Need to Lose 100 LBS -Robins Thread !

RobinsEgg

jtconst - that fall and your injuries sound serious - I'm impressed you went running later! Thats moxie, girl! Take it easy tomorrow?

hansea - no matter what your basic shape, you'll always "B" beautiful - what a funny story about your discovery about your body!!!
p.s. thanks for your kind words

Susan - Its really hard to log every calorie if your days run together, which I imagine yours do. Keep post it notes or something handy and jot those foods that might be missed on those so your sure to log them eventually. That way your get everything logged. Yep, I'm not logging right now either and the calories just slip away. But hey when your eating ice cream to sooth your sore mouth your bound to get extra calories!

Tanya - have a great weekend with your BF.

RobinB - oh no, shin splints - no exercise til next tues? OH NO!!!!!

Kaye - big thumbs up for being able to use the shovel!.

tih - I hope some kind of compromise can be worked out with your families. Maybe your can approach her husband or their parents and find a day when they are all available (and she's not) and still get together for a family picnic in a park.....

12amfrog - welcome Patti - congrats on your weight loss. Stay with us if you want continued support as your start your maintenance lifestyle. I do understand your nervousness about that. But believe me, its definitely possible to keep the weight off successfully.

littleshadow - glad you had a wonderful time in the Bahamas!! Lucky girl! And losing a lb while on vacation, now thats cool!

jnettie - love your description of your back yard and natural look and feel!

christiehall - welcome. you can find great support here. Its so much more helpful than going it alone! You done a great job so far. I'm very impressed. Such determination.
When you're having carb cravings, have you tried having very high protein snacks or foods instead? THat should make a big difference.

KJeffries - welcome back. Glad to hear your health is better.

AFM - I had a great workout in the pool yesteday and I doubled each of my exercises amounts. Today I just feel some muscle strain not much, but didn't work out today. I worked on my taxes and paying Doctors bills today. Its amazing, I am getting close to my stop-loss amount already in my medical insurance. Can't wait for the antibiotics to kick in.

hansea47

@jtconst- Oh, yum! to the strawberry cream cheese cobbler! Glad to hear you're on the mend.

@christylhall- Welcome! :flowerforyou: Keep coming back regularly, it really helps to be accountable to some other people and the people on this thread are awesome!

@kah- It's windy here too, but no tornadoes, thank God! Sleet on my car this morning, and snowflakes this evening. Now we have a dusting of snow on the lawns and rooftops. At least it should melt when the sun comes back tomorrow. I'll see what we can do to bottle up some of our cold air and ship it to you!
Great work getting in all your exercise!

@Nettie- Wow! What a wonderful attitude adjustment from your aide! Good job on getting your protein...now, once you get those beautiful bamboo floors installed, let's see you plank all over that thing!

@littleshadow- Welcome back! Sounds like a wonderful vacation and you even lost weight...that's impressive! Good for you!

@Patti- Welcome! Keep coming back! You've already lost a very impressive amount of weight. I'm sure you've got knowledge to share.

@Kaye- So glad Anya is home and doing well! Great NSV!

@skinny and Kaye- Was it enchilada day yesterday and I missed it?! Even bland enchiladas sound delicious.

@RobinB- Sorry about your shin splints ruining your mileage. At least if you have to slow down, you're still moving anyway. Better than sitting on the couch! I started out trying to jog for 30 seconds at a time, too. It's taken me a couple years to get to this point. Slow and steady progress wins the race!

@Susan- I hate how those BLT's add up! It's April Renaissance, though...so, get in that food diary and log it all!

AFM- I've got another vacancy at work that is going to be difficult to fill. One of our part-timers is retiring in June. It's only 20 hours/week, evenings. Not a very attractive position. It's been posted for a while with no takers. So, it looks like I'll be working more hours again, and again with no idea when it will end. At least this time it's only part-time hours, so we're not having quite as many days to pick up. It just stinks that it's evening shifts. Hope I can keep on top of the stress without resorting to stress-eating like I did last summer when I took this scheduling position!

I've had a weird fitness week. I didn't work out as many days as I had planned to, but on the other hand, I went for that long jog this week. Hopefully, I will get to the gym more often next week....or the weather gets nicer and I can get outside some more. Going for that jog has ruined me for indoor workouts again! :laugh:
Didn't work on my plank or wall sit today.

