My leaches!  I need my leaches!     Ok, fingers crossed that things are a'changin'.  It's been a long 6 weeks or so.  The note of incoming autumn is resettling me a bit.    The path to healing progresses if I keep my eyes open to the subtle signs.  Last week I saw a recipe and was excited to try it.   I haven't been excited by a recipe in a while.  And I was excited to engage my 'everyday superpower*;' I can turn leftovers into a dish you wouldn't know was leftovers.  I'm starting to think about meeting people socially again, generally not dating.  I looking forward to spending time with my nerds here.  I'm finding the energy to do the things that I need to do, like updating vaccines and seeing doctors and getting an oil change without being overwhelmed by the notion of doing them.  And sleep is amazing.   Just normal things that are normal, but haven't been normal for a hot minute.  It's lovely.   So, what does that mean for the challenge?  Eh, who knows? 😆   Vague, not pushing myself too much plan.   1.  keep up with careful strength training.  continue with the same amount, but push the effort.  When that becomes relatively easy, increase the amount/time. Minimum 2 times / week 2. continue with 5k buddy training.  Doing couch to 5k with her has been helpful to keep my overtraining under control.  We have our B-day 5k on Oct 6.  Form a new plan after that. minimum 2 days/ week 3.  for now, continue with familiar nutrition plan.  There might be a "dinner club" with a friend soon-ish.  the plan is each of us cooks a recipe and we share it, so cook once, eat twice with variety.  4.  create a 4-6 week meal plan for when I'm alone in a few weeks.  Vague goal to knock of a small handful of pounds, maybe 3-5 pounds.  Acceptable is not gaining. 5. Focus on Halloween costume.  Crocheting wings is taking forever.  But I will have roughly a 5.5-6ft freedom unit wingspan.  Still on the docket is a possible corset top and a skirt.  Need to find my teeny tiny horns too. 6.  continue my quest to sidequest madness.  Still working through the interesting book that Whisper suggested to me.      *A bit ago, former Mr and I realized we each had a "superpower" for everyday, not exciting tasks.  his was for pill dosing a cat in one go, and I could do things with leftovers (or pantry purging) that were interesting.  Obviously I've asked around what everyone else could do.  Answers were 1. put a baby to sleep. 2. always find it on sale, whatever it is 3. summon someone random by speaking their name- works best if you don't want that person 4. Memorize ridiculous things in one go (in that case the Vogon commander's poetry among other things.)   What's your everyday superpower?

I feel seen.  And I don't like it     With all of the celebratory beverages you may need the company to help balance your bike   following

I spent the rest of last week not working out and resting my back... I guess.   Then Monday I slept in and skipped my scheduled morning workout. So, I pushed back my bed time and opted for evening workouts.   About to do my third for the week. I switched to a 5-day schedule to spread everything over the week and have shorter nightly workouts.   Diet-wise, I'm a month on the current maintenance plan. I've lost somewhere around 1-2 lbs overall. I have very few cravings and am getting back into the hang of measuring and tracking again. I can have a rich meal a couple of times a week still. I am sick of eating so much (healthy food to take care of a 300+ lbs body). I feel ready to go back to weight loss.   10/10 would recommend doing a maintenance phase before starting a weight loss phase.   I think this week, then next week doing the same then start a 8 week loss phase that ends around Thanksgiving.

Great loot!! 💜 So glad you had a good time. 

Not dead. On the outside anyway.    tasks going well, reading going well but would be better if I stuck with one book instead of bouncing around, and I've shockingly tracked all but one meal even though I hate it so fucking much.    walking has not happened. Partly (+ legitimately) because of the laser thing, partly because the laser thing is a convenient excuse. But for real it's still sore to the touch and clothing rubbing against the treatment area is unpleasant at best. So I've been doing stretches and whatnot instead and trying to avoid pissing it off. I should have known better than to think I'd stick with a walking goal. Although I still need to catch Pokémon so maybe I'll give in anyway >_>   here's a photo if anyone is curious. It's not really gross or anything but under a cut in case someone doesn't want to see my skin looking burned.     

Today is Read an eBook Day. I will of course to exactly that.   Also, for any Reading Thread nerds who pay for Kindle Unlimited in the US, Amazon has added the entire TheThree Body Problem series to their catalog.

Thank you for sharing her with us.

I was thinking of you in my endeavor to make it to the Zumba class. It made me strong. ❤️    In my Hero's Journal, I have titled the last month as setting myself up for success, and I am hoping to maintain that attitude as I enter a season of change.

tricep ext 🐝-ish. toes??? haha. no.  knees and leaning toward quadriped

Today I got my blood work done, and then I had an amazing breakfast of eggs, crispy bacon, and fried potatoes.  Then I went home and ate some chocolate and took a nap. It's my day off, and I really enjoyed it this morning. I also really needed the rest. I skipped lunch, and dinner is going to be back to heart healthy. Tomorrow I'm back to keeping track and checking off boxes.  I'm nervous about my bloodwork results, so I'll share with you if my cholesterol is lower or not. Deep breath. Maybe another deep breath... one more...   My great aunt passed away Maxine this weekend. It was not a surprise. She had heart and kidney failure and has been ill a long time, and didn't take very good care of herself. I've referred to her on here in the past as The Troll Queen when she stayed here for three weeks and wouldn't leave the basement ,demanding that we deliver snacks to her. As annoying as she was, she was also weirdly loveable and she and my mom were pretty close. She called my mom for every birthday to sing happy birthday off key   There won't be a service for her and she was cremated and won't have a grave marker, so I just feel like I need to say "Maxine Pittman was here. She was colorful, inappropriate, and loved."  Everyone should be written down and remembered in some way. Thanks for letting me do that here.   I'm still nervous and a bit broody. I'm going to allow it. Tomorrow we begin again.