A Visit With The Dietician

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Much has been running thru my mind the last few months as I seek a life long healthy approach.  Answers came in form of what I’ve always heard and sought out via internet, magazines and books.

But I needed more, something concrete such that I can hold the tools properly without second guessing what I’m doing right/wrong.

My questions ranged from food combining to eating for your blood type.  And searching for something reasonable.  I’ve done the Weight Watcher program in the past, love their program and would highly advise anyone struggling to go for it.  However, for me for now, I’m ready to go dig a bit more into health, eager to shine the spotlight on things that need to be addressed.

For the last couple of months, I’ve stuck to:

  • 1,000 – 1,200 calories per day
  • I don’t eat until I first take inventory of what is going in.
  • Weigh myself each day and plug the numbers into a graph
  • Measure all servings with either the kitchen scale/measuring cups/spoons
  • At least 8 glasses of water a day – No diet soda (except when we dine out)
  • No sweets – except for special occasions and vacation
  • At least 5 + servings of fruit and veggies a day

It all sounded good, I was doing great and the plan was working.

I was finally to the place that I wanted more and that’s when I found myself face to face with a Registered Dietician, yesterday afternoon.  After viewing my history and the plan, the RD put a spotlight on two areas that hurt.

The first area was the amount of sodium I was taking in.  My daily recommended amount of sodium is between 2,000-2500 mg a day.  The love I have for canned green beans squashed my daily recommended amount on the beans alone.  I’ll eat the whole 3.5 serving for lunch with tuna and then again for dinner with another protein = 2,380 mg of sodium.  That hurt, really big.  But I have the tools I need to get my veggies in each day, minus all that sodium.  I love my veggies, bring on the fresh produce.  I’ve got the perfect pot to steam them or I will enjoy them raw.

The next area was the hardest thing I have to swallow.  It was learning my favorite coffee cream has trans fat in it.  What makes it worse is the bottle flat-out says on the front all nice big and bold 0 g Trans Fat.  The sad part, the fat is number 3 on the list of ingredients.  We all know what that means.  I learned companies can make serving sizes smaller such that they can wiggle out of saying it on the package.  I’m sure all of you knew this already, where have I been?  Partially Hydrogenated Oil in the ingredient list = Trans Fat.  The nerve!

I’m not dumping out my newly opened huge bottle of creamer.  So I have a little while to look for the cream she recommended.  Or a while to determine if my coffee drinking days are over.  It’s all good whatever happens.  If you’re reading this and have a cream to suggest, I’m all ears!  FYI – My love is the Coffee Mate Creme Brulee,  it will be bitter-sweet saying farewell after all these years.

Since I have records of everything I eat and how much I eat a day, we were able to pretty much dissect everything.  I’d say between the sodium and cream, I wasn’t doing too bad.  And she actually suggested we have that bar of chocolate once a month or so.  In no way did she suggest we deprive ourselves totally.

Here’s my brand spanking new daily plan:

    • Calories:  1,000 – 1,200
    • Carbs:  at least 120 g
    • Protein:  at least 65 g – 80 g
    • Fat:  45 g ~ Max
    • Sodium: 2,000 – 2,500 mg

Note:  2 servings of 4 – 5 oz of protein + 2 – 3 servings of low-fat/non fat dairy per day

We touched on breakfast ideas.  She is in favor of the oats fruit and walnuts that I love so much.

It doesn’t get better than this.

We touched on the healthy snacks I was already eating, she encouraged me to work in a little more protein with my daily snacks.

Lunch and dinner were planned:  4 – 5 oz protein + 1/2 cup cooked grain or 1/2 cup starchy veggie + 1 – 2 cups steamed/raw veggies.

Multivitamins (one – per – day complete) + Fish oil supplement (1,200 mg DHA/EPA per day)

Exercise was discussed.  She encouraged at least 15 min per day x 7 days a week.  Totally doable!

And finally, a healthy weight was touched on.  Her happy weight for me left my bottom jaw on the floor.  It was more than I expect from myself, as in I think I should weigh way less than her ideal weight for me.  When she asked if I could live with that weight, I replied.  “I’ll be happy with it as long as I’m healthy”.  Once I get there she’ll work with me to keep it even for a while.  She’ll be willing to guide me at that time if I wish to lose more.

The quote (below) is one that hit me several months ago.

The patient should be made to understand that he or she must take charge of his own life.  Don’t take your body to the doctor as if he were a repair shop.  ~ Quentin Regestein

The older I get, the more I want to hang out with good health.

