Lifestyle Weight Loss

 

30 Months to a New You

 

This month, Keith is only a few pounds away from reaching his goal of losing 100 pounds.  He didn’t do it quickly; it has been a slow process of changing his lifestyle instead of dieting.  He has struggled with his weight since he as a child.    After years of stress, travel, eating double bacon cheeseburgers, and Big Gulp Dr. Peppers, he truly packed on some serious weight. 

 Keith at BMI 24.5 (above and normal) instead of 39.4 - (below and obese and close to morbidly obese at 40.0)

A few years ago, he got his wake-up call; first with heart attack and triple bypass heart surgery, and then three years later he had a hemorrhagic stroke.  He has always had high cholesterol and blood pressure but today, they are both normal without the medications he took for years and years.   I didn’t need a wake-up call after packing on an extra 40 pounds after I turned fifty.  I took one look at that huge scar running down his chest and the pain that he was going through after open heart surgery and decided; it is time for a change.

You might have noticed the subtitle – 30 Months to a New You and think – 30 months?  Are you serious?  Most of us want a 30-day quick weight loss diet.  Let’s talk about fat cells and water first.  With most quick loss diets you end up losing water; not fat.  We are born with about the same amount of fat cells as we have today.  The problem is that those cells have fat in them and some water.  If you eat a lot of salty foods; your body has a lot of water.  No problem with that (other than salt is bad for you!)  What you want is for those evil fat cells to “give up” that fat it is holding onto.  It is a slow process to start burning fat, but it will happen and you have the perfect tool to do this; your extra weight.  That is why Keith always loses faster than I do and more – he has more extra weight.  So, for once you’re going to use that to your advantage. If you are willing to commit 30 months to this plan; you should be 30 pounds lighter or more (without those daily fluctuations of water) in 2 and half years.  You might think, “I can’t wait this long!”  But for most of us, we spent 30 years piling this on - so what is 30 months to slowly and permanently take it off? Keto and other diets can starve your body of energy to do this and make you weak - so try not dieting for once.  Don't try to live off of a 1200 a day no carb diet when you have a body demanding 2000 calories to function.  You'll get weak and sick.  Use that weight to your advantage to reshape your body into more muscle and less fat.  At first you might even gain weight, but the long term goal is to make yourself into a lean, mean, fighting machine!

Remember when you were young and didn’t worry about your weight?  The reason why is that you had a high metabolism and a high percentage of muscle.  Just walking around burned more calories with your young firm and trim body.  That is your goal; to convert the fat filled body that you have today into a lean, firm muscular body with great core strength that burns calories better so that you can eat freely without gaining weight for the next 30 years.  You will have better balance and prevent falls that might break your hip.  You'll be healthier, stronger and have less inflammation. You'll be less susceptible to catching colds and the flu.  If you have leg, shoulder, and knee problems like me - they will all get better.  But don't overdo it - start slowly so that you don't cause an injury.  I went overboard and decided to run a Disney 5K and ended up injuring my hip joint.  It took months to heal and in the meantime I had to alter my daily routine.  So be careful and this blog is not intended to provide any medical advice; rather it is a blog of what worked for us.

Here are your steps;

Step 1 – Become vegan.  Okay, this might be a tough one that will make you stop right here.  But converting to a plant-based lifestyle is easier today than ever.  If you want to be fully convinced read The China Study and its analysis of the cancer risk of meat.  I will admit we are not 100% vegan, but close.  Today’s plant-based food it tasty and easy.  Look for the brand, Gardein in the frozen grocery section. But a word of warning; vegan food does not have fewer calories than lean meat, but here is the real reason why we follow a plant-based diet; it doesn’t taste as good as real beef, chicken, turkey and pork.  I love KFC chicken and can eat a whole bucket! Would I eat a bucket of Gardein’s chicken patties?  No Way!  So being vegan means you’ll end up eating less and reducing inflammation.   Aim for high protein and high fiber choices to make you strong. 

