Well, am continuing to drop pounds steadily but unfortunately, I'm sure it's due to stress and I'm just not getting all the food in I should due to all this stuff from my brother's death negatively affecting my appetite. So low-carbing AND not getting enough calories in. This morning, 146.8 lbs. Plus, was spilling LARGE ketones, which scared me as I usually only go to small/moderate so forced myself to eat cocoa-dusted almonds (Emerald brand) to try and decrease the ketosis a bit.
I read the posts here and think, "gosh, there were holidays that just happened and what the heck was happening here?" It's as if the holidays slipped by for once in my life and I almost didn't notice, I was so distracted with all this other stuff. And I always loved the holidays, especially all the lights and decorations....and I feel like I missed an opportunity and have to wait a whole year now. Plus, worry if I'll ever love Christmas as much as I have due to connecting it to the death forevermore.
Ugh, and for the last 5 years, I've dreaded March/April because that's when my son and a month later, my mother died. And to boot, that son's birthday was in March also. Now I may have to add the Christmas holidays to that arena....but I hope not and am gonna really try to not let that happen. I do not want to lose my love of Christmas and will do everything I can to prevent that. Life's too short and I just love Christmas.
The stress is not so much because he died. It's the massive amount of stuff I have to do to try and help straighten-out his affairs, while simultaneously taking care of my elderly father. And it's also that there have been SO many family and visitors coming over and so many phone calls that the place is a wreck, I need groceries badly, etc. and feel overwhelmed. Plus, I just get stressed when I have to constantly talk to people all day long, day after day and with no end in sight. Can't read, can't relax, can't get time just to be by myself for any healthy chunks of time. I want to start telling people to please stop coming over here....enough is enough.
I've been falling asleep exhausted at about 7/8 pm. and then waking up at 2/3 am. Not good.
This too shall pass....that's what I keep telling myself. I honestly feel like strangling my brother right now for dying, as illogical as that sounds.
You know, looking at everyone's avatar - and you are ALL beautiful - I realized exactly that. We really ARE all beautiful - even those of us who may not think so. I've been less than happy with my own looks for years - always finding fault, always thinking I ought to be thinner, my hair ought to be longer, shorter, curlier, straighter, my lips are too thin, my forehead too high - well, you get the idea. I've always wondered if when I got "older", that would magically go away, and I'd be more satisfied with myself. Of course, now I AM older...and seem to be still less than satisfied. I remember when I was doing Atkins for all those many years; I always said that when I turned 75, I would stop dieting, and on my 75th birthday, I wanted a chocolate "tunnel of fudge" cake all to myself . NOW, of course, I know that I really wouldn't want that, and if I'm around to turn 75, I'll probably still be eating carefully and watching my weight. (And I really do have to incorporate some exercise before I get too stiff and stuck to do it!). And about my hair - well, I always used to frost it, and it was typically short. thanks, of course, to my mother telling me in that dictatorial tone of hers that women past 30 looked "foolish" with long hair. Now it's longish - and has been for several years, now. It's been straight for some time, as well, but more recently, it's been a little too long to wear hanging down because it goes too far down my back to look like there's any style to it (just the "aging hippie" look) but not far enough to braid, or even put into a respectable pony tail. Deena, your hair is SO nice - long and thick; my hair is thin. Always has been. I've always had an abundance of hair - loads of it, but thin and completely free of body or shape unless I use volumizing shampoos and conditioners, and even then, it just sort of hangs there. In the past year or so, I've let the frosting pretty much grow out, so it's my natural color for the most part - brownish - with SOME silver threads here and there (I wish there were more; I'm carefully cultivating every one that I get). AND, tah-dah...now I have a head full of kinky, funky curls, and I LOVE it!!!!! I really do. Sometime today I'll have DH try to get a decent picture, and will change my avatar. I have some that were taken over Christmas, but my hair is straight in them. With my frizzly long curls, I suppose I look pretty sixtyish (and in my sixties!) after all, but hey! I'm going to be 64 in April! I'm old enough to look how I want, right? (I'm still grinning a bit, thinking about how the people at work will react - I haven't seen any of them since before Christmas!) I've always been a bit of a rebel I guess, and that doesn't appear to have changed with age. I STILL, incidentally, would LOVE your hair color, Bobbi - my goodness, it sure is beautiful - but I don't think I'll get it naturally anytime soon, and with my hair permed, I really can't go to the hairdresser and demand that he turn it all-over silver for me. It would be coming out of my head by the handful. And, well...this has just been some of my new year's musings....thinking about how things have been, and how they're likely to be this year and beyond. Been doing some of that, lately. Thinking, I mean.