Blessings – Debbie

The Night The Lights Went Out

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I interrupt our St Louis travel pix with an update to say we’re home sweet home!  Just one day into settling in we were hit with that huge power outage yesterday afternoon.

When the power goes off in San Diego, we party!  Hubby grilled a mean chicken and veggie meal.

 We shot pool before it got too dark and played backgammon by candle light.

We settled in the backyard where we enjoyed the beautiful night sky, cool breeze and bonfire.

This is as close to camping as we get.  What a beautiful night all the way around.

Our emergency radio came in handy.  Hubby posted this to his Facebook status, live as it happened:  “Some reporter just asked the spokesman when they knew there was a problem with the power grid, his response, “when the lights went out”. Bravo Sir, Bravo!”

Our little set-up.

The remains of our bonfire.  What a great way to make the most of our evening.

We were so thankful for the cool evening as it felt like air-conditioning with our bedroom windows open all night.

Sometime during the early morning hours, power returned and all is well in So Cal.

Blessings – Debbie

Fun With Family

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Sunday was quite a special day as we were gathering with more family.  We took a little two-hour road trip to see hubby’s sister Cindy and family.  Little did we know a feast was in the works.  Ham, pot roast (with potatoes, carrots & gravy), pea salad, salad, homemade rolls, broccoli casserole, green bean casserole, hash brown casserole…Hmmmm, what did I miss?  It was all so delicious and prepared by our nephews.

We also celebrated our great-nephew Ben’s birthday.

We had cake and homemade banana ice cream…So yummy!

And played on the front porch with Ben’s new “Fire Truck”.

It took no time to figure out the duties of a fire chief.

His hose could reach nearly 15 or so feet.  There was lots of fun, especially since the adults were playing along.

Big sister quickly caught on…

At times there was a driver and two willing Chiefs.

Love that Sam posed side-saddle on this old tricycle my hubby and his siblings used to ride.

Precious Connie – She was my little buddy…

Big sister was willing to pose for pix…

I had to get a shot of her pretty boots.

Connie always had a smile when I pointed the camera her way.

It was such a joy to cuddle with Ben.

Three of our great-nieces and nephews.  We got to see our other great-nephew last week.

Hubby’s sister with her two sons and families.

While the children played into the night, the adults rustled up a fun game of Texas Holdem’ Poker.  By the end of the night,  Brad ran away with all the chips.  Good Game!

A visit to Cracker Barrel before heading back to St Louis yesterday.

Great-aunt Debbie can’t take too many pix…

Little Ben fell fast asleep before our meal arrived and slept all through his breakfast.  Hubby took good care of him.

We have more family to see before we make our way back home.  I’ll be back with more pix later.

Blessings – Debbie

Take Me Out To The Ball Game

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A visit to St Louis is not complete without a trip to Ramon’s.  This has been hubby’s favorite Mexican restaurant ever.  It became my favorite Mexican restaurant back in our dating years when he took me here for the first time.  He always judges Mexican food to this place.  I understand why.

So, this was the plan last evening for our sit down meal.  We have been doing so good on our healthy eating that we neither wanted this basket of chips that sat in front of us.

After dinner, hubby took me for a little drive thru his old hometown.  We passed by the old Collinsville water tower.

Drove by the worlds largest CATSUP bottle.  I was impressed.

But to see the Kahoks play football, would have the be the highlight of the day.

Our nephew Luke # 48 made us proud.

Even though the team lost, we left feeling we were already winners.  It was pretty amazing to hear screams from the stands to pass the ball to #48!  I couldn’t help but feel proud of all the hard work Luke does for his team.

Our nephew Trey, he was a hard one to catch.  But oh so cute!

Our great-nephew Austin showed up for the game too!  His grandma (my sis-in-law Chris) had just given him a cow bell to ring during the game.  Good job ringing that bell Austin!

Our nephew (body builder) Eric and his son Austin.  These two are two peas in a pod.

Children who sat right in front of us but were too cute and wanted their pix taken too.

Back home after the game.  Two very proud parents of four of the finest sons you will find.

Luke, Gerry and Trey.  We wish Eric would have been able to make it over after the game.

Gerry and Beth – Our newly engaged (this month) nephew.  She is such a doll, I totally love this girl and welcome her with open arms to the family.  They drove 3 hours one way just to see his brother play and to see us.  Great kids!

Chris had just finished taking care of Luke’s wounded arm after the game.  I think she was telling him to never get hurt like that again.  (I kid) She is such a great mom, loves her boys but I love how she lets them be boys.  She and my bro-in-law have done an amazing job with these guys.

As our evening came to a close, all felt right with the world and quality time with family.

