What's on your mind today?
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@Hollis100 You are perfect enough for me and the UAC Team. Blessings upon you!
Each one of us has to find our own right answer.
Your friend, Rick3 -
@Hollis100 Just adding my thanks and support to the that already offered by others. You are a remarkable person, but there is a wealth of goodwill here for you.
@juliemouse83 So much wisdom! Thank you so much for your insight and compassion.
Hang in there, folks! This pandemic is the pits!!!3 -
Dear @Hollis100
I empathise. While I may not have all your Covid-19 related problems, I empathise with being exhausted and barely managing to even look at MFP. Hang on in there. If you can buy/ eat stuff that is not too unhealthy and you can maintain, good for you. Try and keep posting, we will try and support!4 -
Dear UACers, thanks for all the kind encouragement and support.
@BMcC9 I hope to be back later today with a trick you may or may not have realized to speed up the time needed for tracking even more I repeat many of the same foods, but logging everything ahead of time doesn't work for me -- I tend to change my mind. Yesterday, I bought a tiny paper notebook to carry with me for times when I can't access my phone or laptop. Thanks for your support!
@MadisonMolly2017 Thanks for your list of reasons to remember why we need to put our health and well-being first. Those are all good reminders to keep before us. I'm in agreement with all of them. Your expressions of gratitude suggestion is an especially good practice.
@juliemouse83 Thanks! I often think about you pushing all those patients and heavy beds around and don't know how you do it. Good luck with the work on your home.
I'm with you 100% on meditation. My best days at work are when I practice it no matter what my circumstances, including in crowds of people -- I lose it and pick it up every few minutes all day. I've found meditation to be the most valuable practice of my life and have been practicing it off and on for decades -- when I lose track of it and then come back, I can't imagine why I stopped. My form of meditation combines both awareness and personal prayer. I'm with you on contact with nature, too. I take my lunch hour outside in my car so I can sit down but see the grass and trees (or the Panera river rocks). Nature is a great healer. Everything is part of nature, including all the junk and noise, but it's good to be outside a building and close to the earth.
Practice gratitude. Yesterday, I included expressions of gratitude in my walking meditations at work, so I thank you for that suggestion. I have plenty of things to feel gratitude about. It took away my anger and stress and reconnected me with what's good and real for a few moments.
@Anya_000 Thanks for your support and for the personal story about your work at a hospital. I hope you've fully recovered now -- that's an ordeal to live through. I agree, the physical exhaustion is a huge problem.
@cjane917 Thanks much for the food suggestions, I appreciate it. I don't do well with shakes -- they make me constipated (which might be TMI, sorry, but it is what it is). I do better with non-shake whole foods, like fresh fruit and raw vegetables. The prep is just to put them in a portable container -- and remember to shop.
@readyornot1234 Thanks for your empathy and support, much appreciated!
@RangerRickL @TerriRichardson112 @Chinkiri Thanks also to you three for your kind words. We all have our struggles. The pandemic has thrown unexpected curveballs at everybody, no matter where we live or what we do. It's essential to stop and remember what's important.
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@Hollis100 ignore if unhelpful! 'Hunting' for lunch everyday for me became mentally taxing, expensive and not always nutritious... which impacted how I perform the rest of a workday.
The fix for my household was meal prepping lunch - has kept me sane, and on track. Directly results in how full and well I feel for the rest of a work day. The 45 min it takes to make on a Sunday comes back as free time during a lunch hour when I badly need to zone out alone, lol!
doesn't have to be time consuming. It can be done cheaply and quickly. One of my favorite go-tos are premade rotisserie chickens. That can be combined /transformed into countless lunch meals like bagged chopped salad, soft tacos with fast fixings, sandwiches, enchiladas, pasta, etc. Also, items like (my fave is trader Joe's) frozen turkey meatballs make filling and satisfying lunch variations too. Also a shout out to making 'grown up lunchables' with cheese sticks, crackers, fruit, meat, etc. I buy the stuff, then would portion it out and throw it together in brown bags!
