Biggest Loser--Fall 2011 Challenge for Losers & Maintainers!!

[keenercam]

Happy Friday, everyone! What a gorgeous day it is here! I LOVE autumn and it certainly felt like autumn when Howard and I left at 5:40 a.m. to go to the YMCA. He did a 6:00 boot camp class and I spent 60 minutes on a recumbent bike reading a new book. The bike said I burned 286 calories. It is nice to have those exercise minutes in the bank early in the day.

After the Y, thanks to my friend Patty (pjstevens), I made a protein shake with skim milk and reduced fat peanut butter and enjoyed that in place of breakfast. It was delicious and was 285 calories. LOL! I couldn't have made the numbers come out that way if I'd tried.

So, what does everyone have planned for the weekend? Howard has a retirement dinner to attend tonight, so I am either going to rent something from redbox or go to see Lion King. I don't see things in 3D so I am glad my theatre is also showing it in a regular format. Tomorrow, Howard has another business function and will have to leave the house by about 5:30 so I think I am going to get up and work out and then meet Patty at the shopping center outdoor fountain to do some miles for my half-marathon training. I am hoping to do walk/run intervals again like I did on my morning outing in WDW last weekend, except that this time I'd like to do them consistently throughout at least 3 miles. We'll see how it goes.

As for this challenge, I am pleased to report that I am still tracking every bite and have exercised every day since September 6. I am down more than 4 pounds from 9/6 and am right on target for this week as far as what I'd hoped to achieve the first week of the challenge. I am determined to stay strong through the weekend, notwithstanding MANY challenges and danger zones. I'll have to work my butt off tomorrow morning to rack up some calories to enjoy a date night with Howard tomorrow night to see Gloriana at a country and western bar I love. I love that Howard is willing to go with me even though it is of no interest to him. What a sweetheart!

Have a great Friday, everyone! And a wonderful weekend to those of you who might not get back here soon.

 

[pjlla]

I may go a little off plan tonight (and I'm fine with it because I feel so good this week). I think I'm taking my DS's to see Lion King 3D! And I'm sure they (and I) will want some popcorn! We still have 3 passes leftover from the M&M packages that had the chance to win free movie money. We have 3 passes for free movies up to $12 and our movies with 3D are $11.50 so it's FREE!! I am so excited to see this movie again on the big screen (especially after the horrible day I had at work yesterday with our IEP program. I wrote an entire IEP on a new version of IEPwriter and they switched back to the old, so I lost everything ). I feel like I deserve a night out with my boys (DH will be working though).

Anyone else planning on seeing Lion King 3D?

Have a great weekend everyone!

DD and I are talking about seeing it. Not sure if DH and DS are interested. If it is just DD and I, we will probably do the 3-D.... if DH comes along it will have to be 2-D. His neurological disorder greatly affects his eyes and he just cannot do 3-D. I don't care for it much myself, but I can tolerate it.

DS entered a bunch of M&M codes this summer (he scrounged the empty M&M packets from his cousins). I'll have to ask him if he has any tickets/coupons to share!

Happy Friday, everyone! What a gorgeous day it is here! I LOVE autumn and it certainly felt like autumn when Howard and I left at 5:40 a.m. to go to the YMCA. He did a 6:00 boot camp class and I spent 60 minutes on a recumbent bike reading a new book. The bike said I burned 286 calories. It is nice to have those exercise minutes in the bank early in the day.

After the Y, thanks to my friend Patty (pjstevens), I made a protein shake with skim milk and reduced fat peanut butter and enjoyed that in place of breakfast. It was delicious and was 285 calories. LOL! I couldn't have made the numbers come out that way if I'd tried.

