JZJ - I can't find the picture I have edited for decency here at work, I think I saved it on the desktop at home. I'll put it up tonight. Good job staying below calories yesterday, and I agree on making some future event goals. I have to have something to look forward to or I flounder.

Allison - hope the cat gets better with the box.

Ouch. I bet it could be making you feel tired, absolutely.

So now I wonder if my high blood pressure is weight related. My cousin who is about my age has high blood pressure. She said that she was on meds for it, but then lost 30 pounds and the pressure returned to normal. Now that she has regained the weight, her pressure is back up. Food for thought, anyway.

No workout again today. Hoping this isn't the new normal.

We were sleeping quite peacefully until 1:57 AM when a huge catfight broke out in the living room (we're babysitting DD's 2 cats and her dog). I don't know what led up to it but the scream from one of the five was horrendous (yet didn't alarm our dogs). DH got up to investigate but by then they had all scattered. This morning all was normal.

Food:
B~Quest bar
S~? maybe yogurt
L~?, going to lunch with our CPA
D~Blue Apron Vietnamese Chicken wings with lemon grass brown rice

Greetings from Oak Brook, IL.

Had a "gourmet" dinner the first night, which turned out to be a mistake. My digestive system just balks at the combinations that are considered so popular these days. Won't do that again.

Yesterday morning I went to the gym here and discovered how much of my fitness has been lost in the past three years. I could not go slow enough on the machines to keep my heart rate from rising beyond the range I'd set. Dear me.

I went for some long walks instead. Just getting from one end of this resort to the other is quite a hike. I also went outside for a walk. The summer weather here is fantastic. I'd forgotten what nice summers are like.

Alinnell, it's a golf resort, and the course is right behind the hotel. Fantastic job of landscaping, grooming, plantings, etc. This place would be just right for you!

This morning I went swimming in the indoor pool, which has some lap lanes. I did "a few" laps before I was worn out. Then I went to the outdoor pool, which has a hot tub separate. I love hot tubs.

More walking this afternoon. Maybe I'll even get to the gym again. I'm loving the nice sun that isn't so hot it pounds on you.

The food is expensive, as you might guess, but I'm making better choices since that first night. I hate paying a fortune for food that strikes back...

Silverbirch, good luck with the root canal. The one I have had wasn't so bad, but not a lot of fun anyway. At least they gave me follow-up pain meds, which it turned out I didn't need.

Shannon, am I to understand that you have an indecent tattoo?

JZJ, in my world, if it's not scheduled in the day planner, it doesn't happen. I think it's great to plan events you can look forward to.

Worked out last night, 45 minutes on the elliptical. Stayed up after getting breakfast for the boy and did 30 minutes with the weights and 45 minutes on the elliptical. We have the boy starting tomorrow night through next Friday night at dinner, so I need to plan some menus to survive it and get some shopping done tomorrow.

The contractor is here, painting the ceiling and wall from the repair. He then has to run his steam cleaner again, as there is still drywall mud all over the carpet even after several cleanings. I've never seen it come back up like that, it is supposed to be colorless and non-staining, right?

JayEll - some parts of it are on areas that aren't always seen by the public, yes. It is on the right side of my back and down my bootie a little bit. Wonder if that will be *** out. LOL

Allison - my blood pressure went down as I lost weight, but hasn't gone back up with any gaining.

We came home yesterday to our Uverse router having been hit by lighting, so no phone, cable or internet. I'm on a MiFi from my office now so can get in and put the pic up. This was taken the first day, so there is some swelling and red in it. That has mostly come down this week, and now we are on to the peeling.

Exciting, Shannon! I didn't realize you'd gotten it. Happy with it?

Shannon, I love it - so colorful and peaceful.

My blood pressure was quite a bit lower when I was 30 pounds heavier... with a much less stressful job. I'm pretty sure what my problem is.

