Grandma's TIRED!

This weekend my daughter and her husband went to Boston for the weekend.  Grandma and Grandpa got to watch Lorenzo, our grandson, who is 16 months old.  I even took him to church this morning.  Naturally he was adorable but extremely active.  He is at the stage where he can find trouble in an instant.  He is a good baby because he eats well and goes to bed easily but he still can keep us running after him.

It has been a very long time since my babies were that small.  A year ago I could not have managed this.  Last year at this time I was struggling to do my job.  I could barely walk without getting winded let alone run after a toddler with a goal in mind.  (The goal being running away with whatever he is not supposed to have.)  He was very happy to see Mom and Dad this evening but he had a good time with his Grandma and Grandpa.  I'm thankful to be the new and improved Grandma.

Is it spring yet?

March is here but winter is not over.  My favorite long-range weather forecaster says we will have one more big snowstorm this month.  What snow we have on the ground has been melting but the only things blooming around here are potholes.  Our driveway looks like it may soon have a sinkhole large enough to swallow my car.

I've decided that my slow weight loss lately requires rethinking of my dietary choices.  I checked out a few websites for bariatric surgery programs.  At this stage I need to focus on more real food rather than protein supplements.  Most days I work I've taken a bottled protein shake in the car and a protein wafer bar.  That starts me off with a lot of protein but also comes with a lot of calories.  There is no need for a 400 calorie breakfast.  Daily calorie intake should be around 1200 calories.  What's been happening is that there aren't  many calories left by the end of the day.

Today I made sure to eat at home instead of the car.  I had some Greek yogurt with frozen fruit and flavored with Torani sugar-free raspberry syrup.  The frozen fruit slows me down a little because it requires some chewing.  In the car I drank some Crystal Lite.  I did not have any snacks at work except more Crystal Lite.   I did eat some cheese on the way home.

Fitday.com has been very helpful for realizing what needs to be done.  Knowledge is indeed power.  Nibbling small snacks or "grazing" really can add up to way too much food.  I don't eat any blatantly fattening foods.  No sugar at all and rarely starchy foods.  Of course when one doesn't eat carbs that only leaves protein and fat.  I was shocked to find that a hot dog that was 160 calories had 150 calories from fat.  WHOA!!!

I've enjoyed the soups I've made with beans recently.  I plan to do more of those and also found some Progresso soups that are very satisfying and nourishing.

Since I've been working out at the gym I expect that I might be building muscles while losing fat.  Muscle tissue weighs more than fatty tissue.  I have no idea how much that works out to be.  It probably isn't as much as I'd like it to be though.

Love to all,
Marlena of Mohegan.

Measuring up, or rather, down.

Last night at our opera rehearsal we were getting measured for costumes for the upcoming production of The Pearl Fishers.  Like hitting the scale, getting measurements is not one of my favorite pastimes.  Before my surgery  the trauma of the tape measure was quite the reality slap in the face.  The standard size tape measure did not fit around me and extra inches had to be added.  Talk about humiliation.

 I was delighted to find that the tape went around with room to spare!  I'm at least 12" smaller around my bust, waist and hip measurements.  I don't really know what the numbers were before because I block out those type of memories.

One of my friends has started to call me SB which is an abbreviation for SKINNY BITCH!  I'm a long way from skinny but it feels good.

I'm still hitting the gym.  I love using the massage chair after my workout.  Planet Fitness really is a wonderful place.  I see people of all ages and physical conditions.  I never feel like I don't belong there.  I wish they'd open a franchise closer to my job though.  It would be nice to drop in on the way home.

Love to all,
Marlena of Mohegan

New clothes show off the new me.

We do secret santas at my job every year..  I never found out who mine was but my gift was a gift card for Life Uniform Shop.  I finally got around to going there this week and got myself something new to wear to work.  I couldn't believe all the positive comments I received when I wore this outfit!  I guess my baggy old scrubs have got to go.  One person said it was good to see me wearing something that isn't hanging on me.  Another person said how she was glancing around the room and couldn't find me in the crowd at first.  I must say that in a bustling  room during a trauma alert or major cardiac event it is much easier to move around these days.  Thanks to all for the encouraging words and belated thanks to my secret santa for the perfect gift.

