Had a lot planned to do this weekend, as far as working around the house, and it seems as though mopping up the floor is just now too much for my back to handle. So I spent about 30 minutes icing my back and now will rest for the remainder of the day.
I had the planned the following:
This is what actually happened:
Oh I just realized there is ONE MORE can of paint in the basement that didn't get brought up. THIRTY-ONE CANS OF FREAKING PAINT!!!!
This is making me feel very anxious...
Progress as of today: 58.5 lbs lost so far, only -8.5 lbs to go!
Weight did not budge this week. 
I wanted to post from work yesterday that "B*tchy co-workers make me want to eat less" but I couldn't remember my password to this site, since I'd have to log in from my phone. Doesn't matter -- I ended up eating most of my snacks anyway. Got into it with my 2 co-workers again. The Impossible One (lady) started on me, and the guy sitting next to her was like, "Well, since you don't want to help..." to me. I said, It's not that I don't want to help, I just don't want to get yelled at. So now, no more helping, since it will only get me yelled at.
My dear husband, though: I texted him on my phone about what happened and he was so supportive. Now that he is no longer working, he doesn't have his own work-drama to stew about and can be there for me. 
I didn't dwell on it though; I told him that I'm just going to focus on my own well-being and happiness with my family. Instantly made me feel so much better. This was a "must add" to my Gratitude Diary (New Year's Resolution #3).
Speaking of New Year's resolutions, I would like to add that for Resolution #1, that includes, not only wearing more black, but navy and gray will qualify under this category as well. This is working very well for me. 
There's been some discussion about "sneaky eating" and I realized that it is THIS that has me so bothered about last weekend's indulgence while watching the movie: Hiding the wrappers! It was hiding the empty Chex Mix bag and the empty marshmallow bag that freaked me out. So even though it was planned eating, controlled, etc., the thoughts and behaviors around the eating is what has me so bothered. My husband was in the room, on the computer with his headset on. I guess I was hiding my eating from him. Painful memories of past behaviors/problems.
Anyway, I have another chance, because my daughter told me that she wants to watch the movie with me - which is fine by me. I love Fred Astaire's dancing! I can re-do the memory and establish positive thoughts and feelings, rather than the ones I've been carrying around with me since last Friday. And so for today, I am grateful for second chances.
EVENING UPDATE: Daughter bailed on me for a sleepover, LOL -- which is perfectly understandable and OK with me. Not that I won't miss spending time with her, but I completely get it.
Progress as of today: 58.5 lbs lost so far, only -8.5 lbs to go!
With the hiding of food - remember how far you've come and everything you've learned in this process of years of weight loss ! You are better now and learned so much ! Me too!
You have a lot more knowledge now - the negative memories may linger but be happy you are no longer in that place !!!! I sure am so happy I am not in the lowest of places either when I was at my highest- almost 25 lbs larger and that's a lot of weight to gain in only 2 years which is what i did both times I gained weight itbwas fast without any thought - sorry if too much info please tell me ?
We are beyond these points now - we know what to do to be more moderate and make it work out ..... your memories are there but will lesson as time goes by - I had forgotten lots till thinking about lunch own self just now
Had a lovely lunchtime walk today - and tomorrow will be even warmer! (Then the cold and snow comes back...) I walked the whole lunch hour and then ate at my desk.
Tried coffee flavored Kombucha today... I think I could get acquired to other flavors, but not the coffee flavor. Too bitter, but I'm so glad I got the chance to try it for free!
I really enjoy wearing more black at the office. Cuts way down on my decision-making process in the morning.
Spent most of my day listing to sitar music at my desk. I never realized how relaxing listening to the sitar is for me.
My husband had a lot of medical tests today. His workplace knows now that he's not coming back to work. I often feel that I'm a by-stander in my own life, just watching the changes rolling by and I'm quite helpless to interfere.
Progress as of today: 58.5 lbs lost so far, only -8.5 lbs to go!
