Boo! 'Tis the week when we'll be confronted with thousands of unhealthy calories and "just eat one -- they're so cute and little".
What are everyone's Halloween plans?
We're hosting a dinner party on Halloween that really doesn't anything to do with Halloween, but it's the only day all our guests could get together. The menu is bouillabaisse, which is possibly the best dinner I make and definitely the most time-consuming. But it's something I can eat (along with the guests) and as long as I stay away from the chocolate torte with raspberry sauce and white chocolate whipped cream, I'll be fine.
So this week with be a lot of cleaning and food prep crammed in when I'm not working!
After the gym this morning, I get to take two cats to the vets -- one for his 18-year old kidneys and the other for a check up and shots. I have another who is due for shots next week, but can't imagine wrangling three cat carriers in and out of the car! So I'll make another trip next week. I've learned to postpone my morning shower until after the vet's since I'll come home covered in cat fur. It always seems to be Big Dog Day when I show up with the cats!
We had a big family dinner on Saturday night and I wasn't as restrained as I should have been, so the scale shot up three pounds overnight. And back down 2.6 this morning, so I'll burn the rest off at the gym. Carbs pack that water weight on me every time!
C'mon, gang, we can survive Halloween week! And the post-holiday sales!!
This past weekend was a disaster so I'm starting over today. I'm not going to weigh myself until Friday as I expect I'll have taken off all the bloat I put on this weekend by then.
My reunion on Friday was about as expected. I had a couple of really nice chats with a few people and the rest ignored me (just like high school ).
DH and I had had a huge fight that morning (he left for his friend's place out of town and I was looking for a new apartment that afternoon). After I got home from the reunion I comfort ate while trying to figure out how to be single again.
We kind of resolved things on Saturday and are going to try to stay together but go for counselling. I spent the whole weekend alternating between sadness and extreme anxiety and generally making myself . More comfort eating on Saturday and Sunday nights.
This morning I'm pulling myself together. Turns out DH's band is playing a show on Halloween night so I'm giving my candy and pumpkin to my cousin's wife tomorrow since we have to leave at 6 p.m. for the show.
I have my first hypnotism appointment on Thursday and I really, really hope that will give me the strength to get through next weekend without eating to relieve anxiety, stress and whatever else happens.
I can't go on like this. Change is necessary now. I'm tired of doing well all week and then throwing all that work away on the weekend. Overeating and drinking beer is not a celebration any more.
I'm now going to do the weight workout I missed yesterday.
Dagmar, I am sorry you had a rough week-end. I hope the counselor will be able to help you work things through.
I made it through my husband's business trip and the week-end POP. woot! I also checked NRLW out of the library and I am starting today! I am excited to be doing something new, but also scared that I am going to make a total a$$ out of myself at the gym. Oh well, wouldn't be the first time. Anyone who's done the program - I would love to hear your suggestions, feedback, etc.
Meg, I imitated you yesterday and cooked enough food for the whole week. Four big pots of soup. I think DH and I are going to drown!
We're hosting a party with our cooking club for Halloween. It's a planned indulgence for me and I fully expect to eat a load of junk. No worries though, I'll make up for it the rest of the week. The real trick will be handling the leftovers. Since Halloween is Saturday, I'll have to avoid leftovers all day Sunday before I can take them to work Monday.
Dagmar, sorry to hear you and DH had a fight. I hope that counselling helps, it sounds like you have been headed that way for a while now.
Ward, have fun with NRLW! I'm about to start Stage 5. My only advice is that when you try to do the prone jackknifes, you will probably feel like an idiot and likely fall over. It's okay, just hang in there!
Funny dog park story -- I took Carter there yesterday morning, and while he was in general pretty well-behaved (didn't play, but didn't growl at anyone), he was hilarious with this one little white dog. Carter is about 80lbs, this white dog must have been about 10lbs. It totally wanted to play with Carter and kept running up to him and jumping around and yapping. Poor Carter was so scared! He kept backing away from the other dog and the other dog just didn't get it. For such a big dog he sure looks ridiculous running away from a little tiny dog!
Had a lovely weekend catching up with family and restocking my freezer with meats from our specialty butcher. So we're all stocked up for several weeks, which is awesome. BUT we didn't get to go to the farmer's market for produce, so I had to go through my complicated dance of trying to figure out where the grocery store produce was grown (I try to at least get produce from in-state, if I can). That cut my variety down by a lot, but I got enough to get us through the week.
