The big 3-0!

No that is not my age, I am unfortunately much older than that. *heavy sigh* The 3-0 I am referring to is the number of pounds that have left my body since March. As I mentioned in a previous post, I am only going to weigh myself once a week, on Wednesday mornings since getting on the scale every day was driving me crazy. When I got on the scale, I saw the number and smiled and then when I got to the computer to add to my log, my smile got bigger since I was down 4.4 pounds from the week before and a total of 30.6 pounds, that would be 13.91 kg. I think it's time for another 22 ounce t-bone from Farmboy Markets!

I love Farmboy Markets

Is it possible to love a grocery store? Heck yeah if you are someone who loves to eat, and I think I qualify based on all my posts about trying to lose weight. Why do I love them so much? It's mainly because of the meat. For those who have been around for a few years may recognize that as the slogan for Dominion Stores, which still exist in the greater Toronto area but were bought out by A&P which was then purchased by Metro stores.

Farmboy isn't a mega superstore with 200,000 square feet of everything you can put in your mouth like marinated Mongolian yak-kebabs. It is a throwback to the neighbourhood grocery stores from years gone by. Not elaborate but a little of everything you need. And as I mentioned, an amazing meat counter. Not amazing by the selection but amazing by the prices. I bought a 22 ounce t-bone steak last Friday and paid $9.37 for it, that works out to $6.99/pound. Yeah Canada measures everything in metric so $15.38/kg and it was at least 1/2" thick! Add some mesquite seasoning and a BBQ and I was a happy camper except for the rained out NASCAR race on Sunday and today.

If you are within a short drive of Peterborough, check them out. Unlike the megamarts, they are not open 24 hours a day and they don't have a website for me to show you. All I can tell you is they are located at the corner of Lansdowne and Erskine in Peterborough across from the Minute Maid plant. Sometimes they'll snag a deal on something you won't see everyday like paper products made for Wegmans and Tops grocery stores in upstate NY. Now, if you'll excuse me there are some pork chops I bought there that need my attention.

And again...

Following the advice I took last week, I stayed away from the scale until this morning. The grand total was 0.4 pounds lighter for a total of 26.2 pounds. I've also switched diet aids. I was taking CLA and for some reason it seemed to make the side effects of my HBP medication worse. So one pharmacist recommended hoodia, which is supposed to be some kind of appetite suppresant. Problem there was I am supposed to take it 30 minutes before a meal but I never know when I am going to eat because I work such odd hours. Some days I am up at 8am and the next day I may not get home until 5am. So back to the pharmacy I went and something called Accelis was suggested. Apparently a couple of local GP's sent their patients to buy it, this one you take 2 pills right before bedtime. The dog is certainly getting lots of exercise and I guess I'll have to learn how to like the taste of water.

A watched pot never boils

On my weight update blog yesterday I talked about how discouraged I was that the numbers didn't seem to be getting small enough, fast enough. Then I saw this article online today to stay off the scale.

http://health.yahoo.com/experts/rockertraining/5130/stay-off-the-scale

So in an effort to stay accountable, only on Wednesday morning will I get on the scale so I can update my results. Other than that, the scale will be collecting dust.

Water, water everywhere

By my rough math, I have 495 half litre bottles of water in my house. That would be a little over 65 gallons or enough to fill a 55 gallon drum! None of it is that high fallutin' Fiji Water or that other ultra-yuppie stuff that has crystals in the bottles and sells for $75/litre or some obscene price but as long as it is on sale I will keep buying it.

It's Wednesday

That means it is time for the weekly weight woundup. I am getting a little discouraged to tell the truth. I'm not going up and I am not going down. I am like a car in a snowbank. Go forward a little, back a little, forward a little... so now that you are all seasick I am down by 0.4 pounds for the week. It's been six weeks since my last doctors appointment and I haven't moved very much at all. Guess I am guilty of assuming that since I lost 25 pounds in the first 3 months I would lose 25 more.

All I know is I am not giving up. I will lose the weight. Guess I should be thankful that I am not putting the weight back on.

It's picture time.

It's hard to believe that I have reached 50 posts and had more than a 1000 views to this little blog. Although I am convinced that 950 of those views are from me constantly coming back to fix spelling and grammatical errors. These are some of the pics I have taken over the last little while so I thought I would share them with you.





These first two photos are of a recent sunset. For some reason I am not usually awake at the time of day that would allow one to see many sunrises.



