Thursday - The Grateful Dead play their last concert (1995, Soldier Field Chicago)
Diet Coaches/Buddies - Had a Zoom visit with the (4.5 yo) DGD. It lasted about five minutes. She was annoyed that we hadn't picked her up for the day. Just wasn't in a communicative mood. Age appropriate and all that. Her mom, our DD, took the COVID test; won't get results for six to seven days. The lady she had spoken to at the beach (whose mother was positive) was tested and is negative, as is her husband and another person in contact with her. My DD is pretty sure that she's OK.
Eating was on plan with no daytime snacks, CREDIT moi. We achieved our (rather low bar) goal of ordering Chinese food. Good stuff. Surprised that we ate less than half of what we ordered. I hadn't had hot-and-sour soup in years. Love that stuff. We'll have another meal from the leftovers tonight. DW had wonton soup: "Comfort food." The mochi pork was almost vegetarian; I guess cutting costs have happened since I've last ordered that. I drove to the restaurant for pickup; stood, socially distanced, with two others until my order was brought out the door and placed on a table. The worker immediately stepped back. I picked up my bag and drove home. Masks on everyone. Good as protocol gets.
Joy (gardenerjoy) - The low certainty of the current tests is a bummer. Kudos for getting those nectarines into your plan.
maryann - That's a lot of yard work, Kudos. Neat to think of a different way to teach history to get into the brains of teens.
curlyjax - Ah yes, browsing at the library. I remember those days.
Penny. - That's a lot of cabbage. You need to get coleslaw recipes from Joy (gardenerjoy).
Readers -
Quote:
chapter 2Experience the Difference
This time is going to be different because the Beck Diet for Life Program is different. Here is how:. . .
It teaches you how to keep going when dieting gets tough. Like all dieters, you will find that it is easy to diet on some days and harder on others. This is normal. It becomes more difficult, for example, when you are struggling with negative emotions, tired, or tempted to skip exercising or shopping for and preparing the food you need. It gets harder when your hormones are fluctuating and your cravings for certain foods intensify. It gets harder as life presents challenge at work or at home and as the rate you are losing weight starts to slow. In this program, you will not only learn but also you will actually master a set of thinking skills to prevent yourself from getting discouraged and abandoning your diet when times get tough. You will prove to yourself - over and over - that these difficult days always pass and that you're always so glad later you stuck with it.
Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Complete Beck Diet for Life (Green book), Pg 23.
After another great hike yesterday and then we drove back home to the very hot valley. Yesterday's hike was a loop with the first 2 1/2 miles darn steep with big rocky steps in lots of places, then kind of across the top of the hill and then down the other side and around. It was about 10 miles a little breezy and wonderful to be out for a long hike. My gluten are sore from the couple of days of longer hikes with climbs, but it was so good for the soul. We did decide to cancel our backpack of the High Sierra Trail for next month. With changes in work schedule one gal didn't feel she could go and with Covid and a less populated trail anyway, Kathy and I decided this is just not the year. We are hoping next year will be "third times a charm". I guess I'll just have to keep hiking. I do feel more than a bit relieved cause it is darn hard to train with the gyms closed, and our temperature right now 91 degrees at 3:49 a.m. I am glad we still have our trip to Washington to look forward to and then I'm going to get back into Spring cleaning, organizing mode with a side of movies and reading at home. I'll do what exercise I can with walking Otis, hikes when it's under 90 in the morning, and maybe some stuff from You Tube or whatever. It is just a time that I can't be too rigid about what will work cause it changes.
I didn't make a food plan for the 2 days I was gone, but did fine and now I'm back to making a plan. Today is PT again and at this point I hardly notice my thumb is any different than before for most things. I did wear the brace while hiking just in case of a fall.
