and we are off to the races ;)
Cathy's Mom, at age 75, has given up the idea that she is 30 and can still put on the Family Holiday Dinners; it happened on October 24th, when Cathy asked her about Christmas, and she said, she couldn't keep doing it, perhaps we could all go out to a nice restaurant, and not have the preparation or clean up; that went over like a lead balloon;
So now it is here at the house; Cathy is in charge of the meal, though we will do our 31 lb Turkey, and and perhaps some other bird ;) as well as Christmas Eve, Christmas Breakfast, and Christmas Dinners Desserts ;-) English Traditions; which we were told, not everyone likes, so while we will try to accommodate, Cathy will buy whatever other's want ;)
Thomas is still in Halloween Mode, so hard to get him to talk recipes, and menus; but I am hopeful that we will have a sit down the first week of November; in the meantime, I'll make lists here, and see what happens when the lists meet reality ;)
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Christmas 2011
ok!! lets get this kicked off right; have blogged about the weight, now how about the feast as the end ;) yup, there will be a Christmas feast; The Cratchets should be so lucky to have such bounty!! LOL
Well, perhaps not, it will be heavily improvised this year; aside from the Mincemeat (I made a single batch for this year) the cake, and two puddings are hold overs from 2009 so very well cured ;-) At the end of last year, I put aside some of the ingredients for cookies and such, so that we would have a start for this year; as it turns out, it was a good idea; we have mint chocolate chips, and Black Currant preserve; red and green cherries, almond paste, spices, and sliced almonds, custard powder and jellos for the Tryfle ; the cake, puddings and the Mincemeat will be "seasoned" tomorrow, for the last time, it makes up 4 Litres, more than adequate for the family; all that needs purchasing, can be done between now and the beginning of December; we have a Christmas Turkey (31 lbs) and if money permits we may have a Goose and Ham for those who desire it; no guarantees ;)
now to make a list of things we would need/like for cooking:
Small Tarts shells from Almost Perfect
Butter
Candied Peel
Flour for baking 10 kg
Molasses
Sugar, white and brown
Well, perhaps not, it will be heavily improvised this year; aside from the Mincemeat (I made a single batch for this year) the cake, and two puddings are hold overs from 2009 so very well cured ;-) At the end of last year, I put aside some of the ingredients for cookies and such, so that we would have a start for this year; as it turns out, it was a good idea; we have mint chocolate chips, and Black Currant preserve; red and green cherries, almond paste, spices, and sliced almonds, custard powder and jellos for the Tryfle ; the cake, puddings and the Mincemeat will be "seasoned" tomorrow, for the last time, it makes up 4 Litres, more than adequate for the family; all that needs purchasing, can be done between now and the beginning of December; we have a Christmas Turkey (31 lbs) and if money permits we may have a Goose and Ham for those who desire it; no guarantees ;)
now to make a list of things we would need/like for cooking:
Small Tarts shells from Almost Perfect
Butter
Candied Peel
Flour for baking 10 kg
Molasses
Sugar, white and brown
How to lose 72 pounds in a year!!
Oct 26th 2011
it is now almost a year later, and I have NOT lost 72 lbs; not even close; there have been several mitigating circumstances; primary is that income remained variable, and the leg is still not working as well as I had hoped; I am now "permanently" using a cane when out walking; the knee has a habit of locking up when least expected, making for an unstable centre of gravity, that if I hadn't the cane, I would possibly pitch over on my face ;(
on the bright side, I have been slowly working since February on an exercise machine, that I am hopeful will be finished before Christmas, which will help strengthen the thigh muscle in the damaged leg; it having atrophied over the past 2 years;
as well I have been walking with weights since January 2011; I bought myself a set of ice cleats for my boots, and they do work; not perfect in high winds, but adequate with caution; I have been able to walk up to the doctor's office, about 4 miles, in both winter and late spring; and a daily set routine of 7 kl (in 1 1/4 hour) with weights varying from 18 to 25 lbs; this to improve endurance and heart strength; not to loose weight or improve the leg, though it appears to have worked on the knee, increasing muscle around the surgery area;
so now for the interesting part: I will be going on the fast again until Christmas; without looking at the scales or charts; just cut back on the intake of food and increase the water or tea (btw coffee is out now; found it was causing leg swelling this past two months) the food should be easy, as the price of groceries has skyrocketed, and I am now finding I am living more out of the freezer and making my own bread, etc to compensate; so with this blog post, as the start, Tomorrow is the day one ;)
Starting weight I will post tomorrow, and again November 25th (or there about) and again on December 20th; goal, to be below 200 lbs by Christmas, by however much I can manage;
***********************************************************
November 8th 2010
Hi, this is a semi humourous post; semi because this time last year I weighed about 195 lbs, and had weighed that for several years, while trying to lose 25 lbs; then last Christmas when we were trying to have a traditional Christmas, I gained about 20-25 lbs; what with cooking early to make sure of technique and quantity. The Christmas Chocolate Chip cookies, called affectionately Heroin Cookies, because a batch of 48 could go in a night amongst 5 people, were a real problem; not to forget the Broken Hill Pudding of which I was eating a whole one myself, sliced like thick bread, per day until I had the method down pat, but by then it was too late!!
