Toasted – glad to make your acquaintance - sorry I missed greeting you before my vacay!
Those people lose me at cookies tasting disgusting. I really hate those people. Puleese! They are either 1) lying, or 2) lying.

In all seriousness, there is NO WAY I could ever be one of the people who just eat kale for life. Maybe if I’d literally DIE if I ate anything else…otherwise, I want to have a LIFE, not just live. We did try to sample local places in Colorado as much as we could. Shook our heads when our son and his girl just HAD to go to Applebee’s the first night. Really? We could do that at home! Half the fun of travel is trying new things.

BTW, I think it’s great that you are back on track and only regained a little! I regained about 80 of the 100 I lost years and years ago.

Panda! Vegetarian! I like to think I could do that…but the truth is, probably not. Not with the husband I have at least. He’s a very meat and potatoes kind of guy…but better than many. He at least likes trying new things. I used to eat very little red meat…but then would get a steak craving and cave. But I hear vegetarian is a very healthy way to go. Good luck with it!

Laurie – Have I ever told you I love your “goal list”...actually most of you have those, huh? I don’t have one myself, mind you…because I never finish any lists. I’ve had a list of things to do to our house to make it what I really want for 16 years. It’s now become a list of things to do so we can sell our house and move. But life goes on. You and Slashnl both – I have so much envy for your motivation on the weights. I know I need to get back on track there. We fell off the weight-lifting wagon some time ago and never got back on. I really am going to have to just bite the bullet. You know, we even OWN a bowflex – it’s like 10 years old and maybe got used 5 times. Even getting back on that would be a start! Not to mention I PAY for the Y and have only used the pool on Fridays in like 2 months…and now the outdoor pool is closed! There is an indoor, but hubby and I going there means leaving the dogs alone again in the evenings and we try not to do that too often. I really have to get back on the exercise track.

Going home at lunch is killing my step goals. I mostly get about 3000 a day now! I can't take the dog for a walk, because she's developed degenerative myelopathy and has severe problems walking. I could take my little guy and leave the girl at home, but that just seems mean. I guess I'm going to have to try to squeeze in an evening walk.

Annnnddd.....now I'm done with the griping. I'm sure I can find a way to get in the exercise. I just have to quit sitting on my butt after dinner.

Back to my actual job.

Laurie: Definitely the same at my gym. After work is just a circus in the weight area. It is just busy. You can usually get a treadmill or something to do cardio, but you better be ready to be patient if you want to do weights. Ah, mindful eating.... so difficult. Sounds like you're doing ok!

Toasted: LOVE your goals today. I do think, though, that you should try to get to bed early.

Lilion: Ha, Applebees! Gotta love it when kids are not as anxious to try new things. I also do not do well with lists, so I don't make the daily goals either. I do have lists of things I need to do overall, but then I am hit and miss on that one, too.

For me, I missed getting on the scale this morning. It was just a hectic morning, and more issues than it is worth talking about. I probably could have squeezed in the time to do it, but I like to do it before taking a shower, etc, and I didn't get it done. Oh well. Maybe tomorrow will go better. I knew I wasn't going to be able to workout, so that wasn't a problem. I have hopes of going after work, but we'll see how that goes. I just have stuff going on right now, nothing bad, just a lot.

Toasted - The Power of Habit by Charles Duhligg. I listen to audiobooks while I walk. I went into my history to find the title and author, and realized I listened to seventeen books in August through my library's app. These included some non-fiction books, some culturally relevant fiction, and some that were just pure junk food books. So glad I picked up this habit. (See what I did there?) I have no idea whether this strategy is going to work. It certainly failed me yesterday. But I also believe that we are largely a product of the stories we tell ourselves. So, even if the science behind the book is junk science, if it helps me achieve my objectives, I don't care how or why. And I have the same reality that you do. I had a strange and delicious food in my house last night -- a deadly combination for me. And I could have stopped eating it after I had thoroughly enjoyed the first piece (or even two). I didn't. And I ate some before coming to work this morning, and it's still sitting in the pit of my stomach. Yet, every time I think of this food, I want more of it, and would likely be eating it right now if the geographic distance didn't exist between me and it. So, just like your mango misery, I am not feeling particularly equipped to handle this one. So, I'm going to go for a brief walk soon to, hopefully, force this lump in my stomach through the digestive process a bit and to think about why I am willing to trade a moment of pleasure (and, honestly, most of the time when I binge, I don't really want the food) for the inevitable crash and its long-term damage. The only way I'll find answers is by continuing to look, right? Still hoping for your shoes to survive without damage, BTW.

