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

@trooworld, Yes, I have been watching the news about the earthquakes and FB post from my family. I have family in Bakersfield and in Nevada who have felt the quakes. Scary for sure!! The worst part is not knowing when they are going to happen. Stay safe!

@its_cleo, I hope you find out about the job soon so you can have it behind you. I think taking a look at your carb intake is a good idea. I was really shocked to find out how many carbs I was eating even though I was eating what I considered a very healthy diet. I’ve also been trying to eat better qualities of meats. I’ve switched my ground beef to grass-fed beef. It cost a little more but I think it’s worth it and it tastes sooo much better.

@cbabie, bummer that trying to sleep in your bed didn’t work out as you wanted. I hope you start feeling better soon so you can get some much needed rest! Yeah, I like seeing the grade of my food in Carb Manager too. The foods that get an F grade are the ones that I’m either giving up entirely or limiting to just an acceptable amount.

@TrishasTime, I pray that the foot specialist will be able to help you. I know that you are sick of being in pain! You and poor cbabie are having such a rough time and I’m so sorry for you ladies!

@theslightedgeforever, Hahaha! Yes, I’m a major frosting girl too! Unfortunately, there was no cake! The couple opted to have ice-cream instead. And yes, I am back on plan starting today! More on that below.


So, I went to the wedding yesterday and had a really good time. The young couple is precious and the venue was a beautiful country wedding "barn" with amazing views! I did have one little incident because of a detour we had to do on the hour drive we were running late and I wasn't paying attention to my speed and sure enough, I got pulled over in this tiny town we were driving through going 61 in a 45! The officer was super nice and ran my license and let me go. I think he saw three middle-aged women dressed up going to a wedding and cut me some slack. I was so happy that I didn't have to go home and face my husband with a ticket!

My eating at the wedding was the most carbs I've had in over a month. They had BBQ pulled pork, mac & cheese, and fried potatoes for dinner. And instead of cake, they had ice cream. VERY tasty ice cream! So, I ate what I ate and that is that! My calories, the best I could figure were actually good for the day but the carbs were off the charts. That is OK though. Weddings are going to happen and I'm not going to be upset about it at all. However, today, I start my 8-weeks of LCHF with NO cheats! I watched this video from an IF/Keto guy that I really like and he talked about needing to eat low carb/high fat long enough to become fat adapted. Which is the process your body goes through as it changes from using primarily glucose for energy to using primarily fat. I'm going to be strict until August 31st just to see if this Keto thing is really for me or not. I figure I can do anything for 8 weeks and it just might get me to Onderland!!

Good Morning everyone

Happy Monday !!!

@theslightedgeforever - How are you going about getting back to where you once were?? Have you stepped out of the "over the holiday" blues yet? What are you going to do today to get back on track? (Do I remind you of someone???) LOL Here is another song for you by Queen (one of my fav bands) "The Show Must Go On"

https://www.google.com.au/search?source=hp&ei=km0iXerdIpnTz7sP1KCluA4&q=lyrics+for+the+show+must+go+on&oq="the+lyrics+for+"the+show+must+&gs_l=psy-ab.1.0.0i22i30l8.1496.7034..13741...0.0..1.341.7081.1j14j16j2......0....1..gws-wiz.....0..0i131j0.5rubFvqm51A

@cbabie - How did sleeping go last night?

@TeresaW1020 - It is good that you can go out and have fun and get back on track the next day - I think that it is what life is about. Good luck on the Keto and I am so glad you get did not get a ticket

@trooworld - So you have had the chips and dips - are you back on track today? Are you tracking everything that you are eating? The condo will always need something to be done - you need to prioritise you

@RetiredAndLovingIt - I am so lucky to have one GD living with me (she is now 18) and the other just 2 kms away. it seems funny when you say it is hot. In Australia, we are freezing cold

Yesterday was a lazy day. I even went down the street to and bought a cooked beef roast, sliced it up and added gravy for dinner. Ironing is done, ready for me to go back to work today

Take care

@teresaw1020 It's those little towns you have to watch out for. My dad was a cop in small towns. I know exactly how he operated. That's how they get their revenue. I'm glad you didn't get a ticket. I hope your new plan works for you. At this point, I can't seem to do anything for a week let alone 8 weeks. I'm in a day to day mode.

@trooworld I did the chips and dip while on vacation. Funny thing is that is the only time I do that. Because I'm still fat, obviously that is not my problem. I have to get my mindset back to where it was. I wish there was a remote I could use on my brain. Wouldn't it be nice for a rewind button to just take you right back to we went off track. Your condo sounds pretty. In my dd's new apartment they have that color painted in the kitchen.

@RetiredAndLovingIt Ha on the cake/frosting. I'm the same way with pie. I don't like the crust so I leave that behind. My friend thinks that's the best part. So she eats my crust.

