january report card / february goals

I did not meet most of my January goals. I only met one. However, I made progress towards them, so it wasn't a total washout.

1. Walk more. Whine less.  80%. I think I did well with this. I did walk more, even if it wasn't far. But I cannot gauge my whining until I've gone over the top. You tell me. Am I whining less?
February goal: to do even better. With the Iditawalk and the Winter Challenge, that should be no problem. Maybe I'll even have something to write about.

2. Spend less. Save more.  80%. I haven't impulsed bought at all, but I have eaten out. One day I brought dinner home. Three or four times I ate lunch out.
     This also means I cannot enter races, events, workshops or clinics. The event fees are high and the best ones involve hotels and long drives. (They also make the best blog posts.) But I am trying to rebuild my safety net and pay for health care so I cannot be tempted. To this end, I've removed my name from many event lists, but my fitness friends on FB post events. This one has my name on it. I will not enter. I will not enter.  
February goal: If I get a clean month of not eating out, then I think I'll try a once a week scenario. I must continue to resist the call of the race.

3. Closing the Gayle Savings and Loan.  0%. Totally failed at this. Calling me crying and hyperventilating will get me every time. My savings account is another $2K down. 
February goal: No more. Don't call me. Don't text me. I have no money to give you.

4. Buy new sneakers.  0%. I didn't even get near the sneaker store. It's on the to-do list. I did try not wearing the flats I bought and it does make a difference. I don't understand why. My preference is to go barefoot. Shouldn't flats be the same? Apparently not.
February goal: Buy sneakers. Maybe I should try the ones Bonnie gets with the built-in orthodics.

5. Eat better.  75%. I think I did okay with this one. I am eating less. I am eating better. But I am not eating clean. I still drink soda. And if the roomie has candy I will eat it. All. I clearly can not have just one. I have not eliminated night time eating, but I have curtailed it a lot. I am trying not to say anything to the roomie, so it makes it twice as difficult.
     My poor friend Angel probably hates that she said yes to this adventure. She's doing way more than I asked. She's counting my calories. and sending me totals every day.
     It took me a whole month to lose 6 pounds. I am 227. More exercise should bring that down.
February goal: Eat better. Goal for February 219.

6. Buy Health Insurance and make doctors appointment.  100%.  Now if they would just send me a card.

7. Blog everyday in February. Now that one is going to be tough. That will force me to get my fat fanny moving!

walking update

The Idita-Walk starts on February first. Looks like I'm headed to Alaska alone this year.  Barb and Dave are staying home, Bonnie has radiation, Lydia is broke, and Megan is now full time, plus a baby. The Nome Nugget Inn will not be the same.

The Tail On The Trail is hinting at a winter challenge. I'll also be doing that.

Last time I miss-spoke. Or is it miss-wrote? It occurred to me today as I was walking. On Tuesday-Thursday school days I am not walking as much, but I am walking. It's the infamous walk around the block. Up Fiot or Sassafrass to Wyandotte, and then down the opposite hill to Broadway. Out Broadway to Bishopthorpe and home. Or vise versa. It's not far. Maybe a generous half mile. But it's difficult. I get about 12 flights of stairs with the hills. And the incline is only three blocks.

The sidewalks on Fiot are horrific. I try and walk in the street.

Then, I park the furthest away from school, and hike to my building on the opposite side of campus. Two ways. Again, not far, but also not sitting on my butt.

Am I making 10K steps? Not even close. But for January, I guess it isn't bad. I'm okay with it. The two challenges shall motivate me. I usually reach Nome in about 2 weeks. I need to beat last years total, even if it's by a minute.

Golly I miss my camera. Taking pictures was one thing that got me to walk.

I'm trying to eat better. I certainly am eating less. Angel is logging my food on myfitnesspal. I don't even have the log in. PROTEIN. Every day she says eat more protein.

I am trying to stay positive. Not easy for me. I am a real negative Nancy. But I am determined to stop making a mountain out of a molehill. A lot of other family and friends have it way worse than me. Be thankful for what I have. Not for what I don't have.

To that end, I've also stopped posting on FB, at least for a while. I've also started moving my more zealous friends to the acquaintance list. The negativity was bringing me down.

goals for january

I'm not really into making New Year's resolutions, I don't keep them. Instead I've decided to work toward a couple of long range personal goals. Some will be new. Some will reoccur. Most will be a work in progress. I'm hoping for no total drop-outs.

1. Walk more. Whine less. I bet y'all will appreciate that one. I've just learned about Nordic walking. I'd like to try that. If I can find a group somewhere. I'd also like to take a race walking clinic. Not that I want to race walk. I just want to try it.

