What's on your mind today?
Replies
-
Monday 25th May
Lots of things to be grateful for.
- I am grateful for the use of my legs. Did a massive (for me) bike ride yesterday. Felt great!
- I am grateful I am alive and in good health. I told my bike mate the story of how I almost died or at least had my leg amputated.
- I am grateful I lost some 13 kilos, many thanks to support from you all. It would have been so difficult doing that bike ride with that extra weight!
Have a good week everybody!4 -
@SuziQ113 Your natural hair looks great! It goes well with your skin shade and eye colour. I have been trying to decide for ages whether to go natural or to colour it back to the vibrant auburn shade that actually used to suit me. I don't know yet. My hair has grown quite long, so I tend to pin it up. I certainly don't want to go back to my hairdresser yet, far too close during Covid-19, so I will wait a little longer. I think I will wait until my general 'look', i.e. weightloss, is stable and then I will decide what hair colour and style goes with the new, trim me!4
-
@SuziQ113 Your natural hair looks great! It goes well with your skin shade and eye colour. I have been trying to decide for ages whether to go natural or to colour it back to the vibrant auburn shade that actually used to suit me. I don't know yet. My hair has grown quite long, so I tend to pin it up. I certainly don't want to go back to my hairdresser yet, far too close during Covid-19, so I will wait a little longer. I think I will wait until my general 'look', i.e. weightloss, is stable and then I will decide what hair colour and style goes with the new, trim me!
Thank you. It's always great to have options. I figured I can always color it, if I get tired of it. For now it feels freeing. If we continued being normal I would've gotten highlights again and would be wondering.
Congratulations on the weight loss. You're doing great and giving yourself something to look forward to as you hit your goals.2 -
@SuziQ113 I am embracing my grey, as I am about 40% there. I love the look in picture three!
I've been playing around with a color depositing conditioner because it isn't permanent and it really doesn't cover the grey. Right now I'm sporting Rose Gold for Brown Hair, which is kind of pushing the envelope for soon-to-be-removed hair color restrictions at work, but it left me with a nice burgundy shade, which is better than my dull brown roots. It's probably been since before Halloween when I last used permanent color, so with every trim, more and more of the dyed ends are coming off.
I was so thrilled to hear from my stylist yesterday that she's opening back up and that I can get a cut next week. My last one was in early February, so I am well past due.
Our state (NC) is in Phase 2 of the reopening, which means salons and restaurants can open up, but gyms and bars cannot. One county has decided to extend its stay at home order, and I feel badly for those residents. Folks are getting stir crazy and really want to go out and about.
I've got some thoughts on this virus, which I will share here when I get a little more research under my belt.
Hope you all are having a great Monday!2 -
I am currently faced with an interesting "dilemma"
I have to start wrapping my brain (sooner than anticipated) to a "semi-retired" lifestyle but only in the daily-routine sense, not the financial sense! I love working at home, and that looks to be continuing long-termish for me, it seems.
No paycheck impact for us (just financial positives like no longer paying for commute-gas etc)
Stabilization is going well, so I have more-or-less arrived at the beginnings of maintenance. That means my exercise activities can change to less cardio-exergame based and maybe more balance/flexibility/range-of-motion, and yet I need to keep up with burning the additional calories I am now eating. So ALL my off-hour activities can't fall into the default category of "pretty much stationary" like reading, faux-cross-stitch, sewing etc.
HOWEVER - I DO have to make mental and habitual adjustments to the going-forward fact that all my "at work NEAT step-generating strategies" are basically gone for good. My available non-work (yet no longer commuting) hours have changed and opened up. Not a HUGE amount, but still the whole "time needed for the activities required to support the actual work-hours" have altered.
So I need to do two major resets simultaneously - adjust my intake / activity level to stay stable (no longer shed weight) while at the same time let go of all the 'steps around the building' things I USED to be able to sneak into my day.
I would love to hear suggestions on the transition-to-full-maintenance going forward from those of you who have already done so (and are still working or at most semi-retired). I am not ENTIRELY my own master for scheduling my time QUITE yet ...
