Welcome to anyone who would like to track their daily endeavors--food, cals, movement, water, NSVs, weight, etc. I enjoy minimally processed, local, non-GMO, pesticide-free food as much as possible. I'm aiming for 'tastes good but not too good' in my way of eating.

Here's a link to the Summer thread:

https://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/who...-check-14.html

Flower Thank-you!! And thank-you for the GERD information! I had no symptoms yesterday. My hunch is that eliminating the salsa & lessening the fats will control it for the time being.
Well-done to you for staying away from the chocolate. :cp; What do you put in your Feta salad? It sounds really good! You are doing amazing with maintaining your weight loss. The word 'maintenance' implies a steady flat line that belies the day-to-day blood, sweat, and tears! You go girl!!! :deep bow emoji:

PS Imho, I don't think there's any law on the books that you have to discard a bra that is working


Chunkahlunkah Hey you-- What a great idea re beano. That pea soup sounded so good. I might try beano to see if it works for cumin. I can't digest it. I'm so glad you had a breather and thank-you for sharing some of those priceless downtime moments with us I love that you've built in the sport of estimating time to completion of your assignments. Not just entertaining but something that could come in handy in your career. My brother used to take me to pro ice hockey matches. I was bored silly but wanted the time with my bro. To pass the time, I would watch the big timer display on the playing field, then close my eyes and see if I could tick off the seconds accurately. As a result of that (I think), I have a good internal timer. I can wake up within a couple of minutes at any time I choose without an alarm clock.
I hope you ended up with a paper you liked, and got to have a little more free time. I wonder how it will seem to look back on this semester, once you are back in NY on holiday. Sometimes it's that time away that cements the feeling of home, for a new place.

I have a dinner out tonight at a really, really good restaurant. It's going to stretch my $ budget this month , tho I budgeted my weekly points for it. My weight isn't reflecting the on track week, this morning. I snacked yesterday evening & have been drinking more water. It dampens my feeling of abandon with regard to the restaurant, which is not a bad thing at all. I'm disappointed at the scale but I know if keep at it, the clothes are going to be looser very soon.

Sat
B coffee, half/half, protein shake, spaghetti squash 'chow mein' with chicken, broccoli, carrot, shredded cabbage, drizzle of sesame oil
L salad, protein bar
D 0-1 glass of wine, no bread, no dessert. I'll choose from the items that have less sauce and hold anything that looks over-the-top rich. With those brakes in place, I'll enjoy the meal without a food hangover
S apple

Sundove - Dinner at a really nice restaurant--that's exciting! I hope you have a wonderful time. Good plan for the evening. I hope the on-plan streak starts to reflect on the scale. Really well done! That's cool that your timer game helped develop your inner clock. I agree that's something we can develop with practice. Finishing the rest of my paper yesterday ended up taking slightly over 4 hours, which was on the long end of my estimate. I think I would've finished it sooner, but I took a break for dinner. So as I started writing again, it took some time to build up the same momentum as before the break. What I ended up liking most about the paper is it helped me see the areas where I want to do additional research, and it clarified new issues I want to focus on. Good points about the feeling of home and how it develops. I'm curious to see how I'll feel about here when I'm home. I'll probably start feeling that split between two homes/ways of life.


Flower - I hadn't realized PopChips were discontinued! Oh, the agony! I don't know if I'll be able to adopt your courage and resolve about that. I tried to buy them after I moved here, and the store didn't have them. I thought that was odd but figured it was just a regional difference. I didn't realize they're gone for good! Oh, I really am sad about this. They were one of my favorite snack foods, and I don't have that many favorites in that area. I'll try to handle this devastating news as well as you. Perhaps I'll need to move on to something new, as you did with Bamba. You'd asked if I miss NY. Not really; not yet, anyway. I'm so busy that I don't really have much of a sense of place. It's sorta like boot camp or being away at a spiritual retreat. I miss my family and friends, but even if I were home I wouldn't have that much time to see them. The heat is crazy, but I lived in FL in the past, so I had an idea of what to expect. It hasn't bothered me as much as I'd feared it would, but it has deterred me from walking around as much as I'd like. I actually haven't had any Tex Mex yet! That and bbq were the cuisines I was most looking forward to, but they haven't come up yet.


I don't think I tracked my last couple days here. They were both a little high on calories, IIRC, but nothing crazy. I've set my calorie goal this month as a weekly average under 1400 calories, and I've met that each week so far. I think I'll drop that goal to 1350 for October. I lose better at that rate and it's a level that I find doable. I'm not hungry at that level so long as I'm careful to include what satiates me and spend few calories on what doesn't.


