[maryann]

Good Morning, Coaches.

I slept until 9:00 this morning! Good Gravy. We went to a movie last night Spiderman: No Way Home. It was meh! but it was wonderful sitting next to DS and exchanging whispered footnotes referring back to the many superhero movies we have watched together over the years. It is our thing. I laughed at myself because I hate people who talk in the movies but it is ok if I do it? Practice what I preach, Mary Ann.

Food was good and the scale dropped to right at 170. If I am OP today I can look forward to being back in the right decade. I will return to the gym today. I made my 45 min goal yesterday.

I had a morning call with the GIA school admission's counselor. I am happy to learn the cost of the online certifications is half of what it costs to attend in person. The negative is the average online completion rate is 3 years versus 9 months in person. No worries though. In my current retirement timeline I would work another 3 years anyway. There is a big number hit if I go to 61 and 6 mos. My pension would be 74 percent of my highest salaried year. That is impressive. If I go now, it would be in the 50 percentile. There are three lab classes in person I could knock out in a summer. After my Graduate Gemologist certification, I would take classes through different associations to get my appraisal initials.The counselor said the student body is from all walks of life and all ages. There are many second career students. So I am applying for my first class today- Diamond Essentials. I am also going to register for a hands on beginning metalsmith class at the local UC here if I can get a slot. Exciting.

Those of you trying to escape from the sweets have my approval. I am experiencing withdrawals but that is ok. My next five day Prolonfast starts on Monday.

Wave to all.

[onebyone]

Hi Coaches

Accomplished the pickup of my work from the gallery that's closing it's retail shop. Credit. Done. I had a chat with the owner, Stacey, who is a friend and invited.me.to.come use the gallery space and paint there with her in January. I'm going to take her up on it. Maybe I'll.start at the end of next week. The gallery will.be on hiatus, like me, so I think this will be good for me. Inhave a large roll.of raw.canvas given to me by a friend who was downsizing. I have wanted.to paint on it but my studio.space is so.tiny I have to remove.a lot of stuff.to access.my one wall large enough to accommodate it. I am also looking forward to soulful discussions about art and the artworld. I hope that happens.

foodwise. meh!!! I am fed up with myself so have begun an 18hr fast. Let's just get the ball rolling already.
The scale isn't doing anything. No! Correction! The scale IS NOT RISING! That Coaches is a big credit right now. I have stopped the gain. I want the loss now but please no more gain. I do believe that checking in and trying even if I am.not.100% successful everyday does matter. I will begin to lose again. It will happen.

That's it.
Have a good night.

[BillBlueEyes]

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Exercise was chase the (6 yo) DGD day, CREDIT moi. Not only "day", but she's asleep in the next room right now; it's an overnight. A full week of vacation challenges a couple when both parents work. It's been fun, but she keeps moving. I haven't had a chance to read to her - one of my favorite things. She went out with DW on an excursion to pick up trash in the neighborhood using "grabbers" - six-foot sticks whose claw is controlled by the hand. She thought that the most fun ever. Got smiles from the neighbors.

Eating was on plan while at the table, CREDIT moi, but still too many snacks. The challenge with having the DGD here full time is that I'm on call full time. I'm not always doing something with her, but I'm not free to go off and do my own thing and abandon DW alone. Dinner was purchased at Whole Foods, making an excursion out of it. Plan was to get macaroni-and-cheese along with a rotisserie chicken to go with the string beans already on hand. I saw a yummy looking pan of mac-and-cheese on their hot table. The DGD sniffed; we had a box of mac-and-cheese. I suppose it did bring some nostalgic memories, but since childhood I've had some really good stuff. The box doesn't fit the category of "really good," LOL.


onebyone - So great that you have a gallery space for January to use with your large roll of canvas. Yep, Congrats indeed, for "The scale IS NOT RISING!"

Joy (gardenerjoy) - Yay for a trip to the library. By-the-by, I ordered an Airgami mask - partially as a step to take toward taking mask wearing more seriously. Feel like I've become a loosey-goosey cloth mask wearer.

maryann - Smiling at the thought of you and your DS snickering during Spiderman: No Way Home. Shared movies are just the best. I'd love to be smarter about the metals in jewelry.

