[Penny.]

Good morning!

Yesterday was on plan and weight is coming back down.

The food got eaten quicker than I thought and the replacement food is still frozen. I may try to defrost it in the microwave or I'll just have my breakfast again for lunch.

I finished my second James Baldwin book, and started a third- such a great writer! Deep subjects. I also started Akata Woman, the third in a series recently released. It's kind of a Nigerian female Harry Potter. I don't know if you guys ever get food cravings from books, but her books have had me frying up plantains. Haha!

Bill, the trip to the library sounds lovely. I haven't been in so long and now my daughter is getting some books from her school library.

Maryann, that's so great you were feeling good in your new clothes at school. I love that! kudos for getting through your fast.

Joy, lol at the paper project buried within a larger project. I'm always amazed to realize just how long something has been taking up space that didn't need to be here at all. My decluttering win for yesterday: I had some egg noodles "I'll use someday" and just finally looked at it to discover it expired in 2017. Wow.

Nationalparker, what percentage of the job do you think has been completed in 33 days, do you think? I'm so invested in this story and following along to the end. lol

[nationalparker]

Gifted with such a gorgeous sunny day here today ... enjoyed it despite tackling indoor projects and running a few errands. Food has been OK. I pulled out my paints and watched parts of "health awareness" docs like Fed Up and some show about sugar. A few years ago we went with 0 added sugars for about a year, and now I'm feeling like I need to get back to that! Any regular sugars in fruit, etc., were, of course, fine. We're not chomping snickers bars or anything, but always room for awareness. Picked up a few items of clothing for the DGD who will be 4.

I read, "Enough Already" by Valerie Bertinelli ... and for some reason, I felt compelled to listen to her read her own book. And WOW some of her lines and thoughts are just wildly resonating with me. I know for some accepting weight is unthinkable ... but self love is something I have really struggled with. Why have I gone through year after year and decade after decade of feeling that me being "too much" on the scale means I'm "not enough" as a person. That I take up too much room in this world. More than my share. What a novel thought to still seek health but not step on the scale and be disappointed. To improve mental health along with physical health. I don't know. But I do know that I might need to keep working on this with my journaled thoughts.

Dinner will be roasted carrots - I'm trying a new spice a friend turned me on to - brown sugar and bourbon ... and roasted garlic potatoes with a large harvest salad with apples, low sugar (but still have sugar in them!) craisins, pecans, greens, pepitas, and an apple cider dressing.

Maryann - I love your reminder that the feeling of looking better is another tool we can use for mindful eating. With that in mind, I dressed up more for my errands, wearing tighter jeans, a pretty embroidered top and a 3/4 sleeve jacket, leopard flats. Felt pulled together.

Penny - I HOPE we're about 95% done with the house and probably 75% done with the garage. Unfortunately with some of the garage items, DH has to repair them to sell them. My thoughts are we can clear out the house and most of the garage and then call in the realtor to let us know what needs to be tackled. I bought my first home FSBO and sold that home myself as well ... but counting on this realtor to know who wants to buy deep in the country and what "as is" can mean. I sure hope "the end" of this story has DH and me still happily and companionably married.

Bill - I like your note that you stepped past the girls "gently" in the library aisle vs. roughly barging through them. I just love that you're nurturing such a love of reading. I'm 11 and 13 years younger than my siblings so I grew up with everyone reading to me all the time. Joy! I love the meeting of more neighbors outdoors as it warms up, too.

Karen - Good luck with the remaining prep for the Grand Canyon! When I hear our trash service come through to start the week, I always think of Otis. My cats grab the floor and dash, but I guess my dog was more nosy - she'd race to the front window to play Mrs. Kravitz the nosy neighbor.

Joy - Hmm I might have to incorporate your plan of tackling a project by putting it in the middle of a larger one. Whatever it takes to move some things along! Every evening I think of 101 things I need (NEED haha) to do the next day... then in the morning I think, "not another day of just tasks. I need to mix in some hobbies".

