2023: Finding My Way Back

  I'm taking a break from writing about diet and exercise until December 11. I may make references to it in these blogs, but I'm determined not to obsess about it ! Here's my "week in review" so far ! Thanksgiving turned out to be a nice day despite forecasts of bad weather that came out earlier in the week. I got a late start (left the house after 10:30, which is when I was supposed to be picking up Lauren) but it all worked out. Since Barb had to travel to Virginia for the birth of her grandson, Rich was left to host the day. Lauren and I went over early to help. Since I pre-made the stuffing and gravy all we needed to do was peel and cook the potatoes and get out all the dinnerware, while Rich fried the turkey. Everything went perfectly and we enjoyed the entire meal. Last year my stuffing was kind of dry so this year I made sure to add extra broth and also added a little bit of water when I reheated it. It turned out perfect ! We didn't have a ton of lefto...

  I'm taking a break from writing about diet and exercise until December 11. I may make references to it in these blogs, but I'm determined not to obsess about it ! Here's my "week in review" so far ! Saturday 11/18 was a nice day. Michelle came to color my hair and Lauren came too ! It was nice to sit and talk for a few hours. It's also nice to be blond again !  I spent the morning on the couch playing my slot games and when Michelle let me know she was coming to do my hair I did my 10 minute clean up, which included vacuuming the carpet. Keeping the house clean for the past 2 weeks paid off ! I didn't have to run around like a maniac cleaning or tossing things out of sight just to make the house presentable. I didn't do much else. I just relaxed and enjoyed the day. Sunday 11/19 I again spent most of the day playing my slot games and watching YouTube. I had intended to go shopping but it got rainy and we had several bouts of what looked like hail, bu...

  I'm taking a break from writing about diet and exercise until December 11. I'm putting an incredible amount of pressure on myself and it's backfiring every single day. The more I obsess about it, the worse things get. I'm not stopping my efforts to eat right and exercise, I'm just not going to write about it quite so much. So what to talk about ? Well, from now until December 2 I can talk about my preparations for Disney or whatever else is on my mind. I get back from Florida very late on 12/9 and will have Sunday 12/10 to unpack and decompress. I'll probably need to go to the grocery store too. I also have 12/11 off, so that will be the official launch of my latest weight loss and exercise journey. Last night I tried on the denim shorts and capris that I bought on Amazon. The brand is Bandolino and I used to buy their jeans until they stopped making the skinny jeans I liked. I do love the shorts as they fit perfectly and they go right to the knee, which is ex...

  It's been a while since I wrote and I'm not going to worry about documenting what I ate, what exercise I got, how I did on my mini goals or how I was feeling. At this point there IS no point .. lol .. and no one reads this but me ! Life has been relatively uneventful, but I haven't been able to commit 100% to diet and exercise. I'm still struggling and I'm really sad that I am going to Disney as a fat person. The goal right now today is to buckle down on December 10 after I get back. This puts me between Thanksgiving and Christmas, so it seems like a good time. I had said I wasn't going to go to the Cicero Walmart anymore, but I decided I wasn't going to let one bad experience scare me away. I'm not going to live my life in fear. I don't really know how I lost my phone and I've taken measures to ensure it doesn't happen again. That's really all that matters. I'm also trying to pay more attention to my surroundings and parking closer...

  Today was a better day. I thought a lot about the baby owls and I'm thinking it may not have been their father that killed them. I had read that the male offspring from last year still hangs around the nest, so it's possible this male was jealous or just hungry (lazy!) and saw the babies as food. It doesn't make the situation any less sad, but I'd feel better if that were the case. Needless to say, I won't be watching that cam any more. I found one for baby falcons and the parents of these babies are both extremely attentive. I also watch an eagle cam and same - very attentive parents. Breakfast was 120 calorie french toast with sugar free syrup. I forgot to have my yogurt ! Morning snack was a 155 calorie chocolate shake. Lunch was a chef salad & 220 calorie pepperoni pizza melt. Afternoon snack (at 5 pm !) was cottage cheese and an apple. Dinner was broccoli and a 250 calorie chicken enchilada with the last of the low fat sour cream. Evening snack was a 140 ...