Got most of my ideas from googling 'fast meal prep recipes'. Endless combos for every diet, time restriction, budget.7 -
I just wanted to pop in and say how much I love this group! I have never met a more compassionate, caring bunch of people in one online space before. Reading everyone’s posts helps me to remember I am not alone in the struggle with all of this stuff going on in the world right now.
Seeing everyone reaching out to help and offer support and suggestions gives me one more thing to be grateful for.
If more people in the real world carried on like we do in this group? Think how much better our world would be!
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@Hollis100 ignore if unhelpful! 'Hunting' for lunch everyday for me became mentally taxing, expensive and not always nutritious... which impacted how I perform the rest of a workday.
The fix for my household was meal prepping lunch - has kept me sane, and on track.
( @molly3210 's complete posted suggestions)Directly results in how full and well I feel for the rest of a work day. The 45 min it takes to make on a Sunday comes back as free time during a lunch hour when I badly need to zone out alone, lol!
doesn't have to be time consuming. It can be done cheaply and quickly. One of my favorite go-tos are premade rotisserie chickens. That can be combined /transformed into countless lunch meals like bagged chopped salad, soft tacos with fast fixings, sandwiches, enchiladas, pasta, etc. Also, items like (my fave is trader Joe's) frozen turkey meatballs make filling and satisfying lunch variations too. Also a shout out to making 'grown up lunchables' with cheese sticks, crackers, fruit, meat, etc. I buy the stuff, then would portion it out and throw it together in brown bags!
Got most of my ideas from googling 'fast meal prep recipes'. Endless combos for every diet, time restriction, budget.
As an MFP logging "part 2" re the once-a-week meal-prepping lunch idea .... and this could also be applied to something like "those times when I DO get a takeout sandwich and drink from near by it is nearly always {list combo parts} from the same place"
1. For repeatable combinations that almost always go together:
for example, 99.9% my suppers are- glass of almond milk
- same brand and similar size serving of mixed frozen veg
- same portion of cooked / mashed sweet potato that was divvied via muffin-tin to "pop-out&zap single servings
- type of meat varies day-to-day
I can go to the "My Meals" tab on my Food diary, enter the top three and name it "Supper Sides". From that moment on, I will only ever need one click to load in those three standing items.
2. If in the past you already have a 2-entry lunch log for "Nearby Eaterie's Panini Sandwich and 10 oz drink" you can go to that lunch, and beside the "add an item button" (on the left) you will see "quick-add" (on the right) One of the options it will give you is "turn this into a My Meal entry"
3. After you have an entry in today's food log (whether entered singly or via pre-built "my meal"), if what was/is on your plate is bigger or smaller, click on it and a pop-up of that specific item comes up and you can adjust the serving side without having to adjust anything else.
I hope one or more of these ideas help shorten your MFP logging-time even more, and help preserve more of your precious down-time for other more "quality-of-life" self-care activities.5 -
@BMcC9 Thanks for the thoughtful logging suggestion, and thanks again to everyone else for the supportive comments as I slog through this difficult time. I appreciate all of you.
A "food is love" story .... warning, a little gross.
I rescued 5 wild feral cats one winter about six years ago. I trapped them all, spayed/neutered them, and gave them shots and other medical attention. Ever since then, they've lived outside my house. I still provide food and shelter. I'm down to 2 cats now as they get hit by cars or otherwise pass away.
Every once in a while a cat leaves me a "gift." This morning, it was a freshly killed mole, belly up, between the water bowl and the dry food bowl.
I've always rolled my eyes at the human version of "food is love," going out of your way to give food to other people (and forcing it on them). I've always assumed the notion was cultural, a learned behavior.
