Serial Starters

Tess - thanks for the welcome! Yes, life is busy. On top of it all, we just got engaged at the end of last month and we're planning a March 2018 wedding. It'll be quite a busy few months with prep for that, too. Sometimes I get tired how is MPF going for you, outside of the community aspect? Do you use the tracking features?

Tess/Kristina - I don't drink NEARLY enough water either. It seems to be a common factor in the swelling department! New goal = more water.

Now, off to do a reading lesson with my 5 year old...

Good morning! Boy I don't want to get up today. My fiance has had a cough for a week and a half and I've been having trouble sleeping due to his constant coughing. Nothing seems to help. *yawn*

Sara - have a great, relaxing day off!

Kristina - I just recently got not one but THREE water bottles gifted to me for my birthday, all from different people. Clearly I need to take the hint. Try the jug idea and let me know if it works for you! Also, I'm from Minnesota. I spend most of my time in downtown Minneapolis, where I work.

Tess - ditto on the water situation. i do great during week then never seems like i drink enough on weekends. (wow, that sounds so weird if you didnt know it was water i was talking about! LOL)

Annmarie - to get me into the water drinking routine, i set a reminder on my work computer and on my phone that goes off each hour. i drink at least an 8 oz glass of water each time. i got more than my 8 glasses just at work, anything at home was "icing on the cake" so to speak. i am in such a habit of it now that i dont even drink much else. maybe a warm tea on cold nights, but rest of time just water. i get about 100+ oz a day average now. if i drink less, i can definitely feel it. of course, i joke that my running to bathroom is my new PT program! LOL

Kristina - i do swell a little when walking. mostly my feet but my hands do and all my "surface" veins swell up and puff out. more to do with my circulation and CVI than anything.

rsamuels - building healthy habits is super hard! just remember how you did no added sugar habit before. good luck!!

Am doing better tracking. however, just because i am tracking doesn't mean i am keeping low calorie count. in red a lot. just so tired that i grab whatever is quick and easy to eat.

Doctor set me on really high dose of antidepressant. he said 90 days then re-evaluate. may be able to drop dosage later as neither of us actually know if current issues are more situational or chronic depression.

Still trying to get in "walk breaks" when others take smoke breaks. Was doing quite well then got a bunch of work to do that prevented me from doing last couple of days. Am trying to spread tasks out so that I can start doing it every day again. a co-worker brought in Leslie Sansone WalkFit dvds and a small group of us are trying to do those every afternoons.

*snapping fingers for Cboys to bring me cold water and a foot massage!*

Wow! I LOVED reading everyone's MFP stories/water intake tricks/etc etc today. I don't have time to respond individually but I'm so inspired! Thank you! I have so much to learn from all of you.

Sara - what is Acorn TV? Sorry to hear about your coffee/cake/egg/glass/elbow fiascos today! Too bad your day off didn't go better. At least you weren't at work?!

My win for today - several co-workers asked me to go out for work sponsored doughnuts and coffee. I declined, and then had to eat a whole bunch of baby carrots at 9am to stop me from changing my mind. Weird to eat veggies in the morning, but I'm proud that I didn't go for the doughnut! Baby steps.

I'm not sure if anyone is still doing this anymore, but I'm going to share my stats as a starting point to keep me accountable

Monday's starting weight: 180.8 (close to highest ever - eek!)
Today's weight: 178.8
Goal weight: 135

I've got a ways to go...

Good morning all~~

One eye open - not enough sleep, but the sun is out, and I want my coffee.

*tossing hat and beach bag onto favorite lounge chair*

BBL

Lana

244.4 - today (two weeks without a scale, and NO tracking, and I am roughly the same. Whew.)
250.0 - highest
185.0 - goal

rhaiin - am right there with ya about not being mentally capable of doing what needs to be done. i am really hoping to change that before the new year.

sara - sorry you had such a crazy day. i have had several of those so I can feel your pain!

Lana - hope you keep those Cboys on their toes bringing you fresh coffee!

annmarie - great job on avoiding the donuts! cake donuts are my kryptonite. i know if i even take one bite, i am gonna eat the whole bag/box/whatever container. i keep Detour & Quest protein bars at work so if someone brings in sweets, i can have one of those protein bars and have sweet tooth satisfied. (the bars taste more like candy bars) they are also great when running/working late for lasting energy.

i have some co-workers on-board with doing the "walk breaks" and we have been able to do them so far.
also, cleaned out the fridge & pantry. i gave away or threw away nearly all the "junk" (unfortunately, i do have to keep some so DH doesnt feel like he is deprived and starving)

trying to get all Christmas presents wrapped and get tree put up. am doing a "wall tree" this year. our cat is just too much of a cat to get an actual tree up. we tried it last year and that made us decide to go with wall tree this year.

my former boss's mother passed away over the weekend. DH and I are going to the funeral home for visitation tonight. am keeping fingers crossed i can keep my whits about me while there.

oh - and there has been an arrest made in DD's storage unit being robbed. they have at least one person in custody. know she has to have accomplices but at least this is a start. DD says they are waiting on warrant to go search that person's storage unit to see how much stolen stuff they can recover.

Annmarie- congrats on overcoming temptation! This is a tough time of year - everyone is bringing treats into work so they don’t have them at home.

Kathryn - deep breathing and good luck with the funeral home. Given the year you’ve had, there is bound to be some anxiety kicking up. Self-preservation is key here - if you need to leave, do it.

Hi rhaiin - I totally understand. I had been starting/stopping trying to lose weight for awhile. Then something clicked at the same time I learned about MFP. So far, the constant tracking has worked for me.

Lana, the birds in the backyard bring up such a lovely image. Make sure the C-boys thoroughly clean off the chaise lounge before you settled in.

Waves to Sara and all who are wandering about.

Tess

Thursday

Long day - on the road and back again with a long meeting in between. Lots of homework with DD tonight.

And tears! Our vet sent us a card and included some paw prints they took from our cat, Tiki, who we put down last week. I have had moments of sadness and tears on and off - but that card and the paw prints kicked off some sobbing for me. For some reason still questioning myself if we did the right thing even though I know we did. I think part of it is the holidays. I wish she could have stayed a little longer. It's been a week. I feel like I should be getting over it better than I am. But I miss her. I miss her "talking" to me and her company. Her quirks and seeing her in her favorite spots around the house. I miss her laying next to me at night. Our other cats are doing their best to "take over" and are establishing some new routines. I know it will get better. We have had to put down two other cats before this. So, I know this too shall pass. This one has just been extra tough, I guess.

And all this emotion is not helping me with trying to eat well. I haven't gotten any exercise this week but hope to change that this weekend. We simply will set aside time to go to the gym. I haven't faced the scale in several weeks due to fear and embarrassment. But trying to cut myself a little slack with the cat, the house stuff, etc.

We did get good news today. Our seller had the fireplace repaired (it is a gas fireplace and wouldn't turn on during the inspection) and had an exterminator come in to check for mice and bats. (There was evidence of some droppings in the garage attic and apparently the main attic, too.) They sealed off multiple entry points for mice and also put out baits for mice. There was no evidence of bats. So, we'll have to keep checking for mice but I'm glad we had them hire the exterminator to do a thorough inspection. They still need to have the furnace inspected/repaired and have the carpets professionally cleaned prior to closing.

I'm off to a hot bath. Fighting a cold on top of everything else.

Friday tomorrow!

Annie