Buns Again

[bunsofaluminum]

Congratulations with the changes at work! I hope they work out for you!

Working for a micro-managing boss is the worst.

Yeah, it's been pretty bad. She's trying to prove a point about the rules in the employee handbook, trying to catch the two people on the team who IGNORE those guidelines, and all she is doing is pissing off everyone on the team who DO follow the rules. She is sorely lacking in whatever it takes to LEAD.

Well I worked out this morning, but the entire time I was irritated at the PEOPLE.

This was cracking me up yesterday when I was in the weight room.

How about the people who get on the leg press machine and treat it likes it's cardio equipment? 10 million reps at 25 lbs. They can tie up a single machine for 15 min...

... or the people who sit on a machine for 5 minutes between sets while playing with the cell phones...

... or the people who collect all the dumbbells they're going to use for their entire workout and stack them in a pile around them like a fort so nobody else can use them...

... or the people who use the weight bench as a table for their cell phone while they do standing bicep curls. (It's not like they're hogging the bench... there's plenty of room for other people to put their phones on the bench, too. LOL)

Oh well, I can always find something else to do. I'll just circle back around when they're gone. It does make me wonder what they're thinking though.

Cheers,

One of the reasons I thought the circuit area would work better for me is that there's this timer on the wall. You work your weights until the light turns red. Then you wipe your machine, then you go to the steps and work on cardio once the light goes back to green. Then you move to the next machine. A little bit like Curves, which I loved when I used to work out there years ago. But yeah, I came in there one time and someone had put his phone and sweat rag on the dang pec press machine. The first machine in the cycle...I get there and walk over and there's this stuff on the machine?

Maybe out on the regular floor is better after all. SMH.

[bunsofaluminum]

Feeling really good this morning. I slept well, rose early, sat outside in the cool morning to eat my breakfast. Watermelon and Oat clusters for brekkie along with a dog breathing on my leg watching every bite, outside listening to the morning and watching the sun come up in the clear cool air was THE perfect, healthiest breakfast EVER.

Note To Self...100% whole food homemade Oat Clusters with zero added preservatives WILL get moldy sitting in a ziploc on top of the fridge.

That little weight loss has stuck. I am below 240 and staying there. I can feel the difference in a couple of places on my body. e.g. my boobs are smaller, and the fat on my upper arms is less dense. That is a little bit what I've been waiting for. I lose first in my upper body so...

Anyway, doing good. Off to another Non-Processed Day! FTW!

[bunsofaluminum]

Worked out today. Lifted for 20 minutes, recumbent bike for 20. I feel pretty good. My heart went sorta tachy for a little while afterwards but it's normal rhythm now thank God. I hate the feeling of breathlessness that comes with tachycardia.

Food=good. I am out of oat clusters. Wylie tossed the super black overripe bananas I was saving for a new batch and it is SO hot when I get home from work, there's no cooking at that point. Oat clusters will have to wait until the weekend.

Weighed two days in a row. Three lb down, three lb up. Goes to show scales are not to be trusted

Nothing has happened towards moving to a new team yet this week. We know, and the leadership all know but we have to keep quiet among our coworkers. Which is okay, but I'll be glad when we migrate LOL. Should be interesting. And we are getting upgraded to Windows 10. Help. Changes on the computer are nerve wracking for me. I'll get over it, but the first couple of days might just drive me buggy.

Keeping at it! Zero processed foods woot!

[bunsofaluminum]

Corn on the cob and cherries for brekkie! I love summer And beginning to think about next year...I want to plant a garden. We've been growing tomatoes for a few years, and this time we grew a cucumber and planted some pretty flowers around the yard. We also have bees this year. Two colonies.

Anyway, next year I want zucchini in my garden. Peas. Beans! I actually want to try watermelon in the big leftover swingset area. But I'm gonna wait on that watermelon until I've got some experience with gardening. Oooh, potatoes! GOING to grow potatoes.

And...My 30 Day Challenge is....

Eat Zero Processed Foods or Ingredients

AND

Eat Zero High Fat Whole Foods

To make it easier on myself, I will keep baked potatoes and cooked rice in the fridge for grab and go or easy meal prep.

