Being hungry is the worst. When you loose weight your body releases a hormone that actually makes you hungrier. Boo, right? Lots of good tips and definitely eat lots of vegetables and make sure you are drinking lots of water. Adequate protein can be a factor too. Maybe experiment with spreading your calories out during the day or maybe more snacking early in the day and a bigger more satisfying dinner. I know if I get busy and don't eat until afternoon I can get crazy hungry and it's really hard to feel satisfied. It just gets out of control. Good luck!

Whew! What a day. I did a lot of heavy garden work today - repairing damage from the raccoons or whatever is digging up our berries (not dogs - we have none, and there are no neighbours anywhere really close...), putting loads of compost on the next rows to plant in the garden, putting down shavings as mulch, watering, etc. etc. And after a GREAT day for steps and exercise burn, my friend wanted to go for a walk, so we did. Most steps in one day since I started counting! 21,814 so far, and maybe a few more to go before bed.

I'm hoping everyone is doing OK - and that your weather is as beautiful as it is here right now.

HEADS UP for Saturday!
@Gidgitgoescrazy
@Terytha
@Micki48
@lovethyneighbor
@matthewsfive
@RaisedToRamble

And NAGGING for Friday and earlier people:
@ells_runs
@Steph1498

Thanks! After this, we are heading into the final week for MAY. How on earth did THAT happen???

Working on goals for this week and it has been going pretty good. I have been able to get out and get a few hours of physical labor for 3 days in a row cutting up an old fiberglass greenhouse that collapsed under the weight of a big snow fall. Lots of great exercise. My goal for this week was to get out 3 times this week for 2 hours so I have met this goal for this week
Still have not been able to flip my sleeping schedule so far. This habit is an established habit spanning decades so it may take a little longer for me to achieve than I thought. I am wondering if I want to really flip my sleeping schedule after all.
I am in a solid state of ketosis now. Yeah! I finally got there yesterday. That was difficult for me this time but it is so worth it. My GKI number today was 3.63 which means I am in moderate ketosis which is perfect for weight loss. Everything becomes so much easier when my body turns to burning fat for fuel rather than glucose which is what happens when I am in ketosis. After getting into ketosis, I don't experience much hunger anymore and I have more control of what I eat and when I eat. The biggest advantage for me for achieving ketosis is it helps me to stay away from snacking. Being in ketosis helps me my sweets addiction including all of the ice cream I couldn't stay away from. Also helps me stay away from the dreaded potato chips and nacho chips which I have a habit of snacking on all of the time. I still need to be cautious because until I establish the habits that will keep me in the state of ketosis (It will probably take a few weeks or so) I am subject to easily going back to my old habits that put all of this weight on in the first place. For the next 3 weeks I must be especially in touch with my sub-conscious thru self directed meditation so I am able to stay on track.
I have been tracking my food and exercise in myfitnesspal and keeping a daily journal which really helps. It is so easy to go back to old habits if I don't do this daily. It also helps identify exactly where I went wrong if my weight starts to go up rather than down. Little things I normally don't even think about when I am not keeping a journal become obvious when keeping a journal of everything I put into my mouth.
I am exactly on track to reach my weight weigh-in goal of 222 this coming Monday. Presently my weight is 223 lbs., down from 225.5 lbs last Monday.
I have been doing the 15 minutes of self directed meditation 2x a day also. My goal was to do it once a day for 15 minutes so I exceeded my goal. Yeah! That is pretty important to me. The subconscious is such a magnificent tool when I can get it to work for me rather than against me. Meditations with a purpose in mind using Visualization, Extreme emotional scenarios, replacing dis-empowering programming with empowering programming, authoring self talk scripts that my subconscious will accept is what I am working on now.
My bio-metrics are looking much better than they were on my last Monday's weigh-in. Glucose is down from 110 to 85 today. Ketones are now 1.3. Last Monday ketones were .3. My GKI is now 3.63 down from 20.37 on Monday Blood pressure is 125/65 pulse 58 down from 125/65 pulse 62 on Monday.
Have a good weekend.....

