I was at 144.9 today and this morning, when I put on a ring that fit well three days ago, it was hard to get onto my finger and even harder to get off. That's not weight, that's bloat and fluid retention. We'll see if it washes out over the course of three consecutive days working in the office.
The weather warmed up and it fills me with elation, a sense of impending freedom. No matter what I get done, or not, this product will launch, so I am feeling moments of optimism, even though I have a long list of tasks to accomplish today and I have no idea how many questions will pop through that will require immediate answers.
This all began for me back in November, when I got pulled onto the project. I have worked nearly every weekend since then and I have only taken off a week in early January and a day in March. And my scheduled days off in May are glimmering like an oasis that I'm dragging myself toward like a ragged character in a a New Yorker cartoon.
Morning all. Day two back in my office. I'm dangerously close to having all of my open enrollment reports ready.
Yoga and headspace this morning, took the boy to school and got to work at 7:20. Planning on leaving early enough for after school pickup and exercise when I get home.
Food was alright yesterday. I ate a chips ahoy cookie and made a drink with lemon juice, club soda and salt that I would have been better off unsalting, otherwise alright.
Weight not moving much, but I feel good. I'll take that.
Weight up, rather than down... just by .4 but that always concerns me when I have a splurge meal and the "water" weight doesn't come off. It was pretty warm here yesterday though and I drank a ton of water, so that could be playing a role. I took Ellie for a long walk after work and a woman stopped to ask if my dog needed water. Guess she was trying to be helpful but I didn't think she looked (or acted) overheated! I wasn't running her! We got home, she drank some water, and proceeded to race around the yard chasing Dewey!
Dh has a business dinner tonight, so I'm hoping to get to yoga and eat my calorie portioned meal which should hopefully translate on the scale nicely tomorrow.
Dd in Houston is off for the second consecutive day as the schools are closed due to flooding there.
Michelle, I hope the flooding isn't causing your daughter any concern.
Saef, I think we've all experienced how a prolonged excess in cortisol causes water retention. Do you enjoy any sort of slow, meditative movement, e.g. tai chi or pranayama? Would it be worth a try for decompression?
The house sale is a relief, although now we're mired in CPA paperwork and digging for check stubs from years ago to satisfy deduction requirements. The home loans are through my university and involve tedious and specific steps that aren't part of a standard mortgage. The pants victory is good too, though now I'm back to having the body shape where the waist and hips of pants/shorts fit loosely, but the lower thigh area is too tight. My quadriceps are large immovable objects, particularly the distal parts. I think that when I'm heavier, I have more of the body shape that clothing manufacturers utilize for that size.
Wow, everyone's been prolific the last few days.
Allison- if you end up getting an air fryer, I'd love an update. I am very tempted, but I find that cooking gadgets that have a limited repertoire (e.g. my imitation George Forman grill), never get used because (a) I can do almost as well with more normal piece of cookware, that can be cleaned more easily afterward and (b) they get put away out of sight and I forget about them.
Silverbirch- I tried to adopt your "I don't eat wheat" mantra. It worked well for 3 days, and then yesterday I ate 2 cups of granola distributed over about 4 servings. I am WAY too good at outwitting myself. Glad it's working better for you.
Nightsweats. I've been having them periodically for 20 years. Since I am still not menopausal (probably peri- though), it can't be due to that. I've always wondered what was causing them, so bad sometimes I have to put a towel down on the bed and pillow before I can lay back down (or strip the bed).
JZJ: way to go! I know you've been struggling with many issues the last six months or so, so it must be extra sweet to have this double accomplishment so close on the heels of accepting a new job.
Saef- if you're allowed to say, what's the product?
Wednesday morning, weight unchanged. That's 4 days in a row. I'm really hoping for a drop. I may concentrate on that today.
S-better than the previous night, but still had a hard time falling asleep
E-walking the dogs
B-yogurt
L-salad and yogurt
D-salmon and potato salad
Andrea~I'll let you know if I buy one. I'm still undecided. I am with you on the limited repertoire. My cooking gadget that gets little use is the immersion cooker. I find it difficult to use as it take hours (sometimes days) to finish a meal and sometimes you still have to brown it afterward. I do use my panini press a lot, so there's that. I have a couple pots and pans that are my absolute favorites, the newest being some cast iron cookware.
Allison - I'm interested to hear on the air fryer, too. I also have a ton of unused cooking gadgets. (Tortilla press and maker combo, for example)
Andrea - combined thread makes for more chit chat!
JZJ - I see all kinds of complaints about larger quads not fitting pants at lower weights, which always lead me to ads for those athletic cut pants. Have you ever tried any of those?
Michele - it will come back down. Hope you get to do your things tonight. And that DD is safe.
Saef - I was also thinking about cortisol when you mentioned your rings. It happens to me, too.
I overate a little yesterday. Not as terrible as it could have been, total calories were still under 2000 for the day. More pasta than I wanted, though. And I knew going into it that I was going to have a hard time. Thought I was prepared. Um. Nope.
I've done my yoga and headspace and gone for a 4 mile run today before work. Just as I pulled into the parking lot at the head of the trail I discovered I had a nail in my tire and it was going flat. Conveniently my tire place is also right there, so I dropped it off before the run and got back there just as they were opening up after finished. Quick patch and to the office.
Tired tired tired, though. Two more days this week of 5am with the boy, then back to only M & W next week that early. It was H-ard to get up this morning. I've been waking up about 4:45 so I can slip in and use the bathroom and brush my teeth before DH gets up so I can get straight to the yoga as soon as I roll out of bed. It helps, but it is also draining.
Last edited by Shannon in ATL; 04-20-2016 at 11:43 AM.
