[silverbirch]

Another reasonable night’s sleep although I woke strangely. I set the kitchen timer for an hour and told myself that I’d feel more myself by the time it went off. And I did! Something for me to remember. It’s been a lovely day here, traditional in England and Wales as the children go back to school this week! I’ve been pacing myself in the garden today and plan to carry on doing that all week. The autumn raspberries (Autumn Bliss) are very good this year, just like the blackberries in the hedgerows. Food has been all right. And I’ve managed to fit in my foot exercises which have ironed out some niggles. I’ll be at the gymn on Monday and Friday - I can’t wait.

gardenerjoy, you know yourself and how much you can manage at the moment. I agree wholeheartedly: patience and persistence!

Bill, ah, yes, rowing. My neighbour at university used to row (and get up very, very early to do so). It wasn’t for me. I did laugh at “most stupid bird in flight”. That category must be related to my mum’s “bird of tiny brain” which she awarded to the pheasant as they take off so slowly and fly into the path of oncoming people, animals and vehicles so reliably.

eusebius, that’s it: stay consistent and trust the process. At least for a length of time. You can tweak later on.

curlyjax, the dizziness and nausea sound horrible. Good ideas about cutting out caffeinated coffee, and eating healthy food. And bed rest - I’m very keen on that, partly because it’s the most comfortable place in the house to read. Good for DS on cutting the grass.

maryann, your weekend sounds wonderful and so many NSVs! It sounds as though you and DH behaved yourselves very well! No grandchildren hints and steak dinner - well done! And walking to the AA meeting is great. Is DS in Ann Arbor? I’ve heard nice things about it and the university there.

[BillBlueEyes]

Diet Coaches/Buddies – Surprise visit from the kid who lived next door some 20 years ago. He had moved away when he was ten years old. He was just showing his finance his old neighborhood. Wanted to introduce her to us and take a picture of us to send his parents who’d be so glad that he had stopped by. Just love having an old friend show up just to say hello. Fun to hear his memory of walking to the nearby playground many times as a kid.

Walked for two hours, CREDIT moi, around the local reservoir with lots of plants and scattered birds. Saw two Great Blue Herons – a treat – and talked to a photographer who’d earlier seen a Green Heron eat three frogs. That heron was now hiding, presumably quite full with three frogs in its belly. Stated giggling, inappropriately, remembering the Mark Twain quote, "If it's your job to eat a frog, it's best to do it first thing in the morning. And If it's your job to eat two frogs, it's best to eat the biggest one first." That Green Heron must have read Mark Twain.

Eating was on plan with no daytime snacks, CREDIT moi. Dinner was gazpacho, deviled eggs, and my green salad. Hitting the ideal summer dinner as a late summer heat wave hits us. A news article just popped up in my feed BOLDLY declaring that there are two processed snacks doctors say lead to visceral fat. Wordy just to read: potato chips and donuts. Must have been a slow news day.


Erika (eusebius) – "Boring in a very good way" - can be just what one needs from time to time. LOL at "murder chickens" for being a funny phrase.

Silverbirch - Pacing yourself seems smart. Admire your Autumn Bliss raspberries. Thanks for sharing your mum's opinion of the pheasant, “most stupid bird in flight”.

maryann – What a super weekend - just your family and 110000 like minded folk. Congrats for beginning the process of biding one's tongue in the presence of a future DIL. Gotta love the menu at the football stadium with Super Kudos that you avoided eating any of it and were even rewarded with a gem of a small vendor later.

curlyjax - Yay for such a productive day despite not feeling your best. Congrats for raising a DS who'll come home from college to mow his mom's lawn.

Readers -

Chapter 7 Stage 4 - The Think Thin Lifetime Eating Plan

Decide When to Move into Maintenance

The point at which the effort to stay at a certain calorie level outweighs the benefits is different for each dieter. Draw your line at a calorie level that you can see yourself sustaining for years.

Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Complete Beck Diet for Life (Green book), Pg 183.

