I have a hard time weighing myself (me and numbers don't get along. numbers still have too much power over me.) so instead of a weigh in, i wonder if people would mind checking in and just saying what they ate and did for activity each day this week, as an alternative to accountability via weigh-in's. have a blessed holiday! Iz

overall, this was the best thanksgiving as far as overeating. I kept to 2 small plates. Small dessert with small scoop of sugar free vanilla.

I could have NOT had the ice cream friday with the chocolate cake. But overall, i felt really super about not beating myself up, and eating more reasonably than in years past. I actually threw away the ice cream on saturday morning because it was just not working keeping it in my house.
The weekend (which is my toughest time of the week) was pretty darn good. Splurges were TCBY yogurt (nonfat, sugar free), a few pieces of dark chocolate, and baked tortially chips. And then feeling sick and icky saturday and sunday was tough because i tend to comfort with food. But compared to weekends of the past, i am pretty darn proud of myself. I stuck to healthy selections and i never felt overly full. When I ran into my gym buddies monday morning, they were lamenting the overeating and the alcohol, and it was nice to just feel empathy for them and not feel like i was part of the group this year. makes me optimistic for christmas dinner (which will be at a chinese restaurant in town). yahoo!! iz

In spite of the length of my previous post down below I did leave out something

After mil's stroke a little over a year ago she has had trouble forming sentences. The words that come out of her mouth are not the words she is thinking & you can tell she is aware of it when she hears herself. Since her most recent bout with illness (a severe blood infection) she seems to have trouble with names. She calls family members by the wrong name. The speach therapist has requested photo's of family members. Not candid shots or group pictures but close up head shots so while everyone was there this weekend we all stood up against a blank wall and had "mug shots" made. He will use the pictures in her therapy sessions.

She was more alert and "present in the moment" than I have seen her recently although my sil says it varys from day to day. The doctor says she is not "well" (she will never be "well") but she is much better than she was in September when we thought we would lose her.

I survived the weekend. I ate more than I should have but not as much as in years past.

Things I could have done better: fewer cookies, fewer cheese and crackers, more water.

Things I learned: I missed my vegetables and fruit. In the past year I have worked really hard at including a serving of veggies and a piece of fruit with lunch. When given a sandwich and a pickle, I really missed the side of fruit and veggies.

Things I am proud of: I got up early and exercised twice at the hotel fitness room. And Thursday we had our first ever boys against girls touch football game. The boys kicked our butts, but we ran around outside for at least an hour.

The damage: Last night I hopped on the scale when we got home. Only up 2 lbs, and considering that I normally weigh in the mornings, I am fairly confident that when I check tomorrow morning, I will be back down to pre-holiday weight.

--Francie

quote:

Originally posted by johnbol:
[...] It's only one day. [...]
Linda

I'm back and actually it was 4 days for me but only 3 of eating with the in-laws.

Thursday was pretty much just another day except that mother was not here (she went to my sister's on Wed to pet sit til Sunday) and dd was here. Dd slept in but I got up and had my usual breakfast and went back to painting. I had promised my step-daughter I would do a picture for her to give her half-brother at Christmas & I had to finish it so I could give it to her this weekend. She is not consistant about even showing up for family gatherings but I found out Wed that she WAS coming. We tried to go out to eat for lunch but nothing we wanted was open. Sdd called and said she was coming at 5:30 am Fri (not Thursday). It takes her about 5 hours. We finally arrived at the motel around 5pm & called sil. Some of the Fla folks were there & the Ark folks were there & we discovered they had the motel room right next door to us! They were having chicken & dumplings but dd wanted pizza so we did not go over there. pizza place was closed so we had a sandwich & watched a movie.

