I saw my endocrinologist yesterday and as usual, he ignored me when I mentioned weight gain. My thyroid levels are stable.
I have my yearly physical today. I'll see if this doc listens. Then I have to have a crown replaced. Not looking forward to either of these! I'm a wimp at the dentist. Yuck!
Shannon - I know your frustration. Hopefully you will be rewarded for your good work with a WHOOSH soon!
I am experiencing the exact opposite - nothing has changed for me exercise or eating wise and my weight right now is the lowest it has EVER been consistently all week. Don't get me wrong, this makes me happy except for the unpredictable nature of it!!! I wish I knew what makes our bodies do these weird things!
On the good side I am approaching my maintenance-aversary of 1 year. So I'm feeling that I've been pretty successful.
michele, good luck at the dentist! I have an 8 AM fillings appointment tomorrow.
I'm in the same boat as you, Jen. I feel like if anything I'm eating a bit worse and slacking on exercise. 120.0 even though we had Chinese takeout last night.
Sometimes this all feels so random and focused effort seems futile, or maybe I am just not good at delayed gratification.
The cookout starts at 2 PM. This seems like good news. I could eat beforehand, then say I'm not hungry, like Scarlett at the Barbeque, but I'll have to watch myself after a couple hours. Why do I feel like this is one of those social functions that will last much, much longer than it ought to, like wedding receptions that continue for hours & hours beyond my conversational powers or tolerance for social situations? Becky, you're right, I'll probably find at least one interesting relative.
Cookouts are good ones for me to wander around with a drink and talk to people, not have to eat. I love the Scarlett at the Barbeque reference, I had forgotten our discussion of that. LOL Find that interesting relative and latch on to them, learn everything about them.
Not a great day today though not terrible either. I had to squeeze in a lot at work, only took morning snack with me (apple, a few nuts), did not want food midday (too hot, on a roll with work etc), had a few nuts and a piece of chocolate. Had late lunch of tin of sardines, a few oatcakes and two tomatoes. Got home and had slice of fabulous polenta cake (made for first time by the DB so clearly not possible to turn down). Small tea (cod, anchovy sauce, kale, v little potato). Tension building in the SO about our trip to see his father after his mother's death in May/June. And in me about the hot, itchy weather, and having to drive and (secretly, between ourselves) about having to spend too much time with strangers and semi-strangers. And have just had another smallish slice of polenta cake and glass of milk in bed.
I quite like meeting people and chatting. What I don't like is when I can't see the exit. I like to have, require almost, an escape route.
I don't know Gone with the Wind so the Scarlett reference is lost on me. I'll have to fill this gap in my knowledge.
Been "sort of" on plan with eating. The nice thing about bike commuting to work every day is that the exercise is built-in to the day. It is 15 mandatory miles of riding (round trip) with a few mandatory big hills. Any exercise on top of that is gravy. Plus I get to be a bit smug about it at work - just kidding, I'm not one of those people!
The down side is that it allows me more flexibility in my eating than I used to have. Like, "Leftover cookies in the conference room? Heck yeah! I burned those calories off already!" But, if I eat in a controlled fashion (and this needs to happen more often than it is), this daily exercise makes maintenance much easier than it used to be for me.
Not too happy here. After a year or so working on ironing out back and shoulders pain and niggles (almost there), I find that my shoulders are broader than they were. Just a bit, I suppose, but when put together with my lower body pudge we are looking at problems with the summer wardrobe.
In particular, the secondhand (probably "vintage") blouse I wear to emphasise my small waist and nice arms etc has become too tight to drive in.
I wear this blouse a lot in the summer usually as it gets me through tricky situations. Argh.
A few other blouses.
No trousers which fit apart from a black viscose pair which are cut very well but have not washed well.
The thighs are ridiculously large now. Two bias-cut linen skirts don't look nice. The skirt from a suit I wore after I had the DB (he's 13) and even this is a bit tight.
I have three dresses which are OK.
Three nighties of varying ages and a dressing gown. I look great in these.
I think separates aren't working on me at present.
I like clothes which you don't have to tug at and fiddle with as you wear them to make them hang properly. I like clothes which allow air to circulate round the body. I don't like tight clothes.
OK. Thanks for letting me moan. We are off to the in-laws tomorrow for a week. You can understand that I'd like to look gorgeous and not a slobby almost 58 y o with their 46 y o son. I don't like shopping (and we have very little choice here) but I'll try to find something today.
