TEAM DONALD--Biggest Loser 11 Spring Team Challenge

[Worfiedoodles]

QOTD Friday March 11, 2011: What do you put into a typical salad?

Our base is usually baby spinach or romaine lettuce. To that we will add mushrooms, red, yellow, orange and green peppers, cucumbers, carrots, red onions and a few olives. If we have slivered nuts I'll throw some in, too.

Good Morning, Donalds!

Since I said I was going to actually get myself over here and post after the Princess, I guess it's about time I do it!

For anyone who doesn't know me (I've been hanging around these Challenges longer than I should probably admit) -- My name is Maria, I'm 42, mother of ds13, married almost 18 years, and work full-time as a grants professional for a large homeless services agency. I'm a slow runner who has completed 5 Disney Half Marathons, but I still have quite a ways to go in my weight loss journey. I did (ok, not so much) WW online for a long time, this January after the WDW Half I started going to meetings in person, and have since lost about 15 lbs (which isn't quite as impressive as it sounds because I gained about 7 while I was at Disney for the Half -- shows up in my WW number, but not my BL number since I started in the middle of Jan.). The Points Plus program really works well for me, so I'd like to think I'm on a roll, but I'm knocking on wood because I've only done it for 6 weeks

I run about 24 miles per week, with one run being a 10M. I also do yoga, and I know I need to actually do strength training, but I have yet to incorporate it regularly.

I was just at WDW for the Princess race for 5 days, and came home with a 2.4 lb loss. I have never had a loss after a week at WDW, so I hope that means my head is now mostly on straight and in losing mode

Anyway, looking forward to getting to know the Donalds I don't already know, and taking this thing home together (along with the Mickeys, of course!)

Maria

 

[princess_reject]

princess_reject welcome back

Thanks! It feels good to be back. And I know that making a point to come here every day will help me on my journy.

Well, I skipped my workout yesterday. I wanted to go to the gym right after work, but my BF was really hungry and wanted to have dinner first, so we planned to go around 9 once our food had digested a bit. Well, after having dinner and sitting down on the couch, I lost all resolve to go. I had a nasty headache from the 2 day lack of caffeine (I must have jinxed myself yesterday by saying I hadn't gotten any yet ) so I climbed into bed around 9 and fell right to sleep. I don't feel too guilty about missing the workout since it was the first day all week that I skipped and my legs have been feeling awfully tired lately, so it was probably a needed break.

QOTD Friday March 11, 2011: What do you put into a typical salad?

I usually build a salad at the grocery store salad bar at least once a week and I like to use the baby spring mix. Then I add cucmubers, lots of mushrooms, tomatoes, a little cheese and some grilled chicken. They have a really yummy light peppercorn ranch that I usually add as well. If I make a salad at home I just add whatever I have...usually carrots and mushrooms and it is usually iceburg lettuce.

Have a great day everyone!

beth

 

[RemembertheMagic98]

Good Morning Donalds!

I got caught up with exploring the features on my new Nook color that I completely for got to answer yesterdays question! So I will give a 2 for one deal:

I'm Karen and I live in northern NJ (currently very soggy!) and I am 37 years old. I am a college counselor at an independent all girls school and really enjoy working with my students. I'm still looking for Prince Charming...but I would take any one of the seven dwarves in a heartbeat! I love to read, scrapbook, travel, and hang with my almost 4 year old nephew (who I find absolutely hysterical). I have been "curvy" my entire life and have really made a commitment to be healthy this year. My goal is to not only start, but to finish the Princess Half next year. I also want to zip line through the rain forest in Costa Rica, but that's on the back burner for now as I focus on my health.


For my salad I begin with Romaine lettuce (I like the taste better than iceberg) and add sliced black olives, chick peas, cucumber, and light feta cheese. My dressings vary - usually just balsamic and EVOO but sometimes a greek dressing of EVOO and lemon juice (salt and pepper to taste).

I actually have work to do today! It's nice to feel productive...even if it is our last day before spring break!

Happy Friday

 

[lovetoscrap]

Had to get up early this morning to call the dr and get a work in appointment for DD. Once again I will have a child sick on her birthday (sunday). I swear this happens quite a bit in our family. Pretty sure she has croup-- I really didn't think that 10 (almost 11) year olds got croup but she had it in the fall and has the same seal bark cough again. So inlaws aren't coming this weekend, we have postponed to the next, and my house is pretty clean! Going to do laundry today and this weekend though.

Didn't get my weigh in done because my routine was blown by having to make the call and all that so I will try again tomorrow.

DH took the day off today to get some things done and because he really needed a mental health day. Of course we were hoping to do somethings together but now that plan is sunk. BUT, I may pick DD15 up early from school in which case she can stay with her sister and maybe he and I can sneak out for a quick lunch or something. DD's band is going on a trip next week and she isn't going. The 20 or so kids not going are not being included in the practice in class so they have to spend the 90 minutes crammed into the director's office. I don't really see any reason for her to be there, it is ridiculous. So I think I will pick her up today, Tuesday and Thursday. The band leaves on Thursday morning so we aren't ever sure what they will do with the few people remaining in band classes that day and Friday.

One thing I am looking to do is change up my salads, which leads me to our QOTD:

QOTD Friday March 11, 2011: What do you put into a typical salad?

