small successes which lead to big breakthroughs. Kaizen. Keep on keeping on...
Thursday, November 14, 2013
Saturday, October 26, 2013
$248 Billion
In a recent Facebook posting, I noted that it's no big deal to me that Ted Cruz is covered under his wife's Goldman~Sachs-provided health care plan. If I could choose excellent health care coverage through my employer OR gilt-edged benefits through my spouse, I'd opt for the latter, too. My issue was with the negative impact employer-provided coverage continues to have on our nation's health care delivery. A friend's reply noted that costs of employer-provided health care benefits aren't footed by taxpayers. Except, they are.
A core reason (among several) why businesses - especially large ones - continue to support employer-provided health care coverage is due to the MASSIVE tax advantages it provides both the business and the employee. The value of Ted Cruz' health care benefits is tagged at $20,000 - a sizable amount not included in his wife's taxable income. And Goldman~Sachs gets to take it, in part or in whole (not sure which), as a business expense write-off. Win for the employer, win for the employee. NOT a win for the U.S. taxpayer.
In 2013 alone, it's estimated the U.S. Treasury will be out $248 BILLION ($240,000,000.00) dollars in health care benefits-related lost income & payroll taxes (a whopping 1.5% of the GDP, or more than the government pays for the interest on the federal debt).
A core reason (among several) why businesses - especially large ones - continue to support employer-provided health care coverage is due to the MASSIVE tax advantages it provides both the business and the employee. The value of Ted Cruz' health care benefits is tagged at $20,000 - a sizable amount not included in his wife's taxable income. And Goldman~Sachs gets to take it, in part or in whole (not sure which), as a business expense write-off. Win for the employer, win for the employee. NOT a win for the U.S. taxpayer.
In 2013 alone, it's estimated the U.S. Treasury will be out $248 BILLION ($240,000,000.00) dollars in health care benefits-related lost income & payroll taxes (a whopping 1.5% of the GDP, or more than the government pays for the interest on the federal debt).
I thank my friend for stating that tax-payers don't take a financial hit from employer-provided health care benefits. Would that it was true.
Friday, October 25, 2013
Dirt Happens - the power of short-term cleaning.
As young adults living in the same house, was always interested at how my sister tolerated clutter, but loathed dust, whereas I loathed clutter & tolerated dust. When I mentioned this to a friend during one of Mom's long-stay jaunts down to Australia, she commented, "I guess, now that the two of you are responsible for cleaning the house, it's uncluttered & dust-free." Nope, just the opposite - place looked like a hell hole by the time Mom was due home. We had to set to & clean with a will to get it looking semi decent in time for her arrival.
While our housecleaning habits have improved over the years, that long-ago reality left me with an appreciation of short-term cleaning. And wondering why it took me so long.
For most of my adult life, it was natural to put off what many of my friends considered "must do" daily chores. Vacuuming was left until dust on the carpet became visible, dishes left unwashed to the next day, and so on (don't want to get too disgusting). The bottom line is that I'd wait until cleaning became a major chore worthy of my attention, rather than making myself a "slave" to what felt like the thankless tasks of keeping things clean as an expected norm. For me, having a house that was always clean& tidy spelled icky daily drudgery. Better to tackle a BIG task, one worthy of my attention & effort.
One of the great challenges before me RIGHT NOW is to take short-term cleaning part of my daily habits. It matters to me, because the environment we live in matters.
That might seem obvious to most folks, but it faces constant resistance with me. Why doesn't matter. Getting past it does. Because the environment I live in matters.
There is no getting around the reality that my house ~ as it is at this moment in time ~ will never be as welcoming as my friends', none of who are fur-ever parents to a large clowder of cats. Especially not since Sky joined the cabdoodle of kitties. Seriously traumatized as a kitten, he daunted my efforts to keep the house fairly free of kitty smells. For the foreseeable future, there will be no parties in our house. But that doesn't mean I can't make it as clean & welcoming as possible. There could always be an excuse to put off cleaning, but that's all they are - excuses. It may never be as clean & welcoming as it was, but the reality is that our house can be, every day, as clean & welcoming as it can be.
But it can't happen without short-term cleaning. A house that's only cleaned when it HAS to be is anything but welcoming. Entering it, going from room to room, is a constant reminder of what needs to be done, rather than an invitation to settle in for rest & relaxation or whatever.
