A Few of My (new) Favorite Things

Sure, I love raindrops on roses, brown paper packages tied up with string, and snowflakes that fall on my nose and eyelashes, but, Stop-the-Presses!, I have a few new things to add to the list.  

This photo of Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park 
is courtesy of TripAdvisor


 

First let me tell you about my green crocs.  Why yes, they do look rather like frog feet.  I first discovered how great they were when we took a trip to Glacier National Park.  We had a picnic by Lake McDonald. It  is fed by snowmelt (can we say c-o-l-d??) and, as you can see the lakebed is stone.  We were with Laura's family and, between the 8 of us, we had one pair of adult sized crocs.  That one pair got used by every single member of the party to wade out into the lake and play.  That same day, we found a dollar store in town and bought knock-off crocs for everybody.  Now we always throw them in the trunk when we travel by car, just in case. 

Last Friday I went shopping with my BFF.  We were going to a fairly upscale mall, so I didn't want to wear my white running shoes with good black slacks, so I decided to wear my new black leather sport shoes that I'd bought for just such a time.  We had a great time and I racked up lots of steps on my pedometer.  A couple of hours into the morning, I noticed that my heels were sore.  We stopped for lunch and then shopped for a couple more hours.  I definitely noticed the pain by the time we walked to the car.  By the time I got home I could barely walk.  Of course I found each heel had a huge blister that had rubbed raw through the skin.  I have lived in my green crocs since Friday, except for Sunday morning, when I wore ridiculously out-of-season black heelless sandals to church.  I even went for my walks with crocs.  They're amazingly comfortable.  The only annoyance is small gravel bits that sneak in through the holes and require a stop to shake them out.   

Green Tea.  I've never liked it.  The 17DD, however, does like it (it's apparently loaded with antioxidants) and calls for two or three cups a day.  I bought several types of green tea with added flavors to try.  Lipton's Mandarin Orange flavor was fairly good, but then I tried Lemon Ginger Green Tea (Stash).  OMG, this is a dynamo flavor combination.  I use one packet of truvia with it and it makes a wonderful cuppa.  I bought mine at Safeway, but I've seen the Stash brand at other stores, too.

And one other discovery from following the 17DD.  An egg white scramble makes a super-quick delicious breakfast.  Really, it's almost as fast as cereal. I bought a case of Costco's Real Egg (99% egg whites, but the traditional yellow color).  When I ran out I picked up a carton of All Whites (100% egg whites).  I like both, but the All Whites, with a strange almost water-like consistency cook up magically into something that reminds me a lot of the best part of a fried egg (the white part!).

I know you may have other things to do today, so I'll wrap this up with a progress report on my time on the 17DD and my weekly mileage.

I finished the first cycle (17 days) of the 17DD on Sunday.  My total weight loss for that time was 10.4 pounds.  While I've started the second 17 day cycle, I'm not sure that this is something I plan to do for life.  I love the jump start to my weight loss and have gained some insights during the process:  yes, I can be disciplined, at least for a short time; I don't have to have sugary "treats" every day; portion size counts; drinking all that water (and tea) is do-able and helpful.  I've discovered some great new recipes along the way.  I actually like the yogurt (never a yogurt fan). I missed the whole grains. A lot.  The yogurt may "help the digestive process," but my body needs more fiber than the first cycle provided. I'll see if this second cycle works better with my digestion.  Stay tuned.

The mileage for last week was right on track until I  developed those blisters on my heels.  Still, I totalled 22 miles for the week, bringing my YTD to a nice, even 150 miles!

For your viewing pleasure: My father, at about 5 or 6 years old (c 1922) with his sling-shot.  He was apparently pretty skilled. In his later years, my mother had to work hard to persuade him to use humane traps to catch the marauding squirrels in his vegetable garden rather than his trusty sling-shot.

She LIKES me!!

YAY!  My little Nike+ girl isn't diss-ing me any more.  I guess going 2 miles must be her criteria of a "real" session--no matter what the pace.  I must admit that I pushed myself to go two miles to see if I could get her back to cheering me on.  It worked.  I felt better walking today, and am glad of the workout.  I also forgot all about taking pain meds after the early morning dose.  The walking warms my muscles a bit and I don't feel sore.  (My incision doesn't hurt at all, just the muscles on my back near my neck--which is where my surgeon said I'd probably feel them).  I'm only taking tylenol and think I'll take a dose before bed time so I can get comfortable and fall asleep.