@trishastime Yes, thank you for pushing. lol My mil came back tonight so I'm sure that will get me out of vacationitis mode and back to a normal routine. We left her with her daughter for some extra time. She's old and you never know when she won't be around anymore. This period is extra bad so I just feel I have no energy whatsoever. But as the saying on my mantra bracelet goes, No excuses. I need to stop making them and just do it. I love Queen too. So how are you doing with the weight loss.


What are your July goals?

@trooworld That's a good idea about adding the July goals to the bottom of our posts so we can remember them. Well, at least I need a reminder. lol Yes, everything else in my daughters apt is white but the kitchen where it's blue. She was like that with other apartments. She says cause she was in school and just came home to sleep basically. I told her turn this one into a home not a place to sleep. Everyone should have beauty around them. I think I'm going to be working on decluttering and organizing this summer. So what caused the gain? Maybe some of it is sodium bloat from the recent holiday eating.

@lulurebel I still say ya'll and technically I'm a Yankee from IL. Well, southern IL. My dad used to pronounce the word FIRE like FAR. But he also put an R in the word Wash. I'm going to go warsh my clothes. lol I used to love to make fun of him and now my kids make fun of me. lol The circle of life. Sorry about the Astro loss. I saw them in 2009. They lost then too. But baseball games are always exciting. I'm only single tracking on MFP now. I'm trying to do a moderate carb diet. I had prediabetes and in February finally got back to normal levels. Although I wonder if they took it now after vacation, where would I be. So working on that again. I started tracking here because I had to watch the carbs according to the doc. But it was too much to double track so I just single track.

@cbabie You know you always say I'm competitive but I'm really not. Unless it comes to certain games. I do have one flaw, If I can't win, why try. So once I get to a certain point in a game and it's a lost cause, I just go through the motions. No real strategy or anything. That's probably an awful attitude to have but...... dd and I constantly play games while we're together. She usually beats me too. I just had an interesting thought about my approach to winning and weight loss. Sorry you aren't sleeping but if you think about it you really never have. You've spent your entire life training for this one moment in time. lol It's just the pain that's the bummer. Have you looked into accupressure?

@Trishastime My dad was a cop and a pastor. He tried to save their souls at both ends, I always liked to say. lol I grew up a preacher's kid until I was about 16. Then he did both for a while. Then later retired from pastoring and went into policing full time til he retired. Speaking of retirement, I'm dreading the day hubby chooses that life path. It's getting close. I hear the first year is hard. Although I'm laughing now at my mom saying no every year is hard. She loved her alone time to just sew and do her thing. I like routine and hubby is more of an "in the moment" kind of guy when he's home. Work is different. But I'm learning to just say, I'll be with you when I finish what I'm doing. Put your own oxygen mask on first before helping others. That's my new mantra. So you asked yesterday how was I going to get back into my program, what was my plan, etc. I started re-reading my original 100 day journal notes. I did very well during that time. I had thought about going back to my food diary and just eating the same meals where possible and doing the exact same exercise. Planning is all done for me.


July goals: track everyday, lose 3 lbs burn at least 200 calories via intentional exercise 5x/week

@trooworld Great job on tracking. Awareness is always the first step. Get in your water so you can flush out that sodium. I'm loving my new fruit infusion water bottle.

@teresaw1020 I wonder if that carb/sodium theory only works with people who don't normally eat carbs. Then some higher carb foods are added in. But then like for people like me who always has carbs and I eat a bag of Doritios or tuna. I always add water weight when I eat tuna. Even the ones packed in water. That pizza looks really good. At first I thought the round things were tomatoes then realized even better it was pepperoni.

July goals: track everyday, lose 3 lbs burn at least 200 calories via intentional exercise 5x/week

I’m at the doctor with my oldest daughter - she has to get a cast today. No surgery as long as all heals up. It has been a super busy week at work and I’m just tired and stressed. Too tired for meal planning and getting up early for workouts. Most dinners have been ordered in at work. Kind of a fail this week in all aspects! Just wanted to say hi quickly and hope to catch up more with everyone later today!

Ps that fathead pizza looked amazing!

@its_cleo, I had to give up my beloved wine while I'm trying to lose weight, so I feel your pain!! Maybe you can still go out with friends but maybe not to pubs. How about a coffee house? Your workouts always sound amazing! Yesterday, I got down on my hands and knees to wash my bathroom floor and today my butt and back of my legs are killing me. I have got to start doing some whole body workouts and not just treadmill walking.

@LULUREBEL, sometimes all you can do is keep your head above water and wait for life to settle back down. That is good news about your daughter not needing surgery. Thanks for checking in!

