It's funny how some small kindness can make you smile the rest of the day. I am an award-winning parallel parker. Unless you live in the city you don't know what it is to park in a space 2 inches smaller than your car, with tons of traffic being held up while you make the maneuver. My mother taught me well and I can sometimes get into a tiny space with one move back and one move forward. And I do it without touching the car in either front or back. But I do get nervous when there is a person sitting in the car in front or back. So this morning I started my parking maneuver and the guy who was in the space behind me, and who had already gotten out of his car, came back and moved to the empty space behind him so that I would have plenty of room to park. I thought that was so kind of him and told him so. I wore a smile the rest of the morning. I even noticed a dumpster in my parking lot and thought "how pretty" - it was brand new - not a scratch or a dent, and a shiny beautiful teal. I had never seen such a beautiful dumpster - lol.
This followed my morning doctor's appointment. He said just a 25-pound loss will probably bring my sugar to normal numbers as well as bring my cholesterol down. He said to stay away from anything made from white flour. This is already something I know and do. Most of what he said was of the "been there done that" variety of advice, but this time around I am really scared. So that will make a difference.
My special thing today is that I am stopping at Bed Bath and Beyond and getting a Yonanas machine. I saw this last summer and I think even before that it was the rage at WW meetings. I'm just in the mood for something new. I was going to get a crock pot but decided the two I have work just fine, even though they don't have the neat warming stage at the end of cooking time to use if I'm not home. But, with a little planning (like leaving instructions for my husband) I can have it finished just at the right time and not over- or under-cooked. The real reason I decided against getting one is that I looked on Amazon and they have so many to choose from I got dizzy looking at them and reading reviews. There is only one Yonanas so I'm goin' for it.
Speaking of special things I was telling my doctor about my summer plans (to do at least one enjoyable thing each day, even if it's being a little late in the morning because I decided to enjoy a cup of coffee at home instead of from a to-go cup on the road) and he said that is probably more important for my health than any medication. He was quite impressed :).
Okay - I am going to purchase blueberries and strawberries and maybe a cantaloupe to throw into the freezer when I get home. I figured as long as I am making my frozen fruits with mostly low-calorie highly anti-oxidant berries that I will glean health as well as pleasure! Apparently if you add yogurt it comes out more like flavored frozen yogurt, so that's good to know - but I will be happy with a nice bowl of fruit sorbet!
M
Thursday, June 27, 2013
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Found the best website ever!
As if I don't have enough recipes and enough websites to keep me occupied ... but... I have to share that I found the best website ever! It is called The Yummy Life. I never ever have any cereal products for breakfast because I am always hungry before I've even finished my morning commute. However, she had a steel-cut oatmeal slow cooker recipe that intrigued me and sent me straightaway to Trader Joe's to pick up steel-cut oatmeal. I had my husband start the crock pot at around midnight and the most delightful breakfast was awaiting me this morning. I was not even hungry for lunch at lunchtime! Anyway - I started looking around her site and the recipes are fantastic. I have been inspired to stop at Bed Bath and Beyond this afternoon to pick up a programmable crock pot that she recommends. I have been shopping for a new crock pot for ages, but there are so many to choose from that I just never knew where to plunk down my money. Actually I have a small one in which I made the oatmeal, but I am getting a new larger one anyway. The oatmeal I made was apple-cinnamon but she has a cranberry eggnog one that I can't wait to try as soon as the eggnog starts appearing on grocery shelves!
So anyway - why was I searching for oatmeal in the first place? As I wrote yesterday, I got my blood test results back and they are less than stellar. On the Mayo Clinic website (that I posted yesterday) they indicated that eating oatmeal is a good place to start, hence the search for oatmeal recipes. My daughter is also trying to get me to understand how to use Pinterest so I have been pinning recipes and websites. Another summer project....I don't have enough to do to waste my time....but I'm feeling a renewed interest in new healthy recipes, so it's all good.
Hubby got the pool cover off - and the water isn't nearly as bad as it was last year. We can at least see the steps, which is a good sign. I told him to keep up with the chlorine and to make sure to put in stabilizer, otherwise the water can "turn" in a heartbeat. The ducks haven't come since the cover has been off - which is odd, since they usually don't give up the ghost until at least 2 weeks into chlorinating and running the pool. My new cat Vinnie I think is doing a pretty decent job of patrolling the pool, but even he sometimes ignores the ducks - it's a losing battle... The pool was filled with hundreds (if not thousands) of tadpoles and toads but last night things were much quieter so I think the toads have started to fly the coop, so to speak. Poor tadpoles, though.
