Life's Lessons

Okay I have learned a few things as I've gotten older. Now I am always reading articles regarding 'did you know?" or maybe 'You will be surprised". I read these and think DUH  - doesn't everyone already know this stuff?  No, I'm not surprised that baking soda will help clean dirty pots. Yes, I did know that alcohol and newspapers will give you streak free windows. I just choose not to wash my windows.  Why doesn't everyone know this?

Then it occurred to me. Well, obviously there are people who DON'T know.  So I thought perhaps I should share a couple of  lessons I have learned that may not be so obvious.  Just because it's obvious to me doesn't me it is to everyone.


For example:  Stir Sticks

Everyone knows what these are. Did you know that you can use them to play pick up sticks?  I've done this in Sunday School classes with kids I have taught.  But let's talk about the main use for stir sticks.  It's obvious that they are used to stir cream and/or sugar in your coffee, tea, or some other drink.  Works fine.  I know that kids like to use them as a little straw.  Well, my granddaughter does anyway. No problem there either.

Here's the problem that you may not be aware of.  Those stir sticks work fine with smaller to go cups. BUT  (and this is the kicker) if you are using one of the medium or larger size to go hot cups you may have a problem, especially if you put the lid on the cup and leave the stir stick in thinking you will use it later when you go back for another cup of coffee.

I did this. I had a large cup of coffee (20 or 24 ounce) - added my creamer - popped the lid on the cup because I'm responsible and didn't want to spill.  A little later when I took a drink of my coffee I almost choked on the stir stick that came out with my coffee!

So go ahead and throw that stir stick away. Get another one with your next cup. They are cheap. You get like a thousand in a box. You will have them around for months if not years without having to replenish your supply, unless you play a lot of pick up sticks.

There I just saved you from having a major catastrophe in your life.  You're welcome

Next up:  DOOR THRESHOLDS

We all have these in our house BUT -- have you EVER noticed that they slant? Go ahead, go check yours out.

I hadn't until a few months ago.  It seemed I was always tripping going into the house, especially at the back door but sometimes the front door too. I thought I was just getting clumsy or older - not picking my feet up.  You get the idea.

I made a conscious effort EVERY time I went in and out of doors to step OVER the threshold so that I wouldn't end up on the floor. Yes, it happened to me more than once; fortunately only at the back door so when I fell INTO the house no one was able to witness this. Never fell in the front door but caught myself a few times.

I finally really looked at my threshold's and saw that they slanted!  I know there must be a reason they make them this way but for the life of me I don't know what it could be!  I mentioned to Gary the fact that our threshold's slanted and that was why I fell. He said "Well, yeah, they all do."  Really? Wonder why it took me fifty plus years to notice this?

Now these may seem real obvious to you but as I mentioned some things I have thought were 'common knowledge' and everyone knew wasn't. So I thought I would share some lessons.  Watch for further blogs with more lessons I have learned.  And please, if you have had similar experiences, leave me a note. That way I can assure my family that it's not JUST ME who has these issues.

Going Cajun

NEW FOOD NIGHT!!  Are you hungry?

Lots of prep work:

I'm the sous chef at the house.  LOL  Top picture is ingredients for our entree.  Middle picture is ingredients for salad and the bottom picture is all the pasta ingredients.

A little more prep work - getting the table ready

All the veggies in the pan for the pasta dish, red and green peppers, red onions, Roma tomatoes and of course garlic.  Saute all this in a large cast iron skillet (Gary's new Christmas present). Just wait till you see the finished results.

We started out with a salad.

I just love a good salad.

Now for the main dish:

Remember those ingredients that were going to be sauteed in the pan?  Gary sauteed all those veggies then set them aside.  He took diced up chicken and let it marinate with about a teaspoon and a half of Cajun seasoning and then browned that up in the same skillet.

He removed the chicken from the skillet and scraped all the goodies from the bottom. He added one half cup wine to the skillet, 2 cups chicken stock, heavy cream, Cajun seasoning, salt, pepper and cayenne pepper. Whisk this together.

