Monday - Constantine I decrees: dies Solis Invicti (sun-day) is the day of rest (321)
 

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Exercise was chasing the (23 mo) DFGD on a walking path and an outdoor playground, CREDIT moi. She's into commanding the four adults: who is to push the stroller; who is to replace the boot she shook off. Toward the end she asked that I carry her - a big concession. I enjoyed the lifting exercise. Sang "Wheels on the bus" with her as we walked - it's her fav chiming in with "Beep, beep, beep," and "Swish, swish, swish" as appropriate.

Eating was on plan with no daytime snacks, CREDIT moi. Missed my afternoon cup of tea since we were out walking. Did spend some time with DW working the 1000 piece jig-saw puzzle. Noticed an odd thing about myself: when I discovered the place in the puzzle that was the home for the group that DW had assembled, I just pointed it to her so she could put it in. I didn't have to be the person to insert the pieces to get my feel-goods for discovering it. I suspect that years ago I'd have had to be the person who physically put the pieces in to feel that I'd gotten the credit.


onebyone - Thanks for recognizing that Spring is coming; I do need the encouragement. Ouch for the way our brains focus on craving the very foods we've just decided not to eat.

Joy (gardenerjoy) - Thanks for the link to knee pain exercises. That's useful for me to work harder at taking care of my body instead of thinking that doctors would do that for me.

maryann - Kudos for the self-acceptance, "I will no longer feel a failure for not reaching some mythical number." I've been bugged that the ideal BMI numbers have shifted and that my height has decreased - both making the BMI of the exact same me looking more out of shape. You do eat some very creative combinations of foods.

nationalparker – Ouch for having to deal with the machinations of the mother of your DGS; Kudos for not just totally blowing your stack. Glad that your DH's headaches only require Aleve. Hope that's the solution.

Karen (karenrn) - Kudos for being a friend when one was needed. Your friend has had such awful life events.

curlyjax - Yay for a teenage DS to gobble the remainder of a bagel and cream cheese. I remember the days when unfinished pizza put in the fridge just vanished before dawn when teenagers roamed my house. DW's goal is to limit herself to 6 teaspoons of added sugar, not 6 grams - still a small amount given the way food is manufactured.

Penny. - Yay for a stretch of tubigrip to help your ankle - hope that's all you need. Non-weightloss eating is better than weightgain eating.

Ann (AnnC123) - Freezing rain isn't an attractive call to go walking. I share your feeling that I get caught up in too many things on the computer.

Readers -

Good morning everyone. I do hope everyone had and great night and will continue to have a great day.
Walked yesterday,
Logged food
Wrote in gratitude journal.
It was a great day. I have to let it go that I spend time on the computer browsing. It is done, I will just post here today and shut the computer down.

Karen - You made me laugh about questioning where the cheese and sour cream were for the nachos. You are very kind to go spend time with someone who needed you. Great job eating successfully at the restaurant.

Nationalparker - It is great your husband went to get his headache checked out. Sorry to hear you are being manipulated by DH's daughter. My DIL does that too. I just have to remind myself it is about DGDs not about her. Usually she is fine but sometimes her expectations have not been met. She doesn't tell you what her expectations are. DH thinks she is a narcissist. I don't really care, I just want to spend time with DGDs. I am sorry you are going through this. With the house, hopefully by taking it one day at a time it will make it bearable. Sending supportive thoughts your way.

BillBlueEyes - Oh my goodness, how awesome for DFGD to ask you to pick her up. You are making such wonderful memories.

Waving hello to everyone else. Have a wonderful day.

My friend did come to yoga yesterday (she belongs to the gym too) and we did some cardio while chatting afterwards, then went to her house for a quick cuppa. She invited me to the Rhode Island garden show/home show in early April which will be really fun. She has a green thumb and I’m going to have her give me some advice this year- I would like to do a little gardening.
There was junk food around and I ate too much of it but its gone now. I was going to buy salmon for dinner but it was 18.00 a pound! So we went with turkey cutlets, squash cubes and a packaged stirfry. And then DS ate bagels and other stuff as he goes thru a ton of food. Fortunately he’s into healthy eating and doesn’t want treats around.
Nationalparker- my friend is going thru the same with her mom’s condo, its so much stuff.The mom (has beginnings of dementia) is alive which complicates it as she wants some things saved, otherwise my friend could just toss a lot out.
Ann- I spend too much time on the computer at night and then I get to bed too late, so I feel you. I wake up early so I can check in here, and then sometimes I get side tracked then too. I definitely need to stick to some limits!

