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 Went for a beautiful walk. Dusty stopped and sniffed at every bush, tree and flower. DH and I chatted and WC took in all the eye candy.  Looked up county statistics for Covid. Almost the entire county is in the purple tier with greater than 10% positive cases. Some areas are greater than 20%. Sadly that means we stay inside, safely isolated and healthy. Back to boredom buster car rides.  California has gone back to recommending masks while indoors. The dueling needs of small businesses and public health makes mandates unpopular and somewhat unsuccessful. It’s everyone making the choice for themselves. Retirement on a fixed income means it doesn’t effect us financially but I watch others struggle mightily to stay afloat. It’s especially hard for restaurants and the hospitality industry. Our local government relies heavily on tourist dollars.  I went a full mile today. I’ve been walking 1/4 mile daily but the sidewalk is a bit uneven and that’s a bother to my back. Flat walking is pain

 Years ago, I thanked my DH for my boring life. I worked with 2 women whose lives resembled TV shows. Interesting but much too much drama.  Today was an uneventful day. Went to the farmers market for fresh produce. Raspberries as big as your thumb. Strawberries that are fragrant and delicious. Green beans that are so fresh they are a treat.  Stopped by DDs to drop off some items. She works from home so it was a short visit. Put dinner in the oven and took the dog for his walk.  We’ve had some onshore weather patterns bring moisture to the area lately. The coast is cloudy, the inland valleys are clear and sunny. The clouds form in the coastal mountains. DH calls them Thunder Bumpers because the are unpleasant to fly through. They really are beautiful against the mountains.  The COVID cases are on the rise here. We mask and distance. The isolation protocol is sadly required. Inflation here has gone nuts here. Housing prices have gone up 25% over the past year. People are in bidding wars

I got my hair cut for the first time in many looong months. Looking at the new low maintenance style I chose, I wasn’t sure I liked how it looked. It was an improvement over my Pandemic style but not at all like my pre-pandemic style. This uncertainty is not unusual for me after getting a new haircut. You see, I don’t like to change my appearance very often and when I do, it always takes time for me to decide if the new style is a keeper. Still dithering by the way or as my DMIL would say, “I’m giving it some thought.”   Last night, I was reading an article by Martha Beck called The Self-Esteem Repair Kit on Oprah.com. Read more:  https://www.oprah.com/spirit/boost-your-self-esteem-martha-beck-on-body-image/all#ixzz71lr0hMqa   She said, “Of course you can feel wretched about wrinkles, jowls, thinning hair—all the slings and arrows of time and mortality. You can try to fight back—giving new meaning to the words in vain. Or you can rise—serenely, even happily—above it all.” Sounded like

  WC and D take on Beck.   My Beck ARC’s provided me a long list of common sabotaging thoughts that I have assigned to WC and D.     Dictator Disguises Inner critic  You’re fat. You have to lose weight You’re a failure. You look terrible. You’d better track that! Why are you so fat? Look at you belly. It your fault You always eat too much You said you would exercise  You promised to eat healthy Polly Perfectionist Willpower Restrictive dieting is the only way Negative Nelly This is never going to work You’ll never succeed  You promised you’d be good Wild Child Disguises Inner Toddler Inner Rebel I don’t care I can’t  It’s okay I forgot Overeating feels good It won’t matter It’s too hard It’s just a bite. I love Fatty, Salty, Sweet foods! I want it now Just this once I’m hungry when I’m not Fraidy cat Burned out  Self Sabotage  That looks good! Discouraged  Exercise is no fun Emotional eater  Deprived  You never let me Amnesia Victim  I didn’t eat that   Copying and pasting all of BessH

Taking tender loving care of myself has changed my relationship with my Wild Child, Dictator and Moderator personality traits.  My being Intentional about reaching out to Wild Child’s (WC), Dictator (D) and Moderator has created a new dynamic for my journey. I’m finally beginning to understand accept and even like them. Wild Child and Dictator both want me to be healthy. D is satisfied just seeing my daily tracking data. WC needs me to provide non-food pleasurable activities to keep her happy on this journey. You’ve seen pictures I’ve taken that delighted her.    Moderator’s willingness to tenderly take care of their needs has changed the dynamics of our relationship. Peace and harmony is happening. Needs are being met. Everyone feels safe and trust is growing.   In a comment to a blog about feeling deprived, Watermellon  told me that “ But the biggest help is reminding myself, this is NOT about deprivation but about taking the very best tender care of myself: optimum nutrition for opt

  Today was a warm day 90F. Nothing to do on this lazy Sunday so of course we go to the beach where it’s 15 degrees cooler.   This part of town is where University of California, San Diego (UCSD) and many bioscience research businesses are located. The pier in the above picture belongs to Scripps Institution of Oceanography and is considered one of the world's largest research piers.   Next door is The Salk Institute for Biological Studies named in honor of Jonas Salk. The Institute is an independent nonprofit organization where scientists seek new understandings in neuroscience, genetics, immunology, plant biology and more. The Institute recently published a research paper  showing conclusively that COVID-19 is a vascular disease, demonstrating exactly how the SARS-CoV-2 virus damages and attacks the vascular system on a cellular level. The findings help explain COVID-19’s wide variety of seemingly unconnected complications, and could open the door for new research into more effec

