Friday again! Time seems to fly by so quickly these days. I have discovered that sitting around doing nothing all day doesn't slow it down. It just makes me more tense because I have the huge list of all the things I want to do in this life, and worry I won't have time to do it all. You probably have seen or heard of the movie, The Bucket List, well it is all the things you want to do before you kick the bucket. When you reach your sixties, I guess every day is a gift and we need to treat each day as if it was the only day we will have. This is not a morbid approach. It is living in the now. We spend most of our lives working and planning for the future, then all of a sudden we seem to run out of future before we have stopped to enjoy the moment we are in. Some of the things on my bucket list are writing a book and getting it published. Go to Alaska, Hawaii, and Europe. I especially want to see England and Norway as that is where my ancestors hail from. Other things I hope for is to see my children and grandchildren grow up, and to make some special memories with them that they can pass on to their kids. None of us want to be forgotten, and I hope to leave a trail of books behind that my great, great grandchildren can still collect royalties on. Some dream, hey? But we need the dreams and the motivations to keep us moving so we don't just sit and do crossword puzzles all day until we become one with the couch. This morning I dragged myself out of bed at 4:00 a.m. and went limping off to the gym. Why am I doing this, I asked myself, when I can lie in bed for another few hours! All of the above. Time gets shorter and shorter and my list gets longer and longer, so Now is the time to work on the goals that will get me there.
The scale and I compromised last night. I stayed exactly the same as two weeks ago when I left for vacation. I guess I'll take it. I did not gain even though we were eating things I don't ordinarily eat. I must have walked off the excess with the sight seeing we did. Now however it is time to get serious. November Inspiration is coming up, then Thanksgiving, Christmas and all the food events they entail! Let's get our plan books out and ROCK ON!
Poem today was one I wrote when a medical situation turned around and fooled the doctors:
Our Miracle
Miracles are only a myth, some might say
But many happen to us every day
The wonder of Spring as it bursts into bloom
A rainbow that chases away rainy gloom
We're often too busy to witness the sight
as a small bird spreads his wings and soars into flight
We take Life for granted and forget what is real
In a race to make money we forget how to feel
Till something happens to threaten our Fort
and make us all realize that Life is too short
It may be an illness or loss of a friend
That makes us remember all things must end
We pause then and ponder the worth of each day
The gifts that surround us should show us the way.
Sometimes a miracle can be so profound
It turns our safe little world upside down
Such a moment has brought us together tonight
As we celebrate the end of a very long fight
And toast the beginnings of so many tomorrows
We can cheerfully say goodbye to our sorrows
We have been blessed with a gift so sublime
More precious than jewels- we've been granted Time!
Time to make memories as we cherish the joy
You have brought to our family with the love you employ
Time to hear the music and stories you share
And maybe you'll hear some of ours if you dare
Soon we will welcome the fruit of your love
A small little angel sent down from above
So many miracles we are thankful for
And Time to celebrate so many more
We don't know the turns in the road that we tread
But believing in Miracles, we can face what's ahead.
JPH
2003
Plan for today:
Breakfast: 1 egg, toast, tea
Snack: apple
Lunch: salad
Snack: yogurt
Dinner: baked chicken, sweet potato, broccoli
Snack: ice cream bar
Exercise: Gym, 1 hour on bike and treadmill; Mr. G's list and evening Yoga.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Health Trek Day 30
Halloween is almost upon us. We don't get many children here, but I always feel the need to buy some candy, just in case! It was so much easier when you could buy a bushel of apples and pass them out, but now the fear of needles being pushed inside or some chemical injected into them, we have to go with safe, individually wrapped treats. The only problem with that is the candy sits on the shelf singing out to me all day long. I find myself eating two for each one I pass out. This year I am making the candy part of my Halloween decoration in hopes that I will think of it as just decor and not listen to the little voices calling to me. As soon as Halloween is over, the rest goes to the Grand kids!
Holidays are difficult as we are all programmed to make food the basis of our celebrations. As much as we know we can cook healthier dishes on Thanksgiving and Christmas, we all have our traditions. So I am making a game plan as of today. I am planning to eat all I want on Thanksgiving and Christmas day. The rest of the time, however, I will eat salads and take walks and go to the gym. When I do eat holiday foods, I shall put little small portions on my plate and savor each bite. I have read that when we crave a sweet, it is the first 3 bites we enjoy and if we could all stop there, we wouldn't have a weight problem. If we can remove the guilt of eating sweets, then perhaps we wouldn't feel so compelled to gorge when we do "cheat". So I plan to let myself enjoy small portions on very special occasions, then get back on track. No guilt, no beating myself up, just savor the food I choose to eat. Now, let's hope that greedy glutton that dwells somewhere in this over sized body of mine is listening to this plan! I shall keep her in her prison and not listen to the voices. Pretty soon, the men in white coats are going to carry me away if I keep talking about voices. But I am referring to those thoughts that pass through our minds about pouncing on the snacks that are lurking in our pantries and on the grocery shelves. Let those thoughts sail away, or visually throw them away and think about how good you will look in that size 10 outfit. Or how good it will feel to be able to take a hike outdoors in the spring with no pain. Concentrate on a goal and let those temptations go flying in the wind. Make good choices and enjoy the holidays.
Rock ON, All!
Dieter's Prayer
Strict is my diet. I must not want.
It maketh me to lie down at night hungry.
It leadeth me past the confectioners
It trieth my willpower
It leadeth me in the paths of alteration
for my figure's sake
Yea, though I walk through the aisles
of the pastry department,
I will buy no sweetrolls
for they are fattening.
The cakes and the pies, they tempt me
Before me is a table set with green beans and lettuce
I filleth my stomach with liquids
My day's quota runneth over
Surely calorie and weight charts
will follow me the rest of my life
And I will dwell in the fear of the scales forever!
Author unknown
Plan for today:
Breakfast: toast and tea
Snack: yogurt
Lunch: ham sandwich with lots of lettuce and a smidge of mayo
Snack: forgetabboudit, I messed up and ate a tootsie roll.
Now it's time to go to my TOPS meeting
Dinner: Out with friends, I will choose wisely!
No evening snack, kitchen closed!
Exercise:
No, the handle on my recliner, does not make it an exercise machine, so I will get up and put in a healthy DVD. Tonight I am dancing and singing at our meeting and when I get home I will do my Yoga P.M.
oh yes, mustn't forget Mr. G's list!
Holidays are difficult as we are all programmed to make food the basis of our celebrations. As much as we know we can cook healthier dishes on Thanksgiving and Christmas, we all have our traditions. So I am making a game plan as of today. I am planning to eat all I want on Thanksgiving and Christmas day. The rest of the time, however, I will eat salads and take walks and go to the gym. When I do eat holiday foods, I shall put little small portions on my plate and savor each bite. I have read that when we crave a sweet, it is the first 3 bites we enjoy and if we could all stop there, we wouldn't have a weight problem. If we can remove the guilt of eating sweets, then perhaps we wouldn't feel so compelled to gorge when we do "cheat". So I plan to let myself enjoy small portions on very special occasions, then get back on track. No guilt, no beating myself up, just savor the food I choose to eat. Now, let's hope that greedy glutton that dwells somewhere in this over sized body of mine is listening to this plan! I shall keep her in her prison and not listen to the voices. Pretty soon, the men in white coats are going to carry me away if I keep talking about voices. But I am referring to those thoughts that pass through our minds about pouncing on the snacks that are lurking in our pantries and on the grocery shelves. Let those thoughts sail away, or visually throw them away and think about how good you will look in that size 10 outfit. Or how good it will feel to be able to take a hike outdoors in the spring with no pain. Concentrate on a goal and let those temptations go flying in the wind. Make good choices and enjoy the holidays.
Rock ON, All!
Dieter's Prayer
Strict is my diet. I must not want.
It maketh me to lie down at night hungry.
It leadeth me past the confectioners
It trieth my willpower
It leadeth me in the paths of alteration
for my figure's sake
Yea, though I walk through the aisles
of the pastry department,
I will buy no sweetrolls
for they are fattening.
The cakes and the pies, they tempt me
Before me is a table set with green beans and lettuce
I filleth my stomach with liquids
My day's quota runneth over
Surely calorie and weight charts
will follow me the rest of my life
And I will dwell in the fear of the scales forever!
Author unknown
Plan for today:
Breakfast: toast and tea
Snack: yogurt
Lunch: ham sandwich with lots of lettuce and a smidge of mayo
Snack: forgetabboudit, I messed up and ate a tootsie roll.
Now it's time to go to my TOPS meeting
Dinner: Out with friends, I will choose wisely!
No evening snack, kitchen closed!
Exercise:
No, the handle on my recliner, does not make it an exercise machine, so I will get up and put in a healthy DVD. Tonight I am dancing and singing at our meeting and when I get home I will do my Yoga P.M.
oh yes, mustn't forget Mr. G's list!
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Health Trek Day 29
We're back from our Camping trip. We had a wonderful time, the weather was mostly sunny, even though the temperature range was between 29 and 70. We had a great week. Except for a few homemade desserts prepared by our hosts, most of the meals were pretty healthy, but portion control was not in our vocabulary this week, so I may suffer the Evil Scales revenge on Thursday night. Tremble, tremble. I got up at 4:00 a.m. this morning and hit the bike and treadmill so hope I managed some damage control.
My friend and side kick had a knee replacement last week, so I sent her a card every day letting her know our progress and hoping to raise her spirits. What a time we had trying to find mailboxes. Remember when they were at every grocery store and strip mall? They have virtually disappeared in Massachusetts and Connecticut. We only found mailboxes at Post Offices and there are not to many of them on the major highways. So Hubbie and I began listing all the things that our great grandchildren will never see:
Ranger Rick Decoder rings; souvenir cards in shredded wheat boxes; prizes in cereal or cracker jacks; covered bridges; telephone booths; party lines; television tubes; roof antennas; record players; cassettes or 8 track; maybe even cd's; Newspapers?; DVD rental stores??; VCR's;
The list can go on and on and I bet all of you could add a few. I guess with progress comes change, but it sure is hard to give some of these things up when they have been such a part of our lives. I wonder what changes there will be in the next 50 years. If newspapers and books get replaced with electronic devices and readers, what happens if there is a major longterm power outage. When all of us old timers are gone that know how to add, subtract and multiply without the aid of calculators, are people going to be helpless when the cash registers don't tell them how much change to give back? Or is money going to be obsolete too. If all the computers break down then or the satellites disappear, how will they be able to buy food and necessities? My mind is totally boggled thinking about it. I love all the new gadgets, but I hope people will never forget how to live off the land, just in case...
I have vowed today to start the next phase in the baby step changes I have been making on my weight loss journey. I have increased my exercise and closed the kitchen after 7:00 a.m. but I am still yo-yoing and not showing a significant weight loss. I do feel better from the exercise, but need to get serious and eat mindfully. Going on vacation really opens your eyes to how much we center our recreational times around eating. So starting today, I am planning to remove some of the comfort foods from my diet permanently until I get my weight under control. The first to go is salty snacks like potato chips, pretzels and popcorn. I will replace them with fruit and veggie snacks. I have been eating the lower salt chips or baked chips, but still have a problem with swelling in my legs, so the salty stuff is history! Good bye! Good Riddance! Hello healthier me!
Have a wonderful day everyone and remember to
ROCK ON!
Since all the News is prevalent with stories of Flu and Flu shots, I will share my Flu poem with you. This was written one day many years ago when I had one of those flus that brought you to your knees for a couple of weeks. We had no flu shots then...
Ode To The Flu
Oh Flu, you ignominious disparager of health,
What insidious glee do you derive from
bringing humanity to its knees?
Not one of us is safe from you.
What good is wealth?
What care you for our feeble-minded attempts
to stifle your ever prevailing sneeze?
Must you nauseate our bellies and fuzzy up our heads
with a dizzy spell?
Is it necessary to make Pepto-Bismol manufacturers rich
And us poor Peons miserable? Oh Hell!
Be damned you parasite of human frailty!
I refuse to bend to your command
I'll fight you to your death...or mine
You will not get the upper hand!
But alas, I do not think I'll be able
to see you to your tomb today.
But if I ever get out of this bathroom, Beware!
Because I may!!
JPH
November 1975
Plan for today:
Breakfast: Tea and toast
Snack: granola bar
Lunch: Salad
Snack: apple and cheese
Dinner: Stir Fry veggies and pork over brown rice
Snack: jello
Kitchen closed!
