This is my second week of doing morning exercise on all four of my work days before work so I'm happy about that.

Eating-wise, it's been a strange week.

Saturday, I started lightening up my menu in preparation for the colonoscopy (not required by the doc but recommended by a friend).

Sunday, I was on a restricted diet for the colonoscopy (jello and white bread--not my usual diet!). From 5 p.m. Sunday until 10 a.m. Monday, I couldn't eat at all--just liquids.

Monday, I had the colonoscopy and asked my "designated driver" to take me through the McD's drive-through for a treat of a Sausage McMuffen and has browns...again, definitely not my usual menu but I (consciously) wanted to treat myself after the experience I'd been through. I slept most of the day due to the anesthesia and didn't get all my cooking done for the week's lunches.

Tuesday, as a result, became my "eat-out" day instead of Friday, which is my usual. I started off for Olive Garden to get a low fat dish of linguini & marinara, ran into a major traffic jam, went the other way to try to go to Chi-Chi's, it had gone out of busines. Went around the corner to the only other restaurant in that area (Bennigan's) and IT had gone out of business. Is this not my week or WHAT? LOL Bennigan's is now some new place called Fantastico's so, rather than settle for fast food, I gave it a try. Had chicken fajitas--not too bad in terms of choices.

Wednesday and Thursday, I brought my lunch but is a more carb-heavy lunch than I usually have (roasted baby yukon potatoes and roasted corn with grilled chicken) because I was just in the mood for more comfort food type of thing after not eating 'real food' all weekend.

Today, I plan to have the same from-home lunch before I head out of town.

THis weekend, I'll be staying with friends. They did a great job of cooking healthy when I was there in February, so I'm optimistic! After the week I've had (it was an atrocious week at work on top of it all), being optimistic is a challenge. LOL

One week into April.

I'm still at 133 (that's good).

I only got 4 days of cardio in. I wanted to get 5 in. I will have time today to do a 5th day. (I just looked at the calendar. I did do 5 days of cardio - today will be the 6th day. It isn't the legs that go first... )

I would have liked to get another serving of vegs in many days this week.

I did spend less time on the computer this week. Got more done for it.

Denise

This message has been edited. Last edited by: GoingSkiing,

I know there is a weight God, and he gave me a present on Wednesday. After my first week of WW, and learning the importance of planning again, etc; I did loose 2.5 pounds. And that with my shoes and heavy sweatshirt on. Remember, no tricks this time. Now I go on a holiday weekend with 9 meals being eaten out. I have a pool at the motel and there is also a glorious weight room...I'm set to make healthy choices and come home at least even.

Posting April goals...
I want to stay below 130. I am at 129 now. We have a vacation next week and I think a trip to visit my Dad after surgety later in the month. My dh and I are also taking a day trip to IKEA which will mean 2 meals out.
Here are the specific behaviors I want to do:
1. stay mindful and slow when eating. That means (at least) that I put the fork down between each bite.
2. I want to add a lap to my walk routine 2 times per week. This will increase cardio a bit.

Cobismom - you will have to tell me how you like ww. My sister is doing it, but doesn't think I would really benefit from it b/c I have you guys, let me know what you think. I am about 11-12 pounds away from goal which I used to think was impossible.

Estir: I loved reading your post, it made me realize I should not complain about having so much to do. I look foward to reading more of your posts.

I love the homework, it helps keep me focused for the day. Today is my first weigh in at WW...am I terrified, not that yet, but close. I am determined to play it by the rules. No funny things, like taking my shoes off, wearing shorts rather than the overalls I weighed in last week. I learned much this week about how much I really want this weight loss. AND it's a lot. I failed to plan for meals, I failed to get in those swimming laps (although not entirely my fault) had to walk instead and that hurts. I failed to say "NO" to my family when they wanted to go out for ice cream. So progress was made, and we'll see what the results are, take those results and start anew.

Hi, TMA!

