Hi coaches!
I am writing my post in text edit and then pasting it in here and some of you have advised.
Credit for walk yesterday by myself- i was supposed to walk with a friend but she cancelled on me, so I made myself go briefly anyhow.
Credit for making healthy stirfry which provides me and DD with nice lunch leftovers, and credit for marching past the candy aisle just like lovetogarden did, at the grocery store. I was tempted, but I saw some luscious mangos and said I will have one of those instead. And boy was it good! I know some folks champion eating locally, but it is such a treat to have fruits like that in April, here on the east coast.
Credit for going to bed without snacking either!
Prairie chicken- gunny sax- I remember those! yes, everything is now much more revealing and looks like you’re going to a wedding. Be grateful for those boys, i have a DD who is into clothes and it is a huge struggle!!

Good morning coaches,

I'm giving myself big time credit for eating on plan yesterday. I did have a snack of some dates, but they were counted in MFP and no beer in the evening. I was a bit bored in the afternoon and I find that is the worst for me. I finally left the house and went to REI then after I got home I left again for a Costco run. Mostly I was buying food things for my Grand Canyon backpack. I do have some snack items, but I put them in the guest room closet with the closet door and bedroom door closed. I can't hear them calling my name quite as well with those doors closed.

Today I have greeter duty from 8 to 10 with a trainee, which is always more fun, and then the dentist this afternoon for that crown that I thought I was getting a couple of weeks ago. That will mostly fill the day.

Curlyjax I just love mangos. I've been having one here and there and I think it is my favorite fruit.

Bill We do have a 2nd propane tank. Running out once or twice was such a bummer, dh keeps a 2nd tank.

Lizardnumbers Your organization is inspiring. I've got some work to do and cleaning the inside of my car is one of them. Thanks for that reminder too.

Sandy My family did a lot of camping when I was young, it was always an affordable getaway. For years I didn't do any of it, but I'm so glad to have had the experience and now I'm at it again. Maybe one day your kids will get back out there when they have more time. I didn't know what Ramps were, so I looked it up as well as your Ramp festival.

Wavings to the rest of you. I can't believe it is Monday again so soon. I hope you all have a good start to the week!

CREDIT for not eating a commercial baked treat when I had a full plan for how to do it and, even, implemented it -- except for the last step of purchasing and eating it. That act of will power sapped mine for the rest of the day, but, at least, I didn't take a big step toward even worse things. Late in the day, I remembered a strategy that was working for me a week ago -- when I want to eat more at the end of a meal or snack: eat fruit. I'm going to try that tactic again today and see if I can get this back in control.

I also wrote a food plan for today.

Oh, and CREDIT for getting to bed at a reasonable time last night.

Exercise was picking up sticks in the yard. Lots of squats and lunges. Plus, I didn't use a cart. I recorded as many steps as I would have if I'd taken a walk because I kept carrying handfuls of sticks to the pile near the chipper-shredder. We have a bit over an acre in the suburbs, BillBlueEyes -- I don't even know how many propane tanks we have (more than two). We live near a farm supply place that refills the tanks while you wait, cheaper than the swap-the-tank regime. OTOH, I can't walk to anywhere except more suburb.

WI: +0.1 kg, Exercise: +60, 795/1000 minutes for April, Food: NA op, Read my Advantages and Responses: yes

Good Morning, Coaches.

Thanks for the reminder about fruit - curleyjax and gardenerjoy. We are so lucky here in California. Strawberries are in. Cherry and apricots are coming soon. I continue to practice in my mind to discount that "bad" foods are better than fruit just because they are bad.

Karenrn: I love backpacking. Camping out in a car is less appealing to me because of neighbors so close. But being far out in places alone makes everything worthwhile.

Very tough weekend, blue and and off plan eating. I am up five pounds. Today's foods are in MFP. I am going to give on plan eating my top priority.

OP day so far today. I just caught myself heading to the fridge where I'd stashed a snack of hummus/pita chips. I'm in a mental rush to eat them because I bought them not seeing that they're best by the end of this month. Grr. Typically I do not buy preportioned packages like this and measure out the chips/hummus in small containers and we take those. But this - what a TREAT! So I want to eat it NOW. Mind games. It will hold until tomorrow or when I'm actually hungry. I got a large glass of ice water and can survive the 2.5 hours until I leave work. DH is coming to meet me after work with an extra set of car keys - I locked my purse/keys in my car this morning to start the workweek... His work notified them they'll need to now start on 12-hour shifts, seven days a week ... until...?? June, I think. He's already a bit weary. I would like to think of ways to kind of make the few hours awake at home as relaxing as possible.

