Optimistic for an Outstanding October!

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How's that for a title! :wink:

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  • Carla_wfpb
    Carla_wfpb Posts: 1,336 Member
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    It's perfect! Lovely alliteration plus we're not over committed to anything! ;)



  • whats_her_name
    whats_her_name Posts: 716 Member
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    We certainly don't want to over-commit! :grin:

    Last night I got groceries. Plenty of fruits and veggies, not so many starchy carbs.

    Then I spent 5 hours in the kitchen. I washed, I cut, I portioned, I bagged. I made overnight oats and mushroom/onion/celery/baby bok choy stirfry and portioned it all out for 4 meals each. Then I made the kids' lunches and my food for the day. Here's what I packed.

    B: overnight oats with blueberries
    morning snack: canteloupe and grapes
    L: stirfry on rice
    afternoon snack: raw mushrooms, celery and carrots with roasted garlic hummus

    Pretty good day at the office, I'd say!!

    And then for supper tonight I'm going to have a big, big salad.

    Tuesday and Wednesday will be almost identical except I might switch out the fruits and veggies for my oats/snack/hummus.

    I don't love spending that much time in the kitchen, but I do love having everything prepped and ready to go.

    And tonight is swim night. 1km for sure, and I'll see how fatigued I am. I am going to build up my distance gradually so I don't hurt myself by doing too much too soon...
  • bisky
    bisky Posts: 989 Member
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    Hi,

    What a great title. I just joined the Eat To Live group.

    I can give up meats, cheese, most dairy and sweets but not my a.m. coffee with skim milk. Any suggestions? I make a cappuccino and almond milk won't "froth" in my frother. I know this will probably slow my weight loss and might not be healthy but I love my morning coffee.
    Headed to grocery store for fruits and vegetables and beans. Thank you for this group. I have been on this diet for a week now and feel so much better.

    Donna
  • whats_her_name
    whats_her_name Posts: 716 Member
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    Welcome, Donna. Have you tried frothing coconut milk? I'm not a coffee drinker, so I'm not sure if it'll work as a substitution... Let us know if you find something that works!

  • Mihani
    Mihani Posts: 3,915 Member
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    Awesome thread title Karrie, thanks! Great job prepping. I don't like the long prep times either, but it definitely is worth it to have everything ready to go for a few days. I just look at it as I can prep for a couple hours a couple times a week, or spend an hour a night cooking. I'll take the couple times a week!

    Hi Donna! Welcome to the group. Do you like any plant based milks? There are even some really good flavored plant based creamers out there these days. I buy them every once in a while for a treat, but usually just drink coffee black. Although I'm off coffee for now, going on 3 weeks I think. Have fun on your shopping trip... are you doing the 6 week plan or starting with the life plan? Most of us are more on life plan although we do occasional reboots.

    Today was good although I had dinner plans with a friend after work and I allowed myself one margarita.

    B - steel cut oats with blueberries, oat milk, a few walnuts, cinnamon
    L - lentil soup
    D - veggie taco and a margarita, a few chips and salsa
  • Mihani
    Mihani Posts: 3,915 Member
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    Carla, just checked the last post on September. Did you get your cleanup done? How are the socks coming along?
  • bisky
    bisky Posts: 989 Member
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    Hi Mihani, I am trying for the 6 week plan despite the coffee issue. I will look for the plant based creamers. I wish I could just go black but I enjoy that one cappuccino in the morning and then I drink tea for the rest of the day. I have the blueberries, walnuts, oatmeal with almond milk....will have to add cinnamon tomorrow!
  • whats_her_name
    whats_her_name Posts: 716 Member
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    Yup, having everything prepped sure makes my mornings easier (and my meals at work are much healthier too), so it's definitely worth it.

    Did my swim last night. I lost count of my laps, so I either did 1km again, or I was a couple laps short of that. Normally I'd do the extra laps to make SURE I hit the 1km, but I was getting a bit frustrated with the people in my lane, so I bailed.

    Carla, what socks are you making?? I need to go back to last month's thread and check it out...
  • bisky
    bisky Posts: 989 Member
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    RATS! I did not read the ingredients for this fat free half and half...it has CORN SYRUP.....I should have stuck with skim milk. Kinda cranky feeling after an awesome clean day yesterday on ETL I started today out wrong...need to get over this and not destroy the rest of the day. I use to drink 4-6 cups of coffee a day and now down to one cappuccino in the morning that I make with my nespresso machine. Now onto long walk with dogs then food prepping, soup making and roasting vegetables.

  • Carla_wfpb
    Carla_wfpb Posts: 1,336 Member
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    Hi Donna, welcome to the group! I have a Nespresso machine too. It took me forever to find a non-dairy substitute I liked. I ended up with So Good (??) Coconut creamer in unflavored. I think there are a few 'iffy' ingredients in there, but overall better than having the dairy. I can't remember...I *think* it froths okay, but because it is a creamer I didn't want to use it like milk so eventually I just added it like regular cream. I managed to cut out coffee on my last reboot (for the first time ever!) and now I only have coffee very occasionally and when I do I can actually enjoy it black.

    Wow, Karrie. That is amazing food prep! Great job on the swim!!! I am doing super simple socks so I get them done! I'll add the pic underneath. I love the yarn! So fun to do self striping and see how it comes out. It keeps me going. There's a bit of sparkle in the sock too.

    How was your dinner out, Mihani? I remember margaritas! Yum! The "Big Momma" margarita at our local Mexican restaurant would knock me on my butt! Anyway, the odd drink when out with a friend seems totally reasonable.

    I soaked some chick peas overnight so I'll be throwing those in the IP this morning for good old lemon tahini burgers. It's chilly this morning so I'm not feeling my smoothie. I guess I'm in for another round of steel cut oats. The only bad thing about the switch is that I'm missing out on 2 cups of greens. I just can't picture eating oatmeal with spinach in it!

    4kozzp67lreu.jpg
  • Mihani
    Mihani Posts: 3,915 Member
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    Oh nooooo… sorry about the corn syrup Donna. I hate when I realize later I missed something on a label. What kind of dogs do you have? I have a 60-ish pound lab mix, he is about 9 years old. I’ve always had multiple dogs but after my old shepherd died a couple years ago I decided not to bring in a new dog. I work a lot and just not ready to take on another dog.

    Karrie, well done on the swim! I bet you did the full 1 km.

    I am going to try the lemon tahini burgers next Carla. I liked the BBQ burgers I made but I wasn’t crazy about them. Dinner out was fun. I haven’t spent much time with this friend the past few years, we’re both always busy, so it was great to catch up a little. Super cute socks!

    B – same steel cut oats, oat milk, blueberries, walnuts
    L – same lentil soup (I froze the rest, made a huge batch)
    D – whole wheat sandwich flat with homemade E2 hummus and baby spinach, steamed asparagus and broccoli

    I was more hungry today than I have been the past couple weeks, was hard to avoid snacking temptation, but I managed. Going to eat a nice big dinner with lots of veggies. Then upstairs to my office to work on a case that is going to take me several hours. :|
  • whats_her_name
    whats_her_name Posts: 716 Member
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    I'm eating the same thing today as the last 2 days. But today it was raspberries in my overnight oats. Tasty, but I think I prefer the blueberries...

    I'd be interested to know how the lemon tahini burgers work out, Mihani; keep us posted!
  • bisky
    bisky Posts: 989 Member
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    Hi,
    Thank you Mihani. I have a big big yorkie, a big miniature schnauzer and a normal size west highland terrier. They are all second hand dogs. The yorkie and schnauzer both came from Europe. All 3 were owned by air force families that could not keep them for various reasons. They get me up in the morning and are absolutely impossible until they have their 30-60 minutes morning walk. Best exercise equipment. I had a golden put he passed away a couple of years ago. I still miss him.4og9c17jvvcd.jpg

    Thank you Carla for the creamer suggestion. I am going to go look for it.

    My husband was sent to St. Thomas 3 weeks ago with his AF medical team, he has been in Puerto Rico for the last 10 days and on Friday I think he and his team are going to St. Croix. We just moved from Aviano, Italy to San Antonio, Tx....we haven't unpacked all our boxes before he was sent away...sigh. Thank God for a GPS to get around a new city. I have a fire alarm that is chirping low batteries and yesterday I lost wifi. I am in the library catching up on MFP and emails.

    The good news is that it is so much easier to start the Eat to Live while he is gone and experiment with recipes. I will be on week 4 when he comes back!

    Carrie, I bought a simple timex ironman watch to count my laps when I was swimming in Italy. My friend has an expensive garmin that counted laps or distance for her. I am fussy about who is in my lane too.

    I love the color of the socks!

    Donna







  • Mihani
    Mihani Posts: 3,915 Member
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    I always prefer blueberries too Karrie. I like other berries but the seeds get on my nerves sometimes!

    What beautiful dogs Donna! Italy is somewhere I've always wanted to visit. One of these days I will. You'll have some company on the 6 week plan starting next week. I was thinking about it last night, and Thanksgiving is just a little over 6 weeks away. (Here in the states at least... when is it in Canada, Karrie?) Sounds like a good time for another reboot!

    Didn't eat much today. Work was really crazy. Looking forward to dinner.

    B - Vega ready to drink shake... I overslept and was rushing to get out of the house and I had some in the office fridge
    L - some roast sweet potato that I made last night and some steamed broccoi, only got through a few bites before a client wandered in and I never got back to it so I have it for tomorrow's lunch
    D - E2 hummus on a sandwich flat with steamed asparagus, sliced tomato and baby spinach
  • Mihani
    Mihani Posts: 3,915 Member
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    Another long day at the office!

    B - oats with blueberries, walnuts, oat milk
    L - steamed broccoli and roasted sweet potato
    D - salad
    S - a few triscuits
  • sloth3toes
    sloth3toes Posts: 2,212 Member
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    Normally I'd do the extra laps to make SURE I hit the 1km, but I was getting a bit frustrated with the people in my lane, so I bailed.
    bisky wrote: »
    I am fussy about who is in my lane too.

    I could be the fussiest. I will automatically start to pout if there isn't a free lane, just for me. If I have to join someone in a lane, I try to scope out which swimmer I will fit with best. I eliminate the ones swimming down the middle of the lane, even though they are by themselves, unless they see me, and move over. I try to find someone who I think I can keep up with, although I rest at the both ends of the pool, every time. I sometimes give up and just go to the hot tub. I also sometimes cut my swim short if the interlopers in my lane are getting on my nerves. Which isn't hard to do. :huh:

  • Carla_wfpb
    Carla_wfpb Posts: 1,336 Member
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    Hi guys! Happy Friday! And Happy Canadian Thanksgiving weekend!

    I have my cousin and her gf coming over and staying with us a few days, so I'm prepping for that. I hope I'll be able to steer clear of whatever snacks are in the house while they're here. It's been long enough having really junky junk food that as long as I don't taste it again I should be fine.

    I haven't been feeling inspired at all as far as cooking goes so I've been keeping it super simple. I've been roasting yams in the oven and having those on hand and I'm going to do the same with some baked tofu.
  • bisky
    bisky Posts: 989 Member
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    Mihani

    For some reason roasted sweet potatos sounds delicious and filling. I am excited to have company on this 6 week plan!

    Carla - that makes sense to roast several sweet potatoes to have on hand. Do roast them with skin on and whole? I usually cut the skin off and roast sweet potato chunks and give my dogs the roasted skins.

    Sloth, I went to a gentle yoga class today and no one was in the pool. I was so upset I did not bring my suit.

    Went out to dinner last night...I knew it would be tough as it was all south western food and no vegetarian options. I had a chicken taco salad with no cheese and used guacamole for dressing. Club soda and lemons...I used the excuse I was driving and without my husband to not have a wonderful margarita. I brought home most of the chicken for the dogs.
  • Mihani
    Mihani Posts: 3,915 Member
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    Scott's back! But only to talk about how fussy he is about his lanes lol.

    Carla, hope you have a fun weekend!

    Donna, I cook up batches of sweet and russet potatoes once or twice a week. Better than chips or crackers when I'm having starchy cravings. Sounds like you made a decent choice on food at the restaurant, and passing up margaritas takes lots of willpower! I wonder if they could have replaced the chicken with beans on the taco salad, next time maybe check that option.

    A while back I had mentioned I'm not crazy about sweet potato skin, and Carla had agreed on that. Since then I've found that the garnet sweet potatoes the skin is actually fine. It's the regular sweet potatoes that I don't groove on the skins. I quarter them then put them skin side up on parchment paper in a baking dish, cover with foil, and bake for about an hour at 375 degrees. Delicious! Kind of creamy and sweet, and very filling. I eat them totally plain like that.

    I am going to a neighbor's house for cocktails, so I will indulge a little bit tonight. Not going to the office tomorrow but brought work home. I'll go in Sunday. Going to start the 6 week plan either Sunday or Monday.

    Happy Thanksgiving to our Canadian friends! I wasn't sure when it was, thanks for the reminder Carla.
  • Mihani
    Mihani Posts: 3,915 Member
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    Oh, I forgot to mention... a client gave me a thank you gift card so I have $50 to spend at Whole Foods! I love when clients get me! So my 6 week plan start is going to depend on whether I get to WF tomorrow or Sunday. I thought it was sort of a sign or something, that I decided to start the 6 week plan and the client showed up with that gift card that I can go spend on lots of produce (fresh and frozen) and beans and such. I don't go to Whole Foods often, maybe once a year or so, because it's expensive, but the 365 brands and produce are okay prices.