Monday Report Card

Health & Fitness Goals:

1. Keep calories in check 1,500 M-F and 2,000 SS. NO 2,262 :eek: I love sweet potatoes and things got out of hand.
2. Drink 96 oz of water. NO 84 :eek:
3. Exercise 6 hours. 38 min
4. Keep carbs to 45% or lower. NO
5. Calorie deficit for the week of 3,500. +60
6. Take DD up to school for "walk the halls" at least once. Not yet.
7. Inflate new stayball. NO

Non Fitness Goals:

8. Average 5 items from the "list" daily. NO
9. Sign up for race and call SIL about same. NO
10. Clean 2 rooms (15 minutes each) and do 1 load of laundry daily. YES
11. Clean out 1 small area of basement. NO

I had trouble yesterday. I did beautifully until dinner time, and then I made the mistake of eating sweet potatoes and 1 serving led to 3 and the next thing I know I'm 700 calories over budget, I thought for sure I would weigh 10 pounds more this morning but I weighed the same. Today so far is going pretty well, although I must be carb crashing because I want candy in the worst way.

He's not talkin', so it's probably not pretty! ;)

...and yes, PLEASE send some warm weather! Windchills are around 19 degrees here today. :mad:

Mike,

I made a big batch of peanut butter cookies Sunday for the family and they are on the counter just killing me right now! Love peanut butter anything!

Second the "please send spring north". And I soooo hear you on the pb. Yesterday I had this fantastic coupon for cookie mix, $1 off 1 box, which at my store is doubled to $2, and the price per box was $2.29. So I bought 3 boxes for less than a dollar. Now all I want to do is gnaw the boxes open and bake them up.

rose ~ hope you are feeling a little better & i agree woo hoo thank goodness for new weeks.

julia ~ good job on getting to a WW meeting.

cassie ~ that's what i do. we have a health food store that grinds peanut butter per batch it's yummy.

almeeker ~ that's good thing is that you weren't up when you weighed yourself. today is a new day & walk away from the sweet potato....lol

omg a 3rd asking for warmer weather. it was like -30 C & -40 c with wind...brrrrr. the kids haven't been playing outside at school for about a week as the schools keep them in when it's below -20 C. my son has an ear infection, but he gets over those very quickly.

i use video tapping as a tool to prepare dances oh my goodness. i video me doing my bollywood dance & it was scary ~sigh~ i wasn't happy with what i saw. at least i have a few days to fix it, but it didn't look good. i'm a little worried.

Something's in the air, ladies...I'm already 4 deep into my sand tarts today and that's after 12 :eek: yesterday (been really good up until then)! I worked 'em in, but it's more than I need to be eating. I'll be glad when those suckers are gone; about 1/4 are left now. My only saving grace is that they're only 30 cals. Having those and the homemade PB energy bars here has really tested my willpower.

Almeeker, if you're gonna screw up, you could do a lot worse than sweet potatoes. At least it wasn't empty calories and you got a ton of nutrients out of that.

Sometimes if I'm really craving candy or something sweet, I'll take a piece of fruit (banana, apple, pear, strawberries) and drizzle some chocolate syrup over it, about a 1/2 T. But if that's too much like hair o' the dog, good luck toughing it out.

Sometimes I feel like I need to set up an hourly check in when the tempting foods are around :o.

Y'all just come visit...we're in the 60s all week, after a weekend in the high 70s!

Tuesday check-in:

1. An hour minimum at the gym - no gabbing! Mon - yes, Tues - yes
2. Water (4 of my bottles each day) Mon - yes, Tues - maybe, getting close
3. Try new recipe - not yet
4. Get to basketball on Thursday night
5. Brush the dog! DONE LAST NIGHT, and he looks good now!

Great posts, everyone! It is satisfying to know that all of us here are human - we have our ups (and we celebrate them) and we have our downs (and other posters encourage us and support us when they happen). I am so fortunate to have found this thread.

Now, would anyone like some snow? I'm giving it away for free!!!!! ;)

I totally felt like this last week at one point...I felt like I needed some sort of hotline with someone on the other end telling me noooo don't do it ;) Ha ha ha...Okay maybe not that bad, but it probably could have prevented me from overeating a little last week. :o

I feel like this is a really good week, and I'm hopeful that my weigh-in tomorrow will show even just a little bit of success.

lol, you guys are cracking me up today. I just like chortled in my office and my two office-mates are giving me the O_o...o_O look.

Obviously, this week requires an intervention already!!

EVERYONE PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR AND STEP AWAY FROM THE PEANUT BUTTER!! :D

I'll get out the bullhorn if I have to! (And you all can come to Florida and warm up with me! It's 78 today!! :D)

Hello everyone, First of all thank you to everyone that posted greetings or commented on my post last week. There are so many friendly people on this thread that it's hard to get back to everyone. I have spent more time reading over all the posts and although my intentions are good I haven't gotten around to posting as often as I had planned. I find all of you very inspirational and I like to see how many have maintained and or shown losses and I like to see how well organized everyone is in listing their goals for the week. You are all very motivational.

