Hi Strangers!

Wow, a long time between posts, but I refuse to give this blog up!
What have I been up to?
LIFE, that's what!!
I seemed to have hit this monstrous plateau in my weight loss regime, but I am sort of maintaining. I go up and down 5 pounds. I am not changing my eating habits, but I tried to exercise and that hurt me so I then got the "fear of moving" in me. I still work full time at my job, and I do not want to be out of work because of the excrutiating pain I seem to get when I exercise. I am 62 years old, Arthritic, Diabetic, Fibromyalgia, severe reaction to chlorine (no swimming aerobics), and work 40-50 hours a week. I went to a Rheumatologist and she told me all of the above and said to exercise 5 minutes at a time as to not over strain the muscles. Makes sense, but the music to Sweatin to the oldies is 45 minutes. ok, I can do it and I will in my time or should I say "God's time".
With this said I felt the calling to start an Overeater's Anonymous meeting in my town here. There is one 12 miles away at 7:00pm Monday nights. I'm ready for bed at that time! So I started one here at 4:30pm. I registered it on the OA site and we have 4 gals coming so far.
http://www.oa.org
I put up poster in town but they seem to disappear. jerks.
The twelve steps are the same as alcoholics anonymous, and is conducted the same as an AA meeting we only replace the word alcohol with food.
I am still 50 pounds loss from last year at this time. I gave up beef, pork & butter July 22nd 2010 and have not had any since. I try really hard to eat mostly what grows from the ground or has a mother. I try to keep away from processed foods. That is hard, but I am getting there.

I crochet, and I am also into making jewelry. I buy seed beads and other small beads and make bracelets & earrings. I love it. It is very therapeudic and keeps me away from the computer.

TaTA for now!

Fabulous "50"

I made the Fifty Pound loss!!

It is going much slower, but it is still going down and not up!!
WHOOOPPEEEE!!

This is too cool! A driver at work saw this doll in the hospital gift shop and thought OMG that's Phyllis!! So he bought it and brought it in for me. I saw it and thought "OMG it's ME as an old lady"!! WAH But then the more I looked at it, it tickled me that it really DOES look like me! And I have a red hat and red boa at home. And I have a brand spanking new PURPLE coat!! So the next day I wore them to work. We laughed all day!! One gal in Dispatch couldn't look at it because she saw an Alfred Hitchock movie about dolls that came to life and killed people. Well....I teased her all day with the doll. I would poke it around the corner at her, then hear her scream. Then I left it by her chair when she was on the phone. Heeheehee. Ok I'll stop. But what FUN!!

Now to the diet! I have officially lost 45 pounds as of Wednesday. I really would like to hit the 50 pound mark before the end of the year (2 weeks) but maybe not. I gave up beef, pork (except for ham) and butter in July. My cholesterol was 300. I just had a physical and it is down to 67!! Yes, 67!!!!

It is slow going, but I am sticking with it now. I plan my snacks. I take a sliced apple to work and at 10:00am I will eat half of it with cinnamon sprinkled on it. NUM! Eat lunch then at 2:00 I eat the rest of the apple. Then I have dinner. At bedtime I eat a banana with peanuit butter. NUM! Having Diabetes is a challenge because the Pancreas slows down the metabolism. But I have the rest of my life to work on this.
I look at the positive side...I get excited at what I CAN eat, not getting depressed on what I CAN'T eat.

35 Pounds!

Ok, my happy dance is slowing down, now we are to the waltz. It is going slower, but I am still losing. I hit the 35 pound mark now. I have quite a few more to go so it is going to slow down for a few weeks I'm sure. I want to get to the gym more. I started last week and boy did it HURT! My leg isn't quite ready for the treadmill yet but I am easing into it. 5 minutes here and 10 minutes there. The weights are the ones I really want to get going on. Build up muscle in my back and shoulders. I have Fibromyalgia so the pain seems to last longer than normal but I am getting there. The pool was great but I have a reaction to the chemicals in it. My sister thinks it is all in my head but she doesn't have to live with the ugly itchy burning rash on her face in the public eye at work either! Life is full of challenges, but I like a good challenge once in a while. I am having fun finding the foods I can eat. It is all about taste and not feeling hungry.
I love the apples this time of year. Honey Crisp right off the farm! crispy, sweet and juicy! With a chunk of extra sharp cheese. That is a meal in itself. Alot of salmon and chicken cooked in various ways. Thursday will be crockpot chicken soup before the Bible study. 8 of us gals meet every Thursday so I decided to have crockpot soup every week, as we all work and have no time to cook before the meeting.
Time to get ready for bed and another week of work!

