This week I made a huge pot of beef and veggy soup. I know, it didn't match the weather when I started it, but it definitely will match the next couple of days, and I still have a good amount left. It always looks good when it's just starting to warm up, but tastes even better after a couple of days.
It is rainy, gray, and chilly outside this morning. The phone said it was 35℉ when I headed out to take advantage of a coupon for 40 cents off per gallon of gasoline... if you bought $40 worth of groceries, today only.
I had been worrying about whether my Winter coat would zip up, as the weight had been creeping up over the Summer and Fall, actually, if I'm honest, over the whole past year. But on Monday I started "futzing" with Intermittent Fasting again. While the scale has not magically dropped a whole bunch, the coat zipped this morning, and that's a plus!
Fasting report:
I've tried "loosely" following fasting tracking in the past. Soon after Spark announced its shutdown, I ended up trying out Cronometer, the paid version, to get the fast tracker. I signed up for a year, and by the time that year was up, I had burnt out on tracking (again). Too many details. A couple of times since, I started trying the "free" version of Cronometer, which does NOT track fasting hours, but does track all the nutrition stuff. I only made it through a few days each time I tried.
Also over the past year, I checked out Noom, and decided it was not for me. I'd already "dropped out" of My Fitness Pal, and the SparkPeople replacement, PeopleOne.
I had toyed with the ads for Jenny and Nutrisystem, but don't really care to do THAT again. I always seem to need a new toy... uh... tool... to fuel my motivation when it's re-start time. I guess I was ripe for the picking when an ad popped up on my Facebook feed for something called "Simple". It is NOT a complete nutrition kind of tracker. It is a fast timer / calculator. I mentioned in a blog a couple of days ago what it does track. I said "no" to paying for a trial or paying full price, and they came back with a discounted price that eventually was acceptable to me.
Since then, I've joined the Facebook group that uses this tracker. I have NOT gone headfirst into books and literature. I really do want this to be Simple. So I have successfully fasted 14 hours or more for five nights (started Sunday to Monday). I am gradually picking up tips about "clean" versus "dirty" fasting, and I'm experimenting. They push tips at you, every day, in the form of little slide shows (on the app, which is a smart phone thing, not web).
Anyway, that's where I am with the continuation of the journey that Spark supported for so many years so well. I hope you're all in a happy place with this aspect of a healthy life! Let me know in the comments where you have landed, post-Spark. I don't talk about this so much in the blog, but maybe it's time for an accountability re-start!
Rubia update:
They got back to me with the estimate for her surgery, and it's one of those things. How much do you value the life of your pet? Well, apparently, I value her life and quality of her life more than I do the next home improvement plans. I ok'd the outrageous $$$$ amount of the estimate and left it on the schedule for November 16th. She will have to be kept fasting overnight before, and I'll drop her off that morning. She will have to stay overnight, at least one night.
Jury duty update:
I'm impressed. I got an e-mail from the court yesterday afternoon. It tells me to report a week from Monday. Now it's a wait and see whether something causes a delay or cancellation of that duty. It should not interfere with Rubia's surgery, because I can drop her off as early as 7 a.m. and pick her up as late as 6 p.m. The courthouse hours are well within that time frame.
My trainer will be out of town next week, starting on my usual workout day. But the fact that I won't have to report for jury duty until a week from Monday allows me to be squeezed in on Monday, before he leaves town.
Life is good. Spark on!
🔥💖🦃
Your soup fixin's look yummy. Not soup weather here yet in Central Texas.
ReplyDeleteBoth of our dogs (9 & 13) ran up the vet bills this year, also delaying a non-rush car expense plus home improvements on the wish list. They are worth it!
I've been missing SparkPeople quite a bit these past few months. I also made attempts at using other sources but they didn't 'take' with me. The SP experience can never be replicated. I'm grateful for the years spent there.
Today is our 44th wedding anniversary. Instead of cooking, DH picking up an order to go of smoked turkey, barbequed beef, cream corn and cole slaw. The turkey is for me, beef for him and I will go easy on the last two items but am justifying them since I've not eaten much the past 3-days due to endoscopy/colonoscopy procedures.
Life is good in spite of the world's current escalated chaos.
