Good morning and happy new week!

I'm hoping today is the first day that I'm feeling better. It's like coming out of a ten-day fog or something! Every time I started feeling better, I got sick again. Thank goodness, my headache isn't as bad and I'm a lot less congested this morning. That means -- it's time to get my greatly enlarged butt back to the gym!! I made myself face the scale this morning and it's a bad number, so we'll see what a week of clean eating and the gym can do.

I had my first run-in with holiday food this weekend. I had to work an extra day on Saturday, so I thought I'd pick up some bagels and cream cheese on my way for the staff and clients. Brueggers had pumpkin cream cheese -- don't try it! It's ridiculously good! So of course, the staff and clients loved the pumpkin cream cheese and bagels -- and I was face first in them all day. I have zero willpower when I'm sick!!

It's funny, the whole time I was sick, I *knew* that I was eating for all the wrong reasons: comfort, energy, as a reward for surviving a day of work. I knew it, and I still did it. Once again I'm smacked in the face with another great lesson in how my eating issues are all still lurking there, right below the surface. In my case, I can manage them (most of the time!) but it's not something I'll ever be "cured" of.

Other than that, same old, same old. I need to get two cats to the vet this morning before work, but the gym comes first.

How was everyone's weekend?

I'm doing some "math" this morning.

One beer = complete loss of control
Zero beers = clean eating

3 weeks of not watching carefully = 4 lbs. gained

Seven weeks til Christmas = seven lbs. to lose.

Have a great Monday all!

Dagmar

Good morning!

Meg, I am glad you're feeling better. Note to self: No pumpkin cream cheese.

Dagmar, I lose all control when I drink, too.

My week-end was crazy. I had a great time at the spin-a-thon, but things sort of went downhill after that (stayed on plan, though). ILs are here for five more nights. Give me strength.

Meg - Thanks for the reminder that eating issues lurk right below the surface. I ran into an example of that this week when I found my hand in a bowl of roasted peanuts on two occasions - just because they were sitting in the middle of the table for an extended period. Ouch!

I think of myself as being a bit immune to peanuts because there's a jar in my pantry that I ignore every day, but I underestimated the draw of the little buggers right there at the tip of my eyeballs, LOL.

The first time resolved itself because the meeting finally ended. The second time I simply picked up the bowl and brought it into the kitchen - without bothering the hostess to see if she minded. Just kept the conversation going.

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Checking in on a Monday morning. I thought today would be great! I got up and did a 2 mile brisk walk and felt great. Everything was going great. Until I got to work. Three guys out with the flu this morning. One still sick after leaving early Thursday--two more new ones. It's ugly. I'm almost certain that DH will be the next (he always catches something from the guys). I survived my son's cold (or was it the flu?) but will I survive this?

Oh, Meg, pumpkin cream cheese does sound divine. It'd go great with a pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks. It's a good thing we only go there about 3 times a year, but seriously, that flavor is calling out for me!!

DD came home for the weekend and had a nice a surprise. She gained more than the freshman 15 last year and was thinking she had gained more this year, but she got on the scale and screamed out "Oh, my goodness!" and came to report she had lost 5 pounds. You know, sometimes a loss like that can spur you into losing more (I know it does it to me). It's still a little sad for me to know that she is 2 inches shorter than me and weighs a little more than I did when I started this journey. I guess I should be thankful she didn't weigh 180 or more like she thought.

DD and I went shopping this weekend and I got a new pair of jeans and two t-shirts, then DD picked out a pretty blouse for me and it looked good so I got it, too. In the shoe department I found a pair of not-too-high heeled ankle boots to replace the 15 year old pair in my closet. And they didn't have my size. But I went home and ordered them direct. Very cute: Anne Klein boots

Popping my head in - back from a conference in Minneapolis last week.

