Diet Coaches/Buddies - Reorganized my life to be available to listen to the January 6 Hearings on TV in the afternoon. Hard to watch. Managed to get little else done for the day. Life is so small that the excitement was DW coming home with a new pair of jogging shoes for bedroom slippers in an attempt to deal with the support that she needs for her wounded toe. "They're not 'bedroom slippers,' they're indoor shoes." Whatever. I do admire how much care she takes to keep properly fitted in boots and shoes. "You know, you could buy some for yourself," she pointedly reminds me when I admit that the waterproof in my favorite hiking boots no longer keeps my socks dry.

Eating was on plan with no daytime snacks, CREDIT moi. Dinner on the patio was reheated grilled salmon, spaghetti squash, spinach, and the standard green salad. Still in that phase of really liking the fresh garden lettuce. Great dawdling time since we can see the house across the street that is undergoing a face-lift after being many years overdue for a paint job. We're very judgmental about the order in which the contractor is going about it. He's doing some carpentry, then some painting of the first two floors - leaving the whole third floor untouched. I'm used to seeing a full-scale carpentry attack followed by a full house painting. Have the awful feeling that they think no one can see the third floor. So fun to nitpick real work being done.

Forgot to mention the other day that I leaned from my artist friend the pronunciation of 'gouache' - it's like "gwash". "It's like water color with more pigment. Can layer it, scrape it, remove it - all like you'd do with oils." She loves the stuff.


Joy (gardenerjoy) - Good news that your heat wave will break - all the way down to 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Not yet exactly cool.

maryann - Waving. Congratulations to your San Francisco Warriors for beating the Boston Celtics for the championship.

nationalparker – Love the image of Nana and the nearly-6yo DGS at the water park. Congrats for getting a US Coast Guard approved float assistant for him. I cringe whenever I see families putting little decorative arm bubbles on kids when they are near the ocean.

Karen (karenrn) - Yes, I do like that feeling in the summertime when the fridge gets full but is all consumed as salads and veggies. Does that apple cider vinegar really work?

Penny. - Sounds like a good exercise day.

Readers -

Good morning!

Yesterday ended with an outing for music bingo with friends. I just had a tonic water with lime during the event and then came home and recovered with four slices of pizza. Doh!

Jumping back on plan. I am getting much better at jumping back on plan these days, so credit for that.

Music bingo was a lot of fun. They played a snippet of songs and we mark off the title or artist on our bingo card. I didn't win but it was the most fun I've had playing bingo.

Nationalparker, the waterpark sounds fun! Summer seems to be skipping us over in my area. We're still trying to get past April showers to May flowers.

Good morning, friends and coaches.

Today, I am feeling like quitting. Instead I am going to give myself credit.

This week was full of huge challenges, and I didn't really let myself acknowledge that.

1. I had 3 nights of meetings for my community leadership role (I serve as a committee chair for my housing co-operative)

2. I confirmed with my boss that I will have a different role in the fall, and it will taking a lot of preparation to execute well.

3. I have had a cold and allergies that affect how I feel physically.

4. This is my last week of work until the fall and there are a lot of unusual tasks that take different brain muscles in order to be ready to close out.

5. My dear dear friend has started drinking heavily again, after a couple months of relative sobriety. His sister is going on hospice at age 50 and it's tragic and I don't know how to help, so that causes additional stress for me. On top of worrying about him, he and I cut back on drinking at the same time and I already see that I am more tempted to use alcohol to regulate my feelings because I see him doing the same. It was easier when we were accountable to each other, so this is an added stress.

6. I am the primary support person for a friend going through a divorce with a young child.

7. My son's birthday is coming up, and we have a party planned for tomorrow night.

8. I have 2 other events I am hosting or co-hosting next week for my housing co-op.


What have I learned in writing this all out? It's no wonder everything feels shaky. I need rest, recuperation, TLC, and kind self-talk.

I also need to remember that self-care is not the same as self-indulgence. I need to think about my future self and be a good steward of today because today turns into tomorrow. This means picking up after myself, planning meals, shopping for and preparing heathy food, and exercising.

One thing I am doing really well at is avoiding white flour, which is part of my diet plan. There's some CREDIT. I am also still doing well at avoiding excess alcohol consumption. CREDIT! I have been making my bed daily and keeping my plants well cared for. CREDIT! The inside of my car is free of clutter. CREDIT! There are a lot of things that I have still been doing well. Good for me.

