Your Breakfast Cereal Will Do You In Faster Than That Apple Pie

I think that would be a good title for a book or an article or something. I wish someone would ask me to write it. I guess, in the mainstream of writing/publishing, they don't actually email you out of the blue and offer to pay you to write something. That's the way I came into all my Photoshop writing, back in the day.

But, the truth is, that it IS your breakfast cereal that will make you fat. Why? Because your breakfast cereal is your habit. It's what you do every day.

What I was doing was pouring myself a heaping bowl of something healthy, like Raisin Bran. It was "a bowl," so it was ok, or so I thought. And, even a cursory reading of the nutrition label verified that it was, while not great, still ok. A serving of Raisin Bran is 190 calories, and off we go.

But a closer look shows us that a "serving," for which we get a mere 190 calories, (230 with 1/2 C of skim milk) is one cup. I was easily pouring a cup and a half into my bowl every morning. That, along with the skim milk, gave me a calorie load of 345 calories. That is a difference of 115 calories.

No big deal? Thirty days -- one short month -- of that, and you're taking in an extra 3450 calories, which is a whole pound. Still no big deal? In a year, that's 12 extra pounds that you didn't even know you were getting, because you were just having your healthy cereal.

Now, when I compare this situation to that slice of apple pie you had last night, I am looking at the apple pie as a treat. It's not something that you are habitually eating. One slice of apple pie (again, looking closely at serving size) could be anything, but I'll say 325, one of the 1/8 of a pie readings offered by MyFitnessPal.com. You'd have to have 10.6 slices of pie to make up that 3450 calories we piled on just by having that big bowl of Raisin Bran every morning! Surprised? I am!

So treat treats as treats. And make sure your habits are really healthy ones, and that you're not fooling yourself into extra weight!

And, with this said, I'm back on myfitnesspal as of today. I don't want to turn this now 6 pound weight gain into anything bigger. I'm done buying new clothes for awhile! If YOU want to start watching YOUR weight go down, join me on myfitnesspal.com. My user name on there is myjanee, and I'll be your friend there, if you want.

Did I mention that Jack and I went to Anthony's in the Catalinas last evening? What a fine dinner that was! I feasted royally of Hawaiian Sunfish, a perfect risotto, sauteed herbed vegetables, and, oh yes, bread and butter, and.. oh yes, 6 crackers with a most delicious salmon mousse! I did not have dessert there, but I did have a piece of Jack's homemade apple pie when I got home!

Propane!

Yay! Just in time for the cold snap that's going to hit Tucson this weekend, I have propane! So I can use my furnace again, and I can cook things on my stove, too! While I've survived quite well with my two electric heaters, The furnace gives me a more all-over warmth. That is, it warms more than just the bathroom and right by my TV chair!

Far Horizons had a Wine Tasting event yesterday, and it was lots of fun. One high point for me was when I was going around and talking to people at other tables. I went up to one table, and a guy I didn't even know looked up to me and said, "Wow, you're pretty!" I guess, for those of us who were not even considered for Homecoming Princess, a good goal is to someday be "pretty" in your retirement park! LOL.

But a good time was had by all. The wines were ok -- in the $10 range, so nothing spectacular. But everyone was there, and the mood was festive. Oh, and there was chocolate! :)

This morning's Greg class included abdominal work and it was good. He says that someday we'll have definition in our ab muscles. I look forward to that.

Laundry Day

 Just FYI, I don't always tell you when it's laundry day. LOL. I get down to do it about once a week - 10 days. Our park has a good, large, clean and airy laundry room. Jack and I do our clothes together. Isn't that sweet?

So today was sheets, and I came up with an answer to what has been a problem of mine for way too long. I have a queen-sized bed, as do most of us. For purposes of putting on a fitted sheet, a queen-sized bed is frightfully close to being square, but not close enough. That is, nine times out of ten, when I get the first corner onto the mattress, I go to put on the 2nd corner, and discover that I have the sheet going the wrong way.

So I took a permanent marker and marked two opposite corners UL, for Upper Left. It doesn't matter which of these I put there; if one is there, the sheet will go on right. Yay me! LOL. It is very much the simple things that make me laugh.

