Chats, Challenges & Laughs 2nd home

[Cele21]

For all my Chats, Challenges & Laughs peeps! Since we can't get on the threads I thought I would start a discussion area for us. We may not be able to keep track of points standings easily but we can still talk.

I miss you!

[ElaineJ27]

I am still not able to sync Bluetooth devices with my phone, although it did sync with my car. My Fitbit won’t sync with either my computer or my Kindle. I spoke to a tech at our local AT&T, who gave me a service number to call but I didn’t have an extra hour today to be on hold. 

I am not making resolutions to begin January 1, but have committed to my 6 pm food cutoff habit. We eat dinner at 5:00, so I figured that 6:00 would work. 

I weighed this morning and am exactly the same weight I was last Wednesday, which is 159.2. My ultimate start weight was 167. With the challenge I’m doing with my daughter, my weigh-in day will change to Saturday. 

I have been listening to podcasts and YouTube videos by Cas at Clutterbug, Dana at A Slob Comes Clean, and Dawn at Minimal Mom. As a result, I finished clearing a shelving unit in my basement!

We have no special plans for New Year’s Eve and may not even stay up until midnight!  I hope all of you stay safe. 

[Katrin]

Hi Everyone,

Yesterday I went out to my parents and set up a large monitor for my dad. My boyfriend offered it for free and my dad has macular degeneration so he can't see very well anymore and was really struggling with the screen on the laptop. He's super happy now and this extends his ability to help with the finances and also his ability to engage in family zoom calls.

My boyfriend is in his period of mood swings. It's been a little up and down but we seem poised for a good night tonight. He works until some time tonight (usually it's 10 but they say they are closing early.) I have a bottle of prosecco for us to share. I'm not normally up past 10 but tonight I'll try. I work again tomorrow at 1 so that at least gives me some recovery time.

My foot is still troubling me but it's clearly from the injury and not the standing/walking so that is at least an improvement. I did buy another bottle of advil since I'm sucking them down like candy these days. Continuing to apply for jobs but we are reaching the point where that will slow down a little since I've sifted through all of the ones that have previously been posted and now I'll be focusing on the new postings. So, I need to work on building out my website and then creating my course which I'm hoping will bring in some income periodically as well! We'll see! Should at least be fun trying to work on that!

Happy New Year everyone!

[CJ_Here]

I found my word for 2021.  The word is 'commit'.  To commit to something, whatever that might be for the day.  To commit to lose and maintain a 50 lb weight loss in 2021.  Commitment is what I've been lacking.  I will be writing up my S.M.A.R.T.E.R. goal(s).  Before tomorrow I will find the wellness planner I had purchased last year but never used.  

We have another firewood load today which will get me out in the fresh air.  I'm feeling positive and energized to start fresh...no looking back.  I commit to focus on each day; one day at a time.  

Wishing everyone a better day 🙂

[ElaineJ27]

My Fitbit synced for about 20 minutes. I’m still wearing it and try to avoid using the clock as the time is incorrect. 

I’m trying to put together a routine and meal plan for next week but I don’t know if I will have kids or not. I’ll have to nag my daughter again. The kids have remote learning for two weeks as a quarantine period after holiday visits. 

I have been pondering my word for 2021.  Focus and commit are great words and are appropriate for me, but I have decided to go with “rejoice “. I need to find joy in my circumstances while I focus on and commit to new and healthier routines. 

@CJ_Here , it sounds like delivering loads of wood keeps you moving and also brings in a bit of income. I need something like that for motivation but I also don’t want any obligations! I’m inherently lazy. 

@Katrin , it sounds like your attitude is peaceful in spite of the upheaval you’ve experienced. I really admire that. 

[CJ_Here]

I love your 2021 word, rejoice, @ElaineJ27 .  One of the things I want to commit to is being more joyful towards hubby.  It's not his fault he drives me nuts (well, sometimes; but, mostly my attitude).  Yes, we are over half way towards our $ goal in just one month.  It's hard to be lazy with hubby and the firewood.  He says he'll do it himself since I told him I don't want to do this year after year.  It is giving us our 'stash' for fun / whatever - splitting it 50/50.  Of course, once the wood shed and various other piles are gone, we'll only have what trees need to be felled; so, maybe 1/8th of what we have now if that.

