Dagmar, Keith Richards' dieting advice? I suspect he was on the "eat to live" side of the equation and may not even understand the concept. . Between the drugs, drinking, performances and carousing with the band, I might guess he ate when somebody reminded him to do so. On the topic of water, my answer is a) the best filters you can get, to take any remaining tastes out, and b) teas! There are literally millions of types of teas out now. Many of which have fabulous health benefits (greens, whites), are new (reds, rooibos) and are tasty. I'm usually cold, or I need internal incentives to start sweating, so hot tea fits me well. Current fave: Lipton blueberry/pomegranate white. Mmmm!

What would Keith Richards do
if he was here right now?
He'd make a plan
And follow through
That's what Keith Richards'd do.

When Keith Richards was at Altamont
Playing for the crowd
He smoked three packs, licked a tab
Shot up one or two dime bags.

When Keith Richards heard that Brian Jones
was floating in the pool
he smoked a spliff, said, "It's okay.
One day I'll get all my blood replaced."

So what would Keith Richards do
If he were here today
I'm sure he'd say food's optional
(unlike other substances)
That's what Keith Richards'd do.

And what would Keith Richards do?
He'd call all the 3FCers around
And tell them food is overrated
As a form of recreation
That's what Keith Richards'd do.



Ummm ... no thanks ... personally, I'd get my nutritional and health advice elsewhere.

I'm still chugging along, reminding myself to be patient with the scale. I've stuck to 1600 calories for days now, exercised, etc. The loss will come. It has too, right? I'm trying not to get caught up in the head game right now. I'm getting stressed out in anticipation of a big sampling project for work that starts Saturday, and don't want to react to the stress by blowing my diet. I can feel myself on a narrow tight rope right now. I'm hoping to relieve some of this stress at yoga tonight.

Re: Water. My tap water tastes very chlorinated. Bleck. I have a Pur filter that attached to the tap (easy to do myself) that I love. I've owned two over about 6 years and they are well worth every penny. In the summer in particular I get tired of water. I make big pitchers of iced tea, no sweetener needed. I usually combine decaf black tea bags with more interested teas (my fave last summer was blueberry acai green tea). They also make green tea iced tea bags. There's always crystal light, depending on your feelings about artificial sweeteners. Then of course you can put things in your water. Lemon slices, lime slices, cucumber slices are popular, or mint (also good in the tea!). I'm a worry wart so I try to drink citrus-ed beverages with a straw to save the enamel on my teeth.

I wouldn't trust Keith for food advice, but maybe some advice on eyeliner? (JK)

My weight has been creeping down the past couple days despite me not actively counting calories. I haven't had any junk food though, which is probably why! It is back now to where it was at the end of last month (134.8). Maybe the Passover diet is working after all. More like, I don't get as hungry because all the food I've been eating is packed full of saturated fat. Don't give me any cholesterol tests this week!

Also the running helps. I'm up to just over 2 miles now. It's barely anything for those of you who are marathoners, but it's close to my usual standard distance before I got plantar fasciitis. Maybe I'll be able to do a 5k this summer. OTOH my legs are sore today after a lot of leg-intensive yoga and pilates yesterday so I'm debating whether or not to run this afternoon. And yes, I'm also hesitant to run because after being out in lovely 70 degree weather for weeks I don't want to pile on the long pants and long sleeves since it's 50 today.

Dagmar, Re: water -- At home I have a fridge with a built-in filter that I get my water from. There is a filter at work too. I have never had a problem with drinking water, but IMO the best way to make it flavorful without adding calories is definitely tea or iced tea. I am a huge fan of mint iced tea! Be careful that you make your own though because most iced tea you can buy in the store is heavily sweetened or has artificial sweeteners. It's easy enough to make a big jug of iced tea at home like Megan said, then you can pour it into a water bottle to take with you on your dog walks. You can mix and match different teabags; I like decaf green tea with herbal mint tea combined in.

Saef, LOL. Speaking of druggie rock band members, I was watching American Idol the other night and Steven Tyler made some comment about "I don't really remember the 80's, I don't think I was there for most of it." But he sure is thin.

I am still getting in touch with my hormone-free self. Coming up on a month since going off of birth control and I'm starting to worry about PMS. Being on BC didn't get rid of PMS but it sure made it a lot smoother. The past two days I've had some achiness (is that how you spell that?) in my lower back, which is where I always used to have the worst cramps when I was a teenager. If I was still on BC I wouldn't expect my period until the end of next week, but now I don't really know what to expect at all. In possibly related news though, I stopped taking pain killers. I'm thinking it's possible the BC was part of what was causing my various tendon problems.

Up 1.6 pounds, not discouraged but mildly irritated.
Dagmar, have you tried mineral water ? I find that more palatble than tap water. I do have a Brita Filter , I use that water for making coffee and sometimes drinking as well. I find getting enough water in to be difficult, too.

BRAVO saef! BRAVO!

He'd probably say the only "entrance door" on a human face is the nose.

Down a pound from yesterday which puts me at 131.5. I am having one of those days where I feel tantrum-y and mad that I can't magically weigh X pounds with no effort.

