Sakai: The picnic and your time there sounds awesome!! Glad you had a good time. So, tell me more about your bullet journal. What is that? What do you write in it?

As for me, just trying to get over this cough. It makes it even harder because we have so much smoke in the area. It is just hazy from all the wildfire smoke. I wish we would get some rain to cleanse it all out!! Anyway, just trying to survive the week and hoping I'll be able to hit it hard again next week.

A double post for me. I hope that all is going well for everyone!! Not much to say here, just coughing....

diane: darn smoke and allergies and fires! Who needs all that nonsense. I myself am dealing w/molds evidently = that and pigweed, hogweed, ragweed, pines you name it - it's mixing in the air. Have you done all of your visits and family time that you spoke of earlier?

sakai: I have a good thing journal to work on - you know - write down 5 good things about your day/life or this one is more specific- it asks you to write down specific good things. I am suppose to do it weekly but that doesn't happen. I am now on list the reasons your loved one loves you - I have 2 of them right now. And my two are pretty low on my list of what I hope. Any who - I don't know why I struggle so with that one question. I will have to return to it and try to list all I can. Hows the smoke by you? Any new dust storms?

toasted: A PhD?! Woot for you! Is that something you will study in your country or go abroad for? I send kudos to any of you who go back to school after a period of time - I have no desire - I would feel totally out of it I'd think - I have picked up a class or two at the tech school for a refresher - but I felt at that time, though I was learning - that I was seriously having my free time eaten into. So if you can do it and find good balance - hats off to you! Will you be able to still work at your current job? How's the rainy season? Is it passed?

uber: Are you in the 0s yet? By all accounts I'd have to think you are working your way to that number! When does your son return and are you still hanging w/your mom? I am reading one of my nonsense summer authors - she just makes an easy read and it's set in an enjoyable area of the country mixed in with a bit of love (always a bit of that is good!), intrigue (simple) and humor (a must for me). I know you write - but do you enjoy reading others? What's often a book you grab? I confess a few of my favorite books to pick up year after year were written in the 30s-40s about pioneer life. I don't know if it's because some of it mimics my families story of the new country of that in reality the story is ageless. Did you solve your clothing dilemma?

Hello all!

AM: I offered DH a challenge beginning next Monday - we are both going to try to loose 2 lbs a week until our trip. I am just floating high in numbers that I didn't want to revisit. He's way up there too - I guess ice cream and inactivity are our friends! He's thinking he'll join me. One thing that would help him is learning good portion sizes and for myself - clearing the house of sweets! Alas I won't try to sweat the small stuff - I will just try to focus on IF, getting a daily walk in, and water. Simple right? Well, I also need to throw - get the brain in the game too!

I am thinking of buying some fabric to make a travel wardrobe - because sometimes it's nice to have a few new pieces when you go on vacay. I have to make an extra swimsuit (unsure of the pattern - kind of disgruntled on that front - I need to do something w/the chest - but I am afraid to sew my own underwire contraption up to help. Plus I hate swimming in wires. I'd like a new easy type of dress and maybe a few shorts. Will have to see. I was just reading on the way that we will be driving - has been inundated w/flood waters due to the rain - granted there is still a lot of time before we go - but I guess one needs to be aware of these type of things!

Otherwise - just know I am crazy busy w/summer and kids - diets out the window for the next few days and I hope SERIOUSLY HOPE I can pull this old gal back on track relatively easy. It seems August is always my time to whip it back in shape. And I am not talking round as a shape anymore!

And I hit up the menards sale yesterday - I got more plantings for my yard on summer closeout - best way to buy in my opinion - unless you are plant looking specific! I had an overall type I was looking for. Now if I was good I'd wait again this year until they were all a $1 - but you get the real stragglers - eventually they will do just fine - you got to give them extra love - however right now - I feel like getting them in the ground and a bit taller before WINTER - did I say that crappy word? I did! Do you know it's less then 6 months until Christmas? How's that for a thought?