SAT
B1: Tea with milk.
B2: Spaghetti with marinara, mozzarella, white beans, and artichokes. I made about 4 servings of this, so it'll be in my food diary a few more times. I didn't meal prep enough last week, so I'm working on doing better with that this week. It helps me so much!
L:
D:
Calories =
Exercise =

Sundove, a whole new season, a whole new thread. Thank you very much for this lovely kind caring community.
Great that the GERD has been a non issue for a while. I cannot eat tomatoes because of the acid content. So I think its great that you stopped eating them. For sauces I substitute cooked pureed carrot and a bit of lemon juice which supposedly is alkaline when in the body. I drink low acid coffee. Seems to be okay. They say that animal protein is not great for GERD. I think its true. Thanks for the kind words about maintaining. But for me it is not a straight line at all. I gain and lose. But never enter overweight land. But I weigh more than I am comfortable weighing. 4 lbs less. Gaining back the weight again is always a looming threat. You wanted to know about my daily salad. It is not the lowest in carbs. But is very satisfying. I always have steamed (really boiled) cabbage in the refrig. So I chop a bit of that. I add spring mix, grated carrot, cut up snap peas that I get in a bag from trader joes. Chopped onion, low fat feta cheese that comes in a 8 oz block at trader joe's. They sell crumbled low fat feta too. But I think the 8 oz chunk is more flavorful. Then I add something not very heathy, BHF yogurt chunky blue cheese dressing and finally lemon to taste. I also add some Himalayan salt. but I like salt. I toss and eat. Sorry the new eating plan is not yet reflecting on the scale. That scale and your clothing will soon show results of all your dedication and hard work. I hope you had a great time at the restaurant. And that you enjoyed what you ate. What did you end up eating?

Chunkahlunkah So glad you liked how the paper turned out. WTG !!!!! Re "home" I think that feeling happens when we develop friendships etc with people. Or a relationship with the land. Although it sounds like you do not have time for either. So sorry to have been the bearer of bad news re the popchips. Yes. May they rest in potato peace. The best thing about them is that a whole bag of big flavor was only 360 calories. anyone can buy popchips at grocery stores. But the bags are about twice the size that the TJ's popchips were. I would not stop eating until the entire big bag was gone. So thats the very sad news. I am so very sorry. Bamba are not nearly as good as popchips. And they are 480 calories per bag. But they cost only a dollar.
Glad you are not missing NY too much. I think that you may be very grateful to be down there during the winter months. you will see snow and have some cold weather when you go home during break. Then you get warmth all through those long winter months! No slippery driving worries. Sounds like you have a good calorie plan for Oct. Amazing to me that you can make 4 servings of pasta and not eat them all by the end of the day. I do not have that willpower. I am in awe of that.

Today was okay. Except.... if its Saturday, its sample day for me at Costco, lol. Some things never change
The samples were fattening. 5 different little Pizza sample slices. Chocolate "turtles" and more. So, IDK what my caloric intake was. the regular food is
coffee 160
Bamba 480
peaches 200
salad 300
chicken with vegetables 300
Total before samples 1440
so basically, my calories for the day... way over.
tonight my sweetheart basil plants are inside. It will be getting down to about 44 degrees. Basil does not like that at all. They like 50 or higher. little fruit fly type of bugs come in with them. But I have to live with that in order to protect my sweethearts. And my Rosemary too. I try hard to give her equal love and attention. She deserves equal love.

I hope you both have a great Sunday. I plan to not have samples, lol

I love early morning.
Flower Thanks so much for writing the details of your salad! I can see why you love it. I'll try the block Feta soon. Yesterday I was in TJs and bought the crumbles--thanks for the idea. Great macros. Oh do I know how it goes with those Costco samples. Lately I've lucked out because the days I'm there, they don't have a lot, or none that are the least bit appealing. But when there's good stuff...uh-oh. What is it about the lure of free food? That's the hardest to resist, I think.
Nice to be cozy inside with your plants. I would love the smell of Rosemary or Basil to permeate my home. (And sage!) I hope the bugs behave. I had to make peace with the little moths that sometimes hatch out of my bird seed. "The Little People"

The restaurant was really fun. Food wise, I overthought the whole thing--at the last minute tried to work out WW points in advance & later rebelled against the restrictive feeling. I had the same thing I've ordered over the years--the chicken. Also crab cakes, a salad of butter lettuce, apple, blue cheese, walnuts. Loved all of that. The chicken came with a roasted pasilla pepper that had cheese, and a tiny bit of creme fraiche, spinach subbed for polenta. A scoop of avocado. I caved and had a desert. That all left me overly full-oy the fat! One glass of wine, no bread. It's a noisy, festive and elegant place of special occasions and regulars. There's an older couple who eat there every Monday night, and a happy social scene at the bar. I have more work to do with handling restaurants. There was the possibility to keep the calories down, but I chose not to--I didn't want to feel deprived, and once that choice was made, did a little of the 'last supper' thing.

