The scale is four pounds from the dreaded decade. I am thrilled. The next goal is in the lower half. The second critical phase is exercise. Top priority today. I know the weight will jiggle up as I start but my plan is one for the long haul.
I learned how to make the cool ribbons for my upscale Goodwill gift baskets. I bought two huge rolls of coordinated wire ribbon ( one in checks and one in flowers) for 2.49 a piece. They look great for the children's basket. My time life photo book has come and I have selected the pictures. Now I need to go to Staples and color copy for my timeline projects.. That will be fun for Monday's class. I haven't started my color stones class at GIA. Maybe I just needed a break. Still plenty of time before I retire. Is my enthusiasm waning? The great gift of retirement is it can be put on the back burner, Right?
BBE; Yeah for quiet yearly rituals. They mark the changing seasons with comfort. The flower to wait in the backyard for next Spring. The audiologist still at his post. One hard part of of aging is the changing of people we have worked with for ages. Dh and I have decided to change our primary care physician. He is ridiculous. This is the one that told me " I thought you would be skinny" after i came back from Machu Pichu. That is the least neglectful action of his. With DH's health issues, we need someone at the top of his/her game. Nationalparker: Walgreens is amazing. It is right on the corner and the pharmacist calls me more than my own Dr to check on medications.
Food was on plan and weight is holding. I did an almost 10 mile this morning and it was great. It was a little warmer, but still cool and a bit breezy. Other than that it was a pretty low key day. I did take a rest and also did some laundry and batch cooking.
I'm supposed to do a short hike with a friend tomorrow, but she was recently diagnosed with shingles so I'm thinking she won't feel up to going. I have an alternate long hike plan if she doesn't go. I started listening to a book and I'm about half way through, so I would like to do the long hike alone. The book is an easy listening novel called All We Ever Wanted by Emily Giffin.
This afternoon I listened to a Chef AJ You Tube with a counselor Sara Levite discussing Simple Tips for Overcoming Sugar Addiction. It's pretty good. Chef AJ has a guest and video every single day. She kind of drives me nuts, but she does have some good guests.
I'll get to posting earlier tomorrow with personals. I hope you're all having a great weekend.
Sunday - The Bosphorus Bridge connects Europe and Asia (1973, Istanbul)
Diet Coaches/Buddies - Excitement was having the (7 yo) DGD for dinner while her parents went to a fancy restaurant to celebrate our DD's birthday (and to use a gift certificate with an expiration date). She read Silly Sally to me - a book that she's outgrown being read to but delighted in seeing again for her to read. She nailed it. It's a bit overwhelming to experience this little kid as a reader. One joy of this particular book is that it's the first one that we allowed her to pick out and buy after a kids' reading hour at the local book store - must have been five years ago. Then we watched the OUGH episode of I Love Lucy. Twice - before we had to go down for dinner. She loved that Ricky Ricardo mispronounced so many words. And I love that I Love Lucy still makes me laugh after sixty years. When her parents picked her up after their evening out, I sent them home with a printed script and the link so they could watch it with her. She ABSOLUTELY LOVES showing her parents what she learns at our house.
Eating was on plan with additional snacks. Hoping to end that nonsense. At least it's not Halloween candy - that consists of stuff I wouldn't eat even if starving on a deserted island. (No Kit-Kat's this year since I've been known to sample generously.) Dinner was lively with a chattering kid. Included Parmesan couscous using a recipe that our DD assured us that the DGD liked. It all worked. Love watching her down broccoli, without knowing that kids are supposed to hate it.
Joy (gardenerjoy) - Seem smart to not have too many additional goals during November.
maryann - Congrats for realizing that it's time to change your Primary Care Physician. It hit me hard when I finally realized that all my new doctors were younger than me. Surprised that I didn't see that coming, LOL.
nationalparker - Waving. Your tip about OUGH episode of I Love Lucy was a smashing success. Thanks.
Karen (karenrn) - Overcoming sugar addiction would be terrific. Hope it works for you.
Readers -
Quote:
Chapter 6Stage 3 - The Challenging Situations Plan
At the Restaurant
Make special requests. I encourage you to ask for: . . .
Fresh fruit for dessert, if your plan allows for it. Many restaurants have fresh berries or other fruits, even if they don't mention it on the menu. Just make sure to ask that the fruit be served plain - without whipped cream, sauce, or powdered sugar.
Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Complete Beck Diet for Life (Green book), Pg 147.
CREDIT for passing my exercise goal for October with two days to spare.
Today's adventure is to visit my brother and his wife at the house they moved into over the summer. He used to live about 30 minutes west of me. Now, he lives about 30 minutes south of me. This will be our first look at the new house, so that should be fun!
