Tuesday morning, feeling a bit scattered as I've not yet taken a moment to write down a to-do list and stuff keeps occurring to me at random moments. When I am more stressed, I'm more organized. The humidity today is punishing. I realized I haven't made gazpacho yet this year, and that's now on my list of errands: Tomatoes and cukes and a green pepper or two.

Weigh-in: 139.4, up just a fraction, and my stomach feels unsettled and acidic.

Meals for Today:

Breakfast: Pumpkin muffin with hemp seed and apricots; scrambled eggs with the last of the almond milk; blueberries with cinnamon and yogurt
Snack: A large peach
Lunch: Baby arugula, roasted vegetables, lentils, pecans, half an avocado, goat cheese and golden mulberries
Dinner: Two overdone salmon cokes, steamed asparagus, roasted cauliflower
Dessert: Chocolate peanut butter Quest bar


Exercise for Today:

At the gym, workout 9A1 of Strong Curves, which felt like it was the edge of my capacity. Also, as I said, the humidity is high so I was dripping sweat on the polished wooden floor and soaking my gym towel.

Dagmar, what about finding yourself a partner? Do you know any dog-walking/pet-sitting colleagues from your years of service? Anyone you like enough to suggest you join forces?

FWIW, I can't seem to find consistent help with my many tasks either. DH is great but swamped himself, and he does the bulk of the child-related tasks. Like you, I've had poor luck with people being responsible enough to follow through on things without a lot of supervision.

Wednesday morning, and I let myself fall back asleep after the 4 AM alarm, so I woke too late to go the gym, which always leaves me uneasy all day long, till I actually get there in the evening after work. It's because work has a tendency to not end, though I'm not panicked by it anymore.

Weigh-in: 139.9, not surprising, because my legs felt swollen last night.

Meals for Today:

Breakfast: I'm out of eggs, so I had my pumpkin muffin with several tablespoons of almond butter, pretty hardened stuff, not really spread acrosss the muffin; blueberries with cinnamon and yogurt
Snack: The last of the aging cherries, which weren't that good
Lunch: Baby arugula with roasted vegetables, beets and farro, marinated tofu and chickpeas
Snack: Four lychee fruit and a peach
Dinner: Two salmon cakes with horseradish hummus and steamed broccoli
Dessert: Cookies and cream Quest bar

Exercise for Today:

Strong Curves 9B workout. This was TOUGH. Because I overslept, and didn't get to the gym at 5:30 AM, I ended up going at 6:30 PM, a very bad time to use our gym's limited floor space in the free-weight section. The guys were out. Now, my gym is a small, expensive little boutique of a place, in an area where there are a Gold's, Blink, Planet Fitness and costly, elegant Equinox, so the men using the gym tend to be older, and the younger males tend to be runner types or, like, accountants getting in some time on weight machine circuits. At some point, putting a pair of 45-lb plates on the Olympic bar, I found an older male staring at me from his seat on a machine and I thought of the word "emasculating."

Thursday morning, with my alarm going off at 4 AM -- it was 1010 WINS talking about how hot and humid it's going to be today. I managed to put in a half-hour of serious cardio on the elliptical, pick up two dozen eggs and fill the tank before getting to work. (Now if I can just remember to take the eggs out of the fridge at work when I leave at the end of the day ...)

Weigh-in: 141.7. This was not a number that I expected or wanted to see, but I did eat a perfectly enormous salad for lunch yesterday. I have spent this week gaining 2.5 lbs.

Meals for Today:

Breakfast: Again, a pumpkin muffin, this time with two tablespoons of crunchy natural peanut butter; blueberries with cinnamon and yogurt
Snack: A peach that was a bit crunchy
Lunch: Watercress and arugula salad, tomatoes, roasted vegetables, tuna
Snack: Some dried apple rings
Dinner: Last two salmon cakes, horseradish hummus, steamed broccoli and asparagus
Dessert: Fresh figs and an apple pie Quest bar


Exercise for Today:

In the morning, 30 minutes on the elliptical, doing what I did before the accident, that is, random program, resistance cranked to eight, alternating backward and forward. (Two years ago, I would've done 60 minutes.)

