Tag: chronic health issues

Daily Food Diary – Day 328 of 365

by annemariedemyen, posted in 2025, Health and Fitness

Today is Day 328 of my Daily Food Diary. 😄

Despite snow storm warnings for the past week, any such weather seems to have missed Saskatchewan.  It is cool this morning but dry.   While there are plenty of dried leaves that have finally fallen, most of the grass around here is still suspiciously green.   I swear our seasons are shifting  later each year.   We are still mid autumn – and come June it will still be winter.  🤔

I am still enjoying that break between our Canadian Thanksgiving and full on  Christmas Season.  But,  I do have two wins to celebrate today.

1) Yesterday, I broke away from my less than impressive typical lunch and made myself a full on (small) salad.   I should generally make more of an effort when it comes to lunches, but it is too easy to grab a handful of chips and/or a couple of cookies.  But, yesterday I did it.   I made myself something relatively nutritious so I will take the win.

2) This morning, I took Molly for a walk by myself.  That alone is win worthy, but today on our walk I coughed twice.  A couple of coughs each time to clear my lungs/throat and we moved on.  I know it doesn’t sound that impressive, but for me,  walking our dog alone without multiple coughing fits is a massive double win for me!

Molly sharing the win.  (She did contribute to the win by being an especially good girl this morning. 💞)

Daily Food Diary – Day 328

Breakfast:

(1) c coffee (2)

(1) c brown sugar Shreddies (210)

(1/4) c 2% milk (28)

Lunch:

(1) small salad – romaine lettuce, green onions, radishes, cauliflower, ham, cheese, peppercorn ranch dressing, fried dried onions (393)

(36) Oz water

Supper:

(2) large sour cabbage rolls (360)

(12) Oz carbonated water

(1) snickerdoodle (90)

Total consumed calories: 1083

Total used calories: 337

(35) min aerobics (200)

(30) min walking (137)

Total net calories: 746

Net calorie goal: 1208-746 = 462 under 🤔

That’s it for today.  take care and have a great day! 💞🥳

August 2018

Daily Food Diary – Day 327 of 365

by annemariedemyen, posted in 2025, Health and Fitness

Today is Day 327 of my Daily Food Diary! 😎

I have been trying to be mindful of what I eat (and cook) for almost eleven months now.  I have even been  putting a respectable effort into choosing our menu – especially supper.   Despite all this effort, often – like once a week,  I find out that my  daughter, her daughter, or both of them – made exactly the same thing as us on the same day.   Last week it was Genie.  For supper on Saturday, Dan made Baked French Onion Soup.   After, seeing my blog on Sunday – Genie messaged me to say that she had done likewise for herself and her sister Prim.  So strange – I know Genie makes a lot of homemade soup, but I don’t think either of us make French Onion Soup regularly.  But apparently, when we do..🤔

It is another relatively pleasant day in Southern Saskatchewan – so far!  There is talk of snow but we have dodged it so far. (or at least the snow that comes and stays until spring)

We went for our morning walk.  The  humidity was relatively high (93%) but I still did quite well coughing wise –  a few random coughs, but no coughing fits, so that was good!

Another hand shot today. 

This one is to share my win for yesterday.  I got my wedding rings on.  I haven’t been able to wear them for months –  since I caught my finger on Molly’s chain (leash) when I was walking her.    The swelling in my knuckle refused to go down.   Now it is finally gone. 😁

Daily Food Diary – Day 327

Breakfast:

(1) c coffee (2)

(1) 2 egg Denver omelet (235)

(2) potato patties (240)

Snacks:

(36) oz water

(2) Belgium chocolate cookies (107)

Supper:

(3) spring rolls (375)

(3) c chicken stir fry (614)

(12) Oz carbonated water

Total consumed calories: 1573

Total used calories: 137

(30) min walking  (137)

Total net calories: 1436

Net calories goal: 1208 – 1436 = 222 over 👎

That is it for today.  take care and have a great day! 🤗🧡

Daily Food Diary – Day 326 of 365

by annemariedemyen, posted in 2025, Health and Fitness

Today is Day 326 of my Daily Food Diary. 🙉  It is Sunday and our weather is amazing.  It is a few degrees above freezing, sunny,  warm, and DRY!  

We went for our morning walk a while ago.  The streets were relatively quiet.  We crossed paths with one dog that Molly would have liked to interact with, but they both just wanted to play so it was not a big deal.

