Buns Again

[moonlight]

I love hearing about your exercise routines!! Yay, you! The energy thing is real, isn't it. It's truly amazing how good I feel when I can get in the exercise. I went to the dermatologist for my 6-month check the other day. I had some pre-cancer areas under my arms, as well as other places, removed. Moving my arms back and forth on the rower irritates the areas that are healing under my arms. I miss my daily row.

[SilverDollar123]

Happy Birthday Buns! I enjoy your posts,very enlightening.RAS

[bunsofaluminum]

I love hearing about your exercise routines!! Yay, you! The energy thing is real, isn't it. It's truly amazing how good I feel when I can get in the exercise.

Yes, it is very real! I took a few days off, with Sat, Sun, Xmas Eve, and Xmas off. I almost went up to the building early on Xmas Eve to work out but then didn't LOL HOWEVER, this morning early and bright, I had my workout clothes on and when I opened the door, there was 3" of snow on the ground! a white Christmas! So I spent a half hour shoveling, and it's heavy snow so it was a real workout and I went back inside and changed to my work outfit and I feel FANTASTIC. That got my heart rate up just nicely. And now the endorphins are flowing.

Too bad they have to be flowing at work but...whatevs. I feel good. It's strange that I let myself get out of the habit, because I know how good "the rush" feels and have had times in my life when I was super fit, and LOVED working out. Well anyway, it feels like I'm going back into such a phase.

Lots of rich food over the past few days, and now for some days of simple, humble food and the family Christmas Party on Sunday will be the last of the feast days. What was even better about Christmas was hanging out with my family. ON Xmas Eve it was my mom, brother and SIL, and Wylie fixed a rich meal. But the fun part really was the visiting and cheers, and we watched It's a Wonderful Life and chatted afterwards.

Xmas Day was at my daughter's, to watch the kidlet open THREE ZILLION gifts. He's at the age that once he opened something, he wanted to stop and play...or at one point, he picked up a "some assembly required" piece and pushed it around the floor. Which was comical. We had some rich food for breakfast, and there were nuts to crack and nibble later in the day, and of course sugary treats here and there, but actually THE Day was not as loaded as the EVE. But was it ever nice to have that visit, and then my younger daughter and her partner came over for a brief visit and gift opening. And another Xmas movie A Christmas Story which I haven't watched in several years.

But I'm glad it's kinda over, no more piles of treats everywhere I look, thank goodness.

[bunsofaluminum]

Happy Birthday Buns! I enjoy your posts,very enlightening.RAS

Thanks RAS!

[bunsofaluminum]

Workout: 25 minutes on recumbent. Low to moderate push and I feel good.

Food:
Banana, granola bars
Cucumber and saltines
Lentil soup over yellow potatoes
cabbage noodle soup

Yesterday was my bday-at-work and there were frosted sugar cookies, and I had a few. Had pho for lunch, and for dinner I had some leftover pad Thai noodles and an egg roll...quite a bit of fat...and a tiny serving of Cabbage Noodle Soup when it was done cooking. I could eat that stuff for EVERY meal, happily the rest of my life. So delicious!

I also love the daily cucumber slices with saltines. Don't know why, but it's just so yummy in the middle of my morning.

[moonlight]

I'm sending you a belated Happy Birthday wish!! Please feel your specialness again today for me. Thanks for being here on this thread. I love getting to know you a little and share this crazy journey of learning to eat for our health. And, way to go on the bike!! You rock!!

[bunsofaluminum]

I'm sending you a belated Happy Birthday wish!! Please feel your specialness again today for me. Thanks for being here on this thread. I love getting to know you a little and share this crazy journey of learning to eat for our health. And, way to go on the bike!! You rock!!

