What's on your mind today?

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Replies

  • Dory_42
    Dory_42 Posts: 3,587 Member
    BMcC9 wrote: »
    Happy Solstice! (astronomical longest day / shortest night in the Northern Hemisphere; opposite (start of increasing daylight) if you are south of the equator.

    It's one of my favourite days because it means summer is on its way. Traditionally we do a presunrise ocean swim and a post sunrise breakfast, but we still aren't allowed on the beach and restaurants are closed.
  • epangili
    epangili Posts: 818 Member
    It's Father's Day tomorrow and I enjoy honoring my pastor "dad" than DNA dad way more... No worries, I will honor both. Happy Father's Day to those dad's out there!
  • BMcC9
    BMcC9 Posts: 4,364 Member
    epangili wrote: »
    It's Father's Day tomorrow and I enjoy honoring my pastor "dad" than DNA dad way more... No worries, I will honor both. Happy Father's Day to those dad's out there!

    HI, YOU!! (just sent you a PM asking if you were maybe gonna be here for July before checking this thread!)
  • epangili
    epangili Posts: 818 Member
    BMcC9 wrote: »
    epangili wrote: »
    It's Father's Day tomorrow and I enjoy honoring my pastor "dad" than DNA dad way more... No worries, I will honor both. Happy Father's Day to those dad's out there!

    HI, YOU!! (just sent you a PM asking if you were maybe gonna be here for July before checking this thread!)

    You're the best coach, so thoughtful, kind, considerate, encouraging, and pragmatic!💐🥰
  • epangili
    epangili Posts: 818 Member
    Baby gained a pound in 3 weeks up to 4.6lbs and one ear up but one down. As she matures both should stand up. She prefers mom's homemade pb rather than Costco's organic natural pb - too oily, upset her stomach. She's sleeping after having subcutaneous fluids shot up and bland diet of boiled rice and chicken.
  • BMcC9
    BMcC9 Posts: 4,364 Member
    epangili wrote: »
    Baby gained a pound in 3 weeks up to 4.6lbs and one ear up but one down. As she matures both should stand up. She prefers mom's homemade pb rather than Costco's organic natural pb - too oily, upset her stomach. She's sleeping after having subcutaneous fluids shot up and bland diet of boiled rice and chicken.

    such a cutie! <3
  • BMcC9
    BMcC9 Posts: 4,364 Member
    we extended our wild-flower garden in front yard (now the majority of the front yard) and managed a bumper crop .... of crab-grass. Fortunately, with the Canadian Tire store reopening, we were able to to get two versions of those "cover 500 sqr feet" mixed wildflower giant-packs.

    Past few days have been "vinegar spray" days and yesterday was the big "route it all out and re-seed" day.

    today, a bit of deeper-rooted crab-grass poked its collective head up ... but as it will take at least a week or more for the seeds/sprouts we WANT to start to show, we can remove the "bad' as soon as it shows and not let it get reestablished as "surface cover"
  • BMcC9
    BMcC9 Posts: 4,364 Member
    I still haven't quite worked out my right activity level for MFP/whether to eat exercise calories, so I'm now a bit hungry but not going to eat more right away in case it goes away...
    @fairy_daisy i don’t t know if it’s recommended but I always eat my exercise calories. I don’t think I’d be a very nice person otherwise, I get so hungry!

    There is plenty of Message board pinned threads and Responses to Questions on refining this. MFP presumes that you will eat back your exercise calories, as (based on what you chose as general lifestyle and target rate-of-loss per week) it builds in a degree of deficit when picking a daily intake target for you. Some people aren't so sure about the accuracy of the MFP exercise calorie-burn estimates and may only eat back a portion, or else only enter what they consider more accurate burn-readings from other apps or cardio machines or whatever.

    The general "rule of thumb strategy" (how ever you arrive at the determination / play with the numbers) can be summed up as "if your weight-trend average is changing at your chosen rate, you have it about right"

    If you would be hungry if you didn't regularly eat them, Eat them! If your fitbit (or whatever-source) shows that you very rarely go under a certain level even when you don't get much of an exercise session in - set your MFP "daily activty lifestyle" setting accordingly and don't worry about adding in the exercise logging. I only log my exercise bike if I happen to use it because my (very basic) fitbit doesn't register it as "steps therefore calories burns"


  • fairy_daisy
    fairy_daisy Posts: 247 Member
    Thanks @BMcC9, I think I get what you mean - I'm sort of that stage of just monitoring the trend and I'll adjust if I need to. My main question is what to set my normal activity level as - it really varies as some days I have a good walk/cycle to work, and other days (at the moment) I don't. I've never thought of a normal walk to work as additional exercise so I don't log it, but I can see what I think of as normal activity varies quite a lot day to day! For the moment I've moved myself down from active to lightly active and plan on logging more of what I do as exercise (I'm using the map my run app to calculate calories). The other option is to make sure I do more on my lighter days and call myself active. I did have a look at the pinned threads to see if there's guidance on how many daily steps etc is sedentary/lightly active/active, but couldn't see anything. Do you know where I could find that?