Happy day all - may weight fall of you! Hello to all those missing - living their summer lives - or lurking. Hop on in!

Lemon: I did finish up family visitations last weekend. I have one quick trip in a few weeks to see some friends, but that is a quick weekend. I like your new challenge with your hubby. I am hoping this weekend to get over this coughing thing I have going on, so that I can get back to full workout activity. We'll all get back on track!!

I am going to try to get some rest this weekend. I want to get some stuff done, too, but I really need to get over this cough/cold thing. Driving me crazy.

Have a good weekend all!

Tomorrow I weigh in and see what damage is done. But I’m also going to try my darndest to eat right, drink water, walk and finally get back to IF. I’ll just tell my kids I’ll eat later.

Wish me luck!

Note! - I thought I posted this already. I wrote it up yesterday and I guess I forgot to hit "post" @.@

Lemon- There was a Haboob thursday and we got the remains on friday. Basically gave the air a brown hazy/ foggy look. It wasn't bad, better than smoke.

Dropping in on the weekend. Rare for me, I know.
My chick hatching didn't go as planned. The eggs were 2 days late hatching so we broke them open and found that they died 3 or 4 days before they were supposed to hatch. They were formed though! so we were close. We believe (Between research and chatting with other more experienced hatchers) that we had the humidity far too high.
My man built me a incubator, much larger than the one we bought and more trustworthy temp and humidity controls. So fingers crossed for round two.
With all this excitement/disappointment this week, I did pretty well in the weight loss department. I am determined not to gain over the weekend and so far so good. I've actually lost a little. But I won't know if I'm successful until tomorrow though. only 0.8 pound to go until I hit a new decade. ^.^

Lemon- Good luck!
I didn't gain this weekend! I'm super happy with myself for not gaining the customary 3-5 pounds of water weight. I did gain some from Saturday (I fasted) to Sunday. but from Friday to right now, I weigh the exact same. I'm hoping to see that new decade in a few days.

235.3

Ugh. Well I’m trying - restarting and all. The day has begun and I have my coffee and am trying my darndest to keep to my IF. My challenge w the DH begins. I’m going to try and get my walk in as well. I can do this - but I’m just repeating what I lost before.

The dancing broccoli is not coming out just yet maybe if my scale begins to go down.

Sakai: good to hear you found what caused the demise of the eggs. What’s neat is you know when they should be open by. Fantastic you have a crafty man to build you a new incubator. Is your plan to put the chicks into production and eat the mamas? This part I don’t know much on.

Hello all!

Am: I’ve got my water on to boil - batch 2 of salsa today! I still haven’t tried the first batch. It looks awfully good! Got to love getting nature’s bounty put up for the cold months! We also got the freezer cleaned out for the beef arrival. Last night we had grilled ribeyes and corn on the cob - I’m using up what remains of the beef we had left. Maybe that’s partly why the weight is high from the weekend. Well and he simple fact I’ve been coasting poorly!

Happy start to a new week all! Maybe we can all find success this week.

Midday update: I got through my IF window it was hard the last hour so I went and did a 35 minute walk. Woot! And I also have one jug of water in me so that’s good too. I only need to get two more in. Calorie wise I’m doing fine too. So here’s hoping I’m righting the ship that’s been listing.

257.2

Sakai: Sorry about the chicks. That is a little disappointing, I'm sure. But maybe this next time will be better. It isn't always easy to use an incubator. We have one and have had mixed results on it. At least you had good news with the weekend weight! That's one thing that is particularly hard to figure out, how to maintain discipline on the weekend, to avoid weight gain!!

Lemon: Well, there you go! You're off and running with getting back on track. I know how frustrating it can be to relose. I'm going to be doing that too. Ugh! Sounds like you're having some success with salsa, though! There's a victory!