That's about it. I was going to set a 30 day exercise goal but decided not to. The exercise is coming naturally as energy increases. The activity level, I guess.

Windows 10 has been installed at work and it's giving me a headache. Getting my eyes off the screen unless absolutely necessary.

[bunsofaluminum]

Windows 10 has been installed at work and it's giving me a headache. Getting my eyes off the screen unless absolutely necessary.

Well I called the ergonomics dude and he showed me how to put in for a glare screen but recommended turning down the brightness on my monitors. This helped almost immediately. I also found the place for changing my color scheme and got rid of the Windows 10 Blue Horror color, which also helped.

Today we'll have our first introduction training in the new CARE team! I"m so excited!

[bunsofaluminum]

Yesterday's orientation at work didn't happen because there was a family emergency with the head of the team. Monday it is!

Food is going well, but I need to cook. Thank goodness for baked taters in the fridge. They make a good foundation for whatever. Today, with a lentil soup that I found with zero added fat (high-ish sodium at 750...ugh) and if I decide not to have the soup over taters, I also found a good pico de gallo that should do just fine. Watermelon for breakfast.

No workout today. Sleeping in was just too wonderful.

[bunsofaluminum]

First of all, what a weekend! It was way cool, and pretty hard work, but we harvested honey from our hives. I made a blog post about it. Lots of pictures, plenty of words. This goes near the top of my "Cool Things I've Done" list, though it was Wylie who did the heavy lifting. But it was a very nice bonding time for us, doing this together. It took four hours on Saturday, and another four on Sunday. We are still recuperating.

So, yesterday was Monday and I woke up feeling just as tired as when I went to bed, so I drank coffee. A LOT of coffee. Three times my usual one cup, McDonald's. Yes. Three cups of coffee. Believe me when I tell you, I have not drunk that much coffee in 10 years. And though I had the last of it before 3:00 pm, I took two hours to fall asleep, and I slept restless all night long.

SO...today I quit coffee. It might take a few days, but so far today no headache. The last time I quit was a couple of weeks into full commitment on the McDougall Plan, back in 2009. I woke up one morning, had a sip of coffee and got an instant adrenaline rush that felt HORRIBLE, and stopped drinking the stuff. From about a 10 cup pot of coffee a day, to nothing, no problem AT ALL. The natural energy of my food was enough and I didn't need it. Because I like the flavor, I never stopped having a cup once in a blue moon, if I was with friends and there was something sweet to enjoy with it. BUT, I've never been addicted to the stuff again since that day 10 years ago.

Until now. Because my employer stocks the break room with coffee supplies, I started having two cups a week at work, then it became a daily thing. And on my drive to work there's a McDonald's....their coffee is pretty darn good, IMO...and I'd stop and get a cup there once in a while. Any size, $1. And now I'm waking up drowsy, feeling a bit of a headache until the first sip of coffee, etc. I worked my way back into a caffeine addiction. NOT GOOD. But today it's over. I'm done. No more coffee for me. I think caffeine is damaging to the heart anyway, isn't it? At any rate, taking a sip these days does NOT jolt my adrenal glands, and I think there will be some withdrawal symptoms, but nothing I can't handle.

Food continues really good. I made a huge batch of yellow split pea...stuff (Not Soup)...and a recipe of Thai Curried Rice. The lentil dish will be lunch for two weeks. I'll make another big recipe of something when the rice is gone (Won't take long. I LOOOOVE Thai Curried Rice. Had some for brekkie today.) I can't wait for soup season. Craving that Not Chicken Noodle Soup. But for now, it's salad greens with *whatever is the entree* on top and a generous TBSP of yummy creamy Tahini Lemon Cream Sauce.

Or I found hummus mix at Winco, no added refined fats, though it does have hummus. I have that with veg stix quite a bit. But I'm ready for soup.

[bunsofaluminum]

Day two without coffee. I feel really good. Slight headache. Not tired or undead or anything.