Saef, your stated goal weight under your avatar is 138-142. As near as I can tell, you are exactly, precisely in that range >90% of the time. Why does the natural swing within that range bother you so much? Is it that your goal weight has changed but you haven't updated it? If not, why torment yourself?

I too am constantly yo-yoing, between 128 and 131, meaning that my "true" weight is somewhere around 129. Unfortunately, my GW is 125, which means I'm perpetually trying to maintain a calorie deficit. Too bad that for me, maintenance calories is around 1600/day (including what I expend in exercise), which means that I need to consume 1400 cal/day consistently for 18 days to lose 1 pound. Well, every week I have (at least) 1 day when I eat 2000+, and what with rounding error on many of my food calculations, I never manage a calorie deficit consistently enough to lose anything. Honestly, I don't know how I ever did it to begin with. I know I used to be able to eat a strict 1200 cal/day for a month at a time without cheating, but that level of deprivation no longer feels endurable. So, here I am, permanently stuck in the "lose 5 pounds" category, fearful that it will go up to 10 if I relax for even a week.

Right there with you, Andrea.... I'm trying hard to balance a healthy lifestyle without being entirely rigid... it has resulted in my hovering around 130, rather than 125, or even the 120 of just a year or so ago.... I WANT to be lower... but not badly enough apparently.

Andrea, well, you wouldn't know this, but it's because there's the number here on the site, which is pragmatic and somewhat healthy (though slightly overweight by those wretched BMI charts) and there's the Secret Number in my head, the one that's well away from the overweight range, which is 135-138.

Friday, not wanting to get out of bed, but I had to, for physical therapy at 5:30 AM, and a scheduled appointment is a wonderful motivator. I really need this long weekend.

Weigh in: 142.2. Not much to say about this, except that I have eaten too much at regular meal-times: Salads that weighed in heavily, lots of sugarfree gum, where the xylitol may cause me to retain fluid, and salty stuff. It's easy to show up for every workout, make healthy choices, and still gain weight through quantity.

Meals for Today:

Breakfast: Pumpkin muffin with two tablespoons of peanut butter; yogurt with blueberries & cinnamon
Lunch: Spring mix with roasted vegetables, cold steamed asparagus, toasted pecans, goat cheese, half an avocado and golden mulberries
Snack: Four fresh green figs
Dinner: Two hamburgers, no buns, steamed broccoli
Dessert: Vanilla almond crunch Quest bar

Exercise for Today:

Physical therapy, 12 minutes elliptical warmup, then 4x12 squats with the bar, the second set with 10-lb plates on either end alternating with 4x20 crunches; 3x12 hamstring curl alternating with 3x12 adductor; 3x12 leg raises and 3x12 abductor; 12 minutes hill walking on treadmill.

Saturday morning of the much-longed-for three-day weekend. I haven't made many plans which means it may all dissolve into three undifferentiated days of Internet fixation and TV watching. And maybe that's okay, though I can think of other activities that might enrich my life a little and put something new into my head to think about.

Weigh in: 141.3, which is going in the right direction.

Meals for Today:

Breakfast: Pumpkin muffin; egg bake with asparagus, ham and red pepper; yogurt with blueberries & cinnamon
Lunch: Spring mix with roasted vegetables, fresh figs, walnuts, half an avocado and several forkfuls of hummus
Snack: Dried apple rings
Dinner: Two seafood sausages, steamed broccoli, simmered collards, and a bowl of gazpacho
Dessert: White chocolate raspberry Quest bar

Exercise for Today:

Workout 9C of Strong Curves, with a Pilates mat class afterward. The teacher remarked that I am getting better at balancing on a single leg. Well, yes because the left leg is stronger.

Sunday morning, after a restless night, with my stomach feeling acid and upset, during which I awoke at 1:30 AM and then at 3 AM.
Time for a more empowering avatar.

