Tag Archives: Magic Kingdom

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Date with a Dude

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Day 76 in my undertaking to be as healthy as possible, for a woman my age in the condition I’m in, when I meet Mickey at the Magic Kingdom in October 2015

I have a date at 3:30 today with my personal Mayo Clinic Health Coach.  I have been blessed to meet with Alex by phone four times already and I have two more complimentary sessions.  As always he will want to hear any measurable progress, so here is what I have for him today:

  1. My emotions appear to be on a much more even keel.  I like living without the sugar highs and the inevitable lows of sugar crashes.  I find I have more patience with others and even with myself.
  2. I have more focus at work.  I can formulate plans and then follow through to accomplish tasks much more efficiently.
  3. I have more energy than I have had in a very long time.  I used to be exhausted at the thought of doing anything outside the norm.  Now I actually get excited about deviations from my schedule.  I think, “Ooh, what does God have for me today?” and I am more open to new ideas.
  4. And as a side-effect of making healthier choices, my scale says I’ve lost 24.8 pounds as of this morning.  But oh, what I have gained!

Thank you for reading, dear friends.  Meet you at the Kingdom!

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Luxuriating in Lake Bluff

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Day 75 in my amble to the Magic Kingdom and my friend Mickey

My plan for today is to take a walk.  I hope to take a twenty minute walk after work today.  It is a beautiful day here in Lake Bluff, about 60 degrees and sunny.  There is a gentle breeze and plenty of fall color left to enjoy.

The merchants in town had an event yesterday from 3:00 pm to 8:00 pm.  They stayed open late , had free samples, and most things were 10% off.

  1. So I stopped after work at “Spice Merchants,” a new shop in town.  I picked up some powdered cumin, and they even had powdered white vanilla that I haven’t been able to find anywhere else.  Whoop!  They also had some pre-packaged soup mixes, so I picked up a couple of those too.  This shop is a wonderful addition to our community.
  2. Then I wandered over to “Wisma” to shop for dinner.  What a great shop!  Gourmet foods made with organic ingredients, and oh by the way, the food is delicious!  Mike and I had butternut squash soup with pretzel rolls and chicken with polenta for dinner.  Plus I added plenty of fresh veg with Ranch dip.  What a feast!

So today I am going to stop and smell the fall in Lake Bluff.  Meet you at the Kingdom!

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My Demon: Sugar

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Day 74 in my assignment to assimilate a better life-style to meet up with Mickey

I’ve been asked, “How did you completely go cold-turkey and give up sugar if you were such an addict?”  Well…that’s just it.  I haven’t completely given up sugar for the rest of my life.  The thought of never having sugar again for the rest of my life is daunting indeed!  It makes me feel deprived and more than a little sorry for myself.  So,  I’ve just given sugar up for today…and for yesterday…and I plan to give it up for the day that is tomorrow.

I have a date with sugar.  A one day date.  Not to go crazy and eat anything and everything in sight.  Believe me, I’ve been there and done that.  But on Halloween my morning treat is going to be a vente, decaf skim-milk pumpkin spice latte, no whip.  Starbuck’s speak for a sugary, delicious Halloweeny treat.  Then my evening treat will be a Halloweeny cupcake from Bent Fork Bakery.  Mikey will join me in this evening treat.  (It turns out he likes cupcakes.  “Something plain,” he said, when I asked him what kind.  If you know him at all…it figures.)  These treats will replace my usual treat of several bags of Halloween candy: candy corn, marshmallow pumpkins, chocolate bars, and whatever else caught my eye at Walgreens.  🙂

We will purposefully and completely savor our Halloween treats.  And then on November 1, I plan to go cold-turkey again.  You see, after 73 days of being sugar-free, I like what I see and feel and hear, and taste and even smell.  Things just seem clearer and brighter and more intense when I’m not living under the shroud of sugar.  Confession time:  My name is Donna, and I am a sugar addict.  (The appropriate response is, “Hello, Donna.”)

My plan for today is to share this truth with you.  Meet you at the Kingdom!

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Halloween

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Day 73 in making my way to Mickey

Well, I am back at work today, but I still don’t feel well.  So my plan for today is to eat a healthy, bland diet today and this evening.

