Hello all!!!! It's been crazy here with work and getting all of this bar stuff in and I have subsequentally whipped myself into a frenzy. I just can't seem to get back into the CORE swing of things. It really boils down to the fact that I am burned out with my food. So, after weigh-in Saturday I'm going to shake it up up a bit. Just trying to figure out how. I'm thinking about Smart Ones with salad for lunch and counting points or something.
I have a friend who I am doing the Discovery Challenge with, who is a walking fitness and nutrition encyclopedia and she talked me down yesterday about not stressing about my food. Then we went onto Dietfacts.com and perused the various restaurants we frequent and what we usually get. Wow, let me tell you that puts a lot into perspective! I can not believe the amount of cals, fat and sodium in the meals we eat out. Well, I've pretty much resolved that no matter how much I deviate from CORE (which I don't want to) , I won't go back into past behavior. It's just gross to know how big the numbers are on one meal and that I'm putting it into my body. Better choices, better choices. So on the food front, I'm not really craving "bad" or"fatty" food, I'm simply bored and need to find a solution. Any tips or thoughts? I may just start using my points (activity or WPAs) for breakfast and lunch, b/c snacks and dinner are not an issue.
Activity points, yes, I have activity points!!!! This week, a friend from law school who works at a firm down the street from mine started to go walking at the mall down the street from us. We do 20 to 30 minutes, from one end to another up and down stairs, catching up on things and window shopping the whole way through. Let me tell you checking out the spring dresses at BCBG are major motivation! Then we grab lunch there or we have lunch back at our offices. I started wearing a pedometer and have clocked well over the 10,000 step daily goal the last two days.
My Discovery Challenge partner also found a workout which has an ultimate goal of burning 1,000 cals per workout the other day and we met at the gym to hammer out the cardio portion. We are doing intermediate, so in 50 minutes I burned a few cals shy of 500. It's really cool, b/c you do 10-15 minutes each on four machines, stepmill, treadmill, elliptical and bike. So you don't get bored. I was taking it a bit easy last night, although I was drenched, but anticipate stepping it up the days forward and burn more cals. Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday we do cardio circuits on our own. And Tuesday and Saturday we meet to do more cardio and this INSANE weight training workout. I am so pumped!!!! Shocker, but I think the I'm getting the gym bug again.
Vickie, congrats on the book! I picked it up last night and was so tired, I fell asleep. I am so happy that it spoke to you as it has to me!
Hope everyone is doing well! And welcome all the newbies!!!!
Oh also, on the "goal weight" discussion. WW has my goal at 140, 10 lbs. less than my goal. Well, I really wished that they would take in account different body shapes, b/c I think I would look sick below 150 or have to work way too hard to maintain a 140 body weight. Anyway, knowing this I spoke to my leader and she said that I just had to get a note from my doctor stating that my healthy weight is my goal weight. Frankly, I don't plan to make myself freak out to reach and maintain a weight, that suits anyone besides myself and that includes WW.
Vickie,
I thought the elliptical was actually a lot easier on my knees than a treadmill or stairstepper. It's all hydraulic so your weight on your legs stays constant and doesn't lift up, if that makes any sense.
I had a crappy day yesterday and DH tempted me into pizza, but I didn't go completely crazy so I'm not going to stress too much about it. Back on track today!
Wow Torrey - I got tired just reading about all your exercise plans - WAY TO GO - you will most certainly start too see physical and weight changes if you keep up that pace. I will be using you for inspiration as I know I'm supposed to start moving this body this week and I am NOT looking forward to it!
Sorry - have not seen the Jenny craig commercials (don't watch much tv) however from what you have described they sound pretty insulting to me!
oh...and Frannie - got that snow you sent up - thanks a bunch! At least it provided some traction this morning - yesterday's drive home was horrendous with a zillion accidents all over the place! Good luck on your weigh-in tonight - hope it goes as expected!
Laura - good work on not going crazy with the pizza - and getting back on track today!
I am feeling a bit sad and emotionally upset today due to some family problems and I'm also tired and cranky which does not help! Trying not to let this affect my food consumption.
Last night I was upset - barely ate dinner (about 4 small strips of chicken w/a couple of peppers/mushrooms which dh stir fried), and a banana. Was hungry later so decided to have half a bagel - using my points of course.
AND GUESS WHAT???? IT TASTED HORRIBLE!!! (no it had not gone bad). I cut a "skinny" (less than) half and toasted it....when I bit into it, it was all gluey and sticky and yucky and really sweet? Is it possible my taste buds have changed so dramatically in under two weeks? I was almost craving something "whole grain"....am I sick or something? Anyone else have this experience?
Trying to bring up water volume today. Also eating dinner late again as I have a nail appt after work......will try and have a snack before I go.
Froufie, hang in there with the family problems and the food cravings. It sounds like if you deviate, your tastebuds are gearing you towards the better choices. This is an amazing feart in itself. I have been there and am there, I'd much rather have a bag of pretzels than a bag of chips from the vending machine. I'm craving a nutrigrain bar over a candy bar. Go figure.
Laura, awesome to hear that you're back on track!!!
Torrey, that is a VERY ambitious exercise plan. You do sound excited about it and that is very important. I, too, think I would look sick below 150 but I guess I'll wait until I get closer to make my decision. I don't have large bones but I am not petite and delicate either.
Thanks for the personal information on the elliptical machine, Laura. Maybe I'll give it a try someday. I'm sure I could only do about 5 minutes. I don't like the "the burn" feeling!
