QOTD: I usually have an event that I need to lose weight for, but since I still carry most of the excess weight with me, that approach has not been exceedingly sucessful. When I went to the world for spring break overweight AGAIN, like I do every year - I took a good look at the approach I was using to lose the pounds. I am slowly making the shift in my thinking - not seeing my efforts as a quick fix but rather the keys to a long, healthy life with my kids.
Glad you are making that shift to a long-term health goal!
I have been following the advice here - I have tracked everything I have eaten since my weigh in on Saturday and it is going really well!
I love all the workout DVD ideas you guys are throwing around. I have gone online and managed to find most of them at my public library - which will help me save money for upcoming vacations!
Thanks for all the support! You guys rock!
Keep up the good work
Happy that you found some good workouts... for free!
QOTD: What did you have for breakfast? Do you regularly eat breakfast?
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I eat breakfast every day! I love breakfast! And I'm hungry in the morning! I have a bunch of different things I like for breakfast, but on busy work days I usually stick to either egg whites (a sandwich or a scramble) or plain greek yogurt with fruit. And Friday is steel cut oats day! That is my post weigh-in carby treat! I've also been trying to incorporate smoothies occasionally, but I really miss having something to CHEW. Today I had a pumpkin smoothie made with almond milk, a bit of my leftover homemade apple juice to sweeten it up a bit and two big handfuls of baby spinach. It was really good. The apple juice was a nice addition!
I do eat breakfasr every day. It could be a bowl of cereal, some riccotta with some fruit, a smoothie or a couple of eggs with toast.
Thank you all for the kind words about the lossof my dad.
Also thanks about the Teacher of the year. I had been nominated before and never thought I would get it after 37 years. Many of the emails I got from friends was "Its about time"
You are the Susan Lucci of the Teacher world!! So many nominations and FINALLY a win!!
For the last year or so I tried to eat breakfast every day. And over the last 6 months I tried my best to make it a healthy one every day! I usually have either muesli with yoghurt or this winter I discovered porridge. Both come with fruit. Sometimes I mix the fruit with it, but sometimes I just cut up an apple and eat it with it. Looking forward to the berry season to add those to my breakfast!
I've been buying organic frozen berries blends this winter. I really like them with my yogurt and the fresh are far too expensive and have too big a carbon footprint in the winter. I've had to try a few brands and blends, but I finally found the ones we like the best! I put the entire bag into a Tupperware container and put it in the fridge. That way it is defrosted and just the right temperature for our yogurt every day!
However, today I just could not get out of bed, so I had breakfast at the desk and that was not as healthy as my usual one. I had a soft pretzel from a local bakery, so lots of white flour. At least I know that their pretzels are fat free and I know that one pretzel has 5 points. So still ok from the points, but I have been trying to rely less on cards recently, so having dairy in my usual breakfast really helps in this regard, as well as the less refined oats I usually have.
As long as you know the PPV and you are aware that it shouldn't be an "every day" kind of choice, then you are fine! We all have our food "emergencies" sometimes!
Actually, I am thinking of trying to make some Bircher muesli for the summer instead of the porridge. For this you mix oats with grated apple and milk and let it soak overnight. So you only take it out of the fridge in the morning and it is ready to go. If I can get in a habit of preparing this, I can even on a day like this, just grab the container and eat it at my desk!
I have a few people who have told me about the overnight oats recipes, but I haven't tried it yet myself. The recipes I've seen usually call for mixing old-fashioned oats in yogurt overnight. Let me know if you like it.
So a little bit about myself as the new guy in this thread... 46 years old, live in Illinois.. about this time last year me and my wife of 13 years split up.. I right away, within about 3 months, reconnected with a old girlfriend from 20 years ago, even though she now lives in Texas, things went well, she came here a few times, I flew down there about 6 times.. But in the middle of this her soon to be ex killed himself, was a tough time for her, but she seemed to be doing ok.. Now she is a mess, in the last few months we have pretty much stopped talking, text occasionally.. she says just can't handle a relationship now, too many things she needs to work through alone.. honestly, she is the love of my life, only person I maybe really loved..
Soooo... here I am, very confused, so thought what the heck, feel like I am sort of waiting around for her to get her mind right... might as well get off my butt and get healthy.. joined a gym, eating better.. at 209 right now, want to get down to 180 which is what I was in college..
Lots of personal ups and downs and drama right now. Hopefully getting into the gym will help with the stress of all of that. Welcome to our group!
