Ok so I'm writing this to distract myself from wanting to eat. To snack...to binge...to eat something- ok everything and of course the things I normally don't even want to eat. American cheese, white bread....ANY chocolate I can find. Luckily most of this is not in the house. But the cheese is. Earlier I heard it calling to me from the fridge and I amazed myself by opting for some string cheese instead.
I have a pattern that I am struggling to break. Once I step out of my disciplined food routine I tend to throw it out the window for the day. These days I'm trying to eat under 1200 calories a day. Smart calories. For instance I count all green veges (steamed) as 40 calories. A plate full of steamed broccoli & cauliflower really fills me up but only for an hour or so. Hmmm I guess I could eat a second plate and the evening would be taken care of! Ha ha.
Except for one small (ok huge) problem. I would be full but not satisfied. And that means I'm gonna eat. I'll sit and crave....and craving is for the things not so good for me. Sugar, fat. I remember when my older daughter Drewy was a baby and when she was starting to eat solid food people told me-don't give her the fruit- it's too sweet and she'll never want the veges. I'm talking about the baby food in the jars. And it's true. The veges tasted bland or at least not exciting. The fruits were sweet. Isn't it weird how the stuff we love to eat is the stuff that's bad for us. Yeah yeah I know that means it's me that has to change. I need to learb to crave the stuff that's good for me. Some things I do. I eat peanut butter every single day (seems like for my entire life). I switched from Skippy or Jiff to natural peanut butter. My favorite is Adams, but any natural would do. I fill my fridge with string cheese, cantaloupe, granny smith apples, bananas, almonds (ok almonds on the counter), avocados. I eat eggs- raw in my protein shakes and hard boiled as a snack. Actually I started eating just the whites after finding out they have protein and less fat than the yolks. The dog is very happy to have the yolks.
I hiked in the woods this morning and it was awesome. Today was an official weigh day and I was happy to have lost another pound. For Feb that makes 6 lbs. I'm happy with 6lbs in a month. I am now 5 lbs away from where I was when I got here from Mexico. (75 lbs total). I'd like to lose 100 lbs but I'm not sure if that's possible or reasonable. I'm in size 12, sometimes 9, pants and I know there's smaller sizes, but is it reasonable? Ok so my food and my exercise.
Hiking in the woods has become amazing. It's so spiritual. I had no idea. I guess I've never hiked alone before. I've always loved the redwoods. Loved walking in Armstrong Woods- the closest redwoods to where I've always lived- except for Mexico of course. And while in Mexico, when I came back to see my kids & go to the doctor, I visited Armstrong Woods. I loved camping in northern Ca in the woods. Did it as a kid- we camped all over the western states; Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico. In fact there a spot called 4 Corners, and it's the place where those last 4 states I mentioned all meet- the only place in the United States where 4 states touch. As a kid I had my picture taken with a hand & foot in 4 states. Ha ha I did it as an adult as well.! My kids were brought up going camping as well. Pretty much just in northern Calif and southern Oregon though. I love the woods. I love the campfires with the rangers; singing silly campfire songs, learning about the animals in the woods, oh and the banana slug! In the hills where I hike now I see banana slugs. And salamanders with the orange underside. I can smell everything when I'm hiking, the dirt, the trees, the water. How it feels cooler when when I get closer to the water. I can always hear it before I get there. I don't know if the water was running before this winter. It's been a drought here for the past 5 years. Thank God it rained so much this winter. Although I guess no rain in February has not been a good thing. But it sounds like there will be more rain in March so hopefully it will continue to offset the drought.
We conserve water as much as we can. There's just the 2 of us here; so during the day we don't flush every time we pee. In Mexico you don't put the paper in the toilet, so it's not weird here to do the same thing since I'm not flushing. Also in Mexico you can't drink the water from the faucet, so we always had a plastic pitcher & cup in the kitchen and the bathroom with drinking water and for brushing our teeth. So now we have a cup in the bathroom for teeth brushing. Before I moved to Mexico I just put my mouth under the faucet to rinse after brushing my teeth. Years ago I even ran the water while I was brushing my teeth! Same thing with the dishes. I rinse the dishes then turn off the water to soap them up. Then turn it back on to rinse them. I do admit however that I don't turn off the water while I'm soaping up in the shower. I used to. I don't anymore but I do take my showers pretty quick, especially if I'm not washing my hair. And I guess it's my age but I don't have to wash my haor that often, usually on Tuesday and Friday. I used to wash it every nite, then every other nite...now usually just twice a week.
