What's On Your Mind Today?
Replies
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@makattack220 Iam intrigued with reading, taking notes. What have you learned this week? I enjoy reading and learning as well. I am learning about Kefir grains.
@jmu1965 Thanks for asking! I figured this was the best place to post my response.😁👍 I'm currently reading Atomic Habits by James Clear and taking his free 30-day email course. Takeaways from the chapters I read this week were:- a way to improve "willpower" is to create a disciplined environment; often people we view as "disciplined" live in a way that doesn't require heroic self-control/willpower and spend less time in tempting situations
- we can "break" bad habits but often we don't truly forget them, which is why resisting temptation often is ineffective; it is better to change your environment and remove/limit the cue or source of initial urge
- make cues for good habits obvious and make cues for bad habits invisible
- habits are dopamine-driven feedback loops; understanding this can help us understand how to make desired habits "irresistible"
- we get a dopamine hit in anticipation of a reward, not just when we actually get the reward; the anticipation of the reward is what actually motivates action
- habit stacking + temptation bundling = very powerful tool for habit building! Basic format: after I [current habit], I will [needed habit], and after/during that I will [wanted habit]. Example: After I brush my teeth, I will drink 16oz water, then drink my coffee. One more: After I handle highest priority work emails/calls in the morning, I will do a 20 minute walk while listening to a podcast in my queue.
I'd love to hear what you're learning about kefir! I used to have a kefir culture going (many years ago now) but got away from it when I started a continuous brew kombucha system. I'm tagging @donna25trinity since she mentioned interest in kefir, too!3 -
@makattack220 @MizSpiffy
I just went to read the messages from my notifications and what a coincidence--- one of the messages was about how helpful on the topic of motivation they had found James Clear. They linked this page of his on motivation. https://jamesclear.com/motivation2 -
lesdarts180 wrote: »15/04/2022
My NSV is one that happened a few years ago now but I was just booking a holiday and it reminded me. I stopped snoring!
Put this in context, ... [her details are in the April 15 thread] – no more snoring once I got down to just a little overweight.
Funny you should mention that, @lesdarts180 ! The same thing happened to me on my own weight-loss journey. After I dropped below a certain point, I stopped snoring too.
Has anyone else experienced the same unexpected bonus?0 -
faithcreek wrote: »Hi Knowing it’s the middle of the month and no chance at the Winner’s Circle . I still would like to take part of the challenge as I establish my food list in the next few weeks and be better prepared for May.
Hi, @faithcreek We'd love for you to start a "practice run", getting ready for May. We also have a "Champion's List" for those who keep showing up for the month, once no longer in the running for the Winner's Circle. Hope to see your name on that one come the beginning of May!2 -
faithcreek wrote: »Hi Knowing it’s the middle of the month and no chance at the Winner’s Circle . I still would like to take part of the challenge as I establish my food list in the next few weeks and be better prepared for May.
Hi, @faithcreek We'd love for you to start a "practice run", getting ready for May. We also have a "Champion's List" for those who keep showing up for the month, once no longer in the running for the Winner's Circle. Hope to see your name on that one come the beginning of May!
Thank you @BMcC9!0 -
lesdarts180 wrote: »15/04/2022
My NSV is one that happened a few years ago now but I was just booking a holiday and it reminded me. I stopped snoring!
Put this in context, ... [her details are in the April 15 thread] – no more snoring once I got down to just a little overweight.
Funny you should mention that, @lesdarts180 ! The same thing happened to me on my own weight-loss journey. After I dropped below a certain point, I stopped snoring too.
Has anyone else experienced the same unexpected bonus?
Well, I'm hoping so! A couple of years ago, both my husband and I got a sleep apnea diagnosis. I've always been a terrible snorer for as long as I can remember, and now that I use a CPAP machine at night, I don't snore by design. However, now that I'm right on the cusp of maintaining a normal BMI, my clinic has said they'll retest me and see if by chance my sleep apnea was related to weight. It's completely possible it was structural and it's still going to be a problem anyway, but it's exciting I get to retest. Feels like a great medical milestone for me as I otherwise do not have any current medical concerns.4 -
faithcreek wrote: »Hi Knowing it’s the middle of the month and no chance at the Winner’s Circle . I still would like to take part of the challenge as I establish my food list in the next few weeks and be better prepared for May.
Yes! Welcome! We're excited to have you!
