LiLee's Journey to overall happiness

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  • jadepearl
    jadepearl Posts: 3,111 Member
    Happy Belated Birthday, my dear <3 Glad to hear that you had a relaxing birthday :) Seems like you are enjoying your new exercise machine :+1:
  • volgirl1322
    volgirl1322 Posts: 2,086 Member
    Glad you had a great bday.....carbs always make bdays the best :)
    For me, I spin for a about 10 mins. on my weight lifting/strength days, then do my squats/sit ups, weights, etc. It seems to work :)
  • LiLee2018
    LiLee2018 Posts: 1,389 Member
    Thanks yall.
    This week back on my normal lower carb diet has been ROUGH. Hell, I'm not even keto b/c we have watermelon.
    I'm not sure if it's keto 'flu' or what but I feel like absolute a-- so I haven't been exercising like I wanted. Only did it twice this week.
    I mean, I guess that's better than nothing but it's not what I had set out to do.
    Could be something hormonal too b/c I broke out w/ a few pimples on my chin and that usually doesn't happen unless it's right before or during my period. So... /shrugs
    No idea but hopefully I'll start feeling a bit more normal soon.

    Virtual learning has been 50/50.
    My daughter (3rd grade) has been doing ok with virtual learning but my kindergartener.... it was very stupid of ME and schools to think kids new to school would pay attention.
    I had intended to keep them at home the entire school year, but thankfully they're letting parents change what they had picked.
    Whenever we're switched to 'phase 2', my kids will be going back to school. They NEED the in person learning b/c online is NOT cutting it and I am NOT teacher material.
    I bought some workbooks for him anyway though while we wait to see what our school district decides to do.
    Feel sick to my stomach needing to send them AND selfishly I hate having to take them and pick them up too lol, but ya know.. gotta do what ya gotta do.
  • jadepearl
    jadepearl Posts: 3,111 Member
    Any exercise is better than no exercise :) Am so glad that my 2 kids will be back at school in Term 4. Virtual learning had its ups and downs in this family :sweat_smile: Not sure when things will be back to normal but we have move up to Stage 2 which is wonderful news for us in the countryside :)
  • LiLee2018
    LiLee2018 Posts: 1,389 Member
    Hey yall!!
    Sorry I haven't been posting much.
    Just not much going on other than the norm.

    Exercise is still hit or miss with me, BUT I'm trying to get out of the idea that I can only exercise before eating. I just got it in to my head that I NEEDED to do it before eating anything and it just wouldn't even be worth doing after.
    So I've been exercising at just random times b/c I'll think that thought to myself, but then later on will finally knock some sense in to my head to just get SOMETHING done.
    It's definitely a struggle though.

    Diet has also been MEH.
    I am just NOT feeling keto right now lol. Like... most of my meals are still keto, BUT today for instance. I had some tater tots for lunch and just had some tater rounds (just tater tots but in a round circle shape lol) for a snack. lol
    I dunno if I'm just in a keto rut right now. Like I said... I'm still eating mostly keto, it's just that I can't shake my cravings for potatoes. I want ALL the potatoy things! Oh and popcorn! Give me all the popcorn too!!
    I have been counting calories here and there though when I am eating something carby.
    It's SO incredibly easy for me to overeat carb foods so I've been making sure to force myself to portion control a bit better. It's been going ok though. I dunno what my weight will be doing, but that will be interesting to see in another week.
  • LiLee2018
    LiLee2018 Posts: 1,389 Member
    Oh and bonus kitten stuff!

