Wagon Jumpers - February 15 - 21st, 2009 (Closed, Waiting List Available)
Welcome
(We are currently transitioning to 20 members (from 30). If you are interested in being on the waiting list, knowing that it will be a longer than usual list, please read below and e-mail me.)
Welcome to the Wagon Jumpers weekly thread. We are a group of CC members who have identified that one of our main challenges with achieving our weight loss, maintenance or general health goals is consistency.
This thread is designed to encourage long term commitment to our goals by publicly declaring them and asking the other members of this thread to hold us accountable. The primary focus of wagon jumpers is not how much weight you have lost, or need to loose, but what you need to do on a daily basis to meet your long term goals.
There are two rules for Wagon Jumpers:
1. All members must post once per week between Sunday and Friday.
2. All members must check the thread for members who have not posted by Saturday (a short list is posted on Thursday) or are on the MIA list on Sunday and send them a polite and positive message to stay involved in the group and on track with their goals.
If you would like to be a member of this thread please see the guidelines below and send me a PM if you are still interested (there may be a waiting list).
Medium Size Group = Some Time Commitment
The original idea of Wagon Jumpers was to create a close community where participants could get to know each other and hopefully form virtual-life and perhaps even physical-life bonds to create a support network as they attempted long term weight loss.
We quickly discovered that this was impossible with an 'always open' group as there were too many people coming and going. For this reason the group is capped at 30 participants.
A medium sized group means that we have an active thread that produces between 40 - 60 posts per week. Members do not need to read / respond to every post every week. I do notice that those who respond regularly do tend to keep their goals top of mind, and have a better chance to achieve them. I estimate the average time spent by an active member on Wagon Jumpers to be between 1-2 hours per week.
If you are looking for an always open group on CC there are several that operate by different weight criteria, similar motivational patterns etc... There are also many small groups that cap their numbers between 4-10 people to keep the group more intimate, and easier for members to keep up with.
Interested in Joining?
General Guidelines for Joining
1. Are you a wagon jumper?
Do you know how to loose weight, you often have success but then you find yourself loosing interest in your plan, or sabotaging your plan. It's not the "how" to loose weight that is the problem, it's the "how" to stay motivated.
2. Do you have a long way to go?
This group is designed so that members can get to know each other and support each other. Ideally you are planning to be a CC member and part of this forum for at least 6 months or more to achieve your goals and hopefully stay in motivation for a further 6 months or more.
Yes. This is, a long term plan.
3. Do you have the time?
This is a medium sized group, the thread does move fairly quickly each week. If you do not have regular internet access this is likely not the group for you.
Still interested?
Send Supersized a PM. (Please do not reply on the thread)
An overview will be sent to you, you will have a chance to ask questions and an invitation will be sent to you once a spot is open.
Wagon Jumpers Participants
Week 41 Riders:
Supersized (myself)
Week 37 Riders:
Week 32 Riders - Congratulations on 8 Months!:
Week 31 Riders:
Week 27 Riders:
Week 26 Riders:
Week 24 Riders - Congratulations on 6 Months!:
Week 21 Riders:
Week 17 Riders:
Week 15 Riders:
Week 14 Riders:
Week 13 Riders:
Week 12 Riders - Congratulations on 3 Months!:
Week 11 Riders:
Week 9 Riders:
Missing In Action:
Missing In Action - 1 Week:
Missing In Action - 2 Weeks:
Current Membership: 24
Current Waiting List: 5
Outstanding Wait List Invites: 0
12 Week CONSISTENCY GOALS
(as set w/o January 11th, 2009)
By April 4th, I will be...
Letsgetitstarted - consuming an average of 1,500 cal/day and 3 times a week for a minimum 30 minutes.
Rpete144057 - logging my food daily and exercising 5 days a week for at least 30 minutes.
Jessicaanne2001 - exercising 5 days a week for at least 30 minutes, and logging my food daily.
Supersized - logging all of my daily calories and eating in a calorie range of no more than 2,000 cal/day and no less than 1,500 cal/day (calculated by weekly averages).
Figurethefat - exercising a minimum of 1,500 minutes each month, and I will restrict using the scale to two weigh-ins per week on Monday and Friday.
Unlimitedana - eating between 1,500 - 1,600 cal/day and exercising three time a week.
