SENIORSWIMMER's SparkPeople Blog

Tornado

Tue, 21 May 2013 09:03:44 EST

The tornado sirens wailed for quite awhile yesterday afternoon. DH was at work. I was downtown getting my car worked on. The cats were home alone. What bothered me the most was us all being separated.

The tornado touched down on the west side of town, near Four County Mental Health. That's about a mile from where DH works. DH and his students took cover. He said the wind was bad, and there was a lot of rain, but he hadn't heard that there was any damage.

Downtown ...

Weather update

Mon, 20 May 2013 13:34:15 EST

The weather band went off almost hourly in the early part of the night. We were under a tornado watch for awhile. Coffeyville, 15 miles to our southeast, was ordered to take cover, but we just had lots and lots of rain. We had 4.9 inches of rain in our gauge this morning.

I cleaned out the closet where we take cover. This is the only time of year the floor in there gets vacuumed. (How often do you vacuum the closet floor?) I left everything out, because more storms are in the...

Shopping the Spark Menu

Thu, 16 May 2013 09:01:04 EST

We are not on menu right now. My goal date to go for it again is the Tuesday after Memorial Day. Most days I'm not even tracking. Some days are good. Some days are not. Yesterday was a not day. I think I'm in a miserable spot. The old junk food meals I used to love don't taste as good as they did! And I feel TERRIBLE after I eat them. Chicken strips at DQ was my downfall yesterday. I had a coupon! It wasn't worth it. How many times am I going to have to go through this scenario be...

Gardening and Yard Work

Sat, 11 May 2013 12:53:32 EST

This is the first year we have had a garden since I retired. It is just big enough I am having trouble keeping up with Spark. My days are so full, but not hurried. Retirement is awesome.

We visited a whole foods organic farm this morning. They have a little bit of everything. We can even buy 1/4 beef from them - grass or feed finished. We are both old farm kids. Beef cattle was a major source of our parents' income. We were both raised on home grown beef. I doubt we ever ...

Chickpea Stew

Sat, 4 May 2013 09:42:38 EST

Okay. I think I'm getting the hang of it. When the Spark Menu just gives you general directions or a recipe embedded in the menu, it's pretty bland as written. We love spices. I have started finishing these foods with lots of spices, except salt.

I looked with some trepidation upon the chickpea stew instructions. I pulled a large green onion from our garden and sautéed it in the olive oil. Then I followed the directions. Near the end of cooking I added a lot of oregano and...

Spaghetti with meat sauce

Fri, 3 May 2013 11:19:46 EST

I made spaghetti with meat sauce yesterday. I used all ground turkey. I had never done that before. When I've used ground turkey, I've used half turkey, half lean ground beef. I used canned tomatoes, and I added LOTS of home grown oregano and basil, plus a little onion powder. It was quite good. The herbs helped me not to reach for the salt shaker. I figured there was enough salt in the tomatoes to take care of my sodium needs!

DH took it in his lunch today. I imagine he wi...

Nonfat Dairy Products

Thu, 2 May 2013 10:06:26 EST

I am not a picky eater. Honest, I am not. Except for fish or sushi, I will try most anything once.

So, when I saw nonfat cottage cheese and plain, nonfat yogurt on the grocery list for this week I thought, "I haven't had nonfat cottage cheese in years. I bet it's improved a lot." I had never had plain, nonfat yogurt. Into the grocery cart they went.

And soon the nonfat cottage cheese will be going down the garbage disposal. That and the yogurt I had for breakfast t...

Buttermilk Biscuits

Sat, 13 Apr 2013 18:57:03 EST

This is big news. I FINALLY got my mom's buttermilk biscuit recipe right. They turned out just like mom's. Big, light, fluffy. I patted out the dough intead of rolling it out. We're having one tonight with our soup, intead of using crackers.

No more refrigerated biscuits. No more frozen pizza. It's going to be homemade, or we'll eat something else.

