[gardenerjoy]

Yesterday's many minutes of exercise came courtesy of a yoga routine on YouTube themed for the Winter Solstice. I also enjoyed this morning's glorious sunrise over Stonehenge on YouTube (

Winter Solstice Sunrise 2021 LIVE from Stonehenge - YouTube

Winter Solstice Sunrise 2021 LIVE from Stonehenge - YouTube

), several hours after it was live. Unlike last year, there were people present on the site. CREDIT for observing the solstice which has no food-related memories associated with it, for me.

Exercise +65, 1100/1600 minutes for December

Penny: Our first COVID-times dental appointments were pretty scary. But the people we encountered were very cautious. It's been a pretty scary time to work in a dental office, too.

[BillBlueEyes]

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Picking up the (6 yo) DGD got cancelled. Ouch! with a worry. She'd been to the school nurse twice that morning; finally, her mom took a half-day off to pick her up. "Don't want you guys near her - don't know if this is serious. Will schedule COVID testing," message to us before our DD got her. Alas, moms seem to zoom in to the real problem rather quickly. A child laxative, a response shortly afterward, and it's a cheerful kid again. Reminder that just learning our bodies is a part of growing up.

Took the freed afternoon for a haircut. Was greeted with, "You're early," since I usually wait until I'm almost hippy stage. I'll look groomed for dinner with the kids tomorrow. Other excitement was with the financial institution. They weren't able to "un-deposit" the monies to my bank account because they'd paid me by checks which we had deposited - as we're wise to do. (I knew that.) So I'm off to the post office this morning to overnight mail three checks to them. It has to be three checks because each check has a different number written on it. I started to ask why I should trust a gigantic institution that can't take one check with all three numbers written on it. Beginning to think that money under my mattress isn't such a bad idea.

Eating was on plan with no daytime snacks, CREDIT moi. The leftover chicken became chicken noodle soup. Really good because DW left the noodles firm. My dislike of chicken noodle soup is primarily driven by the limp, saturated noodles in the stuff I've been served all my life.


Joy (gardenerjoy) - So much fun experiencing sunrise over Stonehenge via your YouTube link. So good to be reminded that our generation of humans isn't the first to have brains and made serious observations.

maryann - Yes, one little vice seems reasonable. And consignment store shopping isn't caloric. Sympathetic about figuring out tax issues with a farm. It seems to me that the IRS got so fed up with "gentlemen-farmers" seeking fake tax breaks that they devoted half their rules to making tax accounting for farms difficult.

Karen (karenrn) - Neat that you, Otis, and I are all now freshly shorn. Ouch for the news about Thailand with Kudos for being so accepting about it.

curlyjax - Great to have to do some physical labor at work - saving on gym fees. The MGH school of nursing is in Charlestown - right in the middle of everything. What a prestigious place to attend. Great location to stay busy and see everything. I don't know anything about rentals; I'll look later.

Penny. - Happy dental day! Love the notion of going in with the whole gang of kids at the same time.

Readers -

Chapter 5 Stage 2 - The Think Thin Initial Eating Plan

Bonus Calories are an allotment of 150 to 200 calories that you will spend every day on any food or beverage you'd like. You can crate you own meals or use the recipes in Chapter 11. And I've simplified the process by determining portion sizes and doing the calorie counting for you.

Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Complete Beck Diet for Life (Green book), Pg 106.

[karenrn]

Good morning coaches,

Food was on plan yesterday. The only real exercise was walking Otis and then just things around the house, picking up my new shoes at REI, and grocery shopping to be ready for Christmas. This morning we are hiking Camelback. I haven't done it in a year and it's been two years for Coleen. Hiking Suzanne is going with us since it is something we do together every Christmas time. The plan is to take it slow and easy cause it is definitely strenuous even though it isn't very long.

Looks like my trip to Thailand will happen after all. New information came out that those who have already received their Thailand Pass and QR code can still go with an additional PCR test on day 6 for free. I'm glad I didn't go crazy cancelling anything. I'm hoping this might mean my flight won't be crowded or cancelled.

Bill Glad dgd is all good again. The situation with the financial institution sounds very frustrating. Glad you're getting through it.

Maryann My most recent hiking shoes have been LaSportiva and Salomon. The newest are Salomon again. They have really good lugs on them which will be a big help doing the scrambling up Camelback and Flatiron. I haven't been much of a shopper in the last few years, but it may become more appealing with my weight down. I hope not too appealing though.

