@AustinRuadhain Thanks! Ah...cut and paste error has happened to me, too! Good luck on moving from level 10 to 11, I know you can do it! Thank you for sharing your goal ladder idea, I am creating one for myself and think it will be super motivating!

@vegan4lyfe2012 I hope you enjoy Thanksgiving, a stuffed acorn squash sounds delicious! I am spacing out the cooking over these next 3 days so I'm not overwhelmed, which I tend to get when cooking for the holidays.

@buniphuphu That stinks that people aren't wearing masks at your gym, I don't blame you for putting your membership on hold. Thanks for your comment about the amount of weight to lose, it struck a cord with me and I like the idea of focusing on "Under x amount". I am going to try that.

@TwistedSassette I think I'm going to find the same thing about weighing daily. That's exactly what happens when I weigh weekly...sometimes I feel like just giving up. Oh geez, 4 hours? That's terrible. No wonder you had a bad day. Your husband sounds very handy. I hope you can get a good night's sleep tonight and that your headache goes away.

@Katmary71 Oh I'm so sorry you are feeling that bad, that must be awful. I know your turkey is going to come out well, you will do it right!

@TeresaW1020 Wow, that's a good deal on the puzzles! I bet your yard looks nice just in time for the holidays.

@Cornanda Thanks for your post. I do identify with what you are saying, too. If I don't try, I gain, too, and I end up back at my starting weight or worse. Very smart ideas in your post. I do sometimes feel like I can do it: I can picture myself at a healthy weight. It's just the down days that drag me down.

Hello all. I am now thinking of a goal ladder thanks to @AustinRuadhain ! I already have a word for the year that I focus on. This year's word was COMMITTED. I am thinking about what I want next year's word to be.

Monday:
Calories: over/under: over
Water: over/under: under
Exercise: walk
- track 90% of food intake - 100% accomplished
- drink 2 (26 oz) bottles of water a day - 30% accomplished
_____________________________________________
Goals or Improvements for tomorrow:
- track 90% of food intake
- drink 2 (26 oz) bottles of water a day

Something helpful for holiday eating?

So as I start to work cooking for the holidays (I got the big shopping done yesterday! cooking starts today!), I am thinking about how to make sure I don't dig myself into a big hole with holiday eating. That had me off and reading about things. Sharing in case they are helpful to others!



More reading, for those that like that kind of thing:

• Learn How To Eat Mindfully with the “Eat-Mojis” - Article that was the source of the graphic
• Mindful Eating Questionnaire
• This Raisin Meditation looks worth a try. I will try it this week with something else, as raisins are a triggeringly sweet food for me.

Hey, all! Just a quick pop in to say SO FAR SO GOOD today

@AustinRuadhain I have read and re-read your ladder blog and it is fantastic! What a great way to see your progress. I am definitely going to give that a try. Celebrate the small wins that will get me that much closer to VICTORY! I'm working on my list today!

@SammyDee2015 Thank you for all your kind words. I appreciate you!

@AustinRuadhain What a great idea to make a ladder of weight successes. I have the numbers here or there but I’ve not laid it out in a way that you have. Totally going to do this! And I agree that hitting the daily actions that I set for myself always gives me better results than on days when I just do whatever I feel like doing, which is usually sitting and snacking. And great links to better understand mindfulness! I bookmarked all three.

Hi Team! Today was a good day. Mom and I went out early and did our grocery shopping for the week and then I came home and was just going to straighten up my kitchen. But then it turned into an entire thing of me reorganizing and cleaning all my drawers and cabinets. I need to do the pantry but that is a whole project onto itself right now.

NEW YEAR CHALLENGE: 38 Days until January 1st
1.Fast Clean: I fasted 18 hours today.
2.Workout: . I didn’t work out today but I did do a lot of cleaning. My back is still acting up and totally annoying me. I kind of think I have a ruptured disk and not too sure how to fix that.
3.Eat on plan: I ate on plan today.

@AustinRuadhain Thanks again for that inspiring post, I created my own ladder and I think it will be very motivating. Thanks for the articles to read.

@TwistedSassette That's good you are already thinking of Christmas dinner, more time to plan.

@TeresaW1020 Ugh, you remind me that I need to reorganize the cupboards in the kitchen. I don't think I'll do it before Thanksgiving though. Your poor back!

@Katmary71 I hope you get some answers on Friday. Have a wonderful day tomorrow.

Tuesday:
Calories: over/under: over
Water: over/under: under
Exercise: walk
- track 90% of food intake - 100% accomplished
- drink 2 (26 oz) bottles of water a day - 50% accomplished
_____________________________________________
Goals or Improvements for tomorrow:
- track 90% of food intake
- drink 2 (26 oz) bottles of water a day

@vegan4lyfe2012 I glad you have your son home. I know that is such a precious time. I'm with you on how overwhelming this weigh loss journey can be. I try to focus on the second number in my weight. My goal is always to change the 2nd number. So right now I am looking to go from a 4 to a 3, that is normally a 4-5 week goal for me. Currently I started November (ended October) in the low 250's. Right now I'm in the mid 240's. Hoping to start December in the low 240's or high 230's. It is much easier for me to recognize success in 10 pound increments. Your Thanksgiving meal sounds delicious.