3 -
@BMcC9 I cannot help. I am semi-retired in a funny way in that I work (normally) a few days every month full-time but nothing the rest. I don't classify my exercise, I just do what I can and when I can: walk, bike (now), go to a few classes (not many possible now), swim, (again, not now) and I count the calories burnt on MFP. I try and do some form of exercise for half an hour a day at least. I count calories, 1200 a day, try not to use exercise calories if I can avoid it, and so far this seems to work. I have lost 13 kilos since I was heaviest, but I still have another 8 or 9 to go.4
-
@BMcC9 - I am semi retired. While I have more time due to less commuting, I’ve more or less filled that time with longer morning coffee, reading the news, a load of laundry - so many things. It took me a few months to fall into a rhythm but I did eventually. I get more done working from home because there are fewer interruptions and people stopping by my office to see how my weekend was, how the kids are, etc. it takes less time to accomplish the same amount of work. I tend to work for a block of time and then reward myself with a walk or something. I stay out of family room where the TV is because I go down a rabbit hole and find myself still there when it’s time to start dinner. You’ll get a routine going. It may take some time but you’ll get there.4
-
I downloaded 'Libby' ( the app that lets me sign out e-books and audiobooks from my public library and successfully downloaded one of each (then put the e-book back - aiming for LESS 'screen-time' , not more! But nice to know that the 'print' on the tablet will be a more comfortable size to read for these older eyes than some of my tiny-print physical books are now)
Then I listened to an audiobook about a favourite character by a favourite author while doing some sewing after supper. I PLAN to start chipping away at my mending pile, including deciding what is worth altering and what would be too much effort / beyond my skills to even attempt to alter. Being able to listen while I sew is gonna be great!
4 -
26th May
- I am grateful to have woken up healthy to another beautiful morning
- I am grateful for all your support! Almost made the whole month of May on here, only missed a few days
- I am grateful for my home help who turned up yesterday unexpectedly and did a great job
- I am grateful for the easing of Lockdown restrictions. I just read that the Botanical Gardens are re-opening today, a favourite spot for a walk. I can do another exercise class out by the river again tomorrow
- I am grateful for e-books @BMcC9! I have spent half of my Airbnb refund on buying e-books from Amazon!
- I am grateful for my 97-year-old Mum, who calls me every morning at 8.30 on the dot. She is the most positive person you can imagine. She helps a lot of 'old folks' as she calls them, all (much) younger than she is! She had a difficult Memorial Day yesterday, as she lived through the Occupation in Holland, was a courier in the Resistance and lost friends who were shot by the Nazis. Her brother narrowly escaped, jumped off a train bound for a concentration camp, joined the Canadian army, then helped to liberate Holland; my Dad was shot in the butt and escaped from hospital dressed as a nurse. She watched the Memorial service yesterday with tears streaming down her face. "Never again", she said. Let's look after each other in the world.
- Thank you for people like my Mum, who know the difference between right and wrong and do the right thing, often with danger to themselves.
Have a good day everyone!6 -
@Chinkiri - your mom sounds likes an amazing person2
-
just spotted this blog in the MFP start-up page=> 9 Ways to Turn Pantry Staples Into Health Baked Treats.
https://blog.myfitnesspal.com/ways-to-turn-pantry-staples-into-healthy-baked-treats/
Does anyone do more routine baking now than they did before? (not counting Dec Holiday baking if that is a once-a-year tradition in your house) or a category of baking that they didn't used to? will you be keeping it up?
I hauled out the breadmaker machine early on - and have been alternating between white and whole-wheat loaves every few days ever since. I will need to break open the still-sealed bigger yeast package (all the bulk food store had available) for the next loaf.....
Anyone tried / had success with sourdough bread? No yeast required and I hear it is pretty yummy tooo. (but don't know if it works in a breadmaker or not)1 -
26th May
- I am grateful .... for e-books @BMcC9! I have spent half of my Airbnb refund on buying e-books from Amazon! ....
Have a good day everyone!