I know I've shared here before that when I talk to the universe I like to do it out loud.I'm just so much better focused when I do it aloud. When I pray in my head, well I start out focused but sooner or later I'm making a grocery list or remember to get dog food, or to call my daughter. My head can sure multitask ha ha! Down the street in the other direction of the woods is a vineyard that has a big open field in it right about where we hit it when am and I are walking. He loves to sniff everything in that field and munch on the tall green grass. That silly dog love love loves to eat tall green grass! Well in that field I was doing my check ins with the universe, and still do, but more often now on the hike. Sam is going to 9 years old in a few months and he can't really do my hike- plus he wants to stop all the time anyway to sniff, look, roll, munch...etc so although we take him over there and to the vineyard, he doesn't go on my exercise hike. I walk fast. And the first 20 minutes or so are all uphill and every time I think I'm not gonna make it ha ha. I have little landmarks now- a certain tree, a certain curve, the little blue foot bridge, the sound of the creek coming down the hill. The trail I follow goes up and around the back of one hill, in the trees; it's shady and cool. (we'll see come the middle of summer since I hear that it gets really really hot here). Then it winds up some more as it heads back towards the front of the mountain, and winds around until it hits the next hill and winds some more. At that point it kinda gets a little more even, some flat, some up and down and winds thru the shady trees. They're not redwood trees; some look like redwoods, but I think they're some kind of pine, others look like skinny Eucalyptus and other trees. I guess one of these days I'll find out what kind of trees they are and let you know ha ha. The trail spits out onto a wider trail and it has a sign; I think it says "City View", and I follow that one. It winds up yet another hill and then begins a long loop that takes me about half an hour- no maybe 20-22 minutes to make, and then I go back, but when I come by that sign I follow a different trail back down to the beginning. The first time I liked it, it took me about an hour and a half, now I do it in about an hour and 5 minutes. I'm not a runner so my time is never gonna be much quicker than that- but there are lots of trails up there and maybe when I'm closer to my goals I'll explore some of them. Or maybe when I take Sam, or maybe on a weekend when I usually don't exercise, so I could take my time.
I walk fast, but I take in my surroundings, and now I talk during at least some part of it. Usually not in the fist part since I'm totally huffing and puffing ha ha. But after that I usually say my universe prayer and the talk about whatever's going on with me. Lately I've been working on trying to let go of worry. Worry is a symptom of fear. Fear is negative energy. I don't want it in my life. I want acceptance, peace, serenity- those things are all the opposite of fear. It's funny but talking about things out loud, and writing them- both of these things help me in a HUGE way. Things get clarified, or less confusing, or I figure out what it is I'm looking for. I find elusive solutions. And I always always feel better. I feel better right now. I'm so happy I found those woods to walk in. As I said, I had no idea it was so spiritual to walk alone in nature. I talked to a couple of people about it who also hike alone- and they said "oh yeah". It's so much like sitting on my rock in Playa Venutra. I am filled with hope, with love, with the desire to be a better person, to contribute to the universe in a positive way. I was laughing to myself today- as I was walking this young woman passed me, she was running, and then later she was texting or something when I was finishing the loop. I laughed out loud because I thought oh my god I have become the tortoise- you know the tortoise and the hare? That I was always the hare- the rabbit running ahead, always going full blast until I crashed. And now I am a turtle....I just keep putting one foot in front of the other and just keep going. But I am not plodding, going slowly like the turtle, I'm walking fast, I'm just not running all out. So I guess I'm a mixture of the two, part turtle and part hare. Ha ha I said "hartle?" Or "Tuare" And that's when I laughed because "Tare"...my mom used to call me Ter...love you mommy. Maybe I'm becoming...me!