Just hit with a reminder of something my sister once said - years & years & years ago, so it's probably something she long outgrew but which has stuck in the mind of her adoring baby sister - to the effect, "Why bother with dusting? It's just going to get that way again." Stunning, realizing that such a short thought - possibly just thrown away in jest - stuck with me all these years.
Short-term cleaning. Knowing that I am successful by how at peace I feel in my home, rather than simply treating it as shelter. Is it repetitive? Does it sometimes feel like inane drudgery? Yes & yes. And worth every precious moment & extended energy.
Dirt happens. Keep the dust cloth at the ready & a good supply of vacuum cleaner bags, invest the time & energy, because an uncluttered, dust-free house (even one that sniffs to high heaven) is a treasure worth having.
While our housecleaning habits have improved over the years, that long-ago reality left me with an appreciation of short-term cleaning. And wondering why it took me so long.
For most of my adult life, it was natural to put off what many of my friends considered "must do" daily chores. Vacuuming was left until dust on the carpet became visible, dishes left unwashed to the next day, and so on (don't want to get too disgusting). The bottom line is that I'd wait until cleaning became a major chore worthy of my attention, rather than making myself a "slave" to what felt like the thankless tasks of keeping things clean as an expected norm. For me, having a house that was always clean& tidy spelled icky daily drudgery. Better to tackle a BIG task, one worthy of my attention & effort.
One of the great challenges before me RIGHT NOW is to take short-term cleaning part of my daily habits. It matters to me, because the environment we live in matters.
That might seem obvious to most folks, but it faces constant resistance with me. Why doesn't matter. Getting past it does. Because the environment I live in matters.
There is no getting around the reality that my house ~ as it is at this moment in time ~ will never be as welcoming as my friends', none of who are fur-ever parents to a large clowder of cats. Especially not since Sky joined the cabdoodle of kitties. Seriously traumatized as a kitten, he daunted my efforts to keep the house fairly free of kitty smells. For the foreseeable future, there will be no parties in our house. But that doesn't mean I can't make it as clean & welcoming as possible. There could always be an excuse to put off cleaning, but that's all they are - excuses. It may never be as clean & welcoming as it was, but the reality is that our house can be, every day, as clean & welcoming as it can be.
But it can't happen without short-term cleaning. A house that's only cleaned when it HAS to be is anything but welcoming. Entering it, going from room to room, is a constant reminder of what needs to be done, rather than an invitation to settle in for rest & relaxation or whatever.
Just hit with a reminder of something my sister once said - years & years & years ago, so it's probably something she long outgrew but which has stuck in the mind of her adoring baby sister - to the effect, "Why bother with dusting? It's just going to get that way again." Stunning, realizing that such a short thought - possibly just thrown away in jest - stuck with me all these years.
Short-term cleaning. Knowing that I am successful by how at peace I feel in my home, rather than simply treating it as shelter. Is it repetitive? Does it sometimes feel like inane drudgery? Yes & yes. And worth every precious moment & extended energy.
Dirt happens. Keep the dust cloth at the ready & a good supply of vacuum cleaner bags, invest the time & energy, because an uncluttered, dust-free house (even one that sniffs to high heaven) is a treasure worth having.
Thursday, October 24, 2013
Kaizen
Kaizen - a Japanese word meaning small successes. The small successes which lead to big breakthroughs.
When I think about it, can't bring to mind a single successful friend who hasn't mastered kaizen, investing countless small amounts of energy into equally small actions that accumulate ultimately into major accomplishments.
And it is never too late to learn that mastering big things means first tackling, accomplishing, moving past the minor things to the major - because we understand that some of the steps might seem minor, but all are essential. Kaizen
When I think about it, can't bring to mind a single successful friend who hasn't mastered kaizen, investing countless small amounts of energy into equally small actions that accumulate ultimately into major accomplishments.
And it is never too late to learn that mastering big things means first tackling, accomplishing, moving past the minor things to the major - because we understand that some of the steps might seem minor, but all are essential. Kaizen
Friday, September 6, 2013
Wink Wink
For decades, my hometown seemed to be a "wink wink" community - lots of talk about welcoming others, but typically said with an invisible wink of an eye, since it wasn't really true. Well, am happy to say that today it is VERY true, it fully completely enthusiastically welcomes others.
Been wondering about my own life, my own existence, and realizing it's been very wink wink, sadly wink wink. My experience has been of setting an essential goal, but with a wink wink attitude. The goal was set, without intention of follow through. Complete the goal? Seriously??