Anyway - if you have time browse around that website - it really is wonderful!
Miriam
So anyway - why was I searching for oatmeal in the first place? As I wrote yesterday, I got my blood test results back and they are less than stellar. On the Mayo Clinic website (that I posted yesterday) they indicated that eating oatmeal is a good place to start, hence the search for oatmeal recipes. My daughter is also trying to get me to understand how to use Pinterest so I have been pinning recipes and websites. Another summer project....I don't have enough to do to waste my time....but I'm feeling a renewed interest in new healthy recipes, so it's all good.
Hubby got the pool cover off - and the water isn't nearly as bad as it was last year. We can at least see the steps, which is a good sign. I told him to keep up with the chlorine and to make sure to put in stabilizer, otherwise the water can "turn" in a heartbeat. The ducks haven't come since the cover has been off - which is odd, since they usually don't give up the ghost until at least 2 weeks into chlorinating and running the pool. My new cat Vinnie I think is doing a pretty decent job of patrolling the pool, but even he sometimes ignores the ducks - it's a losing battle... The pool was filled with hundreds (if not thousands) of tadpoles and toads but last night things were much quieter so I think the toads have started to fly the coop, so to speak. Poor tadpoles, though.
Anyway - if you have time browse around that website - it really is wonderful!
Miriam
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Summer Continued
I am beginning to think that I should stop the count (Day 4, Day 5, etc.) - it already has me stressed! Why, I do not know, but I always get tense counting things. I play a game with my daughter - it's like Boggle but on-line it's called Scramble. It's a timed game and I actually hyperventilate when I'm counted down by one minute. When I started my sugar-free program and was about three weeks into it (keeping a calendar that each day I would mark "SF" as proof that I had been sugar-free) I was listening to the accompanying CD and she said, "Please do not mark on a calendar every day you have been sugar free." LOL - was she speaking to me? I stopped immediately. The premise was to guard against black&white, all-or-nothing, thinking. Boy was she right, but I'm just that sort of person. So anyway, I need to acknowledge every glorious day of summer but as of today I'm not counting. All it will do is get me anxious about how summer is moving along and how I may (or may not) be moving along with it.
Okay, so as long as we are talking about numbers, the results of yesterday's blood test are starting to come in (some take more than a day to be calculated). What has come in so far is that my cholesterol and LDL have both significantly gone up since my tests 6 months ago. I took myself off my statin drug after reading so many negative studies (my bad - I didn't even bother to discuss it with my doctor). I have horrible horrible leg cramps - and not just the calf - I get them in my shin, in my quad, hamstring - and they are so bad, my leg still aches the next day. Since going off my statin I haven't gotten a single leg cramp. I have to find a way to naturally lower my cholesterol so that I don't have to go back to that drug. On the other hand my HDL went up and my triglycerides plummeted, so I know that my dietary changes have made some dent in what I am trying to accomplish. My daughter, the expert on these things, said that in addition to dietary changes, increased exercise will also affect cholesterol counts (I know it helps with insulin resistance as well). My glucose, already a bit high, is exactly the same as it was 6 months ago.
She has given me two sites to explore - based on research and not gimmicks - that I will share here with you:
Okay, so as long as we are talking about numbers, the results of yesterday's blood test are starting to come in (some take more than a day to be calculated). What has come in so far is that my cholesterol and LDL have both significantly gone up since my tests 6 months ago. I took myself off my statin drug after reading so many negative studies (my bad - I didn't even bother to discuss it with my doctor). I have horrible horrible leg cramps - and not just the calf - I get them in my shin, in my quad, hamstring - and they are so bad, my leg still aches the next day. Since going off my statin I haven't gotten a single leg cramp. I have to find a way to naturally lower my cholesterol so that I don't have to go back to that drug. On the other hand my HDL went up and my triglycerides plummeted, so I know that my dietary changes have made some dent in what I am trying to accomplish. My daughter, the expert on these things, said that in addition to dietary changes, increased exercise will also affect cholesterol counts (I know it helps with insulin resistance as well). My glucose, already a bit high, is exactly the same as it was 6 months ago.
