Keep Moving

That is the secret for me. If I just keep moving I will lose weight. Kona was beautiful and this time with snorkel gear it was even more fun. It was raining when I got there Friday, and I was worried that we might not get to go snorkeling down at Honaunau, but the weather cleared up and I snorkeled for hours on Saturday and Sunday.

My friend Bonnie and her daughter, Dawn, stayed in pretty close to shore on Saturday, but I ventured out a little farther. On Sunday my Dawn and I snorkeled out aways. She showed me where some friends had written ALOHA on the ocean floor with concrete blocks. Probably not the most ecologically friendly thing to do, but they sink all kinds of things here to make "artificial reefs" and the fish seemed to like swimming around them. We swam out to where it gets really deep, and while we were out there I mentally called to the dolphins, because for the past few years I have been wanting to swim with them. We stayed out there for about an hour, then went back to shore, which is mostly black lava, with a little sand back aways from the water.

Just as we got out of the water Bonnie said, "Look, there's dolphins out there." They were right where we had been! Dawn and I turned and went right back in and swam out towards them. They disappeared, but we hung around out there for a while until Dawn wanted to go back to land. Just as we got out again, guess what? There they were again...swimming, a few jumping and spinning. We didn't go back in, decided it wasn't our day for swimming with them, but it was still very cool. A few people who go there frequently said they'd never seen them in that close. I'm hoping one of these times they will swim with me. I really need to learn how to do this picture thing better. You can just see them if you look over the left shoulder of that woman standing there.
[Photo]

Because she knew I've been interested in this dolphin swimming/communication thing for a while, Bonnie got me this book last time I was there.

Joan Ocean goes to her church, so maybe one of these Sundays I'll meet her. While I was looking for a pic of this book, I came across her website http://www.joanocean.com/ and apparently she is looking for people to sublet her place in Kona for 2-4 week intervals this summer with reduced rent in exchange for feeding their animals. Anyone interested?

So, this week I haven't been to the gym yet, but I've done yard work two mornings. Today I went to the doctor to see what we should do about the cough that never went away after I quit smoking over a year ago. I was hoping time would take care of it, but it hasn't, so she first suggested a bunch of tests. Since my insurance only covers half of most tests, we opted for trying three different types of medications to see if any of them worked. She called it "the poor man's diagnosis". I usually don't take much medication, but since it will probably save me hundreds of dollars, three separate trips to town, and will most likely identify the problem sooner, I decided to go with it. I also had a lung x-ray to rule out emphysema or cancer. I'm really wanting my lungs to work the best they can now that I'm getting more active again, while acknowledging that I probably did some permanent damage already. And I am just plain sick and tired of coughing!

No word yet from weightwatchers/my insurance company on the reduced fees for meetings. I'm continuing to eat healthier. Fruit smoothies for breakfast made with ice, 1/2 cup lowfat milk, a banana, 1/2 papaya, and a few strawberries. Yummy! Lunch has been a salmon pattie, steamed broccoli, and kim chee. I'm still using about a tablespoon of mayo, but will get lo-cal mayo once this jar runs out. Dinner has been poke (raw fish and onions), more salmon or chicken breast, broccoli or spinach salad. My big downfall continues to be quesadillas. I do them in the microwave, and have been using corn instead of flour tortillas and have tomatoes and sometimes lettuce in them, but I just can't get away from that cheese! I have at least one a day : ( I've also been eating fruit in between as snacks. My weight first thing in the morning has ranged from 197.6 to 199.2 (199.5 at the docs this morning after breakfast) this past week, so at least I haven't gained anything, and if I average them all, maybe I have lost a pound. I keep going back and forth about joining weightwatchers, but mostly I think it would be a good idea, at least for a few months.

Tomorrow it's either the gym or bodyboarding, depending on the weather and waves, before I head into town for a meeting. Just gonna keep moving.