Ok that was very adorable:)

Donna thanks for sharing that about the inches vs weight. Is that a reasonable goal for one week?

I saw this watermelon cleanse and thought it sounded good but I decided I would eat normal food plus all this extra watermelon. I'm not interested in a pure cleanse. Too hard! Anyway who knows if this will do anything but I don't think it can hurt me.

2/2 on swimming so far this week.

It's going to be another very hot day so I am going to exercise early today.
I am so glad that the treadmill is in the basement where it is cooler. Lets all have a great day.

GOALS
1. Keep to carb limit yes no
2. Drink at least 6 glasses of water--probably should do more!! yes, yes
3. 4 servings of fruits/veggies yes no
4. Work on some writing
5. Clean kitchen (working on it) yes

Congrats to the people exercising in the heat! Oh boy I have very little energy even with the a/c on. Yesterday it got up to 44C/110F.

Jenn

Tuesday
 

• Calorie Deficit (Avg) -250/day: -429, -443
• Vegetables > 3 /day: 2, 3
• Cholesterol < 200 mg/day: 213, 205
• Sugar < 40g / day: 31, 43
• Protein > 50g / day: 84, 64
• Workout > 150 min/week: 60, 10

Robin, I don't know if my 1/2 inch goal is reasonable for one week, but I know the tape barely budged last week, so it's probably not for me. I'm also fairly certain that if I don't try to 'lose' a bit, then I might start to gain, and I don't want that! A calorie deficit by day won't work for me over a weekend, so I'm trying to just average it out (just not a 'rolling' average).

About the watermelon - Wouldn't a watermelon cleanse be a diet of mainly sugar? Doesn't sound very healthy to me...

- Donna

HEY MERN! How's that fridge?

For yesterday:
1.) Be reasonable on calories - M: Not really, T: Y
2.) Drink water - M: Okay, T: Okay
3.) Exercise -
M: Gym - Done
T: Run 5 miles - Done
W: off (driving to Baltimore)
Th: Run 4 miles
F: maybe Gym, maybe off (depends what friend wants to do)
S: Run 6 miles
Su: off
4.) Finish this paper and send it to collaborators by Friday!!!! - M: Servers were down, not much done, T: Doing alright

I just checked the weather for Baltimore today - holy cow! i'm wearing as few clothes as possible while still being decent. It's gonna be hot!

It's Wednesday and the week is almost half over. To all the people suffering in the heat, I hope you all drink plenty of water and try to stay cool. I hate walking in the heat but mostly the humidity. I have been walking at 11 pm outside, so I can avoid it.

I have never heard of the watermelon cleanse. I do know that watermelon is super high in Lycopene, which is great for cardiovascular health and bones. The best thing is it is a yummy alternative to unhealthy sweets.

Libby: I can relate to rewarding yourself for control. In past attempts to lose weight, I would reward myself with unhealthy food every time I would reach a mini goal. Crazy huh? The reward this time is obtaining better health and just feeling better. I can't wait to reward myself with buying a whole new wardrobe. :p

Week goals:

1. Research five different ways to relieve stress: Yes Tai chi, Yes Deep Breathing
Tai chi: A gentle way to fight stress - MayoClinic.com
Stress management: Breathing exercises for relaxation
2. Log in all food intake: Yes, Yes
3. Stay under 1,200 calories a day: Yes, Yes (actually I am not getting enough calories in, hard to eat when it's so hot)
4. Walk 5 out of the 7 days this week: Yes, Yes
5. Lose 2 pounds: Thinking positive :)

Marce, welcome. :) So sorry to learn of your pain, but you are right that eating better can go a long way in helping to relieve some of it, as can exercise.

Robin, thanks for your kind words. I don't always have time to respond to all the posts, but when I can I'm so yacky that y'all think I do. LOL Things are so busy for me this summer with an unusual number of family gatherings and committments. I didn't have time to read our thread yesterday. Our second oldest grandson is getting married Friday and I've been trying to gather an outfit that will help camoflauge my huge belly and butt. I found one that at lease camoflauges my belly fat rolls. Just have to find shoes today. Wow, thanks for YOUR post to us backsliders. You are so right--what led to my backsliding was my own self-pity. We do need to learn to give ourselves credit for days and times we didn't backslide. Like yesterday, a couple times I almost caved but had the willpower to resist Subway cookies and snack cakes that DH bought. And I did decide yesterday it wasn't worth the cheat and decided that today I'd be totally faithful to my healthful eating plan.