She has given me two sites to explore - based on research and not gimmicks - that I will share here with you:
The mayo clinic website.
And
also the HSPH nutrition source.
I am sure there is no information on either website that I haven't already come across and read, but with my daughter's email to me:
"i
love you too! so be healthy so you live forever and i never have to be
without you!", I will take a fresh look.
Add reading those websites to my summer projects list... but no counting how long it takes me!
Miriam
Monday, June 24, 2013
4th day of summer
OMG - we are breaking records here. I'm not much one for heat, so I already have a headache brewing... Not gonna talk myself into it, though. Started my morning with lab work. They changed up the system so that even though the lab opens at 8 and I was there around 8:10 I did not get seen until almost 9. Maybe someone didn't come in on time... I don't know. But add that to roads being paved, and I got in at 10:30 even though I had left my house before 8. Sigh... However, the upside is that, because I didn't have my full breakfast/beverages before leaving I made it in without wetting my pants... too much. LOL
I have my bag packed for a swim at the gym but the pool doesn't open until 5, and I think I want to head home immediately. I didn't want to go at lunch since I got in so late. I know... I know... already with the excuses and it's only Day 4. But no, seriously - I'm dying to get home to my unairconditioned house so that I can slap wet towels on my arms and sit in front of the fan and bitch and moan how the night is so long and so hot. Hmm... maybe I will rethink the gym. Actually I would have gone this morning since I was up so early, but I had to hang around for the lab to open. I might just go for a walk on the track - I don't even have to change for that and my iPod is all fired up!
Speaking of the iPod I want to do a commercial announcement for something I just bought: It's by URGE BASICS and it's called a Flash Tube Charger. You charge it on your computer and it holds a charge so you can plug your dead devices into it. It immediately zapped a charge into my iPod this morning (which was dead when I got to the lab, but fully charged by the time I got out). I bought four of them to give as gifts this year, but I think I am keeping a second one for myself so I will always have one charged and handy.
I have just a feeling of overwhelm lately, which is what started me on my summer projects - so much to do, so little time. But it's more than that. I have a yearning for a simpler time. I was thinking back to my apartment in Brooklyn when my children were just babies. Of course at THAT time I was overwhelmed with being a new mother, living on one income, hoping to move, etc., but as I look back now I see how simple those days were. If I had known then what I know now about how delicious being a stay-at-home mom could be, I would have appreciated and enjoyed it even more than I did. Of course, when I'm 80, and overwhelmed with whatever overwhelms 80-year olds I will look back to now and wish for the simpler times of today! LOL I don't know... I'm not exactly in a funk, but I feel like I am free-floating with no idea where to land.
I think this is, in part, what motivated me to do summer projects... I want the simple times of summer... Again with the doing instead of being. Oh I've got it ... maybe on the way home I will swing by Walden Pond and just hang out there for a while -maybe being there will help me contemplate more than my belly button. I just called and they are at capacity for the day but will reopen at 4PM.
I have my bag packed for a swim at the gym but the pool doesn't open until 5, and I think I want to head home immediately. I didn't want to go at lunch since I got in so late. I know... I know... already with the excuses and it's only Day 4. But no, seriously - I'm dying to get home to my unairconditioned house so that I can slap wet towels on my arms and sit in front of the fan and bitch and moan how the night is so long and so hot. Hmm... maybe I will rethink the gym. Actually I would have gone this morning since I was up so early, but I had to hang around for the lab to open. I might just go for a walk on the track - I don't even have to change for that and my iPod is all fired up!
Speaking of the iPod I want to do a commercial announcement for something I just bought: It's by URGE BASICS and it's called a Flash Tube Charger. You charge it on your computer and it holds a charge so you can plug your dead devices into it. It immediately zapped a charge into my iPod this morning (which was dead when I got to the lab, but fully charged by the time I got out). I bought four of them to give as gifts this year, but I think I am keeping a second one for myself so I will always have one charged and handy.
I have just a feeling of overwhelm lately, which is what started me on my summer projects - so much to do, so little time. But it's more than that. I have a yearning for a simpler time. I was thinking back to my apartment in Brooklyn when my children were just babies. Of course at THAT time I was overwhelmed with being a new mother, living on one income, hoping to move, etc., but as I look back now I see how simple those days were. If I had known then what I know now about how delicious being a stay-at-home mom could be, I would have appreciated and enjoyed it even more than I did. Of course, when I'm 80, and overwhelmed with whatever overwhelms 80-year olds I will look back to now and wish for the simpler times of today! LOL I don't know... I'm not exactly in a funk, but I feel like I am free-floating with no idea where to land.
