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12 Week Reward

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Well, after all the whining in my last post…IT HAPPENED! Twelve weeks and I made that 20 pound loss mark, 20.2 pounds actually. I am so beyond jacked!

I have four more weeks in my initial Noom registration. In that four weeks my goals are to lose five more pounds, to increase my two daily walks by 10 minutes for an extra 20 minutes a day, and to investigate some new diabetic-friendly recipes that are also calorie-friendly and Noom-friendly.

Anyway, today has been a very good day. Thanks for following along this journey, Dear Readers.

Meet me at the Kingdom.

Donna

PS. I am booked at Disney’s Port Orleans Resort French Quarter for my 65th birthday. Finally plan to attend Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party and the Candlelight Processional at EPCOT. It’s something to plan for, and something to help me stay on the straight and narrow.

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19 Forever!!!!

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I have been stuck at 19 pounds lost for a couple of weeks now. Argh!!! I know I need to be happy with my 19 pounds. I’ve worked and fought hard for those 19 pounds. Yay, me, and all that, right?<SCREAM>

I keep telling myself that I’m building muscle, and muscle weighs more than fat. I keep reminding myself how much better I feel now than I did those 11 weeks ago. I keep reminding myself that I can walk upstairs without being completely out of breath now. I keep reminding myself that I am a strong, capable woman. I keep reminding myself that I can just keep doing this and eventually something, hopefully some fat, will shake loose. But this is frustrating!

So I ordered myself a Disney Halloween Spirit Jersey, to celebrate my hard work. It arrived today and cheered me up immensely. See the pictures? So pretty!

And so I’ll keep on keeping on to meet you at the Kingdom.

Donna

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Hard Fought Progress

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I have to tell you this is the hardest I have ever worked in my life to take off weight. Each pound, heck, each ounce, is slow, steady work. I do feel stronger than I did ten weeks ago. I have to make an appointment to see my Doc though. After having high blood pressure for years and being on meds, suddenly my blood pressure is low. I’ll keep checking for a few days just to make sure.

All this work. All these healthy, calorie conscious meals. Taking two walks each day. This is hard work for me. But I am happy being 18 pounds down in my ten weeks on Noom. Is all the work worth it? You betcha!

I have visions of Disneyland Paris dancing in my head. It’s still nearly two years until we hope to visit there. I might have just enough time to take off a few more pounds. 🙂

Meet me at the Kingdom!

Donna

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Disney Dreaming

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Today I received a package in the mail. The return address showed that it was from Pixie Dust Delivery Service! My heart beat a little faster, my pupils dilated, and I let out an involuntary, “Woo hoo!”

A little over a week ago I messaged Amy at Pixie Dust Delivery Service and requested three, new Old Key West Resort things: a magnet, an ornament, and a shirt. (See photos below this blog.)

I really dig the new emphasis on the lighthouse, the palm trees and of course Mickey and Minnie Mouse! It was a real “treat myself” kind of moment and a much needed shot in the arm to my exhausted-from-working-out body.

You see, even though I’m being careful when I take my walks: knees slightly bent, rolling from heel through toes, tucking my pelvis under, staying as relaxed as possible, and above all breathing, breathing, breathing, I am tired! This is hard, sweat inducing, knees aching, ankles and hips protesting work! At my weight and at my age, a simple walk exhausts me.

This package today helps me to refocus, to embrace this new more active lifestyle, to savor healthier food choices. My trip to Disneyland Paris is ever closer to becoming a reality. And I am renewed in my determination to be a healthier me when I get there.

Meet me at the Kingdom.

Donna

P.S. Thank you to http://www.disneyfoodblog.com for the photos! This is my favorite blog, and I check it out every day.

P.P.S. Thank you to Amy of Pixie Dust Delivery Service! I’ve ordered many time from Amy, and she has never let me down. Check her out at http://www.pixiedustdelivery.com.

