I'm looking forward to it! With the garden starting to come on, there will be a lot of yummy stuff to play with. I will check out that site, Allison - thanks!
Hi all, checking in. Shannon, I dabbled with anxiety meds briefly - disaster. My anxiety got worse because I felt impaired by medication side effects (grogginess etc.) and it was even harder to get all of the work done. Nothing has been as effective for me as exercise.
My weight hasn't changed since February, up or down. I'm almost ok with that; after gaining steadily from October to February, it seems like an improvement to maintain during such stressful times. If I can just survive to August, I might be able to get a few days off, and then recalibrate to something more like a work-life balance and trim back a few more pounds.
I agree about anxiety medication. Everyone I know who's been on them has felt worse and disinclined to stay the course.
We've talked about MOOCs (massive open online courses) before. I've just seen this one about mindfulness, starting in September. Worth a look, Shannon?
Quote:
This practical six-week course explores the science, practice and philosophy of mindfulness. You will learn how to incorporate mindfulness practices into your life to reduce stress, improve mental health, and enhance your personal and professional life.
You will understand formal mindfulness meditation practices, as well as the informal practice of being mindful in daily life to learn - to pay attention to the present moment instead of worrying, dwelling in the past or reacting to what is happening.
You will also develop an attitude of friendliness and compassion toward yourself, as opposed to self-criticism.
These mindfulness-based approaches have been found to improve executive functioning, learning and memory, performance, communication, empathy, and mental and physical health.
There's a supplement by Life Extension Foundation that we use - it's called Natural Stress Relief and is a combo of lemon balm and L-theanine. DH and I have both used it and believe it to be helpful. It seems to make me more impervious to events/people that create stress - not in a blunting or la-la sort of way, more like it dampens the annoyance reaction. I went through a bottle (30 days) in the month after our re-org.
JZJ - Holding the line is a huge accomplishment given what you've been describing as your work life! August will get here plenty quick and then you can address the rest. Sometimes, you just gotta do what you gotta do, one day at a time.
silverbirch, I think I'll need both options. I have fallen back into some unhelpful late afternoon patterns - supper time needs to return to the definition of "sit down and have the evening meal" instead of "eat whatever I want between 4 and 7:30pm". I know better - now I need to DO better, consistently.
Becky, the DB mentioned lemon balm to me the other day. It grows like a weed in the garden here. I think I'll cut a big handful and make a pot of tea with it, the next time it's all too much. Thanks for mentioning it again. And yes,
Quote:
"eat whatever I want between 4 and 7:30pm"
is just silly but it doesn't feel like it when you're/I'm in it. I don't know what it is about this time of day.
Becky, the DB mentioned lemon balm to me the other day. It grows like a weed in the garden here. I think I'll cut a big handful and make a pot of tea with it, the next time it's all too much. Thanks for mentioning it again. And yes,
is just silly but it doesn't feel like it when you're/I'm in it. I don't know what it is about this time of day.
Mid-afternoon slump. Many causes. A nap is very helpful for me, when I can get it. Even a lie down (alone and quiet) puts a definite stop to the workday and a start to dinner prep/eating time. I wonder if people in cultures who have the siesta suffer from it?
Becky - thanks for the supplement info on it. I may give it a shot. XW sent an email for something this morning, first communication from her in two weeks other than drop off and pickup minimal info. It immediately sent DH and I both into stress.
Birchie - I like the look of that class. Going to check that out, too.
Allison - woo!
Dagmar - the mother of my best friend from college is from Spain, she still takes a long lunch and siesta break every day even after being here for 20 years. I've never noticed slumps or any kind of anxiety from her at all.
JZJ- sometimes maintaining is all we can do, and it is a serious accomplishment in itself.
I'm going on vacation tomorrow. I am so ready for that.
Shannon - enjoy your break! Safe travels and RELAX!!!
Dagmar - I would love a nap opportunity and it would probably help a lot. When I visited Italy, I was deeply impressed by the long lunch/afternoon break culture. I need to create a life that works that way. It surely does not describe my current situation!
Allison - hooray for the drop!
Tired. Very tired this morning. I hope the coffee works quickly.
I made an appointment to see my gyn this week. I would have preferred to wait (and maybe lose a few pounds first), but he's taking July and August off (he's close to retirement) and I really want to get off the BC pills, so I'm going. Since the high BP scare last year I've been checking and logging my BP about 90% of the time and that log also includes my weight. I had thought I had gotten down to 152 at some point during the year. Yeah, NOPE. A whole year yo-yoing between 158 and (gasp) 170. That was right after vacation last summer and I knew I had been eating and drinking a lot more than necessary.
In any case, it is time to buckle down and get losing again.
Meanwhile my butt hurts. It's a good hurt from weight exercises. That in itself is a good thing.
Allison So a pain in the butt CAN be a good thing.
Dagmar
Yep!
So today I decreased the number of reps in each set, but increased the weight. I'll slowly build up the reps from 8 to 12 in the coming days/weeks. Some will be easy (like squats and lunges), others not so much (like the overhead press--my most difficult exercise).
Food was excellent yesterday but still hanging on to weekend gains. I'm going to have to be more careful on weekends, but it's hard as DS is home on weekends and we like to go out to lunch...
Back from my mini-vacay. I've got mosquito bites on my legs, but am otherwise hale and hearty. Time to get back to regular food and drink and start exercising again. Real world!
DH and DS picked 33 pounds of strawberries on Saturday. 18 pints of plain jam are done, a half-gallon jampot is stewing (booze/fruit), and a strawberry/pinot noir jam is waiting for reduction and canning, and 9 pieces of dehydrated fruit leather are complete. We've been eating strawberries at every single meal! It's crazy, but we have reached the bottom of the pile with probably about a 1 quart loss. Phew.
I'm glad to see that moving back to my old building has resulted in about 3000 more steps per day already. I am starting up my food log again and will resume calorie counting on Monday. Tired of straddling that "overweight" line!
I went through a bottle (30 days) in the month after our re-org.
It surely does not describe my current situation! 
