LegoLady45

Week 2 progress update: I need to qualify my progress by saying that I left home on Friday for a family vacation and spent a few days prior to vacation running like a ninny to get ready for the trip. 1. Eliminate red meat. We went to California, where I decided to try a burger from the often hyped "In N Out Burger" chain. Supposed to be one of the best burgers out there. UGH it was dreadful. I don't know if it's because I haven't eaten beef for a while, but the meat was bleh and the condiments drowned everything else. I didn't even finish it. Back to NO BEEF. 2. Walk 30,000 steps per week (counted by FitBit). Ours was a driving trip, with hours and hours in the car. And I forgot my FitBit. I would guesstimate I did about 15-17,000 steps this week. FitBit goes back on tomorrow. 3. Do 25 pushups. I got to 12. So overall I did not have a great week, although I am happy with myself for being honest and recording my less than stellar results. I am back on as soon as I get home!

So here is my weekly recap: 1. Eliminate red meat I had my one steak for my wedding anniversary but that is ALL. It has been pretty easy to avoid red meat; I am focusing more on chicken and pork. Looking for ways to introduce more beans into my diet. 2. Walk 30,000 steps per week (counted by FitBit) So this week I walked 5% OVER that goal, so about 31,500. Two days this week I only did everyday walking (to and from the car, to the store, etc) because I was feeling under the weather. But I had two five mile days, and it IS getting easier. I walk the same route and today I noticed I got to my turn around point a lot faster than usual. Hooray! 3. Do 25 pushups (right now I can do 10) I did nothing toward this goal. :-( I am going to add a 4th goal: Eating clean. Meaning - no carbs, no junk food or fast food. Just focusing on protein, veggies and fruit. Drinking a lot more water than tea or soda. This week I am going to eat clean 4 days - Monday thru Thursday. I lost 1.6 lbs this week with pretty standard (donut, fast food, soda) eating. I want to see what happens when I clean up the 'ol diet and put down a lot more water. Thanks for your support, everyone!

So for Monday I ate the one steak I allowed myself, for my wedding anniversary. It was pretty good. That's IT for red meat until the end of the challenge. Which doesn't sound like a big deal in some ways, but fast food has always been my nemesis and when you eliminate the burger from my options, it makes it a lot easier to not even think about fast food. I walked 4647 steps according to FitBit I did not do any pushups yet.

Hi Tate! Really impressed by how far you have come! I too have trouble disconnecting from electronics and have found myself 'just checking' my phone in the morning. It can gobble up a half hour or more, easily. I will be curious to see how it goes measuring portions by hand size, I have not done that before. Good luck to you!

I am back! A few months ago I went to Europe, and met fellow Nerd Nephaisys, who is now a dear friend. We had a great time in the UK and Spain. While in Spain we met up with a friend of mine who was doing the Camino de Santiago. It's a 500 mile walk across northern Spain, and also an amazing human experience. http://www.santiago-compostela.net/ I have decided to walk the Camino in April 2016. Starting in Eastern Spain and walking to the ocean (Finisterre, loosely translated as "the end of the earth.") I turn 50 in 2016 and that year I want to prove to myself (and in a way the world) that I have conquered the health and fitness challenges that have dogged me all my life. In order to do the Camino I will have to be at a better weight and also fit enough to walk 12-20km per day, for a month. With that in mind I have made some goals for the next 20 months. For this challenge I am focusing on losing the first 10 lbs. These are my three goals: 1. Eliminate red meat (this is part of a larger plan to move toward a vegetarian lifestyle) I have been trying to eat less already. My wedding anniversary is tomorrow so I am going to have myself a steak. But other than that I am going to have no red meat. This is an all or nothing kind of goal for me. 2. Walk 30,000 steps per week (counted by FitBit) I will use the FitBit to track my steps and post the results here, weekly at a minimum 3. Do 25 pushups (right now I can do 10) I am doing this to work on body strength without joining a gym. I will post my results weekly at a minimum. I have never been that great at the accountability part, assigning myself points and such for my achievements. For me keeping a thread updated for the whole challenge will be an achievement. That's all, here's to success for all my fellow Nerds!

