Today I did a little more decorating. I found this lovely rosemary Christmas tree at Trader Joe's and I adorned it with little kitchen ornaments. It smells lovely and it makes me happy when I'm doing the dishes or just looking out my kitchen window.

Today was a very relaxed day. Mr. Honey took me out for breakfast, instead of our usual waffle breakfast with the kids.

When I got home I cleaned the kitchen and had my daughter and grandsons over for afternoon coffee and a game of Monopoly. The coffee for the adults, the Monopoly for the kiddos.

Later I ran to Target for a few things and when I got home Mr.Honey made dinner for us. We had fish, veggies and brown rice. I'm gearing up for a good week. The pumpkin pie is all gone. I'm planning on staying focused on my goals and making things beautiful for the holidays.

Christmas Sparkle

I no longer put up the traditional Christmas tree. I have left that for my daughter,who lives right next door. I found these little alphabet ornaments at Pottery Barn. I just love them. I bought a letter representing each family member. They have the sweetest little bells that hang at the top and are glittered all around the edges.

I have little mirrored garlands and sparkly snowflakes and icicles to add to the sparkle . I think I should have spray painted the pot in silver and black, but I kind of like a little red and green.

This year I am all about easy. Tomorrow I will do my mantle and hang the stockings.

I'm sad that this weekend is coming to a close and my youngest daughter will head back to San Francisco where she lives.

Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays.

Traditionally we always spent Thanksgiving with my mother. With mother's passing there is definitely an empty spot that could never be really filled, but I like to imagine her reunited with my sister and the rest of her family whooping it up in heaven!

I plan on being back on track with my diet on Monday, so look forward to seeing less of me, l.o.l., in the months to come!

Leapin' Lizards!

Happy Thanksgiving! What a beautiful California day we had for our Thanksgiving celebration!

I started off my day with a good work out. When I emerged from my work out, to my delight my youngest daughter was sitting in my sunroom waiting for me to finish. I had no idea she would be home to celebrate with us. We all jumped for joy that she made it home. My grandsons love both of their aunties and were over joyed that at least one of them made it home.

Let the eating begin, l.o.l. My eldest daughter who lives right next door had our Thanksgiving feast completely under control. She prepared a delicious organic turkey with all the home made fixings anyone could want.

What a lovely, relaxing day. I'm so thankful for my family!

No Need for Search and Rescue

I know I've been M.I.A. the last few days, but no need to worry. My honey was out of town and I had some computer issues and just couldn't get enough time on my sweet daughters computer.

As you might expect, I had a few things I probably shouldn't have eaten while my computer was down, but nothing too serious. Accountability goes a long way in the battle of the bulge!

I've been really tired this week. I'm probably fighting off all the gunk people have been bringing to work with them. So far, I have managed to stay healthy. I'm sure that is due to my healthy new eating habits and the exercise.

Mr. Honey is fighting the crowds at Costco so that we can have pumkin pie with our Thanksgiving dinner. I wish I had thought to send him with a camera in hand. L.O.L.

I lucked out this year because my darling eldest child is doing all the cooking. I will set a pretty table and she will bring all the food. You can't imagine how thrilled I am to pass that baton to the next generation!

Just so you know, I plan on eating everything on Thanksgiving Day, but with moderation. I feel too good to overdue it now.

A big thanks to all my loyal supporters that have been cheering me on! I hope you all have a very blessed holiday!

Who's the Turkey on this Diet?

I haven't posted in few days because my computer has been shutting down. Mr. Honey has been out of town, so without a techie around I've had no one to figure out how to get it going again. Right now I am at my daughter's house using her computer.

Actually, without my blog to keep me accountable, I fell off the wagon on Friday. It didn't help that we had a Thanksgiving pot luck at work. I brought these little beauties, in the photo above, home from work for my three grandsons. It was difficult to keep them from devouring them before I got a picture of them.

There was soooo much food, it was difficult not to try some of everything, but I did my best.

One of my co-workers put together the Oreo turkeys with peanut butter cups and candy corn. They were a big hit, even though no one wanted to eat them, because it would be like eating a piece of art. It was hard for me not to eat one on the way home from work. I just kept myself strong by reminding myself how happily my grandsons would devour them when I got home. I should have taken a picture of them stuffing their faces. L.O.L.

