I'd never heard of stack-rankings, so I looked it up on Google. Ugh. You should share the top hit I found with your HR group: http://www.businessinsider.com/stack...d-idea-2013-11

Thursday, and my head is filled with a haze of year-end reviews, which are going on all around me. I'll conduct another shortly. One more to write, two more to give tomorrow. Then I'm done.

Weigh in: 141.3, down a little more, the usual pattern of the week.

Meals for Today:

Breakfast: Pumpkin steelcut oats; egg bake with ham, mushrooms and spinach; yogurt and blueberries
Snack: MacIntosh apple
Lunch: Arugula, smoked turkey breast, edamame, cukes and tomatoes and endive spears
Snack: About a quarter cup of pomegranate arils
Dinner: Two salmon patties on top of greens with a few dabs of tartar sauce
Dessert:Pumpkin pie Quest bar


Exercise for Today:

30 minutes on the elliptical, alternating forward and backward.

Friday, with one last review to write up. Two of four assessment areas are all filled out. I have to conduct my last two year-end reviews today. Also I'm in back-to-back meetings on a project that's kept me turning around work in the evenings. At 5 AM today I was updating a PowerPoint for it and I feel lucky now, at nearly 8 AM, that I haven't been asked for another iteration.

Weigh in: 140.3, probably as low as I'll get for the week.

Meals for Today:

Breakfast: Pumpkin steelcut oats; egg bake with ham, mushrooms and spinach; yogurt and blueberries
Snack: Red and yellow cherries, yum
Lunch: Heated up frozen spinach with basil, a little parmesan and garlic, and a little pimento, and the last of the salmon cakes
Snack: MacIntosh apple
Dinner: Pretty much like lunch, except heated up turnip greens and three mediocre crab cakes, most filler
Dessert: Cinnamon roll Quest bar

Exercise for Today:

20 minutes on the arc trainer, when I'd hoped for the StairMaster, but someone else was using it and I was running late. Then another Leg Day.

Saef-- I love reading your meals each day. They sound much more interesting than most of mine.

One more day of work for me and then a 3 day weekend! I suggested to dh that we see a movie this weekend and he was aghast-- there's football! All weekend? But he suggested seeing one tonight so we are going to sushi and then to see the Will Farrell comedy. It's hard for us to agree on a movie so hope it's a good choice. We are going to a theater that has recently redone their seating and I'm told it's all plush recliners! You choose your seats ahead of time and there wasn't much left to choose so hopefully we can still see okay. I thought the recliners would be good for dh's knee.

Hoping I can still find time for the gym before we go out, but we will see. Dh is bringing my car into the dealership and you never know how those things go...

I tried a new class at the gym yesterday called Pop Pilates which was pilates to pop music. It was pretty good and then dh joined me for weight lifting. I kept my calories low and I didn't sleep much (thank you Ellie for the 4 am wakeup to go out), so my weight was down today. I doubt sushi tonight will let it stay low tomorrow, but I love sushi!

Oh blessed Saturday: I am so relieved the week is over. It wasn't easy. A portion of our company has reorganized, the plans carried out in great secrecy and announced on Wednesday, and so that division is in uproar. I worked till midnight, I revised at 5 AM, and I had to give a presentation unexpectedly: "Here, you do it." The reviews are pretty much over and signed off -- except for that angry direct report who's refusing to give his e-signature --- and best of all, I don't have to work over the weekend.

Michele, are my meals that curious, really?

They're repetitious, but I've got a strong obsessive-compulsive streak, and also, I do batch cooking so as not to cook on weeknights when I get in late from work.

The difference between you and me is that I'm not a caregiver and I live alone so I eat what I please, and I only need to please me.

I eat lunch at a company cafeteria with a big salad bar. Other than that, I rarely eat out -- and now THAT is really weird for where I live, because restaurant-going is a serious past-time in the NY area, I mean, it's almost professionalized, a cross between socializing and attending an art gallery and going to a brothel. If I adopted that attitude, I'd be fat again in no time.

Weigh in: 139.9, another fraction downward. I was wrong, yesterday wasn't the lowest for the week.

