Chicks, I have read this thread thru and feel so happy to know you all :)

However, I am not so happy to report zero loss. My pants, also tight. My face, full.

Scale up, but surprisingly, not as high as I feel.

Off to work-- although I'm on vacation from one job, I am happily doing my other which I hope to grow into a full time role...keeping the first as a part time role (sort of a switch of what it is now)

My prob- as usual- lack of discipline in the exercise arena. Gots to get on that!

Yup...onward, forward, downward-- no choice.

Onward and upward, indeed, Kitty. Are you doing a half-marathon or anything to train toward this fall?

I ran last night. Well, just one mile and I felt like crapola, but it's better than nothing, right?

Absolutely! I have been running 1-2x/week. 1-3.5 miles.
Have set sights on race in oct but have done nothing in terms of training or sign up :P

crapola today, muscular tomorrow :)

Dang. I was invited to do a 5k in honor of 9/11--10th anniversary Salute to Heros. It's the day we leave for vacation. I'd have liked to have done that one as it is a fundraiser to erect a monument here in honor of 9/11.

I did well last night! I made a low fat chicken fettucini alfredo and didn't overeat the pasta part. I still need to tweak the recipe, so if anyone can offer help, please do. The sauce was too thin. I'm trying to duplicate the white sauce in the Weight Watchers Smart Ones frozen entrees. It is SO good! The recipe I followed was 1 T butter, 1/4 c flour, 3 c ff milk and some salt, pepper and nutmeg. Oh, and a little parmesan. Even simmering it for some time before adding the parmesan didn't thicken it up enough.

midwife~anything is better than nothing!

kitty~yes, onward and upward...oh, wait, shouldn't that be onward and downward?!?!

saef~I had a doctor kind of like that once, only she was Indian. She scared the bejeebers out of me! My current doctor, well he takes REALLY good notes. To the point where he admonished me for not bringing him photos of my trip to Italy the year after I had gone! I wonder if he'll bring it up this year?

Saef - I like both images of your ideal doctor. Kathy Bates with the mallet could scare me in line and the kinder, gentler more holistic version could help with things my judgmental, male doctor brushes off as immaterial.

Kitty & Midwife - good job getting back on the running! Keep it up. :)

I have done well with the food and the exercise the last two days, weight is down a little bit. I'm feeling alright today. I expect to do well today and tomorrow, then to swing back into a bad weekend again. I also need to shift my paradigm a little. All the tracking sheets and calorie systems in the world don't help me if I don't use them.

:wave: Still here, unfortunately. You know what I mean.

Today, the DB and I have moved two cats across "riot-torn London" for friends. It was calmer last night and today was exciting rather than stressful. But we weren't able to buy a second cat carrier (stores ransacked and closed) so one cat had to travel in a laundry basket. A traditional piece of improvisation.

Saef wrote about her need for time on her own in the chat thread, I think. I am notorious for needing this and I think the lack of enough explains why I do so badly in the summer.

:hug: all round. I'll try to be here tomorrow.

How long of a drive is it for you from your home in Wales to London, Birchie?

I was worried about you with everything going on, Birchie. Thanks for popping in!

Thanks for thinking of me, Shannon. People today have been remarkably kind and almost gentle. Considerate and thoughtful. Everyone seems shocked, bruised. And angry, of course, at the stupidity.

Midwife, I never drive to London as the traffic is unpleasant. The train is much quicker: about 3.5 hours. Our mission today involved an overground train, a bus and a black cab (to transport the moggies to their new home).

I have eaten too much but my friends' new house has a kind of exercise room so I've lain around on the floor in there. I hope I sleep better tonight as DB and I were in the same bed last night (to allay anxiety).

Hair cuts tomorrow. -0.5lb if I'm lucky!

SB! Very happy to hear you're outside of the turmoil - I also have been thinking about you and hoping that the uncivilized behaviors stop soon. I simply can't imagine what the thought process must be in order to justify the sort of things being done. :hug:

midwife - bravo on the mile!

saef - Every now and then, the fog lifts and I get a little clarity. :D I am merely trying to point myself more in the direction of the thinner fogs. My doctor is a gaunt version of Gregory House; a "black sheep" in his profession for his willingness to ignore most lab results and treat thyroid issues based on symptoms.

shannon - totally with you; the toolbox is full but the drawer is awfully sticky. :D

allison - I truly can't remember the last time I had Alfredo. :drool: I have had some luck with thickening sauces using a small amount of cream cheese. It needs to be whisked with some of the hot liquid before you add it, much like a slurry. More parmesan makes a big difference, too.

kitty! :wave: I can relate to the full look. For some reason, the extra 6-8 pounds that were supposed to be above my eventual-but-never-achieved red line have far overstayed their visit and are becoming exponentially more unwelcome.

