tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-48430440443802597602024-03-13T10:30:30.480-05:00Nature RulesFollows a weight-loss diet begun Sunday, February 6, 2011, by a woman aged 64 who wore 2X tops and 1X bottoms. Her diet is not guided by a professional. She counts calories and averages them daily. She occasionally does sit-ups, takes walks, or exercises on a recumbent bike. She buys no special foods or supplements, but eats ordinary food. At age 42 she weighed 131 pounds. She is not trying to be 42 again, just aiming for a healthier weight.BluffCountryArtisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10629451388539652392noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843044044380259760.post-23158725009973199672012-06-20T17:50:00.003-05:002012-06-20T17:50:58.183-05:00500 Days of Dieting<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Today is an anniversary day that I, frankly, did not have much faith in attaining. Temptations along the way have been many and reliable. Also reliably difficult to resist for the most part. For the other part, I did not always resist. I still like the things that are so bad for me. Well, if I can attain 500 days, I can certainly attain another 1/2 K!<br />
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Overall, I have lost 64 pounds. Although my current daily caloric intake is just 1541, my weight loss has slowed to a virtual crawl. I can no longer say the pounds are melting off, but crawling off like a tiny turtle.<br />
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I spoke with a nutritionist at my hospital last week. I asked her if, after such a long time dieting, my body has actually become accustomed to surviving on my present intake of food. She said yes. So, the way to lose more weight after the 500 days of fairly consistent dieting is to give it a nudge: either drop the calories much further, or get more exercise on a regular basis. Knowing myself, either of these will be a real challenge, but I must make a choice and do what I can. I want to lose a minimum of ten more pounds. Anything more than that will be a real bonus for me.<br />
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Hmmmm. Do I keep making more goals for myself? I guess so. <br />
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I suppose the calorie droppers will be in the form of vegetables and fruits, both store boughten and home grown. My vegetable garden has been supplying me with plenty of fresh herbs, strawberries, shallots, and snow peas. Spinach has come and gone. Some cabbages as well as carrots are ready to harvest, small tomatoes and peppers will be ripening in a month or so, and cucumbers and melons are gaining size. Brussels sprouts will take a while yet. The beans have flowered and I see tiny green beans forming. I don't eat much meat, but I will cut down on it.<br />
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As for exercise, I'll be doing that while doing other tasks. I've always despised the boredom of exercise, but I'm pretty sure I can do something while I'm brushing my teeth, or watching tv. (Today is an Errol Flynn marathon on TCM to celebrate that gorgeous man's birthday.) Further reports will be posted irregularly, but I will let you know when I reach another milestone.<br />
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<br /></div>BluffCountryArtisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10629451388539652392noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843044044380259760.post-37315856431579322242012-03-14T20:37:00.004-05:002012-03-15T11:13:58.412-05:00The Cat Who Would Be Man--A Departure from My Diet Blog<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1tMRxObhhzHBWR_Xo2GVEKvcuNysOCb2Or_iSpgud4AF4RfdBWE6_9DAS6L0Q48JTQKB7v-Sss4hRqKBoZyzGmzDZ0hl-Y3DI3TBld9qaL_L3Kr9ik3YRQb7NQTqBvGIUk0pTUGaSDX4/s1600/2012+03+14+1995+10+five+kittens+fix.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal">Junior: A Man Among Cats</div><div class="MsoNormal">October 3, 1995 to March 3, 2012</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal">The calico Cutie Pie yowled when a messy kitten popped from her suddenly. She growled at it and leaped from the dresser drawer where she lay during her contractions. The kitten remained attached to her by his umbilical cord and was dragged several feet before I gently took hold of Cutie Pie and returned her to the delivery drawer. Junior had a bit of a rough start. Remarkably, Cutie Pie calmed down, delivered and cleaned five other kittens, and became an excellent mother. It was her only pregnancy and all her kittens were either placed well or kept in our home with their mom, who was soon spayed.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal">Junior was the dominant kitten immediately. He pushed the other kittens out of his way at each nursing as he nuzzled for his special nipple and when he sucked it dry, he latched onto another and let no one get it. He remained the alpha cat in our home until his death. Yet he accepted any new cat or kitten we got and socialized with them like a big brother.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixCTvxute9YJqD18pO-H8ZsVL_bSmwkOCTFgBVaUnQQG7yPpScT7lhVdPBTq3tu4NuUWL11v1p6aTTgAW8rtp2ISgkULJgjgFLmNsBba3P0EMsvhnoEt8diRTEERJRWQBjSIFQURqPBd0/s1600/2008+06+256+072.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixCTvxute9YJqD18pO-H8ZsVL_bSmwkOCTFgBVaUnQQG7yPpScT7lhVdPBTq3tu4NuUWL11v1p6aTTgAW8rtp2ISgkULJgjgFLmNsBba3P0EMsvhnoEt8diRTEERJRWQBjSIFQURqPBd0/s320/2008+06+256+072.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</tbody></table></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1tMRxObhhzHBWR_Xo2GVEKvcuNysOCb2Or_iSpgud4AF4RfdBWE6_9DAS6L0Q48JTQKB7v-Sss4hRqKBoZyzGmzDZ0hl-Y3DI3TBld9qaL_L3Kr9ik3YRQb7NQTqBvGIUk0pTUGaSDX4/s1600/2012+03+14+1995+10+five+kittens+fix.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><div class="MsoNormal">Never a shy or timid cat, he circumambulated the two homes he lived in, guarding them bravely, chasing away any interloping canines that might stray too close to his property. He could climb a tree with the best of cats. When he wanted to go outside to enjoy the weather, the hunting, and the job of security cat, he’d push his head against the door, and if I did not notice him, he’d meow while looking at the handle. To get back in, he “knocked” on the door so loudly I heard it a couple of rooms away. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Outside daily in good weather, he found the sunniest spots to lay when it was cool and the coolest spots when it was too warm. After all, his orange fur coat was quite thick and warm. Every neighbor who walked by got to know him. They’d laugh because he was so round, so orange, and so very friendly while never leaving the property itself. They had their own names for him—either Morris or Garfield. To me, he was Junior—or June-Bug, Junie, Big J, Big Boy, Juney-Booney, Buddy, J-Meister—but his original name was Tinker-Boy Junior, named after an older cat we had. Occasionally he found himself addressed as Pumpkin or Sweety-Puss. No matter what we called him, he always knew our tone of voice and he came to us.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">He rarely brought us the game he harvested, choosing to eat most of it on the spot. He was a super hunter, true to his nature as a feline. We never had a mouse problem, and rabbits did not damage my garden until the last two years, as Junior’s arthritis and sway back slowed him down. He no longer climbed our stairs to the second floor where we slept. His physical condition, earlier so perfect, showed more and more signs of his age as deafness and vision problems made him increasingly cautious.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">However, his general health seemed fine. He remained alert, fairly active, and had a good appetite. He knew that if he came to me when I sat in a certain chair, he would get his favorite treats. Every time I pulled out the cutting board and prepared meat for dinner, Junior immediately walked over next to me and looked up with expectancy, waiting for the morsels he knew he would get. And, as all cats, he knew immediately when I’d open a can of cat food or a can of tuna or salmon (he loved all things fish), and he’d be right on the spot for his share, which was much larger than the other cats’ shares. He was still the first kitten at heart. For dry cat food, he wasn’t so fast. When I would pull up some catnip and bring it into the house, he would push the other cats out of his way to get his Alpha-cat share, just as he did at his mother’s breasts as a kitten.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXtEvZAM6moCLLeUSa1MI9C-fcV7phBLrwPjN1Oda0AZH3gy8xFXxr_cVy_6Y_XgVX6CsibDt-KJ2nvAfD6sQTWj9EQva-1J0OCpV6OlnLMR5YJ12MxfCbvL-Vz9flSl9mo1xfV_lET30/s1600/Jan+24+2005+003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXtEvZAM6moCLLeUSa1MI9C-fcV7phBLrwPjN1Oda0AZH3gy8xFXxr_cVy_6Y_XgVX6CsibDt-KJ2nvAfD6sQTWj9EQva-1J0OCpV6OlnLMR5YJ12MxfCbvL-Vz9flSl9mo1xfV_lET30/s320/Jan+24+2005+003.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal">With such a good appetite, he naturally had to release a lot of digested food remains. Although that may not sound funny, we had to laugh at him. He did not make normal-sized cat poops. He made man-poops. He really did. I started calling him a man, and continue to do so. The joke was that a man sneaked into the house and used the kitty-litter box. In fact, instead of buying real kitty-litter boxes, I bought a few very large utility pans from a lumberyard.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Even the day before he died, weak as he was, he made it to the litter pan. Too weak to remain standing, he laid in the litter to urinate. He would not dirty his house. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoBodyText"><span style="color: windowtext;">Although a man of a cat, Junior was neutered at nine months of age. In spite of that, if a cat in heat came to him, he would make an attempt to service her! He’d try and try, and get a weird look on his face when nothing happened. We could just imagine what he was thinking. What a funny little man he was.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">He loved us all, our family of five. Spending sixteen years with the same people, receiving love, kindness, lots of scratching and petting, and being treated as a true member of the family, he was very attached to us. Every time my son went on vacation, Junior prowled the house looking for him. When we went upstairs to sleep, Junior would join us when he was younger. And when he could no longer get up the stairs, he’d be downstairs on his futon, calling us with loud cries. It was pitiful to hear. Often we would carry our lonely friend upstairs and put him on my bed. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">His love of us and our love of him surely helped him in his final months, which took place in the winter. As the end drew near, he ate less daily. He walked much more slowly, stopping every few feet to take a rest. He had a hard time getting on and off his futon, so my son made a little stairway for him out of pillows and a square wicker basket. We brought him milk and water several times a day so he wouldn’t have to tire himself getting to his dishes. My son feared that Junior was cold because we keep the heat low during winter, so he put his electric blanket under Junior for the warmth. Junior loved it. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">When I would prepare meat at the cutting board, he’d lift his head and look at me—was he wishing he could still have the good meats he used to get from me beneath the chopping board? I’d bring him a bit of fresh meat, but he would smell it without attempting to eat it. He would refuse cooked and blended gizzards and liver, formerly a favorite of his. It seemed he was saying he just doesn’t have the appetite anymore.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:DoNotOptimizeForBrowser/> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Even when I’d wash the dishes, he’d stare at me. All of us in the house came to him many times a day and petted him. He always responded to it like the purring machine he always had been. Often he’d get restless, and make it to his favorite spots to lie for a time. His haunches became bony, his spine showed, his skin hung, his eyes became narrower, and his formerly thick jowls slimmed down pitifully as he lost half his weight. Sometimes he would vomit bubbles. His breath was horrendous, much like decaying blood. Yet I still thought that if I could get more food into him, he’d recover and stay with us a few more months if not years. I cooked chicken for him and blended it into the broth to make a nutritious liquid for him. It was very hard to let go.