Monday, July 1
Today has been one of those days. I have plenty of things to do and plenty of time to do them in as my husband is out to a dinner yet again. However, have I done them? No. I just don't seem to be able to settle to do things which I know have to be done. I've read the paper, made hot drinks, played a couple of computer games, etc.etc. I have done some washing and put that on the line and actually got it off as it dried in the wind.
Light finally dawns! I hardly ever take antihistamines etc because they are bad for high blood pressure. However, I again have a problem of fluid in the left ear and the doctor told me to take them for a few days. I took some last night. After being asleep for about an hour,I woke with an irritating cough which just would not stop till I took some cough mediciine. I take that even less frequently than I take antihistamines. I realise now that I am still feeling dopey from these. Very sluggish. Early bed tonight and hopefully more awake tomorrow.
It's not that I feel restless. I just can't make myself get into things today. It's a bit late now as it's 4:00pm and getting quite cold again, but I should have gone for a walk. It might have cleared my head out and made me settle... It's been very cold for Sydney today. I have a thermometer which shows maximum/minimum and last night it got down to 2 degrees celsius. That's quite cold for being in sight of the harbour. I would expect it in the outer suburbs.
I cooked myself some baked pumpkin pieces for lunch today and put fries sprinkle on them. I don't think I would do it often, but it was tasty and very hot on a cold day. Then I made a Country Cup soup. I was very disappointed with this. It just tasted like chemicals to me and was 1.5 points. I much prefer homemade soup, but these were in the house for my husband. I have had some instant soups which aren't too bad, but I won't be using these again.
DIL may be home tonight or tomorrow.I was in hospital a week when my children were born and I vividly remember my husband's grandmother describing how the nurse helped her to the family dining room after three weeks! Her children were all born at home. I am well aware that childbirth is not an illness and I think it's great to be up and moving quickly. However Sam has a very pleasant, air conditioned, single room in a quiet spot in the maternity section. I think she would like a bit of rest after these 9 months before going home to a toddler. Still, she'll cope. We all do cope, some perhaps better than others.
I am going to make a vegetable curry for my dinner. Husband isn't very fond of this, so if I make enough for two, I can have leftovers for lunch tomorrow. I am not a vegetarian, but am not particularly fond of red meat. I don't mind a bit of chicken and absolutely love seafood, but could easily go for a week without meat. I get plenty of protein from other sources.
Wednesday, June 3
Another very chilly morning here and my study is freezing. It doesn't get the sun till after lunch. I do have a heater, but it is old and doesn't seem to be working very well at the moment. I should probably start looking for another one.
Sam and the baby came home yesterday but I haven't heard how they are going. I'm a bit hesitant to ring. No time is ever a good time with a new baby. Mark has the rest of the week off to help around the place so that is good. Eldest son has been confirmed to have whooping cough! He's not infectious and the recovery time is unknown. It's a bit like "How long is a piece of string?" At least he sounds a good deal better than last week. He's working from home and staying inside at a fairly constant temperature.
This cold weather is making it hard for me to cope with food. I am having trouble stopping myself from picking at things. I made some Country Cup Asian Tom Yum soup yesterday as a snack for 1.5 points but didn't like it any more than the chicken one the day before. Some of the instant soups are OK, but this brand just tastes artificial to me. I have also developed a headache after eating both of them, so there must be something there which disagrees with me. I can't drink any diet soft drinks for the same reason. A few sips and I get a migraine. Fortunately, I am not a fan of soft drinks, so it's no great loss.
I have heaps of work still to do before I go away for a week on a conference from July 14. My husband is pestering me to help him again at MIL's house. I think he wants me to clean up the mess he has made while he has been working there. I'm very reluctant to do this but will probably spend a day there next week. He is a very messy workman and doesn't think of cleaning up after himself. Am off now to to some more work for the conference. My friend is coming in about an hour and we will collaborate on some of it. Gets done more quickly that way.