  Today was an unsettled day. I couldn't motive myself to get up early (I was awake at 6:30) and I didn't even want to get up when the alarm went off. I got up around 7:20 and trudged downstairs to face the day ! Breakfast was a 180 calorie cinnamon roll and an 80 calorie yogurt. Morning snack was a 155 calorie vanilla shake that I actually had after 5 pm. Afternoon snack was 80 calorie cottage cheese and an apple (about 95 calories). Dinner was green beans and 260 calorie roasted turkey medallions. Evening snack was a chocolate cupcake with whipped cream. I also had a slice of apple bread. 2 slices left ! I say the day was unsettled because a day or two ago a live webcam came up on my YouTube feed. It was showing baby barn owls in Florida and I watched a little bit, so now it's in my suggestions. Today I tuned in just after 11 am and to my horror, the male owl came into the nest box and killed all 3 babies while the mother was out hunting. She came back with a dead mouse, ...

  I was awake early today but opted to go back to sleep. Totally disregarded goal #1. The coffee I had last night was a mistake as I didn't get to sleep until after 1 am. Breakfast was 150 calorie pancakes with sugar free syrup and an 80 calorie yogurt. Lunch was a chef salad and 220 calories pepperoni pizza melt. Afternoon snack was 80 calorie cottage cheese and an apple (about 95 calories). Dinner was the last of the carrots and a spinach & a 190 calorie artichoke & spinach stuffed chicken breast. Evening snack was a chocolate cupcake. I also had a slice of apple bread with butter. 3 slices left ! So how did I do on my mini-goals ? Not too bad for the first day ! get up when I wake up - nope make my bed - yes clean litter boxes - yes take my vitamins, magnesium & Metamucil - yes exercise 2 times - yes take a shower - yes do skincare - yes put on lotion - yes brush teeth - yes I'm happy with the effort I made today.  Work was semi-busy but I again ran out of steam...

  I was awake early today but opted to go back to sleep. I really want to stop doing that. I want to get up whenever I wake at a reasonable hour. I think I'm sleeping better now that the weather has gotten cooler. I haven't had to turn the fan on much over the past couple weeks. I have the thermostats in the house set on 70 and that is comfortable.  Breakfast was 160 calorie waffles with sugar free syrup. I never got around to having my yogurt. Morning snack was a 155 vanilla shake with peanut butter powder. Lunch was a chef salad and 220 calorie pepperoni pizza melt. Afternoon snack was 80 calorie cottage cheese and an apple (about 95 calories). Dinner was roasted carrots and a 250 calorie meatloaf sandwich. After my shower I had a slice of apple bread and a cup of coffee. Evening snack was ___. Today I realized that part of my afternoon exercise problem is time. Some days I really don't want to spend my entire lunch hour on the treadmill. Today I did a 20 minute interval ...

  I woke up about 8:05 this morning and could easily have slept a few more hours. Abby wasn't bugging me for breakfast and my bladder was quiet ! The bad part about sleeping in on Sunday is not getting to sleep until late and then dragging my a$$ on Monday morning, so I got up just before 9. By 9:30 the indoor and outdoor cats were fed and I'd had breakfast and my first cup of coffee. Breakfast was a slice of french toast with sugar free syrup. I will talk more about this later in the blog. I held off until after 12 pm to have my yogurt. Lunch was a pepperoni pizza melt. Afternoon snack was cottage cheese and an apple. Dinner was roasted carrots and a spinach & artichoke stuffed chicken breast. After my shower I had a slice of apple bread with some butter. Evening snack was a chocolate cupcake with whipped cream. After breakfast I spent some time finishing up challenges and playing my slot games. Yet again I was struck by how many of the ads are obvious scams. I can see whe...

  As much as I wanted to sleep in this morning, by 8 am Abby and my bladder were screaming that it was time to get up. As always, once I'm up I'm fine and that it's for the day when it comes to sleep. I always tell myself I can take a nap, but I never do. Breakfast was a cinnamon roll and a yogurt. Today was the first day I lamented the loss of the tea cookies I used to have with my yogurt. This is probably because I was super hungry by the time I had the yogurt. Lunch was a pepperoni pizza melt before I went out. After shopping I had 2 slices of apple bread, then dinner was broccoli and a meatloaf sandwich. Evening snack was a vanilla ice cream sandwich and later a concoction I made. I sliced the 2 remaining Honey Crisp apples ( they were small ) and microwaved them for 3 minutes with a little water. Ok so far .. but then came the calorie bomb: cinnamon sugar, caramel sauce & whipped cream. Yet again .. it was good but didn't knock my socks off. The peels ruined it...