[nationalparker]

Hello, coaches! A good day of connection for me, though it started with self care (as I'm telling myself) with a routine cleaning at the dentist. I waited to eat until noon right before my video chat and reinforced the Hunger is not an emergency. Credit. Though it's partly because I get dentist nervous and can't eat anything before I go there. Video chatted with my friend on this challenge, and we talked everything but the challenge, so that was neat.

Dinner will be breakfast tonight - I said it's too hot for soup today and I don't want the oven on. I'm thinking fruit salad, avocado toast or a plant-based waffle, and shredded sweet potato hash browns as a treat.

OneByOne - Like Penny, I was drawn to the Owl and his kittycat, as well as the vase above that one, but liked so many! Thank you for sharing that link. It's good to see you back in the mix here.
Maryann - I reread your post - what a tremendous act of kindness and generosity of time - your knowledge of where to turn and what steps she needs to take is just what that family needed. I can only imagine how draining.
Bill - What a steal of a deal (not literally) on your ham! Wow! Too funny on not looking like a ham thief. Do you need to look more wolfish for a pig theft? Perhaps with leftover ham, you can whip up these ham and cheese stuffed pretzel bites. I made this recipe a few years ago and they were superb! Pre-covid when we could share with neighbors easily one evening haha.
Joy - Happy Birthday! Here's to a great year! I love that you're not just wiser, but wilier haha! Enjoy your treat and if you feel like another, we only go around once... savor some extra treats around a birthday. (I'll be the voice of a rare treat is good!) Any kind of treat!
Karen - Great news that DH's surgery went well. Impressed with the connections that you have and the insider info! After your years in the business and your knowledge, that's only fair!
Penny - I'm glad that you're feeling better daily and hope that the pain continues to recede and not pop up too often. Smart about the meal prep to not just be modeled as a woman's job. That was certainly the case in my family growing up, unless it was the grilled meats. Even my dad wouldn't let my brother help with the dishes; his work was yard work and garbage. But I think that's what I've created in my current home.

[maryann]

Came home early today. Slept like a log last night. Beginning to feel like myself again. Teacher friend has agreed to a plan and started the outpatient work. I agree with BBE. She will be lucky if she is not fired outright but I also know the job is not as important as recovery. She now has an opportunity and motive to create a home where her little ones never remember she ever drank. Priceless.

Weight is high because I got into pasta. A good experiment. I immediately gained two pounds. I just don't eat much flour based food. Grr about the two pounds.

Joy: Happy 60! So exciting to have a little treat in store for yourself. I am trying to do that myself - focus on little treats rather than food.
Penny: Awesome about DH doing the cooking. Sometimes we need to just for what we need from a spouse. The more specific I am with DH the better.
Nationalparker: I love a good dentist cleaning.
Karen: Awesome DH is on the road to recovery and you didn't have to eat over any of it.

Wave to all.

[BillBlueEyes]

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Congratulations to those of you who live in the Milky Way for having a new picture of our "Sleeping Giant" black hole in the center seen as Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*, pronounced "sadge-ay-star") when viewed from Earth. I was glued to its announcement at the National Science Foundation news conference at 9am. I can remember when the existence of black holes was debated; now we have a second picture of one. It's Geek bursting with pride day. DW noted how many of the astrophysicists at the news conference were women, including one rather young woman. Everything feels like a new day.

Some resistance exercise because DW hurt her foot (hopefully a temporary thing) and needed a mule. I was recruited. Made three trips from the grow lights on the third floor down to the patio outside carrying the healthy looking tomato plants, cucumber plants, and several others. Never noticed that the gardener does that every year by herself. She does the standard thing: plants twice what she needs and prunes away the least attractive plants as she pots upward. This year her garden club has a sale in a week of all sorts of plants. So she didn't prune away the wimps, she re-potted them also for the club sale. And started tomato plants for our two kids and our cleaning lady. We might need a nursery license, LOL. Then drove over to our plot in the community garden where I lugged stuff up the hill from our car to leave her happily alone to plant all the seedlings. Did happen to notice that our Sugar Snaps are about 12 inches high happily entwined on the wire fence strung for their support. I drool thinking about those Sugar Snaps.

