Tried a new flavor of Quest bar today, S'mores, which I thought was really good (a lot like cookies and cream). Also bought a mint chocolate chip one for later this week, which is another flavor I haven't had. Thanks to Saef, I've avoided the pumpkin pie ones even though the GNC near me has a huge display of them.

I fell in love with baked sweet potatoes for breakfast while I was in Barcelona. Now that I'm back, I have them with cottage cheese and berries on top 2-3x/week. Delicious, and still feels novel after a month. The potato is ~180 cals (toppings extra) and, with skin on, is very filling.

Apo9, the glucometer is an interesting way to monitor your intake. It takes a lot of fortitude to simply skip all the foods that make your blood sugar go up. Do you know about glycemic load (=a food's glycemic index x #of grams eaten)? There are tables of values, so you can see whether your body responses match up to known glycemic load values. If they do, you could stop pricking your finger all the time.

Weight is holding more-or-less steady, though I could do without the 2.5 pound fluctuations from week to week. Chanukah dinner at my in-laws' house on Sunday did not help.

I have to stay away from Quest bars when I'm dieting. Something about the mouth feel/aftertaste just makes me want to keep eating after finishing the bar. But, once I ramp up the calories a bit to maintenance levels, I can. Maybe not S'mores, which I don't care for even in the campfire version, but it seems like there's been a bunch of other new and intriguing flavors coming out.

144.8 on the scale this morning. Maybe I've finally broken through the 147 stall of the past 2 weeks? Crosses fingers...

//kaw

Kaw, yes, I also want to keep eating after my Quest bar, and I know exactly why: It's the strong zing of sweetness, triggering old associations of digging into something delicious and eating & eating, like a horse with a feed-bag strapped over its head. I have to leave the kitchen or grab a stick of sugarfree gum till I calm down again.

It's Thursday morning, and I woke up far too early and really sweaty. The heat at my apartment complex has been transitioning over from the old boiler to some new system, so it was cold when I got home and there was no hot water. I went to bed underneath two blankets and a quilt. But the system revived while I slept and I woke up feeling like I was having a hot flash.

Weigh in: 142.5, another fraction, which could simply be sweat.

Meals for Today:

Breakfast:Cocoa steelcut oats with cacao nibs; egg bake with artichokes, spinach, mushrooms and ham; four guavas and yogurt
Snack: Another Cripps apple, which had rolled to the back of the fruit drawer
Lunch: Rather salty Caesar kale salad with sundried tomatoes, parmesan, tuna, steamed asparagus, roasted vegetables
Snack: Cameo apple. I've decided these are far too professional-looking.
Dinner: A multitude of tiny Brussel sprouts, sweet potato, two Sriracha-glazed chicken thighs
Dessert: Cinnamon roll Quest bar

Exercise for Today:

30 minutes on the elliptical, resistance cranked up to nine, with me sweating in the unseasonable heat and humidity

Friday morning, feeling remarkably sad after management presented the new system of metrics and quality check processes for the coming year. It's a strangely warm December, with ground fog as I walked to and from the gym.

Weigh in: 143, from fluid retention.

Meals for Today:

Breakfast:Cocoa steelcut oats with cacao nibs; egg bake with artichokes, spinach, mushrooms and ham; frozen organic blueberries and yogurt
Snack: Last of the photogenic Cameo apples, this one with a few reassuring warts under its skin. A much more personable and relateable apple than the others in this batch.
Lunch: Spring mix with roasted vegetables, walnuts, Craisins and some slices of ham with hummus
Dinner: Cider-brined roasted chicken with roasted broccoli and cold asparagus
Dessert: Brownie Quest bar

Exercise for Today:

20 minutes on the recumbent bike, then Leg Day. Weighted calf raises on the Smith machine now at 150 lbs.

It's a miraculous December day, with temperatures well into the mid-60s. I opened up the sunroof when I headed out for groceries this morning because the car was overly warm inside from the greenhouse effect, then decided to turn up the radio and blast "Hotline Bling" like it was summer & I was out cruising.