Cawilder - maintaining a 500 - 1,000 calorie deficit on a daily basis measured by my food log and, working out 5 to 6X per week combo of cardio and lifting.
Carryonandon - maintaining 300 - 500 calorie deficit daily and, exercising 3x per week.
Raven21 - drinking a minimum of 4 bottles (2L) of water daily and, exercising a minimum of 3X per week.
Nannygabber - doing the NROLFW program 3 times per week, and I will establish a 40/30/30 (Carb/Fat/Protein) macronutrient pattern on a weekly average for a minimum of 5 weeks of the next 12.
Germaica - exercising 3 times a week and logging my food for at least 4 days per week.
Pelkeyjm - logging my food daily and exercising at least 3x per week for at least 30 minutes.
The_Vitamin_Dominatrix - logging my caloric intake on calorie count at least six days every week and, exercising in the gym at least 3 days each week.
Tiegurl - eating 1,500 - 2,000 calories and exercising 5x a week.
Kyashiis - running 20 kilometers a week and making progress on the number of repetitions in my calisthenic exercises (starting at: 20 push ups, 30 sit ups, 0 chin ups, 2x 30 sec plank, 20-30 jump rope)
Lam7 - Logging all daily calories at least 6 times a week and, exercising minimum 40 minutes 3x per week.
Sjenn23231 - consuming and average of 1,500 cal/day and, doing SEAL team type workout 3 times a week.
Msmeg1984 - Following the 40-30-30 diet guidelines in NROLFW and working out 3 a week NROLFW plan.
Constanza - using the CC food log every day and, exercising an average of 4 times per week across the 12 weeks.
Defrog3 - eating with improved nutritional quality of food, specifically ensuring that I am getting enough daily protein and carbs and, walking six miles a week weather permitting.
Amber1l - working out 6 days a week for one and a half hours.
Wenchie58 - keeping my calorie intake between 1,400 - 1,500 a day and, drinking at least 2 liters of water daily.
Bigbitty - logging my calories daily and continue to drink at least 2 liters of water per day.
Previous Threads:
Wagon Jumpers - February 8 - 14th, 2009
Wagon Jumpers - February 1 - 7th, 2009
Wagon Jumpers - January 25 - 31st, 2009
Wagon Jumpers - January 18 - 24th, 2009
Wagon Jumpers - January 11 - 17th, 2009
Wagon Jumpers - January 4 - 10th, 2009
Wagon Jumpers - December 28 - January 3rd, 2009
Wagon Jumpers - December 21 - 27th, 2008
Wagon Jumpers - December 14 - 20th, 2008
Wagon Jumpers - December 7 - 13th, 2008
Wagon Jumpers - November 30 - December 6th, 2008
Wagon Jumpers - November 23 - 29th, 2008
Wagon Jumpers - November 15 - 22nd, 2008
Wagon Jumpers - November 9 - 15th, 2008
Wagon Jumpers - November 2 - 8th, 2008
Wagon Jumpers - October 26 - November 1st, 2008
Wagon Jumpers - October 19 - 25th, 2008
Wagon Jumpers - October 12 - 18th, 2008
Wagon Jumpers - October 5 - 11th, 2008
Wagon Jumpers - September 28 - October 4th, 2008
Wagon Jumpers - September 21 - 27th, 2008
Wagon Jumpers September 14-20th, 2008
Wagon Jumpers September 7-13th, 2008
Wagon Jumpers August 31 - September 6th, 2008
As always all members are encouraged to tag this thread so that it is easy to find.
THIS WEEKS TOPIC
We covered one of the three corner stones in successful health management last week: exercise, time for another one this week: nutrition.
Recipe Exchange
1. Use the CC Recipe Tool to enter in a recipe that you want to share with the group.
2. Post the recipe on this thread by entering it as a link.
3. Tell us about the recipe, how did you discover it, why do you like it, when do you make it?
To enter a link on the thread:
1. Open two browser windows: first a browser window showing the finished recipe that you entered, the other browser window for this thread.
2. Reply to this thread as normal. Type in the name of the recipe that you are sharing.
3. Highlight the recipe name in the reply window, now go over to your other browser window and click on the address in your browser bar (http://caloriecount.about.com....) and copy the link (using your mouse or control+C)
4. Come back to your reply window, make sure that the text that you want to link to is still highlighted, at the top of your reply box you should see a series of little symbols like for word processing beginning with the B for Bold and ending with the emoticons for the smilie faces.
