Eating Out

Yesterday was a successful day walk-wise. Eating-wise, okay also. I posted yesterday that I had a meeting with food and then dinner with a friend. At the meeting, I chose to eat only a few crackers and artichoke dip because dinner was right after. At dinner, I got a bit of a carb overload. Ate bread, half a calzone, a scoop of gelato.

Is making healthy choices when eating out difficult for anyone else? I might pick a salad but two things stop me. Firstly, veggie salads at restaurants are mostly just greens and a few toppings and aren't very filling. I can make better salads at home. Secondly, when I eat out, I want something that I don't or can't make at home. Also, taking pics of my food when others aren't is hard for me. So I only have one pic from dinner.

Have a great day everyone!

BREAKFAST
Chobani Plain Greek Yogurt. I really do not like Chobani's greek yogurt. It's less flavorful and more watery than other brands. I do like some of their flavored flip yogurts, though.

LUNCH

Salad w. Spinach, Arugula, Walnuts, Quinoa, Lentils, Black Beans. One pear.

SNACK
5 crackers and 2tbsp artichoke dip.

DINNER

Unphotographed Bread
Calzone with Mozzarella, Feta, Kalamata Olives, Basil, Tomatoes. Ate half of this.
Unphotographed chocolate gelato

EXERCISE
10,100 steps

Jan 12th

I had an okay day.

I started the day with plain Greek yogurt which kept me full all morning. I should start eating Greek yogurt more often. I like the plain variety. I think I have mentioned before on this blog that I cannot stand sweet things for breakfast. Fruits are the exception to that rule. But sadly, most yogurts you get at the store are sweetened. Maybe I will have those for desserts.

At lunchtime, I decided to run an errand over the first half of the hour and get some steps in. However, one errand ran into three and there was a really long line one place. So I got back to work with only a few minutes to spare and ate some cheese so I wouldn't starve.

The rest of my afternoon was really busy and I didn't get anything to eat until the evening when Don and I went to a church potluck. Sadly most of the vegetarian stuff there was pasta. This is usually not the case, so I wasn't expecting that.Having only had dairy and coffee the rest of the day, I was ravenous and ate some of that yummy carby pasta. :-)

I did get my 10,000 steps. I got into bed by 10pm re: my goal. I didn't fall asleep until 11pm though. Still, it's better than the past few days of going to bed past midnight.

Today's challenges: a meeting where there will be food, dining out with a friend, busy/long day leaving not much time for walking.

BREAKFAST

Plain Greek Yogurt, Coffee

LUNCH

Mild Cheddar Cheese

DINNER

Assorted Pasta, some veggies, bread, fruit at a potluck

EXERCISE
10,525 steps.
And here is this week's Fitbit Report:

Goals for the Week

Yesterday was an okay day food and fitness wise. I did mostly okay on eating healthfully, but ate a brownie at work and one square of dark chocolate and three squares of milk chocolate after dinner that I didn't photograph. I wonder why I do that!?!??!!!! In terms of walking, I got almost 10,000 steps, but it was from doing chores and so on. None of it was intentional. Today, I want to be more careful and mindful.

I should have set goals for this week yesterday with the weigh-in post, but I didn't, so here goes:

(1) Get into bed by 10pm
(2) Get 10,000 steps daily
(3) Do 2 upper body workouts

My sleep has been abysmal lately, so that needs to be remedied. Also, I rarely get 10,000 steps unless I put my mind to it. So, the second goal should help with intentionally focusing on my fitness. Finally, my goal of toning my arms has not been focused on at all this year. I need to get on top of that.

What are your goals this week?

BREAKFAST

Orange; Coffee w. half and half

SNACK

Small piece of homemade potato bread and homemade pineapple jam. The jam was YUMMY!!!

LUNCH

Salad w. Spinach, Quinoa, Lentils, Walnuts, Tofu, Greek Dressing; 2 kiwis (not in pic)

SNACK

1/2 cup Cinnamon Crunch Cereal; an unphotographed brownie

DINNER

Israeli Couscous with Pesto and Mushrooms; Morningstar soy crumbles
4 squares of unphotographed chocolate

EXERCISE
9,717 steps
I've decided not to log flights of stairs because my Fitbit routinely overestimates this.

