Category: A Healthy Me

This post will be short and sweet. Day 2 was just fine. Co-worker was still out sick and he’s convinced that he is suffering from covid-19. I, on the other hand, am just fine with not even the smallest of a sniffle, which is actually unusual for me as my allergies are typically running in overdrive this time of year. It’s been just about a week since he was in the office so I’m feel comfortable that whatever he has I did not catch.

So yes, I am feeling fairly healthy these days, knock on wood! My eyes were a little puffy when I woke this morning, but that’s most likely due to only 5 hours of sleep and the humid weather (working on a new knitting project with a difficult stitch, and kept making mistakes so stayed up until I got the rhythm down). Stayed on plan with the food, no weigh-in, and remained upbeat even though the office is fairly deserted these days. There were other co-workers around, but pretty much everyone is staying in their offices. The big topic of discussion was the spread of the covid-19 pandemic, and the messaging we have to deliver to anyone who had registered for a college or campus event for the next two months as most events are being cancelled or rescheduled for a later date. But aside from my co-worker who has been out all week, no one on campus is sick.

To finish, here’s my haiku for the day:
  Coughs, sniffles, headaches.
  None of these symptoms for me.
  Today I feel fine!

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Welcome back! I know it’s been a few days … err, a handful of days since my last post, but rest easy that I did not give up! Life got in the way, and this whole time change thing always throws me for a loop regardless of whether it’s springing forward or falling behind. I absolutely hate the time changes, and if it were up to me I say, “pick ONE and stick with it!” and my vote would go for daylight savings time, would would mean that New England permanently observe the Atlantic time zone. It also doesn’t help that this has been a cloudy, rainy week so sunlight has not been bright enough to help mitigate the darker mornings. Life just seems so much more depressing when you have to get up in the dark and it takes you twice as long to ease into the day.

Enough with the dreary shit (yes, it is dreary out this morning too), welcome to the reboot. My plan remains mostly the same as the previous rounds, with some minor changes. Yes, I will try to post each day, but instead of posting about the day’s progress, which honestly doesn’t make much sense as the day is still happening and the story’s not finished, I’ll be reflecting on yesterday’s thoughts, feelings, physical and mental wellbeing, and all the events that either helped or hindered progress. Also, I will not be doing daily weigh-ins. I liked them, I know a lot of you followed them, but the plan strongly advises against them so this reboot round I will be trying to follow their advice instead of making modifications. Plus there are other ways to measure success without stripping down to nothing and stepping on a cold piece of glass each morning!

I’m also going to try to be more creative with these posts. I’m an artist at heart, and the winter months seem to just suck all the creative juices from me. I do still find creative outlets in my profession and hobbies, but not the ones I find myself truly wanting to be engaged in. But it’s almost Spring and once the first crocuses and day-lilies begin to peak their beautifully bright pedals from the black snow, my spirit returns to capture them on canvas or film. So I hope to share those moments with you as well.

So about yesterday. I mean that is the whole reason for today’s post. Yesterday was fairly descent. It was Day 1 of the reboot, and there was no problem with sticking with the meal plans. I got in my 10K+ steps, so from an energy standpoint I felt really good! Did some work on a new knitting project, realized I made a few mistakes, tried fixing them, and then gave up and unravelled the whole thing so that I can start over tonight. But as devastating as that sounds, it was all good because I still got to use my hands and concentration on the project and sometimes that’s all that is needed to experience a feeling of success.

Aside from all that, however, is the work environment. It’s been very busy and very quiet at work. My main co-worker has been out sick all week, and while I hope he feels better soon, deep down I am feeling relieved that I get to be in my office alone without anyone else around during the dawn of this coronavirus pandemic that is just reached Vermont this week. I’m relieved I don’t have to go to the dining hall each day and opt to eat at my desk instead, in solitude, with no one within 10 feet of me. Yes, I am relieved. Things at work are evolving rapidly with emergency plans being prepared, reviewed, tested, and creative solutions found for helping the college I work for brace for the worst-case scenario. Spring break starts tomorrow, and we have extended it to two weeks instead of one so that we can switch all classes over to a virtual alternative. So while all the students will be leaving campus tomorrow afternoon, we staff members will be working twice as hard to set up a teaching and learning environment that will allow our students to continue their studies off campus if necessary. So I ask for patience over the next few weeks with my posts as I may be exhausted with this whole effort (and I pray I don’t catch it!!!).

