Day 10 & 11...

 Woke up on Wednesday to 179.0 and this morning to 178.0.  I'll take it... Now if I can get below THIS, then I'll feel like I've made some actual progress as I've been stuck at these numbers for a long time 178-180+).

Went kayaking with the family and B yesterday.  THAT was awesome again!

On the snack list, I've finished off the puff pastry cinnamon twist things I bought -- but in pieces, rather than multiples.  Picky Bars for breakfast yesterday and today.  One, O-N-E cider donut from Russell Orchards. As in one-and-done.  Impossible!

Supper last night was a "chicken" patty on a roll with lettuce and tomato... I've been drinking a couple of Kombucha drinks a week... Somehow, drinking something THAT "interesting" makes me feel better and maybe it's actually helping my gut health.  

I'm feeling a tiny bit sick -- scratchy throat -- so after my morning errands, I bought a medium pineapple coolatta at Dunkin'.  There's diluted pomegranate blueberry juice in my Yeti thermos.  And I've brought a frozen dinner for lunch.  

I took Kepler to the vet this morning for his mysterious lump.

After a confusing scheduling moment, I was able to see one of my favorite vets anyway, despite the fact that my appointment was actually for SEPTEMBER 7 -- no way would I have wanted that!  The vet pulled a huge syringe full of liquid out of that and sent samples off to the lab.  Oh, and he weighs 96 pounds at 9 1/2 months!

Other than learning his weight, the good part was how good he was.  He was not bothered in the slightest about being AT the vet.  He's certainly a fan of their liver treats. He was a little too excited to visit other dogs, but he was generally happy and not out of control.  He still does not like the car and drools copiously.  On one trip recently we got somewhere and he was dry so I was hoping it was getting better, but not yet.

Yesterday was a great family outing -- six of us went kayaking with our experienced friend to make sure we all came back alive.  Everyone was successful.  One of the best parts of the day was that I ran into Marshall's and came out with shorts for John in five minutes and he LOVED them.  That's the sort of purchase that would normally take hours of research.

Of course he sunburned his knees.  [sigh]

For supper I made a chicken quesadilla with coleslaw I had cooked in some Japanese BBQ sauce the night before with cheese.  Not especially flavorful, but hey, quesadilla, so automatically yummy.  Everyone else had House of Pizza that wanted it, but not me!  

I did have one mini ice cream sandwich.  The idea of "dinner and done" is not one I can accept.  I do like the idea of contained snacks, though -- granola bars, power bars, Lorna Doones, etc.  Self-limiting.  Because having access to a BAG of something is impossible to manage.

Day 9

 Started the day at 180.2.  

Then:

Dog walk in the woods in the rain for 4.5K or so.

Hairdresser called looking for me so I dashed there.  Ate my Picky Bar while my color set.

Really good 💩.  LOL.

And a handful of almonds at 11:35 AM.  Not having had time to grab lunch, maybe I'll have oatmeal.

Day 8 - Monday #2

 And then I ate some stuff, blah, blah, blah... Including taco dinner -- veggie grounds in the "meat" plus lettuce, tomato, cheese and guacamole on flour tortillas.  Three of them.  YUM.  Worth every bite.  There are SO many snacks around at the moment, but I ate one of this and a couple bites of that and did NOT dive into the ice cream.

Now it's Monday again!  180.6.  Cleaning lady day.  And going to work day.  And fall into bed on clean sheets day.  AFTER collecting G from the Hamilton/Wenham train stop so he doesn't have to come home at 12:15 AM.

Kepler has a weird lump on his leg which we're getting checked out on Thursday.  Apparently his breeder has one, too, on her knee, after a fall.  She is hoping HERS will just magically go away.  Wonder if that's an option for Keppy, but we'll find out.  

This morning I had a piece of cinnamon flaky twisted pastry -- just a piece.  Then a Picky Bar at work.  And a bottle of Synergy kombucha (60 cal).  Ate my lunch around 12:30 PM -- leftover pulled-pork quesadilla which was pretty delicious the second time around.

The day ended with homemade pizza and peanut M&Ms as well as some ice water with lemon powder.  I'm actually starting to crave the ice water with lemon or lime.

Day 6 &7...

 Yesterday I woke up to 179.6.  More up.  And I knew it wouldn't stop there because we were headed to Old Orchard Beach... Yesterday I ate:

Egg, cheese and bacon on an English muffin on the train, with seltzer.  Second one after drinking one in the car on the way to the train.

THEN.

Two chicken tenders and some fries.

Half a pulled pork quesadilla, and ear of corn with butter and a hard seltzer (100 calories).  HALF the quesadilla!  Look at me being all moderate!  LOL.

And after a loooooong day of walking back and forth by the Fried Dough stand and seeing what choices there were, I ended the day with fried dough with strawberry shortcake on it.  SO many choices... Apple pie filling with whipped cream or caramel apple with whipped cream or blueberry pie filling... All of it so irresistible.

Finally, a lovely lemonade.  And when I got home, because you need a snack when you go to bed, a packet of Lorna Doones... 

Today? 181.6.  No shock.

Lunch -- I skipped the cake!  I had the lentil soup and some grapes.  AND STOPPED.  

My cousin came for the night yesterday and brought a ton of yummy things.  Fortunately, my BIL and his kids are here so perhaps someone else will help eat it all!

Day 5...

 So that substantial supper was too much, of course.  179.2 This morning.  But I didn't eat an ice cream sundae when Mary bought one yesterday, so at least the sugar resistance is working to some degree.

Breakfast was a half a toasted peanut butter and jam sandwich, very light on the peanut butter.  And I'm snacking now on an entire serving of rice crisps, 110 calories.  Plus a Clearly Canadian blackberry water, 90 calories.  Lunch will be a bag of seasoned shredded vegetables (200 calories) and there's a Picky Bar in my backpack -- no doubt I'll eat it! -- 200 calories.  So that's my work day!

I will NOT be stopping at Dairy Queen later!

-------

11:44 AM. We now have all new smoke/heat/carbon dioxide detectors throughout the house with 10-year battery backup... How awesome is THAT?!  No more random smoke detectors laying around hoping to be reinstalled. 

At the moment I'm stalling and trying to wait until noon to eat my lunch.  

Tomorrow we're taking Amtrak to Old Orchard Beach for the day.  After some research, apparently you can sit on the beach or you can eat.  Or maybe commit to walking a very long way on the sand!

3:32 PM Getting twitchy.  Want food.  Could easily snack on something.  Maybe I should or else I *will* stop at Dairy Queen later.  [sigh] Finished a seltzer can.  

OK.  3:48 PM.  I'm having Nature Valley Biscuits with Almond Butter (190 calories).  I will focus on enjoying it.  And another can of seltzer.  And some vitamins.

Day 4...

 And on the fourth day, the electrician came to replace ALL the smoke detectors.  The best part?  I can throw away all the broken ones that are laying around here, there and everywhere!  Oh, and we can live in safety!

Starting this entry at 7:20 AM because A) the electrician is coming so I'm up to tidy up a bit and 2) today's number is 178.6 which is a LOVELY thing.  I have to go to work today, so it'll be another day of talking myself out of eating.  

Also, do not take No-Doz at 7 PM and then expect to go to sleep.  That wasn't the brightest move -- maybe  a Celsius drink would've been a better plan... a little rather than a lot.  Ah well, it was good to get the things done that I needed to, last night... Also to be able to drive safely.

Started the day with Shakeology -- cocoa powder and banana.  Finished it around 11:30 AM.

Started a Celsius drink (10 calories).  FYI -- these have 200 mg of caffeine, so NO, do not drink these at 7 PM either!  And ALSO, do not use them to TAKE a caffeine pill.  Crikey.  I could be on the ceiling.

Lunch will be a Lean Cuisine (300 calories).  If I can get too snacky (NOT snarky, thank you, autocorrect!), there are snack bars here.  But I'm holding off on lunch for now.

Nearly 1 PM and I'm making lunch.  Typing this to avoid the while-cooking snack attack. So 300 calories soon to be coming my way.  Almost done the Celsius drink.  Then to think about supper.  Being Thursday it can include meat and cheese.

Finished lunch and I still want food.  Ugh.  If I can just wait for the food to arrive at my stomach... 

1:43 PM  Broke down and had a Picky Bar (200 cals).  It's okay. 

2:26 PM  Starting a fizzy water.

So I went home... Ate one package of Lorna Doones (140 calories).  For my supper, I had three eggs, with some veggie sausage, 1/4 avocado, and maybe some cheese between two wraps.  A very substantial supper. Managed to NOT need anything else and I've been thirstily drinking lemon water since then.

After last night with no sleep, I'm headed for bed.  It won't take much doom scrolling for me to be asleep!  Oh, and I closed all my rings, including the exercise ring by walking to and from work plus whatever else I did today.

Day 3

So, can't seem to use a phone app to write these.  Oh, well.

This morning was a disappointing weigh-in... 180.4.  UP.  But I remember from yesterday that I ate a banana and had 10 Pringles -- so there's 200 calories I didn't need... Is that really enough to go UP?  Also, no 💩 yesterday.  So, there's that.  Whatever! 

Because I wasn't at work today, there wasn't that CONSTANT need to eat.  In fact, for this and that reason, I didn't eat ANYTHING until after noon, when I ate a 200 calorie Picky Bar.  And nothing after that!

At supper, I noticed that I have to eat while preparing food because now I'm thinking about FOOD and I want it NOW -- instant gratification, right?!  Also, I went to the grocery store for a few ingredients for supper and I can't leave without SOMETHING.  So I bought a box of Lorna Doones.  The great thing is they come in packages inside the box.  One package = 140 calories.

So while I made supper, one package of Lorna Doones.  Then, supper was a very virtuous pita bread (90 calories) with hummus and lettuce.  And I stopped at one of those knowing that I was going to eat a piece of cake later at church.  Which I did.  ONE piece.  Totally worth it.

A tiny bit of 💩 today.  And not nearly enough water.  

In other news, Khione had chemo today and her bloodwork allowed it.  The discharge report said she was still in complete remission.  She has two weeks off before her next treatment!

Obligatory photo, just because:

I went to work briefly to get a report for my colleague in Australia, so took a quiet minute to write this there.  Now I need to go home and do a quick thing for the BMD club which I said I'd do this afternoon, but I didn't have the headspace to do it then.  I took a caffeine pill at 7 PM so I have the headspace NOW... No worries, it'll wear off!  I needed to be awake at 7 so I could listen to a talk attentively, AND drive through the darkened streets of Lynn to pick up G and then home again.  I do NOT like city streets in the dark.  

OH, one of the best parts of today was that someone who I know is far away and actually institutionalized at the moment and so I totally understand WHY I don't hear from them, when I sent a spontaneous, throwaway text, suddenly responded and we had a whole conversation.  That made my entire month, that did.