It rained yesterday and the air smells absolutely wonderful, like damp earth and growing things, and it's still early on Sunday, before the day darkens into the ominousness of the approaching work week. And I know I'll be watching the "Mad Men" marathon this afternoon and roasting a chicken.

Weigh in: 139, even.


Today's Meals:

Breakfast: Steel-cut oatmeal with dried peaches; turkey bacon, broccoli & spinach egg bake; blueberries with cinnamon & 2% yogurt
Lunch: Baby arugula salad, roasted vegetables, walnuts, sun-dried tomatoes, goat cheese and guacamole
Snack: McIntosh apple
Dinner: Turkey kielbasa, sweet potato and kale soup
Dessert: Cookies n' cream Quest bar.

Exercise:

20 minutes Cybex arc trainer, intervals, upped to nine, a good change; then Workout B of Strong Curves Beginners program, Phase 2

We are on day 2 of a long weekend -"Victoria Day" after Queen Victoria but some Canadian refer to it as the "May Two Four" weekend (after what used to be the common name for a "box" (case) of beer).

I have just finished putting in a butterfly garden in the front of the house. It's a mix of butterfly-friendly perennials and some annuals (to fill it in a bit) and will look really nice in about a month. I have some vintage concrete animals (from the US e-bay) there as well. They are kind of standing out at the moment but will, again, blend in nicely one the stuff has grown a bit. Waiting for a white cat with green glass eyes to arrive - not as ugly as it sounds.

I hope Natalie will be quite eager to hide out there when there's enough cover. Right now she's taken to hiding under people's cars - NOT good!

She and Trixie seem to have divided their "turf" - Trix out back and Nat out front. But Nat wanders the neighbourhood, charming or annoying folks in about equal numbers. I think most of our neighbours are (sadly) kinda afraid of Trix.

We are going to see "Mad Max" the remake tonite. Looking forward to it!

Dagmar Just chillin'

Not my circus, not my monkeys!!! This is awesome.

Saef, someday when I don't have a little one at home, I'm going to watch Mad Men. It's in my top 5 list of anticipated series.


I had a weekend of sweets. Cookie exchange party on Friday, family in from out of town followed by chaperoning prom on saturday, pie and ice cream social yesterday. Wt is up but still below red-line...by 0.5 lbs.

Today:
B-Oats with blueberries and walnuts
S-Apple and cheese
L-Bean tacos
S-Smoothie
D-Salad with tuna
Ds-ice cream

Driving sadly into work this Monday morning. Goodbye, weekend. Hello again, unrelenting stress.

Weigh in: 141.5, the usual weekend spike. Now I know it happened on Sunday, when I was in the apartment nearly all day long and compulsively chewing through packs of sugarfree gum.


Today's Meals:

Breakfast: Steel-cut oatmeal with dried peaches; turkey bacon, broccoli & spinach egg bake; strawberries & 2% yogurt
Snack: A banana
Lunch: Watercress and arugula salad with roasted eggplant and other veggies, tuna, black olives and sunflower seeds
Snack: MacIntosh apple
Dinner: Turkey kielbasa, kale and sweet potato soup
Dessert: Cookies n' cream Quest bar

Today's Exercise:

45 minute spin class, trying to go faster and playing a bit with the resistance. My knee feels fine. I get very fleeting pain low down on my shin, where those two screw-heads protrude, and some muscle pain in the calf, which is still not as strong as it once was.

Saef-- it sounds like you're becoming so much stronger in spin and in general!

Georgette-- yummy! Sounds like a "sweet" weekend. I have trouble craving more sweets when I have any, so I try not to have any (or much). I had two small chocolates Saturday night and had to practically bite my arm off to not have more last night.

Dagmar-- did you like Mad Max? One of my friends posted on facebook that she thought it was awful.

Speaking of Victoria, we will have a quick port stop in Victoria on my cruise next month-- I'll wave to you, though I suspect Toronto is no where near Victoria? I'm horrible with geography!!

