Buns Again

[bunsofaluminum]

Hey Buns! Just popping in to say "Hi!" Also, appreciated your thoughts on the Pleasure Trap. Definitely a problem in our world today where the foods we are meant to eat are harder to get than the fat/sugar/salt combos are on every corner! It's best for me to get to the place, too, where I refer to those things as the poison they are and stay far away from them. Keeping my home environment clean has become effortless, it's social gathering and being out and about that call my name...I'm looking at YOU, Starbucks! Anyway, I'm rooting for you, and I know we can steer clear of the Pleasure Trap if we put our minds to it! Let's commit to it and make it happen!! Here's to a Happy and Healthy December!!

Hiya KK!

I'm with you...it's super easy to stay on plan at home, but going out for food, or getting together with people for food? that's SO HARD. And this is the time of year for treats and gatherings. Thankful for working from home...we have some wonderful bakers on our team, and they bring their delights to the office on a near daily basis. Sitting at home, I don't have to turn on the willpower quite as much.

It does feel like I'm in this now...all the way to the CORRECT ADULT FEMALE WEIGHT

~~~~~

I got back to my regular, portion controlled, rice and fruit/veg meals yesterday, and did pretty good. I had a brazil nut and a rice cake as the only off plan items. Doing another fully on-plan day today. I had yams instead of rice for lunch. Hoping to see the scale drop again soon. I bought a pair of earrings. When the scale goes back into the 220's I'll allow myself to wear them It's coming up to the 50th day of following this Rice Diet Solution thang, and mostly doing it fully, which is also earring-worthy. Thanksgiving and the few days following it were not "in" but I've stuck to it really well on the daily. Time for a little reward.

Feeling a little discomfort in my abdomen now and then. It usually comes along after using the toilet, pee or poo, on my right side, lower than my belly button...LR quadrant. ... It fades out after initial flare up, so it isn't steady pain, and it isn't sharp. It's just there. Don't know what it is, but I may go to the doc if it doesn't go away soon. It's already been a thing for several days. Feels like I should be looked at.

[bunsofaluminum]

SW 240
GW 135
CW 230

Okay, two days on plan and two lbs have dropped. Noice. Continuing with same. I made a big batch of Not Chicken Soup yesterday and plan on having that for each meal. I'll add potatoes for dinner to carry me over the night. It does have barley in it, which makes it heartier...might not need the potatoes.

Anywayzzzz, here's to dropping the poundage! Imagining myself walking back into the office next July, two or three jeans sizes down, and blowing everyone's mind Yeah...let's say I lose 2 lbs a week
riiiight BUT let's just say. By July 6, when we are slated to go back to work from the office, that's 62 lbs down, baby. Maybe more
than two or three jeans sizes. Maybe I'll be in 10's and fit as can be, packed with energy, ease, and self-confidence. Imagining myself crossing my legs again! woot!

[KarenEC]

Hi Buns,
In my opinion, yeah, you should get that belly pain checked out. It may be your appendix. I was told that to find the general appendix area, with your right hand, put your thumb in your belly button, open your hand wide, and put your pinky on your hip bone. Imagine a line connecting the two, drawn across your belly. Your appendix is about midway, a bit closer to your hip. See if it is painful to touch there. (Don't push too hard.)

(I needed an appendectomy as a kid. Acute pain growing over 1/2 day. Turns out it was a close call.)

Cheers,
Karen

[bunsofaluminum]

Hi Buns,
In my opinion, yeah, you should get that belly pain checked out. It may be your appendix. I was told that to find the general appendix area, with your right hand, put your thumb in your belly button, open your hand wide, and put your pinky on your hip bone. Imagine a line connecting the two, drawn across your belly. Your appendix is about midway, a bit closer to your hip. See if it is painful to touch there. (Don't push too hard.)

(I needed an appendectomy as a kid. Acute pain growing over 1/2 day. Turns out it was a close call.)

Cheers,
Karen

Hi Karen,

I was thinking the exact same thing. It's in that vicinity, but today it is gone. I don't understand at all. In fact, I didn't even think about it this morning, which is the usual time that it acts up...when I'm peeing first thing in the morning...but then I looked at my longhand journal where I had written a little bit about it and said "Wait...It wasn't painful this morning"... ??? If it comes back even slightly, I'll get in right away.