    They've both grown so much. They've almost lost their kitten look. In person they're still small and obviously kittens but in photos they look so grown :cry:
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    Mia (gingerkitty) does the cutest thing to the blanket. She makes biscuits and licks/nurses off of it. Well.. I wouldn't really say nurse nurse, but more like nibbles. It's adorable!
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    Mia has definitely calmed down too and turned back in to the chill one out of the kittens. She purrs so much and just doesn't mind at all when the kids pick her up (most of the time)
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    JJ on the other hand is all attitude and just barely tolerant lol. She does NOT like being held too much, doesn't purr much, and isn't afraid to tell you either lol.
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    They're both good though. They had their 2nd vet visit. Still had a few fleas which sucks but not unexpected either. So annoying! We were told by the vet to wait until after 2 more vet visits (months from now basically) before getting them fixed. Not really sure why? But we're not in any hurry. They're indoor cats and both female so it's not a huge deal if we wait.
  • volgirl1322
    volgirl1322 Posts: 2,086 Member
    They are adorable and you are right, they don't look like kittens any more.......so so sweet!!! Don't be so hard on yourself on your diet/exercise, you will get there....
  • LiLee2018
    LiLee2018 Posts: 1,389 Member
    So I jumped rope for the first time (as an adult) yesterday and it didn't go as bad as I thought it would. I still tripped up a lot, but didn't do terrible.
    I am SORE today though.
    Sore and bloated like crazy from something.
    Taking the day off from jumping rope. It's a new movement for me so I don't want to push it too much an injure myself.
    I hopefully should be ok to try it out again tomorrow.

    We also took a 30min walk yesterday. Daughter signed up for an at home running club. She has to go out and walk/run for 30mins twice a week so we did that for the first time. Kids ran while DH and I walked. We had just eaten dinner so had bellies full of food. We weren't about to jog lol.
    We'll be doing that again tonight. Not sure it will be an every day thing, but it's something at least.

    Kids might be going back to school near the end of the month. Looking forward to it, but also not. Selfishly b/c it means I'm gonna have to start driving them and picking them up again and I just don't wanna! lol BUT they both really need that face to face time to learn properly. Especially my kindergartener.
    He's been doing better learning some things, but I think he would learn better/faster being in a classroom. Same for my girl. She's been doing ok w/ 3rd grade stuff, but would just learn better in a classroom.

    Now to drop like 15lbs before they go back so I can totally show that I toooootally didn't gain the Quarantine 15 :P rofl
  • LiLee2018
    LiLee2018 Posts: 1,389 Member
    It's been quiet up in here lately. I really hope everyone is doing ok!

    My diet has still been pfft. NOT good lol. I've just been giving in to my cravings and my weight has definitely ballooned up.

    BUT I have learned that I do love walking with my kids around the neighborhood. Got to do it today with just my youngest for the first time. Other 2 were doing school work while DH was home so I took my little dude out for 1 mile walk. I think he enjoyed it too but he started getting tired on it lol. He's a hyper guy but I guess that's just in small LOUD bursts lol.
    DH has to work late tomorrow, so if it's not raining, will be taking them out once they're done with school.

    I also jumped rope before taking the walk today. The cloth on my normal shoes don't cushion anything either. I hit my toes multiple times with the jump rope and OUCH!
    BUT! I did do about 38? consecutive jumps and the only reason I stopped was b/c I was tired lol.
    Really proud of myself though considering this was only my 2nd day of doing it.
    I did over 100 jumps, but I think I overdid it. I can feel my ankles just... they just don't feel very happy with me right now lol. So I might have to take another prolonged rest from the jumping rope. It's definitely a new move for my body and I'm sure it's going to need a lot of resting after while I get used to doing it.

    As for diet. I'm going to try to be mostly keto, but also more lenient too. BUT I'm going to count calories.
    I didn't measure today, but guessed about what I had and I'm at about 1000 calories today give or take some. I was hungry a few times here and there, but I definitely ate.

    I had 2 leftover pieces of pizza for breakfast after my walk (dominos- alfredo sauce w/ philly steak and green peppers, regular sauce w/ italian sausage and roasted red pepper).

    Lunch was a nice big salad w/ leftover chicken tenderloin taco meat, tuscan house italian dressing, lots of home grown grape tomatoes, romaine lettuce, spring mix

    Dinner was slow cooker pot roast in low carb tortilla shells w/ romaine lettuce, hot sauce, more tomatoes. I did eat the fattier parts of it so calories could be higher than I put in.

    Also tried my hand at making a low calorie protein ice cream. I'll have to play around with it. The videos we watch on youtube, I kept seeing the people making it and wanted to try it.
    Half a pack of sugar free instant pudding, xantham gum (I don't think it needs it tbh), 1 scoop of low carb protein powder (we have isopure dutch chocolate), ice, almond milk
    Blend it all up and... not really ice cream IMO. More like.. an icy pudding lol. Like I said though, just gotta play around with it some. Figure out something that I actually like with a better consistency.

