Alligatorob's Diary

[alligatorob]

Today was a good day, back in the gym and not too tired for it. About 3 hours. I ate well and feel good tonight. Had a peach and plum from our trees, but it really is too early to get good ones, next week the peaches should start for real. Also had tomatoes from the garden for dinner.

Weekend is coming soon, might have a little more of that apricot brandy...

I think we both know that we are living good lives & knowing that is a good thing too

Absolutely!

Being generally content with our lives might just be the highest prize achievable in life.

It is, but living a good life and being content are not exactly the same. If I could do better avoiding binges I'd be more content...

yay to better days!

Thanks Liza, hope your day was good as well.

 

[Llama]

It is, but living a good life and being content are not exactly the same. If I could do better avoiding binges I'd be more content...

True, of course, but acknowledging you have a good life sounds like a sign of contentment to me

I really hope my parents will have ripe plums when I'm home.

 

[liza3]

So nice to be getting all that fresh produce. I have some plums coming on my tree--i should try a couple. I think they need more time yet though

 

[Cate]

I am going to have some serious peach envy soon! We never really get to eat delicious peaches here, but do get to eat lots of other yummy fruit. Hurry up berry season!

 

[alligatorob]

Today was a good day, over 4 hours at the gym and I ate well... except maybe for that apricot brandy tonight! I feel pretty good now, maybe the brandy helps.

As always the 4 gym hours were not as vigorous as most people do, but its still good... I think. It took me a couple of years, and the extra time retirement has given me to work up to this.

True, of course, but acknowledging you have a good life sounds like a sign of contentment to me

Thanks Llama, you are very good at reminding us of some real truths!

I really hope my parents will have ripe plums when I'm home.

So do I, tree ripened plums are really good. My little tree I just planted a few years ago has only a handful of plums this year, not sure why it had a lot of blossoms, maybe the spring weather... However in on our newly acquired acre we have a few wild, or old feral plums, they are not real sweet but I like them. Will check tomorrow to see how close to ripe they are.

So nice to be getting all that fresh produce. I have some plums coming on my tree--i should try a couple. I think they need more time yet though

Thanks Liza, and yes eating your own produce seems so much better! Hope your plums are good.

I am going to have some serious peach envy soon! We never really get to eat delicious peaches here, but do get to eat lots of other yummy fruit. Hurry up berry season!

You should be, our peaches are the best. Wish I could send you a few or a lot. What kinds of good fruit do you get?

 

[Cate]

Because we are so far South berries are our best fruit. Tassie grows heaps of berries! Apples too.

 

[alligatorob]

Another good day, ate well and feel good tonight. No gym, as planned but did mow the lawn and a few other yard things. Had some cookies granddaughter made with cricket flower. According to the package there were 20 crickets per cookie, I ate 2, so ate about 40 crickets. Taste wasn't real good, but I detected no cricket flavors. High protein cookies.

Because we are so far South berries are our best fruit. Tassie grows heaps of berries! Apples too.

I like berries and apples, grown here as well.

I looked it up and I am at 40 degrees 40 minutes north, Hobart is 45 degrees 53 minutes south. So you are a bit further south than we are north, but not a whole lot, about 100 miles difference. So there should not be a big difference. However our climates are very different, yours is maritime, more temperate. Ours is high desert drier and prone to greater extremes. We are also at an elevation of about 4,500 ft (~1,400 meters). So probably would not expect a lot of the same kinds of things growing. I think your climate is closer to coastal Oregon.

 

[Marsia]

Oh, fresh plums are some of my favorites, especially wild plums. Yum! 4 hours in the gym at any pace is nothing to sneeze at! Glad you get to enjoy your retirement getting nice exercise and gardening. Cricket cookies sound a little dry, but glad you got good protein in!

 

[alligatorob]

Today was a good day. Not gym, but I did yardwork, and I ate well. Back to the gym tomorrow. Picked and ate the first 2 peaches right off the tree today. Before it has been scrounging from the ground trying to find something edible. Now its begun, should have more or less unlimited peaches for the next 6+ weeks.