I have not walked much at ALL today - butt in seat at work day. I will aim to be a bit more active tonight. Did not sleep well at all last night for a variety of reasons, and aim to take a benadryl tonight to get caught up a bit.

Plan is to make a healthy salad for my dinner if DH has already eaten. If not, I know he won't want just a salad, so will revamp plans. Last night's dinner was nearly all veggies, so we have wiggle room.

A lull
 

Coaches

I'm 267.5 today. Higher in weight than on the first of April. Three days ago? 263.4. Crazy. In between I had an art show, I forgot my lunch twice *art show brain* and yesterday after a long day and then packing up my work and coming back I had to organize and price all my ceramic pots for our guild sale this coming weekend. I thought "no big deal. I have price stickers on most of the stuff except the new stuff and I've already written their inventory from last time". While that was true, the stickers were for a different sale, not our guild and I have a unique guild code so everything had to be redone. Pots for the sale were accepted only until 10:30 this morning, so the bulk of it was done last night. But not before DH and I went for supper, at a Mexican place, and then we had an ice cream after. So to see the scale rise is not a surprise. How long will it take to fall is a whole other matter. So far I am OP today. The kitchen will soon be closed.

This week we go with MIL to her oncology appt. She's had her catscan (is that one word? Is it a capital C?) and bloodtests and we'll find out what's happening on Wednesday. Last time we went for 11 and saw the Dr at 3:30. DH and I wanted to get out of town overnight but it turns out I have guild duty Thursday at 2pm so it looks like we really aren't going anywhere on his holidays which will be over on Sunday. He is a much better guy right now. His old self.

So a bit of a break. Glad of it. Bye for now.

Today was so so. Stayed on plan really well calorie wise until after dinner time, but then blew it and had two unplanned treats. But looked back at my log and realized I didn't have enough fiber or protein today, so I see some reasons why I was feeling grouchy and hungry and unsatisfied. And just didn't feel well today and let that distract me and put me in a bad mood. Credit though, as I did get up early this morning and walked on the treadmill for 20 minutes for the first time in weeks. I think it was leftover stress from last week or something that had me feeling bad / I want to blame it on the treadmill haha but that was definitely a good thing. Anyways,tomorrow is another day :) read my arc cards today but didn't read my response cards or work on the book. On the must do list for tomorrow. Have a good night everyone :)

Tuesday - Polio vaccine trials begin (McLean, Virginia 1954)
 

Diet Coaches/Buddies – Walked, CREDIT moi, to class and back even though I thought of a good reason to drive my car since I had an errand afterward that required it. Instead I walked and drove to my errand after I go home. One motivator was that I recognized the lazy that was encouraging using the car instead of my feet.

Food was good enough. I did have snacks, but had less than I really wanted. I have five evening events for the six days this week. That is so over the top for a schedule. Events just seem to wander onto my calendar by themselves. Fortunately, not all of them serve food.


onebyone – LOL that *art show brain* is real; Kudos for being able to think about your eating plan at all when that busy.

Joy (gardenerjoy) – Squats and lunges to pick up the sticks dropped by winter is serious exercise - Kudos.

maryann - Color me jealous: "Strawberries are in."

nationalparker – Ouch for keys locked in the car. Kudos for not eating about it.

Karen (karenrn) - LOL at two closed doors to keep from hearing the snacks calling.

curlyjax - Kudos, indeed, for "marching past the candy aisle." I can picture you doing so like the majorette leading the band. I, too, will choose to eat locally grown mangoes when our local guys get around to it.

lizardnumbers - Yep, the brain is wired to first "blame it on the treadmill" - Kudos for not falling for that one.

Readers -

Hi Coaches!

I'm working on finding moments to fire up the computer and check in. Credit. Food ok'sh. Yesterday was an off plan dinner with mom and I made careful choices. Work lunch was a very simple blt which I am allowing myself on Mondays. Still trying to get back into my groove with weight routine. It's completed today. Today is what matters.

The rental saga is almost complete. I seriously had to drag myself up there on Saturday to clean up. The unsurmountable is accomplished one step at a time. I posted the wooden crate, giant plant and couch on FB. Got takers on the first two. My neighbor boy had a friend over and the three of us hoisted the couch into truck and delivered it "cushionless" to another FB taker. I bought them lunch at my restaurant as reward. They were thrilled to have an adventure. (Neighbor has learners permit and needs an adult to drive lol).
Good news! Mom has found another tenant, hopefully better, who will meet us tomorrow to exchange money and keys.