Thank you! It's a lifeline, this journal forum. Keeps me coming back to on-plan eating.

~~~~~

Tis the season of fighting off viruses and coughs, colds and flu. I hear coughing to my right, and three or four people on the other side of the floor are sneezing. Right behind me, sniffles. And me sucking zinc I already kept Wylie's cough at bay, which my mom also caught, and I didn't AND I sleep with the man. Zinc and oregano oil. I never got sick last year either, that horrible flu bug that was going around...zinc and oregano at the first SLIGHTEST hint of a tickle or a tiredness. Strong medicine, oregano oil. I started feeling and sounding husky yesterday near the end of my shift, so when I got home, first thing I did was take oregano oil...three drops under the tongue, and wash it down with a big glass of water....IT IS HORRIBLE...the taste of it is unbelievably nasty. Makes you shudder and cringe...AND it kills off every imaginable microbe: bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites. It is an antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory with pain relief benefits. Strengthens the immune system WHILE killing off the bad guys!

I have used oregano to fight cellulitis at least a dozen times in the past 10 years...cellulitis is one of those systemic illnesses that necessitate very strong anti-bi's...keflex or cipro and sometimes IV anti-bi's...read up on the side effects of cipro, e.g. NO THANK YOU. Oregano oil does just fine, and doesn't give me diarrhea or make me dizzy or cause arthritis. NOR yeast infections, people. A medicine strong enough to fight sub-cutaneous STAFF or STREP that DOESN'T kill the healthy gut bacteria...I can dig it! And currently I'm taking three drops three times a day, to stave off whatever gomboo is floating around my work and home life.

Too bad it tastes so horrible. No way would you give it to a child. But I want to hand it out to my co-workers!

Hm, a thought just occurred...would it be as effective if I were loading my system with a daily dose of SAD...hmmm...

and zinc is good to have around...you suck on a zinc lozenge and let it coat your throat. Germs can't live in the presence of the stuff. so that takes care of the actual physical presence of germs inside the pharynx.

Here's to staying healthy!

[bunsofaluminum]

Oh baby! I got up at a little after 5:00 and put in a DDP Yoga DVD for the first time in over two years. I just followed along to the demo track...there are 13 basic DDPY moves, and they are demonstrated in a 20-ish minute track. I followed along, and DANG it kicked my butt. I feel EVEN BETTER than after a recumbent bike workout!

Here is the video that inspired me to begin with, over five years ago:

The MOST Inspirational Story in the WORLD

When I started a desk job in 2012, and the job was captioning telephone conversations for the hard of hearing...and the majority of the people using our service were elderly so I had full shifts talking about the physical effects of aging PLUS the actual aging effects on my body, of sitting for long periods. And I said to myself "Self, we have to figure out how to stay young" and at the same time, this video came across my FB feed or somewhere I ran across it and WOW! what an inspiration! PLUS someone here on these forums whose journey was extremely inspirational as well...anyone remember Norm? TALK about a success story! lost 300 lbs. McDougalling and he was also into DDP Yoga and sent me the first DVD and I started in January of 2013.

It completely energized me, so much so that I literally couldn't sit still. I was doing pushups off the edge of my work desk, walking the two miles to work, and back, every day that wasn't brutally hot or cold. Long walks, 90 minutes at least, that sometimes turned into jogging, and many days I did two 90 minute walks a day. Some days, just jotting on up to a nearby grocery store 2.3 miles away, as long as I didn't have much to buy...those were fun, because I'd buy a baguette or a bagel and munch on my way home! Hiking all over the canyons around SLC. And a yoga workout pretty much every morning. When my daughter got married in Sept of that year, we fixed up my mom's back yard and I was ecstatic when they brought in several dozen 40# bags of bark chips to spread in the garden...I had so much energy I was twitching and that gave me something to do, lemme tell you. I even took a two hour break and went to a movie, and then finished it all up when we got back from the movie. It was fantastic, how energized I was! DDP Yoga! FTW

That was a fun community there for a while. There was a chat room that was so much fun. I was in there every day virtually dorking around with fellow DDP'ers. Made some friends that I still keep in touch with

We were all doing videos

My Very First YouTube Video

and challenging each other to work out every day and just having the time of our lives.