Karen (karenrn) - It's so neat that the clothes you have fit so that you're prepared for your trip to Thailand. [I swallowed just fine, but food would, on occasion, pause in the lower esophagus at the Schatzki Ring - a new word for me with a tricky order of letters. "No one knows the cause; speculation is that the tissue is there from birth and at some point begins to feel like a problem."]

curlyjax - Pizza is especially fun when unexpected and provided for FREE. Trip to the dump sounds therapeutic.

Penny. - Drooling again over your wild rice and mushroom soup. Yay for a day off.

Readers -

Chapter 5 Stage 2 - The Think Thin Initial Eating Plan

Determine Your Calorie Level

Keep the following pointers in mind during the first couple of weeks that you are fully on the plan: . . .

• If you often feel intensely hungry and lose more than 2 pounds during the second and third weeks of this eating approach, you are following a calorie plan that is too low. Step up one level.

Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Complete Beck Diet for Life (Green book), Pg 108.

[curlyjax]

Work was a bit slow yesterday so I spent a little time looking at WW and this other app healthi (used to be called itrackbites) which is much cheaper than WW. At the end of the day though I need to actually eat less, and I don’t do well with having to input food on these systems, its much easier to write out a plan. I am planning on joining the Y though in January.
Food was takeout chicken parm, and today will be various bits of leftovers. The kitchen is cleaned up which helps me feel calm; I will tackle the rest of the xmas detritus today or tomorrow.
It would be fun to do a walk on new years day with people but some of the walks I see are either too long or rather far away. I’ll come up with something; I don’t do New years really but its nice to mark the first day of the new year in some way.
Bill- what fun to have DGD overnight. Kids do get picky about their mac and cheese.
Onebyone-yay for stopping the gain for sure. A shared art space and talking about art sounds lovely.
Maryann- exciting to start classes in your new interest.
Penny- yay for a puttering day. Soup does sound good.
Gardenerjoy- I tend to crumple up my masks too, good to know that wouldn’t work out for the Airgami.
Karen-so exciting to start the clothing planning! Helpful to have a DH who will get the sweets out of temptations way.

[karenrn]

Good morning coaches,

Food was off plan yesterday even though dh took the official goodies out of the house. I made a little sweet concoction in the afternoon. I got back on plan for dinner and will stay there. I'm waking up with the same stuffy nose as yesterday, but no other symptoms. I slept in the guest room to hopefully prevent dh from getting this probable cold. I won't get the results from my Covid test for 24 to 48 hours. It was the PCR test and I didn't feel like paying the $100 for faster results since I don't really think I have it. It was free to get the longer turn around. I tried to get some home tests, but there were none to be had.

Yesterday I did the self clean on the oven and took the racks out prior and gave them a good scrubbing. I have made the mistake in the past of not removing the racks and then they lose their finish. Never again, I hope. The inside of my oven is shiny dark blue and it looks great now. The tenderloin roast cooked at 500 degrees and it was covered with butter so it did make a bit of a mess in the oven. I also started reading The Book of Two Ways by Jodi Picoult. I will just stay home today and plan to do a lot of reading. It almost feels good to have an excuse to stay home and be alone except for dh and Otis.

Bill Have fun with the dgd, other than the box Mac and cheese. Honestly, I don't think I've ever had it out of a box. I think my brother had a similar problem with his esophagus, but as far as I know he's fine now.

Onebyone Scale not rising is the first step. Good for you.

Maryann I think the education for your next career sounds very exciting. I love that feeling of excitement about something new.

Panny Enjoy your day! No scratchy throat here.

GardenerJoy I'm glad the mask worked well. It actually looks too delicate for me. I have found the black KN95 masks that I have are pretty comfortable. I think I'll stick with them for now. I'm trying to think about how it will feel on a very long flight, but I think okay.

Waving to Curlyjax. I imagine you are busy with the kids home, work etc.

[gardenerjoy]

I'm winding down the year with a lot of energy toward things that I want to finish before the end of the year. We'll see how I do. I'm reminding myself that there's a huge amount of artificiality to these goals and they aren't worth stressing over. They really aren't worth eating over.

