Quick update

Made some progress in the guest room today - still stuff to sort through, put away, and donate, but SO much better you guys!

Have a nice Easter if that is a holiday you celebrate!

Kitty update

Our county has no services for catching/ fixing feral cats. The waiting list if Guilford county is 2 months long. I called "Planned Pethood". We got her fixed, rabies shot, pain meds for $100. So not as cheap as the low cost places, but cheaper than the vet.

She is out of surgery and on her way home now. She seems to be doing fine.

I've been here before

Down 10 pounds. Life is getting busy. My anxiety level is increasing. This has been a formula for diving back into the food in the past. I am not motivated, but I am determined.

I am going to do some self care, set some small but manageable goals for the evening, and not let my mind talk myself out of continued success.

Sometimes I seem to sabotage myself for no reason - not today, brain, not today.

Take care.

Back in the gym again

I went to the gym yesterday for a HIIT session.

Today was my 6th class (of 12) at the VA. I appreciate the support. Our new mattress was delivered today - yay! We now have a bed in our guest room!!

The roofer is coming tonight - wish us luck.

Take care.

Ka-ching kind of weekend

Got home Friday, Susie had destroyed the dog door. Not just the flap, but the frame as well. Since it was supposed to SNOW Friday night, we opted to close the storm door so air wouldn't come in the gaping hole in the door. Apparently in the middle of the night Susie needing to go out but could not, and instead left a crop circle of diarrhea on the den rug.

So,

• New dog door plus fill dirt for the holes in the yard she regularly creates - $100
• Steam cleaner rental plus dog enzyme de-stank solution $60
• Dog medicine from vet $100
• Lunch at Costco food court because I was starving and exhausted - $3
• Going to see "Black Panther" because I deserved it, plus 2 sodas and a small popcorn - $18

Do you see the theme here? Pets are expensive, especially when they misbehave! Lol

It was not a great weekend. I put too much on myself, creating a lot of (self created) anxiety, which led to poor choices. Thankfully my poor choices these days are not nearly as bad as my poor choices of yesteryear. Up a half pound and the end of the weekend from Friday's weigh in.

I think it was the leaky porch roof that pushed me over the edge. I know it pushed T over the edge. Le sigh.

• New porch roof - $???

Glacial pace, but in the right direction

Well, I lost a little over a pound this week! I'm not winning any speed records, OTOH I don't feel deprived or anxious about what I am eating.

Another busy weekend getting the guest room up to snuff. I will be so glad to have that room looking nice and organized!

So, there is this feral cat in our neighborhood.

(So wild.)

My husband is crazy about her and she is a real sweetie. We want to get her fixed, but there is a pretty long waiting list. Our vet will do it but of course she'll need vaccinations etc., so it'll be like $350. Not sure what to do - there are some clinics around but since the wait is long we're afraid she will end up pregnant. :-( Not sure what to do.

I hope you have a nice weekend!

Take care.

An actual recap

Yes, we had snow yesterday. We took advantage of being home to go to the Industries for the Blind (IFB) mattress store and order a new mattress & box springs.

Progress in the guest room continues. I have 2 rubbermaids of clothes to be donated as well as a few things simply pitched. We are setting up the bed frame this weekend, so it is beginning to look like a real room and not just a storage facility! Lol

I am going to be out of town on a business trip for my birthday, so we are definitely planning to head to the beach during T's spring break for a long weekend to celebrate early. Not optimal, but it's pretty important that I go along to visit this client.

Our weather is crazy.

Take care.

A milestone crossed

10.4 pounds gone.

First 10 pound mark hit!

I don't know if it's visible, but I can definitely feel it!

Woo hoo!

What happened to yesterday?

Well hello there.

Work was bananas yesterday and I just never posted. Things are fine.

We made this for dinner Saturday: Lime Shrimp Avocado Salad. It is amazing!! Aldi had avocados for 38 cents so I stocked up - I love avocado. It's the first time I've ever seen T go back for seconds on salad! Lol.

Today I had the 5th "Move It!" class at the VA - this one identifying barriers to weight loss and problem solving.  It wasn't stuff I hadn't heard before - but having it reinforced was very valuable. And we had some really good interaction today.