Thanks to my "hyper-focus mode" where I get all into something new and do nothing else for a long time...and when I stop doing it I never go back...well, in October of 2013 I met Tom. (Pre-Wylie through Match.com) and we hit it off amazingly and fell absolutely head over heels in love, and I would much rather stay in bed snuggling in the morning with the love of my life, than get up and do yoga, so I stopped doing DDP Yoga. and then Tom moved away and we didn't keep the relationship going which still makes me sad. We were bonkers about each other, but it was the right choice. Leave it at that.

And, a few months before we ended it, but after Tom moved away, I discovered Zentangle, got really sick with cellulitis and reactive arthritis, and the combination of those things plus my tendency never to go back to something I used to be super "into", I sat right down on my butt and it's been tough trying to get moving again. Of course, Wylie is even more of a snuggle bug than Tom was, so...

Anyway.

Getting on the recumbent every morning reawakened my delight in "the rush" and this morning I popped awake and said "DDPY for me today!" so I did! Yay! And I did the simplest track, just a review of the various moves, and it kicked my butt and now I feel terrific. I can tell my knee is going to complain but I'm confident this will bring healing even to my poor damaged knee. I'll be careful, but I'm excited! That DVD is still in the player and I plan on turning it on tomorrow early. Wouldn't it be SO COOL if that turbo energy returned to my life!

[moonlight]

Hi Buns,

Your energy and enthusiasm are contagious!! Congrats to you for getting to that place again! Thank you for posting Arthur's video and your video. Arthur's story is so very inspiring!! Amazing what he was able to do. And, I love your video!! I'm going to have to add yoga to my routine!

[bunsofaluminum]

Okay the final Xmas party is behind me. Thankfully there were non-meat options for the taco bar (including Jack Fruit, Tex Mex style)...otherwise, I just ate what I wanted, much of it off plan. We went for a little walk after dinner, which was nice. Snowy and cool, and I sobered right up (Sangria is strong!)

Nothing big happening tonight. Wylie and I are going to a movie when I get home from work (Half day) and possibly out for a meal. Maybe? And then home for a quiet evening. I want to stay up until midnight and bang pan lids, and then hit the hay.

[bunsofaluminum]

Workout: 15 min on the recumbent; 10 minutes weights focus on shoulders and chest. Feeling pretty good, though my knee is tweaking.

Food: so far one apple.

S: cucumber slices and saltines
L: lentil stew and boiled potatoes
D: cabbage noodle soup

Also plan to make more soup. Big batch to bring for lunch.

[bunsofaluminum]

Workout: 20 minutes DDPYoga. Feeling fantastic! Nothing like loosening up the spine and opening the joints for packing energy into your body! Feeling yesterday's weights in my armpits

Ooh! Yesterday I had a zero added fats OR fatty foods day! woot! Minimal sugar, as well.

since I went grocery shopping after work yesterday, it will be Soup Making Night tonight after work. I'd love a repeat of that lentil stew. Finally, a lentil dish that I made, that turned out yummy!

I cooked up six cups of rice as well, so maybe I'll make Thai Curried Rice. Or maybe I'll do some simple rice bowls with spinach and beans. Ahhhh, normal eating. It already feels so much better.

[moonlight]

Woot! Woot! And some more woots! You go, girl!

[bunsofaluminum]

Thanks, Moonlight!

No workout yet today. I woke up at 6:33, which is when I'm usually grabbing a banana to eat and heading out the door to come work out! OR, I'm wrapping it up and getting dressed after a ddpy workout. So nothing...yet. I have the place to myself when I get home, so I'll prolly do a DDPY after work.

Food plan today

Banana
Cucumber and saltines
rice, spinach, and bbq beans
don't know what's for dinner.

[bunsofaluminum]

My weekend was horrible, for eating. I was indulgent in many things, including buttered popcorn, and quite a few pistachios. AND out to dinner at Olive Garden where I *could have* had a salad and minestrone and been okay, or even their regular marinara sauce with steamed veggie topper...but NOOOO I had to get noodles with a creamy pesto sauce...with veggie topper...and I also ate the greasy bread sticks and had some dessert. (Note to self: the cannolis at Olive Garden are NOT WORTH IT) That, plus the fact that I didn't work out Fri, Sat, or Sun, and I felt like a literal blob of fat last night. A blob of fat with a stomach ache. And gas.

Got up this morning at 5:00 and out the door by 6:00. Worked out for 40 minutes: 20 on the bike, and 20 on the weights. Feeling better. Not so much blob-of-fattish. More easy, relaxed, with calm energy. Yay for endorphins!

Maybe I need to open up the 10 day menus and meal plans and follow those. Somebody else making the decisions about my food. SOMETHING. Because I do pretty well during the week, and most weekends just fall apart. I was able to make a nice big batch of Thai Curried Rice, which will do for lunches here for a while. Need to make something soupish. Maybe the Mushroom Barley Soup recipe from Starch Solution. Except no shrooms in the house. Maybe I'll do a COTF soup (clean out the fridge)...

Well anyway. Yay for working out, boo for eating so unhealthy AND making myself feel so dang yucky. Yay for cucumber slices!