My delicious 9 point dinner!

My quest to better health

The past three months have been quite a journey and I am pleased and proud.  On November 1st I joined Weight Watchers online and today I am 29 pounds lighter.  It's a wonderful feeling.  I still have a ways to go, but I know I can do it.  I am focusing on small goals one week at a time.

One of my dear friends is doing this as well.  We text and/or chat daily about what we've eaten, what the scale says, our frustrations and our thoughts through this process.  My quest is to get healthier, become more fit and not get so discouraged when shopping for new clothes. I do not have many of the problems associated with being overweight.  I am grateful for that.  Low blood pressure runs in my family and even at my heaviest my blood pressure was low, my cholesterol in the normal range and no diabetes.  The health issue that was really the catalyst for doing something about my weight was my hiatal hernia. I will always have it, however by losing weight I can lessen the symptoms that are so bothersome.  Already I am feeling better, I know the medication is a big part of it, but losing 29 pounds takes pressure off my diaphragm which in turn reduces the pain and problems the hernia has caused.

Last fall two different surgical groups recommended a Nissen Fundoplication to fix my hernia.  The long term side affects and potential problems really got me thinking. I am believer that anytime you can make lifestyle choices to solve a problem without surgery, then it's win-win.  The surgeons told me that medication and losing weight "may" help and I had about a 50:50 chance of seeing an improvement.  That was enough of a motivator.  I jump started things with 80 mg of prilosec a day (per Dr's orders), yes 80 mg - a normal dose is 20 mg per day.  My symptoms calmed down after 4 weeks and I've have since weened off the high dose.  I only take 20 mg a day now.  Prilosec is an antacid and in my case less acid means less vomiting.  And that's a good thing!

When I started this quest for better health I didn't tell anyone aside from my immediate family, sister and dear friend who joined with me.  It's not that I want to keep it a secret, it's just that it's MY journey, MY quest, MY thing.  I didn't, and I still don't, want advice from people on what to eat, what not to eat.  I feared people would question my food choices.  It isn't their journey, it's mine. I am doing it for me, and me alone.  I do think that's why it's working for me, right now at this time in my life.

Now that I've lost 29 pounds people have noticed and it's nice to get complimented that I look good.  But when someone tells me loudly in a public place with others (whom I don't know) very close by "you've lost a lot of weight and you look good", I just want to have the floor open up and suck me in.  It's embarrassing, you might have well just said "now that you've lost weight I realize how terrible you looked before".  It's nice that you think I look good and are happy I lost weight, but tact and decorum would be appreciated.  I've vented now, I'm over it.  Moving on.

This is what I just ate and boy was it delicious.  1 tablespoon of peanut butter on a slice of Sara Lee Delightful Multi-grain bread and one apple.  I think the peanut butter will have staying power, which is good because I've been so hungry the past few days.  This was after a banana and a hard boiled egg about an hour earlier.  I think my increased hunger is because I really upped my exercise while in New Orleans on a business trip with my husband.  I had to work out more to enjoy some of that yummy creole cuisine.  The extra exercise is good, I feel my legs getting stronger (and smaller) with each workout.   WW point count on the day = 6.  Egg (2), Peanut Butter (3), Bread (1), Apple (0) and Banana (0).   No deprivation for me!

I am pleased and proud that I have been able to lose weight through the holidays and while taking several trips (a week in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, four days in New Orleans, a week in Seattle, WA).  My mind is definitely in the right place and here's to the next 10 pounds.  I know I can do it.  I owe so much of my success so far to my amazing, supportive husband.  I've experimented with new recipes, rid the cupboard of junk food and he hasn't complained once. In fact, he's lost about 8 pounds.  He is such a blessing!

Time to get on the exercise bike!

Cabo for Christmas

We just got home from a marvelous week in Cabo San Lucas.  Here are a few of my favorite pictures.  Happy New Year to all!

Christmas cheer

It has been a fun couple of weeks since my last post.  I decorated the house and the tree and I must say, I am quite pleased.  This year I was very frugal in what I put out.  I have so much stuff, much of it meaningful that I don't have the heart to part with, but at the same time tacky, outdated and not my style.  The stuff I do like is on display and fills the house with Christmas cheer and it all evokes special feelings of family and love.

I cherish our stockings.  My grandmother made mine when I was a child and my mother-in-law (MIL) made my husbands when he was a small child.  I find it neat that they are essentially the same pattern.  (Mine is the dark green one second from right next to small red velvet stocking - which is my grandmother's.) Our first Christmas as a married couple my MIL made me a stocking, not knowing I already had one.  I hang both up every year!  My MIL made stockings for all her 13 grandchildren when they were infants.  I love that we have all the same stockings!

                                                                                                  This wooden snowman sits proudly on our front porch.  My sister and I got matching ones at a craft fair probably 15 years ago.    He is about 4  feet tall and made out of wood.  We  had to lug these heavy snowmen to our car .  We still talk about and smile over the memory of this purchase.     My favorite part about this snowman is his  face.  I love the rosy checks and the lopsided smile.  I proudly put him on my porch each year! 

This ceramic Christmas candy dish used to be my grandmothers.  I have filled it with treasures that I have purchased on my travels to Italy and Prague.  I have always loved the glass candies that look real enough to eat (think root beer barrels from childhood).  We took a wonderful family trip to Italy in 2008 and in Venice we saw beautiful Murano glass items.  Everything from large (and expensive) decorative bowls and vases to these small candies.  This past spring my son did a study abroad program in Prague.  My mother and I went to visit and were delighted to find beautiful things made with Czech glass.  When I found small candies I just had to get some to add to my collection.  I got to hand pick out each one displayed in the dish, and though I don't know which are from Italy and which are from Prague now that they are co-mingled I just love the memories they invoke.

