MARCHing to the ETL drum!
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You all are so motivating! I'm still not ready for the 6 week challenge, but it's encouraging to know that I can start at any time and reap success.
What I am doing is eating "vegan" as much as possible. Meaning, good choices for breakfast and lunch (although I'm struggling with big salads so if I'm not up for a salad I choose a vegan entrée and a side of carrot & celery sticks). I've picked up a variety of vegan meat substitutes & a vegan cheese so that when the family eats junk, I can reach for vegan junk.
I'm still battling sugar cravings in the afternoon and I keep giving in to them. I haven't got on a scale for over a week because I've picked up a couple pounds and am a bit discouraged. I don't want to be that person! Really, it comes down to the sugar for me. Sugar = no weight loss, even when I'm under my daily calorie goal!
Carla, congrats on the new car! We bought a new used car about 3 weeks ago. I'd been driving a 1999 Yukon since 2005 but our son's car tanked in January so we were sharing mine - which made for a crazy schedule. He's inherited the Yukon and now all that's left is to figure out a way to get rid of his car, which needs a new engine.
B - oatmeal w/small banana, 1 tsp of unsweetened coconut, 3 walnut halves
L - Pinto beans in a whole wheat tortilla w/ cilantro and tomato, a handful of carrots and celery, and a clementine
S - a larabar and (here comes the processed sugar) a 12 oz. hot chocolate
D- will be Salad w/ Braggsberry Dressing, 15 bean soup, a pear
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Thank you for the tip, Carla_wfpb! Definitely checking the site out!0
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The car inspection checked out and we bought the car. It's a 2014 Honda Civic. We've both driven Civics in the past and liked them. I'm really happy to have my car back, and Joe is happy to not have to drive the truck every time I need the car for the day! I took ownership of my car back by cleaning it inside and out. It feels good to have it clean and shiny again!
CoffeeandPie, looks like a good food day! I like Lara bars a lot. My faves are the pecan pie, cashew cookie, and the coconut one. I've been avoiding them lately because I've been known to go overboard on them...especially if I buy an entire box on Amazon
Congrats on your new car, too!
RunningMaven, hope the site is helpful! In awe of your long distance running! How's ETL working for you so far, or are you still looking at how to make it work?
Mihani, you are much more adventurous with putting together recipes than I am. The lentil stew sounds good. I haven't had a grapefruit in ages. Maybe it's time. How is your work load lately?
Today is going to be a catch up day for me. I have cleaning to do around the house and some errands to run in town. I'm hoping to get in a decent walk before the rain starts this afternoon...I'll probably just end up walking in town while I'm there anyway.
B - smoothie w/ mango, strawberries & blueberries
L - tu-no salad over mixed baby greens
S - orange or pear
D - shepherd's pie and salad0 -
Well I just can't keep up with the threads at all. Still loving the new job, which is VERY busy. Still haven't unpacked all the boxes yet. Still haven't sold the old house. Still have a ton of stuff over there that we'll have to find room for at the new house. What a gong show...
RunningMaven, I have done marathons, half marathons, 1 triathlon and 1 tough mudder. But it's been 2 years since the tough mudder, and I am currently OUT OF SHAPE. I'm trying to get back on track; in fact today was my first day back at it.
I walked on the treadmill this morning. I did 40 minutes and I got day 1 under my belt. I'm going to just walk for a couple of weeks to get myself moving again and get my feet used to my brand new shoes. I have past foot injuries, so I need to ease into it or I'll just get hurt all over again. After that, I'll add sprints to my walks for 8 weeks, gradually increasing the number of sprints I do each week. That'll bring me to the end of May, and then I'll start jogging outside. My goals for the summer are to run 5-10km every morning and then maybe I'll consider signing up for my next half marathon.
... maybe
So my focus right now is nutrition and sleep, so I have the energy to keep moving!!!
Maybe if I get up even earlier I'll have some time to catch up with the thread...0 -
C&P, just adding lots of greens for the time being will do a lot to get you on the way. I used to not really enjoy eating salad every day, and I would often make hummus wraps and stuff them as full of veggies as possible. Anymore I really like eating salads every day. Your meals sound good!
Congrats on getting your car back Carla! I have trouble with lara bars too, best for me to leave them at the store.
I am still super busy. Going to put in another couple hours tonight.
Karrie, hope the house sells soon. At least that will get all the work concentrated in one place. Nicely done on the treadmill.
B – oatmeal cooked with water topped with cinnamon and a diced pear
L – usual salad, an orange
D – leftover lentil stew, sautéed mushrooms, sautéed purple kale and red chard, a few spears of asparagus, small apple with a dab of peanut butter
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Hurray for the new car, Carla! No more musical chairs with vehicles! Did you enjoy your shepherd's pie?
Karrie, great workout on the treadmill!
Mihani - nice menu today. I have not attempted chard of any kind yet. But I love "massaged" kale!
I had a good day beginning a long, slow (major) decluttering project. Lots of reasons: in preparation for dd's graduation party in June, in preparation for me returning to work this Summer (finishing homeschool), and we hope to sell our home in the next year or two. We've accumulated loads of stuff (especially homeschooling) during the14 years that we've lived here. Our two kids are on the verge of leaving the nest and we want to be ready to make big changes once they are on their way.
Today:
40 minute walk at the community center.
B - oatmeal w/ banana, coconut, walnuts
L - bean soup, salad, pear
D - stuffed bell pepper*, salad
S - Spinach & fruit smoothie
*Bell pepper was stuffed w/onions, mushrooms, peppers, bulgar, 1 oz. beef, 1 oz. Vegan beef crumbles. I tried some Chao Vegan Cheese on top of my stuffed pepper. It didn't add much flavor for the calories (and of course it didn't melt). I'll try it on a bean burger soon.0 -
Nice day C&P with food and exercise. I need to declutter my house, but I'll likely just keep putting it off until I move.0
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I'm 2 for 2 on the treadmill. Yay me! I moved the speed up one notch. Will keep moving it up one tenth per day until I'm at 4mph by the weekend. Then I'll leave it there for the second week before I add sprints.
I have to admit, it feels REALLY good to be up in the morning and to have already finished my workout before anyone else wakes up. And I'm in love with my Zombies, Run! app again, I've missed it!!
B - grapefruit, red grapes, apple
L - green smoothie; I PACKED the blender full of spinach & baby kale!
D - OSG Kale & Red Lentil soup and some cucumber slices
I'm going to go swimming tonight, too. I feel so athletic today!
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Nice day C&P with food and exercise. I need to declutter my house, but I'll likely just keep putting it off until I move.
Well it certainly works, but it also SUCKS to have to declutter and pack and move all at the same time!!!
Also, I wasn't very good at the declutter part. I still have too much stuff. So I'm going to have to go on another Varage Sale selling spree... (which is ok, because my hubby said I can use the money I get to buy whatever I want for the house - yay!! I still need an area rug or two, a nighttable, a bench for the front entrance and a counter height bar stool for my craft room. And just décor stuff, too... Lots left to get...)0 -
Karrie, woot! Great 2 days in a row on the treadmill, and awesome fitness goals! I'm with you, packing and decluttering at the same time is the suck. Hope you have more good luck with Varage. Enjoy your swim, you bad*ss
(trying to avoid badkitten! haha)
C&P, nice day! The stuffed bell peppers sound yummy! I haven't had luck with vegan cheeses, other than cheese-like sauces. The Shepherd's Pie was good. I overstuffed it with veggies so next time I'll put it in a bigger container so I can fit more potatoes on top. The kale-potatoes turned out really good. A nice way to get in extra kale since I don't like the taste of it in my smoothies.
Mihani, fingers crossed for you that the workload will continue to go down until you get to a level that feels good to you. I have lara bars left over from Dec/Jan that I haven't touched. I went overboard on them so much that I got sick of them. I'm leaving them alone, I don't went to mess with my groove!
I got in a short walk yesterday before the rain started. There are showers forecast for today, but the rest of the week is supposed to be dry and partly sunny so I should get in some good walks. I'm going to see about going to a physiotherapist to strengthen the muscles around my knees so that I'm able to jog again in the future.
I logged my food in MFP yesterday. I'm not sure I'll do it every day, but I like having a record of it. It's going to be a pain to log my dinners since they are involved recipes and different every day.
B - smoothie
L - tu-no salad over baby greens, tomato
D - Green Goddesss Broccoli and Lentil salad with herb croutons
S - orange
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So, I couldn't sleep last night and at 11:30 my stomach was growling so much it hurt. I should have gotten up and had a spoonful of peanut butter or something as sleep was restless when it finally came. So, today was a zombie-day. I took a short midday nap and was ready for a walk this afternoon. Outside!!! In Minnesota!!! 44 degrees and sunny. Yay!
Mihani, you mentioned greens the other day. Good advice! For whatever reason, I can handle salad better when it's with a main dish. A bigger side salad or smoothie w/greens has been working well.
Karrie, I hope to jog/run some day but right now it would be dangerous . There are women at the track who make it look effortless - not so when I make attempts. Hoping to give it a try in another 10 lbs or so. Did I see something about you doing marathons???
Carla, I've gotta try the tu-no salad soon. So curious!
B- oatmeal w/diced apple & cinnamon, walnuts
L- Subway whole wheat ham & mega veggies sandwich (sorry! )
D- Bean soup & salad
S - Larabar & half an apple0 -
Hello y'all... still buried in work. Today was a repeat of yesterday except swapped the after dinner apple for a grapefruit and added a wasa cracker with a dab of peanut butter. Just wrapping up work for tonight and heading to bed, will catch up more later.
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C&P, you don't need to wait for the 10 lbs. Just start now walking at a brisk pace. Fast enough and it'll still make you sweat and burn calories!! That's exactly what I'm trying to do because I'm so far out of shape that there's no way I could just start running right now. Do that for a few weeks and then the jogging will come. Jog for enough weeks and then you will get faster. Go for it!!
Mihani, you're supposed to be getting less swamped at work; where's your helper!?!?
I am 3 for 3 on the treadmill today. Bumped it up to 3.7 mph and that's definitely a threshold for me. I was more sweaty today. Just doing 40 minutes every day this week. Next week I'm hoping to bump it up to an hour. Baby steps!!
I need to load up my phone with more songs. I'm getting tired of the same old songs all the time!!
B - orange and banana
L - big honkin' salad
S - not sure yet; I think I need groceries
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Okay, so I added some turkey sausage to this, but it didn't need it. So, so good! I tweaked it a bit. I added mushrooms and omited the chickpeas and peas (which I didn't have). I also did not have ingredients for the "sour cream".
Here is the link: https://www.forksoverknives.com/recipes/twice-baked-sweet-potatoes/#gs.ma2cVUQ
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Wow, pretty dinner C&P.
Still working a lot, not much time to check in. Today's meals were another repeat. I'm so glad I have food ready to go this week! Tomorrow I will have time to catch up with everyone's posts.
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Happy Friday!
I'm 4 for 4 this week on the treadmill. Yay me! 3.8 mph was challenging. Makes me nervous about going to 4.0 so soon... Guess I'll find out in 2 more days...
I am pretty sure I have broken toes because I can feel it at the beginning of each day's workout. They've been that way for years now, so I'm not sure there's anything I can do about it... Sucks.
Anyone have any plans for the weekend? I have cleaning and unpacking and taxes. Sounds fun, doesn't it? I bet you're all super jealous...
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Great job on the treadmill, Karrie! I'm doing something similar where I'm trying to pick up the pace and extend my walks as I go. I'm doing it more gradually, though, since my knees and feet are picky and I don't want to get injured.
C&P that meal looks so good!
My mom and I walked for an hour and 15 minutes yesterday, and then ended up doing some shopping in a mall afterwards and getting in a lot of extra steps. I found some good deals at Old Navy, including some cute 'pixie' length/style pants on clearance for $5! We each got a pair. I took a chance and ordered a few tops that were on sale from White House Black Market online, and they fit nice. I'm all set now for this size and will wait until these ones get too loose before I go on another spree.
I'm not sure what I'll get up to this weekend, aside from the usual weekend food batch. I'm going to try to get in a walk or two, depending on how much yard work I end up doing.
Yesterday, I was out all afternoon and missed out on lunch. Luckily, I packed a few pears and pumpkin seeds for my Mom and I to snack on. I had my usual smoothie for breakfast, and then a really yummy dinner with marinated cabbage "steaks" over mashed potatoes with kale, lentils, veggies, and smoky sauce drizzled overtop. One of my favorites.
Today
B - smoothie
L - tuno salad over greens
D - Shamrock Hummus Bowl (greens, green goddess dressing, veggies, sprouts, toasted almonds)0 -
Karrie, thanks for the walking tips! I've been walking 4-5 days per week since late December and building stamina. With short legs, it seems like it would be easier to jog rather than walk so maybe I'll add some intermittent jogging and see how it goes. (It can be difficult to walk w/a fast pace with short legs!)
Mihani, hope work calms down for you soon!
Carla your cabbage steak dinner sounds delicious! Nice walk for you and mom!
I'm excited to say that I had a big salad for lunch! And I enjoyed it! I'm thinking that it just took a little longer than anticipated to get the refined carbs & sugar out of my system. Eating clean(er) tastes good after the adjustment.
I need to watch my fat intake and starchy vegetables. I'm not losing as fast as I could be. I may need to rachet down my fruit intake too, as my blood sugar numbers aren't going down. They aren't bad, but fasting bs has been between 100-105 the past few mornings.
This weekend: I'm with ya, Karrie. We're doing taxes - "oh fer fun". I'll take time on Saturday to meal plan/prep for the coming week. Church on Sunday.
B - Quick Banana Oat Breakfast to Go (from The End of Diabetes - Fuhrman)
L- Big salad w/pinto beans and a dollup of "sour cream" (tofu, vinegar- meh)
D- Not sure. Thinking a veggie wrap & soup
S - Orange or pear, walnuts
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Way to go Karrie, getting back into that treadmill habit. Any nibbles on the house sale?
Carla, sounds like a fun day with your mom. Yay for new clothes, and especially the fact you needed them because you're smaller! Cabbage "steak" sounds interesting. I googled and found several recipes. Will have to give that a try.
C&P your meals look great today. Glad you are enjoying salads.
The hope is work will get better eventually, now that I finally have some backup. The problem is he is a freelance guy and not in the office, so I still have to get things to a certain stage and have everything organized then hand off to him. He has completed a few things for us and I hope to get a bunch more ready to turn over this weekend.
Usual smoothie for breakfast and salad for lunch. Forgot about my fruit at lunch. Dinner was a last minute inspiration. I made a quick grocery stop on the way home but didn't really feel like prepping tonight. As I was putting things away I noticed the beets I bought last weekend that I haven't got around to running through the shredder for my salads and the greens still looked healthy so I thought I'd cut them off and use them before they got wilty.
I threw the roughly chopped leaves in boiling water for just a few minutes rather than sauteeing so they wouldn't be so bitter. I sauteed some onion and garlic, added cumin and chili powder and a can of drained and rinsed black beans just long enough to heat them up. Then I heated two small corn tortillas and loaded them with the black beans, a pile of the greens, and topped with salsa. They were actually really good, especially for a meal that took about 10 minutes to throw together, and I didn't waste the beet greens.
An orange and some blueberries topped with some sunflower seeds for dessert.
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C&P, great that you are starting to enjoy salads more! I still get surprised sometimes by how much I look forward to, and enjoy them!
Mihani, yay for using up the beet greens! I always enjoy them when I make them, and the next time I steam them, I'm going to sprinkle some walnut parm on top for some extra wow factor. (1 cup of walnuts, 1 to 2 Tbsp nutritional yeast, 1/2 tsp salt...food process with pulses or blend in short burst to turn to crumbles. keeps well in fridge.)
Joe and I went on a 6.5 mile walk today. We ended up in town just in time to see the St Patty's day parade go by. Gorgeous sunny day and just the right temperature for walking around. It's time to upgrade my shoes. I was wearing my sketchers and I have sore feet.
Yesterday I planned to have the Shamrock Hummus bowl, but we ended up eating leftover cabbage steaks with kale potatoes and lentils. So good. We're having the hummus bowl tonight instead.
B - smoothie
L - bowl - rice, pinto beans, shredded cabbage, tofu, 1/4 avocado, creamy spicy dressing
D - Shamrock hummus bowl
S - orange0 -
Wow, great walk Carla! And so fun you and Joe enjoy walking together. I will try steaming beet greens. I usually just saute greens, but I read that boiling for a short time will cut down on the acids in the more bitter greens so I thought I'd give it a try. They were delicious that way. I only boiled them for maybe 4 minutes. Most greens I like just sauteed with a little garlic.
Wonder how Donna is doing in Italy?
B - 1/4 cup oats cooked in water with about a cup of chopped baby spinach topped with sliced banana and fresh blueberries, a few walnuts, chia seeds, cinnamon
L - "salad" if you can call a big bowl of spring mix with some nooch and balsamic a salad, a pear
D - leftover black beans and greens in corn tortillas... ate up all the beet greens last night so I sauteed a bunch of kale with garlic to use tonight, a grapefruit and a small handful of sunflower seeds
I am going through an entire bunch of greens nearly every dinner the past week. Tomorrow I start week 4 of the 6 week plan. I've only had one slip with eating too many walnuts. I've had a couple close calls, to the point of actually opening the snack cabinet at work and eyeing the crackers and pretzels, but I just remind myself I'm not hungry I'm just stressed, and walk away.
Tomorrow I'll weigh in and see where I am. Feeling good no matter what the scale says!
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Week 3 results: down 1 pound total of 10.6 for the first 3 weeks. I will admit a little disappointment in only a pound this week, but I'm happy with my progress overall so far. Dr. F says "focus on your efforts, the results will follow." That's my plan!0
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Woohoo! Congrats on your loss and great eating, Mihani. We are going through greens like crazy here, too.
I ended up with a headache last night/today. I am pretty sure it's from not drinking enough water after the long walk yesterday. I plan to sip water all day long, and might have some coconut water, too.
Today is batching day! I made the rice, beans, dressing, and 'cheese' sauce yesterday so today's batch won't be too bad. The meal plan for the week is:
Monday - Mediterranean Salad with White Bean Croquettes & Island Vinaigrette
Tuesday- Caribbean-Spiced White Bean Tacos with Mango Salsa
Wednesday - Rosemary 'Cheese' with Veggie Topped Flatbread and side salad
Thursday - Veggie-Loaded Sushi Bowl
Friday - Southwestern Vegetable Soup with Avocado-Lime slaw
My doctor's appointment is this coming week and I'm looking forward to it! She suggested I lose 5 lbs after my blood work came back and I had high fasting blood sugar. I think I'll be down about 20 lbs since my last appointment!0 -
Can't wait to hear how your doctor's appt goes Carla. I bet there's a big improvement. Meals sound yummy as usual. Hope your headache has cleared up.
B - usual smoothie
L - big salad... finally ran beets and carrots through the shredder so my salad was so good today! Also had an orange.
D - sauteed chard, roasted fingerling potatoes, cheezy chickpeas
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Long day and brought work home to do tonight. Sigh.
B - leftover roasted broccoli (yes, seriously) and a few walnut halves
L - big salad same as yesterday, an apple
D - cheezy chickpeas, fingerling potatoes, asparagus, a tangelo and blueberries with about a tablespoon of sunflower seeds
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Yesterday (Monday) was a survival day. I did not get veggies prepped over the weekend and had a hectic day with little time for building a salad so I ate leftover beans on pita bread for two meals and grazed on grape tomatoes & fresh fruit and had a Larabar while I was out for the afternoon (which means I did NOT go through a drive-thru - NSV!). Oh, and usual oatmeal/fruit breakfast.
The next couple days will be hectic as well but today I'll be ordering a salad at lunch and will be able to make a healthy supper this evening. Tomorrow we will be gone all day to a funeral, which means a standard American diet for luncheon. I'd rather not eat trigger foods but it would be insensitive not to visit. So, I may bring a salad or wrap to eat in the car right before we go in so that I'm satieted during the meal.
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You are doing great C&P!! Good idea bringing food along with you. Sorry for your loss.
Mihani, your blueberries with sunflower seeds reminds me of how much I love blueberries with walnuts. I'm looking forward to blueberry season! They are local to the area (not to mention the blueberry bushes that we have as well).
I have so many good recipes now from my Clean Food Dirty Girl meal plans that I could easily stop the subscription and just rotate through what I have. But, I'm loving all the new recipes that come along and I don't want to miss out! I've also gotten into the surprise of it all. The reveal on Friday for what I'll be eating the next week. The batching is making a big difference in my success. There's always food ready to go and it's almost always really good.
I'm going to be in town today, so I might go for a walk. The weather looks nicer than forecast. I have a busier week than usual so I'm not really feeling it. I'm going to pack my walking shoes and hoodie in case.
I'm down 1.5 lbs for the week. Going in the right direction!
Meals today:
B - green smoothie
L - mixed greens, arugula, tomato, baked tofu, island vinaigrette
D - sprouted corn tacos with brown rice, navy beans, veggies and homemade mango salsa
S - orange if I'm out, mango if I"m home
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Excellent idea to plan ahead C&P... I often think just being prepared is about 80% of the battle.
Carla, glad you are still enjoying your meal plans Did you end up taking a walk? We're supposed to get 2 to 5 inches of snow here. Ugh. First day of spring my kitten. (I just went ahead and typed kitten to save MFP the trouble lol) 'Course, they could be wrong and we will get no snow at all. I haven't had a mango in a while, I like to dice them up and add to my taco salads.
B - broccoli, a few walnut halves
L - big ol' salad... romaine, spring mix, shredded beets and carrot, grape tomatoes, avocado, balsamic and nooch, an apple
D - leftovers... broccoli, asparagus, cheezy chickpeas, 1/2 a sweet potato... might have some fruit not sure
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There was a blue sky and sunshine so I had no excuse! I went on a short walk, only 1.5 miles, but better than not going. Haha to "first day of spring my kitten!"
I had a bite of the mango when I was making the mango salsa for our tacos and that's what reminded me of how much I like them.0 -
CoffeeandPie wrote: »Karrie, thanks for the walking tips! I've been walking 4-5 days per week since late December and building stamina. With short legs, it seems like it would be easier to jog rather than walk so maybe I'll add some intermittent jogging and see how it goes. (It can be difficult to walk w/a fast pace with short legs!)
I should have said that your speed will vary and it's all about how long your legs are. Your pace will definitely not be the same as what I was discussing, because that is more of a jog for you. So just get your legs moving nice & quick without having to get into a jog. You'll want to work up a sweat, so you need to push it. But the walking is less impact than a jog, so it's easier to get started this way. You'll be less prone to injury while your legs & feet get used to being pushed more.
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