Well THAT was interesting...

What a day! It started out just fine. I made it to the library in time to drop off the child and for me to get to my Weight Loss Support Group class at ten. We had a nice class AND I dropped over two pounds from last Saturday. I am claiming that today just because I deserve a mood boost...and it looks good on my tracker at the top of the blog.

After class I picked up the child at the library and we were off to the printers to get my quilt guild's newsletter printed. While that was printing, we stepped over to Goodwill to see what treasures the child might find in the electronics department. None were found but I promised him a trip to Savers tomorrow to see if there is anything there. (He likes taking things apart and fixing them)

In the same shopping complex is my grocery store. We walked across the hot parking lot (temps in the 100's again) instead of moving the van here to there. After the printers we walked to get the groceries for the week. We did a lot of walking on the pavement and in the stores.

Then we loaded up the groceries and rushed home to have a quick lunch while putting up the perishables and to get to the swimming pool for a half hour of exercise before coming home to do umpteen many things and to make supper. Ah the best laid plans of mice and men! We rushed to the pool. We got out of the van. Son opened the hatchback of the van to get pool toys. Mom gets towels and beach bag and shuts front van door. Mom heads to back of van to get pool noodle for exercising. Son shuts van hatchback door..............on Mom's head! OUCH!

Dang that hurt!!! I figured the pain would subside in a few moments and we could get on with our pool time .... until I felt something cool and wet. I was bleeding! Poor kid was weirded out! I put the beach towel on my head to sop up the blood and headed to the lifeguards to ask if they had a First Aide kit. They did and helped me get cleaned up just a bit. They were young girls and although they did very good with this old lady and her bleeding head, I could tell they were nervous about it all. They said yes, there was a gash and I probably should have it looked at.

Sigh.....no swimming for us today! When all was said and done, I got three staples in my head and a tetanus shot. I should be just fine, but might have a headache. And you might ask why I am sharing all this with you? Well, it is because while getting stitched up I had my blood pressure taken. It has been a while since I've had it checked. I have been running in the high 130's to 140's over 80's for years and years. Today it was 124/77. I cannot recall seeing those numbers...ever! I am even more excited to go to my yearly checkup in September to see how my other numbers are doing!

Ok, I also was happy to have been down a few pounds again. What a day! I hope yours was better...although you can't beat those BP numbers! :D

Is it Hot Enough for Ya?

I've been thinking about what to write about all day. Sometimes I feel like a broken record! If you follow my blog a little TOO closely you might have noticed that my weight was up last week, about a pound. I am pretty sure I know why too. I am not walking like I was. It is just too hot. I didn't write to you about it though. Sometimes I don't like to comment on the negative stuff. I don't like admitting I've failed to lose. But then I hope that by sharing the downs, you will see that there ARE ups and downs and no miracles. Also, if you have had some success, I hope you will see that and hold on to your successes. I know I do. I am not going to throw my 100+ diamonds away! I earned every one of them! They are MINE and I plan on keeping them and perhaps getting a few more.

One thing surprised me about this down time in my journey...as time went on, I noticed I was getting more and more tired. When I was out walking almost daily, I had lots more energy! So my metabolism is changing, and not exactly for the better!

What am I going to do about it? Well sir, I got up on Monday and made a pact with myself that I would go to the pool every day this week, that the weather and my schedule would allow. I've done that three days in a row so far. I already have seen a change. Who knew that exercising also builds energy? I have read that it did, now I know for a fact that it does!

Something else I noticed surprised me. My bad knee isn't as bad as it was. Now I am wondering if the shoes I wore contributed to that? I have seen stories about these Sketcher's Shape-Ups being not so good for some people. I know I often feel like I am balancing on them. The second pair are worn out enough that I plan to get a new pair of shoes in a month or when the weather cools down...which ever comes first. I won't be getting the Shape-Ups again.

On the food front everything is going just fine. I have been having no troubles with my eating other than a few days of not eating quite enough. The melons and so many other fruits are coming in full season. Dee-lish!!!