5. There is now a chain link that is available, click that button. A pop up box will appear (you must allow pop up boxes for this site for this to work - you can change this item in our tools or options menu depending on which browser you have) and you paste the link that you copied from the other browser window into the "Link URL" field (other fields are optional).
6. Click "Insert" and you are done.
7. Finish replying as normal.
Oh my, another week. Thanks for the 3 month anniversary congrats Sara. I have to admit that the first month I was not quite on the wagon, it took me about that long to get back into the cc community and realise all the great tools there are here to help get in shape. The last two months have been good and I feel fairly committed to continuing with my diet and exercise plan.
I use the recipe tool all the time. It's especially handy for logging in something like a one off salad that had lots of ingredients. Much easier to enter it into the recipe analyser and then just add a serve to the food log. I went to Soup Plantation today and had a huge raw veggie salad. I entered all the stuff into the recipe analyser then added it to the food log :)
Here's one of my favourite recipes when i feel like pizza. I made it up myself and might change it a bit if I had some different veggies on hand: Tortilla Pizza I like it because it's easy, filling and satisfies my need for pizza :) Although I entered Pizza sauce in as an ingredient I usually use my own marinara sauce.
Weekly Check In
I did well this week, I'm being diligent about logging all calories and I seem to be getting into a good habit of stopping before my daily limit even if I log my calories afterwards. I successfully ate at 2,500 cal/day this past week and am still bouncing around in the same 3 lbs range that I have been since falling off the wagon in December and realizing that I was eating over 3,200 cal/day.
There is a part of me that wants to get this over with much faster, just drop the calories real low and see the scale go down. But I know I can't maintain that and I'm thinking my metabolism must have finally evened out over the past year since I'm not seeing the wild swings I used to and it's working really hard to keep me at the same weight despite my calorie range.
I've given into take away food for this long weekend, but overall have been cooking much more and ensuring that I'm eating as much 'real food' as possible. Even my take away this weekend is healthy Thai stuff from a local shop that doesn't lather it in salt, fat and coconut milk.
Weekly Topic
Japanese Soba Noodles - perhaps Kayshiis can comment on how "Japanese" this is or isn't but it's one of my favourite dishes, and I really don't think it would work with anything besides soba noodles (in case you are thinking of switching the noodles). If you do get soba the trick is to rinse them, over and over and over... the guy at my little grocery recommended 4 times rinsing... once I only did it twice and I could really taste the difference with the starch... I'm a ginger freak so I add a lot more ginger than the recipe calls for. It's also super fast to make (despite the rinsing), and is less than 200 cal and it really fills me up.
Interesting Proposal
Following up on mine and Julie's confusion on where to go when NROLFW didn't seem to be working for her and really being at the end of my knowledge range with what if you have more than a few pounds of fat to loose but the strength training seems to be the way to go based on emotions and how the body feels I reached out to my favourite blogger Health Habits and asked for his input as a lot of his blog looks like Alwyn Cosgrove advice except Health Habits (aka Douglas Robb) actually posts full work out plans without making you pay for them....
Anyways I was hoping that he would refer us to one of his previous work outs or give us some pointers on what to believe not believe for those of us that do need to drop more than 5-10 lbs of fat. At best I hoped he'd write a blog about what to do if you have more to loose at worst I hoped he would answer my e-mail.
Well he's done one better. Doug has never done online training but he's willing to give it a go so long as the participants are willing to be guinea pigs on his blog. I agreed, and I'm local to Doug so if there are issues we can actually meet face to face. He also volunteered to take one other person on, and I hope I'll be excused for asking Julie to be the other person. She seemed to be the most engaged in a weights program that was not working for her and at a transition point in her work out.
We should hear back from Doug tomorrow (long weekend here for us Ontarienne Cannucks) and we'll keep you posted along the way.
FYI Doug's blog is: Health Habits - Click Here.
P.S. he also often posts some excellent recipes that he gets from local gourmet chefs in the area.
Sara.
Laura It took me a long time to get onside with the recipe tool, it seemed like a lot of work at first, but as soon as it clicked that once I had entered a recipe then I never had to enter the individual ingredients again..... WOW.... BEST THING EVER! Nice Pizza recipe, I'll definitely give it a go.
