Feeling blessed that I get to do my check-in first thing, like I mean to. It really helps my day get off to a good start!
Today's challenge is no time for lunch before a meeting that I'm running. Since I will have just spent an hour outside (16 degrees -- yikes!), I think I'll allow myself a hot caloric drink (I usually avoid drinking my calories) and have a late lunch when I get home. I'll be able to skip a snack, so the calories should work out to about the usual for me.
I wrote that all out as a food plan to help keep me honest today.
Weigh-in: +0.2 kg, Exercise: +10, 185/1200 minutes for January
nationalparker: yay for making an effort with friends.
bethturnaround: I've heard that Coco is fun. Good for you (and your daughter) for working out your restaurant meal ahead of time.
BillBlueEyes: Upstairs, Downstairs was revolutionary in the 1970s because it actually showed how the work got done in those grand households. It all looked new again when Downton Abbey did it this decade.
silverbirch: doing my routine later than I would have liked worked for me. It felt like it was eating up all of my work time, but it set me up well to be productive. I'll have to remember that in the future, because my instinct is to skip it under those conditions.
I’m following along the January Cure on Apartment Therapy website. Well, i’m reading it The idea is identify some things in your house that you want to change and get some of them done, while also setting up some systems that will help maintain order. For some reason I enjoy reading about others domestic ideas, and I do pick up some ideas along the way.
It gives you something concrete to focus on, to help with the January doldrums.
Nationalparker- i’ve forgotten where you’re going soon- hopefully somewhere warm? I know what you mean about the sugar, it is still around. Now the grocery stores have valentines stuff out too. Bill- ah yes, the repetitive bits of childrearing. I’m glad I was able to stay home with the kids when they were little but it was incredibly boring at times. Silverbirch- great job with the exercise. A cauldron of sauce sounds perfect for winter. Gardenerjoy- I also admire your idea of food as art, excellent notion! Beth- welcome and great job on the food planning.
Out here on the West coast we see pictures of Florida frozen! I am a third generation Californian and I completely take 50 degree mornings for granted. I call it chilly and reach for a second cup of coffee. But there is always a "hamartia" isn't there? We will be in serious trouble again if we don't get some rain. I don't know if we have had an inch of rain total in months.
Sitting in my favorite chair with a cup of coffee, grades done, and shrink appointment behind me, I want to take an hour or two to make a concrete plan about diet and exercise.
What is working well?
I weigh everyday.
I post here nearly daily.
I have been eating dinner rather thank skipping it.
What is not working well?
I track food into MFP through lunch and then stop. This tells me I don't want to take responsibility for what is going in my mouth in the afternoon. BBE's passage on "sitting while eating" really hit home today.
I am not eating enough vegetables and I am eating wheat again.
I only average exercise about three times a week which is not enough for the medication I am on. (It slows down metabolism.)
I have not committed to a plan so I change things when I want to spontaneously eat something. (Thxs Beth for reminding me that changing strawberries to blueberries is still a negative habit.)
So this morning I am going to use a rare free few hours to choose a plan and a back up as suggested by Beck. I have a feeling, I will focus less on "WHAT" I am eating as to the exercise portion of the day. I know as I exercise more, my eating gets healthier.
Wave to all.
Curleyjax: as always you inspire me by your courage. I am sure your son is proud and happy to be a help to you in these times. And I am a HUGE believer in paying for small services especially during crisis. Walking though my bipolar diagnosis this winter, I cherished the housekeeper. One less thing to worry about.
Hello and happy Epiphany. I'm wiped out so going to need early. Only three hours of sleep last night. All is going well so far with my sister in Colorado. She cried when i got here. It was a rocky parting after our parents passed.
I know she'll need assistance for the bathroom during the night so I'm going to sleep soon.
After airport breakfast bc i didn't goo to the market to get anything for breakfast at home, food had been very good today. Proud of that. A rare occurrence here lately.
Temps in the 50s were 60 degrees warmer. Nice.
Last edited by nationalparker; 01-07-2018 at 11:25 AM.
Credit to me for weighing (down) and for testing my sugar (also down)
Went to the indoor farmer's market this morning and avoided the bakery booths and the donuts as they were being made.
We went to the movies with friends this afternoon--the popcorn smelled amazing. I told DH he could order popcorn or sit next to me but he couldn't do both. He'd skipped lunch so he got popcorn--and my daughter sat between us!
