So glad the work week is over - now time to get ready to host DHs family reunion on Saturday. I think it won't be much work tomorrow - normal chores. I will make grape salad with fat free ingredients, fresh veggies and still debating my meat contribution - healthy suggestions for 50?
Until I recommended the BLT salad to Debi the other day I had kinda forgot about it - was a fantastic dinner tonight. I will miss the tomatoes fresh from the garden when they are done for sure.
tippers -- I'll get right on looking for the boob-popping out smiley. I know it must be here somewhere! I'm sorry you had a tough time but I did laugh!
Im glad its friday..im tired! I stayed in bed a bit later than normal so will have to drink my coffee fast before kidos get here. Yesterday went perfect except I drank to much water right before bedtime and was up many times going to the bathroom.I will spread my water out better today!!
My son and his wife and baby are coming this afternoon for a visit.I am making bbq chicken and taking the easy way out. Hubby mentioned going out to eat but I am not ready for that just yet.So today will consist of cleaning and cooking. Tommorow will be getting groceries to stock my food back up in the house. Hubby has been eating a bit much and his glucose is still good but he isnt losing now.So he is ready to eat less and I need to make sure I have some really good choices of snacks for us.
It feels good to have this many days in a row strung together.
Debbie -- Sounds like a good plan. Easy today, groceries tomorrow!
I had a good day yesterday with lots of exercise-- ended up walking 7 miles. Course the scale is not only not DOWN, I swear it's up. This is definitely trying my patience, as it's been several weeks now!
But what are my choices? I'm not going to let the scale win.
Summer has finally arrived in Maine. It's supposed to be in the mid-80's to near 90 today and through the weekend. I'm so excited!!! I might actually break a SWEAT! Maybe one of my tomatoes will ripen!
dgramie (sorry, I don't know your name), congrats to you for "this many days in a row strung together." I'm feeling the same way--day six with no sugar and very limited carbs/only good carbs. My body loves me when I eat this way--I have so much more energy, need less sleep, feel happier and sassier. I've also been trying to not eat when I'm tired or thirsty this week, or rather "mistaking" fatigue or thirst for hunger, always a huge issue for me. In fact, even as I'm typing this, I'm thinking I should go back to bed for a couple of hours. I have the day off from work--nothing pressing on the agenda--and I really am pooped after yesterday big excursion. If I don't sleep now, I'll eat more all day because I wind up "reading" tired as hungry. Does anyone else have that problem???
Heather, I'm glad you got a good laugh out of my magically flying boob story. My nickname, "Tippers," actually comes from "Tipsy" and has nothing to do with drinking. I'm a total klutz and have fallen out of more kayaks, canoes, and sailboats, tripped over more specks of dust, and slid down more embankments than you can imagine. I used to be an avid hiker, and regardless of the difficulty of the trail, by the time we reached the top of whatever mountain, I'd have skinned knees and elbows, hair full of twigs, a rip in the back of my shorts, and a blood-red eye from where I walked into a tree branch. I'd be sitting at the summit among all these hikers who looked like they stepped out of an Abercrombie & Fitch catalog as they popped open their thermoses full of lattes dashed with cinnamon and I'd be picking bits of moss out of my bleeding knees looking like I'd just crawled out of my wilderness cave. I always figure there's a balance to life--I was gifted intelligence and many cool talents but was denied any grace.
Hey there my lovelies! I'm in a good mood today, despite health issues. My son is home sick and I like fussing over him.
I had a wonderful massage late yesterday afternoon, took two melatonin and had a spray of Bach Flower Remedy and went to bed at 10 last night, feeling quite sleepy and looking forward to a long night's rest. Then two hours later, I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep until after 4 a.m. I am surprisingly alert today. I think the massage done me some good. Wish I could afford to have them all the time.
My massage therapist told me she had heard that Elizabeth Taylor had daily massages when she dieted, instead of exercising. Yes, if I won the lottery, that's how I would spend my money!