Step 2 – Start Walking.  For Keith, he started walking.  Being vegan and walking is how he lost the first 50 pounds.   But he still had a heart attack and stroke.  I think walking and being a little bit lighter saved his life.  If these life-ending events had happened before he lost that first 50 pounds, I’d be a widow today. His type of stroke has an 80% death rate.  He is part of the lucky 20% - or was it luck?  It isn’t easy walking in the Florida heat, so we eventually got treadmill desks so both of us could walk and work, Internet browse, do email, etc. at the same time. Our brand of treadmill is LifeSpan and Amazon has lots of desks designed to go up and down above a treadmill.  For me, I lost my first 20 pounds this way, but we were stuck.  Still overweight but no longer obese. 

Step 3 – Add Yoga for Strength and Brush your Teeth.  Walking can be a good aerobic exercise and even build some muscles; but they are the same muscles.   With all that extra weight, you have the perfect body to build strength if you’re careful.  I became a certified yoga instructor and added some of those poses to my daily routine.  Hopefully in this blog I’ll start sharing my daily yoga routine that I do it all day.  Maybe even some videos!  I do many of of my daily yoga poses while watching TV, so not very spiritual.  If you want to get started, here is your first lesson; stand on one leg while you brush your teeth.  I have a Sonicare toothbrush that goes for 2 minutes with a little beep every 30 seconds.  Each 30 seconds I stand on one leg, then change to the other; keeping a hand close to the counter to steady myself. Building this leg and core strength will help you later with the Warrior pose.

Step 4 – Eat good oils to reduce body fat and inflammation. We started replacing our oils and butter with the good oils; coconut, avocado, and olive oil.  The other "bad 8" oils cause inflammation and increase your belly fat and make stress worse.  It is hard to switch to these since food companies often label something as olive oil butter or avocado chips, but if you read the ingredients, they normally start with one of the 8 bad oils; Soybean, Corn, Cottonseed, Canola, Rapeseed, Sunflower, Sesame and Grapeseed oil.  These oils make you fat, cause inflammation, and increase the fat in your fat cells.  The good oils "trick" your fat cells to not hoard the fat.

Step 5 – Get a Personal Trainer and Stand Up.  This is something that I did that Keith did not.  I found that the treadmill and yoga alone wasn’t doing enough to get me in shape.  The personal trainer set up a series of weight and strength training that I follow every day while I watch TV.  I use exercise bands and 10 pound weights. Covid hit and I didn’t get to go back to the trainer; but I still follow that routine she made for me.  If you want to get started, here is your first exercise.  Ever hour stand up and sit down 12 times. My iWatch reminds me to do this every hour and by doing this (it is harder than you think) you start building other muscles that walking doesn’t get for you.  It also increases your metabolism.  I will add more ideas in next months blog and there are some others in my older blogs.

Step 6 – Drink water.  I drink 12 cups a day.  If you study the body here is a simple lesson on how it works; food goes from your stomach to your intestines.  While it is in your intestines; your body releases hormones that converts food to nutrients.  It uses the carbs to create energy to fuel your day, protein to make you strong and it stores that extra fat in your belly where your anxious fat cells are waiting for it. This is one problem with being overweight; your body is not only waiting for that food – it is demanding it to maintain that extra weight.  It not only wants that food – it needs it.  So, the goal is to send that all that massive food you ate quickly through the intestines before it gets processed too much.  Sure, you could take laxatives; but that will make you look old and dehydrated.  It is also very dangerous. Instead flood your system with water; and some good belly fat oil like avocado, olive, and coconut to keep things lubricated and moving.  If you switch to vegan, you’ll be getting more fiber and things will go easier and give fat less time to get out and over to your fat cells for storage.  I don't like drinking water, so I brew one bag of decaf green tea and one bag of caffeine free apple cinnamon spice tea.  I add 6 drops of stevia and then put into 6 Rubbermaid plastic16oz containers and add water.  I drink them until they are gone daily and make 6 more the next day. 

