Tag: #life is good

Daily Food Diary – Day 62 of 365

by annemariedemyen, posted in 2025, Health and Fitness

I am sixty two days into my Daily Food Diary and I am still tracking what I consume, and learning from this exercise every day.

This month, I am specifically tracking the  protein in my diet.  I am only three days in, but so far I am surprised by how high my  protein intake is. I don’t know if it is a fluke.  I haven’t been planning my diet around it.  Having Dan buy a small Chocolate Fudge Cake on the weekend, certainly hasn’t helped the cause. 🙄

Meanwhile, our weather continues to stay relatively mild.  Our February temperatures were not conducive to getting much fresh air so I have really appreciated finally getting outside.

Our neighbourhood is still not great for walking, but fortunately we have a large yard.   We don’t get to a park for a walk every day.   But…  I am getting outside,  throwing a ball for Molly, and getting some exercise  fetching it for her.

Molly sitting in her favourite corner. 🤦

Food Diary – Day 62

Breakfast:

(1) c coffee (2) (.3)

(1) c Cheerios (147) (2.7)

(1/4) c 2% milk (31) (2)

Lunch:

(24) oz water

(2) oz Piller shaved ham (57) (8.5)

(1/2) c Mini Ritz (140) (.2)

(1) oz medium cheddar (45) (2.5)

(1) c tea

Supper:

(1) Roasted chicken thigh & drumstick

      (387) (45)

(1) c mashed potatoes (113) (1.9)

(1/4) c Swiss Chalet gravy (20) (1)

(1) side salad (90) (5)

(1) pc chocolate fudge cake (300) (2)

(12) oz carbonated water

Total calories: 1379

Total Protein: 56.4 grams

Protein goal:  46 to 58.5 grams

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

Daily Food Diary – Day 61 of 365

by annemariedemyen, posted in 2025, Health and Fitness

It has been 61 days since I started my Daily Food Diary.  I am still eating and still tracking! 👍

This weekend was a double win for my health.

Yesterday, I went for a CT Scan that needed to be done before my hernia repair.  I had an appointment but they called me three hours early to ask me if I could pop down to the hospital right away to get it done.  That alone was a double win – I got it done and I didn’t sit around worrying about it for three hours. 😂

Also yesterday, I received the results of blood tests that I had done last week.  My results were a perfect win.  All the usual tests – cholesterol, blood sugar etc came in at mid normal.  AND There was no indication of any infection or inflammation.   That was all accomplished with exercise and diet. 👏 No medications used or required.  That is huge for anyone and especially anyone like me who cannot tolerate any drugs.

Food Diary – Day 61

Breakfast:

(1) c coffee (2)  (.3)

(2) breakfast sausages (270) (20)

(2) pancakes (173) (4.9)

(1) tbsp Pure Maple Syrup (55) (-)

When I spoke to a nutritionist last fall, she told me that Maple Syrup is the best natural sugar to use. (Still in moderation)  I don’t remember if she said why, but I think it is because it is the least processed.

Compare ingredients! No contest. 💓

Snacks:

(24) 0z water

(50g) Frito Lays Hoops (270) (3)

(1) c licorice tea

Supper:

(12) oz water

(1) Ruben Wrap

  1. 1 Tortilla wrap (170) (5)
  2. 4 oz Montreal smoked meat (136) (15.1)
  3. 1 slice Swiss Cheese (106) (7.1)
  4. 1/2 c sauerkraut (23) (.5)
  5. 1 1/2 tsp hot mustard (10) (-)
  6. 1.2 pc chocolate fudge cake (360) (2.4)

Total Calories: 1643

Total Protein:  58.4 grams

  • In the past week I consumed 257 calories over my goal of a net 1276 calories  a day
  • My protein goal is 46 to 58.5 grams per day

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

Photo compliments of our granddaughter Maddy who was in Alberta this weekend, staying in Calgary and visiting Banff.

Daily Food Diary – Day 54 of 365

by annemariedemyen, posted in 2025, Health and Fitness

It is 54 days into my Daily Food Diary.  I am not starting to slide, I am running later than usual this morning because I had to get to an appointment with the hernia surgeon. 

Everything is fine, he is going ahead with surgery – under general anesthesia this time.   Surgery will probably happen three or four months from now. 

I am fine with the wait.  As long as I take care, the hernia does not bother me.  The wait also gives me time to Goggins up and build up my respiratory system as much as possible before I go under the anesthetic. 

Our weather is co-operating with my intention to get more active and get more fresh air.  The sun is shining and it is beautiful out!

A few weeks away, but I am ready to lose the  winter boots, grab the sneakers, and get out to enjoy some nature walks.

Food Diary – Day 54

(1) c coffee (2)

(3) slices bacon No Name thin low salt (140)

(2) large eggs (140)

(1/4) med tomato (6)

(6) oz coconut water (34)

(25) No Name BBQ chips (270)

(9) Almonds (90)

(1) c tea

(1 1/2) c Habitant pea soup (271)

(5) Sofa Crackers (63)

Total Calories: 1247

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

Daily Food Diary – Day 51 of 365

by annemariedemyen, posted in 2025, Health and Fitness, Uncategorized

It is the 51st day of  recording my Food Diary and posting it here on WordPress.

