Fresh Start round 3 week 3

Sorry this was late getting up!

Goals for this week are still drinking enough water and getting the much needed exercise. Please share with the group what you are doing and wether or not you like it.

Also lets pay extra attention to logging this week. I know it can be hard but it is best to log before you eat. This will let you really stay on track and prefents you from going over your daily calories. Be aware of the portions you are eating, weigh your food if possible. For those celebrating Thanksgiving, perhaps you can look up the calorie content of some of the food before hand so you know how much you should eat. And get rid of the leftovers!

I am going to share the crap fest that was my Monday.

1. I weighed the same this morning as I did last week. After sticking to my calories, exercising 5 hours and drinking plenty of water.
2. It snowed during the night and school closed so I had the girls home all day but still had to do all my other work AND bake cookies, built a snowman and play games etc.
3. Ate some of the cookies I baked but they were very small.
4. Because I worked late so much last week I was suppose to be off at 2pm today but the parents didn't come home until 6 pm. All I got was a "sorry work is very busy at the moment" and " maybe Friday we'll be early"
5. Got my period!

Number 5 explains my horrible mood and hopefully the no weight loss.

Sure hope you all had a better Monday!

Marlies - so sorry that your Monday has been a crap fest!  Number 5 just generally makes me ornery.

On number 4 - I can't recall what you do - do you run a school or daycare?  I can't believe that people are so thoughtless as to show up 4 (FOUR!) hours late and then not even try to make it up to you by coming early on Friday.  Thoughtless - bad karma to them!

I mentioned on the last thread that I am up 3.2 lb to 171 this morning.  No idea why, although I did eat a bunch of packages of licorice yesterday.  I am feeling generally lousy these days.  I haven't slept well since Saturday and finally broke down to buy a "natural" sleep aid a friend recommended.  We'll see how it works.  I also made an appointment to see a naturopath next week - hey, there has to be something to help...I eat reasonably well and exercise!

While my partner Paul has been away this week I've been trying out some meatless main course recipes...I tried them (more or less) the way the recipe set them out first, which meant more fat than I usually would cook with.  Now that I have an idea of what they should (more or less) taste like, I'll try them again with less fat.  Does anyone have any healthy meatless main recipes they can send my way?  I'd like for us to have at least one meatless day a week.

I am still riding my bike to work, so exercise plans are easier for me, but I'm trying to throw in a walk a couple of days at lunch.  Walk #1 completed today...went to the store and bought myself some Dim tights and Elizabeth Arden stuff...bonus time.  Buy, buy, buy!

Have a great week everyone!  Tanya

Tanya, I am a nanny for a busy family in Italy and the parents can be thoughtless. I usually just suck it up because it does pay well but sometimes I get a little ticked off.

Sorry to hear you aren't sleeping well. I hope the sleep aid will work and that the naturopath can help. Have your tried professional footmassages?(don't know the English word) I had bad headaches as a teenager and really got a lot of relief from it. The massage therapist also helped people with sleep disorders. I was sorry when I reached the maximum allowed visits by my insurance because I loved going.

I'll send you some recipes tomorrow because I really need to get some sleep.

Not a crap fest today, just normal except for the chocolate cravings. I was weak and gave in a little but will still have a 500 cal. deficit so not too bad.

I shovelled snow for an hour today and my arms are sore. I am pretty sure I burned some calories and strengthened muscles so I am counting it as exercise.

Tanya I haven't forgotten about those recipes but I am too tired right now. I'll try tomorrow.

Hope everyone is doing well even if you are not checking in.(subtle aren't I)

Shovelling snow for an hour DEFINITELY counts as exercise!! www.caloriesperhour.com says a 150 lb person burns 408 calories in an hour, so it's pretty good bang for your buck!  (http://www.caloriesperhour.com/index_burn.php)

No worries re the recipes - I made a great quinoa sweet potato salad last night...why have I never tried quinoa before?  It's much better than rice!!

Uh, hi!  I don't know if I'm sad or glad that I wasn't the only slacking poster last week.  I did weigh and can't believe I didn't post.  I was down to 176, so I finally showed a drop after holding and then inching up.  I probably shouldn't have posted that because I'm sure the number in 7 hrs will be higher.  We had multiple Thanksgiving gatherings through the long weekend, one of which I hosted, so lots of food in my house.  I think I'll go through tomorrow night and toss everything.  Overall, I probably ate lessduring that time period than I normally do, but I'm sure I still went over my calories at least three days last week.  Way over.

My sis had minor surgery last Mon. and is fine, but she's not supposed to lift over ten lbs which includes her one-year-old who isn't walking yet.  Anyway, I spent much of last week helping her with the kids and her housework.  That was between Thanksgiving prep and clean-up and entertaining an out-of-town guest at the beginning of the week.  (Which reminds me I consumed quite a few drinks Mon. & Tues., too.)  That's why I wasn't here last week.  I didn't get my Christmas stuff out and missed a lot of sleep too. 

