Maintainers Weekly Chat March 31 - April 6
 

With April starting tomorrow I really believe in Spring!

I believe, despite that DW and I still haven't planted our snow peas that are scheduled to be in the ground on Saint Patrick's day. But we should be able to do that this week. If it stops raining. We had two inches of rain on Saturday - enough that we ended up with two inches in our basement. And it's raining now. We do need the stuff, so I've no complaint.

At a funeral on Saturday, I saw a couple that I hadn't seen in forty years - and I recognized them. Don't know how the brain can do that.

Good morning!

It's wonderful when this happens, I agree! Someone I haven't seen for around 15 years (we first met about 40 years ago) saw a photo of me recently and commented that I 'hadn't changed at all'. I have, of course, but also I haven't.

It's a beautiful day here. I hope against hope that it's the same for all of you.

Good Morning!

Beautiful day here yesterday and today promises more - sun :sunny: and some warmth! Big decisions were reached in out household this weekend and big changes are coming. More later.

Did yoga for the first time since my head cold started - felt great! :yoga:

I am feeling a great sadness at the passing of L'Wren Scott - have been so deep in my cold/fatigue misery :tired: that I wasn't aware she'd died until yesterday. So creative, not only at visualizing her designs but also excelled at the craft of actually producing them. And I feel sad for Mick Jagger too - L'Wren took her own life in a way that left no doubt about her intention. He must be asking himself all sorts of questions while grieving for the loss of his partner in life.

Good day all!

Dagmar :cool:

Good Morning!

I have a specific Leslie Sansone dvd/or 4 miles of it that I do every morning for a week, then I will change. I have been exercising 4 miles every morning scince sometime in Dec 2013. (Ive only missed one day scince then when I did 2 miles)

This week I am doing 4 miles of the 5 Really big miles dvd. I usually start by 7:30 or before and get done by 8:30 or before.

I have 5 children ages 11 1/2 to 1 year old and we homeschool, I am a busy person!

I recently started getting in 5 servings of Fruits/veggies into my bite count. (I have 45 bites a day on weekdays) I take Wheatgrass powder and 10 prunes a day to accomplish this. (Every 1 1/4 tsp of wheatgrass powder equals 1 serving of Leafy green vegetable) and every 5 prunes equals 1 serving fruit... When I was losing wieght, I was getting virtually almost no fruits and vegetables. Now I feel better, my digestive system is working better! I am hoping to work towards 9 servings of fruits/vegetables a day eventually here.

I also started probiotics which is making my Psorasis start disappearing. saccharomyces boulardii.

There is a probiotic that recently has been proven to help weight Loss and Weight Maintenance for women. Its called lactobacillus rhamnosus I am hoping to start trying this soon. Women who took this probiotic lost almost twice as much wieght and were able to maintain weight better! ;)




Thanks for the Welcome Everyone!


Have a wonderful On-Plan day today!

Morning all!

I am so glad to see this month come to an end!! Saturday we were able to get a long walk in - this is what 9 miles does to 2 Boxers that haven't gotten enough exercise this winter:

http://i60.tinypic.com/2m4q0zs.jpg

Yesterday I awoke to a major blizzard. We got at least 8 inches on top of what was already there. Bill, you talked about getting the snow peas in the GROUND??!! I can't even get in my greenhouse, forget about the ground!!

I managed to get 15 miles running in on the treadmill, but I am so OVER running on that sucker!!

Apparently some good exercise and feeling sorry for myself translates into thinking I can eat with complete and utter abandon. Which of course, I can, but then being shocked by the scale reading this morning?

Ok, so today is a new day, right?

Jen

We had to cancel yesterday morning's golf game due to high winds. It was actually nice as I got a lot of little things done in the morning that I wouldn't have had time to do otherwise.

Back to work this morning for the last day of the month which means a lot of extra work to do.

Jen :lol3: at the expressions on your doggie's faces - they look beat!

Dagmar

Ahna... welcome!
You do sound very busy!!
I've never heard of counting bites and while it does sound interesting, I don't think it would ever be for me for many reasons. For one thing, it doesn't sound like you eat much! I like to eat volume-- lots of veggies and fruit... But, I'm wondering if your diet is balanced? 10 prunes sounds like a lot to me but I don't eat prunes so maybe I'm wrong... are you getting protein, etc into your day?

Jen-- that picture is priceless! That's how I feel many mornings!

My weight is (knock on wood) doing well. I'm hoping to get down a pound or two before we leave on our cruise. I started thinking about how/why I gain so much when we cruise and it's not hard to figure out. If you gain 1 pound for every 3500 extra calories (and though I exercise on the boat, I'm not getting nearly as much as I usually do), if we just have a latte (non fat mind you) and a small baked item-- boom! That's easily 500 calories a day. If I go beyond that and have a dessert each day-- another pound... you get the picture. So, I'm hopefully going to keep that in mind and really plan my off plan splurges. I'll be okay if I come back up 3-4 pounds as I know I can get that off, but I really don't want to be up 10!