This week I am focused on losing another couple pounds. I am also working on keeping my calories low but paying attention to getting enough nutrients such as Iron, B complex and enough Protein. I am a vegetarian and normally I find it easy to do all this but I am also cutting my calories very low on some days and zig zagging them up a little on other days so my goal is to stay low in calories but get the most bang for my buck nutritionally and that takes some thought!

I'm going to comment on a couple posts since both specifically asked for feedback or suggestions:

Mtlgirl, there is nothing worse than an injury! You didn't say if you were taking anything for it but Ibuprophen (Motrin, Advil or a generic brand) will help quite a bit to bring down the inflammation. If you can gently stretch then that might help but please make sure your body is warm already such as after a shower or bath. If stretching hurts don't do it. Skip the workouts until you are better if it's really bad or try something like swimming if that's possible. Only you know which exercises will hurt you right now but I'd stay away from weights or anything that strains you.

Mike: I have to say something in defense of oats. I know you want a strong, athletic body. I have spent many years in gyms with personal trainers and I have read so many books on sports nutrition that you'd think I was crazy if I told you how many! In the world of bodybuilding and sports-nutrition there are really only a handful of foods that are superior and oats happens to be one of the super foods of all the athletes because of the wonderful amount of amino acids and nutrients etc. I know they are a carb but not all carbs are in the same catagory. Your body gets a whole lot more from oats than you think. Cutting carbs only makes sense if you are eating junk-food carbs. Oatmeal (the real stuff, not the envelops) is processed differently in your body and will not spike your insulin the way other sugary junk-food carbs do (such as candy, crackers etc.) This is why dieticians and doctors recommend oatmeal even for diabetics. Any food that is encouraged for diabetics and for heart patients is the general direction bodybuilders and performance athletes such as runners aim for. Another benefit of oatmeal is that it can help your body fight cholestrol and that is so important. I'm concerned that you are eliminating something like oatmeal and replacing it with foods that are high in saturated fat. (bacon, cheese etc) There is a very big difference in what is considered a "quality" protein and what is a food that contains protein. Of course you should be able to eat your favorites in moderation but please know that these should be considered "treats" and are not going to get you closer to your goal of a strong athletic body any faster than eating icecream would. Your body doesn't know the difference between the two since they are both saturated fats. Try to select better quality proteins whether they are meats, fish or poultry or vegetarian sources. There is a reason why wild salmon, chicken and eggwhites are leading protein choices in the bodybuilding world and in the medical world. You said that your goal is to lower you bodyfat. You will have a hard time doing that if your intake of saturated fats is high and that is a terribly problem with "low carb" diets. I am all for giving up crappy carbs but you'd do better to actually INCREASE the good carbs if you are trying to change your body composition. Also, you probably already know that your body will store excess protein as fat every chance it can because it can process that easily so too much protein is usually worse for your goal than not quite enough would be.

Good luck with the plyometrics! I have done them with my personal trainers for years and believe me they are tough but like any other modality they are beneficial to balance out a workout. They are not aerobic since most people can only do a limited amount so you'll still need to make sure you get some good cardio in your workouts too to lower your bodyfat %. They WILL get your heart-rate up but they are anerobic..also important but that type of exercise uses carbs as fuel so you burn less fat while doing them but they are really good for your heart and muscles and they do burn serious calories..just not coming from the fat stores in the body. They will make you stronger faster and that means you can go like crazy doing cardio so that is a good benefit too! I have no idea what you already do for cardio but maybe you have that covered already. I noticed the P90X but maybe you run or cycle too. Cardio lowers bodyfat the fastest of all exercises. I hope you aren't put off by my long winded comment but it sounded like you were looking for opinions of all kinds so I thought I'd throw in mine.

michelle ~ keep your snow we've broken 30 year records for snow fall up here.

agrees with mystery on the oats which are one of the carbs i am allowed to eat as was said it doesn't spike your insulin levels, but it has to be real oats. even better is scottish oats.

omg i swear my hip & I.T. band are so sore today i can feel it radiating pain from my hip up my lower back ~sigh~ i have to get this feeling better before dance practice & dance class tonight ....yuck...add on top of that cramps :P (sorry mike)

I've been on a kick with steel-cut oats lately with frozen blueberries thrown in the last minute of cooking. Is that the same as Scottish oats?

As far as cravings for sweets, one of my favorites is honey. If you roll a spoonful of honey around in your mouth for a minute, it's so sickening sweet that the craving is gone. Or drizzle honey on fruit. Strawberries or bananas are great.