Wow what's next? Well I avoided binge eating and am feeling good, so........Viva!
I have a pattern that I am struggling to break. Once I step out of my disciplined food routine I tend to throw it out the window for the day. These days I'm trying to eat under 1200 calories a day. Smart calories. For instance I count all green veges (steamed) as 40 calories. A plate full of steamed broccoli & cauliflower really fills me up but only for an hour or so. Hmmm I guess I could eat a second plate and the evening would be taken care of! Ha ha.
Except for one small (ok huge) problem. I would be full but not satisfied. And that means I'm gonna eat. I'll sit and crave....and craving is for the things not so good for me. Sugar, fat. I remember when my older daughter Drewy was a baby and when she was starting to eat solid food people told me-don't give her the fruit- it's too sweet and she'll never want the veges. I'm talking about the baby food in the jars. And it's true. The veges tasted bland or at least not exciting. The fruits were sweet. Isn't it weird how the stuff we love to eat is the stuff that's bad for us. Yeah yeah I know that means it's me that has to change. I need to learb to crave the stuff that's good for me. Some things I do. I eat peanut butter every single day (seems like for my entire life). I switched from Skippy or Jiff to natural peanut butter. My favorite is Adams, but any natural would do. I fill my fridge with string cheese, cantaloupe, granny smith apples, bananas, almonds (ok almonds on the counter), avocados. I eat eggs- raw in my protein shakes and hard boiled as a snack. Actually I started eating just the whites after finding out they have protein and less fat than the yolks. The dog is very happy to have the yolks.
I hiked in the woods this morning and it was awesome. Today was an official weigh day and I was happy to have lost another pound. For Feb that makes 6 lbs. I'm happy with 6lbs in a month. I am now 5 lbs away from where I was when I got here from Mexico. (75 lbs total). I'd like to lose 100 lbs but I'm not sure if that's possible or reasonable. I'm in size 12, sometimes 9, pants and I know there's smaller sizes, but is it reasonable? Ok so my food and my exercise.
Hiking in the woods has become amazing. It's so spiritual. I had no idea. I guess I've never hiked alone before. I've always loved the redwoods. Loved walking in Armstrong Woods- the closest redwoods to where I've always lived- except for Mexico of course. And while in Mexico, when I came back to see my kids & go to the doctor, I visited Armstrong Woods. I loved camping in northern Ca in the woods. Did it as a kid- we camped all over the western states; Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico. In fact there a spot called 4 Corners, and it's the place where those last 4 states I mentioned all meet- the only place in the United States where 4 states touch. As a kid I had my picture taken with a hand & foot in 4 states. Ha ha I did it as an adult as well.! My kids were brought up going camping as well. Pretty much just in northern Calif and southern Oregon though. I love the woods. I love the campfires with the rangers; singing silly campfire songs, learning about the animals in the woods, oh and the banana slug! In the hills where I hike now I see banana slugs. And salamanders with the orange underside. I can smell everything when I'm hiking, the dirt, the trees, the water. How it feels cooler when when I get closer to the water. I can always hear it before I get there. I don't know if the water was running before this winter. It's been a drought here for the past 5 years. Thank God it rained so much this winter. Although I guess no rain in February has not been a good thing. But it sounds like there will be more rain in March so hopefully it will continue to offset the drought.
We conserve water as much as we can. There's just the 2 of us here; so during the day we don't flush every time we pee. In Mexico you don't put the paper in the toilet, so it's not weird here to do the same thing since I'm not flushing. Also in Mexico you can't drink the water from the faucet, so we always had a plastic pitcher & cup in the kitchen and the bathroom with drinking water and for brushing our teeth. So now we have a cup in the bathroom for teeth brushing. Before I moved to Mexico I just put my mouth under the faucet to rinse after brushing my teeth. Years ago I even ran the water while I was brushing my teeth! Same thing with the dishes. I rinse the dishes then turn off the water to soap them up. Then turn it back on to rinse them. I do admit however that I don't turn off the water while I'm soaping up in the shower. I used to. I don't anymore but I do take my showers pretty quick, especially if I'm not washing my hair. And I guess it's my age but I don't have to wash my haor that often, usually on Tuesday and Friday. I used to wash it every nite, then every other nite...now usually just twice a week.