Monday,8th July
I didn't realise it was quite a while since I updated. I've had babysitting time away and been busy as well. Today was quite different to what I had planned. Instead of a quiet day at home,working on last minute stuff for the conference next wek, I found myself out with Bec and Mya and then with them and Andrew her cousin. His mum had just found a lump in her breast and it had to be investigated today. She had problems a few years ago which needed a thorough investigation. So I've had Andrew all day and his cousin and her mum. Thankfully, the doctors are sure the lump is a blocked milk duct and a milk cyst. The baby is only nine days old.
So nothing I had planned was done. That's life, I guess.
Do you like the mess on the left? Messy egg! YUK! I have lost track of the times I have heard people compare "hiccups" in losing weight to a broken egg. The saying is that you don't keep on breaking eggs, just because of the mess from the first one. It is cleaned up and then you go on to the next one. Well, I've certainly broken a few eggs over the weekend. Most of it has involved fresh homemade bread. Now, I ate it with soup which was very low in points, so it should not have been too bad. However, that's not counting the butter I put on it, or the biscuits, or the small slice of fruit flan, or the lamb korma or... And we won't mention the chinese meal which was bought for me on Friday night and which was very oily,to the point of upsetting my stomach.
I really must put my mind into gear, before opening my mouth. Normally applied to speaking, but I'm using it to apply to eating. It's common to say "I'll get there in the end," and I know that is really true. However, I am left wondering just how much I am using this as an excuse. I know I will get there, but I do believe I could do it more quickly than I am at the moment. There is a lot happening here at the moment but again that is another excuse.
Must get to bed soon. My husband was absolutely pathetic last night. Admittedly, he has a cold, but to hear him, you would have thought he had pneumonia. Could I put my hand on his forehead? Did he feel hot? Was his temperature up? His eyes were sore and his throat was bad. Could I find him more tisssues? I sound heartless, don't I? I'm sure many have experienced the male of the species when he is sick. Trouble is the usual double standard. A week ago, when I had it and my eyes were very weepy, he looked at me and said "you look like something the cat dragged in!" He then asked me to make sure his washing was in as soon as it was dry. And that was all the sympathy I received. I wasn't impressed at 2:00am either, when I was woken to find him the cough medicine which was on the same shelf in the fridge that it has always stood on. Even less impressed when I was still awake at 6:00am!
Another example of double standards... I have just unpacked my latest grocery order from Coles Online. We are often given samples with this service. There were two today. One was some Devondale lite butter, proudly proclaiming that it contains 50%less fat than margarine. The other was an enormous bag of Red Rock Deli rice crisps, chives and sour cream flavour. Something I had tremendous difficulty in not opening immediately. It is one big bag, not several smaller. 8 grams of fat in a 25 gram serving. Works out to be 3 points/serve and who would stop at that small amount? I looooove savoury type snacks, although sweet stuff doesn't call my name very loudly at all. I could just taste these with a glass of red wine. I might just have to send these to work with Norm, although I doubt they would get as far as work!
Tuesday,9th July
All systems go here today,and I hope they remain that way. It's a lovely morning, I slept fairly well and have made a good start to the day. Breakfast was two fairly thin slices of homemade bread (4? points,) and smoked salmon(.5 point). I've had my plunger of coffee(.5) and read the paper. The sun is shining and I plan on going for a walk before I start what wasn't done yesterday. Husband's cold is basically gone, although he woke me up coughing and blowing his nose. I think he wanted to take yesterday off. However, he has just started a new job, still in Northern Sydney Health. He can't really afford to take time as he is still just beginning the job.
Lunch will be the leftover coconut pumpkin chili soup from the weekend, and I haven't yet thought about dinner. The soup was really easy and good on a cold day. I steamed some jap pumpkin till it was very soft and mashed it without butter or milk. Added a tiny tin of lite coconut milk and a small tin of lite evaporated milk. Stirred in two teaspoon of chopped chili. Could have used a bit less, but it was nice. Also added about 1-2 teaspoons of the lemongrass which comes in a tube. It's OK, although fresh is much better. The soup was quite different. The chili was warming and the lemongrass gave it quite a tang. Probably 1.5 points/serve.
Just remembered I need stuff from KMart for my conference next week. Might walk to Burwood or Ashfield. Good day to be out.