I know that some of you have been having sleepy days lately, but I don't know what happend to me today: woke up sooner than expected and had tons of energy (once I got out of bed). I was able to finish my workout early, so I ran for a mile on the treadmill. Adding a mile is something that I wanted to do as a 2018 goal, but then reconsidered, as it might not be something that's required EVERY day.
I am working on graduating from a protein shake breakfast to eating real food. So I have substituted the 12 ounces of almond milk and scoop of protein, with 1/2 cup of oatmeal (not instant), 1/4 cup of walnuts, and 8 ounces of same almond milk. Seems to be working for a weekday breakfast. Weekends are different.
My lunchtime walk was wonderful! Not only is Chicagoland getting a little warmer (feels like early Spring!), but I found a new street to walk down with lovely houses to look at and admire - like an entire new neighborhood to check out!
Later in the afternoon, one of our notoriously toxic clients came in, and I was so happy that all I had to do was greet her and ask her to have a seat. After that, my other 2 co-workers got stuck dealing with her, and I got to leave -- on time! I think I was smiling on my way out the door! That is when I realized what effect toxic people have on my well-being.
I get that we all have our quirks, every one of us is carrying his/her own burdens, etc. And I'm not sure that my workplace is any worse than other workplaces -- in fact, I'm pretty thankful for what it is, because it could be much worse. And I thought about our toxic client: she's not mean or nasty, but she just saps all of the happiness and energy out of me with all of her personal drama that really has nothing to do with her real estate transaction. Thank goodness she came in at the end of the day so that her visit didn't infect my mood for the rest of the day. Thank goodness I'm not related to her -- see, again, could be worse!
And on my way home, I visualized a wall switch, and turned my workday "OFF".
No WONDER I gained weight working at this place. I used to eat chips and chocolate to self-medicate through this cr*p. I have to learn not to take such matters to heart, I think.
Progress as of today: 58.5 lbs lost so far, only -8.5 lbs to go!
"Hold onto Kindness" --- a story shared on Facebook. Going to add this as a daily mantra.
I am going to write about last night. Saturdays are usually my "relax" day to keep me sane, food-wise. So if I'm going to indulge, it's usually on a Saturday. Last night though... I was watching a movie downstairs (Holiday Inn with Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire), and I don't know what came over me. Almost felt like binge-eating, but I did think this out beforehand. I wanted to finish the bag of Chex Mix - probably 1 cup, possibly 1.5 cups, but then I graduated onto finishing up the bag of giant marshmallows in the pantry (had 3 -- I almost thought there were 4 but was happy that there were only 3 as that is what I had anticipated eating). I had been longing for those marshmallows for QUITE time...
Then I was full.
No kidding - that was like an additional 600 calories!
Woke up late this morning, still full -- Sundays are becoming my day to sleep in, since the Today Show is usually a re-cap of the week, and the other news shows don't start until 9am here. So I got some added (and needed) rest, got up, exercised while watching the TV, and then had a lsmall, light breakfast. But now I feel lunch gnawing at me....
But back to last night's eating... I'm not sure why this is bothering me so much. My eating was intentional; I saved these delights for Saturday, so this was planned. And overall I do like to have a higher calorie day in there, to keep my metabolism guessing. And I do allow myself to indulge on Saturdays -- although I don't always.
Maybe that's what's bothering me? Maybe it feels counter-intuitive to eat more on a bad weigh-in day? Or maybe I'm just being too hard on myself. "Hold onto Kindness" has to begin with myself.
Progress as of today: 58.5 lbs lost so far, only -8.5 lbs to go!
What would've happened to me: I would've started with the Chex Mix, with the intention of following up with the marshmallows and quitting afterwards. Then I would've thought, hey why not also eat 1 graham cracker and a small piece of chocolate with one of the marshmallows (smore). After the first one, I would've decided to do the same thing on the 2nd marshmallow and then the 3rd. By that time I would've decided that I might as well just turn this one day into a full-on cheat day. Would've hopped in the car and headed for the grocery store or nearest convenience store. Last year, Chex Mix and 3 marshmallows easily could've turned into a 1000+ calorie leap off the wagon for me.
