My SIL and I are doing Jessica Smith's January challenge, in case any one wants to join us. Hey, punctuality isn't my strongest suit. http://jessicasmithtv.com/2019-january-challenge/ This 13-month weight/fitness/nutrition odyssey I've been on has been a trip (get it? LOL). I have never thought about food as much as I do now. It takes up a lot of my brain space. But to be honest, I always have to have a hobby that fills my thoughts in my down time. It used to be curriculum, so I'm spending a lot less money now. I can see how it can easily lead to disordered thinking. I scolded my husband for baking a ton of cookies (which I ate) when I have clearly told him several times to only bake a small amount because having a bunch of cookies in the house sets me up for failure (homemade cookies have a siren song, and I can't eat just one). My kids were like, "Wait, you're yelling at dad for something that you did?" Yes, yes I am. It's complicated. I also scolded him for buying 2% milk instead of skim when I clearly wrote skim on the list. To me, the line between being in control and being out of control is thin, at least when it comes to toll house cookies. Anyone have some good books on food/health/nutrition? Last year I read Salt, Sugar, Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us by Michael Moss, and that helped motivate me to eat well. I'm not interested in following a restrictive diet like Keto, but I might still like a book about a specific diet as long as it's based on real science and doesn't tout a diet or schedule as the One True Way. I don't have any chronic health conditions or digestive issues I'm trying to fix; I'm more interested in getting re-energized to fuel my body well nutritionally.

The Lil' Drumstick ice cream cones are I think 100-110 calories each, and they feel decadent! I sometimes buy bags of snack-size candy bars - Paydays are 90 calories, and Hershey's milk chocolate and Three Musketeers ones are about 66 calories. I honestly don't sweat a little sugar. It's better to eat 90% healthy and 10% junk than to try for 100% healthy and fall into a bag of cookies. I also weigh everything - well, I eyeball the super low things like spinach, cucumbers, and celery. My day was not so good. I had terrible cravings, which I think was my body's attempt to make up for a low day yesterday. It might also be that I started the day with an intense workout which can drive up my hunger. Despite drinking a protein shake and eating a bit more to satisfy the cravings in a healthy way, I still fell into a bag of cookies. I was kind of mad at myself, but I tracked everything and went on a walk. When I average out yesterday's total and today's total, the math works out. And tomorrow I will be more mindful.

I wasn’t very hungry yesterday and ended up eating about 1250 cal. (Late) breakfast: Coffee, sautéed zucchini, cherry tomatoes & mushrooms with 2 scrambled eggs and 2 slices Canadian bacon (250) Lunch: protein ball, apple Skyr yogurt with a little Special K cereal (215) Snack: celery, peanut butter & raisins, chocolate truffle & tiny cookie (366) Dinner: Skinnytaste beef chili, roasted pumpkin, and a dab of plain Skyr yogurt as a sour cream sub. (400)

@stephanier.1765 Don’t let perfection be the enemy of good! Maybe you are someone who needs a bedtime snack. If you’re hungry, an apple is a great choice. Think of how you want to live for the rest of your life. If your rules are unsustainable, then might as well adjust them now. Diet soda isn’t a sin. And maybe reconsider whether you want to do rules or guidelines. Rules are very black-and-white and mean failure if broken, but guidelines are just suggestions that can be bent if needed without any guilt. Like I didn’t eat at 9, 12, 3, and 6 yesterday - it was more like 10:30, 11:30, 1:30, 4 and 7. No problem; I wasn’t hungry at my normal breakfast time and that pushed everything back. Some mornings I eat at 8 because I feel super hungry. Neither is wrong. Another suggestion is to work on one habit at a time. In general, are you a black & white, all or nothing kind of thinker? You can still build new habits even if it takes time to be consistent. Any progress is still progress.