[KarenEC]

Awesome to hear, Buns. Yay to eating good whole foods and the body healing itself!

[bunsofaluminum]

SW 240
GW 135
CW 231

Wylie took me out for lunch yesterday. Costa Vida vegetarian salad. Their beans and rice are prepared without fat, so they're good. Sodium a little high I think. Tasted good. I enjoy salad when I don't have to prep.

Today will be simple meals. Either soup or rice and veg/fruit. Mmmm that batch of soup turned out good though! yum.

[bunsofaluminum]

SW 240
GW 135
CW 232

ffs, I went up a pound

I did eat a Costa Vida salad for lunch the other day *shrug* Nothing for it but to carry on. Planning to stay with my super simple starch and veg/fruit for the day.

So...Yesterday I got new glasses. Still getting used to them...progressive trifocals ugh. Feels like I have to semi cross my eyes while walking downhill...like, the ground slopes away from me as I walk. But already the reading section of these lenses is worlds better, and the computer distance is better, too.

And also yesterday, I withdrew some money from my retirement account, which I used to pay off two debts ahhhhhh . I did the math. One loan for 10.49% and on VISA for 12.49% vs a retirement account earning 3%? No contest, I paid off the debts. Now I have my car payment, student loans which start up again in January and one monthly bill that comes through on my VISA which I'll pay off fully every month. Eventually I want to move that debt to another signature loan, but we just got the car three months ago, so I don't want to apply for more debt too soon.

Annnd! one more thing that is awesome. My job is in broker support for Molina Healthcare. I take calls, and do office type copy/paste data input type stuff as well. The best thing about my job is talking to brokers, and today one of my favorite brokers told me that he and his whole team of about a dozen agents always hopes to get me when they call in! He also sent an email to my manager, extolling the wonders of my excellent service Love it! Made my day. He mentioned a couple other teammates in the email, just praising and appreciating the service! Made me feel so good. Makes the job entirely worth it!

[bunsofaluminum]

SW 240
GW 135
CW 230

Yesterday I had chocolate covered espresso beans at my PT job and it took me forever to fall asleep last night. Woke this morning not needing or wanting caffeine AT ALL. Not to mention...chocolate? So today is a caffeine free day and I'm not putting one thing in my mouth that is off plan. There.

Closing in on Day 50 of this Loose Interpretation Of The Rice Diet...mainly, I'm measuring my portions, and when I remember, I'm doing one day a week of low calorie but I haven't done that every week. I have lost 10 lbs, and have stuck FOR EVER around the 232 level. It's just ridiculous BUT I also ate chocolate covered espresso beans, right? Ate lunch out the other day. Had a sushi feast late one evening. Ate nuts a couple of days in a row. Did that whole "just a taste of hummus" thing several days. Etc, etc.

And I've got several weeks under my belt of low sodium, simple humble food, and have gotten my head on straight about the Pleasure Trap, and about added fats, which are not food and shouldn't be put in your mouth. Now I think I'm poised for really plunging in with strictness and discipline. For Christmas Day I'm planning pistachios and dates, and *possibly* some chocolate. But ONLY on The Day, and not before, and not after, either. Until then, I plan on keeping it simple and humble. Period. Many days in a row.

Today I won't take those espresso beans to work, and the planned menus are starch and fruit/veg. It's how it has to be. I want to see if I can lose 5 lbs by Christmas. Still spending some time on the regular, imagining myself walking back into the office next July (IF that happens) imagining how great it'll be down three or four sizes...trim...slender Yeah. It's a good image to keep in my mind.

[deweyswakms]

Good morning. I like your plan! And you know what works and doesn't work. I sometimes think that losing the first 10 lbs is the hardest. I bet you would benefit from making a vision board. Cut out images of your goal, things that help you achieve your goal, stick to a piece of cardboard or foam core. Fun project. And then spend time each day looking at it. Take a photo of it using your phone so you can look at it during the day. Keep going! Marsha

[bunsofaluminum]

Good morning. I like your plan! And you know what works and doesn't work. I sometimes think that losing the first 10 lbs is the hardest. I bet you would benefit from making a vision board. Cut out images of your goal, things that help you achieve your goal, stick to a piece of cardboard or foam core. Fun project. And then spend time each day looking at it. Take a photo of it using your phone so you can look at it during the day. Keep going! Marsha

I love a vision board! Haven't done one in ages...maybe it's time. It goes with visualizing, eh? In fact, I bought a magnetized white board years ago so I could swap out the pictures as needed but now Wylie and I write notes to each other on it which is also a pretty good use for it. Most of them are love notes

SW 240
GW 135
CW 230

The scale is down a nudge. Maybe it will drop again this week. I did bring some choc covered espresso beans AND bought a coffee at McDonald's on my way to work. The chocolate because emotion and the coffee because I got really drowsy in the early afternoon.

Emotion because Wylie argh quite the control freak/commentator on all things. So, we're getting ready to dig out our windows, so we have egress windows rather than typical basement windows that are above your shoulders. To get ready, we have to clear the wall of all everything, and three feet out into the room.

There's a built in bookcase that we have to remove, all piled up with books and other stuff, boxes of stuff, minor furniture, etc. We were planning on getting that done this morning, so I got going on it after breakfast. Since all the stuff on the built-in bookcase are mine, I grabbed a box and started putting books in it. Wylie came over to start on the stuff in the region that is his, but before he could lay a hand on one thing, he started watching what I was doing...and what was it? I absolutely don't remember what he started in on, (edit: I remember! I was putting books in a box with one of the flaps inside the box. He said "Take the flap out" which I had already done once, but it folded back inside. He said it again "Take the flap out" and I did...THEN the bug that I tossed on the floor, that he commented on) but the guy cannot IS INCAPABLE OF letting me do something without commenting or criticizing. And he commented on something, which I ignored, then a bug showed up on the top of something I grabbed and I picked it up by the leg and tossed it on the floor and he said "What? Just...on the floor?" and I lost it, to be honest. Well...not LOST it, but I did stand up and say "Just go on the other side of the room and quit micro-managing me" (I mean, one time when we were working out in the yard, and I had a hose for watering our lavender, and he was at the complete end of the yard, at least 25 yards away, doing something in the furthest POSSIBLE corner from where I was at, and he had to turn and look at me and comment/criticize how I was DRAGGING THE FREAKING HOSE. No lie...the guy can't let a person just do their work without commenting in a criticizing way. It's obnoxious, and I didn't want to listen to him)

So he goes "Well excuse the bleep out of me. I won't say another word to you all day" I said "That's not what I want. Just quit micro-managing" and that was it, kids. He sat down on the couch and was mum the rest of the time that I worked on clearing the bookcases. When he moved the tall bookcase, the shelves needed wiping and when I came over with a rag, he removed himself. No one like good ole Wylie for the silent treatment. So yeah...chocolate. I've only had about five of them, and I didn't stop for a cinnamon roll or muffin which I was craving really bad when I left for work. Not buying a cinnamon roll at McD's where I got my coffee? Priceless.

Other than the half-dozen chocolate espresso beans, I've been 100% on plan today. It is a genuine triumph not stopping for a "treat"...cuz baby lemme tell ya, I was CRAVING. Ugh. Tired of craving.

[bunsofaluminum]

SW 240
GW 135
CW 230.5

Today is Day 50 of my hybrid Rice Diet and MWL eating. I'm still stuck in the 230's but since it is Day 50 and I'm still in it, I rewarded myself some new earrings! They're silver hoops, with a Celtic knot pattern, and new-to-me method of fastening them in back. Took me a minute on the left ear.

Today is a low calorie day. Rice and either fruit or veg. Simple, humble.

Wylie finished up our project while I was at my PT last night and I came home to a generally tidied up, overall rearranged living space. He spread a tiger face blanket out over one area, which looks cool. He's speaking to me again...well, he did say "bye" back to me when I said bye on my way out the door...anyway. Things are a little bit more at ease now, thankfully. I've learned not to match his energy. He's moody, due to C PTSD and sometimes just drops into these funks out of nowhere. Detachment is key. He can be that way. It's okay, I still love him. But I don't go with him. I stay in my own energy.

