Fighting the holiday traffic on I-95 to get to the memorial service, and then the last-minute room booked at the Super 8, and all they had left was a smoking room. This won't be the relaxing, do-nothing three-day weekend that I envisioned.
Then on Tuesday, my lawyer and I will face the insurance company's doctor, who seeks to veto my continued physical therapy sessions.
And my new manager keeps rubbing in my face that I have no say in hiring anymore, or record-keeping, or pretty much anything. Every day is a kick in the teeth reminding me of my powerlessness.
Weigh in: 139.4, but I'm not worried about this slight increase over yesterday.
Today's Meals:
Breakfast: Banana prune muffin; broccoli & spinach egg bake; cherries & yogurt
Snack: Three guavas
Lunch: Arugula salad, roasted vegetables, pecans & almonds, goat cheese, half an avocado, sun-dried tomatoes
Dinner: Shredded chicken with sauteed spinach
Dessert: Raspberry White Chocolate Quest bar
Today's Exercise:
Had to cancel physical therapy because of a high-priority writing assignment.
At 6:30 PM, it still hadn't published and a vendor's legal department was reviewing it, so I left my laptop and went to the gym. The metal in my leg felt like a knife at that point; it does that sometimes, due to some swelling or maybe humidity, I never know which. But I managed 20 minutes on recumbent bike, 3x12 Smith machine calf raises, 3x12 30-lb dumbbell goblet squats, 3x12 hamstring curls, 3x12 weighted quad lifts, 3x12 abductor/adductor. Also hung from an overhead bar for a while with my arms extended -- part of my Project Chin-Up.
On a Saturday, feeling guilty for sleeping in until 5:30 AM. Yesterday just flattened me.
Now dressed in black, with a museum gift shop scarf and heels, perfumed, about to get into the car and make the two-and-a-half-hour drive to CT for the memorial service. If I'm lucky, and I-95 is not too jammed, and my 13-year-old car holds up well, I'll be on time.
Weigh in: Back to 139, even.
Today's Meals:
Breakfast: Banana prune muffin; broccoli & spinach egg bake; cherries & yogurt
Luncheon after the funeral, catered: Baby arugula, roasted asparagus, carrots, roasted & marinated assorted veggies, grilled shrimp
Snack: Bare Fruit apple chips, the larger bag
Dinner: Two Quest bars, one cookes n' cream, the other mixed berry, because I couldn't be bothered to leave the motel room and the only place in sight was a Denny's
Exercise:
Managed to get in 20 minutes on the arc trainer and do Workout A of Strong Curves before heading off to CT.
Saef, I'm really sorry for all your recent travails. And also confused: I thought you lived in CT? Are you actually in Westchester?
I'm really struggling with emotional eating the last few weeks: mini (and not so mini) binges, "head" hunger and cravings, constantly alternating between anxiety and thoughts of food. My long-time clinical trials coordinator is out on extended sick leave for recurrence of colon cancer - and may never return. Aside from my heart breaking for her bad luck and suffering, it has meant a sh*tstorm of extra work and anxiety over how the work is going to get done. This is on top of all my "regular" stress around having too much work for the amount of time I have, and constantly fretting over what balls I'm letting drop and not knowing it until something hits the fan. I feel like I have a lot in common with JZJ, whose woes I am reading on the other weight loss thread.
It sounds like a lot of us have too many balls in the air and are quite stressed and overwhelmed by it.
I did two things for myself this morning that will greatly ease my workload (and I don't feel at all guilty about it). I handed all the food shopping, scheduling, cooking, and pantry and fridge restocking duties over to DH. We had a big blowout over my micromanaging what he cooked for dinner last night. After a night of cooling off I decided what the heck! - what we're doing now is not working for weight loss for either of us so I'm going to hand the whole steaming mess over to him. he's got the time to research and create some nice lower cal meals and I'm going to encourage that.
My second thing was to rehire the garden people to come every two weeks. the woman who owned this house before me was retired and an avid gardener and she created a beautiful space out back. She left me about 50 pages of instructions about how to care for it. Still haven't gotten around to reading them and it's been two years.
I love the green space and willingly can water it and cut the lawn. But the rest? The garden people can do more in 2 hours than I can manage in a month. Better to let them tend it.
I want to have at least one hour every day when I can just sit. That is the goal now. I think a lot of other things will follow from that.
Saef, I'm so sorry that you have had such a draining time lately. "This too shall pass" always seems like insufficient comfort when you're still in the middle of it. Can you think of some sort of small happiness to find or make or give yourself this weekend?
Dagmar, it sounds like you made a positive change with the hand-off of food duties! And hiring gardening help as well. As my mentor says, if you CAN delegate it, you SHOULD delegate it.
Andrea... yeah. I know exactly what you mean. It's a bit ironic that the creation of additional anxiety and stress by any one change at work, makes me appreciate the "normal" baseline-level stress that I always feel simply because it's less extreme.
We're enjoying an unseasonably cool Memorial Day Weekend here. Highs today couldn't have hit 90. Since my in-laws have purchased a home here we've still been going to our old golf course but today decided to try their course. I was nervous, and rightly so, as the course is a lot more narrow than what I'm used to (DH hit two houses) and it has a lot more water. But no sand traps at all and they really do a wonderful job keeping it up. We had fun and will golf again tomorrow. I don't think I got hot at all this morning! I hope that is the same tomorrow. Monday we'll go back to the old course because the new one is hosting a tournament.
