Quiet morning. No weigh in to report since we were in Charlottesville, VA for the wedding. It was a fun weekend and a fun wedding. I danced up a storm on Saturday night, didn't get enough sleep all weekend, didn't go nuts as far as eating but didn't didn't count points. I figure I'm going to try to use no more than 15 points this week (I'm doing core) and hope for the best. The bronchitis is better but the cold is back in force (I'm sure not getting enough sleep and flying has something to do with it) so I'm going to do my best with the 4 activity days this week. I did get a good night's sleep last night but just didn't want to get out of bed - I figured I could use the extra half hour. Tomorrow I plan on doing freestyle upper body weights (I can do that while the kids are at gym period) although if I get to bed early enough, maybe I'll try to get up and do a little yoga - but I'm not going to stress about it - I need to get rid of this cold!
This week might be a little tough only because we didn't get a chance to go shopping this weekend. There's no fruit in the house right now and only a little salad left. After class tonight, I'll make up my menu for the week and a shopping list for Tony.
Carla - I hope the evaluation and the job interview went well. Been thinking about you today.
Judy - Sounds like a fun weekend. I always get a cold after flying; I'm sure it's to do with all that recirculated air. I hope you'll be back up to snuff again soon. Don't overdo the exercise.
I've had a decent few days. Saturday we got up at 3 a.m. and drove up to the property to bring the trailer home for the weekend. We got home exhausted at 7:30 p.m. Sunday mostly just putzed around the house. Today was my fortnight day off - took the dogs out for a 1.5 hour walk at the river. Food has been good. I've just made a huge pot of roasted winter vegetable soup - a delicious puree of roasted butternut squash, carrots, sweet potato, onion and parsnip. It has just a hint of curry in it. This is my favorite time of year for cooking; you can still get nice summer produce, but the fall stuff is in its prime. I've been looking back over our menus for the last few weeks and we're eating about 60% vegetarian these days.
I bought Super Size Me on dvd at Costco today. We just finished watching it. I will never eat another meal at a burger joint. It should be mandatory viewing for everybody. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it.
I'm just beginning the program again, so it's been a little less than a week for me. I am down 1 lb. making my current weight 172. My 10% goal is 154, and my goal is to lose about 50 pounds (hopefully before July for my sister's wedding).
Judy - Glad to hear you had a good time at the wedding. I'm sure all that dancing was good for erasing any flex points you used! I hope you're feeling better today. Flying is the pits for making a cold a worse cold. We've never flown anywhere on vacation that John hasn't ended up sick - usually on the front leg of the trip. AnGood idea to just do what you can re: exercise and not stress about it. Take care of yourself. Oh, and, congrats on your Yankees. Signed, a dejected Cubs fan. Next year my foot.
Karen - What a long day you had on Saturday. I don't know if I would have been able to drag myself out of bed on Sunday. I too love cooking this time of year. And that soup sounds delicious, absolutely delicious. I have to drag out my cookbooks and get some new recipes in the line up, especially meatless ones. The one thing about core is I find myself in a chicken, pork, beef rotation and it a)gets boring and b) relies too much on red meat. I have Super Size Me on reserve at the library; can't wait to watch it. I hear that the book Fast Food Nation will also cure you of any lingering desire to visit a fast food restaurant.
Librarychick - Congrats on a terrific loss! Your goal sounds reasonable and doo-able.
Yesterday was indeed a busy day. The meeting at the school went ok. The team was really against a formal evaluation - they said it would measure her development and not her learning. I guess I can buy that, but I'm not waiting until the end of second grade to determine if we have a problem, and they went along with that. I was a bit aggrevated with the way they were explaining to Nancy, Ana's teacher, that kids learn at different rates and that Ana's difficulties aren't necessarily indicative of a problem. I mean Nancy is a professional teacher and not just someone who decided one day it would be fun to teach elementary in a Montessori school. She has just as much training in learning disorders as the average classroom teacher in a public school. But at any rate, they suggested that I bring Ana in when they do an assessment test of their first graders this month, which is a good start, I think. (Judy, does the DIBBLES Assessment test mean anything to you?) At least we'll have a baseline assessment to work from. And then we'll meet after the test to discuss next steps. Finally, we'll reassess progress in February/March. In the meantime they are mailing me some materials for work we can do at home. So all in all, the team was really cooperative and helpful. I may have to push some, but not too much. And Ana seems to be making good progress with the reading tutor on Monday mornings. Most importantly, she's really enthusiastic about the sessions and highly motivated to learn. As for the job interview, it was a hike into the city for a 1/2 hour interview consisting mostly of questions the interviewer had already asked me over the phone. I know that this was just a preliminary face-to-face, but... Who knows. Food-wise, the weekend was so-so, but not a disaster. I'm finishing up my CORE week and then am going on points for a week. (We're going away for the weekend and I think points will be easier.)
Just stopping by to report that I got in the first day of my four day exercise committment by walking into town to get the light Frappachino from Starbucks that I was desperately craving. It was just a 20 minute walk, but it was a start.