Have to run errands and deal with DH wrecking his car today. Backed out of our driveway and didn't see a pickup truck coming... No one was hurt.

Mern, congratulations on your grandson getting married! I bet that is exciting. Also, I am sorry to hear about the wreck and hope everyone is okay.

I'm apparently wrong. From WebMD:Ok, but it's still not ~my~ favorite summertime fruit!

Mern: Congrats to grandson, sorry about the car. Glad no one was hurt.

Whew, Mern, sooooo glad no one was hurt! What a way to start the day, though.

On a much lighter note, have I ever mentioned that I. HATE. TO. SWEAT????? I had taiko class last night. Even with fans going, it was hhhhhhhhoooooooottttttt. The other participants were shimmering and glistening, their faces beautifully accentuated and glowing. Me? I was a hot mess. Literally. Face all blotchy, sweat-streaks on my cheeks. Huffing and blowing and feeling, at times, like I might just melt into a sad, stinky puddle with those little cartoon squiggles arising from it. I cannot WAIT for summer to be over.

Hating to sweat is the biggest reason I don't really take to exercise. If it weren't so inconvenient (cleaning up after and oh yeah, we don't have a class anywhere nearby that I'm aware of), I'd do water aerobics only. Yes, you sweat during water aerobics, but you don't know it. Hmmmm now that I think about it, swimming in everyone else's sweat... ew... Ok, scratch that -- back to the 'puter for me.

Anyway, not too much going on here. Still didn't make a goals list (tsk, tsk, bad Epixi), but keeping to the logs and not doing toooo badly. Same old, same old; decent on calories and sodium, not so great on fiber and protein. /shrug

Hey, it's Wednesday -- happy rest of the week, everyone!

Epi, I had to laugh at your post!
I sweat a lot when I am doing yardwork even if it isn't that hot. I can't remember the last time I went swimming! I am too self concious to wear a bathing suit in public.

Jenn

New here . . . Just stumbled onto the Monday Motivation on Wednesday!
1. Stay within calorie budget.
2. Walk for 1 hour 5x in the week.
3. Do not give up.

Donna and Robin, thanks for the stress relief ideas. :)

Kocialapcia, my whole family loved camping when I was a kid. In my adulthood I VISITED them at the campground during the day and didn't stay the night. :p

Quinn, thanks so much for sharing. I didn't want to intrude by asking what the surgery was about, so am delighted to read of the benign outcome. My big sister went to the doctor one morning for a bad backache and that very afternoon she was told she had terminal cancer of the spine. She lived only two months. Your advice on taking good care of our bodies can save a life. Kudos on your walking! :)

Libby, congrats on your loss! :)

Jenn, hi. Nice goals.

Mel-Mc, you are most probably right that your little uppage is just water weight. That can come off quickly. LOL on your inner princess coming out.

Good Morning!

Mern! I'm so sorry about your husband's accident. We had someone back into our 1 month old car on July 4th, so I commiserate! After daughter totaling her car going to work last summer, I don't even want to know what this will do to our (already nation's highest) car insurance rates... ugh. So happy everyone is safe. :) Thought of you today and last summer's trip to the island... FUDGE! I want fudge! :D

Another 90-95 degree day today... far too much for this northern girl to stomach. We have no a/c as we really only need it for 1 or 2 weeks a year, and this is it. Got my walk in at 7:30 am this morning. By 8:15, it was already 82 degrees! I'll take 50 degree sweater weather any day over this. Not my cup of tea, that's for sure. The first floor of our house is always a comfortable 65-70 degrees, but I can't do the 2 flights of stairs to get there! :mad:

Drum roll please!!! I put my own socks on today!! Woohoo!! (...probably only exciting to me! :o) So, the last few things that limit me are driving, lifting and steps for 3 more weeks... not bad. Leg strength is about 85%. General mobility is awesome (...thanks yoga!). Walking endurance is fantastic. I think it's just the heat that is sapping me a little there.

Promised my daughter, before all of this, that I would make it to a previously scheduled meeting at her university next week concerning budgeting her full ride and I fully intend to keep my promise... LOOONNGGG drive, but a promise is a promise and I am the one who has been in charge of this for the past 2 years... hubby wouldn't know where to start, unfortunately. She had doubts 3 weeks ago that I would make it, but I assured her that I absolutely would... and I will.