Yes good job on only 600 cal ! That's far from a disaster. I have also learned a lot these couple years now and try also to prevent the worst and just moderately indulge instead! We are way better off this way!
Also commented below ;)
I would be lying to you if I didn't say that I wasn't just a *little* disappointed with this week's weigh-in. Up half a pound. I kept trying to visualize 124.5, LOL... I did eat more this week, and had a very salty day on Thursday, so I'm not entirely surprised. Logically I know that this is just a normal fluctuation and basically the same weight as last week. Also... When I stepped on the scale the first time this morning, I got an "error" message. I might have just stepped on too soon, but hopefully this DOESN'T mean that my scale is starting to die. I hope not!
It's just more motivation to do better this week.
I did really well with exercise. Took longer walks during my lunches at work. The Awful One doesn't even ask if I'm eating lunch in the conference room any more -- If I had to guess, I would say that this is her attempt to isolate me, as she needs an office scapegoat, and now that's me. Our receptionist has asked me a couple of times if I'm eating lunch. I smile sweetly and say, "No thanks, I'm going for a walk." It was not easy walking in the bitter cold and snow, but I figured it would be a better workout. Then I would eat lunch at my desk while I worked in the afternoon.
Which makes this week's weigh-in suck even more. All that hard work during the week for what...
But I realize that I need to heed Horn's advice to keep my thoughts and actions in a positive perspective. It is counter-productive to walk or eat alone if it's done out of spite. My walking or eating alone doesn't really hurt my co-workers, and if I'm doing this with a negative intent, it serves no purpose other than to foster that negativity, which then infects my whole mindset and attitude. This week, I'm going to focus on positive affirmations when I walk or if I end up eating alone. (I think the weather SHOULD cooperate with lunchtime walking.) I will walk with positive intentions!
Progress as of today: 58.5 lbs lost so far, only -8.5 lbs to go!
Hello Friends,
I am here tonight to dump my frustrations with work. I just thought of the perfect word to describe my workplace: TOXIC.
I resent getting dumped on in work - either by co-workers playing petty office politics, other attorneys, lenders, clients -- and then I come home, filled with all of these really negative feelings. I do not want to come home and dump my negative feelings out on my family members, but this toxicity is so hard to carry around.
How do I just let this go?
So the office politics: I'm trying to just let it slide off my back. Most of the time I'm successful, but sometimes I slip a little. It hurts. But at least I can see now what my co-workers are doing to keep me out of the loop on things. That's fine. If it means that I have to eat lunch with these ******* in order to be kept in the loop, then forget it. Because I don't eat with people who stab me in the back.
The rest of it though... I don't know, maybe it's time for a change. I still think that I should be able to leave work, leaving frustrations and pain at work, and come home and be happy-happy.
So I'm home now, came straight here to put this all down to help calm down and organize my thoughts, and my husband keeps interrupting me with what happened with his day, even though I've asked him THREE times to just let me finish this and we can talk about this stuff at dinner.
I just came from the office with frustrations and come home and deal with more frustrations... Now I must eat my dinner.
Progress as of today: 59 lbs lost so far, only -9 lbs to go!
But I will try to visualize the on/off switch -- love that idea!
The 4-minute rule is a great idea too but I'm not sure that hubby can hold it in for that long, LOL. Still, I think he'll work with me on it.
Regarding you writing first off about your work being TOXIC: trust me when I say this: MOST WORKPLACES ARE TOXIC! Listen to me, don’t just ignore what I’m saying PLEASE, because of all my job changes since I was a young teacher till now, between 10-15 years in multiple industries and as of late the past 7 years in this electrical industry, I’ve seen TONS of office politics, attitudes, prejudices, everything. I’ve seen some people get away with things while others get fired for doing the most minor things wrong….
