Diet Coaches/Buddies - Excitement of the day was the two Zoom classes. One of the classes is about the Apollo journey to the moon. The class started with reading Jules Verne's Voyage to the Moon which is an absolute gas in light of the real trip.
Walked, CREDIT moi, just to check out the neighborhood. All is well after the high winds on Monday; little damage visible to me. Either the winds were over sold or I just haven't looked in the right spot. Eating was on plan, CREDIT moi, including no daytime snacks. Dinner included a piece of salmon that was just slightly larger than I needed, but not large enough to leave a piece for a lunch. DW bought some ravioli - not one of our normal dishes. So, I had a bunch of pasta for my diet to absorb. Weight was up one pound this morning that I attribute to a few ravioli - as if finding something to blame makes it all OK.
Joy (gardenerjoy) - Love the notion of finishing a project just to get it off the to-do list.
Karen (karenrn) - Neat that the other hikers are being mindful of space. Always Kudos for on plan.
curlyjax - Sometimes a little mindless work is just right.
Penny. - Kudos for on plan. Getting up early before the house fills up is a great idea.
Readers -
Quote:
chapter 12How to Stay at Your New Weight
Okay, now you need to learn how to stay there . . .
Continue to get support. Even at the maintenance phase, it's important to check in periodically with your diet coach and report the status of your weight, if for no other reason than to keep yourself honest. In addition, your coach can help you solve problems and offer emotional support during stressful times. Both will prevent you from reverting to eating as a coping strategy. Even when you're not feeling particularly stressed, you might need occasional help in continuing to create enough time and energy to maintain your weight.
Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Beck Diet Solution (Pink book), Pg 281.
Our work meeting was a bust. I don't know why they insist on gotomeeting instead of zoom, but it's up to them. I ended up doing almost 3 hours of mindless data entry and decided I never want to do a job like that fulltime, but I finally figured out I could listen to streamed music at the same time which made it better. I also don't want to every drive more than I am now, its so great to have the extra time now and not have the stress of driving.
I spent my lunchtime making apple crisp, since there was a bag of apples that were past their prime taking up space in the frig. I also used up some older veggies and roasted them for dinner, so I felt quite virtuous. I did not get a walk in which I desperately need to do-will do today if it isn't rainy.
I'm marking weds by getting takeout, this time Mexican from a place that is very close to my home. Too bad they can't make margaritas to go, they are great there! Penny- I do the same thing, I get up early so I can wake up gradually with coffee and the internet. The problem is when I stay on too long and when I commute I try to get dishes done etc in the morning before I leave. At least I can take my time doing those now. Karen- glad your weather is better now and you can get more hiking in. Would love to see desert flowers someday, it's still on my bucket list to get out there! Kids are slowly working on rooms still. As long as I see progress and I can move around I'm happy. Bill-ooh, that zoom class sounds good! Ravioli is awesome. Gardenerjoy-yay for finishing a project.
Yesterday was on plan, and today will be number three if I can hold on to it.
The weather has been so nice, I walked and rode my bike around our loop.
Bill, the salmon and pasta sound good. I tried Zoom out for a game night with friends and made the mistake of thinking I could use it on the phone. I was cozy the the couch, but had to use readers and a magnifying glass to see the game.
Curly, your work day sounds pretty good to me. My work won't use Zoom either, they use WebEx. Privacy issues are a concern, I'm sure.
That's making it hard to get going today, though. And, I have a short but important project to do. I'm facilitating our book club's first virtual meeting tomorrow night. Since a bunch of our members depend on getting a physical book from a library, we're reading an article instead. Someone else is handling the tech (thank goodness). But, that still leaves me on the hook to read the article (probably two or three times) and come up with some discussion questions.