Last night, after my afternoon nap, I didn't get to sleep until 3 am.  I got up and came downstairs and realized I felt fine.  No soreness, no lack of energy, just fine.  So I made a batch of brownies.  Wait!  Let me explain--my Dad died in December but will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery at the end of April (there is always a delay at Arlington and we've appreciated the extra time to get things together).  I'm the only of his four children to live in the area so I'm hosting a dinner for the out of town guests and friends the evening of the funeral.  I figure the only way to get this done (especially in my necessarily slowed down recovery mode) is to do it bit by bit and freeze ahead.  So last night I made the first of several batches of the brownies which my Dad so loved to make for people.  Really the best in the world--IMHO.  They went from the cooling rack to freezer zip lock baggies and into the freezer to await their brethren in the coming weeks.  It feels good to have started.

I think I've tracked down the final numbers I need to give to the H&R Block lady who's doing our taxes (ours, my Dad's and Jays).  She's wonderful and said that she'll fit me in whenever I feel like coming in.  Maybe tomorrow so I can check that big one off my "to do" list.

We had a fun time at our outing last night.  I forgot to take my camera but am hoping a friend sends me her picture so I can share.  Maybe tomorrow.

Have you finished your taxes yet or are you a Procrastinator (like me!)?

Friday Fly By, Hot 100 Update

This will be a Fly By.  I am still not "on plan," in that I'm not tracking or counting up points, but I feel okay about how I'm eating.  Very busy getting through laundry and family papers/pix to get ready for a family rendezvous over Christmas.  I've spent way more time than I'd like in our very chilly attic looking for one certain document among dozens of boxes of my Dad's papers.  Aaargh.

Look what I discovered when I finally took the time to click through the many pix I downloaded from our kids' visit in November.  A good candid "cousins" (our grandchildren) picture.  IIRC, little J was squirming a lot, trying to get himself out of the picture.  His oldest cousin, J, did a grand job hanging on to him and tickling him into smiling for the camera!

Hot 100 Update.  Again failed all three, but I did go to my WW meeting and gained only .2, I have exercised 3 of the past 3 days, and the chocolate is more or less back under control.  Even tho' I'm not meeting my original goal, the fact that I'm still thinking about it and paying attention to it has made a positive difference in how I've managed over what has been a difficult holiday season.

Stick with me, I will get back to my "real" life one of these days!

Tish

Getting Ready for Christmas, Wednesday WI

Hi All,

I'm back home and jumped right in with getting ready for Christmas.  I'd put up the pre-lit tree that I ordered, so when I got home Saturday evening, and I'd forgotten that we'd agreed to babysit that night, I let E unwrap ornaments and deck the tree.  Very cute--she decked it very deliberately all around the bottom foot of the tree, but couldn't reach any higher (our tree is on a piece of furniture).  DH came to her rescue and held her up while she put the others on.  Funny, I've been very territorial about being the one to decorate the tree and decide where things went, but I was quite happy, this time, to cede the responsibility to E (& DH).  While she was thus happily engaged, little J sat in his chair at the kitchen table and played with the new (to him) Fisher Price Nativity scene.  I used the time to make dinner and reflect on my many blessings.

I can't say that I've been at all "on program" this past 10 days or so, but I haven't gone "hog wild" either. Today at my WI I gained .2  After last week's 2.4 loss, I'm okay with that.  I really want to hop back into the new WW plan and did pretty well today.  I got out to run yesterday (dressed for the low 20s complete with ear muffs, scarf, mittens and layers).  Back to the gym tomorrow and easing back into my routine.  

My sister seems to be improving, but we've changed our plans and will rendezvous with my TX brother in GA and spend our Christmas together.  That will be good for us all, I think, in this first holiday season without our Dad.  We've found a lovely big rental house (thanks, Sharon, for the idea! ) and I'll cart food down there so we can do our own meals instead of eating out.  

