I ended last week's blog by discussing the lipedema that impacted my mother and currently impacts my sister.  I think I have the same issue and will pursue that with a doctor because my mother suffered from it in the end, and I don't want to go through the same thing if I can avoid it. Her skin actually began weeping, and it was hard for her to walk because her legs became extremely heavy.  My younger sister is dealing with a similar situation right now, and she's three years younger than I am. I'm doing much better because I am much more active than either my mother or my sister. However, I still have accumulations of fat in certain areas of my body that do not go away no matter what. I have been able to lose inches, but I've done it by starving myself, and I think I lost muscle rather than fat when I did. Of course, that's my theory, but I intend to figure out what's actually going on. In the meantime, I'm taking advice from my cousin, who encourages me to work harder to build muscle. I've been using free weights consistently, but I need to think about building more muscle in the areas where I have fat deposits. I developed a regimen for building muscles in my glutes and quads that I am doing daily, and I'll continue to do that and see what happens. In the meantime, I have an appointment with the doctor in August, so it will be interesting to see what we can figure out.  We're still having a wonderful time here. Steve and I play golf every week, and this past week nearly met our end on the ride home. We have an old van that we used for years to pull the boat.  Now that we are using the truck for that, we keep the van around because when we have guests, it comes in handy.  Also, we store some things in it, like golf clubs, the golf cart, and other items.  We use the van when we play golf, so we take it out at least once a week. We were zooming along on our way home and passed a pear tree that Steve decided he wanted to check out, so he pulled over to the side of the road. When he returned to the van and started it up, he pushed in the break, which had no tension. It went straight to the floor.  He immediately realized that the brake line had broken. I started imagining what it would have been like had we been on the freeway or, God forbid, on the downhill slope into Birch Bay with no brakes! As it turned out, we navigated back into a parking lot, using the emergency brake to stop. I called a tow truck, and it showed up pretty quickly. Of course, now Steve insists on fixing it, which will be a killer job. He's already started the work despite my attempts to get him to send it to the shop. Once he decides to do something, it's like trying to stop a moving train.  It is impossible to deter him, no matter how difficult the job is or how old we get. He seems like he'll never stop this kind of thing! Ultimately, it's because of his hard work and skills in many areas that we have what we have, so we're very blessed. However, we're also old, and he needs to cool it. In the meantime, we are plugging right along and enjoying our beautiful weather here in Birch Bay. We're hoping against hope that there will be no wildfires in neighboring British Columbia, but fires are highly likely, given the facts. It's very dry here because we lack the rainfall that we usually get, so the odds are we will face some wildfires this summer. Sometimes smoke from fires hovers over the bay, and we hope that won't happen this year. I'm still sticking to keto, and I feel well. The diet combined with the exercise I do every day keeps me healthy, so I'll continue this lifestyle for as long as possible.  I feel blessed.

​     We woke up to rain this morning, and it's refreshing.  I'm looking forward to seeing Oppenheimer today, and a rainy day is a perfect time to spend indoors at the movies.  Otherwise, we've had another gorgeous week with the temperatures hanging in there around between 70 and 75° every day, filled with sunshine and ocean breezes. I try to walk and trot along the bay daily, and the weather makes it a pleasure.  Bay walking combined with Zumba classes offered right around the corner works well for me. The county provides all kinds of things in our little area, promoting health and exercise.  We're fortunate to enjoy such a beautiful space, particularly while many places suffer extreme heat and flooding. Steve went crabbing several days this week and was successful, so we served it up. I've had crab several evenings in a row, and it's absolutely delicious. Our neighbors brought us fresh zucchini, so I made a green chili zucchini stew that turned out quite well. I've also figured out a way to make keto-friendly chips for myself by using Carb Balance tortillas. I can get six chips out of every tortilla. Each tortilla has 45 calories and only two grams of net carbs, which works out quite well. I flavor them with onion powder, garlic powder, or parmesan with a slight brushing of olive oil. I bake them at 270 degrees for about 20 minutes, and they turn out perfectly. This satisfies the drive for something "crunchy" and goes with salsa or other dips. We had our neighbors over for dinner, and I served them with guacamole.  We always enjoy having them, and they appreciate my cooking. We were especially honored because they brought us a metal art sculpture created and signed by C. Jeree.  The sculpture is of teepees and a buffalo hide stretched and drying in the sun. It was very thoughtful of them to go out of their way like this for us, and we greatly appreciate it. I'm still researching my issues with lipedema, and I am confident I'll figure it out. In the end, even if I don't lose all the weight that I planned, hopefully, I'll figure out what's going on with my body and why I am storing fat cells and ending up with problems regarding my fat accumulation. In the meantime, Steve and I enjoy our daily lives and remain as active as possible. We're grateful to be healthy, happy, and living well.

