Thanks guys! Now I'm fighting against the little voice that is telling me that since I did a triathlon on Saturday, I deserve the delicious-looking cake that is sitting in the break room... Someone remind my body that I ate 1000 calories of ice cream yesterday and I do NOT deserve any more dessert than that!

Jessica's coworkers & friends: "How was your weekend? We didn't do much. Just got some things done around the house."

Jessica: "I did a triathlon."

Just ... wow. I have to admit, I get a vicarious & yes, inspirational thrill when I read of your "brick" workouts as you keep training toward your triathlon. Makes me wonder if my own workouts ought to be more goal-oriented, rather than just always doing more of same, only at a higher resistance/weight eventually.

Also, as someone who swam every Sunday until recently in swimming l3ssons -- nothing like Becky -- I'm also amazed they allow the backstroke in triathlons. I don't like the idea of people swimming over you or kicking or punching you in the water. I like people who stay in their own distinct lanes. I had enough trouble trying to swim in hotel pools while unsupervised & thoughtless kids were playing in the pool & had no idea about staying out of peoples' lanes -- it felt unsafe. But I guess one doesn't compete in triathlons if one hasn't got a bit of daring & is less concerned with safety.

Good on you, and best of luck in the next one.

And stay out of that ice cream. Because you know it won't make you feel as good as reaching the athletic goals you've set for yourself.

Looking good here. I'm planning (more or less) and eating accordingly. That seat of the pants stuff doesn't suit me. But nor does having everything nailed down hard.

KC - Monday's child is fair of face. Not surprising, the amount of fruit & veg s/he eats. And all the exercise pumping blood round the skin.

Becky - will you be self-employed working from home? I can see the food challenge there, especially if DH likes questionable food.

Howdy! So we had a nice Saturday (and the painters painted ), followed by a lousy Sunday when it rained hard all day. Today was lighter rain and it has stopped now (4 pm) though it's still very overcast. Unless the clouds clear the painters won't be here tomorrow either. I figure they have 2-3 days more work. Kitty - it's all latex paint except the primer on the deck.....

SB - sounds like you're finding your groove!

Jessica - congrats on the tri. You did good!

Moving along here.

Tuesday's child is full of grace. My unspoken desire for grace led me to choose my screen name. I saw a silver birch (tree) outside my window and admired its shape, colour and movement. I love the birds which pass through it, especially the warblers and the tit family. My quest for good posture is also part of this desire. It's good posture and fluid movement that I'm searching for and working on.

Let me just tell you all that it's rather busy over here. It feels good to be in control of the food angle, even if tonight's meal was seat-of-the-pants innovative. (Tiny left-over bit of 'nippy mince' to which I added left-over half tin of chopped tomatoes, 2 grated carrots and finely chopped tiny bit of discovered celery. Eaten with fusilli, kale & parmigiano (the others) or kale & pesto (me). Appeared to serve 3 though the DB had a hearty bowl of porage and honeycomb later. No, I didn't.)

Monday, I had an appointment with another ENT specialist, an absolutely delightful, empathic man who deserves all the awards that covered the walls of his waiting room. This one has seen lots of people with my condition & was able to describe some of my symptoms even before I'd mentioned them. Labyrinthitis is what I've got. Early in June, a virus somehow crept into my inner ear on the left side & caused havoc with the auditory nerve, damaging or destroying it, affecting my balance & my hearing. When your inner ear can't regulate your balance, your eyes try to compensate by constantly scanning. This is why I have the most trouble in the morning. My eyes have been closed in sleep overnight & need to warm up for a few hours & relearn the choreography that they've been so laboriously acquiring.

And so it turns out that one of the BEST THINGS I could have done was to resume exercising & movement, rather than lying around. Because I'm going to have to readapt to the loss of balance, and that means my eyes need to figure out how to deal with different situations in balance & different positions & movement. The doctor was very supportive of my continuing exercising -- "just don't get on a treadmill yet" -- and said that my starting on this sooner rather than later would only help my recovery.

But recovery from this can take three months or longer, and I'm only at the beginning of my second month.

As for my hearing ... that's still up in the air. He can't say how much I'll get back. But he thinks I may get something back, as I can now detect something faintly in the left ear. It has to be very loud, either very deep or very piercing. I noticed in spin class, with the music blasting. It's faint, echoing & sounds like an autotune distortion or a synthesisor, rather than a recognizable musical phrase. And I've noticed it in my left iPod earbud. We may not know what degree of hearing I'll get back for another three to six months.

Recovery from the effects of an inner ear virus is very slow. This is not a well-researched area.