Honestly feeling pretty low because I just broke up with my boyfriend of 2 years yesterday - I don't know how to tell someone that I fell out of love with them, I mean nothing was wrong with him or the relationship. But I managed to do it. Somewhere deep down I know I did the right thing, I just feel like crap right now.

I'll catch up later - today and tomorrow are exam-filled and I have to lead a class tomorrow afternoon.

Good morning. Just got a cavity filled and half of my face is still dead... I'm on the phone with a coworker and she just said "Are you okay, you sound kind of froggy?" Nice. At least I got a paraffin hand treatment and got to sit in the fancy massage chair during it. Been trying to rush around and track down one of the owners to sign some checks we have to rush for our medical insurance because the insurance company lost the first set we sent for October - four people to choose from, all of them are out of town or otherwise unavailable today. Making today kind of frantic.

Iris - sorry about your breakup.

Allison - stay well! Fabulous boots.

Billy - I can handle my closed jar of peanuts, too, but an open bowl would push me over the edge. I would have had to move them, too.

Ward - hang in there, it is almost over.

Dagmar - beer usually does that to me, too. Cuts off the 'no snacking' switch or something.

Meg - hope you continue to feel better today!

My dad's birthday was this weekend so eating yesterday went totally off track - we went to Red Lobster for lunch, but didn't eat until almost 3. So, I had a small bowl of cereal in the morning, a small salad at around 11:30, about the same calorie count as my normal morning snack. Had lunch at Red Lobster at 3, got a wood grilled salmon BLT with steamed broccoli, gave most of the homeade potato chips that came with it to DSS. Had two bites of an apple crumble thing, one bite of a cheesecake, two bites of a chocolate cookie dessert. Small bites, felt okay. Came home, had a 400 calorie dinner at about 8. Followed that up with half of a guinness and the birthday peanut butter spice cake my mom sent home with us. I just ate all day, and once I got to Red Lobster the healthier choices went right out the window. I have no idea how many calories were in the sandwich, because the nutrition info included the chips, but I figure I ate 1000 calories between it, the various dessert bites, the biscuit I had to have & the small salad. Even with that I still couldn't say no to the birthday cake after dinner. One of those triggers, I guess.

Good day everyone!

Meg, totally understand about eating when not feeling well. Glad you're feeling better now. What's up with your cats? Mine is going to the vet in about an hour. Poor kitty isn't feeling well at all.

Dagmar, not sure I like the "new" math. Alcohol is going out the door for me, too, although I'm going to miss that glass of wine.

WardHog, great job on staying on plan.

BillBlueEyes, it's strange that sometimes foods are triggers and other time the same food doesn't have any effect.

Allison, what cute boots! That's a nice surprise for your DD. Hope your DH doesn't come down with what's going around your office. Hand sanitizer!

Iris, I'm sorry about the break-up, although I know you said you did the right thing. Even doing the right thing can be hard--maybe it's just the change and the associated loss.

Shannon, the hand treatments are nice, but when it means getting a cavity filled, well, I'd rather stay home and have lobster hands. Re: the food, well, today is another day.

We saw Lily Tomlin on Saturday night. What a treat! She's so agile for 70 years old--still can hop around and be Edith Ann (hhmm, some of you will know who that is, right?). Went to an Italian restaurant before, and I did okay. It helped that I wasn't all that thrilled with my entree. I was the only one who didn't eat everything on the plate.

Hope you are all having a good Monday! I'm enjoying the sun.

Hi everyone! DH and I ended up going out to the country with his family as kind of a last-minute thing this past weekend. Of course that meant eating was off plan. I will complain about it in the take 5 thread instead though. Overall the weekend was fun!

Meg, glad to hear you're finally on the mend! Mmmm, pumpkin cream cheese...

Dagmar, I eat more when I drink too.

Ward, great job on the spinathon!

Bill, I know the feeling. Far too often I have found myself eating something just because it was sitting in front of me. I'm not hungry, I'm not doing emotional eating, it doesn't even taste that good, but it's just sitting there so I eat it. I'm starting to think it's some kind of evolutionary feast/famine reaction where my body says "eat while it's there because you might not see food for another week!" or something crazy like that.