Better yet, this is the day that our brutal cold snap finally breaks and our temperatures soar up to the freezing point.  It has been the longest coldest February that I can ever remember, but the worst of it is finally behind us.

We do not have any huge plans for today, but I am looking forward to a walk – outside in the fresh air 😊 – with Dan and Molly.  I’m also excited to be going to Home Depot to pick up some garden seeds.  It is finally time to start some seedlings for our garden so we have them to plant once this snow and ice is behind us.   That is weeks away, but I am still excited to take that first step.

Food Diary – Day 51

(1) c coffee (2)

(1) Peach (51)

(1/2) c pineapple

(1) Granola bar (160)

(1) Egg (80)

(3) Slices back bacon (52)

(1) Potato patty (85)

(24) oz water

(1) c Lemon Ginger tea

(1) Homemade oatmeal blueberry muffin            (199)

(5) Licorice allsorts (110)

(12) oz carbonated water

(1) Lean hamburger patty (307)

(1/2) Sliced tomato (6)

(1/4) Red Onion (3)

(1/2) c lettuce (3)

(25) Lay’s Classic Potato Chips(160)

Total Calories: (1262)

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

Daily Food Diary – Day 38 of 365

by annemariedemyen, posted in 2025, Health and Fitness

Thirty-eight days in and this isn’t shaping up to be a good one.   A few years ago this would have been one of those days that put me over the edge – or at least kept me clinging to it for  dear life.

There is nothing drastically wrong in my life today.  It is just one of those days where every little thing goes wrong.  

I woke up to a balmy minus 40C  (feels like). In reality it was  only minus 30C.   I made sausage and egg breakfast sandwiches and Dan’s sausage decided not to cook.  My computer was glitching, also my phone.   My phone worked, it just refused to make calls.  Since Dan was going to drive our Maddy to work,  I needed to call her to make sure she was ready.   Dan took the garbage out when he left.   I got into a  battle with the new  garbage bag.  I wanted to put  it in the garbage can and  it did not want to go.    Ultimately, I prevailed, but things got ugly.  Meanwhile, Molly dog was on a tear while I was trying to do a video for my accountability group.  Again, I prevailed but not before I accidentally deleted my video.  Finally,  I managed to complete my aerobics without incident but I have been experiencing coughing and  sneezing fits ever since.  Sigh…

It could be a long day.  I might even make a few poor food choices. 🙄 But this will be a good day to mark on my diary, because I know that tomorrow is another day – and it will be better!   Looking back through this year, there will be more days like today – and more better days that follow.   And this Daily Food Diary will be the solid proof I need  to remind myself that such is life.

Daily Diary – Day 38

(1) c coffee (2)

(2) tea biscuits with butter (234)

(3) slices thin sliced bacon (270)

(24) oz water

(4) air-dried chicken wing flats (320)

(1) egg roll with plum sauce (100)

(1) c tea (1)

(2) chocolates  (130)

(12) oz carbonated water

(3) c chilli with cheese & fried dried onions           (640)

(25) Salt & vinegar chips (270)

(1) c tea (1)

Total calories:  1968

(I knew that one was going to be ugly! 🙄)

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

Farewell to 2024

by annemariedemyen, posted in 2024, Health and Fitness

This is it – the final day of 2024.   For the first time in what seems forever, I am excited to bid farewell to one year and to welcome in the next! 

2024 was a good year for us, not perfect (there were a few hiccups) but overall a really good year. 🌟

This has been the first full year of retirement for my husband Dan.  We have settled into a pretty good daily rhythm.    Dan’s been kept busy dealing with our  shopping, spending time at the dogpark with Molly, and keeping up to granddaughter Maddy – who’s highschool and work schedule often clashes with her mother’s busy work schedule.    I keep busy working out, cooking, baking, and generally keeping things neat and tidy. 

We have also both been catching up on some home and yard  maintenance projects that had been avoided during my years of 8 to 5 and Dan’s 24/7 shift work.

Our December project – painting and refurnishing our livingroom.  I finally have the Steel Blue sofa that I fell in love with thirty years ago. 👏
The new microwave and stand – the stand was all Dan’s project.  While the end result is perfect, the execution was a bit painful.
The freshly painted spare room that became Molly’s room. 😂

All was not work and no play, as daughter Jen and I took a long anticipated trip through the Dakotas to help my sister Jeanne celebrate her birthday.

Always a warm welcome and a good time at Jeanne and Don’s.

A couple of more great moments from 2024 came via granddaughter Maddy…

Celebrating Maddy’s Grade 8 graduation, addition to the principal’s honor roll, and academic award for literary excellence.
Dan and I also had the honor of attending  Maddy’s indoctrination visit to high school – Arch Bishop O’Neil.

To round off the year, we had an early Christmas visit from son Dan, Amanda, Gabby & Cason. 

And Bacardi and Cornelius who stay with us,  while Dan and family stay at a nearby hotel with a waterpark for some R & R between visits.

