DESPERATE ABOUT THE WAY THINGS ARE

DESPERATE.  Wanting to reduce my body size for many many many reasons.  My weight has begun to creep back up.  Disgusting.

Reminding myself that I want to lose weight in a healthy way though.  No pills.  Balanced meals full of dense nutrition.  Avoid empty calories.  Exercise.  Drink WATER.  

I cannot eat the STANDARD AMERICAN DIET.  The Western Diet has many additives and chemicals added to it in highly processed foods, too much bread and carbs.  I'm doomed if I do. DOOMED.  Plus if I don't get a handle on nibbling a little here and a little there...I'm in BIG trouble.

The USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans defines the standard American diet (SAD) as being too low in fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean protein, and healthy oils, and too high in red meat, high-fat dairy products, processed and fast foods, refined carbohydrates, added sugars, salt, and calories.

I know well enough that I have an ugly habit of thinking I'm hungry so popping some morsels of food in my mouth calms the beast inside.  It doesn't work well because my beast wants food even when its not hungry.  MINDFUL EATING has to be activated.

What is MINDFUL EATING?

Everybody's BODY is a furnace.  A fuel burning furnace and if you give it too much fuel or the wrong kind of fuel, it will not be able to burn it all correctly.  If the body doesn't use it, the unused fuel goes to storage as fat on the body.   

When I eat, am I just thirsty thinking I'm hungry so I eat?  Paying attention to this.  Am I bored, upset, disappointed, nervous, or tired so I eat looking for comfort?  Am I malnourished and my body needs nutrition?  Am I starving?  Are there additives, food enhancers or chemicals in the food that trick the brain into thinking what I'm eating is so delicious that I want more?  Can't stop and don't want to?  Am I addicted to what's in the food?  Shouldn't it be illegal to allow companies to add things into the food that gets a person addicted to their product?  

Am I being lazy and grabbing things to eat that are unhealthy, but conveniently available?  Am I not planning well what will be eaten?  A QUICK FIX?  AM I eating too fast?  Is my meal unbalanced? 

Started the DANIEL DIET on Monday.  grins.  I started a diet on a Monday without thinking about it being a MONDAY.  Wasn't planned that way.  Just happened and I am doing it.  It's alright to start a diet on other days than a Monday, at the beginning of the year or at the beginning of a month. 

Monday and Tuesday, I did 💪SUPER WELL eating the Daniel Diet WAY which has no dairy, grains or meats.  Skipping fats, carbs and sugars.  Fruits, vegetables, legumes, seeds and nuts are allowed.  I've done this plan before for 21 days and lost weight.  Doing it again.  After 21 days, I will add some fish and chicken to the menu.  No bread, rice or pasta.  No sweets of any kind.  

Monday's Breakfast was skipped so I ate a large, crunchy, red apple closer to noon which many would say was Intermittent Fasting.  Drank water then drank a V8 with Dr. Colbert's Blood Pressure Support mixed in it.  Iced Green Tea in the afternoon. Was contented and waited until supper time to eat a plateful of steamed cabbage and boiled potatoes.  Drank water.

On Tuesday morning I was still contented.  Which surprised me.  grins.  Close to noon, I made about 4 cups worth of a Kale, Pecan and Cranberry Salad which had thinly sliced carrots, radicchio and thinly sliced green cabbage sticks then I added green apple, a handful of thinly sliced almonds.  The salad dressing was homemade extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice and wine vinaigrette.  CHOMPING AWAY.  

IT STUCK WITH ME ALL AFTERNOON.  Supper was a Asian Stir-Fry full of vegetables and some cashews.

Aiming for the end of AUGUST SUMMER 2024 to have lost a chunk of weight.  Crossing one finish line before starting another race.  I know I will not have reached my GOAL WEIGHT by then, but I'm sure going to work at getting there.  

If I lose a pound a week, that will be 26 and a half pounds lost.  

