Questions and Answers

 Moving day has come and gone. This is a photo of Abby's 'new home'.

practicing...

practicing ...

It was quite the adventure to pack up for a smaller place. 

Where would everything go?

She rented a truck from "Me Haul" and got it all packed up:

Her last day at the old house:

Oh LOOK! She's moving into her new home!

And then celebrated:

Let's see how things are going as she moves in:

Oops, wrong word....

There, now it's fixed.

It's fun and hard at the same time, organizing...

The weather doesn't always help either...

Still learning things?

Still practicing...

Life's mysteries...

See you next time my friends...

GUESS WHO?

 

 We last left poor sad Abby here. 

The words say "Is this the end of Abby? Sad, Blank Mind, Blank Page, Depression, Anxiety" It was a dark time. Abby went into a dark place and lost her mojo for most everything. 

Well, much time has past and guess what?

Stay tuned for more "Adventures with Abby"

Hello, Goodbye

The Walker Lady blog will not be updating for the foreseeable future. Everything is ok, but life has gotten in the way and I may have to close down the whole blog. I haven't decided yet. Anyway, I hope you are all doing well and perhaps I will see you again someday!

Short and simple

I've started my weight loss support group again. Thirty people signed up for it and four showed up the first week. Two showed up the second week. One showed up yesterday. It doesn't surprise me, even though it is a bit disheartening. I SO wish I had the magic pill, the perfect answer, the solution to everyone's weight problems.
I don't have the answers to my own weight problems either. I did lose two pounds this past week though. Perhaps I am on the right path this time? We shall see.

Realism

If you think this is me, you really do NOT know me! hahahaha 

I am a bit more practical about my lifestyle. I would not be able to do that schedule for one week, let alone six. For me, personally, it is not a realistic lifestyle.

I have had a good week so far. I worked out two days, with my trainer. I started my support group up at the senior center. There were four participants there. It's been almost a year since I went on hiatus from that.

I lost a total of six pounds now, following my new program. I am very pleased with myself!

How are you doing in your new year?

Is it working?

It has only been five days since I started my new program. I will find out today if it has made a difference. I don't know how I will react if it hasn't made a difference. I don't know what I will think, if it has!
I am doing intermittent fasting. I was successful for three days. Weekends are 'normal' eating times. Two days CAN negate all that three days of fasting can accomplish. I will find out later, what success or lack thereof, I have.
Intermittent fasting is not for everyone. My method is to basically eat once a day, five days a week. My husband has done this for most all his life. I did it successfully 20 years ago. I had to quit because I became pregnant. I don't think that will be an issue now that I am in my 60's. I also got my doctor's permission to try this.
One other caveat is that I had stomach stapling surgery almost forty years ago. I cannot stuff myself on the weekends. I cannot stuff myself at night when I eat. That makes a difference between me and someone else who would try this method.
If you do try it, proceed with caution and DO talk to your doctor first!

Being good enough

I have often written about being good enough. Lack of self esteem has been an issue for me, all my life. I recently put my quilt "Beadee the Beading Fairy" in a display of quilts at a local library. There were prizes given from voting by both the patrons of the library as well as from our local guild. Beadee didn't get any prizes. Does this mean I am validated in that she isn't a good art quilt? No. It means that there were a lot of great quilts. Beadee is a great quilt too. I don't need to have that validated by others as long as I like her myself.

BTW, that spiderweb is made of hundreds of clear beads of different sizes. It represents dew drops on a spiderweb.

I am just a few days older than 770 months today. If you had asked me before I did the math, how many months old I was, I would have thought it had to be in the thousands, right? Nope, ONLY 770. You would think after all these months, I would not let my lack of self esteem affect me so much. It isn't as bad as it was. I have to really work at accepting praise and realizing, I AM good enough. Are you?

It starts with just ONE

This was on a friend's posting on Facebook. I thought it was quite appropriate for not only today, but for every day in one's life. It is from the website, tinybuddha.com.

I Will

Earlier last year:
I was sitting in the john and said to myself, "I am just going to give up and die." Now don't get all weird on me. I didn't mean it in a suicidal way. I am just tired of fighting the battle. My weight has gone up and up and up. I may as well get fat and die young.

A few months ago:
Since I wrote the above paragraph, it's been several months. I got on a different antidepressant and it seems to be helping. I have stopped drinking as much as I was. The year is now almost over and I am 10-15 pounds heavier than I was last year.

New Years Day:
This brings us to today. The first of the new year. I am full of intentions. I will start blogging again. I will walk more. I will get some weight off. I will, I will, I will.....will I? I don't know. For today though, I WILL.