Bill Chinese food sounds excellent. My Dad was a great cook and used to make Hot and Sour soup, along with many other things. Maryann I would love to be one of your students. Your plan for history sounds wonderful. GardenerJoy I'm glad about the negative test result for your friends roommate. My husband's co-worker was also negative and is coming back to work today. I've actually only known one person who has gotten it, even with the horrible results here in AZ. Of course I don't hang with the young crowd and they are most of the numbers lately. Penny Don't you just love it when your appetite is down? At least if it's not from too much stress or something. Curlyjax I'm sorry about the sleep. I've been having the problem too, but I'm pretty sure it's the steroid, plus a bit of stress.
I realized the other day that I didn't have enough prednisone pills to do the steroid taper as prescribed. The doctor wrote the directions, but then not enough pills. The pharmacy wouldn't give me more without contacting him and getting another prescription. Since I was heading out of town I just decided to do my own shortened taper. So I went to 20 mg per day sooner than I should and today will be my last day of prednisone. If anything it made my tinnitus worse. The good news though is that I had a tooth that was a little sensitive after having the bridge replaced and it is fine. I think it was just some sensitivity at the gum line. Anyway, I hope that can be my win.
I'm feeling relieved about the hike and glad to be planning to leave this hot place in 9 days if we don't fry by then. I hope you all have a great day and stay healthy!
Groceries today. It's only been a week since my last trip.
DH has been having tummy troubles and got into the chicken noodle soup that I had in the pantry in case we both got sick and couldn't cook for ourselves. Now my chicken noodle soup supply is gone and that's all he wants to eat. So, stocking up on soup and some other things. I'm going to take this opportunity to try a new method. I'll shop every week, alternating the local chain and Whole Foods. Local chain this week and Whole Foods next week. I'm not sure if it makes sense since each shopping trip feels like such a rigmarole, but it will be a little less exhausting if I only do one store each time.
We're also talking about a walk this morning since we have a heat advisory and our normal walk time is the hottest part of the day (great in the winter, but it sometimes takes some adjustment in the summer).
And, I have some emails that I really want sent this morning so that other people can be moving the work forward while I deal with groceries. So, that's next on the list.
Exercise: +50, 325/1400 minutes for July
karenrn: sorry for your canceled High Sierra hike, but it does seem like a wise choice.
maryann: love your approach to history curriculum!
It is time to just admit to myself I have slipped back into maintenance mode. I am eating according to my program but portions are too large. I think the cycle started with so much exercise this past week. I get really hungry and I just eat more. Dr. Greger says this is what research shows. Exercise is not an effective weight loss method because the body adjusts for the extra calories burned preferring to remain in stasis. However, exercise is an excellent way to remain healthy mind and body. Drat! It is a dilemma. So, I will stop eating at 2 today. I will do my treadmill walk at 7:00. Lots of water in addition to my hibiscus tea with vinegar. As long as I remain sugar free I know I will be successful. Food is planned and I will stick to it. I have been adding extras in the afternoon. Not today. It is a priority.
Window guys came and put in the new window in the kitchen. The old window had condensation in between the double panes and a torn screen. What a difference. Tomorrow "blind" guy comes to mend and replace the broken ones. The house is really looking great.
Karen: Sorry to hear about your hike. Timing is everything.
Friday - The city of Dublin is founded on the banks of the river Liffey (988)
Diet Coaches/Buddies - It was 80 degrees F when we ate dinner on the patio - toward the upper range of being comfortable outside. We included the leftover Chinese vegetables with grilled salmon and a big green salad. The salad was constructed from all supermarket ingredients. Eating was on plan with no daytime snacks, CREDIT moi. There's a bowl of fresh cherries in the fridge; I've avoided them so far since my notion of a serving isn't bounded.
Was hero for driving DW to pick up her car after it was inspected. She likes to walk since it's less than two miles away - but the temperature in the afternoon was insufferable. Her car passed inspection and has a new sticker for a year but they strongly suggested she'll need new tires to pass inspection next year. I'm a fan of having good tires - except we're not driving anywhere during our isolation. Barely need the car itself, LOL.
