Friday

Ugh. 159.8 this morning. Not good. Another day of progress to start with, that disintegrated toward nighttime. As I had thought when at my parents' house, evening snacking is probably one of my issues. And I did a goodish bit of it yesterday.

Here's the day:

• tea with cream
  
• the usual supplements
  
• lemon jello water
  
• 2 hot dogs with mustard
  
• about 10 tortilla chips
  
• a mini Ritter-Sport milk chocolate bar with yogurt filling
  
• probably some almonds
  
• a pork chop
  
• smashed cheesy cauliflower - about 1/3 of a head of cauliflower
  
• 4 "pips" of a full sized Ritter-Sport milk chocolate bar with coconut filling
  
• a single-serve vanilla Haagen-Dasz
  

Lots of sugar. Seems to be an issue these days.

I need to do a few things.

1. have a serious talk with Lee about lunch, since we're both at home. I don't eat it, and as much as I appreciate his thoughtfulness in making it for me, it's making me gain weight.
2. Not eat unless I'm actually hungry. This is a big problem right now.
3. Stop with the effing candy, already. Geez.

So, today, we ate at Cracker Barrel, and I found out that it's possible to get their low-carb double-meat breakfast even if it's not on the menu, so that's what I had. 3 eggs, about 6 bacon. Should be enough food to last until dinner, as long as I don't cave into boredom. If work ever slows down, that is. Bad morning.

What else? I fell down the stairs this morning - basically did the Wile E. Coyote step off the second step as if I'd already hit the ground floor. Twisted my left knee and toes. Seems not to be seriously damaged, but achy. Feels like I banged my right elbow in the drop, as well.

Sleep was actually quite good. Woke up at 5:48 because we got a reverse-911 call on our cellphones about a bear in our old neighborhood.  But that was the first waking of the night. Quite nice, I think.

Glad I thought through what was needed. I am going to try to resist the munchies tonight, see if that helps. I can't guarantee that I will be able to skip lunch, but I hope I'll be able to. 

Thursday

This week has whizzed by so far. Things are starting to get put away where we can find them again (always nice!), and a routine is developing.

I did really well eating yesterday. Until dinner. 159.0 this morning. I need to get my stuff together. Here's yesterday:

• tea with cream
  
• lemon jello water
  
• cheese
  
• almonds
  
• a mini Ritter bar with yogurt
  
• chips and salsa and "green sauce" (sour cream and jalapenos)
  
• a chicken fajita salad with a dressing similar to the green sauce (with more tortilla strips in it)
  
• a margarita (it was not a good day)
  
• 4 "pips" of Hershey's special dark chocolate bar with almonds
  

I think that was it. I didn't stint on the chips, I'm afraid. The margarita wasn't helpful, either. Up to that point, I'd had a very low carb day.

Sleep last night was good. I switched to a 1-hour playlist on my iPod, and had to use it twice, but fell back asleep both times quite quickly - and did NOT reawaken when it ended. So I'll stick with that for now. One thing I'm noticing here; I'm getting quite chilly as bedtime approaches. With the AC set on 70. It's very helpful in falling asleep, I think. We have not put the mattress pad heater on our bed yet - it certainly shouldn't be needed in a climate where 100 is far from unknown - and maybe I will resist using it even this winter, if we put it back at all.

I do still feel puffy and sore. I've doubled up on anti-inflammatories at vitamin time - 2 fish oil and 2 turmeric. Not helping much. Which leads me to think we got a lot of commercial seed oil and other inflammatory stuff over the past few months, and it's taking a while to work them out. I hope that's all it is. I'd like to feel better.

Wednesday

Nothing like starting a day out with a fit of blinding rage. Never mind the substance; it had to do with work. And I've talked it out, and, more importantly, done something practical about it.

158.8 today; got rid of a few more drops of water, I'd say. Here's yesterday:

• tea with cream
  
• the usual supplements
  
• lemon jello water
  
• scrambled eggs
  
• bacon
  
• cheese
  
• almonds
  
• a single handful of cashews
  
• a pound of ground beef with taco seasoning, with sour cream, cheese, salsa on
  
• 4 "pips" of a dark chocolate almond bar
  

That was it. I spent the evening hanging pictures around the house, and got the dining room done, and probably the entry hall. Had the TV on but didn't watch it. 

My original idea for dinner was a taco salad, but what I ended up with was a sort of Chipotle bowl thing - no lettuce. I just wasn't in the mood to deal with it. What I made was pretty tasty, and I ate all of it.

Sleep was weird. I fell asleep easily enough, but woke up at midnight on the dot. And again around 3. Fell back asleep both times no problem (with radio assistance), and woke again when the alarm went off. I took Magnesium, melatonin, and aspirin before bed. My left hip is bugging me pretty fiercely these days, and I'm sure it was the culprit at least once last night - the other possibility is that I didn't hear the radio anymore, which would be a bad reason to wake up. I may try switching back to my iPod and the WWII broadcasts for a while; see if they work better as a "sleep-to-music" option.

Tuesday

Bad sleep, better weight. 

At bedtime last night, I realized, after the lights were out, that I'd not taken Magnesium or Melatonin - or, perhaps more importantly, aspirin. But it was cold, and I was tired, so I didn't get up and take them. I think I should have.

Woke at 3 am, or just before, and was awake until 5. Slept until the alarm went off, and sort of, for the hour that the radio plays. I don't feel too awful, except for the aches and pains. Which are mostly from painting last night again. As to that, the room is finished and looks much better now, with the second coat of paint on it. It had been okay yesterday, but a lot of the green was still visible. It's gone now.