I actually just bought a house in Old Hickory, but I work in Nashville. I think there are more than a few others on here in the Nashville area, too.

Welcome, and please stick around!

Well, I am 3 days into the week, and so far, I'm doing fairly well with my goals for the month. And I need to weigh in the morning, but I think that I've lost 3 pounds in the past week or so... yipee!!!!!

quote:

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Originally posted by shawnadammit:
Well, I have made it a priority to move my caboose more often. Not much going on here at work today, so I stocked up on cleaners and got my booty movng by giving the place a good clean up! Much better than staying parked at this desk!

---

I'm in the Nashville territory too!Franklin/Spring Hill area. It's great to see another Tennessean on the boards here. If you live nearby perhaps we could get together sometime at a park and walk!Support, motivation, and inspiration helps SO much! Just let me know if you want to get together! My email addy is TMAnashville@aol.com
Keep up the great work! You're worth it!
Tina Maria

Hi, I am new to this. I am 5'3 and 150lbs. My goals for the month of April is to lose a total of 8lbs. I would like to do at least 30 min of cardio 5x a week during my lunch hour. I would like to increase my water and eliminate sweets from my diet.

Ok, accountability... I like this... sort-of anyway!
I discovered a sure fire way to get pregnant... lose those last few pounds that have been so hard to get off! That is what happened to me... after years of working at it, my weight was finally lower than what my driver's liecense! 11 months later I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl!
The first few months of pregnancy I didn't to to bad, but then... well 51 pounds just threw themselves at my body and my body caught them! I justified every last ounce, of course... figuring that after giving birth, I'd only have an extra 20ish pounds to lose. I figured wrong. I had an emergency C-section, so I didn't even get the bennefit of the labor intensive work out of child birth. Sure it would have been painful, but I was considering labor as a real intense work out... designed to help me back into my pre-pregnancy jeans! BOY, did I get a wake up call!I actually GAINED weight after giving birth... I was shocked, when I stepped on the scale two days after giving birth, to find that my weight was 10 pounds higher than it was before going to the hospital! AND I HADN'T EATTEN ANYTHING save a few ice chips!
I have lost 32 pounds since then, including the extra 10 the IVs gave me, and looking for 29 more to come off.
I have changed my way of eating, drastically, for the better. I am staying away from added sugars and over processed foods. The more of a natural state a food is in, I figure the more of a chance it has of staying in me, reducing my hunger and cravings. So far, so good... I have even become a fan of Ben & Jerry's NO SUGAR ADDED ice cream for an occasional treat. Since doing away with all the excess sugars in my diet, my sweet tooth has almost completely vanished! That in itself is a HUGE help, for me!
My biggest problem, right now, is exercise... finding time with a 4 month old while working at least 45 hours a week. Prior to pregnancy, I held two jobs, a steady desk job that paid the bills and a part time job at a major home improvement center--- where I was on my feet my entire shift. Between the two jobs I was working 60-70 hours a weekbut getting the exercise I needed from my part time job. (One Saturday, I posted close to 10 miles on my pedometer) Now I am down to one job, and a LOT less time!
Ok so here is my goal: by this time next week, I want to have at least 2 work outs in... even if it is a walk with my daughter in the stroller. Realistic... yes... Do-able... we shall see. I fly out to attend to some business next weekend, only for 3-babyless-days. Maybe I can get in a bit more exercise during that time, to help me get over how much I will miss her!
Ok... that's my story & I am sticking to it!