April Renaissance:

1. Under calories: 2/30
2. Wall sit: 3/30, 45 sec.
3. Forearm Plank: 3/30, 35 sec.

Lauriek70

HI Everyone, I have been playing catch up all week and have been doing school work at night. I am hoping to relax this weekend so I can enjoy life and the sun shine.

I did workout this week and Wednesday was a great core workout. I am feeling the workout today.
This has been a crazy week and my grades for the 3rd marking period are almost done. I worked on them after school today and finally decided how to deal with a quiz I gave my students based on the work they completed while I was away.

I am looking forward to the weather turning nice again, since all the low pressure systems that have been coming through my area are driving me crazy.

I will get to personal's tomorrow.

Sunday-Rest DONE
MOnday- Trainer DONE
Tuesday- Rest DONE
Wednesday-Trainer DONE
Thursday- Rest DONE
Friday- Climbing DONE
Saturday-water aerobics and bike???
Sunday- Climbing and ???

grandmakaye44

I had a great walk with Cathy this evening. Our husbands started with us, but they only walked about half of the four miles we walked. I really complain when daylight savings time starts, but I sure like being able to walk after dinner.
Anya had a good day. They said it would take her a few days to regain her balance, but she was doing really well by this afternoon.
Welcome back, Katrina. Glad you are feeling better.
Shadow, congratulations on losing weight while on vacation.
Welcome to the new ones. Come back often. The more we share the stronger we all become.
Onward and downward. Kaye

RobinB0812

I don't have time for personals tonight, but wanted to share my first clothes NSV. I went to Old Navy tonight for some more workout clothes. I thought I'd check out some shorts too, jean shorts. My daughter and I searched many racks for some larger sizes. I am usually only able to get clothes in Old Navy that are stretchy knit-type clothes. You know the type, the clothes that are typically sized S, M, ... XXL. Anyway, we found a size 18 (probably the largest size they carry) and they FIT!!! Now, my current pants are 20's so it's only one size down, but its still a SIZE DOWN!! At some point this weekend, I will be going through my clothes to see if I still have some 18's around from a few years ago when I last was able to wear that size!

Yay for go shopping in the back of my closet!! LOL :laugh: :bigsmile: :laugh:

Until next time; wishing everyone peace, love and weight loss!! :flowerforyou: :bigsmile:

ushkii

Quick post to update my goals. Today I snacked in the afternoon and thought Wow I will never make it under. The wife made a great meal salmon, wheat fettuccini with low cal alfrado and vegetables. wow it was really good and I am under. For some reason I was too tired to walk today, I guess it is staying up late and getting up early. Doing it again. Well at least I am posting and logging. C-ya real soon.

Goals:
A under cal 4/7 days
B Walk 30 min 4/7 days
C Drink 8cups 4/7 days

Mon: ABC
Tue: ABC
Wed: ABC
Thur: ABC
Fri: AB
Sat:
Sun:

skinnyjeanzbound

@ushkii--Wowzer--you've had a great week! That's great that you were able to stay under with the healthy, but delicious, dinner. I had a similar Friday. I went out with friends after school for drinks and thought I would never make it under goal. However, when I got home I decided to have just half an enchilada plus a salad (vs. a whole enchilada and no salad). It made all the difference--I even had room for a 100 calorie bag of kettle corn for an evening snack. Yay for us both making better food choices! :drinker:

@robinB--Awesome clothing NSV!! :drinker: I really loved shopping in the back of my closet when I started losing weight. I had everything from size 18 on down to 12. Now, I only have a couple of pair of pants that are still too small, but you've inspired me to go through them to see if any fit. I doubt it, but maybe that will help fuel my motivation for this renaissance.

@kaye--glad to hear Anya is doing better. :flowerforyou:

@laurie--I'm in the end-of-quarter crunch with grades as well. Ours are due tuesday, so this weekend will be the final push. :happy:

@hansea--I feel the same way about running outside. I love it, but I don't burn nearly as many calories just going for a run vs. a full workout at the gym, so I have to force myself to forgo mother nature on days when I need to burn more or get in my strength exercises. I saw kaye also had enchiladas and I thought the same thing. :laugh:

@robin--you've reminded me that I also need to get my taxes done this week. :ohwell: Great job in the pool! :drinker:

@katrena--welcome back!! :flowerforyou: It sounds like you are in a similar boat as a lot of us--maintaining but not really losing. We have made the April challenge a re-dedication to losing the weight--calling it April Renaissance, so you've jumped back in at a great time.

@tammy--sorry to hear about your injuries, but glad you are starting to heal. Definitely be careful with the ankle--sprains can actually take longer to heal than breaks, so give it time.

@nettie--yay for the aide giving you the kudos you deserve! :drinker:

@shadow--welcome back! can't wait to hear trip highlights.

@tracy--sorry about the SIL problem. :grumble: My SIL and I have a great relationship. However, she is similar in that she tends to make holiday plans without a lot of regard for what my family is doing. She'll ask, but has a much more casual attitude about the need for us all to get together at once. Over the years, I've come to realize she's not being rude or selfish. My husband's family just has a very different perspective on family. They aren't as close-knit as my family, so it's not a big deal to them if we don't all see each other for holidays. And now that my MIL has split the whole family apart, we have to purposely plan NOT to celebrate holidays together. :ohwell: I hope you and your DH get it all figured out--maybe your husband and his brother should make the plans next time?

Welcome to the newlings! :flowerforyou:

Friday Fitness:
I had a decent week of fitness which I will need to continue this weekend. I only have 18 papers left, so I should have time for the gym today. Tomorrow weather is supposed to be nicer, so I plan to run outside. I did my wall sit and plank for 2 days in a row, and then I missed the next 2 days. :blushing: I will get back to that tonight for sure.

Saturday Success:
Even though I went well over my calories on Wed., I feel my re-dedication has been a success b/c I'm actually thinking more about my food choices (see my note to ushkii above) rather than just saying "oh well" and going over. I still need to make up 230 calories for the week, but that should be no problem.

Grading Goals:
1. 52/70 AP essays

Exercise goals:
Mon--walk gunner DONE + gym DONE
Tues--walk gunner DONE + gym NOT DONE (graded instead)
Wed--rest day DONE <phew!>
Thurs--walk gunner DONE + gym DONE
Fri--walk gunner NOT DONE
Sat--walk gunner + gym
Sun--run outside w/ gunner

Wall sit = 30 sec
Forearm plank = 35 sec

hansea47

It's a sunny Saturday! Still a bit cool, but if it warms up this afternoon, I think I'm going outside for a jog. Otherwise, I may bike to the gym so I can get my lifting done.
We slept in so late this morning! I usually get up around 5 am during the week, and today I was lazy and wasn't out of bed until 9 am!
So, we missed breakfast (And I did hear my kids waking up around 6 am as usual. How did my children not come begging for food AND get along for three hours so they didn't wake us up?!?), and now I'm waiting for my husband to return from an oil change for the car so we can all have brunch together.

Today is my weigh-in day...and lo and behold, I am down another 2.6 lbs! That was a surprise since I do weigh daily and was expecting more of 0.5-1 lb loss.

@skinny- Good job on your food choices this week!

@ushkii- I love salmon. Your dinner sounded delicious!

@RobinB- Great news on the jean short NSV!! I wish I had kept some of my smaller clothes so I could shop the back of my closet!

@Kaye- Wonderful walk! I feel the same way about daylight savings...the change is hard to adjust to, but the silver lining is being able to get out in the evenings more.

@RobinsEgg- Sounds like your pool workouts are going very well! Keep it up!

@Laurie- Hope you're getting nice weather today. We're warming up here!

Did my wall sit and plank this morning...little weaker today on my plank. :ohwell:


April Renaissance:

1. Under calories: 2/30
2. Wall sit: 4/30, 49 sec.
3. Forearm Plank: 4/30, 28 sec.

RobinsEgg

So proud of all of you for keeping your calories down and your exercise up!
Kaye- funny the men couldn't keep up with you!

Ushkii and Skinnie - excellent job on watching those calories.!!!!

AFM - woke up with a pair of lips so large they resembled a pair of fish lips! :laugh: So funny to see my own face in the bathroom mirror - what a shock. I have never seen them so big before, and I must say, if I could ask the Dear Lord to change one feature on my face it would be to give me these lips permanently. I have naturally very thin, unpassionate, lips. These are like, WOW, Kiss me NOW!!! I'm sure its a response to the antibiotic mouthwash as the puffiness has gone down over the last few hours.

Taxes - oh sheesh. Why did I wait so long? As many of you know, I am at the bottom of the income heap. I'm on Social Security Disability and have no other income and one small IRA. I usually get some good money back each year due to my medical expenses being so large, so why have I waited so long??? My old boyfriend, whom I am still very close to, it coming over today to help me get them done. He was an accountant among other things. I tried doing them myself yesterday, and my mind is somewhat confused from all the meds I'm on - I kept making math errors, so I quit.
Oh, he broke up with his girlfriend a month or so ago, so I don't have to think about that anymore. THankfully our friendship survived that!

grandmakaye44

Today is looking good. Our traditional waffle Saturday was bigger than usual. It is Amy's 40th birthday today, so she came with her family. They live in a neighboring town, and don't usually join us. I made the regular waffles, and some chocolate waffles for 'dessert'. They had ice cream on a chocolate waffle. We put candles on Amy's waffle.
It's a beautiful day. I'm sure to get another good walk.
Robin, I'm sorry your health continues to plague you.
Saturday breakfast always challenges my calories but I have been way under this week, so it will balance out. When I was walking with Cathy last night, she told me that a mutual friend had asked her if I really lost this much weight counting calories and walking. She found it hard to believe that I hadn't eliminated any foods.
I still have to do my taxes, too.
Have a great weekend. Onward and downward. Kaye

littleshadowfeet

Ok... here go personals for the first time in 2 weeks.

@grandmakaye - your waffles sound amazing! glad your weather is good there, so much better to walk outside when it's a nice day.

@robinsegg - fish lips, eh?? Sounds entertaining! I hope it's nothing serious.

@hansea - how wonderful that your kids let you sleep in! I've been known to put out breakfast (dry cereal and a juice box!) for my 8 year old the night before, if I'm wanting to stay in bed. He can get his own food, but always feels the need to come talk to me about it first. Congrats on your great loss!

@skinnyjeanz - good job getting back on track, that can be hard sometimes. Something else that is hard: planks!!

@ushkii - good job posting and logging even when you're struggling. I find it really hard to log my calories when I know I've gone over, its very humbling to admit.

@RobinB- that is a great NSV! One of my long term goals is to be able to just walk into a "normal" store and buy clothes right off the rack.

@LaurieK - great job with the workouts! I know what you mean about the weather. We still have 4 feet of snow on the ground and huge banks everywhere. We've had three major snowstorms in the past 2 weeks here in Eastern Canada... spring, where are you??

@kjeffries - welcome back! looks like you have some really good fitness goals. I'm new to the group, have only been here for a month or so and just coming back from a vacation. Trying to get back into the swing of things.

@jtconst - your cobbler sounds incredible!! I'm sorry to hear about your ankle injury, I know how hard it can be to come back from something like that.

@christylhall - welcome aboard!

Ok... I'm going to stop there because I know I'll never get caught up all the way. Promise to do better next time!

AFM... still reeling from coming back from the Bahamas to the land of eternal winter. It's been hard getting back on track, but I'm doing ok for the most part. Today was our longest training walk to date- 13.1 very long miles around the indoor track... that's 104.5 laps for those of you counting. We did really well and I'm glad to have it under our belts... pace was good, and we're on track for a successful half marathon walk on May 11th. I just signed up for another half in October, so that will keep me motivated through the summer. My ankle is still very painful and I'm getting frustrated... I've been in physio since last June and it gets better to a certain point and then gets worse again.

LOVE my fitbit that I got as an early birthday present, it is really helping me stay on track and motivating me as well.

The trip was amazing... we snorkeled, got kissed by a dolphin, went on a banana boat ride and ran out of gas TWICE, ate lots of amazing food - fresh mahi mahi and red snapper were my favorite... yum. Relaxed and had a lot of laughs. I would do it again in a heartbeat. Lots of good memories.

NewCaddy

Sorry, been terrible with personals, but I've been running around like a mad woman these last couple days. So, with that, I'm heading out for a date night with my hubby and two other couples. Luckily we have three older kids and four younger kids between us and they are all going to the same house to babysit each other -- whoo-hoo! money savings!!

I've been staying right at my calorie goal. We'll see about tonight. I pre-planned and pre-logged the food, but only have about 300 calories left for drinks...maybe I'll stick with beer since it has less calories than those fruity drinks I really like.

Did my trainer workout again today with my sister. It's a good one and I'm surprised that it seemed a bit easier today. Each day is a bit better and I'm surprised at how fast that changes. I was able to do a personal best of 5 toe push ups. I needed to do 30 (two sets of 15). I did 5 toes, 10 knees. The second time around I could only do 2 toes and 13 knees, but...

Yes, I've been doing the planks. Today I did my personal best of 30 seconds. I've never seen my arms shake so badly, but I hung in for hte full 30 seconds!!

Ok, I'm off. Will try to do a better job with personals next week. Have a great rest of the weekend. Don't forget your water!!

susan2396

Saturday Success: I’m alive. I’ll leave it at that. Stressing a bit with vacation looming in 7 days. I’m so excited to totally disconnect, but really having a hard time with the work load right now. Needless to say, it’s not helped with food choices or exercise either. I know I’ve taken on too much and need to refocus to find my balance. Vacation cannot come soon enough. Just a few personals, but I have been following along when I can.

@ Tanya – Hope you’re enjoying the weekend with the BF!!

@ Karen – Darn jelly donut. Minus was a chocolate covered one. Sigh.

@ Kaye – I’m so glad to read Anya is home. I’m sure it’s extremely frustrating not knowing what really happened, but at least she’s home with her family.

@ Littleshadow – Welcome back!! I leave in 7 days on a 7-night cruise. Our first stop is in the Bahama’s then out to sea for a couple days. Congrats staying on track, which is AWESOME even with some adult beverages. Good for you!!

@ Nettie – I’m so glad you had such a good day. It’s those days that randomly happen that remind us why we’re doing what we’re doing. Good for you!! I can’t wait to see the finished floors. I bet there going to look fantastic!! I’ve forgotten to wear my FitBit a few times and get so mad. They get a bit addicting that’s for sure.

@ Kelly – Yikes on the weather. I never seem to catch the news so I hadn’t heard about them. I’m glad you were safe though.

@ Katrena – Great to see you again and that your health is back on track. With things that get thrown at us, I’m learning to hold on and maintain. When I can handle it, I start focusing on losing again. I’ve been basically losing/gaining the same 10-20 pounds, but one of these days I’ll lose them and keep heading down.

@ Christy – Welcome!

@ I2amfrog – Welcome! Congrats on your loss – WOW!!! You’re doing awesome!!

@ Robin – I’m so glad you had a good water work out. Hopefully, this is one thing that’s helping you push along. Keep at it!!

Lauriek70

What a busy Saturday for exercise! I was bitten by the exercise bug today. I started with water aerobics followed that up with swim for 30 minutes. It continued with a bike ride this afternoon for about 40 minutes. It was a short ride but it felt good to get outside today and just ride my bike. This evening I opted to stay home because I was very tired. The water stuff was very relaxing and I enjoyed stretching in the water.

I need to get my taxes done but I am suppose to go climbing tomorrow so not sure if that will happen. It could be another very busy day.

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

skinnyjeanzbound

@laurie--sounds like your plan to finish school work during the week is letting you enjoy your weekend. I should be so disciplined. :blushing: It's nice that the weather allowed you to go for a bike ride. We also had much warmer temps and sunny skies today. :happy:

@susan--I remember working at a year-round job (before I became a teacher) and how much more stressful it was to go on vacation. I hope you get the stress under control so you can just enjoy the time away with Cyrus.

@tracy--I hope you enjoyed your night out. :drinker: When I'm trying to stay low calorie with the drinks, I go for Captain and diet coke--only about 60 calories/drink. My next choice is a cosmo which can run about 3 times the calories depending on how large the drink is. I don't really like many beers, but the brands I like tend to be higher in calories (Stella, Harp, Becks). Of course, if you enjoy light beers, they can be pretty reasonable.

