Yesterday was overbudget again but weight came back down and is holding. A pasta salad is a bit over my calorie budget but I'm not going to worry about it.
Like Karen often does, I woke up at 2am, but didn't get up until 4. The quiet is rather nice. Even the dogs don't know I'm up.
Ann, welcome back. The cabin retreat sounds nice and I'm sorry you had to deal with the anti-maskers. I have to deal with them quite a bit for work. I had a patient tell me the vaccine is killing people and I was so tempted to say "see you next week, unless all of us vaxxed are dead before then."
I sorted more clothes in my closet, looking for items to give away. But, also, finding items to keep and use. My best discovery was a black skirt. I generally don't like my pear-shaped body in skirts, but this fits well and it's a narrow shape that works well with jackets or cardigans on top. I'm unsure when or if I'll have an occasion to wear it, but I'll be glad to have it, if such an occasion does arise.
Exercise +45, 615/1400 minutes for February
BillBlueEyes: My recent downsizing efforts have been motivated by the morbid thought that I don't want to live in this house alone. Since DH is six years older than me and a man, there is a high likelihood that I'll be the one in charge of the downsizing effort to get myself into a place that I can manage. When I imagine myself living there, it's much easier to let go of items that won't serve in that space and aren't serving me in this one. I'm still adjusting to the notion that these may be healthy thoughts that will serve me in the long run, rather than guilt-ridden or foreboding ones that I shouldn't entertain.
Hello Coaches. Happy Sunday. Went to see Death on the Nile. I was nervous but found it felt very safe. No one seated in the rows behind us or the row in front of our seats. The person seated beside me was three seats away. The checked us at the door to make sure we had vaccines. I will go to the show again. I have avoided movie theaters because of covid. I think I was just really nervous. I also went for a walk and there were a lot of people out walking. Today is so cold so there were not as many people out walking as yesterday. I will have to do a grocery order and prep food. I find I eat better when I have a plan.
BillBlueEyes - That is a great idea to have a thick binder for the kids to use when you pass away even if it sounds morbid. When my brother passed away it was difficult going through all his stuff to find important papers that were needed. Kudos for going through your files. The downsizing zoom would be interesting.
gardenerjoy - After being away with no internet I do understand how important it is to take a break from the technology. It must feel good to be sorting through your clothes. I need to do that too.
maryann - Wishing you have a wonderful time with your friends from Peru.
Karen -That is interesting about the windows. I had no idea. I am going to watch the video. Your plant based eating sounds interesting.
curlyjax - Isn't it odd when everything appears okay and then someone with perceived power wants to make sure you know they are in control. Maybe she feels the need to make others feel bad or maybe she doesn't realize what she is doing.
Penny. - You made me laugh with your comeback you were tempted to say. Someone told me the vaccines have chips in them so that the government knows everything we are doing. I said, "Oh, I thought that is what my phone is for."
We've got the game on, but I'm just watching a little. I do hope the Bengals win though. Food has been on plan and I did a great hike with a friend this morning. The weather was so beautiful and it was just the right hike. A couple of hours long and fairly strenuous, but didn't kill us. After that I came home and got cleaned up and did the grocery shopping. I didn't get to the meal prep cause I was tired by then and it was too late in the day. I'll do it tomorrow. We ended up having a frozen vegan burrito bowl over spring mix and tomatoes. We both thought it was pretty good and will certainly be a go to in the future. It was only 270 calories so we put some avocado on it.
Ann I've felt the same way about the movies and we don't even have to show proof of vaccination. If there are not many people in the theater and we are all masked then I'm good. I will admit I cut attendance when the numbers were really high, but they seem to be coming down again. I just can't sit home and do nothing so I just try to balance my risk. My biggest activity is being outside hiking.
GardenerJoy It's great to find wardrobe basics in the closet. I also found a black skirt, but unfortunately it's wool which I think I might wear about 2 months a year. I'm going to keep in anyway. I don't think your thoughts about living alone are morbid at all. I think you're just being realistic. My dh is a bit younger than I am, but with the health problems he has had in the past I think about what I would want and it wouldn't be living in this house with a pool. I know I could hire things done, but that seems like a lot of work too. I just want to be as ready as possible for whatever may be.
