I find it weird that so few of you on this forum have children, while so many of you have pets. It's hard for me to relate sometimes.
This is an interesting observation and, on reflection, may be one of the reasons why I became attached to this particular forum, out of all the places on the Internets where I could hang out. Because I don't have a child, I don't relate to child-centered forums, or places in which there's a lot of talk about children. I flee from them and instead seek out places in which people are talking about their own self-development or efforts at improvement. Those people may incidentally have children but since the forums aren't all about the children, and they're all about the people themselves --- that, I can relate to.
In fact, I don't have a pet, but because I'm living with my mother, I'm also living with my mother's cat, Fritz. And it's hard not to notice after spending a day or two here that it's Fritz who really runs this place. My mother -- and now I, also -- always check on where he is physically located in the house, whether he's awake or asleep, or brooding, or watching something out the window, whether he seems to want anything, and interpreting his body language, whether he wants to go out, or be let in, or wants food, or is seeking a soft warm spot to lie down in. "Reading Fritz" is one of the main activities of the day. I think it's weirdly related to my father having died just three years ago, but haven't pursued that line of thinking any further beyond that insight.
Andrea, that is an interesting observation. The chat forum has more people with kids, but their kids tend to be older (teens/adults). I am guessing it's because people with young children don't have as much time to spend online? Or maybe the people with children just tend to not talk about them that much?
I am just in love with my dog so I can't resist talking about him all the time. And because I don't have kids, I spend a lot of time paying attention to my dog!
Re: litterboxes . . . I don't have a cat and never have (although my dad had two when I was very young, but I don't really remember them). However, my sister has a cat and one of the automatic litterboxes. Problem is that her apartment still is super cat-smelly because (a) her cat often refuses to use the litterbox, (b) the litter box scoops itself but doesn't empty itself, so if you leave it alone long enough it overflows its scooping container, and (c) the kitchen is full of empty but not yet washed cat food tins which stink. At least, that's how her old apartment was. She and her DW have been working on keeping things cleaner esp since they moved so we'll see how their new one is when I make it out to visit.
Weight update:
- assuming the week starts Sunday, I made my 4 days of exercise goal already but only had 2 dessert-free days so far.
- I thought my weight was up a lb from Thanksgiving, turns out it was just TOM. Back to 134.0 today.
Dagmar~Littermaid. I have two of the "elite" boxes, but don't use the hoods.
I belong to two other chat boards (one for labradors and one is Cooking Light). I actually refuse to go back to Cooking Light because I got "yelled" at for my opinion. I go to the Labrador one often--usually seeking advice on something pet related. I've never been yelled at there. Or here. I like it here as we're so diverse and supportive of one another.
andrea - yay redline (better than over it!) especially given your surgery! Keep on with what you're doing; I'm sure that given your profession and experience in your body, you'll do it the right way. I only have an emergency C-section as relatable to what you went through - I remember being surprised and horrified at how critical abdominal muscles are, and flinch when I hear about anyone going through any cutting at belly-button level or lower. Re kids, I adore my DS12 (went thru the anti-flushing phase myself, and we are currently doing battle with the seat-lifting requirement for males) ... but like Saef, 3FC is "my" world. I have lots of people IRL I can talk kids with; it's a much smaller audience for diet, exercise, and redlines.
Tiny goals: Good on all fronts. It's getting easier again. I did the 15-min ab workout last night and was pleased to be able to do somewhere between the Intermediate and Adv routines. Today I can feel it, so that counts as 1 session for the week, of 3. Weight - up .5 and attributed to ordinary system noise.
I'm not pleased with my weight this morning, and I'm going to change my profile to reflect it.
It is lower than the day after Thanksgiving, but just by a fraction. It reflects a lot of nervous nibbling of healthy foods during working hours. A calorie is a calorie, whether it's from plain dry-roasted peanuts or organic Macoun apples.
Still, I get sad thinking how I gain weight without even having had the pleasure of eating pie or ice cream or whatever.
Checking in from one of my usual London eateries. I find it helpful to do this when I'm here. So although I've done this, on this thread, for months and months, I'm framing it as a very useful thing to do. It makes me stop and think.
London is looking really lovely today. It was quite cold first thing. The Christmas decorations are up. The tree from the City of Oslo is up in Trafalgar Square. It's a gift, sent every year since 1947 for London's support of Norway 1940-45. I find it very moving. People seem to be in a very good mood, despite imminent financial meltdown.
I ate more than usual last night at my friends' house. I enjoyed it and I've heard it said that you're always colder and hungrier in other people's houses.
Saef, good luck with driving and your weekend. I hope the weather co-operates.
Back over redline yesterday and today; guess it's not going to be as easy as 4 days on plan <sigh>.
Allinnell, I'm curious, what opinion did you express on a cooking board that would get you yelled at (I can see it now- a vehement disagreement on the relative merits of broiling vs. grilling).
