Diet Coaches/Buddies - Exercise was chase the (4 yo) DGD day, CREDIT moi. She turned a two block walk from the subway station to the Boston Children's Museum into a full blown safari - stopping to examine each street sculpture, walking the top of each wall or barrier. She charmed the rather serious looking guard at the Boston Federal Reserve Building - a guy who looked like he didn't take nonsense from anybody coming after the tons of gold stored in his basement. I actually don't know if the Federal Reserve stores gold but there's a lot of security for folks that don't. The Children's Museum worked its charm; the DGD twice went to the top of its climbing structure. Explored the nearby park where we could monitor Boston Harbor while pretending to be pirates on a ship. Good day.
Eating was OK. Didn't have time for off plan snacking since I had a to-do list getting ready for our guests today. I carried the turkey from the basement fridge to the kitchen to extract the giblets and neck, cover it with foil, and bring it back down in its backing pan. It's now ready to have the lemon and onion and whatever inserted into its cavity and roast for 3 hours and fifteen minutes, then 'rest' for thirty minutes. Today I'll make the salad - my favorite part.
Joy (gardenerjoy) - Yep, maybe by Sunday it'll be time to consider eating again.
maryann - Kudos for posting when that's not what you want to do. Water and walking are great strategies.
Karen (karenrn) - Ouch for having to consider flash floods. That Ahi Sashimi Tuna salad sounds good.
Penny. - Keep the faith - a four pound range isn't that bad.
CJZee - Glad that you got to work a day at the gallery.
Readers -
Quote:
Day 37 Reduce Stress
To reduce stress, you have to change your rules. Here's how: . . .
Relax your rules for others.
Jackie, for example, was annoyed with customers who complained to her about the quality of her company's service: They shouldn't take it out on me! James was resentful that his neighbors didn't reach out to him: They should be nicer. Jill was worried because she thought others were too irresponsible: They should be much more careful.
Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Beck Diet Solution (Pink book), Pg 246.
Happy Thanksgiving to all! I was hoping to sleep in late but woke up with pain from my leg, ah well. I can take a nap later. I’m looking forward to cooking and baking in a leisurely fashion for just myself and the kids. I did wash all the pans and went to the dump yesterday so i’m starting the day off prepared. It’s so great to have 4 days off in a row! I’m looking for the positives today; heat, electricity, some of my favorite foods, checking in with family on the phone, and not having to drive anywhere. Maryann-hope you’re feeling better and you have a peaceful Thanksgiving. Bill- you must be worn out from yesterday! Today will be fun with DGD. Karen- stay safe in your travels and enjoy your extended family. Penny-Have a good day with your clan! I have a hard time imagining vegan thanksgiving but i’m sure you will make it delicious. Gardenerjoy-I hear you about wanting to ignore the holidays sometimes. Sounds like you have a good plan for managing food. Beth- thinking of you!
We're having a quiet day at home today -- the big festive meal will be tomorrow at the in-laws.
I mapped traditional Thanksgiving foods onto our usual supper plan. We generally have a starch, a protein, and veggies for supper. So, that's stuffing, turkey, and brussel sprouts.
I have a couple of things we could call dessert if we wanted, but we'll probably eat that earlier in the day as a snack or part of lunch.
I'm thankful for this group. I've been here ten years and it's the only thing that has ever worked for me for longer than a few months.
Exercise: +40, 1065/1200 minutes for November
BillBlueEyes: I did contract work for the St. Louis Federal Reserve. I don't know about gold, but they have all the cash needed by the region's banks stored in the basement. The security process for getting in to work was the same as getting on a airplane.
I'm off to work and dh has plans for a vegan Thanksgiving dinner. He mentioned a slow cooker stuffing and a slow cooker portobello roast, mashed potatoes and a yams and apple bake. Sounds good!
