I'm not sure what is up with me. I can't see to stay focused/motivated. I think it's just end of school year stress (with a few other stressors thrown in-- personal issues).

I ate too much yesterday and then didn't go to the gym as planned-- Ellie had a vet appointment and it was hard (but shouldn't have been impossible) to fit the gym in. Why did I then suggest ice cream to dd? I have no idea. Shocker that the scale rebelled this morning by shooting way up.

I have tons of off-plan get togethers coming up too. Some will be harder than others. Tomorrow is my end of year staff party. I will have no trouble avoiding the catered buffalo wings, but I will just have to ignore the desserts, etc. Because it's in the afternoon, I plan to "drop in" and leave. Ellie has her puppy class so I may go to the gym before... hopefully...

Then, next week is a very hard one. It is a get together for all of the librarians in the district-- potluck-- pastas, salads and desserts. It's at 5:00 which messes up any chance of working out. Unless I work out from 3-4, shower quickly and then go....

Raining today! The one day we can't have rain-- field day which looks to be cancelled...

Down another lb. for a total of 4 lbs. since Saturday. Amazing what portion control and not eating in the evenings does for me.

Dagmar :

Wahaoo!! Keep up the great work!

Good job, Dagmar!

Michele, any way you can eat a big bowl of veggies or a salad before you go to the potluck? That usually works for me.

Does anyone else have certain snacks that leave you just as hungry or even more hungry after you eat them? I find if I eat an apple or orange, it does nothing to curb my appetite. OTOH, a nice donut will keep me full all morning.

I find I want more and more if I eat a really sweet protein bar, granola bar, or similar. I went and bought a box of Clif bars - knows why - and I find them to be too sweet and too high cal but once I eat one I want MORE!

Fruit, OTOH, fills me up nicely.

Dagmar

I definitely won't go hungry-- thanks for the suggestion. I will just limit myself at the potluck hopefully. Knowing it is just a few days before my cruise should be a good deterrent as well.

Thursday, looking into the medicine cabinet mirror early in the morning, I find a broken blood vessel in my left eye. Wondering how long it will take to go away. I'm pretty sure that I did it while hip-thrusting weights early yesterday morning but it didn't show up until later.

This was a seven-meeting day. Yes, I had seven meetings. One was a training session, and another was a PowerPoint presentation to my new team. Another was an interrogatory staff meeting.

Weigh-in: 140.7

Meals for Today:

Breakfast: Coconut mango muffin; egg bake with spinach, artichoke hearts and sun-dried tomatoes; raspberries and yogurt
Snack: Three guavas, my last ones
Lunch: Baby arugula salad with roasted vegetables, quinoa, sun-dried tomatoes, walnuts, half an avocado, some forkfuls of hummus
Snack: Gala apple
Dinner: Salsa verde porkchop on brown rice with broccoli rabe
Dessert: Chocolate chip cookie dough Quest bar


Exercise for Today:

30 minutes on the arc trainer, resistance at 10, intervals, sweating hard in high humidity and with my mind elsewhere

60 minutes Pilates mat class

Friday, and I just sent an embarrassing IM on my screen while sharing it with half of my department. I want to die but I have too damn much to work on today.
Unfortunately I will be online working for much of the weekend.

Weigh in: 138.3

Meals for Today:

Breakfast: Coconut mango muffin; egg bake with spinach, artichoke hearts and sun-dried tomatoes; cherries and yogurt
Snack: 180-calorie Cinnamon Apple Chips
Lunch: Baby arugula salad with roasted vegetables, walnuts, bleu cheese, Craisins and some forkfuls of hummus
Dinner: Salsa verde porkchop on brown rice with broccoli rabe
Dessert: Chocolate chip cookie dough Quest bar


Exercise for Today:

At physical therapy: 12 minutes on Cybex elliptical, 4x12 leg presses alternating with 4x20 crunches, 4x12 abductor/adductor machine, 4x12 quad raises or hamstring curls, 12 minutes recumbent bike on hill

In my heart of hearts I was hoping the 18-day dog sit that was postponed would be cancelled. Nah - it's a go now. My client is being very flexible in that she's trying to rope in a relative to stay with the pets until Monday so that I can get all my stuff finished on the weekend before moving in Monday night. And they are coming back in 14 days so I will have a small breathing space after the sit ends and before our kitchen reno starts.

The sit will pay for our much-needed new dishwasher (the 14-year old one is creaking and groaning so much right now I hesitate every time I go to turn it on) and for our new front screen door (Natalie jumped through the bottom screen and tore out what was already loose on the bottom and the lock opens and closes with application of a butter knife). So I definitely need to do this and will.

The trick is to not sulk and eat. To say nothing of staying in a house where there is alcohol everywhere and I have carte blanche to help myself to the already open wine and the beer.

I also will not have a scale. Might take ours along to keep myself motivated.

Sigh. Not packing yet.

Dagmar

Dagmar,
Definitely take the scale. And put away all the alcohol the minute you walk through the door, along with the cookies, chips and other foods not on your current eating plan. Seriously- I'd put it all in their garage or some other place you would have to make a real effort to get at during your stay. Finally, I'd bring a bunch of food that IS on your current food plan with you to the sit, and put it front and center everywhere in the kitchen (fridge, pantry, counter), so the easy-access food in plain sight is all stuff on your plan. No reason why your 18-day pet-sit shouldn't be an easy 3 pound weight loss opportunity since DH won't be tempting you with ice cream and carb-heavy meals.

