Motivation

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Wow, I have been a craptastic poster in this thread! SORRY ya'll! I promise to do better.

 I'll start w/ the holiday weekend. I had a wonderful memorial weekend. My birthday was Monday, so I had a birthday WEEKEND! wooohoooo We got a few house projects completed, which was awesome. Went to a cookout on Sunday & had a GREAT time. Even played some volleyball, which was so fun & counts as exerise! yaaaaay

Yesterday, I got back to walking w/ Leslie, as I was sick for 2 weeks & wasn't able to walk w/ Leslie & co. I was up to 2 miles before I got sick, so I yesterday I did a mile. Lord have mercy, that was one rough mile!! GAH! It sux that my endurance took such a hit in mere 2 weeks.   However, this morning I walked TWO miles! WOOOHOOO  Yeah, I was breathig like I ran the Boston Marathon & looked ragged as sin, but I did it dammit!

Now, for the questions I have missed b/c I have been bad, bad thread member...

QUESTION OF THE DAY: MAY 21

What is your target breakdown of fats / proteins / carbs .... and WHY?

Errrrr, ummmmm, well, see..... ok, I have no flippen clue. I am trying to make better food choices & listening to my body when I am full.

QUESTION OF THE DAY: MAY 22

What's one so-called "diet food" that you really detest/dislike/avoid/hate?

Is MOST of them a valid answer? There are very FEW 'diet foods' that are even edible for my palate. I like Lipton Diet White Raspberry Tea!! Yummy!! (the new berry flavor is pretty tasty too!)

 

QUESTION OF THE DAY ... SOMETHING'S FISHY!

Do you like fish? Do you eat fish? What sort of fish will you eat? And do you take a fish-oil supplement? (What the heck, do you own fish?)

 Yes, I like fish. Yes, I eat fish. I eat fish that has been cleaned, deboned, cut in convenient portions, pre-seasoned w/ lemon & garlic butter, grilled & placed in my grocers freezer! heehee I also enjoy batter dipped fish that is not good for my body, but tastes sooooo good going into my body. I do not take any fish oil supplements, but have been seriously considering it. Do they work or are they effective? I do not own any fish yet, BUT, I DO have a lil fish tank that will home a couple tiny fishies very soon!!

 

QUESTION OF THE WEEKEND ....

What special dieting challenges will you face (or did you face) this Memorial Day Weekend? And what's your plan for dealing with those challenges?

The biggest challenge was not overeating. Yeah right. It was my birthday weekend remember? Altho, I didn't do as bad as I used too. 'Cept for the cookout...Lord have mercy, I was wadling like a pregnant woman in her 9th month. But the food was AWESOME. mmmmmmm

QUESTION OF THE DAY (MONDAY MAY 26)

Do you have a favorite day of the week for getting weighed?

I like weighing in on Fridays, before the weekend begins. I do so well w/ my routine during the week, but the weekends tend to be brutal on my schedule. So, I like Friday's so I can see how my progress has been during the week, plus I have till next Friday to get back on track from the weekend.

 

Question of the Day (Tuesday 5/27) ...

Do you tend to eat the same basic breakfast every day, most of the time, or do you switch it around a lot?  Are you happy with your breakfast?

I have no set breakfast. Actually, I am proud of the fact that I even EAT breakfast now. I was a breakfast skipper most of my life. I typically eat oatmeal, whole wheat blueberry bagels w/ cream cheese, toaster scrambles, cereal or eggs. I like a lot of options! lol

 

WHEW! I am finally caught up! YAY. Hope ya'll are having a great hump day!! ~RM

QUESTION OF THE DAY: WED MAY 28:

What proteins have you eaten today (or will you eat today?)

MOLLY

Question of the day 5/28
What proteins have you eaten today ( or will you eat today?)
Peanut Butter already.
Turkey a Turkey Burger, cut in half so it will fit into my veggie wrap.
Loaded with Cheese, bell pepper's Onion, and lettuce.. I love making my turkey wraps, and later on for dinner. I am going to have a chicken wrap.. Loaded in veggies. With a small salad on the side. YUM!
I love turkey, and chicken the most. Fish, that's going to be on the Thursday.
Baked not fried.

How's everyone today? I'm doing great. I went walking in the rain. Came home, put my shoes in the washing machines, and my feet was wet and cold. But I did get 2 miles in. The rain stopped me.. The rain will pass.

Original Post by mollymouser:

QUESTION OF THE DAY: WED MAY 28:

What proteins have you eaten today (or will you eat today?)

