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

@cbabie My daughter wouldn’t keep socks and shoes on either when she was very little. She always ran hot and finally, I just gave up and let her be. Of course, the time I found her barefoot in the snow was a hard limit for this mama. I hope you have a good day and get your walk in and find a new way to handle the stress other than eating, which I know leaves you angry with yourself and that is more stress you just don’t need.

@mswatson0777 What a good idea to switch to walking and even doing some yoga. With all the work stress you have, I think getting outside and breathing fresh air and clearing your mind is a great way to find some balance. What are your weekend plans?

@trooworld I hope your migraine is gone and that you have a good day and weekend.

@theslightedgeforever, waving hello!!


Good morning! Well, we are having a party this evening and I am super excited! I spoke to my pastor’s wife yesterday and she says he is up to coming but that they might not stay very long. That will be fine. He can be here to eat with us and then after they leave, we can play our fun games and hang out. I have a busy day of getting the food ready and finishing up some last-minute cleaning. I decided to make frosted eggnog cookies and not sure why because I’m not a baker. I was also happy with the scale this morning. I lost what I gained over Thanksgiving and even lost a tiny bit more. I’m still determined to finish this year with a loss for the month. Have a great day!

@cbabie I'm glad you got to walk. Are you journaling your thoughts and emotions? It helps instead of eating. You know what a sweater is? Something your mother makes you wear when she is cold. Maybe baby girl's feet aren't cold when she's inside the house. Of course outdoors no. So if she won't wear shoes, then she doesn't get to go outside.

@teresaw1020 :waving back: just keep working your program and the scale will eventually move. I hope you had a fun party.

@trooworld I got two days of 100% and one 50%. Tell me about your circuit machine. At first I thought it was an exercise thing but then saw you set it up on a tiny table and I was imagining you standing exercising on a tiny table. So we must be talking about two different things. lol

@mswatson0777 I like your thought of " I have to remind myself I'm ahead of the game and I just need to continue to make progress towards the goal, I don't need to finish in record time." So true. Stress is your enemy. In one of my books I'm reading it said

"If you don’t learn what makes you work best and repeat it, you’ll never get better. Think about a time when you accomplished something. What were you doing? What elements of that moment helped the most? Where were you? What music were you listening to? What did you do before? What did you do after?

Perfectionism loves to stop you midway through a goal.

If you’re unhappy with your progress, you have three different dials you can adjust. The goal The timeline The actions

In personal projects it’s easier to deal with all three dials because you’re the one in charge. Instead of beating yourself up, instead of misremembering how easy it was in the past, instead of quitting, look at the three dials. Do you need to tweak your goal, your timeline, or your actions?" -Finish by Jon Acuff

December weekly goals:

# glasses of water 15/42
# OP days 1/7
# preplanned days 1/7

@trooworld Yayy for your pound loss this week!! Yeah, potato chips aren’t something you can eat in moderation. At least the bag was smallish. Cricut machines are cool. I have a good friend that makes all kinds of things and sells them at different craft shows. She had made me several things.

@cbabie Good job on doing better with your eating yesterday. I sure can’t say the same! I always wanted to learn to crochet but never did.

@theslightedgeforever What a great excerpt from that book! I have to put together a challenge for my Fat2Fit group at the end of the month and I think I will totally steal that!

@mswatson0777 What a fun date night you have planned with your SO! And yes to being relaxed with yourself and your dissertation. You will totally get it all done when it needs to be done.


Good morning! The party was a big success and this morning I’m feeling all the effects of too much work and way too much sugar! It was great to have us all together and my poor pastor looks awful with his black eye, stitches above his temple, and arm in a cast but at least he was smiling. After the party, DH and I cleaned up all the mess so today my house is still spotless and I’ve got no plans to do anything other than sit and work my puzzle and watch TV. Today, we will eat up a bunch of the leftovers, and tomorrow, I’m going back on my plan to fast at least 23 hours and eat a 500-calorie meal. The plan is to do that three days a week so that I can still enjoy the treats of December. I’m really working on not having a diet mindset but instead learning that this is my lifestyle and I can have my cake and eat it too. I just can’t have cake every day.

Here is a pic of my charcuterie board! I think it turned out better than last years.