2. Spend less. Save more. With my crazy schedule I eat out way too often. I also buy on impulse. Both must stop. For January I want to try no eating out at all. Not even a candy bar. Which I shouldn't eat anyway. This will be especially difficult when school starts next week.

I'm also going to stop spending. If it is a want, rather then a need, it's a no. That includes races. And fonts. And stock images. It's going to be a long month.

3. Close the Gayle Savings and Loan Bank permanently. Please do not approach me with a sad story about hard luck. The bank is closed. I'm tired of supporting up to five people. I really need a new kitchen. I won't get one if I keep giving my money away. Live within your means people. If people call you cheap, like they call me cheap, wear it as a badge of honor.

4. Buy new sneakers. I think my sudden onset of knee and hip pain is not solely because of genetic arthritis. Both pair are worn out. Perhaps it's effecting the way I walk. This fall I bought all new shoes. Some were flats. Perhaps this was a bad idea?

5. Eat better. I fell off the nutrition wagon in late spring. I don't know what the road block was, but it happened. My clothes are getting small. It must stop. Now. I do best when I keep a food diary. But without someone ... other than me ... looking at it. I can look and say this is a crappy day, but I won't do anything about it. I need to be kept accountable.

My friend Angel is a bit of a fanatic about nutrition. She is skinny as a rail and watches every thing she eats. Then goes crazy occasionally. She works out almost every day and has a bunch of phone aps to keep track. So I asked her if she'd be my nutrition conscious. She set up a myfitnesspal.com account for me that I have no access to. She'll give me reports once a week. I already found out that my breakfast smoothie isn't nutritionally sound. Actually it's a slightly better milkshake. Bummer. It's an easy morning meal.

It's day one and it already has had an impact. I knew it would. Since I have to write it down and show it to someone, I think before I shove something into my pie hole.

She has made an aggressive goal for me. 45 pounds. Yikes. In May that would have been 15. I've gained nearly 30 back. 4 years of work down the tubes.

6. Buy Health Insurance and make doctors appointment. Okay ACA coverage is a must-do, not a goal. But maybe if I write it down I'll do it.  (My bank book says no, no, no.) So pretty much is the doctors appointment.  I run out of meds in a month.

That is enough for one month.

 

From my Monday, Jan. 5 "Today Is Going To Be A Great Day" email calendar.

sugar crushers final publication

Do you remember in mid-December I did the 2nd photo shoot for that Sugar Crushers panel? Of course you don't. It was snowing. I got lost. I was very late. Yada, yada, yada.

I've been watching for it in the grocery store and haven't seen anything. About a week ago I received an email asking if I wanted a copy. I said yes.

When I posted about the photo shoot I noted that the stylist knew how to dress fat people. I was so right. This picture is so much better than the one in the book. Of course it is all smoke and mirrors.

The group picture was taken at our book launch dinner in December.

This publication will be on the newsstands till August. It's called Sugar Detox Made Easy. It's a Prevention magazine. Very little traditional advertising which is refreshing—except for the full book of course. Though the graphic designer in me thinks that the list of packaged foods without sugar might just be product placement. Call me jaded.

Walking wise, I didn't walk much Monday. Just on campus. And mostly to get from point A to point B.

Yesterday Bonnie and I did about 3.5 miles in a mist. Of course, by 10 am it was bright and sunny. I also signed up for the D&L Half Marathon.

snowy, cold week

It's hard getting in walks when the weather is this bad. It's bitter cold and has been snowing frequently. The weather is warming up, but again a walk was cancelled because of snow.

Tuesday it was bitter cold. My campus center walk did not generate nearly as many steps as I thought it would. Bummer. So while watching The Biggest Loser, I spent the better part of the hour power walking the living room. Small steps, really fast, into the office, out the hall, into the downstairs bathroom, around the kitchen table .... then repeat over and over. Sometimes I just went back and forth. Sometimes I did a couple loops around the table. I just kept moving

Wednesday I worked. I should have gone to Zumba, but it was the only time I'll be able to go till summer, so I coped out. Sadly, I did not make my minimum 10K steps. And I'd really like to change that to minimum to 15K.

Thursday Bonnie and I did the south Bethlehem Volkssport walk. We modified a bit because we walked too and from my house. We also stopped at the store on the way home. We managed to to a 10K plus. With the Monclair and Carlton hills on the way home. Carrying groceries.

Today I was to walk with Betsy, but it was cancelled due to weather. Instead I shoveled snow. I am not complaining. They were calling for freezing rain and/or wintery mix.  I will take snow over ice any day. So I walked to the grocery store shortly. (I go to the store once, twice a day. It's a long story.) I came back with frozen, wet feet. Sadly the sidewalks on Delaware were worse than the ones on Broadway. I thought for sure with all the doctors offices they would be good. Wrong.

