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

Good Morning everyone

Tracked yesterday, Over 13K steps however I did not do my set exercise as I planned in my diary. Disappointing but I did move a lot.

@Teresaw2010 - is there a prize for the 00 day challenge? Is popcorn high in points? I am thinking it is healthy snack and have only just bought the old fashion popcorn kernels and a microwave popcorn container. Now I have to really look at it again

@cbabie - It is wonderful that you are getting you family to enjoy eating more healthy foods. Yes lunch with bosses - you really can not say no. Well done for being mindful - sliver of birthday cake - now that is strong! At this time my blog is closed, but I may open it up later. I am decided to treat it more like a journal of my ups and downs for now

@its_cleo - congrats on your loss

@trooworld - Glad you found some - I do hope that they prove to be a pain reliever for you as they are to me.

@theslightedgeforever - typing your name reminded me of @cbabie piece of birthday cake (LOL). Looks like you had a great day all round

Back o work today

Take care

Trish

@cbabie. You don’t need to include the @ nor my entire username. Just type Slightedge. I check here anyway. I don’t go by the notifications. I had 1/3 piece today of the dessert. So I have given most of it away. Ds wasn’t thrilled. I told him I’m saving him from a life of diabetes. There are usually chicken choices at burger places. Sometimes even bunless choices. If all they have is burgers then opt for the small cheeseburger. Less in calories. You can always opt to bring your own food. Or sit and drink water. I’m learning that my health is more important than other people’s opinions.

@trooworld I could eat mac and cheese forever. Now I’m learning to take smaller portions and fit it into my day. Like I did with the dessert.

@TeresaW1020 I love popcorn too even though I know microwave popcorn bags aren’t good for me because of the hydrogenated oil. I have whittled that down to once in awhile. But as for regular popcorn I bought a microwave popcorn bowl and just add the kernels. No oil. When it’s done I just spritz it with some olive oil and add my popcorn seasoning. That seems to quell my craving. A loss is a loss. I’m counting down to Day 30 too. We are getting to the part where the rubber meets the road. The losses get fewer and how to keep the car out of the ditch and heading towards our destination.

@TrishasTime You were active and moving your body and next time you’ll do the planned exercise. I see we pop popcorn the same way.

@its_cleo stick to your plan and those two ounces will leave and take along some of its friends. Concentrate on the habits you are developing. Your body will fight you at every turn so you will give in and go back to being the old you.

Ok that’s done. I stayed within my food boundary. Exercise was a rest day but I got in 16 minutes in the morning and I rested too much today so if I wanted my big sticker I had to put in some steps. So I ended up walking another 28 min. Journal done and big sticker day

Good morning ladies!

@TrishasTime, There is no prize at the end of the 100 day challenge. However, hubby has promised me a spring shopping spree for some new clothes, so that is motivating. Popcorn isn't a bad choice at all! It's anywhere from 2 to 4 points for 2 to 4 cups. I count mine as 4 points. It's high in fiber which is always a good thing. That is a great step count! I am lucky to get 7000-8000 on a good day.

@its_cleo, if I could give you one piece of advice it would be to not get discouraged. Yes, I know that is easier said than done! I keep a spreadsheet since I started WW and yesterday was week #108. It's interesting to look at it and see the trends of my up and down weight. I also keep notes so I know why I might have gained that week. But you know what? Sometimes there is no reason. You got this!!

@theslightedgeforever, I should look into getting a microwave popcorn bowl. If I could eat more popcorn every day! You are rocking your plan! Sunday was my rest day but I still got on my recumbent bike for 20 minutes just so I could reach my daily goals. Consistency is what is going to get us to where we want to be.

@trooworld, I love mac & cheese!!! I don't ever really get it because my husband doesn't like it. He's not normal!

