New Group...Daily HEET (Healty Eaters and Exercise Team)

I might have accidentally bummed myself out a little bit...a little confession that I need to get off my chest...

Earlier this morning DH and I were discussing that if I continue to tone up and lose weight I'm not sure what I'm gonna do for clothes. I knew I had *some* stuff in my drawers but I couldn't remember exactly what I had because I often donate to the Goodwill. In the middle of chopping all his veggies for the salsa DH ran out of onions so he ran out to get a few more. While he was gone I went digging through my shorts drawer. I was really looking for the size 18's I used to wear so I could kind of see just how far I had to go before I could get in to them again. They were gone. I remember now that I wore them thread bare as I was packing on the pounds before I started purchasing these elastic banded shorts from Penney's that I've been purchasing for years now. What I did find was three almost brand new pair of size 16's. Without even thinking about it I held them up to my waist knowing it would be a good while before they would ever fit again. But what I saw was *almost* depressing. I just stood there and thought..."Are you kidding me?" It wasn't even close.:sad:

I know the drill. I've done this before and know it's a process. I'm not *totally* bummed but it was a shocker I wasn't really prepared for. All I was looking for was the 18's to give me a little goal to shoot for, a little motivator. I definitely wasn't looking for what I found and I've since heard that little negative voice popping up in my head several times through the afternoon and it catches me off guard. Stooooopid Negative Voice! It will NOT derail me. I am committed this year. I'm seriously DONE being fat and unhealthy!

Now for the positive...I've got plenty of underwear, lol! For some reason I'm an underwear freak. I've got everything from Granny Panties to little sexy ones (no thongs, I don't do butt floss!) in almost every size, shape and color. I may not have shorts to wear in the coming months but I'll definitely have some nice new panties!

Find your victories where you can and run with them!:bigsmile:

Good Morning!

It's Monday, time to get back in normal routines!

I ended up going over my calories yesteday. I had a huge salad for lunch and regular salad dressing along with a Pepsi. First one I've had in weeks. Between the dressing and the soda I went over. I also only got about half my regular water and no exercise. Thought my body could use a break so I took it. But, back on track this morning!

R2L - LOVE the new profile pic!!! You look so much happier in this one! Enjoy the cookbooks! If you find some really yummy things please share! I did a Spaghetti Remake yesterday. I found a recipe for Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms that inspired me to make my own dish. I mixed a little ground turkey with some Italian Breadcrumbs, made 3 small patties out of it and laid it in the cap of the 'shroom. Covered everything with spaghetti sauce and baked it for a bit then topped the 'shrooms with cheese, mozzarella for DH and L/F Provolone for me. Boilded some pasta and topped my noodles with a stuffed 'shroom. It had all the flavors of spaghetti with meat and mushrooms, just served differently and had different textures. It was simple and tasty, DH even said I could make them again so, looks like they were a hit!

Gotta get moving. DH managed to destroy the kitchen over the weekend which spilled over to other parts of the house so I have lots of cleaning to do today. I'll check back a little later when I take a break.

:flowerforyou: Welcome Kelly!! Please join in anytime! We're looking forward to getting to know you!

:flowerforyou: Phly - What a buffet! Way to go for watching those portions! Cookouts, picnics, friends and family are all part of life. You just showed you can enjoy them *all* without totally blowing it and feeling guilty about it. Excellent!!

:flowerforyou: R2L - Great job on digging out those videos! Like Leslie says, it's good to mix up your movements because if you do the same thing everyday your muscles will get used to it and you won't burn as much.

I had some toast with cream cheese for breakfast and a turkey sandwich for lunch. I also did another 5 Miles with Leslie today. I don't want to say it's getting easier but I'm definitely seeing better heartrates on my monitor and it's not going off as often as it was a week or two ago. That means I'm getting healthier and stronger...Yay!! I've also got all my water in and feel totally hydrated.

Gotta run. I'll check back later. Hope everyone is having a GREAT day!

Go for it R2L!! You can do it! It's really not that hard once you find your groove! Do the 2 Miles and stick with if for a bit until you are ready to move up another mile. Steady Progress!!

I finished the day off strong! Dinner was Home Canned Chicken Breast mixed in to some homemade Chicken Gravy with Carrots from the garden, a small Sweet Potato diced up and Frozen Peas all tossed together to make a Chicken A'La King kind of dish. Served over some Instant Potato Flakes...just flakes and water...nothing else was needed for flavor because it was all in the gravy and veggies. Delicious and filling!

Healthy, Happy Dreams! See you tomorrow!

Good Morning!

Lilac, what a surprise! Of course you're welcome here!!:flowerforyou: Sorry to hear about last week but congrats for getting back on the wagon! That's what we're here for!

My cable box is locked up in re-boot mode. This is the 5th time in less than a year and I'm afraid I know what's going to happen. They will probably have to change out the box again and that means I will lose all the Bellydancing shows I DVR'd. Keeping my fingers crossed but I'm not hopeful about it.

Breakfast was toast with cream cheese and I'm already half way done with my water. Guess I'lll eat a piece of fruit while waiting for the cable guy.

Healthy, Happy Day!! I'll check back later...

Got in 2 miles but I was still so upset that when I strapped on my HRM I couldn't get my pulse down low enough to get myself a good workout, lol!! Everytime I really started movin' it would start beeping at me because my heartrate was too high. Lousy workout and lousy calorie burn but at least I got off my butt and did it!!:bigsmile:

So I have a question about this..when your heart rate goes high are you not burning as much calories, or how do you know? I have a treadmill at the appartments I live in. I do a good workout on the elliptical machine then I try to walk on the treadmill, and It always say that my heart rate is way to fast that I am on the top end of the cardiovascular part. (almost in the red =( ) Any clue what that means? Should I not walk after? does the rate matter?

Sorry Phly - you and I were posting at the same time.

It's my understanding that when your heartrate is too high you are not in your "optimal" zone and you are not burning as many calories. I haven't read up on it a long time and forget the physics behind it but you can do a test on yourself if you don't have a HRM. During your exercise if you can maintain a conversation you should be in a good zone. If you are too winded to speak normally then you are over-doing it and should back off a bit. There are also some ways you can check your pulse during exercise but I've always found it too cumbersome because I had to stop and try to find my pulse, which I always have a hard time finding. You can google heartrate during exercise or something similar and find generic charts for your particular weight and height. That might be a good place to start to see about where you should be. Hope that helps!

Hey Cee, you just jump right on in!! We'd love to have you!

Durn Lilac! So sorry to hear you aren't feeling well. Do you have the crud or are you just bogged down with life? Find your center and get back to it and kick some butt at your class tonight!

R2L - I sure hope you feel better soon. Nothing like getting in a good groove and coming down with a bug that throws you off track. Hopefully Jacob will let you get some rest so you can take it easy today. Remember to drink lots of water even if you are sick. Sometimes those meds can promote water retention so be sure to keep your body flushed.

Phly - Oh, NO!! First thing...2 pounds *might* have been a little too ambitious but maybe not. There could be a couple of things going on with you. Get back to basics. Water, water, water. Then measure and record *every single* thing that you eat. If you are truly under your calories then look at what you're eating. Even if you are within your calories are they *good* calories? Loading up on salty foods or processed foods might be contributing to water retention. Maybe you are close to your TOM, another water retaining factor. You have been exercising alot. It's possible you have burned off fat and gained some muscle, we all know that muscle weighs more than fat. Or, it could be a combination of several of these things all coming together at once. Go back to the basics for a few days to a week and let us know what happens. I'm sure I'm not the only one with a few ideas. Let's see what the others say and hopefully we can get you back on track!

Since I lost weight this week I updated my HRM with my new settings. I also adjusted my activity level from Basic (which was the lowest setting and a good starting point for me) up to Light (good for low intensity aerobic exercise.) Between my new weight and the new setting it gave me a little higher "acceptable" heart rate range and allowed me to up my activity a bit. Not much, just a little but let me tell you, that little bit allowed me to work myself harder and BOY do I feel it. My thighs and butt were burning so bad I could only get in 3 Miles today and had to stop a few times, not because my HRM was going off but because I had to rub my butt muscles, lol!

Time for lunch. I'm gonna finish off the Chicken Ala King that's in the fridge and have a salad and a couple of carrots that I pulled from the garden this morning.

Keep it healthy!!