It is 219 Days since I started posting my Daily Food Diary.
Each month, I choose one aspect of my diet to focus on. This month, I chose COLORFUL foods.
Last night, we made enchiladas and Spanish Rice for supper. We added a fair amount of color. There was bright red salsa in the rice, white onion and garlic in the enchiladas, as well as red pepper, green jalapenos, and brown beans. There was also ground chicken and enchiladas sauce. That was all wrapped in Grimm’s cheese tortilla wraps, covered in shredded mozzarella cheese and the rest of the enchiladas sauce.
Once the enchiladas were baked and the rice was fried, everything came out a uniform golden brown.
I should have seen it coming, but I was shocked when I added up the calories. 1233 CALORIES! I ate my entire supper and I was absolutely full, but I feel for people who have to stick to a super strict calorie wise diet. It is way too easy to devour more than a day’s worth of calories in one meal. We started out with lean ground chicken, a cup of refried beans, a few vegetables, and a bit of leftover rice and there you go! 1233 calories worth of Enchiladas and Spanish Rice! It was delicious, but we won’t be indulging in that again any time soon. 🙄
Enchiladas with Spanish Rice
Daily Food Diary – Day 219
Breakfast:
(1) c coffee (2)
(1) c Honey Nut Cheerios (147)
(1/4) c 2% milk
Lunch:
(1) Apple – red (95)
(1) Kiwi – green (46)
Snack:
(28) Lay’s lightly salted chips (160)
(60) oz water
Supper:
(1) enchilada (870)
(1 1/2) c Spanish Rice (363)
Total net calories: 1571
Net calories goal: 1222 – 1571 = 349 over
That’s it for today! Take care and have a great day! ☺️🌹
It is 218 days since I began posting my Daily Food Diary.
It is six years since I began posting my blog on WordPress. I had just given my boss a one year heads up that I would be retiring on my 65th birthday.
For a few weeks, I had been sourcing out articles on retirement. I’m not sure what I was looking for – but it wasn’t the plethora of articles regarding the problems and pitfalls of retirement with less than millions of dollars in the bank, a substantial amount of investment income rolling in each month, and estate planning that I should have began before giving birth to my children (forty some years ago🤦).
Our retirement was not going to meet the standards of the financial gurus who write such articles. But then our lives had never revolved around our finances.
So, I started a blog to help me find my way from full time employment to successful retirement.
Once I did retire, I soon realized that our financial situation was the least of our retirement challenges. Financially, we are comfortable – even since Dan joined me in retirement. We manage.
Our health is on shakier ground. I learned three years ago that to enjoy retirement, I was going to have to get a handle on my chronic lung issues and the lack of strength and stamina that I struggled with.
My health and wellness journey began. It has been two steps forward, one step back, and a series of twists and turns that I could never have imagined.
This year, the biggest and best change in my life has been seeing how I have become a better influence for my children and grandchildren. It has been seeing and appreciating the time my son and his wife invest in being outdoors and active with their family. It has been seeing my daughter-in-law and daughter deal with food allergies and personal fitness. It has been seeing our grandchildren put down their iPads and get out and get active. It has been seeing our granddaughter Genie & her husband Alec, happily and healthily married, and planning to one day add a new generation to our family.
Health and wellness has become a priority in our family and is the subject of many conversations – conversations started by daughter Jen, granddaughter Prim, or my husband Dan.
This morning, I went looking to source out articles on Generational HEALTH, to get more insight on the subject.
I didn’t look far, but from what I saw Google AI pretty much summarized everything I came across.
“the health conditions, risks, and patterns that are passed down through families across generations”.
That sounds pretty sad, but it is a definition that I see changing – in my family and others.
