Weekly Weigh In & Movement (June 6)

 Weekly Weigh In & Movement (June 6)

Goal Weight:  115

June 6 Weigh In:  120 

Weight Lost This Week:  1

Weight Left To Lose:  5 pounds

I'm almost embarrassed to share how few calories I can ingest in order to lose weight, even at my current rate of just about a pound a week, So the mental battle is real, but I'm in it until I get there . . . or at least that's the plan at this point!

Weekly Mileage/Movement

• Fri- None
• Sat- 2 mile walk
• Sun- None
• Mon - None
• Tue- 5 mile walk my
• Wed- 1 mile walk
• Thur - 4 mile walk 
• TOTAL FOR WEEK:  12 miles

I have to laugh a bit at my low mileage for the week - my husband is temporarily out of walking commission due to a sore back, and my extrovert self really misses him! I can come up with a hundred distractions when left to my own devices, but give me another person to walk/hike/kayak with, and I'm there!

So, now I know that I'm much better off making hard dates with confirmed groups and not just 'me' when my preferred activity partner is laid up, whomp whomp. 😒 

No Sugar, now No Food plan

The no-sugar effort is close to being hardwired now, at 10 weeks in. I do still have to occasionally remind myself that, no, actually, I can't have just a smidge, lest I quickly return to where I was 10 weeks ago. But I can say that its a relatively small effort at this point, so I now think its time to focus on my food plan going forward as I continue to fight through the last few pounds.

As in, I'm working daily to be comfortable with feeling slightly hungry in the evening, my biggest pre-weight loss snacking danger time.

I still feel minor compulsions to snack after dinner, but so far a couple of crunchy 5 calorie pickles have worked at getting me over the compulsion hump. As has a small amount of frozen berries.

However, I like the way I look and feel at this lower end of my personal weight bell curve much more than I miss the food, and I look forward to meeting my goal in just a few more weeks. At which point I'm going to go shopping for some of the new wider leg jeans that are trying so hard to push my beloved skinny jeans off to the side, lol.

I like all three of these looks below a lot. I have all of the non-pants components in my closet already, so it's just the pants I'm looking to add to my wardrobe.

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If you are likewise on a quest to improve some aspect of your dietary or fitness life, please feel free to share here. The more we can work to support and encourage each other the better!

Weekend Wrap Up - Ready, Set, Grab!

 Weekend Wrap Up - Ready, Set, Grab!

This was one of those weekends where we were on the go from pretty much morning until night - so today, Monday, I have zero plans save going for a nice, long, leisurely beach walk!

Seriously, our pace this weekend was close to frenetic, but we knew it was coming and prepared as best we could, both mentally and physically.

So, here we go:

Friday - Haircut appointments for us both back in our prior town, about a 45 minute drive, because it continues to be that much cheaper to get our cuts there, in north Orange County, than down here in south Orange County. We pay $80 total for two haircuts, vs closer to $175 or so that it would cost to get them cut down here. 

After returning home, I had time for a quick lunch before heading out to a routine doctor's appointment. After returning home from that, I started setting up for our Sunday wine tasting party here, then made dinner.

Saturday - Out the door bright and early at 7:00 AM to report for volunteer duty at an all day wine competition. We dried hundreds and hundreds of wine glasses as delicately yet quickly as we could (I think each of us volunteers broke at least one glass from handling them a bit to hard, oops, before learning just how much pressure to apply). A lot of chatting occurred as we dried, so that was fun, as was the really nice lunch we were served.

The primary reason we all volunteer for this it must be said, is that we all walk away with a case of wine, the result of about 1,000 bottles being lightly poured out for judges' rating, leaving a good 20 oz or so of quality wine in each bottle.

The volunteer bottle selection that occurs at the end of the day is always a lot of fun. We all select two bottles at a time, each 'round' if you will, until our wine boxes are full, 24 bottles of wine in our case, since there were two of us.

Prepping the work room for all of us volunteers to go 'wine shopping' at the end of the day.

We returned home at about 6PM, I made a couple of quick but tasty grilled turkey cheese sandwiches, plus some fruit, after which we cleaned up, watched one episode of a TV drama, then poured ourselves into bed.