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">After my knee surgery in November 2011, it was too painful to walk up the stairs to my room, so I began sleeping on the futon downstairs with Junior. He got used to my being there nightly very quickly, and he cuddled up to me every time I lay down. I sleep poorly, and whenever I’d awaken, I’d see him looking at me, and give him scratching. I brushed him daily. When my knee healed enough in January to make it up the stairs, I decided to remain sleeping on the futon with Junior. By then we could see he was declining just a bit daily. I did not want for him to be lonely for me, or for me to be lonely for my little man.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Junior did not die alone. I did not expect him to die that day. He had only put his muzzle into the water I brought him, without licking any. I had a syringe full of chicken broth for him, and I was about to feed him after filming him for a few moments. He had been looking at me just a few seconds before I filmed him. I suddenly realized that he let out a small sigh and stopped breathing just as I stopped filming. I petted and called him. Shocked, I wailed loudly, sobbed, and called my son. We both decided to try and revive Junior. He revived for just a few moments, but never got to eat. His eyes covered with an oily film, he took several large, heaving breaths, then he again let out a small sigh. He was gone. No matter how painful for us, we had to let him go. Neither of us could leave his side for a long time. My other sons attended the wake, and a dear friend of one of them also attended. We waked him for several hours after decorating his resting place with Valentine’s Day flowers an older son had bought me. How appropriate that they were purple.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPviD_smMP5Fd1kmSlreVyCQn8SMllBEUsDA5OSYGPScj508mhcBoYpfZr8Rnffy5SDiwpZeO0wxk0sEOT_irK59e5L2sXTuxkRlwg5zKCLSmWyjUpbofebBPr2ElV4cCK8LBVjMmoEgA/s1600/2012+03+03+089+edit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPviD_smMP5Fd1kmSlreVyCQn8SMllBEUsDA5OSYGPScj508mhcBoYpfZr8Rnffy5SDiwpZeO0wxk0sEOT_irK59e5L2sXTuxkRlwg5zKCLSmWyjUpbofebBPr2ElV4cCK8LBVjMmoEgA/s320/2012+03+03+089+edit.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal">The beginning of his life had drama and stress, as did the end. We are all connected by that, and all subject to it as well. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">One of my sons is making a little coffin for Junior. We are burying him beneath a large, full-branched white pine tree. We’re putting a stone on his grave, and every time I walk through our little woodland I’ll think of the devoted companion I had for sixteen years.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">In this world of monumental history blasting into the news broadcasts every day, the death of one small animal is no more than the washing away of one grain of sand on an enormous beach in this enormous universe. Yet to Junior’s family, the loss is inestimable.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Would a pedigree have made him more lovable, a more devoted friend, a better companion? To anyone who saw him, Junie was just an ordinary, short-haired, orange domestic cat, the kind you could get for free by the dozens on Craig’s list, or through an index card tacked onto a message board in a grocery store, or from a crowded shelter. But to us, he was a mighty man among cats. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: #fff2cc;">After Junior’s death, my son said that he is going to get his little female cat spayed. If he wants another cat, he’ll adopt. Good decision. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: #fff2cc;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: #fff2cc;">There are millions of cats and kittens whose lives have had no such loving care, no such healthy food, and no such comfortable home. They are abandoned for good reason or not. They exist in little cages in shelters, on freezing garage floors, in alleys, or much, much worse. Approximately 2.9 million meet their deaths in shelters every year because no one wants them. No one took care that they would not be born only to be euthanized. According to the American Humane Association, “71 percent of cats that enter animal shelters are euthanized”. This includes healthy kittens and nearly every older cat, all of whom are adorable and all of whom need a loving home. Everyone has love in his or her heart, love enough to spare for a fellow creature of this wonderful planet. If you have love to spare and a good home, please adopt a cat. The reward will be much greater than you could ever imagine. Love breeds love. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div></div>BluffCountryArtisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10629451388539652392noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843044044380259760.post-77047553986678082572012-03-12T23:38:00.001-05:002012-03-13T12:12:36.693-05:00400 Days of Dieting<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I chose to title this post dramatically to remind everyone that losing weight is not a short-term experiment but a very long-term commitment. If you give up after a few days, you won't have any success. Also, even when you have reached your goal and think you are done, you still need to be vigilant. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Being about 15 pounds from a personally acceptable weight for my height and age, I am still quite actively dieting, counting every calorie and averaging them daily. My current average is 1541/day. My current weight is 175, and I still have the "love handles". I spot them when I look in my "rear view" mirror. I suppose, though, that when (I don't say "if" but "when") I reach 160, I may try for another ten pound loss or so!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">The pounds are dissolving very slowly; however, I don't feel frustrated because I can see the results in my mirror daily. It's a good feeling to put on clothing, look in the mirror, and realize that how baggy it is. It goes right in a box of donations to Goodwill. This works out well too, since one of my sons works there!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I've made mistakes along the 400 days by letting myself go and then having to suffer to get back to where I was before the mistakes. I find that I "prime the pump", so to speak, if I fill myself too early in my day. I tend to lose management of my appetite too easily if my tummy empties when there are still several waking hours left. That's odd, but that's how it works for me. I can resist food more easily if I'm running more empty than full. The last meal of my day is the biggest by far. Then I go to bed full, and fall asleep before my appetite tells me to grab a sweet or a fatty thing. I will certainly have to be cautious for the rest of my life. You can't go up and down the scale repeatedly without hurting yourself. It's very easy going up and very hard going down.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Using the technique of mindful eating must continue as well. As for the Celiac Disease, I must admit that I dearly miss toast, sandwiches, pizza, crackers, and the occasional cookie or small piece of cake. I suppose I will always miss them. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Take care. Here's to the next 400 days.</span> <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Time to get more little pads of paper for my calorie counting.</span></div>BluffCountryArtisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10629451388539652392noreply@blogger.com1Wisconsin, USA43.784439699999979 -91.24880530000007241.490006699999981 -94.311538800000079 46.078872699999977 -88.186071800000065tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843044044380259760.post-88270538126148710572012-02-06T18:16:00.000-06:002012-02-06T18:16:01.123-06:00Today Is the One-Year Anniversary of My Diet<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">What a long haul it's been, and it's not done yet!</span> <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I've lost 56 pounds. I must say that I expected to lose more than that in 12 months. Yet--I'm being told by people, who include my doctor, that I should not lose weight too quickly in any case. The tendency for about 90% of all dieters is to gain back the weight (which I have done several times in earlier diets), and that's more likely if the weight loss was very quick rather than very slow. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">My appearance is quite different. I'm wearing much smaller clothing of course. Also, for people my age, the wrinkles are appearing rather quickly, but when I was 56 pounds heavier, I often heard remarks about my lack of wrinkles. Sure, they were filled in by fat. Now, though, with my face so much thinner that the new wrinkles are becoming more obvious as the weeks pass. Disappointing, but better wrinkles than diabetes or worse. At least the hair hasn't gone grey yet but that's thanks to genetics, not diet.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Speaking of diabetes, recent bloodwork revealed that I am no longer pre-diabetec. I'm so very happy about that. Also, my cholesterol is way down. Another positive change is that the intense pressure is off my knees and hips, so my arthritis is not as strong. It's remarkable how much difference it makes when your hips and knees don't have to move all that weight. I recently had my left knee replaced and my healing, I believe, has gone well in some part because I can move around and do my therapy more easily than if I still had the extra pounds.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">A question I am often asked, particularly by people who are thinking about dieting and really NEED to lose weight, is about my appetite. They always (and I do mean always) seem to think that I don't have the appetite I had a year ago. They think that I have gotten so used to not eating all the sweets and fats I used to eat, that I no longer crave them. Not at all true! I still love them and I must be very careful when exposed to them that I do not have more than ONE small piece of whatever it is. I cannot eat two pieces because if I eat two, I'll eat ten. It is a real addiction to me and I must be most careful. As I've mentioned before, this is not a real deprivation diet. I do eat things that I crave; it's just the amount that is greatly different. Who said "It is easier to avoid temptation that to resist it"? That person was right. If you are invited to an event that has snacks or free meals, be very very careful. Avoid going there if you can. An occasional huge meal won't make a big difference in your daily average, but if you have too many of them, your average will raise so high you might be discouraged and fall back into the enchanting, mouthwatering trap of gluttony. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Now I can reveal what I weighed one year ago today. It was 234 pounds. Now I weigh 178. I am continuing the daily averaging of my caloric intake. It stands at 1536, and it barely moves from day to day, because I would have to consume 365 calories more, or 365 calories less, in any one day to raise or lower the calorie average by just one! Therefore, if you do cheat badly and your average jumps by just 3 calories, it will take many days of eating well under the average to get the average back down. Be careful when you cheat. I want to reduce my weight to 160. If I can get it lower, great, but my weight loss has slowed down so much, it may take me another year of calorie averaging to get to that goal. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Mindful eating is still something I practice daily and am teaching my son, who is developmentally disabled, to do. He is grossly overweight. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Good luck with all your own weight loss efforts. I hope everyone can get healthier. I hope that my efforts have at least been informative. I will continue to post occasionally.</span><br />