Froufie, I'm sorry you have sad and upsetting stuff going on. This is the time that our plans get challenged. I hope you manage to stay on track. I'm trying to learn that stress or emotional eating doesn't make my problems go away. The problems stay and I'm heavier. Easier said than done though, I know. I am glad that the bagel didn't taste as good as you expected. I think our taste buds do change.
Thanks to everyone who encouraged the rest of us to increase our water consumption. I boosted from 6 to 10 glasses of water this week. You know I told you all that my scale wasn't budging and it didn't until this afternoon. I thought maybe my home scale was crazy but WW scale said I'm down 2.4 tonight for a total of 25.6. I couldn't have been happier to change my chick! Now for my 10% and 30 pounds by February 10th. With my current average, I might be short but I'm going to shoot for it anyway.
Thanks everyone for helping me not get too down. I appreciate it very much.
Woohoo!!! Look at that cute chickie!! You are certain to make that Feb. 10th goal!
It has been a yuck day for me. Yesterday I worked 12 hours and today did it too. I just wasn't interested in cooking dinner tonight so cheated and made all sorts of ready-made foods. Didn't matter though; DH eats what I make. Gotta love that.
Yes, Congrats Vickie!!! I also hit my 25 last night which makes me a quarter of the way to my 2nd 10% goal. Getting into an exercise routine can be hard. Last year I was walking in the mornings but then switched to Curves. I go 4 mornings during the week then supplement with the treadmill, walks with the dog and using the stairs at work. My DH tells me that 30 minutes a day isn't enough and I tell him that 30 minutes a day for 4 days a week consistently is better than his 1 hour a day once every 3 weeks!!! Good thing I am a creature of habit because I eat the same thing for breakfast and lunch everyday. Once I get sick of it I'll change to something different.
Very cold here today, -14 (not as cold as Canada can be but cold for VT) but at least the sun is shining.
Frannie, what kind of elliptical do you have at home? My husband and I want to splurge on one but I don't like most of the ones with arms and the Precor ones (which I love) are really expensive. I was sort of looking at a Nordictrack one at Sears that has an adjustable ramp but most of the reviews on various sites have been bad.
Hope everyone with Thursday night WI's did as well as Vickie.
Thanks for the congrats everyone! You are all the best support system anyone could ask for. I'm feeling good/strong today. Chicago is bracing for a blizzard, believe it or not! They are saying we could get more than 12 inches with a lot of Chicago wind. Hubby doesn't usually let me help with shoveling but maybe I will anyway for some different kind of exercise.
Geez Kathy, what do you do that would force you to work 12 hour days? Taxes?
Vermont Kathy, CONGRATULATIONS to you as well. 25 pounds feels like a huge accomplishment, doesn't it? You are right. Consistent exercise is MUCH better than inconsistent. I've read that 30 minutes of consistent (4 or more times per week) is all that is necessary to lose. I'll have to ask my Leader again about this. I think she recently said that WW says you need to do it more often to lose. My plan is always 30 minutes 7 days a week but that is because I don't get much other exercise. So far, so good. If I ever really stall, I'll have to rethink my position. Plus, the more weight we lose, the more our lifetsyle will become more active. BTW, we are sending the weather your way!
Deborah, have you checked Consumer Reports? I could do that for you if you haven't checked it already.
Either today or tomorrow I'll be experimenting with a pizza/lasagna type Core casserole. Hubby is calling it Glop. I'll let you know how it goes since I don't have a recipe. Basically, you can put in it whatever you put on a pizza (minus the non-Core toppings). I used to make one that only had mozzarella. I'm going to add FF ricotta and mozzarella, green olives (they are FABULOUS on a pizza), mushrooms, and some turkey italian sausage cut out of the casing and crumbled. I'll have to count points for the turkey sausage but it'll be worth it. I've been craving stuffed shells and lasagna. Couldn't find whole wheat shells so I'm going to make this with ww rotini. Found a new brand to try. It's Bella Terra. I've been using Hodgkins Mills. Lots of experimentation tonight!
Congratulations Vickie I knew it would happen !!!!!! I'm so happy for you. Also congratulations to all the other losers. Way to go Vermont Kathy!!!
Have a great day everyone.
Geez Kathy, what do you do that would force you to work 12 hour days? Taxes?
No ... military contract for the Air Force, and we have lots of schedule deadlines coming up. I code the lessons that go on the trainers, which are cockpit procedure trainers (not motion-based) ... sorta like driver's ed for pilots. They sit there in a simulated cockpit and flip switches, push buttons, and go thru learning all the subsystems on the aircraft like hydraulics, electrical, defense management, etc. I've done this for about 12 years except for one year when I thought I was sick of this and went off to a commercial aircraft company. The only good part about working at the other place was that I met John Travolta when he was there doing his requal training on his 707. But basically, I hated that job so I came back here. Hubby also works here too.
And now you know my life story!!
Congrats to all you losers!
Vickie, I'd like the glop recipe once you get it all hammered out!
Tired Thursday
I will be using you for inspiration as I know I'm supposed to start moving this body this week and I am NOT looking forward to it!
At least it provided some traction this morning - yesterday's drive home was horrendous with a zillion accidents all over the place! Good luck on your weigh-in tonight - hope it goes as expected! 
- and getting back on track today! 
Anyone else have this experience?
BIG GRIN!!!!!!!!
