7 Day Motivational 11/19-11/25: Thanksgiving Week; Gratitude, Not Just Food
 

Welcome fellow motivational-ers! Are we ready to face the challenges this week brings?

Goals:
1) Except for Thursday, try going easier on the carbs
2) exercise in any form 2x
3) water, 6 glasses min
4) cals, 1600 max (except Thursday)
5) Plan meals
6) Stick to plan
7) Meditation
8) remember to be grateful every day
9) stretch

1. Target is 1600 cals or less/day.
2. Need to plan ahead.
3. Do my best to stick to it.
4. Log everything.
5. Exercise.
6. Remember to take meds 2x/day.
7. Get enough rest.
8. Remember all the things I am thankful for.
9. Be kind to myself.

It's a long list, but I think most of them are pretty easily attainable. It will be a tough week food-wise. Because Thursday took so much of my budget we will be having "cheap and easy dinners" (a.k.a. not as healthy) for most of the rest of the week. Not that they're all bad necessarily, but for example, on spaghetti night I don't eat it, so I'll have to somehow find myself something else to eat. Another night is Ramen egg drop soup. Definitely not having that. I may have to beg some extra money from hubby to buy a few items for myself to help stay on track.

I have been really bad about taking my meds this past week, and all weekend I didn't log a single thing. Those are things I really need to focus on.

Taking care of goal #6, right now I am really thankful for the fact that I no longer weigh 275 lbs. I sometime get discouraged at how far I have to go, but then I look back and see how far I have come already. I can do this!!!

Everyone, have a beautiful day and a successful week!

Good goals, Lisa! The meds are especially important. And yes it is good to see how far you have come and to take it a step at a time. I hope you can find some good meals within your budget, maybe fish or chicken?

It's going to be hard to plan meals today because my stomach has been really bothering me for days but I am going to try.

Plan:
Breakfast
egg whites and ham
Lunch
tuna
cucumber
Dinner
grilled salmon
spinach in garlic and oil
Snacks
apples
nuts

Chicken is always a good one, Hope. I love chicken. We are having it 2x (BBQ in the crock pot and chicken/broccoli pie, which I can only have a little of because of the dough.) Those are the two "good" nights. lol. I also do have some canned chicken in the cupboard that I forgot about and I can make a chicken salad sandwich one night. I don't like most fish, but your suggestion reminded me that Tuna is another good idea. I may get a Healthy Choice dinner one night. Those aren't my favorites, but they will do in a pinch and are definitely better than the pancakes and bacon I am making one night. I'm just going to have to be very careful about planning ahead and not waiting until the last minute because that's how I get in trouble.

Sorry to hear you are not feeling well. I hope you feel better quickly!

Morning, folks, and happy Thanksgiving week :).

Keeping it simple!

1. Don't go stupid with food (Is this Tori's wording? Gotta love it).
2. Get exercise.
3. Get enough sleep.
4. Drink enough.
5. Stay active on FitDay.
6. Be thankful.

Lisa, good luck with the food this week. A little planning and forethought go a long, long way, so I think you will be successful.

Hope, sorry your stomach is bothering you :(. Take care of yourself. You've strung a couple good weeks together; keep up the good work.

Morning everyone.

Finally feeling more like myself. BP is still high (checked at local pharmacy). Weighed yesterday and thankfully I haven't gained--drinking lots of water.

Goals for the week, keeping it simple
1. Eat more fruits and veggies
2. cut down on carbs
3. Drink water
4. Exercise 3x
5. Write

Miss you Mern!

Jenn

Lisa, Cassie, thank you for your concern about my tummy but I'll be OK. It's prolly a fibro thing, possibly fixable with diet. This too shall pass.

Cassie, I like the "dont' go stupid with food." LOL.

Lisa, it sounds like you've got together some good strategies. Chicken is great in that it is so versatile. When I make my family pancakes for dinner, I have eggs or one or two whole wheat pancakes. I don't know if you like eggs or egg whites but they are also great with veggies, cheese, etc.

Jenn, so glad you are feeling more yourself but sorry about your bp. Drinking lots of water is good. I have high bp and find when I lose even a couple of pounds, it helps my bp go down. Do you have any relaxation techniques?

I too miss Mern. Mern where are you?

For me, the good news is that I got my Biggest Loser scale in the mail today and it seems easier to use than my old one. (I broke my old one; apparently you're not supposed to drop them from great heights. Who knew? LOL.) I did an exercise class, first one other than yoga I have done in ages. It seemed pretty good; we'll see how I feel in a couple of days. I told the instructor (who I know) I had issues and I'd do what I could and she was so encouraging. "See?" she keep saying, "you did more than you thought you could." Which was true tho I was careful.

