Well-Trained Bodies- July

[Soror]

It's a new month, please join us! All are welcome!

 

[wintermom]

Thanks for starting us out on a new month, soror!

It's Canada Day here. I just looked on-line, and there will be virtual fireworks. Not sure how that will be different than watching a video of the fireworks from last year. 😅

I'm taking the dc to a local park with river rapids so we can swim. I purchased a snorkeling set and am excited to try it out. 

My plans for this month are:

- continue exercising with my ds 14 on our self-developed Summer Physical Training program (push-ups, stretching, strength, aerobic exercise, intervals)

- daily dog walks

- tennis 3 - 5 x week

- biking and hiking

- keep expanding the variety of my healthy food choices 

[Soror]

@wintermom Love your goals, have fun at the river today.

I am busy today with starting back to hs'ing and tasks around the house. I'm hoping to formulate monthly goals to post sometime today or tomorrow.

Today makes 3 weeks of hitting the Daily Dozen food goals 🙂

I'll do some strength work walk or bike with the girls.

My food intake has been down some with being so busy that my weight has shifted down. That is good and bad. Good as I want it to shift a bit lower and bad as I'm sure that is what is disturbing my sleep (as weight loss tends to do- I thought it was being low carb before but I'm losing now on a rather high carb diet and my sleep is still getting messed up). My energy and mood have been great though. I keep thinking I'll need a nap but haven't had one all week. Last night I went to bed at 8, so even though I was awake in the night I still got 7.5 hrs sleep. 

[Ali in OR]

Did the same barefoot cardio as Monday and it went a little better today. Will do this one Friday too. Ending June one pound lighter than I started, and I think I'm probably a little more fit too. 

July goals:

• Formal exercise 5x/week: cardio MWF, bodyweight/yoga TTH. Something informal on the weekend like a walk or more yoga.
• Weight loss goal: 2 lbs. For online BMI calculators, this would put me at normal instead of overweight for my height.
• Track food on MyFitnessPal most days. Aim to hit my numbers: 1500-1550 calories, 58 gm protein, 25 gm fiber, 12 gm sat fat. Sundays are a little more relaxed.

I'm not always dieting or trying to lose weight, but I'm motivated at the moment and I have more time over the summer to focus on this. And less stress--stress tends to kill my healthy eating habits. I'm not fasting from sweets--there are some special foods in summer; I am planning to make a blueberry pie this month for instance. But I will try to fit it into my calorie count or save it for Sunday.

[barnwife]

July Goals:
Keep exercising. (Hey...I am in third tri. I am trying to be realistic.)
Make mostly healthy food choices and don't overeat.
Make a list of things to do to get ready for baby. 

Ideally, I aim for a mix of strength and cardio. But "cardio" is a slight misnomer for me these days.This conversation happened recently.
Kid: Mom, you couldn't win a race.
Me: (indignant) I could so...maybe...against a sloth?

So far, this week/month is off to a decent start. I've done 2 days with a mix of upper arm strength stuff and cardio, as well as one day of just cardio. I found a pregnancy walking video that I'll probably be using more. I'd like to find a couple more for variety. The kids and I went for a walk already today, too. It's really hot and humid here, so that's a miracle. I may or may not have thought about just sitting in the shade on one of our neighbor's lawns and taking a break midway. 

Thanks @sororfor starting the new thread. And @wintermom all of your plans make me want a nap! (One is definitely/hopefully happening for me this afternoon. We have a busy late afternoon/evening today, so I need it.)

[IvyInFlorida]

My goals for July are kind of pathetic, but here goes!  30 minute walk 3x a week, swim 3x a week, embrace my involuntary vegetarianism by eating all.the.fruit.and.veggies.  I've downloaded that daily dozen app (mine will need to be the daily eleven b/c beans hate me) and have been reading Optimize Me Nutrition's series on the 10 Principles of Nutrition just to keep my brain in healthy mode and influence my decisions in a good direction when cravings hit. 

[Penguin]

Hi. This is my first time posting in this thread. I'll just introduce myself for now.

I'm in my mid-fifties and my weight is healthy but not optimal. I'm somewhere between out-of-shape and fit. I eat a WFPB diet but I cheat. Usually with sugar. A bit too often with fats, refined grains, or cheese. Rarely with meat.

My normal workouts were mostly group classes of various sorts, and I have been through the big adjustment of learning how to work out at home. I've actually lost a good bit of weight since the pandemic started, but now I have hit a plateau.

 

 

Edited July 1, 2020 by Penguin

[Soror]

17 hours ago, Penguin said:

Hi. This is my first time posting in this thread. I'll just introduce myself for now.

I'm in my mid-fifties and my weight is healthy but not optimal. I'm somewhere between out-of-shape and fit. I eat a WFPB diet but I cheat. Usually with sugar. A bit too often with fats, refined grains, or cheese. Rarely with meat.