So, what does everyone have planned for the weekend? Howard has a retirement dinner to attend tonight, so I am either going to rent something from redbox or go to see Lion King. I don't see things in 3D so I am glad my theatre is also showing it in a regular format. Tomorrow, Howard has another business function and will have to leave the house by about 5:30 so I think I am going to get up and work out and then meet Patty at the shopping center outdoor fountain to do some miles for my half-marathon training. I am hoping to do walk/run intervals again like I did on my morning outing in WDW last weekend, except that this time I'd like to do them consistently throughout at least 3 miles. We'll see how it goes.

As for this challenge, I am pleased to report that I am still tracking every bite and have exercised every day since September 6. I am down more than 4 pounds from 9/6 and am right on target for this week as far as what I'd hoped to achieve the first week of the challenge. I am determined to stay strong through the weekend, notwithstanding MANY challenges and danger zones. I'll have to work my butt off tomorrow morning to rack up some calories to enjoy a date night with Howard tomorrow night to see Gloriana at a country and western bar I love. I love that Howard is willing to go with me even though it is of no interest to him. What a sweetheart!

Have a great Friday, everyone! And a wonderful weekend to those of you who might not get back here soon.

YOu are doing great Cam! The pb smoothie sounds delish!

***********

Okay..... here I am, back again, and I STILL haven't read the article to go with today's QOTD! My Mom called just as I posted earlier so I was busy talking. Off to read it now!...................P

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

Anyone else planning on seeing Lion King 3D?

Have a great weekend everyone!

ME ME ME!!!! It's DS9's favorite Disney movie. He's sooooo excited to go see it.

 

[pjlla]

THIS IS MY SECOND TIME DOING THIS!! CURSE YOU POOF FAIRY!!!!!!!!!


QOTD:

METABOLISM BOOSTERS
1. Water! - I usually drink 2-3 liters a day.

2. Green Tea! - I usually drink a few cups a week in the summer... every day though in the winter!

3. Soup! Again, this tends to be more of a fall/winter thing for me. And in the colder weather I usually make it for the family at least once a week.

4. Grapefruit! Like it, don't love it..... usually too expensive and too many carbs to eat daily.

5. Apples and Pears! Love them both.... eat about one a day most of the year and more than that during the high season.... loving them right now! I usually have it with a piece of cheese to slow down the carb absorbtion.

6. Broccoli! This is the "go to" veggie in my house. Usually serve it at least 5 times a week at dinner time and will often eat any leftovers for breakfast or lunch. In fact, today's lunch is fish and broccoli (which sounds suspiciously like last night's dinner! )

7. Low-Fat Yogurt! Unsweetened non-fat greek yogurt has become a household staple. I sweeten mine with fruit and Stevia... the kids use honey or sugar.

8. Lean Turkey! I used to make a whole turkey a few times a year, but with DS's poultry allergy I don't do that any more. But I do buy nitrite-free all natural Hormel turkey lunch meat and I will have that for lunch or snack a few days a week.

9. Oatmeal! Family enjoys regular cooked oats once a week or so. I've switched myself over to the hot cooked oat bran cereal (more fiber, healthier carbs).

10. Hot Peppers! Nope.... don't so spicy AT ALL!!

METABOLISM SLOWERS

1) SUGAR:- Rarely consume this anymore, other than the occasional tsp. of brown sugar on my oat bran cereal or during a splurge. Don't use it in my coffe, tea, cereal, yogurt, etc.

2) WHITE BREAD:- This item has NEVER made regular appearances in my house. I wasn't brought up on it and never got in the habit of buying it. We mostly eat the whole wheat 100 calorie tortillas and low carb flax seed/oat bran pitas and lavash. If the kids want a loaf of bread for school sandwiches or such, it is usually whole wheat or honey whole wheat. Burger rolls are light whole wheat. The occasional white bread will make a special appearance, like the garlic and herb baguette from last weekend's anniversary dinner. And there are just a few hold-outs left that I am trying to phase out, like the occasional box of Eggos and white flour pretzels.

