Morning gym session and a good day at work which included playing with my baby seals (or at least watching them), discovering that our animatronic dinosaur seems to have produced at least 3 ginger kittens and showing my friends with 3 kids under 5 around. Great fun, except when I tried to hold the youngest. She only accepts her parents doing that. She was the most keen to touch everything though, but needed to be done carefully as she tends to squeeze things (she is only 11 months old).

Ate well, not even eating everything I took with me which is good as my house mate is on her way home with mcflurries. That will push my daily calories to the absolute top of my zone but I generally work on a weekly average and I was low yesterday. I'm taking it as good enough, on condition I keep it low tomorrow as well. If I don't stick to the lower limit tomorrow, I will take a pass day.

RangerRickL wrote: »

You are still here! You are still posting! You are still committed to healthy habits and a positive life change!
At the beginning of this month, 107 people intended to make it through the month of November. Last Friday, 53 people posted and you are one of them!
Keep on going!
Rick

It's your daily messages that keep me going, rick!

As I work my way back into my healthy lifestyle lately, I've noticed I feel less rushed to lose as much weight as possible, but instead most motivated to simply build healthier habits & a better quality of living regardless of my body type

(I'm on the curvy side of things and it seems like I really have to force myself into too much exercise and eating too little in order to get skinny. I just have to accept my body naturally holds fat and it's ok as long as I watch how much I eat and do things that keep me in shape, it's taken a long time to be at peace with my body. We're all a vast variety of people with different lives, genetics, ailments & experiences; we'r all so unique in our way & you cant force yourself to be someone else, not if it causes stress and pain in a negative way rather than a way that rebirths you.).

It's no longer about getting skinny again for me, but gaining both mental & physical strength to take on the world as I enter adulthood.

(I must remind myself I lost a bunch of weight in unhealthy ways, & that normal weight loss is slow and gradual and doesn't need a deadline unless your health absolutely counts on it; and in the meantime I must learn to respect and love my body for what it is and for what it can do. I think the same should go for you all as well)

Something I need to work on though is eating less sugar. I had 76g yesterday & if I had cut out the cereal+milk and left out the milk+sugar in my oatmeal in order to enjoy my slice of pie, then the sugar would've been way lower.

I'm trying to aim for less than 30g but no more than 40g. So it's less about being restrictive now
(aka "I can no longer eat sugary fruit and sweet potatoes and I can no longer eat the things I bake or the treats I'm given")

and more about making better, flexible decisions
(aka "If I want a slice of pie today, maybe I should find a better snack than cereal and milk" or "I know I really like Hostess cakes but I don't think I'll feel great or satisfied after eating it, plus these 2 tiny cakes take up almost a meal's worth of calories and way too much sugar so instead I'll have some fruit, or a glass of milk, or a filling healthy meal" or "I think it'll be better if I treated myself later this week than right now, it wont be the last time I'll have this snack so it's ok if I dont eat it now")

As well as being more mindful about the dinners I cook... Can I accurately track what I made? Can I make this meal less rich than usual? Will I be ok not eating a certain side dish or should I eat lighter in the day in order to enjoy the full meal? What modifications can I make to make this less calorie dense than usual?

And then the snacking & random pangs of hunger (despite having just ate a full meal). I keep having moments where I'm not really hungry but there's an emptiness I'm not comfortable with and it leaves me staring at the fridge and pantry wondering what to do. Due to finical reasons we don't always have fruit or even greek yogurt on hand, so it's difficult finding a light snack rather than breads & cereals & sweets. So I have to get back into the habit of distracting myself til my next meal rather than eating whatever whenever regardless if I REALLY need to eat THAT right now.

And I keep telling myself "If I can't take the effort & time to prepare some veggies or a bowl of rice or just drink a glass of boring ol' milk, but would rather just graze on calorific junk then I'm not actually hungry. I'm either bored or craving an emotional fulfillment, or simply just tired & thirsty and need to go take a rest." and it does help! Especially at night, since my mom starting getting late shifts I have to stay up and wait for her since my anxiety wont go away until I know she's home safe cuz it won't be until after 9pm and sometimes at 11pm she comes home. So there i am: bored, sleepy, and worried; so my body's response is to crave food to distract and comfort myself as well as fill a void I'm unaware of.

Some nights it gets the best of me and I end up snacking on things I don't need, and other nights I'm able to say "You know what, I'm gonna drink tea with cinnamon in it and watch a movie and I can enjoy more food tomorrow!"

It's difficult to get exercise in some days, but the "20 minutes" rule makes it so much easier, flexible & forgiving. It's no longer about HAVING to do an hour every single day, just doing what you can in 20 short minutes (less time than just sitting watching a tv episode) or more when you have the energy for it!

I have NOOO idea HOW in the WORLD I forced myself to do 90 minute workouts 5x a week for a year, but I was not happy with myself at the time and felt way too much pressure to live like a "fitness guru" rather than a healthy human being. Some people do it and enjoy it and that's cool, I'm always impressed by how hard some people are able to train. But that's not how my body wants to do things. Now, by the time I feel too exhausted to keep moving, it's been about 20 minutes (though on days I can go out walking, I can go for 2 hours if I want!) and I cant imagine making myself do more. I feel like lately my body just simply can't take that much work, I love being active but I've accepted now I don't have to live like an athlete cuz that's not who I am! Pushing yourself to get through long periods of strenuous exercise to the point you start getting sick and burnt out does more harm than good, and can just set you back further (you start to not want to exercise, you crave more food, you lack energy to do enjoy things.). Listening and being in tune with your body and its needs is important.