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</div>BluffCountryArtisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10629451388539652392noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843044044380259760.post-72988941684686992062011-11-11T23:07:00.000-06:002011-11-11T23:07:09.923-06:00Mirror Image<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Look at yourself naked in the mirror, side view and front. Take a hand mirror and reflect the image of your back. Do this at the beginning of your diet and about once a month during your weight loss. After you lose about ten pounds you'll be asking yourself "Is my belly not hanging as low as last month? Do I have less flab hanging off my arm than I did before? And that creased fat hanging on my back above where my waist used to be--isn't it smaller?" But still you have your doubts. Maybe it's your imagination. But you reach a point where you can see that your belly is not hanging over your crotch. What a beautiful moment. That flab under your arm is not as deep or as flappy as earlier; you can see you have a waist and nothing is hanging over the back of your elbow.<br />
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Try on your old pants. They're starting to hang lower than your waist instead of having to be hitched above it. Soon people begin to say "It's time for you to get a new wardrobe," and you plan a trip to the Goodwill or St. Vincent's or the Salvation Army Store. Best of all, you are feeling very good.<br />
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For six weeks I was worried that I was continuing my reduced calorie diet for nothing, because during those weeks I DID NOT LOSE A SINGLE POUND. I admit I had feelings of discouragement. But I kept faith that my diet would kick in again, and I continued counting every calorie I ate and averaging the totals daily. Today my average caloric intake over the 278 days of my diet is 1555.<br />
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I saw my doctor this week for a physical in preparation for knee replacement surgery, and my weigh-in showed that I have lost 52 pounds. I am very pleased. My doctor is very pleased. My reflection in the mirror (sideways, front, and back) is far more pleasing than it was last Feb. 6, when I began counting my calories. I would like to lose about 30 more pounds, but I won't force it.<br />
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</div>BluffCountryArtisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10629451388539652392noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843044044380259760.post-79450897054266805552011-10-02T14:56:00.001-05:002011-10-02T15:05:02.819-05:00Herb-a-Licious Dishes Or Save the Salt for the Slugs<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG5euvloeJ1L3jjD_4ltFNOcr7AUpanVyftOdOVhO7jPFO-U_UQvYQpJUSGjI-dbWDqmWRAX1Q3VoLUGmVMq9_QFS0aCThIAI1_QL7OEKjh3zV3ACebJ-zrnEDO3mULnQamYyUuF6YU7k/s1600/2011+06+15+026+reduced.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG5euvloeJ1L3jjD_4ltFNOcr7AUpanVyftOdOVhO7jPFO-U_UQvYQpJUSGjI-dbWDqmWRAX1Q3VoLUGmVMq9_QFS0aCThIAI1_QL7OEKjh3zV3ACebJ-zrnEDO3mULnQamYyUuF6YU7k/s320/2011+06+15+026+reduced.jpg" width="135" /></a></span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">No, I don't mean salty slugs. I personally don't eat them although I'm pretty sure they are very high in protein. I mean save the salt to sprinkle on the slugs in your garden, because it kills them. And, guess what--it can kill you too!</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">My spice rack is where the magic of cooking flavorful salt-free foods begins. My son Ron made it for me, according to my needs and the space available. It's in a most convenient space a few feet from my stove, my counters, my table, and my pantry, and it's alphabetized (so my sister suggested; I used to have it arranged according to whether food is sweet, hot, spicy, meat, vegetables, etc.) so I just step over to it whenever I'm cooking or baking, and choose my spices and herbs. I grow herbs too. My family is so accustomed to taste-full food that when we eat out they can tell that much of the flavor is just from salt.</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I especially appreciate my spices and herbs now that I must stay gluten-free. </span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Lists are pretty boring, so skip this list unless you REALLY want to know what I flavor my food with. </span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Allspice, ground; Allspice, whole; Alum; Anis; Arrowroot; Bacon bits (real);</span><span style="font-size: small;">Basil (a dozen varieties in my garden too);</span><span style="font-size: small;"> Cayenne; Celery salt; Celery seeds; Chili powder; Chive rings(and in my garden); Cilantro (in my garden too); Cinnamon sticks; Cinnamon powder; Cloves ground; Cloves whole; Cumin; Curry (very hot); Dill leaves (and in garden); Dill seeds; Garlic minced; Garlic powdered; Ginger ground; Mace ground; Marjoram; Mustard ground; Mustard whole; Nutmeg ground; Nutmeg whole; Onion chopped (and in my garden); Onion powdered; Oregano (and in garden); Paprika; Parsley (and in a flower pot); Pepper black; Pepper red crushed (and from my garden); Pepper white; Rosemary; Saffron; Sage ground; Savory; Sesame seed; Tartar, cream of; Thyme (and in garden); Turmeric; plus 12 salt-free blends.</span><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">This spicy soup is delicious.</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Sauté </span></i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">in 1 T of oil</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">5 stalks chopped celery</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">3 chopped onions</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Add </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">5# of chopped carrots (in a 2-gallon pot)</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Water to cover </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Enough low-sodium bouillion to flavor (I used 11 tsp)</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">2 T strong curry</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">In last moments of cooking, add fresh or dry parsley to taste</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">This recipe is delicious. It makes two gallons of soup, with only 1335 calories in the entire pot. That’s less than 42 calories per cup. We each had a very large serving bowl of this soup as part of the main course. However, I added turkey sausages in the last 15 minutes of cooking the soup, so we had meat in our main course too. My son ate his on bread. I ate mine with prepared mustard (no gluten I hope).</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"><span style="font-size: small;">I HAVE LOST 48 POUNDS. MY OLD CLOTHES GOT SO LOOSE I FINALLY DONATED THEM TO GOODWILL AND I'M PULLING OUT SOME OLDER, SMALLER CLOTHING. SOME OF THAT IS TOO LARGE FOR ME TOO. MY WEIGHT LOSS IS STILL MUCH SLOWER THAN PREVIOUSLY, BUT I AM HAPPY THAT IT CONTINUES AS I CONTINUE TO KEEP COUNT OF AND AVERAGE MY CALORIE INTAKE. MY AVERAGE AS OF YESTERDAY IS 1550/DAY. </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div>BluffCountryArtisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10629451388539652392noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843044044380259760.post-28428330440412526592011-07-28T11:44:00.000-05:002011-07-28T11:44:58.564-05:00I Lost 40 Pounds<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">In the last two weeks I have noticed that my weight loss is slowing down. I spoke with a nutritionist about that, and she told me that now that I am getting so much closer to my "goal" weight (I don't have it set in stone, though; I realize that it's emotionally healthier to accept what I can reasonably achieve and feel satisfied with it), my weight loss will not be as swift as when I was obese (wow, I'm not obese anymore). Proportionally, my daily caloric intake to maintain current weight is much closer to my future caloric intake required to maintain a more ideal weight than when I was 40 pounds heavier. </span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br />
</div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I admit that I feel a little disappointed that the pounds are not "melting" away as they did in the first 150 days of my diet. I figured that I was losing the equivalent of one stick of butter every four days, and I impressed myself with that. Now it takes me about a week to lose that, still not too shabby. I want to keep it off, so naturally calorie counting and averaging is as important now as it was on Feb. 6, when I started my diet. My current average is 1544 calories per day. That number is much closer to the calories I'd need to maintain the goal weight. Then I'll need about 1943 calories per day. When I began my diet, I would have needed closer to 3,000 calories per day, but at that time I was eating only about one-half the calories I needed for maintenance. It makes sense that I was losing weight so quickly because maintaining my obesity required so much more food consumption. I expect that I will reach my goal around the winter holidays, and maybe into the year 2012. Come back and visit to see how I'm doing. </span></span><br />
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</div>BluffCountryArtisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10629451388539652392noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843044044380259760.post-29366868048533186482011-07-10T20:05:00.000-05:002011-07-10T22:49:06.840-05:00Crazy Diets of My Past, or How NOT to Lose Weight<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">When I was a young sprout, I tried some crazy diets. I invented one of the diets when I worked in the complaint department of the <u>Chicago Tribune</u> (by the way, it literally made me sick to hear nothing but complaints directed at ME all day, five days a week), and the file-room girls working there talked about dieting and fat girls every day. Whenever I went to the file room, I got very self-conscious about my body even though I weighed just 138 pounds, which I would be more than happy to weigh now. My co-workers told me I was chubby; one of them was a young woman who must have weighed 40 pounds more than I did. I stood 5’ 6 1/2” and had large bones—6 ½ “ wrists and hands that were man-sized. I was NOT chubby—I know now. I was built. I was comfortable in a size 12 dress; I don’t know what size that compares with in current clothing sizes.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">My crazy diet at that time, was to eat only one orange or one apple a day and drink water only. I dread to think what that did to my health. I did lose weight, though. I lost 19 pounds in 9 days. I got so weak I actually fainted. But being young and stupid, I stuck to the diet until I felt too weak to continue. I got sick the first time I had a normal meal. I had no money for new clothes, so I wore my size 12 clothing, to the derision of my co-workers. I never went on THAT diet again. I left that job after two years. I’m an old bean now instead of a young sprout and know better; also, I don’t mind wearing my old clothes no matter what anyone says! </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Since that time, I’ve been on at least a dozen diets, but none that I had to pay extra money to be on. I always ate my own food. All but one of them have been calorie-counting diets. The one that wasn’t a calorie-counting diet worked well, and I lost 60 pounds in about seven months. After a year or so at my new weight, I stopped weighing myself, began pigging out at buffets again, and gained 70 pounds. The other 11 diets included one in which I restricted myself to 1000 calories a day. It was very tough going, particularly figuring out how to get most of my nutrients, so I supplemented that diet with multiple vitamins. To get my fiber, I ate much whole grain food and raw foods. I lost weight very quickly; once again I lost 60 pounds. When I got down to my goal weight, I stopped restricting myself to 1000 calories a day, and did well gradually building up to 2000 calories a day. However, my appetite was reanimated after long restriction, and after a time I returned to my previous high weight. So it went with every diet—lose weight, look and feel good for a time, then gradually gain it all back plus a few pounds. I finally reached my highest weight in February of 2011.