Howdy King Leeroy. I missed you too! I am definitely conquering fast food. At this point I can see it is more of a habit to eat it than a craving or addiction. When I think about it, it doesn't taste all that great and almost always gives me heartburn. I am able to do without it pretty easily and find that I only look to fast food when I am in a rush and have not prepared for my day. I learned a lot doing the last Whole 30, in particular how good breakfast food can taste. I eat big filling breakfasts every day and they hold me until a light but healthy lunch. My last Whole 30 was probably more of a "Sorta 22" in terms of compliance. And still I managed to lower my blood sugar a bit, sleep better, feel better and lose 12 lbs. I lost it all over - my fingers even got thinner. So I am inspired. And I am so glad to see you again!

Regarding cranberry sauce, here is a salad dressing recipe: Ingredients: 1/2 cup cranberry sauce¼ champagne vinegar½ cup extra virgin olive oil (organic preferred)¼ tsp pepper½ tsp salt (I use Himalayan pink salt)¼ tsp garlic powderDirections: Place all the ingredients in a jar, shake well & serve. Store in the refrigerator.

OK the food which is languishing in my kitchen is ....frozen fruit. I love it but in the past I ate it by spooning it into lemonade or over ice cream. Not options now, least of all because it's COLD and who wants lemonade when it's 30 degrees? It's all sugar free, just fruit that has been frozen. Blueberries, raspberries, strawberries mainly.

Hello everyone, After a hiatus I am back. Going simple this time. 1. I am doing a Whole 30. Actually a Whole 39, until February 14th when I have to leave for a conference and will be at the mercy of others for my food. I did one Whole 30 just before Christmas and the results were amazing. I have never felt better and seen such obvious results. My eventual goal is to eat the right way out of habit, without having to do any regimen. I am not much of a gamer so I do not assign myself points, but grades: Whole 39? A Whole 30? B Whole 30 with a special occasion or two? C 2. I need to move more. I am going to start the couch to 5K today. I am also interested in strength training with an eventual goal of joining the Warrior class. I am going to start working on that, by finding strength program I like, and doing it. I will resolve to do some kind of activity every day, be it a body weight workout, a walk or jog, lifting weights, something. The point is a deliberate choice to move. 42 days with physical activity A++++++++ 35 days with physical activity A 30 days B <30 days C 3. I AM GOING TO FINISH THIS CHALLENGE I think this is my third or 4th challenge and I always run out of steam around week 4. It was because I tried to do too much, to post every day and follow too many threads in detail. This time, less is more. I will check in less but I will do the work. I will not beat myself up for not being perfect. I will try my best to support all my NF friends but will forgive myself if I cannot read and respond to every comment and thread. As much as I want to. Post a final thread winding up my challenge? A Post all 6 weeks with no windup B Anything else F That's all I have for this challenge. Back to basics.

Hey Terosx, I know that guy! :-)

Howdy everyone! I have been gone for a while. Maybe resolving to check in every day is not a good plan for me. I invariably fail to do it, then I feel bad and then I have no motivation to check in... So....I have been doing OK on my goals except I am going to change one. Goal #1 which is "track and post my calories every day" is now being officially changed to "DO WHOLE 30." I started today with my buddy Nephaisys, and that is a huge enough goal all by itself. I want to see what changes for me by doing this. Already I am noticing how much certain foods played into my life, how acute their absence is felt. But I don't feel hungry or deprived, that's for sure! Day 1 - I ate a wide variety of compliant foods, and washed them down with water or unsweetened tea. For those of you who know how addicted I have been to Diet Coke, well, unsweetened tea was like poking myself in the eye with a stick. Ick. No fun. But I finished it and tonight I am brewing up a peach tea to try tomorrow. I had a headache all day but don't think it was food related. Too soon, right?

That's exactly it, Tateman. I put stuff together and if you don't measure the exact ingredients then you are guessing. I like to add raisins, almonds, crumbles of cheese, all sorts of different things when I have a salad. And i know those calories add up. What is the 'battle log system'? Thanks!

Nephaisys, if you do Whole 30, next challenge, I will do it too. Today's check in: Calories 1706 Carbs 108 Water about 32 Sleep 7 hours 27 minutes

Ah, cleaning, the bane of many people's existence. Too much stuff or nowhere to put it. A little bit every day will add up! (by the way I love your photo and just keep forgetting to tell you that).