Step 7 - ELF – Eat less food and Intermittent Fasting.  We often go “off the plan.”  I did that for Christmas and cooked a lobster pie from Harry and David.  This must be one of the worse things in the world you can eat other than tablespoons of butter!  It has high calories and fat (saturated) – but it tastes so good.  But in the end, “nothing tastes as good as feeling good feels.”  But I wanted it and it was amazing!  I only had one serving and then threw the rest away.  ELF – Eat less food.  Keith was able to resist it.  I didn’t feel guilty, but I made up for it by eating Cheerios for dinner that night.  It is VERY hard to throw away food!  I was raised by two depression era parents that did the whole “children starving in China” and “finish your dinner” routine.  I’m trained to save and hoard food.  But now I merely bury it in my sandy Florida soil to slowly transform my body and backyard into a better place.  I am experimenting with growing Gynura procumbens or Longevity Spinach which Keith chews 3 leaves a day and then drinks a cup of warm water to curb his appetite.  I eat 3 in the morning, just for health reasons.  I also used intermittent fasting to lose weight.  I stopped eating at 4pm and didn’t eat again until 9AM for my 30 months.  Keith didn’t do this but I did and it worked for me.  Everyone is different and part of this 30-month plan is experimenting on what works for you. Some or all of these steps might work for you.

Step 8 – Go Slow. Keith and I have been losing weight for 2+ years.  Our goal was 1 pound a month.  Yes, that is all we aimed for.   It is obtainable, easy to reach, and works.  The science of it all is; to lose 1 pound; you need to reduce your calories by 3500 a month.  That works out to just a little more than 100 per day.  Look at a daily food log (try to do one for a week) and see how you can reduce your intake today by 100 calories.  Eat less, substitute vegan for something else, eat only one bacon cheeseburger instead of 2, drink one less soda.   Start with the French fries – get the apple slices instead. It isn’t hard.  Giving up my end of the day treat did it for me.  We had little 100 calories low fat snack packs and I didn’t eat one and stopped ordering them.  It really helps not to have this stuff in the house; so we don’t order it – or do what Keith does- he has me hide it and asks for it only when he really “needs it.”  We put our start weight (minus 1) on the top of the calendar in the bathroom and weigh ourselves each day; looking to hit our goal.  We might only hit it once, but that is enough.  The next month it is that weight minus 1.  Somehow it works.  Yes, our weight goes up and down with water gain/loss and whether or not we got a good poop that day, but over all we’re 1 pound lighter each month.  I’m currently done; which means I’ve achieved my goal weight, have a lean strong body and burn calories all day long.  So, I eat according to the “plan” and plenty of good food during the week and get down to 133.  On the weekend, I go crazy and snack and eat shrimp, pizza, steak or whatever bad stuff I crave and normally end up at 135.  Then I spend the next week back on the plan and back to 133.  I'm not dieting, I always eat a lot of food - it is merely either good food; thinking of the food as making me strong - or bad food that is the treats I crave. I found my set point is 135 pounds for someone who is 5’6” (I shrunk an inch) and my built, but when you get to your set point, you’ll know and you might like my little fun “maintenance plan.”  I treadmill, yoga, and weight train every day – regardless of weekend or not.

Step 9 – Eliminate Stress.  This was hard; both of had high-stress jobs that meant lots of travel.  When you travel do you tend to hoard food like me?  I would even save and eat the peanuts and pretzels from the plane because I didn’t know when I would get my next meal.  Then when I did get to eat; there was an attitude of “I deserve this” because I was so far from home and lonely – or I was eating and drinking* with clients and who can turn down lobster and steak, followed by chocolate mousse?  There were also all the employee birthday cakes, free cookies at the hotel, and free breakfast buffet.  We stopped traveling except maybe one vacation a year.  It was hard, but traveling causes stress and overeating.  Now we are able to work out of our home and we added twice daily mediation.  I stopped talking on the phone because it was difficult to hear and went to “email only” with my clients.  I sold our company and started a retirement plan.  I won’t get into the science; but if you experience stress, the elevated cortisol levels caused by your belly fat and stress promotes overeating and weight gain - along with belly fat storage.  You are probably reading this because you are my friend and most of my friends are either retired or considering it soon.  If you're already retired and experience stress from certain people or events; why are you around them or doing that? Rethink your life until you are better.  If you are obese, you're very sick and in danger.  Time to get you well again.   Feel free to email me when you start and your monthly progress at the end of the month.  I save my emails forever, so I'll give you little mile marker congratulations and promise to NEVER share your personal info like I did with poor Keith.  I plan to use this blog for the next 30 months to guide readers along, so ask me to email you when I have done a new blog.

