Wednesday, January 30, 2019

Weight 125.6. Good god! We went out to dinner and had the most amazing butterfish. I didn't have any rice or dessert, but definitely ate more than I should have. I need to get out of this funky mood and get back in plan.

Today is coffee with the walking group, then getting my hair cut and highlighted. Tomorrow some friends from where we lived for 30 years in central Mass are coming to visit. The husband's brother ran into DD and got our story and number so they want to visit with DH (and me).

We got a new TV with a fire stick integrated and am not putting it on a cable box at all. It is in the den/spare bedroom. So far it is pretty cool. We already have Netflix and Amazon Prime, and we have a 30 day trial of Sling. Has anyone else unplugged and have any recommendations for TV services so I can get the drama programs from the main channels (I don't mind if they are a few days old)? I'm ready to unplug Comcast/XFinity entirely except for the internet as they can't seem to figure out how to send me a replacement box for the one not working properly. Two tries already and they keep saying they sent it but it keeps not showing up! I HATE CABLE TV SERVICES!!!!

Anyway, have a wonderously not frustrating Wednesday!

Weight: 134.8
Macros: Cals - 1,590, Carbs - 137, Fats - 49, Protein - 131, Fiber - 32
Sleep hours: 8 hours
Vegetable/Fruit Servings: 5
Water glasses: 4
Exercise: 11,750 steps
Meditation: Yes

Liz, I also look forward to unplugging from (in my case) satellite in Missouri! I don't ever watch television anymore and watch only shows via Netflix and Prime Video. Here in NOLA I don't even have a TV, and I do not miss it one whit! I watch on my laptop mostly British shows like "Midsomer Murders," which is silly, but so familiar and relaxing when I crawl into bed. The exorbitant cost of cable/satellite broadcasted services is insane. And nobody needs 1,000 channels of everything all the time with terrible customer service. That's a very busted model! Unfortunately, at home where my satellite internet service is very slow, I can't run a TV broadcast firestick there. That transition will have to wait until I leave the farm and move to City Internet (which is what I call all fast internet service).

This morning my scales were back down to a number that makes me breathe easier. Maybe those two extra pounds really were / are due to my new pumping iron regimen? On the other hand, I've definitely been eating more calories in NOLA; I just ran the numbers for January, and the last four weeks I've averaged 1,856 calories/day. But on the other other hand ;), I'm now walking more (and more briskly) and working out more in NOLA than at home, which might mean (?) I'm burning a couple hundred extra calories daily. Or maybe the scales are just waiting to rise up one of these mornings and yell, "Wake up and smell the coffee!"

Oh well, I know it helps me to keep weighing daily, planning my meals daily, tracking daily, and moving daily. BTW, I recently raised my daily protein target, since I'm lifting weights with the goal of building muscle. In fact, in February I'm going to focus even more on exercise and physical activity, since Mardi Gras celebrations will soon move into third gear.

That's my story, and I'm stickin' to it!

Today's (reprised) theme: Keep doing what works.

Liz-ugh I agree with you on cable companies. Unfortunately I'm addicted. I love the convenience and sheer thrill of all those channels popping up and selecting one. We do have netflix, but I find it much less user-friendly unless there's a particular show I want to watch (in that case, DH normally cues it up). Speaking of Netflix, anyone watched Marie Kondo? Maybe I'm early to the nesting phase of pregnancy, but I'm totally obsessed with decluttering my house and Marie Kondo is partially to blame. Although I don't think I'll be using her folding method any time soon.

Ann-good for you on pumping iron.

Weight today 179.2 gasp. I still want to be here now, but I'm trying to think about my strategies after baby. HOpefully I can return to the same "pre-pregnancy" weight as last time, 165, which was a pretty "normal" non-dieting weight for me. I was much happier with my look at 155 with weight training or 150 without. But my "goal" had always been to be "half my weight", which would be 138.5. Is that even doable? I want to say "no" because I haven't done it, but am I just adjusting my expectations for ease? I'm going to need several small goals, but 2020 will be my 10 year surgiversary. I'd love love love to say I was half my weight. But if that's not even possible, then perhaps I ought to think up a more manageable goal. Maybe in the meantime I'd like to be 150 by year's end? And if for some reason I gain more, maybe 155? I figure 10-15lbs. (after having stabilized the baby weight loss) should be doable over the course of 6 months.