3) FRIED FOODS:- THis is nothing that I've ever made (well, except for when DS and I made deep fried Oreos that one time... ). And when we go out to eat the kids are allowed to have french fries or onion rings, but that is about the limit of fried foods we might eat. Neither of the kids ever orders fried chicken or fried nugget or anything like that. I will admit, however, that the occasional fried scallop sounds pretty good to me right now!

4) PROCESSED FOODS:- I've never been real big on this stuff and I now buy even less than ever. The last few hold-outs are probably Cheerios (and chocolate cheerios and honey nut cheerios!! ), saltines and Ritz crackers, Nature Valley granola bars, canned soups, Baked Lays, white flour pretzels, cake mix and instant pudding (for the occasional "dessert emergency"), instant mashed potatoes, ketchup (DS can't live without it), Bisquick.

5) ALCOHOL:- I've never been big on cocktails (well, except in college), but always liked my weekend beers. But I've essentially given them up and I don't really miss them. I would so rather eat my calories than drink them! I still indulge in the occasional vacation margarita, but other than that and the once-in-a-great-while weekend 64 calorie beer, I don't indulge at all.


Steps to Boost your Metabolism

1. Build up on lean, mean body mass.

Been working on this for a while, although admittedly I've slacked off on it lately. But I LOVE seeing the definition in my arms and shoulders when I've been really working hard on the weight training!

2. Eat breakfast.

Never miss it!

3. Avoid refined sugar.

I do.


4. Consume spicy foods.

CAN'T!!

5. Sleep more.

I aim for 8 hours and probably average from 6.5 to 8 and seem to do okay with that.

6. Increase your water consumption.

Most days I feel like I will float away if I drink any more!

7. Eat little and more often!

Still working on this. I can do it okay when I am home, but it is difficult during a work day.

8. Eat lean protein

I think I do pretty well with this, especially since I developed my hybrid SB/WW plan.

9. Plan meals in detail.

I do well with this too!

9. Get rid of the stress!

(I guess the #9 was so special they wanted to use it twice! ) I'm a pretty low-stress person so I don't worry about this too much. Most of my stress is kind of self-induced by me worrying about stupid things like being caught up with the laundry, saving enough $$ for the kids for college, and getting caught up with my scrapbooks before I die!

10. Go hot or cold

Being cheap helps with this! In the winter I keep the house temp at 62 degrees or less when I am home alone. I bundle up with hoodies and slippers. Then in the summer, I don't allow the kids to turn on the window a/c units until the indoor temp is at least 82 degrees!

11. Drink more green tea.

Well... first of all, I need most of it to be decaf or else I would NEVER sleep. Second of all, I need it a bit sweet and I don't want to use sugar, so I use Stevia (healthier) or Splenda (not healthy but like the taste better). I don't want to consume much Splenda, so that really limits me to plain green tea (ick), green tea with Stevia (okay, but not ideal), or green tea with Splenda (tasty, but not real healthy). Hard choices to make. And honestly, I've never noticed the green tea to make a darn bit of difference to my weight loss, hunger level, or anything else. I've definitely experimented over the last few years with having weeks where I drink 3-4 cups of green tea everyday, but I've never noticed any correlation between that and my weight loss. oh well.

12. Include a lot of energy foods in the diet, such as fruits and veggies, beans and whole grains.

I think I've got this covered!

Tracey.... thanks for making me really think about this!......................P

 

[JaxJags08]

Bellebookworm9 - best of luck on your application! UF is a big school, but it never really felt like 50,000 students to me except on football game days. I did enjoy summers there though, when it was really empty.

After reading, answer the following questions:
1) What things do you eat already that can help you speed up your metabolism?
2) Do you limit the foods/drinks that slow down your metabolism?
3) What new things did you learn from this article?

1. Low fat yogurt! I try to eat some every day.
2. I do stay away from fried foods and alcohol most of the time because I don't like how both make me feel afterwards. Blah! Now that I'm watching my diet, I'll try to cut down on all of the foods mentioned.
3. I didn't know too much about steel cut or rolled oats. I've seen it mentioned also on health blogs, but never looked into it. I'm off to find some more about it now.

