Into the New Year

 A starting point, I guess

New Year's Day, 2024.  I took a selfie, and amazingly I don't look as fat as I feel.  Reality check, though, I'm heavier than I have been in years... 20 pounds "crept" or "galloped" on during 2023.  I will not mention that they are the same 20 pounds I had dropped with intermittent fasting during the last quarter of 2022.  Sigh.  I still have an inner rebel to have some talks with.

It being a pretty day, I walked a mile walk outdoors, starting in on one goal.

I tracked my food in Cronometer, another stake in the ground.  It did not stop me from eating "whatever I felt like", but I did at least get it recorded.  That's another discipline that needs to be developed.

I poured the remaining baking ingredients leftover from the holiday seasons into the trash.  I had a salad at lunchtime.

I looked out the sliding door at the Prisoner and it seems like he's breaking all kinds of dietary "resolutions" too... but then, he's a cat, so murdering a feathered friend is chalked up to instinct.  Cats do not make resolutions.

I forgive him, because... he's a cat.  But feel bad, too, because that junco was just minding its own birdly business.

January 2nd, 2024

I am glad I took a hermit day on New Year's eve.  It made it easier to actually get that start on New Year's Day.  I have to admit that motivation to healthy habits is a wildly variable energy.  I remember several conversations back when everybody blogged in SparkPeople about will power and the brain's capacity for decision making.  Building habits about which one does not need to THINK on a daily basis (or hourly basis) is vital.

Another lapse I'm working to repair:  During 2023 I let the bubbles back into my life.  Not to the level that they had been before I gave up soda the end of 2009, but enough to experiment.  I have ONE, count it ONE, diet coke left in the 'fridge, from the last purchase.  I used to say that the best thing I did for my weight management success was giving up the bubbles!  Time to do that again.  I drank that last soda Tuesday afternoon.

I also got my mile outdoors, and shopped for groceries, in addition to the regular trainer workout.  Trainer's prices have gone up again for 2024.  Sigh.  But the benefit to my health and the boost to motivation is worth it.

January 3rd, 2024

Woke up one minute before the alarm I had set for 5 a.m.  This is a "medical taxi and extra ears" day, so I wanted to be sure to have time for a shower and a little putzing on the computer before I headed over to that duty.

Everything worked as smoothly as one could hope, I had Sis home by 10 ish, and I was home by 11 a.m.  We use these opportunities to catch up on one another... I got to see the Christmas photos on her phone from her trip to Kansas.  

Afternoon walk with another sister (Alicia) was on time.  It was cold, but the surfaces were good.  So that makes 3 days outdoors for a mile, at least.

January 4th, 2024

The rebel is rearing her head this morning, after three days of tracking and getting my "mile outdoors"... "I have to do this HOW long?"  Fortunately, this is not paired with a snow storm or the coldest temperatures that January is capable of dishing up.

I got Dexter out of the garage and began my drive to the trainer workout.  When I turned the first corner (a gentle uphill), I discovered the black ice.  Yikes!  Fortunately, there was no other traffic on that street at the time, so I just slowed it down and got around the curve to the main arterial and once I was there, OK for the rest of the drive.  On the way home, I knew where that bad patch was and was prepared to avoid it!

On the sidewalk on the way into the building, I also found slick areas.  So, the verdict is, no mile outside today.  But I biked an extra ten minutes on the recumbent bike (my normal "cool down" at the end of my workout) to make up for it.

January 6th, 2024

Friday was a "lost day" for me.  The rebel took over.

So Saturday I had a bit more energy stored up.  I am experimenting with a soup broth bomb I got for Christmas.

I freelanced a  bit on the ingredients.  It called for white beans, I only had black ones on hand.  It called for hash browns, and I shredded raw potatoes.  It called for kale, I didn't have any so I tossed in the can of artichoke hearts that are supposed to be an "optimal" veggie according to the GenoPalate list.

I'm only going to use about half of the broth bomb.

If you look closely you can see the package names it "Scarborough Fair", so of course you know it has to have parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme among the spices.

You don't add the "bomb" until the mixture is boiling.  And because the bomb contains baking soda, it naturally is going to bubble up.  Now we wait for it to simmer for a while.

This is a vegetarian, actually a vegan recipe.  It's printed on the box.

Now the house smells heavenly.

It's a grey chilly day outside.  I did manage to get out for a walk, but it wasn't a full mile.

Life is good.

Keep Sparking!