Penny I woke up at 2:30 this morning and haven't had a nap. I'm surprised I'm still awake. A few days I'd get up and go in the office and just enjoy it so I know what you mean, but Otis was on the chair with me.
Bill Be sure to take notes when you are watching the Downsizing film. I'm sure there are a couple of us that would like to know if there are any real nuggets of info. The binder is a great idea. I don't quite have that, but I do have extra info in the Trust binder.
Well, I am getting nowhere with my food and weightloss plan. I am 1lb more than I weighed on Christmas Day in spite of what seem like endless days of concern, action, inaction, plans, new plans and retreat from it all.
Truth is, I'm super stressed out and my food plan keeps falling from position no.1 in my life and consciousness and I simply give in to bad choices that soothe my jangled.feelings.
So I'm taking things down a notch. It seems anti-intuitive, but if I craft a less ambitious food and fasting plan, with simple rules, that fit my life as it is now, I think that's better during this demanding time. What I need is a routine. something that becomes just what I do. Once I have some success sticking to a plan I can increase the parameters. At least that's what I think tonight and I'll create that plan tonight.
AnnC123: I lived in Ottawa for a long time, close to 30yrs before we moved here to the 905. My sister lives on Lisgar at Kent. Some of my friends live in the Byward Market and others in all all of parts of Ottawa. I am so stressed out over the seige. I can't let it go. I wish you well and peace if you can get it. Glad you had somewhere to go and relax.
A quick note here; just home from the in-laws home after six hours of clearing, sorting, boxing, dumping. I think we'll still be digging out for months. Got home at halftime of the Super Bowl and rushed to get some "treat" food - Trader Joe's birds nest and samosas. Both vegan and definitely don't taste it. I'd stress more about it if we'd had more than bare minimum today and that was healthy. I made a chickpea salad where you put the beans in the cuisinart and pulse until flakes/small pieces, then add to a bowl with diced bell pepper, onion, celery, pickles, a bit of vegan mayo, lemon juice and dijon. It mimics tuna salad, and works great on lettuce wraps, sandwiches or salads. I brought it to their house and have it in fridge for tomorrow's lunch as well.
My sciatic nerve has flared up again and is worse at night/early morning. Not when I'm walking around, leaning over, crouching down, walking, or bike riding during the day. I read on a medical site that stress, depression, etc. can affect it as oxygen doesn't reach that nerve as much in those cases. Can that be legit? I had it terrible about 6 weeks ago and finally got past it. It went from 0-10 in one day this time. And that alone stresses me out, ha ha.
We're heading back there in the morning to meet with lawyer and do more work at the house. Have bags for Goodwill. With the two car seats in the car, we couldn't bring home as much as I thought we could It snowed during the afternoon, so the roads out in the country were sloppy. I just kept saying, please no one fly up behind me. It's just chipseal roads. And no one did. Thankful for small graces.
Monday- Valentine's Day (once thought to be 1st day of bird's mating for the season)
Diet Coaches/Buddies - Excitement was an afternoon visit with the DS, DDIL, and (23 mo) DFGD. The little bundle is just one happy child. And one in constant motion. She did her exploration of the house to make sure all the rooms were just where she last saw them. Doesn't sit to read while here. Does bang on the electric keyboard - with zero signs of latent talent, LOL. It just makes noise and noise is fun. Managed not to pass out cookies or crackers this visit; little bit ate a banana and the adults had tea or bubbly water. Helpful for me since I seem to justify grabbing some even though not on my plan. My triumph for the day was to go through six boxes of files and get the outer folders typed in a list that I can search from my computer. Found one more item for our binder for the kids when we're gone. Felt strongly that almost none of the paper that I was handling would be valued by my kids. Some of it I wondered why I was keeping it. Feels like if I throw away the record of an event that happened sixteen years ago, the event disappears.
