Good afternoon!

But not a very good afternoon as my back has gone into spasm. I have done nothing out of the ordinary today but I haven't been as diligent with my physiotherapist's exercises as I could have been. Part of the problem has been not wanting to take time from sleep and rest. In fact, that is the problem. I have an ice pack on the hurting place and am weighing up whether to go back to her or whether to keep working on the exercises. My back may have an opinion.

Food relatively OK. I'll stop making fruit cake after the exams finish. All bar one will be finished by the end of next week. Then there's just one more, in early June. Physics went well today, apparently.

maryann, you poor thing! 2am is a dreadful time to be awake. I hope you can catch up on your sleep later.

Bill, I think pizza is generally over-rated. You did well in the circumstances. Cold lamb is always good - an unusual meat for you, isn't it?

Beth, going to bed hungry always feels pretty virtuous, I think. You'll be fine with a few plants in your tiny backyard. It's easy to focus on them when there aren't very many. My garden is small, too.

nationalparker, your comments about your clothing for your event are just the rationale we have in the UK for school uniform: serve the purpose, easy to organise and get ready plus, the argument goes, no-one is singled out as richer or poorer.

I ate strawberries on my birthday and have had two salads a day every day. But, I stopped posting. I want to add more water to my routine, but I want to get all of my previously committed habits going at the same time before I commit to another.

Weigh-in: +0.4, Exercise: +25, 465/1100 minutes for May

The days are getting longer and the asks are getting more involved, but I'm a few days in and still counting down. Nine more days until I'm back home. I think of it in the morning and at night so it bookends my day. Not much to report ... breakfast on my own and i have fruit and pb for that (no raw almond butter at Wal Mart and that's the one market I can find that's open when I was able to shop). I'll be hitting the sack early, but at least not a super early start tomorrow... Not much walking around yet - staying in the workroom area to prep the past few days.

Minimal check in - Just plugging away. The lead on this event told a group that she panicked when my boss tried to move me to a different event, and so she asked for me back. The others were very kind, saying how it speaks that others would want me to run this aspect of their event. I wouldn't go that far, but it was a nice thing to hear. One positive!

Hi all,

I'm disappointed to report that not only have I plateaued, I actually gained weight between last week and this week's official weigh-in. It's pretty disappointing but I know it isn't due to bad choices. Even though I had two meals this week, they were both really good choices.

So, I keep telling myself: this happens on a weight loss journey. And, oh well. And, I'll lose weight next week. And, if I really have slowed that much, I'll talk to the doctor and dietitian and figure out what to do next. (You mean, like, exercise?)

I'm still staying on plan, though. I may not even allow a weekly meal if my weight loss is going to stop, though. OTH, I lost weight in Mexico when I had one meal a day and the rest product. All I can do now is wait, gather information, and then once there's information, make a plan.

G'night, all.

--Beth

Diet Coaches/Buddies – Had another routine dental visit. The only good thing was that the dental hygienist unexpectedly said that I couldn't eat for two hours after we were done. I felt relief that I had a medical directive to not eat. Of course I immediately realized that if I were billionaire wealthy, like Michael Jackson, I could have a 24/7 doctor telling me not to have snacks between meals - one snack at a time. How clever of my brain to immediately work to avoid responsibility.

There was another good thing: I left my all-electric car charging at the FREE charger while at the dentist's office. One hour of free electricity isn't much money, but it feels so good. My contribution to making dinner was to hold the umbrella during a torrential thunderstorm when DW put the salmon steaks on the grill. The thunderstorms had been predicted for early afternoon which had led us to think we'd been spared. Alas, they were just late.


Joy (gardenerjoy) – Gotta love the strawberries arriving.

silverbirch – Ouch for a back that's acting up. It's hard to squeeze in time for "good for you" exercising. [Yep, lamb isn't that common around here. DW makes a lamb stew every few months using a lot of preparation to create meat-only cubes. My buddy who served the cold lamb proudly showed me how much he had left on his roasted leg-of-lamb. From my experience, it just looked like a bunch of lamb was left; leg-of-lamb has a lot of bone.]

maryann - Kudos just for trudging on.

nationalparker – Neat to be recognized for your contribution. Kudos for accepting the recognition.