Lilion - I don't know about your son's finances, but I know that when I was that age and my parents came to visit, I lusted after Arby's. I could barely afford groceries, and frequently, baked potatoes made up several meals a week. Arby's was a huge indulgence. I wonder if Applebee's is that for them? But Toasted is right. It sounds like you made some great memories. As for the exercise, there are certainly ways you could increase it, even if just involves pacing with your baby while you're comforting her in your arms. But you know what? Maybe that's not what you need right now. Maybe grieving with your puppy while you're still trying to keep up with all of your responsibilities is taking you to the limit of your capabilities. We all know that the food part of it is way more important than the exercise part, and it sounds like you're doing well with the food part of it. Whatever helps you deal with this challenge is the right thing to do, in my opinion. Hugs.

Diane - I hate when life interrupts my plans! Sounds like that's happening a lot for you right now. You know it's bad when even jumping on the scale becomes a challenge. =) I gotta say - you are very much like the Energizer bunny. Whether it's work or family or the gym, you are ALWAYS moving. Hope you get through this busy season soon and get more time to do the things you really enjoy.

Morning work-outs are not happening now. So much drama about school transportation. So, I think I'm going to try to leave work early today and go for a run. Which will mean just being super focused and getting things accomplished today. I am totally up for it! As soon as I go for a quick 10-minute walk. =)

Goals - (Lilion - I don't always hit all these goals, but it does help me focus. I have a to-do list for work as well that will NEVER get accomplished, but I create a daily goal list from that, and I usually get most of that done.)
1 - Keep trying the mindful eating. And actually work at it, rather than just view it as a license to eat everything in the world.
2 - Run 5 miles
3 - Three sets of wallsits, push-ups, planks
4 - Super focused on work

Hope everyone has a fantastic day!

Hi guys, this is going to be super quick, I say, before even starting or really knowing if this is going to be quick or not. I'd like this to be quick is what I should instead say given that I have a deadline today and am 2 sentences into this check in and still haven't gotten to the point. Le Sigh, y'all.

Yesterday went okay. I slept the longest I've done this week so there is that but it was still just under 6 hours and I know I do best at a minimum of 8. Contrary to my behaviour, I'm not a unique little flower that thrives on 3 hours a night. I like to sleep and I need it. I just don't wind down early enough and working out and work cause me to get up early and it's ALWAYS a drag. I went to bed before 11.30 but stayed up an hour catching up on a podcast. Then I woke up at 4pm to pee and wondered if I had a UTI and spent the hour between 4 and 5 consulting Dr. Google and reading horror stories. Then finally, I realized I was being silly and went back to bed only for my alarm to ring an hour later. Sighhhh....

(I'm realizing this isn't going to be quick after all, at this point).

Re-the shoes. Well the nicest thing that can be said is that they're almost dry. But the insoles are damp and not removable and the shoes smell like wet carpet and I spent a considerable part of yesterday evening doing the most and googling mold in shoes and whether they can give you a foot fungus and worrying about that. Needless to say, there's a pair of sneakers in my Amazon basket that have my name on them. I did another indoor workout in my "fashion sneakers." They're cute but I'm not yet certain how my knee feels about jumping about in said shoes. I'm modifying things a lot and doing a lot of extra stretching and cooling down focusing on it.

