If our local groundhog declared an end to winter earlier this week, Mother Nature did not get the message.
We got a fresh drop of snow last night, we are expecting a lot more in the next forty eight hours, and while our temperatures are out of the deep freeze, they are far from balmy.
The good news is, our weather has us craving comfort food, much of which is nutritionally sound. Our stew last night was full of protein and fresh vegetables and I’m thinking chilli could be on the menu tonight.
This fresh snow also provides an opportunity for a good workout and fresh air. That snow isn’t going to clear itself and even if Dan gets our (NEW) snowblower back up and running, there are places a snowblower just can’t go.
Food Diary – Day 35
(2) c coffee (2)
(3) Crumpets (240) with butter (68) and jam (100)
(24) oz water
(1) c tea (1)
(1/2) pear (51)
(2/2) kiwi
(3) cookies (219)
(4) c homemade beef stew (600)
(12) oz water
(1) c tea (1)
Total calories: 1313
Beef stew – Beef, potato, carrot, lo bak (daikon), onion, garlic, mushrooms, peas, turnip, celery, gravy
That’s it for today. Take care & have a great day! 💞🤗
Good morning! It’s another day and once again time to start planning another supper menu.
Deciding what to have for supper is one of the biggest challenges of my day. Dan is generally open to whatever I come up with. I am fairly easy to feed as well – or at least I was until I discovered that I cannot tolerate anything with yeast in it. Yeast, or yeast extract, is a very common ingredient in prepared foods. These days our meals are generally homemade and made from scratch.
Most of the time, I can make any meal yeast free. A lot of meals are meat, vegetables, and starch (potato, rice, pasta). Extras can be added by adjusting to be yeast free. Non yeast batter can be made with eggs, breading can be made with crushed cornflakes, baking powder biscuits can be used for breakfast sandwiches, Yorkshire pudding can be used instead of dinner rolls. The options are pretty limitless with a little extra time and effort. Anything can be made without yeast extract so I’m not sure why it shows up in everything from store bought salad dressing to canned gravy. 😯
What I can’t do is make a basic hamburger with a basic hamburger bun, something I have been craving for a week. Since I haven’t been craving the nausea, bloating, and cramps that would come with ingesting yeast, my supper last night revolved around a naked burger surrounded by sides.
Daily Food Diary – Day 30
(1) c coffee
(1 1/2) c Mini Wheats with 1/4 c 2% milk
(24) oz water
(1) Apple, raspberries, and 1 PC dark chocolate
(1) c tea
(1) Hamburger with red onion, horseradish, mushrooms fried in olive oil with a teaspoon of butter for taste, brown beans, onion rings, and a few potato chips
(12) oz carbonated water
(20) oz water
That’s it for today. Take care and have a great day! 💞🤗
It’s Day 29 and I am still here – working to get on track with what I consume in a day.
There are two main reasons that I get off track in the first place.
The first is just plain mindless eating. Being retired, and at home for the most part, I can eat what I want, when I want. Starting this food diary has been great for dealing with that. Having to note everything that I consume and knowing I will have to post it for anyone to see has been a major deterrent to mindless eating.
The second reason for getting off track is stress. I am a stress eater and being stressed has me craving unhealthy food choices. For the past few days, my stress level has been through the roof. There have been some stressful happenings around here but nothing that I cannot typically handle. This week I am really struggling and I am pretty sure I figured out why this morning. Ironically, I am stressed because of my Daily Food Diary. Specifically, the amount of time that I have been spending on my phone – writing my blogs, reading blogs, scrolling for photos, and being distracted by notifications from other social media apps and the like. It’s not good for my eyes, and not good for me. So, I have to work on less screen time to get my stress back under control – while maintaining my commitment to keep up my Food Diary for the next 336 Days.
