I have spent the last 3 weeks documenting all my thoughts on the beginning of my weight-loss journey.  It has been a great learning experience for me and I have really learned so much about why I have come to this point, having gained so much weight over the last 10 years. I have learned what steps I need to undo all of this. Apparently, I have made some right decisions, as my weight loss program seems to be working.

There is so much to think about when one starts out on a weight loss program.  One must think about the calories one is taking in, the calories they are expending, how the calories are being expended – and this all has to be included into an already busy day.  My day usually starts at about 5:30 and I go solidly at work, rounding on patients, seeing patients in clinic, consulting with other providers, and talking to parents on the phone.  Then I go home, and my second job begins, which includes laundry, feeding everyone, tidying up, cleaning the aquariums, sweeping the floors and so on, and so forth.  I usually fall into bed around 11:00 at night, so I can rest for 6.5 hours and start the whole process over the next day.  And then I throw in all this weight-loss stuff, preparing foods, making sure I have my exercise stuff, blah, blah, blah.

The experts all say you need to do some sort of physical exercise activity every day.  But I think I might know something, the experts haven’t quite figured out yet.  Sometimes, all that activity and scurrying around, and thinking just needs to stop. It overloads a brain, and after a while one becomes numb to everything.

As I said, in one of my earlier post, my husband gave me an Apple Watch as an anniversary gift (21 years married – that’s crazy).  I love this watch, because I can monitor my heart rate, whenever I want to.  I have noticed my heart rate goes up significantly when I am doing laundry.  I stinking hate doing laundry, because it never is completely done.  My heart rate goes up over a 100 when the rather strong-willed, irascible family members in my house decide to have a fit about something ridiculously stupid.  On Saturday morning, while I was doing laundry, someone (I won’t mention names) had a fit about there being no eggs or egg whites in the fridge and my heart rate went up to 113 bpm.  What the heck?! That can’t be good for me.

Therefore, I have decided, I need 30 minutes a day of complete quiet.  Two of my favorite times of the day are sunrise, and early evening.  And I think early evening is my all-time favorite.   I have taken to making a cup of tea, and sitting on the back patio.  No phones, no computers, just my Apple Watch (so I can monitor my heart rate). I am usually surrounded by my dogs, who are so scrumptiously sweet and adorable, when I look at them it makes my heart so happy.

In the early evening, as the sun is beginning its decent along the western horizon, our garden in the back, becomes bathed in this lusciously warm golden glow.  Everything looks so green and serene.  The birds are singing, there is usually a slight breeze and I look at all of this and let my mind wander. I let that breeze blow away all the stresses of the day.  I can hear the cars off in the distance, speeding by, and I wonder where these people are going in such a rush, and if they have taken any time during their day to just sit and ponder, and really take in the beauty of the trees, have they stopped and smelled the scent of the orange blossoms filling the valley.  Have they really looked to see how majestic the Sierras are off in the distance, capped with robes of white snow? I drink my tea (PG Tips – my favorite tea), enjoying the perfect proportions of milk and sugar and take it all in in.  And after about 15 minutes, I can breathe, really deep breaths, and I can hear more sounds, I am more in tune with breeze and the colors of the foliage, and the little movements my dogs make, lying at my feet.  And my heart rate drops into the 50s.  Quiet, it does a body good.