@trooworld, I LOVE TJ's Cauliflower Gnocchi!! Good for you for drinking more water and tracking!

@theslightedgeforever, I used to gain when I ate tuna too but now I think it's because of the bread or crackers that I would have with it. That pizza I ate had a ton of sodium and I lost weight where if it had been on a regular crust my weight would have been up for sure. I do think it's important to figure out what works for our bodies. Good job on doing your tracking!

So, I lost 1.2 lbs yesterday at weigh-in. Woot!! Our topic was all about the dangers of saturated fats and how butter, bacon, red meat, cheese, and cream are to only be consumed in the tiniest amounts. She talked about how her grandma used to keep a can of bacon grease on her stove and how disgusting that was. I didn't speak up and say that I keep my bacon fat in a mason jar in the cabinet. I kept my mouth shut but it was hard! I wanted to say that the foods that they say are soooo bad are REAL foods and its when we mix them with refined sugar and flour that they become a problem. There is so much new science out there about saturated fats and how they are NOT bad for us, but WW is not there...yet and I'm going there for the scale accountability and not to follow Freestyle. I do wish I felt strong enough to just quit and not feel like I need that weekly weigh in. Maybe in time.

@trooworld That's good that you have found a way to eat healthily and get some extra free time to exercise and do other things you love.

@lulurebel You reminded me of all the days/nights I sat in the ER with my children waiting to have a cast put on. oldest-arm, wrist, and ankle middle- elbow youngest same elbow twice. I hope your daughter's heals up soon. So then this next week, you have room to make some progress. Not perfection but progress. That's what I'm shooting for right now.

@its_cleo I don't know why drinking water is so hard. I too have tried most things and have yet found one that will work consistently. I still try though. My latest is a new fruit infusion bottle. Maybe if it tasted a bit better that would work. Anyway those friends would do something together other than hang out in a pub? Maybe a hike or miniature golf, escape room, etc? Even once a month would be an improvement. I'm a social being so for me I know that I wouldn't give it up, but I had to find another way to deal with it while everyone is sitting around eating lots of calories. We even tried setting up a yoga class twice a month and they wanted to bring food so we can sit and eat afterwards. :shaking my head: Are you a cold turkey person or a gradually reduce person? Time to talk back to that little voice in your head. The one that says you've already blown it with the beers so it doesn't matter about McD's. What would you replace that voice with so it would be positive and help you? I drank more beer than I wanted to (sees golden Arches ahead) and ……..

@teresaw1020 Yeah, for more weight loss. Your plan is working. I agree on real foods versus processed foods. Although some of the real food they grow today is not like our grandmother's food. I think of it like the tobacco industry. Everyone used to smoke and then now it seems it's healthier not to smoke. It also comes down to food lobbyists I think. Plus wherever the trends take us. I've been around long enough that I've been through the Atkins phase, then low-fat, then low-carb, then South Beach, then it was all about Mediterranean Diet, then back to low-carb, now we're into keto and intermittent fasting phase. Everybody's genetics is different; add in lifestyle to that and finding the right plan to fit your body can be a long process. I was telling my friend today about intermittent fasting and keto. One of our friends did keto and is no longer on diabetes meds. It's been a year now. Her dr still wants her to take metformin because he's the kind of dr that believes once a diabetic always a diabetic. It's just now controlled. :rolling my eyes: Yeah, it's controlled through diet and exercise, not meds. Drs just want to keep us sick and paying them the big bucks.

Have any of you checked out the Fooducate app? I looked at it a long time ago but I guess wasn't ready for it back then. It tracks both calories and points at the same time. I'm thinking it uses the SmartPoints formula versus the Freestyle. I don't really know. But it gave 49 weeklies. The main thing I'm using it for is the evaluation and grading of the food products. Usually I just see a food as a calorie unit. Having a red D next to a food and then seeing why it was given that makes me think a bit longer on do I really want to eat that food? Plus it gives a breakdown of real food vs highly processed foods. (percentages) Then a timeline of what you eat, drink, move and it will show it in green, yellow, and red to see if you can spot any patterns. I'm going to try this tracker for a while instead of MFP and see if I can make better choices and lose some weight and bring down my blood sugar numbers even more. Plus my blood pressure.

@trooworld I think I'm going to take Sunday to meal prep for the week and plan each dinner. It is kind of hard doing it for the whole fam but it's the only way I can stick to it. Thanks for the tips! And the reminder I need to make a trip to Trader Joe's lol!

@theslightedgeforever Thank you! Good luck to you. It is a constant struggle but it's only a failure if we give up. I'm not giving up! I'll have to check out that app. The one thing I miss about WW is it made me eat healthy because you were so heavily penalized for unhealthy food. I'm slipping back into bad habits with calories in/calories out. That does not work as well for me as it used to. Flavored water is pretty much the only way I can get my son to drink water. Hopefully adding fruits like strawberries and watermelon will help.