If I still want something sweet, I keep a stash of candy corn or jelly beans. A small handful usually does the trick. (...and keeps me away from the chocolate.)

quinn ~ steel cut oats are the same as scottish oats i should buy some. they are so good.

okay someone just kill me now these cramps are going to be the end of me i think. how am i going to dance tonight. i need to get my son's homework done, make supper & i'll still need a hot bath, lots of stretching before dance class & troop practice :P

Thanks for the well though out response. One of the reasons why I wanted to go this route is b/c I don't think I can do it. It's sort of a challenge to myself. I also what to see how it makes me feel and if I can lose body fat doing this. I know that IF I drop my bf% I won't notice it within a week, but if I feel good on it and don't feel like I'm going crazy I may continue on for a little while. BTW I haven't had bacon in years and I'm not a cheese head so getting away from a lot saturated fats if I don't like this should be pretty easy.

I understand both sides of the argument when it comes to if you should low carb or not. I just don't know what to believe and figure the best way to tell is to try it. Kinda like some will say that you should workout in the morning on an empty stomach and others will say that you should eat 1st thing in the morning [I eat 1st thing in the morning]. Some say you shouldn't eat past a certain time and others say it doesn't matter [I've tried both, sometimes I'll make a casein shake to hold me over and other times I'll get up and eat at 3am]. When it comes to eggs, some say to skip the yolks, others say that's a very important part of the egg and should always be eaten [I've done both]. It also seems like there are tests or studies to prove and disprove it all. I've read that when low carbing you should increase fat consumption with real cheese, butter, full fat dressing, etc. I don't know. It is confusing to hash through all the information. I have also heard that too much protein can turn to fat. Then again some people say you should have .75g per pound of lean body mass and others say you should have 1g per pound of total weight [I'm usually somewhere in between]. I don't want to go crazy on carbs but feel that spacing your protein through the day will give your body more time to metabolize it... so I wouldn't eat a steak then chase it down with my whey protein.;) I feel that I may actually need 160+g per day b/c I workout so hard and my muscles need it to repair.

I'm hoping that this will give me the discipline to do away with the bad carbs, such as candy bars, cookies & cakes. Then when I start to incorporate more good carbs back in. I would hope to not have to worry about that crap carbs.

In the end I would like for my "diet" to be roughly 20% fat, 35-40% protein & 40-45% carbs [Which it's been]. Fats to mainly come from nuts, avocadoes and other good sources. Proteins to come from lean beef, chicken & fish (fin and shellfish). Carbs to come from oats, brown rice, sweet potatoes (ton of veggies) and some fruit. This is pretty much what my diet has been like except I work in too many simple carbs.

As far as cardio, I do plenty of that. Hell when I lift weight it's at such as fast pace that most people would consider it to be cardio. :D I'll also start training for my next 1/2 marathon and my 1st 10k soon. My main reason for wanting to do plyo is to try to build my stamina up. My heart is sort of a ticking time bomb ;) so I'll just have to keep a close eye on it... if it pops out my chest and lands on the floor. The plyo in P90X lasts about an hour. I use to have to pause it every now and then to allow my hr to come down some. But I guess, it's like they say "If it doesn't kill ya, it'll make ya stronger." or what ever the saying is. lol

Thanks again for the reply.

How strange that everyone has been talking about Peanut Butter all day here, and I get this recipe (link below) my email inbox talking about a way to make a Peanut Butter Spread.

Seems like it would probably taste a lot like peanut butter, but may be a good way to kind of have the peanut butter taste without going overboard on the calories/fat. Here is the link, I think I may try making a batch this upcoming weekend and see how I like it.

Welcome to Weight Watchers

Mike - you mentioning P90X plyometrics reminded me that I wanted to ask you some questions regarding the P90X workouts. I purchased everything (P90X DVDs, Pullup Bar, Resistance Bands, Yoga Mat) back in September/October, and was going to start the workouts then...But right around that time, I somehow injured my knee and have been doing physical therapy ever since. It's not quite 100% yet, and I'm wondering if it's possible for me to start the workouts and just make modifications where I need to if I can't do the workouts or if it'd be better for me to wait until my knee is closer to 100% (I'm probably around 80% now). I figured since you've done at least a couple (maybe a few?) rounds of the workouts you could give me a good idea on whether or not I can do it :)

Plyo would definitely out the question, there is only one leg day so you should be fine doing most of it. Just listen to your body!

New week, late start...onward and downward
 

I am so happy to be back with my fitday friends. The last week has been so stressful, that my challenge has been to remember to actually eat enough to sustain health.

As I return to m fitday routine and healthy habits, my goals this week are baby steps....

• return to tracking food and activity daily T - yes
• get 8+hours of sleep per night M - yes
• exercise on the elliptical three times this week
• take things one day at a time T - yes

Good luck to all on your new week...onward and downward with the scales :)

Wow - this thread is amazing! Thanks for the kind words from everyone. I'm really concentrating on counting my blessings as I climb out of my hole (depression).
mtl (rose) sorry to hear about your injury. Take the time to heal properly before the good weather's here.
Taubele - sounds like you're doing well. Hopefully, once you start losing, it'll drop off a few pounds at a time. I was at 152# for weeks, then all of a sudden 148. We're complicated creatures. I lived in Florida for almost 16 years - I REALLY miss it this time of year.
MunaAmin - sorry to hear you've been suffering with depression as well. I am sending a hug back!
Stacey - love reading about your dancing!
Cassie and Quinn - you guys are my inspiration. I find myself asking "What would Cassie or Quinn do?" when faced with an eating challenge.

