Tag Archives: trying to lose the lard

May 26, 2023 · 9:19 am

Eyes Front, Mouth Shut

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My scales are outright snorking at me lately. I’ve been eating ‘rocks,’ it seems, and I’ve changed from trying to go day-by-day to hour-by-hour now. The stress level around here has been a bit high, but that is becoming the norm now, so I need to quit using that as an excuse to stuff my face.

I’m going to try to shed 2 pounds a week, cutting back my portions again and trying to drink more water. I had stopped using MyFitnessPal.com, but I’m starting up again. Maybe that will direct my efforts more effectively and see where I’m messing up.

Gfycat

We’re going to Lunch Bunch this morning, although my friend Kay called and said she and Bud won’t be there. I don’t know if the others will be, so we’ll go ahead, grab a bite to eat, and then hit the grocery store before coming home.

Bill Miller Associates

We’re starting our “cut-something-down-each-time-we-go-down-or-up-the-driveway” project today. I have the loppers in the truck and the weather is supposed to be cooperative today. If we do this each time we can, we should be able to make a difference in a reasonable amount of time.

(The picture above shows a ‘pretty’ version of what we’re dealing with. We have trees on both sides of our 650+ foot driveway. During the last winter ice storms, the trees’ branches were weighed down. Some broke off, some just hung down. Now we have almost a low-hanging tunnel across parts of the driveway to the point we’re ‘ducking’ inside the truck when we go through one. :0) My husband hurt his back, so we’ve been waiting until he felt better to tackle this. It’s a two-person job, with me pulling down each branch as far as I can and him lopping it off so I can then haul it to the low side of the driveway and throw it down as far as I can.)

Other than helping to clear the driveway a bit today, I’m planning to start moving the Mel’s Mix (soil alternative) from the other raised bed planter box whose bottom is ready to fall out. I want to get both of these boxes completely cleared out before I talk to my husband about making new plywood bottoms for them.

I’ll round out my exercise today with a session of yoga this afternoon. (After clearing tree branches and digging Mel’s Mix, I’ll need a good stretching session to try not to stiffen up.

I hope that if you’re traveling this long holiday weekend, you do it safely and smoothly. Whatever your plans, I wish you a happy day and fun weekend.

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December 19, 2022 · 9:37 am

Back to Square One

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Last week I was doing well on my efforts to lose the lard. I’m back to square one this morning, having blown it by eating everything except the wall in the middle of the night last night when I couldn’t sleep.

To make a long story shorter, I’m worried about my husband. I’ve told you he has had a couple of strokes. Mostly, he has bounced back. He has trouble talking at times and I type for him, but those are the major after-effects.

Yesterday he sliced his thumb while trying to cut up an apple for us to share at lunch. I came in to start lunch and found him fumbling trying to get a band-aid. He hadn’t said anything, and still didn’t think it was anything, but he’s on blood thinners and it’s a bigger deal than it is with other people. We got him bandaged up and he seems to be okay, though his thumb is sore.

Last night I was waiting for him to come in from taking our dog, Amber, out. He was delayed for some reason, but came in, looking distressed. It turned out he had fallen in the garage while trying to get the garage door shut, get Amber inside on the leash, the light off and the inside door closed. He got distracted and felt backwards down onto the concrete. Thank goodness he didn’t break anything. He said he fell on his back and hit his head. I checked him over and couldn’t see any problems, but of course he was moving slowly. We got upstairs and I noticed he was limping. When he took off his boot, he showed me the bottom of one foot. It had an area that looked almost like a flattened blister. He had put the toe warmers I got him directly on his foot, rather than outside his sock, so the pad of his foot where his feeling is kind of numb was almost burned. We have now AGREED that he will use the warmers outside his socks, and preferably on the TOP of his toes where he has good feeling, rather than the bottom where his feeling isn’t as good as it used to be, due to his Type II diabetes.

I guess my point is that even being with him essentially 24/7, things happen. I can handle things okay during the day. I just watch him like a hawk and try to help him when he decides he’s going to tackle something. In the middle of the night, though, my defenses are down and the worry won’t let me sleep. I come downstairs and read awhile, trying to calm my mind and get sleepy. That inevitably involves stuffing my face, since my willpower is at its lowest ebb, as well.

BoredPande.com

So last week’s lost pounds are back. I’ll try to lose them again THIS week, hopefully, and then build on it NEXT week.

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May 29, 2021 · 9:51 am

Thoughts on a Sunny Saturday 5-29-2021

Omaha Steaks

These aren’t the steaks we grilled, but we had a GREAT time grilling steaks last night. It was too light, still, to enjoy the colorful rope LED lights we have going around the roof on the deck, but the weather was perfect. Our dog, Amber, and our cat, Abby, were on the deck with us and we truly relaxed while the steaks smelled better and better.

