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

@theslightedgeforever I was in Tanzania. The places I went to were trying to cater to Western tastes, so it wasn't that different from here. What the Tanzanians would normally eat- it's a poor nation, so rice. They have a red bean that grows there that they use in a lot of meals. I tried it, it was pretty good. They do eat beef. I ended up eating a lot of carbs, and was in a vehicle alot which was probably why I gained weight. My favourite things they had was fresh wild honey and fresh orange marmalade. They also have a bunch of different types of bananas, including red bananas which are pretty neat.

Yelling out of a limo would be fun! I should put it on my list.

@TrishasTime No pumpkins? Pumpkin pie is like my favourite thing. And pumpkin muffins. I could eat that all year round.

@RetiredAndLovingIt - Garden seems like work but I'm sure it is satisfying to see everything go. I have a couple of house plants, and I'm new to taking care of them but they're doing well and I love seeing new growth.

@TeresaW1020 that sounds cool, flipping houses. Hope it sells soon. Cutting out the sugar/refined carbs- is there a book or a site that helped you? I'm interested in learning about this but I don't know where to start. Do you just check the sugar content of what you eat? And how do you define refined carbs? Sorry if these are dumb questions!

@trooworld I'm sorry about your little dog, that's a shame. I hope you can work out something cost-effective from Walmart.

So my eating plan- trying to be just under maintenance, and no eating exercise calories. I'm hoping to get more exercise done next week but I don't have a schedule made up yet (I always do an exercise schedule every sunday).

Will try to post it here tomorrow,

Have a nice weekend all!

Good morning everyone

@TeresaW1020 - I watch house flipping on the TV. Do you get to have any input to the interior design??? Wow, girl, you have come such a long way from 3XL tops to now - be very proud of yourself

@trooworld - Sorry to hear about your pug. You are lucky that you have a grocery/discount store. There is no store here that would sell such things with or without out a prescription. Pharmacies only. I forgot to ask - do you have a balcony in your new apartment?

@Evamutt - Hope you enjoyed your walk At least when it is hot, you can get a walk in very early to avoid the heat.

@RetiredAndLovingIt - We have a small backyard. I have a large white sandpit for our 2 border collies and they love it. That together with our patio, seems to make up most of the space. I can only grow in stuff in pots.

@its_cleo - We have pumpkins of course, but not to the extent it seems to be over there. I can tell you on Halloween, the streets are not filled with pumpkins with lights on. Pumpkin pie is not common in the circles I am in.

It is wet and rainy over here. DH is still coughing alot. I am going out to MT at a friends house and then coming home to get ready for work tomorrow (you know ironing etc). I always have an easy meal on Sundays, that can cook itself whilst I am doing things, so we are having roast beef tonight

Take care

@its_cleo Thanks, I appreciate it. We talked with the vet and he said he hasn't had the best luck stabilizing dogs on the Walmart insulin, so we are going to stick with the kind he recommends first and if we can't get him stabilized on that, we will try the Walmart stuff. Good luck with your eating plan, I'm sure you will get it adjusted just right.

@Evamutt Thank you so much. I'm sorry to hear about Pearl, too. My pup has most likely got a lot of his problems from inbreeding as well, he's always sick with something. We rescued him, too. I'm glad you saved Pearl. I'm sorry 101 animals had to go through a hoarding situation. That's great you went for a 2-mile walk before work...that's a good distance. I'm sure the pups liked it.

@TrishasTime Thanks. Unfortunately, my vet does not recommend the Walmart insulin unless a last resort. No balcony, just a narrow walkway. But we will sit in the walkway/or on the stairs when it gets hot and we want to sit outside. I hope your DH stops coughing soon.

@cbabie That's good you are starting tracking. I think that really helps. Thanks, I am really stressed...I worry about money a lot, especially because we have this condo now and I had wanted to start putting money into savings so in case there was a major expense. Now, it's going to be harder to do that. But, hopefully, it won't be as expensive as my anxiety is making me think. It's funny you said about relaxing...DH and I just went and got a couple's massage! He'd never had a massage before. It was relaxing.

Hello all. Today is meal prep day and I get to prep all those meals I listed the other day. I just woke up from a nap. Before that, we went for a couple's massage and then to lunch at a Greek restaurant where I didn't make a healthy choice (I had a gyro sandwich with soup). My dog seems to be doing better already...has only had two shots of insulin. Have a good day, everyone!

EMPOWERED.

