Yesterday was just too exciting to get a post in -- I went out to Shaw Nature Reserve to see the bluebells. I succeeded at that and saw many other flowers, too.
Today's excitement is DH's pre-op appointment. We're leaving in less than an hour, so I'm off to get prepared.
Phone checkin. OP day yesterday. Biked for 45 mins. Ate planned breakfast and lunch. No kids today in person today which is less stress. It is good because I have to travel to see shrink. I am knocking on the 160s and determined to get back there.
Another over budget day but the pizza is gone now. It was worth it.
My work promised us all vouchers for a free cake from a bundt cake place "Noting Bundt Cake" if we completed a survey. Today, instead of handing out covid tests, everyone is driving to my house to pick up their cake vouchers.
I thought it was kind of silly for them to pay me to do that but they liked the symbolism of progress and celebration. Me, unable to just appreciate the joy of the situation is grumbling that the "free bundt cake" has turned out to actualy be a "bundtlette" that is the size of a cupcake. Haha! Not actually that surprised but I will take the extra pay to merely hand out vouchers.
Did you guys see the J&J concern with clotting? I had a patient this last weekend who had a stroke the same evening after her J&J vaccine. I was wondering but considered it too anecdotal to worry about, but then I see the NYT article about the pause on its use. I wonder? Just what we need, more vaccine fears.
Curly, I have three teen boys and my 10yo girl. I was so happy to get my girl. I prob would have stopped a two kids if she had come sooner. Ha!
Thursday - Titanic Remembrance Day (1912, icy waters of the north Atlantic ocean)
Diet Coaches/Buddies - Exercise was chasing the (5.5 yo) DGD day, CREDIT moi. Adventure was the New England Aquarium including its enormous salt-water tank in the center. She greeted Myrtle the Turtle as an old friend. Just waved at Nemo (Clownfish) on the run - apparently he's yesterday's story. Spent lots of time watching the antics of the FREE harbor seals outside. And equal time to the furry sea lions inside. Two were into some very constant activity - thought I was going to be forced to explain where baby sea lions come from but they kept it PG rated. Perhaps it was just sibling romping. Don't know how to tell the boy from the girl sea lions. Walked around a few piers to admire the boats. No sail boats were active and no private small boats at all. A MBTA ferry was carrying commuters across Boston Harbor to Logan Airport. We could see Old Ironsides, the USS Constitution, - the Revolutionary war sailing ship across the way. A fun trip for DW and I; the DGD mostly ran and ran and ran. On the way back to her house, we stopped at a playground for another hour of running and climbing. Made me tired watching it.
Eating was on plan with no unplanned daytime snacks, CREDIT moi. Dinner was white beans - served in a bowl like a soup. Gobbled individually while we separately watched a Zoom lecture on how animals regenerate organs or, as in the case of small worms, regenerate two new bodies when cut in half. The speaker barreled through the words pluripotent, stem cells, and Wnt signaling pathways as if we'd all know those terms. Felt really good that I did; haven't always - only in the last ten years. So much science to chase.
Joy (gardenerjoy) - Hope your DH's pre-op appointment went well. Sending supportive thoughts for stressful times. [If you like, I can resize your lovely Bluebell picture to fit the page.]
maryann - That's some good biking exercise. Seems like a challenge to keep track of in-school vs. not-in-school days.
Karen (karenrn) - Waving back toward Sedona - have a good hike.
curlyjax - Kudos for accepting going to bed mildly hungry. That's a huge step.
Penny. - LOL at "bundtlette" - saves you from having to exercise some restraint. I share your sadness about the J&J vaccine - the last thing we need is more reasons to be leery of getting vaccinated.
Readers -
Quote:
Success Skill 3Eat Slowly, While Sitting Down and Enjoying Every Bite
Here are some additional tips I have learned from dieters: . . .
Allison puts a yellow star shaped sticky note on the dining table to remind herself to eat slowly. When she finds herself eating too quickly, she stops eating, traces the star with her finger, and slows down. Even when she is out to dinner, she often inconspicuously traces an imaginary star on her place mat to remind herself to slow down.
Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Complete Beck Diet for Life (Green book), Pg 64.
Emotionally tiring day yesterday. I met my some future coworkers and the whole interaction was just wierd, they seemed a bit impatient. My office will be in a different space than originally stated which caught me off guard, and I babbled some dumb stuff since I was nervous. As reality is setting in I'm feeling anxious about this transition and the high expectations of me from all sides. Last night I sobbed away, missing my DH to process this with, but I was able to talk to a local friend who said all the right "mom" things and made me laugh. Credit for going to bed a little hungry again and not going crazy over eating. I feel better this morning mentally anyhow. Karen- have a great time in Sedona, what fun! Gardenerjoy- how wonderful to see bluebells. Hope the pre-op appt went well. Maryann-yay for a less stress day. Penny- 10 is such a nice age. you might feel different about having a girl when the hormones hit but I'm glad you got your girl. Handing out coupons does indeed sound easy. Bill-what a lovely day with DGD, and a perfect day to be in Boston.
The big news is I am back in the 60s. I changed my data accordingly. As we know the real challenge is to keep the progress going. Like curleyjax, I went to bed a little hungry after I weighed. I saw that if I stopped eating I would probably have a nice number this morning. This reinforces my box check of weighing twice daily. Also box checked: refilled my black cumin shaker at work for my lunch black bean soup.I went straight to the "climbmill" machine for 30 mins at the gym after two exhausting mental health appointments. I let myself sleep in this morning promising myself I would not create anything new today, just relax and enjoy the kids with curriculum ready made.
BBE: Thanks for bringing back the memory of seeing Old Ironside in Boston with DS. Great town. Penny: Glad you enjoyed the pizza. It feels good to hop back on track after a treat.
Yesterday was on plan. My knee felt back to normal so I did my workout and that felt great. It was the yoga day that hurt my knee, and today is another yoga day. I'm going to swap out whatever class is on the schedule for a beginner one.
It's covid vaccine day for all aged 16+ in my family. Hopefully no harsh side effects are suffered.
Bill, that sounds like a fun day out with the grand-daughter. That was a new word for me and I have already forgotten it. So many words to learn.
Karen, have a great trip!
Joy, I hope the appointment went well.
Maryanm, congrats on the new (old) decade on the scale. That always feels good.
Curly, that new job anxiety is tough. Hopefully the coworkers are not that bad.
Yesterday's pre-op appointment went fine. It helped a lot that my expectations were low since we had a similar appointment before the biopsy.
I'm posting late because I wanted to get to the license office this morning at a time that I hoped the line would be short. It was. I have a renewed license and will get a Real ID in about four weeks.
I also woke up fretting about DH's special diet and what I'll be eating, so I've been working on plans for food. It's hard to plan because he'll need to be on a soft diet until the bodily functions are going again -- which could be 24-48 hours or more. And, then, there may be foods he needs to avoid, depending on symptoms. Plus, I know from experience that after stressful times, he sometimes will decide he wants a certain food and nothing else for some unpredictable period of time.
So, I've got a shopping list of foods that will work reasonably well if he stays on weird foods for a week or more and reasonably well if he transitions to our normal eating style more quickly. The compost bin may get a little more of one thing or another, depending on how things go, but this is not the moment to be worried about that.
Exercise +65, 615/1400 minutes for April
BillBlueEyes: Huh. You can see the bluebells? I thought it failed because I can't. It's a good size for my blog -- the post goes live tomorrow so I'll try to remember to link it.
Penny: I got the J&J vaccine but long enough ago that I don't have to worry about that particular side effect -- although, everyone who knows that I got that vaccine has been asking me about it!
