lnbrock

...is anyone else feeling a case of the "blah"s this afternoon? I felt like I was doing so well so far this week in terms of choices, motivation, energy...and then all of a sudden after my lunchtime workout I am zapped. I've picked up a Starbucks and went for a short walk to try and get that mellow state of mind back, but no luck so far.... Any tips for waking up during this mid-afternoon slump?!

cjohnson728

Funny you should mention that, Lindsey! Not so much the blahs mentally, but I'm sleepy! In fact, I made a cup of tea when I got home from work and stirred it with my pen So I'm either really tired or getting senile. I had a cup of tea and some fruit and got involved in something (baking granola bars). I'm feeling a bit more awake now. How about some stretching, or some cold water on your face? If you worked out at lunch, do you need a bit of fuel in you? Hope you snap back to it soon!

Mern, I use PB and celery as a snack, too. Quick, easy, tasty, and it usually balances out the pie for me, as I'm usually highest in carbs. Great minds think alike

Julia...awesome weigh in! Keep it up, girl; your goal is totally do-able!

Quinn, you are rocking the week. Learning "no" is a tough job. I have a feeling you will love the stage that comes next, though. Maybe you'll even move from "no" to "Heck, no!"

Terri & almeeker, thanks for keeping the positivity and the motivation going, as always . Hope you ladies, and everyone, are having a great day!

How're things looking on your street corner, Mike?

quinnesec

Hi Everyone,

I'm checking in so that my hands are busy and I don't lose it right before supper! I'm making Chicken & Dumplings for my family and the house smells soooooo good! (I'll be having the chicken and vegetables... lol)

To top it off, when I was cleaning kitchen cupboards today, I found my cappuccino/espresso/latte maker... Oh man, could I go for a cappuccino right now! I'll have to figure out a fat-free, sugar-free, guilt-free version... and quick! lol

behaze

Mike – and there I was, thinking I was so clever . . . Well, I hope you got your baseball-bat wielding ‘manager’ onto the upstart’s kneecaps! As a sidenote, did you know here in Australia, a prostitute is a valid and legal occupation to enter into your tax lodgement forms? Just a bit of useless trivia to file away in your mental cabinet.

Almeeker – good luck with your caloric intake today!

Terri – sorry, but the 80’s was a tragic era, fashion-wise. I do question why the fashion has come back . . . BUT! I’m so glad for you and your 25lb loss – that is very cool, indeed. Go get that kitty litter! Grr!

Mern – you’re doing an awesome job with your sweet tooth this week! And at the moment, they’re just regular star jumps.

Quinn – sorry, that was a typo – I met my partner when I was 17, not 16 (we’ve been together 10 years last month), but in any case, my mum kicked me out when I was 15 (apparently I was a ‘problem’ child). At the time, I had just dropped out of high school (not because of a lack of academic intellect; more because I was so sick and tired of the social crap and besides, I always wanted to be a writer and I didn’t think I needed a university degree to achieve that) and was working full time as a trainee legal secretary earning a whopping $148 a week (yes, that’s $3.80 an hour) . . . rent for my tiny flat was $100. I used to jump the train all the time to get to work because I never had money to pay for a ticket (well hey, the train was going that way, anyway ). The ticketee always caught me when he was stationed at my train station, but he let me off with every poor excuse I gave, or turned a blind eye when I had to pass. It’s amazing how some strangers look after a lonesome teenage girl – I had to catch a cab home one night at about 11pm, and I told him I only had $5, so to take me as far as $5 would go (which wasn’t far). He turned the meter off at $5 and drove me all the way home (probably a two hour walk). My boss took pity on me and my rapidly shrinking frame and decided to introduce Monday Staff Meetings, which were just an excuse to feed me lunch without damaging my not inconsiderable pride (he wouldn’t have damaged my pride if he’d just paid me more). I have many stories that probably aren’t suitable for polite company, have been through a lot, met many unsavoury characters, seen hope for humanity in those that would go out of their way to assist a stranger, and I think, have come out the other side reasonably well-adjusted and able to provide my kids with a different perspective on life – not necessarily better, not worse, just different. I also got myself a tattoo when I was 16 (no, I didn’t have money for milk and bread, but I did have enough to ink myself permanently) of a little devil to mark that period in my life. It’s in an inconspicuous place because the purpose was not to show it off to everyone, it was to remind myself that I have the capacity to rise above all the difficulties life throws my way. I look at my friends who are all currently childless, some own their own homes, some have been around the world, some tell of their upcoming holidays to exotic places and I can’t help but feel jealous – then I remind myself that I chose this life, and what I have now is worth more than a week in Europe.
I don’t know – everyone has their own trials. These were some of mine. I can speak from experience, however, and say, ‘when you’ve sunk so low you’re touching the bottom of the barrel, the only other way to go is back up’.