On our walk, I coughed three times.  That was not three coughing fits – just a couple of coughs each time to clear my throat.  I am sure that is a three year record. 🤩

Last night Dan made Baked French Onion Soup for supper.   He used lots of onions, unsalted Campbell’s beef broth, toasted sourdough bun, and shredded cheese (marble for mine/mozzarella, provolone, & parmesan for his).   It was our second amazing supper in a row.

After supper we watched a movie (after the Toronto/Montreal hockey game).   We seldom watch movies.  I usually choose the movies we watch and my choices are questionable at best.  ‘Catnado’ hit a new low for me – and that took some doing! Last night we watched one that Dan was interested in seeing.  It was definitely a step up. 👍

The rest of our day today should be quiet.  Dan is going to pick up granddaughter Maddy in a bit.  He will probably let her drive home, as he usually does.  She completed her Driver’s Training course with a very respectable 93% – now she just has to keep practicing until the end of March, when she will be old enough to go ace her Driver’s Test.

Maddy – Her first drive ever. (With her Mom as co-pilot in my Taurus)

  

Daily Food Diary – Day 326

Breakfast:

(1) c coffee (2)

(3) crumpets (240)

(2) tsp butter (69)

(1) tbsp jam (50)

Snacks:

(48) Oz water

(1) snickerdoodle (90)

(1) Matt’s climate caesar (168)

Supper:

(1 1/2) servings baked French onion soup (552)

Total consumed calories: 1171

Total used calories: 337

(35) min aerobics (200)

(30) min walking (137)

Total net calories: 834

Net calories goal: 1208 – 834 = 374 under 👍

That is it for today.  take care and have a great day! 🤗💓

Daily Food Diary – Day 323 of 365

by annemariedemyen, posted in 2025, Health and Fitness

This is Day 323 of my Daily Food Diary.  323 Days in and this is the closest I have come to missing posting my blog.  😳

Our humidity was finally down this morning, so I joined Dan and Molly for a  walk.   We stopped at the dog park for a while so Molly got in a good run with her friends, but set us back a bit.  

We got home and I did some poo cleanup in the yard, fed the squirrels, brought in the mail, and had a bath.  By then, I was just all sorts of off track for the day.

It has been almost five months since I started taking collagen supplements.  I have seen a number of benefits and a few changes in my health/body that I wasn’t expecting.

The weirdest change could be to my hands.  They feel a little better and they are stronger, but they also look different!

They look kind of alien- ish and the color is off  (seriously difficult to take pictures of my own  hands) but my veins (or arteries?) are almost gone.  The left side photos were taken in July.

I have been noticing the change for a few months.  Whatever is going on, my blood pressure and pulse are fine.  🤷‍♀️

Daily Food Diary – Day 323

Breakfast:

(1) c coffee (2)

(1/4) c milk (28)

(1) c brown sugar  Shreddies (210)

Lunch:

(2/3) c chicken broth (10)

(3/4) c Hamburger Helper Lasagna (210)

Snacks:

(1) tbsp honey (40)

(10) Hint of Lime Tortilla Chips (200)

Supper:

(1) Hungry Man Chicken Dinner (520)

(1) extra brownie (50)

Total consumed calories: 1360

Total used calories: 174

(30) min aerobics (174)

Total net calories: 1186

Net calories goal: 1208 – 1186 = 22 under 👎

That’s it for today.  TAKE CARE AND HAVE A GREAT DAY! 😊💖

In front of the main branch of our library.  We drove downtown just to see this elephant (a few years ago).   Im not surprised I hadn’t seen it before – it was almost impossible to see it when we were looking for it. 😂

Daily Food Diary – Day 322 of 365

by annemariedemyen, posted in 2025, Health and Fitness

Today is Day 322 of my Daily Food Diary.  With 46 weeks down, I have a mere 6 weeks left to my 2025 Daily Food Diary Challenge! 💥

This week, I have been trying to up my activity level.  Our weather isn’t really co-operating.  Yesterday it rained all day, so none of us went for our daily walk.  Today it is foggy, so Dan and Molly went without me.

Yesterday, I did do my aerobics and light weights.  I got on the treadmill last night, but had to pull the plug after ten minutes due to a severe coughing fit.  Dan and I did give Molly a good brushing yesterday, so that was a workout of sorts.

Molly, showing her appreciation for our efforts. 😆

Last night, I watched our evening news.  I generally avoid watching our news – preferring to read it online, where I can skip over the articles of little personal interest or those that will just serve to annoy me.