MOLLY

I've already had breakfast, which included 2 egg whites and 1 yolk, and my morning latte which I make with a mixture of soy and almond milk.  Lunch will probably be a black bean burrito with cottage cheese in it.  This afternoon will probably be a little hectic, so I'm sure there will be a Luna bar in there somewhere.  I'm going out tonight, so I don't really know what dinner will be, but I'll try to sneak some more in there.  I usually shoot for about 100 grams a day.

Have a good one everybody!

Original Post by mollymouser:

QUESTION OF THE DAY: WED MAY 28:

What proteins have you eaten today (or will you eat today?)

MOLLY

 I've had bacon (half a piece), fish & beef(cheeseburger) for dinner!

 

ETA: No cheeseburger for dinner. I was NOT hungry after lunch. I did eat some popcorn, which was yummy, cept for the burnt part. *sigh*

Proteins...for breakfast (I'm out of the yogurt I use for smoothies until I hit Trader Joe's again).  I had a fiber one bar (2g protein) and then a serving of Thai Chili Lime Cashews (5g protein).  For lunch I had about 3 servings of those cashews (15g protein) and I've got some fresh peaches so I'll definitely have one or two of those.  I'm doing fine and then some calorie wise.  Hopefully I'll get a super work out tonight and even if I don't I'll probably go dancing so I'll have room for another 1,000 calories in my day.  If not, then today will be maintenance instead of a deficit.  Dinner will be a greek noodle salad (chicken breast, cold noodles (fiber gourmet), cherry tomatoes, artichoke hearts, olives, a sprinkle of feta cheese, pepper and a dash of sea salt with oregano).

Clif Mojo Peanut Butter Pretzel Trail Mix Bar.  Some beef in my spaghetti and meatballs, black beans and edamame in my "Healthy Weight" veggies, Fage yogurt, 2% cottage cheese.  Still, I'm only at 70 grams thus far.  Still need at least another 40 grams.  I've found it difficult to eat 110-140 grams of protein and still stay within my calorie limit.

QUESTION OF THE DAY: WED MAY 28:

What proteins have you eaten today (or will you eat today?)

Well, I just finished whipping up a delicious salmon salad! Mmm, 7oz pink salmon, 3 hardboiled eggs, 3 tbsp fat free mayo (which on any other occasion I would try to avoid) = 2 servings of deliciousness. : )

I also had about 8 oz milk this morning, 1/2 cup yogurt and some kashi golean at lunch in my fruit parfait, plus my daily post-workout protein smoothie, which is simply pure bliss.

And, as of this afternoon, I am officially going to attempt running cross country! I'm really excited. I'll be terrible, but it'll be a really great to get in shape and push myself. : ) I'm proud that I signed up, here's to hoping I can stick with it!

Protein for today included- yogurt, peanut butter, grilled chicken and a few ounces of pork tenderloin.  I also had some delicious chocolate covered raisins but they don't count as protein.

Are you sitting down? Good! Because I biked ANOTHER 17 miles today!!!! (And let me announce that my butt is officially sore and tired and will be taking a much-needed hiatus tomorrow, lol!)  For those of you keeping track, that's 20 miles on Monday, 17 miles on Tuesday, and 17 miles on Wednesday. Surely Mr. Scale will be kind to me on Sunday for my official weigh-in day, right? After all this biking? And water drinking? And fiber consumption? And veggies? (Are you listening, Mr. Scale????)

I was very efficient with errands today .... and made it to the Post Office, the Smog place, and the grocery store -- all before lunch! My wonderful DH's beloved silver Explorer has been smogged, and then I went online and paid his registration. I also picked up some stuff at the grocery store, and was mildly entertained as I listened to the very patient lady behind the counter at the Post Office explain the concept of "forever stamps" to a mightily confused young woman. Frankly, I don't think the confused woman should be sending mail to anyone since she couldn't grasp the concept of a "forever stamp" after an extremely thorough, yet simple, explanation.... and then another explanation... and a further explanation. Certainly the rest of us at the Post Office understood after the first 10 minutes' of explanation!

I've received several compliments from those who've sampled my tasty, colorful, organic, home-grown 'maters (red ones and yellow ones, thank you!) I feel like such the little farmer with my carefully tended crop, lol! Looks like there will be more ready for harvest tomorrow -- I like to leave them on as long as possible for maximum flavor, freshness and ripening.  Maybe next year I will plant bigger tomatoes and some radishes? Hmmm.... decisions, decisions! Still, it's been a fun and enjoyable experience to add a veggie to my flower gardening! Speaking of which, my yard is simply overflowing with sunflowers at the moment! (It's sooooo cheery!)

