Today’s weight:  140.4, down 0.4 pounds, but still more than I’d like.  I cheated a bit yesterday and had a small portion of vegetable biryani.  Also, a sudden workload has kept me tethered to my computer and much more sedentary than I’d like.  Tomorrow things should open up a bit.  Today’s Primal Challenge is to create a Primal Recipe–I’m going to use that lil watermelon I’ve had in the fridge!

Today I am grateful for:  1)  My daughter home from college!  She’s exhausted but happy.  2) Doing her laundry.  I know, I know, but it feels like a loving Mommy thing to do.  3)  My kitty coming home after being out rather too late.

Today’s gym monitor gleanings:

*  Today’s the day:  I didn’t buy Facebook stock and lived to regret it forever.

* Oh noes!:  Maybe I shouldn’t be so happy about my high HDL?

*  Jamie Oliver:  Remakes the Caesar salad.  I’d try this!

*  Why not:  Tattoo your bananas?

*  I think this looks cool!:  Would you suspend the janitor who let the kids in after school to pull off this 11,000-Post-It prank?

* Eat this/Not That:  More killjoy burger news from Dave Zinczenko.  “This is war,” says Matt Lauer.  “Most restaurants should be cited for mad cow,” says Dave.

*  Aw of the day:  Dad busts some big-time moves at his daughter’s bat mitzvah.

xxoo,

Betsy

3 Hours Off

Didn’t weigh today. Still got that bloaty feeling (c’mon, trains, run, damn it!)

Yesterday, work was killer. The day started with me hollering, “Oh, I am SUCH a FUCKING MORON!” as I realized I’d made a mistake in the thing I was trying to do for the last three days and it had not worked. What I love about my workplace was that at least three colleagues turned around and blandly said, “No you’re not.” I spent the rest of the day trying to do this thing, and it should have been pretty easy, and it wasn’t. By the end of the day, about half the company had stopped by to try to help me get this thing done, and it still wasn’t done. Thank heavens I don’t have to work on Fridays, or I’d be staring at it again today. It’ll have to wait until Monday.

The upshot of that sad tale is that I barely stirred from my desk all day, except to run around to IT and ask for help. At the end of the day, I was so frustrated and teary, I went out with the QA guys for a drink and we all ranted for a while. (Their day hadn’t been easy, either, and that was only partly because they were trying to help me as well.) But the drink led to making a poor food choice for dinner (a wrap sandwich–the horror of WHEAT! and then, ice cream!) All in all, I was not Primal all day, and especially not Primal for the 3 hours immediately following work.

However, I am very grateful to this whole Primal thing, because already I’ve learned how to incorporate more movement into my day. Even if I can’t ramp up to a fitness program in 21 days, I am seeing the baby steps I can take to recover my strength and stamina and that rocks. All of my gratitude today goes to Elise, for coaxing me into trying this idea.

xo

Janet

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Today’s weight:  140.8, up a pound, but this is deceptive; I couldn’t go to the gym since Ken has taken the car to retrieve our daughter from college.  I’m blogging in bed, torn between trying that Pyramid Workout or reading a manuscript.  Hmmmm.  Today’s Primal Blueprint actions are “no wolfing your food”–Susan’s savoring gets a boost!–and a full-on workout with those dreaded pullups.  Maybe I’ll get Kate to do it with me!

Today I am grateful for: 1)  Meeting a new coaching client today; I  love my job.  2)  Getting to hug my daughter after her successful first year at college.  3)  Getting to babysit beauteous baby Oonagh last night–her vocab’s still somewhat limited, but she can say, “I need to go to Home Depot.”

No gym today, so no gym monitor gleanings, but here’s some fun stuff:

*  Keep joltin’ that joe:  Because now coffee seems to prevent heart attacks and stroke!

*  “Saying No to Picture-Perfect”:  Younger feminists are stepping up to protest ubiquitous PhotoShopping.

*  $40 mil:  That’s how much Skechers is paying out for its inflated claims about how its shoes would cure my inflated butt.

*  Solving the obesity crisis:  Makes sense to me.

*  Another reason to love Ty Ty:  Because Tyra Banks’ mom sounds AWESOME.  Told by modeling agents that her SIZE FOUR daughter was too fat–Janet, hand me my interrobang–Mrs. Banks responded by taking her daughter out for pizza and planning a career swerve.

*  Aw of the day:  Watching this made my milk come in, and I’m 53.  I think I need to change careers and bathe babies for the rest of my days….

xxoo,

Betsy

P.S. Yesterday Janet mentioned the Pilcrow. I’d hoped it might be a delicious breakfast treat, but it turns out that it’s that paragraph symbol we know and love; Janet has helpfully posted this so that we may be amazed:

In which I give you the Pilcrow

Behold, the Pilcrow:

¶

And now, back to business. Today’s weight: 179, down a pound. I’m still feeling awfully bloaty–what is UP with this? I’m eating clean! Argh. Anyhow, I was happy to see a lower number today than the last time I weighed.

If it hadn’t been for the Pilcrow, I would have entitled this post:

Holy shit! What’s wrong with my armpits?!