Oh, fresh plums are some of my favorites, especially wild plums. Yum! 4 hours in the gym at any pace is nothing to sneeze at! Glad you get to enjoy your retirement getting nice exercise and gardening. Cricket cookies sound a little dry, but glad you got good protein in!

Thanks, checked today and the wild plums are not ready but the few on our little tree are. I am not really sure if the plums are wild or just old feral ones. They are growing along an irrigation water return ditch, doing pretty well for no attention. Yeah, the cricket cookies aren't great, but the dog really likes them.

 

[Marsia]

Glad the dog is happy getting cricket cookie snacks. We had a plum tree in CA that the deer went nuts over, and I usually only got a few plums from because they always hopped the fence for the plums. So I view them as a delicacy. They just aren't the same from the market, but I am having them anyway because the sweet and sour and freshness of a plum are good no matter where they come from. Nice you are getting good peaches now. Wow, your food on your calorie tracker looks so healthy and good!

 

[alligatorob]

Yesterday wasn't real good, I binged... Today no binge, did not eat a lot of calories still felt full from yesterday's binge. Only about an hour at the gym today, but it felt fine. More gym planned for tomorrow...

Glad the dog is happy getting cricket cookie snacks. We had a plum tree in CA that the deer went nuts over, and I usually only got a few plums from because they always hopped the fence for the plums. So I view them as a delicacy. They just aren't the same from the market, but I am having them anyway because the sweet and sour and freshness of a plum are good no matter where they come from. Nice you are getting good peaches now. Wow, your food on your calorie tracker looks so healthy and good!

Hey Marsia, thanks for the note. We have some problems with deer, but more in the winter than now. They do some damage to the peach trees. Not sure why our plum tree doesn't have many, but it's not deer, there were not many small ones either. Yeah, on my good days when I track things it does look good...

 

[liza3]

So nice you'll be getting all those nice fresh peaches in Rob! An hour at the gym sounds good. I know you seem to enjoy the long sessions though--i don't think I could handle a gym for that long as I love good fresh outdoor air for exercise, but I guess i can see how the gym with its social aspect and all the handy machines and stuff could be fun. Anyways hope you have a good day with no binges!

 

[alligatorob]

Not a great day, our dog got hit in the driveway and her condition is uncertain. She has a spinal injury, but no broken bones. The Vet is keeping her overnight, says it could just be bruising and she'll be back to normal in a week or so, or it could be much worse, time will tell... Anyway life goes on... I ate well enough today and got some exercise in. It's late now, just home from the vet, I may sleep in and not go to the gym as early as usual in the morning...

So nice you'll be getting all those nice fresh peaches in Rob! An hour at the gym sounds good. I know you seem to enjoy the long sessions though--i don't think I could handle a gym for that long as I love good fresh outdoor air for exercise, but I guess i can see how the gym with its social aspect and all the handy machines and stuff could be fun. Anyways hope you have a good day with no binges!

Thanks Liza, it would probably be better for my knees to get out and do more walking and hiking. The painful part is 95% past but still feeling a little wobbly. Walking and more outdoor exercise would probably help.
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[alligatorob]

That previous post was just posted, guess I missed the post reply button... And last night I could not get onto the website... so.

Yesterday was a better day. Dog is home, and hopefully healing. The vet says with a spinal injury like her's its a bit hard to predict what will happen, but we are optimistic. She can walk, but not very well, and is still on painkillers and an anti-inflammatory. My food wasn't bad for a very busy day. Did some time at the gym, drove to the vet's office twice, 2 hour trip each time, and had a big load of firewood delivered that needed some chopping and stacking.

 

[liza3]

Oh gosh Rob--I am so sorry about your dog getting hit, but very glad that she is back home and seems to be doing better. So heartbreaking when our little animal friends are going through such pain.
I'm surprised that chopping wood for an hour would only be estimated at a 70 calorie burn--i would imagine way more than that! I never chop wood but imagine it to be hard work!

