Why Shouldn’t the Miscellaneous Post Happen on Miscellaneous Days?

 ·         I used to have a blog schedule – Monday Miscellany, Thankful Thursday, Project 365 on Saturday, with a poem or two sprinkled through the week. What happened? I think I’ll let it slide this summer, but I tell you come fall things will shape up around here!

·         I had a slight gain this past week (less than a pound), but my goodness, who can blame my body? I’m not going to name all the things I ate, but their initials start with pizza, cookies & candy bars. Sheesh. I mean, I can have pizza, cookies & candy bars, but not in the excessive way I ate them last week. For example – all three in one day? Not really a healthy strategy. This week looks much better so far.

·         Speaking of health strategies, I’ve done pretty well trying to walk each day. I still haven’t ramped up the amount of time I spend doing it, but I’m happy with my somewhat consistency (I “accidentally” took the weekend off). Yesterday I mowed a large portion of our lawn. I don’t know if I’m happy that it only took 22 minutes – longer would give me more activity points so I could eat more food (that really is how it works – imagine!), but I might have collapsed in minute 23. You never know. I guess I could slow down – I probably look like some sort of kamikaze mowing fool out there going full steam ahead.

·         So, I’m on the last Tess Monaghan book. And a couple of months ago I finished up the Barbara Holloway series. I need a new series of books to read and/or listen to in my car. I like series because you get to know the main character really well, and it doesn’t require any thought to pick out the next book. Any recommendations out there? I’ve already read all the Eve Dallas books too. As you can see, I prefer the female sleuth. Although I’m open to a male one.

·         Did you know that when your yarn is “fuzzier” (my technical term for the weight of yarn), the item you make “might” be bigger than the same item made with less fuzzy yarn? And yes, I did count all the rows correctly thankyouverymuch. Lesson learned. Anyone out there have a really large head? And maybe a lot of dreadlocks you’d like to cover up in a jaunty red?

HOUS*     *Hat of Unusual Size

The "normal" one

Later!

Monday's Post on Tuesday Because Frankly I Didn't Want to Mess with Writing on Monday

I went to the eye doctor yesterday & had my eyes dilated for the first time in years. The doctor assured me that I’d be able to drive home just fine – just to be sure to wear my sunglasses. Um, no. Well, it wasn’t treacherous, but it was like driving with a foggy windshield. Forty miles of driving through fog. When you combine that with my usual Internal Fog, it adds up to an Extra Alert Bug. It was exhausting. Whew!

Dilated eyes – two hours later

[Please note: I am obviously unacquainted with the miracle of photoshop]

This was the food I packed to take to work yesterday. I was highly amused at my many containers so I had to take a picture.

The left stack of containers (from the bottom): Salad, chopped apples, leftover green beans & kidney beans with grilled chicken, rice. The right stack of containers: Cantaloupe, yogurt, almonds, Pepperidge Farm Whole Grain Goldfish (in the back), banana. Yes, my lunch bag is really a small cooler.

I weighed in yesterday morning - I was down 1.8 pounds for the week, for a total of 5.2. I was still using the technique I talk about in this post, but this week it's failing me a little bit. Frankly, I have a hankering for cookie dough & I need to figure out how to subdue that sucker. Well, I think I just did - I imagined recording that in my food diary for the day & decided that it would be pretty disappointing. I'll keep you posted as developments arise.

P.S. I’m adding a new Drama Queen label to my posts. And when I have time I believe I’ll go back & add that label to all my previous dramatic whining. Just imagine how big the words will be in my label cloud to the left there!

Some Random on a Wednesday

Coincidentally, right as I rejoined Weight Watchers, my work has started a health plan. We’ve all formed teams & set goals & been issued new pedometers. Our team is going to work on increasing our number of steps each day, and weight loss. The program officially starts June 25, but of course I’m not waiting until then to implement changes. I’ve already been walking every day & watching what I eat.

Speaking of walking – my hip does not hurt when I walk. However, my legs each weigh 400 pounds & everything else hurts (ok, really just my right calf, but I’m doing stretches to help with that). But anyway, My Hip Does Not Hurt. Hallelujah and Amen.

It’s felt like there’s been a lot of bad news lately – a friend’s mom is in critical condition with an infection, another friend’s dad has prostate cancer, another friend is going through an unknown crisis. I don’t live anywhere near these folks, so I feel helpless to do more than just pray for them. But I guess that’s something.

Dr. M & I surveyed our kingdom yesterday. Our hanging baskets are gorgeous. We have daisies, mums & lilies about to bloom. There are blossoms on the volunteer tomato plant. The yarrow is out of control. AND he bought me new gardening tools the other day – I’m planning on planting some more flowers. That way I’m adding an upper body workout to my regimen.