I signed up for a weight maintenance contest my gym holds every year through the holidays and I weighed in at .6 lb less than at home. But in both cases I lost about a pound of the weight I had gained back. I am determined to lose these last 7-10 pounds.

So glad I came back to my old gym. I think I will go to it more. I'm psyched.

Good morning to all my lovly ladies that have already joined up this morning.

I haven't even begun to think of goals yet, I'm just hoping to mitigate the damage that Thanksgiving dinner (supper Tori, supper) will bring.

Once again, this year I am thankful to have y'all as my extended, dysfunctional family!

I'm back in... hoping that by logging, I will shame myself into not going overboard over Thanksgiving...

1. Log everything... even on Thanksgiving!
2. Calories under 1100 (...except for Thanksgiving)
3. Take all vitamins and supplements.
4. Make the best food choices with the options that I'm given. Fill up on whole, healthy foods; no excuses.

Goals
 

Hope, Thanks for the shout out last week, and for starting up this thread.

Trying to be mindful of what I can accomplish this week, and what would really be beneficial for me, this is what I came up with for the week:

• Exercise at least 20 minutes every day.
• Say 'Thank you' to at least one person every day.
• Develop three long term goals by week end, and post them here.

I didn't do too well on my weekly goals last week. The only one I met was Protein over 50g/day; I managed over 50 every day, 61g/day average. As for the the rest of the goals, I did well in the first half of the week, but went overboard toward the weekend. Ended up with a daily cal average of 1651, not under 1600. Well, it's a new week. I'm now going to try to focus on what I've done well, and what I've been 'good' at.

• I log everything I eat into fitday. Since the first of the year I've logged all my food every day, with the exception of the vacation in Sept. For the vacation (only) I created a custom entry, called 'Food,' and logged 2000 cals/day of 'Food,' & 400 cals alcohol. Figured that was probably an actual average for that vacation. I went on a bunch of day hikes, and ate pretty well, but was totally extravagant with the alcohol. And chocolate. And nuts. Way too much fat.

• I've been doing really well on maintenance. Gained a few pounds on vacation, but dropped them right off. I've also gone down a few lbs. under my goal, but I'm definitely not underweight, and I've been starting to get some 'definition' in my abs. My skin just isn't that elastic at this age, I guess.

• I'm feeling healthy. My blood pressure was checked twice last week, and was pretty much perfect: 118/70, 115/65. Waiting on the blood work to come back and see how the cholesterol is doing however...

• I've lost a lot of stress. I just don't carry that around with me the way I used to. I'm a lot more accepting of things, less argumentative, and I don't get depressed by the things that used to bother me.

• I could go on .... but I don't want to sound like a braggart. I have a bi-polar problem with my self worth at times, so I'd like to find that middle ground where I can talk about the good without getting obnoxious about it. I think I may have hit that median with this list. (Had to erase 'I hope' from that last line. ;-)

What I need to do going forward is create some long term goals for myself. I always have a problem in that area, and now I find myself a bit aimless. Hope to work on that this week, and perhaps gain a new perspective.


- Donna

Donna, you've done really well so far! Keep it up.

Jumping in a bit late today! I fell out of the posts (but not off the wagon) last week when work really took off around Wednesday. I went from praying for something to do to getting funding for 3 good writing projects, one big proposal, and an emergency out of town client meeting that had me working ton of hours. This week is busy as well, but I do plan Thanksgiving and Friday off!

Let’s see now…

This week
Water galore:
Eat healthy breakfast: N
Healthy light lunch: Y
Healthy dinners:
Take vitamin (why is this so hard to remember?!):
Prep as much T-Day food as possible early in the week:

T-Day
Go easy on the butter:
Do not drench everything in gravy like I usually do (potatoes only):
1 dinner roll max:
Dish up small servings of everything and DON’T go back for seconds:
2 glasses of wine max (major challenge):
1 small slice of pie:
Watch football
Take a walk
Enjoy every single minute of family time!

Happy Thanksgiving Week!
:D Ama
5’6”, 40yo
Maintaining with a Vengeance!

What do you do, Ama? You mentioned writing.

I made all of my goals last week, but most importantly, I made my weight goal by 0.2 pounds. I like working out, its not bad, and I make the most of the time by working real hard. I wish I lived somewhere besides bland IL. I would surely get out a lot more.

I have verbally committed to race a 5K fun run on 7/4/13, so I need to stay on target, or that isn't going to work too well for me.