Well, I picked up a fresh bunch of parsley at the market yesterday, so I'm planning to make Lynn's barley pilaf tonight. It sounds so yummy. I'm making a pork loin roast, and I think it'll work well with that. That Alfredo sauce of yours is on my short list, too, Bobbi. I love anything with pasta, and now that I always keep my Miracle noodles on hand, I can enjoy them without the usual calories. Lynn, I never would've guessed you were a redhead! (Riiiiiiiiggghhht.) Actually, I don't think I've been all that curious about hair color and such here on 3FC, and specifically, among us Golden Girls. I guess that I just get too involved in hearing about what everybody is doing - or worrying about - or happy about, or thinking about - to give much thought to what anybody looks like. It's sort of weird, to tell the truth. I feel like I know all of you quite well, and yet if we bumped into each other on the street, we probably wouldn't even know it. And here we all are, spread out to the far corners of wherever - some of us weeding gardens, some of us shoveling snow, and yet we have so much in common, don't we? Isabella, I've always made a very basic shepherd's pie that my son and SILs can't get enough of. I just layer scrambled hamburger with onions cooked into it across the bottom of a fairly large baking pan, add a generous layer of thawed frozen corn niblets, and then about three inches of mashed potatoes. I bake it all for about an hour - until the top just begins to brown ( a sprinkle of paprika helps that along) and watch it disappear. They all love it, and I used to, but now since I no longer eat red meat and don't bother much with mashed potatoes, I don't eat it myself. They all use lots of ketchup on top, and I must admit that the combination of ingredients IS pretty tasty.
Nice doggie-pals, Rosy. I hope Willie is making a good recovery.
I guess you're back at work, Freda - be careful, and take care of yourself, now. Those coughs can really linger on. Karen, that poem of yours really was cute - and too true, I'm afraid. I, of course have no intentions of getting on a scale anytime soon, but I suspect that I packed those three pounds that I lost right back on, and then some! I'm not going to beat myself up over it this time, though - I'm just going back to my healthy eating tomorrow, and take it from there.
Paperwork, Donna? Oh, boy. If there's anything I hate more than exercise, it's the dreaded paperwork......yikes! Luckily, in this, my second and I expect last, marriage, I don't have to DO paperwork anymore, as DH likes staying on top of things, and does it himself. I pay a few little bills with my paycheck, and do what I want with the rest, which is usually buying stuff for the grandkids. I keep the twinnies in formula, which costs a bloody fortune these days, and also buy most of their cereal and baby foods as well as bits and pieces of clothes when I see something I think they could use.. It's not so much that DD NEEDS me to do it, but I know that they appreciate it....teachers and social workers aren't among the highest paid workers in the world, after all, and two babies at once is quite an expense.
Happy New Year, Gayle, and welcome Coffeebean.
Hi Sue - Yep, I'm counting on getting back into my work routine to help me shed these danged holiday pounds, as well! (I knew working was serving SOME purpose! )
Oh, good grief, Bobbi - just LOOKING at those shoes makes me feel seasick! Let us know how you like them, though. I suppose if they're really as good as they say they are, it wouldn't hurt for me to get myself a pair and try to do some walking in them...
Have a good day, everyone! (I'm counting down the hours before I have to go back to work again. Since we're going to be in our new offices, I don't have to go in until 1:00 tomorrow for an employee meeting, and then we start unpacking our offices. Great fun! - NOT)
Z
Zoe, did your DH ever use the eBay link I sent for the WiiFit?
Pretty day today. Nothing exciting planned. It looks like tomorrow will be THE day for us all to get back on track. I know I'm certainly ready. I'll have to start all over, but I hope it won't be as difficult as the last time!
Good day to go back to bed... which I won't, though!
Donna, I'm sorry. Yes, we did look on EBAY, but DH gets his prescriptions at the Target pharmacy, so he looked while we we over there yesterday, and bought the Wii console because they had it in stock. They told him they'd be getting more Wii Fit Plus's this week, so he's going to go back and get that at Target, too. He's no good at waiting for things to get delivered. Thanks for the info, though. Looks like we'll at least be bowling tonight...LOL.
Hugs,
Z
Can't get to the gym this morning. I have a water filter & the man who will change the filter is scheduled to be here this morning. After his visit, I will either go on the treadmill downstairs or face the cold and go to the gym.
Bobbi, I don't know how you are tolerating the cold. Every morning, I see those temps in MN and worry about you & your DH. Do cars and heaters work OK in that kind of weather? What about your animals?