Wow, that sucks. But there is a bright side to never giving up hope. I have a little story with that. My mom was madly in love with her high school sweetheart. He went off to Vietnam. His unit came back stateside for some type of training and one night at a bar, he got a little drunk, met a pretty girl....you see where this is going. In short she got pregnant that night. He told my mother he wanted to marry her and not his one night stand, but she was having none of it, so he married the mother of his future child and my mother moved on and married my father. 30 years later, my (now divorced) mom and her sisters were visiting the town where they grew up and ran into her ex-sweetheart's sister doing the exact same thing. They chatted and that was that. A few weeks later, a random knock on my grandmother's door and the sweetheart was on the other side. He and my mom did the commuting thing (he was still living in the town where he raised his son, 4 states away) for a while and then he moved in and the rest is history. They have been married for 6 years. Its like a Hallmark movie. But in short, don't give up hope. If it is meant to be, she will come back to you.
What a GREAT story!!!!
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Today was my first day back to the gym in exactly 2 weeks. I was really nervous about going since I am still in quite a bit of pain. My trainer knew about my issues and sort of designed my own thing while the rest of the class was doing the standard class. My pain was surprisingly minimal during the class. I am in a bit of pain now (more than I was before going), but not too bad. I won't go back tomorrow like I planned because of it, but I am planning on going back thursday. I think I may go to the pool and swim a bit tomorrow. There is a water aerobics class I am toying with, but it is down the street from work, so the traffic will be a bear at that hour in order to get to the class, so thats a huge negative. Maybe I'll do yoga tomorrow.
Woohoo for an understanding trainer! Glad you were able to get back to the gym.
Hi. I support what others have said and it is kind of a life mantra for me: if it is meant to be than it will work itself out. You can and have forged ahead as far as you can. I like your plan to refocus on your healthy self. College weight - that would be a dream for me and it is a long way off. But I just hope I can make little steps in that direction.
Good to have that goal 'out there' too as I find that the discussions and support on here just help me to do a little bit more, and there it is, another tiny step towards the goal.
I agree!!
QOTD: What other healthy habits have you developed (or are you trying to develop) along with losing weight and exercising? Are you trying to quit smoking? Eliminate artificial sweeteners? Reduce caffeine? Reduce stress?
Well, a few years into my weight loss, I gave up Diet Coke. I stuck strong to that for a long time, but lately have had a few. I need to get back to my strong convictions regarding that because I KNOW it is just poison for my brain! I don't smoke and I know I have more artificial sweetener than I should. I have tried a few different kinds and haven't found a great NATURAL replacement yet. I use a few types of stevia, but haven't found one that I like for everything. I use xylitol occasionally, but that has carbs and calories. I use Splenda occasionally and steer clear of Equal and Sweet N Low.
I do drink coffee, but not excessive amounts.... but I am working on reducing the caffeine further in an effort to help reduce my hot flashes.
I don't have a lot of stress and I think I deal with the stress I DO have pretty well.... I clean when I am stressed!!
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Okay friends! My kiddos are off to special. The morning went along okay, although the sub in here is treating me like I'm a bit stupid. Maybe I'm acting stupid?? But the day will move on, regardless.
I don't think my breakfast had enough (translate to ANY) protein, so my belly is getting rumbly. Unfortunately the only snack I packed was carrots, so while it might fill the hole, it isn't going to give me much energy!
Last night's new soup recipe is now in the "will try again" category. It wasn't an overall success as-is, but I think it could be a winner if I tweaked a few things about it. It was VERY watery and separated a lot in the crockpot. I also found it to be too spicy for my taste, but the men liked it. I also made a double batch, but it didn't really even feed the three of us. DS and DH each had two servings but I only had one small serving. Next time I am going to increase the veggies and add more (celery and carrots would have fit in nicely) and reduce the water (I used vegetable stock but it was still too watery) and perhaps even a bit of tomato paste to thicken it up. I might also consider adding some pureed beans to make it more of a creamy soup. I'll share the recipe when/if I get it right.
However, Monday night's recipe was a WINNER, so I will share that later today! I found it through Pinterest but it originally came from Skinnytaste.com.
Off to chomp on my carrots! ..................P
and the teacher I am subbing for left at 11 am yesterday with a stomach bug 
, so I will be doing a LOT of handwashing today!! 
and 
to our group of LOSERS 
I don't remember the specifics but my endo said it's good to walk 30 mins after a meal to keep insulin levels optimal for weight loss
I"m so jealous I could spit, but SO excited for her! And doubly excited that this trip will be paid for with a GRANT, so other than paying to extend her stay so she can do some sightseeing, this won't cost me an arm and a leg! 
Plus I started running and realized I forgot to change into my running bra and my regular bra just doesn't cut it! I gave in and cut my walk/run short by half. Sure, it was better than nothing, but it felt like a failure. If tomorrow's scale number isn't what I want, I have NO ONE to blame but myself!!
In a DIRE emergency I will spread natural peanut butter on a piece of low carb bread (roll, pita, tortilla....whatever), and grab an apple. I also keep a small supply of organic vegetarian burritos in the freezer. They are higher in carbs that I would normally want, but tasty and fast and easy to keep on hand. Yogurt with berries is another quick go-to meal.... sometimes with a bit of high fiber/no sugar cereal on top for crunch. 