Hi all...looks bright & sunny but still only 37 degrees outside & it is now up to 65 inside because I started the fireplace. Yup...our furnace is not working. Got up yesterday & I thought it seemed cold in house & so looked & it was 63. Dh checked the furnace (he used to do some furnace/ac repair at work) but couldn't get it going, so we had to call someone & guess we are getting a new furnace & ac for Christmas, going to be installed on Monday. We do have a couple little heaters so not too bad in the house until then. At least we have electricity, etc. Right before oldest gd was born, we had an ice storm & were without electricity & heat for 3 days (in town even). We are so much better than that now!!

Dh & sil went out to the farm deer hunting, so I have the day to myself. I should be down sewing but decided to get on here first. When the gkids were little, dd & I & the gkids would make Christmas ornaments & usually go to "Lunch with Santa" while the guys were hunting. Now they are too big & busy, lol.

@cbabie Hope you do get back to sewing & crocheting. I enjoy it so much. I also have a counted cross stitch picture I have started and would like to finish. Thinking of baby girl not wanting to wear socks on her feet reminded me of when the gkids were little & came over & it snowed & they didn't have mittens, so I put socks on their hands so they could go out & play. They still laugh about that!

@TeresaW wow, your food looks amazing!! Glad the party was fun. Hope your pastor heals quickly. Your plan seems to be fitting you pretty well. Crocheting really isn't too hard, I'm not sure how, but I taught myself to do it.

@trooworld Have fun with the cricut machine. When we are at craft shows, I see a lot of boards with sayings, etc on them & think "wow, I could not paint like that" & most of the time, it turns out that they used a cricut machine to do it. I have often thought about getting one, but wonder if I would really use it. Chips are one of my downfalls, but at least yours was a small bag!

@mswatson0777 Hope you had a fun date night. I love going out & looking at Christmas lights. Walking to do it is something I hadn't thought of. We have been going for a walk most afternoons. I enjoy it a lot more than the treadmill.

@theslightedgeforever I love how you are always quoting something, helping us all do better. Hope your dd is staying safe at work. I need to be doing better with water, too.

My next project after I get the Advent calendars done (I know..it has already started..they will just get them late, lol) is I am determined to declutter. I was reading about a couple that died of Covid a minute apart, and it got me to thinking about that & would not want to leave things for our dd's to clear out. They are busy enough without that. We are not hoarders or anything like that, but definitely have stuff to get rid of. I follow a minimalist page & it inspires me.

Well, time for lunch. Then I want to finish up my Christmas decorating so I can put the boxes away. I got some plugs at Costco that work with Alexa, so I can tell her to turn on my lights. Needed to download an app & hook it to Alexa...dd & gkids could probably do it in 5 minutes..well, 2 hours later they finally work! I am not very computer savvy, lol.

Have a good weekend & stay safe!!

@trooworld I like your luminaries! I am sure you have seen the wine bottles with decorations & then put lights in them. My niece makes them, I am assuming with a Cricut & people really like them.

Well, my furnace is being installed. I am not comfortable with people in the house (Covid), but cant go all winter with no heat either. They are wearing masks & if I am close to them I will, too. I am just trying to stay in a different part of the house, lol. Told dh we should open a window, but don't think he agrees with me, since it is about 20 outside.

@cbabie Good for you for no ice cream and a walk.

@trooworld Have Your cricut machine sounds really fun. I got 25% yesterday but working hard on it today. Island time, sloth speed......That cracked me up

@teresaw1020 The charcuterie board looks wonderful. Makes me hungry.

@retiredandlovingit Hopefully I can nudge myself to get to doing better. We'll work on water together. My ds is really enjoying his warm winter in Houston. lol Six of his friends from TX are going down for New Years. I want them to keep covid germs up in IA, I don't think anyone should be traveling and mingling at this point, but just my opinion my kids tell me to keep to myself. My daughter is going down to TX for 4 days on Saturday and then over to Oregon for 3 days just to sitesee. Can we not sitesee during a pandemic?

@mswatson0777 I too function better and get more done under stress, but I think I do that because it's a habit and I keep telling myself Oh, I still have X amount of time so today I don't need to do as much or anything. It's all good. But the side effect of that stress is bad on my body. I do get my stuff done but at what cost? So now I'm learning to chip away at the mountain a little bit at a time. Plus I'm nicer to be around.

Exercise still continues to go well.