This morning was the big stock up shopping trip. By the time I got to the fozen foods and produce, I was hungry. I ...

Katie and the Paper

Wed, 3 Apr 2013 09:25:04 EST

I am the last person I deliver the paper to on my route. The Reporter switched the route all around, so that when I pull in my driveway, I am done. Thoughtful. It also makes me, "Giddie-up. Go!" It's not fun having your neighbors unhappy with you because their paper is late.

Over spring break DH was helping me deliver papers. We put a paper in a tube down the street from our house. For some reason DH looked back. "That dog is getting the paper out of the tube!" We had hear...

Sunday Survival

Mon, 1 Apr 2013 13:03:32 EST

I can't remember if I have blogged about taking on a paper route or not. I started training February 1, and I took the route over solo about the third week of February. I am getting settled in now. 347 papers to deliver, five days a week. It is one of the larger routes in our small town. I really am enjoying it. Most of the guys that work in circulation (the people that get the paper ready for delivery) are former students of me and my husband. They're all grown up now. Some of them h...

Supremely Spicy Hummus

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 14:46:18 EST

Sabra has some new flavors of hummus out. At least they are new to our WalMart. I bought Supremely Spicy yesterday. Wow! It's delicious! However, it is not for the faint of heart. It is supremely spicy. I think it tastes like it has a really good Mexican salsa in it. Almost half the container is gone, and I haven't even cut up the cauliflower yet that I'd planned to have with it.

Fish update

Sat, 23 Mar 2013 15:38:20 EST

I ate it! Quickly, but I ate it. I mixed some mayonaise and sweet pickle relish together for tartar sauce. It was a rather high carb lunch. I coated the fish with panko crumbs, and we had wild rice and mixed vegetables, and a half piece of flat bread each. We split an apple for dessert.

DH was thrilled. He didn't know I had thawed out the tilapia.

What was the difference? Panko crumbs. This was the first time I'd ever used them, and they were very good. They add...

I Hate Fish

Sat, 23 Mar 2013 14:35:28 EST

Fish has never been my favorite food. If my friends or family wanted to go to Long John Silvers, I would go, but it was never my first choice. I really hate baked or steamed fish. I don't like the way it smells. I don't like handling it. It tastes revolting.

So I was surprised a couple of days ago when I had a taste for tilapia. It's finishing baking in the oven now.

As it nears time to eat it, I am losing my resolve. We are out of tartar sauce, and I don't want...

First swim

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 10:12:06 EST

The water was clear and beautiful, 84 degrees. It was so good to see all my locker room friends again. I am so used to swimming being the go-to exercise when I am injured, I was surprised at what happened when I got in the pool. I dropped in the shallow end, like I usually do. I walked half a length several times with my friend Lisa and got caught up on what all is going on with her. I got my goggles on and dunked to get wet all over. I launched from the side of the pool and took my fir...

Oh, My Gosh, What a Pain I've Got!

Fri, 8 Mar 2013 08:16:14 EST

Oh, my gosh, what a pain I've got!
Send for the doctor as fast as you can trot!
Give me a bottle of I don't care what!
Just so it cures this pain I got!

That's a little poem my mom and Aunt Lois would jauntily rattle off to us when we fell, or stepped on a bumble bee, or were whining in general. I thought about it for the first time in years this morning as I was ATTEMPTING to get out of bed.

The heel spur is healing. It feels much better. I'm not impac...

Spanish Quinoa

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 14:40:37 EST

I wanted to make Spanish Rice to go with our Spinach and Black Bean Burritos this week. I am cleaning out the kitchen, and I was out of rice. I had two bags of quinoa! I just substituted the quinoa for the brown rice. I was surprised that even the cooking instructions were the same. The exception was letting the quinoa set covered for 15 minutes, off the heat after it was done.

Delicious! I think I like it better than the brown rice I usually make it with.

What was in the tub....