Hi Deena, I can SO relate to your feelings. Although in my case, every time I experience the loss of a loved one I gain weight. The older we get and the more losses we have, the less holidays mean to us. With no little ones around, and many of my loved ones gone, holidays have become EATING times for me. I think that next year I am going to set up some volunteer things I can do over the holidays. Time to change my focus away from loss.
Hi Zoe, funny about women's dissatisfaction with our looks and the extent to which we focus on how we look. For me, the dissatisfaction was ALWAYS about my weight. I was a skinny kid and didn't gain weight until after I got married to my first husband. After I had my DD, I was 120 pounds and my ex was constantly complaining about my weight. During the 15 years I was married to him, I gained 30 pounds. At 5'1" and 150 pounds, I felt REALLY fat. From my divorce at 33 until my 2nd husband's death in 2006, I yo-yo'd between 150 and 185. After my hip surgery in 2006, I found out I had type 2 diabetes and got serious about eating and exercise. Now, for the past 3 years, I have hovered around 150 and have been relatively comfortable with my weight. I continue to strive to be 140 and moan and groan when I get to 3-year high of 157, but I quickly get back on track and back down to 150. From now on, I will continue to strive for 140, but can live with my 150.
Hi Jess, you will have LOTS of company getting back on track. Most of us ate too much and the wrong things over the holidays. We will do it together.
Lynn
Last edited by ladyinweighting; 01-04-2010 at 06:47 AM.
Good Morning everyone. Well, I got the dreaded first day back to work out of the way. It went better than I expected. I didn't forget how to work!! ha! I felt pretty good too, didn't even have to take the cough meds, did fine with cough drops. My foot was screaming by the time I left, but I made it through the 12 hours! Yeah! Of course it was Sunday and that is usually an easier day, but I know that I will do fine now.
Deena, So sorry for what you're going through right now. Prayers coming your way. Holidays are always stressful, but to lose a loved one at that time is really bad. We still celebrated Christmas before we got the Grandkids, but it wasn't the same. It's hard not to get excited when the kids are sooo excited.
Z, You hit it on the head again, with your take on aging. I used to think I wouldn't care what I looked like when I turned 60, because after all, that was really OLD! Now that i am here, I find that things haven't changed at all. And my mom still puts her make-up on and picks out clothing that "doesn't make her look too old". So, I guess it's just a woman thing, we always want to look good.
Donna, Did you get back on-point yesterday? I find that it takes me a few days to totally get back. those old bad habits don't want to go quickly.
Lynn, I'm a stress eater too. Any stress, good or bad and I want to eat. And not an apple or carrot either! Why would it matter? But I want all the bad, conforting foods that I know I should have. My husband, on the other hand, can't eat at all if he gets stressed! I would love to be like that but I'm not wired that way, or didn' learn that I suppose.
Bobbi, Hope you get your stepper today! Elephant ears? Lady, what were you thinking? I love those things and would probably have eaten the entire batch!
Every one make it a good day,
Sue, Hope that first day back to work goes well. I know I do so much better on a regular schedule.
Isabella, I love your new picture. As soon as i can get my cousin over here to teach me how I'll post one too. So nice to see everyone face.
Freda
Last edited by the slim me; 01-04-2010 at 07:33 AM.
DH is constantly reminding me to slow down when eating, I have a big problem with this.
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Eat Less by Keeping This in Mind
Practice mindful eating. There's a growing army of slim people singing this savor-the-moment practice. Your Mantra: Relax, Focus
To teach yourself how to eat mindfully, start with a raisin. Take a deep, relaxing breath as you pick it up. Look at it for a few seconds. Smell it. Place it in your mouth and roll it around on your tongue. Feel the wrinkles. Now bite. Note the chewy, gritty texture -- the sweet, fruity, astringent taste. Extract all the flavor before you swallow. That's kind of the idea with mindful eating -- to savor the look, smell, texture, and taste of every bite. And it works! It had a huge impact on curbing chronic binge eating in a recent study.
Hi-Ho everyone! New day, new start again on my never ending diet. It's 27- below zero this morning.
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Bobbi, I don't know how you are tolerating the cold. Every morning, I see those temps in MN and worry about you & your DH. Do cars and heaters work OK in that kind of weather? What about your animals?
