In two weeks, I've only lost one pound.  That's pretty discouraging because I increased my exercise significantly and reduced my calories.  However, I need to reduce more calories, so I will have to give up the wine.  I will stop it during the week and allow myself several glasses over the weekend.  This will be an excellent test to see if the wine makes a difference, but I'm sure it will.  That little voice has repeatedly been telling me to stop the wine.  I wish I didn't have to let it go because I enjoy doing it every evening.  However, because I enjoy it doesn't mean I need it, so bye-bye, Pino again.  I'll let you know how it works out.  I'll be happy if I can lose 2 pounds a week.  If I do that, I will definitely reach my goal by the end of September, which I promised myself when I began this blog.  I hope I make it!  ​​This week I continued to have a burst of intellectual energy and wrote some more of my True Tales.  I'm writing them as I think of things.  I'm listing them and then telling the stories one at a time, as best as I can remember them.  I have several others on the way, including stories about immigrant neighbors and relatives who made a difference in the world.  I've also continued to follow the court cases of some of the more notorious participants in the January 6th riot that was encouraged by Donald Trump and intend to tell these stories comprehensively based upon my research.  When I finish, I will self-publish the collection.  It's important to understand that ignorance of the law is no excuse, and boy, these people were ignorant.  Their stories are so sad because they've destroyed their futures.  The depth of their ignorance is taking most of them to prison, and they'll emerge in debt for the damage they've done.  I'm only writing about those who were charged with felonies.  There will be at least fifty.  While some of these poor people try to blame Donald Trump for their behavior, that excuse just will not fly.  It's like blaming the head of a drug cartel for the fact that you started dealing in the neighborhood.  But I digress.  This blog is about my keto diet and how I'm not losing much weight, which is probably why I digress.  I'm not losing quickly even though I gained the weight fast.  That is so discouraging, but I'm continuing to reduce my caloric intake and increase my exercise.  I had to stop my free weights for several weeks because of the colonoscopy, but I intend to start them up again today.  In the meantime, I'm trying to stay as productive as possible.  I hope to share better news about my weight next week.

     While I started the New Year unhappily, because of weight gain, I've also been productive.  I've written several more true tales and outlined others I plan to complete within the next few weeks.  I am so happy writing these stories because they were all important events in my life and the lives of those I knew.  Looking back, it's hard to believe that some of these tales are actually true, but they are.  I know because I lived through most of them.  At my age, it's so easy to forget life's adventures, and some of the things my friends and I went through are important because they reflect the history and society of the time.  Therefore, my writing is valuable and will continue as long as I recall the tales.  As I said in the last blog, I began the New Year badly, having gained some of the weight I lost, which was very discouraging.  The first thing I did was to adjust my diet, limiting portions and lowering calories.  The other thing I did was increase my exercise.  I started doing morning and evening Zumba at home using an excellent YouTube guide.  This adds 40 to 50 minutes of cardio to my daily routine.  I hope it reduces my weight quickly and I continue to lose over time.   ​I've already seen a downward trend in my weight and Hope the weight loss continues.  I'm also in the process of creating a few more recipes and continuing with a focus on vegetables.  I'm using a lot of broccoli, like I said last week.  This is mainly to help boost my calcium levels for stronger bones.  I'm also using many recipes I've made in the past, like broccoli cheese soup and crustless quiche, while trying new recipes, including several new broccoli salads.  I've also created more recipes using cabbage instead of rice, potatoes, or noodles.  Cabbage is also rich in calcium and is also very good for fiber needs.  Eggplant is also calcium-rich, and I order that when we go to Steve's favorite Chinese restaurant in White Rock, B.C.  The tomato bisque soup I started making last month is also rich in calcium, so we're having that regularly.  I'm also making crab bisque often since crab is high in calcium, and we still have lots of it.  So far, things are going well, and I plan to keep everything as is until I need further adjustments.  Until next week, enjoy a healthy life. 

     By now, I'm sure you've realized that my health concerns tend to guide my blog topics.  This week I had a bone density test and continue to have a reduction of bone mass, although not at the osteoporosis level.  In looking at solutions for bone density improvement, I've discovered several of my regular keto recipes are high in calcium, so I will review them for your information.  One of them is broccoli cheese soup which contains broccoli, which is high in calcium, and cheddar cheese, another recommended food.  Also, the tomato bisque that was recently introduced into my diet is full of calcium.  There's calcium in the stewed tomatoes and calcium in the bone broth that provides much of the liquid.  Another great recipe providing lots of calcium is spinach salad.  I have several recipes, including one served cold and one with warm dressing.  The cauliflower bake is also great for calcium-rich meals, as is the keto cheesecake.  I didn't realize before that almond flour had lots of calcium, so almond flower used for pizza crust and other bread is high in calcium.  My old standby, coleslaw, is an excellent source of calcium.  Steve and I usually have at least one serving of coleslaw daily.  However, we also use cabbage as a substitute for any recipe calling for rice or noodles.  At this point, I will include my red chili broth because it not only contains bone broth, but the final product calls for several dollops of sour cream, which is also very high in calcium.  I use a great deal of broth made from turkey and chicken carcasses.  While they are not a huge source of calcium, they add to the required daily allowance and also help joints, which is another area where I have problems.  It also happens that the meats we eat at our house, including crab, chicken, and salmon, are also rich in calcium.  Pork used for asada provides an acceptable amount.  The eggs we regularly use also have lots of calcium, as do the bacon slices that sometimes accompany our eggs.  Last week I mentioned that I am gaining weight, so I need to do significant interventions immediately.  Therefore, I added a thirty-minute YouTube Zumba to my daily routine because it is clear that I am not burning the calories I ingest daily.  The first time I did the routine, I added nearly 5,000 steps and twenty minutes of cardio, including ten minutes of intense workout!  I was amazed at how much I did, and it felt relatively easy.  I plan to add a 20-minute Zumba in the evening along with the exercise I do every day at the Grandview aquatic center.  I'm also continuing the leg press and free weights because they both build bone density.  In the meantime, I'm also reducing my caloric intake, but it's not very easy.  Like everyone else, I hate to be hungry, and sometimes I'm tempted to eat more than I should, but I'm trying to control that as well.  That's all I have for today, except that I have added several new true tales to this site.  Also, I intend to add more recipes that increase my calcium to improve bone health.

