Today's dishwasher requires some unusual kitchen chores. We've been using the old dishwasher as a drying rack, so all the dishes will have to be put away. And, the installer requested that we remove everything from under the sink. I don't have a lot there, because it's an unfinished cabinet. DH pointed out that this would be a really good time to vacuum under there. If we time it right, I might even vacuum the dishwasher hole.

There's a big question mark for my supper plan. I have an event that I'm only about 70% committed to. Assuming that I attend, we'll need to come up with leftovers or carry-outs for supper.

Good morning!

Yesterday was on plan and weight dropped a little.

My son made the drive okay! Whew! I think I'll be more confident in him driving that far now.

Maryann, that is fantastic about your son's violin piece! Congratulations to him and kudos to you for eating mindfully/sticking to plan.

Beth, congrats on the record low! The indoor track sounds fun.

Curvy, you are a good mom. This time will pass. That's great your son wants to eat healthier too.

Bill, brrr, that sounds so cold! I hope you don't have to drive in it much. The soup sounds delicious!

Joy, getting the space behind an appliance cleaned is such a great part of gettting a new appliance.

Good morning coaches,

Leaving to take dh to the airport in a few minutes. I'll see if I can get this post in. Food has been on plan. No real exercise yesterday except a dog walk. Today's exercise was 50 minutes on the elliptical and upper body strength training. Food is planned for the day including a treat at dinner 1/2 cup ice cream and 1 Walker's shortbread. I'm having the group over for dinner and serving a salad I made for my local book club. They all liked it and so did I. I'll add chicken tonight since it will be the main dish.

Penny I'm glad your son's drive went well. I grew up in Longview and we went to Portland frequently. Dh is flying in to Portland today.
GardenerJoy I'm sure it's going to be very nice to have a new dishwasher, especially knowing it's all clean under there. I love getting that stuff done.
Maryann I'm doing the 24 hour plans and I've got a planned treat tonight. I hope it works as well as yours. My only problem is that the ice cream most likely won't all get eaten. I'll hide it in the freezer a bit and dh will be delighted with it.
Curlyjax I'm thinking of you as you go through helping your parents during this difficult time. It's been awhile for me, but I remember how difficult it was.
Bill I just can't imagine the temperatures you are enduring.
Beth Congratulations on your new low weight! You must be feeling pretty darned proud and you should.

Well, I best get moving. I hope you all have a great day. Don't freeze to death those of you in the cold temps.

Afternoon check in since this is the time I usually bail on my plan. All but one of my students were angels. Will I let the one bing bong ruin my day? Nope.

Hi everyone!

Quicker post tonight--food OP, water OP, no exercise. We did buy a car, though :-). Tomorrow I'll have time for a walk before we go and pick up the new car!

maryann--hope the rest of your day stayed on plan!

--Beth

Wednesday - French Impressionist painter Edouard Manet born (1832, Paris)
 

Diet Coaches/Buddies - One more day with ice chipping as exercise. When it warmed up to 10 degrees F, the chipping was easier. My Nissan LEAF traveled well on the icy highway when it took me sixteen miles out of town to have lunch with a friend. The multiple car accidents reported the day before were no longer happening. It was a pleasant ride. Not that I've ever been a patient man, but I'm tired of this cold weather already, LOL.

Eating was OKish, CREDIT moi. Lunch was a sandwich chosen by someone else. It was too large, but I chose to finish it anyway - all but the last edge of crust. If I were at home, I'd have packed up the second half for the next day's lunch.


Joy (gardenerjoy) - LOL at using the dead dishwasher as a drying rack - extracting the last crumb of usefulness.

maryann - Kudos for planning and executing a finite treat. Congrats for having a sane attitude toward your one "bing bong" student.

Karen (karenrn) - Neat that you've planned a dessert that you can live with.

curlyjax - Stuck in traffic on the highway is just the worst. Great that your DS wants to eat healthier.

Beth (bethturnaround) - Congrats for buying a car without doing a full twelve months of due diligence.

Penny. - Congrats for surviving your DS's drive to an evening party.

Readers -

The new dishwasher is installed and makes clean dishes -- yay!

Today, I have a plan that I believe I can follow. As others are doing, I'm more interested right now in following a plan than I am in making sure the scale goes down. That habit is more helpful to me in the long run than even weight loss.

OP day. Stuck with it even though I was quite hungry by the time I got home. I was sure it would not be enough but in the end it was. Credit.

Planned treat again today- I see how when I plan my food in MFP it so easily moves up to maintenance even though if feels like a restriction diet. This is such a good exercise for me because it is bringing me clarity. Although I am not focusing on calories, weight was down a bit today.

Good morning!

Yesterday was on plan and weight is holding.

Apparently I slept through a lot of excitement when the power went off last night. There was a loud boom of a transformer blowing and all the kids ran up and DH was explaining things and telling them to go to bed. Meanwhile, I was sleeping great and even enjoying some dreaming! Haha!

I bought a vegan cookbook (Vegan 8) and am going to work through the recipes. Last night I made the fettuccini alfredo and it was delish!

Beth, good job staying on plan. How exciting to get a new car!

Maryann, credit for checking in during your vulnerable window.