Lynn...our vehicles are both winterized, hubby keeps the gas tanks full on both too. We have a double garage so cars are inside. I went into town yesterday and thought I'd have a problem because my trunk lock was froze. I purchased groceries and tried to put them in my trunk, it wouldn't open but my dash board light came on indicating it was open. (Bruce washed my car and the locks got wet and froze shut). I parked it in the sun when I got to my dad's and finally got the door open. I had visions of it popping open while driving down the interstate toward home, scary! I just heard on the news that Mason City is 35- below zero, about a 30 minute drive from us. But I love living in Minnesota and I have a Columbia jacket that makes me sweat, no kidding. Our sweet Orpington chicken's are gone, like off with their heads this fall. We have them in our freezer and don't look forward to eating them. Yeah, I really need my stepper to get here today Freda, I have my pedometer on right now, don't get near 10,000 steps. Now about those elephant ears, I told you I was bored.
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Bobbi, Hope you get your stepper today! Elephant ears? Lady, what were you thinking? I love those things and would probably have eaten the entire batch!
Jess...AMEN!
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It looks like tomorrow will be THE day for us all to get back on track.
Zoe...we have another thing in common, I have lots of hair too but mine is baby fine. I use volumizing hair gel, otherwise it would just hang there too. I use something called Redken Body Full Weightlifter, works fantastic! I haven't had a perm for 20+ years, last one I had broke all my hair off, looked like I had a butch hair cut on top. UGLY!
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my hair is thin. Always has been. I've always had an abundance of hair - loads of it, but thin and completely free of body or shape unless I use volumizing shampoos and conditioners, and even then, it just sort of hangs there
Deena...Maybe you should try walking around when you start to get tired around 7/8 pm. Do a crossword puzzle or play a game on your computer, that's worked for me. In the past I've had problems waking up too early, I go eat some type of comfort food. Something not too high in calories, 1/3 bowl of cheerios and only enough milk to moisten it. I can imagine the thoughts churning in your head, it's very hard to turn them off.
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I've been falling asleep exhausted at about 7/8 pm. and then waking up at 2/3 am. Not good.
Isabella...I love your map on our walk across America/NewFoundland. I'm ignorant when it come to kilometers versus miles? I'll have to look that up. You two are going to leave me in the dust? (You & Lynn)Oops, I mean Sibera. Karen...I wish I had your woman cave with all that neat exercising equipment. Let that motivate you! Hi Rosey, Glynne, everyone I missed. Here's to good scales tomorrow morning. I'm going to go top my Fiber One off with some banana flavored yogurt and a banana and savor every bite. Maybe I should set my timer and see how long I can make breakfast last.
Forgot to tell you, remember that Pomegranate article I posted? Yesterday at the grocery store I found some Mott's Plus Antioxidants Pomegrantate sauce. No sugar added, 1 container has only 50 calories. Apples are the first ingredient so it's basically applesauce with Pomegranate juice concentrate in it for flavor. I'll let you know how it taste, haven't tried it yet. I just finished my cereal, it took 9 minutes, 12 seconds and I did savor every bite. A burst of banana, a crunchy sensation when I bite into the Fiber one, a hint of cinnamon/sugar, creamy yogurt. I want more, more, more! How pathetic am I? I'm just telling myself to get a life!
Good morning, all!
For some reason, none of the buttons work, italics, color, etc. Much as I love this site, I do have problems with it and get very annoyed!
No, as it turned out, TODAY will be the day for me to get back on track. I'm the perfect example to be avoided, that person who gets totally frustrated with life and says "oh, to **** with it all" and just stuffs everything into this gaping maw of a mouth. I DELIBERATELY made a huge batch of macaroni and cheese (with NOTHING healthy in it), ate the whole thing, along with a 1/4# hotdog. It tasted wonderful going down and then turned into a cement blob shortly thereafter. I waddled to the refrigerator and got rid of all remnants of the holidays... no more cookies or candy. Thank god I didn't gain a huge amount, because that would really throw me into a tizzy.
Does anyone even KNOW what it's like to eat like a normal person?? I don't. If it's there, it's inhaled.
So bear with me, my friends. I have to retrain myself (again and again and again and again) to get rid of the cravings. Onward and downward!
Have a good and healthy day, All! Lynn, your philosophical musings help me. Thank you!
Hahahaha, Bobbi. I eat with a vengeance. Food in, chomp, chomp, chomp, swallow, repeat. DH eats so slowly. I'm always finished before him, looking around for something else to eat to keep me occupied while he finishes.
Ok, for the metric challenged: 1.6 kilometres=1 mile so 1600 kilometres=1000 miles. I'll do the temperature thing later on.
Freda, I had quite the time putting up my new picture. My computer was reformatted by DSs and I couldn't find the file in which I'd resized my picture. And to begin with the program I used to resize had to be reinstalled. Took me an hour to figure everything out. Both son's were gone and I had to make at least 2 phone calls to get help.
