I Am Resolved

Ahhhh, the onset of a new year, a new beginning, time to start over again.  Did you write any New Year’s Resolutions?  I have done them my entire adult life.  I read that eighty five percent of the population write resolutions.  However, about 0% actually keep them.

And, don’t we always resolve to do the same things?  Eat better, exercise more, pay off credit card bills.  We start out so gung-ho then somewhere along the way....generally, by mid-January, our enthusiasm wanes and our first of the year priorities get lost in the frenzy of our day to day lives.

I’m determined this year will be different.  Did you hear Dr. Oz tell Piers Morgan the other night that your waist size should be less than half your height?  I guess that sounds obvious but then I got out the measuring tape.  OMG!  I’m barely within that guideline.  Of course, I’m only 61” tall but I am now humiliated into dieting!

It seems like I’m always dieting (as is half the country unless you live in the Land of Fried Chicken and Sweet Tea).  Last year was a nightmare for me.  I started living with a very buff man who eschews veggies and adores anything with sugar in it, especially, chocolate peanut M&Ms, pastries from Publix, and desserts from Cracker Barrel.  When a barrel of truffles arrived in the living room during the holidays, I just gave up.

So, what’s my #1 resolution?  Lose 10 pounds.  I know you weren’t expecting that..lol.
My cousin and my son have been praising the Mediterranean Diet for the last year and telling me to try it.  However, you should see them.  They looked like my buff man before they ever even started the diet, so I wasn’t sold.  But, I keep hearing how much more energy they have and how healthy it is...blah, blah, blah.

But, then over the holidays I was walking through Barnes and Noble looking for a book to spend my gift certificate on and ran across The New Sonoma Diet by Connie Guttersen.  It was on sale for $7.99 but the cover grabbed me:  “Trimmer Waist, More Energy in Just 10 Days.”

I perused it...sounded a whole lot like the Mediterranean Diet and you could drink a glass of red wine with dinner.  There were recipes for desserts even.  Mango Basil Granita...whatever the hell that is!  Very high on the protein, very low on the carbs.
“It lets you drop pounds quickly and feel better than ever while indulging in meals hat are all about celebration, not deprivation!”  Oh, yeah, baby....I’m in.

I start reading.  It’s not about points, calorie tracking.  It’s about eating healthfully with
smaller portions.  Snacking smart.  You’ll immediately shed pounds, you’ll notice a difference almost immediately in how your clothes fit.

There are the 12 Sonoma Power Foods:  almonds, beans, bell peppers, blueberries broccoli, citrus, grapes, olive oil, spinach, strawberries, tomatoes, whole grains.  I love them all except the bell peppers...no way am I eating those.

We moved in to the Florida condo January 1st.  I brought my trail mix bars.  Buff Honey brought all his leftover holiday candy, potato chips, kettle corn and Cheerios.  He gets the top shelf in the pantry.  I stock up on everything Sonoma.  No sugar, no processed foods.  Check.

Then, I read there are three waves.  Obviously, I’m Wave One.  For 10 days, you must limit your intake to certain acceptable foods.  And, certain acceptable beverages.  Which include black coffee, tea and water.  WHAT???!!!  What happened to the red wine with dinner????  Hey! That’s one of the main appeals for this diet.

I’ll tell you it’s been tough for two reasons.  One, here we are on the gulf coast watching gorgeous sunsets....can you not drink a wee glass of wine in all this beauty???  It ain’t easy.  Two, my partner cannot exist without burgers and pizzas and a good pub.

I’m trying to string together 10 days without red wine but so far, my best effort has been three.  I try to get a salad when we go to a pub but that is not their specialty.  Who orders salad at a bar?  No wonder the leaves are limp and brown at the edges.

But, I found a great place on the water that has fabulous black bean burgers.  Did I just say that?  I never thought I would “love” black bean burgers.  I may even try to make them.  Last night I made teriyaki chicken, wild rice and salad with celery and strawberries.  Now, that was a Sonoma dinner.

Along with the Sonoma diet, I resolved to give up coffee.  Me??  I have stumbled out of bed to the coffeemaker for almost 50 years.  I’ve done it before but soon developed a huge headache I assumed was from withdrawal.  Now, I’m drinking my decaf tea in the morning and have had no headaches at all.  Go figure!  I haven’t missed it really and now I’m sleeping a little better.  Maybe, that’s why I’m exhausted by 8 in the evening.

But, give up wine?  Okay, it’s Day Two.  I resolve to be strong.

I Am In Love

And you’re thinking, yeah....what’s new?  We all know that but you are wrong!  I am in love with Florida, my home state.  I left here 43 years ago and I never dreamed it would take me this long to return.

Yes, it’s got a ridiculously high crime rate and the overdevelopment merits the saying, “the rape of Florida.” But, to me, it’s still home.  I think I’ll always be a Florida girl.

Steve and I arrived in Venice on the 1st of January.  Happy New Year to us!  We settled into our two bedroom condo with a golf course view from our screened-in back porch and headed to the pool.  It was nearly 80 degrees!  This is when I think global warming is perfectly suited for me.

I hate winter and every year I get worse.  Three years ago I escaped the Maryland winter that mirrored Buffalo, New York.  I ended up in Hilton Head, South Carolina freezing my buns off!  Seriously, it snowed in Hilton Head.  I was there for six weeks and could bear walking on the beach only one day.  Obviously, I needed to head further south.

I remember growing up in Orlando, where seasons were scant at best.  I was a huge reader as a child and pictured New England seasons.  It all seemed so idyllic until I moved there.  My first winter the snow fell on October 13th and I saw the ground again six months later.  SIX MONTHS!!!  I arrived with no coat, no boots, absolutely no sense when it came to driving in snow.  I didn’t even know where the defroster was in our new 1970 Honda Civic.  And, I was preggers with my first child.

No friends, no family.  Plenty of nausea and nostalgia.  I stayed 13 years and saw many pristine snowfalls and brilliant falls.  And, eventually, I made some of the best friends I will ever have in life and gave birth to a perfect little girl.  I started a career in education, became active in Democratic politics.

Often, we went to Cape Cod or the Long Island Sound to swim in the summer.  I even occasionally frequented Moonstone Beach, which was infamous for its daring nudity.  Once, I saw my neighbor two doors down.  I was horrified.  That was my last trip.  But, did you ever swim in that water???  It’s like jumping into a bathtub filled with ice cubes and I’m talking about the height of summer.  I really missed those Florida beaches on those days!

Every life has a yin and a yang...my husband and I parted and I began my own path, with plenty of bumps and bruises along the way that eventually took me to Maryland.
What a difference in the mid-Atlantic states!  Seasons still existed but the winters were shorter and milder and I could deal with it.

That was 1984.  Twenty eight years ago.  I hate the winters even in Maryland now.

We’re living in Florida for four months, through the end of April.  I am so glad to have a kindred spirit with me who loves this climate as I do.  The worst part of this experiment is leaving our combined eight children and nine grandchildren...soon to be 10 behind.  Every day we miss them.

But, in the morning, when we hear the squawks of the Sandhill cranes and the waterfall on the golf course, we pull on our shorts and tee-shirts and ask with a grateful heart, “What’s on the agenda today?”