Allison, I'll cross my fingers that you don't catch the flu!

Iris, sorry to hear you broke up with your BF. If you weren't in love anymore it is for the best, but it's hard anyway.

Shannon, today is a new day!

Sheila, okay, who is Edith Ann?

Was it Michele who was asking about Hanukkah on last week's thread? I liked your option of sending small gifts to your DD at school, then having a celebration when she gets home. She may be able to do some celebrating at school with other Jewish friends or with Hillel.

I talked to MIL about DH's birthday. She agreed to make the main course of the Hanukkah party one of DH's favorites (goulash) and that I could bring the cake or whatever other dessert he wants. She also said if we wanted she would help pay for getting a fancy cake from the bakery that made our wedding cake, so that's another option.

More recruiting activities at work for me tonight. Hopefully they will have SOME vegetables for dinner this time. :sigh: I did bring along an extra healthy snack so in the worst case I can just not eat and then eat when I get home.

Sheila - My FIL designed a remodel for Lily Tomlin, and apparently, she's NICE too!

Meg - Sick is, without a doubt, my biggest overeating trigger. Some combination of "I don't feel good and eating will make me feel better", actual symptom relief, and general tiredness will throw me off, almost every time. And I'll know it's not productive while I do it.

Iris - sorry to hear about your breakup. Even if it's the right thing, it can be so hard.

Shannon - I almost never say no to birthday cake, unless it's bad cake. A well-baked cake? I'll have a piece almost every time.

Alinnell - Those boots are so cute! Hope you avoid the germs...Sarah thinks she may be coming down with something too. I'm hoping not!

Billblueeyes - it's weird, isn't it, how just the way the food is presented can influence so strongly whether you eat it? I'm personally a sucker for anything small that I can delude myself into thinking "barely counts", so finger food is iffy for me, including nuts in bowls of all kinds.

Wardhog - sending you lots of on-plan strength!

Dagmar - 7 weeks, eh? Scary math! My current math is a little scary as well!

Nice weekend - got a massage from an old friend who just got certified. Hooray for the friends and family rate! He did some deep tissue work on the shoulder, and apparently at first thought that some of the knots were bone...at the end of the session, he just kept saying "your poor shoulder! I've never felt anything like that". Oy.

We also were out of town, so we couldn't go to our normal farmers market...but being the devoted local shoppers we are, we opted to go to one in SF. It was nice, but not as nice as mine. Still, we have our fill of veggies and fruit for the week, and I have at least a vague idea of where they were grown and how far they've traveled.

I know, Sheila. I used to watch Laugh In all the time.... Jessica, if you google Lily Tomlin Edith Ann you'll see. There are a couple of YouTUbe videos, but YouTube is down for maintenance right now, so I can't post the linkds.

Okay, as part of my Precision Nutrtion/Lean Eating program, we're supposed to be drinking only water/coffee/tea for 2 weeks (we have a new habit every two weeks, mostly food/nutrition based). I'm just being accountable here so telling everyone I'm drinking no alcohol between now and Thanksgiving. I certainly don't drink more than 3-4 glasses of wine a week, and often less, but still I am making a conscious choice not to even have that.

Sheila Haven't thought about Lily Tomlin in years. The whole Laugh-In gang either. I remember my grade 7 class doing impressions of all of them and I had to be Goldie Hawn doing the dancing thing - yikes!

Iris Hanging on out of habit is a lot worse.

Pat Giving up the alcohol isn't that hard - it's all the things associated with it that have to go too. Cold beer on a hot afternoon after being out in the sun all day, glass of wine in front of the fire on a cold night, etc. etc. (I think I'm gonna cry ).

Meg Glad you're feeling better! My DH is still wiped out after 10 days. I think your excellent level of fitness/health probably gave you an edge in fighting it off.

