I'm not quite sure why I never managed to post yesterday. Something to do with a two-hour meeting in the morning and a 90-minute phone call in the afternoon, I suppose.

The good side of a busy day was that I didn't have much time to come up with off-plan ideas so I just followed the plan.

Exercise +40, 375/1500 minutes for January

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Eating was on plan with no daytime snacks, CREDIT moi. Dinner was omelettes with roasted winter veggies which I absolutely adore: squash, beets, red onions - what's not to love. Evening snack was a Cosmic Crisp Apple and half a Cara Cara Orange.

Excitement was assembling a stand to hold our new 32" Smart TV that is now properly working. It came with two tiny, plastic feet that felt wobbly. I set out to design/build a way to make it stable and stand up enough above the sound bar so that the remote worked without standing up. Much to my delight, such things are sold and there is even a standard for the pattern of screw holes on the back of the TV so that one can know that the stand will fit. It feels stable; looks good; we can click the remote from the couch; the cables are not blocked. AND, it had the best set of instructions and packaging of the screws and washers I've ever seen in any product, anywhere. Even included the two Allen wrenches needed for the screws.

Translate Latin to English: "alea iacta est" - the die is cast.


Joy (gardenerjoy) - Yay for being busy to help stay on plan.

maryann - Congrats for getting your dehydrator going - what a professional operation you've set up. Also Congrats for getting rid of that big bag of books and sweaters.

curlyjax - Congrats for solving that phone problem. My version of that story is that when my Internet connection goes down, I'm told that they prefer that I contact them through their website. Or email. Duh! - my Internet is down. Thanks for the notion to thank my clothes for their service. They did their job.

Readers -

I had a nice walk with my former colleague yesterday. She gazed at me with envy when I said I would have an empty house in a couple of weeks she has 3 college aged kids at home now, and she and her husband are both working at home in a small house.
I did get the kitchen cleaned up and a lot of trash out. I have YET to take down the christmas stuff; I am going to make it a priority today! I want to get the tree out of here and reclaim the space. I've only done half of my grocery shopping and there's a limit to my energy reserves, so maybe if i do the xmas stuff in the am it will get done. I also haven't planned the meals for the week yet. Maybe today I will do the lentil soup in crockpot thing and figure out the rest later.
Maryann-awesome use of your appliances! That cookbook sounds great. I can see how those insta pot things are quite useful.
Bill-yay for anchoring the tv stand and for good instructions, that is indeed rare! I forgot about roasted beets, those are indeed very good.
Gardenerjoy- following the plan is always good.

Good Morning, Coaches.

Much accomplished yesterday. I finished my 12 Steps Overeater's Anonymous Workbook that I started 10 months ago. That has been on the to do list for awhile. I took a walk, shelled nuts and cooked pulled pork in the Instant Pot. Easy cooking, very messy cleanup. That will not be back on the menu for awhile. I will use the IP this morning for a batch of sugar free fresh cranberries and a big pot of chickpeas using a new recipe I found. It puts whole garlic cloves and halves of onions that you remove when the cooking is done. Yesterday's food went off the rail at dinner when I had extra homemade rolls and sampled the pork too much. This happens when I get into a big messy cleanup. I have gum in the drawer. next time I will put some in my mouth. Cleanup is a very weak point for me. It is at the end of the day and I am pretty useless after 6:30 pm. All the hard stuff needs to be through by then. Now that school starts again tomorrow, I will be up at 5:30 am when I am at my best.

I woke a little blue today. Curleyjax: we are taking down Christmas as well today. Maybe that is why I am blue. One thing is for certain. Extra food will not help. BBE: Congrats on the TV accomplishment. Tell your DW we are watching Guys and Dolls ( I know she is into old movies.) I can't wait to see music loving DS's reaction to Marlon Brando singing "Luck be a Lady" instead of Frank Sinatra who is standing right next to him.

Yesterday felt low-energy all day. What finally helped was yoga. It was so hard to get myself to do it, so I want this reminder that it actually worked.

Today, I'm building in time for reflection. I don't think I've fully felt my feelings this week and that's part of what's pulling my energy down.

Exercise +60, 435/1500 minutes for January

Good morning coaches,

Yesterday was a day when I read the posts and later thought I had posted, but hadn't. I've continued to be on plan and back to dry January. Weight was back down after a day so I just need to remember that it does that. I think it is kind of like a picket fence at an angle. The trend is down, but with fluctuations along the way. It is the same analogy I used to use when talking to family about their older ill parent. Sometimes they get better, but not back to baseline. In this case I don't want to get back to baseline. Yesterday I had an outdoor distanced gathering with the PNP gals. This morning I hiked with a friend and now have the rest of the day and only a few things I need to do like arm/shoulder exercises and planks. My habit tracker has been helpful to remind me what I want to do.

I've had a tough time with what has gone on in the country this week. I guess I'm naive because I can't see how everyone wouldn't think it was just horrible. I have prayer on my habit tracker and I think I need to focus it all on our country and elected officials.

GardenerJoy I hear you about feeling your feelings. If there is something helpful, please share.