Michele - got it last Thursday, it was why I tanked on the weekend for our FB challenge. I was fine Thurs and Fri, but didn't move much on the weekend. LOL I like it. Bigger than I expected, and right now it itches like crazy, but starting to settle down. I'm still afraid to wear a lot of clothes right on it, so there have been a lot of empire waist dresses this week.

JZJ - colorful and peaceful is exactly what I was going for. I picked this artist specifically because I like his watercolor work. He reminded me a lot of my brother when he was in his mid twenties, so that was a little freaky.

Beautiful tat Shannon.

Dagmar

That is pretty, Shannon.

Friday. Again no workout. And what happened when I didn't work out for a whole week? My weight is down 2 pounds. Weird. I even went out to lunch yesterday.

Anyway, due to the upcoming colonoscopy, today is the last day I am allowed to eat raw vegetables and nuts. That sucks. I've already gone and bought the salads for next week's lunches. I may have to give them away. Not sure what I'll be eating Monday and Tuesday for lunch. Dinners are okay, though.

Plan for the day:
B~Quest bar
S~?
L~?
D~Blue Apron Summer Soba Salad

Down to 150! First step toward success, right? Can't figure out how to update my ticker though :P

That's really lovely, Shannon.

Yay, Jessica!

Great job, Jessica!

Shannon, I love your tattoo so much that I would consider flying across the country to have that artist do mine. I've had one specific drawing in mind for a long time but not trusted anyone to do it.

So, I'm thinking that I should quit boot camp. I've been doing it twice a week since last February. The motivation when I started was to get in shape for our wedding. And it did the trick, or helped quite a bit; I actually like how I look in the photos, which is rare. But since then I've not been strict about eating (understatement), so I've put on some fat weight while also continuing to build muscle over the next year. I put on muscle very easily; my dad was a college weightlifting champ and I got his oh-so-feminine build. End result: I'm getting quite bulky.

I like the idea of being a strong muscular woman, but the heavy lifting we do in class seems to be a bit much for me. Also, it makes my legs constantly sore so the weekend activities I really enjoy, like trail running, are very painful and even my bike commute to work is a bit hard. So I think it's time to dial it back.

My husband had a physical and left the paperwork out... I just glanced at it and realized he's now 10 lbs lighter than me. This is not helping my feeling like the Hulk; he's lost too much weight lately (138 lbs at nearly 6' tall) and my getting bulky has made the contrast worse. I actually find myself wishing for a chubby hubby who has the same needs and problems as me.

JZJ - If you are serious about coming this way, I'll connect you with him. He is young, but has a very steady hand. I interviewed several shops and multiple artists at each one, and I liked him. He's a skinny, backwards hat wearing, tattoos all over and gauges in his ears gamer kid, and I identify with that. He reminded me a lot of my brother, which was a little creepy as he was tatooing my backside, but I got past it. LOL He does great watercolor work, and I looked at lots of samples. I let him ad lib a lot on mine - my original design was a dark blue butterfly with black accent swirls above and below. When I showed it to him, he started sketching out watercolor accents and different options. He gave me a few designs to look at, I picked what I liked best, told him my color preferences and let him roll. I'm happy with it.

On the boot camp, if it isn't giving you what you want anymore, try something different for awhile. I lifted really heavy for a while, and I loved the look that I achieved with it. I can build muscle pretty quickly, actually. I then can gain weight quickly on top of that muscle when I'm not careful, so I got bulky as well. I've had a hard time losing that. Yoga has been the best I've found for trimming some of it. I totally get that about your legs being sore for what you love, and that spoke to me more than the rest of it. I used to love to run, but injured myself while I was running and lifting. I increased the weight a lot over a year or so, and because my legs were sore from the weight workouts I changed my stride, damaged my IT band and have never really gotten back to it. So, I might suggest slowing down on the boot camp, trying a lower impact resistance workout and focus on the parts that you love?

I am someone who can do exercise that I don't like - weights come to mind instantly - but for some people you have to go with doing something you enjoy or you don't exercise. DH is like that - walking Trixie is ideal for him in that he HAS to take her but he enjoys the walks as much as she does.

Dagmar