December weekly goals:

# glasses of water 22/42
# OP days 2/7
# preplanned days 4/7

@cbabie I love Rudolph! Mom used to make homemade hot chocolate and we would watch Rudolph. How did your girl like it? I’m hoping the scale is good for you!

@theslightedgeforever Thanks but that board was a lot of work. I think I’ll do something different next year. Like, get another staff member to have it at their house.

@mswatson0777 Glad that you had a good weekend and I hope that your week is less stressful than the ones you have been having. Does your grandma live near you?

@RetiredAndLovingIt I’m glad you let people in to install your furnace. Where you live it’s not really an option to not have one! :grin

@trooworld Ugghhh I hope your slothy (is that a word? ) DH helped you get the decorating done. Your luminaries are beautiful, but I get your need for perfection!


Good morning! It’s grocery shopping day with mom. These weeks go by so fast! Yesterday, I had to get a grip on myself with all the leftover junk in the house. We enjoyed some and the rest got tossed in the trash. I made Keto cornbread to go with my low-carb chili last night. Mom loved it but DH wasn’t a big fan but is willing to try it again. I might try a different recipe and doctor it up with some cheese and jalapenos. All I know is that I have less than two months before I will be in Florida for my nephew’s wedding and I want to look as good as I can. That means I need to stay determined and focused! Food will still be here in two months. :grin

@cbabie Hooray for your walks. Parts of Rudolph? I hope you stream it again for ggd to watch all of it. Plus Frosty. My favorite.

@teresaw1020 Yes you are correct. The food will still be there.

@trooworld I got 50%. I've had headaches the past couple of days but my bp has spiked for some reason. I haven't been eating any unusual salty thing or very stressed. I dont know. I'm just keeping an eye on it.

@renaegry Yaay for the weight loss. Good to see you. Just keep following your plan and you will get to your 143.


December weekly goals:

# glasses of water 25/42
# OP days 3/7
# preplanned days 5/7

Hi all..we have heat!! Yay! I did end up opening quite a few windows, but not really because scared of germs. Not sure what he was doing, maybe soldering something. Got real stinky & the smoke detectors were going off, lol. So aired it out for 2 reasons, lol.

@renaegry Welcome back. Congrats on the loss.

@TeresaW1020 I have chili & corn muffins in the frig, too. I put so many beans in mine, tho, it definitely is not low carb. I am trying to up my fiber intake, all the more reason to up my water, too. I know you'll do great before you go to Florida, you are determined.

@theslightedgeforever Hope your dd stays safe. Sight seeing sounds fun, just not right now!! I think everyone is getting so tired of the pandemic, but we still need to be careful. Hope your BP goes back down.

@trooworld Sorry about your migraine. I used to get them almost "monthly", but since menopause, I rarely have them. I can't even remember the last one I had, lol. Hope your "sloth" gets busy or Christmas will be here. Can't believe it is only 2 1/2 weeks away! Dh would be just as happy if I didn't put any decorations up, but I love Christmas lights and snowmen! Couldn't find some of my decorations, finally last tub had a bunch of snowman stuff that I left up after Christmas. Its OK to do that in IA..we still have snow for awhile, lol.

When we were at Sam's I got a big jar of Christmas color peanut M&M's. (I know, I shouldn't have, but they look so cute in my glass Christmas tree jar.) & I can't really sneak them, they make too much noise coming out of the jar.

@cbabie Glad you are walking with baby looking at lights. We used to watch Rudolph & Frosty. Now I watch all the cheesy Hallmark Christmas movies.

@mswatson0777 I am glad you are getting the exercise to balance all the mental stress, but exercise is a stress, too, & will raise cortisol, so hope you don't overdo it. Have fun with your Grandma. When we were kids, we lived about 4 hours from my grandparents, so we hardly saw them. Glad you are able to go more. I think that's part of the reason we drive to Ok as much as we do.

Well, not much more for now. Should be a nice day so may go for a walk later. Tomorrow is supposed to be 60!!

@RetiredandLovingIt I'm so glad you go to visit the Grandkids so much. The Grandparent/Grandchild relationship is such a special one, my Grandma truly is one of my favorite people. I'm jealous of your 60 degree weather, this is crazy for December! I promise I'm not overdoing it on the exercise front. I usually do 30-40 minutes 5 days a week of more high intensity and then I walk the dogs a lot. Compared to my activity level pre-covid I look downright lazy.