However, my disgusting dead mole was clearly a "food is love" gift -- nature must hardwire this into everything capable of instinct and feelings. (I threw the dead mole over the fence)
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This is the first time in more than 5 yrs that I've exercised and logged my meals consistently for so many days straigth. I'm so thankful for this challenge and all the wonderful people in it. You all keep me motivated. Thank you @RangerRickL for keeping this challenge going.8
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@Hollis100 - huh. I’ve never even thought about it that way but it makes total sense. Food is love. From the day we are born.2
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readyornot1234 wrote: »@Hollis100 - huh. I’ve never even thought about it that way but it makes total sense. Food is love. From the day we are born.
Sorry for the icky story.
I think the point I wanted to make is I'm very judgmental and irritated when people push food on me, especially food with a million calories. I think from now on I'll attempt to be more forgiving and remember this is a natural expression of goodwill.
Now if I could just get the cats to stop....
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So true, food is love. I cared for end of life patients, and many reach the point where they can't swallow. It's near impossible to keep families from trying to feed them. They sneak. It's frustrating, because the patients choke and aspirate. But feeding loved ones is a hard impulse to resist, understandable.
However, that other kind of food pushing, sabotaging, not ok. My mom was obese, and every time she'd try to diet, her husband would make her hot chocolate with whipped cream, and bring it to her in bed. He'd make her favorite foods, etc. He was so invested in keeping her overweight. He was a real creep.4 -
@hollis100 - my mom is Sicilian. We were all somewhat overweight as children because food and love are so intertwined. Over the years I have been angry with her because when I go to visit for a weekend I come home weighing 5 extra pounds. She makes all my favorite foods and then I would yell at her and she would feel bad. Then I’d feel horrible. I am 55 and it has taken me until about this past winter to get a grip on this. I know she isn’t doing it maliciously and it is what brings her joy. So now I plan as best I can when I am there and work a bit harder when I get home to compensate. I was being so mean to her and she was only doing it out of love.
@Anya_000 - I know far too many people like that. That must have been so hard to watch. I am so sorry both you and your mom had to go through that. Food disguised as love.5 -
@Hollis100 Hugs to you - You have a wonderful attitude. May you find some relief soon with the extra stress of Covid-19.
@juliemouse83 Hugs to you also - I have been in both yours and Hollis100's situation. Eventually I changed jobs. As for your situation, quitting that job led to where I am today. While not perfect, quality of life is sssssooooooo much better now. I quit with no job to go to after years of working in a bad place; I won't go into details but believe me, that period of my life was truly awful. It was extemely scary to quit and it took several years, but eventually I got to where I am now. Your plan of applying & finding a new job is a good one. Good luck, I'm confident you will have a brighter future.5 -
@BMcC9, yeah, I am in Oxford county so we will be going to Phase Three as well. This time of year my husband spends so much time at work that our routines will not be enhanced at all by this opening. I must say, more and more people are starting to wear masks at the grocery store (pretty much the only place I go). I have put mine on twice (once was when I HAD to go to Walmart and once in the grocery store). Tillsonburg is a small town, with no active cases of the virus. Now, I have heard, when you go to the nearby city of London that everyone is wearing their masks, which makes sense to me.2
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@BMcC9, yeah, I am in Oxford county so we will be going to Phase Three as well. This time of year my husband spends so much time at work that our routines will not be enhanced at all by this opening. I must say, more and more people are starting to wear masks at the grocery store (pretty much the only place I go). I have put mine on twice (once was when I HAD to go to Walmart and once in the grocery store). Tillsonburg is a small town, with no active cases of the virus. Now, I have heard, when you go to the nearby city of London that everyone is wearing their masks, which makes sense to me.
DH and I always have ours with us when we go off the end of the property/driveway whether going to the store or going for our evening walk but not planning or picking anything up on the way by. Masks go on in the parking lot before approaching the store entrance. And we only go during low-customer-traffic times. The two other places have click and collect so we don't have to enter. (they bring the tap pad to the car, attached to a hockey stick at one and a selfi-stick at the other)
There are more masks "on the street" downtown than just out walking in our neighborhood, as there is plenty of room here to get out of other people's way when walking, but starting to see more ready to pull up when they get to the store / gourmet ice-cream take-out shop etc.
