Thursday, February 22, 2018

Thank you, Ann! I almost feel like the second surgiversary will feel more momentous than the first because I've been here before (just not with surgery). A year at maintenance will be virgin territory!

Greetings Purple People!

For some reason I have always associated Thursdays with the color purple. So here I sit in our purple house doing just that! (ok its lavender). 145.5 today. Dinner last night was a good chunk of a grocery store roasted chicken. I am sure they brine them and they have beaucoup salt which is why they are better than what I roast. Even though it has more than two dinners worth of meat for us, there is always the dog factor.

Well Liz, it must feel good that Queenie has a home. Yep the cuties go fast. But its nice that you get to "preview" all these pups.

Paula I hear you on cabin fever. Could you and Ben go to a local hotel that has an indoor pool and laze about?

Hey here is a food find: Krave pork terriyaki jerky. Its quite sweet (yeah a bit higher in sugar and calories) but to me its like candy and satisfies the sweet tooth but its protein. Most jerky has so much pepper on it that I can't eat it.

I also got this new phone app suggested by my shrink. I have had a lot of anxiety for awhile now and asked about some kind of bio feedback. He suggested this app (uses it himself) called Camera HRV. You put your finger over the smart phone camera lens and it checks your heart rate and has you breath at a certain rate. Then it supposedly compares your heart rate variability which is an indicator of how stressed or not stressed you are. It keeps a history for you. I find it interesting. Paula and Shel, your thoughts please? App costs about $6.

Cecily congrats on anniversary. Whatever you have been doing, keep doing it. Thats the advise from this 8 year person. I kind of went sideways at year five and have regained about 15 but am still way better off.

DH has his ROMEO lunch today (retired old men eating out). I have to go do tax returns for the studio and buy more clay.

Good on you Shel for "vetting" your DH travel friend. No doubt it will be fine and DD is less likely to bug out if someone else is going.

Hmm, Devon, thinking about the "fullness" thing. That will require more brain power than I have on just one cup of coffee. And its suddenly pouring rain. Diane S

Diane, I think the app sounds fine. Any kind of biofeedback can let you know if what you are doing through relaxation is making any physiological changes. You seem more like a mood ring girl to me!

They actually have "stress cards" or biofeedback dots that work just like the mood rings in the 70's did. The premise is that if you are relaxed, your arteries dilate and your body temp at the periphery (hands/feet) gets warmer. Those cards, dots and rings measure body temp and let you know how "stressed" you are! Other types of biofeedback can measure breathing rate (it slows down with relaxation) or muscle tension (it lessens).

I've actually taught quite a bit of stress management over the years!

Tee Hee, mood ring. I never had one because I considered them aesthetically inferior. But any tips on stress management would be appreciated. I will play with my new app until i figure it out and then will be bored with it and move on. DS

Weight: 131.8
Macros: Cals - 1,585, carbs - 188, fats - 46, protein - 98, fiber - 30
Veggies/Fruits (goal 8): 8
Sleep (goal 8 hours): 7
Exercise: Aquarobics class

And like clockwork, two pounds disappeared overnight -- my liver is emptying out after the KC sugar/salt weekend.

Yesterday's V/Fs came from the usual sources -- cherry tomatoes, spring greens, raw carrots, black beans (veggie burger), bamboo shoots, carrots, mushrooms, kale and other spring greens (Healthy Choice Korean-Inspired Power Bowl), and a lot of fresh blueberries (only $1.79 for a pint at Aldi's).

Yesterday was a "good" day, and today is shaping up to be one, too. So that will be my first two-good-days-in-a-row since my husband died. Or it will be if I stop typing those last four words.

This morning in yoga class I had an epiphany that as much as my husband and I loved each other -- and oh, how we did! -- we aren't the only people we loved or who love us. It may seem like a strange thing to focus on, but it felt good to remember that other people are loving me now, and other people are loving him now, too. Somehow that perspective gives me permission (and maybe him, too) to not work so hard right now to focus on each other when there are so many other things we need to focus on.

Liz, about your relatives' drinking -- gee, that's a lot of alcohol, day after day after day. If people hurt only themselves by their over-drinking and it didn't also have negative consequences for relatives, friends or even strangers, I'd be more tolerant of their drinking behavior. But that's often not the way things play out. Honestly, a lot of nights I wouldn't mind having 2-3 glasses of wine, but I don't. So I guess that puts me in the self-caring, self-righteous category. ;)

That's all I've got for now.

Today I'm rinsing and repeating yesterday's theme: Eat, love, sleep.

Little late to the game.

Thanks to those who answered my question! I appreciate it. It's something I've pondered for a while. I've also asked about it before, but I guess it's a hard question to answer for some people. I occasionally still miss the physical sensations I once felt. It's an odd thing, but I do wish I had known that there was a possibility that I would lose feeling in my stomach.

Anyway... The sugar abstinence is going well. Ripley's Believe It, or Not - the Devon Addition: I realized after school today I did not even think of eating something sweet after finishing my lunch! Will wonders never cease? That is a pretty big thing for me.

Weight is down almost 3 pounds. Like Ann, must be my glycogen stores depleting. Works for me!

Okay, not Ann's 8 servings of V/F, but I have eaten green beans, blueberries, and a sumatra mandarin orange today. Whoo hooo!

Peace....