Winter makes it killer hard. I tend to do more 'banking' in the winter. They had none yesterday, so if we go over a little today, it is not the end of the world. I also work at home and homeschool, so I know what you mean. The only way it happens is for me to just say, "Go play." When you think about it, we did not have 24-hour kids' programming when I was little. We played. My kids have a playroom, and I get them in there, get them started, then I can to my thing. Right now, we have a little village made of cardboard boxes, so they run their cars around and pretend. I post a schedule every morning, so they know when screen time will happen. When there is 'discussion', I refer them to the schedule and tell them what they need to be doing.

My motivation is that my son has shown signs of being easily screen-addicted. When we tell him to turn it off, sometimes he loses it, beyond normal complaining. I am afraid to let that take root.

And sometimes it fails miserably. I plan something that I think will take them 30 minutes, and it is over in 6. Those are the days they get a little more time, but I dock them at some point during the week to make up for it.

Hi Blue Team!

I had my first week's weigh-in this morning (I'm a Wednesday weigh-in)
and I lost 5.5 lbs!!!! :cheer2:

I know the first week is usually the best because of losing all the water weight.....but I'm stoked and ready to keep this momentum up!

It has really helped me having my husband wanting to eat healthier too.

"Why Am I Fat?".......that's something I really need to figure out!
otherwise I'll end up back here again........and again, and again, and again!

I'm glad that you answered that, I don't have kids, but I was seriously thinking about locking the dog in the bedroom this morning after a bad attempt at a yoga tape. She likes to think that if I'm on the floor it's playtime.

Sara - 5.5 pounds is AMAZING!!! Great job!

Dee - LOL about your dog!

Anna - yeah, my littlest one sometimes thrown fits when we turn the tv off too. Recently, big sister, Olivia, is into "reading" to her and she LOVES that. And they like playing dress up. Olivia is very motherly - some might call it bossy! - to little sis, but usually Melina takes it in stride and goes along with "whatever". Right now actually they are out in the living room playing school. But when I do use the TV as a distraction so I can get work done, I do feel guilty. I grew up without a TV (and was homeschooled for years) so that was never an issue for me when I was a kid.

WTG, SARA!!!!! I'm so impressed! Great start! You're probably right and will not see another huge loss like that, but you never know!

onthetee - I'm a homeschooling mom in Bloomington! :) Howdy, neighbor!

Amberelise - I know how it is though - you feel like you're the wierd one with special problems and then you come here and find out you're actually just a variation of "normal"! Everyone had their demons.

amberelise - my sister's boyfriend's daughter has the same problem. She's only 11. :( They literally have to lock the refrigerator & food cabinets if they leave her at home (which they try not to do because of her age & this overeating problem), otherwise she will literally eat until she becomes sick. Oddly though, she acts like she's not hungry when we're having a family dinner, like hardly eats at all. It's when she's alone that she binges.



So I didn't get up at 5:30. I've been having vertigo really bad from lack of sleep so I stayed in bed til 6:12 when I HAD TO get up. :( BUT... I redeemed myself and as soon as I got the beebees down for their naps, I popped Denise Austin into the VCR and did 25 minutes. :) YAY! Time for a snack now.



Would anyone else be interested in doing a weekly thread instead of one??? Seriously... poring through page after page trying to find where I left off is going to make this challenge a lot less fun for me. If no one else agrees and you all love having 900 page threads then cool. ;) Just thought I'd see if anyone else was interested in a weekly thread?

"Steel Cut Oats are a very traditional version of the oat that are making a huge comeback. Oprah and Dr. Oz frequently talk about steel cut oatmeal because of the delicious flavor, wonderful texture, and astounding nutritional benefits.
Rather than taking the whole oat and rolling it flat like a rolled oat, steel cut oats are simply chopped, so they are the least refined, much closer to the natural oat grain, and therefore, more nutritionally complete. Thus, they take longer to cook and also take a long time to digest which means they are highly satiating and have a low glycemic index which keeps blood sugar levels from spiking."
I copied a portion of an article about steelcut oatmeal as they can explain it so much better than I can. I buy mine at the regular grocery store. Quaker just came out with some under their brand. On Sunday evenings, I put 1 cup of oats to 4 cups of skim milk in my crock pot and cook on low heat overnight (8 hours)Sometimes, I'll throw in type of dried fruit, nuts, cinnamon...whatever I think might taste good. I then refrigerate it for 3-4 days. Each morning, I microwave 1/2 cup and add tsp of Smart Balance and some Splenda. I love this stuff. Once you try steelcut oatmeal, you find out how awful the instant stuff tastes.