Goals for this week:

1. Limit calories to 1500. yesyes
2. Drink minimum of 72 oz. water.yes.yes.
3. Multiple vit/min daily.yes.yes.
4. Log everything every day.yesyes.
5. 5 frts/veg's per day.yes.yes.
6. exercise 5 days.noyes.

non-food/exercise:
7. Meditate - trying to find a new passion.sorta
8. Finish taxesno.
9. One phone call per dayyes-2.no.

I got out this morning to run because the weather-people were saying it was supposed to be in the 40's today. WELL, it was only 24:eek: this morning with a wind chill of 14:eek:! I guess it did get into the 40's, but I missed it, and now we're looking at more winter weather. sick of it!

Report card for Tuesday
 

First of all let me say to ALL OF YOU, I really think this thread is helping me tremendously! I can't tell you how warm and fuzzy I feel just knowing that you are all out here. You're all so amazingly supportive and inspiring. THANK YOU, Fellow Motivators!

Terri, thank you so much for the advice. I was hoping there was an alternative to putting ice on my groin. I'm just so over Winter and the thought of having ice anywhere on me is so unappealing. Brrr. But if it has to be done, it has to done right? I do feel much better today actually. Oh and congrats on your weight loss!!! Woohoo! I hope you do get your wish of being in One-derland by Friday!

Julia, I totally agree that setting a goal of losing 4 pounds in 2 weeks may not work out in your favor. I was sort of toying with the idea of setting a goal of losing 6 pounds in 3 weeks and have since reconsidered too. The focus for me has to be on eating healthy and exercising and any loss is a good one!

Mern, ouch! That fall sounds so nasty. What a bummer! I'm glad to hear you have found a way to manage the pain but I sure wish you didn't have to! I'm even more impressed with your walking success. You go, Girl!

Stacey, thanks for the well wishes! I hope your cramps aren't interfering with your dancing tonight. Keep us posted. By the way I love Bollywood! Maybe you should post a video of yourself dancing?

Cassie, I had to Google Sand Tarts. Damn they look good. I don't think I could keep those in the house. Too tempting! Anyway you better get rid of them before I come visit to get away from this chilly weather.

Michelle, you can keep your snow. We've got plenty over here. Thanks! Congrats on brushing the dog too. My Schnoodle gets so many knots in his fur and it's worse in Winter when he wears a sweater so often.

Jen, good luck on your weigh in tomorrow! You will let us know right?

Cindy, thanks so much for the advice. I don't know how seriously I injured myself. I felt pretty good this morning and did my 30 Day Shred which didn't seem to hurt at all but then I walked 7 blocks to the bank at lunch time and by the time I got back to work it hurt again :( By the way, congrats on only having 12 pounds to go until you reach your goal. You're doing a great job!

Quinn, thanks for reminding me about steel cut oats. I haven't had them in ages and I love them!

Jacqueline, welcome back! Nice to have you back!

Nottango, thank you! I hope the pain goes away soon! Good for you for running in the cold this morning. I'm super imressed!


Weekly goals:

1. Eat between 1100-1550 calories per day. YES (1165) / YES (1354)
2. Keep carbs under 35% YES 22% / YES 35%
3. Drink minimum 10 big glasses of water per day. YES / YES
4. Stay off the scale until Saturday. YES / YES
5. Exercise 5 hours. 30 min.
6. Get at least 7 hours sleep per night. YES / YES
7. Sort through bills and mail. Not yet
8. Work on important paperwork. Not yet

Mystery, here's another sample day. I saw that I should keep carbs to 50-75g/day so I upped them some and cut out some of the saturated fat. You can click the thumbnail.

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/i..._lowcarb_2.jpg

Jen,

Thanks for the recipe! It combines 3 of my favorite things- peanut butter, chickpeas and honey. Yum. I never would have thought of that. I actually used a WW recipe for dinner tonight that has become one of my family's favorites for General Tso's Chicken. Simple and good.


nottango,

Thanks for the kind words. :o I was a "victim" of the weather switcheroo today, too. I thought I could get out on the trails when I heard it was going to be near 40, but the windchills were brutal. (About 19) In fact, it's 8:27 pm here and I can hear the wind just howling outside. Our temps are going to fall as well. Enough already, huh? I need some sun! :cool:


Thinking about adding ground flaxseed to my diet for inflammation. (spine and hip) Has anyone had any luck with it? I know it has a lot of other good properties as well. Any adverse affects? 1-2 Tbl./day. Is that about the right amount?