This photo when I had the dog out for a walk on the waterfront trail. Looking down the embankment I saw a gaggle of geese floating by. Here is the educational part of the blog. When geese are on the ground or in the water, they are a gaggle. If they are in the air, then they are a wedge or a skein. That's what Wikipedia says.




A little farther down the trail I happened to catch sight of a father and his children out for a canoe ride following the geese apparently.



Looking out over the lake to the east, there are other people out enjoying the waterfront trail. Click on the pic to see more detail.



On the little patch of shoreline where I normally take Angel swimming someone had built a makeshift inukshuk with some of the rocks that were there. However, it has been knocked over since I took the picture. If you are wondering what an inukshuk is, here is the explanation from thecanadianencyclopedia.com

Inukshuk (singular), meaning "likeness of a person" in Inuktitut (the Inuit language) is a stone figure made by the Inuit. The plural is inuksuit. The Inuit make inuksuit in different forms and for different purposes: to show directions to travellers, to warn of impending danger, to mark a place of respect, or to act as helpers in the hunting of caribou. Similar stone figures were made all over the world in ancient times, but the Arctic is one of the few places where they still stand. An inukshuk can be small or large, a single rock, several rocks balanced on each other, round boulders or flat. Inuit tradition forbids the destruction of inuksuit.

Inukshuk in the form of human beings, called inunnguaq, seem to have been a recent development, perhaps only appearing after the arrival of European whalers in the 19th century. One of the most important types of inuksuit are those that helped in the caribou hunt. These are usually built with 2 or 3 rocks piled up and placed in converging lines along the migration route of the herd. The Inuit placed arctic heather among the rocks to simulate human hair. The figures were intended to spook the caribou and stampede them towards the places where the hunters hid.

An open leg on an inukshuk found near water or a coastline may point to an open channel for navigation. If an inukshuk is in open land, a leg or arm might suggest a direction. Inuksuit placed near a lake might show that fish can be found in the lake at the same distance the figure is placed from the shoreline. Some inuksuit were built out of respect for a beloved person and are seen as memorials.

James Marsh

Here are several photos of a certain hyperactive puppydog playing in the water.




Depending on which way I walk home, I often have to cross the dual tracks of the Canadian National Railroad at an umarked crossing. I assume there used to be a road that went through there but that was long before my time. So here are views of both eastbound and westbound. And I would not have stuck around if I thought there was a train nearby.



And as we made our way home to look at all the cars at a nearby Chrysler dealership, I glanced over and saw this twisted hunk of metal. Hard to believe that signpost is still standing after taking some abuse but there it is marking a bus stop in front of a seniors residence. Hope you enjoyed the little tour.

WWW - part eleventy-teen +4... and other stuff

First, for the weightloss update, up by 1 pound for the week. I am not a happy camper since I have basically not changed since my last doctors appointment almost 6 weeks ago. So my total is now 24.2 pounds lost and now someone has mentioned seeing some gray in my hair. Just more proof everyone gets older.

On to thing number 2. I did get the iPod, I mean MP3 player this week. It is the Creative Labs Zen Stone. It holds 1 GB of music or about 250 songs and plays them in order or you can shuffle them. I got the blue one, in case you were wondering and still have room for lots more music. If you are interested, Popular Mechanics calls this device "an iPod killer". I'll take any suggestions as long as it is not rap, hip-hop or death metal. To help narrow it down, I really like music from the 50's to 80's plus country, classical, contemporary christian and comedy.

And thing number 3. I think I have mentioned how much I love my Sirius satellite radio. Well, the receiver I have isn't being made anymore and the equipment that lets you use it in the car is falling apart since I can't permanently attach it inside my work vehicles. And it seems no one in Canada sells the replacement parts. At least at the stores I have visited recently. The closest I came was at Future Shop who had 2 compete Sportster Replay kits. Problem there is that they were asking $150 and I have no need for 2 receivers and remotes.

However, if I bother to make another trip across the border to the town of Gouverneur, NY, I can buy the same exact same equipment for $60 plus taxes at the Radio Shack dealer store. Another solution is to just buy a new antenna which sells for $50 at the local The Source by Circuit City (nee Radio Shack) or go to the local Wal-Mart and buy a basic receiver and car kit (including the receiver) for $70. Or again across the border, the exact same receiver is $40. Or the Sirius One which is now selling for $19.97 at Radio Shack and not available at all in Canada (at least to my knowledge). And one more example before the steam leaks out of my ears. Noticed at Future Shop a bunch of air conditioners for sale. The exact same model was seen at K-Mart during my last trip across the border. $150 here, $100 there.

Hope you have a great week and if there is a weather expert lurking, can you please do something about this heat?