I skipped Day 21, Get Ready to Weigh In. There were some useful tips in there about being mentally prepared for weighing in, but as a monthly weigh in person, I felt I could kinda gloss over it. So, today is Day 22, Say "Oh Well" to Disappointment.

The chapter starts out talking about times of discouragement, and how acceptance can get us through times when we want to throw in the towel. I used to say to myself often "You don't have to want to do it, you just have to do it". That's the idea with this day's task.

So, for today, I don't want to write out a food plan. Oh well. I don't want to go for a walk. Oh, well.

That's about all the "Oh well" I can take for now, so I'll just move forward with that.


Bill, good for your DW for taking care of her feet.
MommaMeli, I did not have to serve and was back at my regular job by 11, which was good for me.
nationalparker, the water park sounds like a lot of fun.
karen, I love an apple cider vinegar cure! It's supposed to cure everything! LOL, but seriously, why not. I'm into anything like that, it keeps life fun if nothing else.
Waving toPenny, Joy, and maryann, cause I've got to get up and get moving now.

Have a good Friday, all!

Good afternoon coaches,

Food was on plan and weight is holding at my lower number. This is a big deal because so often when I hit that number I loosen things up and go up a pound or so. No hiking this morning because I was fasting for labs and then needed to leave to take my friend to the doctor. I thought I might die of starvation since I woke up at 3 and the lab didn't open until 7:30. Surprise, I didn't and the hunger even passed. I know it always does. Fingers crossed that lab results are what I am hoping for. I came home and had breakfast and then headed out to take my friend and then do a few errands for her. Her back is getting better, but incredibly slowly. It's a good reminder to continue core exercises.

Mrs Calypso Oh my you have a full plate and stressors to be sure. I hope you can find another support person for your alcohol reduction for now. I quit drinking September 5th for weight loss reasons. It had gotten to be a bad habit. Not that I drank so much when I drank, but I drank too frequently. I've lost 20 pounds since then and I think I'll just stay sober. Thank goodness a few of your stressors will be off the table in the next couple of weeks.

Penny I swear that jumping back on plan quickly is the ticket. Heck doesn't tonic with lime take away all calories from pizza eaten later?

Bill I watched the hearing yesterday too. As for the apple cider vinegar, yes I think it really works. Look at vinegar for weight loss on You Tube and also mention Michael Greger and there is a 7 minute video. It also stabilizes blood sugar. He specifies drinking 2 tsp in water with each meal. I'll let you know if it works for me.

MommaMeli Your life sounds very busy and also very fun. I used to want 7 children, but was only able to have one so I have no idea what it's really like.

Nationalparker I hope you're having a blast at the water park. That's great you're having such luck with the watermelons. I just buy the personal sized ones since dh doesn't eat it. Pretty much any product he has sold, he doesn't want to eat and watermelon is one of them.

Waving to the others!

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Excitement was the arrival of a five-liter jug of Plantskydd Animal Repellent to fight off the deer that are eating new plants as fast as DW and her friends put them in the ground. Nasty stuff. "Do not touch. Wash hands immediately" kind of nasty. Contents contain the words 'porcine' and 'bovine' - perhaps to slightly disguise its origin. I washed my hands after opening the box. In the evening when I was emptying the dishwasher, I asked DW to move the jug that was in the way; didn't want to even touch the jug while handling utensils we eat with. Feel like we've moved over to the dark side.

Eating was on plan with no daytime snacks, CREDIT moi. Dinner on the patio was omelettes, sweet potato, kale, and the consistently better than ever green salad from our garden. I've hypothesized that the house across the street is being prepped to be sold because I am dubious about the way some of the work is being done - like good enough for show. Getting more judgmental every day. But am enjoying the show.


Karen (karenrn) - Congrats for honoring the directive to not eat before your lab tests. I do wonder how many folks are that careful.

Penny. - Neat that you enjoyed music bingo; not sure that I could do it well. I remember a song about ten minutes later, LOL.

MrsCalypso - Happy Birthday to your DS. Super Kudos for choosing to give yourself credit instead of snacking. Thanks for "I also need to remember that self-care is not the same as self-indulgence" - I can use that.

MommaMeli - Kudos for sure for "for not snacking after dinner all week." Big deal, that. Yep, I'm retired from Aerospace engineering. My organization got work from NASA for all of its programs: Apollo, Skylab, Space Shuttle. I did software engineering on super large systems. Were exciting times. I agree, engineering problems are much easier to solve than parenting ones.

