NON WW & WW NEWBIES, OUR NEW LIFE, THE START OF SOMETHING WONDERFUL

cmedwards52

Good Morning
Was a wonderful long weekend (Victoria Day in Canada) here. Beautiful weather finally so lots of outside time. Lots and lots of gardening/yard work Saturday and Sunday and then yesterday we took our kayaks to the lake to try them out for the first time. WONDERFUL!! Very excited for the next time. Over to our daughter's for dinner last night. Was delicious but a little heavy on the calories and SALT. Will need to do some major damage control for the rest of this week before weigh-in Friday. Have to really watch the calories and salt and ramp up the water and exercise. After so many weeks without a gain I sure don't want to break that cycle. I'm off to lunch and casino with my dear dear friend this afternoon. Will be a wonderful visit/time with her. I know I can control my lunch choices. Now if I can just be as successful with the slots.
Have a good one everyone.
Cheers, Carol

trooworld

Hi all! Well I finally got my car back and it looks great. It was an adjustment driving it after driving a much peppier car (I drive a Prius which doesn't have much get up and go, I was driving a newer Corolla rental which has more pickup). I have to remember where all the controls are lol. Hubby and I celebrated by going out to eat last night for fish and chips. Not the most healthy way to celebrate, but it was delicious. Now, back on track.

@cbabie Great job tracking! I hate the housework during the week too, and usually don't end up doing the housework, which is exactly what happened...I didn't fold the laundry! It is just in the laundry bags and will stay there until Saturday when I have more energy. Boo! I hate that. Thanks, I'm trying to be consistent. I've always had a problem with being consistent.

@theslightedgeforever I agree with cbabie, we miss you!

theslightedgeforever

trooworld Glad you got your car back. You can pretend it's brand new. I love fish and chips. How are you doing with your coach? What have you learned?

cbabie I was just watching a video and they were talking about planning. Saying this journey will suck if you don't plan. They said you don't have to be an uber planner if that doesn't fit into your lifestyle but be a practical planner. Pick 2 meals for breakfast lunch plus 2 desserts or if you are a salty snack kind of person 2 of those. Make sure they fit into your plan and just use them for the week. Rotate them however you want. If you have events in the week you can figure out how many calories,carbs, points you will allot and then fill in the rest of the meals. Before I left I was having success with knowing how many calories I wanted per each meal and snack and then finding items and I have them on a Trello card. Find out which meal you have the hardest time sticking to your plan and that is where you start. For you is it your dinner meal?

cmedwards Happy Victoria Day How did you do at the casino? Sounds like you have found a plan that works for you. That's half the battle. I've got major gardening to do. That's on my list for tomorrow.

Ok so back to my plan and losing weight. Tracking and exercise was good on vacation. Food not so much. But I did my review and put it on my Trello so I can look back at it next year and see how to improve. This year I tracked everyday. That's progress from last year.

cbabie

Wow I am in a funk...I am so happy for you @theslightedgeforever & @trooworld . You are keeping on target. Me well as you said I have not plan...oh I have a plan, but I can't seem to stick to it once I get home. I know 2 things...it's emotional and depression, possible a little hormonal. I go to my OBGYN today and she is going to be all over me on the weight I have gained since last year... I haven't had my blood test done, to check my stats in over 2 years... I keep trying every day to make little changes and I guess the only improvement I can see is I at least see and recognize I am just grazing over emotions..so thats the postive.

@theslightedgeforever glad you are getting back into your normal routine.
@trooworld Happy Dance for getting your car back. I love fish and chips..

Okay, I have to go walk and pray..until later

Cbabie

trooworld

Hi all! Well here we are, Thursday (or as I like to call it, little Friday). I hope you all are having a good week. I'm having an okay week, not much going on. I have to work on Saturday (this happens about twice a year, just so happens it happens on Memorial Day weekend go figure). I do get overtime at least.

@theslightedgeforever hi welcome back! I'm doing really well with my coach. I did gain last week, which I think gave me a slightly "I don't care" attitude this week. I have been learning mindfulness techniques around food. For instance, there is a hunger scale and I try to only eat when I am at a hunger level of around 3-4 and only eat to 5-6. If I am eating outside of these ranges, I know something else is going on. Here is a list of the scale at the bottom of this page (this page talks about the scale, she developed it):

http://www.healthycellsmagazine.com/articles/how-to-use-the-hunger-and-fullness-scale

This is probably the most helpful thing we are working on right now. I'm also working on eating with no distractions (no tv, no phone, just concentrating on the food but this is easier said than done because my husband watches tv while eating).

Great job, tracking @theslightedgeforever!

@cbabie what small changes (2-3) can you make today that can you get you headed in the right direction?

cmedwards52

Good Morning
Another beautiful day here in B.C.'s Fraser Valley. When its sunny here there really is no better place to be. Lots of gardening planned for this morning and then spending the afternoon with my favourite little people; Granddaughters 4,5 & 6 years old. Always exhausted by the time I take them home but its a very happy exhausted.

theslightedgeforever: I was actually quite lucky at the Casino. Came out with $40 to the good. Happy with that. Was lots of fun with my dear friend. We always go in with a set amount each and if we win, we share our winnings 50/50. A lot more fun that way.

cbabie: When I pre-track for the day I do much, much better. I try to do it each morning - planning my menus for the entire day. If I do it all in advance I can tweak the carbs/calories to fit.

Well I'm off to do a little light housekeeping, treadmill workout and some gardening before I pick my little ones up for an afternoon of play. Should sleep well tonight.

Enjoy your day ladies,
Carol

theslightedgeforever

cbabie So your plan once you get home is not the right plan for you, otherwise it would be easier to stick with. So you have to come up with a plan that will get you from where you are right now to where you want to be. Successful changes are not usually a big jump, but are a series of tweaks over time. So questions to think about.....if it's emotional, depression, hormonal, wouldn't You also have these during the day at work? Are you successful in the daytime because you have a strategy for your meals at work? ex. you have packed your lunch and snacks. If you had a healthy dinner waiting on you each night, would it be easier to stick to your plan or would you still eat junk?

trooworld When I looked up your link I saw quad cities IL/IA and thought yaaay I was just there. Nice hunger scale. I rarely get a 7-10 because I'm a grazer. But that's not good either.

cmedwards that sounds like a good day you had. Still haven't got to the garden yet. I'm more tired than usual. I said tomorrow now. lol

Speaking of which I'm headed to get some sleep.

trooworld

Hi all. I hope you all have wonderful plans for the weekend. I am working tomorrow (as I said) and then on Sunday, we are going over to my sister-in-law's house for a bbq/picnic. Other than that, just relaxing. I gained 0.9 lbs this week, I'm sure it's because I couldn't use the restroom this morning (TMI? Sorry...). Plus dinner last night was kind of salty. Oh well, next week will probably show a loss.

@cmedwards52 I do much better when I pre-track as well. I usually pre-track.

@theslightedgeforever no that's not good because you are not letting yourself get hungry probably, right? The scale is also in the book by Michelle May I am reading, "Eat What You Love, Love What You Eat: How to Break Your Eat-Repent-Repeat Cycle" which is very good.

cbabie

Morning! I didn't make it on here yesterday and I totally binged. I am going to do this 7 day program, to try and get me back on track. I will check in here each day and be accountable to you and to myself. I went to the OBGYN and we discussed my weight gain and my age. So it's time for me to take the control back that I have given away and work on this. I appreciate all of your helpful comments. I am so happy to be on this board.

@trooworld I hope you enjoy your weekend, even though you have to work part of it. that book sounds interesting...although I have about 5 books all stacked up waiting for me to read them.
@theslightedgeforever You're right, I don't have a plan in place that works for me. I truly am black and white. I need to have boundaries and when I was on WW, I know I had 24 points...and if I went over it was dooms day for me...so I would eat what ever that would keep me there..since then I know more about clean eating and just because it's 1 point, doesn't mean its good for me. So I have been struggling to do this. I am determined to not let my emotions "eat" me. LOL
@cmedwards52 Hope you have a great holiday.

Cbabie

trooworld

Hi all! Well, I didn't sleep well last night because I'm so nervous about my work project that I have to do today. It's installing an exhibit case at our county fair and I usually do it with my officemate, but she's on vacation. She's an extreme perfectionist and I know she expects that level out of me even though she's not there. I'm kind of freaking myself out over here. I have help, but I don't trust the two people I have helping me to be perfectionists to her level. I don't even know if I trust myself to get to that level lol. I'll just have to do my best. I just don't want the two people I'm with to rush me, because then I'll make a mistake or drop something valuable. I can only do my best, right?

@cbabie what does this 7 day program entail? I'm happy you are on this board and look forward to you being here daily too!

cmedwards52

Just a thought ladies but maybe you'd like to try a low-carb diet. It is working wonders for me. I've lost about 11 lbs in the last 5 1/2 weeks and since I started this I have not had any stomach problems (IBS/acid reflux). I think (and so does my Dr.) I just may be gluten intolerant and have been for many, many years. Oh how I wish I'd figured that out some time ago. Anyway, if you are interested you could google low carb diets but the gist is this: NO sugar, flour, rice, pasta or potatoes. NO high sugar fruits. Eat only veggies that grow above the ground with the exception of peas and corn. Keep your carbs to a net 30. Net carbs are carbs minus fiber. You also are to eat full fat on this diet so butter instead of margarine, full fat mayonnaise and dairy, salad dressings etc. Drink at least 8 8oz glasses of water per day and exercise will definitely help your cause. I don't feel hungry and I no longer crave sweets. I LOVE breads and I do miss them but I'm getting ok it, as long they are not in sight. In a restaurant, when I order something that comes with bread, I ask them to "please leave the bread/bun etc in the kitchen. Lots of restaurants will make you a burger now wrapped in lettuce rather than a bun. Really very tasty. Anyway, might be worth a try. Sure can't hurt!!
Cheers, Carol

trooworld

Hi all! I hope you are having a wonderful weekend. The setup of my display at the fair yesterday went pretty well. I felt rushed by the people helping me, which did make me make a mistake but a pretty minor one. We went to lunch afterwards, I had a chicken caesars salad. I was so tired, when I got home I took about a two hour nap. Today I'm going grocery shopping and then going to my sister-in-law's house for a fake bbq. Fake because we aren't grilling, she's buying bbq food from a restaurant and making baked beans, and we are bringing salad and asian dumplings lol.

@cmedwards52 I already do eat a semi-low carb diet.

theslightedgeforever

Here's the WW meeting weekly highlights

https://youtu.be/ZZ88dCjui28

theslightedgeforever

trooworld I do get hungry if I skip a snack but then if I go too long my blood sugar drops and I become a bear. I have my calories set to include 3 meals and 3 snacks. In reality I almost never eat my morning snack as I like a bigger breakfast and use those calories for breakfast. I don't really do alot of mindless eating as my snacks are planned. On your perfectionist coworker, if she wanted it done a certain way she shouldn't have went on vacation. It may not be HER way but it's your way and I have confidence in you that you did your very best. There is always room for improvement in everything we do. We'll just take note and do better next time. We learn from everything we do. None of us are perfect.

cbabie What if you started telling yourself I used to be black and white but I'm finding out there's a little gray in me. I'm mostly black and white but there's a little gray. Would you be better off going back to tracking smartpoints? You still have boundaries called calories. The trick is not to go over just like points. Of course clean eating is the goal for us all but I also think practicality and balance, moderation come in here too. No emotional eating either is a goal but I think it's very rare that a person can go from totally eating emotions to not eating emotions all at once. The trick at first is to find things that will comfort you but are healthier than your normal foods you use to comfort you. Then you can work at finding other things to comfort you besides food. So can you find a replacement for sweets, salty, crunchy, comfort, chocolatey foods? That way in the evening when your stress levels are high or you are sad you don't go get a bowl of ice cream unless it's low sugar low fat ice cream or frozen yogurt or a frozen smoothie. Keep a list of your go-to foods handy along with keeping them on hand so when you need to grab, you can.

cmedwards I'm on a modified carb diet. I can lose about 1 lb a week which is my goal if I stick within my parameters. I do 142g for 3 days, 133 for 2 days, and 170 for 2 days.The minute I'm told NO of anything I crave it. I can't fathom staying on a low carb diet the rest of my life. So I'm trying to lose the weight like I'll maintain it. So I'm having one piece of toast instead of two.Using zuchinni instead of pasta. Slower this way but hopefully it will be permanent for me. I just didn't stick with my parameters while on vacation.

Hope everyone is having a good Memorial weekend.

trooworld

Hi all! The mistake I made with the work project is getting to me, it's my anxiety that is making it a big thing. What happened is that I put up a display/exhibit for the fair, and when it was done, I thought I saw a dust spot on the gray mat that we use as a base for the display. I think I really saw it, but I can't be sure until I go back to see it when everyone is looking at it. But my anxiety is really high about it and I should have caught this mistake. It may ruin the whole display. I don't know why I didn't see it, or why the other two people helping me didn't see it.

Today, I go to get new tires for my car. There is a place that was recommended to me that I can get tires for $250 for a whole set, which I understand to be a good price. I don't know how to pick out tires, so I'm going to rely on the sales guy to help me.

Other than that, I am going to go for a walk with one of my best friends who has left the state. I hope everyone is having a great weekend!

@theslightedgeforever thanks for the meeting highlights. I'm so glad she does those and glad you post them! Yeah, I include 3 meals and 2 snacks myself, but rarely eat all of them too. It's nice to have them planned just in case. re: my perfectionist officemate...she's going to be mad at me but you are right, if she wanted it perfect, she shouldn't have gone on vacation. I'm with you, I won't do anything I can't do forever.

@cbabie I like @theslightedgeforever's ideas. Make a list of go-to foods when you are feeling in an "ok" mood and then when you are in a low mood, you have that list to fall back on.

cbabie

Morning all: I ate the items on the "program" yesterday, but not all, some I just don't like. However, I wasn't hungry and didn't crave sweets. So my caloric intake was too small.. trying to be better today and eat more. Boy is that a switch..LOL They also have a 15 min workout and oh my my muscles are sore.

@trooworld I am so sorry about your anxiety...I have learned that when my mind takes over like that in fear it is not of God and it is usually unfounded and lies. So I say I agree with @theslightedgeforever and you did your very best and that is what counts. You should be proud, despite your fears of not doing a good job, you did your job!!!

@theslightedgeforever Thanks for the post and the tidbits..I am trying to find my place and I WILL

I hope you all have a great Memorial Day.

cbabie

theslightedgeforever

trooworld My family says I have laser eyes because I see things no one else does and like you start having anxiety about the smallest things that no one else usually notices. I really drive my family nuts they tell me. I tell them they drive me nuts too just in other ways So I am learning to use self talk in trying to calm myself down. If no one came up and said anything about the dust spot, they didn't see it or didn't care. You had two helpers. They could have noticed it but didn't. Keep telling yourself next time I'll take care of the dust spot. I bet it was a good display.

cbabie Good for you for sticking to your plan.and doing the workout. On to the next day. I say keep the things you like about the plan and throw away what you don't. Add in some other things and call it cbabie's plan

theslightedgeforever

cbabie Im watching a video and thought of you. They were talking about eating foods you love. Think of your favorite foods and see how you can lighten them up or reduce the portion size so that they fit into your plan. Alot of what I was saying yesterday. Does anyone have an airfryer? I wondered if it would be worth it to get me one.

cbabie

Morning:

I was doing good but about 2:30 yesterday I was so hungry and this program only allows you to eat 4 times a day. So I have to start day 1 again. It is showing me how food works together in our bodies. I know I don't need a lot of carbs at my age, but I also know we need them. This is not about carbs or no carbs, this is about not binging and know when you are hungry and when you are just dehydrated. I will keep trying til I find my place.

@theslightedgeforever I am listening..LOL I don't have an airfyer..imagine a gadget I don't have,

okay off to walk...oh yea I have been doing this 15 min workout and it's lunges, planks, arms...yea I am sore..but it's a good sore.

cbabie

trooworld

Hi all. Well, that holiday weekend went by quickly! lol I didn't get any meal prep done because my husband said if I ran an errand for him, he would cook all the meals this week. So I said I would do that. So I'm off cooking duty all week (he usually does most of the cooking anyway).

@cbabie I forget, what do you mean by "on the program", which "program" are you doing? Great job with the workout and I guess being under on the calories is better than being over! Thank you for your kind words about my anxiety. I did do a pretty good job, I should have taken a picture of the case to post here, it was really nice. I'll try to take a pic to post once the fair starts.

@theslightedgeforever that's how my officemate is. Her eyes are going to go right to that spot, you watch. When she goes to the fair (I'll probably go with her), her eyes will go straight to the mistakes! lol I have an air fryer. I don't like it, it doesn't hold much food and takes what I think is a long time to cook it. I might be in the minority with my opinion, a lot of people like them. What I want is a pressure cooker. I would give you my air fryer if you lived closer to me. I really think it was a mistake to buy, I've used it 3 times maybe.