Joy (gardenerjoy) - Congrats for having enough chicken noodle soup on hand to serve your DH. Hope his troubles subside.
maryann - Kudos for "Food is planned and I will stick to it." That's Beck at its best.
Karen (karenrn) - Ouch for having to cancel your backpack of the High Sierra Trail. Kudos for being realistic even in the face of a highly desired event. I'm impressed that your dad made Hot and Sour Soup - lots of ingredient in that.
Readers -
Quote:
chapter 2Experience the Difference
This time is going to be different because the Beck Diet for Life Program is different. Here is how:. . .
It teaches you how to maintain your new weight. Knowing how to keep off the weight you lose also requires a special set of skills, such as knowing how to become a more flexible eater and how to continue to motivate yourself every day, even after the number on the scale has stopped going down. I've found that many people who lose weight simple forget what it felt like to be overweight, taking their new weight - and all the benefits they have achieved - for granted. Once they stop feeling as if watching their weight is worth it, they start gaining. Then they feel panicky and hopeless. I'll teach you how to always remember why you wanted to lose weight in the first place and why it's worth it to continue working at keeping it off.
Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Complete Beck Diet for Life (Green book), Pg 24.
Well today really is the last day of prednisone and hopefully the beginning of sleeping better will begin soon. I woke up at 2 this morning and that's a little better than it's been. My friend and I are hiking this morning as soon as the gate opens. It's 90 degrees, but the sun will not be on us most of the way and we are just going to take it slow and easy. It's better than doing nothing. Food was on plan yesterday except for an extra 100 cal drink. My weight is up .4 to 147.6 for the week. I'm just going to keep doing mostly what I'm doing, but try to cut back portion sizes a tad and hoping once off prednisone that will help if I'm retaining any water. Who knows. My food plan is made for today and includes a piece of coffee cake that my friend offered.
We decided to rent a car for our trip to WA. My SUV has a lot of miles on it and it's really inexpensive to rent in our area right now. We can get a new car with all the blue tooth stuff and maybe it won't have AZ plates on it. I downloaded the book about Alexander Hamilton from Audible and it's 35 hours long. I'm hoping we can listen to it on the trip.
Bill 80 degrees sounds great to me, but it all depends upon humidity and also whether the sun is on you. Maryann Portions seem to be the key and difficult for me too. GardenerJoy I hope dh is feeling better.
Okay, time to pull my clothes on and get out the door. You all have a great day!
I know I did a post yesterday but it disappeared somehow. Oh well. Last night I went to my friend's house for part one of Hamilton, which we watched outside on the big screen. Different from what I expected but very good. We will watch part two another night. A couple from church was there and the wife made reference to a "honey do " list which I was briefly jealous of. Big kids do have bigger problems and I really miss my DH these days to help me think thru everything. My DS had a brief chat with me yesterday and asked me to try not to yell so much at DD- gulp. I know that was hard for him to say and I appreciate his being able to bring things up. He is the self designated peace keeper.
I'm reading "the GI diet menopause clinic" and realizing my waist size indicates i'm in the obese, at risk for disease category. Yikes. I know its going to be a lot easier to feed just myself in the fall, but I need to get going on some kind of plan now, and stick to it. At least I am exercising consistently which is good for my heart. I've definitely been in denial about my health. Karen-I do enjoy reading about your hiking. Glad you'll be done with the steroid. Bill-yesterday was indeed hot. Your dinner sounds great. Gardenerjoy-I cannot do more than one store at once, it wipes me out. Maryann-yay for new window. Exercise is indeed worth it but I hear you about an increased appetite.
Grocery shopping went fine. Since it had only been a week, I was in and out much quicker and the whole process was less exhausting. This might be a better method for me.
We hit a new daily high of positive coronavirus tests yesterday in Missouri, which sent me in a flurry of news consumption. That's enough for today.
Today's excitement is service for the car. As for the truck last month, the dealer will whisk it away and bring it back with the state inspections, an oil change, and possibly a new battery.
