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

Hi everyone- thank you re:photos.
Chin is getting better.
Had bloods taken this morning- hoping there's a reason for feeling tired- I strongly suspect low iron.
Busy day ended with our Youth Group at church- did some Hallow'en type games & bible focus on light- lots of dancing in dark with glow sticks & light up balloons.

@trooworld -interesting article.

@renaergy quesadillas sound good.

@cbabie re: wrist- keep going

@trooworld congrats for getting on the bike! Every little bit helps. As for the night out- it's a new day. Your recipes look great. I'm afraid to read that article lol. I like my sugar

@theslightedgeforever yeah my uncle sounds like your friend lol. I think they caught the cancer fairly early. He's in pretty good spirits. My uncle is a rought and tumble guy a lot of fun. He's like 71 but he says he's starting a cancer gang. He actually got t shirts made, about 30 that say Chemo Warriers. He also wears a biker bandanna over his head (he lost his hair from the chemo). He bought some new gold chains- he used to be a jeweller and still has connections with other jewellers. So I guess he was like if I'm going to fight cancer I need some bling.

He and my aunt like cruises and they booked a first class cruise in MArch and he told the doctor 'hey doc, you gotta keep me alive until then'. So he is facing it with a lot of bluster lol. I also think he is enjoying his money and life right now.

I feel better now that I saw him.

@joannadavison low iron can definitely cause energy issues. It's a problem for me as well. Reason #8045 why I could never be a vegetarian.

@cbabie thank you for the prayers

Anyway, I saw my uncle yesterday it went well, as noted above. I feel better about it. I gained a pound this week, which was disappointing, but I was on track for calories so I feel good about that anyway. My 30 day gym challenge is going ok so far. Another busy week coming up.

Take care all

@trooworld Woohoo on the bike. That's great. Yes, back on track at your next meal. Thanks for sharing your menus.

@its_cleo Yes but does sugar like you? I'm learning to have sugar in controlled portions and I enjoy every bite. I like that Chemo Warriors. I love his attitude. I'm glad you feel better. They first gave my mom 6 months. She lived 8 more years. Drs just don't know. Problem was for 8 years I thought of my mother as dying. Then one day my friend said you've been saying that years now. So it's good to live each day as we never really know how much time we have.

Ugh. Between the water bloat from drinking and eating this weekend. And the bloat from pms weight is aweful this morning. 17 days to trip. Must get serious.

Good morning! I just wanted to pop in and say hi. Hubby and I had a wonderful weekend getaway. The concert was amazing and our two days of shopping gave me lots of new clothes for the next few months of fall and winter. Everything I bought just barely fits me which means I need to get back on my plan and continue to lose weight. Today, I need to go to the grocery store and hopefully pick up my work computer, that is in the shop. Plus, I have to figure out what is wrong with my Office suite on my home computer. Yes, @theslightedgeforever, computer glitches are the worse!!

@renaegry What goes up must come down. You can do it! So now you have a plan. Preplan your meals and snacks each day to within 50 cals of 1500. I just plug in what I want to eat and if I'm over my calorie limit, then I start working with portion sizes. For instance, I'll have 1 c of spaghetti and not 1.5 c. When I get my numbers like I want them, that's what I eat for the day. I just measure my food and go. I do plan in things like popcorn and chocolate occasionally. All of my treats. Burrito bowl sounds good.

@trooworld Yes, the habit of getting on the bike is the most important thing. I once followed a blogger who started with one minute of exercise and then gradually increased. My thinking would be, I'm not getting on my shoes for a minute of exercise. lol But she did and she succeeded. I've lost her name. I wonder if she is consistent still now. Oh, I thought we could add our goals into our signature. Well, I can copy and paste too. The problem is remembering to do it.

@cbabie So Sunday wasn't a bust. You hit 10000. Start thinking of some little things you do each day to give yourself credit for regarding your food. Like stopped at 3 T of PB instead of 4 or whatever. Write those down each day and read them to yourself. Funny how we saw the same situation differently. (mom) I wonder if they were telling us different things. Although now I'm reading Mom liked motorcycles. Maybe we had different moms. I'm the one who likes motorcycles. Less and less on the bling now though.

@teresaw1020 Sounds like you had a refreshing and fun weekend. Best part was all those clothes. lol

I stayed OP with my food. Exercise was a rest day. Interesting thing I noticed....my bp is up again and I'm due for my period. Last time my bp was up like this was at the beginning of my period. I never knew the two could be related. Maybe it's not related and just a coincidence. I'll keep tracking and see.

@trooworld You are on a roll. Keep it up! I just need to remember to add in my November goals everytime.