My weight is spot on my redline weight this morning (125) which is only up .6 from my weigh in Saturday. I'm hopeful that I can make some downward progress this week as I'm starting much lower than where I was last week. Dh made a delicious dish with bison last night (stuffed peppers). He kept telling me how healthy bison is (which it is) but I read the package and realized I was eating close to 400 calories just in bison (the previous times he made the dish). I asked for a much smaller portion which he obliged. I was hungry later (only slightly) but glad I had a smaller meal.

A misty overcast Tuesday, with me feeling unequal to the burden of depressed or anxious men. Our new hire is already anxious two weeks ahead of time about the hotel checkout time at the end of his training and seemingly unable to look this up on the Internet himself. And I can't relax over the Memorial Day weekend because I'll be attending a memorial service for a good friend's late wife, and the travel time to get out there is lengthy, meaning it will take up two-thirds of the weekend, and I dread having to bolster him up, as it feels like even more stress just when I feel unequal to it.

Weigh in: 141.3, at least downward a bit

Today's Meals:

Breakfast: Steel-cut oatmeal with dried peaches; turkey bacon, broccoli & spinach egg bake; strawberries & 2% yogurt
Snack: MacIntosh apple
Lunch: Baby arugula salad, roasted vegetables, walnuts, half an avocado, goat cheese, sun-dried tomatoes
Dinner: Turkey kielbasa, kale and sweet potato soup
Dessert: Cookies n' cream Quest bar

Today's Exercise:

20 minutes recumbent bike, heavy resistance at nine, and Workout C for this phase of Strong Curves

At physical therapy: 1x10 bodyweight squats, 1x14 goblet squats 25 lb dumbbell; 2x14 pair of 15 lb dumbbells held at right angles; these alternating with 3x12 reverse crunches. Then alternating single leg hamstring curls and weighted quad raises, each 3x12, and abductor/adductor machine, 3x12 each. Then 10 minute hill climb on recumbent bike.

Michele Toronto and Victoria are on opposite sides of the country. I have very little knowledge of American geography, except for NYC and LA locations. I was good at urban geography in high school but that didn't have much to do with maps.

I really liked Mad Max Fury Road for the big loud violent dumb cartoon I expected it to be. It lived up to that. I go and see a movie like that about once every 10 years. Nice that this one had a female main character.

Dagmar

Morning, all!

Michelle-I know about the sweets set-up. I used to abstain from sugar and am in an experimental phase to see how I do with them back in my life. I reintroduced in Jan, gained 5-8 lbs and now am maintaining that gain but not gaining more. What I also notice is that they don't just cause sweet cravings for me, but also cause starch/flour foods cravings.

I am noticing that I am more comfortable taking smaller portions at meals lately if it is not a "volumetric" meal. I find I feel better with smaller portions of protein and carbs, and this, miraculously, seems to be enough to leave me feeling satisfied and not deprived. This is really only effective if I have a lot of salad or soup that I can enjoy, as I still like to be FULL at the end of dinner.

(((Saef))) Hang in there, it's got to get easier.

Saef-- that doesn't sound fun at all.... your new hire sounds quite anxious-- is this the one you were having doubts about?

Speaking of anxious, my poor dd (eldest) suffers from anxiety and OCD which are usually controlled for the most part. She is having a few issues at the moment and I feel for her! She is stressed with all that comes with the end of school (she is a second year teacher), she is going to a conference and leaving Friday (big stressor for her), and she found roaches in her apartment last night and started freaking out about a giant roach infestation (there were 2). Sigh....

Ellie is doing better sleeping at night... knock on wood... I'm still getting up at 3:00 to take her out, and then she is fine when I get her at 5:00. Not sure how much longer I'll need to do that but if it helps with house training, I'll keep it up for a bit.

Anyone watching the Voice? I'm excited for the finale. While I like all of the final 4, I'm Team Sawyer all the way! He is amazingly talented!

My weight is up .4 which is the wrong direction. Did body pump yesterday though so I'm not terribly surprised. Dh and I may go out for a quick meal tonight so tomorrow's weight may not be better. We will see...

