Everyday Systems

Thanks for popping in, Imogen! And thanks for the reminder about being sure to eat enough at lunch to stave off afternoon snacking I actually did have quite a big lunch yesterday and it really made a difference. I have also noticed that making sure I have a good source of protein with my lunch also helps a lot.

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Hi Amy, good to see you again here! How was your diet over at Tx? It’s good to have an extra motivation like health reasons for changing eating habits other than losing weight!

Hi Ellis, thanks for popping in! My diet in Texas... I do my best to stick to healthy choices while I am there, and to my usual habits as much as I can, but it can be challenging because the tendency is to eat out a lot more than we do at home. And everything is big in Texas, including restaurant portions! Vegan options in restaurants are much more common, now, though, which is great - even the traditional German restaurant in Fredericksburg we visited offered a vegan plate with a plant-based sausage.

Yes, same as you, health reasons are a huge motivation for me and always have been on this journey. It can't just be about the number on the scale, or I would get too discouraged!

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Oh I am so glad to hear there are more vegan options over there! I also remember the huge portions when we were in Florida. My partner and me often shared one portion, haha. What is your favorite vegan meal currently?

Hi Ellis! at the moment my favorite meal is a vegan version of "asperges op vlaamse wijze" with a creamy tofu scramble on top of the asparagus

After my good start last week, I have to mark yesterday as red - I had dates and walnuts after dinner, felt super hungry after aquagym. Better today!

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Hi Amy!

That's pretty amazing about more vegan options in Texas! That is great! I live in the south but near a very crunchy town and vegan options are still very sparse, and they tend to go out of business after a while.

I think its good that you ate after aquagym, Im sure that you needed it!

Thanks, Pink! What is it about exercising in water that makes you so hungry???

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Your HabitCal looks really good! I applaud your honesty and marking Monday red - I'd have told myself I legit needed food and marked it green... Do you feel like being strict with HabitCal definitions helps you stay accountable? I'm prone to "WTH effect" and one slip-up often leads me to think that the whole day is ruined anyway, so I can do whatever. Curious if you're struggling with that kind of thinking too.

Hi Amy!

I don't know but I know that I am exhausted and starving after even just playing in the water, so good for you for exercising in it!

I admire your ability to mark your days, too! I tend not to be able to do that, due to what Imogen called the WTH effect. If I feel like a failure, Im not successful, but I bet that is an important mindset shift to make. Maybe marking your days helps you make it?

Hi Imogen and Pink! I definitely get sucked into WTH thinking at times, too!

I have been tracking on the HabitCal for years, it is one of the first things I do every morning and I think it has evolved over time to be a kind of reminder to myself to look at each day as a new opportunity to eat well. And I am not what you would call super strict with marking a day red, I do take some things into consideration and give myself wiggle room, but I guess I have my personal boundaries around what constitutes a red day, and if I go over those, then the day was red, and I mark it and move on. Snacking after dinner is one of those things

I think I was just saying on Imogen's thread that this is a personal journey, where we have to figure out what works for us long term, and this seems to work for me. But I can totally understand that marking days might have the opposite effect for someone else.

I won't be on the boards again til Monday - we are going to Paris for the weekend, to visit our son who has been working there for the past few weeks. I am looking forward to spending time with him and my husband, beautiful weather, and some nice meals My intention is to keep Friday green as far as No-S, we shall see how that goes No pressure, right?

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Your weekend sounds exciting! Enjoy the trip!

Amy3010 wrote: Tue May 06, 2025 5:02 am Hi Ellis! at the moment my favorite meal is a vegan version of "asperges op vlaamse wijze" with a creamy tofu scramble on top of the asparagus

That sounds pretty good! I am Dutch myself and I have to look it up! I hope you enjoy your trip to Paris!

Sounds amazing!
I know two people IRL who have sons in Paris right now, that is kind of funny. Have a great trip! It sounds like the way you mark your days is defintely working for you.

