Those who are eating rationally should skip the following:

Trader Joe's pumpkin ice cream is off the charts. They were giving out FREE samples and I drifted off plan to have one. So good that I bought a quart to take to dinner with friends that night. Thank goodness it's a seasonal thing since I don't do recreationally ice cream, LOL.

My goal for the week is to continue to deny that winter is coming and that the food stuffing season is upon us. DW jabbed me in the ribs with a snicker when she saw decorated Christmas trees in Home Depot - before Halloween even. Ouch.

Bill I'm taking the opposite approach and reminding myself that the "food stuffing season" is coming and I need to take off extra weight now to accomodate those 3 lbs. that I know are coming. At least in Canada we have it a bit more spaced out. Thanksgiving is already under our belts - - and we only really have Christmas to go. But I have a slew of birthdays early in the new year and they all still seem to require wine and cake

I am finally under my red line - 134.4 lbs.! : I got a brief flash of that old weight loss excitement when I got on the scale this morning. I'd forgotten that feeling in my maintenance burn-out (I'm "speaking the lingo" quite well this a.m., yes?) and it's a good one.

Good day and good week all!

Dagmar

BILL ~ A friend at church was raving about Fresh And Easy's pumpkin spice ice cream so I picked some up. Not a big ice cream eater here but I do have it about as often as I take on a new wife. Honestly, it seemed a bit too "spicy" to me....may just dump it and try the TJ's!

DAGMAR great job getting under the red....all that effort "pushing" DH to exercise is starting to pay off! Go girl GO!!

All these veggies Angie is feeding me is starting to pay off on the scale....down to 191 this morning, haven't seen that number in a while...water bill has gone up....well....gotta go...really...I gotta go!!!

Morning all,

I'm already stressing out about the busy week I'll have starting Wednesday. Trying to keep it in check, as stress is pointless. I'll be working 8, ~12+ hour days in a row, responsible for driving the boat in a rocky, shallow area that I'm not very familiar with (and my boss doesn't care that I don't think this is a great idea). I've played this game before and every minute of driving in this area I'm tense with waiting for the boat to strike an unseen rock, tense with watching the tide slip out of our creek waiting for the moment when I tell them we've got to leave now, the tide is leaving us, tense with watching a bad weather forecast coming bc they refuse to plan for extra days in case of bad weather. And "they" all outrank me in the hierarchy. Now the weather forecast is bad for our first few days of sampling, and I arrived at work to find that my other supervisor has taken the vehicle I was supposed to use today... grumble. I'm trying to breathe deeply as I've learned in yoga over the past few months. This sampling will be what it is... and I will tell them when what they want is just not possible for safety reasons, whether they like it or not. Hopefully will not damage the boat along the way. Ok, rant over now.

I have some good news this morning, too. Two weeks ago I talked about how I was "really" buckling down this time. I've lost 5 lbs in two weeks. Whaaat? Since when does this body lose 5 lbs in two weeks? I'm going to double check on the gym's scale, but my jeans are looser. Woohoo! Got to keep it up! As I mentioned my work schedule will be crazy later this week, so my goals are to stay on track with food (pack everything for the day), and simply walk/jog the dog as much as time allows bc her exercise routine will be curtailed (BF will be able to let her out but he doesn't walk her the distances I do). I was too busy working in the garden to try 30 day shred this weekend, but if I've got extra time later this week I can do that, or a bodyrocktv.com workout, since getting to the gym will be next to impossible.

Gary, veggies are great! All the squash and pumpkin is helping me, too. I think I'm veggie obsessed.

Dagmar, great job getting under the red line! "Losing before the holidays" was my thought too - not going to let myself wait to "start" and let the problem get worse. Go us, we can do it!

Bill, probably good I live so far from TJ's! I've actually contemplated making some pumpkin ice cream as part of my pumpkin craze. I still might since I've been good about controlling small portions of treats lately. My sis loves TJ's and pumpkin, will have to ask her if she's tried it...

