BACK TO BASICS-Here come the holidays!

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  • Hello! Welcome to the back to basics thread! To me, that means EAT LESS, EXERCISE MORE. What does it mean to you? Please join us. Our attendance has been sparse lately. I might be the only one around this week, since Roxy is off partying it up in LV!
    Thanksgiving is only 3 weeks away! If you start now, it will be easier to behave during the festivities since you won't want to sabatoge your hard work!
    My "eat less" is an allotment of 1500 calories per day. Right now my "exercise more" is only 60 daily sit-ups, but I hope to be adding to that. I have a hard time fitting it in to my busy schedule. (3 kids!)
    Well, hope to be chatting with some of you soon!
  • Hello out there!
    I completed my first day of 1500 cals. It went well. If I can string a few of those together I might make my goal of 5 lbs by T-day! I did my sit ups and some low key stepping while I was watching TV. I was cold so I though I'd move around a bit. I'm debating taking a walk or cleaning the house this afternoon.....I think I'll do both. Have a nice day everyone!
  • My idea of "back to the basics":

    Eat 4 servings of vegetables each day
    Wear a pedometer and strive for 10,000 steps
    Drink my daily allotment of water

    If I'm doing those three things, I'm set. I'm starting to wear the pedometer this week, and I've been doing the vegetables for a while. The vegetable thing works for me because if I am planning to eat 4 vegetables, I am planning my meals. If I am planning my meals, I'm eating sensible other foods with it (for instance, chicken instead of half of a pizza). And yeah, right now is the perfect time to exercise more, with Thanksgiving coming.
  • I'm back!

    Had a great time in Vegas and only gained 2 pounds! I can live with that. I ate too much of the wrong stuff and drank way to much also. I did get lots of walking in though. That's probably what saved me from gaining more.

    This week it's "Back to Basics" for me.

    Hope we get more people to join us.
  • Hi Roxy! Welcome back! Glad you had a good time. I'll bet you'll have no trouble getting back to basics since you just treated your self with a nice vacation. Man, I would love to get away.......
    Hi Phantastica! Sound like your basics are right on! They are alot more specific than mine, and thats good. Do you wear your pedometer ALL the time or is it just when you are exercising? I'm curious. I live in a small house but I'm not very efficient when I clean/tidy/put away laundry. I take a lot more steps than I should.
    I haven't been able to stick to my 1500 cal goal the last couple of days. I got TOM yesterday and needed to indulge. But I'm back on today and actually, I'm going to try to keep it really low today just to get a jump on it.
    Today Is election day! DON'T FORGET TO VOTE!
  • It's a good approach
    This a great thread for me, because it really rings true. I have maintained my weight loss for just about 1 year (thanks to Weight Watchers and exercise) but the certain pants are getting a little snug. I think it's partly due to my love of salty foods. My husband just bought a HUGE (and I mean huge) jar of mixed olives/peppers at Costco. It's not a bad thing to eat, but I'll definitely have to count out a few olives, put them on a plate and have that be that.

    In general, I need to make sure I eat a decent-sized breakfast and lunch. The days I let myself get too hungry during the day are the disaster days!
  • Good Morning to all of you! It's nice to see some new names. Welcome!

    I'm not having as much trouble getting back in the groove of eating right and exercising after my vacation. I plan on walking during lunch for 30 minutes. I have a meeting tonight so I won't make it to the gym. I do need to start writing down what I'm eating. That is my biggest challenge right now. At least until I start my Christmas baking.

    Have a great day!
  • Committing to this: no more eating after dinner. There, I wrote it down. All of you can see this. It's in print! This will make it happen.

    How to avoid the mindless snacking: don't go into kitchen after dinner. Drink water so I feel full (hey, it's never bad to drink more water). Read a book in bed. Talk with my husband. Take a nice bath. Actually, these all sound better than stuffing my face with cold cereal.

    I'll let you know!
  • Quote: Do you wear your pedometer ALL the time or is it just when you are exercising? I'm curious.
    When I got it, it was part of this "10,000 Steps" initiative put out by HealthPartners. They said to wear it all day long, and try to get in 10,000 steps. It's pretty fun to do it and see what little things you can do to increase that number. It can also be very eye-opening.
  • Yeah! Did not eat after dinner!


    I am really proud of myself--I stuck to my plan and did not eat after dinner. I made a very filling and oh-so-easy dinner (1 c. of lentils--rinsed, 1 c. of brown rice, chopped onions, put everything in a casserole dish, 4 c. water, microwave until rice is soft. I used cardomon, cumin, cloves and sesame oil to spice it up. It was great!) and then that was that.

    I just went right upstairs, worked on getting the kids to bed and did not go back down to eat. Hooray! My pants were definitely tight yesterday, even tho. my weight is the same so this means it's time to stay focused on the exercise so I can get some better toning going on.
  • Way to go Elana! I think I need to do that too. No snacking after dinner. Sounds like a good plan.

    I got my walk in yesterday and plan on doing it again today. Hopefully when I weigh next I will have that 2 pounds from vacation off.
  • Going away this weekend--this will probably help me stay on track. I tend to be extra conscientious when away. I actually reached my WW goal during a summer trip last year (to beautiful British Columbia--boy, would I be happy to go there again). I also raked a lot today, which probably counts for a bit of exercise. Eating has been much more stable. I've been going for acupuncture treatments; maybe they are having a calming effect on how I am dealing with food challenges.

    Best wishes to all.
  • Good Morning! It's back to the gym day for me. I brought my workout clothes and will go after work tonight. Also plan on walking during lunch.

    It's a cold morning so I brought soup for lunch and a FF pudding cup.

    Hope everyone is doing ok.
  • Hey, what happened to everyone? Maybe we're just all busy eating our very healthy food and working out!
  • Ohh, not me. I had a bad 24 hours. Having a healthy dinner, though!