Friday

Wow.  Advil PM or insomnia seem to be my options just now.  Woke last night at 11:15, and for sure again at 3:50, and maybe once in between.  I would say I'm having another wave of menopause symptoms - slightly different from earlier bouts, but disturbing in its own way.  Ugh.

That said, I'm 149.6 this morning.  Here's yesterday:

• scrambled eggs
  
• sausage - two patties
  
• tea with cream
  
• the usual supplements (we have added Ginkgo for tinnitus - no results this week yet)
  
• three faux oatmeal cookies
  
• a bag of vending peanuts (I was starving)
  
• roast chicken
  
• another two faux oatmeal cookies
  
• strawberry ice cream from Cold Stone
  

That was it.  I had a "Love It" sized ice cream; think I don't need that much at any one time - and now that we have the kitchen back, it's time to make our own (for a few weeks, anyway, until it's not hot anymore).

I have done an initial seasoning of our new griddle, so we can try griddle omelets this weekend.  Exciting!  Stunk the house up last night, though.

I need to think of something for dinner tonight; at least it finally involves cooking it.

Thursday

I took an Advil PM last night and got a complete night's sleep.  Every so often, I just have to do that.  It's not paleo, I know, but neither is not sleeping - and the heat waves - they aren't intense enough to be flashes - keep waking me up at night.  Anyway, I opened one eye at 4:30 for the first time, and went back to sleep so quickly after that, I'm not even sure it counts as waking.  I'll take it.  Felt good.

150.2 again this morning.  Good old XXX.2.  I used to stall at a weight of this sort repeatedly during my original weight loss.  My fingers are a little swollen - even now, after driving to work.

So, here's yesterday:

• tea with cream
  
• the usual supplements
  
• creole breakfast casserole, which has been getting progressively spicier over the course of the week
  
• a bag of peanuts
  
• a bag of nacho cheese doritos
  
• pork roast
  
• salad with blue cheese dressing
  
• 1/8 of a Hershey's dark chocolate with almonds bar
  
• 4 almond-flour faux-oatmeal cookies (with walnuts and craisins in them)
  

I have some of the cookies with me today, to ward off another visit to the machines. They came out great, despite a lot of liberties with the recipe (as in, I used their basic quantities of the staples and the oven stuff, and then went pretty much off the rails), and I figure that, while they are a treat, they are a known quantity, rather than the polysyllabic mess that falls out of the vending machines.  Eating real food and all that.

We did finally manage the pork roast - I made two tenderloins, and we have a lot of leftovers.  I'm foreseeing cubanos, and maybe something to eat sauteed kale with (it will be an experiment, but is supposed to be really good).

Three-day weekend coming up, and no plans that I know of.  Puttering, I would imagine.

Wednesday

Another slow week.  Elizabeth is sick, Lee is having back issues, and my commute has exceeded 2 hours per day on average.  Time fails to fly when you are not having fun, that's for sure.

150.2 again today.  Here's yesterday:

• tea with cream
  
• breakfast casserole
  
• the usual supplements
  
• quarter pounder with cheese, no bun
  
• fries
  
• hot and sour soup
  
• mushu chicken
  
• a fortune cookie
  
• cashews
  

The cashews were because I felt like eating something crunchy; they weren't all that good, and I need to work on not doing that so much.

Still hoping to eat the pork tenderloin.  Pretty much needs to be today or never, I think.

Tuesday

I only woke up twice last night.  Got more menopause supplements over the weekend; could that be it?  Anyway, while I'm a bit foggy from driving in (an hour and 10 minutes to get here, blecch), I think I'm better rested overall.

150.2 this morning.  A bit surprising, given what I ate yesterday, but I do think some of yesterday's weight was water, and I feel less swollen up this morning.  Here's yesterday:

• tea with cream
  
• Health-Bent's creole breakfast casserole
  
• the usual supplements
  
• a vending bag of peanuts
  
• strawberries and grapes
  
• potato chips (2 handfuls during the day and about a half-handful after dinner)
  
• chicken soup
  
• dark chocolate with almonds
  
• strawberry ice cream (finished off a pint container of Haagen Dasz in the freezer)
  

I was in a nosh-y mood last night - got a lot done, but eating throughout.  Not sure why. Anyway, the pork tenderloins for dinner tonight, instead of last night.  Gave them more time to defrost.

Monday

The kitchen is back to normal; now we just have to learn how to use it effectively.  But a big improvement.  And much stress removed.