Weigh in: 142.7, recovering from that really salty lunch on Thursday.

Meals for Today:

Breakfast:Cocoa steelcut oats with cacao nibs; egg bake with asparagus, spinach and ham; frozen organic blueberries and yogurt
Lunch: Spring mix with the groceria's roasted vegetables in some kind of sweet red sauce, half an avocado, black beans, salsa, cheese shreds and peanuts
Dinner: Cider-brined roast chicken, roasted brussel sprouts, sweet potato
Dessert: Cookies and cream Quest bar

Exercise for Today:

20 minutes on the Stairmaster, then Workout 10C of the Strong Curves advanced program and then a Pilates mat class.

Even warmer today. And I survived my 9:30 AM trip to Trader Joe's on the Sunday before The Week of All the Office Christmas Parties. Also I found Trident Layers Pumpkin Spice gym at the grocery store yesterday and have been chewing it ever since.

Weigh in: 141.9, still dropping retained fluid, but a half pound higher than last Sunday.

Meals for Today:

Breakfast:Cocoa steelcut oats with cacao nibs; egg bake with asparagus, spinach and ham; raspberries and yogurt
Snack: Large, juicy Asian pear from China, eaten just at the perfect moment of ripeness
Lunch: Spring mix with cold asparagus, roasted vegetables, chicken, half an avocado, pecans and pomegranate arils
Dinner: Miso-glazed salmon, roasted butternut squash, roasted brussel sprouts, steamed green beans
Dessert: Chocolate chip cookie dough Quest bar

Exercise for Today:

20 minutes on the arc trainer, then Workout 10A2 of the Strong Curves advanced program. I had a lot of energy this morning but still found this tiring.

What is the gum like? Is it quite pumpkiny?

I tried the S'mores quest bar yesterday and liked it so much I had a second one for dessert. Oops.... better not make that a habit!!

Michele, it tastes a bit like eggnog with a shot of vanilla added. I like it. It's an unusual flavor, not minty or fruity, like other gum. What I really want is a sugarfree gum that tastes like a Tootsie Roll.

Heavy ground fog from the strange weather we're having, remarkably warm. We go out today for our department luncheon. Of course, it's a wood-fire pizza place, with pasta on the menu, which should be amusing.

Weigh in: 143.4, thanks to the large portion of miso-glazed salmon

Meals for Today:

Breakfast:Cocoa steelcut oats with cacao nibs; egg bake with asparagus, spinach and ham; raspberries and yogurt
Snack: Large Rome apple
Lunch: Can I call it that? Arugula salad and pickled vegetables, because I didn't want the pasta or the pizza that was part of the dinner. And a large handful of roasted unsalted nuts from a can that I keep in my desk at the office.
Dinner: Chicken, roasted butternut squash, broccoli and a small persimmon
Dessert: Cookies and cream Quest bar

Exercise for Today:

20 minutes on the recumbent bike, then a Leg Day with very high step-ups.

http://yumyumgum.com/Chocolate.html sweetened with xylitol.

On Sunday, I felt like I was willing myself into Christmas cheer, but somehow through yesterday's dismal luncheon and into this morning, sweating at the gym, it evaporated. The best part of yesterday was me and three guys at work driving back to the office from the restaurant, getting snarky about the luncheon.

Weigh-in: 142.2, coming down from that miso glaze.

Meals for Today:

Breakfast: Pumpkin steelcut oats; egg bake with asparagus, spinach and ham; blueberries and yogurt
Snack: Rome apple
Lunch: Baby kale with roasted vegetables, black beans, salsa, avocado, peanuts and several forkfuls of hummus
Dinner: Chicken with roasted butternut squash, brussel sprouts and steamed asparagus
Dessert: Chocolate chip cookie dough Quest bar

Exercise for Today:

20 minutes Stairmaster, then Workout 11A1 of the Strong Curves advanced program. I think I can't "warm up" on that machine because I felt like I had less to give for this workout than on Sunday.