Weigh-in: 142 even, back in the wrong direction

Meals for Today:

Breakfast: Pumpkin muffin; egg bake with asparagus, ham and red pepper; yogurt with blueberries & cinnamon
Snack: Barlett pear, juicy and just slightly grainy, which is good
Lunch: Arugula salad with roasted vegetables, some home-made picked mushrooms, fresh figs, goat cheese, half an avocado and toasted pecans
Snack: Huge red-purple plum with golden flesh, a bit pointy on the end like a dreidel
Dinner: Hamburger with red pesto, half of a sweet potato, steamed green beans, gazpacho
Dessert: Cinnamon roll Quest bar

Exercise for Today:

Recumbent bike warmup, then workout 9A2 of the Strong Curves Advanced program. I've been ready for a while to get rid of my avatar that dates back to the wintertime, when I was leaning on a walker. So since Sunday morning is dead quiet -- only two of us in the whole gym around 7:15 AM on this Labor Day weekend -- I asked the nice girl at the front desk to snap a picture of me in full lockout after a purely experimental deadlift, the third in a series.

Great new avatar, Saef! How much were you deadlifting?

It's great, saef!

Ladies, that is 145 lbs. That's what I was hip-thrusting, and on a whim, I took off the bar pad & decided to try to deadlift it, to see if I could. There is no way that I could have done that even three months ago. I was trying to encourage myself a little, since I woke up feeling restless and did not like the number on the scale. I had to remind myself I'm more than that & there is some point in going to the gym.

Labor Day, waking at 4:15 AM, as though I have to labor. But that's okay with me because of all the "puttering" around my apartment that I could manage, which is mostly putting away stuff where I ought to have put it away earlier in the week.

Weigh in: 142.5. Up another half-pound. I knew this before the weigh-in, as I feel squishy around my waist and my ankle bones are mostly hidden -- I can press dents into them.

Meals for Today:

Breakfast: Pumpkin muffin; egg bake with asparagus, ham and red pepper; yogurt with strawberries
Snack: Another good ripe pear
Lunch: Arugula, roasted asparagus, walnuts, goat cheese, half an avocado, golden mulberries and garlic hummus
Snack: Fresh figs
Dinner: Hamburger with red pesto, half of a sweet potato, steamed broccoli, simmered collards
Dessert: Cookies and cream Quest bar


Exercise for Today:

20 minutes on elliptical, then duplicating my physical therapy workout as much as possible. But I had to use a Smith machine for squats, 70 lbs. 4x12 alternating with crunches, then 3x12 hamstring curls and quad raises and 3x12 abductor/adductor. Also did some accessory work on arms in between sets, for triceps and biceps.

I will NOT be intimidated by today, with its six meetings and two doctor appointments -- one with the insurance company's doctor, also attended by a paralegal from my lawyer's office, another with my therapist. I will just take it one hour at a time.

Weigh in: 142.4. Seeing it less than yesterday is heartening, even by a fraction, even if that could be the equivalent of drinking a glass of water.

Meals for Today:

Breakfast: Pumpkin muffin; egg bake with asparagus, ham and red pepper; yogurt with strawberries
Snack: Fresh figs
Lunch: Arugula salad with roasted vegetables, walnuts, Craisins, goat cheese and some guacamole
Snack: 180-calorie Bare Fruit cinnamon apple chips
Dinner: T-bone steak, steamed green beans, simmered collard greens
Dessert: Strawberry cheesecake Quest bar

Exercise for Today:

20 minutes on recumbent bike, then Workout 10A1 of Strong Curves. I upped the weight and tried to reduce my rest intervals which made this tougher than Sunday.

That's a great avatar, Saef!
There were two ladies at the gym yesterday that were lifting the exact same barbell/ weight. I was so amazed I walked over to peer at the weights to see what they were lifting.

Dh showed me his upper body routine and I'm quite sore today. We also did a ton of walking. He left this morning for Asia for two weeks. I'm bound and determined to get the scale to move in the right direction while he's gone. It's much, much too high for my liking.

I'm also grumpy that my AC that was just fixed seems to be leaking so I put a call into the AC guy. I'm pretty sure any visit he makes to me after work will disrupt my workout plans but I'll try to be flexible and figure something out. Of course, today's forecast is 102 and tomorrow's is 106.