Bill - Yes, that is amazing to see someone after that many years and still recognize them. I always run into former students and I recognize them, but their names... not so much. The funny thing is the former student's names whom I do remember, will always tell me their names in a polite way, but the ones who I have no idea on their name, will not say their name!

Jen- they look exhausted! Poor babies -- but good for them too! You are right, it's a new day!

Michele, probably just the fact that you are making yourself more aware of what the calories are will help!


Ahna, Wow, you must be busy with 5 kids at home to home school. I don't know how you have time to count bites! It sounds like it works for you which is great. I'm not sure about me, as I tend to space out while eating, even though I do try to concentrate. This why I don't ever take a bag of something without pouring into a bowl or measuring first!

Hello to everyone else!
Nothing new with me other than COUNTDOWN to Spring Break! 12 more school days... kids are ready, teachers are past ready. :)

Ahna, do you get 45 bites PLUS the wheatgrass/prunes, or is that including them?

Michele, yes the calories really add up quick with bakery treats. Every time I go to Starbucks (which posts calories under their bakery items) I am astonished anew that an itty-bitty cake pop (Ahna, 2 bites I think) is nearly 200 cals. I also prefer volume in my food, and that may be a key to your avoiding the siren call of the myriad treats on your cruise too; can't eat a croissant if you're busy peeling a grapefruit, and you might be too full for seconds if you eat a large salad before your main course.

Andrea

Good morning! I will probably not be around much as I am super busy at work.

Welcome, Ahna!

Jen, love the doggies! Since we finally got Carter's nails taken care of he is much more comfortable going for walks now, but he and I are both so out of shape we're beat after 30 minutes. :lol:

The weather finally is warming up here! I saw a lot of joggers out yesterday and looked mournfully at the jogging stroller I bought. We took the girls out for a walk but I am hopeful that sometime soon I can get back out jogging again. I feel like I'll need some kind of support band for my droopy saggy belly. The babies are doing well though! Having issues waking up too early but they slept from 7-5:30 last night with only one incident around 8:30pm. I'm so glad that this seems to be their normal pattern and now I can get almost a solid 8 hours of sleep again. (Dropping my nighttime pumping session has hurt my supply a little, but hopefully their milk demand will be going down soon anyway.)

On recognizing a face: Friday night, at our monthly wine dinner, we were sat with the board members of the charity that was being honored. A woman sat down near DH and I remarked, "you look really familiar." And then within a split second I realized who she was and blurted out "oh, you're our lawyer!" The whole table had quite a laugh at that. She is our lawyer, the one who drew up our will and estate planning, so it was many years ago and we've only seen her once since then.

Jessica, would wearing Spanx while jogging help with the belly?

I have a hard time wrapping my head around bites vs. calories. If it were me, I'd easily take larger bites! With calories, I know what I'm getting.

Yesterday was a crazy busy day at work. Then home to put away my Chewy order (pet food) and other chores. I was really knocked out by the end of the night. Today should be a little more relaxing.

I get protien fruits and veggies plus whatever else I want as long as I stay within my bite count. This gives me alot of freedom and helps keep me from feeling as deprived. I can "have" anything I want. But I "choose" to get some protien and stuff and then I can also have some sweets. 2 servings fruit (10 prunes) and over 7 servings Veggies.

Some poeple choose to eat lots of volume and Low Calorie foods!:) and I choose to eat higher calorie food and lower volume!:)

I also eat really slow too, one minute per bite, that helps keep me full and satisfied on a small amount of food. See link in my signature about slow eating. It really works doesnt matter what plan you are on!:D More information in my blog about that




No, Prunes and Wheatgrass are included in the 45 bites. Prunes I eat 5 bites per day (2 prunes per bite) and Wheatgrass is 3 Tablespoons per day (1 Tablespoon per bite) This equals 9.2 servings of Fruits and Veggies.



Today it is warmer here! Need to get busy and do my housework!

Have a wonderful on Plan day everyone!
Thanks for the welcome!

Heya, folks. :)

Trying to get back into posting, and getting some control back over the freefall that has become my diet and self confidence of late. Baby steps.

You can do it !!!

Shannon :welcome2: We can always start over here, even you :lol:. Many of us have, more than once. If you don't feel like writing your posts just put up a bunch of smilies.


:dizzy: :crazy: :tired: :faint:

Dagmar (all of the above smilies right now)

Morning all,

Work has finally hit that time each spring when it goes from "normal" busy, whatever that is, to :crazy:. Despite that I have told myself this year I can't let that interfere with life, with vacations with my family and spending time with friends and loved ones. I don't get paid enough. I've also missed a lot of yoga in the past few months due to being away for work work meetings and I'm trying to get back into weekly practice.