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">This means I must continue to count my calories. One way I make that as easy as possible on myself is by keeping the supplies I need near at hand in the kitchen, where most of my eating is done, and all of my cooking. The supplies on my kitchen table include my calorie-counting book, a calendar with space at each date for taking notes, a pad of paper, all the papers from previous days’ food and calorie intake (I frequently refer to them for information and review), a solar calculator, pencils, pens, erasers, pencil sharpener, and white-out. I take a pad of paper and a pencil with me to restaurants so I can keep an accurate a count of food intake as possible. Without having those supplies on hand, it would be too much of a hassle to look for them whenever I noted my calorie intake. At this point in my weight-loss history I find that I must note the calories or I just won’t continue to lose weight. When I reach my goal, I’ll still need to continue keeping track of the calories, maybe for my lifetime.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Another way to ease the complications of dieting is to grocery shop very carefully. The first stop is the produce department. Select a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables to consume daily. Try to not be without them in your refrigerator or on your counter, where you can see them. Pick only ripe or nearly ripe fruits instead of unripe, hard, bitter, or damaged ones. They taste awful. If the produce is browning, they are deteriorating, so pass them up. Hard plums and pears? Yuck. Bright yellow bananas? Inedible! Watermelons that don’t sound hollow when knocked on? Not so sweet! </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The next best choice would be frozen veggies. Generally, don’t bother with canned veggies, particularly green beans which taste nothing like fresh. Today I ate green beans picked fresh from my garden and you wouldn't even know canned green beans are real after tasting fresh picked. You don’t have to give up flavor just because you’re cutting down on calories. Watch the salt content of soups and other packaged entrees (instant potatoes are dreadfully salty) because the salt makes you retain water and causes other problems. My next entry will be about seasoning foods rather than salting them. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12pt;">I live with another person who is not dieting, and soon two more people will be living with me. I will be cooking for them too. None of them have Celiac Disease, so I’ll be cooking gluten-containing products for them but not for me. One of them cannot have much salt. I already cut down greatly on salt in my diet, so my cooking is very low salt. If someone wants salt, he will just have to shake it out!</span>BluffCountryArtisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10629451388539652392noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843044044380259760.post-66977624354789913492011-06-14T14:05:00.000-05:002011-06-15T10:30:50.728-05:00Good Riddance to 31 Pounds and Un-Welcome to Celiac Disease<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">As of Wednesday, June 8, I have lost 31 pounds. That’s an average of one pound lost every 3.96 days; actually this is an unintentional rise in the speed of weight loss. I do not want to lose weight too quickly and then have more medical problems or a fast bounce-back because of it. The loss comes to 4.4 ounces per day, but naturally if I weighed in every day it would vary quite a bit from day to day. I had not weighed myself since May 11.</span></div><div class="MsoBodyText" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br />
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<div class="MsoBodyText"><span style="color: black;">On my calendar I put a sticky note on June 24; this is the day I estimated reaching a certain goal in weight loss. As it appears now, I’ll probably reach that goal three to four days ahead of time. I’ve been using current averages to figure out the date, but lately I’m speeding up instead of slowing down, as I thought I would. My instinct is telling me not to lower my average daily calorie count any more than it now stands: 1545. In spite of this average, I went to a restaurant twice this past month. I estimated calories in everything I ate there, and gave a few things to my son to eat—like soup (probably had too much salt and fat anyway) and buns.</span></div></div><div class="MsoBodyText" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br />
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<div class="MsoBodyText"><span style="color: black;">Speaking of buns, on Wednesday I also learned that I definitely have celiac disease. Restaurant buns have gluten in them; that’s the connection. A nurse practitioner had told me I might have a touch of it several months ago. Then a doctor told me he suspects I have it. Finally a specialist told me I do have it. It is not severe at this point, and I want to keep it that way. This diagnosis is based on results of several blood tests. So, now I know what caused the symptoms. One symptom threw everyone off, even the expert. It is a deep reddening of the face—and only the face. In fact, you could clearly see a line on the edge of my face, with deep red above and pale Polish white below. In July of 2010, shortly after breast cancer surgery, I began to experience this condition about 50 times a day. My face would get so hot that I would almost faint from it. When I’d get a beet-red face during radiation therapy, the therapists would take my blood pressure thinking it was going up sky-high, but my blood pressure was always normal. Then I was tested for various causes. (It definitely was not due to change of life.) Over more recent time, the reddening lessened, and in the last few months, the frequency went down to three to five times a day, particularly after I started my diet. I had cut down drastically on eating breads and pastas because they are so high in calories. This means I cut down on gluten consumption. Cutting down on gluten affected my symptoms of celiac. Now that I’m changing my diet to nearly eliminate the gluten (wheat, rye, and barley), the reddening may cease. I should eliminate gluten entirely, but gluten products are at least trace ingredients in too many foods. </span></div></div><div class="MsoBodyText" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoBodyText" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"> </span> </div><div class="MsoBodyText" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: small;">You can learn more about Celiac disease at <a href="http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/celiac-disease/DS00319">http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/celiac-disease/DS00319</a> and at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celiac_disease">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celiac_disease</a>. After I read these articles, it occurred to me that I have probably had this disease for a long time in a mild form. I recall speaking with a doctor eleven years ago about certain symptoms that occurred every day; even long before that, these symptoms occurred far more often than normal. However, my doctors always suggested the more common causes for them. Twenty years ago a doctor told me to eliminate milk products, but that never made a difference, so I returned them to my diet. Nowadays celiac disease is being diagnosed earlier than in the past because of doctors being more aware of it and sending patients for improved tests.</span> </span><span style="color: black;"></span></div><div class="MsoBodyText"><br />
</div><div class="MsoBodyText" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:DoNotOptimizeForBrowser/> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 12pt;">So, this new development will affect my diet even more, as I will cut down again on gluten products. I guess my son will be eating the breads and tortillas, and I’ll have boiled potatoes and rice and on hand for a dinner side. Next stop: finding recipes I like for rice, corn, potato, oat-based, and other grain breads and muffins. The Internet is loaded with them. </span></div><div class="MsoBodyText"><br />
</div></div>BluffCountryArtisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10629451388539652392noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843044044380259760.post-62353502485113498862011-06-01T12:29:00.000-05:002011-06-01T12:29:43.669-05:00My Entire May 2011 Calendar<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:DoNotOptimizeForBrowser/> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--> <br />
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:DoNotOptimizeForBrowser/> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--> <div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Below you see what a full month’s diet calendar looks like. I waited until today to blog again so that I could show you precisely how my monthly record looks. I can compare my intake from one day to the next and see how my average fluctuates more slowly as the number of days of dieting progresses. When I eat restaurant food my day’s calorie count goes way up, and I work it down day by day by eating less than the average. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12pt;">On each day’s entry I mark the number of added calories; that is, added to the total calories I’ve had up to the previous day. Then, I show the current total of calories throughout my diet, and divide it by the number of days of my dieting. I note the day of the diet on the lower right-hand corner of each day’s block for quick reference. After the dividing, I mark the average at that point in the diet. On the bottom of the entry, in parentheses, I note the number of calories I would have eaten if I were just maintaining a healthy weight. As noted before, this number may vary according to the site on which you found the number. It’s variable, so I just stick to 1943/day because changing that number whenever I find a new site that looks “better” would be very confusing. I also note if I ate at a restaurant. In May I ate at a restaurant only once. I’m keeping that frequency down (another “average”!) because restaurant food is so loaded with the things I want to cut down on: sugar, fat, and salt.</span><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEgXlO-PmBylumeD7MzKyxdpLucK-8-YnZU2i5jfpGFDarsBFU7_gVawtx6_vLfwI55cRhOKrrT11PNu0p8ymv9TeTtI2jaBpLhjGi3fdSBbmjkudy5xiUkp6H2NbacWJfeFblhqzq8kw/s1600/2011+06+01+May+Diet+Calendar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:DoNotOptimizeForBrowser/> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--> </a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEgXlO-PmBylumeD7MzKyxdpLucK-8-YnZU2i5jfpGFDarsBFU7_gVawtx6_vLfwI55cRhOKrrT11PNu0p8ymv9TeTtI2jaBpLhjGi3fdSBbmjkudy5xiUkp6H2NbacWJfeFblhqzq8kw/s1600/2011+06+01+May+Diet+Calendar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEgXlO-PmBylumeD7MzKyxdpLucK-8-YnZU2i5jfpGFDarsBFU7_gVawtx6_vLfwI55cRhOKrrT11PNu0p8ymv9TeTtI2jaBpLhjGi3fdSBbmjkudy5xiUkp6H2NbacWJfeFblhqzq8kw/s400/2011+06+01+May+Diet+Calendar.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:DoNotOptimizeForBrowser/> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--> <div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Much of my weight gain over the years came from buffets and general restaurant food. One example is restaurant breakfast vs. my home breakfast. In a restaurant, you find you have a number of very tempting choices: pancakes with rich syrup and maybe whipped cream; several eggs, sometimes prepared with a sauce such as Benedict; hash brown potatoes fried crisp in fat; pre-“buttered” toast; omelets with fatty cheese; fat-soaked bacon or sausages; ham; waffles; a side bowl with butter, margarine, and jelly to spread; unlimited coffee (by itself with no calories), and if you drink it with half and half (which I don’t—I use only powdered creamer) and/or sugar, many extra calories. Figure out the calorie count next time you breakfast in a restaurant. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">My breakfast at home: cereal, hot or cold; skim milk; powdered creamer in my coffee; maybe a fruit afterward or for a mid-morning snack. That’s it. By lunch I may have had 400 to 500 calories. In any case, I try my best to stay under 700 calories until dinnertime. I like to end the day with a large enough intake of calories to cut down on my mid-night hunger. A small steak (mine must be well done but herbed and spiced up) is more satisfying than just about anything else, but I don’t buy steaks often. I think I’ve had seven in the last year. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Below are six of my individual diet sheets for the month of May showing exactly what I ate each day and the number of calories of each food, with the total at the lower right hand side. That total matches the calendar entry. I hope you can read the entries. </span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmNmuuJDXO5b852mCsmJ3Xg37NTcn9bmRwVjEuTqINESoaq35aMekPqFaHo_DJq1Kzfm4nQwgARJZudsPvgJFxoOGZZp7_RdGaHPFXFOuuUDdYw8Xt_NuyndDLahczcRr76t__jr5VEFg/s1600/2011+06+01+May+Diet+Cal+and+sheets.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmNmuuJDXO5b852mCsmJ3Xg37NTcn9bmRwVjEuTqINESoaq35aMekPqFaHo_DJq1Kzfm4nQwgARJZudsPvgJFxoOGZZp7_RdGaHPFXFOuuUDdYw8Xt_NuyndDLahczcRr76t__jr5VEFg/s400/2011+06+01+May+Diet+Cal+and+sheets.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<br />