As for me, I am up on the scale. I didn't do well last week with being sick, no working out and eating was not monitored very closely. So, I am recommitting.... again.... to getting back on track. I went to Spin this morning and I've recorded all on MyFitnessPal. I'm thinking that it is partially from the weekend, and the bloating that happens sometimes. I was outside a lot, but I don't know if that was the reason. It doesn't matter. I have to be honest, record my weight, record my exercise, and record my food.

As for working out, I need to decide what to do tomorrow. I think that since my weekends are going to be a little busy for the next 2-3, I'll go to Body Pump tomorrow. I'll save the rest day for the weekend, at least for now.

Lemon-Back on track! whooo! You can do this! Restarting it always hard. That's why we have this thread, for us restarters.
Eventually yes, I do plan on switching out the flock with the new babies. I always wanted a self sustaining flock but my breed of hens don't go broody very well so I need to incubate the eggs if I want my own chicks. At the moment the hens are laying well, there is one in there that's over 2 years old and she is slowing down, once she stops, she'll be soup. (I try very hard not to get attached to my chickens for this reason, no names, nicknames or anything.) And then last years hens will go and so on and so on. I get about 2 years out ofhensbefore they start to lag in egg production, But if my incubator works well, then I may start hatching more often for meat birds.

Slashnl- glad to hear that you're feeling better. Restarting after a illness always sucks. I'm never sure if I should jump all in or take it slow. Depends on how bad one feels I guess. Take care and don't over do it until you know you're all better. ^.^

As for me the scale stayed the same. But I'm okay with that, I maintained all weekend so a steady scale is fine. (Just as long as it starts to move down again soon LOL)
I notice that I have a handful of foods (Around 10) that I stick to and never really change from. I know these food are safe on my diet and I know what their portions are. It just hit me how weird it is that my menu slowly shrunk so far. I think maybe this is why I gain on the weekends, because I tend to break away from these and go into different, but still diet safe, foods and over do the carbs (I blame the vegetables or perhaps it's the berries)
Something to think about. Hmmm

234.0

Well once again working my down the darn 230s. I loathe the 30s and let myself get there once again. According to happy scale - I gained 14 pounds since I last registered. That stinks!

I just finished my walk - nothing great - 35m minutes while telling my youngest not to haul crap upstairs as they always do. ARGH. I usually do 2 miles in that time but with the last two walks no dice, unless my iPod is missing my swiftness as I turn corners in my basement. Who knows. I'll just keep telling myself I am a swift walker and even it's algorithms can't catch me!

I have my doctors appointment next week - I had hoped to be lots less, as I see this one yearly for post cancer check. I can't even recall if I need to be fasting for the bloodwork - I usually have to have my A1C checked, now the question is - do I need to make sure I eat better before bedtime and later in my evening so my bloodsugars aren't super wacky? I really don't need to do that at all.

Sakai: Well it sounds like you are working your way to making sure you have chicken to eat in all forms! Do you prep them for the freezer or do you take them to someone else to dress the bird? My FIL takes them to the Amish down the road. My granny use to do it all the time - I have no desire for that portion of work either Weekends - always my diet enemy. You can do it - really its probably more salt then anything. Mine is soda - and I know enough to stay away from it but do I? NO. And ice cream - but I am trying to bring that into realm - I normally don't eat it year round as I do in the summer months.

diane: How are you feeling today? Did the cough leave and the smoke clear?

Hello all!

AM: well you see my foibles above - I am trying however it may be. Maybe I can at least be in the 220s by my appointment next week. However I have family travel this weekend - and you all know what happens to me with that. I WILL TRY MY BEST>

256.2

Sakai: Sounds like a good plan with the chickens. My husband does the butchering of our chickens/ducks/turkeys. I just can't do it. I'm not really attached, but I can't chop heads. Glad you are maintaining! That is so much better than gaining!!!!

Lemon: The smoke is still here. I'm still coughing, but not as bad. I think it will go away at some point!! I hope you enjoy your travel time. It is hard to keep focused during those times, but you want to be able to have a nice time with family!