Food Diary – Day 29
(1) c coffee
(1) c Cheerios with 1/4 c 2% milk
(2) Chicken wings and (1) drumstick
(1) sm bowl chips and cream cheese dip
(2) chocolates
(24) oz water
(1) c tea
(24) oz water
(2) small pot pies (store bought)
(1/2) bag of popcorn
That is almost it for today! Yesterday, I received a letter from a surgeon at the Pasqua Hospital. February 24th, I have an appointment with him to discuss getting my hernia re-repaired. That’s pretty impressive since my Nurse Practitioner told me on January 23rd it would be eight weeks before I heard from his office! I also checked him out online and he seems to come from a pretty amazing medical background. It all sounds good. 🤗
Now that is all for today. Take care and have a great day! ☺️❤️
We are wrapping up January and for those of us in Saskatchewan, we are fortunately enjoying some unseasonably warm weather. Our temperatures have been straddling the freezing point for a few days now and I have been showing my appreciation by getting out and about.
I have even been heading to the dogpark with Dan and Molly every morning. Walking there is a bit challenging because our streets and sidewalks are, for the most part, icy ruts and snow banks. Navigating them while walking an excited hundred pound dog is a workout. Yesterday, although the temperatures were mild, the wind was anything but. My lungs did not appreciate the wind. By the time I got home I was pretty much exhausted by constant coughing fits, but after a bit of a rest the coughing subsided and I was able to do my morning aerobics and get on with my day.
Food Diary – Day 28 of 365
(1) c coffee
(3) waffles with butter and syrup
(3) slices thin sliced bacon
(24) oz water
(1) c tea
(2) sm bowls of Hint of Lime tortilla chips with salsa
(24) oz water
(1) Large chef salad
(1) c tea
I came up a bit short on my water yesterday, but my salad included a generous serving of lettuce, spinach, tomato, cucumber, radishes, orange pepper, and green onion. Plus I had a couple of cups of tea. 🙂
That’s it for today. Take care and have a great day! 💞🌞
I have been noting and posting my daily food and liquid intake for twenty six days. I have found some room for improvement, made some adjustments, and have begun to realize some benefits. 🤗
Obviously, my health and fitness journey is about more than what I eat and drink. I do aerobics six days a week, typically do strength training Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and I rest on Sunday.
Yesterday, my rest day included time spent grooming our dog, Molly and time outside enjoying a rousing game of fetch. It is a bit challenging when you have a hundred pound Pyrenees who is less than co-operative. 🤦
* My husband Dan helps position and brush Molly. He also gives the porch a good vacuuming when we are done. 💞I don’t fetch.
Food Diary – Day 26
(1) c coffee
(3) Thin slices pcs of bacon
(2) Eggs
(1/2) Tomato
(2) Potato patties
(12) oz water
(1) c tea
(1) Apple
(24) oz water
(12) oz carbonated water
(1 1/2) c pork souvlaki with mushrooms
(1) c cheese ravioli with minimal butter and fresh garlic
(1) sm side salad
(20) oz water
(2) chocolates
(1) c tea
That’s it for today. Take care and have a great day! 💞🌞
It is Day 21 of my Daily Food Diary. Three weeks since I began recording my intake and sharing it here on JetPack. 😊 (I cannot begin to express my appreciation for those who have checked in and especially those of you who have been regular visitors to my blog. Your support and encouragement goes a long way to keeping me on track!)
My diet still needs improvements, but daily tracking has already helped me to up my water intake substantially in the past few days. This has had two major positives for me.
Number 1 – My between meal snacking has decreased naturally and easily.
Number 2 – My sinuses have improved significantly, which in turn is beginning to improve my sleep and my lung function.
The best thing about building healthy habits is how easily one good thing leads to another. 🤗
Our cold weather snap broke yesterday, so with the our sun shining and feeling good, I went outside to feed the squirrels. I also took Molly’s new Frisbee to play fetch with her. Molly does not play fetch particularly well but I did get fresh air and a bit of exercise (fetching Molly’s Frisbee) in addition to my regular morning workout. I’ll take that as a win!