[curlyjax]

I went back to sleep yesterday at 11 am and slept for 3 hours; I guess I overdid it the day before. I washed some dishes and spent the rest of the day in bed again. Food has been comfort carbs like pasta and cheese, with some ice cream which has sent my weight up again, no surprise. It seems like a lot of work to make anything healthy right now.
Excitement was listening to BFF's tale of woe of being locked out of her house for hours, but she finally made it back inside.
I read things about people with long covid and I do not want to be like that! Or maybe there was something going on with my vestibular system to begin with, and covid has exacerbated it. I don't see how i'm supposed to get back to exercising if I get these brief dizzy spells.It's all very discouraging.
Maryann-sounds like a wonderful trip with lots of fun, and credits as well.
Silverbirch-I like the timer idea. Lovely berries indeed.
Bill-fun to see old friends. Sounds like a lovely walk.

[eusebius]

Hi folks,

Another quiet day. I’m looking forward to batching this week’s meal plan which is a “long weekend “ theme so there are burgers, crunchwraps, tacos, and broccoli cheese soup. All vegan, UPF and oil free … these plans are worth the effort!

I meant to practice more than I did yesterday but I got really tired and had to stop and rest. At least I practiced some. I’ll do more after batching. I’ve been slacking on qi gong and meditation so I did a full qi gong routine this morning and will meditate after coffee.

curlyjax - yay for a productive day and managing your symptoms, though I do hope they get better soon!! Wish I could double batch and send you healthy food.

maryann - wow, I’m so glad you’re enjoying such a fabulous weekend while being so mindful of your food! DS seems to be doing great which is always nice to see.

silverbirch - awesome that you enjoyed a lovely day at home. Enjoy the gym today!!

BillBlueEyes - what a great surprise to see the former kid next door. Lol at the Mark Twain reading heron. Great to take advantage of these late summer days and harvests.

Waving to all! Happy Monday and happy Labour Day to us North Americans!

[silverbirch]

I had a great session with my coach at the gymn this morning. I’ve been off for five weeks so we’re easing back into it. As always after a break, it was very encouraging to see how much fitness I retain. I did my foot exercises beforehand which I think helped to loosen up my lower body. It’s warm for here, about 28C or 82F. My sleep was broken last night so what with that, the heat and the gymn session, I fell asleep this afternoon for a bit. I feel no shame.

Bill, how nice to meet the person who used to be “the kid next door”. And to have such a herony day. For me, the Great Blue Herons and the Green Heron could be characters in a fairy tale!

curlyjax, three extra hours of sleep in the morning sounds like heaven to me. Wretched Covid, dragging on for so long.

eusebius, great idea to get all the meals organised ahead of time. And to practice.

[gardenerjoy]

I'm using Labor Day to labor all day on my novel-writing class. I finished a phase yesterday (with a pitch and one-page synopsis to show for my work). I started a new phase today that is going to be focused on the writing, once we're past the introductory material. I'm plowing through the introductory material so that I can get more quickly to the reason that I signed up for this class.

I finally started checking my own blood pressure as instructed by the doctor at the end of July, just as we came down with COVID. I got my highest reading yet this morning. It might be because I was working through the part of the introductory material that suggested that if I'm going to write more then I will need to do other things less. I hate that kind of sacrifice. But I want to do fewer mindless things (games, podcasts, games while listening to podcasts, browsing on Facebook or YouTube, etc). I want to open up some quiet boring moments for story ideas to surface.

Thinking about sacrifice might not have put me in the best mind space for a lower blood pressure reading.

On a more practical side, I'm going to try limiting my black tea consumption to two cups, down from four. It might not work, but it's a worthy experiment.

Exercise: 35, 110/1500 minutes for September

curlyjax: It's hard to tell if I'm still recovering from COVID or if my low energy is due to my usual allergy reaction to the mold count, which just started to drop from the high concentrations in August. Also, I took that long walk with a friend on Thursday, and it may take longer than usual to recover from that since my exercise level was reduced in August. At any rate, I seem to be doing a bit better today. So, it may just be that this all takes a little more time than it seems it like it should.

maryann: Thanks for sharing the details your trip. Such a delight!

silverbirch: The garden and the gym both sound great!

