Tag: healing journey

February 15th – Day 45  of My 2026 Daily Activity Journal

by annemariedemyen, posted in 2026, Health and Fitness

Yesterday marked the forth anniversary of my Health and Fitness Journey.

This journey has taken me to places I  could never have imagined. 

Over the past four years:

1) I have… Done things I would never have attempted to do.  (Balance has never been my friend!)

2) I have …  Met my two BEST Forever Friends 💞💞💞 (two people who both live thousands of miles away from me, who are decade(s), younger than me, and who (on the surface) couldn’t possibly have anything in common with me. 🕺💃

3) I have… Traveled the narrow gravel backroads through the Black Hills of South Dakota with my daughter – going around curves with  a five mile per hour speed limit 😳

4) I have … With my husband’s cautious approval, adopted a GIANT Molly dog!

5) I have… Attempted, and successfully completed, major challenges  – like my 2025 Daily Food Diary. 

6) I have… Lost 40 pounds and fit back into my favourite Size 6 jeans

Seventy years old and they fit like they did when I was forty! 👍
Smoke break in my laundry room with my BIL Jerry same pants! 🤣

7) I have… read books by authors I would never considered reading!

I have been reading motivational books for decades –  spiritual, academic,  or philisophical type books.

I read the likes of Wayne Dyer, Louise Hay, Norman Vincent Peale, Eckart Tolle, and Rhonda Byrne…

Over the past four years, I have expanded my reading to include authors such as James Clear (a former sports coach) and David Goggins (a former US Navy Seal, ultra marathon runner, and forest fire jumper) .   Motivation through Physical Fitness authors.

Not only have I read their books – I continue to follow them on social media! In their pages and on their posts I have acquired wisdom and practical advice that I would never have been aware of if I had stayed within my typical reading gendre. 

That is the thing about journeys that take us out of our comfort zone.. we learn, we grow, and we change!  ☺️

A couple of weeks ago, I attended an online Tony Robbins seminar.  On the final day, my husband Dan went out and bought me this poster that now hangs on our kitchen wall.    I am so fortunate that I have a husband who always has, and continues to,  support my Health & Fitness Journey.

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

Daily Food Diary – Day 204 of 365

by annemariedemyen, posted in 2025, Health and Fitness

It is 204 Days since I started my Daily Food Diary.

While I am counting the calories that I consume each day, losing weight is not my sole or main  goal. 

I am doing this in an attempt to eat better, not necessarily less.  I have cut some foods out of my diet, added others, and tweaked a few.    This week, I had a craving for chocolate chip cookies.   Switching out the normally  processed white flour for almond flour, using dark chocolate chips and adding chopped walnuts all helped to make them a bit more nutritious – and didn’t hurt the taste any.

Other than baking (way too many) nutritionally improved  cookies,  my week hasn’t been going too bad – but it is definitely not one of my best.

Our weather has been cool, our  HUMIDITY  high, and we have poor air quality due to smoke from northern wildfires.   The humidity does nothing for my respiratory system and the smoke (which I am allergic to) destroys it. 

I have been managing… Taking my meds, clearing my lungs and sinuses,  doing my aerobics and weight & cardio exercises, watching my diet, keeping active, managing my stress … and avoiding outside air (as much as possible). 

But my lungs are struggling and I am booked for my annual pulmonary function test tomorrow.   I cannot see this going  well.

Am I the only one who is mortified at the thought of  failing a health test?   🤦

Daily Food Diary – Day 204

Breakfast:

(1) c coffee (2)

(1/2) grapefruit (39)

(1/2) tsp. Sugar (8)

(2) crumpets (160)

(2) tsp butter (34)

(1) tbsp raspberry jam (50)

Lunch:

(1/2) c potato salad (236)

(1/4) c radishes (5)

(1/4) c green onions (10)

(1 1/2) oz Piller’s Ham (43)

(5) Hint of Lime tortilla chips (125)

(2) Almond flour chocolate chip cookies (100)

(48) oz water

Supper:

(1 1/2) servings nachos – tortilla chips, ground turkey, red pepper, green onion, hot pepper, black olives, shredded marble cheese, salsa (657)

Total net calories: 1188

Net calories goal: 1229 – 1188 = 40 under 👍

* Highlighted items contain significant collagen or significant contribute to the production of collagen

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

Daily Food Diary – Day 203 of 365

by annemariedemyen, posted in 2025, Health and Fitness

It is Day 203 of my Daily Food Diary.  💖🤗

That is a full 29 weeks since I became mindful of my daily diet.   The real story is what does not appear in my diary – everything I reach for, then walk away from  or  each time I pivot and  go with a healthier choice,  rather than my first choice.

I have done temporary Food Diaries in the past (for medical reasons) and I found them to be an  annoying inconvenience – and not particularly useful to anyone.  For two or three days, I could easily deprive myself of anything that might seem questionable to a doctor or nutritionist.  Which of course would  defeat the purpose…

Now,  I  appreciate having this constant nudge to eat mindfully and (relatively)  responsibly.   

It is  bizarre how seldom it is that we seriously consider what we consume.  In that regard, I think we are far more aware of how we nourish our pets and our plants than our own bodies. (Maybe it’s just me.  😔)

This is a supermarket orchid that Dan bought me.   The instruction card said it should bloom once a year.  I have replanted it in a specific orchid potting mix, I water it sparingly, and I feed it a mixture of ground eggshells and dried banana peels.  It has been blooming for three years.  Every  set of blossoms get bigger, last longer, and are replaced by a new set as soon as they fall. 

In retrospect, it seems beyond bizarre that I have been more conscientious about nurturing a  plant than my own body.   (Even if it is a cool plant. 🤔)

Daily Food Diary – Day 203

Breakfast:

(1) c coffee (2)

(1/2) Grapefruit (39)

(1 1/2) c sugar (24)

(1) c Shreddies (200)

Lunch:

(2) oz Rotisserie chicken (100)

(8) Lay’s BBQ potato chips (75)

Snacks:

(1) Coffee Crisp Ice Cream cone (280)

(1) Almond flour/dark chocolate chip cookie (50)

(48) oz water

Supper:

(1) Chef Salad – lettuce, green onions, radishes, cucumber, tomato, olives, ham, boiled eggs, shredded cheese, sunflower seeds, dried fried onions, Black Peppercorn Ranch salad dressing (500)

(12) oz carbonated water

(1) Almond flour/dark chocolate chip cookie (50)

Total net calories:  1146

Net calorie goal:  1229 – 1146 = 83 under

* Highlighted items contain significant collagen or significant contribute to the production of collagen

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