This is ‘Generational Health’ – Maddy and Prim at Wascana Park with sister GenieAnd this – Granddaughter Gabby with brothers Lucas and Cason boating with Dan & Amanda And this – Genie & Alec celebrating their life together in sickness AND health & fitness (physically, mentally, and spiritually)And this – starting married life with a healthy bowl of vegetable soup! 😂
Daily Food Diary – Day 218
Breakfast:
(1) c coffee (2)
(1) granola bar (160)
Lunch:
(1/2) stuffed pepper – green, red, white (190)
(1) oatmeal lemon cookie (68)
Snacks:
(48) oz water
(5) Hint of Lime chips (125)
(1/3) c Weekender Mix peanuts (240)
Supper:
(12) oz carbonated water
(1) large dinner salad – Romaine lettuce, cucumber, broccoli, green onion – green, tomato, red pepper, radishes – red, sunflower seeds, dried fried onions, Vidalia Onion salad dressing (263)
(3) sticks pork souvlaki (240)
Total net calories: 964
Net calorie goal: 1222 – 964 = 258 under
That’s it for today. Take care and have a great day! ❤️😊
It is 217 Days since I started my Daily Food Diary! That is 217 days without a single miss! 💖
This month, I am focussed on adding more color to our diet. This will mean adding some new foods – or at least foods that we don’t make on a regular basis.
Last night, I decided on Stuffed Green Peppers. If I have ever made them before, it was long enough ago that I don’t remember. Dan has made them, so he was amenable to the plan and offered to help.
Stuffed GREEN Pepper
We didn’t follow a recipe. It was just a team effort of this and that and whatever we had in the fridge.
At any rate, they turned out pretty well and gave us ideas for a few more colorful meals. You might be seeing Enchiladas and Spanish Rice. I am NOT a squash fan but we might try some Spaghetti Squash. I used to enjoy cooking it for our dogs Casey and Kat. They seemed to like it.
Casey & Kat
Our weather is warm, sunny, and clear today. We all took a walk this morning. I made the full circuit but the humidity didn’t help for sure!
I am just clearing my lungs out with my Aerobika and then I am going to do my Wednesday workout – half an hour of aerobics and half an hour of weights and cardio. 💪
Hopefully, the humidity will drop so I can spend some time outside this afternoon. Our garden is suddenly entering its jungle phase. 😳
Daily Food Diary – Day 217
Breakfast:
(1) c coffee (2)
(1) c Honey Nut Cheerios (147)
(1/4) c 2% milk (28)
Lunch:
(1) Apple – Red (95)
(1/3) c mixed nuts (216)
Snacks:
(48) oz water
(1 1/4) c Caramel Corn (233)
Supper:
(1) Stuffed pepper – green pepper, white onion & garlic, seasoned ground beef, rice cooked in beef broth, red pepper, brown mushrooms, green celery, shredded habanero cheese, dried fried onions. (465)
Total net calories: 1012
Net calorie goal: 1222 – 1012 = 210 under
That’s it for today. Take care and have a great day! 😊❤️
We are home and our heatwave is over. It is forecast to be cooler and wetter today. The humidity is already 100%. (Good thing I watered our garden yesterday!)
Between wildfire smoke and high humidity this summer, my lungs are struggling. I can’t imagine how I would manage if I wasn’t on inhalers, using my Aerobika, doing aerobics, breathing exercises, weights and cardio, walking (weather permitting) – and running (a little bit).
It’s funny, in an odd way, that I used to think working out was for athletes and healthy young people who joined gyms to keep in shape.
I am infinitely grateful that I have learned that living a life based on exercise and healthy habits is for anyone wanting to enjoy quality of life. (Even seventy year olds with multiple chronic lung conditions 😊).
Daily Food Diary – Day 216
Breakfast:
(1) c coffee (2)
(1) c Cheerios – no milk (147)
Lunch:
(4) radishes – red/white (21)
(1) c broccoli – green (31)
(2) pcs celery – green (14)
(1/2) c red pepper – red (23)
(1) tbsp Dilly Dip (80)
(1 1/2) oz marble cheese (170)
(2) oz Piller’s Ham (57)
(9) Lay’s wavy lightly salted chips (131)
Snacks:
(48) oz water
(11) Hint of Lime chips (275)
(3) tbsp salsa – red (12)
(1) Rolo ice cream cone (310)
Total net calories: 1273
Net calorie goal: 1222 – 1273 = 51 over
That’s it for today. Take care and have a great day! ☺️❣️
I haven’t planted sunflowers for years, but always manage to have a few of them pop up in our flower bed. I don’t have the heart to pull them out as they have always been granddaughter Maddy’s favourite flower.
