Life is a repeating mix of time with children, the usual eating and exercise, and real estate listings. I want to add in some time to cultivate our possessions so that we only move what we want to own for the next 20 years and are willing to have in our possession when others are dealing with it all after we're gone.

Food is food, most days, but I want to get back into the habit of checking in at 3FC. I fall, too frequently, into the autumn comfort food trap -- especially if I allow myself to get too cold. Here are three better fixes for being too cold:

1. Exercise
2. Hot tea
3. Warm bath

Exercise: 50, 1595/1800 minutes for October

Wednesday - "Black Tuesday" stock market crash triggers the Great Depression (1929)
 

Diet Coaches/Buddies - In my class, we discussed the wide variations of English. E.g. "She's a dinky-di Pommie Sheila," in Australia means "She's a typical Englishwoman." Some say that Pommie is a rhyming slang for pomegranate. Others believe it was printed on the shirts of arriving "Prisoner of Millbank," - a specific prison sending men to Australia. And "I am not knowing where to find a stepney," in India means "I don't know where to find a spare wheel." Helps to be familiar that original motor-cars weren't supplied with spare wheels or tyres and motorists had to provide their own. A popular one was the Stepney Spare Wheel, after the location of the workshop in Stepney Street, Llanelli, Wales.

Shopping was less boring because I bought Kit Kats for Halloween. Now I have to ignore them for three days.

Eating was on plan, CREDIT moi, with lunch finishing off that last of the rotisserie chicken. Dinner was a new meal of grilled salmon. Feels odd that it takes our household a full week to settle back to normal after house guests.


onebyone - Waving. Congrats to your Toronto Blue Jays for their win last night to tie the world series at 2-2.

Joy (gardenerjoy) - There are, indeed, better responses to feeling cold than food. So odd that that's the first one our brains choose.

curlyjax – Takes a strong sense of civic duty to sit through an entire town meeting. It is surprising that an important measure passed so easily. Yes, it's time for a new dryer - just have to convince DW that sending this one to the junk yard is OK.

Readers -

Not having lettuce is throwing off my usual lunch routine and I'm having trouble thinking of a substitute, which is ridiculous but there you have it. I should have made lentil soup on the weekend-maybe I could get that going today. I did go to my workout, and felt like crying at one point, I was breathing so hard. I looked at myself in the mirror when changing for the gym, and was disgusted- how did I let myself get to this point?? I was going to have lost 10 pounds by november, instead i've gained 5 back. I do great for a week and then it goes downhill. After the gym I went home and got into a slight kerfuffle with DD, and then lost it and just cried for awhile. Everything seemed overwhelming, including the terrible state of our country right now and how so many people will be losing their food stamps soon. I feel guilty going on a trip when so many people aren't being paid and benefits are getting cut. I'm uneasy about being away from home now. We ended up going over to BFF and that helped a little.
On with the day.

Today's challenge is a very long list that begins with grocery shopping and ends with my second exercise session. After making the first draft of the list, I remade it by putting things mostly in priority order. That doesn't make it shorter, but at least it means that I do the highest priority items first and I can make a game of seeing how far through the list I get.

Wednesdays are going to be busy days for the next few months because Thursdays are the days that we devote to playing with a 3yo and a 5yo.

Exercise: 60, 1655/1800 minutes for October

Back in the USA.

Lots of things to cheer about this morning:

1. Incredibly, I completely my multiple flights with minimum layover times and two passport controls. I arrived home yesterday afternoon and went straight to bed for 14 hours.
2. I weighed this morning and finally tipped the scale into the 170s . WOW!! Explosion Giff!!!

One year ago today I made a series of goals from October 2024 - 2025. I have made progress on all but one:
Renovation ( we have lights!!!)
Continents ( only two left)
Spanish ( passed first intermediate level)
National Parks ( 38%)
Music with lessons ( certified music sub)
and now WEIGHT in the 70s.

To be honest: the weight was a Hail Mary pass in that I have been in two continents in one months. I am very proud of myself to allow food to be food.