Tomorrow they are calling for heavy rain. Looks like another wash out.

Today I went to log into my Tail On The Trail tracker. Even though the event ended in November, Bonnie discovered you could still track on the site. About a month ago they announced they would be doing a winter mini-challenge. Thirty miles in 30 days. Or, for over achievers like me, 90 miles in 30 days. I routinely do 100 miles a month, plus, so that will be easy—weather cooperating. But I do have snow shoes. And walk at home tapes. An a route thru the living room. I should be okay.

I need to be okay. There is the final weigh in for the Sugar Crushers (now called Sugar Smart) test panel. They claim this is the final one. I've heard that twice before. I gained about 5 pounds over Christmas. I need to get back on the program so at least I weigh the same when they weigh me in. Eating clean and healthy in winter is tougher. I heart comfort food.

santa brought me a soda stream!

One reason I have had a problem with drinking too much soda is bubbles. I love a beverage with bubbles.

Soda is bad for me and keeps me fat. Seltzer tastes good but 67 cents a bottle and all that plastic is not good for my budget or the environment. The Soda Stream is a great solution. But I'm cheap. And would never spend the money on it. But I'd buy a new font in a heartbeat.

Therefore, for the last four years, maybe, I've looked at, but not bought, Soda Streams. I even had a sample of the icky soda. A couple of years ago a friend received one for Christmas. Her daughter loves bubbles in beverages too. She makes flavored water beverage with a little fruit juice and water.

After the tree fell down and we put it back up, a large box appeared. A large, heavy box, and it was for me. What in the world did I want in a large, heavy box? The Soda Stream never crossed my mind.

The "my water" packs don't have sugar or any evil chemicals in, so I'll keep those. If anybody has one of these machines and wants all the samples of soda, I will be happy to give them to you.  Or maybe I can freecycle them. Ultimately I might have to buy another storage bottle.

Apparently Sharon and Dawn have been looking for the best price for weeks. She works at Bon Ton and they don't carry them. Ultimately they bought it at Sam's Club. When I went online to the url for this post, I found her a $25 rebate. She's happy now too.

Between the Soda Stream and a new Kindle I felt 8 this morning. A Kindle Fire, none the less. I wasn't going to buy a new one. I've killed two already. (I've been told I cannot put the Kindle in my purse.)

Now I need to go out for a walk.

sugar smart book party

Last night was the sugar smart book party. It's been a long time since I was at a fancy party. There was real photogs there, twittering photos. I manage to avoid them, except for this one.  They also took a group pix, but I don't see that posted.

The food was delicious, the author Anne Alexander was fun, and one of the editors at Prevention was a hoot.

We all received copies of the book. My page is above. I think that one should look slimmer in the after pix than the before pix. I look eight months pregnant. But Bonnies shoes look great.

I still follow parts of the program. They made sense to me. But not everything.  I received an email about a week ago that they are retaking the pixs. I have no idea why. But it's Sunday. I'm taking the book along. I need evidence to show the stylist that tucking in shirts is evil.

Sunday is going to be busy. I have the shelter breakfast at 6, the photo shoot at 8, and the volkssport Christmas party at 2 outside of Philly. Oh yeah, my online class too.

haunted gettysburg

Yesterday we treked to Gettysburg for the "Haunted Gettysburg" volkssport walk. There were walks all weekend. We just did one day. We chose the ghost walk. The ghost stories—except one—were pretty lame. You'd think they could do better with so much death in one place. There has to be a few thousand spirits hanging out. Maybe they don't like tourists?

We checked in at the Day's Inn and drove to the battlefield. After parking near the ampitheater, we headed out toward the Peach Orchard. It was cold and windy.

After the orchard we took the loop to Devils Den. Other than that I can't tell you where we walked.

We saw little roundtop, and round top, and a lot of monuments to Irish regiments. I climbed up the monument to get this guys face. Isn't it great?

The ghost stories in the narrative were okay. Lot's dealing with picture taking. Yawn. Old stories. These people were having film developed. One was very good, we read it at Devils Den. It had to do with a dulcimer, a car and a song. Yeah, if it was dark it could have been creepy.

At the end of the walk, Bonnie and I climbed a tower with 125 steps, one-way. Great view of the battlefields, but it was twice as cold as on the ground. And the wind was piercing. It felt good to go down.

We returned to the car and drove around looking at more monuments and places. Stopping occasionally, walking more, and taking pixs.

Then we headed back downtown in the car for lunch. We ate at The Pub, like usual. Bonnie and Lydia both had Rubens. Bonnie's w/o bread, of course. I had a veggie wrap. It was good. Since we were parked at a meter we popped into a couple stores. One had all the inventory made in the USA. COol, but really expensive. The one next door was about 50/50. Prices not quite so high. And to everyones amazement I actually shopped!

