TEAM DONALD--Biggest Loser 11 Spring Team Challenge

[mikamah]

I corrected him and said, "dad, there is no "if", I am doing the half marathon so make those reservations!" It was so great to say it outloud!!

Love this confidence, and the knowledge that you can and will do whatever you set your mind to.

We love us some mexican food-- all that cheese and cream sauce and the chips and beer. . NOPE! We didn't have a bit of it. DH remarked that this is the only time in his life he has eaten at a Mexican restaurant and not had even one chip. Usually he and I can go through at least 2 baskets or more together. We both ordered beef fajitas. I thought they were coming with charro beans but they came with refried. I whispered to DH "the beans are deadly" just so he would know and could make his own choice whether to eat them. I had one tortilla loaded with beef and lettuce and tomato and he only had 2. Usually he would have 5 or 6, plus the chips and the beans and the cheese. We both just ate much of the meat with a fork. We left feeling victorious! We had a great meal and were able to stick to healthy choices.

Afterwards he was feeling a bit hungry-- we lingered over drinks (water and unsweet tea for us) for an hour or more after so we stopped by the store and got fresh salad stuff and new crop of fresh veggies for the upcoming week.

I am so impressed with you and your dh's resolve and motivation. I love me some mexican too, and it would be hard for me to do what you did. You must feel so good and proud of yourselves. You are such an inspiration.

Dona- YOu amazed me with all you do for others. Hope ds has a safe trip back to school, and his semester goes really well for him. Mentoring is not easy, and it's so nice to be compensated for it. We do have a preceptor differential now at work, and the last time I did it, it definitely did make it a little easier on those stressful days.

Taryn- Have a fun birthday party for Sophie!! Thanks for the link to the article. I think I'll spend a little more time online catching up on the reading I want to do.

For some reason I am really craving roasted veggies today. Thanks for all who posted how they cook, and what they use. So many vegies out there that I like, yet I tend to buy the same things over and over. I am definitely going to be more adventurous this week when I grocery shop.

Have a nice sunday.

 

[Dreamer24]

Thanks to everyone for sharing your favorite veggies. I hope that many of us got an idea for one new veggie to try or at least a new way to prepare one!

QOTD Sunday – I have two main places where I eat mindlessly. When I’m at work, I find myself thinking I’m hungry all day! I could probably eat everything I’ve packed for the day in two hours! When I think I want to eat a snack or lunch, but I know it’s too soon for my body to be hungry, I force myself to drink 2 cups of water and wait at least 30 minutes. At home, I’m ashamed to see that if I’m in the living room watching tv and I can’t stop thinking about going in the kitchen to get food even with drinking water, I will just go upstairs and watch tv in the bedroom. Out of sight, out of mind!

Welcome to our new members Jane and Kate!

Donac – Your encouraging words to the group were so great! Never wait until Monday or some other day to get back on track!

Lindsyry – Congratulations on making strong choices when going out to eat!

Pamela – your excitement over vegetables made me want to go eat some right now!

Lovestocrap – Congratulations to you and your husband on your victory at the Mexican restaurant. You should both be proud!

Happy Birthday Maureen!

Please send your weights to Tigger813 if you haven’t already!

 

[dvccruiser76]

It was a crazy week for me, but good!
ended up with 4lb loss

Nice job

Happy Birthday Maureen

Happy Belated Birthday Maureen!

You can run/walk too, or just walk it. For 46 years, I never ran, hated it, and always felt that I could never do it or wouldn't even want to try. The past 10 months have changed that, and the thought of a possible disney race, was huge motivation in the beginning, but I never thought I'd really do it, but now, it's 6 weeks away, and I am going to do it, and I actually like to run. I can't run straight, but do the intervals, and hope as I lose some more weight it will get easier.

I'll have to keep that in mind. Maybe when DS is older and we can go to Disney for a quick trip. It stinks b/c I can't vacation much from Jan - mid April and my huband is blocked Jan - Mar then gets busy again mid April for a few weeks. Anyway every May we plan a big trip, so I'm looking forward to that.

When I head to work and see the snowy sidewalks I think about you and wonder if you're out there or not.

A little sad today. Ds2 is moving back to schooll tomorrow. Yesterday we went and replaced his phone which broke earlier in the week. He is all packed and can't wait to go back. He is ready to tackle the rest of his junior year. This year is supposed to be his most difficult and he is half way through. His fall semester grades were great and I know he is going to have another good semester.

Awww hope it goes well

Happy Birthday to Octoberbride03!!!!! I hope you have a fabulous day!!!

Happy Birthday Octoberbride03!