Exercise: Worked out at the gym for 50 minutes, Mr. G's list, evening Yoga
My friend and side kick had a knee replacement last week, so I sent her a card every day letting her know our progress and hoping to raise her spirits. What a time we had trying to find mailboxes. Remember when they were at every grocery store and strip mall? They have virtually disappeared in Massachusetts and Connecticut. We only found mailboxes at Post Offices and there are not to many of them on the major highways. So Hubbie and I began listing all the things that our great grandchildren will never see:
Ranger Rick Decoder rings; souvenir cards in shredded wheat boxes; prizes in cereal or cracker jacks; covered bridges; telephone booths; party lines; television tubes; roof antennas; record players; cassettes or 8 track; maybe even cd's; Newspapers?; DVD rental stores??; VCR's;
The list can go on and on and I bet all of you could add a few. I guess with progress comes change, but it sure is hard to give some of these things up when they have been such a part of our lives. I wonder what changes there will be in the next 50 years. If newspapers and books get replaced with electronic devices and readers, what happens if there is a major longterm power outage. When all of us old timers are gone that know how to add, subtract and multiply without the aid of calculators, are people going to be helpless when the cash registers don't tell them how much change to give back? Or is money going to be obsolete too. If all the computers break down then or the satellites disappear, how will they be able to buy food and necessities? My mind is totally boggled thinking about it. I love all the new gadgets, but I hope people will never forget how to live off the land, just in case...
I have vowed today to start the next phase in the baby step changes I have been making on my weight loss journey. I have increased my exercise and closed the kitchen after 7:00 a.m. but I am still yo-yoing and not showing a significant weight loss. I do feel better from the exercise, but need to get serious and eat mindfully. Going on vacation really opens your eyes to how much we center our recreational times around eating. So starting today, I am planning to remove some of the comfort foods from my diet permanently until I get my weight under control. The first to go is salty snacks like potato chips, pretzels and popcorn. I will replace them with fruit and veggie snacks. I have been eating the lower salt chips or baked chips, but still have a problem with swelling in my legs, so the salty stuff is history! Good bye! Good Riddance! Hello healthier me!
Have a wonderful day everyone and remember to
ROCK ON!
Since all the News is prevalent with stories of Flu and Flu shots, I will share my Flu poem with you. This was written one day many years ago when I had one of those flus that brought you to your knees for a couple of weeks. We had no flu shots then...
Ode To The Flu
Oh Flu, you ignominious disparager of health,
What insidious glee do you derive from
bringing humanity to its knees?
Not one of us is safe from you.
What good is wealth?
What care you for our feeble-minded attempts
to stifle your ever prevailing sneeze?
Must you nauseate our bellies and fuzzy up our heads
with a dizzy spell?
Is it necessary to make Pepto-Bismol manufacturers rich
And us poor Peons miserable? Oh Hell!
Be damned you parasite of human frailty!
I refuse to bend to your command
I'll fight you to your death...or mine
You will not get the upper hand!
But alas, I do not think I'll be able
to see you to your tomb today.
But if I ever get out of this bathroom, Beware!
Because I may!!
JPH
November 1975
Plan for today:
Breakfast: Tea and toast
Snack: granola bar
Lunch: Salad
Snack: apple and cheese
Dinner: Stir Fry veggies and pork over brown rice
Snack: jello
Kitchen closed!
Exercise: Worked out at the gym for 50 minutes, Mr. G's list, evening Yoga
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Health Trek Day 28
I have a confession to make. I like to play cards, but just don't seem to get together with friends like I used to. Everyone has such busy lives nowadays and our entertainment is the boob tube that we are all glued to most of our free time. So I play Hearts on my computer each morning and have really gotten to know my computer adversaries. My game strategy is to go after the Black Queen of Spades. If I get her dealt to me, I usually keep her so I know right where she is and I can get rid of her at the first opportunity. You have to short suit yourself so when someone plays a suit you don't have, wham! You lay the Queen of spades on 'em. Ouch! I face Life the same way. If there is a problem in my life, I lay it right out there where I can see it. I check all my options and figure the best way to get rid of the problem then wham! Do what has to be done. I have been pretty successful most of my life treating the bumps in Life's road in this manner. Sometimes you get a bump you can't smooth out and you have to ride with it for awhile. That's when you get your support group to come along and help. I guess losing weight is like that. It's not a bump I've been able to just jump over and move on. It keeps following me or dragging me with it. I have my totes of clothes I keep hoping to fit into and my totes of clothes I don't dare throw away because I might get back up there again! So how do I get over this bump. I think back to when we were kids and how many times the only thing we had to eat in the house was the tomatoes my mother canned (I always wondered why they called it canning, when she put them in all those glass jars??). She would buy day old bread and fill the freezer. Get damaged vegetables from the local farmers in exchange for the homemade wine that she made and spend all Fall canning in her spare time. I used to get to cut all the bad spots from the veggies. Anyway, sometimes all we had to eat were the canned goods and bread and butter. There were seven of us kids, 6 boys and me the only girl. My Mom worked as a waitress, and sometimes she would scrape the leftover steak off of peoples plates that her customers didn't finish and bring it home. She told her boss she was bringing it home to feed the dog, but she actually would make it into stew to feed us hungry kids. So when I overeat now, I know I am not doing it for all the kids in China or the starving children in Europe, I am doing it for that little kid inside of me that used to fantasize about having a whole steak to herself. When I shop I buy more than I need because I can't stand to have the cupboards bare. I cook as if I still had to feed those seven children, so always have leftovers in the fridge. So this morning I decided it is time to face the Queen of Spades and acknowledge that I do not have to feed the child any longer. I need to love her and cherish her and let her know that she is valued in this life and needs to take care of herself.
I picked up my Grandson from school yesterday and when he saw me he was walking with his teacher. His face lit up and he pronounced, "That's my Nana!" Later my friend Gwen and I took him to buy a Happy Meal, and Ben looked at her very seriously and said, Do you have a Grandfather? When Gwen said no, Ben said, "I have a very nice grandfather." This made me realize how important we are. I need to be here to see that little fellow grow up and help make some very special memories with him. So today I say goodbye to the ghost of the Child I was, and hello to the vibrant, healthy Grandmother I want to be for Ben!
Our camper is packed, we are headed out at first light tomorrow morning to start another adventure on the road. I will be thinking about the BLOG and taking some notes to talk about when i get back. Expect my next one to be on or about the 28Th of October. In the meantime, everyone,
ROCK ON!
Today's poem is dedicated to Ben, my youngest grandchild (5 years old)
A Face In The Window
Every time I drive away
After a day of fun and play,
I see your face pressed to the pane,
And wish that I could just remain.
I wish that I could stay the age I am,
So I could see you become a man
I fear that when you're big and tall,
I won't be on this earth at all.
Will you remember angels in the snow?
Watching the birds fly high and low?
Will you recall swimming in the lake,
Four candles on your birthday cake?
The walks we took with your hand in mine
are etched in memory for all time.
But you are so young my lovely boy
Time will erase your childish joy
When you bounce your child upon your knee
Will there be a fleeting thought of me?
And when you tuck him into bed,
Will you tell him the stories we once read?
I love you now, and I will love you then.
Once I leave the world of Men,
I will see you from afar
And be your Angel, your shining star!
Love to Benjamin from Nana
January 7, 2008
Plan for today:
Breakfast: Tea and plain doughnut, cup of fruit
Snack: jello
Lunch: chicken soup
Snack: apple and cheese
Dinner: Refrigerator leftovers (We are getting rid of all the stuff so we can leave for a week)
Kitchen still closing at seven!
Exercises: Walking DVD; Mr. G's list; Yoga
Have a wonderful, healthy, week.
I picked up my Grandson from school yesterday and when he saw me he was walking with his teacher. His face lit up and he pronounced, "That's my Nana!" Later my friend Gwen and I took him to buy a Happy Meal, and Ben looked at her very seriously and said, Do you have a Grandfather? When Gwen said no, Ben said, "I have a very nice grandfather." This made me realize how important we are. I need to be here to see that little fellow grow up and help make some very special memories with him. So today I say goodbye to the ghost of the Child I was, and hello to the vibrant, healthy Grandmother I want to be for Ben!
Our camper is packed, we are headed out at first light tomorrow morning to start another adventure on the road. I will be thinking about the BLOG and taking some notes to talk about when i get back. Expect my next one to be on or about the 28Th of October. In the meantime, everyone,
ROCK ON!
Today's poem is dedicated to Ben, my youngest grandchild (5 years old)
A Face In The Window
Every time I drive away
After a day of fun and play,
I see your face pressed to the pane,
And wish that I could just remain.
I wish that I could stay the age I am,
So I could see you become a man
I fear that when you're big and tall,
I won't be on this earth at all.
Will you remember angels in the snow?
Watching the birds fly high and low?
Will you recall swimming in the lake,
Four candles on your birthday cake?
The walks we took with your hand in mine
are etched in memory for all time.
But you are so young my lovely boy
Time will erase your childish joy
When you bounce your child upon your knee
Will there be a fleeting thought of me?
And when you tuck him into bed,
Will you tell him the stories we once read?
I love you now, and I will love you then.
Once I leave the world of Men,
I will see you from afar
And be your Angel, your shining star!
Love to Benjamin from Nana
January 7, 2008
Plan for today:
Breakfast: Tea and plain doughnut, cup of fruit
Snack: jello
Lunch: chicken soup
Snack: apple and cheese
Dinner: Refrigerator leftovers (We are getting rid of all the stuff so we can leave for a week)
Kitchen still closing at seven!
Exercises: Walking DVD; Mr. G's list; Yoga
Have a wonderful, healthy, week.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Health Trek Day 27
It was quite a weekend. Fall Rally was a lot of fun. For those of you who went, I hope you had as much fun as I did. We performed a skit that we had only had time to rehearse twice and when we got on stage, I think we both froze a couple of times. I forgot to put on some of the costume accessories, we messed up lines and made total fools of ourselves, but it was really fun. We are going to do the whole thing again for our Chapter on the 29Th. What a couple of hams we are! The entire event was a nice mixture of humor and emotive stories of weight loss successes as well as rewards for our efforts over the summer. My cheeks are still aching, Charlie! (Not saying which ones!)
I really do believe that laughter is the best medicine. I have been full of happy feelings and bursting into song ever since I left the Civic Center. So another formula for weight loss; Don't worry, be happy!
We are all packed, except for last minute items, for our camping adventure in Massachusetts. We have a house sitter, and the weather looks like it will be going up. I have been thinking really hard sending brain waves out to Mother Nature that this would be a really good week for an Indian Summer! So when the weather gets nice and toasty for the next few days instead of feeling like the beginnings of an ice age, you can thank ME. And don't forget to send a big thanks to Mother Nature herself. We don't want to anger her this close to the big W. (Winter that is)
I have great plans to keep my weight under control this week. For one thing we will be doing a lot of walking. When we eat out, I am going to let my husband order for me. He always nags me about eating, so I decided to let him be my conscience. The Camper is not big enough for me to hide food and sneak candy bars and we are only bringing healthy snacks. Anytime I feel like hitting him over the head with my exercise dumbbells, I will think of Fall Rally and h0w much I want to be up on stage telling my weight loss story, or better yet, graduating at SRD! So I plan to smile sweetly and not let food become the center of this vacation.
Tomorrow will be my last Blog until the 28Th of October unless I can figure out how to use WiiFi or whatever it is called. So don't think I have dropped off the ends of the earth if you don't hear from me. I will be recording our adventures along the way, and perhaps writing a few more poems to share with you next week.
So enjoy our nice weather and don't forget, everyone, to
ROCK ON!
I have a bit of Prose to share with you today, that I didn't write, but agree with wholeheartedly:
Attitude
The longer I live, the more
I realize the impact of attitude on life.
Attitude to me is more important than facts
It is more important than the past
than education,
than money,
than circumstances,
than failures,
than successes,
than what other people say or do,
It is more important than appearances,
giftedness or skill,
It will make or break a company..
a church...a house.
The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day
regarding the attitude for that day
We cannot change our past...
we cannot change the fact that
people will act in a certain way.
We cannot change the inevitable.
The only thing we can do is play on the string we
have, that is our attitude...
I am convinced that life is 10% what happens
and 90% how I react to it.
And so it is with you,
WE ARE IN CHARGE OF OUR
ATTITUDE!
By Charless Swindell
Plan for today:
Breakfast: cereal, toast, tea
Snack: jello
Lunch: hamburger, lettuce, tomato
Snack: apple
Dinner: Beef Stew
Kitchen Closed at 7:00 P.m.