     Steve and I checked out some great movies from the library in DVD format over the past few weeks.  We have DVD players in Birch Bay and often use them to watch some of our favorite older movies that we own.  I noticed that to stream recent videos, you must belong to several streaming media sites, so, I looked for alternatives.  That's when I thought about the library, and it turns out that they are purchasing all of the top-rated films.  I checked some of them out and put holds on others.  We've been watching them every day.  That's the good news.  However, I do have some bad news.  My holiday eating probably caught up with me.  In the beginning, I didn't think that the holiday eating impacted my weight, but now it looks like I have put on a few pounds!  The weight gain is very disappointing.  However, I did create and eat some very rich keto recipes.  I also cheated with chocolate candy and cake a few times, which added to the problem.  I must make major adjustments to my keto diet to regain the ground I lost in short order.  Last week I mentioned that rich foods were catching up with me.  I'm adjusting to fewer calories as well as remaining on kitchen keto.  There's no reason to ingest so many calories, especially since my goal is to drop weight.  So, I am reducing my calories and having two to three days of a mostly liquid diet.  I hope that works and I can drop at least ten pounds in the next month and a half.  That is my goal, and I will support that goal by maintaining limited calories and fasting.  Increasing my exercise is another excellent idea.  I'm still contemplating how to do that in a way that fits our visits to Grandview Aquatic Center.  If I cannot do that, I'll figure out how to do something extra downstairs in Jake's room every morning.  Maybe I'll do some Zumba using YouTube.  I'm unsure if I'll remain committed to that, but I should try.  I'm also going to confess that I've let go of yoga, but I should start that up again to help my joints and help myself remain limber and balanced.  So, I'm trying things that might help me get this weight off faster than I commonly would.  I'll let you know how this next week goes.

     ​We spent a wonderful New Year's Eve with our friends and family.  Steve's brother and his wife, Trudie visited over the weekend.  We are very dear friends as well as relatives, and try to get together as often as possible, particularly during the summer.  Steve and Ken like to fish together and especially love crabbing.  The two of them plan to take the big boat out to some Canadian Islands across from us and do fishing there for lingcod, a fish we enjoy very much.  Our other friends that joined us last night have a cabin across the street.  Although they have a cabin here in Birch Bay, they live in White Rock, BC.  We began gathering on New Year's Eve several years ago and continued the tradition.  Sadly Gene, Aline's husband, passed away, but she and her son Troy continue to join us.  We shall keep this tradition going for as long as possible and hope everyone continues participating.  It was terrific because the keto dishes I served, including turkey tetrazzini and the crab cauliflower bake, were well received.  People found both items delicious.  I also made a lovely broccoli salad that everyone enjoyed, along with roast beef that turned out well.  Actually, "well" is the word because it was well done and should have been a good enough cut to serve medium.  However, the grocery store deceived us by making us believe it was a large New York roast when it was two small roasts bound together with string.  I'm very aggravated about that.  However, it turned out well; everyone ate it and enjoyed it very much, so I'll let it go.  Almost all the food was keto-friendly, including the appetizers and desserts!  Amazingly, many yummy selections are available if one is willing to investigate and then take the time and effort to create or try new recipes.  I shall make the new recipes in Hawaii when we return.  We head back to Waianae next month, and I'm looking forward to getting there and basking in the sunshine and perfect weather!  It is nice to trade the rainy, gloomy winter for the glorious climate on Oahu!  We always enjoy spending time in Birch Bay and love spending Christmas here.  Christmas in Hawaii doesn't work for us, so we'll continue returning to Washington every Christmastime.  Although we missed the kids, we're happy they didn't try to get here, given the airport mess.  We're confident they'd be stuck at one or another airport, and what a miserable way to spend the holiday!  In any case, everyone survived.  It's such a shock that we are already entering 2023!  Our life is racing past us, but Steve and I are making the best of every day and will continue to do so by maintaining our health in every way possible, beginning with weight management.  Therefore, keto will remain a big part of my life even when I achieve my goal weight at the end of September 2023.  I hope to maintain the weight loss for the rest of my life.