Good morning everyone!

For me this is always the "last" week of summer. The air is getting cooler in the evenings and we are starting to sit on the patio with stars coming out.

What kind of changes to plan for the coming autumn season are you going to make? Different exercise routines? Menus?

Hope you all have a great week!

Dagmar

Was completely off plan this last week due to TOM. Am starting again today fully focused on my goal.

I'm going to switch around my workout time. I've never been much of an a.m. exerciser, but now that The Boy has to be at school at 8:00, I'm contemplating it. Sure, I could go in to work after dropping off TB, but I know that come 5:00 I'll be tired and have all sorts of excuses why I shouldn't go to the gym. If I exercise early in the day, and I have a better chance at reaching 16 (%BF) by 40.

Besides, there are a lot fewer people at a university gym at 8 in the morning than at 5 in the afternoon.

Kim

Good morning! I do not have my act together here this morning. I just spent waaay too much of my computer time cleaning up my in-box. I think I'll go walking and see if I can get off to a fresh start.

One thing that I'm looking forward to for autumn is buying concord grapes. I love those and I wish they were in season all year. One thing that I'm not looking forward to is that my other favorite fruits will be out of season soon.

Whittlin - That's great that you have time to exercise with no interruptions!

Autumn is so far off for us! We'll be seeing temperatures above 95 for at least another 6 weeks. I'll think about Autumn closer to Thanksgiving!!

It's a busy day today. Gotta run. I'll check in later!

Alinell-it is still hot as heck here in Texas, too!

I am accepting the fact that I do not have as much time to workout as I used to. I am trying to get in as much as I can, even if it is only once or twice a week.

For the fall--since my husband is a football coach and is never home in the fall, I have to learn to resist the temptations of drive-thrus (it is easier than cooking!) and junk food at away games.

It's pretty dang HOT here in Virginia! My classroom at school is broiling, and I'm doing a lot of sweating getting the room set up.

No exercise for me yesterday, so I plan to do a good workout later. Hope everyone has a good monday!

For now, my big change is that instead of running 6 miles on Sunday, I am running 1 mile to the gym, doing cardio for half an hour and abs for 15 min, then running the 1 mile home. But I hope to go back to the 6 mile run in winter, when things have cooled off. It is surprising how much harder it is to do my cardio when I run (instead of drive) to the gym. That 1 mile really takes it out of me.

The theme for the week is still eggplant, but after this week I think the eggplant will slow down for a while. I have over 2 lbs of beans in the fridge (and more coming out of the garden every day) that I really need to get pickled. The cherry tomatoes are in high production but I haven't had any problem going through them and the regular tomatoes are coming in at just about the right pace.

Walking, I made your Layered Zucchini casserole for lunch, except that I used eggplant instead of zucchini because that's what is coming out of my garden right now. I also added onions and peppers to the meat cause it seemed crazy not to, subbed lite chevre for the mozzarella (only 35 cal per oz), and subbed basil for the parsley (again because that's what I have in the garden right now). It came out great and will make a great lunch for me three days this week (I halved the recipe since my SO won't eat eggplant).

Well, I still don't really have my act together but it's time to go to work so I guess this'll have to do.

This week? I work evenings so I can walk each morning ... mindful eating ... nothing special, just mindful.

Had a great diet day. No cheating at all. Of course it helps that this job has me on my feet all day, so i have my exercise.

The great news is that my DH is taking 2 courses this fall - GOOD MAN ! Finally got his "well-larded arse" (his words) off the couch.

However there is a less than great side to this. He is studying at the library 4 nights a week and eating his dinner when he gets home, around 8:30 p.m. That's fine but that's about an hour before my bed time .

We will be dining separately Mon - Thurs for the next year or so. I have to cook things which I can eat and he can reheat later. Bit of a pain but doable. I will keep him company when he eats and catch up with his day at the same time. I will not be eating two dinners

I'm looking forward to actually cooking again for fall. Big pots of veggie stew, chickpea curry, soup, etc. I love to have a hot meal for dinner but not when it's 30 degrees C outside. Salad and BBQ are wonderful but I'm ready for something different. I'm also a great pasta fan but not in a cold salad way.

I am OP so far today and will stay that way with my evening snack of a plum. I wrote all the food down today in advance (felt like I'd taken a math class when done ) Serious dieting time. I'm 2 pounds up and that's not good. I can still make my NYC goal but I have to buckle down and really count those little calories.

Dagmar

Did my weekly w/i this morning. TOM decided to join me for it. I am up 2 pounds. ALC for the past 3 days, but have kept up the exercise. I hope I will get my eating back in line tomorrow.

Dagmar - Yea! I'm happy for you! Sounds like it will be good situation at home now! Good for him...

Barbara - Your variations sound yummy - like an eggplant parmesean with a twist. I'm glad you now have a good hearty lunch. I used ricotta instead of cottage and we put tons of herbs - mostly basil and oregano from garden. Lots of peppers and onions too.

Hope everyone had a good day - mine took an unexpected turn and I had to do a favor for a friend who was in the hospital. Took a 3 hour chunk out of day, which didn't leave me time to exercise. I didn't even eat dinner till 10:30!!! I had a huge salad with black beans, low fat bleu cheese, onions, tomatoes, peppers, cukes, 2 egg whites chopped. It was great, but now I am ready to hit the hay!