@buniphuphu I agree completely that breaking down our goals helps so much. Hate you can swim. Hope that changes soon!!!

@anido1 What an awesome weigh in!!!!!

@TwistedSassette Glad you got some sleep. Being rested helps me so much!!! Both physically and emotionally.

@Katmary71 Continuing to keep you in my thoughts and prayers!!

@TeresaW1020 I know your house and yard are just beautiful. Love hearing all the descriptions. I hope your Christmas party is wildly successful. Great score on the puzzles!! Boy I need to reorganize my kitchen drawers!!!

@AustinRuadhain I love the ladder idea. Yours was great. I am going to do this!!! Also, thanks for sharing the Eat-Mojis. I will definitely implement this.

@SammyDee2015 You are really rocking the "no midnight snack attack"! That is awesome!!!

@trooworld It sure looks like you have lived up to this years word - COMMITTED!! Interested to see what you come up with for next years word!!

@GabiV125 Congrats on your weight loss!! No matter the size of the loss, a loss is a loss! Great job eating within calories!!

@KymRobyn welcome!!!!

@adhmrh That really is an accomplishment! I would probably have turned around and went the other route Great choices add up and you're proof of that.
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Not much to report here. Much more active yesterday and this morning's weight is the lowest I've seen in a long time so I'm feeling pretty good. Hoping it doesn't spike up for my "official" weigh in tomorrow! This morning's weight means I've lost 5kg (~11 lbs) since June so it's slow and steady but I can feel the difference. For the first time in my life, I'm really sticking with my plan and it's really working.

100 DAY CHALLENGE GOALS
Day 64: Wednesday 25 November
1. Log calories eaten: Yes - 43/64
2. 20 mins exercise: Yes - 38/64
3. Record a calorie deficit: Yes - 34/64

Hi everyone!

First off - I just want to wish everyone a safe and Happy Thanksgiving! I will be taking the day off from MFP tomorrow to just spend time with my son and relax!!

I took a few days off from work - MUCH needed. So I'm off today through Monday. I must say, OMG, today was wonderful! I slept in a little and then got some stuff done around the house. I made some time for myself - couch time - time to snuggle with Moo (my cat) - watched TV - organized my closet before I even came down for breakfast! 5 loads of laundry are now done!!

But the biggest thing I did for myself was did a little digging into the progress I've been making with my weight loss. I have been beyond frustrated lately. I have been dancing in the same 291# range for the last 11 days. That is really hard for me to handle. I've been sticking with the calories laid out here on MFP (1490) - usually come in just a smidge under. So it just doesn't make sense to me why my weight isn't moving in the direction I think it should be. Well, when I went to the doctor last week I told him how many calories MFP has me on and he said it's too low - I should be eating 1600. So then it overwhelms me a bit to try and figure out how to eat a little more. The last two days I ate whatever I wanted. I didn't go nuts. I stuck with two meals the same as normal each day, but then one meal I just did whatever the hell I wanted. I didn't track the calories before I ate it. I just did what I wanted. And if I wanted a snack, I ate it. So yesterday I came in at 1700 calories. I stepped on the scale this morning...down 2.0 pounds. Go figure! So, is this my body telling me "GIVE ME MORE CALORIES!"? Perhaps. I wish it wouldn't take me 11 days to figure it out. Maybe my weight will go back up tomorrow, who knows. It's hard to really figure out exactly what the right "recipe" is for my body.

So in my digging today, I realized it took me 1 1/2 months to lose these 10 pounds. That was shocking and annoying. I feel like I should have lost way more than that in that time. Not because anyone is telling me that - but because of the pressure I put on myself. So I went back to the beginning. I've been working on my weight loss for 4 1/2 months. In the first 1 1/2 I lost 22 pounds, then the next 1 1/2 months I lost 10 pounds, and now this last 1 1/2 months, 10 pounds. So now I know I'm not crazy, my weight loss has definitely slowed down. Seeing it with my own eyes was just what I needed. I was so happy to see that I wasn't crazy and that HA, I knew things were slowing down and I'm not crazy!! But then I was totally fine with it because I've also decided that my body will lose what it needs to lose when it needs to lose it. I don't want to do what is unhealthy - I don't want to just hurry up and get the weight off and then deal with the consequences of rapid weight loss. So I will just be happy that I am still losing, no matter how slow, no matter how annoyingly slow. I will learn to listen to my body - perhaps a little faster. And I have to learn that it's ok right now, to eat more - which just seems so opposite of what I need to be doing. But again, bottom line is I need to listen to my body, and not always MFP - and what worked last week, may not work this week. And there is no defined finish line, I'll get there when I get there. One day at a time!

Happy Thanksgiving guys! xoxo

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! No overthinking, no guilt, only good vibes for us all.