I’m making tweaks on what I’m eating each day in order to get closer to the number of calories MyFitnessPal.com says I should be eating. Yesterday it decided that I likely wasn’t eating enough! I would LIKE to lose a couple of pounds a week until further notice to meet my goal. I’m trying to pay attention to what this app is saying, get as close as I can to their suggestions, and see what happens.
I THOUGHT I had been paying attention and reading labels, but one thing got by me – deli baked beans. We’ve been enjoying a very small ramekin of beans with our lunches. It turns out that one serving is 28 grams of sugar! ARRRRRGH! I don’t even care how much a ‘serving’ is – it’s too much. So that is gone.
It said I shouldn’t be skipping breakfast, so this morning, after waiting an hour after taking my thyroid med, I ate a hard boiled egg.
We’ll watch our sugar again more carefully, but basically, the rest of what we’ve been eating at lunch is fine, and I’ll try to watch the fat and sugar more carefully on the frozen dinners we’ve been eating.
An article suggested I eat more nuts and seeds, so I’ll have a few cashews or almonds as a snack during the day sometime.
The app is happy with what I have listed to eat today. Hopefully, the scales will react in a few days, smirking at me a bit less.
I’ve been a really ‘good girl’ lately. I gave up added salt. I’ve been eating healthy meals. I have not been eating between meals. I’ve been drinking water. I’ve been working in the yard and doing daily yoga sessions. I’ve started doing the plank pose. And are my scales impressed? THEY ARE NOT!
It’s been two weeks now, and one would THINK that the scales would at least wave a little in encouragement, but NOOOOO. Bah. Humbug.
I’m TRYING to be an adult about this, telling myself that it will take awhile for the scales to show anything. It will probably be a month or so before the measuring tape gives me any encouragement. I tell myself that changes take time, to give myself a break, to concentrate on other things. Do I listen? NOOOOO. :0(
I now feel good almost every day. My switch to a Mediterranean style of eating from Low Carb – Keto is now complete. I’m still a bit sad to leave the Keto because I was losing weight, but my lack of gallbladder – and maybe my lack of thyroid – and the resulting serious problems with digestion forced the change.
The simple injecting of more veggies and fruit into our diet has resulting in my feeling good with all systems working (with the exception of my current needing to change my dosage of thyroid medication).
The problem from the change is that I’ve been gaining weight – weight I REALLY didn’t want or need. We go to the doctor for our routine appointment tomorrow. I’ll grit my teeth as they record my weight. I have to go back in 8 weeks for another blood test to see if the new thyroid hormone dosage is correct. I’m using this 8 week period to see if I can now switch my focus to eating LESS as well as eating healthy. 8 weeks should be long enough to see some results from the changes I’ll make.
FOCUS 1 – ONLY raw carrots in-between meals. If I don’t want carrots, I’m not really hungry.
My efforts to lose the lard and increase my movement continue with varying degrees of success.
I’ve changed from a low-carb approach to a more Mediterranean style of eating. The low-carb approach helped me get some weight off and I enjoyed that style of eating, but because I don’t have a gallbladder and I’m old with a cranky system, I ended up having a lot of problems and had to switch.
I describe our eating style now as “Mediterranean Style” because I can’t find “Mediterranean recipes” that my husband will eat, so I’m simply adding a lot more veggies and fruit to our diet. I’m feeling a lot better physically now, but my weight is creeping up because I have trouble not eating in-between meals and in the middle of the night when I can’t sleep.
I’m trying to keep raw veggies and dip ready to grab from the fridge for my snacking, but my downfall is wanting salty stuff. I can skip desserts. I can monitor my portions. I can eat healthy foods. But when I decide I’m ‘starving to death ‘ (hahahahahahaha) in the middle of the day or worse – in the middle of the night – I want something salty.