1. Increase walking distance every other day as tolerated working toward 4 mile goal. Yes, Yes, only thing limiting me is the heat.

2. Eat only nutrient-rich, healthy food. No bakery, soda, deep fried, fast food... nothing. Could have done better but hot weather is limiting food choices a bit, ate very little yesterday. Again, heat related.

3. Do something each day that I couldn't do the day before. Yes! (Still wishing that I could put my own socks on though... lol) YESIREEE!!! Sock goal accomplished!!! Claps for me!!! Also did hamstring stretches on the stairway... felt soooo good!! Also took myself off of all prescription anti-inflammatories yesterday and feel awesome!

Thank you, dear... It was a wild ride, for sure. So sorry to hear about your sister's outcome. I was given a similar possibility going into surgery, so to say that I am immensely and overwhelmingly grateful is an understatement. I'll gladly take the numb leg any day. Hoping that there is a possibility that this may cure some of the back issues that I have been dealing with for the past few years. Fingers crossed! :) Smoky's... get ready! Here I come! :D

Mern, my Mom was rear-ended by a cabbie when we went for bloodwork last week. He didn't realize that there is one entrance to go in and one to go out. Made an already stressful day even worse!

Quinn, your post made me smile! How happy you are just to do something that we all take for granted--putting on our socks.

Stay cool everyone!!
Jenn

This week is not off to a great start, and to top everything off, my pet hamster died. I found her yesterday. It looked like she just went to sleep as usual, and never woke back up.

Lol... For the past couple of weeks, my feet never looked so far away!!! :)

Quinn: That is awesome news about your socks! You are recovering very fast. Great!

712014: Welcome and good luck with your goals!

Claire: I am so sorry about your hamster. :(

I thought I would be smart today and check with fit day to see what I was cooking for supper tonight and it looks OK. I even have calories left over for dessert if I chose to have something. I don't know if any one else does this but I think it's a great idea, that way you can change your choices if they are too high or over your limit.

Great idea Libby!

Libby, I was doing that all the time and I found it very helpful. I am only recently stopping that because I am trying to transition to maintenance mode.

Quinn you are an inspiration to us all thanks for sharing.

Mern, sorry to hear about DH and the car. Scary. Glad he was alright. The exact same type of accident happened in my neighbourhood last week and the outcome was not as good.

Claire, me too sorry about your hamster :(

Well I'm off again to yoga in the garden. Been swimming daily. What a help!

Robin,

I have to tell you how much I enjoy your "eh"s thrown in your posts! Last time I was in Mexico, from far across the bar, I heard the old familiar "eh" and I knew it was a "neighbor". I'm not far from the Canadian border and it's lovingly part of most sentences here. :)

Wednesday update:

1. log food every day M=Y, T=Y, W=Y
2. keep calories between 1400-1600 M=1500, T=1400, W=1685
3. exercise on my lunch hour at least twice = 1 done

Pretty proud of my calories today because I only went over my upper goal by 85 calories despite finding a slice of cheesecake on my desk when I came back from a meeting.

Mern: Everyone else gets a shoulder devil tempting them to eat. Somehow I ended up with a shoulder princess who is a cross between Veruca Salt from Willie Wonka and the kids from Toddlers in Tiaras. She throws a lot of tantrums.

calories under 1,100: M-903 T-1138 W-766
exercise 7k: 1k, 1k, 2k
water 8 glasses:Y, Y, Y,
It was a good day today. I walked on the treadmill in the basement because it was dreadfully hot outside. I drank so much water just trying to keep cool.
Using fit day helped me to make much better choices today.

calories under 1,100: M-903 T-1138 W-766
exercise 7k: 1k, 1k, 2k, 2k
water 8 glasses:Y, Y, Y,
I got my work out done early this morning because it is going to be another scorcher of a day. Try to keep cool.

Wed.
 

Week goals:

1. Research five different ways to relieve stress: Yes Tai chi, Yes Deep Breathing
Tai chi: A gentle way to fight stress - MayoClinic.com
Stress management: Breathing exercises for relaxation
2. Log in all food intake: Yes, Yes, Yes
3. Stay under 1,200 calories a day: Yes, Yes, Yes
4. Walk 5 out of the 7 days this week: Mon., Tues.
5. Lose 2 pounds: Thinking positive

Am I too late to the party? I read like three posts lol. Love your pic, Mern, great to see you here.
Happy belated birthday, Terri.
Hi all.
Mike, I am here. What are you gonna hassle me about now?

