CREDIT for splitting my snack with the need to eat an early supper before the evening activity. I saved an apple for when I got home and it was just right.

What will I do today to eat light and healthy?

Follow the plan. I wrote it last night again (go, me!) but just changed it a little to match the reality of the gloomy day. I'll run my errands at lunch and pick up a salad bar rather than try to get myself out there now.

Remember that food does not fix gloomy days. I can sometimes get myself in a nice cozy frame of mind on a gloomy day, so I'll aim for that. First, though, I'm going to pull up all the shades to let in as much light as possible.

Weigh-in: -0.6 kg
Exercise: +40, 80/1300 minutes for November
Food: 100% on-plan
Read my Advantages and Responses: yes
Refrained from eating in the car: yes

Good morning coaches,

Food was perfectly on plan yesterday, yahoo and credit. Maybe this is the start of a streak. This morning I followed through and went to Zumba followed by the strength training class. Zumba was a lot of fun and I have a long way to go, but I got a lot of exercise so I'm going to try to keep it up. It works out well because it is right before the other class. I came home and had a smoothie made with my new Vitamix and it was much smoother and better.

GardenerJoy We are having a bit of a gloomy day here as well. We even had a few rain drops this morning. It will be a perfect day to find an old movie to watch while I continue working on the blankets I'm making for the pup.

Bill The two gals that lead the Zumba class are young and very fit and boy can they move and I mean everything, but the rest of us are probably more like late 30's to Gerda who is 78 and takes about 4 classes a day. Lots of moving in that class for sure. Your time with your granddaughter sounds so fun. How nice for both of you that you live near enough to see her frequently.

NatureGirl What a horrible situation. Stress didn't help with my eating when i was working either. I know what you mean by holding it together for as long as you need to though. Glad you've got the foot surgery scheduled. I can't imagine having pain with every step.

Nationalparker Have you ever tried air popped popcorn? My sister in law bought me an air popper a few years ago and once in a while I make some. I will admit I spray some stuff on it to make a little salt or seasoning hold.

Waving to MaryAnn, Lexxiss, OnebyOne and whomever else is reading.

I'm finally remembering to include this quote that I loved from that author I mentioned last week: Guard me against the arrogance of privilege, against the indulgence of feeling that I don't have enough, and the poverty of spirit that refuses to acknowledge what is daily given me." Gunilla Norris - Being Home. I've just started her book "A Mystic Garden" which beings with a Spanish proverb, "In the garden more grows than the gardener sows." I was pulled in with her first line of the introduction, "To have a garden, even a small one, is a great privilege." ... That changed my stress about getting the gardens cleaned up for winter to a thankfulness that I have these gardens that bring me such joy and beauty through the spring and summer. Yes, I have to tend them and it's hard to find the time while working fulltime, but it's a blessing to enjoy them.

Scale dropped only a bit - at ticker still ... and had to reset my mind on that, as well. It's trending down over these weeks and to expect a loss every single week is fun, but might not be realistic. We'll see what tomorrow brings. Wearing a dress that I've not worn in two years. Plans are to hit the art museum this evening after our "lovely" tuna salad (my least fave meal of the week)... NatureGirl - i had to smile with your "not delicious" line. Hopefully at least that meal was spend with those you love and that added to your pleasure. I miss the lingering at the table with my folks and brother/SIL.

Bill - LOVE your description of your DGD climbing the stairs and providing your arm workout!

Karen - Glad to hear the Zumba class went well - I'm too uncoordinated and don't want to end up on someone's social media site as a flop. Fear of failure.

Joy - Credits for the on plan days this week! A dark, gloomy day here as well. One I'd love to be off to enjoy curling up with a pet and a novel.

Much better day at school today, Wednesday was just miserable even before the violence across the street. Stayed on program with breakfast and lunch – tiny snack on the way home and finally made dinner for DH & I: scrambled eggs, toast, grapefruit. Barely dinner, but I did it. And I’m feeling like I won’t have to eat anything else tonight. TGIF!!!

Friday - King Tutankhamen's tomb discovered (1922, Egypt)
 

Diet Coaches/Buddies – I learned that the two kids next door bugged their mother after I told her about the FREE pints of ice cream and got permission to go after them. They got a pint each. So soon after Halloween, their mother wasn't excited to see more sugar come into their house. But I get as much a kick out of their FREE pints as I did out of mine. With this kind of brain, how can I ever hope to think sanely about food?

Exercise was, again, taking care of the 13 month old DGD, CREDIT moi. When walking down the stairs, I paused to pat the balusters and say the word - our game - when she grabbed one and nearly pulled us over. There is much strength in the arm of such a little kid. I wish I was that strong, proportional to my weight. Dinner was, unfortunately, cheese and crackers from an unexpected reception after an evening lecture. Dessert was a smallish serving of yesterday's FREE ice cream. I'm hoping that DW gets interested before I consume the full pint on my own over the week.


