2025: A Breath of Fresh Air

  Here we go ! It's a new year. Time to get back on track with diet and exercise. The goal was 100 pounds by 12-31-25 but I'm failing miserably. I'm not going to link my original day 84 through 87, but I was still fighting a cold or flu and wasn't exercising. I'm so discouraged with my inability to get back on track. My respiratory issues seem to be getting better and I am determined to get myself on a schedule that includes exercise starting tomorrow. I've spent the first 3 months of the year making little progress and really not trying very hard, so anything will be an improvement. Let's catch up on the past few days. Thursday I went to Walmart and came home $300 poorer. Cat food and litter is just so expensive and I bought a 30 pound bag of dry food for the strays, two 30 count boxes of canned food for Minnie, a big box of canned food for the strays, a case of litter and a big tub of treats for Minnie. I also spent $14 on 2 nightshirts for me. They were o...

  Here we go ! It's a new year. Time to get back on track with diet and exercise. The goal was 100 pounds by 12-31-25 but I'm failing miserably. I'm not going to link my original day 80 through 83. I'm so discouraged with my inability to get back on track. I am still waking up coughing and blowing my nose and I am wondering when this is going to end ! Ironically, when I read through my original blogs for day 80 to 83, I was fighting a cold and the temps were much colder. I wasn't exercising because the cold wouldn't let go ! Hmmm, sounds familiar ! Today I'm regretting tossing all my vitamins. I'm going to at least start taking a multivitamin again, so I'll pick some up when I go to Walmart tomorrow. To catch up, I haven't done much over the past couple of days. Tuesday I spent the day watching YouTube and playing my slot games. Yesterday was the same but I did go to rock & roll bingo. It was great to get out and I enjoyed my pizza and beer !...

  Here we go ! It's a new year. Time to get back on track with diet and exercise. The goal was 100 pounds by 12-31-25 but I'm failing miserably. I'm not going to link my original day 77 through 80. The first time around I had lost 41 pounds at this point and things were going well. I weighed myself this morning and I'm at 285 .. just 19 pounds under my original starting weight of 304. I'm so discouraged. Today is Monday, so let's catch up on the past 4 days. Friday and Sunday I did nothing but sit on the couch watching tv and playing slot games, though I did step out Sunday evening to pick up chinese food. I actually enjoyed the brisk walk ! Saturday was the FX Matt brewery tour with Rich & Barb. It was a lot of fun ! We had a beer before the tour, a generous (12 oz or so) "sample" during the tour and then another cocktail after the tour. Since I don't drink much, I had a bit of a buzz going on. After the tour we went to Delmonico's for din...

  Here we go ! It's a new year. Time to get back on track with diet and exercise. The goal is 100 pounds by 12-31-25. Can I do it ? At this point I can't, but I'm going to keep trying. My original  Day 76  was a quiet but chilly start to Spring, with a morning temp of 19 degrees. It was in the low 50's when I got up today but as of 11:46 am it's 61 ! Rain is in the forecast and the low tonight is 29 .. what a temperature drop ! The rain might turn to flurries but there is no accumulation expected. I will take it ! I was awake around 3:30 am today because I was coughing and my sinuses were clogged on the left side. I got up to pee, cough and blow my nose but the coughing persisted and I knew I wasn't going to go back to sleep. Sometimes you need to be vertical to get the sinuses to clear and I wanted some cough syrup to quiet the cough. So I got up, fed Minnie (who was glad to see me!) and settled in with my breakfast. The coughing soon subsided and sometime befo...

  Here we go ! It's a new year. Time to get back on track with diet and exercise. The goal is 100 pounds by 12-31-25. Can I do it ? At this point, probably not but I'm going to keep trying. My original  Day 75  was a quiet but chilly Tuesday. I was awake just after 8 today. I slept a little later because I was awake until after 1 am. For some reason Minnie came upstairs 3 different times. She'd lay on the bed for a little while and then leave. I'm thinking she was hungry. I didn't go to bed until nearly 11:30 and I should have given her a can of food. Instead, I was lazy ! The day started off a bit cloudy but the sun broke through and it warmed right up into the 70's. It was 74 as of 2:48 pm !! After today the forecast is calling for almost all 40's and 30's during the day until the beginning of April. Rain, snow and very little sun means the next couple of weeks are going to suck. Since it was so warm I turned off the heat in the downstairs. It wasn...