But, last night I watched the evening news.  Elections Saskatchewan announced that they were planning to do a test run of phone in voting for our next election,   plus they are looking at replacing Election Day with Election Week.   We currently have Advance Polling, Mail In Voting, Curbside Voting, Homebound Voting, and Personal Care Home and Hospital Voting. 

In last year’s provincial election, a paltry 54% of eligible voters exercised their right to vote.  So, Elections Saskatchewan has decided to take steps to make the election process easier.

Personally, I don’t care how votes are colleced,  as long as the votes are legitimate.  

But I don’t believe ‘easier’ is the way to go.  I think it cheapens the entire election process.   Easier seldom means better in my mind and rarely, if ever, brings out the best in people.  

Personally, I think we should look deeper if we want to really engage more people in the election process.   The problem isn’t access, it is apathy.  (In my mind)

Any thoughts?

Daily Food Diary – Day 322

Breakfast:

(1) c coffee (2)

(2) Eggo Waffles (180)

(2) tsp butter (68)

(2) tbsp syrup (104)

(3) slices bacon (130)

Lunch:

(1) c broth (5)

(8) Hint of Lime tortilla chips (200)

(1/2) c raspberries (32)

(1) snickerdoodle (90)

Snack:

(60) Oz water

(1) tbsp honey (40)

Supper:

(2) servings chicken caesar salad (630)

(2) Belgium chocolate cookies (107)

Total consumed calories: 1588

Less used calories: 271

(30) min aerobics. (174)

(30) min light weights (73)

(10) min treadmill (24)

Total net calories: 1317

Net calories goal: 1208 – 1317 = 109 over 👎

Daily Food Diary – Day 321 of 365

by annemariedemyen, posted in 2025, Health and Fitness

Today is Day 321 of my Daily Food Diary!🤗

I am not sure where this week is going, but it seems to be heading upwards! 🖕 (well that’s an awkward emoji)

Anyway… Sunday was rough.  It was foggy all day and my lungs were not happy.  I didn’t walk, didn’t workout, and didn’t sleep that night.

Yesterday, the humidity was lower.  I went for a morning  walk with Dan and Molly.  I did an aerobics workout and spent thirty minutes on the treadmill.   I did some cleaning up around here. And.. I slept like a rock last night.

Today, I got up to rain.  Obviously, the humidity is back up.  We did not walk – partly because of my lungs, mostly because our Molly dog does not like rain.

Nope!

I had a breakfast high in bacon protein.  I used my Aerobika to clear my lungs and I did my aerobics.   🤗

I plan to do light weights this afternoon, spend time on the treadmill, brush Molly dog – followed by swiffering, dusting, and cleaning the filters in our air purifiers.  (Because that’s what I do after brushing Molly. 😉)

Just working on getting through this unseasonably humid rainy season.

Daily Food Diary – Day 321

Breakfast:

(1) c coffee (2)

(1) c cheerios (200)

(1/4) c 2% milk (28)

Lunch:

(1) c Campbell’s chicken broth (5)

(10) light salted chips (70)

Snacks:

(1) tbsp raw local honey (40)

(1) Oz Planters dry roast peanuts (162)

(36) Oz water

Supper:

(12) Oz carbonated water

(2) c Lasagna Hamburger Helper w/ lean ground beef, onions, and orange pepper (677)

(2) c Brussels sprouts w/ butter (180)

(1) snickerdoodle (90)

Total consumed calories: 1454

Total used calories:

(30) min walking (137)

(30) min aerobics (174)

(30) min treadmill (73)

Total net calories: 1070

Net calories goal: 1208 – 1070 = 138 under 👍

That’s it for today. Take care and have a great day! ❣️😋

Daily Food Diary –  Day 318 of 365

by annemariedemyen, posted in 2025, Health and Fitness

Today is Day 318 of my Daily Food Diary.   318 DAYS without a single miss! 🤩

Today, I am celebrating another non-scale victory.  This morning, I checked my blood pressure – 100/65.  I also checked my blood oxygen 95% and pulse 74 btm.  My scale fluctuates a few pounds every day, but today I weighed in at 122.6 pounds (normal for my 5′-1″).  All in all, not bad for my current age 70 yrs and 4 months. 😁

Yesterday, I received my latest Amazon order: 

Collagen drops for Molly (the jury is still out as to how they are helping her, but they obviously aren’t hurting and she seems to scratch less than she did)

A case for my new phone – It’s a teal wallet type that holds my bank cards, health card, driver’s license and the like.  It works for me – better than anything I could find here.  