Will do my best to be held accountable.  I will be talking a great deal about this weight loss journey as I have to be my own CHEERLEADER...u can do it.  I will do it.  As bad as I want to ignore being so engrossed about FOOD, I am.  I have to be that narrowed minded.  It's a struggle for me and I get how people struggle with things such as overeating, over spending, drugs, gambling, sex addiction, stealing, lying, sleeping too much, sitting around too much, etc. 

The struggle is real.  It truly is.  With weight, the body craves things that it has gotten use to being fed.  Like a spoiled child, I struggle being rebellious and cranky.  I remember well when I gave up soda pop when I was 42.  I did it, but not without a battle.  We went to the movie theatre and I could smell the Pepsi in the air.  I talked to myself through this one.  

Once, I was out for a walk and walked past a pop machine in front of a grocery store where the front of the machine displayed huge soda pop bubbles.  It may sound gross, but I about licked the screen.  I stood there at the foot of the mammoth machine and hugged it.  I was paying homage to it as I was once a slave to the sugary dark drink.

The sensation passed and I went on my way talking to myself that I wanted to lick the machine.  It's a joke now.  I went for 42 days NOT DRINKING any soda pop.  Went COLD TURKEY.  After I went the 42 days in honor of turning 42 years old, I realized it was actually 6 weeks.  SO I told myself to see how long I could do this.  I am now 68.  No Pepsi, Coke or Dr. Pepper.  I went off the wagon and allowed 7-up/Sprite when ill with flu.  Back on the wagon I go.  

Before the 42 days took place, I went from drinking regular pop, switched to DIET SODA and still drank way too much.  I decided I needed to give it up.  SO I DID.  It required being PROACTIVE and changing.  It was very hard for me, but I did it.  Little by little I stopped being so focused on pop and stopped counting each day that I had stopped drinking it.  Occasionally, I do the math.

With food, a battle takes place especially when the weight has not come off then I want to buckle and say, OH WELL.  It's not coming off.  PIG OUT.  EAT WHAT EVER.  It doesn't matter what I eat.  I'm destined to be FAT  f o r e v e r.  

A different storm.  It shouldn't be as difficult as I have made it.  I told myself this morning that I AM GOING TO TAKE THE WEIGHT OFF.  DO THIS THING.  SHRINK!  One must start somewhere and stick to it.

Even with a anniversary coming up, I want to be slimmer.  This thought has a hold on me.  How many days until August 31st?  185 days.  That's 26 weeks and 3 days until my 50th wedding anniversary.  I want to weigh less than I do.  Lord have mercy.  I can talk to GOD when struggling.  

When I want to eat something NOT on the allow list then I will have to drink water and say the Lord's Prayer.  

I mustn't get cranky or lose my temper.  Mustn't.  

Perhaps by CHRISTMAS I will be closer to my goal weight.  I will not hold my breath though.  I'll get there when I get there.  Amen.  I know I have to work at it.  I mustn't think about it being such a long time getting there or the OH WELLS will hit.  

I will continue to be BUSY with LIFE and family as I journey.  I so HOPE I make it.

~d

How to lose 10 pounds in one week.

https://www.wikihow.com/Lose-10-Pounds-in-One-Week#:~:text=To%20lose%2010%20pounds%20in%20one%20week%2C%20you%27ll%20need,sports%2C%20and%20other%20vigorous%20activities.

Healthy weight loss is usually 1 to 2 pounds per week; losing 10 pounds in one week is risky, should not be done often, and should only be attempted with the approval of your doctor. To lose 10 pounds in one week, you'll need to burn between 3,500 and 5,000 calories more than you consume each day by restricting your diet to small portions of nutritious yet low-calorie foods, and significantly increasing your aerobic exercise with interval training, sports, and other vigorous activities. This goal is both risky and difficult to achieve, but it can be done.

MADE MY GOAL!

A COUPLE OF MAGAZINES CAME IN THE MAIL.  Martha Stewart LIVING and Better Homes and Gardens.  Thumbing through them, I tell myself that I will spend more time later looking at the pages a little slower and maybe reading some articles.  I seem to manage to thumb through then come back later and thumb again.

