regular holiday

It's Brisket time in the Pseudo-South....

Texas is a whole 'nother country.

and not in the South per se

Although it might very well be south of where you live!

And probably is!

Brisket with Sugar Free Pancake syrup and hot sauce.

It's pretty good!

My new fave snack is Pork Rinds with cheese...

Made like nachos...

And covered with hot sauce!

Can you really lose weight eating cheese and brisket?

Yep. You can. It's called "LoCarb."

Still holding strong on the Yerba Mate

and no coffee, no Monster Energy Drinks.

Divide up the stash of peanuts....

Although I think it would behoove me

to drop them altogether for now.

I found the Yerba Mate has a few carbs!!

Who knew?

More to the point - the bigger question is

Now What? 

Time to dig a little deeper 

into my Problem Solving Repertoire

and see what needs to be done - and do it!

I can cut back here and there - 

it's all good!

LOW carb is not NO carb.

(But it IS the new Low Fat!)

Conflicting reports show anywhere from 2 - 8 grams 

of carbs per serving. How can that be? Is it even true?

My Mother used to say that every thing is either animal,

mineral or vegetable. Or VitaMeataVegamin.

She always loved and accepted me.

I'm lucky that way. Probably more lucky than I know.

I found this while cleaning out old emails and files from

my Mac. Out with the old. To make room for the New and

Improved! This was 1998 - ish. Hi Mom!

She would be 90 if she were still living.

I couldn't take her anywhere!

She was always fun and the life of the party.

This was probably the first time 

she had ever seen a computer.

Even one with no sound.

I have a good feeling about this whole 

New Years thing....

Thanks to Everyone who has been so 

supportive and kind through my

amazing and occasionally tumultuous

weight-loss journey!

Blogs and Kisses!

And I hope that where ever you are,

you are happy and healthy and

know that you are loved!

Happy New Year!

ripples going out

A very excellent Hospice Teaching example 

is one of the ripple of water.

Like when you drop something into water.

The ripples go out. Of course.

But when a person is deep into their own issues,

The ripples tend to go back in, so to speak.

They lose interest in world events.

Then, they lose interest in national events.

Soon, the ripples get smaller - going inward.

They don't care what happens in the state...

In the city..... in the neighborhood.

All too soon it starts to get personal.

Now they don't care what goes on in the house.

Or in the next room.

Eventually, the only thing they are concerned about

is what goes on, right in their bed.

Right inside their own skin.

Conversely, when a person starts to get "better"

They start to notice things again.

Flowers, and clouds, and things that are right within 

their once - limited line of sight.

And maybe they take an interest again 

in the way they look.

Maybe they have enough energy to spare, 

to concentrate on something other than just

putting out emotional fires.

Maybe the future doesn't have to be a source of fear.

Or the past, a source of shame.

Somewhere between "puppies and kitties,"

And "eff the world."

F as in "feed."

And Unicorn Planet for everyone!

Click the picture for a link to the YouTube video!

Hope you are having a great day

And looking forward to a great year!

an army day

I was at work this week,

Out of town again.

I was at a Veterans Facility

Taking care of my own people.

Walking down the hall, 

I turned around and literally ran into a guy.

A young guy.

In a wheelchair.

A double amputee.

I almost landed on his lap -

If he had one, that is.

I was more shocked than he was....

But he never missed a beat.

He said - "Well, Hi There! May I have this dance?"

So we got to talking.

He said he just lost over 100 pounds!

After the bomb. After the surgery.

I asked if it was on purpose.

Yes! He was beaming!

I asked him how he did it.

He said he "gave up dieting!"

And what's more, as he made

his way down the hall,

He was singing! Singing and pushing

his wheelchair.

I am sure learning that

it always could be worse!

Hope your day is wonderful!

Looking forward to a great new year!

frustration tolerance

Quitting Monsters

Not because I ran out.

They are still right here in the apartment.

Even in my hand.

That would be too easy -

to quit after I drank the rest of the stash!

*Just one more - then I'll quit--- right?*

Well,  I never opened one of them.

The old equal and opposite reaction thing.

As much as I love them, that how much I crave them now.