Weigh-In #1

Welcome to the first weigh-in of the year after New Year's Day. Although this is the first weigh-in I am posting, I have hopped on the scale every now and again. This makes this report somewhat disappointing because at one point last week, I was down to 223.4lbs. Oh well! The official weigh-in for today is 225.0 lbs. Down 0.6lbs from last week. I am grateful for the loss however small.

Last week, I did most of my healthy eating and exercising/walking over the weekdays. From Fri-Sun, my daily steps were under 10,000 and although I did not eat horribly, I did not track much and also ate larger portions. On Saturday, we were invited to a friend's place, and I think she forgot that I was vegetarian because apart from the salad greens, the only other vegetables were cooked with the meat, so I didn't have any. I had a salad with no protein, and some greek yogurt. But she made the most amazing rosemary garlic bread that I have ever eaten! It was heavenly and I think I overindulged on it. I am planning on re-creating it sometime this week and if I do, I'll post the recipe.

Some of the other highs this weekend were - Sunday was a day of rest. All I did was chores around the home, painting my nails and catching up on some videos I wanted to watch. It has made my week start at a lovely, relaxed pace. On Saturday, I met a friend for lunch whom I have not met since the summer. She was my best friend for years and this is the longest we've gone without meeting. We hit a small rough patch a few months ago when we both were struggling with separate personal issues. It was hard to be there for each other, and I think we both felt let down. But, we talked things over - both of us apologized, and we are back to how close we were before. After lunch, we came back to my place, made some tea and chatted for a couple of hours. All in all, this weekend was a good one for emotional and social rejuvenation. I am grateful for this.

Although I did not consistently click pictures of my food, here are some of the things I ate this weekend:

Two eggs scrambled with zucchini and carrots

Slice of Ricotta/Potato/Onion pizza; Assorted stuff from the olive bar

Moong dosa (soaked and ground mung bean crepe) and coconut chutney

A sugar cookie that my sister and I had made and iced together over the Christmas holiday

Salad w. Lettuce, pico de gallo and pinto beans

EXERCISE
Less than 10,000 steps each day. Ranged from 3XXX - 8XXX.

Jan 7th

Yesterday was a long day for me. It was the first really packed day after the Christmas break, so I was a bit overwhelmed. After work, I went walking with my friend Lisa. I love Lisa - she motivates me so much! Apart from just being a great walking buddy, she lives a very mindful and thoughtful life - something I aspire to. Since I have started to take the bus to work, it's a longer commute now - almost an hour. By the time I got back home, I was tired and ravenous. So, I made something quick and easy and tasty - lemon rice w. peanuts. It's my Indian comfort food. I could have made some veggies, but ended up not doing that. But not to worry - I got several servings of veggies at lunch, so I think I'm okay.

When I got home, Don had done a bunch of housework. Our dishwasher's on the blink, so he washed a bunch of dishes, took out the trash and recycling, straightened up in the living room and made the bed. I was very grateful. Housework and organization are not his strong suits. Several of our big arguments are about this. When I thanked him, he said, "Well, I thought about how I could show you that I love you, and I thought you'd like this." He can be a cutie pie sometimes. (Though he also drives me nuts frequently!) I wish he would learn to cook - that's a skill I could use especially on days when I get home late. But he is as unmotivated to cook as he is motivated to eat. Never mind - I'll gladly take a straightened up home instead!

BREAKFAST

Banana

SNACK

Babybel Light Cheese

LUNCH

Salad w. Spinach, Tomatoes, Quinoa, Black Beans, Carrots, Goddess Dressing and Walnuts

1/2 cup cinnamon crunch cereal for dessert

SNACK
1 mini Almond Joy

DINNER

Lemony Rice w. Peanuts; Unphotographed square of chocolate, 1/2 cookie

EXERCISE
10,978 steps; 14 floors (I only did 10 flights, but the Fitbit overcounted again)

Jan 6th

Yesterday was one of those days again like the day before - rushing and going without breakfast, okay lunch, higher fat/carb dinner and lots of steps. I don't make healthy choices when I go out to eat. That's a fact. But then, I also don't go out to eat that often. So, I am cutting myself some slack.