I always have iceberg lettuce, diced onion, diced peppers (sorry LTS I may have already turned your stomach!), and shredded carrot. Sometimes olives, sometimes broccoli. If I want a heavier salad, I add egg, cheese, beans, lunch meat. :

I wish I wasn't such a picky eater-- my salads would have more variety. Eggs and olives are also on my ICK list. I try very hard to give my kids more variety so they won't be as picky but it is hard when neither DH or I eat it. He eats Green Peppers and onions so my kids do eat those. It is only in the last few months I have even allowed Green Peppers into the house!

So my salads are pretty boring. Usually just iceburg lettuce, mushrooms, carrots, some real bacon bits, cheese, maybe some cucumber, meat and smashed croutons. I have never figured out why they make croutons so large? You can't spear them with a fork and many of them are bigger than a bite anyway. I put them in a baggie and smash them to large crumbs and then I get the flavor and crunchy texture in every bite of salad from only a few of them. Sometimes I will add a handful of spinach. I like other lettuces but usually don't buy them because they are more expensive and I am the only one that will eat them. I like red and curly leaf varieties and bibb lettuce is very nice (lettuce wraps!). I like a nice spring mix too. Hmmmm, now I am in the mood to go and get some more lettuce. When we started this new way of eating I bought a small cheap lettuce spinner to keep in the refrigerator. I break up the lettuce and wash it and keep it in there so it is easy to grab and easy to throw a new head in.

For meats I will use low fat lunch meat- usually ham or turkey- or whatever I have for leftovers. I love it when we have left over steak, that is my favorite. Terriyaki chicken is good as is just plain grilled. And if we have taco meal left over I will make a taco salad and add some black beans. I usually just use a Ranch Dressing-- fortunately on South Beach they prefer the regular type, not the Light versions, because I can't stand those. I will sometimes zing up my Ranch by taking the bottled version and adding some more garlic and onion powder and even some Hidden Valley Ranch powder. My absolute favorite Ranch in the world is the one served at Texas Roadhouse. If they sold it in bottles I would buy cases! I also use a Cesar Vinaigrette when I want something different.

(see, told you I am a huge talker! 2 huge paragraphs just on how I make salad )

Today:
first I'd like to say, thank you to the geek squad for getting our tickers back. I missed seeing my Nonald Nuh (what DS9 used to call donald) running towards victory!!

I had just decided to go ahead and make a ticker when the DIS ones popped back up But the other one works as far as being able to log in and change the weight so I decided to keep it in the hidden parts of my siggy to track my total loss. I can see it in my profile when I need a pick me up! I like my Donald on the Beach one for the challenge. I need to contact Corey and/or Alex again and see if they can fix the DIS weight loss tickers so we don't have to make a new one each time.

Today was a good day. Zero snacking!!

Keep in mind that snacking is not bad as long as you make the right choices. The experts really recommend that you have 6 smaller meals a day to keep your blood sugar even and to keep hunger away. As long as you make healthy choices then snacks are a very good thing. I actually sort of think of it as breaking some meals into parts. So I will have part of breakfast then later have a yogurt, or I will eat a lunch "entree" and have a salad later in the afternoon, instead of eating it all at one time. One thing that I wish I could do is flip the portions and meals for lunch and dinner. I would really do better with a large lunch and a smaller lighter dinner. I had a friend who's husband came home for lunch every day and they basically had their dinner meal then and in the evening had a sandwich or soup or some leftovers. Food is fuel, yet we tend to put the most fuel in our tanks after our busy day is over and we are winding down. But since DH does the cooking and he can't be home for lunch I keep with the traditional schedule most of the time.

However, in going back over the menu when I got home I realized that even though the broccoli cheddar soup was 190 calories the sodium was over 1000 mg!!! Which is just insane!

So now I need to come up with other alternatives. I like soup when I'm sick or it's cold out but everything is so ridiculously bad for you.

Unfortunately I think that unless you make your own soup, from your own stock (or a low sodium purchased one) you are out of luck. In fact I think most things we eat at restaurants are loaded with sodium in amounts that blows my mind. Particularly when the same things can be prepared at home with so much less. I haven't figured out why that is.

Oh and I have a question. When you journal and you are sick, do you write down your meds? I took Nyquil last night, only 1/2 the recommended dosage and I passed out! But I didn't write it down, should I?

I tend to think that any meds are just necessary and really don't have enough calories to matter. But it can be a good idea if you just want to have a full record of everything you did over the week to see what things may have affected you. It is also good in case you have to see the dr. I am tracking my IBS flare ups in my journal to see if there are any patterns (can't find any yet)


Crudmonkeys! I have to run and get DD to the dr. I'll be back later.

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

QOTD Friday March 11, 2011: What do you put into a typical salad?

I usually do mixed field greens, grape tomatoes, cucumbers (small pickling ones if I can find them), and occasionally mushrooms. 99.9% of the time I use red wine vinegar for a dressing.

I'm happy to be down 3 pounds today, so all but .2 of my vacation weight is gone. Now my next goal is ONE-derland again.

I read the first statement, and thought you were my hero, and then the second one just confirmed it. 21 pages is amazing!!! All the scrappers here are so inspiring to me. And the added benefit of not being able to snack while scrapping is so helpful too. Hope the basement isn't too bad, Buffy.

WOOHOO!!! Congrats on the loss! Come on One-derland!

21 pages, but they were really simple pages. LOL My goal is 63 for the month so I can be caught up, I'm trying to do one a day.