Following is a quote I found online. I changed a word or two to protect the innocent:

"You’re right. It is easier to eat pizza then to run on the treadmill. It’s easier to turn to ice cream rather than to people, for support. It’s easier to say ‘forget it, I give up’ then to say it ‘FORGET THIS!!! I CAN DO IT!!!.’ So you know what? I’m not going to sit here and tell you day after day that you can do this. If you don’t believe you can, then you can’t. That’s the honest truth. You need to do this for you. And if you don’t want it enough, then you sure as hell won’t achieve it. So take the easy way out and remain unhealthy and continue to gain weight because you can’t realize you are the only one hurting yourself.
I didn’t say it would be easy. I said it would be worth it."

 I do sometimes wish I could say this to people. I feel it would be mean though. I know I would not have liked anyone saying this to ME when I whined about how I hated exercise. Or how I hated counting calories. Or how I hated having to learn how to read ingredient labels. Now I HAVE said that losing weight is easy! I need to clarify that a bit. It IS easy to lose the weight, but to LEARN how to do it....to educate yourself...now that can be a bit daunting at times!


Keep cool! See ya at the pool!

The Best Plan to Lose Weight

SparkPeople's Coach Tanya says:
There is no magic eating plan, program, or product that is guaranteed to help you lose weight and keep it off. The plan that will work is the one you will follow.

Snap!!!

I wish I were talking about a cold snap. The heat is coming back...temps to be in the hundreds and little to no rain as far as the forecast can see.

Need I say more? I do? Um....okay, my weight is staying the same...still up and down those same four pounds. You know what? I am getting more and more okay with that! I suspect when the temps cool down and I get back into my regular walking, I will drop ten pounds and settle in at that new weight for a looooong time...if not forever! I would be very okay with that!

Other tidbits...one of the postcasts I listen to is selling supplements now. I don't like that. I DO like the podcast for the most part, as the advise is good. I just don't agree with the side sales of supplements and their diet theory that it is all hormones that make us fat.

My all time favorite podcast is still on hiatus. I hope the one who is having health issues, recovers soon. I still like their theory best...live like the thinner person you want to be.

I found a new ice cream that I like. It is Breyer's Carb smart chocolate ice cream. It packs a lot of creamy taste with fewer calories than most other frozen treats. I also saw a bit on TV that talked about a thing called Yonana. It makes bananas into banana ice cream without added sugars or milk. It is expensive though and I think I will pass on getting one for $50. They say you can make this stuff in a food processor too. I don't own one of them either. I may try it with my blender. I have one of those.

That's the latest from these parts! Summer is over half over and fall is on the horizon! I can hardly wait!!!

Taking it Easy

Sorry I've been so quiet this week! It has been a busy week. I didn't weigh in last Saturday because we were out looking at houses. We've been thinking about perhaps buying a rental or maybe moving into a different house and renting out the one we live in now. All that came out of looking was that we are pretty happy where we are at and with the house we have...flaws and all.

I saw the latest episode of Extreme Makeover Weight Loss. This week had a 20 year old girl that weighed 323 pounds. She was successful at her year long weight loss journey. I think she got down to 160-something. She had a good attitude about it. One thing that really struck me was when it came time for her to qualify for "skin surgery". She showed the flappy upper arms she had. The doctor exclaimed that there was three inches flapping around and that that was all skin. Then she bent over and showed the doctor how her belly hung like a bag with a bowling ball in it. She got the surgery. I have both those issues with my skin, but I see it as more fatty than skin. I won't be getting surgery as I do believe it is considered elective surgery by the insurance companies.

I finally got back to Yoga today. I have not been there since the Monday before the 4th of July! It felt good to be back. I was alarmed that I felt not so strong. I need to work on some strength training stuff.

I am doing ok and my weight even seems to be down again. I am trying to not get my hopes up that it will be moving that way and that this plateau is finally over. I will just enjoy it while it is going that way. The best thing is that this plateau has always stayed in the 180's so I could always still say I had lost the 100 plus pounds.

I don't have much else to talk about this time and no cutsie pictures or clip art to jazz up this posting. I miss my trail walking, but the weather was too hot or now too wet to get out there. As soon as the weather turns though, you can bet you will see me out there!

Distorted Image

I still feel like I look like a big fat obese woman. I still see a stranger in the mirror when I am well dressed in a flattering outfit. I don't know if this self image stuff will ever straighten out or not. I don't know if I want it to for fear I may forget how bad I was before I got better! Only time will tell.

