I work for a fashion retailer, and love fashion. But I'm in IT, so we can be pretty casual, and I am most days. I'm right on the cusp of going from plus sized down to regular sizes, so it's a struggle right now, but I have given in and started buying 1x tops, as while casual is OK for work, coming in naked is not. I'm really looking forward to being able to fit into the type of fashion I really want to wear.
I have to force myself to get out of running capris and such sometimes. I do volunteer multiple times a week at my kids school, and I try to wear jeans and a t shirt then, but some times i stick with the exercise stuff. I do love dressing up but have rare occasion to do it. Oh, yes! This makes me mad, too! I loved it in California where very fast food place had the calories directly on the menu.
I am working with a 750 kcal deficit and that works really well for me. Not a huge difference between 600 and 750 and I find that for me this works very well. As you say, I find it important to set myself goals that I can actually reach instead of being disappointed of falling short. It also helps me to take care of fuelling my body as it needs it - just as you did with your chickpea snack!
I never commented on the dairy question, but one thing that always amazes me is how important it seems for Americans to drink milk, especially for kids. Here you would rarely see someone drinking a milk as a drink in a restaurant (most places would not even have it on the menu) and kids mainly just drink it for breakfast. However, there is a lot of cheese and other dairy products in our diet, so I guess that is a source of calcium for many people. Also, yoghurt seems to be much more a typical snack item here. I know that my tiny supermarket here has a larger yoghurt selection than the large Publix at WDW that we visited on my last stay there. I love all dairy products, I would even love to drink milk, but don't because of the calories. Here in Germany low fat dairy products are far less prevailing than in the US. For example, the yoghurt is mainly 3.5% fat, sometimes 1.7% (that is my standard), you nearly never find fresh skimmed milk, low fat cheese is about 5% of all the cheese on offer. I have actually started to move away from the very low fat dairy products and find that I am much happier with a tiny piece of full fat cheese than with double the amount of low fat cheese. I recently read something about how there is even some research suggesting that dairy fat does have a lot of benefits and that it does not lead to weight gain.
All in all, I don't think that dairy is bad for everyone. But I do believe in listening to your body and see what is good for you instead of desperately trying to follow the newest nutritional fad. Getting ideas is never bad and if someone finds out that they feel better when they cut dairy, then that is fine by me. However, I am not trying to tell anyone what their diet MUST be, so I can get very annoyed if someone does it to me! (Sorry, will immediately leave the soap box - and point out that I never felt that anyone on this thread would fall into this category!). And even I sometimes get a carton of oat milk to mix it up - and because it is really tasty, especially in coffee!
My place of work is quite relaxed, I can more or less wear what I want most days. And people dress at different levels. I definitely have work outfits that I love more than others, especially in the summer I have a few really cute dresses for work that I love! I know that when I am starting to feel more comfortable in my body again, I do put more effort into looking better for work as it is more fun. When the clothes start getting tight, it is no fun and I then tend to dress down more.
This is a picture of me in one of those summer work dresses that I have, I even have a lovely white long cardigan to go with it. The picture is not from work, but from my Panama Canal cruise on the Disney Wonder in 2014. I think I was a little thinner then than I am now, but only about 2 to 4 pounds... I know that by the end of the 15 night cruise I was definitely heavier than I am now!! The guy next to me is of course the captain of the ship: Captain Fabian! We had a nice chat about Germany as he was involved in the team from Disney that was at the shipyard in Germany when they built the Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy.
I kid you not, DH and I ran out of a grocery store to avoid the Girl Scouts that had cornered and guilted some other sucker into buying cookies lol. I was like "Now's our chance. Go!" I just cannot be trusted with the cookies.
Those are great! I felt the same way when I got fitted for my first pair. I always just bought cheap Nikes and this time I went to a running store, got my stride analyzed and tried on several pairs. I ended up with Brooks Glycerin 12s and oh my gosh. It was like running on a cloud. They're about at the end of their life. I've probably put around 300 miles on them. So anyone who works out really needs to get fitted for a good pair of shoes. It'll change your life!
This is my last casual fridayIn my building, the first floor employees can wear jeans on Fridays. But I'm moving up to the 9th floor. Which means I'm working on the same floor as upper level management. So no more jeans for me. Unless I pay $5 on specific fundraising days (for example April 22nd I get to wear jeans). I do love dressing up though, especially now that I love my body more.
I love that dress! So pretty
Last year while training for Princess I was out doing a long run. Due to the extreme snow we had last year, I had to stick to major roads for safety. At about mile 5 I passed a troop of girls scouts selling girl scout cookies. I was on the opposite side of the road, but after my turn around at mile 6 I passed them again at mile 7. I never wished I had three dollars with me so much in my life
at least you did the run first!
Healthy celebration dance for you!
I love it - you guys just make me laugh some days (in a good way 
)As soon as I find a pretty dress that I look great in, I'll be sure to post a pic for all of you.
