7-Day Motivational Thread: Week Starting 03/28/2011
 

It has been awhile since I have been on the forums regularly. I am eager to start the next motivational tread and thought, heck just start it.

Goals for the week:

• 1000 daily calorie deficit
• Elliptical 3-4X per week
• Balance ball stretching daily
• Read a book
• Limit coffee to one cup per day

Good luck fitday friends. Have a great week.

Hi Everyone! Excited for the new start this week! Learned a few lessons about last week- like don't make a green smoothie in buşk amounts which I havn't experimented with yet. It came out HORRIBLE and I was stuck drinking it for the rest of the week, since I sealed the rest for storage. Blech!

This weeks Goals

1) Keep calories between 1200-1500-try to bring my deficit from 850 average a day to 1000 a day through calories and exercise

2) Drink 2 liters of water a day

3) Exercise 30 minutes minimum/5 days-Walk 30 minutes minimum/5 days- introduce Jump roping 5 minutes/3 days

4) Get Off the Breads! I'm suppose to be gluten free :(

5) Measure myself to start recording monthly

Non-Fitness Goals:

1) Finish the Lace Project and start the new one for my class
2) Organize Closet
3) Finish Laundry
4) Treat myself to one night of REAL pampering (Havn't done it in years);)
5) Work on my husbands anniversary gift for this coming month :D


My goal is to lose 2 lbs this week

Hello Everyone!

I had a GREAT week last week and I'm not looking to replicate it becuase I'm pretty positive I can't! :) I'm hoping to get as much exercise as possible because I know there will be a couple of days this week where it's just NOT going to happen.

So here goes:

Fitness/Eating goals:

1. Exercise at least 3 times this week (Tae Bo Cardio)
2. Make good choices in foods (even though I'm totally fighting PMS)
3. Lose at 1-2 lbs

Non-Fitness/Eating Goals:
1. Apply for a new job
2. Not to lose my temper with my 4 and 2 year old children:rolleyes:
3. Keep everything I cleaned today as clean as possible with a 2 and a 4 year old!

Back To Basics!

Health & Fitness:

1. floss 7 times
2. gallon of water per day
3. Vitamin Daily
4. Fish Oil Daily
5. Weekly calories consumed to be +/- 500 burned :eek:
6. Workout (like a beast) 3 times
7. 200 Chinups :eek:
8. get back to my journal
9. Protein Shake ONLY FOR POST WORKOUT (get nutrients from real food)
10. Weigh in Monday morning and Sunday morning and post #'s (stay +/- 1 pound)
11. Push, motivate, or encourage the next person to post & also do one of their goals. :eek:
Non Health & Fitness:

12. Business drop-ins once
13. Call 10 current clients and touch base
14. Say something nice to a stranger (not flirting) 3 times
15. One RANDOM act of kindness
16.
I think that's enough to keep me busy.

Fitness Goals:

1. Achieve at least ONE unassisted pull-up.
2. Give every workout everything I've got.
3. Drink 2L of water per day.
4. Keep carbs at or below 30%.
5. Take multi-vitamin daily!

Non-Fitness Goals:

1. Finish washing clothes.
2. Keep positive attitude in the house.
3. Make an appointment to see 8yo's teacher.

Keepin' it simple this week.

I'm back!

goals:
-exercise 3-4x this week
-eat 1200 cals per day (a bit more if i work out really hard)
-track everything
-stay positive and remind myself of how many little success i had on vaca even if I also gorged myself a few times.

Hawaii was great..surprise, surprise. I did really well with my eating until about 3 days ago. I have eaten a ton lately, including at my sister's shower today. I'm not looking forward to getting on the scale come tuesday at WW, and I might decide to not weigh-in if the damage is really bad, as I don't want to have to pay!

My body aches just thinking about doing 200 chinups! You're a BOSS!

After a rough week i'm back and ready to get on track again! It was nice spending time with my family. I bought a pair of jeans yesterday as "goal" jeans I tried them on today and they're TOO BIG! Its even that TOTM for me. It made me feel wonderful that they didn't fit even through all the bloat! I will hold onto them and wear them till they fall off my bum!

My Fitness goals this week..
1. 1300 Calories a day
2. Get back into the gym 3 days a week.
3. Look into P90X.
4. Walk.

Non Fitness goals...
1. Write personal thank you letters to my dads doctors.
2. Clean up my apartment.
3. Get bikes out of the back yard and ready for the road!
4. Write.
5. Have fun and SMILE!