BillBlueEyes: Fun to have an old neighbor stop by -- especially one who must have changed a lot since age 10.

eusebius: Your meal preparation is a great way to set yourself up for a good week.

[BillBlueEyes]

Diet Coaches/Buddies – Hero here for “fixing” DW’s computer. Seriously difficult to diagnose situation. The “File Manager” simply refused to display the contents of a folder. Strange stuff on the display. Email and word processing worked normally - only opening folders messed up. Tried standard quick fixes: open, closed programs; on off the computer. Both of us took a break. Finally decided to bring it into the computer store tomorrow. Until I went wandering about in the Settings. Was surprised to see the option to move the location of the second screen. Wait! She doesn’t have a second screen. All the stuff that was missing was being displayed on the phantom second screen. Found the setting to declare that there’s only the one screen and . . . sanity returned. Now I’m annoyed that it took me several hours to figure out. No idea how the system got the notion of the second screen.

Eating was on plan with no daytime snacks, CREDIT moi. Dinner included pasta salad - the large batch has to be consumed before it's declared too old. Also cuke salad made with yogurt. And my green salad. Felt like I needed to make up for snacking during the day, even though I didn't, just because I desperately wanted to eat something when we were stumped chasing the computer problem.


Joy (gardenerjoy) - It's such a bummer to have to have to choose between competing desired activities. So fun to read that your writing course still grabs you.

Erika (eusebius) – That's an appealing batch of food - especially all non-UPF and oil free.

Silverbirch - Yep, an afternoon nap is a work of honor. Thanks for the reminder that herons are a new-world bird.

curlyjax - Wish you well plowing back to full health. When your body needs three hours of unscheduled sleep, Congrats for letting it have it.

Readers -

Chapter 7 Stage 4 - The Think Thin Lifetime Eating Plan

Accepting Your Maintenance Weight

If you are not at your "dream" weight, you may be greatly disappointed. If you had always hoped to be thinner, it can be quite a blow to find out that you should not even try to get to a lower weight, much less sustain that weight. It means your dream just isn't - and probably never was - realistic.

Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Complete Beck Diet for Life (Green book), Pg 183.

[curlyjax]

Finally felt much better yesterday yay although I still spent quite a bit of time in bed. Managed to finish dishes, boil pasta and make hard boiled eggs, as well as change my covidy sheets. I have my healthy lunch prepped and am still drinking decafe for a bit. I'm going to pace myself and not stare at the computer too much hopefully. I am so ready to get out of the house today, its not good for me mentally to spend so much time inside here even though I needed to physically.
Gardenerjoy- how nice to spend all day on writing. Interesting about low energy.
Eusebius- yay for all that batching. I should start meditating too, there are so many health benefits.
Bill-hero indeed for fixing DW's computer! I swear computers and smart phones just decide to do things on their own.
Silverbirch-yay for getting back to the gym and retaining fitness.

[maryann]

Good Morning.

Trip home was uneventful. I found a corner in the airport and did yoga stretches plus some "sit/stand" practice. Weight is a few pounds up as it is after every flight. Like Joy, Sept. is a reset to stop maintenance with my new plan and lose a little weight. It is fine by me if it is just a few pounds this month but I want to get into solid new, lower territory. My clothes fit well but I want to see the numbers that prove this is the my life time eating plan.

I was working with my Sept. budget. I use Everydollar ( Dave ramsey, inc.) The trip was absolutely worth it but pricey. I want to have another low buy month like I did in August to offset the expense. it feels good to have some control over the solutions. I didn't really know what money was going out before tracking it. I ave now planned to cut a few corners this month to allow for a dental procedure on the 23rd. I trimmed the housekeeping budget and the food budget. I'll have to get creative with the student store I hold on Fridays. My new food plan is SOOOOOO helpful in helping me budget. Going out to eat is more difficult than enjoyable. The one restauran visit last month was sushi and the bill came to $96.00 for the two of us. that is just outrageous.

