Nice chill in the air this morning. I think autumn is my favorite season! But it will be hot this afternoon when I run. That's okay, I like hot too.
Kitty, I hope everything is okay. Good job on the orange. I tried to justify a breakfast burrito yesterday morning based on angst, exhaustion, etc, but I went home and had hummus instead. Better than a burrito, but not as good as an orange!
SB, I am unfamiliar with lamb sofrito, but your planned tea sounds excellent.
Lamb sofrito is from the Middle East. Brown lamb shanks or leg of lamb in a few (2-3?) tbsps oil, salt and pepper, juice of lemon (I used a lime), coffee cup of water (that's quite small). Whack on the lid, turn to low and leave for two hours. Meltingly tender meat to pick out.
Passed on spud (trsl: potato). Have just had low calorie hot choc.
Midwife - pls keep posting here. I missed you over the summer ....
I'm here! Cold is still in the "starting" stage, so maybe I can get away with it getting full-blown?
Becky - we saw Pride and Prejudice which was hilarious. I need to reread the book (I have it on my iPad Kindle - and it was free!). For a local group they are surprisingly good.
My DH's friend is here through tomorrow, then I can reclaim my house. One bathroom for 3 adults is not enough! Thank goodness we have a large hot water heater.... They've gone for the day, though, and I'm about to go for a bike ride. here at last!
Speaking of Pride and Prejudice, I'm most of the way through Pride and Prejudice and Zombies which I picked up at half price books. It's pretty entertaining. Dumb, but entertaining, which is exactly what I expected when I picked it up. The first sentence of the book tells you everything you need to know about it: "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains."
I think I won't like the number on the scale much on Friday morning, because I can't see that defined line that sometimes appears in the center of my stomach when I've been good with food as well as working out. (I never eat junk or anything I crave, but I do overeat good stuff at mealtimes.) Looking in a full-length mirror at my stomach is nearly as good as a stepping on a scale.
I can't enjoy this cool, sunny weather, my favorite part of the year (just like Midwife) because I have two projects for work hanging heavily over me. I feel guilty stepping away from the laptop to cook my own food & to go to the gym, though I know it's better for me & that I focus better if I have some way of working off stress.
When I think about tomorrow, I feel like a rider facing a series of jumps. Staff meeting tomorrow, then meeting with my boss on major project (that's the "in and out" jump), then doctor appointment during which he'll go over my bloodwork, then back to the major projects due, plugging away, but leaving for once at 5 PM & battling rush hour traffic on I-95 from CT to NY for Pilates class. After completing all of these hurdles, I will reward myself tomorrow night by spending an hour before bedtime completely absorbed in "Jersey Shore," which mesmerizes me because the people it follows are shrewd exhibitionists but also incredibly stupid. Their ideas about gender & relationships appall me. Of course this makes for memorable television.
Count me in on the have-to-loose-a-whole-lot group. I've seen alarming changes in my body after a summer of hot flashes, sleeping problems & feeling generally under the water. I've improved a bit, but I want my body back!
OTOH I must not overdo things or I'll falll of the wagon again big time. So I'm easing in exercise, easing out pasta. rice & potatoes, and generally try to put more fun into life.
Well, I have more incentive to pay attention to what I eat - we bought airline tickets to go to Hawaii (Big Island) for 4 weeks in January!! I'll enjoy it a lot more as many pounds lighter as I can manage.
Congrats kittycat40 on the 2.5 pounds lost AND on the NSV!
Jessica, good going on the food accomplishments and belated happy birthday. Hope the coughing and sniffling are gone. Your book sounds like a real hoot!
Pat, way to go on passing up the not-so-healthy school BBQ foods. Hope you’re feeling better. Wow, a trip to Hawaii in January for FOUR weeks sounds excellent! Have you ever been there?
ICUwishing, hope your C25K is going nicely.
Silverbirch, that sofrito sounds scrumptious! Yay on the flatter looking stomach!
Midwife, autumn is my favorite time of year too. Warm days, crisp cool nights. Lovely! Congrats on going for the hummus instead of the burrito.
Saef, sorry you’re so stressed at work. I don’t envy you the traffic on I-95 in Connecticut and New York. Good that you were able to relax with the “Jersey Shore” gang.
4rabbit, “easing in, easing out, and having fun” sounds like an excellent plan! Hope it’s going well.
My weigh-in this morning showed that I’m down 2 pounds from last Friday. Seven more to go. Recorded all calories in FitDay and still on plan.
I’m leaving here (central Massachusetts) for Maine in a few minutes to spend a few days in our summer home and visit some friends. Supposed to be beautiful weather. Have a great weekend, everyone!
Yes, I'm here. I'm working at it. Exercise is good. Food is good. And that's because I'm planning like mad.
Sleep is mediocre. I sleep from the beginning to the end of the night but I need more hours. I may sleep in tomorrow morning but then I end up feeling a bit off all day. I'll have to plan this.
Hope you are all doing well. I saw some Christmas cards in a charity shop a few weeks ago but that is all I've seen. No television, you see, and I think my advertising and consumer filter is fairly powerful. The glitter will batter through soon, though. I intend to be svelte and also fit into warm trousers by December.
