Wed, 8/15

Good morning,

Quick post before the chickens wake someone else up!

The last several days seem to be quick this! quick that! I think I am losing productivity in all the efforts to be quick. I do at least skim the board and BB, you when the prize for making me smile. Vegan-phobia complete with nightmares! Makes me giggle. That you are self aware makes it funnier.

My vegan complaints are only when the vegan's diet is pretty much processed foods. Did you know Oreos are vegan? Makes me want to check the peanut butter pretzel labels. I think processed food veganism should have a different name. Oreo-ism?

DianeO, I only know your weather made national news because of this board. I hope the things are improving. Sounds terrible. Ditto about the CA wildfires for those of you in CA. We are still socked in with BC smoke but we know we are the lucky ones. People say "at least there isn't ash falling."

Have a good day. Don't eat Oreos otherwise I am ok with whatever food pattern you decide to partner with :)

Shel

ETA: Cecily!!!!!! Amazing results. You are truly willowy!!!! I don't think that is vanity sizing. You don't look bigger than a size 6.

Thank you for all of the positive thoughts regarding our weather. There is so much destruction from acts of nature around the world. My heart aches for all of those impacted. Thoughts are also with all of you starting back to school this week and for the personal challenges each of us face on a daily basis.

So, I'm not sure if the book Bright Line Eating: Living Happy, Thin, and Free was initially mentioned here, or if it was one of those "finds" when you end up fourteen clicks and 35 layers from your original search on the internet but... it provides excellent brain research related to maintaining a healthy weight in a sustainable way. There is a rigid, prescribed tone to the elimination of sugar and flour but the research is solid, and many suggestions can be adapted to be sustainable for me. I've only read the intro and first chapter, but this book is intended to provide strategies to rewire your brain to take the burden off the lose/lose use of willpower and end the "soul sucking loop in your head."

So, I'll continue reading and note taking because, who needs a "soul sucking loop" in their head ?

Weight 119.8, calories 914. Weight is going the right direction, but I would like it 2-3 pounds lower. I need to do an austerity week followed by lower carb eating for a while, but when? We are going to NH with friends this weekend, have friends staying at our house all next week, have a wedding and our anniversary the following week, then we leave for Europe. I hope I don't come back a lot heavier!! I might actually be okay in Europe as we will be on the go all the time and I won't have time to snack. I'm generally fine at a meal, but it is the snacking and desserts that are killers (and wine setting off my cravings).

The fires, the floods and the heat are getting to be too much. I'm sure some holy rollers are saying this is punishment and the global warming people are saying I told you so. I think it is the latter who are right, but boy our world is becoming a scary place in many ways both because of these natural disasters, but also the violence and terrorism we have to worry about. I would think people with anxiety must feel it more now than ever.

But in my little world, we ended up at the beach again yesterday. It was supposed to rain, but was sunny and hot and a perfect beach day. I did get all my closet organizing stuff ready for the next stay indoors day though. The only thing I had to buy was cable ties, which are probably here somewhere but I couldn't find them. I know where the package is in Florida, but not here.

Speaking of which, the paint and molding being added to our Florida home are nearing completion and look great. The contractor sends me pictures as he finishes each area. I'm looking forward to seeing it in person.

I hope you all have a wonderous Wednesday!

Goodness, lots of morning peeps today!

Diane O-we've been having historic rainfall here too! It's insane.

Liz-I'm in a similar pattern, but closer to 12-13lbs. to high than 2-3. Like you, I worry more about if I don't get this off now, what will I weigh after the events/holidays.

Shel-I've seen that problem too. DSD wanted to become a vegetarian in 9th grade and we forbade it. Well, I mean she could've pressed the issue but we weren't supportive. Why? Because all the kid eats is things like chicken nuggets and hamburgers and pizza and mac and cheese. She hardly knows/knew a vegetable, so it would've made her diet 100% French fries. Sometimes I wonder if I'm allowed an opinion since I had WLS. But like so many of us I've tried almost every diet in the book. Sensationalized fad diets are fun for that fascination stage--oooh let's see what we can eat and buy. But I still believe ultimately it comes down to calories, greatly helped by smaller portion sizes, greatly helped by healthier food choices. It's weird to me that I simultaneously have friends trying out vegan diets and keto diets. I hope those people aren't friends!! (Again, I think if there are strongly-held convictions or medical reasons for being vegan/vegetarian/kosher/gluten free, etc. it's understandable)

Weight: 164.8. Well how about that!