I've been looking back on my God Journals. In 2012-2013 I went through a major upheaval in my spiritual journey. In 2014 I pretty much ignored all of it. Well, ignored my own religion/faith and researched around other religions/faiths trying to find God again. Like the solitary spider in Walt Whitman's poem, I sent my thread out and hoped it would land on something.

And in 2015 I decided to write about things. wow. I got into the first pages of my second God Journal this morning. I was reading poetry in March of 2017, and writing some, as well. Some of this reminiscing is making me cry...remembering what brought about my crisis, thinking about the revelation that started the avalanche, and pondering how labyrinthine my journey has been.

When you walk a labyrinth, your aim is to get to the center. As you enter, your path comes close but then turns. Sometimes as you go, you are far away, and then your walk comes in near to the center...then it turns again, and you are even further than you were before. You cruise back and forth and if it was to scale...e.g. if the labyrinth was continent sized and you were driving along looking at scenery, there would be many times your path would take you past the same scenery and you'd say "We've been here before"

I'm in a quieter place these days, no longer needing to "prove" that God exists, but not really trusting God, either. Maybe I'm learning how to trust. I mean, I'm no longer fuming at God, eh? Because that was a thing for a LONG time. I am MANY TIMES more self-accepting than I ever was, in 30+ years of consistent, adoring, worshipful following. Thus, I am more content and happier as I am. I've been reading a daily meditation that for December is reminding me that the desert/wilderness is a part of every human life. Desolate, quiet, dark. Lost-feeling. And that is acceptable, too. I've been on a long, far away curve of the labyrinth. As I keep walking, the path will bring me close to God, and possibly even INTO God.

[Rosey]

HUGS Buns. I just read your last few posts and I really needed to read the very last one right now. Life is like a labyrinth. I used to love the movie Labyrinth so when I read that my brain was like yes yes that's what's happening.

[bunsofaluminum]

HUGS Buns. I just read your last few posts and I really needed to read the very last one right now. Life is like a labyrinth. I used to love the movie Labyrinth so when I read that my brain was like yes yes that's what's happening.

ROSEEEEEEY! Hey girl! Great to see you posting here! Thanks for dropping by. I loved the movie Labyrinth too LOL one of the best movies ever made!

SW 240
GW 135
CW 230

Scale went down again just a smidgen. Keeping at the simple humble, and avoiding the pleasure trap. I'm telling you, I think it through very carefully before having a "treat" because TRIGGERS. jeez. Like Prue Leith (or Mary Berry) on the Great British Bake Off "It's not worth the calories" well, it isn't usually worth the cravings, that's for sure.

[bunsofaluminum]

SW 240
GW 135
CW 229.5

So the scale moved down a hair I can dig it.

Made split pea soup yesterday and had some for dinner and HOLY COW did it give me gas. Probably because even after 2 hours of cooking, those dang split peas were NOT FULLY COOKED. I don't know what it is about lentils. Every recipe I've ever seen says 30 minutes cook time. PFFT RIIIIIGHT. I started that soup at 2:00 pm, on very low because I had to get back to work and didn't want it overboiling or cooking all the fluid out. At 4:00 I turned up the heat and it cooked for at least another hour and STILL the peas weren't soft and mushy. Huh. They still aren't. They never do...except red lentils for dal. They cook down really nice.

But pleased to see the scale trending downward. Keeping up with the simple humble food.

[Rosey]

SW 240
GW 135
CW 229.5

So the scale moved down a hair I can dig it.

Made split pea soup yesterday and had some for dinner and HOLY COW did it give me gas. Probably because even after 2 hours of cooking, those dang split peas were NOT FULLY COOKED. I don't know what it is about lentils. Every recipe I've ever seen says 30 minutes cook time. PFFT RIIIIIGHT. I started that soup at 2:00 pm, on very low because I had to get back to work and didn't want it overboiling or cooking all the fluid out. At 4:00 I turned up the heat and it cooked for at least another hour and STILL the peas weren't soft and mushy. Huh. They still aren't. They never do...except red lentils for dal. They cook down really nice.

But pleased to see the scale trending downward. Keeping up with the simple humble food.

I had same issues with lentils but they seem to do fine in my instant pot if I put them on soup setting.