Best Wishes for all!
Estir_BunE

I am setting my goals for April and planning where I would like to be by May 1. As of today I weigh 147.5. By May 1 I want to have some sort of loss. I am not going to state a specific number because if I really get going with this I know from past experience that at first I will see a significant drop and then a leveling off in pounds lost. As long as the scale is moving in the right direction I will be happy with that. My goals as far as exercise for this month are: 30 minutes of cardio 4 times per week-eiether WATP or step aerobics. I'll also follow along with everyone else doing the crunches. Twice a week I'll add 10 minutes of weight training to the mix. I have a free one-day pass to a local gym,so I'll work that in as well. My goals for my food plan: Work in more fruits and veggies and stick to a regular schedule of eating. I will plan in a couple of treats per week as rewards. I will continue to post my meal plans daily on this board and consult here regularly for help and ideas. On May 1 I'll do a follow-up on where I'm at and make a new plan for May. I think this will help me stay accountable. My ultimate goal is to get to 120. I'm 5'4" and small boned and this is a comfortable and I think maintainable weight for me with a healthy lifestyle.

Ok, goals are a bit different, trying to be more specific.
Weight: Would like to lose 2 or 3 pounds this month.


Exercise: Keep up what I am doing but try to get in longer cardio say like 35 minutes minimum and actually get to my gym since I am paying for it at least twice a week. I have to figure out how to do it so it may take a bit to get started on that.


Food: Keep up my healthy breakfast and lunches, do not fall off of healhty wagon, do not eat extra things I have not made and brought for myself. Lately, well this past week I slipped up on this, justified it to myself and my friends on the board in such a way that I have not done since I was in high school, and now I am afraid I may do it again.
Desserts only twice a week, unless it is fruit or sugar free jello or something, forgive me for saying this but non-dessertsy. I am so close to my weight goal which I would like to achieve by 7/1, unless I am blessed before then with reaching it or a very good reason for not reaching it.

I have fallen off the wagon last night and today. I hope to do better this evening, and do even better tomorrow. I also hope, that after balancing the checkbook tonight, that I will have enough money to get the 'gazelle' that is reasonably priced at Walmart and excercise at home some evenings and on weekends while watching food network and HGTV.

I want to find our scale (it is still somewhere in this house packed!)by the end of tomorrow and weigh myself.

I hope to see a difference in myself on May 1. Just so my stomach doesn't protrude like I am 6 months pregnant. I will be happy with that.

here are my goals for April...

Weight: On April 1st I was 259, by May 1st I would like to be 255.

Exercise: I have made up my calendar of exercises through the month, Sundays are my day of rest...
April 1st-4: 1 situp, 1 pushup, 5 minutes on exercise bike, 5 minutes of yoga, 30 minutes of Pilates or belly dancing each day.
April 5-11: 2 situp, 2 pushup, 6 minutes on exercise bike, 6 minutes of yoga, 30 minutes of Pilates or belly dancing each day.
April 12-18: 3 situp, 3 pushup, 7 minutes on exercise bike, 7 minutes of yoga, 30 minutes of Pilates or belly dancing each day.
April 19-25: 4 situp, 4 pushup, 8 minutes on exercise bike, 8 minutes of yoga, 30 minutes of swimming each day (pool will be open again.. yeah!)
April 26-30: 5 situp, 5 pushup, 9 minutes on exercise bike, 9 minutes of yoga, 30 minutes of swimming each day.

any days that the pool isn't open I will do 30 minutes of Pilates or bellydance...

Food: Right now I'm down to one sweet treat a day... so I want to decrease that to 5 times a week. So on Mondays and Thursday, no sugary foods. If I really need to cut my sweet tooth I will use fruit or a smoothie.

I also want to increase my water... I drink anywhere from 64 oz to 90 oz. I will consistently drink at least 80 oz every day.

My April goals are going to flow a little bit into May, since I will leaving for vacation on May 8th and want that to be my end-point.

Weight: By May 8th, I would like to have broken the 150 barrier. After 2+ months of plateauing, I'm a little skittish about setting a weight goal, but I'm taking a deep breath and acting on faith here. I was 155 1/2 for close to two months and am now a few pounds below that. I'm really looking forward to breaking 150 for the first time in about 15 years.

