Please God, not the PIG!

It's that time of year. January. Janus, looking both forward and backward. Enough with the looking backward, it is too long a view. I lost another cousin yesterday, and while she had a strong faith and her life ended in grace, peacefully, with her loving family around her, it's still a loss. We'd had a good deal of fun together, tracking down genealogical connections, and she's going to be missed. But the only way through grief is to feel it, let it have its turn, let it rise (as it does) and fall, in its waves. Bit by bit it sifts through the sieve of time and settles into the sands of what was then.

And so we look forward. My sweet husband has had a colourful week. He caught Ian's respiratory bug over Christmas and has wheezed and coughed himself blue since the 27th. He also fell out of bed, again, and is splotched like a pinto pony with huge purple bruises. He didn't have the muscle strength to get up off the floor by himself, and I don't have the strength to lift him. For a while I thought I might have to call for help but with a good deal of maneuvering and my lifting as much as I could we managed to get him where he could pull himself up onto the edge of the bed. 

A scale that weighs in animal units. Please God, not the PIG!

I looked at him, once a slim fellow, now with a decidedly unhealthy "Santa Claus-like" figure, and at my own once svelte form and decided we have to change the way we eat, with the goals of (for him) the equivalent of a two Smokey weight loss and (for me) a Smokey plus a Hobbes weight loss. 

Both of us are basically healthy, no elevated BP,  no cholesterol problems, no heart problems. It's our blooming weak muscles that cause us no end of trouble. So why are we burdening them with all this extra weight? I know we eat because it makes both of us feel better, and we both love sweets, but this is crazy.

I have to get busy and find meals which are quick to prepare, high in protein and low in saturated fats and calories. I figure a plate, 1/2 greens (salad or cooked) 1/4 vegetable and 1/4 protein should do the trick. If I make a stew or crockpot meal I have to follow those guidelines. Smoothies made with fruit, cottage cheese and whey protein make a great breakfast. I'd best buy a food processor. 

I'm not about to post our weights here and shame ourselves. But feel free to wish us luck.