Hi all,

it's awesome to continue right on with the next thread!

This week I will:
- keep my protein intake up
- drink my water!!!
- work out 4 times this week
- drink only one cup of coffee per day
- track everything I put into my mouth
- work on my dissertation
- calorie deficit of at least 400

Julia, welcome back! Glad to have you around again!

In other news, the scariest thing happened to me yesterday. For the first time this year I went on a little cycling trip through some nearby woods with a friend of mine. As we cycled past a beautiful castle a couple of mountainbikers overtook us and disappeared into another forrest stretch. We liked the route they'd chosen and followed slowly behind. As we cycled past shrubberies and along a norrow path we suddenly made out a figure lying flat on the ground. From that moment on everything happened really fast. We jumped off our bikes, ran towards the figure (who turned out to be one of the mountainbikers who had previously overtaken us); he was lying with his face flat on the ground, his arms dangling next to his body, his left foot still caught in his bike. He was unconscious and I could hardly hear him breathe. Within a second I was at a nearby street waving at cars, calling out for help. I ran back towards my friend; the guy was breathing heavily now. We very carefully freed his foot, but decided not to turn him over since we were afraid to really hurt his spine. When the second mountainbiker (who, of course, was in utter shock) returned, the man on the ground slowly regained his consciousness. By the time the helicopter arrived he was pretty much awake again. We had finally helped him to slowly turn around and when the paramedics arrived he was actually sitting up, his nose bleeding heavily. Appart from a clearly broken nose he seemed fine. What a relief! And what a shock! Guess it'll take me a while before I can actually close my eyes and not see his disfigured body lying on that forrest floor. So glad he's ok though!

I did fairly well last week in staying out of the grains. We were a GF house for 4 long years and so it wasn't that difficult to stay away - until Saturday. I did manage to keep out of it, but it was a near thing and I think the thing that caused the most trouble was NM peanut butter, because I ate some not realizing it contained wheat germ, so then I was craving anything and everything made from grain. I do not want to even tell you how much peanut butter I ate this past weekend, but I will confess is that I have to go shopping today (not for peanut butter, just everything else). Oh and BTW I tried to lighten the pb effect by taking NM peanut butter and blending it with soy nuts and a couple of Tbls of honey and a dash of sea salt. It was so good that I had to call the kids in to the kitchen to help me eat it, because seriously I was headed for the bottom of the blender with gusto.

Health & Fitness Goals

1. Keep calories to 1,500 M-T-W-T-Sat, 1,800 F-Sun
2. Calorie deficit for the week 3,500
3. Exercise 6 hours
4. 96 oz water
5. Carbs under 45%
6. Protein over 40%

Other Stuff

7. Call SIL and find another race, 5/14/11 is not going to work out.
8. Clean 2 rooms (15 min each) + 1 load of laundry.
9. Figure out basement shelving layout.
10. Write library proposal.
11. Work on church design 2 hours (or more).
12. Fix starting block covers.
13. Sew patches on GS uniforms.
14. Plan some activities for Spring Break.

This is such a great idea!

Fitness and Health Goals:

Drink 1.75 L of Water:
Eat 1300 calories
Exercise a total of 28hours a week
Don't eat out
Don't drink alcohol
Cook something new everyday
Take Vitamins

Other stuff:
Keep up with my journal
blog
keep room clean
do laundry
meditate
sit outside a cafe, drink tea, and read

after not doing so well last week it's time to start over this week! i plan to do better this week.

good news tho i finally got my new laptop, and it's a beast, it's freaking huge for a laptop. weighs over 10lbs

1. Drink 3 of my blue water bottle a day:
2. do my workout 6/7 days: Yes!(already done for today)
3. 10,000 steps a day:
4. limit 1900 cals a day:
5. no fast food (not sure about this coming sunday may be going out for father's b-day, but will try and make a healthy choice if i go out then):
6. Take multi-vit and vit c everyday:

Non-Fitness Goals:

1. finish my current homework do to list:
2. put away clean laundry:
3. put away dirty laundry:
4. Vaccum my floor:
5. Clean off my desk:
__________________

Well, I've been off the thread for 10 days or so--will I ever stop being "busy"?!!

I scanned through the old thread before I realized a new one was started. So many interesting people, doing interesting things--makes me think my life must be boring (although I know it's not!). And I'm seeing new names in this thread. Good luck to all of you this week!