@trishastime What is your national food? We were discussing where to take my hubby for Fathers Day and my ds said there's an Australian place here. I said what kind of cuisine is that and he says Australian. I need to move my body too. So that will be my focus this week. I'm heading to Chicago next Sunday to go see some college friends for a couple of days and then head back home. Then back to my routine and losing weight. Which kind of pie is common where you live? Not that we should be eating pie, but...…. I like a slice every once in a while.

@RetiredAndLovingIt See, we have more in common than you originally thought. My youngest son wants to go to Norway. Yes, I'm a slow loser too. But I'm persistent. Let's both get going. I couldn't do an all plant diet either.

@teresaw1020 I bought some some new white jeans this trip. I figure people can see I'm fat. Black jeans won't matter that much. lol They are so cute. They have fringe at the bottom. I'm channeling my younger self. I've decided to not wait until I get to goal to wear cute clothes. I'm glad you are staying focused and that this plan is working for you

@trooworld The chicken korma looks good. I may try that when I get home. Or I may try it before I leave and teach my son how to make it. He's learning to cook. Sorry about your dog and the diabetes. You could be doing so many other things with the money you would have to spend on insulin. But pups are family.

@its_cleo Interesting on the red bananas. I have some Brazilian friends that eat red beans and rice. I guess because meat is so expensive there. It's probaby healthier for you. I changed my opinion on meat/poultry after reading the book The China Study. I still eat it though. I'm trying to add more beans and legumes in my diet. On the sugar thing, you can track how many gms you currently eat on MFP and then set a goal for your self and try and lower that amount. The one thing I like about premium on MFP is that I can view which foods is higher in sugar for instance and then start a plan on reducing those. It will rank them highest to lowest.

@evamutt Good for you for getting in that walk despite the hot weather. The more you do the easier it becomes. I've seen TV shows about animals who are neglected. I'm glad Pearl found a good home.

@cbabie on the Iphone they have the talk to text. I have no idea about Android phones. I was thinking about buying new workout clothes for every 10 lbs I lose. I might just need the first outfit to get me motivated. I did find a fun pool exercise routine using the pool noodles. So I'm going to try that this summer. I'm trying to make it fun. You know I'd rather be sitting next to my pool with my Kindle and a drink with a little umbrella in it. But I'm going to be active in my pool this summer. I told dh today that you were like dad and surgeries. I seemed to have got the other fun parts of him.

@trooworld, so sorry to read that your doggy has diabetes!! I hope you will be able to get the insulin he needs at an affordable price. Yeah, the Sugar Summit was really good but there are so many YouTube videos out there that you can watch too. Look up, Dr. Robert Lustig. He is one of my favorite experts. Great looking menu! I seriously want to try that Fathead Pizza crust!!

@its_cleo, girl there are no dumb questions when you are trying to learn something new!! This has been an obsession with me and I’ve asked a lot of questions on my FB groups that probably seem very basic to the experts. I didn’t realize just how bad sugar is or how much that I’m a sugar addict until I watched the Sugar Summit videos. I have since been doing additional research. I have a video that I’m going to watch later and if it’s really good I will post it here. The biggest thing is to simply look at what you are eating. I have been tracking on Carb Manager and that has really helped me understand how my foods measure up in the carb counting world.

@TrishasTime, Thanks! We watch a ton of flipping shows too and I would love to help with the interior design but I haven’t yet. My pastor’s wife takes care of that and she does an amazing job! This house is a one-room shack that had a fire and is already gutted. But they have a vision and the view from the property this house sits on is beautiful. I know it will be awesome when finished just like the others were. Let me know if I can help in any way with your IF research. I LOVE it!!

@cbabie, that is great that you can talk instead of typing!! Sign up for Carb Manager to track your carbs. My goal right now is to keep my total net carbs (that is minus fiber) under 50 grams. Keto people keep it under 20 grams but I’m not there yet, nor do I know if I want to be. Also, go to the Diet Doctor website and read some of their articles. Very informative!!

@theslightedgeforever, wahoo on the white pants!! I bet you look super cute in there!

Happy Monday! I have a busy week at work. Our vacation Bible school starts next Sunday, which is one of the biggest things we do and there are lots of last minute things that my children’s pastor needs me to get done. This year at VBS I will be the official photographer which is awesome because I just get to walk around and take pictures instead of having run a class or be a crew leader to a group of kids. It's good to be me!