 

[pjlla]

So I'm kind of a Halloween nut. I've made most of my kids costumes over the years. I've got some of them in an online photo album if anyone cares to look.

http://s12.photobucket.com/albums/a240/my3princes/Halloween Costumes

Oh my GOSH Deb! Those are amazing! You are SO talented! I thought with all this talk of Halloween I might post a few pictures of my own, but they would so pale in comparison to your creations!! I gotta ask how you did the Christmas tree? And do you always use a pattern or do you wing it? .................P

 

[lisah0711]

TGIF!

Trina, I hope that you are able to get some rest this week-end. You've had a stressful week.

QOTD After reading, answer the following questions:
1) What things do you eat already that can help you speed up your metabolism? I actually eat quite a few things from the list -- water is a biggie.
2) Do you limit the foods/drinks that slow down your metabolism?Not as much as I should but nothing on that list suprises me as being a problem.
3) What new things did you learn from this article?I liked the handy list of low cal snacks. Good for reference when you can't think of something on your own!

Thanks for sharing the article, Tracey!

Gretchen, hope that you are feeling better soon!

I am ususally here late also. Only by the time I am on, all the questions have been answered, and I have nothing to add to the conversation!!!!

Nah, there is always something to add, even if it is just a nod. That is great the coaching schedule is full.

Sorry I'm late, I have a woohoo moment for Thursday and that it's September 15th and the corporate deadline is officially over

That deserves an extra!

Quick drive by

Have fun!

We all can do this!! Let's start this week off on the right foot.

You've got a great plan and I know that you can do this!

Ok, the first week on this challenge has definitely been a challenge for me. I started off the week really strong until I hit Wednesday.

for you and a big congratulations for getting yourself right back on track all week long!

I don't really plan days to be "on" or "off", although sometimes I do plan ahead for a splurge. And of course, the best laid plans sometimes go awry and I eat more/worse than I originally planned to, but of course, the next meal is right back to my "normal, healthy eating".

I think that it is this kind of thinking that makes me (reasonably) successful and will make you successful in this journey too!!

And when "the voice of experience" speaks, I pay attention!

I'd like to join as a loser

Kelli! Please PM your weight info to dvccruiser76 and check out the first page of the thread, if you haven't already. Thanks for joining us!

I may go a little off plan tonight (and I'm fine with it because I feel so good this week).

Have a great time!

Happy Friday, everyone! What a gorgeous day it is here!

Happy Friday to you, too, Cam! What a great week you've had with your food and exercise -- such an inspiration! You're week-end sounds like a ton of fun, too.

I would have to say Not Always. I always have good intentions, but I don't always follow through with them. It's so tempting to sleep in and go out Saturday nights, regardless of the diet you're supposed to be on!

Hope that you can get caught up on your rest.

Sunday I am doing a local half marathon. I'm feeling good and I'm ready! I'm past the drive yourself crazy before the race stage and am at the introspective part of the pre-race festivities. I will be doing 20 second/40 second run/walk intervals to the half way point and then 30/30 intervals back. I just want to finish in under four hours and I am confident that I can do that. I had a disappointment earlier this year when I was swept at the Princess a bit after 8 miles but I've done two races since then. And I swear this is the last half marathon that I am doing outside of ONE-derland. Then it is on to training for the Tinker Bell Half at Disneyland in January.

I'm enjoying music from MNSSHP on d-cot radio today -- gives you that Fall feeling.

Have a great day all!

 

[lisah0711]

Oops! Deb your quote "poofed" so I missed saying to you that I am so impressed by all those wonderful costumes! And your kitty litter cake -- yuk! The kids made it one year at the lake and I could not even bring myself to eat it.

 

[keenercam]

Lisa - Good luck this weekend!!!!

