Staying the Course -- 09-14-2015

[Superbob]

Let me quickly stay the course with Staying the Course by getting this Staying the Course week-opener up. I have thought about writing it all day, but I have been busy, busy, busy. A Mended Hearts meeting, then helping DW prepare homemade beef stew she wanted to make for the whole family (and that meant chopping onions, tomatoes, potatoes, onions, carrots et al), then at dusk taking a walk to get back in practice. There is talk in the family about getting me another golden dawg --- so if that comes to pass, I need to be in better shape to walk her.

Sad thing on my walk -- I saw the same sweet black dog I see about every time I walk -- alone in his back yard, this time with night falling. I see him in mornings and afternoons, same way. Granted, he has it much better than dogs who are chained outdoors, which is cruel in my opinion -- this good dog has an electric fence, a good-sized yard and what looks like a sturdy dog house under a protected overhang up against the house. So he probably would be comfortable out there most of the time -- except in case of a big storm, or extremely cold weather. I just wonder if he ever gets to go inside. I also wonder when he gets love and attention. I have never seen anyone out there petting, praising, and playing with him. When he sees me, he barks a little but I start praising him as a good boy and he starts wagging his tail. A few times, I have probably stepped over a line and gone into his electrified yard to pet him. I am tempted to bring him treats, which probably would be wrong.

But what the hell, dogs are sociable creatures, loving creatures, man's best friend. This boy needs praising and loving. He needs to be able to go in the big house, the people house sometimes, too. Why the devil do some people get dogs and then just use them as inanimate yard ornaments?

If I get a successor to Sadiedawg, you can bet I will cherish my loyal companion.

And yes the stew was excellent and yes I gave Dasher my visiting granddog his fair share of lean beef bites.

Cheers,

SUPERBOB

 

[Superbob]

Oh yes, and the weekly weigh-in (optional) component of Staying the Course:

I find myself down 1.5 pounds from my August baseline. So that's a little progress. Been trying to be smarter about food choices, going to workout room, and did a nice walk at dusk yesterday.

Cheerio!

 

[honeybunny]

LOL Superbob! I wondered where your weight report was as I read your initial post

Sad about the fenced in fur baby. Perhaps the owners want him for protection and not companionship. Like you I have always kept my dogs indoors, as destructive as they could be at times. Also, my most recent rescue was found wandering a busy country road a couple hundred miles away by my daughter’s friend who was passing through the town. We postulate Katie was an outside dog who escaped. She was about 8 months old at the time. I'm sure she was missed but there was no way to track down her owners. Their loss, my gain.

​

I've been awaiting this thread so I could report that I weighed in on Monday at 152.8, down about 1/2 lb. for a total of 7.4 lbs. lost since August 3.

What's working for me this time is the combination of several diet strategies I've tried in the vast. My surgeon gave me the following directives:

Never eat:
Bread
Dessert
Salad dressing (oil and vinegar only)
Between meals
After 8:00 p.m.

There were others but I can't remember then off the top of my head, sort of like naming all seven dwarfs He also said not to eat a meal just because it's breakfast, lunch, or dinnertime; i.e., if you’re not hungry, don’t eat.
He didn’t discuss exercise or calories but common sense tells one to consider both when working on weight loss.

FWIW, I enjoy this thread; it helps me adhere to my weight loss goals. Thanks for keeping it up!

edited to add the rest of the never eats:
Fried foods.
Seconds.
Fast food.

And finally: "Don't confuse today with tomorrow. Start losing weight today."

 

[skeptic49]

When I was released from the hospital in late February a couple who are friends of ours gave me a potted orchid when they came to visit. Of course, the flowers were pretty but didn't last long in the house during winter. Rather than discard the plant after the flowers died, I brought it out to our summer cottage and hung it on the wall in our back deck area, and basically forgot about it. It was in mostly indirect sunlight. During early summer I noticed that it started to sprout new stalks. By August it was clear that it would bloom again and I was delighted. It now has 13 flowers with one more set to open. It's really a beauty.