Not a good idea to try on knit summer dresses while wearing bikini undies . I think I just had my reality check about how much my weight and body have changed since last summer. Time to get serious for more than two days in a row.

Dagmar

Waking just past midnight, dreading my first one-on-one meeting with my new manager this afternoon. I took a melatonin and almost slept through by 4 AM alarm. One sign of my perfectionism and rigidity: Waking up 10 minutes later than I'm supposed to makes me feel the whole day is trashed and off-kilter.

Weigh in: 140.7, edging further downward

Today's Meals:

Breakfast: Banana prune muffin; broccoli & spinach egg bake; strawberries & yogurt
Lunch: Arugula with tuna, raw & roasted vegetables, fennel, barley and sunflower seeds
Snack: Cherries
6 PM snack: Forelle pear
Dinner, around 8:15 PM: Roasted chicken leg quarter and wing, steamed broccoli
Dessert: Cookies n' cream Quest bar

Today's Exercise:

20 minutes Cybex arc trainer, resistance at nine with intervals, and Workout A2 for this phase of Strong Curves. I am getting stronger than I was two months ago, now back to benching the 70-lb barbell for 3x12.

I'm right there with you, Dagmar. Today my thought is "am I going to keep bouncing around in this same 4 lb range forever?"

Michelle, I'm having end-of-the-year freak-out too. Poor DD, but she will get through it. She got through college, she got through getting a job, and she got through last school year, so she's got the skills.

I had such a hopeful week last week, only to be back in my just-below-redline area again this week. But I have to say, I can see exactly why when I look at how I have been eating. I had a really busy week last week and circumstantially, there has just been a lot of food put in front of me that runs counter to my goal of losing. Overall, I've been sucessfull with limiting portions of sweets and other heavy foods, but things are starting to feel slippery again.

I go back to Zumba today after a week of no class. Yay!!!! I really like that class a lot.

Today's plan:
B-oats with frozen fruit and walnuts
S-cheese and fruit
L-School lunch with lots of salad
S-smoothie
D-Stir-fry.
Ds-ice cream sundae

Getting serious--I can relate. It seems like it's one step forward and two back. After a not so great yesterday, I was motivated by my tight pants to eat clean today. I had to laugh at all the temptations that were put in my path. First, I walked into my classroom and the previous class had left cookies. I love cookies. One of my students came in with two dozen doughnuts. I love doughnuts. The smell of sugar was in the air for the entire two hours. I managed to stay strong, though. Then I go to my favorite coffee shop where the barista offered me a free truffle. I love truffles. The name of the place is Chocolati so I guess I should expect that. If it wasn't only 3:00, I think I'd go home and go to bed before someone offered me ice cream. I love ice cream . . .

SLAMMED hard with work today. Also a letter last night suddenly told me that I need, once again, to report to the insurance company's "independent" examiner next Tuesday. He'll approve or recommend against my continued physical therapy sessions.

Weigh in: 139, even, reassuring that at least one thing in my life is headed in the right direction

Today's Meals:

Breakfast: Banana prune muffin; broccoli & spinach egg bake; strawberries & yogurt
Snack: MacIntosh apple
Lunch: Spring mix salad with red bell peppers, roasted green beans, roasted fennel, tuna, chickpeas and sunflower seeds
Snack: Three guavas, delicious
Dinner: Roasted chicken leg quarter, steamed broccoli
Dessert: Chocolate chip cookie dough Quest bar

Today's Exercise:

30 minutes recumbent bike, hill program, resistance at eight. Dripping sweat on either side of the bike due to this cool but humid spring weather.

60 minute Pilates mat class

Sheila-- that is a ton of temptation!! You are strong!

I face them on a daily basis too. It is my turn to provide breakfast for the birthday month today. I brought fruit-- blueberries, grapes and cherries. The others signed up to bring bagels, muffins, etc. I will have to keep my distance!

Sorry for the work stress, Saef, but glad your weight is cooperating!