And… pink earmuffs to keep my ears comfy, cozy on our Molly walks.

No, I did not know they would be that big and fluffy.   Also NO,  I will not care when it is 40 below and I am out plodding through the snow with Molly and Dan.

Daily Food Diary – Day 318

Breakfast:

(1) c coffee (2)

(23) brown sugar shreddies (210)

(1/4) c 2% milk

Snacks:

(1) apple (95)

(1/4) c Planters dry roast peanuts (324)

(14) low salt chips (130)

(1) snickerdoodle (90)

(48) Oz water

Supper:

(1) sourdough bun (190)

(2) top butter (68)

(3) Oz mini steaks (200)

(1/8) c mushrooms (5)

(1/4) c onions (15)

(1) c airfield French fries (115)

(2) Belgium chocolate cookies (95)

Total consumed calories: 1579

Total used calories: 210

(30) minutes walking (137)

(30) minutes treadmill (73)

Total net calories: 1369

Net calories goal: 1208 – 1369 = 161 over 👎

That’s it for today. Take care and have a great day! 🤗💗

For our grandson Logan who turns four years old today.  We have never met him, but we think of him and his brother, Dominic every day. 💝

Daily Food Diary – Day 316 0f 365

by annemariedemyen, posted in 2025, Health and Fitness

Today is Day 316 of my Daily Food Diary!

I was feeling pretty good when I got up this morning!

Yesterday, we finally did it!  After eight years, we went down to Prairie Mobile to upgrade our phones.  We survived the process and left with two Samsung 25’s.  Dan’s is an FE, but that just means it is too wide to fit in my hand.

Next, we went over to Chappys  for lunch.  I had a mushroom burger (no bun) and Dan had a small pizza (With a real pizza crust!)  Before we left, I went off to the washroom to wash up.  When I got back to the table, Dan handed me the ‘receipt’ and headed out.  I put on my coat, stuck the receipt in my purse with the papers from Prairie Mobile and left.

The rest of the day went fairly smoothly.  We had taken Molly for her walk yesterday morning, so I didn’t feel  bad forgoing any other workouts.   I worked on figuring out my new phone, signing into apps, the usual.  We had gotten all of our data transferred over at the store, so things went fairly smooth. 

I finished the day with a bit of a 911 marathon, a few Hint of Lime tortilla chips, a couple of cookies, and a sense of accomplishment. 

This morning I was still feeling pretty good until I went to check our bank accounts.  I couldn’t find the payment for Chappys.  I asked Dan how he had paid and… he didn’t.  

He had handed me the BILL! He had told me, but I had misunderstood what he said. (I generally do pay while he goes to start the Jeep, but I was still in a kerfluffle from being at Prairie Mobile for an hour).  🫣

So, this morning Dan headed back to Chappys to apologize and pay up! They were more than gracious and appreciated that he had returned to pay,  but Yikes!

For decades, I did the books for local restaurants (contract evening work after working for construction companies during the day).  I know what it costs to provide meals.  Also, I have a daughter and three granddaughters who work in food service now.  It’s not easy!

Never, ever, would I Dine & Dash, and yet I did. 😟

But we have new phones and I have no reason to head out shopping or dining any time soon.  So, there is that!

Time to get back on track with my workouts and diet today. 

Daily Food Diary – Day 316

Breakfast:

(1) c coffee (2)

(1) granola bar (160)

Lunch:

(1) mushroom burger (no bun) (333)

(1) serving crinkle cut fries (240)

(1) beef gravy (25)

Snacks:

(10) Hint of Lime tortilla chips (150)

(2) Belgium chocolate cookies (107)

(2) Black licorice twizzlers (45)

Supper:

(1) chicken thigh (208)

(14) lightly salted potato chips (130)

(3) mini chocolate treats (120)

Total consumed calories: 1520

Total used calories: 137

(30) minutes walking (137)

Total net calories: 1383

Net calories goal: 1208 – 1383 = 175 over 👎

That’s it for today.  Take care and have a good day! 💞🎇

Daily Food Diary – Day 313 of 365

by annemariedemyen, posted in 2025, Health and Fitness

Today is Day 313 of my Daily Food Diary. 🤗

Yesterday was a nice quiet Sunday.  Dan, Molly, and I went for our morning walk around the neighborhood.  The highlight of my afternoon was making a batch of Snickerdoodles – my first ever.

Snickerdoodles

The snickerdoodles didn’t  live up to the hype in my mind, but a little cream cheese icing would probably take them up a notch.