Pre-tracking my food is what makes calorie counting work for me! I plan four meals. To me, it's fun to see what I can work into my day. 9 am: about 200-300 calories (oatmeal + fruit or peanut butter, Greek yogurt + fruit, eggs + toast, etc.) 12 pm: about 300-400 calories (often a wrap or "sandwich" on Wasa crackers + veggies & hummus, or leftovers) 3 pm: about 200-300 calories (often including something sweet like dessert yogurt, protein bar, or dessert, but sometimes veggies & dip) 6 pm: about 400-500 calories (dinner with the family including a lot of veggies) After dinner I just have tea. Red Rose makes dessert teas that are sweet and delicious - I love the Blueberry Muffin! I drink water throughout the day, usually sparkling water with a squirt of Mio. I'd rather have some artificial sweetener than sugar.

I weighed in this morning and am down about 3# in the past two weeks! That brings me to about 82# lost. I am bumping my calorie goal up to 1600 because I am transitioning to maintenance. I can still stand to lose some weight but slow and steady is fine with me. We had a long-planned take-out pizza dinner last night. I went back & forth about making my own vs. ordering from the restaurant. I decided to make my own partially so I could control the calories and partly because I just didn’t want a heavy pizza (this place loads on the topping s and is very rich). I ended up buying a premade crust and topping it with lite cheese, caramelized onions, garlic, mushrooms, zucchini, and a few slices of turkey pepperoni. It hit the spot and saved me a ton of calories. I ended the day a little high, but I had eaten less the previous few days to prepare. Actually it wasn’t the pizza that put me over, it was the homemade cookies my husband & son baked. I made premade the dough and frozen it into balls, and I asked them to only make a few because I know they are my weakness. They made 60. I’m back on track today though. No cookies! I have other treats that I can moderate just fine.

I’m in, although outside accountability sometimes psyches me out. I actually had a fancy ball to go to, and the fear of not fitting in my gown really messed with my head. I do better with no one (and no dress) counting on me - but I still want to cheer people on! I use the app iTrackBites. They recently did a huge update to more closely mimic the WW app, and there are still some kinks being worked out, but I like it better than MFP for tracking (although I still use the food database & recipe builder in MFP). I’m just counting calories with it since I already am happy with my food choices. I like that I can save my favorite and create my own database of food. The past couple of weeks have been a big test - I have been rooming in with my teen at the hospital while he has a couple of surgeries. I am so dang proud of myself - not only am I not abandoning my good habits, but I am rocking them. I am sticking to a 1500 cal daily average and meeting my activity goals. If I can’t leave the room I just walk back & forth. I’ve even done some Jessica Smith workouts in the tiny space between our beds. When my son is feeling well I can walk in circles around the elevator banks and climb the 10 flights of stairs. Thankfully there is a convenience store downstairs and the room has a mini-fridge, so I have fresh produce, yogurt, lunchmeat, etc. (And also chocolate that I ration out, lol). I think it helps me so much to feel like I am taking good care of myself amidst all the stress. We get to go home today and are having a pizza party, but I am eating light the rest of the day to offset it. I haven’t weighed myself in a couple of weeks but hopefully I will have lost a bit. I am close to my “natural weight” so the last few pounds are very stubborn despite eating at a deficit and getting regular activity. I never got to go to the ball because of this hospitalization, but I’m going to have photos taken and maybe I’ll post them here 🙂. Oh, one question - what do you think about choosing to stop losing weight even when you’re still a bit chubby? The last of my extra fat is all in my belly, but I don’t want to lose any more weight in my face and shoulders/chest. I already look drawn and I don’t want to look bony. I’m wondering if I should just take a break and see how things settle out even if I’m just barely at a normal weight. (I do have a large frame, which matters).

