So...they said my BP was high but wasn't an emergency. I do need to follow up with my doctor which I was planning to do tomorrow. They did put me on a low dose blood pressure pill. I took it a few hours ago and don't feel much different. I haven't taken my blood pressure, I don't feel like going upstairs but I should instead of sitting here wondering if it is doing anything. Weird...I am bummed though...I was really hoping I would not have to go on medication. Better than having a stroke though.

@33sandy1223 Welcome! Come in and introduce yourself!
@JillyBT Thank you! You are right, worrying can make it worse.
@1theresamcvean Sounds like a good day yesterday! I do like your words for the year and I did see what you did with the listen Enjoy the visit with your daughter today! I like the idea of making a chart with first names. Thanks for putting one together!
@Cafelelia Back to hockey! I know it is a lot of work but I also know you wouldn't trade it for anything either. Enjoy! I have to tell you, my niece makes homemade Baileys every Christmas. This year I planned for a little drink each day when we were at the shore. I also shared although I didn't want to. I am so glad I put it on my plan, other years I was almost scared of it. One year it went bad because I didn't drink it. I was so afraid of going over on calories. So mine is gone until next year too.
@GingerPwr I would have had to have something too. 8 pm for dinner is late for me. Good job not having a drink along with it. I am glad that you gave yourself a pat on the back for that. I love your 2020 word. I definitely need to work on that myself...
@nstephenson01 Sounds like you had a good day yesterday! I like your January goals, definitely obtainable. I have to say, I am also a list person for the same reason Lol!
@txmama63 Maintaining isn't bad. You are always so consistent with your logging and exercising so you don't have anything to worry about.
@CassieGetsFit2013 Hopefully you can just keep how well you have been doing the past few days going. We are just coming off the holidays and are going into a quieter time. Just get yourself back into a good routine. I hope your Mom is doing better.
@ljdanny Only having one drink and no cake is a win in my book too! I like the idea of putting the $5 in for every 10 workouts. I know you have been doing great with it so far. I am glad to hear you had a nice talk with that guy at the party. Some people just have something about them and it sounds like talking to him was something you needed. I was just reading about the putting it out in the universe somewhere lately...I think it was You are a badass book by Jen Sincero . I actually listened to it, some of those self development books are tough to read lol! I am with you. Life is short. Let's make 2020 our year!

Hello team. I am a 43 y/o single adoptive mom to 3 teen girls (all with special needs) and a current foster mom to an adorable 5 y/o girl. I also have 3 rescue dogs and we are dog people. I have always been "overweight" but not "obese" now that I better realize the categories but I never had any issue and like a fuller figure, if I am honest. My weight has been stable all my adult life . . . until I had a brief and disastrous marriage. I am not sure how much weight I gained really since I never weighted myself before, but my clothing size went from 12/14 to 22 and I can see a lot of weight gain in the photos. This is over less than 2 years. My eating habits had changed dramatically and I was no longer eating the fruits, veggies, whole grains, and ethnic food I love. I was eating much highly processed junk and meat (think BBQ smothered ribs with a side of M&M's for color ). On beginning August 2018 I stumbled upon MFP in google searches for weight loss websites. On 8/4/18 I committed to logging everything I was eating and making small sustainable changes back towards healthier eating. I was hoping to lose weight and get healthier. I have logged every day since then. I have found the process mostly easy and so rewarding. I feel so much better. I have lost ~73 pounds in the 17 months since I started this journey. I joined Fat 2 Fit several months in and have found exactly what I was looking for in this weight no more group; accountability, support, inspiration, and focus on healthy living.

Review of 2019:
- I lost 35.5 pounds.
- My BMI decreased from "obese" to "overweight" and is down about 6 points
- I established new eating routines that have allowed me to focus less on counting calories every single day (though I still do a fair bit of calorie counting) and have mindless go to meals/snacks on those days when all the poo hits all the fans. I feel solid in these.
- I fell in love with yoga. What a surprise this is to me. Went to my first class on 12/31/18 and have found an exercise I like for once in my whole sedentary life
- I have gained a new little love (my 5 yo foster sweetie)
- I moved from my "married" house to a new home where the girls and dogs and I have been better able to move away from the trauma of the marriage/divorce. Added bonus - I now live 15-20 minutes from work versus the 45-60 minutes from the other house.
- I read 37 books; mostly audio books while I was driving and doing other chores. None were self help or improvement stuff; I normally use internet or pod casts for this purpose.