I'm visiting my parents in NJ with DH and 2/3 DSs. Lots and lots of tempting food here, and no tactful way to hide it from myself. I'm doing my best to avoid it, and thankfully mom knows about my eating plan so she isn't being (too) pushy. I still managed to eat 2000+ calories yesterday by having 3/4 of a NY bagel (300+ calories before any toppings) and going out to an amazing Turkish restaurant yesterday for dinner. I'm trying to just enjoy the respite from work and the ability to spend time with them, and not worry too much about the damage to my thighs. I'm only here for 5 days, so how bad can it be?

Andrea If you saw this house you'd laugh at the idea of putting away all the alcohol. Thee are at least 300 bottles of wine in the basement cellar, a couple of cases of beer/cider etc. in the 3 fridges (2 just for beverages), and any kind of hard liquor and liquer you'd care to name in the large armoire in the dining room. My clients generally bring home exotic alcohol every time they travel.

The food is a lot easier. I always buy my own groceries at long sits. Most of my clients don't do much cooking so there might be some stuff in the pantry like noodles and rice and cans but not much in the way of edible fresh food.

This house usually has very rich cheeses and very fatty deli meats in the fridge. I really don't like either so am not tempted. I do love chips and crackers and that is usually my downfall here. This time I will put that stuff away in their loft master bedroom and I'll close the ensuite door. That's the one place I never go in the house. I have two other floors and 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms to use.

Right now their trip has already been pushed back to Monday and again it might be cancelled. I can pack my stuff in 20 minutes so "standby" for me isn't that big a deal.

For now I'm going to experiment with really cutting back my cals for today and Sunday. I have been eating about 2000 every day for the past week so. Since I'm only walking Trixie and one other set of dogs this weekend I'm going to try to cut back to 12-1400 each day. Should be interesting.

Dagmar :

Saturday of a working weekend. Went to bed at 9 PM on Friday with my head spinning with the contents of emails, woke at 2 AM, walked out to the laptop, sent three more emails, then went back to bed. Up at 5 AM anyway. I've been to the grocery store, I spent my usual Saturday morning at the gym. Oh, and my weight was up, not unexpectedly: Yesterday, while working hard, panicky, trying to keep apace, I drank Diet Pepsi incessantly to combat the humidity, had a saltier than usual lunch (bleu cheese, hummus) and gave up & indulged in my nervous habit of chewing through three packs of sugarfree gum. I knew the scale would rebound again. Can't seem to keep my weight at or slightly below 139 these days.

Weigh in: 140.3

Meals for Today:

Breakfast: Rolled oats with chia, flaxseed and ground pecans; egg bake with spinach, artichoke hearts and sun-dried tomatoes; cherries and yogurt
Lunch: Spring mix salad, roasted vegetables, marinated artichoke hearts, walnuts, Craisins, bleu cheese and some hummus
Snack: Gala apple
Dinner: Cod with spinach and tomatoes, steamed green beans
Dessert: Raspberry White Chocolate Chunk Quest bar

Exercise for Today:

At the gym, 20 minutes recumbent bike on the hill program, resistance upped to 10, workout 11A1 of Strong Curves beginners program, and a Pilates mat class.

Up at 4:30 AM on Sunday, because it's easier for me if I wake up at the same time consistently all week. I feel better for having finished work on a document yesterday, and some housework. I've got hopes of stopping working late in the day and having a few hours to think & feel nothing whatsoever.

Weigh in: 140.8, up again. A half-pound, the usual for a day at my desk. When I got up from my Aeron, my ankles felt tight and swollen, so I knew I'd retained fluid.

Meals for Today:

Breakfast: EAS Protein muffin with cacao nibs embedded in it; egg bake with spinach, artichoke hearts and sun-dried tomatoes; strawberries and yogurt
Snack: The last Gala apple
Lunch: Spring mix salad with roasted vegetables, almonds, goat cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, gaucamole and some forkfuls of hummus
Snack: A small, mealy peach
Dinner: Miso-glazed salmon with steamed asparagus and roasted cauliflower
Dessert: Cinnamon roll Quest bar

Exercise for Today:

20 minutes on Cybex arc trainer, then Workout 11B of Strong Curves beginners program. I forgot, I'm now on Week 11, not Week 10.

I reduced my total cals by 500 yesterday. Not much happened on the scale. I'll do that again today and see what happens. Logging stuff is really helping. I was going to eat a Clif bar last night - spur of the moment on top of my other cals - and then didn't when faced with recording it. I used to ignore the cals in the evening - they didn't "count" somehow, much like the alcohol cals.

But they DO count and I will record them for the rest of the month. I have lost 4 lbs. in 10 days with the counting and logging.

I am taking my calorie book, scale, and my notebook along on the dog sit. First time ever doing this. I am eating at home every second night but that's arranged too.

I plan the menus and write out the grocery lists. DH buys the groceries and makes the meals. So far it's working fine.

Dagmar :

A rainy morning, with me tense and unhappy over having to give a PowerPoint presentation on WebEx. I did manage to finish it within a half-hour, though it consisted of 24 slides.

Weigh in: 140.5, down just slightly from Sunday.

Meals for Today:

Breakfast: EAS Protein muffin with cacao nibs embedded in it; egg bake with spinach, artichoke hearts and sun-dried tomatoes; strawberries & blueberries and yogurt
Snack: Two small bags of Bare Fruit Granny Smith apple chips, a little over 100 calories total
Lunch: Spring mix salad with tuna, black olives, chickpeas, some slaw, sunflower seeds
Snack: Bing cherries, nice & somewhat crunchy
Dinner: Salsa verde porkchops with brown rice
Dessert: Cookies n' Cream Quest bar

Exercise for Today:

At physical therapy, 12 minutes Cybex elliptical, 4x12 goblet squats with 15-lb dumbbell alternating with 4x12 crunches; 4x12 hamstring curl/quad raises; 4x12 abductor/adductor, 12 minutes walking at an incline of 2.0 at 2.5 mph.