[CJ_Here]

Happy New Year!  The Stats:

HW - 280

LW - 242.5

CW - 248

'21 GW - 198

[Sport]

Happy New Year! This is Sherrie -- I'm dusting off the ole FitBit -- glad to see some of you are still here!

[CJ_Here]

Welcome Back, Sherrie.  I saw 'Sport' had posted and I wondered who that was.?.  Are you enjoying retirement out west?  Maybe you have been reading up to see that we are small yet mighty.  Some post points; some not.  We are a bit flexible to have the 5 points be meaningful to us.  For me, it's the usual water, posting, 30 minutes exercise, steps and logging/tracking (my logging point now stands for when I hit a minimum of 16 hours in the fasting state (next month the point won't count unless I have at least 16 hours AND have portion control).  So, for today I'll have 3 points - water/posting/tracking

[ElaineJ27]

Yay!!!  @Sport , so glad to hear from you!  

It was cold and dreary today and I’m still enjoying the Christmas lights in the house, so I didn’t take down decorations as I had planned. We got freezing rain overnight, followed by a light covering of snow. I’m sure it’s nothing compared to what you “northerners” received but it was easy for me to stay inside. 

I spent most of the day watching The Twilight Zone marathon and now American Masters about Louisa May Alcott and Laura Ingalls Wilder. 

My Fitbit again refuses to sync with my phone or computer. I will get back on track with my eating and exercise plans but won’t be able to participate in challenges. 

[Katrin]

Sherrie, welcome back! So good to hear from you!

@ElaineJ27I've noticed that now my fitbit is not syncing either. It logged only 77 steps each for the past 2 days while the actual device shows way more than that (and my feet can attest!) The time is way off on it too. Has support given any indication what the problem is? I wonder if they've tweaked their service yet again which has thrown everything off. After never getting anywhere repeatedly on my last support issue of logging in, I just don't have much appetite to try them again right now but it's super frustrating!

Anyway, I'm off to work today so I better get my act in gear!

[Sport]

Thank you for the welcomes @Katrin @ElaineJ27 @CJ_Here and thanks for the challenge invite Jan.

I have been a slug during our COVID shut downs.  All of the things I thought I would do "when I had the time" I didn't do.

I'm feeling energized for the New Year. These are my goals: 

walk more

work on arm 

work on strength

work on flexibility

eat more fruit

drink more water

floss

eat less

eat fewer carbs

I had a good day yesterday, all except: work on arm, work on strength, work on flexibility.  I fractured my shoulder 2.5 years ago and I had been going to the pool for my therapy, the pool shut down in March and I haven't done anything with my arm since then.  I've lost strength.  I just bought a couple of hand weights to get started again.  I had given mine away because I didn't need them anymore.

@CJ_Here I am mostly retired, I work a few hours every couple of weeks to stay active in the system.  Anxious to start giving folks COVID vaccines.

[CJ_Here]

Sat - 3 pts / hit 20 hrs fasted due mainly to cleaning up before cooking took longer than expected.  Now if only I could control my portion control I might actually start losing weight.  But, that is my February commitment.  This month I just want to consistently fast 16 or more hours per day.  

[ElaineJ27]

I made my initial weigh-in video for the challenge that I joined with my daughter. It’s the first time in a long time that I’ve seen and heard myself and I was amazed how much I resemble my sister! Still pictures show a close resemblance but voice and movements are identical. 

I will now list my start weight as 259.4, which was yesterday’s weight. My heaviest weight was 267 but I’m starting from now. 

As I am enjoying the Christmas lights in my living room, I decided to leave them up a few more days. In the stage of life that school and work resumed on January 2, it was necessary to put away Christmas on New Year’s Day.  Now I can leave them as long as I want. 

Church this morning was the first time I’ve left the house this year. We got an ice storm New Year’s Eve, but luckily no power loss or damage. The ice is now covered with about half an inch of snow. I know CJ and Celeste live in the frozen north and always deal with quite a bit more. 

So far I have adhered to my 6 pm eating cutoff (2 days!). I did 30 minutes on my elliptical yesterday but Sundays are my “day off”.  I have exercise scheduled into my days starting again tomorrow. 

[Cele21]

USW - 218.0

LW - 190.4

CW - 194.0

So two weeks of not putting any boundaries on eating or drinking has not helped my weight but boy, was it fun. My new year is officially starting when I go back to work tomorrow, January 4th. I have started a little bit on my cleaning goals but again, 'focus' will begin tomorrow. I decided that I am not going back to any meal plans as yet but want to keep up with the 1200 calorie a day goal with more veggies, no soda (sob), and as much movement as I can handle.

