I love to wake up and take a semi reclining seat where there is a view and sit near Reg, chat, have coffee, and read and write for a while, then as I begin to wake up, I'll get hungry and plan, prepare and eat breakfast while I review my day's activities, usually planned the evening before. Swimming is the main activity I am currently doing and is the main reason we are staying here in Katherine, Northern Territory for a few weeks.

 I have been swimming in the Katherine Hot Springs, every day for two full weeks and it's possible we may stay here for up to two more weeks as this is the holiday phase of our tour, my appointments to exhibit begin, mid July and go through till the end of August. 

I am laughing at how hard I have been working  given this is supposed to be 'retirement' (I love working),  I could not  work  harder once I begin the exhibition phase.   Once we leave Katherine, my physical activities will change, there will be no more swimming until I get home in springtime, so I am making the most of the opportunity to swim  every chance I get, right now, and while doing so, enjoy the glorious midyear weather here. 

I am also making the most of being on mains power, allowing me to write, as I;m doing now, into the wee hours of the morning.

I have said in other posts, that I mostly eat when hungry and stop when satisfied.  Rules are there as guides not carved in stone.  I do not get hungry until I am wide awake and I like to swim early, before the pool gets busy, and found on two occasions if I swam without eating a proper breakfast first, I had to leave the pool early due to becoming hungry or faint.  After those experiences, I will never exercise without having had a healthy reasonable sized breakfast first,  even if that means eating before I am hungry.  It’s a long way back from the pool for a meal.   

My favorite breakfast is a small cup or less, depending on appetite, of rolled oats, (no name brand, not the processed type) skim milk powder, water, fresh fruit, low fat sugar free, yogurt. about a desert spoon full, and sometimes a few nuts not more than 10, usually less, depends on my appetite and what activities follow. Sometimes I sprinkle sunflower or other or seeds on top. 

This is a 300 calorie plus breakfast depending on the extras and amounts, it's one that has always 'agreed with me' I love it  and it loves my body.  It's the one meal I have even been known to eat for dinner if on a rare occasion I have something different for breakfast. Before I found out I had osteoporosis and started studying what inhibits calcium absorption and what increases t, I did add extra  fiber into my breakfast, now if I took added fiber it would not be with calcium containing food.  With this breakfast and my multi grain bread for lunch and lots of vegetables and two fruits a day, I don't need added fiber anyhow.

I don't take nutriment supplements, 'just in case', I prefer to get my nutrients from my food if I can, however I do currently take some  vitamin and mineral supplement tailored to my specific needs, following blood tests so I know I actually need what I take, and I have been guided on my choice oft these by a qualified dietitian and bone health nutritionist, and I've confidence she is on the right track, guiding me and I'm very grateful to have her expert advice.

So that's my first meal of the day, I enjoy it in every way, love the taste, texture, and how it leaves me so comfortable for a few hours.  I usually follow  up breakfast with a little creative writing, then after this physical rest period, I decide it's time to be active and that's when I am currently heading off for my swim in the Katherine hot springs, swimming up stream and in the current of the small waterfall.  I tend to not exercise very early in the morning as some like to, as that is when I am most likely to injure myself. I benefit by taking time to allow my body to loosen up, before my first exercise activity of the day. 

Mornings in Katherine this time of year have been a mild 15 to 19 degrees on average, top temperatures around 30 degrees and the water temperature is 32 degrees i am told.  This makes for a perfect morning  in every way.

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