Also I am facing the same dilemma of what to do when this 12-week program ends. Previously I resolved this issue by simply repeating the program, and that was a good decision, because I got better results after the 24-week cycle, coinciding with my continued recovery and being actually able to do the workouts unmodified. My waist is smaller, my butt is higher and rounder and my quads are bigger. I went down a pants size. My weight didn't change much -- if anything, I'm up a few pounds.

Sounds like a fun drive back, Saef....

So far as your 12 week program-- sounds like you're getting good results, right? Down a pants size, smaller waist, butt improved....

I'll have to look at that gum, Saef.

Andrea-- are you recommending the yum yum gum or just mentioning it?

I make a wish, and Andrea provides. How do I get a sample before investing heavily? (That was my problem with the Pumpkin Pie Quest bars -- I should have tried one before buying a case. The idea of the flavor was so enticing, though.)

I am no longer a big fan of gum, but I used to chew it often, and really liked yum-yum's diverse flavors - they have over 100. Saef, they don't offer free samples, but you can get a single container of gum for $2.50 plus $2.95 shipping. Not a huge investment to try it. They also have a 5-flavor "chocolate lovers sampler" for 11.95: http://yumyumgum.com/Find-Your-Flavo...rs-5-Pack.html

It's Wednesday and I've got too much to do, as usual, too many meetings, I've got to speak at one and then I'm taking a visiting direct report out to dinner this evening after work. We'll just go to the restaurant at the Hyatt where he's staying. The options are pretty healthy, since executives expensing their stays there tend to be calorie-conscious. This is where our California executives camp out when they're visiting headquarters.

Weigh-in: 141.8, about my Sunday morning weight.

Meals for Today:

Breakfast: Pumpkin steelcut oats; egg bake with asparagus, spinach and ham; overripe persimmon and yogurt
Snack: Rome apple
Lunch: Arugula, roasted eggplant, steamed green beans, sweet potatoes and Craisins, chickpeas, tuna
Snack: Big watery Asian pear
Dinner: At the Hyatt restaurant, salmon and "warm red wheat berry, haricot verts, pickled cucumber relish"
Dessert: White chocolate raspberry Quest bar

Exercise for Today:

20 minutes Cybex arc trainer, then Workout 11B of the Strong Curves advanced program.

Thursday morning, and I'm feeling tired, ready for the week to end, with an undercurrent of anxiety over a meeting today at which we managers will present a suggested tweak to the proposed performance metrics for 2016. The manager whom we all report to is rather autocratic and will shut down any sign of dissent. This is going to require serious diplomatic skills.

Weigh-in: 141.9, up just a fraction, at my Sunday morning weight.

Meals for Today:

Breakfast: Pumpkin steelcut oats; egg bake with asparagus, spinach and ham; overripe persimmon and yogurt
Lunch: Arugula, smoked turkey, roasted eggplant and chayote squash, farro, sunflower seeds
Snack: Rome apple, large with a couple bruised spots
Dinner: Some raw cauliflower and pepper and broccoli, and a piece of chicken from the gym's Christmas party. Then, at home, more chicken.
Dessert: Chocolate chip cookie dough Quest bar

Exercise for Today:

30 minutes on the elliptical, resistance up at eight, alternating forward & backward.
45 minute Pilates mat class. The instructor was distracted by the Christmas party outside the studio and all the drunk people putting their faces up against the classroom window and looking in at us.

Picked up dd from the airport last night-- traffic was god awful coming back.... sooooo stressful... Stopped for sushi on the way home... No exercise.... weight? UP! Shocker!

Dh says he and dd can cover dinner tonight (whatever that means-- I begged for healthy) and that I can go to the gym or yoga.... now to decide which I want/need the most.

I really don't want to adjust my ticker up after I just lowered it!