Chunkahlunkah I love reading about your process of writing, both rigorous and exciting. I'm not surprised it would take longer to work it. Nice that it helped you to see areas for further research. The momentum thing sounds challenging--if only the creative thought process could be turned on & off like a spigot. And do you ever wonder why all that exhausting mental work doesn't burn calories???

Congratulations for keeping to your calorie goal and still enjoying a variety that includes eating out! Wowza! I'm waiting eagerly to hear when you get to try some Tex Mex & bbq.

I have a crazy week ahead, starting today. Being too busy can derail me--I need my timeouts! 3 hr round trip to my mom's, then over to visit a friend. My day off this Wed is again to go 3 hr to take my mom for a haircut and get one myself. Sat am up before dawn to catch a boat to look at sea birds. (poor me ) This is where I hope the meditation app comes in handy. Breathe.....

A fine fall Sunday to you!

Sunday
B turkey rollups, coffee/lightener
L protein bar, red pear, salad with HB egg, o/v dsg
D spaghetti squash, turkey marinara, crumble feta
S apple

flower - Last week my schedule was especially nuts, but this week is looking much lighter. So I may actually have time to do fun stuff! Right now, I only know people in my program (which is pretty small). It can be hard to plan stuff bc when one person's free, another's busy with a deadline, or has visitors from out of town. We have a running "date" on Thurs nights: dinner and drinks after class. That was my idea. I love having 1 set weekly get-together like that. They've been great! I had that same system going in NY, so I imported it here too. But besides that night, it's often been hard finding times that work for multiple people (or even two ). I hope to eventually form relationships with people outside of my program too. Your salad sounds so good!

Sundove - I'd say your dinner out was a success! Sure, you got dessert, but you stuck to 1 glass of wine and you turned down the bread. Context. When at a special restaurant like that, some indulgence is practically a necessity in my book. Wow, yes, a very busy week! Your sea bird adventure sounds so lovely. ETA: Yes, I've often thought that cognitively demanding work should burn more calories than it does! Then again, today I had what's basically a whoosh for me, so maybe those 2 papers last week helped. Btw, have you always been a fan of the early morning?

......................................
I'm at a new low today which I wasn't expecting, so that was exciting! I'm down 1.2 pounds from when I last weighed a few days ago. I'm only about 14 pounds from my final goal weight now!

I felt pretty sick for a few hours last night. Really nauseous. It's gone now. I wonder if it was something I ate. It could be the marinara sauce. I'd opened that a while ago, so it might've gone bad, but I hope not. I already ate it again today, so I'll know today if that's the likely culprit.

SAT
B1: Tea with milk.
B2: Spaghetti with marinara, mozzarella, white beans, and artichokes. I made about 4 servings of this, so it'll be in my food diary a few more times. I didn't meal prep enough last week, so I'm working on doing better with that this week. It helps me so much!
L/D: Ribeye and garlic bread.
S: 2 home baked cookies. Tea with milk.
Calories = 1491
Exercise = dvd

SUN:
B1 & B2: Same as yesterday but in reverse order. Gotta keep things fresh.
L: Smoothie - greek yogurt, protein powder, frozen berries.
S1: olives
S2: hard boiled egg
D: 1 slice of whole wheat toast with half a serving each of natural pb and nutella. Tea with milk.
Calories = 1406
Exercise = 4.2 mile walk. That includes some time on the treadmill at my rec center which I finally visited today. It's incredible!

Morning Ladies

Thanks for the support

Congrats on the loss Chunkahlunkah--good validation of your WOE!

Flower! FB sure does eat up a lot of time. So nice that you helped a stranger.

Well, here goes my marathon week. Bring it on! I'll read but might not post much. Keeping you close though

Monday
B eggs/avocado coffee, half/half protein shake
L B-up bar, apple
D turkey roll-ups, Brussel's sprouts, sweet potato
S B-up bar

flower - Kind of you to help your fb buddy! at PTSD from eating salad while your companion had deep dish pizza.

Sundove - Thanks, the loss does have me thinking that I can probably keep this calorie level next month too rather than drop it. Good luck with the marathon week!

...........................