Saturday 13th July
I'm off tomorrow early for a week in the Blue Mountains where I will again be the speaker at a week-long conference. So nothing more from me till Sunday 21/7. The weather has been beautiful but quite cold so I will make sure to take my winter woollies.
The food at the centre we are going to is always great. I just need to watch the amount of the extras, like the homemade slices and biscuits served. They do serve lots of good fruit, so will probably have that for snacks.
We are right next to the scenic railway and the view over the valley, particularly early in the morning and at sunset is just amazing. Sometimes the valley is filled with thick white mist and the cliff faces change colour as the sun rises. Pinks,brow, purples,orange. It changes by the minute. I do find the term "Scenic" railway somewhat amusing. The view is great, the cable car trip really good, but scenic? The building is appalling, the inside is crammed full of tacky souvenirs and some lovely woollen products, very overpriced for the tourists. The cafe is painted in garish colours and is full of awful laminex tables and mismatched chairs. Outside there is a fountain, years old. Depicts some aborigenes from the area and looks as if it was both designed and built in the 1930s. Very patronising sort of figures. This is accompanied by a tape telling the legends of the place. Last time I heard it, the tape had stretched so the sound effects were peculiar to say the least. And this area is visited daily by hundreds of tourist buses, many of them full of Japanese tourists with their cameras and videos.
Despite my pretty green traffic light in my last entry, I have not been as careful as I could have been. Part of the problem definitely lies in being away from home two days a week. A lot of food at son's house is great. It's just not as point friendly as at home. I do have to eat, and usually manage to get small portions, but it doesn't always work properly.
Have a good week and I'll hopefully catch up on July 21st.
Monday 22nd July
I'm glad I said that I would "hopefully" catch up on the 21st. Here it is two days later and I am just getting around to it. I had a wonderful week. The weather was great, the sunrises and sunsets absolutely beautiful over the valley, and the food? Let's just say how great it is not to even think about having to cook for a week. Actually the food was really good. Well cooked and well presented and thought out. Heaps of salad things for most lunches with nachos, fish, crumbed chicken etc. Some lunches were rolls with cold meat, salad, fruit. Dinner always had lots of veges and I served myself small amounts of meat. Unfortunately, they basically cook all their snacks and don't rely on bought biscuits etc. So I am almost sure I went over points. However, I go to this conference annually and usually lose weight. I run on nervous energy the whole time, as I am a senior member of the the team and have to be thinking ahead constantly. I am also usually the last to bed and the first up in the morning.
We went on a bushwalk on Tuesday. Some of them walked to Echo Point, then went down the stairs, through the valley and up the scenic railway or up the stairs. Brave souls! I took the easy option and walked around the top of the valley. I know my knees would not have coped at all with the stairs, either up or down. There was lots of incidental exercise too. Walking to my room, to the loo etc all adds up.
When I returned I found my cyber friends had been having a major discusion about eating disorders etc. This was largely based on Jo's journal entries for last week. I found it interesting, as I had just been trying to work out why I sabotage myself. This is along the same lines of thought. There were times when I was away when I deliberately chose to eat some yummy slice or scone with jam and cream, although I successfully resisted many of the desserts. Back home I have been cold, although Katoomba was colder. However the place is centrally heated. so what have I been doing? Justifying more food with the excuse that I need it for the cold. I most definitely do not, but I have still had it. Savoury biscuits with peanut butter. I am a huge peanut butter fan but now am not the slightest bit interested in it because I have just had several biscuits with some on them. So why do I do this? I know that I regarded the week away as something special and I do know that a couple of times, someone brought me some slice. This person was going through some tremedously tough times and really thought she was doing me a favour. I just did not have the heart to turn her down and as she sat opposite me, I could not give it away or leave it. So do good deeds like this even out??? Perhaps it's a bit like chocolate having no kilojoules if eaten at the movies, because it is part of the package deal! I wish!!!
