7-Day Motivational Thread 11/26/12...Welcome Back!
 

Admittedly, I totally disappeared over the holiday. I tried to make a point of not having my nose in the computer once all the relatives arrived, but predictably, my logging was nonexistent.

But there is always another Monday morning, right?

I hope everyone had a lovely holiday filled with family, friends, and happiness.

It's going to be a crazy week for me but it's also a no-excuses week, so here we go:

1. Calories <1300.
2. Exercise 6 days.
3. Sleep 7 hours per night, at least.
4. Eat clean.
5. Take vitamins and supplements.
6. Tally CE hours and send in license renewal.

**Another note: There is a tentative plan to move the 7-Day thread to another section to reflect the fact that more men are joining us, possibly the Weight Loss section or Success Stories. If anyone has any objections to this or strong feelings one way or the other, please post or PM me. Thanks!

Thanks Cassie for starting us off!

Goals
1. Keep carbs/protein in check
2. Log (have fallen off this :( )
3. Drink water
4. Eat 4 servings fruits/veggies
5. Exercise

Jenn

Alright, second week on this - here we go!

I went a little over during Thanksgiving, but it's time to bring it back down again. Here are my goals for this week:

1) Eat <1900 calories a day
2) Yoga for 30 minutes at least 3 days
3) Walking with dog at least 5 days
4) Stretching every day!
5) Stay happy and positive all week!!

Keeping the list short and simple, but tough for me!

As for moving it Cassie, I wouldn't mind at all. I think it'd be great to get more people involved with this! Motivation should come from everyone to everyone. If more men would like to join in on listing goals to help them achieve them, all power to them! So, in short, I'm fine if we move the thread.

Good luck this week everyone!

Goals:
1) plan meals
2) stick to plan
3) 1600 calories or less
4) lower carbs
5) no caffeine which means no chocolate heavy sigh
6) 6 glasses water min
7) be a stretchy mama every day
8) gym or gentle exercise at least 3x this week
9) meditate daily
10) practice Spanish
11) WRITE
12) be kinder to myself; stop being such a hater to me

I've been having panic attacks and diet affects that for me so I am trying to go strict, also hoping meditation will help. It's gonna be a challenge because I am goign away at the end of the week (tos ee an out of state fibro doctor) and packing and traveling always disrupts things.

Cassie thank you so much for starting us.

Jenn, I am so glad you are here.

Krystal, I totally agree with your take on men and the motivational thread. I don't care where the thread is, just tell us where so we can find it. Plus, Krystal, I like your goals!

Have a good week. I am hoping more of us will come back and others (male or female) will feel free to join.

I'm in for the week! I'll post goals later today, but just wanted to poke my head in. I totally bombed the holidays, but I wasn't actually planning to limit myself. I mean, I basically knew I would eat it all anyway, so why bother making myself feel badly while I'm doing it. Anyway, free pass last week, ready to work this week.

Plan:
breakfast
egg whites and no nitrite ham and mushrooms
orange
Lunch:
tuna and salad or tuna on sugar free bread
apple
Dinner
Salmon and veg or turkey and veg
Snacks
hummus and veg
fruit
nuts

Goals
 

One of my goals for last week was to develop some long term goals. This, as always, is very hard for me. Under self-duress, here is what I've come up with:

• Identify an ongoing, constructive use of my time by year end.
• Take an online class.
• Learn a new programming language (not necessarily using the technique described above).
• Continue to workout at least 3 times a week.
• Keep weight within 7 pounds of my current weight (up or down).

Item number one is not exactly SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Timely) and sounds more like procrastination than a goal, so I went back and added a deadline. :rolleyes: [No more excuses!]

Weekly goals:

• Post calories, protein
• Keep sugar and fats under control
• Ramp up my exercise routine this week, add cardio.

As motivation to ramp up my exercise, I found an old bookmark, and tried to do this 12 minute home workout:
BODYROCK.tv | Fitness Advice, Workout Videos, Health & Fitness | Bodyrock.tv
Didn't keep up with the 'rock body,' but didn't do too bad, and certainly kept my heart rate up! A bit of this and a bit of rope jumping, and I'll be over the Thanksgiving bulge in no time.

- Donna

I don't have any strong feelings on the matter, but do have an opinion. I like the idea of moving this thread out of the Women's Only section. Wouldn't want any men to feel too intimidated to join us. They help keep the discussions well, um, rounded. (No, um, pun intended. ;)

Perhaps the best place to move these threads would be into a new section under FitDay Forums, called Motivation. Keeping the title and the section heading rather generic, it opens the commentary to a wide range of topics.

Also, I like that they are weekly threads, rather than one enormous collection of posts. I think this encourages more participation by newcomers, who may not feel compelled to read through hundreds of posts before wanting to add their comments.