Meals for Today:

Breakfast: Pumpkin steelcut oats; egg bake with ham, mushrooms and spinach; yogurt and blueberries
Lunch: Arugula with roasted vegetables, goat cheese, lots of enormous toasted pecans, marinated artichokes, a couple golden raisins, and several forkfuls of hummus
Dinner: Cauliflower, green peppers and chickpeas in Trader Joe's curry simmer sauce with a chicken leg quarter
Dessert: Mint chocolate chip Quest bar

Exercise for Today:

Workout 3A2 of the Strong Curves Advanced program. Another 3x5 deadlifting 165 lbs. And then a Pilates mat class, which was rough, because of those deadlifts done before class.

Sunday morning, still thinking about what I liked and did not like about "The Revenant," which is a very long movie that ate up most of my post-luncheon afternoon yesterday. But after all my time working it's a luxury to get away to see a movie.

I'm undecided today between a trip downtown to see another movie or staying in, which always feels like a good, comforting idea but then sometimes makes me feel bored, confined and restless.

Weigh-in: Up a pound and a half, to 141.6, with puffy ankles. Was that the hummus?

Meals for Today:

Breakfast: Last of the pumpkin steelcut oats; egg bake with ham, mushrooms and spinach; yogurt and blueberries
Snack: Red and yellow cherries
Lunch: Arugula with roasted vegetables, half an avocado, lots of large, toasted pecans, several forkfuls of Trader Joe's hummus and some scattered raisins, pepitas and sunflower seeds that were at the bottom of a trail mix bag
Dinner: Salmon with miso glaze, steamed green beans, lemony roasted cabbage, roasted butternut squash. The miso glaze will probably get me up past 142 lbs. tomorrow.
Dessert: Mint chocolate chip Quest bar

Exercise for Today:

20 minutes on the StairMaster, then Workout 3C of the Strong Curves Advanced Program.

Continuing to hover in the 129 range, owing to continued days of ~1700 cals. I can't seem to convince myself that it's ok to be a bit hungry in the evening, or that I'm not "owed" a carby or high-fat treat after dinner each night.
I have a conversation with myself every day over the contradiction between my desire to get back to goal weight and my desire to eat at maintenance calories.

The day started to go wrong when I overslept by 15 minutes, and then as I picked my way over ice to the gym and saw that the onramp for the parkway was shut down. (Turns out there was a 17-car pileup overnight from the ice.) I decided I'd work from home.

Of course this was the day senior management flew in from California, and informed me, as I attended a call on WebEx, that I'd now be responsible for a major project, on which I'd simply been an advisor.

My neck and my shoulders have clenched up as tight as a fist, and I am so stressed I've started yawning repeatedly, which means I am kind of shutting down.

Weigh in: 142.5, as I'd predicted from yesterday. Last Monday, I was 142.9. Though I want to see this as progress, my weight just cycles within the same approximate three-pound range. That's maintenance, though, right? Just not the three pounds that I'd hoped for.

Meals for Today:

Breakfast: Apple steelcut oats; last of the egg bake with ham, mushrooms and spinach; yogurt and blueberries
Snack: Red and yellow cherries
Lunch: Arugula with roasted vegetables, half an avocado, lots of large, toasted pecans, Craisins and sunflower seeds
Dinner: Cauliflower, green peppers and chickpeas in Trader Joe's curry simmer sauce with a chicken leg quarter
Dessert: Mint chocolate chip Quest bar

Exercise for Today:

20 minutes on the arc trainer, then Leg Day, and a careful shuffle home over the ice. I can't believe how protective I feel of this leg and how much I dislike the idea of falling.

saef, your job sounds like a nightmare. I hope there are upsides in it for you, too.

Saturday was a lower body workout, Sunday was upper body, yesterday was just cardio. As I posted in the weights thread (which I'm trying to revive), the fraternity boys are back in town for spring rush, which makes working out more challenging. They travel in packs of three or four, but take up enough space for 6-8 people. It's the gym equivalent of manspreading.

Plus one almost can't help but overhear their conversations (I can't have headphones in when I lift, too annoying). It's all about how much they drank and how many girls they hooked up with the past weekend, and about how much they plan to drink and have sex in the coming weekend. Maybe the sorority girls talk about the same things (though I doubt it -- there's still a double standard re sex), but if they do, at least they don't do it at the gym.

