the end of this busy week

Friday, August 30, 2013

Today is finally the end of this busy, busy week.  It is a very bittersweet day.

I started the day going to the funeral of my schoolmate.  I wasn't close friends with Tina, but, you know, she was in my class, which means she was my age, and even though I'm getting there, I don't quite want to think that way yet.  I know that I am ready, but...

After the funeral, and dropping off a dish (nice healthy Spinach Balls) for the family get-together, I went to my own lunch.  Since I was all the way down Beechmont - the burial was in Mt. Moriah, the get-together in Cherry Grove at the bowling alley - I decided to go to Olive Garden.  I chose the Seafood Mezzaluna as my entree, and enjoyed the salad and breadsticks, too.  Of course, I had to pick out the croutons, olives, and hot peppers.  LOL  It was a very good meal!

I stopped, oh, 6 million times, on the way home, doing all the errands that needed done.  No, I did NOT go to WalMart.  WE will probably do that tomorrow.  I did stop and get my hair cut - it's been over two months, and my bangs were touching my eyebrows again.  So, I considered between all the walking in and out of places, and all through each place and all, that I walked well over a mile total.  I sure felt like it, anyway!  My upper legs were telling me a story - like 'like a rest, will ya?' and I was so glad to get home and be done running!  Then I had to lug everything into the house.  Ugh.

I had only been home not quite an hour when Ron got home with Corgan.  Yay, now the weekend has started!  Corgan announces right off that he thinks we should stay home for supper, but he's not hungry yet.  Then he hands me his school fundraiser book.  Kids...

Half an hour later, Corgan is hungry now, so he and Ron go in the kitchen and find some supper.  He puts in The Green Hornet (again!!) and we have our entertainment.  Around 8:30, I am finally hungry enough to go find me some supper.  I finally decide on a can of chicken noodle soup, since I knew I had used most of my calories for lunch.  And - guess what - I stayed under my calories for the day!!  Yay!!  Way, way over on the fats and the sodium, but, hey.

Today gets five stars for food, and three for exercise.





  

getting through this week...

Thursday, August 29, 2013

Today was another of those strange days that I went over on my calories on myfitnesspal, but stayed under for my TOPS count.  I even got in a walk today, but did not exercise once I got back from the meeting in Mt. Orab.  I started on the computer, and that was all she wrote...

I started off the day good.  I got up and met Lois and did the Bethel walk path.  We met someone else I knew (and she ended up having met Lois before, too!) and she walked with us, and Lois and I thought that we walked a bit faster today than we have been!  I guess that's a good thing.  I just know that my hip did not ache at the end like it usually does.  It hurt, but it did not ache.  I was very okay with that!

I came home from walking, and caught my games up on the computer, which took me all the way til time to leave.  Then, I hit the road again.  Off I went.  I picked Tammy up, and we went to Country Inn to meet Kathy.  She got there a lot quicker than either of us thought she would!  We enjoyed our lunches (chicken and dumplings!! YUM!!), then she and Tammy got down to business and sat there and read my book.  Afterward, I had to run to the store, because, yes, I had forgotten to stop yesterday.  Then I dropped Tammy off and came on home.

I was only home about half an hour when Ron got home from work.  I had to run the deposit up to the bank, since he got home at 5 til 6, and didn't quite make it to the bank.  Didn't really want to run back uptown, but he won't do the ATM, so it had to be me if I wanted it done today.  So...

Waited til 10 pm to make the spinach balls I am taking for Tina's family after the funeral tomorrow.  I know, I know.  Nothing like waiting til the last minute.  But they are done now, and they will be cooled off by morning (actually, by tonight, so I can hide them from Ron) and I won't have to worry about them at all in the morning - just pick them up!  Running every day this week sure has been strange.  I will be glad when this week is over.  It's also gonna be rough, ending the week by going to a funeral, but the older I get, the more often those will occur.  Not surprising, I suppose.

I am giving today three stars for food (chicken and dumplings!!) and three stars for exercise.

long boring day

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Today was a very long, very boring day.  I had a seminar to go to for unemployment.  Yeah.

I got up, got some things ready to mail, then left, putting those in the mailbox.  I stopped at Bob Evans for my Chicken Salad Plate - probably my last one, being that Labor Day (and the end of summer, and summer promotions) is Monday.  Boo.  I thoroughly enjoyed every single bite of it and my banana nut bread!  Then on to the boring old seminar, which ended up not being as bad as I feared, but still bad enough.  I did learn a couple of things, but I could definitely think of more pleasant ways to spend a day.

After leaving the seminar - a half hour early, even! - I stopped at my friend's place to visit with her a bit.  I haven't been able to just sit and chat with her since vacation, and it was a very nice hour or so.  After leaving her place, I stopped for gas (I saved eight cents a gallon, going back over to my WalMart!  Yay, me!) because I am driving up to Mt. Orab tomorrow and who knows how much gas will be going that direction? Then back home, where Ron was a slacker and did NOT have our salads ready and we wasted another half hour putting them together before we could eat our supper.  Then, Mr. Dork put his salad dressing on HIS salad and put the dressing away and didn't put my dressing in a rammekin for me!  Thanks, dude! We then ate our salads sitting in front of the TV, as usual.

No exercise whatsoever today - that's two days in a row.  Not good.  But I can make it up tomorrow, I suppose, after I get back from Mt. Orab.  I hope I feel like it, anyway.  I hope I come home in a decent enough mood to want to do something physical, anyway.  That is my hope right now!  I do not want to come home steaming mad...

I would give today five stars for food, but it ended up one of those strange days that ended up over on calories on myfitnesspal but under for TOPS.  If I had gotten some exercise, my minus would have balanced out the little overage, but it didn't happen, so I have to be happy with the plenty of fruits and veggies, good on carbs and fats.  Whoo-hoo.  So, today gets four stars for food, and zero for exercise.

continuing this crazy week

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Today was a day of mixed emotions.

First off, when I got up, and got on the computer, I found out that one of my schoolmates, who has been fighting the big C for quite a while, has finally lost her fight.  She went peacefully in the night last night, and while this news was not unexpected, it is sad to hear.  Goodbye, Tina, rest peacefully and painlessly.

I spent a lot of the morning reading, rather than playing on the computer ( I got up at 10, didn't get on the computer until close to noon!), which was a bit different for me for a change.  I have gotten so hooked on this darn machine...  Anyway, I got my games all caught up and ate my lunch around 1:00.  I made myself a tuna salad today.  I was feeling a little energetic, I suppose!  I put celery and bits of red onion into my tuna, as well as my Miracle Whip Light.  I guess it's a good thing we've been having all this salad and all these veggies, so I could doll up my tuna without tearing the house apart looking for something to put in it.  I added walnuts to my meal, and that was it.

Then I ended up having a sugar low (57!!) before leaving for my TOPS meeting, so I ate a banana on my way uptown - which I was planning on doing anyway, so I wouldn't starve before getting home to eat supper - but, Geez!  Then I still didn't feel real great, so I ate the nut bar I have in my purse before going in to the meeting (I didn't have my meter to check again) and then I felt fine.  And - guess what? - I LOST almost 3 1/2 pounds this week!!!!  YES!!  How about that!!  <<<happy dance>>>  I was so thrilled!!  Over three pounds!  Glory, Glory, Hallelujah!

When I left the meeting, someone had left free Starbucks Bagels for the taking, so I brought a bag (of 4) home with me, thinking Ron would probably like them.  I don't particularly like bagels - I think they usually taste kinda stale.  After I got home, I asked Ron if he had eaten supper, and he said that he had eaten a couple of peanut butter sandwiches.  So, I scrounged around for me something for supper.  I couldn't really find anything, so I finally got down the jar of peanut butter (chunky for me - Ron likes creamy) and got out a bagel.  I got me some veggies on a plate - some celery sticks, green peppers, and turnips.  So I had veggies and a peanut butter bagel.  Yep, bagels taste stale.  Ugh.  LOTS of peanut butter.

I did manage to get out into the kitchen after supper and get my little baggies of fruit all done up.  <Damn you, fruit, for not sitting around my kitchen and staying good until I decide to get off my lazy ass and chop you up!>  I made half a dozen each 1-cup and 2-cup baggies, and  got them out into the freezer.  So, beyond my banana for lunch, I can now get fruit into my diet!

Today gets four stars for food, and zero for exercise.