Sunday - Spiritual services followed by a luncheon and presentation to say farewell to one of the longtime members, then home to set out food for our neighborhood wine event. We had 16 folks in total, and it was a blast. I enjoy our new neighborhood so very much!

The wine

The spread

The tasting cards

All departed by about 6PM, with us pressing as much wine and food on them as they were willing to take, 😄. We spent an hour or so cleaning up, then pretty much did a repeat of Saturday evening - a quick bite, one episode of 'whatever,' then off to bed.

We are equal parts exhausted and elated by how well the event went, and we've already committed to holding it again next year.

Today, though, Monday, we have zero commitments, hooray!

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How was your weekend???

Weekly Weigh In & Movement (May 30)

 Weekly Movement & Weigh In

Goal Weight:  115

May 30 Weigh In:  121 

Weight Lost This Week:  0

Weight Left To Lose:  6 pounds

It was a very busy week for a variety of reasons, meaning my activity mileage suffered, plus we had several dine out events, so I'm actually thrilled to be ending the week where I began, weight wise.

Other than after a big evening event involving food, after which I do a semi-fast the next day, I've become accustomed to eating less, and established a routine that I think will work for a good long time to come, beyond reaching my goal weight. 

Once I reach my goal weight, I should be able to enjoy weekend dineouts, while adhering to my food plan otherwise. Because I'm really liking my food plan - it's tasty and it's filling now that I'm used to eating less overall.

Here is my general food plan-

Early Morning - Coffee with a touch of Non Fat 1/2 & 1/2.

Late Morning- One egg, over easy, on one slice of toast - 200 calories.

Lunch - 275 calorie bagel sandwich, comprised of one Trader Joe 240 calorie bagel lightly toasted, one 35 calorie serving of deli meat, generous lettuce, tomato, cucumber, and pickle slices, plus lots of mustard, none of which add any calories but do add lots of bulk, crunch, and flavor. 

Post Lunch Pick Me Up - Iced coffee with a splash of NF 1/2 & 1/2, plus one sliced apple with a generous sprinkling of cinnamon - 100 calories. 

Mid Afternoon Pick Me Up - One small carton of Greek yogurt with 1/2 cup of blueberries from freezer, and 1/4 of a sliced banana for 175 total calories.

Dinner- Whatever is on my menu, capped at 300 calories total for my serving, all in.To achieve this, I generally have a big serving of whatever vegetables I made, including salads, and a small portion of the main entree. So, as an example, last night I had a large serving of sauteed & seasoned vegetables, and a very small serving of the chicken enchiladas I'd made.

Daily total approx 1000 - 1100 calories. I've moved somewhat gradually into this lower food quantity, as a note. I'm sure I would have felt hungry at this calorie count some weeks ago, but it now satisfies me, because eating less - or more - are habits into which we train our bodies to adjust.

Here is a terrific article discussing just this, and which I can now attest to:

Getting Used To Eating Less

Weekly Mileage/Movement:

• Fri- 5 mile walk
• Sat- 2 mile walk
• Sun- None
• Mon - 7 mile walk
• Tue- None
• Wed- None
• Thur - None
• TOTAL FOR WEEK:  14 miles
• TOTAL FOR MONTH SO FAR:  89 miles

Those black dots in the water are surfers, not birds!

No Sugar Progress

Nothing to discuss really, because I've beaten it back, for now at least. I no longer have noticeable cravings, and I accept it will not be a part of my life moving forward. I can now make dessert for my husband and other people, and have more forms of it in the house, without feeling any compulsions to eat it myself. I have developed other ways to treat myself when the mood strikes, my favorite being iced coffee, or if after dinner, a small serving of fruit. 

Total time to get to this point: Approximately two months. 

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If you are likewise on a quest to improve some aspect of your dietary or fitness life, please feel free to share here. The more we can work to support and encourage each other the better!

Weekend Wrap Up & The Week Ahead

Weekend Wrap Up & The Week Ahead

As I've mentioned previously, it's a goal in retirement to plan the type of non-stop weekends that we did not have the energy to create or do during our working years. And this weekend delivered and then some!

