Doreen's New Way of Life (comments are welcome)

[lulu201]

Good morning, Princess Doe-Doe ! How are things over your way? Are your kids having snow days or delays? We didn't have any changes to the regular schedule. . .we came out of this storm no worse for the wear. I have to admit, I was slightly disappointed--I love cozy, stay-at-home days--but the sunrise this morning took away the blues. It was awe-inspiring and set a wonderful tone for today.

So, thanks for cleaning your mailbox! Your PM should be there now.

Are you back to work? I hope you're feeling back up to par. Here's a for you and some to sprinkle on your new day. Have a good one!

Erin

 

[DoeWDW]

Good morning, my sunny WISH-sis Erin! Thanks for your post this morning (not to mention all your other posts to my journal!). Just coming to the DIS and finding a post from you brings a smile to my face - before I even open and read what it says!! :happy1:

Yesterday - what can I say. I forgot to take my meds, I made cookies and snacked on the dough, I ate carby stuff for the most part, I didn't drink my water......

Let's just move on to today! I'm once again actually HAPPY to be at work. The routine is comforting. I'm eating a protein bar, have my meds in front of me to take AFTER I've eaten, have hot tea and water to drink - what a great start!

The scale said 131 this morning - I can definitely feel the extra water weight. It will disappear in a day or so, now that I'm at work and in my routine.

Onward to a healthy day!!

 

[lulu201]

Hey! I thought I ate all of yesterday's cookie dough!

I chose cookie dough over being a princess!
Lulu

 

[DoeWDW]

Give us time, Lulu!! We'll be able to choose cookie dough AND being princesses!!!

All those extra calories we burn off training for the half-marathon - don't they give us an excuse for a little cookie dough now and then???

P.S. Sometimes it's SCARY how we do the same thing at the same time, isn't it????

Edit: 1:30 PM
I didn't post my goals this AM - what was I thinking??

1. Meds taken, vitamins - keep forgetting to bring more to work!
2. Only 24 oz liquid so far (12 oz water, 12 oz decaf green mint tea). Gotta drink!
3. Food under 60 carbs. B = protein bar - 2 carbs and packet of Splenda for tea - 1 carb. L = hamburger patty, raw veggies & 1000 Island dressing for dip - 6 carbs, and sugarless gum - 1 carb. S = 2 oz nuts - 14 carbs. Total for today = 24 carbs.
4. Exercise - I've committed to doing the half-marathon at WDW in 2005 - does THINKING about exercise count??
5. Tons of work goals - gotta get crackin' on lots of stuff!

I feel great!

P.S. I forgot to answer Erin's earlier question. School was delayed for 2 hours but both kids stayed home. My son had a very sick tummy and slight fever. My daughter was worried about the hilly walk to school on icy sidewalks by herself. Guess I'm an overprotective Mom - I let her stay home.

Edit: 3:15 PM
I fell off the low-carb wagon today. Had intense munchies and chocolate cravings!!! I believe the D-Zone is coming up - UGH! - and all those extra carbs & sugar this weekend have revived my cravings. It'll be OK - just a bump on the path. I'm in this for the long haul!

 

[littleducksmom]

doreen........get back on the wagon immediately.......dont let this day go to waste!!!!!!!!!!

what is the d-zone?

come on girl start exercising.......and no thinking bout it doesnt count!!!!!!!!.........NO MORE EXCUSES!....are you IN or
OUT?.....this your life........do not let yourself down again for the rest of this week.....i'll be checking on you........

deb

 

[ZerasPride]

Hi Doreen - I just wanted to pop over to your journal to see how things are going. I agree with Deb. Get right back in the saddle again. I had a real strong craving yesterday for a McDonald's double cheeseburger (with the bread no less - gasp)! I fought it hard. This time I was successful thanks to DH's yummy chicken and cheese roll-ups, but I know the next time I have a strong urge for something I might not be able to resist and hopefully I'll have the guts to come and post my transgression in my journal like you did. You are doing so well so none of us are allowed to give up or give in, 'kay?