Speaking of which...I saw "The Importance of Being Earnest" at the weekend. I enjoyed it, although it was a bit light and fluffy as a movie, while the play actually has quite a bite of sarcasm to it. It's been years since I read Wilde's play, but the dialogue all came flooding back to me as I watched. The producer has put in some dream sequences and a tattooing, of all things, and the ending has been changed. The changes would seem fine to someone who has not read the play. They jarred a bit, but do fit with the total spirit of things. Rupert Everett and Colin Firth work well together and Judi Dench certainly plays up to being Lady Bracknell. Colin Firth is still pretty dishy and still giving long smouldering looks which I remember from "Pride and Prejudice." One bad note...Americans just cannot get their tongues around the British accent in any convincing manner!
Must go and make lamb casserole for dinner.
Tuesday, 23rd July
OOPS! Brain is still fuzzy from lack of sleep. I put today's date on yesterday's entry. Have fixed it now. I'm still tired, but I think that comes from my sleeping patterns at the moment. Yesterday I woke at 1:00am and slept lightly till 3:00 when I was wide awake. I got up at 4:00am. This morning was a bit better - I actually slept till 4:30. I know sleep disturbances are part of menopausal changes. Not too sure what to do about that. I hate taking stuff to make me sleep. I wander around the next day feeling drugged. It's odd isn't it? Sleep deprivation is a normal thing for young mothers. Here I am at the other end of the "woman" thing and also suffering the same thing.
A couple of months ago, husband was insistent I start HRT. This was on the basis of a short seminar he went to at Royal North Shore Hospital, which he visits weekly for work. This turned him into an expert on the subject. I refused. My sister has had several operations for breast cancer and to me, the risk of this was just too great. I take calcium and exercise to prevent osteoporosis, although HRT was also supposed to help prevent heart disease. Now look at what has been reported. Still linked to breast cancer and heart problems showed up in the study. The very thing it was supposed to be extra good for.
Certainly, there are things which I would like alleviated, but I'm glad I didn't go down that path. Hot flushes are the absolute pits, particularly in public. HRT supposedly boosts libido. Right at the moment I couldn't care about that in the slightest. Other factors involved there. I suppose I really should talk to the doctor about options, but maybe I will, maybe I won't.
I'm feeling pretty good this morning, despite my early start to the day. It's just after 9:00am and I've had nearly half the water for today. I made some yummy sourdough bread yesterday, and have had two pieces of that with fresh tomato slices and some pepper for breakfast. Have also had some stewed quince,sweetened with Splenda and some tinned peaches in syrup,no sugar. So I've got a good start on the vegetables and the fruit for the day.
DIL was looking for caramel mudcake packet mixes to make a Winnie the Pooh cake for Mya's birthday in a couple of weeks. Coles and Woolworths didn't have them and told her they were discontinued. However, Franklins at Ashfield is still Franklins, not Woolies like many other stores. We called there yesterday and she bought five. They have a Disney CD-Rom program and she can print off and enlarge a pattern from the colouring section on the CD.
While we were in Franklins, I found a 2kg pack of sourdough bread mix, by Defiance. I love sourdough, so bought some to try. It wasn't too bad. From what I can make out from the label, there is some dried sourdough culture in the mix. Now, true sourdough does not have baker's yeast in it. This does. However the flavour was there fairly well. It makes a heavy loaf, but that's the nature of the bread. It's very filling, too. Not a patch on the sourdough from Bowan Island Bakery in Lyons Road, Drummoyne, but good to have in the house. Bowan Island makes theirs traditionally, with a slow maturing of the starter and slow rising of the bread. They also use top class organic wheat. Firstclass product. There's nowhere around me that I can find that sells sourdough. Perhaps Haberfield, but they cater more to Italian tastes.
I have almost raised enough enthusiasm to start cleaning my study which has been very neglected in conference preparations. Will go for a walk,and then see what happens.
I sent Trish the info on how to do this "latest entry" link a couple of weeks ago. Now everyone has it except me, so I'm giving it a go, but it might have to wait till the weekend for me to fiddle with it. I'm off babysitting tomorrow instead of Thursday/Friday. That gives me the day off on Friday to go to the Greek Drama finals at Macquarie Uni. Always an enjoyable day.
Wednesday, 24th July
Still at home today. I had a phone call last night to say that I needn't babysit today. Tim is starting a new job, but his new boss is sick so he is at home with Mya today. I really need to go out. Need a couple of scripts filled. Am just about out of celebrex. I'm not taking any at the moment, but my shoulder etc. arthritis can flare at any time, so I like to have them in the house.
