Hello all! I don't know if anyone remembers me but I used to on here...I checked out for some time. Old diet did not work out at all. I was trying to find a balance between my crazy weekends and weekdays. The balance didn't work and I actually gained more weight in 2019. It was a stressful time in my life and so hard to focus. I finished graduate school last year though and at the beginning of this year I knew I was ready to get back on the horse.
I've lost 12 lbs so far. I usually aim for about 4 lbs a month. In early March I went on a 10 day cruise vacation though and ate whatever I wanted to so I am behind in a sense. (Before anybody asks there was not a covid-19 outbreak on my ship I was very lucky) My philosophy hasn't changed. I'm here for a lifestyle change and don't plan on being too hard on myself. Each month is a new month to me. Each season is a new season. I have started a new diet that includes eat everything days and fasting days. It has been working out for me. When I was back on here I used to do 5 days eating less and 2 days eating more but it was too vague and hard for me to manage. Fasting vs. a cheat day is more black and white to me.
Last edited by bloominbutterflies; 04-26-2020 at 05:53 PM.
bloominbutterflies welcome back and happy to see that you have started this new year on a positive note. This journey is really about finding what works and what doesn't, and that is so different from person to person, and even from period to period in our own lives. Congratulations on completing grad school as well, I'm sure there was a lot of pressure to deal with towards the end, but it is a tremendous accomplishment!
curvynotlumpy I was really worried that I would end up eating all day, being bored at home all this time, but really I have no cravings. It helps that there is only healthy food at home as well. But I can't say that I've been cleaning as much as I had planned to. Kudos to you for tackling all that paperwork. Yes I am following what is going on in the USA regarding ending confinement and I am fascinated/horrified at how some state governors are going about it. In Canada, anything health-related is a provincial jurisdiction, so as much as Trudeau would prefer that all provinces follow the same guidelines/timelines to end confinement, each province will do what they want. But we haven't seen any plans as quick and "extreme" as for example what is going on in Georgia. Our provincial government will release its plans for de-confinement this week. We think he's going to start slow with certain industries, only in the outer regions, where COVID-19 has been under control and only rare new cases have come up recently. I'm in the Montréal greater area, where the pandemic has hit the hardest, so I think we'll be the last region to start de-confinement.
It is indeed sad to see how this pandemic has affected the poorest people the most. There are great inequalities and students here have felt it here as well. Right off the bat, you had private secondary schools giving online classes on fancy tablets to their students, while public schools had nothing. The government provided primary school students with a terrific online website full of activities and resources, but kids without access to a computer could not benefit. And university students here were even prevented for a quite a while from even going into the university to recuperate a laptop or tablet that they might have left behind. Most universities here will either let students decide if they accept the final grade they get this semester or if they wish to call it an incomplete, so they can take the course again under better circumstances. But of course that comes at a price as well. It's terrific what your university is doing to help its students the best it can. Everyone is having to adjust.
So this week I am going to log everything I eat in MyFitnessPal, as well as my exercise, to make sure that I am really in a 500 calorie deficit per day (or 3500 calories during the week), to see if the number on the scale finally moves. I've had a very productive first day and I even had time to enjoy a movie with David (we watched Rocketman, quite enjoyable).
Have a great end to your weekend everyone!
1: 5.2km walk + 32 minutes flexibility workout
2: 3.2km walk + 40 minutes barre workout
3: 3.2km walk
4: WEEK 1:
5: 3.2km walk + 37 minutes HIIT workout + 10 minutes lower body strength training
6: 3.2km + 58 minutes upper body strength training with core training intervals
7: 3.2km walk
8: 3.2km + 40 minutes lower body strength training
9: 40 minutes upper body strength training + 20 minutes cardio and core workout
10:
11: 31 minutes flexibility workout WEEK 2:
12: 3.2km walk + 42 minutes HIIT and lower body strength training workout
13:
14:
15: 38 minutes upper body strength training + 10 minutes core workout
16:
17: 51 minutes upper body strength training + 28 minutes flexibility workout
18: WEEK 3:
19: 3.2km walk + 45 minutes HIIT and upper body strength training intervals + 10 minutes lower body strength training
20: 3.2km walk
21: 3.2km walk + 33 minutes steady-state cardio workout
22: 35 minutes total body strength training + 15 minutes HIIT workout
23:
24: 3.2km walk + 35 minutes HIIT and core workout + 28 minutes flexibility workout
25: WEEK 4:
26: 3.2km walk + 10 minutes HIIT + 42 minutes lower body strength training
I hope everyone had a good weekend and spent some time doing something they really enjoyed to the extent that anyone can right now.