In a separate pot he had boiled some water and cooked some fettuccine noodles. He added the noodles, chicken and vegetables to the sauce in the skillet.  It was yummy!!!!

Rick brought some cornbread over. It was really good. Rick said it was the first time he had ever made cornbread.  Good job, Rick

Miss Annette brought over berry cobbler and frozen yogurt.  Good stuff!  She had a berry mixture that had some cherries in it and she added some blueberries and blackberries.  And just in case anyone is worried about my eating habits - I took two small bites.  Not that it wasn't good but I'm still trying to watch what I eat.  I do love a good berry cobbler.

Is your mouth watering yet?  It should be.  Who wants to place a reservation for next week's meal?  

Challenge Over

Well - here it is - the end of my 21 day No Junk Food Challenge.  Hard to believe that it has been 21 days.

Remember the rules I had?  It looks pretty daunting.  I knew going in that the NO CHOCOLATE - NO SODA - NO WHITE BREAD  would be my hardest challenges.  And the first week was pretty hard - especially the soda.

So overall how has it gone for me you ask?  Well, overall it has gone well.  I have switched to wheat bread and also to wheat tortillas.  Both choices I intend to continue. I was able to manage without the soda and chocolate. Fortunately this challenge did not totally take away caffeine so I still had my coffee.

I have switched to using honey instead of sugar for my hot tea and oatmeal.  I just totally stayed away from chips - did not even try to find a substitute for them.

21 days and my marriage is still intact. I have not done any bodily damage to my husband or co-workers. I would say that is a major plus.

I have lost four pounds during this past three weeks. This is a big plus as the main reason I started this challenge was as a means to start weight loss. I deal with a lot of pain and know that losing weight will probably help this to some extent.

I intend to continue this no junk food. The worst part is over. The habit is now a habit for me. I know I can make wise choices when eating out.  I know that keeping apples and veggies on hand for snacking works.

So now what?  Well, I intend to start a walking program to assist with my healthier food choices. I have been researching and know that I cannot do the ones I have found on the internet. I cannot run so I have created my own program.  I intend to start walking three times a week for at least 30 minutes each time.  This will be in addition to my break time walks at work.  On my breaks I take the elevator to the top floor and walk the halls back down to my office.

Now, by putting this plan on my blog I have an added commitment to do the walking. I've put it on the line. So let's see how this goes for the next 21 days or so.

For those who have followed my progress, thank you for the support you have given me. I will continue to blog about various things - open for discussion so let me know if you have something you want my opinion on.  LOL  I will blog at least once a week regarding my walking plan.

Day 17 of 21

Well, I cannot believe it is already day 17 of my No Junk Food Challenge.  Doesn't seem like it's been that long already.

Yep, I'm in the final stretch of this challenge now.  Let's review how it's going.  The worst for me was knowing I could not have 'soda' (pop - Pepsi) or chocolate.  This meant no chocolate coke!

Do they really make this in a bottle?  I had no idea!!!  Wow!!!  Well I always got mine from Sonic.  It's more of a treat that way.

Yep, this is what I was asking myself the first couple of days.  It was the beginning of Spring semester. Call volume was up. Stress level was up.  Beginning of semester usually meant at least one chocolate coke to get through the week - most likely it would have been two.

But I made it without any.  I also managed to not do any physical harm to any co-worker who showed up with a Sonic drink. Nor did I reach through my telephone and stupid slap any caller.

Overall, I managed to pass up temptations that have been brought into work (bagels, cream cheese, cookies), I made chocolate chip cookies and did not eat any dough or cookies nor did I lick the beater, I made chocolate no bake cookies and did not eat any, I have gone out to eat and made healthy choices (salads or other healthy options) - even passing up shrimp scampi and coconut shrimp at Red Lobster.