Soba noodles are gluten friendly! I think the recipe looks awesome and I also LOVE ginger. I think I'll try it this week for lunches, or next week possibly. Thanks Sara! I'll give an update later on this week. I did not escape Valentines completely unscathed unfortunately.
Hello Strangers!
I know, I know...the strangers part is all my fault. Here's the story. I went on a cruise(that explains one week of not logging), and then got the flu/serious cold virus and was sick for two weeks. I didnt even get onto CC for those two weeks. Went to work, ate and then rested. I am now back(still with the stiffles but feeling almost 100%). I went camping this weekend and realized just how out of shape I am after repeatedly having to stop while hiking and biking something I could do much easier not that long ago.
For my recipe I will have to find one of my favorites and enter it later. A quick question...for the soba noodles recipe what else could I use instead of bean sprouts? I love asian food but am not a big fan of bean sprouts.
Thanks Super Size for not forgetting about me!
My favorite recipe is one I found on Kraftfoods.com:
http://caloriecount.about.com/caribbean-jerk- chicken-skewers-recipe-r138433
I'm back on track today after another crappy weekend. I made it to the gym since I had the day off and i plan to go again and get in some cardio.
My analysis isn't looking too bad, but i need to up my protein a bit. That will take some hard work, but im trying!
Raven Sorry about valentines day, neither did I, my partner made a chocolate cake... with sprinkles! How could I say no?
Jessica Welcome back, I hope you had a good time on your cruise even if the aftermath wasn't so fun. In the future you can always send me a PM if you are away for a while and I'll put a note by your name so we're not constantly e-mailing you.
Not sure what you could substitute for the bean sprouts... the short answer is any vegetable you want, just change it in the log. Bean sprouts have almost no calories, so you won't get a one for one switch, but most vegetables are not high-cal, I may think of snow peas.
MsMeg I keep meaning to try something Jerk, I love it but it's exclusively take away for me right now. It says some items on the recipe weren't measured, any ideas which?
Just realized that I forgot to post the closed notice on last week's thread, so I'm bumping this one back up to the top so that members hopefully go directly to this thread, and if not the closed notice is on the previous thread.
As a reminder a new thread is posted every Sunday, if I can't post one on Sunday I will either make it a 2 week thread, or I will post a notice on the thread that the Sunday thread will be out late. Don't forget to look for the current weekly dates and tag your threads so that you can find them easily.
Sara.
I would imagine its the packet of dressing mix. However, kraft has the nutrition info on their website, so its pretty close to being accurate... The only thing thats off considerably is the sodium - you can up that to 700.
Sara - I do want to take a moment to publicly thank you for your generous offer to participate in Doug's study. It's an honor, I am excited and I hope we can all learn something as a result!
WEEKLY CHECKIN - I am still amazed at how well I am doing with my macronutrients. This past week was within 1.5% of being absolutely the perfect ratio. (I allow a 5% margin) But when I hit the analysis tab and saw 41.5/30.5/28 (C/P/F), I felt even more strongly that I should be losing! The fats are well below what I previously consumed! I don't think I could ask for much better nutrition, except maybe adding a multivitamin.
I did start taking fish oil. They're 10 calories each... LOL!. Its actually even improving my skin.. it just feels.... softer. I highly reccommend it. As for exercise, I am still doing the Complexes right before my Stage 2 Workouts. Stage 2 is proving to be tougher. Not out of reach, but nicely challenging and on target.
I did have a health analysis done at the gym, the results were both positive and negative. 1. I need to get my body fat down. Which we all know that's what I've been trying to do. It's at 35%. 2. My upper body strength is in the 90th percentile of women my age and frame. So that is good. Makes me wonder why I can't do a regular pushup yet. Could have something to do with my left shoulder, its been giving me a fit or two, I'm just trying to push through it, and make it stronger.
ASSIGNMENT:
In my BEFORE life, I was a sweetsaholic. I am not so much any more, but I do still like a square or two of dark chocolate particularly at certain times of month. I think desert can be a satisfying finale to a great meal SO I created a recipe that really hit the spot. I had a serving of it about a week ago, and the rest of it is still in the fridge. LOL... just haven't had a sweet tooth since that! It's Nana Puddin' , my low carb, low fat version of one of my mother's favorite holiday treats, which is good any time! I don't use the 'Nilla wafers that she did, and with the recipe, I used the banana flavor of sugar-free Jello pudding mix, my home made no-fat, no-sugar yogurt, as well as low-fat icecream. The data base kept telling me that those items could not be found so I had to improvise.