bloominbutterflies: Of course I remember you! Welcome back and on earning your graduate degree! It makes perfect sense why you needed to step back while you were completing your studies. Once I truly buckled down it was school 24/7 until I completed my graduate degree years ago. You put in a lot of hard work and laid a solid foundation so I'm not surprised that you're already seeing success as indicated by your 12 pound loss.
Martine: I'm glad that Canada is taking a slower approach to reopening. I'm a very cautious person by nature so I'd like to believe that a slow roll-out benefits everyone. Thanks for the details on the issues your schools are experiencing. The digital divide is a very real thing. We are such creatures of habit and we get used to how things are, or have been, that when something comes along to rock us to our foundation we're at a loss. I can't think of anyone who thought mass scale and long-term school/university closures were possible. Okay, maybe a few schools had such a contingency plan but certainly not many. I think you're using your time off well and to your advantage. And to have no cravings is a bonus ! I always believed that if I had a stretch of time at home I would get back into good exercise and eating habits and that has not been the case. Actually, my eating is mostly fine and I hardly do any take-away so that has helped a bunch. My exercise and/or will to exercise is lacking. I am consistent with my walking though.
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Happy Monday! Here's to a great week
bloominbutterflies: Of course I remember you! Welcome back and on earning your graduate degree! It makes perfect sense why you needed to step back while you were completing your studies. Once I truly buckled down it was school 24/7 until I completed my graduate degree years ago. You put in a lot of hard work and laid a solid foundation so I'm not surprised that you're already seeing success as indicated by your 12 pound loss.
Martine: I'm glad that Canada is taking a slower approach to reopening. I'm a very cautious person by nature so I'd like to believe that a slow roll-out benefits everyone. Thanks for the details on the issues your schools are experiencing. The digital divide is a very real thing. We are such creatures of habit and we get used to how things are, or have been, that when something comes along to rock us to our foundation we're at a loss. I can't think of anyone who thought mass scale and long-term school/university closures were possible. Okay, maybe a few schools had such a contingency plan but certainly not many. I think you're using your time off well and to your advantage. And to have no cravings is a bonus ! I always believed that if I had a stretch of time at home I would get back into good exercise and eating habits and that has not been the case. Actually, my eating is mostly fine and I hardly do any take-away so that has helped a bunch. My exercise and/or will to exercise is lacking. I am consistent with my walking though.
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I hope everyone had a good weekend and spent some time doing something they really enjoyed to the extent that anyone can right now. I have three Zoom meetings on my calendar for today. Thankfully I'm just a participant and don't have to lead them. Other than the meetings, I have emails to catch up on and need to prepare the agenda for my team meeting tomorrow among other things. Wednesday is our full unit staff meeting and we all received an email from our director that we're going to have a surprise Zoom baby shower for a colleague who is expecting in June.It will be wonderful to send good wishes her way (gifts will have to wait) but it would have been so much more fun in person! Well, we'll do the best that we can
curvynotlumpy if you are keeping up with walking, you are exercising. Have you thought of trying to get back into running? It's great that you are eating better, ie less take-out. I think take-out has actually increased here since sit-down restaurants are closed. There hasn't been a day I haven't seen delivery people out on our street. Yeah it's clear to see that no one ever thought the current situation would be possible and to prepare for it. We had SARS and H1N1 and MERS before. Sure the epidemics were contained quickly, but anyone could see that a bug of that nature could strike again at any moment and in even worse ways. I was reading about SARS yesterday and really, it is history repeating itself in China, where they try to keep everything quiet until it's too late and people have travelled abroad and brought the virus with them. Part of human kind never learns.