It is actually raining here this morning. Well, I suppose it could be called rain. There's not much of it. Not enough to do the garden any good and too much to stay out in it. We would need many days of this for it to soak in. Everything is very dry and I have had to water all the potplants regularly. The whole state needs rain, and I worry about my potplants! Hopefully we will get some soaking rain soon. Then spring crops might be OK. Drought is more than just a lack of rain,however. We could have drought breaking rains and still be in a poor situation because the temperatures are too cold for much plant growth.
I've said it before and I'll probably say it again,but I find online support a wonderful thing. My friend Rhonda was having a hard time of things with one particularly nasty event in her life. Emails flew back and forth last night, some of them with some rather black humour. However,I hope she felt better at the end of the exchange. I know I even raised a laugh at some of them. It's really good to be able to clear the head like this in a close friendly group where we know we are safe.
I had some more sourdough bread for breakfast this morning. One slice with vegemite and one with a smear of blackberry jam. It's a bit heavy in points but is so filling I don't need anything more till lunch, so it all evens out. The jam was nice,I haven't had any for a long time, but it isn't the same as homemade blackberry. It is very sweet. Homemade is just the best. Mind you,the scratches and scrapes involved in picking blackberries in the heat of summer add to the taste of it, make it seem all the more worthwhile. When we had a property at Wollombi, we had very few bushes on our land. However there were a lot just a short walk away. We'd all go picking and then I would make jam on the wood stove. Memories are made of this...
Saturday,27th July
Many thanks to my friend Linda for spotting the mistake in my coding which was causing me no end of frustration. My signature would be at the end of the current page, but not at the end if I used the current entry link. I hunted for ages for problem but she found it. Yet another victory for my cyber friends! Some of us have met for coffee,but our friendship is a very real thing and I value my friends and their encouragement.
It's been a beautiful day here, but I feel as if I have wasted it. The sun has been shining but I have just been messing around inside. I really should have made myself go out. Instead,there's not much to show for the day and I haven't had any exercise. I really need it as I have felt half asleep all day. At least I made soup early today for tonight. I think my husband will be looking for something more substantial than soup, but I am sure he has been picking at the wrong foods all day. At least soup is healthy. He was working at his mother's place this morning and I know he has a stash of sweets,chocolates etc over there. He is now out at a civil function at Parramatta Council where afternoon tea will be cakes etc.
He really needs to lose a lot of weight,but that must be his decision. I make healthy food and he eats junk by the bucket load. He has been borderline diabetes several times although the last test was OK. His mother is diabetic. Her dianbetes was manageed with tablets till about three months ago, but she is now insulin dependent. His uncle died from complications of diabetes. Still,I can't make him change.
I had a lovely day yesterday at the Greek Drama Festival at Macquarie Uni. The plays were all very well done,and I was extremely glad not to be an adjudicator. I had a chicken curry and a glass of wine at the Staff Club for lunch. A lot of their menu yesterday was fried food. They did have a small salad, but the day was cold and I was starving as I had an early breakfast and no morning tea. I love salad, but didn't want any yesterday.
Monday, July 29th
I'm sitting here with my "groovy gran" mug, given to me by little Andrew, and a cup of something hot for morning tea. The day started out sunny,but there was talk of rain this afternoon. I did a load of washing early, but before it was finished the sky became overcast and there is a distinct chill in the air. I've put the washing in the dryer, rather than fuss with it on the line. "Groovy gran" is quite a large mug, decorated with a snowy haired gran jumping up and down and juggling pies, of all things. Take note, Linda, that's right, pies! I love the smell of pies on a wintery day, but find that often they do not live up to their promise. They are a lot of points if not really enjoyable. I think it's the combination of pastry and gravy that makes them enjoyable. I've managed to avoid them this winter because the local bakery which used to make really good ones, changed hands quite a while ago. Their pies are now the same price and about a third as enjoyable.
