Hi all,

Trigger---Ha, I never do fiber shakes, having had the unfortunate experience you did. I get enough fiber w/my salads, when I'm in the mood. Also, don't like Kale or spinach which is what almost every fiber shake calls for.

The thing I like about my shakes is they double as my daily coffee and now protein bumps. So easy, don't have to think about food really at all. Takes a minute and by the time I've sipped away at it as I work on my computer, I'm satisfied. Amazes me. Never used protein powder before. The prep work for LC foods has always been a challenge for me, so for now I'm all over this solution.

Interesting how our conversation brought out all the "chewers" and the
"don't need to chew" folks on our thread." Which just shows to go you, no matter how much we chat about our woes, there's always an aspect we haven't covered yet.

Jaz---Yeah, "as long as it stops the hungries," and for me as I said above, it's super easy. I think right now I just don't want to think about food. What to make, do I have the ingredients, do I need to go to the grocery store, etc. etc.

Shakes sure solve that for me. And they give me a nice dose of fat and protein. I'm going to experiment with throwing coconut oil in...sort of a bullet coffee shake w/protein powder. The Peanut Butter powder Lori suggested is quite good, and for the teaspoon I use about a carb or 2. Doesn't take much to give just a bit of PB flavor, which is all I want.

Fun that you got the girls in the office going on shakes. These are things that make a mgr. fun and empathetic and yes, human to those that report to them. You are so very good at this!

Lori---Pretty easy to understand how the "what the heck" bug got you yesterday. Bad morning drive to no avail, disappointment over not being w/your sister, and being holed up in the cold. Yeah, that's a pretty good recipe for "why not?"

The good news is when we surrender to that itch it lets us know it's not w/out consequence in how we feel. I remember back in my super carb days when I didn't even know I felt bloaty and fuzzy because it was normal to me! Now we can recognize it so easily, and realize we don't want that feeling any too often.

Nic---I loved your metaphor for my challenges right now, and knew exactly what you were saying. The word that comes to mind w/your visual metaphor is "perspective." And I like that, as it really is all about keeping your eye on the horizon and the larger world as opposed to the exaggerated obstacle in front of your face that day. So "perspective" is under consideration!" My hesitancy is that I feel like I might need something a bit more bold and brave...which I'm not feeling as much as I'd like to these days.

How cool is it that your hubby is in the DC mags as a respected and excellent lawyer! From what you've said, he does indeed work very hard, but it also seems that he likes the work...in that it absorbs him and satisfies him. In my experience most people who are that good at what they do, like what they do, for the better part.

K-mom---Hey, I wanted to comment on your word, "chugging." Excellent. And you referenced "The Little Train That Could," which made me smile very big. This was a book read to me in my childhood, and when we'd get to the "I think I can" chorus mom and me would go over board w/it and end up yelling by the time we got to "I know I can." It made us both laugh but at the time I didn't think of it as a life lesson of course. But it's funny---when in stressful situations it still goes thru my head. And btw, I know YOU CAN. Just keep that cruise in mind, an excellent motivator right?

Friday water: 3/3

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I had a rough night of little sleep last night. Woke up at 3---was reading till 1, and just couldn't get back to sleep. Usually I don't get out of bed and just hang tight till sleep happens but last night I could tell it wasn't going to happen. So I got up, putzed around the house, read a bit, and did a bit on my work projects.
By 10AM I was at last feeling pretty drowsy, so got on the sofa w/my book and was out like a light w/in 10 minutes. Didn't wake up till 2:30 this afternoon! So my day was weird, circadian rhythms gone bananas. And 2 hours after I woke up, it was getting dark again. Still in jammies and I almost never do this, as I feel like getting dressed marks the day beginning. But today, whatever.

Gals, on day 3 of under 20 Ncs I cannot believe how much better I feel. And HOW MUCH the bloat has gone down. My rings are looser, always notice it there first. Also, my midriff and tummy has gone down remarkably. NOT getting on the scale yet. Might after two weeks of my back on track plan. Still, like I said, this woe works fast to de-bloat when we work it!

Right now I'm feeling dis-interested in food, except as fuel, and that's a good thing. I think my holidays topped off by the truly amazing food we enjoyed in SF, and not a regret to found over that, has simply scratched my itch for a time to come. I am enjoying feeling lighter and clearer and quite content on my plan.

Soup for dinner, 2 shakes and I'll come in at about 15 Ncs.