Sleep is still fairly crap, though, which is annoying.  Temperature fluctuations, mostly - also Elizabeth's dog, who came dropping in (physically) at 2 am.  I let him out, Lee let him in and got him back to her room, and all was mostly well.

We have been cooking at home with a few exceptions since Monday evening last week, and I can start to tell - my thumb joints are no longer sore.  A small thing, but it's interesting how something like arthritis is so very influenced by diet.  And how even careful restaurant eating still causes it to flare up.

150.8 this morning, although on Saturday morning, I saw 149.6.  That was maybe an aberration? Hard to say.  I'm a little swollen right now, so maybe today/yesterday is the aberration.  

Here's yesterday's eating:

• bacon
  
• tea with cream
  
• no supplements
  
• cheese
  
• cashews
  
• paleo shepherd's pie (from Elana's Pantry - really good and the cauliflower crust was delish!)
  
• a tin of Godiva pearls - dark chocolate mint
  

I feel like I must have eaten more, but honestly don't recall anything else.  The thing is, I spent the entire day cooking, pretty much.  Beef stock (aka "bone broth), meatballs, the shepherd's pie, and Health-Bent's creole breakfast casserole.  We had the latter for breakfast today, and it was quite tasty. And you have to love the convenience.

Something with pork tenderloin for dinner; not sure what yet.

Friday

Got decent sleep last night.  I do keep waking up in the first couple of hours, warmed up as if it's morning, and that waking event is a little hard to get back to sleep from. But last night, it was pretty easy, and I think I only woke up once more, toward 4:40. Not bad.  So I feel pretty good today.

We got a lot of the chaos reduced last night - about half the kitchen is ours now. Feeding the animals in the morning is still an exercise in craziness - bowls in one room, food in another, utensils in a third - but it's improving, and we may be able to move them into the kitchen proper this weekend.

150.4 this morning, after drinking my first cup of tea (and after an intestinal transit, to put it delicately).  Here's yesterday:

• tea with cream
  
• scrambled eggs
  
• bacon
  
• the usual supplements
  
• 2 vending bags of M&Ms
  
• cheese
  
• a hamburger patty
  
• tortilla chips
  
• guacamole
  
• possibly a square of 85% Lindt's
  
• walnuts
  

The M&Ms were a huge mistake - I had a 2 hour drive to get home last night, and about a half-hour from the end, had a bona-fide episode of low blood sugar. Shakes, fuzziness, the full monty.  Yecch.

I don't know if it's delayed reaction to the pizza-crust gluten from the other day, or what, but my stomach is fairly badly messed up just now.  Manageable, but annoying.  I think it might be a good thing I'm working from home today.

Thursday

150.6.  Which is fine.  Calf muscles fasciculating, and no particular desire to eat carbs, so until that returns, I may continue to lose weight.  Slept with the aid of Advil PM last night, but had to sit out in the living room for about half an hour in order to get calm enough to sleep.  I think the remodel has got to me.  I couldn't get my brain organized enough to finish a thought or a sentence; it was just chaos.  So I went out, read a little, and then just sat there for a while.  I guess it helped.  I got calmed down enough to go to sleep, but it feels like I'm just a slight upset from it doing it again - and with the damn remodel, a slight upset has become a daily thing for us.

Yesterday, it was a falling/broken picture, due to Elizabeth's dog and a door that had been removed in order to tile the utility room.  Followed by Lee's ineptness at removing spilled grout from the cabinet door, which ended up taking a chunk of the new paint with it.  At that point, something snapped, and I was a mess a good bit of the night.

Anyway, the stress app I found online thinks I'm at low stress.  So no problem, right?

Here's yesterday:

• tea with cream
  
• the usual supplements
  
• cheese
  
• strawberries
  
• chicken with avocado, bacon, and tomato
  
• a few potato chips
  
• a square of Lindt 85%
  
• cashews - amounting to 2 handfuls, I think
  

I'm not tired, exactly, this morning, but foggy.  Very much out of it.

Wednesday that I really wish was Thursday

This is being a long week.  Yesterday, it seemed like the day got stuck around 2 pm for a year or so, and last night was purgatorial.  Again, I'm not having hot flashes, but I can't control my body temperature at all, so with the blanket it's too hot, and without it, it's too cold.  Serious ugh.  I know that I woke up at 10:30 with it, thinking I'd slept all night (that's the heartbreaking thing; when I wake up with rising body temps, its like waking up in the morning, and very hard to get back to sleep).  I think I woke again before midnight, and at 2-something, and at 4:40ish.  Granted, Lee said it was hot to him as well, but it's killing me.