My point to you is this….it’s Winter…it’s harder to remain positive, but I will you to take it less personally…like, let it annoy you, write about it here, but realize that you are probably more skilled than most others that work with you…or like you said, you have little help so you really are the “go to” person….so this is the case:
You must let it go…just do what you can at work…try not to waste time like I do by writing here to you now at work lol…but you MUST let it go for the sake of your health…both mental and physical. Simply learn to take it with a grain of salt? Is that a saying? You must come in, do your work, not work too much OT, and go home to another LIFE, a LIFE outside of your work life. SEPARATE the two…I am reading a book right now called The Slight Edge. Basically, what BOTH YOU AND I sometimes are lacking is the slight edge to being happy. We let negative thoughts roll on and forget to FIRST think of the positive. I’m going to give you exact examples later. This is VERY important actually.
Success comes with being happy. You MUST change your thought pattern….believe me,t rust me. This goes for me also. Let your workers and coworkers I mean, let them see you happy and smiling. Give off positivity. Believe you are happy. And when work gives you too much work, do what you can and breathe.
YOU ARE ALLOWED To leave work at work like you said. NOBODY is stopping you…you can still write about it here…I would be happy of course to read it…but you must laugh about it.
Keep working on letting the politics slide off your back…and NO, you do NOT have to eat with your coworkers. I like my space also and eat alone, especially now as we all eat at our desks. At work before in my other workplace a month ago where I was, I’d sometimes eat alone and sometimes with friends. ..the verdict is: YOU DO WHAT IS BEST FOR YOU. You are the sole administrator of YOURSELF. Make your decisions, as you can, on what is best for you. If your husband needs you, explain you need some time when you get home to go online to do this…and tell him that when you are doing this, not to interrupt you so that you will feel better when you see him after you finish this. Just explain it’s a way you like to relax like meditation. Explain you have to do it for you to feel better before you are with your family. I guess say it’s a way you take care of yourself. This is exactly what I’d say to Ricky…or any other man or person in my life also, if I lived with them.
Even when I am with ricky, I sometimes go on DD to update food…I tell him I just need a moment to update this….that I’ve been doing it a long time and it’s something I always do…and for him to give me a moment…and he does …because he is also doing something usually….or he always could use some time to himself even when we are together. Your hubby needs to let you do your thing..just explain it calmly. YOU ARE FINE. DONKEY, just continue to take care of yourself. You cannot help others till you are OK yourself. Do the things that make you happy. Eat your lunch alone at work, but don’t be thinking negative. Read a little happy thing everyday…I was starting to do this at work. TRUST that if you start to see the positive in things, it’ll become more of a habit. You decide how much happiness you have in life. Make sure you DO make decisions to eliminate some stress and give yourself time to yourself…at home and work. Nobody can take away your happiness except you. BELIEVE IT.
Believe it or not, most of the time, I do walk around smiling and humming a happy tune, as a cover to my co-workers, especially to the Awful One. I know that she's very jealous of my weight loss, so she does what she can to bring me down.
So -- what I really need to do is work on maintaining my center, my focus.
Working with You Is Killing Me: Freeing Yourself from Emotional Traps at Work by Katherine Crowley, Kathi Elster "For anyone trapped in an energy-zapping relationship with a co-worker, boss, or subordinate, Crowley and Elster offer an exit strategy - a highly practical and easily implemented guide to making the situation workable." - Publishers Weekly https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/working-with-you-is-killing-me-katherine-crowley/1103271625?type=eBook
I decided to weigh-in today for a 1/1/18 measurement, even though Saturdays are official weigh-in days for me. Up a few pounds, but I definitely relaxed a bit over the weekend - as I usually do. I thought it might be fun to look back at the end of 2018 and see where I've taken the numbers.
So my goals for 2018 are as follows:
Our houseguest leaves late tomorrow evening... I was looking around the basement this morning, as I was stretching out, and realized how much more cleaning we have to do to get this house ready to sell. I've got to get folks who get to stay home during the day to work on this as a serious effort, if we're going to do this.
