Hi Everyone!

Had a holiday and now I can't figure out what day I'm up to! I'm all mixed up! Fairly sure Day 3 breakfast & writing food.

Red - scary to have people snap- eh? What kind of green juice are you drinking? That's sounds scary too!!! Hehe. How;s the no-smokin?

Jolly - I like your rewards! I should think about some for myself, as I am really near my first 10 lbs! One of my goals - later on - I want to take a driving lesson.... on a 2-ton truck! I always wanted a truck license for some inexplicable reason.

Apple - you're doing great! I'm happy though I haven't chosen an exercise challenge yet, as I wuld surely have failed miserably by now.

Rennie - how many kids do you have? Mine tried to win the gold medal for noisiest kids in the neighborhood today. Urg.

Miriam, I've really found the rewards helpful. More celebrations really than rewards. I set them for hitting major milestones, as well as giving myself little ones to choose from for a 2 or more pound loss per week, and for every 10 pound loss. I combined a couple today :) My makeover got rescheduled for the end of next week, so I went and got a mani/pedi today.

I did better today with everything, but have to admit, it was hard reconnecting with "why am Ieating?" "Am I really hungry?" today. I really was leaning towards mindless eating. Ah well. this too shall pass. I will get my 225 facial next week. I will I will I will. :tantrum:

Day 6 follow workout schedule (1 pause left) and count calories ( 2 pauses left, and Day 7 no soda (1 pause left)

Have a great night all :wave:

jolly
I think all of us go thru that from time to time. Hits me sometimes when I am to tired to cook, am not really hungry and yet know one of the problems I have is not eating enough. I know I am going in the right direction. Even when I am not seeing the losses I want to see I can see my clothes fit differently. I stopped at good will this weekend. Was looking for some shorts. I still have a problem with how big I think I am. I got a couple of 14's and 12's and a couple of 10's. As I started to pull them on my brain said to me, why bother you know they aren't going to fit and they slid right up my legs. The 12's were a bit big but were great for workout shorts, the 14's I could have put Bella in with me lol. Wish I could get over this thinking I am at least 2 sizes bigger than I am.

miriam
As far as I know I have only birthed 2 children. I am not real sure why, because I am the worst and meanest mother in the world lol but I find children at my dinner table, in my shower and sitting watching my tv that I am pretty sure I didn't birth lol. My kids have always been loud. It was when it was quiet in the house that I really worried and wondered what they were up to lol.

Day 8
All challenges complete. I did kind of cheat today. I ate enough celery to fill all three veggies I had to eat today. I just am not hungry it is to hot.

Jolly- here's to hoping you'll get the 225 facial this week!

Rennie - LOL with more kids around. Mine are also so darn loud!! I can't stand it - especially because I'm not particularly loud myself. My DH makes up for both of us... I hear ya on being the neighborhood hangout - I think that we have the best toys around (yea for british car boot sales!! :)

Day 4 - food before 10
Day 3 - write food day before

I still toy with actually eating all the food I write down... not yet...

PS - check out my ticker! Woohoo! I can cluck now!! :)

a pint of the green stuff...
 

Miriam,
No, the green stuff isn't scary. It was at first, but I have it down now and know what to expect. Banana and fresh lemon are key! They both sweeten it, the lemon takes away the bitterness and the banana gives it a great smooth thickness, like a smoothie or shake.
Here's what I had this morning and you can see if you click on the photo that it wasn't even scary to have before 6 a.m., which is when I had to leave my place by. Took a picture just for you! It was soymilk, banana, bit of vanilla extract, fresh lemon and the green was from: a type of lettuce called sunny lettuce that's similar to Romaine but not bitter and is very light, then a vegetable called komatsuna which is similar to spinach but bitter, and then spinach. It was good!

Photos: my juice, sunny lettuce, komatsuna

Hmm, this is what I get for not posting over the weekend.

I believe I am up to day 17 on at least 3 servings of fruits and/vegetables. Yesterday was, unfortunately, a pause day. Although it was the first pause I used, so that isn't too bad.
That puts me at day 18 for journaling all food eaten.

