Shopping for weight loss.

We got back from a shopping trip to Winn Dixie. My wife noticed that the emerald almonds I kind of like are on sale buy one get one free. The 11 ounce Almonds with cocoa powder dusting. The 11 ounce variety in the green canm are usually about $5.99 a can. With the two for one sale, they get down to $3 a can which is a significant value. Consider that the Winn and Lovett Prestige collection almonds are $3.99 for 8 ounces, or the Blue Diamond Vanilla Almonds are also the 8 ounces for $3.99. When one considers that valuation, the Emerald Almonds at $5.99 for 11 ounces seems unreasonable.

If all we got would have been nuts, then our Winn Dixie trip would have been quite reasonable, but no. We ended up getting lots of other stuff, even though our menu tends to be limited. A couple of Paula Deen Cheesy Meatloafs, and some Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts. A 10 for $10 deal (frozen veggies), 4 bags of peanuts for the squirrels (along with some other selections), and before long, we're looking at $139.49 with Winn Dixie card savings of $57.92--Woo Woo.

Initially, I was skeptical about almonds. But, over the past couple of weeks, I've come to appreciate almonds more. As a snack, they take more work to eat. Thus I tend not to eat as many of them as I otherwise might if they were easy snacking nuts such as Cashews, or even Pecans. The emerald nuts appear to be different from the Winn & Lovett Cinnamon Toasted Almonds, but even eating the W&L almonds, I can only eat so many of them before the little "hungries" (hungry signals) go away.

I'm eating more than a cup of food. But I guess I've done well with the weight loss. 191.8 was my weight this morning, after getting down recently to 191.4 the day before yesterday. I'm not trying too hard to loose weight. I'm trying to limit the intake of empty calories (but not at the expense of flavor in most cases). I've not had a big amount of ice cream. I've had a couple of spoons full. I've also had a couple of servings of almonds as snacks. Mostly, I guess it's eating small meals in pre-measured containers. Portion control seem,s to be the name of the game.

A series from my e-mail

This exchange was recent. Most of the message is my content.

To: My friends

Well, yesterday, the dental cleaning clinic at HCC discovered a place on
one of my teeth, and they recommended that I go to a real dentist. I
made an appointment for Friday. So, yet another day of sick leave.
This one probably will hurt though. It's near the gum line. The
dentist on duty at the clinic was using terms like cementum, and
whatnot. Supposedly, this is on the underside, topside of tooth three.
My tooth 4 has come out and the tooth 5 which was crooked has flipped
around and is 180 degrees from where it should be. Oh well. Tooth 3 is
an important tooth.

　
-----Original Message-----
From: A friend

Good luck Marti!
　


-----Original Message-----
To: My friends

Hey, weight was 192.4 this AM. I've not been particularly good. I've
given in to the ice cream temptations. It's good though, I only have
small portions of ice cream. The Publix ice cream is pretty good. Blue
Bell groom's cake is almost too chocolatey. I'll probably eventually
work through it though. Publix Banana Split is very good, but I can't
really get too much. My wife is having more problems with guzzling iced
tea, or whatever, and possibly needing to throw up. I've only had a few
instances where I've eaten a lot and had to get up and walk around. I
haven't thrown up. But I guess I'm trying to be very conscious of much
smaller portions.


-----Original Message-----
From: A friend

Oh my goodness Marti, I did not even realize that you had problems
drinking stuff too!


-----Original Message-----
To: My friends

I don't have problems drinking stuff. Supposedly, Fran might have some
issues if she tries to drink a lot fast. I'm not sure how much/how
fast. But she has had some issues with dry chicken as well. I know
enough to stay away from dry chicken. We do good splitting an order of
Hot Rod's country barbeque meat loaf, or a serving of cracker barrel
country fried steak. Getting an order to go is a good way of doing
this. We also do well with meat loaf from Grill Smith. The meat loaf
from that place at Disney's EPCOT resort near boardwalk was very nice.
I'm not sure how we'll do with a whole meat loaf from Boston Market, but
who knows?
I think we've been successful with weight loss following this surgery.
I think we've tried to be compliant with instructions. The bit of
planning into taking the premeasured small 10 ounce containers of food
has been of great assistance.
The ice cream amount has been much smaller than before. I've even been
partially satisfied with just taking a spoon out to the freezer to grab
a spoonful. Sometimes two spoons full.
In other news of the helpful tips found with the weight loss trials and
tribulations, the emerald dark cocoa almonds from Publix are very good.
We got that tip last Thursday at our support group meeting. The almonds
are a good nut to eat, I guess. Pecans are cheaper at walmart, but it's
too easy to eat too many of those at a single setting. The almonds, if
one takes a handful from the green container, they will help one to feel
satisfied. The slight bit of chocolate flavor is pretty good on the
almonds. The walmart cinnamon and sugar pecans were very good, but it's
really easy to eat lots of those. The almonds take some more chewing to
grind them up into smaller pieces. I'm happy with the weight loss thus
far. I don't think I need to lose more, but I probably could. I've
been fluctuating around the 190 mark, but it's okay. I'm pretty sure
that I will eventually get below the 190 mark, but I'm not really
wanting to get there. It might be a minor accomplishment that I can say
I'll have lost 100 pounds when I get to the 183 pound mark, but I'm not
eager to get there. It'll happen sooner or later, but I'm okay if it
doesn't. I think we are happy if Fran's bloodwork continues to improve.
　

