Missin' summer days

My summer was so wonderful! Sweden, the North Carolina Outer Banks,  and, of course, the beautiful Mt.  Hood. 

Now onto an autumn season full pumpkins, the aroma of rain drenched leaves, girls softball, and lots of birthdays! We'll have a few more sunny mornings and my kitty certainly will make sure to soak up the rays.

Breakfast of Egg Whites

My sister eats lots of egg whites, which I have to admit before I started reading her blog I thought this a bit weird. An egg just wasn't an egg without the yolk!

But since I have to watch my cholesterol I could only have a couple eggs each week which was a bummer.

Then one January when I visited her there in Southern California she fixed me one of her egg white omelets and we stopped by Trader Joes to pick up their egg white salad. Well, I was sold and now - many  mornings I fix myself an egg white sandwich right. Nothing fancy - a little Dash seasoning and a couple of sprinkles of Parmesan cheese added to 3 egg whites fried in a non-stick pan, the folded up in a warm slice of high fiber bread.

Then I'm off to the races...

Friday Reality!

At home workout videos

Just sitting around watching youtube videos when I realized I hadn't exercised last evening.  So I did a search for "easy workouts at home" and found this great channel.  I did one of the short workouts and found I might put this into my evening routine to help relive the stress of the day. Followed this with a quick shower and ended my busy day feeling relaxed.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiP6wD_tYlYLYh3agzbByWQ

Plant Based Protein Powders

I've started using a protein powder as an occasional meal substitute with Garden of Life being my favorite at this time. Here's an interesting video I found to express why I've chosen a Garden of Life product: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kr_kc8GlQCw I especially like this fellow's comparison based on scoop sizes.

Finally Connected

Yes! Yesterday I took the time to get my Garmin Vívosmart and MyFitnessPal connected and synced up so I can do some serious tracking now that I must accept "tracking" is part of my 60somethings lifestyle. The first thing I want to look at is the # of steps I do each day - getting as close to 10K as possible. Then next I am curious about my sleep.

I live in a beautiful (!!!) place and belong to a friendly, clean gym so exercise shouldn't be a problem. One of my no-exercise triggers is when I ask someone to join me but they say "no, I can't today" BooYa! I internalize that simple little comment and won't exercise. This has been a life time habit of mine - ask someone to join me in doing "X" but they say "No" so I too say "No" - gardening, crafting, walking, dancing, movies - whatever! So this little thought-demon is one I need to pray out of my head!

I have been reading up on sleep and the diet connection since I tend to overeat when I'm tired. Over at webMD I found an interesting article (More Sleep, Less Weight) that mentioned how Ghrelin, a hormone which tells us to eat, cranks up when we are sleep deprived and another, Leptin, the hormone that tells us to stop eating, plummets.  I thought this was pretty interesting and will be paying a bit more attention to how much I'm really sleeping to see if on days when I don't sleep if I eat more.

On to tracking the track.

Instead...

of blogging, I'm gaining!

New gym membership along with fighting my chocolate and corn chip bindging and upping my water intake - - these are my current strategies. Anything but tracking!

I'll keep you posted

1/2 lb Lose!! How?

Lovely Dinning Tables from Vacation Times

I returned from my vacation to discover that I had actually lost a 1/2 of a pound! So I've spent the last few days trying to figure out how I did this while eating whatever I wanted to ea.  What I've figured out is that I always (!) ate at a table and I ate slowly, carefully monitoring my portions.

Now that I am home…places where I must avoid eating!

I didn't eat at a desk, standing at a kitchen counter or eating in the car while driving! Very little multitasking when it came to eating - yes breakfast time was spent eating while reading.  But all the other times I ate at a table with loved ones.  Such a simple change!  I almost missed this till yesterday when I returned to the office...breakfast, mid-morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack AT MY DESK!!

Then chips in the car while driving home.
Ice cream while sitting in the living room.



So I need to really watch this over the next few weeks!! Wish me luck.