Part of the reason I am enjoying these classes is because I feel more comfortable (for whatever reason) at the VA than I have with other groups in the past. And it is teaching me something that I probably knew, but hadn't really ever thought about: it NEVER gets easier to lose weight! Sure you may say "when work is less hectic" or "when the kids are older" but then something else comes up (doesn't it always?)! Not to mention the simple fact that the older you are, the more challenging it may become or you may have to contend with medical conditions you don't have now.

I see vets younger than me, and a lot older than me. One gal has 3 joint replacements! Most have some sort of limiting health condition, but there they are: trying to improve their health. And I admire their tenacity so much - it is inspiring. It helps me put a stop to the BS excuses and whining.

Can't remember if I shared this. Here's what I have on my kitchen board right now to help keep me mindful every day:

Take care!

Crazy Friday

We both had that look on our face this morning when we realized the alarm hadn't gone off! D'OH!!!

I had a class this morning and T had work. We planned to get up at 5:45 - I looked at the clock at 7:12 and launched myself out of bed. Then it was run around like mad for 15 minutes and hit the road. He was half an hour late - I squeaked into my class.

Class this morning was "Go good fat" - the importance of eating healthy fat but limiting bad fats. The Friday group is very chatty - we did not get through the material. But I got up and went, and that helped reinforce my decision to simply move on from yesterday's Mexican food incident.

I grabbed something on the way out the door, along with a protein shake and a bottle of water.

This weekend is operation "spare room rescue." It is a disaster in there right now. Yeah, really bad - we keep the door closed.

I am grateful that I am not the only one trying to lose weight - thanks for reading and sharing!

What the heck????

Every once in a while, you are going along, and all of a sudden you realize you just fell flat on your face.

Today I went out for lunch. (Why? I had a good lunch packed.) I made a poor choice. (Why? It's a menu I have successfully navigated in the past.) And you look back and wonder why a pod person took over for that 1 hour span of time. I don't know why and I still don't know why.

So I logged it into Spark People and let it go. I have to move on from here, having something like 300 calories left for the day. I will do the best I can, but I won't "punish" myself - I'll eat a normal, healthy dinner and just go on. Will the scale be up tomorrow? Probably.

I can't dwell on it or I will end up pouring out the rest of the proverbial gallon on top of the spilled milk. :-(

About that office....

I finally made it into work today! I've worked at home the last 2 days, and while I am grateful for the flexibility, I really enjoy being in the office with my colleagues.

The snow is gone and hopefully we are back to early spring temperatures. T has a meeting this evening and then a school concert tomorrow (the elementary school where he works is having a choral show and he is playing music to go along.) So busy evenings this week. This weekend we are going to dig in and start cleaning/ purging/ organizing the guest room. And actually buy a bed! Yay! A long overdue upgrade. I can't wait to see the final result.

Food & exercise seem to be on course.

Oh, and to add to what I said yesterday, if you have time pop over and read this great post on emotional eating: https://fitbottomedeats.com/2018/03/the-9-most-common-reasons-we-emotionally-eat/

Good stuff.

Take care.

Tuesday

No gym yesterday - the roads were pretty dodgy and it snowed most of the day. Luckily things are much better today. I am still at home though since Spectrum is supposed to come out and take a look at our internet - it keeps dropping in and out. Last time they came, they said it was squirrels chewing on the line. So not sure what (if anything) will be done. One of the down sides of living in a small town - virtually 0 internet provider choice.

This is the book I got the beef bourguignon recipe out of. I like this book because it is the convenience of the crock pot but the recipes are a little more sophisticated than your typical "Better Homes and Garden" variety crock pot recipes. I have a love/ hate relationship with cooking blogs. I get tired of scrolling through all the pictures and the cutesy story just to find a coleslaw recipe. If I see a link that sounds good I will check it out, but I don't follow any cooking blogs.