Oh, another Christmas thing I did with the kiddos when they were here yesterday was making a gingerbread house.  I bought one of those kits from Michael's (I think) for less than $10.  What a deal--everything you need is in the box.  I put the house together the night before and, while J was taking his morning nap (that was his contribution to the effort--napping!), E decorated the house.  She was very precise and loved it.  It didn't tempt me a bit (though I did toss the leftover candy in the trash as soon as we finished) and I sent the house home with her at the end of the day.  Here are some pix:

E has a "thing" about having her photograph taken, so I had to take sneak pictures while she was otherwise occupied.  You can see how carefully she was putting the decorations on, though and the last shot captures her satisfied smile when she saw it sitting under the Christmas tree.

I'm weeks behind with my shopping, but my near and dear know I love them.  I'll try to have presents for the little ones, but am making no promises about cards or cookies for the neighbors.  I am holding together pretty well, but a couple of times a day something will make me realize how much I'm going to miss my Dad and I'll get a little teary.  I guess that's okay.  I'm keeping tissues in my pocket at all times.

Once again, I'm not doing a lot of blogging, but will get back to it soon because I MISS you all.

184.4

My Dad

Hi friends,

I wanted to let you know that my wonderful father died today.  I am with my sister in Atlanta, but when we got word that he'd taken a turn for the worse, I called DH and he and our son Johnny were with him when he died.  He was the best father I can possibly imagine and we'll all miss him so much.  That said, I'm glad this final suffering has ended and that he is with God in heaven and is reunited with my mom.

Tish

New Beginnings

I had a wonderful Thanksgiving--full of kids and grandkids and family.  It really made me feel thankful for my many blessings.  Here are a couple pictures we took before everybody went home.

with our grandchildren

all our kids and grands!

All that thankfulness involved lots of food too and, as wonderful as it was, I'm most thankful that all the tempting calorific not-on-my-plan things are finally out of the house.  My weight has been drifting slowing upwards over the last two months so that I now have 7.4 pounds to lose get down to where I was at the beginning of October.  No more.  Did you notice the title of this post?  New Beginnings. That's because today is the day, now is the time that I rededicate myself to reaching my goal.

All this coincides nicely with WW's new program which was introduced yesterday.   The WW website must have been overwhelmed because it took all day before I could finally get to the site.  This is the first major change to their plan in a dozen years.  It is different because they have reconfigured the points system.  I like what they've done.  Most fruits and veggies are no points.  The new points calculator now looks at the carbs, fiber, protein, and fats.  The old one looked at just calories, fiber, & fat.  Things make more sense to me in the new plan.  And, wonder of wonders, they still allow me to follow my "CORE" plan.  They don't call it "Core" anymore, it's Simply Filling, but it's there and that's what I'm going to go back to.  For now, though, I'm doing to regular program.  I get 29 points per day plus the 49 weekly points.  I imagine I'll eat the same things that I'd eat with the Core/Simply Filling, but for now I want the reassurance that I'm eating correct portions.  After I get used to the new way, I'll switch over to the Core/Simply Filling plan, because I don't want to be tied to counting points for every single bite.

They now allow me 49 points per week over and above the 0 point Power foods (skim milk, lean protein, eggs, veggies, fruit, etc).  And they encourage you to use all 49.  My beloved Latte Bars which say 1 point on the box, are now worth 2 points.  So are the Strawberry Smoothie bars.  They will still be on my plan, but I'll save my points to include them.  I haven't been to my WW meeting yet to hear the official explanation, but this is what I'm thinking now.  I'll let you know more about it tomorrow when I understand more.

To go along with the new food plan, I'm revving up my exercise, too.  Back to my good 6 out of 7 days per week with solid exercise each day--half cardio, half strength.  Today I ran 3.5 miles (in the drizzle).  Tomorrow I think it will be the exercise bike.  

My sweet Dad fell yesterday and has a compound fracture of the hip (the top of his femur).  They were able to do the portable x-ray at his nursing home so that he doesn't have to go to the hospital which is always very upsetting to him.  It's hard to see that he's in such fragile health. I'm thankful for the good days we enjoyed with him a couple of weeks ago.

 J&E are napping right now and I need to go take advantage of this time to finish up my Bible study for tomorrow.

