Sebastian's STRONG and SVELTE Under the Sea September W.I.S.H. Weight Loss Challenge - All Welcome!

[ThistleMae]

Today has been a slow Tuesday....I mean I'm just slow today. I went to the gym...and I struggled to bike for just 12 minutes. I did complete my routine but felt really tired. I did work outside last night until around 7:30 and I think I just overdid. But....I got all I wanted done! My 32 ounces of water is staring at me right now. It's almost 4 p.m. and I have to start drinking it. I've been finishing it up later and later every day.
This is one of my September goals....to drink 32 ounces of water every day. I know I'm still short on the daily recommendation but this is huge for me because I never and I mean "never" drink water! So I'm checking off everyday on my calendar. I have a special bottle (yellow) that I use. I fill it up every morning when I'm making my tea. I really want to be successful with this goal....so off to drink my water and spend most of the night going to the bathroom...LOL...but true!

 

[DisPup75]

Ugghhh. I'm so busy today! But I'm loving reading about all the dream trips on my 15 minute hiding from the world break!

Hey y'all! I am a 14 year old girl from Tampa. I am currently five feet tall and 200 pounds. I want to be 110 pounds in two years which is when I will be going to Disney for my sweet 16. My goal for this month is to be down five pounds.

Welcome again! We look forward to chatting with you!!

Hi everyone - just checking in to post results / progress for week 1. We have Internet now and I was able to find my scale. I'm happy it's a loss , but not the loss I was hoping for.

Week 1: .5 pounds out of 9.
Percentage: 5%

Our crazy week from hell is over so I think I'll see the results I want next week.

I'll post in response later - we are still unpacking and it's our last day of "vacation".

I hope your return to work is restful! You definitely deserved a bigger loss this week. I predict that it will show up soon!

Is it too late to join?
I realize we're already a full week into September but I'd love to be a part of this!
About me:
I started my weight-loss journey back in April, doing a very low-carb diet and going from 200 to 178. In the past month I've been stuck at that number, and trying to incorporate carbs and exercise back into my life!
Here is what I want to accomplish for September:
Goal: Get to 170lbs (lose 8 lbs)

Plan: Use the elliptical 3 time a week
Use MyFitnessPal every day to log food

My husband and I are going to Disney World in November (!!!) and I would love to feel healthy and energized during our visit!

Welcome! SO happy to have someone else join us on the journey!!

Happy back to work and school Tuesday! I love 3-day weekends but they always make days like today feel like Monday times 2. So let's have a fun question today!

QOTD - September 8​

You've been given an unlimited supply of Disney gift cards. These are magic cards that are good for any expenses you might incur while traveling. Plan your dream trip!

This morning I had envisioned dreaming up, researching, and summarizing my dream trip around the world. Unfortunately the day is rapidly slipping away. So step 1 is to hire a really good travel consultant! Then I want to go around the world and hit every park with a VIp guide. WDW - The Wild Africa Trek, Victoria & Alberts, and discovery Cove are my must do's. I want to stay in a Savannah room at AKL. Disneyland - my favorite resort! - I want to do the new Jungle Cruise skipper training breakfast. Paris must include a few extra weeks in the city itself because Paris is my favorite place on Earth. Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea are currently in the works for my 2021 trip but special magic gift cards could make that happen right now along with Hong Kong and the new Shanghai park as part of my around the world tour. Finally, I need to book enough Disney Adventures to get my big three travel dreams - pandas, penguins, and pyramids - checked off the bucket list.

Finally, I want a private plane to take me to all of these destinations! And fancy exotic cars for DH to drive when we land.

 

[courtneybeth]

I want to stay in a Savannah room at AKL.

We did this last Christmas and it was so much fun! It's worth the cost to rent points from a DVC member and get a studio room for a week. The only downside to staying near AK is the looooong drive to anything that isn't AK. But as long as you budget for travel time you will have a BLAST! Just make sure to request a certain viewing side or you'll get stuck on the smaller wing with only Pumbaa's cousins walking around.

We had a lot of fun watching the animals. I wanted to see zebras and was so ecstatic to see that a group of 3 were making the rounds the first day we were there. And then they pooped by a tree right in front of our room and then we weren't so impressed the rest of the week



Already back on track with my food and feeling so much better. Sleep does wonders as well and I am confident that as long as I stick to that food/eating/sleep schedule that I will see that drop that I've been anticipating for about the last week. Come on, let's see a 2-3 pound drop!