Maryann I miss the Christmas tree and wish I hadn't taken it down. I really liked getting up early each morning and plugging in the lights. On the other hand it has to get taken down at some point. You sure have been busy lately, well I guess you always are. Nice to have the food prepared since you will be working again tomorrow.

Curlyjax I bet your friend was envious. It will be such a change for you to have the house to yourself.

Bill You have done such a good job of getting rid of clothing. I still have things I could get rid of I'm sure. I probably need to set a time limit and then if something doesn't fit, it goes. I was good about getting rid of clothing that was too large, but I'm not as good as getting rid of things that are too small.

Well, I hope you all have a great day. I'm doing a long hike with my backpacking buddy tomorrow and looking forward to that. It's one that neither of us has done before. Hopefully I'll post before we go.

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Walked, CREDIT moi, with DW, DS, and DIL around Mount Auburn Cemetery for two hours. Winter is a superb time to observe trees when their trunk, bark, and branches are clearly visible. Many folks were about just walking. Everyone is respectful of the few people visiting graves and crypts; the two groups don't interfere with each other.

Dinner was leftover burger, beans, and rice - the second dipping into the three meals from the cooking session. Do like the ease of eating leftovers. Fresh bok choy(Chinese cabbage) was the veggie. Evening snack was the now standard part of a Cara Cara Orange and a Cosmic Crisp Apple. So, it was an on plan day with no daytime snacks, CREDIT moi.


Joy (gardenerjoy) - Hope you are able to find a way to process the feelings from last week - mine keep getting stirred up again and again.

maryann - hmmm . . . will have to add Guys and Dolls (1955, with Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra) to our list. The driver for getting the TV ready was for DW to watch All Creatures Great and Small on PBS Masterpiece Theater last night. I made sure it was working than ran from the room quickly to my DW spitting raspberries at me. Congrats for finishing your 10 month Workbook journey.

Karen (karenrn) - Congrats for using your habit tracker to help you stay your path. Nice to be able to see that the trend is down.

curlyjax - Shuddering to think of three college-aged kids at home. I think that Christmas trees should stay up for the whole month of January. DW thinks they should go out promptly after New Years Day. Since she removes the ornaments and lights, she wins each year.

Readers -

Good morning coaches,

I have plenty of time to post this morning, so I'll just do that. Food was on plan yesterday and weight is lower than it has been since 9/15 so I'm pleased with that. I continue to feel motivated and hopeful. I have a few left over baking ingredients that I don't want in the house and dh has agreed to put them in his desk drawer at work. They won't expire before next Christmas baking season but I know they wouldn't still be here if I keep them in the house. Neither of us have done the hike we are doing today so I hope we can stay on the trail, which apparently is not well marked but fairly well travelled. We can't really get lost because it is all wide open as far as views. I have a map and I'll take my GPS and I have downloaded the map to an ap on my phone. Last evening dh and I listened to Wynton Marsalis on a Zoom of the Arizona Speakers Bureau. He was very good, but I will admit I was falling asleep in the chair and didn't see the end.

Bill How to you fix the bok choy? I think I have only had it in Asian dishes. I would have liked to have the Christmas Tree up all month.

I hope you all have a good start to the week.

The tree is finally gone. I also sorted out various holiday decorations and consolidated from 3 bins to 2, so am pleased about that. We have such a small house that its nice to reclaim the space it took.
I had a nice chat with a friend on the phone, then another one contacted me out of the blue for a walk, which was great. Then I got on a roll when I came home and put away some other stuff that had been sitting on the sofa since november. DInner was frozen pizza for the kids, and for me some frozen meatballs and ravioli made in Massachusetts, which was actually quite good and amazingly so since I found it in the CVS frozen food section. I added leftover cauliflower to it to add bulk and veggies. A satisfying day.
Bill- I love the original televised All Creatures Great and Small so I can't bring myself to watch this new version. yay for a two hour walk.
Karen- I find myself getting tense about what may happen in the next few weeks, will there be more violence. I'm trying to not think about it too much. That is a great idea to have your DH hide the leftover baking ingrediants! I have some confectionary sugar that I should just get rid of; its presence here signals frosting at the ready which I don't need.
Maryann-I hear you about the messy cleanup, and getting into food during it. Although that pulled pork sounds great!
Gardenerjoy-reflection time is a good idea.

Good Morning, Coaches.

Yes, alarm rang at 5:30. Per usual on the first day of school, my body woke me up at 4:45 from nervous energy. I worked about 4 hours on school yesterday. I tidied computer files ands rearranged Day 1 stuff. I never seem to repeat verbatim. I have to admit that I looked up retirement numbers before I started my work. I always suffer a lack of confidence and abundance of anxiety but this morning I am back in the game to face 100 new students.

I made lunches for four days giving myself the option of eating take out one day. I did not exercise at all yesterday which drastically lowered my average but I will plan for a lunchtime walk today. Weight is two pounds from ticker. I cooked two new recipes in the instant pot - a low sugar fresh cranberry sauce and "side dish "chickpeas.

curleyjax: I tossed a few Christmas ornaments, as well. Less is more in my mind.
BBE: DH suffered through the movie and declared he would rather watch the Texas reality show where a game warden gives a warning to people for catching 4 inch blue crab. Jeesh! How have we been married 20 years?
Karen: I love downloading the maps. So helpful.