Eating was on plan with no daytime snacks, CREDIT moi. Dinner was spent at separate computers due to Zoom events.


onebyone - Thanks for the link to you Guild's sale. Your owl and kitty are super neat. Congrats for continuing to teach seniors.

Joy (gardenerjoy) - Happy Happy Birthday! May you have 39 more and 39 more after that. Neat that you have a non-food treat for the day.

maryann - Sounds like you teacher friend has the opportunity for a path forward. My congrats to her, and to you, for getting there when so many other options are just awful.

nationalparker – Congrats for surviving your dental cleaning appointment. Good to have an event that forces you to practice Hunger is Not an Emergency. Those stuffed pretzel bites look super - unfortunately because I think of having many, many of them.

Karen (karenrn) - So glad that the saga with your DH's hip seems to be going smoothly. I agree with others, you're blessed to have friends in the right places to get updates that most families wouldn't get.

Penny. - Yay for teaching your sons that men can also cook at home. Pea soup and pancakes sounds good to me.

Readers -

Chapter 5 Stage 2 - The Think Thin Initial Eating Plan

Before You Move On

The rebelliousness is only concerned about what it wants right now. It refuses to consider how you're going to feel a few minutes from now and what the long-term consequences might be.

Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Complete Beck Diet for Life (Green book), Pg 126.

[curlyjax]

Today is graduation day for DD! I woke up too early but ah well. It’s going to be a long day with 2 ceremonies-one indoor and one outdoor, a ton of traffic, late dinner and late drive home. Then picking up the rest of DD’s stuff tomorrow, ugh. Last night I was feeling very teary missing DH for this momentous event, so I called a newer widow friend which was a big help. She said she picked up her twins from college the other day and they were very sad seeing all the dads helping. It is just the best thing to talk to someone that gets it.
Onwards with the day!
Gardenerjoy- happy birthday!
Karen- so glad the surgery went well. I watched a video about replacing the hip joint after I had mine, and I’m glad i didn’t watch it before hand, ick!
Penny- glad you’re doing a bit better each day.
Onebyone- such beautiful things, thanks for sharing them.
Nationalparker-those pretzel things look amazing, you are such a good cook!
Maryann-so great you are helping teacher friend.
Bill-interesting to know what goes into a garden sale. DW is lucky to have you as her mule!

[karenrn]

Good morning coaches,

Food has been on plan and weight is holding (I'm sure I'll need to cut portion sizes a tad). I went in to see dh in the morning yesterday and was there when PT came. He is walking fine with no walker or cane. It was going to be a few more hours until he was discharged, so I came home which is luckily just a five minute drive. He came home and is doing well, even did the duck throwing session outside for Otis yesterday afternoon. The local did wear off and he took a Vicodin in the night but doing great this morning.

I got out for a 4 mile hike this morning and then walked Otis when I got home. Dh is working from home. I will say it's going to be different to have him around all the time. I've done a little cooking and I'll get cleaned up and head to the grocery store soon.

Curlyjax Congratulations to dd and to you for helping her along. I can certainly see how these momentous events would be emotional without dh. I'm glad you have some other widows who truly do understand.

Bill So interesting about the Black Hole. Of course I hear about them on the news, but don't have all the knowledge that you have for sure. I hope dw's foot heals quickly. I'm sure it is good exercise for you to be the pack mule.

Maryann You're blessed to be able to sleep so well when you need it for recovery. Glad your neighbor/teacher has agreed to a plan. She is fortunate to have you to help her.

Nationalparker Ham and cheese stuffed pretzel bites look like something that I would have trouble stopping. They look nummy.

Penny That is so great that dh is cooking and not even needing help anymore. I'm afraid we have a fairly traditional household here and we might starve if I waited for dh to do some cooking. Luckily I enjoy it still most of the time.

GardenerJoy I hope you had a fabulous birthday you young thing! I hear you about not wanting to get hooked on a dessert from a place you order from frequently. I do wish I didn't have to consider my red light foods, but it is what it is and luckily I do like healthy foods.