 

[disneycheerleader]

HI!! Welcome! Share a bit about yourself. What is your PLAN to get you going on this healthy lifestyle?

I am budgeting 1,500 calories per day. 50% of those calories will be fruits and vegetables. 15% is protein and another 15% is grains. The other 20% will be divided into calories from drinks and general junk food. I am also planning on having at least an hour of exercise each day. I am currently following the 100 workout and it is absolutely lovely.=)

 

[disneycheerleader]

Happy back to work and school Tuesday! I love 3-day weekends but they always make days like today feel like Monday times 2. So let's have a fun question today!

QOTD - September 8​

You've been given an unlimited supply of Disney gift cards. These are magic cards that are good for any expenses you might incur while traveling. Plan your dream trip!

My dream trip would be a two week long WDW trip staying at the cabins. I would see every attraction and show that there is. I would share this trip with my extended family and a handful of my friends. I would enjoy every moment of it.

 

[SarahDisney]

QOTD - September 7​

Whether planned or unplanned, we all have days where we eat too much of the wrong kinds of foods (or even just too much of the right kinds of food). And then we wake up with the dreaded food hangover - puffy, sluggish, bloated, and just all around icky feeling. Whether after a holiday, vacation, day trip, or just an encounter with the chip bag, what are your strategies for getting over the food coma and back into your healthy routine?

So ... for better or worse, I don't really get a food hangover. I get a little sick right after I eat too much, but a few hours later I'm fine. Which makes it harder to remember that I didn't something I really shouldn't have done.
That said, when I know I've had a bad day, I try to start the next morning with a great, high-protein breakfast.

Hey y'all! I am a 14 year old girl from Tampa. I am currently five feet tall and 200 pounds. I want to be 110 pounds in two years which is when I will be going to Disney for my sweet 16. My goal for this month is to be down five pounds.

Welcome! Getting started is the hardest part, and you've done that now. Next up is a plan to get to your goal - there are a lot of different plans out there to try, so please share with us what you're doing and how it's going!

Is it too late to join?
I realize we're already a full week into September but I'd love to be a part of this!
About me:
I started my weight-loss journey back in April, doing a very low-carb diet and going from 200 to 178. In the past month I've been stuck at that number, and trying to incorporate carbs and exercise back into my life!
Here is what I want to accomplish for September:
Goal: Get to 170lbs (lose 8 lbs)

Plan: Use the elliptical 3 time a week
Use MyFitnessPal every day to log food

My husband and I are going to Disney World in November (!!!) and I would love to feel healthy and energized during our visit!

Welcome! You've got a good plan so far, so please keep us updated on how it works out for you. Plateaus are hard, but I think you're moving in the right direction to break that plateau!

QOTD - September 8​

You've been given an unlimited supply of Disney gift cards. These are magic cards that are good for any expenses you might incur while traveling. Plan your dream trip!

Disney around the world. Not sure about the order, but I'd do 7-10 days in Florida (probably stay at Art of Animation), 4-5 days in California (staying at Disneyland Hotel), a 4-day cruise, 1-2 days in Hong Kong Disneyland (not sure where I'd stay, but definitely at a Disney hotel) plus 1-2 days in Hong Kong itself, 2-3 days in Tokyo (staying in a character room at Tokyo Disneyland Hotel) plus 1-2 days in Tokyo, 2-3 days at Disneyland Paris (stay at a Disney hotel, not sure which one). If Shanghai is open by then, 1-2 days there (staying at the Toy Story Hotel).
Any chance there's a wish-granting fairy out there who can set this up for me?

 

[Tara&Mike]

Today has been a slow Tuesday....I mean I'm just slow today. I went to the gym...and I struggled to bike for just 12 minutes. I did complete my routine but felt really tired. I did work outside last night until around 7:30 and I think I just overdid. But....I got all I wanted done! My 32 ounces of water is staring at me right now. It's almost 4 p.m. and I have to start drinking it. I've been finishing it up later and later every day.
This is one of my September goals....to drink 32 ounces of water every day. I know I'm still short on the daily recommendation but this is huge for me because I never and I mean "never" drink water! So I'm checking off everyday on my calendar. I have a special bottle (yellow) that I use. I fill it up every morning when I'm making my tea. I really want to be successful with this goal....so off to drink my water and spend most of the night going to the bathroom...LOL...but true!