My habits got a bit derailed for a few days bcs I went to San Francisco to check up on my little grandson. I thought I was doing pretty OK until the last couple of days, and an unplanned airport delay. So when I got on the scale, I'd put on a pound or two. Intellectually I knew it was water retention, but I still had a little freak-out.

On another note, I think a lot of you ladies are young, with young children. I've totally forgotten child development stuff. My cute little grandson is just 8-1/2 months old, seems to never stop smiling (and it's a big one!), is seldom grumpy. I was reading to him and told him to turn the page. And he did! Not just once, but every page, and he did it the next day. I also asked him to point out the moon in the book, and he did that. It seems weird for such a tiny person--especially one who doesn't even crawl yet!

So back to fitness stuff. After my minor derailment, I'm back on my regular exercise routine. My daily calorie counts are up around 1400, but that's OK with me. I'll just lose at a slower rate. And I'm almost to my goal of 122#, but I'll miss the goal date 4/1. A minor tweaking will fix that.

Start weight 1/1/11: 135
Today 3/28: 124 (total loss 11! Goody-goody!)
Next Monday: 123 (?)

Crimpet- good luck getting the right mixture!
Behaze- I love the one un-assisted pull up, I was getting a complex from Mike’s 200:p
MakerBabe- That’s awesome! Congratulations!

This week will be tough to stay on track, I'm swamped with finals at Univerity (really looking forward to being finished in December). I have 3x 12 page papers due by Friday a final exam today and Wednesday which doesn't seem so bad except for the fact I have 5x 10 hour work days ahead of me too. The "older" lady who covers for me when I'm at school caused a car accident two weeks ago. Shes alright but we are really worried that it may have been a stroke so shes NOT alowed to be on her own (by our say). They have her being tested and wearing a heart monitor but shes like a grandmother to us so we don't want to take any chances. So going to keep the goals easy this week and push back my goal weight by 2 weeks instead of getting down.

Food:
1) keep an 800 calorie deficit
2) LIMIT coffee intake max one a day
3) No carb Wednesday and Friday
4) Try to avoid ordering in dinner (my fiance has already said they are on speed dial this week as he is swamped with work too)
5) Start drinking my shakes again

Non-Food:
1) Deep breathing exercises
2) Journal my thoughts/feelings to avoid that overwhelmed feeling
3) Go for celebratory "girls night" once I make it through this week!

Crimpet, sorry about your yucky batch of smoothies. Last year I made a gallon of a drink that was supposed to speed up metabolism--it had cucumber, fresh ginger, lemon and some other spices. Sounded delicious, but was just horrible. I tried so hard to drink it so as not to waste it, but it actually made me gag and I wound up throwing it away. Aw, best wishes on the passport issue. I'm rooting for you to lose two whole pounds this week.

MollySue, what a scare you had! Congrats on the cycling exercise, though.

Welcome, AceofCurls

Acameron, best wishes this week for you and your elderly lady friend.

Sandi, wonderful that you had such a great time with your grandson-smart little dude! Rooting you on to goal--maybe you'll see 122 instead of 123 next week. :)

I lost half a pound this week despite being horrible on water consumption and getting little exercise.

Continuing my weekly goals:
Calorie limit 1600
Carbs less fiber limit 25g
Work harder on getting in 120 protein EVERY day
Get serious about drinking 64 oz. water per day
Exercise

Mern- Did you juice the cucumber and then mix it with the rest? I remember when I started drinking juiced cucumbers a few months ago. They made me gag because they were such a rich 'green' taste..chloraphyl(sp) but I'm use to it now. I think what made my smoothie so yuckie was I mixed cucumber with carrot juice..which is just disgusting lol I may do a small test taste on your mixture though lol I like experimenting...no bulk batches though lol

Also, CONGRATS on the the half a pound! ^_^

Ergh, I disappeared over the weekend :(

It was due to a variety of things, but mostly:

1) Wind storms in my area kept knocking out the power, so I just turned the computer off and snuggled up with a good book

2) Sunday afternoon, BF was helping me with a very silly problem with a tube of fabric adhesive -- supposed to punch a hole through the neck of the bottle with "a fine pin". We couldn't find a safety pin, so he was using one of my needles and trying to muscle it in there...