I went to my doctor on Monday. After reviewing my online tests, etc I see that I am down 7 pounds from the last time I saw him - right before Christmas. Now I need to start some sort of exercise routine that I can live with.  I don't run (bad knee one fake knee).  I don't like to do outside (I sweat to much). Nothing to fast paced (I have trouble getting my breath). But I have an idea - I just need to start it.  Maybe I could do a 21 day walking challenge or something after I finish my 21 day No Junk Food Challenge.  Just 4 more days.

Days 14 - 16 Eating Out and New Food Night

Well - I've been a little busy - but I am still on the No Junk Food Challenge.  This has included eating out with our Life Group on Sunday. Making chocolate chip cookies with my across the street granddaughter Monday. Eating out at Red Lobster Monday and tonight was New Food Night.  Lots of challenges here as you can see.

Sunday - we ate at Village Inn. I ordered Tomato Basil soup and a sandwich on wheat bread with artichoke hearts, tomatoes, feta cheese and pesto.  Good options.  Monday - Katy helped me make cookies.  I refrained from sampling the dough. Katy did that as well as licked the beater. We baked two dozen cookies. One dozen for her to take home and one dozen for Grampa. I ate zero - Katy ate the broken cookie because as I told her "If a cookie breaks when you bake it you have to eat it."  Now Red Lobster with our friends.  I knew this could be a temptation as I love shrimp - they had shrimp scampi, coconut shrimp, popcorn shrimp.  I chose to order talapia in a parchment bag with roasted vegetables and rice pilaf.  The roasted vegetables were asparagus, artichoke hearts and onions.  Excellent choice and now I also don't have to worry about a gout attack because I did not eat the shrimp. Double win for me!

We are now up to New Food Night.  We had soup and salad.

We started with a salad. I just tossed together some lettuce, chopped celery, chopped carrots, chopped leek, (Yes, leeks - if  you have not tried them you should. We recently discovered this vegetable and discovered that we love them), and red onion. Served with croutons and an assortment of salad dressings.

Our soup was Potato Leek Soup (now you know why I had leeks to put in the salad). Peel and cut potatoes in large chunks, chop up 3 stalks of celery and 4 leeks using only the white portion. Add to pot with 8 cups of chicken broth. Add in 3/4 teaspoon dried thyme, one basil leaf and salt and pepper. Boil until potatoes are done  remove bay leaf. Put mixture in blender a small amount at a time and process until smooth. Pour back into pan and add 1 cup heavy cream.  We served this with roasted French Fried Onions.

Doesn't this look good?  It was yummers!!

Serve with Rick's Famous Garlic Bread! What else is needed?  Nothing really but we didn't stop there.

We had a mystery contribution dish tonight.  One of Rick's workers knew that we had New Food Night and she make some Mexican Spaghetti for us to eat.  I cannot say what all was in this but it sure was good.  We are thinking it was some type of green chili sauce n the spaghetti.  Thank you mystery contributor.

And finally - dessert, Chocolate Duffins  brought by Miss Annette.  Yes, I said duffins.  Kind of a cross between muffins and donuts and yes chocolate.  All three of these are on my NO NO list. They were made with flour, cocoa, salt, soda, sugar, egg, buttermilk and vanilla.  We served it with ice cream brought Chris.

Excellent presentation.  This was Miss Annette's plate. The guys are 3 or 4 of the Duffins with ice cream.  I had one single Duffin - no ice cream.   I think I made a reasonable choice.

Now you are caught up on my Challenge and our New Food Night. I think I am doing well with the challenge and am obviously learning to make better choices and it is easier to do all the time.

I have one last picture to share just because.

Just wanted to show off my Christmas present from my mother-in-law. She made the jar with the candle in it.  Isn't it awesome!  Little snow (epsom salt) in the bottom of the jar, pine cone ornament - lace - very nice.

Your Journey

We are each one of us on a journey. It starts the day we are born and does not end until we take our last breath.  Yes, life is one long journey.

How are you handling your journey?  

