Hi gals!

Middlemist---Jump right in, you are welcome. We are LCOW---low carb our way. Some of us are very strict about it, others of us less so depending on the time and circumstance. But we are all here because we are former carb hounds, and we are all trying to to solve that, one way or the other. Warning: this is not a thread where we just talk about LC foods and our LC woes. We talk about our lives, and all the ways that influences what we eat, where we succeed and where we don't, and a whole bunch of other stuff. Our door is open, just want to represent us fairly. Give us a try and see if we fit your needs.

Trig---Already saw plenty of pix of the Lost Sea after googling knowing you were going there. What I REALLY love is the pix you sent us of where YOU ARE right now. OMG girl, you know how to camp! And where.

And I know how you like to get away from it all when you RV, but can't tell you how great it has been to hear from you on your joy trips. SO freaking fun.

Hey, LOL, on those tiny fish who bite. Did you ever hear of those Japanese "pedicures" that involve putting your feet in a pool of water with thousands of tiny fish who come up and chew off all your dead skin?! Yes, this is a thing. Those who have done it say it doesn't hurt at all, and the fishies do a fine job of it. But...oh my, I just think I couldn't.

Nic---I love that you wrote us from the train!

I used to take the train to visit my mom in Milwaukee, many years ago. And yeah, train tracks do go thru some of the worst parts of cities. But also, thru some lovely small towns and beautiful country scenery. I too would love to take an extended train trip that includes diner cars and sleeping rooms. It's an old fashioned way to travel, and you have to have the time to do it. But I think I would love it.

Expect you to be in the whirl of NYC for a bit, hope you have time to share, understand if you don't, you can fill us in when you get home. NYC is both full of energy and takes energy!

Jaz---Really? Cruella had to apologize to you?! YAY.

I am shocked she's had so many HR reports and still sits in her office being a jerk and cashing the company's checks. I do think that HR tends to go easier on people the higher up the chain they are. It's like they think, well, she's a boss and everyone has complaints about a boss.

OTOH, as I said, people don't go to HR easily or without fear, because going to HR is always going over someone's head. So five times in a year and a half is a lot. All I care about is that you are safe in the job you do so well, and that you not be further abused by her. IOW, I hope you've scared her into better behavior towards you.

Sadly, I don't have confidence that the company will necessarily fire her. Hard to say what the last straw is in a corporate environment. They may just listen to you and do what it takes to make you happy, and keep her. Why? I dunno, but I've seen enough of it. Remember you're not in this for her to lose---that's her stuff and their decision---you're in it for you to win the respect and flexibility to do what you do best. That's what your fighting for. Don't lose sight of that.

Don't worry about a night off the woe. You never even give yourself a treat night, so sometimes treat night finds you, right?

Lori---DO try the protein powder in your cold press coffee. Are you drinking it iced? Don't know what it would taste like in hot cold press coffee---in fact I don't particularly like cold press coffee hot LOL, that's a tongue twister.

But various flavors of protein powder are DELISH in iced coffee. I have used your rec on MRM Vanilla whey protein powder, and that's what I usually use. It is very good and dissolves easily. I also got some salted caramel protein powder, can't remember if it was MRM, but it was good. I'm out of it now. But I would add a bit of sweetener and a couple of shakes of salt to this version of my iced coffee...mmmmmmmmmmmm. Coffee AND sustenance for a couple of hours. Great combo for me.

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Today a pal of mine and I went to some furniture stores. I'm thinking of getting a new sofa for our new place. We currently have two sofas, one that is gorgeous and I wouldn't dream of getting rid of. The other one...well, I still like it and it is in decent shape. But it is a russet color and I'm just thinking I want something lighter and more neutral.

Found two today. One is out of this world, and higher priced. The other is not quite as fab, but half the price. So, I'm thinking on it. May just keep the old one, don't know. But do know I need to continue to get excited about the future, because gals, it is still hurting me to think of leaving this house, particularly now when we've done so much to spruce it up. So, just have to find the balance between what was, and what can be. And if it costs a few extra bucks to make our new home really special, then I'll invest that. We'll see.

Anyway, then pal and I had a nice happy hour, couple of drinks and small plates. I hesitate to say on plan, because I did have half of a margarita flat bread plate. BUT, other than my morning protein shake, and a LC mussels appetizer, that's all I had today. And the "crust" was thinner than a fingernail.

Again, trying to balance calories, carbs and lifestyle right now. Today was just fine if not perfect. Still, I got a little bigger tube around my middle I didn't used to have. It's not huge the way it used to be, it's not stopping me from wearing most of my clothes, but I don't like it.

I'm just not ready to attack it right now either. Five years on plan, and this year has been the most challenging ever, for reasons that are obvious to me. But I'm just going to keep checking in here and writing out my thoughts about it. At least I'm not into fooling myself, I know what I'm up to and the cost for right now.

SIGH. Do miss my stronger on plan times. Really hope to find my way back there.