gotcha.

New year, new leaf. No blaming others. It would be SO convenient though.

Tori, I understand your feelings and at 56, I still feel that way some days. I don't like needing to watch every bite I eat, but if I want to continue to lose weight and be healthy, that's what I must do. Relationships are WORK--none of mine have ever been easy and each one created growth for me emotionally and sometimes physically! I lost myself after a difficult divorce and made terrible choices, but, oh, the lessons that I learned--and am still learning, from that! I think life is a series of mistakes and lessons learned and that each step helps prepare us for the next chapter.

So, after lunch, I'm off to the gym! Vicki

Vicki--it was a roller coaster, that's for sure. I didn't know, at the time, that I was capable of falling so hard so fast for someone. I had always protected myself by not getting too close to someone. There was, and still is, something about him. He was "the one", so to speak. I've definitely learned that I have to stop putting him first all the time though. I'm worth being the best I can be. For him, me, and our pups. Thank you for understanding. I'm sure there are MANY here who "get it".

Mike, I don't have horses, but there is a farm two miles from me that has eleven horses. I have been given permission to bring in any of the three largest horses to groom and release. I can't afford the riding fee, but it's a great upper body workout to brush them out and clean their hooves.

The walk I took yesterday, on that same farm, was about a half mile. I am so out of shape.

Hmm, Tori, I get it.
I too am tired. I was tired. I allowed my husband of 30-something years to regulate my energy level. I got things done during the day while he was at work, or I didn't do them at all. He would come home from work, change into his housecoat and watch TV, drinking cola and eating chips. Oh and smoking cigarettes. Out of a sense of duty, I would sit with him. Although I don't drink cola, eat chips or smoke. Life was all about waiting to die.
Then I had a heart attack.
Now he hasn't changed other than smoking outside. I on the other hand have a life. I have friends. I go spend time with them. I am learning new things.
I'm still tired of the dreary life at home, but I get out.

I hope to learn archery on Sunday afternoon. If not this Sunday, next Sunday.

Annette--I totally understand sitting and watching tv while the SO does. I've found myself doing the same. Only thing is, I too was eating chips and drinking soda. He helps with the housework and cooking so I'm lucky in that regard. He also helps with the dogs. He knows when I'm having a particularly bad day ( I have RA ) and will do more on those days. He did all of the cooking and kitchen cleaning while he was off Christmas Eve through New Years. It helps so very much. I told him the other day that I had to start making better food choices again. We met when I was full force into my weight loss journey a few years ago, so he's known me at my smallest adult weight and my current weight. Which is roughly 40 pounds heavier than my smallest. He'll be cooking tonight. We have chicken breast laid out to cook. He said he would season it with poultry seasoning, salt and pepper and pan sear it then finish it in the oven. We will probably have baked beans and corn to go with it. He may or may not do rice, he was undecided. I told him that I wouldn't change how I cook completely, it's not fair to him, but that I HAD to lighten the menu some. Ground turkey in soups, chili, and pasta dishes. Mostly focusing on getting more greens and vegetables in our diet. He said he was on board. I feel motivated again. I think that's the biggest difference this time.

Wow! I just looked and so far I'm under 600 cals for the day. Just started on my 4th bottle of water.

Hooves? I'd be afraid of getting kicked.:o

you may deserve it :D



Okay, going to catch an hour or so of shut eye before work. I'm at 1320 calories for the day. Not sure how to log food tonight at work. Does it go on today or tomorrow??? I may just take an average of the two days.

Tori, when I work nights, I log it according to the time I eat it. If before 12 mn I put it on current day's log; if I eat it after 12 mn, then I put it on that day's log.

I've been afraid on the treadmill for years since one threw me and I was bruised and battered. Today, I decided to conquer that fear. I got on a treadmill! Didn't stay on but 12 minutes and didn't go too fast, but I DID IT! Vicki

Good morning all :) Today is a rest day for me, thank goodness because I'm pretty sore from Monday and Tuesdays workouts. I'm planning to get in some cardio today....maybe on the bike or the elliptical.

Vicki - That's awesome that you've overcome your fear of the treadmill! Are you still enjoying the classes at the gym and doing the weights circuit?

Annette - You may have only walked a half mile, but that's more than doing nothing at all. Be proud of your accomplishment ;)

Tori - That must be tough working nights. What do you do for a living? As for how to log food when working nights....I'm not sure since I've never worked nights....but I would guess that you're sleeping schedule isn't the same as others. I would log everything you eat in your waking hours since that would be your day....so everything you eat from the time you wake up (from your full sleep) until the time you go to sleep (for your full sleep....like eight hours....not a nap before work). Hope that makes sense! LOL!

