TGIF August 19, 2016

I'm up a pound. 

Tired!  I'm working out anyway :). Resting the rest of the day. Dinner with friends tonight.  Andy's last free Friday night! 

The library is coming together...for now.  I have visions of what I want it to look like but that will take time.  The work room is improving. 

Saturday is our enrollment so I'm working all day.  Sunday, I may not move out of bed!!! lol

Have a great weekend.  Be kind to yourself!  Much love to you all!

TGIF is right!

182.5 today.  A small tick down and I'm happy about that.

I've got some food landmines in my weekend.  Wine and amateur professional wrestling tonight (haha, so funny to write that).  Pool party and BBQ tomorrow with yummy frozen drinks.  I will have some alcohol (not too much) and stick to protein.

Enjoy the weekend!

129 on the nose today.  On my feet all day yesterday at the new teacher orientation.  Back to the lymphedema big bulky compression wrap today, so the swelling doesn't get away from me.  I'm confident it's fluid.

Looking forward to yard work, pool, and getting house ready for flooring next week.

TGIF !!!

Diane

Remember, too, that 129 is the LOW end of your ideal range. It would be best if the fluid left, true, and you gained some real weight. While the scale an be a measure of success, it can also be our enemy and new addiction. I am impressed that you are letting go of the power of the scale. It is not an easy thing to manage. Watching the scale go down is seduction, pure and simple. 

"Watching the scale go down is seduction, pure and simple." Truth!

Thanks you, my friend. I needed to hear that ...your timing is on point !

I'm down another .6 this morning. 

I had a good cardio session yesterday - 2.5 miles in 30 minutes. My goal is to hit the gym at least three times per week (4 to 5 would be ideal, but possibly pie in the sky dreaming). I know that when I am doing my weight bearing and HIIT my weight is easier to manage. It really has nothing to do with hunger or calorie intake or burn, but exercise seems to have a great influence on what I want/crave/my body tells me to eat. 

Got to school and the first person I see told me what a great spread was laid out for us in the staff room: egg casseroles, yogurt, fresh baked cinnamon and glazed monkey bread, bagels, and fresh fruit. Since I do not need to go down there until lunch time to heat my lunch, I'm choosing to stay away until then - though I rehearsed sitting at the table looking at the food and choosing to not eat any of it and feeling very good about that choice. 

Tomorrow we have a dog event complete with a pot luck. Those are always hard to navigate, so I'm practicing that and also going to bring extra protein and my own salad dressing as a just in case. 

I am channeling all of your positive attitudes and support. It is helping me to know you're all there to lend support - whether it's a pat on the back, a hug and a smile, or a good swift kick in the ass! 

XO

WT 219.2  up again. Maybe extra salt in the salami.  Salami is gone.  Calories 1242

I got one coat on the airstream cabinets.  Took almost a whole gallon of paint.  Just got back from the paint store to get a second gallon. Yesterday I said blue and maroon on top of the grey.  I was informed it is taupe not maroon.  Close right?  Did I mention I was a little color blind.

All y'all (plural of y'all) have a good Friday!

125.8 - down 1 lb. better eating day yesterday and so far on track today too. Continuing with the no exercising but have been plenty busy. Logged just shy of 10,000 steps and 30 flights of stairs with just the house cleaning and taking of Senior pics yesterday! I think Saturday will be the first chance I get for any real exercise.

Devon - nice job on practicing how you will deal with the school spread and potluck. What Mantra(s) did you decide to go with? Curious - in what way does exercise change your eating choices? Do you make better or worse choices when you exercise? I'm surprised I have actually been maintaining or losing weight with my no exercise as of late, especially when I have had some high calorie days.

Paula

Hi Paula, 

Sorry for the late reply. I had a full response written out on my lunch break, but when I hit submit my filter override window had run out and I got booted out of OH (school filter). I will do my best to recreate it now.

Mantras: Didn't really come up with a matra, per se, but had a big idea going through my head. It went like this: There is no need to eat the food in the staff room. Sure, it may look good and be tempting, but most of it won't fit in with your rules and right now I'm committed to following my rule. Think how proud and happy I will be when I decide to choose to eat only the food I brought to eat today. Besides, the food I brought is far better than the food on the staff room table. 

Exercise and eating: I have to first clarify that when I say exercise I mean strenuous exercise. I believe in sweating and feeling the burn and pushing to muscle failure (when appropriate). My aim is to keep my heart rate between 75 & 85% of maximum during my workouts. It is not uncommon for me to have a heart rate between 145 and 158-60 for a 30-45 minute block of time. I can talk, but carrying on a conversation is a challenge. I can do it, but it takes effort. So that's what I mean when I say exercise. (I'll get to why that's important later.)

Several things happen when I exercise in this manner. The first is that this vigorous exercise seems to curb my appetite for about 18 to 24 hours. The next thing is profound for me. Vigorous exercise kills my sugar drive almost instantly. The more I maintain a regular workout schedule the easier it is for me to abstain from sugar. And heaven forbid I do eat a sugary food, it is far less of a trigger than were I not exercising. Go figure, huh? Third, and most likely the most important, is that when I maintain a vigorous exercise program my body speaks quite clearly about what it wants as fuel. Usually a great deal of protein and some specific vegetables, and sometimes very specific fruits. I am also drawn to whole grain or whole, natural carb foods like sweet potato, potatoes, steel cut oatmeal, Ezekial breads, and red, brown, and wild rice (but not white rice). 

As an example I have exercised three days in a row this week - W-F. Today I had a protein shake around 10:00 am and finally tucked into lunch about 1:30 or so. I had 3 oz of tri tip, 1/4 cup whole wheat pasta (locally milled and produced - it's toothsome to say the least!) with a little EVOO and basil, and 1/4 cup french green beans. I had a bite of yogurt and a few peanuts before my workout at 4:30 (only because I felt I should have something prior to working out since I'd had not a lot of calories today). That's all I've eaten so far today. I have yogurt and berries and nuts waiting in the fridge (sorry David!), but I'm not really hungry, so I'm having some black coffee instead. 

Now, if I exercise without the push, say an easy bike ride or a leisurely walk or heaven forbid and afternoon in and out of a pool, I will be RAVENOUS afterwards. Swimming in particular seems to make me hungry as heck. Or, if I take two days off from the gym after maintaining a regular workout schedule for a few weeks I will be very, very hungry on day two away from the gym. 

So there you have it. It's probably a bit non sensical to most people, but truly that is how I roll.