...and the needle (a craft/embroidery needle) went THROUGH his finger. And NOT the pointy end. The pointy end was in the neck of the bottle and got stuck. The BACK end of the needle (the part with the hoop for the embroidery floss) went into his index finger and OUT the other side, right next to his fingernail. How does that even HAPPEN?!

You can imagine the chaos that ensued. He was in a lot of pain. We managed to get the needle out fairly easily, thank goodness (unfortunately, he does not have health insurance right now and we can't afford the emergency room visit) but I felt terrible.

It ended up not bleeding much, and we've got it wrapped up good and tight. He insisted on going to work today. To work on cars. Dirty, dirty cars. With a messed up finger. I'm worried about infection, but hopefully he just keeps in clean.

He has avowed never to work with superglue again. Last time we were trying to mess with an adhesive/superglue, he managed to shove a small screwdriver under his fingernail on his other hand.

So..I was a little distracted yesterday :eek:

However, the scale said 193.7 this morning. I'll take it!

Good luck on your goals this week, everyone. And behaze, I sent out a certain e-mail this morning :) My goals aren't changing too terribly, though I hope I can stick with most of them. Someone is flying in this Thursday to aid me in the lab, so I don't know what my lunches/workdays will be like. He'll be staying through the weekend, so I'll be working this weekend too.

I did buy a heart rate monitor on Sunday before the accident, curious to use it this week!

Weekly Goals:

Fitness, Exercise and Lifestyle Goals:
1) Under 1400 calories, track everything
2) Average 30% protein for the week
3) 96 oz. water daily
4) 5 hours of exercise, split between weights and hard cardio
5) Use heart rate monitor each workout this week
6) Use new protein powder in a shake after each workout (though the taste is blergh. I need a smoothie recipe!)

Non-Fitness Goals:
1) One hour of needlework every night
2) Rework 2 original chapters for book by Wednesday
3) Focus on extra work coming, do whatever hours are necessary this week/weekend
4) Buy a couple of small plants for the apartment, the place needs some green!

Soooo...for those who saw my story last week...the audition didn't go so well yesterday :S Well actually, I thought it went really well, but somehow I didn't even make the first cut. Given my dance training and background, I *know* that wasn't the problem...so then it comes down to body size and type, unfortunately. I've emailed the coaches for feedback, so we'll see if they can identify that as the real reason or not.... Anyway, sort of de-motivating for this week, to have someone indirectly tell you that, despite losing 12 lbs and looking better than ever, that's not good enough...but, we shall keep going....

This week's Goals:

1) Keep calories under 1400

2) Exercise 30 minutes minimum/5 days

4) Keep carbs down - 170 g/day or 130%, according to my fitday metre

5) Start bi-weekly (Weds/Sun) weigh-ins on Wii-Fit: it's more accurate than my bathroom scale.

Non-Fitness Goals:

1) Clean kitchen
2) Put away clean laundry, and tidy closet and master bathroom
3) Prep guest bedroom and bathroom for visitors on Friday

taubele: you will find your heart rate monitor to be a revelation! I am addicted to mine, and it gives you a WAY better idea of how well you are working at the gym!

Also, for the protein powder smoothies, what sort of protein did you buy? - I bought soy isolate at Safeway the other day because I find it has less taste, but bf can stomach that icky taste and smell, so he goes with chocolate whey protein. For his smoothies, I mix 1-2 scoops of protein with 1-2 oz chocolate frozen yogurt, 3-4 skim milk/almond milk/soy milk, small handful (15-20 g) spinach, and a dash (really, just a dash! - less than 1 tsp.) of peppermint extract. He says it tastes like those minty Girl Guide cookies!

Good luck this week!

Sorry to hear that the audition didn't go so well for you. Try to think of it as a motivator instead of a de-motivator. As far as protein goes, I either use MGN cake batter or ice cream sandwich flavor and it's very good... almost addictive. That's why it's in my goal this week to cut back on it.

I bought the chocolate whey stuff :) Though I didn't add anything to it when I made the "smoothie" (just ice, one scoop of powder, and 5 fl oz. of milk). I'll figure out how to add things to it to make it taste better - but thanks for the hints! Frozen yogurt would probably help, and I may add some fruit as well or...something! lol

Also sorry to hear about your audition - as mike said - motivator, not de-motivator!! I do hope they get back to you, I always hate when I don't get feedback, for good or ill.

