BodyTalking wrote: »

BodyTalking
First weigh-in for 2024
80.7 kg

I have to take it easy again tomorrow. This cough is wearing me down now and I've just been sick - I enjoyed a lovely relaxing bath then couldn't stop coughing until that. If to try and sleep now. Good night all 💤

I'm in the same boat. Doctor put me on more steroids which give me a headache (already had one from sinuses and coughing) and make it hard to sleep. Sympathy from Kansas!

ksludwig wrote: »

sydditt wrote: »

That’s organized! The most I tend to manage is grilling a bunch of extra chicken on the weekends so I have some extras leftover. Sometimes I have canned beans on hand to mix it with. Most of the time, I throw some in a baggie on my way out the door and nibble on it dry at my desk. 😭

I find I am more likely to stick to my healthy habits if I make it easy to do so. Putting in an hour or 2 on the weekends, so I can grab lunch from the fridge and put it in my bag on the way out the door helps me from being tempted to buy lunch during the week. It's also better for my budget to be eating the food I buy at the store rather than going out for lunch.

Slow cooker meals are a great way to start. I love the recipes by skinnytaste. They have a lot of flavor and seasonings. This is a favorite of mine. https://www.skinnytaste.com/crockpot-turkey-white-bean-pumpkin/ that I got from another MFP user 10 years ago.

Casseroles can be an easy way to meal prep as well. Eat a serving for dinner, then box up the rest in individual containers for lunches. Emily Bites has some really good cassaroles: https://emilybites.com/category/casseroles. This is a favorite of mine to make: https://emilybites.com/2012/01/chicken-tamale-bake.html.

I am also a big fan of slow cooker stuff and casseroles. The casserole you mentioned is essentially the same as one I made a week and a half ago. Hubs complained the corn flavor was too strong and asked if we could do it with biscuits. I told him the point was tamale, which is corn. He eats corn all the time, I don't get the objection. But he still ate it. I thought about putting it in a larger dish with more chicken and then making 12 servings instead of 8 (6? Don't remember) might mellow the corn for him. Tossing chicken and noodles in the pot today.

@minstrelofsarcasm--you might ask for volunteers (bf, friends) to help chop stuff one day a week and have all your stuff prechopped. A nutritionist I talked to a while back suggested prepping all the veg I plan to use during the week on one day, which I am bad at doing. But she's right, when I did it, getting meals done during the week was simpler. And if you are doing several meals with similar ingredients (onion, broccoli, carrots) you can have a big bag of chopped whatever and just take out what you need. Or try frozen chopped. You're in/near Columbus, right? That is a big enough town for grocery stores to stock stuff like chopped onions. Not as nice as fresh and maybe a bit more expensive but maybe worth it. Having a broken wing sucks. Hope it heals quickly.

I've been sick and some times I will ask hubs to just chop stuff so I can do the cooking later.

Kyra_TB97 wrote: »

Hi everyone. I do not know if it is just me, but I am struggling to stay on track. I have done some meal prep for tomorrow, so I hope this works. Does anyone have any tips or tricks how to stay on track?

@Kyra_TB97 - It's not just you, making changes is difficult, especially early on. Starting small and finding things you like and can stay consistent with is incredibly important. I don't know your strategy of attack, but I know I tend to get more frustrated when I take on too many things at once, because starting one or two new habits is a ton easier than doing ten.

Is there something in particular that you're struggling with???

@ksludwig Nice loss you got there! 😉

Thank you for the well wishes 🤗
It was my birthday on Tuesday, so that was a bummer. Anyway, I've got all my nice photos and memories of the holiday to keep me uplifted.

I went to the doc yesterday and have been told not to talk for 2 days (have had to cancel all my lessons 💸👋) and have several meds to take to help with breathing, sinus and throat inflammation, and sleep. I still had a restless night but managed to get 9 hours sleep last night. Doing nothing yesterday helped and I'll just do the same today.

@melaniedscott I hope you're on the mend and don't suffer much longer. I feel ya 🫂

Thank you for the mason jar salad link @ksludwig Maybe I should make a proper attempt at being prepared this year. It's something I never thought I could be bothered with. I'm surprised that leafy greens can remain fresh and crisp and that it's ok to have cooked meat in the jars for days. Are there any things that you've put in jars that just didn't work?