Just three more days of May, then June will be here. I don't know why, but I am rather looking forward to putting May behind me, and focusing on June weight loss and healthy eating goals. Maybe because May was such a roller-coaster month for me (well, mostly ups --- then slowly coming down!) Anyway, I am interested to see what my June starting weight will be on June 1 .... then I will be interested to see what it is on June 22 (10 month dieting anniversary!).  Of course, my biggest focus is on August 22 ... my one-year mark.  I wonder what my weight will be then? (It's sure slowed down some, which I understand is pretty normal.)

On a very happy note, I received an actual telephone call from my wonderful DH this morning! It was so nice to hear his voice!

I wish I could do it faster than 75 days but this is reasonable and more likely to work.  My goal

1. use calorie counter and no fudging

2. do not eat chocolates at work. Take fruit to eat as a snack

3. take my lunch. Get away from my desk to eat it

4. sip water through the day

5. I'm teaching tonight until 9pm, so I will take something for dinner so that I won't eat when I come home (big mistake)

6. do 30 minutes of yoga

Weekly Weigh-in Report

Well, I'm a little discouraged this week.  After a really good loss last week (2.5 lbs), this week had zero movement. 

Fat - 25.0% (312 grams)
Protein - 18.7% (525 grams)
Carbohydrates - 56.3% (1,580 grams)

Daily Calorie Intake - 1,519 cals
Daily Sodium Intake - 2,472 mg
Daily Sugar Intake - 121 grams
Daily Cholesterol Intake - 189 mg
Daily Saturated Fat Intake - 14 grams
Daily Fiber Intake - 29 grams

Starting weight:  170 lbs
Today's weight:   144.5 lbs
This week's loss:  0  lbs
Total loss:      &nbs p;     25.5 lbs

A couple of things may be coming to play here.  One is, I had major
pain and stiffness in my hands and arms all during the long Memorial Day weekend, getting worse each day.  So I went to the doctor on Tuesday morning and she gave me some medication to stop the inflammation (which has worked very well).  We are still waiting to see results from bloodwork and x-rays, but the tentative initial diagnosis is Rheumatoid Arthritis.  The medication she gave me is a steroid for which a side effect is weight gain.  I asked her about it and she said that really shouldn't come in to play unless I'm on it for an extended period (this is just a 12 day Rx), but I'm wondering if it has slowed down my metabolism even though I've only been on it a couple of days.

Also, a while back I had spoken to a friend who is a biology professor who told me about some new, as yet unpublished research, that shows that a major plateau (up to as much as several months) is not only normal, but should be expected and is even good for you, after losing 15-20% of your body weight, while your body "resets itself" to run at its new parameters.  Well, I have lost 15%, so it's possible I'm hitting a plateau.  Oh joy.

So overall, not a great week for me.  I'm going to try not to dwell on it and just continue trying to work out more, eat better and be healthy. 

My mantra for going forward - there is no deadline, my goal is to get healthy, the scale doesn't matter.  If I say it enough times, will it start to feel true?

Well, I'm happy because I just hit the 160s!!!  I weighed in at 169.6 this morning.  This is approx. a 1.5 pound loss from last week which I guess is pretty good considering I just got my ttom yesterday.  I just realized that my loss this month has been a total of about 6.2 pounds (although May isn't over yet so perhaps I will lose a little bit more), which is definitely a slow-down from earlier.  Yet, this means I've lost about 18.5% of my starting weight, so I know I'm ripe for a plateau (knocks on wood) and I should be happy that I'm still losing.  So there it is, generally good news for me!  Off to drink some water :) 

Original Post by mollymouser:

QUESTION OF THE DAY: WED MAY 28:

What proteins have you eaten today (or will you eat today?)

MOLLY

For breakfast, I had a South Beach Living high protein cereal bar instead of the Fiber One chewy bars that I've been eating for the last couple of months.  I got a big box of them and will give them a try for a while to see if I can get my protein % up.

For lunch I have a chicken breast, and for snacks today I have some almonds and some yogurt.

For dinner I'm thinking crab as I have some in my fridge waiting to be used.  That oughta give me a pretty decent protein count for the day!

Kudos to everyone on their progess!  :)

QOD:  I'll be having chicken for lunch, yogurt as a snack, and I have no clue what's for dinner!  Lol.

Happy Thursday!

Ok ok, I've been staring at the computer screen, feeding off of all your wonderful posts long enough! Time for some action on my  part! I've been here from the beginning, lurking, but if I don't participate I think I would quietly fall back in to old habits, so here it goes…

Goals:

1. Ditto to the water intake! Why is that so hard? Sheesh! I currently drink about 48oz a day, I need to bump that up to at least 60 especially as summer approaches. (Molly, you and I must be somewhat close, I also have been experiencing the odd weather issues… cool, hot, rain, warm- you know all in about two days!)