[maryann]

Karen: I wanted to mention the brand Poshi https://poshi.com/ It is AWESOME for lightly marinated fresh veggies that are perfect for packing. Same type of packing as dried meals. Last forever. Already steamed. I bought out Grocery outlet for packing trips this summer..
BBE: Glad your in person social life is perking up a bit.
Nationalparker: like Penny I am really invested in this story as well. Kind of like a train wreck I can't turn away. I am so proud of the work you are doing and interested in the book you are reading.

Excitement is my "professional clothes folder" arrived. No it is not a person . It is a trifold device I am sure you have all seen. I am going to tidy up the rest of the drawers. I love all the empty drawers I have. it is like doing yoga with an empty belly. It feels lighter.

Quote of the day from a student. After having them choose either the article of Russia cutting off Polands gas or the OK judge okaying reaffirming binary status on birth certificates., one kid said, "this was a great class." Kids had to partner up and creat ea digital poster with images linking the current event with an event they studied. Maybe I should retire. i think I have peaked.

Day three of fast in the books and Yoga is right after posting. I love doing yoga with fasting, I have decided. I am not really completely fasting - it is call mimicking. But my stomach feels energized instead of sloggy. I am reaffirming how good I feel to myself in hope of doing a modified fast for a little longer. weight is at ticker.

[BillBlueEyes]

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Eating diverged from plan after we encountered a splendid spread of foods set out for us on "Members Night" at a favorite museum. Didn't expect food, so had eaten a little bit so we wouldn't be hungry. Done in by pita melts with large bowl of guacamole to ride on top. Then a tray of top shelf cheeses with super good fig jam to top it. You'd think it was the first time that I'd seen food. Need to up my skills when encountering unexpected FREE food.

Saw the about-to-be-opened-to-the-public exhibit Muchos Mιxicos: Crossroads of the Americas. So much that I don't know about early civilization in Mezzo-America. One of the six great empire states developed on planet Earth. So much wiped out by explorers from the "Iberian Peninsula." So many challenges to create an empire state with defined occupations, tax collection, education, and presumably propaganda so that everyone had the same great vision.

The (6 yo) DGD was her delightful self leading a group of per-civilized kids on the climbing structure. Great effort to arrange a play date for next Wednesday with her best-friend-this-week. We had to swap DD's phone number with the other girl's mom. Turns out that a class list with phone numbers isn't given to every parent. Couldn't believe it. Apparently, that's an idea from long ago and far away. I'm so old that I was part of the parent group creating such a list where we included the nanny's phone number also since that was the person one arranged play dates with. Not sure what's being protected by not publishing each kid's home info.


Joy (gardenerjoy) - LOL at tricking your mind into solving the smaller sorting problem.

maryann - Super Congrats for "this was a great class." I suspect that compliments from kids that age aren't glibly given. Those Poshi veggies looks neat - even if a tad pricey.

nationalparker – Wish you well fighting the added sugars. They're everywhere. I get reminded that one reason is because sugar is so much cheaper than food.

Karen (karenrn) - Your Grand Canyon hike is nearly here - seriously exciting. Not so excited about coyotes next door.

Penny. - Getting vicarious joy with you reading the James Baldwin books. Wish he was still around to comment on current society.

Readers -

Chapter 5 Stage 2 - The Think Thin Initial Eating Plan

Graph Your Weight Loss

When researchers at the University of Toronto weighed dieters on a scale rigged to show a false 5-pound weight gain, dieters reported a drop in self-esteem and mood and a rise in anxiety, guilt, sadness, and disappointment.

Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Complete Beck Diet for Life (Green book), Pg 124.