We headed back to the Days Inn to check in, then hit the road home. Just in time for rush hour. It took two hours to get there, and a little more than three to come home.

reflections .... realizations

I've been blogging since about 2007. My brother had started to blog about boomerangs and the blog was free from RCN. I think it was called the RCN Journal. I signed up (Tall and Fat Tales) and had nothing to write about. It laid dormant until that summer when my international student, her friend, Bonnie, my brother and his wife went tubing on the Delaware. The story was unbelievable. I finally had something to blog about. My first post was "Tubing on Willy Wonka's Chocolate River".  It included stories on graffiti on my garage, and the "do not use or you will die" sign on my 50-year old furnace, and some walking adventures. Normal, mundane stuff. Nothing on a regular basis.

Then high blood pressure happened in October of 2008. One of the family curses. I needed to get serious about exercise and diet. I was 256 pounds. My blood pressure was over 200.


I found quickly that I could not just walk for the sake of walking. I bored easily. Everyone who reads this blog knows that. I needed a goal. I saw one of the sappy commercial for the Koman  Breast Cancer 3-Day in winter of 2009, did a little research, and signed up for the 3-Day. My friend Karen was dying of the disease. It was perfect. Plus she lived in Philly. She'd meet me at the finish and I'd collapse at her place. Sadly she died before that could happen.

Regardless, I was motivated and began training. Part of the online fundraising platform was a blog, and it was a way to keep me accountable. If I missed a day of training, and then blogging, my sister was sure to call. "Didn't you walk yesterday?" she'd ask. After it was over, I printed it all out and stuck it in my photo album because once the 3-Day was over, it would be gone.

At the same time the mundane stuff remained on Tall and Fat Tales.

I liked blogging and finally had something to talk about. Training for the 3-day I lost about 10 pounds and 3 dress sizes. In one summer. Clearly I was all fat. (I wonder what the number is. My BMI is still 44!) I gave up drinking massive amounts of soda and started to eat better.

After the 3-day I moved my walking adventures to Tall and Fat Tales. Then the notice came from RCN. No more blogs. It didn't occur to me to make a copy. All that is gone. Now I have books printed.

When I did the Walk Your Butt Off test program in fall 2011-winter 2012 I weighed in at about 236 pounds. I didn't even notice I had lost another 10 pounds. How is that possible?

Still I was discouraged. I was still FAT. I am still fat. Nothing I did — at least in my head—seemed to take the weight off. I was still wearing the same sizes I wore after that first 3-Day.  I was walking my ass off and doing half marathons, climbing stairs, changing my diet over and over, going to nutritionists and to no avail. That's what motivated me to sign up for the Sugar Crushers test panel.

When I started the Sugar Crushers test panel I weighed in again. This time I was about 226. I don't remember. Numbers aren't my thing. But it looks like I had kept off the WYBO weight loss. This time I lost 8 pounds in a month. But dang it was hard. The restrictions nearly drove me screaming down the street. I can't function like that.

That being said, over the weekend the light bulb went off. In four years I have lost 40 pounds and kept it off. (Sorry, no pixs of me in 2007-08. Clearly avoiding camera. Or maybe deleted them.) I'm not really sure if I can see it. (Though I do remember thinking I looked hot in the black and white. Clearly that was a mirage.) I am going to own and embrace that fact. Forty pounds is not insignificant. Perhaps I am not failing at this after all. I'm just doing it really, really, slowly. I only have 18 more pounds to go before I hit my goal of "onederland". Anything after that, pardon the pun, is gravy.

I will do this. Hopefully it won't take two more years.

sugar crusher finale and lehigh parkway

Today was my final weigh in for the Sugar Crusher test panel. I lost 8 pounds. My numbers went down slightly, but they were good to start with. I lost the most inches in my legs.

I don't know why, but they've asked me to be part of the final group for the book. My reply to the email was "Really?" My food journals were snarky. I ate the occasional wrong food. And I made few of their recipes. The roomie said no to everything. The photo shoot is next Friday. I have a nail appointment. My feet are a mess. Guess I'll need to reschedule. The roomie will not be happy.

I picked up Bonnie at 6:30 and we headed to Rodale. She read while I did my testing. I think it was less than a half hour. Then we headed for the Lehigh Parkway.

We parked in the first lot and began with the loop that goes towards 15th street. I think I've been on it once before. It was paved. That doesn't happen often at the Parkway. Then, when we arrived back at the lot we headed to the iron bridge. Since it was a Tuesday, we thought it was safe to walk on the road. We crossed the bridge, and headed back. It came in a hair under 3 miles. Oh well. The humidity was high, and I was soaked.