Major credit for removing myself from temptation!
We went out for Mexican after the movie--I didn't have any chips and ordered exactly what I intended. I hadn't thought through my sides properly but kept that well under control (although I hadn't planned them)
I had my blood pressure tested today and was majorly surprised--it's the highest it's ever been. I suspect there's medication in my near future--hopefully it'll be temporary.
I've just taken the SO to the railway station and the NE wind is cold. The sun is bright, though, and the clouds over the mountains are tinged with pink. I hope you people with lots of snow and very cold temperatures are doing OK.
My plan was fairly open yesterday without too many things on my list. I had lots of room for what maryann calls puttering (thanks for introducing me to this word!) and all was ticking along. A sudden medical emergency in the SO's family put everything into top gear, and my reaction was to have a quick nibble on some fat and sugar. Interesting because things were fairly in order here for the SO to plan, eat, pack and make a quick getaway this morning. What could I have done differently, I'm asking myself. I think I was walking around rather than sitting down, tidying things up to make space, dispersing stress. So if I'd had the 'only eat when sitting down' recommendation firmly embedded, perhaps I wouldn't have nibbled. Food for thought.
I'm planning today sitting at the kitchen table. I'll be doing my weights routine in a moment, and later I'll be doing some baking so the DB has food for the week (back to school tomorrow). I'll also be ironing. And the daily 'saw three times' job. Thought for the day is to eat only when sitting down. Also that ... *sudden breakthrough* ... when sitting down, I don't always need to eat. Oh! That is a very good finding! I'll be patting myself on the back about that all day. Credit!
Beth, so good to hear how you removed yourself from temptation. You're sounding as though good habits are building up.
nationalparker, those night-time trips to the bathroom with someone else are wearing. My tip, fwiw, is to doze as much as you can in the day. I'm a big fan of the after lunch rest.
maryann, how I loved the picture of you having a 'rare few free hours' and sitting in your 'favorite chair'. Thanks for mentioning the value of paying for small services during crisis. Your words helped me help the SO and family yesterday.
curlyjax, had to look up Apartment Therapy! People often say that decluttering helps weight loss and I think there's something in that. 'A warm and spotless home' would probably also help but that's a work in progress here and always just out of reach.
gardenerjoy, being outside in the cold, then missing lunchtime, then running a meeting sounds like a bit of a challenge but doable with a bit of grit and a hot drink. How did it go? [Upstairs, Downstairs was very popular here and being made by LWT (London Weekend Television) possibly reached a bigger audience than had it been made by the BBC. Many of that audience had been in service (like my gran) or had members of the family who had been so, looking back, it was a recognition of their experience and history.]
Bill, good to get out to the library in your snowy conditions. Hope you all passed the medical tests and no untreatable problems were discovered by the DGD. Although having been tested myself in the past, I know that it is a real possibility. Thank you v much for the iguana info. So interesting. There's so much to learn about the natural world. We spent a lot of time with David Attenborough when the DB was younger.
Right. Time to get moving as my feet are starting to feel cold. Good luck today.
Sunday - Singer Marian Anderson debuts with the Metropolitan Opera (1955, New York)
Diet Coaches/Buddies – It's -3 degrees Fahrenheit this morning. That's cold for us. I had bundled up enough to go downstairs to the kitchen to make morning coffee when I remembered that I hadn't weighed. That's a problem because it requires barefoot all over and the house feels the outside cold. I told myself that it didn't matter. Then I accepted that it does matter and that it wouldn't take long to strip and redress. CREDIT moi for a minor inconvenience to strengthen my resistance muscle.
Despite the cold, we went out to see Star Wars: The Last Jedi. We've skipped several of the intervening episodes, but had to see the last one, especially since we'll never see Carrie Fisher in one again. (She's memorialized in the final credits.) She has an emotional scene with Mark Hamill for all of us old enough to remember the first Star Wars from 1977. Oddly enough, the theater had a problem with the heat which only reached up to 55 degrees F. They offered a full refund during the first thirty minutes if it felt too cold to sit through the whole movie. I didn't see anyone leave. Leia didn't wear her hair in ear buns; Luke Skywalker commented on this. It felt like a 40th high school reunion, LOL.