Lillion: I suppose if one had to, one really could eat kale forever, but it better bring about world peace or something. All the joy of food would be gone. At that point, just take a food pill or live off soylent or something. Give up taste. Getting off one's butt after dinner is really hard, I agree. I'm a super sedentary person. I'm so sedentary that I don't even enjoy sitting down, I like to lie down and curl up with a book. I like exercise fortunately, but if I'm not exercising, I'm definitely not a mover. i get up to pee and for snacks, pretty much. Since August though, to meet some semblance of my step goals, I've been making myself walk after dinner BEFORE I settle in to molder before bed. I pace the longest hallway in my house with my exercise music in or a podcast or sometimes I catch up on Instagram. It's only about 27 steps each way but with music or a podcast- a half hour or 45 minutes of pacing goes by pretty fast. It's not the most fun, but when I don't want to live the house and I'm determined to get those steps in, that's what I do.

Diane: I hope the rest of your day was less hectic. Life happens and (unfortunately for us all on a weight loss journey) the scale isn't running away. I hope today is going better for you and you're able to do all that you need to.

Laurie: Thanks for sharing the book. I'll check it out. I read a lot too although my ratio tends more towards junk food books than anything (think the romanciest of romance novels) with some popular fiction, historical fiction and the occasional football (soccer) autobiography thrown in. I don't read a lot of non-fiction though. But basically, I work in part to support my Kindle habit. I like to walk to podcasts. It's strange I was never a podcast person till last December but now I'm like "tell me ALL the things. Let me laugh at your jokes and tear up at your experiences." But only in traffic or when I'm walking. I find it odd to be breathing heavily as someone is telling me things in my ear. Almost like I'm awkwarding myself out. So I can't do anything intense to a podcast. I agree that we only find answers if we look and that's why I admire the people in this group so much. It's the never give-up-ness of all of us.

Like Laurie, I also rarely hit all my goals. In fact, I'm a well known "goal/list inflater." I write things like Lunch on my to-do list just so I can have the satisfaction of ticking them off. I have NEVER in my entire life FORGOTTEN to eat lunch or needed to list it so I do it. I'm thinking of lunch as I'm eating my breakfast. Heck I'm already thinking of my breakfast tomorrow and I haven't even had dinner yet. I'm known to put in things that I would have done anyway just so I look like more of an achiever than I am. So yes, I'm a goal cheat.

That said, Goals of the Rest of the Day:
1.) No post-dinner snacks, eat ONLY what's on MFP
2.) Get in at least 6000 steps
3.) Tick off at least 4 items off to-do list.

Wishing you guys a wonderful rest of the day.

Toasted, I do believe we are two of a kind. Re: Sleep. God I wish I could get enough! My husband and I routinely go to bed at 11:30 or later and his alarm rings at 5:45 and mine at 5:50…then these days we fight the snoozes until 6:00…at least. Really, if I went right to sleep, that would be 6 ½ hours…but I don’t and of course there’s the 3 a.m. pee. At least the dog has started sleeping thru the night so I don’t have to walk her. I do MUCH better on 8 hours too. I’m also very sedentary, by nature. My job is sedentary…literally if I didn’t have to pee and drink coffee, I would never move. When I got a fitbit I was shocked to see HOW sedentary I was! If I snag a good parking spot, I can do an entire day under 1,000 steps. That’s just ridiculous! I do NOT enjoy exercise. Well, that’s not entirely accurate. I enjoy how I feel afterwards. I enjoy certain exercises…but when I’m tired like I am these days, I enjoy sitting on my butt more and the thought of going to exercise is just toooooo much!

Laurie, Suzie doesn’t like being carried much, so that’s kind of out, but you’re right. Lately, she just wants to sleep on my lap and you know, she’s soooo sweet and cuddly and I’m going to miss that so much…that I think that may be exactly how I need to spend my evenings. I still need to figure out some exercise, but I think I’m going to just play it by ear. I’ll be back to walking at lunch far too soon.

And now I really should take that potty break and get myself working at work, instead of just playing on the internet.

Everybody else

Just a check in to say hi. I know, that's lame, but it is what it is today.

Hi guys, I'm having issues with the 3FC site today so I don't want to do too much in case it disappears. In any case, not much to report except I didn't exercise this morning. I could have, but I just couldn't make myself do it today. It is what it is. Instead I had a nice lie in and have no regrets. I'll hopefully get some steps in this evening.

