We are under this incredibly thick blanket of snow here in Pennsylvania and I love it all except that my husband has to drive to work today.  He would never, ever, ever call in sick and just like the US Post, weather won't stop him!

I just got back inside from using our old shovel on the front porch and steps.  My lovely neighbor has a snow blower and had already made two passes up and down our entire block!  Morton will still have to dig out the car and I'm going to get all dressed up in my warmest to help push the car out.  Fingers crossed, the roads will be better then the side street we live on.

Over the last few days I have been doing serious amounts of healthy cooking and then before I'm tempted to eat the veggie lasagna or bran muffins, I'm bagging everything up and freezing it!  So far, so good.

Stay warm, keep moving and if you have a neighbor who is snowed under (and not just by the weather!) HELP!  We all need a hand now and again!

Here we are in February with a whole month of resolutions under our belts.  I forgot to weigh myself this morning, so I can't say if January was a good or bad month for losing, but I will say one thing...I'm READY for spring!

It has been cold and now we have a fresh layer of snow over the ground.  One my walk today I noticed there were various spring flowers pushing their way out of the soil and now they are under a white blanket.

My mind has been dreaming of bicycle riding on sunny streets and paths, hooking up the trailers behind the bikes to pull Alexander and Maggie in and getting outdoors as much as possible.  As I'm getting older I really am considering living in a climate where you can stay active year round.  I know I could go out more but the cold is really daunting not to mention the thought of slipping on ice.

So, about little changes.  As I was walking down my stairs this morning and needed to turn around at the bottom and head right back up (I forgot my phone) it surprised me a bit that I trotted right up the stairs without my old grunting and groaning.  As my weight comes down, my body works better.  These are things that I have to realize while I'm looking at the big picture.

I feel like something really giant and wonderful is about to happen and as the seasons change, I'm going to too.  Watch and see.
Little changes, little changes and more little changes!

After several visits to my doctor for dizzy spells, my blood pressure has been high on each visit.  Since I have never had a problem with my blood pressure in the past, I can't tell if it is stress causing this or something else.

My bottom line is that I have THREE MONTHS to get my high blood pressure down or else I have to go on medication.  Since I do NOT want this, I've been cutting out all the salt (and hidden salt) in my diet.  I've also been trying to exercise more.  I know that diet and exercise will ward off the need for pills and I want to take care of myself.

Since we all know this stuff and it is no great mystery as to what makes us fat and unhealthy, WHY IS IT SO HARD TO FOLLOW?  Our health is so important and yet I'm willing to risk it for potato chips and cupcakes?  UGH...what is wrong with me?  I have to have a screw (or two) loose to have let my health get this bad in the first place.

With determination I will make the next three months count.  I only regret I can't take to my bicycle at the moment.  It was a lot easier losing weight without a refrigerator or money!

It will be a challenge, but I have to do this.  I don't want to be complaining in a few months that I have to take high blood pressure medicine.  I MUST get walking.
Priscilla

This weekend has been brilliant for exercise!  We were suppose to go to NYC to see an exhibition of Tim Burton in MoMA, but alas the tickets were all sold out, so we stayed closer to home and went to the 94th (I think) Farm Show in Harrisburg.

Anyone who has ever been to the Farm Show will know what I'm saying when it is an overwhelming experience for all your senses.  You get blasted with ice cold air in parking lots that are always far away, then inside it is warm, smelly, yummy, yucky and fantastic, all rolled up in to one crowded but perfect day.  The crowds are enormous, the animals abound and the food...oh the food...but why buy the cow when Turkey Hill gives away the ICE CREAM for FREE?!? 

There is no admission and aside from a parking fee (which you can even avoid if you want to park and walk from a city street in Harrisburg) it is a splendid way to get a wee bit closer to feeling that we all should be living on a farm.

As Morton and I took our grandson Alexander around for his big day at the event, he enjoyed all the free samples of food with us (he loved the pretzel sticks and ice cream) but we also bought a little container of french fries for him, some sweet Lebanon bologna and honey ice cream.

Don't worry about me and the calories.  My aching muscles are proof positive that I didn't have a break for several hours and licking my lips in the joint reminded me of the days when I always tasted salty from bicycling. 

Alexander enjoyed the big crowds, the noise and all the animals from the comfort of his stroller.  I would lean down to talk with him about the animals we were looking at and my favorite thing was when a pretty pink pig stuck it's snout out the metal bars and grunted just inches from my little guy.  The pig then turned and started rooting in the hay and Alexander leaned as close as he could and said, "What are you looking for Mr. Pig?"  It was one of those moments that hit me pretty often that reminds me of just how incredible this life is.