Penny I hope the trip to the dentist was okay. I've been three or four times in the last couple of years and haven't had any problems. They are very careful.

GardnerJoy I'll have to check out the Stonehenge YouTube video.

Have a great day everybody.

[gardenerjoy]

I'm feeling busier than I prefer at this time of year, but also determined to get some things done and out of the way before the New Year and, preferably, before Christmas. I can't really argue with the results of checking things off the list that have been on the list for far longer than I wanted.

So, I'm accepting that I'm complicated enough to hold competing desires at the same time -- do less and do more. Today will be a do-more day. I have faith that I will have at least one do-less day at some point in the next week.

Exercise +35, 1135/1600 minutes for December

[Penny.]

Good morning!

Yesterday was on plan and weight is holding.

The dentist does not wear a n95 mask, just a regular mask, which surprised me because they use the sonic pick that aerosolizes the spit. I would sure like to know how many and how often that staff get covid,- in the name of science of course.

Instead of focusing on how long the aerosolized contaminants stay airborne and lag time between patients, I'll just appreciate there were no cavities and our teeth are cleaned before the peak outbrake on the west coast.

Bill, I'm glad dgd is okay.

Karen, fingers crossed all goes well with your travel plans.

[BillBlueEyes]

Diet Coaches/Buddies - The branch of the bank where I always pick up gold $1 US coins has been closed for two days. "Sorry for the inconvenience." Not a problem; there are many banks. But kinda shocked. Apparently they can't keep staffed in the face of the newest wave of the Omicron variant of COVID. They are for my, previously told around here, custom of five gold coins in the toe of each stocking in memory of the 5 gold-wrapped chocolates that were always in the toe of mine. The great news is that I got my seasonal flu shot. The old 'just drop by' days are gone; had to be scheduled, but I found a slot and slipped in.

A successful run to Trader Joe's got a bunch of stocking stuffers. Have to accept that trying to make a stocking look exciting for my adult kids and spouses is getting harder. They don't want anything. It's a new idea to me that a stocking doesn't have to be overflowing. The adult gifts aren't just Gift Cards, but printed statements that the card is in the mail. I procrastinated too long this year. I've carefully tracked one gift for DW that's made it to our local post office at 5:17am this morning. Maybe it'll be here by the time we open presents. Maybe not. But not a big deal. I have some labeling and "wrapping" to do this morning, where "wrapping" means putting in the reusable cloth bags that I bought from REI many years ago made from their unused sleeping bag lining material. Since I hate wrapping paper, I'm happy and the kids have long accepted that that's what I do.

Eating was on plan, CREDIT moi, except for an afternoon snack of the dark chocolate covered almonds making themselves visible for the guests. It'll be a challenging day for food.


Joy (gardenerjoy) - What a snapshot of the reality of life, "hold competing desires at the same time." Congrats for checking off some items on your list.

Karen (karenrn) - Continue to be impressed with the equanimity with which you accept that your Thailand trip is on, then off, then on again. News this morning is that United Airlines and Delta Airlines have cancelled all Christmas Eve flights with, "Sorry for the inconvenience." Presumably, some folks will be camped out at airports all day Christmas. Yay for new shoes for some good news.

Penny. - Congrats for making it through your family dental visit despite being aware that their COVID techniques weren't the best. When I went to my doctor's appointment last week, they instructed us to use their provided paper mask explaining, "It's just not possible for us to evaluate whether your mask is good enough." Seemed smart to me.

Readers -

Chapter 5 Stage 2 - The Think Thin Initial Eating Plan

As you transition to Stage 2, make it your goal to follow your plan no matter what, using Resistance Techniques to stay in control. The more you practice these techniques, the better you will get at using them and the less you will struggle.

Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Complete Beck Diet for Life (Green book), Pg 107.

[karenrn]

Good morning coaches,

I can't really say that food was on plan yesterday. I added about 4 cookies that were very good but not exactly planned. We did hike Camelback and it was fun and my new shoes gripped really well. There are several areas where you need to walk up large rocks at a pretty steep angle, so it's great when the shoes are really grippy. We did some cooking and a little more baking in the afternoon. I had hoped to make more cookies that had cranberries, but there were no cranberries to be found. I guess we didn't need any more of those.

My friend from Tucson arrived just before dinner time. She'll stay until Sunday and Coleen will probably be here until next Wednesday. Her other friends will be back here from Calgary and she'll stay with them for a couple of weeks. I'll be ready for some alone time by then for sure, but it is nice to have friends here for the holidays. We have all decided no gift exchange so that makes it much easier.