BREAKFAST

Banana

LUNCH

My supervisee is from Jamaica. She brought me some jerk sauce from her Winter trip home. I sauteed zucchini and carrot noodles with some tomatoes and some jerk sauce. Spicy!!!! For lunch, I added some walnuts, scrambled tofu and quinoa to it. Also a babybel light.

DINNER

Shared Mozzarella sticks w. Don

Veggie Burger. I skipped the top half of the bun. Ate about 2/3rd the fries.

EXERCISE
11,640 steps, 11 floors

Jan 5th, 2016

Not much to report today. I did well mostly. I walked a lot. My eating was a bit off. I had to rush to work because I overslept and did not have a chance to eat breakfast. So, I ended up having coffee and a small cookie at my desk. I ate a salad for lunch. For dinner, I ate bar food. I could have picked a healthier option, but I picked fried food. It happens!

BREAKFAST

Coffee w. half and half; Small homemade cookie someone brought to work

LUNCH

I brought this pretty white bowl to work to motivate me to make colorful salads to eat.
Salad w. Spinach, quinoa, black beans, carrots, walnuts, tomatoes, goddess dressing
Babybel light cheese

DINNER
Unphotographed bar food - 4 mozzarella sticks, 4 jalapeno poppers, 1 cup tortilla chips, cheese dip.

EXERCISE
11,655 steps; 11 flights of stairs
I think my fitbit "enhances" how many flights of stairs I take. I think I actually only climbed 8 flights.

Jan 3rd-Jan 4th

I was out of town for the funeral of one of Don's cousins on Monday, so was not able to update the past few days. Not much to report today - mostly pictures, I think.

BREAKFAST

I had the same breakfast both Sunday and Monday - 2 eggs scrambled with onions, pesto, black olives and topped with queso fresco; Tea w. milk & 1 tsp sugar

LUNCH

SUNDAY: leftover veggie enchiladas and samosa ragada
MONDAY: We went to an Indian buffet. I didn't eat too much, but had way too many carbs!

DINNER

SUNDAY: Small slice cheese pizza, murukku
MONDAY: Corn tortillas w. queso fresco and japalenos (healthy version of jalapeno poppers)

EXERCISE
SUNDAY: 11,732 steps, 13 floors (most recorded on my fitbit so far)
MONDAY: 8,236 steps, 10 floors

And here is a pic of my first weekly Fitbit Report:

As you can see - I should probably have another goal re: sleep!!!

How I Look

I grew up with a mom who was very critical of my appearance and my weight. There is a lot to be said about that, but I will limit it to this - I went through years of dieting and bingeing to try and resolve the conflict between my really healthy self-esteem and really poor sense of my body-image. It didn't help that an ex-fiance of mine said some pretty derogatory things about my being overweight when he ended the relationship. I would resolve to diet, do it for a while, then give up either because my brain said that it was a silly thing to do to starve myself, or because I'd feel that there wasn't any point - my body was never going to look good.

Eventually, I reached a point where I decided that I was going to accept what my body was like, do good things to it, hope that if any weight-loss occurred it would improve my body-image, but that I was not going to intentionally go on any sort of diet ever again. I have mostly stuck to that. I don't calorie count, I don't do drastic diets, and so on. My body-image right now is not super wonderful, but I thought I had learned to live with it.

Then this December, I went to visit my little sister. My little sister is gorgeous! She is petite and at a very healthy weight - she is not skinny, not overweight, and looks amazing. She also takes care of exercising regularly, dressing and making herself up and so on - things that I don't do. My mom would frequently compare my looks to hers, and although this has not diminished how much I love her and how wonderful our relationship is, I find myself frequently comparing myself to her. It's never envious or resentful - more just admiring and cherishing, thank goodness!

