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

Yesterday was a good day. Stayed within calories. Got in 13k steps. Drank my water and did a mini Fitbit coach workout.

Same goals today. Water calories steps.

@cbabie Oh I’m sorry that your job is so awful! If you can change it and follow your dreams I say do it! I’m glad that the weather is nicer for you too. Yes! Get your DH to screen that porch. I’m sure he can find a YouTube video on how to do it.

@theslightedgeforever I looked, and I don’t think I have the zone minute thing. I did an update but I have a Charge 3 so maybe it’s not supported on that. Or I’m missing something. Yes! I can’t wait for the porch and I know that DH and I both will use the heck out of it. We have a ceiling fan and I highly recommend you getting one.

@trooworld I’m glad that you will be able to go to a spine clinic and hope the x-ray gives them some insight. The oils that I use are olive oil (although I just read that many brands use seed oils to cut it with), avocado oil, and ghee. The porch should be done in a week or so. The guy is out there painting it now and the screens themselves have to be ordered and then installed. I can’t wait!

@renagry Good for you for sticking to your plan!


Hi everyone! It’s been a busy day. I got up early, did some church work, my workout, went and got my hair done, made pulled pork, and did some laundry. And we have church tonight! The good news is that I don’t have to go to the staff meeting tomorrow. Yesterday, I fasted for 24 hours and kept my food under 600 calories. Today, I fasted 20 hours and have eaten a lot more but my carbs are under 50 grams. The scale was down another .02 this morning so I’m motivated to keep it going in the right direction.

@cbabie I'm so sorry you had such a bad day. It's hard to face the day when you don't like what you do. It sounds like you really took care of yourself yesterday morning, I'm glad you did that. You need to do more of that!!! Yes, I can picture the rolling pin over the body too lol! Yeah, being miserable stinks.

@TeresaW1020 I use olive oil and avocado oil. Sometimes butter but I am reading that's bad for inflammation so I'll have to give that up, unfortunately. I'll have to look at my olive oil and make sure it's not blended. Oh that is quick (your porch)! You'll be enjoying it soon!!! Pulled pork is one of my favorites. Did you do it in the crockpot? That's good the scale was down.

@theslightedgeforever Yeah, I'm reading a lot about it. I'm seeing pretty sunsets from the fires and eerie skies. I got 100% of my water in yesterday, too! Yay, us! Today will be tricky: I have to go onsite to work and I also have to go get that x-ray done. I will see if I can do 75%.

Hello all. I listened in on an Arthritis Foundation webinar yesterday about pain management. It really wasn't good news. It sounds like arthritis pain is hard to control. The things that work best are: weight loss, exercise, ibuprofen and Motrin type of medications, hot and cold treatments, and the use of a cane. Just another reason to lose weight!

COMMITTED.
September goals: get at least 7 1/2 hours of sleep every night, drink 2 (26 oz) bottles of water a day

aw crap!!! I had a big thing typed & looked back without thinking & lost it all!

@theslightedgeforever I wish I had that update on my Fitbit, but I looked on the website & it is only Charge 4, Ionic & Versa. I have the Charge 2. Might be upgrading tho..I think I put a big crack on my screen when working at the farm. Looks like you are doing good on your goals!

@trooworld Sorry you have been in so much pain, but glad it has gotten a little better for you. I am beginning to think food has a lot to do with how a person feels. I am seriously thinking of trying Whole Food Plant Based like my sister. I think my cough must be caused from reflux, so would like to get that under control.

@TeresaW1020 I am so jealous of your screened porch. I have always wanted one, but dh not so much. You have been doing so well with your exercise, hope you find the food plan that works for you.

@cbabie Yeah for getting on the treadmill!! Sorry your job has been so stressful. When I was working, I had to deal with the public, too. Can be fun sometimes! (not)

Well, we have finally gotten the broken trees cleaned up enough to mow the fields. Still a lot of trees down in the lane of the timber, that will take awhile. We worked for about 2-3 days, then take 2-3 days off--getting too old to keep it up, lol. I kinda felt like a pack mule..dh would cut with the chain saw & I would drag the branches & throw in piles. Worse part was because it was farm fields It is so rough to walk in. I think the town where we used to live has finally gotten the worst of the damage cleaned up also. Most of them were without power for 7-10 days!

Our sunflowers have gone crazy..I guess they like hot, dry weather. They are about 10 feet tall & there is 25-30 blossoms on each stalk. Our poor pumpkin patch is gone, tho. The neighbors big shed door landed in the middle of the patch during the storm. And it had gotten so weedy, & the wind flattened the weeds & choked out the pumpkin vines. We have found some vines, but nothing on them. We will wait another 2-3 weeks & see if we can find anything, but will probably just be gourds if anything. We should be seeing pumpkins by now and we aren't.

