Day 71 of 365

I look at what my husband eats and don’t get why I weigh more than him.

Stopping at restaurants he had seen on the Food Network and Travel Channel was a high priority when we traveled coast to coast a few years back. It seems every trip we’ve taken has revolved around food.

Hot Dogs in New York City. Beignets in New Orleans. Barbecue in Memphis. Pukka Dogs in Hawaii.  Reindeer Sausage in Anchorage. Throwed rolls at Lambert’s Café in Missouri. Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream in Vermont.

And my husband always eats more than me. And he doesn’t exercise (unless you count teaching). Yet year after year, I always outweigh him.

Some years I change my eating habits, some years he does. We never seem to be on the same schedule.

A couple years back, we coordinated our change in eating habits. He had some to lose; I had a bunch to lose. I was on a “medically supervised program” (meaning the doctor prescribed me amphetamines and restricted me to less than 1000 calories a day). We both lost weight, but I lost quite a bit more than my husband. But when we started veering from the plan, we both gained it back. And mine came back on a lot faster.

So now that summer is just about here, my husband and I have been talking about looking at an anti-inflammatory diet. Fruits and veggies, fish and some lean meats. With rheumatoid arthritis, inflammation is something I have big problems with, so it might be a good option for both reducing inflammation and losing some pounds. My exercise routine is already in place (25 days in a row now!), so maybe it’s a good time for us to try controlling the diet.

But not tonight. We had pulled pork sandwiches and homemade oven fries. But as usual, my husband had to turn it into Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives (a Food Network show).

Pulled pork, coleslaw, and fries all in one. Yuck.

Day 70 of 365

I sat down today and made a to-do list of all the things that need to happen outside in the next couple weeks.

The list is long:

• Pull tree seedlings out of rose garden and wildflower garden.
• Cut out winter damage in roses.
• Clip back tulips and other spring bulbs.
• Dig grass out of all gardens.
• Cut up broken branch from last week's windstorm.
• Replant herbs (except parsley and oregano).
• Cut landscape timbers to fit around new climbing roses.
• Bring out patio table.
• Put new bench together.
• Plant morning glory.
• Cut branches back from roof.
• Pinch off peony side shoots.
• Empty garbage cans of dirt/weeds.
• Cover woodpecker hole in shed.
• Weed strawberry bed.
• Pinch off blooms from strawberries.

And in prioritizing them, a few projects that can wait a bit:

• Clean out gutters.
• Cut board for ditch.
• Build trellis for tomatoes.
• Put sealant on new bench and rocking chair.
• Finish cement edging in wildflowers.
• Remove landscape fabric/edging around tree.
• Use edging from around tree to edge vegetable garden.
• Finish terracing behind shed
• Re-stain all landscape timbers.

Now that the weather is finally warming up, we're a bit behind. We will hopefully have the high school student help us out with a few of the more labor intensive ones. And two things on the list I already did today. I (finally) weeded the strawberry bed, and since it's the first year for them, I had to pluck off all the blossoms.

Before I did, I snapped a picture of one of them. I see that I missed some weed roots, but the strawberries sure look different than when I planted them as bare-roots back on Day 16.

Exercise update: 24 for 24.