Good job on going to the gym even though you felt tired. I feel like when I'm lacking motivation or feeling tired, it helps not to think about that too much and just start exercising anyway. Once I'm actually doing it, it's not so bad...

 

[Tara&Mike]

It's never too late to join in! I use MyFitnessPal as well and I'm going to Disney in November....the week before and during Thanksgiving. It can be tough incorporating certain foods back into a daily diet. You've done really well so far. Logging your food is really critical! If you maintain those two goals you should be right on track. It's amazing how very small portions of certain things really up your calories and can throw off your chart. I do love using MFP though, it works for me and my sweetheart. I've lost 63 pounds since last November! Welcome to this very active group! We will support you all the way!

Wow, 63 pounds! Good for you, that's really something to be proud of

 

[ThistleMae]

Today I just want to share my favorite breakfast. I feel I could eat this every day of my life and not tire of it. Okay...you'll be surprised...here goes:
Scottish Oatmeal, with one tblsp. hemp and flax seed and a quarter cup of fresh blueberries. I just love it! Sometimes when I'm having a hungry night, I just think about my delicious Oatmeal breakfast and it gets me through. Everyone have a great Wedesday!

 

[DisPup75]

QOTD - September 9​

Let's share some tips for good eating! What's in your lunch box or on your menu plan for today? Do you plan ahead or fly by the seat of your pants? What is your favorite lunch? How about your ideal lunch?

 

[DisPup75]

I'm sorry I've not been very chatty the past few days. An unexpected work crisis is requiring a few more hours than I've got in a day and it is leaving me with little time for the fun stuff. I'm hoping today is the last day of crazy but we will see!

QOTD - September 9​

Let's share some tips for good eating! What's in your lunch box or on your menu plan for today? Do you plan ahead or fly by the seat of your pants? What is your favorite lunch? How about your ideal lunch?

In the meantime, I do have a bag of snacks/lunch ready to go to sustain me throughout the day. Chobani nonfat yogurt, string cheese, a Kashi dark chocolate almond bar, an apple, a cup of blackberries and raspberries, and a bag of baby carrots to be precise!

I'm happiest (and the least hungry) when I plan ahead and make a big pot of soup or something similar to sustain me through the week but I'm not very good at actually doing this. Lots of vegetables in the soup plus beans for protein served with a bit of cheese and fruit and I'm happy for hours.

My favorite lunch is a roast beef sandwich on a crusty sub roll with chips and a pickle - clearly not the healthiest and so one I try to limit to once every few weeks because I have no interest in health-ifying it. I'd rather just eat something else.

I do not eat salads for lunch unless they are a starter before a main course or some other type of side. Big meal salads make me kind of crazy. They take forever to eat, have way too many calories for what you get, and I'm usually still hungry after chewing for hours.

 

[dsnyfn1022]

What's in your lunch box or on your menu plan for today? Do you plan ahead or fly by the seat of your pants? What is your favorite lunch? How about your ideal lunch?

Today's lunch is a cauliflower chowder. It's like a loaded baked potato soup but with cauliflower so it's low carb. I'm definitely a planner and actually make a week's worth of lunches on Sunday's so that all I have to do is grab my lunch and go. I need something hot for lunch otherwise I don't feel full and satisfied and that leads to bad snacking and too much food for dinner. I usually rotate between soup, chili, turkey burgers without buns, etc. That way I don't get too bored and end up eating out.

Also, as a woohoo for this wonderful Wednesday: this morning I put on a pair of pants that I bought in February of 2014 that never fit. They're a little tight in the rear but not uncomfortable! Woohoo!

 

[DisPup75]

Today's lunch is a cauliflower chowder. It's like a loaded baked potato soup but with cauliflower so it's low carb. I'm definitely a planner and actually make a week's worth of lunches on Sunday's so that all I have to do is grab my lunch and go. I need something hot for lunch otherwise I don't feel full and satisfied and that leads to bad snacking and too much food for dinner. I usually rotate between soup, chili, turkey burgers without buns, etc. That way I don't get too bored and end up eating out.