My normal workouts were mostly group classes of various sorts, and I have been through the big adjustment of learning how to work out at home. I've actually lost a good bit of weight since the pandemic started, but now I have hit a plateau.

 

 

Welcome!!!

Congrats on your weight loss so far.

Food and exercise posts are welcome here, anything to do with health, sleep, mental health, etc.

So, what are you doing now for exercise?

18 hours ago, IvyInFlorida said:

My goals for July are kind of pathetic, but here goes!  30 minute walk 3x a week, swim 3x a week, embrace my involuntary vegetarianism by eating all.the.fruit.and.veggies.  I've downloaded that daily dozen app (mine will need to be the daily eleven b/c beans hate me) and have been reading Optimize Me Nutrition's series on the 10 Principles of Nutrition just to keep my brain in healthy mode and influence my decisions in a good direction when cravings hit. 

Not pathetic, you are moving in a way that works for your body. Fruits and veggies are always good for you too.

19 hours ago, barnwife said:

July Goals:
Keep exercising. (Hey...I am in third tri. I am trying to be realistic.)
Make mostly healthy food choices and don't overeat.
Make a list of things to do to get ready for baby. 

Ideally, I aim for a mix of strength and cardio. But "cardio" is a slight misnomer for me these days.This conversation happened recently.
Kid: Mom, you couldn't win a race.
Me: (indignant) I could so...maybe...against a sloth?

So far, this week/month is off to a decent start. I've done 2 days with a mix of upper arm strength stuff and cardio, as well as one day of just cardio. I found a pregnancy walking video that I'll probably be using more. I'd like to find a couple more for variety. The kids and I went for a walk already today, too. It's really hot and humid here, so that's a miracle. I may or may not have thought about just sitting in the shade on one of our neighbor's lawns and taking a break midway. 

Thanks @sororfor starting the new thread. And @wintermom all of your plans make me want a nap! (One is definitely/hopefully happening for me this afternoon. We have a busy late afternoon/evening today, so I need it.)

Hey, you're still moving. I remember walking when I was pregnant with ds1, I think at the end it took like an hr for a mile walk, or something ridiculously long. I'm never fast but I was so crazy slow it was funny.

19 hours ago, Ali in OR said:

Did the same barefoot cardio as Monday and it went a little better today. Will do this one Friday too. Ending June one pound lighter than I started, and I think I'm probably a little more fit too. 

July goals:

• Formal exercise 5x/week: cardio MWF, bodyweight/yoga TTH. Something informal on the weekend like a walk or more yoga.
• Weight loss goal: 2 lbs. For online BMI calculators, this would put me at normal instead of overweight for my height.
• Track food on MyFitnessPal most days. Aim to hit my numbers: 1500-1550 calories, 58 gm protein, 25 gm fiber, 12 gm sat fat. Sundays are a little more relaxed.

I'm not always dieting or trying to lose weight, but I'm motivated at the moment and I have more time over the summer to focus on this. And less stress--stress tends to kill my healthy eating habits. I'm not fasting from sweets--there are some special foods in summer; I am planning to make a blueberry pie this month for instance. But I will try to fit it into my calorie count or save it for Sunday.

Great goals Ali, specific, measurable and realistic, best wishes this month. Stress levels do play a big role and it does take more time to put the focus on weight loss. We all only have so much time and energy and it is constantly shifting with all our varied demands being moms.

20 hours ago, wintermom said:

Thanks for starting us out on a new month, soror!

It's Canada Day here. I just looked on-line, and there will be virtual fireworks. Not sure how that will be different than watching a video of the fireworks from last year. 😅

I'm taking the dc to a local park with river rapids so we can swim. I purchased a snorkeling set and am excited to try it out. 

My plans for this month are:

- continue exercising with my ds 14 on our self-developed Summer Physical Training program (push-ups, stretching, strength, aerobic exercise, intervals)

- daily dog walks

- tennis 3 - 5 x week

- biking and hiking

- keep expanding the variety of my healthy food choices 

Happy Canada day! We have our big celebration this weekend. Ours will be happening as usual (b/c people are crazy here) but we never go in person anyway (too many people), we watch from the car across town. How did the swimming go?

[Soror]

Ugh, stupid forum lost my post.

Short version as I've got to get ready to teach.

Had a great day yesterday, energy has been really good, still a bit low in the afternoons but nothing like it has been lately. I did strength sets between read aloud chapters yesterday and a walk after dinner. I got the menu done and grocery shopping finally done.