 

[lulu201]

Good morning, Doreen. It's supposed to be a warmer, less windy day here. . .hope you're getting the same. Before I have to rush over to my journal, I want you to know the book is "The Complete Guide to Marathon Walking" by Dave McGovern. I started thinking about Dave (David) Holt--did you know he's a musician specializing in Appalachian music? You weren't thinking of him, were you?

My advice for today: do the best you can, girlfriend.

Enjoy the season; I'll try to check in later, but if I do, it won't be 'til very late--immediately after work I have a Christmas dinner party/rehearsal. I'm bringing dessert! Cheesecake sounds good to me. Not good FOR me and not actually good TO me, but I'm sure the others will eat it up. Guess I'll have to save some points.

Remember, lots of blinds the Munchie Monster! AVOID THE VENDING MACHINE!

Q. L.

 

[DoeWDW]

Thanks, all, for stopping by! Your words of encouragement really help!

Deb, the D-Zone (danger zone) is the 2 weeks before TOM. I tend to have terrible cravings. The other two weeks of the month seem to be easy for me to stay on plan, but my D-Zone weeks are TOUGH!

My son is sick - I think it may be the flu but I'm not sure. I'm staying home with him today, and if he seems any worse I'll take him into the doctor's office. Lots of kids at the school are out with the flu. The good part is that I'm home and I can catch up on things around here, like wash and making some healthy low-carb food - always plenty to do at home!

My goals - the usual. I haven't started any of them yet but I'm headed off to eat breakfast and THEN take my meds and fix my large bottle of water to carry around with me today, just as soon as I finish my DIS stuff.

Thanks for the kick in the pants on the exercise, ladies!! I'm getting a new pedometer. The easiest way I've ever found to incorporate more exercise was when I wore my pedometer all day and it counted my steps. I'm going back to what works! Right after the holidays I'll start training for the WDW half marathon with a daily training schedule. I haven't decided if I'll walk the whole way or maybe incorporate a little running, but I'll have a year to train and figure out what works best for me. I'm really excited about doing the half-marathon at WDW!!

Enough for now - I'll update later!

 

[A1A1]

Hope your family is feeling better.

I enjoyed reading more of your journal, but it is going to take more time to get through all 24 pages! Wow! I like hoe you post your goals. I think I might try that. It may help me stay focused on my day's priorities.

Have a good day..............I'll be thinking of you and the other WISHer's when I am at WDW.

 

[ZerasPride]

Doreen!

Just checking to see how your day is going. I'm sorry your son is sick. I know that flu is sweeping through a lot of areas so I hope he's okay. My son was just diagnosed with migraines as he's been missing a lot of school lately and just not able to get out of bed. Not good for a high school student but hopefully the meds he just started taking will help.

It's so wonderful you'll be doing the Marathon. I wish you well with that. Now go get that big bottle of water and sip, sip, sip!

 

[DoeWDW]

I am definitely in the D-Zone. This one snuck up on me! Usually it's marked in my Palm but I lost everything when the batteries died. I'll be sure to mark it down for next month! Forewarned is forearmed, so they say!

The Bloat Fairy is here for a visit. It feels like 2-3 of his closest friends came along! I should get one heck of a Whoosh Fairy visit in a few days! I just hate that swollen feeling! I'm going to make an effort to DRINK, DRINK, DRINK today!!

My DS is still sick but is on the recovery side. His fever broke late yesterday so the worst is over. I'm keeping him home today but he should be back in school tomorrow. Would it be so terrible if we snuck out to see the 3rd Lord of the Rings movie in the middle of the day, as long as we didn't sit near anyone else?? He's getting a bit stir crazy at home but isn't well enough to be in school.....

I'm on to another healthy living day!

 

[lulu201]

I'm so glad to hear that DS is on the mend! I say run out and go to the movies! Seize the day!