Each day I start with the best of intentions. I try to stay away from my husband’s stash of chips of all flavors. I’ve even asked him to hide them from me. The last few days I’ve been able to eat our regular lunch, then some cottage cheese after I do my yoga practice for the day, and then dinner, and drinking enough water to make my eyeballs float, in an attempt to get on the right track.
So far, the scales are NOT impressed. I’ll just keep on keepin’ on, and hope for the best.
I’ve been trying to include lots more veggies and fruit in our diet. I’m trying to ‘eat clean,’ eating more whole foods, cooking more and freezing individual portions for us for future meals. It’s working out pretty well, except for the weight loss part.
Beachbody on Demand
The biggest wrench in my plan is pretzels. The mini-ones with salt. I am TRYING not to buy anymore until further notice. When they are in the house, they call to me without mercy. Maybe not having these will help me in my efforts to NOT eat between lunch and dinner, or in the middle of the night. Maybe if I wire my jaw shut…
My scales are still impossibly snide, sneering at my efforts to lose the lard.
Most of the time I’m ‘good,’ only eating what I should. Other times – like in the middle of the night – I could eat the wall and not be satisfied. I’m frustrated and stressed, as we ALL are from time to time for various reasons. I’m trying to deal with that WITHOUT resorting to stuffing my face.
I’m using MyFitnessPal.com to record what I’m eating – except when I binge and all common sense and responsibility goes out the window. I’m 98% ‘there’ on trying to develop good habits of eating, drinking lots of water (my eyeballs are floating), and today is DAY 62 of my daily yoga practice.
98% is pretty good, but it’s the 2% that is killing my efforts. My husband said last night that the pain in my legs and hips at night might be due to my carrying a bit of extra weight. The result of THAT comment is that I can now add a bit of depression to the mix. He followed that up today, on the way back from the phone place, in stopping at Sonic and wanting to get us shakes! I told him to go ahead and managed to NOT get a chocolate shake. I did NOT bite him in the leg. (It’s a good thing because I haven’t had my rabies shot.)
So I’m going to fix our lunch now, drinking a full glass of water with it. I’ll drink a bottle of water mid afternoon, hoping that will curb my voracious appetite, and I’ve planned our good dinner, with lots of veggies, a bit of meat, and some fruit.
Hi! We’re having another ‘cool’ day, at 86, for the high this afternoon. We tried to just have open doors and ceiling fans yesterday, but it was too humid. It’s humid again this morning, so we’re going to keep the a/c on, but I’ll take it. Such a nice relief.
Active Babies – Smart Kids
I had a good time in the art room yesterday and finished the cards that I hope my friend will like. I sent her pics to see what she says.
Facebook
Today is DAY 34 of my daily yoga practice. I’m having to push myself again, because my hips and knees have been talking to me for the past several days, but I’m concentrating on slow and steady, with fewer reps to get me through it.
Times of India
I’m now muttering to my scales that I don’t appreciate “sarcastic scale humor” whatsoever, but mine is delighting in its newfound ability to smirk and laugh at me. One of these days, I’ll wipe the smile off its face.
Nizar Fahmi
Just as I’m finishing my ‘last’ Linda Thomas paperback, I received part of my new order of her books yesterday. It’s getting harder to find used paperbacks by Linda Thomas, but I’ll redouble my efforts when I start getting low again. Right now I feel rich in books. :0)
One of the things on my to-do list today is to work on reorganizing some of my books. Hopefully, by the end of the day, I’ll have a better handle on things.
I told you recently that I’m really trying to turn my focus to losing some of my lard, now that the Mediterranean style of eating is agreeing with my digestive system and my thyroid medication is finally working again after some unfortunate meds interaction.
Unfortunately, my appetite would kill a horse. It’s too late to ‘complain,’ now that I’m older than dirt, but when the “you’re full” signals got passed out, they skipped me. I can eat a full meal, and eat another one an hour later, or snack to the point that a pig would put out his paw and say, “No more!” I have had this problem ever since I started getting pregnant a hundred years or so ago. My signal left, never to return.
