Maybe I got carried away?

The jobs that pay $21/hr kind of disappeared. The 'recruiters' who knows if they're real recruiters? Anyway, both of them disappeared. One scheduled a Zoom interview and I did that, but I was in the Zoom room alone. The recruiter was going to chase down why that happened then she went Out of Office for an extended period and her assistant called once. No answers on what happened and they stopped calling.

The other recruiter had the $21/hr job and they said something about setting up an interview and immediately disappeared. I'm probably not going to answer emails from any recruiters on Indeed again.

I applied at FedEx Ground where I knew I would be hired right away and they didn't disappoint me. I know, I know, my back! But I think Ground has other people to sling boxes for me. And I've applied for about 30 jobs since I left FedEx. I've had 3 actual interviews. Two sounded very promising and nothing happened with either one. The 3rd was especially cool. One of the hiring committee asked about my experience as a Neighborhood Watch Coordinator and she seemed really excited that my experience was exactly what they were looking for. But then she asked what my preference would be and I think I said the wrong thing.

I was interviewing for Bankruptcy Asset Manager, the other job they were hiring for had less stringent deadlines and I was leaning in that direction. When you hear "Stringent Deadlines" and you don't know anything... Well, that's how I took it and I'm guessing it's why I haven't heard anything from them.

So getting back to FedEx Ground. I have a drug screen and DOT physical scheduled. I have a driving test Monday morning. As long as they put me in a sprinter I will pass easy peasy. But a DOT physical means they are planning to put me in a huge FedEx van at some point and that's where I have zero confidence.

I also applied to UPS as a seasonal driver's helper and I have a conditional job offer.

Now I'm hoping one of these other jobs I applied to will rescue my back, Please. Please?

I did sound a little surprised didn't I?

I think 7 months and 5 days was a little bit long for me to be working at FedEx. But I can say I was surprised I lasted so long. My back is much happier now, mostly because I joined Planet Fitness. One day after work when I was acutely in pain I went in to look around and a trainer came over to chat. I mentioned the back problems I've had for years, my bad discs at L3, 4 & 5. And I said loading packages was really hard on me especially lately.

The one thing I've really enjoyed is syncing with my coworkers, Raaman and Nova. They're slinging boxes as fast as they can and I'm grabbing the boxes, twisting to shoot them down a ramp but it's taking a toll.

The trainer took me around to 4 machines. They don't have the exact same Roman chair I'm used to. There was a spot for hanging by your elbows and you can bring your knees to chest- or almost. She was surprised I could do it. I did 5 reps on everything which I know isn't much but I will add reps as I'm able. Then she showed me how the hydro-massage chair works and I was in Love. I loaded the app as soon as I got home and joined. I've been back most days, except when Gary is home.

One day, I decided to run the hydro-massage chair on full blast and I won't do that again.

I've been applying for other jobs, had one interview already but I really miss everyone at FedEx. A couple of head hunters found my resume on Indeed and put me in the running for some neat things that pay well. It seems a few places are still having problems attracting applicants. I never thought I'd be up for jobs that pay up to $21 an hour but that's where I am these days.

And I'm still working...

You know some days I kind of wondered if wearing a uniform was going to wear off with me. But I'm used to it and I don't feel weird anymore. Getting my nails done and wearing makeup helps. Guess I'm more 'girly' now than I've been in years.

I passed the probationary period with a few bumps but no bruises. I'm still learning the ropes and it's pretty lucky my boss never yells. Yesterday he said something about yelling but I didn't believe him.

Yesterday I was having a bad day. My technology was working against me and slowing me down--soooo frustrating. But when Gary said this morning he hoped I'd have a better day today I surprised him by saying of course it's going to be better. One of the things I like best about my job is no 2 days are alike, every day is different. Especially today, because our freight was so late, Michael let us deliver the first load then come back for more and do it again. This pretty much sums up my route because I was in the same exact neighborhoods twice today. It really cheered me up, I had fun! Probably because I suddenly knew where I was going and when my GPS tried to make me go up a block and U-turn, I was like-ummm No.

In Costco after work a nice 40ish guy asked about my work and how long I'd been doing it because I was still in uniform...he said he wished he could get his wife to apply. I said we'd be happy to see her! Michael interviewed somebody last week but since I haven't heard anything or seen him again I'm thinking he didn't pass the drug test. Ruhroh. That's the thing around here, people have a tough time passing and I'm scratching my head. Wha?? This is why I have a job.

Well, I did it.

