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

@cbabie congrats on the loss!!! I did have a lot of fun.

@theslightedgeforever I see. I hope you have a better week this week. The Italian place was phenomenal. Thanks for the highlights.

@gemwolf110 I hope you had a nice staycation. Good luck with grad school search, going to grad school changed my life!

@krupalip I'm glad you are feeling better. Oh, I didn't stick with my caloric goals at all while my friend was here! Target is great. Congrats on your loss, woo hoo! And congrats about the black dress!!!

@TeresaW1020 Good morning and happy Labor Day to you as well! I agree with you and the meal was definitely memorable! Congrats on the loss. Good for you for listening to your body, it's so important.

Hello all! My friend and I had a great time while she was here (she's gone now). We went shopping, ate a lot of food (some good, some bad), and laughed a lot. My stomach was upset yesterday from the way I have been eating this weekend, that should give you an indication of my choices! Not that I have been eating fried foods, but just not the healthy foods that my body is used to and it is staging a strike. lol I feel better this morning and will get back to healthy eating today. I did not go to my WW meeting on Saturday, so I have no idea if I am up or down this week but I suspect if I weighed myself, I would be up. Well, I hope you all have a wonderful day! My day will be grocery shopping and meal prepping. Here's what is on the menu, in case you are curious (I put the links in):

Asian baked salmon + steamed broccoli
Chicken fajitas
Chicken broccoli stir fry
Middle eastern meatballs (Kofta kebabs) + Sarah's rice pilaf + hummus + roasted red peppers

and for breakfast: Asparagus-pancetta potato hash (but I'm using center-cut bacon instead of pancetta)

TeresaW1020 I like treadmills too. Abhor the elliptical. I can't have a salty snack stash in the house. I buy one thing per week and allow myself to eat that. Otherwise I would be like termites and wood. For some reason a chocolate stash makes me feel secure. If I need it, it's there. Otherwise I'm going through the pantry looking for something to eat and that doesn't satisfy me, so I look for something else and eat. I would have been better off eating a Hershey kiss. Less calories that way. Woohoo on fitting into that shirt. I've done that. Almost let the moment pass me to wear the shirt and now it's a bit big. So now I figure every 10 lbs I lose, I could go try on those clothes. I have them separated by 10, 20, 30 lb loss. I like Kohl's and Ross. Although I hate clothes shopping knowing I'm going to lose weight but then it seems to take me forever to lose it so I get stuck in the same clothes. lol I do get rid of my big clothes though cause I'm never going back there.

Happy Tuesday that feels like a Monday. I don't come here on weekends and when I get here during the week, all threads have taken off! Ironic how little labor I did this passed three-day Labor Day weekend. Weighed in at WW Saturday and I'm the exact same weight as last month's weigh in, only I didn't have to work out first to sweat it to that number, lol. I guess any progress is good.

Piggybacking off a few prior posts, I do a lot of meal prepping and I LOVE Indian food, but have not yet made Kofta. I regularly make yogurt and yogurt whey bread, and it seems I put my yogurt in everything, including my Indian eggplant dishes. Like another above, I don't mind the treadmill (and it's my main running on sub-40 degree winter days) and I really don't like the elliptical, although I did it throughout an injury and binge watched Mad Men at the same time.

Ended up doing Back to School shopping when I have no one in school I have to shop for, which means all those 50% off Old Navy jeans are for me, as well as new running shoes and hiking shoes. There are additional benefits to aging, lol. Carpe diem!

Hello Everyone!!

@trooworld, great looking menu. You make those middle eastern meatballs and let us know. I like to try new dishes and appreciate you giving links. The body definitely doesn't like it when we abuse it. There are foods that I used to eat all the time and now I can't. Fried foods do a real number on my stomach.

@theslightedgeforever, I had an awesome elliptical and didn't use it so I sold it and bought a recumbent bike. Now that I'm much more into exercise I wish I had the elliptical back. Live and learn!!

