:Hi, Gail - A power outage is very difficult to deal with on so many levels. Glad everything is working OK once again. Of course you ate the ice cream - anyone would have eaten the ice cream. This summer is being so unusually hot it must have been quite stressful to be without your air conditioning.
I had my checkup with my doctor yesterday, and everything is OK. He is happy with where my weight is, and that was good to hear. It is still a day-to-day struggle to keep from regaining weight, but that's just the way it is.
I think my DH and I will be making a trip to the grocery store this morning. I've got a list, and I'm checking it twice, of things that we need to get.
Most of the stuff in the freezer stayed solidly frozen, and that which didn't will be fine because it was still full of ice crystals. Except for the ice cream that I ate.
This morning I weighed in a pound heavier . While I don't like any back sliding, I am sure this is water retention and will be again tomorrow because my feet are a little "fat" tonight.
I did my one mile in the driveway. It was really hard because it was so humid and I am not used to all that moisture in the air. I ate 1307 calories.
One of those statistics websites says I should be able to maintain at 1794 calories and loose at 1464. The maintenance sounds good, but it seems to me that I am going to loose very slowly at 1454. I am pretty comfortable even at 1300. I guess I think I should be suffering more.
Hi, Gail - I'm glad you didn't lose everything in the freezer. A long power outage can be such a problem. And I'm sure you didn't enjoy the time without the air conditioner this time of year.
Sometimes those statistics can be misleading. I think they give a number that is unrealistic for senior citizens, at least in my case they did. It's best to just keep experimenting on what number of calories you need to consume in order to maintain your current weight. And figure out how much you need to cut down on calories in order to lose weight. Losing weight is more difficult for older people, but it can be done. Just keep working at it.
Also a small weight gain can be caused by too much sodium in the diet. I've been snacking on popcorn recently, and the salt makes me retain fluid in my body. But snacking on popcorn is better for me than snacking on potato chips. LOL
I just got back from my walkabout in the neighborhood. I think the temps will be a little better today than yesterday, but once again we have smoke to deal with. This has been a wicked summer in so many ways.
I gotta keep pushing myself to do the exercise. So I snarl at myself - snarl, snarl, snarl.
I have a couple of dogs that laugh at me - no snarling. They can't imagine why anyone would walk up and down the driveway when there is so much to see beyond the gate.
I am even a couple pounds more than I was yesterday. I am sure I haven't eaten enough for that, but I probably have consumed plenty of sodium. Plus it is miserably hot and humid. I am going to drink more water.
I am not a heavy salt user, but I do have a stash of Lean Cuisine meals for when I can't face cooking and they have lots of sodium.
Hi, Gail - We don't have any dogs, but we have a couple of cats that totally ignore any exercise I try to do. I'm sure they are laughing to themselves at how silly we humans can be.
This losing weight is such a struggle. But if we keep doing what we know we should be doing, and ignore the distractions, eventually we will get to where we are going.
We had a bit of a cooler weather last night, but today it is warming up again. The little cool spell reminds us that autumn will be here, and I'm really looking forward to it. This has been such a brutal summer.
I hear you about the cats. We have two, also. One seems to belong to DH, the other to me. My kitty is quite small and was born with a little puff for a tail. She isn't a Manx or anything - just cat. She is getting on in age now, but she still can put our big shepherd in his place. I can't for the life of me figure out why he is afraid of her.
We won't really be into fall until the week before Halloween. Historically, we have had a fair number of nights during the winter season that get down below 32C. Not much below, but enough to freeze plants. The past few years we have had almost no freezing temps.
We had a lightening show last night, some rain, and the power was off again, but only briefly. It is really hot and sticky today.
I agree with you about our "senior" metabolism and how we have to experiment with our diet. I sure hope I get better at the walking. I am really out of shape.
Hi, Gail - Yes, cats are such individuals, aren't they? We have two, males, litter-mates. They just had their fourth birthdays, and we adopted them from a shelter when they were 1 1/2 years old. So they were set in their ways when we got them.
I had these wonderful visions of one cat on my DH's lap and one cat on my lap in the evenings, but that wasn't to be. They like me OK, but they find my DH absolutely fascinating. They follow him around the house wherever he goes, and admire everything he does. So in the evening he has two cats on his lap, and I have none.
They are tuxedo cats, quite attractive in their black and white suits. They are almost identical in coloring, so it can be difficult for us to tell them apart. They are indoor cats and show absolutely no signs of wanting to go outdoors.
It's nice they allow us to live with them.
Well, we often have snow in September, and any time after Labor Day our trees start to turn color. I'm really looking forward to the cooler weather. We had a couple of cooler days last week, but now it is beastly hot again.
As we get older our bodies require less food to keep us going. That is one of the reasons it is so important IMHO that we fuel our bodies with nutritious fuel. Of course this sensible advice runs contrary to our human nature because who wants to snack on carrot sticks when there are chocolate chip cookies available? Oh, well, let's keep trying.
I had a black and white cat. He was my all time favorite cat. He got cancer and I had to have him euthanized when he was around 9 years old. His name was Mr. Tux. I thought that was a clever name until I found out they are all called tuxedo cats and more than a few are named Tux or some variant. I got him full grown and neutered from the shelter. I always wondered what happened to his owner because he was such a wonderful cat.
Funny you should mention chocolate chip cookies....we went to Super Wal-Mart day before yesterday. They had an irresistible package of those very cookies on their clearance table so I got them for DH. A couple of them sort of fell into my mouth. I wish I wouldn't do that, but on the other hand, maybe I can learn to eat only two instead of the whole package.
I totally agree with your analysis of what we should be eating. Most of the time I am quite happy eating food that is good for me. I just need to learn portion control of the things I want that aren't very nutritional. I also need to learn not to soothe myself with food.