I'm feeling strong and confident about reaching my goals.  I'm excited about the new plan and motivated to use it to advantage.  The hardest hurdles (celebration-wise) are behind me.

How about you?  Are the T-giving temptations out of your life and your fridge now??

Chilly Ride

Today was a good day.  We took my 93 year old dad to church--the first time he'd been since mid-summer.  My visit with him on Friday was great.  He was in good spirits and his memory was more focussed than it's been in months.  He asked when he was going to church, so darling DH picked him up this morning and gave him door-to-door service.  Here's a picture a friend snapped on our way in.  Our church is the chapel at Fort Belvoir (an Army post nearby) and we were celebrating Veteran's Day with great patriotic music and special recognition of our soldiers, past and present.  Dad enjoyed it.  He was done when it was over, though and we nixed our plan to take him out to lunch afterward.  DH stopped by McDonald's on his way back and I'm sure Dad enjoyed his Big Mac--I'm sure the assisted living facility where he lives doesn't "do" Big Macs.

DH and I had a lovely bike ride this afternoon.  It was his "trial run," the first time he's been biking since he broke his wrist a few weeks ago.  He's now in a half-cast (his new cast stops below the elbow) and did quite well.  We biked for about 50 minutes.  It was 52 degrees when we started and got down to 48 by the time we finished.  Rather chilly.  The weather underground forecast for our time in Wilmington this week shows highs in the 70s.  I've scoped out a nice 28 mile ride along the river which is supposed to be flat, low traffic, and quite scenic.  It sounds great.

The time change has gotten me today.  It was getting dark when we got back from our ride, so I just naturally started dinner.  We're finished now--dinner was ready at about 5:30!  I'll have to pay more attention to the clock and less to the degree of light outside.

Have a great day!

My New Favorite Four Word Phrase

My new favorite four word phrase? = "Put down the kettle bell." Today I tried out my new kettle bell set. My daughter Laura decided to torture gift me with it as a belated birthday present. It came yesterday and I resolved to try it out today. It's The Firm 5-Pound Kettle Bell Kit with Transfirm Your Trouble Zones DVD.  I waited until after dinner and cleared a workout space in the privacy of our sitting room upstairs.  I dressed in workout clothes (so as not to feel outclassed by all the buff girls modeling the moves in the background) and popped in the DVD.  First I viewed the introductory Learn the Moves section. Then I decided to go for the whole enchilada and clicked on the Full 45 Minute Workout.  I could have chosen the 20 minute "Express" workout, but nooo, I go and choose the 45 minute workout. The instructor, Kelsie, is very clear and encouraging; she reminds me a bit of Leslie Sansone in the Walk Away the Pounds videos.

I'm definitely not a natural-born dancer, but the choreography isn't too hard and it was fairly easy to catch up if I missed a move.  Thankfully there is an option for beginners (that's ME, folks) to do abbreviated versions of some of the moves (yes, please).  They guarantee visible results after 10 workouts.  I decided to take and record my current measurements again, just to test this claim. We'll see. I was able to do the entire workout except for the floor exercise just before the cool down section. This involved a diabolical flat-on-your-back-to-standing move (without benefit of help from your elbows or arms) that was impossible a little too tricky for this grandmother of five. You know it's tricky if I fall back on hiding behind my grannyhood! It was a good workout. I'm hoping that maybe as the scrapes, bruises and aches from last night's bike fall fade and as I continue to practice with it, the moves will get easier. For now, though, I'm thinking the several sections that commenced with my new favorite four word phrase were the best part of the workout!  There may be more Ibuprofen in my future at bedtime tonight.

For your viewing pleasure:  A picture with my sister taken at my Dad's 93rd birthday dinner last month.  I have lost 8 more pounds since this picture was taken.

We're down to just the three of us again, as my brother & his friend left today.  Back to our normal routines. It's time for me to get back in my own routine to keep trimming away these pounds so I can get to my goal by Thanksgiving.  We'll have the whole family here (all the kids and grands!), lots of fun and lots of pix.  I think I can be at or very close to my WW goal (20 pounds lighter than last week's WI weight) by then.  That's three months--13 weeks.  I'm going to DO it.  Having a goal helps.  I haven't quite reached my goal of 12 pounds for the Summer Diet Buddies challenge, but it's still possible.  The challenge ends Sept 7th--that's 10 more days. I have 4 more pounds to lose to meet that goal.  My morning weight this week is looking good for melting away several sticks o' butter by my Wednesday WI.