@allisonlane161, no reason we shouldn't take advantage of a good back to school sale even if is for us. I'm still not sure what I'm going to do with all the composition books I bought, but they were all just too cute and cheap to pass up!!

@cbabie, it's good that you feel you are getting back on track. Don't neglect your sleep though!!

Well, I am happy to report that today's weigh-in gave me a 2-pound loss for the week! WOOT!! Something so cool happened yesterday to me that I have to share. I went to Dress Barn to look for a black shrug for this dress I'm wearing to a wedding in two weeks. While there I asked the saleslady if they had any Ponte pants (double knit stretch pants). We were in the plus size section of the store, which is where I've ever only shopped and she said they had the pants but that I was on the wrong side of the store. I laughed and told her that I didn't think I was. She literally looked me up and down and walked away. She came back in a couple of minutes with a size 14 and 16 from the other side where the regular sizes live!! I went into the dressing room and tried on the 16's and they fit perfectly!! I was so excited! The pants were a lot more money than I wanted to spend but she told me they had this buy one get one 50% off sale, so I got a super cute shirt to go with he pants! The shrug was on sale for $14 so a win-win for me!!

@theslightedgeforever how are you, your strategy on dealing with salty and sweet cravings is something I am gonna adopt, keep a stash hidden from everyone in the family, my hubby needs to snack all the time and there are too many temptations I have to battle every single day, instead just keep a little chocolate for me.

Also I want to say thank you to everyone for their support in helping me reach my black dress victory, i am proud of myself and just hope I am below 50 kgs by September 23, then I would’ve conquered my goals for now

@allisonlane161 congrats on maintaining, way to go!

@cbabie I'm glad you are using your Trello board more. Boo to losing sleep...sleep is so important! lol...my husband would eat half a carton of ice cream too! I'm glad you are finding substitutes.

@TeresaW1020 Yeah, fried foods really do a number on me too, I only had fried foods two of the meals, but I guess that was enough! That is so cool what happened at Dress Barn, woo hoo!!! And yay to sales!!!

@krupalip thanks for the tip on the koftas, as I've never made them before. I think I am making them tonight. The recipe does say not to overcook them, that they are better a little pink on the inside, so I'll be careful. I'll have to be extra careful because I am using 96% lean ground beef and that dries out so quickly. Do you have a favorite recipe for koftas? Good luck with your plans.

@theslightedgeforever I was really mad! I spent $16 on those snacks for ME. The first day I got them, he was like, can I have some of those and I said sure (but I didn't mean: you can have all of them). I'm off early today for a dental appointment, so I can cook the koftas and maybe one other meal hopefully. 15 min Leslie tape is definitely a win!

Hello all. It felt good to eat back on track yesterday. I did have some chocolate but I always have chocolate. The only difference is I had 2 extra pieces. My stomach certainly feels better.

Good morning girlies!!! Instead of making Kofta, I bought a Groupon to an Indian restaurant that I love. Maybe next week, lol. And am I the only person who can pigout and overeat watermelon, mango, strawberry and plain yogurt? I really find it hard to believe I stuffed myself last night on that. Carpe diem.

Trooworld. I never thought about the 96% ground beef drying out quickly but it makes sense. I’m going have to use both beef and chicken. DH can’t eat beef. I’m tired of always eating chicken. Yaaay for getting back on track.

Cbabie. I finished Sweet Spot. I think. Lol. I’ll have to go back and check.

Allisonlane161. Enjoy the Indian restaurant. I would enjoy the fruit, well maybe not the mango and the yogurt. I don’t know about the stuffed part. I was telling my friend yesterday that other than Thanksgiving I don’t eat til I feel stuffed. One I’m a super slow eater. I tend to graze more than a lot of food at one time. I think my problem is more of a non-movement thing which I’m working on. So the calories I do eat doesn’t go anywhere.

