Ten Days of Little Celebrations - September 2013

Over a year ago I posted about finding something to celebrate each day. It’s an easy thing for me to do and the habit of writing it down reminds me to be grateful for these and a myriad of other things in my life. This month has been full of ‘little celebrations;’ here are my top 10.

Classes. The quality of the courses I’m taking on Coursera is excellent. I celebrate the first week of courses --- when it becomes obvious how good it is going to be --- and then when something unexpected is offered. The ‘Meet the Researcher’ segment of the Animal Behavior course is one such serendipity.

My weight. I finally - after more than 20 years - I am back down to my pre-pregnancy weight!

Good food. This month I discovered how yummy baked yogurt custard can be - and also enjoyed the best splurge around: a very chocolaty brownie.

Clothes. The t-shirt dresses were so comfortable for the warm days of the month and I discovered that many clothes I pulled out for the cooler days fit better than they did last year (or are too big!).

Books. September was a month I savored some books from authors I’d enjoyed before (May Sarton and Kinky Friedman) and discovered the Amanda Cross mysteries.

Longwood Gardens. Every time we make the trek to these gardens is a treat. You’ve seen evidence of how much I enjoyed the outing in September in the blog posts.

HC Conservancy. It’s always worth celebrating finding another place close enough to home that it can be visited on a regular basis.

Fabulous fall weather. September has been full of perfect days to be outdoors.

Change. I intentionally turned off the computer for hours at a time throughout the month to force some change in my days….and enjoyed the difference!

Visual richness. We aren’t in the colorful part of fall yet but there were two images of September than stand out: a corn field ready for harvest near our neighborhood and a zinnia in a small vase beside my computer monitor. 

Gleanings of the Week Ending September 7, 2013

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Patent Overlay Mapping: Visualizing Technological Distance - Powerpoint of graphics depicting how patents cite each other in the 2000-2006 time period. The first series is by companies (Samsung, DuPont, IBM, and Philips) and the second is by research topic: nano biosensors, dye-sensitized solar cells, and graphene). The whole paper is available here.

Is being overweight OK after all? - A look at the analysis of weight and mortality  (not quality of life). The studies were adjusted for age, gender and smoking but not for fitness or chronic disease indicators.

Massive Stick Sculptures Resemble Castles, Nests and Cocoons - I like the size and shapes of these structures. It looks like the artist is creating about one per month (upcoming installations listed on his web site here). I’d like to see one. The closest to me would be the University of Virginia (Charlottesville, VA) in October… or maybe I should plan a return trip to Cheekwood Botanical Garden (Nashville, TN) next March.

Our Cultural Addiction to Phones, In One Disconcerting Video - How often have you seen scenes similar to this video? The impact this cultural addiction is having on relationships is still developing. I am glad that the people I am around most of the time are more focused on the people they are with than their phones.

Half of the U.S. lives in these 146 counties - is yours one of them? - The answer for me is ‘no’ but several of the counties that boarder where I live are on the list.

NASA Moonshot Will Test Laser Communications - A precursor to commercial internet satellite services using optical connections instead of today’s radio links.

Going Solar: Options For Homeowners Infograph - Solar panels are not the only option

New Effective Treatment for High Blood Pressure? Removing Tiny Organ - Interesting finding…but is there a side effect of removing the carotid body connection to the brain? Isn’t it still potentially treating the symptom rather than the cause…and whatever is causing the high blood pressure may still be shortening life?

Out of Sync - Your body has multiple clocks…what happens when they are out of sync? Why eating when you normally are sleeping is a bad idea.

2013 International Bedroom Poll - Comparing sleep times, attitudes, habits, and bedtime routines of 25-55 year old people from around the world. (PDF)

The Psychology of Weight Loss

I am now within 2 pounds of the weight I was in my early-30s and I am confident of reaching the goal. It has taken me several years to get here. When I first started, the way I approached weight loss was quiet different that it is now. This blog post documents the transitions in my thinking over the past few years.

The goals I started with were:  

• Take at least 7,000 steps per day. I had a simple pedometer to count my steps. It had some oddities (sometimes didn’t count when I was walking) so I replaced it with a Fitbit. I quickly discovered that the bounces on my Swopper chair counted as a step and, very briefly, decided that maybe I should take the Fitbit off so that they would not be counted. Then I decided that it was OK if they were counted…that the relative activity between days and the spread of activity throughout the day were a good measure. I still have a form of this goal although it is 12,000 or more steps and the calories burned measure is more important at this point.
• Eat only when and while you are hungry. This will always be a challenge - particularly when I am not at home and sometimes there too. I enjoy good food tremendously and it is intertwined with family gatherings and celebrations. The psychological challenge is to not think like a Stone Age hunter gatherer that needed to gorge any time food became available because there would be lean times just ahead. The probability of not having food readily available any time I am hungry is practically 0 - but it is hard to remember that when something delicious is in front of me. I’ve learned to savor a taste - but not overindulge.
• Reduce weight to what it was when I was 45. I thought it was a realistic goal - about 20 pounds. I’d held steady at that weight for about 5 years so I knew it should be a comfortable weight for me. I started weighing myself first thing every morning and devising little rewards for when I was at a ‘new low.’

Those three goals did work for the first 20 pounds and the weight came off easily enough that I established a new goal: 

• Reduce weight to what it was with I was 35. It was another 10 pounds to come off.