Free Ice Cream from MOSI

On Sunday, we did the free Ice Cream from MOSI. They were handing out scoops to paid visitors. Since we have annual passes for the MOSI Imax theatre, we took advantage. We've gotten quite a bit of value from our Annual MOSI membership. We each got a scoop of Cookies and Cream. I've been particularly weak with regard to the Ice Cream dietary no-no's. The lap band does enforce a sense of moderation. I don't want to eat alot of ice cream. The chocolate ice cream from the groom's cake, is overpowering. The Publix brand of Banana Split is very good. Yet I don't feel particularly good afterward, even though it was a small amount. We also got separately, the novelties of Mrs. Field's Cookie sandwiches, M&M's ice cream on a stick, and 100 calorie bars (5 to six packs). This weakness of mine may yet get the best of me. I'm able to loose weight, and follow most guidelines pretty well. Our freezer looks to be pretty well stocked for the time being. I don't know how long it will last. The lap band prevents some foods from going down. Ice cream is not one of the foods which has difficulty, but I think the previous pleasures associated with ice cream seem to be missing.

The previous Sunday (July 11th) we took advantage of the free slurpees from 7-11 due to the birthday. We only visited one 7-11, and only got one 7.11 ounce free slurpee each. We could have gotten more, but perhaps it is due to the smaller stomach pouch, we didn't.

I am happy that we've had the procedure to help Fran with her diabetes.

We've stopped the consumption of Soda. We weren't consumers of alcohol previously, but especially not now. We tend to be frugal.

The pre-measured 10 ounce containers from Wal-Mart have been exteremely beneficial in making the meals doable.

Happy Days

Happy Days

Happy days... Despite being appreciably heavier in these pictures, the picture in the upper center is of my wife and myself when we were just married, on our way to our honeymoon. Granted, we were living in an apartment near the rail road tracks, but life was good at that time. I had to wear glasses to correct for the 20/300 or worse vision that I had in those days. Fran, my wife is a happy lady for the most part. I guess we all play with the cards that we are dealt. Having someone to share life's ups and downs is very nice.

forget love, I'd rather fall in chocolate

I thought this was a rather interesting chocolate bar/T-shirt phrase from a store window in Highlands, NC.

little extravagencies

I like the little extravagencies. I like my Bunn Home Coffee Maker. Sure, it's more expensive than many basic coffee makers, but it keeps the water that is in the reservoir at a hot 200 degrees, ready for that nice coffee brew. It doesn't do a timed start of the brewing process, nor does it do a grinding of the beans.

Last night, we placed a to go order from Hot Rod's Country Barbeque restaurant for one order of the grilled meatloaf with a side of green beans and a side of corn pudding. Since our lap band surgery, we are mostly able to share a portion at a restaurant, if we take it home. The meat loaf was very good. We've also split the order for country fried steak from cracker barrel. I didn't lose weight from yesterday's weight, but the gain was minimal. I haven't really dug into the ice cream, though that's yet another small extravagency I am fond of. We picked up a relatively new flavor from Blue Bell at Publix called Groom's Cake. It is chocolate ice cream with chocolate cake and a strawberry swirl, and maybe some chocolate covered strawberries.

A good pot of coffee is very good. But I'm frugal. When I buy not so good coffee, I continue through the coffee.

Tallulah Gorge

Also from our trip to the mountains of North Carolina. Tallulah Gorge is in Northern Georgia.