I made no progress on Completing the Tahoe Rim Trail. However I was there to cheer on BIL and SIL as the completed it. So all in all, a great success.

It should be noted, I let two goal drop that did not call to me anymore. One was writing curriculum for Teachers Pay Teachers. I feel no passion for it.

Thanks to all here on this forum who have contributed to this blog. You are my witnesses.

Thursday - Mischief Night, the night before Halloween
 

Diet Coaches/Buddies - The (10 yo) DGD was excited about her Halloween costume. The plastic bin of costume makings was open on their living room floor. We made the horrible, unforgivable, mistake of asking if she intended to wear one in a package. "No way - I wore that three years ago." Pardon us for not remembering. She's assembling parts of old costumes to make her own hybrid - of exactly what I'll have to wait for our DD's picture in two days.

Triumph was the arrival of a black cape for me to wear when answering the door for trick-or-treaters. I've always wanted one but never thought about that until Halloween eve. It's rather nice for only $23.69 with shipping, tax, and customs total. Just what I want. Doesn't look like a cheap, polyester one-night costume. It does lack the elegance of a $400 version sold to wear to formal occasions by a grand gentleman of the appropriate class. Can't wear it to the opera,

Eating was on plan, CREDIT moi. Was a busy morning getting out to do early voting. Our town does city council, school committee, and one ballot question. I went behind the privacy curtain with a cheat-sheet to get it right. I plan to put a sign on our front door saying that we've voted with two "I Voted 2025" stickers hoping to stop the flow of workers handing out campaign literature who ring the doorbell to talk to us individually.


onebyone - Waving. Enough already. The Toronto Blue Jays going up 3-2 in the 2025 World Series is a bit pushy. Kindly tone down your bats.

Joy (gardenerjoy) - Doing tasks by priority is such an improvement over doing tasks by how easy they are to complete. BTDT.

maryann – Welcome home before possibly getting caught up in air traffic control bottlenecks. Congrats for passed first intermediate level in Spanish.

curlyjax – Great to have a BFF who can sooth the angst. Always Kudos for doing a workout.

Readers -

Frustrating episode with contacting SSA who stated they can't help with something over the phone, even though the website said they could.I'm helping someone try to get a copy of their SSA benefit letter and online we ran into some snafus as well. Today is part two of that-fingers crossed.
I am in my who cares, I'm feeling down phase, i'll never lose weight so may as well eat sugar. Ugh.
Bill-too funny about DGD's costume. I can just see you in that black cape, what fun!
Maryann-I love that you set goals in October instead of January. What a great job in completing them!
Gardenerjoy-priority order is a good idea indeed.

We get to play with kids today. Both food and exercise have been fairly easy on Thursdays. I only eat what I bring which is less than I would eat at home. Exercise happens naturally with dog-walking and kid activities. I'll do some PT style exercises when I get home to make sure that all my muscles function well tomorrow.

Exercise: 60, 1715/1800 minutes for October

Good Morning, Coaches.

Don't want to bury the lead - I am down a pound. I changed my data. I was so busy yesterday with light fixtures, setting DH up with the new printer, and food shopping that by the time I was home for dinner I decided it would just take a tiny bit more resistance to not eat it. I just haven't got my appetite back with the time changes. I'll take the win.

My next weight goal is 173. This is the weight I started at 15 years ago. Since it took me year to get into the 70s, I am giving myself another expansive timeline - 2026. I start personal training up next Tuesday and with that will come another bounce in weight temporarily. So I have lots of incentive to et on the slim side until then. Today's exercise will be a walk.

In other news, I want to make this month "low buy." The big trips are over and I want to fill up the reserves again. I have a bunch of things to put on Ebay and Poshmark. That should help with the cash flow.

Joy: Great way to lose weight - playing.
Curly: I think I told you SSA had me dead. Ten years later they still won't allow electronic tax filing.
BBE: I am spending Halloween with Mom. She has pronounced she is wearing her pumpkin costume to chair yoga - at 90 yers old. She has said I can't come without a costume. I hve to think on that.

