Tues
Food is prepped and I am ready to keep working it back to healthy, weight-losing WOE. Easy does it has been effective so far, and I am almost where i want to be. Not with my size, but with my food choices. The weight loss will follow. That said, it can't happen fast enough. I almost tossed my bigger clothes last month, and I would like to do that soon.

Today's goals: 2 liters of water; sticking to my food with an extra single packet and 1 HB egg if there is physical hunger on this long work day.

EDIT Ate to plan, added a few extra things in the evening. Food as a way a winding down. Will be more vigilant for that next time. I drank over a liter--if I hadn't misplaced the water bottle, would have a better idea of how much. All in all a good day that felt more like before, when I was losing weight.

Tuesday plan
shake, coffee
protein versions of mac/cheese (with tomato), mashed potatoes, chips, 2 candy bars.
Costco samples, 1 each of carne asada and whiskey sausage. I realized I was hungry and bought their shrimp marinated in olive oil and ate a large amount.

Accomplished a lot of errands and am now inert on the sofa. Delicious sunny day. This morning's workout session was fairly intense. The errands included donating some of my mother's things to a medical recycling place, and that was both a relief and an emotional drain. I might volunteer for them. It makes me happy to know that other people have needed things they might otherwise not have. I got a watch repaired at Macy's and shopped while I waited. That reminded me of my mother. It's been a mixed day, and I ate some of the feelings. All in all am on track and my exhaustion might be from lowered carbs, even if cals aren't all that low.

Thursday
I'm starting to sleep more hours in the night, according to my friend, Fitbit. Today is a short work day and I will have a chance to whittle down my list of to-dos. The rain has gone away, for now. I'm grateful for a sense of normalcy. More energy to focus on fitness goals, which are paramount.
Protein shake/coffee, mac/cheese & tomato, mashed potato, chip and salsa, bar, salad with chicken and steamed asparagus.

An extra bar, otherwise on plan.

Friday 19 more days of work
I decided to cook a small brisket in the crockpot overnight. It cooked so fast that it was finished by midnight. Like a sleep walker, I followed the aroma into the kitchen and ate it up. I will relegate to yesterday and call this morning a fresh start. I do not feel fresh, though. I think if I work a little harder on keeping up water intake, I'll be better equipped to withstand eating impulses. Even though retirement is a mere 5 weeks away, the fatigue I'm experiencing now is bothersome. Yay for a 3-day weekend!
Plan
B coffee, shake
L salad, chicken
5 more protein snacks

Sat
3 days to regroup, whatever that entails. I have no social commitments and that is very helpful for getting in to the diet mode. I have been getting there gradually, but if I want to see results, I need to stop eating at night. I also need to be absolutely on track with 2 L/day of water. Meanwhile, today is a workout day, with the trainer who pushes a little more.

EDIT great workout. By the end, I felt energized and strong. My face looks a little dehydrated, a sign that I'm losing the carb bloat.

Protein shake/coffee, protein fruit shake so far.
Plan for the day is 3 more protein snacks and a salad with chicken, evoo, some steamed vegs.

EDIT a little behind on water and a little ahead on food in addition to the above plan, I had a meal at WF hot bar. zucchini au gratin, sauteed zucchini & summer squash, chicken chili verde, a small portion of chicken tikka masala. Low enough on carbs, a little high on fat. After the am workout I was super hungry. I did not adhere to the more rigorous calorie restriction that I had planned. After a day looking after things at my mother's house I fell into a little emotional eating, hence the WF meal.

Sun
Off to a good start with major decluttering.
Food:
coffee, 1/2 shake, HB egg
plan is salad with chicken, asparagus, broccoli,
4 snacks
EDIT I went off the rails early on. I like to get my grocery shopping done early. I seem to think I must leave with something from the hot food bar--a good-sized serving of scrambled eggs with vegs, and a poached egg. I snacked throughout the day and felt sluggish.

Mon
I accomplished a lot this weekend. Today has been a better diet day, and I had a good workout session.
Food has included shake & coffee, salad with brisket & evoo, 2 bars, mac/cheese with asparagus, cooked carrots and a few bites of sweet potato.

Thursday. 21 days to go. Today I can feel the approach. My co-workers, too, are reminding me frequently. I will miss them a lot. Today I got the green light to give notice to my managers. When I got home, I encountered a gorgeous Swallowtail Butterfly on the ground, in the covered corridor of my building. That isn't a usual place to see a butterfly, and while it was clearly alive, it was very still. I moved it to sunshine, but it still did not fly. Then I saw it had a ball of spider silk attached to its leg. I was able to remove it (without taking the leg too---yay!). The butterfly immediately flew off up into a high tree. It made my day.

The last week was better than the previous week, but still random eating. Just not a lot of carbs. Today I am on plan. My challenge will be staying away from evening snacking. I've let go a bit, of worrying over the tasks and unknowns that keep me wound up and self-soothing with food. We'll see.

Food so far has been coffee/shake, 5 more protein products, a salad with cut up brisket & evoo dressing, veggies with drippings from the brisket. The kitchen is closed now.

Friday
Good day overall. I'm still eating a little too much in the evening.

Hi Sundove! I thought I'd pop on here today to let folks know I'm still here ha ha. I see you're still doing great with diet and exercise. 17 days to retirement?!
I'm so happy for you. Do you like to travel? One of the things I'm looking forward to are leaning out my belongings and either selling pieces of my wardrobe or giving to good will. I love living as a minimalist. Then travel ...

I hope you have a wonderful week.

Hey there Follena, So good to see you pop up here! Yes you are spot on re countdown After a short day tomorrow, it will be just 2 weeks. I have begun saying goodbyes in earnest, which is bittersweet. Eating has been a little wacko. But today my weight trainer got me to weigh myself. I feel a lot fatter than the scale says, so that was good news. I've been eating too many protein bars and too much cheese (not together!), once in a while eating some carby sweets.

I'm so with you--can't wait to clear out things. I have a couple of planned trips but look forward to just getting up and deciding to go on a road trip. I'd also like to become conversationally fluent in Spanish, and learn some Hebrew. Do you have some specific places in mind? May your countdown come soon!

12 more days. The last 2 days meals were off plan. I gave myself permission for some reason. Back to plan today.

The final week, well fraction thereof, is here. I am starting to feel a sense of joy and full on relief. Other things too, as there is a ton of paperwork and home repairs, health appts. dieting, etc etc to waiting for me. But also a spa week, a writing retreat, a trip across the ocean, and many more adventures in the wings. But for now, I still have a lot of good byes to say at work. I seem to have thrown in the towel regarding weight loss eating for now, though each day is an opportunity to re-focus. I will apply more determination once the festivities are over.

In other news, I tried absinthe yesterday. It was served in a restaurant, legally, with the mind-altering substance removed. It tasted like licorice.