So our government announced its plans to partially reopen schools and daycare centres, but we have to wait until tomorrow to learn what are the plans for businesses. Only primary schools and daycare centres will be reopening to finish out the school year, on May 19th in my area. Universities were able to finish their semesters online, colleges and secondary schools will give a passing grade without final exams to all students who were passing by the time schools closed. Primary school/returning to daycare will not be mandatory for the rest of the year and classes will be limited to 15 students per room (much less in daycare). All children who suffer from health issues are advised not to return until September, as well as if their parents are at risk. They'll install plexiglass screens to protect the school bus drivers, who are often of a certain age and more at risk. And now there will be endless debates on tv and radio shows about sending your kids to school or not. It will be really interesting to see what they announce for businesses tomorrow.
Again today I am determined to finish the day in a calorie deficit. I can't see myself logging my food and calculating my calories forever, as I really don't have the patience for it, but right now it's helping me analyze why I am not losing any more weight. I'll probably stick with it a couple of weeks and see if anything stands out. I just completed 2 upper body workouts, a standard one with weights, and one made up of multiple variations of push-ups. I can't do push-ups, only on a wall or on my knees (but not fully stretching out my body), but I completed all the intervals and that was a big improvement from the last time I tried this workout, when I gave up on most exercises. And that is what has kept me motivated despite this plateau.
1: 5.2km walk + 32 minutes flexibility workout
2: 3.2km walk + 40 minutes barre workout
3: 3.2km walk
4: WEEK 1:
5: 3.2km walk + 37 minutes HIIT workout + 10 minutes lower body strength training
6: 3.2km + 58 minutes upper body strength training with core training intervals
7: 3.2km walk
8: 3.2km + 40 minutes lower body strength training
9: 40 minutes upper body strength training + 20 minutes cardio and core workout
10:
11: 31 minutes flexibility workout WEEK 2:
12: 3.2km walk + 42 minutes HIIT and lower body strength training workout
13:
14:
15: 38 minutes upper body strength training + 10 minutes core workout
16:
17: 51 minutes upper body strength training + 28 minutes flexibility workout
18: WEEK 3:
19: 3.2km walk + 45 minutes HIIT and upper body strength training intervals + 10 minutes lower body strength training
20: 3.2km walk
21: 3.2km walk + 33 minutes steady-state cardio workout
22: 35 minutes total body strength training + 15 minutes HIIT workout
23:
24: 3.2km walk + 35 minutes HIIT and core workout + 28 minutes flexibility workout
25: WEEK 4:
26: 3.2km walk + 10 minutes HIIT + 42 minutes lower body strength training
27: 3.2km walk + 33 minutes upper body strength training + 16 minutes push-ups workout
Martine I feel the same and have the same experience as you regarding tracking my food. I'm usually pretty consistent in the beginning but as time goes on, I lose patience as well. I'm curious with all the weight workouts you've built into your routine if you are seeing a change in your body composition or if you're clothes are fitting better or differently? You could be stalled to building more muscle. Getting back into running is something I've thought about. I was doing so well in winter quarter running with little running group I was in and even stayed with it for a bit in spring before all heck broke loose. It actually would be the ideal time to get back into it. Since COVID-19 I've definitely seen the increase of runners and walkers out and about.
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Today is one of the two days I come into the office and I find I eat much better when I'm at work than when I'm at home. At least I don't feel the pull to the refrigerator. I can eat only the reasonable lunch I pack for myself and once it's gone it's gone. I'm going to experiment with packing my lunch on the days I'm working from home and see if that has any impact. It's supposed to be in the low 90s today so it definitely feels like summer is just around the corner.
curvynotlumpy 90°F at this time of year?! What will it be come July/August? Regarding fighting the pull of the refrigerator, I have actually been planning all of my meals since last June, ie the night before or morning of, I write down everything I want to eat that day, and I stick to that. For some reason, that method has worked for me. And I do leave room for last minute changes. I usually have breakfast, vegetables for a first snack, lunch, protein and fruit for a second snack and then supper. I just don't have the patience to log foods into MyFitnessPal. weigh everything to make sure I'm logging the right portion, manually enter foods when they're not on their app, etc. It's fun at first, then it becomes annoying for me. To answer your question, since losing 25 or so pounds, I have seen changes in my body shape and my clothes now feel like they used to before I had gotten to 260 last June. But I can't say that since March I have seen any other significant physical changes and certainly no movement on the scale at all. But I can lift heavier on some movements, so I'm trying to focus on the positives.
