Accessible Gardening: #21 Practical Matters for Phsically Challenged Gardeners, 2 by Agavegirl1

Agavegirl1 wrote:
O.K. back as promised.

Good for you guys for radically changing your diet. I went Paleo and don\'t regret it. Lost 49 pounds without trying, never hungry, no craving for sweets, carbs or junk. Eat about half of what I used to and feel completely full and have great nails (long and don\'t break) and ahem...better bathroom habits.

Won\'t lie. First 5 days I wanted to rip someone\'s arm off and it wasn\'t easy but whenever I revert I literally feel like garbage. Goes to show you garbage in so garbage out.

If you can\'t do the diet thing full tilt try some changes first. Mix regular cola with diet at a 50-50 ration. Cuts calories and you don\'t get the full \'diet\' taste.
Avoid potatoes. Purely a useless vegetable with little to no nutritional value. There\'s plenty of side dishes to have instead.
\"Knife and fork\' burgers. Ditch the buns. This is a big one here at our house. We make the burgers suuuuper big and serve them on the lettuce, tom and onions with the condiments. Don\'t miss the bun. Or just use the bottom bun.
I no longer use sugar unless it is for baking and I can\'t get 100% around it. I use Stevia. Not an artificial sweetener but a natural one from a plant leaf and has 0 calories and as sweet as sugar.
If I want \'junk food\' I make myself go out for it rather than keeping it in the house. Half the time the trouble isn\'t worth what I wanted. Only junk food exception is microwave popcorn and that isn\'t the most hateful thing in the world.
Fruit works great instead of candy. Fruit smoothies. YUMMMM! Pineapple, mango, peach, berry anything with ice and some juice. Oh..and once in a while you can add booze to this (tee-hee).
If you got to have booze regularly stick to red wine. Least caloric and highest in antioxidants.
Get rid of salad dressings and try making your own with herbs, oils, spices etc. (Ever look on the back of salad dressing? First ingredient is sugar!)
Lunch meat, sausage and hot dogs are a train wreck.
Dairy, except cheese and eggs, is even worse. If you do milk try 2% or lower if you can stand it. Almond and/or soy is best. Takes some getting used to but the almond isn\'t bad and it has nice flavor.
Shrimp, fish, and eggs pack major protein punches that keep you full a long time and they all have minimal to almost no calories.
If you guys can start with just this stuff I think you\'d see some differences without feeling like you are \'trying\' or on a major diet.

And yes...I do allow myself one junk food day a week. :D I am human. The goal is to eat right not be in constant deprivation mode. Rule of Paleo is if you do what you should 80% of the time then the other 20% you can do what you want with the same benefits.

Awwwww...thanks for the offer of the Lily garden. Really touched by all of your sweetness to do something like that. I\'d be thrilled with anything that blooms in the Summer. LOL. Gives you a lot of creative liberty. And yeah, that caliche soil(?) for lack of a better word is a nightmare. I\'m lucky. Where I\'m at now the soil is 90% sand and about 10% dirt. You do hit an occasional small patch of caliche here and there but it isn\'t the whole yard. Just enough to remind you that you still live in the desert and not to get arrogant. LOL.

As always the lilies and flowers are a treat. Thanks for that Jim. I truly do appreciate seeing their loveliness. :D

Here\'s my bougainvillea in bloom it has double in size in just a few months. This will stay in bloom all summer and gives such a punch of color which kind of makes up for everything else.

Going to try and find something to do with myself today. Dave is working. It was a beautiful morning so Zoe and I went for our walk. Place is like a ghost town. Not a peep. Weird since there are usually kids out and about or people coming and going. All of my house work is done. It is so weird to actually have \'nothing\' to do for the first time. I almost feel guilty. I honestly don\'t know what to do with myself. I think I\'ll paint my nails.

Hugs to all.
Have a nice Memorial Day.
Jacqueline.

Zoe says \'Hey there!\'
Agave sisalana and the Bougainvillea
Close ups of Bougainvillea
My poor attempt at humor (eye roll)