https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/educational/lose_wt/BMI/bmicalc.htm

Step 10 – Sleep More and add Mediation to your Day.  This is also hard if you’re still pulling down a 9-5 job, but we faithfully meditate each day at 10am and 2pm.  Since we’re not very deep or spiritual folks, it might be more like a “senior nap.”  I do lots of yoga deep breathing during that time and often fall asleep (Keith always does.)  I also sleep like a farmer; I go to bed at sundown.  That means heading to bed at about 7pm and I’m fast asleep by 8pm.  If I stay up late, I'll snack, so easier to go to bed.  This means that I get to wake up every morning naturally at 3:30 - 4AM.  No alarm clock jarring me awake!  I go to the bathroom, then back to bed for some wake-up yoga in bed (quietly not to disturb Keith who sleeps from 11pm to 7AM.)  Again, this might not work for you, but it is 6AM now and I’ve already done a 5K (3.1 miles) on the treadmill while writing this blog and Internet surfing.  I remember when it was hard to do the treadmill at this speed for more  than 15 minutes.  When was that?  About 30 months ago….

Good luck!

Visit my website for info on my books - https://www.sandijerome.com/

* neither of us drink, but you might consider giving that up to help your willpower.

My Experiments

 

Gynura Tea Experiment

If you have some of my previous blogs, I am turning my backyard into a Gynura procumbens or Longevity Spinach farm.  After years of killing plants (there is a wives' tale that women with big hands kill plants,) I have something that I can grow; along with papaya trees.  I have sent cuttings of this plant and small starters all over the country to friends and family to see how it grows in apartments, balconies, rocky soil, cold weather, etc.     

I am also finding various ways to eat it.    My goal is to test if this plant can truly lower blood pressure, reduce inflammation, and curb your appetite.  I find that supplying Keith with 6 leaves a day (he likes to eat 3 in the morning and 3 in the evening) plus my morning 3 leaves means 9 leaves a day.  This is not an issue; I have hundreds of these plants in my yard; but what about someone who cannot grow it outside year-round like we can?  How can we supply it all year?

 The instructions say to eat 3 leaves, then drink a cup of warm water and wait 30 minutes before eating/drink (especially no caffeine for 30 minutes.)   I thought I would dry the leaves, then make a tea; adding cinnamon for flavor.  But you really don’t get the whole plant unless you tear open the bags and eat the leaves.  Well, mixing it with cinnamon means a rather messy job of eating; plus making the tea bags is time intensive and wastes a bag.

Instead, I’ve been trying this; I put 3 dried leaves in a cup of hot water and wait for it to cool enough to drink and then I chew and swallow the leaves.  I tried to get Keith to just eat the dried leaves and he spit them out with a big yuck!  But putting in the warm water seems to be working okay.

 Now, I'm starting to send out gynura tea.  The experiment is for my friends and family to compare the tea bags to the loose tea leaves and see what is more acceptable.  Can they eat the tea leaves afterwards? If you are interested in a 30-day supply to start the New Year out with right, just email me which is better for you (bags or loose) and I’ll try to supply you.  Of course, this is just a hobby of mine, so no charge!

  My next experiment is to grow this hydroponically in a jar.  If this works, I might ask if you want some hydroponic-ready plants and their feed.  Then you’ll only have to keep in a jar or vase inside and naming them is optional.

