I’m typing on my phone. No internet at my son’s place. Just a quick note to say I made it to the top. I loved the hike, the weather was fabulous and I met a nice gal for a visit on the summit. I had a long drive over to the redwoods with less than an hour on the interstate, so I saw a lot of beautiful countryside. I also saw some of the burned area. No plan was made for food, but I’m sure it was fine. I hardly think about it when I’m busy and that sure tells me something. Thanks for mentioning that hike Maryann.

posting from the Lyft ride home on my iPad.

My food choices were poor at happy hour—there really weren’t any good choices. I controlled the quantities though. At the third bar and second ordering of food, I stuck with water. Wasn’t even really tempted. I don’t eat at this hour—and I didn’t. My company parties.

Credits—I recorded all my food. I didn’t have any sweets. I switched to water. And although I was over on Calories I was still pretty much at a maintenance level.

Everyone’s updates were awesome today. I wish it wasn’t so hard to post from my iPad,

G’night all.

—Beth

Friday - Vesuvius erupts, destroying Pompeii and Herculaneum (79, southern Italy)
 

Diet Coaches/Buddies – Walk, CREDIT moi, included dropping three books at a mini-library. This included two that I sorta wanted to read but recognized that they were so far down the stack that it would never happen. One came from the cleanup of my MIL's old books about a Loon - so it had been decided that, as a bird watcher, I would be interested. There are so many bad books written in the 1950's about the WOW of seeing a bird or about raising one before releasing it to the wild to be immediately eaten by a predator who can spot an untrained newbie just as fast a a pickpocket can spot a tourist at the Trevi Fountain in Rome. It felt good despite being such a small step. Gives me hope that I can, someday, tackle the zillions of books that I cling to like a previously starved child hoarding food.

Eating was on plan, CREDIT moi. I'm reveling in the length of time I've gone without falling for the feeling that a snack was just what I needed. Now's the time for me to remember that I can always fall back into snacking if I fail to use my Beck strategies. Dinner conversation joyfully discussed the recently discovered bone chip of a 13+ year old girl who had a Neanderthal mother and a Denisovan father. 'Joyfully' because we avoided all topics coming out of Washington, D.C..


Joy (gardenerjoy) – Would seem that someday you'll have to accept that "weirdness" is your new normal.

maryann – Thanks for, "I can do anything for one day that would appall me if I had to do it for a lifetime." I can use that.

Karen (karenrn) – Congrats for making it to the top. Yay for finding the last corner of the globe that has no Internet. I won't tell.

Beth (bethturnaround) – Your company sure throws challenging parties with several venues where you have to make food and drink decision. Kudos for surviving.

Penny. – Neat that you see the pattern of your scale's response to your eating plan.

Readers -

Good morning all!

I post from my phone, which is a pain but getting easier as I start to remember who is who, and no longer need to look back to see which name is attached to which message.

Karen, so happy to read your hike went well and you are enjoying your trip.

Maryann,those are some great credits for the day. I hope you got some better sleep.

Beth, that does sound like an interesting company outing. Kudos for keeping track of everything.

Bill, I passed by another little free library yesterday, on my dog walk, and think I need to start keeping some donation books with me.

Waving at gardenerjoy and Silverbirch. :wave:


Yesterday was within calories and I got my walk in. Based on someone's fav book list, I started reading a little book called "How to be happy, dammit" it reads like a little coffee table inspirational and is pretty good so far.

A report on cashews vs pumpkin seeds in salads. I started measuring cashews to reduce the problem of just dumping them in. Two tablespoons turned out to be a minimum amount to distribute well into my giant salads. Pumpkin seeds are smaller, though, so there are more seeds per tablespoon and they distribute more evenly in a salad. One tablespoon of pumpkin seeds is plenty. So, pumpkin seeds for the win!

Credits:

• posted twenty-four days in a row
• refused to be brought down by a couple of days of the upticks on the scale -- it's noise

Weigh-in: +0.3 kgs, Exercise: +35, 850/1200 minutes for August

Hi everyone!