I also need to get some casseroles or big pot meals planned. The kitchen is an absolute mess since I'm doing nothing and my husband is in the process of using every single item that exists and doesn't wash them afterwards!!! My weekend job I suppose 😔

Quick Update on Me:

Last Week...
I was hit pretty hard with a bloat last week, which could have been residual from the holidays, residual from getting back to exercising after the holidays, extra water retention because of the Thursday morning wrist sprain, adjusting to the ever-changing Cleveland weather, etc. You get the point.

And on Saturday, my boyfriend and I made decadent grilled cheese sandwiches (fancy sourdough, multiple types of cheese, crispy bacon) with tomato soup. I was not expecting it to be a healthy meal, but it still sent me reeling with how many calories could be packed into a simple sandwich (containing six slices of cheese).

This Week...
My workouts this week have been pretty good, honestly. I've been modifying my programming to be as hands-off as possible - my personal trainer has been a huge help. Tuesday's upper body day was replaced with a core/cardio split, the sweat session was really good for my mental health. This morning was a hands-off leg day. So while I'd normally do a bunch of work with free weights (e.g. holding a plate overhead while lunging, deep goblet squats, etc.), I switched to a machine-based focus. This allowed me to really isolate a muscle or set of muscles without putting strain on my wrist to stabilize myself or the weight as I normally would.

On the nutrition side... I've been better, but I'm trying to stick to a no-nonsense strategy when it comes to logging. I ate four chocolate covered oreos yesterday, partially because my aunt who owns a chocolate shop sent them for the holidays and I didn't want them to go bad, aaaaaaaaaaaaand partially because I've been teetering on the edge of self-sabotage for months now. So I logged them, and found I still had wiggle room to have dinner that was more than a protein bar and a handful of baby carrots. It was still veggie-heavy, but it was more than my brain would have thought was acceptable had I not logged everything that went into my body yesterday. Normally, if I thought I was anywhere close to my calorie limit with a splurge, I'd stop logging and give up for the day - this is why my diary for a very long time was just through lunch.

Which brings us to today: I weighed myself this morning, and the mysterious bloat of last week disappeared. I know for a fact that I have not done anything worthy of losing two pounds of fat in the past week (approximately 7000 calories). Needless to say, I'm feeling an odd rush of motivation. It's a shame I can't do everything I want to, but it's a blessing that I can still stick to a sustainable routine while injured.

(That was longer than I expected it to be. Whoops.)

If you have a few bad days of eating, can you possibly still turn it around for the other few days left until your weigh in and still have a loss or is that whole week already gone and you can't/won't have a loss?

Weigh In Day: Sunday - Jan 7
Previous - 216.4
Current - 216.2

Well that didn't go as planned.

Steps
M - 6434
T - 7809
W - 6332
T - 2235
F- 3890
S - 1914
S - 2926

Total - 31540 steps

ksludwig wrote: »

BodyTalking wrote: »

Thank you for the mason jar salad link @ksludwig Maybe I should make a proper attempt at being prepared this year. It's something I never thought I could be bothered with. I'm surprised that leafy greens can remain fresh and crisp and that it's ok to have cooked meat in the jars for days. Are there any things that you've put in jars that just didn't work?

I have been very impressed things stay fresh. I have yet to find things that didn't work. My Tips I would share are:

1. Use the large mason jars.
2. Use whole grape or cherry tomatoes in the bottom to help keep other items up out of the dressing
3. Measure your dressing (those can be sneaker calories)
4. Onions will permeate the dressing with their flavor, so only put them in if you really like them
5. Don't forget to add more than just meat for protein, things like beans, nuts, chick peas
6. Pack in the lettuce so things can't move around when you are traveling to work.
7. Make sure the top is on tight.
8. Have a big bowl or container to dump the salad into so you can mix it well.
9. Change it up from week to week so you don't get bored. Get creative! There are lots of recipes out there. I have made Turkey bacon ranch, taco salads, Greek salad, ham swiss and honey mustard, Tai inspired with Peanut dressing, buffalo chicken, even a Mediterranean one I found with pasta in it!