I never tire of passing by the arch night or day, it’s such a beautiful sight to behold.

This wraps up another glorious day in St Louis.

Blessings – Debbie

A Visit To St Louis

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Hubby and I took a trip to St Louis this week.  A trip to visit with family and friends.

What do you do on the plane to pass the time away?  I played games on my phone like:  Reversi, Sudoku and the most fun was playing Color Touch.

I took pix the other day when I had my mani/pedi and found color touch to be a fun app to toy with this pic.  + the fact that it helped the time pass quickly…

Soon we landed and were greeted with a heat wave, like I’ve never experienced in all my live long days.  There was no gradual introduction to summer as it clearly slapped us in the face.  And I recall exclaiming to hubby “This is so UN San Diego”.  I’ve been a little under the weather ever since.

We quickly gathered our things and secured our rental car, made our way to the hotel and bathed in our nice air-conditioned room.

That evening we went to visit hubby’s son Ryan and his choice was to go for a little sit down at the local Starbucks.  Anyone who knows me well, knows I have a soft spot in my heart for the place.  But I snubbed it kindly while visiting with Ryan while he enjoyed his iced something or other.  Great visit we had.

Yesterday we got to spend time with Ryan and Lauren.  Mostly Ryan as his car was in need of attention.  It was a long ordeal, ask the mechanic.  All is can say is at day’s end, the mechanic offered Ryan a car and at day’s end, Ryan secured that new car!  Not without hubby doing his homework, but I won’t get into that long story here.  We can all say what a great day and deal all the way around!  And we topped off our evening spending quality family time at Panera Bread.

Sometime during the evening hours back at the hotel, I caught myself dreaming of home.

And I spent all night long in Southern California.  In my dreams…

Blessings – Debbie

I Want To Be A Better Me

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Do you ever feel you deserve a greater punishment for what you did?  Well last evening I was none too happy with my behavior in the pantry that afternoon.  I have no idea what came over me but I had not 1, 2 or even 3 tablespoons of peanut butter but a 4th!  Of all things, there nearly went 4oo calories down the hatch without even giving much thought.  And that ate up the remains of my calories for the day.

I decided then and there that I was done eating for the day.  I felt just horrible and exclaimed “No dinner for you”!  Well it was as if my anxiety from trying to get daily duties done and planning for a trip went into full swing.  And then another wave hit and I sat down to a handful of crackers and jelly.  That took me over the top of my daily food allowance.  Shamefully, I did indeed exceeded the feed limit for the day.

As hubby walked through the door last evening, he exclaimed in his chipper voice “how’s my clicker”.  I like the way he brightened my evening.  Nearly the first thing I told him when he walked in the door (after greeting him with a hug and kiss) was just how bad I had been.  But he loved me right back and said “rack ’em up, I need to help calm you”.  It was as tho he could read my unusual bout of anxiety.

So we shot some pool…

…played backgammon and visited into the evening.

He worked his magic on me and I felt sweet peace once again.

Hubby encouraged me to pamper myself today, so I did.  Thank you My Love!

I don’t feel I deserved such a reward (he would argue that).  But darlin’ if you’re reading this, “that’s what makes me want to be a better me today and always”.

Blessings – Debbie

I'm A Clicker

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Clicking anything to get it to do something is what I’m known best for around here.

If my camera is being used, it’s hard telling what setting I’ll change.

Or how many times I think I need to click the same thing.

There are times it’s necessary to tilt the camera and click.  That’s what makes me happy.

Then there are times I just like to CLICK!

Take for instance this mouse + stuff popping up on the screen = CLICK!  I click when I think I know what I’m doing, I click when I don’t know what I’m doing, I double-click to ensure I’ve clicked, I click when I just want that pop up ~ error ~ thingamadingy to go away.  People, it’s confirmed, I’m a clicker.

That’s when hubby has to come in and save the day.  He swoops in to ask, “did you block this or that”  me “I don’t know, I just click”.  Hubby stating in a warm silly tone.  “Yup, you’re my little clicker” as he proceeds to make it all better.  And we chuckled and laughed all afternoon because it’s so funny, yet true.  And he loves me because I’m a clicker, he wouldn’t have me any other way.  And that makes me so very happy.

~ The End

Blessings – Debbie

In The Fitting Room

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Hubby encouraged me to get some new clothes, I needed them as I’m down a size, yay!  He nearly had to boot me out the door to go shopping for myself.  I went, I conquered and promptly came home with 4 new dresses.

This may turn into a post each time I go down a size.  I think it will be fun to see and document the progress.

This Liz dress was on sale for 24.00.  Now it hangs in my closet.

