sirdle - 2019

[sirdle]

My husband wears Levi 501’s and has me cut the label off the back. They are widely available and have a very timeless look. Maybe they would work for you, too? Good luck with all the shopping. Half of my motivation to eat right is so I don’t have to buy new clothing, I just have to stay in what I’ve got.

Simple solutions are great. I never even thought to just cut the label off.

Thanks!

[Mark Cooper]

I feel your difficulties with the jeans! When I reached my current 30' waist it started to become nearly impossible to buy inexpensive jeans off the rack, I need a 36' inseam and the 30' waist jeans almost always stop at 34' inseams. Ugh. I went from buying jeans for less that 20 dollars to spending 60 or more and usually just ordering online. On the plus side, I've found the more expensive jeans to be substantially better made, so that's something I guess. Best of luck with the new wardrobe!!!

[sirdle]

Thanks Mark!

Looking forward to buying some 31" jeans... when the time comes.

Cheers,

[sirdle]

Day 47, Sun

Food
==============================
B: oatmeal, blueberries, flaxseed
L: lentil stew + salad
S: bananas
D: baked beans
S: blueberries

fruit: 9 servings

Exercise
==============================
Activity - walking (intermittent) 8,000 steps
Cardio - none
Strength - weight training (50 min)
Balance - none
Flexibility - static stretching (60 min)

Rest
==============================
Sleep - 8+2 hr, restful
Meditation - none
Stress - low
Reading - none

Notes
==============================
Weight Training
week 1

1 experimental, low-intensity set to see how my heart does tonight and tomorrow.

leg press, 45 deg - (90x20)
bench press, iso-lever - (20x13)
hamstring curl, prone machine - (50x18)
row, low, iso-lever - (25x15)
shoulder press, iso-lever - (15x17)
pull ups, assisted - (85x15)
hip abduction, machine - (85x14)
hip adduction, machine - (115x25)
leg extension, machine - (55x17)

[sirdle]

Day 48, Mon

Food
==============================
B: oatmeal, blueberries, flaxseed
L: potatoes w/ baked beans + salad
S: pineapple
S: blueberries
D: brown rice w/ refried beans + cauliflower
S: apples

fruit: 10 servings

Exercise
==============================
Activity - walking (intermittent) 1,500 steps
Cardio - none
Strength - none
Balance - none
Flexibility - static stretching (40 min)

Rest
==============================
Sleep - 7+2 hr, fitful
Meditation - none
Stress - low
Reading - none

Notes
==============================
Heart - the pulled muscle in my back is almost completely healed. Yay! But the muscles in my upper chest were sore all day, probably from the weight training on Sunday. I guess I'm not as healed as I'd like. But I don't think the pain is going to stop me unless it gets worse: I'll keep doing weights once a week. I just wish I understood better about what is going on, so I wouldn't do so much guessing. Is exercise bad for my heart or not? What about intermittent walking? Sigh.

Sleep - very fitful. Muscles kept cramping up. Moved to the couch and put on some hypnotic music which finally put me to sleep. Woke up very tired and restless. Did not go to work, but got caught up on all the bills, instead.

Walking - very little walking today. Resting and recovering.

Fruit - fruit consumption has crept up this week... and so has my weight. Need to watch that!

[sirdle]

Day 49, Tue

Food
==============================
B: oatmeal, blueberries, flaxseed
L: baked beans + salad
S: pineapple
D: potatoes w/ salsa, mustard, ketchup
S: blueberries

fruit: 8 servings

Exercise
==============================
Activity - walking, intermittent (35 min)
Cardio - none
Strength - none
Balance - none
Flexibility - static stretching (40 min)

Rest
==============================
Sleep - 7 hr, restful
Meditation - none
Stress - low
Reading - none

Notes
==============================
Pedometer - my pedomoter isn't working out. There is no way to turn it off, so I can rack up 2,000 to 8,000 "steps" in a day just from driving my truck around. It's just too much work trying to figure out how many of the steps are "real", so I'm going back to just recording minutes.

[sirdle]

Day 50, Wed

Food
==============================
B: oatmeal, blueberries, flaxseed
L: baked beans + salad
S: pineapple
D: potatoes w/ salsa, mustard, ketchup
S: blueberries

fruit: 8 servings

Exercise
==============================
Activity - walking, intermittent (35 min)
Cardio - none
Strength - none
Balance - none
Flexibility - static stretching (40 min)

Rest
==============================
Sleep - 7 hr, fitful
Meditation - none
Stress - low
Reading - none

Notes
==============================
Exercise - long day at work; very warm evenings. I guess I'm still celebrating International Sloth Day, because I'm feeling very unmotivated.