Diet Coaches/Buddies - Thanksgiving Dinner with the family worked. CREDIT moi for putting out so much effort for just a simple dinner. Both kids brought contributions: DS baked savory crackers and brought an apple pie and a pumpkin pie - purchased from someone who baked it for a worthy nonprofit; DD brought two trays of appetizers and good cheeses and crackers. I'd chosen Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus as the book for DS to read to his niece, our 4 yo DGD. That worked - she was most enthusiastic shouting "No" as appropriate. Also chose The Owl and the kittycat nonsense verse by Edward Lear that no one remembered hearing as children. Oh Well. [sic: the auto-censor changed the name to 'kitty' - Lear used the more common name, LOL]
My achievement was to eat only one plate - and that not very full, CREDIT moi. I did carve the turkey good enough. I'm never impressed with the job I do. I haven't mastered cutting the leg off without using two arms and a leg to make it happen. I could never do this with grace at the table - I'm a kitchen carver. The trip to the park between dinner and dessert to let the DGD show off her climbing skill worked but was brief. One doesn't get to control the situation when the DGD is about.
Joy (gardenerjoy) - The consensus at our dinner was that the Federal Reserve gets the money from the mint and distributes it to the banks; that we'd not find gold inside, just bags of hundred dollar bills. Yay for a plan that incorporates the desserts as snacks.
maryann - Walk and water does sound like a winning combination.
curlyjax - Love the reality of starting the day with washing pans and going to the dump.
Penny. - Portobello roast sounds good to me.
Readers -
Quote:
Day 37 Reduce Stress
To reduce stress, you have to change your rules. Here's how: . . .
Relax your rules for others.
Your "shoulds" and "shouldn'ts" show up when you have unrealistic rules about the way other people behave. When Tom was annoyed with his teenagers, he looked at his rules for them: They should be more appreciative. They should help around the house more. Bobbie was unhappy with her family because of her rule: People should give back to me as much as I give to them.
Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Beck Diet Solution (Pink book), Pg 246.
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving yesterday. I got up and leisurely made the dressing and the apple and cranberry crisp to take with us. We learned the dinner would be served between 2 and 3, which actually meant a little after 3. We were a little nervous about the weather and did pack the necessities for an overnight stay as much as anything in hopes it wouldn't happen. There were 18 people and 6 of them were children. Otis was awful in the car on the way there, but he was exhausted on the way home and was fine. He was excellent with the children even the 18 month old, so we were very pleased with that. The food was great and it was so different from our typical Thanksgiving that it made it easier for Suzanne. The dirt road was very rocky. The resort nearby is very expensive and I'm thinking many of the guests helicopter in, which is an option. Otis an I got lots of walking in because he wanted to explore the area. It began to rain not long after we finished dinner, so we quickly packed up and headed home with a little desert to go. My sister in law will bring my pans back later. I ate those things I wanted most, but left the potatoes, rolls and things I can have anytime. Weight is actually a tiny bit lower. Today I will make a turkey breast with healthy side dishes, since I really didn't get enough turkey. It's pouring rain and the forecast is for continued to rain until noon. I'll encourage Suzanne to stay another day or at least until the afternoon. If she does we may go see the movie, Knives Out. She has a two hour drive home to Tucson.
Bill Your Thanksgiving sounds great and I can imagine dgd enjoyed showing off her climbing skills. Maryann Lots of walking and water are always good. When I had too many cookies a week or so ago, I wondered the same thing about possibly being too restrictive. There seems to be a point between having treats too available or not having any and I haven't found the absolute sweet spot yet for sure, but just like you I will never quit and always keep working on it. Penny I'm impressed with the variety of the things your husband is cooking. GardenerJoy Enjoy your festive meal today. Count me among those grateful for all of you and this site. I've been on here a long time too and I know it helps. Curlyjax I hope you had a great Thanksgiving and now it is only day 2 of your 4 days off. Enjoy this one too!
Thanksgiving day went pretty well. DD was in a foul mood in the morning but I was very patient and held it together. Later she apologized to me. So I was pleased with my self control. The three of us ate dinner together peacefully. I made stuffing, the turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, orange cranberry sauce and two pies, and cleaned up most of it. No one missed vegetables I informed the kids I will NOT be doing this at Christmas, we will order food in as i’ll be recovering from surgery.