Hi Everyone,

Like Terri, I disappeared over the weekend, too. It ended up being much busier than I thought. I baked like a maniac, got into some unplanned house projects, and did a 16 page report on a very depressing case. Plus there was the fact of DH being home after a week of being gone for work ;). My eating was not the greatest but it was an amazingly productive weekend and I know how to get back on track. Unfortunately, we all woke up this morning not feeling very well, maybe a bug, so just going to take it easy for a while. I'm back to basics, too, like Mike, though I totally will let him tackle the chin-up goal!

Goals this week:

1. Stay on calorie target (changes daily, depends on exercise).
2. Balance the pie chart.
3. 2-3 big blue water bottles daily.
4. Sleep 7 hours per night (I will get this goal this week, dammit!).
5. 5 fruits and veggies per day.
6. No sodas (had given them up, then diet ones snuck back in).

7. Work on office.
8. Finish trim in bedroom and bathroom over weekend, no excuses.
9. Shop for fashion-challenged DH before discount coupon expires Saturday.
10. Follow up on outstanding billing.

Hope everyone is off to a great start this week!

well to day is my Birthday and one wish is that I get threw this day with out eating cake that would make my day. My kids will be coming home today after a long 2 weeks with my Mother and I will see my mom after 6 month down south in Yuma AZ ( she is a snow bird) so looking forward to this day and my sister is suposed to be having her baby today ...can't get a better day. now back to the food thing having a little tough time with staying under my limit I am going to have to get back on track if I want to get to my goal weight by summer

weekly goals
stay on track with food
drink water
go to gym
fill out my fitday stuff
do laundry
and if the weather is nice out, in the yard for clean up

hope every ones week goes good and happy

Wow, Rhoda. Sounds like BEST DAY EVER! :D Have a wonderful time with your family. Maybe you can have JUST a sliver of cake! :D

Rhoda, happy birthday!!!!! I hope you have a great birthday.

Happy Birthday!

Happy birthday, Rhoda; enjoy your day!

Happy Birthday Rhoda!!! I'm sending you "Skinny Birthday Blessings", and a little slice of cake isn't really so bad. If it comes to that, scrape the frosting off and only eat 1/2 of it, 100 calories tops.

Sorry to hear that you and the BF broke up, but it sounds like you're taking it well.

good for you!:cool:

Well then congratulations! Brings to mind specific breakup in my past; the day after the big break-up I went out and got my hair done (cut, color a whole new look really), and I stopped on the way home from the salon and bought a whole bunch of new underwear and bras and a great big trash can. When I got home I tossed out all my old undies and everything he'd left behind or bought me and it was so liberating that I realized I should have done it much much sooner. So jjeand go get yourself some new panties girl, pretty ones in bright colors and a big box of trash bags, you deserve it.

:eek: Now you don't need such a big trash can for the undies. lol

I like the idea of "Back To Basics" as well. So, here's this weeks list:

* Forget the pie chart for one week and keep calories to a "clean" 1400 or less.
* Hike (heavy pack) twice this week.
* Spring's here... resume daily neighborhood walks.
* 100 oz. of water daily, minimum.

* Stop buying jelly beans already!!! Geesh!
* Clean two more closets.
* Keep on top of applications and deadlines.
* Smile more... bitch less.

Hi Everybody,

I am really sorry that I disappeared. I had such a rough week it would have been really hard for me to keep up with the thread. I am so glad that week is over. I hope I never ever have another week like that ever again. Besides my sweet baby dog being in intensive care for 5 days after being attacked, it was the one-year anniversary of my dad's passing and on top of all that I had the worst sinus cold ever. I stopped logging my food and basically existed on a diet of carbs. It was b.a.d. I weighed myself this morning and am up one pound which isn't so bad because I was expecting much worse. I'm hoping to burn it off at spin class today. I didn't exercise all week last week, since it hurt just to breathe. Now I am hoping that things are back on track.

Tomorrow I will be driving to NYC to meet my mom for a few days. We are going to shop, visit the Met, eat dinner at my favorite restaurant in all of Manhattan and just walk all over the place. I am keeping my fingers crossed that I don't get hit by a meteor on the way there or anything.

Molly, that is so nice of you to stop and help that cyclist. What a scare though!

Terri, holy moly! Your poor BF! I got weak in the knees just reading your post.

Cassie, I hope you beat that bug real quick. I had one last week and it's a real downer. Take good care of yourself!

Happy Birthday Rhoda!

Mike how is your fur baby? Sorry I disappeared but I was thinking of your pooch.