Karen, the salad sounds yum. I hope your DH had a nice flight and I'm excited for him getting to see the tiny baby.

Bill, sandwiches are hard to limit to half. Credit for okayish.

Joy, yay for clean dishes! We really need to replace ours too probably.

Good afternoon coaches,

Just a quick check in today since my company is here. Food plan worked great yesterday to include 1/2 cup ice cream (measured) and 1 Walker's shortbread cookie. Today I hiked by myself after taking one of the gals to the airport. It was just a 4 mile hike but with a good hill, so it felt great. Today food has been on plan and dinner will be a shrimp salad. We saw On the Basis of Sex this afternoon and both enjoyed it immensely. I had seen RBG at the theater which I thought was as good if not better.

More soon.

Hi everyone!

Food was OP today. My goal is to stay 100% on 5 products per day through the month of January, and I'm on track with that. I'll start back to one meal (dinner) per day (at least, most days) in February. I also have my goal for this week and next to walk 30 minutes three times per week. I'm at twice this week (went today) and I'll go tomorrow after work before my BFF arrives. If she arrives early, then she can hang out with DH and DD while I go walk!

This weekend is a Mensa weekend at a nearby hotel. My plan is to stay 100% on product and not eat any of the provided food. It's the best way for me to deal with temptation right now--just not get started. I'll have to find a long term path that doesn't include meal replacements but for now, avoidance seems like a good method.

We picked up our new car tonight. It's just a new version of the 3 year old Subaru Legacy we turned at the end of its lease. It's even the same color (although I like this shade of blue better). It's DH's car and he didn't want to change colors. It has that new car smell--it only had 16 miles on it. (And it's already made its first trip to the hardware store)

G'night all!

--Beth

p.s. Note my weight update--down 80 lbs!

Thursday - Russian city of St Petersburg renamed Leningrad (1924) (unrenamed in 1991)
 

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Exercise was chase the (3 yo) DGD day, CREDIT moi. A friend who also has young grandkids, dropped by just to meet her. The DGD warmed up immediately, told her about her two cats, answered questions, and explained the complicated names of all the dolls around here - including whether they live here or at her house. Then demonstrated the doll-sized carry vest that was part of her Christmas trove so that she can carry her doll everywhere without losing the use of her two hands. At the indoor playspace, she did her usual long period of swinging. Swinging seems to be an innate desire of kids - all kids want to use a swing.

Eating was good - especially at the potluck preceding our book club, CREDIT moi. I only had one plate even when some folks were having seconds. And that plate had a generous serving of the green salad (with small cubes of avocado). I did have dessert - but only samples of two of the three options. A friend under five feet who weighs less than a large Golden Retriever had all three! She also walks constantly.


Joy (gardenerjoy) - Yay, indeed, for clean dishes. Congrats for such a rapid conclusion of your purchase/installation. Did you vacuum the space before installation?

maryann - A touch of hunger every now and then is a good reminder that that's a common feeling for many folk.

Karen (karenrn) - Neat that you've seen both RBG and On the Basis of Sex - you've got the full story with both. A four mile hike should burn a half-cup of ice cream easily.

Beth (bethturnaround) - Congrats for getting your new car so quickly - you get the Joy (gardenerjoy) speed-of-purchase award, LOL. It's a brave/wise strategy to do your event with all products.

Penny. - Congrats for sleeping through the drama of a power outage. Good luck with your new vegan cookbook.

Readers -

Quick wave. We had a ton of free muffins at work and I indulged and brought some home for DS- and ate more. I am very mad at myself and wonder if I am capable of sticking to anything. My hip has been hurting more even though I am religious with my hip exercises, which is very discouraging. I can't blame DD or my mom dying or anything, it is just me. Although I will say it has been hard to carve out time to sit down and make a food plan; now that things are a little quieter I should be able to.
this week was also the one year anniversary of my husband dying. If you could lose weight from crying I would be underweight!

Fourth Day in a row OP. I am taking time to give myself full credit. No minimizing saying” yeah but what about losing weight” or “ Your letting yourself off easy.” The truth is it is hard to live with any restriction so I rock for holding to my commitment to myself. Also did my exercises (My hip hurts as well Curleyjax.)

Food is planned for the day with a new proposed treat. Sitting while eating is getting easier and easier as I don’t make decisions on the fly. Exercises will be stretches and a walk. Wish I had a mountain like Karen.

Trudging forward
 

Coaches:

I started decluttering the apartment once again two days ago. In the mess of papers and books and art supplies I found my willingness to follow a food plan again. Its a gradual implementation of stategies that work for me. Every week I practice something. From Wed to Tues is how my week will go perhaps officially weighing in on the Wed. (284.6 yesterday.)
This week it's this:
1. Wait an hour before I eat breakfast after I wake up
2. Stop eating for the day 3 hours before I go to sleep = 8pm max.

So far so good.

I have found this holiday season and this month just dismal. A very bad thing happened on xmas day and I have felt "flat" ever since. I think it has affected me way more than I thought it would/should. Anyway I can't eat over any issues because when I eat complusively I have no Off button and for sure I have lost the remote!

I hope to be more consistent here. Its just hard.

Bye for now.