I am three days into my Food Diary recap. As I have mentioned regularly, this challenge was never about losing weight, however in February I decided to up my effort by counting calories. This led to 3 distinct wins!
1) I did lose a total of 12 pounds in 2025
2) Terry from http://radicallyretired.com, a friend that I have made here on Jetpack introduced me to Lose It! an app that has been very educational and extremely helpful in maintaining my Daily Food Diary.
3) Counting calories was far more interesting and educational that I thought it would be.
I thought I had a pretty good handle on portion control (I didn’t). I was comparing the portions I ate versus those that others ate – like my 220 lb husband, who until recently worked 13 hour, 24/7 shifts in a steel pipe plant. 🤦♀️
I also thought I had foods figured out calorie wise..
Salad was good… until I put salad dressing, sesame seeds, or cheese on it.
Nuts are good for you – until you look at the calories in them! (Salt and saturated fats add to the mayhem)
Sugar has tons of calories..not really, but sugar seriously ramps up my appetite so leads to a revolving door of calories
Chicken is low in calories – unless like me you like the dark meat skin on. That is where they hide the calories but that is also where the collagen is – so I have to balance that one.
Anyway, counting calories takes time but I would definitely recommend it, especially if one is trying to lose weight.
I am super late posting today. I didn’t forget to post, we were just out and about so I did not have time to post …walking Molly, running errands, doing a bit of shopping, having lunch at The Canadian Brewpub – which was win Number 1 today. Neither of us had brew but Dan’s chicken wings looked delicious and my taco salad was amazing.
Paying our annual house insurance was painful, but I did score a new fridge calendar for win Number 2.
Daily Food Diary – Day 336
Breakfast:
(1) c coffee (2)
(1) Denver wrap (537)
Snacks:
(1/8) c peanuts (162)
Supper:
(1) Manwich bun (811)
(8) lightly salted lays chips (116)
(1/2) Oz chip dip (20)
Total consumed calories: 1648
Less calories used:337
(30) min. walking (137)
(35) min aerobics (200)
Net total calories: 1311
Net calories goal: 1208 – 1311 = 103 over 👎
That’s it for today. Take care and have a great day! 💞 😉
This morning, Facebook sent me a ‘memory’ of the last Christmas tree we had. That was FOUR years ago. That was not a memorable Christmas Season, nor was it a memorable Christmas tree – at least not in a good way.
The tree was perfect, in every sparkly way – until we realized it came complete with a family of shrews. A big family – and they were indestructible, cocky, bizarre little creatures. They lived with us for months before the last of them moved out in the spring.
Good times… 🤦♀️
I am so glad that life has turned around and that we are at a place where I can count my wins each and every day!
#1 – Our first REAL snow of the season.I declined to walk Molly solo this morning, but I did go outside with her to clean our walks and paths around our patios.#2 – I did laundry, including the living room blankets. A win for me because it didn’t bother my lungs AT ALL to spend time in our basement. (Dan has been doing the laundry because it had gotten to be such a struggle for me.) 😊#3 – A win for Molly – Dan had to run over to a friend’s, so he took Molly to meet Tucker, their young Labradoodle. 😁
#4 – Yesterday, I finally hit the trifecta – a walk with Molly, time on the treadmill, and a session with light weights and cardio. 👍
Daily Food Diary – Day 332
Breakfast:
(1) c coffee (2)
(1) paratha (240)
(1) tbsp peanut butter (105)
(1) tbsp jam (50)
Lunch:
(1) Harvest hot dog (160)
(10) Lays lightly salted chips (1=5)
(1/2) Oz onion dip (20)
Supper:
(2) servings nachos with ground turkey, red pepper, jalapeños, olives, green onions, shredded habanero cheese. Salsa (865)
Total consumed calories: 1587
Total used calories: 280
(30) min walking (137)
(30) min treadmill (71)
(30) min light weights (71)
Total net calories: 1307
Net calories goal: 1208 – 1307 = 99 over
That’s it for today. Take care and have a great day. 💞🤗
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! 💞🥳
Another 3 months and I will have been on my Health and Wellness Journey for FOUR. years. It has taken some effort, some determination, some commitment, some encouragement, some motivation, and a LOT of inspiration.
It has become my lifestyle now, but I still struggle to stay on track. At this point, it has gotten easy to decide that good is good enough. I can compare myself now to where I was four years ago or to where others are at today and decide “Yea, I’m good”.
But, I want to be better. I want to know how good I can get. I want to know I did my best to reach my full potential. Good enough isn’t going to get me there.
