Everyday Systems

Made it to Core Power Yoga yesterday. It felt challenging but good. My boyfriend brought home Vietnamese takeout yesterday for dinner. I was really hungry by the time he came, and I finished every bite on my banh hoi. I am thinking of having my daughter's leftover pho for lunch. There is really just noodles and broth left, so I will have to doctor it up a bit with some veggies.

I'm working on the couch again today while a contractor works at my house. Hoping to get into the office later today.

170 today.

Hanging in at 169.5 lbs. I marked yesterday red because I ate a couple of pieces of dried mango before making dinner. But overall, it was a mostly green day. Picture a maple leaf, just turning color in the fall: mostly green, a bit red.

168 today. I haven't had any S things yet - busy day - but I have some mixed berry pie waiting for later.

I have not been very good about exercise, beyond walking and some yoga. I will declare here publicly that I WILL go for a short run tomorrow. I am going for a walk tonight with my friend. We usually do 2-3 miles.

I weighed in at 169.5 today. I bent the rules a bit the other night, because I gave myself a green despite my dinner plate at the Ethiopian restaurant being huge. I did not eat it all - half the injera and beef came home for lunch - but I did eat some of my boyfriend's veggie platter.

I had my physical yesterday. My doctor was really happy about my sugar (90), my weight, my pulse (resting heart rate 52) and BP (110/80). My pulse and BP are always good. I was happy, too, although my cholesterol is up slightly (maybe because of less exercise). The cholesterol is still in the healthy range, just a little up from last year. My resting heart rate was 52 BPM in the doctor's office, and she said it's probably actually lower, because most people have a doctor-related increase in stress and heart rate. That actually got me a diagnosis last time - brachycardia, which in my case she swears is a good thing.

All in all, a good month, and I'm happy with tracking diet on the Habitcal.

Does anyone have one of those scales that sends your weight automatically to an app? Do you like it? I thought that they sounded dumb, but then I realized that logging into Happy Scale every morning has created a negative habit of phone use immediately on going downstairs every morning.

I had a random low weight (for me) today, and it was mildly thrilling. 167.5

I had a nice walk with my friend last night, but did not go running today. It was way too hot. I did another Yoga with Adriene video.

What great progress you've had on NoS Jen!! Lovely to see.

You know, NoS seems classic for slow (but incremental in the right direction) weight loss. Those people that determine they are here for the moderate way of approaching food have the best success, I guess because they aren't fixated on the scale. But it is still SO exciting and thrilling to see those downward weights! Look how far you have come in a year! Awesome, just awesome.

Have you posted a testimonial? I know I find you inspiring!

automatedeating wrote:What great progress you've had on NoS Jen!! Lovely to see.

You know, NoS seems classic for slow (but incremental in the right direction) weight loss. Those people that determine they are here for the moderate way of approaching food have the best success, I guess because they aren't fixated on the scale. But it is still SO exciting and thrilling to see those downward weights! Look how far you have come in a year! Awesome, just awesome.

Have you posted a testimonial? I know I find you inspiring!

Thank you for this! I have not posted a testimonial yet, but will do one in September at my one year mark. I agree that for me, No S has been quite slow but also quite sustainable and consistent.

AHHHH - I saw 166.5 today on the scale. I need to chill out, because it's not about the number. Yet, the number is validating to my efforts so far.

I took my kid to the movies yesterday and skipped the popcorn. Enjoyed it just fine. I have been racking up a lot of green days.

Besides the vanilla habits, I'm also trying to be aware of gluttony in other aspects of my life, i.e., drinking a whole pot of coffee because it's there, and from a weird idea that I might not get enough caffeine to function. This has been a self-fulfilling prophecy in the past, as I then need greater and greater amounts of coffee to feel normal. So, I've been making a conscious effort to stop drinking after one or two cups, and to put any extra in the fridge for iced coffee for another day, or just for later if I want it. I've realized that I had been sure that I needed to keep my belly full at all times, with water or coffee or food, and it's okay and actually feels better to allow some emptiness between meals, or a moderate fullness instead of distension. Water is great, but I think the idea we have that you need to drink gallons every day is off base, too, and maybe a weird off shoot to the diet industry. I've found that unless I am in extreme heat or doing cardio, a couple of glasses of water spread throughout the day, plus maybe a cup of tea if I want it, is plenty. I am letting go of the fear that compels me to always be eating or drinking.

jenji wrote: Water is great, but I think the idea we have that you need to drink gallons every day is off base, too, and maybe a weird off shoot to the diet industry.

Congrats on seeing results from your efforts. I too think that the idea that we should be drinking enormous amounts of water for some health benefit is weird.

Hey congrats on all that GREEN! Movies without popcorn? You are my new hero!!!!

I used to be like that with coffee. My husband bought a large-sized Keurig (against my wishes) and I realized that sometime over the past 9 months my habit has change and now I only have 2 cups a day. Rarely I'll head to make a 3rd cup but think -- oh wait, I've already had 2. Something about it making individual servings keeps me in check. But I can't deny it's expensive, so I don't typically recommend it to anyone.

I do drink a glass of water first thing every morning, after using my asthma inhaler. So I start the day with some water.

Red day yesterday. We did a tasting menu at a hot restaurant. I've had them before where they are tiny portions for each course, but this place did not use that logic, and each of the 5 courses was about half a dinner plate. Lesson learned. This is not likely to happen a lot because while it was delicious, it was out of my price range. I only went because we won a gift card at an auction.

Celebrating weight milestones seems to paradoxically set me back mentally. Like, my brain might get the message that "this is all set, I can relax now" or even "I deserve a treat!"

I hope that when I get to a nice maintenance weight, I can just think about the habits and decouple them from worrying about weight. I think if I focus on the habits, the results will follow. When I focus on the results, I undermine the habits.

169# today. Green day yesterday.

168# today. Green day yesterday. I made dried pinto beans in the crockpot, and I'm really pleased with the spices I used. I used a powdered sweet red pepper and a powdered sugar rush peach pepper, both from the local fancy spice shot. That was the perfect complement to the beans. I just used the dried beans, those spices, salt, and water, and they tasted great. The beans were from my farm share.

We ate them over rice, with a big side of veggies from the farm share (sauté zucchini and thinly sliced fennel with balsamic).

Here's what a sugar rush pepper is:
https://www.rareseeds.com/sugar-rush-peach-hot-pepper-/

In exercise news, I'm on day 7 of "30 days of yoga with Adrienne". I am not doing it every day, but still working my way through the workouts in order.

Nice work with the yoga.

167# again today.

This morning, I did Day 8 (meditate) in 30 days of yoga.

For lunch, I made myself a savory bowl of oats with chopped almonds, garlicky kale sauteed in butter, and fresh-squeezed lime. I am writing that here to remind myself that a simple bowl of oats can be satisfying and delicious with the right toppings.

Well dear Jen -- I can say that I am very happy for you that oats w/kale tasted good. To each their own.

automatedeating wrote:Well dear Jen -- I can say that I am very happy for you that oats w/kale tasted good. To each their own.

True! I am a firm believer that if you saute garlic in butter, then sear a veggie in it, that almost anything can be delicious. My boyfriend came downstairs and said sadly, "That smells better than what I ate for lunch."

169 today. I did stay green yesterday.

Yesterday was:
Breakfast - 1.2 bagel with cream cheese, tomato, and onion w/ coffee
Lunch - Souvlaki sandwich with Greek Salad and watermelon
Dinner - one chicken thigh, kale, and corn on the cob w butter, with some more watermelon

171 today. Not my business to worry about though.

However, what is mine the worry about is that I haven't been keeping good records last week on the habitcal. I was trying to reconstruct from memory, not good. I believe I had two red days, both restaurant-related.

I did visit my parents and stayed green on the Thursday night and Friday while there, which is a big achievement. My mom is a great cook and makes yummy desserts and meals. She does know I'm eating this way, and supports it, but she still offered me about 5 different desserts at each meal. Whew.

169# today.

I am on day 13 of "30 days of yoga with Adriene" (youtube series).

Yesterday was green.

I am fully in menopause now. Hot flashes waking me in the middle of the night. Age 48 (almost 49). Weird feeling.

168.5#. On Day 15 of Yoga with Adriene.

Breakfast - one leftover St Louis BBQ rib, a few leftover green beans, and watermelon. With milky coffee.

Lunch - 1/2 leftover burrito, leftover brussel sprouts, leftover tomato slices, and an apple. Water. Using up the leftovers!

Already walked 8,175 steps today, yay! I walked to a meeting, about 20 minutes away. I did 6,000 yesterday (walked to vote and regular walking in my day) and 11,000 on Monday (we walked to go out to dinner and I walked to buy bread and milk).

Dinner - ? Maybe zucchini pesto pizzas - my kid is sick of all the regular things we make, so I asked her to pick some recipes from Cooking Light. If I can get the pizza crusts, we have everything to make this.

168# today.

I made the pizzas, and they were a hit, although I had to modify the recipe a lot. The zucchini I had in the fridge was rotting, and the pesto was past its expiration, too. So they were onion/sausage/tomato/arugula pizzas.

Today:
Breakfast - another Cooking Light recipe - toast with ricotta, a tsp of jam, and fruit, plus a side of seared radicchio that my kid said "looked and tasted like garbage, I'm sorry Mommy." Oh well, I liked it. It was bitter.
Two cups of coffee

Lunch -
Caribbean salad with chicken and mango at a local restaurant. I took my team out for lunch.
Iced tea & water

Dinner tonight
Maybe corn on the cob, grilled tomatoes and pork chops? I will look at the farm share stuff and improvise.

I'm at 5,100 steps today but probably won't get past 6,000 (walking to the car a few blocks away). I am really tired, and it's raining. Ready to go home and collapse. The first week of school is stressful.

Yes, this change of schedule is rough on everybody.

Dinner ended up being steak, corn on the cob, dried mango, and grilled tomato.

167.5 today

Breakfast: Cracked oat porridge and blueberries, sausage, milky coffee, nectarine.

Lunch: Supermarket sushi - tuna and salmon. and coffee.
Water

Dinner: Fresh pasta and sauce, leftover chicken, arugula.

I am tired today. I woke in the night and ended up getting up to do a few chores and take a shower at 4 am. I was awake, so it felt better to get a jump on chores. Emptied the dishwasher, got my coffee ready to brew, and got the laundry in the wash. I did go back to sleep for an hour and a half before my alarm went off at 6:30.

I can tell I've been busy when I have not checked in here at all.

168.5 today.

The last few weeks have flown by at work. Many days, every minute was scheduled, mostly all with "good stress" like opportunities to present our model at cool companies, volunteer recruitment, and hiring new part-time staff.

I did write a one-year testimonial (a bit early) and posted it in the testimonial section. I may cut and paste it into this blog so I have it all in one place.

Today, I decided to experiment and just have a small size lunch plate. I got a couscous salad and a latte, and so far, that seems to have been enough. My first instinct was to get 2 side salads to make a bigger plate worth, but I decided to see if my appetite is smaller than I think.

I have still been doing some yoga and some weight lifting. It is hard to find a weight lifting channel on Youtube that appeals to me. They either seem really into dudes and/or heavy lifting (no shade - good for them!), or the ones aimed at women are cardio/weight combos instead of straight strength. I found one workout that was simple and to the point, with a male trainer and his wife demonstrating the moves. It was a 20 minute video. I will see if they have other workouts that I like.

If anyone has a strength workout that they like on Netflix or Youtube, especially with a female trainer, let me know. I used to have a trainer, so I'm an intermediate, I'd say. I need someone to guide me through the moves, and I'd love a series of 4 or more workouts to rotate through. I loved my trainer and only quit her to save money.

Still 168.5.

We are going hiking tomorrow in my day off from work. The schools are closed for Yom Kippur, which I don't celebrate, so I'm taking my kid hiking. I think we are in for some muddy trails in the White Mountains after heavy rain today.

Yesterday was green despite the light lunch. I did have a bit of a heavy dinner - tortellini and corn on the cob and asparagus and artichoke spread on toast. Just barely fit on a plate. All delish.

I hope you have a super fun time on your hike -- and muddy just might make it all the better!

168# today.

I took a special day yesterday because of the hike, so marking it yellow. I ate some gorp with chocolate chips on the trail and a piece of pie in the evening.

The hike was gorgeous. To my surprise, the rain had not really hit the White Mountains, so the trail was relatively dry. The foliage has not really turned yet. Just a few maples were red, in the upper elevations. It will be peak in out two weeks, I think. We stayed at a friend's house and then hiked up to Zealand Falls and back. The trail is not too strenuous, kind of the perfect amount given that I haven't been exercising much beyond walking and yoga. We have another hike planned for mid-October, to Mizpah Springs Hut. We will carry full packs there and stay overnight in the hut.

Today's lunch will be a random collection of small leftovers. Trying to clean out my fridge before getting the farm share today.

The trail sounds lovely. I’m envious!

I felt lucky to be there, Octavia.

168 again today. Today I am trying out smaller meals. I may have done this wrong, because I packed a small lunch after having a small breakfast. But we'll see if I can make it until dinner.

Breakfast (quarter plate)
One piece of raisin toast with ricotta and mango and a small plum
coffee

Lunch (regular plate)
Small Apple (ate at 11), plum, a bit of leftover tomato soup and some leftover rice. Two pecans, two cherry tomatoes, and some fancy hard cheese (maybe half an oz).
More coffee

Dinner - we have theater tickets tonight. If I get home in time, we can eat St. Louis ribs that I made last night, with stuffed eggplant and a tomato salad. We have so many good tomatoes right now, every meal must have a tomato. LOL.

Yay for tomatoes in season!

Sounds like you've been doing such life-nourishing things (hiking, kid-time + theater!).

Enjoy your S Days!!

I weighed in at 166# on Saturday morning, and that made me eat up a storm all weekend. You would think that knowing it's happening would stop me. Ay yi yi.

Anyway, Friday was green, despite a late night out at the theater (Hamilton!). We got home at midnight, and I wanted a snack but told myself bed would feel better than food. I did fall right to sleep.

I spent Saturday and Sunday perma-snacking. Also eating chocolate pie. Urgh.

Today - green so far.
Breakfast - cracked oats, frozen blueberries, and coconut. Coffee
Lunch - one piece of chicken, mashed potato, steamed veggies, apple. More coffee.
Dinner - I am going out tonight.

Going out? On Monday night? You are too cool!

Not that cool - the dinner was for work.

I tried to virtual plate last night, because it was tapas, and I did okay at the restaurant, but came home and ate a bowl of tortilla chips and guacamole. Maybe because I had sangria. ? Red day.

Dusting myself off today. 168# today

Breakfast - chicken soup leftovers and half a plum. Coffee with milk and tea, too, because I was dehydrated.

Lunch - Chicken burrito (small) from Anna's Taqueria.

Dinner will be pizza. Another work event. Blah. I am so tired.

We ran out of pizza last night at my work event before I got any. Damn the person who ordered too little. Oh wait, that was me. Dinner last night, as a result, was Greek takeout (lamb chops, fries, and salad, with an apple) at 8:30 PM. Then I had some haldi milk with a 1/2 tsp of sugar.
Stayed green although not super healthy choices.

Breakfast today:
1 pc toast with ricotta, some kale, small bit of sausage, coffee and milk

Lunch:
Leftovers - 1 pc chicken, mac & cheese, watermelon. I am eating it at 11:40 - not great. I have an event at 1:00 and don't think I can make it until 2:00.

I will have a little espresso at 2:00 to keep hunger at bay.

Dinner tonight - If I get home in time, I have more chicken to cook, so probably chicken and broccoli or kale with more watermelon. Maybe some frozen corn. I have an evening event, so if I can't get home early, I won't have time to cook and will revert to pbj or pizza.

169# today. Long and stressful week with many night meetings and many looming deadlines. I did lift weights this morning, 10 minutes, including using the ankle weights.

Last night was a Red day. I ate guacamole and chips after getting home from my night meeting, when I should've just gone to bed.

Breakfast today -
1/2 Greek yogurt, 1/8 cup granola, watermelon, coffee with milk.

Lunch today
3/4 grilled cheese, leftover bit of kale and sausage, more watermelon, pear. (My kid got 1/4 of it this morning)

Tonight - chicken thighs, broccoli, and bread or rice. Probably an apple.

Haven't followed your whole journey, but I see you're coming up on a year. Congrats!

I hope it won't discourage you to know that at nearly nine years in, I still have nights when I should have just gone to be instead of nibbling.

oolala53 wrote:Haven't followed your whole journey, but I see you're coming up on a year. Congrats!

I hope it won't discourage you to know that at nearly nine years in, I still have nights when I should have just gone to be instead of nibbling.

Not at all discouraging - it makes me feel better. Good to see you here, Oolala!

TX. That should have said gone to BED, but I guess you figured that out.

170 today. Boo.

Dinner last night was Indian takeout (dal, aloo with green beans, baingan, and rice). Kefir to drink. Oh I just remembered, I also had warm haldi milk before bed.

So breakfast today was leftover dal and aloo, with kefir and then black coffee.
Lunch - salmon, tuna, and avocado sushi. 1 maki (6 pc), plus 6 pc sushi.
Afternoon - coffee with milk
Dinner - pork chop leftover with tomato salad and polenta bread.

Your food looks great. Sorry about the stupid scale. Maybe we can do a no weigh month at some point.

lpearlmom wrote:Your food looks great. Sorry about the stupid scale. Maybe we can do a no weigh month at some point.

That would be nice! I am having a super stressful, not-enough-sleep couple of weeks, so I'm not surprised that my body is preparing for hard times. I had a combination of:
* many work deadlines piled up
* busy days at the office, so have to work on above deadlines at night and weekends
* night meetings for work and kid's school
* both my dad and BFF are ill, both in and out of hospital this week. I am far from both of them at the moment, but even when I could've slept, I've stayed up worrying or waiting for word. Both of them will recover, God willing, but both incidents were scary.

So I am not going to worry too much. I think when this passes, my body will let go of some weight. I am mostly keeping to No S, but have had some red days and some heavy eating weekends (chocolate bourbon pecan pie!!!). It's no mystery.

I was thinking today that the ease of having a default lunch would be good for me, both to free up some lunch time for walks, and because it could help me reestablish weight loss. I was considering the oats idea that Reinhard does, because I do like and eat cracked oats. Trying to picture keeping it at work with fixings. Maybe I will try it out tomorrow.

jenji wrote: chocolate bourbon pecan pie!!!

Oh, my! I'm imagining what the first bite of that would taste like. Lordy! Probably better than thin feels, despite the often-quoted maxim. Which is obviously not true, or no one would carry extra fat.

oolala53 wrote:

jenji wrote: chocolate bourbon pecan pie!!!

Oh, my! I'm imagining what the first bite of that would taste like. Lordy! Probably better than thin feels, despite the often-quoted maxim. Which is obviously not true, or no one would carry extra fat.

169.5 today

The pie was dense, sweet, and delicious. The sugar hits you like a punch.

I am trying out the oats for lunch thing today. I usually have milk on my oatmeal, but I don't have easy access to a fridge at work. So I am brought oats with mango and no milk. It was super easy to measure 1/3 cup oats into my thermos and cover it with boiling water and some dried mango pieces. I also brought an apple and a little bit of leftover Chinese broccoli. If I end up liking this default, it would make my lunch packing a lot easier. Oats + fruit/veg. We'll see.

I think Reinhard keeps oats and dried fixings-sounds like it includes nuts, which for me would make a huge difference-I need fat at my meals, too-, at work and uses hot water there and lets it steep. No thermos to carry.

Not to jinx things but that sounds small for a lunch. Did it tide you over to dinner?

oolala53 wrote:I think Reinhard keeps oats and dried fixings-sounds like it includes nuts, which for me would make a huge difference-I need fat at my meals, too-, at work and uses hot water there and lets it steep. No thermos to carry.

Not to jinx things but that sounds small for a lunch. Did it tide you over to dinner?

Sort of. I just ate dinner at 6 PM, an hour earlier than I normally would. But I also want to go to bed early, so it's okay.

The oats were filling if a bit boring. The dried mango plumped up in the hot water and was delicious. The oats were just oats. I think you are right that nuts would be a good addition. I have some almonds or coconut in my freezer that I could add.

I employed the thermos because I don't even have hot water without going down 4 flights of stairs. Good for me but not always feasible. I don't mind having a lunch bag with me - it's packing it that is sometimes a challenge, so having a default would be nice.

It does sound like it could be pretty easily tweaked. And he calls his "optimized," so I imagine it's pretty jazzed up.

If I have oats for breakfast or lunch hot or cold I make them half water half milk add some kind of fruit, fresh berries, mango, peach, figs or stewed apple, some plain full fat yoghurt, ground flaxseed, honey, cinnamon and ginger. A real feast and I love it

Jx

Soprano's meal sounds good.

And I have stumbled upon an ideal default lunch for me. It's working nearly perfectly. High-fat plain yogurt (about 1.5 servings and each serving is about 14 g fat + 10+g protein) with frozen strawberries and/or blueberries stuck in it (they thaw by lunchtime), then a large handful of nuts (I prefer walnuts but recently I've been mixing in almonds, too), and a cut up raw carrot. Great meal, hits all the right notes, and fills me up until about 4pm. Unfortunately, I do struggle with hunger in that last hour or two before I fix dinner. Tea seems to do the trick.

I've recently been having salads with a handful of mixed nuts and some unpasteurised cheese. I've really enjoyed it but not sure it will hit the spot during cold winter months..

Jx

Yikes, good point. What will I do in winter when I crave warm foods? I'll have to find a "winter work lunch" default.

Red day yesterday. I went hiking Sun-Monday, and thought I could stick to 3 meals on the second day, but I ate a bunch of granola last night after dinner. I did the thing of eating one portion, pouring another, and again. The magically refilling bowl.

Oh well. I know I burned a lot of calories. It was only about 3 miles, but also 3,700 feet in elevation, carrying large backpacks. Lovely hike up to Mizpah Spring Hut. We spent the night in the hut and came down yesterday.

I brought my oats again today, this time with currents and coconut.

170 again today. I am not too worried, as I got my period this week for the first time in months.

I am feeling pretty good about the habits. This is the 4th day recently that I brought oats for lunch, this time mixed with some stir fry vegetables leftover from a Chinese takeout. I realize that this could sound disgusting to some, but it tastes good to me. I don't much like brown rice, so having oats instead of white rice makes this lunch more hearty and nutritious. Yesterday I had oats with coconut and currants, a more traditional porridge.

I am feeling thrifty as well as good about a healthy default. I have a lot of dried fruit and nuts in the freezer that I can work my way through, at least until I get sick of oats.

Yesterday was green.

I forgot to add that I picked up 30 Days of Yoga with Adriene (youtube series) again today after a long lapse. I did Day 19 today. Even after all that Downward Dog, my calves are still tight from my hike. I made an appointment for a massage tomorrow.

I found a bunch of savory oat recipes I'd like to try. The Mexican bowl looks delicious to me.

https://myfoodstory.com/savory-oatmeal-recipes/

Soprano wrote:If I have oats for breakfast or lunch hot or cold I make them half water half milk add some kind of fruit, fresh berries, mango, peach, figs or stewed apple, some plain full fat yoghurt, ground flaxseed, honey, cinnamon and ginger. A real feast and I love it

Jx

That is a feast!

jenji wrote:

Soprano wrote:If I have oats for breakfast or lunch hot or cold I make them half water half milk add some kind of fruit, fresh berries, mango, peach, figs or stewed apple, some plain full fat yoghurt, ground flaxseed, honey, cinnamon and ginger. A real feast and I love it

Jx

That is a feast!

I like your addition of coconut and I sometimes use dried fruit

Hope the massage is wonderful!

My "default" lunches have made me feel a bit thrifty too. It was great to work through all the frozen stuff for smoothies (kids' breakfasts) and my lunches (nuts, frozen berries).

Tx for acknowledging my b'day!

I also forgot that I had a big fail on Friday. I should’ve just planned for a special. I hosted a spontaneous sangria party, and I bought all the snacks I like, so I ate them. The party was only for angry or grieving women, and we had a good time and did some political work to boot. If you don’t know why women might’ve been angry or grieving on Friday, for the purposes of this forum, it doesn’t matter. The abundance of snacks the I don’t normally keep in the house led to red days Friday and Monday (also a hiking day).

Buying a ton of salty and sweet snacks set me up for eating leftovers the rest of the weekend. Oh well, je ne regrette rien.

I am back at 169 today. My oats are working. Head down, stay the course.

Yesterday breakfast- 1/2 apple, cinnamon toast (1 1/2 pieces, greedy), 1 oz cheddar.
Lunch - oats with leftover Chinese stir fry, clementine, red pepper (I have th cute little sweet red peppers called lunchbox peppers by my farm share)
Dinner - fresh pasta, marinara with scallions, sautéed kale, dried mango

oolala53 wrote:Tx for acknowledging my b'day!

You are welcome, love! Hope it was great

Today breakfast - one fried egg, sautéed pea pod stems, cranberry juice, and coffee.

Lunch plans- more oats, with leftover greens and broccoli.

Dinner - stopped and bought tortillas and fresh salsa and guacamole so I could make black bean tacos. Funny thing is, once you buy all that, takeout would’ve been cheaper.

168 this morning.

I had a shiatsu massage yesterday, which was a new experience for me. I felt great afterward.

Today I am trying out a stand-up desk contraption that allows me to type at my laptop standing up. So far, I like it a lot. It is a somewhat cheap one, and I've read reviews that indicate you should not put a lot of weight on it, but for my purposes - leaving it in one place on my desk and just putting a laptop on it - it works well. It's alleviating the wrist pain and back pains that I've been getting.

Breakfast - salad plate - small portions rice, black beans, pork, and guacamole leftovers.

Lunch - yet more rice and bean leftovers (1/2 thermos), with a whole avocado and an apple.

Dinner - something on the road - I am going to visit my parents. Might stop at Bertuccis or Whole Foods, as they are halfway.

Yay standing desk. I love mine. I feel less tired on days when I use it more.

Yeah, great to hear about your standing desk. I still don't have one but think the time is approaching.

AWESOME about the massage. Go you!

Good for you to go see your parents. I was thinking I should do that for Thanksgiving. I hope you find something yummy on the road.

I read of a woman who bought a small used coffee table and put that on her regular desk. That was her raised desk and she said it worked out well. It might take some doing to find the right size. It was cheap! I have an old tall desk (43") where I put my keyboard and the monitor. I use it only at home. It's not ideal because I could use a little bigger surface if I were going to do some serious work. But I do find myself sitting on the couch using my laptop a lot...

This is the standing desk contraption on Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00RQ3JQMM/?c ... _lig_dp_it

It is finicky to adjust, so you have to find the right height and leave it there.

169.5 yesterday and today.

Lifted weights at home yesterday.
Leg extensions (back, 45 degrees, side, front, inside) - with ankle weights
Front lunge with 25 lb
Back lunge with 25 lb
Dead lift to OH press

Ate a ton of salty fried snacks this weekend. Alas.

Also, yesterday was red. I made it through the whole day, then made popcorn for my kid and ate some, as though I'd never heard of this diet that I've done for a year.

today:
Breakfast: Greek yogurt and 2 oz sausage, coffee
Lunch: Oats with coconut and currants, apple
Dinner: Chicken cacciatore? I have sauce and chicken breast to use up.

jenji wrote: Also, yesterday was red. I made it through the whole day, then made popcorn for my kid and ate some, as though I'd never heard of this diet that I've done for a year.

You made me laugh.

Ive heard really good things about the standing desk. Popcorn is one of my weaknesses! Oh well, Mark it and move on!

168 yesterday.

I ate cake yesterday on my birthday. My lovely work mates know I'm avoiding sugar, so they did a cheese board that was yummy. Still a snack, but I think it made my cake with family more special last night. We stayed up too late, and today I am feeling ragged. I took the day as a planned special day, yellow.

Breakfast today-
Raisin toast (1 piece) with 1/3 plum and ricotta
Miso soup leftovers
Coffee

Lunch
Leftover quinoa, chicken, feta, and bok choi power bowl
Apple
Coffee

Dinner-
I am defrosting pork chops, so maybe those with more quinoa and bok choi.

I want to get to bed early tonight with a book.

I love that your coworkers got a nice cheese platter!!!!! That is just lovely. And great that you then enjoyed a special sweet with your family.

Just excellent.

167.5# today.

Bake sale day. Lots of sugar, all for a good cause. We had a table at the Head of the Charles regatta (is that the word? - rowing), and we made $1,100 today. We have the space again tomorrow. God knows how much we all spent on flour, sugar, and eggs. I am fresh out of sugar, which in the past would've sent me straight to the store, but today I think I'll just get some eventually. We do have some brown sugar if someone is desperate.

Yesterday was a red day. I broke down and had a slice of my birthday cake. Oh well, marked it in the HabitCal.

I am making carrot zucchini muffins for day 2 of the bake sale, a recipe I've made for years, from Yankee Magazine. My kid and I made chocolate chip cookies with oatmeal today for the sale.

Belated happy birthday! Hope you are enjoying Head of the Charles.

Belated happy birthday

We're both LIbras, no? Belated Happy Birthday.

Thanks for the birthday wishes.

This weekend's bake sale did, predictably, encourage a lot of sugar consumption.

Today I'm back on track.
Breakfast - kale and one pc. leftover cheese pizza, coffee with milk
Lunch - apple and oats with currants and almonds
PM - more coffee, I think
Dinner - lamb chop, more kale, quinoa.