A big hello to everyone else...Lisa, Libby, dschefer, Hope, Mike, Quinn, Epixi, gypsyjoy....and anyone else I missed. Hope everyone has a great day!

Wow! This thread is popping! Great to see so many people.

Tori! Holy cow, haven't seen you IN AGES. Welcome back!!!! Did Mike drag you back in? Gotta thank him for getting this going. BTW what is TBM?

I too get sick of logging, measuring, watching and weighing but seriously. I ate clean one day (Monday) and went hog wild the next. Let's blame it on exhaustion. Let's blame it one DD coming home. Hell let's blame it on Mike. A little testosterone, huh? Yeah just a tad. And Chil Fil A, really, Mike?

My goals for the week:

1) log food/water yes, yes
2) drink 100 oz of water a day yes (140oz), yes (right at a gallon)
3) drink a bottle of water BEFORE I eat a meal yes, yes
4) lose 1 pound


My scale is still acting stupid. Monday morning it said 210.6, today it said 207.8. I know I didn't lose 3 pounds in 48 hours. Oh well, either way, it's still going in the right direction!:D

Debbie, please don't coddle Tori. That's like feeding a wild aligator.:D

She named her dog The Bowel Movement!! Can you believe it? How terrible is that?? I can't bring myself to call him that so I refer to him as TBM. At least one of us has a little heart and compassion.:eek:

I haven't seen the the Motivation thread this busy in a very long time. We are only 6 days into the new year and on page 6 already. So nice to see people excited about weight loss again. Things are going much better for me since all the junk is out of the house. We went grocery shopping yesterday and bought a lot of good healthy food. For breakfast I ground some flax seed and made a muffin in a coffee cup in the micro wave. It was very filling. Lunch will be a chopped veg salad with chipotle dressing and I can eat as much as I want for
330 calories. If I share it will only be 150 cal. Supper will be pork loin roast,
oven baked sweet potato fries and green beans. I am eating a large variety of foods but keeping to smaller portion sizes of meats and starches. There isn't any food group that I eliminate because all whole foods have their merits and variety is the spice of life. The holiday weight is gone and by Friday I should be into the 160's. Let's make this the best year ever.

Libby - Please share your mug muffin recipe! Sounds like it would be quick and easy...everything I need with a full time job and a family to feed ;) Are you tracking calories? I'm curious to know if you have achieved your current results by just cutting back on meat and starches or if you still track calories as well. You're doing so well!! I can't wait to see you hit your goal this year!!! :)

Hi all. Muffin in a Minute or MIM is an Atkins recipe. I would recommend that you buy whole flax seed and grind it yourself. That way you get all the fiber and nutrients from the flax. I eat it with a tsp. of cream cheese and frozen berries. I still count calories and go between 1350 and 750. I think they call it calorie confusion and it works for me.

Morning, folks! Or rather, afternoon...

Looks like everyone is off to a great start, both in terms of actions and in terms of enthusiasm.

Tori, Vicki, I share the frustration of having to watch and obsess over every. single. bite. So unfair.

Vicki, nice work on getting on the treadmill. Have you seen any of the studies with regard to slow-walking on a treadmill? Such as those who advocate doing computer work while tread-strolling? I've even seen treadmills with PC stands mounted on them for just that purpose.

Hope, clean on Monday and not so much on Tuesday? Let's call it Calorie Cycling -- makes it sound like part of a plan, yes?

Mike, if the scales says a loss of 3 pounds, who are you to argue (wink wink). Of course, if it says a gain of 3 pounds, them's fightin' words!

Debbie, your comments about protein waffles reminded me of something I saw yesterday. Apparently, someone is in the process of making a waffle iron in the shape of a computer keyboard. I think there's even a Kickstarter for it. That would be so fun!

Speaking of using protein for cooking, I haven't made my protein muffins in a few months. Last batch I made were seriously bitter. I threw in protein, flax, bran and some other healthy stuff (I forget now), but somehow, it didn't quite work all together. I choked down a few of them but eventually tossed the remainder out. I should try again.

Libby, I've seen the Muffins in a Mug/Minute around for awhile. Didn't know they were attributed to Atkins -- I've seen them on YouTube and on body-building sites. I keep saying I should give it a go. Seems easy enough. And I do like easy.