So, today I am really grateful for my friend Jackie – for the inspiration she is and has been been for the past four years. For the inspiration she was for me this morning.
Jackie has been having a great week, she has been unusually busy (even for her!) And she has been knocking it out of the park every day – at home, at work, working out, everywhere. This morning she was talking about one specific incident that she referred to as her win this week.
I thought, that is what I need. I need to start noting my wins and I need to start pushing myself to have more wins. Bigger WINS. Because good isn’t good enough.
Dan & I brushed Molly head to toe for well over an hour on Tuesday. We took out a pile of hair as big as she is, sand, leaves, twigs, and more. We could have stopped a dozen times or let her decide good was good enough – but we went for the win! And I’m sure she has been grateful since. She knows she looks good, we know she feels better. 💯
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! ❣️😋
I missed my walk with Dan and Molly this morning. That was partly because I was making bacon for our Sunday Brunch. Mostly, it was our 100% humidity. Molly was anxious to get on with it and I knew waiting was not going to make it any better. The fog is here to stay today.
I did do a more thorough than usual kitchen clean up after we ate. I have an ivy plant from Jen hanging in our kitchen window. I finally gave it a trim the other day.
This was an old picture. It got WAY more out of control after that. The window was obliterated.After the trim. 🤭
Now that we actually have light coming in through the window, it is worth a bit more elbow grease to keep the kitchen shining. 🙄
There isn’t a lot more planned for today. I want to do some reading and clock some time on the treadmill.
Later, Dan will probably watch the Grey Cup game since the Saskatchewan Roughriders are playing. 🏈
Daily Food Diary – Day 319
Breakfast:
(1) coffee (2)
(2) Eggo waffles (180)
(2) tsp butter (68)
(2) tsp maple syrup (104)
Snacks:
(10) Hint of Lime tortilla chips (250)
(3) tsp salsa (12)
(2) Black licorice twizzlers (45)
(60) Oz water
(1) gin & tonic (130)
Supper:
(1) Homemade nachos (865)
Total consumed calories: 1656
Total used calories: 311
(30) minutes (174)
(30) minutes walking (137)
Total net calories: 1345
Net calories goal: 1208 – 1345 = 137 over 👎
That’s it for today. Take care and have a great day! 💓🤩
This morning we were up and about for an earlier that usual walk with Molly. We left the house at 8:30, just as a LOT of people were passing through the neighbourhood on their way to work and quite a few kids were making their way to school. Molly handled the extra foot and vehicle traffic quite well all things considered.
Our weather was fairly decent, but hard to believe it was as decent as our Weather Channel would have us believe. It was supposedly plus 13C with low humidity. It seemed pretty cool and damp to us but we were dressed accordingly so we were comfortable enough.
Yesterday, we had a quiet day around here. We had our walk and I did my aerobics. The rest of the day was spent getting our new phones in order and tidying up the house. I don’t know that I did anything out of the ordinary, but my lungs felt amazing when I headed off to bed last night. Absolutely clear, and I didn’t even cough when I took a few deep breaths just to check them out. I don’t know what happened, but I’ll take it when I can get it and I just hope there will be more days and nights like that in my future. 🤗
This morning, Dan is off for coffee with some of the guys that he worked with. Molly is down for a nap. I should get on with a workout or two while all is quiet on the home front.
Daily Food Diary – Day 317
Breakfast:
(1) c coffee (2)
(1) plain paratha (240)
(1) tbsp raspberry jam (50)
(1) tbsp peanut butter (105)
Lunch:
(1) cheese biscuit (129)
(3) oz roast chicken breast (75)
(1/3) c gravy (24)
Snacks:
(1) 315 ml Root Beer (170)
(1/2) c raspberries (32)
Supper:
(2) bowls vegetable beef barley soup (360)
(2) snickerdoodles (140)
Total Consumed Calories: 1327
Total Used Calories: 193
(30) minutes walking (137)
(30) minutes aerobics (174)
Total Net Calories: 1016
Net Calories Goal: 1208 – 1016 = 193 under 👍🏻
That’s it for today. Take care and have a great day! 🌞💞
That is 50 Days until the end of my DailyFood Diary Challenge.
In 2026, I am going to switch over to a 365 Day Daily Activity Challenge.
I have been getting back on track doing my regular workouts – walking with Dan and Molly in the morning, and doing my aerobics, light weights, and treadmill.