I had a 1.5 pound loss yesterday which was enough to get me my 5 pound star from WW. It's a balance to increase my mileage for the Princess and keep those calories where they need to be but the tracking helps alot.

Yahoo on the 5 pound star

I should have weighed in today! My little friend came so I'm down another 2 pounds.

Nice

Happy Saturday, Donalds! I lost 2 pounds this week.

Good job

I'm new here- just joined today!

Welcome

Very busy day today. DH and I went out on a "triple date" with 2 other couples. We have been friends a long time get together for kids related stuff but have never gone out just all the adults together. I didn't get to pick the restaurant so we had to work with what was chosen-- Mexican. We love us some mexican food-- all that cheese and cream sauce and the chips and beer. . NOPE! We didn't have a bit of it. DH remarked that this is the only time in his life he has eaten at a Mexican restaurant and not had even one chip. Usually he and I can go through at least 2 baskets or more together. We both ordered beef fajitas. I thought they were coming with charro beans but they came with refried. I whispered to DH "the beans are deadly" just so he would know and could make his own choice whether to eat them. I had one tortilla loaded with beef and lettuce and tomato and he only had 2. Usually he would have 5 or 6, plus the chips and the beans and the cheese. We both just ate much of the meat with a fork. We left feeling victorious! We had a great meal and were able to stick to healthy choices.

Good job, now that takes some will power. Those chips are the devil sometimes

 

[Pixieflip]

Tricky thing last night...my husband's work party. Ya need to eat, but making good choices or choosing not much at all in front of other people, I don't know, I was just worried. Turned out to be a buffet mostly of fried appetizers and ranch dip. I selected a few homemade chips and 3 BBQ ribs. But I was starving!!

How to survive that is my answer to the QOTD: grab a glass of water. Not that I'm perfect at it, mindless eating is of course how I got to where I'm at! But filling up with a drink does help take the edge off.

Oh and I think the reason I like the roasted veggies is the texture. Steamed are usually mooshy, especially if they are over cooked, but roasted have a crispness and smokeyness that is just yummy and different.

 

[lisah0711]

Good morning TEAM DONALD!

I'm new here- just joined today! I figured I'd hop in and answer the question of the day, my favorite vegetable!

Kate! Thanks for joining our challenge!

Just back from the gym and getting ready for dinner. I have found it really helpful to pre-track what I PLAN on eating on Sparkpeople. I'm able to have my little champagne (treat for the week) and not feel bad about it. I did have a loss this week, which is what I expected, since I have been really good about tracking, not cheating and exercising. The hard thing will be if I do that and have a week where I don't lose.

Just remember when it does happen, that there areprobably changes in other areas that just don't show on the scale so don't let it get you down.

Are you doing WIN! (Whittle Inches Now!)? It's not too late. You could do your beginning measurements now and then see the changes in just two weeks for the first reporting week. Details are in the first few posts of the thread. Last challenge was the first time that I did measurements. The scale stops and stops for me but the inches always went down.

It does seem harder... the excitement and sense of "new adventure" are usually gone... things seem boring, the sense of hunger is frustrating. Try finding some "new" foods... have you tried VitaMuffins? They are a nice treat and have plenty of fiber. How about trying a new recipe or a new vegetable or fruit? Find a new exercise to try maybe.

Anyhow, take it from someone who has been on this journey for a relatively long time.... it WILL eventually get easier and more "normal".

That is encouraging to know that some day our new healthy, habits will be just our regular healthy habits!

I finally went to a running store and bought some "real" running sneakers! They cost a fortune so I have high hopes that it will help with my bad leg. My dad was up from Florida for the weekend and I was telling him about my new sneakers. He said, "well, if you do end up doing the Princess Marathon your mom and I would like to stay for the week after..." I corrected him and said, "dad, there is no "if", I am doing the half marathon so make those reservations!" It was so great to say it outloud!!

Take it easy on your leg!

Geez everytime I get on this thread I feel like there are 30 posts I haven't read yet. It's a little overwhelming for me but I'll try and tough it out.

Don't worry about keeping up -- just jump in where you are. If there is anything exciting going on we ususally keep talking about it. Also, did you know that there are handy links to things like the weigh in results, HH assignments and results and other info in the first few posts of the thread? The important thing is to check in and let us know how you are doing!

That is usually the first advice that I give too. Along with doing a complete shut down of your computer if you are like me and never power off. It is really quite interesting how those darn cookies are a problem on our hips and on our computers!

Darn those cookies!

Have a happy and healthy day.

You, too, dona! Safe travels for DS and good luck with the interview on Tuesday. If I was a new teacher I would want you to mentor me.

