Thursday - Gold discovered near the Klondike River in Canadas Yukon Territory (1896)
Diet Coaches/Buddies Exercise was chase the (2 yr 11 mo) DGD day. She stood on the park bench and proudly announced "I'm trying not to fall." I feel like I'm hearing her mother when she makes reassuring statements to make us back off - she's in control. The great statement was made again when she woke up from a two-hour nap with "I need to pee." She'd mistakenly been put to her nap in underpants instead of pull-ups but came up dry! Went home dry. I could get used to this. I asked her to open a 'present' for Grandmom - a book about dinosaurs (The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: A New History of a Lost World). She unpeeled the Amazon cardboard wrapping, saw the cover picture declaring happily, "It's about dinosaurs." Then, with annoyance, yanked off the offending dust jacket, sat down on the kitchen floor and opened the book to read. "Just words for grownups," she assessed and handed the book back to me. Love that she knows exactly what one does with a book.
My later walk to Amazon Whole Foods gathered dinner. I found some delightful "Caribbean vegetables" in the salad bins - a great compliment to the standard garlic and herbs rotisserie chicken. Eating was on plan without snacks, CREDIT moi, culminating with dinner on the patio that concluded with watermelon. It's just the best time of summer in the evening when the temperatures leave the unpleasant nineties.
Joy (gardenerjoy) Love your image of using your time in a self-driving car with reading. I picture myself intently focused with hands gripping the steering wheel waiting for the auto-pilot to mess up needing me to take over.
silverbirch Yay for a packed lunch - you know what's in it.
maryann Love the reminder, "What is the worse that can happen?" Kudos for continuing with your plan to avoid sweets at work.
Karen (karenrn) Planning snacks for a long driving day is a big challenge.
Beth (bethturnaround) I have a relative who is considered to have an outrageous fashion sense because of her gigantic hats. Few folks know that the hats are because she has to avoid the UV light on her skin. Your book sounds interesting.
Penny. It was a harsh reality to me to learn that when I lost weight I needed less calories to stay the same. What a bummer.
Readers -
Quote:
day 12Practice Hunger Tolerance
what are you thinking?
During your hunger experiment, you might need to repeatedly confront sabotaging thoughts, such as, I don't want to keep doing this ... This is too uncomfortable. Remind yourself that there have been times in your life when you've been hungry but survived: when you fasted for a medical procedure or religious holiday, when you couldn't eat because you were delayed in traffic, or when service was extremely slow in a restaurant. You'll always survive because hunger is never an emergency.
Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Beck Diet Solution (Pink book), Pg 125.
Super credit for seeing 159 on the scale. I haven't weighed in the 50s since April 2017. Karen resonated with me when she wrote she is wonderful at a maintenance program. I'm grateful that I didn't gain since 2017 but it is not my goal. Everything feels better in this decade to me. My knees, back, and clothing are all happier. Time to step up with my exercise because that is the true maintenance key for me.
Credit for a direct drawing lesson of a cartoon frog. I saw how little experience these kids have with drawing. They were uncomfortable and hard on themselves. That turned into a few spots of bad behavior but with patience, tolerance and boundaries I think I can handle it.
BBE: Books are such a joy. I am glad DS has always loved them. Penny: A twenty mile bike ride is impressive to plan even if it gets cancelled. Credit.
Again I was on plan yesterday, but at the top of the calorie range. I know if I am to lose weight I will have to lower my calories or increase my exercise. I am hoping to increase the exercise while I'm away from here and in cooler temperatures. Today's exercise will be elliptical at the Y and practice on jump rope double unders. I do have my rope shortened to the correct length, so that should help. You would be surprised at how much work jumping rope is; or I am anyway.
Maryann Wow what a great feeling to have broken that 160 barrier. Good for you!
Bill I can't believe how quickly your DGD is growing up. My goodness, she will soon be 3.
Silverbirch Way to go packing your lunch.
Beth Glad you're back on track and feeling in control. I've been using MFP for years. You must have read the wrong line, spring mix has very few grams of carbs. Are you sure you weren't reading the carrots line?
Penny How was the paint night? We have a place for that near here, but since I have little artistic ability I would be afraid to go.