2. Exercise! Yep,  I'm the lazy one! I do have good intentions ALL of the time, just don't seem to have the follow through, ever! So guess what I'm doing today after work? Yep, all because of Molly - I'm buying a bike! Yippie for me! My plan is to ride at least 3 days a week to start, keep in mind, I really do NOTHING right now, and (here's the other excuse), I will have to cart around a 35 lb toddler everywhere I go! But, I can do it! Right?

3. Log, log, log, log, log, log!!!! I had been doing pretty well back when I started this new way of life, in Novemberish, even lost almost 30 lbs. But alas, stopped logging as much and all of a sudden I'm not losing weight - amazing! So must log everything!!

4. End of summer weight loss goal… 20 lbs. Reasonable, right?

5. Post. I think posting regularly will help with the accountability factor. So unfortunately for you, I plan on keeping you all updated. Feed back would be much appreciated though to. The more people I have to answer to, the better!

6. Stop flirting with the IT guy! Ok, ok, I have to have one goal that I can fail at and still have fun with! Actually he is quite the inspiration, he has lost 90+ lbs himself, by, you guessed it,  counting calories!

So to answer some of the daily questions (I won't bore you will them all)

In the past I haven't been much of a fish eater, only tuna and salmon, but wierdness, I have been craving more and more fish… so I'll have to see what the future holds.

Like others, I don't really have a specific break down of what I'm trying to eat. I just shoot for the correct calories and an A grade.

Proteins, here's a problem, the proteins I like are the not so good for you kind, so if I stay away from them, then my protein numbers are low. Any healthy suggestions are much appreciated!

Water? Well, the only thing that has helped me is to keep a water bottle with me at all times, doesn't always work though. The best thing for me is ice water, I love ice in everything, and a straw! I know, I haven't grown up yet, I still love drinking from a straw!

Breakfast? Lately I have been an oatmeal girl. I found that if I have it around 9ish that will hold be until lunch.

Weighing in? I'm a weigh everyday person. For me I like to be aware of my ups and downs, see how sodium etc. effects me and how fast.

Well, that should do it for now, keep posting with all your inspirational comments! I love them! And to quote Molly… "go drink some water!"

My 75 days is just not getting off to the start I really wanted. It's time to pull in the reins and take control. At least I mowed the lawn yesterday.

 

Question of the Day (Tuesday 5/27) ...

Do you tend to eat the same basic breakfast every day, most of the time, or do you switch it around a lot? Are you happy with your breakfast?

I generally have 3 breakfasts I choose from, Oatmeal (I have some Simple Harvest, some lower sugar, and some regular packets at work), Cereal (Fiber One or Kashi), or an eggbeater sandwich (1/4 cup eggbeaters, 1 slice fat free cheddar, 1 light multigrain english muffin). I dont' get hungry for a couple hours after I wake up, so I usually eat around 8:00-9:30, and it holds me until lunch at 11:30 or noonish. All of these are easily fixed at work. Soemtimes on weekends I make an eggbeater omelete with lots of peppers and mushrooms. I should try a protein shake sometime.

QUESTION OF THE DAY: WED MAY 28:

What proteins have you eaten today (or will you eat today?)

Yesterday I had milk with my cereal in the morning, chicken in my frozen meal at lunch (yeah, I eat those), salmon at dinner. Unfortunately, I had chocolate and ice cream to balance that out. This is what I need to get under control.

At least I'm drinking plenty of water!!! Today will be a GOOD day!

Hi all, I'm back from lurking and from camping this past weekend.  I caught a nasty cold (probably from one of my clients who is 7 years old and spent most of our session last week sniffing while playing with leggos, then wiping his nose with his hands and offering me the leggos to play with) Let me say that camping with a cold sucks!  But we managed a nice hike on Sunday and plan to camp more this summer since my nephew really enjoyed it.

So that last few days I have been lurking around here, convelescing and eating a lot of stuff that I should not have eaten.  Today I'm feeling better, still a little weak but I'm going to see my trainer tonight so I can get back into my routine.  I'm glad to have the forum's here to help me climb back up on that wagon, AGAIN!

Let's see, I know I've missed several of the questions of the day.  I don't think there is one today yet but as for yesterday, I only had a protein shake in the morning, otherwise I had several handfuls of sugary coated almonds which I"m sure cancels out any benefits from the protein in the nuts. Obviosly, yesterday sucked for me food wise. Today is a new day! 

I just wanted to say hi to everyone. I know you are all doing great. Keep up the good work.

Take care,

Lynn

QUESTION OF THE DAY - THURSDAY MAY 29

What have you done today to burn calories?

MOLLY