I woke up this morning in time to help May get to work. Despite good intentions, I got to bed around 2 or 3 AM. A good cup of coffee got me through a morning of television.
I’m eating a lot of cough drops to help with a nagging cough. These are Ricola’s “dual action” cherry-flavored, the candy drop filled with a small amount of liquid cough syrup. The soothing sensation lasts about 10 to 20 minutes before I take another to stay ahead of cough. The goal is to keep my throat from “drying out,” which I believe would lead to the onset of bronchitis.
I went to the gym early because I wanted to bath before my dentist appointment. I planned was to work out at the gym for about 45 minutes to have enough time to bathe before the dentist. At the gym, Tory asked me to talk with someone named John about weight loss. Talking with John, I ran out of time and left the gym around 0845.
I got home around 0900 and wanted to leave before 1040. Running a little late, I made it to the dentist about 1105. My dental hygienist was Sandy, the same one I had last time. I’ve always had a substantial buildup of calculus/tartar at the base of my teeth. She recommended using a toothpaste with baking soda like Arm & Hammar toothpaste, which worked!
Dr. Nomi stopped by. No new cavities. We talked a bit about his recent, “guys only” tennis vacation to Maui. He talked about retirement, saying he was favoring reducing his workload in favor of stopping altogether. I agreed it was a better strategy than going cold turkey, and I conveyed my disfavorable experience quitting cold turkey.
I remember liking Sandy, a bit older than your typical hygienist. Not too talkative, she has a pleasant personality, great teeth cleaning technique, firm, and confident hands. My teeth never felt cleaner. Today’s visit confirmed my initial impressions. She asked if anything was going on with my teeth. I mentioned a desire to whiten them. She recommended getting fitted for whitening trays.
Whitening sounded like a good idea. Sandy inquired about the cost and came back with a half-off offer of $165. I decided to go ahead with the whitening process, and Dr. Nomi got me an immediate appointment. I met with the whitening technician, Elizabeth, who took impressions and made a fit and consultation appointment for this Wednesday, 01/29/2020, at 0800.
I gave my new insurance information to Veronica, Dr. Nomi’s receptionist. Nancy, one of Dr. Nomi’s office managers, said the procedure for processing dental claims with my new insurance is self-submitted reimbursement. In other words, they could not bill the insurer directly. I had to pay the Dr. Nomi upfront and submit the bill to the insurance company personally. Bummer.
At May’s suggestion, I went to Costco in Kirkland to pick up eggs and such. I found some paleo chicken breakfast sausages, 130 calories for 3, no sugar. Wow, I can’t wait to try them. I did not find the kale on her list, so I stopped at Fred Meyer. There I bought a birthday card for Elizabeth and a Valentine’s Day card for May but did not find any kale.
I got home around 1430. I ate something, junk mostly, cheese, salami, boiled egg, my first meal of the day, not counting cough drops.
I picked up May at the P&R. She made a dinner of leftovers, green beans, and tofu, some pasta with the remaining meat sauce, and I had a couple of snacks, cheese and pepperoni, cheese, and turkey breast.
Snacking is a real problem for me. I believe if I can conquer the urge to snack, I can beat this diet thing. It’s a significant issue if I’m to be successful at losing weight. And I’m struggling with it, right now.
I fell asleep after dinner and didn’t get to bed until around 0100.