Here's the link to the article:

http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/motivation_articles.asp?id=1150

Thanks for the link to the sparkpeople article, Taryn! Enjoy the rest of your week-end! Happy birthday to Sophie and tell her Poppie will see her in her dreams and that he doesn't want to see her in heaven until she is at least 100!

Good morning team donald! As you can see, on the weekends, I just don't get much computer time.

QOTD Sunday 1/16/2011 - How do you avoid eating for reasons other than your body being truly hungary?

Boy, this is a toughie but if you can make progress here it can really make a difference with your healthy lifestyle and goals. You have to become aware of what you are doing and why with food all the time. That little voice in your head that tells you to stop eating when you are full or not eat if you are not hungry is still there but it takes awhile to hear it again. Be aware of your "witching hour" -- mine is between when we come home and dinnertime, especially if I've had a bad day at work or if I am bored. I try and find something healthy to eat first -- like veggies and dips. Or ask myself if it is really worth undoing the run I just did with whatever is at hand. I even ask myself are you really hungry or is something else going on? I don't always win the battle but I do more often than not. It's taken a long time to get there. I know it's working because I noticed there has been a half a bag of chips in my pantry for more than two weeks that would never have made it that long in the old days. It takes a lot of time and effort but it can be done.

Love this confidence, and the knowledge that you can and will do whatever you set your mind to. )

you can!

Tricky thing last night...my husband's work party. Ya need to eat, but making good choices or choosing not much at all in front of other people, I don't know, I was just worried. Turned out to be a buffet mostly of fried appetizers and ranch dip. I selected a few homemade chips and 3 BBQ ribs. But I was starving!!

Good job resisting the bad stuff at the party! Sorry you were hungry. Did you have something else to take the edge off? Also remember the wise words of Worfiedoodles "Hunger is not an emergency."

Going to be an easy day around here while we recouperate from our bugs. I'm feeling better but am waiting for DS to wake up to be sure that he doesn't have strep throat that was making the rounds at school. He has finals next week so there may be a trip to Urgent Care in our future.

Have a great day DONALDS!

 

[lovetoscrap]

Feeling very this morning! Still happy about making great choices last night, have a fridge full of fresh veggies, going to see Blue Man Group in a few hours, and I weighed in again this morning because I just had a "feeling" that I should. I got the number that I expected to see on Friday. I was really worried that maybe I needed to modify my eating more and really wasn't sure how, because I felt like I was following my plan. Hopefully I will be really happy this coming Friday.

Oh, and I had to find a belt for my jeans this morning!


QOTD Sunday 1/16/2011 - How do you avoid eating for reasons other than your body being truly hungry?
Good question If I have the munchies it probably because I am bored so I try to either find something to do to occupy me, or get some water. A lot of times I will go into the kitchen to see what is there and then get distracted by putting the dishes in the dishwasher, wiping down the counters, sweeping the floor, and cleaning out the refrigerator. By then the need to munch has left. Besides I don't want to get anything out and mess up my nice clean kitchen!

But the harder one is wanting to eat something just because someone else is. In my house that is popcorn most of the time. DD10 loves to have popcorn for an afterschool snack and she only eats about 1/4 to 1/2 a bag so she wants to share. And it smells so good! But since I am on a low carb plan I need to skip it. Or the girls will come home with goodies from school and give some to me. Darn me for teaching them to share!

I am so impressed with you and your dh's resolve and motivation. I love me some mexican too, and it would be hard for me to do what you did. You must feel so good and proud of yourselves. You are such an inspiration.

Thank you so much for that. That comment means a lot to me, and will probably stick with me all week.

We are proud of ourselves. We are still talking about it today-- "can you believe we actually did that?" "It wasn't even all that difficult." "We can do this!"

Tricky thing last night...my husband's work party. Ya need to eat, but making good choices or choosing not much at all in front of other people, I don't know, I was just worried. Turned out to be a buffet mostly of fried appetizers and ranch dip. I selected a few homemade chips and 3 BBQ ribs. But I was starving!!

Great job making good choices! Next time you might try eating a little something before you go. I had a protein shake before we went out last night which I am sure helped me.

My problem in social situations is that I am usually eating too much in front of others. It really amazes me how little my skinny friends eat (gee, wonder why they are so skinny!). Even last night DH and I each had an order of fajitas and I ate all the meat out of mine plus the rice. It was a lot more food than my 2 girlfriends ate, but completely allowed by my plan. One friend just had a taco. ONE taco??? How do you subsist on just one taco? I would eat at least 4 tacos usually, and beans and rice and chips.