Saef, I am impressed! You are quite strong! That much weigh does not bother your knee when you deadlift it? A very good sign that things are healing well.

Michele, do you plan to continue the upper body routine while DH is gone? I am still amazed at the changes in my appearance from sticking to a very moderate upper body routine week after week.

I transformed myself 8 years ago using only small - 5 lb. and 8 lb. - weights and a body ball. Took 6 weeks of 3X per week, 30 minutes per workout. I hope to get back to that starting this Sunday with the new trainer. It'll be slow but steady I think. I'm envisioning 6 months rather than 6 weeks as the time span but I'll see what happens.

Dagmar :lifter:

Yes, I think I should!:carrot:

Alice, no, my knees felt fine. My knees were pretty good before the accident. What has really weakened and requires continual rebuilding is my quads.

The humidity was high today and I soaked my shirt through in the gym, despite the airconditioning, and also had to work around an intense, wiry gray-haired guy whom I've never seen in the free-weight section on that time and day.

Weigh in: 142.1. Again, I'm just happy that it's less.

Meals for Today:

Breakfast: Chocolate ricotta muffin; egg bake with asparagus, ham and red pepper; yogurt with wild raspberries and a couple strawberries
Snack: Fresh figs
Lunch: Arugula with tuna, some raw vegetables and roasted vegetables, couscous and farro, and fresh tomatoes
Snack: Large dusty-looking red plum
Dinner: T-bone steak, gazpacho, simmered collard greens
Dessert: Cinnamon roll Quest bar

Exercise for Today:

20 minutes on the arc trainer, then Workout 10B of Strong Curves. Those parallel grip pullups are the hardest. I need to stop hunching my body. This was just a plain old tough workout,

I had one of the strangest bikram classes yesterday!
There was a new young guy that right off the bat seemed odd. Before class he was doing some weird poses and mumbling. During class (which was unbelievably hot and hard as it was over 100 outside), he was the most distracting person I've ever seen. Smack dab in the middle of the room, in front of the instructor, flopping around, talking, sighing, falling over repeatedly... you name it. As a result, everyone near him was falling out of poses and we were all trying to focus, yet looking at each other. The instructor tried to tell him to breathe.... Finally 3/4 of the way through class, the instructor had obviously had enough. He told him he knew he was new, but he needed to calm his energy down. The guy said he understood but got even worse. Then, the instructor said something about how the guy was acting like a toddler and needed to toughen up! The next thing I know, the guy is sobbing for the rest of class. The instructor finished 5 minutes early and left. Then the guy went out and they chatted. I was hoping he was giving him pointers or telling him not to return. When I went out a few minutes later, World War III had erupted. One guy was livid and saying we all needed our money back and that this guy never should have been allowed to stay. A lady started arguing with him that she was right next to the kid and she wasn't complaining and that he should show some compassion. There were people arguing both sides of it (the young kid had left so he didn't hear this). During class I kept wondering if he was "special" so I had more compassion than many others. I just wonder if he'll come back again (it was his 2nd class) and if so, what the instructor will do. Very weird.....

Michele, when I read about your experience, I understood what it must have been like, with everyone in the class concentrating and an unspoken agreement about what the atmosphere in such a class must be like, and this new guy bumbling in, who doesn't yet have that tacit understanding, or has trouble even sensing that such an understanding can exist among groups of people.

But it's the instructor who doesn't come off very well. (BTW, I'm trying to imagine a New Yorker saying "calm your energy" and I can't, though I know what he meant when he said it.) Telling someone he is acting like a toddler isn't as helpful as giving a clear directive on what behavior he ought to engage in and also modeling it for him. In my experience at work, you tell someone what they ought to do rather than just telling them what they ought NOT to do.

We've got a heavy, soaking rain this morning, much needed in the dry, crisp landscape, even if it slowed my commute to CT.

I am resolved to leave at 5 PM and attend my Pilates class on Thursday night, which I started missing in the post-reorg chaos. I tried last Thursday and gave up too easily.