Are there times when it seems like you are taking your journey on your own? That no one knows how hard it is for you to lead the life you are leading?  There are directions for your journey but you have to seek them. They are found by reading the Bible and going to God in prayer.  

We are doing a series at church regarding The Journey.  Today was on prayer.  This afternoon I wrote the following poem:

THE JOURNEY

We are on a journey called life

And it can be filled with all kinds of strife.

There will be times of joy and sorrow

And sometimes it will be hard to face tomorrow.

Our burdens may seem heavy at times to bear

And you may wonder does anyone care?

Through every situation that comes our way

God walks beside us every day.

He commands that to Him our sorrows we bring

He will help us through everything.

Not only sorrows but thanksgivings too

We must bring to the Savior every day anew.

Through prayer we are given access you see

And we are told to pray incessantly.

Prayers for friends, neighbors and family

Prayers for jobs, health and difficulties.

Throughout your journey of life each day

Seek God through prayer every step of the way.

Written by: Kathie Marrs

Jan. 18, 2015

Let God help you handle your journey

Day 12 & 13 -- Cakes, Donuts Muffins

Well, I'm still on track. Taking a carafe of coffee to work every day, drinking lots of water. And I repeated my strategy from last Saturday to avoid my fast food sandwich and chocolate coke today. I didn't leave the house until about 2:00 pm to run my errands.  It works.  Tonight while grocery shopping I stocked up on apples and veggies.  Looks like I'm prepared for the next week.


So let's look at the next rule:  NO CAKE, DONUT, MUFFIN

No cake:  I haven't had an issue with this. I'm not a big dessert person. We had cake for Chris' birthday - I only ate two very small bites.  But you ask why is cake bad for you?  Well, obviously because of the sugar.  Cakes are full of calories, fat and sugar. Did you know that one serving (1/12 of an 8 inch cake) has 248 calories without frosting?  Did you also know that the recommended calories for a woman are 2000 per day? I remember that my dad's favorite snack was to take yellow cake and put butter on it. Did I say he put butter on it? He actually slathered butter on his cake.  He loved this. It did taste good - especially hot from the oven. Hate to think how many calories we consumed with that . It definitely wasn't a 1/12 of an 8 inch cake.

If you are someone who still wants cake but still wants to watch what you eat there are some substitutions that will make that cake a little bit healthier for  you.  As long as the cake isn't a white cake, make half the flour wheat flour.  Decrease the amount of sugar by one third and use cinnamon or vanilla to bring out the sweetness. And use pureed fruits or vegetables to replace up to one half the fat in the recipe. Ideas are applesauce, pumpkin puree or pureed beans.  Now if it was me I think I would stick with applesauce.

No donut:  Doesn't that look like one of those yummy Krispy Kreme donuts?  Man those are good!  We have a Krispy Kreme here in town. Fortunately for me it is on the opposite end of town from where we live. It's on 71st street - an area we tend to try to avoid just because it's always so busy. But every so often we are down that way and sometimes that hot light is on at Krispy Kreme.  There is nothing like hot Krispy Kreme donuts!!  They melt in your mouth!  It's like not eating anything - they are just gone before you know it!

Let me give you a few reasons why we shouldn't eat donuts.  It can lead to dental problems, cause weight gain, is bad for your mental health and can lead to diabetes.  Yep - those things are loaded with sugar!!  Glad we leave at the other end of town away from Krispy Kreme.

No muffins:  Well, typically if you are buying muffins you are getting them at the store. This means they are full of preservatives and processed sugars.  Were you aware that most muffins have at least 655 calories in them?  Even the so-called good for you muffins (zucchini walnut) still have 485 calories. That's a lot of calories.  And in case you didn't know it - a muffin is just a little cake.  It just sounds different if you call it a muffin and makes it seem okay to eat it for breakfast.

Yep, I think I'll continue to pass these up. While reviewing all these rules it's becoming obvious that these junk foods are full of sugar. Yes, I already knew this and I'm sure you did too. I think having this in moderation is fine (like my two bites of cake) but if you don't know when to stop is when it becomes an issue.  Like when you get those hot Krispy Kreme donuts that melt in your mouth and before you know it half a dozen of them are gone!  You didn't even eat them - they just melted in your mouth.