I would eat it. I assume everything in the world is contaminated with all sorts of bacteria, and yet I almost never wash my hands directly before eating. I keep some wet naps in my purse in case I’m somewhere really grungy like a rest-stop picnic table, but I frequently pack a lunch (sandwich & finger foods) and eat it wherever without sanitizing first. And I can’t even remember a time I saw someone excuse themselves to wash their hands before a meal or pull out a bottle of Purell, so i don’t think I’m unusual. I also don’t wipe my grocery cart or wash my hands after shopping, so I assume I am transferring coliform bacteria all over my house. I do wash after using the restroom and avoid touching a public bathroom door, though it’s probably not any dirtier than a grocery cart. It’s actually beneficial to be exposed to germs so you can build up immunity (assuming you’re not immunocompromised, of course). Think of how PS teachers hardly ever get sick 🙂. We rarely get more than a sniffle a year, so apparently this works for my family.

If you right-click on the album cover and choose “get info”, you can change the type from music to audiobook. This way iTunes will keep them separate.

Reviewing the 2018 thread has really shown how different our goals and methods are, so I thought I would start a new thread for 2019. SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time Bound. I know this works for many people, but honestly it doesn't for me. The more specific and strict I am about goals, the more pressure I feel. I feel like I am doing something because I have to, and that makes me not want to do it. Personally, I like to set goals about habits, not about results - since I can control what I do, but I really can't control the effect it ultimately has on my body. So my goals are all about things I wan to do, and wherever it leads me is great. I would prefer to lose about seven more pounds, and I think these habits will lead me there. I have started using a Clever Fox planner to jot notes for each day (how I feel, how I ate) plus it has a spot for habit tracking & self reflection. It's awesome. It keeps me mindful of my health and non-health goals (like reading more!). My 2019 goals: Exercise: Continue with daily exercise, and aim for 30-60 minutes a day - 30 in the morning and maybe another 30 in the evening. Last year I got in basic shape and want to take it further with more intense cardio & strength training. I am doing the Jessica Smith 6-week transformation, and I'm enjoying it so far. I will probably do phase 2 & phase 3 of her Walk Strong program. I'm actually going out today to get weighted gloves to make the workouts more intense. My resting heart rate is about 55, and it takes a lot of effort to get me in the cardio zone. I'm interested in trying Yvette Bachman's YouTube routines - they would definitely be challenging but look really fun. My current step count goal is 8000 but I think I will move it back up to 10k. Eating: I have to fit in my ball gown in two weeks, so for now I am eating pretty light and trying not to bloat. I do a lot better without this kind of pressure. I have used various methods to track my food, but ultimately my goal is to keep tracking it. I have a target calorie range of 1200-1600 and plan to keep that until I lose these last 7 lbs. Then I will bump it up to maintenance. My Fitbit says I burn 2000-2400 per day but I'm not sure I believe that. I plan to keep doing what is working; I have settled on a routine of four meals, about 200-400 calories each, at 9, 12, 3, and 6. I don't eat after dinner so I have a bit of a fast. I am happy with the quality of the food I eat so I don't have specific goals there. I have been making lunch bowls and they are LIFE CHANGING. I roast and/or saute a bunch of veggies, cook up some whole grain (barley, farro, brown rice, quinoa), and cook up some protein (chicken, Boca burgers, turkey). I portion it out into 2-cup food storage containers and those are ready to go. Right now I have brown rice, peppers/onions/zucchini, and fajita steak in some and I also have farro, pumpkin/zucchini/onions, baked chicken, and salsa in another. I want to keep doing this!! So basically, my goals are to keep exercising daily, aim for 10k+ steps per day, eat in my target calorie range, eat on my schedule, and batch-cook healthy lunch bowls - and hopefully I will lose fat and gain muscle by doing that. ETA: I found this and thought it could be helpful!