I remember you saying something earlier on about "cozy mysteries set in English countryside / village type locale" What author(s)? any part of a series?
Have you read any of the Georgette Heyer "current at time of writing" mysteries? (set mostly in the 1930s - the last two are postwar)
My fav is "Envious Casca" - set J U S T pre-WW2 in Hampshire over Christmas.2 -
Gosh, I love this platform! It's like Facebook once was, with pictures of food and pets, landscapes, AND people help you lose weight, eat healthily, go out and exercise!
Not baking, no! I'd eat it! Too much of it! Freshly baked, with butter! Stop! I am trying to stick to low carb food, yummy vegetables, salads! Love breads too much! That's part of how I put on the weight, bread, butter and cheese! Pasta is no good either, so please no one give me great pasta recipes! I grew up in a country where bread is an absolute staple. I am trying to stop this. France likes its bread, but basically only a few slices at a time, I can cope with this.4 -
I totally emphasize with you Chinkiri! I'm more able to bake and stick to my wellness goals if I have recipients for my baked goods and/or personally uninterested in the baked good like snickerdoodles are my nephews favorite which is so unappealing to me. So yes coach, regular baking every other week. I'm not a huge fan of bread though more of afan of baked sweets or savory ones. The struggle is real.2
-
Plus I find baking therapeutic...1
-
@BMcC9 Have been binge reading Kate Ellis and Wesley Patterson books, all set in Devon, with an archeological background. Join me on Goodreads! Used to love Georgette Heyer, but not read her for many years. Will have a look!
What are some of your fav GH historicals? for suspense, I like both "The Tollgate" and "The Talisman Ring" (I ALWAYS hear/imagine "Sally" (the novel has 2 couples out to clear the younger-male's name so that he can then marry the younger-female / Sally is the mature-female lead) as a young Diana Rigg playing Mrs Peel voice in period dress whenever I re-re-re-re-read this one)
For 'novels of personality'. my top two are "Frederica" and "Venitia".
I will look up the two authors you mention, and also see if I can find you on Goodreads (or do I just look for the authors? ) Devon is right next door to Cornwall (which I LOVED visiting last year) and a archeological background is quite appealing - those two counties are "King Arthur country"
Right now I am listening to Book 7 of the Andy Carpenter (NJ lawyer) series by David Rosenthall. If you only ever read one of the 19 or so, read #6 "Play Dead". It's the one that got me hooked! And if you get a chance to listen to it, listen to Grover Gardner reading it. PERFECT!
Just looked back at YOUR suggestions and laughed! Andy is based in the town of PATTERSON, New Jersey ...1 -
I totally emphasize with you Chinkiri! I'm more able to bake and stick to my wellness goals if I have recipients for my baked goods and/or personally uninterested in the baked good like snickerdoodles are my nephews favorite which is so unappealing to me. So yes coach, regular baking every other week. I'm not a huge fan of bread though more of afan of baked sweets or savory ones. The struggle is real.Plus I find baking therapeutic...
speaking of savoury .... did I ever mention my DH's British mum's scone recipe ... or bread pudding .... s i g h !!!! I know, bad on me for bringing them up!1 -
I totally emphasize with you Chinkiri! I'm more able to bake and stick to my wellness goals if I have recipients for my baked goods and/or personally uninterested in the baked good like snickerdoodles are my nephews favorite which is so unappealing to me. So yes coach, regular baking every other week. I'm not a huge fan of bread though more of afan of baked sweets or savory ones. The struggle is real.Plus I find baking therapeutic...
speaking of savoury .... did I ever mention my DH's British mum's scone recipe ... or bread pudding .... s i g h !!!! I know, bad on me for bringing them up!
Sound delicious! Ever had Louisiana bread pudding? I don't like bread pudding but wow, LOVE their's especially at Mother's restaurant...1 -
Wednesday 27th May
- I am grateful to have woken up to another beautiful day, birds chirping, gorgeous orangey-pinky light, smell of fresh grass, no idea why or how as we are in a city
- I am grateful for my life! It's pretty good!
Have a good day everyone!4