Deb - I am so stinkin' impressed. Geez, I practically thought you walked on water BEFORE I saw those fabulous costumes!!! Not only are you creative to come up with those ideas but you have the talent to execute the ideas?!?!?!?!?? Yeah, I am totally blown away. Thank you for sharing the picture link. I am going to show them to some friends to make them smile.

 

[4HOLIDAYS]

QOTD--Article...
#1
Foods I already eat:most already do,lots of green tea,water, making cabbage soup this weekend,even though it is still hot here, can't take spicy foods, oatmeal is foe cooler weather usually-don't know why I really like
#2 I do now but have not in the past, which has alot to do whith being so heavy
#3 Snack list is handy,I liked how things were explained simply
I've read lots of this info in one form or another, my problem is putting the info into every day use.

 

[glss1/2fll]

I'd like to join as a loser

Welcome! Read the first page so you know what's going on, pm your weight and jump on in!

Haven't read Tracey's article--but will tonight. Already blown my first HH by not getting up when the alarm went off at 5:15 AM. So much for completing all scheduled workouts! Shoot. I thought I could make it up by going to the Y tonight, but DH is out of town and DS1 I think is going to a football game out of town. Hmmm The soap holder will be put into our tub today so no showers until tomorrow sometime. The bathroom remodel is just hours from completion!! I had planned to hit the Y for a shower. Ah well. I'll figure it all out later.

Right now I gotta get ready for work, including packing a snack. I've picked up 2 extra subbing hours right after my 3 hours end. 5 straight. I will definitely need plenty of water and something to munch on.

Good luck to our runners this weekend. Make good choices, everybody!

 

[tigger813]

I can't access the article. Would you mind summarizing?

See if you can open this link....make sure you are using lower case letters and no spaces in the password

http://files.weightlosschallenge.com/3_2/wlc3_wk2_ho.pdf

 

[Connie96]

Final Summer WIN! results have finally been posted.

Final WIN! Results for Summer Challenge

I sincerely apologize for flaking out on you. Things got way too busy before our WDW trip and then there was the trip (awesome, of course) and then there was re-entry that I still haven't really completed.

I hope everyone has a fun and successful Fall Challenge!

 

[jimmduck]

Found what I was looking for so I will post your first task for the week.

I am Tracey and I will be your coach this week! This is my 5th challenge. I was absent for most of the last challenge but I am here to work with you all and succeed!

You will be reading articles or part of articles on several areas related to weight loss (protein, metabolism, control, carbs, etc).

The first article I would like you to access is on the basics of weight loss. You may read the whole article when you have a chance or scroll to the section on Metabolism.

Go to www.weightlosschallenge.com
Select Course 3
Choose Week 2
username: wlc (all lowercase)
password: weightloss (no spaces, lowercase)

After reading, answer the following questions:
1) What things do you eat already that can help you speed up your metabolism?
2) Do you limit the foods/drinks that slow down your metabolism?
3) What new things did you learn from this article?

QUOTE]


Hi Tracey!

This is a really great site - lots of incredibly useful information on it. I enjoyed reading just this little bit.

Things I already do to speed metabolism

Water - my drink of choice. I drink water and have for years

I drink coffee, some milk, the occassional diet soft drink and, rarely, juice - other than that, I drink water.

Oatmeal - love it - thick enough to stand on preferably. A little brown sugar, no milk, eat it nearly every day

Exercise and strength training - training for my Disney half in 2013 (on week 69 counting backwards - blogging on it in a WISH journal) - and now guided by a physiotherapist and the personal trainer on her staff due to severe osteo in my right knee. Love "racing" despite my size.

I do limit the things that interfere with metabolism - but it needs improvement.

I am not big on chips, but sugar is a factor.

I learned, from this article, that there is a lot you, yourself, can do to control metabolism and I kind of thought it was something you were stuck with before reading it.