I'm back on track today.

Martha Stewart's Knit-Wit

This is day sixteen of my healthy living process and I am only going to say that it's been a good day. Rather than digress about what all I've eaten today, I hope you will enjoy this post about an art form that I am so happy to share with you.

Have you ever heard of a knit-wit? I don't mean the mindless sort of nit-wit either. In Martha Stewart's December issue of Martha Stewart Living there was an article about a little tool called the knit-wit. I was thrilled to finally know that the tool my mother used in the fifties, to make this gorgeous dress that you see my daughter Brook modeling, actually had a name. I had talked about this tool with a friend of mine, whose mother also owned a knit-wit and her mother used hers to make flowers to decorate packages with.

It must have taken my mother hundreds of hours to complete this beautiful dress, made of purple silk organza ribbon.

I love the story of the time my mother was out dancing and her beautiful dress became entangled in her dates tie tack. Does anyone wear tie tacks any-more?

I really wish I had a photograph of my sweet Mama wearing this beautiful piece of art, back in her hay- day.

She would be so thrilled to see her granddaughter wearing her lovely creation. I bought my daughter a vintage slip to wear under it in a pale blue. My daughter is 6' tall and my sweet mother was only 5'4". Because my darling daughter Brook is so slender it was only the length that would have been a problem. My mother wore this dress with a deep purple silk organza slip. I remember thinking she was quite the vision of loveliness when I was just a little girl. This is an heirloom piece that my daughter has already worn to several very important events. You can click on the article from Martha's December issue if you want to read more about the knit-wit.
Thank you Martha Stewart for this wonderful article about what I thought was a lost art!

The Fifteenth Day

Yes, today is the fifteenth day of my choice for a more healthy way of living.

I know, I know...I skipped Sunday, my fourteenth day. Mr. Honey was home and the day started with waffles. That's Sunday at our house. For lunch Mr. Honey took me to the Elephant Bar. I did choose the from the lite menu...fish, brown rice, and veggies.

We rented a couple of movies, which I highly recommend, The Soloist (with Robert Downey Jr.) and Valentino- The Last Emperor. I loved both of them. I did have my first piece of dark chocolate in a couple of weeks...and I ate a couple of molasses cookies...and some popcorn. We had soup for dinner. Well, that was yesterday and today is a new day.

I'm back to my usual oatmeal, walnuts and cranberries for breakfast and I was taken out to lunch again today. This time we went to a local sandwich shop where I ate a southwestern chicken sandwich with mustard. It was yummy, and ice tea.

I took an extra day off work today, and I didn't feel like spending it cleaning, so I went shopping a found a really cute brown vest, that I had looked at last week, but this week it was 70% off. Now that's a deal that I couldn't pass up. I also bought a really cute black and cream sweater on sale. Now, I have already spent the money I worked overtime to earn, but it was worth it.

I did have a chocolate covered graham cracker and a non-fat latte (no sweetner) for an afternoon snack. Still, I don't think it will kill me since I worked out for an hour this morning.

Tonight I am having salmon and asparagus for dinner.

It's been a good day and as Martha would say, "that's a good thing".

The Twelth and Thirteenth Day But Who's Counting?

I missed posting yesterday, because after a 12 hour day at work I was just too stinkin' tired to make any sense. I much prefer being a kept wife. Working is highly overrated!

I managed a victory yesterday when I avoided eating a chocolate cupcake, because that's what I really felt like eating. I was starving when I got home from work. Mr. Honey is still out of town, so there was no one to have a yummy dinner waiting for me.

I came home and ate a salad, but it just wasn't satisfying, so I got in my car looking for something more to eat! My car was headed in the direction of Barnes & Noble in search of a chocolate cupcake! Can you imagine? My car was becoming an enabler. Almost magically my car turned around and ended up at Chipolte, so I ordered a burrito bowl with chicken, black beans, rice and guacomole. It was probably still too much food, but I got through the day without any sugar.