So far the basement is dry, need to check it again though. Since we are in the eastern side of the state we aren't getting it as bad as everyone else.

Good Morning Donalds!

I'm Karen and I live in northern NJ (currently very soggy!) and I am 37 years old. I am a college counselor at an independent all girls school and really enjoy working with my students. I'm still looking for Prince Charming...but I would take any one of the seven dwarves in a heartbeat! I love to read, scrapbook, travel, and hang with my almost 4 year old nephew (who I find absolutely hysterical). I have been "curvy" my entire life and have really made a commitment to be healthy this year. My goal is to not only start, but to finish the Princess Half next year. I also want to zip line through the rain forest in Costa Rica, but that's on the back burner for now as I focus on my health.

Hey Jersey Girl!!! I'm one too! I'm originally from Cape May!

LTS I hope DD feels better soon!!!

I know snacking is ok, but right now I feel like it has to be all or nothing. If I start to eat, I'm not going to stop.
I drove all over town trying to find the Starbucks protein breakfast this morning. I need to start making my own! LOL DS14 and I got one after our run the other day and for the first time I felt really full for a good long time.


OK, need to get off this thing and head back out to get DD from school. The need to run, I'm aiming for another 3 miler today.

 

[sparks19]

Good Day Donalds

I have to remember to send my results in for this week.

Holding steady at 231 this morning but that's ok... at least it didn't go UP lol

for salads I just throw in whatever is here and easy to get at

The last salad I had had shredded turkey breast, egg, green leaf lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes and a bit of cheese and then topped with fat free french dressing. That was my lunch. with all that in it I didn't need anything else to eat for a while lol.

thats the great thing about salads. Anything goes.

 

[phorsenuf]

I'm going to have to take a leave of absence from this for now. I'm having some health issues so it's hard to do what I need to be doing at this time. Sorry to bail. Even though I wasn't active here I was still participating behind the scenes.

I hope to come back though. Good luck to all!!

 

[lovetoscrap]

I'm going to have to take a leave of absence from this for now. I'm having some health issues so it's hard to do what I need to be doing at this time. Sorry to bail. Even though I wasn't active here I was still participating behind the scenes.

I hope to come back though. Good luck to all!!

You know where to find me.

 

[50sjayne]

Hey--sorry I've been away from the boards, last week I spilled soymilk all over my keyboard and had to get a new one then the Norton expired and that's always such a hair pulling ordeal I put it off then took my time with it and it went really well this time. Been having kind of a rough time-- I'm down 3 pounds this week which is not good for me, I've been shooting for 125, have been steady at 124 but now I'm down to 121 again, in spite of being back on the Pill. Have been having a fun 2 week period which hasn't been bad--(just aggravating) more like spotting for 2 weeks due to the fact that I started the cycle early, instead of waiting like they always say to. Hopefully I'll even out this month and just have a new cycle...
I'm really kind of at the end of my rope emotionally. I just don't know what else to do. I can usually pull myself out, but this time it's going to take more strength than what I have. I have talked to some people....
I was looking up some stuff on suicide last night-- most successful attempts happened with guns and it is very easy to get a handgun in Oregon. I've always said if I had a gun in my house I'd be dead about 5 times now. Any other way is too easy to mess yourself up and not be successful...So I guess I won't get one...not a gun person anyway. Sometimes you just want the pain to stop though. I think being back on the pill isn't helping much with my emotional state-- I knew it would mess me up some but like my cycle--hopefully will even out. Penney, as usual has been right there for me-- my little emotional sponge.
It's very promising looking out there today though-- maybe I'll ride my bike after I work out. Could use the sunshine. Going to try to just force myself through today I'm just-- completely drained. Probably had a bit of a breakdown last night...My son made the observation that winter was almost over this am--I hope he's right. It'll help anyway I think. Don't really have the time to catch up much but here's what I got:

QOTD Friday March 11, 2011: What do you put into a typical salad?

I don’t make salad at home unless it’s a mix from Costco. At a salad bar though I usually go for a good mix of green, add cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, peas, raisins (dried cranberries if available) a few croutons if they look good and do a fat free ranch mixed with a little French or raspberry vin.

Mikamah:

I'm happy to be down 3 pounds today, so all but .2 of my vacation weight is gone. Now my next goal is ONE-derland again.

Great!

 

[Missoutandabout]

QOTD Friday March 11, 2011: What do you put into a typical salad?


Right now, I'm mainly doing just romaine lettuce with some shredded cheese, boiled egg and some meat (low-carb thing). Ideally, I'd have a huge bowl of mache (lamb's lettuce), egg, vinaigrette, some sunflower seeds or pecans and some dried cranberries. There's a salad made by a local restaurant that I flippin' adore but I won't talk about it because I can't have it.

 

[SettinSail]

50's Jayne it is so nice to hear from you again! So sorry to hear you are going through a rough patch. Please continue talking to people and getting whatever help you can. Don't keep it to yourself. I hope you are able to get in a nice bike ride later today. I will have you on my mind all night now so report back when you can and I hope things will turn around for you soon.

Phorsenuf, so sorry you are having to leave the challenge. You are always welcome to continue posting here even if you aren't weighing in and we would love to continue supporting you through your health issues. I remember some of the stuff you posted when we first started and I will be thinking about you!