@its_cleo Sounds like you have a great plan! I have skipped my workout the past few days but I'm determined to get back to it tomorrow.

@trishastime I'm glad they figured it out so now it can be dealt with. Best of luck getting through this.

Friends are coming over tonight so I'm hoping I can get a break to enjoy myself and not stress. But it's hard with a toddler running around! Hope everyone has a great weekend ahead!

@Trishastime. Ouch on the tumor. Those can be so painful At least they found it. Ok back to your IF. Is it really cold there still? Check out Fooducate.com on your computer or laptop if you have one. I hate grocery shopping too. I was just thinking about delivery yesterday. But then thought it helps me get in some movement.

@trooworld did you get all your water in? I got a couple of glasses more in than I usually do today. Now to just repeat that.

@TeresaW1020 yes it’s all about the balance and real food. Tacos sound good. I made fajitas tonight

@LULUREBEL At least we’re doing something about it and sticking to it. What do you have planned for exercise for the weekend.

So I did something different than I normally do on my pancake days. Because of the Fooducate app I entered in my sugar free syrup and got a D+ 😳 I’m like but it’s sugar free. So I looked to see why. Highly processed, colorings, yada yada so instead I blended a cup of strawberries with a 1/2 packet of stevia and shared that with hubby. That got me an A plus higher score on real food. Then came the grape jelly. D+ I love PB and J I was eating it on a dinner roll. I swapped out 1/2 banana for the jelly to get me an A but it wasn’t as good. I only ate 2/3 of it. I guess one way to get me to eat less. By not eating the tablespoon of jelly that I would have, I also lowered my bad carbs % At least it’s making me more aware of what I’m eating versus if I have enough calories left for it

I walked 15 min and moved in the pool 15 min.

July goals: track everyday, lose 3 lbs, burn at least 200 calories via intentional exercise 5x/week

@cbabie I hope you are getting some sleep and starting to heal! Take gentle care

GM everyone

@theslightedgeforever - Yes it is cold (well I am). The sun is shining and I feel that if I moved, I would get warm. At least it is not raining. I thought the whole idea on fooducate was to check it before eating. I just tried my desktop (google app) and it is not available either

@teresaw1020 - each to their own as far as shopping is concerned I tried carb manager and it shows different calories to MFP. I have premium on MFP and can go to the macros etc. I think it is better for me to try to choose wise macros and learn from there. Being a systems person, I am on a computer all day and hate entering data, so I feel I need to choose one only

@trooworld - I am with you there - too much socialisation drives me crazy. I stressed over the fact that we were going on a caravan trip with other people and I would have to be with them 14 hours a day. I crave my time on myself. I hope you had a good time anyway

@its_cleo - I do not think that the doctor missed it as much as the foot specialist is trained further into the foot. I hope you find the colour of the throw you want.

Today is all about finding all the things that the foot specialist has advised. All the things that allow me to manage this pain and still do want I want to do in moderation - let's just say running is out but a brisk walk may be nice - no hang it - I would like to be able to walk for more than 20 minutes without pain


JULY GOALS - lose 500 - 800gms per week, track, track, track

@trooworld Socialization is good unless it always involves bad or too much food. I've seen studies that say people live longer with more socialization. Everyone has to find their balance.

@its_cleo When I moved my daugther this summer, I could tell how much strength I have lost versus other moves I have participated in. I tell them quit moving. I'm tired of helping. So I want to work on my strength for those types of things. Plus be flexible enough to be able to sit on the floor and play with my grandkids one day and not have to worry about getting back up. I know some people who won't sit on the floor. Ok, start small but get back on track with your food. One meal. Which meal will you choose?


OK, so I stayed within my food boundaries. Walked for 50 min. Needed more water. But I'm headed in the right direction.

July goals: track everyday, lose 3 lbs, burn at least 200 calories via intentional exercise 5x/week

GM everyone

@theslightedgeforever - I am one of those people who do not do the floor thing (LOL). I do not have enough strength in my muscles to get back up. So glad you are heading in the right direction.

@trooworld - You know what you ate and drank yesterday, so track it now. Do not wait another day. If you get caught and are unable to track, take a picture of your plate and work it out later. It is still tracking.

@its_cleo - mobility frightens me too, however, there are always alternatives to doing the normal thing - as long as you can be mobile and achieve what you need to do I am glad you are doing well on maintenance.

This week is busy again with meetings for tax, foot specialist, physio and remedial massage. Working through it all - looking for a light at the end for this foot issue. The ankle/foot support should arrive tomorrow and then I am hoping it to be easier



JULY GOALS - lose 500 - 800gms per week, track, track, track