Thank you! I am the same way - portion size is 90% of the deal for me. I love healthy food, but when something tastes good I want more of it. Tracking my food keeps me from over-doing even the healthy stuff. I don't really track when we travel, and we travel quite a bit (maybe six weeks total in 2018?). It is soooo easy to nibble on whatever looks & tastes good without thinking about how it all adds up. I have to be so much more mindful about asking myself if I'm hungry or if the food is filling or delicious enough to be worth the calories. Generally I just let other people get the decadent stuff and I take one bite to satisfy my curiosity. I briefly tried the new WW Freestyle plan for October & November, and it is totally not for me. There are way too many "zero-point" foods for my mindset. I much prefer counting 30 calories for my carrot and knowing where I stand.

I agree - ditch the diets! I would suggest giving yourself a calorie range - maybe 1300-1600, or something like that. Balance out higher days with lower days. I still eat tortilla chips and pizza, but I weigh & track my chips, and when we get pizza I get a personal pizza and only eat half at a time (which is around 500 cal for a Neapolitan). If I'm traveling or otherwise unable to really control my food, I eat a light, trackable breakfast (oatmeal and fruit, yogurt and fruit, eggs, etc.) and lunch/dinner (lots of veggies with tuna & crackers, turkey wrap, Boca burger ..) and just eat to satisfaction for the lunch or dinner I'm having out. 2 out of 3 on-track meals is perfectly fine on those days. Gretchen Rubin has a theory that people are either moderators or abstainers. If you can moderate, you should do that, and if you can't, you should abstain without guilt. I am definitely a moderator overall. For me, I keep lots of yummy packaged snacks around (mini ice cream cones, Fiber One brownies, snack-size candy bars, delicious European chocolate bars) because knowing I can eat them at any time takes the pressure off (and 99% of the time I choose not to eat it - I have Christmas candy from last year still). The minute I start in with a restrictive mindset ("I can't eat that"), it messes with my head and then I want it more. However, with baked goods, I am an abstainer. Having cookies or cake around that are going to spoil if they aren't eaten is just too hard for me. When I make treats, I freeze most of it so I am not tempted to finish it off.

YES - focus on building healthy habits, and the weight/health issues will take care of themselves (for most of us, anyway). Exercise for strength, eat fruits & veggies for nutrition, and drink water for hydration so your body can function at its best. Get enough sleep as it's just as important as the other factors. These habits are an excellent investment in your long-term health, which is so much more important than a number on a scale.

That is fantastic! Those health benefits make it all worth it, right? Do you find your new lifestyle difficult to maintain? Does it feel restrictive, or just your new normal?

Saw this come up on the front page. I am thrilled to say I lost 75# in 2018 and am still on track (though I maintained for December). I used the WW system for most of the year but now mainly track calories and eat a healthy diet. I exercise daily - in the spring I started walking the dog daily, then in the summer twice a day. Now that the weather is crummy I have switched to at-home workouts and have increased the intensity. I went from a size 20W/2XL to a 10/medium. I love being able to shop in straight sizes and be pretty assured that the clothes will look good. I am going to a ball this month and my dress is a 10. I love what I eat, and I love feeling strong and energetic. I’m hoping 2019 goes smoothly as I am close to maintenance and everyone says that can be harder than losing.

I like my IP, but every time I’ve tried using it as a slow cooker (using the slow cooker button) it is a disaster. It just doesn’t get hot enough and the meat is super tough and undercooked. I am not sure what people are saying about cranking the heat up? OP, you can definitely use it as a pressure cooker even if you’re not home. When it has finished its cooking, it switches to “keep warm” so that it can safely wait until you are ready to eat. If you look at enough IP recipes, you will see common cook times and proportions. You need at least a cup of liquid to build the pressure, and you need it wet enough so it doesn’t scorch. You may need to add some water to a slow-cooker recipe for thick things like chili, bbq beef, or pasta sauce. You can simmer with the lid off at the end to cook off the extra liquid. I make a lot of soups and just use 10 minutes as a default. I am making beef & barley stew next. Brown the stew meat, add the veggies, broth, and uncooked barley, and pressure-cook for 10 minutes. I don’t need a recipe really. For chicken noodle or chicken & rice, I use 2 chicken breasts, a couple + cups of veg, 6 cups of broth, and a few ounces of noodles or rice. It’s very forgiving.