I ate a lot but didn’t feel that overstuffed feeling. Today I will tackle deconstructing the turkey, baking cookies that DD wants to bring back to school, and start the FAFSA. And figure out what else needs to be done before my surgery in terms of prepping the house. Karen- sounds like a really nice day, and I’m glad you got back home and avoided the flooding. Bill- Somehow the carving is often seen as the mans job. I’m realizing I have never done it before and did a terrible job! A better knife would probably be good. Maryann- I didn’t know OA had phone check ins, thats a great idea. Penny- that food does sounds good! I imagine a huge portobello mushroom roast sitting on a carving tray Gardenerjoy- wow, 10 years! I’m thankful for you and this group too.
karenrn - I loved hearing about your wonderful Thanksgiving. I really like your idea about just eating things you really want and leaving those things you can have any time.
Bill - LOL to the auto-censor changing the Owl and the Kittycat, instead of kittycat. I'm waiting to see if it changes for me. [And - yes it did, hah. I guess p-cat is a sermo non grata.]
“I’m a kitchen carver.” I totally understand.
maryann - I know there is peace with food also. All the best to you.
Penny - your DH sounds like a master chef!
gardenerjoy - congrats on 10 years with this group!
curlyjax - Four days! Wow, that is great! Does your leg pain have to do with your hip, or might it be something else?
We spent Thanksgiving just the two of us. We went out for lunch and DH had the “Thanksgiving Special” and I had a salad. I was hungry, however, just a few hours later and snacked too much at home before eating a modest dinner. If I had just eaten the dinner in the first place I think I would have been fine and wouldn’t have eaten all those “pre-dinner” snacks. When DH is home I guess I feel I have to wait until the “time” to eat dinner. The funny thing is, he didn’t even eat at dinnertime, and just snacked all night, so I waited for no reason. There is a lesson here.
Today is our family Thanksgiving, complete with unpredictable food served at unpredictable times. I'll focus on veggies and visiting.
Exercise: +30, 1095/1200 minutes for November
BillBlueEyes: Does the Boston Fed ever give tours? The St. Louis Fed does, but maybe only to well-controlled school groups. The give-away at the end of the tour is a bag of money -- shredded. Part of the job of the Fed is to remove worn-out paper bills from circulation. Just because I don't get much opportunity to share what I learned about the Fed system, here's a couple more facts. The current Fed system was developed in the early 20th century with 12 banks which were distributed more or less equally with the population, but it's now tilted toward the east of the country. Each district has a different research focus. St. Louis is data and data presentation. From their website, Boston's focus seems to be monetary policy and financial stability.
karenrn: Thanks for the reminder. I won't eat anything at our gathering today that I couldn't just as easily have it home -- especially when I may prefer my version. My stuffing is better than my sister-in-law's (if I do say so myself) and I have gobs of leftovers so there's no reason to eat that today.
Yesterday was way offplan, as planned I suppose, and weight is up.
I already had leftovers for breakfast too. The vegan dishes smelled so good cooking and tasted delicious. Only my youngest filled up on bread rolls and sparkling cider alone.
Karen, wonderful that the family dinner went off without an issue.
Curly, that is a lot of cooking you did! I'm glad your hip held up for it.
Maryann, credit for checking in with OA and here after eating. I joined an athiest OA phone meeting once but it was at an inconvenient time of day.
Bill, it sounds like a great T day. Credit for one plate!
Joy, good plan! Happy 10 years on the group. I'm probably hitting my one year with this group.
CJZee, it does sound like eating at your own times is what he wants to do. I do miss eating together at the table sometimes, but we all eat when we want, on our own here.
Beautiful afternoon here. I am going to take a walk after posting. A big part of me wants to drive up to Tahoe and hike there but Thanksgiving traffic is horrible and I don't want to get stuck. So I stick to the flat lands.
Yesterday's food was was the third binge of the week.My weight has gone up five pounds in the same week. I changed my ticker here because my compulsive overeating thrives in secrecy. I need to keep telling the truth. This is the first time since I have been posting here in ten years that my weight exceeds my beginning weight. First things first. I will start with yesterday's credits to try and get out of self loathing.
I attended my first OA telephone meeting.
I ran in the orchard with my beautiful great nieces.
I had an appropriate breakfast.
I dressed becomingly and focused on relationships. DH and I got along better than we normally do when family is present.
For today, I have committed my food. I have modified my food plan after a two week trial. I will be good to myself and find a way to be of service to someone.
Saturday - Author Mark Twain was born Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835, Florida, Mo.)