Debi, I have my favorite eggplant recipe for you...Moutabel, which is a Lebanese dip, great for dipping other veggies in, or whole wheat pita chips. I like it spread on Wasa crackers too. It's also a nice side sauce for fish or chicken. It takes about 45 minutes to an hour to make
3 medium eggplants
1/3 c tahini paste
1 Tbs finely minced garlic (but I like a bit more)
1-3 green chile pepper (depending on taste)
1 Tbs olive oil
4 Tbs lemon juice
Sea salt and pepper to taste
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Place eggplant on greased baking sheet. Roast for 30 minutes, or until eggplant is tender. Once roasted, remove from oven and allow to cool.
Once eggplants are cool, peel the skins and put the flesh into a bowl. In a food processor, blend tahini, garlic, and peppers. Then add eggplant and finally the olive oil, blending well until a nice puree.
To serve, pour into a serving bowl. Stir in the lemon juice and add salt and pepper to taste.
Tippers, thank you for the delightful story about one of your "girls" making an escape. I think it was really healthy of you to share it with us, and I thank you for making me smile. And a big thanks also for the sheep skin tip for the mask! What a great idea!
You know, if I were on one of your hikes, I'd be sitting next to you, also picking twigs out of my hair and spritzing knees with Bactine. And chatting with you, because my relationship with the Abercrombie and Fitch crowd has never been good, unless we're all drunk.
I am off to cook lunch for my son. He wants split pea soup and biscuits today. I have been reading up on the benefits of virgin coconut oil and how to replace ingredients like Crisco in recipes with coconut oil. I might try making the biscuits with it today. I really want to make pie pastry with it. I'll let you know how it turns out.
Heather, PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE EVIL SCALE. You sound like you're eating well and exercising regularly. How are you feeling? And are you measuring??? Measure everything! If you're toning, the scale won't budge but the measuring tape will! Or buy an outfit that's too tight and keep trying it on and watch it fit eventually.
Have a good day tomorrow--keep going!!!
Tippers in Maine
Everyone must be out enjoying the weekend. It's glorious here--hot and sunny! Yesterday I spent most of the day in or on the water, playing with my neighbor's two-year-old or floating on a blow-up raft and reading a trashy novel or riding in a boat or swimming the shoreline. We closed up the house early in the morning and kept it dark, so it was cool all day inside even though we hit 90 outside, and I didn't do any cooking--just munched on ratatouille, fruit salad, creole pork that I crock-potted Friday night.
Today will be another hot day, so more of the same, although I have some student portfolios to grade while I'm out in the sun and also will prep my notes for Monday's TOPS meeting. This week my lesson plan is on Locus of Control (in chapter one of Dr. Phil's 7 Keys book), whether your weight locus of control is internal (self-blaming), external (blaming others), or chance ("it just happens! must be genetics!"). Should generate an interesting discussion on what we choose to believe about what makes us obese and how that affects our behavior.
My "locus" has always been primarily internal, so if I don't succeed at losing weight, I just point the finger back at myself and tell myself that I fail because I'm not strong enough or I didn't do enough or I have no willpower or I'm stupid, so I'm supposed to focus more on external and chance causes and opportunities. Tomorrow I have a Dr.'s appointment with my GP and will ask for a referral to a psychiatrist (I found one who specializes in eating disorders/compulsive eating) and a physical therapist (who can help me find ways to exercise that will be gentle on my inflamed joints). Like Ruby on the Style network, I'm gathering a TEAM for support on this journey. After 30+ years of failed attempts to keep my weight under control, I'm finally realizing that I can't do it alone and I shouldn't even try.
Well that's my early morning babble. I'm not sure if I should post these long rambles on here or start a blog. If you ladies don't mind, I'll post.
Tippers -- What do you teach? I teach psychology at the college level -- no grading for me for another few weeks!
Wow, I didn't get here yesterday? I had a busy morning digging in the yard trying to unearth some large roots so we can cut them out. Eating has continued to be good. Not fabulous, but not binging, and hopefully with a calorie deficit everyday!
Today is a dinner at a friend's house. I find those difficult, because I have no idea what to expect!! But usually she cooks reasonably healthy. It's portion control that's the problem. I will try to get to the gym (and maybe some more digging!)
I also didn't make it here yesterday. DH's family reunion was a hit but 33 people in the house is plenty - small turnout this year. Skies threatened but didn't let lose until about 730 as the last of the guests were leaving. Wish I could say it was a great or even good food day - NOT. Back OP today - what was missing yesterday in addition to my resolve - WATER. 24 oz in already this morning - 100 more to go.