Today is going to be an easy day and after 4 days of intense house cleaning and starting back to hs'ing I'm ready for it.

exercise plans: yoga + barre; bike ride

food: veganized no oil, no sugar, apple carrot muffins; spinach smoothie; fresh strawberries (2 grains; 3 fruit; 2 greens; 1 flax)

lunch: vegan spicy chicken patties  made last night- super yummy; w/ homemade whole grain bread; quick cabbage slaw; raspberries- black bean brownies (spices; beans; grains; cruciferous; berries)

snack: black beans + tomatoes+ peppers and avocado; (beans+veggies)

dinner: stir fry w/ tofu and edamame over brown rice (grains; beans; lots of veggies; spices) [might skip rice and just do veggies prefer to keep grains to earlier in day and I'll have my quota in by then- we'll see how active and hungry I am]

Edited July 2, 2020 by soror

[Soror]

July goals:

• Weight has been 123-125 want to shift to 122-124
• Continue meeting daily dozen goals
• Keep up no dairy for the month (testing this for allergy purposes)
• Continue shifting eating more veg*n
• Experiment w/ tweaks from How Not to Diet- I've been doing some every day but am reading the book now and might be adding in more
• Strength work 3x a week; walk 3+x a week; biking 1+x a week; 

[EmilyGF]

When I look back at June, I really can't believe what happened during the month: we had looting on our block; I started getting panic attacks from fireworks (which now happen every night); second half of month learned to deal with the panic attacks; DH has incredible stress due to issues with his dad (fear mental illness could cause him to become homeless); our sink stopped draining; during a rain storm, water poured in around an exterior door; then our neighbor threatened to sue us for something else. Really, at this point, I'm not depressed and I'm sleeping. I'm calling June a win.

I started today with 25 minutes of barre / pilates floor work. I've exercised 3 days so far this week. My July goal is 30 min per day M-F, with the weekend off.

I've tracked food three days in a row. I'm following the Beck Diet Solution steps for preparing to diet and am not even sure why I decided to track. Probably because I'm only eating sitting down so it is pretty easy to track 🙂 . I'd like to finish working through the diet-supporting skills during this month. I'm not in a hurry and I hope that by focusing on those I can revive the healthy habits I neglected this spring.

My positive food focus this month is beans twice a day for all of us. I want to do this because a) it is healthy and b) it saves money.

@sororI put How Not to Diet on hold at the library. Sounds interesting.

[wintermom]

@soror Great monthly plan. Amazing variety of foods in your daily menus. Congratulations on finishing your 4-day intensive house cleaning! Thanks for all your encouragement and inspiration. Hope you have a great month of July and reach all your goals.

@Penguin  Welcome! Sounds like you've been really successful at staying active and healthy during lockdown. We've been able to support each other virtually during these last 4 months and also prior to that. It's nice to have some company to share fitness and weight goals, successes and frustrations. I'm 53 and 'enjoying' the menopause experience of learning how my aging body works. I'm not even close to figuring it out. 🤪

@EmilyGF  Wow, you've been through a lot in the past month. So glad that you are feeling like you've successfully tackled those obstacles. Hopefully July will be much more relaxing. I hope the increase in beans works well. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Canada Day at the river was amazing. We managed to visit with friends and maintained decent social distancing. It was the first time my dd and ds had seen many of their friends, so they were really enjoying swimming and chatting. The setting was gorgeous with grass, trees, river rapids, birds and a few holiday-makers. We all over-did the swimming and sun, though. My shoulders are feeling sore from swimming in the 'water treadmill' of the river current. I also paddled a little on a mini-kayak. 

Today I'm going for a short bike ride with a friend, and then getting my hair cut. It's a rest day for me. 😉

[Ali in OR]

Did my bodyweight circuit and two Foundations of Yoga videos. I was kind of congratulating myself that I can do all of the squats and lunges and I don't limp around for days after anymore. Then I was quietly cursing planks--I still don't like those and don't feel any better at them, though I do two, one for one minute at the end of each set. So I get through all that, find my next Foundations of Yoga video, and find that it's--you guessed it--The Plank! I did the video, but I did have to drop out of the plank position after a bit. I'm sure it's more a mental block than anything else. I'm not ready for 3 planks in one session! But actually I've been thinking I should try 3 sets of my bodyweight circuit instead of 2 sometime this month, so I will try to get over the block. The second yoga video was Forward Fold which went surprisingly well. Probably because she said to bend your knees as much as you need to!

The girls and I are off to the dentist today. We were due in March. Not taking disabled dd--she doesn't get to go anywhere these days.

[Emba]

I have been doing at-home body weight strength training. Today I was in town with a little time to kill so I did it outside at the park. 

Ive been doing that three times a week but I also need to start adding in some cardio. Yesterday I went for a walk, maybe I’ll start getting my bicycle out early in the morning before it gets hot, we’ll see.

[Matryoshka]

Wow, it's July. 

Goals for this month are pretty much to get back to what I had been doing consistently.  I had been getting in 5 days of exercise a week; this month it's dropped to 4 and my weight range seems to be up a pound.  It is hard being motivated when it's so hot outside, but that's likely not to get better, so back at it!

So, I'd like to get 5 days, 4 of which should be full 55+ minutes with good heart rate range and some strength as well, and if one day is just gardening or Nordic walking, or maybe biking or kayaking (both of which have yet to happen!) I'll call it good as long as it's enough to register on my Fitbit.

