(Wow Moments!)
After my sweat-producing walk this morning, I took my shower and wrapped a towel around me. The towel went all the way around and I had enough room left over to tuck it in. This was a regular old Wal-Mart towel, not one of those luxury bath sheets.
This is a first for me.
What have been some of your non-scale victories?
I was leaning over to get something off the floor and felt a little pain in my side from the chair arm. Ouch! I felt my side and noticed a bump. Yikes! I kept feeling and felt others just like it. I compared one side to the other and felt the same thing on both sides.
Oh!
My!
Goodness!
I found my ribs!
After years and years of being encased in fat, they are finally presenting themselves.
Hello ribs, nice to meet you!
Awhile back I write about trying 3 new fruits. Here’s what I learned about papaya.
I bought the papaya while it was still green. I had read up on papaya and knew that it needed to be a yellow-green color before I ate it, so I left it on the counter to ripen for a few days.
I bought it unripe.
After about one week sitting on the counter.
Then, I cut into it. It sort of felt like a very ripe honeydew melon; some resistance, but still very easy to cut.
The seeds looked like big caviar to me!
I cut it into strips, then into chunks, removing the seeds and the peel.
Then I tasted it…
I wasn’t impressed. In fact, it didn’t really even have a taste to me. Weirdly, it didn’t have a fragrance, either. Now I’m wondering if I didn’t let it get ripe enough, or if their flavor is affected by being picked green and shipped thousands of miles away.
Next up – the apricots!
Gardening – the Trials and Tribulations!
It seems like I’m never happy when it comes to this garden! I complained when it was too wet to plant. I complained when we weren’t getting enough rain and we needed to water. I complained when we had a Tater Bug infestation. Now I’m complaining about weeding and storms!
OK – let me preface this all by saying that we are blessed to have a great spot for a garden. It was not expensive to rent this location AND we have access to city water. There really is nothing to complain about and I should shut up.
But…
I wanted to keep you up to date on what’s happening out in Garden-Land. Actually, things aren’t too bad. We did have a problem with a bug infestation. We were trying so hard to keep our garden as organic as possible. We did not want to use chemicals on our garden. Unfortunately, the people around us didn’t feel the same way and we were surrounded by Sevin-dusted gardens. The bugs left those gardens and started feasting on our potato plants! Ack!
We went up to water one night and found about 40% of our potato plants almost completely eaten down to the stalks. We gave in that night and dusted them with Sevin. The next day we found a better, more organic product and have started using that one instead, but we were bummed that we had to give in. On the other hand, we felt like it was better to have a crop of potatoes (even with a few chemicals), than to lose the whole garden to bugs. I normally taken photos of everything to show you, but that night, I was so devastated by the destruction caused by the bugs that I couldn’t bear to have photographic proof.
We know what we need to start with next year, though.
The good news is that the potatoes seem to have recovered nicely and we might get a decent crop after all!
I went up last night to weed. We’ve done a pretty good job in the straight rows with Mickey’s little tiller, but in the squash mounds, we haven’t kept up as well. It’s starting to get out of hand. My plan was to go up and chop away some weeds. We’re going to pull out the big tiller as soon as it dries up a bit, but I wanted to at least get started on it. I’d gotten 6 or 8 square feet of area weeded when a storm hit! I thought about waiting it out, and then I realized that I was in my little car and I was afraid that it would get stuck in a muddy rut if I didn’t get out of there quickly.
It was quite a little storm!
I took off and sure enough, the dirt road was nothing but mud, mud, mud and I slipped and slid all over it until I reached the graveled area. So much for weeding. Oh well, we’ll get it eventually.
We’ve stared harvesting a little bit, though! We’ve pulled out a few dozen green onions, which I’ve dried, and we got our first banana pepper the other night. We’ve also pulled off a couple small green peppers.
The beans look really good and the tomatoes are starting to bloom! We have a couple of zucchinis that will be ready to pick in a few days and the first batch of corn plants are waist high now. My sunflowers are big and bushy – I can’t wait until they bloom!
Until my next gardening update…
Happy weeding!
This morning, I finally achieved my goal of doing a 15-minute mile! I’ve been searching for music that’s fast enough and finally found some that will work: Leslie Sansone’s Walking for Weight Loss.
This is a great walking CD! I just rip the music onto my computer, then load onto my mp3 player.
http://www.amazon.com/Leslie-Sansone-Walking-Weight-Loss/dp/B000EPFTT8
I had actually bought this CD a few months ago and the first time I tried walking with it, I could not keep up. I’m not joking. I kept up for about 2 songs and simply couldn’t go any further. This morning, I did it!
I was out of breath and sweaty, but who cares? That’s what showers are for, right? Wait….did I just say that I didn’t care if I was sweaty? Am I not the woman who said – not all that long ago, I might add – that I HATE to sweat?
Wow. I am certainly changing, and in more ways than one.
Now my goal is to maintain this level of walking for a little while, maybe 2 – 3 weeks, and then kick it up to meet my next goal – a 12- minute mile! I can do this!
I’m going to try jogging again soon. I’m waiting until I get under a certain weight before I try that again, because I don’t want to damage my knees. I may or may not be able to run that 5K before my birthday, but I can certainly speed-walk it!
Motivation
Today I noticed that the water cooler was empty and needed a new bottle. As I struggled to pick up the new bottle, I wondered how much it weighed, so I took it to our scale and weighed it. It weighed 44.5 pounds.
This weighs nearly 45 pounds!
I was struck by the comparison of the weight of that bottle, and the amount of weight that our patients lose. Most patients lose at least 2 of those bottles in weight. Many more lose three, four, five, or even six of those bottles!