Accepting Change

 

Accepting Change

This month has been particularly difficult.  There has  been a lot of stress at work.   My eyes are sore from reading documents drafted by someone who must be paid by the word.  As a CPA, the  certification is 25% legal, but it is taking up 100% of my mind in these negotiations as I try to make sure our employees and original investors are taken care of during a merger of our software company into the company that purchased our majority interest over three years ago.  Ah...the days of a handshake are sorely missed.  The other change is in my yard.  I have accepted that I'm probably never going to grow bananas (seen to my left in this picture) and I'm not sure I like papaya enough for it to take up so much room in my tiny yard.  What I can grow is the longevity spinach (gynura procumbens) that I mentioned in a previous blog.  https://sandijerome.blogspot.com/2021/08/eating-new-things.html

That plant that is not from the spinach family but rather the sunflower family is doing very well and we're truly seeing the results of my experiments on Keith.  My darling husband of almost 50 years is my "lab rat" to see if this really reducing blood pressure, cholesterol, and curbs appetite.  Each morning, he chews three leaves and drinks a cup of cup of water and repeats at night.  It is really helping; in 30 days his blood pressure dropped from 163 down to less than 130.  He is no longer starved during the day as he is still on his path to be under 160 pounds (he's down to 165!)  I do the recommended morning leaf eating routine, but I'm already at my target weight so this is to help reduce inflammation due to inherited autoimmune diseases;  psoriasis and arthritis.    Can't do anything about the genes we are born with; Keith's whole family suffers from high blood pressure and high cholesterol but years and years of medication never seemed to control either. This is the first thing that has worked and helps him lose weight.

I didn't discover this wonder plant, but it doesn't seem to get much attention.  I'm trying to get it out there so  I've sent to family and friends in Oregon, Colorado, Minnesota, south Florida, and California.  The only place where I find it grown commercially and marketed is in Cyprus but I'm experimenting on where is might grow as good as it grows here in central Florida.  

http://www.gynuraonline.com/en/

Since it is a bother to go outside and get the leaves twice a day, I'm working on developing a tea and adding a little Ceylon cinnamon to increase anti-inflammatory properties.  That combines the warm water process with the chewing of the leaves. 

If you want to learn more about this plant, please visit the site that have a few more links to other sites.

https://leaftonic.com/pages/gynura-benefits

The nice thing about change is that you find little surprises.  I found that the little cups that Disney provides with a Kid's meal are perfect for growing these.  If you want to watch a video about that, here is the link on YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gdJrqJQiqs

Visit my website for info on my books - https://www.sandijerome.com/

 

 

Finding my Inner Child

I do enjoy going down a nice water slide if it isn't too fast.  I guess it is the inner child in me.  Here is a picture of me at Disney's River Country which is now gone, but we went there in 1983.

This month, we stayed at Disney's Vero Beach Vacation Club to see if we’d like to become DVC members.  I bought a few DVC points through the resale market to test it out and those are for Sarasota Springs; next to Disney Springs.  But it’s been a goal of mine to stay at each of the Disney Resorts and I was wanting a “beach stay.”  We had already been to Disney’s Hilton Head Beach Resort, so Vero Beach was next on my list.

It was a lot of fun and the weather was fantastic.  At Disney’s Vero Beach Resort, they have a 2-3 story water slide that was exciting.  After I climbed the many stairs to the top, a little girl about 8 years old was in line in front of me.  She stopped, turned around and told me I could go ahead of her.  I think she was having an issue with the boy in front of her.  I thanked her and feeling a little frightened, I didn't really want to go earlier than anyone, but I thought it was such a kind act.  I said, "thank you so much, this is my first time."  Well...that started a whole lesson of how to go faster and tips on knowing when it is your turn (watch for the green light.)  It was so funny because she talked to me like I was a little baby!  I loved it.  The ride down the slide was fantastic, just fast enough to give me a thrill but not so fast that I was thrust underwater (I don’t like to put my face in the water.)  I am now starting to examine the water slide at Sarasota Springs and can’t wait for that visit. 