Both Monday and Tuesday slipped by me, so I guess to meet said goal I have to do every day W-Sa... I did get a good one in yesterday - rowed to warm up, then an OT workout, then since it was a shorter one rowed another 1000m to finish off, then stretch.  Probably something similar today with just a different OT workout sandwiched.  

I think gyms are scheduled to open here as part of Phase 3, which if things go well (and here cases are still dropping, so yay) will be July 8th.  I will not be ready myself then.  If they do open, I think I'll activate the 2-month suspension option and hopefully 2 months of it being open should give a good sense as to whether it's reasonably safe to poke my head back in...

Edited July 2, 2020 by Matryoshka

[Matryoshka]

On 7/1/2020 at 12:44 PM, Penguin said:

Hi. This is my first time posting in this thread. I'll just introduce myself for now.

I'm in my mid-fifties and my weight is healthy but not optimal. I'm somewhere between out-of-shape and fit. I eat a WFPB diet but I cheat. Usually with sugar. A bit too often with fats, refined grains, or cheese. Rarely with meat.

My normal workouts were mostly group classes of various sorts, and I have been through the big adjustment of learning how to work out at home. I've actually lost a good bit of weight since the pandemic started, but now I have hit a plateau.

Welcome, Penguin! 🙂 

[Matryoshka]

@soror, count me as another who is impressed by the variety in your daily meals!  Like with exercise, I've got more of a rinse-and-repeat thing going on, especially now that I'm more in maintenance mode.  Breakfast is almost always yogurt/nuts/berries/flax, for lunch I've often been having one slice of whole grain bread with cheddar or half a whole grain everything bagel with whipped cream cheese and lox, and then I usually add in an apple with peanut butter.  I snack on nuts and dark chocolate in small amounts, and sometimes make popcorn in the evenings -  and I usually have some kind of a healthy treat going that is really extra veggies or fruit - my carrot slices, or the chocolate banana nice cream, or the black bean brownies.  I'm thinking of combining the latter two to make kind of a brownie sundae sometimes... so far I haven't had them both on hand at the same time!  I make large quantities for dinners and we eat the same thing for a few days, and for many things I'll freeze some too.  Currently working on a spaghetti squash bake (squash covered with turkey meatballs, tomato sauce, peppers, mushrooms, and topped with some mozzarella).  Going to run out - need to make something new!  And the lettuce in my garden is going nuts - but I need more stuff to put in a salad than just lettuce and my peppers and tomatoes are still just flowers, so I'll have to go to the store for that... 

[Matryoshka]

I forgot a goal!  I need to get back to sleeping regular hours - the last month my sleep schedule has been getting worse and worse.  I get to bed waaaay too late, and then sleep too late in the morning to make up for it.  So, would like to get to bed by midnight, or 1am at the latest (and yes, it's been much later than that too much of the time!) 

[Ali in OR]

5 minutes ago, Matryoshka said:

I forgot a goal!  I need to get back to sleeping regular hours - the last month my sleep schedule has been getting worse and worse.  I get to bed waaaay too late, and then sleep too late in the morning to make up for it.  So, would like to get to bed by midnight, or 1am at the latest (and yes, it's been much later than that too much of the time!) 

You sound like my teens! They don't go to sleep until 2:00am or 3:00am. One has to be up for an online intern program at 9:00am, the other sleeps until 11:00 or 12:00.

[Matryoshka]

4 minutes ago, Ali in OR said:

You sound like my teens! They don't go to sleep until 2:00am or 3:00am. One has to be up for an online intern program at 9:00am, the other sleeps until 11:00 or 12:00.

This is partly why it's gotten so bad.  I head upstairs to bed (yes, it's already late, but not that late...) and the dog likes to pop in and visit dd19 (yes, I'm blaming the dog... 🙃) as we go by her room, and she of course is wide awake and playing video games, or watching something on her computer, and then we end up chatting - or she gets me to hang and watch with her!  It's nice mom/dd time, but it's impacting my sleep patterns badly!  Dd stays up even later and almost never shows her face till early afternoon...  

She also has an online internship, but it's in Melbourne, Australia, so perfect for her sleep habits...

Edited July 2, 2020 by Matryoshka

[Soror]

21 hours ago, wintermom said:

@soror Great monthly plan. Amazing variety of foods in your daily menus. Congratulations on finishing your 4-day intensive house cleaning! Thanks for all your encouragement and inspiration. Hope you have a great month of July and reach all your goals.