I am in a grumpy mood today because I have been eating too much and gaining weight like crazy. As of today I will try again to eat healthy and cut out the junk. We are going on a five-day holiday to the beach this Friday, so I don't know how well this will last:(. At least we do a ton of walking at the beach.

Everyone seems to be doing well! I will post more later.

Thanks for the pics, Red! TBH - I would prefer eating that nice lettuce in a salad than drinking it. Which brings me to a question: why DO you drink it? I guess it's kind of a power drink - lots of chlorophyll, heehee.

Fish - you ARE pregnant - right??

Okay - I wrote my food down, so now I'm on day 4 for both challenges.

HEy all. Red, I have to agree with Miriam - I would much prefer that in salad form. But whatever works, yes.

I did meet my challenges for the day, but it was rough. I was craving :censored: today. But as I had just convinced myself pretty much to take the pause, and make the most of it, a runner crossed the intersection in front of me. Reminded me of all I am working for, AND the fact I was running tonight with my sis. Kept seeing runners out every time I started thinking about self medicating. So my eating was good.

Darn runners :tantrum: Just kidding!

Have a good night all :wave:

Good morning all,

Fruits and vegetables - Day 18 completed (1 pause left at level 2)
Journaling food - Day 19 completed (level 2)
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Yes, Miriam, I *am* pregnant:p

I am still upset about the weight gain though. I was already about 25 pounds overweight, and I am just viewing each additional pound as this insurmountable obstacle to overcome:(
I'm really trying to eat healthy food, but I keep adding not-healthy choices on top of that. I did make better choices overall yesterday.

To top it all off, I have not been sleeping, and am consequently too tired to get up at 6 am to hit the gym. And after 3 hours of sleep and 12 hours at work (including commute) I am too tired to go after work. Grr!!!!

But Jolly is doing great with the running:carrot: Are you finally getting decent weather? We've been in the mid-90s for the last 4 or 5 days! Sunday was spent at our friend's pool! Oh - I attached a picture of my doggies - this is from winter before last.

Red - your smoothie actually looks pretty tasty! I just put dairy, fruits, and ground flax seeds in mine, but I should try the greens as well.

Jolly - whatever keeps you focused! I wish I had a better motivator than scare tactics - I sure as heck don't want to spend my life pricking myself with needles and testing my blood sugar... I did take a good look at the swimsuits in a store window today and wondered what I'd look like in one if I lost 10 more pounds. I bet I'd look GOOD!! :)

Red - interesting article. I contemplate buying a juicer every now and then, but so far haven't done it.

Fish - I don't know but pregnancy <for me> is a hard time to control weight gain. I try to eat sensibly.... doesn't always work! :)

Day 5 - food b4 10
Day 4 - write food day before

miriam
Yard sales have kept this family going for years and years lol. I have no idea why the kids are around here. There is nothing special here. They bring their different game stations here to play lol. Think it has something to do with their parents are so worried about having everything. They work to have pools, and boats and fancy vacations. What their children want is someone to yell at them lol and tell them what they can and can not do. I am the one that does that for them. We had one little girl ( probably age 15 I guess, lol little girl ) that stayed at our house while her mom and dad went on vacation. It was more fun to be here than to be left at a hotel room or at a pool while her mom and dad went and had fun. They have no idea who their child even is. I am surprised they even know her name. Nice going, you can cluck with the big chicks now lol.

Red
If I had to eat that I would stay fat lol.

Fish
It is tough but it can be done. I didn't gain much with my kids. They were both early but even then I wasn't going to gain much My son. was 8 weeks early and I gained 11 pounds. My daughter was 4 weeks early and I gained 8 pounds. You just have to remember you aren't eating for two lol. Make sure you get those required amounts of the four basic food groups in. The body really needs them at this time. With all the hours you work I am sure you get some walking in there. That is great exercise. The pool is wonderful exercise. You should do that more often. It is relaxing and great for the body. You are going to be feeling all kinds of things and you should lol. Down days, up days, tired days. Take care of that body of yours it is holding very special cargo.

Hey all. Pretty good day, overall. Mainly worried that we are all going to survive the weather. We have floodings and roads closed everywhere, and I took the afternoon off of work to help my coworker evacuate. YIKES.