I'm down a couple more ounces today to 133.4. It's so fulfilling to be moving through the 130's much quicker than I moved through the 140's. Due to diet breaks and backtracking, I was in that decade for over a year!!

MON
B: Hard boiled egg. Greek yogurt.
S: Zone bar
L/D: Mashed potatoes with roast beef. Zucchini, green beans, and broccoli. Mushroom soup. Pumpkin cheesecake.
Calories = estimated at about 1600
Exercise = dvd.

Hi guys, do either of you have a favorite cut of beef to use in the slow cooker?

Thanks, flower! Maybe I'll try roasting a slab of beef in the oven. I've actually never cooked a pot roast in the oven before. I really like it, but I've only had it at restaurants or other people's homes. I made chuck in the slow cooker once or twice, but I wasn't that into the result. Maybe I just haven't found the right recipe. What's probably more likely is my taste buds want an oven roasted taste, and that just can't happen in the slow cooker. I think if I accept that, I can move on. Then look for slow cooker recipes that cover it with a gravy so that I taste mostly that rather than its non-roasted flavor and texture.

Is chicken the only meat you eat? I usually avoid pork bc I love pigs too much. I go back and forth on eating meat (was a pescetarian for about 6 years), but I feel better physically when I do. It is something that I wrestle with though.

Thanks for the good thoughts! I got a reprieve on Wed. A kind friend who insisted on taking my mom to the hair stylist. I'll re-sched my cut to another day and visit my mom on the wknd.

Chunkahlunkah, the only beef I ever cooked in a crockpot was meatloaf. It was really good. I too struggle with the issue of eating meat, and fish & poultry as well. I was a vegetarian in my 20s &hope to revert back to that when i'm mo longer working. I'll be interested to see what you come up with.

Flower No meditating while driving! Words to live by I have been known to birdwatch, but only while stopped! How are Basil and Rosemary doing?

Chunkahlunkah I remember my mother used to cook pot roast in the oven. She did it with vegetables and dried lipton onion soup. It was amazing. The lipton onion soup was 1950s and 60s recipe. Are you going to put carrots and onions in the baking pan? Are you going to cover the baking dish? if so, I think you can brown it the last half hour. I am pretty sure thats how pot roast is made. I know that having some fat in the meat or on top of it, bastes it and makes it more delicious. Re feeling guilty eating meat, if you feel better eating it, then I think its important to listen to and honor what your body is saying. In the autobiography of the Dalai Lama, he wrote that he and his people wanted to be vegetarians. But their bodies did not function well doing that. They needed meat. So they had to do that. Even he had to listen to his body above his conscience. Re: me, yes just chicken. I used to eat fish too. But I could no longer afford to buy it. Salmon is my favorite. Especially smoked, either hot or cold smoke process. And fried fish. Oh and Seafood. Crabmeat. ahhhhhh Okay enough of that. I already told the angels that when I die I want a buffet table waiting for me instead of loved ones I said, I can see the loved ones after I eat from the buffet. I even told them what I would like. I used to tell them quite often when I was losing all the weight. The angels likely were rolling their eyes

Sundog Awesome that someone is driving your mother to her hair appointment. That news must have felt great. How far from you does she live? never thought of cooking meatloaf in a slow cooker. great idea. re birdwatching while driving, I hear ya. I try to not do cloud watching while driving. Sometimes thats not as easy as it sounds. We rarely have totally clear days. And those clouds do make such great shapes. Hands on the wheel. Eyes on the road. Clouds and birds must wait for red lights thanks for asking about Basil and Rosemary. They are outside tonight. Its going to be warm enough. But I have been bringing them in at night. My sweethearts. Sadly, little black flies hitch rides on them. So now I have manyyyy lives in my home. Someone told me to put cider vinegar in little votive candle holders. They think its a treat. But really its a ticket to tiny fly heaven. They are like fruit flies. I do not want them feeding on my plants. And I find them on my food and floating in my drinking glasses. So Cider vinegar it is. If I could catch and release them outside I would. And if I could live with them I would. But I do not want anything doing the back stroke in my water.
Okay, I am garrulous tonight. Will stop before I write a book chapter.

Today was a bit of a challenge for me. For the past many days every day has been a bit wacky. Something has been coming up for me that is causing a bit of a challenge. Wanting to eat more because of it. BUT I have not had chocolate for maybe a week. That's a miracle. Next miracle will be stopping the snack food, bamba or vegan robs cheese puffs. The carbs calm me. And the crunch makes me a happy camper, lol
edited in: Had bittersweet Belgian chocolate callets, a cookie and peanutbutter for dinner.


Hoping you both have a good Tuesday.