There was a song sparrow singing in the bushes underneath my kitchen window, in the dark, at 4 AM, when I was brewing my coffee. I have these moments of noticing something outside of myself which I see as the beginning of my emergence from a long period of tension and preoccupation with intangibles.
Weight at 145.3, swollen feet at bedtime, remembering salty chicken on top of my lunchtime salad.
Well, I will talk about the product in general terms. I work for a large international consulting and research services firm, with which Birchie is familiar. We focus on technology. When we release a new product, it's really a new service and a new interface on our website. The product launch kicked off in January 2015. I was pulled onto the project to assist in early November last year. It scared me to death, because it pulled me up out of my area of expertise, into collaborating with another level of management, and showed me what big-time, million-dollar-plus project with multiple workstreams looks like. I felt like I didn't even speak the language at first, but I learned, and I worked twice as hard, wanting to contribute and pull my weight. I've never worked harder on this job. The web site changes over late Friday night.
Have I done anything to decompress? Yes but not healthy things, not all of them. I never let anything interfere with my daily gym time, in particular, the days with my weight-training workout. I chewed way too much sugarfree gum, two sticks at a time, compulsively. I scrolled through way too many things on eBay during a moment or two of stolen downtime, and bought too many of them, though fewer than I might have. I did not do many things that I love and that renew me. I will have to relearn how to schedule them in & make myself do them.
Everyone who works hard has these periods of time when they disappear into what they are doing. I will figure out how to re-emerge over the next few weeks.
Everyone who works hard has these periods of time when they disappear into what they are doing. I will figure out how to re-emerge over the next few weeks.
I do agree. 100%. I'm in a re-emergent phase myself at present. I'm not quite (what I like to think of as) myself yet.
Quote from Andrea:
Quote:
from Andrea Silverbirch- I tried to adopt your "I don't eat wheat" mantra. It worked well for 3 days, and then yesterday I ate 2 cups of granola distributed over about 4 servings. I am WAY too good at outwitting myself. Glad it's working better for you.
Sorry to hear this, Andrea. You're too skilled. There must be a way out of this for you.
I was doing OK until I had some dental work and had to have (shop) soup. That wasn't good enough nutritionally, it seems, and so I've had a bad day with food. I tried out a cup of cocoa made with a tsp of sugar. No, no, no. Carb coma within 45 minutes. Tomorrow will be better.
Shannon, do you have any brands recommended for "athletic thighs"?
I'm having a good day - my coworkers threw a big potluck for my birthday and made it "healthy vegan" theme. So many vegetables, it was great! Unfortunately, I left late and in a hurry for work this morning. I arrived at work, went to change into my work clothes... and realized I had forgotten them. So I've been wearing bike commute clothes all day including to the potluck. Classy.
JZJ - I haven't tried any of them, but have heard great things about the Barbell Apparel stuff on weight lifting sites. Also heard good other people talk about the curvy fit from Loft. I've worn their curvy fit dress pants, but not jeans. They worked well. Right now I'm wearing a pair of 'super stretch pull on pants' from Van Huesen and those are working well. The material kind of shapes to me where others poke out in weird places. On the bike commute clothes - One say a few weeks ago I forgot to put a top in my bag for after run. I ended up wearing my running tank with my in office jacket over it all day.
Birchy - hope today is better. I find it interesting that that small amount of sugar resulted in carb coma. How fast we adapt.
Saef - I was disappearing into my work as well, which I think started my angry crazy before Christmas. The meditation has really helped pull me back out of that.
Yoga and headspace this morning, planning to exercise this afternoon after picking up the boy from school. I crashed last night and fell asleep on the sofa at 8:30. I'm not sure if the sleep made me feel better or if I just have a headache from the arm of the couch.
Thursday morning, weight down. Not as far as a couple weeks ago, but down enough to reclaim the "I've lost 10 pounds" title. I also lost a cat (temporarily) this morning.
I'm having the carpets cleaned this morning, so not going to work until they're done and out of here. But that means capturing my four cats and placing them in their respective carriers for the duration. That in itself is stressful (for me and for them), but the Ringo cat went missing this morning. I searched EVERY hiding place and others as well and nothing. I was thinking he might have managed to get through a dog door, but that's unlikely. I just went in to check under my bed (for the fifth time) and he's there--all happy and looking at me contentedly. What gives?
Glad your scale finally moved, Allison... I thought it was stuck maybe!
Glad you found the kitty too.
Last night we were going to clip Ellie's toenails. As soon as we brought out the trimmers she hid in her kennel, not to reemerge for over an hour.
We finally did it before going to bed-- she's good and it takes two minutes so why does she act so traumatized?!
We are having part of our fence replaced today (sharing the cost with the neighbor) so I'm sure the doggies will be stressed out. I have no idea when they'll come or how long they'll take. The petsitter also comes to walk Ellie today so I gave her the heads up. She is also petsitting for us this weekend when we go to Napa. I've written out detailed instructions as she will be spending the nights at our house. I hope it goes well!
I'm grouchy with myself for succumbing to two treats yesterday at our Volunteer Tea-- I had a choc chip scone and a brownie. Sigh... Too much dinner too which resulted in a big spike on the scale-- the opposite of what I was supposed to be doing before Napa. We have 3 (most likely decadent) meals booked in Napa. One at our all time favorite restaurant, and two at amazing looking places. We are staying at a (new to us) B&B which also provides a gourmet breakfast so I'm sure next week I'll be bemoaning my extra poundage.
Today should be good calorie wise (as long as I stay focused and refuse the leftovers in the staff room) and I'm aiming to make the gym, so hopefully I can get a little off before we leave tomorrow afternoon!