Cheers to being down a dress size!

Blessings – Debbie

A Hodge Podge Good Day

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“And if you gaze for long into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.” –Friedrich Nietzsche

I heard the above quote this week and it stuck.  The photo was taken from our backyard, a place I can truly get lost…

All that’s left of this snail is the empty shell.  From the moment I spied this in the backyard, my instinct was to capture it, so I did.

I never tire of the beautiful flowering trees.

Today was a hodge podge kinda day.

  • Met hubby for a short while
  • Picked up my prescription sunglasses – Love the new prescription!
  • Went food shopping
  • Took care of some business around the house
  • Enjoyed another wonderful evening with hubby.  We got our daily dose of shooting pool and backgammon.

I’ll say it’s been an enjoyable day all the way around.

Blessings – Debbie

Not My Average Morning Walk

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So today (for my morning walk) I got the bright idea to ditch my cell phone camera and trade it in for my real camera.  I’m glad I did.

My regular 40 min walk turned into an hour and a half…

…I’m alright with that.

I got to see things instead of just plowing by, like this morning-glory and the mailbox.

And the way the early morning sunlight made things sparkle.

This colorful morning was such a great way to start the day.

I crouched really low to capture this little creature…

…And just as I was “in the zone”, was when the gals in the (lower left) were walking by and stopped to visit as they were curious to see what the fuss was all about.  Then the gal on the right exclaimed “Photo Shoot” and I shot their pic.  Later when I caught up with them, they were talking to my neighbors when they exclaimed “you gotta take their pic”.  So I did (upper right pic).  Then I stopped to say hi to my next door neighbor as she was out doing a little gardening.  She noticed my camera and turns out she loves photography too!  Twas then that I just had to take a pic of “Roxy” center and lower right.

I still managed to get a bit of exercise as I was able to knock out some nice hills in the hood.

I’m thankful for friendly neighbors, cheerful flowers and beautiful sunlight.  These are blessings I never want to take for granted.  Happy Monday!

Blessings – Debbie

When Summer Turns To Fall

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There’s a great big part of me holding on to these last few cool summer days.  Tuna and pickles, I can’t think of a better way to enjoy this combo.  It spells summer in every way.

Mile high veggies topped with tuna, an all-time favorite summer lunch.

As summer fades to autumn, we’re prepared to turn a new leaf by uncluttering our life.  I put the camera to use taking shots of our dining room furniture.  The time has come for this to go.

Hubby filled my void for china and beautiful furnishings many years ago.  But the more we live with it…move…pack…unpack…and…The more we want to simplify life.  We/I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s time to let go of stuff.  The stuff that sits on a shelf and never gets used.

I’m here to announce we are on the threshold of letting go.  To begin to express just how good it feels, would fill the pages of a book.  So I’ll begin by saying, so long, may the next caretaker love you more, use you more and make a nice happy home where you will be appreciated much MUCH more.

The next dining room set will be minus a china cabinet and more suited to fit our needs.

Cheers to letting go!

Blessings – Debbie

What A Wonderful World

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A perfect evening is when we’re lounging in jammies, music is softly playing, windows are open, sounds of crickets make up the background and all is right with the world.

Then is when I slipped into the garden for one last visit.

I enjoyed watching this spider go round and round creating the most impressive web.

My heart could not help but smile.

As our head hit the pillow at the end of the day, it was then we heard the most amazing chorus sing the grand finale.  Twas none other than a coyote family howling at the moon.  And I think to myself, what a wonderful world.

Blessings – Debbie

Happy Trails To You

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Having walked in the wet grass, my shoes were taken off at the patio door yesterday morning.

I didn’t give it another thought ’til the afternoon when they spoke to me as I passed by.

Perhaps it had to do with the afternoon sunlight streaming thru so I took pix of the whole ordeal…

No matter where you go or what you do, here’s wishing “Happy Trails” to all of you this weekend!

Today is Hubby’s Friday off and I can’t think of anything better than hanging out with him.  We kicked around some ideas of what we want to do this weekend.  Namely getting rid of more stuff around the house.  He’s working on advertising on Craigslist, I’m working on getting pix together for him.  It’s turning out to be a great productive weekend.  Oh and we enjoyed a little lunch date out on the town.  I love days like this!

Blessings – Debbie

Change Is Brewing

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The more we move the more I become aware that life and the world as we know it is constantly ever-changing.  That = Life.

I look back just a few short years ago and recall vividly the groove I was in and think to myself “I would never have guessed in a million years that we would be where we are today”.