    It's probably too early (I'm only three weeks in) to really see the trend, so I'll keep experimenting a bit. Today I'm hungry so I'm going to eat my exercise calories!
  • BMcC9
    BMcC9 Posts: 4,364 Member
    Thanks @BMcC9, I think I get what you mean - ... I did have a look at the pinned threads to see if there's guidance on how many daily steps etc is sedentary/lightly active/active, but couldn't see anything. Do you know where I could find that?

    It's probably too early (I'm only three weeks in) to really see the trend, so I'll keep experimenting a bit. Today I'm hungry so I'm going to eat my exercise calories!

    there's also a whole 'how to average out your TTEE (or letters to that effect) that @Dory_42 does and could explain how to set in place ....

    Do you have some sort of "tracks you burn across the day" thing / gizmo (like my fitbit but there are others)? If you give us some numbers then maybe some of the data-guru / number-cruncher types here could give you some suggestions. Almost all my steps come "after work" (and I work at home) so I set for "sedentary / maintenance" but keep an eye on the fitbit "burned so far" total to decide if i need to make part of the day's exercise on the stationary bike, where i can burn much more in a shorter window of time.


    I know I've seen something about "avg daily steps / sorta-equivalent MFP lifestyle setting " somewhere but I will have to do some hunting on that.
  • Dory_42
    Dory_42 Posts: 3,587 Member
    TDEE is total daily energy expenditure. There are various websites that help you get an idea of what yours should be. It takes into account your normal activity and exercise. From experience, I know that around 1800 calories is my average so I usually aim for that as my goal and ignore exercise calories. This allows me to plan ahead without stressing about it increasing or decreasing based on my activity. Some days I will burn more and some days less, but it averages out around that number for me. There are posts on the forums about it and websites that explain it better if you want to look into it.
    (Don't check my diary for it currently as I'm playing with the data to see how MFP differs to my Garmin for active calories - Garmin always gives me more even without my Jiu Jitsu because I can't wear a watch for that.)
  • BMcC9
    BMcC9 Posts: 4,364 Member
    BMcC9 wrote: »
    we extended our wild-flower garden in front yard (now the majority of the front yard) and managed a bumper crop .... of crab-grass. Fortunately, with the Canadian Tire store reopening, we were able to to get two versions of those "cover 500 sqr feet" mixed wildflower giant-packs.

    Past few days have been "vinegar spray" days and yesterday [Saturday] was the big "route it all out and re-seed" day.

    today [Father's Day], a bit of deeper-rooted crab-grass poked its collective head up ... but as it will take at least a week or more for the seeds/sprouts we WANT to start to show, we can remove the "bad' as soon as it shows and not let it get reestablished as "surface cover"

    the first of the wildflower seeds are starting to sprout!!!! *NOT returning crabgrass 'cause not pointed leaves*

    And our first day lily bud was open this morning (a "tiger lily orange" colour) I can tell that another on the same stock will open tomorrow, along with a first on a different stalk at the far end of the planting.
  • juliemouse83
    juliemouse83 Posts: 6,663 Member
    Hi, guys!

    What a week it’s been! Gonna be long, so I’m going to put it in a spoiler.

    Flooring started going down on Monday. It’s Thursday and all that is left of the main areas and bedroom is the quarter round. These guys are taking their time, but, holy moly! The new flooring is absolutely gorgeous! I can’t even be mad, at this point. I understand the first delay was covid related, in that they do a lot of disinfectant work in businesses. I’m not as forgiving over the second delay, but the third was a lot of water restoration due to the tremendous amount of rain that’s come down over the past several weeks. They will be doing the guest bath next week. Once they finish the main areas tomorrow, I can put most of my home back together. 🤗

    I got on the scale Monday and dropped some more weight! Down to 165.4. I started in February at 179, so I’m happy with this! I suspect more will be falling off given the information I received with a meeting with my boss today. More on that in a bit.