Readers -

Has anyone else had trouble getting our forum pages to load? I haven’t posted in a few days because of that. It tskes forever and then i cant get the reply thing to load. I know my laptop is old but this has never happened before. So im trying to post from my phone.
busy few days-i went to see Wicked at the beautiful Opera house in Boston- great production! Last night I zipped down to help set up DDs printer , and today im heading off to see my dad for a few days to figure out things getting him more help etc. Its going to be a grueling few days but at least the weather is good. Im maintaining my weight which is all i can do now. Wave to all!

Yes, I've had that happen twice this week trying from my Kindle...
Reg check in later but knew I'd forget about this!

Good morning coaches,

Food was on plan, weight fluctuated up a tiny bit. Moving average remains the same and I know it is just a fluctuation as long as I remain on plan. So, I got some of the results from my labs that were drawn yesterday. They were better, but not as good as I expected. Maybe I had unrealistic expectations. Total cholesterol was down 25 points, LDL cholesterol was 99. Comprehensive metabolic panel was all normal. I met my friend for a hike today, but instead of doing the longer loop we just went to the top of the hill and back, probably a little less than 4 miles. It was warm, more humid and just no breeze. We called it good enough and will look forward to the slightly lower morning temps the next few days.

I have had trouble the last few days with loading just the Beck page. It moves quickly until that page and then is very slow and this is on my new laptop. I'm glad it isn't just me.

Curlyjax You are having some busy days. Glad you were able to post. Have a safe trip up to see your Dad.

Bill We have a couple of homes being renovated on our block. One of them is a nearly total redo and is taking a very long time. I guess the one on the otherwise of the street is almost that much. It will be interesting to see who moves in. I'm sure I was more particular about fasting than some because I really wanted the lab results to reflect the change in my food plan. Also, I was so annoyed that the cardiologist didn't even ask about my diet or possible changes, that I want her to see what can happen without meds. (Now will she even look?)

You all have a great weekend!

Yesterday was not a good day. It might have improved if I'd posted here. So noted.

I chipped a molar on Thursday night. The dentist saw me yesterday and the fix is a crown.

A little good news about the car repair -- one thing that they thought we might need turned out to be a false alarm when they got a closer look. So, that reduces the cost by a chunk.

Good thing. We've been making an effort in the last year to reduce spending as we transition out of our "earning years." This week, it feels like we're spending all those savings (and much more) for car service and medical stuff. I'd rather go to Europe.

I've determined that my lower back pain is being caused by sleeping, right now. We're going to try turning the mattress today to see if that helps. It's an 18-year-old mattress, so I'm starting to look into how one shops for a mattress in the 21st century. I think we may go the old-fashioned route and use a local mattress store that will take our old mattress away when they bring the new one in.

Exercise +70, 870/1500 minutes for June

MrsCalypso: Thanks for your helpful post. The difference between self-care and self-indulgence is relevant in my day today.

Hi all. Thanks for the kind words regarding my current stressors list. I know we all have lists like this, but sometimes I look at mine and go "Wow. No wonder." LOL

I realize I missed something at the end of Day 22, these questions:

Do you need to create more time and energy for following a food plan? Yes. I have had some good plans go bad because I didn't plan time for the grocery store.
Do you need to make any environmental changes in your kitchen or at work? Nope, this is going fine, I think. Food is either healthy or not mine.
Are you consulting with your diet coach regularly? I'm posting here, but not really consulting. I'd like to find a food sponsor in OA. I've approached a couple people but nothing has worked out yet. I'm still open to the idea and waiting for a sign here.
Do you need to skip a meal so you can practice tolerating hunger? No, this feels triggering to me in a way that might not be healthy for me, so I'm choosing to save this for later if needed.
Do you need to practice leaving food on your plate again? I need some willingness to practice this more. What I AM doing well is determining portions before a meal starts and not going back for more. That is huge for me!
Do you need to remind yourself to stop eating before you get overly full? Sometimes I get caught out here, but when I am mindful when filling my plate, this isn't a problem. I still am eating all my portion, even if I feel full beforehand. I'd like to be more in tune and willing to listen to my body in this area, as I know my body knows how much it needs.
If you didn't stick to your food plan, did you get right back on track? Yes, this is going well.


Joy, I hope you can make some changes that help with pain. I know I don't do near as well when coping with pain.
Bill, your armchair contractor work is cracking me up!
nationalparker and curlyjax, I'm running on firefox on an old laptop. No issues with loading, but I don't get the menu bar with bold, italics etc like I wish I did.
karen, keep up the good work. Here's hoping your cardiologist pays attention. Too bad they see a little old school, ignoring diet and exercise seems awfully old-fashioned, in a bad way.
Penny "I'd rather go to Europe". LOL, me too. Reminds me of all the times I went to see in-laws in Indiana and the ticket was more than it would cost to go to Hawaii. :P

Good Morning, Coaches.