Also, as a woohoo for this wonderful Wednesday: this morning I put on a pair of pants that I bought in February of 2014 that never fit. They're a little tight in the rear but not uncomfortable! Woohoo!

The soup sounds delicious! And that is a great WooHoo! Congratulations!!

I forgot it was Wednesday, folks, and thus skipped over our woohoos!! Please share!

 

[JacknSally]

QOTD - September 9​

Let's share some tips for good eating! What's in your lunch box or on your menu plan for today? Do you plan ahead or fly by the seat of your pants? What is your favorite lunch? How about your ideal lunch?

DEFINITELY fly by the seat of my pants, for sure. We have a rough plan in that we know what things we'll be eating that week when we grocery shop on Sundays, but we don't have a specific "This is lunch on Tuesday" kind of plan. We just throw something together on our way out the door. Lately we've been oversleeping every day and rushing out the door, so I haven't been able to stop and grab lunch on my way out, so for the past couple of weeks I've just been skipping it. I know, I know, totally not smart. It's unintentional, though! Plus I've either been running errands during my lunch hour or only taking a 30 minute lunch because I've been late to work and have to make up that time, so that hampers things, too. Hopefully I'll be able to get back to a semi-normal schedule soon. Lunch, when I do get it, is usually turkey and cheese, hardboiled eggs, plain tuna, or an almond butter & jelly sandwich. I make my own almond butter by running almonds, coconut oil, and cinnamon in the food processor, and it's SOOOOO gooooodddddd. Haha. I use the Welch's natural grape jelly (I think that's what it's called?) to keep the sugar count low.

Today's lunch is a cauliflower chowder. It's like a loaded baked potato soup but with cauliflower so it's low carb. I'm definitely a planner and actually make a week's worth of lunches on Sunday's so that all I have to do is grab my lunch and go. I need something hot for lunch otherwise I don't feel full and satisfied and that leads to bad snacking and too much food for dinner. I usually rotate between soup, chili, turkey burgers without buns, etc. That way I don't get too bored and end up eating out.

Also, as a woohoo for this wonderful Wednesday: this morning I put on a pair of pants that I bought in February of 2014 that never fit. They're a little tight in the rear but not uncomfortable! Woohoo!

I NEED this recipe! Potato soup is my all-time favorite food (that, and mashed potatoes... My Irish heritage totally shines through!) but it's so carby! You are the planner I set out every week to be, haha. I always try to make up a week's worth of meals on Sundays, but it never happens, or I end up not wanting what I did manage to prepare, so it just gets wasted.

WOOHOOO FOR YOUUUU!!! YAYYYY for getting into those pants! Remember that awesome feeling moving forward!

I have a woohoo, too! It's actually from Monday, but I was saving it for today, anticipating a Woohoo Wednesday! Haha. @DisPup75 had to go and mix it up on me!

I took this picture Monday morning. The top two are my before photos, taken May 4, 2015. The bottom two are my current photos, taken September 7, 2015, so roughly 4 months apart. This is exactly why I'm a big supporter of before/during/after photos and other visual motivation. I've got my LoseIt! app that keeps track both numerically and with a chart, but that graph doesn't hit me like these photos do.

In the 4 months between these photos, I've lost 26lbs, weighing in at 227 and change on May 4, and 201.4 on September 7. I KNOW I've lost 26lbs, but my clothes are frustratingly not fitting very differently (they're definitely loser and fit better, and I feel more confident in them, but I haven't actually changed sizes, which I expected to do after 26lbs... makes me wonder how bad my clothes looked before! Haha) and looking in the mirror every single day, I don't really see the change. But then I compared these photos, and oh my goodness. 1) I had no idea/completely forgot how big I had gotten 2) I completely didn't see how small (comparatively) I am now.

This is DEFINITELY positive reinforcement that all this frustratingly hard work is legitimately making a difference, even with as rough a month as August where I didn't lose any of my intended weight, and it really motivates me to keep going. I actually WANT to go try on my wedding dress now and see how it fits - I think I might like it a whole lot better! I'm really excited about that, because I was miserable in it before, and was dreading wearing it. BIG WOOHOO!