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Halfway Through

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Today I begin my ninth week on Noom. It’s the halfway point as Noom is a sixteen week program. I’ve lost fifteen pounds in eight weeks, I am very happy with that result. My metabolism has finally kicked in so I am not gaining weight every other day like I was when I started. It’s a very livable program. The psyche tricks are good. The support is great. And it is exposing me to new ways of thinking about food and movement.

I’ve been having fun listening to some new music when I take my walks. Taylor Swift‘s new album, Love, has a couple of tracks that I’ve fallen for: ME! and You Need to Calm Down are very fun and poppy. The Jonas Brothers‘ Happiness Begins album is fantastic. I especially like Sucker, Cool, Happy When I’m Sad and Rollercoaster. The songs are great, and they are a good pace for my walk. And I’m enjoying the soundtrack to the movie Ugly Dolls. I mean, Kelly Clarkson, Janelle Monae, Bebe Rexha and Pentatonix all on one album? Yes, please!

So as I keep eating better and moving more, I am encouraged by my energy level and the feeling of well being that I have. This journey is really tough. Some days I drag myself out the door for a walk. Some days I fly out the door. Some days I wake up feeling strong and empowered. Some days I drag myself out of bed and struggle to put one foot in front of the other. But my resolve to stay the course is strong.

Thanks for hanging in there with me, Dear Readers. I truly appreciate your support and encouragement.

Meet me at the Kingdom.

Donna

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Meatless Monday Accomplished

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I managed to have a completely meatless/vegetarian food day yesterday. I’ve done meatless dinners before, but rarely managed a completely meatless day.

Breakfast was Oats Overnight Strawberries & Cream with a banana and water.

Lunch was half a vegetable omelet, a piece of marbled rye toast with butter, a small lettuce salad with Italian dressing, a plum and water.

And dinner was a wonderful surprise. I had N0-Sugar-Added marinara sauce and added sauteed onion, garlic, sweet peppers, and Gardein Meatless Meatballs. I put the sauce over spiralized butternut squash (in place of noodles). And completed my meal with cut fresh veggies, and a piece of rye bread with butter.

The surprise of the entire day was the meatballs. If I hadn’t seen the bag myself, I wouldn’t have known that they weren’t meat. They were perfectly spiced, for my taste, and absolutely textured like meat. Really just so tasty.

Will I have them again? Absolutely!

I guess you can teach an old dog new tricks. Meet me at the Kingdom.

Donna

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3 steps forward, 2 steps back

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Time to check back in with you, Dear Readers. Eight weeks in on my Noom program, I am down 13 pounds. I have faced large ups and incremental downs on the road to 13 pounds. In a day and a half at the 4th of July I gained six pounds, and I didn’t eat nearly as crazily as I have in the past. but it was salty, heavy foods. It took me a week to re-lose the six pounds. BUT it did happen with hard work and determination.

Then we traveled back to the beautiful U.P. to visit with relatives and friends. There are two foods that are prevalent in the mid-U.P. (Land of many, many Finns like me) that I choose to not resist: pasty and cudighi. And I enjoyed both twice while there.

Pasty consists of potato, rutabaga, onion, ground beef wrapped in a crust. The U.P. is Iron Mining Country. (Please, don’t call it the Rust Belt! That has a very negative connotation.) So when the Cornish miners came over to be the bosses at the iron mines, they brought pasties. They made a great miners lunch, kept warm in tin foil in their lunch pail. They could wash them down with hot coffee from their thermoses. Anyway, they were the meal of choice at least a couple of times a month when I was growing up in the U.P.

Cudighi is really only found in the U.P. It is like Italian sausage, but the spices are a bit different. There are many Italian descendants in the U.P. too. Cudughi is usually served on a crusty white bun, with tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, onions, green pepper. So scrumptious!

Well, after five days away, I gained 10 pounds, yes, a shocking 10 pounds! It was mostly salt and retaining fluids, but it was still a shock. The weight came off in five days of eating well and walking more.

Do I recommend this type of binging? No. Do I regret that I did it? No. I made the conscious decision to eat and enjoy these childhood favorites while I was on vacation. I savored every bite.