Yesterday, I tested positive for COVID. I had tested negative after my Missouri trips, was fine for the days I was at home, but then the third day in Oregon I exhibited symptoms. I left immediately to go home. On the drive my friend who I was staying with called to say she tested positive. It is a guessing game not worth playing as to how I got it. Ironic, though, in that I was exposed thousands of times in school with unvaccinated kids and I got it on the only two week break from scheduled traveling I will have all summer. I'll call it a gratitude that DH wasn't exposed and can live at the ranch. Grateful that I have been testing regularly and picked up the positive result within a day of symptoms. Also grateful that my Dr. prescribed me Paxlovid when I guess others are having a hard time getting it. A little less grateful I have "paxlovid mouth" which 6% of people get which is a bitter, metallic taste in my mouth. The only thing that relieves it is my good Earth Sweet and Spicy tea. Maybe it will cut down on my food consumption. I slept well last night and feel like I have a moderate chest cold. No fever. So my commitment is yoga today for strength. I still need to figure out some way to get into shape for Ecuador in a month and remain secluded.

The good news from Oregon is I bought an inflatable Stand up paddle board. Last year when Curleyjax was buying an inflatable kayak, I was determined to follow suit. It just didn't happen. This is my solution. It comes with a backpack with wheels and pump in case I want to fly it somewhere. Very excited.

Karen: 20 pounds lost is huge. I am very proud of you.
Mrs. Calypso: I am 34 years sober in AA. Feel free to PM me if you ever need a willing ear.

I have had a hard time logging in in the past few days as well.

Wave to all.

Tonight no luck logging in on phone or kindle, so a brief check in from laptop after a long load time. Another good day - the excessive heat has gone for the weekend, and for that I'm thankful. Now it feels like the start of summer, not the dead humid heat of August. Food was OK today - a heavy lunch trying to use up fridge stuff before we leave Monday morning ... but ended up skipping dinner as it was everyone fend for him/herself except the DGS.

My biggest challenge this week will be tomorrow and Monday when for some reason, pre-trip, I feel the need to eat EVERYTHING. Like I'm going to fall off the face of the earth and starve. I do want to buy grapes for the trip, and DH requested my chickpea salad (which is smittenkitchen's recipe) as it travels well. We try to save money and eat well on the road by bringing healthy enough stuff. It's frustrating for me to go to, say, Panera, and order a salad without the meat and cheese and still pay the same price vs. building from a basic lower price.

Bill - In all the years here I never knew what your career path had been; that's so interesting. I think I knew engineer but that's about it. The deer repellent I've used was cleverly called, Not Tonight, Deer, but in a brief search, I think it's no longer sold, which worries me. I hope it wasn't dangerous for them! They wiped out my calla lilies that I had in the back area of my berm ... and I stupidly put more right by my patio door. They disappeared the next night, too. Now there are so many people around, that I rarely see them, unfortunately. I used to plant some for me and some for the bunnies of certain plants. I think our coyotes are culling the bunnies, though. I'm not big on the whole "cycle of life"

Maryann - Take good care of yourself! Fortunate to get Paxlovid - here i think they only Rx it if potential for developing severe case of Covid. DH and I each got Covid in November of the first year before the vaccine and each had completely opposite symptoms of it. We each had one night thinking that was the end for us and talked the other one back from the edge a bit. Kind of strange to think about now.

MrsCalypso - What a good job of outlining what stresses are pulling at you now. Thanks for posting the Q&As - i need to remind myself to stop eating before I'm full. I used to aim for eating until I'm no longer hungry but somehow that disappeared and I need to return to it.

Waving to all, I need to get to bed.

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Attended the dance recital of our (6 yo) DGD. Agony and the ecstasy. Funniest/most painful moment was when the curtain opened to reveal a row of killer-cute, costumed 3-year-olds; entire audience let out a collective "Awwww"; one little girl burst into tears and hid behind her friend; never danced. A long show to see the DGD perform in three dances. It's a fun dance company; everyone is accepted and everyone dances. Since I'd spent my DD's youth watching slim, graceful, attractive young things doing Balanchine-like ballet, it felt good to see that kids with normal bodies were out there having a great time. Brought flowers I got from the excellent selection at my favorite supermarket per DW's admonition, "You're buying for a little girl. Get pinks and purples. It's not what you'd buy for me." Earned our grandparent stripes.

