SAHM 10/12-10/18

understandable lettuceb! I hope everyone has a great week too! I over-induldged alittle bit on the wine saturday night, but I am right back on track!

Hi everyone I am too a stay at home mom. I have a son, 3, and a daughter, 1, and I joined this program almost 2 weeks ago. I am looking on here for a group of people that are similar to me and have the same goals. I'm noticing that everyone else in my life is not on the same diet and exercise goal as me so its going to be really easy for me to just go with the flow, and I don't want to do that. You said everyone is welcome so here I am! I really like this site and its a real eye opener to see that what I was eating was really really bad for me. I wouldn't have realized it before this site so I am grateful for that. I look forward to meeting and connecting with other stay at home moms because I know myself well enough that if I don't have a connection I eventually drift back to the way things were, and like I said I don't want to do that. I was just wondering if we weigh in every monday or anything like that? Or do we just share whats going on in our lives at the moment? I really look forward to meeting many more of my kind! thanks for all the help in advance! billie

thanks lettuce! and welcome billie!
we are a really great group of women, if i do say so myself. i've been here 7months and have learned so many things. plus, it's easier for me to share my foibles here than on the BIG board.

i also lurk around other teams to check out their challenges. they give me ideas and inspiration.

well, i must admit it--i have picked up a cold after all. it started as allergies and asthma, and now today the voice is really gone and i have a low fever. took the advil, the flonase, and warm water. and now i'm going to shower and put on fresh jammies and a robe.
fortunately, the kids are so happy to be back to playing with their own toys, they're getting along nicely. moments like these, i feel very blessed.

alright, time for me to rest. have a great day all! be good to yourself and aim HIGH!

Welcome back Staceyw37! I am glad to hear you had a great trip.

Welcome Bilimina! As for your exercise, do what is going to work for you that you will stick with long term. You may have to increase the intensity on certain days, just so your body doesnt get used to the same routine. Our bodies tend to get conditioned to doing certain things and need a refresher just like our minds! :happy: :happy: Snow!!! The rainy is season seems like it's starting here. Or so I am told, we just moved here!

billie--good for you with that 1mi! amypr, who's not up on here today, does little increases with her trdmill walking. when you're ready, you can do that.
here's my take on REST day. if you're doing cardio, you don't really need a rest day--unless you did TONS and your body just needs to recover. think of it this way, if you had a dog and you walked it every morning for an hour, that's just what you do. you don't "rest" from it. make sense?
also, adding variety (in time--this is not a race to the finish line) will be good for your mind and body.

however, if/when you get into strength training, then REST days become important. your muscles need time to repair. also, it will be a good idea to do diff exercises and diff body parts to get the maximum effect.

i want to stress, however, that if you are just starting with mfp--don't too much at once. you can get burned out or even worse, discouraged and overwhelmed that it's all too complicated. it isn't, but you grow and learn in this journey. setting large overall picture goals and then setting smaller ones is a good strategy to help you succeed!

ok, i'm going to rest some more. have a great evening--and i'm so glad to "see" you all again!

yay amy! for losing a pound and following thru on a promise to yourself!! :flowerforyou:

my fever seems to be gone, but i was super sleepy this am. i slept on the couch till 10:30 while the kids got their own breakfast and watched tv. and still no voice.

i'm making a quick lunch for them and then we're going to toys r us. my son is saying goodbye to his binky today (whether he fully comprehends this or not) and i'm getting him train tracks. he was so excited! i realized how much he wanted them when everywhere we went last week, he was enthralled with his cousins' train sets. i think it's about time he had his own.

and can i tell you--i think my kids have lots of toys/books/crafts/movies etc. more than enuf. and yet, we have hardly any compared to the people we were with in chgo! amazing!! and no, this dsn't mean i need to rush out and keep up with the joneses--just that i don't need to be quite so stingy in terms of getting my kids some quality toys that would get years of use. certainly not more barbies and still NO polly pockets, but an art easel (tabletop size?) and the train tracks would be worthwhile "investments." kwim?

anyway, it's so nice for me to have you girls to talk to, to discuss these other aspects of parenting. i hope you all have a great day!
oh! any word from angiered--how they're recovering?? she's most definitely in my thoughts.

OOPS, so I just posted this and completely forgot I wasn't signed in ....my husband was!! HAHA oh well this is Shera426 I'll post some pictures of our hike in a bit...gotta go pick up my ds from school.

Hi everyone. I have been MIA for over a week so I wanted to post and keep myself on track since i've been gone. I haven't logged a darn thing or gotten on a scale but i'm hoping I didn't do to terrible. We drove down to visit grandparents and we had a great time. My mom drove back up with us to visit at our home for the rest of the week and she just left yesterday.

With everything being a little busy I never did my video but I got a killer hike in 2 days ago! Long story we went hiking with the kids on what was supposed to be about 2 miles. Well we got turned around a little hike ended up on about an 8-9 mile jaunt through the redwoods with kids. The signs posted were terrible and non of them the were very helpful. When it said 3 miles it really meant 3 miles to the next trail, then another XXX amount of miles back to the truck. AWFUL we were going to turn around but thought we only had another mle or so before we got back. Then got to the next sign and it was 4 miles to the truck or about 4-5 to go back the way we came.