 

[Cate]

Oh, Rob. Your poor doggo! I hope she'll be OK.
Chopping wood for an hour would definitely burn more than 70 calories. That is hard work!
Fingers crossed for your dog xoxoC

 

[alligatorob]

Well I binged yesterday... I was watching an old Inspector Morse TV show last night and one of the characters was a drug addict. At one point he said addiction never goes away, it just has to be managed. I'm not one to take much wisdom from the TV, but that struck me as very true, with respect to my eating anyway... Oh well upward and onward.

The dog is a little better this morning, does not seem to be in quite as much pain. Good, of course, but makes it harder to keep her from jumping up on things and trying to do what she should not. She can easily jump up on things, and she likes getting up high, but getting down is painful for her, and the vet says should be avoided for a couple of weeks... On the whole her progress is slow, but good.

I got some bad news yesterday. A couple of months ago I got diagnosed with spinal stenosis, in my neck. The doctor sent me to a Physical Therapist, one I really like. At first it seemed to be helping, my pain went down. Problem is my right shoulder and arm are getting weaker. I guess I knew that from the gym, but yesterday the therapist did measurements and over the last 6 weeks my right arm and shoulder have gotten significantly weaker. At the same time my pain has gone down. The therapist said that is not good, worse than the pain. So she is sending me back to the doctor. Getting old is no fun...

I'm surprised that chopping wood for an hour would only be estimated at a 70 calorie burn--i would imagine way more than that! I never chop wood but imagine it to be hard work!

I made the estimate, I think myfitnesspal probably said several hundred. I have learned that the app's estimates of calorie burn are always too high, so I cut them way back. I don't really pay much attention to that, just to the time exercised.

Fingers crossed for your dog xoxoC

Thanks, and I am beginning to think the dog will recover, it will just take time. The next challenge will be trying to keep her from chasing cars. Right now she can only do it in part of our driveway, but that was enough... We use one of those efences a buried antenna wire and a shock collar to keep her in her allowed area. It works very well, but requires a lot of training. The dog has to understand pretty well where she can and cannot go. We can move the wire, but it will take a lot of retraining, and then she will have to go down a few steps to get to her allowed area. Can't do it now, she can't go down steps for a few weeks...

 

[liza3]

Yes I find all our addictive type behaviours seem to be like that. Although i suppose some are much easier than others. Smoking was hard for me to give up but at this point I don't feel it's something I have to consciously manage anymore. But there are other behaviours in my life that feel like they are always there waiting to manifest when things get stressful...
Glad your dog is continuing to improve.
That's a shame about the spinal stenosis--I never heard of that but just googled a bit about it...anyways I hope you can continue to manage it ok without it taking too much toll...

 

[alligatorob]

Yes I find all our addictive type behaviours seem to be like that. Although i suppose some are much easier than others. Smoking was hard for me to give up but at this point I don't feel it's something I have to consciously manage anymore. But there are other behaviours in my life that feel like they are always there waiting to manifest when things get stressful...
Glad your dog is continuing to improve.
That's a shame about the spinal stenosis--I never heard of that but just googled a bit about it...anyways I hope you can continue to manage it ok without it taking too much toll...

Thanks Liza, and yes I think all addictions are different, but share many common characteristics. Do you think you could ever become an occasional or intermittent smoker? My guess is no, once restarting it would be hard to stop again. Not that you'd want to. I am lucky, never started, so my occasional cigar does not cause me to crave more. At about one a month, in warmer weather anyway, I think I am ok.

Doctor told me everyone who lives long enough develops spinal stenosis, its just deterioration of the vertebrae narrowing nerve passages. Some people never feel the effects, the narrowing doesn't matter too much for them. However commonly it results in neck or back pain, and sometimes that pain can be felt to spread. I am lucky, no back pain I think that is worse than neck... well maybe. Anyway its just one of those aging processes to be lived with and managed, no cure, but some treatments can help.

 

[Cate]

Rob, I think the hardest part of getting older is mentally feeling as you did when you were much younger but your body physically just can't keep up without pain & so much extra effort. It's very frustrating. Once you start making adjustments you feel older. It's a Catch-22 situation. *sigh*
I'm glad your doggo will recover xo