Also, WOOHOO just because it's Wednesday! I love short weeks.

 

[KrisWitt]

Today started with a bigger breakfast in the hopes that it'll help with the 3pm munchfest that usually happens. I have leftover taco fixings for lunch and hopefully some red tomatoes in the garden to eat during the day. I do better when I have a plan but somedays that just doesn't happen! @DisPup75 - that's my favorite lunch too!!!!
I am gearing up for a nice long walk today. So woohoo for that and woohoo for getting through yesterday right on track!!!!

 

[dsnyfn1022]

I took this picture Monday morning. The top two are my before photos, taken May 4, 2015. The bottom two are my current photos, taken September 7, 2015, so roughly 4 months apart. This is exactly why I'm a big supporter of before/during/after photos and other visual motivation. I've got my LoseIt! app that keeps track both numerically and with a chart, but that graph doesn't hit me like these photos do.

WOOHOO!! I see a really big difference, you look fantastic! I have some pictures that I've taken along the journey and they are great visual reminders of where I was at and where I'm at now. It's great motivation to keep going because after 20 pounds I haven't changed sizes either but I know I was squeezing all my fat rolls into clothes I probably should have upgraded LOL.

As for that recipe, I'll see if I can PM the link! It's soooo delicious. I'm a potato girl too but cauliflower is a good second choice.

 

[pjlla]

QOTD - September 9​

Let's share some tips for good eating! What's in your lunch box or on your menu plan for today? Do you plan ahead or fly by the seat of your pants? What is your favorite lunch? How about your ideal lunch?

GREAT QOTD!

I am a PLANNER! Since I work at a rural public school, if I don't bring my lunch, my only choices are "take it or leave it" with a school lunch. Proud to say that I am starting my 12th year at school and I have NEVER, NOT EVER bought myself a school lunch!

Soup is my "go-to"..... I make up big batches when I have time on weekends and freeze it in single servings in mason jars (I'm lucky I have a big second freezer in the basement). That way I can mix and match and not have to eat one type of soup for a week. My regulars are lentil soup, split pea soup, chicken black bean soup, curried carrot soup, butternut squash soup, and roasted cauliflower and garlic soup. Some of these are heartier than others so sometimes I grab a WW cheese stick to go along with the soup. Usually it is as easy as a jar of soup, a spoon, and an apple! Can't beat it for EASY! When I get home the glass jar, the lid, and the spoon can go right into the dishwasher (I hand wash plastics, so anytime I use a tupperware-type container it adds to the work.)

When I'm not feeling soup (like this week when we are hitting heat records on the weather charts), I often pack a yogurt (again, in a glass jar both for health reasons and because I can pop it into the dishwasher!). One serving of non-fat plain greek yogurt, a splash of vanilla, a sprinkling of cinnamon, a few drops of stevia and top it with whatever fruit I have (usually frozen berry mix, but sometimes fresh fruit). Since I'm already eating fruit sometimes I splurge on a crunchy snack along with this (pretzels or a WW pop chip). And if I make a dinner that has plenty of leftovers, I do not HESITATE to pack them up for my lunch (or DS's lunch). No food gets wasted in my house!

When I am scrambling at the last minute...... I keep a supply of frozen all-natural vegetarian burritos in the freezer..... SUPER easy to grab and I really enjoy them. And if the fridge/freezer are getting bare and I'm down to the bottom choices, I also usually have a few WW Smart Ones on hand (since I work for the company I get high value coupons every month..... combine them with a good sale and I can have lunch for about $1.25). Add an apple or banana or pear and it isn't too bad.... but definitely NOT my first choice.

My favorite lunch..... is one that someone ELSE makes for me.... and cleans up!! But since that doesn't EVER happen, I guess I'll say SOUP!

************************

Hey friends! Home again today..... loving the time at home, but I am going to miss getting a good paycheck! Especially since I could use some $$ this month for Bermuda! And of course, I have a TON of yardwork that needs to be done.... but with heat and humidity indexes in the 90's, I am NOT feeling it this week!