Drink that water, Doreen, and take your vitamins--that old Bloat Fairy will be out of town soon! Stay as strong as you can.

for the day,
Erin

 

[ZerasPride]

Doreen,

I'm glad your son is feeling better! I remember my father giving me the Lord of the Rings 4 book set when I was a pre-teen and would sit and read them on the porch in the summer munching on bag after bag of plain M&Ms while the other kids played! Don't know why that's such a vivid childhood memory for me. I think it's so funny they made movies from those books.

I think if you drink tons and tons of water, that bloat fairy will just float away from you! Have a good day whatever you and DS decide to do.

 

[DoeWDW]

We didn't go see LOTR - we did, however, make it into the doctor's office! DS has been out of school for 3 days now and he needed a doctor's note to return. The doctor says he should stay home tomorrow and then go to school on Friday. I'll be back to work tomorrow!!

We couldn't fit the movie in between the dr. and picking up DD from school, so we postponed. DS said he is so sleepy that he probably couldn't stay awake for all 3+ hours of the movie anyway.

I just joined the Campaign to Maintain on the WISH board - I will weigh no more than 130 pounds on January 1st. I just don't want to be worrying about losing weight when there are so many other things going on. If I maintain, I'll be happy. That's hard enough for now.

I did remember to take my meds today. I need to drink more water! My eyeballs aren't floating yet!!

Edit: 9:15 PM
I've been drinking lots of water. I haven't been eating all that well but for some reason, I'm not bothered by it. I usually eat pretty healthy and low-carb and one or two days will not take away all the work I've done. I'll get back to it soon. Until then, I'm not going to count every carb - I'm going to just eat sensibly and try to maintain.

I usually feel all upset and ashamed and guilty, but I don't feel that way. It's hard to explain, but I feel at peace with myself and my general routine of healthy eating. I know that when I stray, I'm not truly out of control and it won't last forever. I always feel better when I eat low-carb, so my body tells me when I've over-indulged and then I just naturally go back to my healthy eating.

No worries - I'll just keep drinking water. I'm not going to pressure myself to count every carb when my heart's not in it. As long as I maintain my weight, I'm going to just make good choices. If the scale goes up, I know what to do to make it go back down.

Here I go, still striving to be healthy, just not so compulsive about every bite.....

 

[lulu201]

Your healthy attitude is why you are a , my friend!
It's the holidays, it's real life. . .and you have the right strategy in mind.

I hope DS mends some more today and is back up to snuff tomorrow. It's hard to be out of school, and harder still to go back when you're feeling under par AND have lots to make up.
Here's some for him!

Back to work today? Enjoy the comfort of the routine. Here's some to keep you strong in the D-Zone!

Take care, Doreen,
Erin

 

[DoeWDW]

Thanks for the sunny message, Queen Lulu!! It helps!!

DS is still home but I am back at work. I've been off 2 days and have mountains of stuff to catch up on and a very critical meeting to run at 9 AM. I don't have much time to write here now, but I'll do more later.

Goals - the usual. Meds - yes. Water - started. Food - 3 g protein bar. Exercise - not yet. Work goal - keep my sanity through the 9 AM meeting - it's not gonna be pretty!!

Edit: 11:15 PM
Whew!!! My big meeting is over and it went really well. I've been dreading this meeting. I am the committe chair and have to run the meetings but there are some very contentious people in the group. I want everyone to be heard, but I can't let them get off on tangents. Also, I need to be the agent of compromise between the people in my agency and the people from the outside project team. In the end, it's my responsibility to make sure that our agency has the reports and reporting capability we need to continue to do business after our accounting system is replaced next July. The people on the outside project team are implementing this accounting system for 53 state agencies - our agency is only one of them - so obviously we can't demand that things be done our way, but we do get $1.6 billion dollars in federal funding and anything that jeopardizes that money MUST be addressed.