Lillion: We're quite the sedentary pair. I think cuddling with your pooch is a more than worthwhile evening endeavor right now.

Diane: "Hi" is never lame. How's it going? Still being run of your feet? Hopefully, you get to catch your breath soon.


The site is wonky so I'm going to save this and try to post it later today but my GOALS FOR THE DAY are:
1.) Get 6000 steps
2.) Eat on plan with MFP log
3.) Complete Task 2 on my to do list

Have a great day, guys!

Toasted - I totally LOVE your declaration that you will have a short post, only to be followed by a delightfully long post! My heart is singing a silent dirge for your beautiful, wonderful shoes. Glad you have the "fashion sneakers" as a back-up, but I go crazy when these small, unexpected things cause such great disruption. You're dealing with it like a champ, though. That's why you have had and continue to have long-term success. Woot! I celebrate the "never-give-up"ness of our group with you, and appreciate that you're such a great example of it. I have been avoiding podcasts, actually, because I worry that I'll get sucked into them, but I've started to listen to Tim Ferriss's stuff. So interesting that we have so many of the same habits, though I'll let you keep your romances and embrace my ever-sillier "thrillers."

Diane - I love that you so consistently get your check-in done. That's the key, right? Always consistent, even if we can't always do everything the way we would if all things in life lined up ideally.

Lilion - Life. Amirite? I imagine, in addition to your puppy's illness, you're dealing with the "just got back to work after vacation" frenzy. Savoring puppy cuddles seems like a super healthy life choice right now.

I have actually been thinking about your something you said in response to the issue of setting daily goals, Toasted. You talked about thinking about your next meal frequently. I realized that I am ALWAYS doing that. So much of my day and my time is devoted to thinking about what I will and won't eat. I HATE it, but I also recognize that, at least for now, it's part of who I am. Since reading your observation, I have now made a point of trying to think through it. For example, I woke up this morning thinking of the cookies that were downstairs. Usually, my thoughts would be about how I would avoid them or indulge in them. This morning, I tried to think about why I wanted the cookie and examine my thought process and my feelings about it. Part of me just wants to rebel at the ridiculousness of it all. Yet, it's not those cookies that are the issue. It's my inability to conquer my overeating. For yesterday (and today, up until this moment), the mindfulness thing is working. I'm making better decisions, and it's not as painful as white-knuckling. We'll see if that continues. I have decided to wait to weigh for a few weeks while I am letting this shake out a bit. The good days/bad days roller coaster is making me crazy as it is. Don't need to add the scale to the equation.

I did decide to work out this morning, even though I knew it would make me late for work. It was a good decision. I rocked my work-out. I also had a really good run last night, up until almost the end when my son called me and I answered, worried it was an emergency. **sigh** Life. Right?

Goals -
1 - Mindful eating, as I've chosen to define it.
2 - 3 sets of body weight exercises
3 - 15K steps

Easy peasy, right?

Toasted: I also loved your long post!! Fun to read and I usually learn something too! Ha! Glad you enjoyed your relaxing this morning, that's always nice.

Laurie: I decided also to not attempt the scale this week at least. I need to just let it be right now. Maybe next week!

For me, I went to the gym today and I was going to go to Body Pump. But, I just didn't want to do it, so I went and did my own thing. Maybe that's just what I need to do right now, to just do some different things. It felt good to be on my own and not having to talk to anyone!

I am really busy right now, more with stuff away from work. Again, nothing bad, just busy stuff. My husband has his own business, so we've been working with the accountant on some things. My 23 yo daughter is needing to get a car, so she's being a little dramatic right now. Ugh. So, just things going on.

Good morning!

I sort of lost my post. Which means - it's there on my IE browser, but my IE browser is not responding, and I can't copy the text the way I normally do to prevent loss. Oh well.

Diane - I love that you decided to do your own thing at the gym. I treasure my gym time, my running, and my walking, as I am not responding to the seemingly unending needs of others. It sounds like you are, in particular, encountering the overwhelming needs of others in your life right now. Being able to take that time for yourself is fantastic. For me, not needing to talk to anyone or interact with anyone during that time can be precious.