Another day of not being impressed by people :( I don't hardly have the energy to complain anymore. Drape lady lowered valences "for me" (which isn't untrue...) but then I notice why: the drapes which were discussed to be POOLING, on many occasions, I think we even discussed minimum of 6" (match the other drapes in my house) don't even touch the floor even with lowering them. And then when they are gathered, they're fanned out and even less thick/pooling. I know this is small, but we've waited years for this they are custom and pricey. It's not like I can go buy more next year. When I mention this design flaw she says "well we had to work within the constraints of the amount of fabric available." Excuse me? We're already more than 3 months over, we already had to choose a different fabric, and you didn't mention that to me? On top of all the other issues (not the greatest combo of fabrics because we'd already selected one, and she'd already moved forward with it before the other one was unavailable, so then we had to match). And to make matters worse she charged me the full amount, when she'd specifically stated that this fabric was less expensive than the original fabric...not to mention I'm thinking the "had to work within material constraints" should have meant even less than the bid. But what to do? I'm kind of resigned to it. I mean they do look nice. But sad they weren't what I wanted :(

Planning to meet a friend and do some treadmill time today!

Damn, I hate contractor bull**** like that curtain person fed you. That's just ridiculous. I share your outrage. But at 73, I get back in their face.

Good morning from the surface of the moon! I'm safely under my covers, watching the local morning news where they just reported the 9am windchill is -53F. I have not been outside since 1am on Sunday when I returned from the ER. DH does go to work today, luckily his commute is less than a mile. I told him if for some reason he gets stranded along the way to call me. People are getting frostbite in under 2 minutes. I can go from the house, to the garage to the car and back without actually being "outside". This polar vortex is supposed to recede tomorrow afternoon (-1 a tropical heatwave!). DH and I leave for St. Pete beach Friday night after work. It seemed like a good idea last month when we jumped on the airfare sale, now we feel like frickin geniuses!

Good grief, DiamondD! That's like Antarctica in winter!!!

Guess I am leaving the house today! Dear husband's car is not starting. Rather than having him drive my car, we've decided I'll drop him off and pick him up, so that my car can go back in the garage instead of sit in the parking lot all day.

That cold is nuts! Stay safe!

Unbelievable cold! Stay safe!

Greetings Warm People

155 today. Wishing it were less. Wishing won't make it so.

Scrabble yesterday was fun. I even won. And I was given a great gift. A jar of home canned albacore tuna. I can't begin to describe how much better it is than the commercial stuff. I made tuna salad for dinner and splurged eating it from crackers. A real treat. Lots of people around here buy a whole tuna in the summer and can it. I can't see doing that but will beg from my friends unashamedly.

Butterfish Liz! Sounds good to me. Glad you are still being very social and have friends visit.

Cable companies can be awful. We live in a dinky area and the cable is owned by some big outside conglomerate so needless to say service is not so hot. Fortunately my uber nerd DH is an electronics wizard and we have every tv device known to mankind. Apple tv and all kinds of tv streaming services. More tv than we could possibly ever watch though DH does a pretty good job. He likes Ancient Aliens and dark sci fi shows which I encourage him to watch when I am not here. But we are both enjoying Victoria and also The Outlander. More my style.

BB sorry the drapes are not as hoped. Years ago I had a decorator who was always messing up dimensions and color. Had to send all the counter tops back. Drove me nuts. Our home is now decorated by the jr. hoarder and his electronics.

Great picture of Ron, Peps. And relieved to see no guinea pig on the plate.

The news of the deep freeze in the midwest is stunning. DD glad your DH has short commute. Wise of you to keep your car home in the garage. Be grateful for the well run utility districts of the midwest. Hope you all have those emergency kits in your cars.

And then we have Shirley who is grateful to escape some heat. Love hearing your farm chore stories. There is something very satisfying about doing your own food preservation.

Gallery payroll today and clean up for the housekeeper. Studio duty and year end gallery accounting. Junk to go to the recycle. I need to watch the declutter lady - or rather DH does. Fat chance.

Enjoy life all - starting with more coffee. Diane S