Chats, Challenges & Laughs 2nd home

[Cele21]

For all my Chats, Challenges & Laughs peeps! Since we can't get on the threads I thought I would start a discussion area for us. We may not be able to keep track of points standings easily but we can still talk.

I miss you!

[Cele21]

@ElaineJ27  - You need to get the dividers that they sell for office spaces right now, they stand on the desk (or car seat) and keep you separate from your neighbor. Most of the ones I've seen are clear but I'm sure they sell solid ones too (for test taking, etc.). They look a bit like the high sides of desks that you see in libraries or the wings on a voting booth. The only down side I see is they can still kick each other LOL!

[CJ_Here]

Fri - 3 pts / posting, water, logging (all of it).  Day 1, Oct 1st, was good; today was fine until tonight and then I kind of binged.  But I did go back and log everything.  Day 3 will be another opportunity to do what is best for me.

Yesterday I sold a bunch of 18 gal totes and today sold a metal wall hanging.  I really need to get the guest room cleared out (pushed somewhere else or something) since hubby's daughter is coming for a visit Oct 9th.  We'll need to do the best we can to sanitize the place during and after her overnight stay.  We haven't seen her for a year now and hubby is willing to take the risk to spend time with her.  He said I could leave (stay in a motel or somewhere is I didn't feel safe).  I know I'll be the one sanitizing so I may as well just stay here.  I ordered a bed in a box mattress and a frame (twin XL) that hopefully will be here in time.  It's fun to figure out how to turn this storage room into a welcoming guest room.  I called on the status of our ordered two nightstands and larger dresser.  We'll be lucky to get them by December.  Covid has really slowed down such items.  Even though it will cost money on the back end, I've decided to really, really downsize my clothing.  I just have no where to put it and I seem to wear the same things over and over again anyway.  

[Jan2512]

Last week I was hit by a nasty bug - not covid.  It like a gastric 'flu.  This meant that Wednesday to Friday I was out of action.  It did result in a weight loss of 1.4 kg (3lb).  So, I thought this is a prime time to start a new "lifestyle" plan.  I am going to give intermittent fasting a go.  I am trying the 14/10 version which means you fast for 14 hours and day.  I have opted to eat between midday and 10:00 pm and fast the rest of the time.  During the fasting time you can drink plenty of water, tea & coffee (without sugar & milk) and herbal tea.  I like peppermint tea so that is alright.  I'll let you know how I go.

At the moment we are watching our rugby league team - Melbourne Storm win the qualifying finals.  Unfortunately we have not been able to see our team play all year due to covid.  To keep the game going it was decided to relocate our team to Queensland and as Victorians cannot leave the state we could not even go to see them if we wanted to.

America has been our lead item on the news over the last couple of days with regards to your president contracting covid.

@CJ_Here - We are experiencing the same problems with deliveries through the post but independent couriers seem to be fine if the store is in Australia.  Is your husbands daughter from a hotspot (high risk area)?  I was glad you said that you eat what you hunt.  As a meat eater I cannot object to people eating for food but I hate reading about trophy hunters like the dentist who went to Africa to hunt lions and killed that lion just so he could be photographed with it and brag about it.

@ElaineJ27 - We are doing a bit of spring cleaning at the moment, but due to lockdown rules donation places are not allowed to open.  So we are just putting things in plastic bags ready to go.  

@MargaretG139 - This is one time I am glad I don't have kids.  In Victoria the kids have been home schooled more than going to actual school.  I don't know how families are coping especially as most parents who have jobs are working from home.  Australia's internet is not the best (I think we are rated after Bulgaria!).

[CJ_Here]

Sat - 1 pt / logging - a lot 😞

And have been eating high points today, too.  Ugh.

I did try intermittent fasting this past week, too.  Not sure that it fits my lifestyle ... but what is my lifestyle, lol

Yes, @Jan2512 , I thought it was important to note that we love eating wild.  Today, I am roasting duck.  I hope I can do it justice. 

[ElaineJ27]

I start out each day with great intentions but have been bingeing by lunchtime. My mom called late Friday afternoon and it was a difficult conversation. She insists that my sister has been “helping herself to my stuff”, but my sister lives 80 miles away and hasn’t been here since February.  After I hung up, I ordered a pizza and drank a soda. The pizza was horrible but I ate too much anyway. An hour later, I had an extreme headache and heart palpitations. When I looked up my symptoms, the first explanation was stress, followed by dehydration. 

I never used to have any problem drinking all my water until about six months ago. Today I started making a concentrated effort to drink 72 ounces. 

@CJ_Here , thanks for the suggestion on the divider. It may actually be a solution!  