Pw = 174.6
Cw = 174

Steps = 10,877

I had chips and guac last night, and although it fit, I know it also causes me to hold water, so Im good with that little loss, even after working my butt off getting those 10k steps every day this week... my fitbit starts the week on monday, so in 5 days i have 60k steps already, my average used to be around 30k, when I was trying still under 50k, so yay me !

Okay, I am off to exercise, then hopefully, maybe buy a new car today... oh and canoeing later... they said we would have rain and thunder storms till late this morning, but its a beautiful sun shiny day instead...

Have a great day!!!

Today was better. I managed to get a Pilates PVR session in which really stretched things out in my hips/pelvis. Felt pretty good. Now I just need to find a way to make it into a routine.

Our cold rainy weather appears to have turned this evening and the forecast looks lovely for the next 2 weeks (if we can believe anything out that far...) I'm hoping to get back out in the yard because with all this rain and now some heat the weeds are going to explode.

I hope you are all doing well - and yes, even if you are living the frustrations of weight loss, figuring out what is working and what isn't - you'll get there! @RaisedToRamble I have to say, though, that nuts and seeds have no cholesterol and are surely not the first thing that needs to go. They have lots of fibre and are a healthy kind of fat (you do need fat in your diet) and as long as you are not eating them by the handful you should be able to keep them in your daily routine. I'd get rid of oil before getting rid of nuts and seeds. And then the obvious culprits, cheese and meat...

@RaisedToRamble I agree with @jugar. Take a good look at you log to see where you're getting cholesterol. My number is usually very low, & it comes from chicken. Given the chance, I'll eat handfuls of nuts, & that doesn't affect much cholesterol but definitely ups calories. Great thing you're getting your bloodwork done & working with a doctor. Much love & health to you!

ells_runs wrote: »

I promise I'm back on track now and if I can stay for next month I'll join with Fitbit challenge too.

I'm not sure why but I keep having panic attacks 🥺 my heart keeps running in my chest and it feels like it's going to come out! I have to get rid of this weight because I don't want any strokes 😭

My son keeps crying because he doesn't want to go back to school. We are in UK and the schools may reopen in couple of weeks time. He keeps being upset and I think I'm sad, too, hence my panic attacks.

I was a little depressed lately, I still work about 25 hours as a school cleaner. Some of our schools are open for vulnerable children and children of key workers, people who has to work like teachers, nurses, doctors, supermarket assistants. I'm really worried that while I work I might pick up this nasty virus.
I promise I'll be more open soon and join in with the chat.

Good luck all for the last week! 👊

It is so good to hear from you - and I'm sorry you're having such a rough time. I cannot imagine how difficult this whole thing is with children at home. And working. And dealing with all the anxiety - panic attacks are no joke, and if you need some anxiety meds temporarily, ask your doc! When I first adopted my son I was a complete wreck for a while, and my doctor was a huge help. He was 2 years old when he came to us, and the change was very hard on him. Even though the orphanage was far from an ideal environment, it was the only home he had known up to then, and for a few months, he had EPIC tantrums. I thought I had destroyed our family. So if you need some help with those panic attacks, I suggest you ask. It is enough to take the worst of it off without making you feel dopey or weird. In the meantime, take those deep breaths and all the virtual hugs flying your way

The fitbit challenges are fun! Join in any time - even if you don't "win" it sure keeps you adding a few steps and gives a lot of laughs along the way.

Thank you all for the wonderful suggestions to fight hunger ☺

@jugar
PW 243.6
CW 245.5

TOTM is imminent so I'm sure it's mostly water. Ugh.

Spent much of yesterday hiking looking for morels, only found a few when we usually get at least a couple baskets full. Might try again next weekend. Plan for today is to beoutside as much as possible and finish up planting my seeds.

I will post a picture of my steps for the week in just a moment.