Aw, Jay ... wishing speedy recovery for the fur baby! Gosh, that can't feel good.

JayZeeJay, nothing, but nothing makes this board hum with sympathy like a sick animal. Probably because they don't understand what's happened to them like we do, and because it tugs at some parenting instinct inside us. I'm sorry for your dog, too, and her poor little bulging, weeping eye.

I didn't check in during my conference because the thing ran relentlessly, and I ran alongside it. Up at 4:15 AM, at the luxurious gym signing in by 5:05 AM, with at least an hour, then back to my room to shower & dress, breakfast at 7 AM, first meeting at 8 AM, running back to back through to 6:30 PM, dinner starting at 7 PM and running through 9 PM. Then bed and do it all over again. I hardly had time to pay for a J. Crew sun dress that I won on eBay or send an email to my mother about my ailing uncle.

But the end result is this: I weighed in this morning at 146.5. There's something about those regimented meals and my extreme care at corporate buffets that seems to agree with me. Probably I snack less but eat more at meal times. Much of this will come back in a few days, though I wish it wouldn't.

Oh, and regarding the cookie thing (that's another thread, but I have something to contribute, yes!) my relentlessly driving & ambitious manager described the cookies laid out at the break time during our conference as "bigger than a baby's head." And kept talking & talking about having consumed one afterward, clearly full of guilt, maybe because I never had any of them and she was contrasting our behaviors. We make each other a little uneasy. Maybe because she was chosen for the job years ago over me -- a good choice, given her stellar performance and reputation as a rising star within the company. I wish I could forget that. Comparison is the root of my discontent. Any time I compare myself to someone else, in body or career, I feel badly. If I could only keep myself as my one single true standard of measurement, I'd do so much better, as I'd just simply be focusing on being a better version of myself. If I could just toss out the outside metrics ... the opposite of what we do on the job, where everyone's always asking for metrics ....

Saef, are you going to have time and space to come down from this conference? Do hope so. :hug:

Three days post cruise and I still can't catch up on my sleep. The first night I got 10 hours, the second 8.5 and last night I was falling asleep before 7 PM. I did manage to stay up until 8:30 and slept until 5 AM when I got up to feed the animals and went back to bed for another hour or so. I debate whether or not to try a nap this afternoon as it might interfere with the nighttime sleeping (and I've been sleeping really well!).

Two days of my points thing and I'm slowly coming down from my cruise gain. I hit Trader Joe's after work and stocked up on lots of fruit and veggies. Last night I made a wonderful veggie pasta full of chopped onion, pepper, zucchini, summer squash and tomato. Not much cheese and just a little spice. Everyone liked it and I have leftovers for two lunches next week which is a bonus.

I'm still trying to wrap my head around exercise again and I've been trying to convince myself that today is the day yet my list of things to do is overwhelming.

I am also overwhelmed with things to do, Allison, so I commiserate. I'm finding it difficult to know where to put my energies.

Lessons I learnt (not for the first time) yesterday.

1. Focus on protein.
2. Then focus on veg.
3. Don't eat peppers as they upset your tummy. I made a chicken salad including some yellow peppers to take to work. This gave me a cold, sour kind of feeling in my tummy by the end of the afternoon.
4. Just have your ordinary breakfast (muesli or porage with some berries, cottage cheese and wheatgerm - with skimmed milk). Don't branch out except on special occasions. A full sachet of raspberry porage is much too much and leads to toast and marmalade.
5. Put the kettle on as soon as you get back in the house. Have a hot drink rather than something to eat.

I did manage to do my exercise!!!!

So funny you mention peppers, Birchie. If I have a sour stomach, peppers (generally pepperocini) will usually calm my stomach more than anything else I've tried. Of course, I also like sriracha sauce on a lot of things and DH thinks I'm crazy about that. But then I hate Tabasco sauce on eggs which he adores. To each his own.

Wow Saef-- that was a crazy schedule. Do you have time to decompress this weekend?