Start of a busy week

Monday, August 26, 2013

Today was the start of a busy week for me.  This is what I have:
Monday morning:  meet at bank for church, go to WalMart (again!) and Walgreens
Monday evening:  meeting
Tuesday evening:  meeting
Wednesday afternoon:  unemployment seminar (ugh)
Thursday morning:  walking with Lois
Thursday afternoon:  meeting with Kathy and Tammy

Whew!!  Beats my regular old boring week all to hell, huh?  As well as fitting in Wii training, walking and/or biking down Hoover Road, and plain ol' housework, I will be busy, busy, busy all week.  But, I will mostly enjoy every minute.  And the minutes I don't enjoy, I will enjoy complaining about them!

Here's how today went:
I got up, went uptown and got all the papers signed up at the bank so I am now officially the treasurer for the Altar Society for church once again, which is good, because it will give me something to do - something to be responsible for, and I need that right now.  Then I went on down to WalMart and Walgreens.  I got my usual WalMart walk in.  Ron and I had gone to WalMart over the weekend and I can't do my WalMart walk when he is with me - boy, does he bitch if I go down aisles I don't need to! - so I cut that visit short.  I got that walk in today, though.  I even talked myself OUT of having lunch at Bob Evans since I had bought milk at WalMart.  How about that?

Then, once I got home, I had my lunch.  I had my favorite chicken salad, walnuts, and a banana.  I have bought myself some fruits, and my plans for tomorrow, or maybe Wednesday, get the watermelon, cantaloupe (we used to call these sugar melons.  Does anyone else remember this?), and strawberries cut up into cubes or small pieces.  I will slice a banana or three, and make little baggies - one cup servings - with these and some blueberries and put these in these in the freezer, then I will have some fruit for my lunches and/or suppers for quite a while.  That's my plan, anyway.  I just didn't get to get started on it today.

I did my Wii training, then before Ron got home, I had to leave to go to a meeting tonight.  When I got home from the meeting, I ate my supper.  A peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  I didn't feel like much else - it was so late, and I was kinda tired.  I sprinkled Special Dark chocolate chips on it, too, for a little treat.  So, I had my sandwich and more walnuts.  That was it.

My friend had told me about Chia Seeds, also, and I got me some of those over the weekend.  These are supposed to really help in regulating blood sugars.  No more sugar lows!  Wouldn't that be great?  I put a pinch in my chicken salad at lunch, and a pinch or two over my pb in my sandwich.  Technically, a serving is a tablespoon, and there is NO WAY that I would put a whole tablespoon on anything, except maybe a big bowl of something - you know, a whole dish.  Wow.  They are tiny - tiny - and have no taste, so we will see how this works!  I will love it if this works - I am going to have to start checking my blood three times a day, though, to monitor it now.  That part will suck.

Today gets four stars for both food and exercise.  I am very satisfied with today.

Another busy weekend

Saturday, August 24, 2013
Sunday, August 25, 2013

This weekend was a very busy for us again.  We didn't have Corgan because of the Ohio Farmer's Festival (formerly the Ohio Tobacco Festival) was this weekend in their hometown.  Ron let me sleep in, and he got up his normal time and worked outside on Our Summer Project and got the next step (laying heavy plastic down in our 'zoo') done.  Then, he started mowing and, somehow or another, hit something and bent the blade on his Zero Turn lawnmower.  He took the deck off, etc., and called Clermont Equipment about buying a new blade - he had bent one - and got the info, but they have changed to their fall hours, and now close at ONE pm.  Shit, it's noon now!  He comes in, and wakes me up.  Luckily, I was awake, just laying there deciding whether or not I was ready to get out of bed or did I want to read a little bit? and I told him, let me take my pills and get dressed, and we can start our running, like we had planned for Saturday once I got up.  No sense in him going now, then us going when he got back, right?  He's going, okay, but hurry.  They close at one.  Two minutes later, he's back. You done yet?  Almost - I was still taking pills.  I only take 8 pills in the morning, and lay out 8 more for the evening, as well the ones I need for with lunch and supper.  Sigh.  He went away, then popped back again - and I ran into him as I was walking out the bedroom door, thank God!  I got me a drink, and out the door we went!  Needless to say, he let ME drive and we made it there at twenty til one.  LOL

We then stopped at KFC for lunch - which was practically across the street - we don't get that far down 125 very often, and it was a treat for us.  We watched what we got.  We only got the 3-piece lunches each as opposed to the bucket of chicken  we used to get.  Yay, us.  We got mashed potatoes and green beans as our sides.  I wish we had remembered to tell them no gravy, though.  Neither one of us really like gravy that much.  But we forgot, so, we suffered through it.

On the way home, we did the errands that we had planned to do that day, so it took us a while to get back home.  But we made it, and got all the bags carried in, and stuff put away.  Ron then sat in his chair and watched TV - he 'didn't want to take a nap' - if you know Ron, I know you are laughing! I caught up on my games on the computer.  At 4:30, we left to go down to Josh's for supper and to go to festival.

Josh made smoked sausages in their George Foreman grill, and fried some green peppers and onions.  I cut some tomatoes that we brought with us into quarters (orange/yellow for me, red for Ron.)  Of course we shared.  They had opened bags of chips they got out.  I did have a few Ruffles.  We then went to festival.

We drove down to the school.  We walked down to the festival from there.  It's at least a half mile, if not a little farther, down into the town part of town.  We walked over into the games side first, to watch Corgan riding the rides.  Grandpa bought Corgan a wrist bracelet, as opposed to tickets for each ride, for the evening, and Corgan started his fun.  So, we walked from ride to ride (to ride to ride, etc., etc.).  Then Corgan met a friend from his street and was going to ride with him, and Ron and I went to look at the booths - which is where usually do some Christmas shopping - the next block over.  Jean decided to stay with Corgan and his friend (they don't let him stay 'by himself' like that yet) and Josh came with us.  Michelle was at work.  We walked from side to side, checking out the booths, once we got over to that block.  We got through both blocks of booths, across 52!, and made the turn to go down the main thoroughfare to start going past the food booths.  Yipes!  People are ALREADY everywhere waiting for the Lee Greenwood concert!  Oh, my.  Well, we found us a place to set up my chair and settled ourselves in, too.  It really was only a twenty minute wait - we just didn't realize how much time had passed while we were going through the festival!  The concert wasn't quite over when we got up, folded up the chair, and made our way through the crowd to the other side.  We could still hear him quite well!  He did very good covers of a couple songs - a John Denver song, and a James Taylor song.  No, I don't remember their names now.  You know my memory.  You're lucky I remembered who sang 'em way back when...  You know we really aren't country music fans, either, so we didn't know a lot of his other songs, but we knew he was going to close with "I'm Proud to Be an American" so we wanted to at least hear it.  We SURE didn't want to get caught in the wild trample of everyone leaving the concert!

Josh had walked back over to the rides when we got situated for the concert, because he sure didn't want to hear that.  LOL  Just as we got up to walk through, he says in my ear, "where you going?" and scared the crap outta me! I told him our little plan, and they walked back around the back side of where we were and the crowd and met us on the other side.  When we got on the other side and met back up with them, Corgan decided he was hungry.  Grandpa bought him some chili cheese fries and we each had a bite or two (yes, ONE fry for me) and we walked on after a pitstop.  Soon, I HAD to stop at a booth.  They had ELEPHANT EARS.  Yes, elephant ears.  Not just funnel cakes, but my elephant ears!  Oh, my.  I cannot resist.  You just cannot find elephant ears very often.  Funnel cakes are everywhere, but to find elephant ears!!  Heaven!!  We walked on down the rest of the way through while I munched.  I offered everyone a bite, no one but my sister wanted any.  Idiots.  They don't know what they are missing.  Oh, well.  More for me!  I ate about half of it as we walked back up toward the car.  Then I had to quit so I could breathe as I was walking.  I finished it when we got back to Josh's.  I was a happy camper!!


Sunday, we went with friends down to Carrabba's after church for lunch.  This will be our last big lunch out before football season!!  My friends understand that I must be home by 1:00 on Sundays from September to January, and tease me terribly about it, but know I enjoy my football.  They laugh because it's me and not Ron.  We still go out, but just up in Bethel (Frisch's), sometimes down to Amelia (Bob Evans or Campbell's Barn) but no sitting around talking or anything any more.  Eat and GO!

We enjoy going to Carrabba's.  We don't get to do it often, it costs just a bit more than most other places.  We love the bread dunked in herbed olive oil as soon as you sit down.  We refrained from getting the calamari we usually get - we are learning! Ron got pork chops with Marsala sauce and I got the seafood cannelloni, with a salad.  Hold the carrots, cucumbers, and the crotons, of course.  So, I had greens and celery and cheese because I gave Ron the olives.  I know, I'm weird.  I then also enjoyed the limoncello bread pudding for dessert.  Go for the gusto, right?  We ended staying there until after 3:00.  It was a quite enjoyable lunch.  Great food, great friends, a great time!

