Bill, happy new year! Now it's time to count the days until our HOA starts picking on people for leaving their decorations up too long.
Megan, join me on the food log thread! I will keep you accountable if you join me! (Besides, then I won't be so lonely over there. )
Andrea, I hadn't seen that particular NYT article and only glanced at the first page now, but I did read the abstract of the study they reference when it was reported on a few months back and thought that they were drawing some very general conclusion from a very specific study. Or, to be more precise, the news media reporting on the study were generalizing. The problem is that all of the controlled scientific studies tend to involve putting people on basically a starvation diet, then seeing what happens when they take them off of it. Well, I could tell you that anyone who has been starving is going to eat to gain back weight when they're not forced to starve anymore. That seems obvious. What I want to see is a study that involves moderate reduction in calories resulting in moderate weight loss over a long time period, then seeing what happens afterward. That would be a far more useful study IMO.
I can't remember if I mentioned on here or not but I called up the management company that our HOA hired to handle our neighborhood to talk to them about the garden restrictions. It sounds like they will be much more reasonable than the letter they sent out was. They don't want us to use chicken wire but were open to the idea of replacing it with decorative fencing to keep out the bunnies (silly because the chicken wire is nearly invisible from a distance, but whatever). Also, the policy does not apply to plants grown in containers or integrated into the rest of the landscaping, just to dedicated veggie patches. Basically it sounds like we'll be okay if we replace our fencing with something decorative, and then only grow large plants and tomatoes in containers or integrated into our flower beds, where nobody will even realize that they are veggie plants. As long as we can get some variety of fencing on our veggie patch we should be okay to grow garlic, carrots, beets, lettuce, peppers, etc. The fence is really the important thing because bunnies will chow down on the seedlings without one. We haven't had very good luck with beans/peas anyway so no big loss to not grow them there.
In other news, I was spot on with my estimate that of the 5lbs of vacation weight I brought back, 3 were water and 2 were fat. The first 3lbs melted away in 3 days, and now I'm stuck with 2 that aren't budging. Oh well, 2lbs isn't so bad, I can deal with a few weeks restriction to take care of them.
. . . were all overjoyed to see me today. Squeaking, jumping, dancing, face-licking etc. Everyone, from the 5-month old to the almost 14-year old reacted with obvious joy to see me. This is why I love my job. I forget sometimes and then they all remind me. Nice to be loved .
The canine love outpouring totally negated what DH sprang on me this morning. He is not having dinner with me tonite as he is working at his old job one night a week. I think he was afraid of my reaction and didn't say anything until the last minute. I really hoped he would finally break away from his poisonous former boss but hey, as long as there's no whining about it . . . I will be totally firm on that.
"No peeing in my ear about your night job my dear"
So I bought myself a copy of Vogue (Meryl Streep's the cover girl - what a refreshing change) and will read and enjoy tonite.
I start a dog sit tomorrow morning at 8 a.m. I think DH has forgotten this. He will not see me until Saturday and then only for dinner. His loss
And the stress/caffeine thing? I broke down and had 3 teas today. It was -16 degrees C with a wind chill of -26C all day. I was barely moving at the end of the last walk - 7 hours out there in total with about 1 hour of that spent driving the car - and the dog's joyous energy and the tea kept me going.
Can I do it without that last tea? Tomorrow promises to be better weather so I'll try again.
I'm curious- have any/most of you read the NY Times article on the challenges of weight maintenance? http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/01/ma...r=1&ref=health
If so, what did you think of it? It certainly rang true for me, though the major study that was cited in that article, by Proietto, has gotten a lot of skepticism for generalizing conclusions based on the use of an aggressively low-calorie diet as the basis for then attempting weight maintenance.
Just finished it. What's wrong with having to stay on plan and accountable forever to maintain a weight loss?
It seems like a lot of people view it as THE. Worst. Thing. Ever.
You make a budget for finances and people praise you for responsibility. You save up for big purchases, you don't buy what you can't afford and you live within your means. People think this is better than normal behavior.
You make a budget for your weight and people think you're a freak. You have to be able to eat whatever you want, whenever you want for people to think you're "normal." When you track and measure and weigh, and say "no" to things, people think you're obsessive and unhealthy.
[QUOTE=Mudpie;4154990]
And the stress/caffeine thing? I broke down and had 3 teas today. It was -16 degrees C with a wind chill of -26C all day. I was barely moving at the end of the last walk - 7 hours out there in total with about 1 hour of that spent driving the car - and the dog's joyous energy and the tea kept me going.
Can I do it without that last tea? Tomorrow promises to be better weather so I'll try again./QUOTE]
Dagmar, good morning! I rediscovered over the last few windy days that a tiny pinch of very dark sugar makes my feet warm. That's as in a tiny bit in enough home-made tomato sauce to make four meals. Or a tiny pinch in coffee. It's almost instantaneous. My thighs then have to catch up but that's partly my old trousers problem. I know you're working on caffeine but I thought this finding might help in keeping you going. I know sugar gets a very bad press but I see this as more in the nature of medication. I'm talking about a very, very small amount.
Everyone, take care out there. Winds here are ferocious.