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I don't know what happened to my determination and motivation. I've had more pass days than not. This lazy girl needs to SNAP OUT OF IT and get back at what I need to do - and KNOW that I can - to preserve and improve my health and happiness. Yes, I have been lazy - it's a choice - Words of wisdom are welcome!
@MizSpiffy I’m with you! I’ve been struggling as well, and my basic habits have even started to wane. But I find that I’m giving myself “the talk” about refusing to gain back the weight that I’ve lost thus far…. and trying to find ways to simplify my very busy – extremely busy – way too stinkin busy – life!! It’s hard, but we gotta do this!! What’s the alternative, right?
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@ideas2 @LazyBlondeChef apologies for the late reply both.
@ideas2 I’m really happy to hear that you’re no longer pre-diabetic and your blood work has came back normal, that’s brilliant! It sounds like low-carb is working really well for both you and your husband which is great. Yes, I’m finding it quite difficult to get a good amount of fiber while eating low-carb, so that’s something I need to look into. Thanks for the link and the insightful reply, I appreciate it.
@LazyBlondeChef I agree with you in that I also don’t think it matters what you eat for weight loss. For example, years ago my diet consisted of fried foods, full sugar drinks, sweets and takeaways etc. At the time, I continued to eat the same stuff but I was mindful of portion sizes, quantities and how often I would eat it, and I lost weight. Thanks for your reply too!2 -
Mrs_Hoffer wrote: »faithcreek wrote: »Hi Knowing it’s the middle of the month and no chance at the Winner’s Circle . I still would like to take part of the challenge as I establish my food list in the next few weeks and be better prepared for May.
Yes! Welcome! We're excited to have you!
Thank you @Mrs_Hoffer!0 -
Thank you @Mrs_Hoffer! You are absolutely right, it is indeed hard. And there is no alternative. It's our health and happiness, and we have (some) control over both. Brings to mind a mantra I reminded myself of regularly when I was raising kids, helping parents, working full-time, taking care of house, husband and doing volunteer work: Stop spending time on things that don't matter. I found making a list each morning of my priorities helped. Didn’t always pan out as planned but 'take good care of yourself' was always number 1 and that mantra was #2. Neither got checked off until day was done, so I'd revisit it many times throughout the day. We must hang in there and muster up whatever it'll take to keep at it. I appreciate your support ❤2
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I don't know what happened to my determination and motivation. I've had more pass days than not. This lazy girl needs to SNAP OUT OF IT and get back at what I need to do - and KNOW that I can - to preserve and improve my health and happiness. Yes, I have been lazy - it's a choice - Words of wisdom are welcome!
I just wanted to let you know that you’re not alone with your motivation taking a bit of a nosedive lately. I was in a similar situation after the first week of April and I returned to my old ways! I looked at photos of myself when I was at my heaviest and I told myself I wouldn’t go back there again. Recently I’ve got into the habit of setting out my “gym clothes”, trainers and my Fitbit the night before, and it encourages me to get out for a brisk walk. The fresh air does me good too.
I can relate to the “yes, I have been lazy” part because I’ve been guilty of this too. Do you take progress photos? When I lost weight before, I remember taking progress photos (front, back, sides) and I’d take the same photos every month. Although I couldn’t see much of a difference when I looked in the mirror, the proof was in the photos and it was a great motivator.
Sorry I can’t be of much help but I just wanted to say that I think we’ve all been there at one point (or more). You can absolutely do this 💪
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Daffodil buds and ..... SNOW is falling out there this morning!! 😭😭0
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Thank you so much @kodakslim ! I know I'm not the only one struggling, and am inspired by your response. Yes, I can absolutely do this!! And so can you! One meal at a time, one day at a time
Keep up the good work y'all!6 -
Good Morning ☀️
Still here.. A New Day!6 -
makattack220 wrote: »@makattack220 Iam intrigued with reading, taking notes. What have you learned this week? I enjoy reading and learning as well. I am learning about Kefir grains.