Friday - Halloween
 

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Just checked the front of the house; we survived "Mischief Night" with no visible effects. Mischief Night has never been a big thing around here. Hope that stays the case. It's raining lightly right now - predicted to stop before the trick-or-treating time. But winds predicted that won't be so great for those who've decided to do inflatable costumes.

Story of the day: A gray-haired friend received an Amazon package that contained an inflatable duck-billed dinosaur costume. Huh? She had the curiosity of a retired science teacher but had no plans to trick-or-treat. She went through her list of friends and relatives who might think that a joke; all denied sending it. Finally called her DD in a nearby state to tell her the story. "Ooops ... that's for my DS; I must have used the pointer to your address by mistake." They worked out a solution that will get her DGS on the street tonight properly attired.

Eating was on plan, CREDIT moi. Lunch was, one more time, made from cold cuts purchased for our house guests. Coming close to the end, but not there. DW suggested that I make a "Lunchables" lunch with cold cuts and crackers. Maybe I'll add a carton of apple juice to fully be a first grader. Rather than have an intelligent dinner conversation we debated where Andrew, formerly known as Prince, should live. And dear Fergie. I need to be more selective with the news articles that I read.


Joy (gardenerjoy) - Yay for dogs and kids as exercise leaders.

maryann – Skipping dinner is a big step, Kudos. Celebrating that lost pound with you.

curlyjax – Wish you well fighting the bureaucracy at the SSA. For a diversion, note the grand light display at your New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill.

Readers -

I'm definitely in that 'I don't care' eating mode and then of course I do. It takes so much energy to ignore the food noise as they call it. I spent more frustrating time on the SSA issue and finally gave up, after talking to the advocate who also helps this client-he's going to try a workaround to get the info needed. There has been terrible traffic getting to and back from work, and yesterday i couldn't turn left-unbeknownst to me there was an accident they were routing people away from-so it took forever to get home. Today 'im going to pick up a client and hopefully the traffic won't be as bad. After work I have a financial appt via zoom, then going to a get together with BFF that I don't really want to do, i'm not in the mood to be with people, but she's making me go;) I'm behind on my trip prep, but i've done some of the admin stuff anyhow.
The furnace has been clanking all night even though it was off, and now that i've turned it on it stopped. That is bizarre! I think its coming from the giant duct-maybe it needs a cleaning.
Bill-yes, it is a wonderful thing to go to. Last year 5 of us went which took some major planning.
MAryann- you are inspiring me when I feel like its not doable. Great job!!

:haphal:, Coaches.

Another pound off today. Crazy to be working on months to get a single pound off and now I have had three. I changed my details and am 4 pounds from my next goal. I know this is the last of the travel weight. Over the years I have learned that flying retains lots of water. I will remember that it all evens out when I start training again on Tuesday the scale adjusts back up but for right now I am riding the wave.

Today we have an appointment with the sleep doctor for DH and then I am going to spend the day with Mom. We will watch Game 6.

BBE: I make DH lunchables : heavy on the protein with real cheese crackers. Today he has a new try - smoked oysters. He loves them. We will see.
Curly: It sounds like your BFF is watching out for you. Yeah!

We'll ignore Halloween, secure in the knowledge that no one will climb our steep dark leaf-strewn driveway. When we move, we may need to develop an all-new Halloween tradition. But I can think about that when the time comes.

The 3yo was so excited about her Halloween costume that she had me help her put it on so she could show it off. She's Yoshi, which I guess is in the Sonic the Hedgehog universe? I've been trying to ignore that on the assumption that the kids will grow out of it. She looked cute in a green and white costume with a kind of dragon-style head and a shell on the back like a turtle.

As predicted, food and exercise were easy. The scale rewarded me with a number smack dab in the middle of my maintenance range.

Exercise: 60, 1775/1800 minutes for October

Discussion continues on the November 2025 Thread
 

Please join us as this discussion continues on:

Beck Diet For Life/Solution – November 2025 – Support, Discussion, Buddy/Coach

You can find the list of previous (or more current) monthly Beck threads here on 3 Fat Chicks via:

List of Monthly Beck Threads for Support, Discussion, Buddy/Coach