SHEs Organized

December! Oh, the diversions! We're ready to stay on track, though.

Tasty "treats" we resist will lie in wait for us this month. We can dodge them!

Loved ones will be charging new phones with better digital photo capability (and stealth) Not to worry. Our posture is excellent. Our self-images are stellar. Our smiles are serene.

We'll think of lots of extra things we'd like to do, and we will have the strength to get them done.
We will take care of ourselves with enough rest, pace ourselves confidently, and wink at ourselves in the mirror.

The November thread was many pages long with inspirational habit thoughts - thanks, everyone.

Did you contemplate habits you intend to keep, going forward?

End of year makes me remember this quote I've shared before, from a book my great-uncle liked and gave to my father. I think of you guys when I see it.

Perseverance is the quality
found in people of an enthusiastic temperament,
who, once they have discerned
the favorable possibilities of an enterprise,
allow nothing to divert them.
- H. Bessler, "Mental Efficiency", 1915

bump

I have been keeping up with my exercise goals.
It's colder out this week and have been doing more inside, and shorter quicker outside tasks on leaves winding down on that.

What's for dinner?
Fish & veg.
Made a yummy quiche this week with no crust.
Will do another one thinking ahead for Christmas gatherings some d not eat meat so was tasty enough to be a main dish.

I can't say that Zepbound has started working yet, especially since we ate and drank our way across NYC this week. But I did have a feeling at times that I was "overfull" quickly. We had a refrigerator and had lots of leftovers which we saved and some of which we enjoyed.

Weight this a.m. was basically the same as it was when I left, but I feel bloated. Dh said he gained 8 lbs. I reminded him it wasn't 8 lbs., it's mostly retained fluids from eating, drinking, and flying. We did get in a lot of steps, over 10K most days.

Gym will be open around first of January again. Until then, need to watch what I eat and take care of myself. I won't know until next week whether I will have surgery on wrist again this month.

Also health, kind of. Dermatologist prescribed oral rogaine for hair regrowth. I believe the stress and surgeries have caused my hair to thin more on top. Dermatologist agrees, said that anesthesia by itself can cause hair loss. So I need to ck with primary physician before I start it - oral rogaine can reduce BP. I already take Losartan to reduce BP. And I had a small place on arm frozen off - it's not dangerous, but annoying.

I have missed posting in H&F daily because it forces me to stop and think about TAKING CARE OF MYSELF.

Hair chat - I just had my 2nd haircut in the last couple of months. Both hair stylists told me "I can't believe how thick your hair is!" I do know that there is a lot of hair to manage especially since I cut a foot or so of the length off which removed a lot of weight. Most of the time I use a hair band, tie, multiple clips, etc to keep the volume of hair somewhat controlled. I haven't always had thick hair. ANYway, all this to say that I suspect my hair has been affected by daily taking biotin and using a scoop of collagen powder . There is no way to be sure but I do think those two things might have an influence on how much hair I have now.

I had some hair Vits. when LH was alive they disappeared, he took em! LOL!

Stopping a couple minutes to review my current efforts in TAKING CARE OF MYSELF.

My right hip has started to lock-up random times during the day when I walk. When that happens, I stop and stand still for a few seconds and wait for it to be released. I am being super aware of my right hip and anything that could possibly be influencing it.
** I keep my phone in my right hip pocket. Could that be an influence?
** When I am sitting in recliner and then stand up my right hip frequently won't allow me to walk without waiting for it to release.
** When I get out of bed, I don't have any problem with my hip locking up. Why?

What is the difference between sitting in recliner vs laying in bed? Possible influence - I cross my legs when I sit in recliner. I usually put my right leg over my left leg with my right foot dangling off the side (difficult to describe). Could this be putting a strain on hip?

Changes I am making -
** Be aware of how I am sitting. Don't cross my legs.
** Stretches for hip

If my hip continues locking up, I will seek advice from our family doctor. However, I want to change the way I sit without my legs crossed and give it time for hip pain to resolve on its own if possible.

LM I have learned to stand on the opposite leg by the counter let it relax and
do figure 8 motion that I learned from classical stretch on PBS helped a lot for
my hips.

LadyM …. I do stretches most days for my hips, especially my right one. You can stand at your kitchen or bathroom counter, stand on one leg and take your other leg and circle it around… 20x one way, then reverse. I find sitting in a chair with your foot on top of your other knee and lean forward. It’s a great stretch I think it’s called a figure four stretch.

Also I’ve noticed when I sleep on my right side, my right hip can bother me too.

Stomach still not cooperating. Finding something to drink is a problem including water. I can drink some herbal tea but not much. Tried a glass of milk which I never drink and I could handle it. Still eating crackers and bread. Last night I ate come cut up chicken sandwich and did all right with it. This morning I’m going to try a scrambled egg and crackers

Thank you for the stretching recommendations.

My hip seems to be getting better. I am relieved and hopeful that it will resume its normal, pain free and fully working hip action.

I am making changes to our family meals. I am now cooking & serving 3 meals a day that includes sitting down at the table together. I suspect it will be a slow process to fully implement but after a couple of days of effort I can see progress is being made.

Having a set mealtime is something we did for the first 40ish years of our marriage. Somewhere in the last decade we stopped regularly sitting down to eat together. Everyone now tends to grab something to eat whenever they are hungry. Can we break this way of randomly eating whenever and go back to eating together? I don't know but I am going to try.