecta of substitutes for the ‘white stuff’ I love to serve under sauces – “cauli-rice,” “zoodles,” and “spaghetti squash.” When I finish the prep today, I’ll have a supply of each frozen in individual portions so that I can follow my low carb eating plan while my husband eats whatever pasta and white rice. He has looked quite appalled at my idea that he join me in the change, so this way we can both eat “spaghetti,” for example, with smiles on our faces.

I’ve also discovered Mission Zero Carb Tortillas. They actually have 7 carbs per tortilla, but 7 grams of fiber, so “0” net carbs. I can enjoy one each evening in place of the dinner roll I’ve been eating. Tonight I’m making a large tuna fish salad for our dinner.

I’m happy with progress with my yoga practice. Today is Day 21 of every-afternoon practice. I’m up to 20 reps on my abdominal exercise (started at 5), and 7 reps on each side of my leg lifts (bird dog pose) (started with 3). I’m feeling looser. I won’t say I look forward to my exercise session, but I’m getting ‘used-to-it.’ :0)

I’m hoping I can keep my head on straight with my mouth shut regarding eating or drinking what I shouldn’t so I can continue losing the lard and getting stronger, more flexible, with better balance.

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February 24, 2024 · 10:32 am

Saturday Thoughts 2-24-2024

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I’m seeing a bit of progress in my efforts to get my act together. In my yoga yesterday, I was able to do 10 reps of my abdominal exercise (started with 5), and will earn star #6 on my week’s calendar on daily practice. (It felt really good just now to replace the words, “try for” with “EARN”.)

Second, I’m getting a good start on limiting my carbs. I’ve lost 2 lbs since I got serious, using MyFitnessPal.com to work out what I’ll eat for the day. I really like this website. I can type in the name of a frozen dinner, for example, such as Lean Cuisine Herb Roasted Chicken, and it has an extensive data base of foods, added to by their membership, so it’s easy to list and find out where it fits in my plan for the day. They have a place where you can list your own recipes and store them. I can ‘play’ with options for each meal, plus snacks, and see before I screw up how it will work, or if I need to choose something else. Really helpful website if you’re trying to lose weight or just make sure that you’re eating the right foods for a health condition, etc.

I made ‘zoodles’ yesterday. This is a staple for low carb foodies, zucchini taking the place of spaghetti and other pastas.

This is my spiralizer. You cut off one end of the zucchini, put it in the “thick” or “thin” end of the spiralizer, then twist the zucchini. Long ‘ribbons’ of zucchini are formed. The end you see to the right is used when the zucchini is too short to hold, but still has some good ribbons left to make.

I can make my own low carb spaghetti sauce, for example, make some spaghetti for my husband, and heat up a serving of zoodles for me, making both of us happy. One zucchini made three 1-cup servings for me. I froze two of them, eating one last night. Today I’ll make some cauli-rice, a substitute for regular rice. These two things are wonderful for me. They taste fine (although I do miss the real things), allowing my husband and me to eat basically the same dinner, making him happy and taking any guilt away from me, allowing me to stay on my low-carb regimen.

SO – feeling as if I’m making a bit of progress, I will continue ‘onward and downward’ hopefully, with more flexibility and a stronger, flatter abdomen. :0)

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December 1, 2023 · 10:58 am

A Bit Less of Me

Secondhand Slim Down-sites.google.com

I’m now down almost 17 lbs from my heaviest. My newest goal is to make 20 off.

  • I’m trying to eat NO added sugar and as little as possible with prepared foods. I’m trying to read labels carefully and mainly only eat the sugar in fruit.
  • I am still putting a bit of salt on a hard-boiled egg at lunch, but I’m adding no salt to the food on my plate otherwise. I’m trying to add as little as possible when I cook, and trying to buy low salt varieties when I can, reading labels again carefully.
  • I’m eating lunch and dinner and trying not to eat in-between meals or before bedtime. I’m trying to watch my portions carefully.
  • I’m trying to do my yoga stretching every afternoon for half an hour or so.
  • My eyeballs are floating because I’m trying to drink more water. :0)

SO – one day at a time. One meal at a time. Slow, steady weight loss and improving my lifestyle so the changes become habits.

Ruin My Week

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November 11, 2023 · 9:49 am

Comfort

A-Z Animals – iStock

I’ve been finding some new recipes lately.

I told you about our regular chicken-soup-over-rice dish I made recently where Amber (our 97 lb yellow lab) showed her approval by stealing the containers off the counter that were supposed to go into the freezer for future dinners. I’ve learned my lesson on that one now.

Two nights ago I made a new-to-us ham and cheesy noodle casserole that really hit the spot.

Tonight I’m trying a new slow cooker cheesy chicken and rice recipe. This really appeals to me today because I’m planning to spend several sessions outside this afternoon working in the yard and won’t be interested in cooking after that.

cutigers – @cutigs1 on X

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November 3, 2023 · 9:54 am

I Earned Half a Bear!

I’m not sure which of these pictures (or either of them) clearly shows you that I’m half way to an old Nutrisystem reward bear that says, “20”. I have officially lost 15 pounds this morning.

I know I told you a couple of days ago that I had lost 14.4, but 15 is much more satisfying as a number. :0)

I have a long way to go on my journey, but I’m starting to feel I may have a handle on what works for me, if I can just keep my act together.

The basics for an older-than-dirt lady like me are –

  • Intermittent fasting from after dinner at night until lunch the following day.
  • I eat mostly protein and share an apple with my husband for lunch
  • For dinner we eat either portion-controlled leftovers from my cooking or occasionally a commercial frozen dinner (Healthy Choice/Atkins), sometimes a side veggie, plus one dinner roll with butter.
  • I’m trying to drink lots more water during the day
  • I’m trying to move more – walking out to the shop, working out in the yard, plus doing a session of old lady yoga stretches each afternoon with some extra exercises thrown in.

This is what is finally working for me, and I have all appendages crossed that I will earn the 2nd side of the ’20’ bear soon.

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