Lydia has decided to do the D&L Half Marathon in November. So I signed up also. Let the training begin....again. One woman from the sugar group will be joining us. Bonnie will too. Probably

Bonnie has agreed to test the Volkssport walk in Allentown with me Friday. It will  cover Cedar Creek and Trexler Parks, as well as Muhlenberg College.

What she doesn't know is that when we are done, we're going to Allen Appliance on Allen street and checking out Sub Zero fridges. Don't think I can afford one, but I'll look. My fridge is fine. Lydia had a power surge a few weeks ago and it fried her appliances.  The PPL is only giving her a little money for replacements. And she is not planning on staying in the trailer. It makes no sense to buy a new fridge. I suggested she take mine (I get the PPL money) and I buy a new one. However, I try to only buy "Made in America". (Cue the Union Lady song) I was successful with my dryer and with my furnace. The furnace is made in Philly. The dryer is a Speed Queen, made in Wisconsin. When the washer dies I will buy it's mate. The difference was about $200. Sub Zero is also made in Wisconsin. Hmmmm. Maybe I should move to Wisconsin? GE's line of fancy appliance Monogram appliances are made in Tennessee. But those run 8-10 grand. Way out of my budget.

I fear the price difference for Sub Zero will be significant also. It will be a shame, because I fell in love with a stove too. Someday before I die I hope to remodel the kitchen.

this week so far

Not much has happened walking wise. And a lot has happened otherwise. Since this is a walking blog, we'll start with walking.

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday I walked little. It's still too humid to go very far at lunch time. Showering is not an option.

Today I walked the typical three miles with Besty in her neighborhood.

Thursday I walked a little with Sharon and my sister-in-law Dawn. She met us after the Musikfest meeting and we walked to a pub for dinner. Next Wednesday they'll be taking the 30th anniversary volunteer picture at SteelStacks at 6. So I guess I'll go to Michelle's walking clinic instead of Zumba.  Since Zumba starts at 6.

I went to Zumba this Wednesday. I was a lost as ever. And am still considering not going back. I feel like I'm wasting my time. Can't decide. Mostly because it was fun to walk home with the neighbor from the 500 block.

Tomorrow is the off road challenge. I'm as ready as I'll ever be. I'm looking forward to it, as well as dreading it.

Now the otherwise.

I went for my followup appointment at the chiropractor. He had to take more xrays. I guess I moved on the old ones. So I really didn't find out totally what was happening . It was confirmed that I am a Carl girl. I have deterioration in my disks in my lower back. Shocking, huh? I think he was surprised I didn't react. I told him that my family has a lot of replacement parts. What surprised me, and then again it didn't, is that I have a mild case of scolosis, curvature of the spine.  Oh well. The bridge to fix that problem burned down a half century ago. It is what it is. I was only there about 20 minutes w/x-rays. Is that typical? He only adjusted me for about 5 minutes. It didn't hurt then, but now my back feels like I had a workout and it isn't happy. At this point, I'm not thinking this is a good fit for me. But I'll give it a little time. We'll see.

Finally, Michelle the walking coach, had posted on her webpage and her FB page that she was looking for a test panel for an article she was writing for Prevention. I told Lydia, and I thought I told Bonnie. The article is for the "Beat Your Sugar Cravings" feature. Sugar is an issue for me. Well food is an issue, I'm an addict, but sugar is a real problem. I applied. Today I got picked. It's only a month. Should be over by the time school starts. It will be happening during the Erie trip and Musikfest. No funnel cake and beer for me this year! And I get to keep a food journal again. Actually I eat much better if I write it down.

Well that's it. See ya after the race tomorrow.

the scenic route

I try my best to squeeze in walking where I can. I have no idea why, it's not helping me lose weight, but I do it anyway. (Just close your pie-hole Gayle!) Though someone I hadn't seen in a long time told me I looked great Sunday night. (Personally, I see no difference whatsoever.)

Maybe two years ago I started parking in the furthermost lot away from my class. I came down the path, went around the admissions building and arrived. Maybe a five minute walk. Now I've super-sized it. Hopefully when the weather clears I can make it even longer.

But why now?

Briefly I had signed up for myfitnesspal.com where it tracked my calories. I just found it totally frustrating as a food journal. When I went to log there was lots of restaurant food. There was lots of processed food, but little homemade food. I guess because everyone's is different. I'd have to spend a lot of time calculating the calories in my home made food—evey tablespoon of oil, herb, egg, noodle, whatever. What a pain. It lasted maybe two weeks.