    The one kitten we planned to adopt, Buffy, has turned into two, because we have heard that it’s easier to raise two than one. We changed Buffy’s name to Misu, after the color of the Korean grain beverage. We also adopted her brother:

    1eax8nsjdmcn.jpeg

    He was falling asleep when this was taken. (And, oh, heavens! Looks like my mom’s hand holding him. 😳🤣😂) We are toying with the name Nori, but haven’t decided, just yet. Both have just started purring, which makes me ridiculously happy! Until they are bigger and can hold their own with the dogs (6/7 are papillons), they have a bed, post, littler box and food and water in their little playpen.

    The hubs has been having some serious gastro issues and had to have an ultrasound and endoscopy. The latter was today and preliminary findings are a few ulcers and some inflammation. There is a biopsy in the works, but we are cautiously optimistic.

    My boss and I have been having a go ‘round for the past week, and it hasn’t been pretty. I am holding the condescending texts he’s sent me, as well as the text he sent early Saturday morning, before we were even out of bed. Since I’m not salaried, anymore, he no longer has 24/7 access to me, and when I’m off? I’m not thinking about him or work. Long story a bit shorter, I made a mistake with the schedule last week and he let me hold it today in a meeting we had today.

    19 years there and nary a counseling, and my first ever huge blunder? Holy *kitten*! Y’all would have thought I caused a death! We had a meeting today where we discussed my oversight on the schedule. I owned it, yet he took the opportunity to say I’d failed.

    Then he goes on to tell me we are not guaranteed our breaks, only lunch, and breakfast while on the clock is only permitted if we have no patients. It doesn’t matter if we have plenty of coverage, if someone, just one, is pending? NOBODY gets to take a break. We all need to have breakfast before we clock in. Well, I go in at 7a, and the idea of food before 8 or 9? 🤢 This means we can go four straight hours non-stop. Our state’s labor laws don’t mandate employers give any breaks, so we should be thankful for the lunch break we get. 😡🤯 At which point he mentioned that I’d failed.

    Also, I asked a question about staffing in our staff meeting Tuesday and he told me today that I’d ambushed him and should have cleared the question with him prior to the meeting. Uhhhh. Dufuq? This was the point in today’s meeting where he told me for the third time, I’d failed, And I’m thinking, “Dude! I think I got the point the first two times.“

    I generally have a thick skin, but this guy is being just petty, and it’s REALLY starting to get up my nose sideways! 🤬 I’ve had two of my team advise me to just quit, as it looks like he’s setting me up for a fall. My own mother thinks his poking at me to get me to quit. Good luck, Dude. I’ve worked for way worse than you! You’ll have to fire me first!

    Aside from all the spoiler drama/info, my appetite is at an all time low (this is GOOD!), as are our COVID hospitalizations (this is also good!). That isn’t the case, statewide; mandatory mask orders go into effect tomorrow at 5pm. What are y’all’s thoughts on mandatory masking? I’m okay with it, if it keeps someone from getting sick. Of course, pushing bariatric patients on beds all day while masked makes a trip to the store with a mask on a walk in the park, lol...

    I’ve been following everyone’s posts in here. Super happy for those in maintenance, glad that folks are finding their grooves, and I am wishing all a great weekend in advance. 🤗❤️💖❤️💖
  • BMcC9
    BMcC9 Posts: 4,364 Member
    Hi, guys!

    ... That isn’t the case, statewide; mandatory mask orders go into effect tomorrow at 5pm. What are y’all’s thoughts on mandatory masking? I’m okay with it, if it keeps someone from getting sick. ....💖

    It is "mandatory for a certain segment" (my mom is a retirement-community resident, and as of just last Thurs they can now finally leave the property but only if masked. If they are picked up by family, both parties masked and same with required conditions (along with other hoops) to have a "controlled-environment on-site visit". Everyone understands that a large collection of (independent-living ) seniors living in a communal environment is highly vulnerable if one case gets a foot-hold in the building. In more than 3 months, not even 1 suspected case. YAY!

    For the general population masks are STRONGLY advised where social distancing might be problematic (in line-up and inside stores - more congested urban city streets where it's not so easy to "get out of each other's way etc). I live in wide open suburbia myself. Plenty of "get out of the way" space during evening walk (when few others are walking at the same time)

    If it were to go full-mandatory, I would be more than okay with it. I have chronic-well controlled lung issues and am over 60 / DH almost 65 and borderline pre-diabetic.

    We are already of the opinion that wearing the mask in the store etc sends a clear but unmistakable signal that "I care about your health too".

  • jillebean86
    jillebean86 Posts: 79 Member
    Oh man... aquafaba ice cream. GAME CHANGER! Sweetened with stevia, it amounts to 130 calories/serving, and it is just glorious on these hot days.

