Shannon a big to you.

Dagmar

Oh, Shannon, that all sounds so rough. I can sympathize with some of your struggles, but I do know exactly what that commute to Norcross is and it is the WORST (did I ever mention my bf lives in Tucker, near Stone Mountain? Yeah, and I live on the westside and teach at KSU. Miserable.) Atlanta traffic is enough to give me a stroke.

I hope you're able to get that break as soon as possible. For your own health and well-being.

ETA: It was Monday Night Brewing, off Howell Mill. A fun way to spend $10 and some time with friends in the summer!

Sending supportive thoughts to Shannon - that's a lot on your plate.

Shannon, I got tired and stressed just reading this post. Promise me that when all this is done you will only do what is necessary. When did you last hace a vacation ?

Hugs Shannon! You'll get through this.

As for me, DH and I were in San Diego yesterday and found a nice restaurant for lunch. We each had a different panini with a side salad and swapped sandwich halves so we could sample both. Do you think the ciabbata bread could have been the culprit in a 1.6 pound gain over night? Granted I had a glass of wine with lunch, but no other alcohol the rest of the day and we had a pretty healthy dinner (breakfast for dinner). It was really distressing to see that number on my scale this morning. Planned 45 minutes on the treadmill this afternoon.

Shannon, you poor thing. I am also stressed just reading that. BTW, if you ever find yourself in Norcross with a little extra time, we should get together. We could work out (or not).

I am in for this 5-ish pound challenge. I need it to be gone before we go to see DH's family on July 26. I have fallen back into my old pattern of restricting during the week and free for all the whole week-end. So I put on 5 pounds and then get rid of it, only to repeat it the next week. Frustrating!

Jen, thanks for explaining. You seem like you did great at your latest social outing, so good for you!

Shannon, it seems like you had a horrible week! Why do so many stressful things have to happen all at once?? I hope all is calm for you soon.

Shannon, I am packaging up a bundle of strength and some fairy dust that will help share some of the stress load. :\ Hope "R&R" is in your future.

Thanks guys! I swear, I feel like I've been moving from crisis to crisis with no gaps for close to a year now. I can't remember the last time I took a vacation other than some days off around Christmas which really didn't count with all the driving and wrapping and prepping. November of 2011 I think? We cancelled our anniversary trip last year to pay back some debt. Though we did take a few days off around there I think, it's a blur. I was supposed to take some time off around my birthday and ended up only getting a half day Wed afternoon and then Thursday morning until around 1. Worked long days driving to Athens and downtown that whole week. I have a week booked off in November. It can't come soon enough, and I may have to take a few days before then.

Oh, and my 81 year old grandfather has to have surgery next week, if they can get his blood pressure down to clear him. Just found that out. Uncle undergoing chemo had a bad reaction to treatment two days ago and his whole body broke out in hives, we are catering a party for him on Sunday (combining work and personal there, I've been coordinating his job this week in catering) and I hope he is up for it. It always hits at once, doesn't it?

Ward - I'll not likely have any time this time around, but I have to come back over this way in a couple of weeks for an audit where I set my own times instead of running to the catering schedule. I'll let you know when it is and we can try to connect.

Jen - ouch. That drive from west to KSU is bad enough, add in Tucker/Stone Mountain and it is crazy making. I'm going to check out the brewing company, that sounds cool. And we need to try to grab some coffee (or a run!) sometime, too. Maybe if I make plans to run with you and exercise with Ward I'll actually do it. LOL

Allison - does ciabatta bread have a lot of salt? Or maybe the oil in the panini press? I know I generally uptick after a panini, but never thought about the component reasons.

Back to the booking computer. I'm trying to get out of here at 2 this afternoon to get my last few things for the shower, and I have PhotoChik coming over to help me cook tonight. Or more accurately, she will cook and I will chop and run errands. LOL Luckily she was willing to help, as none of the honoree couples friends stepped up.

Back later, hopefully calmer.

Oh, I do have some good news. Paid off another credit card this month. And opened a new bank account so am finally away from the bank that kept getting hacked and spammed and fraud notices. Progress!

Photochick? That's a name from the past! Hope she's doing well. I should move to Atlanta - you've got quite a node of 3FCers there.

Progress is poor here. Multitasking.

May I climb back on board the loss train? Seems as soon as I set my redline, I jumped back over it and have been yo-yoing just above, since about March. I figured that starting to train for the 10-mile would move the needle back down - nope. I'm definitely moving more than I did before (a positive), and firming up spots that were jiggly ... but it's becoming very clear that I need more aggressive actions to address my insulation layers. Time to fire up LoseIt again!

shannon, oh gosh, you have had your turn in the wringer! Wishing you peace among the chaos!

Becky, you are always welcome.Maintenance can be a bumpy road, fortunately there is no expiration date , you can always get back on board.

Jumping in too.....

Houston with dd was great but traveling is always exhausting. Everything accomplished though-- she met her future employers, took and passed her teaching exams, found an apartment, looked at cars, and explored the area (we looked at healthy restaurants/ options so she continue on her weight loss quest). Of course our return flight was majorly delayed so we got home in the middle of the night Thursday and I had to work Friday. Then when we got home the power was out and stayed out most of the night. It's back on today (it's 106 now so maybe the outage was heat related?) but I've yet to unpack, grocery shop, etc.

Dd leaves tomorrow so I'm trying to have some fun with her and younger dd today. Dd joined me for bikram yesterday and today-- she's come a long way to even be brave enough to try it-- I'm so proud of her!!

We had a healthy lunch and are off to see a movie soon.

Dh returns again from China on Monday so I really need to clean the house before he gets home!

Hugs to you Shannon!!

My goal? Get back under my redline and stay there!!! I don't think I gained in Houston-- not sure as I never trust post-flying weights-- but we exercised and ate healthy the whole time-- I wanted to show dd it was possible there!!

Stopped eating at 1250 calories [again] today and am currently fighting with myself to avoid eating anything else. Listening to my inner voice alternately cajoling, wheedling, demanding and pouting "it's not fair" all in an effort to get me to stuff a bunch of sweet carbs into me. I'm doing my best to maintain detachment, understanding that it's just a habit without any basis in biology, but it's hard. Both "Brain Over Binge" and "Ditching Diets" say that after a couple of days/weeks of practicing the skill of "letting the hungry voice just talk," it either disappears entirely (BOB) or becomes way easier (DD). Wrong, I find it just as challenging now as I did a month ago. Doesn't make it any easier when I've been nearly perfect with food (1200-1300 cal/day) for the last few weeks and have once again bounced back up to 126.