The roots of such foolishness will never fully dawn on me, but foolish it certainly is. And it feels downright wonderful challenging dangerous to find myself with a goal that matters to me & the determination to utterly completely totally shelve the wink wink foolishness.
My doctor told me that if I don't have health care coverage & can't afford to get it, then I absolutely positively no-excuses must follow the RAVE lifestyle*. Forever. "E" stands for NO exceptions. No gluten. No dairy. No processed soy products. No sugar. No animal products. No oil (!). No caffeine. Lots of vegetables. Lots of whole grains.
Alas, I believe him. Which leaves me either following what I believe in my bones to be true, or reverting to foolish wink wink ways.
An interesting place to be. Puts me on par with a grannie client who also faces accepting the challenge of an extreme makeover - and a happier life - or staying with the familiar, the comfy. Do I embody my talk, or not?
Don't you hate it when the questions are so simple & the answers are so unimaginably challenging!
*"The best insurance money can't buy!"
Been wondering about my own life, my own existence, and realizing it's been very wink wink, sadly wink wink. My experience has been of setting an essential goal, but with a wink wink attitude. The goal was set, without intention of follow through. Complete the goal? Seriously??
The roots of such foolishness will never fully dawn on me, but foolish it certainly is. And it feels downright wonderful challenging dangerous to find myself with a goal that matters to me & the determination to utterly completely totally shelve the wink wink foolishness.
My doctor told me that if I don't have health care coverage & can't afford to get it, then I absolutely positively no-excuses must follow the RAVE lifestyle*. Forever. "E" stands for NO exceptions. No gluten. No dairy. No processed soy products. No sugar. No animal products. No oil (!). No caffeine. Lots of vegetables. Lots of whole grains.
Alas, I believe him. Which leaves me either following what I believe in my bones to be true, or reverting to foolish wink wink ways.
An interesting place to be. Puts me on par with a grannie client who also faces accepting the challenge of an extreme makeover - and a happier life - or staying with the familiar, the comfy. Do I embody my talk, or not?
Don't you hate it when the questions are so simple & the answers are so unimaginably challenging!
*"The best insurance money can't buy!"
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
older2elder ~ Crowdfund request (draft)
Gulp - this is the (hopefully) final draft of an Indiegogo request. At present, the work I offer to "seniors" (a term I heartily dislike) and their families is limited to the two or three clients I can personally handle.
Why me? Am reminded of a story about a guy stuck in a deep hole - he yells to a passing doctor for help, and the man throws him down a prescription; he yells at a passing lawyer for help, and the man throws down his business card; he yells at a passing minister for help, and she throws down a Bible. Finally, he sees a friend pass by. He calls to her for help & is shocked when the woman leaps down into the pit, to stand with him. "Are you crazy!" the desperate man cries. "Now, you're stuck here, too!" "Oh," she explains. "I've been here before. I know the way out." When it comes to facing the often shrinking lives of aging loved ones & friends, I've been there before - I can help show a way out of the fears of aging to the brighter light of a fully well-lived life.
That’s my 90-year old Mom, Katharine Reynolds Lockhart, in a 2001 article – The Velveteen Grammie – we cobbled together from e-mails she wrote since the previous year. Twelve years ago, yet her voice, her presence is clear & strong, as close as http://www.Mindwalker1910.blogspot.com, which features many of her online postings.
Blogging helps olders capture years past, reconnects them to moments – big & small – throughout their life. It engages, energizes and empowers them. People far away or long gone come clearly to mind, feel almost tangible. Time & again, as Mom composed & I transcribed her postings, she’d slip into special moments – the little child celebrating the end of WWI, the young woman newly in love, the parent sending off children for trick or treating. Fun, connection, the gift of honoring a life – all flow from blogging life stories.
Sadly, most olders balk at life review, backing away with, “Who’s interested in my life? I didn’t do anything important. No one will care.” It’s true, some children might not care. But legacy blogging is not about others. In many ways, it’s not even about an “older.” It’s about honoring the life. (And I can almost guarantee the GRANDkids care!)
Blogging expands an older’s world. As does getting OUT, hitting the road for fun & even frivolity, getting “life veterans” out of artificial light & filtered air and into the wider world, sensing day turning into night, feeling the change of seasons. As does facilitating easy internet access, which takes even the home-bound to once unimagined places as they surf the web, connect with Facebook, communicate via e-mail.