We made some stops on the way home, of course.  We stopped at that veggie store on the corner of 8 Mile.  I bought some Chia Seeds.  I have learned at my TOPS meetings that Chia Seeds are good for diabetics, as well as for dieters.  Always worth a shot, right?  I was told they were around 8 bucks a pound.  Wrong.  12 bucks a pound.  Still better than the 20 bucks a pound from Kroger!  They are tiny, tiny seeds, also, so they will last forever.  I will sprinkle them on stuff.  Maybe not yogurt - I don't eat much of that, cause I don't like it - but salads, in soups, etc.  I will find a way to use them.  I also got a whole watermelon and a whole cantaloupe for 2 bucks each.  I got a thing of blueberries for 1.50, too.  I will buy some strawberries at WalMart tomorrow.  I am gonna cube up the melons, and make me some fruit packs in baggies, and freeze them, and then I will have some fruit every day.  Something else I learned I needed from TOPS.  I have a plan!

We got home, Ron went out and got his mower together and mowed while I caught up on my games on the computer.  We got our giant pampas grass bungee-corded up so it wasn't spread all over creation.  (If you want a hunk of variegated pampas grass, let me know!  We will cut you a hunk out this fall.  We are making a list.)  We poured out the white gravel for Our Summer Project, but we didn't have quite enough.  Our zoo animals will have to wait a week or two until we buy 6 or 8 more bags til they get to move to their new home.  Poor babies.  We did bring our newly repainted frogs home last night.  Chelle repainted them for us, and they are gorgeous.  She did a very good job!

As the sun went down - it was below the treeline - we decided that we would take our bikes out for a ride.  We got them out and off we went.  Once again, I only made it to the farmhouse on Hoover and then had to turn around.  So, we finished out the weekend with a mile and a half long bike ride.  Yay, us!

Both Saturday and Sunday rate four stars for exercise.  I think both days get three stars for food.  It was good food, but it was a bit much.  When I weighed in Saturday morning, I had lost a pound - a pound and a half.  We shall see what Tuesday night brings.

A wonderful day!

Friday, August 23, 2013

Today was a most wonderful day!

I started by driving up to my sister's, stopping for lunch on the way.  I had a chef salad - but it was the puniest chef salad on the salad - and toast, since they didn't have garlic bread.  You gotta clean your plate up with something, right?  And, I have learned that you do need carbs as part of every meal, so it was toast for this meal.  When I got up to my sister's, we walked uptown from her house (two whole blocks!), then walked to the town cemetery and walked through it.  You can't tell it from the road, but, boy, are there hills in that cemetery!  We ended up walking for almost a whole hour.  I was so proud of us.  I'm not sure how far it was, length-wise, but we took plenty of 'rests' so my hip never did give me any trouble, and I was very glad of that.

While I was out, my friend called me and wanted to know if Ron and I wanted to meet her and her husband for supper tonight.  Of course I said "Yes!"  so we went over to the FeedMill in Felicity for supper.  I had a big scoop of chicken salad on a plate, with tomatoes and applesauce as sides, then had a bowl of fruit for dessert.  That's something else I have learned from TOPS - I need a LOT more fruit every day.  I do not get any way, shape, or form near enough.  I got enough for 3 days tonight, I think, between the applesauce and the fruit bowl.

I am considering today a FIVE-star day for both food and exercise!!  YAY, me!!

good day

Thusday, August 22, 2013

Today was a pretty good day.  It wasn't the greatest food-wise, but it wasn't horrific, either.

It started out by me meeting Lois for our Thursday morning walk on the Bethel walk path, which went just fine.  I did have to sit and rest one time, about 3/4 of the way around, because my hip was giving me fits.  I'm not sure why, because I have been walking and biking and it had seemed to be doing better, but there it was.  I guess I will have to ask doc about possible arthritis when I go see him in September.  Blah.  More tests.  Til then, I'll just keep on walking and using it!

After our walk, I went down the road to pay our cell phone bill.  I could have mailed it, but it's running awfully close to being late, so I thought it best to take it down.  I did that, stopped for gasoline, stopped at the new Kroger for Ron's tonic water (it's the only store where we can buy the tonic water in 2-liters, unfortunately)  Then I stopped at Gold Star Chili for my lunch.  I had my normal food - a 5-way and a cheese coney.  Maybe it's time to start thinking about downsizing my meals, even though I do need some carbs with every meal - as I have learned.  I also need fruits, but have not figured out how to work those in.  Those damn things are expensive!

I went home, played on the computer for a bit, then went and dug in my library and got out some lamps to take up to my sister's tomorrow.  We are going to walk together while I am there - that should be pleasant!  I don't know what route she has planned, but she lives in a small town, so I'm pretty sure it will be a nice walk, even if will be in the hot of the day, which I know it will be, because I won't get up there til 11:30 or noon.  Then I will get to do a WalMart walk, too.  If I don't take her to the West Union WalMart, I will have to go to the Amelia (MY) WalMart tomorrow night.  Whichever one happens, happens.  I have to pick some stuff up, so...

Ron got home from work, but didn't get up to the bank before it closed, so I had to run uptown to get his check deposited.  I am so very surprised that he agreed to let me deposit his whole check, and hit the ATM for his money tomorrow.  Usually, he fights that tooth and nail and only wants to deposit the bill money.  But, he agreed and I ran back uptown.  He also told me that while I was uptown to drive thru somewhere and get us some supper cause he didn't want to wait for something to cook, not even in the microwave.  Hahahaha.  Boy, was he ever in a funny mood tonight!  So, for supper, I ended up driving through Arby's, since it's right beside the bank, and I got a Pecan Chicken Salad Wrap and a baked potato.  Butter only, no sour cream.  Of course, I added more butter to it when I got home, but was very careful not to add very much because I am watching stuff like that now.  

I am very happy with the way today went - both food-wise and exercise-wise.  Perhaps I should have also done my Wii training this afternoon, but I figure the digging and moving and heaving and all that in the library (if you saw my library, you'd understand) would suffice for extra exercise.  If I knew how to 'claim' such exercise on myfitnesspal, I would, but I can't figure that part out.  They want intensity, how many minutes, and how many calories did I burn? so I have no idea.  LOL  I just have to know that I did it.

According to myfitnesspal, I am over on my calories by about 200.  According to my TOPS chart, I am under my calories by about 150.  So, today gets four stars for both food and exercise!

getting my strength back....

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Today, I felt a little weak, although fine.  I didn't eat a lot of lunch - I truly was not hungry, but knew I needed to eat, so I ate some orange/yellow tomatoes and some walnuts.  Tried doing my Wii training around 3:30-4:00, I could only do about 20-25 minutes.  I just could not do any more, and was sweating like crazy.  Sweating from doing the exercise, not a sugar low.  I did have a sugar low close to 5:30, and drank a cup of orange juice and ate 6 jelly beans.  This is getting to be weird.  How can I watch my diet, when I can't eat less, but I can't do exercise either.  Strange, strange situation.  I'll figure it out, though.  I am going up to the walk path with Lois in the morning, so we'll see how I do then.

For supper tonight, we cooked up some of the tater tots left over from the other night.  We cooked up a pack of hot dogs to go with them, and cut up some tomatoes.  It was wonderful!

I am giving today four stars for food - I ate too many tater tots, of course.  There are only NINE in a serving!  Ouch.  Exercise gets three stars - I tried, but just couldn't.

Not a fun day...

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Today was supposed to be a relatively "fun" day.  Lots of running errands - drugstore, WalMart, post office, etc., etc. - after a neurologist's appointment this morning.  I got up and got to the dr. appt. okay, then decided to treat myself to Longhorn Steakhouse for a killer salad lunch.  Just before I got there, my nose felt dry inside, and I wiggled it and - drip - blood.  Oh, no.  This is not good.  I am on blood thinners now, you know.  Since Nosebleed Week from Hell back in February, I have been following dr.'s orders about sneezing, blowing, and not picking my nose.  Running a humidifer in winter, all that kind of stuff.  So, I thought, well, maybe it's just a little...  pulling into Longhorn, it started pretty much flowing.  I started sniffing and still went in.  Big mistake.  I ended up ordering my iced tea, but then went to the bathroom, and thought I had it under control.  Went back to my table and ordered my salad.  Nope, back to the bathroom I went.  About - oh, half an hour, 45 minutes, I texted Josh "COME NOW!!!" and bless his heart, he did.  After he got there, I dry-packed my nose with a paper towel, cleaned up best I could (I had been trying to clean up as it was happening) and off we went to Urgent Care, right behind the Mall.  Well, guess what - it's NOT THERE!!!  Shit.  We can't find it, so we head over to Beechmont Avenue/Ohio Pike/125, where we knew for sure one was, and as soon as I said, "I'm on blood thinners and I'm having a nosebleed" they took me straight back to a room.  Still had to wait a while for the dr., but got right back there.  They had me sign their paper, and I was already in their system, so it all worked out okay in the end.

