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

@trooworld I like your new challenge. It's good you have it all planned out. Yaay on your steps. Ice cream bars: for next time, could you bring a lower calorie substitute although I'm wondering was he carrying a cooler or something? lol Maybe reduce the calories earlier in the day and just enjoy the ice cream with him? Lifestyle changes. In the future there will be more walks and more snacks. How can you fit it into your plan? The lake is gorgeous. So peaceful.

@fabgeekmom I love hydrangeas. What's your favorite color? Pulled chicken sounds nice. Baked goods are hard to resist. I did well the other day. Dh and I went out for coffee and he got the banana bread to share. I kept looking at it saying it's probably dry. I took one bite and nope wasn't dry. lol But it also wasn't WOW so I said that's enough. There are so many things I would like to bake but keep telling myself I don't need it. I do miss baking though.

I went and got my roots done so now I feel much better. I'm sure look better too. lol Today's exercise was 30 min of a hill/sprint program and my usual 20 min sunshine stroll when I wake up. I got a compliment from hubby today. He had come up behind me and said my rear was smaller. So while the scale is not moving at all, I guess some progress is being made. I've made a broccoli cauliflower apple salad for dinner. I added some walnuts for the brain. I have finished up the Build Healthy Habits meal plan and will begin the Macros plan. I have planned out my 3 veggies and my 3 fruits for the day.

@fabgeekmom It really is. I love it there. The turkey meatloaf was really good, it's a Skinnytaste recipe: https://www.skinnytaste.com/turkey-meatloaf-45/ Ice cream is hard to resist! Anything ATK is hard to resist! Sitting on the patio sounds nice. I have also been eating more fruit. We have a nice watermelon right now.

@theslightedgeforever Thanks. The ice cream bars: he went into the store and came out with them, it was a total surprise. We ate them at home. I could have said, "No thank you, I'll take some watermelon instead" but that's hard to do when faced with ice cream lol. I will have to practice that though. Exactly, the future holds these pitfalls and I need to learn to navigate them. One example how I am doing this is: my husband usually asks me if I want something to drink. I'll usually say sure, and he'll make me a wine spritzer (3 oz wine, 3 oz diet 7up). Since Sunday, when he asks if I want something to drink, I say, "sure, I'll take some water with lemon" instead of letting him have free reign. I will keep practicing with the ice cream. I always feel so much better after going to the salon. I can see why some ladies get their hair done weekly. Good job with the exercises! And what a nice compliment from your hubby. Your salad sounds good. Good job with the healthy habits plan. I signed up for it but have not been doing it. I need to look at it today.

Good morning ladies. I did well yesterday, no ice cream, and no snacks besides some watermelon. Yesterday we had a professional development day at work. They provided lunch. I had half a sandwich, chips, and a little salad. On the way home, I thought to myself, since my husband is cooking tonight, I will take one of the dogs for a longer walk. But when I set out, my dog wanted to turn around after she went to the bathroom. I told myself, I will walk on my walking pad. But when I got back to the house and changed my clothes, the moment of inspiration was over and I sat in my chair. I will work on this. We had Instant Pot Buffalo Chicken Rice Bowl last night. It was really good. My husband added roasted cauliflower. It was a restaurant-quality meal. Below is a pic. I have a recipe to share with you, I got it from the BariNation group I belong to now. It's a ranch dressing made with cottage cheese so there is a lot of protein in it. It makes a good dip and dressing:

Cottage Cheese Ranch Dressing
1 cup cottage cheese
1 oz Ranch seasoning

NOTES: This can be used as a dip or a dressing. • I like full fat cottage cheese for this recipe. • The moisture content of cottage cheese varies greatly. If yours is too thick, add a splash of milk or water. I suggest Fairlife milk to keep it creamy and add extra protein. • If the dressing thickens as it sits a few days in the fridge, add a splash of water or milk. • Shake the jar before each use, as just like regular cottage cheese separates in the container, you may see separation here too.

Add the cottage cheese and Ranch seasoning into a blender or food processor. Blend on high until the cottage cheese is completely smooth and creamy. Scrape the sides of the blender container and blend 30 seconds more to make sure it is completely smooth.

Pour the dressing into a mason jar with a lid and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to 1 hour before serving. This allows time for the dressing to chill and the flavors to develop.

Water yesterday: 64 oz

My phrase for the year: "New year, new me!"

@fabgeekmom Thank you. That's good it's cooler. Oh that's kind of a pain to prep the butternut squash but good idea to microwave it a bit first.

Hi all. Not much going on here. I did well yesterday. It's been a bit easier since our director retired in March: he used to bring in goodies all the time and it was extremely hard to resist them. It's easier now that those things aren't around as much.

Water yesterday: 64 oz

My phrase for the year: "New year, new me!"

@fabgeekmom There are still occasionally things there but it's much easier to resist them when they aren't there nearly every day. That's good your meal was good. I hope you enjoyed your swim.

@cbabie What's RSD? I'm sorry about your knee. That's too bad you break out from sunscreen, that makes summers hard, huh? Thank you!

