Diet Coaches/Buddies - Excitement was ordering the Gift Cards for the kids. Our standard gift to our DS and DIL has been tickets to a venue of their choice. With their Foster DD and COVID Omicron, they're staying tight at home. They wanted a gift card to GrugHub to let them have better quality take outs. Being parents of a young kid is exhausting. The DSIL wanted a gift card to his favorite golf store. Seems like that's a sport that continually sucks down money. When I suggested that one new box of 3 golf balls a year was all it took, I met derision. "Clearly you've never played." Which is true. The DD negotiated for her gift with DW a month ago. Two seriously practical human beings. The gift is ordered, arrived, brought over, tried on, approved, brought back home, and wrapped to be put under the tree. A Surprise? Not at all, but satisfaction guaranteed.

Eating was on plan, CREDIT moi, with the last half-slice of fruit cake with my evening snack. Got my eating juices flowing when discussing what cookies to serve with fruit salad as part of Christmas Eve dinner. The family all really like a good fruit salad - with just a small, tasty cookie to "wash it down." Each cookie that I suggested I wanted a stack of them - not a small taste. Pfeffernόsse is one of my favorites, but I hardly ever get one. If they were good enough for Felix Mendelssohn, they should be good enough for me. The powdered sugar coating might be more authentic, but I end up covered in white when I eat those. Apologies for the food porn here.


Joy (gardenerjoy) - Thanks for teaching me the new "unplug it and then plug it again" with a Simm card. Congrats for being an acclaimed computer Geek in your early career. Lifting 50-pound hard disks is a great story to tell kids these days.

maryann - Congrats for making it through your semester with grateful students. LOL at "Declare yourself a paleotarian for the day" - could solve many problems with back-and-forth declarations.

Karen (karenrn) - You are so strong to be able to bake 5 kinds of cookies an not overeat them. Hope you get that blood pressure reading resolved quickly.

curlyjax - Warm soup is just the best way to feel full for the least calories. Yay for getting to be Santa Clause with the donated money.

Penny. - Continue to send supportive thoughts that you can get a sane work load negotiated. I spoke with a young nursing student this week. She says that her hospital is under-staffed and over-worked enough to discourage her from the profession that she's always wanted.

Readers -

Saturdays are sometimes tricky for me since I have a regular event at the time that I normally eat lunch. Do I eat super-early? Do I come home extra-hungry and eat late? Do I have an early snack and reduce a serving size sometime later in the day to accommodate? All strategies have benefits and risks. The best thing is to make a plan and stick to it. The best time to make the plan is about an hour after breakfast so I have some idea whether this is going to be a more-hungry or less-hungry day. So, that's my commitment to myself.

Exercise +45, 890/1600 minutes for December

I did not do well with eating yesterday, I did get into the lindt chocolates at work, but at least I ate my salad and yogurt as well. There was a healthy, good soup at work and I indulged in that too. I did pick up DS and he chattered away on the drive home which was really nice, then he scampered off to his BFF’s house. I zipped off to the grocery store to get baking supplies; its supposed to snow a bit today so I will make this a cookie making day, or at least get the dough made.
My widow friend has invited us for a potluck Christmas eve dinner which is awesome, so I need to figure out what I can bring that both my kids will eat and isn't a crazy amount of work.
Karen: thanks for your comments: you’re right, we should talk to ourselves as we do our friends. Fun to make cookies to give to others. You have a good plan about sweets.
Maryann- that’s so nice that your students acknowledge they enjoy you. Have a great break!
Penny- sorry that work continues to push you, that’s a tough job to be in, especially now.
Gardenerjoy- too funny about your early computer job!
Bill-yay for gift cards, such an easy way to please folks. Funny we all have our own tastes, I can look at those pfeffernusse cookies and not want them. But a regular chocolate chip cookie gets my juices flowing!

Yesterday was on plan and weight bumped back up. I was on call after my regular shift and ended up seeing two patients from 8 to midnight. Now I will enjoy two days off and try not to think about work.

The kids are excited about Christmas, which is especially adorable when the older ones are 14, nearly 18, and 20. I didn't get much for the 20yo. It's hard to shop for this age! He doesn't need or want much but I still want him to have stuff to open.

Have a great Saturday, everyone!

Good Morning, Coaches.

I slept until 10:00 today. I must have really been exhausted.

We are going to try and sneak up between storms in Tahoe. Hopefully I can cross country.

Weight remains the same.

MA

Good evening coaches,

My friend is cooking dinner so I'm taking this opportunity to post. I've been on plan and my weight is stable. I haven't had a sweet yet. I think I'll wait a bit. Actually I'm thinking I'll wait until there aren't many left in the house. I took some to two friends today and I'll be getting rid of a bunch more tomorrow. We ended up with six kinds of cookies and the cashew brittle. I made a chocolate chip Macadamia nut cookie to get rid of some ingredients and they must be pretty darned good because dh and my friend have been loving them. I realize that I buy some ingredients from Costco and the quantities are simply more than I need.