Hi All You Lovely People and there are so many of you; I wish I could greet you and speak to you all. Cassie, Rose, Nottango thank you so much for welcoming me back. It feel so good to be acknowledged.
Nottango, I am really rooting for you and hoping something even better is coming down the pike for you.
Rose, I am so sorry to hear of your injury. It made me think of the old Rita Rudner joke: "I went to a dance class yesterday. I pulled a groin muscle. Unfortunately it was not mine." A little humor (and a litle Advil maybe) for the pain!
Mike, I have low carb envy. My days should only look like yours!!! Also spill it: what is the pb that is like crack? I promise I won't eat any!!!
OK my M&T
1) stretching and or gym at least 3x a week: M- gym, T: gornish (nothing)
2) more H2O: both days : eh
3) hypoglycemic diet: M good, Tuesday spare ribs for lunch and DH made some sauce for chicken with sugar in it for dinner Bad DH bad!
4) meditate M yes, T no
5) write: M&T yes I am a rock star!!! If rocks stars wore glasses and were very very nerdy and a bit overweight
6) be kind: M OK I think. T wanted to roll up a newspaper and smack DD with it (but didn't) which makes me Mother Theresa and Gandhi rolled into one, yes? OK maybe not.
7) 1 Lyrica a day to control fibro and bp: Yboth M&T
8) more fruits and veg: M yes T is chicken a vegetable? (apologies to vegetarians)

Was in Fla for 5 days, came back and it friggin snowed the next day. The next day! Where is the icon that looks indignant and downright pissed off? Well all I can say is I wanna go back to Fla. The heck with the northeast; the heck with the seasons. I want one season: warm.

Big hugs,
Hope

add some dark chocolate chips to that and it's like cookie dough, but w/ fiber and protein!

Quinn, I made the WW General Tso's Sunday night. It's amazing and it's in our regular rotation now as well. Although I screwed up somehow, I think when adding the red pepper flakes; maybe the heat in the pan was too high but they somehow vaporized(?) and disseminated into the air and all three of us were coughing and clearing our throats for the next half hour! I pulled some wonderful recipes off the Prevention Magazine website today, most from the Italian category, and I can't wait to try them.

As for flaxseed, I use it occasionally stirred into oatmeal and I throw it into things like bread, granola bars, and muffins. I've noticed no untoward effects, but I can't say whether it works for inflammation or not. It's so good for you in other ways that it can't hurt to try, I would think.

Rose, I'm not sure if my sand tarts are the ones in the interwebs. They're very simple, just a sugar cookie with butter, eggs, flour, sugar, and vanilla, rolled so thin you can see through them, then cut with a pastry wheel and dabbed with egg white and cinnamon before baking. They are delicious, but the problem for me is that they are my ultimate comfort food...sooooo many happy memories of the house where I grew up, baking them with my granny. I could eat them by the handful but by and large I've had control. The fact that there are still some left after six days is pretty impressive. Has anyone else noticed that things they buy or make are lasting longer these days now that we're not eating mindlessly?

Hope, I'll add you to the list of visitors...come on back down south where it's sunny and in the 60s!

Rose, glad to hear you changed your goal to be more about healthy living. It is easy for me to to say "ok, i'm going to lose 5 lbs this month" but depending on any number of variables it really could be a recipe for me feeling like i've let myself down and haven't accomplished what I set out to do. I'm so glad you are focused on the fact that any weight loss, is AWESOME. The smaller numbers eventually will add up to bigger ones! You seem to have lots of great short term goals listed too!!

I just ate 1/2 block of 75% fat free cabot cheese. atleast it has protein and isn't junk food. i'm still only over by 3pts today. WW was good...they talked about portion control and about getting out of diet ruts, always helpful.

i also ran 3 miles.

quinn, i eat flax in my oats. i've heard chia seeds are even better but I told myself i wouldn't buy them until i finished all of my flax. i have no idea if they do anything for inflammation.

just an fyi, quinn, if you get flax you need to either buy it ground, or grind it yourself as apparently our bodies can't take the nutrients from unground flax.

Rose, thanks for your encouragement on my walking. My pain management works well for me. :)

Cassie,

I didn't like the way the red pepper flakes were added either, so I add them when I add the sauce to the chicken. (Also cut the quantity down to 1/8-1/4 tsp. ) Changed the white sugar to brown for added depth and I don't add the scallions during cooking; I use them raw at the end as a garnish along with a few chopped peanuts for texture.

For those of you wondering what the heck we're talking about, here's the recipe:



DEFAULT PAGE TITLE

I love creamy peanut butter but Peter Pan Honey Roast Crunchy is like crack!! It is soooo smooth and creamy with little chunks of nuts and a rich, sweet flavor.

