Hi-

I just came from a very large lunch out with a group. I tried to stick to the lower calorie choices on the menu but did have soup to dessert with wine so will just have soup for dinner.

Yesteday went well with  my 7 minute speech. I knew the material well & as I was giving my speech in the gallery about 15  people came in and surrounded me - so not easy to concentrate. I did fine & "passed" but had a couple of minor revisions before I could upload my paper. That's OK it was  a learning process & i was less intent on being perfect & more concerned with learning to do this museum guiding process right.

Now i have to get ready to write my final paper which I want to do in this next week as my sister in law is coming for a visit on the first.

Exercise hasn't been great but have been walking. I'll get to the gym tomorrow.

Hope all is well.

Hi-

Well, by some miracle I did drop one lb. so I was a happy person today. And will give me incentive for the week.

busy today getting ready for my 7 minute speech tomorrow for my museum class. Also should be practicing my music as we have concerts coming up.

Sleep has been better theses past few days. I'm giving nutella a break. :) I think that contributed to my problem.

Had a late night last night- went to the Elton John concert which was great- maybe lacked a little complared to when I saw him with  Billy Joel. But then he is aging as is his band.

Had an eye appointment today- being "watched" for glaucoma.Everything is stable but I have to be seen every 6 months.  Hey it's not fun getting old.....

It's also not easy living here in Singapore as far as food goes. After my eye appointment I decided to be to the lower level of the building I was in to see what was in the Marketplace. Well about every food that I would love to eat is what was there. All just there for the taking. And i did buy some little desserts made of tapioca & probably palm sugar- I know not smart but I don't thing too bad either.

Ok will read some posts & then back to my homework!

Hi,

I think my body wants to stay at this weight. My probelm - just not super motivated to count calories & get in some extra exercise. No excuses.

No, I'm not giving up - or giving in.

I was hopeful of dropping a lb this week but it doesn't happen without more work than I have been willing to put in.

My plan- I will begin again to write down my food & calories & try to stick to 1400 calories.

Sleep was terrible this week- up at 3 am one day & very early another day. This moring up at 5 which isn't terrible but not enough sleep.

I've been very busy - I have 2 papers & a talk to give on Tues. so doing research & writing. The papers have to be done a  specific way & have to be a certain number of words so lots of editing.

I am excited about going to see Elton John. I got tickets just yesterday for Sun. night concert so not sure about the seats but loved seeing him with Billy Joel some years ago. He's a great entertainer.

I hope everyone is doing  well!

Hi-

I'm not seeing much progress on the scale but am hopeful to see a loss by the end of the week. I've been eating rice cakes for a snack but thenadding peanut butter & nutella. Have three or four of those in a day & it all adds up !. Which I believe is the reason why I'm awake at 3:30 am.- the nutella.

Other than that - not alot to report. Today is a busy day with my museum class in the morning & then choir rehearsal after that. Today I will have time for some lunch in between. Usually i'm running from one to the other & having something slightly unhealthy to eat to tide me over.

Hope you are all having a good day. And I hope I make it through mine with 4 hours of sleep...

Hi-

Just reporting that i'm back to pre -trip weight & down by a bit so I'm encouraged by that.

I have been trying to watch & eat healthy foods but still not where I was before- a work in progress still. It would be an incentive to lose a few lbs before my Christmas trip home. I'll try to keep that in mind.

Exercise has been walking, swimming & one day this week at the gym. Somedays I'm on my feet for so many hours that I can't even think about going to the gym. I guess that's where swimming comes in. The condo complex has a gigantic pool & yesterday I had it to myself which was very relaxing.

Tomorrow we're going to a PGA tournament & we'll probably follow Phil Mickelson assuming that he makes the cut. We went last year & were so surprised at how close the tournament was to where we live. I think it was less than a 20 min taxi ride away.

 I'm in right now for the afternoon after being in the museum this morning learning about the foods of the area & various gods. Then a taxi ride to Chinatown where we got caught in a downpour. Even with an umbrella we got soaked.