Speaking of distorted imaging, take a look at this yummy treat:

I love raspberry and chocolate flavored foods and just had to buy these! I thought the 70 calories sounded great! So what if it had a bit of Splenda to cut the sugar, right? Then I got my first one out. I placed one on the box, next to the picture of the treat inside:
I think they are not quite the same, don't you? No wonder they were only 70 calories! They would be more like 140 calories if they were closer to a normal size...like I thought they were. Blue Bunny Ice Cream has made me crabby. I feel cheated...again. (at least they tasted good!) The photo doesn't really do it justice unless you realize the the picture on the box is about half the size of what we think a normal ice cream treat on a stick looks like. I should have taken a photo of it next to a real ice cream type treat. Suffice it to say, even with mindful eating practices, there are only about three bites to be had on that stick! And TWO of those had you biting into the stick!!!

The heat remains in place here. It was over 80° around five this morning. Too hot to even consider going for a walk. We went to the pool instead.

That is is for today. Time to work on supper and a quilt...not necessarily in that order.

Dem's da Berries!

The phrase "Them's the berries" means that's the way it goes and ain't nothing we can do about it. I am not sure where it originated from. Today I am talking about berries though, and thought it would make for a good subject title.

Until a year or two ago, I did not realize there was a difference between blackberries and black raspberries. I was just starting out my weight loss journey and the blackberries were just coming in season and priced low. I gleefully bought some and looked forward to eating them. Imagine my surprise when the berries tasted tart and almost sour! Where was that rich luscious sweet tasting berry I recalled eating as a child?

Back in Minnesota, (near Frost, MN...yes that is a real town in the frozen north) where I grew up, we picked wild red raspberries in the woods along the river in the middle of farming country. Sometimes we found black raspberries. OH MY! Those were like finding gold! They are so sweet and mmm mmm good!

When I saw them in the store I was so excited that I would be able to have such goodness again! Well, I was sure disappointed! I thought the problem must have been that these were mass produced and not organic. I had found a few organic foods that had more flavor. I watched to see if any blackberries ever came in that were organic. When I did finally find some, I bought them and again anticipated with glee, the sweet juiciness I was going to taste. Again, bitter... literally ...a bitter tasting fruit.

Was I losing my mind? I KNOW I have had black berries that were sweet! I got online and looked up black raspberries and that is when I found out there IS a difference between them and blackberries.
The blackberries are on the left and the black raspberries are on the right. The easiest way to tell them apart is that the raspberries are cored out and are kind of like little hats. Oh, and there is such a thing as a sweeter tasting blackberry. Our relatives from Canada brought some down one year, that they picked near where they lived. THOSE were sweeter than any I have ever bought at a store. They still were not as good as black raspberries though.

I still prefer most berries that are organically grown. They just seem to have a better flavor 90% of the time. I have gotten very picky about my berries too! I most often buy strawberries. Driscoll's supplies most of the strawberries in this area. Do you know how to spot the organics fast? Look at the labels!
The green Driscoll's label on strawberries, blueberries, and others will be the organic ones.

These yellow labels on the strawberries mean they are not organic.

The prices currently are $3.99 for a 16 ounce box of organic strawberries and for the same price you get two boxes of non-organic strawberries. I have been counting how many strawberries are in a 16oz. box and they run from 16-25 berries, depending on size of the berry, in each container. That means they are between .25 and .16 for each individual berry. You get between two and four servings of berries, from $1.00 to $2.00 per serving, depending on how you measure them. Why am I talking prices? Mostly to hit home that though strawberries are really good for us, they are really expensive too. I do not feel bad for taking several LONG minutes to check out each and every box to find the best one for my money! I used to feel somewhat foolish. However, now that I know just how much that under ripe one costs as well as the odd moldy one, I am a LOT more picky! And woe be unto a bagger if they bruise my strawberries!!! I often use the self checkout and bag my own groceries, just so I can protect my investment. The baggers don't mean to do wrong, but they are not paying for MY produce. I am, and I am going to be picky.
By the way, I love strawberries and yogurt for dessert. Sometimes I will add a bit of sugar or Agave syrup for a sweeter treat. Not too much as I do not want to ever come close to looking like this person:

Seriously? Pull your pants up! This would be a great advertisement against sugary sweets. The photo is from a site that has pictures taken at real Walmart stores all over the country. The way some people dress is appalling! No wonder fat people get ostracised. So many of us dress so badly!

That's it for today folks. I hope you have a wonderful 4th of July!