@shadow--I got kissed by a sea lion once, but never a dolphin. :laugh:

@kaye--isn't it amazing when people can't believe that calories in/calories out actually works! I think our society has become so caught up in all of the fads and pills to lose weight, that they've lost all common sense when it comes to healthy nutrition. :ohwell: Oh, and those waffles sound delicious!

@robin--Hmm, perhaps you should use your mouthwash before the ex-bf comes over. Then you can flaunt your luscious lips. I had a similar reaction when I first started drinking soy milk. I had too much too quickly and my lips blew up--and I already have reasonably full lips (or did when I was younger ).

@hansea--nice that the kids let you sleep in this morning! And awesome loss! :drinker:

Grading Goals:
1. 57/70 AP essays

Exercise goals:
Mon--walk gunner DONE + gym DONE
Tues--walk gunner DONE + gym NOT DONE (graded instead)
Wed--rest day DONE <phew!>
Thurs--walk gunner DONE + gym DONE
Fri--walk gunner NOT DONE
Sat--walk gunner DONE + gym DONE
Sun--run outside w/ gunner

Wall sit = 35 sec
Forearm plank = 40 sec

skinnyjeanzbound

Oh, I almost forgot! I got a text from a good friend the other night that she and her long time boyfriend are now engaged. They moved from IL to Wyoming a couple of years ago, and will be getting married there July 25, 2015. I believe she lives someplace called Rock Springs? DH and I had tossed around the idea of doing a road trip west with gunner. We were thinking South Dakota to see the Black Hills, but maybe we will keep going. :happy:

NewCaddy

So much for my plan...I got the fish and two margaritas. not as bad as I thought it would be, but still over. And then tomorrow, my Mom is having my birthday dinner. It's suppose to be nice out tomorrow...will need to go for a walk to make up some of these calories.

Karen..the Black Hills are a great vacation. Spearfish Canyon. Hot Springs. Rushmore. Crazy Horse. Lots and lots to do. If you go and you're interested in some trails, let me know. My BIL and SIL live in Spearfish and they go hiking quite a big so I could maybe get some suggestions for you.

Good night all...off to bed since church will be coming soon enough.

rainandwood93

Hi all! Again, I've been missing for a while, and am not caught up, but I read a lot of your messages when I was in the thick of my midterms last week and it was inspiring. My eating wasn't perfect, but it was not out of control, and I only missed one day of exercise, despite pulling an all nighter before my Thursday midterm.

The past two weeks have been rough, and I agree that my gain could have been due to stress. I decided to take Friday and today for me instead of starting on more internship applications. I think I might take some time off from the scale and instead focus on meeting my daily calorie goal, increasing my exercise, and trying to curb my sugar intake a little. It's almost impossible for me to do much to "manage my stress" this time of the year with anything but planning and exercise, so I think I'd best not let the scale discourage me from healthy habits.

And! I have a great Saturday Success: I ran my first 5k today! It was the Warrior Dash obstacle race so not exactly typical, but I had an EXTREMELY fun time. The course ended up being sort of extreme in terms of incline, and I ended up walking briskly up the hills instead of running, but everyone except the people in the competitive heat seemed to do the same. I didn't skip any obstacles, despite having almost no confidence in my upper body strength or balance (with a fear of heights to complicate things), and passed quite a few people on both obstacles and running segments. Final time was 62 minutes, and I cried when I got my medal. I did let myself get taken out on a "cheat meal" after, but I'm sort of proud that I found a success in that. My stomach shrunk so much that a burger and sweet potato fries made me uncomfortably full, and also feel a little ill. I guess I'm getting very used to healthy food.

I love running and I love the fact that these sort of adventures are completely within my reach now if I keep at it, even if I may never be even close to a "fast" runner. I will not stop, no matter what the scale says, and I will continue to enjoy what my body can do.

Thanks for your support the lat few weeks. I look forward to catching up.

RobinsEgg

Skinny - I'd never use those lips on my ex - it was always a platonic relationship. Now we're falling back into the same old groove. On the phone every day and seeing each other about twice a week. Its nice to have him back more fully in my life. Even when he was dating, I bet I saw him at least once a month and talked to him once a week.

TIH - HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: what is the actual date? Want to reveal your true age OR what age do you feel you are?

Rainwood - WOW - Your first 5K - and you did an exceptional run I think! I'm very impressed, and it sounds like a lot of fun. So glad you got so much enjoyment out of it. Sounds like your hooked now! Hope you start a keepsake board like Skinnyjeans has of her race memorabilia, like assigned numbers and such. Whatever you decide, I think you'll have a long career in racing :drinker:

JNettie73

I didn't get on here yesterday. I had a really busy day. I have a lot of ramblings for today.

I have been frustrated with the scale not moving. My last recorded loss was 2 weeks ago at 220. :noway: When I logged the loss MFP gave me the option to readjust my calories. So I did. Since then I have been fluctuation + 1-2 lbs from my lowest weight. (221-222) :explode: This week I decided to experiment and changed my loss from 1.5 to 1 lb a week which brought my calories back up to 1760. I also have been more diligent with 50-60 minute exercise sessions allowing myself only 1 rest day per week. My experiment worked. This morning I weighed in at exactly 220. :happy:

Does anyone ever have dreams of food? I woke up suddenly this morning because of my cat and remembered a dream I was having. I was dreaming about eating cookies and cakes and not logging them into my diary. :blushing: When Brian woke up this morning I told him about it and told him that I think I may have some issues with food. :laugh:

We get a magazine in the mail, that we never ordered, called Bon Appetite. Every time it arrives it comes wrapped with an insert that says this is going to be our final issue. A few months later another issue arrives. :laugh: A new issue came a few days ago. We were thumbing through it and came across a recipe for Toasted Barley Risotto with Spinach and Herb Puree. I decided to give the recipe a try last night for dinner. The risotto was simmering so I decided to enter the recipe into MFP. The very last step called for a cup of Parmesan, I had not added it yet to the dish. When I entered the ingredients to the recipe the cheese brought the sodium up over 1,000 for a serving. :noway: I decided to eliminate it and add Marscapone instead with 1 oz of Parmesan. The sodium was still a bit higher than I would have liked but significantly less than the original recipe. It wasn't the best recipe I have ever tried to make but it definitely was interesting. I think with a few changes here and there it has potential to be really good. Today I want to make homemade gnocchi for dinner with either peas of asparagus.

As I mentioned before I have a store up the road from me called Meat Farms that has an amazing produce selection. We stopped there yesterday to stock up on some produce and Marscapone for today's dinner. Meat Farms always has a clearance rack with various bags of produce for $1.49 and some baked goods as well. We always check out the rack while we were there and have found some good deals. Yesterday I found a bag of 10 vine ripened tomatoes for $1.49. There was nothing wrong with the tomatoes at all. No soft or brown spots. In the past I have found bags of orange and red peppers (8), green beans (a few lbs), egg plant (6), and zucchini (don't remember how many) all for $1.49 each. The catch with it is because they have been sitting in the store longer than the fresher stuff you have to use the stuff within a day or two or blanch and freeze or they will start to turn on you. I have no problem doing that at all. I love that clearance rack. It has saved me a lot of money over time. Anyhow yesterday when we were in the store, I was chatting with Brian and asked him if he checked the clearance rack yet. There was a teenager with her mother. She was staring at us, made a face as we were looking at the rack and said to her mother that the rack was gross. Her mother also walked over to the rack to see what was on it. I wasn't bothered by her attitude towards the rack. But it got me thinking about if there was really a stigma attached to shopping for food on clearance? The same bag of tomatoes could have easily cost me $4-$5 if I picked from the freshly put out produce. There is nothing wrong with any of the tomatoes in my bag. We are not poor and can afford our grocery bills. That kind of deal saves me money that I can put elsewhere like towards a new shed for the yard. So logically why wouldn't someone shop on that rack? My question is would you shop on the clearance rack if there was something good or would you stick to the fresh produce?