But first, I have to give tribute to 84 year old Welsh singer, Tom Jones, who I had the privilege of seeing live this past week. Tom Jones was one of my mother's singing idols, right up there along with Elvis Presley. My early idols were more along the lines of Davey Jones and David Cassidy, but I did/do of course know who Tom Jones is. So, when my girlfriend invited me to see him via a free ticket she had, I said 'Sure,' but without any particular excitement on my side.

Well, I am here to say that I was wrong! He was adorable, delightful, entertaining, and still had his trademark powerhouse voice.

No hip swivels though, just in case you are wondering. He sat on a stool for most of the show, which at almost 85 years, I will not judge him for whatsoever!

Back to our weekend, here's how it flowed:

Friday - Five mile walk around the harbor, picnic lunch enjoying the marine bird life. Home to do a few chores and clean up, then over to one of our favorite coastal venues to enjoy dinner and a country band, during which, yeah, line dancing occurred. We learned the 10 Step - fun, fun, fun!

Saturday - Spent time in the AM on the computer and on the phone with my girlfriend, deciding which of a few organized wilderness trips we were considering doing together was 'the one.' We landed on a one week hiking and kayaking trip in Newfoundland, Canada a little later this year, and we are both so excited as it looks like it's going to be absolutely gorgeous!

After sending in my deposit and completing lots of online paperwork, my husband and I left to attend what turned out to be a great tribute concert to Foreigner and Journey in always-fun Laguna Beach.

Afterward we had dinner at one of our favorite Laguna Beach restaurants, where we were seated alongside a former Real Housewife of Orange County. This has happened to me a few times over the years, and honestly, it's always fun.😄

Sunday - Spiritual services in the AM, then over to the harbor to launch our kayaks and enjoy a concert on the water. 

Dinner back at home afterward.

This upcoming week is packed. In addition to several events, appointments, commitments, and miles of hiking and walking plans, we're also prepping for a wine event we are holding here next weekend.

As my 88 year old father always says, whenever we say goodbye after chatting about his many and ongoing activities, 'I can rest when I'm dead, Tamara!'

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How was your weekend???

Weekly Weigh In & Movement (May 23)

 Weekly Weigh In & Movement (May 23)

Goal Weight:  115

May 23 Weigh In:  121 

Weight Lost This Week:  1 pound

Weight Left To Lose:  6 pounds

I began last Friday's post by saying that the effort to lose these last few pounds has been considerable. And I'm here to repeat that again this week- in spite of the many miles I walk on and hike each week, I must have the metabolism of a sloth, because this is indeed hard! I'm creating a game plan each morning when I wake up, on how I'm going to structure my day with regard to activity exercise, and meals eaten. If we have an evening social event, I skip breakfast, have a small lunch, and ingest a small bag of almonds just prior to leaving for our event, so that I don't arrive starving.

As long as I give myself time to walk through the evening event in my head, I'm more successful than not in sticking to my eating plan.

Conversely, if we have a big multi-mile daytime walk or hike planned, I can enjoy a mini-splurge for lunch, such as a shared carnitas burrito or a shared burger with fries, but I then need to skip dinner. Again, as long as I walk through the evening eating plan (or non eating plan!) in my head, I can stay with it more often than not.

And yes, that is the crazy extent to which I'm having to visualize and cut back my calories in order to effect even a minor weight loss. The primary reason I'm continuing to fight off these last few vanity pounds is that I really do love getting dressed up for our many social activities, and I appreciate the way being on the lower end of my personal weight bell curve leaves me feeling in my clothes. Plus, to be honest, I really like the complements I get when I'm close to my goal weight, generally from women my age, or slightly older - they give my aging ego a boost, which feels nice!

That reminds me of a funny story that happened recently. We were leaving a restaurant, and had to walk through their bar to exit. Inside the bar there was a group of young people singing loudly and having fun, and they invited us to join them as we walked by. As we laughingly said 'No, but thanks!,' a clearly tipsy guy yelled out to me, 'I don't know who you are, but I love you!' I laughed, turned to my husband and said, 'I know he's likely drunk, but damn, at my age I'll take it!' 😅

I enjoy clothes shopping and dressing up in our casual California way, and I'm electing to focus on that more so than on food at this point,
in order to remain motivated to power through the last few pounds.