(Last night I broke down and had to raid the fancy dress box. A pair of grey merino wool long-johns - could be called leggings, I suppose. A long grey cashmere jumper from many years ago. A longer black under-skirt. A vest - DK what you call this - it's an undergarment with sleeves for the top half. A turquoise sash. A scarf. I started off looking wonderful but it didn't really last all evening. I need more warm clothes.)
kitty - gazpacho, the siren's call of the end of summer. And yes, capable of producing amazing Dragon Breath. I'm in trouble with starting to look forward into the comfort foods of chilly weather - the stroganoffs, stews, pot roasts, chilis ... PIA to figure the calories since I never make it the same way twice, oh well! Sorry to hear about the stress-inducing news, and congrats on not retreating into unproductive eating!
SB - Still closing up old tasks before starting the fresh stuff. I feel a fit of decluttering coming on. I've received the materials I need to go ahead with launching the Web phase, but I need to free up time to get started. I simply have too much competing for the evening hours, and I have to make some hard decisions and winnow the herd. The lamb sofrito sounds incredible. I think I've had something similar in MX, but it was done with young goat (cabritas - sp?). Christmas cards - oh my. Probably the only reasonable thing to have out that far ahead!
midwife - chill works better for me. I did find though, that this very hot summer in MI was better than it would have been with the extra 25 lbs I was lugging around. I still have an affinity for bulky sweaters and shapeless tops - I need to get over that.
Pat - you've been fighting that cold for a few days - did you manage to hold it off? 4 weeks in Hawaii? In January? Oh, I am green with envy!!!
Jessica - that has to be one of the most intriguing lines I've heard for opening a story. Gosh, I mish recreational reading (see comment above about poor time management).
saef - ooh, I love that tummy line! I have a fine line where there's cellulite/not cellulite, and I'm riding right on it at the moment. I guess it's my "thigh gage". Best wishes on the crazed work schedule, and I hope last night's TV met your expectations. I confess to "Total Drama Island", which is a cartoon spoof of Survivor. DS11 and I go out of our way to find it and giggle our way through it.
4rabbit - Fall's a great time to renew good habits - I'm doing the same so that I can finish the loss project I started in 2009.
Mary - well done on the loss! Have a great weekend!
Silverbirch - yea on the planning!
I have been on plan with the food, and have been rewarded with a return to the ticker weight. Exercise needs to catch up. I was never particularly good with it, and I need to be. Ahem. Expect, and demand, a good report by Saturday evening.
My belly don't lie. Up .6 pounds from last Friday.
This in spite of eating remarkably well for seven days (thank goodness I made a huge pot of vegetable chili this past Sunday -- it kept me going from Sunday through Thursday) & working out hard when I just wanted to go home & eat my head off & crawl into bed, or, if it was morning, to linger in bed as long as possible.
This has been a tiring week in the gym. I've changed up my strength training routine, based on Jose's lesson last Friday, and I feel a new soreness across the breadth of my shoulders. Also my quads are stiff today & I am walking like a geriatric with frail bones. We did plie squats yesterday in Pilates that left my legs trembling afterward. Women were crying out for mercy in the last seven minutes of the class. Women who run all the time were whimpering.
I've got a serious sleep deficit going this week, so much so that if I zone out over my laptop today, I'm in danger of falling asleep sitting up, doubtless drooling attractively down the front of my shirt. I wonder if stress causes you to hold onto weight or retain fluid. Both big projects are still sitting heavily on me. I'll spend much of my weekend on the laptop, working.
If I get through this, I'm buying some personal training sessions with Jose. I think I can learn a lot from him.
Have a good weekend, all, whether it's in Maine or Michigan or the U.K., or Alaska but dreaming sweetly of Hawaii.
Still working toward my goal of looking good. And lusting over a very long, buttonless, asymmetric hemline Donna Karan wrap sweater called the cozy. I WANT. I WANT. This always happens when I'm stressed. I become a rampant consumer. Luxury goods will ease my pain.
I'm dreaming of Hawaii Can't ignore it as I'm currently researching rentals. This was our major plan for the first few years (at least) of retirement - go somewhere warm for a long enough time to explore an area, basically staying in one place as a base as opposed to the travel where you switch locales every couple days. We have a list of places we want to go - both in the US and abroad. I've been to Hawaii a number of times, but never to the Big Island. DH has been there twice and likes it the best.
Saef - I'm sure that stress is playing it's part in you hanging onto weight. Stick with the exercise and good eating, and you should come out the other side without a significant gain....
My cold is still hovering. My throat most feels minorly scratchy, and I have that aching fatigue. I'm just trying to get enough sleep and lots of fluids. Exercise is minimal at this point. Sigh.
Saef, if you're sore, do you think the .6 lb could be from the new weight routine?
Hawaii! I'm very jealous!
We're off for a quick overnight trip to watch DD race. I shall be channeling all of you strong on-plan women and will make the kind of choices you would be proud of.
OK, Sunday afternoon then. DS11 and I got out this morning for our C25k. Yesterday was just non-stop rain. I was not on-plan with eating yesterday, and I'm not going to blame the weather. It was within my control completely, and I made bad decisions. Moving on.
Good job on the orange. I tried to justify a breakfast burrito yesterday morning based on angst, exhaustion, etc, but I went home and had hummus instead. Better than a burrito, but not as good as an orange!
here at last!
everyone
I'll enjoy it a lot more as many pounds lighter as I can manage.
