saef, I took time off all media after the Brexit vote and am only just getting back into it. There's a lot of insanity out there which I don't need in my life all the time. I gave up the television decades ago to avoid it. The pity is that the internet has brought it back again.

I'm going with media I recognize as trustworthy - NY Times, Chicago Trib, Dan Rather. etc. for coverage of the Huckster. In Canada the Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, CBC news, etc.

Dagmar :dizzy:

I'll give your idea some thought, Andrea. I tend to restrict basically 98% of my life, and only allow indulgences when I travel. So, though I complain afterwards, I enjoy "letting down my hair" about when on vacation. I do have some days coming up where I know I'll not be restricting too-- Superbowl, Dh's birthday, my birthday, dd's birthday.... so I doubt I'll lose much of anything anyway.

Had a weird and rough morning so far. Woke up at 4:15 to pee, went back to sleep. Woke up again at 4:45 to the sound of cat puke, when I realized that the power was out. It was widespread and power company "hoped to get it going by 6:15". I usually leave my house 6:30-6:45. So, I stumbled around in the dark, trying to find the cat puke, take care of the dogs, get ready by candlelight. My house was freezing! I even weighed by candlelight-- down .4 by the way! I walked the dogs briefly as it was DARK without any street lights!!! Just as I was about to leave, the power came on. Sigh. Stopped for a latte. I felt like I deserved it. Hope the rest of the day is uneventful.

Dh comes home very late tonight. I hope he doesn't look too closely at me. I look like I've been through a war. I was super itchy earlier in the week (I think from the antibiotics I had been on). Without realizing it, I scratched myself to bruising all over (I bruise easily). Then, last night I dropped a ceramic bowl which sliced my toe, gushing blood everywhere. Oh well...

TGIF?!?!

Friday morning and my weight is down almost a pound since last Saturday, so that is really uplifting news for me! Today is starting out with a bowl of fresh mixed fruit for breakfast thanks to my office assistant who bought it for a party last night and forgot to take it to the party, so she brought it in for us. It's quite good.

DD and SIL are coming this afternoon for a short visit. We're going to SIL's grandmother's house for a BBQ tomorrow at lunch. Sunday we're finally going to get some golfing in. We have a tournament in three weeks and I haven't golfed since September and I know I'm quite rusty. Hopefully my golf clothes still fit.

Dagmar - be careful out there! :)

Birchie and Saef - I've been bombarded by media lately, and it is dragging me down. I have to figure out how to pull back up. I limit social media, have filtered my news sources, turn off notifications at night an hour before bed, have watched mainly reruns of DS9 on TV for the last two months. Still, dragging me down.

I've gained roughly 14 pounds since 11/20. I'm not sleeping well. I'm tired and achey all the time. I threw my back out on Sunday night, so still have residual pain in my shoulder and arm from that. Whine whine whine. ;)

Michele, I love Andrea's suggestion about how to approach the cruise. You'll probably still gain a bit, but not nearly as much. And I also want to say congrats on 10 years of a healthy lifestyle!!

Saef, I have a couple of suggestions. First, on the news. For the first time in a couple of decades I've been paying attention to what's going on, and I found myself spending too much time reading or watching TV. So I subscribed to several podcasts which summarize the daily or weekly news, and I only listen to them in conjunction with activity (walking or on my feet working around the house or yard). I'm not very happy with the news, but I'm still getting my activity! Second, about food. If you eat smaller portions of the gumbo it would not contribute to keeping your weight up. Maybe you'd finish it off Monday or Tuesday instead of over the weekend - or freeze some of it. I make soups and stews catered to what my DH enjoys, and I eat it too although I limit myself.

Birchie, I hope you get some better sleep. My eating goes downhill when I'm sleep-deprived, especially in the evening.

Becky, glad to hear you are doing a little better!

Shannon, I'm thinking of you. Hope things get more manageable soon.

Saturday morning, down a bit more, to 155.3.

Today will be stimulating, rather than restful: A trip to the grocery store, my usual Saturday at the gym, shower and lunch, then catch the train and "Dear Evan Hansen" at the Music Box. I need this, to be away from this screen for much of the day.

:hug: Shannon. I empathize - been there. Is there by chance a big change on your horizon that you either have to make, or need to make? I smell a spiritual restlessness.

Saef, I'm still on a mostly-media blackout. I see headlines as they pop up in my notifications, but I'm not partaking of any news. It's not just the politics - it's the general bad behavior and negativity everywhere. I guess I'm old-schoool with my strong preferences for actual fact-based dialogue, etiquette, and dignity. This week I've enjoyed the celebrations of Mozart's birthday instead. Music Is the Medicine, says Anthony Gomes (marvelous blues/rock artist), and for me that is true.

