181.4 A New Taste Treat

A couple of weeks ago I visited my wonderful, inspirational friend Barbara in southern California. She, like my sister Priscilla, has managed to keep her weight under control for most of her life. She told me about one of her new favorite combinations that she eats for breakfast and/or lunch. I came home and tried it and have been hooked ever since. I feel compelled to share it :).

Mix about 1/4 cup Greek non-fat yogurt (Greek yogurt is much higher in protein so you'll feel fuller longer than if you use regular yogurt) with 1/4 cup non-fat or low fat cottage cheese. Then add sliced fresh tomato and about 1/4 to 1/2 of an avocado. Add salt and lots of pepper and enjoy! She feeds this to her 18 month old grand-daughter who loves it. I also the eat the yogurt and cottage cheese combo with fresh berries. I sprinkle Splenda on it and think it's heavenly.

I have a hunch that you'll really like both of these options if you like yogurt and cottage cheese. Oh, I just remembered... I also ate it with fresh figs and that was so good!

177.5 Do I Have To Share?

Recently I have had some upsetting times in my pool. I would be doing my Mamma Mia thing, singing and doing my workout and look over and see a dead vole (like a big mouse) floating near me. I'd fly out of the pool and get Jeff to remove it. I felt sorry for the poor animal that obviously had struggled before giving up the ghost, and it totally creeped me out. Yesterday Jeff told me there was a huge night frog in the pool. He used a net and got it and threw it over the wall. So today I checked for voles, dead voles, and I checked for night frogs, dead or alive, and saw neither so got in the pool and started my workout. After a while my eye was drawn to the filter area and I thought I saw something, but then talked myself out of it and kept going. When I looked again, a frog was staring back at me, sort of hanging out in my pool.

Did he think it was his pool? I was out of that pool faster than I've ever moved and when I gathered my wits, I started to laugh. Even though night frogs are huge as frogs go, it was a lot smaller than I am. Jeff was napping after a morning of golf so I let him sleep. I screwed up my courage and got back in. As I was trying so hard to be okay with everything, that blue and white filter thing bumped into my back and I was sure it was the frog so I flew out of the pool again.

Jeff finally came out and used the hot pink noodle to trap the frog in the filter system and was able to get it out.

It is now living on the golf course. I don't play golf so I don't have to worry about sharing the golf course with him.

What this has to do with weight loss, I have no idea, but if moving more quickly than I ever dreamed I could burned up some extra calories, let's hear it for the frog.

169.8 Where To Go From Here

It's on my mind. In fact, it's on my mind a lot. Where do I go from here? I know what I want to do, but I'm just not sure how to get started. I really want to help people who are older, and who are possibly, probably, facing health issues, to lose weight and get new energy and a new perspective on life in the process. I know I have learned a lot about all of these issues and am a teacher by training. It's what I love to do. I can do this!

Last night at Jennifer's party, there were people of all ages in attendance to celebrate with her. It was hard to know exactly who was young and who was old. One gal I met told me she was 71 and I would have guessed that she was 55 to 60 because of her appearance and how she acted. Another woman told me she was 75 and she jokingly added, therefore old. She complained of weight gain and not knowing why or how that was happening to her. Her attitude was basically one that many folks I know share, which is I'm old therefore I can't change and I'm not sure I want to change.

So I'm thinking about workshops, one on one coaching, possibly joining forces with Jennifer so that she and I could each bring to the table what we know best. Maybe it's all online and all I have to do is to start searching the topic of starting a weight loss group. It's time to give back and I am searching for ways. It is a big challenge!