Anyhow, time to move my workouts back to the morning. When I go between 9 and 10, there's no one at the gym except retirees, grad students, and a few "early rising" undergraduates who are anything but Greek.

//kaw

Good job all- I started Stronglifts 5x5 a week ago. I needed a new goal that wasn't related to the scale. I would like to lose 5 pounds in the next 8 weeks also, but need to eat close to maintenance if I want to make real gains.
I have a weekend full of car travel, eating out and hubbys 50th birthday celebration, which will probably be over 2 days. Thursday will be my day off from exercise.

It's Tuesday, and I have calmed down somewhat about this big project I've been handed after sensibly talking about it with other people who've handled similar stuff. Also, the call with the angry direct report went far better than I'd imagined it would.

Still, I worked till midnight, was up at 4:15 AM. I have to create a PowerPoint deck today. But after that, I will sleep hard.

The daunting thing today is traveling to see the doctor who represents the insurance company for the woman who hit me with her car. My lawyer will be there, too. It's a bit of a drive and I can ill afford the time off from work.

Weigh-in: 142.3, down a bit as the retention from salt releases a little.

Meals for Today:

Breakfast: Apple steelcut oats; egg bake with artichokes, ham and turnip greens; yogurt and blueberries
Snack: Cortland apple with some bruises on it
Lunch: Arugula with roasted vegetables, Trader Joe's red pepper hummus, Craisins and raw almonds
Dinner: Cauliflower, green peppers and chickpeas in Trader Joe's curry simmer sauce with a chicken leg quarter
Dessert: Mint chocolate chip Quest bar


Exercise for Today:

20 minutes recumbent bike, then Workout 4A1 of the Strong Curves Advanced program. Deadlifting 170 lbs. 3x5 today.

Saef-- I wouldn't call your meals curious-- just interesting-- lots of good ingredients-- when I see them, I think, oh! I should get some arugula or sunflower seeds or the like.

kaw-- yuck on the gym! Dh and I often lament about various groups on the machines. The young guys tend to sit on the machines for extended periods of time doing nothing but stuff on their smart phones. The old guys tend to sit on the machines doing?? just sitting, staring at the TV above.... Very few people seem like dh and I-- we have our routine-- we move through it and we leave.

Hmm about the gym. I'm very fortunate; my new(ish) gym has 2 deadlift stations, a hexagonal barbell station, 3 squat cages, and an additional barbell rack. So, if you're willing to swap deadlifts for squats (or vice versa), there's never a time when all the stations are occupied, even when the bros are in full force; I live in a college town, so they're here from Sept-May. And I don't mind their inane sexist talk- I just enjoy the view :>)

I hear you. I can understand why you don't want to let someone work in if you're working with barbells or in one of the cages: too much loading and unloading, too much reshuffling of pins. But, I've never understood the "sit on the machine and check my text messages / watch TV while other people are waiting" mentality. I take 1-2 minute rests between sets -- shorter if it's a low weight/high rep workout, longer if it's heavy/low rep workout -- but I don't camp on the machines.

//kaw

Wrote off the angry direct report too soon. Now he's distorting what I said to him and forwarding his version to other managers. This won't end well for anyone. I went over my draft response with our HR representative last night and sent it out early this morning before I headed to the gym.

I'm sitting here, a little stunned by how much I've got to do, and have to simply itemize it and start tackling it, task by task.

And it's Wednesday, so it must mean I'm under 142 again.

Weigh in: 141.2, a little less

Meals for Today:

Breakfast: Apple steelcut oats; egg bake with artichokes, ham and turnip greens; yogurt and blueberries
Snack: Another bruised Cortland apple
Lunch: Arugula, roasted zucchini, buffalo-wing-style mushrooms, tuna and sunflower seeds
Dinner: Three crab cakes that I was unable to detect any crab in, dabs of tartar sauce, on top of arugula with balsamic vinaigrette
Dessert: Mint chocolate chip Quest bar

Exercise for Today:

20 minutes Stairmaster, then Workout 4B of the Strong Curves Advanced program.

My gym, a costly little urban boutique type of place, does not draw in the bros. But I hear you, because of the people at my gym who use equipment as their living room furniture, like a coffee table, sofa or hassock. My chief complaint is that the plyo boxes become a drink stand, and then I have to carefully set everyone's travel mug and water bottle and jacket and laptop aside while I remove the box that I want to use for weighted step-ups.