Carla - your meeting re Ana sounds encouraging. It's great that she's enthusiastic about her tutoring sessions. Congratulations for getting that walk in. The frappacino lights are tasty!
I forgot to weigh in today. I climbed out of bed this morning, put on the workout duds and climbed straight onto the treadmill. I also TM'd last night...I've discovered that I'm much more able to exert myself in the morning than after a long day. I had to drop a level last night because of fatigue; did it no problem this morning. Food has been very good for the last couple of days. I'm feeling quite motivated.
Karen - I love the light frappachinos. Good for you for getting on the treadmill last night and this morning. I'm with you on morning exercise - I just don't have the energy for it in the evening. Even when I was working and had to get up extra early to get it in, I still did better in the morning. Glad to hear the past couple of days have been good for you food-wise as well - keep up the good work!
I'm reporting a 3.8 pound loss. It's a relief that the scale is going in the right direction. I suspect much of it is water, but I'll take the loss. I didn't get a walk in today, but will try to use my hand weights tonight. This weekend is going to be a challenge. We're going to Ann Arbor MI for the Minnesota/Michigan game. We're meeting John's cousin and his family there. We're not alums of either school, but most of John's family went to Minnesota. Basically we're just going to hang out with his cousin. Aside from the hazards, food-wise, of travel, there will be a tail gate party Saturday morning. I'm going to bring as money point-friendly things as I can. And if our hotel offers a complimentary continental breakfast, I'll have a nice bowl of oatmeal to fill me up.
Librarychick - congratulations on a great start! I agree with Carla, I think your goal is definitely doable.
Carla - I was rooting for your Cubbies - I'm watching the Yankees now. I didn't stress too much about last night - but they had better win tonight! Congratulations on a great loss and way to go on getting in the walk. I'll be sending hand weigh vibes your way! I am not familiar with the DIBBLES Assessment test but I will ask one of the special ed teachers when I see them and also look it up in my textbook. I'm glad to hear that the team was cooperative and even happier to hear that Ana is enthusiastic, motivated and making progress with the reading tutor. The fact that she is enthusiastic and motivated is so, so important. It's also great that you are addressing any difficulties she is having early, before she can get discouraged. She is a lucky girl to have such great, caring parents! Your weekend certainly does sound challenging - road food AND tail gating! I know you'll do fine and agree that points is certainly the way to go for this week.
Karen - I haven't heard about Super Size Me until now but will look for it next time I'm at the library. Way to go on the treadmilling! I used to be really gung ho after work in my previous career but with all the schedule changing in the last year plus, it's been hard for me to be consistent. Once I catch up on some sleep and feel a bit better, I'm going to try to get back into doing something before work. That soup does sound delicious. We have had a few days of real autumn weather and Tony and I were just talking about making some soup this weekend. The new WW cookbook has some interesting looking soups and I want to pick one and make it this weekend.
I'm beat. I got home on Monday evening from class and Tony told me that my mom had called. It seems she had taken my father to the hospital on Sun evening with discomfort in the chest (he had a mild heart attack and angioplasty with a stent 5 years ago). By the time she called Tony late Mon afternoon, they had already determined that he did NOT have a heart attack but given his history, they wanted to do an angiogram. Tony and I got to the hospital around 8, just after they started the angiogram/ Thank goodness, everything was fine. They think the discomfort was gastrointestinal. My dad came home yesterday and just has to take it easy for a couple of days. We didn't get home until about 11 or so, and of course, I couldn't fall asleep right away. I'm amazed I was able to stay up to attend class last night. I did manage to do some upper body weight work at gym yesterday and will do so again tomorrow (which is 2 workouts) but I know I'm not going to get up early tomorrow morning - I'm going to sleep as late as I can! The cold seems a little better today so maybe I'll be able to do some workouts over the weekend.
This weekend will be a little challenging. We are going out to dinner with my fil on Saturday but if I can avoid the biscuits at Red Lobster, I can manage just fine. Sunday I'll be on my own eating - Tony will be prepping for his colonoscopy on Monday when I'm off from work(finally - it only took 5 years for him to do it!) We are talking about going out for Italian on Monday evening but I can get some fish and use some weekly points.
Judy - Well, the big scuttlebutt here is one of the Cubs play-by-play guys calling it as he sees it - and just about everyone agrees with him: many players on the team this year were selfish and into themselves more than the team. Heck, Sosa, who is fading fast, couldn't bother himself to stick around and watch the last game. (He wasn't feeling well and couldn't suit up.) I mean, really, with the team we had this year: Maddux, Prior, Wood, Alou, Gaciaparra, etc. etc., we should be in the playoffs. But I'm already moving on to a new heartbreak: football. Re: Super SIze me - it's a documentary. The filmaker spent thirty days eating nothing by McDonalds for all three meals and it shows what happened to his body, and his pysche, by the end of the thirty days. Scary stuff. I can't wait to see it. I'm glad to hear that all is well with your father. What a draining night that must have been. Yay for Tony for going for his colonoscopy. I'm sure it will be an ordeal getting John to get one when his time comes. You'll do fine this weekend at Red Lobster, I'm sure.