150.8 this morning.  Here's yesterday:

• scrambled eggs
  
• bacon
  
• tea with cream
  
• roast beef (out of half a sandwich)
  
• a very small bunch of grapes
  
• half a tomato slice
  
• cheese-steak meatloaf (a recipe I made up on the drive home, that was a keeper)
  
• salad with Marie's blue cheese dressing
  
• somewhere between 8-10 Godiva dark chocolate pearls
  
• a handful of cashews
  

That was it.  We went out after dinner and bought throw rugs for the kitchen, which always helps keep the snacking down (going out, not buying throw rugs, obviously).

Loving the new stove.  I sauteed the bell peppers for the meatloaf last night and was able to get them to char a little.  I have SO missed cooking with gas over the past 25 years.  Wow.  Didn't realize that was the last time I had a gas stove.  

Anyway, no idea what's for dinner tonight - but it may involve stopping at a grocery store on the way home, since I didn't break anything out to defrost.

Tuesday

Got sleep last night, thanks to Advil PM.  Not sure I care how, at this point, it was too desperately needed.  151.4 this morning.

We have a working (albeit not finished) kitchen.  There is much rejoicing.  The first meal we cooked in it was pizza from Papa Murphy's.  Something more than that tonight, though I don't know what, exactly.  Ground-beef based.  Here's yesterday:

• tea with cream
  
• the usual supplements
  
• double quarter pounder with cheese, no bun
  
• fries
  
• Pizza - including about 2/3 of the crust on one slice (too much gluten-free crust lately, and I just sailed in without thinking - oops!)
  
• a small square of dark chocolate (the really good stuff)
  

I think that was it.  I spent much of the evening painting baseboards in 90+ degree heat - paint dries very quickly in that setting.  In any event, I didn't eat.

Monday

Weird weekend.  Ate crap, lost weight.  151.0 this morning.  Achy as hell, though - lots of inflammation.  I need to spend some quality time researching and implementing an anti-inflammatory diet, I think.  Here's yesterday as I can recall it:

• tea, maybe not with cream - can't remember
  
• cheese
  
• walnuts
  
• Godiva dark chocolate pearls
  
• pork kebabs with peppers
  
• ice cream (Cold Stone with french vanilla, cherry pie filling, pecans)
  
• potato chips - Zapps voodoo chips, specifically
  

Was that it?  It might have been.  I'm hyper sleepy this morning after a night of leg cramps and general discomfort.  It was too hot and too cold all at once.  I slept enough to dream, some time between 2:00 and 5:30 am, but not sure when or for how long.  I have a headache, and my thumb arthritis is acting up, and my hips hurt, and I generally feel like crap.  

With any luck, we should have a working kitchen by the end of the day today.  I sure hope so, because not having one has made me quite ill.

Friday

152.4 again today.  Sleep was dicey, including the fact that it started after 11 pm due to work (another of those nights set for tonight).  I am not having hot flashes or night sweats, but I am getting overheated at night and it's interfering.  And last night I threw in incipient leg cramps, so that each time I moved to find a new cool spot, one of my legs had to be treated with extreme care.  Ugh.

Here's yesterday:

• tea with cream
  
• the usual supplements
  
• broccoli cheese soup (probably had roux)
  
• two peppermints
  
• hamburger patty with blue cheese
  
• potato salad
  
• sliced tomatoes
  
• potato chips
  
• dark chocolate
  
• walnuts
  

That was it.  Better than it has been in a while.  We now have a working oven and microwave/convection oven, which is a start - but not the cooktop or the sink or the dishwasher - the three things I really want right now.  Soon, though.  Maybe today, maybe early next week.  We shall see.

Thursday

152.4 this morning.  Cool by me, although I have no idea why it occurred.  Here's yesterday:

• tea with cream
  
• the usual supplements
  
• a couple of pieces of cheese (I was hungry at breakfast time)
  
• two vending bags of peanuts (no time for lunch, and still hungry)
  
• half a handful of M&Ms
  
• chips and salsa
  
• 2/3 of an order of enchiladas montadas, smothered in green chile
  
• the bottom of a bag of potato chips - less than half a deli bag
  

That wasn't much, as it turns out.  We were busy as usual in the evening - sanding drawer sides - and I had a hideous commute home.  Very stressful day for this introvert, with 6-1/2 hours of meetings, including a 4-hour stretch with no interruptions.

Sleep was not good - and I dreamed about making and eating cinnamon rolls, of all things.  Knowing as I did so that I was not eating anything good for me.  Weird.