Happy New Year to one and all!!!

Preoccupied

Over the holidays we lost our two old dogs. One was just before Christmas and one was on New Year's Eve. They were quite old but it was still a shock and unpleasant surprise. We thought Dex would be enough for us but as weeks went on it was apparent that Dex missed having a playmate.

So this happened. 

I feel like I did when I had my human babies, well, almost. Roxy is a mixed breed puppy that we got a few weeks ago. She's probably a shepherd/husky mix. She's a lot of work! Eventually she will be more dog like and less puppy like. I hope. hahahaha

Dexter isn't too sure of her and has protected me from the demon eyed beast. Eventually we will all go on long walks together. At least that is the plan.

Till next time, walk-on!

Those TV food ads

TV food ads are literally in your face all the time. You cannot escape  They can trigger cravings too! Along with this is the exposure to alcohol and cigarettes. As a former smoker, I am amazed at how prevalent cigarettes are still on TV. Not so much the networks but on all the cable movies and many of the cable TV shows. 
Worse than that is alcohol though. That is still so acceptable in our society. You can't hardly get away from it on TV or on FaceBook. 

I drink too much wine. I want to cut down or cut out, wine in my life. My primary reason is that I don't need those calories or those types of calories on a daily basis. (high carb) It leads to snacking more too and messes up my sleep. I self medicate with it. At the end of the day, I want to de-stress fast and just blank out the day. I didn't do this all my life but it has gotten out of hand over the past few years.
Anyway, it is hard to quit when you see this person or that person talking about having a glass of wine with dinner or a drink or you see it on TV, everyone has a shot of whisky at the end of the day or a hard CSI case.
I don't know how successful I will be. I am off to a good start, but I've done this before and always talked myself into, "Just one" again and again. I have replaced the wine with a book. I go to bed earlier and read. Reading a book is a much healthier choice than a bottle of wine or the snacks that follow.
I see those food postings on FaceBook too and when I see it isn't a healthy recipe or food, I scroll past it like it was a dirty joke. Not my cup of tea. I am trying to look at drinking postings differently too. One drink is never enough for me. Other folks can't eat just one cookie. And we all know "Nobody can eat just one" potato chip! One is too many. I am accepting that now and working to find other ways to de-stress in the evenings.
Where am I going with this? Well, I have made a huge (to me) effort to say to myself, "You know what will happen if you give in. What can you do to change your mindset?" Then I make a big deal, again, only in my mind, about every stinkin' little victory I have over a drink, a snack, or whatever is tempting me to lead a life that I don't want. I might think I do, but I know, deep down inside, I don't.
Sorry to write so much this morning. This blog brings out the 'other me' who might be too verbose at times.

Till next time, make healthy choices and Walk-On!

Tis the Season to say hello!

We start with a sunrise over the river at the outlook at Petit Jean State Park

We really have embraced camping life. The more times we get away, the better our mood has been. I think camping has saved our sanity! I know it does something to my soul, to be outdoors.

The year is almost over. Crabby McSlacker wrote on my post before this, the one done in November. That reminded me that I wanted to blog again this month! Thanks Crabby!

So, life has been a bitch. I don't want to bore you with all the excuses, but I have not been practicing what I preach. No surprise then, that I gained weight. I am at 237 today. 

Not cool Sherri, not cool. Well the leggings are kinda cool.

I KNOW I have to adjust my attitude and make a stronger commitment to living a better life. I am working on that. I almost stopped leading my weight loss support group. I almost gave up on myself. Almost. What is that saying? You only fail if you quit. I refuse to fail. I refuse to quit. I CAN figure out what kind of life I want and I CAN achieve that. Know what else? I WILL!

I had my annual checkup last week. All the blood work was just fine. Phew, no diabetes! My blood pressure was up though. Not good. I have taken steps to come back in January like gang busters, in my support group. I have lots of plans for the future there. I 'feel' an attitude change coming over me. I hope to keep sharing things with my few readers that are sticking with me too. Thank you to them!

We'll end the post with a moonrise taken at Petit Jean, near our campsite.

Oops one other last thing, Abby and Dex wish you all happy holidays 

and a super duper new year!

Nothing to see here

There really isn't anything to see here. I haven't been blogging. That is pretty obvious. Today I told the support group that I was taking off for the rest of the year and didn't know if I'd be back in January. Yup, things are a-changing.