Eating was on plan with no daytime snacks, CREDIT moi. Not even any Super Bowl snacks, although I drooled about all the proper game snacks that I should have prepared. I don't think of a few chicken wings, I think of a whole bowl of chicken wings. And a LARGE bowl of guacamole and chips. Congrats to those who were cheering for the Los Angeles Rams and condolences for those cheering for the Cincinnati Bengals.
onebyone - I agree, routine is a great way to deal with stressful situations. I also share your distress about the Ottawa demonstrations especially since they are garnering symphony from like-minded folks around here.
Joy (gardenerjoy) - Yay for a successful shopping find in the closet. Thanks for the musings about downsizing. That's just the kind of thinking about the future that I need to do in order to let stuff go. Yes, it's healthy to imagine the future. We make the same assumptions about survival that you've made even though we have two recent loses where the man is the one left standing.
nationalparker – Your chick pea tuna-salad sounds terrific. I especially like that there's no mercury in garbanzos. Hope your nerve gets itself back into the happy state. I had to google chipseal roads - I know about those, just didn't know the name.
Karen (karenrn) - Ouch that your Bengals did so well but didn't win. Read, way out here, that there was a hole-in-one in your local golf tournament that caused such an uproar that you probably heard it from your house.
Penny. - I continue to admire you medical professionals who are confronted with anti-vaxers and those declaring that COVID-19 is all fake. I share your joy that morning silence is special.
Ann (AnnC123) - Yay for feeling safe at the movies. Congrats to Ontario for beginning to bring the chaos under control. Of all the neat stuff that Canada has to teach the US, I hope this isn't one.
Readers -
Quote:
Chapter 5Stage 2 - The Think Thin Initial Eating Plan
Success Skills Guidelines
Give yourself lots of credit! You deserve credit for taking the time to prepare meals; eating all of your food slowly, while sitting down and enjoying every bite; sticking to your plan precisely; and filling in your Food Plan Chart. Also give yourself credit each time you resist eating something that wasn't on your plan. Or if you do give in, give yourself credit for filing out your Cheat Sheet and getting back on track right away.
Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Complete Beck Diet for Life (Green book), Pg 115.
Productive and beautiful Saturday.I helped my friend get rid of some stuff at her moms’ house; she needs to empty it to sell it. Then she helped me fix my shower door, and even cleaned the disgusting shower which I felt guilty about, mostly there was only room for one. Saturday I also got a text from my son stating he was home but at a friends house; his BFF picked him up from school to do something fun in boston. I forget how independent these young adults are! He did manage to make a little time for his old mom so we had a nice quick visit Sunday.
Now I’m contemplating re-doing the shower as my friend lectured me about it the tiles are poking out in a spot and there’s clearly water damage. Ugh- I don’t mind spending the money but its the whole process of hiring someone etc and I don’t like leaving a worker in my home alone but I can’t waste days off to be there. Plus I only have one shower so it can’t take too long. Its back to being snowy and cold so I need to go shovel. I’m going to do it before I shower as its going to take awhile and definitely be exercise! Gardenerjoy: I think its very smart of you to plan ahead. I can manage my house and yard with help but I don’t want to be doing this when i’m older, so i’m planning to move to a condo at some point. Onebyone: a simpler food plan makes a lot of sense. I tend to fall into planning way too much cooking and then I don’t want to do it.
One more day of work and then I am looking forward to my days off. I'm trying to get back to my hobbies and did manage to pull out my knitting and get a new book downloaded from the library.
My early morning wake of yesterday did not happen again today, so I guess that was a fluke. Too bad, because I would have had time to get the kids Valentine's donuts but, instead, they just got dollar store fodder. $12 and they feel totally spoiled. Haha!
We'll pretty much ignore it. I had a special meal planned, but we decided that it wasn't worth a special trip to the grocery store when nothing else was requiring that I get there. We'll still come up with something that we enjoy eating and the special meal will happen on the weekend or sometime.
Exercise +45, 660/1400 minutes for February
onebyone: The strategy to live by a doable plan, even if it's not the best plan that I can imagine, has worked well for me. I hope it works well for you.
