Food remained on plan yesterday and so far so good today, credit. Just got back from a 7 1/2 mile hike with my MN girlfriends. So much fun to get out with those two . . it makes the workout absolutely painless. It was a bit windy to start with, but I am thankful for the wind because it has improved our air quality from unhealthy to good in just 1 day. We may go out with them this evening and I need to remember I am not having a drink and I am paying attention to what I eat.
Maryann The animal preserve sounds fantastic.
Gardenerjoy I hope you are soon to a place of hope and determination. So much goes on in our world and I applaud you for marching for a cause.
Onebyone I hope you are able to do the things you hope today and feel good about it. I do know what you mean about sometimes things look worse before they look better.
Curlyjax Enjoy your extra day.
Lexxis I hope you are enjoying your day that is entirely to yourself. We'll have to hear what fun things you do.
Bill Yes your description of the symphony sounds wonderful. I think I'll put some music on now.
Nationalparker Sounds like you're having a good trip. I wanted to tell you I have a diamond and sapphire ring. It belonged to my grandmother's aunt who received it as a gift for her 25th anniversary. It must be 100 years old and I have had the tips redone, but I still love it. I actually have it on now. I wear it on the ring finger of my right hand.
I will say I think it is easier to start the New Year on a weekday, but nobody let me choose!
I feel bad with these very quick check-ins ... but food on plan today - aberration was one cookie. I'm okay with that again. Tomorrow is our last day here before leaving on Monday. I hate to think about that, but want to get home to the pets as well. Credits for healthy meals with nothing processed.
Bill - Your concert sounds wonderful - what a way to start a year.
Reporting in. The decluttering continues. Completed all dishes. Kept up with them all day but have left some for the morning. I'm ok with a sinkful to do when i get up. Have done that twice.now and it seems to work for me. Credits.
Cleared everything under around and on kitchen table. Credit. Cooked from scratch. Made pie for DH before apples went bad. DH was nicer to me today. No further discussions occurred.
Made decisions: hope off applying for MFA. Hold off getting back to studio work in order to fully clear out apartment and studio space. Dedicating the whole month to this. Credit.
Foodwise I ate from scratch. Stayed with foodplan. Credit.
But did not get exercise in. Need to do it during the day. Thinking I'll do it at night isn't working.
Joined exercise and weight loss challenge gardenerjoy told.me about. Thanks GJ!
Sunday - NASA's Mars rover, Spirit, touched down (2004)
Diet Coaches/Buddies – The indirect lighting in our kitchen is four T8 fluorescent bulbs. When one went out a week or so ago, I replaced it - from a two-pack. Yesterday, the second one went out; I had one to replace it. Now I'm kicking myself that I didn't buy four when I went to Home Depot. Alas, I like going to Home Depot so maybe I planned it this way. On the other hand, the last two might last for years - light bulb duration around here isn't predictable. Walk, CREDIT moi, included carrying the burned out bulb to the local hardware store that recycles them. Yay for an environmental friendly act. Folks gave me wide berth on the sidewalk while I was holding a bare fluorescent bulb.
Food was too much nibbling; holiday stuff is still hanging around. Ouch! I need to make plans that I won't cancel due to rain since we seem destined to have daily rain forever now.
onebyone – January is OK for me - it's February that feels like it's going on forever. The days getting longer isn't much compensation. Kudos for continuing with your decluttering.
Joy (gardenerjoy) – Listening to your body sounds smart.
Debbie (Lexxiss) – Yay for "a cute insulated lunchbox" - it's not fair that only kids get such good choices.
maryann - Safari West sounds like good fun. Neat that you've marched forward to Day 13 already. [I'm impressed that your DS can play Vivaldi's Spring - that's some difficult violin.]
nationalparker – Kudos for keeping aberrations to one cookie. Methinks I'll start thinking of 'nibbling' as 'aberrations.'
Karen (karenrn) - Yay for the invention of wind to clear the air. Kudos for walking with companions who keep it from feeling like an effort.
curlyjax - Yay for gift cards to a book store - I'm jealous.
Readers -
Quote:
Chapter 3 Stress Traps
#3: The De-Stress with Food Trap
"And what do you do?"
"I usually tell them they have to stay at the table. But they're hooting and hollering and picking on one another, so finally I tell them they can go. Then I look down at my plate - and my food is usually gone. So I take seconds because I don't feel satisfied." Greg shook his head. "I start off with good intentions but somehow I eat so much more than I meant to. I don't notice half of what I eat. I know I shouldn't have seconds. But I don't' feel like I have any willpower."
Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., Deborah Beck Busis, The Diet Trap Solution, Train Your Brain to Lose Weight and Keep It Off for Good (Blue book), pg. 58
Yesterday I stuck to my plan. Credit. Spent the day sewing and relaxing. Yay!
BBE, hmm.....walking down the street with a fluorescent bulb....a Star Wars wanna-be?LOL BTW my coffee maker has a new issue this morning. I will research but I think a call to the company is necessary. It's a different problem...leading me to think that there is a little brain box controlling everything that is short circuiting. Perhaps they could just send the part. Alas, I will probably have to ship it.
Nationalparker, enjoy your last day in paradise!
onebyone, kudos for the continued declutter. I think a plan to devote all of January is an excellent idea! I believe there is a point we need to get to re:releasing stuff not needed before we start to truly feel the turnabout. That process takes persistence and time. Re: dishes....any way to come up with a plan to use less during the day plus wash as you go?? I found a plan for less to be helpful.
Karen, yay for 7-1/2 miles!
MaryAnn, glad you are having such a great holiday!
gardenerjoy, I didn't drink enough water yesterday. It's on my list for today!
morning coaches!
It really was nice to have time off, and time mentally off from thinking about those little things we have to do. I feel much refreshed after giving myself permission to just enjoy life for a few days and not get things done.
That said, I did help DD with cleaning up part of her room even though its her job to do this! as we would like to paint it and step one is being able to even walk in there
Today my exercise will be walking around the grocery store, then the mall, as I promised DD I would take her there. So my task this am is to make meal plan for the week and incorporate some healthy ideas. Maryann- that's too funny, I guess I switched the titles around in my mind! I do know someone who used the strategies from the Art of War for issues other than war itself. Maybe the books do have similar ideas! Lexiss- i'm going to lazily ditto everything you said! Glad you had a nice day relaxing!
Super Duper credit yesterday for a hike that would impress KarenRN. Five miles of rock hopping along the shore with a huge elevation change up a sketchy ravine to a cliff. The last five feet was shale that made me quite nervous. But so grateful my ailing body could do it. Knee held up, nerve damage seems much mended and feet are on the repair. While pushing my still very out of shape body, I chanted "This is the life I want to lead." That is a very true statement - although I am not sure I want the shale part again
Day 15 and I officially started following my food plan. Meals are committed into MFP. I read a little more WOA. "Resistance is your true north." You can navigate the work you must do by facing its power.
For a little more accountability, I subscribed to HappySimpleLiving Facebook for a January Money Diet. Not so much about saving money but focusing on the abundance of what I already have and using up what is in my life already. It seems to fit with the Beck plan of awareness and looking inward for discipline. The first day was about small generous acts and the second day was shopping in your home for things that you haven't even used. Today mimics curleyjax's idea of menu planning for the week which is a Beck skill. There is a 31 item challenge of decluttering that is right up onebyone's alley right now.
Almost through Laurie King's Mary Russell book. She is the fictitious wife of Sherlock Holmes - very easy reading while staring out the window on the rain soaked coast.
I ate better again yesterday and I see gradual but noticeable improvement in how I feel, physically and emotionally. Yay! And, CREDIT! I don't seem to be quite ready to embrace the structures that I know I will need for the long haul, but one of them is posting here and I've done that every day this year! CREDIT again.
Quick check in here. I'm watching the football game, kind of, and the Seahawks are leading by 30-6. We are Seahawks fans even though we have been here for nearly 11 years and they are playing the Arizona Cardinals.
Food remained on plan yesterday, credit. We did go out with friends in the evening and once I said, "I'll have a water", it was no problem. It's just changing from, "I'll have a beer." Big time credit. Today a group of us, including dh, did a pretty strenuous 5 1/2 mile hike with about 1400 feet elevation gain. It was a blast and nice to have another guy, one of the MN group, along for dh.
More with personals tomorrow. Except, yes Maryann I am very proud of you and your hike sounds like a blast!
Feeling a bit like a schoolkid on the last day of summer vacation - I don't want it to end! All has gone well. Went to the cemetery today with roses. Shocked at how many more have passed in the year and a half since my folks died, as many more headstones are there (national cemetery so a few re-interrments).
