Health Trek Day 40

It's Thursday again and I face the evil scale once more. I have done some soul searching this week and found myself wanting in the willpower department. Every day I make a plan, but find that my day takes on a life of its own and I am still not taking enough time to do the exercise, make the healthy meals and keep track of what I eat. I am now Leader once again of our Chapter, and I hope to be an example to everyone of what to do right, not how to procrastinate and continue the yo-yo pattern that has become my life. So I am going to pretend tonight is my first night at TOPS and ask all the members to pretend with me. Than we are going to start with DAY ONE and learn together what we must do to lose weight. I hope they will agree to some weekly assignments we will do every day and discussions each week that will keep us on track.
I know what I have to do and I will do it.
I am eating healthy and exercising more, but I know my portions are often too much. I need to cut out more of the starchy and fatty foods, and limit my snacking. Night time and solitude are my worst enemies because that is when I eat. Not out of hunger but out of habit. My refrigerator will soon look like a bulletin board with all the notes to myself on it. I realize I seldom read the notes, so I need to get the food out of the house that I shouldn't be eating. First plan, shop sensibly and not when I'm hungry. Second plan, write down what I plan to eat then follow it up with what I actually ate. I have started an honesty journal where I am making two columns one for my plan and one for reality. Then I can comment on why or why not my plan for the day worked.
So everyone, no funny quips today or silly stories. I am getting serious about my health!
Rock On!

Thought for today:
Lost Sundays
Modern times have brought many wondrous things
Ipods and phones with personalized rings
Cars and appliances to make our lives easy
Magical rides that make us feel queasy
We thought years ago these inventions would bring
More time to laugh and to dance and to sing,
But the truth of the matter is we've lost more than we gained
When you think of how our free time has been maimed
We used to have Sundays as a day to reflect
A time to recoup when we felt like a wreck
Now we use our days for a chance to fulfill
A long list of chores as we chug down a pill
That will give us the energy to get through the day
Since we no longer have time to muse and to pray
Our children are schooled to use every minute
Fill all of their time without any limit
We cart them to games and to gyms and to pools
Forgetting to teach them our Lord's Golden Rules
We have become too sophisticated to believe in a God
We no longer have time to look around and feel awed
Special effects in our modern movie shows
Take away the wonder of the winter's first snows
So many take drugs to make them feel right
It is no longer safe to go out at night
Our children have lost their summers of play
And no longer sit at the table to pray
What good are the gadgets if we can't find the joy?
That we used to know as a young girl or boy?
JPH
7/7/2008

Plan for today:
Breakfast: fruit, tea and toast
Lunch: 1 piece of Shepherd's pie
Snack: apple
Dinner: Bowl of chicken soup and six crackers.
I plan to drink more water today.
Exercise: walking and Yoga.

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.