I have eight more days to go on the challenge.  I feel pretty confident about finishing strong.  And I'm planning on trying to continue on with it as well as I can. It will pretty much be a habit at that time for me so I will just need to continue the new healthy habit.

Day 10 & 11

Well, I didn't get on here yesterday.  We were celebrating Chris' birthday.  We had cake - I had none. GO ME

It is going well. No major temptations today or yesterday. I've made sure I had fruit (apples) to eat if I should get hungry for something.

Let's continue on with a review of the rules. We have discussed why chocolate and candy are bad for you. Let's look at the next item on the list.

              NO BISCUITS  NO COOKIES

Seems kind of funny to pair these two together doesn't it?  Did you know that in Britain a cookie is called a biscuit?  Perhaps that is why they paired them together.

Well, we know that cookies are made with sugar - lots of sugar.  And of course we know that sugar is bad for us.  And let's just be honest here. Who eats just one cookie?  Most people would have two or three.

 Biscuits are made from flour.  I guess I forgot that yesterday was a tempting day for me. At our house you get to choose what you want for your birthday dinner. Chris wanted biscuits and gravy.  I did not eat a biscuit. I had a piece of wheat toast. I'm trying to make better choices. Now from all the research I've done over the years, and dieting, and researching foods I know that one thing you should watch out for is 'white' - sugar, flour, potatoes, rice.

So here it is a little more half way through the challenge and I think I'm holding up pretty well.  I don't miss the Pepsi as much as I did last week.  My granddaughter is doing a fantastic job doing this no junk food challenge with me. It is amazing how much will power she has.

 In the mean time I'm just going to

Day 9 - New Food Night

Well, it's Day #9 of my Challenge. And today proved to be the day of temptations to challenge me.

First we had a student who had made several calls to the Call Center. In appreciation for all the help that we had provided she brought us a box of bagels and cream cheese as well as a container of cookies. And they were delivered while I was on my lunch break!  Man did they ever look good!  I totally stayed away from both and it wasn't as hard as it would have been a few weeks ago.

Now we haven't had New Food Night since before the holidays. And in case you think you may have missed out on one - no worries. I was busy and did not get them posted. We had decided that after the holidays we would start back with a Potluck.  This was supposed to be last week but Gary was sick and I was hurting so we postponed one more week.  Tonight we had Potluck; and not just Potluck but it turned out to be International Potluck.

I got the table all set. We decided to eat in the living room in front of the fire. It has been cold and we like to eat in here when we have a fire going. Now back to the kitchen to get things ready.

I had done some searching online (well maybe Pinterest) to find something that would be reasonably healthy for me.  Can you guess what I might be making from my ingredients?

I settled on Chicken Tortellini Soup.  It was awesome and will be added to something that we will be preparing more frequently!

Take some chicken broth, one can white beans, drained and rinsed, one can Italian tomatoes, 1 can chicken (or 1 cup cooked chicken), one package frozen cheese tortellini, dried basil, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper.  Yep, we really liked this recipe!

Annette brought a salad. It had avocado, zucchini, tomatoes, lettuce mix. She brought Catalina dressing, sesame seeds and Chinese Noodles to put on this.  I took an extra big helping of the salad.

Chris brought some ham and cheese sandwiches. Knowing that we would have several items to taste he wisely cut them in small portions for us.  Didn't he have a nice presentation?  I ate one small sandwich (white bread - not supposed to have).

Rick brought some cheesy potatoes.  Man they smelled so good! He said he had been cooking them in the crockpot at work all afternoon.  Was a major distraction to his workers.  A package of hash browns, some sour cream, butter, cream of chicken with mushroom soup, cheese, some onion salt.  Yummers.  I had one small spoonful.