Exercise:
Long walk with my Grandson, Ben
Mr. G's list
Yoga before bed.
:)
I really do believe that laughter is the best medicine. I have been full of happy feelings and bursting into song ever since I left the Civic Center. So another formula for weight loss; Don't worry, be happy!
We are all packed, except for last minute items, for our camping adventure in Massachusetts. We have a house sitter, and the weather looks like it will be going up. I have been thinking really hard sending brain waves out to Mother Nature that this would be a really good week for an Indian Summer! So when the weather gets nice and toasty for the next few days instead of feeling like the beginnings of an ice age, you can thank ME. And don't forget to send a big thanks to Mother Nature herself. We don't want to anger her this close to the big W. (Winter that is)
I have great plans to keep my weight under control this week. For one thing we will be doing a lot of walking. When we eat out, I am going to let my husband order for me. He always nags me about eating, so I decided to let him be my conscience. The Camper is not big enough for me to hide food and sneak candy bars and we are only bringing healthy snacks. Anytime I feel like hitting him over the head with my exercise dumbbells, I will think of Fall Rally and h0w much I want to be up on stage telling my weight loss story, or better yet, graduating at SRD! So I plan to smile sweetly and not let food become the center of this vacation.
Tomorrow will be my last Blog until the 28Th of October unless I can figure out how to use WiiFi or whatever it is called. So don't think I have dropped off the ends of the earth if you don't hear from me. I will be recording our adventures along the way, and perhaps writing a few more poems to share with you next week.
So enjoy our nice weather and don't forget, everyone, to
ROCK ON!
I have a bit of Prose to share with you today, that I didn't write, but agree with wholeheartedly:
Attitude
The longer I live, the more
I realize the impact of attitude on life.
Attitude to me is more important than facts
It is more important than the past
than education,
than money,
than circumstances,
than failures,
than successes,
than what other people say or do,
It is more important than appearances,
giftedness or skill,
It will make or break a company..
a church...a house.
The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day
regarding the attitude for that day
We cannot change our past...
we cannot change the fact that
people will act in a certain way.
We cannot change the inevitable.
The only thing we can do is play on the string we
have, that is our attitude...
I am convinced that life is 10% what happens
and 90% how I react to it.
And so it is with you,
WE ARE IN CHARGE OF OUR
ATTITUDE!
By Charless Swindell
Plan for today:
Breakfast: cereal, toast, tea
Snack: jello
Lunch: hamburger, lettuce, tomato
Snack: apple
Dinner: Beef Stew
Kitchen Closed at 7:00 P.m.
Exercise:
Long walk with my Grandson, Ben
Mr. G's list
Yoga before bed.
:)
Friday, October 16, 2009
Health Trek Day 26
The scales were good to me last night. A small loss, but at least going in the right direction, down! Probably had the pounds freeze off yesterday. It sure is cold for October! We are getting ready to go on our camping vacation next week and ding dang it, I want an Indian summer. Don't you think we're entitled after our 3 week summer? So I am thinking warm thoughts and hoping for the best. We are spending part of the time at my Sister-in-laws house on Cape Cod so we can always go inside if we get cold.
I didn't go to the gym this morning as I am hostage to the LIST this morning. We have this check list we need to do before we go and as usual I have procrastinated all week so have to rush around today to get everything done. I also have to rehearse and memorize 4 songs before the Fall Rally tomorrow. All this and exercise too! I will try to fit in some yoga and my therapy while I clean, pack, do laundry and check and re-check the list. We are not leaving until Wednesday next week, but my husband always like to have everything done early and where he has to work, he'll want me to have my part done before the weekend so he can check and re-check to make sure I did it right and we have everything we need. We will most likely have enough paraphernalia to entertain the entire East coast by the time we hit the road.
How come having fun is so much work?
I hope I can come back from the vacation with a loss and not a gain. Perhaps the walking and sight seeing will take off the pounds I gain from eating out and at other people's houses. I resolve to make smart, healthy choices!
Have a wonderful weekend everyone, and remember to
ROCK ON!
Since we are going to visit family next week, I thought I would share a poem with you that was written on one of our family get gatherings. Perhaps you can relate....
Hallspeak
Whenever the Halls should congregate
Talk always results in a great debate
It's amazing what subjects will evolve
And all the problems they deign to solve
Topics expand like an ivy trail
Each opinion expressed in a raging gale
From a distance the noise seems quite absurd
All voices demanding to be heard
It seems that everyone talks in sync
Expounding to all just what they think
Not a thought goes to waste in each busy head
They pass through the lips without worry or dread
"But who is listening" I wondered one day
With so many talking, with so much to say
Then I perceived to my great surprise
An astounding feat right before my eyes
One who stated his wise verbation
answered a question without hesitation
added a thought to another topic
and didn't appear the least myopic
if Olympians awarded for tall stories told
then Hallspeak would surely bring home the gold!
JPH
Plan for today:
Breakfast: toast and tea, fruit cup
Snack: apple
Lunch: leftover beef stew
snack: pretzels
Dinner: pork chops, baked potato, spinach
Dessert: angel food cake with mandarin oranges and fresh raspberries
Kitchen closed!
Exercise:
Yoga, Mr. G's list and racing up and down stairs doing housework and packing,, yikes, look at the time, I had better get started!
I didn't go to the gym this morning as I am hostage to the LIST this morning. We have this check list we need to do before we go and as usual I have procrastinated all week so have to rush around today to get everything done. I also have to rehearse and memorize 4 songs before the Fall Rally tomorrow. All this and exercise too! I will try to fit in some yoga and my therapy while I clean, pack, do laundry and check and re-check the list. We are not leaving until Wednesday next week, but my husband always like to have everything done early and where he has to work, he'll want me to have my part done before the weekend so he can check and re-check to make sure I did it right and we have everything we need. We will most likely have enough paraphernalia to entertain the entire East coast by the time we hit the road.
How come having fun is so much work?
I hope I can come back from the vacation with a loss and not a gain. Perhaps the walking and sight seeing will take off the pounds I gain from eating out and at other people's houses. I resolve to make smart, healthy choices!
Have a wonderful weekend everyone, and remember to
ROCK ON!
Since we are going to visit family next week, I thought I would share a poem with you that was written on one of our family get gatherings. Perhaps you can relate....
Hallspeak
Whenever the Halls should congregate
Talk always results in a great debate
It's amazing what subjects will evolve
And all the problems they deign to solve
Topics expand like an ivy trail
Each opinion expressed in a raging gale
From a distance the noise seems quite absurd
All voices demanding to be heard
It seems that everyone talks in sync
Expounding to all just what they think
Not a thought goes to waste in each busy head
They pass through the lips without worry or dread
"But who is listening" I wondered one day
With so many talking, with so much to say
Then I perceived to my great surprise
An astounding feat right before my eyes
One who stated his wise verbation
answered a question without hesitation
added a thought to another topic
and didn't appear the least myopic
if Olympians awarded for tall stories told
then Hallspeak would surely bring home the gold!
JPH
Plan for today:
Breakfast: toast and tea, fruit cup
Snack: apple
Lunch: leftover beef stew
snack: pretzels
Dinner: pork chops, baked potato, spinach
Dessert: angel food cake with mandarin oranges and fresh raspberries
Kitchen closed!
Exercise:
Yoga, Mr. G's list and racing up and down stairs doing housework and packing,, yikes, look at the time, I had better get started!
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Health Trek Day 25
I received another one of those e-mails that get sent to everyone. This one was called "Just a Mom" Perhaps you've seen it. It described a woman renewing her license and when asked her occupation she replied "I'm a research associate in the field of Child Development and Human Relations." It was a cute story, but made me stop and think how important titles are in our contemporary society. When I was young my first job was as a secretary in a medical records room. Nowadays they would be called medical transcribers. Secretaries are now Executive Assistants. A teacher's aide is a Technician I, II or III depending on the assistance you give the teacher. It has become so important to have a nice title, and don't even get me started on this Political correctness madness. So I guess maybe we could take our weight loss journey more seriously if we considered ourselves "Adipose removal research associates"; Or "Exercise Research and Development Lab Actuators". Sounds good doesn't it. Our journals can become our research tools and even our clothing can be labeled as design modules for more efficient exercise techniques. Boy aren't we important now! I am going to dress in my athletic clothes and get out my YOGA DVD. I have all the equipment, the title and the pounds are just going to fall off. (I hope they don't make a mess of my rug!"
Tonight is our TOPS meeting and we are getting all charged up for our Fall Rally! How about you? Hope to see you all there!
ROCK ON!
I wrote this poem back in the sixties when I was part of the "Woman's Movement" I don't take things quite as seriously today. My reward for being is woman is to see all the blessings I have in the faces of my children and grandchildren...
The Void
The problem that has no name
No woman needs this phrase explained
We all play the losing game
and hide the fact that our smiles are strained
"Anatomy is destiny" cry Men like Freud
Women must adjust to the feminine role
Have children- that will fill the void;
Let your husband's success become your goal.
If it's natural for us to be just wives and mothers
Why do our souls cry out in vain?
Why if it's natural to give all for others
Does our loss of self emit such pain?
We must admit aloud that our pain is real
Reach out a hand to our sisters of Earth
Our souls will not begin to heal
Until in unison we proclaim our worth!
JPH
Plan for today:
Breakfast: Egg, toast, tea
Snack: apple
Lunch: salad
Dinner: Beef Stew
Snack: ice cream bar
Exercise: Yoga, Mr. G's list
Tonight is our TOPS meeting and we are getting all charged up for our Fall Rally! How about you? Hope to see you all there!
ROCK ON!
I wrote this poem back in the sixties when I was part of the "Woman's Movement" I don't take things quite as seriously today. My reward for being is woman is to see all the blessings I have in the faces of my children and grandchildren...
The Void
The problem that has no name
No woman needs this phrase explained
We all play the losing game
and hide the fact that our smiles are strained
"Anatomy is destiny" cry Men like Freud
Women must adjust to the feminine role
Have children- that will fill the void;
Let your husband's success become your goal.
If it's natural for us to be just wives and mothers
Why do our souls cry out in vain?
Why if it's natural to give all for others
Does our loss of self emit such pain?
We must admit aloud that our pain is real
Reach out a hand to our sisters of Earth
Our souls will not begin to heal
Until in unison we proclaim our worth!
JPH
Plan for today:
Breakfast: Egg, toast, tea
Snack: apple
Lunch: salad
Dinner: Beef Stew
Snack: ice cream bar
Exercise: Yoga, Mr. G's list
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Health Trek Day 24
This morning as I was walking on the treadmill, trying to ignore the pain in my hip, I wondered just how much the weather really affects arthritis pain. When I got home I did a little research and found articles that confirmed that arthritis aches and pains, asthma and even migraines are definitely affected by weather changes. Hot humid weather can exacerbate respiratory problems as well as migraines and joint pain. Cold, damp weather also contributes to all those little oohs and ouches we suffer through. There are even weather channels now that have a health scale to warn you of those aches and pains you will be getting from the forecast. (All that meteorological mumbo jumbo gives me a headache!) I can't help but wonder if they are getting a kickback from the pharmacy companies for all the pain medicine they will be selling because of the forecasts. Anyway, the articles explain how changing weather can cause your bodies to expand and contract, joints to adjust to these fluid changes and the result is a big ouch. I guess it makes me feel a little better blaming it on the weather because I know the weather will change and I will get some relief. Until it changes again. But just being able to blame the weatherman or should I be politically correct and say weather person, helps to cope with the pain. The important thing is that I still drag myself out of bed and go to the gym to do my exercises. One thing to share in case you don't know it, my orthopedic doctor told me last week not to worry about increasing the intensity of machines as I walk. The arthritis condition I have can be harmed more by putting to much strain on the bones than the exercise benefit could do So instead of increasing the intensity, I am increasing the time that I walk. I started with 15 minutes a session and I am up to 30 minutes now on the treadmill and the bike. I increase my speed on the bike up and down in spurts, keeping the level low. I have been able to get my heart rate up to the target level doing this and I break out in a sweat so I know I am doing something. The important thing, my wise Doctor advised me, is to keep moving. Sitting in a chair does more damage than any other bad habit I have. I also know that I eat more when I am just sitting in my chair. So plan for this week, keep moving, keep busy, stay out of the kitchen.
I spent Sunday rehearsing with a friend for Fall Rally in Augusta. I hope to see all of you there and you will get to see us make total fools of ourselves once again. I hope I get motivated so much it will take me through the holidays and well into next year and I can start watching those pounds fall off! (Wouldn't it be ghastly if they actually fell off all over the floor and we had that mess to clean up? Yuck!)