The knee exercises were too easy. I suppose that's not too surprising. I didn't injury my knee due to lack of strength in my leg muscles. In fact, I'd guess that without that strength, it would have been a worse injury. I'm moving on to the intermediate exercises today.

Yesterday's excitement was watching the start of the Iditarod. My brother's had a fascination for decades. I have no idea where that came from. When a friend of mine started a Fantasy Iditarod League as a fundraiser, a few years ago, I invited my brother and participated myself -- choosing my team randomly. This year, I decided it would be more fun if I learned a little more. So, I have a team that I'm pretty proud of. Almost twenty-four hours in and all but my two rookie picks are doing well. As Mike Shannon, our local baseball announcer, used to say, "That's why they call them rookies."

Exercise +60, 290/1500 minutes for March

Good morning coaches,

Food has been on plan and dh selected this evenings dinner recipe which is Taco Mac. I slept well after taking half a Costco sleep aide, but I'm dragging a bit this morning even after being awake for hours. I don't know if it's just in my head or what. I have walked Otis and did some strength training exercises from a video call Weight Training -Full Body Workout for Women over 50 from the Fit Mother Project on You Tube. I put it onto the large tv in the family room and it was great. He demonstrated each exercise and then I did a couple of sets of each. Now I'm back to watching a YouTube video on Rich Roll. It's Neuroscientist Dr. Andrew Huberman from Stanford. He is on the most recent video, but I've gone back to watching his first video and then will watch the more recent one. I think it's so fascinating how our brains work.

GardenerJoy That's great that you can move onto the intermediate exercises for your knee. Of course you are strong, but sounds like the injury is resolving well too.

Curlyjax It's nice that your friend has a green thumb and can help with some garden questions. The garden/home show sounds really fun and of course it's always great to have something to look forward to.

Ann I'm another one who spends too much time on the computer only I call it educating myself. It's working for me. I figure it's better than sitting in front of the television.

Bill It sounds like the little one is really happy and confident in her home. Such fun to hear about her.

Nationalparker Oh I do feel for you with the relationship with your step daughter. I just hate dealing with manipulative people. You have a lot of frustration right now to be sure. I hope dh's headaches resolve. I know when I get them it's most often from stress which I seem to hold in my shoulders and neck.

Maryann Have you watched Ted Lasso on Apple TV? That was our favorite. Dh likes it as much as I do.

Penny I agree with Bill, nonweightgaining is a win in my book. I hope your ankle gets better soon.

Waving to Onebyone.

Have a good day everybody.

Hey everyone ,

I'm enjoying a day off with my feet up. The ankle injury is getting better quickly, so yay for ice and compression.

I'm also really enjoying my week off from cooking. Wednesday starts my turn again, and we'll continue to take turns instead of it being mostly me.

I'm going to stop eating for the day now at 1347 calories. Water, water, to get through the day.

Good Afternoon, Coaches.

It was a good Monday. A student introduced me to Blooket. It is a fun new review game for the kids. We have launched into the Great Depression and the New Deal. I started with a YouTube video of "weird foodsin the Great Depression." It was an attention getter. I told the students I would make an appleless apple pie with Ritz crackers.

Yesterday and today I avoided 'manufactured" bliss point foods. Credit. Exercise both days. My chocolate grain bowl with cocoa nibs was quite tasty and satisfying. Wwight is down a smidge.

Exciting news is I am going to put together a Thanksgiving New York Broadway trip. DS won't have top come west and we can take advantage of what I imagine will be fewer and fewer family vacations once dS gets serious about someone.

nationalparker: we in the AA program strive to accept what is knowing that acceptance isn't necessarily approval. Sounds like a pretty good strategy for your SD. Credit for good grace.
Karen: LOL where is the cheese? I ALWAYS think that.

Wave to all.

Hello! After the sneak peek at spring, snow flurries today were startling! I just read to DH about a study in the U.K. that showed brain decline in those with even a mild case of COVID, and both he and I caught it months before the vaccine was available. Well, when I went to type sneak peek, I kept typing peak and thinking it looked off but, huh? haha. Sheesh. I'll call that just wonky brain.

