[BillBlueEyes]

Diet Coaches/Buddies - That $2.8M Condo is an attached house; the full frontal picture doesn't show the full house behind - slightly offset. Around here, a 'Condo' is any unit situated on what the city considers a single plot of land. Two totally separate houses with totally separate yards are considered condos if built on one city lot. The more common usage is a unit that would be an apartment if it were in an apartment building instead of a condo building. And YES, it's a ten minute walk to the subway that will take one to downtown Boston or Logan airport. It is convenient.

Eating was on plan with no daytime snacks, CREDIT moi. Dinner on the patio dawdled with the fading light. The clearly visible Robin's nest had the male and female both making trips with food to the single chick. DW made a trip to an opened garden store and came home with a potted sedge (chuck of grass) to put in her favorite, large, purple, ceramic pot. Even with 125 different native species in our tiny yard, each new addition makes her so very happy. The Sedge sat as centerpiece during dinner for to be admired. My resistance exercise was to unload five bags of bark mulch from the trunk of her car. It's destined for our DD's yard; apparently, we're the magic gardeners who appear and cover everything. And I carried the potted Coleus to the front stoop where it sits looking meek but will grow several feet over the summer.
​​​​​​

Joy (gardenerjoy) - Good news that things are going fine with your scale readings.

maryann - You also got me on those apples. I do need an apple tasting every now and then to recalibrate my apple awareness.

Karen (karenrn) - Congrats for working so methodically to prepare for you long hiking journey. Glad that twenty pounds wasn't a huge burden.

Penny. - Continue to send supportive thoughts for the amount of effort it takes to support a teen in a funk. Perhaps new glasses will open his view of the world.

Readers -

chapter 1 Begin a New Way of Life

On the Beck Diet for Life Program . . .

When dieters first come to see me, they invariably have unhealthful eating habits. Sometimes they eat too quickly, without being fully aware of what they are eating, and they don't enjoy every bite. Sometimes they eat moderately in front of others and then eat out of hand when no one is around.

Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Complete Beck Diet for Life (Green book), Pg 17.

[curlyjax]

Yesterday I had to help DD prepare for going to get her college stuff. I must admit, I really enjoyed the rest of the day while she was off, it was quiet! Then she arrived home around dinner time, and DS cheerfully unloaded everything for her. So helpful to have a young, strong son! Now its all sitting in my tiny livingroom, sigh.
I'm so glad to have a 3 day weekend! I need to get some summer clothes out, work on the tax stuff, and for fun hopefully see a friend. Plus i'm going to buy some flowers to plant. And call the landscape people again for a quote.
I've been exercising every day at least, even if the food piece continues poorly. too much emotional eating.
Bill- your DW must be in her glory these days with your yard and garden. I had a feeling you lived in Somerville/Cambridge. For a year I lived a block from Dali's. I think there is a Whole Foods the other way on Beacon street, which used to be a Johnny Foodmasters- that was about 22 years ago. Great spot for walking, but boy did I dislike driving there.
Penny- sorry to hear about your son, that is tough to see- and live with. My dad is doing fine, thanks for asking! He’s secured up in his assisted living type place, with a family friend that comes to bring food and visit often. He self amuses which is good.
Karen- good idea to do the hiking with 20 pounds, wow! You have lots of time to prepare which is great. It is amazing, I know I’m carrying 30 extra pounds on my body, but sometimes I can’t believe it could possibly be that much!
Maryann- I have yet to use a rice cooker or pressure cooker, but I can see how useful that would be.
Gardenerjoy-I’ve been taking some time off weighing myself since I know its bad news.

[Penny.]

Good morning!

Yesterday was on plan and weight is down a little.

I noticed at my son's eye appointment how often I try to keep the 6 feet of social distancing at businesses and am met with a laugh and a "you can move closer." odd.

Time to start my work weekend. They are pulling the usual shenanigan of dumping too much onto my schedule, making me reconsider a job someone asked me about. It's full time work in education, partial work from home. I asked for more info.

Bill, interesting info about what qualifies as a condo in your area. Kudos for another snack free day.