@cbabie So you get credit for doing well most of the day. Then you hit a drama speed bump. So what can you do next time instead of eat to escape your feelings and comfort yourself. Maybe describe in detail in your journal what you are trying to accomplish when you sit down and eat X. So it would start like, Day was going well until about 9:30 pm. Drama hit our house so I sat down and ate X. I was trying to........... I didn't want to............ Go back later and see what comes out of that. It would be good to make up some response/reminder cards for you to read when drama comes your way. Here's some.... #1 I want to feel better.…...I can continue to overeat and feel better temporarily OR I can comfort myself in non-food ways, lose weight, and start reaping the benefits I want. #2 When I want to eat fast food or some other unhealthy food after an upsetting moment, remember: I’m entitled to take care of myself and I’m entitled to feel better, but I’m also entitled to get everything on my advantages list, so I have to find other ways to comfort myself. (Advantages list are all the things that you gain by following your food plan consistently. I have things on mine like reduce my risk for cancer to get into the red dress with flowers on it.) #3 If I eat when I’m upset, I’ll only feel momentary comfort. Then I’ll have 3 problems: the original problem, then feeling bad and out of control, and then weight gain. Do I want 3 problems or just one. #4 When I was the most upset I ever remember feeling, I still survived. Negative emotions aren’t bad. They are part of being human. I don’t need to make them go away. Negative emotions always crest, like a wave, and then start to come down. I don’t have to be afraid of my feelings. These were some from the book Diet Traps by Judith Beck. She encourages you to also make up your own and read them several times until the feelings pass. It's a very interesting book. Remember you said the mind is a powerful thing? Put it to work for you.

Food was OP today even though I had to change my plans all of a sudden. Dh calls and says I'm headed home lets go to lunch. This is a red day. How will I fit a restaurant into a red day? But I did. I had a mixed grill plate with chicken/beef skewers. Ignored my rice completely. ate 1/4 c hummus with a bit of bread. Actually, I ran out of bread so I started dipping my meat chunks into the hummus and ate it that way. plus 3 stuffed dolmas (grape leaves) That was most of my carbs for the day. I had chicken breast and salad for dinner. Ended up with 97/100 for my carbs. Another successful day. Exercise was 18 min walk.

@theslightedgeforever, I like that advice your book gave you. It can be really overwhelming to think that I need to focus on my diet forever because I will always fail myself with that kind of thinking. But focusing on just today is much more doable. Today, there is NO reason NOT to stay on plan. Tomorrow will have to take care of tomorrow.

@cbabie, congrats on the new job even though you don’t sound too enthused. 😉 Sorry about the drama and I hope you don’t beat yourself up overeating too much while stressed out. You just have to try to do better next time. The time to worry is when you stop trying to do better.

@trooworld, I agree with that article on drinking water. I know that when I don’t drink enough, I feel and it affects my weight and my skin. I try to drink a gallon a day but some days it can be really hard to get it all in. You are doing great with your food choices!!

So sorry that I haven’t been posting much! This week has been so very busy. The computer at work got its new hard drive so I’m going to work today but hopefully will try to get out early and go to Trader Joes and come back home and work at my house. I decided to put up Christmas and my house is a hot mess of boxes and glitter! And I’m having two of my dearest friends over for dinner tomorrow night and I really want the place to look nice since they haven’t been here yet. I think there might be lots of shoving things in closets and hoping they don’t look too closely! I’ve been pretty good with my eating since coming back home after my weekend getaway. Weight is still up almost a pound though and I’ve moved my weigh-in day to Fridays so maybe I can get a bit more off today.

Hellooooo
@cbabie I'm with you on the sleep not helping. I've always been a bit of night owl but it takes me ages to unwind on a night. 1 night a week I blitz my planning & last night after that I ended up chillin for another hour. I need more sleep- it affects chemicals which make weight loss harder.
Good luck with new job.
My husband took voluntary redundancy from teaching 2 years ago & now works for a UK supermarket on the meat/fish/,food to go counters- he works Tues-Sat from 1pm or 3pm until 8.30pm so I do all the after school running around- hence my busy life - we used to share it before.

@theslightedgeforever sadly my weekend plans arw chauffeuring youngest to opticians then the Remembrance Parade in Durham City with her cadets!! At least both DH & I get to watch her- normally we take turns as to who goes with who!! I will be meal planning as somewhere in the weekend I have to do grocery shopping!

Re:@cbabie's comment on it's only once a year. This year, DH has ordered decadent puddings from work & a veggie option - we'll also get a turkey which my Mum will cook. We have the 4 of us, my Mum, my Aunt & Uncle (Mum's sis), my cousin (moved back to UK after 16 years) & her daughter- may also have her son & possibly estranged hubbie (he kicked her out but now trying hard to sort it out- only he lives in Sweden!- like an episode of Friends!!!) So we will have a lot this year. Lots of healthy veggies & my once a year 'posh cheese' indulgence but it will be tracked & hope to plan in less calories rest of week. I'm hoping to give away any chocolate- our WW group used to collect them: I'm thinking food bank or homeless shelter.
Best I go do the school run. Then I can chill in bubble bath- I'm sitting in gym cafe- post HIIT workout very sweaty! 🤣🤣

@cbabie, you make me smile! Wise words about knowing our triggers and having a plan to ward them off. You are also right that we will hear over and over that “it only comes around once a year.” I do that to myself all too often but I don’t want to go back to the old me!! I don’t! I want all those new winter clothes that are in my closet to be wayyyy to big come next winter and hubby will have to take me to buy all new ones again. If I keep choosing “just this once” over and over, then those new clothes aren’t even going to fit me this year because they will be too tight. I’m not going to let that happen! And it’s not just a closet right now. It’s an entire spare room. I told my husband to NOT let them in that room!

