NON WW & WW NEWBIES, OUR NEW LIFE, THE START OF SOMETHING WONDERFUL

Good afternoon ladies,

@shellyld2016 - I read through the StrongLifts 5x5 website. It looks like a good place for me to start. I think I will need to start with a regular set of weights as I have a really hard time with an empty Olympic bar and keeping good form. So I will start slow and build up. My main goal with the lifting is to retain muscle mass as I lose weight. I have a ways to go before I can think about sculpting.

@theslightedgeforever - I am so thick headed, the only way I seem to learn is the hard way.

@trooworld - With the fridge maybe you could have some baby carrots, celery, or cut veggies to go with the hummus. Maybe take away 100 calories from the 1590 and see if that makes a difference. When I get home from the grocery I prep and cut all the veggies and throw them into Tupperware veggie keepers. Then as we cook through the week we just grab what we need, weigh it and throw it in for stir fry or sides and for casseroles I put the mixing bowl on the scale, weigh and tare, weigh and tare, then dump it into the baking dish to bake. I look at the fully cooked item when I am finished, then divide by how many servings I think there is. Sometimes I will dump dinner back into a mixing bowl on the scale and then divide by servings. We have a pen and a sticky note pad above the scale to write it all down. We have been doing this for almost two years and I have everyone in the house well trained. It is second nature at this point. When I use the recipe builder I will often just do the sauces and canned goods, then add the meat and veggies individually in my food diary. I have come to the conclusion I will have to do this for the rest of my life. I am interested to hear how your air fryer works, I have been looking at them.

I got my hour and a quarter workout in. I failed miserably with my protein goal yesterday and it isn't looking like I am going to do much better with it today. I need to start eating tuna and eggs again.

I hope all you ladies are having a good weekend.

trooworld I use the recipe builder for things I make a lot and divide into servings. Other times like for a stir fry I will divide the ingredients into fourths because I'm cooking for 4 and list them individually. an onion becomes 0.25 of an onion. 2 carrots become 0.5 carrot. lb of chicken breasts becomes 4 oz. then I divide the mixture into 4 portions in the skillet when I'm done.

mysticlizard Protein is something I struggle with too. I'm not one for protein shakes or bars. Tuna.....I could add that in.

shellyld I'll have to look into that 5x5. I need to get consistent again on my weights. I was doing a split routine and pyramiding with dumbbells and machines. At this point anything to get some muscle mass on me and strengthen bones would be good.

posted
tracked under cals and carbs
exercise- yard work
no glucose reading

cbabie I'm glad your pageant is over. Don't be volunteering for anything else unless it's the Cbabie's Back to Health night. Imagine if all the hours you spent on the pageant went towards your health and well being instead. There is only one YOU.

gemwolf your tree plans sound wonderful. A little background music always puts me in the holiday mood. Is there a furbaby Santa? I was just thinking how nice pics would be. so make you a plan that's doable with your schedule.It might not be optimal. but right now that's your life. So figure out the easiest way to exercise and eat right.

trooworld Your snack boxes sound wonderful. Your snack list too. Once or twice a week, in my snack boxes I would add a Hershey's kiss or one of those little Hershey's mini candy bars, but then I love chocolate. Portions are controlled and I get to satisfy my sweet tooth. Although the trick is not to eat the rest of the bag at home. I do better giving myself permission to eat vs No I can't have that. Cbabie was talking about rules. We are our own boss so we get to make the rules. So yes you can have a kiss at work but not at home. Unless it's from your dh

posted
tracked over cals and carbs
exercise- none
glucose reading- none taken

Good Evening ladies,

I hope everyone's Monday went smoothly.

@trooworld - Yay, you go with your snacks! Your snacks look yummy and very appealing. I too am a visual eater. I love red grapes.

@gemwolf110 - It sounds like you are going to have a nice time decorating your tree. I bet your fur baby is going to love her first time in the snow.

@cbabie - I am glad your pageant was successfully concluded.

@theslightedgeforever - I am still struggling with my protein. I hope tomorrow goes better with it. I will also add hard boiled eggs to boost my grams.

@shellyld2016 - I was going to wait to start SL 5x5 tomorrow. I got to thinking why should I wait until the new year. Don't put off what you can do today and all that lol.

I didn't get my exercise in the last two days. I was a little over on my calories yesterday as well. I am doing o.k. today.

I hope all of you have a good evening.

Good morning!! I can't believe it is already December and not long until Christmas. I have been busy taking my parents back and forth to Doctors and Physical Therapy, but I am so grateful to still have my parents. It keeps me busy. I think I have most of my Christmas shopping done and wrapped. One of my goals for December is to lose 2 pounds and be more consistent with getting some excercise in most days of the week. With all the running back and forth to Doctors, I have not been excercising like I should. I guess any excuse is better than none. Lol. I don't always have time to comment but I have been trying to read everyone's comments when I can. Sounds like everyone did really good through Thanksgiving. Good Luck to all and hope to talk with you soon!

cbabie evidently my bones are really strong cause they couldn't get the darn tooth out without excessive force. I'm still swollen and now the pain is going up towards my ear. But I will persevere. I have become a wuss in my old age.

trooworld I will try the mustard in tuna and see. So what led to the Reeses PB cup? Emotional eating? Knowing our triggers can help us come up with a plan for next time. Evidently one of my triggers is pain. So I need a plan in 3 weeks when I'll be in pain all over again with them drilling a hole in my bones and gum.