Dinner was the navy bean soup done in the slow cooker yesterday, with ample hot sauce to rev it up. Now I am satisfied that I have a recipe that I will write down to use regularly. DH is gung ho with this one and then thought it would be very good on rice. I had already cooked up Trader Joe's Harvest Grains for another meal, so ran a half cup or so through the colander under hot water and put hot soup on it and he declared that fine. Speedy. I went to look for the link and all I'm finding are wildly overpriced packages on amazon, ebay, etc.

After dinner, a friend texted and wanted to know did I want to do a reset with her - knocking out white bread, pasta, white rice, white potatoes. I said I'm IN. umm... seriously on the white potatoes, though? I said I'd work much harder to add in a lot of green veggies and that usually takes care of eliminating the other stuff. Then I won't be focusing on it. So think we'll reset with each other on Wednesday. I was ready to start tomorrow, feeling like I must've known there was a reason I cooked up a bag of frozen green beans tonight to have at hand. I prefer my green beans and cooked carrots to be what I joke as English-style - VERY soft. One grandfather was from outside of London and all his veggies needed to be soft. Now I wonder if it was because he didn't have many teeth more so than it was 'English'. With age comes wonderment.

Found bell peppers for $1 each, so one meal before long will be veggie fajitas with low carb tortillas. I had made a list of everything that I had the ingredients to prep for dinners, but added to it with this sale, so need to be mindful of not being wasteful. I just lost part of a bag of coleslaw mix - it was very cheap from Sam's, but still ... made Thai cole slaw a few times and also used the mix in stir fry, but it was a lot to use up.

Penny - I wish I could come share in your cooking - I do enjoy cooking and meal planning. Just not the clean up. Fingers crossed your injury heals speedily.

Maryann - I like that way of thinking - acceptance isn't necessarily approval. I need to journal about that a bit. Enjoy planning your Thanksgiving trip! Last year we were gone until the night before Thanksgiving and I liked being away and missing the mad rush.

Karen - Since menopause I have struggled to fall asleep and stay asleep (or fall back to sleep quickly if I get up for the bathroom), and started taking a Benadryl. One dr years ago had told me they were fine to take longterm. Since then, though, I see that longterm use might be linked to dementia in old age. But lack of sleep is linked to dementia, so I guess I'll pick my poison. I added two melatonin vegan gummies and they're helpful on the help to sleep, but ... some nights I need the combo. Add to that the factor that one of our cats will ONLY let you pet her when you're in bed. And I love her so much and she's such a tiny ferocious beast...but when I'm in bed, she's a lovebug. So she bumps my chin and I wake up and pet her and accept the waking up. My DH has none of that, so when I'm not home, she's out of the bedroom some nights. Ha.

Joy - I stress heavily with animal races, but would definitely get into the bracket where you pick the bear that puts on the most weight before hibernation. Continued steady healing for your knee!

CurlyJax - The discarding of so much of someone's property straight to a landfill is stressful. Everything that can be recycled is, but so much is just ruined/trash. My mom worried about clearing out before she passed but I'd told her don't worry about that - it's easier for someone else to go through it. BUT in her case we were talking about such minor stuff, a drawer of correspondence, a box of memory box things, some fabric stacked, books, etc., all stuff easily culled for trash, recycling or donation. I come home every time and look for things to cull or organize here. I have a very cool newly organized utensil drawer now, having donated a handful of things.

Ann - You completely nailed it - I'm in it for the DGS, not the SD. It does sound like we have similar personalities to deal with. Credit to you for continuing to walk outside in the cold. It was in the 30s here today and I deemed it too cold as the wind chill was in the 20s. I stayed inside and drank hot tea. I think I need to challenge myself more. When I first moved here from Florida, I walked every single day unless it was in the teens. Now? I want someone to walk with me, I want to listen to a book on tape, I want to see if it's warmer later, I want, I want, I want. I don't DO. Tomorrow I am walking with a friend though :)

Bill - I can just picture your description of time with DFGD - her directing all of the adults and then being carried ... ahhh... setting such a great basis for her. I love doing jigsaw puzzles but with three cats, it's iffy. My brother gave me a large one before Christmas, but I'll wait to pull it out this holiday season. I had asked DH for a piece of cardboard the size of my dining room table (small) so I can just cover it up with that and a tablecloth at mealtime. He came through! My dad's family all stole a piece of the puzzle that was being worked on when he was a kid, so they'd each be able to put in the last puzzle piece. Until they got to the end and they were down five pieces. They all thought they were so clever. I remember asking my dad to tell me that story again and again. I liked hearing how contrary he could be as a kid.

