Diet Coaches/Buddies – Walked, CREDIT moi, past a mini-library and couldn't help but snag Mostly Harmless by Douglas Adams - presumably because my reading stack needs to be one taller. My brain just doesn't need nonsense reading right now. Maybe I'm dreaming of sitting on the beach with a summer reading book watching the waves roll in. I did restrain myself and not pick up six other books that I didn't need to read even though I wish that I had.

Eating was OK, CREDIT moi, including leftover grilled salmon for dinner and a fresh peach with breakfast for the first time this year. The peach was better than expected; first of the season is often hard and tasteless. Local crisis is that DW wasn't able to get blueberries; I'm delegated to try to get some today. It's nice to have goals in life.


Joy (gardenerjoy) – Kudos, as always, for "But, I've got a plan!"

silverbirch – Waving. Can you do anything about this "Royal Wedding" business - I miss being able to read the news with other topics. You'd think, with our excessive pride in the separation from England years ago, we'd let such details slide. I may start a GoFund page supporting "Royal Elopement." /Rant.

maryann - 7.5 hours is a good sleep. I like the notion of cheering for one's sleep - like a daily gift. [Thanks for telling me that you didn't do potty training with your DS until three years old. I need to constantly remind myself that all kids are different.]

nationalparker – Yay for a rambunctious black lab serving as diet coach allowing you to avoid finishing that maple donut. Perhaps you could find a way to make all donuts smaller so that they could be incorporated into a sane diet.

Beth (bethturnaround) – I hate being underdressed when my closet is full of appropriate clothing for the weather. Yay for cheeseburger time.

Readers -

Good Morning, Coaches.

. . . and when I say morning, I mean 3 a.m. Yeah for 4 hours of sleep. That is more then I had when my boy was a baby. My sleep is not what I want it to be right now but I am taking steps towards realizing my goal. It seems I am doing that in many areas of my life.

Yesterday the day dissolved into snacking away an official dinner. Just for today, I will sit down and eat a dinner planned, no matter what other unplanned items "slipped" into my mouth. In AA we say there are no such things as slips, only choices. Today, I have a solid plan ( like gardenerjoy). By consenting to be bound, I am free.

BBE: Proctored a 3.5 hour AP Statistics test for college credit. There were 8 kids taking it. 125 kids took AP Language and Composition (which is what I teach.) What does that say about our country and math?

Beth: Congrats on ordering well.

quick wave coaches. I have done well with not eating sweets at work this week. Last night I missed my DH so much, I was sobbing for a long time. I did comfort myself with some ice cream and cookies. But back on track today, and I woke up hungry so hopefully that is good. I didin't sleep well and am going to a boring training where i will try to stay awake! we all have to bring our own food so i know there will be nothing to tempt me, yay.
Maryann- I feel for you, i do not do well when i have low sleep on top of everything else.
TGIF!

I ate two salads yesterday -- both as snacks. Only one meal out today. And, then, I should have a few days in a row of only home-cooked foods. That always helps -- with lower calories and sodium and with rebuilding the resistance muscle.

Weigh-in: +0.4 kgs, Exercise: +30, 580/1100 minutes for May

curlyjax: Sending warm thoughts your way as you continue this sad journey. Disordered sleep is bound to be part of it. Good for you for doing what needs to be done, even boring training.

Food - NOT good. Turning to comfort food, which is all around as the hours are so long and it's stressful. i know better. I say I want to feel better. Then I reach for a mini cinn roll. And then another. I beat myself up mentally. Then I vow to do better. Get a fruit cup. Then want chips. I'm THISCLOSE to just saying what the heck and letting go.

Feeling horribly stiff all over and I'm not sure what to do about it. Up early because my hip hurt and woke me up. A lovely day and the DB's 18th birthday. We're going for a meal at a Tuscan restaurant.

nationalparker, this is just a phase you're in at the moment. Soon you'll be home and in charge of your food again. As gardenerjoy says, it always helps.

gardenerjoy, good to hear you're back on the salad trail.

curlyjax, sending you warm thoughts.

maryann, 3am sounds a bit better. Four hours of sleep isn't to be sneezed at.

Bill, I can only apologise about the media frenzy surrounding today's event in Windsor. Quite ludicrous. My mother tells me she just wants it to be over. There does seem to be a lot of interest in America in the Royal Family. I wonder if the circus is worse than usual because the bride is American (though I'm not sure about this - has she turned British? Who knows or really cares?). The Queen is a year younger than my mother, and of course I don't wish her demise any sooner than it is written, but I do dread that, in terms of media coverage.

Beth, cool and windy? It would be nice if it warmed up a little.

Hi everyone,

Food was on target today--was still a bit hungry earlier than I would have expected, but powered through. Am not going to bed hungry--I feel fine. I'm going to step up my water consumption some more.

I went to Home Depot tonight and people keep asking me if I needed help. They never do that when I go with DH--I guess a woman alone in Home Depot is considered in need of help.

As I picked out spray paint, Him: "What are you painting"
Me: "An outdoor sofa"
Him: "That's nice"
Me: "So I guess I better go home and finish building it"

I took my nicer/newer clothes to a resale shop and walked out with a relatively small sum of money--but better than none. Everything they didn't buy (or wasn't new enough to even show them) went to Goodwill.

My closet is pretty empty--but better empty than full of things I can't wear.

BillBlueEyes: I bought the cushions--I don't really like working with material of that weight. However, I'll probably buy outdoor fabric to make coordinating pillows.

curlyjax: Some days are just harder than others. You're in my thoughts. May his memory always be for a blessing.