Oh, today is Thursday, and I told you to stay tuned to see if I returned to yoga and/or choir. Yoga hit me at just the wrong time. I could have made it, but it would have necessitated my rushing, and I didn't think that yoga and rushing should go together in the zen of things. So I opted out of yoga.

I also have decided that I'm going to be doing other things rather than participating in the FHTV Choir this year. Our wonderful director was understanding, though she seemed disappointed. Well, it's like the hole that is there when you get out of the swimming pool. They'll be fine without me.

Tight Jeans

Urgh. Well, I guess I'm just up a few pounds, but it's more than I want to be up. I am at 123 this morning, and my weight, what it is to be, is 120. I allow myself a 2 lb leeway, but I will not let it get beyond this. I know what's done it for me. It's dessert after lunch, a bit of random eating, bigger servings than I need, and eating too fast. I think that, in the winter, my body tries to pack on pounds.

And my house is still cold! The gas guys are supposed to deliver my new propane tanks and the hoses day after tomorrow. Yay! It is supposed to get quite cold by the weekend here, too, with lows in the 20's for a couple of days, highs in the 40's. That's pretty cold for someone who's given away her winter coats!

Jack made a most delicious apple pie today, using my recipe, and everything he's learned from me about how to make perfect pies. He's got this mastered. Fine, fine pie. I had a bit after the dinner of yummy leftovers (along with an artichoke) tonight.

I did some more Photoshop today. Soon I will be so involved in my work that I won't even talk about doing it. :) I'm reminded of how much I LOVE creating on my computer.

Photoshop Fun

Today I sat down and gave myself some Photoshop fun! It felt great to get a little creative and colorful. Here's part of what I did:

It reminds me of the soap bubbles we created when we were kids, so I called this "Bubbles."

Exercise today was walking to Lowe's and back, and then later walking to Fry's and back. Dinner was at Jack's with two other couples, and we had meatloaf, cauliflower, green beans, salad, mashed potatoes, and a dessert melange. A bit of vino topped off the evening, and we had a great time!

Ok.. now it's off to bed with me!

Another Lovely Day in Paradise

Chilly today, and getting cooler, and I still don't have a furnace. I do have my little heater going, though, and it's working fine.

Jack fixed the most amazing Buffalo Wings for supper, along with delicious sauteed vegetables. His wings start frozen and go onto the grill frozen. After they are cooked, he put them into a bowl with butter and hot sauce. Gawd... just delicious. I will get the specifications for times and hot sauce brand if anyone cares.

A handful of his chocolate chip cookies, and it was a dinner to die for. After that, we went to ballroom dance lessons, where we did great. I guess you could expect us to, after all of the beginning waltz lessons we've had. LOL!

Otherwise, the day was fine. Jack is getting set to put up his shed behind his cottage. And I worked a little in Photoshop, designing a new interface for my website. :) I'm excited about this.

Appreciating Propane

I always have my thermostat set back to 56° at night in the winter, but it rarely gets all the way down there during the nights here. Well, Friday night it did, and when I awoke, it was 55. And the furnace kicked on as it was supposed to, and the temperature stayed at 55 with cold air blowing out of the ducts.

Our propane delivery in the RV Resort is on Fridays. Mine has been fine for so long that I'd stopped thinking about the level till Saturday morning. Sure enough, the tanks were both completely empty. And delivery is not till next Friday. I have a little electric heater for my bathroom, and Jack lent me his stand-up radiator heater for my living room. These devices are keeping things pretty well regulated for me so far. I have been turning them off at night, though, so I am pretty cold in the mornings! But this is making me appreciate my furnace all the more.

Jack and I went to Claim Jumper for a wonderful and fun dinner with friends last evening. And tonight, we get leftovers! :)

Today we went to the Home Show and, after paying $8 to park and another $8 for admission (buy one, get one free), we found that the show was not really all that great. The fall and spring shows are far better than this winter one. If we could just remember that now... It was a good day, anyway. We always enjoy milling around at those shows.