Mern

Robin, I hope the fundraiser drama is calmed by Saturday. Good for you for avoiding unnecessary drama. Congrats on your swim, walking, and eating away from home.

Jezzie, welcome back. I hope you slide easily back into tracking and walking. Best wishes on your arm pain.

April, my younger child is a really good-hearted guy, too. I always say he puts the "gentle" in the word "gentleman." Thanks for your encouragement. You've had marvelous reports this week. Sorry, I couldn't help but giggle aloud when reading "I am sure Oreos weren't on the plan." It's good to have a sense of humor about the occasional stray, especially during TOTM. I hope your work day went well. Can't wait to read about what you can tell us about the prom.

Hope, thanks for your encouragement. I'm glad you were able to get in meditation and exercise to help with your pain. I've been away for so long. Is the pain due to the fibro or something different? Did you come away with some good pointers for the nutritional healing? You are doing an amazing job dealing with your stress and pain. Be assured of my hope and prayers for you as well.

I haven't got a menu planned for today because I don't know if we're going out for dinner, but I will pledge to eat small meals and on plan.

I went over in sat fat yesterday. I thought I had room for the sat fat in cheese and 2 sugar free chocolates, but I didn't--turned out I was on May 1 in my nutrition tracker instead of May 2. I didn't discover the error until I was done eating for the day. Unusual for my overage to be accidental, so I'm still proud of my results for Thursday.

Thurday report:
Calorie range 1300-1600 1360, 1524
Saturated fat maximum 10% of total calories 9%, 13%
Net carbs (total carbs less fiber) maximum 25g 17g, 25g
Fiber minimum 25g 36g, 56g
Protein minimum 120g 151g, 147g
Cholesterol maximum 250mg calling it green at 254mg, 154mg
Water 64 oz. YES, YES
Exercise 5 days YES, YES

carolynnq

Hope - I have never once thought of you as a Debbie Downer. A Debbie Downer wouldn’t be looking for solutions as you are. I’m glad you feel comfortable enough to share how you’re really feeling. And, yes, we should be appreciative of our being able to exercise without pain. It’s so easy to take good health for granted.

Mike - I understand about evil scales. Have a great vacation.

Donna, going back to your maxim of yesterday - "If the packaging of a food tells you that it is healthy, then it probably isn’t." - what did I find in my kitchen but a box of Frosted Flakes with a “Good Source of Vitamin D” banner across the top. (I swear, they’re my husband’s, not mine. He bought them - he’s got a huge sweet tooth, plus he'll buy anything that’s on sale whether it’s healthful or not.)

Mern - I’m an emotional eater too. Some people eat when they’re upset; some people can’t eat when they’re upset (wish I were one of those!). Even with your mistake, you didn’t go too far over on your saturated fats, so good job!

Robin - wise decision to stay out of the fundraiser drama.

Jezzie - great to see you back and glad you had a good time in Mexico.

April - Oooh, potato chips. They are definitely one of my weak points. Yep, it can suck being a girl. And, after menopause, most women have to eat less and exercise more just to maintain their weight. Looking forward to your account of tonight’s prom and dinner activities!

*****
1. 3 meals + 2-3 snacks (no extra snacking) Y, Y,Y,Y
2. 2-3 min. exercise before meal prep, snacks. Y,Y,Y,N (I forgot to do it sometimes)
3. An hour extra movement a day: N (35 min), N (40), Y (60), N (40)
4. No sugar, white flour: Y,Y,Y,Y
5. Small bites and put fork down between bites: mostly
6: Weight same or down: same; maybe down, down,down

01gt4.6

Mern, I think we have an Alcatraz tour planned for that night.

Mern

Hope, I missed your birthday. I hope it was a happy one.

Mike's birthday is May 9 and April's is the 23rd. Anyone else have a May birthday or anniversary?

Mike are you in Frisco now? I hope you enjoy the tour on your birthday.

Carolyn, thanks for your support. I love your goal of 2-3 minutes of exercise before meal prep & snacks. Did you read that somewhere or was it your own idea? Is that just to help keep your metabolism speeded up outside of your regular exercise sessions? Have you noticed more steady weight loss since you started that?

I'm on track with everything so far today. Have a catered birthday party dinner to go to Sunday night. I'll try to eat a low carb meal before I go and hope for something there to be low carb that I can count as a small meal/snack. I might sneak a low carb bar into my purse for when the others are eating cake.

Jezzie8

Tried something new to me today - baked zucchini with tomato & cheese - it was really good.
Cut zucchini in half (the long way) & trim round part off bottom so they sit straight.
Brush with olive oil, place sliced tomato on top, sprinkle with garlic powder, salt & pepper then top with low fat mozza & a sprinkle of parm.
Bake at 375 for 25 - 30 mins - YUMMY!
Also tried Skinny Spagetti Squash - really enjoyed that too. It has homemade alfredo on it so not sure about the nutrition component - use low fat milk & low fat crm cheese?? If you'd like that recipe I'll post it

carolynnq

Mern - it was my idea - born out of frustration. I was stuck at a weight for almost 2 weeks, despite eating 900-1200 calories a day and exercising most days. I've only been doing this pre-meal exercise since Monday and have dropped 2 pounds. BUT, it's quite possible I would have done so anyway, even without the 2-minute spurts. When I started my weight loss effort in January, weight came off at a steady 1-2 lbs a week. In March, I started stalling at a weight for a week or two, and then the following week would lose a pound or two.

I'm sure these spurts throughout the day have helped just because of the added calories spent and, as I sit most of the day, it's probably good to get my blood flowing more frequently.

Two minutes of jumping jacks makes for a long 2 min watching the seconds tick down! At the very least, starting meal prep winded reminds me to not nibble as I cook, and sometimes I think I feel less hungry after the exercise.

Have fun at the birthday party on Sunday!

01gt4.6

Mern, I'll be there from the 8th - 14th

Mern

Jezzie, ooh, yum! I copied the recipe for the baked zucchini with tomato and mozzarella. Thanks!

Carolyn, thanks for your comments on the added exercise and kudos for thinking of that as a possible remedy for a stall. I know what you mean about watching the clock during exercise--makes it seems to go by so slowly. I don't know if I could do two minutes of jumping jacks but if I run out of steam I could finish with any number of exercises from my Leslie Sansone Walk Away the Pounds for Abs DVD. Thanks for the great idea--I don't know how faithful I'll be about it, but I'll try to get more in. I've been off exercise for a while and my legs and back are a little stiff since resuming, so have been doing just one mile of aerobic walking twice a day. But I must say my hip socket pain has lessened since I resumed exercise. I figured (and am pretty sure I'm right) that the hip pain was unintentionally self-inflicted from lack of exercise. Next week I'm going to try to increase my stamina by 5 minutes more every couple days. Thanks for your wishes for fun at the BD party.

Mike, I hope you have a great time in Frisco.

01gt4.6

Thanks Mern!

dmartz

• Workout > 150 min/wk: 55, 20, 60, 15, 10
• Calories Avg. < 1400 /day: 1195, 1198, 1290, 1528, 1815
• Cholesterol < 200mg: 60, 20, 123, 142, 129
• Vegetables > 3 / day: 1, 0, 5, 2, 3
• Protein > 50 g / day: 54, 31, 58, 85, 60
• Do something I've never done before: Went to an art exhibit where you walked through adjacent areas that used natural lighting effects to describe various architectural styles. Very interesting, and beautiful.