Good morning!

I guess I'm really off track again, just when I was happy with how on track I was.

The situation with my 16yo is very stressful. He is losing it over the early college program and I am wanting to say forget it, but throwing away three years if free college is not cool. My 19yo is definitely in a better headspace and mentally ready, but he is no longer eligible for the program. If money weren't an issue...

Bill, congrats on the full eight hours of sleep. I sleep like a baby every night (awake every two hours).

Curly, we're on our fourth batch of ministrone now. Yum! We put a little more pasta, so it's more like a casserole.

Good morning coaches,

I woke up feeling so happy and healthy, also a tiny bit hungry as I'm trying to be more careful with portion sizes. Yesterday's hike was a disappointment. They called it a fitness hike based only on the length of the hike and the group was huge because it had been posted in three different places. Luckily when the leader asked about the pace at the first break I was able to say it was too slow. He picked up the pace a bit and that did help, because at least the group spread out a bit so we weren't going to step on each other. I hiked Bell Pass, much more strenuous even though it's shorter, at my own pace this morning and it was much better for my fitness. Food is planned for the day and I'm making a higher calorie dinner so I'll really have to watch the portion sizes. I see these recipes on Instagram from NutritionChimp and they all look amazing, so I'll try this one.

Penny I'm sorry for the stressful situation with your son. Mine put me through the ringer for a number of years; I'm glad he's soon to be 49. I probably told you all before that I had him at age 17 the day I graduated from high school. (Not recommended)
Curlyjax You must have the day off. Yippee!
Bill I would never make it on 4 to 6 hours of sleep a night. I'm glad you had a longer nights sleep. I'm not sure it's true, but from what I've read recently the beta amyloid is cleared from our brains when we sleep, which reduces our chances of Alzheimer's disease. That alone is enough to help me feel justified in wanting my eight when I can.

Well onward to get cleaned up and do something productive around the house this afternoon. Unfortunately, when the weather is how it is right now, hiking is at least a part time job.

Tuesday - Photographic evidence of Pluto by Clyde W. Tombaugh (1930, Flagstaff, Ariz)
 

Diet Coaches/Buddies - A package of Whole Foods raisin bagels came into our kitchen. Seemed like a swell idea. They're bleh! Not very bagelly; not very raisiny. But VERY, VERY carbohydratey. Will work to find a way to get through these. They do absorb butter well - but not as well as an English Muffin. Need to protect our kitchen from such invasions.

Eating was on plan, CREDIT moi, because I stood down several callings for snacks. Every cell in my body knew that a snack would be perfect for that moment. I seemed to live without them. Dinner was lentil soup/stew made with the Ghee that was one of DW's stocking stuffers for Christmas. She said it was perfect for heating the cumin and sauteing the onions. I just admired that it sits on the counter instead of inside the fridge. India apparently knows something about food and spices.


Karen (karenrn) - Kudos for waking up "a tiny bit hungry" - good sign. Thanks for the beta amyloid info. I do fear Alzheimer's sneaking in. Or arriving loudly, for that matter.

curlyjax - Seems like a challenge to adequately feed a teenage son while avoiding overeating yourself. The spicy sausage is a great idea.

Penny. - Sending supportive thoughts to both you and the 16 yo. Such a huge transition ahead.

Readers -

I didn't get any exercise in yesterday, but I did make a lot of food for the week: my fiberous bread, turkey meatloaf and sweet potatoes for lunch, lentil soup in a crockpot for dinner tonight, and salmon for dinner last night. I still need to wash a lot of dishes but the prep is done. DS may be having some boys over tonight for games, so I'll be stuck in my bedroom, but i'll get back on track after that. I have also ordered a fold up manual treadmill to vary the indoor exercise.
Karen-I can see how hiking with too many people is not great for actual exercise. I forgot you were a young mom- it must have been hard, but you get to reap the rewards now for sure.
Penny- i hear you with that college stuff.My DS states he can't believe he won't be in HS next year. Free college would be awesome indeed.
Bill-yes, not everything from WF is good, or good for you. I just saw the most wonderful pink sky here in the burbs, I wonder if it you saw it in your neck of the woods.

Good morning coaches,

Food was on plan yesterday and weight continues slowly down. Dinner was Tuscan chicken from the NutritionChimp Instagram site. The pictures just show up in my Instagram feed and they all look delicious. I added a lot of sautéed mushrooms because I had them, but the sauce also has spinach, sun dried tomatoes, heavy cream and wine. I made pasta as a side and kept my portion quite small. Dh loved it and he loves pasta. I have been sleeping in the guest room for several days to stay away from dh's germs. It does seem strange to be at the opposite end of the house. He's getting better and so far I don't have the bug, so that's good. No hiking today, instead I'll do some housework and go to the dentist and the hair salon this afternoon. This evening I'm going to a hiking club meeting which I only attend about once a year and I've looked at the menu and will have the chicken and avocado salad with iced tea. No stress about choices when I get there because it's already done.