Weigh in: 141.4, which is just about where I was last Saturday.

Meals for Today:

Breakfast: Chocolate ricotta muffin; egg bake with asparagus, ham and red pepper; yogurt with strawberries
Snack: A pear and fresh figs
Lunch: Arugula with grilled chicken breast, chickpeas, farro and couscous
Snack: Big ripe red plum with one pointy end
Dinner: Picadillo with gazpacho
Dessert: Cookies and cream Quest bar


Exercise for Today:

30 minutes on the elliptical, in high humidity, made even more difficult by working out between two hard-working women, one on a treadmill, the other on an identical elliptical at lighter resistance. I wish I could have blocked them out rather than feeling like adjacent horses in a race. Then some accessory work on biceps and triceps, leaving big sweat stains on the benches and having to wipe them up.

And nope, no Pilates. Suddenly I was called into a meeting with my manager and her manager. This was over a star employee whom I manage who's leaving us for another position. I encouraged her to make this move; I saw little future for her in staying with us & felt she has accomplished & learned all that she can in her current position. I don't think they'd like it if they knew this. But the move is not only good for her, it's better for our company overall. In the short term, it's not good for our department, but we can get someone else & the world won't end.

The idea of an instructor telling someone in a yoga class to "toughen up" goes way beyond my idea of what yoga is supposed to be.

To me, the bumbling student was off center and shouldn't have been in a hot yoga class.

As for the arguments that broke out afterward--it seems typical of the American mindset these days, where everyone is so stressed out and tightly scheduled that if anything goes wrong, they go ballistic. Now the yoga class was ruined! And people didn't get what they wanted! And now they have to go through the rest of their day all messed up!

I had to laugh at the people afterwards. Someone made some comment about their zen being ruined.

Yeah, well, as paying customers, we're entitled to get our zen in the correct amount, as scheduled, on time, or it's not the experience we expected and paid for, and we should be able to complain, because the customer is always right. Or something like that.

It's Friday and I'm feeling optimistic about the weekend and the break in the heat wave and the drought.

Weigh in: 141.3, again, down about the amount of a glass of water.

Meals for Today:

Breakfast: Chocolate ricotta muffin; egg bake with asparagus, ham and red pepper; yogurt with strawberries
Snack: Fresh figs
Lunch: Baby spinach with lentils, roasted vegetables, toasted pecans, guacamole and goat cheese
Snack: Another one of those dusty-looking, pointy-ended and delicious plums
Dinner: Picadillo and brown rice, gazpacho
Dessert: Strawberry cheesecake Quest bar

Exercise for Today:

At physical therapy, 12 minutes on the elliptical, then 4x10 walking lunges carrying 10-lb dumbbells alternating with 4x20 crunches, 3x12 hamstring curls/leg raises alternating with 3x12 abductors and adductors, and 12 minutes hill walking at a decent pace on the treadmill.

Yesterday's yoga was more zen as no one disruptive was in class.

My weight is still creeping upwards.... trying to discern why that could be. We've been having a heatwave and I think that *might* have something to do with it. I'm trying to be nice to myself and not critical.

Thinking I'll go to the gym today and try to remember what machines dh had me do last weekend. I know that may cause a further uptick in my weight tomorrow on my weigh in day, but it is still probably the best choice....

Oh, this cool, sunny then cloudy weather -- how it snaps me awake, and reminds me what I like about being alive. I'm trying to keep my optimism about the weekend, despite getting bumped by a jogger while I was walking away from the farmer's market with my precious dozen eggs for $3. Yes, he cracked two of them, so I'll need to cook today before I head out for a matinee.

Weigh in: 140.8, a little bit less. I always did well with the mantra "just a little bit less each time."