Food was on plan yesterday and weight is inching down ever so slowly. I am happy with however slowly it goes as long as it is in the losing direction. I decided today would be a day off from hiking and did some grocery shopping this morning. There were a couple of items I needed at Costco, so I did that first and took advantage of their 8 a.m. for over 60. I wore the mask I made which worked just fine and it was interesting to see the masks that people wore and also very humorous. I think one guy had a black sleep mask around his mouth and nose. I'm sure another guys was made out of men's tidy whiteys. I would have gone later since I've had good luck with fewer people when I go later, but I was afraid of losing out on TP. Anyway, there was a long line, but once they opened I got in. I'm sure they let more people in than the last couple of times I was there though. There was an unbelievable amount of TP. Their brand from almost the front to the back of the store in one large aisle and a ton of Charmin at the back. I got everything I needed, but I forgot canned tomatoes, so I stopped at our regular grocery store to get them. When I got home I visited for really the first time on the street with a neighbor who lives nearby. They have a black and white labradoodle that looks kind of like a sheep dog. She is a five month old large lanky adorable puppy who is high strung and giving her Momma fits with trying to train her. Boy is she cute though. Speaking of dogs, have I mentioned "Pluto Living" a very cute schnauzer who has a sweet post on Instagram and YouTube. She is worth viewing for some upbeat laughs.
GardenerJoy Congratulations on finishing your project. The only thing I've been good at finishing lately are my hikes, cause I have to get back to the car. Penny Good luck sticking to your plan today. I'm working hard on sticking to mine too. I know I feel better when I do and I'm sure you do too. Curlyjax I'm so glad you're enjoying working from home. It sounds like you are really making the most of it too. Bill Yes, the class does sound interesting. Did you all read the book before the class started? I wish it were on audio from the library, but I don't think it is. Your pasta made me want pasta, so we are going to have some tonight with Chicken cacciatore. Maryann I think you're at your Mom's and I hope all is going well.
My life has become quite busy now that distance learning is in full swing. There is curriculum to get out daily plus things to correct and new apps to practice and use. I had my first Google Meeting with seniors. It was awkward for me. I am very much a "relationship teacher" and most of my seniors would not use the video function - just the audio. I couldn't look into their eyes or coax them to talk except through the chat function. It is what it is. The district has set parameters and I am following them to the best of my ability. I did a little stress eating today of peanut butter. I understand now it is "red Light" food for me even when I use it as Gardenerjoy suggested. I will now stick to nuts and not nut butter. Tomorrow will be my 30 day without sugar and it is a fitting point to end my addiction to nut butters.
Off to grocery shop. On the list is lots of fruit for DS. Then, a walk for me makes sense.
Diet Coaches/Buddies - Had a glorious brief visit with the (4.5 yo) DGD - at a distance. Our DD brought her over so she could walk in our small yard and see all the things she knows and loves. Neither went inside. They came to pick up several bags of games, puzzles, and books that we have for the DGD who rapidly consumes all the stuff that they have at home. The DGD decorated our small slate front with seven "pictures." One has to be a grandparent to marvel at their beauty. Picasso she's not. She was excited to see the Teddy Bears in our front window, "My bears!"
Eating was on plan without snacks, CREDIT moi. The scale kindly registered the value that I'd already declared on Sunday which had disappeared to scale jitter for four days. Beck would advise me to get less focused on the number on the scale. Dinner was the third meal from DW's dish we call Burger-Beans-and-Rice because that's what it contains. She sautéed Bok Choy as the veggie. Since we discovered that stuff, it's been a regular in our meals.
Joy (gardenerjoy) - Congrats for finishing your task. Am curious about your Zoom book club meeting. Ours is scheduled to meet next Wednesday and I'm just not convinced that it'll work by Zoom. We're a chatty, face-to-face group. A transcript of our discussion wouldn't be exciting reading, but the discussion, in person, always is.
maryann - I'm so old that I have teacher friends whose first grade kids all knew where nut butters came from ... because they made them in the classroom. Allergies didn't exist yet. My sympathy for trying to communicate without the eyeball-to-eyeball contact.
Karen (karenrn) - LOL at "unbelievable amount of TP" - Such an odd item to be in national discussion. My concern is that we'll be facing real food shortages if we can't get the delivery chain from farmers to stores working again. [Yes, most of us read the assigned book(s) before each class. But, we're all retired and a bunch are no longer interested in being told what to do.]
curlyjax - Glad that you're sticking to your Wednesday ordering out plan. I do miss going to a Mexican Restaurant - unfortunately for the endless chips and salsa which are a challenge for me to limit.
Penny. - Kudos for three consecutive days on plan. I enjoy Zoom on my 17" screen; those joining by phone show up as smaller than the others.