I've been doing great with exercise -- 2x most days. I'm excited about starting swim lessons this past Monday! It's something I've wanted to do for a long time. I learned to swim as a kid years ago, but I'm not efficient at it. If I ever want to work up to distance swimming, I need coaching. I can already tell that it is making a difference. It's just one of those things -- you can't see yourself to see what you are doing wrong! I'm starting to ramp back up my running too, which feels good.

My eating though, not so good. Still working to get back into the right diet habits. The scale isn't going UP, it just isn't going down. But, even that is progress. One thing at a time.

One change I really do need to make is some kind of nutrition before I go for an afternoon workout. I find if I have my intake too low, I am shaky/starving by the time I'm done and then overeat later. Today I brought a 100 cal protein shake to drink on the way to the gym and will see if that makes the difference.

When I moved to California all I could think of was how bad the water would be. The water in SL is tasty and cold year round (right out of the tap). I remember everyone having water bottles (the 5 gallon ones) in their homes here! Well, I'm lucky as the water here comes from underground aquifers and is quite tasty as well! No need for bottled! The only problem is that it is NOT cold by a long shot! My old fridge had a reservoir for water that fed the ice maker and you could get nice cold water from it, but my new one doesn't do that so the only way to cool it is with ice and for whatever reason, I don't like ice in my water....

Thanks for the laugh saef! I don't think I'd look to him for any kind of advice!

So I get on Facebook this morning and my brother has posted a before and after photo of himself--October 2011 to April 2012. I had mentioned to him last week, when he posted a photo of himself in Japan where he's visiting his daughter, that it looked like he'd lost weight. Well, he's down 60 pounds! He says he needs to lose another 40 but wow, he looks good!

Meanwhile my 1.5 pound blip from the weekend is still showing as a 1 pound blip today. I was hoping it'd be gone by now. We leave for Phoenix tomorrow and I'm not hopeful for the diet front while there. We'll take some of our diet stuff (breakfasts and snacks) but i'm sure we'll eat out far too much to do me any good.

Today I have to take my Chico baby to the vet. I don't know if I mentioned it last fall, but one day I came home and he was limping terribly. They took X-rays and pulled fluid from his shoulder on at least two occasions. The biopsy showed it to be joint fluid and nothing more. But the past few days I've noticed the swelling is getting worse (they said it'd take some time for his body to re-absorb the joint fluid). This morning he could barely walk and won't put much weight on it at all. Poor baby. I hope they can suggest something to help him.

My sentiments exactly !!!

Krampus - right there with you on the tanrtum-y day. Though mine has now been a tantrum-y week. I just don't understand why I couldn't stay at the new low I hit last Friday after my off plan weekend. Doesn't the universe know I shouldn't have to keep working so hard once I get to a low point? [foot stomping]

Allison - I hope Chico's visit goes well. I saw your brother's pic on FB this morning, he looks fabulous!

MBN - with two workouts a day I bet that you are starving by afternoon! Definitely take a snack with you. I want to start swimming, but I would absolutely need lessons.

Dagmar - I have a friend who uses TruLemon, TruGrapefruit and TruLime in her water. I know nothing about it, but she loves it. I like Harney & Son's Hot Cinnamon Green tea.

Jessica - you don't need long pants and long sleeves for running in 50! My rule for running is to wear what you would wear to stand outside and watch an event 20 degrees warmer than what you are running it. It has worked pretty well this season - sometimes I start a little chilly, but I always warm up and I've not gotten overheated once.

Megan - yoga is a much better stress relief than food. Much much better.

Saef - love it! Poor Keith...

I'm going to run today, I swear. I have a hearing at the department of labor at 3 way on the other side of town. 40 minutes away in no traffic. So we'll get finished about 5, and it will take me an easy two hours to get home. So I have my bag in the car to run when I get to my park. Have to do it. The rest of the week is tight.

Back from the vet. She agreed he's gotten worse, so now I'm being referred to an orthopedic specialist. I hope to get him in there next week. Meanwhile he's on NSAID's for pain and inflammation.

Meanwhile, I booked tickets at the Pantages Theater in Hollywood to go see The Book of Mormon. $281 per ticket (5 tickets!)--and those are the second to cheapest seats! The expensive ones? $1049 each. Gah. Glad we are fine with seeing it from the Mezzanine!

Allison, I hope they can figure out what's wrong with Chico and get him better ASAP!

saef . Poor Keef though - his face looks like an albino walnut in that photo. I guess, after falling out of a tree in Jamaica and moving to Connecticut he hasn't been out in the sun for years?

Apparently he makes a decent sheperd's pie. And is the only one allowed to touch and eat it. And he doesn't have any set mealtimes - just cooks and eats when the spirit moves him.

I sometimes wish my life were as "unstructured" as some of the rich and famous types. I would not need to eat 900 cals of waffle syrup cookies in 20 minutes. I will probably be falling on the floor in a bit when the huge sugar crash comes.

DH is already "doomed" in the new job. Been there all of 2 (count 'em) days. I start a dog sit tomorrow and have to call and wake him, come over in the afternoon to feed our pets, and clean the cat box and put the litter out for the garbage collection Friday.

Why? Because DH now has to commute 1 hour each way to work and back and he's too exhausted to do any of our household stuff.

Can we all say spoiled baby?

Thanks, I'm done now.

Dagmar

I'm off to a dog sit today so won't really be checking in 'til Monday. Have a great OP rest of the week all!

Dagmar