CountingDown, I don’t recall, do you use any type of food logging system? Doing so can be a very effective tool to assist you not only in knowing how much you are eating but also in keeping you on track with what you are eating. The two biggest traps people fall into when trying to control their nutrition and weight are underestimating how much they are eating and overestimating how much they are burning off. Apps like MyFitnessPal, Livestrong’s MyPlate and the USDA’s Supertracker can be a great assist in monitoring how much you are eating and the quality of what you are eating. Lots of studies have shown that consistent nutrition logging is far more important than the time of day you are eating or how you allocate your calories between meals. As to logging exercise, none of the logging programs are particularly good at determining calorie burns from exercise. My recommendation is to use the programs to determine caloric needs based on daily activity levels and just log the exercise to assist with accountability but without using the estimated burn as a license to eat more. Also, keep in mind that the caloric needs calculated by all these programs are ball park estimates and you will probably need to refine the numbers a bit based on your individual metabolism as you go along and see the results.
Got my fancy pix taken. The tech said I was a trooper because I was not afraid of the procedure and almost fell asleep inside the magnet. 
Let us know the outcome, BB!
Bunsen- I hope they can figure this out. Was it an MRI?
Yup. Big, noisy magnet.
MichaelNKat, I periodically track my intake in a journal. I started Weight Watchers in February and I had a really hard time adjusting from 1400 calories a day to unlimited fruit/most veggies and points. Have gained 15 since I joined. I’m going back to the 1400 routine. (I got that number based on my own experiences and a detailed calc from the nutritionist.)
Think I’m going to cancel the WW plan and go back to what worked.
Hoping for some answers for you BB - great job on being a good patient!!
Got out in the heat, 3 miles and some change and then cooled down with walking the dog. I figured if Ohio likes the heat I could stand it for a short time!!!
Did a parallettes and enhanced body weight routine last night and a training ride tonight. it was good to be training and moving but all the inflammation of the soft tissue in my hip and thigh is a bit distracting and an energy drain. Oh well. Just gotta keep moving. The back and side of my left leg, from my butt down to the back of my knee is the loveliest shade of purple. My new favorite color - not!
CD, unlimited fruit would definitely spell trouble for me. Good for you going back to tried and proven routine.
Abasket, kudos on braving the (hot) elements.
CountingDown, yeah, I know what you mean. Weight Watchers assigns zero points to most fruits and vegetables in an effort to promote their consumption but in reality they have calories that add up. Plus, I hate, Weight Watcher’s new user interface. I find it impossible to use efficiently and all my clients who have tried it find the user interface to be very cumbersome and time consuming.
“The back and side of my left leg, from my butt down to the back of my knee is the loveliest shade of purple. My new favorite color - not!”
Hey, what’s wrong with purple and gold (it will turn to yellow as it heals)? My Alma mater colors! 
I feel my Husky pride every time I get a bruise like that. Lol. JK.
Hope it goes away quickly!!
Ow the dang hip… The MRI doc injected contrast into it… the liquid is supposed to get absorbed within a day, so for the time being, the extra stuff keeps the joint stretched out. Sorry for letting me vent. Gotta inject a glass of vitamin Z into it. Only made to 5,000 steps today, had the MRI for lunch, and ate crap for dinner. Thinnest crust pizza with a sprinkle of cheese and smoked salmon. Yummm. Probably 1,000 calories.
Chiming in a little late – My mother was obsessed with food and eating. I lost weight when I went to college – what a revelation it was to eat when I was hungry, and to stop eating when I wasn’t. I had food issues for years, and still do.
Now, for most of my meals, most days of the week, I make good food choices. I eat fruits and vegetables, avoid cooking with creamy sauces, don’t serve carbs at dinner. I do the grocery shopping, so my husband has no choice – he eats what I buy, tough. 95% of the time I make good food choices at restaurants, avoiding fried foods, for example.
But I can’t be militant and eliminate everything “bad” from my diet all the time. And the fact that I eat healthily most of the time means that when my only choices are carb heavy, sugar heavy, I can indulge without feeling guilt.
I do burn off my sugar addiction with exercise. And I weigh myself frequently so that I can reverse course if I start gaining weight.
OTOH, I do know that my situation is not typical – for example, I’m not tempted daily with candy in an office, I don’t have a large family so we don’t attend calorie-laden outings regularly, and I don’t have high levels of stress because of job or family responsibilities.
Back from the beach. Had a lovely indoor swim yesterday. And today I opted to run on the gym treadmill instead of suffering in the stuffy heat. 6.4 miles done.
Bunsen- I’ve never had the dye injection. Sounds like s rough day, but the pizza sounds great!
@sabaray, sugar alcohols are a plant based derived low calorie carbohydrate used as a sweetener and bulk agent. It is often used in sugar free products. Here’s an article that does an excellent job of summarizing the literature out there without getting too technical. http://breakingmuscle.com/nutrition/what-you-need-to-know-about-sugar-alcohols
Sorry about the hip, BB.
Back out and running this AM and it felt good. Disliking the heat and humidity and this weekend is supposed to be nasty here.
I did a yin yoga class yesterday with a new instructor and I’m really feeling sore today. The instructor was great and I learned more about Yin yoga, which is very different from the typical vinyasa class. You hold poses in for up to five minutes; the focus is on the lower body (hips, thighs, lower back).
My D is visiting us at our vacation place because she’s hosting a bachelorette party this weekend. H and I are making dinner one night, but they’ll be going out the other nights, which is good (less food and less temptation for me to eat stuff I don’t need to eat).
Bromfield, hoping the party is a hit!!!
I’m with you Sabaray, if I’m going to eat ice cream (which I AM…) I’m willing to pay for a really flavorful product made from good recognizable ingredients! My H is a fan of buying ice cream gimmicks - “slow churned”, “1/3 less fat”, “frozen yogurt”, etc. - but IMO it really doesn’t matter when he’s polishing off a 1/2 gallon in a couple of days! - ugh!
Can’t seem to sell him on a smaller amount with better flavor. 
Bunsen, hope the hip issue can be resolved - that sounds unpleasant, but hopefully the Vitamin Z and pizza helped. Hope your weekend is a fun one, Bromfield!
MAF and back run this morning - 30 minutes at MAF, then 20 minutes at a higher heart rate with a short cooldown. Starting to feel better, but followed up with Pilates and that was really tough to do after running. I’ll need to switch up my running days next week to accommodate Pilates and a short trip we’re taking.
That article was helpful, Michael, thank you. Given my numerous digestive issues, I think I would be best served by avoiding sugar alcohols. I did buy some Beetnik frozen dinners which didn’t look too terrible nutrition wise - we’ll see how they are.
Heat wave finally reached us! 80 degrees is what the weatherwoman promised for today. Vitamin Z and rest helped. Did some weights and pushups before going to bed last night.
Re: my fancy pix. Doc suspects torn tissue around/inside the joint, hence the arthrogram.
http://www.uwmedicine.org/health-library/Pages/mri-arthrogram.aspx
Contrast is typically used to image soft tissues in wonky joints. Everyone asked me if I played soccer, because that kind of injury is typically caused by sudden twists and stops and turns… no soccer here! I can’t kick a ball further than 2 feet!! 