Back on Track and well over 50

[feminist54]

Hi--a few glitches re: car financing, but hopefully LX will be in her new car next week...
I have been writing and re-writing...letting my grading slide a bit....
Bought some pomegrante (syrup)to add to salad dressing...mmmm. Its real nice on the cuke tomato salad.
I am glad that your district has come back to the democratic side...I hope that is just one indication that people are waking up to the mess that these teapartiers have gotten us into. As a friend who is going to run for Congress saya, all this fear mongering about social security and cutting social programs only hurts people, and social security as it is now is funded for the next 20 years,can you say that about the defense budget, or any other? He is reframing the conversation!
The computer class and volunteering at United Way sound like they are both good for you! The bread, not so much...
Well back to the book...ciao

[Chris55]

Have had a touch of a stomach bug the past few days, nothing horrid like the things that have been going around, just feeling lousy and having a very sensitive LOUD gurgling stomach. Had to cancel dinner out with colleagues of DH on Saturday and never made it to the Dem caucus on Sunday where I wanted to help celebrate our recent small victory! But our candidates are pretty well set so my vote wasn't crucial. A friend is running for state rep, lost last time around, but I think he may have a good shot this time.

Two job interviews lined up this week. If those don't work out I'm going to visit the only temp agency in the area next week. My hands are much much better - was able to type for 4 hours at United Way last week and then go to my 3-hour computer class without a problem.

Eating has been minimal - mostly soup and toast over the weekend, but only dropped .5. I'll probably gain that all back today eating more normally. Chicken, orzo, and some veggies for dinner.

[feminist54]

Good evening... spring like day today, snow storm tomorrow--oy! Lk has had just yucky weather the month she has been in florida...only wore her sunglasses 4 times! and only just getting into the 70s now...
Heard that Senator Snowe will not be running--too bad, she was a reasonable voice in the land of testosterone...but also heard that it looks like a democrat could take her seat...
Food has alternated between being very good, and then not so (had potato chips tonight)...but did a lot of walking today around campus ... back and forth to the library....and then a few laps of the grocery store because I only needed 3 things but I went to a store I don't normally go to, and brocolli was by the front door, milk in the far back corner and then back to the veggie section because cheese was not near the milk/diary...and then around once more looking for the oatmeal--was it in healthfoods between the bakery and veggies or someplace else.... (and our regular store has been changing up things too...in the name of makes no sense to me--switched dog and cat food around....)
tomorrow LX picks up her matrix...if she could have afforded car insurance on her own, she could have gotten a loan in her own name--but insurance was over 3,000$...so, to keep her on my insurance I have to co-sign the loanand put the car in my name....it did drop her interest payments though by 75 $....
my thyroid doc called I have to have another ultrasound guided biopsy in the next few months, and I have a low reading of vitamin D3...
Was looking for a deTocqueville quote on 'self-interest rightly understood" and came across one that is perfect for today (even though its almost 200 years old):
“I do not know if the people of the United States would vote for superior men if they ran for office, but there can be no doubt that such men do not run.”
Good luck with your interviews....Back to writing...ciao

[Chris55]

Sorry to hear you're going to have more holes poked in your poor body. But it's great that you're keeping on top of things with the best people in the field.

Well, Maine politics has about exploded since Olympia Snowe's decision. Everyone and their grandmother seems to be in the running, making possible state offices available with people jockeying for them. There's only a 2 week window to file paperwork, so everyone is scrambling including two former governors, neither of whom were very effective. I'd love to see Chellie Pingree, our state congresswoman, get elected. She's smart, lived on an island and started her own business marketing locally made yarn and knitting kits while single parenting, went on to the state house and senate (speaker!), and is a great voice for real Maine people. Lots of spunk. She has lots of financial backing now since she married a millionaire this summer. Right now I think the total number of people filing papers is 7 on the Democratic side, lol!

I'm with you on the car insurance/loan issues, too. Our oldest had to replace his car in the summer and was able to get a loan but we're still paying his insurance. Even though he turned 25 and his rates would have gone down, he has the oldest car in the house and my youngest is technically on his car so we can save a little. I could have him pay us the difference, if we can figure out what that is, but he's losing coverage on our health insurance in a few months and may need to be paying out of pocket for that very soon.

My stomach is still gurgling, but I've been eating normally, just have to be discreet with the noises! I'm going to try some bean soup for lunch and maybe a little yogurt afterwards to keep my digestion a bit quieter! I've been sneaking bread and chocolate lately, too, so not very much on program. Exercise will be shoveling today - 6-12" expected, the first real plowable snow in quite a while.

[feminist54]

Good morning...sorry I have been so quiet, but its my last push before I have to turn my ms in to my editor, and it seems that as much as I write, I have to go back and revise because so much is happening!
Plus, its midterms, and it was Int'l Women's Day and I was tasked with getting the Marist contingent out (too bad the organizers were not feminists, the speechifying included comments like "I hope you women will be careful in your highheels on the Walkway Across the Hudson" "All women need a male mentor" and a list of countries celebratiing IWD which only included white countries plus Belize --arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh But besides that it was a perfect day 68 degrees....
Tonight is the HV LGBTQ Gala...too bad the weather turned a bit chilly (next week it'll be in the high 60s....) so I am not sure what my shoe wear will be ...but I am wearing either a long silk broomstick pleated skirt or pallazo(?) pants with a sleeveless turtleneck long (mid thigh) tunic & fancy sweater...
LK arrived home yesterday, it was just starting to get into the 80s in Jax...but she'll have to go down again, because a project that was on hold, looks like its back on...

re: car insurance, mine is actually broken out by vehicle...
I am sorry to see senator Snowe go...it seems lie there is no place in the Rep party for reasonableness/moderates...
Good news is that with all this focus on women's reproductive health, young women & men are coming to the fore...

Well, off to run some errands...
ciao

[Chris55]

Happy Daylight Savings! I absolutely hate losing the hour, but am happy because the clock is more in tune with our sunrise/sunset here in Maine. We really should be in the Atlantic time zone so should be an hour ahead all the time!!

I hope you enjoyed your gala - sounds like it would be a nice event. Too bad about Int'l Women's Day lack of feminists. Maybe the current political climate will jolt this generation into being less complacent. Maine politics gets more interesting every day. Our two Dem House reps both decided to stay put and run for re-election. They're both pretty sure to be elected again, so no point in going out on a limb and possibly losing a House seat to the R side. Our former Independent Governor, Angus King, is running for Olympia Snowe's seat and I seriously doubt if anyone can beat him. He's smart, fair, innovative, and has a dynamite wife by his side that wouldn't let him vote conservatively on women's issues. Our latest Dem governor may run, but he wasn't a very impressive leader so I wouldn't even vote for him. Just hoping a 3-way race doesn't screw things up again like they did with our governor's race last time around.

As of yesterday, I'm officially back on P1 with some fruit added in. Strawberries were $1.49 this week, so I've been indulging! All of my pants are tight and I gave away the next size up and don't want to go shopping, so I definitely need to start losing again. I did well yesterday, but today I'm doing pasta and meatballs for the boys and some eggplant for me. Hopefully I will keep my hands off the pasta. I'll make a baked ziti casserole for the boys for one of the days I'll be out at my computer class and pack myself something healthy.

Exercise hasn't been happening. It's warmed up to around 50, hitting almost 60 one day this week, but there's been a very raw wind. I keep thinking I'll walk outside until I actually get out there. We should warm up much more this week - your area, too, from what I'm seeing. DS has been biking a little, but this week is his midterm crunch and he's in meltdown/stress mode. I tried to tell him to take a quick ride anyway to clear his head a bit. We pick him up on Friday for his break, so I get to spoil him a bit again.

Good luck with your revisions!

[lisa0702]

Good Morning! I am new to this website but not SB. Did the program in the past and now at 50 I need to make better choices. Getting old is not easy. In Dec had partial hysterectomy but have recovered and was released to run and workout a month later. I run 4 miles just about every day and workout 3-5 times a week with Kettlebells. I woke up a little late today to run with the time change so I thought I would check the website out before getting ready to work.

I started Phase 2 but am taking it slow with adding other foods.

Hope everyone has a great Monday.

[Chris55]

Welcome to the over 50 crowd, Lisa, We started out with a large group here, but lately it's just been two of us, much time spent talking about life other than food. It will be nice to have a fresh voice.

Getting older and trying to stay healthy is a challenge for me. I lost quite a bit on SB, then have slowly gained back about 20 lb by letting little cheats turn into weeks of overdoing! You sound like you're very active to me. I'm happy if I can do a 30-min workout most days. It's not that I don't have time, it's more that I don't have motivation. Working on that.

Today I did an indoor walk dvd, did some good on-program eating, and am sitting in the warm sun on my deck. It's in the 50's and the wind has died down, so it's early spring in Maine - a big treat for us. I'm trying to control my urge to drive down to the ocean. Invariably I do that on the first nice warm day every spring only to be greeted with freezing wind. So today, I'm content to stay here, soak up the sun, and listen to the birds.