I had a busy morning. I was up at 6:00 to walk ( credit) and then to paint the shed in our back yard. The latter required some pre work to dry so while that happened I continued on the yard work in the front yard. By 2:00 it was 95 degrees so I called it a day. I am up to the Civil War on my audible. I am going to do anther thematic project on political slurs. We think today is so bad with the mudslinging. It is relatively light compare to Andrew Jackson against John Quincy Adams. accusations of bigamy, prostitution, murder. Wow. What they could have done with the internet.
So yesterday's food was very disappointing despite my best intentions. I had my highest calorie day in quite awhile. I have to look at homemade bread. It is now on my red list along with sugar treats and nut butters. This is just a process. Today has been back on track.
Penny: Throw that small appetite down around the central valley. I'd like to catch it.
Saturday- The great bell Big Ben chimes for the first time (1859, London Clock tower)
Diet Coaches/Buddies - Just marveled at the quality of food for the day: New Jersey blueberries, Georgia peaches, California shipping Strawberries, California toasted almonds, and Ecuador banana for breakfast fruit bowl. Dinner included the first Green Beans from our garden, cukes from our garden in a Greek dressing (Greek yogurt, whole milk to cut the yogurt, dill, salt, cayenne), potato salad, green salad, and grilled chicken. Eating was on plan with no daytime snacks, CREDIT moi. Scale was kind to me this morning. In my own version of Negative Thinking, I assume, as I always do, that I was just a little dehydrated and that it'll come back.
Walked, CREDIT moi, after the striking heat had passed and we begin to feel the effects of the tropical storm passing west of us. We got drops of rain - literally drops. Unfortunately, they fell just as we were headed out to the patio to eat so we ate in the kitchen instead. While DW cursed the barren skies. When I walked I carried no umbrella in an attempt to seduce the rain gods. They weren't fooled.
Joy (gardenerjoy) - Ouch for being driven to reading the COVID-19 news. I'm so addicted at this point that I don't know how I'll wean myself away. So neat that you get your car serviced without leaving home.
maryann - I'm so ready to take high school history from you - suspecting that you'll let your kids know how it really went down. You're getting a lot of work done these days.
Karen (karenrn) - Ouch for the thought that a rented car won't have the stigma of Arizona plates. Strange times. Glad you've passed out of your drug phase and might get your sleep back.
curlyjax - Super Kudos for you and your DS for being able to talk about the difficult conversations with your DD. Somebody raised that boy right.
Penny. - So neat that the appetite is on vacation.
Readers -
Quote:
chapter 2Experience the Difference
The Beck Diet for LIfe Program can help you in other ways, too, since I have found that dieters often derive unexpected benefits. For example, you can: . . .
Learn how to get yourself to do other tasks you tend to avoid. Many dieters have told me that they've used the skills in this plan to accomplish numerous tasks, such as sticking to a budget, being more productive at work, maintaining a more organized household, and doing self-care activities. As you better organize yourself for dieting and maintaining, you will learn to better organize your life - period.
Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Complete Beck Diet for Life (Green book), Pg 24.
Food was on plan yesterday, but weight up a smidge this morning. The plan was probably a little generous and did include some coffee cake from my friend, which was very good. Today I slept until almost 3, and I actually took a nap yesterday. I'm now off the steroids, so will not allow for a nap today and will hope to sleep a little later soon. Our hike yesterday in 90 degrees was just fine. There was a little cloud cover so the sun never did beat down on us. It was 93 by the time we finished, but with a slight breeze and we just didn't go as fast. Good to know. I was going to go this morning, but I really think I had better use that energy for some housework. I'm feeling motivated for that. We've told mil we're coming up to see her and she's delighted. She loves Otis and is so glad he will be with us. One week to go and we'll get a reprieve from this heat.