I'd like to piggyback on a thought in one of Karen's most recent posts:

Having a relationship with food. Food is an inanimate object. I think the problem is that for many of us that are overweight, we've used food in ways that aren't healthy. Food has "been there" for me when people who loved me (like my spouse) were emotionally unavailable. Food filled a void for me. That's not the fault of food (how can an inanimate object be at fault??) - I used it in an inappropriate way. Eating can (and I think should) be an enjoyable process. It can be a wonderful time to come together and enjoy companionship and nourishment. But at the end of the day, food is simply a tool to care for my body. It's up to me to choose the best tools!

Tonight's dinner is in the crockpot (again) - a pork tamale casserole. After this we will have lunch leftovers, leftovers to put in the freezer for when we need a quick meal, and a day or two to cruise on leftovers. We both enjoy cooking, but time is limited during the week!

Take care!

Snowy Monday

Good morning!  All the schools around here are closed. I work up in the foothills near the VA line, so it was snowing up there about an hour before it started here. School is out so we are both home today, although I am working. The up side of this is we can get some chores done! (Well, I can supervise! lol) :-)

I got on the scale this morning and was down 2.4 pounds from Friday, which tells me 1) Friday's weigh in was inflated for some reason and 2) my eating was on track this weekend. The nice thing about weighing daily is that the bump ups aren't bothering me like they would if I only checked in once a week. I think it's very helpful.

Yesterday I got a lot of food prep accomplished. T is having crustless mini quiches for breakfast and I am having guacamole egg salad. (It is yummy!).  Tonight's dinner is beef bourguignon in the crock pot and sauteed green beans.

Weather permitting we are going to head to the gym at lunchtime - it's coming down pretty hard so it depends on how the roads are. I can always bundle up and take the dogs for a walk.

Have a good day!

Thoughts for Saturday

Still coughing

Our office sounds a bit like a TB ward. No one is sick any more, but we all seem to have nagging coughs.

I'm up a pound this week - given that I haven't been to the gym in 2 weeks but haven't really scaled back my eating, I'm okay. I just need to keep tracking and keep doing what has been working and not let this derail me.

Nothing big planned for the weekend. T is playing a concert tomorrow night (he is in a Pops concert band). Other than that just the usual plus this is the month we are doing some spring cleaning and organizing around the house. The weather is supposed to be kind of blah so that's a good thing I guess.

Take care.

Birthday fun

We had a lovely visit with the family last night. My son requested a German meal, and I of course complied (birthday person picks the meal!). We had a lovely visit and an all around nice meal. Guess what my mom found in her attic?

Proof that I was always a geek! LOL

Not sure where they will reside permanently. Maybe my office? China hutch? TBD. Anyway, I thought that was a pretty cute find.

Today is back to normal - normal food, normal routine. I am hoping for a return to the gym this weekend. I want to be sure this flu is long gone before I start back.

Take care.

Slowly on the mend

Hopefully this blog will soon return to it's regular format. For now I am still not 100%, but I tried Mucinex last night and that seemed to help a lot - I slept through the night with virtually no coughing.

My son and his girlfriend are up from Wilmington for his spring break. They are helping my mom do a bunch of stuff around her house to get it ready to go on the market. She has lived there since 1971, so there is a LOT of stuff tucked away in the attic and barn. She rented a dumpster. :-O  Anyway, the family is coming over tonight - they both have February birthdays so we are doing a joint celebration this evening.

I am working at home today, thankfully it's a slow day. I have a few things to do to pick up the house and prep for the meal, but it should be an easy day.

Take care.

Groundhog day

Still sick, still at work, still not back to the gym.

I have woken up the past 2 mornings with my eyes stuck shut from gloop. My cough is terrible - last night I slept upright on the sofa. And my ear hurts - all of which points to a bunch of sinus congestion. I think I'm going to go back to the doctor tomorrow - I'm done with the Tamiflu and I want to see if they can give me/ recommend a good decongestant so I can get this stuff to pack its bags and move along.

Ugh.  Take care of yourselves, there's a lot of yuck going around.

Back at work, still not at the gym

Hello there. I am on the mend, but I am still feeling run down, so I opted to not return to the gym today. But as I am no longer contagious, I am back at the office.

I need a nap.

Take care.