Deep breath in, deep breath out. Repeat. Don't stress eat.

CardioCinema? That sounds awesome! All we have in the region that even approaches that is the Movie Tavern where you can apparently drink and eat dinner while watching a film.

Always oriented any exercise equipment at home towards a TV or monitor to stave off boredom. Once mounted a monitor and keyboard on a treadmill. Mixed results there. Always thought there was gold in the concept of integrating networked video games with treadmills or elipticals to where you'd have a gym full of people playing the same game and having to work hard for achievements. Surely somebody's done that by now.

John - the networked games on treadmill is a fantastic idea.

Just a quick check in. I am not eating to beat myself up. I'm eating to comfort myself and to try to de-stress and to give me some small kind of energy to deal with the avalanche of stuff pouring over me.

Until my father is actually in the short-term care facility and I know he can't go back to his house I will deal in whatever way I can. Most of that will be overeating, rather than drinking alcohol. I might do a bit of crying too.

I will deal with the damage to myself all this is causing after I get through the worst of it. Right now job one is to get my father out of that house permanently. Than I will go back to trying to get control of all the other stuff.

Dagmar

THIS: "Deep breath in, deep breath out. Repeat. Don't stress eat."

Indeed. Wish I'd seen that before I overate last night. I've been doing so well lately - was even ready to drop my "current" weight by 2 pounds on 3FC but then came last night.

I had repeat surgery last Friday (the bladder suspension I had last Nov. didn't work, and it was redone). And when I woke up from anesthesia, I had immediate pain in my left hip and thigh. It hasn't gotten any better, and when I went to see the surgeon, she agreed that we should take a look with an MRI. Anyway, the stress of being in pain, not knowing what is going on, and not being able to move around enough even to take a walk finally got to me. It didn't help that DH brought home a take-out dinner (burritos) and then accidentally ate 1/3 of mine instead of his before he realized it. I then felt totally deprived and proceeded to binge for the next hour (the usual suspects- peanut butter, cereal, dried fruit and dark chocolate). UGH.

Must. Do. Better. I'm aiming for =<1200 calories/day until I can start exercising again. It's hard to eat so little, though I'm so sedentary right now that I also have little appetite.

Hugs to Andrea and Dagmar!! No stress eating.

I must remember the same.
I did something dumb at work inadvertently and it is causing an avalanche. I send automated overdue notices for library books every Wednesday at three. I usually send them once books are three weeks overdue so by the time I send them out, the books are really late. I had set the notices up the end of last year to go to ALL books that were checked out because I needed to get the books back before school ended. I forgot I had done that and EVERYONE that checked books out this week so far (oh probably 500 students) got overdue notices yesterday at 3 pm. I logged on to check my work email at 3:30 and was barraged with emails-- some parents were confused, some apologetic and some downright irate. I have probably answered 150 emails and I'm dreading this morning as I'm afraid some parents may show up in person to vent. If they looked closely at the note it says ZERO books overdue and the correct due dates are listed, but most just see the OVERDUE notice at the top and freak. Really people? I don't have access to the emails to send another note explaining the mistake unless they email me first, so I had to send an email to all staff in case the parents ask the teachers. I hope my principal is understanding about it. Dumb technology sometimes!!

But I won't stress eat. My weight was back to my ticker today so I need to keep it going in the right direction.

Michele sorry about the mishap at work. These things do happen so easily and are so hard to explain and some people will get obnoxious about it, I hope for your sake that most will be understanding.
Good news about the ticker weight , you can be proud about that.

andrea - wishing you a speedy and accurate diagnosis for something that can be fixed quickly.

dagmar - methinks your strategy is good, as long as the move is a matter of weeks and not months. No matter what, and however long it goes, you can fix it after this is out of the way. Big !

michele - I think people today are on the lookout for things they can be enraged about. I'd get as far as the "ZERO" and delete the message without another thought. It's not worth overeating, for sure. Any parents that come in to rant about something this trivial must have incredibly out-of-control lives, and I would have a hard time feeling (and probably expressing) anything but pity for them. This is why I do not work in the public sector - I simply do not like "the public".

JohnKY, I think you are looking at a potential financial-security-for-life idea there! I do believe that I could be persuaded to enter a gym for that. It would harness the competitive spirit and add that element of not wanting to let the team down ... major fun!

The flicker between 147.5 and 148 of yesterday is today's steady 147.5. The rebalancing of tensions in my back has thrown something else out of whack; something's pinched and very, very angry about it. I do believe a visit to the chiropractor tonight is required. Ow.

Is this turning into the confession thread? I'll add. Last night, probably due to a little stress after finding out that my cat Louie has been spraying in my son's closet, I rooted around the liquor cabinet and found a bottle of ouzo and had not one, but two shots while watching TV. I didn't need it and obviously I'm paying for it with a bit of a headache this morning.

On a better note, the new dog made it through the night without coughing! Of course she woke up and started hacking as soon as she heard my alarm, and she coughed up more phlegm than I'd like to see, but I think her getting through the night is a big step forward in conquering her pneumonia.

After getting on the scale this morning (151) it finally hit me--I'm "that" close to my red line (145)! So I made it my goal for the month of September: I will get to my red line by the end of the month.

So far my calories for the week are in check (not counting the ouzo) and I should end up with a balance left over, but I think I may reduce the 12,000 to either 11,000 or possibly 10,000 a week for the next two weeks.

Allison,I suppose the Ouzo was a better choice than strangling the cat. Good luck on the weight loss plans.

Allison-- it's a good thing I don't drink or I might have hit the bottle last night too. Uggh on the cat spraying-- that is not a nice issue. Glad Misty is getting better though.

ICUwishing (Becky? I never remember)-- I like your idea of 7 day averages-- you just weigh daily and do a 7 day average? That might not drive me as crazy and then I can watch more true ups and downs.

I like your idea, JohnKY.

We are always singing along in spin class; gym mgmt has threatened to do karaoke spin. Wouldn't that be fun?

Michelle - I've been trying the 7 day averages for the last couple of weeks. It does make things look better, but I'm not doing a good job planning the totals in advance.

My dad picked the hard death today. He's signing out of hospital tomorrow and going back to "his" house. And they wanted ME to drive him - !

I am going to drop his suitcase full of stinky laundry off in his front hall tonite. Whenever he calls me and demands I help him I'm going to remind him he lives "independently" and should call someone else for help.

I am ridding myself of this poisonous person once and for all. I have had enough. I thought I could soldier on and make nice for however long he has left but and f*^k that!

And yes I'm going to be binge eating tonite. DH presents his "diet" tomorrow http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&...8bg5nEfTbRHXdg and we will both rein it in. I think this diet is a bit faddy and will work my plan around it but at least DH has a plan now.

Dagmar

Sending my best thoughts to support you, Dagmar. It obviously isn't easy now and doesn't look like it's getting any better.

May some rational thought fall upon his head.