Friday morning, oversleeping, then slow-moving, writing out a Christmas card around 5 AM. A lot of regulars were absent from the gym this morning. There's an undercurrent of impending release from school, which is the holiday feeling.

Weigh-in: 141.8, which I'll call maintenance.

Meals for Today:

Breakfast: Pumpkin steelcut oats; egg bake with asparagus, spinach and ham; blueberries and yogurt
Snack: The last Rome apple
Lunch: Baby kale salad, roasted vegetables, half an avocado, pomegranate arils, walnuts, goat cheese and several forkfuls of hummus
Dinner: Chicken breast, frozen mixed Chinese vegetables
Dessert: Chocolate chip cookie dough Quest bar

Exercise for Today:

20 minutes on the recumbent bike, then Leg Day. Also some side lat raises, as I am trying to bring up my deltoids. I am getting that look where the trapezius muscles along the back of my neck are more prominent but my shoulders somehow look smaller. It's a bit of a hump-backed look.

Saturday morning, and even though I've got to complete a project for work over the weekend for Monday morning, I've still got that anticipatory humming feeling of the holidays approaching. Also, it's cold and windy again, with dramatic temperature drop overnight.

Weigh-in: 141.4, as I wonder whether I'll ever see the high side of the 130s again.

Meals for Today:

Breakfast: Pumpkin steelcut oats; egg bake with asparagus, spinach and ham; blueberries and yogurt
Snack: A green apple that I thought was a Granny Smith, but it wasn't, it was a bit sweeter
Lunch: Four large and slightly salty grilled shrimp over greens with some kind of mango dressing at an Asian fusion restaurant with a friend who's depressed and struggling and for whom it is a victory to leave her apartment.
Snack: A small persimmon
Dinner: Really hungry, ate about 5:30 PM, chicken sausage and cannellini beans and kale
Dessert: Brownie Quest bar

Exercise for Today:

20 minutes on the Cybex arc trainer, then workout 11C of Strong Curves Advanced program, then a Pilates mat class that was tougher than Thursday's when the instructor was distracted and also taking occasional sips of Prosecco because it was the night of the gym Christmas party.

Sunday morning, with no idea what I weigh because the scale was unresponsive this morning. Those cheap batteries went out too quickly.

Meals for Today:

Breakfast: Pumpkin steelcut oats; egg bake with asparagus, spinach and ham; half of a small papaya and yogurt
Snack: Pomegranate arils
Lunch: Baby kale salad, roasted vegetables, half an avocado, sun-dried tomatoes, pecans, goat cheese and several forkfuls of hummus
Dinner: Chicken sausage, cannellini beans and kale
Dessert: Chocolate chip cookie dough Quest bar

Exercise for Today:

20 minutes on the recumbent bike, resistance up to 11, which makes me think of "Spinal Tap"; then workout 11A2 of Strong Curves Advanced program. One more week and I'll have to find another program.

Saef, every time I set any machine or instrument to a level of 11, I laugh uncontrollably and probably scare everyone around me.

Nigel Tufnel is one of my favorite human beings ever.

Monday, looking at the double whammy of my mother arriving for a week-long visit -- during which I'll be trying to work from home for several days and actually get stuff done -- and the doctor doing my physical, postponed from its usual time earlier in the year because of my injury.

Weigh in: No idea, as my Weight Watchers scale has expired. Changing the batteries didn't help, nor did taking them out and putting them in again. Nothing.
Edited to Add: According to my doctor's scale, I'm 142 exactly with clothes on.

