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(#) Tuesday check-in... and tips!
Morning ladies!
How'd everyone do last night? I did ok. I
had popcorn (which I made on the stove!) after work as a snack, and I had the menu I had posted (pasta and broccoli). But then I decided to eat the last cranberry-walnut muffin from Thanksgiving. It was sooooo
good. I had the points for it, and I hadn't eaten any other Thxgvg leftovers. So I'm cool with it 
I drrrrrrrrrrragged myself out of bed this morning to get to the pool. It *sucked*. My back hurt so badly, but moving around in the pool helped a bunch. My husband went with me, which also helped. I'm not sure I could have gone on my own this morning. I did 3/4 of a mile, which is the most I've done since my surgery... yay! I'd like to get up to doing a mile most mornings, but we'll see.
I have been doing a lot of thinking about how I was successful last time, and how best I can regain the mindset and healthy habits that allowed me to be successful. So, I thought with so many of us trying to focus on getting healthy again, it would be a good time to share our favorite tips!
My favorite tip is to get a heart rate monitor, if funds allow! It's so hard to guess how many calories you are burning during a workout, especially in a class with intervals or mixing different types of exercises. A HRM takes several things into account... your weight, your fitness level, your warmup and cooldown, and... your heart rate, of course. I have a Timex 59761, which can be has for a cool $55 on amazon. For me, the HRM was invaluable, because you get an accurate picture of how many calories you are burning, instead of inflated numbers from the heart rate monitor built into the treadmill.
Re: (#) Tuesday check-in... and tips!
nothing exciting to share just that I hopped on the scale this morning for the first time since well before TG and the nuber hasnt gone up at all! Even with TG and we went out to dinner last night too (and shared a small - this is for you sop - goat cheese pizza with sun dried tom pesto and softened onions and roasted garlic... for our app!!!!! LOL yum)
I am feeling optimistic about maintaining. I need to get back to the gym but I feel SO tired lately - holidays and lack o sunlight and change in weather to COLD - all dont help.
I overslept today, so I didn't make it to the elliptical. It was all because I stayed up late watching Monday Night Football, hoping that somehow Jacksonville would pull it out against Houston so I could win the office pool. It's becoming clear to me that football is bad for my health. I am going swimming tonight, though.
I usually have a smoothie for breakfast, but today I tried to mess with the proportions. I need to work on that because it made more than would fit in my cup and spilled all over the counter. Whoopsies!
Mr. gtown is out of town this week, so I have to get up extra early to walk the dog and go to the gym in the morning (he usually walks the dog in the a.m.). And I have to fight myself from eating junk food for dinner!
No work out last night. Boo! But I didn't overeat. I did have a Smirnoff Ice, which isn't optimal, but it was yummy.
B - granola bar if/when I get my act together
L - Leftover Bucatini e fagioli (recipe with nutrition facts in blog - so yummy and low cal)
D - No idea yet.
Good work everyone else!
Love the daily checkin' in.
I have been doing pretty well with eating healthy because I've been well-prepared -- I bring all my snacks to work and have been making food at night instead of going out. But I've been thinking of joining something like WW because I could use some more structure.
Hitting the gym for some cardio on the way home from work this eve.
Thanks for the reminder, BB! Here's my plan for today:
B: Oatmeal, flax, raisins, skim milk
L: whole wheat spaghetti, pasta sauce, grilled squash, apple
Snack: Grapes
Exercise: 3/4 mile swim!
Gtown, mr. Soprano is leaving for a business trip soon, and I'm dreading doing the early morning walk with the pup in 30 degree weather!
Brooks, check out zelda's page to me for some thoughts on WW
PGH, that app sounds heavenly! I haven't had goat cheese in a while, believe it or not!
OH! Speaking of goat cheese -- Gtown, have you had Monocacy Ash? It's delish! I got it at Eastern Market this summer, but Whole Foods recently started carrying it. Soooooo good. It's local, too, from a Montgomery County farm!
I'll head for the gym this afternoon sometime. I haven't gained anything either over Tgiving (thank God, b/c I sure ate like a hog). Soprano, thanks for spearheading the return of (#) checkins. Accountability is certainly a key for success! I knew this helped before, but the only one I was accountable to before was MH (aside from myself, of course), and I always felt like he was judging me and any bad decisions I made (he totally was not).
My best tip: figure out how many calories you need to maintain your current weight at your current activity level. Then you have three ways to attack weight loss from there. Spread out caloric intake about equally over 5-6 meals, which boosts your metabolism. Decrease caloric intake - it doesn't even have to be by very much at all. Increase activity level, also doesn't have to be by much.