Joy (gardenerjoy) – Delaying lunch until after your meeting seems wise.
silverbirch – Kudos for tending to stuff that'd been pending. [Yes, there's a fine for not clearing one's sidewalks within 24 hours after the snow stops. It's poorly enforced. For any long walk, there'll be one house with the original snow packed to ice by folks walking over it. Finding a place for snow is a serious challenge that becomes more challenging as more condos are squeezed in. The two feet of sidewalk next to the street is often piled quite high. Any token front yard is filled to the level of the windows.]
maryann - Alas, I had to google hamartia - that's a great word to know. Hope you guys get rain soon.
nationalparker – Enjoy your comparative warmth in Colorado. Kudos for eating well despite only three hours sleep.
curlyjax - Interesting to get help solving order in the house. I still fantasize about some magic person showing up who knows how to do all this.
Beth (bethturnaround) – Super Kudos for avoiding donuts as they're being made. Those donut machines should be banned; I have low resistance to them, especially when advertising 'Apple Cider Donuts' at a farm stand in the fall.
Readers -
Quote:
day 3Eat Sitting Down
what are you thinking?
Sabotaging Thought: I don't have time to sit down to eat.
Helpful Response: Sitting down isn't optional. I'll have to rearrange my schedule so that I do have time. It's essential for controlling what and how much I eat.
Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Beck Diet Solution (Pink book), Pg 72.
It turns out DH will NOT be coming home soon. Apparently he has a kidney issue which I didn’t know about, and aside from that, sometime this week they are sending him into Boston for a surgery consult and hopefully do it. I had a little meltdown and let my frustration be known about what seems to be the waste of a week in the hospital. Then I apologized profusely. Staff seemed to understand. I will say there have been SO many hospital staff people wandering in, and many of them useless, asking my DH stupid questions like how is he feeling, and overreacting to small things. I also don’t appreciate medical folks assuming we don’t know anything about the disease when we have been dealing with this for almost 2 years!! One particular covering oncologist was especially annoying, way too “jolly” and then calling me DH’s angel. Man I hate that!! I was on the verge of being really rude and pointing to the door for him to leave but I caught myself. DH has always been better at controlling his temper than I have.
Sorry for the rant. The bitter cold is supposed to break tomorrow which will be a big help. I have had this mild dizziness since Tuesday which may be partially due to the barometric pressure, and also stress. And last night DD heard a mouse so I have to deal with that, which has always been one of DH’s manly jobs.
Okay, now I’m done!!
I didn't quite follow my food plan as written yesterday because I came home so hungry. Eating after the meeting only works if I come straight home -- not if I stop for gas and groceries because we might get an ice storm today.
I plan to stay in today. It looks like we're going to get lucky and the rain will start and stop while we're above freezing -- so just rain, not ice. Apparently, ice storms are notoriously difficult to predict. We're just starting to get used to them in Missouri. They used to be a more southern thing.
Today will be our first day above freezing since before Christmas. That's also unusual for us.
Weigh-in: -0.25 kg, Exercise: +30, 220/1200 minutes for January
curlyjax: That sounds very frustrating to think that DH is headed home and, then, have a whole different unexpected plan unfold. For the mouse, I'm not a big fan of poisons, but even my manly DH uses that now because it's just more effective. And the other advantage is that it usually takes care of the problem unseen.
maryann: I'm glad you're able to take some time to work through what's going to work for you.
nationalparker: cool that you landed in a warmer place. I'm glad things are going well food-wise and relationship-wise.
bethturnaround: I was on blood pressure medicine for a long time and I'm not any more. My doctor thinks it was the daily exercise, but I think a lower weight helps, too. It took about twenty pounds to make a difference for me. It's kind of nice to see one health number improve long before I was close to a goal weight.
silverbirch: I'm sorry your SO is having to deal with a family crisis -- seems like you've got things in order to be a good source of support.
Last edited by gardenerjoy; 01-07-2018 at 10:27 AM.
Reporting in: no sugar, on plan, but facing stress and sometimes not so good with that.