I hope to see all of you at the rally.
ROCK ON everyone!
Humor for today:
Senior Citizen Alphabet
A for arthritis
B for bad back
C is for chest pains, perhaps cardiac?
D is for dental decay and decline,
E is for eyesight- can't read the top line
F is for fissures and fluid retention
G is for gas (which I'd rather not mention)
H is for high blood pressure (I'd rather have low)
I is for incisions with scars you can show
J is for joints, that now fail to flex
L is for libido--what happened to sex?
Wait! I forgot about K!
K is for my knees that crack when they're bent
(Please forgive me, my Memory ain't worth a cent)
N is for neurosis, pinched nerves and stiff neck
O is for osteo-and all bones that crack
P is for prescriptions, I have quite a few
Give me another pill, I'll be good as new!
Q is for queasiness. Fatal or flu?
R is for reflux- one meal turns into two
S is for sleepless nights, counting my fears
T is for tinnitus- I hear bells in my ears
U is for urinary: difficulties with flow
V is for vertigo, that's "dizzy" you know
W is for worry, now what's going 'round?
X is for X-ray- and what might be found
Y is for another year I've left behind
Z is for zest that I still have in my mind.
Have survived all the symptoms my body's deployed,
And kept twenty-six doctors gainfully employed!
thanks for whomever sent me this via e-mail and to whomever out there in the world wide web that wrote it!
Plan for today:
Breakfast: egg, toast, tea
Snack: jello
Lunch: grilled cheese, baked chips
Snack: apple
Dinner: tuna casserole
Snack: ice cream bar
Exercise: Gym- treadmill 35 minutes. No bike today, some young man had the audacity to use my bike when I wanted it!!!
Yoga for the rest of us DVD; Mr. G's long, long list!
I spent Sunday rehearsing with a friend for Fall Rally in Augusta. I hope to see all of you there and you will get to see us make total fools of ourselves once again. I hope I get motivated so much it will take me through the holidays and well into next year and I can start watching those pounds fall off! (Wouldn't it be ghastly if they actually fell off all over the floor and we had that mess to clean up? Yuck!)
I hope to see all of you at the rally.
ROCK ON everyone!
Humor for today:
Senior Citizen Alphabet
A for arthritis
B for bad back
C is for chest pains, perhaps cardiac?
D is for dental decay and decline,
E is for eyesight- can't read the top line
F is for fissures and fluid retention
G is for gas (which I'd rather not mention)
H is for high blood pressure (I'd rather have low)
I is for incisions with scars you can show
J is for joints, that now fail to flex
L is for libido--what happened to sex?
Wait! I forgot about K!
K is for my knees that crack when they're bent
(Please forgive me, my Memory ain't worth a cent)
N is for neurosis, pinched nerves and stiff neck
O is for osteo-and all bones that crack
P is for prescriptions, I have quite a few
Give me another pill, I'll be good as new!
Q is for queasiness. Fatal or flu?
R is for reflux- one meal turns into two
S is for sleepless nights, counting my fears
T is for tinnitus- I hear bells in my ears
U is for urinary: difficulties with flow
V is for vertigo, that's "dizzy" you know
W is for worry, now what's going 'round?
X is for X-ray- and what might be found
Y is for another year I've left behind
Z is for zest that I still have in my mind.
Have survived all the symptoms my body's deployed,
And kept twenty-six doctors gainfully employed!
thanks for whomever sent me this via e-mail and to whomever out there in the world wide web that wrote it!
Plan for today:
Breakfast: egg, toast, tea
Snack: jello
Lunch: grilled cheese, baked chips
Snack: apple
Dinner: tuna casserole
Snack: ice cream bar
Exercise: Gym- treadmill 35 minutes. No bike today, some young man had the audacity to use my bike when I wanted it!!!
Yoga for the rest of us DVD; Mr. G's long, long list!
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Health Trek Day 23
I went to therapy this morning at 7:00 so had to leave the house at six. My Doctor told me last week that I could now begin the strengthening or resistance exercises at home and check in once a week to the therapist. So I don't have to go twice a week. Thank goodness, that can get expensive! Mr G. gave me a two page list of exercises I can do at home and combined with the Gym exercise and the Yoga I should be in really good shape. But the truth is, the scales are still going the wrong way. I know what I am doing wrong and really need to find a way to make this one more small change. KEEPING MY MOUTH SHUT! Isn't it odd how we can have willpower and do the right thing when it is for a life threatening reason, but lose all that resolve when it is just an every day process? For instance, if we are told we are going in for a test and need to fast for 12 hours before hand, we can do it. If we find out we will break out in hives if we eat certain foods, we will give them up. But just to lose weight, we resist giving up our comfort foods. At least I do. Since I have been doing all this exercise, my feeble brain has been saying, okay you did all that work, you should be rewarded. Have a candy bar! I keep rewarding myself for things I haven't achieved yet. One thing that has changed is that I am no longer taking the pain pills that I took for several weeks. As long as I was taking them, my appetite seemed to be under control Since I stopped, I feel hungry all the time and am eating way too much. I keep making excuses, but I know I need to just stay out of the kitchen! I would really like some feedback to see if any of you have this problem of feeling hungry all of the time and how handle it. Today I am going to try to keep busy and get my mind off of food. Being sedentary is one thing that leads to my down fall. So I have my list ready and am going to start with the vacuuming!
Sorry if this is a short, un-witty note today, but I am really feeling angry at myself for not having more will power. I am open to any and all suggestions.
In spite of my setbacks, I plan to continue to ROCK ON! I am starting over!
A Witty Ditty
I tried to write a little ditty
that was clever, bright and witty
But the weather has been rainy
the family has been zany
and I haven't felt that brainy
all this week!
So if something sharp and cheerful
that would wisely fill an earful
Something deep and erudite
is what you seek...
I can sit all day and ponder
knit my brow and make you wonder
but when you ask me for some wit,
This is IT!
JPH
Food plan:
Breakfast: Ate at Denny's this morning: Had the senior starter, one egg, slice of bacon, hash browns, English muffin. I didn't eat the bacon and only half of the Muffin and will have a light lunch, okay?
Snack: Baked chips
Lunch: salad
Dinner: Beef Stew
Snack: apple
Exercise: I have been practicing a DVD called "Yoga for the rest of us". It is very good. Lots of modifications for people like me. A good saying she starts with is :Start where you are; Use what you have: Do what you can!
I shall do what I must today. Yoga and Mr. G's list. Tomorrow back to the gym at 4:00 a.m.!
ROCK ON!
Sorry if this is a short, un-witty note today, but I am really feeling angry at myself for not having more will power. I am open to any and all suggestions.
In spite of my setbacks, I plan to continue to ROCK ON! I am starting over!
A Witty Ditty
I tried to write a little ditty
that was clever, bright and witty
But the weather has been rainy
the family has been zany
and I haven't felt that brainy
all this week!
So if something sharp and cheerful
that would wisely fill an earful
Something deep and erudite
is what you seek...
I can sit all day and ponder
knit my brow and make you wonder
but when you ask me for some wit,
This is IT!
JPH
Food plan:
Breakfast: Ate at Denny's this morning: Had the senior starter, one egg, slice of bacon, hash browns, English muffin. I didn't eat the bacon and only half of the Muffin and will have a light lunch, okay?
Snack: Baked chips
Lunch: salad
Dinner: Beef Stew
Snack: apple
Exercise: I have been practicing a DVD called "Yoga for the rest of us". It is very good. Lots of modifications for people like me. A good saying she starts with is :Start where you are; Use what you have: Do what you can!
I shall do what I must today. Yoga and Mr. G's list. Tomorrow back to the gym at 4:00 a.m.!
ROCK ON!
Monday, October 12, 2009
Health Trek Day 22
It was a good weekend. My husband was able to scratch the last item off his getting ready for the winter list. It is incredible how much time we get ready for each season. Living on a lake makes the chores endless. We have docks to put out, boats, jet skis, canoes, and water toys to launch. Then after just a few brief weeks of being able to play with all these toys, we have to take them out and put everything back in storage! It gets harder and harder to lift, tote and tug all this paraphernalia back and forth as our backs get weaker and the arthritis attacks our joints, so my genius hubby keeps coming up with all these amazing ideas as to how to store everything most efficiently. He designed a wooden pulley that he attaches the docks to and then pulls them up the hill using his jeep or his son's four wheeler. Too bad he couldn't get them to stack themselves too!
I always swore I would never make lists! I was raised by lists. My mother worked as a waitress and had to leave for work as soon as I got home from school and could watch my younger brothers. She would leave lists all over the house. I had instructions on what to make for dinner. Lists of chores I needed to do. Reminders to make my bed, brush my teeth, no television until the chores were finished, what snacks to eat, what not to eat. Labels and lists on everything in the house, put this away, don't touch my makeup. stay out of my closet, don't play with my shoes (my Mom had hundreds of shoes and I was always playing grownup with them). So I grew an absolute abhorrence of lists! Promised myself I would never leave them for my kids! So I resorted to charts. I made incentive charts where the kids could earn extra allowance if they chose some chores from the charts and did them without asking. Sort of worked, sometimes...
Now I find myself making lists again. But I don't leave them around as orders for other people. I make them to remind myself what I need to do. Chores I need to get done each day to keep myself on track so I don't end up reading, knitting or playing computer scrabble all day!
Post Its are another wonderful invention. I shudder to think what my mother would have done with them! But I use them as reminders to myself. Stay out of the Fridge! Kitchen closes at 7:00 P.M. Remember the pants in the closet you are striving to fit into! Don't eat this, it's for supper! (that one for my husband who eats constantly and stays thin!)
Then there are the perpetual shopping lists. We write things down on a list we keep on the table then forget to take them when we go shopping. Always something I forget!
If lists work to help keep us on track, so be it. We'll do it. What keeps you on track? I would really enjoy hearing some comments from some of you as to how you are doing and what is working to keep you motivated. I have the most trouble on weekends, as meal planning seems to be hit or miss. We have company or got out more and the best laid plans seem to go out the window. It is harder to keep my will power in check when I have a perpetual eating machine at my side.
So It is Monday and we start again.
Have a productive day everyone and remember
ROCK ON!
Poem for today, written for my son when he was growing up:
Chores!
Chores! Chores! Chores!
No wonder that word rhymes with bores!
School is out, I'm finally free
I should be feeling full of glee
but Daddy says to mow the grass
It's not so high it wouldn't pass
At least to my eye it looks fine
I'd rather be swinging from a vine
Wouldn't it be super great
If a jungle I could create
With grass so high that I could hide
"Okay Dad, I'm going outside."
Now Mom says to fold the clothes
I'd rather spray them with a hose!
I would say we had some rain
But it would only be in vain
She'd only make me do it later
I am a good procrastinator
I hid them once beneath the bed,
Boy did my Mom's face get red!
When I wake up to morning's light
I start to plan my day just right
I'll string the hammock in the shade...
then I spy the list they've made
"Don't forget to take out the trash;
use the leftovers to make some hash;
Wash the dishes, sweep the floor;
Ye Gads, you mean there's even more?
Trim the hedges, paint the wall,
Clean your fingerprints off the hall
It's enough to make you mad
It's summer now, I should be glad
By the time these chores come to an end
It will be time for school again!
JPH
Plan for today:
Breakfast: Oatmeal, toast, tea
Snack: jello
Lunch: Soup, six crackers
Snack: apple and cheese
Dinner: cube steak, broccoli, baked potato
Exercise: 1 hour hard labor at the gym (been there, done that at 4:30 this morning!)
New exercise DVD: Yoga for the rest of us. Very good for anyone--she gives lots of hints to modify it for those of us who have been certified couch potatoes for so long.
And of course, Mr. Gestapo's list!
I always swore I would never make lists! I was raised by lists. My mother worked as a waitress and had to leave for work as soon as I got home from school and could watch my younger brothers. She would leave lists all over the house. I had instructions on what to make for dinner. Lists of chores I needed to do. Reminders to make my bed, brush my teeth, no television until the chores were finished, what snacks to eat, what not to eat. Labels and lists on everything in the house, put this away, don't touch my makeup. stay out of my closet, don't play with my shoes (my Mom had hundreds of shoes and I was always playing grownup with them). So I grew an absolute abhorrence of lists! Promised myself I would never leave them for my kids! So I resorted to charts. I made incentive charts where the kids could earn extra allowance if they chose some chores from the charts and did them without asking. Sort of worked, sometimes...