I've enjoyed reading about all the different salad fixins'; keep it coming It has given me many good ideas, I was in a bit of a rut.
Buffy, I wish I could eat only red wine vinegar for a dressing, it must have zero calories? I like the taste of it but I would have to mix with some oil.

Beth, I'm with you, I wouldn't feel too bad about missing your workout. There's always tomorrow! It's so tough to go back out to the gym after dinner.

Sparks, holding steady is a victory in my book!

LTS, so sorry to hear DD will be sick on her birthday Enjoy your clean house though and I'm sure you will spoil her good.

Kathy - great job getting the vacation weight off! Glad to hear that romaine is suffering worldwide and not just here

Karen, your salad dressing sound yummy and easy to make. I need to experiment with making my own and get away from bottled. There is NO good bottled dressing here

Pamela, I hope you got called in to sub this morning Look forward to catching up with you later

Maria, a 10 mile run once a week You are my hero! I always wonder with the long runs, how do you find the course to run? I have a ton of questions about running, one day I will break down and ask for help. For now, I just suffer through my little 2.5 mile runs 3 x week. I want to eventually get that up to 5K.

Not much going on around here today. I had such a light day of eating that I was STARVING at dinner and ate too much. We had scrambled eggs with bacon, sausage and croissants. Delicious but not the type of food you want to overeat on I need to eat much more throughout the day tomorrow to not end up in this same position again.

It's almost 11 PM here now so I will catch up with you all again tomorrow!
Have a great Friday evening - it's the weekend, woo hoo

Shawn

 

[SettinSail]

QOTD Friday March 11, 2011: What do you put into a typical salad?


Right now, I'm mainly doing just romaine lettuce with some shredded cheese, boiled egg and some meat (low-carb thing). Ideally, I'd have a huge bowl of mache (lamb's lettuce), egg, vinaigrette, some sunflower seeds or pecans and some dried cranberries. There's a salad made by a local restaurant that I flippin' adore but I won't talk about it because I can't have it.

mmmmm, sounds yummy

I'm trying to figure out your avatar.....is it the US flag and the British flag?

Shawn

 

[DisFam95]

Hello Donalds!! I've been off the boards a bit lately.

Today started our Spring Break so we went to the Science Museum. Well we're the only distric that start Friday since it;s technically just a staff inservice day they do on the friday before the break so the Museum was packed w/ school groups - I hate school groups!!! Crowds are different. But school groups move in big masses. You think you found a quiet spot then 30 noisey kids descend at once! Oh well - we had fun. Just more my stress in keeping up w/ my kids.

I had the grilled chicken sandwich when out eating, no cheese! I did add a little mayo since it was so darn dry.


Well I'm down 4.2 from last Friday I had a small gain last week so I got it plus some extra back off!!

I did good w/ my workouts but I'm getting tired of the treadmill. I've started doing incline though instead of running. I've done well training for running and never in my life thought I would ever run but I can jog 30min now at least. However my bladder does not cooperate

So I'm up to 8.5% on the incline for a hour at a slow pace (3-3.3mph) and that gets your heart pumping and totally soaked.

Oooh I was so excited to see a new number set on the scale!!!! I had been hanging in the low 180's for a couple weeks and loved to see it pop up in the 170's this time

I'm dreading spring break in a way. Although it's nice to not have to get up and going it's that TOM this week and being home w. the kids all week needing entertainment and snacks and being out the house doing stuff/having to eat out etc plus me being hormonal!!!! I just need to keep focused.

Well hope everyone is having a good day and you guys up north dry up for the weekend!

 

[pjlla]

** FINISHING UP EARLIER POST THAT I HAD TO LEAVE ABRUPTLY***

Today:
first I'd like to say, thank you to the geek squad for getting our tickers back. I missed seeing my Nonald Nuh (what DS9 used to call donald) running towards victory!!

Today was a good day. Zero snacking!!
didn't get my water in which was a bummer but tomorrow is a new day. I will work out which is a guaranteed 28 oz, my brita bottle has never worked so hard!!
And I got 21 scrapbook pages done which was phenomenal! My head has been a lot clearer lately and I stay focused more.

My big concerns for today were A) my cold. It feels ok, but my chest feels heavy, like there is something weighing on me. Hopefully it will get better tomorrow.
B) Food was ok, I got Panera. Opted for no bread on my chicken salad sandwich which saved me 180 calories, yeah for 1/2 a sandwich. That's crazy that bread has that many calories!!
However, in going back over the menu when I got home I realized that even though the broccoli cheddar soup was 190 calories the sodium was over 1000 mg!!! Which is just insane! Here I was thinking I made a good choice and that Panera was great for putting their calories on the board but 1000mg of sodium, I was floored.

So now I need to come up with other alternatives. I like soup when I'm sick or it's cold out but everything is so ridiculously bad for you.


Oh and I have a question. When you journal and you are sick, do you write down your meds? I took Nyquil last night, only 1/2 the recommended dosage and I passed out! But I didn't write it down, should I?

Well I guess that's all for tonight. Im beat and I still need to check the weather for the impending monsoon we are supposed to get. Tomorrow I will probably be pumping out the basement all day, wish me luck!!!

Happy to hear you made some good choices at Panera. Sorry about the sodium.

When it comes to meds, I don't worry about calories, but I always make a note in my journal when I have taken something like that .... actually I make a note of anything unusual.... just so that if I need to look back on a week (either cause it was good or bad or whatever), I have a few notes reminding me of things that happened during the week. I have found, after SEVERAL YEARS of tracking, that I can predict certain reactions to certain situations, foods, meds, etc. So make note of what you took, when you took it, and how much.... but don't worry about calories or anything.