Well, it's 29 degrees here and for us that is cold!! But I'm not complaining considering what others in the country are going through. I watched a video earlier of women doing snow-yoga. There is no end to crazy in this world! I woke up with the scale down, which made me happy. I plan to be extra careful today so I can end my day 30 with a loss. I like this focusing on 10 days at a time along with my regular weekly WW weigh-in. Usually, I would have eaten more on Tuesday and Wednesday but because that is day 9 and 10 of my challenge, I have to be more mindful. Win win!!

@theslightedgeforever yeah you're right, body and mind will definitely want to go back to the old ways. It sounds like you had another great day!

@TrishasTime I haven't done measurements, I always worry I can't do it right twice in a row. My gym has a scale that shows body fat percentage, and I tried that at the start when I joined ww. It's a special scale- calculates bmr etc- , so I don't use it for my regular weigh ins. But I will try it again in a few months to see.

@TeresaW1020 thanks! I'm not discouraged yet. I track things too, I wish I could figure out a simple formula for losing/ or maintaining, but I haven't been able to yet lol. Congrats on the scale being down! 29 sounds close to what we have -17 C or 1.4 F. But yeah people in some areas of US have it much worse than us.

@trooworld - Lol. I thought of that, the bathroom Honestly maybe I was getting a little relaxed with calories + a bit less rigorous exercise.

So I am watching what I eat like a hawk again this week, so we will see.

Take care all

GM everyone

@its_cleo - Funnily enough at last night's workshop - one of the questions to our workshop TL was finding the right balance. Through discussion, it was determined that some people need to eat all their points daily/weekly. Some need to eat all their daily and some weekly. I think you will need to find your "sweet spot" The TL did say that to be mindful of the zero point foods. You need to remind yourself of the serves. Eg chicken breast is O points, but you would not eat 2 chickens in day, Dates are free for a serve but you would not eat the whole packet - just a though. There is a "serves" guide on the application.

@theslightedgeforever - I am hearing you about the Yoyo game. It has been far too long. I was sitting next to another failed LTM and she said this is the last time she is going to do this, she is sick of being a yoyo dieter.

@cbabie - I have never understood Keto - just eating unprocessed foods?

Last night saw a loss but more importantly, saw a changing mindset start to evolving. Today is a non exercise day it is will be 39 C - which is over the 100F AGAIN. I thought I would do some planned exercise but know if I exhaust myself then I will go back 1- steps. I would rather be a turtle this time and know my limits

Take care

Trish

@cbabie. At least you will have a food buddy in the house. That would be nice. Sometimes it’s not nice when they become the food police. As I tell my husband you do your program let me do mine.

@its_cleo I mean burn 266 calories via exercise. I never eat back my calories. So option B. 1375 is my current average. My range is 1417-1660. The reason I started keeping track of my burned exercise calories was if I took a 30 min walk outside and ate 1650 calories I felt my day was successful which “on paper” it was but I can’t lose weight at that rate. Then I would get discouraged thinking why am I exercising if I’m not losing weight (yes I know the other benefits) but my Fat monster was sowing the seeds of doubt and I became less consistent with exercise til I basically stopped. Maybe once or twice a week. Now I can still choose a 30 min walk but know that I could burn double if I would do a 30 min Leslie Sansone Video. Burning more means more food I get to eat. My magic numbers used to be 1521 and 315. (Average) But it was taking me a lot of effort to get that 315 and I didn’t do it very often. So since Jan 1 I started with 200 then moved to 250. My next goal will be 275. I just haven’t decided when. Because I feel successful every single day I have been consistent which for me equals weight loss. January’s total was 7.8 I never do good in January I’m more of a March person. Lol. Cause mid February is my bday and I say another year has rolled around and here you are still fat. This is my year. Then I repeat the cycle the following birthday. So this year I did something different. @TeresaW1020 helped get me started with her 100 day chart. I added in the journal and I just finished 1/3 of it. Now to conquer February. I agree with you on keto

@Trishastime I think of keto as eating a lot of fat but little carbs. Kind of like Atkins on steroids. But some people like it and it works for them. I’m just not one of those people. Yaaay on the loss but the changing mindset is way more important. I agree on the turtle. This journey is for life

@fancyladyJeri Welcome to the group. Your username reminds me of my mom. It looks like you have developed a good habit of exercise. Now you will begin to develop the habit of tracking. I also believe that eating emotionally is a habit to be conquered. This group probably gets tired of me talking about habits. Lol.

