Betsy: I'm not one to eat peppermint treats that often. My tea also had spearmint in it as well. So maybe peppermint isn't necessarily one of my trigger food smells? I like thin mints and York Peppermint Patties, but I don't get them much.
Had a crazy idea. Hospitals have nutritionists that plan the menu because they have to account for people with different dietary needs... So, I thought, what if I check the hospital guidelines for someone in my condition, and use their sample menus to plan what I eat. I also thought that since they're planning for many people, that maybe they would know what to serve so that spoilage isn't a huge issue. There's a whole hoard of info on Google, and the guidelines aren't exactly the same everywhere. I know that there's diet help and what not, but I really don't want one of those gimmicky weight loss type of things. If I'm going to do something, I want it to be able to last so that I keep weight off. I don't want the yo-yo. I found one guideline that I hope helps, it has sample serving sizes of many things. It has protein in all 3 major meals, so maybe that will help me keep full. The sample menus look doable.
I've started implementing it today. To be honest, I feel the uncomfortable type of full. It's weird how much junk that I can eat and not feel full at all. I need to go shopping if I'm going to have enough for this week. Not a fan of shopping.
Location: from Houston, TX—now in Maryland (Washington DC area)
Posts: 1,167
S/C/G: 351/267/140
Height: 5'3"
Just a quick check-in for me, too. I'm pleased to report that Grace and I had a great time last night: playing with the kittens, making embellishments for future collages, working on vocabulary words, and reading some of To Kill a Mockingbird back and forth to each other. It was a sleety night with treacherous sections on the roads, so I was happy when her father called and offered to come pick her up. Our curfew is now back to 10-10:30, like it should be, and the emotional weather between her parents and me is clear skies.
As for my mood, I'm just barely at zero (the desired state, neither low or high), but I feel pretty labile and easily stressed. Last night with Grace I was a bit scattered and forgetful. Bob feels worse than I do: dealing with all of his mother's possessions back in her old apartment was an emotionally challenging job for him and his sister. I'm sure it brought back memories of when they had to do the same with his father's stuff, after he died.
Grace is so good for me. Sam, what you said about balancing each other is so true. We're slowly building a longterm friendship. She's also getting to know Oscar and Nénu, an important experience for her because she wants to be a vet.
Good Day, everyone. Hoping that everyone is having a nice weekend.
I'm currently wondering why I have to fry the bacon. My spouse gets this huge package of bacon, which he can eat most of by himself. I can eat about four slices of bacon, in one sitting, and snack on it all day, which is more than I need. Smelling it, while it's cooking... It's so tough to resist. I've restrained myself from eating more than one slice. It's not my spouse's responsibility to lose my weight. So, I can't really blame him. And sometimes he's clueless as to how I'm feeling. He doesn't seem to realize that my relationship to food can be much like an addict with their drug of choice. I think that if he did, he would be more sympathetic, and help where he could. I'm embarrassed though. I don't hide food. It's in plain view where it's properly stored. I just don't eat some things in front of family members.
I'm trying to relearn portion sizes. Why is it that commercials show someone eating a whole giant bowl of cereal when the serving is 3/4-1 cup? They must have tiny bowls, and the camera adds several cups. I'm not restricting much either. Not yet. I'm just restricting the large portions. I have a set calorie goal, and as long as it fits, after I get the nutrients that I need, I can have it, with the exception of trigger foods... Things that I really can't control myself on. I'm not looking for perfection, like I was before. I won't get upset over being two calories over. I will just try better the next day. Hopefully this works. I've tried taking whole groups of food out, and it just didn't work for me.
Hey guys.....still here.....still struggling with breathing and coughing and sooooo tired from coughing at night.
Steroids have (no surprise) increased an appetite already focused on carbs n stodge because of frustration at YET AGAIN being ill.
Any and all advice gratefully received.....sorry to be so grumpy!
Back soon with a smiley face!
Donna
I feel like its been forever since I've been on to check in and to see how things are going .... Its been really rough getting back into a good routine since winter break ended with all of the crazy weather and the germs that are floating around not only my daughters school but also in my school ... I feel like we never get better we just rotate the colds and viruses back and forth to each other at home ....:-(
Overall I see that everyone is chugging along and there are some new members( to each of you).
Now that January is so abruptly ending Im looking for some normalcy and regularity to come with February.