Yesterday was good, but a bit crazy. I thought I was fully prepped for my WW meeting, but I ended up with a lot more last minute stuff than I thought. And of course, I was trying to make a nice healthy dinner for my men to have while I was gone and I got the beans cooking, lost track of time, got in the shower and THEN remembered that they were still on the stove! So I had to make a mad, soapy, naked dash to the kitchen and caught them before they burned.... but they were pretty well overcooked. Thankfully I had more beans and could start again. I will eat the overcooked ones myself at lunch today.... they still tasted nice, but they weren't nice and bright green like I wanted for the stir-fry. The pork and green beans with black bean garlic sauce was a two-thumbs up from the guys. Usually I make it with zucchini instead of green beans, but I was going with what I had on hand to use up.

Tonight was going to be my Confetti Spaghetti Squash.... but I have some BEAUTIFUL eggplants that need to be picked and used so I need to search Pinterest for a recipe! The spaghetti squash will keep for another day or two (I hope!).

Off to check for a recipe for tonight! TTYL.................P

 

[SarahDisney]

QOTD - September 9​

Let's share some tips for good eating! What's in your lunch box or on your menu plan for today? Do you plan ahead or fly by the seat of your pants? What is your favorite lunch? How about your ideal lunch?

Like @pjlla, my favorite lunch is one that someone else makes! I do plan out my meals at the beginning of the week, but I don't always stick to them as well as I should, and (especially at the end of the week) sometimes I'm just too lazy/tired/exhausted to fuss with making my meals.
Today's lunch was supposed to be a mini-treat - grilled cheese & vegetable sandwich (I try not too have too much cheese, so any cheese is a treat for me). But I ended up having that yesterday instead, so today will have to be something else (of course, yesterday's lunch was supposed to be the never-good "grab something on the road," so I can't even have yesterday's lunch today. I'm sure I'll figure something out ...

---

Hello all! I realized that even though I did some replies yesterday, I forgot to add my update, so here it is. Yesterday's mid-week weigh-in was down a bit, so I'm extra motivated to be good until Friday and hopefully see that number on the scale start going down again! My eating wasn't fantastic yesterday, because I had breakfast on the road and lunch at 4:30 PM, but it wasn't terrible, and I did get in lots of exercise (in addition to my 5.89 mile run, I spent about 2 hours walking around Manhattan). Other than that, nothing exciting going on. I've got some baking to do, including a batch of granola (I hate buying granola in stores so I always make my own). That's about it.

 

[ANforever1030]

Happy back to work and school Tuesday! I love 3-day weekends but they always make days like today feel like Monday times 2. So let's have a fun question today!

QOTD - September 8​

You've been given an unlimited supply of Disney gift cards. These are magic cards that are good for any expenses you might incur while traveling. Plan your dream trip!

So, after much contemplation I'm going to answer the question from yesterday.

My dream trip would start with WDW for at least two weeks. We would stay in GF, Poly, AKL, and Beach or Yacht Club. It would need to be during F&W (which would also help with a later portion of the trip). We would need at least two days in each park, including the water parks - I've never been - and then a day for each of the pools, DTD and Cirque. It would also involve the Backstage Magic tour and for dining each evening would be at a Signature Dining restaurant book-ended by V&A's, preferably Queen Victoria Room or Chef's Table.

From there I would travel to Disneyland spending five days at Grand Californian spending two days at each park with a rest day in between. Then on to Tokyo Disney for five days, HK Disney for three to four days and Disneyland Paris for five days.

Finally, I would take the Adventures by Disney tour of Germany (where my family is originally from) and following the Adventure I would spend a couple extra days in Munich so that I can visit Sabaner Strasse, Allianz Arena and watch a Bayern Munich (my favorite club) match.

QOTD - September 9​

Let's share some tips for good eating! What's in your lunch box or on your menu plan for today? Do you plan ahead or fly by the seat of your pants? What is your favorite lunch? How about your ideal lunch?

It varies. In the Spring, before our vacation to Mexico, DW2B and I would plan out our weekly meals. Then she would do the shopping and prep on Sunday while I was at work. It worked really well at the time. However, since we are closer to the big day her Sundays have been too full to do any kind of meal prep and I have been eating out a little more frequently (although I did bring leftover brats from home yesterday). The good think is I actually found a fast casual location less than a mile from my office that has healthy meals using locally grown farm to table. I was going to eat there, until I just remembered we have leftovers from Sunday in the fridge while I was writing this.