I've logged every single bite, lick and taste since Tuesday morning. DS12 plans to re-up for the swim team this fall and requested last night that we begin going to the pool twice a week, beginning next week. I think this is the fanny-boot back into the water for me as well.

Silver, glad you are not in the middle of the trouble in London.

My doctor was a NCAA women's basketball player and still seems kind of like that. I have mixed feelings about her. On the one hand, she has always seemed to have an attitude of "we'll figure out what's wrong and fix it," but on the other hand, I feel like she doesn't always believe that my miscellaneous symptoms are actually part of a systemic problem. Hopefully getting a report from my rheumatologist will fix that.

Allison, have you tried cornstarch to thicken your sauce? Or maybe just use less milk to start with?

I am struggling with strange appetite issues this week. I don't know if it's related to the medications, TOM, or what. I feel like I am not hungry much, if at all. But then I feel like I need to eat, and sometimes I feel like I need to eat specific things. Like yesterday afternoon, I wasn't hungry, but I had the overwhelming feeling that I needed to eat grains (I ate a Kashi bar). Then at mealtimes I feel like I should eat because otherwise I'll be hungry later, even though I'm not really hungry to begin with. But you'd think with all this not being hungry, I would be losing weight, right? Nope. :shrug:

I will try the cornstarch next time, Jessica. I don't really want to add more cheese or cream cheese as that just adds fat and calories. Although I did see one recipe that called for several wedges of Laughing Cow Light cheese. I think I'll go look at that one and perhaps create my own concoction next time.

I've been quite proud of my snacking less this week. I've lost the little I gained on my reunion weekend, but still have more to go before my trip.

I leave on Sunday for Montana and I wonder what eating will be like then. I like to snack on long trips, and this is a 3-day ride up there. I did buy some beef jerky which is probably a good idea (despite the sodium).

Hi all! My eating has been a bit lackluster this week. I finally went to the store yesterday and stocked up on salad stuff because I was almost out of vegetables (insert gasp here) and feel better about life. (Funny how veggies have a calming effect on me.) I think I need to get my rear in gear and prepare some healthy foods for when I'm snacky, if I could just find some time to do it. Besides the usual work, gym, walking dog BF's family is in town and staying at a rental house right down the street so seeing them is eating up any "Food prep" time I have. I'm thinking I'd like to make a chickpea salad of some sort... maybe a white bean hummus to eat with pita bread also. I'm going to the city this weekend and am hoping to stock up on good fruit then.

Allison, I also thought of some cornstarch or arrowroot powder to thicken your sauce. If you've got the space, maybe you could air pop a bunch of popcorn and sprinkle some popcorn seasoning on it. We've been doing that in the office this summer as our "afternoon snack" time - something about being out in the heat and then coming back in makes us all snacky. :p

Jessica, maybe while you're taking prednisone you shouldn't weigh as often? I mean, stay OP and keep your journal as normal, but I don't think you can get too upset by the scale right now. Just a thought...

Silver, I'm glad you and DB are ok. I've been listening to the news reports with a lot of anxiety. My thoughts are with you and your countrypeople.

The scale is moving in the right direction. I'm down 2.6 pounds this morning.

But I knew I would be. I think many of you know that feeling. I just felt ... lighter, and when I put on my sandals this morning, my feet appeared quite intricate, with all the veins & tendons showing. Which means they weren't puffed up by fluid retention.

I fear my loss will be offset by dinner at a friend's house tomorrow night. She married a man of Bengali descent. Since their engagement, she has become more into Indian cooking and Indian culture than many of the actual young women from India who work with us at my company. (In one 27-person department at my company, 24 are Indian immigrants.) Anyway, my friend has an epic dinner planned. That should make me happy. It does not. I would give almost anything to get out of this engagement. Which is why I am **making myself** go. And why I'm determined to behave well, and to impersonate a normal person, in spite of my food pathology.

If I keep up the impersonation, if I keep pushing myself, someday it may be true. I may be okay.

Good luck with the dinner, Saef. Try some new things and know that Sunday is a new day.

:wave:

I solemnly swear I will make good food choices this weekend. More later!