Meals for Today:

Breakfast: Pumpkin steelcut oats; egg bake with spinach, sun-dried tomatoes and mushrooms; raspberries and yogurt. I couldn't find the other half of the papaya in the refrigerator! There's way too much stuff in there from my marketing for Christmas.
Snack: A large and extremely satisfactory Cortland apple. I was once a newspaper reporter at a small daily newspaper in Cortland. For a human interest story -- the kind that I was good at writing -- I looked up how the apple got its name. It was developed at nearby Cornell University, and the horticulturalists named it, probably randomly.
Lunch: Arugula with roasted eggplant, roasted sweet potatoes, tuna, chickpeas and sunflower seeds
Snack: Small persimmon
Dinner: Eye round of beef, sweet potato, steamed asparagus
Dessert: Chocolate chip cookie dough Quest bar


Exercise for Today:

20 minutes on the Stairmaster, then Leg Day.

saef, my WW scales also kicked the bucket last week. I've moved back into the mechanical world and like the whole picture of weight it gives - way beyond me. Salter Academy - they are so serious and large.

A perplexing result from my bone density scan. My spine is doing great, but there's some loss in my pelvis and also in my wrist. The doctor asked if I was doing weight-bearing exercises for my forearms! He asked if I drink milk. Then he asked if I ate cheese. I said," Very little," and he said, "Good," as this was a trick question. He then said: "It has too much fat in it. That must be how you keep your figure."

I've had that phrase resonating in my head: "Keep your figure." It sounds so old-fashioned and frankly, sexist, but that's my doctor for you. Also, I've been reading so much Gary Taubes and Paleo and other stuff that his counsel of completely avoiding fat also seems dated.

Now it's Tuesday and Christmas is coming straight at me, head on.

Weigh in: 141.2. My visiting mother fixed my Weight Watchers scale last night! She examined the back of the scale, as she was considering trying to open it up, but instead she ended up screwing in its screws more tightly, and that did the trick. Once the platform was screwed together and stabilized, the digital reading came back to life.

Meals for Today:

Breakfast: Egg bake with spinach, sun-dried tomatoes and mushrooms; yogurt and the other half of that small papaya, retrieved from obscurity on the topmost shelf of the refrigerator, on top of the bags of Sunnyland Farms pecans.
Snack: Ravenous before 9 AM. I ate a large Cortland apple and also, a string cheese stick. The heck with my doctor. (Well, not really: It was fat-free.)
Lunch: Just a couple baby kale leaves, mostly cold asparagus, with goat cheese, half an avocado and pecans, and also several forkfuls of sun-dried tomato hummus
Snack: Small persimmon
Dinner: Marinated London broil, steamed broccoli, two waxy little undercooked new potatoes
Dessert: Cookies and cream Quest bar

Exercise for Today:

20 minute Cybex arc trainer, hill intervals, and then Workout 12A1 of the Strong Curves Advanced program. Again, 3x12 sumo deadlifts at 145 lbs. Yes, I do train my arms, I thought angrily, which helped with each pull up off the floor.

A lesson for us all, saef. Sometimes there is just a screw loose somewhere.

:lol3:

Dagmar

Saef, did the doc test your Vitamin D? That's also a factor in bone density. The odd distribution of less dense places is puzzling!

Funny, visits from my mother in law tend to have a similar effect on my lifts.

//kaw

Alice, yes, the doctor has found that I have a Vitamin D deficiency, which was the reason for the bone density scan.

Yesterday, around suppertime, when my mother opened the microwave to use it, she found my morning bowl of steelcut oats sitting there, uneaten. Apparently at breakfast time, I forgot to retrieve and eat it -- which must be a first for me, because if I plan to eat food, and feel entitled to eat it, I will eat it, and eat it righteously. So now I understand my unusual ravenous hunger at 9:30 AM, as I didn't have any substantial slow-digesting fiber in my gut.

It's Wednesday, and I am angry at the injustice of receiving an email yesterday morning with 10 bullet points of tasks that all need to be resolved by Christmas Eve. I spent the whole day yesterday taking care of just one bullet. This task seems impossible. I foresee another week of vacation that will be spent working, when I'd planned to rest up for New Year's Week.

Weigh-in: 140.5. It's remarkable to me to be below 141. But it's deserved because I think of all the Christmas food that I've looked at and smelled and turned away from. Nothing, I've had nothing except chewing Trident Layers Pumpkin Spice sugarfree gum.