30 Pounds Lost!

HAPPY DANCE!! I hit the 30 pounds lost mark this week!! I have been hard at it since July 22nd, so a little over two months. I feel great, and am excited about this new adventure in my life. I have to admit, the first few weeks is hard. VERY hard. Surrender...commit...obedience...count calories...count fat...count fiber...count points!

It can be VERY overwhelming at first until you get in the routine. I put everything on an excel spreadsheet so it is easier to go there and keep track. I also put my successful tasty recipes on there too.

I am using the priciples of Alcoholics Anonymous in this and going to weight watchers and also being very aware of my Diabetes. I love a challenge and this is challenging every day. If I cheat, it is me I am cheating, not another person. Unfortunately it shows on me if I don't lose weight. Another thing that keeps me on this....tell people!!! I tell everyone I am doing this and if I quit then they will look at me in disappointment or disgust and my ego will crash. After all, I am a people pleaser and hate people being disappointed in me.

Sherry, my sis-in-law shook her head at me and smiled and said "You are making this fun, aren't you"? Well yeah.....my motto in life is: If it ain't fun, I'm outa here!

The recipe this week that I fell in love with is: TA- DA:

Roasted Cauliflower!!

I cut a head of cauliflower into flowerettes, put them in a big baggie, pour 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil over it, fresh ground sea salt, fresh ground pepper, 2 tablespoons minced roasted garlic (In a jar) No, Mary Lou, don't throw the jar in the bag, just the 2 tablespoons of garlic. Shake it all up and pour onto a jelly roll cookie sheet or baking pan, sprinkle 1/2 cup of freshly grated parmesean cheese and drizzle balsalmic vinegar over it. Bake at 450 degrees for 25 minutes, then turn on the broiler for the last 5 minutes or so until it is crusty enough for you. (I like it really crusty). Total points for entire pan is about 9.....(Okay, I have to admit I ate the entire pan). But be very careful, the next day you and everyone around you will suffer. ahem.

Oh, by the way I hate to say pounds lost, because they seem to find their way back to you. I like to think of it as pounds discarded for good!!

Stray cats

I started feeding a mom and 3 kittens about three months ago now I have another mom and 3 kittens eating at my house along with about 6 neighbor's cats. I looked out the window today and found one of the kittens sleeping in an old planter on my fence, and another three sleeping on one of my lawn chairs. Two of them ran when they saw me come out. I can't help but feed them, they are wild, and it really pisses me off that people let their cats run loose and multiply then they say it isn't their cat, and leave them running wild. well the cats love me so much they stay near the house and I have no mice, and the cats go over the fence to use the dirt. (I have gravel). I am going to fix up a little shelter for them lined with carpet and a removable top to clean. When they get used to that and more comfortable with me I will trap them and take them to WAIF (the local shelter) and hgave them fixed.

Whew, a long weekend!

What a week! I spent most of it helping my 94 year old next door neighbor Florence, prepare and move into an assisted living facility. She has lived next door to me for 20 years, and she is like a mother to me. I think it has been harder on me than her daughters. Well maybe not, but it hasn't been easy. I wanted to take time off from work but there is too much going on with training, so I didn't. Florence moved on Monday. Her daughter came up from Oregon and stayed in Florence's house until this morning, then she went home. It's weird coming home and seeing the dark house, and not seeing Florence yelling "hi" to me. We talk alot on the phone, and I assured her that I will still go get her during storms and go to the beach and watch the waves wash up on the driftwood. I will still take her to the dollar store. I will visit her every Friday before my AA meeting. Maybe sometimes drag her along to the meeting with me. She likes that. If I see the northern lights I will call her and maybe drive into Oak Harbor and get her to see them with me. She is a joy.

Yesterday I went to my boss's house at 4:00am to babysit her three girls. 7, 10 & 11 year olds. I didn't get any sleep before going there so I was ready for a nap on the couch when I got there. The girls got up at 5:00am and entertained me. I fell asleep and they painted my fingernails a pea soup green. The little darlings! (I knew they were doing that so I played along). I got home at 3:00pm then made dinner for a friend then we went to Bible study at 7:00pm. I got home around 8:30 and got to bed at 10:00pm. I am ready for three days of SOLITUDE!!

My sister is mad at me because she wants us to go to her son's new wife's daughter's baby shower. I guess she is his step daughter. I don't even know her so I declined on going because I just need to take a rest. I am getting too old to burn the candle at both ends any more and work a fulltime job. They live in Bellingham and that is an hour and a half drive. She'll get over it.

Well it is 1:30am and I am just now winding down. Time to crochet for an hour or so then hit the hay and sleep until noon tomorrow! Ahhhhhh.