March Wish Challenge Let it Go or some of us are sick of snow

[Oneanne]

Hello everyone... I'm back! I had a lovely stay at the beach, two days were sunny and one day was rainy which is the perfect mix. Usually when I'm in one of the fancy rooms, it's the fireplace that I love, but this time it was the deck. Even when I woke up in the middle of the night, I'd go out and stand on the deck for a while and listen to the ocean. My Sister's new place is really cute and seems like it will suit her very well. And her old house has sold... for $40,000 above asking to a developer who is going to tear it down. We knew that would be highly likely, so it isn't a shock, but lucky me I get to live next to construction for the next 6+ months.

I ate very well while at the beach, consistently getting protein everyday. I'm down a couple pounds, and feel like I did enough "soul work" to satisfy my goal for the month, but my steps count is so far under goal that I may not be able to make it to 100 miles, but will keep trying.

As far as changing up the format, being host for an entire month is more than I can take on, but I could host a day each week, if other's would be interested in doing the same. We could still chose an over-all theme for the month - or not, and just let everyone post something to drive conversation. I do like setting personal monthly goals, and being accountable for them here.

 

[sweetpeama]

Crossing fingers that my computer behaves today. I went through and cleared the temp files and cache from all the accounts on the computer late last night early this morning waiting for 10 year old to finally go to bed while figuring out what the crisis of the night is and how to fix it. Last night's crises we didn't realize that her jammie top had all the buttons missing. Luckily we finally found her another one and 13 year old has put a load that includes jammies for tonight in the washer so hopefully there is not a repeat tonight. I have spent the past few days seeing (not responding) every couple of minutes so between not much sleep and that nothing got done.

To go to or on the run foods tend to be a struggle for me unless I plan ahead and make up some muffins and toss them in a large zip lock and we have those. Fruit is a struggle to eat while driving as I don't care for the texture of bananas, oranges are messy, and unless I cut an apple into slices it gets caught in my teeth. I have one tooth that is out of alinment with the rest and stuff gets caught in there. The dental insurance my parents had when I was growing up would not cover orthodonic work to get it fixed because it did not affect my eating. No just my self esteem and lead to who cares if I am a little bit overweight I am already ugly attitude about life-didn't help that I went to the well to do high school in town and was from a working class blue collar family that to be honest if we had not raised a lot of our food on our farm we would have had to apply for food stamps especially in the months my dad would be laid off for the winter months. Our vacations growing up were go and spend a few days in Yellowstone National Park, or stop for a day or two in the Black Hills on our way to the North Central part of South Dakota to visit relatives, or we would drive to Missoula to spend a few days with my aunt. We did a trip to Wisconsin that I don't remember much as I was only 4 with my grandparents (my moms) though I do remember that one relative had these wind up fish for the tub and we had to get some-loved that bath toy and cried when it finally broke, I also remember that there was one distant cousin in a wheel chair and my sister (2 at the time) and I loved to sit on his lap and go for rides. My mom and grandmother told a story from that trip that I asked one morning at the hotel we stopped at part way on the trip there where was the poridge since we were staying at the 3 bears motel. We did make a trip to California one Christmas Break ( impossible now since we got out of school for break on the Friday before Christmas and did not go back until the Monday after the New Year so it was a full 2 weeks off. Now schools in my area are a half day off on the 23rd full day if your really lucky or half day full if lucky on the Friday before if the 23rd falls on a weekend and as long as there are at least 2 days starting on the 2nd before the weekend you go back then. This school year it was a whole 10 days off including the weekends, while we had 16 including the weekends) when I was in high school driving the trip. Not that kids I went to high school with got vacations either since it seemed a lot of their parents shipped them off to camps or relatives for the summers though there were some who got vacations to places in Europe. At least they all had clothes from stores in the mall while we had hand me downs, thrift shops, and kmart.
I tend to be out and about get hungry not have the money to go someplace where I can spend just a bit more and get a halfway balanced meal especially if I watch what I get for the sides so it is how cheap can we go at the local drive up window.