An older pic of Molly heading outside not to play fetch.
Food Diary – Day 21
(1) c coffee
(1 1/2) Cinnamon swirl pancake with cream cheese icing and maple syrup
(1 1/2) slices of thin sliced bacon
(12) oz water
(12) oz water
(1) c tea
(12) oz water
(12) oz carbonated water
(1) pork chop
(1 1/2) c Sidekicks Herb and Butter noodles
(1 1/2) c Brussel sprouts with butter, salt, and pepper
(12) oz water
(1) c tea
That’s it for today. Take care and have a great day! 💗☺️
It has been eighteen days since I began my daily food diary – recording everything that I eat and drink and sharing it here on JetPack.
It soon became obvious that hydration was an area that needed some work, so I have spent the past week focussing on drinking more water than I typically do.
In a few days, I was noticing benefits – clearer sinuses, smoother skin, less cravings for between meal snacks, and more. I know from taking up regular exercise, meditating, and working on my diet, that it will only get better.
I have learned more about myself and proper self-care in the past three years than I have in my lifetime. I have recognized benefits that I never imagined possible – at least not for me. And definitely not in my sixties!
My one regret has been that I did not get my 💩 together sooner.
Recently, I read an article where people like me were referred to as ‘LATE BLOOMERS’. At first I was offended and trotted out my lame old excuses. I grew up before the Internet and all of the information readily available to younger people now, I was always sickly and wimpy – I didn’t know anything else was possible, I was busy taking care of other people!
Then I started thinking about it. We have a large yard and garden. In the spring and summer and into the fall, we have an abundance of flowers. I thoroughly enjoy and appreciate them all.
But late in the season, when the weather has turned cold and our yard becomes a wasteland of Saskatchewan greige, the flowers long gone, there is always that one intrepid little petunia blossom that opens up to brighten my day.
That ‘late bloomer’ is special. I will make a dozen trips out of my way to pay it a visit and appreciate its beauty and resilience, before it fades away. I realized that being alate bloomer isn’t a bad thing.
People notice late bloomers – and that’s a good thing, especially for later boomers like me who have special people in their lives – people like grandchildren. They are aware of my efforts to get fit and healthy, they see the results, and hopefully they are inspired to follow my lead, sooner than later, because they deserve to bloom for a lifetime.
Food Diary – Day 18
(1) c coffee
(1) 2 egg omelet with back bacon, mushrooms, onion, and cheese pan fried with olive oil
(12) oz water
(12) oz water
(1) c tea
(12) oz water
(12) oz carbonated water
(1) tortilla wrap with filling of ground beef, onion, mushroom, spinach, red pepper, garlic, salsa, and cheese
(1) handful of Touch of Lime tortilla chips
(12) oz water
Total 60 ounces of water! 🎉
That’s it for today. Take care and have a great day! 💞🌞
Day sixteen of 365. I am still here, although I am running late for the 2nd day in a row.
Yesterday, I was late to the party because I had had a rough night sleep and just finally fell asleep when I should have been getting up.
Last night, I slept like a rock for a solid ten hours. 🤦
I’m up already! Ok, maybe finally? I love the housecoat Dan got me for Christmas. ❤️
Another day this week to focus on drinking water. Proper hydration is so important to everyone, but I am noticing more and more how important it is for those of us with chronic health issues.
For myself, with multiple respiratory issues, proper hydration is key to dealing with mucus. The good news is – water works! I have been gradually upping my water intake this week and my sinuses are so much better! I usually sleep well, with occasional wakeups due to coughing fits, most often triggered by post nasal drip. Last night, no coughing – nothing!
My sister Lorraine commented on my post yesterday (as anonymous). She noted that one of the rules for organ transplants (hers was kidney) is proper hydration – two litres a day of water, and double that if you have an alcoholic drink.