My SIL suggested that I do something that has helped her on snacking. She puts her snack for the day into a small container. When she’s hungry, she takes out the container and eats what’s in it. Sounds simple, doesn’t it. I hope it will help ME, too.
My exercise program actually makes my appetite problem WORSE, if possible. The other thing I’m trying to do is be content with eating some cottage cheese mid afternoon (or after my yoga practice) along with a big bottle of water.
Otherwise, I will just strive to keep my mouth shut.
I’m getting into the practice of adding more veggies and fruits to our diet, eating in a more Mediterranean fashion, and my husband and I are feeling better for it.
I’m on DAY 18 of my daily yoga practice, having increased the length of my practice from 30 minutes to 45 minutes, adding a few more poses and some abdominal exercises. I’m trying to build a HABIT/ROUTINE/REGIMEN where I just DO it, rather than having to talk myself into it, shame myself into it, etc. I AM noticing some differences, so that’s encouraging.
I’m ready to focus on losing the lard again, after putting some health issues behind me.
My starting point is
26.8 pounds down from my heaviest
24.15 inches down from my largest
I’m going to focus on 5 pound increments on the weight loss, and plan to measure again at the beginning of September.
I’m gradually deciding that I’m going to concentrate on ‘eating healthy’ rather than ‘losing weight.’
We’ve been feeling better – and our systems are working better – since I started adding more fruit and veggies to our diet – while watching my husband’s blood sugar readings carefully. As long as his numbers look good, and he’s feeling good, I’ve decided I’m not going to worry about anything else.
Technically, since he’s a Type II diabetic, he’s supposed to avoid all sugar, including fruit. I’ve just decided to change from ‘low carb’ to a more Mediterranean style of eating, although it’s my own form, since I’m having trouble finding recipes that he will eat. He looks at me in horror when I mention most veggies, and does things like stop me when I’m serving veggies at dinner. He DOES agree that he’s feeling better since I’m concentrating on serving him more veggies. As long as his numbers are good, I’m serving fruit, too.
As far as my dieting goes, I’m trying to either not eat at all between meals, or be very careful what I’m snacking on, watch my portions at meal times, and exercise.
I love having a ‘colorful’ plate of food. It lifts my spirits. Hopefully, all this will come together to give us the results we would like. :0)
Most diets and diet cookbooks spend a lot of time and energy creating sweets to eat instead of the things you shouldn’t eat a bunch of, particularly if you’re trying to lose the lard.
I have a complaint – it seems that almost NO time is spent on the salty food group. They only say, “avoid,” or “don’t eat.” When time is spent producing a food that might satisfy the ‘crunchy food group,’ it doesn’t include SALT.
I can avoid sweets. I can avoid white, starchy food. I can avoid sugar. I can watch my portions. I can avoid added salt, but the essentially salty food group CALLS to me.
I have a raw veggie tray in my fridge right now. It’s beautiful, with carrots, broccoli. snap beans, cherry tomatoes, and cauliflower, all ready to chomp with even a dip included.
What do I crave? Pretzels. Fritos. Potato chips.
________________
Healthy Alternatives to Salty Snacks
Nuts and Seeds. Adding unsalted nuts and seeds to your diet in moderation can be a great way to combat your salty cravings. …
Kale Chips. You don’t have to deprive yourself of the crunchy, salty goodness of potato chips, just try using kale instead. …
Edamame. …
Hummus. …
Popcorn.
18 Flavorful Salt Alternatives
Garlic. Garlic is a pungent spice that boosts flavor without increasing sodium content. …
Lemon juice or zest. …
Ground black pepper. …
Dill. …
Dried onion or onion powder. …
Nutritional yeast. …
Balsamic vinegar. …
Smoked paprika.
