We received our first Sunbasket box yesterday. We were surprised that the fish and chicken were frozen, but that may actually solve some of the problems that we had with Home Chef. And, it's probably why they're able to provide a lot of fish options.

The heat-and-serve meal came unfrozen with the best-by suggestion that it be eaten or frozen by today, so that's what we had last night. It was tasty, but too much salt and too big of a serving. We'll probably stay away from the pre-prepped options that are Asian-inspired in the future or split one serving.

Exercise +50, 730/1600 minutes for December

maryann: I love the combination of the 30-year recognition with a flair for new offerings.

Good morning!

I have a couple days off from work. I'm relaxing and posting with a downloaded SNL episode pkaying in the background- just how SNL should be watched. lol

My plan is to get on the stationary bike today and write out a food plan.

Maryann, congrats on the 30yrs and the recognition!

Curly, wtg putting yourself out there for the singles meet-up.

Bill, lol at the booster smugness at the store. It does feel good to have that bit of reassurance.

Karen, enjoy your time with company. It sounds like you're having fun, and congrats on the new baby in the family.

Joy, the new meal service sounds like a good one. I love that it inludes some heat and serve meals. I don't want to be a chef every time. lol

Have a great day, everyone!

Good evening, Coaches.

Just after declaring a new gym schedule, i am canceling tonight. I feel under the weather - just an ordinary cold which I always seem to get right about now. Still I will "Dayquil" up ( without alcohol) and hit the sack. School was crazy. I allowed contest winners to "door dash" a meal to our closed campus school. A bunch of fast food cost about $200. Wow. I had never done it before. So OK, I learned that is probably not a prize I'll award again. The next two days are final schedules. My plan is to be completely corrected up with grades in by the time I leave on Friday.

Food is ok. Weight is the same.

Karen: I am like your friend and very annoyed when people are talking in a movie. I have gotten better though. I think it is too many years of teaching.

Wave to all.

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Was chase the (6 yo) DGD day after kindergarten. Little chasing on my part; she runs like crazy around, over, and under a play structure on the school grounds with all her friends. A piece of sidewalk chalk came into existence in their midst. They fought for it like the folks fought for a coke bottle in the movie The Gods Must be Crazy. And showed all the civilization of Lord of the Flies. While the parents/grandparents stood around making wimpy analogies to old movies, LOL. I'm so old that I remember when people just went to movies whenever they wanted.

Got a tutorial from my DD about the difference between rapid COVID testing (you're not contagious right this moment) and two-day results Laboratory COVID testing (no antibodies detected). Rapid home testing kits are widely available for $7 to $15 each, sometimes only available in packages of two or four. Laboratory testing is done at clinics; one home kit from Amazon costs $99 for the swab and prepaid postage to send it to the Laboratory. I have a friend who brought a basket of rapid tests to a family gathering. All tested, then hugged and enjoyed their day together. Admittedly, she noted, only for those who can afford that.

Eating was on plan, CREDIT moi. The fruit cake continues to be a snack; it's slowly going away. If I ate bigger slices, it'd be gone sooner. His food addicted brain suggested. Dinner was a pot of turkey chili - special because it was turkey chili that we had to throw away a few weeks ago for leaving it out of the fridge overnight. Servings two and three were safely put away before we even sat down for dinner.


Joy (gardenerjoy) - Your exploring food delivery options sounds fun. Neat to have one heat-and-serve meal so the chef gets a day off.

maryann - Sounds like you've scheduled yourself a busy two days. Hope that cold doesn't make that difficult. Ouch for discovering the cost of a classroom full of fast food by door dash. I bet the kids thought it was heaven on earth.

Karen (karenrn) - Assume that you saw the 2021 movie Julia, about Julia Child, not the 1977 Lillian Hellman's memoir movie about the character Julia. I join you in the crowd that isn't fond of loud talking in theaters. Except for, of course, midnight showings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show where one is expected to have seen the movie and are there for the audience.

curlyjax - Kudos for getting yourself out for an evening. Thanks for "my thoughts are just my thoughts."

Penny. - Yay for a little down time. SNL running in the background as you type cracks me up.

Readers -

Good morning coaches,

Just a quick check in before I get up to eat breakfast. Food was on plan yesterday except that I substituted two bites of macaroni and cheese for my rice cake with whipped cream cheese. I'm pretty sure the calories were equivalent or even less. Weight is down a tiny bit. It is only 37 degrees outside this morning so we will wait until 9 or so to head out for our hike. My friend did very well yesterday which was great. She does have one foot that is giving her a bit of an issue, so we will keep the hikes a little shorter.

We went to the Scottsdale Fashion Square Mall yesterday to do a little shopping. We really we just looked and saw a bunch of crappy looking things. The colors and fabrics were awful. I was glad I wasn't wanting to purchase anything. I will need a few new things, but I'll wait until I've gotten to my goal.

I hope the cold passes quickly, Maryann.

Hello to all.

