Diana - your 'glutton for punishment' comment resonated with me.

This weekend was a food train wreck. A slow, grinding wreck with occasional stops long enough for me to think I wasn't going to plummet through a hole in the tracks into the subbasement like in Skyfall, then away I fell. I did great with food on Friday after my Thursday disaster. Woo. Go me. Then Saturday I manage to set something on fire in my oven trying to prepare lunch - my preheat never went off, so the gas was on high burning the entire time, so something on the pan started to smolder and lick with a little fire, and then I dropped the pan and poured food directly on the open flame, lots more fire and smoke. DH has asthma, so this of course started to close up his lungs, so all I can think is that I'm about to kill him. He and DSS went out to lunch while I stayed and tried to get the smoke out of the house. They ended up going for pizza, I never stopped to eat. DH brings me leftover pizza home, so I eat it. Saturday night we go to a 'night at the museum' event at our local science museum, we don't eat anything there and don't eat dinner before because we had barely eaten lunch. At 11 we were starving, so instead of eating some yogurt I drive to Sonic and buy fast food. Woo. Sunday was better - we go to visit my MIL, where I have a perfectly manageable hamburger for lunch, then eat some of DSS's leftover fries because I can't let them go to waste. Bring us to today. Today will be better.

I have a spectacular headache, have since last night. I suspect it is because I mowed the lawn without enough liquid in 90 degrees and 4:00 pm sun yesterday, then didn't sleep well. My sinuses are draining and I feel terrible. I will not let this throw me off for today. Volunteering at DSS's school the next three nights. I think I'll be in the childcare section for open house. Woo.

Dagmar - glad you are meeting the neighbors.

Saef - glad you survived the trip.

Birchie - repeat yourself all you want. I do it all the time. :) We're all reinstallling old habits.

:wave: to everyone else. :)

The good news is that the dog (Luna) is on the mend. The purulent discharge is abating and her eyeball is looking like it wants to stay in the socket after all. Whew.

Michele: another Doberman lover - yay!!

Shannon: Hugs to you, that does not sound like a great weekend, and you've got some more fun ahead too. Take a time out whenever you can, even say just for a few deep breaths during the childcare extravaganza.

Diana: Your description of the sketching session with art buddies sounds so peaceful and idyllic. What a nice refuge! You are inspiring me to pick up an old hobby (stained glass) that I used to really enjoy. It was a great creative outlet and also another way of confirming that I have more to offer than what I accomplish (or fail to accomplish) at work. Self-worth is a lovely feeling.

Silverbirch: I also laughed at that comment. There is nothing clever or grownup or sexy about most of what I do.

Amen amen amen. I am capable of doing this with running - my personal best is my only goal, I know I won't be winning any marathons and so I never bother comparing myself to the top runners. Why can't I extend that lovely perspective to the rest of my life?

Monday report

I got round to weighing myself yesterday and found a very high number. Understandable as I've been eating more and exercising less for months. Now my SI joint niggle feels controllable I'll be increasing the exercise. 8k steps on the pedometer yesterday. I've been walking on my 'off' days. Formal exercise is three times a week. We'll see how increasing it goes.

Food was good until late afternoon when I came in and was faced with getting some maize bread into the oven and clearing up the kitchen to make tea. My preference would have been to read a book or the paper. So I ingested a few carbs despite having taken my aft snack with me and eaten it when I was out. And I should have made a pot of tea not a hot chocolate.

Lesson: on returning to the house make a pot of tea.

Now there's a new loaf which seems rather attractive but we've run out of butter which is a blessing. (Now I don't want you to think I made this bread just for naughtiness. I did it to use up some leftover polenta and also to help the SO who usually makes our bread but has rather a lot on at the moment.)

All in all, not a bad day. 70% excellence? Something like that.

Diana, I loved the sketching vignette.

Shannon, dear me! Please sit down with a cup of tea.

Jay, glad Luna is on the mend.

I have been having an additional 500 or so cals (bread and a LOT of margarine) every evening. I will stop that for one week (started last night) and see if it results in any sort of weight loss. I'm over my red line by 1 lb. and want to get below it again.

Just a small bowl of fruit for me in the evenings should do it.

Dagmar :cool:

I've been AWOL lately. I ran out of plan. :) Somewhere in the last couple of weeks, the summer accelerated to top speed toward Labor Day, and I have been left in the dust. :dizzy:

Ten days to the 10-Mile. I have reached the understanding with myself that I don't mind, and even halfway enjoy, running for half an hour. I think I will continue to work on 5k readiness after this event, but longer distances require more time and devotion than I want to spend.

I did come to a realization though, as I've been (calmly) watching the scale numbers creep up since February - that number doesn't contain ANY feelings or motivation for me. What does irritate me and prod me, is needing to sit down to put on socks because my balance and lower back don't let me simply lift up my foot.

So my points thing seemed to be working. Until this morning. I was pretty diligent with my eating yesterday (no exercise, however) and my weight went up 1.5 pounds. I'm not sure what's going on there. I often suffer slight constipation while actively dieting and that could be the culprit, but why? I've been eating more fresh fruit and vegetables! Hoping this is just a small setback.

We had close to 70 kids last night. It was looking like it was going to be just me in there, as there was no scheduled specialist or other volunteers. One other parent felt sorry for me and came in and we were able to get two staff members from the school to help out. The principal came in and out and played games with the kids, and one of the ALP teachers popped in for a bit. It was overwhelming.

