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]

Third week in a row that my weight is 265. My restart weight on April 6 was 267. I need to face the fact that my efforts have been half-@$$ed. 

I had an appointment this morning for my chronic constipation. When I arrived, I was sweating profusely, which I contribute to my excess weight. The nurse was concerned and asked about chest pain or shortness of breath. My blood pressure was 156/81, another danger signal. 

I really need to take this seriously. Maybe I should get a black bracelet to remind myself that if I overeat and skip exercise, my health is in jeopardy. 

[Katrin]

Hi @ElaineJ27 , wow, what a difficult reality check! I know exactly how you feel - I've been the same way about my health and also my new job. No one is here watching what I do for my body or my career and I've been slacking off on both big time. In the hotel industry, we have a common saying to "inspect what you expect" and I am learning first hand that scrutiny into my behavior leaves me feeling a sheepish BUT, I wasn't poised to improve until I acknowledged that fact!

So, what are they going to do with you next? Is it an easy fix like taking more fiber and water or do you have to do more testing?

Just really popping in to say hi. I started walking again this week and upping my workouts a bit more. So far, my foot/ankle seem to be tolerating it well but I'm trying not to overdo it so I'm not at full speed yet. Hope everyone is doing well!

[ElaineJ27]

Second day of staying on track with my eating. Yesterday was our granddaughter’s birthday and I was a little worried but they had cake pops, which don’t tempt me at all. 

I took my lunch with me today to work at the auction setup. They were serving biscuits and gravy for lunch so my salad was a welcome treat.  For dinner tonight, I rolled some chicken breasts in panko breadcrumbs and cooked them in the air fryer. 

I was able to play golf this afternoon and I am leaving in a bit for grandson’s baseball game, where I know I will have a long walk from the parking lot. 

I finally picked up Linzess, which the doctor prescribed for my constipation but the pharmacy didn’t have until this afternoon. I’ll start that in the morning and hope I don’t have any “accidents “.

[Glenda]

Elaine,  You and I need to do better for sure.  And I don't want to damage your attitude toward saving your life.  However, do you take your blood pressure at home?  You probably should.  My pressure can measure all over the map if I take it over and over and actually do it as the instructions teach.  The medical people almost NEVER do it correctly.  You are not supposed to have eaten or drunk anything in 30 minutes.  Your feet flat on the floor and in my case if I put books on the floor under my feet there no restriction of blood flow in my thighs.  You are supposed to sit quietly for 15 minutes before you do it.  The cuff is supposed to be at heart level ....(best I can remember and I may not have all this right.)  But your arm is not supposed to be hanging down by your side either.  I would bet you 10 - 1 that they didn't let you sit still 15 minutes with your arm supported etc before they took your blood pressure.  So you probably have dangerous blood pressure.  So do I and lately I've been getting out of breath working outside pulling my wagon around, and I only weigh 120 #s (which is 10 pounds too much).  

      Hungry Girl, free daily email, had some great low calorie recipes today I'm going to try probably.  Mini meat loafs and things I have never cooked. Probably much more delicious than cookies.

[CJ_Here]

Just a quick hello as it's been a while.  April No Weigh was a bust ... as in the pants.  Gained 5.5 lbs.  Re-set my weight history and logging as Day 1 on the Lose It App as I had gotten no where for the first 98 days.  Committing to eating healthy and moving more.

Hope this finds everyone feeling better - physically, mentally, emotionally.

[SunsetRunner]

im new here

[ElaineJ27]

Welcome, @SunsetRunner .  You may see some people post points. We used to do monthly challenges with 5 possible daily points: tracking food, hit your water goal, hit your step goal, 30 minutes of exercise, and post on this thread. 

5 points Thursday 

4 points Friday 

2 points Saturday 

My water intake is good, my food has been on track, and I played golf Thursday and Friday. Yesterday, I did NOTHING! I felt overwhelmed by what needs to be done but I spent an hour cleaning the kitchen and doing some paperwork. Everything else is on a list for tomorrow or later this week. 

Now I will plan my week while I watch Cardinal baseball.  Having my meals planned is the only thing that saved me last week. 

My blood pressure was 146/83 yesterday, better than a couple days before. @Glenda , I sat at my table with my feet on the floor and my arm resting on the table. 

And my new medicine is helping but I’ll spare you the details.

[ElaineJ27]

3 points for Sunday. 

Even a few days of reigning in my eating and stress have lowered my blood pressure to 136/74 this morning! 

In tracking my food I have noticed that my fat consumption is too high. I have been having a sausage egg muffin for breakfast, using frozen precooked sausage patties that have 19 grams of fat each. Right now I am cooking 3 pounds of turkey sausage to freeze. Each roll has six servings so I cut each into six and pressed them into patties. No measuring. Each portion has 10 grams of fat so the 9 is enough to stay in my range. 

My week’s meals and exercise are planned based on my schedule. I don’t even feel guilty that Hubby is taking off work Thursday to take his mom to the doctor instead of canceling my plans with a friend. 

I hope you are all coping with what life is throwing at you right now. 

[Cele21]

USW - 218.0

LW - 195.8

CW - 195.4

Welcome @SunsetRunner! Tell us a bit about yourself and your journey.

@ElaineJ27  - Glad your new meds are working and very scary on the blood pressure, glad that's coming down too. Did the doctor recommend anything for that or just keep an eye on it?

So I am down very slightly from last week. I don't know why I expect more when I do less. 

It's a new month and a good time to re-focus on the following:

- Start the exercises they gave me for my knee (a month ago)

- Up my water intake

- Get to bed earlier (read: less screen time)

- Re-start the decluttering of my house

All of these are areas that I had success in previously but they have fallen by the wayside for various reasons (none of which are good and are mostly excuses, not reasons).