Another day of staying within my food boundary. I had bookclub and I ate a bowl of chicken mushroom soup with a roll. Couldn’t find the chicken. Lol. But it was good and I didn’t order dessert. I took my exercise rest day because of problems with my mil but still got in my required 15 min and my step goal. Journal done. Big sticker day

Now that Feb is here I’m adding in the goal of drinking more water to earn my big sticker. No snooze is pretty well a habit but I’ll keep it up there til March. Part of me is in panic mode. Thinking I’m a juggler and I’ve added another ball and it will all fall down. Then I remind myself that I control the speed of how fast I toss them in the air. I can do this. I’m going to conquer February

Morning everyone

@fancyladyJeri – Welcome aboard, we are a small but very supportive group. Some of us are doing online, some are at workshops and some are following MFP. Looking forward to getting to know you better. BTW – I am from Australia, most others are in the USA,.


@theslightedgeforever – I love how you have favourite names for all your demons. Wow it seems you have really looked at yourself and know your cycles. Big congratulations on your January loss – well done 😊. BTW – what is your step goal???

@trooworld – what the go? Missing you on here

Yesterday was a blah day but I reigned it in. I had a packet of lollies and instantly regretted (where was @theslightedgeforever 's voice on my shoulder)?. Anyhow I logged it and as I logged it – I remembered something I used to do when I getting to LTM and did something, I took the points hot but balanced them out over 4 days. So therefore if the points were say 20 – I would put 5 points on today and take 5 points off the next 3 days. It meant that I needed to be very careful for the next 3 days and doing it that way did not seem such a failure. ( I deemed it a failure as it was eating for the sake of it) So I have decided to do that. I woke up this morning with a great mindset . I am off to GD’s 4 birthday party at interactive gym , so must run

@teresaw2010 - Cooeee????

Good morning!!

@TrishasTime, I'm here! Congrats on your loss and on your mindset. You took ownership over eating the extra points and I love the plan of balancing them out over however many days it will take. I'm going to remember that for the next time I dive into a bag of lollies or some other non-approved indulgence.

@fancyladyJeri, welcome to the group! I look forward to getting to know you.

@theslightedgeforever, naming your inner brat is brilliant! Your breakdown of calories and exercise calories slightly hurt my head. I'm number challenged!! But you also got me thinking about what I do and I think I will pay attention this week a little more. I have me set at losing 1.5 lbs a week and that for sure isn't happening. So, am I eating more than I burn? Yup!

@cbabie, so sorry about your internet always giving you grief. That would make me crazy! When your grandson wises up to Keto you can steer him on the right path.

It is a beautiful morning with lots of sun and blue skies. Hubby and the dog will be out doing some pruning and cleaning up of the yard and I will be inside cleaning up the house. I also plan to do a full hour workout and see how many exercise calories I can rack up. January ended with a 1.7 lb loss but I know that I can and must do better than that. So, I'm going to buckle down and give it my all for February. #Consistency

@TrishasTime Thanks, I feel like I’ve been trying to find the sweet spot for a while! Part of the problem is I’m inconsistent, but I do think I’m slowly getting better. You’re right about the zero point foods. I think one of the advantages of counting calories as well as doing WW is it helps to keep a check on that. Have fun at the gym! I think that’s a great idea to do the point spread.

@fancyladyJeri sorry to hear about the emotional struggles, that is tough. I hope whatever is causing stress is getting better. And welcome here!