[curlyjax]

I wrote a post Tuesday but I guess I didn’t pay attention and didn’t put it in right. Weds I woke up in the middle of the night with a mild stomach ache and itchy palms. This happened once last year only I had puffy lips and welts on my hands, so this timeI took some benedryl pronto before that happened. I must be allergic to something I ate. I have an appt with an allergist in mid-May. It freaks me out a bit as I didn’t eat anything different, but we’ll see what happens.
I haven’t been doing well with food at all, but at least i’m upping the exercise- I took a walk after work yesterday as my body really wanted to, I had been sitting a lot. And I felt motivated to sort thru some paperwork and shred stuff, so that was good, I’ve been so unmotivated to do anything.
Nationalparker- that book sounds good, self love is important. I’m sure the end of the story will be you two still together
Maryann- so great to hear a student taking the time to say that. I’m sure those are the moments teachers treasure.
Bill-that food sounds delish. Class phone lists weren’t handed out when I was growing up either, some of the kids were kind of rough and I wouldn’t want them to have my number. And in my kids safe suburb school they didn’t do it either, interesting that you experienced that.
Penny- I have those noodles too, probably from 2017 as well! I sometimes buy something with a meal in mind and if it doesn’t get done I forget about it. Cleaning out food would be easier for me to do than papers, I need to keep that in mind.
Karen- ooh, so exciting getting ready for your trip! That youtube video sounds good- I read atomic habits and and enjoyed it.

[gardenerjoy]

I had to look at my calendar twice, since BillBlueEyes declares today to be Wednesday. In my estimation, it is Thursday, however. I'm amused to learn that I even notice that.

I met my exercise goal for April several days early. That's unusual for me. I set the bar somewhat low because I struggled in March, so that helped a little. It also helped that even on my worst days, I managed several 5-minute stretching or dancing breaks in front of my computer.

Exercise +50, 1400/1400 minutes for April

karenrn: Thanks for the

YouTube about Atomic Habits

YouTube about Atomic Habits

. That was helpful and I may want to read the book when I finally start to get to the end of my clearing-out project. I'm concerned about how I keep this new-found freshness in my space.

[Penny.]

Good morning!

Yesterday was on plan and weight loss continues to recover.

I got some junk mail the other day that included some address labels. It's been years since I got that kind of junk mail and I was starting to run out of labels. Does anyone else rely on junk mail for that or is it just me?

One more day of puttering and then I start my last three day work stretch before surgery.

Bill, the museum event sounds like old times. Free food of that quality would definitely be hard to pass up.

Maryann, high praise indeed from a teenager! That must feel great.

Karen, how exciting your Grand Canyon trip is coming up! I do enjoy my solo time with an audiobook too, although I'm sure it would have been nice having the friend with you.

Nationalparker, 95 and 75% sounds much better than I was imagining. You're almost there! Hopefully the damage under all that neglect isn't too bad. Someone will buy it.

Joy, kudos for finishing your exercise goal early. I enjoyed that Atomic Habits book too -it's a quick little read if I remember correctly.

Curly, when is the bathroom job happening? It's going to look so nice!

[karenrn]

Good morning coaches,

Portions were a little too large yesterday and the scale is up a bit. I hiked Bell Pass alone this morning and finished listening to The Divide. It was very interesting, but made me just disgusted with how we do things. I know we always say "Life isn't fair", and boy is that true. I tried to take Otis out for a walk and he isn't feeling it today with the recycle bins, so we didn't go far. Sometimes I can encourage him and we get moving, but not today. Today is my hair appointment and I'm looking forward to that. I'm growing it enough to pull it back when I hike so cancelled my last appointment, but my bangs are unmanageable.

I'd better make a list this afternoon and gather things for my quick Grand Canyon trip. I plan to sleep in the car at the campsite, but I'll take a tent just in case the parking site is at such an angle that it won't work. I need to be sure of the weather too. It's probably going to be in the 30's at the top when we start and probably close to 80 by the time we get to the bottom. Maybe we'll get there early enough that it won't be that warm at the bottom. Of course it will be cooler as we hike back up, but it's strenuous enough to keep you warm. I'm either going to make a vegan treat or buy something. I have a recipe for date, walnut and oatmeal no bake cookies that sound good, but I'm not sure about eating dates on a long hike (as in they are kind of like prunes). I would really like a molasses cookie, so I may look for a recipe.

Penny I still buy labels but don't need to purchase them very often. Since I still send Christmas cards, that is when I use most of them. Time is going quickly before your surgery.

