August 18, 2010

Death

This past weekend I attended my class reunion in the Twin Cities.  On Friday morning, my husband took our poochies out to the doggie motel (the Vet’s).  One of our dogs, Princess (a Corgi mix), age 13 has been looking rather poorly the past month or so.  We knew her hearing and eyesight were going and she was losing hair by the handfuls and now losing weight as well.  We made the decision to put her down and she went peacefully.  She was ready, even if we were not.  It was good we were out of town all weekend.  As with our past dogs, we had her cremated and now have her ashes alongside the others who have gone before her – she is now home for good.

We did not talk of her much over the weekend but we did on the way up to the Cities and the way home – from time to time (a 3 hour drive one way).  We have a very good relationship with the Vet’s in town.  They are very sensitive to the death of a family pet.  Sure enough – there in the mail Monday was a sympathy card from the Docs at the Veterinary Clinic.  It’s a nice touch.  We still have our other two dogs, Elvis and Lucky.  They are both under 6 years of age so we do not anticipate having to go through this again for several more years.

The Class Reunion – it was great fun seeing my old friends who were actually friends in High school.  The rest are still the same – I think the name of the movie is “The Way We Were” :0)!  The surprise for me was the loss of a classmate whom I knew quite well and always spent time with at each previous reunion.  And the announcement of another classmate battling with the aftereffects of Agent Orange from Vietnam – and losing that battle.  He was part of our neighborhood group throughout Junior High and part of High school (until that license came along at age 15 and allowed for expansion of one’s horizons – literally) :0)!  Time marches on and there will be more deaths as we age.  As I looked around the room on Friday night, I saw only old people and realized I was one of them.  I do not see myself as “old” but I am – with the grey hair to prove it.  But I still have all my teeth – YEA!

I’m very proud of myself because I did not overeat during the weekend, even though there was always food present.  I did not gain an ounce all weekend.  Of course once home, well – that’s another story.  So how do I deal with this relapse?  It does not mean I am a failure.  It means I made a mistake and now I have to get back on the bandwagon and start monitoring my weight again – every day, all day.  My husband and I went for a walk last night and again today, before supper.  I have a little pedometer that I have in my pocket all day long so we measured how far we walked on our walking path.  About 6/10ths of a mile.  Today we took Elvis and he was poohed by the end of the walk.  I was hoping the walking path we use would have been a mile.  So now I have to figure out how I can get in a mile every day.

My next appointment for the Lapband is Tuesday September 7^th early in the AM.  I hope I can register more weight loss at that appointment.  I’m guessing I will need another fill at that appointment.  That should facilitate some more weight loss.  I tried on an outfit I have not been able to wear for 3 years – AND – it fit so I wore it today.  Will do that again tomorrow.  Makes me feel good about what I have done and what I hope to continue doing – losing more weight.  Until later – Tikki

Lend Me Your Ear!

OK – This is about support and motivation. I missed the exercise this AM – actually the second day in a row. I know, I know – this is an excuse and I just have to get my sorry ass outta bed in the AM so I can do at least 1/2 hour on the Resistance Chair. I’ve thought about walking to work – it is somewhat uphill and down so it is really uphill both ways but it is only about 1/2 mile – maybe a bit more if I stop at the Post office on the way in the morning. I SHOULD be able to do that – right. The issue for me is my balance. It just simply is not that good that I would trust myself for that distance. And, of course, I won’t know unless I try it. I could use my cane that I got in Mexico 2 years ago – at least I would look colorful while walking :0)! I could try this tomorrow AM and see how it goes and ask my husband to come and get me at noon if it proves to be too much. I need to clean at the office tomorrow too and that is definitely exercise. What should I do??? Check in tomorrow night and find out !

I am following my diet so far today and have stayed within my calorie count of 1200 or less. I took out some salmon for tomorrow night. Of course, my husband won’t eat that so I have a very small steak thawing for him. One of my goals is to weigh less than my husband at some point in my life. The man eats to live and I live to eat :0)! His nutrition is terrible with all the snacking he does and the Coke he drinks and his smoking – Uffda! He really needs to own stock in CocaCola :0)!