It is Day 215 of my Daily Food Diary and it’s another late day – 2nd in a row.
Yesterday morning we headed to Gravelbourg to put new flowers on my parents and grandparents graves and to freshen up my uncle’s gravestone.
Dan cleaned up the headstone and painted the base yesterday.I went to paint the letters and the rosary trim this morning.
The original plan was to work together, but one of us had to stay focused on Molly.
We tried having her loose, thinking she would stay close to us. She didn’t. We didn’t have the place to tie her down on a comfortably long leash. Shade was hard to come by…. unlike crickets! The entire graveyard was covered in little crickets!
Fortunately, the crickets backed off while I was painting this morning. I had a bit of an opportunity to empathize with my Dad as he originally carved the headstone. “In the memory of Herman…” must have been heartbreaking so soon after losing his little (younger) brother. A year later, he would be carving his Mother’s name and date of death on the right side of Herman’s monument. Thirteen years later, he would add his Father’s to the right.
When my parents bought their own headstone, they bought one to match for Grandma and Grandpa Martel and placed one on either side of Herman’s.
Last night I had a nice visit with my Aunt Lil. She is doing amazing. At 91, she is still in her beautiful home, she reads and does puzzles, she has a small garden, she drives to do her own errands, and she BAKES – including her own bread – totally by hand.
I don’t have to look far to find women to admire and inspire in my family.
We drove home earlier today. Tomorrow, I will be back to posting at my regular mid morning time.
It was a busy day yesterday and today isn’t much better. I am checking in late, but better late than never. It still counts!
Saturday is my serious house clean of the week. After I got my aerobic workout done, I scrubbed down the kitchen, vacuumed, and moved furniture to do a thorough sweeping of the living room and the kitchen. I also washed clothes and bedding, and we gave Molly a thorough brushing. And, I fed the squirrels TWICE.
I also did a bit of garden/yard work. A BIG bit. I watered EVERYTHING, fertilized the flowers and vegetables, and sprayed the tomatoes cucumbers, and peppers. My ailing tomato plant is still alive, but hanging by a thread. Most of the tomatoes are suddenly thriving, but the San Marzano are still fighting the rust fungus.
By suppertime, I was ready for something simple supper.
It wasn’t our most colorful meal but there was yellow corn, white mashed potatoes, and dark brown brownies (which probably doesn’t count as a healthy colour).
Daily Food Diary – Day 214
Breakfast:
(1) c coffee (2)
(1) plain paratha (240)
(1) tbsp peanut butter (105)
(1) tbsp jam (90)
Snacks:
(60) oz water
Supper:
(1) Hungry Man Fried Chicken (520)
(1) Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookie (50)
Total Net Calories: 793
Net calorie goal: 1222 – 793 = 429 under
That’s it for today. Take care and have a great day! 💗 😊
A touch of colour for Mom & Dad’s graves when we go to Gravelbourg. Always red carnations for Dad and yellow flowers for Mom.
It is 213 Days since I began posting my Daily Food Diary. 😊🌹
I have completed SEVEN of the twelve months that I set out to post. Every month I choose a different focus and for August I planned to do likewise.
Choosing a new focus is always a challenge and this month (August) has been the most difficult. I drew a blank for the past week, I settled on making this a month to focus on weekly meal planning. But our summers are notoriously short and meal planning is just too September Greige for me to get excited about.