A teenager who had raised the pig came over about then with a sack of food and dumped it in a large dish.  The pig it turned out, had been looking for his lunch.  Alexander and I had a little chat with the FFA girl before we headed back out to the cold and then home.

When we walked in my daughter's house it smelled delicious.  Barbecued chicken was simmering in the crock pot and she invited us to stay for dinner.  Thankfully it wasn't pork, though we did see some really cute chickens.  

Hello world,

If you are near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania PLEASE mark your date book for a fun filled Saturday learning, connecting and getting our exercise!

When:Saturday 01/23/10:  9:30 am

Where: A day at the Whittaker Center, Harrisburg PA

We will explore the "Carnival of Health" together, as well as the rest of the exhibits that

combine exercise with learning. 

There is an admission cost as noted on their website and after we explore the museum,

we will walk along the river and on to City Island, weather permitting! 

Email me if you plan to join me please!

Don't forget to wear comfortable shoes, bring your camera, bring a bottle of water and wear appropriate clothing!

While living on a bicycle for half of a year during our big adventure in 2007, the thing that Morton and I loved the most were all the connections we made with people.  Perfect strangers who would email, pull up beside us out on the road and even invite us in to their homes were just incredible.  It gave a person a sense that the world really was a perfect place and the people in it were even better.

The thing I miss the most at the present moment is the lack of connections I'm feeling and sharing on this site.  My goal for this year is to cram as much excitement and living in to it as possible and I am at this very moment putting a map in place for lots of adventures for 2010 that I want you to CONNECT with, either in person or watching on here.

Email, post and share what you are going through.  How is your weight?  How is your health?  Are you doing any sort of regular exercise?  Come on already and CONNECT with me!  Let's share this incredible journey of life, health and fitness at little changes!
Priscilla

Last Monday I got hit with a wave of dizziness.  Call it post-holiday trauma or something of the sort, it just made me lay on my side and feel like the whole world was spinning.  This has been going on for the last week, so yesterday I went to my doctor who did the usual mini testing routine and called me this morning to tell me all was well with my lab work.

I still feel seasick though I now have medicine that will counteract that, but I can't take it because it makes you sleep and I'm looking after my grandchildren.  Why oh why do we take our health for granted?

My weight had came down a lot since my last doctor visit, about 40 pounds and I'm 100% sure that being this heavy is so hard on my body.  I am trying very hard to follow a great eating routine for the next two weeks, when I have a follow up visit.  The only thing the doctor noted that was different was a high blood pressure reading and I have NEVER had high blood pressure. 

Since I don't want to go on medicine and don't want high blood pressure, I've been searching the web for how I can eat my way healthier.  I'm cutting out all salt (I never really put it on anything, but I have had movie theater popcorn three times in the last two weeks) and I have got to get at least 30 minutes of exercise each day. 

It is still icy cold here with patches of slippy frozen snow and ice all over the place, so I'm going to limit my outdoor activity (walking) to the minimum and do more things inside.  I just walked in place for almost 10 minutes while swinging my granddaughter Maggie off to sleep in her car seat.  My arms were getting the work out too!

Tonight is weigh in and sadly (or luckily) I won't be able to make it.  I'm off to the airport to give a relative a lift and won't be back in time.  I know my weight has gone up since my last weigh in, or so says the doctors scale yesterday.

When I eat right, I feel right.  When I eat bad, I feel bad.  This is my new motto that I'm going to try to remember every day of my life.

Email me or post on the tag board and let me know what YOU are up to.  How is 2010 treating you so far?  Any great tips or suggestions?

Keep trying - Priscilla

After months of working on our kitchen and lots of hard work, I'm enjoying sitting at our little counter for two (or three in a squeeze) in the kitchen.  The view isn't the best, just out to a brick side of a house beside us, but I have my homemade curtains closed at the moment anyway.

The other window in the kitchen has the sun streaming through it.  It is curtainless, waiting to get trimmed out with wood of some sort (our last project in the kitchen) and it looks down over our backyard.  It is higher, so not as important at getting covered.

The counter we put in low enough to sit at is helping to hide a big old heater that sticks out from the wall about eight inches and is over four feet long.  It is a big chunk out of our wee kitchen, but the counter really does hide it while allowing it to do it's job.  The furnace is off at the moment, but the heat is still radiating up my legs and feels toasty and quite delightful.

I'm thinking of our stealth heater hidden by the counter and it reminds me of the way I had tried to hide my body for years under layers of clothes or baggy outfits that really hid nothing.  I was in serious denial and it help me keep turning a blind eye to myself for decades.