School started here on the 25th. Dd is teaching kindergarten in person & the gkids going to in person classes. So far, so good, I guess. Dd has to wear a mask & face guard & now they have gotten her a microphone so the kids can hear her. School in OK started on the 24th. They opted in person, but school started "pivot to home" (school teachers on line). The virtual learning classes were totally prerecorded & not school teachers, so not ideal. Dd is still working from home, so she was able to put the gkids in a program that their church offered with volunteers. They were doing pivot from home classes, but were at the church, so dd could still do her work. Seemed to be working pretty good for her, but so many people were complaining that they wanted the kids in school in person, so the school board relented & they will start that on the 17th. She is not happy about that, but not much choice. Iowa & OK are both way in the red for cases, so just hoping for the best.

As for me, I have put my calories to maintain, but am trying to stay below the number. Must be a mental thing, I can stay under it when I do this, but if I even do "Lose 1/2 pound", I am always over. I feel like I should lose, but probably very slowly. Starting in Sept. I am trying to average my 10,000 steps again. I have been under a few days, but most days have been over. Some walks outside & some on the treadmill. Been getting 6-8 glasses of water, so happy with that.

We have dentist appointments & another grocery pick up tomorrow. I keep wondering if I should schedule my colonoscopy or wait. It was due in Feb, but Dr forgot to make the appt, then covid hit...etc. It is something that is really easy to put off, lol, but I know I should be doing it. We got our flu shots the other day. Well, not much more for now.

@trooworld I wondered if you were seeing the orange skies. woohoo on your 100% . I did 25% today. So back to it.... seems like that "lose weight" remedy is good for lots of things. If only it were as easy as taking a pill.

@cbabie Yes, 20 is better than 0. Remember how mom would love to say Elizabeth this is the big one....like Fred Sanford? You moved out of black and white into gray territory. :woohoo: Today I kept reading when I should have been up exercising so I only had 15 min left but i thought I can still get in a little and did a 12 min video plus walked around for 3 min and earned 19/22 of my zone minutes for the day. If I had said oh I don't have time, I would have been looking at 0/22 and had to try and make them up later. 3 minutes to go is so motivating vs 22 min. your book sounds good. Hooray on you getting on the treadmill, plus checking in with us, and tracking.

@retiredandlovingit. I was worried about you recently, thinking the corona had got you since Iowa seems to be going through the roof. I was going to send you a msg and found out we aren't friends on here. My son is moving to Houston in two weeks. I was really worried about him moving there in the midst of the high numbers and now I'm hoping he makes it out of Iowa. lol You could calculate the zone minutes manually. Once you get your heart rate zones, you get 1 point for each minute in fat-burning and 2 points for each minute in cardio/peak. The weekly goal is to get 150 minutes. It's just broken down into 22 minutes a day. But since I take rest days, I'd have to work harder on other days. Which I did today. I earned 45. I also like this better because on active minutes you have to be exercising at least 10 min to start earning them. Zone minutes are calculated individually. So if you go upstairs and it pushes your heart rate into fat burning zone for a minute then you get one point. I guess it's meant to help you be active throughout the day versus just during "exercise time". The zones are also based on your resting heart rate figured in. I just noticed my cardio range just got bumped up from 121 bpm to 123. I agree with the cough and reflux thing. When I gained back a bit of weight from my sickness and covid, my heartburn came back along with the cough. I was rid of it back in the fall last year. You got in alot of great exercise carrying those branches. I think that's the fun kind. Speaking of appointments, I'm past due for pap smear, mammogram and yearly physical. So I have to get those things done. I was just imagining myself disinfecting my body parts after those tests. I carry a little sanitizer spray bottle with me everywhere. I drive dh nuts when we are out spraying tables and then wiping off my glass. I hope I don't end up turning into one of those germphobic people like Howie Mandel.

@renaegry You sound like you are back in the zone. Good for you. You do well with some boundaries/goals. So the goal of "eating a bit healthier" is not really specific. What would that look like to you on a daily basis. Eat 1 fruit or Eat 1 veggie? People vary on their responses of this. Some people would say Reduce my fat grams by 5. Or Increase my fiber grams by 5. Everyone has their own idea of what "healthy food" is.

I read the funniest thread on Twitter today about a 2nd grade online school class. The teacher's screen froze and the kids took over. One of the parents was live tweeting it.