Now I’m back home and recommitted to my Noom program and to my pilgrimage to better health. I really do want to be able to walk around Disneyland Paris with my family in 2021. This is the journey I am on. And, hey, today was really exciting because I dropped below another 10 pound mark on the scale. Woo hoo!

Meet me at the Kingdom.

Donna

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merry christmas in july!

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Today I picked up a Disney Princess Musical Dancing Palace by Little People second hand through a local online marketplace. I brought it home then played with it with my youngest granddaughter. So fun! It felt like Christmas wrapped in Disney, wrapped in family fun.

In today’s featured photo you can see how much fun the baby was having with the palace and the figures. As soon as we would set the characters up to dance, she would pull them off of their places and bang them together while smiling and chatting.

At Christmas my oldest (3 years old) granddaughter will be here. I’m so excited to played with it with her, too!

Anyway it’s been a fun day. Meet me at the Kingdom.

Donna

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Christmas in July

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Ok, so here’s the deal. I love Christmas! When I say that, people usually say, “Oh, I like Christmas, too.” They do not understand. When I say, “I love Christmas,” I mean, I LOVE Christmas!! As a matter of fact, I love the whole month of December.

How could I not? My birthday is the first week of December. My brother’s birthday is the second week of December. My other brother’s wedding anniversary is the third week of December. Christmas is the fourth week of December. And then the month is capped off with the celebration of the New Year.

Party, party, party, right? And that’s pretty much the way it was at our house growing up. We had something to celebrate every single week, so who cared if it was cold and super snowy outside? It was a golden month.

So maybe you’ll understand why I celebrate Christmas in July. I watch Christmas movies on Hallmark. I drink my coffee in the morning out my favorite Christmas mug. And I make it a point to greet the people I see. Rather than “Merry Christmas”, I say, “Hello, how are you doing today?” No slipping by people with eyes averted. No being stuck in my own shell. I make a concerted effort to engage people.

It feels good. My mood is elevated. All seems right with my nearby world.

So “Hello, Dear Readers, how are you doing today?”

Meet me at the Kingdom!

P.S. I’m still Nooming and still watching the scale move slowly down. I’m getting in more steps each day, and I’m selecting foods that are good for my body. “I feel good, da da da da da da da. You know that I should now, da, da, da, da, da, da, da…”

P.P.S. Today’s featured photo is my son-in-love placing the tree topper on our Christmas tree. I love it!

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Turning 65 at Walt Disney World

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I’ve been thinking about turning 65 years old and becoming eligible for Medicare. It’s a year and a half away for me, but I’d like to celebrate it at Walt Disney World. I turned 60 there, and it just seems like this next milestone would be fun to be there, too. We wouldn’t be using our DVC points, because we’re saving those for Disneyland Paris in 2021. but I’ve always wanted to stay at Port Orleans French Quarter, and this may be the right opportunity to do so. Here’s what Disney has to say about it:

Revel in the romance and pageantry of New Orleans’s historic French Quarter at this Moderate Resort hotel, where cobblestone streets, gas lamps, wrought-iron balconies and fragrant magnolia blossoms evoke the Antebellum era and colorful Mardi Gras characters and jazz keep things lively.

We would take in the holiday sites, and go into EPCOT for one day so we could experience the Candlelight Processional.

A candlelight processional at Holidays Around The World at Epcot

Hear the stirring story of Christmas as told by a celebrity narrator, and accompanied by a 50-piece orchestra and massed choir. 

The rest of the time we would wander our resort, walk around and explore Disney Springs more thoroughly, book dining reservations at places we’ve never been before, and chill.
Sounds like fun, right? It’s something fun to think about anyway.
Meet you at the Kingdom.
Donna
P.S. I finally reached the 10 pounds off mark. It took nearly four weeks. It’s a hard win. This is the toughest weight loss ever for me. Perhaps in the long run, it will be the best. Here’s hoping.

Pilgrimage to better health to meet Mickey. A 14 month Quest.