I'm all alone this week while spouse and kid are fishing in Canada. I've had a wonderful week, but yesterday I really, really, really wanted sushi for dinner. It was fabulous - but this morning, back to 156. Again. Water and more water.

Hey, there's ICU! Now that's the good thing about being back in this thread. There are some great people here, who I don't often see elsewhere.

Puffy ankles again today at the end of the work day. I've had a banana. I've drunk a lot of water. I had a fig and some almonds. I am getting potassium. What is this? The skin on my legs feels so tight and sausage-like.

Off to the gym. Nothing relieves this as well as getting moving around.

I've said all of this many, many times but I'm going to give it another go.

I too am fluctuating between 135-138 with 135 supposed to be my red line. I want to get down to 130 but will settle for 133. In fact, 130 -133 will be a nice maintenance range for me.

September always feels like the start of a "new year" for me (for a lot of reasons) and this September there will probably be at least 3 new puppies on the doggie bus.

I'm going to now to give myself a head start.

Dagmar

I'm feeling puffy today, too - I know that I ate too much sodium over the weekend and am still working out some from last week, but I don't think I ate that much more. I did get stung by several fireants on Saturday, and I wonder if I'm having some allergic reaction to that. bites themselves were pretty swollen yesterday but have popped now and my entire ankle is stiff.

Back from my high school reunion without a gain which is surprising because my food choices were not great and there was great consumption of alcohol.

BUT

I'm back. 100% OP beginning today. I managed to creep up 2.5 pounds prior to my reunion (but got compliments Saturday for looking so trim!--I have to thank my new jeans!). So now I have 14.5 to lose before I leave for Costa Rica. Totally do-able. As long as I stay OP.

well i'm fluctuating at around 140. my red line was 132ish...then crept up to a solid 135. But yeah, I'm 140 and need to reloose. I did great eating last week. I hope this week will be good to me. I should get off my booty right now and do my workouts. Mondays are hard for me, especially with no sun shining through the windows today. but I must, have too many drinks with the hubby this weekend..hahaha.

How the goddang heck does anyone in America stay thin or even just "manageably sized?" It's a nonstop neverending carnival of food here. Food everywhere in huge amounts all the time. It's a good thing too - I can buy Greek yogurt everywhere, there are abundant berries which were very hard to find in my little coal mining town in Japan, and you can buy bags of sugar snap peas and "rainbow" peppers and HUGE bok choys. Grocery shopping is a wonderful joy, though I do dearly miss access to $3 sashimi grade salmon steaks.

My constipation problems are ancient history, which is awesome. I don't know what it is about the food here - but I've "gone" every single day since I've been back.

It's a big adjustment living at my parents' again. I forgot how upsetting it is to be around my dad's poor health (he has Meniere's and is always in bed feeling badly, and is quite obese) watching my mom deal with everything stoically and say things like "It sure is nice having someone to do things with" to me. At least I'm guaranteed a 3 mile walk with her every day...

Krampus, I feel for you. I moved in with my parents when my father was dying, for the last seven weeks of his life, and found it one of the hardest things I've had to endure. God help me, I was so relieved any time I left the house, and so always willing to run errands or pick up things at the grocery store or what-have-you. I found out then how much time I need to be alone every day: It's a considerable amount, like a couple hours. Or I'd try to disappear while still being physically there, by reading or becoming engaged in a jigsaw puzzle. I felt if I didn't reserve & set apart a bit of myself, I was going to be engulfed & trapped forever.

Today I'm crestfallen because the doctor pointed out at my appointment that I'd gained a little bit of weight and wanted to know why. He took an A1C test. Said it would be "interesting" to see if my levels had changed due to the slight weight gain.

I think he wanted to hear me confess to the unhealthy things I've been eating. The confounding thing is that I don't eat anything unhealthy. I overeat healthy things in large portions. (Also, I've got my period. And I've been doing some serious weight training since May, when he last saw me, such that it's made a big difference in the appearance of my arms. This accounts for some, but not all.) So I can't even enjoy having had cake or cookies or candy or fried chicken or U.S. Chinese food or whatever else.

No.

I'm the girl who accidentally bought organic Greek yogurt with cherries already in it, and, upon realizing her mistake, read the ingredients. I saw evaporated cane juice on the ingredients, and so now I'm afraid to eat it. So it sits there in my fridge while I think of donating it to the office fridge with a sign: "Please take -- Free ---"

Anyway I'm mad at him because when he took my blood, he hit something where I felt this horrible burning twinge run down the whole length of my arm, to my wrist. I yelled. He said maybe he got a nerve but that it would be all right. But it's sore now at the side of my wrist.