@theslightedgeforever That's good you didn't let your eye roam to your favorite flavor. I just emailed him this: "The next time you get ice cream from the store, instead of getting me a Haagen Daaz, can you get me some low-sugar bars like Enlightened? It will help me stay on track better." We'll see if that helps. I don't want to go into the store after work when he does this: it's too busy lol. But he should get me some bars like I asked. That bowl was really good. That's good you are getting better at f&v. 6 is great! Your food looks good. What is in the top right corner that has purple/red on it?

Hello all. I did okay yesterday except when I went to the cafe and got a single-size bag of chips and an RxBar. I will count that as my visit to the cafe this week. I am off early today for a dental appt: just a cleaning but I hate getting it done. Unfortunately, I have to go every 3 months.

Water yesterday: 64 oz

My phrase for the year: "New year, new me!"

@trooworld I hope the dentist appointment went well. I don’t like going either. The snacks at the cafe sound good. I love RX bars. The ice cream solution is a good idea. Yasso bars are good, too. The chocolate fudge has 80 calories. @Babytessie01 Welcome to our group. I think counting calories is easier than points. Calories are universal and don’t change. @cbabie I understand that when you are in pain it’s hard to exercise. Do what you can. I hope you feel better. Hi, all. Today was a good day. I went for a walk, rode my recumbent bike and went grocery shopping. Dinner tonight is leftover pasta.

@Babytessie01 Hi and welcome! Yeah, it can be a surprise to see the calories. That WAS good! You are most welcome. I try to share good recipes when I can. I also have GERD and I was at one time diagnosed with a diverticulum. Hmmm...do you eat a lot of carbs? I am not sure what is causing the bloating and gas. re: doing miserably with calorie counting...it might take a minute to get your "footing" so to speak. Maybe you should just observe how you are eating this first week before you try to make changes. And then next week, you can make small tweaks to get some wins. Just a thought.

@cbabie That's good you were close in calories, I'm sorry you are still in pain. Good job tracking! The RSD/CRPS sounds like it would be really painful, I know my husband has sciatica which is a nerve pain, and it hurts him. Good luck at the dentist today!

@fabgeekmom Thank you. I like Yasso bars. Good to know about the chocolate fudge ones. Good job with the walk and bike!

Hi all. The dentist visit went okay, although they wanted to laser my gums for an uncovered $164. I asked why they wanted to do it and they said they did it years ago to my gums (I remember they did) but the machine broke, that's why they haven't been doing it. So, it is supposed to kill bacteria better. Every 8 months I'll have to have it done. It didn't hurt, but it's just an added expense. I thought I did okay this week but got on the scale this morning and gained 2 lbs. I hate the scale, I hate the process of losing weight, I am so sick of gaining gaining gaining losing one week and then gaining gaining gaining again. @Babytessie01, just some background on my journey, I am in the process of qualifying for bariatric surgery...I've tried to lose weight for nearly 30 years with no success so it's time to do something different.

Water yesterday: 64 oz

My phrase for the year: "New year, new me!"

@trooworld the little red things on the plate were flat peaches. At least that's what I call them. lol
That was good on sending your husband a message like that. Now in my household it would turn out "I couldn't find them". Which is why I have to go. I've trained him too well. Today I suggested what about you learning to cook. That can be a hobby for you. He replied, how about you take up the hobby of fixing the things around the house? (Like those have to be done 3 times a day EVERYDAY) Anyway..... I think your dentist is trying to make some extra money. LOL I keep hearing about dentists doing root canals and such when not really necessary to make money and then that is causing problems later for the patient. I hear you on the scale and losing weight. I'm trying to disassociate the scale and my good habits. My success is in my habits. I have been stuck at the same number give or take some ounces for more than a month. I'm looking for the NSV while continuing to be more consistent in my habits.

@Babytessie01 Welcome to the group! They always say awareness is the first step. I used to do WW then did carb cycling then did Healthi thinking it would help me eat more f&v (it didn't) then now I'm doing carb cycling while trying to stay within my calories and still working on the f&v. I have a perfection problem so a tendency to just quit if I'm not doing it right. I'm now working on learning to increase my f&v and other healthy foods and decrease my portions of unhealthy foods. It's the overall trend that I'm looking at. Have you tried tracking your symptoms and food at the same time to see which foods could be a problem? Maybe in the Notes section of your food diary you could keep track. Alternatively there's an ios app MySymptoms that I use that help narrow down possible suspect foods. The problem is I got tired of double tracking so it kind of went by the wayside until I have a problem again and then I'll start back up.

@cbabie Good for you for tracking. Your food can look pretty too. My chicken breasts are really just sauteed with some Everything but a Bagel seasoning sprinkled over it. That easy. The salad didn't take long either. You know me. I don't want to be spending too much time in a kitchen when I could be reading. So what is the treatment for your pain other than Tylenol and waiting it out?

@fabgeekmom I'm glad you are in our group with your normal day to day doing it right things. Your username is a good one. You are like a mom to us wild teenagers trying to figure out life. lol You give us hope.

@gemwolf110 Love the pics. Especially the sunset. I could taste your gravy. I've had two molar extractions.