Lap Band Support group meeting

We went to the lap band support group meeting. My wife and I have been pretty regular attendees to the support group meetings, but we note that many of the other people tend not to show up regularly. I realize that life happens and many people have different needs at different times.
I guess we're both pretty successful with the weight loss, but mostly it involves planning what you will be eating. I take small 10 ounce containers of food to work with me, and heat them up in the microwave. The 10 ounce containers we picked up at Walmart are wonderful for portion control.

fireworks up on the mountains

This was a nice pic of a fireworks show up in the mountais of North Carolina. Now, there were some trees which blocked some of the views, but it was still pretty nice. We had gone up to visit my parents at their place in the little town of Highlands, North Carolina for the long weekend of the Fourth. A friend of my parents was also down along with some nieces from Ireland. The town of Highlands is quaint. It is quite small, but the people are friendly. I guess most of the people tend to be older people who have collected significant amounts of money. I don't think we quite fit into that mold, but I do guess we are pretty good about managing to pay off credit cards and save a little bit for retirement and whatnot else.

While we were up there (after the friend from Virginia had left with nieces) we went down the mountain into the valley town of Franklin. I do tend to appreciate the views from parts of Franklin of the mountains. We stopped at a place called "The Chef and His Wife" for lunch. I had a bowl of soup which was extremely good and flavorful. I had a sandwich, also. But I only had about three-quarters of the soup, and three-quarters of the sandwich. My dad might have had the other quarter of each. I had to get up because of my smaller pouch just getting too much food.

Whiteside with dog

I posed for a picture with my parents' dog here. The dog also climbed Whiteside mountain. It was a nice day. This photo was taken on or about the 6th of July.

Whiteside

Some people have problems with heights. I guess I can appreciate that.

Whiteside

Whiteside

Whiteside

Whiteside

We were up on whiteside mountain in North Carolina. It wasn't too difficult, but we went up the easy way, and down the stairs. I'm happy about the trip. The views were really nice from that location, the pictures don't quite convey the situation.

Another nice picture, this time in the lobby of a church.
The wedding itself was a little too churchy if you asked for my opinion, but that is the reason that churches exist I suppose, to welcome members in the transitions of their lives.
We had a nice ceremony before my parents and the notary along with her sister. The wedding was going to get out of hand, but we decided to push things up and we had it earlier, but before invitations went out. We went on a cruise for a honeymoon. It was a good time. Oddly enough, Uncle Bill, and Aunt Dottie are also going on a short 5 day cruise or something out of the port of Tampa.
The other people in the lobby are friends of Uncle Bill's.

Here we are sitting in my Uncle's dining room with my Father, his friend, and my Uncle and his new wife, Dottie, standing behind Fran.

Here we are by my Uncle's pool.

Here we are the nice two on the right most in the picture.
The others at this wedding were important, but this is pointing out some good pictures of me.

I called the TBI-FL help line

I called the TBI-FL help line, and shared my idea about increasing the use of computer mediated communication among the TBI population. I'm not sure if much of anything positive will happen from it, but who really knows? This really seems to be a social services help line, and not so much of a part of a national organization, but who really knows, maybe there is some national organization component behind this.

Maybe I might be contacted about being a mentor for some others. I probably don't have very many answers, but I guess I can try to help some others, if they want assistance.

The wisdom of an electrician

While I was at work the other day, an electrician told me a story:

A man (who we'll call Sam) and his wife (who we'll call Sherry) were in bed. The man is having trouble with sleeping. So, at 3 am, he tells his wife that he's having all of these worries about being able to repay his neighbor (Who we'll call Bill) who leant him some money. He can't sleep, and he's preventing his wife from sleeping, so his wife opens up the window, and yells across the way "Hey Bill, Sam is worried that he's not going to be able to repay you that money you leant him."

Sherry says "there, let Bill worry about it and come back to bed so that we can get some more sleep."

That story works on several different levels that I can think of.

It sort of points out the foolishness of loosing sleep over things which you cannot control.

And informing your creditors that you may not be able to repay debts on the timetable established allows your creditor to worry about getting paid.

I'm not sure what I would be embarking on if I wanted to follow through with setting up a chairitable foundation to benefit brain injured individuals, primarily through the use of enhancing the utilization of computer mediated communication. I'm not sure what sorts of legal obligations or whatever might be involved. Maybe it would be too much. I don't know if it would be a worthwhile thing to do, but it seems to me that it would probably be providing a service that here to fore isn't emphasized enough.

Maybe I am wrong. I'd love to be confident that I was mistaken. I'd love it if brain injured individuals were encouraged to find their voice online, and express it. Sadly, I somehow doubt that there are large numbers of brain injured individuals on-line, at least compared with the general population. One would think that there should be.

I guess that as with any charitable organization, having donors is important. In tougher economic times, the pool of available donors has shrunk, considerably.

I suppose that I have a pretty good story of having overcome a number of obstacles. If the foundation will ultimately be successful, I guess it needs more than just a personality.

I think I might begin making some inquiries though.