Hurricane prep, and things I wish she knew

Florence is doing the Wobble like she's on a cruise ship dance floor. No idea what we're getting, except it's gonna suck.

Glad my family came inland. We'll deal with everything else on the flip side.

In other news, my stove door fell apart last night, good thing we have a 10% off coupon at Lowe's! Ugh.

A gal I know - a friend but not a close one - posted on fb about how do you motivate yourself to want to lose weight & that she doesn't like exercise & nothing has ever really worked except vanity.

Here's what I would say:

As someone who has spent a fair bit of time in both the "very fit & healthy weight" and "significantly overweight & out of shape" camps, here are my observations:

• Motivation is crap. Are you motivated to brush your teeth? Pay your bills? You probably don't even think of it that way. Those are things you do because you want to keep your teeth and the lights on. Weight loss is tougher because the cause and effect are more loosely tied together. I prefer the term "determination". I don't always want to do the things I do, but I want the results. I know why I want the results I do. And that helps keep me on course. Make a vision board, visualize what you want - every day.
• The good news is you don't have to exercise to lose weight. It helps, but it isn't necessary. Thankfully I love it. As long as you do enough to keep your basic cardiovascular health, you're probably fine - especially in your 30s. Once you get older the story changes. Into your 40s and 50s you should consider some form of weight bearing exercise. What you eat determines the size of your body, how you move determines the composition.
• Luckily I don't like  a lot of pre-made foods, so skipping on store bought cookies in the break room is easy. One goal I set for myself is to try & eat 8-10 servings of vegetables a day. (Good luck!) I love vegetables and I'd rather eat a fantastic Greek salad I brought from home. If you're a good cook, take those superpowers and turn them on vegetables. I don't notice the foods that get crowded out are missing because my lunchbox is so full.
• I have a sign in my kitchen "You can have it all, just not all the time". That's true for anything in life. You can have anything you want to eat. A friend of mine lost over 100 pounds having a glass of wine and a homemade dessert every night. It was important so she made room for it. 
• Don't try to go on a diet. Try to change your lifestyle so that you can live comfortably and achieve your goals and stay there. Identify your non-negotiables and then make it work for you. Personally I don't like the idea of buying a book, following the program, and then stopping. It will take longer but the changes you make will be sustainable. Make your own program.
• I treat my body like a science experiment. I'm a bit of a data nerd, so I like to track & identify the things that work and the things that don't. Like the vegetable goal, it becomes a bit of a game.
• I treat results like feedback. Did I get the results I wanted? What can I change? Repeat experiment. There is no expiration date, it's just my life, so it doesn't matter if I don't hit some paper target this week.
• I set goals based around the things I can control (vegetable consumption, exercise) instead of things I can't (the scale).
• Lastly, it gets easier to tell the world to piss off as you get older. The older I get, the less I care what other people think about my body. I don't worry about how I'll look in the gym. I can happily blow off the helpful guy talking to me about my squat form - I'm quite sure I've got more weight lifting trophies at home than he does. 
• Do it now. It only gets harder, but it never becomes impossible until you're dead.

Okay guys, take care!

Weird week

Work is just weird this week. My boss has family in Wilmington, not too far from my mom. They have 3 houses in a row right on the inter coastal waterway. His aunt is staying put and his brother started hurricane prep Sunday - which is too late! Anyway, we've both been on edge. My family is here - mom is with us, the boy & fam are with a high school friend in Kernersville. Work is preparing to offload work to other shops. The facility has a generator, but people may not be able to get into the office.

Anyway, my anxiety has been very high this week. Exercise has helped some. Scale has been bouncing around, but I honestly don't know why.

Anyway, just trying to stay the course.

Take care.

Falling off the radar

Good morning.  Things here have been kinda hectic - my mom just moved to Wilmington and my son lives in Carolina Beach - so the past couple of days have been spent getting ready to evacuate and figuring out who is going where. Mom is on her way to our place now.

A friend stayed with us this weekend - she was down packing out her mom's apartment. Her stepdad just passed away and since she & her sister both live in Maryland it made sense to move their mom up there.

Saturday we went to an event - I got in my class and my "yard sale" was pretty successful! But it was miserably hot and by the time we got home Saturday night I was done. We showered, had dinner with our friend, and crashed early.

Anyway, count on me to be distracted for the next few days.

Take care.

Keep on keeping on

I wrote yesterday about that pesky half a pound hanging around from the weekend without really going into any detail. This weekend a series of ideas that didn't go together plus unfortunate events added up to going overboard on the carbs. I follow a fairly low carb diet, and the carbs I eat tend to be minimally processed. I try to limit processed carbs in general - not just for weight loss but because they just aren't that healthy. When I do eat them, I try to do so intentionally.

Friday evening we made pita pizzas using the Joseph's oat bran & flax pitas - low in carbs and calories. So higher in salt, but carbs were okay. Saturday night I decided to indulge in the walking taco I never had while we were on vacation. T brought home fritos from the store, and I carefully weighed out a portion. I had a salad and reasonable portions. I used ground turkey for the meat and lower sodium taco mix. So not a great choice, but not really terrible. Because he bought a lot more fritos than we needed, we ended up using fritos instead of a better choice when we had the leftovers for lunch Saturday.

The plan for Sunday dinner was the spicy crab stuffed avocado over on skinnytaste.com - unfortunately the avocados were not good! One wasn't ripe even though it was mushy and the other one was rotten inside. Ugh! I'd been working hard all day & was tired and just wanted a simple dinner. T told me to get dressed and that he was taking me out for a date night. We ended up at a place called Kickback Jack's - a sports bar type place but with a family friendly vibe. He ordered chili and cheese covered tater tots as an appetizer and got me a beer. I had a few tots, then ordered a burger (which I cut in half) and subbed slaw for the fries. Again, not terrible (although he did order me a second beer - and yes, I was giggly at that point!!). I had the rest of the burger minus bun for breakfast the next day. Oh, and then we were running errands at lunchtime Sunday and we stopped at  a place in the town we were in and I had a chili dog. Yes, one regular sized chili dog and a diet pepsi. After lunch I could've eaten another lunch! Lol

In short - processed carbs at multiple meals, not to mention salt! Tuesday I felt ugh - tired and hungry. Yep, sure signs I'd overindulged in carbs. And of course that darn half pound kept hanging on! It would have been easy to overeat (I was hungry!) or to "give up" (I mean, I'd "blown it", right.?). I didn't do either - instead I ate my planned meals: Greek chickpea salad for breakfast (weird I know, I just couldn't face another egg), leftovers for lunch, protein shake for AM snack, almonds and kiwi for afternoon snack. Sunday I went home and had a salad after we were done running around instead of ordering another lunch.This week I was hungry. I was cranky. I was mad at the scale. Oh, and did I mention that I haven't felt like working out all week????

And then this morning I got on the scale and I was down 1.2 pounds from last Friday. Have faith in your plan. Have faith in yourself. Stick with it even when you aren't motivated or excited. Those are the times you will make the most progress, and feel the best about sticking to your long term goals instead of giving in to short term desires.

Missing pants - found!