Wednesday

153.4 today.  Here's yesterday:

• tea with cream
  
• the usual supplements
  
• misc veggies with ranch dip (broccoli, carrots, cauliflower)
  
• about 7 chunks of strawberry
  
• a half-handful of M&Ms
  
• hot and sour soup
  
• chicken with cashews, no rice
  
• a fortune cookie
  
• a sip of beer
  

It is sounding like the kitchen will drag on another week, but at least we got back to our bedroom last night.  Unfortunately, that wasn't any help; I slept at least as badly as the night before - bad temperature, or something.  I got lots of sunlight yesterday afternoon, and stayed off electronics in the evening, since we were busy doing kitchen-related stuff, so it wasn't bad circadian rhythms.  I'll go with stress.

Tuesday

The floor is dry, so I went to our end of the house to shower this morning, meaning I had access to the scale.  153.8 this morning, and that's with swollen fingers and ankles, a bit.  Could definitely be worse - up slightly less than a pound from last week, with all the junk I've been consuming.

Here's yesterday (as a prime example):

• tea with cream
  
• the usual supplements
  
• roast beef sandwich innards
  
• turkey sandwich innards
  
• fruit - strawberries and pineapple
  
• a pickle spear
  
• gyro meat
  
• saffron rice
  
• a little bit of hummus
  
• the last chocolate almond cherry cluster
  
• two handsful of M&Ms
  

I did manage to resist the potato chips - actually, they didn't even look appealing.  I think maybe I'm at my limit.  

We get to sleep in our own bed tonight - yeah!  Last night it was hot and the bed seemed to have shrunk (it's smaller than our own bed, but we've been dealing pretty well with it).  I slept, but kept waking up.  So I'm a bit groggy and stiff this morning.  It will be good to start moving back toward our proper routine - and I'm keeping my fingers crossed about getting a working kitchen by the end of the week.

Monday

Sleep improved over the weekend - for all of us, I think.  We got Elizabeth completely moved out of her apartment, and are just trying to match paint in order to do some touch ups where we had mounted curtain rods, and she'll be done.  The house is still a disaster, but we were able to get into our bedroom over the weekend and do laundry - which helped me mentally.

Anyway, action-packed weekend.  And junk-food-packed.  No idea what I weigh right now, but my jeans fit, so I'm okay with whatever it is.  And we did a lot of lifting heavy things and climbing stairs repeatedly, especially on Saturday.

I think this is what I ate yesterday:

• tea with cream
  
• Cracker Barrel low-carb double-meat breakfast (eggs and bacon, basically)
  
• M&Ms - I bought a regular sized bag of them at the store Saturday, and had several handsful
  
• potato chips
  
• cashews
  
• meat loaf
  
• green beans
  
• salad
  
• a glass of wine
  

That was it - but the quantities of M&Ms, chips, and cashews were probably excessive.  If all goes well, by week end, we should have a functional kitchen.  It may not be complete, but we should have a working stove, sink, and oven, and maybe the refrigerator will be installed.  The floor looks great - one more coat of finish today, a bit of un-rigging tomorrow, and we are done with it and able to use the entire house again.  A flurry of laundry, and mental health should tick up several notches at our house, even without the working kitchen part.

Friday

I slept last night.  It was huge - and not nearly enough. Ate oddly well, considering I worked from home. On the other hand, I cannot get to the pantry due to the floor finishing, so snacking options are limited to refrigerated food, cherry tomatoes, cashews, and chocolate cherry almond clusters, which we got out of the pantry before the kitchen was sealed off.

No idea what I weigh; my jeans fit okay, though, so probably not more than usual. Here's yesterday:

• tea with cream
  
• the usual supplements
  
• cheese
  
• cashews
  
• chocolate cherry almond clusters
  
• Chik-Fil-A cobb salad with avocado lime ranch dressing
  
• cherry tomatoes
  
• grapes - about a pound of these
  

That was it.  Pretty much all "real food", if not the best possible selections. We will be finishing up cleaning at Elizabeth's former apartment this weekend, I think, plus still having what my family prefers I not refer to as a "staycation" in half our house. We may opt for a hotel one or two nights this weekend, just so we all get beds; that is, if Elizabeth is willing to stay at home (in her own bed) with the dogs.

Onward.

Thursday

So, until next Wednesday morning, I have no access to a scale; the floor-finishing step started yesterday and we are cut off from our bedroom.  I wish I'd thought to tile the whole floor at the level of the utility room, rather than having wood for the hallway. Too late now, though.