I had a talk with Thursday, so hopefully it will go better for you. :-)

I remember seeing photos of you after the last challenge, and you had definitely lost inches or changed shape. In a good way, of course. Maybe tightening up muscles, or losing inches here or there, but something definitely changed and I am sure that people who see you in person can observe it even better than us, your distant admirers. As you remind me with some regularity, being here is progress, taking steps toward your goals is progress, and we don't need to be perfect to move ahead. You were out and about on your leg all weekend, that had to have felt great! And probably the more activity you do soon your leg will be back to its old self, not giving you a hard time. Keep it up!

How did you resist eating the pies, oh superhero?

Hi TerosX. I am trying to catch up and you have been busy! YAY on getting the three letters, that was such a big hurdle you weren't sure you could surmount. And like everything else, you kicked its ass. Don't hate yourself, be so proud of all the work you do and how much of an inspiration you are to other people. You are making terrific progress, trying new things, learning about yourself and teaching all of us at the same time. I will be curious to hear you final assessment of Whole 30 when you are done. I haven't tried it because I also think I would get bored with the food. But you are going to finish it. Most excellent.

Same here. I was reading today that it's important to give yourself permission to be different, even if it's totally different than who you were before. As we lose weight or change shape and size, we have the opportunity to become different kinds of people. Optimism and energy ARE scary because they are new to us. Not agonizing over our weight or body is new. What will we do with the time we used to spend on that? How will we deal with the new ways that people react to us? You are not alone in these thoughts.

Well, here's what happened with the 'ol burrito bowl - I ordered a bowl but they actually made a combo salad/bowl. So it was a bed of lettuce, and then some brown rice and beans mixed together, and then some carnitas, with more lettuce and some cheese on top. What I asked for was just brown rice and carnitas. It seems like a custom concoction and I could not find one that was exactly it. So I chose the bowl that seemed the closest. I agree that MFP has a dizzying array of foods to choose from, I get sidetracked by custom or strange things like the bowl. Anyway - today I ate cleaner. Tried to keep carbs and sugar down although I wasn't perfect. I planned all my meals ahead of time and ate them. I I got detoured slightly by a piece of pie that got into the house, which is in my tummy now. But the rest of the day was protein and veggies and a little fruit. Minimal dairy (cheese on a salad) and a lot of water. Must say I feel pretty good, energy stayed up, and I was darn proud of myself for staying reasonably on track. A local gym near me has its own version of the "biggest loser" contest - you join teams, train weekly and compete to see which team loses the most weight. They have it several times per year and it starts next week. I have always wondered what it's like so I might go check it out. Speaking of check, today's check in: Calories 1676 Carbs 110 Water about 30 oz Sleep 8 hours 5 min

I do use MyFitnessPal, RW. But I have difficulty finding some of the things I eat. Like the other day I ate a burrito bowl at Chipotle. It had carnitas and lettuce and beans and rice. But that's it. Good luck finding a matching item on MFP. Best bet would be to calculate each ingredient separately. Or just pick the closest option already on there, which is what I did. :-)

Today's check in: Calories 1730 Carbs 213 Sleep more than 7 hours, but I woke up in the middle so it was fitful. Water 30 oz.

Thank you, thank you. I aspire to be like some of the mega-challengers on here who are kicking butt and making great strides. But for me just being on here is a stride. As for my room, King Leeroy, I took one pile of stuff at a time, brought it out into my dining room, and dealt with it. Then went back for another, until all that's left now is miscellaneous stuff I have to pick up, and one small box of things I am not sure what to do with. That box went into a closet that mysteriously now has space! So much of what i got rid of was clothes, games, books, etc that the we have outgrown. There was also a lot of stuff I should have tossed out when I got it, but I would put it aside for "later" not realizing that later would be 2 years later.

Check in - Hello, to any of you who are still reading! I am trying to get back on track with tracking calories. I fell out of the habit, it seems, and need to get back on. This weekend I made huge strides in my level up goal, which is to downsize my life. This weekend's goal was to clean out my bedroom so I could have easy access to my weight bench and weights. I worked all day on that project Saturday. A lot of stuff went to the Goodwill, or to the trash or recycling. I emptied out quite a few boxes worth of stuff that had accumulated in there. I can get to my weight bench and the last step is to set up my DVD player. And then I have to get waking up early to exercise, into my routine. So this week I am going to renew my effort to post daily, and track, and work toward my goals more regularly. I love doing challenges and will keep trying until I get this right.

So, terosx, how do you resist the temptation to pick up food and share? What motivates you?