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A NSV .... (related to the scale, but not the number on the scale)
Today was my 1175th day since I started recording data-points via my Wii Fit Plus. It's been 45 weeks since I missed a day, and that was because I was overseas for 7 days.
In all those 1175 days there have only been 2 one-week-gaps.
The NSV is the consistency. (Helps that we have never tended to do more than day-trips until 2 summers ago for the first time ever)7 -
Hi, all! I’ve been absent the last few days in this group.
We’ve had a nasty heat wave, and the ac at work is having a hard time keeping up, then storms knocked out a couple of air handlers there, so I have had to wring myself out before coming home several days running, because we go through a lot of non-air conditioned areas in our travels at work.
I did manage to get a haircut on Wednesday in exchange for a Tarot reading, then went back yesterday for color. Y’all, they lifted hair and nail color restrictions at work, so I’ve gone purple! 😁 Talk about a boost in confidence! I’ve been stifling my true self for three and a half years, so when the neutral nails went away? I tossed the boring nail colors for earth tones and lavenders, which are more up my alley.
I guess, rather than looking for outside the home jobs, I will search remote opportunities. My local applications are not gaining any traction, so I need to step it up a notch. All I know is I’m still walking on a soft tissue injury to my right foot and the only way it will get better is to rest it, which I can only do on weekends. 🤦🏼♀️ I’m guessing I should have held out for my own doctor’s next available appointment, because I went to employee health and once they ruled out stress fracture, they told me to go home and rest it but wouldn’t put that down on paper for my boss. 🤬
Misu, Nori and Peaches, the kittens, are growing up fast! They are 11 weeks old, already! They are so much fun to watch! Little furry gymnasts, they are! Nori now comes when called, lol! His little purr motor is so loud! 😻
Scale told me this morning that I’m nine-tenths of a pound down this week, and clothes are much bigger on me than a month ago. I ordered a tee shirt a few weeks into the pandemic, and ordered an xl, because that’s what I wore then. It arrived Tuesday and it’s HUGE on me now! I’ve lost just over 15 pounds since mid February, most of which came off since pushing beds around full time a couple months ago. That is the only thing I will miss about ditching this job.
So we are caught up. I hope y’all are ha going in there, and that you are all safe and well.
Much love,
Me ❤️💖5 -
Hola folks. What are some tips that help you stay motivated during the weekends? I’m ‘on it’ Sunday thru Thursdays. But then Fri and Sat come around and I reason that I deserve this treat and that. I’m working on changing this mindset. In the meantime, please share a tip of how you maintain focus during the wknds. Thank you! 🙂1
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@ForLangston , while my situation is probably different than yours right now, when I was behind a desk all week, weekends were tough, because I had zero structure.
I have an Apple Watch and have gone 942 days closing all of my rings. That helped me stay motivated, so maybe a Fitbit or smart watch will help keep you accountable on weekends, if you build up a streak. I don’t know if you count steps, or calories burned, or what, but what’s helped me stay active is having a goal to meet, and my watch helps me maintain accountability. It would suck to lose that streak simply because I just didn’t feel like it, ya know?1 -
Also, I want to share our most recent picture of the kittens, who are growing like weeds!
From left to right? Peaches, Misu and Nori. They all send their love and encouragement ❣️4 -
ForLangston wrote: »Hola folks. What are some tips that help you stay motivated during the weekends? I’m ‘on it’ Sunday thru Thursdays. But then Fri and Sat come around and I reason that I deserve this treat and that. I’m working on changing this mindset. In the meantime, please share a tip of how you maintain focus during the wknds. Thank you! 🙂
I tend to sleep in on the weekends, which allows "inadvertent intermittent fasting" (same total calories in a condensed time frame - the calories I would normally have consumed at breakfast can be re-alloted to dinner-time dessert or bumped up evening snack)
Also .... Treats ARE permitted, so long as they fit your calorie budget . So maybe make a list (on a Tuesday or Wednesday) of "treats" divided into three categories:- things you want to keep in your life, but are able to moderate (for me, that would be a "chocolate fix" via Dark Chocolate Bark Thins and stirring cocoa powder into yogurt
- things that are calorie-costly, yet worth it if reserved for pre-planned pass-worthy events (gourmet chocolate lava-cake at an expensive Steak House restaurant that we only go to once a year .... part of a whole "anniversary experience" package ...