It's the same sort of thing about McDonalds. I am not a fan at all of their usual offerings, but quite enjoy their breakfast meals which I would have perhaps three or four times a year. Today I woke up,determined to do well with tracking and choices. So what did I want for breakfast? What came in to my mind almost immediately on waking? That's right - hash browns and bacon and egg Mcmuffins. I even justified the thought by thinking of walking to McDs. So why did I think those thoughts? Some little gremlin lurking there, determined to sabotage me and my day. It's always the same in losing weight and in life in general. Something forbidden makes the temptation greater, even if it isn't a normal desire. I didn't go, I had porridge instead.
I read in the paper this morning of a class action being taken in the USA against several fast food chains for causing obesity. How ridiculous! Leaving aside the thought of lawyers prepared to take on such an action,and their motives, what happened to individual responsibility? A comment was made that there are much worse things to eat than hamburgers. That is probably true, but individuals must have made the decision as to how many or how often to eat them. I can blame all sorts of things for weight gain,and some of them would be partially true, but in the end I was the one who didn't exercise, I was the one who ate wrongly. Menopause etc may accentuate the problem but I am responsible. Far too much passing the buck in modern society, I think.
It was a beautiful day yesterday and we went to Parramatta for a special church service to commemorate the 200th declaration of the parish of St John's. My husband was invited because of some things he does in Parramatta. Ticket affair only and we had parking reserved for us near the cathedral. Service was attended by the Archbishop of Sydney and the Governor General,as well as other dignitaries. I am no monarchist, and the present incumbent of that office should resign because of matters for which he ultimately responsible. However, I pay respect to the office while that is the way the country is still run. He was welcomed at the start, but then, so were very many other dignitaries too. No other fuss was made of him, although I have the suspicion that that may be partly due to church politics within the Anglican church. He does not come from the Sydney Diocese and therefore is immediately suspect. After the service there was a light luncheon.
Now I know where my husband gets the tendencies to eat sweet stuff etc. I didn't stay with him but wandered around. There was a LOT of food on offer. I had several tiny sandwiches with ham, egg etc, some coffee, a tiny, bite sized coconut tartlet and a piece of a slice with fruit in it. Every time I looked over to where he and his mother were, he was either eating or filling both their plates with several more pieces of supersweet slices etc. I mean three or four pieces on each plate at least four or five times. I did go over and ask her what all this was going to do to her afternoon blood sugar test, as she is an insulin dependent diabetic. She scowled at me and said nothing. As we left, she held my husband's arm with one hand, and her walking stick with the other. She saw we would pass a table which still had food on it. I was behind her and saw her transfer stick to other hand and trail her hand along the table as if for support. She actually reached out with her fingers and sort of sneaked more slices into her hand. At the end of the table she reached up and crammed them all into her mouth at once and took walking stick back into that hand! She gets more than adequate food where she is, has three full meals every day and three snacks as well,with lots of fruit available.
I suppose it all comes back down to the concept of personal responsibility. She does not have dementia, although her mind is slipping in spots. He certainly does not have it either, and faced with a need for responsible choices, all sense flies out the window. Not only were poor choices made, but quantities were bad too. I was looking for something in the spare room just a few minutes ago and found another bag of so called goodies. Probably hidden from my sight. Two enormous Toblerone chocolates, a big bar of dark chocolate with orange flavouring, a bag of snack sized Snickers and several more similar things. I no longer say anything. I don't want to appear as if nagging or even prying into something which I am obviously not supposed to find. However, I think there must be some guilty thoughts about these or why else does he secrete them where I normally would not look? More personal responsibility.
Just remembered my find when shopping. "KY Darling Downs shaved mesquite smoked bacon." This comes in a pack of 100gm and 25 gm is .5point. That's right. 0.5 points. Now this is not like normal bacon. It is ready to eat and doesn't need cooking. It is shaved very finely and the slices are small but it has a lovely smoky flavour. It would not replace traditional bacon at breakfast. but is very nice. I had some with fresh tomato on a soy/linseed muffin last night. Really nice.
Tuesday, 30th July
I've done a fair bit of walking today. Walked to Burwood and around shops and then caught the bus part way home and walked the rest. It's not too cold here, but the rain blows over occasionally. Not that what we've had will do much good. We need at least a week of it, and the whole state needs rain too.