Good Friday morning Team Donald. We made it to Friday. It is still raining here in jersey but it is supposed to stop soon.

Ds2 is coming home tonight. It will be good to see him.

I'm sure you are looking forward to his visit. Hope you don't get too much rain. Good Morning America this morning was doing their flood watch weather report from NJ.... hope it wasn't near you!

Pamela if you live around here you could have gotten your ashes in your car. A local church were giving out ashes as cars drove up to the church. They had a big sign saying Drive Up Ashes.

That's kind of funny. Actually, as a Protestant, I've actually never "gotten" ashes. It is more of an observance. In fact, I've never belonged to a church that gave out ashes. But the drive-up idea is certainly worth noting!!

Had a great yoga session last night. She really changed things up and at times I felt like a beginner. It was great.

Isn't it great to walk out of workout and be able to say "IT WAS GREAT"! ??

My name is Shawn and I will be your coach this week.

...after this I am going to make 3 or 4 dishes to have for the weekend so I won't have to cook any more until Monday. One thing I am looking to do is change up my salads, which leads me to our QOTD:

QOTD Friday March 11, 2011: What do you put into a typical salad?

I always have iceberg lettuce, diced onion, diced peppers (sorry LTS I may have already turned your stomach!), and shredded carrot. Sometimes olives, sometimes broccoli. If I want a heavier salad, I add egg, cheese, beans, lunch meat. I prefer a bottled Italian dressing but they do not sell this here in Germany (can you believe that !?!) I am looking for ideas for other types of greens. I do like Romaine but they are sold in tiny little heads here that are very expensive for some reason. I see a lot of other greens that look good so I would love to hear from you what you like. The endive always looks good but how does it taste? Yes, I need to experiment. I would love to hear what kind of dressing you use. If it is homemade, please give the recipe.

I've been thinking about doing a big weekend-cook here to give myself a break for next week... but so many of our meals aren't really "prepare ahead" type of things. What are you making??

QOTD: Standard salad around here contains either organic spring mix or a combo of romaine and baby spinach..... plus the standard baby carrots, grape tomatoes, and cuke. After that it depends on what's in the house. Today's lunch salad included red bell peppers. Sometimes jicama, celery (although I'm not a fan), sprouts (bean and/or alfalfa), red/purple onion, peas, sundried tomato (not the packed in oil kind). That is the usual assortment for a side salad.

If salad is going to be my whole meal and I need to beef it up, I will add all SORTS of stuff (but not all of this at once ).... hummus, beans (kidney, black, garbanzo, green), taboule, raisins and/or craisins, goat cheese or feta, chopped apple or pear, cottage cheese, couscous, quinoa, salsa, refried beans,..... and any sort of leftover protein that might be in the fridge is fair game (pork, chicken, boiled eggs, fish).

Not sure what you have available there, but I love the Paul Newman's light dressings. Balsamic vinagrette and sesame ginger are my standards here. The lowfat asian is nice as well.


Well friends!! Happy Friday! Sorry I had to jump off to abruptly this morning. Long story, but basically I was at work and didn't have my laptop was I using a computer in the computer lab (standard practice at the school to allow staff to use the computers when kids aren't there). Computer teacher was having a "moment" and pretty much kicked me out of the lab. Maybe it was something personal, but whatever.... I wasn't sticking around to ask questions. I didn't have access to a computer for the remainder of the day!

Well.... I have a bit of a weigh-in "issue" and want to know how you all would handle it.

I had a significant gain this week. I'm not really upset about it because I know, without a doubt, it is a bloating issue (ovulation time is bad for me.... sorry if that is TMI). I figure I can handle it one of three ways.....

#1. submit my weight as usual and just call it as it stands.... a gain.

#2. wait until tomorrow or Sunday and try another weigh-in to see if things change for the better. (FWIW, in 3 years of weekly weigh-ins, I've only ever done this once..... I try hard to stick with the standard Friday weigh-in.)

#3. ask to be excused for this week (not really an option in my book..... seems more like a cop-out for this situation).

Anyhow.... my only issue with #1 is that if I use this weight, I will probably end up recording a big loss next week and that doesn't seem right, cause it wouldn't be a "true" weight loss.

Whatcha think???

Anyhow, I promised yesterday I would start the meal planning thread and I wasn't home long enough to do it! I'll try hard to get it up by this time tomorrow, at the latest!!

BORING day at work today..... I love the teacher I subbed for, she is really nice, but after 20+ years of teaching this subject, I think she has gotten quite STALE. Honestly.... by 3rd period I was about to start whacking my head on the desk!! After 6 years of subbing I KNOW that she has barely changed her sub plans during all that time!! I have to just keep reminding myself all day....."It's Disney money..... it's Disney money..... it's Disney money!!" I NEED A NEW JOB!!

This wasn't a planned day off of workout, but it is fixing to look that way. DS has decided he wants to go to the school dance tonight and DD will need to be picked up at the Y. Not sure what time DH will be getting home. Dinner will be quick (tacos/taco salad) as the meat is all cooked and ready, but it still needs to get on the table and be eaten. Laundry needs to be moved along, dinner dishes done, etc. Best I might do tonight might be some squats and high-knees while watching TV about 8:30 tonight. I am NOT a late night exerciser. oh well.... that is what I get for not planning my day better.

