What's on your Tuesday Menu, RNYers?

Good morning and happy day after Christmas. This weekend was a gigantic eating fail. Actually looking forward to eating protein forward today. My meals were all good and on plan, it was the extra treats and snacking that put me over the edge. So glad my cousin made Cioppino for Christmas dinner. It was full of delicious protein. So sad she made garlic bread to go along with it.

JBQOTD: My brother and sister in law are trying to convince me to do a sprint triathlon. I swim and run, so I'm 2/3 of the way there. I haven't been on a bike in YEARS. So, I think that tops my list. My brother is going to take me to be fitted for a bike and we'll see if I can actually ride the thing!

Plan:

B: Bacon (4 slices)

L: NY Strip roast

D: Turkey Breast

S: SF Latte, chicken breast before the gym, Kind bar between classes.

A tri sounds like a great challenge for the new year! Good luck and keep us posted.

Good afternoon menu folks! I'm late signing in, but I've been up and around since fairly early.

I'm off today and pondering taking the whole week off to treat myself and finish up some household projects. I just want things to be better organized for the new year.

We went out this morning to Kohl's for the after Christmas sales. I found several nice things and also found out that I have gone down another size in the last month. I'm amazed at how many sizes I have lost since this time last year. I was a 26 and now I am a 6/S.

That leads me to say that since I hit goal, I have increased my calories and in the last few holiday weeks, I have indulged in some treats and had more carbs than I had been having. I am still swimming and/or walking most days of the week so that is good. I got on the scale this morning expecting to be up at least a few pounds, but I am actually at the lowest weight that I have been, 120.6. I'm a little concerned that I am definitely eating more and back to losing again. I have my yearly physical in about 2 weeks and I want to talk to my PCP about why I might still be losing. I feel generally healthy, but this is a bit worrying. In more worrying news, when I lay down, I can feel a sizable lump in my abdomen. Does anyone know what a hernia feels like? I am hoping that there is nothing serious wrong.

In happier news, after we got home from shopping and getting breakfast, I went swimming for an hour. It was so relaxing and it makes me feel happy. Maybe it's the endorphins ;)

This afternoon, we are going to try to put together a gingerbread house. I am a little worried that the cats will get into it, but it should still be fun. I've never made one before.

Accountability: As I mentioned before, I've had a few ginger cookies over the last few days and one small piece of peppermint fudge. Also for Christmas dinner, I made a beef roast and a baked potato. I only ate half of the potato and it was good, but definitely more carbs than usual.

Menu:

B1: 2 oz. ham

B2: turkey bacon, 1/2 egg white omelet with spinach, mushrooms and feta

Lunch: turkey breast, broccoli slaw

Snack: protein shake

Dinner: beef roast, salad

Exercise: 1 hr. of swimming

I have an incisional hernia that I can't feel all the time. When it decides to "pop" out, it feels like a hard lump and I get what feels like a really really bad cramp that travels around to my side. I can't feel it all the time, and the times I've asked my surgeon to check he "thinks" he feels it, but based on my description he agrees that I have a hernia. He's asked me to stretch my skin really tight and take a picture of it when it happens, but it's always at an inopportune time, and that hasn't happened. I'll keep my fingers crossed that nothing is wrong with you.

Sounds like that might be it. It is a hard lump about the size of a baseball. It hurts sometimes, but not all the time.

I'm glad you are going to get it checked out. Hopefully it isn't anything major.

Hi to everyone! I hope everybody had a wonderful Christmas - I definitely did! It was beautiful and loving and cozy. I didn't weigh my food yesterday but was very careful, and really didn't eat much or anything far off plan although some of the food (there was bacon involved) was higher in fat than I normally have. I was afraid to step on the scale this morning but I weigh exactly what I have weighed for the past 2 days. My pattern seems to be lose, lose, stay, stay, stay, lose, lose, etc. So all is golden!

QOTD: I enjoy all kinds of art and I also enjoy crafts. I love the Neapolitan angels which hang on the Christmas tree at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. A friend of mine sent me an old Neapolitan paper mache' angel last year because I loved the ones her family hung over their dining room table every Christmas. There are Italian-made Neapolitan angels for sale which are very beautiful, but also very pricey - many hundreds of dollars. So I decided I would like to learn how to make these. I am much more of a painter than I am a sculptor, so this will be challenging, but I would love to have a beautiful flock of angels to suspend from the ceiling around the tree, and to nestle into it's branches. We will see if I can actually pull this off! If you're interested, here is a photo of the tree at the Met:

https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2014/christma s-tree

First: Coffee with cashew milk and SF Salted Caramel Torani syrup (OMG, is this good!), Cinnamon Buns protein drink

B: Roast Beef

L: Turkey, green beans

D: More beef. Maybe some refried beans.

Have a wonderful, wonderful day my friends!

That tree is absolutely beautiful. I am jealous of you and your artistic skills. I'm not crafty at all and knitting is about all I can manage.

Karen, there is nothing like visiting the Met at Christmastime! it's beyond beautiful! As for my skills, I will have to see whether I have what it takes to duplicate the beautiful angels I admire. I'm sure there will be quite a learning curve! The Neapolitan Cartapesta (made of paper mache) angels I love have glass eyes, very tender faces, beautiful wings, and their hands and gestures are just so perfectly, perfectly formed...really the work of masters.

Your strategy of knitting to defeat the unwelcome urge to snack in the evening is inspired! I've never been anything even remotely approaching an accomplished knitter, but I was a prodigious nighttime eater, so in the future when my honeymoon ends, I will be following your lead!

Those are cool! I hope yours turn out well!