Hello all.

I hope everybody had a great weekend.
It flew by for me. LOL Ran a bunch of errands on Saturday - the usual grocery shopping and stuff. Got to the gym both Saturday and Sunday which is good. Saturday night we went out to one of our favorite Italian restaurants and we both had pasta for dinner. We miss pasta. Yummy!

Sunday I cooked two meals. Light Day dinner for the week as well as a vegetarian butternut squash and black bean chili that I was "meh" about. We will see how the flavors meld. When I first tasted it, right out of the crock pot I was not so impressed. But, then I added a few more of the spices, let it sit, and then served it up. That helped. I added a little more of the squash but I found that it made a HUGE portion, which turned it into an 8 serving dinner instead of 6. Since I saw it was filling the crock pot quite a bit, I reduced the number of cans of black beans I put in. I put in two cans instead of three. Which in turn lowered the calories quite a bit, even accounting for a little more butternut squash. Next time we have it for leftovers I'll probably serve it over brown rice or quinoa.

If I make it again, I won't put in as many fireroasted tomatoes and as much butternut squash. And I will do the same amount of beans, two cans. And less or no liquid either. I prefer a less liquidy chili. Since it was so low calorie (under 200) we topped ours with a little bit of shredded sharp cheddar. It was pretty good.

In case anybody wants to try it, here is the recipe I made. I don't know who she is fooling by saying that her recipe would serve 4 to 6 people.

http://www.simple-veganista.com/2012/10/butternut-squash-and-black-bean-chili.html

Today is a Light Day for me. Got my water cup full. Going to have a green tea in a bit.

Speak with you all soon! Enjoy your day.

Hi everybody! Good morning and Happy Wednesday. The week is moving along, isn't it?!

@Marmitegeoff good to see that the pacemaker is settling in and you are doing some fasting. Hope you are feeling better and getting on well.

@mamainthekitchen isn't it funny how brussel sprouts are having a moment lately?! Glad you liked the recipe. I think I am going to make it this weekend, because I am really missing pasta lately. *sniffle* I have found that either you love brussels or you hate them. LOL I tend to love them but sometimes I will mention them and people say, "ewwwww" LOLOL. I do remember eating them as a kid and they were typically the frozen variety and they were boiled or steamed. I still ate them and liked them. Now they are having a moment where we roast them (as you mentioned) and OMG I could eat them this way every night!!
Thanks for what you said about the retirement party! Yes, there will be people who haven't seen me in a while and who haven't seen that I have lost a fair amount of weight and I should just enjoy myself and enjoy the yummy food. What I did notice is that the venue is one that specializes in farm to table dining. Says on their website: "seasonal menus created from the lovely farms in the area that grow for us." So no worrying about a bunch of frozen pigs in a blanket on a plate. (Not that I don't appreciate some of those once in a while).

@RBXChas amen sister - there will be no light day for us on American Thanksgiving either! LOL My guy and I do this together, so when I say us, I mean my BF and I. We typically do our Light Days on Mondays and Thursdays, so we will probably do Monday and Wednesday that week.
The other time I see a change will be during Christmas. We will be in FL visiting family for ten days. We could do Light Days in FL though, as I like to cook dinner for everyone (could always make something low calorie for us) and we won't want to go nuts and gain. We shall see what we decide to do and how the actual holidays fall when that time comes.
In regards to your question about is 5:2 enough. I know what you mean. I have always kept that in my mind as I have gone through the weeks on this program. Always wondering to myself am I eating too much? Am I eating enough? Are my weekend "free meals" too much? I love Dr. Mosely but I wish he was a little more structured on what to do on non light days. Some people eat at their TDEE level. Others at another calorie level that works for them. I have done 1350-1400 for the past few months with a few tweaks. I do exercise and don't eat those calories back and I do the free meals Friday and Saturday nights.
I also do a 16:8 eating window everyday 12pm to 8pm or 1pm to 9pm or somewhere in the middle. Adding in the IF eating window is when I noticed the weight coming off more consistently. Hope that helps.

@ryenday I think you have a good plan set up for yourself. A month is a good gauge to see what works. You could also still do your IF eating window 16:8 if that has worked for you in the past. I found it helped me greatly. For me, I have coffee with a little milk in the AM, no sugar. Note, before I was putting coconut sugar in my coffee and still losing.
I recently stopped sugar when my weight loss slowed down. I also stopped eating fruit, but I may or may not add a little back in down the road. I just want to keep seeing weight loss is all. I still have 35 pounds to go until my goal and I don't want it to drag on forever! Just my .02 as to what has worked for me.

Have a good one everybody! I am looking forward to the retirement party dinner tonight. I am wearing a pair of black trousers that have thin white pinstripes and a blue top with bell sleeves. Slimming.

You are welcome @RBXChas I am glad we can all help each other. That is what these great sites are for. Don't worry about the holidays, we will be here for each other!
Christmas is tough on me too. I love to eat all the things I shouldn't and all the desserts my Mom loves to make (more on that below)... Maybe you can still make the treats for the kids, but just make smaller batches so once you give them out they are done and out of the house quicker?
I know what you mean about men and weight loss. I have seen it with women too where they can eat what they want, and get a little belly and then buckle down for a bit and boom it comes off. Used to work with a girl who ate candy bars every day and was thin as a rail. Ugh!

Thanks! When we travel down to FL for Christmas we stay with my Mom and Step Dad, so I sort of feel like my home away from home. I am originally from up here in New England but both sets of parents moved down to FL. Dad and Step Mom are down in FL too. We will see them as well. My Mom is not a big fan of cooking anymore, unless it is baking numerous unhealthy desserts and baked goods. *screams* I am okay with a little dessert, but we will not be going overboard! Stating that NOW in October, wayyy before Christmas.
Each year for the holidays we will cook and eat as many meals as we can or want at home, so I am always in control. We go out a few times for dinner to places we like, otherwise we keep it low key. It can get expensive too if we are not careful. So if I plan well, I think we can eat pretty healthy when we are at home. Then we'll have the typical holidays where I will be sure to have stuff that I like that might be forbidden (appetizers, bread, pasta, wine, beer, etc.) but we will get by!
For Thanksgiving we will stay around here in NY with my boyfriend's family, extended family, close friends, etc. Depends on if his parents will be around. My BF is expecting a new nephew out in Arizona in November so not sure what the plans are yet for his parents. I know they are flying out there for the birth. Thanksgiving will only be the big meal for dinner and then back on track. We will be in town so we'll go to the gym and stick to our normal schedule for the most part.

Look at that, this turned in to a long post - sorry about that!
Okay, enough babbling (typing) almost time to sign off for the night. Check in with you guys tomorrow.