Over time, this would definitely send me berserk.

Back when DH and I both went to a local gym most of the members also kind of ran it. So everyone got a chance on all the equipment and everyone used it as gym equipment. Not a lot of information or instruction on the equipment though.

My big bonus with that place was that the manager brought his dogs with him every day. The dogs loved me and would follow me from machine to machine and watch as I worked out. For me that was a lot less boring than blaring TV's or wearing headphones.

Dagmar :strong:

Trying to focus on being less rigid. I seem to remember this being a recurring "resolution" for me.
I couldn't work out yesterday due to hair appointment but I did get a fairly long dog walk done.
I'll work out today (hopefully)....
Tomorrow dh wants to get sushi and the place he wants to go is incredibly popular and doesn't take reservations. You have to get there by 4:45 to get in line to get a table otherwise you end up waiting 1-2 hours. So.... no gym tomorrow either but I should be able to walk the dogs first.....
Saturday is my "weigh in" but it is just for me....

I know it is ok... my weight is almost where I want to be.... I will lose anything that I temporarily gain.... less rigidity is more important! Dh will start traveling again soon and I need to enjoy this time with him....

Thursday is over, and I am, too. I attended eight meetings today and I don't know where my day went. I only stayed at the office till 6:30 PM today and then stopped at the grocery store on the way home, bracing myself, because there is a snowstorm in the forecast for Saturday, and everyone's provisioning like it's the Zombie Apocalypse instead of about a day shut in, looking out the window, and then a day of shoveling.

Weigh in: 141.9, about a half-pound more. Thanks, crab cakes. And I didn't even enjoy you all that much. Or maybe it was those mushrooms. Now those, I did enjoy.

Meals for Today:

Breakfast: Apple steelcut oats; egg bake with artichokes, ham and turnip greens; yogurt and blueberries
Lunch: Shredded kale, green beans, artichokes, sweet and sour baked tofu
Dinner: Shrimp and a bag of steamed mixed vegetables, sort of Asian, at least, with broccoli, mushrooms, water chestnuts and such
Dessert: Brownie Quest bar

Exercise for Today:

30 minutes elliptical, alternating forward and backward
Another session of curls: 22.5 lb dumbbells for curls, 20 lbs hammer curls, 22.5 lbs cross-body curls

On Friday morning, I am looking at seven more meetings, including a conversation with HR about the difficult direct report, a conversation with the report himself, and a presentation to the head of our division about a major sales-collateral-producing project that I'm leading -- all happening within the same hour and a half.

Weigh in: 141.2, back down.

Meals for Today:

Breakfast: Apple steelcut oats; egg bake with artichokes, ham and turnip greens; yogurt and cherries
Lunch: Arugula with bleu cheese, half an avocado, toasted pecans, Craisins and roasted vegetables
Dinner: Same as last night: Shrimp and those reputedly Chinese steamed mixed vegetables. Went into my freezer for this one.
Dessert: Pumpkin Pie Quest bar

Exercise for Today:

20 minutes on the StairMaster, then my Leg Day workout. All the overhead TVs showed weathermen and maps with colored bands across them. I believe the band in which I reside was labeled 4" to 7" but now that I'm home, I'll have to look at the local forecast. They'd been saying 10" to 12" a few days ago.

I thought of you this morning, Saef, when I saw the weather reports. Stay safe....

Saturday morning, waking to a snow which shows no signs of stopping. They said 12-18 inches when it's finished and of course, clear sunny blue skies in its wake.

Michele, I'm fine. I can walk two blocks and get almost anything I'd ever need.

Weigh in: 140.7, the usual low weight of a Saturday morning.

Meals for Today:

Breakfast: Apple steelcut oats; egg bake with artichokes, ham and turnip greens; yogurt and blueberries
Lunch: Arugula with bleu cheese, half an avocado, marinated artichokes, toasted pecans, Craisins and roasted vegetables
Dinner: Beef stew with garlic, kalmata olives and capers and steamed cauliflower. Yes, it's salty. I'll be up to 142 tomorrow for sure.
Dessert: Mint chocolate chip Quest bar

Exercise for Today:

And the gym was thronged, but only between 8 am and about 10:30 AM, when the Governor said to get off the roads.