Speaking of kidneys, I have had previous issues with kidney stones – for which plenty of water is advised.
This morning, my daughter Jen sent me an interesting post on Instagram, from an account dedicated to those who have EDS (Ehlers Danlos Syndrome – a genetic collagen disorder). https://www.instagram.com/share/p/BAMZdhiVBc
This post notes that not only is proper hydration important but so is sodium, potassium, and magnesium to support cellular hydration, fluid balance, and nerve transmission.
One thing that I have learned the hard way, is that while medical intervention is available during a chronic health crisis, one has to be proactive in maintaining one’s health and controlling one’s flare ups between the crises. Adequate hydration is one such proactive measure that is necessary.
Daily Food Diary – Day 16
(1) c coffee
(3) crumpets with butter and jam
(12) oz water
(12) oz water
(1) c tea
(1 1/2) sm bowls chips and sm crackers
(12) oz water
(1) lg taco salad – lettuce, spinach, baked chicken, onions, radishes, cucumber, red pepper, olives, shredded cheddar cheese, dried fried onions, Salsa salad dressing and a few Hint of Lime tortilla chips
(12) oz carbonated water
(1) chocolate
(12) ounces of water
Total water : 60 OUNCES 🎉
That’s it for today! Take care and have a great day! 😊❤️
It is only eleven days since I started my food diary, so I can’t give this exercise total (or possibly any) credit but this week I realized that I do need to work on a wardrobe makeover.
For the most part, what I wear isn’t a huge issue as I spend most of my time in our house or yard. There are however, times when I venture out into the world and my clothing choices are getting pretty slim – or more accurately saggy.
It’s a start – fleece lined leggings and hooded casual top. Both are medium and I should probably have ordered small, but they work.
Food Diary – Day 11
(1) c coffee
(1) oriental pear
(1/2) c raspberries
(2) sq dark chocolate
(1/4) c mixed nuts
(1) c tea
(3) c chicken fried rice w/vegetables ***
(12) oz carbonated water
(1) sm piece of DQ ice cream cake (from Genie’s Christmas Eve birthday.
(1) c tea
(10) Blue Diamond Almond Thin crackers (14.4 calories per cracker. Little to no taste)
*** Dan made supper last night because I was feeling off and achy for whatever reason. He did a great job of it, as usual, and today I am feeling fine.
Good Saturday morning, because paying attention to what I eat is a seven day a week exercise. ☺️
As always, today’s food diary entry is for yesterday – Friday January 10th. Friday used to be the worst day of the week for my diet. That was my food reward day for making it to the end of the work week. Donut breakfast, fast food lunch (KFC was my favourite), happy hour after work and date night supper out when Dan was off (some unhealthy prepackaged meal when he wasn’t). I am surprised I survived as long as I did with all of that salt, sugar, and yeast.
My diet is still far from perfect, but I am becoming more aware of what I eat and I am making some improvements – specifically snacking less, especially in the evening. It’s not that I don’t want to snack all evening. I just get cringy thinking about writing it all down and posting it for everyone to see. 🙄
Hopefully by the end of this year, those evening snack cravings will be long gone.
Food Diary – Day 10
(1) c coffee
(1) large Baking Powder biscuit Denver sandwich
(3) 8 oz glasses of water
(1) small Bowl BBQ potato chips
(2) c leftover spaghetti with meat sauce and shredded cheese
(2) c raw vegetables – broccoli, red pepper, cucumber, and radishes with Dilly Dip
(12) oz carbonated water
(1) c tea
That’s it for today. Dan is gone to drive his girl Maddy to work and time for me to get my morning aerobics done while he is gone.
Genie, Rory, Grandma/Me, MaddyMaddy now – those (almost 15) years went by way to fast!
Take care and have a great day! 💞🌞
Morning sunshine to break through our cloudy skies and another foot of fresh snow.
Seclusion 101 with AnneMarie 