I have a tradeshow coming up at the end of the month. I had to make some tough decisions about what to bring to the tradeshow. I was going to bring "a bit of everything"but that's not right. This, Coaches, is a year of decision making and focus. So, I thought, what do i want to be known as? Jeweler or painter? Painter! Of course a painter. So I have this line of paintings I have wholesaled before. They could be mechanically reproduced if I wanted to go that route--if I were so fortunate as to have a product line that really took off--and if that were the case could I let this particular product line go beyond me making everything with my two hands? Yes. Yes I could. So I'm risking my $1000 to do this show and see what happens. I have done this show before but probably over 10 years ago now. It worked for me then. It will work for me now. What's different with now though is the tradeshow is but one avenue to get my work out there. I can actually make a focused website for this particular work. And potentially sell it online. You;d think this were a new thing. My problem has been I go at it a bit here and there and in between I do a bunch of other stuff and the years go by and I maintain a level of success in many things but nver big success in one-or for me-two areas. I'll try something different this year and see what happens. This is very much the same way I deal with cleaning/decluttering and with my foodplans/food. Not this year. The word of my year is FOCUS or perhaps it is PLAN(S). Maybe FOCUSED PLANS!
Anyway I did an old behaviour yesterday. I got stressed out over my plans and this week the teaching starts back and I'm not ready so I found myself procrastinating getting to prep work for the tradeshow (I hate working on Saturdays) and I went to the fridge and ate. I ate well. I ate when I should have. But it had a compulsive feel to it. I ate too fast and I ate too much/past full. I also didn't see the scale move yesterday morning. It's been at the same weight for a few days and this morning it went up a bit--a response to the more than I needed amount from yesterday. Just body stuff.
So I am *gasp* learning to STAY THE COURSE and just stick with it. I must remain on plan during trying times like getting ready for shows cause that's what I do. I need to remain on plan consistently for it to work-and it does work.
Other than this, yes freezing cold here. -17C as the high yesterday. -25?C overnight. The car didn't want to start yesterday. We boosted it from the neighbour's van. Then DH went out to Canadian Tire and bought The Eliminator--basically a portable generator that allows you to boost your own vehicle plus charge your electronics, inflate tires, be a power source for regular things that need plugging in. Pretty hand and it charges in a regular indoor household outlet. Better yet, we had Canadian Tire money that paid for the whole thing! Awesome. Not sure how the car will be today. I think it's warmer today and heading into being a warmer week in general. My challenge will be nibblies at my friend's house this afternoon. She's invited the pottery guild members to drop by and I am going early for a "fancy coffee" from her fancy machine in one of her fancy mugs. NO SUGAR is my mantra.
bethturnaround Welcome back. Glad you're here for support. Fasting is part of my foodplan -- looks to be part of yours as well? Also very low carb and no sugar. I try not to have any diet drinks. They spike insulin which is what I am trying to avoid doing at all cost. But, I am not 100% successful with that. But it is not a daily thing. They were created to be addictive and those "food" scientists know how to make an addictive substance. Their corporation's health relies on it.
Family came visiting from SF and we took all the four wheelers out for a river ride on the ranch. The Sacramento is beautiful. A fun morning. Made some plans for guidelines. 5 day a week exercise with two being formal classes. It has bee two years since I have been to classes but I will go slow, leave halfway throuh if necessary.
I totally failed at planning today but recorded everything in My Fitness Pal and came in under my calorie goal.
Credit though: I weighed this morning (down) and checked my sugar (down)
I misjudged the timing of dinner and my blood sugar dropped too low. The dinner was not high in carbs, so I ended up eating extra carbs after dinner because I wasn't getting my blood sugar up again enough. I can only go minimal carbs if I don't let too long go between eating. Lesson learned.
My scale shows I've dropped 7 lbs since Tuesday morning. That seems more than a bit extreme--I know I can't expect that to continue! One nice thing is that my jeans, which were tight, now fit comfortably.
Have a good night all.
Edited to add: I just did my planning for tomorrow and entered everything in MFP. Credit!
Last edited by bethturnaround; 01-07-2018 at 11:14 PM.
Monday - Elvis Presley born (1935, Tupelo, Mississippi)
Diet Coaches/Buddies – Spent the day feeling cold - not an unwarranted feeling in the single digit temperatures. We drove our standard Sunday morning walk not just for the cold but because the sidewalks have more ice than makes for a fun outing. I did get some work done inside. Great accomplishment: the hot water heater went out - possible because of the high winds sucking air up its exhaust chimney - and I restarted it. That led to some discussion about being a first-world problem and to some gratitude that I live in a warm house with a recent vintage hot water heater and the expectation of hot water on demand. Around here, plumbers are not even answering their phones because there are so many callers looking for help with burst water pipes. The neighbor has his hood of his car open waiting for AAA to come. He's in for a long wait.