I am bereft of poetry lately. Every time I try to write something the words are just not there. I think that I’ll enjoy the quietness in my head & watch the world in our back yard for a while.

Sweet Temptation...

I've started Weight Watchers again (funny how vacation pictures can ramp up your enthusiasm for healthy eating!). Today was my first weigh in and I'm down over 3 pounds. Woot! 


Anyway, I went to dinner with my friend Joanne tonight - our almost weekly date. She picked Frisch's and I frantically searched in my head for what would be "safe" to eat there. We got our menus...

Isn't he cute & innocent looking?

I opened mine & this is the first thing I saw:

Not cool Big Boy. Not cool at all. Oh hot fudge cake how I love you so! 


You'll be glad to know that I resisted temptation - I had the soup & salad bar. And it was good people. That salad was as good as hot fudge cake! 


OK, maybe it wasn't, but it was definitely better for me. I can live with that.

Eating on a raisin, grape, apricot, pomegranate...

Ever since I started the new Weight Watchers Points Plus program a whole week ago (It’s points! Plus some other stuff!) I’ve felt kind of like Fatima from the Ray Stevens song, Ahab the Arab, minus the Hershey bars and the chitterlings (I might be from the south, but I do not want to know what a chitterling is) – and the RC Cola:

There she was friends lying there in all her radiant beauty.

Eating on a raisin, grape, apricot, pomegranate,

bowl of chitterlings, two bananas, three Hershey bars,

sipping on a "R C" Co-Cola listening to her transistor…

Fruit is now zero points on the new system (there are other changes too, but this is the most exciting). Therefore I’ve been eating more than usual. Still not a ton, but I’m trying to eat an apple, a banana & a tangerine every day. At this rate I might actually get my USDA required gazillion servings of fruits & veggies a day! Why those sneaky WW people – getting me to eat healthy. Seven years ago when I was working the plan & hitting my goal I did it by eating a lot of salad & cookies. Now apparently I’m required to learn to eat like normal skinny people. What a concept! And why can’t I do that without paying someone money? I just can’t. Stop making me psychoanalyze myself people – sheesh! I’m not Reya (although I wish I could be just a tiny bit like her).

Speaking of psychoanalyzing, I was going to write a poem today about how I miss my mom a lot at Christmas. As I wrote on Ruth’s blog this morning:

If your mother was a Christmas lullaby then mine was the raucous spitting image of Christmas Present from the Scrooge tale - my goodness did she love to celebrate Christmas WIDE OPEN and with an embarrassment of gifts under the tree (I never minded). And the food! Christmas has never been the same since she left us - a little more contemplative maybe, but less outrageously joyous.

But I don’t think I want to go there today. There are seeds of something to write – perhaps about how contemplative is better now that I’m older. I’ll admit – my mother’s Christmases were exhausting!

Sunday night I realized that I had created a tag called “complaining” but I don’t remember creating it. So now I have to go back through my posts & tag all the ones where I’m complaining. That could take a while, don’t you think? But note: I’m not really complaining in this post, am I. I’m being thoughtful & rejoicing over fruit. Go me!

It’s all about Me Me Me*

So I sang & it was fine - & the choir is on hiatus until fall. Which is good because I thought I might sweat to death in that robe LOL. I received a number of compliments which I took with a grain of salt – because that's me. I don't really believe it. I'm not fishing for compliments people – just telling it like it is. I'm a cynic. It's ok – it certainly won't stop me from singing again!

I'm going to whisper here because I'm afraid to say it out loud, but I'm trying again to be healthier. I'm doing Weight Watchers this time because it has worked well for me in the past. I'll keep you posted.

I'm listening to another audio book that's driving me crazy. I'm pretty sure it will end well (Fern Michaels doesn't usually disappoint), but I might have to murder the main character before that point. I'm sure people who've seen me driving this past week are wondering why I hate my steering wheel – I keep banging on it going, "no, no, no!" I'm going to have to go back to listening to Lillian Jackson Braun – Jim Qwilleran does NOT annoy me as a main character.

I am going to have to vacuum again. It's not even been three weeks – what's up with that? And frankly I should have vacuumed LAST weekend. I've heard tell that some people vacuum on a weekly or even daily basis, but I don't think I believe it.

I finally pulled out my summer clothes & put the turtlenecks away. I only did it because I was smothering every time I saw them – can't even IMAGINE wearing a turtleneck right now. Otherwise I would have just made do with my jeans & the five t-shirts I leave out for winter. Turns out I have actual shorts and capris to wear for summer.