Curlyjax Good job getting all that food prep done. I bet that will make your week easier.

Bill The bagels sound like quite a disappointment, like maybe even garbage material. My friends are just returning from a trip to India and I can't wait to see their pictures and hear about the trip. I would love to go there. Heck I'd like to go just for the food, but I also imagine some of the smaller places being similar to Kathmandu.

Maryann Where are you? Did I miss something?

Today's challenge is a trip to the grocery store. Fortunately, it's a store that I don't associate with any treats. I'll go right after lunch to make it even easier.

Exercise: +45, 710/1200 minutes for February

Good morning!

Yesterday was overbudget and weight is up.

The bathroom job is still progressing and I got news that one of them has extensive dry rot issues in the subfloor and 2x4s, which requires the toilet and vanity to be pulled out and more labor and materials cost. Wah!

This is all at our first house, which we kept as a rental. It's a lovely 60s ranch and at least the bathrooms will look nice when it's all done.

Karen, that must have been tough jumping into motherhood so young. Did you do nursing school right away or later?

Bill, credit for resisting the snacks. It sounds like they were really calling you loudly too.

Curly, that is a lot of food you prepped. You and Bil are making me think I should make lentil soup.

Joy, I need to go to the store too. I try to make it a whole week but something always comes up mid week and has me back at the darn store. Coffee creamer this time.

Good Afternoon, Coaches.

I am back from my four day Cross Country skiing adventure. The company was great and so was the weather. The snow is in desperate need of replenishing. I was proud to be up for 5, 6, 7 km a day treks. I love my new equipment. Burned dozens of fit points but unfortunately ate more than dozens of fit points. The scale is high once again. But as I said last month, I continue to learn. I tracked the whole weekend when in the past I would have given up. So credit.

Today is OP. I took the day off so I can unpack and putter.

Penny: The different avenues to college right now in California are amazing. There is a program starting this year in which freshman can register for dual attendance with a junior college and graduate with an Associates degree. Then they get their first full year at Junior college free. Unfortunately, as you are experiencing, many of the teens are just not ready emotionally. It is a difficult situation.

Wave to all and thanks for keeping the posting "flame" lit.

Wednesday - The astronomer Copernicus was born (1473, Torun, Poland)
 

Diet Coaches/Buddies - The solution to the Whole Foods raisin bagels is to donate them to the worms in our compost bin. Problem solved! Big deal for me since tossing edible food violates every cell in my body. A minor glitch blocked my plan; DW says that the racoon that thinks our compost bin is their dinner tray would be thrilled. So, she accepted the bagels to put out for the city food compost pickup on Monday. Howsomever, they're gone from my control - CREDIT moi.

Didn't help that my class on endocrinology of aging discussed how the body readily accepts carbs to store as fat in preparation for the oncoming famine. Those bagels want ever so badly to protect me with a cushion around my middle. Life is going to get tough if I get fully behind the anti-carb movement.


Joy (gardenerjoy) - Neat to have a treat-free store on your to-do list. All my stores have little corners that call my name.

maryann - Kudos for four days of stellar activity cross-country skiing.

Karen (karenrn) - Sautéed mushrooms could be added to everything in my opinion. Chicken and avocado salad sounds like a good choice.

curlyjax - We did have some lovely sky around here - thanks for reminding me to enjoy what I can see. Congrats for raising a DS who knows that it's OK to bring friends home for games.

Penny. - Ouch for hidden dry rot; renovation can have such unpleasant surprises.

Readers - *

Good morning coaches,

Food was on plan yesterday and weight is the same. I really wanted to make a sweet treat yesterday, but I decided to just eat my lunch early and that worked. I did have the planned salad for dinner and it would have been good if the chicken hadn't been so dry, but still was probably my best choice on the menu. This morning I'll have the pumpkin waffle that I eat so often with peanut butter today because I'm meeting my friend at 6:30 and we're doing the Ring Around the Needle (Weaver's Needle) hike in the Superstitions. It is 12 1/2 miles with quite a bit of elevation gain. The weather is just perfect for hiking.

