Back on Track and well over 50

[Chris55]

Finally a day off today! Warm here, too, but it's supposed to cool back off to the 40's tomorrow. I worked 6-hr shifts on Sat and Sun, 10 hrs Mon and Tues. My body is not happy. Will be seeing the nurse practitioner at LLBean tomorrow for a followup on my hands - I have a bit of carpal tunnel and was hoping the job they gave me wouldn't aggravate it, but ten hours of anything that repetitive is making my hands ache. I've been sleeping with a brace on my right wrist, and just took a heavy duty does of Aleeve since aspirin wasn't doing a thing. Feeling better now, but I'm sure part of that is due to the rest today. They're asking people to work 6 10-hour days in a row, so not sure if I can handle that, or want to. The extra money is nice, but it's crazy, especially since I'm out the door at 5am.

Today I relaxed, did yoga stretches, and did a major grocery haul. All the t-day food was gone and the cupboard was bare. I plotted out dinners with DS, since DH doesn't cook much and gets home late. DS is home most afternoons so he's in charge for the next few days.

I cooked today - salmon, asparagus, baked potato. Also threw a small portion of a ham/cheese quiche in the oven - enough for 2 days on my early morning break. Made a smoothie and will have that plus an Odwalla bar in the car on the way to work. Last week I did hard boiled eggs, will probably do some of those again. But I bought lots of individual yogurts and cottage cheese, V-8, etc. Dinner tomorrow is a greek spinach casserole ready to go into the oven topped with crescent rolls that I never used over the weekend. Not exactly healthy, but right now I'm just trying to keep my head above water and eat relatively healthy foods. Friday night DS will do a pot of chili, I have a pork tenderloin ready to go for Saturday - something easy that can be stuck in the oven.

I also went to my favorite discount store and bought nuts and granola, split them all up into snack sized ziplocs. So now I can grab a bag of nuts every day and have something to mix into my yogurt. I also got grape tomatoes and some baby peppers - love those stuffed with soft cheese. So I think I'm ready for the next week. Ugh! I don't know when I'm going to Christmas shop. Luckily I've gotten the big things ordered, but all the little stuff we like to do is going to be tough. I need to find some things to send to DD in Australia that will fit in a tiny flat rate box that's only 1 5/8" thick. So far I have Christmas socks. Will try and get a tiny balsam fir sachet, maybe some maple sugar candy. I don't think my cookies will survive the trip, which is pretty sad. I've never had a Christmas without her - not looking forward to that!

[Feminista54]

Happy New Year! Hope you had a good Holiday season....
Sorry for the month of quiet--I had to re-register (hence the 54 now after feminista), because I was in an infinite loop...
But I survived the pile of theses, some were what rhymes with thesis...
But, we are now in Jacksonville for a bit...walked two miles on the beach today, its been balmy (though the weather is supposed to turn cold forthe next few days--freeze warnings overnight!). Not sure if we are going to play tennis, since my toe is still swollen (it seems to be a magnet for anything to drop on it or tobe stepped on...ouch!)
Have to de-eggnog, etc. my body...we will do a week of phase one starting tomorrow.
I am finishing a book review,and then will be putting my nose to the book grindstone.
ciao

[Chris55]

Welcome back! I've been laying low myself because my diet has been horrible. Working crazy hours and eating breakfast sandwiches in the car set me up for bad snacking habits every day. I just cannot do grains early in the morning. SB taught me that much. So I'm home now, took a week off for holiday festivities and eating, now am ready to recommit with at least a few days of Phase 1. It's going to be challenging with 3 guys in the house who are carbaholics, but I'll do my best. I've already started exercising more and will probably go out for a walk today. It's got to be in the 40's - almost balmy by our standards.

Still job hunting. Had one interview, two rejections. Am about to retool the resume for a 6-month position doing early Head Start home visits with moms of infant to 3 yrs. It's with an agency funded by United Way, so I'm hoping the connections will help. Not what I really want to do permanently, but it will pay the bills and give me some front line experience (that's the scary part). Keeping my fingers crossed, again. If that doesn't work out I may try a temp agency, but not sure if they'll look at me at this point since they're all swamped with applications.

Good news is that DS earned straight A's this semester. I'm very proud of him. He's relaxing this break, deciding if he wants to try CLEPing out of his US Studies gen ed requirement by testing next week. Other than that, we're enjoying family time, watching old movies, etc. It's so nice to have kids with their heads screwed on straight. Other kids are out drinking and partying on New Year's Eve - my two boys were home watching "The Muppet Family Christmas".

Enjoy your break and the Florida weather! Luckily we had just a dusting of the white stuff so it was pretty on Christmas, but warm since then! Hoping for a mild winter.

[Feminista54]

Good morning...Our new years eve was marred by Sophie's teen-age drama/angst--actually missed the ball dropping since her melt down was from 11:45-12:15--but the poor kid has some auto-immune thing happening (they are thinking its what Venus Williams has) and she vomits daily, is prone to infection, etc. and on top of that she misplaced her cellphone and got separated from her friends, so she came home (which was smart, though she took it out on Missy, because what are mothers for?)
We went shopping yesterday to prepare for SoBe...stocked up on eggs:). I'll be making omelets when everyone awakes...have to say that the food--including fresh veggies-- here is much more expensive than Kingston! Am going to drain the eggplant so I can make eggplant parm for tonight...
Well, off to slice eggplant....
ciao

[Feminista54]

Morning:Just finished a broccoli omelet--did not like the turkey bacon I bought (jenny?) way too salty to eat as slices,imho...will only use it as bacon bits.
It is soooo cold down here--only 36 degrees now at 9 a.m.-- that Melissa put the heat on last night after covering all her plants (she has a beautiful, interesting garden out back). LK and I are going to bundle up and walk our 2 miles on the beach later (its supposed to go into the mid 40s).
Read this article that says that most of us gain our weight back after a while if we are not vigilant http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/01/magaz ... oss&st=cse
Today's the Iowa Caucus...LK's sister no longer takes the Des Moines Register because she says its too liberal (!)...Rose(my m-i-l) was more upset that K. was a republican than LK was a lesbian LOL...
Straight A's, he should be very pleased with himself! What is he taking this spring?
Well, now to finish that book review....
ciao

[Chris55]

LOL! More upset about being a Republican than being lesbian - love it! I have very liberal friends, she's a lawyer, he's an artist and anti-nuclear power activist and their granddaughter was dating a guy who loves Rush Limbaugh. They were losing their minds over it.

So far, so good with the food, but I did have a glass of wine yesterday as has become my habit lately. I also woke up at 2am and couldn't sleep, seemed hungry, so had today's portion of almonds and a cup of "Calm" tea and went back to bed and slept a little later than usual. This morning I had my black beans and eggs, am making some veggie/turkey soup for lunch, chicken and broccoli for dinner, rice for the boys. Also prepping some mac and cheese comfort food for tomorrow for the guys - I will eat some of our leftover ham and veggies. I have a pile of shredded cabbage that I need to use up and will either make it into an Asian slaw (Newman's lf sesame ginger dressing) or cook it, but the boys aren't fond of cooked cabbage. Maybe they'll eat it if I put some soy sauce on it.

Freezing out today, so I did a 30 min exercise dvd. Trying to decide if I want to join the $5 indoor walk group for a month - that would at least get me out of the house and moving. I can't do any weight training yet - LLBean work almost destroyed my hands. I just bought a paraffin bath thanks to a recommendation by the PT and PA at LLBean employee health. My carpal tunnel and my arthritis really flared up and the arthritis doesn't seem to be improving much - making it hard to chop those raw veggies.

Next semester at NP, DS is taking Japanese, Linguistics (thinking he may minor), English Comp II, Western Music, and East Asian Philosophy. It's been really nice to have him home, but he's getting bored since his big brother is working a lot of hours (which means more luscious bread tempting me!). But it was nice to see him Skyping with his buddy from the dorm last night - first time in a long time he has friends.

[Magna]

I had cooked cabbage for dinner last night and it was very tasty and mild. The secret, I think, is to saute/steam/braise it in a good amount of oil, and not to overcook it. Just cook it on low heat until it's soft. You can season it up with a little salt and pepper, caraway seeds, allspice, and/or vinegar. You can also add something to sweeten it up a little, to counter the vinegar (agave, artificial sweetener, or even apples). Very good with some kind of meat added.

[Chris55]

I have no problem eating cabbage myself, it's kind of part of my ethnic heritage. Just can't get the rest of the family on board unless I do a slaw or turn it into an Asian dish, like a lo mein. I may just cook it up for myself as my second veggie to keep on hand in the fridge and let them eat their broccoli

[Chris55]

I hear it's in the 20's in Florida this morning! Hope you brought some warm clothes. It's about 5 degrees here, but that's to be expected this time of year. It's only a one day blip though, back to the 20's and 30's tomorrow.

Two days of healthy eating so far. Yes, I did see that NYTimes article - guess I'll have to start my exercise chart again and just be obsessively organized for the rest of my life. I don't really relish the thought of focusing on this aspect of my life so intently forever. My goal is to permanently change my bad habits. To some extent I have done that, but it seems that any time I get busy and stressed, it goes out the window.

I'm putting off exercise this morning, playing online and drinking coffee. Time to get moving....