Bill Sounds like you've been quite busy with your Christmas preparation. It does sound like fun. We have gotten our flu shots too, but I hear it wasn't a very good match this year. Mainly I'm just trying to do my part.

Penny Glad you made it through the dental visit and no cavities.

GardnerJoy When you say you're busier than you like to be I think "Oh I don't think I'm very busy", and then I think honestly I am so distracted with company that I don't know what I'm missing. Hopefully nothing that I absolutely should be getting done.

Happy Christmas Eve to All!

[curlyjax]

I was late yesterday and didn't get to post. Short day at work, then home to do more groceries, dump run, make more cookies etc. Today I'm cooking a turkey for us to use for leftovers etc, wrapping presents and stocking stuff, then figuring out to heat up a ham in a crockpot so I can bring it to my friends house for dinner, and maybe making a sauce for it as well. I had bought the turkey before this dinner was planned and figured I'd cook it just in case someone gets covid, sick etc. Hopefully that won't happen. I wish I had bought one of those covid test at home kits that were available at some drugstores yesterday, they're probably sold out. One of my colleagues and her son were having symptoms of exhaustion but they both got tested and were fine. Anyhow I'm grateful we don't have to travel anywhere for Christmas, and that the weather is decent.
Bill- nice that you still do stockings for the grownup kiddies. I have trouble figuring out small things for my young adults other than sweets and i've left it for the last minute too.
Karen- very nice to have friends for the holiday, probably easier than family in some ways!
Penny- yay for clean teeth going into the holidays. My dentist has a thing that seems to suck some of the air that I breathe, seems like a good idea.
Gardenerjoy- a balance of too much to do days and doing less other days, is always good.
Maryann-consignment shopping is cheaper than other ways, and such fun to find unique items.
Happy Christmas Eve!

[Penny.]

Good morning!

Yesterday was on plan and weight is down. The potato salad is finally eaten and I can move on to the hummus. I'll have a sizeable mound of it with two bell peppers, and that seems to fill me up for a meal.

I have to work today and then on call until tomorrow morning. Hopefully I'm not too wiped for the Christmas excitement in the morning. The kids are excited.

Have a wonderful day, everyone!

[gardenerjoy]

I accomplished a bunch of things on yesterday's list, including playing Santa by dropping gifts off on the porch of the great-niblings and slipping away. That family is unvaccinated, even the adults, so that seemed the wisest plan. And, it really felt more like being Santa.

By the time we logged on to the regular Thursday night family call, the gifts had been opened, so we got as close as we're going to get to in-person thank-yous. The HyperTiles were a hit. So was the book about London with a double-decker bus that lets a toddler drive around to explore.

I'll do a little Christmas cooking today -- cranberry-applesauce. I skipped that at Thanksgiving because it's ordinarily my potluck contribution to a holiday meal. But, I missed it, so I'm going to make it just for us.

Exercise +35, 1170/1600 minutes for December

karenrn: My secret to having cranberries at Christmas is to buy them on sale the week after Thanksgiving and freeze them.

[maryann]

Good Morning from Chino, California which is the southside of the greater LA area.

We braved I5 for nine hours (which should have been a 7 hour trip). It poured rain very moment. Yeah for the end of the drought. Boo for travel headaches. I also had my right hip lock up - I don't know if it was from skiing or hiking. I end up taking multiple high dosages of Advil and made it through. It feels better this morning and I am happy to not be going anywhere else till after Christmas. Food was unbalanced sugar centered. I have made a plan to eat anything I want as long as it is not dessert. I took a quick walk with Finn - SIL's new german Shepard puppy.

I had a small epiphany about my next life. I have mulled over several second career opportunities. DH and I have rejected several - Barista ( Life is too important to worry about coconut instead of almond milk with on shot) ; flight attendant ( crumby shifts until you get seniority); and realtor ( I hate conflict.) I thought I had a winner by working at a frame shop. I could learn all the fab machines and then make my own art using the rustic materials on the farm. Then, while perusing my consignment spots I realized I could become a jewelry appraiser. I love history, bargain hunting, art, and beauty. I might branch out into becoming a bench jeweler. Maybe I could some free trade online shops for local artists in South America. I speak passable Spanish. Anyway, I am excited. I am ready to retire in two year but DH has another ten. This could be a bridge. The downside is the 25,000 worth of schooling. I could do part online. I am going to do some more research.

Wave to all.

[onebyone]

Hi Coaches!