- Donna

Okay Barker's Beauties, I'm back and ready to rumble.

1) -1 pound
2) 2 miles
3) 3 workouts
4) 4 fruits/veggies

The week after…

Well… I ate like crazy for 4 days in a row. Yes, I went stupid on food, and am definitely feeling sluggish and crappy this morning… BUT this morning the scale only showed .5 lb up from my maintenance range, so YAY!

Goals
Lots of H2O:
Focus on whole foods:
Focus on fruits and veggies:
Focus on exercise:
Lose 1lb:
Post to FD even at the end of the week when I get lazy:
Don’t stress over Christmas (I manage to pull it off every year and this will be no different):

Food Plan - Monday
Coffee x 2
Pizza x 2 slices (home-made with little crust, very little cheese, and lots of veggies)
Small sushi take-out
Veggie soup for dinner (left-over veggies from T-Day, all in a pot with some beans and spices)
Piece of chocolate for dessert

:D Ama

Ama, can I use your goal "don't stress over Christmas"? I need to remember that it's not about the presents. It's about spending time with family and friends (and remembering the people that I still wish were here).

Jenn

Thanks Hope! And I'm actually going through the same thing. I have high anxiety and have had (and still do, but thankfully not as often) panic attacks - some to the point of bed ridden. If you ever need to talk or anything, let me know!!! :) All the best this week!

Goals
1. Keep carbs/protein in check Mon 145/53
2. Log (have fallen off this ) Mon-yes
3. Drink water not enough
4. Eat 4 servings fruits/veggies yes
5. Exercise

Jenn

Thank you, Krystal!! You're a sweetie. And so sorry to hear about yours. Does diet affect how them, if you don't mind my asking?

Don't stress ove the holidays. Good one. I don't mean to sound like a Scrooge, but I find this time of the year a bit overwhelming, a lot of it my own making, by trying to do too much, I admit. This year's theme: simplify.

No Scrooges allowed. ;)

I got my tree up today. woot woot
http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/i...072DA2C95A.jpg

Beautiful , Mike! But too soon!!! Too soon!!!

Goals:
1) plan meals: yes
2) stick to plan (or equivalent): yes
3) 1600 calories or less - 1340
4) lower carbs -yes
5) no caffeine which means no chocolate heavy sigh -yes sigh
6) 6 glasses water min -7
7) be a stretchy mama every day -yes
8) gym or gentle exercise at least 3x this week -no
9) meditate daily-yes
10) practice Spanish -yes
11) WRITE - yes
12) be kinder to myself; stop being such a hater to me - trying so yes
13) avoid sugar: yes

So we get field mice coming into the house sometimes and one got in. Both my cat Ginger and DH chased it and managed to let it escape. When DH catches it he lets it go so I was hoping he would but they both dropped the ball. I am not fond of rodents to say the very least so now I am gonna be up freaking out. Is there a humane way to find em and lead em out? I am tired and do not fancy a midnight visit from Mickey... grrrr...apologies to animal lovers

Food plan for tomorrow:

Breakfast:
scrambled local eggs
Lunch: (going out so I'm not sure so I estimate this)
hamburger (or other protein) no bun
salad
Dinner:
sauteed turkey and veg
Snacks or small meals:
apple
fresh pineapple
1/2 organic bologna sandwich
nuts

Wow Mike, that is one BIG tree!
Good job on the water Hope :) One I struggle with.

Jenn

Love the tree Mike! I have had my room decorated for a few weeks now and just put up my little 4-footer! I'd much rather have yours, but I definitely don't have the room! ;)

I honestly am thinking diet does. When I was having them 5+ times a day, it was back before I really felt like I could lose weight and ate very unhealthily. For the past two weeks now, since I've started watching my intake and making sure I am eating homemade food with fresh fruits and veggies and high levels of grain, I have not had one! This makes me really happy to say the least! And I have been battling this in full force for over a year now.

Mon.
 

Hope:

May I borrow your goal #12: Stop being such a hater - to me?
I'm likely in a manic phase where that is concerned now, but this problem was biting me earlier this month at the most inauspicious times.

As for the mouse issue, you need a small cage varmint trap. The medium size worked really well when we had a squirrel problem a while back. They couldn't resist chunky peanut butter.

I agree. I would have waited longer but I gave my word that we'd go and get it yesterday.

That one is small compared to the one I got years ago. That one I had to cut 3-4' off the bottom and it STILL hit the peak of the ceiling. It kept falling and destroying ornaments. It was more hassle than it was worth. After that I said never again.

Thanks.
Bigger isn't always better (ladies, don't go there ;))

Crawling back with my head hung low and my tail between my legs in shame. Just teasing--I know you all have that unconditional patience and support for those of us who go astray.