And the pounds didn’t come off. I maintained my weight easily but could not seem to take off any more pounds. A year or so went by and I was prompted by a nutrition course to update my goals: 

• Burn 2000 calories per day. The Fitbit estimates the number of calories burned so I used that as my key indicator.
• Stay below the calorie level recommended to lose 1 pound per week. The cronometer.com tool calculates the calorie level allowed based on my height and weight. I logged my food into the tool to determine how many calories I was consuming. The tool also helped me internalize the portion size for a ‘serving.’
• Get at least 90% of my nutritional needs from food. The cronometer.com tool helped with this goal too. It totals up the nutrients from the food log. Initially, I was in the 80 percent range but learned very quickly how to improve my diet. I stopped taking supplements for vitamins and minerals that I readily get from the foods I eat.

Those goals got me to where I am now and are still working very well. But I’ve added a new goal now that I am nearing the weight goal: 

• Achieve body proportions close to what they were when I was 35. I found a table of measurements I had made of myself at 35 - stored away in an old journal - and decided to see how close I was getting to that size again. There are some differences - enough that I’ve started exercises to hone some muscles (particularly tummy and upper arms). Otherwise - the measurements are very similar.

I’m close enough to my goal that I am already thinking about what is next. Sustaining a new weight will probably take some effort but probably won’t be as hard as getting there in the first place. Maybe my next goal - with the added calories allowed in sustain mode - will be to: 

• Get 100% of my nutritional needs from food.

Ten Days of Little Celebrations - August 2013

A year ago I posted about finding something to celebrate each day. It’s an easy thing for me to do and the habit of writing it down reminds me to be grateful for these and a myriad of other things in my life. This month has been full of ‘little celebrations;’ here are my top 10.

Hummingbirds. The zinnas and cardinal flowers on our deck have been magnets for hummingbirds all during August. I love watching them from my kitchen window. They are the flying jewels of the garden.

Laurie Colwin. I had read most of her books years ago but finally read Home Cooking this month. I celebrated the books she wrote - wishing she had lived to produce more.

Declining weight. It is a wonderful thing when a diet has the desired effect. I celebrated a major milestone with a piece of cheesecake and each lower weight with small piece of dark chocolate. Of course - those celebratory calories have to be included in the total for the day….no backsliding allowed.

Goldfinches. The seeds on the blazing stars are ripening enough to be attractive to goldfinches. I am anticipating that we will see more of them as it gets cooler.

Gardening. It is unusual to have the flowerbeds weed free at the same time. I’m celebrating the accomplishment…..and the room it gives me to try propagating the overgrown hydrangea bushes.

Flip flops. I found 2 flip flops in my size on sale - and it was the sale tax free week too!

Open window. It was wonderfully cool on quite a few mornings this August and I opened my office window to the sounds of the outdoors. How much more connected people were with the outdoors before air conditioning!

Morning snack ritual. I enjoy sitting outside while eating my fruit at mid-morning. The deck is in heavy shade at that time of day and I light the shelf fungus wick in a plate of oil. The large, bell toned chimes add to the sounds of insects and birds with every little breeze.

Coursera History of Humankind. It is probably the most thought provoking course I’ve taken so far….and I am celebrating that it lasts for 17 weeks!

Fresh mint tea. I have harvest mint twice this summer already and there will be another harvest before frost. My favorite beverage is made with a chopped mint leaves and black tea in the filter of my tea maker (a coffee maker that has never made coffee). Most of the crop is dried but the pots made with the freshly chopped leaves are always the most fragrant and flavorful.

Ten Days of Little Celebrations - July 2013

Back in August 2012, I posted about finding something to celebrate each day. It’s an easy thing for me to do and the habit of writing it down reminds me to be grateful for these and a myriad of other things in my life. This month has been full of ‘little celebrations;’ here are the top 10.

Starting the day outdoors. For years and years I was always heading off to work or errands as soon as I was able in the morning. It is such a luxury to be able to enjoy the outdoors on July mornings when the heat of the day is yet to become overwhelming and the birds are at their most energetic. What a great way to start my days.

Watermelon. I still think the large watermelons with seeds from many years ago had a better flavor than the smaller, seedless varieties in the stores today - but, even these watermelons are a hallmark of summer for me.

Cheesecake sampler. Don’t they always look tempting in the store? Always being on a diet means that I had not succumbed to the purchase until I had a dinner party with enough people to eat most of the pieces in a single sitting. So - I celebrated when I finally found a cheesecake sampler (at the third store I checked) and thoroughly enjoyed the one piece that I permitted myself.

Butterflies on the blazing stars. Flowers and butterflies - easy images to celebrate. See my earlier post here.

Credit for the electric bill. One of the days the exterior of our house was being painted was also an electricity conservation day (our electric utility gives us a credit based on the amount we reduce from a baseline day of similar temperature). The windows were open anyway for the painters - so we turned off the air conditioner and ate picnics (i.e. no cooking). We got at $46 credit! Hurray!

Cardinal flower. Plants are one of my favorite gifts (to give or receive). I celebrated receiving a cardinal flower and enjoy its blooming stalks (increasing rapidly in its big pot) every day. See my earlier post here.

Exterior house painting complete. The house looks wonderfully refreshed….I celebrated that the crew finished in spite of a significant rain delay! See my earlier posts here and here.

Into ‘normal’ weight range. Shouldn’t this be a goal for everyone? I am celebrating getting into the range…and closer to the ultimate goal (another 10 pounds to go).

A quiet day without internet or cable. A storm came through and the service people don’t work on the weekend…so we were without connectivity for almost 48 hours. I found that there was a new quietness about the house to savor…although I also celebrated when the connection was restored too.

Pecans in buttermilk pancakes. I celebrate the goodness the dusting of pecans adds plus the memory of learning to sprinkle the nuts onto the batter as it cooks from my mother.

What have you celebrated today?