Just finished Supper.  Hot soup of Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup.  No crackers.  It's a habit to have crackers with my soup.  Not today.  Day 7 of this wonderful Daniel Diet.  I'm doing this thang.  I weighed in at the Endocrinologist office and made MY GOAL of being 40 pounds lighter than I was a year ago.  VERY HAPPY ABOUT THAT.  The nurse weighed me and I was half a pound lighter than my goal so actually I weighed in 40.5 pounds lighter.  I danced a little.  hahah.  Couldn't help it, I was so happy about the loss.  

It's been a very long time since I felt this kind of excitement.  It really felt great.  To actually be thrilled sure felt good to me.  Thrilled!  I made my goal!!!  Pause.  Take it all in.  It's been years since I weigh what I do now.  

Keep it up and I will shrink into a whole new person.  I am ready to shrink some more.  Next goal here I come.  December is my next destination WEIGH ME ON THE SCALES and check my cholesterol and A1c.  If my cholesterol is still too high I will be visiting my regular doc to see if I can switch a couple of the meds I am on that are known to raise blood sugars and cholesterols.  

Day 8 is here and I will continue to snack on nuts, eat fruits and veggies, drink Spring water and eat some popcorn in the evenings.  I look forward to the popcorn.  Maybe I'll sprinkle some herbs on it for a different taste.  They are allowed on this plan.

Yesterday, I had organic Carrot Juice with a jigger of Pomegranate Juice and some Orange Juice for Breakfast.  When I drank it, I thought having Tomato Juice mixed in with this Carrot would be better.  Will keep that in mind.  Lunch was a little on the skimpy side as I limited what I could eat in a Salad.  No Salad Dressing, no cheese, no chicken.  Apple Pecan Salad from Wendy's.  Gave my husband the sliced chicken, and pushed the cheese to the side.  Skipped the dressing.  I missed all of it, but got through this anyways.  Water to drink.  No afternoon snacks.  Then Supper was Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup.  This soup is so much better to me than Campbell's Tomato Soup.  The Roasted Red Pepper adds much flavor.  I love it.  Popcorn for evening Snack. 

Not bragging, but thrilled that I am not craving snacks in the middle of the afternoon.  This is a big deal for me.  A very big deal.  Hope my body knows that.  I'm not missing the breads.  That's amazing for someone like me.  The sodas...nope.  Coffee...only occasionally do I want one.  Candy bars....welp that one gets to me ever so often. 

Trying to eat more fruit as I don't seem to remember that I need more fruit.  Duh.  I have to remind myself.  Hello self.  EAT Fruit.  The berries are waiting in the fridge and I'll force myself to snack on some.  If I can make myself eat more fruit overall, it will be a big accomplishment for me.  I'm hoping and praying that in a year, I won't recognize myself anymore.  Healthy choices must be the norm.  

The year of change continues.  Different choices are possible.  I'm making them.

Blessings to you,

~d

  

EATING THE COLOR WHEEL on the Rainbow Diet.

THIS IS IT!  This Spring and Summer I am being brave and eating a certain way in hopes of achieving weight loss off this 'ole body of mine.  I have a little over a month before I go back to have labs done and it is my earnest desire to weigh much less than I did at my April Physical where I was told, "You are now diabetic."  

On my information in my health portal I read MORBIDLY (severely) OBESE.  Through the years I have been recorded as OBESE.  Then Morbidly Obese and now that word in parentheses SEVERELY enters the charts.  WHAAAAAAAAT?

MORBIDLY (SEVERELY) OBESE.  How did this ever happen?  One pound at a time where I couldn't stop the weight from coming on board.  

I'd find out YEARS later after having  the thyroid removed that it is common to gain 10 to 15 pounds quickly.  Which I did.  I think it would have been appropriate for my doctors to educate me on this when I told them I was gaining weight.  My Endo Doctor looked at me like I had two heads.  

My Family Physician more or less said to eat less and exercise.  No mention that a lack of healthy hormones can do this to a soul.  No mention that T4 only treatment does not include all the other hormones a healthy thyroid puts out.  Lil 'ole me had to read it all by myself and use logic to come up with you mean the thyroid puts out other hormones that the medicine I am taking doesn't have?  What gives with that?  Politics.  You are allowed just enough hormones to be alive and the condition you live in lacks.  