Blogging, travel, internet access – each helped keep Mom lively to the end of her days. BUT she never touched a keyboard, never learned how to drive. I served as Faithful Scribe & chauffeur, keyboarding her around the web, driving her to a favorite local diner or off on a ramble, transcribing her dictation to e-mail (my years as an editor & writer proved priceless in helping Mom connect with topics, help craft her thoughts into words).
I started older2elder to get life veterans OUT. Out into the larger world, out onto the internet, connecting with those around them or far distant. Older2elder offers blogging support (from simple keyboarding for the technically timid to writing support for the computer literate), outs & abouts (near or far), and stress-free access to the internet (they direct, I keyboard). Ah, the bliss of providing priceless options & choices! The resulting fun, connection & life honoring – the potent power of play – can do more to lift spirits & revive the senses the any meds.
My present outreach is beyond teensy compared to what is needed - every “senior” deserves the advantages Mom enjoyed, every family deserves the difference they make in their loved one’s life. My plan is to use http://www.older2elder.blogspot.com for sharing ideas & insights, getting discussions rolling around eldering issues, spreading seeds of ideas for others to nurture & grow. Wheeeee!
While I can provide the experience, passion & determination, the core investment needed to take older2elder from inspired idea to far-reaching success is way past my present income. Your support, large or small, can make a difference. A snapshot of my projected basic needs includes*:
All that may seem a brazen request, but leaves off full underwriting. Instead, as a nod to Mom (who could never have afforded my support services), monies raised over my target will be used to underwrite “no charge, no kidding” outings & events.
From funding to final success, my goal is for older2elder to embody the concepts of engaging, energizing & empowering. My hope is that others will ultimately take up the cause, leaving me free to flip other eldering issues – aging in place & building multi-generational communities – from hobbies to full-time focus. Always keeping my eye on the horizon!
What’s my background, my certifications & credentials? None. I am not a psychologist, a social worker, a trained counselor of any type. I am not a rent-a-daughter or even a traditional in-home care provider. Maybe the only special quality I bring to helping olders tap into their inner elder is the gift of seeing them as fellow humans still yearning to stretch & grow & even indulge their ageless human spirit. All I do, as best I can, is take down barriers, external & internal. That’s basically all I did with Mom & do for my current clients – clear & open paths that they can, if they want, take. They make the choices & do the rest.
Mom was in her 40s when I was born. Many of her friends were far older than she was. Throughout my life, I was privileged to sit in on their coffee klatches & cocktail parties, soaking in their talk about trials, tribulations & triumphs. In my teens, I did housework for many of them, talking over tea & cookies during breaks between dusting the living room & washing the kitchen floor.
As an adult, I was honored to develop close friendships with sprightly octogenarians, including ones whose spirits transcended their bedridden bodies.
Even my career path – in education, public relations, marketing and customer support – prepared me for older2elder, made me proficient in talking with others, in aiding olders in looking back at & valuing their past, in providing writing support.
To be both cheerleader & coach, I read – a lot – often with Mom. I learned how to balance being a “grannie listener” and “badgering & browbeating” (Mom’s words). I learned the challenges of family dynamics, of dealing from a family’s strengths rather than their unrealized hopes of what they wished they could do, of working with what is real even if it doesn’t seem ideal.
In late July 2001, my husband & I were staying with Mom outside D.C., 150 miles from home. She looked forward to welcoming area family & friends to brunch. Early that Sunday morning, she took a tumble; she was gone by mid-September. During her last week, at home, in her own room, in her own bed, Mom responded with her usual enthusiasm to e-mailed questions from a local college psych class, on life, love and leaving. She sent out e-mails to the end of her days!
Mom was 90 when she wrote her first Mindwalker1910 posting. At 61, I am just now beginning what feels like my true life’s work. Mom wrote about late bloomers in a 12/11/00 post – “I consider the personal changes I am currently experiencing as a late bloom, one after what I thought was a hard frost. Reynolds-Lockhart ladies may be late bloomers, but my, what a lovely bloom it is.”
Is it outrageous to think I can reach out in myriad ways to help countless life veterans enjoy some of the “élan vital” – vital life – that infused Mom? That little ol' me can make a difference to their families, friends & care givers? Why not? At the very least, I can step up & swing away!
Thanks for supporting my older2elder energies, either through chipping in or via your prayers & best wishes. I’ll be happy to send e-mail updates on what’s happening or you can check my blog for a sense of what I’m doing.
Here’s to helping countless life veterans blog, surf & ramble their way to staying engaged, energized & empowered!
My dream is to expand from the few to the many.