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:DoNotOptimizeForBrowser/> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:DoNotOptimizeForBrowser/> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12pt;">If I ever make a booklet about this diet, I’ll show every single day’s food intake. I’ve kept all the sheets. There are now 114 of them. </span><br />
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</div>BluffCountryArtisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10629451388539652392noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843044044380259760.post-87814120412898121372011-05-17T11:19:00.000-05:002011-05-17T11:19:35.727-05:00Calorie Counting in Wisconsin<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:DoNotOptimizeForBrowser/> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--> <br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"></span><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Today is day #100 of my “Average Advantage” diet. Reaching this day is monumental. I have been tempted too often to indulge my hunger in gluttonous ways. A few times a week I still awake midway through the night with hunger pangs. I’m guessing all of us who diet experience that. I still resort to eating my 4-minute crackers, and somehow Betsie always knows I’m doing so and she joins me for her share. I suppose that means I'm actually eating 7 calories fewer than I'm counting.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">My most recent weigh-in of May 6 showed a weight loss of 22 pounds, but that was 11 days ago. Going by my average weight loss of one pound every four days, it is likely that I now have lost close to 25 pounds. My average calorie count as of yesterday is 1555 per day. It jumped up after a Mother's Day buffet, but it is slowly going down again. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Yesterday I went to a meeting of one of my art groups, and people who had not seen me for a while noted that I lost weight. My shirts and pants are looking a bit baggy. That makes me feel good. I gave my art buddies my blog address. I’m also taking my older, smaller clothing out of storage because I’ll be able to wear it again soon! (I’m not a fashion maven.) To show you the power of positive thinking, I’ve been holding on to smaller clothing that I have not worn for decades, thinking that some day I would lose the weight I packed on. Now I can look retro right out of my storage boxes.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">One might feel that it’s useless to count calories since various sources report different calorie counts on the same foods. However, you need to make a decision on which you will follow and then stick to it rather than change the count according to your feelings. An example is skim milk. That’s the only kind I’ve drunk for several decades and at this point, even 1% milk is too rich for my taste. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">On most of my boxes of dry cereal, ½ cup of skim milk is valued at 40 calories, making it 80 calories a cup.<span> </span></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The skim milk I buy from a Wisconsin-based gas station, Kwik Trip, is valued at 90 calories a cup.</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Another milk distributor values it at 100 calories a cup.</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The <u>Nutrition Facts</u> reference book values skim milk at 86 calories a cup.</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Caloriecounter.com values skim milk at 83 calories a cup, and so does newcaloriecounter.com.</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Various other web sources value skim milk at 85.75 calories, 90 calories, 91 calories, etc., per cup.</span></li>
</ul><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">So, should you count the calories according to whichever you feel like counting for the day? That would increase insecurities about the inaccuracy of your daily totals. I simply always count skim milk as having 100 calories a cup, no matter which brand I drink. Although that is a relatively small overestimation, I would much rather overestimate than underestimate my calories. I think that makes it seem like I’m losing too much weight—I’m probably eating fewer calories than I am accounting for. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Another thing you’ll notice is when a calorie counter gives you three different counts for the same food, as when you see that pears are graded as small, medium, or large, with mildly differing counts. You may feel confused by the size of the pear, so it may be good to just go for the medium count in any case. It will even out in the end. That’s the “Average Advantage” again. However, if you feel that overestimating is the way to go, always use the largest calorie count. There is a definite advantage to that as well. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKTGbSMI_BaOiASIU9MfLfHy3xGtTYsZpmyjrv3Xo8pVHpFD5Qv6b2e85EF59gAZYMT0OmS68LPmvbR2wibMfdqJur_zFltyxBvZWC641h_f00d-JngMustTQACTo4bFJ5yvDRjCV3tdE/s1600/2011+05+17+033.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKTGbSMI_BaOiASIU9MfLfHy3xGtTYsZpmyjrv3Xo8pVHpFD5Qv6b2e85EF59gAZYMT0OmS68LPmvbR2wibMfdqJur_zFltyxBvZWC641h_f00d-JngMustTQACTo4bFJ5yvDRjCV3tdE/s320/2011+05+17+033.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">According to the calendar, spring has been here for nearly two months. Even my bulbs are saying it's here; nevertheless, the last two nights have seen frost, and I've had to take many potted plants back into the house for frost-free nights.</span></div></div>BluffCountryArtisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10629451388539652392noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843044044380259760.post-19901218466415055292011-05-06T17:23:00.000-05:002011-05-06T17:34:30.811-05:00The Middle Way<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYd-wdmO_9n6uRBZkDHGqShXJIw3mSeLAphhFrLZQRQPl5UKucV6TRznnds6HucPWpEZKCnZ3Oer1l6Mzw8J3XLp7APNzZxtz9au_xdFYJ4_cSJ2CmPf9JkPtBsVJfeZjxfHOBw50Wk_Q/s1600/2011+02+17+003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYd-wdmO_9n6uRBZkDHGqShXJIw3mSeLAphhFrLZQRQPl5UKucV6TRznnds6HucPWpEZKCnZ3Oer1l6Mzw8J3XLp7APNzZxtz9au_xdFYJ4_cSJ2CmPf9JkPtBsVJfeZjxfHOBw50Wk_Q/s320/2011+02+17+003.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Alfalfa sprouts. Grown in five days on my kitchen counter. Great tasting on sandwiches or in salads, and low in calories but high in nutrition. <br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The Buddha was clearly on the right track, wasn’t he? My knowledge of Buddhism has been gleaned from news articles (e.g., how Patrick Duffy and his family handled the tragedy of his parents’ death; Richard Gere’s devotion, etc.), public television (about the Buddha’s life), the Internet, a couple of Hollywoodized movies (not really the place to learn much from), and various articles I’ve read over the years, so I cannot speak knowledgeably about the great one and his philosophy. But I do know a little bit about the Middle Way, and to me, this diet I’ve invented seems to follow a middle path in several ways. It’s not only about “The Average Advantage” that I wrote about on April 24; it’s also about not going overboard. It’s about not eliminating any particular food or becoming an ascetic-like person. It’s about not having food on your mind day and night, or jumping into an exercise program that will break you, or jumping on the scale several times a day to see if you’ve lost a few ounces. It’s about not becoming highly emotional or self-defeating while curbing your appetite. I really do think it’s about being cool. I feel cool.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Here’s the recipe I promised. I do love to cook.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Turnip Greens and Carrot Soup</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">1 T olive oil 120 calories</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">2 sauteed onions 70</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">2 stalks celery 20</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">1 # chopped turnip greens 125</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">2 # baby carrots (don’t bother cutting them) 373</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">1 15 oz. can red kidney beans 390</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">1 large can whole tomatoes 325</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">vegetarian bouillon (comes like a sauce in a jar) 80</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">garlic miniscule</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">marjoram (don’t skip this—it’s like magic!) miniscule</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">hot sauce to taste miniscule</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">lots of water nada</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Makes appx. 25 cups of hearty, filling, tasty soup. Total calories are 1498.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Today my average calorie consumption is 1549. I have lost 22 pounds. My cancer surgeon asked me how I did it. I told her to read this blog. I feel good. And cool. </span></div><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12pt;"></span></div>BluffCountryArtisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10629451388539652392noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843044044380259760.post-45911483151831544922011-04-27T23:22:00.000-05:002011-04-27T23:22:19.226-05:00The Average Advantage<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:DoNotOptimizeForBrowser/> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--> <div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">If I ever write a book based on this blogspot and this diet, I will name it <i>The Average Advantage</i>. It is just so. Averaging my caloric intake day by day keeps me feeling positive about the diet, and I think we all know how important it is to continue feeling positive about what dieting does to us emotionally. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">If I did not figure out the <b>average</b> every day, I would focus on the <b>daily</b> calorie totals. I might even be thinking of a caloric maximum goal for myself, such a 1500 calories. Then, on days when I would go over that total, (knowing myself) I would say such things as:<span> </span>I failed; I really messed up this time; this diet isn’t going to work; I’m so weak; it’s no use; I’m giving up; I may as well eat all I want, because I’ll never stick to any diet; it’s better to enjoy all the food I love, since I’m going to die fat and sick anyway. However, when I go through my daily morning routine, I see that the average has not moved very much. In fact, as the total number of days of my diet increase, the average tends to stay within a few points. This is a “growing” fact; now that I’ve concluded day 79, I must have either 80 calories more or 80 calories less than the previous average in order for it to move up or down by just one calorie! And you can’t feel discouraged by that tiny amount.