[sirdle]

Day 51, Thu

Food
==============================
B: oatmeal, blueberries, flaxseed
L: sweet potatoes + salad
S: pineapple
D: potatoes w/ salsa, mustard, ketchup + Brussels spouts
S: blueberries

fruit: 8 servings

Exercise
==============================
Activity - walking, intermittent (35 min)
Cardio - none
Strength - none
Balance - none
Flexibility - static stretching (40 min)

Rest
==============================
Sleep - 7 hr, fitful
Meditation - none
Stress - low
Reading - none

Notes
==============================
Sleep - another long day at work; very warm evenings. Not sleeping well because of the heat. Looks like it might break this weekend.

[sirdle]

Day 52, Fri

Food
==============================
B: oatmeal, blueberries, flaxseed
L: sweet potatoes + salad
S: pineapple
D: white rice + steamed veggies
S: baked beans

fruit: 2 servings

Exercise
==============================
Activity - walking, intermittent (35 min)
Cardio - none
Strength - none
Balance - none
Flexibility - static stretching (40 min)

Rest
==============================
Sleep - 7 hr, fitful
Meditation - none
Stress - low
Reading - none

Notes
==============================
Sleep - Ug. 80 deg at 5:00 AM. Thankful that I don't have any fires to worry about, though!

Baked Beans - I'm trying to find a good recipe for a potluck in a couple of weeks. The potluck will be sandwiched between two dances and I'm helping to set up before the first dance, so I don't want to bring a warm dish and let it sit for 4-5 hours before the break. This weekend I'm trying a couple of meals in the slow cooker. Tonight: Smoky Apple Baked Beans. Tomorrow: Lentil Stew. I've never made either of these in the slow cooker before.

Edit: the baked beans are a winner!

Smoky Apple Baked Beans
by Susan Voisin

Ingredients

2 large onions , finely chopped
1 large red or green bell pepper , finely chopped
8 garlic cloves , minced
1 large apple , chopped
1 15-ounce can black beans , rinsed and drained
1 15-ounce can chickpeas , rinsed and drained
1 15-ounce can great northern beans , rinsed and drained
1 8-ounce can tomato sauce
3 medjool dates , pitted and roughly chopped
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons soy sauce or gluten-free tamari
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon Liquid Smoke or smoked salt to taste
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground chipotle pepper

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and saute until it begins to soften, about 3 minutes. Add bell pepper and minced garlic to the pan and sauté for another 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the apple and cook for another minute. Add the beans and remove from heat.

3. Combine tomato sauce and all remaining ingredients in blender. Blend at high speed until the dates are completely smooth.

4. Pour this sauce into the onion and beans, and stir well. Spoon mixture into an 11 x 7-inch non-metal, lightly-oiled baking dish. Cover and bake at 350° for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 30 minutes.

Notes:
I did not use any Liquid Smoke
I used 15oz diced tomatoes instead of 8 oz.
I used 2 small Fuji apples
For step #4, I put every thing in the slow cooker on High and it was done in 3 hours... maybe sooner, I didn't check.

[sirdle]

Day 53, Sat

Food
==============================
B: oatmeal, blueberries, flaxseed
L: potatoes w/ baked beans + salad
S: blueberries
D: lentil stew + asparagus
S: blueberries

fruit: 7 servings

Exercise
==============================
Activity - walking, intermittent (35 min)
Cardio - none
Strength - weight training (50 min)
Balance - none
Flexibility - static stretching (60 min)

Rest
==============================
Sleep - 8 hr, restful
Meditation - none
Stress - low
Reading - none

Notes
==============================
Weight Training
week 2

1 experimental, low-intensity set to see how my heart does tonight and tomorrow.

leg press, 45 deg - (90x30)
bench press, iso-lever - (20x18)
hamstring curl, prone machine - (50x21)
row, high, iso-lever - (25x20)
row, low, iso-lever - (25x15)
shoulder press, iso-lever - (15x20)
pull ups, assisted - (85x18)
hip abduction, machine - (85x20)
hip adduction, machine - (145x18)
leg extension, machine - (55x18)

Movie Night - watched the second half of "Fiddler on the Roof" with my wife. We watched the first half a few weeks ago (we don't watch many movies. ) Very good. Not what I was expecting, though. I was expecting something lighthearted.

