Back on Track and well over 50

[feminist54]

Hi Chris & Lisa (I do understand Chris, & took no offense: the more the merrier)
From what I can tell most people can not stick to WW for lifetime eating, SoBe is for life, IMHO, and when I feel that my tummy is protruding,I can look back and see the bread & pasta that caused it,and a week of Ph 1 or 1.5 has me back on track...
In this house, even though my fatherinlaw was a cattle dealer--red meat is very limited (to when I am not around)...for the most part we do veggies with a little chicken or fish (salmon, tuna, tilpia) big splurge is shell fish mmmmmm. (Turkey also happens ocassionally for occassions, but that requires all the fixings which can cause issues)....In most of the world the plate is mostly veggies, beans, rice (grain) with just an accent of fleshy protein--only in America do we do the reverse...the slab o meat with accents of veggies.
Dinners the past few days have been : onion & ricotta tart (version of the one in the NYT yesterday made with whole wheat pizza dough) w/ salad; chicken piccata with chic peas roasted in cumin and mashed cauliflower (that chic beige meal) w/ salad; overstuffed omelets w/salad; onion soup (made with chix stock), asparagus soup; grilled salmon over a salad nicoise. (soup days are when I have meetings in the evenings...)...which reminds me, I need to take something out of the freezer for tonight...
Even though we buy basically the same things each week at the store, our grocery bill has been ever climbing! ost coupons are for things that are in the center of the grocery store, and we basically stay on the outside...even dog & cat food has gone up substantially! & Cheese--way up, even at Costco ...and we go through a LOT of feta...btw, I tried the Laughing Cow blue cheese--in a pinch, its edible...but give me a hunk of gorgonzola!

off I go...ciao

[Chris55]

My scale is down 4lb since Sunday, so I'm very happy and surprised since usually you aren't supposed to lose a lot on Phase 1 if you've been on SB before. I guess that just goes to show how lousy my eating has been lately. I'm feeling good, much less bloated, and my energy level is better. Just need to stick with it. I was very tempted to have a glass of wine last night. I've had a stressful week but decided that I was doing so well with the weight loss that I didn't want to screw it up.

I'm trying to motivate myself to pull out the Total Gym today. My exercise dvd's are getting boring. Tired of the old ones and not so crazy about the new ones. So a little weight training is in order to break up the monotony and help my poor old body get stronger!

Dinner tonight will be chicken w/curry sauce (from TJoe's), maybe some lentils for me and rice for the boys, and a veggie. Trying to find new ways to work beans into my diet, so will be consulting my new bean cookbook. This morning I had small white beans with some chopped ham, a little smoked paprika and cumin, with eggs on top. Pretty good for improvising.

[feminist54]

Good morning: bright & sunny here, tho still chilly...
Glad to hear that the scales are moving in the right direction for you Chris...I am sorry you are stressed --what I have read, stress = fat storage, so make sure you are also taking vitamin B6 & B12...
I finally gave in and took 1/2 an ambien last night at 9 it kicked in about 10ish, and I slept like the dead...it did take 30 minutes to get going out of bed this a.m. though...so I missed my 30 minutes exercising this a.m., but will make it up walking around campus--to the library, etc. before classes.
Besides not sleeping, my other big worry is that while I drink a minimum iof 64 oz of water a day, I don't feel that I have any where near equal output,so I am thinking I might have to see my doc...but that will have to wait until we get back from a confernce in Chicago in next week (we are taking the train, which should be fun--we loved the train ride to Montreal 2 years ago.
off to teach--today's my heavy day 3 classes, and tonights my book group--Sister Citizen...
ciao

[Chris55]

Sunny and windy here, too. One week of warm weather spoiled us. I thought I'd walk outside today but stepped out the door and was almost blown away. Settled for a bit of Total Gym today - I need to build up my stamina gradually, so am back to the lowest level.

Chicago sounds like fun, although it might actually be colder there than in the northeast. Getting away is the part that attracts me. I'm doing my best to take steps towards employment every day, but it's a challenge. DS also quit his bakery delivery job, so soon we'll have no more free bread (a good thing!) but he'll have to fall back on his savings until he finds something. They had him working 50+ hours a week, driving 250 miles a day, and they wore him to a frazzle. He's had no time to work on his music, which is what he's supposed to be doing right now.

Food is continuing to be good, and I'm staying away from wine, too. Trying to make it to Easter. I've started a bit of fruit or a bit of starchy veggie every day and doing OK so far. Today I met a United Way friend for some soup while we commiserated about job searches. This girl is in her late 20's, bright Wellesley grad, editor, worked at the Field Museum and does editing from home for Cornell Univ. Press. She can't find anything but temp work here and may have to move back to NY, but really wants to stay here. She just did an informational interview at the Frances Perkins Center.

Food is good today: feta and veggie omelet, soup and a cheese stick for lunch, some nuts, dinner will be ham and veggies, some kind of potato for the boys. Tomorrow I'm making them some pasta while I have leftover ham and some beans. I chopped a hunk of the ham off and froze it, baking the part with the bone tonight and will make a vat of pea soup tomorrow.