Reflection helped me work through some things -- including a resolution to consume less news. I can get my news from DH, which helps our relationship, instead of web sites, which just revs me up with no good outlet.

I don't have time for that sort of thing. I have a healthy lifestyle to maintain. I have feelings to feel. I have school policies and a novel to write.

The only Christmas decorations that I put were lights on the balcony rail that I can see from where I sit at my desk and DH can see, reflected in windows, while he sits in the sun room. One of the decisions I made during my reflective weekend was to leave them up until Groundhog's Day.

Exercise +40, 475/1500 minutes for January

karenrn: My most effective tool for feeling my feelings is a tool called Head Office from a book called A Blueprint for Your Castle in the Clouds by Barbara Sophia Tammes. I imagine an office with files labeled with feelings. I put my current situation in each file in turn until I've worked through the feelings. For me, the order that usually works best is shame, fear, anger, sorrow, desire, and determination. Of course, there are a lot of other feelings that sometimes come into play. I might want to work through pride, jealousy, despair contempt, lethargy, or pain. Besides desire and determination, other points that make good destinations for me are excitement, love, or gratitude.
A friend of mine uses these Tea and Empathy cards for a similar exercise.

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Eating was on plan with no daytime snacks, CREDIT moi. Dinner was the third dip into the pots of burger, beans, and rice - along with asparagus and my green salad. Cosmic Crisp Apple for evening snack.

Worked much of the day preparing for my evening Zoom meeting. It's a group that has always met in person at my friend's house around a coffee table laden with top shelf cheeses, tree nuts, and other snacks. The pandemic has had two positive repercussions: First is that I don't have to angst over the snacks; Second is that the member visiting Kansas and the member visiting California attended instead of having to send regrets. Strange to find a silver lining to a bad situation.


Joy (gardenerjoy) - I'm still stuck in the too-much-news mode; I can assure you that it hasn't gotten better yet.

maryann - LOL at watching "the Texas reality show" - I'm onboard. Welcome back to school with 100 new students.

Karen (karenrn) - Congrats for shipping those baking items away from your control. Also Congrats on the lower weight. DW sautés the Bok Choy in olive oil with garlic - pretty simple.

curlyjax - Neat that you found food in the frozen section of CVS. I'll have to look next time I'm in there. Congrats for getting your Christmas stuff put away.

Readers -

Good morning coaches,

Food was on plan yesterday and I am down another pound. I love looking back on the log for the Happy Scale ap to see how long it has been since I was this weight. It was in late August and then I trended up. Our hike yesterday was really great. We did lose the trail mid way through and ended up in an area we both know, but we hiked out another trail and then hiked all the way back on what is called Midlife Crisis, which is the trail we were exploring. Most of it was fairly easy to follow, but there were a few areas where we had to scramble up and over boulders. I was glad to have Kathy with me since she is as adventurous as I am, but also very safe. Together we chose the safest routes through the boulders. We did 10 miles with 3000 feet elevation gain. It wasn't fast, but I never thought about what is going on in our country, so that was good.

Bill I do remember you telling about the great snacks at some of your meetings and wondering how you handled not wanting to eat a ton of it. You are probably one of the few who has lost weight during COVID.

GardenerJoy I do remember you telling about that book previously. I think part of my problem is I don't spend enough time really thinking about how I feel. I need to take a look at that.

Maryann I hope your first day back at school was a good one. Your students are fortunate to have you. I wish you could always remember that.

Curlyjax It sounds like you had a productive day on Sunday with some social too. Nice mix.

Well, I guess I had better get going. Time to get some laundry started and have some breakfast before a short hike.

I'm suddenly realizing there's a lot to do in the next 11 days before DS leaves, even though its only an hour away. I've instructed him to look at the recommended stuff he needs, and figure out what we still need to get. DD got her stuff way in advance so this is a different experience.He will have his own room which is great as he can spread out and not deal with a roommate during this crazy time. These days kids go to college with all sorts of stuff. I will get back to food stuff once they are both out of the house. I did make lentil soup last night at least, and got my weights done.
Bill- the brand is Alfredos Aiello I think- you could just tell the tomato sauce was homemade. In a mass quantity sort of way, but still much better than one would expect. yay for the ability to avoid meeting snacks.
Maryann-sounds like you are well prepared and ready to roll. LOL about looking up retirement, I hear you.
Gardenerjoy-those lights sound very nice, and a mood perker upper.

One of yesterday's projects went a little quicker than expected and another went a bit slower. Reminding myself that it all evens out and that none of it is worth eating over.

Racist graffiti was found on three school buildings in our school district last week, put there on the same day as the Capitol siege. I'll attend a solidarity vigil for our black students and staff before school starts tomorrow morning to counter that message with our supportive signs as the buses arrive. The best part is that I didn't organize the vigil. Someone I influenced about a year ago organized it.

Part of today's chores will be setting up the logistics to get myself out and ready before 7am.

Exercise +35, 510/1500 minutes for January