When the tech came in and took out my improvised packing - of course! - no more bleeding.  I wasn't sure if I was glad it quit or pissed that it had before the dr could see what it was doing.  A little of both, I guess.  lol  He looked up my nose, and said he couldn't see any one spot that needed cauterized or anything.  I guess that's a good thing, but what the hell caused it?  He did say that I had a bunch of infection up there, so ordered antibiotics (Keflex) and a whole run of blood tests to check my platelet count and my clotting factors.  They will call me with results.  When she comes in to get my blood, all my veins hide, so I have a beautiful bruise on the inside of my elbow now, too.  She did end up taking blood out of my hand and there isn't a single mark there.  How weird is that?  So, I am done & we can leave.  Yay.

I then made Josh go into a store and buy me a new shirt - the one I had on was pretty much splattered, and I was NOT going to wear it in public, and I still had not eaten lunch, and had errands to run.  I was not going to do as much as I had originally planned, but I still had to go to the drugstore at least - I now need antibiotics, too.  He wasn't real happy about it, but he did it.  Then he took me back over to Longhorn and dropped me off.  I then thoroughly enjoyed that chicken and strawberry salad!!  I was starving!

I felt much better after eating, and then stopped at the drugstore and the post office as planned, but that was all.  I came home, and rested til time to go to my TOPS meeting, then I went back uptown to it.  I don't think I will have much trouble sleeping tonight.

I can do without such adventerous days.

I am giving today four stars for food - all I had was the salad, ranch dressing (on the side, I don't like the vinagrette that it comes with), and four slices of bread for "lunch" then a nut bar and a string cheese tonight while on the computer.  Today gets zero stars for exercise - there was none.  There was supposed to be, but...

Mondays....blah

Monday, August 19, 2013

Today was a very blah day.  I'm not sure why, I just didn't feel like doing a darn thing.  I think after having such a busy weekend, getting back to the normal workday weekday, it was just plain ol' boring.  And, yes, I was bored, and, no, I did not get up off of my ass and do anything to change it.  I thought it a couple times, but then didn't.  I know, my own fault.  I didn't even do my Wii training.  Then Ron got home, there was a message on the phone, he had me check it, and sure as shooting, we REALLY DID win one of items we bid on yesterday at the bid-and-buy auction at the church festival!  Yay, us.  So now we have to run down the road to pick up Corgan's birthday gift. (We won the boy's 20" bike.) Yay, something to do!  Ron had to go finish the mowing that it got to dark for him to do the other day, anyway, but on a Monday, damn that's rough on him.  Oh, well.  It's done and over with now.

On the way home from down the road, we stopped at Gold Star Chili for supper.  We each had a 5-way and a cheese coney.  I had had my chicken salad, walnuts, and a banana for lunch, so altogether, today was a pretty good food day.  No exercise, though.

I have a neurologist appointment in the morning, maybe I will feel more energetic tomorrow, what with getting out and about.  We shall see.

Today gets four stars for food, and zero for exercise.

Fun Sunday

Sunday, August 18, 2013

Today, we went to the St. Bernadette Festival for lunch.  First of all, I love church festivals - any little festivals for that matter - and St. B's is <kisses fingertips> a wonderful lunch, then a great way to kill a couple or three hours.  We had Corgan, our grandson, today for a change - he usually goes home on Saturday nights - so to have him on festival day was a real blessing, and a nice surprise for him.  We joined our friends for lunch.  Fried chicken, mashed potatoes (no gravy for me!), corn (only half a spoonful), green beans (BIG spoonful), applesauce, cantaloupe, side salad, a slice of apple pie, and a bread & butter (which I did not eat!).  I did put butter - only 2 pats - in my potatoes.  Oh, how I enjoyed that slice of pie, too.  Yummmmmm.
We then walked and walked and walked through the festival.  I found some books at the "book booth" - which was new this year! - and found some books from an author I like, and a Christmas book.  I love books set at Christmastime. Ron and Corgan played (well, Corgan played, Ron watched) the games while I was at the books, and then I went into the bid-and-buy auction place and started looking, and they caught up to me.  We went up and down and up and down those aisles looking for and deciding to bid on things.  I'm sure we will be outbid on everything at the end, but we did our little bit.  I then bought raffle tickets - who doesn't want to win either a "grocery cart of groceries" or "CASH"????  - and we left.  We were only there about three hours.  LOL

When we got home, we changed (okay, I changed) and got on our bikes and went for a ride down Hoover Road again today.  I ate a banana before we left just to be on the safe side, and I made it a bit farther today - I made it all the way to the big farmhouse on the left before having to turn around.  So I figure I did just over a mile and a half today, and I am very happy with that!

I am supposing, that because of the bike riding, which takes more calories than walking, I had a sugar low right before getting supper all together.  I had to stop making supper and eat a nut bar and rest, then continue.  Phooey.

I made a tater tot casserole for supper.  Someone posted this recipe on Facebook, and I thought, "well, I can do that!" so I tried it, and it was so good that I've made it two or three times since, mostly when the whole family is all together.  They are all crazy over tater tots.  Here is how simple it is:  1-2 # ground beef (hamburger), cooked up (fried) and drained.  You can put onions in if your family likes them and you remember - I usually forget. Add a can of cream of mushroom soup.  You can also use whatever spices your family likes - garlic, onion, oregano, etc. - to the hamburger now or when it's cooking, too.  I forget that, too.  Duh.  Put this mixture into a casserole dish (square).  Top with a layer of shredded cheddar.  Top that with a layer of tater tots.  Make them tight rows - if you don't, the stuff will bubble all over your oven.  Bake.  Bake what the tater tots bag says - you are cooking the tater tots.  If you want to make this family-size, just double it.  Twice the hamburger, 2 cans of soup.  Use a cake (9x13) pan.  Still tight rows of tater tots.  Very easy.  Very good!  When the casserole was gone, we had some tomatoes (orange for me!) and other raw veggies that I had left to finish filling us up - I guess I will have to make 2 pans next time I make this, or make a big salad to go with it!  Either/or.  I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

I consider today a four-star day in both food and exercise!  Yay, me!

A 'normal' Saturday

Saturday, August 17, 2013

Today was a beautiful day!  Lovely weather - on the weekend! - and lots to do, and plenty of time to do it all in.  

After I got up this morning, yes, this morning, Corgan, Ron, and I rode our bicycles down Hoover Road.  I meant to go all the way to the end and back, which would be one mile each way.  But I pooped out not far past the half mile - or what we call the half mile mark - and went just a bit farther, then turned back.  The fellers went all the way to the end, then came and caught up to me on the way back.  Yep, I am a wussy at bike riding, too.  Anyway, we made it back to the house, and I was very proud of myself for riding that bike for a mile and a half.  I have not ridden a bike since the day before I had my stroke in 2010.  

We then got cleaned up and changed and started our errand running for the day.  We got the white gravel so we can finish our zoo (our big summer project) and got Ron some boots and some other things we needed.  We also had lunch at Golden Corral, which is a buffet.  I only had 2 plates, the first of which was a salad plate.  I had a half spoon of tuna, a half spoon of potato salad, some baby shrimp, and salad stuff.  I did have a dab of dressing, but just a dab.  HONEST.

Then I got a plate of food.  I concentrated on meat - protein - rather than the yummy stuff, although I did get 3 of the potatoes in with the pot roast, half a spoonful of mashed potatoes, and a corn on the cob (yes, with butter).  Then, I was bad and finished off with half a slice of carrot cake (and I did NOT eat the icing!), 5 orange fruit slices, and a cotton candy.  I know, but I couldn't resist!!

We did eat lunch before we did all the shopping, so I got in a bit of walking after eating, and I was okay with eating a bigger lunch than normal.

We got back home and enjoyed some leisure time.  Then, Ron and Corgan went to mow and I was home alone to play on the computer.  I did my Wii training and, then, because I forgot this morning, finally at SEVEN THIRTY, did my weigh-in.  And, yes, I paid for it.  You should always weigh yourself first thing in the morning, not at seven thirty at night.  Geez.  So, yes, I gained what little I lost last week plus some.  Phooey.