The Is-It-Really-Only-Tuesday report:

1. Balance calories eaten with activity.Yes, Yes
2. Balance carbs, fat, and protein. Yes, Yes
3. Balance work with home responsibilities. Pretty good, Great
4. Balance work & home responsibilities with recreation/down time, and family time. Yes, Fair
5. Balance short-term responsibilities with long-term projects. No, No long-term stuff today
6. Balance clinical work with administrative stuff. No, Yes
7. Balance sleeping and waking hours. Yes, Yes
8. Balance exercise with cardio, strength, and flexibility. Cardio today, Yoga in the AM and weights in the PM today

Hi guys :)

Cindy, thanks for the post about oats. I always feel a bit guilty when I read about everyone being on Atkins, and how carbs make you fat etc. Today I make some oat cookies. You might want to check Vegan Tuesdays thread in Diet section.

Goals achieved:
1) under 1900kcal almost, 1966
2) exercise ooops no but today i do
3) new goal - cutting out coffee, only 2 a week allowed, one on Friday and one on Saturday after gym.


The sun has finally arrived in Ireland, after a long and totally endless winter. It's amazing how it affects mood :) one feels so much better, more energetic and positive. Re coffee, i found that i drink about 2-3 cups a day, each with 3oz low fat milk and 1 teasp sugar. Plenty of unnecessary calories, plus you can't drink coffee alone, there's snacks, biccies.... so far I had no coffee today.

Mike, I didn't replace oatmeal with bacon and cheese or any other high fats, either. Personally, I don't know any educated people who would do that.

For whomever cares: I'm not a fan of the American Diabetes Association and I do respect people's choice to lose weight through low fat, low carb, or any other well balanced, healthful eating program, BUT here's some of the ADA's modern-day thinking on weight loss through (yup, surprise!) low carb. Click the blue-worded link to read the one page article:

Low-Carb and Low-Fat Diets Are Equally Effective When Used With a Lifestyle Change Program - American Diabetes Association


Quote from the American Diabetes Association's own article in 2010:

...."What are the implications of the study?
Overweight people may be able to lose weight with either a low-carb or a low-fat diet combined with a lifestyle-change program. Low-carb diets may modestly improve some heart disease risk factors more than low-fat diets."

Hope, thanks for the well wishes. I'm still in pain and debating whether to attempt my 30 Day Shred workout. I am just so mad that this dumb injury hampers my exercise stamina. Did you have fun in Florida? Are you tanned? I'm going on March 21 and I can't wait!! It's snowing here today... AGAIN! (So nice to have you back.)

Cassie, your sand tarts sound amazing. I am such a huge fan of cinnamon I am sure I'd like them. And yes, I do notice that things last longer. In fact I have some lavender/currant shortbread cookies in my pantry that I haven't touched since Oscar night and cookies are my weakness!

Julia, I had to change my goal because I kept getting disappointed. I would be certain that I could lose X pounds in X days and then if I'd fall short, even by half a pound, I'd get discouraged and angry and it was getting counterproductive. This is why I love this thread because, I set goals to eat a certain way, do a certain amount of exercise and even when I fall a little short, I have all of my fellow members showing me through their own experiences, that getting most of your goals done in a week is a great accomplishment, even when they aren't all met. Slow and steady wins the race! By the way, congrats on your 3-mile run today! That's great!

Mern, you are so welcome! Have a great walk today!

Muna, I couldn't agree more about the sun and the warmer weather. I can hardly wait for Spring. Unfortunately we're still in the thick of Winter over here. I hope you have a lovely day! Glad to hear your spirits are somewhat lifted .

3 below zero windchills today with howling winds and I have to do the grocery shopping for two households. Nothing like pushing a heavy grocery cart through snow covered parking lots in mind numbing cold. Why do I live here again? Well... at least I'll get my exercise in... :)

Food & Fitness:

1. Limit calories to 1200 and log everything. yes, yes
2. Keep BMI under 20. yes, yes
3. Balance pie chart. iffy, yes
4. Trail walk at least twice this week, weather permitting. Still cold. Crazy cold.
5. Take multi-vitamin and calcium supplement daily. yes, started putting it on my dinner plate at night, yes
6. Lose 1 more pound this week. Trying, still trying
7. Floss every day. oops- forgot, yep

Personal Goals:

1. Continue with "do something nice each day". Yes, took mom to lunch and to see "The Kings Speech". She's a 1940's movie aficionado. yes
2. Be more patient with people and situations that irritate me. If I get irritated, let it go. I'm getting better, yes
3. Balance checkbook. Too busy yesterday and today... probably tomorrow, not yet

Tuesday Report Card

Health & Fitness Goals:

1. Keep calories in check 1,500 M-F and 2,000 SS. NO 2,262, 1,516
2. Drink 96 oz of water. NO 84 :eek:, YES
3. Exercise 6 hours. 38 min, 90 min (total 2:08)
4. Keep carbs to 45% or lower. 63%, 63%
5. Calorie deficit for the week of 3,500. +60, -1,025 (total -965)
6. Take DD up to school for "walk the halls" at least once. Not yet, Nope
7. Inflate new stayball. NO, NO