[CJ_Here]

Yes, welcome @SunsetRunner .  What was once a large group under the old platform has changed to a few of us still chatting and supporting each other on our journeys toward better health.

Yay, on lower BP, @ElaineJ27 .  I have to ask as I find this interesting - Are you a first-born child?  I have tried lists / plans and I always seem to fail.  I am last-born (8 of 9).  I find it's the first-born that make lists and are successful with them.  I joined a challenge for exercise minutes in May after having not meeting the April challenge.  I think I'm going to drop out as I'm already behind.  I need to find what will work best for me to get things done.   I just seem to not do what I say I will do.  Nuts.

@Cele21 , I know 'focus' is your word for the year.  How is it going?  Mine is 'commit'.  I do the initial 'committing' but not so much the follow-through.  I think I will use the word 'commit' right before I do something.  Perhaps, in time, I will commit to something in the morning and be successful in following-through on that commitment before the sun sets.  I want to be a person of my word to.for myself.  I have been one to others, but for some reason haven't for myself.

[Cele21]

@CJ_Here  My focus is not on point. Like you I am a last born (4 of 4) and I too love making lists and planning my day only to find it not as important or urgent to me later on. For example: "I will do my knee exercises when I get home from work." I get home from work and need to change my clothes, relax for a few minutes, catch up with hubby, start dinner so he doesn't eat too late. Then we eat dinner and after that I'm not going to exercise because it's too uncomfortable while digesting. Result: I haven't done my knee exercises in two months. It's the same with waking up early, decluttering the house, working on our budget, making healthier eating choices, and the list (ha, see what I did there?) goes on. Weekends are better but I don't want to spend all weekend catching up and not doing anything fun either.

I'm trying to work on things I can do ahead of time to make life go smoother, getting my outfit together for work and making my lunch the night before, going over the bank numbers daily which only takes a few minutes, etc. I need to do the same with meal prep, getting to bed earlier, waking up earlier and when something there clicks I'll be able to fit in those workouts in the morning. 

The toughest part is I know what I need to do, I know how to do it, I've done it before successfully and then I get off track and it's like starting from zero again. I still feel like a kid rebelling against being told what to do and when to do it even though I'm the adult setting those rules.

[CJ_Here]

@Cele21 , your last sentence is exactly how I feel.  Hubby finally has the weather to be outside working on projects that actually gives us hours of space.  So, now I can roll the way I like to ... slowly work my way in to working on projects; then spending time on them; doing some other thing that catches my eye, taking a break, hitting the main project again.  I love it!  I need many hours alone to make things happen.  I hope it stays this way 🙂

Mon - 3 pts (posting, logging, water)

Ah, ok, like 15 minutes after I originally posted hubby came inside so 'we' could run for supplies.  I just couldn't tell him I didn't want to go, but I was crabby and anxious during the whole trip.  So much for free time.  Ugh.

[CJ_Here]

Ugh, somehow deleted everything I had just written.  I guess it was THAT boring, lol. 

Tues - 3 pts / Wed 2 pts

[ElaineJ27]

There is something seriously wrong with me. I was doing well until Monday, when I started eating like there was no tomorrow. And yesterday when I was miserable because I had eaten so much, I ate more in an effort to feel better. 

I know what to do but I either don’t care or don’t pay attention. 

[reszy]

You are Not alone, I too on days go overboard.. I think hormone /genes/body chemistry is stacked up against me. Sometimes nothing satisfied me so portioned sizes go out the door.

[CJ_Here]

I'm in the same boat.  When will we learn to buy individual treats instead of family size treats.  We end up eating all of whatever the same day we buy it no matter what the size.  I had five days within my calories and then, bam, I spiked in calories; almost two days worth in one day.  Today, we bought one treat and I forced Hubby to eat 3/4 of it (he's been doing good and losing weight so I sacrificed him for my benefit - I am so bad).  

Thurs - 3 pts; Fri - 2 pts; Sat - 3 pts (posting, logging, water)  Did opt out of the May exercise challenge I was in.  I've decided to work on my health in the way that will work best for me.  I don't want to 'talk' negatively about myself, so I think it's best not to be in a challenge right now.  What I do each day can be positive if I cheer myself on for whatever I accomplish and don't dwell on what I don't do.  I did get my desk area cleared up enough and have been straightening the house up every day.  Today I did go outside.  While I wasn't the most active, I did search around forever looking for our flag to get back up on the flagpole after winter.  I was obsessed and mad (negative talk going on) with myself for misplacing it.  We finally found it in the basement with some of my other outside seasonal stuff.  I am so happy!  Yet, it appears the rigging is not right because it wants to fly left instead of right so the blue stars are facing the top right instead of top right.  Hubby says it's the wind, but I think it's something else.  I've looked online but haven't found any pointers to figure out what's wrong.  I'm hoping he'll humor me and try again...

[CJ_Here]

Sun - 3 pts

[CJ_Here]

Mon - 5 pts

[Glenda]

Elaine,  We don't overeat we eat the wrong stuff.  I'm not even calling it food.  When I have a moment of sanity I should put those cookies right in the garbage disposal.  I confess too, sometimes when I know I'ver already eaten too much food, I switch to drinking wine.  LOL  But at least I hate being fat so much that it does help me to put the brakes on eventually.

[CJ_Here]

Other than Tuesday, I've been getting plenty of physical exercise working outside on various projects.  Calories have been within range; although I am eating my exercise calories.  A little tougher getting in all my water since it's only at breaks that I drink versus 'grazing' my water when I'm in the house.  Hope all is well with all of you.