I hope you like them!!!

I recently got 2 Bentgo salad bowls (came as a set), which is a big bowl with an insert and a little sealed sauce cup that has a lovely snap on lid. Have not used it yet as I came down with covid two days later and forgot it until yesterday.

Lunch is usually leftovers (I am only cooking for 2 and cannot seem to manage small batches) but I am hoping to sneak in some salad days, uf for no other reason than I have a metric crapton of salad greens from my CSA. Your ideas sound great. I'm less inclined to put in meat but chickpeas are lovely.


In other news, I'm getting ready to do first week of December steps post, so this is last call. New peeps, I'm looking at you! We'd love to have more walkers on our step challenge!

Sorry I forgot to weigh in today. I just realized it Thurs. I had a little cold that has turned into laryngitis. I have been extremely tired so I haven't gotten anything done. I'm sure I don't have a loss this week and would be really surprised if I did. My co worker kept bringing me pretzels that have the chocolate melted on them with the m&m. I caved and ate a ton. It was a stressful week at work. Another one of my girls brought me m&m today. My husband had come to pick up my granddaughter because she wasn't feeling well (I work in childcare) he told me those wouldn't help my diet. He always has something to say now because he just started intermittent fasting, so he has become very annoying.

@CassieGetsFit2013 I actually build days like that into my diet and call it calorie cycling. 😭 I do it specifically so my metabolism doesn’t get used to lower calories. The way I do it - I go completely off my diet every weekend. (That’s why my weigh-in day is Friday. 😉) It helps me be super good during the week, because I know the weekend is coming. My weight loss may be a bit slower, but at least it’s a way of eating I can live with long term.

minstrelofsarcasm wrote: »

Kyra_TB97 wrote: »

Hi everyone. I do not know if it is just me, but I am struggling to stay on track. I have done some meal prep for tomorrow, so I hope this works. Does anyone have any tips or tricks how to stay on track?

@Kyra_TB97 - It's not just you, making changes is difficult, especially early on. Starting small and finding things you like and can stay consistent with is incredibly important. I don't know your strategy of attack, but I know I tend to get more frustrated when I take on too many things at once, because starting one or two new habits is a ton easier than doing ten.

Is there something in particular that you're struggling with???

I think I am trying to do too much at once! But yesterday was a good day. I will work on making the right nutrition choices and drinking more water, when I manage to do that I was add in more exercise. One step at a time.

Thank you for your help!!

@gillwellow - Sunday would put you into next week, so your weight would not count towards the group results. Would you rather just skip this week and weigh in next Friday, or do you want the week to week comparison?

Weigh-in day: Friday
PW 182.8
Jan 5: 184.5
Jan 12 181.5

GW (Jan): 178
Plan: Strength training, daily walk, Protein 100g+, Fiber 25g+
Age: 48

🟥🟧🟨🟩🟦🟪⬛️ (Sun - Sat)
❤️🧡💛💚💙⚪️⚪️ (Protein/Fiber)
❤️🧡💛💚💙⚪️⚪️ (Planned Exercise)
❤️🙁💛💚🙁⚪️⚪️ (Steps 5k+)

It might look like a huge loss, but really I’m finally just below the weight I was before I went on vacation and missed a week of weigh-ins.

My steps have really suffered this week. It is so cold here in Colorado. 🥶

andja87 wrote: »

Weigh In Day: Friday
PW (Previous Weight): 227.8
CW (Current Weight): 220.6

I am stunned. The only thing I can think is that I’ve been very strict with my calories and getting my exercise in this week. And all the extra walking I’ve done thanks to the mystery challenge. I’ve been hovering around 227 since before Christmas so maybe all 3 combined has finally dropped me out of that slump and showed a loss on the scale.
We’ll see if it holds til next week!

Way to go @andja87!!!
You ROCK!! 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

minstrelofsarcasm wrote: »

@gillwellow - Sunday would put you into next week, so your weight would not count towards the group results. Would you rather just skip this week and weigh in next Friday, or do you want the week to week comparison?

Will skip this week officially and do a weight in next Friday.