Merry Christmas to You! new group *not closed*

Good afternoon, everyone! I can see that some of us are struggling with cravings lately. Boo. You know, you don’t have to deprive yourself. Here’s how I deal with cravings and temptations:

I like to think of my daily calorie allotment as if it were a monetary budget. So, when I’m having a craving or if I know I want to eat something a little “bad” for me, I first ask myself if I can afford it.
Now, knowing if I can afford a particular indulgence also means that I have to keep up with my daily food log. I know- I’m lucky that I have oodles of time everyday to calculate, count, and log. I swear one of the biggest parts of my success has been recording everything I eat. So do it. Just find a way to write it down. Even if it’s simply a list of what you ate (not necessarily the calories), it can still help to determine if indulging is affordable.
With that said, once I determine if it’s affordable I eat it! Sometimes though, there are things that I really want that I simply cannot afford unless I work, and this is the best motivator for working out- more food…YAY! If I want ice cream, or a piece of cake, or a handful of chips, I know I’ve got to work for it. Typically, I like to hold off during the day for a treat just to make sure that I have enough in the “bank” at the end of the day for one.
Another way to help satisfy a craving is to set aside a few calories a day and then at the end of the week “spend” those on whatever your heart desires. This approach gives you something to look forward to at the end of the week. Personally, I like a little treat each day
Hopefully, I’ve not said anything redundant and this gives others a fresh, positive outlook on calories, exercise and food. I find that a positive attitude is always best. My cup is always half full and filled with delicious Dr. Pepper! What’s yours filled with?

Checking in. Thank you Ziesergirl66 for the lasts weeks pushup challenge i managed to do 100 ever day and hope i can continue to do them with this week challenge of squats and situps. .and i will be trying the mindful eating as well as logging my food for sat / sun.

Just checking in. Started 30 day shred today, feel ok will wait to feel aches
in the morn. will start sit-ups tomorrow.
Looking forward to seeing the chart.
Good luck all.

Good afternoon, everyone! I can see that some of us are struggling with cravings lately. Boo. You know, you don’t have to deprive yourself. Here’s how I deal with cravings and temptations:

I like to think of my daily calorie allotment as if it were a monetary budget. So, when I’m having a craving or if I know I want to eat something a little “bad” for me, I first ask myself if I can afford it.
Now, knowing if I can afford a particular indulgence also means that I have to keep up with my daily food log. I know- I’m lucky that I have oodles of time everyday to calculate, count, and log. I swear one of the biggest parts of my success has been recording everything I eat. So do it. Just find a way to write it down. Even if it’s simply a list of what you ate (not necessarily the calories), it can still help to determine if indulging is affordable.
With that said, once I determine if it’s affordable I eat it! Sometimes though, there are things that I really want that I simply cannot afford unless I work, and this is the best motivator for working out- more food…YAY! If I want ice cream, or a piece of cake, or a handful of chips, I know I’ve got to work for it. Typically, I like to hold off during the day for a treat just to make sure that I have enough in the “bank” at the end of the day for one.
Another way to help satisfy a craving is to set aside a few calories a day and then at the end of the week “spend” those on whatever your heart desires. This approach gives you something to look forward to at the end of the week. Personally, I like a little treat each day
Hopefully, I’ve not said anything redundant and this gives others a fresh, positive outlook on calories, exercise and food. I find that a positive attitude is always best. My cup is always half full and filled with delicious Dr. Pepper! What’s yours filled with?

This is fantastic advice - I had never considered looking at things from this perspective. It will help me avoid things like what happened last night, wherein I ate a bunch of things I didn't need after dinner, for no real reason. Not the best way to start off this week's challenge, but I guess I can only go up from here!

I would love to be able to lose 4 - 5 pounds in a week! I get so frustrated trying to fnd time to work out because I am a single mom and work full time. It is usually 9:00 before I finally take a break from the day. I rely so much on just watching my calories that it is taking me so so long to lose weight. I was thinking about getting a treadmill for the house or maybe a workout video. Any suggestions? I don't mind a treadmill but I like aerobic type workouts. Which would burn more calories?

You know what helps me? Calisthenics. I do a series of strength exercises everyday, like lunches, chair dips, leg lifts, crunches... with jumping jacks. As a busy working mom, I can do them in the morning before I even get Ava up for school and intermittently throughout the day. If I have a few minutes, I'll drop and do some crunches or push ups. It's hard to log it all properly (I generalize it, mostly) but as long as your DOING it, that's all that matters.

Forgot to check in yesterday for the new challenges. Love all 3 of them. I actually have been mindful of my eating since Tuesday morning. Will do sit ups and squats staring today. Definitely will be logging all food over the weekend because that is always a hurdle for me.

I would love to be able to lose 4 - 5 pounds in a week! I get so frustrated trying to fnd time to work out because I am a single mom and work full time. It is usually 9:00 before I finally take a break from the day. I rely so much on just watching my calories that it is taking me so so long to lose weight. I was thinking about getting a treadmill for the house or maybe a workout video. Any suggestions? I don't mind a treadmill but I like aerobic type workouts. Which would burn more calories?

Putting in a plug for your local library - they may have some dvd's you can check out. Mine has a pretty good selection, and they circulate for 3 weeks (free!). This way, if I don't like a video, I can just get return it before the 3 weeks are up. And if I REALLY like it, I consider buying.

I do also have a treadmill - I second the interval training. I put mine on incline - that can be your harder interval if you don't like to jog. I watch netflix, and the time goes by pretty quickly. :happy:

Great tip about the library! I never thought about that! Thanks! (Single moms gotta be cheap!!!! )

Kinda checked out from the message board the past couple days. I've been doing good on the mindful eating, logging my food and the water but have totally slacked off on all exercise. :ohwell: I'm starting back to the exercise challenges tonight and thanks to some great suggestions headed to the library tomorrow for some workout videos!

P.S. after catching up on all the posts I want some cheetos! LOL! Great suggestions about cravings everyone. Thanks for the motivation and support!

I am doing much better with my mindful eating today. So far I haved logged all my food and have not touched the kid's Halloween candy. As soon as my son goes down for his nap I am going to do my crunches, squats, push ups, and maybe some cardio if my older one will give me a break at this time. I have to start getting my water in for the day now-I've been slacking on this. My scale this morning said I was up another pound! It was so hard for me to get to 137.5 and in one week I am up 2 pounds! Very depressing.