I did a shorter hike this morning and finished the book I was listening to. Ended up eating too many snacks when I came home, so I'm getting back on plan now.
GardenerJoy It sounds so great to have a brother that nearby. It will be fun to see their new home. Congratulations as always on exceeding your exercise goal.
Bill Your little gd is growing up so quickly. I can't believe she's 7 already. I'm sure she is quite a good reader. Kit Kat's are something I like too but I'm not going to look at our candy to see if it's in there. I successfully put it in the drawer when I walked in the door after purchasing it and haven't seen it since. Tomorrow I'm going to See's to get candy for the neighbors and I can't guarantee that I won't have a sample.
Maryann Yes things can go on the back burner during retirement and brought to the front burner when you feel like it.
Nationalparker Have a great time visiting your friends. That's a long drive.
Curlyjax I hope you're doing okay and didn't have to take a quick trip to your Dad's.
Took a fall drive into a neighboring farm town this morning. We walked along the Sacramento River which is the same river we farm on only an hour south. DH teased me how different it looks from our ranch and how glad he was to check it out on his day off. (He had just spent the night down at the ranch with some boy scouts.) It was still nice to get some steps in. We had lunch at a touristy, gifty place on the interstate. They have a big "farm thing." There was a gift shop with outrageous prices. $10.00 for a candle taper. What ? I wanted to get ideas for my upscale Goodwill baskets. DH says mine look much better. I scored high quality glass candles at an outlet where I grocery shop. With the bath soaps and salts I have, they will be very nice gifts that I would like to receive.
My plan was to finish a climbing t the gym but I am having some GI stuff and will do yoga at 5:00. Food was non addictive but the portion was large.
Karen: How nice to know we can hop back on track in the middle of the day.
BBE: Your tales od DGD make me miss DS this weekend. i should be at a Pumpkin Patch with a three year old and coming home to sew a costume. Sigh!
I'm again deep in insomnia after being in bed for hours now in our studio on the road. Decided to check in and was logged out on both phone and kindle. Tried to reset password with issues ... And I don't have email on my kindle so I don't get sidetracked and waste time. Able to reset but not change it to something I can remember so going with this random character string and will handle when home.
Trip is going well, friends are just superb. Food has been fine and had pineapple in a plant based yummy quesadilla and now we'll do that as well. Yummy!! Learned something new!
Home in two days and trip is zipping quickly. Up and took melatonin. Tried to sleep without Benadryl or melatonin and that was a big NO. Personals on return but happy to hear the ough was a fun view, Bill ... And Maryann BIG CREDIT for looking for a new primary care physician. That is appalling and repulsive.
Monday - Michelangelo finishes "The Last Judgement" (1541, Sistine Chapel)
Diet Coaches/Buddies - The DS, DIL, and (2.5 yo) DFGD dropped by after another Halloween event. I learned how slippery a toddler can be who doesn't want to be caught when running away wearing exactly one sock. The DIL was changing her clothes and lost control. Apparently, being starkers increases speed because that little kid was moving. Finally caught, some clothes applied, and life returned to a non-stop chatting, moving-about little thing. Don't know if this one is going to stay still long enough for me to ever read her a book.
Eating was on plan with snacks. No Halloween candy, CREDIT moi, although it's been extracted from its hiding place and now sitting on the kitchen counter ready for tonight. Both DS and (yesterday) DD just cracked up noting that DW put up the same Halloween decorations that she has for some 30+ years - brightly colored cardboard cut-outs of pumpkins, witches, ghosts, and whatever. They fit our front door and front facing windows. She carefully puts them back in the attic until the next year. I've mentioned that I'm thinking of buying the Home Depot 12-foot skeleton; it's a fad that's hard to find even online for a marked-up price. She gently reminds me that we don't have a space for a 12-foot skeleton; would have to exhibit him bent over at the waist. Actually, don't know if it's a 'him'. I've several times tried to have someone show me the difference in the hips between a him and her skeleton and I've not been able to see it. Suspect that that means I'd have a hard time passing anatomy class if I decide to go back to school to become a neuro-surgeon for my next career.
Joy (gardenerjoy) - Neat that your brother moved but is still only 30 minutes away. Always Kudos for meeting your exercise goals.
maryann - LOL at the thought of you and your DH visiting a "farm thing." Neat for the affirmation that your baskets are top notch.
nationalparker - Glad to hear that your trip is moving along. I HATE HATE HATE when my phone asks me for a password that my home laptop has memorized, and I have written at home. Hope that your sleeping gets to a good place.