As for me, yesterday I made my first attempt at curried chicken salad. Made it with apples, grapes and walnuts. We (the fam and I) gave it about an 85. The downfall was the chicken itself. I microwaved it because I didn't want it to dry out. Unfortunately, instead of being dry, it ended up soft and somewhat mushy. Next batch will be seasoned and roasted. And I'll add some scallions. Yum!

Here's the kicker -- I used YOGURT! If you remember my attempts at yogurt last year, you'll remember that just the thought of yogurt makes me gag, but I bit the bullet and used yogurt in the curry dressing. And I really LIKED it! Yeah, I'm as shocked as you are, haha.

Tonight's cooking adventure will be soup. I have a ham bone left over from the holidays. I have some vegetable stock (very low sodium to counteract the sodium in the ham). I soaked a bunch of beans overnight. I'll throw in some onions, spinach and tomatoes. Wish me luck!

Take care, everyone. Keep up the good work!

Epixi - LOL!! :D This commented literally had me laughing out loud! So true right!! ;) Good luck with the soup tonight. All the ingredients sound like they should produce a yummy and filling soup!

If you're sore, listen to your body and rest. As far as work, I am a pricing manager for a local grocery chain. Don't let the exciting job title fool you, all it means is I am in charge of making sure all of the weekly price changes are done, tags hung, signs made, etc. It's not exciting, but it pays the bills. I only work third one night a week. The other 3 days I work first. It took a while, but I got used to the weird sleeping pattern.
:D

Ah yes, Little BM. You're a dork!!

Hope-When BF came home from the Army we had his sister and niece living with us. Niece had two dogs, Bubba and Boss. When niece decided she didn't like living with rules, she moved out. She left the dogs. Bubba sadly didn't make it, he got hit. Boss is our survivor from her. We call him The Boss Man, or just Boss Man. He is a 22 pound Doberman Dachshund mix. It sounds odd, but he's the cutest thing ever. He has the muzzle and facial expressions of a doxie, but is built like a dobie...just on a small scale. He's too sturdy to be a min pin mix though. We also have a 9 month old German Shepherd named Junior.


That's my story for now. Will update goals later on. We have turkey chili in the crock pot for supper. Slowly but surely I am going to get BF eating good too. I'll never be able to fully convert him (he loves bacon too much), but I can make small changes and he said he's fine with that. Will check with y'all soon.

Hiya! Yeah, it's been quite a while. He sort of kinda dragged me back. I had already planned on logging my food, just didn't know if I would have the time and energy to devote to checking in here. I'll wing it for now. I may not be able to check in every day, especially weekends. Weekends are the only time that BF and I see each other. We work opposite schedules. See previous post about who and what TBM is.

BLAME IT ON MIKE!!!!

Yep, you got that right. The soup sounds good!!

Boo freakin' who!

I'm use to it. ;)

The thread is definitely hopping.

I went out to groom a horse today. I wouldn't say that I gave my arms a great workout, but there was a lot of dried mud and then clean up to do. Tasha didn't cooperate with me so I had to walk out in the field twice to get her. Once I got her inside she went along with everything I asked, including lifting her hooves for me to clean.
Next time I need to remember to bring apples or candy canes with me to start with. Then I won't have to chase the horse down, she will come to me.

Need to take a shower now because all that dried on mud ended up on me.

Tomorrow, I am holding out for a walk.

Just a quick update. Tuesday and Wednesday went well. Under calories on both days. Today I have already logged everything through lunch. Not sure what supper will be yet so couldn't log it. Will do a full update when I get home today.

My confession of the day. There may or may not have been an impulse donut eaten around 3 this morning.

Have a great day FitDayers!

I'm up early, just couldn't sleep any more. Every one else is still asleep so I can't make any noise in the kitchen. I keep thinking of the quote that Brian wrote,
"This months food is next months body". It's a scary thought and although it keeps me from eating junk some time it worries me to eat any thing. How crazy is that? I need some meal options that are approved, some things that the guys will like but are fine for me too. When you have been cooking for 40 years you get into a rut and cook the same things over and over again. Where have you found good recipes?

I can completely relate Libby!! To not being able to sleep and getting to a point that I was afraid to eat anything.....that was when I was at my lowest weight a couple years back (if you remember)...I think it's how I stayed on track back then....out of fear. I can also relate to getting in a rut and cooking the same thing when cooking for a family!!!