Superbob, good luck with the hunt for a new canine companion. I have started to search myself and I have found a few candidates, put in applications, but nothing has panned out yet. I think some folks at rescues are reluctant to place young dogs with seniors.

My last weight was 187.4 within a lb.or so of where I've been lately...so I'll just stay the course!

Jim

l

 

[Superbob]

Great posts -- gorgeous flowers, Jim! It is often the case that the prettiest ones are those that bloom when we least expect it. Guess the same could be said of people. And honeybunny, very glad you're finding Staying the Course helpful with weight-watching. Sounds like you have a good plan -- I have been carefully pondering the bread deletion. My wife is a North Carolinian who thinks you must -- must -- have bread with each and every meal. One of our favorite places that doesn't offer rolls or bread with a meal has started making cornbread just for her. But yesterday at Subway, a friendly server making my turkey breast sub volunteered the observation that they can make it as a salad -- no sub roll. Hmmmm. Just might try that. (I'll just ask for a honeybunny salad!) Thanks for the great ideas.

Jim, my son and DIL keep hinting that they might be in touch with a golden retriever rescue. I haven't started an active search myself. A puppy would be hard for two old folks to keep up with -- maybe I could find a sweet pooch much like Sadie 3 to 5 years old or even older. Or even one closer, in dog years, to our own ages. We'll see.

Cheers.....

 

[skeptic49]

Superbob...my diet is bread-free...well, I allow myself one slice of toast on Sunday. I also limit potato consumption to one a week. Pasta has to be whole grain and in small portions only at lunchtime. I lost a lot of weight on this carbo-restricted diet.

Jim

 

[Superbob]

Superbob...my diet is bread-free...well, I allow myself one slice of toast on Sunday. I also limit potato consumption to one a week. Pasta has to be whole grain and in small portions only at lunchtime. I lost a lot of weight on this carbo-restricted diet.

Jim

Thanks Jim -- I try to discourage my wife from tossing in a baked potato to "complete" a meal, and I've gone cold-turkey on French fries and potato chips (except when forced to eat them at a family holiday gathering -- lol) ... Whole-grain pasta is a change I need to make. We have a favorite Italian restaurant and it offers that option -- I suspect it may be an acquired taste, but a change worth the transition. BTW, I've been meaning to write about a great guidebook I've got about making healthy choices when eating out, but it is hard to condense 574 pages of great info -- It's "Eating Out, Eating Well," By Hope Warshaw, published by American Diabetes Association (but definitely relevant for health-conscious folks who aren't diabetic.) Maybe I'll write some pieces drawing from ideas in this helpful book.

Still thinking about fitbit and vivofit.... since I am getting back to regular walking (dreaming of a good dawg as my walking companion) I may go for new walking sticks instead of the gadgets. But still pondering options....

 

[honeybunny]

What a beautiful surprise!

 

[Cooker]

Great pic Jim! Bob, it's sad to see a animal treated like this. Some people don't think or even worse don't care.

I'm down 8.5 from my start. I stopped using artificial sweeteners. I've read they can hinder weight loss so I'm giving it a try.

Peace....

 

[Superbob]

Good goin', Mr. Chimp! I've been hearing and reading a lot lately about diet sodas not being good for you, and actually increasing weight gain. So I guess that ties in with artificial sweeteners.

Well, I did it! -- I know it is a bit of a toy or a frill for a codger like me, but I've gotten a vivofit2 activity tracker as my anniversary present. I am thinking it will be a fun reminder to get off my arse here at the 'puter and get moving. It does a lot of tracking, now we'll find out if I can figure out how to use it. Got a nice price at Sam's Club.

Hat tip to Pellicle for pointing this out to me. I really do like the feature of the battery that lasts a year. It's a hassle to constantly be changing and/or charging batteries.