It’s been a long time since we had a cookout. Our weather has been super rainy, and will be again next week, but yesterday was as pretty as it gets. We’re supposed to have a possible two more days of really nice weather before a really rainy week starting Monday. I’m going to spend as much time as possible outside, trying to catch up on yard work. My husband is planning to mow the lawn while it’s possible, as well, so it will look like someone actually lives here. :0)

I was good, trying to keep my diet alive last night. We cut one of the three steaks we cooked in half to share. I had half a baked potato. I’m hoping to continue really watching my portions this weekend to hopefully get through the wonderful holiday weekend at least at the same place I was in my losing the lard efforts. Fingers crossed.

I hope that you are spending the weekend with people you care about, having a relaxing and fun time.

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November 17, 2020 · 9:55 am

Middle of the Night Munchies

“Caught Re-Pawed” – Audrius P – Bored Panda

I’m really doing pretty well on our new eating plan – EXCEPT for the times I can’t sleep. When I am up in the middle of the night I am a bottomless pit of hunger – my stomach insisting my throat has been cut and telling me I’ll die if I don’t replenish the ‘lost calories.’ Exacerbating the problem is that my husband isn’t there to look at me – making guilt curb my gluttony.

Last night was a prime example of that. I was up ‘reading’ (and stuffing my face) from 1:30 until 3:30. And the scales will attest to that this morning.

UGH.

I am telling myself that ‘today is a new day,’ and other similar ideas, but the guilt is running high today. It will take me at least a couple of days to lose what I gained last night, and THEN I can try gain new ground in my efforts to lose the lard.

taolife.com

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May 23, 2020 · 3:06 pm

New Possibilty!

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I’m trying to do intermittent fasting and keto in order to lose my lard.  The pandemic is my latest excuse for having trouble sticking to it. The biggest problem for me lately is that my husband is requesting dinners like spaghetti with meat sauce, or one of our favorite dishes – beef with mushroom soup, onions, and things over rice or other pasta.

Lately I’ve had trouble serving my spaghetti sauce over zoodles or spaghetti squash,  or the soup and meat or chicken sauce over cauli-rice or whatever. I’ve really been missing PASTA.

My friend Marsha came to the rescue, telling me about a new non-carb pasta she found. The brand name is Banza, and they make all kinds of pasta – penne, shells, and rotini plus spaghetti.  The pasta is made from chickpeas.  It has a LOT fewer carbs. Not as few as I would prefer, since my goal is to eat 20 grams or less carbs per day, but a huge improvement over regular pasta. I can now splurge every once a awhile, solve my cravings, and hopefully stay on my eating plan.

I ordered six boxes – 2 each of Penne, Shells, and Rotini. I’ll let you know how my new discovery turns out.

123RF.com

 

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June 10, 2019 · 1:14 pm

Getting the Lard Off – Hopefully

World Of Female

Yesterday I officially started the Keto eating plan, hoping to continue to lose the lard, but also figuring that this plan will be much more flexible with our foreign exchange student, Alessandro, a 16-year-old soccer playing student from Italy. He joins us for 10 months starting in August, and I want to be well into our new good habits by then.

I’m using a wonderful book called, “Keto After 50” by James Wilson. Since “50” sounds young to ME, I like this approach which is modified for older people. I’ve been reading a ton on the net, too, since one of my concerns will be high fat – to be processed by this older body with no gallbladder. Happily, I found that I can take a couple of supplements that will help with this.

My husband is a Type II diabetic (although he only admits to having a ‘sugar problem’) It’s super important to me that I keep him on an even keel. He is almost to his weight goal now (within 10 pounds – HOOORAAAAY!) while his WIFE continues to battle the lard. :0)

At this point I’ve lost 43 pounds and almost 48 inches.  I want to lose another 30 to 35 pounds and then stay there, with good eating and exercise habits.

We started on Nutrisystem, but then decided that we have learned 1) what we were doing wrong, and 2) how we’re supposed to be cooking and eating. We are almost doing the Keto program already, having stopped (mostly) eating bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, sugar, and salt. We splurge every once in a while, but that’s a quality of life thing for us.

I’m ordering supplements and gathering good recipes. I’m trying to reorganize our pantry – AGAIN – both to plan for the new eating system AND to make room for a lot more cooking than I’ve done in awhile. (It’ll be a real culture shock for us to feed a 16-year-old athlete – and from ITALY!)

Since I’m working in the yard and/or the garden almost daily, I’m going to TRY for more formal exercise three times a week. I’ll stick with my elliptical trainer, my yoga for ‘older’ women, and either the walking video or the dance video each week.

I told you I started this yesterday. The scale showed me down 1.2 pounds this morning, so I’m encouraged at this point – knowing that my weight loss will slow with time. I’m concentrating on doing the first two weeks – eating 20 grams of carbohydrates or less per day.

Wish me luck?

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