What works for you? What works for you to lose weight, maintain it and feel the way you want to feel like?

For me I notice that I loose weight if I get some light exercise in, and make sure to drink plenty of water-to keep my feet from retaining water, and the rest of me. Also I do best if I can do a high protein low carb diet with moderate natural fats-butter is fine but margarine is forget it. Doesn't surprise me considering how I have reacted to artificial sweetners and chemical medications and beauty products. Surprisingly these last few weeks I have still been able to loose little bits here and there even with the budget requiring that my diet be more carb based. This makes me wonder why the majority of people who are severely overweight are either at or below the median income for their area.

I tend to have a general idea of what I want to fix for at least our main meal though at times it gets railroaded because the meat is not thawed. I took it out of the freezer and put it in the fridge 2 days ago it should be thawed oh drats time to scramble and figure out something else. The budget is another issue and this year we did not get a deer last fall so that is affecting our meat. We have been eating a lot of pork-I have several ways to fix chops both in the oven and my slow cooker. I like to try new recipes though a lot depends on if I can get the ingredients. The rest of this week we are going to have burger and sauce over what ever rice or pasta we have available, a cheesy sausage and potato dish, going to the electrical cooperative annual lunch and business meeting (free food) and then planning on picking up a couple of take and bake pizzas on Friday since it is payday cheers all around here, I am thinking Saturday being hashbrown cups with eggs cooked in them. Will need to see how much I have for my food budget the next couple of weeks after that to figure out what I can get to go with what we have in the house to last through the 7th or 8th along with what I am making to take to my mom's for Easter Dinner.

I have recipes saved in protective sheets in a binder, several recipe books on my shelf that get used regularly though my ones that have cookies and pies don't get used as much-good thing, in bookmarks on my computer organized by sections and subsections such as recipes chicken slow cooker, and lately sharing ones I like on facebook. Some get put in the rotations others like the fried cabbage with onion and bacon I made up for St. Patricks day well I will be fixing that for myself because I got a resounding N O from 10 year old when I asked if she wanted any, 13 year old like the bacon and DH gave me a it was ok meaning if you do fix it I won't refuse to eat it but I'd rather not. I loved it though and honestly think I will have it again with my fish the next time I let my family have chili since I am allergic to tomatoes.

 

[glss1/2fll]

Welcome back, Oneanne! The beach trip sounds lovely. The upcoming construction does not!

I like the ideas being thrown around for a different format.

I need to get my act together for work and dinners at home. Wednesday and Thursday are twelve hour days so I won't be around to fix food for my fellas. Yesterday I threw a roast in the crockpot. Today I used part of it for stroganoff. I can probably get two more meals out of it. Maybe even three depending on what I make. Hmmm maybe enchiladas. I really think tomorrow will be soup. It's easy and DH has to leave pretty soon after work to get DS from the airport. I have a meeting so can't be anything too complicated.

What's your favorite soup? Do you buy it or make it?

 

[HappyGrape]

Hello everyone... I'm back! I had a lovely stay at the beach, two days were sunny and one day was rainy which is the perfect mix. Usually when I'm in one of the fancy rooms, it's the fireplace that I love, but this time it was the deck. Even when I woke up in the middle of the night, I'd go out and stand on the deck for a while and listen to the ocean. My Sister's new place is really cute and seems like it will suit her very well. And her old house has sold... for $40,000 above asking to a developer who is going to tear it down. We knew that would be highly likely, so it isn't a shock, but lucky me I get to live next to construction for the next 6+ months.

I ate very well while at the beach, consistently getting protein everyday. I'm down a couple pounds, and feel like I did enough "soul work" to satisfy my goal for the month, but my steps count is so far under goal that I may not be able to make it to 100 miles, but will keep trying.