Tue, 26 Feb 2013 07:55:13 EST

Mostly size 8. There are TWO pairs of Land's End jeans, one black, one olive. That's my favorite jeans colors. There are some nice size 8 Land's End shorts. There were things I could wear. A RED, dressy sweatsuit. I immediately bagged up the extra large I have been struggling to keep up the last few weeks. It's going to Goodwill my next trip to Bartlesville. There were 4 or 5 pairs of exercise shorts. I don't remember having all those! In those days I was running pretty good distanc...

Putting on the Big Girl Pants

Mon, 25 Feb 2013 12:41:15 EST

I almost quit. For several days last week I almost said, "Enough! I have lost enough weight. I can be happy here for the rest of my life." There were several days last week I didn't log into Spark. There were several more days that I didn't track my food. Interesting....I still kept track of my water intake in my planner. Habits. And that is a healthy one to have.

Despite making a lot of changes to the way I eat and the way I cook, I need to make more. Being the person I a...

Sweatin' to the Oldies 2

Wed, 30 Jan 2013 17:26:07 EST

I know. It's old. I didn't do aerobics back then. I was an athlete. I swam a mile a day. I road my bike everywhere I went, and I ran. Aerobics videos were lame.

That was 30 years ago. To help me get through withdrawal from the pool being closed for the next month I ordered the Sweatin' to the Oldies collection. They came today, and I just finished my first session with Sweatin' to the Oldies 2. I am sweating, and the floor work was good too.

What I learned from ...

Tweaking the Spark Menu

Wed, 30 Jan 2013 14:02:11 EST

I just might be getting the hang of this.

As you know I HATE eating meals with no hot food, especially on cold days. I had dreaded today. No hot food except for egg whites for breakfast. The weather forecast says today's high will be in the low 30's. I think that's cold.

Soup for lunch just sounded so good, and I was none too enthusiastic about today's snack, so I checked out the soup supply in the pantry. Progresso Vegetable Classics: Minestrone. Perfect. I unch...

Rain Update

Wed, 30 Jan 2013 09:25:54 EST

The totals are in. We had 1 2/3 inches. Today it is cold and windy. Yesterday my gardener blood was stirring. Today I realize we have a few more weeks to go before we can get out there. It's back to dishes, laundry, dusting and vacuuming.

Rain, Rain, DON'T Go Away

Tue, 29 Jan 2013 20:48:29 EST

It rained ALL day today. It started raining this morning before sunrise, and it rained until 3 this afternoon. I just got back from the grocery store (7 P.M.) I had to put the windshield wipers on intermittent. It's misting. We're supposed to have a wintry mix tonight. I don't care as long as it's wet.

It has to be my imagination. Every time I looked out today the grass in the yard seemed greener than it did when I had looked at it before.

Keep praying for us. We...

Spark Menu: Day 4

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 20:26:24 EST

Yuck. Not very good food and not very much of it. I have been hungry almost all day. I was excited about supper. Hot meal. I thought we were having a skimpy lunch because we were going to get to eat more tonight. Wrong. 1/2 servings of everything - the cabbage rolls, the corn, the cornbread. The only thing I had a full serving of was milk. There sure is a pile of dirty dishes in the kitchen for no more than I got to eat. 46

There had better be some celebrating o...

Tea....no sugar

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 13:25:22 EST

It's official. I have finally learned to drink my peppermint tea without sugar. Last summer I would put a teaspoon in. I cut it down to half. Around Thanksgiving I started putting in 1/4 teaspoon. Today is the second time I've had tea in the last 3 days that I have not used any sugar or artificial sweetner.

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Spark Menu: Day 3

Sun, 27 Jan 2013 21:15:09 EST

I switched the lunch and supper meals. It's hard for me to imagine having a cold Sunday lunch after church! So, this evening we had a meal I approached with some trepidation. I thought it was one of those weird Spark Menu meals. Romaine lettuce, with walnuts and lots of strawberries. The dressing was 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar and a teaspoon of olive oil. I couldn't imagine putting vinegar on strawberries. It was DELICIOUS. I tore through mine in no time flat. The entire meal w...