_______________________________
All this is lovely, but it just DOESN’T take the place of a nice salty pretzel, or a bunch of fritos, or potato chips…
My good friend and I were talking about cravings the other day, and we came up with a new meme –
Today I’m deceiving my husband. I admit it. I’ll be sneaking around this afternoon, putting together a casserole that he THINKS is our ‘normal’ tuna casserole – that we haven’t had for ages due to the carbs – but NOW are including in our diet because it’s a way I can get my husband to eat lots of veggies in our new Mediterranean style of eating.
I’ll pack it with veggies like broccoli, asparagus, onion, mushrooms, etc. and, because I’ll also put it together like our ‘old-style’ tuna casserole, he won’t be aware of the new, healthier version. It’ll count as another night this week we are eating fish. Another good thing is that I’ll make enough that I can freeze individual portions for us to enjoy other nights. Win/win/win. :0)
We don’t eat breakfast. This is for a variety of reasons, but mostly because of my medications, interactions, working at cross purposes, etc.
We work together on making our lunches, and this is very enjoyable. We each add small things to the plates. We don’t eat all of the same things, but much of it is the same. We’re trying to include a bit of protein- a slice of turkey or something similar. We enjoy a bit of cheese. I have a hard-boiled egg. My husband likes sugar-free jello. We both like fruit. We end up with a healthy, quite colorful, happy-looking lunch which we enjoy in the living room while we catch up on the news on TV.
For dinner I’m trying to eat as Mediterranean as possible. We’re loading up on veggies, eating a lot more fish, some chicken or turkey, a LOT less red meat. We include a bit of fruit at dinner, too.
My husband is veggie-averse, mostly, so I’m treading VERY carefully here, trying to convert recipes we like into healthier versions, sneaking extra veggies in. I’m concentrating on veggies he likes as side dishes where the veggies are identifiable. Since I haven’t found any recipes that aren’t loaded with stuff he won’t eat, I’m concentrating on cooking fish, casseroles with sneaked-in veggies, soups and stews, etc. So far, it’s going well, but it’ll be nice when I build a list of things we both like and are easy to cook. It’s a work in progress.
I downloaded this to my new Kindle this morning and have been pouring over it while I made a new system disc and new data backup disc for my computer.
This appeals to me because of the limit on ingredients and inferred simplicity of the recipes, particularly since I’m just trying to get started.
So far, I’ve started a notebook of generalities about the Mediterranean eating plan. It may very well be that I just collect recipes here and there and end up with a new lifestyle using their suggestions for healthy eating, but not-so-much their actual recipes.
My main concentrations are on
including LOTS more veggies,
some fruit – but mainly as a ‘dessert’ or substitute for sweet things,
a LOT less meat, (little red meat. Chicken and turkey are okay)
more fish, (twice a week)
more whole grains,
more nuts and seeds.
beans
less dairy (twice a week, rather than every day)
I’m a bit worried about the fruit. I love it, but it contains a lot of sugar – something we’re trying to avoid. We’ll see how our numbers do.
Of COURSE they want us to drink more water and exercise.
I’m finally beginning to get used to reaching for raw veggies as snacks.
I had to switch from keto and low-carb eating to a Mediterranean type eating plan because this old body with its lack of gallbladder just wasn’t able to handle all the fat of the former plan, though I really enjoy eating that way. I searched the net high and low and tried every suggestion, but couldn’t find a way around my problems.
I’m now eating lots and lots of veggies, raw and cooked, meat used as a flavoring, mostly, careful portions, and exercise. My scales are beginning to notice, and I’m feeling a lot better now.
On exercise, I’ve decided that if I have a bunch of yard work to do, THAT is the exercise for the day and will suffice. If I don’t, I do my video exercises (warm up, workout, and weights) from my nice guy from Australia plus my yoga stretches in the afternoon. I’m adding to my poses with the aid of my new book
I do about a half hour of stretches now, and I’m adding other poses gradually to see how they add to my practice. I may get to an hour of poses as a new goal. We’ll see.
Nothing noticeable by others yet, but the scales are starting to notice my efforts. A couple of pounds less of me this week.