Been cruising along steadily this past month. I am eating high protein, low carb 1200-1300 cal/day with Intermittent Fasting at 10 hrs a day. At about 3 months the honeymoon stage usually ends for me and I did encounter a couple of days where my hand was quicker than my Beck counsel thoughts. But I was reading blogs and was inspired to change my daily relationship with my inner Wild Child and Dictator. I started by intentionally addressing them at meal times pointing out the fatty, salty and sweet items on my plate. That really seems to be pleasing for everyone. Never one to stop with a single effort, I was inspired to include them in my daily activities. I’ve been intentionally pointing out nature’s beauty and looking for eye candy treats for Wild Child’s (WC) enjoyment. Dictator (D) has been given my ongoing assurances from tracking and meeting my goals. She has been very quiet. I think WC being happy has reduced her workload. Still expressing my appreciation for their efforts on my

 Went walking again today in search of some childish delights. Found them.  Mexican river rock used as pavers. They are actually black and very smooth.  We saw this over a fence. It’s a wonderful child’s tree house.  This tree was in the parking strip. Made me giggle with glee.  Have some fun today! 

Another favorite walk. Years ago I told my DH that I would fade completely away unless I saw the ocean at least once a month. The smell of the salty sea air reaches deep inside. Of course it’s beautiful but it affects me in so many different ways. It makes me want to be physically healthy, eat healthy and it always improves my attitude.  Driving here this is the first view you see. These rocks create tide pools where I remember walking with my kids and helping them discover the wonders of nature. If you enlarge this photo, you can see a large group of sea lions hunting. A very large group of them live nearby. This time of year brings lots of cloud cover to the beach communities. If you enlarge this photo, you will see a large group of surfers on their boards. They are wearing black wet suits because the water temperature is 17.3C or 63F at this time of year. In September it will be about 10F warmer. I remember one year being at the beach when the air temperature and the water temperatu

Walks are very entertaining where I live. I live in Southern California. California is also known as The Golden State. Golden is not a reference to the 1849 Gold Rush but to the color of the landscape in summer. Spring brings beautiful lush green grass to hillsides. The heat of the summer dries out the grass and it becomes a golden color. This dry grass is a fire hazard to nearby homes so weed abatement is done. Sometimes, people use weedwackers to cut the grass but the mown grass is slow to breakdown so it remains fuel for fires.  Recently, another way of managing the dry grass has emerged. Ranchers have created an abatement service and offer contracts to homeowners associations to clear the unbuilt land between homes built on hillsides. We have this service in our neighborhood.  The ranchers bring a herd of voracious goats who happily clear the heavy brush to reduce the fire danger to create a defensible space for homes.  The goats are tended by a Shepard and a working herd dog. We s

Hooray! Today, for the first time in 4 months, I was able to walk for a mile and a half today without back spasms in my favorite part of town! I used this opportunity to let Wild Child take the lead on the walk and she enjoyed herself throughly. I absolutely love walking there. The “walking activity” will be very helpful for my journey. We took pictures to share.  Enough eye candy to keep my Wild Child happy for a long while.   Everything is in bloom. Interesting Doorway. Beautiful tiles. From the 4th of July celebration. Plumeria. The flower used to make lies.  Boxwood hedge in the making. This is lantana. I remembered seeing this on our honeymoon in Hong Kong on an excursion to the Chinese border which was closed to westerners at that time. Wanna play!  What a sweet ride! Magnolia tree in bloom. At home DH found a feather from a Hawk who live nearby. 

In the honeymoon phase of the journey everything seems easy, joyful and filled with positive results. We are so proud of ourselves. Eventually, the journey stops being easy. The daily tasks of weighing, measuring, tracking and limiting portion sizes becomes irksome. Overtime, the journey becomes filled with hard days, slips, binges and continuous restarts.   Wild Child’s been restricted from eating many of her favorite things and forbidden from overeating. Eating no longer feels satisfying to her. The journey itself stoped providing enough joy and pleasure for Wild Child to be happy. She gets down right grumpy and grasps any opportunity to eat to her satisfaction. That begins to upset the inner balance with Dictator. The struggle for control begins. The struggle disrupts weigh loss and I begin to feel out of control. At that point, no one feels happy. This is where I have struggled and quit.    Reading blogs has revealed something my journey has been missing. Something, that could keep

Thank you all for reading and commenting on my blog post yesterday about the Minnesota Starvation Study. I’m the kind of person who WANTS to know the reason behind the recommended behavior or rule. I’ve always heard about the serious nature of starvation mode and recommendations that women must consume at least 1200 calories a day but I had never read the why that’s true. That study gives the why. Yes, my must know attitude gives me grief at times, especially in political matters but I am willing to do the work so I can decide for myself.     That study has enlightened me and given me new ways to look at my behaviors while losing weight. My calorie range is 1200-1350 to consistently lose weight. As I lose weight and become more active, that range delivers 2 pounds a week. Very reasonable but also very close to restrictive dieting numbers so now I realize WHY I must be very careful at the low end of my range.   I also wondered if the foods provided, Potatoes, turnips, rutabaga and pasta