Why me? Am reminded of a story about a guy stuck in a deep hole - he yells to a passing doctor for help, and the man throws him down a prescription; he yells at a passing lawyer for help, and the man throws down his business card; he yells at a passing minister for help, and she throws down a Bible. Finally, he sees a friend pass by. He calls to her for help & is shocked when the woman leaps down into the pit, to stand with him. "Are you crazy!" the desperate man cries. "Now, you're stuck here, too!" "Oh," she explains. "I've been here before. I know the way out." When it comes to facing the often shrinking lives of aging loved ones & friends, I've been there before - I can help show a way out of the fears of aging to the brighter light of a fully well-lived life.
Your comments - critiques - suggestions greatly welcome!!!
TEXT
"There are many things my physical condition keeps me from doing, but there are a lot of new experiences just waiting to be given a whirl. On the physical level, life stinks. On almost every other level--emotional, mental, spiritual--the world is my oyster and every month has an R! ~ ~ Marianne Williamson says that to get to the light, a person has to work through the darkness. In middle and early old age, life can seem dark and scary as we move out of the familiar into the unknown. Work through it toward the light.”
That’s my 90-year old Mom, Katharine Reynolds Lockhart, in a 2001 article – The Velveteen Grammie – we cobbled together from e-mails she wrote since the previous year. Twelve years ago, yet her voice, her presence is clear & strong, as close as http://www.Mindwalker1910.blogspot.com, which features many of her online postings.
Blogging helps olders capture years past, reconnects them to moments – big & small – throughout their life. It engages, energizes and empowers them. People far away or long gone come clearly to mind, feel almost tangible. Time & again, as Mom composed & I transcribed her postings, she’d slip into special moments – the little child celebrating the end of WWI, the young woman newly in love, the parent sending off children for trick or treating. Fun, connection, the gift of honoring a life – all flow from blogging life stories.
Sadly, most olders balk at life review, backing away with, “Who’s interested in my life? I didn’t do anything important. No one will care.” It’s true, some children might not care. But legacy blogging is not about others. In many ways, it’s not even about an “older.” It’s about honoring the life. (And I can almost guarantee the GRANDkids care!)
Blogging expands an older’s world. As does getting OUT, hitting the road for fun & even frivolity, getting “life veterans” out of artificial light & filtered air and into the wider world, sensing day turning into night, feeling the change of seasons. As does facilitating easy internet access, which takes even the home-bound to once unimagined places as they surf the web, connect with Facebook, communicate via e-mail.
Blogging, travel, internet access – each helped keep Mom lively to the end of her days. BUT she never touched a keyboard, never learned how to drive. I served as Faithful Scribe & chauffeur, keyboarding her around the web, driving her to a favorite local diner or off on a ramble, transcribing her dictation to e-mail (my years as an editor & writer proved priceless in helping Mom connect with topics, help craft her thoughts into words).
I started older2elder to get life veterans OUT. Out into the larger world, out onto the internet, connecting with those around them or far distant. Older2elder offers blogging support (from simple keyboarding for the technically timid to writing support for the computer literate), outs & abouts (near or far), and stress-free access to the internet (they direct, I keyboard). Ah, the bliss of providing priceless options & choices! The resulting fun, connection & life honoring – the potent power of play – can do more to lift spirits & revive the senses the any meds.
My present outreach is beyond teensy compared to what is needed - every “senior” deserves the advantages Mom enjoyed, every family deserves the difference they make in their loved one’s life. My plan is to use http://www.older2elder.blogspot.com for sharing ideas & insights, getting discussions rolling around eldering issues, spreading seeds of ideas for others to nurture & grow. Wheeeee!
While I can provide the experience, passion & determination, the core investment needed to take older2elder from inspired idea to far-reaching success is way past my present income. Your support, large or small, can make a difference. A snapshot of my projected basic needs includes*:
- Business/marketing coaching* – $1800
- IT support/tutoring* - $800
- Blog design* - $500.
- Desktop - still researching
- Cell phone/service plan - still researching
- Laptop - still researching
- Tablet - still researching
- Workshops/seminars/conferences – $3600 (excludes travel costs)
- 2010 Nissan Versa (to back-up 1999 sedan) - $11,000
- Self-publish THE VELVETEEN GRAMMIE - $2,200
All that may seem a brazen request, but leaves off full underwriting. Instead, as a nod to Mom (who could never have afforded my support services), monies raised over my target will be used to underwrite “no charge, no kidding” outings & events.
