The Sandcastle

I’m tired of being tired. I want to loose weight and regain energy. So I decided to try the keto diet. Eating the keto way is a very low carb very high fat system that teaches your body to burn fat instead of carbs for energy. Most people who eat this way loose a lot of weight without feeling like they are trying to do so.

It felt like trying to me.

So, now I’m focusing on low calorie plus low carb instead. Very low calorie and very low carb. My goal is to  eat about 1000-1200 calories per day with carbs being no more than 20% of my intake. And the weight is falling off.

A typical day:

I tend to sleep from 3 am to noon so my first meal of the day is usually between 1 and 2 pm. Dave chops up two slices of bacon and fries that. Without draining the fat, he adds 2 large eggs, lightly whipped, and cooks it until set. That’s it. That’s about 316 calories which is enough to hold me until my next meal.

We have an unusual living situation in that part of our rent is credit in the in-house restaurant. So my second meal of the day usually happens about 5:15 pm and consists of meat from the restaurant: steak, hamburger patty, scallops, salmon or chicken. No potatoes, rice, or pasta. Rarely vegetables since I mostly don’t care for ones they serve here. Fresh fruit for desert which Dave eats because its mostly melons which my body dislikes.

Then sometime between 7-8 pm we sit down to watch a movie or episodes of a TV series. I sometimes eat an ounce of nuts then but I’m more likely to have an ounce of Ruffles potato chips because being deprived of all greasy/salty/crunchy foods feel to me like cruel and inhuman punishment.

Late night, often between 11 pm and midnight I eat my final meal of the day. Usually that’s either 4 oz of turkey, roast beef, or ham from the deli or it’s a can of tuna, salmon, shrimp, or chicken. Whichever it is, I add lots of fat to it in the form of Primal Kitchen dressing, sauce, or mayo and/or olives or avocado. That holds me the thirteen or more hours until my first meal of the next day.

The restaurant here does not serve dinner on Sundays. So that’s the day Dave fetches fast food for us. Often over my calorie count and carb count for a day. That shocks my system. Which helps it decide maybe this is not a time of famine after all so it stops hoarding the calories I’ve been eating that week and my weight starts dropping again.

People in the know say losing 1-2 pounds a week is the way to go if you want to keep the weight off forever. My graph shows that I’m staying slightly under that goal line. Which means, if I keep this up, in less than two years I will be slender again. I’m really looking forward to buying regular size clothes again. But, still limiting myself to 1300 calories a day since that’s what the charts say I will need to do to maintain that weight loss. By then that should be easy.

TTYL,

Linda

I’ve been reading a lots of books lately that are set in Victorian or Regency times. In those books, when someone becomes ill they often rely on an apothecary to administer some healing herbs as teas or mustard plasters. Those herbs were all natural products although some turned out to be quite poisonous.

When alternative treatments began being produced chemically they became known as drugs and the person dispensing them was a druggist.

Then drugs became connected to the word illicit so we started referring to our drugs as medicine. And the druggist became a pharmacist so now we get our medicine from a pharmacy.

But, the younger generation is now into natural healing products and essential oils. Are we about to return to the name apothecary?

TTYL,

Linda

If you do just one step a day, you will feel like you have a whole new wardrobe in one week. Doesn’t that sound like something worth doing?

Step one: Remove everything that is either torn or stained and trash it or turn it into rags. Don’t bother mending or spot cleaning. If you cared enough about that item of clothing you would have already done that.

Step two: Remove all  “new” clothes that still have their tags on them. If you were really going to wear them you would have done it already. If they are good enough, send them to a consignment shop. Other wise donate them to charity. Today, please. You don’t need them to simply become clutter in a different part of your house.

Step three: Get rid of everything that is not your current size. Worrying that you may be that size again someday is a waste of energy.

Step four: Get rid of everything that no longer suits who you are. You are no longer that age or participating in that activity so you don’t need clothes that reflect that. (Why would I need to keep hiking boots?)

Step five: Get rid of any clothes that make you uncomfortable when you wear them. Too tight? Too short? Too much cleavage? Too itchy? Why would you want to keep any of those?

Step six: Look through what you have left and get rid of anything that clashes with everything else. Wonder why on earth you bought that in the first place.

Step seven: Look through what you have left and try mixing and matching items to see how many outfits you can make from the pieces you still have. You will probably discover that you have plenty of clothes. And now you can actually find the pieces that work for you.

Now all you have to do is resist the urge to go buy more.

TTYL,

Linda

The view out our windows today.

(Click to enlarge.)

And that was before the snowfall got really heavy.

And it’s supposed to do it some more tomorrow.

The plows are out in our parking lot.

Spring?

Looks like this would have been another years I would have been ready to come home in my snowbird van but the weather said, “Not yet.” I am NOT sorry to already be home.

Sure glad I don’t have to go outside, though.

TTYL,

Linda

I know that sounds odd but if you stick with me a minute you will realize you understand it perfectly

It’s when the cereal box is almost empty but there’s too much to add to your bowl but too little to make another bowl.

Or when you get near the end of your chips and dip but there’s too much dip to dip up with the last few chips but too little to make it worth saving for later.

Or when you get up from your chair then realize there’s too much of your drink left to just guzzle it down but too little to make it worth coming back to it.

See, I told you you would understand it.

TTYL,

Linda