Last week Mary, with a sly smile, asked, "When did you start your diet?"
"July 1," I told her. "Why?"
"Because today I had to put half a pound of butter in the butter dish for the first time since you started."
For perspective, "we" used to go through one or two pounds of butter a week (yeah, I know, but some of that was used for cooking...) Since July 1 (Canada Day) the only butter I've eaten has been the treat left over on the butter knife after Mary has fixed herself a slice of toast. When I see that my eyes grow large and I immediately dip the buttered knife into the peanut butter jar in preparation for my once-a-day smear of peanut butter on my homemade rye bread. Seems to me that if I can't see it I'm not really eating it.
Results from my doctor appointment yesterday were so exciting that I've decided to have a glass of wine - maybe two - Christmas eve (my first alcohol since July 1). Mary had two comments: "It'll knock you on your ass" and "You'll be a cheap drunk." I love her Christmas spirit!
Here's a picture of me in my big birdwatching chair, holding up the ends of my belts that I trimmed off on the weekend (I've gone from 202 pounds to 153, and from a 40 inch waist to 34).
On one arm of the chair is Mary's half pound of butter, which oughta be good until next June, and on the other arm is my Christmas wine - a Cabernet/Shiraz that I bottled in October 2009. The label is mine with a picture of a butterfly on a white lilac in our yard. Butterflies hold a special, warm place in my heart, and this particular lilac was sown by a bird flying by (I guess) and which my mother discovered on one of her visits with us a few years ago (another special treat in my heart - that lilac is among the first plants I look for each spring and I hover over it like a newborn puppy - use your imagination to determine if I'm the newborn puppy or if the lilac is - your choice).
Today I was able to ditch the last of my blood pressure medication. For the first time in many years I am medication-free and skinny.
I wish, sincerely, Season's Greetings, Merry Christmas, and send warm thoughts, to all my beautiful, wonderful friends who have been so generous, encouraging and inspiring!
xxoo
"July 1," I told her. "Why?"
"Because today I had to put half a pound of butter in the butter dish for the first time since you started."
For perspective, "we" used to go through one or two pounds of butter a week (yeah, I know, but some of that was used for cooking...) Since July 1 (Canada Day) the only butter I've eaten has been the treat left over on the butter knife after Mary has fixed herself a slice of toast. When I see that my eyes grow large and I immediately dip the buttered knife into the peanut butter jar in preparation for my once-a-day smear of peanut butter on my homemade rye bread. Seems to me that if I can't see it I'm not really eating it.
Results from my doctor appointment yesterday were so exciting that I've decided to have a glass of wine - maybe two - Christmas eve (my first alcohol since July 1). Mary had two comments: "It'll knock you on your ass" and "You'll be a cheap drunk." I love her Christmas spirit!
Here's a picture of me in my big birdwatching chair, holding up the ends of my belts that I trimmed off on the weekend (I've gone from 202 pounds to 153, and from a 40 inch waist to 34).
On one arm of the chair is Mary's half pound of butter, which oughta be good until next June, and on the other arm is my Christmas wine - a Cabernet/Shiraz that I bottled in October 2009. The label is mine with a picture of a butterfly on a white lilac in our yard. Butterflies hold a special, warm place in my heart, and this particular lilac was sown by a bird flying by (I guess) and which my mother discovered on one of her visits with us a few years ago (another special treat in my heart - that lilac is among the first plants I look for each spring and I hover over it like a newborn puppy - use your imagination to determine if I'm the newborn puppy or if the lilac is - your choice).
Today I was able to ditch the last of my blood pressure medication. For the first time in many years I am medication-free and skinny.
I wish, sincerely, Season's Greetings, Merry Christmas, and send warm thoughts, to all my beautiful, wonderful friends who have been so generous, encouraging and inspiring!
xxoo