I know I've shared here before that when I talk to the universe I like to do it out loud.I'm just so much better focused when I do it aloud. When I pray in my head, well I start out focused but sooner or later I'm making a grocery list or remember to get dog food, or to call my daughter. My head can sure multitask ha ha! Down the street in the other direction of the woods is a vineyard that has a big open field in it right about where we hit it when am and I are walking. He loves to sniff everything in that field and munch on the tall green grass. That silly dog love love loves to eat tall green grass! Well in that field I was doing my check ins with the universe, and still do, but more often now on the hike. Sam is going to 9 years old in a few months and he can't really do my hike- plus he wants to stop all the time anyway to sniff, look, roll, munch...etc so although we take him over there and to the vineyard, he doesn't go on my exercise hike. I walk fast. And the first 20 minutes or so are all uphill and every time I think I'm not gonna make it ha ha. I have little landmarks now- a certain tree, a certain curve, the little blue foot bridge, the sound of the creek coming down the hill. The trail I follow goes up and around the back of one hill, in the trees; it's shady and cool. (we'll see come the middle of summer since I hear that it gets really really hot here). Then it winds up some more as it heads back towards the front of the mountain, and winds around until it hits the next hill and winds some more. At that point it kinda gets a little more even, some flat, some up and down and winds thru the shady trees. They're not redwood trees; some look like redwoods, but I think they're some kind of pine, others look like skinny Eucalyptus and other trees. I guess one of these days I'll find out what kind of trees they are and let you know ha ha. The trail spits out onto a wider trail and it has a sign; I think it says "City View", and I follow that one. It winds up yet another hill and then begins a long loop that takes me about half an hour- no maybe 20-22 minutes to make, and then I go back, but when I come by that sign I follow a different trail back down to the beginning. The first time I liked it, it took me about an hour and a half, now I do it in about an hour and 5 minutes. I'm not a runner so my time is never gonna be much quicker than that- but there are lots of trails up there and maybe when I'm closer to my goals I'll explore some of them. Or maybe when I take Sam, or maybe on a weekend when I usually don't exercise, so I could take my time.
I walk fast, but I take in my surroundings, and now I talk during at least some part of it. Usually not in the fist part since I'm totally huffing and puffing ha ha. But after that I usually say my universe prayer and the talk about whatever's going on with me. Lately I've been working on trying to let go of worry. Worry is a symptom of fear. Fear is negative energy. I don't want it in my life. I want acceptance, peace, serenity- those things are all the opposite of fear. It's funny but talking about things out loud, and writing them- both of these things help me in a HUGE way. Things get clarified, or less confusing, or I figure out what it is I'm looking for. I find elusive solutions. And I always always feel better. I feel better right now. I'm so happy I found those woods to walk in. As I said, I had no idea it was so spiritual to walk alone in nature. I talked to a couple of people about it who also hike alone- and they said "oh yeah". It's so much like sitting on my rock in Playa Venutra. I am filled with hope, with love, with the desire to be a better person, to contribute to the universe in a positive way. I was laughing to myself today- as I was walking this young woman passed me, she was running, and then later she was texting or something when I was finishing the loop. I laughed out loud because I thought oh my god I have become the tortoise- you know the tortoise and the hare? That I was always the hare- the rabbit running ahead, always going full blast until I crashed. And now I am a turtle....I just keep putting one foot in front of the other and just keep going. But I am not plodding, going slowly like the turtle, I'm walking fast, I'm just not running all out. So I guess I'm a mixture of the two, part turtle and part hare. Ha ha I said "hartle?" Or "Tuare" And that's when I laughed because "Tare"...my mom used to call me Ter...love you mommy. Maybe I'm becoming...me!
Wow what's next? Well I avoided binge eating and am feeling good, so........Viva!