Then I learn after years of this gaining weight that some of the meds I was taking and take can add weight.  Along with being menopausal weight gain is common.  Put it all together and I had the PERFECT STORM for being heavy and getting heavier.  Not to mention that some of the meds I was taking can cause weight gain AND cause blood glucose to climb.  Putting two and two together I gained weight and it kept climbing.  

I guess I was suppose to know these medicines can cause weight gain and higher glucose levels.  Passing the buck, the print out that you receive when purchasing a drug states side effects and I should have known, but when the glucose continued to climb, I would think my doctor would have responded to this by mentioning that glucose can climb from meds and by the way, three of the meds you are on cause weight gain and glucose to climb.  Humf.  

Being insulin resistant and leptin resistant may have contributed to weight gain as well.

With my doctors, there has been no mention of nutrition anywhere with my weight gain problems.  No mention.  Nadda.  Nothing.    

I had thought before that eating foods where the animals have been given growth hormones to beef them up might cause a person that's consuming foods made from these animals to put on weight themselves.  I still think this is possible.  Also GMO foods could cause the people that are eating the products to get ill.  I still think this.  

Startled September 2020 at my heavy weight that had climbed some more at my Endocrinologist appointment, my eyes bugged and my emotional health whimpered out loud, "Oh heavens, that cannot be right."  But it was and I was shaken up, hurt by the reality of my heavy weight that has continued to climb upwards on the scales since I had my cancerous thyroid removed in 2010.  I have had night sweats thinking about if I continue to gain weight, I will hit the 300 pound mark on the scales.  I cannot have that happen.  I will not let that happen.  

I have studied up on diets and have to lose weight.  I watched what I ate especially over the holidays.  I had already given up coffee with creamer in August.  I did not make my holiday candies.  I ate less and less.  Then in January 2021, I decided to give up sugary sodas also diet sodas.    

When I weighed in at the 2021 physical and had only lost 7 pounds since September I knew I had to do something drastic.  With the diabetic diagnosis something finally clicked in me and I told the doctor that I'd like to try and lose some weight before August 2021 when labs are done.  As of this date I am 32 pounds lighter than I weighed in September 2020.  Low carbs is the magic bullet for me.

My journey:

1) Spring water is a H2O decision.  Made the switch to not drink fluorinated water if I can help it and to use fluoride free toothpaste.  Gave up coffee with creamer and drinking more spring water and teas.  Later sugary sodas went bye bye even diet drinks.  Artificial sweeteners can cause an increase in appetite and actual weight gain.  Not good for the liver period.    

2) Use a more natural deodorant.  Aluminum isn't healthy for so many reasons.    

3) Cutting out HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP helped make me aware that I do not need this in my diet.  

4) Drinking Hormone-free milk.  Worth the expense.  

5) Grass-fed beef and free-range eggs were next.  Grain fed animals are being fed GMO food.    

6) No GMO foods when possible.  

7) Checking the ingredients on processed foods and staying away as much as possible from added ingredients and chemicals to food.   

8) Steering clear of pesticides, insecticides, herbicides, antibiotics in foods along with artificial sweeteners.  

9) Watching the sodium contents and sugar contents.  

10) Adding nutrients to intake such as vitamins and minerals.  Some enzymes and amino acids.  

11) Eating slower and chewing longer before swallowing food.

I did 21 days of the Daniel Diet which I started in May.  When I finished it I took a week for vacation and did not go hog wild, and allowed a few desserts during this week.  The Daniel Diet is made up of vegetables, fruits, beans and some nuts.  I was very happy to complete this course before vacation.  

I had that meat ball and spaghetti meal that I had wished for, but went easy on the spaghetti noodles.  Proud of myself for eating a small portion and calling it good.  I was satisfied and knew it.  

I survived the Daniel Diet.  Onto a week of limited foods.  I am on my way to completing the week where each day of the week has a focused color for the day.  For instance, Green Day is about green foods.  Only green foods.  No meat or dairy, nuts, etc.  I suppose I could have had pistachios nuts.  They're green!  Next time maybe.