Kah - Hopefully the bad weather is behind you now and you were not effected by the tornadoes. I would have been so upset if Hell's Kitchen was interrupted due to weather reports. I am excited because next week Kitchen Nightmares starts back up again. I get double dose of Gordon a week! It's the little things in life that make me happy. I always tell Brian that I would love to meet him and learn a few cooking techniques from him. But I would be so afraid to cook for him out of fear of him calling my meal trash and tossing it across the room. I would be absolutely devastated.

Christy - Welcome! Congrats on your loss so far. From your ticker it looks like you are doing a fabulous job. :flowerforyou:

JTconst - That strawberry cream cheese cobbler sounds heavenly! I love to cook but the one thing I do not dabble in is baking deserts.

Katrena - Welcome back. I love playing in the gardens. It is one of my favorite past times!

Robin - I thought of you yesterday when we were at the park. A hawk was circling over the fields. It was an amazing sight. You would have loved it.
LOL to the lips. Glad to hear though the swelling started to go down a bit.
We waited to do taxes too. Brian just submitted them this morning.

Hansea - It looks like the floors will have to be postponed for a week. Brian was reading the paperwork on the flooring a few nights ago. The instructions say we need to let the floors acclimate for 2 weeks to the house temperatures before installing. :sad: He then did some research online and was reading a few horror stories from people who didn't wait the 2 weeks and installed right away. Their floors ended up buckling. :noway: Brian contacted John to see if he can come this week to do the bathroom and grind down our floors then come back the following week to install the bamboo floors. We have not heard back from him yet. I was a bit disappointed when he told me the news. The following week I am on vacation so I was looking forward to finally having a week off entirely to myself. My last vacation I spent the entire week with the plumbers. I planned on running in the morning then spending the day working in the gardens. If he ends up coming during my vacation I will either have to go for an early run before Brian leaves for work or wait until John leaves for the day. But at least I can still work outside in the gardens, that is as long as Mother Nature cooperates with me. Keeping my fingers crossed that she does or I am going to be one very ornery lady.

Kaye - I love that it stays lighter so much later now. I love being able to come home from work and get outside to do things.
Glad to hear your granddaughter continues to improve.
Yum to the waffles. I have not made breakfast yet. You have me craving waffles now. I may just pull out the waffle maker.

RobinB - Congrats on the NSV. I am a size 18 in Old Navy too. Isn't it a great feeling? I love their tee shirts for working out. I just bought a bunch on sale not too long ago. Back of the closet shopping is the best. It is like getting an entire new wardrobe for free.

Ushkii - Congrats on being under again! You are doing such a great job. Keep it up.

Skinny - I am glad the re-dedication is working for you. It's working for me too. That combined with the nicer weather gives me a little more spring in my step.

LittleShadow - Congrats on the long training walk. I am sorry about your ankle. Sounds like you had a fabulous time on vacation. Dolphins are my favorite animal. I've swam with them twice.

Tracey - Congrats on the workout getting easier. I still struggle with push ups. Some days I can do more than others but they are so difficult for me.
Happy Birthday! I hope you have a great time at your mom's.

Susan - Sorry to hear of your work stress. Your vacation will be here before you know it and you can completely relax.

Laurie - Great exercise yesterday. Sounds like a wonderful day.

Rain - Congrats on the Warrior Dash. I am so happy for you. Sounds like you did a fantastic job.

April Renaissance:
I have not gotten around to doing planks and wall sits yet. I have been focusing on everything else at the moment so those two things have been put on the back burner for a bit. I finally took my progress pictures yesterday. I never got around to taking them last month. :embarassed: I am going to upload them in a bit and post here. I am hoping for noticeable change. :bigsmile:

Planks: 0/30 days - slacker
Wall Sits: 0/30 days - slacker
Protein Goal at least 80 grams: 3/30 days
Exercise goal: 5/25 days (Allowing 1 rest day a week)

Exercise goal:
Sunday: Gilad's Cuts and Curves - 60 min
Monday: Step, lowest setting with light weights - 45 min
Tuesday: Walk with Brian - 3.74 mi, 1 hr 11min
Wednesday: Rest day - Cleaned bathrooms and laundry before work
Thursday: Walk with Brian - 2.55 mi, 50 minutes
Friday: Gilad's Cuts and Curves - 60 minutes
Saturday:Walk with Brian at park - 3.10 mi, 53 minutes. Gardening approximately 1 hour.