From funding to final success, my goal is for older2elder to embody the concepts of engaging, energizing & empowering. My hope is that others will ultimately take up the cause, leaving me free to flip other eldering issues – aging in place & building multi-generational communities – from hobbies to full-time focus. Always keeping my eye on the horizon!
What’s my background, my certifications & credentials? None. I am not a psychologist, a social worker, a trained counselor of any type. I am not a rent-a-daughter or even a traditional in-home care provider. Maybe the only special quality I bring to helping olders tap into their inner elder is the gift of seeing them as fellow humans still yearning to stretch & grow & even indulge their ageless human spirit. All I do, as best I can, is take down barriers, external & internal. That’s basically all I did with Mom & do for my current clients – clear & open paths that they can, if they want, take. They make the choices & do the rest.
Mom was in her 40s when I was born. Many of her friends were far older than she was. Throughout my life, I was privileged to sit in on their coffee klatches & cocktail parties, soaking in their talk about trials, tribulations & triumphs. In my teens, I did housework for many of them, talking over tea & cookies during breaks between dusting the living room & washing the kitchen floor.
As an adult, I was honored to develop close friendships with sprightly octogenarians, including ones whose spirits transcended their bedridden bodies.
Even my career path – in education, public relations, marketing and customer support – prepared me for older2elder, made me proficient in talking with others, in aiding olders in looking back at & valuing their past, in providing writing support.
To be both cheerleader & coach, I read – a lot – often with Mom. I learned how to balance being a “grannie listener” and “badgering & browbeating” (Mom’s words). I learned the challenges of family dynamics, of dealing from a family’s strengths rather than their unrealized hopes of what they wished they could do, of working with what is real even if it doesn’t seem ideal.
In late July 2001, my husband & I were staying with Mom outside D.C., 150 miles from home. She looked forward to welcoming area family & friends to brunch. Early that Sunday morning, she took a tumble; she was gone by mid-September. During her last week, at home, in her own room, in her own bed, Mom responded with her usual enthusiasm to e-mailed questions from a local college psych class, on life, love and leaving. She sent out e-mails to the end of her days!
Mom was 90 when she wrote her first Mindwalker1910 posting. At 61, I am just now beginning what feels like my true life’s work. Mom wrote about late bloomers in a 12/11/00 post – “I consider the personal changes I am currently experiencing as a late bloom, one after what I thought was a hard frost. Reynolds-Lockhart ladies may be late bloomers, but my, what a lovely bloom it is.”
Is it outrageous to think I can reach out in myriad ways to help countless life veterans enjoy some of the “élan vital” – vital life – that infused Mom? That little ol' me can make a difference to their families, friends & care givers? Why not? At the very least, I can step up & swing away!
Thanks for supporting my older2elder energies, either through chipping in or via your prayers & best wishes. I’ll be happy to send e-mail updates on what’s happening or you can check my blog for a sense of what I’m doing.
Here’s to helping countless life veterans blog, surf & ramble their way to staying engaged, energized & empowered!
END
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
I Gained Weight
Yep, I gained about a pound since my last weigh in at Dr. Lehman's. And I am delighted! It wasn't due to more fat, but - gasp! - muscle! All that walking is paying off.
But I have a long way to go, beginning with sticking to the original game plan. Eating a primarily vegan diet (I refuse, at least for the moment, to get twisted about eating foods with eggs in it) is a start. No butter, precious little margarine, no cheese. Pretty simple to know if I am staying on track - if it crosses my lips, I'm not.
And no alcohol or carbonated beverages. Figure out how to sautee foods without using any oils. No fried foods, including tortilla chips. No purchased salads - almost keeled over reading the ingredients label on deli potato salad from GIANT. Make social spreads using Tofutti cream cheese.
Don't do any of these things from a gotta mentality, but because they are the right things to do. Look for more builds!!
But I have a long way to go, beginning with sticking to the original game plan. Eating a primarily vegan diet (I refuse, at least for the moment, to get twisted about eating foods with eggs in it) is a start. No butter, precious little margarine, no cheese. Pretty simple to know if I am staying on track - if it crosses my lips, I'm not.
And no alcohol or carbonated beverages. Figure out how to sautee foods without using any oils. No fried foods, including tortilla chips. No purchased salads - almost keeled over reading the ingredients label on deli potato salad from GIANT. Make social spreads using Tofutti cream cheese.
Don't do any of these things from a gotta mentality, but because they are the right things to do. Look for more builds!!
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