Bill Good job getting rid of the bagels. They really didn't sound like they were worth eating.
MaryAnn Somehow I missed that you were going on a ski trip. That just sounds great.
Penny Bummer about the bathroom. It sounds like some of the programs on HGTV where they start doing a remodel and run into problems. I didn't go to nursing school until my mid 30's. I did some office type jobs and was operations manager for a stock brokerage firm for a number of years. Finally decided if I wanted to have a stressful job I would rather worry about people's health than their money.
GardenerJoy I'm glad you had an easier grocery shop. My grocery store is that way and I guess I'm kind of glad.
Waving to CurlyJax and CJZee. I'd better get going so I'm ready to leave when I need to.

I ate way too much pizza last night but at least its gone now. I had been craving chocolate all day and resisted until about 9:00 when DS friends finally left (some of them had been at the house for 7 hours!) when I broke down and made some fudge for one in the microwave, which turned out to really be runny chocolate sauce. Anyhow it hit the spot, albeit with a lot of cleanup since it overflowed. It was a cold rainy day and I hadn't slept well, which may explain the craving.
Back on track today. I will spend my lunchtime in the reading room of the Franklin public library, which is like being in a museum, surrounded by paintings (you should google it Bill, it is such a beautiful library). This is the first public lending library in the US, founded by Ben Franklin. So much history here in Massachusetts!
running late so personals tomorrow!

Weight is high-ish again. I have been doing WW for four months and have a net gain of four pounds. HMMMMM.

I am reading closely to what BBE says about carbs but I also know I am in this for the long run. I am glad to have put exercise regularly into my schedule but that is not dropping the pounds. I also hear about Karen’s portions. Today I have packed many veggies and fruits and portions are small.

Threw away some Valentine’s hearts that were not worth the calories. Credit.

Good morning!

Yesterday was still off and weight is holding.

Dh, two kids and I have a concert to attend tonight (band called Metronomy). It should be a good time with my 16yo who has been having a rough time lately.

Karen, I was thinking nursing school would be tough with a baby, but then I drank and did drugs through my college days and came out fine. lol 30yo are probably much more sensible students.

Bill, rip to the raisin bagels.

Maryann, the four day ski trip sounds so fun! The early college program sounds exactly like what you described. A great oppertunity, if he can get on board.

Curly, lol at the microwave fudge debacle. and sometimes it's good to get that pizza craving taken care of. Hopefully it's satisfied for a while.

Checking in late today due to a morning meeting. I got anxious about the meeting yesterday and ended up putting off my trip to the grocery store. In that mood, I was afraid I would buy all the chocolate.

So, I shopped this morning after the meeting, knowing that none of the catastrophes I predicted came to pass.

I took charge, commanded authority in every subtle way that I could think of, and we followed the agenda with only hints at some underlying issues that are floating about but not directly related to the purpose of this meeting. Lots of people said that it was a good meeting on their way out -- that always helps me feel good about things.

Exercise: +40, 750/1200 minutes for February

Thursday - John Glenn is the 1st American to orbit Earth, aboard Friendship 7 (1962)
 

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Exercise was chase the (4 yo) DGD day, CREDIT moi. With unbounded pride, she read a book to me. It's a book of shear genius. It's composed of five lines repeated exactly, with only two words changed each time: (bear, chair), (whale, pail) ... . The illustrations convey the words to be changed. She absolutely loves reading it to me. I have no idea if this contributes to her learning to read, but it certainly contributes to joy in the universe. She played at an indoor playspace with the 5 yo DGS of a friend of ours that we met at the birth class of our 41 yo DS. Known her a while. The kids royally ignored each other, the became best friends. Such good friends that they parted with, "Goodbye elephant" to uncontrolled giggles with the response "Goodbye mosquito" with more giggles. Apparently, that was really, really funny.

Eating was on plan, CREDIT moi. I avoided unplanned snacks. At the potluck at our book club in the evening, I had one plate and ignored the quiche since I didn't need the extra calories. Wasn't weight-loss portions, but wasn't stuffing myself.


Joy (gardenerjoy) - Congrats for subtly running your meeting - seems like a hard art to learn.

maryann - Kudos for throwing away those valentine hearts. Some calories, indeed, just aren't worth it.

Karen (karenrn) - Your trails are breathtaking: Weaver's Needle. Don't know why we don't all just up and move to Arizona. Kudos for finding a chicken salad on the menu for a closest choice.

curlyjax - Their website hints that the Franklin public library is interesting, but pictures are few. This picture is better. Have to put that on my Bucket List.

Penny. - I'm impressed that you've got your whole family on board for Metronomy - seems like an acquired taste.

Readers -