HI all...

Well I had a fantabulous party..it was so great having my friends over to celebrate my new life. Part of that meant a lot of food...and dessert. I didn't eat a lot at the actual party , but have been eating the leftovers all day today. Getting on the scale tomorrow is going to be scary. I'm going to have to drink a lot of water the rest of this week and really keep the carbs and sugar on the down low..i'm going away Thursday thru the weekend and need to keep things in check. I'm not going to beat myself up over this "lapse" and I hope to still find a way to get to my valentines goal.

Hello guys! Didn't get to the gym today, had a dentist appointment - no cavities! :carrot: Did about 10 minutes on my home elliptical....not great.

Have an appointment for a general checkup with internist who I haven't seen in almost 7 years! Gulp. I am nervous. I haven't been back because of the fat shaming I experienced there. I am probably stupid for going back to the same doc, but so many people love her.

I have horrible bloating and PMS. TOM is around the corner any day now. I think Seasonal Affective Disorder (self diagnosis) is getting to me, because I've been feeling down.

Anyway, take care and good luck ladies!

Can I list ironing as exercise?

It is exhausting ironing men's dress shirts. My hubbie is a big 6'6 guy, and the shirts are awkward and huge and take forever to iron and I swear the moment I get one side appropriately flattened I've already wrinkled the other side.

/end rant

GUAC. Did you ever think of getting a happy light? They sell them in Bjs.....it's supposed to helpwithseasonal disorder.

Snark....I used to do all my husbands shirts...it helped when I got a really good iron.

I can't believe you all are 4 pages in, and I haven't even checked in yet! Working on my mojo. Happy to report that today has been a day of in-control food. Finally.

B: cappuccino, banana
L: Moroccan grated carrot & beet salad, delicata squash pear soup
S: same Moroccan salad, handful of nuts
D: 1 roasted chicken drumstick, homemade hummus with raw veggies dipped in, banana

I've got that nice slightly-hungry feeling with bed not too far off. Happy here. Still no candy. :carrot:

Yay, Sum, on seeing the water weight go! That reminds me that on my way down, I often whooshed 3 or 4 pounds at a time and then popped back up one or two pounds, where I'd stay for a week or three. Give yourself time to settle out; I'm sure you'll have terrific results by Valentine's Day.

Zumba, I'm glad you had a great time at your party! It's nice to surround yourself with good friends.

Guac, sorry you're SAD. Hope your doctor visit goes well. That's fine that other people like your doctor, but do YOU? Fat shaming is so not cool.

Mrs. Snark, of course ironing counts - sounds like you're burning up calories!

Hi, Heidi! I've missed your meal listings; they're always so good. What makes your salad Moroccan? Here's hoping your mojo is plentiful.

Zumba: glad your party went well.

Mrs snark: yes ironing counts.

Heidi: squash pear soup yum. Ditto on the salad.

Guac: great job getting on the elliptical. Hope the doc visit is full of praise.

Nothing to report here. Dull.

Gosh, its been a few days since I've had time to post, and its late in the day.

We had a great time at the party, I ate mostly the veggies I took, some yummy beef jerky that was made on the smoker, a whole wheat tortilla with chicken on it and a little guacamole. A small amount of chips (less than 10), and a tiny little bite of a brownie (that thankfully didn't taste that great, which is why I didn't have more. thought I did well, but WI this am was 128.0, so I'm hoping that most of that was water & will go away in the next day or so.

Today was:
B - cream of wheat, 1/4 C 1% milk, cheese stick
L - Salad with steak, orange, animal crackers
S- grape tomatoes, magic pop
D - tilapia, brown rice, salad with black olives & guacamole, orange
S - ice cream, 4 animal crackers
E - 30 DS level 2 (its getting easier!)
W - maybe 6 cups
Total calories - 1250
I think I need to concentrate on getting more water down.

Hope that everyone is doing well.

Zumba, glad your party went so well, you can get back on the wagon!

Guac, hope the DR apt goes well, look how well you have done, I'm sure she'll be impressed.

Carma, I bought a bag of the animal crackers & put in my office closet. Haven't had to open them yet, but we are about out at home, so I'll see if he replenishes that stock...