My favorite lunch is probably some type of meatball sub or chicken parm sandwich.

My ideal lunch is the Steakhouse Salad from modmarket -- the restaurant I've recently discovered. It has escarole, grilled steak, roasted grape tomato, pickled red onions, gorgonzola cheese, walnuts, cucumber, and buttermilk horseradish dressing - which I use sparingly. For the full entree it is 603 calories, 39 g fat, 47 g protein, and only 19 carbs - 7 of which are fiber. It is delicious as well.

 

[ANforever1030]

DEFINITELY fly by the seat of my pants, for sure. We have a rough plan in that we know what things we'll be eating that week when we grocery shop on Sundays, but we don't have a specific "This is lunch on Tuesday" kind of plan. We just throw something together on our way out the door. Lately we've been oversleeping every day and rushing out the door, so I haven't been able to stop and grab lunch on my way out, so for the past couple of weeks I've just been skipping it. I know, I know, totally not smart. It's unintentional, though! Plus I've either been running errands during my lunch hour or only taking a 30 minute lunch because I've been late to work and have to make up that time, so that hampers things, too. Hopefully I'll be able to get back to a semi-normal schedule soon. Lunch, when I do get it, is usually turkey and cheese, hardboiled eggs, plain tuna, or an almond butter & jelly sandwich. I make my own almond butter by running almonds, coconut oil, and cinnamon in the food processor, and it's SOOOOO gooooodddddd. Haha. I use the Welch's natural grape jelly (I think that's what it's called?) to keep the sugar count low.



I NEED this recipe! Potato soup is my all-time favorite food (that, and mashed potatoes... My Irish heritage totally shines through!) but it's so carby! You are the planner I set out every week to be, haha. I always try to make up a week's worth of meals on Sundays, but it never happens, or I end up not wanting what I did manage to prepare, so it just gets wasted.

WOOHOOO FOR YOUUUU!!! YAYYYY for getting into those pants! Remember that awesome feeling moving forward!

I have a woohoo, too! It's actually from Monday, but I was saving it for today, anticipating a Woohoo Wednesday! Haha. @DisPup75 had to go and mix it up on me!

I took this picture Monday morning. The top two are my before photos, taken May 4, 2015. The bottom two are my current photos, taken September 7, 2015, so roughly 4 months apart. This is exactly why I'm a big supporter of before/during/after photos and other visual motivation. I've got my LoseIt! app that keeps track both numerically and with a chart, but that graph doesn't hit me like these photos do.

In the 4 months between these photos, I've lost 26lbs, weighing in at 227 and change on May 4, and 201.4 on September 7. I KNOW I've lost 26lbs, but my clothes are frustratingly not fitting very differently (they're definitely loser and fit better, and I feel more confident in them, but I haven't actually changed sizes, which I expected to do after 26lbs... makes me wonder how bad my clothes looked before! Haha) and looking in the mirror every single day, I don't really see the change. But then I compared these photos, and oh my goodness. 1) I had no idea/completely forgot how big I had gotten 2) I completely didn't see how small (comparatively) I am now.

This is DEFINITELY positive reinforcement that all this frustratingly hard work is legitimately making a difference, even with as rough a month as August where I didn't lose any of my intended weight, and it really motivates me to keep going. I actually WANT to go try on my wedding dress now and see how it fits - I think I might like it a whole lot better! I'm really excited about that, because I was miserable in it before, and was dreading wearing it. BIG WOOHOO!

Also, WOOHOO just because it's Wednesday! I love short weeks.


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That is a WOOHOO!

It's amazing how much we may not always recognize the subtle changes that are in fact happening, but when we look back at those pictures we can see how far we've really come. I've got about a week and a half before my two month pictures and I'm extremely excited to see them.

I have three woohoos today. This morning I was squatting 135 lbs. Since the bar is 45 lbs. that means I was putting a 45 lb plate on each side of the bar (first time I've done that in a long, LONG time). The second is that DW2B and I met with our officiant last night. He wants to meet four times prior to the wedding to go over the ceremony and last night was the first meeting. Of course, he is a friend of ours who is ordained in the Lutheran church so it was very comfortable. Finally, my last woohoo is that today is my work Friday and I have the next three days off work.