Today is off to a good start, but more on that tomorrow ;-).

And now for something a little lighter:
  Looking for the sun,
  Will it shine on us today,
  Only time will tell.

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I woke up this morning with the remains of a dream that wanted to nothing more than indulge in creamy, cheesy food. I began to strategize my off-plan meals, rationing it with the fact that Lent starts on Wednesday and I can begin the program again then and take it out for the full 40 days, and be a good Catholic while I was at it! But the remnants of a dream it was, and as the fantasy faded, the realization that Mardi Gras was yesterday quickly silenced any thought of indulging in food decadence for, well, another 40 days! $#!+

To be honest, the dream was probably a subconscious result of not eating enough yesterday, which means not consuming enough healthy vitamins and nutrients. It also means that I’ll be more hungry today so it will take extra effort not to cheat! But now that I’m near the end of today, I am happy to report that I stayed on plan, and wasn’t as hungry as I thought I would. This day was also a very busy day, similar to yesterday, so being preoccupied by other things was a huge benefit to staying on plan.

Final thought for today’s post:
  Morning dreams begin,
  Fading to reality,
  Cherish both moments.

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Ding, dong, the plateau is dead! I could keep singing my jubilant song, but I’m sure you see the excitement and seeing the scale move in a downward direction once again! Down almost half a pound—woohoo!

Celebrations aside, today was an “errands” day. I had taken the day off from work because I had to travel to Boston, which is a 2 hour drive each way, so 4 hours in the car, 1 hour in Boston, with plenty of time left over to do all those pesky errands that can’t be done on a weekend. It still took the whole day, so while it was technically a day off, it felt like it was a full work day. Needless to say, it was a busy day and early start day, so no video today.

To wrap this day up, it was a very productive and great day, tied all up in pretty packaging and topped with a red velvet bow!

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It’s been a full 2 weeks now and I’ve stayed on plan 99.9% of the time (E made pizza last night for the very first time so I had to have a small bite—she’s only 10 years old so this was not an option). So while technically I should be starting over, I am going to plow along and will start over at Round 3 after a short break.

The plateau is hanging on something fierce so now I’m convinced it’s a low battery. This scale behavior has happened before where every day the reading stays the same. I’ll give it one more day or two, depending on how ambitious I am, before I swap it out. I can’t complain too much, however, as it uses one of those dime shaped batteries that cost less than a buck and lasts about 18 months.

Made some applesauce today that turned out awesome! I think I have found my new favorite dessert while on this plan. Not much else for the day besides normal house cleaning, paperwork filing, getting tax filings ready, and getting some nice walks in. All in all a nice quiet day.

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We finally made it to the weekend! This week felt like it would never end. Don’t get me wrong—it was a good week. It was just a good lo-o-o-o-ng week.

The scale saw it’s ups and downs, and then plateau’d somewhere in the middle. So while my anxious self was convinced the battery was failing, my logistic self knew that this was to be expected in the early teen days: the program warns that days 10 to 13 are the bloating days, and here we are at 13. So I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this coming week the train will be back on the high-speed track.

So not much for this Saturday: Cooked a few new recipes, watched a little Netflix, did a little house hunting (the house was a fail), did a little house cleaning, and created this vlog. An easy-going day!

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Another snowy day in New England, and in typical New England fashion, it’s beautiful while it’s coming down, and for a few hours after, so we have to enjoy it before the salt trucks muck up the pristine white.

The last two days were both great and tiring. On Day 8 I didn’t get home until just before 8 so that meant a late dinner—the perfect recipe for throwing the next day’s scale reading into the land of confusion and frustration. But knowing this beforehand helps keep me positive and undistracted.