Miriam, frequent rewards definitely help keep me focused. I need immediate gratification. I set up my own rewards, to try and give myself that. The weight loss takes so long, sometimes without that reward it is easy to feel like there is not point, why not give up? Besides, I'm worth it.

Thanks Fish. I wish I felt like the running was going great. It is still a huge struggle. I keep telling myself that I have never started running as heavy as I was this time. Usually I am starting right around this weight. But. . . it is hard to give up the standards I have that are harder on myself than anyone else would be. Thanks for sharing your "kids" picture. They are awesome.

I have to laugh. I am talking food here, so :censored: FOOD PORN ALERT! FOOD PORN ALERT! :censored: I was all excited, as a SuperWalmart was opening up in my little town, and they said the deli was going to have sushi. I have come to love sushi, and it is healthy for you, but it is hard to get out here in the boonies. I braved the grand opening today, only to find that who they had subcontracted with to provide it backed out. No sushi. I was so bummed and frustrated with not getting what I was all psyched for that I . . . decided to heck with trying to learn to like brown rice, I was going to pick up white rice to eat with the stir fry I made :lol: It is just funny how my choices have changed. There have been a few bumps in the road, but I am definitely in the right direction.

All right. Early to bed for me, as I have to be to work at 6 to train at one of my programs, and want to get my workout in first. Take care all :wave:

Jolly - I really need to think of some rewards for me. I want to go and buy new clothers, on the other hand - hopefully - my shape will change and so I should wait, but on the other hand I want to dress nicely - I feel better about me and I see that my hard work is beginning to pay off! It's one thing to see it on the scale or on a tape measure, on the other hand - It's great to feel my stomach muscles tightening, and I actually got a compliment at work! But still - I'm nearing 30 dyas no binging and almost 10 lbs down... Any suggestions?

Also - I'm a vegetarian so I don't eat fishy sushi, but I occasionally make my own, and it comes out darn good. All the wacky ingredients are at my local health food store. It's really called "norimaki" or something like that.

Rennie - Kids are funny. Mine would JUMP at the chance to go to a hotel. Maybe I could sell them at a yard sale? LOL I was in London during my last pregnancy and I was waltzing around a car boot sale sporting my generous tummy and a lady said to me - "Aww, how sweet - is this your first?" And I said, "No - my sixth!" And she looked at me in horror and said, "Goodness, love, buy a television!" :P


Fish - I see your pregnancy ticker and it makes my broody. I actually ditched my IUD a few months ago, so I'm waiting-!! Apprehensive now though because I started this journey to better health. Hmm. So it's wait and see for me.I keep having ambivalent thoughts in that department, and wonder if I should put the IUD back in. I don't know. I guess I'll have it all figured out in a couple of weeks!! :)

Anyway - regarding challenges:
Day 6 - food b4 10
Day 5 - write food day before

Fruits and vegetables - Day 19 completed (1 pause left at level 2)
Journaling food - Day 20 completed (level 2)
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Good morning! I am in a little better mood today.:) I actually got about 5 hours straight sleep last night - still not enough, but better than interrupted sleep all night long.

Shy - you aren't helping! ;) I've already gained ten pounds and I'm only halfway through!! Eight weeks early? That must have been so scary - I certainly hope both your children are doing well now.

The advice is quite helpful though:). I am definitely not eating for two, but maybe 1 1/2 sometimes:o Probably taking in anywhere between 300-600 more calories daily, but not getting to the gym 6 days a week like normal - more like 2 or 3 days:(.

Jolly - I hope all is well with the flooding - didn't your building just catch on fire? You and your co-workers need a break! You are totally worth the rewards - and they are a great motivator.

Miriam - you are going strong! 30 days with no binges is fantastic:carrot: And you are coming right along with your challenges! Hmm, I might have to agree with the boot sale lady:D But I have only one sister, and my dad was an only child - so I am used to small families. It took me a while to get used to the closeness and physical affection shown by DH's family with the 20 jillion aunts and cousins!

Red - hope all is well with you - are you keeping up with the smoothies?

I am leaving on holiday to the beach tomorrow morning, so will probably not be back on until next Wednesday - by which time I will have finished this challenge and *hopefully* started another set!

Best to all!