I'm feeling really good about my eating pattern of recent! I've been limiting my snacking, watching my portion size, making healthier decisions. Of course I'm only 2 days in. But I feel good about it.

Yesterday's eats:

B: 1 slice toast w/ 1 tsp butter, 1 Tbsp. strawberry preserves, 1 poached egg, coffee w/ ff half and half (thank God grandmommy picked some up!)

L: Tuna melt: split English muffin, pkt tuna, 2 slices 2% American cheese, 1/2 c. vegetable soup, 8 crackers

S: 1 c. grapes, rd string cheese

D: 1/12 taco ring, salad with cilantro avocado dressing, watermelon wedge

D: mini drumstick

Right around 1400 calories. I definitely could've eaten more of the taco ring. And I wanted to. But I was satisfied, so I stopped. And it's pretty caloric!

I have been known to carry 1/2 and 1/2 in an alcohol flask.....you know....just in case.

FrenchFry-ism. I could see people getting behind that. DD followed a person on-line somewhere that (and can this even be possible?) pretty much ate just bananas. This makes me giggle, too.

Wonder if all the potassium in that banana diet will do a number on her heart???? Isn't potassium a an element that heart patients are warned to avoid?

Yes, too little or too much K can cause electrical problems. But, I don't think the average person would/could eat so many bananas to cause heart problems

Now....a person with severe kidney disease (who typically already have elevated K levels) is another story....they have to eat a low K diet.

Weight 162.2. I OD'd on toast. Bread calls to me. I really have no business buying it.

Thanks so much, Shel! My upper half is a 12/L right now owing to very broad shoulders/ribs and my arms which are still in need of a good tailoring. Are people usually the same size all over? Or is it normal to wear one size pants, another size shirt and a third size dress?

Did I mention my dad had a suspicious spot light up on a CT scan in his remaining ureter? It was very concerning as he's out of chemo/radiation chances. He had it removed at Mayo and it came back benign, thank God. He's got some more bladder tumors that they took out and one he's got to go back and have resectioned in September followed by the BCG tuberculosis treatment this time with Interferon, but all in all it was good news and he continues to feel and look great. (In the Canada pic from yesterday, he's in the blue sweatshirt with his back turned.)

I'm loving my A/C. It's been nice, but humid here. Humidity hits me so much harder than heat. Today I need to clean house and grocery shop. Shel, now I want Oreos, but only if they're Double Stuf aka twice the saturated fat. Argh.

Peps, hope your first day back is going okay!

141.2

No school today. Trying to make it as much of a total sloth day as possible and am only doing fun jobs and chores. Leaving as much time for reading, naps, and general no brain required no effort needed slug activities as possible so not even cooking (poor DH). Tomorrow is the beginning of the "real deal".

Ah, I feel the metamorphoses begin

Greetings Coffee Lovers

Tis I, in my aqua chenille bathrobe with a proper cup of good coffee with the requisite half and half. If I ever for a fleeting moment considered being a vegan the lack of half and half would instantly kill the notion. I had a friend whose family was vegan and she would bring cookies made with a butter substitute and an egg substitute. I always wondered what was in that stuff. And read the label on Coffee Mate or other fake creamers. Not good. Oreos are vegan? Not surprising. I had a college friend who decided to be a vegetarian for some unknown reason and struggled intensely with meat cravings. Gave it up pretty quickly. BB, kids and the vegetarian fad - you are right it would have been nothing but fries and ketchup. And onion rings. And malts.

Anyway, 148ish for this omnivore. Works for me for the day.

Cecily, glad your dad is doing ok and that the spot was not a big thing. And so glad to hear your big hole has filled in. Now get out there and enjoy your skinny!

Yep, Mother Natures seems pretty hacked off at us all. No wonder, some people have wrecked the planet. We are lucky to have a fog blanket today that is not ash. I don't even own a pair of shorts anymore. Good thing as my legs are blobby and ultra pale.

Not much planned for today other than to pre-clean before the housekeeper comes and then spend some time in the studio and maybe get a walk in. I have no eating plan other than my usual habits - cheese sticks, GY, some v8 juice, maybe an apple with peanut butter. Dinner unknown. Must inspect freezer contents. I bought a couple of the power bowls that Ann likes. May try that. (auto correct wrote "power blows"). LOL

But for now its coffee coffee coffee. GL to all of you teachers and librarians. Diane S