  Here we go ! It's a new year. Time to get back on track with diet and exercise. The goal is 100 pounds by 12-31-25. Can I do it ? At this point, probably not but I'm going to keep trying. My original  Day 74  was a quiet Monday, cold but sunny. I was awake just after 7 today and felt rested after a good nights sleep. I was so tired at 9 pm last night and wondered why, until it dawned on me I'd been awake since 5 am ! I felt much more energetic today ! I spent the morning watching YouTube and playing the online slots, but I also managed to get the trash and big box of recyclables out to the curb ! Of course, I did it early and as of 4 pm the trash men are nowhere to be found ! That's ok, I'm just happy I've started clearing the winter accumulation of trash ! Breakfast was 160 calorie waffles with sugar free syrup and an 80 calorie yogurt. Lunch was a 220 calorie pepperoni pizza melt. I thought about getting chinese today, but I'm planning on going to bingo ...

  Here we go ! It's a new year. Time to get back on track with diet and exercise. The goal is 100 pounds by 12-31-25. Can I do it ? At this point, probably not but I'm going to keep trying. My original Day 73 was a quiet Sunday, much like today's quiet Monday ! For some reason, I was awake just after 5 am today. I made a half-hearted attempt to go back to sleep but once I started looking at my phone it was all over. Also, Minnie was meowing and that either meant she was hungry OR she wanted my bed. Considering she was tucked away in my bed by the time her food was ready, I guess that was what she wanted. She did eat later and we had some morning snuggles. It feels like my congestion is breaking up and I haven't had to blow my nose quite so much today. I didn't take any cough syrup last night but was able to sleep through the night. I'm pretty much eating what I want when I want, but not a lot of junk. Breakfast was 160 calorie waffles with sugar free syrup. Lun...

  Here we go ! It's a new year. Time to get back on track with diet and exercise. The goal is 100 pounds by 12-31-25. Can I do it ? At this point, probably not but I'm going to keep trying. I'm not going to link my original Day 67 through 72. I know where the blogs are if I want to read them again. I last wrote on Monday, which was the day I went to the bank, grocery store and the ill-fated McDonald's. Even though winter was on it's way out, wouldn't you know my heat decided to act up on Tuesday ! Same old thing, low water. Fortunately for me the heating guy I use was able to come on Wednesday after originally telling me he might not get here until Thursday. I was fine with that because I did have heat upstairs and in the laundry room & kitchen. The main zone that covers the hall, living room and dining room wasn't working. I learned my lesson last year and didn't try to fix anything myself ! Fortunately it was a simple fix to clean the valve that al...

  Here we go ! It's a new year. Time to get back on track with diet and exercise. The goal is 100 pounds by 12-31-25. Can I do it ? At this point, probably not but I'm going to keep trying. I'm not going to link my original Day 60 through 66. I know where the blogs are if I want to read them again. It's been a week since I wrote, and that's because I got sick. I had a scratchy throat at first and thought it was some indigestion. Well, I should have known better. It was actually the first signs of a bad cold or a mild case of COVID. I suspect COVID mostly because I ran a fever for days and lost my sense of smell and taste. Those are not normal cold symptoms for me. I wasn't as sick as I was the last time I had what I think what COVID, back in December 2023. I was able to function pretty easily though I didn't do much besides sleep, watch tv and play online slots. I did manage to get through the job interview on Thursday. It seemed like it went well but I have...

  Here we go ! It's a new year. Time to get back on track with diet and exercise. The goal is 100 pounds by 12-31-25. Can I do it ? At this point, probably not but I'm going to keep trying. My original Day 59 blog can found  here . I had lost almost 40 pounds at this point and with my cold on the mend I got myself back on the treadmill. It's 2:32 pm now .. can I get to the treadmill today ? No reason I can't ! I was awake near 7:30 and I'm glad I didn't linger in bed, as mama cat was waiting for me. Fortunately it wasn't quite so cold this morning, 11 degrees vs. yesterday's 5. As of 2:32 pm it's a more seasonable 29 degrees. The high for today is 30 so we're about there ! The low for tonight is 21 but Tuesday through Thursday will brings temps in the upper 40's and low 50's ! Unfortunately there is also rain in the forecast, which we don't need on top of melting snow. Hopefully it's just some light rain. That could help accelerat...

  Here we go ! It's a new year. Time to get back on track with diet and exercise. The goal is 100 pounds by 12-31-25. Can I do it ? At this point, probably not but I'm going to keep trying. My original Day 57 & 58 blogs can found  here  and here . It was cold back then too and I was still fighting a cold. Not much else was going on, besides my BS philosophical nonsense. Yesterday was a long day so I didn't have a chance to write. I went on an Adirondack train trip with Rich & Barb, Michelle & Mike and another couple who are friends of Michelle & Mike. Thankfully, Rich & Barb picked me up (more on that later) around 8:45 am and delivered me home around 9 pm. I did not expect to be out for 12 hours and I felt bad for leaving Minnie for so long. The train ride was a lot of fun but we did run into a snow squall on the way there. The train ride theme was "cabin fever" and the train stopped at the Remsen station, where hot chocolate and s'mores w...