I'm thinking too much about my weight/appearance (as usual). I saw old pictures last night and it had a weird effect on me. Usually when I see old photos, I think the old me is fat and I look so much better. Now, however I've put some weight on. I could still see a difference in the pictures but it wasn't all that much. It has left me very frustrated. All my hard work for nothing....blah...blah.... blah..... In my wacky mind, I used to eat anything I wanted and never exercised and I was barely heavier than now when I work out daily and eat so healthy. However, I know that isn't true. I know that even when I was heavy I was always trying to lose weight and I ate well more often than not. I wasn't a regular exerciser but I did work out occassionally.

I know that I need to not beat myself up so much and look for some good things to focus on. So, here goes....

1. I had a strong spin class this morning-- burned 567 calories-- even though I've had a sore back for a week I didn't let it deter me.

2. My clothes (today) look pretty good on. I made sure to choose an outfit that was figure flattering so I wouldn't beat myself up about that.

3. Dh and I are going to lunch soon. I don't know where we are going but I will undoubtedly make a healthy choice and nourish my body with good food.

4. I am strong and healthy.

5. My summer will be over soon and I'll be back to my regular work schedule. Even though I work out more in the summer, I know I'm more active during the school year and less prone to snacking so I can tackle my extra weight then.

Happy weekend all!!

Jay - hoping your pooch heals quickly. Dogs heal so differently than any other animal, sometimes hard to see the process.

Birch - love the reminder to turn the kettle on for a cup of tea, not only is that better calorie wise, but also nurishing to the soul, especially when too much is going on.

Saef - that was a grueling conference schedule. Good on you for not overeating!

Allison - your post cruise point plan is inspiring. I am trying to get back into a good exercise routine, may not do point, but am motivated to write down a plan for the first month. Thanks.

Michele - love your list of good things about yourself. It reminds me that school will start in less than a month. Summer is so busy, I look forward to a different schedule with son back in school. Also look forward to more activity outside as the weather cools.

Hi to All. Today I walked, mowed and trimmed trees - so lots of walking. It felt so good to be outside today, only mid 70's - a pure delight!

Posting now in an attempt to stave off a two-course breakfast involving toast and marmalade.

Lessons learnt, once again, by me
An occasional series
Saturday report

1. I must just avoid bread, pure and simple. It's a vehicle for butter. It's a vehicle for jam and marmalade. It sets up a desire for more carbs and I end up in a coma. Not clever or grown-up or sexy.

2. Yes, I will cut large portions of home-cooked protein in two and save one piece for tomorrow. Mmm, grilled salmon & broccoli as mid-morning snack.

3. I think cottage cheese will be playing a more central part in my diet again. Breakfast and the two snacks, at the very least.

4. Non buvo. That's Italian for "I don't drink" and I don't! Mainly because the smallest amount makes me feel ill. I have to get bread, cakes and biscuits back into this category where they used to be, quite happily.

4. Use Allison's word from the chat thread: diligence. Be more diligent than I have been. It's a virtue and it can be cultivated.

Workinglikeadog - great to be outside with pleasant weather. All those things are on my list too.

long post
 

I too have been slipping back into bad habits - as we all do from time to time. I thought life would be very different when I got my own house. It's still pretty much the same. Just more responsibility, more things to do, more decisions to make, etc.

DH IS working on the house more than he's sitting in front of the TV. But he's still fundamentally unhappy. I don't know if that will ever change and it's not up to me to change it. But I find it difficult to deal with. I am happy :dance: about the new house and I hope DH will eventually also be. He has to change his work situation or try to accept it. He is also responsible for his own health and for some of our social life (little though there is of that).

I am still partially responsible for my dad too. That came up yesterday in a conversation with my cousin. He visits my dad a couple of times a week and I'm very grateful to him for it. But his wife is starting to protest. So I have to make some calls on behalf of my dad. The people at the palliative care unit do take excellent care of his basic needs. But apparently they do nothing about teeth. And my dad's deafness is progressing so hearing aids probably will be necessary. I have to deal with both those things.

I think I will feel differently once we are in the new house and I only have one house to take care of. I have been looking after 2 (sometimes 3 with the dog sits) houses since June of 2012 and I'm tired. :tired:

The bad habits? I drink way too much caffeine. :hyper: I gave up the energy drinks for awhile and now find myself buying them again. I'm also getting drunk on the weekends way more than I should. DH has been buying 24 beer since he started working on the new house - guys drink beer while they work apparently. To his credit he is not drinking while he works, just having a beer or two after he's done.