I've got a new job, it was kind of amazing they hired me. I've been applying at the County of Humboldt for at least 3 years and for a variety of reasons they didn't take me up on it.

Every week I'd look at the Humboldt County job postings and I kept noticing FedEx was hiring. When Jack was driving for them I mentioned I'd like to do that, he never encouraged me. So anyway, I submitted an application and was a little surprised to hear anything back.

I am enjoying all aspects of my job, especially loading and unloading freight. It goes fast and feels invigorating. I'm glowing (a little sweaty sometimes) and it feels really good to be working around other people for a change. The last year and a half has been harder than I realized.

I suddenly have goals. 

Losing weight has taken a bit of a back seat but my step count has gone through the roof. I raised my expected step count to 10,000 then to 13,000. Now I'm wondering if I should raise it again to 20,000?

Unfortunately, I'm a visual learner so some things are taking longer than others to learn. There is quite a lot of memorization and plenty of moving parts. Backing a van or a sprinter into the shop is harder than it looks, especially when I have to bring it in at an angle. I'm being deliberate (meaning slow and careful) until I have more confidence. 

I remember the quip Weston made when I told him about the new job--he said, "Have they seen you drive!?"  It was funny for about 2 seconds. Ha-ha. And I don't have the kind of confidence in my own driving that I think I remember having before. But it'll happen. Eventually.

I'm getting acrylic nails tomorrow, short ones. French. It has felt weird ever since the first weeks of the pandemic and all the nail salons closed. I stopped cold turkey after having my nails done continuously for 35+ years including all the years I was commercial fishing. I never broke a nail.

Progress!

Well I've only lost 3 more lbs but there's a huge drop on the fitbit chart, 179 today!! I did a little happy dance because it's taken so long to break 180.

I had to change up my routine just a little. I'm not having my 2nd ketones drink until about 5PM. Having them too close together caused problems. And plus, I think it's finally making me lose weight again.

Tomorrow is our first car show, kind of exciting. I put the car on the front yard lawn and put a ceramic coating over the paint and wiped the running boards clean. Quite a few people stopped to admire the car, the neighbors mostly but a few others too.
 

The Funny Thing Is...

Well, I'm stubbornly NOT losing weight!

It makes me so mad.  But luckliy when I started Keto I took my measurements. And wow, I'm losing inches. Not very many, but I've lost 2 1/4 inches from my waist and a notch on my fitbit strap!

I've realized I need more in my Life than Keto and my car. It's finally home from the body shop and you can only post so many photos to FB.

But I haven't posted anything here in awhile.

Once I found out you can buy old plates on eBay, I had to have some that say 1937. Doug said that was going to be a nightmare at the DMV. It wasn't so bad but it did take 35 min. at the counter. When I first got to the DMV, the first employee I saw at the door handed me a form that said I had to have permission from the previous owner of that license plate, they had to sign the form. I went out in my car and opened that package with my new plates and the seller had enclosed a form that was a bit different, so I went back in and someone else had door duty. I got a number and took a seat wondering how long would it be before they kicked me out saying I needed a permission slip again. But that didn't happen. Since I was at the counter so long I got to show everyone around me, DMV employees and other people in line, pix of my car.

I love to toggle back and forth between those 2. The lighter color was when I bought the car exactly a year ago. It's fun to drive around on days when everyone I see gets excited to see the car, people on the sidewalk giving us thumbs up or waving makes me smile back.

This weekend I took the car for a drive to Sequoia Park thinking I'd get some photos in the Redwoods but the park's gate was locked and my camera battery was d.e.a.d. Everywhere I looked people had just turned their heads, no thumbs up anywhere. It was starting to get depressing actually. Since the park bombed, I decided to go to Suzzanne's house and see if she wanted to go for a ride but she wasn't there. Bummer.

By the time I was headed home, people started to perk up and my depression lifted. What is wrong with people, I'd been thinking.

Today I called around about wheel alignments and tire balancing. Les Schwab is 4 weeks out and that's not going to work. The 2nd place I called, I've been there before but the girl couldn't find my name or my phone number; I made an appointment. But it put me in a weird mood so I called the tire place that's right across the street from where my hubby works and asked if they could do an alignment on a 1937 Chevy? They said that's a specialty and I needed to go to Gosslin tire. Started me thinking I should have said 1937 Chevy to the place where I made an appt. Then I called Gosslin and they said it's $90 an hour, it needs to stay there all day. Wow. So I hopped in the car and drove down there. I asked for a better estimate and he said 2-3 hours and they'll call me when it's done so there won't be people crawling all over it down there.