159.0 this morning. Got rid of a lot of water yesterday, but, based on the aches and pains this morning, not all of it. Here's yesterday:

• tea with cream
  
• the usual supplements (extra Turmeric for inflammation)
  
• lemon jello water
  
• scrambled eggs
  
• bacon
  
• almonds
  
• cheese (I think 5 pieces total)
  
• 5 corn tortilla chips
  
• about 5 strawberries
  
• a small steak
  
• salad with blue cheese dressing
  
• two mini Ritter chocolates - one with yogurt, one with hazelnuts
  

I think that was it. Tonight, I think I'm having a taco salad, something Lee's not crazy about. But since he's going to be eating dinner in New Orleans and I'm on my own, no worries there.

Anyway, with a little "me" time, maybe I can get my head around better eating. That, and getting some pictures hung.

Monday

I would rather not say that I weigh 160.4 this morning, but that is what the scale said. For what it's worth, I'm swollen and stiff from painting yesterday (changed the color of the office walls from olive green to cream), so it's probably less than that, but not much less.

Here's yesterday:

• tea with cream
  
• bacon
  
• the usual supplements
  
• cheddar cheese
  
• a double quarter-pounder with cheese, no bun
  
• half of a bona-fide "small" fries (the paper envelope)
  
• salted peanuts
  
• 2 hot dogs with mustard
  
• corn on the cob with butter (1 ear)
  

I think that was it. We had a very active weekend; walked on Saturday morning and again at a local mega-mall. Did the painting and helped build metal garage shelving yesterday. Replaced a light fixture in the kitchen and put up towel rings in the bathroom.

We are making progress with the house. Before we got in, I was saying that the kitchen was the first target for paint, but after spending 2 weeks in the office, feeling underwater with the green walls and the green shadows from the magnolia tree in the back yard, it took precedence. The kitchen, also green, is next. We chose a color from the "orange whites" section, and when I saw it in the can, I thought I'd truly blown it (it read peach in the can), but on the walls, it's a fairly normal cream color. Lots lighter than the green, and warmer. Much more pleasant. Unfortunately, 1 gallon wasn't enough to get thorough coverage; we got another can last night and I think that's my evening work tonight. Or tomorrow, since Lee's going to New Orleans tomorrow.

We are also painting the built-in desk in this room. Not using it, because the knee-hole area is so low that I either messed up my knees (banging into it) or my back (from sitting too low). But it's currently a super-dark brown, so dark that we have to use a light to find things sitting on it. When we are done, it's going to be white.

Sleep continues to be surprisingly good. I had a bad night Friday night (woke up achy and should have taken aspirin right away; 2 hours of thrashing), but then slept in (!) until after 8. I never sleep in - simply haven't been able to for a long time. And then Saturday night, while I woke briefly a couple of times, I got right back to sleep, and woke up around 7, which made that 10 hours of sleep. Maybe I'm finally starting to get some of the sleep debt repaid.

So I'm not seriously worrying about weight just this moment. I am trying to get the garbage out of my diet, work on reducing inflammation overall. I finally managed to get my gelatin restarted this morning, and think that will help with the aches and pains. And we will be joining the gym shortly as well - and can start lifting a bit. I think that will help with lots of things.

Friday

I just need to stop eating cashews. And I did stop last night - eventually. Just not soon enough. 159.8 this morning; pretty sure it's all water, because the cashews we have at the house just now are really salty. Which also makes them more addictive.

Stress-snacking last night, right in the middle of a deployment. Need to get a grip, here.

In any event, here's yesterday:

• tea with cream
  
• the usual supplements
  
• scrambled eggs with ham and cheese
  
• more cheese
  
• cashews (these during the day)
  
• low-carb crust pizza with pepperoni, mushrooms, and peppers
  
• a tiny Ritter Sport milk chocolate bar with "praline"
  
• more cashews
  

I think that was it. We had an "at home" evening last night, doing nothing until 9, when my work began. It ran until about midnight, I think; could have been worse. And I got to sleep fairly quickly, and slept well - except for some leg cramps at some point that had me out of bed.

Probably a busy weekend ahead - we may even paint a room. And more dinners at home, I hope.

Thursday

Interesting. 157.8 this morning, after yesterday's 159.0. I truly didn't think it was water yesterday. But we did eat saner (more sanely?) last night, so maybe that helped. Here's yesterday:

• tea with cream
  
• the usual supplements
  
• scrambled eggs
  
• bacon
  
• cheese
  
• a very little bit of trail mix (the last of it)
  
• grapes
  
• meat loaf (made with potato starch)
  
• salad with blue cheese dressing
  
• a square of milk chocolate (1-1/2" square of RitterSport with hazel nuts)
  
• an individual Haagen-Dasz vanilla
  

That was it. Better stuff overall. 

Sleep since the move has been generally much improved. No idea why. Maybe the consistent temperature has helped. But I'm waking up having slept enough for more, if that makes sense. I would very much like to curl up for about a week's worth at some point. Some of it is a back ache, I think; I get ones that make me very sleepy. The rest is probably a huge sleep debt from all these years of menopause night-sweats and insomnia. I can't say that they won't return; shoot, they probably will. But for now, I'm getting sleep, and I'm trying my best to take advantage of it.

Exercise still to come. Not sure what form it will take.