Last edited by silverbirch; 01-04-2012 at 05:18 AM.
Just finished it. What's wrong with having to stay on plan and accountable forever to maintain a weight loss?
It seems like a lot of people view it as THE. Worst. Thing. Ever.
You make a budget for finances and people praise you for responsibility. You save up for big purchases, you don't buy what you can't afford and you live within your means. People think this is better than normal behavior.
You make a budget for your weight and people think you're a freak. You have to be able to eat whatever you want, whenever you want for people to think you're "normal." When you track and measure and weigh, and say "no" to things, people think you're obsessive and unhealthy.
I'm glad this week is a short week. I had tons of trouble sleeping last night, the kind where knowing you are not asleep and will be tired the next day makes you more stressed out and makes it harder to fall back asleep. Emma was antsy, scratching at fleas (working on that... sigh...), and pooped on the carpet around 5:30 AM for the second time this week. She's been going a lot and in addition to her eye medication has had a few changes this week, so I need to figure out if there is a particular cause or she's just being bad.
I will not stress eat, I will not eat bc I'm tired.
This weekend when I cook ahead for the week I need to remember to prep voluminous veggie sides to go with my dinners that require no more than microwaving to get to the table. Last night I fell into the "munchy" trap bc I didn't have a lot of veggies to go w my pork loin and sauerkraut. I didn't do too much damage with a whole wheat pita in some dip and almonds, but I can do better in the future. Emma & I did jog yesterday and got in a pretty decent wog of almost 4 miles.
Dagmar, wow, that is cold! I don't blame you for drinking the tea, but if it's bothering you to drink caffeine and it's warmth you're after, how about some lower caffeine teas or decaf/herbal? I hope it's warmer and less windy today!
Glory, you're so right! Planning what you eat, not eating everything in sight is consider "abnormal" in our society. It's sad.
Shannon, fingers crossed for a good payroll delivery.
Jessica, sounds like your HOA is backpedaling. Good for you for doing the research - sounds like you can keep most of your garden. I'll bet they wouldn't even notice a little chicken wire.
I will not stress eat, I will not eat bc I'm tired.... oh did I say that already? Have a good day all.
Shannon, for me, the tell-tale sign that the new payroll company was doing a good job was when we got the worker's comp reports and tax reports. I hope it continues to go smoothly.
Megan~I know what you mean about having veggies around to microwave and eat. I hate it when I'm tired and don't feel like preparing a lot and have to do all that prep. These days, I've been fixing a huge garden salad each night, and I can see where it's going to become a chore really soon.
Two days down on Nutrisystem and two pounds down. Can't argue with that.
Allison - yes, I'm nervous about the tax filings and reports too, just can't think about them yet. Or I'll really freak out.
Jen - that is absolutely right about the different perception of budgeting your cash and budgeting your calories. Checking my bank balance before I buy is no big deal, but weighing my sandwich before I eat gets me the crazy eye from people. Different mindsets I guess.
Jessica - I'm glad that you got more info on the garden. It would have been anoying to have to move over it.
Megan - no stress or tired eating. No stress or tired eating. I love veggies that I can steam quickly. I need more of those, too.
Dagmar - can you get caffeine free hot teas? I have a hot cinnamon green that is fantastic.
Birchie - windy here, too. And cold cold cold.
So far so good on the checks - three locations down, three to go. The largest one is still outstanding - the woman who get it won't be in until 2 to check them.
Dagmar, that is COLD! I second Shannon's suggestion -- how about herbal tea or decaf tea? I drink a lot of hot tea to warm up but it's almost entirely decaf/herbal.
Megan, do you ever buy frozen veggies? Our grocery sells these gigantic bags of frozen veggies and I love them. Pre-cut, pre-washed, just as nutritious as fresh but with zero work and zero worries about them going bad if you don't use them fast enough. I think I have a 3-lb bag of frozen broccoli in there right now.
Glory, great metaphor about budgeting.
I'm getting shuffled around from one project to the next at work right now since we're still waiting for an official guidance on my "regular" project. My throat hurts from being on a teleconference all afternoon. Obviously I don't talk much doing my normal work!
No progress on my 2lbs of real weight gained yet. Today I did workout 1 from NRLW, which I haven't done in ages. I think maybe my wrists and feet are ready to give it another shot. We'll see. While I was on vacation I talked to my cousin about plantar fasciitis -- her husband had it, and like me tried everything the doctors ordered and made no progress, then gave up and said, "Fine, I'll just ignore the pain and do what I want," and it eventually went away on its own. I'm kind of thinking that is happening for me. My feet are better than they've been in a while now that I'm running again. I think maybe just getting the blood flow is the biggest help. I have a little massage roller to roll my feet on but I'm not doing any of the icing, stretching, ultrasound, etc. anymore and it's certainly not gotten worse. My tentative plan is to keep doing what I'm doing until I'm up to running 20 mins straight, then try going off of the daily tylenol and see if it gets worse.
Jessica-- I'm glad to hear you've been feeling better. My younger dd had plantar fasciitis a few years ago and got orthotics, did stretching, took anti-inflammatories, etc. Not much helped, but it did mostly go away on its own. It still flares once in awhile, but not much anymore. Who knows with our wacky bodies!?