Excitement yesterday was learning mid-morning we have to start wearing masks at work, outside our offices. It was discovered by reading this in the local paper the board of health didn't bother reaching out to town departments about it, which seems to be the way they roll. It's going to make group activities more challenging for elders, many of whom are hard of hearing anyhow, but it was bound to happen again.
In the evening I spent some time feeling sorry for myself and getting into the chocolate chips set aside for baking. I saw a photo of manfriend and his GF and it just got me sad about all that again. There's a reason why some men in their fifties are single. I know its partly the time of the year, the ongoing pandemic which limits socialization, and my disgust at myself for letting myself get so heavy. I called some friends to vent and that helped.
Anyway- today is a new day and all that. Thanks for being here. Ugh, these long dark evenings are doing me in already!

Good morning!

Yesterday was finally a low calorie day and weight is down, but I did not do my exercise. I've written down my food plan and will avoid the kid birthday pizza and ice cream cake for dinner.

Bill, your mention of Rocky Horror Picture Show reminded me I saw it for the first time at one of those late night theater showings. I had to go home and watch it without the hoopla immediately to see what all I missed. I just saw Tim Curry yesterday while introducing my daughter to Annie and joked about Rocky Horror being next. lol

Maryann, yikes on the $200 lunch for the kids. There must have be several winners. I hope the cold doesn't drag you down too much.

Karen, that's so cold for AZ! It's cold for Oregon too. Crazy that we're both having 30s in the winter and 115 in the summer. Good job swapping foods to taste the mac n cheese.

Curly, sorry about the manfriend sadness. Unrequited love is the worst!

I'm claiming credit for reaching the half-way point of my exercise goal at the half-way point of the month. With a 31-day month, I'm in great shape!

Today's adventure will be a trip to the AT&T store. They sent me a new phone because they aren't going to serve my old phone, anymore (shutting down the 3G Network). The new phone was supposed to activate a couple of nights ago, like magic. I'm unimpressed with the magic. They made my old phone quit working as a phone but didn't succeed in making the new one work.

Exercise +80, 810/1600 minutes for December

Good Evening, Coaches.

One more day to go at school. Said "goodbye" to the first two classes. I am sad to see them go. They were good kids. Food is dancing on the borders of "uh Oh." I got into the incredible amount of sweets at work. I made myself a plate of treats. Credit for just having one bit of each item and then throwing the plate away. I did not make myself sick. Warming myself by the gas fire. DH is picking up DS tonight. I want to get some sleep to make the last of this cold flee.

Thinking of Joy making her half way point of exercise. I had two Resolutions this year. The first was a step count which I am going to make. The second was going to the cabin once every month. I just made ten months but DH picked up the slack the other two. This year I am going to make a resolution to not spend any money on clothes, jewelry or shoes unless a specialty item for traveling. I have gone a little crazy this year so it will be fun if I can make do next year. Also, I am going to up my step count goal again.

Karen: Glad you have some hiking company.
curley: i am sorry about the manfriend situation. Company is important and it does seem like the cards are stack against middle aged women. I know from experience that the first problem I had to tackle in my situation was my self disgust ( after my first marriage ended) I had to really practice being gentle with myself. I bought clothes that were flattering in the body I was in. I had to watch my self talk. I was brutal on myself. I like Beck's tool of really paying attention to people around me. There were woman who weighed as much or more than me when I was over 200 pounds who had active social lives. I also listened to women who were dating and realized their life wasn't necessarily easier than mine. As a heavy teenager I grew up thinking anybody who was skinny had an easy time in this world. You have done so well finding your dream job and launching your kids. Credit for slow but steady steps.

Wave to BBE and Penny

Diet Coaches/Buddies - DW's Zoom event was 5-6 pm; mine was 7-9 pm. We squeezed dinner together in between. What a weird world. Talked to a neighbor to get the dates of their Christmas vacation 3-week trip to London when I'll be watching their mail and checking their house. "We cancelled the trip yesterday; the numbers in London are just too high." Ouch! The kids are devastated. They're not nut cases - just informed parents. With their exposure to kids in school, she knows all the COVID testing sites including which ones have shorter waits. Read in the paper that Queen Elizabeth had cancelled a family gathering. Apparently, the numbers in London are real.

Eating was on plan, CREDIT moi. Evening snack continues to include a slice of the fruit cake. Still more to go. Dinner was previously-grilled salmon, our regular twice a week favorite. Discussed Christmas Eve dinner menu. We'll have our cooked cranberry chutney with the ham, shrimp and kale crisps for appetizers. Our kids are known to be able to devour a platter of shrimp. With me leading the pack. Their saving grace is that I'll put out less cheese and crackers - which I'm also known to dig into. Seems that I dig into any appetizer that I put out, LOL. Maybe I'll add Parmesan cheese chips; pure joy composed of pure calories - no redeeming quality at all.


Joy (gardenerjoy) - Good luck battling the phone company bureaucracy. LOL at "I'm unimpressed with the magic."

maryann - Super Kudos for making a single platter and then only eating a bite of each item. CBT skills in action there.