Thank you! We had a great weekend, walked a ton - the weather was gorgeous. Explored some new-to-us areas of Paris and ate great food! In the end I granted myself an S day for Friday, not that I went overboard, but we shared appetizers with dinner, so not technically a one-plate meal...

Back home now and ready to make the rest of the month as green as can be!

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Sounds amazing! Glad you had a good time!

Thanks, Pink! It was a good time.

This week has been a struggle with habits because our roofers started with planned work unexpectedly ahead of schedule and we have been scrambling to get things out of our attic and garage, which has been stressful and thrown my routines for a loop. Sigh. Oh well. I will keep trucking along.

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Oh that does sound stressful! Are they also coming very, very early in the morning? When we got our roof replaced a few summers ago, we woke up to boots clomping on the roof at 6 am. It was a bit alarming. ( I understood why because it was so hot, but we weren't expecting them just yet)

I think the fact that you are still keeping track of your green and non-green days will really help you get through this time. I hope the stress eases soon!

Oof, as soon as your routine slips, it’s so hard to stick to your eating routine too. Hopefully you’ll be able to get back on track soon!

Hi guys, and thanks for the support! I wish I didn't get thrown off so easily by this kind of stuff, but I do... Yes, the roofers were here super early, but they did a great job. They will be back tomorrow and possibly Tuesday but then it will be done and we can start putting stuff back in the attic and garage. We emptied the garage yesterday and took two car loads of crap to the recycling center, which felt great. We are really in a "Swedish death cleaning" phase of our lives

Foodwise, it's funny, the one-plate habit is so strong, I don't even think about having seconds anymore, even on weekends - my empty plate is now the signal that I am done.

My husband is going to be out of town for several days this week, and I always struggle with evening snacking when I am on my own at home, so I am putting it out here that my goal this week while he is gone is to refrain from that. And I will keep on working on my consistency. Ten more opportunities to get green this month!

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Thats awesome that your no seconds habit is so strong! That is one of my hardest habits and it sounds like it is so helpful to have that in place. I always want to snack when its just me in the house alone but my tea really helps.

Im glad the roofers are doing a good job and will be done soon! It does feel good to get rid of stuff! We need to do that again ourselves.

Good luck with no evening snacking. you can do it!

Thanks, Pink! Yesterday was a non-weekend S day (book club in the evening) and the roofers are now done, so from today it will be back to normal programming. I am determined to finish the month out green!

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Hi Amy,

you can do it! Yay for the roofers being done!

Thanks, Pink! Had my tea in the evening...helps a lot.

Getting back on track is the best feeling!

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Yay! It does feel good! And it's even better that you are on track and noticing that good feeling because it makes it easier to do, in my experience.

Keep up the good work!

It really does, Pink!

Being on track does feel good! May I ask, do you still aiming for weight loss or just maintaining?

Hi Ellis! I am still aiming for weight loss, I would like to get down about 3 - 4 kg and maintain there. I was in that range in 2022 and I really felt happy there. When I started working at my current job in 2023, my weight started creeping up again - I got sloppy with my habits, stress eating started creeping in, and I wasn't as conscientious about working out as I was before.

Getting better about sticking to my eating habits has helped to halt the upward creep, I have been able to stabilize where I am now for a while, but would still like to get back into my happy range. So yes, still focusing on losing, although I always think maintaining is definitely something to be proud of, too. At my highest weight, I was 10 kg heavier than I am now, and I have kept that off permanently through good lifestyle habits. I just have to be vigilant for the slippery slope...

Hi Amy!

Good for you for keeping the 10 kg off! That is a huge accomplishment! After I looked up kg to pounds because I am an American who doesn't know my metric system... I see that your weight loss goal is not a lot. That's fairly similar to mine. I think it can be harder when it's less weight. I have a happy range also, and I am only about 10 pounds away from it! or 4.5 kg... I think.

Thanks, Pink! It really does seem to get harder, the closer you get to your goal weight! Sometimes it does feel like such a struggle - to maintain, I have to be mindful about what I am eating most of the time; to get to that lower weight range I have to be very vigilant pretty much all of the time. I do wonder sometimes if I shouldn't just be happy with where I am and let go of wanting to get lower. But if I were to let go, where would I end up? Probably my weight would keep creeping upward...and that is what I want to avoid.

Today is the last day of the month to get green and I am determined!

Hi Amy! You can do it!

I know exactly what you mean! And yes I don't think letting go is an option, at least not for me. I tried that as an experiement back in february and in six weeks I had gained 12 pounds! And I didn't seem to be leveling out. So for now, I don't want to put tons of work in but I also can't stop being vigilant. That's why No S seems like a good option. I was NOT doing No S for those 6 weeks. I was trying to be happy with myself at every size and I bought bigger clothes and I was ok but eventually I realized I really am just happier with myself and my life and activities at a lower weight. So here I am again!

Hi Pink! Same here - and it goes way beyond vanity, I believe. I genuinely feel better in myself at that little bit lower weight range.

Thanks for the encouragement! Had a solid green day yesterday We went to Antwerp for the day to visit the photography museum and some galleries (big modern art festival there this weekend)...and I stuck to our lunch out and then made a healthy dinner for us when we got home. In a way, it's easier being out for the day. Luckily I am not tempted by Belgian waffles which are around every street corner

We passed by a pilates gym there that had a slogan on the window that said: "Persist until you're proud", which I kept thinking about in the context of not giving up until you get to where you really want to be (as long as your desired goal is realistic, I think). So I will keep on chugging along.

That’s a great goal, Amy! I think we all have a weight range where we feel comfortable, and it’s good to hear that you’re working towards that! I totally get what you mean — compared to others, I don’t have that many kilos to lose either, and it goes incredibly slowly. You really have to pay close attention.

Good to hear your trip to Antwerp was a success! I never tried Belgian waffles when we went to Antwerp several years ago, but I love the fries so much! Love that slogan of the pilates place.

Thanks, Ellis

I've been continuing to chug along, marking my HabitCal daily - lots of red but I am still trying to keep my focus on habits and avoid diet head...not always easy when I see how I still respond to stress with overeating, and then feel like drastic measures are called for. Especially now that we just got our tickets to go to my niece's wedding in December, where there will be family I haven't seen in ages = my mind going into overdrive about logistics and ruminating about looking/feeling my best by that time. Which is crazy but that's just how my brain operates

I'm also going to a niece's wedding! (in August) and I'll be flying back to the Northwest and seeing lots of people that I haven't seen in awhile. Feeling kind of frumpy and old and overweight. Maybe we should buy gorgeous outfits.

A big yes to gorgeous outfits!!!

Hi Amy!

I have the same thing going on as well. Diet head is so hard to avoid, and stress eating!! We are having a big reunion with friends who I haven't seen in 15 plus years in September so my mind is doing the same exact thing. It's such a hard pattern to break! Defintely on board with the gorgeous outfits!

Yes, a very hard pattern to break...I have been trying to shift my focus from that more towards gentle consistency in my daily life. It is definitely a work in progress. Sometimes it feels very discouraging, like this morning, looking back on a week with lots of red. But I always remind myself that I just have to keep plugging along, giving up would not be good

RIght? Giving up you know you won't have any progress, but at least if you are still trying there will be progress however slow it feels. I try to remind myself of that a lot.

Turned over a new leaf for July - my plan is to take a fast-mimicking day on Wednesdays, this really worked for me in the past. M-T-Th-F will be normal No-S. And I will see where it takes me. So far, three green days in a row, which I haven't managed in a long time.

Well done on your 3 green days

HI Amy,

What do you mean a fast mimmicking day? Like you don't eat food at all or you do 5:2? That sounds intriguing. Also sounds helpful for keeping you in touch with hunger and fullness.

Congrats on your 3 green days!

Thanks, Soprano, thanks, Pink! It's 5:2 but the "fasting" day (about 800 calories) only one day a week. So I guess it would be 6:1

Hi Amy!

Oh yeah, I have done the 800 day before. For some reason I find that so much easier to do than 500. Im glad to hear its helping!

800 is weirdly not bad at all - 500 is hard!

Hi Amy, just wanted to stop by and say hi and thanks for checking in on my on my thread. Interested to see how your new eating pattern works out for you. I wish I could get back into some sort of fasting but just have mental block against it for awhile now.

the IF discussion, haha. Everybody I know seems to have tried it and either (still) loves it or (officially now) hates it!
I have never done it! The rebel in me hates being hungry. Um.um.um. yeah maybe that's why I'm overweight.
Anyway, my hubby loves IF and has eaten that way for years. but he was always the kind of person that had no problem skipping meals.
All this babbling to say - do what your body likes re: IF and enjoy the ride!

Linda - block against IF. I do too and I never even have done it like you did!

Ha Amy, I'd say you have some pretty good instincts!

Thanks Auto! And Linda, so nice to see you again!

About fasting days, I can't say I enjoy them, but found in the past that doing it for a short period of time seemed to help me "reset" my appetite and get back on track when I feel like my eating is all over the place. We shall see

Argh I need an appetite reset! I hope yours works great!

Thanks, Auto. It is weird but the 800 calorie day sort of reminds me of how much I get to eat on a normal day...

I try to keep it simple and pretty much follow the same plan each Wednesday, which looks like this:

B: 100g blueberries w/ 100g plain soy yogurt
L: Salad w/ lettuce, cucumber, carrot, tomato, sauerkraut, 2T hummus, 1/4 avocado, 1/4 c chickpeas
S: Nakd Blueberry Muffin bar
D: 100g tofu, 200g broccoli, 200g potato

I love having the same foods on specific days. it's what my dad always did and why i named myself "automated eating"!

I also like having specific food for specific days. During work weeks I pretty much have the same breakfast lunch and sometimes dinner, just switching it up between two different meals.

Auto, Pink, routines can be so great No more decision fatigue! I also have the same breakfast every day during the week (overnight oats), and pretty much the same lunch most days.

I worked the evening shift at work yesterday (til 8pm) and when I got home, had my one plate late dinner and did not indulge in wine, thinking about how much better I would feel this morning if I just stuck to my plan (playing the tape forward, like Auto suggested). Usually coming home late like that is a recipe for overeating and having a couple glasses of wine. I definitely considered it for a few minutes! I think what really helped is that I had a late lunch, and it was a very filling meal. I even had my protein bar with me for a snack at work, but never felt hungry enough to have it.

Congrats on successfully being able to imagine how you would feel with a different choice and then being able to make the choice that helped you feel the best! Amazing!

Thanks, Pink

Have a good weekend, everyone!

That’s such a strong start to July, three green days and mindful choices, even after a late shift! Love how you're using past strategies, keep the momentum going!

Thanks, Ellis!

I realized something about my habits this week: it was a stressful week, because it was my turn at work to be in charge of the team. Which translated into a fully red week on my HabitCal (mainly due to snacking). However, I noticed a couple times that I would sit down to my one plate at a meal, already thinking about having seconds, but then would start eating, enjoy my food, and "forget" to have seconds, and in the end just stick to my one plate. I think it's because the one plate habit has gotten so strongly ingrained over the years, it has become my default. So despite the red week, I feel good about that.

That’s awesome Amy! I miss the days when my habits were that strong. It’s a great feeling.

Ugh, so sorry to hear you had a stressful week! But the one plate habit is really good! Most people gain because of too large portions or getting seconds, so sticking to just one plate is really great!

Sorry you had a stressful week but that is awesome that the one plate habit is so strong!

Thanks Linda, Ellis, and Pink Habit can be such a powerful force, for both good and bad.

