Motivational Thread - February 24 - March 2
 

As requested by my fitday buddy, Libby! This quote is for you girl ;)

The difference between your body this week and next week is what you do for the next 7 days to achieve your goals. It's a new week. Make it count!

And to add a little more push to that quote....if you need an extra push that is...

You can only fail if you quit!

I added in the second quote this week because I've been struggling with motivation recently. I know I'm not alone on that one....we all struggle with motivation from time to time. It's a good reminder to keep forging forward. Even if weight loss slows down or even halts, quitting is failing! I've tried many times in the past to lose weight and ended up failing because I quit when the going got tough. I did lose the weight a few times, but ultimately failed because I quit trying and didn't learn how to maintain my weight and gained it back. I refuse to fail this time!

Let's make this a great week! By great I mean, even if the scale isn't cooperating, even if life gets in the way and we don't get in a workout, even if we slip up and eat more than planned, even if we lack motivation...WE WON'T GIVE UP!!!

For those of us who set a goal for the end of February, this is it! 4 more days until our last February weigh in! Let's do our best whether that means hitting your goal or getting as close to goal as possible. :D

Thanks Debbie. I've been struggling with motivation myself but vowed I would set goals for the week.

GOALS
1. Stay within carb limit
2. Increase servings of fruit and veggie (at least 4 serving)
3. 6 glasses of water
4. Exercise 4X for 30 min
5. Lose 1lb

Personal goals
1. Clean powder room
2. write more
3. clean/organize office

Jenn

I've been horrible on my healthful lifestyle since my last weigh-in on January 10. No special reason--I just fell off the wagon and each day said "tommorow" I will restart.

Well, after a shout-out from Jenn, I'm here.

I ate on plan for breakfast today and just finished 18 minutes of a 28 day cardio + strengh boot camp DVD. Whoa! It has levels from beginners to already fit, but even the beginners routine is hard for me. I can't do all the fast paced moves yet, but I keep moving nonetheless. Two-three days per week I will try to add as many minutes for which I have the stamina. I will do a mile of aerobic walking tonight.

I haven't weighed. I'm sure I'm up at least 5 lbs. since my last doctor visit. Would like to be down from that visit by 3 lbs. on March 28.

My simple goals this week are to eat on plan and to exercise at least 5 days.

I've got to go back to Food Talk and browse for more low carb recipes or ones I can adapt to low carb. I don't have ricotta cheese on hand but I will get some next time I go to the grocery because that filling for Debbie's spinach and cheese calzone looks nicely low carb enough for my limit of 25g net carbs per day.

Today's menu:

Breakfast: spinach and eggs with roasted red pepper sauce

Lunch: spinach and Laughing Cow Mozzarella, Tomato and Basil Cream Cheese on a low carb tortilla. (Idea from Debbie's spinach and cheese calzone.)

Dinner: casserole of low carb pasta, chicken sausage, sauteed green pepper and onions, and tomato with Italian seasoning. Cole slaw with ranch dressing.

Snacks: choose from celery or cucumber spread with peanut butter, almonds, another protein shake--subject to change as long as on plan.

Hi all - Checking back in with day 29 of Chasing the Sun which was 40 minutes cardio/abs intervals. I'm planning some extra cardio this evening in order to try my best to get closer to my February goal!

Welcome back Mern! Each week, I've been watching our daily thread hoping you woudl post again! I know it's hard when you fall off the wagon to get back on, but I'm glad to see you're back :) That spinach and cheese filling is very low carb and also nice and filling and feels like comfort food. I bet if you rolled it up in your low carb tortilla and warmed it up, it would be yummy! If you want to try making the dough, you could always replace some of the regular flour for almond flour to reduce the carbs. Also, not sure if I mentioned it before, there's a great site that I like to go to that focuses solely on low carb recipes. You should check it out....maybe you'll get some good ideas!

Mern and Jenn - Awesome job setting exercise goals. I personally think exercise is essential to weight loss! Mern, what's the name of the bootcamp dvd you're using? Jenn, what kind of exercise are you incorporating into your week?

I'll check back later to see how everyone is doing and what the goals are this week. ;)

I have been doing well with diet and exercise. I am reading the shred diet and trying some new recipes. By Friday I hope to be down to 168 again.
Thanks for repeating the quote Debbie and welcome back Jenn and Mern.
I like the new quote too. You can only fail if you quit.Lets all stick with our goals this week.

Thanks for the link to the site Debbie. I have put it in my favourites and will have a look later.
Today I walked around the mall and grocery store because I had to run errands. I want to get back into using Wii. I do the Wii Sports Active video game usually for 20 mins. I haven't worked out for a while so it might be ambitious goals for this week.

Jenn

Hello everyone. Thank you for the great quotes Debbie. Much appreciated! Let's stay motivated.
I did my weightlifting class this a.m. for one hour and then a protein shake afterwards. I'm really enjoying the shake I made btw. The recipe is- one full scoop protein powder, 1 cup soy vanilla milk, 1 banana, and 1 teaspoon of vanilla. I think it makes the perfect breakfast! Tomorrow I'm going to add some cinnamon too. That seems like it would give it a nice flavor. Occasionally (1x week) I like to use my juicer as well if anyone is ever interested in a few recipes- let me know. They can be surprisingly good!

Goals for this week are:
1. Daily 6 glasses water + 3 glasses green tea
2. Workout 5-6 x week (protein shake after)
3. Log food/journal
4. Eat 4-5 small meals per day and stay within 1400-1500 calories eaten.
5. Lose at least 1-2 lbs for the Friday weigh in.

Welcome back Mern. I know how hard it is to get back on track. I'm out of my protein for shakes. Tomorrow I will have time to get some. I use almond milk and fruit and protein powder. It does get my protein count up. I've been out for 2 days and I miss them. Let's have a great week. I expect to meet my goal for Feb. Plan is the same as the last few weeks.

If anyone is looking for a good protein to try, I love Whey Gourmet Naturelle. No artificial sweeteners added or other funky ingredients ;)