I had to have my dad taken to hospital yesterday in an ambulance. Only way to get him to accept (maybe) that he can't live on his own anymore. I had to go back to work twice and had to leave him there after 6 hours with admission still an uncertainty. I'm almost afraid to pick up my phone messages this morning but I'll have to carry on.
I started a dog sit yesterday too - this morning I have no food, no lunch, etc. Gonna be a long, long couple of days.
And the funniest part was that my dad publicly dissed me (in front of the paramedics and some nurses) for taking him to the hospital.
His house is full of pee. I can't even think about dealing with that until this weekend.
Sending supportive thoughts, Dagmar, as you work your way through this.
Here's a twist to the job of dog walker. Seems a local took on the role of super cop:
Quote:
WEST ROXBURY, Mass. -- An area dog walker helped catch a burglar as he tried to escape her friend’s home on Tuesday.
She's a dog walker who doesn't just teach dogs neat tricks. Recently, she taught a criminal a much needed lesson.
“I was going to pick up a dog to take him to him afternoon play group, and when I went in I noticed the second door was partially open and so I went through the door I said, ‘Hello,’ and I saw a man going out the back door with a duffle bag over his shoulder,” said Julienne Antonino.
Instinctively, Julienne Antonino ran after the burglar.
“He took off down the street and I ran following, yelling, ‘Police! Police!’” Antonino said.
The Roslindale woman runs New Leash on Life, taking care of 25 dogs a day.
She never imagined her active job would give her a leg up over a criminal..
Well, after two days of my weight being up, it's now the lowest it's been since I started tracking in December. I do WW points, which is a challenge because I'm nursing part-time but I just track how many times I nurse and allow 2 pts each so that's how I got back on track. Anyway, the last two days, I've completely lost it in the middle of the day. Tuesday it was Apple Crisp that I got carried away on - no idea how much I ate, much less how many points I consumed. Then yesterday I made (loaded!) potato casserole for the kids and nibbled on it (which was okay except I couldn't track points) and then rather than stopping there since I was basically satisfied, I ate a half dozen (or so) oatmeal raisin cookies, which also couldn't be tracked because I didn't count how many I ate.
But the thing was, I've made a new rule that whenever I fall off the wagon, I don't wait until tomorrow (or next week, for that matter) - I just write down what I ate, even if I don't know how many points it was, and then continue on as normal for the rest of the day. I also try to eat more protein because it seems that if I'm not getting enough protein, I am more prone to losing control and just eating whatever is in sight rather than planning my meal.
So both days I ate normally for the rest of the day and then went to bed. Last week my weight was 153.0 almost every day (very unusual to be that steady). This week, my weight was 154.4 Tuesday and 153.8 yesterday (the two days I fell off the wagon). Today - 152.2. So maybe I was hormonal and retaining water and that's why I succumbed to temptation. Or maybe I needed those extra calories for some reason. Who knows.
It's just weird to lose 2 pounds when falling off the wagon a couple times. Just sayin'...
I'm thinking I may need to change up what I'm having for breakfast. My dh has eggs and bacon and swears that's the only thing that holds him down. I don't really like eggs, nor do I want to cook that for myself. I've been eating oatmeal with a mashed banana and then some Greek yogurt (the latter for protein) plus some oranges or some other fruit, but that seems to be too light to carry me to noon. OR I am eating lunch too late and that is why I am losing control at lunch. I need to somehow figure this out. I already ate my yogurt this morning and just finished my oatmeal but am still hungry.
I think figuring out the right balance in what to eat is the most challenging thing about weight management. Whenever I eat "right" I seem to be walking a tightrope where I crash because I am too ravenous to care and then I have to get back on the wagon. This has been my struggle since before I lost weight, though I have learned a lot and become much better at getting what I need to be satisfied. The challenge continues...
)
to see me. This is why I love my job. I forget sometimes and then they all remind me. Nice to be loved 
.
on me this morning. He is not having dinner with me tonite as he is working at his old job one night a week. I think he was afraid of my reaction and didn't say anything until the last minute. I really hoped he would finally break away from his poisonous former boss but hey, as long as there's no whining about it . . . I will be totally firm on that.
thing? I broke down and had 3 teas today. It was -16 degrees C with a wind chill of -26C all day. I was barely moving at the end of the last walk - 7 hours out there in total with about 1 hour of that spent driving the car - and the dog's joyous energy and the tea kept me going. 
Winds here are ferocious.
She's been going a lot and in addition to her eye medication has had a few changes this week, so I need to figure out if there is a particular cause or she's just being bad. 
I second Shannon's suggestion -- how about herbal tea or decaf tea? I drink a lot of hot tea to warm up but it's almost entirely decaf/herbal.
I think maybe just getting the blood flow is the biggest help. I have a little massage roller to roll my feet on but I'm not doing any of the icing, stretching, ultrasound, etc. anymore and it's certainly not gotten worse. My tentative plan is to keep doing what I'm doing until I'm up to running 20 mins straight, then try going off of the daily tylenol and see if it gets worse.
