My Distractions

I guess we have to take the good with the bad sometimes. We did buy a 'new' car last week. It's a 1998 Ford Contour. It's red, not bright and not brick, somewhere in between. I'm kind of in love with it.

On the other hand, I've been in a lot of pain this last week. Yesterday was excruciating, but I survived. It's depressing to have to be in this same place again after so much time, surgery and hormone treatments. I think I'll be seeing the OB/GYN at my new doctors office sometime soon, transferring my records and starting over. There's so much to say about all of this, but somehow it seems done to death and I just can't bring myself to put it all down.

To provide a distraction, I've buried myself in some new cookbooks that a friend dropped off this weekend. They are mostly diet and Weight Watchers cookbooks, but I find them all fascinating. I found ideas for 'light' simple salads to take to work for lunch along with some dinner recipes that are not affected by the reduction of fat and calories. Not that I have a problem eating these foods myself, but my family has a tendency to turn their noses up at these types of meals. I did discover that I could never go on Weight Watchers because of it's continuous suggestion/requirement of sugar substitutes. I cannot use aspartame or even Splenda. I am allergic (or at least very sensitive) to aspartame and Splenda gives me a headache - like I don't have enough of those.

On the up side, I've confirmed a loss of over 20 pounds over the last year. Even though that number is not very high, it makes me happy because I didn't gain any of it back, showed continuous loss (and plateau's) rather that loss and gain. I've changed my eating habits, use healthy fats when I do use them, exercise more, eat less but more often (because of my hypoglycemia) and feel better. Next year I hope to experience a similar loss. The slower I lose, the more permanent - or at least that's the way I see it.

Even though I've spent hours and hours pouring over cookbooks, my meal plan for this week is still very basic.
Meal Plan - June 30 - July 6

• Monday - Calzones. This time I used Pillsbury's Thin Crust Pizza Dough - it's light and crispy rather than heavy and... bready? Is that even a word?
• Tuesday - Hamburger Casserole ala Lindsay.
• Wednesday - Black Bean and Veggie Stack. It's like a Mexican lasagna - yummy.
• Thursday - Spaghetti Carbonara.
• Friday - Family Picnic and I have no idea what I'm bringing.
• Saturday - Spicy Beef and Broccoli.
• Sunday - Leftovers

I'm hoping to have a good attitude this week. I only have to work three days and I actually get paid for the 4th. Then I have four days off in a row. Lindsay will be spending the 4th through the 9th in Greeley with her cousin and the hubby's aunt. I think this second 'vacation' is to make up for her last one being cut short by snow in the mountains. They all plan to spend their days laying beside the pool and - again - having spa days.