Diet Pays Off

Just a little over a year ago, my insurance company said they would insure me, but they were charging me 80% more for my premiums because of my weight; I could appeal the rate increase in one year. That was the motivation and the deadline I needed to really work on losing weight.  I had lost about 20 pounds before that, but had hit a plateau. It has been a battle between calories consumed and calories burned ever since.

In August I started checking into what I needed to do to have my rates reduced. When I was at the doctor for my regular appointment, I had him sign a statement of my height and weight as of that date.  I completed all the necessary application papers, but then waited to mail them until it was more than a year since my passing out episode. I mailed them the beginning of this month.  A few days later I received an e-mail asking for an explanation for the claims I had due to the fainting.  I thought maybe it sounded good to them that I fainted because I was trying to lose weight--evidence that I really was trying to do what they wanted me to do, wasn't it?  I didn't hear any more from them until today.

Today I have reaped one of the rewards of that effort: denying myself food I would have enjoyed, walking miles and miles (wearing out a pair of shoes in the process), and filling out all the forms they requested.  When I got the mail today, there was a check from my insurance company.  It was a refund for 30% of my premium increase.  That gives me about $77 a month for something else.  I have already reworked my budget and applied it to a different category that was weak and needy.  We shall strengthen the feeble.

This does not end the calorie counting.  I am still paying 50% more than I should be for insurance.  Once again, I can appeal the rate increase in one year.  So I have another goal and another deadline. I hope that a year from now I am at my goal and not paying anything extra. But, right now I want to eat something and not walk an extra three miles to burn it.  Anybody for celery sticks? Just wondering . . . Are there celery sticks that taste like chocolate peanut butter ice cream?

Lessons Learned

Monday I gave one of my classes their first test.  They didn't do very well on two of the sections: composition and Dewey decimal.  I know they will be faced with questions from the same sections in at least three more tests this year: end of quarter, end of semester, and end of year.  If they don't know the information now, they will struggle with those sections every time the rest of the year.  So, I devised a plan. They will have a quiz on those two sections every day until they learn them.  As soon as they know them, I will stop the daily quizzes and give them one maybe weekly for a while just to be sure it goes into their long term memories. I hope they learn that lesson soon or I will get very tired of making multiple versions of the same quiz.

Last evening we walked from school to Shady Maple Smorgasbord for supper.  It was seafood night and Mary was due a free meal for her birthday. We decided to walk from school to Shady and then back to school so that we would burn off some of the calories we ate. I enjoyed the meal tremendously and wished I had room to taste a few more types of seafood.  I wanted some grilled salmon but simply didn't have the room for it.  You have to understand that since I have been losing weight, I simply do not eat as much as I used to.  By the time I stopped last evening, I had not eaten as much as I did other times that I was at Shady, but I realized that I had eaten too much.  The walk back to school was kind of miserable but was probably the best thing I could have done.

Why do I write about these two seemingly different topics? I think there is a connection. Just as my class didn't do too well on the test of Dewey decimal and composition, I didn't do too well with the test on my control of my eating.  I will have to have to learn my lesson well before I am faced with another birthday celebration in three weeks. I will be quizzing myself with every meal between now and then.

Third Annual Apple Butter Boil

We gathered with our apple sauce and sugar in hand. The fire was already going and the copper kettle hot when we arrived. It was set up inside the shed again this year because of the constant threat of rain all day.

We all sit around the fire watching it cook and taking turns stirring the kettle. It is a relaxing way to spend the holiday. This year we added making s'mores to the festivities.

By lunch time we had finished cooking the apple butter and took it off the fire to cool while we ate our lunch.  After lunch we divided our portions and went home again. Our portion was twelve half pints and nine pints of apple butter from the two gallons of apple sauce we contributed to the cause.

It was a success once again. The time spent together is worth as much or more than the apple butter.

 

New Shoes

This week I replaced the shoes I bought in February. Those were worn out--completely.  It doesn't seem like I had them all that long, but I put many miles on them in the months I had them AND never liked them.  They were on the clearance shelf at Weaver's Store, and I thought they were a good deal. Reebok brand.  It took me weeks to get used to them.  I never wore them to hike Old Rag which was the trip I bought them for in the first place.  Now, they were shot. The soles were paper thin. The insides were in shreds. Like I said, they were worn out.

I replaced them with a brand new pair of Sketchers sport. I liked these better on their maiden voyage from home to Allegheny Meetinghouse on Thursday evening than I ever liked the Reeboks. One day this week my students were asking me about my walking excursions.  I raised the question about how many miles shoes are rated for lasting.  You know tires are rated for 60000 miles or whatever.  How about shoes? I told them that I may walk 25 miles in a week.  They figured out that if I walk 25 miles every week, I will walk over 1000 miles in a year.  Are these 1000 miles shoes?  We will see.