WOOO.... just spoke with DH and he can pick up DD on his way home.... that just saved me 60 minutes in the car tonight!! I might get a short workout in any how!

Well.... I'm off to check with my scrapping board friends and then dig up some healthy meal ideas for the new thread (that I will post soon!)..............P

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

I would got with option 2.
It's probably close to the most honest number.

 

[Missoutandabout]

mmmmm, sounds yummy

I'm trying to figure out your avatar.....is it the US flag and the British flag?

Shawn

Almost! It's a little flag version of my family: U.S., English (Red & White - St. George's Cross) and Scottish (Saltire - Blue & White) in the middle.

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

ran today.
It was ugly. I mean really ugly.

I did 1 mile in 17:40
1.6 (half of a 5K) in 28:30
walked to 2 miles for a total time of 38:10

I started coughing really hard after I finished, poor kids rushed to my aid cause they thought I was dying. LOL
It was hard work today, not sure if I'm ready for week 5!

 

[yourMaire83]

Hello all, and Happy Friday! I just barely found this thread and have been added to Team Donald. I'm not sure what else to put here to introduce myself, but I'm super excited to start hopefully I'll see some loss next Friday. Decreasing my calories and increasing my activity. I'll be around for a while, as I have over 50 lbs I'd like to lose, and then maintain.

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

Welcome aboard Marie!!!

Glad you can join us!!

 

[pjlla]

I'm happy to be down 3 pounds today, so all but .2 of my vacation weight is gone. Now my next goal is ONE-derland again.

I KNEW you could do it!!! You are on the express train to ONE-derland now!!

Our base is usually baby spinach or romaine lettuce. To that we will add mushrooms, red, yellow, orange and green peppers, cucumbers, carrots, red onions and a few olives. If we have slivered nuts I'll throw some in, too.

Good Morning, Donalds!

Since I said I was going to actually get myself over here and post after the Princess, I guess it's about time I do it!

For anyone who doesn't know me (I've been hanging around these Challenges longer than I should probably admit) -- My name is Maria, I'm 42, mother of ds13, married almost 18 years, and work full-time as a grants professional for a large homeless services agency. I'm a slow runner who has completed 5 Disney Half Marathons, but I still have quite a ways to go in my weight loss journey. I did (ok, not so much) WW online for a long time, this January after the WDW Half I started going to meetings in person, and have since lost about 15 lbs (which isn't quite as impressive as it sounds because I gained about 7 while I was at Disney for the Half -- shows up in my WW number, but not my BL number since I started in the middle of Jan.). The Points Plus program really works well for me, so I'd like to think I'm on a roll, but I'm knocking on wood because I've only done it for 6 weeks

I run about 24 miles per week, with one run being a 10M. I also do yoga, and I know I need to actually do strength training, but I have yet to incorporate it regularly.

I was just at WDW for the Princess race for 5 days, and came home with a 2.4 lb loss. I have never had a loss after a week at WDW, so I hope that means my head is now mostly on straight and in losing mode

Anyway, looking forward to getting to know the Donalds I don't already know, and taking this thing home together (along with the Mickeys, of course!)

Maria

Hey stranger! I saw your post somewhere else (WW Chat maybe??) about the weight loss while at WDW. You ROCK!!! I'm impressed and envious!

Thanks! It feels good to be back. And I know that making a point to come here every day will help me on my journy.

Well, I skipped my workout yesterday. I wanted to go to the gym right after work, but my BF was really hungry and wanted to have dinner first, so we planned to go around 9 once our food had digested a bit. Well, after having dinner and sitting down on the couch, I lost all resolve to go. I had a nasty headache from the 2 day lack of caffeine (I must have jinxed myself yesterday by saying I hadn't gotten any yet ) so I climbed into bed around 9 and fell right to sleep. I don't feel too guilty about missing the workout since it was the first day all week that I skipped and my legs have been feeling awfully tired lately, so it was probably a needed break.



I usually build a salad at the grocery store salad bar at least once a week and I like to use the baby spring mix. Then I add cucmubers, lots of mushrooms, tomatoes, a little cheese and some grilled chicken. They have a really yummy light peppercorn ranch that I usually add as well. If I make a salad at home I just add whatever I have...usually carrots and mushrooms and it is usually iceburg lettuce.

Have a great day everyone!

beth

I'd love to use the salad bar at the grocery store more, but the salad dressing is not in its original packaging so I have NO idea about the calorie count. How do you manage that? Does your store have the NI still on the bottles?

I'm Karen and I live in northern NJ (currently very soggy!) and I am 37 years old. I am a college counselor at an independent all girls school and really enjoy working with my students. I'm still looking for Prince Charming...but I would take any one of the seven dwarves in a heartbeat! I love to read, scrapbook, travel, and hang with my almost 4 year old nephew (who I find absolutely hysterical). I have been "curvy" my entire life and have really made a commitment to be healthy this year. My goal is to not only start, but to finish the Princess Half next year. I also want to zip line through the rain forest in Costa Rica, but that's on the back burner for now as I focus on my health.


For my salad I begin with Romaine lettuce (I like the taste better than iceberg) and add sliced black olives, chick peas, cucumber, and light feta cheese. My dressings vary - usually just balsamic and EVOO but sometimes a greek dressing of EVOO and lemon juice (salt and pepper to taste).