This is our first year where we actually will get trick-or-treaters, so we got ourselves a pumpkin to carve, and will be buying some form of candy that we don't like (and the last person to come to the door will get a LOT of leftovers, because they are NOT staying here.
Going into a busy couple weeks at work. Hope everyone is having an awesome start to the week!
This is our first year where we actually will get trick-or-treaters, so we got ourselves a pumpkin to carve, and will be buying some form of candy that we don't like (and the last person to come to the door will get a LOT of leftovers, because they are NOT staying here.
LOL, good luck knowing who that is
That reminds me of a story my sister told. She's an oncology nurse. A doctor wrote an order for a sedative 30 minutes before BM. He, or course, meant BM as in bone marrow (aspiration). The nurses were laughing and wondering how they were supposed to know when it's 30 minutes before a patient's BM.
Julie - when I was growing up, we always "shut down" the trick or treating...usually before the very end of it. Saturday I think we may end up with plans, so we'll get the little kids who are out earlier and leave before the older kids start showing up. So they may not be the last kids who pass our house, but they WILL be the last kids who get us to answer the door!
Hello maintainers!
I pledge to stay away from the Halloween candy! I know if I eat one, I can't stop. Last year I had ZERO and I plan on repeating that again!! Plans for Halloween will hopefully be answering the door for the cute trick or treaters. I love seeing them. Some of them are afraid of my dogs while others try to come in to see them-- they are put up but kids can see and hear them..... DD (14) will be trick-or-treating with other teens and dh will be out of town. We'll see how it goes....
Friday night before he leaves we're going to a Halloween party. We went last year for the first time. It was a lot of fun. Lots of very interesting costumes-- many of which are R rated! I dressed pretty lame last year so this year I bought a ladybug costume (fairly sexy). Dh said he is going to surprise me... He isn't one to spend $$ so his costume will likely be something he can find in his closet.
I got back from visiting dd for parent's weekend. Busy and fun. Flew up Friday and flew back yesterday. Ate some pretty off plan meals, made some good choices, and at least managed to exercise each day in the hotel gym. Back to normal routine and hope to take off the couple of pounds I was trying to take off before I left. I want to make sure I'm back where I want to be before Thanksgiving and the rest of the holidays hit!
Dagmar-- I am so sorry you are having such a hard time but so glad you are going to get counseling.
Hello to everyone else!! We can be strong this week....
Hello all. Somehow I missed posting here earlier, though I did read everything. Weird.
Dagmar - I'm sorry that you guys are having trouble, hope that the counseling helps.
Meg - I have a hard time wrestling one cat to the vet, let alone two or three! Hope the visit went well!
Ward - on surviving the business trip!
Jessica - about Carter running from the little dog...
Amanda - why only instate produce? Supporting local farmers?
Julie - on the BM story...
Michele - glad you had a good trip!
No big Halloween plans this year. DSS will be with his mom this year and our neighborhood isn't a big trick or treat site, so I'm figuring don't even buy candy. Two years ago two kids came by, last year my neighbors said it wasn't any better, I might just cut out the temptation this year. Make a nice dinner for DH & myself and watch a scary movie on tv.
DH announced last ngiht that he was "tired of being fat", went out to the garage and walked on the treadmill for 45 minutes, and had only a moderate snack (from the mess in the kitchen this morning) after that.
No nagging from me at all. I will offer suggestions/motivation if he asks but I hope he will keep this up himself. And he can have all the compliments he wants!
And my dad has finally given up driving, as of last night. My cousin (male) only had to talk to him once about it and now he's hanging up the keys.
Looks like I might finally have a permanent reduction of two of my worst stressors.
I had a bit of a victory this weekend. My SIL has been trying to get my Mom & Dad to come with them here on Thanksgiving, but given my parents age and frailty, they've been quite hesitant. SIL gave them two options: they'll all fly down or they'll drive down. The problem with driving is that my brother and SIL own Subaru Outback station wagons and there would be 5 of them in the car--my mom wouldn't be able to bring her wheelchair which would severely limit her movement around my house and would preclude her from being able to go anywhere at all while she was down her (although we could probably rent her a chair). Anyway, I had invited my sister to come if she was able and she came up with a solution that worked! She and her husband will fly from Texas to SLC and then drive my Mom & Dad in M&D's car down here. So my Thanksgiving is set for a minimum of 14 people. Still a lot smaller than the 27 I've hosted in the past! Now to plan the menu!!!
I've been so busy at work that I can hardly look up and today my assistant called in sick. She doesn't work on Mondays and apparantly she wasn't feeling well yesterday either. Hope it's not the flu.
Meg- I love bouillabaise and am tres impressed you can make it
Dagmar- Way to get back on your feet. Glad to hear things are going better.
Ali- hope it's not the flu!
A friend is coming up to visit this weekend, and maybe I can convince her and my bf to stay home and give out candy for a little while, and then shut things down like Mandalinn and go out a bit later. I've never actually given out candy on Halloween before. I'm having a few friends over for dinner tomorrow night; it's not really a Halloween party per se but I am going to make a Halloween-themed cake, and make sure I have enough room to actually enjoy a slice
Good job everyone on the business trip surviving, thanksgiving planning, new gym routines, and good choices
Last edited by forestroad; 10-27-2009 at 11:39 AM.
I love bouillabaise too, though I have never undertaken it myself (I= intimidated) :-)
We don't get trick-or-treaters here, and don't have halloween candy except the lone pumpkin-shaped Reese's piece of candy that I picked up for my husband at the store. I almost got one for myself, to budget in this weekend ... but eh, it was a bad caloric deal for its size and I didn't bother.
Our only halloween plans are to watch scary movies that night, with a warm, autumn dinner. Either I will make broccoli chowder (recipe from RealAge) or my husband will make his Indian curry (we eat a lot of that lately).
I am planning on having a homemade, pumpkin-cinnamon waffle on Sunday morning, as I have the last 2 Sundays. I made and froze them a few weeks ago and they are delicious (260 calories, plus another 25 calories with a 1/2 tbsp of lite maple syrup on it).
My lecture yesterday went really well and the students were very engaged, so I was happy about that. I stopped at my favorite "city" grocery store while I was there, Publix, and got overly excited about the big squash selection (what does that say about me?). I bought a Delicata squash to try but I didn't let myself go too crazy. They had lots of fun squash, though! The turban kind, blue hubbard, buttercup, and several more. My weekend was really good and I was unnecessarily afraid of being alone in my house. I'm still working on reigning my food intake back in...
Saturday BF and I will go to a Halloween party at our friends house in the city. They're serving chili (probably not as lean as my own but I can deal with that option), I just need to watch out for the sugary things. I'm going to be a bag of jelly beans. BF's going to be Magnum PI, complete w/ Hawaiian shirt and he's growing out his 'stache. We were watching an old rerun last weekend and I told him, "you can't just grow a mustache, we have to make you a thatch of chest hair to be sticking out the top of your flowered shirt like Magnum!" I found doll hair at the craft store yesterday, and it's going to be hilarious. We're going to drive back late instead of spending the night at our friends to see the lighting of our newly rebuilt lighthouse at midnight, which BF actually helped rebuild.
No one trick or treats in my neighborhood so it won't matter that I'm not home, and though it might be fun to see kids costumes I'm not sad I don't need to deal with candy in my house!
WhitePicketFences, your cinnamon waffles sound delicious!
Allison, I'm glad your family could figure out how to transport everyone comfortably so you can all be together.
Dagmar, even though it's frustrating that a male cousin could get such a fast response, I'm glad your dad has agreed to stop driving if it means less stress for you! I hope your counseling is effective and you & DH can work things out.
Hi Shannon, Michele, Amanda, Julie, Jessica, Ward, Meg, everyone else!
Shannon - in-state mostly for the lower fossil fuels to get it to me, as well as reduced transit time farm-to-table which makes it taste better.
Dagmar - so glad to hear that things are looking up.
Allison - wow, complicated logistics! Glad it's all worked out!
Forestroad - have a lovely dinner party! What are you cooking? I'm planning a lower-fat pumpkin chocolate chip ring for Thursday...will frost to look like a pumpkin.
WhitePicketFences - Waffle recipe? Those sound phenomenal!
Megan - Jelly beans sound like a cute costume! And the squash sound awesome...the farmers market has been brimming over with crazy varieties and I always get so excited.
Today - work, lifting, etc. It's supposed to be VERY windy here, so hopefully we don't blow away!
Maintainers Chat: Halloween Week (10/26 - 11/1)
This is a looong post.
that morning (he left for his friend's place out of town and I was looking for a new apartment that afternoon). After I got home from the reunion I comfort ate 
while trying to figure out how to be single again.
. More comfort eating on Saturday and Sunday nights.
I hope the counselor will be able to help you work things through.
Anyone who's done the program - I would love to hear your suggestions, feedback, etc.
on surviving the business trip! 
on the BM story...
Is DH finally on board?