BF and I hope to go camping this weekend as an early birthday trip for him. He's worried about potential stormy weather Saturday and having the boat tied up, so we'll look at the forecast and decide tonight or tomorrow. We could both use a break, him especially. His sister is causing him a lot of stress right now and has told him she's disowned him. He is very hurt and stressed, and really worried about her kids. I've posted about this before, though I haven't really gone into specifics. I just wish I could make it better, or at least shield him so he wouldn't be so hurt by her.

Hi Shannon! Glad to see you.

Hi Ahna! Welcome!

Jessica, there are a lot of fitness pants (even ones called compression pants specifically) right now that are very form fitting, and fashions are such that most go up to or close to the belly button. Maybe a pair of those would help. I got some from Old Navy last year that were affordable and better quality than I thought they would be.

Jen, oh those poor babies. Yeah, I've gotten that look from mine a few times. Pitiful, just pitiful. Haha.

Allison, I'm terrible with names. It's bad in such a small town because I'll know I know someone's face and end up in conversation with them. They clearly know me. My doctor's office has a picture of each patient in their file. I sometimes think I need to carry something like that around. "Phyllis. Met at Richard's party in October. Has 2 dogs." Or whatever. Is there an app for that?

Have a good day all!

Good morning, peeps. :)

Megan - if there isn't an app for that there should be. Snap a quick pic of the person, make some notes, call it up as needed.

What a phenomenal idea! I'd totally buy it! I'm terrible with names and I try so hard to remember the kids names at my school-- we have almost 1100 kids! I keep trying....

It would definitely have to include face recognition software. It would let you covertly snap a photo of that "familiar face" you see and compare it to your database. Bing! The person would come up. I need a computer person to partner with and I'll make my millions.

Won't that come built-in to our Google Glasses?

Look at someone and their name appears on our screen along with their SO's name and conversation triggers to avoid.

Wasn't that what the bad guy was wearing in Sherlock's last episode of series 3? Some Google Glass kind of thing. That would be awesome.

Oh, and the SO name is a great add. I can't tell you how many times I've been identified by the XW's name places.

Mudpie is belly up on our front porch, looking like she's been dropped from a great height and just splatted. It's sunny and warm out there, and she has shelter from passers by. A guy with 5 dogs in tow just passed and the Pie didn't twitch a whisker. I will leave her to sunbathe while I shower.

Poor Mishi is cowering inside. Even treats don't lure him out any more. Poor little man - he so used to enjoy relaxing in the garden. I put the weight bench near the back door so he can hide under it but he's not interested.

Dagmar :beach:

Love that app idea. A former student of mine and his friends wrote feathr. Like feather, but no er, just r. Anyway it sounds sort of like what you explained. The idea was when you go to a conference and you meet people, you can get each other's info using the app, including a picture. It's sort of to replace business cards. He and his friends would go to young entrepreneur meetings and no one would have a business card, so that's how it came about. But, I don't think it has face recognition in it! They have been given a lot of investment money the past few years but not sure if it is profitable or not. But I like what you have suggested better, it's simpler and seems like would be needed by many people. I just don't know anything about face recognition software.

I'm trying to finish up an app I started about a year ago, it's a puzzle game for ms/HS kids. I have no idea how I have had time to work on these since I work three jobs, teach at a HS, teach one night a week at a college and teach online for another university! When DD graduates next year I'm going to probably just work the HS job and work on apps! We are getting her through with no debt. DH is a financial planner and refuses debt! I agree with him, but she ended up at a very expensive school. The school gives us a lot of financial aid, but we still have a lot to pay. She is very frugal though and has worked the whole time and summers and I'm amazed at how little she spends on food each month in NYC. Thank goodness she's getting a tech degree because if she was getting something where it would be hard to find a job, I don't think we would be doing this. My DS is not at all frugal, but he was in state and had a full scholarship so it wasn't too bad but I swear he spent 2x as much as she does each month on food, allegedly.

Anyway, once I release my first app, I have an idea for a second one and then I'll be able to partner with your great ideas!

Wow Cal Counter! That is amazing re: your college kids. We haven't been so frugal and our dd's both have/will have a pretty big chunk of debt to repay. We got zero financial aid and they both went/go to very expensive schools. We help as much as possible and they do work but we can only do so much. My older dd is now working (as a Special Ed teacher) as has started to repay her student loans. My younger dd is a sophomore in college now. I have an elderly uncle that always said he'd help with college for them but I've never asked. We are well off financially (just not well enough off to afford all the college!) so it doesn't seem right. I know I'm in his will (and he is well off) so eventually we may use whatever I inherit to help the girls pay off their debts.

I just want to give a public hug to Allison. She knows why. What a sweet friend that I've never even met.....