How was everybody's weekend? Have a great week all!

It would seem fair to warn Angie, LOL.

Too funny, Bill!

Somehow pumpkin ice cream doesn't appeal to me, however TJ's has some really good pumpkin cream cheese that would taste really good on a bagel. I'm not planning on buying either one, though.

Had a great weekend with my in-laws. Went to see Moneyball, which I didn't think I'd like, but it was a really good movie. Not great, but good. I fixed four cheese manicotti last night and I don't know why, but it turned out rather dry and I was disappointed. It still tasted good, just too dry. I have leftover cheese stuffing as well as some left over sausage so one night this week I'll mix the two up for a sausage and cheese manicotti. I just need to make some more crepes.

Now that book fair is over I'm going to try to be more present this week but today will be just crazy-- trying to pack up the fair and get all the classes back on schedule.

Bill-- I read that your wife poked you with a snickers (candy bar)! See where my mind goes! Pumpkin ice cream doesn't appeal to me either.

Woohoo to Dagmar and Megan for their plummeting weights!!

Dh is gone (surprise) and I leave Thursday to visit dd for parents' weekend. I'll be back on later hopefully....

Megan, sounds like a busy week! I'm sure you'll do great driving the boat. Congrats on the 5lbs!

Bill, I haven't been indulging in pumpkin ice cream, but I did get a (nonfat, decaf, no whip) pumpkin spice latte at Starbuck's.

Hi Dagmar, Gary, Michele, Allison!

Speaking of the fall season, at work today they are giving out caramel apples -- like, an apple with hot caramel sauce poured on it and a huge pile of nuts. I'm debating about whether to partake. I didn't eat any dessert this weekend so I am still "allowed" one dessert this week.

DH and I made beef short ribs for the first time ever last night. We cooked them in the slow cooker all day. The good part: yummy meat falling off the bone. The bad part: so much fat that when I poured it into my bowl (it was in a broth and such) there was 1/4 inch of solid oil on top. I should have taken the advice people gave online -- cook the day before you want to eat, refrigerate the meat and broth separately, then remove the huge layer of fat that congeals from the broth. Ew! I hate (meat-attached) fat, it just grosses me out. When I was a kid I would always cut all the skin and fat and everything off of my meat because I thought it was gross.

I fish the ribs out of the pot with a fork or slotted spoon, eliminates a lot of fat.

Me too! Snickers has always been my favorite candy bar.

I'm a Milky Way fan , myself.

I got the Christmas trees/snicker comment from Bill. But after that my brain seemed to shut down.

I managed to lock both sets of my car keys and my cell in Laffie this morning. Luckily I did have my wallet (was in the grocery store parking lot), there was free usage of the customer service phone, and DH got through to the CAA (Canadian Auto Assistance?) almost immediately. The day was sunny and bright and I was set to wait it out (my next dog walk didn't start for an hour).

The guy was there in 5 minutes (apparently all sorts of harried shoppers do this all the time at this store) and I was totally cheerful and appreciative with him.

I then shot the groceries home (yes I did pick up the items I needed - wasn't completely zombied out) and profusely thanked DH.

In the past I probably would have bought a bag of cookies and have eaten them after work and before dinner. Amazing what a change in attitude a few years of dieting/maintaining can produce.

I think DH will be joining me soon in the healthy eating department. He DID buy the cookies (and ice cream too) last night and has been feeling like he has the flu all day today. I think his poor body is finally getting serious and putting up a fight for healthier fare.

Speaking of I should go and make dinner. Good evening all!

Dagmar

Hi maintainers, just coming out of lurkdom to say hi! I am continuously inspired by even the most mundane posts since they give me a glimpse at the normal lives (and struggles) of fellow maintainers. You have made an impact in my life without knowing... I am new to this maintenance game and can use all the inspiration I can get.

Happy week!

Rosario

Welcome Rosario!
Looking forward to getting to know you. Please hang around!

Welcome , Charin. We never get to the point that we can't use inspiration.