Weekly Mileage/Movement:

• Fri- 4 mile walk
• Sat- 4 mile walk
• Sun- 5 mile walk
• Mon - 5 mile sand walk
• Tue- 4 mile walk
• Wed- None, but a good number of hours trimming and mulching in the adjacent HOA area, as my property is basically zero maintenance. So I get my yardwork love itch scratched by making the adjacent HOA area on my side as close to pristine as possible. 😄
• Thur - None
• TOTAL FOR WEEK:  22 miles
• TOTAL FOR MONTH SO FAR:  75 miles

No Sugar Progress

I did great this week, week eight, and had virtually no cravings. I'm now very, very comfortable being in the presence of sugar outside of my home. As an example, my husband and I did a long beach walk over the weekend, going out for iced coffee afterward. He ordered a well-earned berry muffin to go with his coffee, and I was 100% fine ordering nothing, and felt zero compulsions to ask for a bite of his treat.

In my head, I now view sugary treats as drugs - they are literally drugs for my brain, and do zero to satisfy genuine hunger.

What a turnaround from my first few days of attempting to break my sugar addiction, when I felt like a caged animal. Fortunately, however, sugar is nothing remotely like 'real' drugs, and thus it only took a few days for the worst of the cravings to quiet. 

This is my umpteenth attempt to break my sugar addiction, but without question, this is the longest stretch I've ever managed and I would say I'm close to 100% at peace with not ingesting it again, because I understand that I will be quickly right back where I started if I do. There is no moderation switch for me to engage when it comes to sugar. Instead, I've pretty much replaced it in my head with treats like a great iced coffee, a nice piece of fruit, a dozen roasted or salted nuts, small amounts of dried fruit atop cheese, or even a bowl of crunchy vegetables.

It feels damn good to be in charge of my life vs being under the control of when my next sugar hit was going to come.**  And again, I am so thankful it was only sugar that I was addicted to, and not something more detrimental to either myself, my loved ones, or my community.

**As a reminder - this is not intended to be an indictment of sugar at all. This is specifically about those of us that are literally addicted to sugar, which is very different from those of you that can simply enjoy it, and then carry on.  😊

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If you are likewise on a quest to improve some aspect of your dietary or fitness life, please feel free to share here. The more we can work to support and encourage each other the better!

Monday- Weekend Wrap Up

Weekend Wrap Up

As I've mentioned previously, it's a goal in retirement to plan the type of non-stop weekends that we did not have the energy to create or do during our working years. We were to wiped to do anything but go out for dinner on Friday nights, and we would generally carve out Sundays as the day we got ready for the work week ahead, so really only Saturday was reserved for a fun and activity during our working years. Now, in retirement, the fun generally begins on Friday morning, and doesn't conclude until Sunday evening.

So beginning with Friday morning, this was our latest retirement weekend, though I have to qualify that it was tempered somewhat by my husband's last minute decision to not attend a Men's weekend as planned. That left me a bit flat-footed in quickly coming up with a couples vs on-my-own game plan:

Friday- Five mile walk around the harbor, home to have lunch and shower, then over to our membership winery to enjoy complimentary glasses of wine while looking out at the ocean, then back home for an easy but delicious dinner of quiche slices I pulled from the freezer, plus salad in a bag. (I gentle warmed the quiche slices in the microwave at 50% power, then placed them for a few minutes in my hot air fryer for a perfectly crisp-ed finish.)

Boats at the harbor getting ready for the upcoming Memorial Day weekend.
There will be several floating bands playing over the weekend,
which we look forward to enjoying via our kayaks.

And then a rare Friday night at home streaming a movie, because I thought I'd be home alone in my PJ's watching old seasons of Top Chef while my husband was gone, LOL.

Saturday- Walked again to the Farmers Market, where I purchased a dozen fabulous frozen pot stickers for two future dinners. I learned a tip the first time I purchased the dumplings - to add both oil and water at the same time to the pan when cooking them. The water first boils, then boils off, perfectly steaming the pot stickers in the process, at which point the remaining oil in the pan starts to sizzle, browning and crisping them perfectly - how could I never have learned this two step process???