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">To illustrate, on day 60 my average was 1548 calories (although the total calories on that day was 1477). On the next day, I went to a restaurant buffet and pigged out, bringing my daily total to 2101 calories. Ordinarily that would worry and discourage me. However, when I figured out my 61-day average, it was only 1557. That’s nothing to worry or discourage me! Furthermore, on day 62 I ate only 1456 calories, bringing my average down again, to 1555. That’s how the averaging works. On day 79, my average was 1544. I worked it down by having fewer than 1544 calories several times between days 61 and 79. It’s not difficult at all!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Another “average” thing is infrequency of weigh-ins. I’ve been averaging about 22 days between weigh-ins. In the past I’ve been discouraged when weighing myself almost daily. You know how diets are. Sometimes you’ll lose two pounds between frequent weigh-ins, and other times you lose not an ounce. Once in a while you’ll even gain weight. That can make you feel pretty bad. However, if you weigh in about every 22 days, you’ll find you’ve lost an amount that makes you feel pretty good. Then you can run an average on that weight loss, figuring it from the beginning of your diet. I’m still averaging about a one-pound weight loss every four days. This diet is very good for me emotionally as well as physically.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Next time I write an entry, I will give you another recipe. It’s all vegetables, filling, and very low in calories. In fact, it’s a vegan recipe I invented while my vegetarian son visited over the holiday weekend. I think you’ll enjoy it. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Tonight I ate two Girl Scout cookies and I don't feel bad about that. My calorie count for the day is still under my average! </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div></div>BluffCountryArtisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10629451388539652392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843044044380259760.post-43096834191282035442011-04-18T22:59:00.000-05:002011-04-18T22:59:24.704-05:00The Magnificent Cold Potato<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Potatoes have long been my favorite food. I enjoy them most mashed, then baked, as French fries, hash browns, pancakes, scalloped, kugelis (with bacon and sour cream--oh my!), in casseroles, potato salads, and just about any other way. But all these methods add more calories. I don't need that. That leaves me with another way I've always enjoyed potatoes. It's a way that adds not a single calorie to the potato. From the title of this entry, no doubt you have guessed this way. </span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Boil the potato in its skin. Cool it off; they are okay refrigerated but most flavorful at room temperature. Keep the skin on; it's loaded with fiber. Cut the potato into small slices and eat it slowly in order to prolong the pleasure. Salt lightly if you wish, and savor the saltiness combined with a sort of sweetness that you would not expect in a lowly cold potato. It's a treat you will want often, especially when you need a small snack. And think of this: it has only a few more calories than an ordinary cookie. Yet, think of the nutrition you are absorbing; think of how it will satisfy your hunger much more than a cookie would. It is truly a magnificent food. </span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Oh, and by the way, it's a very CHEAP treat/food too. You can't argue with that!</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The lowly potato is a worthy diet food. Its history goes back 7,000 to 10,000 years. See its story at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potato. </span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Today I saw my cancer doctor. He gave me a very good report and said I don't have to see him again for a year. I'm due to see my cancer surgeon soon, though, and get a mammogram on both sides.</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I weighed in at the doctor. <b><span style="color: #38761d;">I've lost 18 pounds</span></b>, so I'm still losing at a rate of one pound every four days. I finished a painting of the aurora borealis a couple of days ago. I'm painting five signs for my garden club's plant sale in May. Also began a new painting of the Mississippi River and surrounding bluffs last night. I'm so glad art is in my life again. I missed it. I need it. </span></div><br />
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</div>BluffCountryArtisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10629451388539652392noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843044044380259760.post-51968934319547117362011-04-11T22:48:00.000-05:002011-04-11T22:48:35.798-05:0016 Pounds Down; 68 to Go<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Today I weighed myself at the hospital, on the same scale I weighed myself on February 7, the day after my diet started. I was very pleased to see that I had lost 16 pounds in 64 days. Since I'm such an "average" freak (you'll have to decide on the meaning of that), let's see how that works out mathematically. Dieting 64 days and losing 16 pounds means that I lost one pound every four days on the average. </div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Frankly, that seems like way too much. If the body of a 63-year-old woman my height requires 1943 calories a day to maintain a healthy weight, and my average consumption is 1554 calories per day, then I'm eating only 389 calories per day less. That's not really very much. Reckoning that a pound of body fat equates to about 3500 calories, it should take me about nine days to lose a pound. I'd be satisfied with that. I'm not exercising enough to cause many extra calories to burn. I'm wondering if the large weight loss is just because my obesity required many more calories in maintenance; in fact, one website said I would need over 3,000 calories a day to stay large. By that reckoning, I'm eating WAY less than I would need to stay big. Is that how "nature rules"? I'm sure that at some point, my calorie intake will more closely match maintenance calories.</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I will continue to keep my average about the same as it is now, and I'll have to count calories well into the future so I don't bounce back again. I'll also continue to eat a well-balanced diet. Now that spring has finally sprung and my garden is calling me, I'll be getting more physical activity as well. My goal every growing season is to make my garden more spectacular than it was the year before, and that means working harder and longer than the year before!</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiUiEZyk6X4K9pAFj3mqENbZAF5MG85C-ajFuTtOoxQZaj0BHpYhME3PfZBR6sNMyx3doWItlheKhzZPIx-0GvWSu3PQYTb2qgT6UX7GbnoTr3OPE8DMtmmM9hRpTgJfJWwuNKEwvz60s/s1600/2009+11+06+008.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiUiEZyk6X4K9pAFj3mqENbZAF5MG85C-ajFuTtOoxQZaj0BHpYhME3PfZBR6sNMyx3doWItlheKhzZPIx-0GvWSu3PQYTb2qgT6UX7GbnoTr3OPE8DMtmmM9hRpTgJfJWwuNKEwvz60s/s320/2009+11+06+008.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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</div>BluffCountryArtisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10629451388539652392noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843044044380259760.post-57588510715316644682011-04-03T18:40:00.000-05:002011-04-03T21:29:43.186-05:00Feeling Full after a 560-Calorie Supper<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Yesterday was day 55 of my diet. Although I never went in much for pre-processed foods, now I am even more determined to cut down on salts, fats, sugars, and unpronounceable chemical additives in foods I consume. Therefore, nearly all my food is prepared by me</span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">.</span> <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">While shopping at Woodman's, my favorite grocery store (employee-owned), I searched the section that had the foods "on the cusp", as it were, or shortly about to expire. Most of it is still quite good. I bought a pound of mustard greens and 4 chicken sausages with cranberries and cognac. They had only 100 calories each and were exceptionally low in salt and fat, but high in protein. I put them together with other foods and created a new, nameless recipe. Maybe some day I'll make a recipe book of all these low-calorie meals I'm creating. Here's the calorie count I did on the recipe. You are welcome to try it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> calories</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">mustard greens, 1# 100</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">chopped tomatoes in their own juice 145</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">potatoes, 5 fairly small 400</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">carrots, 4 small, peeled and left whole 45</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">chicken sausages, 4 left whole 400</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Italian seasonings 2 T miniscule</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">chopped onion 30</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">hot sauce I made 2 T miniscule</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">garlic, chopped 2 T <u> miniscule </u><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Total calories 1120 / 2 servings=</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> 560 calories per serving</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I shared this meal with my adult son. It was not only extremely tasty with all those good things in it, but it needed NO SALT because of the seasonings, and I added no form of fat whatsoever. That hot sauce turned out really hot; I made it from water and hot peppers blended together. I used enough water in the pot to cover the food while it was cooking.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> I did not serve</span> <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">bread with the meal because I felt there was enough starch in the potatoes. We were completely satisfied after eating that great amount of food out of two large serving bowls. Later I ate a small scone to satisfy my sugar craving. I must admit that after having only 1316 calories yesterday, I awoke at about 4 AM terribly hungry and unable to sleep, so I ate three crackers mindfully and finally got back to sleep. Betsey got only a few pieces from me. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">This is my calendar entry for the day:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Saturday, April 2, 2011</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">+ 1316 = </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">85,379 </span>/ 55 =<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">1552 </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">(106,865) [total calories I would have consumed over 55 days if I had been eating only to maintain a healthy weight] </span> <br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">On April 18 I'll be seeing my cancer doctor and I will have a weigh-in at a good scale. I'll let you know how many pounds I lost. I know it's going well because my clothes are getting loose. Now I guess I'm sorry that I donated 20 boxes of my old size 10 clothes. Many of them were brand new. Just think, I could have been WAY out of style if I wore those 20-year-old clothes again. I think I'd have some fun with that.</span> <br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">At last I finished the painting I was working on. It's not my usual subject. I do people portraits and landscapes, and I like for them to be quite dramatic. In this case, I painted flowers, but they are not done in a "feminine" style. (I've frequently been told that NONE of my paintings look like a woman painted them. I guess I just have to figure out exactly what that implies.) I made a portrait of dramatic peonies in my garden. I photographed them in June, and the time of day was sunset, with the sun very low on the horizon.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTg9hyb053Nn3hbT2Cszd-1THTT7rUpZw9PV_FLbelSncpfS08-BED56C9-36O_eLHuxfH7uUFuh6kBpyx2vYuOXfBgX2MLL8ZJ5aLNi0yCOzRzYGrNhViV-cPe7PVr9Din4eN9hzWV3A/s1600/Peonies+in+My+Garden.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTg9hyb053Nn3hbT2Cszd-1THTT7rUpZw9PV_FLbelSncpfS08-BED56C9-36O_eLHuxfH7uUFuh6kBpyx2vYuOXfBgX2MLL8ZJ5aLNi0yCOzRzYGrNhViV-cPe7PVr9Din4eN9hzWV3A/s320/Peonies+in+My+Garden.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>BluffCountryArtisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10629451388539652392noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843044044380259760.post-4920082621995862332011-03-27T12:19:00.000-05:002011-04-03T18:43:39.196-05:00The Four-Minute Cracker<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Last night I awoke with tummy growlings. I needed something to stifle them.</span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> I had consumed only 1390 calories during the day. On the headboard/bookcase I keep a package of crackers that I open when I get these growlings. I don't want to eat the crackers suddenly. Frankly, I could put a cracker in my mouth and give it a couple of gnashes, destroying it in seconds and swallowing it. I would barely taste it AND it would not give me much satisfaction. I would probably dig a handful out of the package and might eat 15-20 crackers that way before I'd no longer feel the hunger pangs. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I awake hungry during the night about three times a week. Rather than wolf down the crackers, I eat one tiny bit at a time. I practice "mindful eating" (after the book by the same name, authored by Jan Chozen Bays, MD) while I eat the cracker. With each bite, </span><br />