Beth (bethturnaround) – Yep, scale jiggling is part of the process. Exercise is a great idea, but you may not be doing anything 'wrong.' Keep the faith.

Readers -

hi coaches! sorry i've been out of touch, ive been moping about but finally feeling better.
Two days down with no dessert- unless you count store made granola which i'm not counting.
Drawing the line in the sand yet again!!
My hip is feeling better than it was but still quite sore. At least I know it will get better so i'm not as discouraged about it. I bought a stationary bike that is supposedly good for shorties and my son will help me put it together at some point, which would be helpful for range of motion.
There may be a new position opening up in my agency which I am thinking about applying for. It would be very different, supervising about 7 people, and i'm nervous about changing so much, but i am also quite ready for a change!

Personals soon!! thinking of you all!

Good morning, Coaches,

curleyjax: how wonderful you are applying to that job. Some new challenges may be just the ticket for you to help you through your journey.

BBE: I have often thought that when I win the lottery, I will have a combo personal chef, personal trainer and hairstylist show up at my door everyone morning.

silverbirch: good thoughts for your back.

beth: from my last weeks posts, you know I get the plateau. Crazy frustrating. But it is your job to stick to the plan and your body's job to release the weight. That is how I think of it.

nationalparker: It is nice you love your home so much. I bet there are people on your staff that don't have they to long to get back to. I think of that when I am away.

gardenerjoy: strawberries are a big accomplishment. I don't know when I'll be ready for substituting my cake.


And as for me:

I FINALLY dropped back down to ticker. I have one more pound to lose before June 1 to keep to my goal to two pounds a month. How did it happen? Well, I was up at 2 am, breakfast at 3:00 am, carrots for snacks and then was so busy, I didn't eat until 3. I will not try to replicate this, but I'll take the result.

I reordered nutrisystem buyins one less meal a day. It save 180 doller (plus a discount I found)

Hmmm. maybe I can buy that necklace I want.

Still working to get the full complement of habits that I'm trying to establish in a day. Yesterday was good but, today I forgot my weigh-in. Not the worst thing to forget, though, so I'm going to try to get everything else in -- posting here, eating two salads, not eating in the car or after supper, not eating commercial baked goods. I think I can pull that off.

Weigh-in: NA, Exercise: +25, 490/1100 minutes for May

Hi everyone,

DH is still out of town but I went in the garage and started building the outdoor sofa. I got quite a bit done--we should be able to finish it up and even paint it over the weekend.

Food was on target and I'm trying to drink more water. That's all I can really do, after all, and hope that the scale cooperates--I'm doing my part.

gardenerjoy: Credit for the habits you got in--it's hard to get everything back on track all at once.

maryann: Congrats for being back at ticker--and it's mid-month--you can do this (and I'm telling your body to release the weight!) Lack of sleep and going without food is probably not the best thing for you, though. Is the sleeplessness on going?

curlyjax: No dessert is a big thing--a hard thing. Good luck deciding about the possible new position application.

BillBlueEyes: You could get one of us to pretend to be a doctor and tell you when to snack :-)

nationalparker: Sounds as if you really are sought after! Credit for making good decisions when not at home.

Night all

--Beth

Lots of hanging around yesterday but I managed to complete a crossword and repot some plants. When I win the crossword competition I'll be spending a couple of nights in a fabulously renovated historic hotel. When the plants grow we'll have some early jalapeno chillies. Oh, and I also fitted in quite a lot of exercise to try to sort out SI joint problem.

I've partly planned my food for today but have to decide what to make for tea. I must make sure to eat something mid-morning and mid-afternoon. That will stop me eating cake.

Beth, drinking water is so good. The outdoor sofa project sounds great.

gardenerjoy, credit for working on your habits.

maryann, you're sounding remarkably good for someone with so little sleep under her belt. Hope you manage to sort it out soon.

curlyjax, credit for getting the stationary bike. Also credit for thinking about applying for the new post.

Bill, I like the idea of medical directives not to eat, and Beth's suggestion that we could issue them. I'm issuing one to myself about not eating cake this afternoon.

nationalparker, hope all is going well.