In any case, my sister is getting married next year. I am her maid of honor. I went dress shopping with her. She looked amazing in all the dresses she tried on, and finally found the one! She looked drop-dead gorgeous in it! It is a stunner! Things were going along great until I tried on some bridesmaid's dresses. I hated myself in everything I tried on! No matter what style of dress I tried on, I found myself criticizing my two problem areas - my stomach and my arms. And without wanting to, I kept comparing myself to my sister and how delightfully lovely she looked in her dress. For a couple of days after that, I kept remembering what I looked like and the sense of shame that came up for me. I tried to find gratitude for my body that is so good to me, but I found it very very hard to do. I was miserable.

I don't want to feel like that on her wedding day. I want to be there for my sister and happy for her without constantly worrying about how I looked and what people thought of my arms and if people could see my unflattering stomach and so on. I want the day to be about her. I don't want to be miserable.

So, despite not wanting to have a goal specifically about losing weight, I am resolving to do so. I want to lose 25-40 lbs (get back to ONE-derland and stay in it) before the wedding in August. This is not easy to do. I realize this. I have not lost more than 15 lbs in any year for the last decade. So, it will take a lot of work. I particularly need to do something about my arms. I barely do any upper body exercises or anything to tone my arms, so I will need to focus on that particularly. I feel ashamed writing this, and think this is such a petty reason. I feel stupid and like a bad sister for thinking these things. But regardless, it is how I feel. I hope that ultimately it will lead to something positive.

BREAKFAST

Idli (fermented and steamed rice/urad dal dumplings) and coconut chutney

LUNCH

Salad w. Spinach, Carrots, Quinoa, Black Beans, Tomatoes, Goddess Dressing

SNACK
1/4 cup raw walnuts

DINNER

Samosa Ragada. Traditionally made with yellow peas, but I used garbanzos. Ate about 2/3 of this.
Mini-Samosas in a chickpea-tomato gravy w. cilantro and tamarind chutney, topped w. yogurt

Don has some land outside of town. It was freezing, so we went there and built a really warm bonfire and sipped on Don's homemade hard apple cider.

EXERCISE
10,766 steps
8 flights of stairs. I fell short, so will do 2 extra flights today.

January 1, 2016

Don and I heralded in the New Year at a friend's place. We went to a Vietnamese restaurant for dinner with one of our couple friends, and then headed to another couple friends' place for an NYE get together. It was just us and them. The man in that couple is from Mexico, and he made some yummy, really authentic Mexican salsa and black beans to snack on with chips. I found myself really sleepy and had to drink some coffee to stay awake. About 10pm-ish, I found myself wide awake and really enjoying myself. There was much merriment and laughter because this couple is really really funny. I drank half a glass of champagne at midnight. We left around 1:15am, and fell asleep about 1:45am.

I woke up on New Year's Day at about 10am. It felt really nice to have slept in. It was freezing cold outside, but our bedroom window faces south and the sun was out making the bedroom warm and comfortable. I debated starting the New Year with some sort of detox or fast. That shows you how much preparation I did if that was the first time I was thinking about it. I talked with Don about it, and he suggested that rather than fast or rush into a detox without any preparation, that I resolve to eat homemade food and eat small meals regularly. Thank goodness for a sensible husband!

I stayed in bed longer - reading, napping and lounging about in the warmth. Don brought me some lavender and tulsi tea. By the time I got myself something to eat, I was ravenous. I decided to eat leftovers. Then it was back to bed for more lazy-time. Just around sundown, Don and I went for a short hike and I followed that up with a long walk to get my 10000 steps. I only climbed 3 flights of stairs, but the hike that we went on was so steep that my Fitbit logged it as 17 flights of stairs!!!! I did well on the exercise front, and on eating small-ish meals, but did eat some non-homemade stuff.