Readers -
Quote:
chapter 12How to Stay at Your New Weight
Okay, now you need to learn how to stay there . . .
Consider becoming a diet coach. One of the best ways to keep your skills sharp is to teach them to someone else.
Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Beck Diet Solution (Pink book), Pg 282.
I made good progress on preparation for tonight's book group, but I still have more to do on that.
My other project for today is to order groceries for delivery on Monday. We're going to try that instead of having me go shopping and see how it goes.
Exercise: +45, 605/1300 minutes for April
BillBlueEyes: I'll let you know how our book group goes. I'm concerned about technology, about people unused to technology, about people talking too little (like maryann's class experience), about one particular person who often talks too much (especially when others are talking too little).
Yesterday was on plan and weight is coming back down.
I'm determined to get my daughter to learn how to ride a bike, and have taken her out to practice three times yesterday. She was promised a prize if she learns, and seems hopeful this time. My prize will be a cycling buddy, once she realizes how much fun it is.
Karen, the great homemade ppe viewing has added a new element to people watching. Lol at the sleep mask! Lots of Typhoid Marys out still, acting like it's not their problem.
Bill, wonderful that you got to see DGD! Credit for the on plan eating.
Maryann, that must be really tough teaching to a bunch of kids with the video turned off. After using Zoom once, I think I might want it off next time too. It's too much to stress about what my camera is showing while I'm trying to look at another related window and can't see myself. But, if it makes it so impersonal, maybe it's better to accept the stress.
Joy, I hope the book club meeting goes smoothly over video. I'm sure it will, it's not so bad.
Went for a 1.9 mile walk the day before yesterday, yay me. I was dragging at the end, which I find disturbing. I'm not at all tired, but my hip/leg bothers me, it wears me down.
DH and I have discussed our eating schedule during our isolation time, and we have come up with a plan. Since I'm trying to maintain an 8-hour or less eating window, and he likes to eat 3 meals a day - we have decided that we will have one main meal around 3 pm and any other eating will be on our own using our own timing. That gives us more flexibility to do what we each want to do
The only sad thing is that after we eat this bigger 3 pm meal we both want to take a nap. It may be our age, the isolation, the fact that it's afternoon, or maybe we just ate too much. Today we had chicken tenders, cauliflower "rice", and green beans.
Food was on plan yesterday, but the scale didn't know it this morning so I had a sweet snack this afternoon to show it who was boss. I'm sure that will be helpful. I did hike 7 1/2 miles and then came home and walked Otis though, so hopefully that helped. Tomorrow I'm doing a longer hike with a friend who is a bit slower, but a great gal. It's pretty rocky in some of the areas where I hike and it takes a bit of getting used to and she isn't used to it, but it's nice to have company some of the time. It's beginning to warm up a bit here, so we'll start hiking at 6 a.m.
Penny That will be nice for you to have a cycling buddy and I bet your daughter will enjoy it too. GardenerJoy I hope book club runs smoothly. I'm sure it will be different, but not having to drive anywhere in the evening would be in the plus column for me. Bill I'm glad you got to see your dgd in the flesh. I can't imagine how much you all must miss one another and all the fun adventures you are used to doing together. Hopefully things will be heading in the right direction soon. I'm sure things will be different, but better than now.
I was reading that the drug Remdesivir was showing good results and people were recovering rapidly even with severe symptoms. It is certainly not a vaccine, but it's better than anything we have for sure.
Well that's it from me, I didn't want to miss posting today.
Friday- Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" characters begin pilgrimage to Canterbury (1387)
Diet Coaches/Buddies - Spent the day receiving pictures of the (4.5 yo) DGD playing with the bags of stuff that we had sent home with their visit the day before. She beat her dad in a game of checkers. DW looked at the positions of the pieces on the board in the picture; concluded that her dad had to work super hard to lose that game, LOL.
Eating was on plan, CREDIT moi, including no snacks except for the evening orange. Scale continues to tell me that I'll be at this weight forever. I continue to think that a new scale is what's missing to change that, LOL. Dinner was clam chowder from Whole Foods. Really good, really salty, and super caloric. We had smallish bowls by some measure, but it may take a week for the salt to dissipate.