I love the fall, but I’m not really a Halloween (All Hallows Eve) fan.  All Saints Day is my holiday of choice just now.  There’s too much room for evil this time of year.  There are all kinds of TV programs about ghosts and witches and serial killers and weird unexplained things.  But I have to push through this season to get to the seasons of giving thanks and celebrating our Savior’s birth.

Plus, there is candy everywhere I turn!  And all sorts of other Halloween goodies!  Argh.

Anyway…on I go, still sugar-free, marching forward and hoping for a better day tomorrow.

Meet you at the Kingdom!

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Revisiting the Start

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Day 72 in my return to Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom and my dear friend, Mickey

As I continue to fight this bug, it’s time to revisit why I started this blog…

I’m Donna and I have a delicious goal.  I want to work to be healthier and in better shape for my trip to Disney World in October 2015. There.  I’ve said it.  It’s down in black and white.

I LOVE Disney World.  I become a little girl again, and it is such a blessing to share this experience with my family.  There are 6 of us…until the grand-babies start to come along.  🙂 My husband Mike, my son Jake and his wife Eliza, my daughter Emi and her husband James and me.

“You’ve got tons of time,” you think.  But here’s is my dilemma.  I am 58 years old and morbidly obese.  If,  I can’t turn myself around, then I will not be able to walk enough to truly enjoy the parks.  I do not currently have the mobility, nor the flexibility, to become that Disney child again.

So here is my plan.  I want to do one thing every day for the next 14 months to get ready for Disney World in October 2015.   Today is Day 1, and I am starting this blog.

Can I do it?  We’ll see.  Maybe, by the grace of God and with some hard work every day, I can revel in each minute of our Disney vacation…

And so now, I am on my way.  I’ve come so far in 71 days, and I have so-o-o far to go.  My body is adjusting to the changes in diet and movement.  It’s tired and sore and upset, but I will carry on.

Meet you at the Kingdom!

 

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Domestic Goddess

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Day 70 in my travails to meet Mickey

I woke up completely depleted and tired out this morning.  So my plan for today is to completely enjoy a day off from work at the church, and I am working around the house for some physical activity today.

  1. I took a shower and cleaned myself up this morning.
  2. I cleaned up my bedroom.
  3. I am doing laundry.
  4. I just put a “Mexican Bean Soup” in the oven to keep simmering until dinner tonight.  (Gotta keep my amazing man eating healthy, don’t I?)
  5. I will make a cornbread for us to enjoy with the soup, hot out of the oven.
  6. I will help clean up after dinner.
  7. And all day long I will stop and take deep, cleansing breaths and savor this day at home.

Meet you at the Kingdom!

Mexican Bean Soup: 3 cups of pinto beans, 2 carrots (cut in 2 inch pieces), half cup of zucchini (cut in 2 inch pieces), half a cup of corn, diced onion, diced garlic and spices ( cumin, chili powder, pepper, salt).  And because my Mikey is such a carnivore, I added a half pound of ham.    Mmmm-Mmmm good!  Thanks to “Recipes to Lower Your Fat Thermostat” for the recipe!

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Mini-Victories!

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Day 69 in my journey to join Mickey at The Magic Kingdom  (Why do I find myself thinking about using the “Shake Weight” today?  🙂  I know…I’m nasty!)

Dear readers, I’m so excited today!  I stepped on the scale to see how much ground I had lost (as in how much weight I had gained) on our trip to the UP.  You know, eating out a lot, lots of salty food with higher fat content than what I eat in my controlled environment.  I just wanted to see what the damage was, so I could have a realistic idea of where I am.  Surprise of surprises, I’ve lost another 3.4 pounds!  So now I’m down 22.2 pounds from the start!  Woot!  Woot!  (Cue Disco music)

So today my plan was to do a half hour of “Lean Body Workout.”  But instead I went grocery shopping.  I did the BIG shop all by myself.  I was on my feet walking around the store for an hour.  My knees locked up, because they are not used to me standing for that long anymore.  I was sweaty and smelly and gross.  But still, dear readers, I did it!!  Our cupboards are no longer bare.  And tonight I will make “Surprise Package Casserole.”  It’s one of my favorites from “Recipes to Lower Your Fat Thermostat.”

