
My journey to visit my sister, Gyongyi, in Hilo was open ended as the goal was to lose 15 pounds before being able to return Bellingham, Washington. It was a trip to Momi's Fat Farm (Momi is her Hawaiian name which means pearl). The regime was to be rigorous. A regular dose of steamed and roasted vegetables with some chicken and poke salad thrown in for good measure. She has chickens roaming the grounds providing eggs--provided Gyongyi finds the nests (not difficult). There are plenty of avocados from the avocado tree. The mango tree is starting to flower.
No gluten, no dairy, no sugar, no alcohol...a bleak existence if you ask me, but what the heck, I self-inflicted this culinary punishment to shed pounds so suffer and be deprived I must. I will weigh in each morning, and count the steps taken at the end of the day using a Fitbit Charge2. To achieve the goal of 175 pounds by losing two pound a week, I am limiting myself to 1,500 calories per day from food intake and output at least 2,500 calories by normal living and exercise, i.e., walking. I figured out that I would have to walk an average of six miles a day to achieve the goal.
My flight routing on United Airlines was a bit convoluted because I was using mileage points for inbound travel. Departed late morning on Friday Sept. 27 from Seattle to San Francisco with connections to Los Angeles and Hilo. The flight in San Francisco was delayed by two hours since the 'expert' union mechanics were not able to fix the head in the back of the plane. I missed my LA connection to Hilo so United had to put me up for the night at the Four Points Sheraton near the LA airport. On Saturday, I was rebooked from LA to Honolulu and then on to a Hawaiian Airlines connection to Hilo.
I arrived in late afternoon on Gyongyi's one-acre spread in the Hawaiian Paradise Park development in Keaau which is about 15 miles from Hilo. After 16 years of living there, her compound has fully matured with fruit trees, gardens and chickens. Wild boars and unsavory characters are kept away by a chain link fence surrounding the plot. A mutually-adopted, stray cat named Moochie keeps the vermin under control. Gyongyi is living off the grid using rooftop solar panels for electricity and a cistern for rain water catchment. Welcome to paradise.
No gluten, no dairy, no sugar, no alcohol...a bleak existence if you ask me, but what the heck, I self-inflicted this culinary punishment to shed pounds so suffer and be deprived I must. I will weigh in each morning, and count the steps taken at the end of the day using a Fitbit Charge2. To achieve the goal of 175 pounds by losing two pound a week, I am limiting myself to 1,500 calories per day from food intake and output at least 2,500 calories by normal living and exercise, i.e., walking. I figured out that I would have to walk an average of six miles a day to achieve the goal.
My flight routing on United Airlines was a bit convoluted because I was using mileage points for inbound travel. Departed late morning on Friday Sept. 27 from Seattle to San Francisco with connections to Los Angeles and Hilo. The flight in San Francisco was delayed by two hours since the 'expert' union mechanics were not able to fix the head in the back of the plane. I missed my LA connection to Hilo so United had to put me up for the night at the Four Points Sheraton near the LA airport. On Saturday, I was rebooked from LA to Honolulu and then on to a Hawaiian Airlines connection to Hilo.
I arrived in late afternoon on Gyongyi's one-acre spread in the Hawaiian Paradise Park development in Keaau which is about 15 miles from Hilo. After 16 years of living there, her compound has fully matured with fruit trees, gardens and chickens. Wild boars and unsavory characters are kept away by a chain link fence surrounding the plot. A mutually-adopted, stray cat named Moochie keeps the vermin under control. Gyongyi is living off the grid using rooftop solar panels for electricity and a cistern for rain water catchment. Welcome to paradise.