Food was OP today, although I burned the bacon for the low-carb bacon cheeseburger casserole. So, we had low-carb cheeseburger casserole. It was pretty darned good :-). I went for a walk tonight--I finished up in a light drizzle but it didn't seem to hurt me any. I've done all my behaviors for today--this post, recorded everything, weigh and checked my sugar this morning, no sweets, read my book (Fat Chance), read my cards, and exercised.

Not much more to report--I'm drinking lots of water and working on the website for the lot we're selling.

G'night all!

--Beth

Saturday - French settlers found New Orleans, named after the Duke of Orleans (1718)
 

Diet Coaches/Buddies – The craving arose to buy the dark chocolate candy bar on sale at the supermarket just because it was sitting there highly visible at the checkout line. It's a crime that the checkout line is loaded with "grab me" items. But, I remembered that when I don't buy junk food, I don't eat it. CREDIT moi for not setting up a snack for later. I wasn't able to buy blueberries because DW had already filled the fridge with blueberries. It's that happy window of the summer when we eat as many blueberries as we possibly can. Just love it.

Walked, CREDIT moi, to the library to return two books. Picked up two books for the DGD and the DVD movie Florence Foster Jenkins with Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant. We loved it. I didn't know the story and hadn't heard of the movie. Since we love opera, the wildly off-key singing was particularly grating but the story of Foster Jenkins is touching. It was nice to have Hugh Grant as a sympathetic character.


Joy (gardenerjoy) – Neat to have a scientific experiment with pumpkin seeds.

Beth (bethturnaround) – Yay for accepting that a light rain is not an emergency.

Penny. – A day with a walk is a good day.

Readers -

Good morning!

Yesterday was on plan, and I succeeded in getting the next batch of food made, even though I had a busy work day. After dinner walk completed.

Three days into fall already? I missed that it had officially transitioned (edit: not until September 22nd duh! I looked it up tired in bed last night. Haha! That seemed crazy early).
I'm having a bit of anxiety about seasonal depression making a repeat this winter. Last year was so bad but I was finally able to snap out of it when I got one of those lights and started playing an active game on my kids' virtual reality gaming system. It has music and feels like dancing. I'm hoping these tools will help from the start.

Today's challenge is lunch out. Fortunately, it's a place that serves giant salads, so I'll have one of those, being careful to keep the carb and fat selections on the limited side so I don't unwittingly consume more calories than I mean to.

Credits:

• posted twenty-five days in a row

Weigh-in: NA kgs, Exercise: +60, 910/1200 minutes for August

Good Morning, Coaches.

Happy Saturday.

Weigh in shows a pounds under ticker. I was able to close the kitchen early and then later resist temptations and rationalizations to reopen it. I am heading out for a walk after this posting. I must remember that it is exercise that is maintaining my losses. It is about health, not just a number.

I have meditated 173 minutes since starting my meditation app. It is extraordinarily difficult for me to quiet my mind but I know this is a skill that is super important. It will help with mindless eating if nothing else.

Karen: So glad you enjoyed your hike. I love it up there.
Beth: Super credit for bar hopping with restraint. It is so easy to slip into social eating.
Penny: I think exercise is a crucial piece of the solution to my depressions. You active video game is a great way to get those endorphins. Study after study has shown movement to be as effective as medication.
Gardenerjoy: those salads are very sneaky with their calories. It pays to be vigilant.
BBE: Freedom from snacks is a great thing.

I’m posting early tonight since I have a Mensa event this evening and will get home late. I’m on plan so far today and just read a bunch of my cards preparing for tonight’s food at the event. I am not going to have anything sweet. I Cain eat and I will allow myself vegetables and fruit and protein but not even a single cookie. I don’t do well with "just one" when it’s pssoble to get a second so I will not have any. My cards reminded me what to tell myself—I will be glad I didn’t have any treats. I will be glad I didn’t mess up my progress. I will be glad I stayed on plan.

I did walk this morning. I’m getting faster. I did my 40 minute walk in 37 minutes. I had to walk in the forest preserve parking lot to get my additional 3 minutes.

I’ve read my cards—my last daily behavior is to read 5 pages of a diet book. I have Good Calories, Bad Calories on my phone. I pick up a different book every day—I think I’ve got 5 going right now besides spot reading Beck.

