Grit and Determination

[moonlight]

Exercise: 30 minutes on WaterRower

I started my day with exercise before coffee. I only used half the amount of coffee. I've been feeling a little depression recently, I think due to going off hormone replacement. So I hope this withdrawal from coffee doesn't make it any worse. Maybe it will lift my spirits as my BP goes down.

Food Intake today:
Sweet potato with kimchi, vegetable soup
Rice and AJ chili
Watermelon

[moonlight]

Again, I started my day with exercise, 30 minutes on the WaterRower. I waited 45 minutes after exercise and before coffee to check my BP. It was 132/92 (3 reading average).

Yesterday I started reducing coffee intake and didn't get a headache. I realized the scoop I had been using for my coffee was intended for 2 cups of coffee. I had been using a heaping scoop for about 1 1/4 cups of water. I've reduced the ground coffee to 1 Tbsp.

Food Intake today:
sweet potato with kimchi
Veggie burrito
mixed grains and vegetable soup
purple hull peas, cabbage and mushrooms, and sweet potato
air-popped popcorn

[moonlight]

Exercise: 30 minutes on the WaterRower

BP: 127/88 (before caffeine)

Drinking less caffeine again today. I felt foggy yesterday. I took an afternoon nap...

Food Intake:
sweet potato and banana
vegetable soup and mixed grains

[moonlight]

My weight is down to 171.

Hiked this morning for 3.7 miles

Food Intake:
Oatmeal
Oatmeal cookies with banana, dried cranberries, and applesauce (great hiking food)
Mixed grain salad- very good version with cilantro, carrots, roasted tomatoes, red and orange sweet peppers, a few Kalamata olives
Mixed grain, purple hull peas, onion, jalapeño burrito
WW pasta and vegetable soup

[moonlight]

Exercise: 5 mile hike

Food Intake:
Potato, corn, bell peppers, jalapeño, onion roasted together
Mixed grains and veggie salad
Veggie burger and a few sweet potato fries
WW pasta and cabbage w/ mushrooms sauté

[moonlight]

Exercise: 30 minutes on the WaterRower, plus 3 hours of gardening

Food Intake:
potato, corn, bell peppers, and roasted tomatoes - roasted
ww pasta w/ AJ's chili - small serving of both
potatoes, mixed vegetables
watermelon
banana

[moonlight]

Exercise: 30 minutes on WaterRower

Food Today:
Large sweet potato
Kale salad from Panera Bread
Chips, salsa, and Burrito at restaurant (it had cheese sprinkled on top)

[bunsofaluminum]

Aww, cheese. I'm almost glad that my body rejects cheese, otherwise I'd be eating it a LOT. It's crack. Really it is.

[moonlight]

Hi Buns,
I’m very cautious of the cheese. It is like the crack cocaine of the food world for me, too. I didn’t eat much and I plan to really avoid it for as long as I can. If I eat it a couple of times in a row then it really becomes a problem and I’ll crave it. I’ve been doing fairly well lately with my MWL diet except yesterday and today was off plan. Today I ate another kale salad at Panera Bread and the dressing has oil. Hopefully my weight won’t go up. The last couple of days I haven’t had food ready to take with me. I leave tomorrow for a visit with my family. I will be staying in the hospitality suite at my mother’s retirement center. This is very good because when I stay with her I usually end up eating some of the junk food she keeps around. I give in late at night then binge. This time I won’t be able to do this. Also, my DH is going. I’m going to ask him to help me stay strong and not eat off plan. I plan to take oatmeal, meatless veggie loaf, mixed grain salad, and potatoes. Exercise will be a challenge. I don’t feel safe walking by myself there. I may try doing floor exercises or yoga. This won’t get my heart rate up high enough to consider it moderate exercise but it will be better than nothing.

So today’s report:
30 minutes on WaterRower

Food:
Banana, a few almonds, a slice of cornbread
Kale salad from Panera Bread - dressing had oil
WW pasta and large serving of mixed vegetables

[moonlight]

So, I've been out of town for a few days and I actually adhered to my MWL plan better while out-of-town than what I was doing the few days before leaving! This is a real plus for me. I didn't gain any weight (I didn't lose any either..). One thing that helped was being in an apartment with no food. I purposely didn't have extra food in my apartment. I let my husband bring in one bedtime snack for himself. So, I still have a lot of work to do in resisting temptations but I was very happy to not give in during the day while being with family and all the tempting foods.