Maryann I hope you get up to Tahoe. One of my hiking friends has a place at Incline Village and the pictures he has posted are just beautiful with all the snow.

Penny I hope you get some resting up in the next couple of days. I'm sure Christmas is more fun with the kids, even if they are older.

Curlyjax Enjoy the cookie making. I know I sure did. About my plan, I get plenty to eat and I feel really good. The weight loss is slow but I think it's going to be a good thing. I have had few cravings or real urges to eat off plan. In my mind I think that's because my body is getting the nutrients it needs and I'm not really depriving myself.

GardnerJoy It is tricky when you have something to do right at lunch time. Hopefully you did just fine. I usually find as long as I'm busy and distracted, I manage pretty well.

Bill I think the gift cards are a great thing. Easy for the giver and wonderful for the receiver to get what they really want. I hope you get your wish and get a stack of cookies to go with the fruit salad. You would at our house.

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Seems like a wasted day since I feel I accomplished so little. But I did, to my credit, order the last online gift for DW that I'd been dallying about because the company kept sending me conflicting offers. And the first time I tried to order, rejected my order because their data base was down. "It's having a Monday," they cheekily told me. Not an issue; I'll wrap an IOU with an "It's in the mail" promise. Won't be the first time.

Spent some time thoroughly enjoying the January 2022 Special Issue of Astronomy Magazine, "101 Must-See Cosmic Objects", that arrived as an unwrapped Christmas gift. Can't understand why I haven't set up a home observatory and devoted my evenings into looking skyward. Got reminded that I can't study geology, biology, medicine, astronomy, history, and all the other interesting topics that I hear about. Too little time. Got reminded that we did see the Southern Cross (Crux) Constellation when we were in Tanzania a few decades ago. Can't see it from Boston. It's not too late to ask for one of the star identification apps for my cell phone; that'd be a good start.


Joy (gardenerjoy) - Clear thinking, "The best thing is to make a plan and stick to it." I've waffled between too many plans while usually eating something to help me decide which way to go, LOL.

maryann - Hope you make it to Tahoe and that you can shovel your way in. I was aghast when our papers said that the Sierras were getting ten feet of snow.

Karen (karenrn) - A house guest who makes dinner is pretty neat. Congrats for watching her and your DH eating your Macadamia nut cookies and not digging in.

curlyjax - That potluck Christmas eve dinner sounds awesome. Great that your DS is home for the holidays.

Penny. - Neat that your oldish kids are still excited about Christmas. It's such a challenge to have something for them to open when they're at a picky age.

Readers -

Good morning coaches,

Just a quick post. Dinner was vegetarian cauliflower steaks and a green bean dish. I know they were a bit heavy on the fat and salt and weight is up a smidge this morning. I did end up eating a lemon bar mainly because they turned out funny. The crust came to the top. My friend made them and I was wondering why she was waiting so long to pour the pudding type later on top and get them in the oven. And turns out that was why it happened (I googled it). Anyway, we taste tested to see if we were going to use them. We will.

Getting up now for breakfast, then a hike with some other gals, then get my cookie trays for co-workers packed up and then mid afternoon Christmas gathering with the former co-workers. Food is usually very good so my strategy is very small portions.

Productive day yesterday- I bought a ham for the potluck from trader joes, along with some pretty plants for the house. I'm hoping the ham will last until friday in the refrig; its precooked and sealed in plastic so I think it will. I'll have to figure out a sauce or something for it. I made two cookie doughs and stuck them in the refrig, and will start baking them today. I'm zipping off to the grocery store in a little bit, then dropping off some store bought dinner for a friend of mine who broke her shoulder. Last night I went to a friend's house to have a healthy dinner then too many cookies, and watched "Christmas with the Kranks" which was fun. DD is coming home and I haven't really cleaned up to accommodate another person's stuff in the house, but I did decorate the tree and scatter some holiday stuff around, which she likes. I'm a bit last minute this year!
Penny- that is cute about your kids. That reminds me, i do need to buy a few more things even if its stuff like socks.
Karen- great that your friend pitches in to make dinner. Sounds like the cookie making was a success, and how nice to do it with a friend. Christmas parties with former colleagues are always fun.
Bill-you definitely don't have enough time for all your interests! yay for a wife who accepts an IOU; there may be a lot of that this year.

Good Morning, Coaches from Tahoe.

Beautiful, sunny snowy scene this morning. We are going to wait until the temp rises a little and then go cross country skiing. I will take it easy since it is my first time out. I do need to get into shape.

Food was food. That is always better. I am making banana cornbread to have with chicken apple sausages for the boy's breakfasts. It is always good to not have to go out to eat when it is super busy around here.

I bought ( free trial for two weeks) Dave Ramsey's Every Dollar. I have back entered December's pay and spending. It is not pretty but I want to start January with a reference month. I will see if I like it. ( Of course I did buy a cute as a button fleece, ski vest combo before my "no clothes in 22" movement. It is a shopper's version of the last supper I guess.

