This week's healthy habit is track your food each day for five days.
You get one point for each day you track your food. Everyone starts off with 2 points because tracking your food is a hard habit but it is so important.
This challenge starts on Wednesday, October 22nd and ends Tuesday, October 28th. Report your results by posting on Tuesday or Wednesday. There will be new habit for last few days of the month.
Why is is important to track your food? It is incredibly easy to underestimate the amount of calories that you consume if you don't track. Also, a 2008 study by the American Journal of Preventative Medicine showed that people who track their food intake lose TWICE as much weight as people who don't!
Read more about it here from the sparkpeople.com:
http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/nutrition_articles.asp?id=1143 and WebMD
http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/can-food-diary-help-you-lose-weight
Don't forget to report your results from the challenge that ends today!
I can definitely handle this challenge!! I will be the first to admit I've had a few "slacker" days lately (mostly on busy weekend days) when the tracker is more blank than anything else..... but overall this is a habit that I have firmly established.
I am reporting a PITIFUL 3/7 on the exercise challenge. I really only got in three solid "real" workouts (rather than just craziness around the house and yard). Sad but true. I can hardly remember the "me" of a year or so ago that worked out SOLIDLY 5-6 days a week! I definitely need to find that girl again!
Hi everyone!!
Had a really lousy day yesterday. My toe had a problem, I have no idea what, but I could not really walk at all. And then I forgot my fitbit at home. At least work was rather successful. And I had brought a healthy and tasty lunch. But then I ended up snacking far too much in the evening because I was miserable. At least I ate mainly healthy stuff. And could stop myself. I know it would have been far worse a few months ago on a day like yesterday. Still felt rather sad about immediately boycotting myself after a successful lunch.
Today is better! Toe is fine again and even though I was feeling totally tired this morning I brought my lunch again. Now I just need to make sure that I don't end up snacking as much again! And I will have to go out for a 20 minute walk tonight to get my last day of the challenge in. I had planned on doing more strenous exercise, but somehow this last week was all not really perfect and I did not manage to do anything special besides walking. But I do count the walking as it does take effort to do it!
Sorry you were feeling down and bad the other day.... but glad you reported back that you are better! I think that continuing to make the time to pack up a healthy meal is a sure sign that you are making permanent changes to your relationship with food.
I am looking forward to the tracking challenge. It is something that I know really helps me, but I often start out great during the day, but then don't follow through. So, with this challenge in mind, I am hoping that I will religously track every day! And it will be great for my girls weekend!
Find a tracking system that isn't a PITA for you and it will help you stick with it, even when you are busy. And I'm jealous of your girls weekend!
Lisa, congratulations for a successful race! And I hope that your mother's move will go well! I ended up in the same city as my parents a few years ago after having moved out in 1992 and after some adjustment I think it is great to have them close!
Sarah, have a great time at the hair dresser!
(I chose this one fo the long hair, not because I think you are a hippie with your long hair!!!!!
)
Pam, thanks for the encouragement on maintaining! I think you are right, I am indeed moving into different mindframe about food. I never had as much vegetables as I have now on a regular basis. All those changes take time to really become new habits and maybe losing as slowly as me is a good thing as it keeps me on my toes for longer. Still, I wished my love/hate relationship with my scale were less hate and more love!!
We ALL wish we loved the scale more! I can honestly tell you that sometimes it feels like I am NEVER happy with mine. When I gain, obviously I'm mad/frustrated/sad. When I lose, it never seems like enough... and even when I got to a new record low number (and maintained it for exactly 24 hours...
) I STILL wasn't satisfied! I think, just like learning to love and forgive ourselves for being imperfect, we need to learn to embrace the scale for what it is .... just a tool for measuring progress. It doesn't determine our worth as women or whether or not we are pretty or smart or happy or giving or anything like that. But I know.... easier said than done.
Done!
Don't get me wrong, I have plenty of trouble with tracking, but it's something I'm always trying to do, so maybe this will give me some extra incentive. I know there are days when I don't track because I don't have access to a computer, phone, or pen & paper (Friday nights and Saturday - it's my Sabbath), but I think I can track the remaining 5 days!
And 5 out of 7 should be enough, as long as you aren't going nuts on those remaining two days!!
As for exercise: 7/7 I knew this was something I could do!
Good for you!!
I think everyone has a love/hate relationship with the scale - but the important thing is to keep trying and you'll eventually see the results you want.
I had a hectic morning so I ended up skipping my morning snack. I'm now eating lunch in front of the computer, which I know is bad, but is a bit necessary because my hectic morning put me behind schedule. Oh well, at least this might get me to slow down between bites ... if only because I can't hold a utensil and type at the same time.