Gotta go plan our meals for today. And do some refrigerator research. We have to replace our 2 year old fridge It has been nothing but trouble since we bought it and we have reached the point where the time and effort DH has to put into fixing it every few months (and the food we have lost) is no longer worth it so he told me to figure out a new one. This time we are doing some research to be sure to find one that isn't a piece of junk. And we are going to buy the extended warranty, even though DH hates to spend the money for those.

Have a blessed Sunday all!

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

QOTD Sunday 1/16/2011 - How do you avoid eating for reasons other than your body being truly hungary?

Oh I need this question today!!!
I need reasons not to eat. Today is a rough day. I'm doing ok so far but hanging on by a thread. It's sunday, we're bored, it's freezing out so we are camping out inside for the most part. The pantry is calling to me! LOL

The other day I holed up in my craft room. I have a standing rule of no food in there for fear of stains. Drinks must be in a sealed container which limits to water or soda. I have no soda in the house, try not to bring it in.

I guess my tips would be :

• wait it out, wait 5 minutes, then another 5 minutes then maybe another 5 minutes.
• find something to do, distract yourself with a project, cleaning, something.
• water water water!!

 

[tigger813]

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Remember that you have until Monday at 7:30PM EST to send in your weigh ins!

 

[NCRedding]

Fast moving thread. WTG to Team Donald and all of the positive participation!

I had a loss, which really surprised me. I can't seem to get focused. My business situation is really wearing on my mind. I hope to have a resolution soon.

Old questions of the day:

The only person standing in my way is me. I'm the one eating what I shouldn't, not exercising, and completely ignoring my health.

My exercise plan: is non-existent. Really need to work on this as I feel much less stressed and more in control of my life when I do exercise.

Favorite veggies: I love fresh salads with all sorts of items in them (mostly healthy). I've been having problems finding good produce so I haven't eaten enough veggies since this started. I have never roasted veggies, but am inspired to try this now after hearing how many of you do.

What keeps me from eating when I am not hungry: This one is something I definitely need to work on! I eat more than I should because I am bored, or because my feelings have been hurt, or because I am stressed out.

These questions have been very thought-provoking, and a little bit uncomfortable for me to answer. They make it clear that I need to plan and do, not just say I am changing my lifestyle, without really making a change.

 

[Disneyland_emily]

QOTD: I depending on time of day I give in by choosing either veggies or a small handful of cereal as I find I need that "hand to mouth" action- 50-60 cal later and I'm happy

or I find my water or find something to do...

I did find today while at the parks there are very few cheap healthy treats since they got rid of the pickles and the dried fruit (atleast at DAK) and I'm not spending 4 bucks on a few chunks of pineapple or carrots... I ended up with 2 packs of the Swedish fish (total 100 cal) which luckily got me through till I got home.. Tomorrow I'm bringing my own veggies and wheat thins

-em

 

[alison16]

Good morning team donald! As you can see, on the weekends, I just don't get much computer time.

QOTD Sunday 1/16/2011 - How do you avoid eating for reasons other than your body being truly hungary?

I try to remember the bigger picture. It would be so easy to let myself snack any time I want, but instead I remember where I want to be weight wise in two months. This seems to help. Also, the fact that I have to write everything I eat down seems to work. I am only cheating myself when I eat extra and don't keep track.

 

[cuteduck223]

QOTD: I'm still learning. I'm trying to choose healthier. I keep carrots in the fridge that i prebag in like 10 baby carrot servings. Thats usually enough to get me to walk away from the fridge.

My sister in law lost over 150 pounds in the last year, and she was here this weekend so that was encouraging--even though we had family event, i could make the choices she made for the most part. Car snacking on the drive to the family event and back are where I struggled most--i love gas station snacks.

 

[corinnak]

QOTD Sunday 1/16/2011 - How do you avoid eating for reasons other than your body being truly hungry?


This is really the question for me. I think just realizing that I'm doing and why goes a long way. If it's not mindless, then I have to track it and if I have to track it, I need to keep things under some control. I also drink a lot of herbal tea. Something about the warmth and the flavor and the comfortingness meets a lot of needs for me.

As for WHY, it's often out boredom of avoiding doing something, and sometimes from talking to certain people on the phone (longtime habit, I guess)

I do think that if you choose non-addictive foods to munch on when not truly hungry, a few apple slices or carrots is usually plenty.

Of course, sometimes when I'm wanting to munch in the kitchen, it is a clue that I really AM hungry and I need to get a meal together. Silly as that sounds, it's happened more than once that I went looking for a snack and realized I'd better actually have a meal.