@Penguin  Welcome! Sounds like you've been really successful at staying active and healthy during lockdown. We've been able to support each other virtually during these last 4 months and also prior to that. It's nice to have some company to share fitness and weight goals, successes and frustrations. I'm 53 and 'enjoying' the menopause experience of learning how my aging body works. I'm not even close to figuring it out. 🤪

@EmilyGF  Wow, you've been through a lot in the past month. So glad that you are feeling like you've successfully tackled those obstacles. Hopefully July will be much more relaxing. I hope the increase in beans works well. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Canada Day at the river was amazing. We managed to visit with friends and maintained decent social distancing. It was the first time my dd and ds had seen many of their friends, so they were really enjoying swimming and chatting. The setting was gorgeous with grass, trees, river rapids, birds and a few holiday-makers. We all over-did the swimming and sun, though. My shoulders are feeling sore from swimming in the 'water treadmill' of the river current. I also paddled a little on a mini-kayak. 

Today I'm going for a short bike ride with a friend, and then getting my hair cut. It's a rest day for me. 😉

That sounds like a very lovely time, I hope that you had a nice rest day.

18 hours ago, Ali in OR said:

Did my bodyweight circuit and two Foundations of Yoga videos. I was kind of congratulating myself that I can do all of the squats and lunges and I don't limp around for days after anymore. Then I was quietly cursing planks--I still don't like those and don't feel any better at them, though I do two, one for one minute at the end of each set. So I get through all that, find my next Foundations of Yoga video, and find that it's--you guessed it--The Plank! I did the video, but I did have to drop out of the plank position after a bit. I'm sure it's more a mental block than anything else. I'm not ready for 3 planks in one session! But actually I've been thinking I should try 3 sets of my bodyweight circuit instead of 2 sometime this month, so I will try to get over the block. The second yoga video was Forward Fold which went surprisingly well. Probably because she said to bend your knees as much as you need to!

The girls and I are off to the dentist today. We were due in March. Not taking disabled dd--she doesn't get to go anywhere these days.

1 min planks are great, congrats! Your legs must be getting stronger too with the squats and lunges.Good plan to increase the sets when you are ready

16 hours ago, Matryoshka said:

@soror, count me as another who is impressed by the variety in your daily meals!  Like with exercise, I've got more of a rinse-and-repeat thing going on, especially now that I'm more in maintenance mode.  Breakfast is almost always yogurt/nuts/berries/flax, for lunch I've often been having one slice of whole grain bread with cheddar or half a whole grain everything bagel with whipped cream cheese and lox, and then I usually add in an apple with peanut butter.  I snack on nuts and dark chocolate in small amounts, and sometimes make popcorn in the evenings -  and I usually have some kind of a healthy treat going that is really extra veggies or fruit - my carrot slices, or the chocolate banana nice cream, or the black bean brownies.  I'm thinking of combining the latter two to make kind of a brownie sundae sometimes... so far I haven't had them both on hand at the same time!  I make large quantities for dinners and we eat the same thing for a few days, and for many things I'll freeze some too.  Currently working on a spaghetti squash bake (squash covered with turkey meatballs, tomato sauce, peppers, mushrooms, and topped with some mozzarella).  Going to run out - need to make something new!  And the lettuce in my garden is going nuts - but I need more stuff to put in a salad than just lettuce and my peppers and tomatoes are still just flowers, so I'll have to go to the store for that... 

I do a lot of repeating too. Or I get in grooves with this or that thing, nearly always I make batches of things for breakfast and lunch so I can eat them multiple meals without cooking. I've been having muffins every breakfast but a few for over 2 weeks now! We usually have leftovers 2 night a week, 3 nights a week the kids cook, 1-2 nights is something easy. Dinner is my smallest meal and often the simplest. Banana nice cream with the brownie sounds really good! I keep meaning to try your carrot slices but haven't got around to it. I love dark choc too but have just been doing the brownies lately (of course they have choc in them).

16 hours ago, Dreamergal said:

Happy July a day late !

Thanks for this thread @soror. Nice to see more people joining. Welcome @Penguin

After almost 3.5 months of the "new normal" we have sort of finally settled into a routine after constant revision.

Goals

Exercise on the elliptical each day supplemented with family bike rides. 

Keep a watch on case numbers and go back to swimming again.

Trouble shoot ways to make more safe play available for DS.

Find more ways to involve DD in family fitness. She is little and feels left out when we play outside with older DS.

DH and I must be more careful not to overexert and injure ourselves.

Cook more healthy and more varied.

Make a conscious effort to be more in nature and be more observant.

Homeschool for the first time DS sometime this month. Made DH take the lead on this one after looking at curriculum and choices overwhelmed me. 

I'm glad you are getting in a groove, I know it has been a big change for you. There are so many choices in curriculum, I can remember the overwhelm. IME- first it is overwhelm, then it is excitement at all the options, then there is settling in with what you figure out works for you as a teacher and your kids as students. How old is your daughter again?

12 hours ago, happysmileylady said:

Ok, I am here again, and this month WILL be better.  

I got my new swimsuit!!!!!!!  It's a bit snug....I ordered a 12 because they didn't have a 14.  BUT....it's not too snug and if I can actually get some days in, it might decrease in snugness.