Meals for Today:

Breakfast: Egg bake with spinach, sun-dried tomatoes and mushrooms; pumpkin steelcut oats (no chance of missing out!) yogurt and blueberries
Snack: A Harry and David pear, of course, because management once again gave us all towering Harry & David giftboxes for the holidays. Is it just me, or are these pears terribly overrated?
Lunch: Baby kale mix with roasted vegetables, almonds, half an avocado, Craisins and several forkfuls of hummus
Snack: Small persimmon
Dinner: Marinated London broil, sweet potato, steamed broccoli
Dessert: White chocolate raspberry Quest bar

Exercise for Today:

20 minutes on recumbent bike, yes, at 11, and then 12B workout of Strong Curves advanced program. I feel done-in and shaky now.

Thursday, waking to warmth and rain, on Christmas Eve of the strangest December weather that I can ever recall experiencing.

Weigh-in: Surprised to see 139.8, a weight that is under 140, even if by the amount of an inhaled breath.

Meals for Today:

Breakfast: Egg bake with spinach, sun-dried tomatoes and mushrooms; pumpkin steelcut oats, yogurt and blueberries
Snack: Enormous and slightly too firm Cortland apple
Lunch: My mother brought me a pre-made so-called "Greek salad" in a container from the nearby casino (because of a $40 food voucher she had to use up). That would be romaine, some chopped cucumber, chunks of feta cheese and black olives, and EVOO dressing, very salty, with lots of oregano seasoning. I dressed it up by adding sun-dried tomatoes, almonds, half an avocado, a few pieces of broccoli and my usual forkfuls of hummus.
Snack: Small persimmon
Dinner: Cornish game hen, sweet potato, steamed asparagus
Dessert: Chocolate chip cookie dough Quest bar

Exercise for Today:

20 minutes on the Stairmaster, then Leg Day, moved up a day, instead of my doing this on Friday. That's so I can just do some cardio on Christmas Day, hours before my mother tends to wake up, and then get out of the gym. My gym is open for the holiday to accommodate members of all faiths, as Hanukkah ended a few weeks ago, on Dec. 14th.

Checking in again. I am doing a lot more lurking than posting these days- not sure why, since I am around.

Saef, that totally s*cks. I can't believe anyone is/was seriously expecting you to get that much work done on the last workday before Christmas. When I see things like that, I assume that the sender understands in his heart that the real completion date is after the new year. Being a New Yorker and not a native midwesterner, I usually take the up-front approach and email back that, I'm sorry, but I won't have that ready until x date. This is different from most of my work colleagues, who simply ignore the due date, don't reply, and wait until the sender emails a follow-up or 3. Literally. They will ignore direct email queries for a week or more when it suits them. And there never seem to be consequences for that passive-agressiveness around here (of course, I can't speak for your work environment).

Alice, the 3 most common places to lose bone density are the lower spine, pelvis and wrist. That's why the bone density test examines those 3 spots. Saef, it may be nothing that your'e doing- genetics plays a major role in osteoporosis. And so does parathyroid hormone, which your PCP should check if he thinks your wrist bones show lower-than-normal density.

Guess I'm doing ok with food and exercise based on my plan to maintain without losing over the holidays- I am hovering right around 127 after low-carb days, and 128 after normal-carb days. It feels both freeing and a little depressing that I'm not even trying to lose right now, but with the number of family gatherings and celebratory meals between T-giving and New Year's, it seems futile to try. Not that I am eating what others eat; like most other maintainers, I've walked past a dozen trays of cookies, cheese, chocolates and other snacks in the last week alone, and refrained from seconds of pretty much anything but vegetables and plain meat.

Thanks for the clarification, Andrea. Something I didn't know. I'm glad you and Saef are both arriving at Christmas having successfully maintained, both your weight and your good attitude. I'm doing okay too.

