quinnesec

Mike,

Thanks so much for the info. You really have a great eye for photography. Some day, I'd really like to go to Mardi Gras... it's one of the things on my "bucket list", you could say.

Being a "foodie", my travel ALWAYS centers around food and the chefs (or their recommendations) that I have met along the way. A childhood friend of mine and her husband owned a restaurant in N.O. (...sorry, I've forgotten the name.) I usually research the restaurants before I research the hotels! lol

almeeker,

My daughter gave me the ipod as a gift. She preloaded it with music that had a perfect beat for walking and hiking for me. The only problem is, when I hear that song, I start laughing and I can't keep up my pace! (I like 'em big, I like 'em plumpy, I like 'em round, I like 'em chunky...) The mix has everything from Madagascar to Pink (So What). I love it. It's kind of eclectic, like me.

cjohnson728

Terri, in my house, the chocolate ones were jimmies and sometime before I was born, the fam started calling the colored ones "charlies." So if you think you get strange looks for jimmies, try using charlies and see what that gets you!

GREAT job on handling yesterday and getting pumped up! Enjoy the weekend!

01gt4.6

Thanks Cassie. I know the feeling of needing to go to bed before eating the house down. Glad your foot is better.

Your Numbers are looking good. How are the push-ups coming. I thought you were asking what they'd give ME if I were to ask for a sodie-pop. You are safe, they are friendly here. I'd get slapped though.

I'm glad too. No more chirrens for me! N.O. is waiting for you to come back! You will eventually get use to the spices.

No problem. Mardi Gras is a blast but there are many great times to come down. We have Jazz Fest going on right now. It's not Jazz music, it's everything. Google it, you may like that more and come catch it some time. If you think of the name of the restaurant, let me know.

Mern

Thanks to all for your kudos on my reaching a "new decade."

Went to granddaughter's track meet yesterday and then almost forgot grandson's Coach Pitch softball game is at 4:00 today. Oops--that time messed up my dinner plans for baked chicken, so I simmered the boneless, skinless chicken breasts on the stove, covered them with cooking broth and put them in the fridge to reheat later. That'll be a time saver. I also saved enough chicken broth in which to cook myself some low net effective carb pasta--it turned out with so much depth of flavor that I won't even need sauce.

Mike, so glad your feaux-varies are better and that you're not pregnant.

Jjeand, it was great to read your checkup went so well. Very happy for you.

Julia, I tried acting rebellious to DH when I caught him not listening to me--AGAIN. Oh, my Lord, we'll be married 40 years in July and I've NEVER gotten used to it. When I asked, "WHY is it that you can't hear me talking to you when I'm right next to you while you're reaching into the fridge for a bowl of Cool Whip? Do you have to concentrate on that task THAT hard so that you have to block out all conversation?" Nope, he didn't even notice my rebellious tone--just mumbled "sorry" as he always does and then went downtstairs to watch the Golf Channel on TV.

Almeeker, you're report looks pretty darned good this week. Give yourself a lot of credit for so many positive accomplishments.

Cassie, how's your foot today? Wishing you a speedy recovery. I would have recorded the Royal Wedding in hieroglyphics on my cave walls, but since I was afraid I'd fall back to sleep and miss something, I fired up the VCR. LOL on your Mom stockpiling VHS players. We very rarely have a need or desire to record a TV program so don't subscribe to a DVR service with the cable company. My three year old combo VHS and DVD component plays and records VHS tapes, but it only plays DVDs, can't record them. I have some family and vacation VHS tapes that I'm going to have transferred to DVDs by an electronics repair shop up the street. Then after that I'll be OK to leave VHS in the past when it breaks down and will modernize to a DVD recorder.

Terri, yeah, I use big pots for making soup stock. Not trying to sell you on making soup--you have to have the time and desire. I've heard one can make delicious soup using store-bought stock, but I've never tried it. People don't HAVE to eat soup anyway--plenty other healthful foods out there from which to choose. You've got a quite respectable report through Thursday--a 3304 deficit for only 4 days is great, as are your carbs and protein! Kudos on curbing the take-out!

01gt4.6

thank you Mern.