Onebyone I have that rebellious voice too. Honestly I didn't even think about it so much until I read the quote on your page, so thank you. The guild pottery is just beautiful. I like almost all of it. Good luck on continuing to follow your plan.

I spoke with my youngest brother yesterday to give him an update on dh. He told me about a friend of his (who I've met) who got a stent to the left main coronary artery for a 95% blockage. That's the widow maker. Anyway I asked him if Jack would consider a diet change to reverse his heart disease and sent him the resources I've been reading. There's a part of me that hopes my brother will take a look at them too. He used to be an Ironman and extremely fit and over the last 17 years has put on 30 or 40 pounds and gotten out of shape. We have a family history of diabetes and heart disease, like many of us, and I would like him to get really healthy again.

I'm just so grateful that dh is happy to go along with our diet changes and has done so well with his weight and health. I know there are a few other areas that we need to work on, like more socialization etc., but hopefully we'll get there.

[Penny.]

Good morning!

Yesterday was on plan and weight bumped up. Not bad at all considering the new low. Hoping I can make it to my happy decade eventually.

Curly, congrats on getting to graduation day with your daughter. Is this an associate degree before she starts nursing school? She must be happy to hit this milestone. Closer to the finish line!

Karen, that's wild your dh is working already after his surgery. I'm glad he is doing well.

Bill, exciting to have the vegetable plants in the ground and starting their journey. Reminds me, I will not be trying the gazpacho recipe again. Not for me. lol but look forward to reading about your summer garden meals.

Nationalparker, mmmm stuffed pretzel bites. The kids loved it when we made soft pretzels. They would love those.

[gardenerjoy]

Thanks for the birthday wishes!

I'm feeling like the coolest 60-year-old on the planet, listening to rapper Kendrick Lamar's new album that was released today. One of the younger members of our book group picked The Butterfly Effect: How Kendrick Lamar Ignited the Soul of Black America by Marcus J. Moore. She made us a playlist so I've been listening to rap for a week. I was looking for a music video, this morning, when I realized that his new album was out. I'm enjoying it a lot more than I would have a week ago -- context is always such a help for any music that isn't pop (and sometimes that). I'm approaching this in about the same way that I prepare to attend an opera and it's working.

Exercise +50, 595/1500 minutes for May

BillBlueEyes: The black hole announcement is cool -- thanks!
I've heard that Winston Churchill quote in the last few days. At the moment, I'm watching so much WWII stuff that I'm not sure if it was in Winds of War (the TV mini-series from the 1980s that we're watching, slowly, disc by disc) or Operation Mincemeat that we're streaming on Netflix.

[maryann]

Good Afternoon, Coaches.

So happy Friday is completed. There was a last minute massage opening and I am taking it. Whoopee. Credit for not food indulgences. A very long week although the kids have been good. I feel light headed this afternoon. Wonder what is up? I tend to have low blood pressure and maybe that is it. I am looking forward to puttering with some odds and ends and then DH and I will take up a load of wood to sell in Tahoe.

Super credit to Curleyjax for DD graduation. My DH really misses his Dad at these milestones.
Joy: I have come to appreciate rap in all cultures - African American, Indian and Mexican. I let my students make a Spotify class playlist to play during study times.
Glad Karen and Penny are surviving the medical stuff with grace and dignity.

Went on an auction site and won a pair of Chloe glitter shoes. They are $700 shoes which I threw in a low ball at $200 never expecting to get them. But someone must need the dough. I can only wear certain sneakers at work because of plantars fasciitis. I still like to look professional so fancy sneakers are the tix. I have to spend $150 on shoes anyway because if my feet hurt I am a terrible teacher. Thought I would add a little glitter. Now, I have to check if they are a fake when I get them. I have been researching fake from real. It is supposed to come with the original box so that should be a start. Also, the numbers on the inside of each shoe should be different https://ibb.co/rkMJYPk

[onebyone]

