Don't Count on Me

What about that, after 30 days in April, a new page is turned and now we will be enjoying May. I love May, it's the time of the year when life explodes; dandelion dandeliones; lilac bursts out of their buds in a colorful and odorous explosion that stimulates senses; birds and bees, well you know; the income tax are filled; the outside has the “new car' smell (metaphorically speaking).

Today is the third month anniversary of my health journey. In my book, it's a very short time, but the drastic changes make it seems almost impossible that there was an “old” me.

I truly don't like eating fast food anymore, sugar is a dirty word and alcohol is no more my best friend.

I eat healthy but it's not as elaborate as some of you do. My meals are centered around meat and vegetables in an amount that is reasonable. I don't get second or third, I don't even need it.

This might surprise some of you but I don't track what I eat. I want to reach my goal with having learned how to eat not how to count.

Still, I estimate my daily intake of calories at around 1200 calories, but it could be a little more or a little less. It doesn't matter as long as I keep monitoring my gain or loss and the results are expected. As you might have read this week, I'm fully in tune with myself.

“I weigh myself 'officially' every 2 weeks” but the truth is that I weigh myself every day. I know it's recommended not to do it so often in order to measure the change over a longer period and not focus on the short burst in weight loss or gain. The thing is, I don't just follow the flow because it's going in one direction. You have to find what is working for you.

When I reach my weight goal, I will keep stepping on the scale daily until I figure out the right balance between how much I can eat and my activity level. But I don’t want to get  too much ahead of myself, it is just my thought about how to maintain my “normal” weight while I decrease my training schedule.

There are 2 medical events going on.

1.      I stopped taking my cholesterol pills. I'm about 40 lbs less than last fall when my doctor prescribed them. I will see him as soon as possible and get a blood test done to see what my cholesterol level is like without the effect of the pills.

2.      My back is killing me. I can't stay put standing up for a few minutes without moving to ease the pain. In the late afternoon, the pain is bad enough for me to want to kick the cat. We don't have a cat so NO animals are being hurt! I can't sit on the sofa. The only relieve I get is when I lay on the bed. Walking helps but doesn't completely remove the pain and as soon as I stop I'm back in pain-land. When I see my doctor I'll also ask to see a physiotherapist. The bad thing is I have a lot of work to do and I'm not sure when I’ll be able to get to that and it has to be done before the third week of June or it will have to be done in September (no construction allowed on the campground in the summer). Grrrrr

Next weekend will be the end of my NO PS challenge. Does anyone have links to healthy dessert recipes? I will be looking at doing something special. No refined sugar! (I think that honey or maple syrup are ok but I don't know, is it?) Any suggestions? Jan mentioned a Forest Cake at some point, not sure if it contains sugar. In any case picture and a description of the experiment will follow.

Have a great May folks, it's a 31 days month so we have a longer month to keep busy at getting healthier.

Here are a few pictures of before and after, as in yesterday:

Jan 2015

Apr 30, 2015