It gets easier. Dd went to public school for half of grade 11 and all of grade 12. What was hardest for me, was having her graduate from the public school. I felt a little robbed. So, I threw her a graduation party and had a table set up displaying photos of her throughout her education as well as a bunch of her school work from kindergarten onwards. We had our friends and family there and it felt really special. It gave me a chance to celebrate the end of her K - 12 education. My younger guys all started school when we moved. They went into grade 5, 7, and 9. My eldest boy graduates from grade 12 this year and I feel completely different about it. Since he had four years in school and really integrated with the school I'm happy and proud for him to graduate from there. I'll likely do something small to also honour our homeschooling years, but this school has been very positive for him. I learned to let go as well. Part of that was knowing that they were in a good school and knowing how much the teachers cared about each and every student. It made it easier for me to sit back and be the parent. I used to joke that my kids could never go to school because I'd get kicked out for intervening too much, but I learned how to change gears and everything worked out in the end - even if things weren't done exactly the way I would have done them. There's part of me that will always be sad that we moved when we did. We moved away from an amazing community of homeschoolers who were motivated to provide the best opportunities possible. If we had stayed, we would have continued homeschooling. I miss those days. However, we took a different route and so they've had completely different opportunities.

Did my at-home workout on Friday, but about 3/4 of the way through I had a call from the optometrist - I'd completely forgotten to go to my appointment, so I had to rush out, pick up ds, and take us both in for eye exams. I didn't end up getting back in to finish my workout. Saturday I ran 12 km with my running group. Today is rest day.

My grandfather died when my dad was 11 and my grandmother remarried. Her new husband was also widowed and had two kids. She had 5 kids at the time and then they had one more together to bind the family. I never thought much about it - I have lots of aunts and uncles and cousins and family reunions were always happy affairs. However, my dad has told a few stories in the last year or two that were interesting. It wasn't smooth sailing for everyone. Apparently, a few months after the marriage my grandma and her new husband sat down with my dad - John - and one of the new husband's son's - also John. New husband said it was too confusing having two Johns in the house so one of them would have to be called Jack. Apparently my dad immediately said, "Not me!" So the other kid was called Jack from that time on. There was also a push at one point - I think it was when my last aunt was born - to have my dad and his siblings change his name so that the whole family had the same last name. My dad and my eldest aunt both resisted, so the five original kids kept their last name and the new baby was given the new name. This was a long time ago, so I'm assuming divorce was probably not much of an option. They made it work (until new husband died). My dad really resented the intrusion on the family. He didn't like sharing a room with his new "brother". He didn't want to call the new husband "dad" and felt very strongly about that. So, from his perspective, he probably would have done better either with a step-father who didn't have any kids or with his mom remaining single.

I missed my Tuesday run due to a dinner we had to go to, then I missed my Saturday run because of a board education session I was in. I did make it to the gym on Wednesday, Friday, and Monday. It was beautiful (-2 but sunny!) yesterday, so in addition to the gym in the morning I also got out for a 5km run at 5pm. Today, I'm running with my group at 5:45. I am cutting down my time with my trainer - trying to spend a little more conservatively - so I'll be hitting the gym once a week and working out at home twice a week. My trainer is going to help me develop an at-home plan and I'll probably go in for an extra training session every four or five weeks just to check up on the things I'm doing at home.

Wow! Great progress! And nice work staying off the scale and focusing on actual visible progress. I want to get to that point eventually. I made breakfast slices for dh and I a while back (when we were eating breakfast). I cooked up sausage or bacon, diced it, added in diced red peppers, mushrooms, and shredded cheese and then poured in beaten eggs. I cooked it in a big lasagna pan and first I lined the pan with parchment paper. Once it's cooked, I cut the whole thing into almost bread sized slices and put some in the fridge and the rest in the freezer. Then we warmed them in the toaster oven, but they could easily be microwaved, too.

And I'm curious as to what fasting regimes you have implemented and for what kind of duration? From the IDM site: Example 3 – Suppose that your main problem is the insulin resistance cycle. This vicious cycle has developed over decades and insulin resistance is now the main stimulus to your high insulin levels. Reducing carbs may not be the most effective treatment. Why? Because your problem is the insulin resistance. Lowering carbs will lower insulin and reduce the vicious cycle, but this cycle has been running for decades. So what do you need to do? Remember that the question of insulin resistance is mostly a question of ‘when to eat’. Therefore, to break resistance, you need a sustained period of low insulin. This means that fasting will be more effective here than simple carb restriction. You will also need time, because it took time to develop and will require time to resolve.

This is a pretty good blog post about reversing diabetes and losing weight. There is no reason your dh can't continue to improve his numbers until he is completely off medication. https://idmprogram.com/reverse-type-2-diabetes-the-quick-start-guide/

The principal and teachers at the kids' school served pancakes for breakfast for them yesterday. The school also did their Valentine's Day candy grams yesterday as today is Ash Wednesday.

I have issues with sugar, so I don't tend to do balance well if sugar gets involved. I'm also still terrified of seasonal depression, so any hint of it is enough to cause me a lot of anxiety. Reading your post yesterday helped me get my head back on straight - a day in front of the fire when it's cold and horrible outside should be ok - even with cookies. It was just hard with the alarm bells ringing in my head, "Oh, no! It's happening again!!!" I showered and got out of the house for a while and then went out to a work dinner with dh, so the day ended well. I was happy to dress up and go out. I had some interesting conversations and a nice meal and lovely wine. I got up this morning and had a great time at the gym and I've got a Valentine's Dinner to look forward to tonight. I feel like I've got lots of energy and I'm looking forward to tackling today's to-do list. So, yesterday wasn't the end of the world.

I really wanted to name our last ds Cassimier. Cassimier is our ancestor who came from Alsace-Lorraine and settled in Canada. He's the reason we're all Canadian. Dh hated the name and didn't want to inflict it upon our ds. Then I suggested Cecil. Cecil was an uncle I barely knew, so no real important meaning, but I liked the name and I liked that it was in the family. Dh said no to that, too. We went with Charles - with the caveat that no one would call him Chuck (dh's dad is Charles and is called Chuck). So, we've got a Charlie. I do like the name and I'm fine with it and I understand dh's point about not going with anything weird. But, I do wish we would have gone with Cassimier or Cecil. We did use Cassimier for his middle name. We both agreed on the other names.

Had a bad morning. I can't go to my run tonight as I have a work dinner with dh so I thought I'd run today. Had running clothes on. It's windy outside with a nasty wind chill. Freezing. So I ended up reading on the couch in front of the fire and then I *made cookies*! ??? I only made a 1/4 batch and then I ate three and threw the rest away, but what??? Now I'm feeling a little draggy - probably the sugar. I had a shower and I'm leaving the house to run a few errands. Will try to put this behind me. However, time on the couch and sugary foods is really all I did last winter so I think I'll schedule the next few days tightly and just keep very busy. And very active. I get to go away in one week. Just for a few days, but it will be nice to get a blast of sunshine and heat.

Strength training at the gym this morning. I'm slowly moving up in weight. Benched 85lbs for the first time today so that was fun. Also did some rear leg elevated split squats with 35 lbs a hand in addition to pull downs, rows, face pulls, and a bunch of arm stuff with 8 lb dumbbells. Yesterday was a rest day.

That's awesome!

No, you definitely don't want a peek into that group. It sounds like you've found a great routine - nice to have a friend to lift with. I'm surprised by how easy it is for me to be swayed by what someone else is doing when everything seems to be working well for me as it is. I was in a couple of fasting groups on FB as well and kept thinking I should try a longer fast again (I used to do 3 to 4 day fasts every 4 to 6 weeks or so). So, last week dh was out of town on Tuesday and I decided not to eat dinner on Tuesday night. I normally eat dinner on Sunday and then break my fast with dinner on Tuesday. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't totally easy, either, and I didn't sleep well that night and then I was at the gym Wednesday morning. I lifted well, but I felt more out of breath before sets and probably took more time than usual between sets. Then I was *hungry* and ate a humungous lunch. When I do my regular fasting, everything is pretty normal and I don't get weird insatiable hunger or anything. I just feel normal. So, I'm back to my regular routine. Which works for me. And I decided that I should leave the fasting groups, too. I don't need to do anything different because this is working for me. I *want* to keep a food diary. Maybe once I reach my goal weight. ETA: My exercise for the day was a 15km run. Then, I did what I've been saying I should do for ages, I came home and spent half an hour doing abs in my home gym. I'd like to do that every Saturday.

Well, that's just it. I feel great! I have a ton of energy. I don't get hungry. I feel strong at the gym (9 times out of 10, anyway). I'm losing weight and I'm lifting heavier and heavier things. I feel like I've finally found what works for me but it was funny how quickly I doubted myself when I saw all the posts in that group. It's great that you know exactly what works for your body, too. I'm amazed at how long I ignored what my body was telling me and just ate things that didn't agree with me because I wanted to eat them.

Ha ha! That looks like a lot of fun.

That sounds awesome! I might try to get out for some snowshoeing at some point this winter. There's an outdoors store that does Friday evening snowshoe walks in different locations and they'll rent snowshoes to those who don't have any. Just need to find a Friday evening that works... What is the difference between skate skiing and skiing or skating? Are you skiing on ice? I guess you're not skating on snow ;) We lived on a small lake for about 8 years and it froze every winter. I absolutely loved being able to go out into my back yard and skate on the lake. I was pretty awesome at clearing big rinks, but there were a few times when the conditions were perfect and the wind had blown all the snow off the lake and we could skate across the entire thing.

I'm always surprised by how long it takes to plan meals and grocery shop - and then we actually have to cook the food and clean up afterwards.

I wish I napped more. I'm going to keep that in mind for resolutions for next year. Great job getting to the gym on a hectic day!

Had an awesome workout in the gym today. And I *love* my trainer! I joined a FB group for Women Who Lift earlier this week. It was an incredibly active group and a lot of the posts had to do with how they're all eating six times a day, using tons of supplements, and eating crazy amounts of carbs. They take stuff before they work out and after they work out and then they post pictures of how muscular they are. It totally had me questioning my own journey. Should I be eating more? Should I be supplementing? Should I eat a ton of carbs? Should I stop fasting? Anyway, I told my trainer about what I'd been reading and asked him if my progress was "normal" or if I was progressing way slower than he'd expect someone to progress and he was so great. I feel way better about what I'm doing - I'm moving steadily towards the goals we set out for me to meet and we've already had to adjust one of the goals because I exceeded it early ;) He suggested I only join groups that make me feel encouraged and drop anything that is discouraging - I had already left that FB group but I went home and left a few more that weren't doing me any good. I'm so grateful for my trainer. And for this thread! It's nice to be able to come here and talk about what we're doing or any struggles we have and to be inspired by how other people incorporate fitness into their lives. So thank you to everyone who posts here :)

That's great progress with both weight and exercise! I hear you about the knee - I dislocated my knee over ten years ago and it took years before it was normal again.

Well, since in many cases insulin resistance is a factor in the development of gallstones, it's likely that a lot of people who have had their gallbladder removed also suffer from insulin resistance and that leads to obesity.

I've had friends who were foster parents and FAS was definitely an issue with a number of kids they fostered.

I am surprised by the findings. I know that in Canada there is a huge stigma to drinking at all during pregnancy. I don't know anyone who drank during their pregnancies. However, in the UK, my midwife told me to drink Guinness to help with my iron levels. I may have had a beer once a week. I'm pretty sure I was encouraged to drink the occasional beer while breastfeeding, too.

Rest day today! My running group is taking a week off after the half-marathon, so I won't be running today. I may do some walking at the mall ;)