<ul><li><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I control my impulse to quickly swallow it; </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I feel the crunch;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> I roll the cracker between my tongue and my upper palate while thinking of the texture;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> I taste the saltiness;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I feel the crunchy texture slowly moistening and softening; </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I think about the reason I am eating the cracker;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I feel the hunger slowly subsiding with each bit of cracker;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I think about the process of making a cracker (and about the recipe for crackers that I found on a website--maybe I'll begin making my own herbed crackers when I finish my current box of crackers);</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I think about the people who made the cracker;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I think about the little bit of nutrition I get with each bite;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I wonder about the fat and sugar that may be in the cracker, and I remind myself to check the box next day; </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I think about why I am eating in bed at 3 AM; and </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I wonder how many tiny bites I'll take before the cracker is finished.</span></li>
</ul><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">During this process</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">, little Betsey, my son's 7-pound adult Manx cat, is posted at my right shoulder, staring at my eyes quietly. She's asking for a piece of cracker. She's a silly little thing. I'll give her the next tiny bit and she'll eat it much more quickly than I ate mine. She does not practice mindful eating.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">By the time we finish just one cracker, four minutes have elapsed. I wait a moment, then begin my next four-minute cracker. I may challenge myself, trying for a five-minute cracker, but I fail.</span> <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">By the time I am finished, I've eaten 2 1/2 crackers and Betsey has eaten 1/2 cracker. I remind myself to count the calories in 2 1/2 crackers in my next calorie total.</span> <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I hope that the cat-lovers of the world will not berate me for giving a cat crackers.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh18z8Qw4ka0GR43lpYZTYl_w9fdW-jv8J52PfEv4eWsp746iwLsVSfV9zWFd1xUzwF0EzNZi1WKWm6I5UffUqxD4H7zJFE_P1VFO9SwlEw61DCQq-blajveO5R0kOjistcABS2Qwb27FM/s1600/DSC00092.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh18z8Qw4ka0GR43lpYZTYl_w9fdW-jv8J52PfEv4eWsp746iwLsVSfV9zWFd1xUzwF0EzNZi1WKWm6I5UffUqxD4H7zJFE_P1VFO9SwlEw61DCQq-blajveO5R0kOjistcABS2Qwb27FM/s320/DSC00092.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I practice mindful eating during my meals too, but not to this extent. If I did so, meals would all go cold after the first half-hour of such mindfulness. By the time I would finish one meal, it would be time for the next. </span>BluffCountryArtisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10629451388539652392noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843044044380259760.post-61655715136022078072011-03-21T20:54:00.000-05:002011-03-21T20:54:27.612-05:00The 2,236 Calorie Buffet<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">On Sunday, March 20, 2011, while celebrating the Vernal Equinox, my youngest son and I went to a restaurant that was, for us, new. It's in a small town about 12 miles north of the smallish town we live in. I had purchased a $30 coupon for the restaurant for only $9 and, well, I HAD to use it or lose it! We went to the Sunday brunch buffet. Do I sense an "Oh, oh"? My fear was not great because I felt confident in my method of averaging.</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I expected to give myself a food treat on occasion, and realized that it would throw off my average. But here's the fact: It wasn't thrown off much at all. Because I ate 1 french toast; 3 breakfast links; 1 slice of bacon; a large serving of cooked vegetables; a small serving of mashed potatoes with a bit of gravy; mixed fruits; 2 pieces of chicken; a slice of ham; 1/2 a cinnamon roll; a serving of carrots; an average slice of lasagna; vinegar-dressed cole slaw; a small cheese sweet roll, and 2 servings of scrambled eggs; my calorie total for one meal came to 2,236. That added with the 361 calories I had already eaten came to a grand total of 2,647 calories. That sounds very bad, and it gives you an idea of what I actually used to eat before I started my diet.</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">A look at my calendar entry for the day reveals that my brunch buffet excess has not irreparably ruined my diet; in fact, it was easy to bounce back today.</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">+ 2697= [I add to this my previous 41 days' total calories]</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">65,803 / 42 =</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">1567 [the average daily caloric intake over the 42 days of my dieting]</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">(81,606 ) [the calories I would have eaten for maintenance in 42 days of not dieting)</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">So, today I ate less than 1550 calories, and that will begin to bring down my average again. </span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">In about two weeks I'll be eating out again, but will not have a buffet! It is much easier to count calories when I make the food at home than when I go to a restaurant and do not know how much grease and sugar are added to the food. Because of this, I overestimate rather than underestimate calories. I also don't like to consume much salt, and was pleased that the food I ate at yesterday's buffet definitely tasted unsalted. I drank only water. By the way, as my stomach and guts are now used to much less food than that, I experienced, shall I say, a sudden weight loss about 90 minutes after consuming that meal.</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I will have a weigh-in at my hospital this week and will report on my weight loss.</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I'd like to note that an elderly lady played the piano at the restaurant. She is a widow who brought herself up from depression after losing her husband by delving into her music. She played the pop of her day: Ramblin' Rose, Tie a Yellow Ribbon to the Old Oak Tree, I Love You Most of All Because You're You, etc. I told her that my dad used to play those tunes on his harmonica and that his favorite was Red Sails in the Sunset. She played it for me. What a charming lady she was.</span></div>BluffCountryArtisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10629451388539652392noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843044044380259760.post-66392354055437244232011-03-11T21:34:00.000-06:002011-03-16T11:36:55.084-05:00RitualsYou know how you always take a shower the same way? Or put your clothes on in the same order? Try changing the order and see how it throws you off. <br />
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We have standard procedures for doing certain things. They become ritualistic and if we start to do them in a different order we know something isn't right. We aren't following the ritual. Doing certain things the same way every time is reassuring and it becomes important to getting those things done satisfactorily.<br />
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My diet ritual involves record-keeping. Every morning I put my calendar in front of me on the kitchen table. I get my little note card with the calorie counts from the previous day. I open my little solar-powered calculator and make sure I have everything added up correctly. Then I transfer the important numbers to my calendar and figure my average caloric intake. After that, I get my little note card ready for the day's notations. It's always the same. I feel good when I've done that. It makes me feel ready to tackle another day of dieting.<br />
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I also read the backs of cans and boxes and bottles to make sure I get the correct calorie count. I use my nutrition book to determine the counts on recipes and other cooked food. If I cook from a recipe, I look up every ingredient and count the total calories, then divide by the portions I am serving to my little family. But those just are not ritualistic. The true rituals are a comfort.<br />
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I lost another pound.BluffCountryArtisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10629451388539652392noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843044044380259760.post-74147528706892137392011-03-08T12:23:00.000-06:002011-03-09T12:06:07.469-06:00My 2X Tops Are Getting Looser<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">For the past couple of days I've noticed that my tops are not as tight as they were getting. The holidays saw a 10-pound weight gain that affected how my tops fit. I am looking forward to when they are loose. It's been a long time since I've worn 1X but that day will come. Sorry to say, one of my 2X slacks is still too tight to wear. I'm working on that!</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Yesterday I ate so much that I was quite full, yet the calorie count was just 1526, below the previous average of 1550. Here's my intake:</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Monday, March 7, 2011</b></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>29th day of diet</b></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">oatmeal 160</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">coffee creamer 100 260</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">onion soup 100 360</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">chili lime tortilla chips 70 430</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">1 orange 64 494</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">cake 150 644</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">steak, well done 270 914</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">green beans 60 974</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">onions 42 1016</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">red pepper 20 1036</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">1/2 T butter unsalted 25 1061 </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">mushroom soup 120 1181</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Eng. muffin 120 1301</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">1 cucumber 30 1331</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">3 C salad 45 1376</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">salad cream 100 1476</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">salad fixings 50 1526 [total for the day]</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The calendar entry:</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">+1526=</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">44,929 / 29 =</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">1549</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">(56,347) [total I would have eaten in 29 days to maintain a healthy weight]</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">My breakfasts are most often high fiber cold cereal or oatmeal. I eat plenty of vegetables and fruits. These foods have been on my diet for my lifetime. The weight gain was not prevented by eating these healthy foods, but by eating excesses of foods that have fat and/or sugar in them--two things that make my mouth water!