GardenerJoy Like Bill I think I would have to be paying attention while the self-driving car was taking me places. I am thinking it is just the thing that might enable my husband and I to stay in our own home for a long time. Of course I am no where near the time when I won't be driving, but when the time comes it would be a great way to get around to where I need to go. Our friend owned a Subaru dealership for years and sold it recently partly because he thinks fewer folks will be purchasing cars as they won't need one of their own with the self driving car services that will be available. We'll see what happens.
Well, it's time to get myself to the gym. You all have a great day!
Yesterday didn't go according to plan and neither did my eating, but I made good choices and got a drop on the scale to prove it.
Credits:
posted sixteen days in a row
wrote a plan for today that accommodates an evening meeting
Weigh-in: -0.35 kgs, Exercise: +60, 570/1200 minutes for August
bethturnaround; Thanks for the recommendation of Brain Powered Weight Loss. I just requested it from the library. I continue to be fascinated by how well psychological treatments for substance abuse work for my "food abuse." It's also given me a lot more compassion for people dealing with substance abuse.
BillBlueEyes: Thanks for sharing the story of DGD and the dinosaur book. I told it to DH and we had a good laugh over breakfast. How dare dinosaur books have only words for grownups.
Paint night with friends was a lot of fun! I would definitely do that again. Credit to myself for declining the offer to eat out beforehand, and the wine at the painting place. I kept to my calorie limit and was rewarded with a pound gained this morning.
Karen, the paint parties are step by step and easy peasy.
Maryann, congrats on getting into the 150s!
Silverbirch, packing your own lunch deserves major credit!
Bill, it sounds like another great day you had. I like how your dgd saw the words in the book and decided they were meant for adults. Lol
Gardenerjoy, yay for losing weight even though your day did not go as planned! I guess we had opposite days.
Beth, I saved your book titles to check out next. Thanks!
My scale is being cooperative this week, but more importantly, I'm putting "x"s in my checkboxes on my tracking spreadsheet. I'm posting here, recording on MFP, avoiding sweets, walking--all good things. The weight follows. I changed my ticker to 172, but I was actually 170.2 this morning. I'm excited about heading down into the 160s--I am not sure when I last was, but I know it's been more than 16 years.
I had a challenge today--I had to go take my aunt to the hospital. (Don't ask me why she didn't go in an ambulance--I never got a good answer to that question--she did need to be at the hospital.) I grabbed two bars on my way out of the door "just in case". I had one about the right time while waiting for her getting tests done in the ER. I was getting to dinner time hungry when my cousin arrived. He offered me a snack. I declined (credit there). As I left, I was going back and forth in my head--stop and get food, eat a bar and then have a shake later and make it a five product day, go home and make the salad with chicken I'd planned on. Back and forth. I decided that stopping and getting food was out. I could do five products or I could go home and make my salad. Once I disallowed the "stop and get food" option I felt much less stress and recognized that I did want food (as opposed to all meal replacements). I got home, made a wonderful salad, and enjoyed it a great deal. Then I picked one of my books and walked it back to the library. I can't walk around the lake after dark, but I can walk to the library, so I did. It wasn't so much that I wanted to return a book as that I wanted to have a reason to walk to the library :-)
So, credit for my dinner tonight--it was harder than I would have expected or wanted it to be to make the right choice, or at least, a right choice, but I did it.
penny: Credit making good food and drink choices around the social outing--those can be downfalls and you held firm.
joy: Sounds like good credits--making good choices, posting 16 days in a row, and planning for an evening meeting.
karenrn: You were right--I entered too large of a quantity for the spring mix. The problem is that I'm supposed to be at 15g carbs per meal. Even numbers like 2 and 3 g seem to add up fast when the goal is to only be at 15. As long as I am losing weight, though, and the carbs are coming from veggies and only occasional fruits, I'm going to just flow. If the weight plateaus (or I start gaining!) then I'll start paying more attention to the veggie fruits. Jumping rope is funny--it used to be something I did for hours as a kid--now I can't imagine how hard it would be!
maryann: Huge credit for being in the 150s again! You've been working hard to get there.
BillBlueEyes: Your DGD is adorable. Sounds like you scored a great meal at Whole Foods--great and tasty choices.
silverbirch: Hope your day went well with your packed food and packed water!