Green Day Stayed OP 181/238 Intentional Movement: 12 min YouTube video 7 min dancing 13 min walk

September goals: Green dot day Drink 6 glasses of water Burn 225 cals via movement Preplan food

@RetiredAndLovingIt Hi, I am glad to see you checking in with us! Sounds like you have been very busy with the clean-up. Those sunflowers sound amazing! I know you are worried about your daughter and grandkids being back in school. It’s such a hard call for everyone if they should be in school or not. We have that going on here and being a college town, our numbers have started really going up since the kids have returned. I know we all wish this craziness would end already! Get your colonoscopy taken care of. One of the biggest side effects of COVID is people not taking care of their health in other areas that matter too.

@cbabie 20 minutes is better than no minutes so good job! I looked up that book you are reading, and it looks like a really good one! I hope you gain some real insight into how God sees you and how he is working in your life. I don’t know if I have ever told you about a woman I know. Kimberly Taylor is an amazing woman of God and has a wonderful website and several books that are really worth reading. Look her up! Take Back Your Temple

@trooworld I did use the crockpot for my pulled pork. What I do is cut slits in the meat and stuff garlic cloves in, season heavily with McCormick’s BBQ seasoning, several drops of liquid smoke, and then add in a bottle of diet, Dr. Pepper. Cook it until done, drain most of the liquid, shred the meat, add in sautéed onions and green peppers, and then enjoy with your favorite BBQ sauce. I also make a really tasty coleslaw to go with it. Yup, losing weight for us all with help with all kinds of health issues. I’m really hoping that the more I lose the less back and knee pain I will have to deal with. I hope the clinic can tell you what those X-rays mean and more importantly how best to give you relief from your pain.


Good morning! Today is weigh-in day and I’m down a pound for the week. 202 lbs. exactly and slowly heading towards Onderland. I looked back over my weight log for the year and January thru May was terrible with April and May being the worst months. On June 1st I had decided enough was enough and I was going to make the second half of the year count. So far so good! This month I am cutting the weekly wine binges and doing carb cycling and that seems to be having a positive effect. Last night, DH went to Subway and for the first time, I got one of their salads filled with spinach, all the veggies, the Italian meats, chipotle dressing and it was delicious! I didn’t have chips or a cookie. Well, I did have a bite of DH’s cookie, but I didn’t have my own. And instead of feeling deprived, I felt in control and that is a VERY nice feeling. I’m going to stick to low carb for the next two days because Saturday I have a wedding to go to and this girl will eat cake!!

@theslightedgeforever moring. Very good question about the eating healthy. I definitely need more veggies. Other then my salad at noon I tend to slack with that. And cut back on the carbs. I am tracking my macros and would like to stay on track but I am either short on protein or over on fat and/or carbs.

@cbabie agreed. Any time doing anything is better then no time doing nothing.

Just been walking this week. Will start weights and workouts from Fitbit next week. Looking forward to the 6 week step bet. Always seems to get my butt moving. My weight as dropped 3 lbs this week just from the less booze from camping. Told myself for the whole week allowed 6 drinks. At the lake was like having 6 a day when we were there. As soon as kids off to school going to get my walk in then clean windows outside. Forecast is nice today 26C.

@RetiredAndLovingIt thanks broccoli carrots and cucumbers seam to be my only veggies. I loved steamed seasoned broccoli

Had a great day yesterday. Went for a 5.77 km walk then went and cut grass for an hour. Had 14.5k steps in before noon. Finished off the day just under 20k. Today’s plan is to do some house cleaning. Do some yard work and clean inside my truck. So not sure if I will get my steps in or not.

@trooworld I got in 25% today. Weekends are tough but I need to be tougher. For your xray, L is the lumbar area and the number is the level. S stands for sacral area. Think of your spine as stairsteps divided into areas. The human spinal column is made up of 33 bones - 7 vertebrae in the cervical region, 12 in the thoracic region, 5 in the lumbar region, 5 in the sacral region and 4 in the coccygeal region. I only know all this because my hubby has degenerative arthritis in his C3, C4, and now C5. Which is his neck area.

@teresaw1020 Hooray for your lb lost. It looks like you are finding your groove.

@renaegry Woohoo on the weight loss. When I was consistent last year on my carb cycling, I was always under on my protein and over for my carbs/fat. But still lost 23 lbs. So I don't worry too much about that right now. I figure once I'm at goal weight, then I'll try and figure out the protein thing if need be. It just depends what my needs are at the time.

@retiredandlovingit yes on the son in Johnston. Hm.. I didn't see the pic. Did you get in your walk with Dr. Oz?

@cbabie Movement is movement. You did good getting out and getting some fresh air. Plus your tracking

That's all I have time for today.

I just realized I didn't track. I'll have to go back and do that. Intentional movement: 32 min walking 10 min YouTube video 21 min dancing

September goals: Green dot day Drink 6 glasses of water Burn 225 calories via movement Preplan day