My goals this week:

Count Calories (today thus far 760)
Go to the gym 6 times
Aiming for a loss of about 1 pound this week. I could use a good meal on doom day.
Not argue with the Mrs. about her ability to spend money at a rate expotentially faster than I can make it-it's the holidays. We do not use credit cards in our house. Cash only!

Great day back on the wagon, except that I kind of piled all of my calories into my evening meal... ugh. Tomorrow I will do better! :) (Famous last words...)

1. Log everything... even on Thanksgiving! Yes
2. Calories under 1100 (...except for Thanksgiving) 1182
3. Take all vitamins and supplements. Yes
4. Make the best food choices with the options that I'm given. Fill up on whole, healthy foods; no excuses. Yes

1) Walk at least five days with my dog
2) Make 2 homemade meals (not including salads)
3) Learn 2 new yoga poses
4) Keep at my calorie counting
5) STAY POSITIVE
6) Do not overeat at Thanksgiving, stick to light salads, root vegetables, etc.

This is my first time in this thread, so I hope I replied correctly and filled it out right. I'm not sure how many items I need, but since I am just starting, I wanted to start small. I think this is a great goal for the coming week.

Welcome to the thread. I'm relatively new here too, and everyone has been really great. There aren't any "rules" to what/how you post. It's all an individual thing how many items you have each week. Welcome aboard!

1. Don't go stupid with food (Is this Tori's wording? Gotta love it). Good
2. Get exercise. Yep
3. Get enough sleep. Yes, finally, and it was lovely!
4. Drink enough. Did great
5. Stay active on FitDay. Could be more so
6. Be thankful. Yes

I definitely enjoyed today. No logging, but I made good choices and kept a running total in my head and calories were right where I want them. I had a good 40-min. run in the neighborhood today and did the Thanksgiving shopping with my mom :eek::eek:. Oh, I have to post the infamous pantry list. Will do tomorrow; I'm too tired now! Hope you all had a great day!

This week
Water galore: Sorta
Eat healthy breakfast: N
Healthy light lunch: Y
Healthy dinners: Y (bok choy, quinoa and tuna salad),
Take vitamin (why is this so hard to remember?!): errr...
Prep as much T-Day food as possible early in the week: Not yet

T-Day
Go easy on the butter:
Do not drench everything in gravy like I usually do (potatoes only):
1 dinner roll max:
Dish up small servings of everything and DON’T go back for seconds:
2 glasses of wine max (major challenge):
1 small slice of pie:
Watch football
Take a walk
Enjoy every single minute of family time!

Happy Thanksgiving Week!
:D Ama
5’6”, 40yo
Maintaining with a Vengeance!

Hi Hope - I'm an environmental consultant. I evaluate client project sites prior to construction then write environmental assessments, env. impact statements and such. For those who suffer from insomnia reading just one chapter would put most people down in a flash :). But I love it none the less. Ama

Hope, do well on the gym contest! You can lose those last few!

Donna, you've got a great list, and you're doing excellent.

I think everyone is really loving the "don't go stupid with the food" quote this week. lol

1. Target is 1600 cals or less/day.
1585!!! :D
2. Need to plan ahead.
Yes
3. Do my best to stick to it.
Mostly did.
4. Log everything.
Yes, right down to the last pretzel.
5. Exercise.
no
6. Remember to take meds 2x/day.
yes!
7. Get enough rest.
Yes, and it felt great!
8. Remember all the things I am thankful for.
I am.
9. Be kind to myself.
I took it easy on me.

I did super well with my planning and (mostly) sticking to it. Sara and I made a test sample of some chocolate pretzels we are making for Thursday, and I had 4 of them plus a few plain broken pretzels that were not on my original list. But, when I made my original plan I stayed well under my calories for just such a thing. And I still stayed under!!! woohoo!

Today I am grateful for the fact that my husband works for a union, and even though he's unemployed at the moment, they allow you to "bank" hours from all your overtime so that when you are between jobs your insurance won't lapse. With all his banked hours, we have insurance through the end of February, even if he doesn't get back to work (seriously hoping it's not that long til he gets working though!)

I made a rough plan for today, and hoping I can stick to it again. Dinner may change, but I've got a good starting point.

I am 99% sure that can be credited to Tori!

