Post vacation weigh in

Weekly weigh in time

Me- DOWN 1.2
Bob -DOWN 2.8
Nick - DOWN 1.4

Yesterday was a day of grocery shopping, laundry and in general getting back to the swing of life. I noticed something about our area that is radically different from Tennessee. Here, sales tax on non food is 9.5 percent, but food tax is 2.5 percent. Restaurant Tax on average is 8.5 percent. We have numerous grocery stores and close location to many distribution centers, so our food costs are lower. Example- we stopped in a Walmart Super center to get some road snacks in Tennessee. One of the things bought was a pint of organic cherry tomatoes for 3.98. Same thing here is 3.29, or non organic for 99 cents. In our area, Walmart is one of the highest priced places for fresh produce, and they do not do well in our immediate area because there is too much competition from numerous other chains and independent grocers who have much lower prices for fresh fruits and vegetables. Several areas we passed through had few options for grocery shopping, and it seems that if you were living in the area and forced to be on a strict budget, healthy eating may not be something that you could archive. If you have to feed a family of 4 for 125.00 per week or less, and live in an area where your only store is charging 5 dollars a bag for apples and 3 dollars for a bag of carrots, healthy eating is not your first thought when shopping. Not sure what the solution is to this, but it is something to consider when looking at things like childhood obesity , adult obesity and so on.

Thankfully, we are blessed to live in an area with numerous healthy and affordable choices. I was very appreciative of this fact as I filled my cart with things like asparagus, fresh fennel, melons, berries and 3 kinds of lettuce. I was almost giddy with excitement when I made dinner yesterday - roast vegetable, grilled chicken salad with a honey mustard dressing. Yes there are salads available at most places, but they are limited to iceburg lettuce, tomatoes, carrots and cucumbers. Ours at home contain things with so many other veggies and such dense micro nutrients ! As I made breakfast yesterday Bob commented that even if I had ordered the oatmeal at the Pancake place we ate at on Wednesday , it would be nothing like this , with cranberries, blueberries, pecans and cinnamon. It got me thinking about a wild idea of investing in a small restaurant in a touristy place, and serve jacked up oatmeal, yogert and fruit parfaits, roast veggie salads, hummus and veggie wraps and so forth. Perhaps.....

Today we are going out to test drive my new walking cane ( I have fought this move for a long time , but it is necessary) and shopping for some aqua socks so that we can go to the lake the next available weekend. We made a discovery while walking back and forth from our room to the outdoor pool at our hotel, and that is that none of us can walk on hot surfaces barefoot. Last time we went to a lake it was very painful walking through the hot sand, and aqua socks will allow us to do this in comfort.