That is to be expected.

And it's not good to give your control away to

something or someone that cannot love you back!

It's like a diet - I was tired of being at the mercy of

advertising and food-porn suggestions.

When I would see some yummy food product,

It was like my mind was pre-occupied with it.

And determined to buy it and eat it!

Or at least think about it all.day.long.

But it never delivered the enjoyment it promised.

Well, once in a great while it did.

And the randomness of it all was addicting!

A sign?

Stop when PRE-occupied!

Stop  messing around

Drop what you are doing

and Listen....inside

Learning Frustration Tolerance is like taking a plunge 

in a really cold pool. It's not so bad, once you get used 

to it. I might even be learning a thing or two.

As for the easy way.... not always so easy....

(The "can I haz a kitteh" pictures are from the inter*webs...)

Hope your day is wonderful!

And not too frustrating!

learning days

Every 2 years, Nurses must take CEU's

(Continuing Education - 20 hours)

Mine was due, so I chose the topic of Obesity.

I thought it would be the same-old thang....

"The Muffin Top"

"The Pear Shape" and "The Apple Shape"

But no - there's alot of  "new"  info

(as in "new to me")

Like TEF

REE and TEE

Thermic Effect of Food

Resting Energy Expenditure

and 

Thermic Effect of Exercise

All good stuff....

Different Learning Modalities,

Treatment Theories.

And some of the nasty things 

that can happen with co-morbidities

 

And our old friend insulin - we barley know ye!

Even a bit on people who maintained the weight lost,

and those who did not:

Those that lost weight and kept the it off

1) exercised regularly, and 2) monitored food intake.

[Kinda like Blogging?]

Link to the National Weight Control Registry

Also, the Maintainers had a more proactive and

effective way to solve problems.

Not just food problems, or weight.

Instead of using escapism and avoidance, or denial. 

Sounds about right.

Another class I took (years ago) talked about

Sexual Child Abuse.

They said that if an abused person

cannot run AWAY from the problem,

they tend to run INSIDE!

Very profound insight!

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

   

Hey Nurse Anne - What about me? Can it work for me?

(Actual patients, actually!!)

 

Well, I'm no expert....

I just know what worked for me.

Well, actually, I don't really know what worked.

But I do know I lost some weight, and gained some health.

And I am learning a wee little bit about true self-respect.

What ever the heck that is!

I know I'm learning, because that's what I wish for you:

health, and love and true self-respect!

.............................................................

Thanks, Loretta for letting me 

play along with you on

Toon Tuesday!

All of the drawings were done on my cell phone!

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Hope you all are having an excellent day

Somewhere Out There

monster sub

I reconstructed some of the yummy and oh-so-good for ya

supplements in my beloved Monster LoCarb Energy Drink....

Taurine (link)

Vitamin B Complex (link)

and Ginseng (link)

and even some Eleutherococcus Senticosus (and, link)

so-called Siberian Ginseng.

And left out, of course, the 

Guarana (lots o' links)

and caffeine @ 10mg/oz

In other words, 600mg w whole lot!

The herbs in the ginseng family are "adaptogens," 

which claim to help you adapt.

When I went to basic training, the only things I took 

with me was Ginseng, Arnica, and Aconite.

I loved homeopathy at the time.

And was also a Vegan.

Then, later a Vegetarian, for many, many years.

But that's another story for another day.

I'm never good at setting goals...

I never was. And I'm even worse now.

But if I had a goal, it would be to continue with the 

"fitness" part of my weigh-loss journey.

And now that I have the caffeine consumption down to a 

manageable level, I can work a little harder on that.

It just sneaks up on ya, it do.

I'm holding steady at about 100mg a day.

I like the Yerba Mate, too.

2 cups of tea - no Coffee, no Monsters.

By the way, one cup of coffee has 100 - 150 mg of caffeine.

May 09 and May 10

In March 2011 it will have been 2 years

since I started LoCarbing. My weight 

is staying within the same range for the past 

few months. But my body shape has changed.

ALOT!  Guess I've got some settling-in to do!

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Hope your Week is going great,

and your Year is ending with a bang!

But not the kind that give you a headache!