Yesterday morning, I walked the full route with Dan and Molly. After lunch I did a light weight workout – three sets of eight exercises using eight pound weights with dancing before and after each set. After a short rest, I hopped on the treadmill.
I know that if I am going to make the most of my Activity Challenge in 2026, I am going to have to break out of my comfort zone and kick up my activity level.
Yesterday on the treadmill, I felt it was an ideal time to start pushing my limits. I felt great, the 80’s tunes were rocking, it was time.
I had been strolling along at speed Level 3 on the treadmill. A couple of minutes in, I had kicked it up to a Level 5. Still feeling good and a bit cocky, I pushed it up to a Level 6.
Level 6 is the turning point from Slow Levels to Fat Burn. Specifically – 3.5 km per hour to 40 miles an hour.
I was clinging to the handrails for dear life, running for my life, and wondering how I was going to slow this beast down. I had my left foot up when I made the dubious decision to set it down on the side rail. And the right foot hit the 40 mile an hour treadmill. Well…
That was less than elegant and more than a little painful. Fortunately (or not), I was still holding onto the handrails. I got off in one piece – but with a few new stretch marks. 🙄
I know that I have to keep pushing through my comfort zone – but I can’t see myself ever hitting Performance Level. Maybe by 2027. 🤗
Daily Food Diary – Day 315
Breakfast:
(1) c coffee (2)
(1) c Cheerios (200)
(1/4) c 2% milk (28)
Lunch:
(3) PC’s roast chicken (319)
(1) cheese biscuit (129)
(1/3) c gravy (24)
Snacks:
(1) tbsp honey (40)
(1) snickerdoodle (90)
(1) Belgium Chocolate cookie (120)
Supper:
(1) homemade chicken quesadilla (464)
(1) 315 mil Pepsi (150)
Total consumed calories: 1565
Total used calories: 282
(30) min walking (137)
(30) min light weights (73)
(30) min treadmill (73)
Total net calories: 1283
Net calories goal: 1208 – 1283 = 75 over 👎
That’s it for today. Take care and have a great day! 💞😊
Yesterday in my blog, I wrote about my yeast allergy and how it has affected my health.
I was born with three health issues – asthma (which I was diagnosed with in my thirties), allergies (I have been officially diagnosed with environmental allergies but have yet to be tested and officially diagnosed with food allergies), and a collagen disorder/deficiency.
Of the three health issues – the collagen issue has been the most detrimental when it comes to my quality of life. For the first fifty some years of my life, I struggled with head to toe issues that affected me physically and emotionally. The most difficult part being that I had absolutely no idea why I struggled so much – just that I did!
Finally, in my fifties, my grandson was diagnosed with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome – Type 3 (a genetic mutation that affects the collagen in one’s body. I started searching reputable health sites on the internet and I discovered information regarding not only the prevalence and importance of collagen in our bodies – but that the information described me and my long standing health issues perfectly. During the past twenty years, others in my immediate and extended family have likewise been diagnosed with Ehlers Danlos 3 and/or with relative collagen issues.
Doctors that I have seen have brushed me off EVERY time I have brought up the subject. My respiratory therapist acknowledged the possibility that EDS could be affecting my respiratory system and my optometrist explained how it does affect my eyes.
Just having a solid lead as to the root of so many of my health issues has helped me immensely. For the first time ever, I understand my body. I have been able to make lifestyle changes that have helped me to live better.
This year, I began taking collagen supplements to see if they could possibly be of any benefit – particularly to my muscles and joints. While I had found a lot of information on collagen and Ehlers Danlos – I did not find much suggesting collagen supplements would be beneficial.
In the first two months, I noticed positive results to my nails, hair, skin, muscles, and joints. I was starting to notice an improvement to my sinuses. Then I saw my respirologist who put me on a course of antibiotics and 50mg Prednisone per day for ten days. (In a follow up visit, blood tests and X-rays indicated a possible minor infection/inflammation – which my respirologist said was nothing but that I had extra prescriptions on file if I required them. For an infection that I didn’t really have in the first place ?)
Within a few days of starting the antibiotics and Prednisone, I noticed that I was losing the benefits that I had been getting from the collagen supplements. My nails were breaking, my hair was thinning and falling, I was feeling like a dishrag and struggling to exercise with 5 pound weights.
I went back to the medical sites on the internet and found evidence that Prednisone inhibits the synthesis of collagen. The same Prednisone that doctors had been prescribing to me regularly (up to six times a year) for decades.