- things that are calorie-costly, used to be categorized as "treats" but don't REEEEEAAAALY seem worth the cost retrospectively any time you do munch mindlessly (generic regular-size chocolate-bar purchases and chocolate-chocolate chip monster muffins from the caff at work just AREN't worth the price) - or tend to be trigger foods for you personally ... or are hard to portion (depending on what it is, we might be able to suggest ways to pre-portion ... which could potentially shift it to Group 1)
Then pre-plan your total weekend intake ahead of time to include ROOM for a treat or two. Anticipate it. Eat it sloooooowwwly and mindfully, and really savour the specialness of it. You are working towards sustainability - a long-term lifestyle that is based on preferences and the occasional perk, not on "denial and deprivation"
2 - things you want to keep in your life, but are able to moderate (for me, that would be a "chocolate fix" via Dark Chocolate Bark Thins and stirring cocoa powder into yogurt
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@ForLangston
~ I tend to pre plan and log my intake to include small moderate treats.
~ I have no banned food, and choose to eat healthy snacks most of the time.
~ I earn extra calories by doing extra exercise.
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My wildflower butterfly / bee / hummingbird friendly front garden (most of the non city-easement lawn!) is stunted from lack of rainfall and intense heat all this spring / summer .... but today we spotted some new buds and blossoms!!
For something refreshing on a hot day, have you ever had fresh mint tea (one of the few that are equally good hot OR cold! with no sugar or anything else added!)
I discovered fresh mint tea in Winchester UK two summers ago. Steep fresh mint leaves (from your garden or you can get it in the herb section of the grocery store) in boiling water. Warning, it will never darken the way 'normal' commercial mint herbal tea OR even Green Tea would.
After it is steeped, remove the mint leaves and either drink a mug hot, or put it in the fridge for a while and enjoy mintted water for the rest of the day.
One other warning .... if you think you might plant your own mint DO put it in a window-box or urn /barrel or some other self-contained ...container. Mint is one of those plants that propagates via runners, so once it is in ground-level it will just keep spreading.2 -
So, I’m writing this with an incredibly heavy heart,
The lone unit secretary job I applied for, that would have kept me where I’ve worked for 19 years was passed over me because I was over qualified. (Yet I’m not over qualified to be pushing beds 32+ hours a week.)
💔😭
I’ve applied to two jobs in my county, outside where I currently work.
I’m really struggling with the extreme change in my reality right now. 😭6 -
@juliemouse83 Let me share what happened to me. You already know that I was in a terrible job for a few years and I quit with no job to go to. So I applied to several places. I never heard back from a few of them. One day I got a phone call out of the blue. It was from a company that I had applied to a year earlier and they didn't call me at that time because I was over qualified for the position I applied for. But they had another position just come up and they wanted to know if I was still interested in coming in to interview for it. This is the company I am currently working for; I started there in 2015. So hang in there and keep applying and moving forward. You never know where and how connections are made. Good luck hun! Life does get better but it may take a bit of time. But if you don't keep trying, you'll stay in the same place. And you know that you need to get out. Don't give up!4
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And yes change can be scary, which is why you wanted to apply within the same company. But look at it differently, change can be exciting and fun. Either way though, the reality is change is different from your current comfort zone. Accept it and try to roll with it. I feel for you. But it can be better. You just won't know until you get there. Work through the stress of it as best as you can. Hugs!3
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