A handy man came yesterday and agreed he could adjust the shelving for me so I can get a new refrig. He thanked me for wearing a mask as he did, so we’re on the same page. He’ll come back in about a week or two, and I’m excited to get this done; hopefully there will still be a fridge left in stock that I can afford. I have to go back into the agency today and its pouring out all day, ugh which will make it harder to concentrate-sleepy day. I didn’t do well on the food and exercise side; getting back into a routine should help. Hopefully having dinner tonight with manfriend and his very friendly kitty.
Wave to all, personals tomorrow!
Diet Coaches/Buddies - My day of two classes on Zoom - lots of sitting. The Color of Law class covered government policies that contributed to the white/black wealth gap. Such depressing reading. So stark. One more time I'm glad that I don't have to teach history to the next generation. If I taught it like it was, I'd have a riot among the old-fashioned parents.
Must be the turkey season: as I drove down a nearby street, a Tom stood boldly in the middle of the road glaring at me. Didn't flinch. Didn't waver. Didn't move out of the way. Tail was fully spread. My light-blue Nissan LEAF doesn't resemble a Hen in any fashion. Yet he remained on station. Finally, I took the risk of driving around him - he's big enough to do damage to the paint job of my car. He let me go. I suppose that such an encounter can make me feel one with nature, LOL.
Eating was on plan with no daytime snacks, CREDIT moi. Ran an errand deliberately not wearing a rain jacket under the threatening-to-drizzle sky. Thought I'd try to tempt some rain to fall. Alas, I got a few drops - not enough to make my gardener wife happy.
Joy (gardenerjoy) - Glad that your DH's appointment went well so that now you can focus on that which you can control - meeting his diet requirements as well as your diet requirements. Like the attitude that it might be a bonus for your compost bin.
maryann - Neat that you have a black cumin shaker at work - never saw anyone with that before. Sleeping in can be a good thing mentally.
curlyjax - Ouch for having to go through the awkward feelings of meeting new folks for the new job. Kudos for "not going crazy over eating."
Penny. - Hope vaccine day went well. Ouch that one of the kids had to feel left out because it's not being offered to youngsters yet. Smart to tailor your Yoga class to what your body wants at the moment.
Readers -
Quote:
Success Skill 3Eat Slowly, While Sitting Down and Enjoying Every Bite
Here are some additional tips I have learned from dieters: . . .
Jenna sometimes stops eating and sings to herself when she notices she is eating too fast. She changes the words of Simon and Garfunkel's "59th Street Bridge Song (Feeling Groovy)" from, "Slow down, you move too fast ...," to "Slow down, you eat too fast. You want to make this good taste last."
Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Complete Beck Diet for Life (Green book), Pg 64.
Weight down one more pound. I adjusted the details on my profile just because it feels like some breathing room. I'll change it only monthly or weekly soon.
Preloaded cold water yesterday. I tried another way to get my last T of vinegar in - just in a bottle of water. I also made a big change with a snack I usually eat in the afternoon. As you know I don't eat red light foods such as cookies, cake, candy etc. . . But I will allow myself small pieces of dark chocolate over 70% cacao. I don't binge on dark chocolate so I consider it a yellow light food - a watch and see. I have bars of JoJo's dark chocolate which are made of fruit, nuts and dark chocolate. They have only 8g of sugar and 5 grams of protein. I was eating it, though, before my "box checker" green smoothie and then I was too full to eat my smoothie. So yesterday I committed to eating my smoothie first. This worked much better. I got more of the nutrition I need. Credit for continuing to tweak my food plan.
Podiatrist appt ended with a steroid shot in my food. Oh well. At least it worked.
Happy Friday.
Wave.
Today, I'm sharing my post about the similarities and difference of British and American bluebells, inspired by my trip to Shaw Nature Reserve earlier in the week:
I'm confident enough in my shopping list to go to the store today. DH has a pre-op PT appointment on Monday. That will be enough adventure for that day, so I'm going to go ahead and get this done now.
Exercise +40, 655/1400 minutes for April
BillBlueEyes: Our book group discussed The Color of Law in a partnership meeting with the local history society. Our biggest meeting ever! It was too big, really, for a good book discussion but perfect for learning from stories by older black residents who experienced the policies personally.