I was OK with it being over at the new house but now a bunch of beer has made its way over to where we live. I find it much easier to stay away from alcohol when it's not staring me in the face.

And the alcohol opens the door to overeating - particularly chips and other such salty things.

I am still conscious of how alone I am, except for online. I am so tired that I don't do anything about socializing during the week and now the new house has pretty much taken over our weekends. I'm hoping to be able to work less once we are established in the new house and I can see how the expenses are going. I should be saving for retirement I suppose but I think that will come mostly in the form of selling the house and moving somewhere much cheaper.

Three more months. Then one house and some rest. I CAN do this.

Dagmar :tired: but :cool:

Jay.... How is your pup doing?

Yesterday, I thought I was decompressing from my business trip, but I was really doing cleanup. Went to the gym; went to a grocery store, a produce market and a farmer's market; laundered & folded clothes from the trip and workout clothes; cooked dinner. And then to bed, but this morning, I was really tired. I got up & put in gym time as usual on Sunday but I am feeling lethargic now. I want to allow myself to go to the movies this afternoon. (I don't know if it will be "Fruitvale Station" or "Blue Jasmine," though probably the latter, as it's an easy walk down the street to get to that particular fine arts cinema.) I also want to allow myself to just sit in the sun with a book, reading or drowsing.

Dagmar, I think of your situation and sometimes speculate about how you could make & meet real-life friends. Have you scoped out the neighbors near your new house yet?

And Diana and Birchie, yes, this is the kind of weather that I agree is "perfect" -- sunny, but comfortable, not too warm, not too humid. I'm trying not to take it for granted today.

saef I have spoken more with the new neighbours (particularly the across-the-driveway guys) in 3 weeks than I have with either neighbour at our current house. Why? Because now we own, rather than rent. Some Torontonians seem to be quite snobby to those they perceive as having less money than they do. Sad but a fact of life in a lot of North America I suspect.

The guys also invited me into their house to have a look at something they've done with their stairway. Again in the 8 years we've been where we are now no one has ever asked us onto their porch, never mind inside their home.

I'm hoping we (DH is pretty alone too) do make some friends in the new 'hood. Loneliness was a major factor in why I used to drink and binge eat and stuff - still is.

Dagmar :dizzy:

Dagmar, wow, your old neighbors were not very open. I am so hoping your new neighborhood will welcome you onto their porches and into their houses. I live in the country and can feel isolated sometimes. I joined a local garden club and am part of a local art group. Maybe there will be some active clubs at your new house.

Saef, I call it organizing for the coming week(some how that sounds better than cleaning. You really do deserve a movie, book time and just being!

Birch, I giggled when reading comment #1. I should write something about eating a scoop of chocolate icecream as an evening snack, two nights now, I must be a glutten for bodily punishment - just slap that icecream on my waistline (I should be awake and screaming JUST STOP by now). Maybe this activity has to do with brain freeze?

Sunday is my REST Day so an easy 1/3 hour aerobic this AM, then out sketching with my art buddies to early afternoon. It was challenging keeping up with shadows cause the sun is moving across the sky so fast. Two sketches, one a tree over boulders and one a landscapes of clouds over the plateau. Pleasing to think of the day!

Sunday report

It's very scrambled here with responsibilities towards older people at both ends of the country. Routine certainly isn't what it usually is. A late dash to get food for tea, though, did *not* mean I bought anything unsuitable. Enjoyed *free* pot of Earl Grey at the supermarket instead (have loyalty card). Also packed mid-aft snack to eat at railway station when waiting for the SO. Cottage cheese and apple. CC is going to play a bigger part in my diet, as I said the other day.

Had to eat a few dates as tea was later than I'd planned. The Eccles cake could have been avoided but I was bonding with the group. The DB volunteered to make roast chicken and told me to go and lie down. So good. I lay on the chesterfield whilst the SO ironed and we discussed the extended family issues.

Did my training exercises in the kitchen in the morning which pleased me no end. A lot of driving & no targetted exercise has made my hip ache. These exercises should clear that up.

I may repeat myself rather a lot in this thread. Please bear with me as I reinstall old habits.

Dagmar, sounds good about the new neighbours.