Must go-work calls. I am keeping my fingers crossed for favorable weather. I would love to get some of gardenerjoy's exercise tomorrow in the yard. Hummingbirds are back. The first at my feeder yesterday afternoon. They bring me great joy. Greenhouse progresses. Sunday I planted (from seed) nasturtium, pumpkin, butternut and spaghetti squash. Next task is to install auto vent I ordered and find a shade cloth. 95 degree temps got me thinking pretty soon it will be too hot. Plants are loving the warmth and are growing by leaps and bounds.

Better yesterday. Servings on the large end of the range, but below super-sized. Fruit is more likely to happen if I can keep the sink clean so that there's room to wash it. I'll go load the dishwasher again in a minute so that will be true for the rest of the day.

Today's challenge. We're taking pizza and salad over to the parents of our great-nephew who is six months old. They seem to enjoy our supper visits and I love getting to see the little guy once a month or so. Pizza, though. I really want to keep it to one piece. That's not even so much about the calories as the sodium and how it will effect my sleep. Two pieces will certainly make me miserable. One piece will likely be fine. So, the plan is to focus on the salad and the baby.

WI: -0.25 kg, Exercise: +35, 830/1000 minutes for April, Food: 100% op, Read my Advantages and Responses: yes

Hi Coaches!
I am waiting out my hunger until at least 11:30 so thought I would come post here to help me persevere!
I had a nice meeting with my new supervisor yesterday, she seems sympathetic and fun, so that is very helpful. I can’t make any decisions about work until we know what is going on with DH, but I will need to transition to full time if he isn’t able to work for awhile. And then I may need flexible time to take care of him. I am a planner and it is really hard to just sit here and wait.
Credit for yoga last night- woo, I really need to stretch more, I am so tight!!
Not so good with snacking last night, but I was actually hungry, it wasn’t just a yearning, and I had cereal (okay, a little brie too!) so hopefully not too much damage.

Lexiss-The unsurmountable is accomplished one step at a time- good quote! I am keeping that one. Hummingbirds, lucky you!

Good morning coaches,

Food was a bit over yesterday as always happens when I don't get any exercise.
I could have been better, but oh well. Today I did the Bell Pass hike with 23 pounds in my backpack. It was good and I felt good. When Hiking Suzanne told me yesterday she is doing the stair master with 40 pounds in her backpack I about freaked out. She is so darn strong already. Believe me I won't have 40 pounds in my backpack. Maybe I should put a few big rocks in hers.

I'm meeting her for lunch shortly to meet her daughter and infant granddaughter who are here from MN. I've previewed the menu and will probably have one of the sandwiches. There aren't all that many things to choose from, but it's at the Kierland Mall and outdoor mall that is very nice. I went there for lunch the first day I came to visit the Phoenix area and fell in love with it since we were eating outside on Thanksgiving weekend.

Curlyjax I'm glad to hear your new supervisor seems good. It makes such a difference.

GardnerJoy Enjoy the baby. I don't get to see babies very often these days and the little girl I'm seeing today is only 2 months old.

Lexxis So glad to hear the rental saga is almost complete. What a drain even though you have tried to keep it in it's place. A lot of work too.

Bill Your week sounds very busy. I hope it is at least fun. That is too many evenings out for me. Now if all the events were in the morning I could probably handle it.

Lizardnumbers Good for you for taking the time to analyze why you may have had problems with extra snacking. That's even better than just saying Oh Well.

Nationalparker I don't think I can lock my keys in the car and that's a good thing or I'm sure I'd do that too. One time my Mom locked her keys in the car with the radio running at church. Luckily I was home and could go to her place to get the extra key. She missed church that day. She was a bit scatter brained at times after she had a small stroke. I was so glad she had moved by me and I could see her so much for the last 4 1/2 years of her life.

Maryann Could you backpack in the summer? You probably have a million beautiful places not far from you. Carrie and I are going to do 56 miles of the John Muir Trail this summer. I hope it goes well cause I'd love to do the whole thing. I hope your blues get lost soon.

Well I'd better be ready to head out the door soon. I'm expecting a text from Hiking Suzanne any minute.

Take care all of you!

perspective needed.
 

Hi, Coaches.