    And yeah, see. I ate a good bit today, but picked lower calorie things for the most part and definitely stopped myself from eating more like I wanted at times. Like the 2 slices of pizza were NOT enough, but I just told myself to just wait until lunch and have a big salad.

    I know that's like as far from OMADing as possible rofl. I feel bad for not getting back to OMAD. Like I'm invading the space here with my ramblings that I should be posting somewhere else.
  • volgirl1322
    volgirl1322 Posts: 2,086 Member
    You are doing great super fun to be jumping rope :) i loved that as a kid but would probably kill myself as an adult :)

    Walking is so fun, I love doing it especially now the weather has cooled down, fall is finally here :)
  • LiLee2018
    LiLee2018 Posts: 1,389 Member
    Yeah, I'm actually kind of surprised how much I've enjoyed the walks. I think it helps that I am so distracted by my kids though. Having to make sure they're keeping up, not wandering in to the road, etc. It definitely helps when we're going up and down the many hills in the neighborhood lol.

    I'm still having to take a break from jumping rope lol. My calf muscles and feet are still aching from doing it. It's definitely different doing it as an adult.

    Calories have been good. I do eat mostly keto meals, BUT I've also been eating non-keto stuff too but keeping an eye on calories.
    I've found myself wanting more a few times here and there, but nothing too bad. I think it's just being so used to that sickly full feeling that my mind thinks that I NEED to feel that way to be satisfied.

    I fixed myself an icy dessert yesterday using almond milk, lots of ice, and Mio orange/tangerine flavoring. Oh and a little bit of citric acid. Like a yummy slightly creamy flavored slushy. Just made myself another w/ grape flavor. It's so good and satisfying. Maybe not so good once it gets colder though but oh well lol.

    We're going apple picking this weekend though and those places always have apple cider donuts. I'm gonna have to do a lot of walking so I can have me some donuts! rofl

    Anyway, things are good here. So far so good. Just need DH to pick me up more lower calorie things for the days when I do want more, but don't want to add too much to my calorie count.


  • katjustkat
    katjustkat Posts: 754 Member
    Hi I just read up a bit. Time is flying by! I just wanted to say that my sleep has been bad for years. Bad as in waking up a lot. I have been taking 2 generic benadryl tablets every night just before I turn out the lights. Really helps me a lot :) They are cheap at costco and walgreens. I wasn't sure if you're still having sleep problems but thought I would share what has worked for me.
    Your daughter is a doll o:) And...I'm so happy you adopted the cats together they really seem to be soooo happy together...so good to see. Take care <3
  • jadepearl
    jadepearl Posts: 3,111 Member
    I can never jump rope due to bad knees :( A friend of mine jump rope 1000 times daily and that was the only exercise she did and she loss lots of weight.
  • LiLee2018
    LiLee2018 Posts: 1,389 Member
    jadepearl wrote: »
    I can never jump rope due to bad knees :( A friend of mine jump rope 1000 times daily and that was the only exercise she did and she loss lots of weight.

    I'll have to build up to that many a day. I can do it like.. once or twice a week at MAYBE 200? jumps before I have to stop and then rest the rest of the week lol.
    I was afraid the knee that's been bothering me would give me problems from jumping, but surprisingly it hasn't really hurt.
    katjustkat wrote: »
    Hi I just read up a bit. Time is flying by! I just wanted to say that my sleep has been bad for years. Bad as in waking up a lot. I have been taking 2 generic benadryl tablets every night just before I turn out the lights. Really helps me a lot :) They are cheap at costco and walgreens. I wasn't sure if you're still having sleep problems but thought I would share what has worked for me.
    Your daughter is a doll o:) And...I'm so happy you adopted the cats together they really seem to be soooo happy together...so good to see. Take care <3

    I take melatonin every night to help me get to sleep. If I didn't take it, I would be up all night. Hell, even the melatonin doesn't always work. Thankfully that's rare though, but it has happened.
    I've taken benadryl here and there. Usually only if Ive been bitten up by bugs or am having some kind of allergic type of reaction to something, but yeah, it definitely helps w/ sleep whenever I have taken it.