Now, for the real recipe, which CC can't really do justice... (LOL!) I will tell you all about my home made yogurt. It has become an everyday staple.
You take 1/2 gallon of skim milk, heat it to 180 degrees, and then sit the pan into a cold water bath until it reaches 100 degrees.
Add one pot of Activia Fat-Free Vanilla yogurt (or any other non-fat plain yogurt), and stir with a wisk. Put the mix into quart jars, and set into a 100 degree oven for about 6 hours. Try not to move the jars around too much, and be sure to maintain the heat at exactly 100 degrees.
You can check the thickness toward the 4 to 5 hour mark just by tipping the jar a bit to see if it is thickening... if not leave it, and check no more than once per hour. When thick, place jars in fridge. (I am really bad about loving it WARM! I can't stay out of it when it is first done... I must be part alien... LMAO!)
If you shake the jars around too much while it is in the oven, it will curd, and you'll have a whole bunch of whey to use as soup stock, and curds to feed your dog.... but you'll want to give it a good shake after it's cold.
You can make cream cheese from the yogurt too, line a colander with at least 3 layers of cheese cloth, and pour in half a quart of yogurt. Let the whey drip out for at least 4 hours or overnight. Voila, you have cream cheese. (Save the whey for soup stock, that's where the protein is!)
Also, you can flavor the yogurt with jello sugar free... strawberry or lime flavors are best, you can use a berry puree (raspberry, blackberry, blueberry, strawberry... even peach) to flavor it, with a little splenda, you have a bunch of healthy fat-free fruit flavored protein.
Add a scoop of protein powder, there you have a preworkout .... uhhh... double protein dessert? LOL! Or after workout ...... treat? Yep, its that good!
I mix it with a little redwine vinegar, salt and pepper for a delicious salad dressing. I once added a teaspoon of honey to this and it was WONDERFUL on a baby spinach and sliced boiled egg salad.
Put it in pudding mixes instead of milk. Use it on cereals, for example in your oatmeal ... use it in tuna salad instead of mayo.
Additionally, save a little by freezing it (the same amount of the Activia pot), to use as starter for your next batch. If you buy a container of plain non-fat stuff, just freeze that in ice cube trays for future use.
I guess you could say I have a newfound love... HOME MADE YOGURT!!
Have a healthgain day Everyone, and keep remembering... we are worth the effort!
~Julie
Hello all!
I love recipe swap! Am going a little crazy this week, but definitely wanted to share one of my favorite new recipes, scallops with mushrooms. It's something I came up with as a delicious dinner that's calorie-count friendly (over couscous, it's under 500 cals and can be quite filling, especially if you start with a green salad and homemade vinagrette or something like that). Will try to do a proper check in soon, but figure I'd better get this in now, just in case! On Friday I'm off travelling for a couple weeks, so my posts might be more brief than usual for a bit. (Good news for all those checking in at work! lol!) Happy Tuesday!
Thanks for the congrats on 8 months Sara. Eight???? Wow, time does fly! I have learned so much from this forum....different types of activities, ideas, recipes and philosophies......I LOVE it!
Weekly check in....I have been eating well and coaching my son. It's very difficult for me to find foods that I like to eat these days that have/have not all the things the doctors recommend. I am up for advice from any of you.
I am on a ......get ready for this......a high protein, low sugar, low fat, low potassium, low salt plan. UGH!I usually figure if I can hit half of the limits they set for me I will be doing good. I have never been much of a meat eater...I always preferred to get my protein from beans....of any sort...I love them. They are so high in potassium that they send my blood levels through the roof so they are a no-no for now.
I have been coaching my son on diet...we planned our meals together last week and ate the same things...even though since he is 34 and a fella...he got bigger portions. Well, talk about depressing, I lost 1 lb...he lost 16!! Oh to be young again!
I am buying myself a WII this week. I went to a friends to try theirs out before spending the money...played tennis....I was soaked with sweat after a few games...and it was FUN! I am so easily bored and I let myself slip from a regular routine. I live in the middle of nowhere so there is no gym available and after years of working out in the middle of my livingroom I am bored to tears at the thought. Using entertainment and challenging a computer for high score might be just my thing!