Anyway, that was a bit of a rant.

Feeling good this morning. A cup of tea and some vegemite on toast helped with a minor case of queasiness in lieu of dry crackers. I plan on having a snooze today when my little man has his nap and if this fog clears and shows a beautiful blue sky like yesterday, I’m looking forward to having a walk (with sunscreen this time – I got burnt yesterday!). My 8yo is attending his last day of school before the Easter holidays and is having a friend over to sleep tonight (a particularly mischievous friend – I’ll have to keep a close eye on them!).

Hey, there’s a question – how is everyone planning on dealing with a chocolate-soaked Easter this year?

Fitness Goals:

1. Keep heart rate below 140bpm while exercising. ?? Forgot to put on my HRM, highest 145
2. Take the pram out of my car’s boot and go for a brisk walk each day. No, it rained. Yes, approx 5km.
3. Keep water intake at 2L per day. Yes! Yes.
4. Enjoy carbs!! Hell yes! Mmmm . . . I missed vegemite on toast!
5. Find some alternative for delicious ginger nut biscuits to ease nausea (I’d eat those all day if I could). Ginger Ale - possibly Saltines. Getting Saltine substitutes.
6. Get at least 7 hours of sleep per day. 7.5 hours! 6 hours

Non-Fitness Goals

1. Get everything organised for birthday festivities for 1yo and my partner, who both celebrate on 22nd April. Partner's presents organised. 1yo’s presents organized.

Tuesday Consequences: 50 Star Jumps
Wednesday Consequences: 100 Star Jumps (in two ‘sessions’)

01gt4.6

Today was a sad, sad day for me. I had a death today (read on)! I woke up and went to weigh my food and the damn battery in my scale died!!!! For the love of God, how and I supposed to do this now? What's next??? The battery in the remote for the TV? lol Good think I have a pretty good idea of what stuff weighs by now.

Health & Fitness
1) 65g carbs/ day 51.9g, 38.0g
2) +/- 500 cals for the week -173, -507
3) floss 7x yes, yes
4) Daily:
Vitaminyes, yes
Fish Oil yes, yes
Magnesium no, yes
5) work out 3x no, yes
6) 1400 pushups 100, 200

Non Health & Fitness
1) Make money no, no
2) smile more & bitch less yes, yes
3) have fun boiling 20 sacks of crawfish for the Hospice Foundation (Saturday)

Mern

Lindsey, I hope you get rid of your "blahs." Sorry, I don't have any tips--I would have suggested a quick walk in the fresh air, but it doesn't sound like that worked. Maybe some quick jumping jacks or something?

Cassie, yeah, great minds think alike. I noticed that since I've been trying to curb my sugar free candy cravings, it's not been much of a struggle at all to keep my carbs within my limit. Also, even though I'm a veggie lover, I don't always get in 5 servings from the veggie/fruit group. But since I curbed the chocolate covered sugar free candy I'm eating more veggies without even thinking about it. I love this group for all the good ideas, support, and motivation!

Quinn, way to go on the chicken and veggies instead of dumplings! I'm making chicken tomorrow and I told DH it's going to be roasted with just olive oil and seasonings, not oven fried with breading. But when I made chicken livers the other day, I made his with breading and mine without. He's really good about compromising. Best wishes on figuring out the fat free, sugar free, guilt free version of cappuccino/espresso/latte.

bhaze, thanks for your support on curbing my sweet tooth. I see you're also supportive of Mike's new second job. Personally, I think he's on that corner looking for another marriage proposal like the one he got on YouTube--but now from what we call in the USA a sugar daddy--one who pays all the bills and supplies his lover a life of luxury. LOL Thanks for the reply on the star jumps. I can't wait to hear if you're having another boy or a girl. Wow, that'll be so great that your little boy and the new baby will be so close together--nice to have a playmate so close in age. I read with a lot of interest your life story about having been thrown out and made it on your own. Kudos to you for having such courage. I'm so glad you had people who looked out for you--the guy on the train, the cab driver, your boss, etc. Many people who had it rough forget about the few who helped them along the way--I see you didn't let your rough start into premature adulthood sour you on life. You are an amazing, strong, woman! I'll bet you're a great Mom, too.