I've spent so long writing the urge to snack after dinner is gone. Thank you!

Tuesday-Susan B. Anthony addresses U.S. House Judiciary Committee for suffrage (1884)
 

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Got caught up in the 1000-piece puzzle, we did. We could see the end, although the end crept up more slowly than imagined. The last areas were two spans of the same color; greenery with little variation, and a dark side of a house. But we wouldn't quit. When done, there were two spots empty - missing pieces. Naturally, we blamed the DGD who had helped DW sort out the edge pieces before she got tired of it. Then we blamed the neat lady who cleans our house even though she's meticulous about picking up any little thing on the floor. Alas, they were on the floor under the table; most likely knocked over by DW's unwieldly terry cloth robe some early morning. Was a satisfying feeling even though it kept us going until midnight.

Eating was on plan with no daytime snacks, CREDIT moi.

Finished The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning by Margareta Magnusson. Meh. Not the source of motivation that I'd hoped it'd be. Was sweet tales of an older lady (80-100) thinking about reducing her 'stuff' in preparation for downsizing from the house where she and her husband raised five kids to an apartment alone after he died and the kids were long gone. 'Sweet' but neither educational or motivational. Perhaps I can call it motivational since it annoyed me enough to realize that I could go looking for a CBT way to work getting rid of stuff. Haven't found a ready-made book or group, but I might just invent one.


Joy (gardenerjoy) - Interesting to be reminded that strength in some of our muscles helps prevent injury in others. I've enjoyed the news clips of the start of the Iditarod. I was more interested when a local, Susan Howlett Butcher, had become a regular participant and sometime winner. So incongruous that someone from Massachusetts could race dogs.

maryann - I so wonder if kids can even fathom life in the Great Depression - when there simply wasn't food around. Kudos for avoiding manufactured foods.

nationalparker – Yay for the thought of 'reset' to rid life of too much white foods. If I were vegetarian, I'd find myself waddling about in pastas big time. LOL at stealing a puzzle piece in order to get to be the person to put in the last piece.

Karen (karenrn) - Great use of a large screen TV. Hope you catch up on your sleep.

curlyjax - You remind me of the terrific Boston Garden and Flower Show that, alas, is no more. DW would drag me down there and then I'd get mesmerized. Yep, the cost of salmon is sky high.

Penny. - Yay for ice and compression. And Double Yay for getting to split cooking for your kids.

Ann (AnnC123) - Kudos for "Wrote in gratitude journal." Love being reminded to make taking gratitude seriously.

Readers -

Busy day at work yesterday which was great. I still got into a few chocolate covered raisins because they were there, and did too much late night snacking when I was hungry. I’m being very lazy with my resistance muscle. And I wasted all night watching tv, ugh, the only useful thing I did was finally get caught up on the dishes, and mailed a package of DD that needed to be returned. Oh well, onwards. Even though I enjoy my job, I’m still a bit wiped out when I get home and I need to finish my taxes and get a lot more done.
Penny- that’s great that others will help with the cooking. DS made spaghetti last night and it was so nice to have someone else cook.
It’s late, wave to all!

Good morning Coaches
It was a good day yesterday. I ate and logged everything in my food journal, walked, wrote in gratitude journal and posted here. I find that when I drink too much water I get up in the night to pee but if I don't drink enough I wake up in the night with cramps. I didn't wake up to pee or with cramps in the night. I am going to try drinking the same amount of water today to see if this is right amount I need. We play trivia online and it is a lot of fun. One of the questions last night was What do lizards have that snakes don't have. The answer was eyelids. I kept asking my husband, how do snakes sleep if they can't close their eyes. He said I was reminding him of DGDs and their questions. It was so funny. I enjoy when they ask questions. They are so curious.

BillBlueEyes - It sounds like so much fun putting a puzzle together in your house. I always hope there will be no pieces missing at the end.
What about books about living a minimalist lifestyle such as Marie Kondo Minimalism.

Nationalparker - Oh my goodness, I can relate...I want, want, want. I never think I am like that but then I see it in print....Yikes. Have fun walking with a friend today. I like the idea of adding more veggies instead of limiting certain foods.

Penny - Oh how nice it would be to take turns cooking. I hope you enjoyed your day

I have to go walking now. Waving Hello to everyone. I will try to get back to personals when I get back.

Good morning!