With eating this way, I feel full and know not to get off track and splurge.  If I do this again I will follow the color wheel starting with RED, moving onto ORANGE foods, then YELLOW.  Next. would be GREEN, BLUE and PURPLE.  The seventh day will be called the RAINBOW FOODS DAY.  Eat left overs from the previous 6 days and begin eating regular foods again with some meats, nuts, dairy, some grains.  Easy on the grains period and easy on the starchy vegetables.  Include olive oils and avocado oils.  

I try to weigh myself in my birthday suit on Monday mornings.  Here's to a lighter self.  A healthier me.

If God is for me, who can be against me?  Myself.  I have to eat healthy and relax.  What I stuff in my mouth matters.

👵d

     

WEIGHT HAS HELD ME CAPTIVE

I WILL READ MORE THIS YEAR, Lord willing.  I aim to read through the entire BIBLE this year.  Take my Vitamins.  Eat more vegetables.  Faithful in drinking more Spring water.  Exercise by walking more.  Stretching some each day.  Clean a little here and a little there. Organize and downsize some more.  Continue in praying more.  Sit and think.  Stand and sing. That's enough for now.  

This week, I continue to put Christmas decor away.  The tree is naked.  Just needs taken apart and boxed up then put into storage.  Our artificial tree has been a great one.  I think she's over 20 years old and still has a beautiful form.  Very good quality.  After she is out of the house, I will vacuum.  The garland resting in the dining room needs put away as there is also some on a hall mirror.  The front doors will stay decorated until the end of the month.  Not ready to say good-bye to this.  After I pack away the things from the dining room table, the decorations are fading. I will bring out some snowmen and call it good. 

Hubby has a medical procedure this week.  He'll need to rest.  

I will ease into this new year and be different in body, soul, mind, will and emotion.

I started out my day by drinking out of a mug 2 cups of hot water with a splash of lemon. Holding the hot mug fed some southern comfort to me as I have missed holding my constant cup of coffee in a mug.  A habit that is being broken.  It's been almost 5 months since I drank coffee.   Stopped August 10th.  About 21 weeks.  Have mercy.  That makes me happy. Truthfully it was a habit that needed broken as I sipped on coffee throughout the day everyday. Way too much coffee.  I think it affected the absorption of my thyroid meds into my system.     

LUNCH is a cup of cottage cheese sprinkled with half a cup of broken pecans and 6 sliced strawberries plus 6 oz. of cold milk to drink.  

SNACK this afternoon will be a piece of toast with a teaspoon of crunchy peanut butter. Sipping water throughout the day.  Not sure about supper yet.  Maybe baked chicken.  I have some errands to run this afternoon which will nourish my mind as I enjoy getting out of the house some.  I will do some walking as I shop pushing a cart.  I walked yesterday on the treadmill and have iced my feet.  Not sure if my heels will ache today or not.  Hope not.  It is a real force of determination to make myself walk when the feet hurt so.  

When shopping today, I need a few more storage tubs for boxing up angels, next Christmas ribbon and special ornaments that I use each year.  By not reusing the styrofoam and original boxes the angels were in, I downsized the storage space area the angels take up.  I did the same thing with my Nativity Scene as for years I used the same styrofoam and boxes the pieces were in.  I thought I was doing the right thing by storing them in the original boxes.  I did this for so many years my head spins.  I have had a change of heart with original boxes.  I prided myself in doing this with my Hallmark ornaments until our house fire and many of my ornaments original boxes did not return to me after Service Masters cleaned our belongings.  There went my pride in seeing to it that each year I returned my goodies to their original boxes.  It isn't worth spending so much energy into dwelling on the past.  Moving forward with the present and hopes for tomorrow.  The Hallmark ornaments I have bought since the house fire are going back into their original boxes.  Forged ahead.

We can stay so focussed on the past that our present isn't fully appreciated.  Turning loose of old habits can be done.  Might as well enjoy today as the past is but a memory captured in pictures and thoughts.  To be who I am to be in the here and now is doable.  