But it's my goal by next year to find my first job and it HAS to be something active like working in a restaurant that way it's like sneaking in a daily workout having to run around all day doing stuff

I love being in this group because I feel there's no other like it, it's supportive and the way it's a group with each day being an individual post is way more easier to log your days rather than it being a whole ongoing thread. I love reading everyone's posts on how their day went, how we all live different lives and yet have similar goals to each other. I think I'm back to being committed to staying here for a while until I no longer need to. (i promised myself, that i leave here a 3rd time i will no longer come back since it'll be apparent i cant keep up and i dont want it to be a cycle of leaving and coming back every few months. either i want to be here or i dont. for now, i want to be here.)

And best of all, it's not a contest group, or a weigh-in group, or a "lose this much by __" group. It's an accountability group, which encourages healthier habits way better than seeing who can lose the most weight by the next year.

I want to reach the Winner's Circle in January and see how many more months I can take it. I love that during my health journeys I can come here each day with much needed solitude rather than going about this alone. It's so much more motivating that I can look forward to staying accountable at the end of the day.


And a couple messages I wanna make here is, 1. Gratitude is the key to quality of life. It helps prevent becoming bitter, helps you see that even during a time of personal struggle there's still something that you at least have (food, shelter, love, etc) that you can at least say "thank goodness i still have this and that as it can be much worse" (i might be going through some sh**t but i'm grateful for my mom doing her best to keep us comfortable, i'm grateful for the house we live in especially after the hell we went through to move here, i'm grateful we have food to keep us fed even if it isn't the most ideal, instagram-health-guru-worthy stuff ever. i'm grateful that despite what my depression tries to tell me, my life is 10x better now than it has been in the last 8 years and it'll only get better from here on as long as i put in the effort for it) , and helps keep your head above water.

and 2. There's no need to compare yourself to others. Seriously. Just don't bother. We're all so different, no one knows our full story and therefore other people's judgment on you doesn't matter as much (unless u be acting like a damn fool & a jerk). And in the healthy lifestyle world, there is no one-size-fits-all method of diet & exercise and no one can force that upon you, some people like Keto, others don't need it. Some people love running and doing push ups, others just like a little basic strength training. Some people can do it all week long, others need a break to recover. Some people have mental health issues that can get in the way, or even physical issues and some days you just simply can't do anything besides try to be kind to yourself and get some rest. Home life can get in the way, finances can get in the way. It's not always an excuse unless you simply give up and let the roadblocks get you down.


You can be whatever you want to be but nobody can be a unicorn. Work hard for what you love, work for your health, work for the people you love, work for a good long life. This shouldn't be about looking like that hot fit person on a magazine or Instagram page, who gets paid to tell you you're too fat to be worthy and therefore should pay them for their workout videos and meal plans cuz they make money off of our insecurities. Instead, it's about learning healthy habits, learning how we can further our limits, how we can break out of our comfort zones and discover something new about ourselves. We all want to be fit & healthy, lose weight or gain muscle or join a marathon or stop a binge eating cycle. But it's never a race or contest. You keep doing you, and never feel discouraged from your efforts no matter how big or small. No more guilt, and no more hiding from your problems & excuses. You are STRONG, WORTHY, CAPABLE.

I think that's it for this looong post, I didn't know how to write all that down in a more summarized way lol. I'm off to do a workout now. Happy Monday y'all, let's conquer this week 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Did I exercise for at least 20 minutes? No exercise today. Feel like I'm coming out of it, but still weak and feeling exhausted. Hopefully, I can get back to the gym tomorrow. I miss it!!
Did I stay within my calorie budget for the day? Yes
Did I keep track of everything I ate and drank? Yes

11/18
Exersized-?yes
Caleries?-yes
Logged?-yes

20 + minutes exercise? Yes
Under calorie goal? Yes
Tracked? Yes

Still here! Still working it!
2️⃣ out of 3️⃣ passes left

11/18
Did I exercise for at least 20 minutes? Yes, 30 minute walk today inside
Did I stay within my calorie budget for the day? Yes, on target
Did I keep track of everything I ate and drank? Yes
@Hollis100 Thank you for sharing the PA picture of where you walk. Always great to see new locations.
@BonnieHosk85 Good to hear you are continuing to recover. May you be 100% very soon!
@angelswatercolor Found your post to be worth the read. You seem to have a good perspective and some valid points worthy of sharing.

@Hollis100 very cool looking tree!

Exercise: I got myself to the swimming pool at 9pm and swam 1.5km! I have to admit I was close to making an excuse today because I worked so late. I’m so glad I went.
Calories: yep, with some to spare
Tracking: every bite

Excited to be part of the 50% that have stuck with it. I think this group is addictive. I look forward to reading you guys and sharing my victories and struggles everyday!
Totally agree with @angelswatercolor on the fact it’s nice to be part of a group of very diverse people all working towards the common goal of being healthier. I love hearing about all your very different life stories.

Happy Monday!

Exercise: yes, finished week 2 of my 10k training program.

Track: yes. Breakfast and lunch were healthy. Dinner of frozen pizza and wine. But at least I didn’t eat the whole pizza and stayed within my limit.

Under goal: yes

Meditation: yes!