My weight this morning was back down to the number that I liked early last year, but didn't manage to maintain through the crises of 2021. I will say that how I feel in my body tracks less with scale numbers and more with recent yoga routines, at this moment. But I'm really happy to see this number since it was a goal.

I'm sure that two walks yesterday helped me get to a good scale reading today.

Exercise +90, 635/1600 minutes for January

Good morning!

Yesterday was on plan and weight is down another smidge.

I would like to get some covid tests here. My oldest, working son is coughing and says he has been for a while. Yikes! Some of my n95 mask order should be arriving today.

Have a good day, everyone.

Good evening, Coaches.

Super busy day. I had to prep DH for his blood tests, get school ready, write lesson plans, teach, drive up to Tahoe and then attend a zoom. I am beat.

The good news is DH PSA blood test was significantly lower and was edging down to high average. We are not Drs but it still made us feel better. The Dr. appt is next Thursday. So three cheers for our team at least for today.

Weight is high. I know. I know. Things are really busy and I am eating things on the fly. I will be up here for four days and will focus on healthy eating plus tons of exercise.

Wave to all

Coaches

Today was a blur. I spent a few hours catching up with my Key West sister. We haven't been in touch. Just both of us busy. She's nearing the end of another book edit of her manuscript plus working on text for an art exhibition catalogue. The exhibition is somewhere in Montana at Yellowstone Art Museum in Billings in July. It will be a big to-do. Both the artist and my sister want me to come. She was pressing me on that. I said I'd go if it's safe to travel. I am not happy thinking about crossing borders or flying right now.

Food was ok today. Clean up ad well. Tomorrow I have to mix ceramic glazes at the makerspace and then I'm back home. I didn't get on the scale and won't until Sunday.

billblueyes: soon your 6yo DGD will be showing you keyboard shortcuts. I can't imagine how ordinary a computer is to her.She may see you as a troglodyte but a troglodyte she loves who needs her help!

gardenerjoy I keep thinking about your Sunbasket service. I think that is one of the most brilliant company names ever. Who wouldn't want a basket of sun? Kudos for the good scale reading.

Penny I hope you can track down tests. We've been told don't even try. They are in reserve for frontline workers. If we are exposed or if we have symptoms we are told don't go to the hospital. Isolate! And if we do fi d a rapid test if it says positive, believe it. if neg don't believe it cause there's lots of false neg so assume you are positive.
I hope it's just a cold that your son has.

maryann Busy day for sure. Glad you are off to Tahoe again. Whenever I hear about Tahoe I recall Bob Hope and his comedian friends talking about going to Tahoe. I guess in the way that going to Aspen was mentioned in later decades. Is Tahoe still a place for the rich and famous?

Night everyone!

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Exercise was a couple of hours walking about on Castle Island in Boston Harbor, CREDIT moi. It's an area impossible to get to in the warm summer months due to the beach crowd, but few folks were about in the chilly air. The few out there all offered pointers to where they had seen desirable birds. Saw a Pacific Loon, unusual for us around here, a few Buffleheads, and the expected flocks of Eiders. A really pleasant adventure in between some frigid days. Our hiking companion brought some homemade cookies. I justified eating a pair on the drive home - as if I'd never seen a cookie before. Dribbled powdered sugar down the front of my dark jacket as a suitable punishment, LOL.

Eating was on plan, CREDIT moi, except for unnecessary snacks. Dinner was a Whole Foods clam chowder washed down with toasted Ciabatta bread - a purchase DW made without a plan, "It just looked really good." Wish that I wasn't so addicted to good breads.


onebyone - "yam, montana's contemporary art museum," looks like a prestigious place to exhibit. Hope you get there, but I'm with you on "I am not happy thinking about crossing borders or flying right now."

Joy (gardenerjoy) - Neat that you're feeling the benefit of your yoga exercises.

maryann - Yay for good news from your DH's blood tests. You sound amazingly busy.

Penny. - Always Congrats for "down another smidge." Join the hopes that your DS only has a cold.