@cbabie I tried giving up peanut butter once and going to PB2...it did not go well... Way to go swapping out ice cream for a healthier more filling treat!

@trooworld Getting a new car is always so tempting! (I'm guessing the monthly payment is the downside? lol). I've got a 2011 Corolla that I'm going to drive into the ground because I hate that extra monthly payment! Was the sandwich delicious and worth the extra calories?

@TeresaW1020 I do love that masks are now a fashion statement! I wear crazy patterns (my clothes are usually solid colors) so they've been my 2020 fashion statement. For workouts, I'm doing a bit of everything. I love 80 Day Obsession, Core de Force, and 21 Day Fix. I also add in some old school Tony Horton because I find him hilarious!

I legitimately spent the first hour of today thinking it was Thursday, and was so bummed when I realized I'm still 3 days away from the weekend. I also misplaced my coffee mug for a good 15 minutes so I'm on a roll.

The weather is absolutely beautiful today, so of course I have a lunch meeting and an after work hours meeting *sigh*. I did get the dogs out before work after my workout so at least I got to experience a touch of the good weather. It's really hard to stay motivated on days like today.

@mswatson0777 Good for you for taking your walk. I bet the cold air was refreshing in a way. It's great to just to escape the pressures of life for a moment.

@retiredandlovingit Chili sounds good. I think I'll make that this weekend. Fiber is one of the things I want to increase also. My ideal mealplan is fruits, veggies, and beans with occasional meat. oh plus dairy. I love my dairy. Have you been doing your walking? I remember my oldest ds's first year of college in IA. It was graduation week and they were still having some temps in the 30's. I kept saying don't they have springtime? lol Glass Christmas tree jar: I don't like the peanut ones so they would stay there a long time.

@cbabie Hooray for eating something instead of ice cream. I'm taking my bp three times a day to keep a close eye on it. I purposely did not buy Doritos or anything else salty today. usually I can eat those and it doesn't bother me. Don't know what is currently wrong right now. I blame menopause. lol It's the bane of my existence right now. I'm thinking what will I eat when I have the munchies. I guess it will be dry Raisin Bran. Good for you for your loss on the scale. I'm hoping for at least 0.6 this week. That's my current goal. Maybe you and dd could take a walk next time you visit her. It's too easy to put it off.

@trooworld I got 100%. I love a Prius. My kids think I'm nuts. I think it's just so cute. So what exercise are you currently doing to keep the blood pumping through your body. Funny thing just happened. I was typing out pumping and I wrote pumpkin. I guess I'm still in the pumpkin mood.

@teresaw1020 Yes, I have the same thoughts: Eat what I want just work it all in. Your dinner sounded yummy.

So big announcement I keep forgetting to tell you all. My dh decided to retire. I guess he's been enjoying staying home since March. I tell him that's why my bp is up He says you need to quit stressing about things. I said, Then quit stressing me out. lol

December weekly goals:

# glasses of water 6/42,
Week 1 # glasses of water 25/42,

# OP days 1/7,
Week 1 # OP days 3/7

# preplanned days 1/7,
Week 1 # preplanned days 5/7

@trooworld Way to track!!! I need to get back at that too. I can tell I'm starting to add bites and tastes here and there and need to reign it in again

@theslightedgeforever Exciting news!!! Do you and he have any fun plans for post-pandemic retirement adventures??? Is it weird having him around the house all the time with the pandemic?

@cbabie I had no idea pb2 messes with your liver! Diet food is seriously the worst! And I love that you're 2003 is still going strong, my goal is to get my car to 250,000 miles so I'm hopeful mine will also be quite old by the time I retire it. Also, easy dinners are seriously the best.

My fall classes are officially done so now all I have to focus on is my dissertation (and work) until mid-January!!! My calendar is also not overwhelming today so I'll actually be able to catch up on some work projects.

Last night I ended up going over calories since a friend dropped off some homemade macaroons. They were incredible and definitely worth it. I love it when I go over due to a "worth it" indulgence and not mindless bingey calories.

I’m on my phone. My computer doesn’t turn on again. 🙄 I’m charging my sons laptop.

December weekly goals:

# glasses of water 18/42,
Week 1 # glasses of water 25/42,

# OP days 3 /7,
Week 1 # OP days 3/7

# preplanned days 3/7,
Week 1 # preplanned days 5/7