Friday, November 15, 2019

Today is DH's 67th Birthday. No real celebration is planned after the somewhat disruptive party on Sunday. I'm going over early before yoga to see DH, say happy birthday and make sure he is shaved. His brother and SIL arrived from Portland OR last night and will visit with him today.

I need to get my hair cut/highlighted and get started on packing today. DD arrives tonight and all the relatives will go out to dinner. They start leaving tomorrow and of course I fly to Florida on Sunday. I would have preferred a couple of quiet days to get ready, but all these other visits were planned by others after I had booked my flight.

On an exciting shopping note I ordered new porch furniture and a replacement TV for Florida (arriving next week). DS paid for 25% of the TV because he wanted me to have a fancier one than what I was planning to order. The old one was pixelating.

Heres to avoiding the a-d bariatric regain pitfalls as described by Ann yesterday.

Have a full Friday!

Weight: 141.8
Veggies/Fruits: 1
Macronutrients: 2,081 cals, 222 carbs, 79 fats, 105 proteins, 13 fiber
Sleep: 7?48? (says my Fitbit ? thanks again to 2 Tylenol PMs)
Exercise: 6,064 steps and only 15 active minutes

Wow! Look at my macros yesterday ... just look at that! One freakin' vegetable, more than 2,000 calories, 222 carbs, no yoga class, and only 15 active minutes. It was an unusual day, starting with an early morning tea (with one slice of excellent apple cake and a bowl of cashews that were placed right in front of me), then lunch out with several friends, a dental appointment to set a new crown (with a "thank you gift" from the dentist's wife of a small loaf of homemade sourdough), and nearly 7 hours away from home that kind of wore me out.

Boy, do I need to rethink how to manage holiday events and offered foods that are not healthy for me.

A few things are obvious: (a) I can move away from trigger foods (or move those foods) so they're not right in front of me tempting me to nibble on them and (b) I can say, "Thank you so much for that gift, but right now I'm not eating [bread/cake/candy/pie]. I know someone else will be able to enjoy it." (Right now I'm practicing saying those words out loud.)

Today will be another big food challenge with a club luncheon and a dinner out tonight. I am going to order and eat ten veggies and fruits today and no breads, cakes, or pies.

Today's Theme: Implementation intentions are much more helpful than mere goals. Here's an interesting, well written psychological essay on the nature of willpower. (BTW, the p.c. term for willpower is self-regulation.) One of the most helpful bits in this article is that there's

... [a critical] difference between mere goals (such as "I want to lose weight"] and implementation intentions, which actually specify a plan of action ("When the waiter comes, I'm going to order a salad"....) The latter prove to be much more effective in helping us keep our promises to ourselves. Implementation intentions help us notice opportunities for working toward our objectives (e.g., the waiter taking my order) and even anticipate likely obstacles, prescribing ways of dealing with them....

My takeaway is that another way of working with this information is to visualize myself in very specific ways navigating these situations successfully and making the best-available choices. Also, Stuart Smalley may have really been onto something.

I like the idea of implementation intentions. It sounds more actionable, kind of like a step in a project plan rather than an amorphous goal.

Me, too. After all, it's our actions (not our goals) that get us results, assuming the actions we take are appropriate ones.

B**** today's luncheon I used my practiced patter to good effect. In response to "I'll get you a dessert. Which one do you want?" I said, "I don't need any dessert today, but what I"d really like is a cup of coffee."

People, even hospitable dessert-pushing people, are pretty easy to distract. Just tell 'em you want coffee. Or tea. Or more water. Or another napkin. Or a clean spoon. Give them another way to be hospitable.

Brava on the passing of dessert!

1. Within Range: yes
2. General Wellbeing: 8
3. 10,000+ Steps: 5481
4. Fitness: walking
5. Self-Care: testing glucose
6. Fun: Alone time with Sadie

Sadie had her annual exam to renew her therapy dog certification. They are SO strict on shots and health, which is a good thing. Miss Sadie rocked the scales at 101 pounds ! Too many treats and beef marrow bones ! I caught my first real sugar crash since I was discharged. I was cranky, shaky and my tolerance level for frustration was LOW (well in my defense, WHO ties knots in the Ezekiel English muffin bag, really !?) I knew to test and was at 61. I had a few blueberries while I put peanut butter on a half slice of Ezekiel toast and was up to 104 in an hour, so glucose tabs averted.

Ann, good for you for doing what you need to do to make your sleep more restorative. Thanks so much for sharing those traits of regainers. It does take tremendous energy to stay the path. I feel blessed to be retired because working caused so much more stress and so much less time. Liz, it is too bad that you didn?t have more time without visitors to bet packed but your plan for DH?s birthday sounds wise. Dealing with guilt and/or perseverating on challenges is tough. I?ve found it helpful to pull out and use my worry box when feeling overwhelmed. It is actually an ornament box, and I put an issue/worry/concern/negative drain on a slip of paper and symbolically give it over to the box. When I go back and reread the slips, more often than not I am pleasantly surprised at what I can throw out. Shirl, I hope your grandson continues to recover and that your knee begins to behave. DD, it is no wonder that you are feeling depleted. School shootings shake every educator to the core. I love what you said about multiple layers of interventions for a multi faceted disease? spoken like a true special educator ! Leap, glad to hear formal PT is over and that you are working to find the balance between too much and too little exercise. I think of you as we do all of DH?s final clearances for hip replacement and test out walkers, commodes, shower seats etc. Peps, I feel confident you?ll identify a silver, rainbow and purple pup !! Your broad definition of fast food gave me significant cause for pause, but I totally concur. I?ve been thinking of you during my strength circuits. I?ve gone up on weight on every piece of equipment but find I need to stagger where I start and the general order so that I am fresh and fatigued on alternating pieces. Thinking of your workout continues to impress the hell out of me. Diane, I?m sorry your brother?s news was not good. I?m glad you are making the most of your pool time. Do you have actual water sneakers, as opposed to water shoes? I?ve found them exceptionally helpful for water exercises and stretching. Miss Bonnie and BB, missing your voices.

Diane, I LOVE your worry box idea. I already have a box that is perfect for that, and I'm going to create one for myself this morning.

I also love the word "perseverate." Very useful, that.

Perseverate is a wonderful word, indeed!

No specific plans tonight, dh is working late, and I am hiding out from social encounters to give myself time to do what I most want to do right now ~ read. I am going to spend the rest of the evening reading and drinking tea, and maybe I'll even open a bottle of wine and have a glass. And then I'm going to bed early,and sleeping as long as I want tomorrow. These are my modest plans, and I already feel a trickle of energy flow into my depleted tank. Hopefully I arise ready to go on Saturday (after the paper and chai tea of course) to cross a few things off the to do list. Because like restful repose, bringing order to neglected tasks also adds fuel to the tank.

On eating: I accept mostly, that I cannot deal with temptation in the house. I can resist for a bit, but then I can no longer. The garbage disposal is a useful tool. I have an Aunt who once offered me Mint Milanos and apologized profusely that they had gone stale. No cookie of any kind has ever lasted long enough to go stale in my house. I wish I had the ability to ignore or even forget about treats, like my Aunt. Again, this is one tenacious disease. Keeping it in remission is a heroic task. We are heros my friends.