I helped Dr. M mow the lawn this evening**. I actually started the mower on my own! The last time I tried I had no success – but it turns out that it was out of gas. I was going to check that very thing, but Dr. M has a grip of steel & I couldn't get the gas cap off. Anyway, now that I know I can start it myself I might surprise him by mowing sometimes. Might. Anyway, boy was my face red. Really – I wasn't embarrassed, just beet red from the exertion. I could blame my out-of-shapeness, but I've been this way my whole life – my body doesn't have a very efficient cooling system. I took a picture but I'm just not that shameless tonight – it's pretty rough. Instead, I'll leave you with this lovely lane we drove down last weekend.

 *Every paragraph but the first one starts with "I" - & the first one is just trying to be cute or it would start with "I" too. Well, it is my blog. I won't apologize!

**This is kind of a big deal because I wasn't sure if my bum hip or my bum shoulder would be ok with mowing – but so far so good!

Unrelated Paragraphs

• This week I lost .5 pounds, but more importantly I got my lazy caboose out of bed & worked out. Just for 15 minutes, & just on 3 days – but I just started Wednesday, so I'm pretty pleased with myself. Next week I expect to see even more progress - & I plan to discuss some excellent food choices with you. As soon as I figure out what those might be.
• So there's this guy at work who collects egg cartons. One day I asked him why – his daughter has chickens & sells the eggs. I like the idea of reusing instead of just recycling, so I told him I'd bring mine by as I accumulate them. I put one on his desk on Monday when he wasn't there. Why am I the kind of person who wants to be acknowledged for her good deed? Every day this week I've had to bite my tongue as I walk by his desk, prepared to casually mention as I glance at the cartons still on his desk, "Oh, I see you got mine!" (Flicking self in the forehead)
• I tried to give blood yesterday, but was denied! Apparently there is a new strain of HIV that they can't test for? And people living in Zambia during a certain period of time might have this strain? So now I'm permanently banned from giving blood! I need to research this further. I do not enjoy giving blood - but I liked that I was able to help another person by donating.
• I WON something else! I'm on a roll I tell you! Gretchen from Second Blooming was giving away the Classic Sampler from Saltistry Artisan Infused Sea Salts, the most amazing, delicious, decadent salt in the world. Five flavors - Lemon Thyme, Herb Grey, Six Pepper, Genmaicha, and Smoked Chili. I thought these would be just the thing to help make healthy food even better (in moderation people!), so I entered the contest & I won! Thanks Gretchen!
• This has been Way Back Week on Facebook. I change my profile picture practically daily, so of course it was no trouble at all for me to participate. Here is The Bug's 9^th grade school picture. I know – I'm a poster child for the 70s. And, really, I look like a boy. I wonder if I cut my own bangs? Looking at that girl would you guess that she's the grammar police? She gets to wear those braces for two more years - woo hoo!

This, That, & T'other Thing...

This

First - I have been super remiss. I'm not going back & checking, but I'm pretty sure that I haven't updated you guys on my health goals in at least three weeks. So. Still plugging along. Renewed vigor this week. Down three pounds since the beginning. Since my goal was to maintain my weight over the holidays I'd say Score! Now it's time to get a little more serious. The one component that I'm not being very successful with is exercise. I may have to have someone (Dr. M perhaps?) give me a thump each evening to get me up & at 'em. I'll work on that this week & report back to you next Friday.

That

I WON something! Jayne at Journey Through Grace had a giveaway of her favorite music & I was one of the winners! I'm so excited. And this reminds me that Amy at *All Things Ro is ready to pass on the book from the I Won, You Win giveaway tomorrow. Go to her site to enter.

T'other

Like a lot of you, we're getting a nice little snowstorm. I thought I'd share some pictures. I actually stopped in the middle of the road on my way home to take a couple of them! Fortunately there weren't any other cars going my way at the time...

This is a small sheep farm I get to drive by every day. Lots of times there is at least one sheep on top of the hay - makes me smile every time.

Lest you wonder if the middle of Ohio is flat

Oh my heavens that little penguin is drenched in snow!

Here's a closeup...

Penguin luminaries - heh.

Finches in snow...

The End

Forlorn

I need a governor. You know, the thing they put on school buses to keep them from going over 35 MPH. Which made it particularly terrifying when the high school girl driving the bus thought it would be fun to try to pass a car on a country road. All the kids were yelling, “Go! Go! Go!” I was covering my eyes. I didn’t turn into an adrenaline junkie until later in life.

But I digress.

I gained FOUR pounds in the last two weeks. If you do the math that means I am now one pound heavier than when I started this little jaunt. Sigh.

I could say, well there was all that pie! And corn pudding! But that doesn’t explain my behavior this past week. I’m not going to list my transgressions, but it wasn’t pretty.

I could say, well you know we thought that my mother in law was on the verge of death & then we found out that those predictions were premature (For those who missed my note in my last post, Dr. M’s aunts went to visit his mother on Tuesday and found her sitting in her chair drinking coffee. What? We’ll have to wait until we get down there to see what was really up.).