Further to my comment yesterday about personal responsibility and how it seems to be almost a forgotten concept these days... My friend Linda has reprinted a piece from the newspaper which is a take on this. Very funny and well worth a read.
I was reading the Sydney Morning Herald this morning and a journalist said that there was no such thing as junk food, just junk diets. He too was commenting on this class action. I can see what he is trying to say. Hamburgers are made with meat, bread, salad, all good things in themselves. Hamburgers, particularly from a milk bar etc are quite reasonable. The point lies in how often they are eaten. When they become a large part of the diet, they become junk food. The occasional icecream can contribute to the dairy intake, but again too much is bad and it becomes junk. Sometimes the manner of cooking it reduces food to junk. Many chips from fast food places are cooked in saturated fat, often a derivative of palm oil. This is not a healthy way of cooking, but potatoes are basically good food. McDonalds' buns are supersoft and sweet and encourage quick eating so that hunger is not appeased and a second burger is bought. Coke has additives to create thirst, so more is drunk. There are some foods which to me have little nutritional value and are full of empty calories, but much fast food started out as something reasonable.
To have a diet of such food however is to have a junk diet. I do not really see that most people would have so little knowledge of healthy eating that they could expect such a diet to be healthy. Again, it all comes down to personal responsibility.
I made some wonderful bread today and the house smells beautifully of fresh baked bread. It's cool, windy and wet outside, but inside it's wonderful. This bread has dried apricots and fgs in it and sunflower seeds as well. I used wholegrain bread flour instead of white and it is very nice. I imagine that it will be good tomorrow toasted for breakfast too.
Wednesday, 31st July
I just noticed the last sentence from yesterday's entry. Yes, the bread was very good toasted for breakfast this morning. I had two pieces with no butter but a little strawberry jam and counted 4 points for them. Will have an apple shortly and have had my customary plunger of coffee too.
It looks as if the rain has gone. Today is sunny and clear here at the moment. I had to send an umbrella up to MIL last night. She has overcome her dislike of walking so that she can walk to the Catholic Club near Ashfield Station to play bingo. This would take me about two minutes but takes her around ten with the hip replacement. Personally, I don't think she is safe to be out by herself, but we can't stop her and what can we do. She seems to think that if she hurries, she will get where she is going without falling over. So she lurches from one support to another, in a drunken manner. She also doesn't believe in crossing the road at the traffic lights but hurries across when she feels like it. Her mind no longer judges distances properly, so I pray that no poor driver will be unable to stop because she thought she had time to cross. Bingo has been her life for at least twenty years and before we took the car from her, she went every weekday and twice on Fridays to various local clubs. She told my husband that the umbrella was in the spare room at her place. She just cannot realise that there is nothing there any more. Even if we hadn't moved some things and tossed out a lot, we would not be making a trip to Manly several times a week as she thought of something else she wanted. We fill one thing she wants and next day there is another. I suppose it is all part of settling in, but she now has only a room and a bathroom. It was a pleasant room but is now full of bits and pieces.
I was reading the Prodigal Cat's journal this morning. Caro has struggled with many things including depression in her weight loss journey. However I read one sentence with amazement. I could have written it myself. She is forcing herself to use a tracker which she had previously used. She really wanted to buy a new book to have a pristine set of pages to start tracking anew. She called it a quest for perfection. I don't think I see it quite like that, but I could so easily do the same thing. So why would I like to start a new book when I start tracking properly again? Perhaps it is subconsciously a form of denial. If I don't have old pages to accidentally look at, then perhaps they never happened? Thinking on my feet here, or rather on my butt at the computer. And yet I know we should learn from the past and that failure is a teacher as much as success is. Thanks Caro, for making me think, even early in the morning, and my best wishes to you.
I think I will be back to babysitting tomorrow and Friday. I'm a bit out of routine but it has been nice to have a break. It is hard to believe that Mya turns 2 on Saturday. There is a party on Sunday, with family coming for lunch and then friends later.
Catch you tomorrow perhaps, or on Saturday.
Just thought I'd add this too. These quizzes are a dine a dozen around many places on the net, but this one looked like a bit of harmless fun, so take a look.