Christmas itself was a fairly quiet day, topped off with a traditional turkey supper with daughter Jen and family.

Overall, Christmas this year was just a nice stressless time where hiccups happened, but everything ultimately worked out well for everyone.

That is a wrap for 2024.  Tomorrow, we usher in a new year with all of the hopes, wishes, and intentions to make it our best one yet.

Spring Has Sprung…

by annemariedemyen, posted in 2024, Health and Fitness

Today is the first full day of spring! Even though it is a dull and dreary day, I am such a fan of spring that I can’t help feeling this is a day to be celebrated.  💐

It is a day that I am reminded of my Mother.  Like me, she loved spring and I remember her often reciting the following  poem….

“Spring has sprung, the grass iz riz…

I don’t remember the rest of the poem and from the variety of versions I found on the internet I am confident no one else remembers either.   

I did find one particularly shocking version from Australia that did not sound familiar…

“Spring has sprung,
The grass has riz.
I wonder where the birdies is?
Tiny weeny wittle things,
Have no feathers on their wings.
Cannot fly and cannot sing…
Chop their bloody heads off.” 😲

There was another (less shocking) version that claimed the birdies were on the wing, high in the sky, dropping bird poop in my eye.     That one didn’t ring any bells either.  🙄

Mom,  with my teens (at the time)  Mark, Jennifer  & Daniel.

A more recent memory of spring that will never fade for me is a flashback to a month and a half  before the official return of spring two years ago – February 2nd, 2022.

I was sitting in my rocking chair, as I am now.  Unlike now, I was cold and miserable and exhausted and ill.    My King Charles Cavalier (Kat) was on the sofa close to me.

I was feeling down because the groundhogs that reported had indicated that we were in for another six weeks of winter.  I wanted spring.  I needed spring. I had so many plans  for spring – spring cleaning, spring planting, spring painting.  Then reality struck and I realized that if I did not get up and moving and building up some strength and stamina,  the arrival of spring would mean nothing to me.  I would not even be able to walk my precious little Kat when the sun was shining, the skies were blue, and the grass and leaves were green.   I would be sitting in my rocking chair feeling cold and miserable and exhausted and ill. 

It took me two weeks but I got off my chair and started my journey to health and fitness.

This year I can legitimately anticipate spring and start planning accordingly.  On Sunday, I planted containers of flower seeds to be transplanted outdoors when the time comes.  Our shed/grandkids playhouse is overdue for attention.  Our patios need pressure washing.   Sadly our little Kat is gone, but I am looking forward to hiking with Dan and Molly.

Molly is ready to go!

Spring is here and this year I am ready for it! 🌞🧑‍🌾💪

Take care and have a great (spring) day! 💞🌞

June 19th – Health and Fitness Update

by annemariedemyen, posted in 2023, Health and Fitness

It is time for another health and fitness update and it is another good one! 

Healthwise, there are two things of note.  Last week, I went to see my respiratory specialist for a follow up on the lung infection that I have been dealing with.  He was properly impressed by how well I am doing AND super impressed by my blood work.  YAY ME!  He was particularly impressed with my blood sugar as apparently Prednisone has a tendency to jack that up.    His only concern was, that due to how severe my infection was when I went to see him a couple of weeks ago, going forward I need to have an ‘Action Plan‘.   So, henceforth I will have a prescription for antibiotics and Prednisone on file at my pharmacy so that when or if I get a bug that heads down into my lungs I will have immediate access to the medication I require.    Obviously, Dr. Muftah was right when he proposed such a plan last summer. 🙄

The second thing of note, healthwise, would be my new and improved diet.  I don’t know if it is due to the infection I have been fighting, but I have been eating LOTS of fruit.  Dan has our fridge filled with fresh raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, peaches, pineapple, melon, mangoes, kiwi, and pears.  Fruit has never been my friend, but go figure! I am eating it and it is doing wonders for my skin, if nothing else. Also, I am doing a credible job of avoiding yeast in my diet and that is going super well. It seems odd to eat without swelling up like a frigging balloon and feeling like I swallowed a handful of icepicks with every meal. 😁

Fitness wise, I set out a few staggered goals some time ago. My next one is to be ‘healthy, strong, and fit’ by August 11th. With my new and improved diet and my ‘come back stronger’ fitness plan – it is looking good. This week, my fitness plan includes one half hour morning Zumba class, followed by one hour of dancing, speedball, fresh air, and yardwork in the afternoon, and half an hour of light weights, etc. in the evening. I feel so well that I know it is doable and I look forward to meeting my goal. Obviously, August 11th will not be the end of my fitness journey but it will signify the laying of the foundation for my next chapter. 📖

Other than health and fitness, Dan and I continue to work on the yard and we have been doing some painting around here. It has been so long since Dan has had any free time, and I have felt well enough to have the inclination, to get anything done! It feels good to get things done and the improvements are beginning to show.

That’s about it for today. I will leave you with one of the dance tunes that I have been enjoying lately. Take care and have a great day! 💞🌞