Readers -

Wednesday night I was quite lazy after work and did nothing but binge watch tv shows, even though the kids weren’t home and I had no excuse. Last night I made myself get a few things done that I had been putting off. Eating has been pretty bad; somehow I have become lazy with cooking and we’re eating takeout a lot or frozen things. Last night’s takeout was rungout by an adorable 7 year old, complete with mask. “What’s your number” he said importantly, and declared he would give me the 7 cents change in pennies Clearly a family run business.
I think I’m having the January blues already, ugh. Not much going on here, just hunkering down!
Karen- your trip is coming up so soon, so exciting!
Onebyone- I bet by July things will be much better. That would be a really great trip to plan. So cool about your sister.
Maryann- yay for good PSA numbers, big relief.
Penny-it is hard to find those tests. I snagged a few and am hoarding them; DS has to use one before he goes back to school.
Gardenerjoy-yay for numbers down and improved yoga abilities.
Bill-Castle Island is a special place; it would be fun to go inthe winter without the crowds.

Good morning coaches,

Food has been on plan the last couple of days. I had a busy day yesterday with walking with a friend and out to lunch, and numerous phones calls with friends too before I leave on Sunday. We're so lucky that the weather is good so that eating outside is not a problem. Today I have my Covid test this morning, then a video appt with the cardiologist and then meeting some gals who are in town from NY, Michigan and California. They are staying at a BnB in Tempe and I'll visit them outdoors there. If I weren't going away I would spend more time with them, but I have to be extra careful.

I thought about doing some extra housework before I go and then decided dh doesn't really care, so I'm not going to worry about it. I am downloading some movies and the Yellowstone series episodes I haven't seen to my computer for some entertainment on the plane and in Thailand if need be.

Curlyjax I think your January blues are what I get in the summer if I can't get out of here enough. The days are getting longer already, so I hope that helps soon.

Bill Nice to get a good walk in without the crowds. Mmmm, cookies sound good.

Onebyone Hopefully by July things will be better and I would think Montana would be just beautiful.

Maryann That is the best news that dh's blood test was good. What a relief for both of you. It sounds like you're on about a dead run. Have a great time in Tahoe.

Penny Congrats on weight down a smidge. I think we will have plenty of covid tests available soon, about the time we don't need them anymore.

GardnerJoy Yay that weight is down. What makes me feel best is having my smaller clothing fit. It does seem to correlate with the weight on the scale unfortunately. Actually I feel pretty darned good all the time, even when I'm a little heavier.

Well time to get moving and get ready for the day. Otis needs a walk before I do anything. I will miss him so much.

Good morning!

Yesterday was on plan and weight is right back up. This set point is not playing. lol I shall carry on.

My son's cough is all post nasally drip stuff he tells me he gets every year at this time. What?? I never hear him coughing. I had him try an allergy pill to see if that might be the culprit. My last eligible kid got the booster and some of my mask order came in. We might make it through this afterall.

Maryann, excellent news about the lab results!

Karen, so exciting your trip is nearly here! It sounds like a busy couple days ahead.

Curly, I wish I had snagged some tests when I saw them at the drugstore. I'm glad you got some for your kids' requirements.

Onebyone, it's easy for me and my siblings to go a long time without speaking too. It's nice to catch up.

Bill, the birdwatching day out sounds good. You remind me I'm missing out on connecting with nature lately. Time to make time for it.

Joy, congrats on the weightloss and feeling strong with your yoga practice.

I'm having a lot of anxiety about a meeting that I'm running tomorrow. I have a list. I have a Plan B for most of the things that I was hoping other people would do, but may not. I have a compatriot to talk to about all of this late today who can help me work out any glitches that we can predict. I have a team that will help me work through any glitches during the meeting, whether or not we predicted them. I will trust that the outcome will be what it needs to be -- and that may or not be the one that I aiming for it to be.

Here's my reminder that food fixes none of that. Chamomile tea might help.

Exercise +45, 680/1600 minutes for January

maryann: So glad that your DH is getting a better PSA number

Good Morning, Coaches.

I slept a blessed 12 hours. I sleep very well here.