Friday - Chinese Valentine Day / Daughters Festival (Chinese folklore)
Diet Coaches/Buddies Exercise was some walking, CREDIT moi, but not enough. There are just so many things to get done and things to avoid. I've collected a stack of eight returns for the library by adding two books that I'm inclined not to finish. It remains a challenge for me to openly choose not to finish a book. It's easier to leave it in the stack of active books with a bookmark in place until the stack become overwhelming.
WARNING: Don't give a book about dinosaurs to a spouse with an attitude! The opening pages show a cladistics chart with Ornithischia on the left and Theropoda on the right descending into modern birds. I already knew this and also know that chickens are Aves even though they aren't in any Bird Guide that I use. I asked what was for dinner and got, "Dinosaur meat." Jeez, Louise. There was also tomatoes and green salad and it ended with watermelon. A lovely evening on the patio. After 40 years, I should have sensed a pause and suspected something coming, but I was blindsided when she deadpanned, "Tastes like chicken."
Joy (gardenerjoy) Yay for good choices even when the day itself is off plan.
maryann Such success, "My knees, back, and clothing are all happier."
Karen (karenrn) On plan is always a good day.
Beth (bethturnaround) Super Kudos for making the decision that "stop and get food" was out. I share your love of using the library as a good excuse to get a walk.
Penny. Neat that paint night was a bunch of fun. Kudos for good food choices despite the scale's reluctance.
Readers -
Quote:
day 12Practice Hunger Tolerance
what are you thinking?
If these kinds of thoughts overpower you and lead you to eat before dinner, try this experiment again and again, each time increasing the amount of time that elapses before you eat. If your fear of hunger is too strong, you might need to conquer it more gradually.
Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Beck Diet Solution (Pink book), Pg 125.
Glad it is Friday. I have had an OP breakfast and plan to lift weights ( light) at the gym tonite. Credit for keeping a positive attitude on what has been a poor sleeping week. The Beck trick of "Oh Well" has kept my in good standing. When I start bemoaning sleeplessness, I answer "Oh Well" and get up and putter around. Everybody always wants more time and this week I got it.
My goal this weekend is to plan some quick meals that have no dairy. This is by Drs. orders. I realize how much dairy I eat now that I can't eat it. A little meal planning for the week will help my family as well.
BBE: Cute response from DW. Gotta watch out for those spouses. Beth: Thanks for reminding me about the importance of packing appropriate food. gardenerjoy: Congrats on the scale drop. Penny: I want to start going to more art experiences.
Today's challenge is dinner at a restaurant and I can't predict if we'll be sharing small plates or ordering entrees. I think, I'll order a salad and a small plate even if every one else does an entree. It's a vegan restaurant, so that will make it easy to focus on vegetables!
The other specialty is small batch whiskey. My rule is drink or dessert, not both. It will be a drink tonight.
Credits:
posted seventeen days in a row
Weigh-in: NA kgs, Exercise: +60, 570/1200 minutes for August
After two days of very bad air quality it cleared up. I tried to talk myself out of doing any exercise but ultimately did put the dogs in the stroller and walked about 2.5 miles. Credit!
NSV, I fit into the next size down pants I have. Woot!
An OP food day, although I had a 4th product today--I was just too hungry a while ago to not have something additional. My intake is still low for the day so I'm not worried about it. I think I'm still feeling weird because my blood sugar is crazy. Today is the last day of prednisone so hopefully I'll be back to normal within a few more days. No exercise today since I spent the evening at the hospital with my aunt. When I got home and walked to the mailbox, I really wanted to walk--it was just too late for me to feel comfortable doing so. Tomorrow, I'll get up and walk at the forest preserve--I'm looking forward to it.
penny: Congrats on the smaller jeans!!! That always feels so great!
joy: Hope your dinner out went well--it sounds like you had it planned out.
maryann: Big credit for recognizing how well you're handling your sleeplessness--but it does really stink when you're tired and can't sleep and want to.
BillBlueEyes: Sounds like you need a walk (or two) to the library to whittle down your book stack. I just looked up and discovered that the library will be a 35 minute walk from our new house--I think I like 20 minutes each way a lot better--it's a reasonable evening walk.
Good morning. It's a very dull day out there but nonetheless I think I'll go and walk up and down a small hill a few times. My breathing is telling me I'm out of condition so I need to put in some effort in the cardio direction. I'm starting to feel the benefit of daily concerted exercise now and my hip is hurting less. I'm going in the right direction!