LUNCH

Leftover Vietnamese Fried Rice

DINNER

Carrot-Tofu Enchiladas w. Queso Fresco and Homemade Salsa

DINNER
I slept in late, so I was up till about 3:45am. I felt hungry later and snacked on a small slice of cheese pizza and some homemade Indian dessert called Kalakand.

EXERCISE
10,106 steps
20 flight of stairs (17 of this was a very steep hike)

Another Year, Another Beginning

I have been away from my blog for a while. Things have been a bit chaotic at my end and I went through about a three month period of depression. It was hard to find the motivation to do anything some days. Other days, I would start well only to find myself crashing in the evenings. I eat to soothe my emotions, so there were plenty of binges. However, I have been working on some of the things that have been impacting my mood. I've made some changes, let some things go, am prioritizing self-care, and things are starting to look up somewhat. I am not sure if things are resolved necessarily, but they are better than they were in September.

In any case, I am motivated to make a new start. So, here is what has happened food/exercise wise since I last posted in October - I gained 5.0lbs. That is not horrible, although less than desirable. I actually was hovering around the 219-220lbs mark for a couple of months when between Thanksgiving and New Year, I gained 5lbs. It's the holidays, it happens. I hope to lose it and then some. I got a Fitbit for Christmas, and this has been motivating me so far, anyway.

So, here are my broad New Year's Resolutions:

(1) Live a more purposeful/mindful life
(2) More self-care - reading, friendships, pampering myself
(3) Lose a significant amount of weight

The above goals are vague, I know. As I go along, I will set smaller and more concrete goals. I want to talk about the last goal a bit more. I usually don't like to be bound by weight-related goals. There is a reason for this one that I will talk about in one of my next posts.

So, for now what does this mean food/fitness wise:

(1) 5x/week achieve my Fitbit goals of 10,000 steps and 10 flights of stairs
(2) 5x/week eat a salad for a meal
(3) 3x/week do some upper-body/arms exercises
(4) Eat more frequent smaller meals to help with BG
(5) Check my BG before each meal and after one of my meals daily

HAPPY NEW YEAR, everyone!

Mini-Binge Last Night

All of this week is going to be busy - I am doing two presentations at a conference this weekend, and I am feeling rushed, anxious and busy. Add to that the fact that I am taking Friday off to go to the conference, and I have a short week with a full week's worth of work squeezed in. Yesterday, I forgot to check my blood sugar before lunch and dinner and forgot to take the metformin as well. GRR!! I am tracking my food intake though, even if I forget to take pictures.

Last night, Don went to a potluck meeting that I sometimes go to also. But I was not feeling up to it. I had had only 5 hours of sleep the night before, so I came home. I didn't feel like cooking, so I ate what I could find at home - a hunk of cheese and a KIND bar. When Don came home, he brought me a small slice of cheese pizza and a cookie, and I ate that as well. It didn't feel like a HUGE binge, but it did feel like a small one. I am trying not to be hard on myself about it in keeping with yesterday's affirmation.

Today's affirmation is: I am mentally and emotionally equipped to enjoy a healthy and loving life. I have frequently doubted this. My mother has been depressed and angry her whole life, and I have learned a lot of my self-criticism from her. I used to be scared of her, but as I have grown older, I get frustrated with her, but see her pain and her love for me, and find more forgiveness that anger towards her. But, I have frequently wondered if I am like her and just not emotionally equipped to live a happy life. I am generally happy and optimistic, but I am given to bouts of depression that debilitate me. And I feel guilty for feeling that way because I actually have a pretty good life and people around me who love me. And a lot of my worry is that I am just not emotionally equipped to be healthy. I worry that I give in to food too easily and that comfort is more important to me that health. I am going to try and accept that I am emotionally equipped to deal with any challenges life places my way. And being healthy and being depressed does not have to go hand in hand. I can and will be healthy.