I am not fond of wild meat but probably because we never had it growing up. I really am not that fond of meat. I used to trade my meat to my brothers for their mashed potatoes when Mom was distracted. 

@Jan2512 , baseball season was really strange this year with a shortened season and no fans. I heard that they may allow a few fans for the World Series but I don’t even want to think what those tickets would cost!

[Cele21]

USW - 218.0

LW - 197.0

CW - 192.6

Once again the 30 day meal plan and added walking is off to a great start. I still don't see it as much when I look in the mirror and I thought my knee would start feeling a lot better without the extra stress but not yet, though I do notice my clothes are fitting differently. I don't think I could do intermittent fasting as anything more than four hours without eating makes me shaky/wobbly and very crabby. I do better with smaller meals and snacks in between.

The weather has gotten colder and with the rain I had to miss a few walks but overall I'm happy with the results.

[CJ_Here]

Wow, great 30 day start, @Cele21 ! 

Hope you are feeling better, @Jan2512 .

Are you able to see your mom at all in person, @ElaineJ27 .  There must be additional stress if you can't.  

I've gotten the stress back of wondering if I've been scammed somehow.  We received a $195 smoker from Amazon that just had a packing slip saying it was a gift from Heather.  I can't think of any Heather that would do something like that.  So under that it had a website address you could go to that seemed a little suspect, but I went and it had the Amazon screen that said I had a free gift and I hit the 'gift' and it shows the smoker.  My Amazon account shows that what I really ordered, the mattress in a box, arrived so I called Amazon and the tracking # on the smoker box shows as the mattress on their records.  He set up for the smoker to be returned and another mattress to be shipped out.  Sorry, but he did have a foreign accent so that made me wonder while I was laying in bed tonight.  So, I got up and checked Amazon scams and scammers do send free gifts called 'brushing' but it's usually some cheap China product that is there's and they send it so you'll give their product a good review.  There was a weird 'Thank you" email that arrived this afternoon with suspect address, but like a kid I couldn't resist so I opened the email and it was just some spam which I deleted immediately.  I hate this part of the world we are living in these days where you can't trust anything.  The Amazon guy said sometimes mistakes like this happen, but is this a legit mistake or ????  Sorry to be rambling but I just needed to 'talk' to someone because Hubby is paranoid after the scam I got in last spring with my computer (and rightfully so).  I don't want him to realize that I'm paranoid, too.  I'll tell him tomorrow that I investigated more (which I did).  And, we'll just return the package and pray for the best.

Still not together on my eating either.  I sit here, very uncomfortable, with returned stomach rolls pushing into my chest.  I'm just spinning.  Intermittent doesn't work with our lifestyle.  I did do well with small meals and snacks (when I could control the portions).  I'm allowing food to rule my world.  So stupid.  Time to put my big girl panties on and start finding this food bully head on.

[CJ_Here]

..."fighting" this food bully ...

Oh, and counting points just seems to be backfiring on me, too.  Maybe I should try the purple plan (think that's the one with more points) but I'll probably just 'play' with those, too.  Maybe I should just quit WW ... but I did lose almost 50 lbs on the plan.  Years ago I was successful with the "Weigh Down" program - Christian based - only eat when you are really hungry (wait for the growl or what if your body's way of letting you know you need to eat) and then only eating enough to just get a twinge of getting to full).  When you do that you may be eating something small every few hours.  I need to stop binging.  I really need to commit to something and then COMMIT.

[CJ_Here]

Tues - 1 pt / posting

Had a really tough day yesterday with no sleep and high anxiety.  Did tell my hubby towards the end of the day about it.  Today started with more things to do from him (other than what I wanted to do due to getting ready for our guest).  I think he saw or heard the anxiety and backed off.  We talked and he put off working on the shop wall this week.  I thanked him.  My anxiety is still there but manageable.  Going through these containers of old journals from 1993, 2010, etc is good and bad.  But it's giving me ideas of how to focus on my overeating.

[CJ_Here]

Wed / 1 pt / posting

Got some stuff put away. Higher caloric day.

[ElaineJ27]

I’m sorry that I’ve been gone again. I should post when I think about it even if it’s not convenient because I forget when I put it off. While I was running errands this morning I got tea at McDonald’s but they gave me sweet tea instead of unsweetened. Because I was thirsty, I drank it but really lost energy during my golf game. That will teach me to not leave home without a drink. 

@CJ_Here , first, you need to stop beating yourself up!  You’ve had very major life changes in the midst of the craziest world we’ve ever known. It sounds like you took good action with the Amazon deal. When I get suspect emails, I go directly to the company for verification. I’ve gotten several emails that my Amazon account is locked until I give further info, but when I log on to my account through Amazon, everything is fine. 

@Cele21 , you are indeed an inspiration with your weight loss!  You keep moving in the right direction. 

