The Sandcastle

My van is sold and on its way to its new home in California. I am pleased with the buyer. I think she is going to enjoy it as much as I did. If you see her out there, please, welcome Joanna, a part-timer for now, to the community.

TTYL,

Linda

I usually get up between 7 and 8 A.M. I head right to the bathroom where I use my phone to check the weather and play solitaire until my digestive system wakes up enough to get rid of whatever excess weight it is willing to release.

Then I wash and dress and hike up the hill to the main building.  Most of you would probably not even realize it is up hill and you certainly would not call it a hike but for me it is both.

The first order of the day there is to weigh myself on their computerized scale. Yes, we weigh daily here. They want us to learn that the number on the scale is just a number so we can stop basing our feelings on that number. We chart those numbers on a graph in our daily journal. I don’t do the math to see how much weight I have lost. As long as the general direction of the line on my graph is downward that’s all I need to know. Yes, I once posted here about how much weight I had lost so far but that’s because the nurse told me when I went in for a blood pressure check. (They reduced my meds twice based on those readings and I’m still getting lower readings than I ever remember getting.)

Next I go into the huge dining room where I order my breakfast from my preplanned menu and socialize while I eat.

After breakfast it is time for classes. Some of those are to exercise my body and some are to exercise my mind. In both types, I learn a lot! The ones for the mind mostly teach me why I eat when I am not hungry and how to figure out what I can do about those “whys” other than eat. I also learn a lot of tools to help me live in a healthier way.

Then comes lunch. Once again I order from my preplanned menu and socialize.

Then it’s off to more classes. Some of the classes are rotational, meaning the lecture is one of a series that repeats so you can go to what appears to be the same class but hear something new. Some don’t repeat but you can go again and still hear something new you, perhaps, weren’t ready to hear the first time you went. One of the instructors mentioned we only retain 10% of what we hear so I said she could expect to see me in her classes ten times. Most of the classes have power point presentations so you get visual reinforcement of what you hear. Most classes also have handouts so you can review what you heard. Some have mental/written exercises we do in class. Some have homework. I’ve now been to enough classes that I’m no longer repeating all of them. Instead I spend that time doing homework. Or taking a nap because I wore out my brain.

Then comes dinner.

Most days after dinner I climb on the NuStep machine for one last workout of the day. The NuStep is what I consider to be a recumbent stair-stepper. I record my steps on it to add to the ones my pedometer says I took during the day.

Occasionally instead of doing the NuStep, I climb onto Structure House’s shuttle bus to make the run over to Target to buy whatever I found a need for–like detergent so I can do laundry in my apartment. At different times during the week that bus takes people to three different shopping areas, movie theaters, group hikes, experimental restaurant outings, grocery store learning trips, and sometimes explorations of museums or the zoo.

Finally I return to my apartment where I spend the rest of the evening entering upcoming food plans and activity schedule for the next day into my journal. I also spend some time replaying my day. Then I am free to do computer stuff until 10 P.M. When I collape into bed.

People who need less sleep then I do sometimes watch TV but I don’t feel I have time to do that here. I do read for fun but it sure takes me a lot longer to finish a book here than it does at home. And I do hang around with other participants and just chat. I have agreed to teach a couple of them how to crochet the string bags I have been making off and on since the 1970s.

Plus, there are fewer scheduled activities on the weekend. Which is when I make my  plans for foods I will eat and activities I will do in the coming week. Then I get to do other things–like write this blog.

It’s s a busy life here. Which helps me keep from eating at odd times. Although I do order two teaspoons of almonds at dinner to take back to my room with me to eat as a snack. Following the guidelines here I eat them about 8 P.M. while sitting at the table in my apartment. I know I am going to want a snack at home when Dave and I sit down to watch a movie in the evening so I am trying to teach myself that two teaspoons of slivered almonds is enough.

And I’m already working on meal plans for home and thinking about what activities I will do there. After all, going back to what I used to do will just get me back to where I used to be. If I want to be a new me I need to do some new things. That desire for improved health is what keeps me going.

TTYL,

Linda

All my family and friends in Minnesota are going to laugh at this but I’m in North Carolina and this is very cold for here.

It was 11 degrees here when I got up at 7:30 am.

And the predicted high for today is 27 degrees.

That’s below freezing folks.

Yesterday, it rained a bit and people were watching closely to see if it turned into snow.

Sure glad I brought my hat and gloves.

Now  if they would just heat the main building so we didn’t need to wear them inside.

I wonder if they think of shivering as exercise?

TTYL,

Linda

On Friday the doctor here recommended I cut one of my blood pressure pills in half.

So I did that Saturday, Sunday, and this morning.

Then I went to the nurse to get a new reading.

112/70.

The  nurse said we might need to reduce it more. She said that often happens at about 20 lbs loss.

Then I went to a morning stretch class and still got a little dizzy.

She may be right.

Which shouldn’t surprise me since she has been working here about 30 years so well knows what the trends are when it comes to medicine and weight loss.

Wouln’t it be wonderful if I get off all meds by the time I leave mid-March?

TTYL,

Linda

Yesterday, in an exercise class, I got light-headed. When I stopped participating the instructor asked me if I was OK. Then another participant said I was pale. As the class ended they both expressed concern about me with the participant refusing to leave me alone for fear I would faint and no one would notice me in that seldom used room.

So she walked me out to my next activity where she expressed her concern about me to one of the exercise trainers. The trainer assured the participant that she would keep an eye on me and she did.

This was not my first episode of light-headedness here. But, it was stronger than previous ones. So I did my next exercise at half speed and was fine with that.

This morning, following the advice they all gave me, I asked the nurse to take my blood pressure. It was the lowest reading I remember ever having.

I take three pills every morning to keep my heart from pumping too hard. It appears that as my weight drops and my fitness improves my heart does not have to work so hard to pump my blood. Apparently, the pills are making it not work hard enough now. I have an appointment to see the doctor here on Friday to see if it is time to reduce my meds.

Is that another success?

TTYL,

Linda