Once again, I've slipped up. I keep losing motivation. The crazy thing now is that I'm losing my motivation to work out, and that doesn't happen with me.

I didn't log anything of Friday and maybe 1/2 on Saturday.

Here's what I've learned this week:

1) It's harder to stay home and work out as opposed to going out to the gym. From a motivation stand point and an attention stand point. I guess if I took my adderall like I was supposed to it wouldn't be such and issue.
2) P90X is harder than I remember, the routines seem to never end and feel like they are non-stop.
3) the P/C/F ratio of 50/30/20 sucks. I feel like it's too restrictive, and boring, and that backfires with me.
4) It's hard to get in over 2000 calories when you are eating clean and at a 50/30/20 ratio. I noticed I was forcing myself to eat (stuff I didn't want to eat, late a night) when I was hungry.
5) yesterday I pulled out my juicer and made fresh juice with baby spinach, carrots and tomatoes (tomatoes were picked from my back yard). V8 is cheaper, easier, less mess & tastes better.
6) I've made too many excuses, but the feaux-varies was a real pain.
7) I'm behind again on my workouts and now need to make up 2 today.

taubele

Cassie: "Charlies" is a new one to me, but I kinda like it! I hope you're enjoying your weekend as well!

Mike: I keep trying to incorporate at least mild spices into recipes, with varying degrees of success. I have figured out what seems to work and what doesn't... it's a start. I've been super-sensitive all my life. It's not just heat, but my mouth goes numb, I can't taste, my stomach gets upset, and other side-effects, haha! To give you an idea... KFC potato wedges (with their spice blend) used to make me sweat and lose taste for a day. It's THAT bad.

Also, with your working out - sorry you've lost some of your motivation It seems like you had a bunch of hits in a row with money woes, losing the gym, etc. Hits you in the wallet, and the pride, and that can hurt. Also, JUST when you started, you got a little injury to set you back to the beginning again, and that's so frustrating. Don't injure yourself again kick-starting the program and working out twice! And take your meds! Maybe you need a do-over? A mulligan shot? You know you can do this, because you've done it before. I do hope that you're feeling better and more motivation, and get whatever kickstart you need. We're all rooting for you!

Mern: Oh, some day, I definitely want to make my own soups. I want to cook well enough so that I never have to worry about it again. I'm leaps and bounds from where I was even a few months ago, but just like my weight, I've hit a little cooking plateau. Trying to kick-start myself back! Soups are so great. And thanks for the kudos, your reports are looking AMAZING this week.

Saturday Report Card

Food, Exercise and Lifestyle Goals:
1) Achieve a 7,000 calorie deficit by the end of the week M: -701 T: -786 W: -1,313 Th: -504 F: -1,017 Sat: -1,886 (Week Total: -6,207)
2) Do not take off two days in a row from exercising. M: Day off, though I did go grocery shopping T: No gym W: one hour HIIT cardio Th: Day off F: roughly an hour on weights, 15 minutes cardio Sat: 1h 10 mins HIIT cardio
3) Achieve a 30% protein average for the week M: 38% T: 24% W: 24% Th: 27% F: 28% Sat: 26% (Weekly average: 28%)
4) Carbs at or below 50% average for the week M: 38% T: 56% W: 51% Th: 44% F: 37% Sat: 48% (Weekly average: 46%)
5) Protein powder after every workout in a smoothie M: N/A T: N/A W: yes Th: N/A F: Yes Sat: Yes
6) At least 104 oz. water daily M-Sat: yes
7) Report here each and every day M-Sat: Day after
8) Eat out/take out no more than twice for lunch and once for dinner M: Had take-out for lunch T: No takeout W: No takeout Th: Out to lunch F: No takeout Sat: No takeout (Lunch Total: 2 Dinner Total: 0)