GM everyone

It is cold already here and now that advised we are having a cold snap - currently around 2 degrees C (35F)

@theslightedgeforever - I had to look up the national food for Aus, just to be sure if what I eat, is the common thing. I tend to eat more fish ) barramundi, prawns. ( I hate bbq sausages). I would expect prawns, sausages, steak, pavlova and pumpkin soup. Here is link https://www.skyscanner.com.au/news/top-10-australian-foods

@TeresaW1020 - How cool to be the photographer I have sent you a message with questions on IF - thanks for your offer

@its_cleo - I am sorry to hear about the shooting. I hate hearing those stories and realise how lucky we are over here. Good for being under calories

@trooworld - does you student payment go up with wage increases - or do they just hike it up every year? In Aus - students do not pay back student loan until they reach a certain salary point.

Got to go

Trish

@TeresaW1020 Yeah, it's a bummer about my dog. The insulin is about $70 a month. Not too bad but it's a hit. Thanks for the name of Dr Lustig. I'll check him out on YouTube. The Fathead Pizza crust is one of my faves...we have it nearly every week! I know some people that do keto keep their carbs under 20, but I did a calculator for keto (https://keto-calculator.ankerl.com/ ) that said if I stuck with 25g of net carbs, I'd lose weight and that's what I've been doing. I guess I'll lower it to 20 if I need to. Have fun being photographer, that sounds like a blast!

@its_cleo That sounds tiring lol. But great! Louie is definitely feeling better, he's back to barking at people lol. That's terrible about the shooting. So many shootings going on nowadays. Too many. There was a shooting in my town yesterday too, at a Costco.

@TrishasTime Brrrrr! Time for hot cocoa! Student loan payment does go up with wage increases and since I get an increase every year, so goes up the loan. I owe an ungodly amount, too.

@theslightedgeforever Yes, it does. So much easier. I'm sorry your experiment didn't work out.

EMPOWERED.

Hi everyone

Late entry - I have been busy all day.

@trooworld - how do you find all the sites? You are a wealth of information. Maybe if I bothered I could find them but after being on computers all day - being on the net is the last thing I want, so I am super happy that you find links and more importantly share them - thankyou

@theslightedgeforever - I am glad you have bought yourself a new outfit. Your experiment may have failed but you have come a long way since I joined this group - well done

Catch you all tomorrow

Hello!

@its_cleo, you are welcome to for the information. I always love talking about my current obsessions! Yeah, my job is awesome and when it stresses me out, I always try to stop and remind myself of that fact. So sorry to hear there was a shooting in your area! Wow to be in the area so soon before it occurred. That is scary!!

@theslightedgeforever, I know that you were hoping that you would be able to stay in maintenance during your trip but I am so impressed with how you have continued to journal and learn along the way. I don’t know if I would have been so disciplined. Yayyyy on getting a new workout outfit!

@trooworld, I am with you on not wanting to go under 20 grams of carbs if you don’t have to. I have my Carb Manager set to 45 net carbs and if I can stay somewhere in the range of 20 to 50 grams and continue to lose weight then yayyy!! Just like with my fasting, I think it’s important to switch it up every day. So maybe once day I eat 45 or more net carbs and then the next, I only eat 19 net carbs. That keeps the body guessing and for me, that is when I have my best success.

Well, I am happy to report that I lost 1.2 lbs this week! I really think my body is liking my new way of eating. I just pray it keeps going down!! I just ordered a new bathroom scale that is supposed to measure body fat and bone density. It's not 100% accurate by any means but it has an app and I do love me a good app! Yesterday, I compared pics of me in my workout clothes to those I took when I first joined WW and WOW what a difference. I was HUGE!!! I started to cry and apologized to my sweet husband who has never once made me feel less than perfect. I want to lose this weight for me, but I also really want to lose it for him. He deserves a smokin' hot wife!

GM everyone

@trooworld - Perhaps the silver lining pertaining to your gums is that the dentist can see your gums and advise you. There may be an underlining problem if it has flared up. Hope all goes well

@TeresaW1020 - How magical to see how far you have progressed. You should keep a shot of both by you to remind yourself how far you have come when you feel you are getting no where. Do you enter food into your carb manager, MFP as well as WW??

I am seriously thinking of going to the GP and ask for a referral for a foot specialist - I do not believe the pains should still be waking me up. It is seriously affecting my (little or no exercise without foot pain) (little or no exercise without foot pain) , but I do not want to seem as a whimp or a whinger as every 4 weeks I am back at the GP complaining. But seriously guys it has been 14 weeks


Take care


Trish