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

@trooworld I like raw onions on chili dogs for some reason. Sounds like you did really well at Thanksgiving dinner. I stayed within my carb/cal range but felt overly full today. I opted out of dessert so I could have another roll and 1/2 c. extra serving of sweet potato casserole I made. But still felt overly full so I didn't eat the 3rd roll I planned. With grape jelly. I never allow myself grape jelly anymore it seems. I wrapped it up and I'll have it sometime tomorrow along with the leftovers I took. Although no stuffing this time. Evidently I still have work to do in this process as I was overly full. Next week is two more gatherings. Ugh. I'll get through this.

Green Day Stayed OP 195/238- Walked 10 min cause I made myself get up and at least do something.

Hello all. I have been putting up Christmas decorations in the house. It looks nice. There are no more Thanksgiving leftovers, we ate some for dinner last night and tossed the rest. Back to normal food today. Two meals were enough.

@theslightedgeforever I would hate them on chili dogs lol. I did do well on Thanksgiving. You did pretty well, too.

@TeresaW1020 lol...I'm glad your Thanksgiving was good. Enjoy your day!

EMPOWERED.
November goals: track 5 days a week, drink 50 oz of liquids a day, ride the stationary bike 5 minutes a day 3 times a week, lose 2 lb

Hello gals! It's December already! Time to think about December goals. I didn't do so well on my November goals: I tracked well, did okay on my water, sucked on my exercise, and gained 2 lbs. I'm loosening things up a bit for December. Here is what I am making for meal prep today:

The Ultimate Fruit, Cheese & Nut Salad
Grilled Lemon Garlic Chicken + roasted carrots
Slow-Cooker Beef and Barley Soup
Roasted Sweet Potato Kale and Dried Cherries, Feta & Pepitas

@theslightedgeforever Exactly, so I might as well toss it. There wasn't much to throw out or I would have just taken it out in the city and given it out to the homeless (I've done that before). We didn't take a lot of the leftovers home, we left them at my in-law's. Yes, the homeless population does seem to be growing. It's very sad. I think rising rent costs don't help things.

EMPOWERED.
December goals: track 5 days a week, drink 50 oz of liquids a day, go for a walk 2 times a week, lose 1 lb

It sounds like everyone did well at Thanksgiving, that’s great!

Homelessness is on the rise here too. I think housing is just too unaffordable….if I were to move anywhere my rent would go up by about $300 or more so I couldn’t afford that.

@TeresaW1020 cauliflower stuffing, wow creative. I’ve never tried cauliflower rice or pasta or anything. I’m afraid to try it lol.

@trooworld I’m taking off the week between xmas and new years…it ends up being about 14 days. Honestly though the holidays are very hard for me so while I’m looking forward to the time off I’m not looking forward to it, if that makes sense.

@theslightedgeforever lol yeah sorry that was confusing. It sounds like you have good goals. I approach my time like you do, similar. I’m now tracking in 3 month chunks which is almost 100 days. And setting goals in 3 month chunks, though I track weekly and monthly too. I figure if I can keep a good habit for 3 months then I can move on to the next.

So today it is snowing and yet I’m bound and determined to try the stairs/hill workout I normally do. We’ll see how far I get. I really want to keep it up this winter. I will try to take a picture if I can.

In other news I’m trying to buy a couple new things for the kitchen, just a couple of pans like a big stock pot, and a new lasagna pan. Just odds and ends but I had some old stuff that just got worn out. Finding it hard to find anything I like- everything is in sets. I made the mistake of going to the mall yesterday and it was just a mass of people lol. So I will try online.

Yesterday I went for a walk with my hiking group in the evening. There is a street here that all the houses put up a giant Sant, you know those big inflatable things. So it’s like house after house lit up with a giant Santa. I find it kind of funny, I would be the odd duck on the street that wouldn’t want to do it. And I picture the neighbours coming and having a sit down like in the mafia, and saying this is how we do things here, don’t make any waves. Like the Santa mafia lol.

Anyway. My cals have been down and my weight dropped a pound. It’s nice but so far it’s been up and down week to week, so I feel like next week it will just be back up. One thing I am super proud of is I met my goal of 4 drinks a week for the last month and that’s the first time. The months before it was always 4.5 or something.

@TrishasTime good luck with your test.

Hi Everyone! I'm finally on the drive home from my in-laws house. Sorry I've been MIA but its been a busy few days filled with family and visiting. I love my MIL, but she is an extreme extrovert whereas I'm an introvert so I tend to feel pretty overwhelmed when I visit. I'm looking forward to my extra day off tomorrow to regroup before going back to work on Tuesday.

Food wise I only had one truly bad day, and I didnt feel bad or sick while I was there which is a major improvement. I focused on getting lots of protein and only having one dessert a day. I'm looking forward to getting home and cooking a big batch of healthy food!

It sounds like everyone did very well this Thanksgiving, we got this!!!

@theslightedgeforever I did make it. I took a picture but MFP wont let me upload pics from my phone.

Itvwas fun but tiring. Stairsx4 hillx4.

@trooworld, you sound like you are tackling December with determination and motivation. Good for you! Did you get your tree all decorated? Do you have a color scheme you stick with?

@theslightedgeforever, I have become a big fan of cauliflower rice. I did attempt once again to make fresh cauliflower mash and it was OK, but I think I will stick with Green Giant. If it ain’t broke…

@joannadavison, I remember well how tired I was when we did our kitchen renovation. You will be so happy with the outcome that the inconvenience will be worth it. Getting back on track during the holidays is hard but it’s good you are getting a plan in place. Just because it’s the Christmas season doesn’t mean we shouldn’t continue to do our best. You got this and we are here to support you. Goodness knows I need the support!!