I’m starting to feel more confident in food choices, preparing, and eating now, loading up on veggies, fruit, nuts, etc. For the moment – while we’re trying to work outside, plus I’m doing some deep cleaning inside – I’m relying on Healthy Choice Cafe Steamers for dinners for me, with another veggie or raw ones on the side while my husband mainly eats Lean Cuisine. We’re having a salad night once a week, plus I cook something big enough (soups, stews, chili, casseroles, fish) that we can have several meals from one cooking session.
My working outside in the garden or inside doing deep cleaning is sufficing right now for my exercise. I’m feeling GOOD.
Things seem to be finally coming together on my Mediterranean-type eating plan. (I say ‘Mediterranean-TYPE’ because I’m really only embracing PART of the plan since my husband looks hostile when I mention most veggies.)
I’m thinking of calling what we’re doing the “SNEAKY Mediterranean Plan” since I’m simply adding an extra serving of the veggies my husband LIKES openly, and sneaking extra veggies that are good for us into soups, stews, and casseroles otherwise.
I haven’t been paying much attention to calories, since my digestive system got messed up awhile back and I’ve been concentrating on meds and eating smart to correct that. I’ve been relying on Cafe’ Steamers from Healthy Choice, since they have good veggies, meat flavoring, and low calories. We’ve also been enjoying fruit – carefully, though, since my husband is Type II diabetic.
All is coming together now. The change in what I’m eating, plus a new medication are largely solving my digestive problems. My scales are beginning to notice my efforts. I feel better – more energetic.
My husband requested I make chili, so I’m doing that today. My project for the day – if all goes according to plan – is to deep clean our master bathroom. Since our heat index is forecast to be 107 today, it’s a great day to wait until late afternoon to try to get outside for yard work.
As we start another week, I’m thankful that I’m on the road to getting and staying healthier.
We’re going to replenish our supply of veggies and fruit today. The only other thing I’m trying to do this week is to STOP SNACKING – or at least choose something from my list of healthy snacks. My husband threw some bags of fritos into the grocery cart when I wasn’t looking. I emulated a lemming, finding them in the pantry and descending on one of the bags. We took turns gorging, polishing off an entire bag in one day. :0(
As soon as we shop, I’m going to fix a bowl of ready-to-eat veggies and make some dip to go with them. A colorful variety of those, or a piece of fruit, or a hard-boiled egg should satisfy me while my husband enjoys attacking a 2nd bag of fritos…
bluefoxfarm.com
Yesterday I warned my husband about the ‘excessive heat warning’ with a heat index of 118 yesterday afternoon. You would THINK I would know better by now. He went out in the hottest part of the afternoon to mow. I was so angry with him I just let him have at it. The mower ran out of gas and he had to walk out to the shop, get a can, and bring it out to pour it into the tank in order to finish the yard. I did get him a cool drink and brought him a wet towel to run over his face and neck when he came in. He cooled off and then went up to take a shower. I watched him surreptitiously like a hawk all evening to make sure he was all right…
All I did yesterday outside was spray everything for bugs. All I have left in the garden right now is red onions and zucchini. Our two planters of tomato plants are doing well with green tomatoes. I did have to pull one tomato plant that was completely broken off by the last storm, but I was glad we didn’t lose more. Today I’ll mix and spray weed killer.
I hope that wherever you are today you can stay cool and safe and enjoy the day.
I’m actually feeling GREAT this morning for the first time in quite awhile. I’ve been taking a new medication for a couple of days now and I really think it’s helping me. HOORAAAAAY!
Tenor
Eating a more Mediterranean type diet is helping, as well. I’m trying to load up on veggies, increase my fruit, use meat more as a flavoring rather than the main part of our meals. We’re still eating as little sugar as possible, very few ‘white’ foods (white flour, bread, rice, pasta), lots of salad and other raw veggies as snacks.
BoredPanda.com
I’m doing as much yard work as I can (given the fact that the heat index is supposed to be 112 today), plus short exercise videos, plus afternoon sessions of stretching yoga.