So today our government announced that starting May 11th in the Montréal area , stores who are not situated within a shopping centre (ie they have door access from the outside) can reopen. With guidelines provided by our provincial health and safety board of course. We know our company has been working on a return-to-work overhaul of our procedures to accommodate our new reality, but we still don't have a lot of information and it's doubtful we'll be ready by May 11th. Stores in other regions in our province can reopen as early as next Monday. We'll see how that goes. We just had a quick Messenger conference call to basically tell us more info is coming, and I had just gone on a long walk and my hair was a total mess (I sweat a lot from my head). I have video chat.
After that call I wasn't feeling very motivated to move but I got through my workout. If I want to see if a deficit of 3500 calories in a week gets the scale moving, I have to be even more consistent this week. That's probably the only reason I worked out today, ie to see my little "experiment" to the end
Hope everyone's week is going well so far!
1: 5.2km walk + 32 minutes flexibility workout
2: 3.2km walk + 40 minutes barre workout
3: 3.2km walk
4: WEEK 1:
5: 3.2km walk + 37 minutes HIIT workout + 10 minutes lower body strength training
6: 3.2km + 58 minutes upper body strength training with core training intervals
7: 3.2km walk
8: 3.2km + 40 minutes lower body strength training
9: 40 minutes upper body strength training + 20 minutes cardio and core workout
10:
11: 31 minutes flexibility workout WEEK 2:
12: 3.2km walk + 42 minutes HIIT and lower body strength training workout
13:
14:
15: 38 minutes upper body strength training + 10 minutes core workout
16:
17: 51 minutes upper body strength training + 28 minutes flexibility workout
18: WEEK 3:
19: 3.2km walk + 45 minutes HIIT and upper body strength training intervals + 10 minutes lower body strength training
20: 3.2km walk
21: 3.2km walk + 33 minutes steady-state cardio workout
22: 35 minutes total body strength training + 15 minutes HIIT workout
23:
24: 3.2km walk + 35 minutes HIIT and core workout + 28 minutes flexibility workout
25: WEEK 4:
26: 3.2km walk + 10 minutes HIIT + 42 minutes lower body strength training
27: 3.2km walk + 33 minutes upper body strength training + 16 minutes push-ups workout
28: 3.2km walk + 36 minutes HIIT and lower body strength training intervals
Hey all! Thanks for your kind words . I'm very glad grad school is behind me. I spent almost 4 years there and that is just way too long. Felt like college would never end. Undergrad took me almost 5 years to complete too. In school fooorreevverrr...
I am wrapping up the end of my month here for April goals. I ended with 185 which meets my goal. Lately I've had a lot of enthusiasm for my long term goals. Hence, coming onto here. It helps too because I am not very happy with the job I currently have. I know it's a fresh out of college job and they are never the best. Still, it's frustrating to be in a job that doesn't even require a degree and doesn't pay great. So I think the diet gives me something positive to focus on while I feel "stuck" somewhere else. I will be applying to a few jobs this year that I really want, but I'm trying to not move out of this position too fast because it's only been a year. On the bright side I have been working at home since St. Patricks day and I love it. Not sure how long it will last, but the present is awesome. So, yeah. Had a great April.
Covid-19 situation in metro Detroit is pretty bad. Our governor moved stay at home still May 15th, but I'm dubious that will really happen. I don't think we will back to eating out and shopping till June 1st. I'm excited to start living my life again.
Last edited by bloominbutterflies; 04-29-2020 at 12:34 PM.
bloominbutterflies: I can certainly relate about being in graduate school too long. Undergrad was normal time to a degree but I started my doctorate immediately after graduating as I had already taken a generous break after high-school. I didn't feel like I had the time to lose so I was totally burned out when I started. Jobs and work have been coming up a lot more recently in my world too. A good friend who also works in student support services at a medical school had been mulling her dissatisfaction with her current position. Prior to COVID-19 she was seriously looking and applying but has decided to stay put because she's union and the job market is unstable for have the time being. You're making a good decision by staying in your job even though it's your first after graduation job. Yes, control the things you can!
Martine: You do what you have to do get that deficit . And if that keeps you motivated to work out when you'd rather not so much the better! Hopefully, you'll see a drop on the scale soon. I'm interested to see how the reopening in different locations works out. Both the county I live in Northern California and the Governor have provided roadmaps to reopening in the last couple of days. In comparison to some places they are slow roll-outs. Governor Newsome did state that schools may be able to return in July or August to help make up for the long time off.