Krupalip Part of the weight loss journey is letting your inner mind catch up with the outside body. You have worked hard. Flaunt it. You might have to shop in the Petites section. I don’t know how tall you are. But you will have fun trying on clothes and saying wow I look good. I’ll have to try cilantro instead of parsley. I like it. Of course now I’m thinking some good naan would be yummy with the hummus. 🤔 I might try and make me some. Happy Birthday to your daughter. That’s a fun age.

Ok that’s it for me. I did some weights today along with some treadmill and walking outside 76 minutes. Met my exercise calorie goal. Went over on food calories by 100. Had some unexpected Karak tea I wasn’t planning on.

Good morning. Did I see "shoe shopping"???? I'm headed to Thailand and Bali in Oct/Nov and enjoyed buying new hiking shoes and running shoes. My gait has slightly changed after losing all the weight, but still in a neutral shoe. I'm limited on luggage space, so I'll be "renting" a yoga mat when I'm there instead of bringing my own. I never focus on points or calories when I travel, but I plan trips that are physically challenging to compensate, plus they're usually cheaper trips, lol

Krupalip, I remember when my now-20 year old was 2 thinking how fast time went. Now she's 20 and I remember everything about the day I had her and brought her home. She turned out nothing like I expected she would, but she's so much fun and it's pretty neat to see her as a woman and someone I enjoy being friends with. Enjoy your two year old and every year afterward.

Theslightedgeforever, I love this line: "Part of the weight loss journey is letting your inner mind catch up with the outside body." This is truth. This is the reason I still find it unbelievable that I can look good in nearly every picture someone takes. Same reason it is so fun and surprising to try clothes on without the anxiety that used to go with it. My mind still expects to see the old me in pictures and mirrors. There really are a million reasons to lose weight.

Carpe diem!

Trooworld. I love lamb but my DH can’t eat any kind of red meats due to a blood disorder. So he gets chicken. Lol. I became anemic after he got diagnosed because I was too lazy to cook two different things. So now I order beef when I go out and cook it once a week in the house. Plus iron pills 3 times a week.

allisonlane161. Interesting on the gait change. How did that occur. Your trip sounds wonderful Yes on the mind versus body. I kind of see you as my future self. Hope you don’t mind. My friend bought a dress on line and I thought how would you know if it fit. Then realized she’s skinny. Everything fits when you are skinny.

Hey everyone, my younger daughter, Amara thanks you all for the birthday wishes, very kind of you all...
@the slightedgeforever what a nice line my inner being has to get used to my outer self, that is so true isn’t it, but I think that’s gonna take sometime for me..also I wanted to say that Indian food can be very mild as well, yes we have a very high tolerance for chillie but our regular everyday food is not extremely spicy, we use a variety of spices but we love simple food, especially homemade food. The older generation frown upon eating out, we do eat out but 99 percent of the time we cook at home. Also naan bread is very high in calories because it’s made from all purpose flour, and that’s a big no-no for Indians trying to lose weight. We generally eat whole wheat roti which is not as bad as naan bread. I had given up roti too which is a staple bread for us with every meal cos it’s laden with carbs. Sorry, I didnt mean to give you lesson in Indian food...
@trooworld hope the koftas turned out great, even I can’t keep up with a good dental routine and end up spending loads of money on check ups and cleanups, need to take better care of my teeth for sure

@allisonlane161 yes my kids are my everything, and I hope I do a good job raising them, kids don’t make it easy for sure, but yeah they are a blessing and I hope to have a close bond with them when they grow up, right now all I can think of is their birthday party tomorrow, I want it over and done with

Anyways I don’t think I will be able to check In tomorrow so see you guys later, have a good weekend everyone

TeresaW1020 Your pastor's "retreat" sounds wonderful--alone in Alaska! Enjoy The King and I--that one is even before my time.

