Accountable August. I love it! To me it means to set goals for myself and do my best to meet them. The only one I am letting down by not meeting my goals is myself. I've learned along the way that some months are better than others. Last month was a really rough one for me. I was dealing with a lot of stress. I ended up not working on any of my goals that I had set for the month. I am okay with that. In stead of having a pity party I recognized my triggers and reflected on why the month went the way it did. I can't change the past but I can change the future. I came up with some coping techniques I can utilize should the month start to go they way last month did.

My goals for August are

• Gilad's XCelerate 4 - The program consists of 4 different workouts. Each day you focus on something different. Once you complete the rotation you take a day or two off to rest then start again. I've done this program before and love it.
• Yoga - On my non Gilad day/days I would like to start yoga
• Stretching - I am not very flexible at all.

These are the goals I did not meet last month. I am going to give them another try. I am on day three of my goals and so far doing great with them. Yesterday's routine was strength training. By the end of my workout my muscles were shaky. Today I feel some tenderness in my arms and chest but it is not terrible. I am excited to see how I do this month with my routine and where it takes me. I broke my phone and had to upgrade to a new one a few months ago. With my new phone I received 3 months free of Apple Fitness. I looked through and see they have quite a few workouts on there that seem interesting. I have not picked a Yoga one yet but will soon.

Last week I saw a glimpse of Onderland!!! I am so excited. I waited a few days before logging my weight because I know from experience I will see a new low on the scale temporarily then bounce back up 1-2 lbs. Sure enough my decision was correct. I am hoovering just above Onderland. I'm so close though which is really exciting! My NSVs for July were I discovered shorts that I had that didn't fit in June now fit me! It is a really good feeling.

My veggie garden is doing great. I have been harvesting a lot of zucchini and cucumbers so far. Tonight I am going to harvest some bok choy and cook that up for dinner.

I had my follow up with my doctor last week. I am officially no longer diabetic! All of my labs came back really good. My doctor was very pleased. She did offer me a newer medication for diabetes that helps with weight loss. She said I don't need it for diabetes management but it would help me lose weight. I declined her offer. I've been doing well doing what I am doing. Each day I carefully plan my meals and get in my exercise. I'm okay with my weight taking longer to come off. For me I would rather do what I am doing and know this is something I can maintain for the rest of my life than take a medication to speed things up. I prefer to only take medications if I absolutely need to take them.

I hope everyone has a great August!

UGH! Electronics and me. I cracked my phone screen last month but it still works. I cracked… seriously cracked my lap top this week. I feel sick about it. Can they replace the screen???? I love this laptop. Less than 2 years old. Has a finger reader for all my passwords. 😭😭😭

Too bad about your laptop, Donna. I am guessing that it can't be repaired but hopefully I am wrong! I have yet to break a laptop but have sent not one but two phones to a watery toilet grave.

Mihani, losing focus by being pulled away all of the time definitely makes for lower productivity. Joe always gets his best work done early in the morning before people start messaging him with questions. Andrew Huberman just has a podcast so I don't think there's any money involved - which is a good thing for me too because I am also being careful with my spending. Nice job with the beans (and keeping them on the inside! LOL!)

Nanc, I don't know how you have the willpower to just have one bag of Hippeas but since you are able to, that is an awesome way to have a little treat. Let's not talk about how I mowed through a big ol' bag of mini bags of hippeas one day, okay?

So far I'm doing well with my essentials-only spending on Amazon and overall reduced spending. And I've put in some more hours at work.

Yesterday I had a dentist appointment. Everyone at the office is super nice. Every single person is a pleasure to interact with. Perhaps there is a laughing gas leak? haha. The only downside to going there is that the needles hurt! My dentist in Canada was a master at it and I never knew to appreciate it. I could almost not feel them at all. Vs here where I have to white knuckle it. In any case, I have a temporary bridge in now and the permanent one coming at the end of September.

We're having lunch out with my parents today. For the rest of the weekend, I want to catch up on some cleaning and get in some walks early in the morning before it is too hot out.

Happy Friday gals!

Nanc, I'm with Carla on the hippeas. If I buy a bag then I know I'm going to go overboard so I generally won't buy them. If I do buy them I recognize it's a planned fail for the day!

Which is okay in my mind. Sometimes we fail and we keep moving on. Occasionally giving myself permission to eat something not WFPB seems to make it easier to stick to healthy eating. As long as I don't make it a daily or even weekly thing. I'm just no good at moderation and I know this about myself, so I have to very careful.

Carla, I used to be able to go in early and get some things done, but not anymore. My boss is there before me and one of the other gals changed her hours so she gets in before me. I never have peace!

LOL on your dentist having a laughing gas leak. I am glad you found a practice that you like.

Hope you had fun at lunch!

Marilyn how are you doing these days?

JNettie, maybe you helped a whole bunch of people by mentioning it to the husband dentist! My brother was really embarrassed once complaining about someone he had to deal with on a project and the woman he was talking to said you know she's my sis-in-law. His heart dropped to his toes, but she laughed and said, we all know what she's like don't worry. LOL

It is odd how tastes change as you change your diet. And maybe some of it is age too. But some things I used to totally binge on now taste gross to me. Like potato chips... I'd so much rather have a baked potato or some oven baked "fries". I used to eat a lot of frozen entrees and the last few times I've had them I ended up throwing them out because they had no flavor other than salt.

Your workouts are awe-inspiring. I must get into a better routine with that. Since I quit going to the gym I've slacked off, and one of the main things I found when working my core muscles is the massive reduction in back pain. Recently getting twinges again and I know it's because I'm not working the core.

I went to leave for the office this morning and had a totally flat flat flat tire. Had AAA out and there were TWO screws in the tire! By the time all that got done I had started laundry and decided against going to the office. I'll go tomorrow and spend all day. Now I"m off to eat some lunch and maybe do a few chores around here and early to bed.

Ended up having to get a new/used tire from a place up the street this morning because the spare was low. Made it to the office for a few hours. Now home and going to take a nap then get up and eat a big ol' salad. This hasn't been a good weekend.

Day 6: Going strong. Today I decided to do a second day of yoga. I have not found a routine I love yet. The two I've done so far were only 10-15 minutes long. I was hoping to find something a bit longer. I also rode the stationary bike for 50 minutes. The rest of the day I spent outside trimming trees. I finished the day will a little over 25K steps. Tomorrow I start up Xcelerate4 again. I am looking forward to it.

I hope everyone had a good weekend!

@Mihani
Ohhh I never thought of it that way. Thank you for that. I hope I did help at least one other person by saying something.

I've been on a potato kick lately. I've been baking them then smashing them and seasoning Mediterranean seasoning. After I smash them I air fry them for them a bit. They don't get super crispy as they would if I put oil on them but they do taste delicious. I recently had a conversation with my daughter how versatile potatoes are. You can bake them, mash them, roast them make fries, chips, hashbrowns, grate them and put in fritters, home fries and so much more.

Sorry to hear about your tire.

@magic71755
Your days sound delicious! I've never made almond milk before. Is it time consuming to do or complex?