As it started to get dark, I went to make supper because I knew they would be home soon - after all, it's kinda hard to mow after dark.  I tried a new recipe tonight - it sounded easy enough - a little time consuming to make, but easy.  

Here it is:  Take biscuits - flatten them out, put a pepperoni slice down, a cheese slice, another pepperoni slice and fold the biscuit up and seal.  Bake.  Well, that didn't sound like much inside each biscuit, so I got I little Colby Jack cheese cubes, and was going to put a cheese cube instead of a slice and got enough pepperoni to put a pepperoni slice down, then the cheese cube, then TWO slices, which would be on the bottom when they are done.  That's what I did.  They were very good!  I ate a total of nine of them!  I will definitely make them again.  The only thing I would change now?  I would put 2 cheese cubes in each one, not just one. 

I'm not sure what to give this day, star-wise.  Exercise?  Five stars for a change!  I went bike riding, did walking through stores and all, and did Wii training.  Food?  Lunch was good, and I had good control, so I guess 4 stars for lunch.  Then, supper.  I did have a sugar low as I was making supper - waiting so late to make it, and not having anything since lunch was not a good idea - but I munched a banana and some cheese cubes and was okay, then the pizza balls themselves - so yummy - oh, only two stars for supper, I suppose.  So I guess food averages out to three stars.  It should be more like five stars for the food and two stars for my control!!  LOL  I was weak.....

 

a wonderful Friday

Friday, August 16, 2013

Today was a most wonderful day.  I got up, put chicken breasts into the crockpot for supper, played on the computer all day, ran uptown once for supper items, and just enjoyed the whole day.  It was very peaceful and quiet and quite enjoyable.

I had an egg sandwich for lunch (3 eggs), along with walnuts and a banana.  I was going to do my Wii training, but thought perhaps Ron, Corgan, and I would go up around the walk path, so I put it off.  Then, of course, the rest of 'em decided to go out, and everyone met here for supper (yes, I ended up feeding them.  Chicken breasts, potatoes, and big ol' salads) and then they left.  Corgan decided to go to the drive-in with them, so we don't have him, and Ron went back to sleep, and here I am.  So, ended up no exercise for me today.  Ahhh, I can live with that.

Supper, as stated above, as a chicken breast.  I had cooked them in the crockpot.  I added a can of cream of chicken soup, a can of chicken broth, Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing mix and Lipton Onion Soup mix (which are both powders).  I bought little red potatoes and boiled them in their skins.  When I put them on my plate, I put some of the broth (gravy?) from the crockpot on/over my potatoes (3 for a first helping, and 3 for a second) and meat instead of using butter.  My salad was a big ol' chef-type salad, using the end of the pieces of lunchmeat I cut up the other day.  Not as big as my usual supper chef salads, because of the real food I was eating, but big enough.  It was very tasty, if I do say so myself.

I am giving today five stars for food, and zero stars for exercise, since it didn't happen.

Stressful day

Thursday, August 15, 2013

Today started off good enough.  I got up around 8:30 this morning, and met my friend Lois uptown to walk Bethel's walk path, which is a mile and a quarter long.  Of course, I forgot my "goodie bag" and had to turn around after driving a mile to go back and get it, but at least I had only driven a mile, not all the way uptown.  Sounds about like me, right?  We walked the path in about 40 minutes, which is good because she has had knee surgery and I, of course, am just about the slowest walker in the world.

When we were done, we agreed we wanted to continue doing this every week, and then each took off to run our errands.  I went to Amelia and hit the stores I needed to hit, and ended up at WalMart and did my WalMart walk, which added onto the walk total for day.  Yay, me.

I did enjoy my lunch at Bob Evans.  I had the Chicken Salad Plate that I love, with 2 slices of banana nut bread.

When I got home, and carried in my first load of bags and paraphanalia, we had NO ELECTRICITY.  Oh, I was so pissed.  Now, I knew that this was a possibility this month.  I have only been paying them a little bit of money every month instead of full amount because I have been trying to pay up all the other bills (because of losing my job) and knew it would catch up eventually.  Well, this month, August's payment, was the month it had caught up. BUT - I did not pay my house payment last week so I could pay the electric in its entirety, which I did - I mailed the check, along with two others last Saturday - figuring this one time, I would just pay the house payment a week late.  Everyone will get paid this month, everyone will be happy, all is well with the world.  Right?  Wrong!

Back uptown I go, to check at the bank if the check was "pending" payment or what, but no - none of the three I mailed last Saturday have been presented.  Oh, great.  I go over to the Post Office to see if maybe there was a truck wreck or some kind of hold up on the delivery last week.  No, sorry.  OK, fine.  I call Duke, and, of course, they need the full amount today to turn it back on.  With no way to prove that I did really mail it last week, what am I to do?  The money is in the bank, and Ron will put more in this week, so I do a payment over the phone.  FEE.  I will have to wait another week to pay our house payment.  FEE next month, I'm sure.  I will NOT be able to pay some other bills with the money of that second payment.  LATE FEE, LATE FEE, LATE FEE, LATE FEE, LATE FEE, LATE FEE, LATE FEE next month for each one of them.  I was supposed to get this last bill - the electric bill - caught up this month with nothing late, no fees, no troubles whatsoever!!   I am surely stuck between a rock and a hard place now - and feel as though I will never get caught up.  I know I will, but it sure feels that way!!  Trust me, if I had had "bad food in my house today, I would have been curled up in a chair, reading and indulging myself.  Good thing I have been a good shopper!

I had spent the afternoon uptown, up at the library (NO food or drink allowed!) to use the computer.  When Ron got home, he texted me and said still no electricity.  Well, phooey.  They said it would be turned back on today!  Jiminy.  So, I finished what I was doing, drove through Arby's and got our supper.  I got a Pecan Chicken Salad Wrap, and got Ron a Market Fresh Turkey, Bacon, and Ranch Sandwich.  We each got a baked potato with butter.  No sour cream.  (yeah, right.  did they listen?  no. they put sour cream in the bag, too)  I got us each a large drink, too, as well as an extra large cup of ice for us to share.

I set up a table in the front yard and we sat there and ate supper, then he mowed and weedeated and I read my book.  FINALLY, right before eight, they showed up.  FINALLY.

Yay.

I consider today a five-star exercise day, but only a three-star food day. There's a lot of mayo in those chicken salads.  It's a zero-star headache day, too!!  My head is killing me!!  And stress is not good for us diabetics, anyway, especially stress that shouldn't have happened in the first place.

recovery day....mostly normal

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Today was mostly normal, thank God.  I don't know if my nerves could have stood another day like yesterday!  That was so very weird.  My sugar was 80 when I got up this morning, which is right on the borderline of you-might-be-starting-a-low, so I pretty much ate my lunch right away.  My stomach doesn't really like it when I do that.  It likes to be awake a little while before I put food into it, but I thought today, I best get something in me.  So, I ate lunch much closer to 12:30 than 2:00.  I really have to start getting up earlier and having "normal" eating times again...

I did my Wii training today, but only burned 95 calories.  I didn't push myself doing a lot of exercises, so I did more of the balance games, which I usually use as my warm-ups and cool-downs.  I did do the bicycle and the basic step, but not the obstacle course or the marching.  The other thing I do that uses the most calories is the hula hoop.  Nothing I did today even got on the scoreboard, though.  Wussy day.

I also went outside and filled the 5 gallon bucket back up with gravel for Josh.  I think my shoulders might be getting used to that - a little.  Ugh.  It is not easy.  I am going to go walking tomorrow, and I look forward to that.  I am walking with a friend from church who has had knee surgery, and it should be a nice unstressful walk.  Only thing is - I gotta get up and go meet her at 9 am.  Yep, NINE.  Not looking forward to that part, but once up, I'll be okay.  I also have errands to run once our walk is over.  People will just have to put up with my stinky self.  LOL

I didn't check my blood all day - I felt fine - but I did check it again at 6:30, right before suppertime.  It was down again, down to 64.  Ron was outside mowing.  He actually got home before 5, and jumped right on the mower to take advantage of the beautiful weather.  He DID get the mower stuck in the natural drainage ditch that runs across our back yard - that was the UNnormal part of today - and I had to go out and help him pull it out, which really consisted of me holding it steady while he heaved.  When he came in, I told him that I needed to eat real food,  not have salad tonight.  Did he want to go uptown, have chili or something.  He said no.  We'd find something here.  I laughed and told him good luck there.  We finally did find some Spam and Mac & Cheese and made a half-ass casserole.  I also had 3 yellow/orange tomatoes.  Man, I sure love those!!

Going to check my blood again, then go to bed.  Alarm going off early in the morning!!