Lisa, hope your husband gets back to work soon. Been there, done that, and I know what a huge concern insurance can be, especially when there are various conditions and medications.

yeah, I'm pretty sure that one is mine. It can sometimes be paraphrased as "don't go insane with food" :p


Just doing a quick check in to say that, yes I'm still alive. I'm not making any goals this week. I've sucked at goals for a while now and quite frankly, it's discouraging to fail time and time again. I'm trying to figure out how to get back on track and stay on track. It's taking some serious thinking :(

I will try to check in a few times this week. Wishing the best to all my FD pals

I just think Mike isn't enough lol; you need all of us here to help motivate you. And hey we even quote you. Does Mike do that?

And, Mike, where are the goals this week? We're not letting you slack either.

zzzzz, huh?....LOL Too funny! But worthy work. Lotta really smart people on this site!

Sounds like a worthy goal! We appreciate your input.

- Donna

Goals:
1) Except for Thursday, try going easier on the carbs -yes
2) exercise in any form 2x -yes took a class but suffered for it in a terrible flare last night; had to take more meds
3) water, 6 glasses min- 5 (I kept knocking over water; I spilled more than I drank)
4) cals, 1600 max (except Thursday)-1265
5) Plan meals -yup
6) Stick to plan- yup traded out an an orange for an apple and ate a few tiny cheese samples but if I don't go totally offtrack I'm calling it a win
7) Meditation - yes
8) remember to be grateful every day - grateful for gym and DD coming home!!!!!
9) stretch -yes

Ok, guys, I just did the House of Schizophrenic Food pantry inventory (in white): Mom's food: Pretzels (3 kinds), cheese curls (3 bags), tortilla chips, potato chips, fudge, donuts (powdered sugar and chocolate frosted minis, plus one big one left over that I think is cinnamon), a leftover cinnamon bun, PopTarts (brown sugar cinnamon, strawberry, and cookies & cream, all with icing), Triscuits, Ritz, some sort of cheddar wafers, Flip Sides crackers (pretzel on one side and cracker on the other), marshmallows, ice cream (3 kinds), Milky Ways, Werthers candies (bulk bag), peppermints (bulk bag), Oreos, animal crackers, scones, beef sticks (I suspect that’s for Thanksgiving appetizers), graham crackers, Necco wafers, Fig Newtons (3 flavors), Goldfish, Ramen, Chex Mix, Special K popcorn chips, Peeps (????????), microwave popcorn, saltines, gingerbread, and 4 kinds of cheese.

Sister's food: Larabars, Fiber One bars, Greek yogurt, Wasa shortbread, Shredded Wheat, homemade breakfast bread that is probably pretty nutrition but not low calorie (lots of nuts), high fiber bread, assorted fruits and veggies, Go Lean cereal, Kashi Heart to Heart cereal, regular oatmeal, Cheerios, Life cereal, Fiber One cereal, Special K.

Last night my mom made ribs and fries for dinner. However, there was some leftover pork roast and potatoes, so a couple of us had that with broccoli and salad, so it could have been much worse. And then my mom apologized all over herself for not having dessert here (which to her is a pie or cake, apparently, and everything from the above list does not qualify)!

I love my family <3 !

Plan:
breakfast
egg whites and no nitrite ham
Lunch
organic ham on local sugar free peasant bread
Dinner
roast chicken
string beans
Snacks:
apple
orange
nuts
goat cheese and turkey breast (I know early) roll ups or leftover salmon and spinach

Whoa Cassie and I thought my pantry was weird!!!!! (I will admit to buying some junk DD doesn't need but she will be having lots of friends over.) How many people live there?

My mom, my sister, my sister's husband. My niece (29), but she is often at her boyfriend's.

We are here for Thanksgiving, my brother is as well, and my other sister and her family and various nieces and nephews will land tonight and tomorrow, but the pantry looks like that even when there isn't a holiday.

My sister and brother just went to the store for turkeys and more ice cream. Really.

My husband says if there is ever a nuclear war, he is coming here, because it could feed us for 6 months, at least. So I am channeling my inner willpower as best I can!

Cassie my Mom actually said that she probably won't bake this year for Christmas because we can't eat it. Only 4 adults and a 6 month old anyway.

Jenn

Just checking in and saying hello!

Not going to make goals for the week, especially since I know I won't be online much after Wednesday. I did stay under 1600 calories yesterday and had a good leg workout at the gym. Trying to be good until Thanksgiving.

Wishing all my FD friends a Happy Thanksgiving. Don't let your relatives drive you CRAZY! I will indulge in moderation. We have decided no wine for the holiday this year so at least I don't have to worry about those extra calories.

