Shipshee

What a scorcher of a day I had yesterday at Shipshee with Tina! We began an annual tradition of going up for the day in celebration of our birthday month (June). The thing I love about Tina is her excitement, her preparedness and her sense of adventure. Even though it was just one day..I felt like it was a small sense of rejuvenation. She is the most prepared person i know...she remembered to bring things that I was oblivious to remembering... like a fanny pack to keep money sound and safe right at her belt level- brilliant! She remembered a hat and even had an extra visor for me- my, oh my, how cute I must have looked with my bright red visor on :) She brought an extra back pack to carry her "finds" in, cause let me tell you...those little plastic sacks they give you with your stuff really cause your wrists to sweat like a pig in 93 degree weather.
She had sunscreen conveniently located in her glove compartment and that was a huge life saver because I would have come home scorched had it not been for that. We have a tradition of eating at this stand called "King's BBQ" and get this scrumptious slow roasted, smoked chicken
and a pickle. It's only like a dollar more to add on baked beans and a roll, but Tina was brilliant...and said she didn't really want those items so she was going to go with just a pickle and water with the chicken. I never, never, never would have thought of that! That's how warped my eating process has been for so many years!!! I drank at least 3 more waters and felt great.
I walked my toosh off (not really, don't worry..I still have plenty of a toosh) and sadly had to retire to the air conditioned car about 5 rows early as Tina plowed her way to the very end- go Tina go! I was so proud of her to press on. I couldn't...just couldn't. My feet were killing me due to my shoe choice. AFter leaving the flea market, we planned to stop at a family style dining Amish restaurant that we had visited last year. Then, Tina shared that her mom recommened a new place that was even better!! Yahooo....so we ventured to "Essenhaus" and my oh my...it was a delight. I can still taste the mashed potatoes- to die!!!!
As I layed in bed last night, I tried to calculate the approximate calories of my day and realized something strikingly valuable- it is very easy to forget about other food that I had eaten that day and I must, must write down my food intake. There is just something to be said about a written record of things. During my first 2 weeks of my "Weigh N Pray" adventure I had the most success losing 2 lbs per week. I was dedicated to writing everything down and actually doing a running tally of calories. I started the day with 2200 available calories and then subtracted everytime I ate something. This allowed me to consciously plan ahead for the next meals and snacks of the day. Another huge key was small pieces of very dark chocolate- the
Green's and Black brand of individually wrapped pieces. I would eat 4 or 5 of those a day- no prob! But, see they are only 25 calories each and they just do something to your taste buds to cause a deep satisfaction. Up until about a year ago..I hated dark chocolate. But now I love it-how strange.
God is always reminding me how HE is in charge and it's no problem for him to change our likes and dislikes. Too often we are convinced that we are the way we are and that's just final. NOPE! That's a lie. We are pliable and moldable in God's hands.
Stay cool today!
k