In my absence from our group I ate poorly and gained weight. I'm sure my blood test scheduled for the end of December would show I'm back in the pre-diabetic range, but I know if I'm really faithful to my low carb diet I can get my blood sugar back to normal by the end of February. So I shot my doc an email of cofession and asked for her approval of pushing back my scheduled lab test for blood sugar, cholestrol and triglycerides from the end of December to the end of February. She sent me back an email of support and good faith and her blessing to reschedule the blood test. :)

Simple goals this week
Portion control
Select most foods from metabolism boosting foods list
25g net carbs (after deducting fiber)
minimum 120g protein
maximum 250mg dietary cholesterol
take supplements
exercise 5 days
water 64 oz.

I know I said I'd post goals for the week yesterday, but I forgot/slacked, so here they are:

1.) Less than 1400 calories/day
2.) Go to the gym x2
3.) Walk to/from work from/to car x3
4.) Drink 64 oz water/day

Pretty basic stuff for the week.

So, over Thanksgiving (I think it was on Saturday), the four of us were sitting around the table, and I mentioned that I'd gained back about ten pounds, and my mom kind of grimaced and was like, oh Joanna, you shouldn't... blah, whatever. I really didn't take it personally, 'cause I know she meant it like, I don't want to see you go through that again. Now, she's been saying for the past year that she needs to lose some weight, but she never really does anything proactive about it, just keeps making excuses for why she can't do things we've suggested. So I said, somewhat disgruntledly, "I'll lose 10 lbs if you lose 10 lbs." She just kind of shrugged it off. But! The end result after more discussion is that all four of us (Mom, Dad, my sister, and I) have now got a "First to 10 lbs lost" challenge going! We all are putting in $10, and whoever gets there first wins the pot. We've got a weekly thread going with weigh-ins and whatever goals we feel like putting down. My sister is so excited about it - she's pretty healthy, long-distance runner type, although has gained some weight recently. Anyway, so now I've got extra motivation!

Mern do you get fasting glucose checked or just A1C? The reason I ask is I go to a kidney specialist who is now checking my A1C (glucose level for 3 months) and I don't want to have to go to family Dr at the same time for the same thing. But I only go every 6 months to kidney dr.

That's great! My mum is doing the same thing with me (sort of). She's gonna pay me $100 for losing 50lbs. She even said she'd pay it in small goal form, like $20 for each 10 I lose. I know she feels I am overweight as well, so it's nice when your family tries to help with motivating you!

Good goals too! I need to really work on my water intake. I'm trying to drink more decaf tea. Good luck with your challenge! :)

Quote:
Originally Posted by cjohnson728
There is a tentative plan to move the 7-Day thread to another section to reflect the fact that more men are joining us, possibly the Weight Loss section or Success Stories. If anyone has any objections to this or strong feelings one way or the other, please post or PM me. Thanks!


And Donna replied: I don't have any strong feelings on the matter, but do have an opinion. I like the idea of moving this thread out of the Women's Only section. Wouldn't want any men to feel too intimidated to join us. They help keep the discussions well, um, rounded. (No, um, pun intended.

Perhaps the best place to move these threads would be into a new section under FitDay Forums, called Motivation. Keeping the title and the section heading rather generic, it opens the commentary to a wide range of topics.



I like the idea of moving our thread to another section AND I like Donna's idea of a forum called Motivation. :)

Absolutely!!! I like your part about remembering people and wishing they were here - I think I'll add that to mine :o

Goals
Lots of H2O: Y
Focus on whole foods: Mostly
Focus on fruits and veggies: Y (big veggie soup for dinner)
Focus on exercise: N
Lose 1lb: TBD
Post to FD even at the end of the week when I get lazy: Y
Don’t stress over Christmas (I manage to pull it off every year and this will be no different): Y - I am debating skipping cards all together

Food Plan - Tuesday
Coffee x 2 (coffee machine at work is tempermental so may be just 1)
PB&J for breakfast
Office food at lunch meeting (a mystery... but I'll try to keep portions small)
Veggie soup re-runs
Rice
1 Drink with dinner
Chocolate piece for dessert

I need a low cal, highly satisfying snack for afternoons and after dinner. I turn toward bread and cereal at night if I am hungry... ug! Need to stock up on walnuts or something like that to help out...

Ama

Ama, nuts are loaded with good fats, but they're pretty high calorie - a few handfuls can get you up to 500 calories, easily. I really like bread too, so I buy the 35 calorie/slice stuff, and if I have 2 slices of toast with whipped cream cheese (more airy so spreads out easily, 70 cals/2 tbsp) and low sugar jam (25 cals/tbsp), I can indulge for only... 70+70+25=165 calories. Not extremely low calorie, but it's sure good, and I can usually fit it in.