Birchie, there is nothing, nothing in the world that messes with my head as much as trying on a lot of clothes consecutively -- which I did yesterday in a Thrifty Shopper, which is a local chain of second-hand shops, and which I plan to do today at an outlet store, TJ Maxx and another second-hand shop. So I relate well to your annoyances.
My upper arms and quads make some shirt armholes and some pants problematic. Then there's the loose skin problem with the bloused-out midriff over a smaller waist. Which sounds rather like what you're coping with.
I'm finding my dress size is a lot higher than my vanity can support, that I am really pretty good at estimating the fit of separates but have no idea when faced with a dress. And I've been seeking out dresses because I've got a four-day meeting in at a Ritz-Carlton in Orlando in two weeks' time where I'm going to have to be "on" a lot, doing group strategy exercises (ugh!), meeting, greeting, chatting up, checking on analysts who've worked with my direct reports, trying to create or re-establish relationships.
The goal for my clothes that week is business-like but with a slight creative quirk (which I usually do with an unusual color or an accessory, like antique jewelry or a really great Liberty of London scarf), and yes, I would like to show off my arms a little, since I've worked on them for quite some time now, particularly through the winter.
What you need, Birchie, is a two-or-three-day outing in a place where clothing is plentiful, and a trusted female adviser with you. Can you spring for a brief vacation? Get rid of the clothes that do not serve you. We own our clothes, they don't own us, or define us. They aren't the boss of you. And they are disposable. Toss them, cut them up, give them away. Do you have friends who are willing to swap and might be a similar size? Also, if you have your measurements, are you willing to buy on eBay, where the clothes could be shipped to you?
Thanks for your support. I'm back from the shops with two pairs of black linen trousers, wide leg. I buy these most years but was amazed they still had a few available, and in my size and length. I'll have to take in the waist, somehow or another, but they fit my hips. I buy them most years because they wear out (upper inside leg - you know that problem).
The other clothes were terrible. I refuse to wear ugly clothes that make me look less than lovely. Saef, that's why I have so few clothes!
I tried on four things yesterday. Made by Masai, a Danish company, which made the dresses I have. They are quite funky and European. Have a look at them, saef, though they may be too arty for your needs. The DB was my adviser. He (and I, of course) rejected three. Too short, too short, bad colour. Then came a dress. We pondered. I smiled. The wrinkles round my eyes matched the stripey material: this made me very unsure. I went out to see the sales assistant. She struggled for words, talked about the bits she liked and then managed to say that she didn't know me but felt I could do very much better. I concurred, turned to go and she called out "Oh no! I hadn't seen the back. Definitely not. This is all wrong on you." She rushed up and put her hand on me, firmly, to indicate the awful bit. We laughed at the horror averted. Phew, I tell you.
I have seen my rear view in an unforgiving mirror again today, with bad fluorescent lighting. Losing weight again has to be my next focus now my body's working better mechanically.
Birchie, I'm crawling back to this thread with my badly wounded vanity, having narrowly averted an epic binge. Do not, I repeat, do not ever, EVER go grocery shopping right after experiencing the ups and downs of trying on clothes when you're at a size that leaves you unhappy or when your reflection let you down repeatedly. Do not. Just don't. I swear that foods were crying out to me in every aisle. And I had to go down every aisle, because I was with my mother, who eats all kinds of things that I don't eat anymore at all. I should've checked out in the candy-free aisle that is meant for people accompanied by whining bratty children, because the candy bars were whispering to me & I swear I could smell them. And I thought in despair, "Oh, what is the use anyway, when abstention and all the exercise and the good choices doesn't get me the body that I want ... why don't I just give up already and ENJOY LIFE?"
But I got out of that store without eating anything or buying anything to eat, I'm home, and I'm trying to recover. I will have to watch myself till bed-time.
That said, I did find some nice things, but my self-image & self-esteem have been damaged and will need some time to re-assume its former shape.
Birchie, one thing I found at a church thrift shop was a Liberty of London shirt in their nice Tana lawn cotton, in one of the William Morris prints. Someone surely brought that home from a trip abroad, or perhaps to Canada, as they haven't got any retail outlets nearby that I'm aware of. That shirt was a find.
Still, I've got the post-menopause-post-dressing-room blues.
Bah. Up another pound today. Again. 