I actually have work to do today! It's nice to feel productive...even if it is our last day before spring break!

Happy Friday

I love the idea of adding the lemon juice. My "standard" dressing for a large salad is one TB. of the Paul Newman's dressing and one TB of rice vinegar.... it cuts the calories, makes the dressing last longer...... but next time I might add a splash of lemon juice as well. Thanks for the idea.

Had to get up early this morning to call the dr and get a work in appointment for DD. Once again I will have a child sick on her birthday (sunday). I swear this happens quite a bit in our family. Pretty sure she has croup-- I really didn't think that 10 (almost 11) year olds got croup but she had it in the fall and has the same seal bark cough again. So inlaws aren't coming this weekend, we have postponed to the next, and my house is pretty clean! Going to do laundry today and this weekend though.

Didn't get my weigh in done because my routine was blown by having to make the call and all that so I will try again tomorrow.

Fiddlesticks.... that stinks! Poor DD (and poor Momma). Sorry to hear all this. Hopefully you can keep the house in ship-shape order until next weekend! I didn't realize that kids that age got croup.

:
DH took the day off today to get some things done and because he really needed a mental health day. Of course we were hoping to do somethings together but now that plan is sunk. BUT, I may pick DD15 up early from school in which case she can stay with her sister and maybe he and I can sneak out for a quick lunch or something. DD's band is going on a trip next week and she isn't going. The 20 or so kids not going are not being included in the practice in class so they have to spend the 90 minutes crammed into the director's office. I don't really see any reason for her to be there, it is ridiculous. So I think I will pick her up today, Tuesday and Thursday. The band leaves on Thursday morning so we aren't ever sure what they will do with the few people remaining in band classes that day and Friday.

Maybe they could plan some sort of band enrichment for those kids for those days.... maybe a speaker or some sort of special practice??

I wish I wasn't such a picky eater-- my salads would have more variety. Eggs and olives are also on my ICK list. I try very hard to give my kids more variety so they won't be as picky but it is hard when neither DH or I eat it. He eats Green Peppers and onions so my kids do eat those. It is only in the last few months I have even allowed Green Peppers into the house!

So my salads are pretty boring. Usually just iceburg lettuce, mushrooms, carrots, some real bacon bits, cheese, maybe some cucumber, meat and smashed croutons. I have never figured out why they make croutons so large? You can't spear them with a fork and many of them are bigger than a bite anyway. I put them in a baggie and smash them to large crumbs and then I get the flavor and crunchy texture in every bite of salad from only a few of them. Sometimes I will add a handful of spinach. I like other lettuces but usually don't buy them because they are more expensive and I am the only one that will eat them. I like red and curly leaf varieties and bibb lettuce is very nice (lettuce wraps!). I like a nice spring mix too. Hmmmm, now I am in the mood to go and get some more lettuce. When we started this new way of eating I bought a small cheap lettuce spinner to keep in the refrigerator. I break up the lettuce and wash it and keep it in there so it is easy to grab and easy to throw a new head in.

For meats I will use low fat lunch meat- usually ham or turkey- or whatever I have for leftovers. I love it when we have left over steak, that is my favorite. Terriyaki chicken is good as is just plain grilled. And if we have taco meal left over I will make a taco salad and add some black beans. I usually just use a Ranch Dressing-- fortunately on South Beach they prefer the regular type, not the Light versions, because I can't stand those. I will sometimes zing up my Ranch by taking the bottled version and adding some more garlic and onion powder and even some Hidden Valley Ranch powder. My absolute favorite Ranch in the world is the one served at Texas Roadhouse. If they sold it in bottles I would buy cases! I also use a Cesar Vinaigrette when I want something different.

(see, told you I am a huge talker! 2 huge paragraphs just on how I make salad )

You are a woman after my own heart!!

Keep in mind that snacking is not bad as long as you make the right choices. The experts really recommend that you have 6 smaller meals a day to keep your blood sugar even and to keep hunger away. As long as you make healthy choices then snacks are a very good thing. I actually sort of think of it as breaking some meals into parts. So I will have part of breakfast then later have a yogurt, or I will eat a lunch "entree" and have a salad later in the afternoon, instead of eating it all at one time. One thing that I wish I could do is flip the portions and meals for lunch and dinner. I would really do better with a large lunch and a smaller lighter dinner. I had a friend who's husband came home for lunch every day and they basically had their dinner meal then and in the evening had a sandwich or soup or some leftovers. Food is fuel, yet we tend to put the most fuel in our tanks after our busy day is over and we are winding down. But since DH does the cooking and he can't be home for lunch I keep with the traditional schedule most of the time.

I agree.... snacking has a bad reputation, but can be very helpful. Maybe if we called it something else (meal splitting ??) it would be better. I often, when I'm home, eat the first part of a meal (maybe the salad or the protein) and try to wait an hour before having the rest..... it spreads the meal out so I'm not FULL and then EMPTY. But I don't consider it snacking..... I just think of it as an extended meal time. Unfortunately, when I'm at work and have one 20 minute break all day for my meal, I can't really do that. And I can't eat in front of the kids while teaching, so some days I just have to go hungry.

:
Unfortunately I think that unless you make your own soup, from your own stock (or a low sodium purchased one) you are out of luck. In fact I think most things we eat at restaurants are loaded with sodium in amounts that blows my mind. Particularly when the same things can be prepared at home with so much less. I haven't figured out why that is.

