Times of Sun and Clouds and La Cucarachas

Sometimes, the machines doth wax poetic ... 

The sun is beautiful, but the clouds make the heat just a bit more bearable, especially for the animals. And the price for higher clouds is a bit more humidity, but I'd say it's a fair trade. 

Speaking of La Cucarachas, though ... They definitely grow them bigger and longer here in AZ. GOOD LORD!!! 

I don't know where they've been hiding, or why they just now decided to emerge (outside) but here they are. No pictures, because EWW ... But suffice to say, the thing I saw skittering up the wall last night was at LEAST two inches long, and noisy. Odin was befuddled and just watched it all happen, ears forward, head tilted. So much for protection :) 

I don't know if the neighbors stirred them up when they were cleaning their backyard, or moving stuff around in their front area, but damn ... An exterminator visit is definitely in our near future because I WILL NOT tolerate them infiltrating the inside of our abode. Nope. Consider me skeeved TF out! 

In other news, we had a good day yesterday. Went out and about looking for assorted items that we want to get, and then had an excellent lunch at Postino, a place that I went to back in March with my coworkers. They don't make bruschetta like that back in Ohellio and Indiana. Let me tell you, it was worth the carbs I consumed because LIFE is for LIVING, and when you have this, you eat it!

I could have just eaten it like soup, and it would have most likely remained keto, but I did imbibe in two of the crostini because it just sealed the deal. I cannot adequately put into word things how delightful it truly was!! 

Sigh. 

So, the keto has been off kilter since the other day, but it's all good. Holiday weekend = holiday weekend eating. 

Today, back on the bus. 

Later this afternoon, the gymnauseum appointment. 

And under the category of You Can't Manage What You Don't Measure, I did record all bodily measurements that I am going to track. 

The fat cells don't exit stage left in any sort of orderly fashion. They just scramble about all willy-nilly, meaning I'm not going to get all worked up if some numbers don't budge, or others get bigger because gyming is going to occur. I have a lot of fluff to replace with muscle, so it's going to take a moment. 

Effort is the key. That's it. 

I don't know about tracking every single gram of everything I eat, but I am going to start logging WHAT I eat. That will help me see where I need improvement. 

We do not consume the amount of food that we did back there. I think it's mostly because of the heat. We just don't feel like eating a bunch, or big three- or four-course meals anymore. Doesn't mean I wasn't putting away the snacks like there was no tomorrow, but actual meal sizes did decrease. 

Snacking is my downfall, this I can admit. It's dangerous territory for me and my mouth. And NO, celery does not have the same salty crunch as crackers, try as hard as you may to convince me of that. This is why keto works (mostly) for me because it keeps me full between lunch and dinner, and after dinner. It's mostly internal peer pressure that forces me to eat anything in the morning before lunch or after dinner. 

We've unintentionally been doing a lot of intuitive eating. Eat when you're hungry, don't eat when you're not, no matter what time it may be. Mornings are actually the only time of the day that I feel true hunger. The rest of the day, it's just "Yeah, I could eat, but then again, I could not." Mostly, if I just can't rid of a pang in the morning, I eat a cheese stick and move on. Last week, I think we took it a bit too far, and had lunch before 10am. That was WEIRD. Then, we had dinner at around 4pm. 

I'm starting to feel like my grandparents. Those people were on a strict schedule. My grandma set out grandpa's cereal bowl the night before, and they got up at like 4am, and grandpa had his Wheaties with bananananas. Funny, I don't remember what grandma ate. She was so hyperfocused on "serving" him that sometimes, she faded into the background, but on purpose. Weird. 

I adored her, and still do. She was a dedicated, loving woman that never once said anything mean to me, and as far as I can remember, never even yelled at me or made me feel less than. SHE is the reason we are here. SHE was the one who showed me how amazing it is to live here. She, always with her sensible, sturdy shoes, and her "pocketbook" in the crook of her arm, and a jacket or a sweater because she was always chilly. 

She made her own clothes - really one clothe ... A simple short-sleeved shift dress with darts at the bustline, a small simple straight collar, and a long back zipper, but in all the different colors and fabrics. Some for everyday choring, and some for Sunday. I kept her favorite baby-blue spring jacket, and a blue floral dress that she wore a lot. Kept them in my closet, so I could remember her. 

See? 

There's that baby blue jacket and her signature fluffy hair. My grandma, the Queen.

My mission now is to find the restaurant where this second picture was taken. I remember it so clearly because it was the first time it was noticeable that her brain was being invaded by the Alzheimer's. Such a cruel thing to have happened to the most phenomenal and loving soul that she was. 

What I remember most, though, is her kind face, her loving smile, and her very warm hugs, even if they only lasted a few seconds because she would be darting back and forth all over the kitchen or the house doing all the things she always did. 

Well, yeah ... that was a tangent. I miss her. 

Anywhoo, back to the keto. 

Back on track today. 

Will be logging what but not how much. 

We're starting slow at the gym, probably three days a week for a few weeks to get acclimated, and then up it as we see fit. My plan is to go in the afternoons, like 2pm-ish, because that's the least busy time of the day both there, and in my schedule. However, it is a 24-hour facility, so we can go whenever the mood strikes us. Who knows, one of these mornings when I am up before the sun or the birds, I'll go on my own, pick stuff up, put stuff down, move around, and start that day off with a bang instead of a whimper. 

I think that's it for today. It's a Tuesday that's supposed to "feel" like a Monday because holiday, and it throws me off even more than a normal Monday. 

Yay. 

Have a good rest of the week!