Meals for Today:

Breakfast: Chocolate ricotta muffin; egg bake with asparagus, ham and red pepper; yogurt with cantaloupe
Lunch: Arugula with lentils, roasted vegetables, walnuts, Craisins and goat cheese
Snack: Fresh figs
Dinner: Two seafood sausages, roasted squash, steamed broccoli
Dessert: Apple pie Quest bar

Exercise for Today:

20 minutes on the recumbent bike, then Workout 10C of Strong Curves Advanced, which has left my arms pretty much useless, and Pilates mat class. Again, relearning the choreography, but finding my abs are fine and haven't atrophied.

Sunday morning, such sweet words to contemplate. I let myself buy a huge black iced coffee this morning after my workout, which I never do -- I've always held the penurious view that coffee is cheap and easy to make at home, so why ever should you get it from a shop? I'm just trying to vary my routine a little and test those silly minor but deeply held beliefs.

Weigh in: 140.5, as "a little less" continues. I like this, not expecting a pound or more, or any "whoosh," as we call them here. But I think because I was pretty sedentary today, and had a filling dinner, that I won't weigh less on Monday.

Meals for Today:

Breakfast: Chocolate ricotta muffin; egg bake with asparagus, ham and red pepper; yogurt with cantaloupe
Snack: Last of the pointy-ended plums
Lunch: Arugula with lentils and roasted vegetables, half an avocado, dry-roasted peanuts and golden mulberries
Dinner: Cod with whole-wheat panko crumbs and salsa, steamed broccoli, simmered kale, half of a sweet potato
Dessert: Strawberry cheesecake Quest bar

Exercise for Today:

20 minutes on the arc trainer, then Workout 10A2 of Strong Curves advanced.

In a few weeks' time, I'm going to have to make a decision about what program to follow next. Contreras' book has a "glutes only" program that I could tack onto just about anything. Don't know if I'll go back to the New Rules series, do Contreras all over again, or do AllPro's or Ice Cream Fitness, or what. But I do like using programs, I tend to have good follow-through and completion rate. And I feel random and unfocused at the gym without one.

Saef... You are losing on the weekend?! That's awesome!

Question for you or others....

A couple days ago I felt like I was retaining tons of fluid for no explicable reason. Thusly, my weight was way up too. It seems to be mostly gone now. This has happened a couple other times in the last several months and I'm stumped. Anyone else experience this? My dd suggested it could be hormonal and I'm wondering if she's right. I don't have a uterus so I don't know when I'm cycling but I do have ovaries, so hormonal changes could be possible. I could be starting perimenopose so maybe my hormones are going wacky? I'll be going to my endocrinologist in November and he is testing my hormones at that time.

It's Monday morning, and I'm in a state of suspense because of meetings occurring in adjacent conference rooms with upper management. The new head of our organizational branch wants to meet with me at 3 PM today.

Weigh-in: 141.6, up just over a pound. I thought that's what would happen, based on my hearty dinner. But last Monday, I was 142.5, so there's progress.

Meals for Today:

Breakfast: Chocolate ricotta muffin; egg bake with spinach, mushrooms and chicken sausage; yogurt with cantaloupe
Lunch: Arugula with tuna, vegetables and tomatoes with sunflower seeds on top
Snack: Half of a cold sweet potato, because my fruit bin is empty
Snack 2: Bag of Bare Fruit cinnamon apple chips, 180 calorie bag
Dinner: Picadillo and brown rice, roasted butternut squash
Dessert: Chocolate chip cookie dough Quest bar

Exercise for Today:

At physical therapy, 12 minutes on the arc trainer hill program, then weighted lunges 4x12 alternating with weighted stepups, 4x10 and 4x20 crunches. Then 3x12 hamstring curls and 3x12 abductors/adductors. No leg raises -- my quads did a lot with those lunges.

Saef, you must almost be out of the meeting by now. I hope it was all positive.

Michele, my water cycling patterns have either changed with age or I'm just more aware of them now that I track everything so carefully. Today (after a 4-day backpacking trip) my body is holding onto water. My bladder has only been full twice, including when I first got up. I suspect tomorrow or the next day my body will shed all the water by sending me to the restroom at least once an hour. This pattern always happens when I hike, but sometimes it happens for no known reason. My body seems to have days of retention (2 or 3 full bladders), days of 4 or 5 full bladders, and days of 8 to 10 full bladders, but not in any set order. I have learned to just go with the flow, so to speak, and pay most attention to my low scale weight of the week and my average weight.