No weights yesterday - too much running around during the day and then we had a parent/teacher/student conference at school in the late afternoon and religious ed in the evening. It was the first night and there was a family program, so we had to stay. I was just wiped out last night. Today is going to be crazy busy too, but I'll get something in. On the food front, all was well yesterday. We're leaving sometime tomorrow morning, so I'll try to get back on to post, but I'm not sure it will happen. In case it doesn't - have a great weekend everyone.
Judy - glad to hear all is well with your dad. Epigastric pain can present nearly identically to cardiac pain, and it's all very frightening. And ditto what Carla said about yay for Tony getting up the jam to have a colonoscopy. Can be a lifesaving procedure. I highly recommend Super Size Me...not only does it track the guy's month living off McDonald's, there's a huge social commentary about what America is doing to its kids through food provided at school vending machines and school cafeterias and lunch programs. I think you'll find it especially interesting. Anyway, it has me sworn off of fast food forever more, and heading to the organic grocery store.
Carla - what a busy day you had. Those ones wipe you out. Your weekend sounds like it's going to be a blast! I'm sure you'll manage to choose well. It bugs me that all social gatherings seem to centre around food. Speaking of social gatherings, this weekend is Thanksgiving in Canada. I've been holding a standoff with my family around who'll be doing dinner - I usually end up doing it, but couldn't be bothered this year. My cousin eventually folded and has decided to have it at her home - which will be great, because I won't have the temptation to nibble all through meal prep...and most wonderful of all, won't have any leftovers to contend with, although I may smuggle out a bit of turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce to make the obligatory sandwich the next day. I believe turkey and stuffing sandwiches rank right up there on your list of faves, don't they?
I woke at 2:30 a.m. and didn't get back to sleep. I was going to TM this morning, but have zero energy. On the bright side, I've almost finished the novel I was reading. Better get presentable and get off to work. Dentist this afternoon. Bleh.
Karen - Happy Thanksgiving! And good job on sticking to your guns and not doing dinner. It is so much easier not to contend with the leftovers. But definitely do get enough for a sandwich. I usually don't do stuffing on mine (could that be our Judy?), but love a turkey and cranberry sandwich with thinly sliced red or sweet onion and a bit of butter on the bread. Now that's good eating! What novel are you reading? I'm always on the lookout for a good read.
I have a British crime fiction fetish. Currently reading Ian Rankin's Black and Blue; number 8 in a series of about 14, I think. A girl at work gave me the whole series to keep - someone gave them to her, but she couldn't get into them. I'm obsessed with them. Currently trying to figure out a way to keep a paperback readably open on the treadmill.
Carla - I hope you had a good trip to MI today and you, John and Ana are enjoying yourselves, especially after that crazy run-around day! I've asked around a bit at school about the DIBBLES assessment. The reading teachers I spoke with are not familiar with it but one of the teacher's mother (in another district) is using it and she's going to get some info on it for me. Yup, I make the stuffing for Thanksgiving although we usually have turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce without the sandwich! This year, my cousin Amy is doing it although I'll make the stuffing, rosemary rolls and maybe another dish (maybe the lower point pumpkin pie).
Karen - Happy Thanksgiving!!!! Good for you for sticking to your guns about not hosting this year. I make a somewhat lightened stuffing so we don't mind having those leftovers around - it's the dessert leftover that always get me! Yeah, the whole deal on Monday was frightening, even after they determined he hadn't had another MI but before the angiogram showed that his arteries were in pretty good shape. I'm SO relieved Tony is finally going for the colonoscopy although the lead up to it is making it a bit hard to stick to plan. I love mysteries and I love history - I've enjoyed PD James. I've never read Ian Rankin - I'll have to keep an eye out for his books. What's the first title in the series?
I have raging PMS cravings and started the week off pretty good as far as satisfying them smartly - that is until until Tony decided that he deserved some snacks because he has to do the colonoscopy prep on Sunday. He bought cashews 2 days ago and chocolate covered raisins and potato chips tonight and I've caved on all of them! Ack! I may or may not weigh in tomorrow - I have a "no weigh" pass and if the sneak peek is bad, I might go to the meeting but use the pass for this week. I was doing so well with core up until the weekend and then between the hospital visit and PMS, I sort of lost my way - but I'm determined to find my way back. We *have* to do some grocery shopping over the long weekend - and I have to prepare some good, core meals for this week - I really want to get back on track and make the 5 pound goal this month. The good news is that the cold seems to be getting better and I hope to feel well enough to start working out over the weekend. This week will be a little weird. There is an overnight field trip on Thursday/Friday to a state park on the North Shore of Long Island that the 4th grade always goes to (one class at a time). 20 kids, the teacher and me - the good news is that the teachers bring their own food since what they have there is supposed to be terrible. There's a lot of hiking/walking and I plan on bringing good snacks (like fruit) so that should make the end of the week OK plan wise. I just hope TOM doesn't come early this month!
Have a great one - if I don't get back here, have a great weekend!
Judy
Weigh in at home 10/4 - 10/10