    I use beans pretty frequently, so making this is kind of a no-brainer. It's not quite as good as real churned ice cream made of actual cream and sugar, but did I mention 130 calories? It's much cheaper than store-bought "healthy" ice cream, and it's fun to experiment with different flavors. I've made vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, and cherry almond so far.

    I have no affiliation with the recipe website below, except my extreme gratitude for it:
    https://thehiddenveggies.com/aquafaba-ice-cream/
  • Dory_42
    Dory_42 Posts: 3,587 Member
    Oh man... aquafaba ice cream. GAME CHANGER! Sweetened with stevia, it amounts to 130 calories/serving, and it is just glorious on these hot days.

    I use beans pretty frequently, so making this is kind of a no-brainer. It's not quite as good as real churned ice cream made of actual cream and sugar, but did I mention 130 calories? It's much cheaper than store-bought "healthy" ice cream, and it's fun to experiment with different flavors. I've made vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, and cherry almond so far.

    I have no affiliation with the recipe website below, except my extreme gratitude for it:
    https://thehiddenveggies.com/aquafaba-ice-cream/

    This looks amazing! Definitely going to try it next week! Thank you.
  • BMcC9
    BMcC9 Posts: 4,364 Member
    Oh man... aquafaba ice cream. GAME CHANGER! Sweetened with stevia, it amounts to 130 calories/serving, and it is just glorious on these hot days.

    I use beans pretty frequently, so making this is kind of a no-brainer. It's not quite as good as real churned ice cream made of actual cream and sugar, but did I mention 130 calories? It's much cheaper than store-bought "healthy" ice cream, and it's fun to experiment with different flavors. I've made vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, and cherry almond so far.

    I have no affiliation with the recipe website below, except my extreme gratitude for it:
    https://thehiddenveggies.com/aquafaba-ice-cream/

    I will look into that too .... DH was just recently bemoaning that he can't have hardly any ice-cream any more (pre-diabetic) and there is stevia in my pantry .....
  • juliemouse83
    juliemouse83 Posts: 6,663 Member
    Whew! Yuguise!

    Quarter round did not go down Friday. So, my house didn’t get out back together. Whatevs.

    Grandson’s fifth birthday party was today. We didn’t go. Not that we got an invitation. Husband’s ex was put in charge, as my bonus daughter has been really sick. She’d been to the doctor, had an ultrasound and an endoscopy and ended up in the ER Friday with a fever and dehydration. Turns out she was 11 weeks pregnant. She passed her IUD when she lost the baby this weekend. 💔💔😭😭

    Some days, I just have to ask WHY???

    I’ve taken a leave of absence from Facebook. The hate out there is ridiculous! Mask or no mask=vitriol on both sides. Politics? Nope. COVID discussions are down to hoax vs reality. 🤷‍♀️

    I ordered a cat tree for Misu and Nori. Yes, we settled on Nori for him. Introducing our dogs one at a time. It’s going to be a long process.

    Still have a toilet on the front porch, a vanity in the living room and my bed is still in the middle of our bedroom. 🤣😂 If I don’t laugh? I’ll just cry.
  • cjane917
    cjane917 Posts: 688 Member
    @juliemouse83 so sorry to hear about your daughter. That must have been such a terrible thing to go through for her. I'm glad that she is now safe physically thought. Will keep her and your family in my prayers
  • BMcC9
    BMcC9 Posts: 4,364 Member
    someone was asking about # steps = ~ lifestyle activity level .... just spotted this link on an early-days message board thread.

    fitnessforweightloss.com/rate-your-activity-level-based-on-steps-per-day/

    The link doesn't originate with MFP, but if you know from past experience / data-records what you normally end up with most days for NEATs, that's probably fairly close to the MFP current-lifestyle setting to pick. Just don't "double record" your exercise walking-program steps if your fitbit-or-equivalent is a;ready counting these for you!

    For example, I work at home, and the vast majority of my daily fitbit steps don't happen until / unless I make a point of walking / exergaming "after work" so I set my profile for "sedentary / now maintenance" calories. According to my fitbit TDEE - if I don't get on the exercise bike or have sufficient (deliberately intentional) steps or a combo of the two, I don't burn as much "just by general NEATs in my routine activities" as MFP allows me to eat .

    someone who consistently uses their feet or their bike as "mode of daily commuting" (even if the job is relatively desk-bound once they arrive) has a higher NEAT-without-trying lifestyle level than I do, and might put themselves as "lightly active" or "active"

    (If you don't know what NEAT stands for, ask .... I have a thread pointer for that .... )