Then I realize that in just a few short months we will be searching again for a place where we call “home sweet home”.  Our landlord will be selling the home we’re renting.  We won’t be moving far this time.

But for now, I don’t want to miss a thing.  I don’t want a day to close without taking in the blessings that surround me.

Look at the spider.  No matter where his web may lead, he takes care of himself,  just for today.

As I think about changes that are to come, it’s so important to stop and take note of life and where we are today.

Because it’s here and now that matters.

As tomorrow these things will be gone.

May I always look for the blessings surrounding me each and every day.  Tomorrow and the changes that are inevitable will be here soon enough.

Blessings – Debbie

August

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Today is the day to catch up on the blog.  It appears I’ve taken a very long unexpected break from blogging.

I’m thrilled to announce that hubby and I have been seeking a new healthy lifestyle since mid June.  We’re experiencing good results!

In the above pic, you’ll notice I’m using a “Weight Watchers” jug for my water.  To be clear, I’m not doing the Weight Watchers program.  I’m just eating healthy foods and counting my calories.  Back to the jug, I love it as it holds a whopping 32 oz of fluid.  There are many days I’ll easily drink over a gal of water.

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Have you ever taken pix of every single bite you had to eat in a day?  It was August 3rd that I got the notion to photograph my eats.

Breakfast:  Scrambled eggs with a generous portion of sautéed peppers and onion.  Topped with 80 calories worth of cheese and loads of black pepper.

Lunch:  After such a hearty breakfast, fruit was all I wanted.

Mid Afternoon Snack:  1 serving of craisins + 30 g of walnuts.

Dinner:  Tuna + Corn + a nice hunk of onion = goodness.  If you’re thinking yuck, you may or may not be interested to know that sardines is also one of my favorite evening meals.  Did you know the little sardine is a giant when it comes to foods?  It’s been dubbed an “Important Superfood”, King of Omega-3’s, Brain boosting, good for joints, High-Quality Protein, without the saturated fats, bone-boosting calcium and known as one of the healthiest fish around.

And that’s a wrap of my food intake for that particular day.  I can’t imagine being a food blogger and taking pix of everything, but I did enjoy the experiment.

August 8 – The day I dug deep into the closet to find an article of clothing to inspire me.

Oats and walnuts are a huge hit.  This is going to keep me on track to get back in that dress.

August 10 – Oh the places I went that morning.  Hubby flew out-of-town bright and early.  I didn’t plan on anything other than to get myself home as we were up at 4am.  But home was not what I wanted to do once I had my cup of coffee.  So I ventured and enjoyed some me time at the harbor and beach for just over 4 hours.  I already have a notion to return again soon…

Lunch on the day hubby left – Lettuce, peppers, onions, cherry tomatoes, ground (Jennie O) turkey burger seasoned with taco seasoning, salsa for my dressing with a sprinkle of (80 calorie) cheese over the top.

August 11 – To say I enjoyed my “Spa Day” would be an understatement.  I’ve been on the hunt for a good hairstylist since we moved to San Diego (nearly two years ago).  Let’s just say “I’ll be back”!  I loved the whole experience.  Next time I plan to stay a while longer to get a chance to enjoy the resort.  I truly was not expecting such a treat…

August 12 – I was such a happy wifey ~ Hubby was on his way home ~ I was down a dress size ~ I was in a dress I haven’t worn since I don’t know when ~ It was such a great day!

August 15 – I was in the mood for a reward while doing my food shopping early that morning.  So I picked up this dandy Prevention mag and found a nice place on the patio to indulge.  I also had a not so pleasant thing happen.  I had my regular cleaning at the dentist and discovered I had a cavity.  The good news “it was small and on the surface” + more good news “no numbing or pain to have it filled”.  The bad news, I was sad, really sad as this makes the second filling in my life.  I guess I just wanted to keep my teeth healthy for life.  Oh well, the world didn’t come to an end.

August 16 – I started walking again.  Do you ever quit something because you have a good excuse and then allow excuses to fill in when it’s time to pick it back up?  Well that happened to me regarding my walking.  I didn’t post this experience on the blog but I did indeed have another fall.  No sooner did my hands heal from my fall (about 6 or so weeks ago) and here I up and fell again!  I don’t even want to talk about it but truth be told, that’s why I stopped walking but not a great excuse as to why I didn’t get right back at it.

August 17 – Cheers!  This brings us to today!  I’m pleased to announce I got my walk in before I so much as had a sip of coffee.  I’ll say that’s a pretty big deal but so worth it getting out there first thing.

With that, we should be pretty much all caught up with August and this makes me very happy!

Blessings – Debbie