I think this is, in part, what motivated me to do summer projects... I want the simple times of summer... Again with the doing instead of being. Oh I've got it ... maybe on the way home I will swing by Walden Pond and just hang out there for a while -maybe being there will help me contemplate more than my belly button. I just called and they are at capacity for the day but will reopen at 4PM.
I have my bathing suit, flip flops and towel with me anyway ... I've got a plan!!!!
Miriam
Sunday, June 23, 2013
3rd day of summer
As I was laying in bed this morning around 7AM I was thinking about how I just finished telling y'all that I am a morning person and can only productively get things done in the morning. So, to that end, I hopped out of bed (yes I am one of the few who hops out of bed in the morning with a quick "Thank you God for another day") and started my projects. I started by cleaning the closet that holds all my "on hold" clothes. I filled a couple of bags for Goodwill, pulled several gorgeous beaded and sparkly things that I will put at the belly dance tag sale in October, and folded and put away laundry that was on the drying rack. THEN I really went to work. I culled through hundreds of videos, CDs, tapes, and DVDs and was left with only a small keep pile (in addition to the dozens of CDs that I keep for classroom use). The originals I boxed up for the tag sale, and the copies I boxed up to offer up to my students (for free) on Saturday. I also fairly well emptied a cedar closet in the laundry room (most for Goodwill, a few things for the tag sale).
I stopped when I realized that I have the whole summer for this project, and that I don't need to reach perfection and completion immediately.
WHEW, then I had lunch and just got home from grocery shopping. It's a happy day when the boxed peaches come in to Trader Joe's. I bought 2 boxes. Right now they are in a beautiful bowl on the kitchen table so I can just look at them, but will put them away tonight in the fridge because it is way too hot in the house.
Sandy - thanks for your reminder about Fly Lady. I went right to her website when I read your comment. I had forgotten that my habit of cleaning and polishing my sink at night and hanging fresh dishtowels comes from her! It is such a pleasure to come into the kitchen in the morning and having everything sparkly clean. When I leave it like that - and I usually do - my husband - who works into the evening and cooks dinner for himself around midnight, will also clean up after himself. When I leave it less than sparkling I often find his dishes have been added to mine, so I make an extra effort to clean even if I'm exhausted at night. I signed up for her newsletter and look forward to hints and motivation to see me through all my summer projects.
Hope you all enjoyed your Sunday, be it restful, worshipful, busy, or all three!
Miriam
I stopped when I realized that I have the whole summer for this project, and that I don't need to reach perfection and completion immediately.
WHEW, then I had lunch and just got home from grocery shopping. It's a happy day when the boxed peaches come in to Trader Joe's. I bought 2 boxes. Right now they are in a beautiful bowl on the kitchen table so I can just look at them, but will put them away tonight in the fridge because it is way too hot in the house.
Sandy - thanks for your reminder about Fly Lady. I went right to her website when I read your comment. I had forgotten that my habit of cleaning and polishing my sink at night and hanging fresh dishtowels comes from her! It is such a pleasure to come into the kitchen in the morning and having everything sparkly clean. When I leave it like that - and I usually do - my husband - who works into the evening and cooks dinner for himself around midnight, will also clean up after himself. When I leave it less than sparkling I often find his dishes have been added to mine, so I make an extra effort to clean even if I'm exhausted at night. I signed up for her newsletter and look forward to hints and motivation to see me through all my summer projects.
Hope you all enjoyed your Sunday, be it restful, worshipful, busy, or all three!
Miriam
Saturday, June 22, 2013
2nd day of summer
I am such a morning person it isn't funny - or at least most people would find it annoying. I hit the ground running - and happily so - usually by 6 or 6:30AM. I am so full of hopes and dreams. Give me until about noon, and I poop out - BIG time! I used to be more of an all-day sort of person but my knees just exhaust me..
