I'm doing well, overall. Getting very tired early evening but forcing myself to stay up. Sleeping about normal for me which is never great.
Weight down a tad but not nearly as much as I'd hoped. Guess the pounds will be slow to come off.

I am back from vacation this morning. Not going to weigh myself for a week - too many carbs and not enough fruit and veg - to allow time for vacation gain to drop off.

Animals were quite ecstatic to see me. I was away for 5 days and they have never been left without me for that long. Trixie jumped up on me and gave me a big hug with her forelegs. Natalie has been snuggling every chance she gets.

Nice to be loved.

Dagmar

Going up, up, up, to 150.4. No, that didn't take long at all.

Back in the thick of work, to an office that is feeling low-energy because of so many people being off on vacation. I have allowed myself the luxury of becoming distracted by news on the Internet. I can't help it: It feels historic. It really looks like there's been a moment of "Have you no sense of decency left, sir?"

At 150.2 but feeling considerably larger. I wonder if the scale was lower, would I feel smaller?

Been in the pool 3 consecutive weeks now, and today I made it over the mile mark. I still have some clicking in one shoulder; the rest of the involved parts seem to be holding together so far.

The running prep for the Crim, now just 25 days away, is not going nearly as well. I simply don't do well in the heat, and we have had one heck of a lot of it this summer. On Thursday I stayed on the treadmill for 75 minutes, but that is a very far cry from 10 miles of road. Oh well. I know I can walk it if I have to. I will do my best and that will be that.

On the more positive side, the summer veggies are now beginning to flow. Tomatoes ... mmmmmm! I'm getting over sweet corn ... I like it in things for color and a little burst of sweet, but I no longer want to eat ear after ear of it. I think they may finally have bred so much sugar into it that I've lost interest. Maybe I need to get somebody to breed in some spice or some cheese flavor!

I'm doing well still with headspace and yoga, but I'm not doing great food wise. Weight is up, my hands are bloated, and I don't feel great. I haven't made my protein goal in over a week. I blame stress. We are still in a holding period on DH's testing. We have an endoscopy scheduled for 8/23, as they can't agree on what they think is causing everything. They do think they have eliminated cancer anywhere, which is what they were worried about initially. I'm not sure how they eliminated it from what we've done so far, but I like the thought so I'm rolling with it.

Becky - I'm struggling with tomatoes this year, but am drowning in hot pepper. In the summer that DH is avoiding spicy food.

Shannon, DH was faced with an explosion of hot peppers last year. He pureed the heck out of them and then fermented the juice ... holy moly, it's really good on eggs and for punching up the salsa. Keeps well in the fridge - I would bet there's not much that would be willing to try to grow on it! We've pulled out a lot of the garlic and are just starting to see a stream of zucchini (me and my spiralizer are standing by!). We have been plagued with rodents in the garden since spring, so the traps are a'snappin'. The fences are great against the big stuff and the non-climbing critters ... but also does a great job of making sure squirrels and chipmunks can eat in peace. Grrrr. Where are all my hawks, darn it?

Want me to send Natalie down to you? We've been back 2 days and she's brought me 3 mice and a RAT! I guess she feels if she does a good job feeding us we won't leave her again . . .

Dagmar

At 151.9 this morning, with TLC's "Unpretty" playing in my head in a continuous loop.

Just lost post. I'll come back and try again later this afternoon.

I haven't been posting much. I am losing, so that much is good. I'm being a lazy bum and have been off my exercise for two weeks--still exercising, but not daily like I should. Eating is quite good. Just too busy to post daily, it seems.

I'm down a little from yesterday. I'm going to try to get back in the habit of weighing more often, and I need to come in and post more often.

Yoga, headspace, exercise done.

I'm in week 7 of the beginners program from Strong Curves. I can definitely see a difference in my legs and bootie. I like it.

Down to 150.5, and glad of it. Clothes feel a little tight. And oh, am I sore! Just one week away from the weights left me hurting badly after my usual session.

Glad to see people here, struggling or not.

This is the situation here.

N.B. This is a story about how I shall be losing weight over the next few months. The story’s hook is a high total cholesterol score but it’s only a hook to the excellent weight loss and other support I’m now going to be getting.

My xanthalasma has got worse over the last few months. It’s similar to the picture on Wikipedia but not so lumpy. It began when I was pregnant in 2000 and appeared very suddenly. No-one else has it in the family. I had it removed and it came back, as it does apparently. The GP and I agreed back in the early 200s that I would not take statins. I didn’t want to take them and she thought no need, anyway, as I had healthy weight and habits, and the high-ish cholesterol could be managed by diet.

Now the xanthalasma has increased. And I am now overweight and post menopause. I asked the doc for a cholesterol check (v high), we agreed I’d lose weight, I asked for support from the practice, rejected a few ideas, asked for the most serious nurse. That’s why I’m now attending the lifestyle clinic, run by a nurse I’ve met over the years and for whom I have the greatest respect. More blood tests to be taken (sugars, thyroid - the full works weren’t done the other day because of a slip-up), baseline weight (it would only worry you to know the actual number) and I’m going back in a month. Another cholesterol check to be done at end of October, early November. The nurse will be there for me, for as long as I want and on my terms.

I’m feeling very pleased at this turn of events. It’s very encouraging and I feel that I can probably lose weight well within this structure. I think the medical angle will help me to get over the tricky 4pm food hurdle. The household is on board with any changes necessary.

So this is me notifying you of this good development, and telling you that I’ll keep you informed. Fish for tea … but we were having that anyway. Onward →

At 149.8 today and encouraged by Birchie's story and the structured approach she's taking.