I believe this is some of the reasons I can change, move forward, turn loose of clutter.  Get organized and enjoy my present.  I cannot take any of this 'ole stuff with me.  What will I leave behind for my loved ones to clean up?    

The clutter of extra weight has held me captive.  I will do what I can to reduce some.  One meal at a time.  Slower eating and smaller portions.  Chew the food more before swallowing.  Not FLETCHERISM, but perhaps similar.  A variety of food.  Nutrition minded.  A middle aged housewife can do this.  I can.  I will.  Food mustn't hold me in bondage.  I think God likes us to eat slow and taste the food.  No gulping or eating on the run.  Biblical people were known to recline while eating.  Relaxed and taking time for eating.  I may not recline, but I will slow the pace down to eat.  No rushing or running out the door.  The art of eating can be doable.

X♡X d

  

   

THE GUTENBERG PROJECT

THE LONG AWAITED SNOW IS GONE.  Frowny face.  That didn't last long.  As I wait for a small baked potato to finish baking the old fashioned way in the oven, I will blog a bit. We are living without a micro-wave for the time being.  Doing well so far without it.    

My first meal of the day will be a small baked potato, a pat of butter and a 8 ounce glass of milk. Something new for this ole woman in a new year.  I have been reading about health gurus of the past that have left the building.  This potato, milk and pat of butter is one suggestion from Dr. Lulu Hunt Peters from the time machine. 

She wrote a book before she went to work over seas with the Red Cross and when she returned to the States it was a hit which was the first weight loss book to became a best seller.  Not only was she a woman doctor, but she knew first hand about weight struggle being an over weight child.  Her blunt language in the book speaks for itself.

She wasn't so much about nutrition as she was about calories and made it a household word.  

I had called the Public Library to see if they could get the book for me, but they couldn't then my dear HUBby mentioned he'd try ebook.  The Gutenberg Project.  The oldest digital Library and I'm just now finding out about it.  There it was and he downloaded it.  A wealth of information for free.  Amazing and oh so helpful.

https://www.gutenberg.org

I will see to it that my day will be productive and pleasant all at the same time.  I'll take care about what I eat and drink.  I'm not deprived.  I'll exercise, run some errands and continue to put decorations away.  The Nativity Scene is boxed up ready to be stored downstairs.

A pile of tubs are forming.  Late into the night I was having trouble falling asleep so I finished bubble wrapping my Wisemen.  All are into the red tubs now hiding out until 2021 Christmas calls them forth.  They'll be looking for the Bethlehem star and the Christ Child.  

My Nativity Scene is like visiting with an old friend as I pack up the pieces.  I'm fond of the figurines, pottery pieces and stable.  All in tubs.  Grandma's sideboard where it was displayed for Christmas is empty once again ready for dishes to adorn it.

My head has been doing summersaults as I think about what will change in the dining room.  I want to thin it out making it appear more spacious.  Blue Willow dishes will be displayed differently as I think on what to do with the crystal.  Have mercy and be still my heart.

Hand picking off the ornaments from the tree, I am close to being finished.  I'll leave the tree up for a while with the lights and ribbon still on it.  It can twinkle a little while longer.  Cold weather is here and having the lights on warms my spirit a tad.  

Slowly the decorations disappear a little here and a little there.  Our Winter's day is warming me up before I have to leave the house to go walk on the treadmill, buy some cards and deliver a couple of birthday gifts.  A couple of Grandchildren share the same day, but different years. Grandchildren warm my heart so much.  

This evening I will work on paperwork and decorations.  I pray for a quiet evening.

I have an older brother in a nursing home that has been exposed to covid.  It is a time to pray for all living in this special place.  

Four days until Epiphany on January 6th comes.  The Washington DC Electoral shin dig where the President states it will be wild will also be on January 6th.  I seriously doubt our President will show his face to his supporters.  Shall wait and see.  No mention of Epiphany where the Wisemen arrived at their destination of finding the Christ Child.  We would be a better Nation if the citizens found the Christ Child instead of focusing on a drama queen.

d