Yesterday went much, much better. This feels like the beginning of a good cycle. Yay!

Today, I have a full schedule of relaxing activities planned, because, apparently, that's the only way I'll take a day off.

Credits:

• posted forty-two days in a row
• exercised for an hour, just so I could get to the 1/3 point of my exercise goal at the 1/3 point of the month

Weigh-in: NA kgs, Exercise: +60, 400/1200 minutes for September

Mornin'!

Dh birthday outing went very well and fun was had. I had two fish tacos and slid the fries off onto various plates around the table. The only issue was finding myself unable to fall asleep until after 1am and realised all of the ice tea I was drinking had over-caffeinated me.

Gardenerjoy, kudos for using your exercise minutes goal to motivate yourself! It always feels good to get back on plan with eating, past the white knuckle phase.

Bill, that sounds like reentry overeating. You stayed very focused during your planned lamb dinner but then let your guard down the next day. I definitely have a pattern of that. I'd get through a very stressful event and then lose it a bit after the stressful event is over and things have calmed down. Maybe?

Beth, I hope you can get the digital downloads from the library. I was hoping to walk to the library and pick it up, but with none on the shelves and five hold requests, the digital option was best. I looked for the obesity code on the Libby app and even it has a wait list. Ha! I have it requested now.

Silver, I'm definitely going to see if dh wants to work together to get kindling sorted ahead this year. Sorry the siren call of petrol station goodies was so loud yesterday. I wish I could come help plug your ears and steer your ship away from those wenches.

Karen, your clothing metric system is where I want to be! Eventually, when I'm not at a size that can jump 10 pounds this way or that and still wear the same pants. Enjoy your backpacking trip!

Hi all!

Food went well today, although I felt uncomfortably full after dinner. I didn't have that much to eat, but somehow it was still too much for me. I didn't recognize fullness and then keep eating, so I'm not sure how that happened.

No exercise today--I managed to just putter away the evening somehow.

Saw the weight loss doctor today and he asked if I was done. I told him no, and he asked how much more I wanted to lose. I said I wanted to take it 5-10 lbs at a time. We have another appointment in 2 months. I'm still going to my weekly classes, though!

--Beth

Diet Coaches/Buddies – Exercise was carrying trays of plants for DW to the host site for this weekend's plant sale. Her group conducts a hugely popular sale once a year where many new gardeners get to buy a native plant that comes with instructions for where in the yard it should be planted. They do a lot of work. They also buy each other's plants when something exotic is offered. It's a fundraiser, but if it were about money I'd be better off just writing a check. We just got home in time to miss the rain.

My other activity was a visit to my ophthalmologist as demanded during my visit for a prescription for new glasses last week. Actually, not my ophthalmologist, but his successor. Instead of a lecture about why I wasn't appearing yearly for glaucoma testing, he said, after carefully shining bright lights into my dilated eyes, that I don't have glaucoma and am not suspected of having glaucoma. So, a disease is cured just by changing doctors - perhaps I need to read Voltaire, LOL. Eating was on-plan, CREDIT moi, although dinner was eaten inside since we didn't get back from plant delivery until after dark.


Joy (gardenerjoy) – I like to follow your exercise chart throughout the month. Congrats for making a third of the way on schedule.

Beth (bethturnaround) – Kudos for sticking with your weight loss classes. Yep, evenings can be so easily puttered away.

Penny. – Kudos for shifting away those fries. Thanks for the notion of "reentry overeating" - that gives me something to watch out for.

Readers -

Hi Coaches! I went to visit my folks for a few days, and promptly came down with a bad cold or something on the way home. I wonder if it was psychosomatic. It was very hard to see my mom- she is on chemo and her memory is definitely failing. She also kept making reference to not wanting to live thru another winter. My 87 year old dad is learning to do the financial stuff etc that she used to do. Fortunately they still have a support network, and my older brother is able to come down to help occasionally (doesn’t have kids and more flexible work) but neither of us are close by. It really would be too much to lose my husband and mother within a year. We were all able to go out for a nice meal and her appetite is still good at least.


Anyhow- it was good to just collapse yesterday into bed and do nothing, I feel better today. I’m realizing that I was so busy with DD’s health issues and then getting her off to college, I have had less time to just be and absorb the loss. My DS agreed that it feels harder now without his dad than it did in the beginning, reality is really hitting. I can’t use this as an excuse, but I’m going to go gently back into eating better again and not pressure myself into losing x amount of weight by a certain time.

Off to do my stretches, credit for that anyhow!