Donna: You don't come across as being grumpy. Even if you did, it would be okay. Whatever you have sounds horrible. I hate those lingering ailments.
TOgden3: We have the illnesses fairly regularly here. 5 people in my family, and I'm usually the 2nd or 3rd person to catch it, so I'm caring for the others while I'm sick.
Good morning all. It's really sunny and fairly warm here today. Love the sun. Not thrilled that I can see how badly I need to dust in the house!
Terra -- Hope you're continuing to improve and are getting back to 100%. Love the new picture.
Time4Me -- Glad you had a good weekend, and hope you're enjoying having today off.
Tootsie -- Laughed over your comment about not eating peppermint that often. Neither do I, but I discover a great liking for it if it's put in front of me. Talk about the power of suggestion! Love the idea of using the hopsital meal plans -- and yes, there is a mountain of information on the web. Some of it is even true! Don't know if this helps, but I cook my bacon in the microwave. I put a paper towel beneath it, cook 3-4 slices at a time (or 2 if it's just me), a paper towel on top and then allow 1 minute per slice. It's fast, whisks away the fat drippings, and is something that anyone can do......i.e., your DH can cook his own bacon. Several of us have commented on being addicted to sugar, carbs, and/or refined foods in general. Maybe just explaining to your family that you have a food addiction will help them understand. In the meantime, I'm with you on relearning portion sizes, not eliminating entire food groups, and keeping my trigger foods out of the house. Great job on really thinking through this and coming up with what works best for you!
Fi -- Sounds like you had a great time with Grace with lots of fun activities. So glad that you have her in your life.
Sam -- A loss is a loss. It's always better than a gain. Hope that disposal gets fixed soon or else you'll be starting your own indoor compost pile.
Donna -- This is grumpy???? Catch me when I'm sick and I'll show you grumpy (actually I'll show you just down right onery and mean -- I don't do sick very well!). No advice other than to take care of yourself. I do know that since I've started on my bi-pap machine I haven't had a bad cold or the flu. Part of it may be due to getting a flu shot every year, but I'm convinced that having moisturized air forced into me helps. Not recommending you get a bi-pap, but maybe a vaporizer at night. Also, I have a friend who swears by Netti pots. Basically you pour water with a saline solution in one nostril and it comes out the other. Gross sounding (and looking!), but she swears that it has helped immensely with her allergies and keeping her sinuses unblocked. My mother always rubbed Vicks Vaporub on our chests when we had colds -- don't know if it helped with anything in the chest, but I imagine the fumes helped with unblocking the sinuses. OK, that's all the folk medicine I know and am not sure any of it will help. So so so sorry you're still having this much trouble with the coughing and chest and feeling icky.
Togden -- So glad to see you posting again. It is hard to stay on track when our routines are constantly interrupted.
My nephew came out on Saturday, and we got everything on my list done. I took Bill and my nephew out for dinner and just vegged out yesterday. In the broken record category, I do plan on hitting the garage today as I have now passed the procrastination point and am totally into avoidance. Still can barely move around in there, but this too shall finally get done.
One of you asked what the 5:2 diet was (sorry, can't remember who and am too lazy to go back through the posts). You eat 500 calories a day for 2 nonconsecutive days each week and then the other 5 days you eat "normally." Normally is not an all out binge -- they give you a calorie limit based on your age and weight -- it's all online. 500 calories sounds like you would eat nothing, but I'm having a big salad with a hard boiled egg for protein and a small mandarin orange for lunch and a tilapia filet (baked) with a serving of broccoli salad and a serving of parmesan zucchini slices for supper. That's 503 calories and under 50 g of carbs. On normal days, I'll eat something similar but add in breakfast and maybe a snack during the day.
SamIAm: It's a loss. Sounds like that you're doing well.
Betsy: That sounds like it takes a lot of self control. It's taking all my willpower to eat approximately half of the calories that I'm accustomed to eating. Since I was taking in a lot more calories than the average person/day, that is not as bad as it sounds.
This is my second go at a post. The first one was just too much. Too much information (TOM.. lol), too much whining, too much boring. Suffice it to say, I am feeling much better, TOM is packing his bags and getting ready to leave, and I am feeling very ready for bed. Late nights and early mornings since Thursday last week make for a tired me.
Betsy, thanks for checking on me in regards to TOM. I had countless Drs appointments several years ago when my TOM started to get all weird but after so much money spent and practically no answers at all, I decided I was done wasting money. I let it be weird and it's only weird every once in a while.