Ah, the missing capris. I had moved several pair of too large slacks out of my closet to give to a friend and grabbed the capris along with them. So glad I didn't go out and look for another pair! I knew they would turn up, I just hoped it wouldn't be Christmas. ;-)

I'm *still* up a half pound from the weekend - gah. Oh well, keep on keeping on, right?

Take care.

The case of the missing pants

I just want you to know right up front that my house is not a disorganized mess. Actually, we generally keep it pretty darn tidy and neat. Which is why it is a complete mystery to me that I can't find my new black capris!! I wore them to work Thursday. The shirt I wore is hanging neatly in the closet (first wear gets hung back up). Where are the capris? No idea. They were hanging in a wardrobe in my bedroom and this weekend I moved my work clothes back to the guest room where they lived before mom came to stay. The capris weren't there. We looked everywhere - it's liked I came home from work with no pants - but I'm pretty sure that isn't the case! So weird....

I hope you had a nice weekend. Ours was very busy but good. We got ALL of our books organized and now have a large stack to donate. Yay! Hey, so what if we moved in 2 years ago? We got it done!

Anyway, it was a good mix of relaxing and doing stuff. Yesterday we walked downtown and walked around a bit. We walked for nearly an hour! That's the longest T has walked in ages. It was really enjoyable and nice to get out and get moving.

I hope you have a good week!

Exercise week in review

Intentional exercise last week:

Sun: rest
Mon: AM walk, elliptical, weights
Tue: AM walk, elliptical
Wed: swim, weights
Thus: AM walk, elliptical
Fri: AM walk, elliptical
Sat: swim, weights

According to my Fitbit, that totaled 6 hours 5 minutes of intentional exercise, and I accumulated 466 active minutes  (moderate activity done for 10 or more minutes).

This week will be different, the Y is closed today and I'm out of town for the day on Saturday. But we did get up and take a nice walk this morning, so I'm still moving every day.

Take care.

Darn salt!

We went skittering into the weekend with very little in the house for lunch Friday. Since T can't leave the classroom, he got what we had at the house and I was left to scavenge. :-) I ended up at Food Lion - I picked up a bag of shredded lettuce in the produce area and some pre made buffalo chicken salad in the deli. Their buffalo chicken salad is amazing, but pretty high in sodium - according to the label 2 oz has 20% of your daily recommended sodium allowance!! Then we had pita pizza for dinner with turkey sausage and turkey pepperoni - again, salt city. No wonder I'm up a little on the scale this morning. I'll be drinking plenty of water today!!

Anyway, just a quick check in - I hope you have a great weekend!

Long weekend here I come!

Can I just tell you how excited I am about the long weekend???? I have some serious plans for organizing my books and getting ready to yard sale a bunch of my medieval garb at an event next weekend! Work has been stressful this week, which is pretty unusual. And I've allowed some things to become stressful which didn't need to be. So another goal for the weekend is to RELAX.

My exercise goal is coming along well. I'm getting an hour or more each day this week, and the extra is enough to allow me to swim for 30 minutes tomorrow and then be at goal! Yay! I might still take a walk sometime, but I don't *have* to in order to hit my goal. This isn't something I intend to do every week, but it has made me both more aware and more mindful about my intentional exercise. It's been an interesting experiment.

On the weight loss front, I am down 1.8 pounds this week - less than 2 pounds away from the 40 pounds gone mark. Can you believe that!?!?!  Me either! By focusing on each day, the time has flown by and the loss has added up. I have so much more energy and I feel so much better - it is really incredible.

I hope you have a terrific weekend!

Taco Thursday

Today's title is in honor of the fish tacos we are having for dinner tonight - yum!

My day is going well - I walked this morning and did 30 minutes on the elliptical before eating lunch. I made an (allegedly) "spicy" Asian chicken soup for dinner last night. It was .. eh. That recipe is getting voted off the island - it wasn't bad but nothing special.

This is me lately:

I accepted a new position within my medieval organization and just lately not only is it eating my life in terms of time, but in aggravation as well. Ugh. We make things difficult. Ugh. Just ugh. Luckily once our big event is over (well, once reservations close) my life will get easier.

Take care.

Mid week

Weirdly enough, yesterday's walking plus 30 minutes on the elliptical came out to 84 minutes (same as Monday). I took my Fitbit off for swimming this morning (so I will back that 30 minutes out of my 360 minute goal), but somewhere I walked quickly enough to pick up 11 minutes of activity on the Fitbit. Since I am doing weights this afternoon, I will end the day right around 3 hours of activity - right on track to hit 6 hours for the week even if I take Sunday off.  Perfect!

Last night T made hamburger stroganoff & mushroom over shredded cabbage - it was yummy! We had a package of lox in the fridge that needed to be used, so I bought a bag of mini bagels and we've had one with lox & cream cheese and eggs for dinner Monday and then breakfast today. I think we'll do that one more time and call it good on bagels. We've eliminated all pasta and limit grains, beans, and bread. When we do bread we try to use stuff like the sprouted grain bread so I'm not too worried since it isn't the norm.

I am working at home today, Wednesday is my preferred day if my schedule permits. It's a lovely mid week break - the lack of commute means I can go to the Y in the morning to swim plus it gives me time to get caught up on stuff around the house. It sets us up nicely for the weekend. And now that T is back at work it is quiet and lovely. It's nice being around him, but when I work at home and he's home he feels free to interrupt to chat, ask questions, etc. Sometimes it's hard to focus.

I hope you have a good day!

Workout goal for this week

One of the key findings from the National Weight Control Registry: Physical activity. The average participant exercises at a moderate intensity 60-90 minutes per day. Walkers average between 11,000 and 12,000 steps per day. I'm do pretty well with my 10,000 step goal and I'm okay with that since walking is only one component of my exercise.

My challenge to myself this week is to engage in 360 minutes of mindful physical activity: walking, swimming, elliptical, kettlebells. That's 6 hours of activity. That sounds like a lot, but I commute 10 hours on an average work week!

Yesterday I accumulated 84 minutes between the elliptical, weights (kettlebells), and walking, and a bit over 12,000 steps. Not too shabby! So I'm curious to see how this week goes.

Food was fine. Thankfully I had some chicken tikka masala in the freezer (about 3.5 servings) plus a bag of cauliflower rice, so I pulled that out & heated it up Sunday and that's lunches until we get some leftovers built up. :-)

Last night while T was at band I watched "Super Troopers 2" because he had zero interest. I laughed so hard I about fell off the sofa. When it comes to my sense of humor, I think I'm a 12 year old boy at heart - Lol

Have a good day!

Nice weekend

I wasn't looking forward to the time in the car, but we had a great time at mom's. I love her new house! We painted the dining room, entryway, and front door. The door is no longer black, it's now  a lovely beach-y aqua! It looks so happy from the front now. :-)

We also made time to eat some seafood and take a nice long walk on the beach - watching to moon come out over the ocean. It was really, really nice.

The drive home felt long, but the dogs were troopers - I think they were worn out from exploring a new yard! Lol We got home and did shopping, laundry, and general getting ready for the work week. Today the kids are back at school and T is a bit nervous about this year. He's in a new role and isn't quite comfortable for a number of reasons. I hope his day goes well. I got up extra early to make sure we had plenty of time to get out the door - I didn't want him to feel rushed.