My school district closed an elementary school. Too Many Kids and Staff out. I feel really blessed to be at the high school level. Everything I do I put into Google classroom and can be accessed at home or school. The students are old enough to be left at home ( the thinking goes) or can do the online academy so they wouldn't close us down. But who knows. I am resigned to getting Omnicron at some point. I can't imagine how I wouldn't with 100 students a day. I feel adequately protected from severe symptoms through the booster, etc. . . I would much rather stay open with no live streaming. That is a disaster.
The school nurse said, "The only people who won't get Omnicron are the ones who don't get tested." I thought that was pretty funny.

onebyone: I don't think Tahoe is so much for the rich and famous although it is a haven for the Bay Area dot.commers. Mammoth and Colorado are much more La-di-da.
Karen: it sucks you have to be so careful because of flying restrictions. How exciting. Sunday is almost here.
Joy: I also am a first plan, back up plan and then emergency plan kind of gal. I think it makes us good at what we do.
BBE: LOL "Forgot what a cookie looked like." Yep.
Penny: Glad the masks arrived.
curleyjax: On thing a day is sometimes the only way to walk through the blues.

Coaches

I ate fast food fried chicken today, but only three pieces. A relatively sane amount. But I ate the whole box of medium.fries plus gravy..That was all I ate. Oh nope. I had three handfuls of chips from the bag that DH brought into the living room as we watched TV. My resistance muscle was kept under wraps. My appetite is lessening though.

Other than this I went to the makerspace and topped off the ceramic glazes. The most urgent one I couldn't do. So the glaze powder was ordered and I'll get back there to finish up next week.

I made contact with S who has a local art gallery. She invited me before Xmas to come by in January to paint. I msg her to see if she was still OK about me coming by and she is! We're going to paint together in the same space. And she has this giant space so I'm going to get to use the raw canvas that I got for free from a friend. It's in a roll that's about 8ft wide and there's a lot in that roll. I'm going to lop off a length, tack it onto her wall, and then gesso it (add a layer of paint like a primer) to the surface in preparation for the paint or charcoal drawing. I don't know what I want to paint. Maybe a giant portrait of someone laughing. That could be really fun.

Painting in the same room with another artist can bring unexpected energy to your work and your projects. I'm curious to see what happens with us.

Guess that's it. Getting worried about what the scale will say on Sunday. It should be down or at least not up given how I've managed myself.and my food this week.

We have cold warnings for the next two nights here. -21C ( -5.8F) temp feeling like -30C ( -22F) with the windchill tonight. I need to make sure I start the car in the morning. Winter stuff.

Bedtime.

Goodnight.

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Strum und Drang when DW turned to me just before dinner and said, "This soup needs a baguette!" Even I, as clueless as they come, heard that as a directive to get myself out there and find one. There used to be three places within walking distance that'd readily have one. Only one is left; I had to go. Alas, almost all the super good breads were gone. But I did grab a loaf of Iggy's Large Francese Bread. (Link to picture because it's still not a bread name that I'm familiar with.) So, despite being baguette-less, I'm hero of the day.

It was a new torn-from-the-newspaper recipe for chicken soup starting with raw chicken (instead of just dumping cooked chicken into the finished soup). DW added white beans because we had a can approaching its expiration date. Was a good addition to the Kale, onions, cumin, other spices, and just a touch of tomato paste. And no noodles. Was really good - not sure why except that all the ingredients were good. I didn't know that it was legal to make chicken soup without noodles, LOL. Eating was on plan, CREDIT moi, with too many snacks. I detect a trend here.

It's 4 degrees F outside right now. Unmotivated to get out there and prance around.


onebyone - Now that's a good direction, "My appetite is lessening though." So glad that you're going to get access to that large painting place. Ouch that you're even colder than we are.

Joy (gardenerjoy) - Neat to hear a solid plan, "Chamomile tea might help."

maryann - Thanks for the warning that we're all destined to get Omicron. Glad that I've got all three shots in my defense. Yay for 12 hours sleep.

Karen (karenrn) - Smart to be a bit standoffish while you're facing a COVID test that gates your flight. So neat that you can download movies for you trip.

curlyjax - Love the image of a seven year old running the cash register. Kids are so much more capable than I tend to give them credit for.

Penny. - LOL at "This set point is not playing" - I've spent my life looking for the unicorn set point. Suspect that it's a diet-book fantasy.

Readers -

Good morning coaches,

Food was on plan yesterday and weight is back to my low. I really wanted to be back at my low before leaving for my trip. I hope to lose a little on the trip, but the ultimate goal is really not to gain any. I did talk to ds about the fact that I am not drinking and that I hope to see lots of fruits and vegetables. He says a fruit vendor comes by right in front of where he lives (where his burger stand is) each morning and that we can go to the market.