 

[Duffey]

We returned home from vacation on Sunday. While we were gone, I ate everything I wanted, and then some. I ate my final piece of coconut creme pie for Sunday breakfast, and when DH looked surprised at my choice, I reminded him that I had said all along that I intended vacation to be my final fling. And it is.
Our son-in-law, who dropped 45 pounds about 18 months using the app Lose It!, suggested I download it to my phone and give it a try. I weighed Monday, and this morning I'm down a pound and a half. My goal is to lose 27 pounds, and I would like to lose a pound and a half a week. The Lose It app calculates that if I stay on track, I will reach my goal on January 16, 2016, if I stick to the calorie budget it's provided. It's a little under 1200 calories, but I'm recording everything I eat, and I actually like the discipline of staying on track.
I have not started walking or exercising, but cooler weather is forecast for next week, so I intend to hit the pavement. I had mentioned to my family that I would like a fitbit, but now that I've read your endorsement of the vivofit2, Superbob, maybe that's the way to go.

 

[honeybunny]

Had my heart cath yesterday and as the doctor was probing he announced "you're going on a diet" in a firm voice. I have 70% blockage in one artery (it will be bypassed during my OHS) and 30% blockage in two others. So now, not only am I to follow the surgeon's "never eats", I've got to avoid animal fats, including cheese which I really like. Geez, just feed me salad

 

[Duffey]

Unrelated to weight loss, I learned while we were gone that a childhood friend had undergone valve replacement. Three weeks post-op, she threw a massive clot and was air lifted back to the St. Louis hospital where she had her replacement done. She was without oxygen for almost 10 minutes after her collapse, and although there was no brain activity, the family kept her on the vent for 10 days before deciding to let her go. I am saddened by her death. I also question why it takes a death such as Sally's to remind me that none of us are promised one more day, hour, or second on this Earth.

 

[epstns]

Had my heart cath yesterday and as the doctor was probing he announced "you're going on a diet" in a firm voice. I have 70% blockage in one artery (it will be bypassed during my OHS) and 30% blockage in two others. So now, not only am I to follow the surgeon's "never eats", I've got to avoid animal fats, including cheese which I really like. Geez, just feed me salad

Crunch, crunch, crunch. Sometimes I like salad, sometimes I can't face it. I'm having lunch today with another guy from my fitness center, and he chose the restaurant particularly because he likes their salads. He has lost about 20 pounds in the past 18 months. I can deal with green food today, but tomorrow night is my high school class 50th reunion (still can't believe that one). I don't know the menu, but given the number of doctors in my class, it may at least be decent.

I still have to bring my weight chart to the office so I can officially "weigh in." I've been out of the office these past two Mondays, and somehow never remember to bring the data with me. I have daily weight tabulated for literally every day since my valve surgery, which was 4 1/2 years ago. In the past year or 18 months, I've dropped from a peak of about 172 lbs. down to today's 154. I'm happy at this weight, so maintenance is key for me.

I really admire you folks who set lofty goals, then just go ahead and meet them. Not only is that a lot of work, it takes a lot of will-power. I'm usually pretty good at that, but I have my weak points, too.

SB, the more I think about it, the more I think you are ready for another furry four-legged child. I can sense it in what you've written since Sadie's passing, and I think it will be good for you. If you do go with a rescue dog, I think that is the prime "win-win" for both you and the furry one.

 

[honeybunny]

So true, Duffey. Only one day at a time. I understand your sadness and wish you peace of mind and heart.

 

[Superbob]

One day at a time, indeed. Duffey, so sorry about your friend's passing.

Don't know if I could give up things like cheese -- or bread or potatoes, honeybunny. About the best I can do is swear off French fries, potato chips (except on holidays at family cookouts when DW makes dip), rich desserts (except for a few bites) -- and oh yes, beets. I've sworn them off since I was in grade school. : )

 

[Cooker]

Duffey ... I too am sorry for your loss... a lesson for us all.... love, laugh and live each day......

 

[Superbob]

I have gone Vivofit by Garmin for my fitness trackr and so far I love it. It is an early 49th anniversary present from my wonderful wife Allyne. Here is a playful little piece about having a 24/7 fitness companion I wrote on my blog.

http://www.steadfastdawgwalker.com/2015/09/adventures-with-247-fitness-companion.html?spref=fb

:Face-Laugh: