Fourth Quarter Posts: October through December 2015.
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Jean...Did you have a good time? I'm glad you were finally able to catch up on sleep. I'm at the library now checking in. My laptop isn't doing well with this site and a couple of others. I can sometimes get in to post but not log food or even get into home. What a pain. The laptop seriously needs service but I don't know of a good local person. I have a guy in SC and if I can put up with it until we head south, I could have the shop clean up all the ad junk that I'm getting and install needed updates. I'll tell you, I love that I can keep in touch through technology but I hate technology on the other hand. Just as soon as I'm comfortable, something changes and gives me grief.0
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Pam - that's a great story! Kudos to you for speaking up. I can almost see that secretary running down the hall to HR.
Jean - glad you're back and enjoyed your trip!
Helene - hopefully your hubby's doctors will be happy with his progress.
I did get the work "emergency" done. Whew! But of course putting aside what I was working on means I'm even more jammed up.
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Good afternoon, catching up on sleep is an elusive thing with me. After the night I crashed from exhaustion, last night I couldn't go to sleep until Hawaii time for going to bed....a five hour difference. As a result, I was just getting in a sleepy mood when it was time to get up here. I could have worked today but stayed home to call the sleep lab people. Guess what? The person responsible was out today. Friday the 13th in operation!
I really need to go to the city and buy food but I am so tired. I guess I could do it after I do the sleep study on Sunday night but I'll likely just want to head home. Who knows when I'll get it done.0 -
Jean - sounds like it's all catching up with you!
DH is really sick. I'm hoping I don't get it. I stocked up on cold stuff yesterday. Maybe I can frighten it away with a big box of cold meds. (yeah, right)
I need to get back in the habit of making separate dinners for DH and myself. I started yesterday. That's a big step in getting back on track calorie wise. I had lean cuisine white mac n cheese on broccoli with blueberries for dessert. You know you're headed toward winter when the blueberries start coming in teensy tiny containers.
I'm also working on reducing Tuffy's calories. He is SO into treats but they have too many calories. One of his favorite treats now comes in a decent size container. I bought fancy feast dry food (would never be my first choice but I figured it's smelly) and prescription reducing food. Mixed the two and put in his treat container. He's not totally fooled but at least his calories are down. I'd like to take a pound or two off him; I'd settle for stopping the increase.
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Maryanne--Hope DH improves quickly and that you don't get the bug. I need to stock up on some Lean Cuisine, etc. I love your perspective on the fruit serving size. Midnight also loves treats. I don't know what it is about the taste that makes them more attractive than dry food.0
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Doctor's visit went great. we had back to back appointments and I wanted to sit in on DH's appointment so they took us together. Two assistants were taking our vital and the one taking DH's asked how he was feeling. He said fine and I said pretty good for someone who had a heart attack 5 weeks ago. She was just asking how he felt as in are you well today. You should have seen the look on their faces. They were stunned that he looked so good. The doctor was very pleased about how he was doing as well. We'll see the cardiologist next week to get his comments on the recovery. My physical went well. Last spring, he was concerned about my vitamin D level. It was 20 and should be 30. I pointed out it had been 12 the previous year but said I'd be more diligent about taking the supplement. I got it up to 28 so I'm almost there. he gave me a gentle reminder about my weight. Working on it kind of went out of the window during the last 6 weeks with DH's medical issues but now that's turned around, I'm ready to get back to work.
jean...You probably have enough staples to get by for a few days. You can probably stop for a few items after the sleep study. I'd say rest up over the weekend but they probably want to see your normal sleep patters for the study rather than after you rested all weekend.
Maryanne...Try to keep your distance from DH so you don't catch his cold. I made sire to get my flu shot while I was at the doctor.0 -
Helene--Great news on DH; love the gentle reminder. They should remind me!!
No, they did not want any resting over the weekend.
You might want to check this out. This is a video of my UPS driver performing. UPS is his day job; he also performs at the Grand Ole Opry and in many engagements on weekends and evenings. He could have gone full time in Nashville but it doesn't have the guaranteed fringe benefits of UPS. This is a performance in Atlanta at a convention:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MugtBhVKRIU&feature=youtu.be 0 -
I'll have to wait to watch that until DH is at work. He hates it when I have my speakers on.
It's a beautiful day here today - warm and sunny. BUT the cats have been cuddled on heated throws and next to heating vents. I have no clue why.
I have a spreadsheet ready to go for tomorrow. What sense it makes to try to get back on track right before Thanksgiving I have no idea but when do I make sense. Hee hee....0 -
I'm back from the sleep study and have been trying to clean excess gunk off scalp where their efforts left some residue. I'm having Progresso Light soup for lunch. The freezer is bare. There was no way I was going shopping in WalMart for frozen goodies the way I looked. Midnight was waiting for me, and had eaten all the food I had put out for him for the afternoon and night.
Maryanne--cats love their heat. Good luck on the spreadsheet; you always do well with it.0 -
Cheyenne had her annual check up today. She turned 18 yesterday and the vet said she's in fantastic shape for that age. She still has perfect teeth. He did blood work just in case there's anything going on that isn't obvious. Jean...when will you get the sleep study results and were you actually able to sleep there? Maryanne...Your timing sounds strange for most of us but you know what works for you. we're waiting for a landscape guy to stop by to talk about cleaning up our leaves. Dh is on the no raking list since the heart attack and you couldn't pay me to do them. That's a job I've hated for decades so I'm not staring to do it now. Whatever it costs will be worth it.0
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I've been putting off and putting off getting back on track and just decided "do it". If I stick to my guns I'll be slightly better off than if I waited until after Thanksgiving.
Helene - that's fantastic to have such a health 18-year old cat! Hopefully the lab work doesn't show anything too severe.
Jean - I second the question - could you sleep?0 -
The lab work is more to set a baseline. we're not expecting anything serious to show up.0
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Helene--You have a wonderful apparently healthy cat. I had a baseline done on Midnight when I adopted him almost ten years ago.
Maryanne..and Helene: the sleep study was done in a very comfy room that looked like a bedroom. The negatives were all the hardware, translated as electrodes and cables they attached to you and then to a computer by the bedside. The pillow wasn't as comfy as mine. I'm a side sleeper, so when I turned on my side it would cause the cable thing that looks like what they use to deliver oxygen in nose to pull against my cheek. The purpose of it was to measure how well I breathed through my nose and was also wired to pick up snoring. They made me go "lights out" at 10pm which is earlier than I go to bed. I did eventually go to sleep. I awakened around 4am, went back to sleep and was awakened at 5:45am. The room was very sound proofed. They said they usually do five people a night, 7 nights a week. I won't know the details until December 31 when I have my appointment with the neurologist.0 -
Jean - very interesting. I've been trying forever to talk DH into asking about a sleep study. He takes so many medications and still barely sleeps.
I'm off to the vet this morning to drop off Lola for a dental tomorrow. I like to let them fast her plus this way I don't have to get up at o dark thirty tomorrow to take her. Couldn't do that anyway this time since tomorrow I take Tuffy to the cardiologist. How all my appointments and all their appointments bunch up at the end of the year I'm not sure. I keep trying to spread things out.
I did pretty well with the food yesterday except ran out of time for a salad in mid-day. But I did have NS soup so there was lunch.
Yesterday was NS shelf stable. I immediately realized I have almost no NS shelf stable breakfasts here because I don't like the NS shelf stable breakfasts except on the rare occasion when I'm headed out. Mostly they just don't keep me full. So yesterday I had eggs instead.
Today is JC shelf stable. Already have the spreadsheet set up. If nothing else if I can pre-lose the thanksgiving weight gain maybe I'll have done something.
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Jean - I watched the video this morning. Which one is your UPS driver - mandolin or guitar? I'm not crazy about old time country but that mandolin player is crazy good!0
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I've been trying out a new (to me) workout facility for the past two days. About three or four years ago my city passed a bond election to rebuild and expand our community activity center. The expansion was intended to provide better facilities for seniors, as well as better workout space and amenities. It opened about four or five months ago but I had not been inside it until this week. It is quite impressive! The workout facilities are state of the art, with all new equipment of every kind imaginable. The pool area is amazing -- lap lanes, a lazy river that can be used for resistance, play equipment for the kiddos, slides, etc., and all of this is indoor. There is an outdoor pool as well, but that is closed now. The senior side of the building has a beautiful lounge/library/game room with a fireplace, as well as a large meeting area with a stage, dance floor, and full kitchen where lunch is served daily for $2.00. There are also many smaller meeting rooms that can be rented for private parties or meetings, a computer lab, and several classrooms. The changing areas are spacious and comfortable, with ample privacy for those who don't want to dress in a public area. They also have about ten family changing rooms which would be great for those who have kids with them, or if one is handicapped and needs extra room to maneuver. The best thing about all of this is that for those of us who are over 55, it is completely FREE! I am quite impressed with what I've seen so far. They offer classes of various types, but there are fees for those and there are some restrictions about the times seniors may use some of the facilities, but I don't have an issue with any of them. I'm not a fan of the workout classes and the time restrictions are not a problem for me at all. My friend who works out with me is in agreement with me. I think we are going to cancel our membership at the other gym and continue here. It is a little farther and more traffic, but we are both retired so we can work around that.
My future nephew is going to The White House tomorrow! The entire cast and crew of his play have been invited to take part in a conference being held there on the Americans With Disabilities Act and the Arts. He is very excited and can hardly believe that this is his life now. I love that he is so humble with all the amazing things that are happening for him now.
I have a birthday dinner to attend on Friday and I am bringing the cake. I baked the layers yesterday and froze them. I will try to fill and ice the cake on Thursday, then let it rest in the fridge for one day before the party. All of this helps to increase the moisture in the cake and allows the flavors to blend better. Hopefully it will turn out that way, anyway! It's a chocolate cake with raspberry chocolate mousse filling and a chocolate ganache frosting.
Jean, that's a long time to wait for the results of your sleep study! It would drive me nuts to have to wait so long to find out. I hope you are more or less recovered from your trip now. Have you started back to work yet?
Helene, it sounds like your DH is making great progress after being so sick! Those "gentle reminders" tend to get less gentle if they don't see progress, at least with my doctors. On the other hand, when they do see progress, my doctors really make a big deal of it, so that is very nice.
Maryanne, I like your attitude about starting your tracking and working to lose now instead of waiting until after the holidays. I try to use the analogy that if I were driving the wrong way on a street I wouldn't wait until I got to the end to turn around and go the right direction -- I'd turn around as soon as possible. So dieting or eating right shouldn't be any different. As soon as we can, we should get going back in the right direction. I'm not always successful, but I try.
I'm trying to start prepping for Thanksgiving, too. I'm bringing the pecan pies, sweet potato casserole, and homemade cranberry sauce. I'll bake the sweet potatoes while the pies are baking, and the cranberry sauce can be made any time. I'll probably make it next Sunday and do the pies Tuesday or Wednesday. The later I wait on the pies the better since that is DH's favorite and it will be hard to keep him from cutting them if I make them early! I can make the pie crusts early and freeze them so I may try to do that tomorrow.0 -
Pam...That sounds like a great use of tax dollars. All of the things in the building will contribute to better health for all users. And how nice that you can use the basics for free.Good luck with your baking projects. I usually buy prepared side dishes to take to NJ with us.0
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Maryanne--I like to use the NS breakfasts for dessert, so I order the muffins and the cranberry cereal thing which makes for a great snack. For a real breakfast, I use the Quaker Weight Control oatmeal, the Special K breakfast sandwich things, etc. The mandolin player is my UPS driver. I agree that he is very, very good and can understand why he was offered a job at the Grand Ole Opry as one of the backup band people. He does very well on the side. He delivered a package to me today; he is very friendly and helpful.
Pam--It sounds as if you have found the ideal gym site; it seems to be very well organized and planned. Your Thanksgiving plans are making me hungry. As far as the test is concerned, they automatically schedule you for a second test for determining CPAP treatment, etc. If they feel you don't need it, then they will cancel that appointment and notify you. The details of what the sleep study reveals wait until December 31. This is a very popular practice so it is hard to get appointments early.0 -
Pam - sounds like a great place! When I actually retire I'll probably check out the senior center. It's walking distance from my house and has a gym (not sure how great) but it's only open Monday to Friday during business hours so it's no good to me at the moment.0
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Yesterday's workout left both me and my friend sore today so we took a rest day. The backs of my legs are extremely sore, especially when I stand after sitting for awhile. I hope they are better tomorrow, but I know it usually takes three or four days for soreness to ease up. Oh well, at least I know that I worked some muscles that either haven't been worked in awhile, or were worked in a different way. I think that's a good thing, even though it's a bit painful right now. The machine we used was similar to an elliptical machine and a treadmill combined, and it was a new one for both of us. We only did fifteen minutes instead of the thirty or forty we usually do on the treadmill, but it was a harder workout.
I spent the afternoon putting my cake together for Frday. It was time consuming because I had to make a chocolate mousse filling and a chocolate buttercream frosting. I had baked the cake layers on Monday and froze them, so that part was done. On Friday I will add some fresh raspberries on top and hopefully it will be a hit. All of the individual elements tasted good to me, so hopefully the combination will work well together. Putting it together today gives the flavors time to blend together. I put fresh raspberries between the layers and I'm hoping they will hold up for two days. Normally I would have done this the day before, but I will be volunteering at the library tomorrow and won't have enough time. I hope two days isn't too long for this cake to sit before serving. I'll report back on Saturday, lol!
That's about it for me today. What are the rest of you doing?0 -
I went to the city around 9:30am today to get groceries as warnings were out about high winds coming around Noon. By the time I made my rounds and got the groceries, the winds were picking up. The Interstate Advisory signed warned about high winds. There are two places that have bad cross winds, and it was beginning to really pick up when I started home.
I stopped at the neurologist's office to see if they knew if I would have to take the follow-up sleep study. Yep, I'm doomed to another night of not so much fun next Monday night.
Pam--the preparation sounds good. Good job on the exercise.
Maryanne--I'm close to a senior center that has fantastic exercise equipment but few use it. I would except the hours don't permit it. They close at 3:00pm.0 -
I'm almost too tired for words. Got up early, took Tuffy to the cardiologist (he got a good report), went to the printer's to pick up the newsletter, made dinner, counted out the newsletter into boxes for volunteers, and then prepared to collapse! So that's what I'm about to do!
I had a NS frozen day today. I'm truly not sure why people rave about the NS frozen food. It's edible but nothing fantastic. Had an "omelet" for breakfast (only 90 calories and luckily I was headed out the door so I couldn't pay attention to still being hungry), a "melt" for lunch (almost all the lunches seem to be melts), pizza for dinner and an ice cream sandwich for snack. I definitely need to restock my protein servings.
Jean - sorry you have to do the followup sleep study.
Pam - that sounds delicious!!0 -
I picked Lola up this morning and dropped off the boxes of newsletters. Most of the volunteers live in the area near my vet and they pick up there.
Played a little with Taz, a black/white long hair we have in the adoption cage. He is SO high energy. I'd love to bring him home but he's so adoptable.
Lola is beyond glad to be home. She hid briefly but ever since she's been begging for attention.
I'm having a JC frozen day today. I order the 3-day kits some of which are frozen foods. For breakfast I had the SS mixed berry bar. Nothing to write home about. Lunch was turkey burger. Really good. Dinner was chicken fettucini alfredo. Really good. Dessert later on will be their frozen chocolate walnut brownie. Was always good in the past.
News from the NS ordering scene. You can now order frozen food a la carte. I have most of a select 10 in the freezer but I set up an order to see if it would give me my 20% success a la carte discount. It does. Plus free shipping. What I can't tell is what are lunches and what are dinners. Put a note on the MFP NS group to ask that question. Maybe the only lunches are the melts. Those I can do without.0 -
The NS Refugee site is down again. Wonder what's going on.0
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Maryanne--The NS Refugee site had to be changed according to an email I got. Apparently Nutrisystem objected to their using Nutrisystem in part of the site. They had to change the url, etc.
Nutrisystem Refugees had a name change, including the URL. You can find the same support forum, now called NS-Refugees, at ns-refugees.freeforums.net/ Please make sure you bookmark the new URL. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Since you like JC, I saw that WalMart has kits of a few days of JC food.0 -
Had a good day today. we went to the cardiologist for the follow up. He jokingly asked DH who was the stand in for his echo cardiogram. He was amazed it looked so good. He took 3 pills off DH's list and changed another to every other day. He's scheduling a stress test for 3 weeks out and another follow up the next week. So things are looking really good.
Pam..The cake sounds amazing. Chocolate and raspberry is a great combo.
Jean..Good luck with the next sleep study. while it's a pain, it will be nice for you to have the facts.
Maryanne...I got that email about the frozen a la carte too. Let us know if you get the discount and free shipping. I'm thinking of switching to a la carte very soon. I wouldn't mind buying some frozen now and then under those conditions.
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Jean - ah, ha, that explains the web site! I'll have to track it down (they can run but they can't hide - hee, hee).
Helene - the NS site is definitely giving me the 20% off and free shipping on the a la carte order. The "membership" costs me 34.99 a quarter I think. I'll get more out of it if I like any of the frozen foods that I haven't tried yet.0 -
I bought a couple of the 5-day JC kits on ebay. Expiration date on the box is some time in February 2016. Finally opened one up to see what the expiration dates are on the individual items. Only the shakes (which I will throw in the flea market box) are dated in February. Everything else is April and June so much better than I anticipated. I will probably check out Walmart for the 3-day boxes. It takes a lot to get me to walk into a Walmart but I just might do it. They won't ship them for some reason.
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I bought a JC 3-day kit at Walmart. The clerk was all excited. She had no idea they sold JC. It was in the pharmacy section, along with things like atkins, ensure, boost, ns, etc.0
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My cake was a big hit last night! I thought it was one of the best chocolate cakes I've ever made or eaten. I will definitely hang onto this recipe.
I had planned to see "Burnt" today with a friend, but the timing hasn't worked out. It's a very windy, cool day, so I'm kind of glad to stay indoors. We may try again tomorrow.0
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