Consumer request: any views on the Kindle Oasis (2017)? My original Kindle (with page turn buttons) is starting to slow and jam so I'm wondering about a new one. Are the Oasis buttons really very loud or just by comparison with a touch screen? Thanks!
Beth, you've really got the walking habit engrained now!
Penny, 2.5 miles is a nice distance. (Can't get over the dogs in the stroller though!)
gardenerjoy, "drink or dessert" seems to work nicely for you. Do you ever have any difficulties with it? I'm wondering whether its simple phrasing helps it to go in, rather like advertising catchphrases. If there's even a little truth in that, it might be worth working on phrasing other rules like that. Ha! Everyone, let's see what we can come up with!
maryann, good luck with no dairy produce!
Bill, much credit for returning books you hadn't finished. I put four unread books in the charity box I have on the go at home. They are by a nice author which is why I bought them (secondhand) but these were just not my cup of tea, as we say in these parts. We need that space on the shelves for all the other books that seem to pour through the door. And, as maryann said so well, gotta watch out for those spouses!
Saturday - Genghis Khan, Mongol leader, dies (1227, China)
Diet Coaches/Buddies Part of exercise was resisting all snack foods on sale at the supermarket, CREDIT moi. Stuff looks more attractive than it actually is when it's displayed on the end of the aisle as if a bargain that's not to be missed. As always, I got a week's worth of strawberries; as always, I'm grateful to whoever consistently plants and harvests these little jewels for my breakfast pleasure. Bought another watermelon. We'll milk watermelons as long as they're abundant.
Eating was on plan, CREDIT moi with no snacks other than the watermelon after dinner. As I was headed out to the patio for dinner, the rain started. I was disappointed; gardener DW was ecstatic. Unexpected Kudos to the U.S. State Department: we applied for renewed passports on Monday a week ago and received them in the mail this Friday - only eleven days later. We paid none of the extra fees for rapid service. I was impressed with the speed of service. Once again, I read a story of a family who weren't allowed to board a flight to Spain because their passports expired only four weeks after their booked return flight - short of Spain's required 90 days. (Some countries, Brazil for example, require 180 days.) Now we're ready for any spontaneous flights to Spain - not our usual style. Unfortunately, the picture makes me look like an older gentleman. Just not graciously growing to accept that visual.
Joy (gardenerjoy) I do love that a vegan restaurant tends to have so many good choices for sane eating.
silverbirch Yay for the hip getting with the program.
maryann Ouch for having to find a way to eat without dairy. Neat to use "Oh, Well."
Beth (bethturnaround) So neat that you "really wanted to walk." Hope your aunt is doing OK.
Penny. Congrats, indeed, for slipping into the smaller pants. Love the image of walking your dogs in their stroller.
Readers -
Quote:
day 12Practice Hunger Tolerance
what are you thinking? Here are some common sabotaging thoughts experienced by dieters who struggle with tolerating hunger. Make Response Cards to read whenever you need them.
Sabotaging Thought: I should eat when I'm hungry. Isn't that what everyone does? Helpful Response: Most people don't eat every time they're hungry. They wait until their next meal. I need to learn that skill, too.
Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Beck Diet Solution (Pink book), Pg 125.
Today's challenge is a brown bag lunch. I meant to buy an apple this week. Oh well. I'll pack a sandwich and have part 2 of my lunch, a giant salad, when I get home.
Credits:
posted eighteen days in a row
Weigh-in: NA kgs, Exercise: +40, 640/1200 minutes for August
silverbirch: You're definitely on to something. "Drink or dessert" just slides right into my brain and pops up when I need it.
Starting school stress is working its magic on the scale. I also don't really know what to eat without dairy. That's an additional factor. All said, I am four pounds from goal. I have changed my ticker which is kind of excitng. I am off to the store this morning for Almond Milk, ghee, and berries for spinach protein smoothies. The sleeplessness continues. I will try staying up later at night.
silverbirch: credit for the connection that exercise is helping the hip. Sometimes I think I shouldn't exercise if something is hurting.. No, I just need to be cautious. Penny: a size down is a big deal.
Thursday - Gold discovered near the Klondike River in Canadas Yukon Territory (1896)