That's the news from this side of the world. Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Ok- I know I can't  have cookies in the house. I was doing really well yesterday & then discovered the box of cookies that I had put in the freezer. Whoops.Had to throw them out - well the ones I didn't eat!

So no damage done but no progress either. Today- sunflower toast for breakfast; tomato soup for lunch; planned to have an apple for snack, fish , rice, broccoli for dinner & yogurt for late snack.

My plan was to work on a paper for my museum program today  but can't seem to get started. Maybe I'll go for a swim first.

That's it for now.

Have a great day!

Hi-

I need to get back on track. And to start writing down everything I'm eating & calorie counts. I haven't been doing this for the last 2 weeks.

Eating has been so-so. Still need to get rid of a 1 lb vacation gain & then start losing again.

I've been busy with my museum course. Today i had to give a 5 minute talk which doesn't seem like a big deal but it takes me  awhile to memorize the material & make it flow & not be deadly dull.And in 2 weeks I have a 4 page paper due & another 5-7 minute talk. So I need to get busy & spend more time in the museum. It's fun though &  I'm with interesting & nice people. Of course in the end I will be giving a 1 hour tour which is  a bit scary. But that won't be until after I return from Christmas break.

Speaking of which- my christmas break- i made my reservation so will be returning to the US on Dec 13 & then return on Jan 17. That will be a nice visit.

I'm thinking of not bothering with Thansgiving this year. last year we had three different Thanksgiving parties but since I'm not up to having a group here for Thanksgiving I'd just as soon skip it. Without family around it's just a turkey. And I don't mean to sound so pathetic and don't feel sorry for me. Just how I feel at the moment.

Hope all is well with everyone !

 Hi-

Hey you all- thanks for the nice comments on the pictures. Yes it was a fun trip & sometimes I can't believe that i live here in SE Asia & can see so many wonderful countries. I also know that our time here is limited so want to take advantage of our time.

Today we received a painting that we purchased in Hanoi. So cool to have a painting from an artist from Vietnam.

Re: weight managment- hmmmmm- well, thought I was doing well- lost one vacation pound but then this evening my brain was not attached & ate some potato chips & other snacks along with 2 glasses of wine. So start again tomorrow. Right? Seriously I don't even care about potato chips but they were here  ( my husband) & I just had this craving. Oh well..

If I were back in CT i would still be without power.  My daughter & family are now one week without electricity. As Umpqua said you really appreciate the comforts of home when this happens. I had a touch of it in August-or was it Sept. when the hurrican came through & we were without power for a few days.

Hope everyone is doing well.

 Hi-

Pictures of my trip for anyone interested can be viewed here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/69413074@N08/

Still kind of recovering from the trip. I've been busy this week since coming home so haven't gotten caught up with my life.

Will write more later.

Hi-

Back from my big trip to Vietnam & Laos. It was a great trip- Hanoi was great- a chaotic city with motorbikes everywhere , beeping horns,it's a art to cross the road; a great time in Halong Bay on a little boat- a junk- with 3 other people- did some kayaking & swimming there; Sapa , a town in Northern Vietnam was pretty with terraced rice filelds but a bit disappointing with the local women constanlty following us wanting us to buy from them- " What your name?", "Where you from", - it got to be a little much.Luang Prabang was a delightful town with many temples and monks, markets and great restaurants. We took a boat ride up the Mekong River to see a cave and stopped at a acouple of towns. Had many nice meals, 2 massages, bought a designer handbag in Hanoi ( where Hillary Clinton has shopped) , bought a gong for our apartment and a painting plus the usual souvenirs.

On the weight management side- didn't count calories but tried to be mindful of what I was eating. the breakfast buffets were the hardest- the French pastries won out I'm afraid. Bottom line though was a 2 lb gain which I will get rid of soon.

I will post pictures but need some instruction. I looked around the site & didn't see where to upload pictures. Maybe someone can help?