Hey, Mike! How's tricks? It's great that you are used to weighing and measuring so you can guestimate your servings. I'm pretty good at that, too, so I think I could make it until the next day and not totally sabotage my menu. Great job yesterday.

quinnesec

behaze,

Somehow, I knew you were an adventuresome spirit. I, too, could never take the easy path of most others. Something more exciting always lurked on the road less traveled. Although I ended up in the same place as my peers, my path here was quite unconventional. lol I grew up in a home where one of my grandmothers held a master's degree (unusual for a woman born in 1898) and was very well off. My other grandmother was an immigrant with a sixth grade education who worked as a maid for a wealthy family. So, part of my summer was spent being cared for by my well-off grandmother's hired help and the other part of my summer was spent helping my other grandmother who WAS a maid in a kitchen, cooking and serving snobby socialites. I can still see her in her starched maid's uniform!

I saw life in such polar opposite views. What an awesome way to grow up. (And if you're wondering which was better, the life of the maid was MUCH happier and loving. We did a lot of laughing in the kitchen... that's probably why it's still my favorite place to be. )

The way I grew up made me want to get to know everyone. Just like your cab driver, some of the most interesting, beautiful people I've ever met have been in the most unlikely of places.

As far as being jealous of your well-off friends... don't be. When you pull back their silk curtains, there's a life you wouldn't want. The sound of laughter from happy, rambunctious children and their sticky handed hugs are priceless.

01gt4.6

Mern, tricks are good. The scale is working again. I guess I need to get a battery soon.

farahb7

hello everyone!
i enjoyed reading your posts, giggled sometimes, imagining our firend, Mike at the street corner and holding my breath reading about behaze's life experiences, and also each and everyones of your experiences, adventures and wise words! Thank you Cassie for showing me the way here.

Mern, i so very appreciate your nice, encouraging note about my fast weight drop, and i do agree with your comment. thanks again!

well, this morning was another good surprise, my weight was showing at 124lb, this morning and when i cheked it back again in the evening before dinner, i guess the bloating has yet to start.

i was good also in regards to the food, calories, logging food and also drinking water. i decided not to do the exercise today, since it my second day of ..... and thought it better to take it easy.

something very interesting to tell u all, April 16th is my first year anniversary of being a fitday member. last year when i started my journy, i was so excited and decided to buy one or two shorts and capries, a few sizes too small with a goal of eventually fitting into those. tonight i took those out, trying them on to see if they fit, and guess what? they are looking too big and baggy on me!!!!! i was totally surprised!

ok, guess i talked too much, take care all and hope tomorrow is another good, positive and successful day for you all!

cjohnson728

*Moment of respectful silence for Mike's battery's death*

Behaze, have fun with those boys! Sounds like you will have your hands full! As for Easter...same way I did last year. Buy in moderation, substitute non-food stuff, and have the guys hide what I don't want to get into! It worked, to a point, but there were a couple chocolate orgy incidents, yes, indeedy. I am a biiiig sucker for those chocolate covered malted milk egg thingys.

When I was growing up, my mom would make chocolate covered butter cream eggs...real butter, real cream, and literally about half a box of powdered sugar per egg. I'm guessing they weighed about half a pound each. I did it a couple years ago for nostalgia's sake and to have my son be able to try one, but I don't think we need to go down that path this year

Farah, glad you jumped over! Good to have you here. Congrats on the pants, and the anniversary!

Long day at work; I'm glad it's over and that we're cruising downhill now in the week. Hope you all had a great day!

Goal check in:

1. Stick to calorie limit. I'll give it a B, Yes!, Yes
2. Balance pie chart (no specific percentages; just use common sense). Yes, Yes, Yes
3. Exercise 6 days. Yes, Yes, Yes
4. Sleep at least 7 hours nightly. Yes, No, No
5. Drink 2-3 big blue bottles of water each day. Yes, Yes, Yes
6. No impulse snacking! Mostly, Yes (meaning no snacking), Yes

7. Clean out purse & wallet and file receipts. Done!
8. Sweep garage. Done!
9. Flowers for front porch. Done, and repotted a big ole' plant in the family room.
10. Make healthy snacks/quick breakfasts/bread for the week and for freezer. Breakfasts are done, granola bars are done
11. Change sheets and towels for MIL visit Friday. Not yet
12. Plan meals for weekend. Yes. Had to plan around son's preferences, as he's the one putting it out there in a tourney this weekend, and all I can say is that I might possibly have some teensy, weensy regret over pledging to post my weekend food journal!