[Feminista54]

Oh Yes! Its frigid here...but supposed to get warmer (60s) this weekend...froze walking our two miles on the beach yesterday, so when it was only 27 this morning...opted out.
Day 3 of eating SoBe 1 --tonight's going to be a bit harder, we are going out with Missy's former neighbor to some "fun beach bar" for dinner...
For me, stress and not sleeping equal food in mouth...and on stomach...
Romney actually lost votes in Iowa from 2008...
Saw a funny joke regarding all the GOP candidates who claim G*d asked them to run: G*d's phone keeps butt dialing people...
It would be very nice not to have to think about food/exercise all the time...but, it seems that it takes 5 years to really re-set your weight. I have toyed with the idea of going vegan, but I like cheese (& eggs) too much...and it would make meals at home harder...
Well, to write...

[Chris55]

Had trouble sleeping again last night - water seems to need to come out of my body around 2am. Ended up with a cheese stick, cup of tea, and a book for an hour or so. So I slept a little later, but made a nice veggie/cheese omelet with some wilted salad mix. I also pulled out my SB Supercharged DVD, which I'm not too fond of, but did a 20 min. cardio on it for a change of pace. Now I'm cooking up a big pot of bean soup with my ham bone from the weekend - lunch for the next few days plus some for the freezer.

[Feminista54]

Good morning: Its supposed to get up to low 60s this afternoon, so we are saving our beach walk for later...this early morning, my walk is through the stores--need to buy some shout so I can do laundry, razors (so if it ever gets warm enough to show my calves...).
I managed well last night, though had two glasses of pinot noir.
At the Publix here are some wonderful salad -in- bag mixes..a blu cheese one (that has some dried fruit in it ) that is oh so wonderful. But because of the few dried pieces fruit, prob not reallly that SoBe.
Day 4 started with eggs...have to make some more hummus...dinner might be roasted chicken, salad and mashed cauliflower...
So, I'm off so i can get back to write before everyone gets home...ciao

[Chris55]

A little bit of snow this morning, just enough to coat the grass and roads, but we're supposed to get a warmup tomorrow into the 40's.

I got on the scale and am down about 1 1/2 lb since Tuesday. I know I shouldn't be weighing so frequently, but I needed some encouragement and felt like I had lost.

Made a large pot of bean/ham soup yesterday, threw in some SmartChoice elbows, just a bit, and it was delicious. Froze two nice sized containers and have some in the fridge for the weekend. Have been exercising every morning, too. Yesterday I pulled out an old dvd - SB Supercharged. I like parts of it, can't do other parts - lots of ab work that I ignore because it would stress my back and hands. But it got me really sweating and evidently tired enough that I slept through until 5:30 this morning. I also signed up for my $5 indoor track program which will start in about a week. Looking forward to popping my headphones on my head and walking for an hour.

Need to do a veggie run again. Our local grocer has peppers for $2/lb so peppers will be on the menu all week. I love red peppers so I take advantage when the price comes down. I may just saute up a vat with some onions and freeze them.

[Feminista54]

Good morning and good on you for 1.5 pounds gone! For me, the bloat is gone from my face !!!
Been having leftover salad with hard boiled eggs for breakfast...
Yesterday I treated myself to a 60 cal "fudgicle" (boy, is food expensive here in Jax...cauliflower over $3, the box of fudicles was a little over $4!).
Walked 2 miles plus on our fav beach just north of St.Augustine yesterday...when it clears up here (rainy this a.m.) we will go walk on the beach 15 minutes from Missy's...
We were watching House Hunters International last night--how DO these young couples afford these second homes (and pay cash!)? And, who can afford to pay 10,000/month rent? Where do the normal people live????????
Well,need to write for a bit.
Have a good weekend...
ciao

[Chris55]

I did my grocery run yesterday - came home with a pile of red peppers (a yellow one for variety, too), mushrooms, tomatoes, salad, and some frozen veggies to make my life easier sometimes with the guys. Starting to work on packing up food for the kid to bring back to campus. Am making some beef stew with carrots for him, experimenting with freezing real mashed potatoes, making a pot of sauce and meatballs. He has a long walk to the cafeteria so may be eating more meals at the food court this semester, and nuking things from home when it's bitter cold out, if that ever happens! So it's a good thing I have lots of veggies since I'll be cooking non-SB foods this week. I really should have gotten some more eggplant to have while the guys eat pasta....

I ordered myself 3 new exercise dvds so I can have some variety. Our ancient VCR is jammed, so I can't do my old tapes. I treated myself to a Walk Away the Pounds dvd, which is funny because Leslie Sansone gets on my nerves. I found one where you can play just the music track, so that should solve my problem with her giggly chatter! I used to turn down the sound on the VCR and listen to NPR while I exercised. Also ordered a Prevention one and another that sounded good - I checked out the clips on Collage Video and hopefully made good choices. I used to like Netflixing exercise dvds to check them out before purchasing, but they have very few these days.