Gary tried something that he loves but has never made.  Fried Rice.  I gotta admit I was not looking forward to this as I don't eat fried rice. To be honest I have never tried it.  I was pleasantly surprised.  He made the rice last night and put in the refrigerator. Tonight he added some chopped up carrots and onions, grated some ginger, chopped up some pork loin and mixed it all together along with an egg.  It was very good.

Oh did I mention that tomorrow is Chris' birthday and we actually had a cake tonight to surprise him . I think the fire on the cake is bigger than the fire in the wood stove behind him.

Doesn't this look good?  Notice the orange sprinkles?  That's because orange is his favorite color.  How did I do with this?  Well, I told Gary to only cut me a small sliver.  I ate two small bites of the cake and gave the rest to Gary.

So over all I think I did pretty good with all the temptations put in front of me today.  And it wasn't to hard to pass them up.

One more picture to share. Doesn't Chris look handsome?

Day 8 - No Junk Food Savings

Well - I'm starting week number two of the challenge. That means today is day number

It's getting easier - cravings are not as bad as they were last week.  I think now I just need to make it a habit to make better choices. I'm on my way. Had dinner out with our friends tonight. We eat out with them every Monday night. Tonight I chose a healthy meal. I even declined to eat the mozzarella sticks that Gary ordered for an appetizer.

Today was the first day of semester. Our phone rang non-stop. Believe it or not, I never even thought about a Chocolate Coke. Normally at beginning of semester I will take one to work with me knowing that it is going to be a rough day.

I have not been to Quik Trip for coffee (or cappuccino) since last Tuesday. I make a pot of coffee at home and take a carafe to work with me. It sees me through the day.  I see savings in my future if I stay away from Quik Trip. One large coffee is $1.73.  That's almost $10 a week just on weekdays. Doesn't include weekends or nights.

So I can see several bonuses in this already.  So I will continue on with my 21 day No Junk Food Challenge and will continue with my

Day 7 - No Candy

Well here it is the end of the weekend. The ending of day number 7 of the No Junk Food Challenge.

The weekend has actually gone pretty well. We had Life Group tonight. The menu was hot dogs, chips, chocolate no bake cookies.  Yep - pretty much everything on the junk food list.  LOL  In order to stick to my diet Gary made me a sandwich of ham, guacamole, bacon and lettuce on wheat berry bread.  I was able to pass up the hot dogs and chips.  And it was not to difficult for me.  :)

Let's go over the rules again.  The other day I wrote about why chocolate is bad for you.  Next on the No Junk Food rule is NO CANDY.  Let's look at this and see why.

Well the obvious of course would be sugar. To much sugar can lead to cavities, weight gain and poor nutrition.  If you are filling up on sugar from candy then you won't be eating enough of the foods that are good for you.

The sugar in candy is in the form of sucrose. Sucrose provides you a quick source of energy. That explains why people tend to grab a candy bar when they get that 'sinking' feeling in the middle of the afternoon.  Eat one candy bar and your energy level is magically restored and you can make it to the end of the day.

That sucrose those though can cause mood swings, weight gain, and even diabetes.  Wow if that doesn't make you think twice about eating to much candy what will?

It's okay to have candy for an occasional treat but obviously eating very much of it can cause problems,

The above chart shows how your body is affected over time. I do notice that the lady in the photo never appears to age just gain weight. Poor thing - it just kinda creeps up on you over the course of time.  I can identify with this.  And I can also say that as you get older it's harder to loose that weight.

Let me say that after the end of one week my scales show I am down three pounds.  I am not totally counting that yet as my weight always fluctuates up and down within a three pound range.  Other friends report more energy. I haven't noticed that but it could be due to my health issues that I have not noticed the energy increase.

I think it's getting easier to reach for an apple for a snack. And I can honestly say that we ate out twice this past week and both times I ordered a salad. Both salads were large and filled me up each time.

So it's on to Week Number 2 - I'm sure it will be easier than last week.