Non Fitness Goals:

8. Average 5 items from the "list" daily. NO, NO
9. Sign up for race and call SIL about same. NO, NO
10. Clean 2 rooms (15 minutes each) and do 1 load of laundry daily. YES, YES
11. Clean out 1 small area of basement. NO, NO

Did okay yesterday with fitness, less so with other goals, but I did clean the upstairs bathroom to a sparkling shine, which was long overdue. I also put the finishing touches on a new chore chart for the kids, which will hopefully mean I'm doing less of the housework around here. I also made it a rule that the television cannot be turned on until homework and chores are done, and this means everybody's homework and housework, so it's in their best interests to help each other out, right? We'll see, I have one that never does her homework without a battle and I mean a knock down, drag out, hissy, screaming fit. And another one that doesn't get her chores finished unless I ride her back. But seriously I'm tired of being a slave in my own home, I'm not the one that makes a mess of this place, so why should I be the one that has to clean it all up?

Tonight I'm taking the kids to the HS to walk the halls. Last night I took them to the pool and put them through their paces in the lap lanes and we met with the private coach so he could take notes and get ready for their first session on Friday. When he asked me what I wanted from the lessons I basically said that I just didn't want them to lose any ground between the last swim season and the next. He sort of laughed and said that most parents want him to coach their kids to cut their racing time in half by the next season. So very seriously I said, "You can do that?". Then I sort of laughed. We've never done the private coach thing before, but all 3 of the girls are at the bottom end of their age divisions, and so this past season they weren't as competitive as they have been in the past. Our oldest took that a little hard, and she swims better than I do, so my ability to coach her is not enough anymore. When I first thought about hiring a private coach it almost seemed a little OTT, but after last night I know it's the right thing to do. Honestly she and I were swimming in the same lane and she was YARDS ahead of me, and I was giving it my all. And there was the coach writing down a whole list of ways to make her faster, while I gasped for air.

I did this regularly when I was pregnant. Is there something you're forgetting to tell us here Mike?

I just wanted to say that all of you are so inspiring, it's a big help to me (although it's not always apparent from my calorie budget), that oftentimes when I have a craving for something I think twice about caving in because I'm going to have to post my fall from grace, and possibly encourage one of you to follow suit. I also think of you guys when I'm just not feeling that workout for some reason. I think of Mern how she's gone from 5 mins to more than a mile, or Mike doing more pull-ups than another utube poster or Cassie getting hubby to do 1/2 a yoga workout, or quinn out pushing her grocery cart through a foot of snow and I think to myself "I better get off my butt and get 'er done'.

Well I gotta go, I'm off to the store to buy some tropical peanut butter, a couple cans of chic peas, peanut oil, red pepper flakes and some Peter Pan honey roast crunch. Did you have to go there Mike? Geez man, I asked for the name of the special "tea", not the crack.

so if I'm understanding this correctly, the fat isn't as much of an issue as the carbs are when it comes to heart disease, right?
How was the study done?
Some participants followed a low-carb diet consisting of limited carbohydrates and as much fat and protein as they wanted.

The program I was looking at was saying NOT to use low cal dressing, but instead use full fat Ranch, etc. Also to use cream and butter. I thought this was odd but it makes sense that your fat intake would have to go up. Considering that your calories come from either Protein, Fat, or Carbs. Lets "look" at a hythetical pie charts, if you take in 40% Carbs, 40% Protein & 20% Fat. If your carbs go down to lets say 10%, either protein or fat will HAVE to increase. Considering that many feel that too much protein can result in fat gain and adding fat to your diet will help with energy levels. I don't know, like I said there is so much conflicting information.

My biggest question is the program (diet) runs for 4 weeks but never mentions a carb reload day. So I assume this isn't some sort of carb cycling. Isn't it best to work in a carb days every so often?

I never used Casein during pregnancy, my OB-GYN advised me not to.



I posted the name of it in my 1st post. It's Tazo.:p

azrunner: 13 miles (half-marathon?) is such a great goal!! You can do it, every day is the opportunity to keep going or re-boot if you fall off the wagon momentarily :)

Mern: You'd think I'd walk outside more since I live in FL, but my job has me confined to a room with no windows for 10+ hours per day. By the time I get home I usually just have time to run to the gym and then get dinner going (assuming BF doesn't have it going -- but he often works swing shift, something like 12-8). I think I'll make it a point to walk this weekend and get my pasty skin some color!

Jacqueline: Good luck on whatever it is that's stressing you out! Starting slow is good, and I hope you find motivation to get back downward!

nottango: Thanks for the encouragement! I'm just happy to see the numbers budge below "202.7" -- I was stuck between there and "204.1" for way too long. Bouncing up and down and wanting to throw something! We are complicated, darn hormones. And come to FL again, we have a spare room! :D Being originally from MA, and having just moved here ~8 months ago, this weather is crazy to me. I'm wearing sandals on March 2, whaaaat?