The salad was Moroccan because of the spices. Recipe link below. I didn't have mint, so skipped that part. But will try it again in summer when mint is plentiful on my deck.
http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes...nd_beet_salad/

I got beets and carrots from my CSA last Thursday and just wanted to do something different. I shredded the carrots, then beets in the food processor, and the trick about rinsing the beets afterwards really worked.

TOM is nearing and I am craving for everything. Last night I gave in and ate like a pig, ugh. Scale, surprisingly, did not jump high. I am so done with this TOM crap, I wish menopause got here already. I have a feeling I am going to have to deal with TOM nearly another 10 years based on how late in life my mom went through it. -- My sister is so skinny (80 pound skinny) that her TOM stopped at 51 but I think it was weight related. She has no body fat what so ever.

I did not log my food.

Today I am having hard time getting motivated. I woke up with a headache. -- I had a really busy and demanding day at the FCA, yesterday. I did not get home until 7:30 ish. I think all the thinking gave me that headache...lol I guess I should use my head more often :D

I am getting another volunteer position; at a local hospital. It will be only 4 hours per week, same time and day each week.

So between FCA and the hospital, I will volunteer 20 hours per week plus travel time. Makes me feel good that I am doing something useful with my time. -- I will still have time to exercise, walk the dog etc. The important stuff :) :)

Like I said I am feeling lazy today, I am mustering up enough strength to go to the gym. Today is my triple workout day; 2 1/2-3 hours at the gym...and if I am none early enough, I will take a long hike with the pup. -- Just need to find my mojo...

My weightloss has stalled out. I think the 1800 calories (plus last night's cheat day) may be too much. I will give another week and see, but if I don't start seeing results I will go back down to 1560 calories which seemed to be working really well for me.

Okee dokee, the gym workout does not get done by itself....

Have a happy day my friends! :grouphug:

Sum, new volunteer job sounds great! I'm working 20 hours a week, and its been a nice balance for me. I think I've got the "how to still have wholesome food" part down; still working on getting back to exercising. My travel time ends up being 45 min each way, which I wasn't really figuring on. 25 min drive time, but then parking on the 5th floor of a garage and walking a few blocks, going up 2 escalators, and then the elevator just tacks on time, ugh.

Another good day, day 2.

B: cappucino, 1/2 pear, banana
S: hummus and raw veggies
L: chicken & cous cous salad
S: curried carrot & parsnip soup
D: green bean / portabella mushroom / spelt berry "risotto" with morel-leek cheese mixed in. Never made spelt berries before; dish is on the stove now. Hoping its good!

Doc visit went ok. She was actually quite nice and very sympathetic about my injury, recovery, weight gain, aches and pains. She gave me a new strategy about eliminating my awful PMS symptoms - TOM still hasn't arrived yet and I am miserable! She is adding an extra med for my high blood pressure, adding a vitamin D supplement, and eliminating the progesterone I was taking for PMS that isn't working and could be contributing to high BP.

I go back in April to get bloodwork and see how things are doing. I really hope to lose some weight by that time! I've got to do it. She told me that I will definitely have hypertension and not pre-hypertension like I do now unless I lose a good deal more weight and eat very healthy. I have to get that blood pressure down and the only way to do that naturally is through weight loss and exercise.

Heidi 20 hrs feel like a good balance. I have a long commute to my volunteer positions as well. FCA is almost an hour away and the hospital will be 30-45 minute drive away. -- Are you still enjoying the work?

Marlene Glad that your party was fun! And those 3 pounds will fall off quickly.

Mrs Snark I bet it does! :) It is all that stretching that is good for you.

guacamole S.A.D. is nothing to kid about. Like Zumba says, look into the light.

Zumba So happy that your party went well. And I bet you looked smoking hot in your WHBM dress!



Cattails and Carma :wave:

Ugh Spent most of the day going through paperwork. Each year I say I am going to get organized for my taxes do I no. Did managed to get my 12500 steps in with going on a late night walk with my son. More snow coming for tomorrow. I wouldn't mind but I don't really want to drive in for next to no patients.

Guac: glad the doc was sympathetic. I wonder if the progesterone was some how contributing to your weight gain?

Sum: Glad your day went smooth.

Heidi: Glad to hear the job is going well despite the commute. Boy your menu's look good. I like the sound of that parsnip and carrot soup.

Marlene: Glad the animal crackers are secure.

Cattails: :wave: