Need to Lose 100 LBS -Robins Thread !

Good morning everyone.

Today's Reason to Celebrate
January 21, 2015 is
New England Clam Chowder Day
It’s New England Clam Chowder Day! Chowders originated in fishing villages on the coast of France in the 16th century. Back then any kind of fish chowder was considered a poor man’s dish. Most recipes called for salt pork and biscuits, which were both part of a standard sailor’s ration. Today, we’ve substituted the biscuits (also known as hardtack) for salty crackers!
There are many different varieties of clam chowder including New England, Manhattan, Rhode Island, Down East, and Outer Banks. New England clam chowder is made with milk or cream, and the use of tomatoes is frowned upon. In fact, in 1939 the state of Maine made it illegal to put tomatoes in clam chowder!
Celebrate this great culinary tradition and enjoy a bowl of delicious chowder in honor of New England Clam Chowder Day!
I will be having some chowdah tonight ayuh!

“If you have a dream, don’t just sit there. Gather courage to believe that you can succeed and leave no stone unturned to make it a reality.”
― Roopleen

Tom

Wednesday Wish ... that my sleep pattern would stabilize and become 'normal' again. I am dragging, yawning, grumpy, tired, and without any energy. My pattern got turned upside down when I got sick at the end of December/early January ... and I'm not a happy camper about falling asleep and waking up a 3 or 4 hours later to be wide-eyed awake but exhausted the rest of the night. So please, Mr Sandman ... bring me a good night's sleep tonight.

@Morgori - Clam Chowder ... thanks for telling us. I will have to make certain I get some ... cause I don't make it very well.

@cblue - Congratulations on the 100. Good work. Care to share anything you have done, learned, along the way?

@mnwalking - You've got it right ... it took to gain the weight, more time just keeping it around, and thus we know it will take time to trim it away. That's why it has to be a life-style change and not a quick-fix diet. Just keep in mind, every 10% of body weight drop in extra weight has a huge impact on a healthier you. Love yourself for the healtheri choices you are making every day, from how you eat to what you do, say and think. You will succeed.

@mountmary - Whoop, Whoop, Whoop! You GO girl! That Tenacity is paying off.

@all the Newlings ... welcome to the thread. Stop by often and let us know how you are doing. Join us on our group 'challenges' ... we challenge only our own selves, but do it as a group to cheer one another on and 'account' to one another.

AFM ...
Watch your Calories Challenge - 20/31 ,,, goal is 28/31
ALL-IN January Challenge - gym 3 times a week ...0 ... maybe next week. maybe Thursday or Friday? I'll see what my doc says this afternoon.
2015 Words to Live By ... Follow-Through

Follow-Through Niki

Just a quick drive-by to announce I'm DONE with the AP essays. Woohoo! Finishing journals right now. If I play my cards right, I may have a grade-free weekend before 2nd semester starts. That would be heavenly.

2015 mantra = "Just 15 minutes"

January Challenge:
Under calorie goal: 18/20 days (goal is 28/31 days)
All-in: run 2 days/week: week 1 = 2/2, week 2 = 3/2, week 3 = 1/2, week 3 = x/2
8k at end of month (not sure what day) in 56 minutes (Thanksgiving 8k = 56:49, NYE 8k = 57:47)

Grading Goals:
1. 66/66 AP essays DONE!!!
2. 35/66 AP journals
3. 7/14 junior analysis activities
4. 25/66 journal conferences

Exercise Goals: (week 3)
Sun--walk gunner DONE
Mon--walk gunner DONE + gym DONE
Tues--rest day (meeting)
Wed--walk gunner + gym
Thurs-- walk gunner
Fri--rest day
Sat--walk gunner + gym

@Skinnyjeanz - Good going on that grading Karen. You have worked very hard at this ... did you hear President Obama on last night's State of the Union Adress praising the teachers in Illinois and Tennessee? I thought of you when he talked about how the kids have improved in their tests.

@skinnyjeanzbound‌ - Woohoo indeed! BTW, I'm totally jacking your mantra for the next couple of days to tackle my writing assignments.