Seriously, not bad. With a little math (Pattie, skip to the next paragraph now), -2.6 + 1.2 = a 2 day loss of 1.4. Yes, applause are in order 😉

But this is the very reason most diet plans tell you not to weigh yourself every day, because the numbers are deceiving and can easily suggest to you that you are failing so just give it up now so that you don’t have to punish yourself each day at weigh-in time. I’m only doing the daily weigh-ins to show how sea-saw-ish it can all be, and to illustrate that the daily numbers will not defeat me! I only give about 5% of the total picture. PLUS, this particular program suggests that this gain is actually expected as the bacteria in your gut actually starts becoming healthier, but there will most likely be a two to three day “bloat” response, and in a few short days your body will adjust to the good bacteria that is needed for a healthy digestive system. This is also the time you will notice your metabolism and digestion adjusting to not relying on sugar, grains, dairy, etc., on doing its job, and that’s a very good thing!

But enough about food. I noticed my productivity level today was much quicker, I was more confident at work (presenting materials and leading meetings), and was actually looking forward to adding more complexity to the products I deliver to enhance the customer experience. Yup! In spite of a 1.2 pound gain, it was an excellent day!

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Yay, one week just about done! It’s Sunday, day 7, and that means it’s shopping day. I threw together my meal plan for the week, added all the ingredients to the Grocery app, and off to the grocery stores I went.

Typically I would only hit one store in the winter months (once the weather warms up there’s a few farm stands I like to check out before the supermarket). Stop-and-shop is the closest, and they are pretty good as far as selection goes. But there were a few unusual items on this week’s list so first up was Whole Foods.

Now while I mostly like Whole Foods, they have the worst, rudest customers on the planet! Generalizations aside, most appear to be in the middle of a distance marathon and will literally push you out of their way as they rush through the over-crowded, narrow isles. This is the worst of the “entitled” generation. This particular trip included at least 4 nasty shoppers, one of which tried to take things out of my cart! Dude—really?

I did try a new snack bar today, similar to Lara bars, and it was pretty good! It’s nice to add a new snack item to the list of compliant tasty treats.

My Stop-and-Shop shopping experience was much more pleasant! They had all but 1 item remaining on my list (pastille chile, dried) so I’ll try ordering that through Amazon, or research for a more common chile substitute.

No now that the food shopping for the week is done, I’m excited to get cooking!

Let a new week begin.

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Oh bread, how I miss thee!

Yes, today is “cravings” day. This is to be expected so I’ll just grin and bare it because, as the Whole 30 program states for Days 5 – 7, “This too shall pass.” pheww!

I started off the day with an eggs, banana, and coffee (home brewed this time), and then I was off for an early morning house showing—buying, not selling. The place appeared to be in a good area, stream across the street, forest hillside in the back, but I noticed a cleared section to one side of this new constructed home. The place was beautiful inside, all work appeared to be quality, and the finishing touches were still being added (marble countertops, rugs, etc), but once my agent contacted the seller’s agent, it was discovered that there was construction planned on both sides of the property, and while the front and back offered vast views, the sides were a bit too close for comfort (and the property I was looking at would have to share a driveway with the cleared lot next to it. And so the house hunt continues (sigh!).

Once home, I had all these plans of what I was going to do, but I became emotionally (and perhaps physically) exhausted and all I could manage to do is research on another home I had looked at a few months ago and to see what else was on the market. This easily sucked up a few hours, the shoes slowly were replaced with slippers, a few chores did manage to get done, and I’ve accepted that half of the plans will have to wait until tomorrow.

This is my lazy-day Saturday.

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Day 5 has arrived! Not that long ago, we thought this day was so far away. But here we are and it’s all good. Started off this snowy day with eggs and sausage (didn’t even look at the oatmeal) and the usual coffee for breakfast. My niece was all concerned with wearing all red today as her acknowledgement of Valentines’ Day, so I followed suit and chose a heart-themed shirt. I did not choose the red pants like she did, because it’s casual Friday, jeans day!

Made good time getting to work, and all was going smoothly: the sugar dragon was sleeping, no cravings or hunger to occupy my thoughts, and the scale was especially nice to me this morning. All was good until this happened:

UGG! The Dunkin’s box was full with strawberry and chocolate-covered hearts when I arrived, and the strawberry bunt cake hadn’t arrived yet for my first trip to the tiny kitchen at work. I avoided looking at them on my rushed way through to the copy machine and avoided the temptation! The above picture was snapped after lunch, and I bet that half of what’s left there will be tossed in the trash at day’s end.

To end this Friday, I leave you with vibes of HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!

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