Thanks for getting things started, Nanc and 'grats on your loss last month! I love your energy and emojis and just all around positive attitude. So glad that we "met" here.

Carla, WOOHOO on the loss this month! And yay for exercise improving your mood! I have noticed I'm much less irritable these days since I've been working out consistently. Don't get me wrong, I'm still a grumpy you-know-what at times, but definitely better. LOL

I had decided last week that I'm going all in for September. The past couple months I've pretty much been deciding what I'm going to eat and repeating every day for 4 or 5 days then cooking again, etc. If things are tasty and I enjoy them I don't get bored. I just don't think about food as much as I used to, which is kind of weird but a very welcome development. I think the Mary's Mini helped me with that. If you eat potatoes and cooked veggies or salads every time you get hungry for a couple weeks the boredom of the food is the point, and you quit craving other things. I feel like I'm eating much more intuitively now. Sometimes I want to eat when it's "time to eat" but other times I just go meh, not hungry right now and put it off for a while.

I signed up for a few extra classes at the gym this month and I have set up a home workout schedule for days I'm not at the gym. I am so much stronger and have so much more energy since I started doing this. I hope I never let myself stop working out again because it is easy to forget how much better I feel when I'm consistent with exercise.

Other than that I am working on a massive project at the office and I plan to spend most of the "holiday" weekend in the office getting it finished. I really hope that once that is done I can schedule a week off and get away from there.

Magic, what a great intro post, love all the emojis!
Carla, so glad to hear you're feeling fine and are able to enjoy your walks again. Thanks for the link to the shorts. Congratulations on the August loss!
Mihani, I would be money that you'll make your BMI goal in September!!

I went to the doc yesterday - they took a couple of xrays (I actually have a slight fracture in my coccyx) and gave me some pain medicine (prescription strength NSAID). I slept a bit better last night after 2 doses of the pain med throughout the day, so I'm hoping tonight goes even better.
The radiologist called me later in the day yesterday and said that I have compression in my T-12 (has nothing to do with the fall) and they'd like me to come back in a month so they can check on it. Guess I'm getting old
I was a bit lax in my exercise in the second half of August but, once I'm able to resume ST and walking I'm going to get myself on a strict regimen. I really want to build up my muscle/bone strength as I age.
Let's all have a great, happy, healthy September!!

Good grief, Nanc. Weird that anyone at work would care what and when you eat, right? I used to sometimes feel self-conscious at the office eating my HUGE salads, but I don't care anymore, and I'm sure you don't either.

I am tracking calories again though. I want to be sure I stay under 1500 and mostly land between 1200 and 1400 depending on starches. I just think for now the discipline of tracking the calories is right for me and keeps me honest in case I want to go overboard on the nuts and seeds.

Carla, that would be so nice if your mom wanted to walk with you. I hope it all works out on the Mexico trip and they come for at least part of the time. Are you getting into any new projects lately?

Those shorts look great! I am in such a transition stage right now I'll wait until next summer. I was all excited to fit into my next size down and most of the pants are already baggy. I am not actually upset about that.

Oh, Spring! I'm so sorry about the fracture. No wonder you are in pain! I am glad you were able to sleep a bit better. I'm with you on ST and muscle/bone strength. I think it made a difference in my mindset when I started focusing on being strong and healthy into old age rather than just obsessing about the scale. I've always thought the scale is a bad measure of progress, yet I lived and died by it. LOL

Bisky, the waffles sound delish. I got a waffle maker about a year ago and have yet to use it. Sigh. But I mainly got it because I was totally infatuated with the idea of making hash browns with it. Kept seeing posts about it on the various vegan websites I follow. Maybe I'll try it this weekend.

Wish Brooks a Happy Birthday from all your pals on the ETL group.

I don't know if anyone will remember but shortly before the covid era I got aligners which were going to take about 6 months to straighten out my teeth, right? Well, TODAY I'm done. Covid delays and stubborn teeth turned this into a marathon not a sprint.

I have retainers I have to wear at night, probably forever, but I'm pretty happy. I had braces when I was a kid, but when my wisdom teeth came in my teeth shifted before I got them out, and then over the years more shifting to where I hated my smile, and I'm so glad to feel comfortable smiling again. Plus it's so much easier to keep your teeth healthy when they aren't all overcrowded. Yay!

Mihani, congrats! Huge accomplishment!
Magic: Consider sharing that burrito salad recipe? Sounds likes something I would like for work,too.

Esmerelda, glad you found the September thread and look forward to getting to know you better.

Nanc, your menu sounds great! Are you sleeping any better?

Carla, I let my tofu go past the best by date, oops! I will have to get some more and try out your recipe.

Yesterday I did laundry and a little house cleaning and took a nap. It was a nice day where I didn't even check emails or anything, and tried not to think about work (much). Today I'm heading to the office but I slept in so I probably won't get there until 10:00 at this rate because I'm just having my second cup of coffee.

One thing I really need to do is clean out my closet. I already had a fair amount of clothing that was too big and now I have a bunch more so I need to clear those out. I don't even want them around as a fallback "in case I gain weight back" ... not happening!

I made pizza on ezekiel pitas for dinners the past couple nights. So good! Will stop at the grocery today for broccoli, greens, fruit. Plan for the week:
B - mashed potatoes, roasted broccoli, sauteed greens with onion and peppers
L - big ol' salad with beans added
D - smoothie
Will try to wait until 11:00 for breakfast, then lunch around 3:00, and dinner after evening treadmill or strength workout. This week we have one person on vacation so I can't do much about my hours right now, but starting the week after I am going to try to get out of the office on time to be sure I have time to work out when I get home.

Hi Sara! Welcome to the group. I was at 220 (vegetarian) and when I went vegan I lost 70 pounds even though I didn't go vegan to lose weight and was as surprised as anyone that I dropped so much weight. I swear my favorite food group was cheese! LOL

The other interesting thing, that I hadn't even noticed until my brother pointed it out, is that my skin cleared up when I went vegan. I had all these tiny white bumps on my face and I think I may have been slightly lactose intolerant without knowing.

Since that time (a little over 10 years ago) I've been up and down the scale a bit between 145 and 170. I got serious again, joined a gym, cleaned up my diet a couple months ago and lost 10 back down to 152. I have about 3 pounds to go to be a normal BMI and so motivated to reach that goal.

That's SO cool you have someone local who makes tofu. Never even heard of that. I will have to look into it in my area.

Looking forward to getting to know you. I hope your leg heals quickly!

Bisky, recipe for your tofu quiche? I used to make a mean quiche once upon a time. Glad the birthday celebration was fun.

I got home so late from the office I didn't make it to the grocery or get around to cooking and just had some ezekiel toast with avocado last night. My guess is I will be there late today as well so I'm going with a new plan this week. Oats for breakfasts, salad for lunches, smoothie for dinners. I have potatoes but they will keep, and I will make time to cook my greens tonight (kale and collards) and add the cooked greens to the salads. I'll make sure I get time to cook next weekend.

Heading to the office after a bit but I slept in until 7:30 so I'm not getting an early start. I don't know how much I'll get done on this project I'm working on. I've been so busy working on it that I've let everything else pile up and I need to get the mess on my desk sorted and prioritized for the week.