We love the new artificial turf in our yard! It is soft to walk on and doesn't get hot (at least not in these temperatures, we'll see what it's like when we're at 110 degrees).
Dagmar~I hope it works out with DH doing all the planning, shopping and cooking! That's my "chore" and I love it. And I don't know what I'd do without my gardener (and housekeeper).
Andrea, I live in the southernmost section of Westchester, in a village whose name begins with "B." My employer is located in CT, right on the shore of Long Island Sound.
That room in the Super 8 was grim. I retreated there after the memorial service and reception, and a trip to a J. Crew factory outlet in an enormous factory outlet shopping area that was near the house. I put my leg up and read through the NY Times. I didn't sleep well. Sometime in the night, I heard water running in the bathroom, though I wasn't using it. When I finally went int, the floor was wet and there was a bulge in the bathroom ceiling. I told them at the front desk, they've got a problem. I was out of there & headed home by 7:15 AM.
Today's Meals:
Breakfast: Banana prune muffin; broccoli & spinach egg bake; cherries & yogurt (brought it in a cooler, since I knew the Super 8 "free breakfast" would not be healthy)
Lunch: Arugula salad, roasted vegetables, pecans, goat cheese, guacamole and some big dollops of lemony hummus
Snack: Two fresh apricots
Dinner: Roasted chicken, steamed asparagus
Dessert: Cookies n' cream Quest bar
Exercise for Today:
Once arriving home from CT, changed clothes and went straight to the gym. Did Workout B of Strong Curves. I'm now in Week 8 of the Beginners, with just four more to go. This program works. My glutes have never been more active or stronger. And they actually look better.
Memorial Day, with me looking at this day and wondering how best to use it. I want badly to go downtown, but I'm not sure if the leg is up to it.
Weigh-in: 140.5, the usual weekend increase.
Today's Meals:
Breakfast: Banana prune muffin; broccoli & spinach egg bake; blackberries & yoghurt
Snack: Forelle pear
Lunch: Romaine salad with balsamic roasted vegetables, goat cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, almonds and lemon hummus
Snack: Small bag of Bare Fruit apple chips
Dinner: Baked tilapia with salsa and steamed broccoli
Dessert: S'mores Quest bar
Exercise:
30 minutes recumbent bike, hill program, resistance up to nine. Then I went to the chinup bar, the one I can reach if I hop up in the air, and I managed two chinups and about a half of a chinup, not from a dead hang but from hopping up. Which is better than I've been able to do before. But it did not compensate for the memory of running 2 1/2 miles uphill last year in the annual Memorial Day race in the village -- a feat that I would be unable to manage today.
Facing work with a little spurt of energy & defiance. At the reception at my friend's condo on Saturday, after the memorial service, I got another bit of insider info about the after-effects of the reorg that left my head spinning. There is still so much in play here. I couldn't sleep that night in my crummy motel room, for thinking of all the possible outcomes. This week, I'm trying to hold tight and focus on all the stuff I've got to do to publish a contentious document and get prepared for the new hire starting next week.
Weigh-in: 141, up another half pound, thanks to the three-day weekend. I seem to gain a half pound for every day of the weekend. And it feels so unfair, as when I'm lying around, I'm constantly fighting the urge to snack. It's all the sugarfree gum that I chew through while struggling with cravings.
Today's Meals:
Breakfast: Banana prune muffin; broccoli & spinach egg bake; blackberries & yoghurt
Snack: Two fresh apricots
Lunch: Romaine salad with balsamic roasted vegetables, goat cheese, half of an avocado, sun-dried tomatoes, almonds and lemon hummus
Dinner: Quinoa and black bean mango salad, avocado chicken salad
Dessert: Chocolate chip cookie dough Quest bar
Today's Exercise:
20 minutes on the Cybex arc trainer, intervals, then Workout 8C of the Strong Curves beginner program. And I banged out another random chin-up.
Physical therapy: 12 minutes on Cybex elliptical, then 3x12 goblet squats and dumbbell squats alternating with 3x12 leg raises, 3x12 hamstring curls and quad raises; 4x12 adductor/abductor, 8 minutes walking 2.1 on treadmill, working on evening out my gait. I tend to trip with the "good foot" because I'm thinking so much about the injured leg.
Welcome, Slim CB. Use this thread as you will, as your confessional or your data repository. Me, I'm using this thread for accountability and as a diary to correlate stimulus (stress, anxiety, workouts) with response (overeating or restricting, muscle gains).
Weigh-in: 140.4. Once again, I spend the week dropping approximately 2 lbs. that I gained over the weekend.
Today's Meals:
Breakfast: Banana prune muffin; broccoli & spinach egg bake; blackberries & yogurt
Snack: Two fresh apricots
Lunch: Baby spinach salad with roasted red peppers, lentils, goat cheese and bacon, and avocado pineapple salad
Snack: Bare Fruit Fuji Red apple chips (about 180 calories -- similar to some Quest bars!)
Dinner: Thai chicken thighs on quinoa with steamed asparagus
Dessert: Quest cinnamon roll bar
I feel tonight like I ate too much.
Today's Exercise:
20 minutes on the recumbent bike, doing hills, then Workout 8A2 of the Strong Curves beginner program. Doing a chin-up before I headed out the door, though my arms didn't have a lot left to give.
This morning I did a Group Power Class. 55 minutes of full body weights using barbells.
I find that when I workout I eat better. The problem is when stress from work gets in the way, I tend to neglect my workouts and then my eating suffers. I need to make my workouts non-negotiable.