Hello Coaches

A super hot day here today. Msg the landlord that he needs to msg the other apartments here (2 others in a shared house) to let them know we're turning the AC on. We have the control box for that and heat in our hallway. If AC goes on everyone has to keep windows closed. Landlord msg back we can't turn on AC as AC unit needs new filter and needs update/cleaning whatever. He suggested we open all our windows at night to let cool air I. A suggestion that is not new to us 50+ year Olds who have been living on planet earth through 50+ summers. I msg back we won't be opening windows at night since we are at ground level and therefore prime targets for easy entry by burglars. Something we experienced in Ottawa when a burglar came in through our window, stood in our bedroom as we slept and removed DHs wallet.from the back pocket of his jeans leaving all credit cards.and the wallet on the window sill as he made.his exit. So our innocence with that is gone. Instead it is 28C in here with the fan on Turbo. We will survive.

The rebelliousness is only concerned about what it wants right now. It refuses to consider how you're going to feel a few minutes from now and what the long-term consequences might be.

Judith S. Beck, Ph.D.

Yes this rings true.

Off to bed. Long teaching day tomorrow. Oh! scale dropped into new decade.today. Thankful to see that.

Night!

[BillBlueEyes]

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Eating was on plan with no daytime snacks, CREDIT moi. Dinner was reheated dahl; so much fun to have dinner with near zero preparation. I tried to limit the number of tortilla chips. I'm prone to eat an unbounded amount since they're served from a bowl. Might have to think of giving myself a serving. My brain resists thinking of the major problem of getting to the last spoonful of dahl and having no chip to wash it down. I think that it's a reasonable amount. But it does remind me of an article I recently read about a financial advisor who had a couple who had adequate income and bounded expenses who just weren't making it. "Something's not right; for a month, write down EVERY SINGLE PENNY that you spend." Well, as a Beck follower, the answer became obvious. They didn't account for the times that they took the grands to dinner since that was such an important part of their life. And so on. I just thought of Dr. Beck's nibbles and samples and finishing off the plates of the kids. BTDT.

Excitement happened when our painter used some of the elixir from our gallon to coat the steps of our friends across the street. They were so happy that they didn't have to go out and buy a gallon themselves. Naturally they offered to pay or to "Buy the next one." Naturally we refused. Good neighbors are such a joy and our area of the world isn't that neighbor-friendly. Remembering that we arrived with a one-year-old we introduced folks to each other who'd lived on the same block without speaking for years. Then our dog bound us all together. Now, without kids or dog, we're fading back into not knowing each other. Strange things, humans are.


onebyone - LMAO that you need to be told to open your window to allow cool air to enter. Last night was my first night this year to sleep with a window open to the fresh air; it felt like heaven. (Second floor window - so it doesn't have your first floor window concern.)

Joy (gardenerjoy) - You win my award for coolness for listening to rap. Perhaps I should open my ears a bit and see if I have better luck with rap than I've had with atonal classical music.

maryann - Kudos for accepting that last minute massage appointment. Those sneakers are really out there. Hope the other faculty appreciate that you're cutting edge.

Karen (karenrn) - Can't believe that your DH is already walking without a cane or walker. Good luck helping other folks to see that they can change their diet.

curlyjax - Congrats to your DD upon graduation. And Super Congrats to you for surviving a long day. Wish you well with the feelings about your late DH on major milestones.

Penny. - LOL, indeed, at "I will not be trying the gazpacho recipe again. Not for me." Thanks for the reminder about how much I look forward to it. It's one grand excuse to consume a baguette. I do hope that your failure to mention pain and nausea means that they are both receding.

Readers -

Chapter 5 Stage 2 - The Think Thin Initial Eating Plan

Before You Move On

You need to actually turn it on itself and rebel against your rebelliousness. Tell yourself, I'm not going to let that voice get in the way ... This goal is so important to me ... I'm going to be so thrilled when I lose weight ... I have to look at the bigger picture ... Besides, listening to that voice has never gotten me where I want to be.

Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Complete Beck Diet for Life (Green book), Pg 126.

[gardenerjoy]

Some of you will remember that one of my methods for developing my exercise habit, back around 2010, was to reward myself with a fitness DVD for each month that I met my exercise goal. That was the most effective reward system that I ever developed for myself.

