Happy New Year all!

Dagmar

Happy New Year, friends! I'm sending thoughts of peace and good health to you all!

My weight is way past red line - 133.5 So I'm starting the year with a healthy bowl of oatmeal, and I've stashed the several bags of chocolates in the rear of the bedroom closet. (They were gifts, not bought by us, but definitely eaten by us!)

Alice You're brave to do a weigh-in right after holiday season. I'm going to wait until Jan 20. I'm back from my pet sit and will have a week of healthy eating under my belt

I chucked out all the leftover holiday dessert food yesterday. There wasn't much. We've been eating all sorts of sugary stuff since Dec. 24.

Dagmar

The rain continues, but I'm still not complaining! Although the dog yards and sheep fields are muddy and wet, all the animals have a roof overhead and a dry place to lie down. This year I have started on creating a wildflower meadow as part of my native plant garden, and all the rain is just perfect!

I haven't been able to put together more than 2 days in a row of "good" eating. Late night snacking is almost feeling like an addiction. I'm re-evaluating my evening schedule. Hope I can figure out how to get everything done so i can just hop in bed the first time I'm tempted to eat after 9 pm.

Today I am beginning to work on our living trust, something I have put off for years!! It shouldn't take all that long, because we don't own all that much. I'm going to use the attorney service I pay $20 a month for through the County retirement association to review it and make it legal when I'm done.

Starting to come out of the holiday "sweets coma". I will be ready to get on the scale this coming Friday. Maybe.

Dagmar

Didn't get on the scale but I did resign from my most lucrative client. Too many reasons to mention but they received the email with no comment from the husband and "it's the end of an era" from the wife. I've worked for them for over 27 years. Big financial hit but the stress of dealing with their 2 dogs overrode the financial benefit.

My past response would have been to spend the rest of the afternoon and evening overeating. Didn't do it. Something has changed. Or rather someone - me! I'm finding more and more that I'm no longer overeating to relieve emotional stress. Took me long enough!

Dagmar

Finally got on the scale. 140.8 lbs. I plan to lose and get down to my summer weight range - 133-136 lbs. - by June 24. That's 5 months to lose around 6 - 7 lbs.

I'm going to start by eliminating 200 calories per day from my diet. I will change out the evening ice cream sandwich - 180 cals - for a cup of low fat yogurt. And I will have just one snack in the afternoon, either 2 samosas or a protein bar, rather than both. That's a difference of around 250 cals that I can do fairly easily.

Well see what happens as the weather warms up in spring. I can generally lose more then as I tend to eat more fruit and veg.

Dagmar

Dagmar, Thanks for the reminder that summer is coming. These are the couple of months that leave me feeling like winter is forever.

Sorry that you had to take the financial hit for your sanity.

Our dog Holly was injured last night. Diagnosed as a sprain but it took 6 hours to get through all the veterinary stuff. I settled her for the night, went upstairs, and had a quick mini-binge eating session in my office. Reaction to all the stress of the previous 6 hours. I'm not going to beat myself up but will just move forward. I can't totally erase all the old habits but I can reduce the number of times they occur.

Dagmar

Sorry to hear about Holly's injury, Dagmar. I hope she's doing better now. I completely relate to the mini-binge. You were tired and stressed.

The only good thing I can say about my weight is that it hasn't gone up. And I think I've brought my appetite under control a bit. My average daily calorie consumption has dropped by about 200 for the last 3 weeks, compared to the last few months. That's not much, but if i can keep going, I'll lose.

I'm going to have to start looking at the calories and weighing and measuring my food portions again. The scale is going in the wrong direction right now.

Since I have the same thing for breakfast, lunch, and my afternoon snack every weekday it won't be too tedious. I think dinner and late evening are where all the extra calories are creeping in. Plus splurges on the weekend.

I am going to measure my breakfast portions this morning and for the rest of the week to remind myself what they are supposed to be.

Today I will have one of my 2 remaining pieces of hubby's birthday cake. The last piece I will quietly throw away when he's downstairs doing his biking.

Dagmar

I agree, the evening snacking so easily becomes larger.

As do we.

Dagmar

I ate under 2000 calories yesterday and tracked it quite accurately. I went to bed a bit hungry. I was surprised at that. My maintenance limit used to be 2200 cal per day. I guess I've been over that quite a bit in the last 3 years.

I'm going to be going to bed hungry for a while. I really want to fit into my clothes now. More than I want the sweet snacks.

I'll keep telling myself that at night. :

Dagmar