I did a little closet shopping the other night and there's a very nice size 12 dress that bodes well to fit this fall.  I can zip it up all the way now, but maybe a few more pounds and a little more torture work with the kettle bell set will do the trick and smooth out the too-bumpy bits.

Are you setting short term goals to keep yourself going?

The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men

Well, my Friday Focus plans to spend a day tuning up and strengthening my exercise and diet met with mixed success.   To quote Robert Burns, "The best laid schemes o' Mice an' Men, gang aft agley."  My plans started to "gang agley" [go astray] when Jay woke me up to let me know that he'd missed his bus.  This never happens.  He's awesome about getting himself up, dressed, fed, and ready.  Usually he's ready an hour ahead of time.  Every day but today.  Sigh.  I got up, threw on my running clothes, scarfed down my breakfast and drove him to his work--45 minutes away.  


I didn't get started on my hoped-for long run until 11.  It was a little warmer than I'd hoped for, but I'm proud to say that I ran 7.5 miles AND I also met my goal of cutting out some of the walking bits I've gotten into the habit of taking.  I ran the first 2 miles and the last 2 miles without any walk breaks and allowed myself a one minute walk on each of the middle miles.  Score.


By the time I got home, got my shower, and had my lunch, it was almost time to go visit my Dad.  I always go on Fridays and sometimes go an additional day, but today was the day.  My brother went with me.  We stopped by his former house (where my son and his family now live) to pick some figs.  Daddy loves them and this fig tree was from his mother's house.  He enjoyed the figs and we sat with him in his "activity"--a sing-along featuring songs from the 40s and 50s.  Dad liked it and sang some of the songs.  We sat on either side of him and held hands or patted his back.  It was a good visit.


We left there at 4:30 and I stopped by the Safeway on the way home.  I never got time to do any reading, so I decided to make a Sweet & Sour Shrimp--faintly novel because I haven't made it for a few years.  I enjoy cooking and have enough experience to be able to throw something together.  My version featured lots of tender/crisp veggies (red pepper, snow peas, broccoli, red onion, & shitake mushrooms), pineapple,  a sprinkle of roasted almonds, and some "tiger" shrimp (15-21 count) that was on sale for $11.99/lb.  I used Kikkoman Sweet & Sour sauce (35 cal/2 TBSP) thinned with a bit of chicken broth.  I served it with brown rice.  It was very good. 


I totally failed in my plan to read in a few of my diet/fitness books and to scout out new recipes in recent issues of Eating Well.  Oh well, maybe tomorrow.  

To give equal time to my adorable older grandkids, here are J & B, my Laura's two oldest, in their "hungry squirrel pose."  Note the glorious nimbus of shiny curls on J.  Of course she yearns for straight hair, and I'm very envious of any curls that don't have to be (wo)man-handled into my super straight locks by burning or chemicals.  


To add to the catalog of weird word verification words that people have come across, I got PIGOUT the other day on one of the blogs in my blogroll--diet and fitness blogs for the most part.  LOL  Although I tend to take things literally, I'm hoping this was not a subliminal message to me from the blogosphere.


Traffic really slows down on Saturday.  Depending on what today shows, I may just stop posting a Saturday post.  If you read this and comment, please let me know how you handle the slowdown.  

Happy Anniversary

Jeannine and Norman

August 12, 1940

My parents were married on this day 70 years ago.  It amazing to me how young they look in this picture.  Mom was 19 and had finished her junior year at Stanford and Dad was 23 and one year out of West Point.  They moved to Fort Sam Houston, Texas and made their first of many, many homes.  They were the best parents I could ever imagine.  They taught me about love, and faith, and family, and loyalty, and integrity.  If I ended up  with any good qualities, they are largely responsible. Mom died 17 years ago and my Dad is in a nearby nursing home with severe dementia.  I love them both and miss them terribly, every day.