Karen (karenrn) - Thanks for "I'm getting back on plan now." I can use that.
Readers -
Quote:
Chapter 6Stage 3 - The Challenging Situations Plan
At the Restaurant
tip: It may be too
tempting at first to leave
extra food on your plate. If
so, do some of the following:
When you order, ask the
waiter to bring only half and
discard or wrap up the rest.
Ask for a take-out box to be
brought with your meal.
Move the extra food to
your butter plate and ask the
waiter to take it away.
As soon as you portion off
the extra food, pour salt, pet-
per, or sweetener on it so it
won't tempt you.
Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Complete Beck Diet for Life (Green book), Pg 147.
Last edited by BillBlueEyes; 11-01-2022 at 06:16 AM.
Reason: Removed notes from bottom
I was able to stick to my guns about being back on track after some extra snacks in the morning yesterday. This morning I met my friend for a nearly two hour hike and then came home to walk Otis. Dh decided Otis is not safe in his harness in case he would back out of it. He did it once when afraid but now it's more snug. Anyway, he attached a short leather strap attached to the leash that hooks to his collar. It's kind of like the safety on a bracelet. Luckily it's pretty easy to unhook both attachments. I thought it was over the top, but not worth arguing about.
I started listening to a Rich Roll podcast this morning with Dr. Robynne Chutkan on Optimizing Immunity & Preventing Disease From the Inside Out. She's a gastroenterologist and the topic is the link between the health of our microbiome and our ability to combat viral illness. I guess 70 to 80% of our immunity is from the microbiome. It's an interesting listen and helps me focus on thinking about new recipes with lots of veggies.
Did any of you see 60 Minutes last night. It showed pretty well how crazy our politics are here in AZ. My friend and I discussed how embarrassing it is and where we should move to. I hope the pendulum is about ready to swing back closer to the center. Of course the weather is superb now so I hope I don't feel like I want to move after the election.
Bill Sounds like that little one is a super energetic little gal. I can just see her running around like a greased pig with nothing to grip onto to stop her.
Nationalparker I'm glad you're having such a good time. The pineapple quesadilla sounds awesome. I need to work on my sleep too. I am on a vicious cycle of awake too early and to bed too early. I don't need to wake up near as early as I do since it has cooled off and I don't need to hike in the nearly dark.
Maryann Your outing sounds like a fun day and I bet your baskets are beautiful. I think portions being too large is way better than eating foods that are addictive. So much easier to go back to right sized portions. I hope your GI stuff is resolved.
Waving to GardenerJoy, Curlyjax, Penny and Onebyone!
Yesterday's visit with my brother was fun. Their new house is delightfully quirky.
My brother was told by a neighbor that the house was originally a duplex for two sons returning from World War II, built by their parents who lived across the road. We're guessing that they wanted cheap farm hands back when this was farmland rather than exurbia. The building remained a duplex until less than a decade ago. My brother gets two water bills because there are still two meters. The duplexes must have been tiny, because the house still isn't very big. The result has some strange things -- a carport off the kitchen and a garage off the master bedroom (which was presumably the kitchen of the second duplex) at opposite ends of the house. The deck that would be appropriate for a small grill is off the master bedroom, not the present-day kitchen.
The timing of our day ended up being strange, so I ended up with less than the usual amount of food. A good reminder that I can be fine with less food, especially with good distractions.
I completed my plot preparation for NaNoWriMo this morning. This afternoon, I'm headed off to Whole Foods to stock up on things. I hope I can avoid going there again until December.
33 Halloween days with students. Wow. Today was relatively easy. Some of my kids wore very cute costumes. Loved it. BY 3rd period, I knew my frosh would be crazy. Watched my last free trial day of Disney - African Cats. We are studying Africa. Call it good.
Looks lIke I made it through the day without mass manufactured bliss point. There hasn't been too many of those types of days in 33 years so big credit.
I really threw my neck out with yoga. I have a hot pack on it right now. I want to do the "bones" yoga from Yoga with Adrienne. I'll see what I feel like.
Karen: No matter what I read or what you read it all comes back to veggies and fruits! Inescapable and yet I still don't feel I get enough. I roasted a bunch of broccoli yesterday for the week. I could eat pounds of that stuff. BBE: Thanks for mentioning the 12 foot skeleton. They have appeared in our neighborhood. Crazy! nationalparker: I love sweet with savory. We received a free tub of wild rice medley from our rice coop. I put cranberries, pumpkin seeds and balsamic vinegar. Yum. Joy: Credit for Ready, Set Go on Nov. 1
Sunday - The Bosphorus Bridge connects Europe and Asia (1973, Istanbul)