Yesterday we had the kids and their partners over for bbq - aside from the food, there were nibbles, there was wine, there was dessert, and I ate a lot more and a lot later than I normally would. I am feeling the effects this morning, feeling a bit rough and like I really need to reign things in. After last week's red, I just want to get fully green this coming week, feel good about what I am eating, and feel clear and energetic when I wake up in the morning.

Today is our national holiday, but I will treat it as a normal Monday for eating

Sometimes focusing on how your choices make you feel really helps.

You got this!

Jx

Thanks, Soprano! I agree 100%

Hi Amy,
sounds like we had some similar experiences this weekend! It just doesn't feel so great to eat at night anymore! Let's do the green week this week and make our bodies and our minds happy.

Ugh, I ate food hangovers but it does always feel so good to get back on track the next day. you got this!

Thanks Pink and Linda! It did feel so good to just have normal one plate meals today. It really does not feel good to eat at night - food hangovers are the worst

I did in the end take an S day for our national holiday, because in the afternoon, we went to my friend's house (her husband just retired and we had a bottle of wine for him), and she had specially made cake

But today it's back to normal programming and work... I think I'll try a page from your playbook, PInk, and see how pre-logging my meals this week feels.

B: overnight oats w/ blueberries
L: salad plate w/ chickpeas, hummus, slice of bread
S: banana, 2 Brazil nuts
D: mushroom risotto, tofu, salad

Hi Amy,
I will be interested to see if pre-logging works for you! I think it really helps me so far.
Have a great normal day today!

Hi Pink! Yes, very much a normal day for me - I stuck to my pre-logged meals, except changed the risotto to pasta (my neighbor stopped by at 5 and stayed to talk for a while, which meant I didn't have enough time to make risotto...) and my meals were all one-plate. So I feel good about that. Pre-planning is such a great strategy. But also very normal (for me) in the impulsive little nibbles that snuck into my day, so that I can't mark it green.

I remind myself often that this is a process of habit change and it is slow. Over the years, I have successfully eliminated my mid-morning snack habit, I have firmly established the one-plate habit, and over these past few years I have been in the process of radically changing my habits around alcohol (have gotten to the point where it doesn't feel right to have wine on a weeknight, because I don't like how it makes me feel slightly anxious the next day at work...am currently moving towards it feeling totally natural to limit myself to just one glass when I do partake and funnily enough I am getting there, which amazes me, because I used to have no boundaries with an open bottle of wine!). I think this kind of slow habit change is about cultivating consistency (not perfection) over a long period of time so that the new behavior just starts to feel completely natural. But it is also about having a sense of integrity toward myself, which for me means, I think, being honest with myself and not trying to justify things with excuses or fooling myself. Does that make sense at all?

I think the step I still need to take with impulsive snacking in the afternoon/evening is to be able to call up that sense of integrity in the moment, to help myself make a conscious choice. Obviously in the moment, the thought of having to mark my HabitCal red the next day does not seem to have enough power to stop me! Willpower is generally at a very low ebb at those times of day so it is definitely still a work in progress. Let me see if I can do it today!

Pre-plan for today:

B: overnight oats w blueberries
L: baked beans on toast, salad
S: Nakd fruit/nut bar
D: leftover mushroom/tofu pasta, salad

Love this post, after my current holiday I am going to give some serious thoughts to the habits I know I need to cultivate then commit to them on my thread.

Thanks Amy

Jx

Hi Amy!

Glad the preplanning helped! yes, the impulsive snacking is so hard! It sounds like you have come so far with your habits, and what you are doing with alcohol sounds amazing! For me, having the preplanned snack is super helpful. I guess it's like a release valve that I still seem to need for snacking.
I get what you are saying about integrity, and that is something I struggle with as well. Im trying to get better about being honest with myself. I am great at justifying!

Aww, thanks Soprano and Pink, I'm glad it made some sense to you

It was super busy at work today, and my SIL is being passive-agressive about a get-together we are trying to plan for the family, so I was feeling frustrated and knew walking home from work that I would need some extra support to help me stick to my plan...so I decided to come back here and re-read what I wrote this morning. And then what a treat to see your responses as well Thanks!

Maybe that is something I should consider doing more often... In any case, I think I can manage to stick to my guns this evening and make this a green day.

Update: hit it!

Onward and upward to another green day...

Pre-plan:
B: overnight oats w blueberries
L: hummus/kraut sandwich, cucumber slices
S: 2 plums, 2 Brazils
D: tofu, cauliflower, potatoes, salad

Two green days in a row and on track for a third one!

Pre-plan for today:
B: blueberries w/ soy yogurt, oats, flax
L: hummus/kraut sandwich, sliced tomato
S: 2 plums, 2 Brazils
D: tofu, salad plate

Woohoo! Forgive me, I haven't read all the previous posts. Are you a vegan/vegetarian? I'm flexitarian and try to eat plant based a lot (given my eating disorders, I'm afraid to go full vegan again because when I was vegan last, I kept getting more and more restrictive). But man. If it weren't for my orthorexia, I would be vegan again in a heartbeat.

Wooohooo! Awesome for the on track for Green!

I see you had Tofu, do you have a good tofu recipe? I always have trouble making it palatable.

Thanks Sammy and Pink! Third green day in the books and now it's the weekend...

Yes, am 95% vegan - I practice the same approach as with No-S: consistency instead of perfection. At home I don't have any problem, it's eating out or when invited to other people's homes that is sometimes tricky, so I try not to worry about it too much. I do the best I can. If I can't eat vegan, vegetarian is usually no problem at all. I totally understand how it could be easy to get into a restrictive eating pattern with it - when I first started in 2007 I was trying so hard to do everything right, that I was very rigid for a time. But over the years I have found a happy place that works for me, and I absolutely love the food I prepare and eat at home.

I love tofu, but I'll admit it took some experimentation and adaptation to learn to cook and enjoy it. My husband enjoys it now, too! I started with baking it in a basic marinade, and I also sometimes just season and pan fry it - I really enjoy using "fish seasoning", or curry powder. Baked or pan fried tofu is good the next day, cold, on a salad or in a sandwich, too. I think the trick is to make sure you season it well.

The basic marinade (for 8 oz tofu):

• 1/2 cup vegetable broth
  1 T balsamic vinegar
  1 T soy sauce
  1/2 t dried thyme
  1/4 t garlic powder

Mix marinade ingredients in a rectangular pyrex baking dish. Rinse and pat dry tofu, cut into 1/2 inch slices and marinate at least 15 minutes or longer. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes, flip the pieces and bake another 20 minutes until most of the marinade has been absorbed.

Here is a recipe that I am going to try soon: https://plantbaes.com/wprm_print/herby-lemon-tofu

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Hi Amy,

Thank you for the tofu recipe! I am going to try this.

Congrats on the green week!

Yeeh, for the green days! Love your approach about being vegan; consistency instead of perfection. I am the same when it comes to being vegetarian. Doing the best you can is great!

Thanks Pink and Ellis

Had what felt like a lot of food yesterday - I had a night shift for my volunteer work on Friday, and that always turbo charges my appetite the next day, especially for carbs.

Very early am (at volunteer gig): tea with 3 cookies
B: croissant w/ jam, bread roll w/ slice of cheez
L: invited to my friend's house: 3 sl bread w/ tofu scramble, vegan Boursin, cucumber slices, and a banana muffin
S: peanut butter sandwich, chips
D: pasta salad w/ lentils, olives, veggies, 2 gl rosé wine

I have the next two weeks off from work, but we are mostly staying at home, except for a short getaway of three nights. I am going to just keep sticking to the No-S structure as best I can and continue to pre-log meals, that really helps me a lot. We will also have some house guests for a few nights (my husband's goddaughter and her sister, 16 and 18 yrs old) but the nice thing about No-S is you can be doing it without it being a big deal for people around you

But today is still an S-day - hope everyone has a good one! See you tomorrow!

First day of two weeks off work The nice thing about being off work but not traveling is that I have time to go take a class at the yoga studio with my friend this morning.

Plan for today:
Ex: yoga, biking
B: blueberries w/ soy yogurt, oats, walnuts
L: hummus/kraut sandwich, cucumber slices
S: plum, apricot, 2 Brazils
D: tofu, ratatouille, quinoa, salad

Oh, nice to have some time off work! And yoga sounds good! Do you have any more plans made for those two weeks?

yay for two weeks off work but not really going anywhere for most of it! I just did that a few weeks ago when my friend came to town and it was so great! I hope you really enjoy your time.

Thank you! We do have some things planned, aside from the girls coming and our little three day mini trip, we are going to some concerts here in our town (there is always a lot going on here in the summer, which also makes it nice to stay at home), spending a day with my SIL, going out to dinner with friends, and getting some things done around the house. Yesterday I decluttered and defrosted my big freezer - a big job but a great feeling to get it done.

The yoga class was great yesterday, it had been so long since I had been to the studio. I regularly do Yoga with Adriene videos on Youtube, but going to a live class is so different. It really felt special.

The special feeling continued through the rest of the day, including joining my husband in some aperitif nibbles before dinner. I noticed on my HabitCal that my Mondays are basically always red - must be something about transitioning back to N days after the weekend...

Anyway, aside from the nibbles, I felt like it was a very reasonable day and I stuck to my plan. I do like planning things out in advance And I definitely want to get a good solid green day in the books this week.

Today:
Ex: walk downtown and back (for the concert), Adriene yoga video (for neck and shoulders)
B: overnight oats w blueberries
L: out: falafel plate w/ salad
S: plum, apricot, 2 Brazils
D: tofu, salad, beans, bread

Sounds like you have a fab time planned. I used to enjoy holidays at home

Enjoy!

Oooooh nice job on the decluttering and the defrosting of the freezer!

Thanks, Soprano and Auto...

Green on my HabitCal, at last...

The girls arrive later this morning. I may or may not have time to pop in here the next few days, but I wish everyone good green days in the meantime!

Hi Amy,
Congrats on the green! Have fun!

Yay for green!!

Thank you! We had a good first day with the girls - we started a huge puzzle and I am teaching them embroidery... I also took a non-weekend S day, because we went to a very special bakery here and let the girls pick out dessert (my oldest son and his wife were coming over and it is the bakery they used for their wedding reception).

Second day with the girls visiting: 3 one plate meals (for dinner we did a "make your own wrap" buffet at home, so virtual plating), a serving of dessert the girls made, and one small cookie with a coffee out and a praline with our tea, so not green, but happy that it was quite reasonable for having guests. Taking my second non-weekend S-day for July. Definitely more than I would eat on a normal day but I don't feel like I went overboard.

Sounds like it's going well Amy, enjoy

I love "make your own wrap" type of dinners! Sounds like you all are enjoying your time together!

Thanks, Soprano and Ellis, we are! Bowling, shopping and dinner out again yesterday - but a solid green day! We were so busy all day, no time to even think about extra nibbles sneaking in. And there were just two portions of the leftover homemade dessert, so I didn't have to disappoint them by not partaking

Feels really good to have a solid green day

Today is their last day here: this morning a local museum, lunch out, walk our son's dog, and then they will head home. I think I will collapse on the couch after that

Well done on your green day

Jx

You are keeping those girls busy!!

Yeeh, for the green day! I can imagine it was a lot of fun to hve them over, but also exhausting haha. Enjoy your staycation!

It was fun (they are super enthusiastic young ladies) but yes, definitely exhausting! So far, our staycation has been busy. We went to a music festival here in our city yesterday, today we'll spend the day with the in-laws. My SIL found a fort from WW1 we are going to visit. This will include a picnic lunch and then dinner later at their house. I am considering taking a non-weekend N-day unless I feel like I can manage to keep my meals to normal weekday amounts. TBD!

Music festivals are so fun! Our town had them sometimes.

Amy, how was the staycation?