Other Life Stuff:
1) When stressed, don't take it out on myself, or anything that does not have to do directly with the source of the stress. Deal with it directly, even if I don't want to. M: Yes! T: Big yes! W: Yes Th: Not much stress F: Wooo yes! Sat: No stress
2) Make an effort on my appearance every day M: Yes T: yes W: yes Th: yes F: No... Sat: No
3) Work on my embroidery for at least five hours M: 1.5 hours T-Sat: No (Week Total: 1.5 hours)
4) Don't worry, be happy! M: Mostly T: Stressful morning, much better evening W: Some afternoon stress, but I shook it off somehow! Th: Yes F: Yes! Sat: Totally
5) Try two new recipes for dinner M: not yet T: No W: No Th: yes. Recipe needs tweaking. F: No Sat: No

Yesterday was a very relaxing day. I don't have much to report other than that it felt really, really good (and necessary) and that I may have overworked slightly at the gym, as I was pretty achy by bedtime. I prefer the ache and knowing a job was well-done, though Trying a new recipe for dinner tonight. Hopefully it goes better than Thursday's attempt!

~Terri

Mern

Anyone else having trouble posting a reply? Seems like FitDay is working fine for me except that when I try to post a reply, I either get a message that says Internet Explorer can't display the webpage or I hit Submit Reply and it just hangs and never appears as a post. It most often takes me several tries to get a reply posted.

Mike, holy cow! I saw part of a P90X demo on TV a couple days ago and couldn't believe anyone could actually MOVE that fast. It's a wonder anyone gets through something like that without hyperventilating! Are you that opposed to cutting yourself a break and not forcing yourself to make up the two missed workouts in view of your recent faux-varies problem?

Is there a reason (you don't have to say what it is) you are avoiding taking your Adderall on schedule or is it just that you just forget to take it or aren't where the meds are when it's time?

I think that 50P/30C/20F ratio would be really hard for me, too. I often have to force 120g protein and resort to protein shakes to do it.

I love V8--homemade sounds great. DH has a ton of fennel seedlings started. I have no idea what to do with so much--may be hard to share with neighbors because I don't think it's something most people have in their list of frequently eaten foods. I'd think it fennel juice might be a nice addition to homemade V8. Hey, I wonder how fennel juice would taste in iced tea.

I missed logging some stuff lately, too, due to attending grandkids' sports and errands. I know I've eaten cleanly (as far as macros go) but have eaten too much salt. Yesterday morning I woke up to achy ankles due to excess water retention after having eaten a ham, pepperoni, and cheese sandwich on half a low carb tortilla for dinner on the run. Then this morning I ate two hard boiled eggs with Bragg Liquid Aminos--lower sodium soy sauce substitute, but when you don't limit it, being lower sodium doesn't help much. I let the sauce saturate each bite of yolk. If I'm up on the scale tomorrow I'm not going to sweat it because I'll know honestly and for certain it's just temporary excess water weight.

Mern

Terri, your reports are AMAZING this week, too! "Inspirational" fits again. So glad you had a well-deserved relaxing day yesterday. I hope your gym-induced aches are gone now. I either missed it or forgot--what was your failed cooking attempt Thursday? I've made a good many flops in my day. One time when my son was about nine he asked me to make steak kabobs like he had at a friend's house. Well, I didn't think we could afford steak, so I used stew meat and broiled the kabobs in the oven. It came out so tough and chewy that we couldn't even eat the meat--sort of like chewing on car tires. LOL What new recipe are you trying tonight?

Mern

Oh, we always say "chocolate jimmies"--the word chocolate always is in there, but we just say "sprinkles" for the multi-colored ones. "Charlies"--that's a good one. LOL

You know those little twist ties that come on bread and some produce? We call those "squigglies." We politely call flatulance gas passing "smell eggs" because one time when my daughter was three a lady in KMart let off a really sickening one and my daughter said quite loudly, "I smell eggs!!! LOL

01gt4.6

Terri, a mulligan would probably do me some good. Yeah, I've had a lot going on, I just need to focus and push through it all. Thanks.

Mern, It's a catch 22 with the adderall. It kills my appetite so when I make a dumb goal like eat 2100-2400 cals/ day I find myself skipping the adderall so I can eat more. Then my brain spins in circles and I never get my tasks done, such as a work out. Just like now.... 3 mins ago, I got off the phone, took my workout off pause, swore i was going to get back to it and here i am 3 mins later.

Okay. I'm done. I'm getting off of here, I have waaay too much to do and nothing's getting done.