A co-worker sat in on this meeting. She runs the ageny's mentoring program for women, which I participated in last year. She sat in for a different reason - she's helping to coordinate the training for the new accounting system. She complimented me after the meeting for the way I ran things. She said I took charge and commanded respect while still making sure that everyone was heard. I sometimes worry that I come off as too *****y but she felt I did an excellent job of keeping things moving but not being too brassy about it. She is an objective person, and I can trust her to give me an honest critique, so getting praise from her made my day!!

I also talked to most of the meeting attendees one-on-one after the meeting. They all felt it was very productive and they have a greater comfort level that we are all on the same page. This means that I've met my goals of fostering greater understanding between the groups and finding compromises to conflicts where we all win.

At the moment, it's good to be me!!

OK, enough about work! I've had 40+ oz of water so far. I've had a protein bar & some cashews. I have some veggies and 1000 Island dip for dipping. I'm eating low-carb but trying hard not to COUNT them! Maybe I'll treat myself to a walk at lunch! I'm so high from this meeting that it's hard to just sit at my desk. I want to dance through the aisles, singing a happy song!! Wouldn't THAT look interesting????

I'm making good choices today and I'm proud of me and the work I'm doing for the citizens of the Commonwealth of PA!

 

[DoeWDW]

Here we go again! It's Friday so I'll be heading to work. I'm still riding high on my success from yesterday - it's the best I've felt about work for a very long time! Lots of things to get done at work today, but if I break it all down into baby-steps I should be able to get a lot finished.

Chris (DS) will be off school again today. The poor kid hasn't eaten anything other than Jello or bread for almost a week. He doesn't have a fever anymore but he's so tired that he sleeps a lot. His tummy is still terribly queasy. His cough seems to be getting better, thank goodness. He's just too weak to put in a whole day of school - he can barely make it 2 hours at home without a nap! He is getting very anxious about how he's going to make up all the work at school, but he just isn't up to going back yet. I've emailed his teachers and he has stuff to work on at home in between naps.

Other than that, things are going well at home. I have to finish the Christmas shopping this weekend - I only have the kids to buy for and I know what they're getting. It won't be much since they've both gotten lots of big stuff lately - Chris' trip to Australia, Steph's class ring, etc.

So here we go - off to the races again!! Chris' flu and holiday preparations are taking my attention away from my exercise and healthy eating, but that's OK for now. I'll be back to it very soon. I still find that I make good food choices, but I don't take the time to count every carb. This is real life!

 

[lulu201]

Doreen!

Many happy bounces in celebration of yesterday's great day at work! You sound like a fair, organized, and thoughtful leader--your co-workers are lucky to have you (as are all of us in the Commonwealth! ).

So much has been going on with you this past week: poor Chris and the flu, work issues and deadlines, and Christmas plans and preparation, and still you've stayed positive and balanced throughout. You've modeled an attitude that's been an inspiration for me all week long, and I'm really grateful to have had you as my example.

I hope your day is filled with joy-full moments and that you can find times to renew yourself in the midst of all you have to do.


Erin

 

[DoeWDW]

So far, so good today!

I've eaten a protein bar and some cashews - somewhere under 10 carbs. I've been drinking lots of water and I took my meds.

The holiday goodie table is set up here at work - very close to the water cooler! I have not had even one thing because I know if I start, I won't be able to stop. I'm just gonna keep drinking!! I think lunch will be a big salad - YUM!! I need to be good to me!

The Bloat Fairy is here in a BIG way - I'm feeling big!! It will be better in a few days.... .... this, too, shall pass!

Onward, and possibly downward, although I'm not making any promises.....

 

[lulu201]

Yikes! Holiday goodie table right next to the water cooler?!?! Send out the alert! All the
that can be mustered must sent to Doe-Doe's desk to defend her against the ever dangerous Afternoon Munchie Monster!

Stay strong, Doe-Doe! (Or at least moderately strong --what's on that goodie table, anyway? )

E.