I love looking at floor plans and picking out my future custom home. Do you have a favorite website?

We just read Greenglass House for my middle-school book club! Great book. There are a few others in the series/world - my son loved Bluecrowne and The Left-Handed Fate.

I'm going to give this a try! I do literature units with my 11th & 5th graders and love those, but I want to prioritize personal reading. I am sort-of part of two book clubs, but that got me busy reading stuff that wasn't really up my alley (like TWO Jodi Picoult books) and frankly I have finite reading time so I want to get the most out of it. So I am stepping back from the clubs and focusing on my personal to-read list. I've been reading more thriller-type books, as well as Louise Penney's books (which I think are considered cozy mysteries). I run a monthly middle-school book club, so I am always looking for great middle-grade books. I booted up Goodreads, cleaned up my "shelves," and am setting up accounts for the kids. I got two books for Christmas: Becoming by Michelle Obama and The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah, so I am starting with those.

I had a cat who had granulomas in her mouth, and my vet said it was an allergic reaction. Any chance the cat is chewing on a plant or eating a new food? Can you go super basic with her food for a while and see if it gets better?

We live in a house without closets, so dressers are very much appreciated! I have three small drawers for undies, bras/tanks, and socks. I have six large drawers for short sleeve tees, long-sleeve tees, pajamas, shorts/leggings/skorts, workout clothes, and jeans/pants. I have half of a small wardrobe where I hang button-down shirts & blouses, lightweight sweaters, and dresses (basically stuff that I don’t want to get fold lines). Two baskets in the wardrobe hold a few heavier sweaters & scarves. I also have drawers under my mattress that hold clean sheets & purses. Most of my drawers are only half-full at most, as I lost a bunch of weight and replaced my entire wardrobe. My kids don’t have closets or dressers, but they each have an IKEA wardrobe that has a rack for hanging clothes and four drawers. That works for them. They hang their shirts and use a drawer for socks/undies, pajamas, shorts/pants, and jeans. We are all good about putting clean laundry away.

It's possible the fan isn't drawing well - if it seems like it's not, ask the landlady to send someone to check the roof to make sure it's not blocked. We actually had a fan that ran into the attic and it wasn't a problem, because the attic was well-ventilated (nowhere for moisture to build up). Think of open slats on the sides. Pry off the cover to the fan and make sure all the moving pieces are moving properly. The inside might need to be wiped down as well. You might also need a stronger fan. Keep the fan on for a while after the shower is over, and leave the door open unless someone is actually using the bathroom. And if anyone is taking long, steamy showers, tell them to knock it off ;). It's too bad you don't seem to have a window - our current bathroom doesn't even have a fan, but the window sucks all the humid air out.

Peanut Butter "cheetos" might work, like these: https://www.amazon.com/Popchips-Nutter-Puffs-Peanut-Butter/dp/B078XXSS8Y - I haven't tried this brand (and wouldn't buy them at this price!!!) but I have tried similar ones in Europe and they are sooooo good. I portion them out into 1 oz servings, and while they won't win any health awards, they have only 2 grams of sugar and 5 grams of protein. Snap Pea chips are good too: https://www.amazon.com/Harvest-Lightly-3-3-Ounce-Deliciously-crunchy/dp/B000FMZO8G Maybe a low-sugar tube yogurt (healthy version of Gogurt)? I like the Starkist tuna packets, but they do require at least a fork. Still, you could lick the fork clean and wrap it in a napkin, or use disposable.

It usually has the opposite effect on people! Regardless, even when I don’t eat them I am constipated. I eat whole grains and beans too. My system seems to be very efficient.

I subscribed my adult dd to Treats, which sounds like the same thing. Her first month was Pakistan - she said she got a lot of salt & pepper chips ?