Considering today a four-star day on both food and exercise.  Oh, and for those of you who don't know - 100 is a good number for one's blood sugar to be (anywhere from 90 - 110).

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Today was a very strange day.

I didn't do anything, really, that was different than normal.  I re-filled the 5 gallon bucket with gravel for Josh, did my twister and marched 200 steps for exercise today.  I had my lunch around 2, then started feeling kinda odd a little after 3.  Finally, I checked my sugar a little after 4 and it was 74.  I ate 6 jelly beans (1 of each color).  I checked my sugar again at 4:30, it was 68.  I ate 6 more jelly beans. At 5:15, I checked again.  64.  I ate a nut bar.  I checked again at 5:45, 68.  I ate a banana.  I just don't get it.  What is going on - why?  Why is it staying down?  Why aren't these snacks bringing it up? I had my TOPS meeting tonight, so I took my shower and went to my meeting.  I checked my sugar when I got to the meeting, just before 7.  64.  I ate a nut bar that I carry in my purse. (Luckily!)  I checked again when I got home and made my supper (a big chef-type salad, with ham, turkey, bacon bits,cheese, and lots of dressing). 73.

I was very generous with my portions of meat, cheese, and the dressing because of this ongoing problem, and felt good that I had taken care of it.  Well, I was WRONG!!  I started feeling peckish again, so I checked my sugar again around 10. 41.  FORTY-ONE!!!!  NO WAY!!!!  Something is definitely not right.  I had even changed the lancet in my meter (I don't always - I figure it's always my blood, why bother?  yeah, yeah)  and am starting to think my meter has gone to the big meter heaven.  So --  I checked Ron's blood!!  Yep, I poked him.  He didn't like it, but he didn't like what was happening to me, either.  His number was 93.  So the meter is okay.  Hmmmmmm.  I checked mine again right away.  36 now.  Damn.

I ate a banana.  Checked again at 10:30.  68.  Well, it's coming back up.  That's good, but it's still not up enough.  Still not right. Scavenged the cabinets and found a pack of PopTarts.  Frosted Peanut Butter.  So I ate them, even though a serving is only 1 of the pastries.  But I gotta do something!  So, I got me a glass of milk and enjoyed my PopTarts.  Checked again at 11.  Yay!!  108.  A decent number!!  Finally - I am so relieved.

A very strange afternoon and evening.  Worrisome.

Shoveling gravel sure works the arms!

Monday, August 12, 2013

Today, I didn't really do a steady exercise like Wii or walking.  Instead, I walked and walked through IGA, going back and finding all the stuff I forgot over there and back there and what not.  I also made sure that I walked up and down every aisle.  I know IGA here in Bethel isn't quite as big WalMart, but my hips told me that I walked close to a mile.  Maybe not the whole mile, but close enough.

I also went out into the driveway and shoveled gravel from the wheelbarrow into a bucket for Josh to take home with him, so we can continue working on our "zoo" project and get it finished this summer.  Man, were my arms quivering when I got done!!  Yes, I know I am a wussy and it was only a 5-gallon bucket, but geez.  I guess I need to put some kind of arm work into my evil E routines.  Ugh.  Oh, well, I was thinking about expanding anyway, and now I know for sure that I need to.  Learn something new every day, they say!

When I was uptown, I went to Arby's for my lunch even though it was after 2 o'clock.  I got a baked potato (butter only) for the side in my combo, along with my tea, figuring I would have my regular "lunch"  or a salad for my supper, Then I had my favorite chicken salad and a serving of walnuts for supper (one of my regular lunches).  I also had 3 orange tomatoes, cut into chunks!  Yum!  Boy, was I over on my numbers today.  Only over 100 on my calories, but a bunch on my fats.  Not good.  The calorie count is okay, because myfitnesspal allows me about 500 calories less than what TOPS allows me.  So, it works out okay for both of them.  I usually am under the myfitnesspal count, though, so seeing that number go into the red was a little weird.

I give both the food and the exercise a three star rating for the day.

Sunday......a day of rest, right...yeah, uh huh

Sunday, August 11, 2013

Today, we went out to lunch after church, just like we always do on Sundays.  I chose to have a decent "dinner" as opposed to having a wrap or a salad or something good.  I figured I could be good for supper - we still had veggies left.  I enjoyed 2 slices of meat loaf (except it had carrots in it!), mashed potatoes, and green beans.  I did put butter on the potatoes instead of having gravy.  I also ate the dinner roll that came with it.  Oh, it was good!  Real food!  Wow!

When we came home from supper and walking last night, we measured (with the car odometer) a mile walk from our house.  Not that Ron feels like walking after a full day's work, but just in case, for some days.  So, today, after he worked outside a bit, fixing weedeaters and stuff - he couldn't mow because it rained, then we decided to walk.  It wasn't so bad, but the little bit we have to walk right on the highway is just a bit scary.  It's even more frightening on the way back, when our backs are to the traffic.  I learned that I can walk pretty fast along that little stretch of highway!  LOL

Then, as I was cooking Ron some fried green tomatoes (yes, Ron.  I am NOT eating those!), I started a sugar low.  Yep, checked my sugar - 49.  Wow.  I ate 6 jelly beans, and went ahead and made my salad, with the leftover veggies, the ham and turkey squares and bacon bits that were left, a generous handful of cheese, and a generous dollop of dressing.  I even put the dressing right on the salad, instead of doing the dunk-the-fork trick. Actually, it was the same amount of dressing - I just usually leave some in the rammekin, and this time, I scraped it out onto the salad, so I ate the full amount, not just some of it.  Ron enjoyed his fried green tomatoes, and I felt much better after my meal. I also did NOT take my diabetes pill (the ones that reduce sugar).  Didn't quite think that was necessary tonight.

Putting in my food and exercise on myfitnesspal, I am under on my calorie count - on all my numbers today!  Yay, me!!   I am trying to come with some kind of a plan to get me more exercise, though, and am just coming up BLANK.  I can think of things to do, but no way to work them/it in.  I really detest that damn evil E word.

I am very satisfied with today.

A VICTORY!!!

Saturday, August 10, 2013

Today, right after I got up, I did my weigh-in.  According to my Wii, I have lost almost 5 pounds!!  Hurray!!  Finally!!  I claim victory!!  Whoo-hoo!!  Of course, the real test will be on Tuesday when I weigh in at TOPS....crossing fingers.....

Tonight, for supper, we went to Chilo Park.  Chelle brought tuna salad and egg salad, and brought lettuce, spring mix, and veggies for a real salad.  Unfortunately, I forgot my brain and forgot plates (or bowls), napkins, and our dressing.  Geez, I guess it's a good thing we were stopping at the store for a new bag of lettuce and green peppers, but I sure didn't want to buy all that stuff I had at home.  I did buy new bottles of dressing - after all, it will get used eventually, and for the rest, we improvised. They sure didn't take it easy on me, though.  I'm glad I did remember my little basket of plastic silverware!  LOL

After we ate, we walked up to the bathroom(s), we walked the mile-long nature path. The boat - the Jennie Wade - in the center of the park was completely open, too. Usually just the outside decks are open, but the inside was open, too, so when we walked up to the bathroom, we walked around IN the paddleboat, too.  There is some interesting history in there. When we got to the nature walk, when we first entered the canopy of trees, we thought it was a little cooler, but we were wrong.   Man, was it humid!  By the end, my hip was hurting, but I was more concerned about the sweat pouring off my head from the humidity.  I didn't even stop to rest at one of the overlooks, I just wanted to get done!  After coming out of the woods, we walked up to the picnic tables under the shelter, so I figure we walked a mile and a half altogether.  But it felt so much better OUT of the woods - where we could feel the wind blowing - than it was IN the woods.

All in all, I am very satisfied with today.

birthday parties and Fridays

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Friday, August 9, 2013

Thursday, I had a very small lunch because of going to Chuck E Cheese for a birthday party for supper, and I knew that would be a "bad" supper.  I had 3 slices of cooked ham (lunchmeat) and walnuts, that was all.  Then, for supper, Ron and I got a medium pepperoni pizza and he got buffalo wings.  He ate two slices of the pizza, as well as his wings, and I ate the rest of the  pizza throughout the evening.  It was a great birthday party, but not so great a supper.  Believe it or not, I was within my calorie count for the day, but over on my sugars and fats.  Just barely, but still over.