The kids were amazing, our arms were so stiff and sore from carrying them ds is 5 and dd is 3. We got a cell signal somewhere but it dropped right away and it was getting dark. Thankfully we made it out about 6:40pm just 20 minutes before it got pitch black and we were so relieved when we saw the forest ranger pulling up. Even though our call was maybe 30 sec they atleast sent 20 people out to find us! they didn't know how many they were looking for but they knew a woman had called (my mom) and was out there and lost.

anyway, just wanted to share my story, :happy: we are so very thankful that we made it out before dark, thankful we have amazing kids that never complained , not to mention a great workout!! :bigsmile: Probably not the greatest idea to have a few beers after we got home but water just didnt' sound at all appealing LOL

Oh my goodness that is one heck of an adventure! Thankfully you got out! I hate being in the woods at dark time

I have a question. I'm on a guided calorie intake to lose one pound a week and so far I've only gone into negative numbers twice in the past 2.5 weeks, and only by less than 20 calories. Anyway, When I have extra calories left is it okay to not use them, or should I be using them trying to get as close to 0 or neutral as possible. Like today I have 100 calories left after dinner. And I didnt exercise today either. So should I not exercise and leave my day with 100 calories left. Or exercise tonight and have well over that left?
Thanks for your help understanding this in advance

try to eat as close to the number as you can. If you exercise, definitely eat more. I try to eat within 100 calories of my daily goal. Trust me, my numbers are never perfect! You can look at my diary if you want!

Shera426-WOW! What an adventure! At least you ened up being safe and having a great time too. Not to mention the well deserved beers!:drinker:

yay shera that you made it out safe and sound. we don't hike, and i can only imagine the perseverance and patience it takes to do that--espec with little ones.

billie? was that you asking about cals?? in any case, are you using hrm for tracking exercise cals? i ask b/c without that, your cals burned can be way off and you can wind up consuming too many extra cals. my hrm is from reebok and it cost $30. i've been very happy with it!
also, though you add in exer cals--it doesn't take into accnt the cals you would have burned just doing your regular thing. so, some people always leave 100 or so on the table, so to speak.

the other thing is, don't get too worried about the exact cals. it's a guideline--don't go too much over and not too much under and you'll be good.
all these things are based on formulas and if you're not living in a lab hooked up to machines, they're good working #s but not perfect. does this make sense??

if you find that you are consistently a lot under your cals, try adding in nutrient dense foods earlier in the day--like almonds in your yogurt or oatmeal, a spoonful of pnut butt with your apple, hummus.

i hope that info is helpful.

and lettuce, i haven't logged my cals at all yet. i'm readjusting to meals back at home and my cold. and while i would like to exercise, i get winded too easily still. i know i should see the dr--but my pulmonologist is too slow (3hrs in the office last time) and i just don't want to make the time.

in the 5 yrs i've lived here, i've never bothered to get a regular internist. gee, stace, are you a grownup or what?? honestly, i wish we could just see the pediatrician for these minor ailments. :noway:

alright--i'm rambling. must sign off and drink some water. (boy got geo-trax today and is having such fun with it! he keeps asking for his binky but i just say it's bye bye--and he says ohhh-kayyy)

see you all in the am!!

hey stacey hrm is Hear rate monitor?? What is it and what do you do with it? lol
I really don't have a clue. I hope you all don't think i'm a total nut, I've just never really been the kind to diet and exercise. I'm not hugely overweight, probably not even at all, but I really do want to shed the extra flub! So again thank you for welcoming my questions and curiosity with kindness.

no worries--i didn't know what it was either! i have a reebok precision trainer xt heart rate monitor. i got it at buy.com for 29.99 and free shipping, i think.

i has a chest strap which helps it to be more accurate. if you're really obese, hrm's aren't too effective, but if you're simply overwt it will work. i learned how to use it by reading the instructions. it really is that easy.
it's very motivating for me to see what i need to do to get my heart rate into a certain zone and/or what workouts max my calorie burn.

there are fancier, more expensive hrm's--the polar ones, for ex--but this one is simple and meets my needs.

and don't be afraid to ask q's here. generally, we won't attack you for your curiosity. :happy:

later--

Sometimes they all drive me crazy, hubby included, and I find if I just get away for a short while it really helps.

I can completely relate. I will go to the grocery store by myself Wednesday nights after choir practice. I find I take even longer then, but I'm enjoying the "alone time". :laugh: I found out a few weeks ago that I'm not alone. My sil likes to go to the grocery store by herself for the "alone time" too.

Stacey---did I tell you that we all missed you last week? Cuz we did! Once again, I am glad you are back!

awwww....right back at ya!

can't complain about my hubby--THIS week!

i was feeling awful yesterday so i went to the minute clinic at cvs. np said my lungs were clear (yay) and diagnosed me with sinus infection and started me on z-pack. i'm already feeling better this am and my voice is better (not 100% but better). (my little girl was whining/crying/tired last night and she said, mommy, i forgot what your voice sounds like--tear tear tear. how cute!)

anyway, hubby came home at lunch and i slept slept slept. he took the kids to hebrew school too and made dinner. it was such a huge help to have him around!
(i'd "reward" him, but still not well enuf for that :laugh: )

later chicas!