Ooooh, very interesting. But what do I do if I don't own a crockpot? I live in a studio so I have tried to minimize the kitchen clutter. Is there any other way to prepare them?

I would add blueberries to mine. I am a blueberryaholic.

I'm sorry, I don't mean to write so much today. But, I have a ton of energy and I'm not sure what to do with myself. I'm chained to my desk because I'm here at work. I can't get up and walk around because Mr. Man does not like it when I am not at my desk. I have so much energy that whenever I *do* get work I fly through it. I have been so productive today it's sick.

But, right now I'm all caught up. So, what do I do? I don't know! So, I just keep waiting for each of you to post so I can reply with something. I'm trying to keep my mind off of food. I forgot to eat breakfast this morning. I'm not sure how I forgot, I just did. It's probably because I wasn't hungry after my gorging last night on cereal, luna bars & crab legs.

Anyhoo, I had a yogurt, boca burger & whole wheat bun and a snack pack of applesauce packed. I had my yogurt as my breakfast. Around noon I ate my boca burger. All I have is the applesauce left. I am not hungry. Therefore, I should not eat the applesauce. Besides, if I ate the applesauce, then when 4 pm comes along and I really am hungry I will be a sad girl!

So, I am trying to occupy my mind until I am truly hungry. What to do, what to do. . .

Yesterday was nice because I was so behind with our thread. I think I spent over an hour reading what everyone posted and that kept me very occupied. I have over 3 hours left today, though. Three hours is a lot of time to try and suck up. I've considered calling my mom, but I called her three times yesterday in my attempt to not boredom eat. I'm not sure I have anything left to say to her? Plus, she's at work too. And, Mr. Man does not like it when I am on the phone.

No, that wouldn't work for me. I understand that reading through the posts can get time consuming, but the daily thread helps to keep me motivated and accountable and is the main reason I signed up for the challenge. Did you know you can go right into the thread and start from where you left off last time? Right beside the title of our thread, "TBL-"WMB"-Blue Team Chat" there will be three dots that make up a 'V' shape. Click on that 'V' and it will take you to the next unread post in the thread. This might save you some time.

And, the sad reality is.....as time goes on, we lose participants.:( The thread gets quieter and quieter. At that time, Chellez might combine all three team threads. In the meantime, I'm loving the exitement and participation around here!

And, a big 'Thank you' to everyone who has posted their responses to the question 'Why Am I Fat.' I find it so fascinating how everyone can have so many diverse reasons for gaining the weight. Is it any wonder why our medical world has not been able to make much of a dent in "curing" obesity? There can't be one cure.

Ha! I have the same problem. I was doing a Pilates video a few days ago, and my dog kept bringing toy after toy up to me trying to get me to play with her. She'd bring a toy, lay it down next to me, and stare. Then, when she decided that apparently that wasn't the toy I wanted to play with, she'd go get another one. It was pretty cute (and hard to resist ignoring the lady on the pilates video to play with her!).

Amber - When I'm bouncing with energy at work and chained to my desk, sometimes I surf for new recipes, make my menus, plan my workouts, etc.

Erin - The minute I give up to go play with my dog, she's no longer interested. The next dog is gonna be a grayhound, or something that wants to run.

Sara - WTG on the loss! Since Rhonda has assigned up all a 2.34 pound loss this week :D, may I borrow some of yours? My scale wasn't looking so kind this morning.

You can do them on the stove just as easily. I usually do ours on Tuesday morning for the week. I use frozen blueberries to cool them off!