Saturday. March 18

Good morning everyone. Dave hope you are feeling better. Great discussion bout exercise and food and thinking that drives the food train.

it was a busy day with no less then three trips to the local coffee shop to meet three different friends. No walking but food was great...

have a peaceful weekend

Good morning! I just went back and read yesterday's discussion. Very thought-provoking. I definitely do the all or nothing thing usually alone after drinking wine. I generally curb my cravings when others are around, but if I get home with wine in my tummy (and head) and there are cookies or breads around, once I start I don't stop until I don't feel good. I've done this a few times since surgery (use to do it all the time pre-op). I do stop sooner, but even so obviously those binge tendencies are still there. Clearly the wine needs to stop...

Speaking of which, I went out again last night for St Pats with friends and had wine with dinner, so ate some bread and a lot of nuts when I got home (nuts to stop the bread eating **** 25 this morning with somewhere around 1865 calories (I think I may have forgotten some). Today I travel back to Florida, arriving there around 11 pm. So most meals will be pre-packed on the road and there will be no wine, so I should be able to compensate some for the last couple of days.

Dave, I hope you are feeling better. Devon, it will be interesting to hear about the effects of the new medication. Good luck everyone on making your insights work for you.

Still in my range. I plan to go back and reread the past two days of posts. Some very powerful, thought provoking thinking going on. I'm percolating on it and then going back to take it in again.

I'm also finding wine and over spending on the rise, as food is under control. My exercise for the past week has been mostly related to snow removal. I'm seeing that swimming, yoga, Zumba, walking all promote mindfulness and centering for me. Interestingly, music is a big piece of all three. There are all sorts of connections here, I need to work through. I can't lose sight of the fact that I have a propensity toward addictive behaviors, that look much like an ongoing game of Wack-a-Mole. Get one aspect regulated, something else pops up to be addressed.

Breathe, and seek balance.

Diane

Thanks Carbon, I am feeling better but now my DW woke in the night with it. I will try to be a good nurse for her.

Wt 217 Calories 1040
Eating is returning to baseline. After the stomach bug. Mostly N&Y.

For the past month. We have been trying to use our phone for a hotspot here in the woods and broke down a signed up for dish tv and Internet. They are coming today. Hotspot speed is 0.05-0.7. Dish is supposed to be 25Mbs. We will see. Kinda spendy for our budget but it is our only form of entertainment. Local internet providers are not an option.

Steps will be nursing first, trying to finish plumbing rough in, insulate the bathroom in the shop and maybe even put some sheeting on.

Good morning all! Checking in after yet another period without doing so. That blinking monster kept me on the wrong path for a bit, and kept telling me I could post "tomorrow". For about the past week or more though, food has been much better, and clean. I've been prepping meals and snacks to take to work, which has been a great help. I started my new job this week. I felt so welcome there! Signs welcoming me at my cubicle, a thank you card for joining the team and a couple of token gifts were on my des****pt the cute to do list pad, and have the candy to give to my daughter. One of the group, who I found out had the old stomach stapling surgery years ago, made a light lunch to welcome me, too. She was fine when I took the contents of a finger roll and put it on my salad, as well as declined the cake. They said they eat a lot there, so I will need to be careful, and when I contribute, to bring healthy options. No one applied any pressure to eat what I was declining, so it's very comfortable. While I only have a cubicle, it is by one of many windows, so the whole room is very bright. Some of the spaces in that building are very dark, so I was happy about this fact. I was a bit bored, here or there, this week, as this is a new team, put together following some state regulatory changes, so we are just getting going. I know in a few weeks, we'll be very busy, so I am not complaining! :) I get out of work at 4pm, and my evenings and weekends are my own, for the most part! We do need to do some occasional evening events, but that won't be an issue for me.

I haven't read posts from the past few days, but it sounds as if a lot of good discussion took place. I'll need to check it out.

Have a wonderful Saturday! Hugs, Mary

Weight today: 133.2

Macronutrients: Cals - 1,910, Carbs - 197, Fat - 78, Protein - 115, Sugar - 89, Fiber - 31

Veggies/fruits yesterday: 5 (goal is 7)

Exercise yesterday: Aquarobics

Plans for today: Cutting and hauling downed timber, housework, laundry, reading, crosswords with hubby

* * *

My big overnight weight drop is thanks to yesterday being a significant Day of Elimination (happens every week or two) and sleeping in and not weighing until after 9 this morning.

And in contrast to Thursday night's great sleep, last night's was not. After midnight I gave up and watched Netflix again. I finally fell asleep around 3:30 a.m.

When I have insomnia I get physically (not head-) hungry, and I eat. My go-to insomnia food choices are a toasted cheese sandwich (just cheese and bread) and/or cheese and nutty crackers. Last night I chose both. Recently, I read that those exact food combos have a relaxing effect on the body. Jeez, have I been listening to my body all along? #DarkWLSHumor

My winter reliance on Ambien has been partly motivated by a desire to avoid night-eating. Clearly, that's not a good reason to become addicted to a medication that makes me less alert when I'm awake. Yes, spring and summertime will bring much more physical activity outdoors (google "does more sunlight help you sleep better"; spoiler - yes). I WILL figure this out.

Thinking of everyone as you travel, are mindful, practice self-care, care for others, and fight the good fight. Breathe in, breathe out.

Good morning, vBuddies!

124's. I'm fortunate to have that number because my arm lymphedema is flaring, likely because I did a bad wrap job a couple of nights ago and ended up with a Mickey Mouse hand. Still puffy today. Long sleeves are my friend.

I have been in a bit of a funk, my mood squashed by the weight of my to-do list. I woke up exhausted. My usual can-do early morning coffee fueled spirit is absent. (I double checked to make sure I wasn't drinking decaf.) I don't like feeling like this but I think it is better than my old merry ostrich brain. Better to see what is there and deal with it. Happy fat is not better than squashed skinny.

Squashed skinny me is a downer! Must turn that around which makes me think of drugs. Devon, back in the day, I tried citalopram and one of its side effects was yawns of hippo quality. Have you been yawning?

Ann, back in the day, it took me a month of horrible sleep to get off ambien. I had tried to taper off but hated the twighlight zone of almost-asleep more than I hated really, really bad sleep. I went off entirely and after a month of bad sleep I finally found my normal sleep rhythm. (My normal rhythm is pretty good....my poor sleep situational related to cancer diagnosis/treatment/anxiety). Anyway, good luck with that.

Must run, thanks for the interesting conversation the last couple of days in particular.

Shel

Thanks, Shel. I hope to figure this out. Although chances are I'll have to continue to figure this out. I'm prey to the same nighttime ruminations many others are about health (our own and those we love), the goombahs who now control the big bombs, etc. I think I'll make a list of the problems I don't have and meditate on those at bedtime. ;)

I used Ambien for about 6 months or so a number of years ago. I think it took me about a month to get to normal sleep too (and I developed lots of rules around making sure I'd fall asleep during that time).

Liz, when you have a moment (and aren't driving to Florida) I'd love to hear about the sleep hygiene rules you found useful.