Night all

--Beth

Diet Coaches/Buddies – Walked, CREDIT moi, to the subway and to an ice skating rink in Boston's North End to see the Leonard Bernstein opera, Trouble in Tahiti. Yep, an ice skating rink was rented to produce an opera. Our local Boston Lyric Opera Company is still looking for a permanent home; in the meantime, it rents whatever space fits its needs. Next year, they'll rent a basketball arena from Harvard for their production of The Handmaid's Tale. Methinks all this wandering about is to soften us up for a Grand Building Fund to construct a new place. I can live with wandering.

Evening snacks were avoided because we were out; afternoon snacks crept in. Snacking is such a good way to avoid doing something on my list that's unpleasant. At the supermarket, I was able to buy blueberries - at a price. The weather has hit the blueberry farmers somewhere. I did not buy elderflowers; I did not see elderflowers for sale; until yesterday, I'd never heard of elderflowers.


Joy (gardenerjoy) – LOL at the thought of being so busy that you're celebrating "Only one meal out today."

silverbirch – Happy 18th Birthday to your DB with Huge Congrats to you and your SO for surviving.

maryann - Hope your sleep returns. [Yikes about our slippage in interest in math.]

nationalparker – Keep the faith - your event has a scheduled end and you'll return to your home, DH, and dogs.

curlyjax - Sharing the pain of your feeling the loss of your DH so intensely. Required training can be beyond boring.

Beth (bethturnaround) – Always Kudos for "Food was on target today." Home Depot swamps me with questions asking if I need any help - mosting along the main aisle and as I'm walking in the front door. They seem disappointed when I say, "No thanks," and keep walking. The folks asking don't look like people who can help with much more than to point toward the plumbing section.

Readers -

I caught the last few minutes of the royal wedding -- with cello music and arches covered in greenery and white roses. Lovely! I'm getting a kick out of the continuing coverage on the Today show. The hats -- there's a good commonality between American black church culture and British aristocracy.

Today's challenge is a sack lunch -- I've got what I need to fix a sandwich and pack an apple. I'll eat salads for afternoon snacks so that I get my two salads.

Weigh-in: -0.65 kgs, Exercise: +20, 600/1100 minutes for May

BillBlueEyes: I listen to the world's oldest soap opera, The Archers from BBC Radio Four. There's a current story line about elderflowers. Apparently, the British make cordial from them. A bumbling husband messed up a DIY plumbing job and sprayed water into the newly made cordial and, the next day, he's picking elderflowers so that this year's cordial can be remade.

Like Beth, I’m going to bed hungry.

Hi everyone,

Late night tonight. I did the shopping for the heavy snack/light evening meal at the monthly Mensa gathering. I was asked to back someone up after she injured herself so it seemed like a small thing to agree to do so that I could continue to not do big volunteer things :-)

I decided to have a meal--shrimp, cheese, salad, veggies, and hummus. I then treated myself to a counted 8 animal crackers. I feel like I made good choices.

Night all!

--Beth

Diet Coaches/Buddies – Bird walk in the morning, CREDIT moi, where we saw enough warblers to believe that they're truly migrating through. The simple Yellow Warbler was magnificent because it was so yellow. A six-year-old budding naturalist had the best eyes of any of us. She flawlessly switched between Mandarin with her parents and English with the rest of us. I so wish that I had learned a second language at that language-learning stage. We were out while the events at Windsor Castle were unfolding. We didn't need invitations, LOL. And we didn't eat elderflower anything.

Dinner was a potluck with friends; I did well with a single plate, CREDIT moi. One dish contained shrimp and scallops in a spicy mix. Watched the 1938 Alfred Hitchcock movie The Lady Vanishes. It is a sanitized barb at the militant government of an unnamed European nation. Everyone behaves in a most British manner.


Joy (gardenerjoy) – Last night a couple who'd been in Harlem a few decades ago made that comment that hats of Sunday in Harlem resembled the hats at the Royal Wedding. [Thanks for the tale from The Archers.]

maryann - Yay for hungry - when it's a choice.

Beth (bethturnaround) – Kudos for good choices when surrounded by abundance. Neat strategy to make contributions yet avoid lingering responsibilities.

Readers -

Hello, all! Need to read to catch up - that might be later this week. Day 8 here ... five more to go counting today since it's so early. A few issues, some that had my heart pounding for the need of some to get loud, aggressive and obnoxious. One I just WHAT is it that you want? What are you asking for - just tell me. They bluster and gripe. but for the most part, it's gone well.

Food, however, has not been on plan. Credits for snacks of healthy fruit. Demerits for a fritter for breakfast yesterday and who knows what else to be honest. I know my weight will be up by many pounds - the combo of food and lack of activity and processed food.

nationalparker: Credit for continuing to check in. You have been away before and have lost the weight before. You can do it again.


For me, kitchen did stay closed. I was proud although the scale did not give me the external reward for which I hoped. Nonetheless, the strengthened resistance muscle is probably more important. I continue to watch DS eat. It is very informative. De will go do hours without a nibble. He is wonderfully trim.I need to copy that behavior. Currently Nutrasystem has five "meals" three hours apart but that three hours is long time when I am a practiced nibbler. Today is OP and it feels good.

Wave to all.

Hi everyone,

Food on plan tonight. No exercise (this is getting to be a really familiar refrain) I did finish making the outdoor sofa--it needs a little more sanding and then painting.

I told DH that I wasn't going to start any new projects until after our big Mensa gathering over the 4th of July--there's just too much to do to get ready for that and other things (such as work at our lot where we still haven't given up on building) already planned.

I'm still stalled on weight loss--I keep reminding myself that plateaus are just part of the process.

G'night all.

--Beth