I continued to take the Collagen Supplements and once again (as the effects from the Prednisone wore off) began to see positive results. Except, that four months in, not only am I seeing an improvement to my nails, hair, skin, muscles, and joints, sinuses – I am feeling a notable improvement to the airways throughout my respiratory system. Despite, having recent issues with a flare up of environmental allergies, I can breathe easily. I can lay down or recline back in my chair without feeling like my airways are collapsing and that I am smothering. And I have upped my weights to eight pounders because the five pounders just weren’t cutting it. 👍
These are the Collagen Supplements that I have been using. (From Amazon Canada)
Once again, my point being that it is up to us to be proactive when it comes to our health. It is nothing against medical professionals – they save lives. But – we each live in our own body, day in and day out. And when it comes to resolving chronic health issues that matters – especially as we age.
Daily Food Diary – Day 306
Breakfast:
(1) c coffee (2)
(2) potato patties (240)
(2) eggs (160)
(2) slices thick cut bacon (170)
(1) tsp butter (34)
(1) tomato (22)
Snacks:
(3) black licorice Twizzlers (68)
(1) tbsp local raw honey (40)
(48) oz water
Supper:
(2) c fried rice w/rice, pork, red onion, mushrooms, celery, red pepper, soya sauce, olive oil, butter (237)
(2) egg rolls (377)
(1) tsp plum sauce (12)
Total consumed calories: 1362
Total used calories: 110
(1) hr food prep/cooking/cleanup (110)
Total net calories: 1252
Net calories goal: 1208 – 1252 = 44 over 👎
That’s it for today. Take care and have a great day! 💝🤗
Wood carving for sale in Deadwood, South Dakota – it probably would have come home with me if our grandbabies were still small enough to ride it…
Today is Day 305 of my Daily Food Diary. Sixty more days and I will have successfully completed one full year of mindful eating via tracking and posting everything I consume- one day at a time. 🤗
This challenge has been less about losing weight than anything. It has been about eating better – cutting back on salt and sugar, increasing more natural and less processed foods and identifyingfoods that have been causing digestive issues for as long as I could remember.
For decades, I dealt with bloating, severe abdominal cramps, chronic diarrhea, heartburn, and oddly enough hiccups.
Doctors sent me for ultrasounds, cat scans, blood tests, and a surgery for an epigastric hernia. I was given prescription strength medication for excess stomach acid.
At one point, I suggested an allergy test for yeast. Despite the fact that my daughter had tested positive for a yeast allergy I was told that there was no such thing. I was sent for a blood test for celiac disease, because it was probably a gluten intolerance. It wasn’t.
Finally, I took it upon myself to eliminate yeast from my diet. Amazingly, to everyone but me, my digestive issues disappeared with the yeast in my diet.
I have no idea why doctors are so averse to allergy testing in this province – or why we have virtually no allergy specialists.
I do know that being allergic to yeast is a thing. A bad thing. And I know it is a thing that other people are still struggling with and still being misled about. When my granddaughter met with a potential family physician recently she told him about her digestive issues and her family history of yeast allergy. She was told there is no such thing. 🤦 Fortunately, she does know better.
Sometimes it’s not that obvious.
It’s not just that yeast is an allergen, it is also used as an additive to foods where no one would expect it to be found – from prepared meat sauce to powdered egg whites (plus anything made using such products).
And being a fungus, yeast is a relative to many other fungi that can cause issues – mold, mildew, mushrooms, foods that are susceptible to mold and mildew, anything that is pickled or fermented…
Plus anyone who is allergic to yeast is also sensitive to any form of processed or natural sugar, which yeast feeds on.
It is complicated and one of the reasons I have ultimately become proactive about my health. Every body is different. Even if multiple doctors cannot diagnose an issue it does not mean that there isn’t one – or that it cannot be dealt with.
Daily Food Diary – Day 305
Breakfast:
(1) c coffee (2)
(1) c Jordans Morning Crisp cereal (333)
(1/4) c milk (28)
Snacks:
(1/4) c peanuts (162)
(1/4) c corn nuts (132)
(3) Black Licorice Twizzlers (68)
(3) mini chocolate treats (100)
(48) oz water
Supper:
(3) c garden salad (190)
(2) tbsp French Dressing (146)
(3) oz pork tenderloin (206)
Total consumed calories: 1367
Total used calories: 174
(30) min aerobics (174)
Total net calories: 1193
Net calories goal: 1208 – 1193 = 16 under 👍
That’s it for today. Take care and have a great day! 💞🤗
Seclusion 101 with AnneMarie 