I have a pot of stuffed pepper soup cooking that I will pack up to take camping. We’re staying fairly close to home so Hubby set up last night and went to work from the campground. I had to take grandkids to school this morning so I’m heading out there this afternoon. He has Monday off, so we’re staying until then. There is little cell service so I won’t post again until probably Tuesday. 

[CJ_Here]

Thurs - 2 pts

Thank you, @ElaineJ27 .  Hope you enjoy your camping getaway.  

Because of the mix-up, whatever it was, we did not get the mattress in time.  Hopefully the blow up on the frame will be comfortable enough.  

Today is cleaning day (Hubby decided to bake yesterday afternoon so there's additional clean-up, lol) and then tomorrow after Hubby's daughter leaves; touch surface cleaning.  We are having beautiful weather.  Hopefully it'll stay a couple of more days so I can get some outside work done.

[Glenda]

@CJ_Here CJ,  I definitely don'[t think you are paranoid.  It is one scam after another in my inbox.  I'm glad I don't have a cloud account or Amazon Prime or lots of other things because I'm always being locked out of something I don't even have.  I have a diet suggestion for some of you to consider.    You may feel you eat too much and try to avoid everything except water, but I'm discovering that snacks on almonds or something that seems little but adds up and is unsatisfying really is lots less when I have a protein drink.  You may eat sometimes thinking you SHOULD, especially if it includes protein.  But the total calories consumed could be less with you feeling full and more satisfied.  I can have 5 grams of protein for 15 calories (one tablespoon)  or 45 calories for 15 grams of protein which is enough for me 3 times a day.  You must shop carefully with a calculator to get the least calories with the ingredients that you can live with.  I ran out of the best one I found with less calories  and can't find it again (DYMATIZE.COM).  Lots of them have more calories though.  Anyway you are probably taller &  require more total  protein than I need and it should be spread through the day.  Most people eat protein mostly at night.  Studies show it is the wrong thing to do.

[Jan2512]

Still in lockdown and our Premier today told us that we will be in lockdown now to November 8.  We were supposed to go to stage 3 on October 19 but we have not gone down far enough for our states government.  Victoria currently has 189 active cases – when we look at the news and see other countries with hundreds if not thousands of cases our lockdown does look excessive.  We only have 21 people in hospital and no one in ICU.  The other states have far less than us and are living more normal lives.

I weighed myself after one week of my intermittent fasting diet and I lost 1.1 kg  which is about 2.5 lbs so I think it is a good start.  I don’t find it hard not eating till midday in fact some days it has been past 2:00 pm before I have started eating.  I have put an alarm on my Fitbit at 9:50 pm to remind me to stop eating at 10:00 pm.

Tomorrow (Monday) I am going to walk to my doctors.  I can book online for a tele appointment but I want to see a doctor and you have to ring for an appointment.  As I am going to the post office to check the mail anyway and the doctors is just up the road from the post office I thought I’d drop in. The reason I want to see a doctor is that I have swelling behind & in front of my ear, also swelling in my jaw and upper throat, all on the right side.  I am paranoid about lumps and swellings due to my Mum’s history with non-hodgkins lymphoma.

How is everyone going through these crazy times?  We are doing lots of spring cleaning, but we never seem to go on top of things.  I have been doing more exercise than I have for awhile, although not today.

@Glenda - I track my food on the Fitbit site and know I don't have enough protein.

@CJ_Here - Hope the anxiety is continuing to be managed well.  Personally I would jail scammers and throw away the key.  

@ElaineJ27  - Hope you are enjoying camping.  I have never been camping, I've stayed in caravan's but I didn't enjoy it.  I don't handle "roughing it" very well especially regarding toilets

[CJ_Here]

Thanks for the info, @Glenda .  I do feel better with protein.  I am still eating wayyyyyyyyyyyy too much and feeling uncomfortable from it.  I had bought a couple of fall / winter tops last spring when I was 25 lbs lighter.  I just put them in a storage bin for fall 2021.  Now that our company is gone, and I've emptied out more bins in the process, I need to focus on my physical concerns.  A exercise routine is in order which a healthier diet should follow.

@Jan2512 , my anxiety is better.  The mattress showed up too late, but we did get it and I wasn't charged twice.  I have been off my anti-anxiety/anti-depressant for four months now so I think that's why it was so bad. 

[Cele21]

USW - 218.0

LW - 192.6

CW - 190.8

I posted this morning but don't see it (again).