JOURNAL

Busy Day Yesterday

Yesterday was a busy day at work. I was busy all day with very little time between meetings. I am an introvert and usually like to take a break over my lunch hour, but I had planned a lunch with a colleague, so we ate lunch in my office, and then went for a 20 min walk. After work, I went for an hour long weekly walk with another friend. Then Don and I went to a bachata class. It was an hour long, but we only danced for 30 min - the rest was choreography and watching the others dance. I only snapped one pic - that of dinner. I did check my blood sugar before each meal, and the numbers weren't bad.

My affirmation for today is: "Every thought I think is creating my Future" - it's one of my favorite ones from the "Power Thought Cards". I think plenty of thoughts that are self-destructive. I say mean things to myself, I berate my choices, I compare myself to others, I tell myself I can't do certain things. Over the years, these thoughts have created my current reality - I am obese, easily out of breath, not in shape and have serious self-doubt about my capability of changing this. Instead, I choose thoughts that are positive. I have choices and I choose. I can do and think myself into a better way of being. I then choose these thoughts: I am loveable. I am enough. I am beautiful. I can eat healthfully without depriving myself. I can manage my diabetes. I can exercise 2-3x a week. I can eat more homemade meals. I can choose to think positively and create a healthy future.

JOURNAL

The numbers that are circled are my BG numbers prior to eating those meals.

DINNER

The only meal I took a pic of - mac and cheese w. soy granules and bell pepper.

I am Enough

I've been gone for a long time. I've thought several times of logging in to blog again, but a bout of depression coinciding with a really busy month (work and personally) had taken it out of me. I knew if I blogged, it wouldn't be regular - it would be another post followed by a long silence.

A few weeks ago, I was ruminating on all the health and fitness goals that I make for myself - each year, each month, each week, each day. I don't meet them. I have maintained the same new-years goals related to weight and health for years on end. Why can I not achieve it? I have done so many other things - achieved so much! But when it comes to food and eating, I am stuck. Nothing fundamental has changed - I still don't like how my body looks, I don't like how my body feels, I say derogatory things about my body, I judge things I eat, and I pretend I don't care by saying - I love my body, I am going to eat and do whatever I want!

Several years ago, when I first stumbled upon the world of food blogging, I was inspired and went through a very positive phase - I was recording everything I ate without judgment, and did an exercise of affirmation each day. It helped. When I work towards changing how I feel on the inside, and work towards adding the sort of fuel that I think my body needs, I end up feeling better, sticking to my goals better and being proud of myself.

So, that is what I resolve to do. I am going to post pics of food here like I have been doing, but I am also going to do pen-and-paper journalling about the food I eat. I will also meditate upon a daily affirmation. I may not post pics everyday, but I am committing to journal my food. And I will start with my favorite affirmation: "I AM ENOUGH".

I AM ENOUGH. I am just as I need to be for who I am now. I am enough for my family and friends who love me unreservedly. I am enough for the people I help who come to me and tell me that I make a difference. My body is enough - to get myself around and do my daily chores. My mind is enough - more than enough - I have three graduate degrees spanning two fields of study, I am a critical thinker, I am compassionate. My soul is enough - I am enough for myself and my maker.

BREAKFAST

Puttu and kadala. It's a traditional breakfast served in Kerala, India.
Puttu = steamed cake of roasted rice flour with salt and some coconut mixed in.
Kadala = Gravy with black chickpeas and coconut milk.

LUNCH

1/2 cup rice w. Salsa, Orange Bell Pepper, Yumm Sauce; Two kiwis.

DINNER

Don and I ate a really early dinner - vegetable/tofu lo mein at a Chinese restaurant. It was more noodle and less veggie than I had expected. Look at the size of that plate! I had some, Don ate his meal and then had some of mine, and I still have enough leftover for a weekday lunch! Then, we got hungry around 9-ish, so snacked on chocolate and pita chips.

Gratitude

Over the last month or so, I have found myself go through a lot of emotional fluctuation. I have mentioned before that I feel depressed - sometimes for no reason. When it come to food and fitness, I seem to go through cycles of feeling motivated in the mornings, but finding that motivation tanking in the afternoons and evenings. I am still hoping that this is a short phase, and that I will feel better soon.