Hoping your fluid intake/output issue isn't serious. It must be hard to worry so much every time something seems off-kilter.
I count my blessings that we've been healthy and that I seem to be holding off the genetic gift my mother gave me!

[lisa0702]

Good Morning Chris and feminist54! Hope you both had a great Easter Sunday. My husband and I decided to go to Myrtle Beach Thursday night for the Easter Weekend. I ran every morning on the Beach, it was great. Then we dediced to rent a boad and fish in the inlets and thought that we were going to catch our Sunday dinner for us and the boys, wrong, we did not catch a thing, nothing. We fished from 9-3. Oh well, we had fun.

Feninist54, I hope everything is okay with your urine output. I drink 64 oz of water but with crystal light. Is that okay? I am not a big water fan.

I did find the beanito chips at The Fresh Market and they are really good. I make them as nachos and put ff cheese and salsa on top. Chris, I get the same cheese as you do at Trader Joes because those are the only ones I found that are reduced fat.

Hope everyone enjoys their Monday.

[Chris55]

Sounds like you had a great weekend, Lisa! I'd love to be someplace warm right now. Still cool and dreary here; guess we had our summer fling last month.

I'm recovering from eating yesterday. I made a SB friendly dinner for the most part - gigantic artichokes and eggplant lasagna, plus a regular lasagna for my boys. But I heated up some bread, which we dunked in olive oil, and I indulged. It was the first bread I had had in two weeks, and boy did it make me bloated. We ate around 1 and then only had my cheesecake (which was supposed to be my treat, not the bread!) at 6ish. I was still so full from dinner that I didn't really want anything else.

Back on plan today - pork tenderloin and lots of veggies for dinner. I'll also get off my butt - skipped exercise the last 3 days and seriously need some yoga stretching today. Got out of bed very creaky. These old bones aren't happy sitting around.

[feminist54]

Good gray Monday morning Lisa & Chris--
Lisa, Sounds like your weekend was fun--up here in the Hudson River fishing is a catch and release activity because of the PCBs and other pollutants (tho the river is much cleaner than it was 30 years ago!)--men are allowed to eat one fish per week from the river,women once a month unless they are preggers, then NONE, No fish for kids...LX and her friends go fishing,but Ithink its more to hang out by the river...Evan (4.5y.o.) loves to go fishing...in fact the Easter Bunny brought him a new fishing pole and reel....
LK & I leave for Chicago on Wednesday--I have to deliver a paper at the Mid West Political Science Conf ... we'll prob go to a couple of blues clubs--long long ago LK lived there for a second and did a lot of work with Willie Dixon--not sure of the food situation since we will be downtown, but I hope wecan find a grocery store so that we can at least be good ( and frugal) breakfasts & lunches...The hotel is wifi's so Ican do my exxercise (plus it must have a gym).
Have not heard fromthe doc re: all the tests(urine,blood) results--prob. not a good weekend to send stuff to the labs..
Drinking water (even with cystalite) is good for you...I try not to do the the chemicals in artifical sweetners & sweet things make me want (crave) more sweet things...which is good that I like savory more than sweet.
ciao

[lisa0702]

Good Morning Chris and feminist54. I am drinking a cup of coffee before my morning run. My allergies are kicking in. The pollen is pretty bad in N.C.
Chris, sounds like you had a wonderful dinner. I just had grilled chicken on the grill, trader joes spinach and popcorn for my snack. Simple but good. I am still not ready to indulge. My boys asked me if I wanted 5 Guys on Sunday and I told them are you kidding me but thank you. I love 5 Guys but I passed it up. Now that is willpower. I dont know if you guys have a 5 Guys but they are really good hamburgers and fries.

Feminist54, I hope you are feeling better. I had lab work done as well last week and hope to get my results today. Mine was for my yearly check. I seem to get tired more and I dont know if it is from the hysterectomy I had in December but I hate when I get that tired feeling to where you just dont feel like doing anything. Oh well I guess things could be worse.

Well I have to get ready and run before getting ready for work.

Have a great day!

[Chris55]

Good morning! Having our much-needed rain here, finally. Saw some photos of wildfires on LI, pretty scary.

Off to the employment agency today to see if they can set me up with some temp work. Then I get to hang around there all afternoon until my computer class this evening. I think I'll pack lunch but go to Wendy's for dinner if my will power holds up! I had one last sliver of my cheesecake last night and now it's gone, thanks to the men in the house. So about the only temptation left is Dove chocolate, which I try to limit to 2 a day.

Lisa, maybe your allergies are sapping your energy. I'm already taking my daily dose of loratadine because my allergies have gotten bad already, and nothing is blooming here yet. I can deal with the runny nose, but the headaches and lack of energy really bother me. I'm getting out my neti pot because I still have a knot in my forehead.

[lisa0702]

Good Morning! Chris I think you maybe right about the allergy's making me tired. The pollen in NC is really bad and I too have been taking over the counter stuff for now and it seems to be helping somewhat. I received my labwork results yesterday and the nurse said my lab work was excellent and asked if I worked out. My cholesteral she said was excellednt. HDL 95 and LDL 91. The only thing that was low was my Vitamin D Level. Mine was 29 and they like to see 40 but prefer 50 so she wanted me to take an additional 2000mg of Vitamin D.

We finally have no rain in our forecast for the whole week. It must have moved your way. Were you able to find some temp work? Speaking of cheesecake I am going to see about making a Southbeach cheesecake recipe this week. I think I might have a SB pumpkin cheesecake recipe. I love pumpkin cheesecake.

Well let me get dressed and start my moring run.

Have a great day!

[Chris55]

My, you're up early, Lisa! I'm taking it easy this morning, just sipping coffee. Got home around 10 last night after a busy day. I signed up with the employment agency, spent 2 hours there taking various assessments and think I did fairly well. Never thought I'd see the day when I would be ASKING for a job typing, lol! Ages ago I would lie and tell people I couldn't type just so I wouldn't be stuck as a secretary. Anyway, I should be hearing something within the next week as they get temp openings and start farming people out.

I packed lunch yesterday, which I ate in my car (it was spritzing out and the sun was playing peek-a-boo), then sat in an internet cafe for a while resisting their yummy sandwiches and pastries. Hit Wendy's for dinner, having my favorite chicken/pecan/apple salad. Never ended up exercising because every time I found somewhere to walk, it started raining and looking ominous.

Today I get to stay home, hopefully work out on the Total Gym. DH is collapsed on the couch in front of my TV/exercise DVD area so I think I will skip the walk dvd today. He's go a tummy bug and has been up half the night and very sweetly came downstairs to be quiet so I could sleep. So I will be lysoling and using Clorox wipes everywhere today. Two people in my computer class last night just got over the same thing. Ran off to wash my hands at break before eating my snack!

Jo, hope you're enjoying your Amtrak trip today. It's so nice to travel and to be able to get up and walk around. Only one bad experience going down to Atlanta on a filthy overnight train, ugh! Love the Auto Train to Florida - what a blast that was! Hope it's not too cold in Chicago! Oh, forgot to tell you, one of my young friends from United Way just got hired for the summer by the Frances Perkins Center here. Very excited for her!

[lisa0702]

Good Morning Chris and Jo!

Yes I am an early riser. I usually get up around 4:15 and try to run during the week by 4:45 or 5Am then get ready for work but the weekends I like to be able to run in daylight so I will run around 7 or 8am. Chris did you get to workout yesterday?

I heard that 2 tablespoons of raw honey is good for allergies but honey is a no no on SB correct? The weather this weekend in NC is suppose to be really nice like around the high 70's. The last 2 days I had to run in 32 and 38 degree's so I had to get my leggins and gloves out.

Jo did all your test come back okay?

Well I am going to start a little house cleaning before I run then start some more cleaning and then food shopping and Costco and hopefully some relaxation.

Enjoy the weekend!

[Chris55]

We're having a stretch of glorious spring days here in the Northeast! It's 9am and I'm sitting on my deck in a t-shirt drinking coffee!! One daffodil is finally open. I just spent an hour raking half the front of my property near the street so that my daylilies won't have to fight with leaves and the remnants of winter sand. The best time to do that is Sunday morning since the cars that are out early aren't zooming by with people late for work. An orange t-shirt and a large plastic trash can in front of me helps. Maybe I need some of those orange triangles! Met lots of my neighbors out running and walking.

Back to my black bean and egg breakfast. Will be going to a BBQ this afternoon with potluck salads and birthday cake, so trying to be good in the morning at least! I'll be bringing a broccoli/craisin salad to share. Defrosting lean burgers for tonight for an easy dinner.

[lisa0702]

Good Morning!
Chris that sounded like a nice Sunday morning but raking leaves can be a workout. I did that last year in our back yard and I literally raked all day because the boys would rake everything to the back and it piled up year after year. Now that I raked it all in the back it looks really nice with grass but boy was that a job. Hope your barbecue went well. I had Beano Chips with fat free cheese and salsa for lunch and it was really good. For dessert last night I had Russell Stovers sugar fee chocolate covered peanuts. I think I may have had more than I was suppose to but it was good too. Well off to run. Have a great Monday and good luck with the job search.

[Chris55]

Good morning, Lisa! It's another beautiful morning here, going up to 78. My BBQ went well, just had some chicken and my salad, sipped on seltzer. Just as the cake was coming out, my husband called to tell me that very dear friends of ours who had been MIA for about a year had stopped by, so I ended up coming home and missing the cake. Spent some time catching up with our friends, serving some lf cheese and crackers, which I was too full to eat. Had a burger later for dinner on an english muffin with some salad. Did fine until I went to bed and kept waking up through the night with stomach gurgles. Finally came downstairs for yogurt, still couldn't sleep. Ended up on the couch with a book, cup of tea, and a lot of crackers at 3am.

So I had a lovely social day, which is pretty unusual for me. Tummy is slowly calming down, not sure what that was all about!