I went an hour early to my appointment for my PCR test and there were no other cars in line. (test result received 8 hours later - Negative). I was afraid I might have a wait and needed to get home for my zoom doctor visit. My test results were all good except my cholesterol was up a bit and my apolipoprotein A, which is apparently a hereditary thing is a little elevated. Also my carotid ultrasound had "minimal increase in intimal thickness". She suggested a low dose statin and I must say I was not pleased with that. I said I will work on some dietary changes first and I'll have my labs rechecked in six months. Unfortunately I seem to have some pride around the fact that I don't need any medications and my health is so good. I'm not sure this is a good thing. Anyway, once I get home I will make some dietary tweaks including again focusing more on Whole Foods plant based diet and see how it goes.

I got a phone call from Japan Airlines to be sure I've had my covid test and have all other documentation required by Thailand. I was actually quite happy to hear from them because I purchased my ticket from Kayak and was a little afraid I didn't even have a ticket. I've been a bit of a worry wart since there have been a lot of hoops to jump through.

Today I'll do a shorter hike with a friend, pick up another pair of new shoes for me and also for dh, buy a travel pillow, final packing and maybe go out to dinner. Okay so that's way more than you needed about me.

Bill The chicken soup sounds really good. It sounds even better without noodles since they always seem to grow.

Onebyone I love hearing about your artistic endeavors. It is just outside of my box to even think of artistic things, other than viewing and enjoying art.

Maryann I can't even imagine sleeping 12 hours. I only wish. I know you've been going like a bat out of H--- though. I am still hoping not to get Omicron, but I know that's probably unlikely. I keep hearing it is quite mild for those vaccinated and boosted and I only hope that is the case. I guess in a few days we will be able to order tests on covidtests.gov. I will do that for sure. I like free.

GardnerJoy I hope your meeting today goes very well. I will remind you that they always seem to, even when you're worried about them. Always good to have a back up plan though. I don't run any meetings, but I always have back up plans for life in general. Sometimes I get to Plan F, but at least I have a plan.

Penny It's just crazy how weight fluctuates, isn't it. You are pretty close to your goal weight, aren't you? I go between thinking it sucks at having to be so careful to try to lose weight to I am not at all deprived and I could easily do this for the rest of my life.

Curlyjax I just looked at the weather for your area. It looks like you will be having a beautiful, sunny, freezing cold day. Nice to look at but I hope you don't have to be out in it.

I will have my computer with me, so I'm sure I'll be posting if not daily, occasionally.

I'm part of the crew that needs to decide whether we're canceling our vigil today, due to snow. Not a fun responsibility. It's probably fine and all of our folks are old enough to make their own decisions about safety. But an inch of slush can be pretty slick -- especially on sidewalks.

Fortunately, our other meeting is virtual. I've been anxious about it for two days, but feeling better today. One thing I like about meetings and presentations is that when they're done, they're done. No second drafts. Que sera, sera.

Exercise +70, 750/1600 minutes for January

maryann: I like this "first plan, back up plan and then emergency plan." When I gave presentations, I always had the emergency plan that, even without electricity, I could lead a discussion on the topic without slides or notes or, even, light. In that vein, if my power goes out, I'll remind myself that I can text my team and they have the slides and the script, because I sent it last night.

Good morning!

Yesterday was on plan and weight is up another smidge. I hope it's just the higher sodium in my bombay burrito and I'm going to woosh some pounds soon.

Joy, good luck with your meeting today!

Karen, ugh I'm stuck at 20 pounds above goal. I was pretty much at goal two years ago, then gained back so quickly. Now I've been hovering around here for a year or so. Up another 10, back down 10...again and again. Yay, for the negative covid test and flight confirmation.

Onebyone, the painting plan sounds amazing!

Maryann, I saw an article requesting anyone with a high school diploma to apply for a temporary teaching job. No degree needed. The number of open positions for subs is wowzers. I can see why they would have to close a school.

Bill, mmm that bread looks good. Like a ciabatta. Chicken soup without the noodles upsets me. Maybe this reaction is part of my problem and I should unpack that. lol