Happy Valentines Day. Today is very cold out and I was planning to use that as an excuse not to walk. Now that I have typed it, I have to go walk. I had a great night sleep. I find that makes the world seem so much better when I am well rested. I find when I am tired I am not as mindful about eating or walking. I watched the Superbowl and thought the Bengals were going to win. They played well. It was a very enjoyable game. I did not snack at all. I ate just before the game and I had a snack planned but didn't feel like eating it.
BillBlueEyes It must be so much fun having DFGD visit. At 23 months they are so busy exploring.
Yay for going through six boxes of files.
onebyone -Oh your poor sister and your friends. I do hope they get the protesters out of the residential areas. I have some friends who live near the University of Ottawa and they say it is awful to go outside. It is very concerning. I have to really make an effort to not eat over it. A simple plan is a great idea. I have heard of people who eat the same thing for breakfast and lunch each day pick a few different meals and just rotate through them. Sometimes I wonder if I think about my food plan to much and then get overwhelmed. A work in progress.
gardenerjoy - Were you always so well organized? Thank you for sharing the 15 tips I wrote them in my book as a reminder.
nationalparker – It can be so daunting having to empty someone's house. When my brother died my husband and my other brother took over from me as I think I had an emotional attachment to everything as it reminded me of my brother. I felt better as we were donating a lot of his stuff to people who needed it. He had very good taste and nice things. Good luck with everything.
Karen (karenrn) - I found it very safe at the movie. That is great you can get out and hike and that you enjoy it. I enjoy going walking.
Penny. - How fun to get the kids stuff from the dollar store. People feel special because someone though of them, Knitting would be a good hobby to keep your hands busy so you don't eat. I may have to try it..
Curlyjax It sounds like you had a productive Saturday. We too moved from a house to a condo. It is so much easier to maintain.
Maryann Enjoy your time exploring the area.
Hello to anyone I missed and Have a wonderful day.
Happy Valentine's Day. We had a new recipe that was okay, but perhaps I should have made something more special for Valentine's Day. Food was on plan and weight is the same. I started meal prep not long after breakfast and then realized I would only do a bit of it. Somethings I just didn't want to have cut up yet because I was afraid they wouldn't be as fresh as if I just do it the day I need them. I did get today's dinner ready and made the brown rice and a few other things. After that Otis got a longer walk than usual since I wasn't hiking. I ran a few errands including to the library to pick up a cookbook that I had requested and then even some time lying in the sun with my bathing suit on. Not long, but enough to enjoy the warmth and hope to get a little color started.
I'm listening to The Art of Aging by Sherwin B. Nuland that I have actually listened to before. My dil's business partner mentioned it at dinner (in Thailand), so I'm listening again. I'm also reading Stupid Things I Won't Do When I Get Old by Steven Petrow. It's very short, serious but also very humorous. The chapter I'm on now is about decluttering so our survivor's don't have to do it. Anyway, it was a relaxing day with lots of time to read/listen.
Ann It's true, a good nights sleep makes a world of difference.
Maryann Sounds like you're having a great time.
GardenerJoy We don't do much for Valentine's Day, but it is the day we got engaged 36 years ago.
Penny It's nice you do something special for your kids. I hope you have time to get back to your hobbies.
Curlyjax Sounds like your weekend was good and also productive. Nice that you had a visit with ds. Your friend sounds like a good friend, so good to have some really dependable people in our lives.
Bill Good job doing even more organizing. Such fun to have the little one over for entertainment. It's a good thing they take naps cause boy are they busy.
Nationalparker Oh my sounds like you are going to be busy for awhile with clearing out the house. I guess that helps those of us who are doing some declutteringto know that it really is important. I don't really have anything but anecdotal info on the sciatica, but my Mom had horrible sciatica after my brother died in a car accident when he was 33. She doctored a bit and then started swimming regularly and said she swam it away.
Onebyone A doable plan is the best one for sure. What works for me is to eat the same one or two breakfasts and a similar lunch each day and the variety comes in with dinner. Good luck in sorting it out and finding what works. You can do it!