Gary called in between and I told him about what was going on--he's great at math so he immediately figured out $90 an hour times all day is $800. 2-3 hours is a lot more do-able. So I made the new appointment and called to cancel the other one. Then I noticed on FB there's another car show, this time in Fortuna July 23-25th.

Oh yes. the other stuff besides Keto and my car is that I've done a couple things to my cello--it has brand new pegs and an endpin and I've started to play it again. Which is to say I'm a Beginner again. I bought some sheet music and a couple of beginner-ish books.

And I'm taking a class at Yale University, Introduction to Psychology which is Quite Interesting. I'm really enjoying the class. I started to take Intro to Psych at College of the Redwoods (a few) years ago and the teacher was horrible, besides choosing to begin the class with clinical psychology and mental institutions. Made me want to run for the hills, I dropped it. So glad I'm giving it another go.

Meditation huh?

The first couple of mornings, I popped up and got water in the bottle to start drinking and shut my bedroom door so FitzGerald couldn't come in. I sat on the floor at the foot of the bed and started to meditate and realized the dehumidifier on was a distraction so I got up, shut it off and started over. Then I did some yoga for 12 minutes.

This morning things didn't work out that way and I just barely had Fitz fed and Gary's lunch made before it was time to play cribbage then he went to work. It was 2:30 before I attempted to meditate and I had company! The person in the video has a dog, but her dog is laying down a good distance away. FitzGerald climbed into my lap and he's not a small dog (Rottweiler). I think laughing during meditation is frowned upon. Pretty much the whole time he was either sitting on me, licking my arm or sticking his cold nose under my arm.

Then there was 'yoga'. I started by stretching and bending and my friend came over with his entire body to see what I was doing right in front of me so there was no room to bend over. As I started twisting and bending he got a bit excited and began to hop around back and forth in my space. I gave up. I will do yoga later. There's one video on youtube labeled bedtime yoga.

I started the Pruvit 10 day challenge with nutritional ketones today. They don't taste wonderful but I will survive. I don't think I'm supposed to eat breakfast because the directions don't say anything about eating breakfast but after morning (charged means with caffeine) ketones it says to have a low carb lunch followed by uncharged ketones and low carb dinner IF you're hungry. They don't tell you any of this before you buy. I can imagine lots of people lose weight not having breakfast or dinner every day for 10 days.

There was nothing in the advertising about money-back guarantee.

New Motivation

I just found this great app in an article called Fabulous https://thefab.page.link/1oPbyiouZmEj5qP19.

I thought you might want to check it out because it’s based on research from Duke University.
Macie, this is what you should do to feel energized all day long You can read it here :
https://thefab.page.link/1oPbyiouZmEj5qP19 

Get your morning ritual in place. https://thefab.page.link/1oPbyiouZmEj5qP19 {{CHALLENGE_PICTURE}}

The day after my birthday, I found new motivation--which is perfect timing. Every year, around my birthday I make my yearly checkup appt at the doctor's office, get a mammogram, just basically take stock. And to be honest I have piles of stuff I haven't been facing. There was a pile of clothes in front of my dresser that won't fit in the drawers, some of which are too big to wear anymore...and it's been sitting there about a year. I know-embarrassing. But after I downloaded the app and started the 'work' I realized how easy it is to set a timer on Alexa for 20 minutes and just pick up that one little mess and it's GONE. Half of that pile is clothes to be donated. The other half had to go to the laundry because everything was covered in Dust.

With my new app, I had the chance to set some goals, not too many. Starting with 'Breathe' and Drink Water first thing in the morning, which I'm already doing. I put my full water bottle on the nightstand before bed every night. Next is Clean Up the House for 10 minutes, but I set my timer for 20 minutes. Followed by 'Exercise' 8 minutes, Drink Tea, Go for a short walk 5 minutes but that's silly because how would I get in 10,000 steps walking for 5 minutes!? Last is read for 30 minutes.

I haven't been exercising lately. My Michael Thurmond DVD takes 15 minutes and I'm going to make every effort to do that before we have company today.

My walk is going to be a bit longer than 5 minutes. Garhett said he'd go with me to take the long way to Target with FitzGerald. Last night Fitz and I went downtown and I didn't quite make my steps but I did have over 8,000 steps yesterday. Day before that I had 10,681 and the last time I hit 10,000 fitbit wasn't synced so I didn't get the credit. I've had 2 bottles of water so far and it's already after 11am so I'd better get busy!