Theslightedgeforever I'm not sure why the gait changed, but the tech did say it could be from weight loss. Apparently I'm totally straight until the "last possible moment" I pronate at the toes...still neutral though. I think maybe the structure and hips change a bit as far as running, which could account for that. As far as being your "future self," it is really weird seeing myself as older than most people in the MFP community and in my real world fitness community. I'm used to being among the oldest in the gym (for women, men seem to have many older people), but I'm standing in Starbucks the other day (don't like their coffee but love that pink drink once in a while) and I'm looking around and it suddenly hit me, "I'M THE OLDEST HERE TOO"--it was a bit shocking. I mean I'm only 56 and it makes me wonder where my tribe is? It seems most people are now chronologically younger than I.

Well, only Yoga last night. Tonight is a light run and another Yoga session (I'm nearly daily with the Yoga). Have a friend I haven't seen in a few years staying with us Saturday night so I'm looking forward to that. And a crab cookout tomorrow with my cousin's huge family, and looking forward to that. But face it, even bad weekends (which this isn't) are better than the best weekday.

Carpe diem.

Krupalip. It’s always nice to learn about food in other cultures. Have fun at the bday party

Trooworld Do you have a plan in place for the weekend and your outings? I’m glad you mentioned the koftas. Reminded me I need to take out the meat from the freezer. I’ll let you know how they turn out.

Allisonlane161. When I said my future self I meant it in terms of progress versus age. I’m 54. Young in spirit though. We’re not the oldest one on the team though. 😜. I did yoga today too plus some walking. I hear you on the weekends

Cbabie. Yaaay on finding the old you I say cook for yourself and let the others eat PB or learn to cook. That’s what I tell my son. Just the other day I had made a rice casserole with sliced eggplant and sweet potatoes. He looked at it and said mom is this one of your experiments? I said healthy food. If you don’t like it Pinterest has a lot of recipes to choose from. Go cook one of those. He ate PB toast.

Well off to read my bookclub book. It’s on Thursday and I’m not done with it yet. The language is too flowery and descriptive. But I suppose that’s the intent so........

Good morning ladies!

@trooworld, your weekend sounds fun!

@cbabie, I hope you have a wonderful time at your conference and get a lot out of it! It's my turn to teach children's church tomorrow so my day will be filled with lots of preparation. Our children's director sets a very high bar and will not except anything other than the best for them. They get a real church service, including the same topic that their parents are hearing. We just gear it to their level of understanding.

@theslightedgeforever, have fun at your book club. Even though it doesn't sound like this book is your cup of tea.


Well, I came home from work yesterday complaining that my left knee had been hurting all day. My husband ("the doctor" ) examined my knee and found a large swollen area on the right side of my knee cap. He Googled and determined that I have what is called "Runners Knee". I was then ordered to take Ibuprofen, ice my knee and NOT walk on my treadmill....or do any of my running in place to get extra steps (which I had to confess that I do). I'm bummed because I really feel like I had been on a roll of upping my fitness like never before and I really don't want a setback. It's much better today, so I'm hoping to get on my recumbent bike later and at least do something.

I went out last night and had a nice dinner at Jason's Deli (and lost 0.1 this morning!!). So, that shows that pre-tracking works because I didn't just get whatever I wanted and stuck to my predetermined choice. Crazy Rich Asians was really, really good!! The sound quality however in the theater sucked and I was ticked about that. We are going to the same theater on Sunday to see The King and I and the sound better be better and louder!!

Have a great day!!

Cbabie. I hope you are taking care of yourself. Sleep is an important part of health

TeresaW1020. A loss is a loss. Ouch on the knee. It’s hard for me to have a setback cause it’s hard to get me restarted. So I hope you will be better than me in that area.

Trooworld. Maybe the scale will surprise you. So back to healthy habits this week. Look at all the progress you’ve made this year. Still haven’t made the kofta. Lol. I defrosted the meat and that’s as far as I got. I’ll let you know

I did 31 min of gardening and 30 min walking. Food was OP