Have a great week all!
WEEKLY CHECK-IN
I moved last week so keeping on track was really hard but I managed to do so. I'm really really trying to keep losing weight because is for the greater good.
THIS WEEK'S TOPIC
I've enjoyed these cupcakes quite a few times. It tastes just like the real thing!
MsMeg That makes sense
Julie Ummm, wow! I remember when I was a kid my mum used to can preserves.... she also made yogurt occasionally, but she had a yogurt maker, which I thought was the long way to make yogurt (opening the package seemed so much easier).... I don't know that I'll ever try it myself (I've been meaning to try to make my own jam for 10 years now).... but, I think it's great that this knowledge is still around. I think it's often easy to forget how we actually make our foods. I'm great with stovetop, soups from scratch, and I even make my own pasta on occasion, I can bake a decent bread. I think the packaged food industry makes it too easy to consume too much of foods that we would have had little of because of the investment either in growing or preparing. I truly believe that doing these things improves our relationships with food.
Constanza I really like the sounds of that one. I love just throwing stuff together in a pan and seeing what works. My brother who is a great cook, when we were in high school I'd come home and there'd always be something nice cooking... I'd ask him what he was making and the answer always was...."I don't know, I just throw some olive oil and onions in a pan and go from there"..... it's even better when you do remember the little dishes you make up, they are often the best and can become family hand downs.
Wenchie , I can sympathize with trying to find the balance, when my mum was recovering from her cancer surgery she had a huge list of items she couldn't eat that were basically low fat, low protein and no-gas, and no small particle, no leafy greens.... then she was also diagnosed diabetic and had a diabetic diet... the problem was while in hospital the nurses could check the appropriate surgery diet or the diabetic diet, they would always check both... but inveritably the meals would come up either only surgery or only diabetic so that she could never eat the full meal. It took us a long time to figure out the things she could eat once she got the diabetes under control (which she is now totally off of medication) and her surgery healed up things have gone easier, but there were a lot of yogurt dinners with a side of orange juice.
Unlimitedana Good job trying to stay on track during a move.
Preserves are great to have around, and the home made variety do very much cause a lot of appreciation! They are tough to master. I learned from the best, my grandmother taught me how to make strawberry jam, grape jelly, blackberry jam, blueberry jam and jelly, peach butter, pumpkin butter, apple butter... there are so many I am sure I didn't list them all! Strawberry is likely the easiest, I think you should try to do it! Quit procrastinating... LMAO!
I am really enjoying reading over all the yummy recipes, I can't wait to try em!
Have a healthgain day,
~Julie
Sara - thanks for the 3 months note! I can't believe that much time has gone by... You're right, 3 months does seem to be a difficult period. Do you know more about typical psychological cycles surrounding eating/exercising habits?
I'm still counting calories, but haven't been as fastidious about bringing my lunches. Also, I've been allowing myself to rationalize my bad eating behavior. Not good!
Honestly, it means I am not making as much progress towards my nutrition goals. I feel I am letting it slide because of stress from school, job-searching, etc. For the most part, I am enjoying things, but am feeling so busy. It's easy to prioritize school stuff above things like eating.
Also, i'm now addicted to HGTV :-) just kidding.
Recipe: This actually gets an A- on the recipe analyzer! I bet it would get an even better rating if you used a butter substitute and reduced or eliminated the salt. This side-dish was a hit at a recent family party: Green Beans with Hazelnut Lemon Butter
ugh! You guys! Stop talking about jams!! lol! I recently re-discovered an old favorite, fruit preserves/jams by the mountain fruit company, which are available in health food-ish stores here in California, and online. They are RIDICULOUSLY good. The last time I opened a jar of my favorite, the strawberry gem, I finished it (with very little help from my partner) in 3 days. Um, portion control much? The good news is that they're actually mostly fruit, small amounts of sugar and none of that high-fructose-sucralose-whatever that's in regular store brands, so they're waaayy friendlier on the calorie count than anything else I've found. And so much tastier!! Just thought I'd share, for those of us not fortunate enough to be neighbours with Julie 
The yogurt sounds awesome too - I looove yogurt... (See why I have to count my calories? I love everything!) I think I'll try making it some time.