Eating was OKish, CREDIT moi, with a morning snack at Happy Hour while chatting with friends. I attempted to compensate with a smaller lunch. Dinner was lentil soup so I felt somewhat balanced.
onebyone – Kudos for "learning to STAY THE COURSE." Your Eliminator looks like it does everything.
Joy (gardenerjoy) – Yep, ice storms are the worst. We tend to lose power lines with heavy ice.
silverbirch – Just love it: "when sitting down, I don't always need to eat" - Beck should add that to her next book.
maryann - Neat to get back into formal classes. Kudos for accepting that you might initially not be ready to do the whole class.
curlyjax - Ouch for the reality of so many different hospital staff appearing during a hospital stay. Kudos for keeping from flaring out to make a difficult situation worse. No one deserves patronizing comments.
Beth (bethturnaround) – Congrats on the jeans fit - the most true metric of them all.
Readers -
Quote:
day 3Eat Sitting Down
Once I accept the fact that
I have to eat everything sitting down,
dieting will be easier.
Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Beck Diet Solution (Pink book), Pg 73.
I've made the DB's sandwiches, taken him to school and done the shopping. Back at home now where I intend to keep warm by doing most of the ironing whilst listening to radio drama. Thanks gardenerjoy by reminding me that I can find a few things I will listen to. I'll also try out doing my exercises at around 4pm.
Far too much nibbling of fat and sugar going on here. Weird.
Bill, it's still so cold in your part of the world. Credit for just eating one morning snack, and balancing that with lentil soup. Also credit for sorting out the hot water heater. I remember living in a rented flat where the immersion heater broke during the 1980 steel strike. No parts available for at least four months. We went to neighbours across the road for a bath once a week, and boiled the kettle a lot. That was the flat with terrible dry rot fruiting bodies. Ah yes!
beth, credit for weighing yourself and checking your blood sugar! Also for looser jeans!
maryann, riding along the river sounds lovely. I really like the idea of going slowly in the exercise classes and leaving halfway through if necessary. Good thinking, Batman.
onebyone, love the idea of FOCUS. I think it frees up time to do other things, somehow, which has got to be good.
gardenerjoy
Quote:
I didn't quite follow my food plan as written yesterday because I came home so hungry. Eating after the meeting only works if I come straight home -- not if I stop for gas and groceries because we might get an ice storm today.
This is just the sort of thing that derails me. Even if extreme weather isn't forecast I like to group things together, so I do things when I'm in the right area rather than drive there later on or on another day. Not sure how to get round it, although if I'm very organised I take food with me all the time. That's not a very good option if the temperatures are very low.
curlyjax, so very, very unprofessional of that medic to be so patronising. And having all those hospital staff wandering around sounds like much too much. Please rant as much as you like here. I find I swear a lot afterwards when this kind of thing happens to me (there's a particular form of health/care speech that drives me up the wall). I agree about using poison to control mice. There's something that mummifies them, I think, so they don't decompose. We used to use it at the previous office in a very old building.
Suppose I'd better get on with clearing the decks a bit more. It helps me to think straight.
Food yesterday was not good. All carbs. Not super high calories but a lot of non nutrition. Setting intention here for more balance today.
Up at 5 and sister asked if i was up for good and I said no. Oh. I said I'd get her into get wheel chair, as she says she's always up between 5-6. Noo...i didn't need to do that. I needed a little awake time alone. So I'll go in there now add i hear her a bit antsy.
Freezing rain at home and worried about dh going to work. They're to get a third of an inch of ice and I'd stay home but doubt he will. Grr. The temps finally rose from the negatives and single digits to this. Will give him a call as the time zone is perfect for morning base touching.
Curly jax - I'm enraged and frustrated on your behalf. Plus all those visits of various questions often result in charges which doubly bugs me. No that wasn't a consult. Stay strong.
Hoping to check back in with more personals...especially loved the "i don't need to eat when I'm sitting"!!
The idea is identify some things in your house that you want to change and get some of them done, while also setting up some systems that will help maintain order. For some reason I enjoy reading about others domestic ideas, and I do pick up some ideas along the way.
Sunday - Singer Marian Anderson debuts with the Metropolitan Opera (1955, New York)
