After several weeks of essentially a plateau – the scale has consistently moved in the right direction the past two weeks. One month ago, I allowed myself to eat whatever I wanted when I got hungry. Yes, there were several treats, but I generally stuck with healthier eating choices overall. I felt better, slept better and wasn’t hungry all the time.

Turns out, I wasn’t eating enough food or drinking enough water.

I find current points values in the Weight Watchers app to be inconsistent and a tad unrealistic when it comes to everything but zero point foods. Have you seen the IG reel where the nutritionist compares calories in a piece of cheese pizza (7 points) to four eggs (0 points)? She has a point about the lady staying home to eat eggs and not going out for pizza with friends. Calories for a slice of cheese pizza and four eggs are about the same. The lady missed a social event with friends and wound up consuming the same amount of calories in zero point foods. Last time I checked, calories are calories.

I incorporate a hack that I learned from a lifetime WW member. I track points using 1 point = 50 calories. I keep my daily points between 25-30 and allow myself at least one treat per week. Food choices have shifted as I’ve learned more about calorie density. I also do a very loose type of intermittent fasting as suggested by my doctor. I eat dinner before 6 p.m. and do not eat in the mornings until I am actually hungry. I also aim for walking 30-60 minutes per day whenever possible. 7500-10000 steps per day is my goal.

Two non-negotiables: (1) no brioche bread in my house and (2) Chips and Pirate’s Booty cheddar puffs are allowed in prepackaged portions only (preferably 1/2 oz portion size). Brioche bread is a treat when we go out for a meal. Prepackaged portions help control mindless snacking.

Accountability is an essential part of the process for me. Tracking what I eat and getting on the scale 2x per week is what I need to stay accountable to myself. I still track in WW, but will move that to my FitBit app when my current WW subscription expires.

Hubs has been away the past two weeks. My night owl tendencies are in their full glory with me not feeling sleepy until 3 a.m. Not a problem unless you have a energetic Labradoodle who demands to go out at 6 a.m.!

Do you have a stash of cash squirreled away somewhere to help pay for unexpected expenses?

Even if you pull out the plastic to cover the expense, you still need to pull money from somewhere to pay the credit card bill when it comes due.

Life continues to happen in retirement. Murphy certainly visited our home recently.

Due to supply chain issues during COVID, we’d paid to have our nearly 10-year-old dishwasher repaired twice so we could continue to have a working dishwasher. Not this time. Dishwashers are available again without a 12 month wait. When the appliance repair technician presented me with a quote of $488.10 to repair the dishwasher door on Monday, it made more sense to replace the unit. I declined the repair, paid the diagnostic fee and proceeded to Home Depot purchase a new dishwasher. It’ll be installed on Saturday.

In mid-July, I received a notice the company who handles my health insurance premium billing would be transferred to a new servicer. Shouldn’t be a big deal, except we’d paid a few months ahead and had a credit balance. The letter stated that the credit balance would not transfer to the new provider. I would receive a refund within 30-90 days along with “their apologies for any inconvenience this may cause.” This suddenly meant I now had to come up with the funds to cover 2 – potentially 3 – premium payments while I wait on my refund.

My COBRA payments have to be made via ACH transfer or check – not credit card. And COBRA rates aren’t cheap either! Thank goodness for the emergency fund! Fortunately, we won’t have to pay COBRA rates once I’m eligible to be “officially retired” in a few months. The countdown is on to return to active employee/retiree rates.

My point for sharing this is an Emergency Fund is a necessity – even for retirees. Start with $1000, then work your way up to one month of after tax income. Continue until you have six months of expenses saved up. Do not spend this money on new clothes, vacations or other niceties. It is for unexpected car repairs, medical bills, home repairs and true emergencies like a job loss. If you are heading toward retirement, aim for THREE YEARS of living expenses in your Emergency Fund. You can use this money to live on while riding out craziness in the stock market. You won’t have to sell assets at a loss to raise funds for living expenses.

Now that the kids are back in school, isn’t it time you went back to school, too?

Hear me out.

One of the secrets to staying engaged and mentally sharp as you get older is to adopt a lifelong learner mindset. Are you curious about something? For quilters, is there a better technique to make multiple HSTs or FG? Do you want to learn how to knit, crochet, paint or even play pickle ball? Do you want to learn conversational Spanish? Signing up for a course is an option, but there are so many other ways to learn that might be a better fit for you (and cost less).

Join/visit a local group/organization that hosts a weekly/monthly craft night.

Visit a retail store that caters to the subject that interests you. Is there a demonstration available? Handouts or free project pages for beginners?

Explore resources available at your local public library. Check out books, read digital magazines and take free online classes (Craftsy/LinkedinLearning). Some libraries feature Maker Spaces with equipment you can use at designated times. Your local library may also offer meeting space for a crafting group.

If you meet the age requirements, your local senior center is often an excellent resource for classes, groups and social outings. The senior center near where my Friday sewing group meets has long arm machines available for use. I will definitely be looking into this!

Subscribe to a special interest group on Facebook. I have learned SO much about vintage sewing machines from my FB groups: tools and supplies that actually work, sources for vintage parts, downloadable machine and service manuals, plus who not to hire to repaint my Featherweight.

YouTube and Pinterest are digital tools that I find extremely helpful for adult learning. YouTube offers video content on most any subject out there. It will take an investment of your time to curate channels & content that meet your needs, but you can learn to DIY a lot of things using YouTube. You can follow and subscribe to channels you find helpful and create your own playlists of videos you want to bookmark for future reference. Pinterest offers a similar platform to locate and tag written and photographic content (e.g. tutorials) that is also very useful.

Once you’ve learned a new skill, be sure to share your knowledge with others – write a blog post, teach a session at your guild meeting, post on Instagram, share informally at a retreat or at craft night. Don’t keep it all to yourself!