I agree, most purchased/canned soups are really high in sodium.... and frankly, I hardly ever find one I like. I might use 2-3 cans of Progresso and 3-5 cans of Campbells a year. The Progresso always SOUNDS appealing.... especially when I'm shopping hungry..... but I'm always disappointed when I eat it.

Homemade soup is SO EASY.... and a great way to use up leftovers and such. Maybe I'll throw a few recipes on that soon-to-be-started meal idea thread!!

21 pages, but they were really simple pages. LOL My goal is 63 for the month so I can be caught up, I'm trying to do one a day.

YOu are blowing me away this month! I think this is going to be a month of mostly planning pages, rather than completing pages. And I have to start kitting for CKC at the end of April soon.

I'm going to have to take a leave of absence from this for now. I'm having some health issues so it's hard to do what I need to be doing at this time. Sorry to bail. Even though I wasn't active here I was still participating behind the scenes.

I hope to come back though. Good luck to all!!

Sorry things are not working out for you right now. Just know that you will be missed and we will welcome you back with open arms when you are ready to return!!

Hey--sorry I've been away from the boards, last week I spilled soymilk all over my keyboard and had to get a new one then the Norton expired and that's always such a hair pulling ordeal I put it off then took my time with it and it went really well this time. Been having kind of a rough time-- I'm down 3 pounds this week which is not good for me, I've been shooting for 125, have been steady at 124 but now I'm down to 121 again, in spite of being back on the Pill. Have been having a fun 2 week period which hasn't been bad--(just aggravating) more like spotting for 2 weeks due to the fact that I started the cycle early, instead of waiting like they always say to. Hopefully I'll even out this month and just have a new cycle...
I'm really kind of at the end of my rope emotionally. I just don't know what else to do. I can usually pull myself out, but this time it's going to take more strength than what I have. I have talked to some people....
I was looking up some stuff on suicide last night-- most successful attempts happened with guns and it is very easy to get a handgun in Oregon. I've always said if I had a gun in my house I'd be dead about 5 times now. Any other way is too easy to mess yourself up and not be successful...So I guess I won't get one...not a gun person anyway. Sometimes you just want the pain to stop though. I think being back on the pill isn't helping much with my emotional state-- I knew it would mess me up some but like my cycle--hopefully will even out. Penney, as usual has been right there for me-- my little emotional sponge.

I gotta tell you.... this is pretty scary talk to me. I SINCERELY hope that you are talking to a professional right now. And your family needs to know how you are feeling. We are ALWAYS here to listen, but you need some real life people to help you through this. I think I can speak for the group when I say that we care DEEPLY about you and are very concerned when we hear that you are doing so poorly emotionally. PLEASE get some help and let us know how you are doing.

It's very promising looking out there today though-- maybe I'll ride my bike after I work out. Could use the sunshine. Going to try to just force myself through today I'm just-- completely drained. Probably had a bit of a breakdown last night...My son made the observation that winter was almost over this am--I hope he's right. It'll help anyway I think.

I think a good workout is just the thing for you today! And yes, winter is nearly over!!

QOTD Friday March 11, 2011: What do you put into a typical salad?


Right now, I'm mainly doing just romaine lettuce with some shredded cheese, boiled egg and some meat (low-carb thing). Ideally, I'd have a huge bowl of mache (lamb's lettuce), egg, vinaigrette, some sunflower seeds or pecans and some dried cranberries. There's a salad made by a local restaurant that I flippin' adore but I won't talk about it because I can't have it.

DO TELL!!

.Not much going on around here today. I had such a light day of eating that I was STARVING at dinner and ate too much. We had scrambled eggs with bacon, sausage and croissants. Delicious but not the type of food you want to overeat on I need to eat much more throughout the day tomorrow to not end up in this same position again.

It's almost 11 PM here now so I will catch up with you all again tomorrow!
Have a great Friday evening - it's the weekend, woo hoo

Shawn

I do that to myself sometimes... either through circumstance or just bad planning.... and then I realize that I have eaten 2/3 of the day's calories after 7 or 8 pm..... not good!!

I did good w/ my workouts but I'm getting tired of the treadmill. I've started doing incline though instead of running. I've done well training for running and never in my life thought I would ever run but I can jog 30min now at least. However my bladder does not cooperate

Well finally, someone else with this issue!! I was starting to feel really alone! FWIW.... I TRY to do my running in the morning.... before I drink ANYTHING. Usually no bladder issues then. But if I run in the afternoon or evening... watch out!! I have found if I stop drinking about 2-3 hours before the workout, I can usually do okay. Otherwise.... maybe I just say ...Depends aren't just for old folks!

So I'm up to 8.5% on the incline for a hour at a slow pace (3-3.3mph) and that gets your heart pumping and totally soaked.

That is great! The treadclimber is good for a similar workout. I SWEAR I sweat more on the TC than I do running!

Oooh I was so excited to see a new number set on the scale!!!! I had been hanging in the low 180's for a couple weeks and loved to see it pop up in the 170's this time

WOW... that must have been so great! I took a picture of the scale the morning I finally got into a new weight category that I had been trying to achieve (this was about 2 years ago). I LOVE that picture! Even though the number wasn't my "goal" weight, it was a symbol of my hard work and ongoing success.

TTYL.........................P