@mountmary84‌ - Congrats on the loss!

Wednesday Wish - Like @NK1112‌, mine is for better sleep. I was up too late again last night, so although I did get up and do my morning routine, I fell asleep right afterward and snoozed for about 4 hours! A 30-minute nap is one thing, but my body is clearly telling me that I MUST change my sleep schedule.

AFM - Feeling less like punching people in the face today, so that's good for us all. Went to the rec center yesterday to use the brand new fitness room; it's fabulous! We actually have windows! They also bought some new types of cardio machines, including an AMT (I think that's right) which has been recommended to me as sort of an "advanced elliptical". I got on for a couple of minutes, but didn't have the patience to figure out how to use it yesterday. I'll try again soon.

MFP Goals January 18-24

Diet Goals

* No fast food 3/7 days - x/7
* Track food 7/7 days - 4/7

Exercise Goals

* 30 mins of cardio (preferably elliptical) 3/7 days - 1/7
* Yoga daily as part of Miracle Morning routine - 4/7
* Talk to trainer at rec center about strength training -

Health Goals

* Take meds daily - 3/7
* Refill pill box when needed -

Cleaning Goals

* Declutter kitchen cabinet under sink -
* Declutter kitchen cabinets over sink -
* Take last tote of kids clothes to BigBro's house -
* Follow daily cleaning schedule -

Personal Goals

* Complete Miracle Morning routine daily - 4/7
* Move wake up time back to 6AM daily - 1/7
* Tweak night time routine to better set up for mornings -
* In bed, lights out by 10:30 PM at least 4/7 days - x/7 (so close on Monday! lights out by 11PM!)


Work Goals

* Submit at least 4/8 magazine articles for review x/8
* File 5/5 newspaper articles - 3/5
* Invoice newspaper -
* Invoice magazines -
* Resolve issue with client's shopping cart -
* Follow up on PR pitches sent last week -
* Coordinate with outlet #1 and PR client for coverage - DONE
* Sub at middle school Friday afternoon -


January All-In

* Login to MFP daily - 21/31
* At/Under calorie limit 20/31 - 3/31
* Workout (besides yoga) 12/31 - 8/31

2015 Mantra: Live Intentionally

Well son and I took the bikes out for the first time. It was fun and a fail at the same time. I live in very hilly western Washington and I thought we found a spot that wouldn't be to bad but there is definitely a gradual rise on the way home and ended up walking it most of the way. Up side it was still a good workout. I thin k we have a good idea for tomorrows rise. I will keep you updated

Happy Wednesday!
@Rozie - Thanks for your cheer.
- @all - I hope your actions today helped you reach for the goals you have for yourself.

Wednesday wishes - I wish for the strength of mind to continue this journey through reaching my goal right into keeping my weight off once I reach a healthier weight. One of the things I worry about is...what will I do in order to keep the weight off. This may seem like a simple question, but for someone who has not been a healthy weight in 25+ years, it is an important question to get a handle on. One of my answers to what I am going to do to keep the weight off is to expand my current physical activities, and develop friendships with people who are active. (Not that I'm going to lose my current, amazing, more sedentary, friends....I just need to also have people with which to do active things). A very long range goal of mine is to bike a century. I love bike riding, and want to develop my skills/experience so that I can mountain bike and ride on streets and rail trails for longer times than I currently am able. I just heard about this place that is about 20 miles away that has group bike classes (indoor bikes). They groove to amazing music and are really into the whole group process of it. It sounds like an amazing match for what I am thinking about. I'm in the process of figuring out how to 1. afford the classes and 2. manage the time commitment of it. So I guess my share is a wish and a tentative plan on how to make the wish come true. I'd love to hear of any ideas you all might have for me to help me increase my endurance/strength.

Perfect effort and balance,
Mara

Happy Wednesday everyone! Today was super busy and I'm really worn out. First I got my hair cut and colored, then hubby and I ran all over doing fun stuff like going to Sams, the grocery store, Micheal's, and Hobby Lobby. The best part of the day was the weather. We were in the mid 60's and there was sun!! We even treated ourselves to a Starbucks iced coffee. So tasty!!!