Again..... you're RIGHT... the key to success in this journey is being CONSISTENT! You can't be constantly thinking about your "last supper" or what you will eat when you are "done" with this! You need to make changes that you can stick with for the long run! And you might surprise yourself as to what those changes will be!

And this is a reason why those "all or nothing" type diets rarely work (SlimFast, Medi-Fast, etc)..... they don't teach you ANYTHING about making permanent changes, portion control, etc. And you spend the entire "DIET" thinking about what you will eat when you are "done"!

I'll be the first to admit, when I re-started this journey for the billionth time back on 01/02/2008, this wasn't my mind-set. I was just "losing for Disney" (again ) and couldn't WAIT to be in the parks eating whatever I wanted! But something changed this time and I realized I need to make more permanent changes! And when I got back from Disney (and yes, I definitely overate), I got RIGHT BACK ON PLAN and I haven't looked back since.

P

Something changed for me after my trip in January - but I was slowed down a bit by my arthritis diagnosis and subsequent therapy, brace, etc.

But I started my 70 week count down and blog on September 7th and so far, so good.

This hasn't been a great food day actually, some bad choices and I almost let "Scar" out of his cage, but got the keys away from him.

I faced the scale, and went down .2. At first, I was disappointed but remembered the rich dessert I shared with DH at our restaurant meal this week (sponge toffee cake with ice cream ) , the Chinese food and wedding cake last Saturday at my friend's wedding and the pizza buffet blow out on Wednesday. That, coupled with my training not yet up to speed - lucky I lost at all!

Lucky I didn't gain.

And, besides, I did a lot of positive things this week:

a) wrote in my blog every day
b) charted my food every day
c) Followed training plan every day but one
d) Did most of Healthy Habits and am sending a score for the first time
e) Have been on this page everyday and did the QOTD

So - onward and upward

Have a magical day folks! Back by tomorrow evening, God willing...

Linda

 

[donac]

Good evening everyone. I just got home about an hour ago. I was helping distribute Boy Scout popcorn. I left before it was all gone since my knee was bothering me. After 4 1/2 hours on concrete I had enough.This on top of school all day including a full evacuation drill during my prep period. It has been a long day.

I would love to see Lion King on the big screen again but I don't know. A few years after it came out we got a new principal. Nathan Lane's brother. He was there for about three years. His voice was just like his brother's. It was a very hard three years. He caused a lot of hard feeling among people. I can still remember his voice on the all call talking to the students. It is not a happy thought. And I can't listen to the Lion King without thinking about him.
We shal see.

I am tired and have some things to do before I go to bed.

Bye

 

[cclovesdis]

Today was quite the day. It was not a great ending to an already rough week. 46.5 hours at work was the easy part. (I'm serious. ) Tomorrow is a fresh start. I have almost every minute of it planned, except for the evening. I am going to a pub. I won't drink of course (meds/allergies...driving!), but I have no idea what is being served. I will probably end up ordering something and paying it for it myself. Apps are included in the event, but I doubt there will be anything I can eat. It will probably be easier to just ask for a plate of nachos, or something similar. I'm planning a big grocery shopping on Sunday.

I am determined to have a good weekend!

A few quick replies and then I'm off to bed.

Thanks Pamela!

Gretchen: I love my audiologist! My hearing thresholds are harder to measure because I have a lot of tinnitus, and she is awesome and succesful! Good luck to you! I don't teach, but I do have a teacher of the hearing impaired certification. jillbur: You brought back some vivid memories of writing IEPs, espcially using the computer. I spent hours at school late at night getting them done. I don't remember which program we used, but it wasn't fun. I feel you.

jimmduck: Congrats on a great week!

Cam: Awesome week!

Have a great weekend everyone! Looking forward to my 5-year college reunion tomorrow. My parents are looking forward to having the day to themselves.

 

[bellebookworm9]

After reading, answer the following questions:
1) What things do you eat already that can help you speed up your metabolism?
2) Do you limit the foods/drinks that slow down your metabolism?
3) What new things did you learn from this article?