@theslightedgeforever - thanks for the info. It is helpful for me to hear what others do. I tried on my own for about a yr to cut calories but it never worked. I was very inconsistent and also just struggled to know what the right amounts of things were. But bc I was so inconsistent I could never figure out the sweet spot. – Water has been a goal of mine for a long time, it’s tough but it’s definitely something to be aware of.

@TeresaW1020 1.7 lbs is something, better a loss that a gain, so congrats. This is hard work you’re doing. I hope you enjoy the day.

@trooworld I hope the foot gets better. I’ve been trying acupuncture for a back problem. It helps but it’s expensive. I hope it helps your foot!

So it has been a month and I have lost 2 lbs, not as much as I wanted but it is something. And I have been more consistent over the month.

Other successes- yesterday a long day, up at 5am and out by 6am. Came home around 4pm exhausted and nothing I had for dinner seemed appealing. I was very close to ordering pizza, but managed to resist an d find something in the freezer.

When I was out for the day I also bought a carrot muffin. Now I loooove muffins, and I hardly every eat them as they are pretty much like cake. So I bought one, and wanted the whole thing, but I cut it in half and just ate the half. And I was totally satisfied with that. So it was a good lesson.

Have a good weekend everyone.

@Teresaw1020 I’m probably too anal with my numbers. But it calms me. 😂. Yes you are eating too much then. Are you tracking each day. Every bite Measuring your portions accurately. The numbers the experts give us are just based off a general formula. You have to figure out what does your body do. I have read lots of people on WW talk about how they can’t use any of the weeklies or some can only use a bit. Even though everyone on WW is given some weeklies to use. So either bump up the exercise or slowing reduce the calories to see what you get away with and still lose. My ideal plan is to move as little as I can get away with and eat as much as I can get away with and still lose 1 lb every 10 days Hooray on your loss for January while I know you wanted more if you continued at that rate every month you could lose 20 lbs by end of the year. I gained 6 lbs in 2018 and I was trying 🙄 so crush it for February

@trooworld they should make inserts for professionals. Ok get back to that tracking. How will you ever know your magic numbers if part of the data is missing. You can do it. You are empowered.

@its_cleo. So vow this year to find your sweet spot and stick with it. Most important thing is data. You are a scientist doing an experiment. If you want a similar result you have to know how much of this and how much of that you put into the beaker (tracker) So I want you to tell yourself I USED to be inconsistent but now I .......fill in the blank in your own words. It’s really helped me. Thoughts control your feelings which controls your actions
On cutting calories for a year but didn’t work, maybe you were too drastic in your cut. Start shaving off 50-100 calories a day. Til you get used to that and then see where you are. It’s what we do in the long run. My name is Slightedge for a reason. There’s a book called The Slight Edge. It’s about doing small things over and over which grows into big things but it’s so small you don’t really notice it. You are doing well. 2 lbs x 12 is almost 25 lbs a year. How many dress sizes would that be? I’m a muffin person too I also learned how to be satisfied with half. Plus you said I have been more consistent. That’s huge.

@TrishasTime Yay you’ve joined our consistency group. I really believe it’s a habit to be learned. Actually it’s probably more of a side effect. The habits we form and do everyday cause us to be consistent. The fruit thing sounds interesting. I’ll look her up on Instagram I can be very loud. Watch out.

So another day of staying within food boundaries. I got in 73 minutes of walking. Water goal met. Journal done. big sticker day.

This next week will be social heavy which means lots of opportunities to overeat. So I’m going to take it a day at a time. Preplan my meals with light foods leaving a lot of calories left for the events At the events use portion control and wise choices. Keep up with my exercise and hope for the best. One day at a time. I can do this.

@its_cleo Thanks! I'm lucky in that my insurance pays for a certain amount of acupuncture visits and I just have to pay a very small copay. I'm getting the acupuncture for other things, too, so even if it doesn't help my foot, it's worth going for the other things. Congrats on the loss and being more consistent! Consistency has always been my problem, too. It's soooo hard to be consistent. I think you have had a lot of successes, you are doing great!