I have been sleeping very well at night – at least 6 hours before I have to get up and use the bathroom. All things considered, it is because of sleeping in Goodnighties PJs and using my Buckwheat Pillow. If you have never heard of Buckwheat pillows or tried sleeping with one – you do not know what you are missing. The first time I heard about them was about 15 years ago or so – give or take 5 years – more likely to be 20 years rather than 10 years. Anyway – I heard they were good for absorbing heat – HOLD ON – a pillow that would absorb all the heat my body would generate during nightsweats – THANKS to menopause!!! We are so blessed as women to have to deal with childbirth and then when the uterus dries up we get menopause – Thanks to Eve and that darn apple :0)! So – naturally I had to try one. After I got it and used it the first night – Well – my guardian angel had to be watching over me that night – no wet pillow – although it did nothing to stop the nightsweats :0(! Not much does – they are just over when they are over and not one minute before – no matter how much we women want them gone! Now that alone sold me on the value of the pillow. But – hang on – there’s another benefit here that was immediately apparent in the morning – well -actually the night before when I put my head on the pillow. This pillow molded itself around my head and actually kept doing so throughout the night – no more pluffing and plumping to get it just right at various times during the night. Is that an unexpected bonus or what!!! Since then I have purchased several more pillows for the bed – my side only – a neck pillow for the rocker etc. Here’s my saying – You can have my first born but – nobody and I mean NOBODY – touches my pillow. It goes where I go- I don’t care if it means another suitcase and a fee for that second bag – it goes – no matter what. If you are interested, you can check out one of my websites – www.buckwheatpillowsonline.com and see what you think. The other product I mentioned earlier is the Goodnighties stuff. You can check that out on www.goodnighties.com. The material feels so great on my skin and it is so soft and silky. I would recommend the PJs as the gown is more like a top than a gown – just not long enough for a gown in my book. However I do wear that under my nightie and that works quite well. This fabric also absorbs moisture and other nasty things floating around in the air that we are most likely not aware of. So it is great that the manufacturers of this product do know about that stuff and have developed a product that works to get rid of the effects on us . Great little product – check them out too.

OK – I’ve given my sales pitch. What are your recommendations for getting the ass outta bed in the am and for a solution to that walking/balance problem? I need some motivation and support here – Now it’s your turn? Karen/Tikki

Do What?  Dieting?  Well no, not really.  But then nothing will change and you will still be fat – oh excuse me – pleasing plump ;0)!  Unfortunately it is very true that nothing will change unless you want it to – PERIOD!!!  No ifs ands or buts.  And another thing – will power has nothing to do with it – let me repeat – will power has nothing to do with it – my apologies to anyone out there who has the name Will Power.

So now what – you want to change but how you ask?  Well – the first step is to start keeping track of everything – EVERYTHING – you put in your mouth.  Then put the caloric count next to that – and add it up at the end of the day.  Most people with average metabolisms burn up about 1800 – 2400 calories a day just with everyday activities – some more and some less.  So – if you are taking in more calories than you expend, well, my friend, that adds up to weight gain.  So you don’t want to carry around a tablet and record everything you eat?  You have a memory – use it!  At some point during the day you will be next to or near by a piece of paper and a pencil – then you write down your information.  Will this require some effort on your part – you bet – but how will you know where you are at if you don’t know where you started???

When someone plans a trip, they generally use a road map to get from point A to point B.  Your food Diary is your road map from being overweight (fat) to monitoring and losing weight (getting healthier).  Getting healthier is what it is about for many people.  Excess weight can lead to so many medical conditions – I’ll bet you can even name them so I won’t do that here.

Dieting – Oh No!  The first step is to establish a baseline of your eating habits and then you will know where your next stop is on this journey!