@jmu1965 Thanks for asking! I figured this was the best place to post my response.😁👍 I'm currently reading Atomic Habits by James Clear and taking his free 30-day email course. Takeaways from the chapters I read this week were:- a way to improve "willpower" is to create a disciplined environment; often people we view as "disciplined" live in a way that doesn't require heroic self-control/willpower and spend less time in tempting situations
- we can "break" bad habits but often we don't truly forget them, which is why resisting temptation often is ineffective; it is better to change your environment and remove/limit the cue or source of initial urge
- make cues for good habits obvious and make cues for bad habits invisible
- habits are dopamine-driven feedback loops; understanding this can help us understand how to make desired habits "irresistible"
- we get a dopamine hit in anticipation of a reward, not just when we actually get the reward; the anticipation of the reward is what actually motivates action
- habit stacking + temptation bundling = very powerful tool for habit building! Basic format: after I [current habit], I will [needed habit], and after/during that I will [wanted habit]. Example: After I brush my teeth, I will drink 16oz water, then drink my coffee. One more: After I handle highest priority work emails/calls in the morning, I will do a 20 minute walk while listening to a podcast in my queue.
I'd love to hear what you're learning about kefir! I used to have a kefir culture going (many years ago now) but got away from it when I started a continuous brew kombucha system. I'm tagging @donna25trinity since she mentioned interest in kefir, too!
Amazing @macattack220 sounds like your doing a fab job with it!! I read it in Nov and it literally changed my life. I still have stuck with the majority of my habits because of this book. Oh yes kefir heard it works wonders with the bacteria in our gut. I would also like to know if you have learnt anything guys. xoox2 -
Weigh in at the dietician’s office on the special scale was today, and all is well. Slow and steady is what I’d call myself (about one pound down a week), and moving in the right direction. The muscle increase has slowed (which I am told us to be expected when in a long term calorie deficit). Keeping the muscle is the goal, so success there as it was up again this weigh in; fat is down 4 pounds in the four week period.
Tonight, I tried some of hubby’s Easter goodies. I don’t even really like sweets and I am proud of myself that I stopped at a half the tracked serving, as they were unappealing once I tried a few. Tracked every bite, but then ended up on the treadmill to match my calories out. This isn’t the first time this month that I have resorted to this, and I am tired of my behaviour already. So, declaring it here. Stopping this now before it gets ugly. 😔 I’ll be keeping closer watch on myself and moving again to my “if you want it track it in tomorrow’s planner, make way for it, and really enjoy it”. Thanks for reading 🌷5 -
@jamcnewman Good to hear that you are making such good progress! Well done.
"but then ended up on the treadmill to match my calories out." Unfortunately, this is one of the potential problems with eating your exercise calories, it can lead to unhealthy behaviour. Good for you that you have spotted this and found a way to stop it.
You have done so well over the months!4 -
Hi everyone. It's with a heavy heart that I need to announce that Im not going to be able to continue to moderate the UAC by myself. I hate the idea of giving it up because I feel it's such a huge help to so many of us..... but we made an offer a couple of days ago on a new home about 40 minutes away from our current home, and learned this morning that it was accepted! So now the rush is on to get our current home packed up (I haven't even started packing!) as well as cleaned, decluttered and staged and ready to put on the market!! We've been holding off putting ours up for sale, as we wanted to assure that we had a place to move TO before we did so! (This housing market is CRAZY!!) We don't want to carry two mortgages for long, so I have to hit the ground running at this house....
anyways, I say all that to say this: as busy as I ALREADY am with two jobs (one of which is my own business), I don't know how I'm going to find the time to moderate this group. I'll be doing good just to "check in" myself each day. Lol.
If anyone wants to step up to help out over the next few months, I think that we could keep this group going without even a hiccup. SO MANY OF YOU ALREADY DO SUCH AN AMAZING JOB OF THAT..... but if anyone would like to officially step up as moderator beginning in May, please let me know.
I appreciate you all so much, and consider you more than just online friends.... I don't want to lose the close knit group that we have. I also don't plan to completely disappear during this time.... my plan is to still keep my food diary daily and continue to check in here.
Lastly, remember that I'll be on vacation beginning next Wed 4/27 through Wed 5/4, in NC at my step-daughter's wedding and then to the Outer Banks for my birthday. @SummerSkier has graciously agreed to help me out with the end of the month posts if I can't get online. (Thank you bON!) I plan to set up the May UAC group this weekend if someone has an interest in moderating and continuing the group. Teresa 1 -
WOW! that's quite exciting news Teresa! Congrats on your new home altho I don't envy the rest of it. LOL. Perhaps you could reach out to Ranger Rick to see if he would take over the reins for a few months. We could always self moderate too. Just some ideas.1