On to Saturday the 13th day of this process. Today is Saturday. I actually got to sleep in until seven. I got up, worked out and took a shower. I met a friend for coffee and had the first latte I've had in a very long time. We walked to the coffee place, so I got some more exercise to boot.
After we visited and were finished with our coffee we walked to a local Chinese restaurant for lunch and then walked home. I have no idea how many calories were in that lunch and, I must say, I really don't care.

The day has been a much needed break from my routine. I spent the afternoon with my sweet daughter at the bookstore, drinking tea, reading magazines, and chatting away the afternoon. I promised to tell the truth through this process, so I admit I ate an apple tart with my tea.

When we finished at the bookstore, we headed to the craft store. I decided I have enough unfinished projects at home, so I didn't buy more supplies.

When we returned home, my favorite son in-law barbecued hamburgers with organic beef and we had oven baked sweet potato fries. A big thank you to my favorite son in-law!

The Eleventh Day

Another long day. I was up early, and at work by 6a.m. I worked until 5:15p.m. and came right home to workout. Working out has become such a great stress reliever for me. This is definitely progress.

Tomorrow will be another long day at work. I'm trying to get as much overtime as I can before Christmas.

I ate my usual oatmeal for breakfast, pears for snacks, and lean cuisine at lunch.

Bless my sweet daughter's heart, when I finished working out she brought me a delicious bowl of home-made split pea soup and and a slice of rosemary bread. It was the perfect dinner.

I'm looking forward to a three day weekend. Thank God tomorrow is Friday! I'll finally be able to catch up on all of my favorite blogs and get some much needed sleep.

Day Ten

I'm about to head to bed. I will be working 12 hour days for the next two days, so this is going to be short.

I have been sticking to my healthy eating regime. I did probably have a few too many nuts today, but other than that it's been a good day.

I worked out tonight the minute I got home from work and I am hoping this will help me to sleep like a baby, so that I can be up at five a.m.

A big thanks to all of you who have been encouraging me every step of the way!

It's the Ninth Day

I'm really tired, but I'm committed to this process. Actually, I've been tired all day. I must not have slept all that well last night. It's anybodys guess.

There's nothing exceptionally different about what I ate today than any other day, except that, I did go out for dinner with a friend. When I got to the restaurant my friend wasn't there yet and I was starving, so I did eat a couple pieces of bread. I ate a Thai chicken salad with the dressing on the side, so that I could go easy on the dressing.

I'm home now and just about ready for bed. I decided to have some low cal hot chocolate. The house is cold and I don't want to turn the heater on because I'm about to hit the sack.

I have to tell you, I do miss bagels and cream cheese and chocolate croissants and ice cream and candy and cookies and carrot cake and you get the picture.

I would say it's been a successful day, but I sure don't feel any thinner. I would say that I must have glue desease. You know, that's where your fat turns to glue and sticks to you for dear life!

The Eighth Day of My Experiment

Oh my, it's been a long day. I ate my usual oatmeal with walnuts and cranberries for breakfast. Are you getting tired of hearing about what I ate, because I am.

It's funny, because, I used to think about what I would eat next all the time and since I started this challenge for myself, I don't want to think about what to eat next. I always ate fairly healthy before, just with a lot of extra unhealthy things on the side.

Gone are the french fries...and the chocolate chip cookies...and the coffee ice cream. It's not that I will never ever eat those things again. It's just that, now, every time I think about eating those things, I also think, is this the best choice, will this get me where I want to go?

Anywhoo, for lunch I ate another boring Lean Cuisine, another pear at break time, and a few almonds hidden in my desk at work.

When I got home from work I cooked salmon, because it's my favorite, and a spinach salad because I love salad. However, not long after dinner I was hungry again, but instead of eating cookies (there aren't any in the house, thank God), I ate a bowl of cheerios.

I still have to work out tonight, because I was too tired to get up this morning and do it, plus that way I can sleep in tomorrow.

I hope you are all having a great beginning to an even greater week! Carry on!

Seventh Day of My Experiement

Me & Mom

I'm feeling bored with this experiment, however, whenever possible I try to finish what I start.

Today was a laid back sort of Sunday. I slept in, went to the grocery store, did laundry, cleaned the house and watched recorded episodes of House.