BTW, my computer has been fixed and nothing freezes anymore. So nice to have raised a couple of computer geeks.
Zoe, can't wait to see the "new" you. I almost permed my hair last year. Haven't had one for a while now.
Deena, sorry you are going through such a stressful time in your life. I had to take care of my FIL and mother's affairs this year and that was stressful enough and they were straightforward. Try and take a little time for yourself now and then.
It's raining, raining, raining and so dark out. I rolled over in bed this morning and went back to sleep. Never got up until 10 am. I need to catch up on the lost sleep over the holidays. Have to do my walk on the bike today (figure that out). It's supposed to stop raining this afternoon but by the time it's dry enough to walk it will be getting dark out. I won't walk on the highway in the dark. Winter seems to have abandoned us for the last few days but I'm sure it will be a short reprieve.
Gone to do dishes and bike. Catch you later.
ETA: Hi Jess, we must have been posting the same time. I haven't had any trouble with this site since there were problems in early December. Anyone else experiencing the trouble Jess has? Macaroni and cheese has to be my favorite food. I too would have had difficulty not eating the whole thing. Be brave.
Last edited by retiredone; 01-04-2010 at 12:23 PM.
At the bottom of the page, it says that my HTML is "off"... I wonder if that's why no editing buttons work? Does anyone know how to turn it back on? Yes, I did send a message to the webmaster...
I just had a Pomegranate cup with my tomato soup and it's not worth buying. Kind of tasteless! Jess...that's not the problem, mine is off too and all my buttons are working. (A webmaster problem)
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At the bottom of the page, it says that my HTML is "off"... I wonder if that's why no editing buttons work? Does anyone know how to turn it back on? Yes, I did send a message to the webmaster...
The buttons work if I'm using Internet Explorer... do not work anymore if I'm using Firefox. They worked yesterday, so I'm cranky today! Stupid computers!!!
I've been less than happy with my own looks for years - always finding fault, always thinking I ought to be thinner, my hair ought to be longer, shorter, curlier, straighter, my lips are too thin, my forehead too high - well, you get the idea. I've always wondered if when I got "older", that would magically go away, and I'd be more satisfied with myself. Of course, now I AM older...and seem to be still less than satisfied. I remember when I was doing Atkins for all those many years; I always said that when I turned 75, I would stop dieting, and on my 75th birthday, I wanted a chocolate "tunnel of fudge" cake all to myself 
. NOW, of course, I know that I really wouldn't want that, and if I'm around to turn 75, I'll probably still be eating carefully and watching my weight. (And I really do have to incorporate some exercise before I get too stiff and stuck to do it!). And about my hair - well, I always used to frost it, and it was typically short. thanks, of course, to my mother telling me in that dictatorial tone of hers that women past 30 looked "foolish" with long hair. Now it's longish - and has been for several years, now. It's been straight for some time, as well, but more recently, it's been a little too long to wear hanging down because it goes too far down my back to look like there's any style to it (just the "aging hippie" look) but not far enough to braid, or even put into a respectable pony tail. Deena, your hair is SO nice - long and thick; my hair is thin. Always has been. I've always had an abundance of hair - loads of it, but thin and completely free of body or shape unless I use volumizing shampoos and conditioners, and even then, it just sort of hangs there. In the past year or so, I've let the frosting pretty much grow out, so it's my natural color for the most part - brownish - with SOME silver threads here and there (I wish there were more; I'm carefully cultivating every one that I get). AND, tah-dah...now I have a head full of kinky, funky curls, and I LOVE it!!!!! I really do. Sometime today I'll have DH try to get a decent picture, and will change my avatar. I have some that were taken over Christmas, but my hair is straight in them. With my frizzly long curls, I suppose I look pretty sixtyish (and in my sixties!) after all, but hey! I'm going to be 64 in April! I'm old enough to look how I want, right? 
(I'm still grinning a bit, thinking about how the people at work will react - I haven't seen any of them since before Christmas!) I've always been a bit of a rebel I guess, and that doesn't appear to have changed with age. I STILL, incidentally, would LOVE your hair color, Bobbi - my goodness, it sure is beautiful - but I don't think I'll get it naturally anytime soon, and with my hair permed, I really can't go to the hairdresser and demand that he turn it all-over silver for me. It would be coming out of my head by the handful. And, well...this has just been some of my new year's musings....thinking about how things have been, and how they're likely to be this year and beyond. Been doing some of that, lately. Thinking, I mean. 