I just finished reading a good thread from JeffN about fine tuning the MWL guidelines. I can't seem to get the link here but it is on the May MWL Weigh-In forum in Amy's weekly tally post. In the thread Jeff said that if following the guidelines one should lose approximately 1% of their weight each week. For me that would be 1.7 pounds. I'm not losing that much. I started exercising more. I'll keep that going but I need to increase non-starchy vegetables. I think I eat too much from starch. Another tweak!

Exercise Today: mowed the lawn for 3 hours (riding mower but still some exercise)

Food Intake Today:
taboulah salad (more bulgur than vegetables...)
sautéed kale, mushrooms, onions, and jalapeno
** I can't remember the rest of this day's meals. I forgot to write them as the day went along.

[moonlight]

Yesterday was one of those days that went by in a blur. I did weigh and I have lost another pound! Down to 170. My eating was fairly good. At lunch I ate a few corn chips and avocado at lunch with my rice bowl from Salsarita's. Breakfast was sweet potato and greens. Dinner was WW pasta, greens w/ mushrooms and onions.

I need to get back on my exercise plan! Being away for the weekend, getting out of routine,,, I've really got to make the effort. No exercise yesterday.

Today's Food Plan:
potatoes, corn, bell peppers, onion, and jalapenos roasted
WW pasta, greens, roasted tomatoes
corn
purple sweet potato , greens w/ tomatoes and mushrooms
air popped popcorn
one banana and slice of bread
2 more slices of bread

[moonlight]

Exercise: 30 minutes on WaterRower

BP: 123/82
Weight: 170 lbs

I cooked some bulgur to have ready late in the evening instead of bread, like last night. I also did 20 minutes of sunbathing for a little natural vitamin D. My freckles got brighter...

Food:
oatmeal w/ fresh cherries from our own trees (First year we have had a good crop of cherries.)
potato and broccoli soup; meatless loaf; more broccoli
cucumber and tomato and bulgur salad, roasted sweet potato, onion, and carrot
Dinner w/ DH at Mexican restaurant where oil and sodium were in my dish!

[moonlight]

I left the house very early. I didn't make time for exercise, thinking I would do some when I got home. I'm very tired and I doubt I work out on the WaterRower tonight! But, I surprise myself every now and again, so we shall see! I walked 3 miles today while at work so I was active.
** Ha! It worked! Writing about wanting to exercise and then I did. I love it when that happens! 30 minutes on the WaterRower

Food Intake:
oatmeal
banana
sweet potato and brussel sprouts
purple hull peas and onion
orange
meatless loaf, bulgur, turnip greens, cucumber and tomato salad

[sirdle]

** Ha! It worked! Writing about wanting to exercise and then I did. I love it when that happens! 30 minutes on the WaterRower

Ha! I love it when that happens!

Sometimes I tell myself that I will NOT workout today... just a gentle warmup, some stretches, then I'm done.

But after a gentle warmup, I often change my mind.

Cheers,

[moonlight]

Sometimes I tell myself that I will NOT workout today... just a gentle warmup, some stretches, then I'm done.
But after a gentle warmup, I often change my mind.
Cheers,

Hi Sirdle, this reminds me of the 10 minute rule for house cleaning. Plan to clean for at least 10 minutes. Often once you get started you keep going after the 10 minutes. I guess sometimes it's just too overwhelming to think about what we "should" do.

I'm not sure I'll get formal exercise in today. I just finished cleaning out the gutters... Hopefully, there's gardening in my future, too.

Today I made the artichoke dip recipe I saw recently on a thread here. It's good. I used lima beans with artichoke hearts. I've put a little on bulgur and then some in my potato salad. Yum!

Food Intake:
oatmeal w/ fresh cherries
bulgur and artichoke dip
potato salad w/ lots of red bell pepper, carrots, and onion
meatless loaf, greens, potato soup
banana
popcorn
bulgur