As far as changing up the format, being host for an entire month is more than I can take on, but I could host a day each week, if other's would be interested in doing the same. We could still chose an over-all theme for the month - or not, and just let everyone post something to drive conversation. I do like setting personal monthly goals, and being accountable for them here.

perhaps daily hosts and few more topic days can be fun little change we can try. It sounds like magical trip - I am jealous little! I will start posting my daily accountability, kind of miss that

 

[HappyGrape]

I will start my daily accountability again
1) Did I count all my calories
2) Did I do work towards 100 000 weekly steps?
3) Did I remain in energy balance/deficit?
4) What did I do great yesterday
5) What can I do better today

1) Yes, I am nearly sure haha
2) Yes
3) Yes
4) I made few meals for the week ahead and great yoga class
5) Too much snacking yesterday

 

[Oneanne]

Goal accountability:

Lose 6 pounds... I'm down -2 from my good eating during vacation, so slowly moving in the right direction, but I ate a lot of sugar yesterday. A lot.
Walk 100 miles... I've got 52 miles in so far. I calculated it out yesterday and need to average 10,000 steps per day the rest of the month to catch up, so it is doable but I know my weekend step counts are always low, so it'll be an effort.
5 hours a week of soul work... I'm almost always thinking about what's next, calculating schedules in my head, making plans, changing plans, which all leads to not being present where I am. During my time off I consciously tried to not do that: the only specific thing I thought I might do was the Lewis and Clark Interpretative Center, as I haven't gone there for several years. I was running a bit early the day I decided to go, so on the way I thought heck, I'll drive the scenic loop, then I decided to stop at the Ranger station and get my annual state park pass, then I decided to go to Waikiki Beach where I had a lovely chat with another gal who was there. The Center is up on a bluff with a fabulous view so I hung out a while, and while I was there the Eagles who nest just to the north flew over head, riding the wind current... it was so incredibly peaceful and beautiful and I could feel that I was actually there, not thinking about being there, just there. After that I went down to Beard's Hallow, which is kind of a marshy inlet and just stood and listened. Actually the entire trip was a "listening" trip - listening to the birds, the ocean, the rain, and it was a trip of choices... every time I came to an intersection I decided on the spot which direction to go, rather than having a path/plan laid out. This is why I feel like I got enough soul level satisfaction from the trip to satisfy the goal for the month.

I can post a daily topic on Thursday. In the meantime Happy Tuesday... let's make it fabulously full of wonderfulness so we have things to woohoo about tomorrow!

 

[Flossbolna]

perhaps daily hosts and few more topic days can be fun little change we can try. It sounds like magical trip - I am jealous little! I will start posting my daily accountability, kind of miss that

I can post a daily topic on Thursday. In the meantime Happy Tuesday... let's make it fabulously full of wonderfulness so we have things to woohoo about tomorrow!

What about the following schedule:
"Motivation Monday" where everyone posts something about what motivates them, a quote, something personal, a picture
Tuesday: question by Tuesday topic host
"Woohoo Wednesday" post about something good that happened in the last week
Thursday: question by Thursday topic host
Friday: question by Friday topic host
"Web Weekend" share something of interest that you found on the internet - about food, exercise of Disney!

If anyone has any other ideas for set weekday topics, go ahead, I won't be offended!

We would still need someone to set up the thread each month, most likely one of the topic hosts could do that.

@lovesmurfs you had already volunteered for April, are you upset if we change the way the challenges are being run already for April? We do appreciate that you volunteered and the last thing I want to cause is to upset someone who wants to help! Would you be ok to just take over one fo the weekdays?

 

[Flossbolna]

Happy Tuesday! Things are still not going to well on the eating front. I have no clue what my issue is. It really is mainly in my head I am afraid, so I must just get myself into the right place mentally. So far today was ok, but not great. We will see how the rest of the afternoon goes. I also really need to get back into exercise mode, but I am so exhausted all the time. And now it is freezing cold here again, so my plans of restarting early morning runs really does not work well either... Things are finally supposed to change for good by the end of the week.