During this Vero Beach trip, I also enjoyed sitting in the hot tub the most since the weather had turned cooler for a few days.  But the thing that I was really looking forward to was the walk on the beach.  The beach was such a big part of my childhood.  On hot days, when my dad would get home from a grueling day, we’d all pile into the car and off to the beach to cool off.  My mom would pack our dinner and after we arrived, my dad would take a nap while she cooked it.  My brother and I would head for the ocean and ride wave after wave until it almost got dark.  Then we’d go to the restrooms to shower and get in our PJs.  We were always starved for dinner and there was often a treat of toasting marshmallows afterwards.  We’d then fall asleep on the big blanket while my parents surf fished.

So going to Vero Beach was an attempt on my part to capture some of that beach experience; but unfortunately, the S’mores around the campfire didn’t start until 8pm – which is past my bedtime.  There are also little “no-see-um” bugs that come out at night, so we stayed safe in our room after sunset.  Earlier in the day, we found out that after Keith's stroke four years ago, he can't walk in the sand.  Most of his brain balance replacement is through his feet feeling the ground and the shifting sand makes his brain get confused and he can't balance very well.  I’m afraid of rip tides and the red flag was out – so I only went into the water up to my knees.  Add that fear to my fear of jellyfish and sharks meant that my beach days are over.  It is sad to give up something so wonderful from your childhood, but I realized how much I do like going down waterslides and being in the hot tub on a cool day.  Our development has a hot tub that is usually empty, so with the fall days cooling off, I think that will be my new joy and every so often, we’ll stay at one of the Disney Resorts to take a waterside ride and make my inner child happy.  

Visit my website for info on my books - https://www.sandijerome.com/

Everybody Needs Deadlines

 

Keith and I work differently.  

Whenever I have a task, I see if I can finish it now; or at least before the end of the day.

Keith (left) always asks, "What is the deadline for this?"  He works off of that date and often waits to the last minute to start a project.  The reason for this is that he thinks about it for a LONG time. 

Sometimes we'd be walking and I'd ask him a question and he wouldn't respond.  I'd ask him, "Are you programming?" and he'd smile.  Yes, that is the reason why he waits to start a project; he starts programming it in his head for days.  I instead, start outlining the project and create a planning document of the steps I need to do. I work with deadlines also, but rarely wait until close to the deadline to start the task.  Yes, I was that person in school that asked, "Can we start on this now?"  I like to get things done early and there is a problem with that.  If you don't spend the time to "program" it out in your head, you might miss some valuable ideas.

We recently went to the Magic Kingdom to see the progress of the new Tron ride.  We found  this sign with Walt Disney's quote, "Everyone needs deadlines."  I thought it was so fitting for Keith and took this picture.  Disney is a big part of our lives today.  We both grew up going to Disneyland since it opened right after we were born and our grandparents lived up in Orange/LA area - so that made trips there special.  After we got married, we'd go there at least once a year and then when we moved here to Florida over a decade ago, we became Florida Resident Annual Passholders.  This means we pay one annual fee and can go as many times as we want.  We currently go twice a week but when we fully retire in two more years, we'll up that to three times a week.  

Guess what?  We don't like to ride most of the rides.  Instead it is a great place to walk.  Keith had a stroke over three years ago and lost his balance.  Instead of the more common, ischemic stroke, Keith had the very dangerous, hemorrhagic stroke that only has a 26% survival rate.  It happened at a training seminar that we were presenting for our software and across the street was the hospital.  The wife of our General Manager insisted on taking him over there (he wanted to go home) and we think that saved his life.  If he had gone home, he would have gone to sleep and probably died. It was deep in his brain; in the cerebellum area that controls balance.  It took many months of physical therapy to get him walking again and now years of continued walking therapy to increase his balance to prevent falls.  