@joannadavison, ohhhh my what a family you have! Do you like the estranged husband? You sound like you have a good plan for eating and I do believe in the “planned indulgences” but they need to be really worth it and yes to track!

Good morning! Well, my house is finally decorated for Christmas and it looks lovely! Last night it did look like a glitter bomb had exploded all over my kitchen but most of it got swept up and hubby has instructions to do a thorough vacuuming today. I’m doing a taco bar for dinner tonight with Spanish rice and Mexican street corn salad. I’m also making fresh guacamole! If I stay out of the chips much of the dinner should be totally doable. There will be dessert but I plan to fast most of the day and hopefully it won’t hurt me too much. I moved my weigh-in day to Friday’s and I’m up a pound for the week. It might not have been so bad but last night I was so tired and covered in glitter and I just didn’t feel like trying to cook dinner so hubby went and got us Subway sandwiches. Tomorrow, I plan to get back on plan 100% and back to my workouts. I’m going to do this workout out called 80-Day Obsession. It will probably kill me.

@trooworld Woohoo on the salami. You have really taken control of your office situation. Why not ride the bike in your pj's? Nobody says you have to wear exercise clothes when you bike. Right now you are only doing 5 min. Or could you move the bike ride to when you get home. Change out of office wear and into exercise gear. Go destress on the bike 5 min to switch gears. No pun intended. lol Then you could finish out the rest of your night.

@teresaw1020 Have you thought of getting a salad at Subway? They will turn any sandwich into a salad. Taco bar sounds fun.

@its_cleo Way to go on passing up the cake. Those pants will be loose in no time. Stroll/Treadmill/TV: You're describing the majority of my workouts. lol But it's working. The sweet potatoes I buy in the store are lighter and didn't taste this good. Maybe they imported it from somewhere so they could charge me higher prices. lol . I really enjoyed it though. My daughter would love that horror movie exhibit. Yaaay on staying within our calories.

Yellow Day-Stayed OP despite going out. Lots of self talk involved and ended up dipping my chicken in the hummus cause eating the bread would have put me over. Meanwhile my food pusher hubby thought it was a good idea to moan through each bite of bread and say this is really good, are you sure you don't want any? I kept repeating the phrase, No thank you. I'll have some next time. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right? Luckily I had just done an assignment this week on how to deal with food pushers. It worked. Exercise was a rest day. More water needed.

November goals: continue following carb cycling program each day, strength training 2 times a week. 4.5 glasses of water.

Morning all. Finally have a weekend where we have no place to be. After making breakfast for the family will get on the treadmill. Will try to get caught up on all the posts later on in the day.

@joannadavison There's a place that sells imported cheeses. I wonder if they would have your posh cheese. Although I'm thinking posh=expensive so I'll have to see how much it is before I buy. I've tried Brie at my friend's house but don't know if it was French or not. I'm doing a carb cycling program. So the number of carbs I'm allowed varies with the days. Red-100 Yellow-125-150/148-164 Green 199-238

@trooworld Doing the happy dance for you for losing 1.5 lbs. I'm right there with you on slower progress than I would like but I've been consistent since August and this plan works better than anything else I've tried. I'm smiling about your husband helping because around here if it's something he has to do that I can't do he says I'm tired from work can't you wait for the weekend. Weekend comes and I ask him and it's It's the weekend this is my relaxing time. I totally agree with your dh. Christmas shouldn't be put up til after Thanksgiving. My favorite holiday too.

@renaegry Just enjoy the heck out of your weekend with no plans. That sounds so relaxing. I seem to have been go go go lately. I need a renew and refresh day.

@retiredandlovingit I'm going to lose this weight once and for all. I've been saying that for decades it seems and do lose and do gain it back. I'm tired of that game. Nice November goals.

Green Day-Stayed OP- Enjoyed 1/2 piece of some dessert that I made. It was too sweet though which means my tastes are changing. That's a good thing. Normally I would have had 2 pieces. Exercise was 23 min walk with hubby and then 38 min walk by myself.

November goals: continue following carb cycling program each day, strength training 2 times a week. 4.5 glasses of water.

@trooworld well done on the loss

@renaergy hello!

@RetiredAndLovingIt - I can't believe how quick they do grow. Comparing a picture of my eldest aged 16 in cadet uniform today with one of DH next to Berlin Wall aged 21 some 34/5 years ago & they look about same age!! Feel like only a couple of years ago they were born not 16 & almost 14!

@theslightedgeforever you might get Wensleydale in a British Shop but it will be expensive. It's the same cheese 'Wallace & Gromit ' eat- do you have that cartoon/animation in the USA???

@TeresaW1020 agree with Vit D- I had a superdose last year & that was one of things they're checking in my bloods. Was hoping for results last Thursday but they weren't back. Looking fwd to Tex-Mex in CA

Hello to everyone else. I'm at train station to meet my cousin (weekend away) been at Remembrance Parade in Durham this morning. Train arrived- catch you later