Progress as of today: 59 lbs lost so far, only -9 lbs to go!
This is one of the first times I've been mostly homebound and not overindulged to the point of definite weight gain.
Back to you:....
SO GLAD WE'RE BACK ONLINE!!! Thank you DD Webmaster!!!
Logged in to get the final weigh-in of the year. When DD was not working, and the future looked uncertain, I was trying to think of ways to log my weigh-ins for 2018, which I could manage but not blog too.
I'm feeling optimistic about the upcoming year. I have a short list of goals for myself, and they are not weight-loss nor work related this time around - I think maybe I've finally learned to turn the page. 2017 was a very tough year, and I know that there will be some tough things to face in 2018, but I still feel like we're gonna be OK.
Progress as of today: 62 lbs lost so far, only -12 lbs to go!
As I mentioned in my last entry, these problems at work are just the kick in the butt I needed to get where I wanted to be. I didn't realize how toxic eating lunch with these people every day was to not only diet and exercise but also to my mental well-being. I think we're all happier this way. Or maybe I'm becoming the square peg in a round hole... Not sure, but not taking the chance of creating more mess, so I'm sticking to keeping my distance and just doing my job.
So my weigh-in this week is a combination of being too upset to eat lunch a couple of days, being sick and not eating as much, and additional walking time at lunch. I predict that once I get over this cold/sinus infection, the weight will come back on... Not sure where I want to go with this.
I had a client accuse me of ruining her entire holiday yesterday. How do you think that makes me feel? We're in the middle of home inspection negotiations, and the buyers have asked to have an exterminator come out and address the evidence of rodents. Unfortunately, the letter came late in the day, but I forwarded it to her anyway, because we need to move forward, and she had been asking for updates on her file. Then she emails me back saying how upset she is with me because I sent this to her on a holiday weekend when nothing can be done. Which is not entirely true, because she can think about it, and businesses that are open on Saturday will still be open on Saturday. So she can probably call Orkin.
I responded, "If it's any consolation, I will spend my whole holiday weekend worrying about your transaction."
My husband continues to heal and improve from his double hip replacement surgery. My mom texted me yesterday to say that she thinks my step-father is now slipping towards his end.
Our houseguest has arrived for the holiday. We all came to a compromised and moved the futon out of the basement and into a spare bedroom (that had been holding our packing boxes). So I can still exercise in the basement early in the morning, and the guest and my daughter are on the same floor.
Today the family (& houseguest) are going to see the new Star Wars movie. Then we will meet up with my sister and her husband (from California) for dinner. Trying to focus on spending time with people rather than gifts this year.
Progress as of today: 62.5 lbs lost so far, only -12.5 lbs to go!
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Do you have a cat? I think you can dump kitty litter or even sand or sawdust in them...I think that is what we did....or...I believe Michigan has sites or maybe it is counties..have sites that take paint ( possibly 2 times a year) and they use it in county offices..you can probably call your county about that....we had about the same amount of cans to get rid of...we did leave a couple that we had used recently for the buyer....this house interior is 100% pine boards..wall, ceilings etc...so no more painting for us...hope you can get rid of it all!
Maria7 on 01/15/2018:
Hope you feel better.
horn_of_plenty on 01/15/2018:
Oh.....the hamster was left in my apt bc I was literally back and forth with my dad everyday so I just gave it extra food at first bc I didn't know how long I'd be away and the water gets changed only 1x per week
horn_of_plenty on 01/15/2018:
Backaches are like the #1 pain producer for folks- your back pain may also be telling you to relax as you are :)
My dad was complaining his back hurt this weekend - but was still exercising - his pain mustn't have been very minimal.
horn_of_plenty on 01/15/2018:
I mean his pain must have !!!! iPhone typos
Maria7 on 01/19/2018:
Hope you have a good day.