Weekly WI: I'm A Bit Depressed

 Good Morning!!  Happy Thanksgiving Eve.

Our weather has taken a turn and cold temps are coming.  I suppose Winter is coming and there isn’t much we can do about it.  I think the older I get, the more I don’t enjoy cold weather.  If we could live where the temps were 70s and sunshine year round, I’d be a happy camper.  Or so I believe so.

Anybody else get depressed this time of year?  We are taking about gratitude in our WW Workshops this week.  One of the small thankful/gratitude items suggested is noticing the Christmas when driving.  Last night the freeway was shut down between my house and the Elks Lodge with major, major travel delays (an hour or more).  All back roads were bumper to bumper traffic at slow and go speeds.  I had no choice but to follow the lead hoping to make it to the lodge before the meeting started.  Thankfully, I did!  What I thought about a few minutes down the road…take in the sights of the season and find some gratitude as there is nothing I can do to make the traffic move faster.  So, I threw on some Christmas music and watched the lights as I drove.  

The Holiday Season is upon us!

With depression blues comes struggles.  Three weeks ago I had a great loss and worked really hard at my healthy living goals with a focus on no longer tracking ZPF.  The following week was more social and while I felt confident about how I balanced, I saw a one pound gain when I stepped on the scale.  I let it tank my helpful thoughts and was flooded with unhelpful thoughts.  Unhelpful thoughts when you don’t flip the script can lead to unhelpful actions.  I skipped the scale this week.  I just don’t want to face the number.

And truthfully, I don’t need to see the number to know my weight is out of control.  I have made a continual climb for the last three years and now my clothes don’t fit right, my body and joints hurt most days, and I feel…blah.  Which only fuels unhelpful actions!  

This month of December needs be different.  I spent November scheduling to many commitments as overtime was low and I had three days off most weeks.  Did I actually have three days off?  No.  Most “weekends” I rolled from my volunteer commitments to my work week to volunteer commitments again…sometimes both in the same day.  I am taking a step back from scheduling so much and ending the year with better self care.  

Thanks for sticking with me in this small space in the World Wide Web.  I have neglected this as I have my WW program.  I will do better in 2026.

Weekly WI: Official Monthly Check-In

Good Sunday Afternoon! 

 

I am quite late in jumping in with last week’s Weekly WI.  My days off just flew by and here it is Sunday about to start a new WW week.

 

I lost 2.8 pounds last week.  Taking a step back from tracking all my zero point foods has been nice.  I am doing that again this week. Since this week is also busier with more social outings, I have been focusing more on the quality of food vs. trying to eat ZPF so I don’t go over budget.  If I go over, I go over.  Instead, I want to fuel my body with healthy low point foods. 

 

Tuesday, I had a new crown put on my tooth after my old one broke eating a tortilla chip before Halloween.  It was over 10 years old and yet…I had to pay a fortune!  I now have a second purple-ish crown in my mouth.  Later that night I had my lodge meetings.  Thankfully they didn’t have to numb my mouth for the crown replacement.

 

Wednesday was a volunteer day at the Meridian Senior Center as part of the Beacon Grant.  We need to log 24+ service hours with meals on wheels.  We also served lunch.  I really enjoy visiting the senior center as they have live music during lunch.

 

Thursday, I attempted to visit my friend at the Idaho Veterans Home as part of the Adopt a Vet program.  He wasn’t feeling social so after a quick hello, I ran some errands before relaxing a bit at home.  I met some WW friends for lunch at Old Country Sausage than went with Stacey to the Caldwell Elks Lodge meeting.  Sadly, they changed the meeting date and we missed it!  We had some beers at the Caldwell Lodge then visited the Nampa Lodge before heading home for an earlier evening.

Friday was our annual Veterans Appreciation Dinner and program at our lodge with over 150 in attendance!  I helped in the dining room with the Columbia High School students who are part of the Nampa FFA.  What a fun group.  The guest speaker was incredible, and we had a 103-year-old female WWII veteran as one of our special guests.  She was a combat nurse.

 

Saturday, I took the day off work to help with Rake Up Nampa where we wrapped up early.  We had a beautiful day with sunshine and perfect temps for a day outdoors.  After I attended a celebration of life for my dear WW friend and college Donna Burch.  She lost her battle with pancreas cancer only 19 days after diagnosis.  She was one of many WW coaches that are a big part of my journey.

 

Whew…I’m tired recounting all that!  I am not sure what the scale will show this week as I am over my weekly points.  I have also only logged a few days of activity as I keep working towards eight walking workouts this month.

Weekly WI: Power Moves

 The technique this week in workshops is identifying your Power Moves - the behaviors that feel comfortable, you enjoy, and they are relatively easy for you to get back to.

 

I decided today when tracking food for my unexpected overtime coverage day at work that I would hone into my a relatively easy Power Move…not track my Zero Point Foods.  With the addition to macros in the WW app, I’ve been weighing and measuring my ZPF.  The thing is, I’ve lost my mojo.  I am just not feeling all the good WW feels and I need one small step to get me headed back in the right direction.  So, today I went back to basics and tracked all my food except for the ZPFs.

 

My November Apple Watch Activity Goal is to log a walking workout of at least 5 minutes eight times this month.  Day 1 was completed yesterday.  I’ll complete Day 2 tomorrow.

 

I’ve been away from the Internet space for a bit.  It was a busy couple of weeks as we ended my favorite month.  Here is a snippet of what I’ve been up to:

 

Where’s Waldo for Halloween at ISP. 

 

My pumpkin for the decorating contest.

 

Attended The Witches and The Black Afternoon Tea event at Chateau de Flores with Wanda.

 

The Elks Winter Convention was held in Mountain Home over my birthday weekend. 

 

We took the RV on the last trip of the season to Elko, NV where we lost a lot of money at several casinos.

Lots of birthday goodies were consumed!