Now I find myself making lists again. But I don't leave them around as orders for other people. I make them to remind myself what I need to do. Chores I need to get done each day to keep myself on track so I don't end up reading, knitting or playing computer scrabble all day!
Post Its are another wonderful invention. I shudder to think what my mother would have done with them! But I use them as reminders to myself. Stay out of the Fridge! Kitchen closes at 7:00 P.M. Remember the pants in the closet you are striving to fit into! Don't eat this, it's for supper! (that one for my husband who eats constantly and stays thin!)
Then there are the perpetual shopping lists. We write things down on a list we keep on the table then forget to take them when we go shopping. Always something I forget!
If lists work to help keep us on track, so be it. We'll do it. What keeps you on track? I would really enjoy hearing some comments from some of you as to how you are doing and what is working to keep you motivated. I have the most trouble on weekends, as meal planning seems to be hit or miss. We have company or got out more and the best laid plans seem to go out the window. It is harder to keep my will power in check when I have a perpetual eating machine at my side.
So It is Monday and we start again.
Have a productive day everyone and remember
ROCK ON!
Poem for today, written for my son when he was growing up:
Chores!
Chores! Chores! Chores!
No wonder that word rhymes with bores!
School is out, I'm finally free
I should be feeling full of glee
but Daddy says to mow the grass
It's not so high it wouldn't pass
At least to my eye it looks fine
I'd rather be swinging from a vine
Wouldn't it be super great
If a jungle I could create
With grass so high that I could hide
"Okay Dad, I'm going outside."
Now Mom says to fold the clothes
I'd rather spray them with a hose!
I would say we had some rain
But it would only be in vain
She'd only make me do it later
I am a good procrastinator
I hid them once beneath the bed,
Boy did my Mom's face get red!
When I wake up to morning's light
I start to plan my day just right
I'll string the hammock in the shade...
then I spy the list they've made
"Don't forget to take out the trash;
use the leftovers to make some hash;
Wash the dishes, sweep the floor;
Ye Gads, you mean there's even more?
Trim the hedges, paint the wall,
Clean your fingerprints off the hall
It's enough to make you mad
It's summer now, I should be glad
By the time these chores come to an end
It will be time for school again!
JPH
Plan for today:
Breakfast: Oatmeal, toast, tea
Snack: jello
Lunch: Soup, six crackers
Snack: apple and cheese
Dinner: cube steak, broccoli, baked potato
Exercise: 1 hour hard labor at the gym (been there, done that at 4:30 this morning!)
New exercise DVD: Yoga for the rest of us. Very good for anyone--she gives lots of hints to modify it for those of us who have been certified couch potatoes for so long.
And of course, Mr. Gestapo's list!
Friday, October 9, 2009
Health Trek Day 21
My daughter and I were at the gym this morning at 4:45. I just have to comment on the variety of people one sees working out. There are the golden oldies like me in sweatpants and baggie shirts looking bewildered and tentative as they try to figure out how all the gadgets work. There are machines that work just about every part of the body with a little explanation on each one to tell how they w0rk ... The machines work great, but our aging bodies don't always cooperate. But I digress, back to the people we see. There are the young things in spandex who seem to be running and bouncing with no effort, music thingys in their ears so they have no clue that someone may be speaking to them. There are the beer bellied weight champ wannabees who lift weights as they watch themselves in a mirror. One wonders what they see in that mirror? Do they really see the sagging bellies and drooping chests or do they see Arnold Schwarzenegger staring back at them. (Not sure if I spelled his name right, sorry Arnie!) Then there are the women in the locker room. I was always the kid in school that hid in the bathroom till everyone got out of the shower, then snuck in and showered quickly hoping no one would see me. I could never walk around naked in front of my peers, so blase like some people do. Did you ever notice that the women who walk around naked in the locker rooms are always the skinny wenches with designer boobs and not an ounce of flab to be seen? Never do you see a woman with everything fighting gravity strolling around in the buff. I guess we can be thankful for that! But Still whenever I am confronted with the naked body I tend to start studying the ceiling or noticing the newest scuff in my sneaker. I can't make eye contact and try really hard not to look. Usually these unclad nymphs have a tattoo somewhere that is really hard not to look at. One lady had a flower that was growing out of an unmentionable place and blossomed about her naval, most prettily. I wonder if in thirty years it will look wilted and droopy? I know tats are commonplace these days, but I still wonder why someone could have them etched in some of these places that just have to be really tender. Ouch!
The nice things about gyms these days is that you see lots of people that are built like me working out in the baggy clothes, and getting healthier as a result. We don't have to feel out of place. With ipods and headphones you can lose yourself in music or TV while you exercise and make the activity less painful. My secret is my kindle book. I get on the treadmill, punch in all the settings, start walking then lose myself in a good story. Before I know it, the machine is congratulating me on my successful work out and I'm ready to tackle the bike.
I guess the secret of making exercise a habit is to make it enjoyable. If you have a bike or exercise machine at home. Put on some nice music or TV show or read a book. Something where you can lose yourself for a little while and forget the mad crazy day that looms ahead of you. I have a lot of people tell me they can't exercise in the morning because they don't have time, or they don't want to wear themselves out, or some other excuse. But if you can make exercise part of your morning routine, just 10 or 15 minutes can make you feel rejuvenated for the rest of the day. Try it, it really works!
Have a fantastic Friday and ROCK ON everyone!
My poem today is a pensive one. It is where I have been for a few years and am now trying to change.
Who Am I?
I am a woman.. with all the parts God gave to me
Even though they're not as agile as they used to be
I am a mother.. even though no hugs greet me when I get home
No pleas for stories, my children now are grown
I am a wife...with a husband sweet and kind
Though he's oft baffled by things that fill my mind
I am a Nana..my grand kids worship me
But still it's not enough, it doesn't set me free
I am a dreamer...who longs for a magic world
Where there is singing and I remain a girl
I'm obese with faulty knees and spine
facing a future that can only bring decline
I am a soul...longing to be heard
Buried in a body that gets more and more absurd
Why won't my spirit age along with me?
So we can, with grace, live out our destiny
Does it deny that there's so little time?
Does it resent a world that has no rhyme?
For so long encased in a tight shell.
It knew just darkness- a fate much worse then Hell
While I, the body, eked out each mundane task
To create a world in which my loved ones basked
Now they are grown and the Voice demands its due
But each day exhausts me through and through
So much I've buried, such need to be expressed
The simple stories this spirit has possessed
But I just eat and work and eat and sleep
And all the Beauty's buried someplace deep
And now my body emulates the pain
With a heavy weight that barely bears the strain
How can I free this soul from the bleak dark?
How can I feed my soul and ignite the spark?
JPH
Plan for the Day:
Breakfast: Cheerios, English muffin, tea
Snack: apple
Lunch: Grilled cheese, Iced tea
Snack: Jello
Dinner: Out with a friend- probably Chinese
Exercise: 1 hour at gym on treadmill and bike; Yoga; Mr. G's list
The nice things about gyms these days is that you see lots of people that are built like me working out in the baggy clothes, and getting healthier as a result. We don't have to feel out of place. With ipods and headphones you can lose yourself in music or TV while you exercise and make the activity less painful. My secret is my kindle book. I get on the treadmill, punch in all the settings, start walking then lose myself in a good story. Before I know it, the machine is congratulating me on my successful work out and I'm ready to tackle the bike.
I guess the secret of making exercise a habit is to make it enjoyable. If you have a bike or exercise machine at home. Put on some nice music or TV show or read a book. Something where you can lose yourself for a little while and forget the mad crazy day that looms ahead of you. I have a lot of people tell me they can't exercise in the morning because they don't have time, or they don't want to wear themselves out, or some other excuse. But if you can make exercise part of your morning routine, just 10 or 15 minutes can make you feel rejuvenated for the rest of the day. Try it, it really works!
Have a fantastic Friday and ROCK ON everyone!
My poem today is a pensive one. It is where I have been for a few years and am now trying to change.
Who Am I?
I am a woman.. with all the parts God gave to me
Even though they're not as agile as they used to be
I am a mother.. even though no hugs greet me when I get home
No pleas for stories, my children now are grown
I am a wife...with a husband sweet and kind
Though he's oft baffled by things that fill my mind
I am a Nana..my grand kids worship me
But still it's not enough, it doesn't set me free
I am a dreamer...who longs for a magic world
Where there is singing and I remain a girl
I'm obese with faulty knees and spine
facing a future that can only bring decline
I am a soul...longing to be heard
Buried in a body that gets more and more absurd
Why won't my spirit age along with me?
So we can, with grace, live out our destiny
Does it deny that there's so little time?
Does it resent a world that has no rhyme?
For so long encased in a tight shell.
It knew just darkness- a fate much worse then Hell
While I, the body, eked out each mundane task
To create a world in which my loved ones basked
Now they are grown and the Voice demands its due
But each day exhausts me through and through
So much I've buried, such need to be expressed
The simple stories this spirit has possessed
But I just eat and work and eat and sleep
And all the Beauty's buried someplace deep
And now my body emulates the pain
With a heavy weight that barely bears the strain
How can I free this soul from the bleak dark?
How can I feed my soul and ignite the spark?
JPH
Plan for the Day:
Breakfast: Cheerios, English muffin, tea
Snack: apple
Lunch: Grilled cheese, Iced tea
Snack: Jello
Dinner: Out with a friend- probably Chinese
Exercise: 1 hour at gym on treadmill and bike; Yoga; Mr. G's list
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Health Trek Day 20 10/08/09
The phone rang this morning, jarring me from a sound sleep. A dear friend was on the other end asking me to come to her house quickly as her husband has had another attack. I mumbled, sure, hung up the phone, looked at the clock. 4:00 a.m! I threw on some clothes, grabbed my bag and keys and raced out the door. As I was driving to her house, I thought of all the questions I should have asked. "Did you call 911?" Is he conscious? What did you want me to do? Watch the cat? Drive you to the hospital? I looked at my gas tank and groaned, it was almost on empty. I noticed the day before but it was too early when I came home from the gym and it was raining so I figured I'd go to Plummer's this morning and get gas. Now I wish I had gone yesterday! When I arrived at her house, I saw the flashing lights of an ambulance, a fire truck and a police car. OMG, I ran to the house fearing the worst. I found my friend pacing, agitated but okay. They had her hubby in the ambulance and she asked if I could drive her to the hospital. She has a bad knee and is scheduled for surgery herself in two weeks, so I was glad to be of help.
As we sat in the hospital, I thought about how fragile life is. We never know when our health will be jeopardized, whether a loved one could get sick or hurt or even die at any time. We really need to appreciate what we have and let our loved ones know how we feel and what our wishes are when we die or are unable to make our own decisions. We all hate to talk about death but it is a natural part of life and we shouldn't fear it so. If we meet it head on and are prepared, I feel it would not seem so scary. My friend's husband had a similar attack a year ago and was diagnosed with blood clots in his legs and lungs. So we expected this was the case today, but it was not. He has a severe kidney and bladder infection. What a relief! They gave him antibiotics and instructions to follow up with his doctor. So he will be fine, my friend can relax and I can go back to bed!
I guess after this morning's scare, the best message I can impart today is to celebrate life. Make each moment count, stop stressing about all the little unimportant things in your lives. Even the scale. We are all trying to get thin and healthy. Try every day, but don't make it the focus of your life. If you are out there living your life, moving and shaking, then you will be healthier. If you are sitting at home thinking about what you want to eat next, that is self destructive. The scale is one way to measure success, but being able to climb the stairs without huffing and puffing is another measure. You won't be able to do that if you don't get up and walk up and down those stairs a few times!
Make good healthy choices. Spend quality time with family and friends. Get out and ROCK ON!
None of us know how much time we have left.
POEM for today:
Celebration:
Webster defines age as "the length of time one has existed"
spending time alive we never have resisted
But did you ever ponder another way to measure
The time that we have spent that we should really measure?
We've survived adolescence, acne, dating, diapers, braces
Surely most embarrassments time lovingly erases
we've seen our children grow and our friendships blossom
Technology advances in our lives are awesome
We know where we have been and perhaps where we are going
Yet we have the option to continually be growing
As we watch our children grow up and face life on their own
It's splendid when we can reap the seeds that we have sown
And share the dividends of our children's joys and pleasures
as we graciously accept our newest little treasures
Soon we get to bounce a grandchild on our lap
and become a bridge across the generation gap
Our future's still a mystery as it was when we were twenty
But we can proudly say that we have been blessed with plenty
So we'll celebrate our lives and dread not our natal day
We've touched so many others and surely paved the way
We have a store of memories of all the years bygone
And the chance for many new ones as the future marches on.