@its_cleo, I was afraid of cauliflower for years and now it’s really growing on me. I think this week I just might try roasting it in the oven. I love roasted veggies of all kinds and I’ve heard it’s good. I’ll let you know! That is great about the street with the giant Santa's! I’m not fond of those inflatables so if they wanted me to do it they would have to buy it and come blow it up every night for me.

@mswatson0777, welcome back! Sounds like you did well over the holiday, and I hear you about wanting to get back to healthy eating. That is where I’ve been this week after a few days off plan.

@TrishasTime, Yayyy for getting a good result from your breast exam!! I promised hubby that after the first of the year I would go get mine done and a full physical. I did go out and do some shopping for my husband the other day. He wanted new dress pants, so I found this great deal and bought him three pairs and then found out that he had told me the wrong size, so I have to go exchange them today. Men!!

Hi everyone! I’m on my lunch break at work so I thought I would catch up with you all. I’m glad Thanksgiving is over. The dog got the last of the turkey for dinner last night. She loved it!! Now, I’m working on my Christmas party that I’m having this Friday for the staff and their spouses. There will be 12 of us and we are all very close and will have a great time eating and playing silly games. My diet is still low carb and not really Keto right now. I’m not losing any weight but I’m not gaining either, so I guess that is a good thing. I decided to start another workout video today. The one I was doing was annoying me so much that I finally decided to call it quits and go to one that I like and will be motivated to actually do. OK, back to work for awhile and then I’m off to exchange some pants!

@theslightedgeforever cheesy cauliflower sounds good. Maybe I should give it a try.

@trooworld sounds like you've been busy! I love taking stuff to Goodwill, I love decluttering and sorting stuff out. It's so nice when it's done. Also I think I'm OCD so I like sorting things into piles lol. I am trying to have structure in place but usually end up not. It's hard to find things for the days. I'm hoping my hiking club will do some hikes. Goodluck with your shopping- still lots of time!

Also I will probably go to the art gallery here if they have any new exhibits for one day, and maybe back to the museum, they are supposed to have some new exhibits- one is wildlife photography. Not sure what else.

@TeresaW1020 wow another party! You're a real extrovert It seems like you really enjoy planning the events and what a nice gift it is to bring everyone together. I'm not very good at things like that- I'm an introvert or usually I call myself a hermit lol. --- =Yeah those inflatables. I wondered how much work it was to put them up. This street is pretty well off, so I wonder if some of the people pay someone to do it all for them.

@joannadavison I'm in Toronto, Ontario Canada. It doesn't usually snow so early, but it is this year. I always thing of rain in England...I;ve never been. My dad was born in Scotland though. Your door looks nice!

I did take a picture below. This is the same path I go on in the summer. This is near the bottom of the hill. I tried to take a selfie but all you would see is my big head lol. Not too much snow yet.

Well I was doing great but blew it today, I had some sweets at work- the office! Yep it is always a challenge. Then I didn;t really have anything planned for dinner and I ordered Chinese food. Oh well. I did well for 4 weeks under goal each week. Tomorrow is my birthday but I think I will skip the fancy coffee because of splurging today.

Take care all

@its_cleo Good for you for getting in the stairs anyway. That trail looks fun. Well, not the snow part. I love hiking. Such fun exercise. I'm always the last one at the bottom of the hill but one of the "advantages of losing weight" cards I have is I'll be able to keep up on a hike and not walk so slow and always be the last one. I want to see Scotland. My ex-sil is from there. Well then think of today as your bday treat. Now time to move on and head towards your goal.

@trooworld Yaaay on your walk. I noticed you lost weight. Woohoo

@teresaw1020 Maintaining during this season can be a blessing. You should have seen me with my step aerobics video. lol I'm fine until they do cross overs and turn arounds. Eventually I'll get it and then it will be time to move on to a different class.

@joannadavison I never knew it could be too cold for snow. I hate driving on black ice. Enjoy your time with the trainer and think about how much good it is doing for your body. You'll be back to losing soon.

Red Day- Stayed OP 87/100 carbs 15 min of step aerobics.

December goals: Step class and strength training 2 times a week. 4.5 glasses of water.

@TeresaW1020 Thank you! I am trying! I got the tree decorated but the Christmas village is not up. Color scheme for the tree...years ago when I first got a tree, I just got a bunch of ornaments that I thought were cute and didn't do a theme now I wish I did lol. So no, no theme! That's good that you quit the workout video that was annoying you and started one you liked; life is short, why do stuff you don't like??

@joannadavison Yes, I agree, it takes me ages to motivate me to declutter too lol. It's so overwhelming. That's great that you started already though.

@its_cleo I have been busy but it's good. I love it, too, it feels good and it goes to a good cause. I miss hiking but my foot can't take it! I hope you get to go on some hikes. That sounds good to go to the art gallery and museum, good plans! What a beautiful trail! re: the sweets...just move on. Happy birthday, don't skip the fancy coffee, it's your birthday!!! Don't punish yourself on your birthday.

@renaegry ouch I am glad you are going back to the doctor.

@theslightedgeforever Thanks! After I gained some but still, at least I lost it!

EMPOWERED.
December goals: track 5 days a week, drink 50 oz of liquids a day, go for a walk 2 times a week, lose 1 lb