Some of the school districts in our region are seeing exactly that push-back in the attempt to teach a more accurate history. We've seen a weird conjunction -- I wonder if it's happening elsewhere. A segment of parents got themselves well-organized to push to get schools back open. Some of them are now using that same organization to push back on any social studies or history lesson that makes them feel uncomfortable about race.
I'm feeling particularly sensitive about that, right now, because one of the school professionals I've been working with for the last five years was just hounded out of her newly-created DEI position at her school district by lots of nasty behavior from parents, including death threats. Mostly because she led the whole district, junior high through adult, in reading the book Stamped by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi.
Good morning coaches,
Quick check in to say good hike yesterday and food on plan. Heading out soon for another hike. Its 46 degrees and a bit windy. Today is an easier hike and then tomorrow more strenuous again. We were also able to do some planning for our Tahoe hike. Its easiest to plan face to face with our materials at hand. Have a great day!
Saturday - Geoffrey Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" characters begin pilgrimage (1387)
Diet Coaches/Buddies - Eating was on plan with no daytime snacks, CREDIT moi. Dinner was a vegetable lasagna from Whole Foods. Quite good. DW added some tomato sauce to counter its dry appearance. The major vegetable was eggplant that we had to eat despite learning that it's way low on the list of good-for-you veggies. The label claims that it contained red bell peppers, green peppers, and yellow peppers; didn't notice them at all. The major noticeable ingredient: lasagna noodles. We had mostly starch for dinner. It did, however, have almost no preparation time or clean up time - both welcomed.
I cleaned a dishwasher. First I scrubbed the insides of old detergent that hadn't dissolved and stuck on the rubber seals threatening to leak. Then I inserted a container of dishwasher cleaner and, per its instructions, ran a cycle with every button pressed for temperature of water, power dry, power wash, and duration. It had to get hot enough to melt the wax plug holding the cleaning liquid in the inverted plastic container. Worked well; the dishwasher looks new inside.
I also gathered some metal stuff from the basement that should have been tossed years ago. My event today is to take it to the town recycle center. I'm hoping that someone will find it and use it.
Joy (gardenerjoy) - Had to google that DEI officer worked to enhance diversity, equity and inclusion. Ouch that one got railroaded for doing the very job required. I'll add Stamped by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi to my list.
maryann - Kudos for being able to eat a bounded serving of dark chocolate. And Yes, Kudos also for continuing to tweak your food plan.
Karen (karenrn) - Congrats for hiking about in 46 degree F weather. Glad you decided to bunk in a motel for this journey. Motel with WIFI even.
Readers -
Quote:
Success Skill 3Eat Slowly, While Sitting Down and Enjoying Every Bite
Here are some additional tips I have learned from dieters: . . .
Tom makes sure to clear the table completely before he eats. When it's covered with bills, mail, and newspapers, he invariable gets distracted and doesn't enjoy his food as much as he could have.
Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Complete Beck Diet for Life (Green book), Pg 64.
Yesterday's weather was very wierd- we got snow. It fortunately didn't stick to the roads where I am, but it was snowing heavily enough to make people slow down on the highways. It's quite unseasonable. Tuesday its supposed to be 70 so there you go. Training continues to be tiring; I don't do well with auditory learning, I'm a visual learner and I need time to think and process. I think people setting up training schedules forget that, and that every minute doesn't need to be filled.
I did manage to sneak in my weights in last night before I went to manfriend for pad thai. We watched a dumb movie and I got some quality kitty time. Today is unscheduled. I have things that need to get done but I can take my time which is nice. Bill- I keep meaning to deal with the dishwasher as its making a squeaking noise. Maybe a thorough cleaning would alleviate it. Gardenerjoy-did you mean to add a post about bluebells? Karen- glad you're having a good trip! Maryann-yay for another pound down and retweaking what works.
Thursday - Titanic Remembrance Day (1912, icy waters of the north Atlantic ocean)
but I'm glad you got your girl. Handing out coupons does indeed sound easy.