Anyway - I declared on FB this morning that I would usher in Summer by washing my slipcovers and curtains. Former accomplished! Latter - not so much. MOSTLY it is because I can't find my stepladder. Dontcha just love when hubby takes something for a project, never to be seen again (the something not the hubby). My goodness, it's not like he misplaced a hammer. We are missing an entire stepladder. So that (washing the slipcovers) was my summer project for the day. As soon as I hunt down the stepladder I will get to the curtains.
I had my belly dance class this morning (oh the slipcovers were washed and hanging up before I even left for that!) - another good one... I love my gals. One more next week and I am done for the summer. I remember when I used to teach year-round but not so for a few years now. I like it this way :)
Lately I've been so overwhelmed by all my STUFF. I started packing up what I am going to sell at a belly dance tag sale in October. Getting rid of tons of that stuff. Although, I am already having second thoughts about things that I have already tagged and packed. Anyway, I look around the house and I don't know what to get rid of. I have too much useful stuff - it's not junk that I should have ditched in my teens. I mean, for instance, I have a South Beach cookbook that I might not look at for years, then all of a sudden I must have a recipe from it that I know is there. I could ditch the book and just go to the library when I want the recipe - I don't want to getting into copying recipes... So the book is useful but not being used. That is that category that about what 75% of my stuff falls into. I am also not disorganized so that's not the issue. I just feel overwhelmed by STUFF.
I always said that I would love to clean as if I am packing to move. But I feel that as soon as I get rid of something I will need it. Up to now my rule of thumb has been that, if it can replaced for under $10, it goes. Maybe I need to up that to $25-$100 so that more things fall into the get-rid-of category. I just don't know. Sigh.... add it to the summer to-do list! LOL
Hey I thought I said I was going to enjoy the summer! But I think if I climbed out from under my stuff, that I would be happier and live more in a place of joy than encumbrance. HOWEVER, going back to my initial sentence - none of this will work unless I start my day around 3AM! LOL So much to do and actually a desire to do it.... But then the day goes on and... so little energy and and desire to do it... what a conundrum. Any suggestions?
Happy second day of summer!
Miriam
Anyway - I declared on FB this morning that I would usher in Summer by washing my slipcovers and curtains. Former accomplished! Latter - not so much. MOSTLY it is because I can't find my stepladder. Dontcha just love when hubby takes something for a project, never to be seen again (the something not the hubby). My goodness, it's not like he misplaced a hammer. We are missing an entire stepladder. So that (washing the slipcovers) was my summer project for the day. As soon as I hunt down the stepladder I will get to the curtains.
I had my belly dance class this morning (oh the slipcovers were washed and hanging up before I even left for that!) - another good one... I love my gals. One more next week and I am done for the summer. I remember when I used to teach year-round but not so for a few years now. I like it this way :)
Lately I've been so overwhelmed by all my STUFF. I started packing up what I am going to sell at a belly dance tag sale in October. Getting rid of tons of that stuff. Although, I am already having second thoughts about things that I have already tagged and packed. Anyway, I look around the house and I don't know what to get rid of. I have too much useful stuff - it's not junk that I should have ditched in my teens. I mean, for instance, I have a South Beach cookbook that I might not look at for years, then all of a sudden I must have a recipe from it that I know is there. I could ditch the book and just go to the library when I want the recipe - I don't want to getting into copying recipes... So the book is useful but not being used. That is that category that about what 75% of my stuff falls into. I am also not disorganized so that's not the issue. I just feel overwhelmed by STUFF.
I always said that I would love to clean as if I am packing to move. But I feel that as soon as I get rid of something I will need it. Up to now my rule of thumb has been that, if it can replaced for under $10, it goes. Maybe I need to up that to $25-$100 so that more things fall into the get-rid-of category. I just don't know. Sigh.... add it to the summer to-do list! LOL
Hey I thought I said I was going to enjoy the summer! But I think if I climbed out from under my stuff, that I would be happier and live more in a place of joy than encumbrance. HOWEVER, going back to my initial sentence - none of this will work unless I start my day around 3AM! LOL So much to do and actually a desire to do it.... But then the day goes on and... so little energy and and desire to do it... what a conundrum. Any suggestions?
Happy second day of summer!