 

[Oneanne]

What about the following schedule:
"Motivation Monday" where everyone posts something about what motivates them, a quote, something personal, a picture
Tuesday: question by Tuesday topic host
"Woohoo Wednesday" post about something good that happened in the last week
Thursday: question by Thursday topic host
Friday: question by Friday topic host
"Web Weekend" share something of interest that you found on the internet - about food, exercise of Disney!

If anyone has any other ideas for set weekday topics, go ahead, I won't be offended!

We would still need someone to set up the thread each month, most likely one of the topic hosts could do that.

@lovesmurfs you had already volunteered for April, are you upset if we change the way the challenges are being run already for April? We do appreciate that you volunteered and the last thing I want to cause is to upset someone who wants to help! Would you be ok to just take over one fo the weekdays?

This sounds great to me. If @lovesmurfs already has April ready to go, we could switch over starting in May. In the meantime I can be Thursday host thru March.

 

[lovesmurfs]

This sounds great to me. If @lovesmurfs already has April ready to go, we could switch over starting in May. In the meantime I can be Thursday host thru March.

I do have the questions ready to go, but I'll adjust them to reflect the days above.

 

[lovesmurfs]

What about the following schedule:
"Motivation Monday" where everyone posts something about what motivates them, a quote, something personal, a picture
Tuesday: question by Tuesday topic host
"Woohoo Wednesday" post about something good that happened in the last week
Thursday: question by Thursday topic host
Friday: question by Friday topic host
"Web Weekend" share something of interest that you found on the internet - about food, exercise of Disney!

If anyone has any other ideas for set weekday topics, go ahead, I won't be offended!

We would still need someone to set up the thread each month, most likely one of the topic hosts could do that.

@lovesmurfs you had already volunteered for April, are you upset if we change the way the challenges are being run already for April? We do appreciate that you volunteered and the last thing I want to cause is to upset someone who wants to help! Would you be ok to just take over one fo the weekdays?

It's no problem! Whatever works to get more people responding. We'll give it a try.

 

[Flossbolna]

I do have the questions ready to go, but I'll adjust them to reflect the days above.

If you are all set, just use what you have. We can start the new format in May then.

 

[Flossbolna]

Minor victory: had a sensible dinner with no additional snacks afterwards!!! I am getting there!

 

[sweetpeama]

My morning has been spent trying to get my computer running again and then trying to get google chrome to work. In between doing some dishes, getting 13 year old to bake a batch of cupcakes (10 year old is going to decorate some cupcakes at the cake project meeting tonight. We are taking 8 in hopes that 4-6 make it home decorated), baking her chick character cake, getting 2 batches of frosting mixed up with the plan to have her take half the batch for her sister and put it in hers. For some reason 1st level ends up using more like 1.5 batches of frosting and if needed we can make more at home for sister to have fun frosting the other cupcakes. Also got dinner of burger and cream sauce over toast made, and a batch of dishes. Lucky me DH did a batch as well when he got back from taking 10 year old to speech and occupational therapy.
I woke up this morning to your computer needs to restart in repair mode. Never a good sign. Guess who is going to be emailing all her links for her book marked items from one email account to another so I don't loose them all again. (I am still trying to find the strawberry cake recipe that we really liked from the last time it crashed and I lost all my old bookmarks). Then it kept up the not responding fun. I am really getting irritated at it.

I also got fruit cut up for both a citrus bowl with a little bit of honey some grapefruit and oranges along with grapefruit and oranges in my individual fruit infused water bottle and oranges in the pitcher in the fridge. I have been informed that the girls don't like the grapefruit taste and DH he just fills a glass from the sink when there is nice cold water in the fridge. Of course he has not problem drinking warm water from a sat in the car and got hot sports drink bottle. Me I like my water cold and the colder the better so I use lots of ice. Best is ice water placed in the fridge to get nice and cold with more ice in the glass or my water bottle.

