Rendezvous Ribs and Chocolate #47

I added Ad-Sense to my blog after giving it a lot of thought and researching to feel comfortable that the advertisements would be compatible with this blog.  I had no dreams of generating a lot of revenue through payments to me from ad-sense.   What I did think was the advertisements would be compatible with my content and blog purpose.  That I would be ranked higher in google search, and that my readers base would be more widespread.    I have been very disappointed in the advertisments' content they have attached to my blog.  As an example I am familiar with Schwan's foods.  We use to be a customer, they deliver to your door via a delivery driver who is usually a very good salesman.  The sales/delivery guy fills your order right from the truck. We thought their products and quality was very good, but I considered their prices high.    Now Schwans is one of the companies that ad-sense displays at times on my heart health blog.  And in fairness to Schwan's, I thought perhaps they do offer heart healthy foods.  So I followed the ad-sense Schwan's ad directly from this blog to their web-site.  Did nothing special, expecting to be in the healthy section.  Pizza, doughnuts, desserts, ice cream sandwiches, peanut butter ice cream, loaded waffle cone ice cream, pancake and sausage on a stick, just to name a few. Okay, that is what I found, so I realize I made a mistake and I am going to get rid of ad-sense.  It doesn't fit me or this blog.

I now have my workout routine working pretty, pretty, pretty good.   I'm trying to write it the way Larry David says it.  Didn't work did it.   The pretty should stretch out like prettttttteeeeee good.  Anyway, when I am doing all the different exercises in my routine I feel good, invigorated, anyway you want to say pretty good, that is the way I feel. Plus I feel good about myself after working out. Even the treadmill doesn't seem boring anymore.  My shoulders use to brother me  being sore and I think it had something to do with my posture not being very good.   Now the shoulder problem has gone away and the posture has really improved.

I have been craving certain foods recently.  Not what I would have thought 2 years ago when I began to change my eating habits, and going over to healthy foods.  I would have thought the fast food burgers, fries, barbecue were the foods I would miss.  You know, Memphis is world famous for the barbecue pork shoulder sandwiches and ribs.  Dry style and wet ribs. You don't go very far around here without finding several small and large places that specialize in barbecued pork of some sort.  There are people reading this from Russia and Germany and I wonder if they have heard of the Memphis barbecue, especially the ribs.  The Rendezvous ribs are still our favorite.  We just don't eat there anymore.  However, I am not craving or wanting any of that kind of food.  No, I don't want barbecue, porterhouse steak, prime rib king cut,  mash potatoes, fried potatoes, double cheeseburger, or a bucket of good ole greasy fried chicken.  No not any of that, I want chocolate.  Candy bars, chocolate milk, brownies, chocolate cake, a big hunk of fudge, a giant Snickers bar, a Baby Ruth as big as my arm, give me some chocolate. Sad isn't it.  Ever seen the TV commercial of the little chubby boy selling chocolate candy bars door to door.  He starts out so nice and neat and he gets to the first house, rings the door bell, it opens and he is standing there with chocolate smeared all around his mouth.  That's the way Cindy would find me if she left a big chocolate cake laying around the kitchen.  No chocolate left in the house, just me standing there with a big chocolate smile on my face.  You know the cake Cindy......... the cake with that super gooey chocolate pecan icing.........

Back when I didn't care what or how much I ate, I didn't eat that much chocolate that  I now crave. Chocolate just was not a favorite of mine.

Sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas I may invite Cindy down to the Rendezvous for some of those ribs.  We have been going down there for almost 46 years, going back to when we were still in college, and surely to goodness one more time wouldn't hurt anything.

Next time we will talk about Chocolate. Or maybe something healthy that probably would be more suitable.  If I get that cake I'll let you know.....

Oatmeal, Nuts, and Exercise #46

My diet, food I eat, weight control, healthy eating, whatever you want to label it, continues to change and evolve.  Some things I have changed because  I felt nutrition wise I needed a change.  My basics remain the same.  Oatmeal for breakfast, and on occasion for lunch.  I consider oatmeal at breakfast as a necessity. Good for me, gives me energy, and is filling and a good way to start the day.  Sometimes at lunch for weight control, and it is filling and tasty to me.   Enough on oatmeal.  Other mainstay foods for me.   Bake potato with some sort of topping. Could be left over soup, chili, or as last nights broccoli and sliced or cubed chicken breast.   I don't know of much you could not use on a baked potato that suits your taste.  Try it.   It is a dinner item for me.  Usually with a salad and you have a complete meal.  Vegetable soup or about any other soup Cindy prepares for us is my other favorite.  Some things I have changed are I am not eating as much fruit as previously. Again this is personal not a recommendation to you.  I felt like I was eating too much fruit daily.  At least 3 or 4 whole fruits daily, oranges, apples, bananas, melon, not counting several strawberries.  I think I was taking in more sugar than I should have been.   I am also not eating as many walnuts and sunflower kernels daily.  I was  eating them for protein and good health. I had become addicted to them and was eating them by the handful, plus adding to my salads.  Which adding to the salads is  tasty,  and another way to eat nuts, while adding a healthy protein to your daily diet. 

