madaboutmoose's Journal, 17 November 2011

Oh it is a snowy morning today. It is just starting to get light outside (6:35 am) and I can see the trees are weighed down heavily with snow. Hubby arrived home about 5 am ... a 12 hour shift as it was snowing most of the night. He was one tired man.

But how smart am I? Yesterday I was able to rescheduled my Thursday client to Friday ... leaving my day open. I get so much more done here at home than I do in my "cubbyland" office that I packed up my computer and all my files and brought them home yesterday!! So ... no need for me to drive anywhere today!! I get to work in my sweatpants, sweatshirt, and slippers!!! And look out the window at how beautiful the snow is and how clean and fresh everything looks. And ... actually see my husband other than when he crawls into bed ... maybe even make him 'breakfast' when he gets up this afternoon!!! LOL!!! I am indeed a genius.

This paragraph is specifically for jessyline ... my dear, beautiful, bison rancher friend. You cracked me up with your comment about being selfish!! LOL!! I am glad you are returning to your primal way of eating. You seemed to feel so much better!!! It is interesting. I have discovered similarly. I may not be dropping a ton of weight but eating more protein and less carbs ... no whites ... it is fairly incredible what a difference it has made in my energy level, drastically reduced desire to snack between meals, increased satiety, and more. I am fairly certain I will continue to follow this general idea ... but simply add an indulgence day to the mix!!! I am NOT promising NEVER to eat sugar, pretzels, or bread and butter!!! But ... I think they need to be relegated to very occasional because I'm not sure they agree with me!!!

Off the grid living isn't as complicated as it sounds. When we moved here and found this house, no one on our road had "grid" electricity. It was VERY expensive to bring it in. Hence. Off the grid living. Although we do live outside of "town" on 20 wooded acres it isn't terribly remote. There are many folks that live out this way and we are only 18 miles from town. We do like the privacy. "Off the grid" means we don't worry about power outages (other than ones created by us like not buying propane, generator breaks, need new batteries ... etc.). Some folks have much fancier systems than we do. Ours is pretty simple and straight forward. We do have regular "electricity" in the house. We have computers, regular lights, and other electrical gadgets we can use. We don't use high-draw electrical appliances unless we are running them directly off the generator though. Things like microwaves, hair dryers, crock pots, electric grills, toaster, electric heaters ... they draw too much power from our batteries. We can use them ... but we have the generator running and turn the inverter off. I do the same thing when I do the laundry. When I am using the washing machine I run it directly off the generator, not the batteries.

I fear I've been feeling a tad sorry for myself ... about my son not being able to come home for Thanksgiving. Maybe even a bit guilty ... that I am not willing to drive 2 1/2 hours to pick him up and then another 2 1/2 hours to take him back home for one meal. One of his friends on facebook posted something about the train. I completely forgot there is an Amtrak train that runs between his town and my town!!! It only leaves Spokane at 1:30 am and gets into Sandpoint at 2:30 am and I think leaves Sandpoint at 11:30 pm for departures. So ... rather crazy but not too expensive (probably not much more than a tank of gasoline!!!). So I called him last night. Turns out he has Saturday and Sunday off and would like to come home then if we can help him out. Unfortunately he has to work the day after Thanksgiving but he has the weekend off (the last one for a while). So ... maybe he won't be here for our Thanksgiving meal but he will be here Saturday and Sunday ... if all works out. If the weather isn't bad maybe I could drive down and pick him up and he could just take the train back. It's not that I mind driving ... just couldn't see driving 2 round trip 2-1/2 drives in one day for one meal. 10 hours of driving is a lot just to be able to see his fuzzy face across the table!!

It is much lighter out now ... looks like a good 6 inches at least out there. I nice blanket of white ... covering just about everything!!

So this is day 23? Why do I have such a hard time counting days? LOL!!! Guess I need a cheat sheet next to me. Anyway, I weighed in today at 202.4. That is down .4 from my last official weigh in on fat secret ... so I will log it in when I am done writing my journal. I cannot tell you how much I want to see 199.8. I had told myself 200 was going to be my UH-OH number ... the sirens would go off in my head and I would pull my head out of the sand and quickly find my way back to eating sanity. That didn't happen. I hit 200 and kept going. BUT, I must say I didn't keep going unaware AND I did not gain back everything I had lost and more like I had done so many times over the years. So ... another lesson, another opportunity. But ... that is why I am so anxious to get back to 199.8. That and I just want to weigh under 200!!! LOL!!!

I suppose I better get my rear in gear and actually work!!! Still need breakfast in my belly so I best be wrapping this up.

I am very grateful today ...

1. My dearest friend was offered a new employment position!!!

2. For the ability to work at home today!!!

3. For my husband making it home safely this morning and surviving plowing during our first big snow of the season.

4. For hopefully getting to see my son the weekend AFTER Thanksgiving.

5. For my supervisor meeting her new supervisor (and our program manager) and really liking her (RELIEF!!!!)

Today something wonderful has already happened to me!!!

I continue to practice kindness to myself ... and some days it is easier than others. I try to look at myself kindly, see my own "beauty", appreciate what I am instead of looking at what I am NOT or what I DON'T like. There is plenty to be negative about. But ... I'm pleasant enough to look at. I have beautiful long legs. I really love my hair. I have kind eyes. I am huggable!!! LOL!!! Anyway ... hopefully that doesn't sound too narcissistic.

Have a wonderful day ... I am hoping I get lots accomplished here at home today. Tomorrow is back to back home visits so today I shall be the paperwork QUEEN!!!

Take care my friends!!!

My Weigh in Report
You lost 0.4 lb (0.2 %) since you last weighed in on Sunday 13 Nov 11.
At that rate it will take you about 8 months to get to your goal weight.

Thank you fat secret weight loss calculator. Sunday you told me it would take me 16 months to reach my goal. Now I only have 8 months to goal. I am just so thrilled.

---

1790 kcal

Fat: 113.87g | Prot: 141.15g | Carb: 50.83g.   Breakfast: ham, Johnsonville Sausage Links, Nutiva Coconut Oil, eggs, Sargento Provolone & Mozzarella Shredded Cheese. Lunch: butter, Butternut Winter Squash, chicken thighs. Dinner: Maranatha Almond Butter, chicken breast meat, iceberg lettuce. more...

2622 kcal

Activities & Exercise: Resting - 8 hours, Sleeping - 8 hours, Desk Work - 8 hours. more...