Friday, I had my favorite chicken salad (Underwood) for lunch, and some walnuts - 2 servings' worth.  I was hungry.  Then, after Ron got home, with Corgan, we decided to go out to eat.  We went over to Felicity to the FeedMill and I thought - what the hell - and ordered a mushroom hoagy and steak fries.  Do you know how long it's been since I've had fries??  Man, were they good.  I then finished up with a bowl of fruit.  Yep, all my numbers went to hell when I put my supper into myfitnesspal!!  Not unexpected, but damn.  Didn't expect it to be THAT bad.  Now I know.  Not that myfitnesspal knew what steak fries OR a mushroom hoagy was, but I improvised on them and - zowie.

So.....I am going to assume that when I weigh in tomorrow, it will not be good news once again.  I will not be surprised.  A week of good shot to hell with one bad rash decision.

getting things figured out...

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

I got up today at noon.  Pretty much right on the dot.

After catching my games up on the computer, I finally got to check out myfitnesspal.com and I think it may work out pretty good for me.  Maybe.  I can't figure out how to put in a different amount than what they have already listed, but that will come with time.  Also, things like tuna  or potato salad that are made so many different ways are a little confusing, too.  I will perservere, and I will figure it out eventually, though.  Same thing with exercise - if you can't put in x amount of minutes, it won't let you.  Strange.

I ate my lunch at 2:30.  I had 3 slices of cooked ham (lunchmeat) cut into small pieces, a string cheese, a banana, and a serving (1/4 cup) of walnuts.  I entered all this into the food section on myfitnesspal and have plenty of room for supper, which is good, because I have a meeting tonight & everyone will be bringing some type of salad for our refreshment, and that will be my supper.

I moved all the books (well, the two small crates) that K.O. and Beth gave me into the bedroom and moved old books around and the new books into the cabinet.  I got two garbage bags of books to give to my sister ready - some read, some copies, some I am not interested in. Lugging those crates down the hall and into the bedroom was not easy!  Books are very heavy, you know.  My arms started aching.  I figured that was enough exercise for today - it probably wasn't, but I was okay with that.

I went to my meeting and for supper, I had a crab salad (maybe 2 or 3 TB, not much, just about 5 bites), potato salad (probably 1/2 cup - I had 2 spoons (small spoons, not serving spoons) the first time, 1 the second time) which was bought at IGA, some tuna salad that was homemade (probably 1 cup of this - I LOVE tuna! It was made with mayo, pickles, and maybe onion) and some salad that I took - shredded lettuce, spring mix, cherry tomatoes (both red & orange), celery chunks, baby carrots, and cheese sprinkled on top.  I would say I had 1/2 - 1 cup of this mix.  No dressing.  I dunked it in the potato salad!  LOL

After putting all this into myfitnesspal, it said my calorie count for the day was 1217, and, yes, that includes my nut bar for my snack.  WOW.  And I even had a little bit of carbs, with the potato salad, too.  It did say I was over on my sugars and my fats, though, and that's not good, but I will have to learn to balance that out. I will have to put a little more exercise into all this, too, though, as soon as I figure out HOW to put it in!  And get off my butt and do it...

not a successful Tuesday

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

I got up today right around noon.  I was a little surprised, because, once again, I could not go to sleep last night and didn't even turn my light out until 3 am.  I did my normal restless sleep and get-up-and-pee stuff, and thus, tonight, I am a bit tired.

I had to run (okay, drive) down to Walgreens and WalMart today.  Yes, I was bad and had lunch at Bob Evans.  I had the Chicken Salad Plate that I like so much.  Using my new TOPS book, I figure that this lunch was well within what my calories should be, even with the banana nut bread.  Each meal should contain both carbs (starch) and fats, too, or else it goes into starvation mode.  How THIS body could think it is starving, I don't know, but that's the way it is.  LOL

After my TOPS meeting tonight, during which we talked about the balancing of meals - and bodies going into starvation mode - I had a lunchmeat sandwich, a serving of walnuts, and a banana for supper.  Again, without knowing the calories of lunchmeat, I can't know what supper was "worth" but I feel satisfied that I was under 2000 calories for the day again today.  I will have to do more research into knowing more about different kinds of foods - proteins, carbs, fats and all that - and will have to make decisions for meals based on servings (grams) of each of these as well as calories.  Man, being on a diet is getting to be work, and I'm not talking about the exercise!!

Speaking of exercise, today I did the WalMart walk (I pretty much walk the whole store - up and down quite a few food/grocery aisles, across in front of electronics, down to go back across in front of HBA to the checkouts) as well as parking out in the boonies.  Once back home, I walked around our yard taking pictures of all the mystery lilies, also known as Naked Ladies, that have bloomed recently.  Also, when I went up to the meeting, I park a little further out, thus walking a bit there, too.  So I got quite a bit of walking in today, and did not do the Wii.

And, unfortunately, yes, in the month since I joined TOPS, I have gained every week.  This week was no different.  But I am not alone.  The group, as a whole, has gained the last two weeks, which is why we went back to basics tonight.  I am so glad I am not alone!










 

Another week starts...

Monday, August 5, 2013

I got up about 10:30 this morning, and I felt like I had actually slept last night - at least until Ron left for work.  He woke me up to make sure I was okay (as he does most mornings) and, after that, I started the goofy dreams and the get-up-and-pee stuff.  But to sleep for 4 or 5 uninterrupted hours, oh, that was bliss!

I had my lunch around 1:00.  Today, I had a can of my favorite chicken salad (Underwood), a slice of banana nut bread (Ron's leftover from Bob Evans yesterday), and the rest of the cherry orange tomatoes.  Or should that be orange cherry tomatoes?  Hmmmm. Either/or, I guess.

Then, finally, I got my TOPS book in the mail!  FINALLY.  They said I'd get it in "about 2 weeks" and this Tuesday - tomorrow - will be a month.  In the book, it gave me a formula to figure out how many calories a day I should be eating to lose weight.  According to this, I should eat between 2320 - 2900 calories a day.  Wow!  I thought it would tell me something like 800.  So, I went back and looked up the calories for my lunch, but I have no idea how many calories are in one slice of banana nut bread.  Did you know tomatoes actually have calories?  I didn't!  What a surprise that was - it is NOT a free veggie.  Neither are peppers, no matter what color they are.  So, lunch was 485 calories, not counting the bread.

Supper was a big salad and hot dogs.  Just hot dogs on a plate.  I always put my dressing in a small rammekin, and I am assuming that it is approximately 2 TB, at least until I remember to actually measure it.  It might be a bit more, but it cannot, absolutely cannot, be much more than 3 TB.  The rammekins just aren't that big.  I counted all the veggies that weren't free as one cup (25 calories), because they were all cut into pieces, and I only had "some" of each.  I had what was left of the turkey cut into pieces, too, and I don't know the caloric count of that is.  It was only around 15 little squares. I had cut a hunk of lunchmeat about 1/4 inch thick into squares.  I will have to do more research into how much lunchmeat is, calorie-wise, not I will be using it in salads any more.
I made a pack of jumbo hot dogs for us, which equals four for him and four for me.  Hot dogs are 160 calories each!  Youch!  I didn't realize that .  I knew hot dogs were made of "junk" stuff, but, dang.  I guess it's a good thing that my BIG calorie item was a meat product.

Since I forgot to take my Monday pill while eating supper, I went ahead and ate the last Eskimo Pie to get the pill moving through my system.  I don't know the calorie count of that, either.  Ron had thrown away the box when gathering garbage the other day, since there was only one left.  I will have a nut bar when I go to bed, also.  I am hoping to stave off the overnight sugar lows.  The nut bar is 170 calories.

So, not counting the bread at lunch, the lunchmeat at supper, and the Eskimo Pie, I am at 1460 calories for the day.  Even adding in another 500 for those three things, I am still below 2000, and I think that is a very good thing.

I didn't do a lot of exercise today, either.  I did some.  I did my twisty thing (you stand on it and do the twist) for 3 minutes, and I marched in place for 200 steps.  I did not do the Wii, because I thought perhaps Ron and I would walk or something when he got home.  I should have known better on a Monday.  He was very tired, and we didn't do anything.  According to the TOPS book, I should eat more calories the days I exercise, closer to the 2900 number, and I just don't know about that.  I am kinda thinking any day you eat less calories, the better.

I did good on drinking the water today.  I changed to drinking 16 ounces every hour, instead of 8 ounces every half hour.  I did not feel as stressed every time the damn timer went off, that's for sure.  I missed some of the hours, too, being absorbed in my games on the computer, so I guess that's okay - I am still drinking plenty of plain ol' water, as well as enjoying my tea.

Yay! This weekend is over.

Sunday, August 4, 2013

I am catching up on Sunday the Saturday that I missed.

