Grocery store nightmare

I lost this week!   I passed the 30 pounds gone for this year mark!!!!  (shopping for my new charm will commence shortly!)   1.5 for last week.  I'll TAKE IT!

I committed the gravest of grave errors the last time I went grocery shopping.  I hit the store many hours after I had eaten.  Not only was there a long stretch of no food, but an hour or so of that time had me involved in running my daily mileage.  So I was HUNGRY!   We all know what that means!

I walked into the grocery store and the first thing I noticed was the table of cupcakes.  MMMMM  they looked so good.  My mouth watered, just thinking about the yummy icing and the taste of  a delectable morsel of cake in my mouth.  My mmmm, turned into a moan as I kept moving.  I didn't even break stride.  I was focused.....I was heading to the produce department.  The next table I passed held the containers of sugar cookies.  You know the type.  The pale sugar cookies with the thick icing on top.   Many times they even have sprinkles.  Have I mentioned lately that I love sprinkles?   I never really bought much stuff like that.  I would rather make my own cookies.  But I have had these goods.....people bring them to work for potlucks and customers delight in feeding us.   I looked at the cookies and a feeling of sadness settled upon me.  I wanted the cookies. I don't want to have to guard against the cookies and the cakes for the rest of my life and I admit that the sense of sadness bore down upon me the whole way through the grocery store.

Did I buy any of those delectably tempting snacks?   NO, not a one!   I headed straight for the produce department and I purchased lots of fresh foods.  I bought dairy products.   I bought healthy foods.   I may have been sad, but I did not waver in my mission!

I don't mind sharing what I purchased in the produce section.  I bought strawberries, (soon we will be picking strawberries..yippee), avocados, kiwi, carrots, sprouts and cherries.  I saw the cherries and I WANTED them.  I didn't think anything of it....UNTIL I hit the check out line. Do you see that in the picture???  I paid thirteen dollars and fifty four cents for that package of cherries.  Holy cow, they should be gold plated for that price.  My mouth dropped when I saw the price on the cash register.  Eii Yii yii!    I can guarantee you that there will be none of those cherries that end up in the compost pile because they got overripe before I could eat them! 

There are people out there that say that eating healthy is cheaper than eating junk.  I beg to differ.  Seriously?   $13.54 for maybe 6-8 portions  I could have bought a bag of chips for three bucks and had it last me the same amount of time. 

No matter.  The cost is worth it in my book.  I am worth it!   (Hopefully I won't be craving an out of season expensive fruit next week though!)

The fragility of health

I have a relatively small family. A mother and father (thank heavens both still living), an uncle (with a wife and two young children aged 11 and 8) a brother (with a wife and three young children aged 8,6,and 2) and a husband. That's it. Yesterday morning I woke up and all was well in my world. Everyone was relatively healthy. (my parents are getting older and experiencing some issues brought on by their age but that's to be expected). I operated all day on the assumption that my family was well. Until I got the phone call last night. I answered the phone and happily greeted my mom. She started right in on the news. "Hayley has been in the ER all day". Hayley??? She is my 11 year old cousin. I immediately thought of afflictions that commonly occur with an 11 year old tom-girl. Broken arm. Broken leg. Yeah, something like that I was sure. But then my mom said the words that caused my spinning thoughts to cease and for my body to start shaking with shock. "They've confirmed that she has had a stroke." Looking back, the family realized that she had been having problems and dragging her one leg. Her younger brother after the fact told how she was having problems 'getting a grip and pulling herself up into the truck the other day' But it wasn't until she was writing a report for school and her mother saw her writing, normally neat was now illegible even though she was painstakingly working on it. And then all the small seemingly innocuous symptoms clicked together (hayley is a bit of a drama queen and has on occasion created 'injuries' for attention) My aunt called the doctor and he sent them immediately to the ER. Hours and tests later and the reports came back....'she's had a stroke'. The hospital readily admitted that they were out of their league and started making plans to send her to one of he hospitals in the dc metro area....via a helicopter. However, the fog had rolled in by that point so they went by ambulance. (the helicopter scares me...you don't airlift someone unless it's very serious!........the last time they talked about airlifting a family member was when my grandmother had a stroke, caused by an aneurysm....the one that eventually killed her....and the fog rolled in that night also and she went by ambulance....so way to reminiscent) We are now waiting for more news.

In one day my healthy family has been turned on it's heel. I've talked in this blog about my cousin and the fact that I worry about her because she is a solid girl and I fear that she follows in the footsteps of so many people in our family history and struggle with her weight all her life. (her mother just had gastric bypass...so weight problems are very close to home in her case).

What does all this do to my thought processes in regard to my weight loss journey? On one hand it scares me because without knowing the reasons for Hayleys current problem, I know that the path that I was on could so easily have brought me to a stroke or worse. It also makes me feel proud because I have greatly reduced my risks for stroke and heart problems. Most importantly, it has really cemented in my head how precious and fleeting good health is. And on that same note, it has made me realize that everything I do has an effect on my health.....and it makes me want to do everything I can to avoid something that can be avoided by a healthy lifestyle.

I faced he scale this morning and I have to admit that I'm 3 pounds up. Sobering within the context of everything that's happening.