All these Monday's just keep coming.

I need a whack on the head to get back to my no-desserts strategy that worked so well for five years. Suddenly, I seem to have forgotten that sugar/pastry desserts have mucho calories and create the urge to have more.

I hear you on the desserts Bill. I went out for "afternoon tea" with my cousin's wife and her kids (not sure of the relationship so I just call them my nieces). We had some lovely little sandwiches and then they brought the pastries. When I got home I was craving sugar, more sugar!

I had roast beef on whole wheat instead and that brought me out of the craving. it's nice to indulge once in a while but it's easy to slip into an old habit again.

I am under my red line at the start of this week . Now it's time to get those last 5 lbs. off, reach goal, and then start weaning myself off the diet pop.

There's a new study linking diet soda to increased risk of stroke. I don't even like the darn stuff any more but my body craves it. That proves I've gotten to a dangerous point with it. I am buying one 6 pack for the entire week and drinking one bottle per day, with none on Sunday.

I have yet to find a palatable way to drink more water but I'm going to try a splash of cranberry juice and a bit of Stevia in each bottle this week.

Good Monday (is that an oxymoron?) all!

Dagmar

You are doing a great job , diet wise ! Keep it up ! By the way if your cousin has children the children are also cousins, just a generation removed, 1st cousin, 2nd cousin, etc.

Thanks for the reminder Bill.
My cravings for sweets just don't go away and I so want to give in to them. It is a constant battle. Thanks for the reminder that giving in would only make things worse.

Good morning Bargoo!

Good morning Dagmar! Hooray for being under your red line.
I heard about a cute restaurant that does high tea and I want to go there with dd when school is out. It would not be in my food plan at all and I hope it wouldn't put me into a spiral but I love high tea!

Fighting a cold or something? Bad headache and a lot of stuffiness. 4 more days with kids at school and enough work for 2 months. Trying not to panic. Dh is gone again-- this time to Belgium. Dd has finals this week and is stressing. I. Will. Not. Stress. Eat.

There is a tea shop near here. very quaint and expensive and the food (and tea) is delicious ! I don't go there often.

My SIl, her sister and myself have done a mother's day luncheon for the women in our lives for the last ten years, and it started as a high tea for the first few years until the tea shops that were central to all of us closed down. It was always so much fun! We do regular restaurants now, but I miss the high tea.

Monday again... wowza.

Bill - I need that dessert reminder, too. Thanks.

Michele - no stress or sick eating! You can do it!

In Salt Lake, there was the Hotel Utah that was a grand old hotel that served high tea every afternoon. It had quite the reputation. Then the Mormon church decided they needed the hotel for office space and took it over. So sad.

I have a friend, though, that opened a tea shop in Logan, Utah and serves lunch and tea. Although I've never been there, it has gotten some great reviews.

I had a really good weekend. Quite relaxing. Golf both mornings and DS even joined us Sunday morning! I read a lot and we went to see the X Men movie (which was cute and fun).

My weight is down another half a pound! I may just make that 12 pound loss by the end of my first 4 weeks, but I really have to make sure I don't over eat in the evening in order to do that.

And as for a sweet tooth, I still don't get why I don't have one any more. Sure, I'd love a piece of pie or cake or donut or pastry now and then, but I don't seem to actually crave them (like I did when I was younger). Right now though, I'm craving some good cheddar cheese.

Morning all,

Well, yesterday I told my BF I'm really trying to lose a few pounds and not to expect anything but healthy foods in the house, and I started a food journal today. I haven't done that in an embarrassingly long time. So here goes, I'm going to give it my best shot. I know you've all heard that many times from me. Of course tonight is book club and while we usually eat at someone's house, tonight would be the meeting we're going out. I think I'm just going to drink water and eat something before I go, maybe get an appetizer out (lots of fried stuff on the menu). I'm not even tempted to eat badly right now or drink alcohol, I just feel like I "need" to if I'm out with everyone to avoid scrutiny. Oh, well, I don't care about scrutiny.

It's finally raining outside right now! We're in a serious drought. I'm hoping the storm gets all the way over to my house and waters my garden and tomato "children". It's still hot and humid here. Of course it will be for the next four months. I managed to get my equipment together and get headed out to the field by 7:45 this AM. I'm going to try and move it up by 15 min/week.

I'm still more of a coffee person, though I will drink hot tea during the winter - usually to keep food out of my mouth when I'm not really hungry. I could really go for some iced tea right now! Unsweet, thanks. ("Unsweet" and "sweet" iced tea are Southern U.S. things if anyone doesn't know!) Not for the caffeine, but it's refreshing on a hot, humid day. I've started brewing a big pot of coffee and having it iced in the morning. Heavenly.

Allison, sounds like a nice weekend. Congrats on your continued success with Medifast! Did I miss it - I'm curious what DS is eating while you & DH eat your meals.