The lovely thing is that the universe/God/higher-power has been sending me lots of things to help me feel better. I feel a great amount of love from my family and from my friends. I am well respected at work, and have a rewarding job where I get to help people and see them feel better. There is plenty to be grateful for, but I wanted to share some of the food/fitness things that I have been grateful for recently:

PEOPLE GIVING ME PRODUCE

I have received a lot of free produce this year from friends and neighbors - this is just a small sampling. I've also received more zucchini, strawberry and pears. The mint was picked by me and my friend Lisa who knows I love mint and led me to a giant patch of mint growing on a sidewalk.

LIVING IN OREGON

That's Don and me at the coast in Oregon. We were trying to make a heart with our fingers - it's lopsided, though! I am grateful to live in the Pacific Northwest in a place that (mostly) gets really good weather - temperate summers, no major snows, and not much oppressing heat/humidity (although it's humid in the winter). I live close to the sea and close to the mountains. I get to pick blackberries in the summer. I am grateful that I get to go camping in one of the many national forests nearby.

WINNING MY FIRST GIVEAWAY

I've entered giveaways before, but this is the first one I have ever won!!! Christina @ Love Yourself Healthy hosted a giveaway of her favorite things, and I won a journal, a set of Staedtler fineliner pens, and a copy of "Women, Food and God".

A HUBBY WHO MAKES ME BREAKFAST ON WEEKENDS

Not every weekend - but often enough, Don makes me spicy scrambled eggs.

Lovely Weekend.

I hope all of you who are in the U.S. had a wonderful long-weekend. Don and I decided to celebrate Monday by going on a long drive up one of our local rivers. This was a mildly stressful event because even though we had the car repaired, it is not running at a 100%. Don thinks that in addition to what was wrong with the exhaust system (we replaced the catalytic converter), there may also be something wrong with the ignition system. In any case, we took it on a long drive even though it was running rough at times.

We had a lovely time - we went up to a reservoir and dam where I found a lovely little seating area hidden away of the face on the dam. I could look out onto a wonderful view and no one could see me. I am not entirely sure that I was supposed to be there - there was a ladder leading there and it probably is used only for repairs and what not. But Don said that I would be okay since there were no signs posted to keep off. I plan on returning there one day when my car is completely fixed, and taking a book and a snack. It's a perfect place to enjoy a lazy afternoon - have a spectacular view and also be hidden away from the world.

On the way back, we also stopped at an organic farm where Don had years ago helped build a cob barn. The barn still exists, and the farmer's son (the farmer is dead now) was very glad to see him. I am in awe of my husband - I was not too impressed when he told me about it - but seeing it in person was amazing! The cob barn is now being used a their storefront, and has a quaint - fairytale-like look. I was pondering the barn and wondering why it looked like that, when Don asked me what was on my mind and I told him. He said that they were initially trying to make it be a heart-shaped structure, but they messed up and it turned out to be quaint and misshapen. I wish I had taken pictures!!! I will next time. They had u-pick flowers : As many flowers as you can pick for $4. So, I picked a handful, have some at home, brought some to work, left some at the front desk in my office, and took some to my friend Lisa.

Weigh-in yesterday was slightly up - 220.6 lbs. But, it was a beautiful day and I was not sad!! Will post pics of food tomorrow.

Quick Check-In and Goals for September

Monday's weigh-in was 219.4 lbs. Still maintaining. I haven't been able to post much since life has been really really busy lately with work and a few other things. I am still taking the bus, but the car goes to the mechanics tomorrow, so hopefully it will be fixed and ready to pick up by Friday. I can't wait!!! The bus is really interesting, and I don't mind so much on weekdays to get to and from work, but I do really need my car on the weekends.

SEPTEMBER GOALS
1. Be better about taking pictures of food and posting on the blog
2. Take my meds and check BG regularly
3. Start exercising again!!!!!!
4. Get more sleep - go to bed by 11pm
5. Be better about staying in touch with family and friends
6. Cook three new recipes this month

I'll check-in again soon. Fingers crossed for the above goals!