Friday - We slept in till 9am & had McDonald's (next door to motel) for breakfast. Then we tracked down the TWO banks it takes to get dd's paycheck cashed & in her account and got over to sil's around 11am. Cathy (sdd) had called and said she did not leave at 5:30am as planned because she had to wait and go to the courthouse to get a restraining order against an old aquaintance from high school who had suddenly showed up and was stalking her (12 voice mails & 62 text messages in 48 hours!) The rest of the Fla folks had arrived by the time we got to sil's and we set into getting everything finished and on the table. The hub-bub in the house was exactly like what is depicted in the movie "Elizabethtown" . Mil was looking great. Happy & relaxed. Cathy called again; she was halfway there when her father called her and said she had to return home. Her soon to be ex-hubby had not made any car payments for the last 4 months and the finance company was coming to repossess the car that afternoon (it was not the car she was driving). My bil's & sil's did not believe she would come. Nobody had told mil she was coming because she often did not show up. When we saw her in Sept. she had said that was because of the controlling nature of her soon to be ex-hubby so I held out hope that she would eventually arrive. Dinner was a rousing success. The only other person not there was a great-grandson from Ark who could not get off from work. Twenty-two people around three tables that had been pushed together. (will post pictures later) If Cathy and Jamie had been there we would not have had any room for them . Around 9pm we nibbled on leftovers as we watched "You, Me & Dupree" (a movie I had never even heard of but enjoyed very much). We got back to the motel around 11pm and dd went to the room next door and played cards with her cousins from Ark & Fla till around 1pm. I stayed in our room and read.

Saturday - We slept in again & dd went to McDonalds for breakfast again. We went back to sil's and spent the day visiting and waiting for Cathy. My neice & her daughter from Ark and a neice (& her roommate) from Fla had to leave to go home on Saturday. The ones from Fla gave up and left about 5:30pm and Cathy arrived around 6pm so they must have passed each other on I-75 (one going north & one going south). After Cathy arrived we had a dinner of leftovers and visited until 10:30pm when my neice from Ark left on her long drive home. About 11:30 it was decided that we would go back to the motel (Cathy was staying in our room) and that two of the remining cousins would go with us for a while. At 2am dd and Cathy took them back to sil's and we finally hit the sack at 3am Sunday morning.

Sunday - We could not sleep in because we had to check out at 11am & it takes Cathy & dd forever to wake up and do their primping . Again we had McDonalds for breakgfast. Went back to sil's to see my other sil's & her family off on their way back to Fla. We hung around a while & then made our exit and did a little shopping before Cathy actually got on the road back to south Georgia and we headed for home ourselves. We had to stop and buy dd's groceries for the week and finally arrived home about 6pm just as mother got here from my sister's house. We had KD's burgers (made with turkey) and Kraft Shells & Cheese with brocolli for dinner. Finally got in the bed at 10:30 after dd got her homework done & let me tell you it didn't take me very long at all to be totally zonked.

Monday - Had to get up at 5:30am this morning because dd had to be back at work 30mins earlier than usual today.

Now the good news!!!! When I got on the scale I was still at 213!!!!!

I will post some pictures after dd gets them into photobucket.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: BrenauMom,

thanks for the kind words serene. if i step on the scale, the results determine whether i have a "bummer" day or a "yahoo" day. I just don't want that one little number (or big number) to set the tone of my day. which is silly, because ultimately, i define my day, right? well, the weak will grow stronger. thanks!

quote:

Originally posted by isabel

Perhaps I will get to where Serene is someday and stop running from numbers. My repulsion of numbers has roots that go back to all those college standardized tests, the graduate school test scores, the licensing exams--ahhh! all those numbers placing some sort of value on you. I think I need to be able to use the number as a tool and not take it as a value judgment, right? well, maybe too deep for an after-thanksgiving evening! well, we did it. we rock. we are awesome. i feel lucky to be in such fine company. iz

Isabel,

Actually, I have a love-hate relationship with the scale. I am only weighing myself everyday by the request of my nutritionist. When I first started weighing everyday. It was hard. I wanted to cry at times. I still run from numbers, but I am slowly learning there is so much more.

Hang in there!


Serene

sandy, as i read your posting, i was struck by the joy and pleasure you derived from being with your nephews. this is what i got out of it, not the pizza. and given your statement at the end, i think you also came to the same conclusion. you are a great example for me.
friday: 55 min elliptical. 40 min power yoga. 15 min running around with the puppy. friday is sually my rest day from exercise so i feel pretty energetic. had a healthy light breakfast but at 11am, had a pumpkin muffin with sugar free vanilla ice cream. i don't feel bad or bloated or icky, so i am going to remember the wonderful flavors of pumpkin and cold vanilla dancing my mouth! enjoy your yummy veggies!