So… I chose to go with COLOURFUL foods for August. While our garden is struggling this year, we do have a variety of tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, carrots, rhubarb, and several herbs to provide color (and healthy goodness) to our meals. Of course, we also have access to all of the fresh colorful foods available at our supermarkets and local Farmer’s Market.
To kick the month off, I sourced out this short article which offers information on why a colorful diet is beneficial, plus the specific nutrients relative to each basic food color.
Today is also August 1st, which means this is my last diary entry focussed on foods that contain collagen or significantly contribute to the production or use of collagen in our bodies.
I know that I have genetic collagen issues. I also know that lack of collagen becomes an issue for everyone as we age – and I AGED this month. I celebrated my 70th birthday a few days ago. While I have considered it in the past, this month I decided the time had come to start taking collagen supplements.
I went with these capsules from Amazon. I liked the variety of collagen they provide.
Sometimes I avoid trying something like collagen supplements, because I am afraid I will be disappointed in the results and I don’t want to deal with that! In this case, I am sorry that I waited so long.
The supplements that I chose came with a notice that it can take 5 months of 6 gelcaps a day, to notice much difference. In one month – the chronic pain and stiffness in my hands has eased considerably, my nails are stronger and healthier than they have been in decades, and I am shedding far less hair.
I cannot tell what the collagen is doing for my internal issues (which is my real goal), but I believe the airways in my sinuses, throat, and lungs are improving. It is difficult to tell because our weather and frequent smokey spells cause breathing issues – and I have been taking antihistamines and a natural lung clearing tonic.
While taking collagen supplements seems to be beneficial so far, it is still important to keep on top of my diet to ensure that I am getting the nutrients required for my body to effectively utilize collagen. For that, I require adequate protein, vitamin C, zinc, copper, and amino acids. And of course – adequate exercise, rest, and stress management.
When it comes to one’s health, it is never a matter of just taking a pill (or six pills a day). At least not for me. If I don’t work – the pills don’t either. 😕
And of course, eliminating the foods that are detrimental to my system is as important as taking the foods that are beneficial. In that regard, I am happy to announce that with my birthday and our anniversary behind me – my cake is finally GONE.
But it was really good while it lasted! 😊
And in other monthly wrap up news, I may or may not have packed on 5 pounds this month. It’s a good thing I am taking up running – and that we are out of cake. 🤦
Daily Food Diary – Day 212
Breakfast:
(1) c coffee (2)
(2) Egg Denver omelet with ham & green onion, shredded marble cheese, & Salsa (363)
(1) cheese tortilla wrap (170)
Snack:
(48) oz water
(4) oz lemon water
(1) piece Caramel Toffee cake (1050)
Supper:
(3) battered & fried haddock filets (435)
(6) oz fries (230)
(1/2) c gravy (50)
(1/2) c coleslaw (104)
(12) oz 7 up (140)
Total net calories: 2289
Net calorie goal: 1222 – 2289 = 1067 over
* Highlighted items contain significant collagen or significantly contribute to the production of collagen
That’s it for today. Take care and have a great day! 😊💕
Today is Day 211 of my Daily Food Diary. Today is also Dan and my 26thWedding Anniversary.
That was us – with Dan’s Dad and my Mom. Dan’s Mom & My Dad passed away before we met but I have always felt that they had a part in our getting together.
We are having another nice quiet day today. I went for a walk with Dan and Molly earlier. Our air quality was No. 5 again due to ongoing forest fire smoke. It didn’t seem that bad, so I thought I would be ok. I was wrong. A few blocks in my lungs were so congested That I couldn’t keep up with Molly. I gave Dan her lead and turned back home. We were at a spot on our route where we could see almost to our house, so Dan and Molly waited until I got to our corner and then proceeded to finish their regular walk.