Anyway, I am hopeful now, after feeling profoundly depressed this same time last week over the randomness of this life-disrupting event. And I feel safe enough to drive off tomorrow for a weeklong trip Upstate -- I'll be fine as long as I don't leave first thing in the morning & have enough time for my eyes to readjust. A holiday, hooray! Antiquing, catching up with old friends, attending a nursing graduation ceremony, blueberry-picking & pesto-making are all on the agenda.

Hi, all! Had a busy couple of days completing an analysis on a raft of data. It's the part of my job that I really do like, so I was fully occupied.

saef - Once upon a time, several decades ago, I did a mini-triathlon at my alma mater, Michigan Tech. The swim was across the Portage Canal, which is admittedly quite a narrow body of water, but it was also 56 degrees that day. I did backstroke across that whole thing, because the water was so cold that it felt like ice picks in my ears! I just stuck to the outside of the crowd, and it wasn't too bad.
I'm glad you had a chance to talk to an experienced specialist, and that your instinct to move was exactly what you needed. I wish you a delightful, soul-restoring week up North!

silverbirch - to answer your question from a couple of days ago, yes, I would be at home with The Pantry. I've decided it's like the tree on Dagobah in Star Wars V - if I go in there, I can discover my true strengths (or weaknesses). "It is a living, breathing Force ... that pulls us toward the potato chips."

WaterRat - fresh paint is so satisfying. I love painting, with its immediate feedback.

Nothing special here - I've been on track for the last 3 days and the weekend blip has been removed. Now I just need to string together a few good weekends to break the sawtooth pattern of the last few months. I have a wedding to attend on Aug 6 - need FOCUS!

Oh, yes! Well done! You listened to the inner saef and you took the appropriate action.

Have a good holiday. We'll be here when you get back.

I think midwife's gone out for a run.

This morning I left the house in a tearing hurry, only half-exercised, got soaked in yet another cloudburst, went to the dressmaker, missed my morning snack, walked round some great mediaeval town walls (1280s), had fish and chips on the mountain and a few other things. Enjoyed it though my bottom was wet most of the time.

Made goat's cheese & pesto pizza for tea. With lettuce. It's popular with the other two but I find it unsatisfying. It tastes nice but there's not enough protein, I suppose.

So you could say it's been an off-plan day, or you could say I've done well to navigate the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. Whichever is right, I think the Number may be up tomorrow.

I'll keep you posted.

Next, please.

How's it going today, Silver? Everyone else?

My weight has been up this week. Last week I had inexplicably dropped a pound and was weighing in around 136.5 for several days in a row. This week I've been at 138.5 pretty much every day. Not sure if it's because I'm taking it easy on training so I don't overwork myself for my next upcoming tri, but still eating as much as I was before. I said so to DH and he was like, but you don't eat very much! True, compared to his massive food intake. He's losing weight eating over 2700 cals/day with his running program.

Hi, all!

Little to report at this point. Another round of cuts going on at work; I feel disorganized and behind - which gets me in trouble every single time. It tends to progress to despair if not firmly addressed, so I've gutted it up and will come in on Sunday to do some permanent (I hope) corrective action. I think the chaos of the home life is beginning to dribble into work, and I can't let that happen. Much as I hate my cube and what it represents, it's still my little fortress of order where I can find anything in a moment's notice.

Scale is reading 150. I really, really hate that 5. I hate that 5 enough ... to do something about it.

Not going so well here, Jessica. I think missing yesterday's morning snack and subsequent fish and chips has thrown me into eating more carbs than I should. No morning snack because of 'the chaos of home life'. It's familiar, Becky! We've had building work four times over the past four years and, for various excellent reasons, never fully recovered. I am dedicating time to get on top of things. It's only a tiny house and I need physical circulation and work and space space to help my brain space. I understand. My tip: throw things away.

Jessica - you have just done a tri and are about to do another. Go easy on yourself! Care for your body! You're quite remarkable.

to everyone. I think I might have a second LF hot chocolate in the bath. It's a lot better than the alternatives.

Hi guys! Sorry to be a stranger! Yes, I've gone for a run or two....I'd like to start running west and keep going until I hit the Pacific but alas....Food has been mediocre in quality and quantity putting me back at my set point and undoing all my strong work last week.

Decluttering is very therapeutic for sure.

Keep going well peeps! Send some of those good choices my way!

No brain space so food planning AWOL. Not good. You know I don't eat supper so porage & honeycomb was a little odd.

Proper work day tomorrow so I'll be OK. It's too hectic here.

Weight is back down. Phew. No idea what caused the spike last week.