A Little of This, Some of That

Let's get this out of the way. I am most definitely  NOT a republican.  Once upon a time I tended to be more centralist. Unfortunately centralists seem to be an endangered species. Because I call out 45 often, I've actually been told I should 'pray for him', Support him because he's our president' and 'you should leave the country'. Recently I've been, shall we say barraged, by individuals who feel as though I've been following 'fake news' apparently because I don't embrace their own point of view.  With sources cited to support my position, they typically respond with off topic meme's or degenerate into name calling. I do not subscribe to Breibit, Sean Hannity, Alex Jones or Fox News. I do obtain my information from a variety of sources. Those sources are typically Washington Post, NYTimes, The Hill, Huffington Post, Mother Jones, Wall Street Journal, ABC, NBC, CNN, Vox, New  York Magazine, Rolling Stone, The Raw Story, N...

I've now spent a week on the Mayo Clinic diet. And of course I forgot to weigh in this morning. Reflecting on the last week I've discovered a few things. 1- Eating healthy tastes GOOD! I admit it takes planning ahead but I've found out: 2- Meal planning saves me money in the long run!  I started out making a daily meal plan but then quickly went to a week. I discovered that my leftovers from supper works well for lunch, saving me money. Planning my meals for the week helps in making my grocery list and using what is in my fridge, freezer or cupboards. 3- I've gone from being fairly sedentary to walking 3 miles a day. This also takes planning! I found that if I actually schedule my walking, I do it as opposed to the "I'll do it later, or this afternoon when I get  home" mind set. 3 miles may not seem like much, but to go from about 1500-2000 steps a day to 3+ miles is a  huge step forward. 4- I can't cut the sugar. I've tried but I enjoy s...

I've been following the Mayo Clinic diet now for a few days. I admit, the loose it! part that I am currently following is easy, and yet at the same time difficult. You may be asking How can that be?  Easy.  The basic rules are simple and easy to follow. It's  putting it into practice that is proving to be difficult, especially when it's the weekend and there are special events going on that includes of course food and wine. I stayed with the program as much as possible, but didn't curtail from sampling a few salads and desserts. But I did limit to just a few bites. Over all, considering everything, I don't think I did too bad. I didn't beat myself up and I logged everything I ate/drank.  AND I still managed to get in  40 minutes of brisk walking. One of my favorite things to do is look for new recipes. I found several new ones to try on the Mayo Clinic site and Weight Watchers. Putting into practice what I've been researching, I made out a weekly mea...

As  you  have probably figured out by now, I struggle with weight loss. Like millions of people, I start out with good intentions but quickly return to my life-long habits of eating and a sedentary lifestyle. Like you, I've tried many fad diets, searched for the 'magic pill' and more to no avail, even though I knew, in the back of my mind, that those didn't work. I also know what the winning combination is, even though I don't like the real answer. The answer is simple. eat less, burn more calories. We have to take in a negative amount of calories (units of energy) then our body needs. I ran across an article that said to loose one pound we have to burn 3,500 calories. Considering that most of us consume between 2,500 - 3,000 a day this could be problematic. The same article said, and this was kind of an epiphany moment for me, (paraphrased here) Rather then tying to loose a pound a day a more reasonable approach is a pound a week. To accomplish this, you need...