As for the child-free thing, yes it's nice to be able to focus on issues related to weight maintenance without digressing to kids too often. But I also have to say that some of my biggest challenges come from not being able to keep my pantry and my menus as free of trigger foods as I would like, thanks to children who are picky eaters, and finding the time to devote to exercise when I not only work a 10 hour day but then come home to a second shift of parenting.
Have I mentioned that I'm a glass half-empty kind of girl? Guess you can tell, huh.
Up 0.1kg from Thursday. An hour or so of legs-focused exercise. All food eaten sitting down bar a currant (and they are small, of course). I didn't eat too much food today although it was a bit different from usual. It was probably a bit salty for me. (I don't eat highly processed food and very rarely add salt to my cooking.) Conclusion: pretty good work and well done!
Alinnell, I'm curious, what opinion did you express on a cooking board that would get you yelled at (I can see it now- a vehement disagreement on the relative merits of broiling vs. grilling).
It wasn't food related at all (it was more of the general chatter type stuff). Someone had asked why it was necessary to put a pet under anesthesia for dental cleaning and all I did was say that twice I'd had my pets teeth cleaned without anesthesia and they stayed clean and white and helped their breath and there wasn't the huge cost involved. Well, there was a vet (I think a recent graduate of vet school) who chastised me up and down stating that the ONLY real way to properly clean pet's teeth is under anesthesia. I wonder, then, why my vet offers this service? And for only $25-50 whereas a previous cleaning, done under anesthesia, cost several hundred dollars? It just made me feel really uncomfortable to lend my opinion there any longer and I dropped off the board.
That said, there were also way too many foodies and wine snobs with whom I could never hold my end of the conversation because I'm not that well educated in the merits of this over that--you know? I know what I like, and I don't mind telling you what I like, but I can't defend myself as to why I like it. I guess its the same reason why I don't like talking religion and politics! LOL
Up 0.5kg from Saturday. Yesterday's food was rather salty. No proper exercise but a lot of moving books and furniture as a builder is coming tomorrow. Some has been got rid of. Reasonable food.
SELF SABOTAGE. Just got through eating a handful of almonds, 2 cups of stale cereal and 2 servings of kettle corn after a healthy and satisfying dinner, just because I felt sorry for myself. Unfortunately, the food really helps me feel better while it's going down, which makes it sooo hard to stop. And for some strange reason, I feel none of the heavy bloated overfull feelings I sometimes get when I overeat, which makes it tempting to keep eating even more (am now out of the kitchen however, so that's unlikely to happen). At this rate, I'm unlikely to get back below my redline weight anytime soon. MUST STOP THIS. NOW.
andrea - I haven't beaten the self-sabotage yet either (see the tongue-in-cheek postings about food having the ability to teleport). I did notice that all of the items you munched were of the "crunchy series" - could it be that it's a texture/sound thing? I know this sounds weird, but in the old days when I was still losing, I found that celery stalks were somewhat obscenely satisfying when that need arose. I would eat them with salsa to get the flavor kick and the nuance of saltiness that wasn't salty. It doesn't defeat the issue of eating when not hungry, but it does keep the damage to an absolute minimum!
saef, I read about your trip on the weekly chat - sounded like a satisfying weekend. I too wonder about what this winter has in store for us, as very little of it this year has been "average".
Silver - What goes up, will come down. Is your Backfriend still your friend?
Well, the 15 minute ab workout had 4 DAYS worth of consequences. I hurt from the middle of my ribs to the middle of my thighs! Today is the first day that nothing hurts, so I'll be back on the floor, askin' for more tonight. Weight is up for absolutely viable reasons (eggnog - the annual tree-decorating tradition), but it is still a full pound less than last Monday. The tiny goals seem to be the right way to go.
Andrea - I self sabotoaged three days last week. I'm so far over my redline right now I can't even see it. We can stop this, I know we can. Mine is sometimes from stress and sometimes just because the food is there, is yours too? I know you are super busy with work and the kids, and then you come home to snacks all over.
Becky - love those exercises that still hurt days later.
Birchie - salty foods kill me. I swear that they make me want more bad food.
Allison - I've had pet's teeth cleaned without anesthesia before with no problem at all.
Saef - hope your trip went well!
to everyone else!
Last edited by Shannon in ATL; 12-05-2011 at 01:05 PM.
And because I don't have kids, I spend a lot of time paying attention to my dog!
(went thru the anti-flushing phase myself, and we are currently doing battle with the seat-lifting requirement for males) ... but like Saef, 3FC is "my" world. I have lots of people IRL I can talk kids with; it's a much smaller audience for diet, exercise, and redlines. 
Weight is up for absolutely viable reasons (eggnog - the annual tree-decorating tradition), but it is still a full pound less than last Monday. The tiny goals seem to be the right way to go.
to everyone else!