Curly: It just takes time to get bakc to normal. I had nausea for weeks.

[eusebius]

Hi folks,

Wow, I really had trouble getting out of bed this morning. I will have to figure out how to make this happen earlier as I’m back at the university on Thursday. Sigh. Sleep is not my friend.

Nevertheless, I will persist (to steal a phrase). I’m so tired that I can’t figure out what to say but I will mention that it’s the first community choir rehearsal of the year this evening. Do I have music? Good thing I can sight read, even if it’s literally in my sleep 😆😆😆

silverbirch - yay for retaining fitness and being back with your trainer!

gardenerjoy - way to go on finishing a phase of your course! Interesting idea that the concept of a sacrifice might bring up your blood pressure.

BillBlueEyes - computers!! 😵‍💫 it’s amazing that you figured that out at all, not embarrassing that it took several hours. Kudos for keeping the food on plan despite being driven to distraction by Microsoft!

curlyjax - so glad you’re starting to feel better. Wise of you to take recovery at a leisurely pace.

maryann - welcome home! Cheering for you as you do a September reset. I’m with you on the low buy month and eating at home. Everything is sooooo expensive!!

Waving to all! Happy Tuesday!

[silverbirch]

It’s very hot here still. The old part of the house has thick walls which keep everything cool, thank goodness, if you don’t open the windows in the newer hot part. I’ve been in the cool part most of the day with a few forays into the garden to stand in the hot shade and cut back some of the hedge. I’m feeling much better in my back and hips now I’ve been to the gymn and I’ve started my foot exercises again. Food all right (I don’t know whether this expression travels - it really means “not particularly good”).

gardenerjoy, I’ll second the idea of quiet, boring moments to allow things to emerge.

Bill, I’m pleased to say that it is the splendid Grey Heron who lives here in the Old World, amongst other places in a heronry down the road from me. Well done for sticking it out with the computer. Settings is a tricky place. It’s possibly another dimension.

curlyjax, thank you for your lead in changing the bed and making hard-boiled eggs, both of which I’ve done today as a result!

maryann,

Going out to eat is more difficult than enjoyable.

I couldn’t agree more. But perhaps it depends on where you live.

eusebius, hope you have a good time with the community choir, and sleep well tonight!

[gardenerjoy]

I'm trying to get daily walks back into the routine. I walked in the morning yesterday and today, even though my preferred time is in the afternoon. We've been hanging on to some afternoon heat, so a morning walk made sense.

These were 25-minute flat walks and maybe I'll just keep them, for a while, adding in a second short walk in the afternoon when the weather improves.

There was a time when a 40-minute hilly walk was the norm in my day. That disappeared for a bunch of reasons, including increasing the variety of my exercise. But I want it back. I've realized that I'm in pretty lousy shape for travel and don't even have a great base to build on.

I set up the pedometer on my phone because steps are an easy way to think about this. Walking in a city all day can easily take 20,000 steps. I would like my base to be at least 10,000, so that I could work my way higher in the weeks preparing for a trip. My current base is 6000 steps, so that's doable.

I'm not at all sure that we will travel again, but it makes me happier to know that I could do it if the desire should arise.

All of the above is a giant thought distraction because Dear Niece is in crisis. She's not letting me close enough to do anything for her, but it makes for unsettled times. I gave myself permission to do things today that don't require the most creative and intelligent parts of myself to show up at my desk. That's worked reasonably well.

Exercise: 65, 175/1400 minutes for September

[BillBlueEyes]

Diet Coaches/Buddies – Installed the two combination smoke alarm/CO2 alarms that had finally arrived. For all my machinations, I achieved getting the EXACT model so that I merely twisted them into the bases already attached to the ceilings. CREDIT moi for hanging in there when the local stores didn't sell the EXACT model I needed, weren't keen to order it for me, and the online stores were oddly confusing. Maybe deliberately confusing.