Curly, that's good your dad is doing well. Credit for exercising every day. That is great! I need to do that.

[maryann]

Good Morning, Coaches.

Continuing the apple research. Sugarbee continues with the best taste BUT...... Fuji cooks better in my oatmeal. Stay tune for tomorrow's exciting revelations regarding Gala.

Yesterday was OP and I did my walk and yoga to make up for two no exercise days. I also added back roasted veggies. This made the scale go up - exercise and the bulk of the veggies always do. But in the long run, the veggies and the exercise will keep me moving down the scale. Also in continuing weight loss efforts - I threw away any plastics that had BPA. Research has shown that BPA actually CREATES fat cells as a result of exposure. Crazy. So out went the old Slurpee Cups and a few plastic cups I have had since college I think. I like this book I am reading because it gives lots of ways to reduce fat without eating differently. For instance, fiber hides calories from your body. If you eat 1 T of peanut butter with an apple, your body doesn't absorb all the peanut butter calories because the fiber binds around some of it. So by tossing BPA and adding fiber I am down maybe a hundred calories a week. That is about 2 pounds a year which is an average weight gain over twenty years for most people. I'll take it.


Yesterday's triumph was knowing where to shut off the water for my house when the shower broke. The knob corroded and wouldn't turn the water off. I remembered to put on a robe when I went searching for the shut off Waiting for plumber this morning.

Happy three day weekend.

[gardenerjoy]

A late post after two zoom meetings in 14 hours -- book group last night and a leadership meeting for my activist organization this morning. Both went well and I like seeing people's faces. Tomorrow morning is a 4-hour zoom meeting, so I get three in three days after nearly a month with none of that! I may want to figure out how to get this in with more regularity rather than all lumped together.

Weigh-in: +0.5 kgs Exercise: +40, 945/1400 minutes for May

[karenrn]

Good morning coaches,

I did have an off plan snack yesterday and I should have just put a snack on the plan. I did put a snack on the plan for today. This morning I did a hike with two friends. One of them thought she might be a little slower so I wore my 20 pound backpack. It worked out perfectly. I find that many of my friends do well, but they don't have so much endurance cause of course they don't hike as much as I do, so by the last part of the hike they have slowed down. When I got home Otis and I went for a walk and he did well, thank goodness. Yesterday the garbage truck was at the park we had driven to and I had to carry him back to the car. The truck wasn't there anymore, but he knew it had been. He is the biggest chicken and I'm glad he's not too heavy to carry. No big plans for the rest of the day except housework. I invited my friend from Tucson to visit for a couple of days and she will arrive on Sunday. I held off for as long as I could and I know she is a safe visitor or as safe as we are; very little risk. She hasn't been out seeing anyone and I know she is isolated and lonely. She wants to lay by the pool and get some color. She doesn't get up early, so if I want to I will still do some early morning hiking.

Maryann I looked at the apples at the store yesterday. I don't think we get near as good a selection as you do. I mostly eat Honeycrisp, but I used to like both Gala and Fuji. Good tips from Dr. Greger. He's a darned smart guy.
Penny I'm glad you were rewarded by the scale for an on plan day. Yes, the social distancing thing is odd. Even on the trails, some people are very good about staying way over on their side and a few others don't seem to think about it. I hope the work weekend goes okay.
Curlyjax It must be a joy to have a strong young son around and it sounds like he is pretty good natured too. Good job on getting your exercise. I think it is so important for our overall health including our mental health.
Bill I bet your yard it just beautiful. I do miss having the beautiful perennial beds that we had when we lived in Washington. I just can't get interested in gardening around her at all. The odd thing we have around her is that a number of people are putting in artificial turf if they don't have desert landscape. The people across the street just did it when they bought the house and it actually looks nice. Another house down the block was also totally remodeled and is for sale. It has artificial turf also.

Okay, time to get moving and get a few things done around here.