Michele, I too congratulate you on your healthy pursuits! That's some serious dedication and of the years I've been here on 3FC, you have clearly demonstrated it year in and year out. I have 50 coming around in May, and a cruise in April. :)

Allison, good luck with the golf. Stretch well beforehand - some of those muscles don't get much use otherwise!

Dagmar, I think one of the few things good to come out of the election mess is that it woke a few people up to the difference between news, propaganda, and entertainment. The "alternate-fact" discussions are just mindblowing.

Silver, I am tuned out on just about everything except a printed story. Tired of newsweasels and pretty people and pols yammering at me - give me facts and I'll make my own conclusions, thanks. I hope your SO is moving past his cough. A recent study said honey is as good as any over-the-counter remedy for throat-irritation cough, but I can testify it doesn't do jack for crud that's in your lungs!

Today, 158.8. It's a better place than I've been for a long time weight-wise, and I intend to put a stake in the ground here. I plan to spend this weekend eating nourishing food and resting to kick this virus completely to the curb. Monday, I'm back to the pool to stretch a little and make sure everything still works. There's a state championship coming up the end of April that I would like to be able to help my team win!

We went to see La La Land last night. At first, although I knew what it was, I kept wondering what all they hype was. But in the end, a tear shed, and I decided it was worth the hype. Although the guy who took our tickets said it was too sappy and that we should look at Pennies from Heaven--which he said is playing On Demand here. We may do that.

Weight up as we went out to dinner-although I picked a rather healthy appetizer instead of an entree. I wasn't hungry because of having lunch out.

Workout today, then BBQ lunch, then grocery shopping.

Sunday morning, at 155.4.

"Dear Evan Hansen" was quite good, and the first time I've seen social media used extensively as part of the plot in a musical, very effectively staged, with projections on the wall and a cacophony of voices saying what people usually say anyone when they view & comment & share.

Problem is, as I sat watching, I suddenly got a searing pain in my injured leg, running from my glute down my hamstring and knee, all the way to my ankle. I think this was my sciatic nerve. This was from Pilates class, which was tough, taught by a substitute who's a ballet dancer, and worked muscles that I already work several days each week through the exercises I've adopted from Contreras. That's what overwork feels like. The pain wiped me out. When I got home after the play, I was done for the day and in bed by 8:30PM.

Hi all, I'm just catching up on the last few weeks of posts. I was drowning in excess work plus more sickness and an anthrax scare at work, so fell off the radar for a bit. Trying to use this Sunday for healthy-week prep.

Shannon - hugs and my thoughts are with you.

Saef - I hope your leg pain is resolving. Have you tried the piriformis/sciatica stretch where you lie on your back with your rump next to a wall and your legs pointing straight up the wall? You can put a little pillow under your mid-lower back to get the angle right. My husband uses that one.

JZJ, an anthrax scare? That just took me back to those dark post 9/11 days, when someone in NY died of anthrax and I'd stare down at the hospital where she worked as my bus traveled on the East Side. I've been thinking back to that time a lot, since there's a clear connection between then and now.

Monday morning, at 155.1, trying not to aggravate my hip or hamstring, which didn't preclude an upper body workout.

JZJ - good to see you again! Anthrax - yikes! That's the last thing anybody needs.

Blipping back up to 159.6 this morning. I am determined to keep it at a blip. I like it much better down here in the 150s. :yes: Went for a 30-minute brisk walk on the track today to assess, and it became clear within 10 minutes that I don't have 100% lung function yet. I was surprised at how out of breath I was. Not good.

Got home to my kitchen in complete disarray. No way can I fix dinner (even if it was just to reheat leftovers in the microwave). Looks like we'll be going out tonight instead. There goes the diet. We've eaten out 4 of the last 5 meals and now this. Not my idea, but what can I do? I am choosing the best options off the menus, but still...

I wanted to go see Moonlight this weekend, but it was sold out. So we went to see La La Land instead. I hated it. Good grief, Hollywood will just fall all over itself for anything self-referential, won't it?

Intuitive Eating is NOT going well. I was doing fine for the better part of a month, but my weight didn't budge much. And I think the fact that I was following the rules but not losing weight just set me up for rebellion. I have stuffed myself to the point of discomfort several times in the last week. And the same scale that refused to register a substantial drop over the month that I ate sanely, showed an immediate 2 pound gain in less than a week. Right. It's this sh*t that makes me want to give up entirely and just wallow in food and despair.

Not sure how much of the last week's out-of-control eating was also triggered by the Trump Executive Order bonanza, culminating in Friday's edict prohibiting Syrian refugees from entering the U.S. indefinitely- even the ones on the cusp of being admitted after 2 long years of the vetting process, who had sold everything in order to afford their nonrefundable plane tickets. I am a refugee (a Jew from communist Hungary in 1971), and the only child of 2 holocaust survivors. I am simply beside myself over the debacle of this presidency, and what it is likely to mean for our country. Eating to numb the pain is unproductive but feels necessary.