I had my usual cheerios and banana, I had a salad & a pear for lunch, popcorn for a snack and a lean cuisine for dinner. I was still hungry after dinner, so I had a few wheat thins and about six grapes. I managed to stay away from any sweets. Oops, that's not true, I had one very small Vegan cupcake that my daughter baked.

I never had a weight problem growing up. My own mother never had a weight problem her entire life. My mother was in the beauty business. She worked for Elizabeth Ardens in Beverly Hills for years. The culture I grew up in was one obsessed with looks. Nevertheless, when I was young I seemed to be able to eat whatever I wanted. Those days are over.

I have to keep reminding myself that my goal is to feel good and stay healthy.

Day Six of my Experiment and Some Out of Town Fun

This morning started out with me getting up at 7a.m. and working out for an hour. Then into the shower I went to get ready for my day. I ate some cheerios and drank some coffee, so I wouldn't be tempted to eat sweet rolls at Starbucks on the way out of town.

Today was a girls day out. A couple of friends from work and I decided to head to Valencia for the day to see what's new at Pottery Barn for the holidays. We got to Valencia a little before noon and headed to Wonder Spa and Nails to get pedicures.

Wonder Spa has these wonderful chairs that massage your back while you soak your feet, and the Vietnamese manicurists pamper us with a foot massage and exfoliate our feet. It's simply divine.

The manicurists speak their language to each other and we are left wondering what they might be talking about. Of course we don't really care what they are saying because we are too busy giggling like school girls as our bodies shake from the back message machine hidden inside the spa chairs.

Do we look happy or what?

Then it was off to lunch at Wood Ranch for some barbecued chicken salad. I'm sorry to say we were having so much fun I forgot to take photos of the delicious food, however, I did get the waitress to snap a picture of us before we left to go shopping.

We told Margaret to have a glass of wine at lunch but she said "no thanks" and then proceeded to guzzle the champagne on display at PB. L.O.L. We're so silly.

Lori found a leftover bird from things left over from Halloween and tried to scare me with it, but it didn't work, I don't scare that easily.

I was coveting the lovely Thanksgiving napkins and plates that you see below. PB does such a great job with their table scapes and merchandising
The twelve days of Christmas plates were displayed along with these beautiful hurricane lamps on the table below.

Even the way the candles are displayed is fun to see. The candles shaped like pumpkins are on sale right now and were very tempting.

It's hard to see what Margaret has in her hand, but it is an iron sculpture of a reindeer.

Mercury glass has come back into fashion in a big way this year and I just loved the way the mercury ornaments were displayed on this trellis.

The store is getting ready for the Christmas season and there were signs of Christmas coming all over the store.

I love the carved Santa below sitting amongst the jewelery boxes and pretty shiny ornaments.

There were little potted Christmas trees all over the store. Lori couldn't keep her hands off of them. She was like a kid in a candy store.

This Christmas tree sparkled with shiny ornaments. I love the twelve day of Christmas ornaments and all the special photo ornaments.

There we stand in front of the store with our goodies in hand, ready to go eat again. We did stop at a little sandwich shop for a bite to eat.

Even the store window was beautifully displayed and festive.

I made it through my sixth day experiment without any sugar and with a lot of laughs and fun.

It was a very satisfying day, indeed! Thanks for the memories, Lori and Margaret.

Day Number Five of My Experiment

After Mr. Honey's birthday dinner last night, and indulging in a small piece of chocolate birthday cake I decided I'd better workout before bed to counter act the sugar in the cake. That hour of exercise helped me sleep, guilt free, like a baby.

I recorded Grey's Anatomy last night, so that I could exercise instead of sitting in front of the T.V. I wish you could see me, because I am patting myself on the back.

This morning I ate my usual cheerios and banana.

It really is important to plan ahead to have what you need in the fridge to be successful at avoiding sugar. However, I ran out of Lean Cuisine meals and had forgotten to get more, so I took some lite rasberry vinigerette and stopped at the deli, before work, and bought a pre-made salad for lunch. It was a delightful change actually. I had my pear for my break and a little beef jerky for my afternoon snack. I was totally satisfied.

Doesn't my salad look yummy? It was very tasty.

Mr. Honey leaves tonight on another Jeep trip, so I had dinner with a dear friend, who I hadn't seen in a long time.