[sirdle]

Day 53, Sat

Food
==============================
B: oatmeal, blueberries, flaxseed
L: potatoes w/ salsa, mustard, ketchup + salad
S: cherries
D: lentil stew + cauliflower
S: blueberries

fruit: 7 servings

Exercise
==============================
Activity - walking, intermittent (30 min)
Cardio - walking (70 min)
Strength - none
Balance - none
Flexibility - static stretching (40 min)

Rest
==============================
Sleep - 7 hr, restful
Meditation - none
Stress - low
Reading - none

Notes
==============================
Weight Training - felt very good today after yesterday's weight training! This is the first day I have felt truly optimistic since my 2-day stay in the hospital. I think I've turned a corner. That's quite a relief. Also went for a 1-hour walk between loads at the laundromat. The mini heat wave has broken, so today was cool and foggy. A nice day for a walk.

[sirdle]

Day 54, Sun

Food
==============================
B: oatmeal, blueberries, flaxseed
L: potatoes w/ salsa, mustard, ketchup + salad
S: cherries
D: lentil stew + cauliflower
S: blueberries

fruit: 7 servings

Exercise
==============================
Activity - walking, intermittent (30 min)
Cardio - walking (50 min)
Strength - none
Balance - none
Flexibility - static stretching (40 min)

Rest
==============================
Sleep - 7 hr, restful
Meditation - none
Stress - low
Reading - none

Notes
==============================
Weight Training - felt very good today after yesterday's weight training! This is the first day I have felt truly optimistic since my 2-day stay in the hospital. I think I've turned a corner. That's quite a relief. Also went for a 1-hour walk between loads at the laundromat. The mini heat wave has broken, so today was cool and foggy.

[sirdle]

Day 55, Mon

Food
==============================
B: oatmeal, blueberries, flaxseed
L: lentil stew + salad
S: McDougall split pea soup
S: pineapple
D: potatoes w/ ketchup
S: blueberries
S: dates

fruit: 9 servings

Exercise
==============================
Activity - walking, intermittent (30 min)
Cardio - none
Strength - none
Balance - none
Flexibility - static stretching (40 min)

Rest
==============================
Sleep - 6+1 hr, woken by alarm
Meditation - none
Stress - low
Reading - none

Notes
==============================
Food - very hungry today for some reason. Ate a McDougall split pea soup at work (which kept me away from the donuts). But also ate a huge plate of potatoes (20 oz) as soon as I got home, some dates, and two bags of blueberries. I'm a little short on sleep after an active weekend. Don't know if that had anything to do with it or not. I know typically, the less sleep I get the hungrier I become.

[sirdle]

Day 56, Tue

Food
==============================
B: oatmeal, blueberries, flaxseed
L: lentil stew + salad
S: pineapple
D: baked beans + asparagus
S: blueberries

fruit: 8 servings

Exercise
==============================
Activity - walking, intermittent (30 min)
Cardio - none
Strength - none
Balance - none
Flexibility - static stretching (40 min)

Rest
==============================
Sleep - 8+1 hr, fitful
Meditation - none
Stress - low
Reading - none

Notes
==============================
Sleep - asleep by 8:30. But a fitful night. Must have woken up 6-7 times. Don't know why. Thought about taking the day off, but there was too much to do. Glad I stuck it out; it was a very productive day at work... once I finally got there.

Rest - looking forward to a couple of days of rest before a big dance weekend!

[sirdle]

Day 57, Wed

Food
==============================
B: oatmeal, blueberries, flaxseed
L: none
S: none
D: potatoes w/ salsa, mustard, ketchup
S: bananas

fruit: 6 servings

Exercise
==============================
Activity - walking, intermittent (30 min)
Cardio - none
Strength - none
Balance - none
Flexibility - static stretching (40 min)

Rest
==============================
Sleep - 6.5 hr, fitful
Meditation - none
Stress - low
Reading - none

Notes
==============================
Travelling - had to drive to a remote field location again with a client. Thought we were going to stop at the same Mexican restaurant that we stopped at a couple of weeks ago, so I didn't take any food with me. (I know, what was I thinking?) Then we ran into all kinds of problems and didn't have time for lunch, so I didn't get a chance to eat until around 6:00 PM... when I ate like the big dogs were coming. But a good day overall.