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

Ugh. I severely fell off the wagon this weekend. However, this is the first time (maybe ever) that I have successfully counted points for an entire week. I did buy the 12 month WW tracker, but I'm finding that I like the eTools one better. It has forced me to be honest with just how much I am eating. Hopefully I won't gain at my meeting tomorrow, but i'm not totally holding out hope.

I told myself that this week I would focus on counting points without necessarily worrying about how many I was eating. I think in the past my biggest problem was trying to change everything at once. Last week I wrote down what I ate, this past week I counted points, and this coming week I will work hard to stay with those points.

I have one last meeting with the trainer before I hear the sales pitch. While I really like the one I have been working with, I am not sure that I will be able to continue with them due to the expense. Probably not right away as my husband's health insurance is costing me quite a bit and this month I am getting double premiums taken out of my check. I still have my 24 memberships (I think), so I'll come up with something.

 

[buzz5985]

QOTD - Saturday 1/15/2011 - What is your favorite vegetable? Please share your favorite ways of preparing/cooking/eating it! ​

I didn't see my favorite listed yet - turnip. Peel it, cube it, boil it and mash it. I love it. LOL DH adds a little brown sugar to his.

Next would be grilled asparagus.

QOTD Sunday 1/16/2011 - How do you avoid eating for reasons other than your body being truly hungary?

If I am at work - I get up and go for a walk, or go brush my teeth. If I am at home - I keep a large salad made in the fridge to break into if needed and plenty of low cal dressings.

 

[donac]

Good Monday morning. I have the day off and you would think I could sleep late but no not me.

Pretty quiet here. Yesterday I got some things done but mostly hung around the house all day. We had roast beef sandwiches last night for dinner. Dh watched the football games and I watched the dresses from the Golden Globe. We watched the show for a while before I fell asleep.

Have to go grocery shopping this morning and get my haircut. Then some laundry and the rest of the day is mine.


Off to get plan the grocery trip.

Have a happy and healthy day.

 

[pudge the fish]

QOTD - Saturday 1/15/2011 - What is your favorite vegetable? Please share your favorite ways of preparing/cooking/eating it!

any veggies with the exception of Broccoli or Cauliflower unless they are hidden in a cheese sauce... I just can't eat those raw it has to be a texture thing. Love steamed fresh green beans
I love to slice yellow squash, Zucchini, onions and tomatoes, eggplant etc.. and sautee in a veggie broth. I also love to do a stir fry. have been experimenting using a less calorie sauces.

I like to dip foods and I like sauces. Citrus sauces are becoming a fast favorite in our house for chicken and fish.

I "invented" a sauce for my apples instead of buying a high calorie fruit dip- Lowfat cream cheese whipped smooth and I added pear juice from a can of juice only pears till it was creamy but not runny.it is so good with apples or even mixed with some some blueberries . I can't do fat free. but I can do lowfat.


QOTD Sunday 1/16/2011 - How do you avoid eating for reasons other than your body being truly hungary?

Gum. If it gets bad I go for gum. The extra key lime flavor is so good. I drink water or If I really feel I need to crunch I will eat an apple or veggies.
I also think about having to list it in my foods for the day and then I look at all the extra calories

I have to work today- just got back from a mile walk and I did a 13 minute mile. just as I got home it started raining.
If someone had told me last month I would WANT to walk a mile at 13 minutes ( and want to jog it )I would have
Well off to work soon.
GO TEAM DONALD!

 

[Dreamer24]

QOTD - Monday January 17
What is your favorite way to get yourself back on track?​

I thought this question was appropriate for me because I had a bad day yesterday and then I came on and saw I wasn't the only one. For me, it's to jump in TODAY and pretend yesterday never happened!

Get your weights to Tigger813!

 

[tigger813]

Not one weigh in this morning! Come on everybody! It's too early to stop getting healthy! We are a great group!!!!! Any supported needed is always available!!!!!

TTFN

 

[flipflopmom]

HAd to share a laugh. My mom bought Sophie an EDWARD TWILIGHT BARBIE. She missed the whole Twilight part of it, just bought him because his name was Edward, which was Daddy's name. Sophie would have never known, if AK hadn't said "That's a twilight Barbie, Granny". Sophie kinda looked at him oddly, I was scrambling and said "look Sophie, he's sparkly!" She looked harder and ran and hugged mom and said "thank you so much for the sparkly Barbie man, Granny". Later, she was playing with him and the Belle Barbie from her great grandmother and said to MIL, "let's pretend that he's a real man, just a sparkly one. Not a vampire"

Have a great day everyone!