My dad had to give up meat for a time this month, so my mom cleaned out their fridge and gave me a bunch of meat. I have 4 lamb chops thawed this weekend, and I also thawed some ground beef, which I think I will make into chili and freeze again in portioned containers. I will make lamb chops tonight for dinner.

I kind of regretted selling all of the carrot-zucchini muffins. The recipe is a favorite that I used to make a lot, when I was a stay-at-home mom. I don't bake as much anymore. I still have a carrot and a zuke, so I think I will make another half batch of the muffins (12) tonight, too. I am out of sugar, but I can use brown sugar. I will try cutting back on the sugar by 1/3. I often find that you can do that, and the recipe still tastes just as good.

Fail yesterday. A social fail. I forgot that my friend had ordered food for us at a meeting we were having, and I ate with my kid at home, then ate a bit more with my friend later.

170 today.

Not enough sleep last night, and a long day today. Just going to try to make it through with a green day.

Breakfast - lamb chop (leftover), kale, milk and coffee. I tried some coffee that my sweetie got me as a gift while traveling, and it is unpleasantly fruity. Cherry. Yuck.

Lunch - more cherry coffee, bleh. Also quinoa, kale, and leftover pasta and ragu sauce. Basically a disgusting-sounding (but actually tasty enough) pastiche of what fit in my thermos. I have an apple, too, which I will have later.

Dinner - Maybe silver noodles from Rod Dee (takeout). It will be late, around 8:00, after my board meeting.

I am right there with you regarding being tired, and not getting enough sleep. I am in a fog tonight. I gave up on finishing grading and now I'm just half-reading people's posts. Tomorrow they'll probably think a crazy person spammed their threads.

168.5# today.

I did manage a green day on Tuesday and enjoyed a full-plate dinner of Thai takeout, complete with silver noodles and crispy fried chicken and lime cream sauce. Yum!

Not enough sleep again today. I went to bed early enough but stayed up reading a novel. At least I have a good book to read.

Today I'd like to talk about a lesser-known benefit to this diet: saving money. I didn't want to admit it to myself, but I was spending a lot of money in dribs and drabs getting myself snacks, treats, and candy. If I stopped at the store to get an ingredient for dinner, I'd always get some little chocolate treat for me, sometimes justifying it with a treat for my family members, too. I bought a cookie at least once a week at the bakery near my work, or cut up fruit if I was on a health kick, to get me through the afternoon. I bought food at breakfast meetings even though I'd had breakfast at home. Oh, and because I ate seconds, I rarely had leftovers for lunch. Nowadays, I make a French press of coffee in the morning, and bring 1/2 in the thermos for the witching hour after lunch. I am eating the oats for lunch several days a week and leftovers one or two days. I rarely spend any pocket money now during the weekdays. I take out $40 as my standard ATM routine, and it seems to linger a lot longer in my wallet than it used to.

I am recording this benefit here to remind myself that even if I am only maintaining and not losing right now, I am giving myself sanity and weight maintenance. And I'm saving money to boot.

This doesn't even touch on increased work productivity due to fewer breaks.

Keep it up, future Jen reading this!

Also, I am marking yesterday green even though slightly borderline. I made another 1/2 batch of carrot zucchini muffins, as my family felt short-changed by them all going to the bake sale. I did cut back on the sugar by about 3 TB (for the whole recipe). I had one as part of my dinner, and I say it's borderline because I have not been having anything as sweet as a muffin for meals.

Dinner was scallops, quinoa with veggies, and a muffin. (My kid hated the quinoa, but oh well, the boyfriend and I liked it.)

Lunch was a chicken and a shrimp taco from Olé.

Breakfast was greens and a fried egg with coffee.

I LOVE that you are experiencing $-saving aspects of NoS! I used to have a tagline that NoS principles spill over into many other areas of my life.

What's cherry coffee? I'm curious! I guess you don't recommend it?

liveitup wrote:What's cherry coffee? I'm curious! I guess you don't recommend it?

It’s a flavored coffee that my boyfriend brought back for me from a trip. Tastes like a cough drop. A for effort in gift giving, but a swing and a miss.

Yesterday was green, but an early and heavy dinner (fries and souvlaki sandwich). I may need to add a little volume to my default lunch, as I'm noticing that I either overeat or have a red day when I have oats for lunch. I think a small addition like whole milk yogurt could be enough. I would usually order salad with that sandwich, but I felt ravenous by 6 pm and bolted for fries.

Today-
breakfast - 1/2 zucchini and carrot muffin, 1/2 apple, leftover green beans, coffee and milk. (I split all these with my kid, which is why it was only 1/2

Lunch - lunch date today with my friend at a local cafe. Maybe their turkey, cheddar, and avocado sandwich. Or perhaps the soup with a plain croissant.

Dinner - ? I have chicken thighs cooked, so the thrifty thing would be to serve those with some greens and potatoes. We'll see how thrifty I feel. Friday night I often have a glass of white wine, too.

All oatmeal has ever done for me is make me hungry, lol.
As you can see from my thread, whole milk yogurt is my default for lunch. But gosh, I eat 2 whole cups of it + a bunch of berries + a handful of nuts + some celery and carrot sticks.

I ate the oatmeal for breakfast today, because I wanted my kid to eat some, too. She ate about 2 bites.

Lunch: cafeteria food - baked chicken tenders, roasted cauliflower, steamed broccoli, squash, ketchup.

Dinner:
Maybe leftover chicken thighs, roasted kuri squash, and potato, with kale. It depends on if my boyfriend is going to make it home for dinner, because I only have 2 pieces of chicken left, and there are 3 of us. He often eats at work.

We have three pieces of chicken left over here. You can have them.

Your dinner sounds yummy and comforting as our weather gets colder.

I haven't weighed myself in a few days due to my house being freezing in the morning. I will get back on the scale by Friday.

Taking a special day today, but not eating off plan until tonight. I will have Halloween candy tonight.

I have been having lots of small violations, many red days, so I may need to get super strict for a while to get back on track. (Coming back to edit this and add what I remember about the slip ups. Yesterday I ate about 2 oz of chocolate from a chocolate frog mailed to my kid. Monday I ate some cheese while putting food away, about 1 oz. Both days I would not say I was hungry. More just opportunistic, and operating on a sleep deficit.)

Today
Breakfast -
Black bean chili and a corn muffin with grapes
Lunch -
More of the same, with kale added.
Dinner -
Pizza, I think, with wine and candy.

168# today.

Ate a lot of candy yesterday. Off it again today.

Breakfast - leftover pizza (2 pieces, one spinach and pancetta, one sausage) and coffee

Lunch - oats, coffee, apple juice

Dinner - maybe fresh pasta and veggies. We all need veggies after yesterday!

I waited too late for dinner yesterday. My kid had a doctor appointment, which went late, and we ended up getting takeout. I had a souvlaki sandwich, salad (so far so good), and fries (oh well, can't always eat healthy). Also, I ate lunch late, too, at 2:30 after a funder visit, so I ditched my oats and got food from the hot bar at the supermarket. Oh well. I did stick to one plate and stayed away from the candy.


Today breakfast:
Broccoli, greek yogurt, 1/2 corn muffin

Lunch: ? Maybe supermarket sushi

Dinner: Dumplings from Qing Dao, our local Chinese.

Red on Friday - I baked brownies for the D&D crew, and ate one.

Back to basics today. I walked to work today, so I've got 2.1 miles in before work. I will walk at least part of the way home, but I might jump on a bus for some of it, too.

Breakfast - sausage (about 3 oz), fried potato, apple, and coffee.
Lunch - oats, currants, nuts, and a bit of honey.
Dinner - Maybe baked chicken with kale and rice.

Tomorrow is a yellow day (kid's bday).

How old is your kiddo turning tomorrow? I feel like she's maybe 11 or so? I remember when you took her on such a fun hike at the end of summer.

automatedeating wrote:How old is your kiddo turning tomorrow? I feel like she's maybe 11 or so? I remember when you took her on such a fun hike at the end of summer.

She is turning 14. I can't believe it. She is only in 8th grade though. High school next year.

We have had a couple of great hikes this fall - Zealand Falls and Mizpah Springs Hut. At the beginning of the summer, we did a hike starting halfway up Mt. Washington, up to the summit.

Ugh, yesterday was red again. I did fine until dinner. I walked more than typical for me - 11,000 steps, and I think daylight savings threw me off, to feel like I was starving at 7 pm. I started in on cheese and crackers, telling myself I'd virtually plate, then I ate a full plate, then I ate some of my daughter's leftovers off her plate. By then, I felt uncomfortably full, because I'd bolted down more food than I needed. Whoops.

Hopped on the scale this morning, dreading what I'd see, and I was at 167.5. Weird. Anyway, it was encouraging that despite the red days I've had, and the yellow days for Halloween and family birthdays, I am not yet up.

Once again striving to re-establish some stretches of green on the HabitCal. Today should be one. I am having green tea right now, which always makes me feel more chill.

Breakfast: ramen soup doctored up with leftover pork slices and peapod stems. Coffee with milk.
Lunch: Oats with yet more pork as a garnish and peapod stems. Plain yogurt. Apple.
Dinner: Leftover chicken thighs cooked Monday with kale and rice.

This is a tough time of year. I think we naturally crave more calories and more calorie-dense foods as winter approaches.

170.5#
Started at a new gym. The model is small group personal training, 3x/week. I have had my first 2 sessions. I like it so far. It's 30 minutes of strength training and 30 minutes of cardio (supposed to be HIIT, but that part is self-directed, reinforced by a chime when the interval changes). This is a six-week trial. At the end, I will have to decide if the money is worth it.

I was green yesterday until dinner, then I ate seconds from my kid's leftovers. Darn it! Today - green so far.

Breakfast - plain greek yogurt, 3 berry tart (small slice, I'm allowing it even though it's sweet), coffee
Lunch - savory oats with veggies, more coffee
Dinner - Need to stop at the store.