I hope everyone is having a great day!
I definitely eat slower when I am at the computer.... have a bite, put down the bowl.... have a bite, put down the bowl. But it is also "absent" eating.... I'm not really paying attention to what I am eating or how it tastes, etc. Baaaad habit of mine, especially when I am home alone! Hopefully you don't have to do it very often.
WISH Wellness Challenge Musing Wednesday, October 22, 2014: What is your favorite tracking method? An app? A journal? What do you do to combat tracking fatigue?
My preferred tracking method is good old paper and pen. I tried doing an "diary" of sorts when I first started back on this journey in early 2008 and I kept it up for a few months, but it got to be too time consuming to have to go turn on my laptop, etc, every time I wanted to eat an apple! So I resorted back to having a notebook in the kitchen and there it has been ever since! I usually track what I've eaten (I have my own variety of shorthand for the items I eat often), the portion size and PPV. I also make a note at the top of the page of anything in particular that may have effected my day (like when I work double jobs or if I am away from home all day or not feeling well) and record my exercise (type, intensity and duration). It is a great resource to look back at if I have had a few weeks of going in the wrong direction.
I think my shorthand helps with the fatigue..... I can literally track my meal in a minute or two. If I have something like a smoothie I try to make note of exactly what I put it in it (ingredients at least, if not exact portions) and the PPV of each item, but if I am pressed for time I do the math in my head and just jot down the overall PPV of the smoothie. And for things that I eat often in the same portion size (like 1C of greek yogurt) I just shorten it to "yogurt".
Unfortunately the toe is acting up again. My colleague thinks it might a tendon that got to work too much. He started using some kind of "barefoot" shoes (they look like gloves for the feet) some time ago and said that this is what happened to him when he thought he was used to them and then walked too much with them. I am wondering whether it might be related to the new running shoes. I have been walking/running a lot in the recent weeks and might have overdone it a bit. So I just need to take it a bit slower now. I guess it is time to get some core exercise in tonight...
Is he using the Fibrams 5 Fingers? They look absolutely strange (and ugly) but some folks swear by them!!
Give your foot a break and stick with some arms and abs for a while!
I track with Weight Watchers online and the WW app. I like that I can use both and it all goes to the same data. And I like that I can build my own recipes in there and then can just reuse those without having to add every single thing over again.
I've been giving some thought to trying to track with my app. I think it would help ME help my members. Sometimes they have questions about it that I can't answer. I do use recipe builder and I love it!
I really don't have a recipe for tracking fatigue. I think the way I combat is that I KNOW that I lose better when I track! So, when I am moping that the scale does not move and I know I need to do something, tracking is one of the easiest things to do. And it really helps not to say to yourself: "Ok, I really need to track again, I will start tomorrow" but instead say: "I am starting to track now - however bad it is going to look". Because, once you have tracked for one day, it is easier to continue doing it the next day. The hard thing is starting it, so you need to use the momentum of the situation and not wait for the next day.
Sorry for all the illnes in your family! Good luck on getting 7/7!!!
Glad you can see the correlation between tracking and the scale.... I believe that there really is a direct link for most people!
I use SparkPeople, both the app and the website. I've tried other things, but nothing else has worked as well for me.
In terms of combating tracking fatigue - I just have to work through it. I always have tracking fatigue. I hate tracking. I just have to remember to do it.
As long as you found a method that works for you, that is what counts!!
Sorry to hear you've all been sick. I hope everyone's feeling better!
I've tried that. I've tried a lot of things - writing down what I think will be served in advance and putting paper clips next to what I eat, trying to remember so that I can write it down on Sunday, searching the fridge for leftovers to see if that helps jog my memory - nothing works. I've found it's easier to just eat slowly, try to make good decisions, and not worry about it.
That's a good way to look at it - I sometimes give up by the end of the day and then have a hard time starting the next day, it would probably be a good idea to not give up tracking. I find that when I track consistently, it's easier for me, but when I don't track ... it's harder to recover from not tracking than it is to recover from tracking a donut.
Lighter day for me than I had yesterday, which is nice ... although I do have to start on something in a few minutes, I just wanted to check in here first. I was going to go running this morning, but rain stopped me. I don't think it's raining now, so depending on how the weather looks, I'm trying to decide if I should consider running in the afternoon. We'll see.
I hope everyone is having a good day!
I love your analogy about not tracking versus tracking a donut!!
Happy Thursday everyone!
I seem to be improving - the toe has not hurt a little bit today despite me walking 10.000 steps yesterday.