My plan for today:
Brunch: Eggs and English muffin, fruit and tea
(I missed breakfast and couldn't wait for lunch so combined them!)
Snack: apple
Dinner
Stir fry and rice
Snack: low cal ice cream bar
Exercise:
Walking DVD, Mr G.s list, evening Yoga
I'm ready to meet the evil scale tonight be it up or down! I am getting healthier and I feel terrific!
As we sat in the hospital, I thought about how fragile life is. We never know when our health will be jeopardized, whether a loved one could get sick or hurt or even die at any time. We really need to appreciate what we have and let our loved ones know how we feel and what our wishes are when we die or are unable to make our own decisions. We all hate to talk about death but it is a natural part of life and we shouldn't fear it so. If we meet it head on and are prepared, I feel it would not seem so scary. My friend's husband had a similar attack a year ago and was diagnosed with blood clots in his legs and lungs. So we expected this was the case today, but it was not. He has a severe kidney and bladder infection. What a relief! They gave him antibiotics and instructions to follow up with his doctor. So he will be fine, my friend can relax and I can go back to bed!
I guess after this morning's scare, the best message I can impart today is to celebrate life. Make each moment count, stop stressing about all the little unimportant things in your lives. Even the scale. We are all trying to get thin and healthy. Try every day, but don't make it the focus of your life. If you are out there living your life, moving and shaking, then you will be healthier. If you are sitting at home thinking about what you want to eat next, that is self destructive. The scale is one way to measure success, but being able to climb the stairs without huffing and puffing is another measure. You won't be able to do that if you don't get up and walk up and down those stairs a few times!
Make good healthy choices. Spend quality time with family and friends. Get out and ROCK ON!
None of us know how much time we have left.
POEM for today:
Celebration:
Webster defines age as "the length of time one has existed"
spending time alive we never have resisted
But did you ever ponder another way to measure
The time that we have spent that we should really measure?
We've survived adolescence, acne, dating, diapers, braces
Surely most embarrassments time lovingly erases
we've seen our children grow and our friendships blossom
Technology advances in our lives are awesome
We know where we have been and perhaps where we are going
Yet we have the option to continually be growing
As we watch our children grow up and face life on their own
It's splendid when we can reap the seeds that we have sown
And share the dividends of our children's joys and pleasures
as we graciously accept our newest little treasures
Soon we get to bounce a grandchild on our lap
and become a bridge across the generation gap
Our future's still a mystery as it was when we were twenty
But we can proudly say that we have been blessed with plenty
So we'll celebrate our lives and dread not our natal day
We've touched so many others and surely paved the way
We have a store of memories of all the years bygone
And the chance for many new ones as the future marches on.
My plan for today:
Brunch: Eggs and English muffin, fruit and tea
(I missed breakfast and couldn't wait for lunch so combined them!)
Snack: apple
Dinner
Stir fry and rice
Snack: low cal ice cream bar
Exercise:
Walking DVD, Mr G.s list, evening Yoga
I'm ready to meet the evil scale tonight be it up or down! I am getting healthier and I feel terrific!
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Health Trek Day 19 10/07/09
Another rainy Wednesday. I know we need the rain, but it seems to me it would be much more efficient if it would rain at night and be sunny in the daytime. I don't remember minding the rain when I was a kid. In fact I used to love to walk in the rain, a warm rain that is, in the spring when it smelled so fresh. Everything blooming and coming alive. Rain was nice then. It didn't make me ache from head to foot and turn me into a hobbling old woman every time I get out of my chair. But in spite of the rain, I got up at four and went to the gym with my daughter. I did 25 minutes on the treadmill and 20 on the bike. It is getting a little easier.
I had an appointment with the Orthopedic surgeon yesterday. He said I was amazing and was impressed at the range of motion I have in my arm and shoulder. Now he has given permission to start the strengthening exercises. So I can upgrade the Yoga to using my arm over head and doing some resistance training. So now, how to make myself follow through. I sometimes think it was easier to get things done when I was working. I knew I had deadlines to meet, so tried to fit everything in a small space. Now I have this whole entire day in front of me and I find myself putting things off until later. The problem with that is when later gets here, I find I have left so much stuff until later, I don't have the stamina or time to get it all done. So I end up saying, Oh well, there's always tomorrow. So I have decided I need to make lists and check them off as I do them. I have to allow myself just 10 minutes to sit down and relax between my little jobs. Otherwise, I will lose myself in a book or movie and totally forget that I had planned to exercise 3 times a day or even eat three meals a day. Time just seems to get away from me now and suddenly my husband comes home and asks, what did you do all day? Let's see, I napped in my chair, played 27 computer games (I love Scrabble), read a book and knitted half a sock. How productive is that. Talk about multi-tasking! Meanwhile, the floor looks like a sand truck ran through it (one of the down sides of living on a lake, sand tracked in on the rug), the dishes are in the sink and the laundry is all over the floor in neat piles since I had planned to throw them in the washing machine. So then I have to run around and act busy like I had been really working all day and was just finishing up. Stuffing the laundry back in the hamper, sweeping the sand under the couch (I'll vacuum tomorrow!) and throwing dishes frantically in the dishwasher while my hubby is outside doing his little yard chores. Whew, wears me out just thinking about it. So this morning, I already put in a load of wash, ran the dishwasher, went to the gym, ate breakfast and now am blogging and boring you folks with my domestic disorderliness. I have a list all ready here to start checking off as soon as I finish writing.
The point of all this rambling is that it is really good to have a plan, but what is even more important is following through. As you can see, I sometimes have a problem with that. So my goal for this week is to work on it and see if I can change still another bad habit. Am I the only one that procrastinates or do some of you have the same problem?
The poem that I will share with you today is one that I wrote about walking in the rain:
Misty Magic
I heard the magical refrain
Of a beckoning Spring rain
I turned real quick and saw that you
had simultaneously heard it too
Wordlessly we snuck downstairs
Hoping to keep them unawares
That we were heading down the lane
to play like children in the rain
We splashed through puddles filled with glee
Our pants rolled up above the knee
And stuck out our tongues to catch the drops
and reveled in jumps and skips and hops
When we were completely soaked to the skin
We turned for home and headed in
Only to find to our chagrin
we had a witness to our sin
Oh Mom and Dad, you really shouldn't
Especially when you said we couldn't!
Let's follow through on all our plans today and
ROCK ON!
Plan for today:
Breakfast: egg, toast, tea
Snack: jello (sugar free)
Lunch: ham on wheat bread
Snack: sugar free pudding
Dinner: cauliflower and Broccoli, baked chicken
Snack: Ice cream bar
Exercise:
Tread mill and bike at gym; yoga; Mr. G's list (it is getting longer!)
I had an appointment with the Orthopedic surgeon yesterday. He said I was amazing and was impressed at the range of motion I have in my arm and shoulder. Now he has given permission to start the strengthening exercises. So I can upgrade the Yoga to using my arm over head and doing some resistance training. So now, how to make myself follow through. I sometimes think it was easier to get things done when I was working. I knew I had deadlines to meet, so tried to fit everything in a small space. Now I have this whole entire day in front of me and I find myself putting things off until later. The problem with that is when later gets here, I find I have left so much stuff until later, I don't have the stamina or time to get it all done. So I end up saying, Oh well, there's always tomorrow. So I have decided I need to make lists and check them off as I do them. I have to allow myself just 10 minutes to sit down and relax between my little jobs. Otherwise, I will lose myself in a book or movie and totally forget that I had planned to exercise 3 times a day or even eat three meals a day. Time just seems to get away from me now and suddenly my husband comes home and asks, what did you do all day? Let's see, I napped in my chair, played 27 computer games (I love Scrabble), read a book and knitted half a sock. How productive is that. Talk about multi-tasking! Meanwhile, the floor looks like a sand truck ran through it (one of the down sides of living on a lake, sand tracked in on the rug), the dishes are in the sink and the laundry is all over the floor in neat piles since I had planned to throw them in the washing machine. So then I have to run around and act busy like I had been really working all day and was just finishing up. Stuffing the laundry back in the hamper, sweeping the sand under the couch (I'll vacuum tomorrow!) and throwing dishes frantically in the dishwasher while my hubby is outside doing his little yard chores. Whew, wears me out just thinking about it. So this morning, I already put in a load of wash, ran the dishwasher, went to the gym, ate breakfast and now am blogging and boring you folks with my domestic disorderliness. I have a list all ready here to start checking off as soon as I finish writing.
The point of all this rambling is that it is really good to have a plan, but what is even more important is following through. As you can see, I sometimes have a problem with that. So my goal for this week is to work on it and see if I can change still another bad habit. Am I the only one that procrastinates or do some of you have the same problem?
The poem that I will share with you today is one that I wrote about walking in the rain:
Misty Magic
I heard the magical refrain
Of a beckoning Spring rain
I turned real quick and saw that you
had simultaneously heard it too
Wordlessly we snuck downstairs
Hoping to keep them unawares
That we were heading down the lane
to play like children in the rain
We splashed through puddles filled with glee
Our pants rolled up above the knee
And stuck out our tongues to catch the drops
and reveled in jumps and skips and hops
When we were completely soaked to the skin
We turned for home and headed in
Only to find to our chagrin
we had a witness to our sin
Oh Mom and Dad, you really shouldn't
Especially when you said we couldn't!
Let's follow through on all our plans today and
ROCK ON!
Plan for today:
Breakfast: egg, toast, tea
Snack: jello (sugar free)
Lunch: ham on wheat bread
Snack: sugar free pudding
Dinner: cauliflower and Broccoli, baked chicken
Snack: Ice cream bar
Exercise:
Tread mill and bike at gym; yoga; Mr. G's list (it is getting longer!)
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Health Trek Day 18 10/06/09
I know, yesterday was day 17 and I labeled the Blog day 16. I was thinking 17 but must have hit the wrong key and after I published it, I didn't know how to go back and fix it. So today is the 18Th day of my Blog and the 18Th day of this journey.
I have just finished reading Dan Brown's newest book, and what a ride! It is a very thought provoking book! It has inspired me to try and read some of the philosophical writings of the ancients, if I can understand them. I am going to start with the Bible and Einstein.
The one thing I have been working on is to realize my full potential. If our purpose here on this earth is to learn and strive for perfection, then I am on the right path. But it is soooo hard! We have become too used to taking the easy path. Maybe too enmeshed in the 1960's philosophy ,if it feels good, do it. So we forget that our bodies are a Temple and should be treated reverently. If we want them to treat us right we need to treat them right. Right? Maybe we fool ourselves into thinking that eating comfort food is being good to ourselves, but we all know, in the roots of our being that it is not. So we feel guilt. And then what do we do? We eat more comfort food. I am 64 years old and retired and still striving to reach my full potential. Sometimes I ask myself, why. I am not going to do anything earth shattering that will change the world at this point in my life. Am I? Who knows? Maybe I will finally write something that will change something. Even reaching one person would be something. We are all a collective consciousness, according to ancient teachings. Think of the boomerang effect. How everything we do bounces off and touches someone or something else. How simple and easy it is to live in the concept of "Pay it Forward". When someone does something nice for you, you help someone else, etc. etc. Little by little we can change the world. We are changing the world. Right now. Whatever we are doing. Our action or our inaction. The world is changing.
Wow.
Speaking of changing. The exercises both at the Gym and the therapy are getting easier. I am feeling better, incrementally every day. My baby steps are getting a little bigger. Now if I could just get the eating under control! I did well yesterday until about 8:00 p.m. then did some late night snacking again! I am putting a sign up on my refrigerator today. THE KITCHEN IS CLOSED AFTER 7:00 P.M. A gentle reminder. I also have the picture on the fridge of the blue dress I want to get into.
Today, I will stick to the plan and I will...
ROCK ON!
Have a life changing day today everyone!
Poem for today is advice I gave to my grand daughter as she graduated from eighth grade, I should listen to myself:
Ode to Katie
The path is yours to decline or take
Only you decide the choices you make
Today you leave one path behind
To continue your journey of body and mind
Your future can hold whatever you dream
You can make it shine like a sunny stream
When each new opportunity comes along
Take a moment to decide which is right or wrong
Take the path your heart tells you is true
I know you'll succeed at whatever you do
Judy Patt Hall
June 13, 2006
Plan for today:
Breakfast: English muffin, tea, diced peaches
Lunch: zucchini and onion quesadilla
snack: apple
Dinner: chicken stir fry and brown rice
snack: ice cream bar
Kitchen closed!