This weekend we have a couple of projects to work on around our house that are very exciting - like organizing our books! I know, sad! Ha ha. But seriously, we put them up on shelves without a lot of thought and trying to find anything can be very frustrating. In short, a quiet but hopefully productive long weekend at home.

Have a good day!

Crazy day

Today is a day where I have more work than time, but I wanted to at least check in here. 3.2 pounds gone this week.

I worked straight through lunch but I am now going to close my door, crank the tunes, and grab a quick kettlebell workout.

Score for this week: 3 elliptical sessions, 3 kettlebell sessions (after this one!), 1 swim session. Headed to the beach after work to paint mom's new dining room.

Have a great weekend!

Your mileage may vary

I'm as guilty of this as the next person: reading about a new diet and trying to fit my proverbial round peg into that particular square hole, certain that it's going to be the way to lose some weight. It might even work in the short term, but it never lasts because it doesn't fit my lifestyle, preferences, or maybe even what seems to work best for me! Then I end up quitting. For the most part I have given that up. I eat things I like and don't eat things I dislike. The way I eat now is something I can do in the long term. Ditto for my exercise.

In some ways I treat myself like a science experiment: Do I like this? How does it make me feel? Does this fit with my schedule? The end result is a way of eating and exercising that works for me AND helps me achieve my weight loss and fitness goals.  I will certainly make changes and adjustments as I progress, but for right now I'm pretty happy with what I am doing.

Another thing I've given up on are outcome based goals rather than action or input based goals. I set exercise targets for myself daily, weekly, and longer. Food is a bit different - other than adhering to my plan, I loosely track. My goal is to end each day knowing that I made choices that I can look back on and feel good about. Maybe I really got in a good variety of veggies, maybe I thoroughly enjoyed a beer. As long as my choices were mindful rather than eating to deal with emotions, I can end the day satisfied that I made good choices that help move me toward my goals.

What wasn't working for me was to set weight loss goals. I was getting anxious when I was doing all the rights things but the weight was coming off slower than I had counted on. Not only was it creating stress, I was feeling defeated when in fact I was making progress! It's not that weight loss isn't a primary goal - it certainly is! But I am focusing on controlling my actions, believing that over time I will see the desired results on the scale. Again - figuring out what works for my mindset.

I firmly believe we each need to figure out what works for us and then do that, confidently knowing we will reach our goals with our sanity intact.

I've known all of these things and have tried to practice them for years. The critical difference for me now is that I feel safe. I no longer need to use food to cope with uncomfortable emotions. I still have uncomfortable feelings and I have problems. But both are at a level that I can feel them and face them without the protective barrier of food. Had I gone into life without food in the past, it would have been the emotional equivalent of trying to surf in a hurricane. There may be rough waves out there, but nothing I can't safely navigate.

And once I realized that the waters were safe, I was able to let go of those habits. Trying to break a habit (like emotional eating) if you aren't ready and able to deal with the consequences is like tossing a toddler into the deep end without swimming lessons. Sure, I knew the mechanics of changing a habit. But I had nothing to use in place of the food, and I wasn't in a place emotionally to deal with all of it head on, with no protective barrier. Once I realized that there wasn't anything out there on the other side of the food that I couldn't handle on my own without the food, THEN I could break that habit of emotional eating that was no longer serving me.

We are all different - different issues and challenges, strengths and weaknesses, different needs and wants. Figuring it all out is a time consuming task. And the reality is that something drastic could change and I would have to go back to the drawing board and find a new plan. But for right now, I am in a good place.

I hope you too can find your "good place." 

Another day, more workouts

Today has been my work at home day. Before I started work I went to the Y and swam for 30 minutes. Over lunch I knocked out a kettlebell workout.

Mom and her dogs headed to her new house today. It's awfully quiet around here. I can almost hear myself think! Lol

Volume training with the kettlebell

In addition to the elliptical, I also did a kettlebell workout yesterday. I know there have been a handful of workout DVDs that use a kettlebell, and my Y even has a class that uses them, but my workouts are a bit different. The vast majority of my kettlebell workouts are "high volume". My workout yesterday was 25 minutes long and consisted of variations of 1 hand and 2 hand kettlebell swings. I used a 15 pound bell and in 25 minutes I completed 500 swings. That's a lot of swings! I love my kettlebell workouts. I can get in a fantastic workout in a relatively short amount of time, virtually anywhere, and with literally one piece of equipment. That's hard to beat!

Sometime last week I mentioned I was close to hitting another weight loss goal. This morning I did: 35.6 pounds gone this year! I was concerned about getting back in the groove after vacation, but instead I feel like the break has really given me a second wind! I'm ready to go into the second half of the year as strong as I was in the first.

Take care & I hope you make it a great day!

Monday

Back at the office. I'm tired because I stayed up to watch "Sharknado 6" last night. Don't judge me. Packed lunch & breakfast and snacks. Went to the gym. Everything is fine here. Except the part about Monday. Lol

Back on track

Just a quick note - rather than trying to "make up" for Thursday, I simply got back on track yesterday. I was back down on the scale and feeling good about moving on and not beating myself up.

Have a nice weekend!

Never lie to the blog

There is a Dean Koontz novel where one of the main characters (a guy) has a dog. His philosophy is "never lie to the dog." My weight journaling equivalent is "never lie to the blog. Or the weight tracker."

Yesterday was one of those "really bad, no good, utterly rotten" days. Nothing major, just a series of stressors: the meeting went even worse than I expected (and I expect it to go badly), something on the website was broken for a major client so they were upset (we got it fixed quickly, but still), I hit some button on my phone and couldn't figure out how to reset it, I was overwhelmed with PayPal requests from my volunteer role that eat a lot of time, and of course a car accident pushed my evening commute over the 90 minute mark.I had to pee, so I stopped at a convenience store. And bought a beer. And then later sent the hub out for a second one. And got into some crappy frozen egg rolls that Jan left at my house. I was up 1.2 pounds from yesterday. Gah!

Having said that: I am still down 2.8 pounds for the week (YES!!!), I didn't finish the second beer, and I threw those cheap crappy egg rolls in the trash. Today did not start off great, but I fully intend to make it a better day! Go me!

Nothing big planned this weekend other than operation "continue to reclaim my house".

Take care.

Let that mess go

Do you have anyone in your life that continues to make poor, destructive choices? When you say "Here's a better way" they respond "You are so right! Thank you!" and then keep right on doing that self destructive crap? Yeah, that's Jan.  A few months ago I offered to help because she wasn't remembering to pay her bills on time, her brain is so fuzzy she can't read a bank statement, and her way of dealing with it was to pay what they were about to cut off.

Since we use the same credit union, we set down and I set up her online banking. Once a month we get together and she brings her bills and we sit and pay them. Once we got everything stabilized, I suggested to her that she set aside a small amount for unexpected/ irregular expenses, divide the rest into weekly increments, and use cash. Naturally she's done none of that so she is careening from problem to problem, and running out (or nearly running out) of money for food & medicine near the end of the month on a regular basis. She continues to use her debit card, making poor choices until she is out of money. I checked to make sure that her bills had cleared and yep, she's racked up about $300 in debit purchases in the past 10 or so days, leaving her less than $200 for the next 3 weeks. I called and told her and her response was "Thanks." Ugh, I need to let that mess go!!

I find it ironic that after being apart for 3.5 years & divorced for 2, I'm still coming here to complain about my now-ex MIL! Lol (And by ironic I mean frustrating and aggravating as all!)

I am about to head across town for what I lovingly refer to as the "Thursday morning butt hurt meeting." Sans boss, who is out for the day. After that I will go to the gym, then come back for lunch. We tried a new recipe "deconstructed egg rolls" - it was a low carb bowl full of egg roll innards without the wrap. The recipe we used needed a few tweaks, but we loved the concept and it will be added to our rotation!

In case you need it too:

Retirement Party

I have a swimsuit I've been wearing for quite some time - it was my go to when I was doing water aerobics. Time and chlorine have not been kind to it. Tonight I gave it a retirement party before I went to the Y - into the trash! Lol The funny thing is that I have another swimsuit (the same suit!) I bought and have been "saving." Why do we "save" stuff? Anyway, the stretched out suit is gone and the new one is now in circulation. :-) I knew it needed to happen, but my mom remarking on how bad it looked when we were at the pool Saturday night kinda pushed me over the edge.

After work I went to the Y and swam for 30 minutes - I had the pool to myself. I had some yummy leftover general tso's for lunch (from the skinnytaste website), I made my beloved spicy shrimp and avocado salad for dinner (also from skinnytaste), and for breakfasts I made meatballs of my own creation.

Do you ever make sausage balls? Are they a southern thing? You take breakfast sausage, grated cheddar, and bisquick and make balls out of it. Those things rock my world. Last night I took those 3 ingredients (carefully portion controlling the bisquick & cheese), added a pound of ground turkey, added extra spices, and made meatballs. I also used turkey sausage so they were lower in fat. The flavor was milder of course, but they definitely had that same flavor. Anyway, a really yummy breakfast that is also car friendly.

I ended up taking Sunday off from exercise and only doing my morning walk Monday, so today is double workout day: elliptical and kettlebells. While it certainly counts as exercise, I don't really count my morning walk as exercise, even though we try to do a somewhat brisk pace.

That's all I've got - have a good day!

Stuff

Let's see.....

I think the conversation made a difference! Guess who seems to be re-motivated and just broke through and crossed a big milestone? Hub is down to the 250s - I am so proud of him! A new 3 year low! Speaking of milestones, I'm a pound away from one myself. :-)

I am working at home today - work has been busy but not crazy. I ran to the grocery at lunch to pick up stuff to make breakfasts for the remainder of the week. I plan to go the the Y and swim when I get off work.

Mom and T headed for her new house this morning, each driving a car loaded full of stuff! T may or may not spend the night depending on how he feels. I have plans to do some organizing and hair washing - party at my place!! Lol

That darn inner voice tried saying that we could get so much more accomplished if we skipped the gym..... Uh, no! Going to the gym is a higher priority than putting some crap away that can live on the table another day. Shut up inner voice.

I hope you have a good day.

Road trip!

I have always loved a good road trip. I got the travel bug on both sides of my family, but ever since I got my first car at 20, I've always loved jumping in and going.

Having said that, 3 weekends in a row of multi-state trips is a bit much! After driving across the entirety of Georgia on I-85 yesterday morning (roughly 180 miles), my butt was sore and I was DONE. T called and asked what we were doing next weekend and I quipped "Nothing involving shoes or a car!"

Nevertheless, it was a really good weekend. Alma was feeling good and went out with us for a nice lunch. We took over a cake at supper and all the residents thoroughly enjoyed it, plus there was enough for everyone to have it again for dessert the next day. We stopped by for a short visit Sunday morning before heading back home. It was her 99th birthday and I am so grateful we could be there with her.

On a sadder note, my grandpuppy Lucky passed away in the night. He was having good and bad days and not eating too well, but still managed to wag his tail and be himself. He was a sweet boy and will be missed.

Have a good week.

A tough conversation

Do you find it easier to have serious conversations in person or over the phone? Maybe I am weird, but I find it easier to have potentially emotionally charged conversations over the phone rather than in person. In person it is far too easy for me to let my emotions get out of hand.

So I called my husband this morning and I told him "It's okay if you aren't in the same place as me." Because even though he has faithfully attended a bi-weekly appointment with me for weight loss support, he actions have not supported his stated readiness to lose weight. And I don't want to resent him because I feel like I'm wasting money paying for him to go. And I want him to know I love him whether he is committed to losing weight or not. But he has a lot going on mentally and emotionally right now, and I don't want to add to that.

Officially I am up 2 pounds from my pre vacation weigh in, and that's okay. My eating is back on track and my exercise is mostly on track (I took this week off from weights). I continue to feel calm and confident.

I hope you have a great weekend!

Catching back up

Good news: I slept much better!
Bad news: My alarm was set for 6:30 instead of 5:30. Whoops! Lol

Oh well, I *DO* feel much more rested. :-)

Yesterday I took a couple of walks and did a half assed elliptical workout at the gym. Half assed is better than no assed, so no complaints there. This morning I took a good walk and am hitting the gym after my 10:30 meeting.

Food was back to normal yesterday. I'm needing to be a bit more "on the fly" than I typically am. We got back at 6 PM Sunday, and I was at work 7:30 Monday morning. No real meal plan or grocery trip has occurred - each day has contained a bit of winging it. Luckily I had some stuff in the freezer and a couple of simple ideas.

This morning I got on the scale - I was up 1.8 pounds from my weigh in prior to vacation. Not bad and I feel 95% back on track - that's a better, quicker post vacation getting back on track than I typically experience and after a night of enough sleep, I'm feeling much less overwhelmed.

Sunday is my great aunt Alma's 99th birthday! The plan for this weekend is to drive halfway to LaGrange Friday night after work, finish driving down Saturday morning, and then head back home Sunday morning. I admit I was getting a bit concerned - my mom doesn't drive after dark and as sleep deprived as I have been, driving later Friday wasn't going to happen. Hopefully another good night of rest and I will be up to making the drive tomorrow.

T has his summer opus concert in the park Sunday which I will miss, but he totally understands. Mom is doing some organizing, prioritizing, and packing today with the intent to head to Wilmington Tuesday to begin the moving in process.  We'll head down in a couple of weeks to take more stuff and help her with some painting. As weird as it sounds, her move has motivated me to take a look around our house and do some painting & reorganizing as well!

Take care.

A self fulfilling prophecy

Ugh - I am so tired! I've slept crappy 4 out of the last 5 nights. I am so tired, I seriously considered stopping on my way in to work at a convenience store for a Red Bull. No bueno.

I have been anxious about getting back into my routine - I typically struggle when I get back from a long vacation. Anxiety + exhaustion = bad choices. It becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. Last night I made some poor choices - some serious post dinner snacking. :-( 

I refuse to let this become a downward spiral - I am not going to let 3 bad hours undo 5 months of work!!

So off to the gym! Take care.

Crazy busy

My ex MIL went home after supper last night (and took her dog). The kids were here for dinner last night and left after breakfast this morning (with their 3 dogs). So we are down to us, my mom, and her 3 dogs. Only 5 dogs! Lol.

We're trying to get things washed & put away, T is getting errands and things done, and we're generally trying to get things put back in order. I really don't feel like going out of town - I'm tired y'all. Ugh.

Back

Hello!

Just a quick note to let you know I am back from vacation. We had a lovely time - now the unpacking, washing, and getting back to normal begins! I saw this on Sean's blog the other day and it really resonated with me, so I had parked it with a reminder to share it when I got back.

"Not once have I sat down with a calendar to try to figure out when I'll arrive at some predetermined number. I haven't even stated a particular goal weight, opting instead for a "healthy weight." Who knows what that will be? It doesn't matter how long it takes or when I'll get there because my focus is on today. My goal is to make it through this day with the integrity of my food plan intact and if it's an exercise day, that too. Today is the day. I'm not obsessing about how much time it will take. It will take however long it takes. If I focus on how long it will take to "arrive," I'm suggesting that my efforts will end at some point. And making my daily practice a big priority in my life each day is something I do not plan on ending, ever." - Sean Andersen

Today I am jumping back into my routine - prepping food, hitting the gym, all the usual stuff!

Take care.

Have a good week!

Leaving for a week of primitive camping right after work. Weight held at 189.6, for a loss of 1.6 pounds this week.

Take care!

More of the same

Weight was the same today, which is good because I did have a beer and half an ounce of pork rinds after dinner last night.  We went over to mom's to load up some stuff, and I got teary - it was probably the last time I will ever be inside my childhood home.

I didn't just grow up in that house from the age of 5 - it's the house I came home to when I left he Army and went to graduate school, it's the home I went to when I left Florida and my husband and I split up - it's always been my "go to" safe place, for as long as I've been alive. I have so many memories. But I know it's not about a place, it's about family. But still, it's bittersweet.

My sweet husband went with my ex MIL to the doctor today (let that statement sink in). She was on about 30 different meds, a lot of which she didn't need (and couldn't afford) and one of which it turns out was downright dangerous! She was on a bp med and her bp runs extremely low. Like, near danger low. They switched her from a PA to an MD, and they went over all her meds. She is coming off 8 right away. I am hoping she will start feeling better.

Anyway, just working on packing - I can't believe we are leaving in 2 days!!

Take care.

Nailed it

I was 189.6 this morning! Woo hoo!! I went back and found that the last time I logged a lower weight was May 31, 2013.  YES!

Oh, and I forgot to mention my great workout Sunday! We went to the Y and I elected to swim. No pushing it, just moving my body through the water for half an hour. It felt so good. I love swimming and I know I need to make more time to do it.

Weight loss seems to be a bit better this week. I think I might have dropped my carbs & calories a bit too much. I had maybe 100 more calories yesterday (1400-ish) and 2 carb servings - a low carb pita with breakfast and a half cup of couscous with lunch. I felt strong for my walk and afternoon trip to the gym. I seem to do better with a couple of servings of complex carbs (grain, bean, or potato), but I try to stay away from simple and/or highly processes carbs.

Anyway, hope you have a good day!

Happy Monday

Last week at work before we head on vacation. I think we are mostly ready, but there are still several small things to organize & do.

The last of the large things were moved out of mom's Saturday morning and she & her dogs are staying with us. The sale of my childhood home is scheduled for Friday. She is scheduled to close on the new house in Wilmington next Tuesday. She asked for several repairs and an extension of the due diligence, so far that seems to be going okay. My son & his gf leave for Canada this Saturday.

I've felt really stressed and we were both a little "snappy" this weekend. Anxiety stinks.

I went for a good 30 minute walk this morning and then a vigorous 20 minute workout on the elliptical. Food was fine over the weekend. I was really hoping to be in the 180s when we left for vacation - well ok, I hoped to be around 182. But the 180s would be a big psychological boost for me. This morning I was 190.6. So close! I know it's not a big deal, but that number is an important milestone in my head.

Take care!

Another slow week

Lost 0.6 pounds this week. I know, keep positive, at least it's going down blah blah blah, but .... this seems to be taking foreverrrrrrrrrrrrrr................................

Home again, and why now?

We are home from our whirlwind trip to the beach. It was a quick one, but I was able to help out, spend time with the boy, his gf, and the grandpuppies. We did get in 1 walk on the beach - it was stormy on & off the whole time we were there.  No fair! I guess I have to go back next month.

I was reading "Runs for Cookies" this morning. She had a follow up guest post from a gal that lost over 100 pounds. She wrote something to SO resonated with me: "...something just "snapped" within me and I desired to get healthy. I'd realized that the "snapped" feeling was that I was finally feeling safe and loved. Not like anything was ever not safe or that I wasn't loved--but that I was finally able to breathe and had the space to work on me."

YES!

In my last marriage, no, I most certainly did not feel safe and loved. I mean, yes, my mom & son love me and I've been safe enough in the sense that as long as my mom is alive, I will always have a safe place to be if my world crashes down and I need it. But to feel safe in my own home and new relationship? That's taken, what, ... a year and a half or so? And it's not that I didn't trust T, it was a matter of adjusting to a new normal, and the residual trauma fading. And then somehow I've realized that while I certainly have moments of anxiety or stress - and my default is to turn to food in those times, those times aren't constantly, every day. I feel safe enough to let go of the food, and the weight.

There are times (like Sunday) when I feel anxious and want to turn to food. There are times (like Tuesday evening) when I don't make the best choice. But I pick myself up and keep going.

It's good to be home.

Take care.

Tired

Arrived about 2 AM. Tired. It's pouring rain. I need a nap.

We're safe, grandpuppies have been loved on. I will see the beach later. :-)

Figure out what's really eating you

We are headed to the beach after T's band practice tonight. I wish we weren't driving so late. I wish I felt like the house was ready for my ex MIL J to come and dog sit. I wish I had done more on my to do list this weekend...

Read what I just wrote and is it any surprise that last night I could've demolished the contents of a convenience store faster than Godzilla trashes Tokyo?? 

My anxiety was high. I had a half ounce of pork rinds, a sugar free fudgesicle, and a sugar free popsicle before I managed to declare the kitchen off limits. 

Let's try this....

I get to go to the beach and visit my son for a couple for days! Because it's summer, T can get everything ready for our trip while I'm at the office today. I didn't have to get everything for our camping trip totally done this weekend - we aren't leaving until the 27th - we are in good shape. No, I didn't go swim, but I exercised 5 days this week! Sometimes more than once! That's pretty impressive!

Using food to comfort myself is a well ingrained habit. Feeling anxiety is hard - especially when you aren't used to it. Saying how you feel can be tough - especially when your spouse wants to either "fix" it or explain why your feelings aren't logical (well no sh&^. Who said feelings were always logical???).

Like everything else - changes do get easier and you do get better at them with time. But no guarantees it's always easy or that you are always perfect.

I'll leave you with this thought:

To get to where you want to get to in life, you have to be present, and health is a big part of that. - Jeezy

My pants don't fit (and other thoughts for Thursday)

Well hello Thursday!

Pants:

When I interviewed for my current job back in April of 2017, I probably weighed around 7 pounds less than my highest weight. I remember going out to buy a larger pair of slacks for the interview. I basically wore 2 pair of slacks for that fall, then lost enough that I had about 4 pair I was able to wear over the winter. Currently at the front of my closed are 7 pair of slacks in this size (when I organized my guest room I found some I didn't know I had), the one larger and 6 of the size I am wearing today. They are all too big. I didn't realize it until I put these on. Since they have the dreaded stretch waist band, they are staying up okay. I have 4 pair (I think) of the same slacks in the next size down - this weekend I will re-organize my closet, move them to the front, and send these to Goodwill. It's a lovely problem to have, and reinforces that yes, I *AM* getting smaller, even if I don't feel the changes are really noticeable in the mirror.

Rewards:

Yesterday I was asked in the comments how I intended to reward myself for hitting the 30 pounds lost mark and I jokingly replied "lose more wight!"  But you know what? That's the truth! The side benefits of the lower number on the scale have become their own reward.

• More energy
• Better sleep
• Able to briskly walk for 30+ minutes without foot or back pain.
• Able to stand for most of the day without my feet hurting.
• Feel more like I control my food v. out of control with my eating.

Sure I could go get a pedicure or new earrings or whatever, but truly those side benefits are more awesome than anything I could purchase. Having said that, that's totally me! And I most certainly have rewarded myself with purchases in the past - hey, sometimes bribery if a terrific way to get yourself down the road!!! So no judgement - whatever gets you going, right? :-)

Rings:

I was at my highest weight when we got married last fall. When we bought my rings (they are antiques) I had them sized. We also ordered silicone bands from Qalo.com (which I love). They are all too big. I rarely wear my nice rings and I know I will need to order new silicone bands soon.

Snacks:

It is so weird to me. In the past, evening/ weekend snacking, going overboard, and other food shenanigans were a continual struggle I was always trying to manage. I'd make deals, factor in treats, look for alternatives, etc. etc. It remained a challenge the whole time I was losing weight - and gaining! It felt like this ongoing battle that had become an unwinnable war. This time? Not so much. What's different? I wish I knew!

I can say that past attempts have felt like a frantic major effort - imagine a bonfire topped with a bunch of kindling and small dry branches. The flames are huge, but short lived. This go around feels more like building a fire with nice oak logs. The flames aren't as high, but the fire is a lot more durable and long lasting.

I'm not saying I'm perfect or never have a slip - I still do! But that are infrequent rather than a regular occurrence. And sometimes a thought will run through my head "I'd sure love a cold beer." I don't try to even argue - I just say "Yes, they do taste good" and leave it. It's like without that attention or internal argument the idea just wanders off rather than taking root. Again, I think it goes back to determination rather than motivation.  This is my life - not a diet I ever plan to "go off" of. Will I eat pasta again? Sure, I very well may. But not weekly even in all likelihood. I'm okay with that. I feel good. This is the way my body seems to like to be treated, and the reward is it is treating me better in return.

Take care.

Another goal crushed

Woo hoo!

Gratitude

Today I am grateful for several things, small and large:

I'm glad my husband has good insurance. Today he went and got his colonoscopy. I'm glad he did it. He is generally proactive about taking care of doctor appointments, which is important.

It's only Tuesday but I'm already back down to last Friday's weight. Lol

I'm glad I have the flexibility to work from home - or in this care, the doctor's waiting room this morning! :-)

I'm thankful I am going on vacation this year nearly 30 pounds lighter, with a husband who is over 20 pounds lighter. I know it will be a lot more enjoyable as a result.

There's loads of other things, but I think you get the idea. Never give up on taking the best care of yourself you can, whatever that means for you. You are worth it!

Take care.

Changes

This Monday I was up 0.6 pounds from the weekend. (That makes it so scientific sounding - it's just that my scale does .2 pound increments.) I ate well and enjoyed what I ate, but I also tried to make (mostly) smart choices. The hotel had a pool, and we used both that and the fitness center. I got intentional exercise 6 out of 7 days last week - 3 kettlebell workouts, 3 elliptical sessions, swimming, and several walks. So go me!

I was reading Sean's posts from when I was out of town and one thing he talked about - and has talked about many times - is the fact that he considers what he eats to be a "food plan" versus "diet". It isn't something he intends to go off of at "the end" - rather it's the way he feeds his particular body for optimal health, with a side effect of weight loss. I love that attitude! And while I can't say that my mindset is quite there yet, something I have noticed about this time around is that I have made some pretty significant changes to how I eat, and have maintained them consistently.

The biggest example is that beer used to pop up regularly - not every day, but 1-2 beers (or glasses of wine) happened more often that not. That is no longer the case. That's a HUGE lifestyle change for me.

Another very significant change has been evening snacking. I used to snack every evening. It was such an ingrained habit that I built my calorie intake around having it, because I didn't think it was anything that I would (or could) ever change. I still have a snack most evenings, but these days it is less than 100 calories - generally around 80. And it isn't an automatic "given" that I will have a snack, it's an intentional choice.

I feel like I am making adjustments that will serve me better in the long run, and that feels good!

Take care.

Almost there

Down 1 pound this week - less than a pound until I hit the 30 pounds gone mark.

Okay, out of town for a couple of days. Take care!

We don't all have the same 24 hours

I was reading an article on MSN about this gal who works full time, is a fitness competitor, and has 3 kids that are preschool age. The title of the article was something like "you can have it all!" The gal shares her schedule, and there were 2 glaring things that got me thinking:

1. She typically goes to bed at 10 and gets up at 4:30. So best case she's getting 6.5 hours of sleep a night. I heard a very interesting interview with a sleep scientist on NPR and she said that people basically fall into 3 categories: those who can function normally on less than 7 hours of sleep, those who need 7-8 but can operate short term without too much issue, and the camp I'm in - those of us who really really need those 7-8 hours and are very irritable and our functioning degrades pretty quickly when we are sleep deprived. She also added that as a general rule, about a third of the population falls into each bucket. It isn't just a matter of "adapting" or "sucking it up" - you need what you need. It would be like telling a type 2 diabetic to "just' self regulate. Pretty ridiculous, right?

2. She added "If you can afford it, get a cleaning person."  Ah, now there's a can of worms. When you can afford to outsource chores, you are literally buying yourself additional leisure time!

So yes, we all have 24 hours. But between our need for sleep and our ability to offload responsibilities that would otherwise fall to us, we can "get back" a fair bit of time other people are forced to spend on things other than exercise/ painting/ learning Chinese/ making gourmet meals.

After days of on point eating, I am back to the weight I was last Friday. I hate the da^% scale.

Take care.

Ground hog week

Ah, the scale is a strange creature with mysterious ways. :-)

Friday night I elected to have cauliflower crust pizza and 2 beers for dinner. I knew the carbs would put me up, even though the calories did not put me over. Sure enough, the scale was up 1.6 pounds the next morning. I expected it and was not surprised.

What does surprise me is that that 1.6 pounds is still here! Okay, maybe salt was a bit high Saturday? Okay, Sunday dinner was a pastrami wrap on low carb wrap - again, high on salt for sure. Yesterday my eating was absolutely on point, with my only carb being 1/3 cup of quinoa at lunch (other than 1 slice of fresh mango and low carb veggies like salad).

So what gives?

The same thing happened last week. I was up over the weekend, due to higher carb/salt rather than calories, and it took several days to drift back down. Honestly I was pretty surprised to see the 2 pounds loss just because it was like Wednesday I think before I lost the weekend water bloat. I don't record the daily vagaries, choosing instead to only record every Friday. But it is a strange pattern.

It has me a bit anxious about this weekend because we are going to be out of town Friday and Saturday, including a banquet dinner (so no choice of what is put before me) Saturday night. Ugh. I am seriously considering packing protein shakes and using those to supplement, and eat ONLY those things I know are absolutely on point. I'd just like a weekend where I don't have to combat the sale swing - even if it isn't an "actual" gain. I'm just finding it frustrating.

No big plans for tomorrow. We filled up our hot tub this weekend, but are keeping the water cool. So other than maybe grilling a burger and hanging out in our "cool tub" - and some sewing - I think it will be a low key day.

Take care!

Friday

Just joking - kinda! I am on fire, and I'm good to keep on burning! :-)

This week was a 2 pound loss. Staying focused and glad to see my weight loss pick back up.  This process is slower than I thought it would be (isn't it always?), but I've continued to head in the right direction!!

Hope you have a good weekend!

Food!

Okay, yesterday's post was a little bit heavy. So, something a little more directly health focused today.

Yesterday's exercise:
20 minutes elliptical
20 minutes kettlebell swings (305 swings with the 18 lb kettlebell).

Yesterday's Food:
B: 1.5 cups coffee with 3 T half and half (I accidentally got fat free by mistake! GAH!)
     4 asian turkey meatballs
S:   2 deviled egg halves
L:  lasagna soup (no noodles, just veg and turkey sausage)
S: half an avocado sorta turned into guacamole and served on a sliced tomato
D: chicken tzatziki bowl
No evening snack because we ate dinner really late.

Today's food is basically the same except last night's dinner is today's lunch, I'm having some mango with lunch, and dinner is leftovers from 2 nights ago (we have a lot of leftovers in the fridge). I made a version of this: sticky chicken (I make mine in the crockpot instead of the oven). We served roasted sweet potato rounds and broccoli with it.

Our dinners have been really good lately - lighter things for summer but not short on flavor. Lots of chicken & seafood, and less beef.

I went for a good walk when I got to the office this morning, then T locked himself out of the house and I had to come back home! I will go to the gym later.

Today I am glad that I have a job where I can come back home, miss a meeting, work from here the rest of the day, and my boss is okay with it.

The blues

I am feeling down. There are a lot of reasons. Yesterday I read a Forbes article: Veterans Sustain Two Serious Defeats From Trump And The House To VA Health Care. It just leaves me so depressed. I mean, I certainly don't have a pension. I've saved for retirement, but we've both been divorced and raised kids, so we're hardly millionaires. Like most folks, we are depending on social security (which we've paid into since we were teenagers!) and medicare - both of which the government seems determined to gut. But the thing with the VA gets me steaming mad because so many in DC are so quick to wrap themselves in the flag and talk patriotism, but when it comes to actually keeping the promises they made to service members? As if. Ugh. OK, enough with current events.

T slept through the night (I think for the second time) with his CPAP last night. So far he doesn't seem to be seeing any improvement. I'm trying to be patient. But all his big plans for the summer seem to be as absent as his current motivation. I'm trying to be supportive, but it's frustrating.

I can't say I feel very motivated right now, but that's ok. My determination remains high, and I continue to push through. Last night I had an evening snack: 1 oz. nuts and a glass of seltzer water. That's typical. I went from maybe drinking a 12 pack of beer over the course of a week to maybe having 1 once a week. Snacks are planned and tracked. Weekends are not an excuse to "fall off the wagon." I don't always feel like doing it, but I keep on. I saw another new (this time around) low today. Last time I had a recorded weight this low? March 20, 2015. Three years, 3 months. That feels really good.

For today's motivation:

Lol. Take care.

Yesterday

Well hello! Yesterday was another 100 miles an hour with my hair on fire kind of day at the office. I totally forgot to post!  I'm fine - 100%, but the event Saturday was very hot & humid so I'm glad I just stayed home. T went and was pretty wiped out Sunday, so we didn't do much Sunday. Mom came down for lunch to give T his birthday gifts, we had chicken hot dogs with home made turkey chili and slaw. I ate one on a bun and one without. Would you believe I was up 2 pounds the next morning!??! I was down that same 2 pounds today, so clearly hot dogs have A LOT of salt!!

Staying the course with my diet. The past couple of days my step count has been low, so I am making a concerted effort to do better on that today.

I hope you have a great day!

Weekend

Today is a very Monday kind of Friday at work - lots of crazy raining down. Weigh in was fine - up 0.2 pounds from yesterday (whatever).

Plan to stay home tomorrow and take it easy - stomach is still a bit dodgy.

Have a good weekend!

Never give up, never surrender!

Any geeks out there catch the "Galaxy Quest" reference in the title? :-)

As you know, I had been a bit frustrated the couple of weigh ins before leaving for vacation. One week I'd lost 0.6 pounds and the second (shortened to 5 days) week was again 0.6. I wasn't sure whether my body was doing a sort of mini plateau, regrouping after losing 20+ pounds, if it was a side effect of adding in weight training (muscle will retain water after workouts), or something else entirely.

Overall I'd say I did fairly well on vacation. Carbs and calories were a bit high, but I didn't go nutso on anything. I had half a piece of birthday cake and we split a piece of key lime pie. I watched carb sides, but enjoyed things I can't get here.

I got on the scale yesterday morning and I was up a pound from before I left (after eating nothing Tuesday and very little yesterday). I was frustrated, but determined to stay the course. Today it's paid off - down 2.6 pounds overnight - down 1.6 pounds from my last "official" Friday weigh in. I'll record tomorrow's weight but overall I am very pleased. Maybe the high calorie days helped shake things up? 

Anyway, I can now proudly say I've lost more than this:

Yep, more than 25 pounds! Woot!!

Take care.

Better, and vacation pictures

I was still feeling pretty rough when I went to bed last night, mainly due to dehydration. I knew I'd end up at the doctor today if I didn't get it turned around. I never threw up, so I did my level best to get myself hydrated. I went to bed with a cup of Gatorade, refilled at midnight with a cup of tea, and refilled again around 2 with more Gatorade. I managed at 2 to get 2 Tylenol down (I had a raging headache).

When I woke up this morning I felt a bit sore and wobbly, but much better. I had a light breakfast and a protein shake mid morning. I have no idea what hit me, but yuck!

Vacation!!

I wanted this to be special, and some was planned out (hotels, Thursday dinner), some time was free and he had options (which is how we ended up in key West), so it was a balance of organized plus a chance to explore and be spontaneous.

Before we left, I gave T envelopes (to be opened over the course of the trip).



Our first stop was Morimaki Japanese Gardens in Delray Beach.



Then it was on to Key Largo (after stopping in Sunrise at Sunrise Pita Grill for some of the best Israeli food ever).



Then we meandered down to Key West.




Ate lunch at a good place I knew.



Sunset at our hotel.



Saturday dinner at a German place I love.



It's across the street from the cemetery where my great grandparents are buried.



Our last night in Fort Lauderdale and we got a free upgrade on our room!







They even sent up birthday cake and wine!!



The sun was going down and I knew we'd have a long day Sunday.



After 13 hours in the car, we arrived home safely. I went to work Monday and then woke up sick as a dog yesterday. UGH.

Now, back to reality!! :-)

Sick :-(

I woke up this morning sick at my stomach, headache, diarrhea. I am working at home, but it's been a rough morning. T had gone for a his CPAP appointment and there wasn't anything here I could eat or drink. Thankfully I found a gatorade in the cupboard and I had some of that until he got home with saltines and ginger ale. I am feeling a bit better. Not sure if it was something I ate or a stomach bug or what.

So today I am thankful that I am able to work from home when I feel well enough to work but sick enough to go into the office.

We are back, our trip was great, and I think T had a memorable birthday. Pictures to follow!

Under contract

After being listed for 2 days, mom house is under contract for more than the list price.

I am a fantastic painter. ;-)

Take care. I'm not taking a computer, so I will check back in after we return.

Still here

Just a quick check-in. Getting ready for our trip. We're sad of course, but it isn't quite so raw.

Take care.

Our world is a bit sadder today

Smoke, the feral cat that took us in, died yesterday.

We made a place for her on the sun porch, but she loved sneaking out and getting to be outside. I don't think she ever truly became used to being a pet, although she loved us I'm sure.

Yesterday she got out and we believe was attacked by a dog. I heard Jordan barking, went out, and found her. It happened so fast, there wasn't time to get her to the emergency vet. She didn't suffer long at least.

Nevertheless, we are both heartbroken.

She was loved, and she will be missed.

Staying the course, even when it's.. weird

This week's scale results have me a bit befuddled. I am down 0.6 pounds. What have I done differently this week? Not much. I haven't eaten differently or more, I have exercised a bit more. I've been a wee bit constipated (TMI I guess).

I was up a pound after the weekend and it took a couple of days to drift off. I dunno. But it's one week, so even though it's the least weight I've lost since the week of Feb. 9, I'm leaning more toward "Odd. I guess it'll course correct." rather than "NOT FAIR!!!"

But still, my organized, planning mind which is always saying "I-10 by 10" like that's my personal mantra is frustrated.

I've walked every morning I've been at work, today is trip 3 to the gym for the elliptical, and tomorrow will be kettlebell workout 3. I continue to eat low carb, with a focus on vegetables. So my plan is to keep doing what's been working. If I see something similar again then I'll look to course correct.

Have a great weekend!

Stay the course

Random observation: When I work from home I get in fewer steps. It's because I have a colleague I walk with regularly, so having that extra accountability ensures it happens!

Today I did well: I ate my planned lunch even though I was invited to go out. And I drove myself to the meeting across town so I could go by the gym on the way back. That's a biggie because I go to that meeting with my boss and not only do I like my boss and the car time is pleasant conversation, but he drives a Porsche Boxster. ;-)

We have our big annual trip to PA for the world's largest medieval battle recreation on the horizon, and you know what that means: time to make & repair costuming. As I have been involved with this hobby for many years and I thoroughly enjoy sewing, I have more costumes than I need, and some things don't fit well for a variety of reasons. So I am beginning to sort through - I will likely sell what I no longer want, and donate the remainder. So more decluttering! I started this past weekend by pulling everything together in one place and organizing it by what it is. Next step try everything on!

While I continue to lose weight steadily, T seems to be in a holding pattern until he is out of school. I don't think that's a good idea, but I am holding my tongue. Also, he picks up the stuff for his sleep study tonight! Yay!! So I am hopeful that will make a difference. Fingers crossed!

We are having an antipasto salad with baked chicken (for extra protein) for dinner tonight. Yum!

Take care.

Free x 2

How I feel about losing weight:

It's not just the head space that gets occupied by wanting to lose weight, it's the feeling that there are things I can't do that I want to, or can't do very well. Like when we camp - our car is pretty far away and it's mostly uphill. I remember how exhausted I was having to walk to the car last year. It sucked. Even though it looks like this week I'm on track to have the smallest loss in several weeks, at least I continue to make progress.

Also, this:

The photographer comes tomorrow at 10 AM to take pictures for the realtor to gets mom's house listed. Today the only thing we have left is to get her back patio cleared off & organized, and to run to the farmer's market and look for some flowers. Then I can start working on my stuff! LOL

Take care!

Just one book

If you could recommend just one book on diet, nutrition, exercise, losing weight, etc. to a friend, do you have one? I mean, a book that's your "go to" for advice on getting healthier?

Long before I had "that book", I had the website. If there were one blog and one book I could recommend to a friend, I have one of each - they're from the same gal: Tracy Reifkind.

Tracy started writing on her blog Living my physical potential back in 2007. She described the diet & exercise combo that helped her lose over 120 pounds. Near the end of 2008 she moved to a new blog Food and thought where she continued to chronicle her food & exercise program through 2015.  After that she didn't really continue blogging (at least publicly), although she still teaches at the gym she & her husband own.

She published her book in 2013, and really it's just a better organized documenting of the food & exercise program she developed and follows.

Tracy really created and perfected the technique of using the kettlebell swing to get an awesome HIIT workout with weight training benefit. Her diet advice is common sense. Her straightforward approach might not appeal to everyone, but she's very matter of fact about what she accomplished and what anyone else can as well. She has also created several training and workout videos also.

I keep coming back to kettlebells as a quick, efficient, convenient way to get my weight training in while getting a terrific cardio workout at the same time. Tracy's recipes inspire me to strive to get more vegetables in my diet.

I hope you have a great day!

Lovely weekend

We went down to my son's at Carolina Beach this weekend. He replaced the window motor on the driver door in my car (hurray!), we went out in Frankie's boat (a family friend), I cooked up a turkey he had in the deep freeze, and we walked on the beach several times - including once with the dogs. I never get tired of walking on the beach.

Ex MIL dog sat and things went better this time. :-)

Today I walked early, did the elliptical at lunch, and took a shorter walk after lunch. It's sunny and 84 - so not as hot as it's been, but still warm. Thankfully we'll be home this weekend, so we have some down time before the big getaway for T's birthday next week.

As soon as we got home, I went to the store and picked up what we needed (we'd planned the meals and made a shopping list before we left), so we were able to eat at home last night. We did eat breakfast out Saturday - so not worth it! So we're back to eating at home until our next trip.

Take care!

What happened to yesterday?

Sorry about skipping yesterday - work was super busy!

I'm doing fine - a loss of 2.2 pounds this week. So I am holding pretty consistent with 2 pounds per week - that's perfectly fine with me. Could I maybe lose a bit more than that per week at my current weight? Maybe. But I am comfortable with my eating - long term I want to continue to strive for a higher vegetable intake, but I'm doing well with balancing my protein (not too much red meat) and limiting my carbs. What I am doing right now feels very doable for the long haul.

I was able to recover from that one bad evening and move on.

Even though it was a holiday week, I got in 2 kettlebell workouts and 2 elliptical workouts, plus several walks. So my exercise is coming along well.

I have 2 out of town trips this month - this weekend to my son's house at Carolina Beach and T's birthday trip to the Florida Keys. My plan is pretty straightforward - eat basically the same thing, limit portions, don't go nuts. Pretty easy this weekend - the Keys will be tougher because I know we are going to 2 restaurants that are special treats - food I can't get up here. My plan is to order a meal, eat half, and save half for lunch the next day. We are taking a cooler, our hotels all have fridge & microwave, and I have tupperware on my packing list, :-) So I've planned and tried to make success easy.

Have a great weekend!