And I am an emotional eater – and lord knows there were a lot of emotions this week.

But, you know, I just wanted junk so I ate junk. With forethought. And not only that I didn’t move my body very much. My Gazelle is forlorn.

I’m forlorn.

But, I promised I wouldn’t lie. And now I promise I won’t quit. Next week’s report should be a little more cheerful.

I promise.

The Bug is All About the Number (and talking about herself in the 3rd person)

My crazy behavior has begun again (um, this is different crazy behavior sweetie). This morning in the shower I was debating whether or not to shave my legs. Would that small amount of hair make a difference? I decided that grooming is good whatever the result (right).

On the way to work I did not eat my breakfast, and only took small sips of water. I decided that not only did my jeans not feel looser – they feel tighter than they did last week (yes I wore the same jeans – to be consistent!).

I walked into A’s office with trepidation & started disrobing. Off went the boots, the earrings, the lanyard, the jacket. And with one eye shut I stepped on the scale. I may have fleetingly thought about lying to you guys if I didn’t like the number. Fleetingly. Really.

I’m three pounds down (if I were lying it would be more like 1 pound – no one who knows me would believe THREE).

I’ve been thinking about why the number means so much to me. Why I compulsively need to step on the scale at least once a day. Why I have my weigh in rituals & why I feel cheated when I’m unable to do any of the rituals.

I’m a Weight Watchers warrior, a veteran. And I know my body. In order to live a normal life while also trying to be healthy I typically lose less than a pound a week. Sure those ounces add up. And after 160 of them are gone I can actually tell in my clothes. But for me those 10 pounds might take three or more months. That’s a long time to keep doing what you’re doing without some tangible result. If I didn’t record those ounces on a weekly basis I would just give up on week two, convinced that nothing was happening.

I want to be healthy & eat good things for my body. But right now, with 60 pounds to lose & arthritis in my hip, my priority is to lose weight. It’s gonna be a long slow haul people – I hope you’re prepared to hear my weigh in ritual story every week. And I promise to not lie. If I gain, I’ll tell you. If I lose .2 (a regular happening in the past), I’ll tell you. If I lose three pounds again, I’ll faint first, then I’ll tell you!

Note: I won’t be in the office next week so I won’t be weighing in. Sure my Dad has a scale. But am I making myself crazy by weighing in the day after Thanksgiving? Not a chance!

Wherein Bug Notices Her Body (it's about time!).

I weigh more now than I ever have in my entire life. I’m 5’4” & my current weight is ____. Did you really think I’d tell you? My family & friends are going, well yeah, you usually do LOL. I might tell you. When I’m on my way down. I’m not sure the number means anything though. What that number tells me is that I am ignoring my body. Since I plan to keep using it for another good long while I had BETTER get with the program – any program!


My program of choice is Weight Watchers (online) – Bug Style. I’m going to be weighing in on Fridays with a coworker in her office (yes, she keeps a scale in her office - heh). We’re both pretty determined to try to be healthier. That’s my goal this time around – I want to lose weight, sure, but I want to eat right & exercise too. If those two things can become a habit then I’ll be able to keep this up because it really is a lifestyle change, not a diet.

I’ll be posting my results each Friday. The whole post might be about how evil food is (food isn't really evil, I know - but it does have a siren call for me), or it might be about something else with a footnote. But I’m going to make my commitment to better health public & that means you’re my witnesses. You lucky dogs!

Here are a couple of images to help with my motivation. My "before" picture - is from a cruise I took in 2004 - I had hit goal a couple of days previously (you can see my gold WW goal star that I wore the whole cruise to remind me to not go crazy at the buffets!). Boy, am I a pear or what? The "after" picture is from this summer. I don't really think it needs any explanation.

I'm not sick - I'm statistically correct

I’m a hypochondriac. Those of you who know me will be amazed by this news, I’m sure, but it’s really true. This morning I went to Weight Watchers & I’m down 1.8 pounds. This would ordinarily be a cause for celebration, but I didn’t have a particularly good WW week. I spent some time with Cadbury eggs & Ben & Jerry’s (& the week before that there was a tryst with some cookie dough). So after I saw my nice loss I started thinking (scary, I know).

What type of wasting disease do I have? What kind of disease doesn’t have any symptoms, yet causes me to lose weight? I head to the keyboard, ready to type in www.webmd.com.

Then I remember a maxim that I created (& quote often): If I’m on plan 80% of the time that’s way better than not being on plan at all. It’s true – my body is so thrilled to be fed healthy food 80% of the time that it’s pretty forgiving of all the saturated fat it gets the other 20%.


So, I lost 1.8 pounds this week. Hallelujah & pass the hash browns!