Joy (gardenerjoy) – LOL at "food does not fix gloomy days" - useful for me as it's looking like a long slow rain day.

Nature Girl – Thanks for reminding me that grapefruit season is upon us - one of my favorite evening snacks. Kudos for recovering from your awful day on Wednesday.

nationalparker – Kudos for finding your gratitude for the great privilege of having so much in life that it can include a garden. Thanks for "In the garden more grows than the gardener sows."

Karen (karenrn) - Always Kudos for on plan food. [I want to be like Gerda when I grow up.]

Readers -

Phone check in. The streak continues of no sweets. It took one week to get back to ticker after the Kings game. Wow. That is something to remember one night of moderately overeating equals seven OP days. Oh Well.
It will be good to remember as I fly to San Diego for a conference tonite. My hope is lots of beach walking and to rediscover some kind of joy in my job. It is training for teaching advanced placement writing classes.

Wave to all.

What will I do today to eat light and healthy?

Make a plan around a morning conference call and an afternoon meeting. Done.

Be flexible, if needed, but keep in mind the goal of "light and healthy."

Weigh-in: +0.1 kg
Exercise: +40, 120/1300 minutes for November
Food: 100% on-plan
Read my Advantages and Responses: yes
Refrained from eating in the car: yes

Under ticker by one pound but know that it trends up on the weekend, so ... not moving it. Basically remained the same this week. Started to get bummed then realized I'm fitting into smaller clothes and that's what is visible, not the scale reading. Tomorrow evening is to be our every-other-week treat dinner and it's been the pizza spot the last few times ... thinking we might do Thai this time. Will see what DH wants. Voting early here must be done downtown at the government building, so will swing by and see what that's like after work this evening. I figure everyone else will be getting on with their Friday action and there will be no line. We'll see.

Not much to report here. Waiting for news on my brother, undergoing testing today. No thrilling weekend plans - need to get some deeper cleaning underway. By the end of the week, I have too much to get caught up on. DH and I could hit the trail for a good walk or relax by a woodfire on the patio. Both sound equally good, so maybe both?

I just typed a long post and by the time I was done somehow I was no longer logged in. Food on plan, credit. Six 1/2 mile hike this morning, credit.
More tomorrow,

Karen

Saturday - Guy Fawkes Day (London, 1605)
 

Diet Coaches/Buddies – Good news is that DW did have a serving of my pint of FREE ice cream. Bad news is that she doesn't plan to have more because it's just too "chocolatey." I had another serving for evening snack with one left. I suppose that I can give myself CREDIT moi for five servings from a pint of ice cream. In the olden days, I'd have been able to take down a pint in one sitting - but maybe not Ben and Jerry's which is super rich.

It was a rainy day with little getting out for exercise. I completed two tasks on my computer that had been bugging me for a week. One entailed logging onto a site with my laptop and simultaneously downloading an App to my smartphone to take a picture of the QR code (square bar code) on the laptop as the second step of a two step process of establishing a secure link to a server. I've never done that before against my own laptop and the process bewildered me until I did it. It was uber simple - just not intuitive since I never figured out why the whole 'two step' process was invoked.


Joy (gardenerjoy) – I like the phrase "light and healthy."

maryann - Waving back toward San Diego. Neat that you'll get refreshed as a teacher.

nationalparker – "Woodfire on the patio" sounds pretty good for early November. Kudos for recognizing that the fit of your clothes is a great metric.

Karen (karenrn) - Ouch for being done in by the gremlins who haunt computers. Congrats on yet-another 6.5 mile hike.

Readers -

CREDIT for remembering yesterday's advice to myself to be flexible. That was valuable when I realized that I didn't have any washed lettuce and hadn't allowed enough time to wash it for my lunch. I added some marinara to what I was reheating for a little bit of veggie and made a larger salad to go with my supper.

What will I do today to eat light and healthy?

Follow my plan.

Make decisions. My plan has some "or"s in it today both for food and for things to do. That's fine, but it is important that I make a choice when the time comes -- otherwise, bad things happen like spending too much time on Facebook while procrastinating a decision. I just scribbled "choose" at the front of those items on my plan as a reminder.

Remember that hunger is not an emergency. I woke up hungry and I have a lighter than usual lunch planned because it's the best choice at the restaurant where I'll be eating. No big deal because hunger isn't an emergency.