I have much good news to share today, actually. I weighed this morning, even though I had decided not to. I am down to 144.6. I decided yesterday to eat some ice cream. I ate a bit more than I wanted/needed, but stopped before I made myself sick. Like - way before I made myself sick. I am working on being more mindful, and it seems to be working. At least for now. I also had a good lifting session yesterday, and I am slightly sore from it. I told my daughter she was taking the bus today so I could run this morning, and I ran 4.2 miles in 44 minutes. A bit slower, but it felt good. I am working on decluttering my home, and made some progress yesterday, so I started the day with a clean, decluttered kitchen. Things are good. I want to work on keeping them there.

Goals for the day -
1 - Get my 20K steps, despite the challenge of being stuck in a CLE (continuing legal education) all day.
2 - Do my 3 sets of bodweight exercises.
3 - Continue focusing on mindful eating, trying to explore and improve my techniques.
4 - Take the weekend to prioritize life goals and make decisions about how to achieve my highest priority goals.

Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!

THIS is the thing I hate most about losing/trying to lose weight. I also find myself spending SO MUCH TIME thinking about food. I think about what I ate, what I'm going to eat, what I'll eat next week, what I shouldn't eat......I get so TIRED of it all. In fact, that's what led to my stopping when I lost 100 lbs and regaining. I was just so TIRED of food! I didn't want to think about it any more. Just...no.

And that scares me a bit because I don't want to do that again. But it seems like I am a person who only focuses on one thing at a time. For a good long while it has been my son...but things there have leveled out. For a time it was my relationship with my husband...but we're really good so that doesn't take much really. At times it's my work. At times it's home improvement. But most of the things that time my focus (other than family) are rather short term. I get behind at work, I focus on that for a couple weeks. Projects get finished. (Well...they get started and I lose interest to be honest there.) But losing weight takes everything I have for ages and I just get sick to death of the thought of it after so long.

I am not a binge eater...I am a thoughtless and lazy eater. I don't eat a box of cookies at a setting. But I think, "hummm...looks good"...and buy them and eat them over a day or two, never once looking at the nutrition label. I order pizza and pick up burgers, because I don't take the time to plan or don't want to waste the time to cook, when I could be doing something else, even if that's just sitting on my butt. That's how I got this big to begin with. I bounced around the 250's for most of my adult life. Sometimes down to 225...sometimes up to 275...but after I met my husband, who is just like me in this way, and he loved me and I loved him and we both loved food, we just happily and thoughtlessly ate our way up the scale. So I NEED to think about food. I can't lose unless I think about food. But I generally hit a point where it seems like such an annoyance.

This is the thing I have to avoid. I guess I'll jump off that bridge when I come to it. I definitely need a more well-rounded life. One where I don't obsess over one thing at a time. For instance, at this moment I'm on the internet, making this post, instead of working. I'll get behind at work this way. I know it. I don't seem to be able to stop myself from thinking about things other than work though. Maybe I just need retirement.

FYI - official weight gain from vacation is 1/2 a lb. Since I went to a "soup festival/contest" last night and had numerous samples of restaurant soups for dinner, that actually could be water. I'll take it.

Lilion: I feel your pain! I also get tired of thinking about it all the time, but I don't know what the answer is either! I do so much better... and feel so much better... when I do think about food and calories, that I think I need to do it all the time. I don't know if that will ever change. Once I get away from the discipline of it, I find it so hard to get back to it. That's where I am now. SO hard to get it back.

Laurie: Nice! The kids can ride the bus when you want to run. That's awesome to take some time for what you need. And yes, there are so many demands on my time (as I am sure it is with you too), that those precious moments are important. I really do think I'm going to fade away from at least Body Pump for now, just to do my own thing.

For me, I went to a wine tasting with some company people last night. I may have ingested a total of a half a glass of wine, so not a lot. Evidently there is something in wine that bothers me. I have never been a wine drinker anyway, but last night I just didn't feel good at all. And today, I still have a headache. Not doing that again!!

Hope everyone has a good weekend!