​     We had a really lovely week. On Tuesday we went to Vancouver and saw the Carole King show called "Beautiful."  The show surprised me because I had no idea she had written so many of the songs that became so popular in the 1960s. We spent the rest of the week doing our regular thing. I'm going to Zumba class in the mornings or doing my Bay trot depending upon what's available. It's interesting because I took a fall on my right knee, and it feels much better. It hurts less when I'm navigating the stairs and hardly pops like it did, so whatever works right? Steve's brother Ken and his wife Trudy came for the weekend because crab season opened on Saturday.  Steve and his brother were out on Bellingham Bay by noon and returned with nine really nice Dungeness crabs. We had a wonderful meal that included a Mexican-style shrimp cocktail, a lovely spinach salad, and a pile of Dungeness crab.  Summer is our favorite time of year.  Not only do we have fabulous weather, usually 70 to 75 degrees every day, but we're able to get together regularly with Ken and Trudy, which we enjoy.  Also, I found our that Ken has a problem with his thyroid, and I told him about my slow weight loss, With his encouragement, I've decided to have my thyroid checked to ensure my metabolism is functioning. My sister has to take medication for her thyroid function, and a faulty thyroid may explain my slow weight loss.  Also, I've been researching a condition called lipedema, which might also be a problem. I say this because it turns out my sister has this problem as well, and she tells me that my mom had it, and it is genetic.  That was something I had no idea about. However I did know that we had the same body type as my older sister, who has weight gain in her middle rather than hips and thighs. Understanding this condition is important. Some of the pain I experience at night might have much to do with the probability of lipedema. I wake up with pain in my thighs and my rear. It's not a terrible pain but enough to wake me up.  Difficulty losing weight is also an indicator of the condition. Therefore I will see a specialist about this and I hope to sort it out. I never would have realized it had I not done this keto diet and faithfully followed it for a year and a half.   I've also tried other ways to lose weight, including intermittent fasting, total fasting, and calorie reduction. Nothing seems to work, so I will get help from a specialist. Of course, I won't be able to get an appointment until early August, so it will be a while.  I hope to get everything figured out while on this journey, and I'll share my results. In any case I'm still very healthy.  My daily exercise and a healthy diet are working for me even though my weight loss is very slow.  Right now, at 74, I feel like I'm living my best life.

   We're so happy Stef came to see us. She arrived on the 4th, and we watched the fireworks together, plus we had a keto meal, including filet mignon and tiger shrimp. I made a mock potato salad using cauliflower, a broccoli salad, and mock mashed potatoes. It was really delicious. We played golf together on Wednesday, which was great fun. Stef does very well even though she has only played a few times, exclusively with us. On Thursday, we traveled to Point Roberts because Steve wanted to see what their marina and launch were like. He was considering launching his bigger boat from there to access the Canadian islands for fishing and the mouth of the Frazier River. Unfortunately, their facilities have limited access and are poorly maintained, so he will not tow the boat to Point Roberts any time soon. However, it was good that we went to see what was available, and now he can put that idea to rest.  On our way back to Birch Bay, we stopped by White Rock, B.C., for a meal at our favorite Indian food place called Cilantro's.  On Friday, I threw a Fajita Fiesta for our neighbors in honor of Steve's successful PhD completion. I invited about eight couples, and we had a lovely time together. It was the first time we tried having so many people over at once, and it worked well.  We put tables on and around our lower deck and had plenty of comfortable seating providing many visiting opportunities.  Despite the company, I'm maintaining my keto diet.  I'm also sticking to my exercise program while Stef is here. It doesn't interfere with our visit because she sleeps in, and I complete my workout early.  Sadly, even though I stick to keto and exercise religiously, I'm still not losing weight very quickly, and it's pretty discouraging. Therefore, I've decided to see an endocrinologist to find out what might be the issue. This is worth checking on. I've been walking between seven and eight miles a day and getting between 60 and 80 minutes of cardio every day of the week. I take no time off.  I should be easily burning the calories I'm ingesting. I use MyFitnessPal to track calories and never have more than 1200 calories daily, so this doesn't make sense. I hope to find out if my metabolism is slow and look for a solution if that is the problem. That would make a big difference in the realm of information. In the meantime, I am continuing to plod along. I feel well and know I am doing everything I can to maintain a healthy life.  In the meantime, Steve is very excited because crabbing opens on Saturday. His brother and wife will arrive on Friday, so the guys can go crabbing together. We always enjoy this season in Birch Bay and are so grateful that we bought our property and built on it while we could afford it.  Add to that the two cheap boats that Steve fixed up, and we have two full months of fresh crab and fun!

     We're very excited because Stefani arrives tomorrow and will be with us for seven days. We're looking forward to enjoying a great 4th of July together, and it's the first time she will participate in this Birch Bay event! We will barbecue some steak, and I'll make mock potato salad using my new recipe with cauliflower instead of daikon radish. The one I made with the radish was not very tasty. Actually, the problem was the texture, so I'm trying cauliflower.  In any case, we had an excellent week. I'm still attending Zumba classes and added a yoga class on Thursday afternoon. I will probably begin doing yoga every day at home in the evening like I did before because I struggled with the yoga class and obviously need to build core strength. I'm still trying to increase my metabolism even though nothing is changing with my weight loss. However, it is probably too soon to tell. I'm using the following suggested metabolic boosters, but my weight loss remains extremely slow: 

1. Protein-rich foods because protein requires more energy to digest than fats or carbohydrates, leading to a temporary increase in metabolism.
2. Green tea because it contains compounds like catechins and caffeine that may help increase metabolism for a short period.
3. Spicy foods because capsaicin, a compound found in chili peppers, may temporarily increase metabolism and enhance fat burning.
4. Iron supplements to ensure adequate iron levels to support a healthy metabolism.
5.  B vitamins because they play a crucial role in energy metabolism. While they don't directly boost metabolism, they help convert food into energy efficiently.
6. Omega-3 fatty acids because they also support metabolism by improving insulin sensitivity and reducing inflammation. I use fish oil capsules and chia seeds.
7. I drink lots of water because staying hydrated is essential for optimal metabolism. Also, some studies suggest that drinking water temporarily increases the number of calories burned.

I hope to speed up my weight loss, but I'll survive even if it remains slow. I feel great, which is really what counts.  Still, I want to meet my goal by September.  We'll see.