Ended up having to give advice to a local mom who is pulling her child due to a bunch of stuff going on in the school and nothing be done about it so she will be a homeschool parent as of tomorrow. Did this while directing 13 year old as to what was needed and trying to explain to 10 year old we we're not ready to leave yet. Managed to get out the house without my nails being done forgot my 13 year old's cake decorating book and practice sheets along with the character cake pan she had checked out-which I told her to wash but she hadn't

10 year old decorated 8 cupcakes but 1 of them the liner fell off as we were putting on the frosting so she took care of it is great fashion-straight to the mouth it went. 13 year old did a chick cake but since she didn't have the pattern it is an anamae chick not a cute spring one. Stopped by DQ after to have a late supper and get a free ice cream cone for the 1st day of spring.

 

[Flossbolna]

It's Wohoo Wednesday!!

My woohoo for today is that the sun is shining, the temperatures are above freezing and spring feels like it could be around the corner and not only a long distant event!

Eating so far has been good. Lunch was substantial, but I feel like I did not overeat. And it had lots of protein. So, this should set me up nicely for the afternoon.

 

[piglet1979]

I am not so woohooy today. We got about 6 inches of snow last night. Yesterday they said only a trace for us. Kids are off of school and work is crazy. SO nothing bad but just a crummy day because of the weather.

I am excited that I have found a away to get more energy. I have been having issues with my hair falling out lately. This is mostly due to stress from this past month. I got my hair done last Friday and she told me to take B12. So i did. I just take one in the morning and I have not been tired all week. I am getting tired towards the end of the work day so I might start taking it around lunch too. This should get me through the rest of teh day and working out in the evenings.

 

[Oneanne]

Woohoo!

I got my 10,000 steps in yesterday! I also picked up my new glasses yesterday and really like them.

Over the weekend I spent time (and $$$) sprucing up the house. Part of the course is "experiencing" your home and one thing that popped out at me when I really stopped to look around is that it looks unfinished, so I worked on things like filling the holes in the bedroom wall where the wall shelf was and putting art up, hemming and putting up the bedroom sheer curtains (I like two layers - sheers behind panels), fixing a couple things that weren't quite right. I'm well pleased with the improvements.

Had a stressful situation at work yesterday, something that would have normally sent me in to a tailspin of victim/martyr thoughts/behavior, but I'm processing it really well so I'm proud of myself for that.

Happy Wednesday everyone!

 

[Flossbolna]

We got about 6 inches of snow last night.

I am excited that I have found a away to get more energy. I have been having issues with my hair falling out lately. This is mostly due to stress from this past month. I got my hair done last Friday and she told me to take B12. So i did. I just take one in the morning and I have not been tired all week. I am getting tired towards the end of the work day so I might start taking it around lunch too. This should get me through the rest of teh day and working out in the evenings.

That sounds interesting! Maybe I ought to try this, too.

Over the weekend I spent time (and $$$) sprucing up the house. Part of the course is "experiencing" your home and one thing that popped out at me when I really stopped to look around is that it looks unfinished, so I worked on things like filling the holes in the bedroom wall where the wall shelf was and putting art up, hemming and putting up the bedroom sheer curtains (I like two layers - sheers behind panels), fixing a couple things that weren't quite right. I'm well pleased with the improvements.

Sounds great! I sometimes get motivated to improve my house, too. And I always feel better for getting some things done. It is just nice to feel more comfortable at home.

 

[lovesmurfs]

If you are all set, just use what you have. We can start the new format in May then.

I'm nothing if not flexible!! Although you couldn't have said that if you'd seen me at the gym's bootcamp I started this morning. Ugh. But it's better than if I hadn't gone...

 

[lovesmurfs]

Woo Hoo Wednesday!!!

Wow -- so many great things happening. Yesterday, a coworker showed me her planned breakfast and lunch, saying that I've been a motivator for her. Another came down to my office this morning to tell me I look great. I really don't talk about my weight loss journey at work unless people ask.

Today, a guy walked up to me at the gym, said he'd been seeing me work out every single day and told me I was such an inspiration for him. And he has no weight he needs to lose! Helped me make it through the 30 minutes of bootcamp I paid good money to make myself hurt.

And when I weighed in this morning, I was 74 pounds down from my starting weight of 305 in mid September.