My friend Susan and I play Scrabble on Facebook almost everyday, but we rarely get to see each other. My friend has battled cancer for the last several years and she seems to be on the other side of it. She is motivated to eat healthy and lose weight too, so we both had salmon and skipped the mashed potatoes in exchange for extra veggies.

You won't believe this, but we sent the bread tray back to the kitchen with the waiter. I've never done that before. If I keep patting myself on the back like this I'm going to have to go to bed with a heating pad tonight! L.O.L.

Good food, lots of laughter and a good friend is what a person needs to stay on track.

The Fourth Day of My Experiment on Mr. Honey's Birthday

It's Mr. Honey's 59Th birthday today. He'll be leaving tomorrow on another Jeep trip to Johnson Valley, where ever that is. Don't ask! I will be staying home, going to work and cooking for myself, boo hoo, but I'm not bitter. Happy Birthday Mr. Honey! I hope you have a great trip!

I had Cheerios and a banana again for breakfast today. Same ole, same ole! I had a pear on my first break, Lean Cuisine and a pear for lunch and a 100 calorie granola bar for my afternoon snack. I won another candy bar, but chose the granola bar in place of the candy bar. Aren't you proud of me?

Tonight I will be having barbecued chicken, complements of Mr. Honey, salad and sweet potatoes. The kids will join us. We bought a chocolate ganache cake from Trader Joe's for Mr. Honey's birthday cake. It's just enough for everyone to have a small piece. I'm not sure if I will indulge or not.

It's been four days without any sugar and I'm feeling good. I want to keep feeling good. The workouts are getting easier too.

My goals aren't the same as they were in my twenties. I no longer feel the need to look like Farrah Faucet did in the seventies (not that I ever did), I just want to have good blood pressure, no excess cholesterol and joints that don't hurt. That's reasonable, right?

Okay, it's the end of the evening and I had a tiny piece of cake and skipped the ice cream. Thank God tomorrow is a new day!

Day Three of My Experiment

Today was a very long day, and I do mean a very long day! I thought Mr. Honey had reset the clock in our bedroom after the time changed, but apparently he didn't. At any rate, I was bound and determined to get up and workout this morning and I knew I'd have to be up at 5:30a.m. to fit it in. I was so exhausted the night before that I went to bed when I thought it was 9p.m. To my surprise I had gone to bed at 8p.m. , so when I got up to work out it was actually 4:30 in the morning. I kept wondering why it wasn't getting light outside. I didn't figure out what I had done until I had worked out, taken a shower and had gone into the kitchen to put the coffee on. What can I say, I've been a blond all my life.

Instead of my usual oatmeal and berries, I started the day off with Cheerios and a banana. The breakfast of champions, right? Oh yeah, that would be Wheaties.

I had my usual pear and tea at my morning break and my Lean Cuisine at lunch and another pear in the afternoon and a few cashews, to keep me from eating the three Hershey's bars that you see below.

I work for chocolate, l.o.l. Seriously though, I won these candy bars by selling some unadvertised items. No, I did not give in to the temptation and I was tempted.

I get my hair done every other Wednesday after work and this was no exception. My daughter asked me if I would watch my grandsons when I got home. She needed to go to choir practice and Scott was helping friends move, so of course I said I would.

I could have eaten all three of these candy bars, I was so hungry after work, but, pat me on the back, I resisted. When I got to my daughter's house she had dinner waiting for me. Boy, was I ever glad I hadn't eaten those candy bars! She had roasted a chicken with sweet potatoes and red onions. Yum!

I've made it through another day with no sugar.

Thanks, to all of you who have sent encouragement my way! I feel like I am being supported with all of your well wishes!

Day Two of my Experiment

Today is the second day of my experiment with my eating habits. I decided to skip my work out this morning as my body felt like it had been run over by a big mack truck after yesterday's workout. I think for the first week I'm going to go easy on myself and exercise every other day. It may be a rationalization, I'm sure I will find out if I don't get up early tomorrow.
I didn't have the best day really. I didn't eat anything I shouldn't have, I was just kind of an emotional mess (more about that later). I started with oatmeal, cranberries and walnuts and one cup of coffee. That usually holds me until about 10:30. I had tea and a pear at my morning break and the same sort of Lean Cuisine meal that I ate yesterday at 12:30.