We head home tomorrow and it's a two-day drive, so breakfast will be here at brother's and then lunch and dinner on the road ... Plan is to get a sub at Publix and stop at a rest area to take a break on the road. Cheaper and better ingredients. Bringing home citrus as ours is sorely lacking.
Cooking from scratch
Eating three meals
Walking 40 minutes
Keeping up with dishes
Wiping down the dining room table
Decluttering at the studio
Bringing back a library book on time
Reaching out to a writing buddy
Challenges today: I made pie yesterday and had a piece today, which I expected I would do but it does have some sugar and is not a necessity. But I did enjoy it.
Bought snacks in a bag. Ate half of one bag. One bag remains. I bought these snacks after I had left my studio and realized what a huge task I have before me in there. And I also realized I cannot store my finished ceramic work there because I have no secure space to leave them in but the studio proper and I can't give my space in there over to storage. that's what I am trying to claw back for myself. The snacks were bought feeling frustration and feeling trapped and also I was simply hungry and had only just felt that as well. Arriving home in a sour mood I heard how cranky I was and stopped myself. I do not want to be crabby over this issue. I thought how can I fix this? And realized I have two cabinets in the house one for artwork supplies, and the other an extension of our pantry but it's never used and usually blocked with stuff (it's in the dining room by box mountain) so I am going to reclaim these spaces and get the ceramics out of the truck of the car and now the backseat-cause I thought I could leave them at the studio today. Oh well.
Set up a new decluttering thread. It will be weekly. So if there is some small job you are putting off or some small room rescue or you are like me, trying to do a lot and it feels like a lot, chunk it down to manageable bits a week at a time. I'm going to experiment with this format for January.
So yeah, today I felt overwhelmed and I felt like OMG this is going to take so long! I also felt for the first time ever, I felt like wow. 276. That's a lot of weight for my body to be carrying around. How did I get to that number? How did that happen? Well I never actually felt that number but today I did. Self-protection and my ability to simply compartmentalize have helped me to avoid the big picture. These days I'm all about the big picture. Tonight I still feel ready like I did the other day. It has not left me. Good.
maryann Your mention of the HappySimpleLiving facebook page made me go look and wow! What a great site. Perfect for me right now. I am going to follow it and see where it goes. That money diet idea? Exactly what I need to do. Thank you so much for mentioning it.
Diet Coaches/Buddies – Standard Sunday walk, CREDIT moi. We walked past a Sunday edition of the Boston Globe on our way in a plastic wrapper marked, "Extra copy, please take." This is a big deal because home delivery of the Globe has collapsed this past week. The Globe contracted a new company for home delivery which has resulted in many of us getting NO paper. I passed the FREE paper thinking I'd pick it up on the way home. Alas, by then it was gone. The Globe posted an article saying that their writers would be delivering the Sunday paper. A neighbor teased me that he had some questions for the Editor in Chief if he was the one who dropped by. It never came - we had to go buy one. What a silly first world problem to span the day.
Eating was on plan, CREDIT moi, snacks were off. The afternoon was a joy as DW and I walked around our favorite local place to spot winter birds. Only the water fowl were out. January birding is for being outdoors rather than seriously spotting birds.
onebyone – Kudos for thoughtfully planning your cabinets. I'm capable of putting something that I don't want to think about into prime real estate causing that space to disappear from my life.
Joy (gardenerjoy) – Neat to be reminded that posting here every day is one of the structures holding our plans together.
Debbie (Lexxiss) – A relaxing day while sticking to plan sounds neat. [LOL at my Hans Solo image walking with the fluorescent bulb.]
maryann - Yep, Congrats for keeping your body in shape for that five mile hike over rocks. Love the notion of "shopping in your home for things that you haven't even used" - DW is better at letting go than I am. Items with their original tags in place after two years of never being used should automatically go out the door.
nationalparker – Happy drive home today. Kudos for planning your meals in advance.
Karen (karenrn) - Super idea to start the evening with "I'll have a water." Congrats to your Seahawks. I'm not talking football this morning as the New England Patriots lost to Miami - feeling like a has-been team before the playoffs even begin.
curlyjax - Super Kudos for helping your DD clean up her room - what a good parenting step to help with a task that you both dislike.
Readers -
Quote:
Chapter 3 Stress Traps
#3: The De-Stress with Food Trap
No wonder - who can appreciate a meal when chaos reigns? First we talked about how Greg could reduce his stress before he sat down, so he'd at least set himself up to be able to enjoy his food. Then we did some problem solving about the meal itself. He created a list incorporating many of these ideas.