    Our kitties are definitely thriving together. I'm just glad we were able to at least get 2 females out of the mix from the inlaws property. They don't need anymore kittens being born. Thankfully DH's sister is living with them for the next year and plans on taking as many as they can catch to get fixed.

    And just b/c.. who doesn't like seeing kitty photos? lol

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    And back to diet related stuff....
    I haven't been keto. I'd call myself low carb though. I've been snacking on popcorn a lot and haven't bothered tracking carbs at all, but I do still eat mostly low carb stuff.
    I've been tracking calories though and that's been going well. Still get that "I want to eat more" feeling a lot, but I stop myself and think... am I really still hungry? Or do I just want that sickly full feeling?
    Been doing pretty good though.
    Did overeat A LOT this past weekend when we went apple picking.
    Lord have mercy that whole area was SO dang busy. Everyone and their mothers were out at these apple places.
    We didn't do as much walking as we were hoping, but we sure did eat a ton of junk lol. Apple donuts, apple fritters, apple cookies, apple fudge and then all the junk we had at home.
    AF did show up on Sunday too so that's certainly not helping my hunger issues right now either.
    All I want to do is stuff my face full of comfort food. Just go fix all the french fries and eat them all.
    But I haven't. I've been good. I don't want to be, but I've been good lol.




  • Abm4n
    Abm4n Posts: 529 Member
    Hi LiLee, I just read a heap of your thread. I like to eat a lot of the same food as you and have pretty much tried so many diets over recent times. Now I am coming back to OMAD or at least working towards OMAD as a goal as part of an IF protocol.
  • LiLee2018
    LiLee2018 Posts: 1,389 Member
    Abm4n wrote: »
    Hi LiLee, I just read a heap of your thread. I like to eat a lot of the same food as you and have pretty much tried so many diets over recent times. Now I am coming back to OMAD or at least working towards OMAD as a goal as part of an IF protocol.

    That's awesome!!!! I hope you get back to OMADing better than I have lol. I've failed miserably at it and honestly just don't know if I'll ever do it again on purpose.

    Things have been good here. Low carb CICO has been going well for me and I think my appetite is finally adjusting to it. At least I hope so. Mentally, I still want to eat A LOT more, but physically, I'm feeling fine eating in a caloric deficit.
    Just had my wedding anniversary yesterday. Didn't track and ate ALL the chocolate after having some drinks lol.
    Feeling good today though. I'm sure I did bloat up some but thankfully I don't feel it.
    Took a walk with the kids and yep. Feeling pretty good.
    Was going to do more today, but I didn't sleep well last night so will try to do more tomorrow if I'm feeling a bit more up to it.

  • jadepearl
    jadepearl Posts: 3,111 Member
    Keep up the good work with your jump rope👍👏 I have bad knees... so, doing zumba works well for me😁 Love apple fritters🍏😍 Soooo cute, you little kitties🐈
  • LiLee2018
    LiLee2018 Posts: 1,389 Member
    Things have been MEH here this week.
    Been waking up with headaches or just feeling dizzy.
    Like right now, just feeling light-headed and weird.
    I don't think it's b/c of the diet though. I'm eating plenty.
    This morning, I did wake up to my right ear aching. That's not totally out of the ordinary since it will start aching if I lay on that side for too long sometimes, but I'm really hoping this isn't some sneaky inner ear infection. I haven't had a fever and my ear doesn't hurt during the day at all so... I dunno.
    Maybe I just need more sleep.
    My anxiety has been really high since kids are going back to face-to-face school next week. I'm not nervous about them getting sick, it's just EVERYTHING about it and my anxiety making it 100% worse b/c... yay anxiety :\
    Keep telling myself it's gonna be fine though. It's not going to be a huge deal. Maybe a giant PITA since they're only allowing parents to pick up in the car line though.
    They used to let parents park in the back parking area. Actually required it for kids that couldn't unbuckle/buckle themselves from their carseats. Now though... it's going to be a PAIN.
    I was going to just let them ride the bus, but that was really just my own laziness lol and not wanting to drive in the morning. Ugh I hate it, but whatever.
    So yeah, maybe it's just my anxiety/stress causing some problems again.
    I dunno but I haven't been getting out to walk or been doing anything inside either. Just.. ya don't feel like doing much when you wake up with a headache :\