I also got new eyeglasses this week.  I tried to get frames that were more fashionable than my old ones.  I brought my hubby with me to help me pick them out.  I remember the last time I did that I swore that the next time I would bring my daughter instead because hubby is not help in this area.  Oh well, next time for sure.

I'm still hitting the gym three days per week.  Tonight I'm having some leg cramps.  I did the bicycle again today.  I get rather bored doing the bike.  I have earbuds to use for the TV but I think I need to put some exercise music on my MP3 player.

I made some healthy lentil soup today.  It was a recipe from Shelly's blog "The World According to Eggface"
It was really delicious.  Please visit her blog and check out her recipes.

Love to all,
Marlena of Mohegan

I'm still battling the plateau.

I started entering all my consumables on fitday.com.  I've been falling into old habits of snacking at night.  True, I'm not eating what I used to but everything does add up.  I'm sure my calories have been more than I should be eating.  Knowledge is power.

I went back to the gym today.  I upgraded my membership at Planet Fitness to the black card.  This means I can bring a guest for free.  I can use any PF facility.  I have free use of the massage chairs or tanning beds.  Plus I get drinks for half price.  They gave me a t-shirt too.

Dr. Jarrett told me to adapt healthy habits like not looking for the closest parking spot to the store.  I'm getting the idea here.  I've been me for a long time.  It's time to be a new me.

Love to all,
Marlena of Mohegan

Planet Fitness I'm Back!

I finally got myself to the gym.  It's about time.  Yesterday I found an old People Magazine stuck behind my bed.  On the cover was Kirsti Allie.  After losing 75 lbs for Jenny Craig and being the spokesperson she gained back more than what she lost.  The story of my life (ok without the fame and the financial support).  She had just brought her exercise equipment back from the garage to her living room where it is more likely to be used.  Reading this article got me thinking.  So this morning after I woke up I lay there thinking how it was time for me to get my sorry ass back to the gym.  

Previously I had done only weight training at Planet Fitness.  I had tried to work on the elliptical or an exercise bike but I couldn't do it then.  Before my surgery I couldn't tolerate the stress on my heart.  My heart rate shot up very quickly to 150.  I'd be gasping for breath after only a few minutes.  On the bike my knee hurt too much.  

Today I tried the elliptical again.  I don't know if the thing wasn't working right but I couldn't get the program to work.  I tried it for a few minutes but I decided to try a Life Fitness Bike instead.  I was able to get the computer to work on that and found that my knee tolerated this well.  My heart rate stayed under 100 and I wasn't short of breath at all.  I ended up doing 5.5 miles.  The readout said I'd burned 165 calories.  If only my car was that efficient at fuel economy.  Ah well, it was a start.  

When I got off the bike I was a little wobbly and  felt for a second that my legs might give out.  Fortunately I didn't embarrass myself.  I went to a table to write down the details my workout and was happy to find that I fit in the chair much better than before.  (Most chairs with arms used to be quite snug.) 

Its good to be working out again.  I'm gonna do the weight training too but I'm happy to be able to work on the cardio too.  

Love to all, 

Marlena of Mohegan

Soup Again!

Today I made the broccoli barley cheese soup.  MMMMM!  I love this stuff.  Next I've got to try to replicate the chicken pot pie soup.  I might make my celestial chili one day soon.  White beans, ground chicken, yellow tomatoes and green chilis.  No red ingredients but yummy.

The temperature here got above 40 degrees today.  The sun was out.  It was raining a little while ago but we're supposed to have more snow tomorrow.  Only about three inches though.  At least some of the snirt will be covered up.  I just heard the word snirt recently and today Kelly Ripa showed a picture of a huge, ugly snirt pile in NYC.  Snow + Dirt = Snirt.  Only Kelly said one of her friends called the pile in her picture SNIT!  lol.

Love to all,
Marlena of Mohegan