Tonight when we have plenty of volunteers we will probably only have 16 or so kids like Monday night. Woo.

I'm so not feeling up for this tonight - I believe I have crossed into head cold. I've been drinking warm drinks all day to soothe my sore throat.

Birchie - I have a lemon ginger tea I'm going to be having soon. I won't be able to smell it, but the flavor and the warmth will be welcome.

That sounds difficult Shannon! You're the best stepmom ever! Hope you feel better!

Allison... Sounds like constipation to me. That and likely water retention from lack of exercise. Stick to your plan! Have you decided on any rewards? How many points do you have?

I had told myself I would reward myself with a lululemon workout outfit if I was back down to 125 for a week. That was several months ago and I only saw 125 for one day. I decided to change my reward to either when I reach 200 bikram classes for the year (I'm at 165 now) or 3 days at 125, whichever comes first. I need to not be so hard on myself all the time.

Checking in from Arizona. Got here late last night and will soon start tackling moving dd into apartment. We have to buy a bed, dresser, tv stand and more. The bed will be new but we are hoping to hit thrift stores for the rest.

Not sure how food will be for me. Dh and I ran around the hotel this morning. I am not a runner and my asthma kicked in but I don't have an inhaler here. Only managed 25 minutes but it was already hot so hopefully we can go farther tomorrow.

I haven't decided on a reward yet, but did change it from 50 points to 100 because it looked like I'd get to 50 way too easily. I'm on like day 5 or 6 with around 40-45 points.

Anyone want to chime in for what I should do as a reward? Don't say mani/pedi, though, as I just got one and figure every 3 weeks it's more of a necessity! LOL And I really don't need any new clothes as I got so many for my trip. Maybe golf related stuff...

How about giving the equivalent of your points in $$$ to a charity - maybe a pet cancer one in honour of Chico?

Dagmar :dizzy:

Oh, I already donate quite a bit to animal (and people) charities in the valley. A few years ago DH and I decided that all our donations would stay local. We donate to the shelter where we got Louie, the senior center in our city and a food bank or two that serve our community. It's kind of cool donating and having the president of the place (in this case the shelter) call and thank me personally!

Dagmar, that sounds good. I'll be watching your bread & marg experiment with interest.

Shannon, you are racking up points with all this childcare stuff.

Becky, it is so much cooler to put on socks standing up (without hurting your back). If you can do that you'll be moving better and looking at least 10 years younger. And investing in a pain-free future.

Allison, e-book? Actual book?

Tuesday

Terrible morning post abs exercise. Improved when I went out. But when I came back I fell into the trap. I must spell it out: whenever I return to the house I must make a pot of tea and drink, whatever time it is. Too much bread etc etc. The DB made the tea (evening meal) which was great. I give him his head, he follows a recipe to make whatever he wants and I help with technical problems and do the washing up. Tonight it was chicken pie (made from scratch, including pastry) and lettuce, pure and simple. If I want him to be a confident and proficient cook I must eat his food, whatever it is. It will always be on my food plan. So I had a small piece of (delicious) pie, despite the cream and sausagemeat.

Wenesday

Day out. Made an easy mistake which I can get right next time. *Never leave the house without a mid-morning or mid-afternoon snack.* Had a vast salad for 380 kcals which seemed good.

Came in after fairly demanding day and drive home and *put on the kettle*! Credit for that. Sadly, I also bolted some bread and jam. Then had a smallish tea (Mexican cod caramba - part of the DB's plan for the week but he was kiboshed so I made it under his instruction.)

Overall, I'd say too much to eat today but 9k steps isn't too bad, especially as I wasn't trying. 60% as there's some room for improvement.

I'm re-establishing daily weighing on the ancient pair of scales.

Silverbirch, I agree with you completely. A strong healthy core and flexibility seems to be my Grail. It's been "fun" getting stronger at running, and it has made my backside firmer, but despite lots of pre and post-stretching, I feel that I have become even more confined. This, however, may just be a reference physical complement to the breaking-of-the-barriers struggle going on in my head. :D

Allison, I'm glad your points method is clicking along. I am onboard with the others that the 1.5 is just a transition hiccup. Golf stuff is a great idea - some really premium balls? New gloves?

Shannon, summer colds SUCK!!! :( Hope you dodge the bullet - early bedtime possible?

Michele, you definitely are tough on yourself - your dedication day after day is amazing to me! You deserve a terrific award!

Homemade beef stroganoff tonight - with lots and lots of lovely mushrooms. I am going to concentrate on portion control, which is a skill I have to re-master. I was really good at it about 8 pounds ago.

I can't do the e-book/regular book because I have a backlog of books to read despite reading 9 while on vacation. LOL

Golf stuff makes the most sense. Clothes, gloves, etc. I'll make a list!!!

Becky~we had stroganoff the other night. One of my favorites, but not diet friendly. I remember when the kids were little, they preferred the mushrooms over the beef (yet they didn't know what they were and if offered sans sauce they wouldn't eat them!).

I've no idea what the scale will say tomorrow morning, but I have observed that all week, I've been remarkably free of fluid retention in my feet and legs, so I'm hopeful.

I've cut back drastically on nuts, and have instead been eating a lot of stone fruits, like plums, apricots, peaches and cherries. I'd convinced myself that I needed a protein snack, but apparently, I don't always.

My downfall this week has been lack of sleep and overcaffeination. These create a vicious circle: I'm tired, so I drink caffeine, therefore I have trouble getting to sleep, and wake up tired, so I drink more caffeine, etc., etc.