</span></span>BluffCountryArtisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10629451388539652392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843044044380259760.post-20071586152622537292011-03-06T22:02:00.000-06:002011-03-27T14:32:12.468-05:00A Treat Is Not a Permanent Failure<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Yesterday, which was day 27 of my weight-loss diet, my youngest son and I went to a subway shop. Afterward I went online to look up the calorie count, and found that it was not too bad; however, the sub was small and not satisfying. I was still hungry after eating it. That's two lesson for me: avoid eating too much bread, and eat more vegetables instead. [Not a deliberate rhyme.] The final calorie count for the day was 1721, way above my previous average. Yet, when I averaged that with my previous 26-day totals, it came to 1553 calories. Thus, I was not discouraged. I did not feel like I blew my diet, nor did I get that "give it up" feeling at all, as I have done in past diets. I just forged on ahead and am ending today with a low calorie count.</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I depend on a reliable book to help me figure out the calories. Its 947 pages give me counts on home-made foods (I most often cook my family's meals) and on prepared foods(I keep these to a minimum) and on restaurant foods (ditto). I sometimes enjoy just looking through it and seeing other nutritional information as well, such as cholesterol and fiber counts. I do eat a lot of fiber. There is no one food I totally deny myself, but I do manage to stop myself from eating great quantities of cookies and cakes by keeping them out of sight. I love that stuff. When I do eat sweets, as when I made a pumpkin custard two weeks ago, I limit the amount I eat and I count every calorie. </span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I keep my little note papers with lists of eaten food and their calories on my kitchen table, along with the Nutrition Facts book and my dieting calendar. Here are a few days' worth of my food lists:</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Monday, Feb. 14, 2011</b></span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>9th day of diet</b></span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">oatmeal 130</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">coffee creamer 100 230</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">1 lg orange 75 305</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">bean + cheese burrito 280 585</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">salsa 30 615</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">crackers + spread 100 715</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">bean soup w/veg 410 1125</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">bread 75 1200</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">crackers + cheese 300 1500 (total for the day)</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I was still going to bed hungry after dieting only nine days. </span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Thursday, February 24, 2011</b></span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>19th day of diet</b></span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">coffee creamer 100</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">pineapple 157 257</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">cottage cheese, fat free 90 347</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">small apple 63 410</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Fiber One tart 189 590</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">pasta + shrimp 570 1160</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">small orange 64 1224</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">milk 90 1314</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">doughnut, tiny 83 1397</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">crackers 70 1467 (total for the day)</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I keep saltine crackers at my bedside so that when I am super hungry at night and unable to sleep because of it, I very slowly eat one to three of them. My son's little cat (she's seven years old but weighs only six pounds--she was the runt) loves crackers, so she joins me. I give her a few crumbs and then she cuddles. Where else can you get such love for a few crumbs but from a pet?</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Friday, March 4, 2011</b></span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>26th day of diet</b></span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">oatmeal 130</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">coffee creamer 100 230</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">fat-free sandwich meat 60 290</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">apple cider 120 410</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">English muffin 120 530</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">ICBINB Meditteranean 70 600</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">carrots, parsnips, sprouts 130 730</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">chicken skinless 165 895</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">potatoes 190 1085</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">1 sl whole wheat bread 75 1160</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">milk 100 1260</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">honey mustard sauce 30 1290</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">tiny scone 100 1390 (total for the day)</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">My calendar entry for the day was this:</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">+1390=</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">40,218 [total calories since starting diet]/26=</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">1547 [average over 26 days]</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">(50,518) [number of calories I would have eaten if maintaining a healthy weight]</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It's getting late. I have an urge to work on a painting tonight. I am visualizing what I will do with it; I probably need four more sessions to complete it. I'm a slow painter.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div>BluffCountryArtisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10629451388539652392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843044044380259760.post-10400842122595264172011-03-05T15:35:00.000-06:002011-04-27T23:24:09.636-05:00Life Enters a New Phase<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I've done it before, but this time I'm approaching it differently. What is "it"? A diet. I don't know how many times I've lost weight and then gained it back, with added pounds. I've counted calories, followed specific-food diets, and eaten just enough to cut down on the physical pain of an empty stomach and guts, and these diets have led to as much as 60 pounds lost.</span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;">But here I am at a weight that I am too embarrassed to share with anyone. Yet until I was 42 I weighed in at under 135 pounds. </span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibh4cplBMTNLPW3CD_u2HUABvxL0u3LDgHVP8kqrwqACwjZO6L-CwygKBUYVZPLp09_KL8sQvqpDeRE3JH8-YLynozRlLHIAJrYMyau2eiM8wBkzGGiSiN56oy_JWxHxA91WWpNuxvbog/s1600/2011+Dolores+Marusarz+presenting+seed+catalogs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibh4cplBMTNLPW3CD_u2HUABvxL0u3LDgHVP8kqrwqACwjZO6L-CwygKBUYVZPLp09_KL8sQvqpDeRE3JH8-YLynozRlLHIAJrYMyau2eiM8wBkzGGiSiN56oy_JWxHxA91WWpNuxvbog/s320/2011+Dolores+Marusarz+presenting+seed+catalogs.jpg" width="247" /></a></div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">So, on Sunday, February 6, 2011, my life entered a new phase. Although I once again am counting calories, I am recording them in a different way. Previously, I just kept track of them, and I was very strict with myself. Now, I'm taking a more relaxed approach. After noting everything I eat on small note papers (which I keep), I record my caloric intake on a calendar I keep specifically for that purpose. Every morning I first note how many calories I consumed the day before. Under that I write the total of those calories plus all the calories I've eaten since the start of the diet. I then average it by the number of days of my diet. Under that, I write in parenthesis how many calories I would have needed to consume in those days to maintain a healthy weight for my age (63), sex (female), activity (average), and height (used to be 5'6", but now 5'4 1/2"). I gleaned from researching internet sites that I'd need about 1943 calories a day. My calendar resembled this on the second day of my diet:</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Feb. 7</b></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">+1418=</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">3273 /</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">2</span><span style="font-size: small;"> =</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">1637</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">(3886)</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">On day 12 it looked like this:</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Feb. 17</b></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">+1625=</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">18,808 /</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">12 =</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">1567</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">(23,316)</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">On day 23 the average was quite encouraging:</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>March 1</b></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">+1535=</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">35,779 /</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">23=</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">1556</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">(44,689)</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">On day 23 I weighed in at my hospital's scale, where I had learned my original weight. I found that I had lost 7 pounds, even though I was not engaging in drastically low caloric intake. I was very encouraged to see that weight loss. </span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">When I wrote that I am not being as strict with myself this time around, I meant that by keeping averages, I do not feel discouraged if I happen to have a day when my calorie consumption is high. I am less likely to give up because I am still enthusiastic about the overall average. I even went to a buffet one evening without the average suffering irreparably. It began to fall again the next day.</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The reasons for this diet? After a bout with cancer, my doctor's predictions of impending diabetes, the presence of high cholesterol, rising blood pressure, a problem with my liver, and increasing arthritis in my hips and knees, I knew it was time to try once again to lose weight. I believe that obesity has been contributing to these problems. Advancing age could be contributing to them as well, but now my goal is to keep that age advancing!</span></div></div>BluffCountryArtisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10629451388539652392noreply@blogger.com0