From time to time, we need to remember and appreciate all the hard work we’ve done.
Just sit back and count the water bottles!
How many have you lost?
I found this recipe on The World According to Eggface and I just had to try it. Strawberry Cannoli! Who would even think about this? Shelly, that blog’s creator, that’s who. Shelly is, in my opinion, Queen of Ricotta Cheese Recipes!
Try these…you will not be disappointed.
You’ll need:
Wash and cap your berries, then dig out the centers. This is where you’ll put the filling.
Once you have all the berries prepared, mix the ricotta cheese, sweetener and syrup together; put into a zipper bag, and cut the corner off. Use the bag to pipe your filling into the berries.
Enjoy!
To visit Shelley’s blog, click here: http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com/2011/05/weight-loss-surgery-friendly-memorial.html
Today I reached the half-way point of my weight loss goal. It inspired me to think back and appreciate where I started and where I stand today.
One year ago, I was not living up to my full potential. I was tired all the time. I had heart flutters. If I wasn’t working or canning (or freezing or cooking) I was in a recliner in front of the TV. I spent hours at the computer. I didn’t have much pain when walking, but after a little while, I started getting back pain from standing. My feet hurt a lot, too. Most of my weekends were spent sleeping.
There was too much sugar and caffeine in my diet; I ate at least 10 meals per week at restaurants; mostly fast-food establishments that really don’t serve “real food” at all.
The only physical activity I got centered around the food I prepared or canned for later use.
Ten months ago I gave up caffeine. It wasn’t easy and I had severe headaches for 3 days. But – I defeated the caffeine monster and noticed the benefits almost immediately. My heart stopped fluttering and I slept better. I also started drinking more water!
Eight months ago, I reduced my visits to restaurants. I decided that I wanted to eat real food instead of pre-manufactured, low-quality by-products of food. When I did eat out, I went to restaurants that had better, fresher, healthier choices.
Six months ago, I made a commitment to eat less, eat better, and move more. It was the real beginning of my weight loss. I wanted to ward off the health problems I knew were headed my way. I have the blessing of my work to show me the damage that obesity can cause and I wanted to stop that damage and reverse it.
Five months ago, I started this blog. I truly believe that opening myself up and sharing my struggles with my readers has helped me to maintain my motivation.
Four months ago, I added physical activity to my (almost) daily routine. I started out walking 30-minutes per session. Now I’m walking up to an hour each morning, Monday through Friday. I have more goals, too. I want to walk a 15-minute mile, and then move on to a 12-minute mile. I bought a bicycle and I need to build stamina. I want to jog or speed-walk a 5K by my birthday in November. I want to add strength training into my routine.
Today, I am a different person than I was one year ago. I’ve experienced the benefits that good eating and physical activity can bring. Now I:
I could go on and on, but you get the idea.
Some people have accused me of being obsessive. That might be true, but I don’t think so. I choose to make better choices most of the time. I still have one or two meals per week where I’m not as concerned with what I eat; I focus on enjoying the company I’m with and I eat what I want, but don’t overeat.
Life will always have ups and downs. Some situations I’ll have some control over and some I won’t. My goal is now to change the things I can, and accept that there are some things that I can’t change. I will try to always maintain a positive attitude, and on those days when life hands me lemons, I hope I’ll be able to make something with them.
I have been trying to work my way up to a 15-minute mile. I’m finding that it’s not exactly EASY to find music that’s fast enough for me to achieve this!
I recently bought 2 cd’s with faster music, thinking I would have what I need. Nope…still not fast enough, but definitely better. I’m down to 50 minutes for my 3-mile walk. That breaks down to about 17 minutes per mile. Close, but not close enough!
I’m on the lookout for even faster music! Any suggestions?
There’s no denying that nature has given us some of the most wonderful sweet-tasting foods around: fruit. Fruit is wonderful. It’s low-calorie and is nutrient-dense and comes in so many varieties!
What I’ve noticed, though, is that I tend to eat the same fruits over and over. Year round, I eat apples, bananas, grapes, fresh and canned pineapples and fresh or canned oranges. In the spring, I might have fresh berries, summer brings peaches and melons, fall offers fresh and new varieties of apples, and with winter comes fresh citrus: oranges and grapefruits.
Looking at this list, I see that I probably eat a pretty good variety of fruits as compared to many Americans, but I still don’t think it’s enough. I decided to try something new.
My goal: to find and try 3 fruits that I’ve never had before.
The scientists behind the Nutrition Action Healthletter have ranked fruits on the basis of their health benefits. According to them, the top 5 fruits are:
I went to Meijer last night to see what they were offering. Where I live, I believe Meijer has the best and freshest options of fruits and vegetables outside of Farmer’s Markets. It’s too early in the season to find much fruit at the Markets, so I had to settle for my second choice.
As expected, the choices were incredible.
Oh my! What a selection!
I couldn’t find guava, and I’ve eaten watermelon, grapefruit and kiwi, so I hoped they had papaya.
I found my papaya!
Success! I bought apricots, a papaya and a kiwana, also known as a horned melon. The papaya and apricots weren’t quite ripe yet, so I put those away to ripen and tried the kiwano.
Hmm…interesting.
Um, ok….this is unexpected.
My impressions? Well, the green jelly has a cucumber-like flavor and the seeds, while edible, gave it a texture that I wasn’t crazy about. You have to scrape this green jelly out with a spoon and it’s very liquid-like. Over all, I didn’t really like it, but if I were on a deserted island and this is all I had to eat, I’d at least survive for awhile.
Next up – I’ll try the apricots or the papaya, whichever is ripe first. I’ll report my findings!
For more information about the Nutrition Action Healthletter, click here.
Nobody Said Easy 