Goals:
1) plan what i'm eating - n n, n.
2) stretch every day -y,y, y
3) meditate - y, y, y
4) practice Spanish -y, y, no
5) write 25 hours a week -not looking good....
6? do not spend too much time online: y, y, no

I have been trying to do green drinks, I have some recipes. I am working with a nutritionist (she's also a lot more: sort of a therapist, a healer, life coach rolled into one) who says "chew your drink." The thing that helps? Coconut oil. If you like coconut, it gives the drinks a nice flavor and some creaminess.

I have been starting the mornings with hot water, lemon and cayenne pepper. I have been soaking up some sun (vitamin D). Been trying to have a T of flax oil a day tho I hate the taste but I mask it in food/green drink. Going for saunas ($10), even turned my DD on to them tho this week's been too hot... Found a cheaper but good acupuncturist. Trying to heal and when I do it, it works. Oh and sugar/gluten free. I had 9 weeks of back pain every day and when I followed the recommendations (with occasional cheats), I finally felt better. Trying to get back on track.

Hey Hope! Nice to see you!

Mike has been MIA... by my best guess, he's wiping rum cake crumbs from his cheeks... Just kidding, cupcake! :D

Just got back from my walk. Just about up to 1/2 of my usual route of 4 miles, so I'm guessing I'm near 2 miles now. I think I could have done more, but there are severe storms coming in and I didn't want to get caught in them. Large hail predicted for today as well.

Wednesday:

1. Increase walking distance every other day as tolerated working toward 4 mile goal. Yes, Yes, only thing limiting me is the heat. Yes, 2 miles :)

2. Eat only nutrient-rich, healthy food. No bakery, soda, deep fried, fast food... nothing. Could have done better but hot weather is limiting food choices a bit, ate very little yesterday. Again, heat related. Ditto.

3. Do something each day that I couldn't do the day before. Yes! (Still wishing that I could put my own socks on though... lol) YESIREEE!!! Sock goal accomplished!!! Claps for me!!! Also did hamstring stretches on the stairway... felt soooo good!! Yes, made it 1/2 way through my usual route this morning!

:confused: Where are the "eh's" in Robin's posts? I went back, read the posts again and am still scratching my head here... can it even be explained to somebody who does not get it naturally?

Well I remember one "eh"- because I did it on purpose. Because I don't normally write like that but I think I probably do talk like that and it sounded right lol.

Still swimming daily and eating loads of watermelon. (yes-Donna I did check the sugar level- not that I monitor that- and it seems quite acceptable.) Don't know how much detox I am getting.

Went to a new frozen yogurt restaurant last night after yoga. Yum! Over did it but it was pure naivete- can't use that excuse next time.

I am definitely experiencing some boomerang weight - I keep getting to 162 (2 pounds from goal) and then popping back up. Been here before though, and even though it's tempting to do something drastic, I know to just stick it out.

Hi Hope, sounds like you need a "self-care" plan - that's great, hopefully your back will feel better and better.

Everyone is doing well!

Can it be explained? Probably not. I was transplanted to this region and picked it up. There's a strong French Canadian influence in this area and it's comforting on some strange level to some of us. lol

No... but that sounds like a great idea. I just need to find my motivation.

Maybe not rum cake but ask him about the fried shrimp, Quinn. Sorry for ratting you out, MIke, but that's what you get for sending innocent salad eating people (yeah we'll go with that) food porn.

Nice to see you too, Quinn.

Robin, I'm working on a plan. Swimming every day? Sounds like you have a plan!!

calories under 1,100: M-903 T-1138 W-766 T-937
exercise 7k: 1k, 1k, 2k, 2k
water 8 glasses:Y, Y, Y, Y,
The heat an humidity zaps all my energy, good thing I did my work out early
this morning. Put down the rum cake.

It's just for the heat wave because I am not walking:) My normal is to swim 2 times per week. But it charts real well on the Fitday activity log to be doing it everyday.

I found a acai and blueberry green tea today, ahh, it is soo good:)

I'm still on the daily watermelon, don't know where that's going. My deficit today is -1200 and it's 8pm.......I think it's because of all the watermelon lol. I am stuffed.

Quinn, there's definitely a bit of french thrown in here and there. I am married to a francophone, and in NB (being bilingual) it's very mixed. But I'm pretty sure "eh" originates from the prairies :)

Mike I am thinking you need a contest:) (and not a pie, or cake or shrimp eating one)