Quick check-in before work. I finally had an on plan eating day. Maybe I'll check in later again to finish my eating for the day.

I finished the graphic novel The Secret to Superhuman Strength by Alison Bechdel. She wrote about all of the exercise trends she has gotten into in her 60 years and it was entertaining and a little motivating.

Love the five missing puzzle pieces story. Very funny. Have a great day everyone!

I'm 6th in my Iditarod Fantasy League, right behind my brother in 5th. The whole point, of course, is to beat my brother.

Yesterday's knee exercises worked better for me. Although, weirdly, the wall squats (a squat with a wall against your back for support) didn't work in my body at all -- it put pain right into my knee. I went for a squat where I used the support of my desk with my hands in front, something that I've done in the past, and that worked better.

Here's a source of confusion that maybe y'all have some insight about.

When I read some fitness materials, they say to never do strength-training two days in a row (unless you're targeting different muscle groups). Rest is required to reduce the risk of injury and for the muscle to develop.

When I read materials written by PTs, they want you do their exercises (even the ones that are clearly strengthening) twice a day, every day.

How can both of those things be true?

Exercise +60, 350/1500 minutes for March

Penny: I'm glad your ankle is improving quickly. This afternoon will mark one week since my injury. It's not 100% recovered, but it's significantly recovered and getting better every day.

nationalparker and BillBlueEyes: You reminded me of jigsaw puzzles that my parents did, mostly after we left home. My mother would set a puzzle out on a card table for winter evenings. She got mildly annoyed at Dad because he would walk by, spot a piece, and put it right in the place that she'd been trying to fill for hours.

Good afternoon coaches,

Food has been on plan. I had a longish hike with a friend this morning. She is new to hiking so the trail was undulating but not too strenuous because I knew that wouldn't be fun for her . . . yet. There was a very cool really huge balanced rock at one point and some people who were there took our photo in front of the rock. After I get cleaned up I'm going to go pick up our taxes and do a grocery store run. After that I'll roast some veggies which will be part of our Buddha bowls for dinner.

GardenerJoy When I've gone for physician therapy its been for mobility/range of motion and regaining strength back to normal after an injury or surgery, not to hypertrophy a muscle by making small tears that then grow the muscle which is what we do with strength training. So I don't really see PT as strength training per se.

Penny The book looks cute. I put a hold on it. Good job with the on plan eating.

Ann It sounds like you're getting a good routine going.

Curlyjax I'm sure your work is tiring. Maybe your exceptions of what you should be doing are just too much.

Bill I don't think that book did much for me either. I think the title was the best thing about it. I haven't done much about thinning things out lately and luckily I don't have the cupboards jammed or anything like that. It will have to wait, it is hiking season after all.

Nationalparker The Benadryl gives me an even worse time waking up than the half of the Costco sleep aid. I think I'm just really sensitive to them. Maybe I just like waking up really early so I have a good excuse to take a nap some days. Maybe we'll all be giving up bread soon since the cost of wheat is supposed to be going up a good bit.

Maryann A Thanksgiving trip to NYC sounds awesome. One of the gals I hike with very often lived there for years and still flys back for her haircuts. I'm hoping to go with her one of these days. I haven't been for ten years. Last time I was there we sat next to the Villanova basketball team when we saw "Motown". You should have seen those tall guys and their very handsome coach sitting in those seats. Their knees were under their chins.

Well, I'd better get a move on. No hiking tomorrow, but I'm meeting the friend I backpacked the High Sierra Trail with last summer to wish her well on her Appalachian Trail trek.

Second check-in after work. I'm declaring no more food for the day after 1526 calories.

Joy, I agree with what Karen said about PT. It's more about flexibility and increasing your endurance and mobility. I'm glad your knee is improving. I made the mistake of ignoring injuries in the past only to end up with chronic issues so now I pay attention!

Karen, lol about the basketball players' knees under their chins. What is in the Costco sleep aid? Benadryl gives me anxiety so I have taken 1/2 tablet of whatever brand has Doxylamine succinate. It works but can have me dragging the next day, plus I've had a couple rare occasions it made my heart race instead of sleepy.

Speaking of clearing out the cupboards, I had to order more bowls to replace the broken Pho bowls everyone loves to use, so I also ordered some more smaller bowls too. That means six older bowls get to go away - the chipped bowls that get burning hot in the microwave. Yay! The things I get excited about these days. Ha!