WEEKLY PLAN- 8/8/16

185/178/135

This is it. The moment I've waited years for... new teeth. Teeth that work and allow me to enjoy foods. Though, I'm sure that 'enjoy' part will take some time. But I'll be headed in the right direction.

Wednesday morning, I'll leave early to arrive at Wilson's Creek Battlefield in time for the opening speeches. They have a new history museum I'm looking forward to visiting. But more importantly, I hope to stand where a young drummer boy named Eddie lost both of his legs. An injury which would lead to his death at the tender age of 12 or 13.

While enlistees were suppose to be eighteen, drummers could be brought in as young as sixteen. Young Edward was a special case, taken on by the request of his mother. Her husband had been killed during a skirmish in Tennessee and she had no means to care for him. Remember, they thought this war would be quick and somewhat painless. Though in her request to the commander she did ask that 'if her boy should live', would he see to her son's safe return.

This story of Eddie the Little Drummer Boy is an entry in CIVIL WAR in Song and Story 1860-1865, published in 1889.  You can find out more about Eddie on my Ozarks Journal blog, HERE.

Next week, I'll let you know how I'm doing with my pretty new teeth.. and how many pounds I've dropped over the course of the early stages of healing.

Enjoy the Journey! 

Weekly Recap

While this bowl of oatmeal looks quite tasty, my food options for the next few days will have a lot less texture.

I'm scheduling this to post as I'm pretty sure I'm not up to doing much of anything this morning except take more pain meds and crawl back into bed. I'm typing this on Monday, Aug. 1 because yesterday (Thursday) I had all of my teeth pulled and my temporary dentures put in. For the first time in my life I have straight teeth and a smile I want to share. Unfortunately, my food choices for the next several days are very limited. The first four days will be anything that does not require chewing - broth, jello, pudding, etc. I've discovered cup o noodle soup from Campbell for the Kuerig. The broth packet now comes in the form of a K-cup and the noodle packet (very small noodles) are in a cellophane packet. I know I'm going to be sore for several days. After about day four or five, I need to start chewing stuff that doesn't require a lot but does start the callousing process of the gums. Oh joy.

With this in mind, I look forward to stepping on the scale for the next couple of weeks.
So my weekend is Ibuprophen, pain pills and food items I do not have to chew. But I know the few days of discomfort (okay, probably pain) will be so worth it in the end.

Enjoy the Journey!

WEEKLY PLAN - 8/1/16

I love a new month. I feel as if I've been given a clean slate. While last month was not bad, I really need to do better if I'm to be down the weight I want to be by October 9th.

This week, I'm trying to eat as normal as possible. I've made my dental appointment for the dentures for next week. I'm taking a day to visit Wilson's Creek Civil War Battlefield. Aug. 10 will be the 155th anniversary of the first major battle of the Civil War. Did you know that at the time, they expected the war to last no more than six weeks! I'm not sure if they were delusional, optimistic or just unaware of the true test they faced.

So, my monthly focus is:
1) Get new teeth
2) Enjoy research at Wilson's Creek
3) Learn to adjust to new teeth
4) Drop 8 pounds (for the month)

What's on your plan? Whatever you choose, remember, to

Enjoy the Journey!

WEEKLY PLAN - 8/01/16

185/185/135

I anticipated the numbers going back up after being away from home for three days. Worse than trying to stay on track with how I eat, my struggle is more with when I eat. 

Back in the day (yes, I went there), people ate at specific times of the day. Breakfast was usually before 8 a.m. whether the kids needed to be out the door for school, in front of the television for Saturday morning cartoons or dressed for church, breakfast usually occurred about the same time every day. Dinner (as opposed to lunch) was at noon. To top of the day, supper was on the table when your man walked in the door a few minutes past five. 

Now, most people start their day out at about the same time or earlier but the food choices are, more often than not, not as healthy. If we're part of the working class, lunch is still somewhere between eleven and noon. Then the food plan goes down hill from there. Very few of us have a set dinner time where we sit down with the family to hear about each other's day. We are usually eating much later, the food choices not the best and much larger. 