Meanwhile, enjoy these two photos from one of our summer camping weekends:

Looking out the back window of our RV

Lake Catherine State Park, Arkansas

Oh Just Grow Up!

Like so many bloggers, I don't like writing when I don't like what I want to write about. I have seen other bloggers doing the same. If, for example, you are doing a weight loss blog and you, yourself, are not losing weight, you might go quiet and not write. (sound familiar?)

Dex and I, camping this spring

We hold ourselves up to such high standards. When we stop posting, is it because we are letting ourselves down or letting our readers down? Or both?

The Mister, tending the campfire

I am still trying to figure out what my life should become....how I should be living....no, not HOW but WHAT? What would make me happy?

I am not trying to push this over! It was an exercise stop on a trail we were on

Here I am, almost 63 years old. It feels both SO old and SO young, at the same time! I've been a Mom for over 35 years. I've had at least one child living with me all those years. Currently I have two still here. Don't get me wrong, I ADORE my kids, but a part of me is looking forward to the next chapter in my life and more alone time with The Mister.

My young man, enjoying the view

In two years, my youngest will graduate high school. Hopefully my daughter's life will be better and she will be able to move out and be on her own again too. I am thankful we were able to take her in, in her time of need. (She is dealing with some health issues that are not resolved yet.)

Anyway, I look forward to my future. I am also getting to feel more selfish. My husband is younger than I am. He won't be able to get social security for ten more years. I could get SS now, but it is only a couple hundred dollars. At this point, it isn't worth it to apply for.

Extra-wide chairs at the doctor's office!

Obesity is very prevalent, here in the south. Our doctor's office has adjusted for this by having these very sturdy, extra-wide chairs in the waiting rooms.

Camping and Computering with the help from my Dexter Dog

But what do I want in life? What do I want to do when I grow up? Where do I want to live? I don't know. That bothers me a lot.

REBOOT!!!

Inserting expletives here.......@$^678(^%^&@!522@!$^*!!!!!!

I have totally fallen to a new low. Dagnabit! After being sick for a week, followed by my two oldest sons' visit from out of town, I gained enough weight to be a hair over 230 pounds. DAMMIT!!! And don't go telling me I have an excuse for the gain. I really do NOT. I've been skating on the edge for a while now and have been in denial about my eating and exercising.

Am I a fake for teaching a healthy living and weight loss class? Heck no! I am demonstrating that everyone has their ups and downs. I am showing I am not Super Woman and am human. And I will be showing that you really DO have to keep a food journal (in most cases) and pay attention to your exercise habits to lose weight or to maintain lost weight.

And after a week of journaling, I was down a bit over a pound. 228.2. Now, if only I could get my mojo back and walk more!

Ring in the New Year with Goal Setting!

Ya, I know, goal setting is boring and often you don't really believe you can set a goal and achieve it. I am here to tell you, I used to feel the same way! Once I learned HOW to set a goal, though, I become more proficient at it.





The way to succeed at goal setting is to make realistic goals. Sounds simple, right? Let's explore some ways to do this.

First off, let's use the common goal of losing weight. Get a piece of paper. (Don't do this in your head.) Write down one goal you want to achieve at the top of the paper. For example:

"I want to lose weight"

Now break this goal down into smaller goals:

I want to lose weight

I want to lose (how many) pounds

I want to lose these pounds by a specific date

I will lose weight by:

     Eating more vegetables (how much more?)

     Eating less fast foods (how much less?)

     Eating fewer calories (how many fewer?)

     Eating healthy foods (what IS a healthy food?)

     Eating less sugar (how much less?)

     Eating less fat (how much less?)
     Counting calories
     Keeping a food journal
     Exercising more (how much more?)
          30 minutes a day cardio (every day? every other day? what type of cardio?))
          30 minutes a day strength training (how often? what kind?)

The more you break down your goals into smaller manageable parts, the easier it will be to actually achieve those goals!

After you've broken down your goals into smaller bite-sized chunks, (pun intended), organize them into a logical order. For example you might start with a food journal. You can even shrink the actual chore of keeping a food journal into even smaller goals.

You might start with just writing down what you ate. Do that for a week or two before adding portion sizes or calorie counting. In a month's time writing in your food journal, including portion sizes and calorie counting will become almost second nature. Perhaps break this down even further to logging your fat grams or carbs. Once that becomes a habit, add your exercise plans and goals, one at a time.

Exercises could be broken down into ten minute a day segments. The first month you do ten minutes of treadmill walking. The second month you add five or ten minutes until it becomes more a part of your normal daily routine.