Yesterday's meeting was disappointing. It was all about sharing a vision & strategy, and just an incidental check-in with me. This morning, though, I feel it was good to have put myself in the back of this manager's mind as she strategizes.

Weigh-in: 140.6, down exactly a pound, just about where I was on Sunday.

Meals for Today:

Breakfast: Chocolate ricotta muffin; egg bake with spinach, mushrooms and chicken sausage; yogurt with cantaloupe
Snack: Trader Joe's dried apple rings
Lunch: Arugula, roasted vegetables, marinated artichoke hearts, chicken breast
Snack: Bare Fruit Fuji apple chips, 180-calorie package
Dinner: Picadillo and brown rice, simmered kale, roasted butternut squash
Dessert: Chocolate chip cookie dough Quest bar, the original recipe, before the recent change

Exercise for Today:

20 minutes on the arc trainer, then Workout 11A1 of Strong Curves advanced.

Thanks for your experience, Alice... It's comforting to know I'm not alone. I like the idea of looking at the lowest weigh in for the week as I usually only "count" Saturday but it isn't always my lowest day. That might help me mentally at this point.

Averaging out the different weights rules! I'm doing it every two weeks and it's most helpful.

Dagmar :dizzy:

I look at spreadsheets a lot at work, compiling info from our data warehouse, and they don't give me any joy, as I'm not a "data head" or a "quant" like the McKinsey guys around me. That's probably what's stopping me from averaging and tracking trends in my weight. I'm resisting adding analytics to my body.

Weigh-in: 139.6, down another pound exactly, just about where I was at the end of August. No surprise, when I'm staying late at work and commuting into CT every day, and I'm not in range of my pantry and fridge, my weight drops.

Meals for Today:

Breakfast: Chocolate ricotta muffin; egg bake with spinach, mushrooms and chicken sausage; yogurt with cantaloupe
Lunch: Baby kale, marinated artichokes, raw & cooked vegetables, tuna
Dinner: Trader Joe's frozen quinoa and vegetables with picadillo
Dessert: White chocolate raspberry Quest bar


Exercise for Today:

20 minutes on the recumbent bike, then Workout 11B of the Strong Curves Advanced program.

Crazy busy day for me today-- thanks Ellie for waking me again at 4:30....

All my kindergarten classes come (7) plus I have two other classes so I'll be moving and grooving today!

Ellie starts her second puppy series class tonight at 6 pm so I'm hoping to get to the gym before but it will be tight. I just know I won't want to go after class and dinner and I don't want to miss..... Hope it goes well. She's better about her fears but still fearful in new situations. She knows the trainer and the location though, so I doubt the new people and dogs will throw her.

I keep wavering back and forth over making it to the gym tonight for Pilates -- for the second time in one day, since I already went there at 5:30 AM for my cardio. I have missed out on Thursday night all summer long, from working late on Thursdays. Do I want to take back my life or succumb to the quicksand of getting something done?

Weigh-in: 139.3, no more one-pound decreases overnight. Last Thursday, I was 141.4. Again, isn't it obvious, that when life is hectic, and I'm in the office all day, or in the car, commuting, and only home for breakfast and dinner, before & after bed, my weight decreases.

Meals for Today:

Breakfast: Chocolate ricotta muffin; egg bake with spinach, mushrooms and chicken sausage; yogurt with frozen raspberries
Snack: Two dried peaches, because I have no fresh ones in the fridge
Lunch: Spring green salad, marinated artichokes, smoked turkey breast cubes, edamame and roasted vegetables
Snack: Two more dried peaches and a single almond.
Dinner: Chicken adobo (the Filipino style) on Trader Joe's quinoa & vegetables and simmered kale
Dessert: Chocolate chip cookie dough Quest bar


Exercise for Today:

30 minutes elliptical, alternating forward and backward, random intervals, resistance cranked to nine. And then some accessory arm work with dumbbells for biceps and triceps, ranging from 30-lb barbell to 20-lb and 22.5 lb dumbbells.