Miriam
Friday, June 21, 2013
Lions and Tigers and Thieves, OH MY - first day of summer
So, in keeping with my vow to do something special every day, I popped out of bed at 6AM and went to Boston early so that I could get in a swim and a good soak in the hot tub. To think that this time last year I was swimming a mile every day - this morning I did only 10 laps, stopping after every two to catch my breath. But, I was pleased - it was 10 more laps than I had been doing. Then I thoroughly enjoyed the hot tub and did all my stretches that I am afraid to do at home because my legs cramp up something awful as soon as I move, but with the hot water I can safely stretch with no cramping consequences. Then I cooled off in the Jacuzzi and then back to the hot tub. I think my biggest lesson this summer is going to be to learn to just BE. I am such a human doing, that I forget how to be a human being.
So, I go take my shower, and when I put my glasses on I realize that something is wrong with them - I had them in my bag in a soft glass case, and didn't know what to make of it. Then I went to pack things up and found that my goggles that I had left on the counter with my stuff, were missing (I can now assume that someone rifled through my bag and maybe dropped or squished my glasses). THE NOIVE OF THEM. They were attached to my snorkel clip so it really took an effort to swipe them. I made a report to the front desk and then to the campus police. I asked him if he died laughing that someone wanted to report a stolen $6 pair of goggles. He said no - that they need to track incidences of theft (which was my point in making the report).
I'm miffed, but actually grateful. Just because I wouldn't steal something out in the open doesn't mean that other people won't. I'm grateful because if I had gone walking instead of swimming I might have had my $300 iPod in my bag or my jewelry, making it well worth the thief's while to rifle through my bag. I had always used a locker but this time around I said - what the heck - it's just my shower stuff - who's interested in that. Lesson learned. Thank heavens it was only a $6 lesson. I'm thinking now I should have asked the officer to dust my snorkel for fingerprints! LOL
Anyway - I was true to my word to do something special the first day of summer. The day is still early so there is plenty more to do (like eat right, drink my water, go for a walk, play with the cat, maybe practice BEING and do NOTHING!).
So what I get out of this is an unintentional new pair of frames. I got a new prescription on Wednesday and said I would pass on the frames this time (with a 40% discount my lenses still come to almost $400), but alas, I need new frames. Since I am fairly blind without my glasses I am going to go in on Monday morning with my contacts (that's a laugh - it will probably take me an hour to get them in, as I haven't worn them since my daughter's wedding last year) and pick something out. I am wedded to glasses that come with magnetized clip-ons, but the selection is tiny because more and more people are ordering transition lenses. None of them are really as nice as (or that different from) the glasses I have now, which is why I didn't want to spend the money. BUT, I'm going with the flow - time for a change!
Enjoy your first day of summer!
Miriam
So, I go take my shower, and when I put my glasses on I realize that something is wrong with them - I had them in my bag in a soft glass case, and didn't know what to make of it. Then I went to pack things up and found that my goggles that I had left on the counter with my stuff, were missing (I can now assume that someone rifled through my bag and maybe dropped or squished my glasses). THE NOIVE OF THEM. They were attached to my snorkel clip so it really took an effort to swipe them. I made a report to the front desk and then to the campus police. I asked him if he died laughing that someone wanted to report a stolen $6 pair of goggles. He said no - that they need to track incidences of theft (which was my point in making the report).
I'm miffed, but actually grateful. Just because I wouldn't steal something out in the open doesn't mean that other people won't. I'm grateful because if I had gone walking instead of swimming I might have had my $300 iPod in my bag or my jewelry, making it well worth the thief's while to rifle through my bag. I had always used a locker but this time around I said - what the heck - it's just my shower stuff - who's interested in that. Lesson learned. Thank heavens it was only a $6 lesson. I'm thinking now I should have asked the officer to dust my snorkel for fingerprints! LOL
Anyway - I was true to my word to do something special the first day of summer. The day is still early so there is plenty more to do (like eat right, drink my water, go for a walk, play with the cat, maybe practice BEING and do NOTHING!).
So what I get out of this is an unintentional new pair of frames. I got a new prescription on Wednesday and said I would pass on the frames this time (with a 40% discount my lenses still come to almost $400), but alas, I need new frames. Since I am fairly blind without my glasses I am going to go in on Monday morning with my contacts (that's a laugh - it will probably take me an hour to get them in, as I haven't worn them since my daughter's wedding last year) and pick something out. I am wedded to glasses that come with magnetized clip-ons, but the selection is tiny because more and more people are ordering transition lenses. None of them are really as nice as (or that different from) the glasses I have now, which is why I didn't want to spend the money. BUT, I'm going with the flow - time for a change!
Enjoy your first day of summer!
Miriam
Thursday, June 20, 2013
Summertime Summertime Sum-Sum-Summertime
Well I have not been hibernating for six months, but rather, have been going through a long, long journey. And seeing as though tomorrow is the first day of summer, it's time to come out the other side.
I was doing some deep work with Marianne Williamson's "A Course in Weight Loss" which she fashioned after her experience with "A Course in Miracles." It was some very very deep self-introspection, along with very heart-wrenching work - the surface of which was not even touched in my personal nutritional counseling sessions last summer. I came out from this journey truly ready to tackle other issues.
And with that, I was ready to work on Karly Randolph Pitman's "Overcoming Sugar Addiction" - which has brought me so far ahead of where I ever was in any other weight loss journey. The sugar is really beside the point - what I have accomplished is the point, not the least of which has been to forgive myself and to not see myself as broken and never able to be fixed.
In addition to weight/eating issues (but still part of the whole self-acceptance "theme") is that I have had an extremely difficult time accepting that I am 60 years old. I know the wisdom of being grateful that I have reached this age, as so many do not. It has not, however, stopped me from thinking that my life is 2/3-3/4 over. (And actually, I could be hit by a bus on the way home, meaning it could easily be 100% over...) But anyway - I just don't want to go to my grave (tomorrow or 20 years from now) telling myself that I didn't do everything I could to break out of this prison I have put myself into.
Morbid, I know. But it has spurred me on to find new motivation and momentum to live my healthiest life possible. I am learning so much about myself from Karly's program - sugar issues aside - and am now on the acceptance chapter. I think this will help me more with coming to terms with being 60 than even my weight issues. I am just loving this program and cannot recommend it highly enough. She has another program called "Untangled" and I wish I had bought that one instead -- I think it incorporates many of the concepts of the "Sugar" program but covers more ground. Anyway ... This is my project and I'm loving it.
So anyway - SUMMERTIME: I realized that tomorrow is the first day of summer, and I refuse to let it pass me by too quickly. I am going to make every day count. EVERY day. First of all, I am almost totally out of credit card debt, so by the first day of Fall I vouch to have only my mortgage payment (and of course utilities and day-to-day expenses) to pay. My car and my husband's car are so old that we might not make it to September without needing to take on a car loan payment, but I am hopeful. With a little bit of mindfulness, the last of my credit cards should be paid off by the end of the summer - including that extra $3000 ticket to Italy last September.
The next thing I am going to do this summer is to take day trips with my hubby, perhaps even staying over a few times on a Friday night, as long as we can be home by 3PM on Saturday when he needs to go to work. Flo - if you are reading this - I always admire that you and Don do so many day trips, and I hope to take a page from your book. You have inspired me! No reason we can't go to Sturbridge Village on a nice Friday afternoon!
The next thing I am going to do every day is to either walk or swim (or both) and to also use the hot tub at the fitness center at least twice a week. The hot tub is so good for my mind, let alone my body. One of the lessons in Karly's Sugar program is to learn the art of flowing. I find that being in the hot tub just letting the bubbles and water flow over me, helps to dislodge a lot of tension and unused energy that gets stopped up in my body (which often leads to my nighttime eating).
Last, but not least, is that I am going to make a mindful effort every day to eat healthy. I do eat healthy anyway, so it's not the healthy part that I'm working on, it's the mindfulness. I want to pay better attention (I already do pay attention but it's not quality attention) to my hunger and fullness signals. Now that I am not counting anything I don't have to be a member of the clean-plate club, finishing everything that I am "entitled" to. I have to learn the concept of what saran wrap is for - I can put away what I am eating and actually finish it later -- if I want to!
I used to blog daily which I really enjoyed. I do separate very personal and deep journaling for the programs that I have been doing, but I miss the "chit-chat" open nature of the blog. So starting tomorrow (today, actually) I am going to chronicle each day of summer, and see what I have done towards the goals I have set for myself. One goal, here and now, is to not do anything towards any goal if that's what I feel like that day! However, I have to acknowledge that so that I stay mindful and in the present.
Anyway - happy to be back... lesson that I learned: No matter how dark and long the tunnel, you always come out the other other end (otherwise it would just be a tube with a bottom!).
WELCOME SUMMER!
Miriam
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