So this year, I have fought the battle of the bulge and lost 6 lbs of that weight gained, at least 12 times, probably more; so for arguments sake, we will say I lost 72 lbs this year; yesterday I went out with my friend AJ, to A&W, and had an Uncle Burger, Fries and Rootbeer; but before I went out, I thought I would get into some jeans that I hadn't put on for over a year; well, one pair barely done up and there were parts of my anatomy that were in danger of being strangled ;-), the others were a dead lose, couldn't squeeze into them no matter what I did; and no I didn't lay on the ground and try to get into them ;)
That is the humourous part; what is not so humourous, is that my cardiologist (yeah I have one) told me last spring that I had to lose at least 40 lbs, and a test I did online to see how long I would live given my general health and habits, I took twice; once as I am now, and the second with changes in habit, diet and weight; the difference was about 10 years; and that is with present medical technology;
I just went upstairs, and Adam is making pancakes for his daughter, and he made more than enough for the family ;) of course the smell is wafting down the stairs into my room; but I have to start a fast to lose at LEAST 10 lbs in the next 20 days; there is a chart below that I will be filling out, plus I will be keeping track of my food intake on a 11 1/2 by 8 inch sheet, food diary, attached to the Fridge door to keep me honest; it has been toooooo easy to get up in the middle of the night or during the day and eating at irregular times, to graze at the food ;-)
With all the variety of food that there is to choose from to cook and bake for Christmas, (and I will be posting the recipe collection soon) perhaps this is a family tradition after all ;-) I will be posting progress reports from the front (and the rear) as the battle wages;
Just to be clear, this is not a religious or complete fast, but a cutting out of the extras and cutting down on what is above my output level; I know exercise is important, and if your dieting or about to, then you have to increase that as you decrease your intake; common sense, no! but right now I am limited to what I can do, and will be for a while, so will work out something here in the basement as I set up the workshop and other improvements; while the blogs and other computer related work is important, there are other areas of life that are as well; so somewhere I have to find a balance; this too I will get back to you on '-)
Cheers
it is now almost a year later, and I have NOT lost 72 lbs; not even close; there have been several mitigating circumstances; primary is that income remained variable, and the leg is still not working as well as I had hoped; I am now "permanently" using a cane when out walking; the knee has a habit of locking up when least expected, making for an unstable centre of gravity, that if I hadn't the cane, I would possibly pitch over on my face ;(
on the bright side, I have been slowly working since February on an exercise machine, that I am hopeful will be finished before Christmas, which will help strengthen the thigh muscle in the damaged leg; it having atrophied over the past 2 years;
as well I have been walking with weights since January 2011; I bought myself a set of ice cleats for my boots, and they do work; not perfect in high winds, but adequate with caution; I have been able to walk up to the doctor's office, about 4 miles, in both winter and late spring; and a daily set routine of 7 kl (in 1 1/4 hour) with weights varying from 18 to 25 lbs; this to improve endurance and heart strength; not to loose weight or improve the leg, though it appears to have worked on the knee, increasing muscle around the surgery area;
so now for the interesting part: I will be going on the fast again until Christmas; without looking at the scales or charts; just cut back on the intake of food and increase the water or tea (btw coffee is out now; found it was causing leg swelling this past two months) the food should be easy, as the price of groceries has skyrocketed, and I am now finding I am living more out of the freezer and making my own bread, etc to compensate; so with this blog post, as the start, Tomorrow is the day one ;)
Starting weight I will post tomorrow, and again November 25th (or there about) and again on December 20th; goal, to be below 200 lbs by Christmas, by however much I can manage;
***********************************************************
November 8th 2010
Hi, this is a semi humourous post; semi because this time last year I weighed about 195 lbs, and had weighed that for several years, while trying to lose 25 lbs; then last Christmas when we were trying to have a traditional Christmas, I gained about 20-25 lbs; what with cooking early to make sure of technique and quantity. The Christmas Chocolate Chip cookies, called affectionately Heroin Cookies, because a batch of 48 could go in a night amongst 5 people, were a real problem; not to forget the Broken Hill Pudding of which I was eating a whole one myself, sliced like thick bread, per day until I had the method down pat, but by then it was too late!!
So this year, I have fought the battle of the bulge and lost 6 lbs of that weight gained, at least 12 times, probably more; so for arguments sake, we will say I lost 72 lbs this year; yesterday I went out with my friend AJ, to A&W, and had an Uncle Burger, Fries and Rootbeer; but before I went out, I thought I would get into some jeans that I hadn't put on for over a year; well, one pair barely done up and there were parts of my anatomy that were in danger of being strangled ;-), the others were a dead lose, couldn't squeeze into them no matter what I did; and no I didn't lay on the ground and try to get into them ;)
That is the humourous part; what is not so humourous, is that my cardiologist (yeah I have one) told me last spring that I had to lose at least 40 lbs, and a test I did online to see how long I would live given my general health and habits, I took twice; once as I am now, and the second with changes in habit, diet and weight; the difference was about 10 years; and that is with present medical technology;
I just went upstairs, and Adam is making pancakes for his daughter, and he made more than enough for the family ;) of course the smell is wafting down the stairs into my room; but I have to start a fast to lose at LEAST 10 lbs in the next 20 days; there is a chart below that I will be filling out, plus I will be keeping track of my food intake on a 11 1/2 by 8 inch sheet, food diary, attached to the Fridge door to keep me honest; it has been toooooo easy to get up in the middle of the night or during the day and eating at irregular times, to graze at the food ;-)
With all the variety of food that there is to choose from to cook and bake for Christmas, (and I will be posting the recipe collection soon) perhaps this is a family tradition after all ;-) I will be posting progress reports from the front (and the rear) as the battle wages;
Just to be clear, this is not a religious or complete fast, but a cutting out of the extras and cutting down on what is above my output level; I know exercise is important, and if your dieting or about to, then you have to increase that as you decrease your intake; common sense, no! but right now I am limited to what I can do, and will be for a while, so will work out something here in the basement as I set up the workshop and other improvements; while the blogs and other computer related work is important, there are other areas of life that are as well; so somewhere I have to find a balance; this too I will get back to you on '-)
Cheers
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