Little this, little that

Yesterday I scrubbed my new wheels. I started with the whitewall cleaner which seemed to be taking a long time and since I didn't have that kind of patience, I jetted over to the hardware store on Guintoli Lane. It's close to where the car is getting worked on. I picked up my fav-Bartender's Friend cleanser and it made quick work out of the tires

Back in August when I jumped the curb and wrecked my car it wrecked all 4 tires, 1 even had a slice in it. So I call those my old new tires, they were 2 months old when they died.

I've been researching Keto, reading everything that pops up on the many FB pages I've joined. Pruvit is something that looked familiar. I remembered opening a drawer in Sara's kitchen and she was loaded up on the stuff. It's kinda expensive. Anyway, after reading how many people are using it with good results I decided to try that. I'm still at a stall at 182 lbs. My body is stubborn I guess.

New tires are coated in this blue stuff which isn't that easy to scrub off.

After getting some Bartender's Friend cleanser I sprayed water on the tires, sprinkled liberally with cleanser and scrubbed them. It was 6 minutes, each tire.

Ready to go back on the car. It's a little dusty from all the sanding in the building. Doug will blow it off before he starts buffing.

Headlights

Side piece of the front end

Last fender to be painted

Got a 12 Volt battery yesterday. My car was born 6 Volt. After Doug put a new Fat radiator in the car it wouldn't fit next to the fan/fan belt so he tok those out and we'll use electric fans that run off 12 volt.

Now I can buy an actual car stereo that has a USB and hands-free phone.

My whole life right now is getting the car on the road and trying to lose weight. And I got my toenails painted today.

Breakthrough!

Finally got the scale to move after more than a week stuck on 185! And I hit 10,988 steps yesterday which is the first time over 10,000 steps in over a year, I think. Suddenly, I see lots of possibilities.

It was like my brain was paralyzed on one level. Because I couldn't quit this diet, I've got too much invested in shakes, greens, MCT and now even activated charcoal in case I get diarrhea, again. Sometimes you can't leave out the worst parts, that lasted almost a week. I kept reading the FB posts of everyone who had mixed success and quite a few people had lost over 100 pounds and I thought to myself--gee I can do that if I'm just better at counting macros, or drinking enough water, or maybe I was on the wrong diet? I'm going to stick with Speed Keto though.

Stalling would have made me quit before. Been there, done that. But this time is different and I almost can't put my finger on it. I've had stalls of a few days on Michael Thurman, a couple stalls of a week or almost a week since I started Keto, but it's not denting my determination.

I weighed 182 this morning!! I know it's because I hit 10,000 steps. I need to change my goal to 15,000 steps but I'm just going to have to tackle this level first. And I'm not there yet. I cleared a path to my treadmill and it was a little disturbing I couldn't pre-set it for 5 miles at 3.2 mph. I can set it for walking for an hour but when I change mph, the time changes, the distance changes. Frustrating. I think I can get on and set the mph and just walk as long as I want, we'll see but I'm pooped now,

We (Gary came for the first time) to see the car and clean window glass with me. I brought the heavy rubber mat I'd taken to the car wash this week. I had it rolled up in the front seat so it was infringing on FitzGerald's space in the back seat and he thought it was a giant chew toy! I hung it over the front porch railing to dry and when I took Fitz outside for our walk he jetted over to where the mat was hanging and wanted to attack it once more. Gary folded it into the back of the car to take it back to Arcata and Fitz knew it was in the trunk and wouldn't sit still. Brat.

So I have an excuse to be pooped for now. I'll try to walk later, but I'm not getting anywhere near 10,000 steps today.

Rapid Fat Loss Program

They claim you can lose 22 lbs in 28 days. I'm going to try it. 1/4 of my kitchen counter is full of supplements. The facebook group wouldn't add me even after I sent them a photo of the book. They were looking for a code that's in the front part of the book--where I skipped until this morning. The important thing about joining the FB group is that's where you can find the supplements and hopefully discounts.

My weight has stayed the same 184 for a week+ and I have zero patience with stalling. RFL doesn't seem too complicated, HIIT exercise will be new but at this point, I'll try anything.

Still looking for answers....

I've always been curious about what's going on with my body-besides being overweight on and off over my adult life. I participated in genetic testing, I've sent a sample to Thryve to see what my gut health is doing. I had a score of 77% which, I guess means my gut health isn't bad but I was low on 4 bacteria. So I ordered their probiotics. I can say I wasn't too impressed with their website. There is a questionnaire that doesn't respond to answers, that was frustrating.