Exercise +35, 1505/1600 minutes for December

[maryann]

Good Morning, Coaches.

Woke naturally at 6:30 am from a teacher's dream. Couldn't find my classroom. I guess it is time to log into the school and start planning for a new bunch of kids. We are on the block system so every semester is one full credit year.

Credit for gym yesterday and food was ok. The scale rest at 170. I made a bunch of my groat bowl with lentils. I will begin that this morning.

Karen: My oven long ago lost the self clean function. It is from 1990. I inherited it when I married DH. A broken microwave sits above it. Once the oven goes I will replace both. it is not a money thing I just hate waiting for handymen and don't like having them in my house.
BBE: Enjoy DGD. school starts soon enough.
Joy: New years is an artificial deadline. No stress. I do like choosing something to monitor and watching over the year though. I will use every dollar for this year and I will increase my iphone steps from last year. That work well for me this year.
Curleyjax and onebyone: Moving more is always a good answer.

[Penny.]

Good morning!

Yesterday was on plan and weight is holding. I'm down three pounds for the month and trying not to focus on how slow the process is.

Karen, I just ordered some black kn95 masks with earloops for the family. These ones. I will take one with me when I do the annual fit test for my work masks and see how they perform. It has to be better than cloth or a regular surgical mask, I figure. Is that similar to what you've been using?

Another glorious day off to putter. Have a good day, everyone!

[onebyone]

Hi Coaches

Checking in
completed my 18hr fast
ate low carb and tracked my food
did my dancing 7min
plan made for tomorrow
checked In!

[BillBlueEyes]

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Have a safe and fun New Year's Eve, everyone.

The second day of the (6 yo) DGD sleepover concluded well. "Little bit" just kept on going every single minute. I never got to read to her. She baked the cookies from the dough made the first day. That was a long operation. DW had purchased a box of triangular icing bags so they made a bag for each of the six colors in the box of food dyes. Decorated all the cookies made. I was hand delivered a small moon-shaped cookie decorated in blue, "Your favorite color" in my office. I'm quite sure that a hand-delivered, handmade cookie from a darling DGD doesn't have calories.

Eating at the table was on plan, CREDIT moi, with snacks continuing to be more than I really think necessary. Dinner was the second dip into the rotisserie chicken - anything that took almost no thinking or work. One of my duties was to wash the sink full of dishes from the cookie baking; did that TWICE! Apparently, the way to let a 6 year old do everything is to get every ingredient into its own dish before adding. Anything she spilled went into a strategically placed tray beneath the action. And no utensil was used on two different colors.


onebyone - Kudos for completing your fast and dancing your dance.

Joy (gardenerjoy) - Kudos for recognizing that you don't have to stress over the goals that you set for yourself. IRS deadlines, on the other hand, require fretting over.

maryann - Wish that I could read "groat bowl with lentils" and not immediately think of Oliver Twist, LOL: "Please, sir, may I have some more please?"

Karen (karenrn) - Congrats for doing the whole oven cleaning bit; nice to peek in and see it looking new. We face the same shortage of home test kits around here. And the concern that some of the home test kits don't detect Omicron.

curlyjax - Neat to plan a walk to start the New Year. Good luck finding an app that suits your style.

Penny. - Congrats on those three pounds for the month. Love the image, "glorious day off to putter."

Readers -

Chapter 5 Stage 2 - The Think Thin Initial Eating Plan

Determine Your Calorie Level

Keep the following pointers in mind during the first couple of weeks that you are fully on the plan: . . .

• If you start with the 1,600 calorie plan and don't lose weight, do one of the following:
  • Decide to use this plan to help you eat in a healthier way and maintain your weight, OR
  • Increase your exercise to lose weight (if it's reasonable to do so), OR
  • Consult a registered dietitian to help you reduce your calories to 1,400 (if you need to lose weight to improve your health).

Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Complete Beck Diet for Life (Green book), Pg 108.

[karenrn]

Good morning coaches,

Food was on plan yesterday. It was a lazy day, but I didn't mind it at all. I got the Covid test results in the night and I am negative as I suspected. I am relieved nonetheless. It is bad enough that I have a cold that I could have spread to a friend or dh.