Cassie – Holy Cow! I was not on FD last year at this time, but I think I heard of the legendary pantry list in earlier posts – you weren’t kidding! I’d love to see a picture of that pantry! It totally reminds me of my Grandmother’s house when I was a kid. Her house was stocked with soda, chocolate, cheese, sugary kids cereals, pies and donuts lined the counter tops, every variety of Hostess treat imaginable was available, and on and on…

Lisa – Lots and lots of green! You rock! Mmmm… chocolate pretzels… only 4? I envy your restraint!

Hope – I like all your orange! Way to stick to your plan!

Tori – I’m glad you’re checking in! Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday – it is hard not to go insane with food. But I shall give it a go…

Kevin – Congrats on making your weight goal!!! YAY! I wish I had your enthusiasm for working out. It is a struggle for me to get to the gym 2x a week. I need to try harder… I like the goal about not arguing with the Mrs. Hahaha!

Quinn – Your goals look great! Lots of yes’.

Blkblueanimegrl (did I get it right?) – Welcome to the thread! Nice goals!

Peachtree – Yes, a friends and family holiday for certain… have a great one!

Ron – Seems like you met a few goals anyway; staying under 1600 and getting a good workout in – great job! Love the phrase “indulge in moderation.” I need to remember that one! No wine, wow! Only way for my relatives not to drive me crazy is to have the wine open and aplenty! I'm kidding, really truely... :rolleyes:

1. Don't go stupid with food (Is this Tori's wording? Gotta love it). Good, Fair to Good (I had 4 animal crackers and 4 hard candies, but everything else was on point, so not considering that going stupid)
2. Get exercise. Yep, Yes
3. Get enough sleep. Yes, finally, and it was lovely! Yes, and can I say I love meeting this goal?
4. Drink enough. Did great, Yes
5. Stay active on FitDay. Could be more so, Ditto
6. Be thankful. Yes, Yes

Will catch up in the AM with you all.

Goals:
1) Except for Thursday, try going easier on the carbs -yes, yes
2) exercise in any form 2x -yes took a class but suffered for it in a terrible flare last night; had to take more meds, at home mellow
3) water, 6 glasses min- 5 (I kept knocking over water; I spilled more than I drank) 6 at least
4) cals, 1600 max (except Thursday)-1265, 1504
5) Plan meals -yup, yup
6) Stick to plan- yup traded out an an orange for an apple and ate a few tiny cheese samples but if I don't go totally offtrack I'm calling it a win, yup
7) Meditation - yes no
8) remember to be grateful every day - grateful for gym and DD coming home!!!!! MY GIRL IS HERE!!!!
9) stretch -yes, yes

I made a meal plan last night but immediately went off this morning in an attempt to lure DD to eat breakfast (something she rarely does.) It was better tho, lower carb.

But I can still keep on track:
Breakfast:
egg whites/no nitrite ham
mango
Lunch
organic turkey breast and goat cheese on local whole grain bread with lettuce, mayo, mustard or 1/2 sandwich and organic beef hotdog and sauerkraut
Dinner
grilled shrimp and scallops
broccoli
Snacks
fruit
nuts
string beans
coffee and iced coffee, decaf of course

Love shrimp and broccoli! Scallops, not so much. Tell me about the string beans for a snack... Just string beans?

I'm doing good on my first two goals this week: exercising more that 20 minutes each day, and thanking people. Don't know about the long term goals yet.

Good luck with Thanksgiving tomorrow everyone. I couldn't come up with an appropriate antonym for 'insane eating,' so that will have to do!
[Balanced? Not likely. Rational, nope ... sounds too much like rations. Discerning, maybe, but not quite, reasonable? Not on Thanksgiving! ...]

Have fun, y'all!

- Donna

yeah I'm slacking but I blame Tori, it's her fault! :D

Just taking a break, I'll be back next week, I promise.:rolleyes: This week has been okay, still trying to figure out what's up with the bike. Diet has been so so, I'm going to TRY not to go crazy tomorrow. Even though I only worked just over 2 days this week, I wrote 2 polices (I just mention that because it's been in my goals). I haven't hit the gym at all this week, and may not. I'll check in tomorrow.

Remember people, it's the carb crash that's going to put your back on that sofa tomorrow, not the turkey!

Leftover string beans in garlic and olive oil, nom nom. I can even eat em cold but I will prolly heat em.
Oh man, grilled scallops - gotta come over and let my DH make em for you. You will be a convert.
DD's home from college (YAY!!!!!) and the kids are over eating like crazy and piling onto the couch. DH and I are in the kitchen drinking vodka gimlets (don't worry the "kids" are old enough to drive and I don't drink much.) But the insane food thing is starting already as I must "taste" things I am preparing...

Beware the insane food thing folks...

And Mike stop blaming Tori and get out here and run!!!!