Foodwise I am proud to report that I had a perfect tracking day yesterday. And I even cooked something yesterday evening to bring for lunch today! A pasta salad with lots of veggies and a grilled lean pork. I had pasta for dinner yesterday anyway, so I just cooked double the amount. I think I will need to expand on the pasta salad idea! I think next I am going to try one with grilled veggies, tomatoes and mini mozzarella balls.
Sarah, I totally understand that tracking is difficult for you on Saturdays and maybe it is really the best to just embrace not tracking these days. If you learn to not go crazy on those days, I think it is a good way to become better even on days when you are too lazy to track (but theoratically you could).
Yeah for cooking ahead!! I thought I would have leftovers from dinner last night, but obviously we were hungry, so I had to find something to pack. I had one serving left (cauliflower fried rice), but since it is a veggie-heavy meal that DS really likes, I sent the leftovers with him for lunch. He really needs all the fruits and veggies that I can get him to eat!
I just realised that there is only about one week left in October and we don't have anyone hosting next month yet!!
I can't host as I will be away for part of November and December.
Is there anyone volunteering? What should we do otherwise. It seems that we have lost even more regulars now...
I don't mind hosting for November!! I really don't want to just give up! I think if the "core" group can hang on until January, we will get plenty of returning folks and newbies!!
Most of the time I use my WW app online or on my phone for tracking. This is an easy way for me to keep track of things. This week I am trying paper tracking because I am trying to make sure that I keep hitting those fruit/veggie and dairy servings goals. It is fun to do something a little different.
Good for you for trying something different!! Way to go out of your comfort zone!
No one that I know really loves tracking but as one of my WW leaders says "track only on the days you want to lose!" And that is a true statement for me! No tracking = no losing
I just said that in my meeting this week!! Tracking seems to come up every week, no matter what the topic!!
That is a great reminder to just start tracking where you are if you forget rather than waiting for the "perfect time" to start again!
Hope the rain passed and you were able to get in your run, Sarah!
I think your strategy of making good choices even when you can't track is a good one especially for other times when tracking isn't practical.
Good advise Lisa! Sometimes tracking just isn't going to work with "real life".... but we can always try to make good choices.
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Morning all! I am the school nurse today, so I have computer access (and for the time being I have time!). Sorry I didn't get on yesterday.... I had plans to go to my Mom's and help with her church rummage sale, but DH needed to go to MA and take his brother to a Dr.'s appointment which would have meant no ride to robotics for DS and his friend (for the team they are mentoring). Plus DS would have had to take the bus home (which he hates) and walk home from the bus stop (in the pouring rain). Plus his friend had some scheduling/ride issues. So I cancelled on my Mom and stayed home to play taxi drive to the boys. My Mom was okay with it and agreed that I made the right choice, but I felt badly.
So work today and tomorrow here at school and then Saturday DH is driving me to DD's school for parents' weekend! I'm really looking forward to it. She is trying hard to get as much homework and studying done ahead of time so that she can actually relax with me! Saturday should be fun with a tour of the historic town, snacks and activities on the quad, etc. DH can't stay because he needs to taxi DS around to robotics and Model UN over the weekend.
Okay..... I'm feeling SUPER lucky that this entire post hasn't gone POOF yet because this laptop I am working on had a really touchy mouse pad and it keeps jumping around.... but I think I got lucky today! I'll BBL if I have time between handing out meds and ice packs!................P
You don't realize how much you depend on your feet being pain free until they suddenly aren't. 
for a new low number on the scale! 
And enjoy that extra hour of sleep! 
for the good number on the scale! Hopefully you'll be even lower soon!
On a side note I put on a pair of black jeans I haven't had on in a long time and they were only a teeny bit snug in a couple spots in the legs. Hope to keep going and fit into my other size below that before too long so that I have some pants for winter(even if ours is mild).
I've been spending much of mine working on details for dd's dryad costume. She had been saying she wasn't gonna trick or treat this year but later decided to dress as a dryad and go. I made her tutu skirt(in hi low form per her request) and now tonight made elf ear cuffs for her. My fingers are so weird feeling and sore from bending the wires(even though I used pliers a lot too). Tomorrow will put the detail touch to her skirt and work on arm band cuffs from wire too and Tuesday we will go out and find shoes/boots and a top that will complete it. Then just getting her wreath, crown for her head all tweaked for next weekend. Maybe find some even to try it out before but not sure we are restricted on some things with my car broke down I gotta find the time around my brothers work schedule for things. Including how I'm gonna get in to my Dr. later this week. Though I applied for a 
