Quick check-in for me too. I have an appointment at 9:00 at the lymphedema clinic to get measured for new stockings, woohoo! The ones I have are getting ratty! Also need to do fasting blood work an hour north of the clinic--normally not a problem, but I didn't get enough calories yesterday and could eat my own arm today, LOL.

Hubby apologized yesterday and promised to talk to shrink so I don't need to run away. Last night I told my board of trustees I'm stepping down as president until I feel better.

Hmmmmmm.... I think this is called self care!

We need a conversation starter in here this morning... anyone?

Morning all! Karen, SO happy to hear y'all had a good talk. ♥

I had a rough night. Not sure what happened other then goldfish.. lots of them. I am blaming melatonin. That sounds like a good thing to blame. I was only up .4lbs though from the 5lb weekend loss so trying not to beat myself up too much. Going to be a light day and watching the carbs. That might have had something to do with it too. I had a pretty high carb day yesterday. Lots of fruit and a baked potato. Carbs begets carbs for me.

Really looking forward to the weekend but a little scared too. Memorial day/4th of July and Labor Day seems to always be a turn in the road on my path towards health and wellness. We tend to go to my in-laws down in Galveston where food is in abundance. I do really well for a day and a half and then give in and go nuts. Typically ending with a Whataburger trip on the way home finishing off the weekend with bad eating when I get home and a 10lb gain in 3 days.

How do I avoid it this time? I am trying to think how I can bring food I can eat. I can't really bring stuff to put in their fridge because it is always jammed packed where I have a hard time finding a place to shove in a water bottle. The really isn't a store near by, they live right on the water. They have a gas station, that is about it. Hmm..they will be cooking shrimp, but I don't like seafood...thinking outloud here. I really want it to be different this time.

We have a small cooler that we take for drinks and snacks for the kiddo on the way. Because we have her and the 120lb dog and our luggage and us it is always a tight squeeze and I tend to over pack. But I think with proper planning and a game plan, I can do this! My FIL is a great cook and the type that gets offended when you don't eat his cooking but he is so used to me being on a diet now I don't think it bothers him anymore. He typically makes home made biscuits sausage bacon eggs for breakfast, skip lunch. We always make a taqueria run. Fatty delicious cheap Mexican food, BBQ, chips, dips, queso. Your typical tex-mex party 3 day food fest.

Wow... tough one blonda! Especially since you've already said your MIL isn't very supportive of your efforts! I'm with the others on this--pack a cooler, keep a supply of cut up veggies and fruit, drink a TON of water, and run all the food on the table through the calorie counter before you choose what to eat.

It doesn't have to be all or nothing. Find a way to feel satisfied without "blowing it."

Maybe you can keep yourself busy and away from the food as much as possible too. Swimming? Boating? Playing with the kids? Squirt gun and water balloon fights?

I just had a mini-battle that I half won. After doing blood work, I headed home (which means driving b past 20 fast food places). I knew I needed to eat something ASAP, so I went to mcdonald's for a grilled chicken salad wrap, dressing on the side. Had to park and wait it--no biggie--but when the worker handed me the bag, I smelled fries, and sure enough, there they were even though I hadn't ordered them. I started to eat them, of course, then thought better of it and instead tossed most of them out the window One at a time into the woods along the highway. Chipmunk dinner! I felt like a lunatic talking to those Damn fries, but it helped to yell at them and tell them they were nasty and greasy. ????

Oh, and one more thing!

What is it about self care that is so difficult? If I were her child with special food needs, I'd bet you would find room in the car for my cooler and room in the fridge for my food. Or a friend coming along who needed to stick to her diet...

As we discuss how to get through travels and holidays ask this question: how would you prepare if you were doing it for someone else????

Hey KarenZen....I think you have identified the topic of conversation for tomorrow!!!! lol :-)

Sandy and Catlady, after I posted that, I began to think about my own habits. On another thread, I talked about how when I have my 7-year- old best friend for the day, I make sure he is warm, hydrated, fed healthy food, exercised, kept safe, and very well loved. All the basics of good care! But I neglect my own needs terribly. My husband makes fun of everyone in my family for doing the same thing... he'll say, "Oh, oh, no, this chain saw wound is nothing! Just help me put this tourniquet on so I can get back to work! I only need to stand on one leg anyway!"

I've been thinking about digging out some old photos of hubby and I as children and putting them on the fridge, maybe carrying one around with me. My shrink wants me to practice "checking in" with myself every hour. She says to ask myself if I am hungry, thirsty , tired, need to stretch, need a sweater , need a break, whatever it is I need and what can I do to meet those needs to stay comfortable. Because I have chronic pain from Still's (and because I'm a co-dependent minimizer, LOL!), I don't pay attention to my signals until they are LOUD and by then I'm in the red zone and likely to reach for the instant comfort of high calorie foods. I wondering if carrying around a childhood photo and asking her (me), "what do you need right now?" would help?