I feel absolutely exhilarated!  Good food, a good physical challenge and I’m on my second cup of coffee today from my new Keurig.  Life is good, my friends!

Meet you at the Kingdom!

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Taking Steps to Change

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Day 68 in trucking toward Mickey

Yesterday’s plan was a success!  The VHS tape that I was looking for is titled, “The Lean Body Workout” with Cynthia Kereluk.  It was put out by Sybervision Systems.  It’s a lean body aerobics workout.  It has plenty of cardio with gentle movements for someone of my girth.  (I can properly use the word girth because the distance around my circumference is rather significant.)  🙂

It wasn’t where I thought I had last seen it, but Mike went into the maze that is our basement and came upstairs with it.  He’s just the best!  So…tomorrow you can pretty much guess what my plan will be…

Today, however, my plan is this: I want to go for a twenty minute walk after work today.  Maybe I’ll stop in town on the way home and walk there.  The fall colors are really blooming in Lake Bluff this week, so I will revel in their beauty as I stroll through town.  I may wax poetic here, but the truth is I will be sweating and huffing and puffing my way up and down the blocks.  But maybe, just maybe, I’ll be whistling a happy tune in my head, too.  🙂

Meet you at the Kingdom!

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Efforts to Unearth the Past

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Day 67 in my amble toward a meeting with my favorite mouse

Yesterday was interesting.  I did remain sugar-free.  Yippee!  And I looked for a dance tape that I have from years back.  Yup, straight up VHS.  It’s from a program called “The Neuropsychology of Weight Control” by SyberVision Systems.  The program was really good, and talked about the “glycemic index” long before I had heard it anywhere else.  It suggested a cookbook called “Recipes to Lower Your Fat Thermostat” by LaRene Gaunt which I have used often in the last 20 years.  And it came with an exercise VHS with a really pleasant woman, who talked you through several levels: beginner, intermediate and hard core.  I CANNOT remember the name of the tape.  ARGH!  But she even counted down one time in Finnish, the language of half my peeps.  So cool…and motivational!

So today’s plan is to continue the search for my awesome VHS cardio workout.  And to remain sugar-free.  And to make the best choices I can today.

Meet you at the Kingdom!

BTW: My goals for yesterday were accomplished.  And I did a 15 minute McDonald’s cardio workout DVD for the dance portion of my workout, followed by a five minute cool down walk.  I still miss Emi, but it’s good to get back to the routine of work and daily life.

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Eradicating Emotional Eating

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Day 66 in my expedition to maneuver to Mickey

Confession time: I am an emotional eater.  The problem is that it doesn’t matter the emotion.  If I am happy or celebrating, then what better way to celebrate than with my “favorite” foods?  Cupcakes or donuts or cheesecake and Cheetos and Bridge Mix, etc, etc, etc…  Or then if I’m bummed out (depressed) or just plain sad or tired and nostalgic,  what better way to comfort myself than with my “favorite” foods?  Yup, you guessed it:  cupcakes or donuts or cheesecake and Cheetos and Bridge Mix, etc, etc, etc…

I have just lived through a two week incredible high which was filled with family, fabulous friends and a lot of food.  Praise God, and thank you, dear readers, for keeping me accountable.  I made really good choices most of the time.  I remained sugar-free, and (tun-ta-da-da!) I ate NO wedding cake.  That is the first time in my life that I went to a wedding and didn’t eat SEVERAL pieces of wedding cake.  Instead I danced with my family, and boy oh boy, was it ever fun!!

Now Emi (my sweet daughter) has gone home.  The house is very quiet, and I am craving sugar like mad!  So today’s plan is to fight the urge.  I won’t make any promises about tomorrow, but for today I refuse to eat my emotions.  Instead, I’m going to allow myself to feel my emotions…to live through my emotions.  And I am going to eat in a balanced, nutritious and sensible manner.

And just for fun, I’m going to put on a music dvd and dance for twenty minutes reliving some of the fun of Nathan and Jordan’s wedding reception.  (BTW:  They are the cutest ever!  And their love is so precious to see!)

Meet you at the Kingdom!

BTW2: “favorite” is in quotes above because my new favorite foods are those that actually give nourishment to my body.  I am SUCH a work in progress.  🙂