On the subject of friends..... I have a "friend" at yoga. I'm 47 years old and I want to see about extending the friendship beyond pleasantries at yoga. I laugh at myself because I'm so awkward knowing how to do that!!! She is also a teacher and we've emailed a few times so I had her email address. I finally bucked up and emailed asking her if she wants to get coffee after yoga on Sunday. She said yes and seems excited! Hooray!

Books rule, Michele!

I don't know if I've ever shared this with you but when my kids were little and were invited to a birthday party the rule was that they could give the child anything they wanted to AND a book (which I usually chose). My DD especially has a love of books like I do. DS, if he finds the right book, also loves to read but isn't a voracious reader like DD and myself.

And thanks for the hug!

You're welcome. I love that "rule"! I've been known to give books for just about any and all occasions and my girls did often give books for birthday gifts. While they are both voracious readers, my eldest dd is much more so than my youngest. When my youngest finds a book she likes, she will sit and read it in its entirety (and she is a fast reader). But, she may not pick up a book for a month. My eldest dd reads every day and will reread old favorites over and over. I'm kind of in between. While I love reading, I do it all day long for my job. I tend to take breaks from at home reading but read a lot during the summer and always on trips. I'm already planning my cruise/airplane reading and debating how many books to bring. I have one for my book club that looks boring but I'm thinking I should bring it over some of the ones I really want to read or I may not get it done.

I love books. My mother used to make me stop reading and go outside when I was a kid if I got in trouble, otherwise I would read all day. LOL

CalCounter - I just looked up Feathr, I may give it a try. It looks cool, even without face recognition. :)

Dagmar - Is Misha having trouble with the new house, or had he stopped going outside before that?

Michele - I get the worry over inviting your friend to coffee. I hope you guys have a great time!

I exercised last night, ate a moderately healthy dinner from a portion standpoint, though it was takeout I picked the better of the options. Have to move boxes in our work storage unit and shred the contents of some 70 or so of them today. I'm going to call that exercise I think. DH has been on vacation this week, and has DSS at our house today, then he is with us all weekend.

:wave:

Popping in to wave hi. I gave in a took the dog to daycare for her exercise yesterday because I knew I wouldn't give it to her, though I did go to my yoga class. By the time I went to class, then to the store, then spent an hour making a Greek salad and dressing (because I'd gotten the idea into my head and wanted one) I was tired and it was far too late to start any schoolwork, which is what I should have been doing last night.

Sigh. Treading water here and not moving anywhere.

Hello Everyone!

Today is not going as good for me but I did my 4 miles this morning, And I am sticking to my plan. I haven't been getting as much sleep as I should for one thing

Judith Beck says it will be harder for a while, then it will be easier then it repeats like that over and over. So far I have found that to be true with losing weight and she says its that way with Weight Maintenance also.

:wave: - taking a vacation from everything and recalibrating this week!

Michele~what book is your book club reading?

Yes, Michele. Book recommendation from your book club, please. :) I bought and read all the available Alafair Burke Ellie Hatcher books, and now I'm at loose ends again. Allison, any you would recommend?

I am currently reading The Goldfinch. It's long and some people have complained that the writer is too wordy (thus making the book longer than it should be) but I'm thoroughly enjoying it.

I've looked at some of the books you've mentioned on FB and have read a couple of them. I think one was Heart Shaped Box (or was it Kara that mentioned it?). I looked into the Ellie Hatcher books but decided I have way too many unread on my Kindle to buy anything new right now.

Allison - Kara (Photochick, for those who don't know her IRL) and I both mentioned Heart Shaped Box I think. And I'm pretty sure I bought and read it. Though now I can't remember. Ah - just checked. Bought it, but don't seem to have read it. Maybe I should go through my own library. :) I read Snow Falling on Cedars after you mentioned it on FB, I think it was on sale that day on Kindle.

Snow Falling on Cedars is my all-time favorite book. I've read it twice and seen the movie.

Other books I've read recently, The Lowland, Sycamore Row (Grisham) and Orange is the new Black (never have seen the series).

It's funny looking over some of my unread books. I get daily emails from a couple sources that have free e-books available on Amazon and elsewhere. I'm sure a lot of my unread ones are the freebies. I have read a couple of the freebies and have liked those (The Boy Kings of Texas and The Dirty Parts of the Bible). I don't think they're free always--just that particular day.

I also recently finished reading The Goldfinch and really enjoyed it. SAEF - I think you would really appreciate the author's focus on craftsmanship, artistry and antique cabinetry. I know that as a neuroscientist interested in human behavior, I was fascinated by the detailed description of adolescent excess and addiction that is a major focus of the novel.

Sycamore Row - YES!! I'm a Grisham fan...

Better treading the water Megan that the alternative. :p

Dagmar :cool: