Keeping it real

 Weight today - 203. So about 5 pound gain in a week over the holidays. Back at it.

Brief check-in

 I am back from the beach. it was a lovely holiday, but I ate all the things and now I'm so ready to get back on track!!

I am off work this week and I am using the time to get the guest room ready for my mom's post surgical stay (she's have knee replacement surgery). I have packed up 6 rubber maid totes of clothes (too small) - I will check back with them in 90 days. 

Originally I was going to come home Sunday but the weather was so lovely (sunny and 78!) that I chose an extra day at the beach. No regrets, but this week is going to be busy and some projects will not get checked off my list. Oh well.

Hope you are enjoying your holiday season.

Sorta nutso

 The last few days at work before the mass exodus, lsat minute holiday stuff, preparing to leave town. I'm here, things have just been nuts.

I hope you have a safe & happy holiday season!

TGIF

 So glad its the weekend! This week has felt LONG!

Wrapping the last of the gifts, doing a few things around the house. doing a fun Christmas-y activity, and my husband is getting confirmed in the Episcopal church. So that's nice. :-)

Have a good weekend!

The path of least resistance

How do I set my life up so that healthy choices are easier than bad ones? That's what is on my mind today. 

I'm tired of pushing the rock uphill, so how do I remove the hill? Things like meal planning and prepping. Today we are having leftover chicken enchilada casserole for dinner and a salad (easy). Lunch is leftovers (easy). Path of least resistance - eat what's already prepared. 

I also need to do most of my workouts in the morning By evening (at least this time of year), I'm tired and full of excuses. I am donating blood this afternoon, so in addition to walking the dog (which I typically do 3-4 times per day), I knocked out 15 minutes of step aerobics this morning. Yep, talk about old school! But I have a video I love that is broken out in segments so I can both build up and mix it up. 

Also I'm super angry that and idiot/incompetent/corrupt judge and DA dismissed a very strong case against a woman brought up on charges of dog fighting and animal cruelty for the third time!!! I'm sick, angry, and would love to form a team of Charles Bronsons. Just saying. Go nextdoor app - maybe we can do something about this.

Take care.

Still tired

 This week.... ugh. Work is frustrating, I'm tired, and I'm just working for the weekend so I can have some quiet time with my husband. 

Long weekend

The weekend felt very long - not in a good way. 14 hours in a 30 hour span spent in a car is a lot. But we went to Georgia and saw Alma - she is pitiful.  Her body won't quit, but she really just lays in bed. It's so sad for such a vital woman to be like that. But we went.

Hoping for a quiet weekend this weekend.

And it's Friday!

 Work has kind of blown up this week and it's been so tiring. I do 2 or 3 things off my list and the rest get pushed to the next day... every day. I am finally catching up a bit today. I have 2 tasks I don't want to do so I am rewarding myself by making earl grey short bread when I'm done with them! Lol

But I went to the gym yesterday and I'm meeting my trainer today. Tomorrow mom and I are driving 7 hours (one way) to go see my great aunt. Every time we go we wonder if its the last, you know? But mom wanted to be sure & get down before her knee replacement in February, so now seemed the right time.

I can relax when I'm dead, right??? Ha ha

Have a good weekend. ps Still no decorations up!

Weekend

 Well, we had a weekend. LOL. I cooked at church and we had more than we have been serving and more than I prepped for. That always makes for a tiring day. And a lot of folks showed up after we were supposed to close which is frustrating. At the same time I have a hard time turning anyone away. The folks that show up need a meal. 

I have lights on the shrubs and lights on the tree and that's it!! I hope to have 'A' decoration up before Christmas. It's tough with T getting home so late, it getting dark so early, and our weekends being so hectic.

I indulged in a bit of emotional eating Friday night (ugh), but I will say that those instances seem to be on the decline. And I went to the gym Friday and today. So go me.

Baby steps.

Noom so far

 I've been using the Noom app for a week or so. I do like it. I touch base with my coach 1/week and I am in a private group with a coach and a cohort of folks that joined Noom about the same time I did. The couple of recipes we've done so far have been good and it is encouraging my husband to eat more vegetables (a big win). So all in all, I think it is going to help us both - especially him. He's lost weight using Medifast but I'm not sure he's ever actually had a healthy lifestyle. And having him on board is going to make it easier for me. 

My cold seems to be clearing up and I am planning to head to the gym tomorrow. I have my live tree in the stand - that's as far as I've gotten with Christmas. I'm hoping to get some stuff done this weekend.

Tomorrow for breakfast I am making "Morning glory baked oatmeal" - I'll let you know how it is. I've made baked oatmeal twice now and so far we like it!

Pepper - helping me make the guest bed! Lol

Not too much

 I've kept away from the gym due to my cold, but I have been getting out and walking Pepper around 3 times per day. Eating is getting better and my husband actually selected and prepped soem recipes to take to work!!!

Baby steps, right?

Back

Hey there. I'm back but caught a cold somewhere along the way, so definitely not 100%. Thanksgiving was nice, the trip to see family was nice. I met a gf for lunch & some shopping Saturday. I had a couple of gifts for T, but nothing really special. Well, I found the special gift at a consignment shop while we were out. So that was cool! It's a tiki statue. He's really gotten into the 1950s tiki vibe, so this will look really nice down in the retro lounge.

We also got to see my son's new boat!

Weight is up a couple of pounds post holiday, but not too worried. I tried baked oatmeal for the first time this morning. I like it better than regular oats. Oatmeal is healthy, quick, and inexpensive - so it hits a lot of notes for me. I'll probably make it again tomorrow along with a couple of boiled eggs.

We actually didn't go to the beach! Lol. Oh well, I'll be back next month!

Take care. This is a stressful time of year. Let's remember to manage our expectations and not make ourselves nuts trying to make it all perfect, okay? That's for me too - cause I cried yesterday morning. For no reason except expecting too much from myself.

Hugs!  

Meh

While we had a nice weekend, there was also a lot of sadness and anxiety that went along for the ride. We really enjoyed the van Gogh thing - it was a cool way to make art more accessible. 

In any case, kind of a weird week, you know? My mom's birthday is Sunday and we are heading to the beach to celebrate. No one is making a big meal - T and I are eating out with his folks and mom & the gang are doing seafood. But since she loves my grandmother's cornbread dressing so much I think we are going to have that & a rotisserie chicken for her birthday dinner.

Have a good day!

Off to the races

Day 1 of Noom seemed pretty reasonable. Their food tracker is okay - I like Sparkpeople better but I need the total package. My coach reached out to me, so that's cool. Today I weighed 198.3, down a pound from the last time I logged it 2 weeks ago.

This weekend we are going to Asheville. A friend's mom (whom I also considered a friend) passed away and her memorial service is Saturday. We are meeting some other friends for supper after (I'm sure Roger will be busy with family). I booked a hotel, got a pet sitter, and our plan is to go to Biltmore on Sunday. Besides touring the house, they have that immersive van Gogh exhibit, so we are doing that as well. I prefer Biltmore in the spring (the gardens are lovely), but Tim loves it at Christmas. Since we are already there, I figured we would make a couple's get away out of it. 

Workouts have been questionable this week, but I'm okay with that (for now) - I have had a lot of random crap to deal with so I chose to manage food instead.

Have a good weekend!

Taking the plunge and trying something new (sort of)!

 I've been having a hard time with consistency lately. It definitely feels like the missing ingredient. I feel like some additional accountability & perspective would be helpful. I was hoping to get that from the trainer but I just didn't. So I decided to sign up for Noom. 

I've had a couple of friends use it and like it. It seems pretty convenient but supportive, so I signed up yesterday and today is my first day tracking. There are a lot of other components to it as well - I've read articles and set goals. I'll be working 1:1 with a coach. Even better is that my husband signed up as well!

I'm feeling positive and cautiously optimistic. 

Kind of sad

 It was just a sad day Saturday. Found out Friday that my son's best friend got some not great health news (he was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer back in February). I just felt so sad for him, for his family, and for my son. F's best high school friend was killed in a really tragic car accident a couple of years ago, and now his best friend is battling cancer. It sucks.

I slept crappy Friday and Saturday. Yesterday was a bit better, but I haven't been to the gym since Thursday. I did do yoga this morning and I slept well last night. Food wasn't great but it wasn't terrible. I have my food planned for the week. Unfortunately we are out of town this next weekend which means eating out a bunch of meals. Gah.

Take care.

Day off

 I was so darn tired & cranky last night. I didn't sleep great but I decided to take a day off from the gym. And hopefully catch a short nap today.

Hope you have a good weekend!

Windfall

 

Last night I was feeling whipped - we went out for dinner (grilled chicken & sautéed veggies). My stepson got a promotion at work but now will need to either get his car up and running (a 1998 jeep Cherokee that has been sitting for months with no plates or insurance) or we can give him my husband's car. We were planning to buy another new (to us) car for him in the next few months, but not this quickly. So we're feeling a bit rushed into making a decision. We'll see what happens.

I swam for 45 minutes this morning, ate a piece of catfish for breakfast (not a big breakfast food person), and ran a few errands. One of them was going buy T's old place of work - his old boss had a check for him. It was a bonus checked for $3000! With the car thing hanging over our heads, plus Christmas, that will be a HUGE help.

So there's my good thing for the day!

Take care.

Here's a picture I found on the internet and loved.

The beat goes on

 Nothing terribly exciting in the past 24 hours. I made Korean tacos for dinner last night - yummy and fairly healthy. I worked out with my trainer this morning. She was only 5 minutes late (she is NOT a morning person). It was a good workout. I got my hair cut. It's a gorgeous day so I took the very slightly (like, 1 minute) longer way home to enjoy a drive in the country and admire the fall leaves. I also got to drive past the folks that have a van in their driveway painted like the Mystery Machine - it never fails to make me smile.

So today I am appreciating the small things!

How about you?

Everything hurts & I'm dying

LOL. Ok, just kidding (kinda).  I woke up at 2 AM and took motrin and put sports cream on my back - that kettlebell class last night kicked my butt! This morning I swam for 45 minutes. I do not swim quickly, but I don't take breaks either. So that was good.

To answer Vickie's question: yes, many places do offer curbside, but not all. And Saturday was a case of needing/wanting to look at things - like try on new sneakers, check out Christmas decorations etc. Luckily it isn't something we have to do very often! Saturday was our trip to the "big city" 30 minutes away - usual stuff like groceries in my poduck little town aren't a big deal.

Starting to get into a pretty decent routine, it's just frustrating that after working so hard I'm back to being the fat/ unfit girl in class. Le sigh.