GardenerJoy Thanks for adding the link for the You Tube. I still don't know how to do that. I'm amazed you notice that Bill said Wednesday. I guess I'm kind of oblivious.

Curlyjax I hope the Benadryl stopped the allergic reaction before it was a real problem. I don't have food allergies, but my skin is really sensitive, so I rarely change make-up, sunscreen and that sort of thing.

Bill The snacks at the museum sound delicious. I just love the fig jam. The exhibit looks really good. There is so much building here, as everywhere I guess, that the poor coyotes are being driven from where they used to live.

Maryann Thanks for the link to the Poshi brand veggies. They would be great for car trips or car camping. I don't think I'd carry them on a backpacking trip due to their weight. I wish we had a Grocery Outlet here, but I think they are closed. Congratulations on being such a super teacher and the students acknowledging the fact. I'm sure they will remember you forever.

Nationalparker I'm also very interested in how you are doing with the house cleaning project. I was so glad to hear that you are much closer to done than I had anticipated. I'm glad you don't have too much more to do. I feel certain you and dh will remain happily married when the mission is accomplished, but I'm sure it isn't so easy.

[maryann]

Hello Coaches,

Almost Friday. I felt I was very productive during intervention. I help three seniors apply to scholarships. 1 is going to UCLA. Sweet kid. I had her as a freshman. Another is going to UCSD. He is one of 40!!! students that were fostered by the same single woman in town. I swear that woman is a saint. She has save hundreds of lives. One of her kids just got a Masters in Welfare. I nominate that foster mom as woman of the year.

Day four of the fast nearly in the books. this is always a little rough. I am reminding myself how fabulous my body feels when I do the yoga in the evenings. There is nothing left on my To Do today accept give DS a HUGGGGGGGE hug. He will be home for at least two weeks.

Continuing in my wardrobe rehab I have subscribe to Busbee Styling Youtube videos. She is fun and practical. My favorite was "Out with the Frumpy." Fun for me and I picked up a tip on rubberbanning oversized shirts and then tucking the end into you waist. That way when you use the restroom, everything is easily put back together. I also ordered a swim leggings with a matching top for this summer when I am kayaking. I will be able to use the legging for excersiing and swimming in MO and then as a fashion in Canada on the same trip. Quick Dry.

Getting so excited for you, Karen.

Wave to all

[nationalparker]

Hello! I had equal parts of accomplishment and connection today. Video-chatted with a friend over lunch for an hour and a half, and the time just speeds by. Then out to get gas for the mower (a least fave task for some reason) and then mowed our yard and my neighbor's. Rain coming in this evening and supposedly the next three days, at least parts of those days. I wish I could send some of it back westward. Now cleaned up again and waiting for DH to get home. Talked about going to MOD Pizza for dinner with a buy one, get one free reward.

I have to say, 5% remaining in the house could still take a while as the house has been just JAMMED in every nook. I dread the cleaning of the kitchen and may just defer that to DH. At minimum, it will be a combined effort. But now that I am seeing more clearly how he is wired to handle his executor duties, I will just assist. Not lead.

Personals tomorrow, but Maryann - WHAT CREDIT for "great class" love it!

[BillBlueEyes]

Diet Coaches/Buddies - The hearing section of my health plan closed; I had to get a referral to a new doctor for a hearing test. Learned a new word: Otolaryngology - ears, nose, and throat specialty. Had to ask the nice young receptionist how to pronounce it. Was just like visiting my old Ear Doctor. I sat it a refrigerator sized booth; pushed the button when I heard sounds. Looking over the results chart, just as I've been told for the past 30 years, I splendidly hear thunder, motorcycles, automobile engines, ship horns, and symphony drums. Less splendidly in the region of the chart labeled, "Female speakers." Females, it seems, tend to use consonants, like "th", "s" and "f" which all sound to me as if females should speak more clearly. I have "Gentleman of Distinction hearing," as it were, which sounds so much better than "age-appropriate male hearing." Several corrections are available. To add insult to injury, there is no device that will allow me to understand Monty Python movies without using subtitles.

Eating was on plan with no daytime snacks, CREDIT moi. Was, again, a three Zoom day - that's about my brain's limit. Delight was the evening talk by Simone Marchi, author of Colliding Worlds: How Cosmic Encounters Shaped Planets and Life. Folks are still out there looking for craters on Earth. Everybody knows about the Chicxulub crater in the Yucatan Peninsula that did in the dinosaurs and Meteor Crater in Arizona that is bigger than big (adding to my Bucket List), but this guy explained that the meteor pocketed surface of the moon shows exactly how the earth was impacted - all ours just got eroded away. So much fun that the book is already ordered for DW's Mother's Day present.


Joy (gardenerjoy) - That YouTube link to Atomic Habits was interesting - thanks. I'm captured by the promise of 37.78 times better. And thanks for noting the day of the week.

maryann - Great news that your DS is home for a few weeks. Love hearing about the woman who has fostered a bunch of kids - must take a special person.

nationalparker – Neat that your DH is "is wired to handle his executor duties" - a difficult job that overwhelms many who take it on. Congrats for getting the lawn mowed before the rain arrives.

Karen (karenrn) - It's one of my favorite unintuitive things about the Grand Canyon that it's warmer at the bottom. It's intuitive to me that it's colder at the top of mountains, but my intuition fails me when starting from the top. I'm pretty psyched about your trip.

curlyjax - Hope that you pinpoint your allergy quickly since that can be difficult. Yay for a walk "because your body wanted to."

Penny. - Since DW pays the bills, she gets stacks of FREE address label in her deluge of junk mail. A few years ago, it worked to let the DGD stick them on paper to make patterns.

Readers -

Chapter 5 Stage 2 - The Think Thin Initial Eating Plan

Graph Your Weight Loss

They also ate more at a mock taste test than dieters who were told their true weight or a weight 5 pounds lighter than reality.

Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Complete Beck Diet for Life (Green book), Pg 124.

[curlyjax]

Yesterday was very fun; we had a thank you party for our volunteers. I did not overeat and I didn’t go back for seconds on the dessert although I really wanted to. We had a cheesy entertainer and a few of us staff danced at one part. I laughed a lot, proof you can have a good time without alcohol. Once more I amazed how out of shape I am and need to keep plugging along on this. Today after work I am going to a tulip farm with my green thumb friend; I look forward to picking a bunch of different colored tulips.
The bathroom guy called yesterday and said there would be an issue with the paneling that he hadn’t realized; an uneven edge where the top reaches the ceiling. Did I want to spend another 450.00 for a ceiling panel? Why no I did not, i will just paint it. Hopefully he doesn’t discover other problems, I have already signed and am not interested in spending more.
Nationalparker: I dislike getting gas for the mower (or anything else) too, somehow it freaks me out to put gas into a container.
Penny-I’m with you, I only use the free address labels and haven’t run out yet! Bathroom project isn’t for a few months.
Gardenerjoy- thanks for the youtube link, it does look useful. Yay for meeting your challenge.
Karen-I am fine now. My skin is sensitive too, I can’t use anything with fragrance. Do you anticipate bugs on your trip or are they usually not an issue at this time of year? Wow, the change in temp is quite a bit!
Maryann-thanks for the youtube idea on style. You definitely do not sound frumpy in your clothing choices!
Bill- I love “gentlemen of distinction hearing” . You are indeed a gentleman of distinction!

[karenrn]

Good morning coaches,

I figure I'll post early to be sure I post. I'm awake early as usual, but not because I plan to hike this morning. I'm going to do a little housework and then will leave for the Grand Canyon by 11. I have most of my things on the staging bed ready to pack. I even put a pen and paper next to the bed last night in case I thought of something in the night and didn't want to forget, but hopefully I'm remembering everything. I'm probably going to pick up a vegan burrito bowl in Flagstaff to eat for dinner. The menu options aren't good in the Grand Canyon. I'll probably end up eating it early and then have a snack nearer bedtime.

