Tuesday, 3/23

Good morning from Seligman, AZ. It's freaking SNOWING! UGH..... 6 hour drive ahead of me to Albuquerque. I had planned on being gone by 9 am, but am hoping the snow will let up a bit.

I left Shasta very late Sunday night and drove for a few hours and stopped at a truck stop area in Lodi, CA and slept for 5 hours. Got up and drove the 12 hours to Seligman (it's 12 hours due to dogs and gas stops... probably really only a 10 hour drive straight through).

Food has been fine on the road. Having a mobile kitchen helps a great deal. My biggest splurge since my road trip began was a breakfast sandwich from Starbucks yesterday. Last night dinner was a RV made Mexican "Cobb" Salad.

I should never have agreed to take a 12 week old puppy to Texas with me. As charming as he is.... Aye, yi, yi!

Gotta shake a leg...... Will check in soon.

Good to hear from you, Peps! Be careful driving GOAT in the snow (precious cargo with you and the pups on board!)

Weight 188

It became really clear to me this week how there is very little wiggle room for less healthy choices when you are cutting calories and exercising just enough to lose a little. 5 of 7 on target calorie days in the week, 2 restaurant meals and 1 carb splurge evening and I walked 16.5 miles of intentional walking, 1 Pilates class and gained nearly 2 pounds. Grr. Makes me want to tighten my control further, which cuts out the fun and seems like the wrong choice. I know it's only a week, but I guess it felt like my fingers slipped off the ledge a bit and I saw the results of that and didn't like it. Now I'm over thinking it.

No plans today except a walk.

Hope everyone has a good day!

And factor in that you weigh less than when you started, so more wiggle room decreased. Or ... it could be water Wright from the "trauma" of Pilates. I think keeping some of the fun is important, maybe even crucial. If you can do both, some leeway for fun and gradual trend downward, I'd say you found the sweet spot.

Also on my mind is that I just booked my flight to MI at the end of May for the summer and being there brings a lot of loss of food management control so that worries me too. I do best all by myself in a vacuum with little outside intrusion into my eating bubble. I know that's not real living, but it's safe and controlled for me. It's when I open my food world to the outside that I get tripped up - eating meals with others, being around others who are eating when I don't need/want to be, eating dinner later than I want (and ending up snacking to make it to dinner), restaurants, social gatherings... It's going to take some real effort to not gain my usual 10 summer pounds.

I totally get it. When it's just DH and me at our house, we often don't have "dinner" in the traditional sense, we each eat our sort of weird things that with our food plans. I don't bake. No treats in the house. Since our daughter has been here, my food routine is shook. We eat dinner together in the dining room. She's a vegetarian, so that often means more carbs to round out the meal, more pasta dishes etc. She loves to bake. Eating with others (and social eating is something that feeds us with more than food, I think it is an actual emotional need) is fun to do, and a beautiful part of life, but also another layer of complexity in the maintenance game. Maybe we should all try to pool together some of our coping strategies. Social meals are going to come roaring back. I don't have much to contribute except the tried and true coffee instead of dessert. Should love to hear other thoughts.

"Maybe we should all try to pool together some of our coping strategies."

This would be good!

I hope Peps is safely on the road now. As Cecily said, precious cargo.

Getting some work done, wrapping up the quarter this week. Then I have a blood draw at 3:30pm for my endocrinologist, needed before she can prescribe Fosomax. After that, we're going to visit my sister in law from 5pm to 6pm. She finished chemo last week, but is understandably still feeling affects. I think she's wise to have a time window for a visit so people know when to leave before they completely wear her out. She also asked that we don't bring any food of any kind, because she is suffering from food aversion and the sight or smells might throw her off being able to eat the few things she can tolerate. When she was first diagnosed before she started chemo, DH encouraged het to fatten up! Somewhat in jest, but also not, ad he saw what chemo did to his sister who passed away. This sister has a good prognosis, but the treatment protocol is brutal. Next up, a double mastectomy. :(

I've strung together a few good eating days. Probably because I know I'm going on vacation in a few days.

It's kind of quiet around here, hope everyone is doing okay.

PS - interesting stats I read from a study by the American Psychological Association:

"42% of Americans report undesired weight gain during Covid 19. The average weight gain is 29 lbs. And 41 lbs for Millennials."

And you are back to pre covid weight, or under? Well, well done!!! I am up about 10 previous, but maybe I don't feel so bad now, as I was battling covid, a Minnesota winter, and cancer aftermath. Feeling a bit more optimistic with better weather and the possibility of returning to some of the things I loved that Covid shut down.

Even Steven today! Any Minnesota winter would make me struggle to keep weight off, let alone a Covid one!

That those numbers are AVERAGES is what I found so eye opening...