Today was a quiet day. I am enjoying a farm raised free range turkey thst I picked up from our Coopers Family Farm farm-share yesterday. They offered fresh turkeys vs the frozen ones they had for Thanksgiving and I said yes, one small one please. I picked it up yesterday and roasted it yesterday. I feel super spoiled. It's honestly only for me and for Caesar Cat, if he feels up to eating it. DH doesn't like turkey.

Caesar is on prednisone after we discovered he had three tumours: spleen, liver and intestine. One year and month later he's outlived the vet's predictions. He's super thin and super fussy though. He had a bit of turkey but not like the old days! At 19 and with his ailments I am grateful he eats whatever/whenever he wants.to eat.

I am trying to drop the bad habits I have been allowing and reinstate healthy actions and choices. I'm trying not to be mean to myself and trying to recognize when I do well. It is hard when I saw my highest scale weight ever yesterday. I don't even want to reveal it to you guys. I feel ashamed. I can see the path that led me.to this place.

It is so physically uncomfortable at this weight that I can't deny that change has.to come for me. It is far better that I do what's needed vs. being in a situation when change is forced upon me. That's scary enough to get me focused.

So today I chose better and ate less. I will move a.bit to my dance workout that I was doing this time last year. Whether I do it for 2 min 5 min 10 min or 30 min I'll just get up and do something.

Other than these things, presents have been bought. Cards sent today. Parcels sent yesterday. Emails and phonecalls tomorrow. Our Xmas dinner will be a small beef brisket with fingerling potatoes and mixed veggies. No dessert except for a few hard candies a friend gave us. She didn't give us a few candies though but a whole giant jar of Laura Secord hard candies.

That's the pian.

Enjoy your evening everyone.

[BillBlueEyes]

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Merry Christmas to all of you who celebrate!

Christmas Eve family dinner was a glorious success. A continuous grand brouhaha with no melt downs and all adults contributing. First Christmas for the (20 mo) DFGD who was led through all the traditions by the (6 yo) DGD. Ripping wrapping paper was the prime delight. Realized in one sitting that the DFGD is tri-lingual. She's speaking more English words now, but asked for "agua" at dinner (water in Spanish), and put her fingers to her lips for "eat now" when she heard the kitchen timer ding (ASL from her time with a non-verbal, deaf care taker). She watched the DGD demonstrate how a toy worked where the wooden monkey is placed just-so such that it then cascades down among the pegs on the board. Didn't move a muscle. Didn't say a word - just watched. An hour later, by herself, she sat down in front of the toy and worked it perfectly. I got reminded how much I'm used to detecting intelligence in kids by what they say.

The DGD loved the bird books for kids that we gave her along with a quality, but small, pair of binoculars. Demanded to be shown how to look up birds. Discovered how to use the index in the back to get the page number, then find the page. All new skills for her. Kept demanding names of birds she didn't know so she could look them up. Cornered her uncle to be read a book - one we'd pre-selected for which she makes the noises. REALLY LOUDLY!

My eating wasn't good. At the dining room table, I ate sanely, CREDIT moi; only one serving even through the ham was super yummy and the mushroom sauce on the noodles was to-die-for. But I nibbled my lunch worth of calories on the cocktail shrimp. Even had half a Mariah Carey oatmeal-raisin cookie that arrived. (Didn't know she baked cookies on the side, LOL.) There's plenty of leftovers for ham sandwiches, even though both families took away super generous chunks of ham - the benefit of buying a ten pound spiral ham. Both the guys were grinning as they scooped it up.


onebyone - Caesar Cat is one spoiled animal to get as much turkey as he wants. Such good CBT, "to drop the bad habits ... and reinstate healthy actions and choices." Drool at the thought of your beef brisket for dinner today.

Joy (gardenerjoy) - Glad that the HyperTiles were a hit. LOL at the thought of you dropping off the gifts and slipping away, undetected. Thanks for the tip to buy and freeze cranberries when on sale after Christmas.

maryann - Waving back all the way down there in Chino, California. Ouch for a long drive in the rain. Being a jewelry-appraiser sounds like a good fit for your interests. Seems to me that establishing context for an item of jewelry is a key part of establishing its value - and you'd be so good at doing that.

Karen (karenrn) - Yay for new hiking boots that work as desired. It's so neat that they don't require a laborious breaking-in period.

curlyjax - Bunch of cooking and a bunch of busy there. My DD and her network of mothers tell each other when a store gets COVID tests in stock.