[millie56]

Down today - two weeks in a row CREDIT me - on plan eating. Finally getting rid of large rocks in the backyard. Have had many people come and take a truck load. They are all almost gone. This has been an eyesore that I have looked at for 15 years and fumed over. Now I am taking action. Everyone have a good Memorial Day weekend. Planning to stay OP with my food choices.

Thanks,

[BillBlueEyes]

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Walked, CREDIT moi, through an area of subsidized housing - just to adjust my sights from the areas of mansions. I saw closely adjacent back patios each with a grill that was chained to a handle built into the wall just for that reason. Lots of grills, kids' bikes, and flower pots gave a warm neighborly feeling despite the chains on the grills. Everyone encountered was wearing a mask; folks stepped aside to allow passing with a six-foot distance.

Eating was on plan with no daytime snacks, CREDIT moi. Dinner on the patio. I dawdled after DW got up to go water something while there was still light. No problem; I asked the Sedge about the Queen, continuing our dinner conversation where DW told me about the two hour series from the night before. I liked her ten-minute summary; I didn't watch the show. The only part of the royal life that appeals to me is that someone else has to go out and buy my clothes. I do want me a butler.
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Joy (gardenerjoy) - I'm becoming Zoomed out. Just too many situations being stuffed into a bag of the wrong size.

maryann - Fuji and Gala are familiar apples around here. Love them both. Super Congrats for knowing where the master cutoff for the water was located.

Karen (karenrn) - I'd enjoy trying to make a desert landscape if I lived in Arizona; not so sure about artificial turf. LOL that Otis remembers that a garbage truck had been there the day before.

millie56 - Yay for getting folks to come pick up your rocks for free. What a smart move. Kudos for planning to stay OP with your food choices over the Memorial Day weekend.

curlyjax - Yay for a muscular DS who helps his sister unload. Ouch for a living room filled with a dorm rooms content. Kudos for continuing with your exercise. Dali's Restaurant is still there. Across the street now is Bergamot - note the $75 tasting menu. I took the six of us there for that tasting menu once with a steeply discounted Groupon - was still a whopping big check.

Penny. - Ouch for the continued shenanigans about workloads and schedules. Hope you find a way through it.

Readers -

chapter 1 Begin a New Way of Life

On the Beck Diet for Life Program . . .

They often eat when they just feel like eating, even if they are not actually hungry. For example, they eat when they are bored, upset, celebrating, or procrastinating, when someone offers then something to eat; when they smell delicious food, when they see a food commercial, when they prepare meals; and when they clean up after meals. When they "cheat," they tend to quickly devour food, trying not to notice how much they are eating to avoid feeling guilty.

Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Complete Beck Diet for Life (Green book), Pg 17.

[curlyjax]

I drove to a park to take a walk around dinner time, and called my brother at the same time. The park had a lot of folks, and groups of younger people who were clearly not socially distancing. I know this is hard to enforce but I hope that doesn't end up with the parks closing. I'm staying far away for the rest of the weekend, i'm sure its going to be packed.
My church's headquarters are urging churches to stay online for a year. I understand the reasoning, but boy does that make me sad. Online doesn't do it for me at all. Maybe once I go back to work in person- which is probably at least another month- it won't matter so much since it does give me another free morning during the weekend.
I don't have any plans yet for the weekend other than chores, boo. Time to get off my fanny and contact someone, I need to see some adults!
Penny- that job sounds interesting, and being able to be home part time would be great.
Karen- so nice of you to host your friend, I'm sure she is lonely.
Maryann- those variety of apples sound great. I'm a fan of gala when i buy from the stores instead of an orchard which is only in the fall.
Gardenerjoy- wow that is a long zoom meeting coming up!
Bill- are you talking to plants now wow, that is a steep price at Bergamot. I'm so glad DH and I indulged in eating out often when we lived there when first married; we knew it was a short special time in our life. Little did I know how special.
Mille56- good job onplan for two weeks.
Wave to ariadnestar!

[Penny.]

Good morning!

Yesterday was on plan and weight is holding.

I'm going on two nights of very little sleep. Hopefully tonight will be better. Have a great day, everyone.

[maryann]

Wave from Tahoe.