Saef - how well do you know your doctor? The last time I went to see mine he pulled up my file and pointed out that I had gained a little weight, asked me it I was working on my high cholesterol and asked if I ever exercised. He had not saved any notes from the last few times I went in and we had discussed my strength training, running and other exercise, nor had he bothered to look at the fact that the hypercholesterolemia diagnosis in the file was three years old and that my last few check were darn near perfect.

You haven't gained much weight - you are still in the same pants, right? I'm sure you have built some muscle, too. Don't let him get you down.

Why are you afraid of the Greek yogurt with the cane juice? Is it related to the A1C test? I have to admit that I don't know what that means.

Shannon, my pants fit almost the same as before this weight gain. One pair that was tight before is maybe a bit tighter. Hard to tell as they're new, arrived through mail order & I can't remember how they fit before they went into the wash for the first time.

My understanding is that A1C tests measure your blood sugar levels, not just on that particular day, but as an average for a period of time. That's the connection between the test & my fear of a yogurt with evaporated cane juice in it. I hardly ever eat anything with cane sugar in it anymore -- let alone high fructose corn syrup. I eat fruit or Splenda or xylitol (mostly in sugarfree gum). I know that other kinds of sugar, even those occurring naturally in fruit, can affect blood sugar levels. But yes, I think my issue is similar to what you're describing. My doctor doesn't know me. He is quick to jump to assumptions or drop into standardized admonitions without asking me questions first about my exercise and eating.

Still, I joined the 5-10-lb thread before this visit with him, so I know I have to work on dropping a few pounds.

This thread does me more good than the doctor does, sadly.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, saef. Dump the doctor. As far as I can recall, he has never done one good thing for you. There are plenty of good physicians out there.

Jay

Change of venue. I'm in Toronto today and tomorrow (Whitby, specifically) to audit a supplier. I loved the five hours of solitude in the car, one of which was spent on the 401 at a near-standstill , of course. Happily, I'm in the headspace that makes a traffic jam perfectly acceptable. I have a phone interview on Wednesday - the first step toward stepping back job-wise.

krampus, your post made me laugh out loud! Yup, the upside of having gobs of bad food choices is also having a huge number of good food choices. Admittedly, the cheap top-end tuna ... notgonnahappen.com! Best wishes with the parents - be sure to make time just for yourself.

saef - glad to see you again too! I lurk on the weekly thread and "hope" to be there when I finish my task on this thread. Saying I "hope" is the same as typing a novel that details my excuses for not having done it yet. I too wonder why doctors bother to take notes when the %^&* ers never read them. That being said, I can't imagine what it's like to be a doctor in today's environment. I'm guessing a lot of them are really frustrated.

Allison, totally doable on the 14.5! Costa Rica ... sighhhhhh!!!

Shannon - eek on the fireants! I'm puffing up sympathetically!

Dagmar, how'd that kick in the fanny work out? Can you send one to me if it worked?

bakingchick - - welcome aboard!

I'm going back to journaling and calorie-counting tomorrow morning. Enough is enough! I was talking with the quality manager at the supplier I was auditing today, and we were discussing how futile it is to have bullet-proof processes when there's no cultural discipline to follow them. I think I might have actually blushed when my paradigm shifted.

The one good thing he has done was behave like such an autocratic jerk that, back in 2006, I decided that I was going to lose weight just to show him, dammit, that I could. Of course I needed more motivation than that. I also had a health scare in a hotel room in Las Vegas. (I still don't know if that was a blood sugar episode or a panic attack.) But that sent me to him seeking help, and he was not particularly sympathetic. ("Lose the weight.")

I have an admittedly twisted psychology when it comes to judgmental, authoritarian men. I always want to prove myself to them, to overachieve, impress, move or otherwise somehow soften them.

But he may have outlived his usefulness.

I think I've described my ideal doctor on another thread. She's a lot like Kathy Bates, only she wears her gray hair in a braid & lots of turquoise & has a second home in Santa Fe. She is a strong feminist who also believes in holistic healing. (I need to find this woman doctor even if I have to advertise for her or look on Craigslist.)

Oh, Becky, I love it when you talk like this.

Like the stuff I have to write at work.

I actually understood this sentence & it also made a light bulb go on in my own head.

I could definitely hook you up with a doc or an NP who fits the criteria...mostly.

As for me and authoritative men, I send a mental #$() you their way when they try to be controlling and paternalistic.

Kathy Bates with that big old mallet though----I'd get my fiber and veggies in for sure! I bet she'd even get me to do my breast self exams, floss and kegel just like all the American Academies of XYZ recommend.