Last night I was very hungry when I got home, and DH said they left me some salad. (stepdaughter and 3 granddaughters were here for 4 days) I was excited until I took it out of the fridge and saw that there was twice as much grated cheese as greens. I put it away and made new salad.

BIL sent one pound of See's Victorian Toffee. What was he thinking?! Visiting family brought a huge basket of goodies including large chocolate bars, sausage, soup mix, etc. I will re-gift some of it to my cousin who is coming to spend Christmas. I am happy to be home this weekend where it's easy to eat healthy. None of the sweets are tempting me (yet).

Friday, waking up on Christmas, amazed that I don't have to work.

I have conflicting desires regarding this day: I want Christmas to be like any other day, and I don't want Christmas to be like any other day.

Weigh-in: Back up to 140.5. Possibly the saltiness of yesterday's lunch.

Meals for Today:

Breakfast: Egg bake with spinach, sun-dried tomatoes and mushrooms; pumpkin steelcut oats, yogurt and strawberries
Lunch: Romaine, a few cucumber wedges, roasted vegetables, pecans, goat cheese and Craisins
Dinner: Prime rib roast, little potatoes, steamed brussel sprouts, sauteed mushrooms
Dessert: Cookies and cream Quest bar

Exercise for Today:

30 minutes on the elliptical, cranked up to nine, random intervals, alternating forward and backward. Then I rolled out my quads, hips and glutes and stretched a little. Just four of us in the gym this morning when I left at 9 AM. My mother had just gotten up and had coffee with home-made bread and lemon curd and was ready to open gifts.

Saturday, the Day After. It's still about 50 degrees.

My visiting mother & I have reached a kind of fragile understanding. As long as I find activities for us, we'll be okay. It's the unstructured time that's difficult: She retreats into TV watching and I retreat into the laptop. So I'm plotting the day's drive to two amusements: Viewing interior-designer-decorated trees at a historic house and seeing a documentary on Peggy Guggenheim, which I hope doesn't bore my mother.

Weigh-in: A little bit up, at 140.6.

Meals for Today:

Breakfast: Egg bake with spinach, sun-dried tomatoes and mushrooms; pumpkin steelcut oats, yogurt and strawberries
Lunch: Power greens (ha! baby kale, spinach and some other stuff), roasted vegetables, goat cheese, almonds, sun-dried tomatoes and several forkfuls of sriracha-flavored hummus
Dinner: Eye round beef, steamed broccoli, a couple brussels sprouts, some tiny potatoes
Dessert: Cinnamon roll Quest bar

Exercise for Today:

20 minutes elliptical, Workout 12C of Strong Curves Advanced and Pilates mat class

Sunday, getting colder gradually. Yesterday, at the federal mansion we visited, the roses were still blooming and some jonquills had opened up out in the formal gardens, as though it were Easter instead of the day after Christmas.

Today we'll see "Fiddler on the Roof" in a revival that got good press.

This is my last day of the second round of the Strong Curves advanced program. I'm still researching what I'll do next.

Weigh-in: 140.7, up another fraction.

Meals for Today:

Breakfast: Egg bake with spinach, sun-dried tomatoes and mushrooms; pumpkin steelcut oats, yogurt and strawberries
Lunch: Back into midtown, and decided to take my mother to The Little Beet. I had a three-side meal: roasted cauliflower, roasted butternut squash and lentils with kale and pecans
Dinner: Prime rib, which I don't like as well as my mother does, little potatoes, steamed cauliflower
Dessert: Cookies and cream Quest bar

Exercise for Today:

20 minutes recumbent bike, then last Strong Curves Advanced workout 12A2. Not very strong today on my deadlifts. But finished.

Monday morning, during which my mother & I will immerse ourselves in the crowds at an open-air, hilltop shopping plaza to try to return a bathrobe that I bought her that's too big. Perhaps they'll be thinned a bit now that the weekend is over. It can't be any worse than Midtown yesterday, which was difficult to shoulder our way through, further complicated by people halted in the center of the sidewalk with their camera phones raised.