By breaking down our goals into the smallest and most simple pieces, we can actually achieve those goals easier. They will also stick with us better because we are forming new habits; new lifestyles, to go along with our big goal of losing weight.

My first goal of this year was to walk a minimum of ten minutes a day for the whole year. I have done this before and I have done it every day so far this year! My second goal is to NOT have fried eggs for the month of February. See? Simple goals. If you make them simple you will feel successful as you accomplish each one and you will stay motivated to achieve your goals.

What simple goal plans can you make?

Dexie Smooches!

Wishing you all the best, this holiday season!
"Dex, stop giving me kisses!!!"

It will soon be January 1st, 2017. I usually do not do new year's resolutions, but this year I am. I am going to do the ten minutes per day, walking challenge that I did a few years ago. I will commit to do, at the least, ten minutes of walking every day.

Keep it simple and you can make a goal for yourself as well. Just one little thing can lead to big changes. What will your goal be for the new year?

Happy Holidays!

Wishing all my readers a wonderful holiday season! 

See you next year!

Let the Holidays Begin!

Halloween is over. The damn candy is almost gone out of the house! Thanksgiving is only a few weeks away. Where DOES the time go???

We did a renfaire on Saturday. This was at Gravette, Arkansas. We've done this little faire in the past and always have enjoyed it.

Me, my son and my husband playing at faire 

My son and I on a walk-about

I turned 62 in October. For my birthday I got an America the Beautiful Pass. This gets me discounts at national parks and five other national or federal agencies. I got mine at Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. This is the high school that had the National Guard escorting nine African American students into school. It was the start of desegregation in the south.

Me, in front of Central High School in Little Rock, AR

I felt surreal, being in the area where so much history had happened. It is still a working high school too. The floors were so clean and bright! The building was just so awesome. It was a fun day to go get my pass.

I am continuing to do much better in life. I like feeling 'normal' again! Till next time, walk on!

Food and drug and dog

Last week I went to see my GP for my annual wellness checkup. I was very nervous about this one. I was honest with my doc about my wine consumption and wanted to talk about how bad things have to be before one should seek out a pill to maybe make it better?
Although I do function without meds, I don't function very well. Doc was very understanding and assured me that I had classic symptoms of depression and anxiety and that there might be a drug that would make my life a bit nicer.
As I write this today, I am almost three weeks into my trial run. I am on the lowest dose. I first noticed being a bit more tired than usual. I still didn't want to get out of bed in the mornings. I was exhausted in the afternoons.
He said it would take ten days before I'd notice any changes. After almost two weeks I feel calmer. I am not as tired as I was. I can get out of bed and some days I am actually looking forward to the day. Then, one night, I didn't want to have the wine I had always been having. I hope this is all due to the drugs and not a placebo effect. It takes close to a month before the full affects of the drugs kick in. I am hopeful for a better quality of life.

I want to chat a bit about food. Here is a recent breakfast I had:

Ezekiel toast, two poached eggs, turkey bacon, black coffee

I recently found an egg poacher at the thrift store. Oh my, it has been a game changer for me! I can make poached eggs faster than fried and of course they are better for me than fried. The turkey bacon was meh. I think I will stick with real bacon, Canadian bacon, or turkey breakfast sausage.

I have been wanting to eat Chinese food lately and tried to find something I could make up quickly that would take care of my cravings. This one looked really good!

Funny how the photo on the box and what you actually get, don't quite look the same.

So I next decided to try takeout at a drive through Chinese place:

Wholly cow! There was enough food here for FOUR people!!! You might know that one thing Chinese food is NOT good for, is as leftover food. It didn't taste very good either. WAY too greasy. I didn't eat much of this and shared most of it with the family. (They eat anything that isn't green) I might have to give up on Chinese food, or maybe learn how to cook what I want. I've tried though, and I am not a bad cook, but Chinese foods have not been very easy for me.

Guess where Dex and I went last Friday? 

Yup, the trail! I hadn't been out since this past spring. I overdid it and went the full route. My knee screamed at me for that one. We enjoyed it though and were delighted when we found the city had been out and mowed the weeds down. No wood ticks this time either. I hope to get out there again this fall, as the weather cools.

Speaking of Dex, there he is, on the trail. He must have some hunting dog in him because he was ALL over that trail, sniffing out this and that. I don't think he will turn down a walk with me, EVER! hahahaha

Finally, I will share this photo of Dexter:

He looks so regal. Looks are deceiving though. He's a little stinker! And I love him to pieces.

That's it for today. Hope you are all doing well out there. Till next time, walk on!