Exercise: I'm already exercising 5-6 days a week consistently, so I am happy with frequency. By May 8th:

1. I would like to be able to get through 20 minutes on the recumbent bike at level 3 intensity. I have been at level 1 the past 2-3 weeks and did 20 minutes at level 2 today, including a couple big hills. When I first started on the bike, level 2 totally kicked my butt so I went back to level 1. Now I think I'm strong enough to start pushing myself more.

2. In the next 5 weeks, I would like to have at least 2 weeks where I do my at-home exercise before work on all 4 of my workdays. This past week was my first week of managing that, so I'm hoping I can keep it going.

3. I want to meet with a trainer at the gym to: a) have him check my form on the weight training exercises that I already do; and b) show me some additional lower body weight training exercises.


Food: I am really happy with my weekday eating (when I cook and bring my lunches to work) and pretty happy with my weekend eating. By May 8th:

1. Though I tend to be resistant to cooking from a recipe/cookbook, I want to have tried at least one dish from KD's new book.

2. I want to expand my horizons for weekends and stop falling back on my two "old faithfuls" which are pizza (made at home and healthy) and quesadillas (ditto). I'd like to find at least one new quick & easy meal that I can use for those days when I get home after gym, shopping and errands and need something I can whip together quickly.

3. I would like to try at least one meatless meal.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Sheri in Reho,

I started thinking about April Goals the last week of March.

If I use the same template as the March goals:

WEIGHT:
I would like to be at 133 or 132 on May first.

(I'm at 133 now. We will be on vacation for 10 days in April. I will be happy to stay the same .)

FOOD:
I have been really happy with my food the past couple of weeks. I think that I have a good balance of quality, quantity and treats that seems to be working for me.

Goal is to eat VERY clean M-F (non vacation days) with a couple of treats on the weekend. Goal is to balance sensible eating and fun during vacation.

FITNESS:

Days I’m skiing - it is a no-brainer to get exercise in.
During March (non ski days), I exercised 14 times in 27 days (just 51%).

In April, my goal is to do cardio/crunches/push ups 14 times during our 21 non vacation days. (66%)

I will also take a teeny baby step and up the time from 25 mins of cardio to 26 mins. and pushups to 4.

I am also going to limit my computer time because I get more done and exercise more on the days I do this.

Cobismom: Mine hated Science Diet, they will eat the biscuits that is it. We have them on this food called Wellness as my younger dog has a very sensitive tummy and it has execellent ingredients including sweet potato, carrots, berries, almost sounds good enough for me to eat. It is dry, we buy cans too, but that is a treat that we split between them maybe once a week or so.

The hip replacement was rough, b/c we had the 2 we had to keep my Tashi on a leash and she could only go out to go the bathroom and she is definitely my nature girl who loves to be outside. We had come home one day from work and she was dragging her leg behind her, the vet said she had torn cartilage and she had to have that side done. He thought she had done it by running into the fence trying to jump over. So she had that done, super expensive, but no question she had to have it doone and then she just slightly limped with the other side after a while and we had that one done.
She runs great now when we walk her - she just gets arthritis sometimes which slows her down a bit.
Take care.

Shawna,

SOunds like you did well for the circumstances.



Well, as I posted in another thread, I got up early this morning and worked out and felt great! I have entered my plan into FitDay.com and have already calculated my calories, etc, for the day. I'm feeling great!

Well today is day one of going at this full force. Yesterday I did good at lunch, bad at breakfast and dinner.We went to super Wal Mart to get groceries (aside from produce, it is nearly impossible to find anything healthy to eat there!) -- and we made the mistake of going shopping hungry. My fella was "Starving" and suggested the McDonalds there. I told him fine, but the next time he looks at my stomach and has any feeling of disgust, to remind himself he is helping me pork up. We decided the McDonald's would be our 'last supper' so to speak. We stocked up on produce, said farewell to pop tarts, and he not only is going to support me, but he wants to drop a little weight, too. So here we go! We are on our way! -- And shopping at Kroger from now on!