Weight loss this week

Sat, 26 Jan 2013 10:24:39 EST

For the first time in my life, I was not happy to see how much weight I lost this week. My first thought is that the scale needs a new battery. My second thought is that I have had a severe constipation problem. I finally broke down and went to see a specialist. The problem has been resolved. My third thought is that I've lost muscle weight from not exercising as much.

It's probably not just one of those things. It's likely a combination of all three. I know how much I ate t...

Spark Menu Shopping and Day 1

Sat, 26 Jan 2013 10:01:30 EST

I considered this a stock up week, so I didn't really spend any more on groceries than I do during a stock up week. But the cart looked a lot different than it usually does.

I am known well by the produce staff at our WalMart. They were really happy to see me this week. On stock up weeks my cart is usually loaded with canned items on sale or frozen food I have coupons for. Sometimes it's meat. This week it was produce, deli, and bakery items. The deli and bakery are areas of ...

Spark Menu, Day 1, Breakfast

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 08:04:15 EST

DH and I both give this morning's breakfast a thumbs up. I did and 1 tablespoon of salsa to the cheese wrap. This is one of the things I wanted following the menu to do for me. I would never have thought to make this breakfast. We are oatmeal/cream of wheat people.

Garlic Update

Wed, 23 Jan 2013 08:49:07 EST

It died. It's just too cold and dry for it. I think I am going to plant some more when it warms up a little - maybe at the end of February.

The drought is severe here. DH was talking to a man who works for Parks and Wildlife. He said the top four feet of soil has no moisture. My perennial herbs look terrible, and I hand water those. We need rain.

Diet Doldrums

Wed, 23 Jan 2013 08:46:44 EST

I am not sure what interrupted my weight loss roll. The holidays. Traveling during the holidays and then immediately afterward to go to a funeral. It's cold. I tend to eat more when it's cold.....I am not doing super lousy bad. I'm just eating at maintenance level. Yesterday, I think due to the cold, I was 250 calories over my limit. I was genuinely hungry, and everything I had was "good for you" food. But that was one of the reasons I gained weight. I ate healthy (most of the time),...

Quinoa

Tue, 22 Jan 2013 13:53:29 EST

I cooked some quinoa to have under broccoli beef stir fry. It is good. I was surprised at how much like rice it is. The texture is a little different. The taste is a little different, but I really enjoyed it. Sadly, it's not any lower in calories than rice. 39 Variety is always good.

There was a mouse in the house!

Fri, 18 Jan 2013 14:26:39 EST

We recently had new doors and windows installed. Apparently, during the installation process, a lone little mouse took refuge from the cold in our kitchen! Yuck! While my husband and I were basking in the afterglow of a homeowners job well done, our cats began to act weird. Our oldest cat became obsessed with getting into the lower cupboards where my plasticware is stored. Our youngest would suddenly dive under the dishwasher door when it was open and lay their flat the entire time I was...

Thoughts from Sunday school class

Thu, 17 Jan 2013 11:04:10 EST

Well, we didn't get to go to the large church service I wanted to go to over ther weekend. We had to get my cousin and sister safely back to their homes before the ice storm moved in. I hung out at my sister's an extra day until the roads were clear before I headed home. Instead of singing with 1,000, I sang with about 25 of my cousins in the congregation that still meets where I was raised.

Bible class: Matthew 21:21, where Jesus says, "....Truly, I say to you, if you have fai...

Reflections on family

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 12:04:42 EST

My cousin's husband, Curt, died. He had a rare form of cancer that was particularly aggressive. He was diagnosed 4 months ago, and the doctors thought it was manageable, though not curable. They were wrong. I hoped until his last weekend that the doctors were wrong. I have done a fair amount of crying the last two weeks.

Curt led singing at our wedding. Brenda (my cousin), was my maid of honor.