My oldest daughter got me this cheery singing snowman duo several years ago for Christmas.  I have it set on a table in our entryway and almost every time I walk by I press the little button on the hand and it plays "we wish you a merry Christmas" while they dance. It makes me stop and smile for the 30 seconds of entertainment.  It's a reminder to me of family and love.







I have lots of snowman and Santa Claus pieces.  But the snowman in the picture below is an all time favorite. My youngest daughter made it for me when she was 12.  It's made out of muslin, stuffed with batting and adorned with buttons and a piece of gingham fabric for a scarf.  Every time I look at it I think of her and smile.

These ornaments are some of my favorites.  Mr. & Mrs. Claus used to adorn the tree when I was a child.  When my parents moved and changed their Christmas ornament theme, they gave many of their treasured ornaments to my sister and I.  I proudly hang Mr. & Mrs. Claus on my tree every year and it brings back wonderful memories of my childhood.  The raccoon ornament on the right is so much fun.  He is a little thief trying to steal an ornament and it makes me giggle.  It was a gift years ago, unfortunately I do not remember from who, but I love it.  It's whimsical and fun.

This is the most recent ornament to adorn our tree.  Last Saturday we went to a dinner party with an ornament exchange.  Most ornaments were the lovely store bought type with the exception of a few handmade ones. I was lucky enough to select this gem out of the pile of brown paper wrapped ornaments.  I found out afterwards that my friend Mark was the crafty maker of this one of a kind snowflake.  The rules were to either get creative and make an ornament or buy something unique/unusual.  He didn't know what to do so he went out to his shop (he is a farmer) and found some old keys, welded them together and then spray painted them.  He kept his project secret from his wife so he wouldn't be laughed at.  Turns out it was the hit of the party and I love it!

And speaking of snowflakes.  This collection of paper snowflakes is another of my favorites.  My oldest daughter is a math whiz and several years ago while home on Christmas break from college decided to make  some snowflakes using her nifty math skills.  I had no idea making an intricate snowflake was so complicated.  Each snow flake is large - probably 8" in diameter and just like in nature, no two are alike.  We have a vaulted ceiling in our family room so I hang this on the edge of our kitchen are that leads into the family room.  They add a festive touch to my holiday decor and like all the decorations I display, it has meaning.  And to me, that's what Christmas is all about.

Hope you are all enjoying the joyful Christmas season!  I know I sure am.  

30 Days of Gratitude - Day 30

It's finally over.  When I started 30 days of Gratitude I thought it would be easy.  How hard can it be to write about something you are grateful about during the day?  But it was hard, much harder than I thought.

I always had something I was grateful for, but how to translate that into a blog post that didn't sound obnoxious or cocky was difficult.  No one wants to hear that I was grateful I got to sleep in until 9 am on a random Tuesday or that I watched Ellen while I worked out.  It would imply my life is easy and that I don't work.  Though I know that's not true, I wonder what others think.  Perhaps I shouldn't worry about others because this is my blog not theirs.  But I do think about those things.  I do care what others think and how they feel.  Whether it's right or wrong, it's how it is.

As I look through my posts during this challenge I see that much of what I was grateful for are things, tangible things.  When did that happen?  When did I begin to place such esteemed value on the object/things in my life, that I felt the need to write about them?  Life is about people, emotions and events not things.  It makes me feel so shallow.  Something I will definitely need to think about and work on.

I have a great family.  My grandmother is still alive and lives nearby.  We get along well and I see her fairly often.  Though I am struggling with some of her neediness and wish my mom lived closer to help more.  I get along well with my parents and see them several times a year.   I love my husband and children.  My oldest daughter and I struggle with many issues and I hope and pray that one day we will have a close relationship.  But she is 21 1/2 and so sometimes I wonder if that opportunity has passed.  I hope not.  I adore my sister and her family.  We see each other often and I love spending time her.  I have good friends.  And great relatives on my husbands side of the family.   Family and friends - that is what I should be grateful for, because those are things that matter.

And good health.  You get to a certain age and you have friends that become ill or pass away.  It's hard and makes you think about you own mortality.  But today, right now, I am in good health.  And the people I care about are in good health, relatively speaking given age etc.

I am grateful that I am living and breathing.  I am grateful that I am loving and kind.  I am grateful to have a great family and friends and that I am in good health.  There is nothing else I need.  I am blessed.

What are you thankful?

30 Days of Gratitude - Day 29

Today I am grateful for many things:

My husband's not-routine endoscopy and colonoscopy went well.

The policeman who pulled me over only gave me a warning.

The new medication is keeping my hiatal hernia from being problematic.

I had a chance to lay low with my husband all day after his procedure.

I got a text from my son saying saying "I love you".

I made an excellent batch of vegetable soup to last the week.

I've done well the past month to continue my quest to get healthier.

What are you thankful for?

30 Days of Gratitude - Day 28

I am so grateful that I had the time to get the house decorated for Christmas including the tree today.  I love the stockings hanging on the mantle, the tree and all my snowmen and Santa Claus decorations.  It's very festive.  I really pared down and was selective in what I put out this year.  And I am pleased.  I think this is the first time I have ever got it all together before December!

What are you thankful for?