Sunday when I got home from the movies, the Amazon app informed me that the pans I ordered were "10 stops away" from being delivered. I misread it as "10 steps" and went hunting for the box, but it wasn't there. Of course not!
Soon, though, I looked again, and saw the word was "stops", and the number was decreasing, and before long, it was here. I opened it, and decided to put them to the test this morning. These non-stick surface pans have me pulling out the wooden spoons to stir the oats Monday morning, and I'm giving the pan the big test for non-stickiness, with those steel cut bits of oat.
Between the new knobs on the stove, and now three new pans replacing old ones, gee, it's kind of like Christmas all over again.
Back in the day, I did series blogs about the journey to good health and weight loss: "alphabet blogs" about living in general. Wonder if that would be a good idea to re-institute, writing on a theme, with a purpose of motivation and self-reflection.
Only one more delivery left to come. My t-shirt quilt! The package tracker says it is due today, and with that, everything I ordered will be here!
An updated weight history, with context
At the height of my "racing" career, I tipped the scale somewhere around 115 pounds. I scared myself when it would drop below that.
After the great fall and concussion, late in 2016, I regained 20 pounds during 2017.
I shaved 10 of those off in 2018, which was the year of my last half marathon. It was also the first year of my retirement. It was the year I drove out to Corning, NY to surprise my brother who was running the full marathon to my half in September. He ran his personal best marathon that day, and it was the last marathon he would run in his lifetime.
I ran one more half marathon after that (or rather ran/walked it), in 2019. Only a couple of months later, my brother died. I proceeded to pile on about 30 pounds between then and the end of the year. Scary.
In 2020, the first year of the pandemic, I pretty much stabilized about 5 pounds under that peak.
In 2021, the year that Spark went away? I had a good couple of months of going into survival mode, and dropped about 15 pounds, but burnt out and it started coming back, ending up by year end about where I was at the end of 2020.
In 2022, I danced with the devil, and the weight crept up another five pounds, then started working on the next five... until on Halloween, I started the Intermittent Fasting experiment. I told myself it was because of the tummy troubles (I even bought some antacids). I managed my expectations about weight. But seriously, here I was in October topping 160, peaking at 163. This really was not acceptable!
I closed 2022 at 145, which I had stated as my goal weight when I started IF. I continued with IF through January, as my body has adapted to this new "set point". If I remained at this weight for the rest of my natural life, I think I'd be OK with it. I think I'll be fine with whatever dress I fit into for my son's Wedding, this coming April.
But (and there's always a but), I don't intend to give up this way of eating. It feels good. And as the sign on my fridge says: Feeling Good is Goal #1.
Let's get on with life, then. Because Life is Good.
Spark on!
💖✨🔥
I am intrigued with the wooden handles on your pots. Are they dishwasher safe? I usually do pots by hand but sometimes get lazy... I'm still using my Revere ware pots from 1974 and my mom's aluminum Dutch oven that has to be older than me, maybe 72yrs old.
ReplyDeleteGood on your balancing your weight. Those were some sizeable gains/losses since I last saw you. I think my 10+/- over-and-over for the past 12 years amounts to the same thing. Balance.
We can do it. Keep on simmering those oats.
Life IS good, eh?
I did what my mother always did: read the instructions. They are in theory dishwasher safe, but they recommend hand-washing. These are not the premium pans you pay a fortune for. So they say no metal utensils, and hand wash.
DeleteThe weight did have some roller-coaster elements to it over the years, gee it's been nearly 4 years since I saw you! It's like mountains and foothills. Moving is easier with those pounds lessened, and that's a fact. Now that I'm down to where I was in the shadow of Spark closing, it's time to buckle down and stay the course.
Simmer those oats. And feeling healthier leads to healthier habits, leads back around to feeling healthier... what Chris Downey called criss-cross effects, eh? So Life IS good!
New pans for simmering. New knobs to control the simmer. New tools to reinforce the Commitment you have made to better health.
ReplyDeleteSpark on!!
Thanks. It does feel like a renewal. Life goes on, along with the spark!
DeleteI love getting anything new for the kitchen. I love the wood on the pans, so pretty.
ReplyDeleteGreat job on keeping balance with your weight. It's never easy, but you;re doing such a good job.
Thanks. There's something about a refresh in the kitchen! A tea-kettle a couple of years back gave me the same lift!
DeleteI am with you on the feeling good is #1. I don't care what I weigh any longer but I do care about how I feel.
ReplyDeleteVery appropriate attitude "at our age"... we need to feel good and be functional. Anything beyond that is pure "gravy".
DeleteOhhhh yes, definitely remember the simmering steel cut oats! Still do that here!
ReplyDeleteLooks like nice pans!
It's all about what eating style you can sustain, at least it sure is for me! Good job w/the IF! Sure do miss SP, but . . . learned so many valuable lessons that continue on today, thankfully. AndI always remember . . . nothing tastes as good as being healthy feels!
Hugs
barb
1crazydog
Amen to that! Even though the weight is a bit up compared to the gal that ran the half-marathons and did the triathlons, I feel strong and able, "most of the time" and that's not nothing.
DeleteYou really do keep statistics!! I couldn’t tell you my weight, let alone my gain or loss ANY year! LOL. I think it’s because I pretty much stay the same, BUT always have that 10 pounds that needs to go! It’s great that you have found such a good fit with IF! Eissa7
ReplyDeleteOh, gee, I've jotted my weight on a calendar ever since I was a teenager (and thought I was "fat"). But ever since the fall of 2013, when I bought a Withings scale, my "once a day" weights are accessible to me online! As a life-long emotional eater, it can be instructive. One prized lesson is that it matters how soon you catch the regains and take corrective action.
DeleteI absolutely still remember the old Spark blogs.
ReplyDelete-RunKeeper Dee
😍
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