Work issues. Here's the deal. The corporate head of our department (Medicare and Marketplace Broker Support) asked the supervisor of the MP division to create a CARE team for the Medicare division. MP already has a functioning CARE team and Our Corporate Head asked her to put together a similar team for Medicare. I was selected to join. YAY! First of all, what a nice feather in my cap to be hand picked for my kind and calm telephone skills. Secondly it gets me out from under the Micro Managing Boss from Heck. And thirdly I get away from the dysfunctional team, or I should say those in the team who make it dysfunctional. (besides the boss )

We were told initially that it would be hush-hush, but I think they meant, until all the management had been caught up to speed. That was a couple of Fridays ago, and we kept our mouths shut. Then we had a short training yesterday, and more than likely it would have been okay at that point, but we weren't told we COULD say anything so we've still been quiet about it.

Well, there are two people on the team who are...problem children, let's say. Hot heads who freak out if they don't get their way, behave VERY disrespectfully towards the team leadership, and have a revolving door at HR. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me to learn that one of the reasons why this is going on (that is, my boss's team is being picked apart for members of teams that won't be under her leadership) is because one of the team members has gone to HR and OVER the HR director's head with her complaints. I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing, as my boss is not a natural leader. She hasn't done well in the two years since she got the position of supervisor, even though she is better qualified in the technical aspects of the job than anyone in the company. She knows how to do things, and can teach others how to navigate our various systems, but she doesn't have an innate leadership quality to her.
However, she doesn't do things that are HR worthy. She's just a giant goofball who wants to rummage through all the teeny tiny details in a feeble attempt to feel like she is in control.

And now that word is out, sure enough the complaints are running freely.
Running to the team manager, long emails TO CORPORATE about being excluded. Seriously? So yeah, I'll be glad to be away from that. There is a frantic, dissatisfied energy in our team, and their behaviors, attitudes, and actions are a big part of it. Buh Byeeee! But because of the complaining yesterday, what we were planning on today (desks moved to our new work stations) will be delayed until Our Corporate Head comes back from vacation. Okay, another week. It'll be okay.

Food continues extremely well. Ummm I was gonna say nothing processed, but I did have a veggie burger out to lunch yesterday with Wylie. We went to The Habit, and they have a veggie burger...lots of processed ingredients, but it also has grains and minced veggies BUT it isn't Beyond Burger or Impossible Burger, you know? The entire burger including bun (which was whole wheat but yeah, processed) is 470 calories. It tasted good and I had one french fry from Wylie's order. So lunch yesterday was not "on plan" per my No Processed 30 Day Challenge. Otherwise, I'm doing terrific. I noticed my face is thinner. The double chin that was starting to plump up is gone, and my upper arm fat isn't as dense.

My meals have been pretty much fruit and oats in the morning, a serving of whatever huge batch I cooked for lunch along with some steamed veggies and for dinner, I've been having huge salads with rice and beans or a serving of the food I've got in the fridge, cooked. It's really simple, truth be told. I'm trying to get green leafies in at least two meals a day.

Haven't been to the gym since last Wednesday. Somewhat because of staying in bed and snuggling, a bit because there's too many people there, and right now my foot is killing me and I feel sorry for myself so I didn't go today. Maybe tomorrow. I might do some yoga in the morning. Haven't done yoga for a long time. Yeah, I need to move my a$$. Starting to coagulate. LOL

[bunsofaluminum]

Third day without coffee. I feel better today than yesterday. Some time in the middle of the day I felt an ache in my upper thigh, kind of like a groin pull or something. Made it hurt to stand up straight and left me feeling exhausted. That, along with my foot that has suddenly decided to be a Sock Of Pain again for the first time in over a year but I wish I knew what I might have done to make my thigh so painful. It isn't as bad today, but it hurt so much by bedtime last night! I couldn't straighten up, and it felt like it needed stretching out but it hurt to stretch, too.

Saturday is Lagoon Day (Lagoon is the local amusement park, and is actually featured in a Beach Boys' song LOL) which means lots of walking, lots of standing, and heat. Maybe we'll go later in the day. I hope my lower body feels better by then. One thing that is true for me: When my feet are bad, if I have something fun and interesting, the pain just doesn't bother me. We went to see a wonderful music group Postmodern Jukebox, in a standing only venue, and my feet were KILLING me. We got there real early and claimed a spot up near the stage, and I was almost crying my feet hurt so bad. Because we had taken public transit downtown and had walked to dinner, and then walked to the venue, and then had over an hour before the show started, yeah my feet HURT. I sat for some of it, leaned a lot, etc, and wished for a chair.

Then Postmodern Jukebox came on stage and...I was up on my feet, shaking my booty, and loving it. The foot pain did not matter in the slightest. Probably it won't hinder me since I really enjoy Lagoon. But if I had to go right now, I wouldn't want to. It just feels like my body is rebelling this week. Not sure what is up. Do not like.

[bunsofaluminum]

Doing okay. Feeling stressful and DIDN'T eat two shortbread cookies last night. I did finish off my 85% chocolate bar though. The weekend was a little bit off plan. Dinner on Friday night was food fixed by Wylie and my brother and they both used oil in their dishes. I also had peanut butter toast with our DELICIOUS NEW HONEY on it, for Brekkie on Saturday.

Chocolate here and there for Saturday and Sunday (it is my "treat" that I allow myself on weekends)(chocolate is not going away from my life, and that's that) Sunday breakfast was fruit and I made this huge batch of Oat Clusters, and ate six of them fresh out of the oven, which kept me satiated until dinner. Dinner was a humongous salad with stir fry on it. I used rice vinegar and teriyaki sauce for dressing, and a couple of dollops of my beloved Lemon Cream Sauce. It is tofu based, which is high fat, and has tahini in it so...

Yeah. Several higher fat dishes over the weekend. Enjoyed my back yard quite a bit, but also on Sunday which was a cool breezy day, I stayed inside all day long. What the HECK is wrong with me. True crime TV instead of sitting outside in the breeze, reading in the Zero Gravity lawn chair? Really smart, Heidi.

Weighed, and my weight is the same or possibly down a tiny bit. Oh! I'm done with coffee. I woke up Saturday feeling like a human being, no problem. I guess it took me five days to be free of that sort of drowsy headachey withdrawal. happy to be done

Hoping the stress lightens up.

[bunsofaluminum]

Went and worked out today. First time in over a week, and I feel pretty good. Also feeling FANTASTIC because I am listening to China Cat Sunflower by the Grateful Dead. I'm going to be putting together a playlist for my upcoming wedding. Actually trying to figure out Spotify. Who knew I'd like the Grateful Dead SO MUCH! This song is gonna be part of my wedding. Van Morrison Moondance too! what fun! And Wylie's been looking at honeymoon stuff. He found a VERY cool package for four nights in Vegas, and activities including Cirque du Soleil, a helicopter flight !!!! (Hello, Bucket List!) and a luxury room. There are other things we can add for a certain amount per person. Can't remember what all there was, but it's going to be FUN!

Food continues good. I made a massive batch of split pea stuff (not soup) and still have probably a quart of that left. Over the weekend I made a huge batch of (way too salty) pasta marinara sauce. I was so glad when Ragu came out with a "lower calorie" pasta sauce. No added oil! And I made a big batch of veggie marinara with zucchini and peppers, onions, mushrooms. Holy COW that stuff was oversalted! I've eaten it many times, no problem. But this time WOW. I added a can of no salt added diced tomatoes and that helped some. Good thing, because I made a BIG batch. Anyway, I've got food made and just need to cook up some big batch starches and I'm set for another week.

I tried walking the dog last night. It is SO FRUSTRATING to be packed with energy and my feet won't let me walk! So I thought I'd try it with my orthopedic boot on my painful foot. pfft. What a joke. I made it around the block, but walking with that thing on 1) did NOT protect my foot because there's no support. It just stops your ankle from moving. and 2) made all my other joints ache because it throws off your leg length. So I won't do that again. But the evening was so lovely and I had SO much energy. Maybe I'll just do it without the boot, eh? This morning, too. I used to walk for 90 minutes every morning, and sometimes jogging. In the morning air, the fresh light slanting in through the trees. Nothing better.

[AnnetteW]

I don't think I saw before where you are getting married soon. Congratulations. I still feel like I'm picking my way through other journals. How's the no coffee thing going? I gave it up a few weeks ago, actually right after July 4th I started (when I got sick, or actually had McDougall's revenge.) I drank coffee daily when out of town early this month, and enjoyed it immensely. I thought I'd go back to coffee, and then decided nope, I don't need it. Pleased with myself so far on that one.

[bunsofaluminum]

I don't think I saw before where you are getting married soon. Congratulations. I still feel like I'm picking my way through other journals. How's the no coffee thing going? I gave it up a few weeks ago, actually right after July 4th I started (when I got sick, or actually had McDougall's revenge.) I drank coffee daily when out of town early this month, and enjoyed it immensely. I thought I'd go back to coffee, and then decided nope, I don't need it. Pleased with myself so far on that one.

We've been engaged for over a year so that announcement is probably way back in my journal Wylie...our first date we both stated right up front that we were never getting married again. And we're getting excited. So strange at our age...

Actually I'm done with the coffee withdrawals now. It took four or five days, but I started on Monday last week, and sort of zombie'd my way through, and Saturday morning woke up feeling human. I CRAVE the flavor though. That's been harder than the physical aspects of getting away. The only thing stopping me from getting coffee right now is that I don't want to be addicted to caffeine. Eating something light and sweet, like watermelon or grapes, seems to help with the cravings. I'm just grateful that I have energy without the caffeine.

[bunsofaluminum]

Ahhh worked out again today. Two sets of 8 on each machine in the circuit (minus the legs...hurts muh knee) that took about 10 minutes, and then 20 minutes on the recumbent. The place was PACKED this morning, because they're moving and have been offering two days free to the public, no membership required. The move is Aug 16, and I'll be taking a COMPLETELY different route. It's not convenient in any way, and I was this close to canceling, but Wylie recommended that I stick to it, and adjust my morning routine so I get to the gym and then to work on time. Kaaay. Jeez Wylie.

But I feel really good. The weights got my heart rate up, and I went straight to the recumbent and kept it in the 120-130 bpm range for almost the whole time I was on it. And all, before I breakfasted.

On the scale this morning, the dial was slightly below 238, where it has been hovering just above 238, so I'm going to claim .5 lb down. I'm very much in the habit of weighing frequently now. Not every day, but several times a week. Looking back, I was at 242 for a long time, then went all "Meh, I'mma eat all the things" in April and May and gained eight lbs up to 250. Then I got serious in early June and lost the eight lbs really fast, back down to 242 for a little while, and it's been going down slow but sure since maybe early July? So I think I'm going to say that I've lost 4 lbs in nine weeks. HOLY COW THAT'S SLOW!!! But if I lose .5 a lb a week, in a year I'll have lost 26 lbs and that's not nothin! I think exercising regularly will help things move faster. And of course I've got so much energy, I WANT to exercise and I'm more active just day to day.

I have a new recipe I want to try. Creamy Macaroni Spinach Bake and Dillon at Well Your World is my new guru LOL I'm in his FB group and I have managed to catch his live streaming vids on YouTube a couple of times. New inspiration for keeping at it! He promotes the no SOS way quite a bit, and though I don't plan on ditching salt and sugar completely, I know my tastebuds have a low salt set point these days. That's why my marinara sauce, made with Ragu Lower Calorie, was almost impossible to eat, it tasted SO salty. It has much less sodium than say a Which Wich (talk about high sodium! all of their samwiches are over 1,000mg) but I never thought Which Wich tasted salty. It's been a long time since I ate a Which Wich, but when they had a shop near my job I ate there probably once a week and never thought the food tasted salty. I wonder what it would taste like to me today. Anyway, even though I'm not purposely eliminating all salt, evidently I've adjusted downward because I'm looking for a new pasta sauce.

[moonlight]

I love Dillon’s YouTube videos! Thanks for sharing. I’m going to try the spinach recipe but I think I’ll leave the cashews out.

You are rocking that workout!!! Way to go!