gemwolf wait until you hit 50 everything goes downhill in warp speed. I was at the dentist 6 months ago and there was a little decay but nothing major in this tooth. I had him show me the Xrays because I was asking how he missed something this big I should have taken care of earlier. So we looked again at all my other teeth because I'm not doing this again. How is the ankle?

mysticlizard If you could see my face as I read through your list of sauces. lol I will expand my palate a bit at a time.

peru Come on and join us everyday. Guaranteed that at least one of us will be struggling with something. My dental pain has had me off kilter for three days. Not tracking very well and only 15 min of exercising. But I've done enough wallowing and time to get back to it.

lore having aging parents is hard. But you are right, at least you still have them. Wouldn't it be nice if we took care of our bodies now so someone won't be carting us back and forth to the doctors. Exercise seems to be the easiest thing to let drop off our to do list, but yet it's the one that we need the most. Exercise gives us energy to complete all the other things on our list. I was so busy last week with the shower prep that I had to break my exercise down into two tasks. Exercise 15 min. I also put fun things on my list. Read 15 min. did that twice too. It felt so good to be busy and get my exercise in. Normally I just say I'll do it tomorrow. Tomorrow and Friday will be a busy day for me so I think I'm going to have to use that same strategy or it won't get done. I've not been exercising while I have been wallowing. Time to get out of the mud.

OK I think that's it for me.

posted
halfway tracked
exercise-none
glucose reading -none taken

Good evening ladies,

@theslightedgeforever - I hope your mouth is starting to feel better.

@cbabie - The book sounds interesting. I ordered it from half.com. As far as day to day stress I rarely suffer from it. In the last few years I have realized there is a whole lot I cannot control so I no longer fret about it. I say a prayer for it then move on to what I can do. It seems like the older I get the less things bother me. It has taken practice but I am getting pretty good at it. Years ago a friend told me that worrying wouldn't do anything but kill you. I think she is right.

@trooworld - I hope you had a wonderful time at your office party.

Today I did my second day of SL 5x5, some walking, and peddling. I got my hour in and don't feel to sore, so I am pleased. The girls and I finished the Christmas cookies for church. I told them I would order pizza. So we got the cookies done and ate pizza while watching White Christmas a holiday favorite. It was fun, I think I will be a bit over my calories but its all right.

I hope everyone has a nice evening.

OK...so I'm checking in quick. Read some back, not too far back though. Super exhausting days the last 2 weeks, especially with fighting colds and cough. Trying to relax a bit and take care of myself this week now. Tomorrow is Bunco night - December is always a "potluck" (assigned), and I'm bringing a braised bacon brussel sprout dish...I'm thinking about getting fancy and adding in butternut squash - basically I made the recipe once following it to a "t", so now I am all about changing it however I want...typical of me. No classes to teach until January. I'm doing some organizing of my class/craft supplies; organizing kitchen/groceries; organizing the game library; going through my laundry and getting it under control; wrapping Christmas presents, the next week and a half. Trying to stay home as much as possible. I really want to go to my friend's pilates class tomorrow, but it's at 8 am and I'd have to get up by 7 to get my body moving enough to be ready by 8...and I have no flexible clothes that fit! But I'm going to go in my room now, try to figure out clothes, and go to bed soon, so I can beat those excuses. Wish me luck. My friend posted this thing on FB on her pilates page, I am posting it here. I made a comment "I was kinda thinking of becoming a hermit crab." She said "Yeah .... No, I'm not gonna let you do that. :-) ". It got me thinking...if my friend cares that much about me...I should care about me too. Also I had a party here yesterday with all kinds of people - our annual board game holiday bash. I realized I have some really cool friends, and even though I'm 25 years or so their senior, they like hanging out with the "fun me"...and I want to be able to hang out and enjoy these people for a long time in my life...so I need to work on being healthy and vital. No new year's resolutions for me...it begins here and now!
Love to you all, and I'll be getting back in the groove here and on my food tracker!!!
Karla :-)

Today went alright. Made some better decisions, and some not so good decisions, but at least I was conscious of what I was doing. My friend had to work this morning, so no walk. I tried to go to pilates, but the world was out to get me, lol. I don't have anything flexible to work out in, so I was going to use Pj bottoms. So I had the clothes on...pjs and a tshirt - got it, not letting clothes stop me. Was moving a little slow this morning, but finally got out the door. Had to go back in for my yoga mat, and then for my water bottle. There are several streets I could have chosen to go north on, and the one I did pick had a huge traffic back up due to construction. Finally, I get to the church where she holds her class...I'm 20 minutes late. I drive through the parking lot and go home. I guess that was a trial run, haha. She told me later I could have come in then, but I didn't want to start my first ever pilates class 20 minutes late. I'll try again later this week...her Thursday class.
Off to bed now. Need to start getting more sleep, that's for sure!
Karla :-)

Your Christmas tree looks awesome, @gemwolf110. Such a pretty shape it has.
Sounds like everyone has been really busy. I would take a picture of my Christmas tree but I don't know how to attach it. Lol. I have been trying to exercise a little more and trying to be more mindful of what I eat. The Holidays are not the easiest times but who doesn't like a challenge? I take piano lessons, I know, right? My age! Well it is kind of fun but it certainly is challenging. We are having a little get together on Thursday and I have to play a Christmas piece in front of a couple of people. Yikes! Not my favorite thing to do. I get nervous. I am also getting ready to bake my first fruitcake and we will see how that goes. HaHa.
Everyone have a great day!!!!