PHOENIX1949
I have your blog earmarked and am a "stealthy" reader. I really miss SP, especially this time of year for some reason. I, too, have gone through the gamut of replacements: MFP, Chronometer, FatSecret, etc. Nothing has come close to what we had before and so I kind of float trying to find some sort of direction. That sounds incredibly bad, but I know I'll figure it out some day. Anyway, thanks much for your blogs and the soup looks delish!
DeleteHappy Anniversary to Phoenix1949 and her hubby! 44 years is quite the achievement... my folks made it to 46 until the inevitable "death do us part".
DeleteMelobee! Thanks for surfacing with a comment... glad you've been finding some value in stealth reading... I hope you've found a few other former Sparkers to follow along with, too. And you're right... nothing is the same, is it? But we have to find ways to keep on living and staying as healthy as we can manage to be!
Beef stew is planned for tomorrow. Maybe a loaf of homemade bread. You know what they say about great minds. ;-)
ReplyDeleteI've had more success with intermittent fasting than anything else.
Spending time with family and/or friends during the fasting windows proves impossible for me though. My "won't power" fails me. While you are fasting, do you drink any liquid other than water?
Good luck with the kitty surgery. You have a huge heart. Training, jury duty, and kitty surgery...you will have your hands full.
Clocks change tomorrow night. Keep Sparking!!
I drink water during the fasting window. I can have my morning coffee black so that it will be a "clean" fast, or if I add the almond milk it becomes the end of the fast, in and of itself. Even if I don't eat my oatmeal for a while, and then it shows up as "two meals" if I separate the timing of coffee and oatmeal by too much. Still figuring out the drill, 5 days in. But I feel good, and that is the real goal here.
DeleteI am fasting 14-15 hours (I had the coffee black and made it 16 overnight last night), with a 10 hour eating window. I am extending the fast by eating my last meal early, since I'm a morning person... I can more comfortably skip a "dinnertime" meal than I could extending the fast into the late morning or noon. I figure you have to match your natural rhythms if you want to keep this up long term. AND, of course, since I live alone, I don't have to balance the needs of others in terms of timing. A 14 hour fast is what my doctor requires before blood work, so it doesn't seem hard at all.
Your stew and fresh bread sounds wonderful. Enjoy every bite!
⏰ I only have to manually change the microwave clock. Everything else is automatic.
Oops, oh, and the car's clock! 🚘 I have to relearn how, every time, but I'm getting better at it!
DeleteIsn't it highway robbery the amount a surgery cost for a pet? I remember Bella's first surgery was $5,000 and y jaw hit the floor, but she was worth it. I don't think I could ever put a price on my pets. Praying that it all goes well for Rubia.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard trying to find something that will work for you after Spark closed. I gave up on sites too.
It may seem like highway robbery to us, but they are using the same technology, in terms of drugs, IV's, etc. that they use on people, so yeah, it's expensive. My personal believe is that since there is now this thing called pet health insurance, it has driven the prices up.
DeleteI read this article about how a man was going to let the dog die rather than pay the price, despite his wife and kids weeping over it, and the vet slashed the price in half. I can't be that guy, though. I learned how much I am attached to this particular cat.
As for Spark substitutes, there aren't any, really. But as I did even while on Spark, I'll look for the tool that will work for me in pursuit of health in the phase of life I'm at. It does change. The beauty of Spark was that there was something for everyone. Writers who blog, had that element. And it was rich and tied to the tracking tools. Folks who preferred a shorter Q&A, there were the teams and forums. There was educational material, and social material, all tied up in a neat little bundle.
Here, I blog like I did there. I knew that blogging, writing, honesty, was a key to living healthy, for me. Clearly, it is something dear to your heart as well.
Long may we blog! Spark on!
I dropped it all after Spark. After a lifetime of tracking completely everything I am tired of it all. I just eat the best I can, walk as often as I can and just enjoy my body as it is and so far it seems to be doing okay. I plan our suppers for the month and that is it for me.
ReplyDeleteI am glad! This is the holy grail of all of us: living healthy without struggling, accepting ourselves, and loving life. Well done, and keep on keepin' on... you are Sparking, just without the site.
DeleteWe are on a similar track. My soup was a recipe called "Veggistrone"
ReplyDeletewhich is easy to change. I added chorizo for a spicy taste and some chick pea pasta spirals. If you want the recipe, let me know. I think I emptied the refrigerator/freezer into it; 18 servings! I've had it for breakfast the past two days as I'm bored of cooking. I was delighted to find I wasn't searching for something else to eat later. Remember 'upside down eating'? Dinner for breakfast, vice versa.