I'm pretty sure I have tendonitis in my right heel, which is a pain in more ways than one as it is on the opposite leg from my bad knee. I got hit in the heel with a grocery cart at the end of November and about two weeks later developed pain on a daily basis. It goes from feeling bruised to feeling like my shoe is rubbing to stinging. It hurts to flex it. I looked it up on the internet and will start elevation, compression and icing. If I don't see improvement I will be going to the doctor.

@Sport - Hi Sherrie! Welcome back! 

@ElaineJ27  - I too love 'Rejoice' as a word to follow for 2021, especially after 2020 LOL!

@CJ_Here  - 'Commit' is very close to 'Focus', we'll need to help each other stay on track.

@Katrin  - Keeping you in my prayers for finding the perfect job fit for you.

Here's to a great 2021 for everyone!

[CJ_Here]

Sun - 2 pts / not enough water

However, I think maybe I should keep track of how long I'm loading firewood.  We did 2 loads today and I was stretching, bending, lifting and walking back and forth quite a bit.  I'm sure it was over 30 minutes combined.  I just hadn't thought of it as exercise before even though Elaine had mentioned about it in a post a while back.  

@ElaineJ27 , are you doing the Healthy Weight Challenge?  I had done that back in 18/19.  I had to pay to extend the time I needed, but I did succeed and made some money to boot.  They just notified me that I could join again, and while I wouldn't be able to earn as much money it would be something.  I decided to not do it because it was so difficult getting the first and last weigh-in videos with the old standing scale that I have.  Good luck to you and your daughter.

@Cele21 , yes, focus and commit go hand in hand.  After today, I can tell you that I did not think of my word today as I overate on snacky food big time.  I just thought of my word after reading your post.  I need to take time first thing in the morning and during the day to think of what I want to commit to to help stop myself before I eat.

[CJ_Here]

Mon - 3 pts

[ElaineJ27]

I adhered to my 6:00 food cutoff last night but it was hard. I wasn’t hungry but I certainly wanted to eat.  Breakfast didn’t happen until 8, so that was a 14 hour fast. I stuck to my food plan, even snacking on a boiled egg while the grandkids had animal crackers. My day didn’t allow a trip to the gym but I listened to a decluttering podcast while on the elliptical (staring at the clutter I need to get rid of)! Since I will have grandkids this week and next, I will have to work out at home because I assume the gym is busy in the hours before they arrive. 

[CJ_Here]

Will be a 3 for Tuesday.

Hitting over 16 hrs of fast each day; usually making it to 20.  Did think of committing to this process a number of times the past two days (meaning thought of my '21 word 'commit' and what I'm committing to).  Am still overeating when I'm eating but will focus on the positive that I am starting to think more about it.  I've had alone time in the house for the past two days for a few hours at a time.  Mainly have been watching tv or on the computer or visiting on phone, but it's been fabulous.  I love having 'girl' time; 'me' time; 'woman' thoughts instead of sports, wood, whatever else guy stuff.  Hope this continues.

[Glenda]

@CJ_Here  Just curious CJ, but does the food you are overeating have any bulk?  Do you over eat salad?    Maybe you could add lots of fiber to your diet.  I'm a poor cook but I made notes on "roasting carrots" and cooked a pound of them.  I ate the whole pound in one day.  LOL it works just like a big laxitive.  It took forever to cut up the carrots after peeling them.  then when they are like french fries you toss them with a little oil and honey (1 T olive oil may have been excessive, and 2 T of honey, but I used fake syrup) and lots of salt and pepper.  Cook in a 400 degree oven 35 minutes.  Very good.  

[ElaineJ27]

Another 14 hour fast. I may have to head to bed (even though it’s 45 minutes before my normal bedtime) because I’m really wanting to eat. I have been drinking about 100 oz of water, mostly to keep from eating between meals or after dinner. 

I listened to another decluttering podcast while on the elliptical, staring at my basement clutter. While Granddaughter took a break between classes this morning, I went down and filled a trash bag. No one else would notice a difference but I feel that I did make some progress. 

I haven’t tried syncing my Fitbit in a few days, nor have I contacted support.