I'm still researching strength programs, but I get a day's respite because this is my usual leg day. I'd been doing leg days twice weekly, to strengthen my injured leg, because that had been my physical therapy schedule, but now I think it's time to cut back to a more regular upper/lower split.

Weigh-in: 141.2, up again. I don't feel as though I ate a lot yesterday, but I went up fractions of a pound over the past few days, and now I'm at the same weight as last Tuesday.

Meals for Today:

Breakfast: Egg bake with spinach, sun-dried tomatoes and mushrooms; pumpkin steelcut oats, yogurt and cherries
Snack: Large Cortland apple
Lunch: The salad bar at Whole Foods, which means a $17 salad of kale, quinoa, goat cheese, sundried tomatoes, pecans, Craisins, roasted asparagus, curried cauliflower and carrots, and probably too much baked tofu
Dinner: Ham (which I will regret at tomorrow's weigh-in), roasted brussel sprouts, sweet potato
Dessert: Cookies and cream Quest bar

Exercise for Today:

20 minutes on the arc trainer, because someone had the Stairmaster, then Leg Day, with no ab exercises, because after it was over, I took a Pilates mat class that I don't usually attend because it's during my working hours.

Tuesday morning, the day when my mother was supposed to go home, but she probably won't, and she shouldn't, if the roads are icy from sleet as the forecast said they would be. I am getting that sad feeling of taking time off from work but not using it particularly well or enjoying myself much.

Weigh-in: 142.8, just as I'd predicted. This is from eating salty ham for last night's dinner, and also from that big portion of tofu on the vegetables.

Meals for Today:

Breakfast: Egg bake with spinach, sun-dried tomatoes and mushrooms; apple steelcut oats, yogurt and cherries
Lunch: Mixed greens with roasted vegetables, half an avocado, goat cheese, sun-dried tomatoes and several forkfuls of hummus
Dinner: Eye round beef, steamed broccoli and green beans
Dessert: Cinnamon roll Quest bar

Exercise for Today:

20 minutes Stairmaster, and then, unimaginatively, Workout 1A of Strong Curves Advanced Program, though with higher weights than 12 weeks ago, when I last started this program.

Saef.... When should the roads clear? Hopefully soon so you can enjoy your vacation!

We hit that point with family visitors yesterday.... Tension, tears..... Oy vey....

Hopefully today is happier. I couldn't sleep with dh snoring so I'm up early and eager to go to bikram yoga....it's been at least 10 days....

My weight is staying good.... Wish my good habits would rub off on my girls more. Sigh.... One tries... The other not so much... Hoping they don't derail me with them and dh all home the rest of the week.

I had my annual Christmas Eve dinner and it was a huge success.I fretted about it beforehand because I am not confident in my cooking abilities.
I got a butterball prestuffed frozen turkey and cooked from frozen.It was perfect and moist.The timing was easy...I put it in oven at 9.30 am at 325 as directed and basted with real butter a couple of times and it was finished at 3.30 pm.
I had about 30 people over and we had a great time.
Not to brag,but I done good...I alternated one glass of wine with one glass of water and paced myself this way only consuming 3 glasses of wine all night.The eating was controlled as well and my weight has stayed in the 135 lb range.This is good enough for me.Leftovers have been frozen in portions for future meals and out of my way.
The only baddish carb I ate was cabbage rolls with jasmine rice.
It was a successful holiday and I hope you all had one too.
Sometimes I feel reluctant to come here because things have been going so well for me weightwise and I often feel like I am bragging.

apo9, it's fine to brag here. It's actually nice to read about someone who is succeeding and happy instead of fretting, like so many of us seem to be from time to time. Congratulations on that dinner!

Thank you for your encouragement.I do lurk every day and feel like I am a member of the group even if I stand back and mainly observe.I am keenly interested in everyones story and am amazed at the determination.But is is determination and sticking to it that we all have that keeps us all here.
The alternative is giving up and that aint happening.