We are sleeping in the queen bed at the other end of the house.  And weren't very organized getting ourselves and our stuff down there, so last night, I couldn't find the melatonin.  I got to sleep some time after 2:00 am, once Elizabeth's dog moved enough that I could get both legs on the bed.

Here's yesterday:

• tea with cream
  
• the usual supplements
  
• quarter pounder with cheese, no bun
  
• medium fries
  
• several chocolate cherry almond clusters
  
• sirloin steak
  
• Southern-style green beans
  
• baked sweet potato with butter and sour cream
  
• cashews
  

I think that was it.  The carb cravings were hormones, for what that's worth.  I am very very tired today, and pretty stressed.  Life could be a lot more fun - and, if I'm honest, a lot less fun, too.  We will survive this, and I do think it will be worth it. Just gonna be a roughish week.

Wednesday

153.0.  My stomach was some kind of messed up yesterday; don't know if that contributed to any decrease in weight.  Rough day, though.  I'm in a horrible mood and crave carbs - nearly stopped at Krispy Kreme this morning on the way to work.  I didn't - and I assume the mood and cravings, while exacerbated by stress, are hormonal.

Today marks the start of the floor finishing, which runs for a week.  We probably can't get into the bedroom until next Tuesday night, so we have plans to sleep in Elizabeth's room, and she will be sleeping on the couch.  Whether that works or not is another question entirely.  Probably, regardless, won't reduce stress.

Here's yesterday:

• tea with cream
  
• the usual supplements
  
• grapes (small bunch of green ones)
  
• cheese
  
• cherry tomatoes
  
• M&Ms
  
• more cheese
  
• more grapes
  
• chocolate-cherry-almond clusters (3, I think)
  
• cashews
  
• tortilla chips
  

Not exactly health food.  Sleep was okay until 3 am, then crap. Really not much to add beyond that.

Tuesday

153.4 this morning - I think the water is finally starting to disappear a bit - and for some reason, my jeans are fitting better (looser) than they did when I was below 150.  Makes no sense; I don't think I've been gaining muscle.  

Anyway, here's yesterday:

• tea with cream
  
• the usual supplements
  
• a bag of peanuts
  
• a bag of M&Ms
  
• Salad with blue cheese dressing
  
• cottage cheese
  
• meat loaf with heavy ketchup
  
• pot roast
  
• green beans
  
• 3 pieces of fudge
  
• 3 chocolate-cherry-almond clusters
  

That was not a great day, really, but it could have been worse.  We did dinner at Country Buffet.

Not much else to tell, really.  Countertops arrive today; we're getting close.  I've started making lists of things to cook, once I can, again.  Been a long time.

Monday

155.4 again.  This eating out thing is killing me.  Quite apart from the weight gain, I'm achy all over and feel fairly cruddy.  I guess if nothing else, I've been confirmed in my belief that Paleo is much better for me than not.  The plan is, once we have our kitchen back, we will be going at it hard.  Strict paleo with the idea of getting all of us in line.

I honestly have no idea what I ate yesterday, so we'll start logging with today's eats.

Friday

And... 155.0.  Another night of crap sleep.  Due, this time, to Elizabeth's dog, who thought that my getting up to go to the bathroom at 2:30 am signified the onset of breakfast.  He was pretty much active and awake from then on - and so were we. Here's yesterday:

• tea with cream
• the usual supplements
• two bags of peanuts (vending)
• a bag of M&Ms (vending)
• grilled chicken caesar salad
• two chocolate cherry almond clusters
  
• cashews - which didn't even taste all that good; I just wanted something crunchy. Bad.

That was it.  Really not all that much.  My ankles are still bulbous, though.  

I do know what I need to do. It's not that hard - or it wouldn't be if I had a kitchen. But ours is still a construction zone; by the end of the weekend, I hope to have the doors and drawers back in place, but we still won't be able to cook there. Soon.  We only have about 2 weeks to go.  This has been a lot rougher than I expected.

Thursday

155.0.  Here's yesterday;

• tea with cream
  
• the usual supplements
  
• naked double quarter pounder with cheese
  
• medium fries
  
• about 3/4 pound of strawberries
  
• hot and sour soup
  
• half an order of mushu chicken, no pancakes
  
• a fortune cookie
  
• four chocolate cherry almond clusters
  

Woke at 1:30ish after rubbing my eye and finding some sort of insect crawling on my face. Made getting back to sleep really hard.  I'm really groggy right now.

Left foot is refusing to deflate.  It's gross.