But consistently on that site was an ad for a zipfit tracker. Was it yet another pedometer that didn't work? Gullible, I sent for it. The first two days it was amazing. Then it didn't work. It said 5K steps one minute and 89 the next. I spent the next week emailing customer service. When they said they'd send me a new one, the old one started working. Of course.

I love this thing. It's accurate, which is a first in a long time. You can wear it anywhere on your body. You can even hold it in your hand. (The one tiny thing I don't like is that if you're bored, standing at work and start walking in place, it doesn't count. You actually have to be moving forward.)

I've heard many times that you're supposed to walk 10K steps a day. I was sure I was doing that. WRONG. I always get over 5K but I usually settle in at around 8K. Except weekends when we walk 5 miles. (last weekend I only past 10K on Saturday w/the 2 hour walk. Sunday, I barely made 7K even with a walk with Sharon.) So I had to find ways to squeak in more steps. Hense the scenic route Tuesday/Thursday to class. By doing that crazy route I get 3/4 of a mile to and from class. In spring I can add the walking path and maybe get it closer to 1.5 miles each way. We'll see.

On this site there is also a food journal, and it does track calories burned. I fear I will run into the same problem as I did with the last one. If you get the better grade one, it also tracks your sleep and tells you how efficiently you are sleeping. Apparently sleep and weight loss is tied. I don't sleep well so it would be shocking to see those calculations. The only reason I'd think about that one is it also tracks stairs. I do a lot of stairs.

On this fitbit tracker you earn badges on you web page for milestones. I have 2-15K, 10-10K, and 23-5K. That needs to change. 10K needs to be the norm. 15K needs to be at least twice a week. And I will have my first 20K by the end of March.

signed up for myfitnesspal.com

It's online, and if you have a smart phone, you can do it there. I have a stupid phone, so that won't happen.

Basically it's an online food journal. Does all the math for you. That means I have to weigh and measure everything. I lose weight when I do that. Shocking, huh? It also tracks the calories burnt exercising. That means I'll be tracking my exercise twice!

I've heard of it before, but kind of ignored it. Today I was bored at work, and saw it on Megan's Skinny Shimmy FB page, so I signed up. We'll see how it goes.

If I keep to the 1750 I should lose one pound a week. I'd rather have two, but oh well.

Dave, good luck on the weigh-in!

it's snowing!

I am so excited. I should have gone to LL Beam this morning and bought those snow shoes. I so want to try them out.

Alas, I walked to the post office instead. And boy was it cold. Not as exciting, but exercise none the less.

I'm making a huge pot of sauce and carbs for dinner. I ate a European style lunch. Homemade cheese, an apple and grapes. All I was missing was the crusty bread and the wine ...

what I've learned over the past 18 days

The "No Sugar" challenge ends on Friday. What have I learned? Nothing. Everything.

The week before the challenge started, I warned my family and colleagues that I'd be a raving b*tch for the next 21 days. "Please don't take it personally", I told them. But I wasn't. I wasn't even missing sugar laden foods. I did discover that waffles without sugar are gross, but not non-eatable.

And that there's a reason peanut butter and jelly go together. But was I jonesing for a PB&J? No. Not at all. That was not the case two years ago when I was taming the soda-beast.

I cook a lot from scratch, and shop at the pop-up farmers markets, so hidden sugar is not as big of a problem as I thought it would be. But checking the sugar content takes two more seconds after checking the salt content. No biggie. Though I wonder what the safe percentage is. For sodium I try to keep it under 5%, but no higher than 10% on processed food. On the Livestrong website I read 300 grams of added sugar a day. That isn't much, I don't think. If I did the math right that's 1.5% daily in a 2000 calorie diet.

I have learned that I am not addicted to sugar. Hallelujah. Just food in general. Sh*t. I think I had that epiphany before. But I ignore it. I blame other things. There-in lies the problem. Classic addictive personality. Blame everything but the true cause. You.

Why am I surprised? Addictive personalities run in my family. We are a family of drunks—my dad, my brother, two sisters… Food is my drug of choice. I don't eat to sustain. I eat because I'm bored. Or stressed. Or happy. Or sad. or pissed. Clearly I'm an emotional eater. But even worse, I eat until there is nothing left. If you gave me 5 M&M's I'd eat them and be happy. But if you put an entire pound bag in front of me. I'd eat them all. Not at once. But over the course of the day. I don't eat till I'm full. I eat till it's gone.