It was a mixed bag for me. I had a very good meal and ate even a bit less than I planned. I had a bite of dh's pie, but not much.

Then after a walk my nephews were hungry so I made pizza. It was actually fun to hang out with them, play cards and eat pizza, but I ate 3 slices. It was lf and pretty heathy, but still had plenty of calories.

I regretted eating it, but sort of understand as I don't think I ate enough throughout the day and I was stressed with some family stuff.

So-- today I am moving on a chalking it up. I have lots of leftover veggies here so that we can have some good, easy meals.

You know, the good news is that I am not beating myself up for the pizza. I feel more compasionate and understanding and loving towards myself than in a bashing mode.

way to go Susanrows! Beach sand is super tough. i have done it once which is enough for my lifetime, thank you very much. i will be in the city by the bay in january and look forward to chinatown and buying some real tea from China.

how awesome is it to wake up friday and not feel guilty, bloated, and bad about myself! this is the way to live. you all inspire me every day. iz

OK, note to self: When registering for a fun run you've never done before, pay closer attention to title and description. Turkey BEACH Trot. Duh. And it doesn't matter that they say it's "packed sand." That's only for the first 50 or so runners. After a couple of hundred people have run over it, it ain't packed no more!

Whining and self-deprecation aside, I had a great time this morning. It was a beautiful, sunny, and reasonably warm day, which is very unusual for Ocean Beach in San Francisco. Running on sand was way more difficult than anticipated and I walked a lot. But the second half was mostly dirt path and sidewalk, so I made up for it. My goal was to finish in 75 minutes or less, and I came in under 71 minutes, even with all the walking.

Of course, a six-mile run did not create nearly enough of a calorie deficit for me to enjoy MIL's dinner with wild abandon. But I kinda did anyway. She's a great cook and it was totally worth it. Nothing over the top -- just those second helpings of sweet potatoes and of stuffing.

We finished eating around 5 and I haven't had anything since. I'll be in bed soon, with the alarm set so I can get up to exercise. I don't think I'll be running, though. My muscles will definitely object to that!

Just got home after a successful day!

B: pear
S: appetizers...olives, roasted chickpeas, a few crackers with ff cream cheese/chili, cherry tomatoes
D: turkey, a little stuffing and potatoes with a little gravy (really...they were very mini servings), apple salad, NO roll!!!, 1/2 plate of roasted veggies, cranberries (fresh with splenda) and 2 small glasses of wine. Lots of water!
S: 1/2 slice of apple dessert and mini slice of pumpkin cake (which was devine and I don't care for pumpkin)

Now I am home and in my pj's getting ready to get the Christmas totes out! I have a friend who has dislocated her shoulder, so 2 friends and I are going to decorate her house tomorrow and then do a progressive decorating of our houses (an hour at each) so we can all get a head start.

I will be getting up to go shopping at 6am, then WW at 7:30am!

Gobble gobble to all

I did okay today.

I prepped some stuff last night. Went over to my boyfriend's and we went for a 5 mile walk.

Stopped and picked up a burger for lunch today. Then cmae home and put the turkey in the oven and finished the rest of my dishes.

Well, Kitty and I both did better than we could have. We ate normal size dinner, planning for seconds by eating smaller first portions.

I lost out to Kitty while helping clean up the kitchen, where I picked at the stuffing. But, overall, this is the best thanksgiving I've had in years.