Karen (karenrn) - Substituting with awareness is a sane way to live. Too bad that the fashion shopping mall was a bust.

curlyjax - Ouch for having to learn about your job requirements from the local newspaper. But good news that masks continue to be taken seriously. Ouch for the negative feelings about manfriend with Kudos for recognizing that you could reach out to a friend to vent.

Penny. - Kudos for avoiding the kid birthday pizza and ice cream cake for dinner. It's a challenge to avoid food sitting right there. When introducing your DD to Tim Curry, you might try Home Alone 2: Lost in New York - should be easier to understand.

Readers -

There was a little party yesterday at work and I let myself go with the sweets. It was fun to socialize with the seniors; I don't do much holiday party stuff so I enjoyed that part. I am not going to indulge in anything that isn't in my lunch today, other than possibly a warm soup if it doesn't look too caloric.
Someone from the community donated a chunk of money to be given out to elders in need, so I and my colleague started doing that which was very fun, like being Santa Claus.I think the seniors felt gratified that someone is thinking about them, plus the reminder that there are indeed good people in the world, when all you see is bad news on tv.
Today after work I will pick up my son, and then DD comes home at some point, so I certainly won't be alone for the next month! It will be nice to have them here.
Thanks for the sympathy folks, I'm feeling better today.
Maryann-that's a good point about the self disgust. Great job just eating a bite of sweets!
Karen- do you ever get really hungry with your plan, or is it manageable? I know what you mean about fabrics and colors being awful, it gets harder to find decent quality stuff-and a lot is really low cut too.
Penny-great to have low calorie day and weight down.
Gardenerjoy-yay for halfway thru the month exercise success.
Bill-sounds like a lovely Christmas eve menu. I'm ready to toss out the fruitcake, there is just too much.

Good morning coaches,

Food was on plan yesterday and we had a good hike in the morning. I saw the cardiologist in the afternoon and will have a few tests next month. Mostly she thinks I'm just fine, but will check things out to be absolutely sure. The medical assistant took my blood pressure and I didn't ask what it was. On the notes from my visit they printed out and I read on the way to the car it said my BP was 160 over something. My blood pressure has never been that high and I'm sure it wasn't yesterday either. It usually runs say 110/70 and although it could have been a little high, I'm sure it wasn't anywhere near 160. I know it shouldn't annoy me so much, but I was at a cardiologist's office.

Today is baking day. We're going to make about 5 kinds of cookies which I will take to former co-workers and a few friends. I'm going to plan to eat one sweet a day but will not eat my afternoon snack or frozen yogurt bar which is about 350 calories total. That's my initial plan and if it needs to be changed I'll figure that out.

Bill Your Christmas Eve dinner sounds really good. There will be 4 of us here for Christmas Eve and then 6 on Christmas Day. I hadn't given much thought to Christmas Eve, but I guess I had better start.

Maryann I hope the cold will be leaving you soon. I'm sure you're very excited to have ds home for the holidays. I agree with Bill, having just one bite of each of the treats is great restraint.

GardnerJoy Good job on your exercise goals as usual. I hope the trip to AT&T resolved your phone problem. That wasn't good magic at all.

Curlyjax Please don't beat yourself about your weight. You know you would never say things like that to a friend and we do need to treat ourselves at least as well as we treat our friends. Like Maryann said, having a job you enjoy with better hours and being a good mother and launching your kids is such important work. The weight loss will come.

Penny I hope you're enjoying your days off.

My new phone was fixed by removing the SIM card and replacing it. The modern phone equivalent, I guess, of the old-fashioned "unplug it and then plug it again." Which reminded me of my first computer job when I was a senior in college. I worked at a hospital where I did backups (on giant disks, so changing them took an ability to lift fifty pounds straight up) and provided early-morning and late-night tech support. At least once a week I was called to the warehouse when the modem failed. It was a dusty environment, so the trick was to take off the cover and press down on all the chips to re-establish the contacts. The guys thought I had magic fingers.

A quick check-in. I'm trying to beat the rain for a trip to Whole Foods and back. Here's my promise that I won't buy anything that isn't on my list or eat anything while I'm out.

Exercise +35, 845/1600 minutes for December

Good morning!

Yesterday was on plan and weight is down. I have another work day today and continue to fight against the push to work more than my contracted hours.

I have a performance review today, and I see they already overbooked me. The sad thing is, I doubt I'd be able to find a job in this field that doesn't do this, so I feel trapped.

Food plan is written down. Have a great day, everyone!

Good Afternoon, Coaches.

Ta -da!!! The essays are graded. I was really thrilled to see how many of the students did wonderful jobs judging the costs and benefits of six wars in the 20th century. Really neat. lots of nice comments by the kids as they were heading out the door. I will miss them.

Food was ok enough to not move the ticker up. I did eat a piece of cheesecake. Called it rare and unusual and let it go. Boys will be home tonite.

Karen: Very frustrating about the BP. And what if they were right? They should have addressed it then and there. That number is dangerously high.
curleyjax: glad the kids are coming home.
Penny: Keep fighting the good fight of boundaries. Credit for weight down.
BBE: Parmesan chips are completely legal in Keto. Declare yourself a paleotarian for the day.
Joy: good Luck with whole foods.