Oh my God, just typing that, I started to tear up.... yeah, I'm pretty sure I wasn't properly nurtured b in childhood. My guess is that many of us in here weren't. Wanna start now?

I hope you guys don't mind my incessant posting. I'm a writer by profession and work everything out by writing rather than talking!

I hope you guys don't mind my incessant posting. I'm a writer by profession and work everything out by writing rather than talking!

Only if you don't mind when I eventually go into a spiral and start posting like crazy. We are cheaper then a therapist. Post away.

I love you Karen! I live for your posts! The cop story..too funny! The fries...omg. I would have NEVER had that kind of strength. I'm going to see what. I can do to keep it to veggies, proteins and fruits. Take as much as I can with me. Eat the shrimp if I must. I know boiled shrimp is low calorie.

debunny have a bloody s'more (whatever it is, no im kidding kinda I vaguely know, choco, marshmallow and biscuit right?) But have just one and really savour that thing. Then if others have seconds have some pineapple you can grill or something if you still want something sweet, or just go clear up somewhere, with kids there is bound to be something you can do with your hands. Enjoying a first time treat with your kids is imo a very acceptable reason to indulge just a little.

But, if you feel like you absolutely cannot what about just roasted marshmallows. Or just the pineapple lol

And Karen I seriously do not think I could have chucked the fries either. Those poor obese squirrels, do you think they have their own MFP board?

Camping treats? I LOVE camp cooking! Eat a smore and enjoy the hell out of it! Or... bring sugar free chocolate pudding snacks and sugar free coolwhip. Skip the marshmallow and chocolate bar and make a yummy lo-cal version with the pudding and coolwhip. Bake Apples in tinfoil near the fire with cinnamon and Stevie or splenda. Put on a dollop of sugar free coolwhip. Cut off the tops of oranges, scoop out the fruit and eat, then fill the skins halfway with sugar free brownie batter. Wrap in tinfoil and cook on coals for 20 minutes. Orange infused brownies.

I like to pre-cook chicken breast at home (just boil it), then bring in tin foil packs with different seasonings and veggies , like zucchini or mushrooms or parsnips. Toss the tinfoil on the coals, cook for 20 minutes, YUM.

Bring a grill/grate to cook on if you won't have low coals or good flat rocks. Or use several layers b of tinfoil to avoid burning. Best meal I ever cooked over a fire was brisket, roasted veggies, cheesecake, and espresso. My boyfriend at the time brought hotdogs and sticks. Foolish boy! Other easy healthy grill food? Turkey kielbasa and roasted cabbage or coleslaw. Cook a pot of chili at home (use Turkey or very lean beef) and reheat on the grill or over fire. You can grab a throwaway pot at the Goodwill if you don't trust the tinfoil method.

I worked as a camp counselor at a summer camp here for many years, and every Wednesday we had b to , cook with our kids over a campfire. It's amazing what you can do with tinfoil... we even made a tinfoil pot and lid to boil spaghetti water! The kids had a blast trying different things .

I could seriously write a book about campfire cooking--maybe write a "diet" book for campers! How fun!!!

Go for it, Rat! Then I can type all kinds of good advice that I don't follow myself, LOL!!!

Well whats life without some hypocrisy, I try to be hypocritical at least once a day.

You might want to find another way then tossing things out the window of your moving car , somewhere their an obese opossum in a support group telling a woeful tail about not being able to help himself but eat the french fires on the side of the road...

CheckCheck Checkin in......

A little warm outside with too much humidity and severe storms on the way. UGH

Kept my calories low but did have a handful (<2oz of cashews)....vegies...a small salmon patty and some pickles.

I caved some early this morning and started to eat a cinnamon roll.....but stopped and gave it to the fiance'.

Slept very little again...woke at 1130. It is so hard to work a 9 hr day on a couple hours of sleep.

Glad to see everyone here and all the plans for the weekend. We're hanging out at home...may have a couple of my kids and grands in for a cook out Sunday...not sure yet.

Sorry I haven't been around much the last few. I've been reading everything but haven't really posted. I've been in a real funk the last few days. Working on pulling myself out of it now before it turns into real depression. I usually get this way towards the end of the month. We only get paid once a month. It's hard enough making the money last a month but these 5 week months are killer. Trying to keep the bill collectors happy, make the food stretch, etc. makes me want to roll up into a ball and hide in the closet. And of course, since I'm so good at eating my emotions I'm searching the kitchen for something to eat which just makes me realize how bare the cabinets are. Therefore, the funk. I spent most of yesterday, planted in front of the tv doing absolutely nothing. Today was a little better though. I had therapy with my new therapist and that went well. When I was done with therapy, I decided to walk the mile and a half to the metrolink station instead of hopping on the bus. After dinner, I'm going to talk my son into going with me for a walk.