Or Rycrisp crackers (60 cals/2 big crackers) and Laughing Cow cheese (35 cals/wedge) is 95 calories.

Of course, there's always fruits and veggies, but I don't find those particularly motivating :)

Joanna - That's right... nuts are so high in cals..! For some reason I don't really enjoy fruit/veggies after dinner, but I definately have veggies with dinner. Fruit is more of a breakfast/lunch food for me. I bet a low-cal slice of toast with a little cinnamon and very little bit of sugar would help the after dinner cravings. Or popcorn... not the bagged stuff, but the popped in the pan over the stove-top kind. A sprinkle of salt and that should help out!

Thanks, Jenn! It is a struggle for me too. I have to make a conscious effort to drink more. I take tiny sips; my family laughs at me about it so I have to take "big swigs" lol. Whatever works!

So sorry to hear you've gone through this! 5+ times a day, man, that sucks. But gad you found that diet helps. Not one! Whoo hoo. Thank you for sharing: I know diet affects them a lot for me, especially sugar, caffeine and alcohol, you know, all the fun stuff. And stress, the not fun stuff. Let me know if you ever need to "tawk."

I think this is a goal so many of us could probably use. To try to be kind, compassionate and loving to ourselves. For me, chronic illness and a long flare of it has done something negative to my psyche in this regard. So I am trying to be positive towards and about myself, for example, to stop putting myself down, apologizing for who I am (too talkative, no energy, etc.) To love oneself unconditionally is not selfishness; rather it is the opposite. It is the kindness we can also extend to others when we don't feel so bad about ourselves. Some Buddhists call this "radical self acceptance" (Tara Brach wrote a book with that title.) For some of us in this society self acceptance IS a radical idea. We think we will love ourselves more if we lose ten pounds, get that job, feel better etc but the truth is we can start now just from where we are with all our messy "stuff." (BTW these ideas are from Pema Chodron, a teacher I admire.) Not saying I do this so well just that I want to try. So sorry you are going through this challlenge. [[[HUG]]]] Please tell yourself "I am loveable and totally worthy of love." Because, honey, you are.

Which is not to say that we cannot try to improve. So Joanna, I love that you and your family ar motivating each other and that you did not take what your mom said personally in a negative way but made something positive of it.

Mern, my dear, you are back with us now and we will motivate you to take care of yourself. DO NOT make Mike take out that whip!! Or was it you with the whip?

I feel so grateful to you all. Being sick is isolating and with you guys, I feel like we're in this soup together!!! (Though some of us have bigger trees than others...oh, I went there.) :P

Mern,

I read this earlier and googled 'metabolism boosting foods.' The half dozen lists I looked at seemed to have very little in common. What are your favorite metabolic boost foods?

Ooooh, I don't think I could do that one. I very rarely get to 100 grams of protein.

P.S. Thanks for the second on the thread issue. We must be on the same wavelength today, because I was thinking about what you wrote quite a bit this am, well before I saw you quoted me. :)

- Donna

Ama, I buy 100 calorie packs of Emerald brand cocoa or cinnamon almonds; they also have almond/walnut packs. So that is protion control. Cheese sticks or small squares (Cabot used to have some, can't find them where I am anymore so I cut my own.) I don't know if youeat meat, I am trying to stay low carb so I buy organic cold cuts, Applegate Farms ham or turkey or turkey bologna and snack on that or roll them with lower fat cheese slices. Since I am low carb, I also snack on smoked salmon, leftover fish or chicken. I also like Vitamuffins; 100 cal or less, regular or (for me) sugar free, variety of flavors. I also like to have broth soups around, very filling! Also pb on an apple, sometimes with raisins. Hummus and carrot sticks. Just some ideas!!!

I'm late, but better late than not at all. I've had a pretty rough week personally speaking (Thanksgiving Day in particular was pretty dramatic and traumatic for me), and my waistline has paid the price from all the stress- and emotional-eating. As you can see from my updated signature, I am now 13 lbs over my lower weight a few months ago. Being bipolar really has a whole set of challenges that not everyone has to deal with, and I was telling my nutritionist yesterday that I just wish I was normal. And she put it to me ever so bluntly, "This is your normal. You have to learn to adjust." So here I am, back for another go.

I'm going to keep my goals simple:

1. Try to average 1650/day for the week.
2. Get back to logging everything every day, even the bad stuff.
3. Take my meds 2x/day.
4. When I start to grab a high calorie, high sugar snack, make a better choice.

Ama, I know most nuts are very high calories, but you can have quite a few pistachios for a lot lower calories than most nuts.