I believe, intellectually anyway, of the "everything in moderation style of eating".  80% good food / 20% not so good. There is little I won't eat, and even less that I will try, at least once. (Malyasian food Saturday!) Growing up I was 40 pounds underweight. Now I'm 80 or so overweight. I have a basic knowledge of nutrition. I studied vegetarian and even vegan diets and can cook (poorly, mind you) for any food situation that crops up. I learned as a child to can and freeze and eat fresh. My mother made Hamburger Helper once. Boxed food was expensive and we didn't have money. But we did have lots of carbs. They filled you up. And veggies and a salad every night. Okay, it was slathered with dressing, but that's beside the point. Really not much different than the "My Plate" guide lines. But our protein was always meat.

Sorry, I tend to go off track. Never can figure out how to weave in the back story.

Back to the topic at hand. How did this no sugar-challenge effect me. Snacking. I pretty much had to stopped snacking. There was nothing in the vending machine I could eat. I drank huge amounts of water. Right now it has pomegranate seeds in it. Fruit, floating in your water makes it seem more special. I'm also drinking apple cider because it's in season. And even bought orange juice for the first time in forever.

I am eating much more fat. Which is worse, fat or sugar? I had pretty much given up eating bread with butter on it, instead subbing cinnamon sugar or jam. Now I'm back to butter. Whenever I try and overhaul my eating lifestyle, breakfast is always trouble. Reality check here. Cooking breakfast during the week, and leaving for work at 6:30 am is not happening.

The doctor said I gained weight. I was hoping to lose. I am clearly eating less. In an effort to avoid sugar, am I eating worse?

Was I 100% sugar free during the 21-Day challenge. Nope. But I was more than 90%. I ate fruit tart on Thanksgiving. I had ice cream one night out of habit, not hunger. There were other minor slips. But it is what it is. I did it.

The question is now, can I continue to restrict, not eliminate, sugar? Diabetes runs in this family also.

pumpkin pie 5k

When I talked to Bonnie last night, she said "there's no blog post on our adventure today." Duh. I was a little busy cooking Thanksgiving dinner, and picking up college students and trying to entertain. (Both the cooking and entertaining genes skipped me. I'm horrible at both.) Thank goodness my sister-in-law was invited. She bailed me out, and the food was not ruined. Just really late.

The Pumpkin Pie 5K is held in Nazareth and sponsored by the Y. Bonnie is no longer registering ahead of time, because she often can't go. We left early so she could sign up. This year we parked on Main Street, about five blocks away. Much better than last year. They have a 5K run and a 1.5K walk. We crashed the run.

I forgot my camera, so Bonnie took pixs of the people in costume on her phone. There was Indians and turkeys and pilgrims, and other silly outfits and hats. How they could run in some of them is beyond me.

It's a hilly course, big hills, little hills. I do poorly on hills, and the techniques I learned at the workshop don't work on hills. At the split, where walkers turned right and runners went straight thru, there was almost a traffic incident. The silly cop/volunteer thought everybody was turning! Many of us went straight. He had restarted traffic. Thank goodness he quickly saw the errors of his ways.

Right from the start Bonnie blew past me. Then I caught up on a downhill, and lost her again, caught up and lost her ... At one point, as we were going around the high school she walked backwards and I still couldn't catch her. Then she went into her finish line sprint and finished a good minute ahead of me.

Because of the timing chips, my clock time of 51:02 was adjusted to 50:38.2. It took nearly 25 seconds to cross the start line. I place 20th of 20 in my age group. What a surprise. However, I was 835th place over all out of 840 registrants. Five people finished after me!

I don't understand with all the walking I do, and reasonable good health, I don't get better at this. If Bonnie had time to train, she'd finish 10 minutes ahead. It must be focus.

Tomorrow is the Turkey Trot. Lydia and I will be doing that. Bonnie has a wedding tomorrow.  It benefits Historic Bethlehem.

Last year, I did four events in four days. This year I'm only doing two—The Pumpkin Pie and the Turkey Trot. I haven't heard anything about The Run For Joan. It was poorly attended, so maybe they aren't doing it. The other is the Hershey volkssport event. It's actually five different events ranging from 5K to 42K. But both Bonnie and Lyd have to work, and I don't want to drive all the way to Hershey to walk alone.

This morning I signed up for the Committment Day 5K on New Years Day in Philly. People in 30 cities "are making a commitment to live a healthy lifestyle" on January 1, 2013. When I first discovered it, I "liked" the page on Facebook. Today they posted a black Friday promo code which cut the entry fee in half. Hey Megs, there's one in Cinnci.


Yesterday, at dinner, I blew my sugar fast. I ate both fruit tart, and a scone with clotted cream that Belle made. Today, I'm back on track.

taming the beast. day 4

I signed up for the 21 Day Challenge to kick what I thought was an addiction to sugar.

Basically, you eat no added sugar (and glucose, sucrose, HFCS, maple syrup, agave, stevia, honey, and the plethoria of fake sugars) or booze. I thought it would be really hard. I thought I'd be jonesing. I thought I was addicted. I'm not. 

