I'd love to lose it all too! Apart from yesterday's pizza indulgence I'm a fairly clean eater, and I'm looking forward to some new ideas for meals and cleaner versions of family favourites. For example, I've replaced the noodles in lasagne with zucchini strips or even kale leaves. Just layer it in there like you would the noodles and bake it up....It actually is so fast to make when you've got leftover homemade spaghetti sauce and the kids love it!

goals of good health:


Clear, bright skin and eyes
Strong teeth, gums, nails and hair
Fresh breath and body odour
Meals are digested with ease – no gas, bloating, heartburn etc
Feeling energised when you wake, good energy level through the day
Regular, healthy bowel movements
Clear urination
Wounds and bruises heal quickly
Joints and muscles flex with ease
Efficient circulation
Consistent temperature
Free from cravings for certain types of food and drink
Able to maintain a suitable weight for height and build
Rarely affected by colds, flu and other infections
Clear and focused thinking, good memory and concentration
Even and balanced temper
Able to tolerate stress well

hi all have started the challenge today, im mainly at home at the mo, and dinner is cooked by me, so most meals are clean, now ive figured out the water. one of the good things is about this is both me and my boyfriend need to loose weight espically as i worry about him more so, but now to use this as a kick start. good luck to everyone

started today !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi Everyone!

Week 2 frustration
Spending so much time entering in my foods & now discovering that the list I created drops off the older items. Not good MFP.
Still learning how to store my frequent food items: should I put it in My Food (how?), meals?

Another thing that is bad about the food database is the inaccuracies of the nutrition. Some say 30 calories & some say 50 for the exact same single ingredient (egg or whatever). The problem is that while I think I’m doing fine with calories/salt/carbs etc & am staying low for my totals for the day & the exercise is going well, I think this is all working, only to end up gaining weight. Wish they would have a better system of screening what people enter for nutritional info. or they could switch to Spark People’s or even Fitbit’s database.

Otherwise, in the food eating department I found that weekends are my downfall as we go out with friends & consume/eat. So, last weekend didn’t go out at all. Making all of my own meals & not having junk food in the house has helped. Except now I like popcorn!

Biggest challenge is my eating too large of portions. Tried to reduce the portion & then drink a smoothie later if hungry, but was gaining from the fruit calories. Unfortunately, I’m not a fruit eater, so juicing is the way to go for me to get more nutrients in my diet.
New resolve…. Reduce meat portion & less meat during the week, so I can have the fruit. (& the healthy calories it comes with).
-Smaller plate trick, drinking water before eating, pile more vegetables on the plate, measure, make/cook just the right serving amount…any other ideas on controlling my dinner meal size?

HistoryGeekab asked about goals.
-I want to have stamina to play a round of golf. Even at 9 holes, I fall apart the last few holes. So eating healthy by eating more frt & veg,, should help with the nutrients I’ve been depriving my body of all these yrs. Thus, the nutrients will help give me golf energy.

-Stop the weight gain & unhealthy eating pattern. My body is headed for heart failure, diabetes, joint troubles, and esophageal problems. Don’t have them yet, but gaining weight is certainly not the way to stop them from developing. At 58, I’m finally realizing your quality of life is mostly determined by your health. And in budgeting for old age, it’s all about the medical costs.

One of the things that I love, is my FitBit flex pedometer. I wear it all the time (except in water) on my wrist. It reminds me to keep moving. $100. at Radio Shack. I was doing 10,000 steps per day, but that didn’t give me any challenge. So upped it to 15,000, but then I never hit my daily goal which meant I missed out on having those ‘reward lights’ go on. So this week have it at 12k & hopefully encouraged when the thing vibrates & all 5 lights go on. So cool!

Looking forward to week 3 of 12 wks. & hearing about everyone’s successes.
Would love to hear from all the members in our group. When one person is down, another may be up!