What's funny is they ask you questions about stress. Honestly, I never feel stress until I get to a questionnaire that doesn't accept my responses.

Someday I'm going to respond positively when my kids take away the computer and my credit cards. I'm very impressionable and a little worried that I bought probiotics because a test said I was low on 4 bacteria. The only way now that I can get off the probiotics is to take their test again sometime. In the back of my mind I'm thinking what if gut bacteria has kept me from losing weight? OK I doubt that.

I downloaded the MyFitnessPal app yesterday after chatting with Kathleen, she really likes it. The first problem I have with the phone app is it won't allow me to add foods on my phone. I tried and they didn't add so I opened the laptop. I like the pie shape that shows the variance between fats, carbs and protein. My pie shape was perfect yesterday but I didn't lose weight and I'm not in ketosis. I thought about fasting today but I've already fasted this week. I have a book coming Speed Keto Rapid Fat Loss Program: The Sirt Diet Goes Keto Paperback – February 24, 2021 https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/1732883076/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 which will hopefully help.

So Now I'm asking myself, how many books does it take?

No Question I'm in Ketosis

This morning my pee test was dark pink. The scale said I weigh 186. I guess this is it.

I had a couple false starts and the scale didn't move off 190, which was depressing, to say the least. I did an almost 24 hour fast-23 hr and my pee test the next morning was light pink.

I had spaghetti with Garhett for his birthday dinner (that's what he asked for), followed by a 26 hr fast and that's where I am today. 

I've long thought that if I stopped eating, my metabolism would shut off completely and I would gain weight. A Keto fast is different because you're allowed a few things I didn't expect: powdered greens, beef bone broth, electrolytes. I had bone broth with a cube of beef broth for added salt-that's another thing I'm not used to. I added cumin, spanish paprika and ancho chile seasoning, it was delicious.

This isn't going to be hard at all.

By the way I've added a lot of recipes to my Pinterest, like this Coriander-Roasted Broccoli which I will have with a 4 oz hamburger patty and a couple strips of bacon. 3dbc45e151bc979c123e1c647b2cff67 page https://www.pinterest.com/MacieBoughton/_saved/ some are from Food and Wine.com and I've made a few tweaks.

Speaking of tweaks, I'm going lighter with protein than Drew is saying in his book: Complete Keto. He doesn't say anything about male/female portions, so I'm guesstimating.

And I just bought Zero Carb bread on Amazon so I can make french toast for breakfast!

Keto, it is

I'm fully committed to Keto. I liked Slimfast shakes even though they didn't help me lose weight. I still weigh 190. At least I didn't gain weight. I bought a book, Complete Keto by Drew Manning. It was recommended by Chris Emmons, a Eureka firefighter I met at his Dad's funeral last year. I noticed Chris following Keto on his FB page and reached out to get help getting started.

It helps, having people in your corner. Hopefully, I will find a whole community.

This morning I'm having spinach eggs with goat cheese for breakfast. I'll have steak and bacon brussels sprouts with cheese for lunch. I've found numerous recipes on Pinterest to get this thing off the ground. I also found some meal replacement shakes on Drew Manning's website. Amazon was good for a few things: Monkfruit for sweetness, Electrolyte Powder, Ketosis test strips, avocado oil mayonaise. I'm sure there will be more.

I'm all in.

I'm well stocked with Monkfruit and almond flour, coconut flour so I'm going to give a stab to pancakes tomorrow morning.

I've Always Thought If Something's Broke--Fix It!

I think I gave Michael Thurman a very good stab. It worked for a couple, three weeks and then it didn't. So I tried keeping my weight steady without following MT to the letter and that didn't work well either.

So I thought maybe I would try SlimFast Keto and it worked pretty good for a couple days. I may fall back on SlimFast when I'm feeling lazy but I've decided to follow a Keto diet plan. I have a print out from one of the websites that has a food list, I've been copying Keto recipes to my Pinterest page.

This morning, my weight was 190. I'm still drinking about 100 oz of water.

This is the fender I bought from Old Car Parts in Portland. It was pretty rusty around the edges, so Doug welded the good parts from my fender to make it work.

It seems like my car is going to have lots of bondo, but after this is all sanded, there will be a skim coat to make it all smooth. This rear bumper is the one I drove to Chico for. It was $50 and they sandblasted it for me. It came off a sedan so there was a gas fill hole in it--that Doug patched.

I think he'll be priming sometime next week. Crossing my fingers.