All of this together is resulting in my feeling better, with more energy, hopeful that I’m on the right track to be as healthy as I can be. I am now also watchful that my efforts will result in the scales not being so snarky and the tape measure smiling. Time will tell.
I’ve found an easy, lazy way to eat in line with my new Mediterranean eating plan. I got some Healthy Choice Cafe’ or Simply Steamer frozen dinners the last time we were able to negotiate our driveway, a week ago now.
The dinners have a small amount of meat or fish plus a good amount of veggies. They have a special steamer bowl where you microwave the dinner, then turn the upper steamer bowl over, adding the cooked food to the sauce in the 2nd bowl below, creating a very pleasant meal.
Since we’re actively trying to increase our veggies, I cook another one – either fresh, frozen, or canned – and put it to the side of my husband’s plate, adding the veggies to the bowl of my meal. Very little work, lots of good veggies, delicious meal – perfect healthy dinner for a lazy cook like me. :0)
Yesterday I finally made some progress in ‘getting a handle on’ how I can make the Mediterranean eating plan work for us. (This is complicated because my husband rarely meets a veggie he likes or will even consider eating.)
Yesterday we had a huge fight-with-technology trying to get a Mediterranean cookbook downloaded onto my Kindle. I hardly ever use it, preferring to hold real, treasured books in my hands, but cookbooks are a different ilk, as far as I’m concerned. There are usually only a few recipes I’ll actually cook in each, so I can download a cook book, use what I like, then decide if I actually want to add it to my collection or delete the book from my Kindle and try another.
Making a long story much shorter, we had to DE-register my Kindle because it was listed under my old email address, then RE-register it under my current email address. THEN call for technical help on getting ads off, THEN fight to get rid of ‘freebies’ I didn’t want. I was able to finally get the cookbook and read it last night. As usual, it focused on eggplant, kale, couscous, tofu, Brussells sprouts, cauliflower, chickpeas, etc. Even after more than 50 years of marriage, I know my husband would leave if I tried to cook these things for dinner.
I thought about it a lot, and finally came up with ‘doing my own thing,’ incorporating as many veggies as possible, concentrating on those to which my husband doesn’t object, and flavoring with meats he likes. That means veggie casseroles with chicken or beef or pork ‘flavoring.’ It also can mean stews of various kinds. And fruit as part of our meals and as snacks.
If I cook these, making enough for more than one meal and freezing the leftovers into individual servings for the freezer, I can have lots of meals both of us like, increasing the veggies and fruit I want in my diet and not causing a revolt-among-the-masses. I can also try the recipes that sound reasonable. If my husband doesn’t care for them, I can freeze any leftovers for ME to eat later when my husband is having a Lean Cuisine, Real Food, or Stu’s frozen meal on busy days. Not a complete plan, by any means, but a workable start.
I’m feeling better every day now, with my digestion getting back to normal. I’m now taking my thyroid medicine first thing, eating a small breakfast an hour or so later, then taking the rest of my meds with lunch. This is workable for me. :0)
It’s still rainy here, so the guy bringing us a truckload of chat for the driveway hasn’t called or come. Neither has the plumber, whose work will be outside in the well house. If we can go to town between showers, we’ll get another timer to join the one we just installed in the well house, to be ready when the plumber does his thing.
Meanwhile, my husband actually NOTICED that I had been working in the pantry yesterday! I’m making my way through the food side of the pantry, getting rid of a lot of stuff, cleaning, and then re-organizing. I may finish the main part by the end of the day today. It feels good to be getting things easily accessible, plus smelling the ‘clean.’
If it ever stops raining, I’ll need to get out to my tomato plants and my garden to catch up there…
I’m trying to regroup on what to eat – or not to eat – since I’m getting my digestive system back in shape after a combination of not being able to handle the fat with my lack of gallbladder, choosing some OTC meds to deal with that, which made my body fail to absorb my thyroid meds. UGH.