I was late coming back from work after lunch, and thus, broke my record of perfect attendance by one stinking minute. It doesn't take much to make me cry these days and that's all it took. You have to understand, there is a bonus at the end of the year if you don't have one tardy or absence. I show up to work at least twenty minutes early everyday and I've never had a tardy. I am so mad at myself for letting this happen.

Most of the time when I'm mad at myself I just eat a chocolate bar and manage to anesthetize the pain, but there is something about writing down everything you eat that makes me lose my appetite. I know... can you believe it? I've lost my appetite. I can hardly believe it myself.

On my second break I ate another pear and took a walk outside to keep from crying like a baby!
I did eat a few cashews that I keep in my drawer at work when I came back in. I had my usual three to four cups of unsweetened decaf ginger peach tea.

Mr. Honey is cooking dinner and I think he is fixing our usual fish and veggies. So far, I have managed to stay out of the left over Halloween candy.

I think I will take a hot bath and call it a day.

I promise to come clean if I lose complete control, but so far, I'm doing OK.

It's only day two, but I'm feeling very optimistic about how this is going, despite my near melt down at work. Anyway, I'm finding that a few tears can be very cleansing. I was told by one of my daughters that tears release toxins from our bodies, so I'm just going to consider this day as a detox day!

Below is what Mr. Honey fixed me for dinner. Bless his little heart!

Salmon, brown rice and veggies, yum!

A Thirty Day Experiment

Having given a lot thought about what I can do to change how I feel, I have decided to embark on a thirty day experiment of recording what I eat. I am not saying that I am going on a diet, because clearly diets rarely work. I am proposing to myself to be conscious of every morsel that enters my mouth and how I'm feeling when I eat. I know this may seem like a self indulgent challenge, but I want to learn about what makes me tick. Over the last fifteen years I have let myself gain so much weight that I hardly recognize myself when I look in the mirror.

In 2007 I hired a personal trainer for about five months and I joined a gym and I exercised four or five times a week with very little to show for all my effort. When I couldn't afford the trainer anymore I continued to exercise on my own for about a year. Granted I dropped a size, but when I allowed myself to be weighed for the first time in a very long time I became extremely discouraged. Then my husband lost his job and I returned to the work force and though I love my job, with working, comes a whole new set of challenges and stresses.

With every passing year it becomes more and more difficult to lose the weight, but I haven't given up, hence, this is my newest idea to make a change.

I got up this morning and worked out for the first time in a very long time. I had to do battle with the voices in my head that seemed to say "it doesn't matter if you sleep in and skip today". Somehow, I managed to win the battle with my own head and overcame my inner sloth!

The experts say you must walk at least ten thousand steps a day in order to lose weight and they aren't talking about to and from the refridgerator or I would have been skinny a long time ago.

The following is what I ate today. I started the day with oatmeal and berries, which is what I eat most morning, if I'm not eating cheerios. I have one cup of coffee every morning and no sugar, but I do have to have my half and half .

Once I'm at work I drink Ginger Peach Decaf tea, a lot of it, never with sugar.
The monster that takes up a good portion of our break room is a big challenge. Most days I just simply don't bring any money to work with me.

For the last few months I was eating Fuji apples for a snack, but I got tired of apples and have since moved on to pears.

Lean Cuisine is what I take to work most days. It's easy. I haven't become tired of them yet, but I'm sure I will. Lean Cuisines keep me from eating too much bread, which I love.

Night time is when I have the hardest time. It's when I just want a bowl of ice cream or cookies.

I know, I know ... pizza is full of fat, especially with pepperoni, but I only ate one piece and I had a delicious spinach salad with butternut squash and apple cider dressing, a recipe from Ina Garten's cooking show. It was fabulous and very satifying.

Doesn't this salad look yummy. Mr. Honey wasn't impressed, but I loved it.

I just want to feel good. Gone are fantasies of looking like I'm twenty ever again. I'm a point in my life where I just want to live longer and healthier.

I won't bore any of you in future posts with a minute by minute report of what I'm eating, but I might bore you with how I'm feeling, so feel free to skip the next month of my rambling, because I'm doing this totally for me.