Wave to all.

I did okay with my eating yesterday, helped along with a plan, albeit a weird one.

Today's fun activity is picking up the HyperTiles that I ordered as a Kickstarter from a friend. My great-niblings will be among the first to play with this building toy. I can't remember how many sets I ordered back in June. I'm kind of hoping that there's one for me, too.

Exercise +50, 940/1600 minutes for December

Good morning! Yesterday was on plan and weight is down a little, basically holding the past three days.

I've been writing my food plan each morning and struggling on what to have for dinner tonight. 15 bean soup has been a staple but lately I'm not wanting it because it has been giving me stomach issues. I need a replacement. Probably hummus and bell peppers but that means another trip to the store.

One of my Amazon book orders has passed its delivery day by three days. I messaged the seller and hope it can still get here in time for Christmas. It's part of a set for my daughter.

Have a great day, everyone!

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Walked, CREDIT moi, to the playground with DW, DS, and (20 mo old) DFGD. Felt cold in the 34 deg F air. It's colder outside now at 19 deg F - as if it's winter. Shivers! The DFGD has a few more English phrases. I've always enjoyed watching language appear in a toddler, but this is my first time to watch a second language appear (her first home was Spanish speaking).

Stopped at a supermarket on the way home for a rotisserie chicken and a pint of a pasta salad. To our surprise when eating it, we found that the pasta salad contained ham bits. Fortunately, our diet isn't halal, kosher, or vegetarian, so we loved it. Thought of a lot of folks who would have liked a better label before they bought it. I made a green salad for a complete dinner. Eating was on plan for the day with NO DAYTIME SNACKS, CREDIT moi - the fruit cake is, at last, gone - consumed, eaten.


Joy (gardenerjoy) - Those HyperTiles look fun; I'll watch for them when they appear in the market. I do think that your "great-niblings" deserve a set that's been tested.

maryann - Glad that you made it into Tahoe despite the snow. LOL at "shopper's version of the last supper" before your "no clothes in 22".

Karen (karenrn) - LOL at upside down lemon bars. I'd have accepted that as a sign that I was to eat them all so that nobody ever knew. Kudos for having a plan, "my strategy is very small portions."

curlyjax - Your day certainly sounds productive - and quite busy. Ouch for "too many cookies" - a problem of the season.

Penny. - Ouch for a delayed Amazon delivery. Glad that your DD is old enough to understand that Santa's sled is having traffic jams these days. Hope that your stomach issues are transient.

Readers -

Productive day yesterday. I braved the grocery store, then brought dinner to my friend and visited with her and her cats; one of them has a perpetual look of surprise, which is adorable. Then in the late afternoon I finally picked up the livingroom and tv room, which involved a lot of zipping around to loud music. Then DD decided she would come home early today so I had more time to chill, and I baked some of my premade cookie dough -molasses with chocolate chips, yum. I found some paperwork including some taxes I hadn't paid, oops-once again I have got to get a handle on the paperwork. I read thru my journal, and it was very repetitive; I guess I only write when I'm lonely, mooning about over men, or focusing on the need to lose weight. I have quite a few things to work on in 2022!
But I did do well with being more aware of eating less and waiting a bit to see if I was full before I ate more. That is a strategy I can continue.
Maryann- you inspire me with your trying new things like the financial plan. A last minute splurge is justified for winter!
Gardenerjoy-those tiles do look really fun.
Penny- it is a challenge to come up with healthy dinner that is filling and non-problematic, and not the same thing all the time.
Bill-yay for no daytime snacks! Really fun to watch a second language emerging.

Good morning coaches,

My plan of keeping portions small at the party worked and I passed on most of the appetizers and the rolls, although they looked good. One of the appetizers I had was a lettuce wrap with shrimp. It was delicious. I did have a couple of goodies and weight is up less than a pound total. I am now back on my plan totally until Christmas Eve. We had a couple of group photos taken at the party and I will have to say dh and I looked pretty darned good. Believe me there are many photos over the years that I can't say that about.

Today we have a friend coming over for coffee this morning and a couple coming over for an afternoon patio visit after lunch. We are trying to be smart and also do whatever is necessary to see some people. This afternoon it means an outside visit which is just great. Yesterday we had a great hike with some we would not have felt comfortable being with indoors. Luckily Coleen and I are on the same page. She wants to be able to test negative to get back to Canada 1/10 and I need to test negative to go to Thailand 1/16.

Bill Good job on the No Daytime Snacks. I bet it is fun to see how quickly dfgd learns new language. Do they have any idea how long she might be with them?

Penny That's great that writing the food plan is working. I hope you find something to eat that doesn't bother your stomach for dinner.

GardnerJoy The Hypertiles look really fun. Was there a set for you?

Maryann I hope you had a fun time skiing in that beautiful snow. I really need to see some snow one of these days.

Curlyjax Doesn't ham last for a long time in the fridge? I think so. I would think dd would be happier about the decorations than making room for her things. Hopefully she can do that.