This is a branch of the family I especially respect. They are so level...

Once a Month Cooking Manuals

Wed, 12 Dec 2012 10:10:44 EST

Here is a list of the books I have used over the years to learn about once a month cooking.

1. Once a Month Cooking by Mimi Wilson and Mary Beth Lagerborg This book provides good, general instructions about the process, and we like the recipes better in this book than any of the other books we have. They recommend you start with a two week cycle. They even have a 10 day cycle for the holidays.
2. Frozen Assets by Deborah Taylor-Hough We have found this book has good, bas...

Physical Therapy Exercises

Wed, 5 Dec 2012 08:32:31 EST

Yesterday I got down on the floor with my printout and equipment, and I did my physical therapy exercises. It had been awhile. For the time being this is going to be my strength training. My goal is to do them twice a week.

Sneaky little buggers. While I'm doing them, I don't feel like I'm doing anything. Lay on the floor and squeeze muscles. Hook these bands to a door knob and pull. Incredibly boring, but until I am making myself do these exercises regularly, the gym member...

Once a Month Cooking

Sat, 1 Dec 2012 18:29:03 EST

These are the recipes I made this month for once a month cooking.

White Chili (Taste of Home magazine)
Pork BBQ (allrecipes.com)
Everyday Meat Loaf (Better Homes and Gardens Step by Step Cookbook)
Lentil Soup (allrecipes.com)
Pork Chops and Rice (family recipe)
Spinach and Black Bean Burritos (Meatless Gourmet by Bobbie Hinman)
Baked Eggs (Once a Month Cooking by Mimi Wilson and Beth Lagerborg)
Skinny Cottage Pie (Chef Meg) It's already gone.

Garlic

Fri, 30 Nov 2012 08:16:55 EST

I bought a bulb of garlic a few weeks ago that has been extra good. Two days ago when I was mincing up some more of it to use for cooking day, I noticed some of the cloves had sprouted. Since it had been such a good clove of garlic, I decided I would plant the cloves rather than throw them out. Yesterday morning I used toothpicks and suspended the cloves in a glass of water in the kitchen window. This morning the roots are 1/4 inch long already! I think I'd better get out to the shed tod...

The History of Me and My Weight

Tue, 27 Nov 2012 13:32:38 EST

Me and food. We go way back. I was a tiny, scrawny thing. When Mom brought me home from the hospital and our neighbor came over to visit, she said, "*!*!, I don't see how those little legs are ever going to walk." However, she stayed until feeding time. "She sure does eat good!

The first diet I ever went on was the summer between my sixth and seventh grade years. I weighed 96 pounds. I was short, and I felt fat. My best friend was skinny, skinny, skinny. I went on a 1000 c...

Dishes and laundry

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 12:00:36 EST

When I was in my 20's a friend of mine came by my apartment wanting to go out to eat. Of course I went. (Even back then I loved to eat out.) As we settled in at our table she confided in me she had asked one of her other friends, whom I had met but didn't know well, to go out to eat. "She said she needed to catch up on laundry. Can you imaging that? She passed up an opportunity to spend time with ME to wash clothes....Catching up on laundry....What a ridiculous idea. The only way you c...

Backyard birding

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 10:50:49 EST

There was a robin convention in our yard this morning. There were easily 50 robins foraging on the ground and drinking and bathing in the bird baths. One of the guys at church made us a heated birdbath. It's very popular this time of year. Our winters are usually mild enough that some robins stay all winter, but I have never seen this many this late in the year.

In the front yard this morning there were a pair of blue birds. We saw them several times over the weekend. They se...

Milestone

Sat, 24 Nov 2012 11:44:46 EST

I feel like I have reached my first milestone on this journey. Until the last two weeks I have felt hyperfocused on what I'm eating. Eating healthy occupied a large percentage of my brainpower. I was overwhelmed with the amount of dishwashing and kitchen cleanup there was involved in eating all our meals at home. Figuring out when to exercise each day exercised not only my body, but my problem solving skills as well.