Bill I bet dgd had a good time with the cookie decorating. Baking can make a lot of dishes, especially with the colored icing.

Onebyone Congratulations on a successful day.

Penny Congratulations for being down 3 pounds in December! Yes those masks look very similar to what I have. They fit well on my face without a gap, so I'm hoping they are pretty good.

Maryann I got all new appliances when we remodeled the kitchen 4 years ago, so thankfully they work well so far. I have a combination microwave/convection oven that matches the oven and is just above it. I finally learned how to use the convection oven on Christmas because I don't have two ovens like I used it. I can't believe I waited so long. Good job getting to the gym.

GardnerJoy I don't have one thing that I believe I will finish by the end of the year, but I'm kind of looking forward to making the New Year's Resolutions that I probably won't keep. I've ordered a five year diary that should arrive today. I'm hoping to write a few lines in that each day.

Curlyjax I guess we were posting at the same time yesterday. Have you ever used My Fitness Pal? I know you don't like to log things, but at least it is free. I have used it for years. Once you log the foods you eat the first time, it gets easier because it retains a list of them.

Ds just called from Thailand. We do the FB video calling which is free. I still think it's just a miracle to be able to see each other and visit for FREE.

[maryann]

God morning, Coaches.

I woke at 5:30 am. My body is really telling me school is coming. I do feel I have finally caught up. I did very little yesterday - yard work, laundry, and read a great new series called 3 a.m. it has a clever premise of a man who has a sleeping disorder and is only awake for one hour a day. It is a murder mystery series. I had to send official transcripts to GIA, Nearly forgot my maiden name is on the transcripts from 40 years ago. I had to send a marriage certificate for proof of name change. Also, in honor of admission to jewelry school and the last day of buying anything for my wardrobe, I bought a Gucci sterling silver and red coral necklace. https://ibb.co/5sQSSp0 It was a very good price at a a consignment house I might work at when I finish my certification. Coral reminds me of growing up in Malibu with all the coral trees.

Weight drifted back below 170. Yeah!! I didn't think much about it which is always good when I don't think much about food. I have logged December expenditures in Every Dollar.

Karen: Glad for negative test.
Onebyone: nice check in.
BBE: Always nice to tag team with little ones. I bet your washing up was appreciated.
Penny: Credit three pounds down. that is a big deal.

[curlyjax]

I have today off so I slept in until 9, hooray!
Excitement yesterday was coming home to discover that DS had been exposed to covid at his best friends house- BF's dad had tested positive, although mom was negative. Like the responsible lad he is, DS went off in search of a self test kit and tested negative thankfully. We are all going to lay low for a few days with socialization unless its outside, for a variety of reasons. After a quite a few days of lounging about, I am psyched to get some things done today like running to the dump with leftover Christmas boxes, etc. I think I will buy some salmon for a nice healthy meal tonight, and ring in the new year that way. I love being middle aged and not caring about staying up until midnight!
Maryann-nice necklace!
Bill-I have lovely memories of cookie baking and decorating with my mom and kids. And of course some sibling fighting. yes, it makes lots of dirty dishes!
Karen- yay for negative test. I haven't tried myfitness pal; free is always good. The nice thing about WW app is the community interaction and coach videos etc. They have yet another reconfiguration that's supposedly more personalized. It is so amazing you can see DS in Thailand via video for free!

[gardenerjoy]

Today's high is expected to be 66 degrees. Sunday's high is expected to be 24 degrees. Tomorrow, in between, we'll get rain changing over to a wintry mix. I'm looking forward to experiencing all the seasons in three days. And, especially, to starting off with a walk today.

We haven't stayed up until midnight on New Year's Eve for ages and haven't been out on New Year's Eve for even longer before then. So, we'll enjoy a Baja Shrimp Bowl from Sunbasket and an adult beverage at our normal supper time.

Exercise +80, 1585/1600 minutes for December

[Penny.]

Looks like I forgot to post this morning. Yesterday was on plan and weight is holding. Today was good too.

Happy New Year everyone!

Karen, I like the five year diary idea. I'm enjoying journaling for the first time ever in a basic school spiral. I nicer book would fancy it up.

Maryann, the necklace is lovely.