Married to Amazement

Well, as I anticipated, after a big loss last week, I was up a little today. It was a tough week - my son was on February break from school and having little changes in the schedule can be tough for me. I'm very ready to get back to our normal routine starting today! I think part of what caused some struggle this past week was just me getting in my own head. I'm so, so ,  so  excited about going to Fiji - ordering a language phrasebook and some Fijian dollars, doing research on day trips and activities, making lists of clothes to think about getting ... and the clothes are tough, because I know in a few months, with some good solid effort, I could be a different size than I am today. The clothes I wore to Disneyland about two months ago are already loose! So it's tough to order things in advance - first, in case I buy them too big and they don't fit - and second, in case I buy them too small and they don't fit. I don't want to get in my way with an unrealistic g

It isn't Fiji, but of course, I've got islands on my mind. Islands, and all things tropical. My son and I went to Hawaii for Christmas a few years ago, and it was amazing - the clear water, the soft sand, and of course, all the amazingly delicious fruit, even in winter. We visited Dole and got to see where the pineapples are grown, which was really awesome - there's a Dole processing plant not too far from where we live in California, so it was kind of funny also, to see things that will end up in the same county as us! For this week's recipe test, I wanted to use mostly what we had on hand again, which meant a couple of minor substitutions (vegetable broth for chicken broth, fresh mushrooms for canned) and perhaps a medium to major one (I had chicken breast, not turkey breast). Other than that, though, the only thing I didn't have in the fridge, freezer, or pantry was water chestnuts - and interestingly enough, those were tough to find! I knew they would be in the

This past week was really excellent. I had a great weigh-in this morning, and I knew I would - blue dots all week, consistently good choices, and lots of activity. I started with my Fitbit a few months ago and just wore it a few days to see how much I was moving (unsurprisingly, it wasn't much). So I set my daily goal for steps around 3500. Since then I've increased it by 500 or so multiple times, as I find myself making the goals more often. Now my goal is 6000, and I pass it most days. It feels so, so good to be regularly active. Winter is the easiest time to be active here in central California. Summer is intensely hot, and even though it's a nice dry heat, it's still far more pleasant right now - what we called jacket weather on the East Coast. Chilly overnight, cool mornings, warm afternoons - it's absolutely perfect. Another big part of last week: my sister turned 31, and I told her for a gift, I wanted to take her on a special vacation somewhere - her choice.

  The other day, I sat down with some of my retro recipe books - I have so, so many, and a lot of them focus on either older versions of Weight Watchers, or weight loss in general. I have always been very enamored and intrigued by the lengths folks went to for slimming down. Not all of the recipes are horrible, per se - there's a lot of good bones to some of the recipes. And some of them look like things the current WW app suggests sometimes, too - the more things change, the more they stay the same, I suppose. For my first recipe test, I stuck to something simple - something I already had all the ingredients for in the fridge. What I found was in the Better Homes and Gardens "Eat and Stay Slim" collection from 1968 - a recipe for "Frank-Vegetable Medley." It used what we already had  in stock, and it seemed at least a little family-friendly, which is always a plus - not having to make separate meals for everyone based on tastes or preferences. The recipe was si

I've been off and on with various diets for most of my life, with varying levels of success. The most significant loss was a little over ten years ago, but it's all crept back on since - plus more. But my dad died earlier this year, and I've had some health concerns lately, and I'm determined to make this time The Last Time. My dad was only 63 - and I'm 35. I've had so much anxiety lately, feeling that time is running out and very worried about leaving behind my young son and my husband, all because of things I could have worked on. My dad was about my age when he got the initial diagnoses that eventually lead to his death, and so much of what he struggled with in the last few years was preventable - because after hearing the first news from his doctors, he largely ignored it for years. He didn't take the medicine, he didn't eat better, he didn't change how sedentary his life was. And it's been so incredibly painful to see his decline, and to hea