Sally's GF3 thread

[Sally PB]

In 2024, my average step count was just under 10K steps per day, according to my iphone. Part of that was because I didn't have my phone (ie, step counter) with me all the time. I started carrying it as a rule after my neighbor had her heart attack, just in case she or her husband called and needed help. So my average probably was slightly above 10K. I also wasn't really paying attention until November.

I made it a point to pay attention in 2025. Big improvement. I walked more, a lot more. My average was over 16,500 steps per day.

My phone also has a "fitness ring" that I try to close every day. It's kind of (can't find words to express exactly what that emoji makes me feel like, so there it is). I think it's based on steps, so when I do my workout on the elliptical, it doesn't show the same calorie count as the elliptical does. The elliptical is very smooth -- therefore easy on the joints -- and walking is more percussive, so this isn't a surprise.

My phone will tell me, "Only 27 more calories to close your ring! You can still do it!" Or, "You closed your ring every day last week! Way to go!" Puh-leeeeze!

When I slipped and did something to my knee a couple weeks ago, I didn't "close my ring" for 3 days in a row. Not a lot of walking, and I worked out very gently on the elliptical.

If that phone really cared, it would have said something like, "Hey, you haven't closed your ring! Are you ok?" But at least it didn't say something like, "You didn't close your ring, ya slacker!"

 

[drstratton]

In 2024, my average step count was just under 10K steps per day, according to my iphone. Part of that was because I didn't have my phone (ie, step counter) with me all the time. I started carrying it as a rule after my neighbor had her heart attack, just in case she or her husband called and needed help. So my average probably was slightly above 10K. I also wasn't really paying attention until November.

I made it a point to pay attention in 2025. Big improvement. I walked more, a lot more. My average was over 16,500 steps per day.

My phone also has a "fitness ring" that I try to close every day. It's kind of (can't find words to express exactly what that emoji makes me feel like, so there it is). I think it's based on steps, so when I do my workout on the elliptical, it doesn't show the same calorie count as the elliptical does. The elliptical is very smooth -- therefore easy on the joints -- and walking is more percussive, so this isn't a surprise.

My phone will tell me, "Only 27 more calories to close your ring! You can still do it!" Or, "You closed your ring every day last week! Way to go!" Puh-leeeeze!

When I slipped and did something to my knee a couple weeks ago, I didn't "close my ring" for 3 days in a row. Not a lot of walking, and I worked out very gently on the elliptical.

If that phone really cared, it would have said something like, "Hey, you haven't closed your ring! Are you ok?" But at least it didn't say something like, "You didn't close your ring, ya slacker!"

I yell at my smart watch when it tells me that I need to get moving...lol Inevitably I'm working in the kitchen or doing something where I'm expending energy, but not walking, so annoying!

 

[Sally PB]

One day last fall, we split and stacked a LOT of wood. The phone must count physical impulses as steps, because it registered over 30K "steps." Yes, I did walk a lot, but I also lifted up split logs and plopped them down on the woodpile.

So, yeah, I could cheat and just tap the phone on my leg.

Puts on self-righteous hat...

But Sally, who are you cheating? Yes, only yourself.

 

[Sally PB]

Yesterday was hubby's 63rd birthday. We are the same age for one month. Then I become "the older woman" again.

We don't do much to celebrate. Make a special dinner on the day, go out to dinner at some point. If there's something either of us wants, we get it, birthday or other day.

We do the same thing at Christmas. We have pretty much all the stuff we need, so presents aren't a big deal. (They are for Freya, but that's a different subject.) If we need something for the house -- a new water heater? a new mattress? -- we might say, hey, Merry Christmas, we have hot water again.

 

[Sally PB]

I'm a big fan of my Instant Pot. I use it to cook rice. I use it to cook butternut squash. Hubby likes that for Sunday dinner, so it's a weekly thing now.

It also makes the BEST yogurt, I've found. I still scald the milk on the stove and cool it in a sink of cold water. Then it sits for 9-10 hours in the Instant Pot (IP)) on the "yogurt" setting.

I have some sitting on the counter now, waiting for me to drain it. I make a gallon at a time and end up with about a half gallon of whey and a half gallon of very thick yogurt.

I think the reason my yogurt wasn't as good before I used the IP was because the temperature was too cool by the end of the incubation. I used quart canning jars and put those in a towel lined box or in my dehydrator (shelves removed), again, lined with towels. I've read the ideal temp is around 110°F, and after 6 hours, it was too cool to support the incubation.

The IP keeps the temperature consistent. I figured 9-10 hours wasn't too long to incubate; it might be tangier as it used up more lactose, but I add some honey anyway, so that's not a problem.

I like really THICK yogurt. But if the milk isn't yogurt-y enough, too much drains through the mesh bags I use to strain it. I don't have that problem with this method.

People have asked me, what do you do with all that whey? I tried making ricotta cheese once, but I think that needs a different culture than what's in yogurt, as it didn't work. That's ok; I have several other uses. Like:

Cook rice
Mix with chicken feed for chickie snack
(the two main uses I have, but also)
Use for the liquid in making bread
Dump it on acid loving plants like the blueberry bushes
Last option is to just dump it in the compost. It never goes down the drain.

 

[TXchickmum]

Dump it on acid loving plants like the blueberry bushes
Last option is to just dump it in the compost. It never goes down the drain.

Oh wow! I am going to have to make yogurt, now! (I got an IP, but haven’t used it too much). We love thick yogurt (and have found only one brand that has cream on top/thick to our preference). I also have blueberry bushes that I usually mulch with pine needles from our pine tree for acidity. Good to know that I can do two things by making yogurt!

 

[Sally PB]

I really love my 6 quart IP! So much so that I bought the larger 8 quart one. I use that for making bone broth, mostly. I don't use that one very often, but it works very well for making broth. If I ever need to make a large batch of soup or stew, I'd use the 8 quart.