Jessica Migala-MyFitnessPal.com
Happily, I found an article that lists 11 foods to eat – basically regardless of which diet plan you’re following. The article was on MyFitnessPal.com, written by Jessica Migala
Mostly, it listed things I’m already eating – a confirmation I’m heading in the right direction – leafy greens, avocado, salmon, walnuts, olive oil, berries, broccoli, red cabbage, chia seeds, kiwi, and beans. I’m now trying to concentrate on eating more good veggies, enjoying some fruit, eating meat more as a flavoring than the main thrust of the meal. I’m drinking lots of water, plus enjoying some Chai tea every once in a while.
PopSugar
Today I’m going to do my three short exercises videos from my guy Mike from Australia (warm up, stretches, and weights). I’ll do 15 minutes on my elliptical trainer in the garage, and then half an hour of yoga stretches later this afternoon.
I’m kind of working this out as I go. I’m going through some recipes for Mediterranean style cooking as I have the time.
L. Roche Art-via Karen Miller -Pinterest- The Rose Gallery-“Happy Hoglet”
I hope that Wednesday is being good to you.
Ours is starting off quietly – a thing for which I am very grateful. My husband is still having technical issues with his Kindle going wonky. He is trying to find someone in support he can understand and who might be able to help him get it back on track. Otherwise, we’re waiting for a deposit to show up on a thing we sold so that we can box it up and get it shipped.
Yesterday I finally felt well enough to actually get started re-organizing the meds in our pantry – a project I told you about several days ago, but never actually did. I made a first pass and improved things a lot. We can now easily see what we have, things being divided into labeled trays and open boxes, such as, “cold and flu,” “digestion,” “current meds backup,” “pain,” “supplements”, etc.
Today I’ll continue making my way around the “supplies” half of the pantry, trying to figure out the best place for things, continuing to throw out and re-organize.
We went from “winter”-to-“wild-thunderstorms-spring”- to “full summer” in the space of several days. We’re still kind of in shock, amazed that we need to turn on our a/c. This is the quickest change I can remember. We just got our snow tires off and the regular tires on in the shop the other day! I’ll need to switch to being out either in the morning or late in the afternoon on working outside now. I would like to check on our veggie garden and our tomato plants very soon.
MoreLifeHealth.com/Seniors
Today I’ll plan to do the 3 short exercise videos: ‘warm-up,’ ‘stretches,’ and one of two ‘weights’ videos from Mike at MoreLifeHealth.com plus my yoga stretches this afternoon. I’m happy that I’m feeling well enough to PLAN for that today!
I had trouble getting out of bed this morning. I wanted to just pull the covers up over my head and stay there until further notice. I haven’t felt well for about 3 weeks now and it’s taking its toll on my ‘normally-bubbly’ personality.
I’ve been trying all the suggestions I can find about how to continue following the keto eating plan with my lack of gallbladder. I’ve found lots of suggestions, and I’ve tried every one I’ve found. The first time I tried keto years ago I found a wonderful medicine that was really helpful. I asked my doc to send in a prescription to our healthcare provider a couple of weeks ago. Finally, yesterday a representative called and said that the med wasn’t on the formulary anymore and that my part of the cost would be $181+. That was it. I can’t afford that, and I can’t afford not to be in control of my digestion, weight or no weight.
My friend Susy pointed me to an article on various diets and their ratings. I have decided to move toward the Mediterranean eating plan, with lots more veggies and fruit (a direction in which I was moving anyway to get more fiber). She then asked me why I thought my calorie limit should be 1200 calories a day. I discovered that I was stuck in the old food pyramid crap they’ve been spouting for as long as I’ve been alive and decided to research calories, carbs, protein, fats, sugars, etc. all separately and see what I could find.
This will be a work in progress, for sure, since my husband is NOT a fan of veggies, but hopefully, I’ll start feeling better soon and can find the combination that results in continued, albeit slow, success in my efforts to lose the lard. I’m enjoying some fruit for the first time in a long time, plus carefully chosen Healthy Choice frozen dinners for me while I’m researching.