Day 6 - Running Errands

Well today was a day that kind of had me concerned. Typically on Saturdays I will run errands, go to the bank, etc. I usually grab a sandwich at Wendy's or Arby's while I am out. I also treat myself to that chocolate coke from Sonic that I love.

No Fast Food -- No Chocolate - No Soda ----  three big NO'S on the Junk Food Challenge.

Well, I revised my typical Saturday. I got up late, this is typical for me on Saturday.  Well, actually I got up early. 5;20 to be exact. Chris had asked for a ride to work. The bus schedule does not run in a fashion to get him to work on time on the weekends.  The weather has been super cold and instead of riding his bike he has been riding the bus. So I got up and took him to work then came home and went back to bed.

After getting up, I made a pot of coffee had my shower then made breakfast.  I fried a couple of eggs and put them on top of wheat berry toast. Along with a glass of juice and a cup of coffee it was a very good breakfast.

Now this is when I would usually start my errands. Not today.  I then cleaned up the area around the wood stove and carried in 5 loads of wood. Had to rest after that. That's kind of how I roll.  I work a little - I rest a little.  LOL  I then swept, swiffered and mopped the floors throughout the house. This wasn't done all at once. I used my method of work and rest throughout the process.  I then ate a couple of sliced of wheat berry toast.

Chris called me about 2 to say that he was off work and ready to go home. I picked him up and took him home. I then ran my errands. By doing this I was not out at lunch time and was not tempted to stop and get a sandwich from some fast food place.  I did not even allow my errands to take me by a Sonic today. In Tulsa this can be a difficult thing to work around as we have almost as many Sonics as we have Quik Trips.

Gary and I went out to eat tonight before going grocery shopping.  I played it safe and had a Cancun Salad (we ate at a Mexican place).  And for those of you who are wondering 'I thought you said you ran errands. Why didn't you buy groceries then?'  Gary loves to go grocery shopping. We also take Chris to buy his groceries every week. So we typically go grocery shopping on Saturday nights.  I bought myself some wheat tortillas, some apples, oat nut bread and some salad for the week.  I should be good to go for the upcoming week.

When talking to my granddaughter today I asked how she was doing on the No Junk Food. She said it was actually getting easier. I agree - it does seem to be somewhat easier.  I think the first week is the hardest and now it's just a matter of continuing so that it has become a habit.  Glad today went as well as it did.

Day 5 - End of Work Week

Thank goodness the work week is over!!  I gotta tell you doing this No Junk Food has made me realize how much I really 'treat' myself.  Yes, I typically stop at Sonic and get myself a large Chocolate coke once or twice a week.

Our semester starts next week. This means a higher than usual volume of calls. We had issues with some of our programs and this created issues with student accounts not updating as quickly as they normally would. this resulted in an increase in calls.

This is how I felt as I'm laying with my head on my desk as I attempt to assist yet another person with a password reset and it has already been 15 minutes and they are only now able to type in the password I have set for them. This is the point where I would normally grab that large chocolate coke and take a sip - a very long sip.  I did not have that option available for me and I gotta say - I really missed it!

I have a headache which could turn into a migraine so I will have to take some medicine. I am so glad that this is not transmitted across the phone to the people I talk to.  It is true that a smile can be 'heard' over the phone.  On top of the headache my joints hurt. This is from arthritis and fibromyalgia. It is what it is.  But after spending 25 minutes with a person on the phone just trying to help them reset their password this is how I feel.

I am so grateful that my parents taught me how to treat people with respect so that at the end of the conversation this is the image the person on the other end of the line has of me as they are thanking me for my patience.

I'm sure this first week will be the hardest and the weekend coming up may prove to be more so as I will be home. I think it's easier to 'treat' yourself at home. I know it's important to keep healthy choices around so will be trying to make some wise choices at the store this week.

My friends doing the challenge with me have reported increased energy and some weight loss. I cannot say that I have had the same results but I know that I have followed the guidelines and not had the junk food so I feel like I am doing good.  Let's see how my weekend goes.