Here's the new thread!

Dagmar

We had one of those massive thunderstorms in the wee hours--almost continuous lightning and thunder, pouring rain like no tomorrow. But now it is tomorrow, and much quieter so far. At this time of year, we get rain almost every day. It does not cool things off.

Hey folks! Some replies to the previous thread here...

Shannon, I know how you feel. I've lost a lot of motivation, and the app I've been using that was motivating in the beginning is not so much now. Also, I had to pay them again and I'm thinking maybe I should cancel my subscription to it and go back to using MyFitnessPal for free. Mostly, I'm just really hungry lately and unmotivated to restrict calories. It's been ever since I got back from vacation and I'm sure that I just need to do some hardcore calorie counting for a couple weeks to get over this slump, but . . . it's hard to convince myself to do it.

Birchie, thanks for checking in! I think I'm just in a slump overall right now. I've been getting exercise reliably and eating fruits and vegetables but that's about all I can say for myself. Yesterday the kids wanted fast food for lunch and I told them no and took them home to eat a healthy lunch instead despite the tantrum, so I felt good about that. On the other hand, I bought them expensive shoes (they're sparkly rainbow and light up), so I figure it's a trade-off.

Today marks one year since my dad passed away. I'm sure the slump I've been in is related to this. Work is stressing me out too and I don't really know what there is to be done about that -- I suspect there's nothing that can be done at the moment. Also, I finished publishing a novel-length fanfiction I was writing, and I invested so much of my free time into that the last few months that it's kind of weird for it to be done? Which seems a silly thing to include on the list, but it was a fairly intensive activity.

Jessica What was the fanfiction you wrote (if you don't mind saying) and could we have a link to it? No worries if you're not comfortable doing this as it's not related to anything we do here.

Dagmar

I'll send you a PM, Dagmar.

Checking in.

Last week, I managed to get exercise in 6 out of 7 days. Combine that with a good diet and I was down 1.3 pounds. I'll continue this week, but we went to our monthly wine dinner last night and despite not cleaning my plate, the sodium (I could taste it) means I've got about 4 pounds of water weight to contend with.

We're experiencing an excessive heat warning this week. Last night at 9:30 PM it was still 101 degrees and it was 91 this morning at 6:30. Obviously we stay inside as much as possible when this happens.

My in-laws are leaving for vacation tomorrow and we're baby sitting my SIL's dog--a 12 year old miniature schnauzer. She's a nice dog, but she constantly pees in our house. I do not look forward to the next week at all.

Today, my daughter and SIL are celebrating their 4th wedding anniversary! I'm hoping they come visit this week--even if it is just for a short get together.

Jesssica - yeah, my motivation is in the toilet right now, seriously. DH and I talked about it this weekend and he wants to get back on track too, so that should help. I was just about to ask you how Noom was working, they keep emailing me trying to get me to sign up. I'm just not sure it would be worth the money for me, though. I use a tracker app already, and I have some group type coaching available to me already, so not sure what else there would be from it. to you, I know this is a time of nostalgia and sad about your dad. (PM me about your novel too if you would, I'll buy it. )

Birchie - Yay for looking better! Stairs will definitely work the hips and thighs. I'm glad the de-cluttering is going well, too.

Allison - Happy daughter's anniversary! <3

Michele - have a great time on your cruise!

Jay - we've had a lot of storms here, too. Trees down, power outages, storms just about every day. It doesn't cool it off here, either.

I had a pretty good week last week, at least from Wednesday on. Trying to keep that up this week. I made lunches for the week already, and went ahead and put my breakfast protein shake and lunch into my food tracker. Have dinner planned for several of the days already, just have to fit them in. Tonight I'm trying riced cauliflower - bought a bag of it frozen, not ambitions enough to rice fresh cauliflower right away.

Keep on keeping on.

Allison Is it possible for you to crate the dog? That might stop the peeing.

Shannon Your modification of the thread title was a good idea. Didn't see it in time. My apologies to Bill but he is definitely included!

I have started drinking a small glass of milk with a bit of coffee in it in the afternoons.Heading off the "hangries" and trying to stay awake past 8 p.m. Natalie just about got her head stuck in the glass today. I have not been giving my cats milk (the previous 2 didn't show any interest in it) but Natalie seems to be very open to it. Don't want her getting any coffee - she is enough!