—Beth

Edited after I got home: I did amazingly well holding back from the sweets, including having no cookies and no cake. However, I ate more than twice as much as I should have and binged on peanut butter pretzels. No sweets is a win. The binging on pb pretzels is not a win. MFP says I'd gain 7 lbs in 5 weeks if I ate like today every day. I won't though--I feel horrible--my stomach is upset and I know it's because I kept eating even when I was full. I'll be making some new cards and new bright line--one trip to the buffet line. One. Only one. Just one. No sweets--and a single trip. I keep learning. I am giving myself credit for recording everything--and will remember how icky I feel right now.

Sunday - 19th Amendment to U.S. Constitution guarantees women the vote (1920)
 

Diet Coaches/Buddies – Walk, CREDIT moi, included browsing the same mini-library that I browse whenever I walk. No books brought home was a win. There is a house to be inspected that is scheduled for tear down - just because. Just because it can be destroyed and a new place built to be sold at an outrageous price in the current hot market. Homes in our neighborhood have a pleasant Victorian look. This developer will insert a stark modern design to "improve" our staid tastes.

Eating was on plan with no snacks, CREDIT moi. Yesterday I forgot to note that I did have a snack with lunch. The teen across the street brought over two small brownies from the batch she baked on the last day at home before being driven to start her Freshman year of college. It blows my mind that someone can be so organized that they have time to bake before leaving for college. Her parents had to rent a minivan to carry all the stuff she "needed" in her room. One can't do college without a mini-fridge and microwave. "But we've paid for full meal service," her parents argued into a brick wall.


Joy (gardenerjoy) – A giant salad is such a good lunch - provided the croutons and other accoutrements can be bounded.

maryann – Kudos for staying with your choice to do meditation.

Beth (bethturnaround) – Yep, seconds are such a deadly part of a potluck meal. Do you still direct the games?

Penny. – Thank you for not starting fall already. September is soon enough for me. Hope you weather the seasonal changes.

Readers -

Hi coaches! I have been feeling a bit gloomy for a bit and didn’t want to post. I have managed to get things done, like schedule a PT appt finally. I’m hoping to avoid having to go in to my primary for a referral, i don’t want to take even more time from work. But my hip is continuing to really hurt and I need to get this addressed.

And I finally got rid of DH’s old car which was in bad shape. I donated it to NPR and they will auction it off and I’ll get a (rather small) tax deduction. I started crying when they towed it away. But I need to get the driveway repaved so i had to get this done first.

DS starts school weds- junior year in HS which is really busy! And DD will move into her dorm on friday. She is continuing to amass stuff but not pack yet which is making me quite anxious. I heard one mom say “My living room looks like a mini Target” and that is exactly right for me too!

After all this I will really focus on better eating and exercise. I want to be able to walk without pain- and maybe go swing dancing in the near future!

Wave to all!

Curly, good to see you checking in! I like the image of Target in the living room, prepping for college. She must be excited.

Gardenerjoy, big salads are the best! They offer a lot of chewing too, which feels substantial.

Beth, you need a day in without all the yummy choices in your face. Ha! Credit for keeping track, and still making good choices.

Bill, the mini fridge is needed for the beer!


Yesterday was great. Calories were on plan, walk completed, and food planned for the next round of cooking. My weight is doing the plateau thing the last few days.

I do home health nursing and two of my patients sent me out the door with some of their garden bounty. Apples, plums, zucchini and cucumbers! I really do have the best job for me.

Good Morning,

Quiet Sunday morning. I am trying to fill it with things that are good for me. Credit early morning walk and piano practice. My back is feeling much better, thank goodness. Hopefully I will get to the gym today for some arm exercises.

Weight is at ticker.

Curleyjax: sounds like giving up the car was tough. Credit for doing it with grace and dignity despite the sorrow. Our sons are the same age. This Junior year is going to be packed full.
BBE: I hear your housing is fantastically expensive. An acquaintance is moving from Wyoming to a PHD at Boston U and is suffering quite the sticker shock.
Penny: How wonderful to have a good fit for a job.
Beth: MFP is a great tool. I have my weights back 2 years now. It anchors me in the solution having my history at my finger tips.