Joy (gardenerjoy) - Hope that grocery delivery works for you. Around here, folks are having trouble getting a "slot" - even five days in advance.
Karen (karenrn) - LOL at asserting control, "so I had a sweet snack this afternoon to show it who was boss." So there! Yes, the proper clinical tests using Remdesivir are reported positive in our papers here, also. Feels good to get some actual test news instead of anecdotal.
Penny. - Interesting that you're giving driving lessons to your DD - a taste of what's to come when she turns 16. Yay for weight coming down.
Jayson - Hi Jayson, welcome to our discussion group. I hope you have time to stick around and post regularly. The first post of each month contains links to reviews of the books by Dr. Judith Beck, whose advice we tend to follow.
Readers -
Quote:
chapter 12How to Stay at Your New Weight
Okay, now you need to learn how to stay there . . .
Take pleasure in your weight loss and in your level of fitness. Remind yourself every day how much you enjoy being thinner, healthier, and more physically fit - and how much you want to stay this way.
Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Beck Diet Solution (Pink book), Pg 282.
It took 3 tries this morning to get my coffee maker working correctly. It's not that old, but it only sprayed half the coffee at times resulting in very weak coffee.No point in coffee if it isn't strong! maybe time to treat myself to a new one.
I'm so glad its Friday and there is a 3 day weekend (Patriots day here in Mass on Monday) Again i'm grateful for my job but getting a little sick of listening to people complain about the pandemic- or about their neighbors tonight I am going to try foraging again at Whole Foods in the evening; no lines at 6:00.
This weekend will be more clearing up and tossing trash, and hopefully at least one SD walk with a friend. We're piling all our clothes to be donated in DS's car, and I need to find somewhere to donate them, since some of the places are closed. I should bite the bullet and get rid of most of DH's shirts; those are the hardest to let go, even after two years. But they don't take up much space.
Yesterday I made a nice healthy lentil soup in the crockpot for dinner, and today I may use it to cook hamburger for a casserole. I don't have the right kind of cheese for tacos so i'm experimenting with something else, we'll see if DS eats it
Wave to all!
God is in the room. I have to believe this right now. My husband's worker and his son have been quarantined after his wife tested positive for the virus. She is a worker in a convalescent home in the nearby town that broke out with 35 cases. We only have four workers. There are only 125 cases in the county and one of them is living at our little ranch house. DS was working with this man planting trees three weeks ago. Then DS was working with our ranch manager who is bravely fighting cancer. I have been working with my mother who we now know has had a small stroke. DH has asked I don't tell my family. I don't know if I should tell friends. I haven't been in contact with anyone but DH, DS, and mom so it is not like I have been irresponsible but there is a feeling that we will become pariah once people know. Crazy feeling. I am so worried about DH as well because he is so short handed handed. This is pretty devastating for the farm. I also am incredibly aware of how vulnerable the workers are. Of all the people to get it, why should it be the hardest workers. Of course they will keep the house and their pay etc. . . but my goodness how fragile they must feel.
It is a good time for a gratitude list:
None of the workers or my family are symptomatic
We have the resources to help all that are quarantined on the farm
I have important work to keep me busy
School is going well
I have been 30 days free of sugar. If I ate sugar today then I would just add one more problem to the list
I live in America which is a country of incredible resources
Sun is shining
This too shall pass
This is literally the only place I am writing about this so thank you for participating in the post
I failed at the grocery delivery. First, there were no delivery times available. On some advice from others, I tried early this morning and there were available delivery times. But, the software wouldn't offer me products that I know the store has. Like, I searched for zucchini, but the closest thing they had for selection was yellow squash. About the third time I encountered something like that, and on something that didn't offer a decent substitute, I decided I'd rather go myself.
So, grocery shopping is today's project.
Exercise: +30, 635/1300 minutes for April
BillBlueEyes: The book group meeting went well. Instead of starting with our reading, I started with "How are you doing in this time of social distancing?" With seventeen people, that took half an hour, but it really pulled us back into community together which I figured was the most important goal of the evening. After that, we were our usual opinionated and chatty selves.
Wednesday - Titanic Remembrance Day (1912)
and when I commute I try to get dishes done etc in the morning before I leave. At least I can take my time doing those now.
My prize will be a cycling buddy, once she realizes how much fun it is. 