Ubee, I miss you! Not sure if the chaos is still going on but I look forward to your next post. Pray all is well with the MIL.. Seems like a bit of an odd situation but then, I don't know what her personality is like or what she's been through. Anyway, eat a (1) cheese curd for me. I was going to cheer for Packers but sadly, they lost.. I was seriously looking forward to ordering a giant cheesehead..
Donna I am so sorry to hear you're not doing well again. I'm getting over a nasty cough too (been going for a couple months) but nothing requiring all you've had to endure. So sorry. Still praying you get better and stay better!!
InStitches, I know my mind tells me that running up and down stairs is a massive workout. And while my body feels like it's going to fall apart every time I do that, I know that I can endure a lot more than my brain tells me I can.. Hahaha.. What is your plan for eating and exercise? Best of luck to you!
Terra how have you been? If I remember correctly you said you weren't feeling so well with a sore throat and all that fun stuff. Hope you're able to stay on plan for the most part while you're fighting that..
Tootsie how goes the battle? Keep up the fight to eat fewer calories than you were.. I need to start tracking what I'm eating instead of assuming I'm all good.. I'm all good at making excuses, that's what!
All the rest of you, have a wonderful night or day (depending on when you read this) and I'll catch you all later.
Good morning all. Short one today as I have to leave in 15 minutes to get my hair cut -- looks like I put my finger in an electric socket right now!
Tootsie -- It's really not too bad, and I don't plan on staying with it forever. I just need to get in much better eating control habits. I'm pretty sure that just eating whatever I see is not working too well!
Bllondy -- Yep, sometimes we just have to accept that our bodies are going to do whatever they want to do and no amount of going to the doctor is going to change it without doing something really radical. Hhhmmmm -- sounds kind of like being married sometimes! Sorry -- don't know where that thought came from.
The workmen came yesterday and started working on installing the driveway gates so that I can actually get the pickup down the hill. Of course, this means that Toby is effectively grounded and I have to walk him. Talk about me being lazy. The dog has to smell every single blooming blade of grass. But it will be finished up today so we can get back to normal with him smelling every blade of grass but with me inside!
Hi everyone!
I am alive and well. I have not read any posts but I will as time goes and respond in bits as I go.
My MIL has decided to stay around a while. The real reason I have been MIA is because when they changed my daughters (autism related) meds she had a struggle and missed some school and needed a lot more attention. She is better now so of course we have to change another med this week. For those of you who have been sending prayers please continue to do so. She is so brave and strong to face everyday with a smile.
I am tired but doing well. Food has been OK but not great. I haven't been on the scale but my clothes feel good. Have I missed you! My brain is a little fuzzy so I will do my best to visit with each of you.
Have a peaceful day!
Location: from Houston, TX—now in Maryland (Washington DC area)
Posts: 1,167
S/C/G: 351/267/140
Height: 5'3"
The Kollage Kit blog is doing a theme of "Maps" this week. (I'm choosing the themes.) I adore maps and playing around with them in collages, so I've been busy making map-related collages.
So, for those of you who follow my work, I've got two so far for this theme: "like leaves on a muddy stream" and "due cani". As usual, click on the image to get a larger version.
Ubee— So great to see you posting again! I missed you. I'm glad to hear that you and your daughter got through the turmoil over the change in her meds, and are doing better now. =smile=
This week has been a bit of a blur for me. Ever since I injured my neck Saturday night I have not been to the gym. Its been really tense and I'm afraid of injuring it more so I have put working out on the back burner. I'm going to try and go back tomorrow even if it's just some cardio.
One of my very good friends are going to be in town this weekend I'm very excited! She moved away from here about 4 years ago, went out west, and is now back east living in her hometown Roanoke VA. We're gonna meet up at our old hang out...an awesome japanese sushi house with a few others and then one of our friends are having a party at their house for her. I'm sure it will be a great time and much needed for me.
Eating has been ok, my kitchen is not back to normal yet but I hope soon...no personals today but will catch up later. Hope everyone is well and staying on plan.
Hi, everyone. I've stayed within my calorie goal. Didn't eat so well today, though. Still within goal, but stuff that just isn't good for me. My body is rebelling. It's asking what happened to the veggies.
to each of you). 
I was going to cheer for Packers but sadly, they lost.. 
I was seriously looking forward to ordering a giant cheesehead.. 