Like so many other aspects of our life, if people went back to 'the good ole days', I think we would be a much healthier society.. and probably more happy with ourselves. 

I think this is why I am more successful with my weight loss when Bob is gone. I have a schedule and I eat smaller, healthier portions. While I do try to keep a schedule, my hardest challenge is getting involved in a project later in the day and forgetting to eat that middle-of the-day 'dinner'.  But I am getting better.

For the next week, think about how you eat, when you eat, and what you are eating. Are there changes you could be making to your journey more successful?

Enjoy the journey!

WEEKLY PLAN - 7/25/16

1/85/183/135

I was 183 last week as well but storms prevented me from coming in and updating. Bob has been home since Wednesday so I was thrilled to not see a gain to the scales this week.

Going to be a crazy week. With the exception of today, I am traveling pretty much every day through Sunday. That means eating out. The other thing is, I have a few weeks yet before I get my dentures. My mouth is in an almost permanent state of discomfort in some form. So I'm not eating the roughage, like salads, that I so enjoy. There've been a couple of days where mashed potatoes were heaven-sent as far as comfortable eating goes.

I get the impressions done on Tuesday. I'm not sure how tender my mouth will be after that. Since several teeth are lose, messing with them in any form causes them to argue back. 

Since I leave tomorrow for the dental appointment, I'm not planning on dirty dishes so pizza on paper plates is what's for supper. I can only eat one fourth of a large DiGiorno. Normally, I'd eat an eighth and some salad but yeah.. not going to happen 

Bob goes back to work on the 2nd so I will have about a week of eating 'my way' before I get my teeth pulled. I'm pretty sure that normal eating is going to take some time while the gums heal. So until that happens, I'm doing the best I can and look forward to eating real foods again.

So this week... paying attention to what I order and doing the best I can as my mouth directs.

I should get a lot of walking in, as well. I didn't do much at all last week. For several days my right leg joint did not want to work. Just moving from place to place around the house required making sure there was something to hold on to. Then the past week, no issues! 

So here's the only thing I've done differently. I've not taken the Glucosamine since Bob got home. So I'm going to make sure I take my vitamins this week and see if the issue returns. I do know the glucosamine will raise my blood sugar levels (notice the first 6 letters LOL) and I really would prefer to not have the higher insulin levels. 

What's on your plan for the week?

Whatever you do, Enjoy the Journey!

WEEKLY PLAN 7/11/16

185/186/135

Okay.. I'm not even going to pretend I understand that number in the middle. Up a pound? Seriously?

So more focus on the vegies/ fruits this week. And I'm adding the Wii beginning Wednesday to my workout. Today, the living room is full of stuff from the laundry room that is getting a deep cleaning. No place to put the Wii board. LOL

I will also try to add at least 10 minutes to the treadmill... taking my time to 40 min. 

What does your week look like?

Whatever you have in mind...

Enjoy the Journey!

TAKING A STAND

Note: There was suppose to be a really cool graphic but apparently, Blogger has decided I do not need to upload photos for now. LOL I'll add the photo later.

I have OPTIONS.

Some days, I have more options than others. But there are always options. 

Do I get up? Stay in bed?

Eat breakfast? Just have coffee?

Get dressed in 'people can see me clothes'? Stay in jammies?

Do I eat a healthy breakfast? Or the donut I really have a taste for? 

Sandwich or Salad for lunch?

One scoop or two (because apparently the girl who was never big on ice cream now wants the stuff!)

Keep working at the computer or get on the treadmill?

Only I can make the choice on any of those points and so many others that come my way on a daily basis.

And because I have Options.. because I have a CHOICE... I can't blame anyone but myself for how I look, how I feel.. both in health and about myself... and what I do.

Think about your OPTIONS and make the CHOICES that are right for you...

Enjoy the journey!