On the check-in front, I've been doing okay - logging more or less regularly but enough to be on goal, and exercising. I am however having a hard time catching up for the exercise sessions I missed thus far. Dern it!! I'm going to have to make that a project/short-term goal when I get back after vacation, I think.
Sara Let me know if you try it! My one disclaimer is that the amounts I listed are guesstimates, so you may want to tweak them here and there (probably the amount of stock, among other things..)
Wenchie I hear you. Whenever I make a conscious effort to make healthier meals, it's my husband who drops the weight! Damn his higher body mass and metabolism!! I'm sure you'll see results too :)
Ana keep at it! Disruptions can be so tough on the plan..
On Friday I take off for about three weeks, so right now I'm trying to come up with a way to stay on track. I'm thinking I better not fail to prepare! The food will not be fully in my control the way it is at home, nor the exercise, so I need to think about this in advance. To help myself be mindful of what I need to do, I'm laying it out here for you guys, so I feel like I'm accountable for doing the things I need to. Here goes:
LOGGING & EATING
- Try to choose options that I know are lower cal, like seafood, rice, veggies.
- Limit eating to appropriate meal times/dedicated snack times (3 meals, 2 snacks per day); avoid grazing or because-it's-available munching.
- Be conscientious about logging daily calories at the end of every day from now until next Wednesday, then from the following Wednesday until I get back stateside on March 7.
- On the days when I won't have internet access (the week starting next Wednesday), keep log of intake in my handy little notebook.
- Be mindful of the beer/wine calories.
EXERCISE
- Plan week's exercise at the beginning of each week.
- Since there will be a fair amount of street walking/dancing (I'm going to carnival in Trinidad), if I'm out and on my feet for 3 + hours, I'll count it as dedicated exercise for the day. (I've previously only been logging 'dedicated' exercise, as opposed to the accidental kind you get when you're out shopping or running errands all day)
- Exercise whenever there's time/opportunity (no procrastination) in case another time doesn't present itself later in the week.
And that's it! Wish me luck!
Hi All
Weekly Check-in: YAHOO down to 179!! I can't tell you how long it has been since I have seen that number...and I fit into size 12's now...loving it!! I almost danced around my bike that day.. I am so looking forward to the doc visit I bet his jaw will drop to the floor...with my whole family being overweight, I almost felt bad for him he is always trying to get my parents/sister to lose weight...to no avail yet..but where there is life there is hope right?
I am going to try the paste instructions fromWeight Watcher Raisin Bread Sara my little link buttons wouldn't highlight last time..so here goes..
I hope it works...I found it so easy to make, and it is so satisfying in the mornings toasted when I am on the run and don't have time to make my usual oatmeal/cream of wheat. Also I love bread..and want to get better at making it so I bought a weight watcher cookbook, and some whole wheat flour and yeast and I am on a mission!!
Jules: I gotta give it to ya woman you rock!!! homemade yogurt that is awesome. the recipe looks pretty easy..hmmm maybe this weekend I might have to try it...now if I want to add fruit I wait until it is "set"?
Also good luck to both Sara and Julie on their new endeavor...I will be reading with great interest to see if it works well for both of you.
Sara: Did you ever get the job offer again? or was it they were in a hiring freeze? Our shop is going to 4 days a week for a month..hoping to stave off another lay-off...the head guy of the British company that owns us came over and told our staff that he commended the quick way they reacted to the economic down turn that the main company in the U.K. hadn't reacted quickly enough and that they were going to have their own "redundancy" layoffs when he got back to the U.K. later in the week. So 4 days hurts a bit not not as much as it could..
unlimitedana: My sister brought those cupcakes to work and you are right I couldn't tell the difference.
Wenchie: It is so nice that you are doing so well after your surgery..are you going to get a WII Fit? With your diet needs it must be so rough to find a interesting variety
Constanza: Have a safe trip! look forward to hearing from you when you get back.
well with that I am going to get my dinner started...
I hope everyone has a Healthgain evening!!
Robin
Robin - yes, anything you "do" to it is always after it is "made"... LOL... bake it first, then add stuff after it's chilled.
HAHA, I already can make my own jams! I am just try'n to motivate Sara! I think she can, don't you? teehee....
So you can keep track of what you eat - which enables you to analyze your foods and receive the following:
- Health Score of your overall diet
- Warning when you approach your daily calorie limit
- Overview of the good and bad nutrients