So, can I say it’s been busy around here? I have started working with my new second job. My hope is to do both part time until I transition to just one. However, I am having to juggle a lot of balls right now. I don’t know if I have ever mentioned it, but I don’t even know how to juggle tennis balls 😀
So, evaluation of priorities has to take place. The first things to go? TV watching and my guitar practice. I am not Segovia, so missing a few weeks of practice won’t really hurt the world. I do love practicing, though. I have done some here and there and my hands are pretty sore from doing rehab work on top of my daily typing. I don’t watch a ton of TV, but I missed some preseason football games in order to do the ‘must do’ stuff.
With being really busy, we obviously aren’t cooking gourmet meals and all that. It’s been pretty basic stuff. We have started to rely on more freezer foods like veggie burgers and the like because they are fast. It’s too easy to want to say “Let’s pick up a couple slices of pizza on the way to rehab” and I don’t want to get in that habit. We have been treating ourselves a little bit afterwards with coffee or yogurt sometimes, but I am keeping an eye on serving portions with that.
I have been eating more of these:
In fact, my dinner last night was a Luna bar because of new work stuff going well into dinner time, which I was in tears over because it was so overwhelming ( but that’s better now). John had to leave the house early, so he wasn’t able to make dinner. It was all I could do not to stuff my face with whatever I could find, but I am focusing really, really hard on listening to hunger cues instead of comfort cues. So, while a protein bar isn’t perfect, it’s better than M&Ms. Then later I was able to have some fruit and a more nutritious snack.
Rehab also means packing meals for the house on weekends, like so:
That’s apple topping for my yogurt in the plastic box. We don’t want to drive home 5 miles to eat and come back and, again, I am not wanting to get in the habit of takeout, so that means packing something easy. Not to mention something that doesn’t need reheating since there are no appliances in the house yet!
One thing that is interesting is that during the first 2 weeks of rehabbing, I lost 3.5 pounds. Only 6.5 to go to get rid of my 2014 stress weight gain. I feel like I should capitalize that LOL! Weight loss is not my priority now – it’s to not gain, but I certainly will take any loss. I know that is because of the hard physical work I am doing that helps, plus not being at home to snack. It’s taking some real concentration and effort to not take the easy way out, but I am determined.
The kitchen keeps getting more and more down to the basics:
Once the electrical is done, we can start putting it back together. We have a call in to a couple electricians, but John wants to look one more time at it 😀 And don’t worry, none of that stuff is live, all those circuits are off. Safety first!
Night shot of the floors after semigloss poly:
They still have all that variation in color they had before. They just look cleaner 😀 We can walk on the floors now, but can’t set stuff on them for a couple more days.
Lori i think you doing amazing both with the rehab AND the eating! Hang in there! Big Hugs! deb
Thanks Deb!
Wow, the floors look so pretty! Love them. You are making me want to rent a sander and redo my wood floors!
Sweet reward for all that hard work in the way of weight loss! You are thinking right to not get into the fast food habit…
I don’t know if I recommend sanding yourself. It’s really painstaking and our floors aren’t perfect by a long shot, but I am okay with that since they are older. If it was a newer floor, I would have someone else sand and leave the poly to me.
Floors are amazing! Kitchen– Eek!!! So impressed with your determination to stay on the straight and narrow. Keep up the good work!
Yeah, it’s hard not to ‘eek’ over the kitchen LOL! It’s almost at the worst stage before we put it back together. Almost there….
It is getting better every time you post new photo’s, love it.
Do you have time or can you make time to cook some meals at the weekend or during the day that you can put in the freezer and that you just have to heat in the microwave?
And that’s a bonus that you are losing weight during the rehab.
We probably *could* make time to cook meals, but we are both pretty tired to want to do that on the weekends. In fact, we didn’t even do our usual Sunday grocery shopping because we were too tired! It had to wait a day. It will be easier once the kitchen is done and we move ourselves in there. Then any work can be done as the day goes on without a special trip to the house.
you are doing so so amazingly with your resiliency
it will be worth it!!!
Gorgeous floors – so exciting!
I’m not at all surprised that you’ve lost weight doing the rehab, you’ve been working very hard. And I totally get not wanting to get in the habit of takeout. I know you work at home so you don’t have to pack a lunch, but what you’re doing is what I do every single day for breakfast, lunch, and snacks! Just think of it as packing your lunch for work 😀
The nice thing about packing the lunch is that there isn’t access to my pantry 24/7 LOL!
Love how you’re focused on multi-tasking and prioritizing. The kitchen demolition looks great, if demo work can look great. And the floors, wow, sweeet!
I have to be pretty focused now with 2 jobs and the rehab to do!
I think some parts of demo look better once done, but the majority is scary looking LOL!
I am so happy that you got your house. I am also amazed at your talent for renovating. This is going to be beautiful!
Yay for the weight loss. That’s the best kind – losing when you aren’t really trying to. That never happens to me, lol.
The floors look AMAZING. Just beautiful – you must be thrilled!!! I love the light color as well – much prettier than that dark look from before.
I normally don’t just lose, either. It’s kind of nice!
The dark look of the floors before was all dirt! Gross, isn’t it? The finish was so worn off in spots that the bare wood was all dirty.
It does get so difficult to not fall prey to the fast food market. I get used to packing my breakfast and lunch, but am ashamed to admit that Monday-Friday is the same stuff each day. Dinner is the only meal that varies those days. Good for you!
Lori–good for you in planning ahead with your snacks/meals. It is very hard to keep on track when doing a big project like a house renovation. Last year, we built our retirement home…my hub took 4 months leave, lived in our camper at the construction site, worked every day with the carpenters. I continued my job 500 miles away; came every 2 weeks bringing coolers of meals I had prepped, fruit, etc. He managed to lose weight and also eat “home cooked food” most every meal for 4 months. It was a very economical way to do it. We knew the effort was worth it–healthwise and $$$ wise.
Wow – the floor is looking amazing!!
Sorry that work is causing you stress right now – last thing you need with everything you have going on!!
Whoohoo, “magic” weight loss is the best. The floors look Fab-u-lous! Few people have my taste in food but, just in case it is helpful, two quickie standby’s I’ve used this summer… The first is a Cammy variation I think. Broc slaw plus pineapple tidbits with just some pineapple juice as “dressing”. And carrot shreds plus diced apple plus fresh lime juice squeezed on top. Once I had to add some sweetener to that one cuz the lime was very tart. Sometimes I add some dried cherries to either one of these. A separate portion of pre-cooked chicken and I’m on my way.
Good job with the planning and not giving in to fast food. With everything you are doing, you’ll just FEEL better with “real” food and not junk. If this is a question you’ve answered in the blog, I apologize, but what is the square footage of the new house and how does that compare with your current house? Over the years,you’ve posted lots of pics of where you live now and Radiance Manor looks HUGE! Is it really that much bigger?
It is huge! Our current house is about 1450 square feet. Radiance Manor is 1800, plus a full basement. It is so much house. Way more than we need, but it fits John’s business, which is what we want.
It’s really coming along. It must be so rewarding seeing it come together.
I absolutely love how the floors came out Lori – great job! Yep, so easy to just hit the drive thru when you busy, isn’t it? Love the idea of bringing food to the rehab 😀
Hang in there Lori!
Good for you! I know from experience it’s really hard to eat well when doing home reno. It’s easy to just go grab fast food. Especially if you are tired and don’t want to cook. We ordered a LOT of pizza for delivery when we remodeled our kitchen.
And yes, reno work like that burns calories! So that’s a bonus too!
Lori – the floor is beautiful!!!
HUGE HUGS on work & all that stuff!!!!!!
I think we have to do what we have to do… I get it with my new demo work & not being able to eat like I do at home… and all the standing.. yup, lost weight & really not trying…
All that hard renovation work adds up too!!!!
HUGS!