Afternoon checkin. The morning went much better than the past few mornings in terms of food. No candy, more veggies, everything tracked.
Kids were good. I made a decision to show the beginning of Saving Private Ryan to the 16year olds despite the gruesomeness. Survivors of Normandy say it is the most real depiction. I urged them to remember that they must vote because those men died for them to have the opportunity and that war should never be talked about lightly. I wonder if any of them heard anything because my next statement was “you may take out yr phones .”
Anyway, I want to keep the day going well. I am dressed to exercise. I will watch a mystery then head to the gym.
So today, at the suggestion of the massage therapist, I did the pilates class at the gym. I was able to do most of the stuff, but there was a lot of hip/leg movements and I don’t know if that is good or bad. I don’t feel horrible now, but not great either. We shall see tomorrow.
Weight is at a stalemate. I’m not depressed (yet).
Penny - I think I need to try a gentle yoga class instead of this pilates class. Gardenerjoy - so glad your retina is ok. Beth - congrats on the “no sweets” pledge. Best of luck in NY. Bill - cauliflower will indeed not sustain life, but it’s a good filler. karen - what a wonderful thing to listen to Madeline Albright in person. maryann - half the battle is staying in the battle. Sorry about the anxiety. curlyjax - I’d give you a hug if you were around me. You sound so down. I like your plan to meet up with friends, good for you.
It's a late check in for me. It's kind of busy around here for a couple of days. Two of dh's fraternity brothers arrived yesterday, then three more came for drinks and snacks. Two are staying here until Sunday. I hiked Camelback this morning and then went out with a friend this evening to an event in downtown Scottsdale and then out to dinner at a Tapas restaurant. It was good, but I would call it more of small plates than tapas. Not anything like the tapas I had in Spain.
CJZee I hope your leg is good tomorrow, or better. Maryann I'm glad your students were better than expected today. Sometimes it seems like this weight loss stuff is nearly a full time job. Other times not so much. I guess I'd rather do the work than not. Penny Isn't it nice to have a full fridge and freezer. Curlyjax I also feel like if it helps you to post, please do. Sometimes just venting a bit is helpful. I know I do it here. I hope your time with friends over the weekend is helpful. I'm listening to a book that Penny mentioned a couple of weeks ago. Apparently I started it last time I borrowed it, Life Reimagined. It talks about the value of friendships and I sure do believe it. Bill One of dh's fraternity brothers sold his very successful Subaru dealership in Washington because he is convinced lots of people will be using driverless cars and not as many cars will be sold. I guess we'll see. I'm sure there were other reasons too.
Saturday - Booker T. Washington invited to dine at White House with Roosevelts (1901)
Diet Coaches/Buddies - Watched the best movie on DVD, Maria by Callas. Just the best if you love opera and remain fixated on how Maria Callas topped everyone before and after. I just happened to notice it at the library - having never heard of it. What a jewel. Almost enough to make me buy one of those premium sound bars that sit below the TV to get good sound. As the critics point out, the Callas view of Callas is that she wasn't difficult to work with - she doesn't know why people said such things. Makes me want to write my own obituary before my kids get the chance to do it, LOL.
Eating was OKish, CREDIT moi. I continue to wish that I'd get back to zero snacks during the day. My grand achievement of the day was to replace the batteries in a smoke detector in less than a dozen hours. With one hand, the unit screwed off; three AA's easily inserted with date written in black marker; screwed back on. My memory from past experiences is having to get two ladders with DW holding the unit while I worked on it. Either I've gotten stronger and more flexible or this unit was just easier.
Joy (gardenerjoy) - That PBS NOVA segment, "Look Who's Driving", was one of the preparations for our class. It helped me get up to speed with the five levels of autonomy. Neat plan to do errands without eating
maryann - A no-candy day is a good day. Saving Private Ryan does sound like a challenge to sixteen-year olds.
Karen (karenrn) - Interesting that a successful auto dealer believes that driverless cars are truly coming. Yep, "Tapas" is used around here by folks who couldn't locate Spain on a map.
curlyjax - Thanks for “Action is the antidote to despair” - I can use that.
Penny. - Admiring how much you have to cook to keep teenage gullets filled. Not every kid has homemade dinner every night
CJZee - Yay for doing the pilates class. I've never figured out if they were really good or just fashionable.
Readers -
Quote:
Day 37 Reduce Stress
To reduce stress, you have to change your rules. Here's how: . . .
Relax your self-imposed rules. Use these suggestions to change them: . . .
o Think of the advantages of changing your rules.
Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Beck Diet Solution (Pink book), Pg 245.
We're headed out to MiL's today. I can't complain because SiL has been dealing with a lot this week. It's our turn. MiL's not doing well in a kind of difficult to diagnose sort of way. Is it weakness or lethargy? But we keep getting our hopes up. Yesterday, she was diagnosed with another UTI. So, maybe the antibiotics are the miracle that we've been looking for.
I have a food plan that will work for an odd day, including salad as a late afternoon snack.
I figure I had better post now while I know I have the time. I'll be heading out soon for my little meet up and then home to make some food for the guys for later. My challenge today is to not overeat on the food I'm fixing either during the preparation or later. The main thing is the chicken puffs that I know I like. It's a little eclair type thing with chicken salad in it. I really like them and put a couple of them on my plan for snack or dinner. Weight is the same today as yesterday and I'm fine with that. I'm not really planning any exercise for today and most likely dh will walk Otis as he usually does on the weekend.
GardenerJoy I hope your mil is doing better. UTI's can be a real problem in older folks because they often don't have the same symptoms we would. I hope the antibiotic helps. And then there just comes a time when I say they do the "slow slide", some problems, then an improvement, but not back to where they were and I see it as a picket fence that is at an angle. Up and down, but never back to baseline. I hope that is not her just yet. Bill The movie sounds interesting. I'll have to see how it is available for me.
Not much going on. I’m feeling a little more comfortable with the vagueness of my job and realizing the good points of it; there is freedom and no one is demanding an accounting of my every minute.
Today I am doing something in the evening with friends but I don’t know what, one of them is planning it. As long as I’m sitting its all good!
It’s been a lovely leisurely morning but its time to get going; dump, sort laundry etc. The sun is out and its not so cold today, yay! Karen- I think i’m the one who mentioned that book because i’m reading it too I put it down and pick it up, it is quite interesting. Yum,tapas! Maryann- you guys are on the ball college wise. I keep urging my son to apply now rather than wait for the last minute, geez.
Good Morning, Coaches. An OP day in the books. Weight drifted down and I got some exercise in. Terrific. I plan to cook a few more new recipes today including lemony roasted cauliflower dip and pumpkin butter. I am so happy it is Saturday.
Walk is planned.
BBE: a new teacher at my school was a vocal major, tenor, in college. He is teaching science now. There are so few like Callas. I am sure she would say there were none.
Karen: Congrats on cooking. I dislike cooking for others and rarely do it,
CJzee: I love Pilates but I found I had to get personal training for several sessions to do it properly.
Gardenerjoy: My doctor was talking to me about cranberry pills and UTI for the elderly. I am thinking of looking into it for myself.
Curleyjax: I probably pushed too hard but then I am a worry wart. I think we can finish by today
I have pounds and pounds of persimmons and I can’t wait to try my new dehydrator. I may also pull out the juicer.
Yesterday was on plan and weight finally had a real drop, putting me where I was before my travel. That is four pounds above my low, 10.2 pounds above goal.
So, of course I have my meet-up at the vegan restaurant tonight, and will not be eating on plan, and will probably show a gain tomorrow. Two steps forward...
CJZee, pilates was tough when I tried it years ago but, like anything, you just do what you can and don't try and push too far past your abilities.
Bill, I love discovering gems like that opera at the library! Can't beat the price of the entertainment either.
Joy, good to read the update about MIL. I hope the antibiotics are the fix.
Karen, yep, that wasn't me reading that book but it sounds interesting. Good luck limiting the chicken puffs. They sound delicious and too tempting.
Maryann, the new recipes sound yum. Credit for having the on plan day!
Curly, how fun to have friends planning an outing for you! I hope it is a wonderful time.
Sunday - Douglas Engelbart receives the patent for the first computer mouse (1970)
Diet Coaches/Buddies - Exercise was chasing after the busses that substituted for the subway when we headed to Boston to hear the opera, Fellow Travelers. Was the first modern music that I thoroughly enjoyed. The story of systematic purgings of gay men during the McCarthy era is depressing and the personal story told is opera-level tragic. I don't understand why those of us who enjoy opera continue to attend depressing and tragic stories. In Madame Butterfly, the most beautiful voice on stage dies; in Carmen everybody dies, in Aida the lovers die from lack of air, prone on the stage, as they sing a moving duet with their final gasps.