My Wednesday wish is that I would simply keep on the program. My weight has been going down again this week and that makes me motivated. I just hate when I lose my mojo and slipped back into the eating habits I know are so destructive. If I'm going to eat it then I HAVE to plan it. That simple!!

@kaye--great job logging! I also appreciated that quote when someone posted it--so true!

@teresa--sounds like a productive day--and congrats on the scale moving down.

@mara--I love all of the ideas niki posted. I don't know where you're at activity-wise, but walking is one of the best and safest ways to work on cardio endurance. When I started back to the gym (60 lbs ago) it was after several years of doing a lot of walking--with gunner and as training for the Komen 3-day. Once I joined to gym I moved to the elliptical as my main form of cardio until I finally felt ready to start running. Now I still do all of those (plus a few others), but running is my favorite.

@tammy--I could not imagine trying to give a cat a bath. LOL! I've given gunner his only twice--once due to the Great Skunk Incident of 2008, and the other b/c he was playing in the river at the dog park. Normally though I just take him to the doggie salon--totally worth the money.

@mel--steal away I find myself using a lot of the phrases here in my daily life now--especially in situations when mine doesn't quite work. Glad you are in a (slightly) better mood today.

@niki--I missed the SOTU address, but will watch it online when I get a chance. Glad to hear my state got some kudos.

@rozie & holly--I'm fortunate that pizza is not one of my weaknesses--otherwise, I'd be in big trouble living here in Chicago. I do love a slice of deep dish every now and then, but that's one of those meals that is a once in a great while splurge. My DH likes thin crust, but I'm not a big fan so we rarely order it. If we have pizza it's just the frozen, not very tempting variety.

@roto--welcome!

@tom--the New England Clam chowder post was making me drool. Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of places in my area to get a good bowl. I can't stand the canned stuff. I was a Navy brat and spent summers in Norfolk, VA where I was spoiled with east coast chowder. LOL

AFM--I ended up going out to Mariano's for lunch with some colleagues. It's kind of like a Whole Foods, and they have amazing sushi. That cut into my grading time a bit, but I still made some progress finishing the analysis activities. My plan for tomorrow is to finish the journals while my last class takes their final exam. Then I will focus the rest of the day on a combo of prep for next week and journal conferences.

After school I went to the gym and ran intervals for 20 minutes, then a steady mile or so at a challenging (but not impossible) speed of 5.8. Felt good to get that second run of the week out of the way. I already have plans tomorrow and Friday after school, so no gym either days, and I will have to watch calories carefully to avoid going over.

Wednesday Wish:
My wish is that robin is doing better.

2015 mantra = "Just 15 minutes"

January Challenge:
Under calorie goal: 19/21 days (goal is 28/31 days)
All-in: run 2 days/week: week 1 = 2/2, week 2 = 3/2, week 3 = 2/2, week 3 = x/2
8k at end of month (not sure what day) in 56 minutes (Thanksgiving 8k = 56:49, NYE 8k = 57:47)

Grading Goals:
1. 66/66 AP essays DONE!!!
2. 40/66 AP journals
3. 14/14 junior analysis activities DONE
4. 25/66 journal conferences

Exercise Goals: (week 3)
Sun--walk gunner DONE
Mon--walk gunner DONE + gym DONE
Tues--rest day (meeting)
Wed--walk gunner NOT DONE + gym DONE
Thurs-- walk gunner
Fri--rest day
Sat--walk gunner + gym

Busy day with auditors and taxes. Did go on a 3-mile walk w my friend & the doggies after work, it rained on us starting at mile 2 so we got wet!

@Lori~congrats on hitting that 100# milestone, feels great doesn't it?!

@Tammy~bathing cats? That's just asking for trouble! Why are u giving them baths, cats are self cleaning.

@Karen~your wish is my wish, I think about Robin often.

Tired & it's late--see u on the flip side.