We eagerly await that photo - your sense of humour is fantastic!
We just purchased our tickets to see the Jungle Book tonight - which poses a challenge: How do you manage concession calories?
How do you resist the amazing smell of popcorn when you get into a theatre!? I want a large bucket and the buncha crunch candy.
We have Casual Friday where we can wear jeans. Most Friday's I do wear jeans, but today I didn't (wearing a new shirt that didn't look as nice with jeans). Clothes don't fit as nice right now, just because I've dropped a size in shirts and they are a little on the tighter side. Give it a few more weeks and it will be perfect.
As soon as I find a pretty dress that I look great in, I'll be sure to post a pic for all of you.
(is that the "pissed off" emoji??). We drove about 5 miles out of the way for this and discovered that our first location no longer was (or never was??) a Costco... and drove another 5 miles away to find one. All so he could eat pizza and frozen yogurt and get cheap gas. I was determined not to ruin my "food day" with cheap (albeit delicious) food court food, so I bought a package of raspberries and a diet Pepsi (I know, I know... sweet brown poison... but I needed the caffeine badly) and then ate a WW cheese stick and some WW crackers when we returned to the car. I had one large bite of DS's frozen yogurt. 
I'm probably in the minority, but for me, if I don't get movie theater popcorn, it ruins the experience for me! Also I should mention that I go to the theaters maybe twice per year. I think if you plan for it and you keep it in moderation, you will be just fine!How do you resist the amazing smell of popcorn when you get into a theatre!? I want a large bucket and the bunch crunch candy.
Yum! Where do you score Guac?
Only if you upgrade to the $10 a month plan
Oh, yes! This makes me mad, too! I loved it in California where very fast food place had the calories directly on the menu.
I am working with a 750 kcal deficit and that works really well for me. Not a huge difference between 600 and 750 and I find that for me this works very well. As you say, I find it important to set myself goals that I can actually reach instead of being disappointed of falling short. It also helps me to take care of fuelling my body as it needs it - just as you did with your chickpea snack!
I never commented on the dairy question, but one thing that always amazes me is how important it seems for Americans to drink milk, especially for kids. Here you would rarely see someone drinking a milk as a drink in a restaurant (most places would not even have it on the menu) and kids mainly just drink it for breakfast. However, there is a lot of cheese and other dairy products in our diet, so I guess that is a source of calcium for many people. Also, yoghurt seems to be much more a typical snack item here. I know that my tiny supermarket here has a larger yoghurt selection than the large Publix at WDW that we visited on my last stay there. I love all dairy products, I would even love to drink milk, but don't because of the calories. Here in Germany low fat dairy products are far less prevailing than in the US. For example, the yoghurt is mainly 3.5% fat, sometimes 1.7% (that is my standard), you nearly never find fresh skimmed milk, low fat cheese is about 5% of all the cheese on offer. I have actually started to move away from the very low fat dairy products and find that I am much happier with a tiny piece of full fat cheese than with double the amount of low fat cheese. I recently read something about how there is even some research suggesting that dairy fat does have a lot of benefits and that it does not lead to weight gain.
All in all, I don't think that dairy is bad for everyone. But I do believe in listening to your body and see what is good for you instead of desperately trying to follow the newest nutritional fad. Getting ideas is never bad and if someone finds out that they feel better when they cut dairy, then that is fine by me. However, I am not trying to tell anyone what their diet MUST be, so I can get very annoyed if someone does it to me! (Sorry, will immediately leave the soap box - and point out that I never felt that anyone on this thread would fall into this category!). And even I sometimes get a carton of oat milk to mix it up - and because it is really tasty, especially in coffee!
My place of work is quite relaxed, I can more or less wear what I want most days. And people dress at different levels. I definitely have work outfits that I love more than others, especially in the summer I have a few really cute dresses for work that I love! I know that when I am starting to feel more comfortable in my body again, I do put more effort into looking better for work as it is more fun. When the clothes start getting tight, it is no fun and I then tend to dress down more.
This is a picture of me in one of those summer work dresses that I have, I even have a lovely white long cardigan to go with it. The picture is not from work, but from my Panama Canal cruise on the Disney Wonder in 2014. I think I was a little thinner then than I am now, but only about 2 to 4 pounds... I know that by the end of the 15 night cruise I was definitely heavier than I am now!! The guy next to me is of course the captain of the ship: Captain Fabian! We had a nice chat about Germany as he was involved in the team from Disney that was at the shipyard in Germany when they built the Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy.
We just purchased our tickets to see the Jungle Book tonight - which poses a challenge: How do you manage concession calories?
How do you resist the amazing smell of popcorn when you get into a theatre!? I want a large bucket and the buncha crunch candy.
We just purchased our tickets to see the Jungle Book tonight - which poses a challenge: How do you manage concession calories?
How do you resist the amazing smell of popcorn when you get into a theatre!? I want a large bucket and the buncha crunch candy.