Diet Coaches/Buddies - Spent the day in recovery mode from Thanksgiving. I either remember or pretend to remember that hosting a dinner didn't take that much effort. Perhaps it's because I usually didn't host with a 4 yo present. Not only did she exhaust herself demanding full attention from one adult after another, but she exhausted the rest of us.
Eating was OK, CREDIT moi. Lunch consisted of a leftover turkey sandwich with dressing and cranberry relish. Dinner was a warmed up duplicate of our Thanksgiving meal. DW says that we'll have turkey for another two meals going forward. I like that. Leftover turkey is one of my favorites. Exercise was walking the aisles of Home Depot. I had a coupon for $5 off a $25 purchase. Asked DW, "Not sure I can get to $25, will you come with me?" Checked out with a basket of $150. Spent the ride home laughing, as old marrieds do, at who was responsible for the large tab. I contributed the most by buying 60-count packages of AA and AAA batteries for ours and the kids Christmas gifts. And a package of 9-volt as well that's I'll split between the three houses. We watched one gray-haired lady pushing a cart with a dozen of the $5 Amaryllis specials; I know what everyone on her list is getting, LOL.
Joy (gardenerjoy) - LOL at "unpredictable food served at unpredictable times." That does make a challenge. The web site for The Boston Federal Reserve offers no tours. Perhaps the concern is folks stealing monetary policy statements, LOL.
maryann - Kudos for working out well with relatives present - a challenge for all of us.
Karen (karenrn) - Congrats to Otis for being good around children. Kudos for leaving the stuff that isn't special for Thanksgiving.
curlyjax - Super Kudos for remaining calm when facing a challenging DD. Yep, a sharp knife is a great tool. Gift yourself one just because.
Penny. - Yay for Thanksgiving leftovers for breakfast - break the 'rules.' I remember when I worried when one of mine only ate rolls for a meal, but they both grew up.
CJZee - Kudos for salad for dinner. Like your test of the auto-censor. He** is another word that gets whacked - even over on the religious posting threads when it's used with respect.
Readers -
Quote:
Day 37 Reduce Stress
To reduce stress, you have to change your rules. Here's how: . . .
Relax your rules for others.
To relax your rules for other people, do the following: . . .
o Recognize that you just don't have control - or not much control - over other people. The only one you really have control over is yourself. You can change your own thinking and behavior, but you can't necessarily change other people.
Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Beck Diet Solution (Pink book), Pg 246.
Yesterday was on plan food wise, but not much exercise. I purchased a turkey breast in case we couldn't get to the Thanksgiving gathering and roasted that for dinner last night along with roasted little potatoes, asparagus and a salad. Suzanne stayed and my other friend who has been here from Canada for the month came for dinner after the three of us saw Knives Out which we all enjoyed. Weight is down a bit more today, but still just in the range it has been. I'm just grateful that it does go down after it goes up. Today I'll meet with my PNP ladies and then hike with Hiking Suzanne. That will make for a nice day. There was flooding where we went for Thanksgiving yesterday for about ten hours. My sister in law did a video for FB and there was an absolute river that was not crossable during that time.
Bill I can imagine a 4 year old is exhausting for all, too bad there aren't other children for her to play with. I'm sure you all enjoy her tremendously though. Maryann I've been seeing so much snow in Tahoe. Would you be snowshoeing if you went there? Penny Your Thanksgiving dishes sounded delicious! GardenerJoy I know what you mean about liking some of your own dishes better than those prepared by others. I love a pork fennel dressing that I've made frequently, but decided to take a more generic one to this gathering. I ate it and it was good, but not nearly as good as the pork fennel. CJZee I know well that circumstance of making a better choice and then having it not really be a better choice. I think so often it is better to just have what we want and try to control the portion size (not always easy). Curlyjax I'm glad your Thanksgiving went well. I'm sure my mother had to use her self control with me. I was pretty good natured but I'm sure I could be a bit nippy. My friends who have ordered in their holiday meals have all said they are very good. I agree with Bill, a good knife makes all the difference with the carving.
Friday - Physicist Erwin Schrödinger publishes paradox "Schrödinger's cat" (1935)
I informed the kids I will NOT be doing this at Christmas, we will order food in as i’ll be recovering from surgery.