My favorite place is Disney's Animal Kingdom that has uneven walkways through winding paths and lots of things to look up and see.  This is great for Keith's balance therapy.  Going to the other parks when they are crowded provides a whole other challenge; dodging little kids, strollers, and ECVs.  Now about 4 years later, he is about 99% recovered and has lost almost a 100 pounds.  He can go up ladders again, although I'm always next to him for safety.  Next month, we're walk/running a 5K at Disney which will be a challenge since it starts in the early morning dark.  But we've been training for it all year and we're excited for the challenge.  We knew the deadline of the run, and worked backwards on what we needed to do.  So, yes - everyone needs deadlines; it helps get you to the finish line.

Visit my website for info on my books - https://www.sandijerome.com/

Eating New Things

 

One of things that I’m learning about living in Florida (along with alligators, hurricanes, and bugs) is that the same plants that I have grown for years, do not thrive in Florida.  But other plants do.  I tried and tried to grow the typical garden favorites; broccoli, corn, and spinach, but they do not do well in our hot humid climate.  But these are a few new things I have learned to grow and like to eat – and they are good for me!  This is a picture of my granddaughter, Suby who is off the Florida Keys, learning about how wonderful Florida can be for free food.  The best food is the food that you grow yourself!

Longevity Spinach (Gynura Procumbens)

This easy to grow plant (just take a clipping and stick in the ground) can help lower levels of cholesterol, blood pressure, and triglycerides in the body. Research shows that along with lowering sugar levels, the ethanol extract of the plant’s leaves has anti-hyperlipidemic effects as well. Another benefit is weight loss, considering the plants fat lowering properties.   Longevity spinach has also become famous for its anti-inflammatory effects. It contains many bioactive constituents, alkaloids and steroids. These steroids and alkaloids found in the plant play a vital role in warding off inflammation. Its leaves have a mild taste so they can be crushed and put in smoothies, soups, or teas.  I use it as my lettuce in sandwiches or in salads.  I am also trying to grow its cousin, Okinawa Spinach, (Gynura crepioides) but the squirrels seem to like that.  I bought both plants as little 4” starters on Etsy, but now I have plenty around the yard. Each serving contains about 4.5 grams of protein in a 3.5 ounce serving. 

Red Leaf Hibiscus (Hibiscus acetosella)

This one I started from seeds that I got on Etsy. Both the foliage and flowers of 'Panama Red' Hibiscus are edible. Young leaves have a tart, lemony flavor, are rich in vitamin C and thiamin, and may be eaten raw or cooked. Its red foliage also adds color and flavor to salads. It makes a great addition to salads or sandwiches and you can also add it to your smoothies. When it comes to cooking, it is good in stir-fry, soups, or steam it like spinach. What many people like about it, is that it is not losing its nice red color after cooking. Older, tough leaves and calyxes can be used fresh (chopped or crashed), or dried (and crushed), to make a nice herbal tea, that taste quite sour and fruity.   Every 100g of leaves of Hibiscus acetosella is providing 42 cal and 2.88g of protein, 67mg of vitamin C and 3409g of beta-carotene. Because of its oxalic acid content its leaves should not be consumed raw in excess, and avoided by persons suffering from urinary stones. Boiling and steaming significantly reduce oxalic acid content.

Papaya (Carica papaya)

My first papaya tree got too large, so I had to remove it.  Now I have been growing smaller versions from the seeds of it. They truly grow like weeds if you scoop a handful of seeds from the center and toss them in the ground. I trim them down to keep them growing low, and I use the males  in the yard to shade other plants. This year, I got a few females out of the batch of seeds I planted that are ready to fruit. Papayas contain high levels of antioxidants vitamin A, vitamin C, and vitamin E. Diets high in antioxidants may reduce the risk of heart disease. The antioxidants prevent the oxidation of cholesterol. A medium-sized contains about 119 calories. 1.3 grams of protein. 30 grams of carbohydrates.  I like to cut it into squares like cantaloupe; sprinkle a little lime and stevia on it and eat as a treat.

Do I miss my crop of corn, spinach, and broccoli? Sure, but some many other things  grow well like sweet potatoes (like weeds) and potatoes.  I  have been transforming my tiny yard that had an ugly palm and 2 woody scrubs and tons of rubber bark, into a tropical oasis with my own organic food! 