Now, as I'm Marie Kondo-ing my space, I find that it's time to let most of the DVDs go. These days, when I want an indoor workout, I have plenty to choose from on YouTube.

I'm letting the DVDs go with gratitude for helping me establish my daily exercise habit. My current daily streak began on July 1, 2016.

Exercise +75, 670/1500 minutes for May

onebyone: That Beck quote reminds me of something I've heard recently -- to think about gifts that I can give my Future Self. I've discovered that my Future Self is a very appreciative person who knows how to say thank you and she often gives me credit twice -- once at the time that I make the sacrifice in the present moment and a second time in the future when she experiences the benefit.

[maryann]

JOY: FYI sellbackyourbooks.com will take dvds. I don't know if the exercise ones will be of value. You have to have at least 7.00 in value for them to take the order but I love the idea of things being recycled to someone who wants them. Ironically, I use DVDs in the classroom when I have a sub. I can't leave my prime account number.
ONEBYONE: i am planning a trip to Quebec in June. I hadn't thought about Canada getting hot.
BBE: Servings are a tough one. I have read much research on the constant under estimating of servings even by nutritionists. I have to remember my favorite ( ok only) Buddhist saying I memorized "By consenting to be bound I am free."

Weight came down a bit. the massage was nice. I am picking back up with yoga today. I think my toes can take it. Going to head up to Truckee so I will have two good hikes to get back into shape.

The students did a "Go Fund ME" with reward points and all contributed to get the necessary 500 points to watch a movie. (It was senior ditch day so I figure what the heck.) They wanted Hacksaw Ridge. It is excellent. I am buying the DVD and replacing Saving Private Ryan which I use to show in US history.

[curlyjax]

DS and I got home close to 1:00 am , and I slept in this morning until 10, with a little help from some melatonin. It was really hot during the second final graduation and a lot of kids didn’t even attend, i’m not sure it was worth sitting thru two hours. We were able to exit and get to our reservation on time. The university did well with passing out free waters to everyone.
Today DS who is a saint, will drive 3 hours round trip and get more of DD’s stuff, and then we will live in a very crowded house for a few weeks until she moves out. My job today is to move things around while he’s gone, to fit more stuff. I should have done this weeks ago but oh well.
I’ve gained 4 pounds in the last week, so its back to healthier eating.
Karen- so glad DH is doing so well, i’m impressed he doesn’t need a cane.
Penny-DD got a regular bachelors degree, and is entering an accelerated nursing degree program. She was unable to switch into the nursing school during undergrad unfortunately, it would have made life a lot easier and cheaper!!

[nationalparker]

Very busy weekend here, at DH's folks clearing out until we go get the grandkids in an hour. We'll bring them back at noon tomorrow, and then head back to the house and continue working. Yesterday was moving heavy appliances and taking them to the recycle drop downtown. DH wanted Thai food for dinner, so he ran in after ordering on his phone. We'll have many meals out of that. I jumped up a couple pounds from the sodium alone. Ate less than half of mine, he had some of mine as well, and there is another full serving left.

It's hot, and we need to be very mindful of getting in enough fluids. We did not yesterday. Monday we will be moving tons of heavy metal in a few trips to the recycling place. I'm not looking forward to that.

[Penny.]

Good morning!

Yesterday was on plan and weight is holding. Today I drove and left the house for the first time 10 days post-op. My 11yo daughter wanted to go to the school district's festival at the farmer's market today and got a photo with her teacher and her school mascot taken. I was super impressed by the high school jazz band playing. They sounded so good! The poor choir was trying to perform in another corner and couldn't really be heard.

Pain is more achey than sharp, and no nausea. In fact, I'm back to thinking it might be mealtime again every two hours. I am ready to be sitting or laying down after an hour of walking. Not bad. I may be pretty good for working after six weeks afterall.

Curly, that is a lot of extra school for her nursing. I'm glad they at least have an accelerated program. Congrats to her for getting her bachelors!

Maryann, love the sparkly shoes!