I often check out skinnytaste.com for new recipes to try. I've found quite a few that are good that both my husband and I like! The kids...not so much...they are verrrrrrry picky! But it's still helpful to find something that both my husband and I like. Another good site is kalynskitchen.com. She puts up low carb recipes and many are very good! Let me know if you check out the sites and if you try any recipes :)

libby- I find a lot of recipes on Facebook now and I tweak them to make them healthier. Tonight I'm doing a honey garlic chicken. It looks good and no real fattening ingredients. It's some herbs, dijon mustard, honey, garlic, and olive oil. Marinated 30 minutes and baked for 35 at 400*. Looks yummy and should be BF friendly. I'll pair it with some roasted red potatoes and green beans. Toss a salad for me and I'll be set for a healthy meal. I'm sure there will be leftovers for tomorrow's lunch too. My biggest thing is to watch my calories. I eat what I want, and what BF would want, and just keep my calories under a set number each day. It worked for me in the past, so we're going to try it again.

quick update. The scale is still being stupid, BUT STILL MOVING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION. 205.4#. That's down 5.2# in 36 hours. I'm going to keep plugging away!

Libby, my go to for recipes is Pinterest. I have found a plethora of good recipes on there. Last night was Tuscan chicken with fire roasted and sundried tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, garlic, green peppers (not in the recipe but I added them), so it was super low cal and I served it over rice. I have found soooo many good recipes on there. If the calories seem to high I either eat less of it and have something low cal with it to fill, or tweak the recipe for lower calories. I'm fortunate that my husband and kids are always game to try new things and like lots of different flavors and textures. I feel for you all who have picky families.

I'm doing well, staying on track with my calories for the most part. I've been over a time or 2, but by less than 200 which is still pretty good in my book. Yesterday I only had 2 granola bars for snacks during the day so I was right on target at the end of the day, maybe even a little under. We'll see what the scale says for tomorrow's weigh in.

My goals for the week:

1) log food/water yes, yes, most (not all)
2) drink 100 oz of water a day yes (140oz), yes (right at a gallon), yes (118.3)
3) drink a bottle of water BEFORE I eat a meal yes, yes, yes
4) lose 1 pound

Wow talk about a throwback Thursday moment. I was going through some old pics on my computer. These were some of the 7 day clan back in the day. Some may recognize this pic.
http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/i...atarscopy7.jpg

Debbie, Tori and Lisa, I checked out skinnytaste.com and found quinoa stuffing that I am going to cook tonight. These recipe sites will help tremendously with my food preparation and the guys will love it. Thank you.

Hey! I remember that! There's me! =)

yep, still look the exact same. ;)

Glad you found something on the site to try! I'll be interested to hear your review tomorrow. If you end up enjoying her site, I highly recommend her cookbook.....many of the recipes are awesome!

That must have been sometime ago....I've been posting here since Sept. 2013 and only recognize Mern on the tree. Where is she!!?! I hope she comes back! She's always been such a positive voice around here....I miss her.

My company is starting to pack up and so my menus can get out of "holiday" mode. I got on the scale today and I have 12 lbs. of maintenance to do this year. Every year, my husband and I get on the scale in January to assess the Christmas damage. Some years, it's a pound or two. This year is my biggest gain since 2010.

Not making any excuses. The blame is squarely mine. But, I did slip a disc last March, which was the most severe spinal injury I've had since a car accident about 13 years ago. I'm a really physically active person and I'm constantly on the go. But, with an injury like this one, you are knocked squarely on your butt for a long time.

I've worked really hard with a great MD, DCM, PT and a personal trainer and I can say with great happiness that I'm actually in better shape than I was prior to the injury.

A bit of sympathy eating did creep in, hence the weight gain. But, it's high time I get off of my pity pot and clean up my diet, too.

I do work out every day, 45 minutes of core building and 30-60 minutes of walking or hiking per day and have for a long time. Just have to get rid of the extra pounds so that my hard work can show. =)

I've also cleaned up my diet since Christmas and will start logging, journaling and being accountable here starting on Monday. =)

:) Yeah, time for a new haircut. lol

Yes, I recognize quite a few on the tree. Not many use their actual photos, but I know who they are. Maybe we can entice some of them back. =)

I miss Mern too. I sent her a message, I haven't heard back. I hope she has her email notifications turned on, if not, she may have no clue about it.

You know what you need to do. Sounds like you're already pretty active!

I just wish I had hair to cut. No not really, I think I'd look funny with hair.

Holy Crap! Talk about old school. I remember quite a few on that tree, including myself. Does anyone know how long ago it was that Joanna stopped posting? I do miss her. And Mike, who was it you called Doll Face? Is she still around?