My parents were my first cheerleaders.  Neither of them (nor any of my 3 siblings) ever had any weight issues.  Yet they were always supportive, helpful and understanding.  As I once again work on conquering this life challenge of discovering and embracing a healthy lifestyle, I know that part of me is wanting to finally succeed and to justify their lifelong confidence in my ability to achieve that success.  

Thanks to you Mom and Dad, I know I can do this.

Pinch Me!

It's late in the day, but on this Memorial Day I want to express my thankfulness for all the men and women who have served to protect and defend our country. Included in this number is my father, pictured above receiving his West Point diploma in 1939 from President Franklin Roosevelt. His class had so many casualties, but never forgot their motto: Duty, Honor, Country. I'm proud of him and all his comrades then and now.

So many of you wrote that you knew this little part of the country we're visiting now. Thanks for your comments. It's fun to imagine you here, too. This is the first time I've ever been here and I'm loving it. To think I've lived this long and never knew what I was missing! What ELSE are you keeping secret from me?? LOL

This is one of hundreds of tiles that local citizens decorated to line the entrance to a walkway along the River Walk in Estes Park. After a little more than one day here, we can really understand how they feel.

As per our usual travel routine, we shopped last night so that we could enjoy a healthy breakfast in our room. DH lured me from the bed (at 7:15!) with a fragrant cafe latte. I'm not usually a coffee drinker, but I do have skim cafe latte's when we travel to get in a little more milk than just breakfast. I could (and usually do) eat shredded mini wheats at breakfast every day. I love fresh fruit to vary it up, though. The white on the strawberries is Splenda (a habit I'm going to try to break one of these days, but not yet!

Today is Monday and I usually run on Monday, but not today. Estes Park is at just over 8000 feet above sea level and both DH and I had noticed that we were just a tad short of breath and that we lack our usual level of energy. We're feeling the altitude a bit, so I did not run. I did drink lots of water (about 2 1/2 quarts) and we spent most of the day at the lower altitude attractions. Anyway, I traded my running shoes for these:

.

We went on three short and one longer hike for a total of about 7 miles. Our hikes were separated by short rests in our hotel, a swim in the (heated) pool, and a nap. DH carried a backpack and, along with our plan to stay on-track food wise, we packed a lunch (bought last night at Safeway) and ate it alongside Lilly Lake. I usually do a better job of finding a variety of colors in meals, but this is what we had and it was tasty. I ended up giving DH about half of my chicken breast. Also, I've never liked bananas, but as they are always recommended for runners, I occasionally will eat an inch or two of banana. Today, it was good. DH says my tastes are maturing (!)

I didn't take along the camera on our long (4 mile) hike. We went on the Estes Lake trail, around the lake. Okay, but pale in comparison to the other walks and hikes around here.

We did notice we started feeling more able to breathe normally as the day wore on. This is good! Our final hike, just before dinner, was to Lumpy Ridge, part of Rocky Mountain NP. It had a bit of elevation gain (which we had been avoiding in deference to the lack of energy) but it was okay. I took this picture of one of the beautiful wildflowers right along the trail. I believe it is a kind of bluebell, a mertensia cillatta. Such fragile beauty in a rough terrain.

On our first walk of the day, along the River Walk in Estes Park, we noticed an Italian Restaurant (Mama Rosa's) and decided we'd go there for dinner. I'd eaten well within my plan and was prepared to treat myself at dinner time. This is what I chose: A Caprese Salad--it was on the appetizer menu, but it was always a favorite when we lived in Italy and so I ordered it. Dessert in our room with our beloved Latte Bars!

Tomorrow we're hoping to be ready to take on the Bear Lake trail (still with many snowy patches). Maybe one more swim in the pool tonight and then early to bed (we're still basically on EST).

Recap of my Spring Focus Goals: I kept to my goal to drink 2 quarts of water daily except on the day we were traveling. I have not measured my portions on this trip, but I did keep a mindful eye on them and feel they are well in control. I had a good, no fantastic, 2.8 pound weight loss at my WI last Wednesday. I'm hoping to lose at least half a pound at my WI this week. Things are going well. Thank you all for your inspiration and encouragement!