But, best of all, high neck...no nip slip!

Dh is home from surgery, and there's not much else we have to do.  Next Friday (a week from tomorrow) we have his follow up, but there's no more paperwork to file, etc etc.  Plus, the weather is supposed to be really warm for July, AND at least the next 2 weeks show pretty dry.  

Last month I think I swam like 4 times. My goal of 3 to 4 times a week stands, but if I double my trips to 8.....then that's improvement.  Improvement is the *real* goal.  

How is dh doing? Improvement is the real goal, progress, not perfection. 

[Soror]

UGH, this forum keeps losing my post. I went off this page to find a recipe to share but it reloaded and brought back up the post I'd already posted instead of what I'd just been typing.

I made Sesame Tempeh (reduced the sugar and used reduced sodium gf soy sauce) stir-fry and really enjoyed it. I made the family chicken on the side but had them try it, dh said it was ok and ate several pieces. Ds and dd3 ate without complaint but didn't get more. Dd2 and 1 hated it. 

I made a yummy lime slaw to go with my "chicken" patties but now can't find the recipe, it was very simple- lime juice, a bit of oil (like 1 T maybe), 1/2 cup cilantro, grated cabbage, fine chopped red onion- a bit of hot pepper (I just used Sambal Oleek as I keep that on hand)

My muffins turned out tasty, they are a bit crumbly without eggs but taste fine and I didn't miss cutting out the sweetener and just using some raisins. I cut 75 cal from each individual muffin (150 from my breakfast) from the original recipe, 20 cal off of what I'd already tweaked it too- I increased nutrition at the same time and didn't decrease satisfaction or satiety, that is a win/win.

Today I'm doing strength work and adding in kettlebell swings as I've not been doing anything with weights and I think it will hit areas I'm not hitting as much with current routine.

We are also going to the lake, dh is off so he is coming too, I always celebrate the first week of school, usually I take them to the movie but this is even better. We call the place we go "our private beach" it is open to the public just not usually busy and sometimes it is just us, hopefully it isn't bad today either. 

breakfast: leftover superhero muffins w/ apple carrot- applesauce for the oil, no sweetner added- just raisins (and more unsweet applesauce for moistness), flax eggs for eggs; spinach smoothie; blueberries- [ 2 grain, 2 fruit; flax; 2 greens; nut]

lunch: vegan "spicy chicken" patties (chickpea, lots of spices, some cooked rice and oats); lime slaw; fresh veggies; homemade whole grain gf bread (primarily teff) [ 2 bean; spices; 1 grain; 1 cruciferous; 2 veggie]

dinner: family is doing burgers I have been wanting to try this blackbean burger w/ a mango salsa we'll see if I feel like it (or I'll do my leftover stir fry if I'm feeling tired); homemade baked fries- sweet potato with lots of spices [ 1 bean; 1 veggie]

snacks: black bean brownies; popcorn w/ nut. yeast, fruit (probably will be starving after going swimming)

[barnwife]

Well, yesterday I woke up and just felt lazy. I didn't want to do anything. And that's more or less what the kids and I did all day...nothing. (Hey, so our HS called a last minute 4th of July vacation. It's all good.) 

And then in late afternoon it all went downhill. We ran into problem after problem after problem while taking care of our goats. So while I did no official exercising, the walking here, there, and everywhere to deal with problem goats in hot and humid weather totally counts for someone in 3rd tri., right? (TW: animal death) Sadly, one of the situations ended tragically. I feel so badly for our oldest. It was one of his goats. And it seems as though all our tragic animal situations involve his goats. At least when the matriarch died recently, she was old. This one was just a yearling. In happier news, we were able to rescue another goat who had gotten herself stuck somewhere. 

Today has started off better than that tragedy so far. I tried that new-to-me pregnancy workout video again. I didn't do the whole thing (it's about 40 min.), but that's partly due to time and energy. We have a busy morning today, and I didn't want to overdo it. 

Also, welcome, @Penguin! 
@happysmileylady  I hope your DH is recuperating nicely, and that you get in more swimming this month! We have no swimming options around here this year. Other than the local creek, which the kids and I will hit this morning if it isn't already too crowded for the holiday.

[Jenny in Florida]

I hadn't really thought about setting monthly goals until I read what others have posted. Once again, I owe all of you thanks for inspiration.

July Goals:

• Maintain my weight (although I won't be upset if another pound or two come off).
• Increase upper body/weight-bearing exercise to four times a week with heavier weights.
• Add something new to my exercise routine.
• Keep hitting my daily goals for steps/mileage and calories.
• Complete this month's virtual 5K with a shorter time than last month's.

I've had a difficult couple of days, emotionally, which always makes it tougher to work up the energy to really throw myself at exercising. Wednesday was the first day in weeks (maybe months?) that I didn't hit my minimum step goal for the day. And I also skipped the upper body stuff. And my food intake was both on the high side and not what one would call healthy. Yesterday was better, though. And ..I started today with a good, long walk, so we'll see if I can get back on track. 