The exercise was because part of the subway was shut down for maintenance; busses were provided to bridge the gap. Busses, however, travel above ground in Saturday night traffic. And the busses had to park a distance away from where one hopped on and off. So, we trotted about in the serious cold air while reliving the performance, CREDIT moi.
Joy (gardenerjoy) - Continued supportive thoughts as you walk your MIL through this. Neat that you can plan for an odd day.
maryann - Your "lemony roasted cauliflower dip" sounds great. I don't know if modern singers give up as much of their private lives as Maria Callas did. The only thing she did was sing.
Karen (karenrn) - Those chicken puffs sound delicious. Thinking I'd like one or two. Or three or four.
curlyjax - Kudos for realizing the good points of your job.
Penny. - I'm one of those who believes that if it's vegan, it's good for you and must, therefore, be low calorie.
Readers -
Quote:
Day 37 Reduce Stress
To reduce stress, you have to change your rules. Here's how: . . .
Relax your self-imposed rules. Use these suggestions to change them: . . .
o Take the words always and never out of your rules.
Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Beck Diet Solution (Pink book), Pg 245.
Last night was quite fun. We went to a bar that had great outdoor atmosphere, with little campfires, but we sat inside because it was too cold It was great fun anyhow, and then we went someplace else for dinner. We were all laughing giddily about nothing in particular, and home by 9:00- because we’re all in our fifties and tired! I slept in so late today, what a treat!
This morning i’m going to see Harriet with a friend, then do groceries. The weekend is just zipping by. I haven’t been focused on watching what i eat at all, but i haven’t been too excessive either. Bill: Boo for subway maintenance. But you’re so lucky to live where you usually have great public trans, a perk of city living indeed! Penny- yay for weight drop. I admire you for vegan food, that does take a lot of planning. Karen-its definitely a challenge to not overeat when prepping food, especially something delicious tasting like your chicken puffs Maryann- sounds like your saturday is going well Gardenerjoy- hope things are going well with MIL CJZee-pilates are great, i hope to get into that in a few months.
Yesterday was overbudget and weight is up. Dh and I had a good time meeting the fellow meal plan subscribers. The restaurant was dark and hipster, and the food good.
Now to get back on plan today. I'm still trying to get an entire week on plan but the last two weeks one outing has tarnished my record. Only Thanksgiving is left.
Bill, maybe a comic opera is needed. I wonder if they are performed much.
Well I guess for comic operas we have Gilbert and Sullivan and Mozart. I am not a huge opera fan. I do like the modern musicals with recitative style.
So I am drifting vegan with Penny now that my only zero points foods are fruits and veggies. It is amazing what WW members will invent. The cauliflower dip was delicious and made up my lunch with some tracked, tiny Gorgonzola crackers. I also used a Fall Frenzy persimmon and banana smoothie. I tracked a celebratory scoop of Baskin and Robbins to signal the finishing of college apps. Ya-Dah!
I have decided I am going to make my own bread and live with the additional points because the diet bread is disgusting. I am also off to the store to get more English cukes for a sesame salad.
Monday - Main span of Golden Gate Bridge joined (1936)
Diet Coaches/Buddies - Standard Sunday walk with DW, CREDIT moi became an exercise in noting how different folks had prepared their gardens for winter. Small Japanese Maples have turned a different shade of red as the leaves wait to fall. More exercise was cleaning out one of our three blocked rain gutter downspouts. We've got a bad design installed that clog up every year. It takes forced water via a garden hose on a stick to get them clear. One goal in life is to reach ninety years old without having to clear downspouts each year.
Eating was OKish, CREDIT moi. I had snacks during community hour sufficient to declare them lunch and have nothing when I got home. Sometimes I have snacks then eat the same amount of lunch. I've never figured out how my brain/stomach can ignore snacking calories; my scale never ignores them.
Joy (gardenerjoy) - Happy day at thome.
maryann - Making your own bread smells good even from this far away. Congrats to your and DS for finishing college apps.
curlyjax - Giddy laughing is so good for the soul.
Penny. - "It was a dark and hipster restaurant" - good start for a novel.
Readers -
Quote:
Day 37 Reduce Stress
To reduce stress, you have to change your rules. Here's how: . . .
Relax your self-imposed rules. Use these suggestions to change them: . . .
o Take the words always and never out of your rules.
- I should always do my best becomes: I should try to do a reasonable job most of the time.
Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Beck Diet Solution (Pink book), Pg 245.
Saturday - Booker T. Washington invited to dine at White House with Roosevelts (1901)
I put it down and pick it up, it is quite interesting. Yum,tapas!