The thunderstorm is to continue most of the day - making a good day for planning a few weeks meals out and hitting the gym. My exercise minutes are lagging this month.
I agree, Heather and gg, dining w/friends is sometimes really difficult. We've had company all day here, and while I've managed to stay away from booze, chips, and desserts, I still ate too much! I was just picking away at a veggie burger, then another, and before I knew it, I'd eaten 600 calories worth of veggie burgers and cheese!
Heather, I teach writing courses (just finished teaching an advanced fiction summer class), mostly creative writing, sometimes senior seminar (our thesis class), rarely freshman comp, now and then a lit course. I also oversee our writing center, our lit mag, our writing across the curriculum program, and the writing instruction sequence in our common core. Small college, many hats.
Hope everyone is doing well today. I think I'm going to take a short nap, then will swim for an hour later. I'm fighting the scale today--earlier in the week I had lost five pounds since my last official weigh-in. Now I'm back up 4 1/2 from there, which makes absolutely NO sense since I'm eaten very smart and exercised religiously. Might be just TOM weight gain too, as I'm due shortly, but how discouraging!!! How ironic, too, that I typed a message to Heather yesterday telling her to ignore the scale and now I can't take my own advice....
Tippers- If I could consistently take my own advice I'd be so much better off!!!
I'm at a small college too. I teach mostly in psych, but also teach in our global studies program and this fall will be teaching a new 1-credit course for freshmen that is definitely out of my comfort zone. I've even team-taught an English comp class (with an English fac member). Many hats, indeed! Oh, and then don't get me started on all my "citizenship hats". This year starts a 3-year term as the chair of our faculty personnel committee, as well as running our college-wide research symposium.
There's another English faculty among our group who will hopefully surface soon as her summer winds down. Look for Vortex!
Hi Gals! Just a quick hello. I'm about to head off to bed. It was a nice weekend around here. Fairly quiet. Food was pretty good. Yesterday I hit the gym for a good workout. Today I hit a state park for a bike ride. Did about 7 miles. Was hoping for 10, but didn't really know my way around and the hills were pretty tough. I somehow managed to get my foot stuck when I was stopping once and cut my shin up pretty good on the pedal. My son thinks its super cool that mommy has a big boo-boo.
I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. I'll talk with you more tomorrow!
Finally off to bed--what a busy, crazy, active day! Barb, sorry to hear about your "boo boo," but wow! to your 7 mile bike ride... that's no small feat!
In 16 minutes, I'll roll into my second week of saving my life. I joined TOPS 6 weeks ago but was just half-heartedly working on diet and exercise. This week, I've been completely committed and am feeling incredibly good, energetic, happier, and lighter. I officially weigh in tomorrow evening, but even if that scale doesn't move an inch, I'm not going to get discouraged.
I've been off sugar and processed carbs for most of the week (other than one small lost battle with the peanut butter jar). What a difference those restrictions have made for me--my appetite, which is usually epic, just died down. I had to really force myself to eat at times. Only today I noticed I was starving all day, which I'm sure was the effect of the sugar in the peanut butter I had last night, and all day I was craving sweets and fantasizing about chocolate. As much as I'd like to believe I'm eventually going to be able to have a "bite" of dessert, I think my reality is that like the drug addict/alcoholic/smoker, I need to completely abstain. Sugar is my heroin and I'm a junkie in recovery. Somewhere in a spare room in a storage bin I have a copy of the book "Sugar Busters" that I never got around to reading. Now might be a great time. A friend just loaned me "The New Glucose Revolution" (all about the glycemic index) which I'm reading in between Dr. Phil's book, the new novel by the author of "The Kite Runner" and a trashy romance by Jude Devereaux (trying to cram all of my summer reading into the last two weeks!).
Thanks all for letting me babble in here and responding and cheering me on. I like having this place to sort of decompress and reflect and write things down for readers who are/have been struggling with the same issues that I have. Seeing and hearing about your successes has given me hope!
I'm sorry you had a tough time but I did laugh!
scale win.