As for me, I didn't go to the gym today. I just didn't feel up to it. I think I'll go back tomorrow and not worry about today. Working back into a good plan, I guess. I did lose a little from yesterday, probably just the bloating from the weekend. Gotta get back down below the 250's though!!!!

Hi everybody! I am a regainer who has 140 pounds to lose, so I thought I'd jump into some of the threads so I can start to get to know people!

I've only been dieting for about a week, so I lost 3.8 lbs due to water weight. After that I'm hoping to lose 2.5 lbs a week since I weight 286 right now and 2.5 lbs is less than 1% of my total body weight so I figured that would be a safe rate until I drop below 250 lbs. Fingers crossed my body will cooperate with the weight loss!

Megwini- You're here! LOL, I just left a comment on your post about joining us here..and here you are! So happy to see you joining us!

Lemon- We do all the processing. My man slaughters and guts them, I pluck and clean them and prep them for the freezer. A friend gifted me a 10'x10'x6' kennel that she never even opened. They go for over $100 and she gave it to me when I told her we were going to build a second coop. So Most of my first meat birds will be going to her in thanks. Until then, she gets all the free eggs she wants LOL
Perhaps you should call and make sure you do or don't need to fast. Would suck to have to go back later and get the bloodwork redone.

Slashnl- yeah I can't do the butchering either, I make my man do it. But I kinda feel bad because now I know he's a bit of a softy and only does it because it spares me having to do it. Although...I've learned he's got his eyes on a few that like to attack him. he's counting the days he can cull them out of the flock. LOL

As for me, I've hit a bit of a stall. I didn't gain on my weekend but didn't lose anything so far this week either. (LOL I'm so impatient, this week is only 3 days old.) I do suspect TOM is gearing up. It's been a mess since my new birth control so I can't really time it anymore. I'll have to wait and see. Still, it's better than gaining. ^.^

233.6

Meg: welcome! Summer is a hard time for regaining for me and I slowly get going again in August as evident the last few years. Good luck to you! This is a good group some have been busy and out the last few weeks but I’m sure they’ll pop in soon enough.

Sakai: day for helpful friends! Good for you on having a system for processing. I know my DH is a hunter and he loathes gutting. Frankly I’m not a fan of any of it - and I’d rather not be near it when it happens. I hate adjusting to any new meds - is it something you can ask your doctor for something different?

Diane: no more smoke! I think that’s be hard and I’m waiting for it to lifter our air here shortly - we eventually get what’s left in our wind stream - not huge but it does make a difference to our air too. How was getting back to exercise today?

Hello all!

Am: well the day has started for me. I’m having my coffee and it’s kind of a slow start. That’s fine. I’ve been doing ok w the return to IF. But I find that last hour is a bit of a fight. I’ve been walking in that area of time when it happens and it keeps me from running to the fridge or pantry.

Not that my scale is moving by leaps and bounds but I’m hopeful to be back into the 20s by my appointment next week. Even if it’s 229 that’s better than high 50s. I can do this - or so I need to remind myself.

Happy day to all of you. I’m sure I’ll wake up soon enough. Maybe I should go walk now.

254.4

Megwini - Welcome! It sounds like you have a good plan and are ready to get the weight off! We're all working on getting some progress, too, so glad you are here!

Sakai - Yeah, I'm pretty lucky for now. My son is close by, so he and my husband do the butchering and plucking. All I do is clean them up and wrap them for freezing. Oh, and the cooking. I do the cooking!!! Ha! Hopefully your weight will move soon and in the right direction!!

Lemon: Looks like you're making your way out of the 230's! Kind of a pain to work on it again, but you're getting there quickly!! Yay!

As for me, I dropped some more on the scale. I was glad to see that. I wasn't perfect yesterday with eating, so it was a little surprising, but I'll take it. I went to spin class this morning. It felt much better than Monday did. I am not sure what I'll do tomorrow. I don't know if I want to go to Body Pump. Maybe just the treadmill?