Done?

I have been writing this blog since 2008. It started as a way to record our travels when we moved into a motor home to travel full time. We’ve been off the road for several years now and I’m having trouble finding things to write about. I’ve been trying to post at least once a month so people know I am still alive but that effort is not particularly rewarding. So, if you don’t hear from me in the future, it doesn’t mean I died; it just means life has become much less exciting to write about. And I am content with that.

Linda

Looking back

According to the Bible, God told Lot’s wife not to look back or he would turn her into a pillar of salt. Yet, look back she did.

And so do we.

We ask ourselves such questions as:

Who is that person that has taken up residence so deeply in my mind?

What would have happened if I had made a different decision?

When might I have been able to choose differently?

Where did I learn to make these choices?

Why has my life taken this turn?

How could I have made different choices?

How many of us are so busy looking back that we cannot move forward?

TTYL,

Linda

Simple Diet

Simplicity and minimalism are related systems but they are not the same. Simplicity says to do things as simply as possible. Minimalism says to decide what’s important to you and get rid of everything that keeps you from that.

With both of those in mind I started thinking about weight loss systems.

Most diets work.

As long as you follow the rules for that specific diet including their rules for a maintenance program once you reach your goal weight.

Weight Watchers works because their points system causes you to eat fewer calories.

The rice diet works because when you can only eat those few foods you tend to eat fewer calories.

South Beach, Paleo, and Keto work because they limit your consumption of carbs which usually results in eating fewer calories.

Residential food programs work because their limited menus mean you eat fewer calories.

Beginning to see a trend here?

If calorie reduction is the common denominator of all weight loss programs, why not just focus on the calories?

So I decided to get rid of the clutter of special programs and go for simplicity.

Back in April, I told FitDay.com I want to lose 100 pounds in two years (that’s a safe rate which tends to result in keeping the weight off) and it told me I need to eat 1384 calories per day.

When I was at Structure House they gave me a formula for figuring out your calorie needs. It says when I reach goal weight I will need about 1300 calories per day to maintain that weight.

So the simple diet for me is to eat 1300-1384 calories per day.

Of any food I want.

Cheesecake? Sure, just count those calories.

Potato chips? Sure, if that’s how I choose to spend my calories.

FitDay lets me enter what I eat into their database and it tells me how many calories I am consuming.

And there will be no transition to a maintenance program since by the time I reach goal weight I will have been eating the right number of calories for two years.

Easy. Simple. Not cluttered.

And working.

TTYL,

Linda

Thought Cleaning

The best resource I have ever found for helping clear old thoughts from my mind is Dr. David Burns Feeling Good Handbook.

I got rid of my copy of the book when we were downsizing to go on the road but I’m now thinking about buying another one since I have realized I still have a lot of decluttering of my mind to do.

In case you feel a need to do that as well, I encourage you to check out https://www.amazon.com/Feeling-Good-Handbook-David-Burns/dp/0452281326. This is not an associate link so feel free to use a friend’s link if you decide you want to buy this helpful book.

TTYL,

Linda