Bill I'm glad the scale was kind and hope it stays that way. Maryann You have been getting so much done around your home, you are putting me to shame. I'm afraid homemade bread would be difficult for me too. I have some of my Dad's bread recipes and figure I had better not make them. GardenerJoy I love the way your car service works. That would be great. Glad you're finding once a week shopping may be easier. I just couldn't go two weeks and I also feel like those controlled situations are not so risky with all the proper precautions. Penny I agree with Maryann, I would also like to have the lack of appetite, so send it my way too. I can't complain though, even with the steroids I didn't feel as expected and now it's done. Curlyjax I can imagine it is tough without dh to discuss the challenges of your grown up kids. Friends are helpful I'm sure but it just wouldn't be the same. I'm curious to hear what you think when they are both away and that won't be long. It will be a big change for you.
The problem with waking up so early is there is only so much one can do without making too much noise. I'm very motivated to start the housework now, but that would be rude so of course I won't do it. I have finished all the filing in the office and made my food plan for the day.
Maybe I'll take a little time to plan for our trip. I don't want to forget anything. You all have a great day and be happy that it won't be 114 degrees as expected here today!
Yesterday's food was pretty bad and unplanned again, too much emotional eating. I watched a great documentary "Crip Camp" on Netflix, about the rise of the disability rights movement, which was quite uplifting. I wish my mom was alive to see it, as my folks were advocates for disability issues for years. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRrIs22plz0
Today's excitement is opening up a new bank account for a gym membership for DS- i don't like gyms to have access to my regular account, so this is my solution. Because of her health issues I do give in and pay for a lot of things and money is something we often fight over. Anyhow- and then i'm going to get my hair done again, maybe a little lighter this time. And then groceries, the dump etc. Bill- we got a good scattering of rain; they were initially predicting flash flooding here but now the weekend is dry and hot.Boy does that fruit sounds great! Karen-wow you are up early! I know what you mean, i am up way before the kids and feel motivated to vaccum etc but its like sleeping babies, i'm not about to wake them up.
The car service went well. When we did this for the truck, we just didn't touch it for a few days after. But I want to drive my car today for curbside pickup at the library and our usual Saturday vigil. I'll take some Lysol to it in a bit and I also suspect that the delivery guy did a bit of clean up as he got out of my car, since it took a couple of minutes.
My second batch of sorbet was better than the first. I skipped the sugar and used plain water instead. I did add a bit of maple syrup because it improved the flavor and we worried that a little sugar might be part of the magic that turns fruit puree into a creamy sorbet.
Nice and clean inside the cool house by 1:00 pm. I can't beat Karen's 115 degrees but 105 is enough of a challenge for me. It is really so satisfying to have my walk completed and three hours of pruning/clearing yet another plant bed done and dusted. I know I went WAYYYYYY overboard pruning a bush into nearly nothing but it was blocking the water spout so I would rather it die and then we remove it. I was tired of getting scratched up hooking up my hose. How can she be spending so much time cleaning up an 8,000 square foot lot? I have no idea. But so far it has taken my through to the Spanish American War which will be the perfect project of media STARTING a war that should never have been fought when compared to the Vietnam War with media ENDIND a war that should never have been started. I have used up DH's tarps that he has allotted me. So tomorrow will be in doors.
What a difference that day makes! Food was great yesterday. I am hoping for a two day run. Fabulous white peaches are a nice sweet treat.
Curleyjax: Thank you so much for the Crip Camp documentary. I think it is a fresh viewpoint on the civil rights movements that isn't usually presented in the class. BBE: The lack of water is devastating California. In fact, one of DH's primary crops this year is water. We are selling water generated by our pumps instead of planting fields that would have been irrigated by the water. Gardenerjoy: I am going to be experimenting with some sugar replacement recipes. I Read A Year Without Sugar which was just ok but I laughed when she said all recipes ending up tasting like bananas and dates. The best and simplest frozen treat was frozen bananas put through a juicer. I tried is and it WAS yummy.
Thursday - The Grateful Dead play their last concert (1995, Soldier Field Chicago)