Hopefully this week will be a little calmer.  My first Christmas party is Mon. night, but it should be fine.

Ok, are we giving up?  Maybe we should get some new members again?  Out of curiosity, how old are you guys who are left?  If anyone is left?  :)

I was up 1.5 lbs this week.  All things considered, it's not too bad.  I'm not happy about it, but it could have been worse.  I'm doing better this week and I'm trying really hard on the water thing to help wash away anything that hasn't grabbed hold!  I know I've been saying this for months, but I've got to get into a serious habit of exercising.  I'm thinking I'm going to have to go back to the gym.  I hate to spend the money when i have the capability at home, but maybe it would halp the motivation.

I hope we're not giving up...but have not been the poster child for participation/keeping up with my personal goals either.  I'm 37 - a bit older than you guys were originally looking for but Liz (and you all!) thought it was OK!  ;-P

I wasn't up this week - was the same as last week.  Not a huge win, but I echo the "it could have been worse" sentiment.

I'm keen to keep going and to get new members if necessary - I would also be OK with suspending and restarting first thing in January after we get through the holidays.  Whatever the group likes, really!

Cheers,

Tanya

How funny, I'm 37, too, but I didn't remember that you were.  I was just curious whether those of us left were some of the older ones. 

Yeah, I would say not gaining would be an accomplishment at this point.  That is what I'll be hoping for next Mon.  I didn't think I did too badly today, but when I added it up, it wasn't good.  My throat has been killing me and I've been consuming things trying to make it feel better.  I'm gonna have to stick with the water and stay away from the ice cream.  :)  And log all day long to keep track.

Waiting until after the holidays to gear up is fine with me too, but I also wouldn't mind keeping this thread going for occasional posting and checking in.

Marlies?  Where are you?  :)  Too busy exercising, getting ready for the holiday visit to check in?

Just quickly checking in...tried quinoa as a hot cereal this morning and it is really is lovely...although it takes longer to cook than the oatmeal I usually go with (when I'm not mowing down maple miniwheats, that is!).

For sore throat, a thing that my guy makes me that is relatively low cal and soothing is boiling some ginger then sweetening it with honey.  The ginger is no cal, but of course the honey isn't!  Not sure if it would feel as soothing/smooth with splenda, stevia or some other low cal sweetener....

I'm off for a weekend walk before the rain really starts in!  Hope everyone is well!

I love ginger and actually have some fresh pieces now.  This may be a stupid question, but drink the water that it boils in?  Like a tea?  hmmm, maybe I will add it to a tea.  Oddly enough, I don't like honey, or drinking anything sweet, really, so I probably would prefer it straight.  The honey is probably part of what helps, though.   I may try it now.

I bought quinoa as my new food to try a couple of months ago and still haven't tried it.  I had seen some good-sounding recipes with it, but who knows what I did with them. . .

Yes, that's it - I strain out the ginger and then add the honey.  I think honey is part of what helps...

I do that, too - buy foods then they just hang out unused for ages in my pantry.  I have quinces in the fridge at the moment (from a friend) and have chickpea flour and azuki beans in the cupboard.  Once upon a time I had a PLAN for those...hmmm.

I'm at 169.8 lb this morning.  Think that is a bit lower than last week but effectively no change over the last few weeks.

Merry Christmas to everyone who celebrates it!

Anyone up for restarting Jan 5th??

G'day there, strangers!

I've been missing for quite some time - September was a huge month for me.  I lost my grandfather and supervised a big school trip to the state's capital.  After that I just didn't get back into the swing of things at all.  I haven't done much exercise at all since then - and have not focused much on what I've been eating.  The scales were broken a few months back (teenage son jumped on them!!!) and I don't know how much I've regained.  However, I'm not too worried as my clothes still fit - I threw out all my size 18 pants so there's been nothing loose and comfy to slip on!  Some pants are a little snug though!!!

Anyway, if the fresh start group is going to be starting again, I'd love to be involved again.

Happy New Year to all!

I know it has been quite a long time since I posted and to be truthful I haven't even been logging my calories since I started school. It's a super accelerated program that has me going 29 hrs a week and homework for each class is a paper, homework, reading and quizzes. It's nerve-racking and time-consuming but totally worth it. I know this is worth it in the end. I have successfully lost another 2 lbs in December which I surprised about but it was great to see. I'm down officially to 195 lbs to start the new year and that's fabulous in my book. I know that I can do this, it's just a matter of time. I'm loosening up my time contraints and just taking loss as loss no matter what. I value your commitments and friendships and hope that you'll keep me in your minds for when I do find the time to show up. I will keep checking our threads and hoping for the best for all of you. Happy 2009! May it be the most successful year yet for all of us in all things!

Hello Nilly, Jella and anyone else who might check in...

After a holiday of eating anything and everything (literally) I'm up to 173.6 lb.  That's fine - it gives me a starting point to get back on track.

This week I'm going to focus on getting back to tracking and thinking more mindfully about food. 

Happy 2009, everyone!