    But like I said, diet has been good. Tracking calories and not feeling too deprived. Helps that I'm not sticking to keto. Had some rice yesterday and another day I had myself some french toast (w/ SF syrup, but with white bread).
    There's still that part of me that wanted MORE MORE MORE
    But I think I've been doing fairly well to control myself.
  • jadepearl
    jadepearl Posts: 3,111 Member
    Hope that your dizzy spells have gone🤞 My 2 kids started school in Term 4. Both of them missed their schools and friends.😊 It's the same here, we now have different carparks to drop and pickup our kids due to covid 19. Everything has change and mask is a must now in school too. Keep up the good work with your diet👍👏
  • LiLee2018
    LiLee2018 Posts: 1,389 Member
    edited October 2020
    jadepearl wrote: »
    Hope that your dizzy spells have gone🤞 My 2 kids started school in Term 4. Both of them missed their schools and friends.😊 It's the same here, we now have different carparks to drop and pickup our kids due to covid 19. Everything has change and mask is a must now in school too. Keep up the good work with your diet👍👏

    I have mommy friends from other states that have had their kids in face to face school and it seems to be going well for them so far so I'm hoping it's the same here too.
    I'm the type to get to school early for drop off and pick up anyway so I'm hoping I'll be one of the first in line b/c just... UGH it's gonna be so backed up now. I know not all the kids are coming back though. In my daughter's class, it's 10 back face to face and 7 still doing virtual learning.
    My kids just NEED to be in school. Virtual is not working for them.
    Hell, they're probably going to be home most of the winter anyway. We're supposed to have a symptoms check every morning before sending them off and one of the symptoms to stay home is being stuffy. Like... REALLY?? My kids get at minimum 2 colds every winter. Colds that last upwards of 2 weeks (b/c we're constantly passing them back and forth to one another).
    If they have any symptoms then they're supposed to stay home a minimum of 10 days from the start of their symptoms? I think.. I'll have to look that up again. Still... just if this year is like years previous, they're going to be home all winter long from school... virtual learning again. Hopefully not falling behind, but who knows.
    Anyway, this is just my anxiety talking. I'm sure it will all be fine in the end and we'll all adjust quickly.

    On to some good news....
    I've been weighing about 183 all week (for 2 weeks actually).
    This morning was 181.6!
    WOO!
    It's a far cry from where I was, but I'm slowly getting back to that. Slowly getting my commitment and discipline back.
    Definitely going to be a challenge with Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up but I think if I stick to mostly low carb CICO, then hopefully I won't feel so deprived of things.
    Just coming to realize that I do binge when given the chance and have passed it off as just "Oh I'm just trying to make the most out of my cheat!" excuse.
    I think if I stay within my calorie range, but allow myself to eat whatever within limit, then there will be less of a chance of things spiraling in to a week long bingefest. Just keep my 'cheat' non tracking days to JUST the holidays or whenever and then get back on track w/ counting calories while still allowing myself to eat whatever. Take Thanksgiving leftovers for example. Before, I would try to eat ALL the leftovers in 2-3 days, that way I could get back to keto and tracking carbs again. BUT with CICO though, don't have to worry about carbs and I can just portion it out over a longer period of time. Hope that makes sense lol.
    I am still trying to stay mostly low carb though. It's just that if I want some fries or rice or whatever, then I'm going to have it with no guilt so long as I keep it within my calorie goal for the day. This is what I wanted to do once I reached maintenance anyway... just trying it out sooner I guess lol.

    Definitely not going to reach my 30lbs gone by the end of the year goal lol. This year has just been a giant UGH, but if I can at least get to the end of the year chiseling some of this weight off, then I'll be perfectly fine with that too.

    I'm going to make the next year coming up one I can look back on with no regrets. One I can think back to and say "Yep, that's the year I finally reached my goal". I know I can do it if I can just hold on to the discipline I know I have.