1)I'm working on exercising 5 times a week, and at least 2 of those times involve some weight work. It also helps that our campus isn't too big, and on a hill, so lots of walking, and I live on the third floor of the house with no elevator. For food and drinks, I am trying to drink more water. I do eat apples a few times per week and I eat a non-fat yogurt almost every day. I only buy 98% fat free turkey, and I eat instant oatmeal a few times a week (not the same as slow cooked, I know). I can't eat spicy foods because of GERD.

2)Out of the five things listed for slowing down metabolism, I do 5 of them. I don't really eat white bread anymore and I don't drink alcohol for a variety of reasons, among them a)I'm not old enough, b)I'm on meds, and c)I've seen people do very dumb things when they're drunk and I don't want to be that person.

3)The list of low calorie snacks is helpful. I'm going to print that out. For the other tips listed, I eat breakfast every day and I try to get 6-8 hours of sleep every night.

DD and I are talking about seeing it. Not sure if DH and DS are interested. If it is just DD and I, we will probably do the 3-D.... if DH comes along it will have to be 2-D. His neurological disorder greatly affects his eyes and he just cannot do 3-D. I don't care for it much myself, but I can tolerate it.

I think it would be awesome, but I also can't tolerate 3-D. Just thinking about "Can't Wait to Be King" and the wildebeest stampede in 3-D is simultaneously making me go "wow" and cringe.

Bellebookworm9 - best of luck on your application! UF is a big school, but it never really felt like 50,000 students to me except on football game days. I did enjoy summers there though, when it was really empty.

Thanks! I submitted the application today, so now I just have to wait...and wait...and wait until March to hear back from them. And I'll be there 12 months a year for the next four years if I get in, so that will be nice to look forward too-I've been at school here during the summer and it's sooo different!

Final Summer WIN! results have finally been posted.

Wow! No wonder someone told me I look super skinny-I lost nearly 10& of myself!

This hasn't been a great food day actually, some bad choices and I almost let "Scar" out of his cage, but got the keys away from him.

I faced the scale, and went down .2. At first, I was disappointed but remembered the rich dessert I shared with DH at our restaurant meal this week (sponge toffee cake with ice cream ) , the Chinese food and wedding cake last Saturday at my friend's wedding and the pizza buffet blow out on Wednesday. That, coupled with my training not yet up to speed - lucky I lost at all!

Great job on not letting Scar out and doing all those healthy things this week. And any loss is still a loss!

Gretchen: I love my audiologist! My hearing thresholds are harder to measure because I have a lot of tinnitus, and she is awesome and succesful! Good luck to you! I don't teach, but I do have a teacher of the hearing impaired certification.

I vaguely remember how to test with tinnitus (it's a pulsing tone instead of the steady beep). I also have it but not severely and it pops up at the strangest times-sounds a lot like the really high pitched tones and drives me a little nuts!

*******************
I was up a pound this morning, which was not all that surprising based on the amount of junk I ate yesterday. Today was fine until 3pm. I am always really good through breakfast and lunch, and then mid-afternoon to evening just kills me. But I did make it to the gym tonight. I did 30 minutes on the elliptical and 20 minutes or so of Nautilus.

I also submitted two of my grad school apps today-University of Florida and Kent State. Still need to pay for them, but I'll deal with that in the next few days.

Tomorrow I'm giving a tour and then going grocery shopping for a few things. I've got a bit of reading to do tonight, and then a lot more to do this weekend. Tomorrow night is definitely movie night with friends-I know at least one Harry Potter will be watched and also possibly Sherlock Holmes.

 

[my3princes]

We're camping. It's cold, really cold. I'm glad I brought my parka. Thankfully we have heat in the camper so we're hanging out inside tonight. Chris and I did take a walk around the campground then my mother and I walked to and from the haunted trail as well as walking the trail in the dark complete with rocks, roots, uneven ground, mud etc.

