debrafrederick's Journal, 30 September 2023

You're doing your duty to your community. Good work! 

Postal workers are some of the most essential workers on the planet. I thank you for all that you do for your community. I know the 3 post offices HAS to be very stressful. I'm hoping things go back to normal for you very soon! Thanks for checking in & letting us know that you're OK. I think of some of you guys as family. When y'all get missing, I worry a bit...lol. Sending you lots of love, sis! 💜 

I figured you were super busy. You'll be okay 🙂 There's no IDGAF involved, just stress and fatigue. If 72h is too hard, consider ADF. I think it will be easier, and with as active as you are, on your feet all day, you'll still see results. Resist grazing. Consider 2 meals a day. 

glad to see you back keep your head up and you have been doing a great job serving 3 post office that's alot for anyone..  

Wow. So much work. Hang om there. Sent a prayer for you!!!Hugs.  

Hopefully this will be a better week for you. Sound like you've been through the wringer! 

So Saturday after I got home, I fell into the recliner and slept till 9 AM on Sunday, 16 hours sleep is unheard of for me, even if I am sick, hubby dragged me out to Shoney's because there is no food in the house, even if I was inclined to cook. I had a huge salad followed by a plate of meats, fried chicken, I tore off the breading, roast turkey and roast beef, with a one plop serving of mashed potatoes and gravy. Then I was bad, I had a scoop of hot peach cobbler with about half a cup of the soft serve ice cream on top. That was it for me, went back home and fell in the recliner and dozed the rest of the afternoon. Thank goodness my fast began at 7pm. I am still tired and now that everyone is back to work, my phone keeps ringing wanting to know what I did with such and such. LOL I did two stacks of paperwork, one for the financial/sales reports and one for the daily performance reports, if they ain't in those stacks, they didn't get done....end of story. I've never been trained for most of those things and I was winging it with phone support from a few nearby Post Masters, even in my own Post Office things were scrambled because I was constantly on the phone with the RCA's walking them through transactions and scanning protocols. Over the years I have trained many new clerks via phone walkthroughs, but with one phone to each ear for most of the day.....it was too much and I am so glad it is over.  

BTW, Saturday ended up being a fast, I did not eat when I came home! Too tired to chew!  

If you have a loss tomorrow, it bodes well for ADF. See what happens. I find after a week of eating off the rails, shorter fasts are actually very effective. 

@Deb Whew... you took me back to when I was managing a restaurant with the details in your comment. Ugh... It was SO stressful. I would rather run through hell with gasoline drawls on than do that again. There's no amount of money that I would trade my peace for these days! Hoping things calm down for you soon! 💜 

I'm almost back to my full workouts, early part of the week it was touch and go, but settling back into my routine. I am tired of these disruptions in my schedule...but it's called life and it happens sometimes! Fasting till tomorrow morning, it's going pretty good. My Monday was shaken by a french fry I ingested. It was just one and I was testing airfryer doneness for hubby, it caused quite an uproar in my tummy as my body expected more food, but I just ignored the rumbling and proceeded on with my fast like it never happened. 

"Nothing to see here, folks!" But - french fr -- "Nothing!" 😆 This is a successful exercise in overcoming perfectionism, I say 😀 

Ummm... I've been missing potatoes alot lately. ...and fruit. 😒😮‍💨 I've actually though about changing to a more whole foods diet & see what happens. 😬🙈🙉🙊 Maybe it wouldn't be so bad with all of the strength training I'm doing. TBH... I've actually been indulging a just bit here & there for the last few weeks, while still keeping my carbs low & calories around maintance. I've had just a bit of white 🥔 (1/2 cup) ×1, some pomegranate, and quiet a bit of days with some sweet potatoes. 🫣 

...says the carb addict, as she makes her way to the kitchen & fries an entire cup of white potatoes (in lard though, of course! 🤪)... 😵‍💫 

God bless measuring cups ❤ 

LOLOLOL! It was a bit of a struggle to not just go ahead and indulge after the one fry, but no sense throwing out the baby with the bathwater. The single fry is not going to wreck my entire fast, maybe slow or stop the autophagy, make my ketones drop.....but it won't hurt my calorie deficit or my overall weight loss...so, there you go, reasons why you don't just throw out a fast because of one french fry 😛 

Zen, that craving for potatoes and fruit are a seasonal cyclic event I believe. Fall indicates an approaching winter and evolution-wise we stepped up the hunting and gathering in preparation for the food scarcity of winter, which also increased our appetites as we worked harder in the cooler weather to gather and store enough food to take us through the winter. All of the animals were doing the same thing, getting enough subcutaneous fat to fuel themselves till spring. Modern man faces an overload of rich and plentiful foods during the holiday season which results in substantial gains because our bodies are trained to conserve energy during the winter for survival. Just my opinion, I have noticed over the years that it is more of a struggle for me to drop weight in the winter when we know our bodies are burning more fuel while trying to keep our temperature regulated. We keep our house heated to 60 during the winter and make our bodies produce the remainder of the heat. Some homes we visit have the heat on 80 and I about die!! LOL! If you cool you house to 70 in the summer....why on earth would you heat it to 80 in the winter???? 

@Lady... IKR! 🤣 

@Deb... Yea, let's go with that...lol. I also wonder if it has something to do with the strength training?!?! I work really hard there. My last rep of each set normally ends with me literally shaking trying to squeeze 1 more rep out. I'm so pooped when I leave the gym...lol. Funny thing though; I don't really get sore. It's crazy. That really has me baffled. Anywhooo... I'm one of those 80° people! 🤣 ...well, 78°...lol. Anything below 70°, I need a jacket...lol. I hate the cold! The older I get, the more I hate it! If I get too cold, it's like my bones get cold, then it takes HOURS (or a hot bath) for me to warm up. I just want to hibernate...lol. I don't even like to walk from the front door to the car when it's cold. When I wake up in the mornings during the winter, I don't even want to get from up under the covers, even though it's warm in the house.  

I'm good with cool weather but I hate the COLD, anything under 50 has me dragging out jackets, but 50 and above, I love it! It invigorates me, makes me want to go outside and do stuff, I took my tiny nippers and a bag on my walk this morning and stopped and harvested some goldenrod leaves and flowers for tea, they are an excellent herbal remedy for inflammation and swelling, tastes like crap, but very effective! I may do a tincture of it this year, I have a good crop growing on the back fence. It's also great for drippy noses and sore throats. See, the cycle thing again, harvest season and I want to go hunting pumpkins and collect pinecones to make seasonal decorations with. I need some gourds too! LOL! So much I want to make and do this time of year! I am certain that your increased appetite and cravings have something to do with your workouts, increased muscle = increased energy consumption = increased hunger! In our case, there is plenty there to feed it in stored body fat, so it's best not to give in to your cravings and allow it to feed on your fat. You only need to be concerned when your body fat % begins to fall below 25. I still have quite a ways to go!