I found out that sugar is a really bad habit for me. Now maybe this would have been different two years ago when I was chugging quarts of Coke everyday.

You can eat any naturally occurring sugar. For example dried fruit and fresh fruit are okay. Juice is also okay as long as you don't drink more than one glass a day. And plain yogurt with natural sugars, instead of added sugars. 

Today is day four. Avoiding all sugars I'm finding, is difficult. It's hidden everywhere. There's apparently a film called "Sugar, The Bitter Truth". I guess I should watch it. But it's an hour and a half. Do I really want to know that much? I tend to stay away from films like that. I haven't seen Supersize Me, or Knife and Fork, or any of the other tell-all food films.

Anyway, day one was Saturday. Not problematic at all but doing this requires a lot of reading. I bought apple cider, I thought it fit into the juice category. All it is is pressed apples. Nice break from water. Saturday I had it hot.

Day 2 was harder. We did the Volkksport walk. I tend to walk with my mouth open, and get dehydrated. Gum and hard candy solves that. I had my hand in the buckets at the check point several times. Only once did I take a mini-Milk Way. It was delicious.  Bonnie had brought Kind bars, but they are glued together with honey. These had chocolate also. She also brought natural fruit roll ups. Couldn't eat those either. By the time we reached Friday's I was hungry! Quickly I realized that I couldn't get my Jack Daniels burger. The sauce has sugar. I also didn't eat most of the roll. 

Yesterday was Day 3. Fresh fruit is becoming a big part of my life. I need to buy more. Banana for breakfast, apple for snack. Maybe oranges for hikes. I should also get grapes or berries or something. Part of what I'm starting to miss is the hand mouth function. Nibble while in online class.  For example, I've gotten into the habit of eating Skittles before class as a snack. Yesterday I had trail mix. Late last night I finished the quart of cider. But I might not be the only one drinking it. 

Today is day 4. It's early. I had a banana with breakfast and have an apple with me. I'm going for lunch at the Quadrant with a friend. They have great flavored waters. They take a 5 gallon jug and drop the fruit of the day in it. Perfect.

Happy Diwali to all my Hindu friends. The sweets at the celebration are divine. Please eat extra for me!

greenway

Lyd was busy burning calories racking bags of weeds, so Bonnie and I walked alone. We did about 4.5 miles thru the south side. Including the Greenway, Steel and casino. We practiced a few of the techniques we learned last week at the walking clinic.

Tomorrow is the Girl Scout Volkssport walk in Green Pond. I have borrowed a Brownie for the occasion.  Her mom is dropping her off and I'll take her home.

Today started my 21 day challenge. No added sugar (or booze, but who cares about that) for 21 day. That includes honey, maple syrup, stevia, chemical sugars, and everything in between. I should be a raging witch by Monday. Don't say you haven't been warned.

new wawa story

 sxc.hu

If I was a writer, I think I'd hang out at the Wawa, and just cull stories all day. It would make a great situation comedy.

I don't know what time Ft. Hill Elementary starts, but it must be around 9:30. Little boy, maybe first grade, wearing his backpack. Clearly he was with mom andon his way to school. It might be five blocks from the Wawa.

Mom was overweight, but the boy was not. She was in line for a small coffee. Clearly she was embracing a new way to eat how she talked to the boy. He wanted chips. She said no. How about a banana? He asked for something else. She offered him a better choice. Then he wanted candy. Again no. Yet another better choice suggested.

He pouted.

"Why do you only want junk food"?

My guess. Until now she said "yes". Go mom. Don't back down.

exploring the south side

I usually walk with Betsy on Fridays, but she had a family situation to deal with, and couldn't go. Sharon is over for the weekend so we walked tonight.

She needed ground pork so we were headed to Aharts—via the scenic route. It was more scenic than I planned!

We zig-zagged up to Seneca and then down Delaware and third. I took her phone and started taking pixs for my type class of environmental typography. Lots of stops and twists and turns.

I saw these signs at Fox Optical the other day, and more in English and Spanish as we explored the Third street. When I looked it up it's an initiative by the Health Department to curb diabetes in high risk neighborhoods. (South Bethlehem). I think I am offended that my neighborhood is being singled out. There's no diabetes in the rest of the city?

Then we noticed the stores were open, and before I knew it we were exploring Home and Planet. I love that place. There's a gallery in the back.  They were exhibiting ArtGuitars by JDVokes.

Eventually we headed up to Webster and we on the way to the Greenway, when Sharon needed a bathroom, so we backtracked to the Banana Factory. An hour plus later, we arrived at Aharts, then went home.

We were gone 1.5 hours and only went 2.5 miles!