When I Get Home from Work
Sit in my car and listen to relaxing music for at least 5 minutes and then read my advantages list and reminder cards.
Ask Maria to have dinner ready 15 minutes after I come in the door so we don't eat right away.
When I first get home, hug the kids and read a book to them.
While the kids are at the table, eat a salad as slowly as I can and drink a glass of water.
Let the twins leave the table when they've finished eating. Then serve myself one plate of food and eat it as slowly and mindfully as possible.
If I notice I'm eating too quickly, put down my fork and take a few deep breaths. Don't pick it back up until I can focus on eating again.
Ask Maria to leave the serving dishes in the kitchen instead of putting them on the table.
Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., Deborah Beck Busis, The Diet Trap Solution, Train Your Brain to Lose Weight and Keep It Off for Good (Blue book), pg. 58
Yesterday was on plan. I resisted all food items at work and drank only purified water. Credit. Scale moves down a tad this morning. I've packed my lunch which includes a green drink and Ak. Salmon salad. Credit.
BBE, I so enjoy reading of you and DW and your standard Sunday walks. Kudos! What a stellar habit in more ways than one!
onebyone, kudos for credits! Thanks for new decluttering thread!
nationalparker, yay for a food plan while traveling home!
karenrn, neat to say "I'll have a water." So beneficial!
gardenerjoy, yay for noticing improvement in how you feel, both physically and emotionally as food choices improve!
maryann, very impressive hike! I love your chant! Glad you are enjoying Mary Russell. I have read the series.
curlyjax, glad to hear you enjoyed your break and are back to planning meals with healthy ideas!
Hi coaches!
Running late so quick check in- I looked at the happysimpleliving that was mentioned here and came across a quote from another blog linked to it-"Let your past make you better, not bitter". That really resonated with me today!
Thanks Maryann, that website looks interesting!
I have read my cards this morning and made a new one- Candy will always be there- so I don't need to eat it now. Nationalparker have a safe trip home! Glad you have a good vacation!
Have a good Monday all!
*credit* for removing all ceramic stuff in bins from out of the trunk of the car and off the backseat to bring into the house this morning before DH drove off with them for work.
*credit for meals planned for the day
*credit weighing in today-276.2 same as yesterday.
*credit for posting
I wondered if I was resisting getting into "the heart" of my mess, the worst part, the dining room part by "simply" doing the cabinets and microwave area? And also wondered if the focus now on putting the ceramics away is also a ruse? So many mind games. Second guessing. Mistrusting myself. It happens with food, with eating, with foodplans. I simply don't put something to rest. Like Frankenstein's monster it comes back to life.
Oh well. I am telling myself that a) none of this is simple or easy
b) it all needs to be done
c) I can make a decision to do a bit of the dining room area as well.
Somehow my box system has crashed. I put stuff into a box and it doesn't have a label on it. If my system is a box with a label, then I need a label. I need to follow through and TRUST in the system to work. Garbage day is Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. I would be wise to do big work in this realm so the garbageman can whisk it away in a few days. I will even pay the extra $ to put extra bags on the curb. It would be well worth it.
Foodwise meals are planned for today. I need to get an inventory of my freezer started so I can further plan our food for the week ahead.
Exercise will be indoors today and during the day. I have a potters' guild meeting tonight at 7. I won't be doing much between the time DH gets home (6) and the time I get back from the meeting (9:30). I have to get my walking in this afternoon. I will schedule it for 3 or 4
Gotta go. Have a good day.
UPDATE: CREDIT! exercise done-30min to youtube walking video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1AU_yr2-mc
CREDIT! decluttered/cleaned/rearranged microwave counter area + made room in cabinet for 4 boxes of ceramic work. Two boxes, which I suspect is really one box when I condense it, left to put away. Will definitely work in other cabinet. And did not give in to Big Feelings over the dining room area. Waded back in, cleared a path, discovered a bunch of empty boxes that I thought were full. Huh. I have less to do than I first thought. I will take that as a win! Also, designated a few drawers to work intended to be sold online via etsy. Trying to keep those things in one place cause they are smaller. stuff coming together.
CREDIT! started 31 items donation box. It has three things in it.
CREDIT!threw away old food and coffee I loathe.
Another post to you
Sunday - NASA's Mars rover, Spirit, touched down (2004)