The eating/walking combo is going really well. I feel good and am happy to see the results. I do substitute recommended meals for others when pressed for time (or if I don't like what is scheduled - green smoothies? No thank you - I'll take overnight oats or toast and peanut butter instead). This past weekend I went totally off plan for three meals and don't regret it because I still turned down ice cream without feeling I missed out on anything. My current mini goal is 175. At that point I hope to have found a new knee doctor and if they recommend surgery, I feel this will be a much better weight. I started in August at 205.

In other news, my brother and sister-in-law have tested positive for Covid. They had mild symptoms last week and she was scheduled for cataract surgery. They tested her prior to the surgery and it came back positive so my brother got tested as well and he's got it too. Still mild symptoms this week. The only small concern we have is we sat at the same table at the wedding. I say small because:

1) It was three weeks ago

2) They have been travelling a lot in their new RV - different states, restaurants, etc. Including after the wedding. I'm guessing this is how they contracted it.

3) We did not interact with them much at all at the wedding (not my favorite people).

4) The wedding was in a permanent structure with open sides that had plastic sheeting to protect from the elements. Our table was at one of the openings and the wind was blowing past us toward them so we weren't breathing any one else's air.

@ElaineJ27  - Hope you enjoyed the great weather this past weekend.

@CJ_Here  - Glad your Amazon issue was not the hack you feared and that your stress has lessened.

@Jan2512  - Sorry you have to wait longer for the next phase but good for you on getting out any way.

[ElaineJ27]

It’s 3:30 Monday afternoon and we’re home from camping, the camper is unloaded for the winter, and I have everything put away in the house. The weather was gorgeous the entire time until mid-morning today when the wind started gusting. We had two grandkids with us since Sunday afternoon. The youngest, who turned 7 on Friday, learned to ride his bicycle without the training wheels!

Jan, our camper is like a motel room with a kitchenette. When we were younger, we camped in a tent and cooked on a propane stove on the picnic table. Now I have a gas stove, refrigerator, and water heater. We put fresh water in the holding tank and use that for washing (including shower) and flushing the toilet. We take bottled water for drinking. 

@Cele21 , it appears you have made changes that are allowing you to enjoy life and maintain your healthy habits. I must use you as a role model. Thursday evening when Hubby and I were enjoying the campfire, he gave me a lecture about my eating. 

I’m going to rest and catch up on emails, then I’ll plan the rest of this week. 

[CJ_Here]

Yay, @Cele21 , on your continued weight loss.  I hope you find a knee doctor that you can work with.

Sounds like it was a good last camping get away, @ElaineJ27 .  When I first read your post, I thought it was so cute you named your camper, Jan.  Upon re-reading the posts, I learned you were replying to @Jan2512 .

Monday I waited until 12:30 to eating and stopped eating at 8:30.  I'm going to try fasting 16 hours a day and during the 8 hour eating window work on eating smaller quantities and healthier options.  I'm thinking two meals and a snack should work in that time period.  I'm going to listen to my body and if I feel I need to eat prior to 16 hours I will but then will try and eat the two meals and one to two snacks before closing my eating window again.  My first goal is to stop eating mindlessly in front of the tv and believe this plan will help me do that.  I'm not going to quit WW, but am not going to worry about keeping track of the points right now.

[Cele21]

@ElaineJ27  - Don't you just love the lectures?

"I'm only telling you this because I care about your health" - like I don't?

"You need to take better care of yourself" - Duh! 

"You keep talking about losing weight but then you don't follow through" - You're right! I didn't realize that for the last 20 years!

"You said you wanted to do this, I'm just reminding you of what you said" - Thank you so much, I didn't remember I said that 80 times a week.

"Are you sure you should be having that? I just care about you." - No, I shouldn't be having it but I want it. See follow through above.

This time when I started in August I told hubby what I was doing, that it was only for 30 days and then I would re-evaluate and that I didn't need reminders or lectures, I needed a cheerleader who recognized when I was trying and to give me the boost that it was recognized and worth it. It didn't work 100% but he was better about it.

[ElaineJ27]

SW 267

LW. 257

CW. 255

On 9/30, my weight was 259.2, so I have lost 4.2 pounds in the last two weeks! Somehow I didn’t realize that until I put it on paper. Maybe it’s because of the lectures, but I haven’t told Hubby about the weight loss. That sounds backward, but I think I want to just keep it for me to know that I’m succeeding. 

I met with the personal trainer yesterday. She gave me guidelines on cardio as to how much incline or speed and how I should make my intervals. Then she set me up on six of the nautilus machines. I am to do cardio 4-5 times a week and strength 3 times. I meet with her again in three weeks to add more of the weight lifting. 

My plan for today is to catch up on regular housework, then clean two of my kitchen cabinets where I know unused stuff is hiding. 

Tomorrow I’m going to about eight quilt shops with a friend on a “shop hop”. I’m excited to visit some of the shops that I’ve heard other quilters talk about.