Penny. - It's so neat that your near-adult kids are excited about Christmas. Hope you didn't spend the entire Christmas Eve night satisfying on-call emergencies.

Readers -

Chapter 5 Stage 2 - The Think Thin Initial Eating Plan

Resisting unplanned food will become easier and easier. When it does, you will be ready to learn how to handle the challenging situations presented in Stage 3 and transition into the Think Thin Lifetime Eating Plan in Stage 4, in which you will learn to eat more flexibly, adjust your plan in the moment, adapt personal recipes, and much more.

Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Complete Beck Diet for Life (Green book), Pg 107.

[gardenerjoy]

Our Christmas Eve supper came from our Sunbasket meal delivery service -- Scandinavian roasted salmon with horseradish-apple slaw and lavash. We really enjoyed it!

When I got up this morning, I drank a cup of chocolate creme tea, spiked with a drop of peppermint extract, and ate a navel orange while watching the Christmas launch of the James Webb Space Telescope.
I'm very happy with my food choices thus far in my Christmas celebration.

Exercise +80, 1260/1600 minutes for December

Wishing each of you a Merry Christmas and/or a happy Saturday!

maryann: So fun to explore new career options!

onebyone: I'm glad to see you here with fresh turkey and Caesar Cat. Giving credit works so well. For me, it took a lot of practice, including the meta-practice of giving myself credit for giving myself credit! So good for you for taking the first step of recognizing the need for it.

BillBlueEyes: Christmas Eve with two small children sounds like so much fun!

Waving to Penny, karenrn, curlyjax, and anyone else reading this!

[onebyone]

Good morning everyone

It's a mild Dec 25th here today. We have snow, but It's soft and mushy and melting slowly. There is a.busy road that I can see through the leafess trees in the winter and I just looked out and no one is out. Not one car. I am picturing everyone sleepy and just waking up.

I wanted to check in this morning to report that I did some dancing last night. I did the 1st song of one of the workouts and then stopped. I'm not going to beat msyelf up for not doing the whole 24 min workout. Instead I am trying to savour the first act of exercise I have done for my body in months. And to say I will do it again today. Credit moi.

A pat on the back is also required for figuring out how to cast (mirror cast) from my phone to the TV in the bedroom which has ROKU on it. This is great as I was able to cast the body groove website with all the workouts onto the bedroom TV where the floor space is always clear and I have no excuse to avoid a dance or two. So amazed I figured out the tech without DH's help.

Today we are having beef brisket potatoes and mixed veggies for Xmas dinner. No dessert is planned. I'm looking forward to eggs and bacon. No bread. And a hot turkey sandwich later on for lunch with carbonaut low carb bread (bought for these occasions) then freezing the leftover turkey meat and preparing the carcass of the turkey to become the source of awesome bone broth in the instant pot. I love the instant the most for its ability to create bone broth in 120.minutes.

I would love to wake DH as there's a big present here for me that I want to open. I think it's a cricut cutter. Crossing my fingers for that. I am anxious for.hom to open his email to see that he has been enrolled in Out of the Jar hosted by @serialpickler. It's a full pickling course. My hope is he will make pickled lemons! Maybe I will.make pickled.lemons and he will make his thing is more likely... lol.

And in scale news, it crept up again. I am reminded how each time I begin to get it back together the scale climbs a bit before it goes down like a test of my commitment. I am ready to get past this gaining and start losing. I am becoming more willing to do what needs to be done.

​​​​​​billblueeyes Watching two youngsters learn has got to be captivating. So much is involved. It.spund like you navigated the food well. Ham. I run into trouble with ham every time I.have it. It doesn't register as a danger food or a slippery food item but I can't keep.my hands off the ham! nibble nibble nibble. Smart to portion it up and send it on its way! Enjoy today!

gardenerjoy Thanks for the reminder to give myself credit. I discovered Beck so very long ago that I forget how solid her concepts really are. Giving ourselves credit is a cornerstone. Your food for today is off to a very pleasant start. Credit vous! I enjoyed reading of yesterday's salmon and lavish meal. Sounds nice and special. Enjoy today as well! Thanks for the support.

Wishing everyone here a really good day today.

Addendum:
1) reporting in that I did 2 songs in the dance workout tonight. A 100% increase over last night. Credit moi. In fact 2 credits.
2) I ate a lot of popcorn after my planned Xmas dinner. Popcorn was not planned. Other than this I was on plan for the day inspite of cravings and thoughts to eat. 0.75 of a credit.