I think, maybe, I've adapted. I did not miss the green bean ...

I'm biting: part 3

Wed, 7 Nov 2012 07:57:42 EST

I have decided to write this up real time, after each meal today.

Breakfast: Never in my life have I ever eaten just egg whites, so I had my first new experience right off the bat. How do you cook egg whites? I scrambled these, then I wondered if I should have let them set in the skillet and cook like a fried egg. I think scrambling them created more stringies, which I don't like, and they looked like cottage cheese setting on top of the bagel. Not very appealing.

...

I'm biting, Part 2

Tue, 6 Nov 2012 18:39:06 EST

Shopping: None of the three grocery stores in town had oat bran bagels. I substituted 100 per cent wheat bagels. I was surprised. I thought oat anything would be pretty common. I guess not.

I made the chili last night because I didn't have time to do it today. Cooking tip for the chili - Start using the lid as soon as you put the onion and garlic on to saute. You will need every bit of moisture to keep the mixture from sticking. I had to pour a can of tomato sauce in. I w...

Okay, I'm biting...

Mon, 5 Nov 2012 16:42:50 EST

On Wednesday I have decided I am going to try to follow the Spark suggested menu all day. I made one small change. I will use a small about of real butter on my cornbread rather than spraying it with I Can't Believe It's Not Butter.

I've tried several of the Spark Recipes. We enjoyed them. Following the Spark Menu Wednesday helps me meet two goals I have. 1.) follow the Spark Menu for one day, 2.) eat vegetarian for one day.

...and we will find out if I can make t...

Early to rise...

Fri, 2 Nov 2012 20:40:44 EST

I got up with the alarm at 5:15 this morning. That's a rare occurence since I retired a little over a year ago. I did have a lot of running around I needed to do today, and swimming early made a lot of sense. Mostly, I just had to prove to myself I could still get up and get moving. (In my 40's I was an early morning runner.)

It was still dark when I got to the pool. It was open. As I was rinsing off before I went in to swim, I heard two of the early morning swimmers wonderin...

Here comes Halloween

Tue, 30 Oct 2012 19:34:29 EST

I survived the cookout. Actually, I'm so busy the day of the cookout, there's barely time to eat, let alone overeat. I was pretty hungry by the time I went to bed. I thought that was a good sign. What a releif.

Then....here come the leftovers. I did not have a plan for disposing of the unhealthy leftovers. We took several things to a birthday lunch Saturday. THAT's when I overate. Potato salad....I hadn't had potato salad in months. I did only have one serving. That was en...

Neewollah Notes: The Cookout 2012

Sat, 27 Oct 2012 08:23:48 EST

I WAY overcooked. Overcooked as in too much food. Last year I started keeping notes on how much I bought, how much was left over, and projected how much I would need this year. 8 pounds of ribs TOTALLY gone. I'm glad I had a couple last night.

It was fairly cold, but we have had colder, windier cookouts. We were minus two families with small children and busy Neewollah weekends of their own. So, there weren't as many people here as we thought we might have.

Now, ...

Neewollah 5K

Sat, 20 Oct 2012 18:27:18 EST

I walked the route in 48:52. Dh walked it in 43:25. Near the turnaround point I caught up with a small group of young walkers. I decided to hang with them for awile. The young lady I walked with is one of the area's high school drum majors. Her band director is one of my former students. We talked about the parade and band competition coming up next Saturday. I walked with them to the end.
We came home for a quick shower (or in my case soak in the tub), then we went back to the pa...

Exhausted

Mon, 8 Oct 2012 14:41:15 EST

I'm not sure why the fatique is hitting me today. We did increase the length of our Sunday afternoon walk 1/2 mile. My legs are stiff, but I have had plenty of rest since we got home. I think I'm going to take some ibuprofen and take a nap. I love retirement.