I need a good smack!

I guess my "I only gained 1/2 a lb." nonsense got me feeling very relaxed about things because the weekend was awful, food-wise. Friday to the pub for a birthday party and fattening stuff, Saturday skipped breakfast and grabbed a big pork stead from a charity bbq for lunch...scrounged left-overs for dinner and was just stuffed on junk. Sunday out to brunch after church...buffet with the best breakfast sausage I've ever tasted and other assorted stuff and dinner - pizza! It wasn't even good pizza!

Exercise last week...and again today...non-existent. Got to bed too late last night, had one heck of a time getting up, and basically just SO TIRED! I also had stuff to do this morning that slowed me down and about the time I looked at the clock, it was too late to exercise.

Aanndd...Meeting friends for lunch - at a Chinese Buffet!

TONIGHT, I must get back on track with a healthy dinner and dinner planned and in the crockpot for tomorrow! And to bed at a reasonable hour!

Lilion: But did you have a good time? That sounds like a lot of fun stuff over the weekend. I know it is frustrating to have weekends like that, but it can happen. I'm just trying to not let it happen every weekend. You remind me that I should be using my crockpot more often.

For me, I had an ok weekend food wise, but not much for planned workouts. I had to confront myself about poor choices in the past weeks. I shouldn't be gaining weight in the summer. That's just not smart. But, now that it is getting cooler, I'm going to have to put up with tighter jeans than they were last year, and tighter clothes in general. Time to turn it around.

I realized that I can't just "kind of" work on losing weight. I have to fully commit or it won't happen. So, going back to what worked before with food, and I'll have to work hard to keep logging it and staying on track with it. It can't be halfway with me, because then it becomes not-at-all. Moving forward.

I follow my gym on Facebook and they had a good quote that really fits how I am: "Always exercise on Monday. This sets the psychological pattern for the rest of the week." I swear, if I flake out Monday, I struggle the rest of the week. My exercise goals are:

Monday: Running (instead of Spin) DONE!!!!
Tuesday: Weights on my own in the morning, hiking after work-weather permitting
Wednesday: Spin or running, depending on how I feel
Thursday: Body Pump or weights on my own, depending on how I feel; hiking-weather permitting
Friday: Not sure how I'll feel by Friday. Maybe running. Maybe Body Flow (still trying to get back to it)

Hi guys. I've been struggling to check in because for some reason 3FC banned my work computer's IP. I promise I didn't engage in any troll-y behavior and I work in an office of skinny minnies who wouldn't know what 3FC is, so I don't know why. Anyway, it's kind of made me a little out of routine with checking in. But even though it's 10pm for me, I wanted to check in still so it's not like I've pulled another disappearing act.

The weekend was a little rough food-wise and it made me feel not very well which of course didn't stop me from eating some more... sigh. I look at MFP because I log EVERYTHING even bingey behaviour and it wasn't that bad (1800-1900 ish calories) and it was all on "proper food." But what's concerning is the eating myself sick of it all. That's no good. No good at all. And I'm back on track on a Monday as usual, but I tend to not do very well on weekends and I'd really like to fix that.

Laurie: I agree. I have a food obsession too. Even when I was overweight, I was obsessed with food. It was just mindless then. Now I'm totally aware of the consequences of my decisions. I have no idea which is better. Yay the scale victory!!!

Diane: Yay setting the right note on a Monday! I agree with that quote as well. I flaked out of exercise today but I'm going to pace my hallways and at least try to hit a step target. I don't feel like but it's probably good for my mind. I hope you can get your workouts in this week as scheduled.

Lillion: it's really hard getting on track especially when so much of life's fun things and socializing is built around food- delicious, yummy food. On the bright side, one weekend, one day is just that one. The potential to rock out the rest of the week is there so all is not lost. You're already fancy and fitfam with crockpotty meal prep plans. You totally can do this and have this week in the bag! Get it!

The only real goal I have for the evening is to go to bed early (it's 10.15 so that ship has kind of sailed) AFTER I get to 5000 steps. I'm currently on 2600ish steps. Let's see how it goes. Goodnight guys.