Dinner tonight will be a turkey breast, stuffing for the guys, kale and some other veggie for me. Thinking about cooking up a half pound of pinto beans in my crockpot to have as a side - getting tired of black beans and need to have my beans every day to fill me up. I'm trying to do Phase 1 plus fruit because I've been having major issues with starches lately. I did manage to not touch the pasta I made last night. Had some lovely eggplant lasagna, a meatball, tiny piece of sausage, and pile of salad (and a glass of pinot noir!).

[lisa0702]

Good Morning! Weather here in Charlotte NC is wonderful. It is 70 and great for running in the morning. Your dinner sounded great. I love Kale. SB has a Kale with sausage and chicken broth recipe that is wonderful. They also have whole wheat rigatonni with turkey meat and chicken broth. I am going to stay away from the pasta for a while as I love whole wheat pasta but best to stay away for now. Did you ever do the South Beach on line? I tried it twice but just did not find their website to be user friendly or provide enough information. I get more information from their website by not subscribing. I am glad to have found this website. Well I do have to get ready and run. Hope you have a great day.

[feminist54]

Hi Chris, Welcome Lisa:
I had quite a push to get ms draft to editor, and grade midterms...now just have "normal" writing to do, and editor is sending in revision list soon...and the worst happened in this house: we were without internet for 3 days....and during those three days, LK, LX and I clocked in 2 plus hours each with Time Warner Cable or the router company (each blamed the other for the modem not recognizing the router and vice versa)
But its been in the 80s here --cooler & wetter this weekend--so I have been walking outside (cross campus). LK & Evan were out working in the garden yesterday...though we still might have that spring snow storm...
We have been eating too much bread, so we are making big push to do a stringent ph 1.5 (no white flour or sugar) for the next few weeks.
My vitamin D is still very low so my doc has me on 2000 mg of D2 plus minimum of 1 c milk /yougart per day --she actually also included ice cream in the mix as my + 1 cup (she thinks I don't get enough calcium from broccoli , cheese, etc. )
Good friends have joined weight watchers, but they totally restrict cheese, and I am a cheese addict. My favorite snack is sliced granny smith apple with gorgonzola, or chedder or feta....
LX is loving her new car...and the Cartalk guys said it was one of the most reliable used cars, too (Toyota Matrix), so good all around, but she has already lost a the key at ~$300 a key....arghhhh, but she has insurance for that...she knows herself very well
Well, off to school....

ciao

[Chris55]

Time for me to resurface and get serious again. It's been a wild week for me. DS is home from college this week, so I've been cooking a lot of very unhealthy comfort meals, eating out, baking cakes and brownies, etc.

Also had a bit of a local tragedy w/a young mom dying unexpectedly in her sleep. Now her husband (my son's supervisor at the bakery) is in the hospital with some kind of rampant infection, but they're also doing MRI's. Wife's autopsy report said an aneurysm. They were doing extensive home renovations and she had been pulling up tiles w/black mold on the day she died. Evidently severe cases of mold can cause an aneurysm, so the 4 little kids are out of the house being cared for by an army of relatives and friends. The funeral service was held without the husband present, but a memorial and burial will be held when he gets out of the hospital. The community is rallying with food set up on a great website called Bring Them a Meal. I attended the funeral mass, signed up to bring meals, and my son is working lots of extra shifts at work to cover for the husband until he gets back. I don't know how the poor guy will cope alone with 4 kids and a job that starts at 3am. I'm thinking he'll be moving closer to family.

I did manage to get some exercise in this week, a major hike (for me) up Gorham Mtn in Acadia, 525 feet. It wasn't so steep, but very long, and we had an 80 degree day for it, so I was sweating and wishing I had worn shorts!! It's been so gorgeous here all week, so we've been outside a lot, hanging out by the ocean, filling up bags of leaves and garden debris, and just sitting on the deck. Lovely spring break!! We bring him back tomorrow, were thinking of coming back early and going into the city, but the weather is supposed to be lousy so that will have to wait for another weekend. I feel like he's so close to Manhattan but hasn't gotten there yet, doesn't want to spend $30 on the bus.

So I'm determined to start eating more vegetarian meals and exercising more. I took out my capris on the really hot days and was horrified that none of them fit. I gave away all my larger ones when I cleaned and purged my closet last year, so I have to get rid of at least 10 lb. soon. So Monday I'm going to try for a week on Phase 1 with emphasis on veggies. I love cheese, too, and find most of the lowfat ones to be awful, so I need to work on that. We did a quick Trader Joe's trip last week and I got some very strong lowfat cheddar and lowfat smoked gouda that I like, so hopefully that will help. I also need to stay away from the bread and crackers.

Lisa, I envy your warmer weather. We had a glorious week here, but back to the 50's today. I'm still going to try and walk outside every day, just with a jacket and my light gloves handy for the wind.

[feminist54]

Good sunny but chilly/windy monday morniing (its going to be in the 50s all this week)..,will still hang out the laundry today...
We've been pretty good avoiding bread, white flour & sugar this week...and getting outside to walk/move...besides trying to do minimum 30 minutes of exercise in the morning.
I am boiling 1/2 dozen eggs so I have them available for salads, breakfast, etc. Had oatmeal this a.m. will have my apple & cheese for snack, a big loaded salad for lunch, and dinner will be chix, roasted cauliflower & chic peas (the chic beige dinner, hmmmm).
I have been taking a can of Progresso light soup for lunch an apple and some lite cheese for snack when I am at school...
Sleep has been beyond horrible --I'll doze off for a bit--30-45 minutes and then be wide awake for hours, doze again,and up again, doze...but I have attributed that to the time change...but this is ridiculous!
Have a few papers to finish grading,then to prep classes for the week, and then some writing before the house gets crazy so...ciao for now...

[Chris55]

Breezy and cold here again. Even though it was 39 this morning, the rain was turning to icy blobs, but luckily it was only for a few minutes. I did a quick veggie run - red peppers on sale this week, but could only find two that weren't squishy. I cooked a pot of small white beans this morning. I made myself a white bean/tuna salad for lunch and it came out good enough to write down the recipe. I have enough for tomorrow, too. Plus lots of leftover beans, which I've package into 1 cup baggies. I really want to start increasing the veggies in our diets and cutting down on the meat, but the guys are absolutely carnivores. So I'll just make lots of veggies every day along with some protein, and eat only a little meat myself. Tonight will be sirloin tips and veggies with potatoes for the boys.

I forgot to buy lowfat cheese sticks, though, and I need to have them in the fridge for snacking. I've discovered a nice sharp lowfat Irish cheddar at TJoe's that only has 4g of fat and actually tastes good. I like it with an apple, but I'm going to try and skip the fruit this week along with the starches and do a clean Phase 1.

I got my 30 min workout in, planning some yoga or Total Gym this afternoon if I can motivate myself!

[lisa0702]

Good Morning everyone! Weather in NC has been nice but rainy at times. I did weight watchers for the last 2 years and prior to that did SB for over 5 years. WW is good but I find SB to be healthier with the foods we eat. WW allows basically everything including sugar and I really need to eat healthier and make healthy choices. I really do like SB. I have all the books that I always refer back to. I also love love cheese and get mine at Trader Joes as well. Have any of you had the Beano Chips? I cant find them but am going to check Earthfare and Farmers Market. Well I have to go and run. Hope everyone is enjoying their week.

[Chris55]

Good morning, ladies! Nice to be able to say that again, not that I don't enjoy hanging out with you, Dr. Jam! Woke up to snow coating my deck yesterday, grrrr! But it had melted by 10am and turned to rain.

Phase 1 is going very well. I'm feeling good, less bloated, and the scale has FINALLY moved. I've been sticking to my basics, eggs and veggies for breakfast, usually salad of some kind for lunch, lean protein and lots of roasted veggies for dinner. Last night I treated us to some salmon, unfortunately farm raised, but that's all that's in my budget right now. You would think we'd have a huge selection of fresh fish in Maine, but that doesn't happen for some reason. I was just having thoughts about the old Fulton Fish Market and Sloppy Louie's, my favorite place for a seafood dinner, that is before they gentrified South Street Seaport in NY.

Lisa, which cheeses do you go for at Trader Joe's? It's hard weeding through them all to find the lower fat ones. So far I've found the Irish cheddar, a smoked gouda, feta, and sliced swiss-type cheeses that I get for my omelets and my husband's sandwiches. Their prices are pretty nice, too. I love cheese, so it's very hard to limit myself to an ounce. Nothing is better to me than a hunk of crumbly strong cheese, a glass of wine, and an apple or some ww crackers. I'd prefer nice crusty bread, but am trying very hard to give that up!

So far, so good without my fruit this week. I've been using some agave syrup, the only approved P1 sweetener that I will use, on my yogurt and ricotta. Somehow I managed to accidentally buy a huge container of regular fat Cabot greek yogurt, which is delicious, but too rich for SB. So yesterday I just bought some regular store brand plain ff yogurt and mixed them. I also used half the container making a cake last week but unfortunately I ended up eating it - so much for my good intentions.


Lisa, I did WW for a few years, too, and did very well until I stopped going to meetings. But I got so sick counting points, and realized that spending my day finding 2-pt snacks to eat was not very healthy. I was eating Pria Bars, baked chips, pretzels, etc. Now when I'm hungry I have some cheese or veggies and dip. I feel much better and much less obsessed with food.