Eating was on plan with no daytime snacks, CREDIT moi. Dinner was individual plates from the Whole Foods hot table. We drove there directly from the dance recital. Extra CREDIT moi for having bounded servings of my choices. Paleo Brussels sprouts was a choice - worst Brussels sprouts ever. Those cave men knew nothing about cooking Brussels sprouts. Whole Foods provides containers that recycle so at least we didn't feel we were damaging the planet by our indulgence.

Sorry to hear that some folks are having problems loading the Beck pages on 3FC. There are no announcements about tech problems from the 3FC site administrators. Some folks in the past have gotten relief by deleting cookies - even though that always sounds like just ignoring the problem. If it persists, I'll bug them harder for more attention.


Joy (gardenerjoy) - Ouch for the need for a new crown. Good news about the car. I agree, a trip to Europe would be a more fun use of that money. I've gotten the hang of the Quordle for which you posted a link. Enjoyed devising a strategy of using three words to tease out all the vowels and 9 consonants. Then, using that info, try to guess the Words on attempt 4, 5, 6, and 7 with two extra guesses available. The more exploration words that I use, the less guesses remain of the nine. I'm still mediocre except when I'm willing to spend a lot of time pondering the guesses. Words don't just pop into my brain.

maryann - Ouch for getting COVID; Yay for getting Paxlovid. Yay for your new paddle board. Is it easy for you to get to the water?

nationalparker – LOL at "Not Tonight, Deer." And LMAO at "I'm not big on the whole "cycle of life"." I'm with you there. I cheer for raptors - until one takes a beloved pet or an endangered bird. I seem to have opinions about the cycle of life. Hope you have a good trip.

Karen (karenrn) - Congrats for using diet to drop 25 points of your cholesterol. Interesting that your cardiologist didn't even ask about your diet.

curlyjax - Your Wicked in Boston looks like quite a show to liven up a stodgy town. Congrats for being a tech wizzard for your DD's printer.

MrsCalypso - Thanks for posting your thoughtful answers to the questions. Kudos for making choices, "so I'm choosing to save this for later if needed."

Readers -

I did not sleep well and there's no coffee until 10, ack. Im here at my dads and feeling overwhelmed. He thinks he needs help and then he thinks he doesn't, its exhausting. Also the family friend that is helping him with some things is getting paid a staggering amount and we're not really sure what for. Its hard to know how to sort out things. My brother is going to join us on the phone a few times to help sort things out.. thanks for letting me vent.

Good morning coaches,

Food was on plan and weight fluctuated back down. I had a nice hike this morning with some welcome clouds really adding to the beauty. It was humid after just a little rain last night, but there was a nice breeze. I have a sore swollen lump on the outside near the end of my finger. I'm not sure if if it's a mucous cyst (from Google) or if I have a sticker or something in there. I'm going to soak it in hot water and see if that helps.

Curlyjax It is so tough with aging parents. I was so glad that mine moved to my town at the end of their lives so I could help manage things.

Bill That's so sweet that you got flowers for dgd's dance performance. There is a video from a couple years ago where a Dad got on stage with his little girl who was crying and did the dance with the group with a younger baby in his arms. It was just hysterical and so sweet.

Nationalparker Good luck staying on plan the next few days and then have a wonderful trip.

Maryann I'm sorry about the Covid diagnosis. I hope you have mild symptoms and recover quickly. I lost most of the weight by last fall, but I feel good about the fact I've transitioned my diet to plant based since then and am continuing to maintain and very slowly lose. I'm just grateful that I really like what we're eating (well enough that the weight loss is slow).

Mrs Calypso Thanks for sharing the questions and your answers. I'm glad to be reminded of the things I may need to review. I only went to the cardiologist cause my resting heart rate was so slow. I was worrying when it was under 40 at times. Turns out I'm just fine and I doubt I'll see her again. I think most of them are the similar. It's easier and takes less time to prescribe a med than talk about a life style change, especially cause most people don't want to do it. I guess I'm kind of cynical of our health care system and I'm a nurse.

GardenerJoy I hope the reduced car repair will cover the cost of the crown. Oh how I do hate spending money on those kinds of things. I agree a trip to Europe would be much nicer. I hope turning the mattress will help your back.

Well I guess I'll reheat the water I have here to soak my finger and hope it helps.