Mern, congrats on the half pound weight loss this week. Every little bit helps!

I also love the idea of back to basics and I will be on vacation in the Big Apple until Sunday so:

1. Eat 3 sensible meals a day and 2 small snacks.
2. Work out at the hotel gym.
3. Go running in Stuyvesant Town.
4. Drink 2 litres of water per day.
5. Take my multivitamin.
6. Check in here whenever I have access to a computer.

[QUOTE=taubele;41486]I bought the chocolate whey stuff :) Though I didn't add anything to it when I made the "smoothie" (just ice, one scoop of powder, and 5 fl oz. of milk). I'll figure out how to add things to it to make it taste better - but thanks for the hints! Frozen yogurt would probably help, and I may add some fruit as well or...something! lol

I'm sort of the queen of smoothies because I had my jaws wired shut for 6 weeks once. All these recent posts about cook books reminds me I was going to write one for people having surgery due to injuries or dental issues (like me). I even had recipes for a potato chip substitute--liquid instant mashed potatoes with lots of melted butter and salt. Of course, now I would take the recommended mashed cauliflower!

I do use lots of whey protein powders--choc and vanilla. When I make smoothies, I use frozen fruit (instead of ice cubes), add skim milk, and protein powder for a creamy smoothie; if I want something icier, I just use juice and frozen fruit and maybe some ice. Chocolate powder is great with banana or strawberry or peanut butter. I must admit that frozen yogurt sounds great, but I better not go there! And I don't think I've ever noticed the smell or taste--but then I pretty much eat anything and everything!

It's been a very dull day at work--all alone and craving sugar. I found the office "stash" and just downed 3 small bags (80 cal ea) of these wonderful liquidy, fruit snacks and a few mini peanut butter cups. WHY does this happen?

And Taubele, that story about the needle! Hope he's had a tetanus shot recently! I'm totally useless in those situations.

Oh, hell, I'm two pages behind everyone--again! You all have moved on to birthdays, breakups and tossing old memories, and I'm still stuck on smoothies! So much happens in a few hours here.

So I'll just go back to my bags of juicy fruity snacks.

Belated Happy Birthday, Rhoda!

Mmmm--I just love jelly beans. Not those nasty little fancy ones, either--I like the big ol' cheap 100% sugar ones. Last Easter I ate a whole bag in about 15 minutes. Used to love that old head throbbing, heart pounding sugar rush :eek:. This Easter I wouldn't eat one on a bet. No change in latitude, but a change in attitude :D.

Regards,
Michael

YES!!! No gourmet stuff for this girl! They have to be the old-fashioned $1.00 a bag "originals"! I ate my entire bag over the weekend, although I'm pretty sure I could take down a bag in 15 minutes as well! lol :eek:

Ooooh, now that song's in my head, Michael! But at least I'm not thinking about jelly beans...

Rose, no apologies necessary. Glad you are back, though. How's your little guy?

And Mike? How's yours?

Monday Report Card:

Health & Fitness Goals

1. Keep calories to 1,500 M-T-W-T-Sat, 1,800 F-Sun. 1,495
2. Calorie deficit for the week 3,500. -833
3. Exercise 6 hours. 48 min
4. 96 oz water. YES
5. Carbs under 45%. 48% This was my first day back on grain, so far I've eaten 6 pieces of bread (35 cal ea.), a rice cake and a Flat Out.
6. Protein over 40%. 26% (See above)

Other Stuff

7. Call SIL and find another race, 5/14/11 is not going to work out. NO
8. Clean 2 rooms (15 min each) + 1 load of laundry. NO
9. Figure out basement shelving layout. NO
10. Write library proposal. NO
11. Work on church design 2 hours (or more). NO
12. Fix starting block covers. NO
13. Sew patches on GS uniforms. NO
14. Plan some activities for Spring Break. YES, going to see in-laws (the kids will love it, me somewhat less so)

Not me, bring on those fancy gourmet beans. I used to shop at this market that had the fancy flavors in bulk and they had lists on the side of the display for "recipes". My favorite one was for praline brownies, with a splash of rum beans. And seriously it takes you 15 minutes to eat a pound? I could throw down a pound of gourmet jelly beans in like 6-7 min, they are very small that chewing is sort of optional. I had 3 jelly beans yesterday, DD forced them on me. Okay she turned away from the little box and I stole them. So? I can't be the only mom that ever snicked goodies from their kids.