Exercise: Walking DVD, Mr G.s list, Yoga this evening.:)
I have just finished reading Dan Brown's newest book, and what a ride! It is a very thought provoking book! It has inspired me to try and read some of the philosophical writings of the ancients, if I can understand them. I am going to start with the Bible and Einstein.
The one thing I have been working on is to realize my full potential. If our purpose here on this earth is to learn and strive for perfection, then I am on the right path. But it is soooo hard! We have become too used to taking the easy path. Maybe too enmeshed in the 1960's philosophy ,if it feels good, do it. So we forget that our bodies are a Temple and should be treated reverently. If we want them to treat us right we need to treat them right. Right? Maybe we fool ourselves into thinking that eating comfort food is being good to ourselves, but we all know, in the roots of our being that it is not. So we feel guilt. And then what do we do? We eat more comfort food. I am 64 years old and retired and still striving to reach my full potential. Sometimes I ask myself, why. I am not going to do anything earth shattering that will change the world at this point in my life. Am I? Who knows? Maybe I will finally write something that will change something. Even reaching one person would be something. We are all a collective consciousness, according to ancient teachings. Think of the boomerang effect. How everything we do bounces off and touches someone or something else. How simple and easy it is to live in the concept of "Pay it Forward". When someone does something nice for you, you help someone else, etc. etc. Little by little we can change the world. We are changing the world. Right now. Whatever we are doing. Our action or our inaction. The world is changing.
Wow.
Speaking of changing. The exercises both at the Gym and the therapy are getting easier. I am feeling better, incrementally every day. My baby steps are getting a little bigger. Now if I could just get the eating under control! I did well yesterday until about 8:00 p.m. then did some late night snacking again! I am putting a sign up on my refrigerator today. THE KITCHEN IS CLOSED AFTER 7:00 P.M. A gentle reminder. I also have the picture on the fridge of the blue dress I want to get into.
Today, I will stick to the plan and I will...
ROCK ON!
Have a life changing day today everyone!
Poem for today is advice I gave to my grand daughter as she graduated from eighth grade, I should listen to myself:
Ode to Katie
The path is yours to decline or take
Only you decide the choices you make
Today you leave one path behind
To continue your journey of body and mind
Your future can hold whatever you dream
You can make it shine like a sunny stream
When each new opportunity comes along
Take a moment to decide which is right or wrong
Take the path your heart tells you is true
I know you'll succeed at whatever you do
Judy Patt Hall
June 13, 2006
Plan for today:
Breakfast: English muffin, tea, diced peaches
Lunch: zucchini and onion quesadilla
snack: apple
Dinner: chicken stir fry and brown rice
snack: ice cream bar
Kitchen closed!
Exercise: Walking DVD, Mr G.s list, Yoga this evening.:)
Monday, October 5, 2009
Health Trek Day 16, 10/5/09
What a weekend! The foliage in New Hampshire was absolutely breathtaking! In spite of the rain, the leaves were brilliant colors and the reflections in the water were gorgeous. We decided to go via Route 101 at the start of our trip to try and avoid the hills going into Keene. But no matter how you try and get there, the fact is that the mountains go downhill into the valley, so we had to take it slow and easy and shift down a lot to not overheat the brakes. We are pulling the Pop-up with a six cylinder jeep so one of the things we were hoping to find out is that we would not overload the jeep's transmission. I am happy to report that it worked well, no mishaps and even the rain did not deter us. We cooked steak on Saturday night in the midst of a downpour for our friends and we were all warm and cozy inside the camper. I ate the correct portions, but my friend made a fruit cobbler for dessert so I may have imbibed a little more sugar than I should have. But all in all, Saturday was a good day.
Sunday we packed up in cloudy skies, but not rain and headed home by 11:30. We were using a Tom-Tom but decided to take a different route. In case any 0f you were like me, and wonder what the hey is a TOM TOM, it is a little GPS unit you can program your trip into. So when you take a different route, this little British woman's voice tells you to take the next left or turn around to get back on track. If you forge ahead, the whole thing will re-program and find a different route to take. She warns you if you are exceeding the speed limit, if you are going to take a toll road, and lets you know when you are getting off track. I think it would make a great comedy skit for someone to get in an argument with their GPS when they decide to take a shortcut and the unit insisting they go the direction it has programmed. It could even be another Stephen King novel if he gets the idea to make it a sinister alien infested piece of machinery!
But seriously, wouldn't it be great if we could have a little ESP Tom Tom that could keep us on track while we were losing weight. Every time we started to go off track and eat something we shouldn't it would warn us and then if we ate it anyway, it would re-program and show us what we needed to do to get back on track. Something like this: "That doughnut means you now need to walk 3.2 miles, do 50 push ups and ride your bike for 27.5 minutes! What a wake up call that would be. It would make us aware of everything we eat and stop all our mindless eating. Course I have something almost as effective. It's called a husband. He tries to help me diet by asking me if i should be eating that, whatever, and I try to convince him it is a low calorie custard strudel, but he just looks at me with the raised eyebrow and i put it back. The problem is after he goes to bed, the evil little glutton living inside me has a field day! So the Tom Tom could be a good thing. I'd probably end up taking a hammer to it though.
Now it is Monday and I need to get back on track. I did not get up at 4:00 a.m. this morning to exercise because I have an appointment with Mr. Gestapo today. I am into week eleven of my recovery and now the arm exercises are accelerating. So I did not want to wear myself out so much this morning that I messed up at the therapists office. Driving to Portland twice in one day would have been a waste of gas too. I am planning to do my walking DVD at home, and tomorrow at 4:00 a.m. do the gym. I should get the same benefit as if I'd done the exercise this morning.
So a new week, a new plan. This week I am planning to give up white potatoes at dinner. I'll eat two vegetables instead. I need to get serious. Fall Rally and November inspiration are looming ahead and I wanted to reach my small goal before then, so everyone
Let's Rock On!
Have an active day!
Poem:
No Not I!
When my dreams are filled with lovely
Sunny thoughts of Spring
But I wake up just to find snow
Has covered everything
Do I scream? Do I sigh?
Do I stomp my feet and cry?
No Not I!
I simply write a poem and
Make the snow a lie
It doesn't change the weather
But it gives me a new high!
When my step is light and funny
And I'm on a pleasant path
But some clod on a 4-wheeler
Gives me an unexpected bath
Do I Scream? Do I sigh?
Do I stomp my feet and cry?
No Not I!
I simply write a poem
Calling him a hopeless lout
It doesn't change the act
But it gets my feelings out
When I'm driving in my car
and planning just a little trip
and though I'm not going very far
The traffic just won't let me zip
Do I scream? Do I sigh?
Do I stomp my feet and cry?
No Not I!
I simply think rhymes in my mind
It really helps to fill the time
And when I finally do get home
I can't wait to write down my poem.
Judy Patt Hall
Plan for the Day:
Breakfast: Yogurt, toast, tea
Snack: sugar free jello
Lunch: ham sandwich on wheat
snack: apple, almonds
Dinner: lean pork, spinach, sweet potato
Snack: Go to bed and stop eating!! You are getting up at 4:00 a.m tomorrow!
Exercise: walking DVD, Therapy with Mr. G. Yoga before bed.
Sunday we packed up in cloudy skies, but not rain and headed home by 11:30. We were using a Tom-Tom but decided to take a different route. In case any 0f you were like me, and wonder what the hey is a TOM TOM, it is a little GPS unit you can program your trip into. So when you take a different route, this little British woman's voice tells you to take the next left or turn around to get back on track. If you forge ahead, the whole thing will re-program and find a different route to take. She warns you if you are exceeding the speed limit, if you are going to take a toll road, and lets you know when you are getting off track. I think it would make a great comedy skit for someone to get in an argument with their GPS when they decide to take a shortcut and the unit insisting they go the direction it has programmed. It could even be another Stephen King novel if he gets the idea to make it a sinister alien infested piece of machinery!
But seriously, wouldn't it be great if we could have a little ESP Tom Tom that could keep us on track while we were losing weight. Every time we started to go off track and eat something we shouldn't it would warn us and then if we ate it anyway, it would re-program and show us what we needed to do to get back on track. Something like this: "That doughnut means you now need to walk 3.2 miles, do 50 push ups and ride your bike for 27.5 minutes! What a wake up call that would be. It would make us aware of everything we eat and stop all our mindless eating. Course I have something almost as effective. It's called a husband. He tries to help me diet by asking me if i should be eating that, whatever, and I try to convince him it is a low calorie custard strudel, but he just looks at me with the raised eyebrow and i put it back. The problem is after he goes to bed, the evil little glutton living inside me has a field day! So the Tom Tom could be a good thing. I'd probably end up taking a hammer to it though.
Now it is Monday and I need to get back on track. I did not get up at 4:00 a.m. this morning to exercise because I have an appointment with Mr. Gestapo today. I am into week eleven of my recovery and now the arm exercises are accelerating. So I did not want to wear myself out so much this morning that I messed up at the therapists office. Driving to Portland twice in one day would have been a waste of gas too. I am planning to do my walking DVD at home, and tomorrow at 4:00 a.m. do the gym. I should get the same benefit as if I'd done the exercise this morning.
So a new week, a new plan. This week I am planning to give up white potatoes at dinner. I'll eat two vegetables instead. I need to get serious. Fall Rally and November inspiration are looming ahead and I wanted to reach my small goal before then, so everyone
Let's Rock On!
Have an active day!
Poem:
No Not I!
When my dreams are filled with lovely
Sunny thoughts of Spring
But I wake up just to find snow
Has covered everything
Do I scream? Do I sigh?
Do I stomp my feet and cry?
No Not I!
I simply write a poem and
Make the snow a lie
It doesn't change the weather
But it gives me a new high!
When my step is light and funny
And I'm on a pleasant path
But some clod on a 4-wheeler
Gives me an unexpected bath
Do I Scream? Do I sigh?
Do I stomp my feet and cry?
No Not I!
I simply write a poem
Calling him a hopeless lout
It doesn't change the act
But it gets my feelings out
When I'm driving in my car
and planning just a little trip
and though I'm not going very far
The traffic just won't let me zip
Do I scream? Do I sigh?
Do I stomp my feet and cry?
No Not I!
I simply think rhymes in my mind
It really helps to fill the time
And when I finally do get home
I can't wait to write down my poem.
Judy Patt Hall
Plan for the Day:
Breakfast: Yogurt, toast, tea
Snack: sugar free jello
Lunch: ham sandwich on wheat
snack: apple, almonds
Dinner: lean pork, spinach, sweet potato
Snack: Go to bed and stop eating!! You are getting up at 4:00 a.m tomorrow!
Exercise: walking DVD, Therapy with Mr. G. Yoga before bed.
Friday, October 2, 2009
Health Trekker Day 16, 10/02/09
I imagine you are all waiting with baited breath to find out whether I gained or lost last night. I had to cover the weight room because our weight recorder was unable to attend. I find it so interesting how people allow their mood to be affected by the scale. They come in frowning, apprehensive, apologetic, and all manner of attitudes, some even bordering on defiance. I keep telling people that the scale is just one means of measurement and merely a tool to help keep us on track. In my opinion if you just gain a fraction, then congratulations, you are at least maintaining your weight. If those fractions are going incrementally upwards, then that tells you that you need to adjust your plan. Eat less, exercise more. Look at all the other things you are doing and use those tools in addition to the scale. I had a very slight gain last night. 0.4 of a pound. The fact that I know I had a few days that I was careless about my diet, does not erase the fact that I have been exercising every day, planning my meals and getting more conscious about what I eat. I am on track and I know that next week I will see the results. I will probably still be apprehensive, apologetic, defiant and downright terrified of that stupid scale, but I will try to keep it all in perspective. I do know that I am already feeling a difference in my activity level and the benefits of exercising are evident. I get an early start and then achieve a lot more during the day.