Hey, my biggest accomplishment last night was actually dragging myself to a WW meeting, letting someone else look at my weight and starting from scratch (again!). The number wasn't as high as I feared, but the seven pounds I gained during all my summer travels are still there.They're the first thing I need to get off...
After my meeting, I went and did some grocery shopping for healthy stuff to stock the pantry: salads, yogurts, lean proteins--all the stuff I've been avoiding for the past couple of months. Made a cheeseburger casserole from one of my favorite WW recipes, had a salad and spent some flex points on a molten chocolate cake (One of the Betty Crocker minis--150 calories).
No workout yesterday, but I'm doing some cardio this afternoon and I have a session with my personal trainer tomorrow.
The other good thing I did was tell people in my life what I'm doing--H, best friend, and PT all know I'm back on WW. I figure I can use all the moral support I can take, especially with the holidays! (And a cruise looming in 27 days)
I worked out legs last night. Got up and did my cardio this morning. And will going to the gym to lift after work.
I'm back on my diet plan as well, so as you know, it's been chicken and rice cakes ;-)
Well I went to Margarita Monday - $.99 tacos and $1.99 margaritas plus live music; can't beat the deal, I'm telling you. Anyway if I had any remaining flex points from the weekend they got blown yesterday also co-worker brought in homemade cinnamon rolls that were still warm! Let's see have an orange as a snack or homemade cinnamon roll? Yes, the cinnamon roll won out and it was the best cinnamon roll I had ever eaten so of course I had to have a second one. They were small - does that count?
I did a little exercise this morning and am planning on a walk this evening so hopefully I didn't blow the whole week yesterday. I just have two lbs to go! I've had two lbs to go for six weeks - it's redicious!
my read shelf:
I'm interested in this cheeseburger casserole recipe. I haven't activated my monthly pass yet, so I can't search for it online until I do that.
Also, the Betty Crocker warm delights were a godsend for me during bar studying. My roommate and I would fairly regularly walk to the grocery store for a chocolate fix. They didn't even have the minis back then, and I would just eat a regular one. But unlike buying something from the bakery, I ate the whole 12 points of chocolatey goodness, and then nothing else was staring at me from the pantry, saying Eaaaat Meeeee. We probably got Warm Delights or Dairy Queen once per week, but I planned for it and tracked it - and we only let ourselves get them if we walked to the grocery or DQ.
Bridey--here's the text of the original message board post I've still got saved in my computer
I put it through the recipe builder myself, and got a different number of points--9. But still, it works for me. It's 9 points of yummy easiness...
4 servings at 8 pts per serving
16 oz extra lean ground beef, browned
1 can Campbell's Cheddar Cheese Soup
1/8 c deli mustard
Steak seasoning
Small onion, cut into rings
1/4 c Hormel Bacon bits
12 oz Ore Ida Golden fries
Stir the soup, mustard and seasoning into the browned ground beef. Place into Pam sprayed square casserole. Top with onion ringlets and bacon bits. Spread frozen french fries on top then bake at 450 until fries are crispy and browned...about 20-30 minutes. Quarter casserole and serve with a large salad and ketchup, pickles and any other hamburger condiments you may use, counting the extra points!
umwife, good for you for getting to a meeting! I think we're brilliant to start now, rather than January 1. Even if we're not 100% OP, we'll be in much better shape by the end of the month that if we just said "screw it, it'll be my new years resolution". So, congrats!
How's everyone doing today? I just finished a core lunch. I'm still kinda hungry-- probably all the swimming! Or being up since 5:30... I might pop out for a tall skim latte (mmmmmm)
I commend any and all of you who get up early to work out. I just cannot bring myself to do it. No matter how hard I try, when the alarm goes off I always say "screw it, I'll go after work".
I am not looking forward to the New Year's Resolution people flooding the gym in January. Get in your good gym time now, people, because soon it will be crowded it and irritating!
Brooks, my problem is that I too often say, "Screw it, I'll go in the morning." And then I don't.
I'm STARVING. Starving. I'm sure it's b/c of my swim this morning. I ate pasta with meat sauce, squash, and a ton of grapes for lunch. I should not still be hungry!
I'm going to Starbucks for a skim latte. I will not, I repeat, will not be returning with any dark chocolate covered graham crackers.
I am loving this daily check in
I did good last night. No workout, but I ate very healthy and didnt over snack.
Today:
B: Maple Nut Oatmeal and Banana
L: Pretzels, bean & rice burrito and granola bar
I am walking with my Mom tonight, so that will be good exercise.
Yay, Dev, I'm glad! Feel free to start it anytime... I don't have to be the one doing it, though I'm happy to.
Update: back from Starbucks. No snacks. Go me.
BB, how are you doing on chocolate today?