20 minutes on the recumbent bike, Workout 4A2 of the Strong Curves Advanced program. The substitute Pilates instructor said she feels my deadlifting 170 lbs is "too much" and there is "no reason for it," and I wondered if she'd have said that if I was a man. No one showed up for the Pilates class so she wrapped her scarf around her long ballerina neck and walked back home.

There are different deadlifting standards for men and women. saef, you're lifting at an intermediate level, I think.

What are your reasons for lifting that weight?

Hmmm. Good question, Jay. Because I can? This I can tell you: Yesterday's blizzard dumped 25 inches of snow on top of my car and on all parts adjacent. This morning, I was able to clear off that heavy snow in about a half-hour. If I needed to go anywhere today, I could. (But I won't because I have to be really motivated to leave the small homestead that I have cleared. Some casual visitor at our apartment complex may instantly claim it, leaving me circling around, trying to find a place to park temporarily while I shovel open a second spot for myself.)

Weigh in: 141, even. Up, as I'd thought, though not as much as I'd expected.

Meals for Today:

Breakfast: Apricot steelcut oats; egg bake with artichokes, ham and turnip greens; yogurt and blueberries
Lunch: Arugula with bleu cheese, half an avocado, walnuts and pecans, and roasted cauliflower and butternut squash
Dinner: More beef stew, this time with roasted cauliflower and steamed green beans
Dessert: Double chocolate chunk Quest bar

Exercise for Today:

20 minutes on the arc trainer, Workout 4C of the Strong Curves Advanced program, and 30 minutes of snow brushing and shoveling.

A bad case of Monday going on here. That happens when I work over the weekend to catch up. I thought I'd feel freed-up once my car got out onto the clean, dry highway, away from the clogged-up streets, but the traffic crawled because of accidents.

Weigh in: 143.3, which may have been fiber, rather than calories, though I suspect even alluding to that is too much information.

Meals for Today:

Breakfast: Apricot steelcut oats; egg bake with artichokes, ham and turnip greens; yogurt and blueberries
Snack: A navel orange, not filling enough -- I'm hungry already and it's well before even 11 AM
Lunch: Arugula (one of my major food groups, apparently) and endive with sun-dried tomatoes and grilled chicken breast
Snack: MacIntosh apple
Dinner: More beef stew, this time with lemon-roasted cabbage and a few steamed green beans
Dessert: Cinnamon roll Quest bar

Exercise for Today:

20 minutes on the StairMaster, then Leg Day. I felt tired this morning, my nose ran & I lowered the weights. I suspect I may be coming down with something.

It's Tuesday and I'm feeling somewhat more optimistic because someone said that the thing I'd worked on Saturday, during the blizzard, was "great."

The challenge will be visiting an ATM, the Post Office, the gas station and a grocery store around the margins of work-time.

Weigh in: 141.6, a number that came as a relief, as I'd thought yesterday's was too high.

Meals for Today:

Breakfast: Apricot steelcut oats; egg bake with artichokes, ham and turnip greens; last of the yogurt and a navel orange
Snack: Large Cortland apple
Lunch: Mixed greens, roasted vegetables, bleu cheese crumbles, walnuts, Craisins
Dinner: Last of the stew, roasted cauliflower and cabbage
Dessert: Cinnamon roll Quest bar

Exercise for Today:

20 minutes recumbent bike, then Workout 5A1 of the Strong Curves Advanced program.

It only took six months to hit the 500 post limit.

Would some kind soul start the new thread.

Whew, Saef-- bet your weigh in was a big relief!

I'm very happy that I'm calorie counting. It really keeps me in check and makes it easier to avoid the temptations. Yesterday was a "staff development" day for me. In the morning, our principals made pancakes and sausage. I have to say that it wasn't tempting-- the smell was pretty overpowering. In the afternoon, though, I went to a library meeting and there were more temptations there! On the tables were bowls of nuts and candies. They also had an ice cream break with individual Ben and Jerry's. I managed to avoid everything by putting on my imaginary blinders. My weight was unchanged today but I know it would have been "weigh" up if I'd succumbed to temptation. Win in my books!

The discussion continues: