Healthy for the Holidays Challenge - 9/06 - 11/22

Tissues

Olivia, sometimes just knowing people are on the same boat as you will help, and TRUST me when I say I'm on that same boat, and have as well found it really difficult to stay on plan... I have 2 toddlers my oldest will be 4 the end of next month, my youngest is 2... My husband works graveyard shift 5:30 pm-6:00 am. I don't get help with dinner time, bed time.. nothing. It gets VERY stressful on top of my work day which I get more and more pressure at work on a daily basis. The best suggestion I have to control night time is if your daughter is on a schedule.. REALLY try and stick with it. My kids lay down at 8pm for bed time every night no matter what. Sometimes my oldest falls asleep right away.. sometimes he'll sit in his bed and read or watch a little TV before he sleeps, but he's in his bed lights out at 8. Same with my youngest, though he usually falls asleep faster. The days they fall off schedule are always horrific and I get crazy stressed out. And I'm a total stress eater.

I've been slacking in the exercise department lately, i've just been so buy and work has been so crazy I havn't been able to get to the gym during my lunch break because I'm not taking a full hour anymore. Its also why my stress levels are up as I have not been releiving the stress.

I did do some walking yesterday but I need a balls to the wall strength training session so I'm going to do the 6W6P AND the 30 Day Shred tonight even though my trainer said not to do curcuit training... I need to kick my butt so to speak.

I've been doing okay on the food front and logging but my sodium has been crazy high still lately. I need to get back to my eating basics of eating fresh foods.. I've been eating out WAY to much.

opalmel

I didn't eat a lot of veggies until I really became active here at MFP...mainly A LOT of processed food and that's it...now I love spinach, never even bought the stuff before, I love tomatoes, and carrots, never even had brussel sprouts till I joined here either, I found a way to make them really yummy! Cut em up, throw them in a ziploc bag and toss with some olive oil, garlic, and little bit of salt, and maybe a tad bit of balsamic and shake all that up, and bake them in the oven until they turn a little brownish...yum! And I can thank Olivia for that I do love mushrooms too...

Thanks for the brussel sprouts idea, I will definitely try this. I'm so clueless when it comes to preparing veggies. I'm getting better with the water though and I think it is really helping. I was actually down 3.4 lbs today.

Opal

SW: 180
CW: 176.6
GW 11/22: 169
GW: 140

SallyCC

I love the chart. Thanks for the strength training challenge. I usually only think of doing strength training at the gym. I went yesterday and did a part of my program. My sister was with me and I showed her some of what I am doing. I didn't get to finish. So today, I can do some of the things I didn't get to yesterday right at home. Great motivation to not just exercise at the gym...thanks!

gracemleone

Yesterday was my birthday and I still did really well. :drinker:

I went jogging, did strength training, ate healthy the whole day including eating lots of veggies and had just 1 slice of cake.

I guess I'm starting to see this as a lifestyle change rather than a diet that I should be cheating on special days. :glasses:

msaap

Yesterday was my birthday and I still did really well. :drinker:

I went jogging, did strength training, ate healthy the whole day including eating lots of veggies and had just 1 slice of cake.

I guess I'm starting to see this as a lifestyle change rather than a diet that I should be cheating on special days. :glasses:

Happy belated Birthday. :flowerforyou: You just gave me encouragement without trying. My birthday is in 2 weeks and I've already been scaring myself that I'm going to over do it. :sad: But, knowing that others can enjoy their special day without eating half a cake gives me encouragement to do the same.

kylakesgal

Happy late Birthday Grace! That is the way to look at it girl. Lifestyle change....not a diet. We can enjoy our favorites within limits. I think by indulging every now and then, it keeps me from binging. I think most everyone would agree with that. A diet I couldn't do for nearly all year long but just by changing my eating habits (which were horrible), this is something I can live with for life:):)

oliviawink

thanks for the kind words everyone. I hope things will get better at work so I am also less stressed at home. I am trying to put some things in place at work to lighten the load and make the difficult things less hard, of course some of the difficulties involve people who are used to pushing others around at work to get their way, but it is my hope that this will abate soon by me standing up to them.

@stacy - thank goodness my daughter loves going to bed. She is in bed shortly after 7pm every night and often will ask to go to bed, "ni-ni" is one of her biggest requests. She has a special stuffed dog (she calls him bubba) that she loves to snuggle with and suck her thumb, and she can only have him in bed, so that motivates her to want to go to bed. I am lucky with that, but after that I get in a quick workout, then need to login to work remotely to catch up on things that I am behind on because I am short staffed and am picking up the work of others (I think we'll be hiring on some new folks soon, or at least I' holding out hope).

Thanks for all the love and support. Being a part of these challenges have supported me in so many ways over the last 8 months. I feel better knowing I have you all to lean on in harder times. I look forward to things looking up and doing the same for many of you all.

gracemleone

Yesterday was my birthday and I still did really well. :drinker:

I went jogging, did strength training, ate healthy the whole day including eating lots of veggies and had just 1 slice of cake.

I guess I'm starting to see this as a lifestyle change rather than a diet that I should be cheating on special days. :glasses:

Happy belated Birthday. :flowerforyou: You just gave me encouragement without trying. My birthday is in 2 weeks and I've already been scaring myself that I'm going to over do it. :sad: But, knowing that others can enjoy their special day without eating half a cake gives me encouragement to do the same.

Thank you and I'm glad I was able to encourage you. Think of it this way: you want to be healthier, feel better and look better and this is what you want for you birthday. You may not get to your goal for your birthday this year but you can feel good about yourself knowing that you are one step closer. You also won't have that horrible feeling you get after eating the whole cake. Just eat light and healthy all day so you have room for a slice of cake later on.

You know what u should do? The day before your birthday you should do a workout that you know will make you really sore the next day. So on your birthday you'll have a constant reminder of how har you've been working

oliviawink

Yesterday was my birthday and I still did really well. :drinker:

I went jogging, did strength training, ate healthy the whole day including eating lots of veggies and had just 1 slice of cake.

I guess I'm starting to see this as a lifestyle change rather than a diet that I should be cheating on special days. :glasses:

Happy belated Birthday. :flowerforyou: You just gave me encouragement without trying. My birthday is in 2 weeks and I've already been scaring myself that I'm going to over do it. :sad: But, knowing that others can enjoy their special day without eating half a cake gives me encouragement to do the same.

Thank you and I'm glad I was able to encourage you. Think of it this way: you want to be healthier, feel better and look better and this is what you want for you birthday. You may not get to your goal for your birthday this year but you can feel good about yourself knowing that you are one step closer. You also won't have that horrible feeling you get after eating the whole cake. Just eat light and healthy all day so you have room for a slice of cake later on.

You know what u should do? The day before your birthday you should do a workout that you know will make you really sore the next day. So on your birthday you'll have a constant reminder of how har you've been working

That's the best idea ever! Remind me of that in May when it's almost my birthday!

gracemleone

Happy late Birthday Grace! That is the way to look at it girl. Lifestyle change....not a diet. We can enjoy our favorites within limits. I think by indulging every now and then, it keeps me from binging. I think most everyone would agree with that. A diet I couldn't do for nearly all year long but just by changing my eating habits (which were horrible), this is something I can live with for life:):)

Thank you!
I agree with you that it's ok to indulge within limits, I know restricting myself too much usually leads to a binge and makes me feel horrible afterwards, probably because the more I restrict myself from something the more I think about it.
I've also found a lot of alternatives to the unhealthy things I used to eat before and new ways to cook things, and I even like most of them better. After a while it doesn't seem like a diet.

Tissues

I set myself up to be in a whole world of pain tomorrow.. I'm dreading the morning. level 2 of 6W6P really is unbearable.

msaap

Yesterday was my birthday and I still did really well. :drinker:

I went jogging, did strength training, ate healthy the whole day including eating lots of veggies and had just 1 slice of cake.

I guess I'm starting to see this as a lifestyle change rather than a diet that I should be cheating on special days. :glasses:

Happy belated Birthday. :flowerforyou: You just gave me encouragement without trying. My birthday is in 2 weeks and I've already been scaring myself that I'm going to over do it. :sad: But, knowing that others can enjoy their special day without eating half a cake gives me encouragement to do the same.

Thank you and I'm glad I was able to encourage you. Think of it this way: you want to be healthier, feel better and look better and this is what you want for you birthday. You may not get to your goal for your birthday this year but you can feel good about yourself knowing that you are one step closer. You also won't have that horrible feeling you get after eating the whole cake. Just eat light and healthy all day so you have room for a slice of cake later on.

You know what u should do? The day before your birthday you should do a workout that you know will make you really sore the next day. So on your birthday you'll have a constant reminder of how har you've been working

OMG!! That is an awesome idea! I absolutely love it! Thank you so much!!

Tissues

Helen.. can I please readjust my goal weight? i took a sneak peak at the scale this morning and i want to give myself a REAL 10 week goal.. so can I change it to 138? Please

jessicamarie81

Hey all, hope everyone is having a great week!! Been doing pretty good with the veggies but there's always room for improvement and incorporating dumbbells in with walking..hope to get back on the 30 Day Shred...I love how it makes me feel and look...been way busy this week with school...all my classes keep me busy. Olivia, I'm so sorry you are stressed!!!! Hopefully you can find that silver lining soon...hugs! I just got back from Target with my 3 year old, now that was stressful!

jessicamarie81

Yesterday was my birthday and I still did really well. :drinker:

I went jogging, did strength training, ate healthy the whole day including eating lots of veggies and had just 1 slice of cake.

I guess I'm starting to see this as a lifestyle change rather than a diet that I should be cheating on special days. :glasses:

Happy belated birthday!! I just had mine on the 4th...it was great because this is the smallest I ever remember being on my birthday for a long long loooooooong time, it's good to reflect!

jenniferjgayfield

Hey just checking in, strength training this week has been fun, and doing ok on the veggies, doing 2 a day, only done more than that one day so far, but trying...Can't wait for 5 o clock to get home with my family...need a break right now...
Stacy, congrats on having a good number on the scale, looking forward to next week's weigh in already!

helena98

Helen.. can I please readjust my goal weight? i took a sneak peak at the scale this morning and i want to give myself a REAL 10 week goal.. so can I change it to 138? Please

Done and done! And you're still in the green.

LeslieRoyale

I will stay on track this weekend...I will stay on track this weekend...C'mon, say it with me! I will stay on track this weekend...

Hope you all have a wonderful, non-track jumping weekend!!!

I for one have done really well all week, and I'm refusing to be derailed just because the days start with S...

debnu1

Ladies, Mind if I join too? My eleventh wedding anniversary is 11/22, I would love to have encouragement to be slimmer for it!

My current weight is 190, I would like to be 180 by then. My NSV would be to be able to run a 5k and to only have one sweet/treat per day.

SallyCC

Hello..
It is great to read these posts. Lots of motivation here. Today was a day of errands. My husband is off on Fridays and I arrange my work around that so we usually get things done. It is great having the time to run errands together. We usually grab a meal out but today we were able to eat at home and that is good. Sodium has been so hard to keep under control for me and my body really reacts to it. I did not plan to get to the gym today...tomorrow is one of my gym days..gotta make sure I get there.

Happy Birthday, Grace.