COVID Weight Loss Plan

COVID-19 did a number on my weight loss plan back then. I had gained 20 pounds after injuring my back & was using the 3 times daily walks from Dad's room at Maunalani Nursing & Rehabilitation Center for exercise. I was also trying a combination of the keto diet & just being more mindful of what I ate; I could not go no-carb like Curtis because I refuse to eliminate what I regard as culturally significant carbs! With that regimen I had lost 10 pounds in about a year & only had 10 more pounds to go. I'm OK with going slowly since making long-term lifestyle changes is more sustainable than a crash diet. Then COVID came along ... I gained another 20 pounds! Auē!

My post-COVID weight.

When I was trying to find out whether actor Zhang Linghe was a rider before he became an actor, I learned that he had lost a bunch of weight while in college before he went in to acting. It was inspirational; I decided to start up again. But I could not do his only-boiled-vegetables routine that was reported. Steamed, yes. Baked, yes. Grilled, yes. Air-fried, yes. Boiled, NO! They are too mushy for my liking & you lose nutrients in boiling. What I am currently doing is fermented vegetables; specifically the mak kim chee, sauerkraut, & pickles we have been making in class. I know they are loaded with live probiotics since they are home made. I round it out with tofu & other high-protein foods, including dried aku & pipikaula for snacks. I also could not do the daily running. Sprinting, yes. Running, NO! I was on the track team in high school for the sprinting which I loved; I could do wind sprints for an hour if you let me! That's also why I enjoyed racquetball & wallyball! But they made us "warm-up" by jogging at least a mile before practice; sometimes on the track, sometimes on the beach, but way too much for my liking. I quit after the 1st season ended. What I am doing instead of running is increasing the amount of time I ride my bike on the trainer, more walking & standing, more yard work, plus more training with Moʻo. We shall see what happens this time around. (FYI I believe he lost 50 pounds over a 4-month period. Not going there either, that's too fast for me. So I'm not really following his weight loss plan, just his inspiration.)

Tofu (豆腐）with hoisin sauce, mak kim chee, & pickled cucumbers.

Ginger feeds 6 feral cats. Today 5 of them came to eat breakfast.

After lunch time I picked up Aunty Maile & Spencer from the airport. She had gone to Colorado for a family gathering; they were there for almost 2 weeks. She had a good time! We stopped to pick up lunch for them but they decided to take it back home to eat since I had to take Moʻo to her training class about 2 hours later. Although I told them not to worry about it since I had plenty of time they insisted. About halfway back I got a text, class was canceled due to Father's Day! Oh well, we could have taken our time & eaten in Kona; then leisurely taken our time to get back to Kohala! 

I try to remember to check the level of gas at the solstice & the equinox. Today it was at 75%. I last filled it up in January, but previous to that it was January 2024! I have decided next year, instead of waiting until the tank is down at 20%, I will fill it in June since family comes to visit in July. The intent is to fill it annually in June so that I don't have a huge bill every other year & I don't have to worry if I have enough gas when the family comes to visit! 

Still doing well on the Mandarin speaking exercises, I think. But still not getting all those tones correct. I will have to start paying more attention to see if there is a particular tone that I am consistently screwing up on. I also found an on-line article about the 5 tones; hoping that it will help more than confuse me! I think the error below is the 1st tone. Which, "[w]hen your voice becomes higher and flatter, you produce the first tone. The syllable is pronounced with a drawn-out tone that does not drop or rise." OK ... 🤔

 

I can't believe it! There were almost 1500 new views last night! Singapore is still trailing behind the US but has surpassed 1000 views; Brazil is close behind.  

The next eruption of Kīlauea is still expected to occur between the 24th & the 27th.

 

Hauʻoli lā Hānau e Shannen, Mary, & Vi!