Yesterday I noticed my right armpit hurt. I thought it was my bra cutting into that muscle that runs at a triangular angle to my rib cage. I surreptitiously tugged on the bra strap a few times, but it was nowhere near that muscle. Plus, I have one of those all-stretchy bras, As Seen On TV! So that was not the culprit. A little later, I noticed my left armpit was hurting, too. Oh fuck! I thought. The cancer is back! It’s filling up all the lymph nodes in my armpits! Call the doctor! Re-draft my Last Will and Testament!

And then I realized: Oh. My muscles were sore from doing planks and push-ups. It really has been a while.

I’m regarding it all as a sign of progress.

xo

Janet

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Today’s weight:  139.8, down 0.4 pounds. Yay for Primal Blueprint, the magic scale fixer! Today we’re supposed to keep track of carbs, protein, etc. and take in news in only 10-minute increments.  I assume Jezebel.com doesn’t count.

Today I am grateful for:  1) A new author sending me $20–inside joke–to see The Avengers.  2) Watching The Avengers in 3D–big, loud, goofy fun.  3)  Discovering that I am not, in fact, immune to the pleasures of beefcake.  Chris Evans, I’m talking ’bout YOU.

Today’s gym monitor gleanings:

*  Diet underminers:  How to stop your loved ones from derailing you.

*  Does sugar make you stupid?:  Signs–and the existence of Gummi Worms and Chocolate Chip Cookie cereal–point to yes.

* Go, Nashville!:  America’s fourth fattest city is on the move.  LOVE Mayor Karl Dean’s declaration of a city-wide “Play Day.”

*  Walk farther, live longer:  Exercise may keep cancer on the run for survivors.

*  Good sleep or good sex?:  Some folks say memory foam mattresses make knockin’ boots less bootylicious.  As a loyal Tempurpedic owner, I disagree!  Obviously, the smart move is to get it on in the showroom and find out for yourself.

*  “Better yet, fight for a seat at the head of the table”:  Inspiring graduation speeches.

*  Aw of the day:  One of these things is not like the other!

xxoo,

Betsy

Loki is more my type

You may have Mr. Evans, Betsy. I’ll take Tom Hiddleston. Loved him in Thor, continued to grow my adoration in The Avengers. I think he may be number 1 on my Marital Exemption List. (Jeter lost the spot last year when I heard about the goodie bag he puts in the cab he arranges for to take his hook ups home in the morning. Ira Glass took his spot, but now I’m throwing over Ira for Tom.)

I did not weigh today–waiting for the bloatiness to pass. Perhaps I should do colonoscopy prep. (Joke. Bad Joke. Bulemic practices eschewed here.) Anyhow, I’m feeling quite clever because I figured out a way to move more today. Every time I hit the rest room, I’m returning to my desk by walking down to the 7th floor, then back up to the 8th. It’s not a lot, but it’s something, and I’m a huge believer in something being better than nothing.

Gratitudes: 1) Working with colleagues who obsess about open versus closed pilcrows as much as I do; 2) The internets give me lots of pictures of Tom Hiddleston. Thanks, Internets! 3) My freelance client likes my work. In a workplace where I’ve been pulled far, far away from my original career intentions, I love being able to still do good design work.

xo

Janet

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Today’s weight:  140.2, down 1.2 pounds.  That’s what a day of clean Primal eating’ll do fer ya.  If I’m just not ridiculous this week, I can easily get down to the 130′s and stay there.

Today I am grateful for:  1)  My friend Felice, whose birthday is today; she’s one of my beloved Temple Belles.  2)  Getting caught in a rainstorm yesterday while walking downtown with Ken; it’s surprisingly fun to be soaked when it’s not freezing.  3)  My daughter finding me the perfect graduation dress online at Anthropologie–and ordering it for home delivery!

Today’s gym monitor gleanings:

*  “I Tweet what I eat”:   Bob “Biggest Loser” Harper has a new book out:  The Skinny Rules: The Simple, Nonnegotiable Principles for Getting to Thin. There are 20 nonnegotiable rules, including drinking a big-ass glass of water before every meal, no excuses.  If Bob says it, I’ll lean into it.  Our next challenge perhaps?

*  Um…yay?:  Y’all be gratified to know that the Slurpee Lite, avec Splenda, can now be purchased.  So hie thee hastily to procure one of those radioactive drums.  I’ll sit this one out.

*  Pi/pie: A mathematical approach to solving the obesity epidemic.

*  7:00 pm to 11:00 am:  Eating  (actually, no-eating) advice from Josh Hanagarne, aka The World’s Strongest Librarian, on losing weight.  Trust anything that Josh says; he’s a champion strongman as well as an awesome librarian.

*  Bottoms up!:  ‘Cause a little Devil’s Lemonade is good for what ails your tummy.

*  Why don’t you do this:  Hot new 20-minute all-body workout…so I don’t have to.  Report back now, y’hear?

*  Who knew?:  Those Easter Island heads…have bodies! But what’s with the tennis rackets on their backsides?

*  Aw of the day:  Cutest cover of “Somebody I Used to Know” I’ve ever seen.

xxoo,

Betsy

Group Squat Thrust

No weight again today–my cataclysmically slow digestion requires two days of clean eating before I’m prepared to face the scales again. However, before our daily stand up meeting, everyone is doing squat thrusts! Reason number 273 as to why I love my workplace.

Gratitudes: 1) Warm weather is making one of today’s Primal challenges easy! 2) My lovely, squat-thrusting colleagues, and 3) I’m so glad I like salad.

xo

Janet

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