As I type this, we’re about to get a downpour. Our skies are very dark – like night – but it’s just supposed to be heavy rain, nothing severe. For that I am grateful.
I’m also thankful that, after MUCH searching lately, we finally found the zero sugar Mtn Dew Spark raspberry-lemonade drink my husband wanted. We couldn’t find it locally. Our local grocery was the place my husband found it, but the grocery changed hands and the new owner doesn’t stock it, at least not ‘yet.’ We lucked out at Target in Ft. Smith yesterday afternoon. We stocked up, and he should be in good shape for a good while now. He is Type II diabetic and it’s really important he stick with zero sugar things as much as humanly possible.
I’m grateful I don’t have to spend a lot of time in the kitchen cooking today. (I replenished our supply of hard-boiled eggs a couple of days ago. I made a double batch of low carb biscuits. Two days ago I made a pot roast.) My husband was really happy with it and asked if we could have more tonight. I ‘graciously’ said, “Sure!” So all I need to do is heat things up, cook a veggie, toss a salad, and dinner is ready. :0)
I’m grateful for what should be a quiet day. Since it’s about to rain, work outside isn’t possible. The first thing I’ll do today (after writing some blog posts) is package the meat and chicken we bought recently for the freezer. Then I’ll start the project I was planning to start yesterday – reorganizing our pantry. I’m starting with our medicines.
PopSugar Fitness
I’m grateful that I can do the exercise I want to do in the comfort of my own home, regardless of the weather, without having to plan it around a lot of other people’s schedules. I do my exercise videos right here at my computer. I just put on my headphones, grab my weights, and start. My elliptical trainer is in our garage. Unless the temperature is really high or really low, I’m good to go there. I now have my new MP3 player so I can listen to some tunes while I use it. Then, I unroll my yoga mat in the living room, take off my shoes, put the two pillows on the floor, and I can stretch myself in all directions – sometimes with the help of our cat, Abby, and our dog, Amber.
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….
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 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.
A couple of weeks ago at Lunch Bunch, we were having a discussion about habits. I was saying I wanted to build a habit of exercising every day. Bud, Kay’s husband, said he thought that I should be saying “regimen” instead of ‘habit’ because habit could be good or bad and could be broken, while regimen suggested concentration and motivation.
I went home and looked up the words and have to agree. I want to build a REGIMEN on exercising that becomes so ingrained that it’s automatic in my day. I told him yesterday that he was right, and he was pleased. :0)
My REGIMEN is now made up of –
A monthly exercise planner provided by Mike of MoreLifeHealth.com consisting of 4 different ‘workouts’ during the month (1a, 1b, 2a, and 2b) warm-ups, stretches, physical activity (I’m doing 10 minutes on my elliptical trainer) etc. in a pattern.
Added to this, I’m doing two different videos of his with weights.
And then I’m doing half an hour of ‘senior’ (I hate that word) yoga stretches.
When the weather is cooperative, I’m doing some work in the yard and in my garden.
I’m eating low-carb, mainly using recipes from Suzanne Ryan’s Simply Keto. These are delicious recipes not requiring weird or hard-to-find ingredients, and don’t take a lot of preparation. I can make double recipes, freezing the leftovers into individual portions. I’m also experimenting with trying to find some recipes for low carb dinner rolls. (I’m trying a new one today.)
My goals are –
to make the REGIMEN and low-carb eating NOT diet and exercise programs, since that sounds temporary, but a lifestyle change. I want it to become my way of life to try to stick to 20 carbs or less daily, watch my macros and calories using MyFitnessPal.com
I want to get as healthy as possible for my age (advanced, but not in the ground yet :0) ) . I know that getting the lard off and exercising may help me avoid lots of pitfalls, diseases, and more. I want to increase my strength, flexibility, and balance.
I will finish Week 3 tomorrow. Onward and downward!
creativeartworksblog 