The scale stayed at 267.5. (credit for weighing). I didn't do much to help bring it down today. I had breakfast out with my close friend who has been away for a while cause her father just died. He was diagnosed with cancer, like everywhere, right before Easter. He died last week. Up until then, no sign of cancer. He deteriorated super fast. So when we were at the coffee shop, a favorite place of ours, I had a bagel breakfast sandwich and then she got us a donut to share. "You'll have half, eh?" she said. And I nodded, yes. And I did. Then I came home and without having planned and without there really being much food for me (no idea how that can be but it is) I ate the frozen pizza that I kept running into in the freezer. I've been moving it around in there for weeks and today I finally ate it "since I am off track and full of carbs now anyway". That's what I told myself. Soon I am off to art business class. There will be lots of snacky things there. I hope I don't get into them. I feel unable to resist and I feel like giving up trying to. Last week I requested some veggies be included into the snack mix. Maybe some veggies will appear? (credit for asking for veggies.)

Anyway, 267.5. Tomorrow I might see 269. I started the month of April at 267.3. My goal was to lose 5lbs. 4 days left and I have the coffee shop/pastry shop downtown walking tour on Saturday arranged by my SIL as a special outing for us. I don't think I will be anywhere near my goal and that is a depressing thing. 80-90% on plan all month, yet I may end the month up 5+lbs. This is one tough battle I tell you.

But ...thousands of others, on this site, have succeeded. We/me, all of us, can do it too. Not by April 30th, 2016, but some other day.

karenrn That Hiking Suzanne! What a character. I love hearing about her but I have mentioned that before. I am craving someone like that in my life, someone who is going for it physically. I have never known anyone like that. Good for you to be challenged by her and to rise to it. Kudos.

curlyjax Credit for turning to us to help you get through a hungry part of the day. I hope you get news about your DH soon. And I hope it is good news.

gardenerjoy I have a thing about the dishes needing to be out of the sink before I feel like cooking. When I see them there I often just turn right around and leave the kitchen, causing me to be hungry longer and then choosing poorly. I wish you strength to stick to one slice of pizza!

Lexxiss I LOVE hearing about your greenhouse. I can think of nothing more peaceful than a greenhouse on a warm day. I picture sitting there, in the greenhouse, plants all around. It just makes me happy thinking about it.What a gardener you've become. I remember when you weren't! Kudos bigtime!!

BillBlueEyes Snack-sized Kudos! I have the toughest time negotiating just what you said. Whenever I have "less than I wanted" I find it very very tough to put the thoughts of MORE away. I am much better with not having any than having some but not all. I was thinking that today. I have made only a small bit of progress with that idea.

Better go. Art business class awaits. Today we start looking at... financials! No one is thrilled about that.

Bill's saying he had less than he wanted is the story of our lives, right?

Outside all day today in garden. Boy is yard looking great. Only one patio pot to plant whenever I find the plant I really want to put in it. New area planted, rocks around, fertilized, watered, and mulched. Looks great and will look better as the plants grow. DH and I had a supper good day. Finally inside, showered and really, really, hungry!!!

CREDIT: Pedometer is really high for me and most of it was within our property. Sandy

Good evening coaches! Better day today. After trying to calorie count for exactly two days I've remembered what went wrong in the past --- I get incredibly obsessive about it, which seems to lead to me being especially grouchy and frustrated and easily thrown off course. So I'm adjusting my diet plan some, and am going to write up some healthy guidelines for myself and just try to go by those and not actually count calories. I know how to eat pretty well, I just haven't done that in the past. So I'm going to concentrate on using my response cards, etc. and work on making better choices in general. I figure as long as I keep weighing in and trying to do my best, I can always adjust if my weight doesn't start moving once I think I'm more on track. I'm going to concentrate on things like more fruits and vegetables, having healthy fats and more fish, etc. When I count calories I sometimes get a little obsessive and end up having more packaged foods just because I know the calorie count --- definitely not what I'm personally going for diet wise. Especially crazy given I really do love vegetables and fruits. But enough on that. Apart from that a pretty decent day. Got up early and walked on the treadmill again, and felt better once I really sat down this afternoon and thought through what was going wrong with my diet plan. Work was a little topsy-turvy but isn't part of the day supposed to be? This isn't diet related, but credit for me for reaching out to my insurance company to requote home and car insurance.. I can talk to all sorts of people at work but sometimes taking care of personal chores like that just produce tons of anxiety. So I still have to work through what my questions are, etc. but now have a contact I can email and get the process started at least. Still working on scheduling in grocery shopping and other diet activities while working on the exercise plan day also.

onebyone Credit for weighing in, and for just hanging in there.

curlyjax Credit for yoga! That's on my todo list. Glad things with your supervisor go well, I hope it continues to go well.