Shannon Your dentist gives paraffin treatments and massages? Sign me up! All I get is a free toothbrush.

Mandalinn Your masseur friend sounds like he has a lot of empathy.

Bill Funny how a lot of temptation is in the packaging and presentation of things.

Dagmar

Dagmar, only 7 weeks till Christmas?! Yikes! That math of yours is a little depressing but I think it definitely checks out.

Shannon, I'm also curious about this paraffin treatment - I want to go to your dentist! =)

Amanda, friends who do massage are great friends to have! And I'm glad you found another farmer's market to check out. I need to up my veggie intake again, it's been slowly diminishing as I get busier.

Jessica, I'm glad you enjoyed your weekend even if eating was off plan.

Very cute boots, Allison! At some point I will need to invest in nicer winter shoes that I can walk comfortably in. I have some kind of cute boots, but I don't want to walk too far in them.

Bill, I definitely have problems when things like nuts or chex mix, etc. are sitting out in bowls in front of me. I munch and munch and munch! Good for you for removing them! I always ask people not to place them near me, but they know I'll eat them if they do, and so a "good host/hostess" will place them by the people who will eat them, it seems. *sigh*

Ward, be strong this week - you can do it!

Meg, I am glad you are feeling better today.

Thanks to everyone for sympathizing about my break-up. I know it was the right thing to do - in our mid-20's and after being together for 2 years, if I know marriage is not in the picture it was time to break it off... but I'm taking it a lot harder than I thought I would. It's an "I love him, but I'm not in love with him" situation. I just feel a need to comfort him. I want to be there for him, but I can't - I'm the one who caused the pain, and that really hurts me, too. Anyway - time will heal. Thanks again for you thoughts. =)

Good morning! I made it through an entire day feeling semi-human, so things are definitely getting better. The high point of the day was the gym. Even though my stamina is off and I had to drop my weights by 5 - 10 pounds, it just felt ridiculously good to move my body. I kept saying to myself: I forgot how good this feels! So legs (light) and cardio are on the schedule this morning.

Bill, I'm really impressed with how you handled the peanut situation. Too often we're "people-pleasers" and don't take care of our own needs because we worry about hurting other people's feelings. You figured out what you needed and took charge. I'm going to remember this story next time I'm in a similar situation!

Sheila, one kitty went to the vet for his annual exam and shots. He's in great shape, though I was surprised when they called him a "senior" at age 7. The other cat I took is 18 1/2, so 7 seems pretty young! The old guy isn't doing so well. He has kidney and thyroid problems and is steadily losing weight so we did more blood work to figure out what to do. He's still getting around fine and not in any pain, but I can see him wasting away. He sleeps on top of me every night but is so light now that I can't even feel him.

Allison, love, love, love those boots! Because I wear pants 99% of the time, I'm into ankle boots too. I even bought purple suede this year. I hope DH stays healthy because whatever crud is going around really stinks.

Iris, I'm so sorry about the breakup and understand how much it can hurt even if it's the right thing to do.

Amanda, do you think regular massage might help your shoulder? Gosh, it would be wonderful if anything could give you some pain relief!

One day of clean eating and the gym knocked 1.2 pounds of gain off, so I'm hoping that the rest will be gone in a week or so. There's about an 8 pound range where all my size 4 pants fit. The top part of the range is where they fit but are a bit snug. The bottom part of the range is where most of them fit but some are falling off and some are actually too big. I'm uncomfortably near "snug" and want to get back to "falling off". Funny how my pants are the absolute best gauge of my weight!

I hope everyone has a wonderful day and by all means, stay away from pumpkin cream cheese!

Good for you Meg!

Mine is not so easily lost. But I took a lot longer to put it on so it'll take that much longer to take it off. And it didn't help that my dinner plans were derailed by DH eating the dinner stuff for lunch!

Have a great day all!

Dagmar