Eating was on plan with no daytime snacks, CREDIT moi. Dinner was eaten inside because DW was squeezed between two events. We had our much loved grilled salmon, the final remnants of the pasta salad, and my green salad. Trip to the supermarket was good boring. I finished a short book written by a friend for high school kids. Fun read with lots of exciting "Let's do this" kind of encouragement. Was struck, one more time, that making a short book about a long subject requires leaving out a bunch of stuff. CREDIT moi for finishing instead of leaving a partially completed book on my stack calling for me to complete it.


Joy (gardenerjoy) - Such a good idea to have the goal of being in good enough shape to be able to walk all day when traveling. Wish you well finding a way to support your Dear Niece.

Erika (eusebius) – Your first community choir rehearsal makes it sound like Fall is actually happening. Even though it means that you have to pop out of bed to get to your university.

Silverbirch - So interesting that the different thickness of walls makes for different temperature experiences in your one house. Have to add Grey heron to my wanna-see list. Agree, "Settings" is another dimension - but not as weird as the old "Registry".

maryann – Yay for making it home safely. My news feed is getting more and more articles about planes returning to the airport for something - usually passenger behavior. I, also, concur, "Going out to eat is more difficult than enjoyable."

curlyjax - Such good news that you're feeling much better. I can imagine that you're ready to get out of the house by now.

Readers -

Chapter 7 Stage 4 - The Think Thin Lifetime Eating Plan

Accepting Your Maintenance Weight

What would you suggest to your best friend if he/she were in this exact situation? Would you offer the following advice?. . .

• Be proud of yourself. Just because you didn't get down to the weight you wanted to be doesn't mean you failed. You've succeeded. You've lost weight! That's an important accomplishment that many people never achieve. You're probably much healthier now, too.

Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Complete Beck Diet for Life (Green book), Pg 183.

[curlyjax]

Made it through the work day although I put my head down on my desk at one point for a few minutes. I got into the peppermint patties to give me a little zing of sugar, which can help when you're feeling a little off. At home I took a short nap and still managed to fall asleep at a decent hour although I woke up groggy from wierd dreams. the only productive thing I did was clear up the kitchen and return a very overdue library book-so overdue that my library card has been turned off, oops. I still have to return a few books to the other library system but that can wait. Felt a little sad/lonely later on but managed to work myself out of it.
Silverbirch-glad I set a good example for you It is very hot here too this week, as a last hurrah of summer.
Maryann- oh dear that is not good news about the nausea lasting for weeks.Good idea to make a low spend month.
Gardenerjoy- yay for getting walks back in the routine.
Eusebius-its such a great skill to sightread. My mom was able to do that too on the piano. Some people can sightsing which seems very difficult (if that's a word)
Bill-great job persisting on getting the just right smoke alarms, that stuff is very annoying.

[eusebius]

Hi folks,

Sleep was better today. Hoping to continue along this path. Somehow managed to stay on plan and exercise yesterday despite exhaustion. Weight has stayed the same for the past couple of days. Today I have a meal out planned so sodium may cause things to drift upward. Accepting that.

First community choir rehearsal was nice and today is the first church choir rehearsal. This year is going to be challenging because I am down to one soprano who is nearly inaudible and another who can’t read music and doesn’t show up to rehearsals. I love them but it’s really hard to pick music for them. I’ll do my best.

silverbirch - hope the weather cools off for you! Yay for feeling stronger and less painful! LOL “all right” can mean “not good” here if it’s said with a certain tone of voice (kind of like “meh”) 😆

gardenerjoy - I like your plan to increase the walking. Sending hugs as you go through the crisis with your niece. I experience similar things with my daughter frequently and so I can empathize. It’s hard when they don’t let you in.

BillBlueEyes - well done with the alarm installation! Yes, it was a great idea to wait for the exact model 👍 Very cool to read an encouraging book written by a friend!

curlyjax - yay for getting through the work day! You’d like the library here - they have abolished overdue fines. I have no idea how they incentivize people to return things at all! Yes, sightsing is definitely a word (and one that strikes fear into the hearts of the vocal majors here, lol!)

Waving to all! Happy Wednesday!