While I was in a clothing store yesterday shopping in the plus sized places for something that I might be able to wear that would make me look slimmer, I realized that small tents are not the way to go.  Things that jet out and try to hide the fact that I have a serious amount of extra weight on my body just aren't cutting it.

After trudging though several stores and bracing the Arctic air that has swallowed Pennsylvania and most of the east coast, I gave up.  Consoled with the fact that I didn't spend any money (I'm saving for Italy) and the fact that in a month or two I'll be a size smaller, I did appreciate getting the exercise.

So this morning as I work on a computer project while my husband is asleep (working overtime as he is earning the money I have to save for my trip to Italy!) I'm happy in the fact that even though it is way too fat at the moment, my body IS getting better with every pound I take off.  Not that I'm going to win or even compete in any beauty contests, it is better in the sense that it is working better with my knees not hurting as much and I'm able to go up and down stairs without walking in my old lady manner of one step at a time.

Enough of the hiding, off with the tents, on with the FITTED jeans and out for some exercise.  I'm moving my body to a healthier place...come along!
Priscilla

So 2010 is off to a great start.  Food wise, I had two waffles for breakfast made by Morton, turkey sausage made by myself and had syrup on it.  I did minor snacking on leftover junk food, but it really was kept to a minimum!

The females of our family group headed to the mall (that is another resolution...spoil myself from time to time with no reason whatsoever!) and two in our group had a massage and two of us got pedicures...I was in the pedi group!  It was really nice, felt great, looks great and was one of those golden days that I hope to fill 2010 with.

After the mall we had a giant group head to an Italian restaurant where I was really good, had TWO salads, a bit of calamari and ate only half of my meal of pasta stuffed with spinach and cheese.  Morton is going to get to eat the leftover.  At home I had a little piece of blueberry and pomegranate cheesecake and I'm DONE eating now at 8 pm. 

This week ahead I want to try to plan what I'm going to eat each day to prevent bad things from happening.  I also think writing down what I'm scoffing is going to help.  All good stuff!

My email has been SWEET today with lots of hello's from friends I haven't heard from in ages.  Thanks so much for that and keep them coming.  Let's help each other stay motivated and remember, as long as we are TRYING, we aren't FAILING!

I'm posting a picture of me taken today and I'm not thrilled with it.  I thought I looked a lot slimmer in this shirt than I really do.  Oh why can't I find a camera that lies to me?!?


These pants had been skin tight and I now have room in them.  I HAVE to get under 300 pounds STAT!!!  Walking and bicycling are in store for me with invitations for YOU to come along and get moving.  We can do this. 
Priscilla

Hello world,
2010 resolutions...where to start.  There are so many I could make, so many I SHOULD make, but this year I am making none.  Instead I'm going to fill my year with solutions rather then making empty promises to myself and those around me.

Battles were never won with good intentions and I need to beat my obesity with actions, not just words.  So look for a lot more inspiration, ideas and motivation here than you have ever gotten before.  2010 is going to be fantastic and amazing with as much living in the moment time that I can squeeze in!

As I look back at 2009 it was really a special year.  We got our little grandchild, Maggie a few weeks early who is already such an amazing little person.  I got to spend loads of time with my grandson Alexander who continues to be the most fascinating little man I've ever met.  Morton and I bought a fixer upper and have been doing just that since the end of July.  We had a blast in Florida with lots of Scottish family, then on to Pennsylvania to spend quality time with Morton's parents visiting from Scotland.  I was lucky enough to have a lot of special people in my life and I can say without one little doubt that I was NEVER bored in 2009.

Moving on to my weight in 2009, it is nothing to brag about because I climbed back up the scale to a measured high of 374 in June.  It is now 320 and I'm as pleased as punch with that.  I've been getting weighed in weekly, not really following any plan other than eating less (most of the time) and moving a wee bit more. 

As for goals for my weight in 2010 it is quite simply to come down.  I want to do it healthy, steady and without driving the people around me crazy.  I want to document what is going on, where I am with it and put it on here for you to take a look at once in a while.

2010 is going to be just what we all make it.  I hope YOURS if filled with lots of wonderful things, wonderful places and most of all...wonderful people.

Thanks for sharing it with me and keep me posted on what is going on in your life.
Priscilla

***
From my email - - - Thanks again Karen!

New Year's Resolution: Starting that diet:

My friend announced that she had started a diet to lose some pounds she had put on recently.

"Good!" I exclaimed. "I'm ready to start a diet too. We can be dieting buddies and help each other out. When I feel the urge to drive out and get a burger and fries, I'll call you first."

"Great!" she replied. "I'll ride with you."