I am a true believer in the power of positive thinking. I know that if you start your day in a negative mood, then your day will go downhill from there and it seems like everyone you meet is a nasty, ignorant, pigheaded #^%*&*! But what many people do not realize is what they are seeing is a mirror image of themselves. When I am negative about life, I pass those feelings on to my children, peers and even the dog! So when I wake up feeling grouchy and aching, I try to find something positive I can focus on. One thing that really helps me is singing. Singing not only makes you feel better because of the music or lyrics, but singing opens up your lungs and abdomen and helps you breath better. Yoga can accomplish the same thing if you don't like to sing or think your voice is terrible, or put on some music and sing along with it. Who cares what you sound like! (Unless you are in a room full of people, then you may find out who cares). Exercise also helps to get your endorphins activated and make you feel better. For some a cup of coffee does the trick. Whatever triggers your positive energy, do it and start your day off with a smile. You will get every smile you give out back tenfold and your day will be much better. Plus you will accomplish more than you can imagine. We all give off an aura of energy. Let ours be positive today and our goals will be surmountable.
This weekend, Mark and I are going to NH to a campground and use the new camper. We will be visiting an old and dear friend. I am looking forward to it and trying very hard to plan some healthy meals and exercise so I don't backslide. The weather is predicted to be kind of iffy so am not sure how much walking we will get in so I am taking my Yoga DVD with me. If one tries, one can find a way to exercise and eat healthy. I will do this!
Rock On, everyone! Have a fun-filled, relaxing weekend.
Poem for today (dedicated to all the mothers who inspire their children with their positive energy:
Ten Feet Tall
When I was small and you tucked me in bed
I knew for certain I had nothing to dread
You were all that I knew of the big wide world
A catalyst to all the dreams yet unfurled
I believed you could do anything at all
You were a giant...You were ten feet tall!
When I was in school and you helped me to read
You began to plant a very small seed
I can't, I can't in fear I would cry
But this is a word you said to deny
You can be and can do anything at all
Try and you soon will be ten feet tall
When I was a teen, and Oh so bright
I seldom thought that you could be right
Still you worked so hard every day
And continued to try and show me the way
I was busy listening to a distant call
Of a future that seemed to be ten feet tall
Now when I put my Grandkids to bed
I tell them that they have nothing to dread
You can do anything that you want to try
Make all your dreams reach up to the sky
Then I remember when I was so small
And remember my Mom who is still ten feet tall!
Judy Patt Hall
December 18, 2000
My Plan for today:
Breakfast: muffin on my way to the Gym
Snack: apple
Lunch: soup, crackers (6), water
Snack: pretzels
Dinner: Leftover casserole
Exercise: The gym at 4:30 a.m., I did it!
Yoga, and last but not least, The List!
I am a true believer in the power of positive thinking. I know that if you start your day in a negative mood, then your day will go downhill from there and it seems like everyone you meet is a nasty, ignorant, pigheaded #^%*&*! But what many people do not realize is what they are seeing is a mirror image of themselves. When I am negative about life, I pass those feelings on to my children, peers and even the dog! So when I wake up feeling grouchy and aching, I try to find something positive I can focus on. One thing that really helps me is singing. Singing not only makes you feel better because of the music or lyrics, but singing opens up your lungs and abdomen and helps you breath better. Yoga can accomplish the same thing if you don't like to sing or think your voice is terrible, or put on some music and sing along with it. Who cares what you sound like! (Unless you are in a room full of people, then you may find out who cares). Exercise also helps to get your endorphins activated and make you feel better. For some a cup of coffee does the trick. Whatever triggers your positive energy, do it and start your day off with a smile. You will get every smile you give out back tenfold and your day will be much better. Plus you will accomplish more than you can imagine. We all give off an aura of energy. Let ours be positive today and our goals will be surmountable.
This weekend, Mark and I are going to NH to a campground and use the new camper. We will be visiting an old and dear friend. I am looking forward to it and trying very hard to plan some healthy meals and exercise so I don't backslide. The weather is predicted to be kind of iffy so am not sure how much walking we will get in so I am taking my Yoga DVD with me. If one tries, one can find a way to exercise and eat healthy. I will do this!
Rock On, everyone! Have a fun-filled, relaxing weekend.
Poem for today (dedicated to all the mothers who inspire their children with their positive energy:
Ten Feet Tall
When I was small and you tucked me in bed
I knew for certain I had nothing to dread
You were all that I knew of the big wide world
A catalyst to all the dreams yet unfurled
I believed you could do anything at all
You were a giant...You were ten feet tall!
When I was in school and you helped me to read
You began to plant a very small seed
I can't, I can't in fear I would cry
But this is a word you said to deny
You can be and can do anything at all
Try and you soon will be ten feet tall
When I was a teen, and Oh so bright
I seldom thought that you could be right
Still you worked so hard every day
And continued to try and show me the way
I was busy listening to a distant call
Of a future that seemed to be ten feet tall
Now when I put my Grandkids to bed
I tell them that they have nothing to dread
You can do anything that you want to try
Make all your dreams reach up to the sky
Then I remember when I was so small
And remember my Mom who is still ten feet tall!
Judy Patt Hall
December 18, 2000
My Plan for today:
Breakfast: muffin on my way to the Gym
Snack: apple
Lunch: soup, crackers (6), water
Snack: pretzels
Dinner: Leftover casserole
Exercise: The gym at 4:30 a.m., I did it!
Yoga, and last but not least, The List!
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Health Trek Day 15, 10/01/09
Today is the first day of October and I really enjoyed my ride home from therapy today. The foliage is lovely, the air crisp and the sun is shining! I am glad to be alive and in moderately good health! My Blog is late today as I slept until 6:30 and had to leave the house by 7:30 for my therapy session. I feel like I've turned a corner, some of the exercises on my list are getting much easier and my range of motion is improving. Mr. Gestapo called in sick today so I had his assistant, Igor. He was thrilled to have a list of all Mr. G's tortures and even had a few of his own up his sleeve, so we managed to get through the hour without too much screaming and crying. (Actually I'm quite stoic and do my exercises quietly and with dignity, except when I get a hot flash.)
I found out last weekend that I am going to be a Great-Grandmother. At first I had a mixed range of emotions stemming from how old I am getting to how is my little grand daughter going to handle being a mother. For that matter how is my baby daughter going to handle being a grandmother. She is my youngest girl-child and I haven't quite got it through this old gray head of mine that she is a grown woman with grown children. So I have been doing a lot of thinking about how and when to let go. Somehow we are expected to have these adorable, albeit individualistic babies, teach them, raise them, worry about them and then one day just let them walk out your door and then not interfere in their lives ever again. Except when they want to move back in, borrow your car, money, or ask for your sage advice. Which they never take. It is a monumental task and we all have problems with it. I am lucky enough to have a wonderful relationship with all my kids, but still find myself trying to solve all their problems for them and sometimes have to be told to back off (in a nice way of course). I did teach them to be polite!
My thoughts began to extend themselves to all the other things we find hard to let go. Like our habits. When I was a teenager, I could eat a platter of french fries every day after school, which I ate as I danced to American Bandstand. I could wolf down burgers and shakes as I tap danced around the house. I think I am beginning to see something unfold here. I used to eat like a lumberjack, but I also used to think nothing of walking 3 miles to the library, ride my bike all over town, tap dance all over the house, dance and jiggle as I did my chores to music on the radio. Now I need a pulley to get myself out of my chair and all my "activities" are sedentary. So I need to let go of the portions that I used to eat, and eat according to my habits. I have been going to the gym for a few weeks now and after one hour of walking, biking and sweating, the machines tell me I have burned between 150 and 200 calories. That is one granola bar. So how much food do I have to subtract from my diet to actually start losing weight. I need to let go of the notion that I can exercise 3 times a week then eat what I want. So for this week, I am telling myself if I want to eat anything for a snack, I have to get up and move for at least 15 minutes before I eat it. Yesterday I got involved cleaning out a cabinet, and totally forgot to stop after fifteen minutes for the snack and by the time I noticed, it was time to make supper. So I will keep trying to see how many habits I can let go.
Here is a poem I wrote for my little girl when she got married:
A Mother's Poem
The first time my tiny infant
snuggled closely to my breast
My mind was filled with wonder
at how sweetly I'd been blessed
The future lay before me
like a never ending road
How little did I realize
how fast the years erode
I remember those first footsteps
as she struggled to my side
Now her footsteps seek another
as a lovely, blushing bride
In the years I took to teach her
and prepare her for this day
I forgot to teach myself
how to give my child away
Those arms that ache to keep her
must somehow let her go
The words of wisdom spoken
mock the heart that loves her so
But as I catch her smiling
with such love upon her face
The child I have been hoarding
is tenderly erased
A woman stands before me
at the threshold of her life
Soon to start her own adventure
as a mother and a wife.
Judy Patt Hall
May 21, 1990
We forget that we were the same age when we started our life. It is so hard to know that your children need to find their own way, even if they make mistakes and do things differently than you think they should. We need to let them go, but be there in the shadows to give them love and support when they ask for it.
The one thing we don't have to let go of is the memories. Hold on to them with all your might and make new ones with the new people you have yet to meet whether it be friend or a brand new great grandchild!
Rock On everyone and have a productive day!
Judy
Plan for today:
muffin for breakfast before dashing out the door.
Lunch: spinach salad
snack: apple and cheese
Dinner: Hamburg and cabbage casserole
Snack: ice cream bar
Exercise: one hour therapy workout with IGOR; Yoga chair exercises; Walk for at least 15 minutes.
I found out last weekend that I am going to be a Great-Grandmother. At first I had a mixed range of emotions stemming from how old I am getting to how is my little grand daughter going to handle being a mother. For that matter how is my baby daughter going to handle being a grandmother. She is my youngest girl-child and I haven't quite got it through this old gray head of mine that she is a grown woman with grown children. So I have been doing a lot of thinking about how and when to let go. Somehow we are expected to have these adorable, albeit individualistic babies, teach them, raise them, worry about them and then one day just let them walk out your door and then not interfere in their lives ever again. Except when they want to move back in, borrow your car, money, or ask for your sage advice. Which they never take. It is a monumental task and we all have problems with it. I am lucky enough to have a wonderful relationship with all my kids, but still find myself trying to solve all their problems for them and sometimes have to be told to back off (in a nice way of course). I did teach them to be polite!
My thoughts began to extend themselves to all the other things we find hard to let go. Like our habits. When I was a teenager, I could eat a platter of french fries every day after school, which I ate as I danced to American Bandstand. I could wolf down burgers and shakes as I tap danced around the house. I think I am beginning to see something unfold here. I used to eat like a lumberjack, but I also used to think nothing of walking 3 miles to the library, ride my bike all over town, tap dance all over the house, dance and jiggle as I did my chores to music on the radio. Now I need a pulley to get myself out of my chair and all my "activities" are sedentary. So I need to let go of the portions that I used to eat, and eat according to my habits. I have been going to the gym for a few weeks now and after one hour of walking, biking and sweating, the machines tell me I have burned between 150 and 200 calories. That is one granola bar. So how much food do I have to subtract from my diet to actually start losing weight. I need to let go of the notion that I can exercise 3 times a week then eat what I want. So for this week, I am telling myself if I want to eat anything for a snack, I have to get up and move for at least 15 minutes before I eat it. Yesterday I got involved cleaning out a cabinet, and totally forgot to stop after fifteen minutes for the snack and by the time I noticed, it was time to make supper. So I will keep trying to see how many habits I can let go.
Here is a poem I wrote for my little girl when she got married:
A Mother's Poem
The first time my tiny infant
snuggled closely to my breast
My mind was filled with wonder
at how sweetly I'd been blessed
The future lay before me
like a never ending road
How little did I realize
how fast the years erode
I remember those first footsteps
as she struggled to my side
Now her footsteps seek another
as a lovely, blushing bride
In the years I took to teach her
and prepare her for this day
I forgot to teach myself
how to give my child away
Those arms that ache to keep her
must somehow let her go
The words of wisdom spoken
mock the heart that loves her so
But as I catch her smiling
with such love upon her face
The child I have been hoarding
is tenderly erased
A woman stands before me
at the threshold of her life
Soon to start her own adventure
as a mother and a wife.
Judy Patt Hall
May 21, 1990
We forget that we were the same age when we started our life. It is so hard to know that your children need to find their own way, even if they make mistakes and do things differently than you think they should. We need to let them go, but be there in the shadows to give them love and support when they ask for it.
The one thing we don't have to let go of is the memories. Hold on to them with all your might and make new ones with the new people you have yet to meet whether it be friend or a brand new great grandchild!
Rock On everyone and have a productive day!
Judy
Plan for today:
muffin for breakfast before dashing out the door.
Lunch: spinach salad
snack: apple and cheese
Dinner: Hamburg and cabbage casserole
Snack: ice cream bar
Exercise: one hour therapy workout with IGOR; Yoga chair exercises; Walk for at least 15 minutes.
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