In positive news: I expect to complete my virtual walk of Hadrian's Wall this weekend. And it looks like there may be a group of people from work who are interested in forming a team to tackle one of the bigger virtual challenges, which could be a fun way to stay motivated and also stay connected with coworkers while we're all mostly working remote.

[Ali in OR]

Did my barefoot cardio--third day of this video and I think I've got most of it down. There's a section of passes (sp?) that's difficult coordination-wise, and then some core stuff at the end I fall out of. I'm thinking next week I might try one of her core workouts. And I have to try to get something in for this weekend--maybe yoga, maybe a walk.

I'm going to try to buy a half-flat of marionberries this morning and make some jam. Marionberries are a locally developed cross between a raspberry and some kind of blackberry and they're always around at 4th of July. We'll celebrate the 4th here at home with a not-super-healthy BBQ and then legal fireworks in front of the house.

[wintermom]

@happysmileylady Glad your dh is home from his surgery. Hope his recovery and follow-up all go well. Have fun using your new swim suit! Hope you are able to get more swims in.

@soror  Great job with the food! Hope you enjoyed your kettle-ball work-out. Hope yours weren't covered in dust like my hand weights were. 😉

@barnwife So sorry to hear about your ds's goat. That is sad. Glad you were able to save the other goat. Animal lives seem to fragile sometimes. Hope your ds is doing alright.

@Jenny in Florida Great goals for July. Hope you find some company for your next virtual hiking adventure. Great idea to get others involved!

@Ali in OR Your berries sound so delicious! Glad you're able to find and enjoy so many barefoot work-outs. Who would have known this was even a thing? I'm always learning stuff on this thread. 😉

We're in the depths of a heatwave here, and I'm definitely feeling it. I am so thankful for my a/c!  I wasn't feeling well after my bike ride yesterday. Probably too much sun on Wednesday. I rested all afternoon and evening and felt much better. Today I probably did too much outside (walking, weeding the lawn, bike ride, hiking in the woods), so I took a cool shower and I'm resting again. 

It looks like our local pools are getting ready to open very soon. I wonder what rules will be in place. 

[Laura Corin]

The house purchase/sale is on! We have the key to the new house and move in on 15 July. Hooray!

Meanwhile, still managing short yoga and brisk walk each day between decluttering and tidying.

[Matryoshka]

4 minutes ago, Laura Corin said:

The house purchase/sale is on! We have the key to the new house and move in on 15 July. Hooray!

Meanwhile, still managing short yoga and brisk walk each day between decluttering and tidying.

Congratulations on the house!  It's been a long time coming - must be such a relief to be able to get on with things!

[Ali in OR]

1 hour ago, wintermom said:

It looks like our local pools are getting ready to open very soon. I wonder what rules will be in place. 

Our neighborhood pool just opened--haven't been there yet. But here are the changes:

• Everybody has to sign a Covid-19 release (ie no suing anyone if you get sick). We turned in our form, so our card key lock should now open the pool gate.
• Just the big pool and the kiddie pool; they're not uncovering the quite popular hot tub (you could probably sit 2 or 3 six feet apart, but you know more would try to come in and it would be difficult to manage).
• They've hired a security company to be in charge of making sure people are distanced.
• I think because of hiring help, hours are greatly reduced. Used to be 6am-10pm, now 7am-8am and 1pm-6pm only.
• Max number of people is 100.
• Removed all pool furniture (I'm sure less to sanitize. You can bring your own chairs).
• You're supposed to use the provided wipes and wipe down door knobs, faucets, etc if you use the bathroom.

I'm sure I'll go eventually, but without the hot tub it has to be pretty warm outside for me to swim. We don't even reach 80° here in our forecast until maybe next Sunday. I know our city pool is open for lap swimming. You need to schedule a time and no locker rooms or showers are available. I know they're not opening the playground-like outdoor entertainment pool which is always very crowded in summer. I wonder if they've opened the warm pool? Disabled dd likes that one, and I would love to take her, but we're keeping her pretty isolated. I'll take her to the neighborhood pool on a day over 85°.

[Laura Corin]

31 minutes ago, Matryoshka said:

Congratulations on the house!  It's been a long time coming - must be such a relief to be able to get on with things!

Thank you. Yes, we saw the house in January. I was getting overexcited about voile curtains this evening. I'm to have my own room for work, study and yoga, and as it gives directly onto the street, I need sheer curtains for privacy. 

I've not had a room just for me since we lived in California and I was studying for my Masters,  almost thirty years ago.

[Soror]

12 hours ago, Laura Corin said:

The house purchase/sale is on! We have the key to the new house and move in on 15 July. Hooray!

Meanwhile, still managing short yoga and brisk walk each day between decluttering and tidying.