For those of you wanting to lose another 5 or 10 pounds before going to your next check up at your cardiologist here is an idea.  A few weeks ago I was scheduled for  an exam.  I had to go on a restricted diet for 4 days, day four was restricted to liquids. Broth, coffee, jello, all you want......, yeah. Well I lost 9 pounds.  I also discovered I had a taste for jello, which I do not recall eating for years.  Cindy says it contains a lot of sugars, too much to be good for you.

Since adding  a few new exercises to my regular workout routine I am going to have to add time or rotate days on doing all of them.  One reason is there are two more I want to add and I need to decide about going longer or rotating.  I really thought at some time I would be able to jog or run.   But I am pretty sure I will not be able nor should do that.  I don't think my back and joints are young enough to take the pounding of running or jogging.  Nor do I think it would be very smart to see how hard I could push my heart considering I have one coronary artery out of commission.  Like you, I have come a long way in my recovery.  But I still have a limit on my stamina.  And my energy can run out quickly.  Not like before. when I would gradually get tired, then have to take a break and rest for a while, and it would not be too long before I would be ready to go again.  Now it is like all of a sudden I just run out of energy, and there is no energizing myself with an hour or so of rest.  It is like done for the day.

Dedicated and Determined to Change #45

I would like to know how many of you reading this are having problems losing weight.  And I don't want our daughter Ann e-mailing me that she has a lot of trouble losing weight.  She has never had one once of fat or been even close to needing to lose any weight.  Ann is in her middle 30's and still gets carded when she and her husband go out.  About a year ago she and I went to a movie and she had to provide ID to get into the theatre.  She is small, fit, and looks a lot younger than her actual age.   The reason I asked about the weight is it being such an important factor in regaining your heart health, and recovery.  To me if you have a lot of weight you need to lose it is the most challenging of all the lifestyle changes you will need to make.  You know I have talked about how fortunate I was in that regard.  I had already began to lose weight when I had the heart attack, so my mindset was in that mode when I returned home from the hospital.  I just continued on with eating healthy.   It is a lot different when someone tells you to lose weight, or you have to stop eating so and so because it is bad for your health. It is not as difficult  when you've already changed because you wanted too.   Every one's condition and health circumstance are unique to them after a heart attack.  Like how much weight to lose, or how high is their cholesterol.  I think in most cases it comes down to diet, elevated cholesterol, and too little exercise being contributing factors in having heart disease, or heart attack.  Obviously heart defects, and other cardiovascular problems are completely different.  But if you are like the rest of us, losing weight is going to require a lot of determination, and is important in getting healthy again.

I decided the best way for me to lose weight was not to diet, but to change my eating habits and what I ate.  I gave a lot of thought to what type foods I had eaten and how eating habits I had developed over the years had contributed to my being unhealthy.   I was snacking a lot, I ate way too much red meat, and I would eat until I was over filled at every meal.  I snacked from after finishing dinner until bedtime.   So if I changed those habits and reduced red meats that would be a good start.  Next, stop all snacking, and be satisfied but not full at every meal.  Leave food on my plate.  Don't pick out the biggest serving and leave the smaller for Cindy.   You get the idea.  I really believe when you're ready to lose weight permanently this is the best approach to take. Decide what factors you need to change.   It obviously is not as easy as this, as a matter of fact it is not easy at all. The point I am trying to make without discouraging you is you have to make your mind up that you are going to do this.  Don't even think about starting until you are dedicated to stick with it.  The worst thing you can do is start a diet that you can't stay with.  I think you have to be ready to make a major lifestyle change and dedicated to it.  When you've done that you're ready to start improving your lifestyle and health. 

We can discuss diet and healthy foods later.  But a heads up here.   Oatmeal is at the top of my list.....I would tell you the brand, recipe I use, and show you a picture of the box but they are being obstinate.