Diet Coaches/Buddies – Exercise was watching the (2.5 yo) DGD day, CREDIT moi. When being read a book about pretending, she offered that on Halloween she had been a Llama, her mom a Giraffe, and her dad a Gorilla. We were impressed that she remembered all that so clearly, and that she knows when to tell such in a conversation. We're boggled that she's verbally so comfortable yet still resists the potty business. She proudly showed us the small cars that she's collected as rewards each time she fills a complete page of 'potty-stickers' yet gets taken to sit and do nothing many times per day.

A later walk, CREDIT moi, included stopping at the library where I was excited to get a copy of Barracoon: The Story of the Last Black Cargo by Zora Neale Hurston. It's just published this month and there's a long waiting list. Walked past a friend who was unloaded two bags of garden soil that completely filled the trunk of his Porsche Boxster. He declined my offer for help. I did get to see that a Porsche can be used for practical purposes. Well, small practical purposes; three bags would not have fit. Might have to think about getting myself a mid-life-crisis car.


Joy (gardenerjoy) – Yay for good habits.

silverbirch – That's a fun image, "a couple of nights in a fabulously renovated historic hotel." I presume all service will be by tuxedo-clad gentlemen discreetly in the background. Except for the masseuse, of course.

maryann - Carrots are a great snack. Congrats for getting to ticker.

curlyjax - Yep, Kudos for "Two days down with no dessert." Good luck finding your path with the new job opportunity.

Beth (bethturnaround) – Do you make the cushions for your outdoor sofa? Can they survive rain?

Readers -

A full day on tap today. Woke up startled with panic of missing my alarm. Nearly two hours early. Heart pounding, falling back to sleep seemed impossible. I decided to read for a half hour and then try to get caught up on regular work that still needs to get tackled.

Food has not been good. Well, it's been good-tasting. But not the healthiest array. They brought donuts in from a local bakery - as in dozens and dozens - and I willingly went to choose one, maple, a favorite. And these were superb. Small, thin, so not just a big mouth of cake. I was enjoying it, walking with someone giving me a tour who was enjoying a few different ones and this huge black lab ran up, all galoopy and leapt up and I let go of the donut. So he scored the rest of it and I was cracking up. The owner came racing up apologizing. No worries. I'd met the dog the day before and knew he was a sweetie. But rambunctious, running out energy. Lunch was OK, no snacking (which isn't the plan I've been trying to follow, but that plan is apparently completely (!) out the window for the near-two weeks). Dinner, though, was a small veg pizza brought back to my room with a salad that had some turkey on it. I ate more pizza than I needed to because it was so handy and it was so good. Three small slices last night through the evening and then have three left for another meal. Event gets underway early today.

nationalparker: Congrats as you continue to navigate a most difficult food situation. Eating out all meals is my worst event. It is so much easier to be home.

BBE: The Indians in my community start potty training at about 1 and a half. Unbelievable to me. I didn't even try until DS turned three. I took a whole day, diapered his best bear and we trained the bear together. The bear's diaper would get inexplicably wet so we took bear to the bathroom all day. By late afternoon. He wanted to try the potty. Fascinating how everyone is so different. Yet in the end, we all learn

The new med plan is getting me about 7.5 hours of sleep. I'll take it. It will be about a week before the med fully kicks in. This time of year at school is tough anyway. A friend who has been a chronic insomniac told me that everyday she wakes up and cheers for the sleep - even if it was 4 hour. "Yeah!!! 4 hours. This will be great." It is a new tactic I am trying.

Silverbirch just reminded me to plan the whole food day. I am starting to slip off at night. Today's goal is to stay the course until the end of the day.

I posted, ate two salads, didn't eat in the car (but I wanted to), and avoided commercial baked goods. And, I remembered to weigh this morning!

It's going to be a challenge to get in two salads on a day that's likely to include two take-out meals. But, I've got a plan!

Weigh-in: -0,45 kgs, Exercise: +25, 490/1100 minutes for May

Just a quick post tonight.

Did more walking than usual today and that felt pretty good. It would have felt better but I believed the weather forecast and wasn't adequately clothed for a cool windy day.

Had a "real" dinner tonight. At happy hour after work, appetizers were ordered, but I ordered a dinner instead--a cheeseburger (no bun) and a side salad. It was quite tasty and was exactly the kind of thing I'm supposed to be eating.

G'night all.