Bill I had a hearing test a year and a half ago or so. I have tinnitus in my left ear and there is some mild hearing loss. I hope I don't need a hearing horn anytime soon.

Nationalparker Equal parts connection and accomplishment sounds like a great day. I need a fair amount of connection even if it's on the phone.

Maryann That is great that you are able to help the students apply for scholarships. And the foster mother is amazing. What a gift! I subscribed to Busbee Styling. I've watched her before. I really like HotandFlashy. Don't like the name, but I like her and I like her style. I'm certainly going to need some new things soon.

Waving to the rest of you and I'll post again when I get home. I plan to drive home tomorrow after the hike like I did in October when my niece and I did this hike, but I will be alone in the car so if I'm too tired I'll spend the night in Flagstaff (doubtful).

[gardenerjoy]

Yesterday was a day of vacillating plans, unexpected phone calls, and changing weather forecasts. I managed to navigate it all without extra food. Credit. Not that extra food would have helped any of that, but that didn't keep me from having the thought.

One of the things that I vacillated about was whether to go to the grocery store yesterday. I didn't. So, I'm glad that the chance of rain has been reduced for much of today so that I have the option of going when it suits me.

Exercise +40, 1440/1400 minutes for April

[nationalparker]

Our furnace conked out yesterday and DH assessed it and, while he is a fix-it guy on all fronts, this one had him stymied, so I called our HVAC guy. He asked if I needed it this weekend, but no, our coldest temps are in the 40s, so not like January freezes. Monday's the day. He asked when worked best and I said the whole day is open. Then [stupidly] I said, "oh wait, I'm meeting a friend to walk at 11." HUH? I quickly backpedaled and said, "umm...that is completely adjustable. Not sure why I said that." He laughed and said he'd try to be here by 10 that morning.

I told DH I would love to see Lizzo when she's in concert here this fall, and he had a presale code so got tickets yesterday. I was thinking of the very cheap seats - video boards and the performance directors are so good now, no great need to pay too much. He bought tickets and said he didn't want to totally cheap me out. I told him earlier that I could definitely find a friend to go with, if he wanted to sit this one out. He said no, he'll have fun seeing me have fun. That was kind. Lizzo makes me smile and lifts me up, and I will look forward to it. Next up is Garth Brooks the first weekend in May - one of his was the best concert I've ever been to in my life. It even edged out Paul McCartney, whom I love as well. Exercise today will be putting some Lizzo videos on YouTube and flopping around (others dance, I flop and flail) to them.

Sleep was elusive last night - awake until after 4 a.m. I was on a streak of no benadryl, which helps me fall asleep, for five nights. That ends tonight.

Karen - Good luck and hope all is smooth on your hike and safe travels both ways. I'm looking forward to your recap. Has your DH picked some hikes he'd like to join you on when he retires? Hope you have some good audiobooks!

Our Gentleman of Distinction [Bill] - Have you ever written short stories? Created stories when your kids were young? I remain a fan of your writing. I'm hoping that when things wrap up with the estate duties, DH gets into some online classes that have sounded intriguing to him. Our interests in what courses we'd be interested in taking have a very small Venn diagram overlap, but was excited that he was just as interested in the Roman architecture course as I was. We certainly need to see it in person again, I think.

CurlyJax - Your party sounded like so much fun and a good stress reliever. I am glad you were able to kick back and enjoy it. Your tulip outing sounds amazing! I love them both in my garden and on my table - love how they dance out in a vase day after day. I used to trim them to stop it, now I like to see the changes. Credit for your shower decision!

Joy - Our forecast has changed for today here as well ... initially all rain, forcing my mowing yesterday, has turned into none and a high near 70. No complaints from me. One behavior I'm noticing about myself when I'm clearing out items from my home is that I put too much importance on what I paid for something, or what it's value might be on ebay or etsy and have held onto those items, taking up space.

Maryann - I hope you get to do your top To Do task more than once Enjoy your DS and the hugs you'll have. I hope you get a lot of time to spend with him. I'm excited for you!