A last minute decision found us all up here. I’m very excited. I’ll go on a hike this morning and then this afternoon we plan to four wheel.

Bad news from my book. Natural sweeteners such stevia affect insulin and overeating as much as sugar. This is a big blow. I have been using it to sweeten coffee and my morning cereal. But as I said before I have a willingness I haven’t had before. Rather than a moratorium I’m going to begin cutting back. Also, the research recommends a 20% fat diet. Try figuring that out for a daily plan. Today’s plan incorporates it. We’ll see how I fare.

[gardenerjoy]

I survived our four-hour zoom workshop -- helped with a 15-minute break in the middle and several break-out sessions. And, a topic that I'm passionate about, led by people I admire.

It sure makes the day go fast!

I'm planning to take a three-day social media break, Sunday through Tuesday, since today wasn't really part of a holiday weekend for me. I'm stating my intention that 3FC is not on my list of social media that requires a break, so I expect myself to check in every day.

Weigh-in: NA kgs Exercise: +50, 995/1400 minutes for May

[BillBlueEyes]

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Eating was on plan with no daytime snacks, CREDIT moi. Dinner was lentil stew making me vegetarian-for-a-day. It smells so good when DW sautés the celery, onions and spices; by the time dinner is served I'm drooling. The greens of the salad came entirely from our community garden. Our Arugula is so much more tart than the supermarket's Arugula. Makes one wince; just love it. The cuke and tomatoes still came from someone's greenhouse.

Exercise was a bird walk in the morning, CREDIT moi. Special treat was watching​​​​​ a Cooper's Hawk on a low branch eating its captured prey. We were too far to identify what bird it was eating. Nature is a tad gruesome up close.


Joy (gardenerjoy) - Four hours is just a lot of Zoom. Congrats for surviving.

maryann - Seems smart to make a tapered change. Yay for an unexpected trip to Tahoe.

curlyjax - Social gathering of a community doesn't work for me either. Don't know when, or if, we'll ever get back. Understand, "I need to see some adults!"

Penny. - Kudos for on plan even with little sleep; may you start getting more.

Readers -

chapter 1 Begin a New Way of Life

On the Beck Diet for Life Program . . .

As it turns out, all of the dieters I have worked with ate more - and in some cases a great deal more - than they initially realized. They just were not fully aware of the extent of their overeating. Once they learned how to change their thinking about eating, they were able to slow down, really notice everything they were eating, enjoy their food without guilt, and - finally - stick to a diet. Rather than having good eating days and bad eating days, they learned to eat consistently every day.

Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Complete Beck Diet for Life (Green book), Pg 17.

*

[curlyjax]

I didn't get to see anyone yesterday, we'll see about today. I have done something to my back and its killing me, just when I thought things were bad enough, geez. Hopefully morning back exercises will help.

[karenrn]

Good morning coaches,

Food was off plan yesterday evening. We had a friend over for drinks on the patio and then I changed the dinner option from a healthy choice to nachos cause I new we were all getting hungry and it was fast and easy. We'll have the healthy but more time consuming option today. Yesterday I listened to an virtual conference on Ending Self Sabotage yesterday presented by my PNP leader. She really does dovetail well with the Beck strategies. The main ideas were 1) Get aware of current thinking and actionable patters, 2) No Judging, be patient, 3) Redirect and be deliberate, and 4) Act As if as in know how you want to act. It was very good, but quite long. Today I've done a little housework in the bedrooms and will listen to online church soon. My friend will be arriving at some point from Tucson and we'll have some pool time. I already have a plan for a 5 a.m. hike tomorrow since I know my houseguest won't be up that early.

Curlyjax I hope your back exercises are a big help. Does ice ever help? I know dh ices his back sometimes.
Bill Did I mention that a hawk was in our driveway last week when Otis and I were pulling in from going for a walk. We were in the car and I stopped before opening the garage door and the hawk flew off with its prey. There were lots of small feathers in the driveway, which luckily blew away quickly. Good job on your consistent eating on plan with no snacks!

Waving to everybody else!