Tuesday, 1/7/2020

Weight: 142.0
Veggies/Fruits: 8
Macronutrients: Cals - 1,278, Carbs - 115, Fats - 33, Protein - 112, Fiber - 26
Green SmartPoints: 25
Water: 2 cups
Sleep: 6 hours
Exercise: 7,375 steps and yoga@home (25")

Yesterday, I tried to mow, but discovered that the mower had a flat tire. Farm machinery! Instead, I drove around in the Gator picking up downed wood. That work is never done.

Today's my monthly trip to The Big City for a therapist appointment, lunch with a niece, and shopping. I would like more time today to visit the local art museum, shop for wines, and walk in my favorite park, but instead it's going to be a dash-around day and four or more hours of driving. I look forward to winning the lottery, and being chauffeured around in my NetJet.

I'm now reading yet another good book, this one a non-fiction: The Wrong of Rudeness: Learning Modern Civility from Ancient Chinese Philosophy. The author is Amy Olberding, a philosophy professor at the University of Oklahoma. (Turns out that when my book club friend tried to remember the title of this month's selection I imagined she was talking about "Rules of Civility," a lovely novel by Amor Towles, but a very different kind of book!

Yesterday I received the list of courses at 2020's Ohio Summer Writing Festival. I plan to attend two courses this year--one on prose and one on poetry. Now I'll start digging into which teachers/classes would be best for me.

It seems the local college library will be closed for another week, so I'm still scribbling at home. And for the record, my stuff has to sit around and age before being viewed, so don't expect to see any of my pieces very soon.

Shirl, I'm thinking of you and yours this morning. How are y'all and your property doing?

In fact, I'm thinking of all of you threading your way through mid-winter 2020's challenges and hopes and doing what can be done on this January Tuesday.

Today's musical theme by Simon and Garfunkel (1966): Hazy Shade of Winter. Lyrics here.

1. Within Range: 5 over; down one pound WW weigh in
2. Blue SmartPoints: 23 plus 2 weekly points
3. General Wellbeing: 8
4. Fitness: walking
5. Self-Care: massage today
6. Fun: setting up new computer

Sorry I've been AWOL... (Thanks for the shout out Ceci !) Saturday I decided I was totally fed up with my office computer (laptop and large monitor). It was s l o w and bogged with crap, four + years old, kept freezing.... I went to Best Buy and purchased an all in one, to go with the sleekness of my newly reorganized office. (Why does a massive cleaning/reorganization always involve spending $$$$ ?) I gave them my office computer and the Geeks (I use Geek Squad for every big tech purchase) transferred all of the files I needed and set it up for me! I was essentially without a computer until I picked it up late yesterday and all I had to do is plug it in and log into all secure accounts and have one time code sent so I could get my new computer recognized. Love, love !!!

We met with our lawyer yesterday. She had prepared a pile of documents on the Lemon Law for us. I sat down, and opened my folder and presented indexed, color coded evidence of why I believed we met not only one, but two of the criteria to receive total reimbursement. (Under repair more than thirty days in the first year; dealer provided with four opportunities to fix issues). She shook her head and smiled, put away her stack of information on the LL, and said we had everything we needed to win a suit if it came to that, but that the strength of our evidence was such that for a much smaller retainer she felt she could apply ample pressure for a quick resolution. We shall see.

Down one point for my Monday weigh in. Still adjusting. I'm trying to catch up with all posts. Diane, I've added NOW to our collection of 2020 intentions. I'm playing with a very basic collage until DD gets past her IEPs and can do it correctly. I need a placeholder visual for extra motivation. I'll put what I come up with on FB in case anyone wants it. Still lots of opportunity to change / add words!

Impressive! All of it!

Sounds like a very productive few days! Loved the intentions board...

Weight 135.2, down a pound from yesterday. I would guess this is a true weight vs. the 134.8 on Saturday. I have been up and down on points but right now I'm just trying to be in control of eating, weighing and tracking. My regular weigh-in is tomorrow but I had to do Saturday for two weeks. I'm guessing I'll be up a bit since that fake 134.8 was on the last weigh-in day. My funeral clothes do fit though they are a teensy bit tighter than I would prefer, about 5 pounds worth. I REFUSE to buy a new black dress or skirt so I'll just have to wear them as is. I think they will be okay.

Today BIL and I are going to DH's previous facility to get some things, primarily pictures which I would like to use at the funeral. I think we will have to rent a cargo van again to move the furniture out in a couple of weeks. I might take Justice for a walk on the beach mid-day as I think it will be warm enough without too much wind.

Enjoy your Tuesday!

Man, oh man! WW is like being on a diet. Haha! However, a diet with a lot of compassion and flexibility. I was hungry and cranky by last night. I ended up eating 38 points (3 over my 35 point daily allotment). My 38 points turned out to be:

1913 calories - 129 grams protein, 206 carbs, & 61 grams of fat.

As Ceci pointed out, in WW not all calories are pointed equally. 2 slices of Ezekiel bread at 160 calories equal 4 points. 140 calories of Vanilla Ice Cream equal 6 points. I'm guessing non nutritional choices "cost" more in the way of points. Makes sense.

Also, after a day of being hungry and rather cranky by dinner time, I was perturbed to not be down at all today when stepping on to the scale. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! That is NOT the kind of incentive on which I thrive and in which I find motivation. Thank goodness I know this about myself. There is still the Veruca Salt part of my nature that wants it NOW! So, a first day without weight loss is a real trigger for me to start playing around with a structure to make it work instantly or simply say, "This doesn't work." and throw in the towel and say, "See, I can't lose weight. This is hopeless." Ron said to me last night, "You're mad you have to do this, aren't you?" I'm not angry, but I am upset that I have so much work to do on my disordered eating habits. I know I will feel better in a few days. I'm kind of bummed that I'm not floating on a pink cloud.

Busy week ahead... periodontist and training after school today, staff meeting and training tomorrow, crown prep for the two teeth that had root canals on Thursday, and then out of state company comes to visit puppies Friday and will stay until Sunday. We also have other puppy buyers coming this weekend to visit. Oh, and I have a dog club board meeting on Saturday, too. Just think, I used to manage all this, teach, AND groom dogs after school. Is it any wonder I had to semi retire from dog grooming? LOL!

My resentment of WW the first few days lightened up after I changed to green gaining myself some more points and reframed my thinking to be, "This is how I always eat when I'm losing or maintaining weight. And this kind of eating makes me feel in control and better both physically and mentally. WW is just a helper to make me more mindful of my choices, as a tracker, and as source of new food ideas as I can stagnate in that regard."

You are busy!! And you snuck 2 root canals into last week too??

LOL! Root canals were in November! I put off the crown for insurance coverage. I maxed out with the root canals.

I did some hunting on the WW site and found that I was right about point value. Foods that are high in sugar and fats are more heavily pointed because they promote weight gain, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes. WW wants to promote healthy eating habits and I suppose the company's belief is that weighting foods that do not promote health with higher point values will deter people from choosing those types of calorie laden and non nutritious foods.

I was putting premade meals in the calculator and it's interesting how they ratchet up. Pure calories gets you X number of points. Any grams of saturated fat and sugar bump that number up. Then protein grams knock it way down.

Yup. The points algorithm is based on calories, saturated fats, sugar and protein.