Weigh-in: -0.6 kg
Exercise: +20, 120/1300 minutes for November
Food: 90% on-plan
Read my Advantages and Responses: yes
Refrained from eating in the car: yes

My world was turned upside down yesterday evening. Brother has pancreatic cancer. Biopsy is out for testing, but dr. said it's a formality. Shocked that I was able to talk with him for quite a while and only when I was saying bye, love you, did I break down. I'm still holding out a bit of hope that dr. was wrong, but know in my heart that it's a slim to none chance because what dr. would say that. Finally fell asleep around 5 a.m. for an hour and again at 8 for another hour. He has been a best friend my whole life. As much turmoil as I have with my sister, there is NONE with him. His wife is on a family wedding trip and he had to insist that she go. I told him I would want him to call me and I'd return home on Sunday as I know she will. He didn't want to interrupt the trip with bad news. I said I'd be very upset if my DH didn't. He came 'round. I know them both well and she would want to return asap. She's an RN and will be a good asset at the next appt.

Scale at 156.6 this morning. Adjusting ticker to 157, don't think the 156 will stick. No walk nor patio fire last night. DH built one in the fireplace and we have one going again today. Will let it peter out and hit the trail midafternoon.

Good afternoon coaches,

Last evening we went to a surprise 50th birthday party for dh's boss. It was at some friends of theirs home which is huge, lovely and if it weren't tacky, I would have taken photos. It had huge furniture which was perfect because it was so huge. Then the patio, full tennis courts, pool with swim up bar, woodburning pizza over on the patio and garage with hydraulic lifts for the husband who collects cars was just something else. I am not comfortable at parties of mostly people I don't know, but it turned out to be pretty good and the best part, I didn't drink any alcohol and the food I ate was minimal and on plan except a couple of crackers that I took to put the hummus on, credit. They had Casino night where there was a craps table, roulette and black jack. A company came in and taught us (although I couldn't catch on to craps) and we played for awhile.

This morning I went to the Y because they had a 60 minute class so we could sample 15 minutes each of 4 classes, credit. I enjoyed 3 of them, so that was good. The two I liked the best were Barre and Kick Boxing. I'm going to go to church at 5 p.m. today so I can go to Zumba tomorrow morning at the Y with my friend Patrice who recently lost 75 pounds with WW and is being much more active.

My to do's for this afternoon are: laundry, remake the bed, finish the 4th and last puppy blanket and if there is still time, take a short nap since I didn't get enough sleep last night.

Nationalparker I am so sorry to hear your sad news. It sure puts anything annoying in my life in perspective. Do your best to keep taking good care of yourself. You will sure be in my prayers, and of course your brother and his family too. The church I belong to is very large, I will put you all on the prayer list this evening. I'm hoping more people praying will be better.

GardenerJoy Ahh, Facebook, the ultimate time waster. The breeder for our new puppy posts photos and videos, so you can imagine how I am wasting my time lately. It's such a happy way to waste time though. Rocky Mountain Cocker Spaniels if you need a good puppy viewing. Good for you for having a good list of things to do.

Bill I commend you for how many servings of ice cream you have gotten out of that pint. If I could do that I wouldn't feel badly about having some.

Waving to everyone else.

Sunday - John Philip Sousa born (Washington, D.C., 1854)
 

Diet Coaches/Buddies – Skipped a gathering of friends last night as I'm fighting a cold. I feel good enough but the coughing and nose-blowing is unfair to the others. 'Good enough' but not great. I'm at the stage where I'm susceptible to anyone who offers a magic pill that makes it all go away, LOL.

Part of not great meant that I just noticed that my computer is an hour earlier than my bedside clock. Duh! It's not like I've never had to do this clock setting before. Walk, CREDIT moi, included a stop at the drugstore for an errand. I almost got a flu shot but the waiting line was too long. I'll try to do that this week. Last year I put it off until the season was over.


Joy (gardenerjoy) – Love that marinara is a veggie substitute. Reminds me of the olden days when ketchup was declared a vegetable so that school lunches wouldn't be so barren.

nationalparker – Sending supportive thoughts as you, your brother, and family work through his new situation. So glad that his DW is an RN to help find his treatment path. It's good that you can get out for an afternoon trail walk.

Karen (karenrn) - As always, Congrats to Arizona for avoiding all the daylight saving brouhaha. Certainly you must feel left out as the rest of us flap about. Super Kudos for eating mindfully despite the glamorous surroundings. Sounds like quite a home.

Readers -

Good morning coaches,

Food on plan yesterday, credit. I do think I need to be a little more careful about portions. Eyeballing may not be good enough. I will be going to Zumba this morning for my exercise, credit. I didn't get the blanket made yesterday, so want to do that today, so I can put away a few things I have out for the project.

Dh and I will go to the furniture store to select the leather for the new sectional. This probably sounds strange, but we're going to order the same sectional that we have right now in a different color and possibly firmer cushions. When my friend and I went to the store last week and they still had our file, I thought "How easy, we'll just get the same one." Dh agrees it is easy and fits in the room. Did I already tell you this?

Bill Sorry to hear about your cold. Since one of my motto's is "Better living thru chemistry", I usually take some kind of cold medication to reduce the symptoms. I doubt they change the length of the cold, but I usually feel a little better anyway.