Friday night into Saturday, I had another sugar low.  This happened around 4 am.  I was so worried about this - I knew that something was going to have to be done if this continues.  After a few traded sentences on Facebook with my older sister, I had determined that I thought that, since I was eating a better supper, then I needed to eat a snack before going to bed.  Evidently, the carbs and/or sugars I am having with supper is not enough to go through the night.

Saturday, for lunch, we went to Gold Star Chili.  I had a 5-way and a cheese coney (a combo meal).  I didn't quite finish the chili - I gave it to Ron to finish for me.  Yay, me.

Saturday night, we had a birthday celebration for my son and daughter-in-law.  We had a huge salad, with both lettuce and spring mix for a base, then lots of veggies to top it off.  Everyone made their own.  We have lots and lots of veggies left over for salads for supper the next couple of nights!  Then, they opened their gifts, and then, in lieu of cake and ice cream, I had made a "Banana Split Pie" and put toppings on the side.  I thought I cut the "Pie" into 6 even pieces, but ~~noooooo~~ so, the birthday people got the biggest pieces, and my sister and I (who are both diabetic) got the smallest pieces.  It's got fruit (pineapples and bananaa), cream cheese, powdered sugar, Instant Pudding (powder), and Cool Whip.  For toppings, I had strawberries, cherries, pecans, walnuts, dark chocolate chips, and mini semi-sweet chocolate chips.  All in all,  I think it's better for one than cake and ice cream.  This was really good - I think I will be making this again.

We then sat out by the firepit for a while, then came in and played Jeopardy! on the Wii.  Josh totally kicked Jean's and my asses - he won over 135,000.!!!  (OH, we can dream.....)  I told him I LET him win for his birthday.  hahahahahha  It was kinda late when they left, so we went on to bed, and I figured I could catch this up tonight.

I did NOT have a sugar low Saturday night into Sunday morning!  Hurray!!  Maybe having this bit more sugar does have some merit, after all.

After church today, we went to Bob Evans and I had a Sunshine Skillet and 2 slices of banana nut bread.

We had a large salad for supper.  I did have half of a chocolate chip cookie as we were making our salads because I was feeling "a mite peckish," which is kinda my way of starting a sugar low, but I don't want to be bothered to check my sugar.  I will have a Nature Valley nut bar (I don't know what else to call them...) - they are the Sweet and Salty Nut Granola Bars.  I buy the dark chocolate & pecan and the roasted mixed nuts (it has peanut butter on the bottom, not chocolate).  One of them only has 170 calories.

Needless to say, with having the sugar lows, I have not been sleeping very well and now I am too tired to sleep well.  So, tonight, I am going to go to bed early.  Yes, 11:00 is early.

Oh, and my weigh-in on Saturday?  I gained weight.  But I think, after this week of drinking water every half hour I am awake, I am a bit bloated.  I FEEL heavier, even though I can still do all the exercises that I have been doing with no troubles.  I will know more about that on Tuesday, with my next weigh-in.

Ahhhh.....Fridays. Yeah, right.

Friday, August 2, 2013

Yes, I know I am late with this one.  We get our grandson on Friday nights and things are a bit crazy after he gets here, and I just plain forgot.

I had a sugar low overnight again - about 3 am.  This is the second night in a row, and I'm starting to wonder what the heck is going on.  A few jelly beans & gumdrops (about 10, seriously, folks) and up for an hour until I feel 'normal' again and drift back off to sleep.  Not that sleep is a good sleep, but, still...

I got up around 11:30, thanks to a phone call from a friend at 11:00.  After that, I couldn't get back to sleep, even though I tried, so I got up.  I ran uptown to get the rest of stuff needed for the big birthday party/dinner tonight, so I won't be rushed tomorrow (yeah, right).

I had my lunch around 2:30.  Two pieces of ham lunchmeat and a slice of Colby Jack cheese.  No bread.

Still drinking a glass of water every half hour.  This is getting kinda hard to do.  Not that I am putting out any more, just that I am feeling full - bloated, even - and feel that if I drink another drop of water, I will explode.  And it's only been two days!

For supper, we cooked (yes, fried) up some catfish that Ron and Corgan have caught and got them out of the freezer.  That's all, though.  No sides, just the fish.  It was very good!  I am using olive oil now, if that matters to anyone.

Don't know if I am looking forward to weighing in tomorrow or not - I feel heavier because of the water, but have stuck with exercising (except today, I didn't do any today), so we shall see.

An off-beat day

Thursday, August 1, 2013

I slept today until noon.  I had set the alarm, but when it went off, I just turned it off & continued sleeping - I have not slept well the last three nights, (or at least since my baby fit).  I had a sugar low this morning around 5:30 - 5:45, and got up, checked my sugar (47!), ate a few gumdrops & jelly beans to fix that, and went back to bed.  I did not go right back to sleep, and when the alarm went off, I thought, since I am sleeping halfway decent, I should take advantage of it.

When I got up, I decided that I needed to call in some prescription refills.  One of which I wanted to QUIT taking.  I thought it was not needed, and could get rid of one pill out of the multitude I take.  I had taken the last one on Sunday, but by last night, and then this morning, I knew that I did need this medicine - much more than I realized with my thinking brain.  And, just as a by-line, I call this pill my "stupid pill" because taking it makes me feel stupid.  It makes me waaaaaay more forgetful than just old-age forgetfulness, so I really, really wanted to stop taking it.  Well, I feel a lot better mentally, but my headaches are so bad, and get worse with bending, stooping, etc. - all part of everyday life - that evidently I need this medicine to assauge this pain.

I caught all my stuff up on the computer, then went down the road to pick up my prescriptions.  Of course, I chose to have my Chicken Salad Plate at Bob Evans for my lunch, since it is a much better lunch than anything I would have at home.  After having lunch and picking up my prescriptions (and taking one of the aforementioned pills right away!), I went to WalMart to do the shopping I had planned to do on Friday.  What's one day, right?

I walked through WalMart and walked and walked back to where I forgot something, walked back to where I was, walked a couple more aisles, walked back for something I forget again, over and over again.  At least four times - eeeeerrrrrrrgggggggghhhhhhhh.  Then, I went to look for something in Photos, couldn't find it, walked back over to Electronics to find it, and then - boom - my son ran into me (well, his cart into mine).  Well, of course, it was HIS birthday gift I was looking for.  I told him what I was looking for, and he says, "Oh, it's over in Automotive."  Well, geez, no wonder I can't find it!  So, I walk all the way back to Automotive and we find what I'm looking for (sorry that he knows what one gift will be...).  Then, while walking back toward the middle of the store, I find an associate and ask about the first thing I was looking for.  She says, "Oh, it's back in Electronics."  Jiminy.  Back to Electronics I go.  I find that item, and am finally ready to check out.  Yeah, okay, find an open register in WalMart without a line six hundred miles long (or four carts, take your pick) unless you can cash yourself out.  With my full cart, I cannot do that!  So, I stand and stand and stand in line and finally get checked out.  I get my groceries out to the car and load the car up, and head for home.  I was so proud of myself that I just did all this walking and standing and my hips were NOT aching like crazy!  They hurt, yes, but were not aching.  I was a happy camper.

When I get home, I get all the stuff carried in, and the perishables put away, and Ron finally got home.  And it's only a little before 6!  Yay!  I had an appointment up in Mt. Orab at 7:00, so Ron took his shower and said he would go with me.  Wow, what a pleasant surprise that was.  Off we go, and after running the errand, he says, "You wanna stop and get some supper?"  Another surprise!  I figured he'd be tired and didn't want to mention it myself.  But, I asked him if he was sure, and he said yes, so we went to Butterbee's for supper.  He had pork chops with a salad and baked potato, and I had a chicken quesadilla (an appetizer) and a bowl of chili.  I did use some of the sour cream provided to flavor up the quesadilla.  Again, I must say that I was proud of myself for making a good choice for supper instead of sandwich & fries or meat & potatoes.  True, the quesadilla is made with a tortilla, but that is the only carb involved.  I'm feeling 'yay, me!'  Believe it or not, the quesadilla and chili filled me up, too!  I was so pleased.

We had a pleasant drive home and back on the computer to catch stuff up for me.  Ron turned on the TV and promptly fell asleep, just like every other night.

OH - and the drinking water thing?  I did great!  The times I was home, anyway, and when I was leaving, I drank a 'booster' cup, and when returning, I drank two full glasses.  I think this water thing just might work out for me!  And my worst fears did not come to pass - I did not go pee any more or any less than any other day.  That made me happy, too.

So, while it was an off-beat day, definitely out of the ordinary, it was a very good day.  I am satisfied with the way everything went today, and will go to bed happy tonight.  Hopefully, to sleep.