After arriving back home to shower, my husband and I headed out to see a matinee performance of Broadway's longest running musical ever, The Fantasticks. Not only did the show exceed our expectations, but it only cost us $12 a ticket due to it being a college (vs professional) production, and at the senior rate, so incredible value for the price. 

We ended the day with Happy Hour at one of our favorite seafood restaurants. One glass of wine each, a shared salad, and a shared fish entree, which we enjoyed in the Happy Hour designated area of the restaurant.

Sunday- Back to the harbor on another gorgeous day to do another five miles, then over to the next coastal town for a shared iced coffee, then a scenic easy drive back to the house. Spent the afternoon sitting out on our patio finishing the chilling non fiction book, The Well Trained Wife by Tia Levings, which details her traumatic experience with Christian Patriarchy. I then returned to reading the equally excellent book Horse by Geraldine Brooks. And both were borrowed from the library as eBooks, so zero cost to me.

I highly recommend both books!

Finished off the day with our own Happy Hour here at home, and then made Curry Shrimp Pasta, yet another great make from my Taste of Home One Pot Favorites cookbook.

I have a crazy busy run of days ahead, including some great evening events ( Tom Jones live anyone? 😄 ), so a somewhat quiet Sunday to end the weekend is appreciated even if unusual!

How was your weekend???

Weekly Weigh In & Movement (May 16)

Weekly Weigh In & Movement (May 16)

Goal Weight:  115

May 16 Weigh In:  122.0

Weight Lost This Week: 1.2 pounds

Weight Left To Lose:  7 pounds

Something I read years ago gave the measurement of 10 pounds as being the general difference between pant sizes, so if I use that guideline, I'm about 3/4 of a pant size away from my goal. That feels very encouraging to say to myself, because the effort this is taking is considerable! 

Taken in my home office, a space I much enjoy. Hubby has his own home office space as well. 
We both enjoy and appreciate having our own spots to engage in our various pursuits.
Attempting to take a remotely decent selfie is clearly one of mine, ha!

Weekly Mileage/Movement:

• Fri- 5 mile walk
• Sat- 6 mile walk
• Sun- None
• Mon - None, but I did work in the yard for a couple of hours
• Tue- 5 mile walk
• Wed- Quick 1 mile walk on an otherwise busy day
• Thur - 6 mile walk
• TOTAL FOR WEEK:  23 miles
• TOTAL FOR MONTH SO FAR: 53 miles

Here are some of this week's beautiful walking views, one of many reasons it is not painful whatsoever to walk out the door and put on some miles!

Can you spot the Egret? 

No Sugar Progress:

Another week of no specifically sought-out processed sugar, which in my case primarily means cookies/pastries/ice cream/desserts. I'm qualifying because I did make or purchase some meals that included small amounts of products containing sugar such as BBQ sauce, hoisen sauce, sriracha honey, and ketchup.  The goal is to break the cycle that sugar addiction creates, that being the struggle to stop. None of these condiment or cooking items generated anything remotely close to the addictive mind-swirl, and thus I had zero problems sticking with the food quantity I'd pre-determined before sitting down to eat my designated meal.  

I found this article to be helpful  Sugar Addiction & How To Break It  as I continue to explore why I respond so strongly to sugar. This part in particular made a clear connection between sugar and the brain's response to it for some of us:

Why can sugar be addictive?

Because our bodies need glucose, we’re evolutionarily programmed to seek it out. “When sugar hits our tongue, it activates certain taste buds that send a signal up to the brain,” says Nicole Avena, Ph.D., an assistant professor of neuroscience at Mount Sinai School of Medicine and author of Why Diets Fail: Because You’re Addicted to Sugar. This activates the brain’s reward system: Feel-good dopamine is released and the behavior is reinforced, which makes us want to repeat it (just one more cookie!).

I had only a few minor sugar cravings over this past week, which I was able to satisfy quite easily with a small amount of fruit, or a nice sized bowl of satisfyingly crunchy vegetables (baby carrots, bell pepper strips, and cucumber slices primarily). I continue to be surprised that I'm satisfied with one serving of any of the above, never seeking to 'keep going' such as I did with sugar.

So while not yet 'easy,' easier for sure.

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If you are likewise on a quest to improve some aspect of your dietary or fitness life, please feel free to share here. The more we can work to support and encourage each other the better!