Dagmar

hi all

Just jumping in to say hi. I haven't posted here a lot but I still like to catch up occasionally. I'm about 8 weeks in to maintenance now. Still going well, but I still feel a complete novice. I'm just grateful that i'm still in the mood to do this because it's not exactly second nature yet. I've been quite hungry between meals the last few days, but not tempted to snack or overeat. I'm just concerned that it won't last for ever, and when I get over the novelty of being at this weight, i'll want to eat more. So it's good to stay accountable and keep popping in to see you experienced people!!

"She" refers to the ship of maintenance, not to any one of us. Historically ships were referred to with feminine pronouns.

Thanks, JayEll. Was just about to add this. Interestingly, my maritime proofreading client is very happy to use 'she' and 'her'.

Ange, keep calling in. We need your thoughts, views and experiences too!

Dagmar, interesting idea about milk/coffee. Watch out for that cat!

Shannon, good work keeping on. All that planning is going to stand you in good stead.

Allison, exercise + good diet = weight loss. Sounds so simple, doesn't it? Glad it's working!

Jessica, hugs for you at this anniversary time. Good work with the girls. They don't need fast food at all but they do need shoes. Yes, one way or another, it's all a trade-off or balancing act.

Silverbirch, did you study Latin at all? I did, but I guess it's rarely taught or even offered now. I recall that "nauta" is sailor--a masculine noun but with a feminine ending. So perhaps things get a bit vague out there at sea?

Ange, good to have you check in. I remember reading somewhere--perhaps it was the Beck diet--that "hunger is not an emergency." At least not in privileged countries! On the other hand, consistently hungry isn't good. Just make sure you are getting sufficient nutrients at your mealtimes.

Congratulations, alinnell!

Good day yesterday. Trying for another good day today.

Hi, Ange!

Yeah, I know the nautical background for ships named she. I like it.

Hi all, I found the new thread. Nautical theme, eh? I'm aiming to be sailing the seas of sanity (I was going to say serenity, but baby steps). I just got back from our last field study trip, another hectic one with lots of animal wrangling and little sleep. My summer student has turned out to be a very difficult one, and compounds the frustration caused by one of my graduate students. Deep deep breaths are part of every day now (this is where the desire for sanity comes in).

I'm doing quite well with eating this summer despite the busy-ness of work, the puppy-induced sleepiness, etc. Exercise is a bit trickier, I'm still bike commuting every day but long hours at work and the heat make it harder to motivate to do other exercise as it will require more loss of sleep. Which is silly, it's summer and time to take advantage of the weather; we'll have our 8 months of nonstop rain soon enough.

Allison - older Schnauzer, incontinence could be medical as they are so prone to both diabetes and Cushing's syndrome, and/or UTI. Is it only at your house that it happens?

JayEll - yeah, the 'hunger isn't an emergency' lesson is really important for a stress-free life!! I was at a conference this week so maybe it was more the emotional side that got me rather than the physical side (I was eating enough good stuff that I shouldn't've been hungry) - i.e. seeing all those scones and quiches and whatever at morning/afternoon breaks and not touching them myself (I wasn't even 1% close to touching them but perhaps subliminally my brain thought it was an option!!)
Silverbirch - thanks for the welcome! Always nice to see you around the threads
Shannon - HI! Sounds like you're doing really well with planning and stuff considering you say your motivation is shot. Keep faking it til you're back.
Allison - the incontinent dog doesn't sound great. Can you get nappies for dogs? I think that's partly the reason I've always chosen rescue dogs that are already house-trained - just don't fancy the weeing everywhere scenario that you get with pups.
JayZee - Sorry to hear your students are making your days more harassed. I wonder if they know or care the impact they have on others that are trying to help them?!

Well i'm down a smidge this morning after the conference to a new all time low (113.1). I"m still going around the corner on to the flat bit of the weight loss curve I think, so i'm still losing very gradually, but learning how much I can have still. I'm eating a heap more than when I was dieting anyway, which is good Problem is that it's definitely not free rein because the more junk I eat the more I want to eat, and that's definitely not going to work, so I need to keep it fairly clean most of the time. Learning learning.....