I was hungry when I got home and really, really wanted veggies (none at dinner) so I had a salad and a small bowl of chili. Instead of more cake, I had grapes. I'm very proud of myself.

i had a small sampling of dinner fixin's around 2:45pm (dessert plate size)--just some chinese style veggies and brown rice. then around 5pm, had another small plate of veggies, brown rice, rice noodles. I did have 2 portions of ice cream with little pieces of cake (the dense low cal chocolate cake i made). i could have probably skipped that second portion but it was light sugar free vanilla ice cream, and i pretty much abstain from ice cream the rest of the year. but this is the first year in many that i do not feel overstuffed. i don't feel overly full at all, and i feel great about how things went. Perhaps I will get to where Serene is someday and stop running from numbers. My repulsion of numbers has roots that go back to all those college standardized tests, the graduate school test scores, the licensing exams--ahhh! all those numbers placing some sort of value on you. I think I need to be able to use the number as a tool and not take it as a value judgment, right? well, maybe too deep for an after-thanksgiving evening! well, we did it. we rock. we are awesome. i feel lucky to be in such fine company. iz

I weight myself every morning and keep track of it. I used to run from the scale. I'm not necessarily happy with having to weigh everyday, but it has helped with that accountability factor.

I weighed in this morning, lost a little bit of the water weight that I put on a couple of days ago. Some of it is still there.


Today, I worked out at home, since the gym was closed. I managed to beat off one major urge to binge.

I went to see "Stranger than Fiction". It was good. Not quite what I was expecting...but a good movie.

The dinner consisted of turkey, steamed cauliflower and broccoli and a small sweet potato. Desert, cherries and bananas. I'm kind of pumpkined out. I have been working on creating a recipe for a pumpkin smoothie that doesn't use juice.

I had a very successful day.

Here's the run down:
6:15 5 1/2 mile run
8:00 small whole wheat bagel, smear of lite cream cheese and 2 small slices of smoked salmon
Noon: hors d'ourves - 5 very small salmon mouse crackers and 2 cups of black tea, no wine
1:30 - 3:00 Thanksgiving dinner -
antipasto of cold squid and shrimp (I had a very small serving and skipped the bread)
1 slice of turkey breast - very thin piece
a few roasted tomatoes
spinach - not creamed and my mom made them with only a bit of evoo spray and nothing else (just for me ; )
ratatouille (mom went very light on the oil again for me)
bread stuffing - 1 cup
I didn't go back for seconds for the first time in my entire life because I actually listened to my body when I started to feel full.
I skipped the cheese course.
Dessert was pecan pie, chocolate mouse cake and galani (fried strips of dough with powdered sugar which is a family favorite).
I skipped the pecan pie, took a sliver of mouse cake and didn't like it so didn't eat it and just stuck to the galani (which were well worth it).

I did all the clearing between courses and all the clean up of the pots, pans and dishes and it really worked to get away from the table.

3:45 My mom and I went for an hour power walk while everyone else napped in front of the football game

5:00 People started picking again and I had a cup of green tea as I was not hungry.

We're home now and I'm not even slighly hungry so I'm going to brush my teeth and finish the game in my pjs.

This is the first holiday ever where I don't feel sick from over eating. Plus, I didn't feel like I deprived myself of anything.

This turkey day will be a good model for future family get-to-gethers and holidays for sure!

You can do it Ladies!!!!

I went for a walk this morning (3miles)and feel much better about having done that. It is noon on the West coast and we are going to my parents at 2:00.

I've got the Green Bean casserole ready for the oven (my version) and all the veggies cut and in ziplock bags with a little olive oil and garlic ready to roast. I just made toasted garbanzo beans...I could eat them all!!! Going to take olives, pickles, cherry tomatoes, celery and almonds for my appetizers. I will not over load on dad's full fat ones!!!!

I will now get ready. I bought new jeans for today...they are a size 8....they are my inspiration for the day to stay on track. I got them Tuesday night and took a 10, 12 and 14 in the changing room...low and behold I needed the 8...woohoo...happy dance.

My day is going fine. Got to sleep in and then went for an hour walk and did some stretching. Had a regular breakfast and just had some roasted veggie pasta salad I made earlier this week. Dinner should be fine. I'm not one to eat myself sick at holiday meals so I will have my plate of food and my usual reduced portion of dessert. I imagine there'll be wine so probably a glass of that with dinner but not too much more than that because I have to drive myself home.

Sounds like everyone is having nice days! Enjoy! You all are on my list to be thankful for.

Peg

We can all do this. It's only one day. We planned. Now we'll conquer.

Normal breakfast. Chicken quesadilla and bowl of soup for lunch. I'm taking the salad (I usually do) for supper.

Linda