Good morning coaches,

Food and exercise have both been just so so, it will be good to get home and get back in my routine. Yesterday I learned the weather for our backpacking trip is lousy, so lousy that I decided not to go. In fact the whole trip may be cancelled. I backpacked the Wonderland Trail in similar conditions (rain, possible snow, and cold) three year ago and that part of the trip was miserable. The temps for this trip are predicted to be lows about 30 and highs in the low 40's. The bummer is that now I've had to reschedule time finding other things to do because I still have my gathering in Colorado that doesn't start until the 20th. Hopefully I am learning that this is too much time away. Hopefully. It's just that suffering through summer, I keep thinking I want to be in the cooler temps. I just need to remember that my home isn't here, and neither are my husband or Otis. My best friend, who I am staying with right now is glad to have me as long as I want to stay which is wonderful. I will leave tomorrow to see another friend a couple of hours north and then spend time in Wenatchee and Lake Chelan before leaving for Colorado on the morning of the 18th.

Curlyjax What a tough time you are going through. I am glad to hear you making a plan to focus on health and not just weight loss. The weight loss will come I'm sure.

Bill I'm sure glad you don't have glaucoma. Were you told you did before? If you are ever in Tacoma, also check out the LeMay car museum and the glass museum.

Beth You must be looking pretty darned good if the weight loss doctor asked if you were done. Good for you.

Penny I hate when I can't fall asleep after being out in the evening. For me at times it's just the stimulation of being out and about. Caffeine definitely doesn't help.

GardenerJoy I need the beginning of a good cycle. I think I'm going to try starting one today. I'm going to track my food again and get out for a long walk this morning before the rain starts.
I have a couple of audiobooks that just became available from the library and that will help me with the long walk part.

Waving to Silverbirch.

Have a great day everybody!

I had another good eating day yesterday. Not quite the plan, but definitely in the spirit of the plan.

Credits:

• posted forty-three days in a row
• exercised for over an hour, mostly yoga because it's relaxing

Weigh-in: NA kgs, Exercise: +80, 480/1200 minutes for September

Good morning!

Yesterday was my 90th day eating within my calorie limit and I am down 17 of the 50 pound regain (I had lost 69 pounds last time wah!).

One of the ladies from the meetup cycling group reached out to me via email to let me know about a couple easier rides on the calendar (she leads),and I am going to do them today and Friday. Hopefully I don't smother her too much with my gratitude for that little moment of thoughtfulness. I need more of that in my life!

Edit to say today's bike ride was cancelled for rain. Rain shmrain pfft. lol

Beth, that is so exciting to be at that point! You must have felt good after that appointment.

Bill, that is wonderful news about the glaucoma. My mom would probably say Jesus healed you, and I would be in the other corner shaking my head with Voltaire. of course, he lived during the days of bloodletting.

Curly, credit for checking in. You have a lot going on.

Karen, that's a bummer about the backpacking trip. Good luck with getting a good cycle started today. "It's always hard in the beginning but then it gets easier."

Gardenerjoy, kudos for eating in the spirit of the plan!

Good Evening, Coaches.

Weight is at ticker. I had a better day after a very rough week. My appetite has not comeback. That might change with a medication change. I am glad I have here to post to keep tabs on myself. Physical therapy started up again and I am going to wait a few days before I try to do anything more than walk. I hope to sleep well tonite.

Good to read everybody's post. I always appreciate getting a peek in everybody's busy life.

Hi, all!

I don't seem to be increasing my calories much--today and yesterday both, I was under 1000 calories. That really isn't my intention. I had a big dinner, but it was just all low cal/low carb things--a delicious salad with lots of veggies and blueberries and chicken and even cheese. I may need to increase my dinner size and/or have a controlled evening snack.

Speaking of snacking, I'm reading The Obesity Code and the author claims people shouldn't snack at all. I'm getting to the part of the book where is advocates intermittent fasting. I didn't get into the details of that tonight but I'm looking forward to reading more about it. He claims that obesity is caused by insulin levels and that intermittent fasting decreases insulin levels and increases at-rest metabolism. I haven't looked up any of his sources yet.

We close on our new house tomorrow morning. I'm both excited and apprehensive--I guess that's typical of any huge decision. There are a few outstanding issues--fortunately, the attorney will be there tomorrow morning and can be the one who handles such things as "the window mechanism wasn't repaired" and "where is the required survey that hasn't been provided yet?".

We'll be spending tomorrow afternoon at the new house--I'll bring my sneakers and see if I have time for a walk around the forest preserve nearby. Then we leave tomorrow night to visit my mom for the weekend.

maryann: I'm sorry to hear you've had a rough week. I'm glad you're checking in. I hope PT goes well for you.

penny: 90 days is a great streak--and it looks as if the scale thinks so, too. I'm sorry your ride got rained out.

joy: In the spirit of the plan is still a great success. Your exercise consistency continues to inspire me!

karenrn: What a bummer that the weather is getting in the way of your plans. Cancelling rather than suffering through bad weather makes sense, though. (I'm reminded of a particularly cold rainy horrible whitewater rafting trip when the kids were younger). Our weight loss program is a bit strange in that it isn't trying to get people to a 'normal' weight so much as it's trying to get people to be a healthier weight--even if that is still overweight or even obese by BMI measurements. I don't know what my real goal is--it keeps changing in my head and I still don't know what is realistic--but I'm doing well right now and think I can continue to lose. So, 242 down to 167 is a huge win--it's just that I'm not done yet.

curlyjax: You have so much hard stuff going on in your world. I'm glad DS is able to talk to you about what he's feeling.