Just home and out of a hot bath ...my whole body aches. I never think I feel as old as I am, but this evening I sure do. We boxed and bagged up so much stuff for goodwill and my DH's brother and dropped off several hundred books and cartons of DVDs are in the living room for his brother to take as he wants to try to sell them. Literally maybe 1,500? Many unopened. Opened one bin and it was receipts from the 1990s, Rx bags, etc. it's just like you see a bit of light and then WHAM. The bin is just way too heavy to lift/recycle. So that precipitates finding cardboard boxes, and after a snow, good luck with finding dry ones. We did find a handful, but need to try the liquor store. So many now just crush/bind and they get picked up, where years ago we could snag them. I'm just wiped out and stressed out. Trying to not squabble with DH at all as it's exponentially more stressful for him. I sound very cranky. I think I need to just chill a bit. We were away for 10 hours, and have needy kitties.
Ann - I'm glad to "meet" you and just feel for you and OneByOne with the convoy situation. It's hard to escape and not pay attention to news/happenings like that.
Personals tomorrow... I might hit the sack super early.
Tuesday - Susan B Anthony: Suffrage, Emancipation. Born (1820, Adams, MA)
Diet Coaches/Buddies - Exercise, CREDIT moi, was shoveling the six inches of light snow that had been predicted to be one inch. It's rewarding to clear the windshields of the cars and then see the sun warm the interior enough to make all the glass perfect. Was an opportunity to chat with a neighbor. She had enjoyed a spell with one of the weekly food delivery programs but grew annoyed at all the packaging waste. She's a minimalist; I often see her arriving home carrying a few items with no bag.
Eating was on plan with no daytime snacks, CREDIT moi. Dinner was made from a Boston Globe recipe for chicken soup with rutabaga. Quite good. Who'da thunk! I wrinkled my nose at the thought of good chicken soup being despoiled with rutabaga - a vegetable from the root cellar that I assume only exists to tide one over during the long winter on the prairie. Spent many minutes of an evening Zoom meeting handling phone calls trying to get folks into the meeting who didn't read the notice that they had to use the password.
Joy (gardenerjoy) - Neat to be flexible enough to change your meal for the convenience of avoiding an extra trip to the supermarket.
maryann - Sounds like you're getting the best of Colorado. Kudos for "I am not obsessing."
nationalparker – Congrats for keeping your perspective when times are stressful. That's a lot of DVDs to get rid of. Two years ago I picked up a choice classical DVD at a yard sale for a coin. "Why so cheap?" "No one uses those things anymore," was the derisive answer.
Karen (karenrn) - I'm glad that I read The Art of Aging. Can't say that I enjoyed it, but I was in need of learning that my organs are becoming less and less efficient whether I accept that or not. Hard to believe that you were outside in your bathing suit in February.
curlyjax - Congrats on your parenting success: a DS who comes 'home' to see his friends - with just a wee time for his mom. Yay for having a working shower door.
Penny. - Yay for a little time for your own hobbies. LOL at making your kids feel spoiled with small stuff delivered with love.
Ann (AnnC123) - Super Kudos for enjoying the Super Bowl without snacking. Somehow overeating during the Super Bowl has become a tradition.
Readers -
Quote:
Chapter 5Stage 2 - The Think Thin Initial Eating Plan
Your Think Thin Breakfast Options
All of the Think Thin Breakfast Options feature a significant amount of protein to help you feel full. In a study conducted at Saint Louis University, participants who consumed a dish rich in protein for breakfast reported feeling less hungry throughout the morning than participants who ate a dish rich in carbohydrates. That's why all of the breakfast choices on this plan - including the cereals - contain a significant amount of protein.
Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Complete Beck Diet for Life (Green book), Pg 116.
Monday- Valentine's Day (once thought to be 1st day of bird's mating for the season)
the tiles are poking out in a spot and there’s clearly water damage. Ugh- I don’t mind spending the money but its the whole process of hiring someone etc and I don’t like leaving a worker in my home alone but I can’t waste days off to be there. Plus I only have one shower so it can’t take too long. 