This afternoon, I am going to make a reservation for our short visit to Gravelbourg. Tonight we are going out for supper again. We are going laid back again. This time we are going to a Fish & Chip restaurant that Dan’s cousin has been recommending for months. We go out to eat so seldom now since I discovered my yeast issues, that we have to make the most out of it when we do. Tonight we are going to experience our new favourite fish joint! 😊
Obviously, another day without my daily run today. Yesterday, I ran on the spot on my kitchen fatigue mat. I will do the same today. If I can find a way to actually make running a regular part of my daily routine, I will look at investing in a fold-up treadmill for our spare bedroom. I know that come winter, I won’t be running on the snow and ice anyway, so I might as well start looking at options!
Daily Food Diary:
Breakfast:
(1) c coffee (2)
(1) c Honey Nut Cheerios (147)
(1/4) c 2% milk (28)
Snacks:
(4) oz lemon water
(8) Hint of Lime Tortilla Chips (200)
(2) tbsp Salsa (8)
Supper:
(5) oz pork chop (162)
(1/2) pkg chicken ramen noodles (120)
(1) c brussel sprouts (56)
(3) tsp butter (103)
(1) sm side salad w/lettuce, cucumber, green onions, sunflower seeds, dried fried onions, Vidalia Onion salad dressing (256)
(1) piece Caramel Toffee Cake (1050)
Total net calories: 2117
Net calorie goal: 2117 – 1229 = 896 over
*Highlighted items contain significant collagen or significantly contribute to the production of collagen
That’s it for today. Take care and have a great day! 💞🤗
It is 210 Days (30 WEEKS) since I started posting my Daily Food Diary. Thirty full weeks without a single miss. 🤗💞
It is 3 days since I started running daily. Today our air quality is ‘moderate’ coming in at a number 5. Dan and Molly walked alone. Today being a Wednesday, I will do a weight/cardio workout after my aerobics. Tomorrow, hopefully the smoke will clear and I will be able to get in Run #3.
This is summer in Saskatchewan. Cold, wet, hot, humid, smokey, clear, dry, and windy! This morning it was +6 Celsius when I got up. (42.8 Fahrenheit). 😯
The one positive of having a cold smokey summer day, is that it helps control the mosquitos and other obnoxious little bugs that generally thrive around here. Of course it also discourages the butterflies and bees as well. Such is life!
On the upside, I spent yesterday dressing up our patio furniture with the new seat cushions Dan bought yesterday. If the smoke clears, I am ready to drag out a space heater and blanket to enjoy a bit of fresh air.
In other news, my Lose It! app sent me a notice this morning. For the past 29 days, I have averaged 221 calories over my net calorie daily goal. 🙄
And in more news, Google just noted that I should have written ‘lost it’ instead of ‘Lose It!’ (Google isn’t wrong. 😂)
To be honest… While I have been noting a LOT of extra calories this month, I haven’t taken any credit for extra calories burnt this month. I do spend as much time as possible out in our yard – cleaning, weeding, watering (much of it with a heavy metal watering can). And, Molly is into super shedding mode so I also spend a lot of time in the house dealing with that situation.
It’s exhausting losing so much hair and spreading it throughout the house.
Daily Food Diary – Day 210
Breakfast:
(1) c coffee (2)
(1) c Shreddies (200)
(1/4) c 2% milk (28)
(1) tsp sugar (16)
Lunch:
(1) PC Buttermilk chicken (240)
(1/3) c potato salad w/radish & green onion (113)
(2) Gyoza (90)
(1) egg roll (190)
(1) almond flour/chocolate chip cookie (50)
Snacks:
(1/3) c mixed nuts (216)
(4) oz lemon water
Supper:
(1) sourdough bun (259)
(5 1/2) oz lean ground beef patty (334)
(1) slice havarti cheese (80)
(1) tsp butter (34)
(1) tbsp bacon bits (30)
(1/2) c fried mushrooms & onions (30)
(10) lightly salted potato chips (52)
Total net calories: 1730
Net calorie goal: 1222 – 1730 = 509 over 👎
*Highlighted items contain significant collagen or significantly contribute to the production of collagen
That’s it for today. Take care and have a great day! ❤️😊
Seclusion 101 with AnneMarie 