I didn't walk today. It was just too hot. It was hot all night and still hot this morning. I did a bunch of vacuuming and mopping. That was enough exercise for me.
Our cats are named for those wonderful movie stars of long-ago - Laurel & Hardy. But we call them Stan & Ollie. They are really a fun pair.
Oh, chocolate chip cookies - they are the downfall of so many diet plans. Since I am a diabetic I really can't eat regular cookies but I can find sugar-free chocolate chip cookies that are quite tasty. I try to limit myself with them, since I could easily eat too many.
I didn't walk on Sunday, seldom do, but I do plan to head out for a walkabout in the neighborhood in a little while. The weather has cooled down just a little bit so the walking sould be good. Unfortunately I am not a natural exerciser so I do have to talk myself into getting out and doing it. I'm just a little bit unsteady on my feet so I take my cane along. I don't need the cane very much, but occasionally when the surface is uneven I need it. I'm trying to learn the twirl the thing - that should be fun.
I want to stay as active as I can, as long as I can. I also want to keep my mind as alert as possible so I keep working on that.
This aging is inevitable so we must do it as gracefully as possible.
I wouldn't wish anyone to be diabetic, but that does make you think twice about what you eat, at least it would me. Somehow just because it will make me fat isn't quite as convincing as a health problem.
I am kind of in a funk and I think it is because of the weather. We are in for temps as high as 110*F this week with a chance of rain which means it is going to be very sticky. It won't last forever, but it seems like it.
I ate too much yesterday, but today I don't seem to be very hungry, so maybe I will do better. I bought three small avocados for 64 cents apiece at Wal-Mart. I at half of one before I checked on the calories - egads, they are like eating butter.
I just realized that I weighed my avocado with the pit and skin on and then divided by two to get the calories for half an avocado. I probably don't need to count the pit! LOL.
I just got back from my little walkabout in the neighborhood. I did get to visit with one neighbor, and that was enjoyable. Otherwise it was just the usual morning walk. I do have to keep pushing myself to do those walks, but I'm always glad that I did the walkabout when I get done with it.
As for an avocado pit - I suppose if you ground it up and consumed it, it would provide mega-fiber for you. I'm not suggesting that you try that, though.
Fred Astaire - Well, I can do a fairly decent job of twirling my cane when I am standing still, but I certainly can't twirl it while walking. Wish I could, but I doubt if I will ever be able to master that trick. I have decorated my cane with a crocheted red-white-blue rosette, since I like patriotic colors during the summer. It certainly sets it apart from every other cane in the neighborhood. Or in the world for that matter.
No wonder you are in a funk with the weather you have been having. Hot and humid is the worst. Here is is hot for us, but no humidity. In fact the dew point is so low that even when it clouds up in the late afternoon there is no moisture in the atmosphere so that we can have any rain. I'm really looking forward to autumn this year.
There is nothing much we can do about the weather, only complain about it, which is what we all do to no avail.
But let's just keep pushing ourselves to do the best we can as long as we can.
Yep, when I need a cane, I will probably paint it red, my favorite color. Decorating your cane makes a statement that you are still interested in life. My friend who is a fancy dresser put sequins on her cane.
I bought a gigantic bag of frozen stir-fry vegetables at Costco. I put 1 1/2 cups of the veggies into some boiling chicken broth to cook them. Then I added 2 oz cooked chicken breast and three medium large shrimp. I added pepper and a small shot of lemon juice to the whole thing. It was really good, and when I went to enter the calories, I found that the chicken broth box says that there are no calories in chicken broth! What a nice surprise that was.
I consumed 1350 calories yesterday. This morning, I walked a mile. It was very hot. I weigh about 181.5 which puts me half a pound down. Can't wait to get below 180!
Sequins on a cane? That sounds quite wonderful! It wouldn't suit me, though. I do like my little crochet rosette, and figure I will change the decorations to go with the seasons. I already have ne made for autumn.
Funny, you remarked about Fred Astaire regarding twirling a cane. On another weight-loss forum where I actually have a journal, one of my friends there mentioned Gene Kelly, and even posted a picture of that gentleman dancing with a cane. I can twirl my cane somewhat, but I am certainly no expert in that area.
This morning my DH and I went to Walmart and spent some money. This time of year it's actually fun to shop for the fresh fruits and veggies that are so available.
I like your recipe for the veggies and chicken broth - it is quite similar to some of the concoctions I cook at times. If I fill up on veggies, then I am less tempted by other foods available. I also have some pkgs. of frozen tomatoes from our little garden from former years that I like to add to soups and stews.
It's going to be another hot, hot day in Wonderful Wyoming, so I'm glad we got our shopping done early.
But let's make today a wonderful day, in spite of the weather. We can't do anything to change the weather, but we sure can complain about it! LOL
I have never been to Wyoming. When we lived in Seattle we drove east through Montana, and living in CA we drive a more southerly route. I am retired from SkyWest Airlines and I see from our route map that we fly into Casper as well as Jackson Hole.
Sequins are not my style, either. My cane will be red with white polka dots. That is much more "me".
We have a Wal-Mart in the near-by town, but it isn't a Super Store and doesn't have much food. The big store is about 100 miles down the road. We thought they had pretty good prices.
That 1 1/2 cups of veggies had 100 calories. As you say, a bargain calorie-wise. How do you freeze your tomatoes? Blanch them? Cook them like stewed tomatoes? I don't know how many we will have that we don't eat, but freezing the extra is a good idea.
Our low at night is supposed to be 85*F for the next few days. Nasty. I doubt I will spend much time outside.
My DH and I were just talking about how fortunate we are to have the house and the vehicles all paid off with a little to spare for food, clothing and the occasional extravagance. So, yes, it's a good day even if the weather stinks!