This morning I had to step back out of the way as a skinny but determined guy grabbed a pair of 50-lb dumbbells, which were beyond his strength, and then he promptly dropped them to the floor, hard, one perilously close to my still-healing left leg. What the heck? Dude, if you are going to pick up more than you can hold, maybe back off, so you're not close to anyone else whom you might hurt when you instantly reach failure.

And oh yeah -- thank you, Curvynotlumpy. I made it to the 7 PM Pilates class for the first time in three months or more!

saef, I'm not anywhere near being a maintainer but I lurk this thread often as I have learned much from this segment of the 3FC community in addition to being inspired daily from all of the maintainers. When I first joined 3FC I was at my lowest weight and life was pretty manageable. Four years later, a couple of promotions, life stuff including the illness and subsequent death of my 93 year old father has resulted in significant weight gain. I've put work and work tasks over workouts too many times to count. Sometimes there is just no getting around it, but honestly, it's unhealthy physically, mentally, and psychologically. Back away from the quicksand and take your class.

Saef, ok, a really stupid, off topic-ish request: every time I look at your new avatar, the white pole in the foreground steals your thunder. Would you consider cropping the edges a bit, to make your image relatively bigger and get rid of that d*mn white thing (and maybe even part of the bench behind you)?

Curvynotlumpy, welcome. Feel free to lurk but it's nice to see you post. And, you're right, it's very important to make time for play and health as well as work.

As for me, I am recovering from 2 days of overeating for Rosh Hashonah (made the mistake of staying for the post-service Oneg on Sunday night; on RH people bring in literally 40 different desserts to choose from). Had gotten down to 128 and now I'm right back to 130. Self-sabotage, as usual.

Hey Andrea, yeah, probably I should work on that avatar, but I have no photoshopping or cropping skills whatsoever.

It's Friday morning, and I'm at the office, leading around a direct report who's being interviewed for the position that I've held temporarily all summer, in addition of my post-reorg assignment. He's a lost soul, used to working from home. He's never traveled for business before, never been to the head office. I don't think he will get this job and it's rather cruel that he's being interviewed seriously, except maybe it will be a learning experience.

Weigh in: 139.4, up a fraction. What I call a "glass of water" change, which nevertheless could be presaging the weekend increase. I was 141.3 this past Friday.

Meals for Today:

Breakfast: Chocolate ricotta muffin; egg bake with spinach, mushrooms and chicken sausage; yogurt with cantaloupe
Lunch: Spring mix with raw veggies, marinated artichokes, roasted eggplant, tomatoes, mozzarella and a large handful of almonds
Dinner: Adobo chicken with brown rice and steamed broccoli
Dessert: Chocolate chip cookie dough Quest bar. And those who say the flavor changed with the new formula change are right. The flavor on this "old" bar was better than yesterday's "new" bar -- it had that slight salt tang in addition to the chocolate.


Exercise for Today:

At physical therapy, 12 minutes on the Cybex elliptical, hill program, then 4x crossing the room & back doing walking lunges, first bodyweight, then 10-lb dumbbells, then 12-lb dumbbells twice, alternating with 4x20 leg-raised crunches. Then 3x hamstring curl alternating with abductor and adductor. Then 3x quad raise alternating with x12 step-ups with 10-lb dumbbells and 15-lb dumbbells twice.

Saef-- good for you for making pilates! It's funny what we notice or don't notice-- I didn't notice anything "off" in your avatar-- I love it!

My weight is down quite a bit since Monday.... hoping I can not put it all back on this weekend. I usually have a free meal or treat on Sunday so I'll probably still do that, but I want to limit it. I am in a diet bet that ends on Sunday, so I don't want my weight to be up Monday!

I wear a fitbit that tracks my heart rate. My resting heart rate was always low-- in the 50's and then it started going up over the last month or so.... So did my weight.... It went up to 69, and now this week, it keeps dropping and so does my weight. Today it is 62. Coincidence? I wonder....