@TrishasTime No, I have not heard of that. I will look into it. Thanks! I agree about making food pretty. I'm a big fan of that kind of thing. Great job walking, wowee!!!

@theslightedgeforever I think the inserts I bought will work in my "professional" shoes. My shoes aren't heels or anything, I could never stand to walk around in those! I tracked yesterday.....today. But at least I tracked. Today, I will track today. Actually, I will do my usual pretracking this morning. You can do this!!! You will do this!!!

@shygazer Hi and welcome! I like your Connect handle. I'm sorry you had to leave WW, but this is a great group of gals to "connect" to.

Hi all. I hope you are having a great weekend. We went to the museum yesterday and out for brunch. Today, I'm going to do some meal prep. Here's what I'm prepping:

Sunday: Lemon Chicken Soup with Orzo
Monday: frozen family-sized meal (no prep)
Tuesday: Turkey Meatloaf with Ketchup-Brown Sugar Glaze + roasted veggies
Wednesday: Skillet Lasagna
Thursday: Pita Pizzas (no prep)

So, as you can see, I don't have to do much prep this week. I did this on purpose, I'm trying to minimize my prep as I've been running out of energy on prep days. I'm having yogurt, berries and granola this week for breakfast, so I don't have to prep that.

EMPOWERED.

@TrishasTime that's great you're making your food like nice. I did read that making a meal attractive looking was helpul, and I know for myself I enjoy it.

@theslightedgeforever I am really anal about numbers. I've been thinking about buying stickers at the dollar store to put on my calendar for days I do well. It seems more fun than check marks, so thanks for the idea. Good luck with your week. I think the key is planning ahead and picturing what you will do. Good luck with it!

So it is a new month and this is what I've decided to do to try to be consistent and to find the sweet spot. I keep agonizing over how many calories I should be eating but have never really given MFP a chance. So I set it to lose 1 lb a week, and my goal is to stay within the calorie allotment every day. I will give it a month and then start adjusting if I need to shave off calories.

@trooworld skillet lasagna looks yummy! Yeah cooking/prep takes a lot of time. Today I made a lamb stew, and some chicken quesadillas for lunch this week, it seemed to take forever.

@shygazer welcome!

@TrishasTime yeah it is getting lighter here. I notice it more in the evenings. I hate December when it is dark and gloomy.

I have a really busy week, I feel kind of overwhelmed at work plus I am juggling a couple of appointments. I will miss my gym session Tuesday, which is supposed to be my weigh in day so it will have to wait for Thursday, which is my next gym session. I use the scale at the gym bc it is better than mine.

Hoping to not eat junk food due to work stress which is a trigger for me, but I have planned meals for the week so hopefully will be ok.

@fancyladyJeri I live in Toronto. It was cold, but warming up now.

Your history of blue dots is impressive! I get it about a third of the time.

@TrishasTime No, they had several exhibits going...one on race, one on beer, one on Egypt, one on pets. It was fun but I had a headache so I wasn't in the mood to stay.

@its_cleo Yum! I love quesadillas. It does take forever, unfortunately. I hope you can stick with your planned meals and not give in to stress. You've got this!

@fancyladyJeri 8,000 steps is great! Congrats. Thanks, I hope I can actually stick to that menu. I live in Southern California.

@theslightedgeforever You have a good point. I do set my bar pretty high. I shall lower my bar!

Well...I got -0- meal prep done. I didn't even cook dinner last night. Why? Because hubby and I went for a walk at about 12:30 and that tired me out. By the time we got home, he had to cook for his family and I had to take him over to his family's, and then it was 3:30 when I got back from that, and I wasn't cooking anything. He had cooked some carne asada for his family and we had that for dinner. This week is going to stink. That is my prediction. Why do I predict that? Because I have a family member having surgery today and we will be at the hospital every day this week after I get off work, no time to cook. Blah. I did pick up a frozen family-sized meal and we baked that last night, so we have that to feed off of.

EMPOWERED.