I use Chronometer for my recipes to ensure I've not loaded the food with unnecessary nutritional items(fat, calories) and to portion what I've made. I know WHAT to do but am not doing it, I don't need another gizmo to help me. It's ME!
Intermittent fasting is ok if I limit my intake during the eating period. My normal is no food after 8PM and no food until after 8AM. I'm happy not to eat until noon as it's rare that I'm hungry in the morning but I get dirty looks from my trainers if I haven't eaten. My prime exercise time is 10-3PM and I can't work out on food. So I have some kind of breakfast. Chaos ensues in the daylight hours ;-)
LOL! It's all about finding your rhythm. I get bored with trackers, and regularly change it up. The longest I ever stayed with one was Spark. I eventually got tired of Cronometer as it was too much. I was afraid this would happen even at the beginning which explains why I only bought the premium version for a limited time. And before that time was up? I was done.
DeleteI was similarly overwhelmed by the level of detail of most reading related to intermittent fasting. I was in phase 2 of the cycle for a while "getting mentally ready". Now, I'm in the "learning new things" phase, but in a gentler way. I just started playing with the app and dipping my toes in the support group this past week.
Your Veggistrone sounds a lot like my "ice box cleanout"... toss in whatever is in the 'fridge! I rarely use recipes any more. And yes, I do remember the upside down eating. Even my mom would do this from time to time. Bacon and eggs suppers, or pancake feed suppers, once in a while.
I broke my fast with the almond milk in my coffee just now... hope your Saturday goes well!
This definitely is soup/stew season. Warm and comforting. Ad filling!
ReplyDeleteYeah for the winter coat zipping! Good work. Keep it up.
Awwwww, poor Rubia. But hopefully the surgery will help her out.
Good luck w/jury duty!
hugs
barb
1crazydog
Thanks, Barb! Have a good weekend and a fine week ahead!
DeleteI’ve been craving the warm comfort of soup, too. Pho 🍜 is my go to. Our local place feels very homie (despite growing up in a Mexican household). It’s definitely the opposite of your veggie beef, but it warms my soul, and I’ve been needing a lot of that lately.
ReplyDelete-RunKeeper Dee
I don't think I've ever had Pho! Most of the time I have made straight veggie soup, without any meat, but because I was craving Runzas (cabbage and beef, seasoned and baked inside bread dough)... I made cabbage and beef soup, and then it grew from that to include the rest of the veggies in the fridge.
DeleteI'm a fan of whatever warms your individual soul, and gee, you must know us "white folks" will warm to the food of ANY culture we find.
Here's to warm souls, in preparation for the Winter (which is coming).
I am also a Spark refugee. I follow several blogs here and usually read the morning check in comments on maintaining-weight@googlegroups.com.
ReplyDeleteI have not tried out any other weight loss group, but have been pretty good at maintaining where I was. I think I am down about 5 pounds.
My only social platform at the moment is Ravelry.com, a site that caters to fiber artists (knitting, crochet, spinning, weaving). Like Spark, there are interest groups there for almost anything.
Since I really didn't like tracking on Spark (not a Spark problem, just my attitude), I haven't tried out anything else. I did wear a Fitbit for quite a long time (I think about 7 years), but gave that up when I had lots of trouble trying to get it to sync to download data. I mostly used it for the sleep function. I decided not to replace it since I didn't want to have Google know my every move...
Many of us started out blogging and following the maintenance Google group, some using MFP, etc., but most of us have shrunk down to only one or two things. The diaspora has happened. We could see it coming.
DeleteMy sis still follows the Google group, or at least the daily check in threads over there, and she gives me updates when we walk together. I read the fellow refugee blogs more than she has time for. I find it fascinating how excited we both get hearing what the other has to share. These are our friends! We are happy to hear that they are still "sparking without the website".
Life goes on. Congrats on your maintenance success! Oh, and I sometimes see such cute knit / crochet projects that make me smile, but that's not a hobby of mine, so I pass them on to another sister who knits and a niece who does.
Oh, and what happened to your Fitbit happened to my Garmin, so it is gathering dust in a drawer, but my Fitbit is still alive and kicking. I do like the sleep function.