Goals of 2020
- Find my goal weight. Current "goal" is about 150 and I was 154.4 this morning. I am getting close and feel the need to assess how things go in deficit after a few more months. 150 is at the top of my "healthy' BMI range and I may find I like it better at 140-145. This will require exploration as I haven't been this small (clothing size wise) since early high school or later middle school.
- Continue to focus on losing and then maintaining my healthier weight. I think the biggest challenge for me in 2020 weight wise will be maintaining and finding that groove.
- Yoga, yoga, yoga. I am finding new studios closer to my house and trying to establish a good routine of yoga classes.
- Stealing extra movement in simple every day activities. Parking farther away from the door. Taking the stairs. Jumping in place while waiting in line. Walking around the skating rink holding my 5 y/o's hand instead of watching from the nearby chairs. Walking my adorable little beagle as often as the weather and my other goals allow even if just around one block in a few stolen minutes.
- Lots of audio books. I have three going right now. So many books, so little time.

Goals for January
- Focus on getting back to normal routines after the holiday
- Do as many classes as I can at this new yoga studio (signed up for unlimited classes for 31 days of January) with an aim of 5 / week right now. I need to find my groove and the styles/teachers I fit best with.
- Lose ~0.5 pounds/week
- Exploring skinnytaste recipes and a new recipe app on my phone for some meal planning that is not emeals (my go to for 5 years). Just feeling the need for a change. But I am a tight believer in hanging on my routines, so we will see if this will be a long term change.
- I have not connected with the daily posting of water, steps, etc that many use in this awesome group. In the spirt of recent PNP podcasts I am going to focus on posting weekly with the following format this month:

my compelling reason why (I am trying to lose weight) this week:
my mini goal this week:
how can I make weight loss easy this week:
anticipated challenges for next week:

@GingerPwr - I love Yoga with Adrienne. I have been watching her Foundations of Yoga videos some (in my bed at night and not doing the actual yoga - lol) to get better idea of some of the forms in my yoga classes. I will look for her grounding
@amsandos - welcome back! I missed you in the group.

Twyla77
Week 1
Weigh-In Day: Sunday January 5
Previous Weight: 133.2
Today's Weight: 136.2

@sleepymom5 - thanks so much for pointing out i was in the wrong thread before, here is my weigh-in again! And i LOVE your suggestion about having 2 different step goals depending on if I'm at work or not - great idea, and i think will help me take the weird pressure off of myself! thank you!

Hi everyone. I'm Lisa, 40yo and live in the UK.  I have been with my partner for 20 years and we have 2 kids (son 7 and daughter 4).  Other than occupying myself with kids, work and chores I have 2 main hobbies at the moment which are sewing and allotment gardening  (I have 2 allotments that I used to grow fruit and veg with varying success!)

I am an accountant working in financial services.  Mid 2019 I reduced my working hours to 3 days a week so that I could focus more on my family, which has been great.

So with the work side sort, my weight slowly increasing, and turning 40 in November, I made the decision to return to start my weight loss on the 6th Nov.  Weighing in at 218.5lb at that point, there is a long way to go to my 154lb goal (top end normal BMI).  I jo8ned this group in December, and have found the support and motivation fantastic.

I have the eating with calorie deficit down, and have lost weight since starting back on 6th November (20-ish lb lost to date) but what I know I really need to work on is exercise and drinking more water.  I do not do enough of either of those.  Re exercise - my "excuse" is struggling to find the time, but I know in my heart that if I really wanted to I could take a walk at lunchtime etc.  Those 2 things will be my focus until I crack them!

Sunday check-in
Food: On plan and logged
Exercise: 45 minute dog walk
Water: 88 oz

Busy day with three medical appointments. My daughter has been visiting my mother in my place the past few weeks as I go to these appointments. She's such a supportive soul. My mom's retirement home is about an hour away and she is palliative but not yet in hospice.

@Cafelelia I wouldn't mind a step challenge (temporary) and am also not opposed to an ongoing step tracking element to our check-in. Perhaps because it's winter in Canada, I'm a bit ho-hum on this. I will say, though, that on the new Toronto subway trains, the ones that have one long aisle that goes all the way from the front of the train to the back, you can get a lot of steps in. I was on the new line going up to York University, which takes about 40 minutes, and I saw the same woman walking back and forth. I thought to myself, you either have a Fitbit or something else is going on with you

Have a great Monday everyone!