Bill, Shannon, yeah, Monday. Again. This one is in JUNE. How did that happen?

Michele, you're right, stress eating will not help! You're always so busy, but I know you can keep it together! Hope you feel better soon.

Dagmar, congrats!

I'm off for a quick gym workout. Have a good day all.

Hello Everyone,

Happy Monday - sort of.
Had a great weekend, went to work, then got really nauseous and sick.
Now i am lying about at home - on a gorgeous sunny day

Allison - congrats on the MF weightloss.
I would sign up in a NY minute, but they don't deliver to Canada.

Megan - bravo for the renewed journaling.
I myself was restarting today - but I guess the universe has other plans.

I went for blood work on Friday - you can check your own results online.
So i did - seems my thyroid is quite sluggish - may even be defined as hypothyroidism (depends what levels my Dr. believes in). I am not really interested in using conventional drugs, so I am heading to a naturopath to see if i can get it sorted out.
It would be awesome if one of the outcomes was weightloss.

Enough blithering from me - need more rest.

S

Megan~I heard a rant the other day by someone regarding the "necessity" for someone to order unsweetened tea. By definition, all tea is unsweetened until it is sweetened, so you should only have to order sweet tea and all else defaults to plain tea. I'm a plain tea person myself, having weaned myself from the sweet stuff years and years ago. As for hot tea, again I like it plain and usually only when it's cold out. I, too, prefer coffee.

Speaking of coffee, I have a membership with Gevalia and I get 4 boxes of their ground hazelnut coffee every few weeks or so. They used to deliver by UPS but recently changed to USPS. Ever since the change, I've noticed my boxes are often damaged. This last shipment was particularly bad. Apparently SEVERAL boxes were damaged and the post office simply grabbed whatever kind of coffee, stuck it back in the damaged boxes, taped them up and sent the out. Instead of my 4 boxes of ground hazelut, I got only 3 boxes and NONE were hazelnut. I called Gevalia to complain. They're sending out my regular order, no extra charge and I can do whatever I want with the three boxes I got as they don't want them back. Pretty good customer service--especially since the cost of coffee has been going up.

As for what DS eats while DH and I diet, it isn't a problem. Each evening we are allowed a "lean and green" meal and he usually has the same as we do. Unless of course we're having seafood--then I fix him chicken or pasta. Breakfasts are his normal as long as he's still in school (1/2 a melon, frozen breakfast burrito, two toaster strudels and OJ--did I mention he's 5'11" and probably weighs 130 dripping wet?). The only trouble comes on weekend lunches--Saturday he made himself PB&J sandwiches and Sunday he drove to Del Taco to get his usual Sunday lunch (we have a Del Taco Sunday lunch tradition that DH and I have been giving up for the diet).

Megan, come join me on the food log thread!

More to say, but it's quitting time and I'm headed home from work in a few. Only news of note is that I made an appointment with a new rheumatologist for two weeks from today. Hopefully he will be able to find something.

I have a funeral etiquette question. The little girl's funeral is Wednesday at 7 pm. Is it poor taste if I arrive a few minutes late and come in quietly? I would hopefully be on time but I would be cutting it close. I know with weddings you are supposed to be there early so the bridal party can come in but I'm not sure about funerals. I'm debating going because I know I will just sob hysterically but I kind of feel like I should.

Sadly, Michele, my guess is this will be a well-attended, even crowded funeral, and your slipping in a bit late will not cause much of a disruption. I think you should be all right. Actually if you're able, I do think it's important that you do attend, as the ceremony brings a kind of closure, and there is comfort in the proximity to people who are equally affected & have been having a lot of the same feelings as you.

I'm checking in later than usual this week, as I have two big things going on at work -- a major product launch next month, which requires me to work on extra documents, and also a set of related research due in another week. That makes me try to focus at the office & not procrastinate in the usual ways on the Internet.

I've been trying to break up my routine in little ways every day & do things that make me happy, since last week felt like one long round of duty. Sometimes I'm succeeding, sometimes not.

Starting tomorrow, we're supposed to be struck by the intense heat that some of you have already experienced, so I'm trying to get a little crockpot cooking done ahead of time, on breaks from work. But I need to go out & get three limes, damn it. Why is it that when a recipe calls for limes, I only have lemons in the fruit bin in the fridge, and vice versa?

Michele, I don't think you are breaking any etiquette rules if you are a little late, just go in quietly and sit in the first seat you find, if there are any, I also believe there will be a large attendance. It is important for the family and the teacher, too that people will take their time to show respect and concern for the family. I disagree with saef, though , there is no closure in a tragedy of this kind.

Thanks Saef and Bargoo for your opinions. I will definitely attend.

We are having a "celebration of life" ceremony today at school. We will be planting a pink flowering bush in her honor. Her father and grandparents will be here.

Her teacher just spoke to me about her favorite book series. We will order the books and put her name inside as well.