Thanks for the kudos on the costumes. It's kind of funny that several of the costumes I made over the years are now commercially produced. The disney ones were not available when those were made neither was the bumble bee. I have made many more, but don't have them in the digital album yet.

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

ACK I totally flaked on my week for Clean Up The Clutter

So here we go:

Clean Up The Clutter Week 2

Daily:
Dishes
make your bed
New process mail (including finding a place to sort mail near a recycle bin and shredder). Mail can get overwhelming pretty quickly especially junk mail.
Don't throw it on the counter. Process, shred, file, and recycle every day.

weekly:
Sheets and towels
New dust

Great article about shredding and processing mail
http://unclutterer.com/2007/05/07/paper-clutter-begone-part-4/

 

[kollerbear]

Hey there--late night QOTD response-- Janis, you around here too at almost 1:00am? (You are MUCH more productive with your chores than I am late at night, though!!!)

Hi Tracey, thanks for coaching this week!!

After reading, answer the following questions:
1) What things do you eat already that can help you speed up your metabolism?
2) Do you limit the foods/drinks that slow down your metabolism?
3) What new things did you learn from this article?

I'm having trouble re-accessing the page-- I skimmed it last night though, so I think I can respond to the question to some degree....

1) This was so great because I learned that some of the foods that I really like that DBF doesn't (specifically grapefruit and broccoli) could help speed up my metabolism. Hurrah! I will check skinnytaste.com for some good broccoli recipes--thank you SO MUCH Laura for introducing me to this site! I also love soup, and it's finally getting cool enough to cook on our stove again. This was a good news list for me--I eat a lot of the stuff on there and I think that I can tinker with my food a little bit to get the good stuff in there more often.

2) I do limit the foods that I recall, but I don't eliminate them. I try not to eat too many processed foods, but it happens a few meals a week. I don't drink much anymore, and I don't eat a whole lot of white flour products... I do admit, while I always get whole wheat bread, if low-fat white frozen waffles are on sale for $2, I will pick that over the whole-grain ones for $4.00. I'm so cheap, I know... I know that eating healthfully overall isn't more expensive for me in my neighborhood, because when the majority of my food is produce, I end up having a lot more left in the budget for more specialty grocery items like quinoa, brown basmati rice, or whole wheat orzo. But I still balk at the prices on some of that stuff.

I am very lucky to live in a neighborhood with good cheap produce though... gotta love living in a Latin/Indian neighborhood... these women know how to COOK. Bulk onions, potatoes, mangos, peppers, whatever produce you need, it's generally cheap, and there's a LOT of it. I had the GREATEST experience once checking out dandelion greens at my supermarket and a Latina senior citizen couldn't get over them, and kept asking the check-out girl to translate while she told me how HEALTHY they were, and how good they were for my cholesterol... and she asked what I was making with them (a Leeky Broth with Ravioli soup) and asked for directions on how to make it... it was an awesome cross-generational moment... Here I thought that healthy food with obscure produce was MY generation's foodie fad, but apparently not!

3) What did I learn from the article-- well, not being able to get to it unfortunately I can't review, but I am especially thrilled to learn that I can strong-arm my DBF into eating broccoli on a regular basis and have a good scientific reason for it! I had also heard about the benefits of green tea before, as well, but this went into more detail than I knew--for example, that I have to drink so many glasses per day (am I correct in remembering it was like, 3 cups?) for the metabolic effects to kick in. I will definitely try this for a few weeks and see if I notice any change in how it makes me feel or lose weight. If I can aquire a taste for it, I'm sure even drinking one cup per day would be good for other health reasons, too, like lowering the risk of cancer. I thought that was really interesting.

Sorry for the long post without responses--late-night took away my filter. I will be back tomorrow with responses, I just didn't want to fall behind.

I hope everyone had a GREAT weigh-in this morning and that this weekend will be happy and healthy for everyone! Good luck to the race runners!!!

Samantha