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Today, has been successful so far. I haven't been lured in the my refrigerator's charms at all today . Earlier during our unit staff meeting we celebrated a colleague with a virtual baby shower. She was surprised and thrilled! Again, a true bright point during this very unpredictable and surreal time.
bloominbutterflies congratulations on reaching your goal for the month of April! Looking ahead to long-term goals is a great way to stay motivated despite your current situation. It's good that you are enjoying working from home, something positive to focus on right now. The COVID-19 situation here in Montréal is not the best by far, and yet our government wants to start reopening stores who have direct outdoor access, as well as construction and manufacturing on May 11th, not even 2 weeks from now. I too am eager to enjoy regular activities again but I fear this is much too soon. Other regions in our province can reopen these sectors as soon as Monday the 4th, but they haven't been hit as hard as the greater Montréal area, where I am situated.
curvynotlumpy I see that your governor is closing down the beaches again, all because of some people not following social distancing rules. Give some people an inch and they take a mile How wonderful that you were able to throw your colleague a surprise baby shower! I know people miss those special events and get-togethers, but we all have to be patient if we don't want to remain confined all year. Great job on resisting your refrigerator.
Yesterday was a rest day for me. Well I still was hoping to go for a walk but I was waiting for a package all day, which never even came, not even today, so it was not meant to be. I'm still in a calorie deficit each day, I'll weigh myself tomorrow because I do on the first of each month, even though it hasn't been a week yet since I started my experiment with calorie counting. Can't believe it will be May already. March felt endless but April just flew by.
Off to eat a good meal and catch up on the dvr. Hope everyone will enjoy a nice evening!
1: 5.2km walk + 32 minutes flexibility workout
2: 3.2km walk + 40 minutes barre workout
3: 3.2km walk
4: WEEK 1:
5: 3.2km walk + 37 minutes HIIT workout + 10 minutes lower body strength training
6: 3.2km + 58 minutes upper body strength training with core training intervals
7: 3.2km walk
8: 3.2km + 40 minutes lower body strength training
9: 40 minutes upper body strength training + 20 minutes cardio and core workout
10:
11: 31 minutes flexibility workout WEEK 2:
12: 3.2km walk + 42 minutes HIIT and lower body strength training workout
13:
14:
15: 38 minutes upper body strength training + 10 minutes core workout
16:
17: 51 minutes upper body strength training + 28 minutes flexibility workout
18: WEEK 3:
19: 3.2km walk + 45 minutes HIIT and upper body strength training intervals + 10 minutes lower body strength training
20: 3.2km walk
21: 3.2km walk + 33 minutes steady-state cardio workout
22: 35 minutes total body strength training + 15 minutes HIIT workout
23:
24: 3.2km walk + 35 minutes HIIT and core workout + 28 minutes flexibility workout
25: WEEK 4:
26: 3.2km walk + 10 minutes HIIT + 42 minutes lower body strength training
27: 3.2km walk + 33 minutes upper body strength training + 16 minutes push-ups workout
28: 3.2km walk + 36 minutes HIIT and lower body strength training intervals
29:
30: 33 minutes core workout
on earning your graduate degree! It makes perfect sense why you needed to step back while you were completing your studies. Once I truly buckled down it was school 24/7 until I completed my graduate degree years ago. You put in a lot of hard work and laid a solid foundation so I'm not surprised that you're already seeing success as indicated by your 12 pound loss. 
! I always believed that if I had a stretch of time at home I would get back into good exercise and eating habits and that has not been the case. Actually, my eating is mostly fine and I hardly do any take-away so that has helped a bunch. My exercise and/or will to exercise is lacking. I am consistent with my walking though.
today so it definitely feels like summer is just around the corner.
. Earlier during our unit staff meeting we celebrated a colleague with a virtual baby shower. She was surprised and thrilled! Again, a true bright point during this very unpredictable and surreal time.
How wonderful that you were able to throw your colleague a surprise baby shower! I know people miss those special events and get-togethers, but we all have to be patient if we don't want to remain confined all year. Great job on resisting your refrigerator.
It's up now so join me over 