BillBlueEyes: The plant sale sounds great--but I understand the 'just write a check' philosophy to certain kinds of fundraisers. In this case, though, the plants are spreading out across the community, enriching everyone, right? Today's quote is really helpful.

G'night all!

--Beth

Diet Coaches/Buddies – Exercise was chase the (2 yr, 11 mo) DGD day, CREDIT moi. She climbed in the climbing structure with more courage than ever before. It provides opportunities to twist into odd positions to get from one place to another. In the past, she's only gone up and down the obvious paths; yesterday she explored like a monkey. The big event was that I had to drive her home alone because DW had a late afternoon appointment. She's never been in the car with either of us without it being both of us. All involved were worried whether I'd be able to handle it. I was annoyed; of course I could handle it. Usually, she has grandmom in the backseat with her reading books. I was armed with snacks, games, and books for the thirty minute drive. The book of games lasted about 100 yards, "I'm done." "Would you like to do another?" I asked hopefully. "No." No ambiguity. The good news is that she was quite happy back there singing to herself or chatting with me about what passed by. It was a major forward motion.

Eating was on plan, CREDIT moi. Dinner, alone, was a modest portion of rotisserie chicken, a MONSTER green salad, and a slice of anadama bread. My brain remembers anadama bread from the '60's as being really special. This was only so-so. Maybe my memory is distorted. Maybe it was never that special.


Joy (gardenerjoy) – The spirit of the plan sounds like the right thing.

maryann – It's great that you just keep marching forth.

Karen (karenrn) – Smart to avoid a hike into known bad weather - you've proved that you can do that already. [Yep, the previous doctor told me that I was susceptible to glaucoma - for whatever reason. Maybe just for age.]

curlyjax – You've had so much on your plate; hope you allow yourself to use your support system to process the loss of your DH now that life slows down a bit.

Beth (bethturnaround) – Methinks that you're onto something with the notion that no snacks is the right number.

Penny. – LOL at "Rain shmrain pfft."

Readers -

Today's challenge was going to be a big question mark for supper due to an oddly-timed event at the Missouri Botanical Garden.

We'll meet at 4:30 for a champagne toast followed by the first viewing of a documentary about the recent rehab of one of the oldest buildings at the Garden, the Museum Building, opened in 1859 and patterned after the Museum of Economic Botany at Kew. Our Museum Building has been sitting empty for decades, but is now renovated and open to the public again.

I talked it over with DH, and we're going out to supper after and we chose the restaurant. So, it's not quite so big a question mark. The champagne will count as my drink. Following my drink or dessert rule, I won't have either at supper. It's tapas, so hard to choose in advance, but I'll insist on veggies and we know from experience that it's better to under-order. They'll always bring us another dish if we still want something after we've shared the first three dishes.

Credits:

• posted forty-four days in a row

Weigh-in: NA kgs, Exercise: +30, 510/1200 minutes for September

Quick check in today after a work meeting.

Yesterday was on plan, weight without change, and all is well.

Another social eating situation came up for Saturday. An old school friend is coming to town and wants to meet a group of us for dinner at a restaurant. They are still choosing the place, but so far the ones mentioned don't have nutrition info available. I'm still not sure what my game plan is for navigating those situations but I'll figure it out.

Phone check in.

Some back relief. Forcing myself to eat lots of fruits and veggies. Nothing is appealing. Haircut day and that is always a treat.

Wave.

Hi all!

We closed on our new house today! We're totally changing what we're going to be doing to it--met with an interior designer today and her ideas were way different than what we were thinking--but we think she's right--interior design is not a strength of mine.

Food was totally on plan, even with how hectic today turned out to be. No exercise--and I'm not seeing exercise-specific walks over the long weekend--we're waiting at the airport to go visit my mom in Arizona. This will be a bit of a high stress trip for me, but I remember: No matter what the problem is, if it isn't starvation, food won't solve it.DH, DD, and I are all going together and I know they'll be supportive. My plan is 3 products a day and one meal.

My weight continues to trend downward--that's a pretty motivating reason to stay on plan with food even if I'm traveling, which has been my downfall for a while.

Have a good night--I'll try to check in daily because it keeps me on track--I've got all my cards available on my phone and iPad since they're online and I downloaded a couple of books to my phone and iPad--including the pink book and whatever color the Diet Traps book is.

--Beth