Visit my website for info on my books - https://www.sandijerome.com/

You are Bigger

 

My granddaughter, Vrinda graduated this year from the University of North Florida with a degree in Biology with a concentration in Coastal Environmental Science.  My hope is that someday she will save our world from devastating climate change. One of my favorite memories of Vrinda was when I took her down to the beach when she was about two.   She would love to run out to the water’s edge but was terribly frightened by seagulls and would run back up to me on my blanket.  I knew she wanted to be out there with her sisters playing, so I had a talk with her and said, “You are this tall,” holding out my hand over her head. “the seagulls are only this tall,” as I moved my hand low to the ground.  “All you have to do is run towards them and shout, “Go Away, go away!  The seagulls are afraid of you because you are bigger.”  Vrinda tried it and was delighted to be able to make the seagulls fly away.  She would run up and down the beach shouting at them, “Go Away, go away!  From then on, her favorite game when we'd go to the beach would be to immediately clear the area of any seagulls.  

We were on a business trip when Janet went into labor with Vrinda.  I had asked our accountant, Lena to come over and help watch Chandra and Tulaasi after Janet went into the hospital.  Keith and I boarded the plane, thinking that when we arrived, we’d have another grandchild.  When we called from the airport, we found that although Janet was in the hospital; she had not had the baby yet.  We sent Lena home and took the girls over to our house to wait.  It seemed like minutes after we had arrived home that Janet had Vrinda.  We always thought that Vrinda waited until we got there.  We were delighted with this cute and smiling baby.  Vrinda was the first one that Keith and I had been around from the start, and I think that caused a special bond between us.  She tore a pretty big hole our hearts.  When they would bring the girls over to stay with us, Vrinda would always jump on my lap with her bottle hanging from her mouth.  She’d turn my head towards her and say, “Grandma, I want to tell you about my bad dream last night.”   Vrinda was special to Tulaasi.  Finally, no longer the youngest, Tulaasi seemed to rise to the occasion when Vrinda came along.  Tulaasi would lay on the floor and look at Vrinda and gently touch the side of Vrinda’s face. She would talk "baby talk" to Vrinda. Tulaasi was finally the bigger sister.

I grew up like the Gorgonites; the heroes of a movie called Small Soldiers.  They were not brave, instead they had a knack for hiding.  My brother was bigger and a bully who beat me up; both physically and emotionally.  I was insecure and thought of myself as little.  A friend at work one day said to me, "Sandi, you intimidate others."   I was shocked!  Me, thought of as intimidating?  How can that be?  He explained, "you're very smart and smarter than everyone else here.  They find that intimidating."  I had worked most of my life in the car business where having an education was not a strong point; in fact I rarely mentioned that I was a CPA and had a degree in Accounting with a minor in Computer Science.  Typically the General Manager or owner had a "PHD."  That doesn't meant an advanced degree, rather that meant "poppa had a dealership."  He got the job because his dad, grandfather, etc. owned the dealership.

Was I an intellectual bully?  I realized that I didn't like training people; I couldn't understand how they couldn't understand how things worked or aspire to a higher position.  I didn't have empathy for those that were content to be at the same level, lacking the ambition to learn more and grow.   My friend would lector me, "Sandi, not everyone can be the CFO like you; the world also needs file clerks."  Later when I started a software company, my "bigger brain" got worse.  When someone would be using our software and wanted our product to look like their old antiquated previous system, I didn't get it.  Didn't they want the speed and power of better technology?  

I'm not sure if I'll ever be cured of being an intellectual bully.  I never thought of myself as pretty, but I knew I was smart and could figure anything out if I had a manual or an Internet connection.  But I am also self-aware, so I've stepped down from running my software company and in my place are empathic professionals that work carefully with our customers, helping them use our software, regardless of their ability to learn or understand instructions.  I am trying to be bigger and stop yelling at people to "go away, go away!"

Visit my website for info on my books - https://www.sandijerome.com/