Today we had a plan to go to Prairie Mobile to trade up our cell phones and then head down the strip mall to Chappy’s for lunch.  The day hasn’t gone according to plan – my bad. 🙄

I forgot the plan and made a big breakfast of fried leftover potatoes and ham & cheese omelets.   Half way through our walk this morning, I realized neither of us would be up for a restaurant lunch.

Granddaughter Maddy would be so disappointed.  She was born with a plan – and a plan is a done deal!

It started innocently enough when she showed up with a plan to go to McDonald’s for lunch, which morphed into a plan to make a list and go shopping for: a new coloring book & crayons, new panties, a new purse, and a balloon on a stick.

Nowadays, she is working on a life plan… education, career, lifestyle – it’s there,  written in black and white but set in stone. 

And, meanwhile Grandma can’t stick with the plan to go pick out a new phone and have lunch.  As much as I need a new phone, I seriously need a new phone case!  Both are about eight years old and my case is hanging by a thread (a dirty thread to boot 🤦).

Daily Food Diary – Day 313

Breakfast:

(1) c coffee (2)

(1) c brown sugar cheerios (210)

(1/4) c milk (28)

Snacks:

(2) black licorice Twizzlers (45)

(1) tbsp honey (40)

(2) Snickerdoodles (180)

(1) Belgium Chocolate cookie (53)

Dinner:

(1) baked chicken leg & thigh (150

(1) c boiled potatoes (160)

(1/2) c gravy (80)

(1) c corn (125)

(1) tsp butter (34)

(1) glass Red Wine (165)

Total consumed calories: 1272

Total used calories: 137

(30) min walking (137)

Total net calories:  1135

Net calories goal: 1208 – 1135 = 73 under 👍

That’s it for today.  Take care and have a great day! 💖😁

Daily Food Diary – Day 312 of 365

by annemariedemyen, posted in 2025, Health and Fitness

It is 312 Days since I began maintaining and posting my Daily Food Diary.  🌟

From the very beginning of this challenge, I knew it would not be about perfection.  As it is with my Health and Fitness Lifestyle in general – it is about balance. 

My Daily Food Diary has been very helpful in making regular  improvements to my diet.   But, there have been days that have shown my diet to be less impressive than others.

Yesterday, on the other hand, was a good day! I started the morning with half a grapefruit, for a shot of vitamin C.  My lunch included a couple of chicken wing drumettes, which are high in collagen.  My snack was a tablespoon of raw local honey to help mitigate the environmental allergies that I have been struggling with.  The beef, barley, vegetable soup for supper was the star of the day with homemade broth – low in salt and rich in collagen, barley – part of any cholesterol diet, and mega vegetables rich in vitamins and minerals.

Yesterday’s good for body, mind, and soul menu was just part of my good day ….

I went for a morning walk with Dan and Molly, easily covering the full circuit in the crisp, fresh air.   In the afternoon, I completed (3) sets of light (8 pound dumbbell) weight exercises.   And, in the evening, after straightening up the kitchen and doing dishes (with Dan)….

I hit the treadmill for thirty minutes. 😊

Action shot…

Today, being Sunday, I will probably scale things back as usual – possibly focus more on the Mind and Soul with some reading and relaxation.

We did go for our walk this morning, after Grandpa Dan got back from taking Maddy to work.   It was quite the interesting walk with the city closing off an intersection that affects access to two major streets and one avenue in our area.   The traffic on our quiet little side streets was uncharacteristically heavy and with many of the drivers looking fairly lost, confused, and frustrated, the intersections were pretty dicey! Not to mention icy from yesterday’s snowfall.   Fun stuff, but we made it home in one piece and we all felt  better for having gotten the fresh air and exercise!

Daily Food Diary – Day 312

Breakfast:

(1) c coffee (2)

(1/2) grapefruit (39)

(1/2) tsp sugar (8)

(1) granola bar (160)

Lunch:

(2) chicken wing drumettes (122)

(6) onion rings (150)

(8) tater tots (124)

Snacks:

(1) tbsp raw local honey (40)

(36) oz water

Supper:

(12) oz carbonated water

(2) bowls beef, barley, vegetable soup (360)

(3) mini chocolate treats (120)

Total consumed calories: 1188

Total used calories: 282

(30) min walking (137)

(30) min weights (73)

(30) min treadmill (73)

Total net calories: 906

Net calories goal: 1208 – 906 = 302 under 👍

That’s it for today.  Take care and have a great day! 💞😊