Rose: I'm so glad your injury is feeling better! One day at a time. Ice is really only needed (after day 1) when you overexert or feel pain, or at least that's what they told me in high school (I was a little 16 year old at that point, so ymmv!) And thanks for the kind words! One-derland is calling! I WANT IT!

Hope: My FL extension comes to you as well!!! I hope it warms up for you soon :(

almeeker: You show those kids who's boss! I used to love swimming; the private coach seems like an exciting step for your kids! Let us know how they do!

quinn: Oh my goodness, I think I would have ordered pizza. You are a WARRIOR, lady!


Tuesday Report Card:

Food and Exercise Lifestyle Goals:

1) Drink at least 64 oz. of water daily. Get to 72 if I can.
Monday--> Actually made it to 80 oz. :eek: Personal record!
Tuesday--> Holy moly I got to 80 again!! Following Mern's advice and drinking more in the morning seems to be key here for me.

2) Five servings of fruits/vegetables every day
Monday --> No, only got 4
Tuesday --> Yesss!

3) 1500 cals/day limit
Monday --> 1,442
Tuesday --> 1,444 (wow, I'm usually not so consistent O_o)

4) Only one pasta dish this week for dinner. NO RICE.
Monday --> No pasta/rice!
Tueday --> Tonight was the pasta dish. Actually I made a recipe that Hope gave to me on my "help I don't know how to cook!" thread. It was DELICIOUS. Thank you so much Hope!!! Boyfriend came back for seconds and thirds!

5) No boxed/pre-prepared lunches or dinners
Monday --> Success!
Tuesday --> Success again!

6) Exercise 5x this week. (Already exercised Sunday with mixed cardio/strength. Four more times at minimum, 1h. each)
Monday --> Day off (Total 1 day, 1 hr.)
Tuesday --> 1 h mixed cardio/strength (20 mins. stationary bike, 40 mins. weight machines) (Total 2 days, 2 hrs.)

Other Life Stuff

1) Finish Office Space Remodeling (go tax return go!)
Monday --> Powered through most of it! Just some reorganizing left to do. 90% done!
Tuesday --> No progress

2) Get to bed by 11:00 every night, no excuses
Monday --> 11:30. Though I was about to go to bed at 11:00 when I found out that my darling boyfriend had received his first acceptance for publication of his short fiction, so the 1/2 hour was for celebrating and goofy dances!!!
Tuesday --> 11:45. D'oh!

3) Up by 7:30, no excuses
Monday --> 8:00 >.<
Tuesday --> 8:00 again!

4) Clean up "The Bedroom Disaster of 2011"
Monday --> Nope, still looks disastrous in there.
Tuesday --> Nope, though darling BF has the day off on Wednesday (today), and he was eyeballing the mess. Perhaps it will get started!

Stepped on the scale again this morning -- it was up to 201.9, but I often show a little gain the day after a strength workout, so I'm not worried. In fact, I knew it would happen, and I stepped on the scale from some masochistic impulse! No more!! We'll just see what happens Friday and leave the rest up to me!

Also, did some closet shopping this morning. Totally am currently wearing a shirt that was "too tight" a couple of months ago. While I still have a little belly, it looks MUCH MUCH better and I feel comfortable wearing it. My first successful closet shopping!!!!! Hooray!

~Terri

Rose, please be careful. I know how frustrating it is to be sidelined due to an injury but doing too much too soon can set you back further. Perhaps just concentrate on upper body?
I did enjoy Fla but I never tan; I joke that the sun just bleaches me. Actually I went for a walk with DD on the beach forgot to reapply sunblock and got a whopping case of rosacea flare up. But I used Metro creme and it is mostly gone.

As for visiting, Cassie and Terri, I might just take you guys up on it! You will see me on your doorstep in my modest shorts and my baseball cap. As Muna says, the bright weather just cheers you up. I used to love rain and snow but no more! I would invite you guys up here but you probably would rather come in summer and swim in the pool rather than now where you will just have to trudge through the ice and snow. Not that I'm bitter. (That BTW may be the title of my memoir: Not That I'm Bitter.)

Also Terri I am so glad you used the recipe and you guys enjoyed it!!!!

Amy: I am sorry. I was the one who asked for the name of the crack pb. Peter Pan Honey Roast Crunchy. Note to self: stay away from that stuff! Luckily I do not love sweet pb (prefer to have my sugar in chocolate) so I am pretty safe from its charms.

Mike I am reading your food logs and they are inspiring me. Low carb is just better for my health, sad to say, since I am such a carboholic. And Mern I am no fan of the ADA either. I donated to them for a while and then when my mother in law was diagnosed I found they were no real help re: diet and lifestyle choices.

Be well all, keep warm, keep up with the good work. As Amy says, you guys are inspirational!! (and just cute as a bug's ear as far as I'm concerned.)

Much love,
Hope