 

11 hours ago, Laura Corin said:

Thank you. Yes, we saw the house in January. I was getting overexcited about voile curtains this evening. I'm to have my own room for work, study and yoga, and as it gives directly onto the street, I need sheer curtains for privacy. 

I've not had a room just for me since we lived in California and I was studying for my Masters,  almost thirty years ago.

I'm so excited for you, so glad it is finally happening. Your own room too, that sounds heavenly.

13 hours ago, happysmileylady said:

I was able to get to the pool today!  I did 250 yrds in 16 minutes.  Not too shabby.

Not going to the pool tomorrow, they are doing a 4th of July celebration and it required registration and I really didn't want to mess with the holiday crowds.  I will probably get back out there on Sunday though.  

Not too shabby at all (way more than I could manage!). I hear you on avoiding the crowds.

14 hours ago, wintermom said:

@happysmileylady Glad your dh is home from his surgery. Hope his recovery and follow-up all go well. Have fun using your new swim suit! Hope you are able to get more swims in.

@soror  Great job with the food! Hope you enjoyed your kettle-ball work-out. Hope yours weren't covered in dust like my hand weights were. 😉

@barnwife So sorry to hear about your ds's goat. That is sad. Glad you were able to save the other goat. Animal lives seem to fragile sometimes. Hope your ds is doing alright.

@Jenny in Florida Great goals for July. Hope you find some company for your next virtual hiking adventure. Great idea to get others involved!

@Ali in OR Your berries sound so delicious! Glad you're able to find and enjoy so many barefoot work-outs. Who would have known this was even a thing? I'm always learning stuff on this thread. 😉

We're in the depths of a heatwave here, and I'm definitely feeling it. I am so thankful for my a/c!  I wasn't feeling well after my bike ride yesterday. Probably too much sun on Wednesday. I rested all afternoon and evening and felt much better. Today I probably did too much outside (walking, weeding the lawn, bike ride, hiking in the woods), so I took a cool shower and I'm resting again. 

It looks like our local pools are getting ready to open very soon. I wonder what rules will be in place. 

Ugh, sounds like you overdid it, you got to watch it in the sun, it can make you sick quite easily.

19 hours ago, Ali in OR said:

Did my barefoot cardio--third day of this video and I think I've got most of it down. There's a section of passes (sp?) that's difficult coordination-wise, and then some core stuff at the end I fall out of. I'm thinking next week I might try one of her core workouts. And I have to try to get something in for this weekend--maybe yoga, maybe a walk.

I'm going to try to buy a half-flat of marionberries this morning and make some jam. Marionberries are a locally developed cross between a raspberry and some kind of blackberry and they're always around at 4th of July. We'll celebrate the 4th here at home with a not-super-healthy BBQ and then legal fireworks in front of the house.

I've never heard of marionberries, sound very yummy. I always feel so proud when I get something down that I couldn't do at first, things that require coordination are hard for me too, it is not my strong area.

21 hours ago, Jenny in Florida said:

I hadn't really thought about setting monthly goals until I read what others have posted. Once again, I owe all of you thanks for inspiration.

July Goals:

• Maintain my weight (although I won't be upset if another pound or two come off).
• Increase upper body/weight-bearing exercise to four times a week with heavier weights.
• Add something new to my exercise routine.
• Keep hitting my daily goals for steps/mileage and calories.
• Complete this month's virtual 5K with a shorter time than last month's.

I've had a difficult couple of days, emotionally, which always makes it tougher to work up the energy to really throw myself at exercising. Wednesday was the first day in weeks (maybe months?) that I didn't hit my minimum step goal for the day. And I also skipped the upper body stuff. And my food intake was both on the high side and not what one would call healthy. Yesterday was better, though. And ..I started today with a good, long walk, so we'll see if I can get back on track. 

In positive news: I expect to complete my virtual walk of Hadrian's Wall this weekend. And it looks like there may be a group of people from work who are interested in forming a team to tackle one of the bigger virtual challenges, which could be a fun way to stay motivated and also stay connected with coworkers while we're all mostly working remote.

I'm sorry you have had some rough days, we've all been there, it stinks. I hope things have improved. Great goals, best wishes getting them done.

22 hours ago, barnwife said:

Well, yesterday I woke up and just felt lazy. I didn't want to do anything. And that's more or less what the kids and I did all day...nothing. (Hey, so our HS called a last minute 4th of July vacation. It's all good.) 

And then in late afternoon it all went downhill. We ran into problem after problem after problem while taking care of our goats. So while I did no official exercising, the walking here, there, and everywhere to deal with problem goats in hot and humid weather totally counts for someone in 3rd tri., right? (TW: animal death) Sadly, one of the situations ended tragically. I feel so badly for our oldest. It was one of his goats. And it seems as though all our tragic animal situations involve his goats. At least when the matriarch died recently, she was old. This one was just a yearling. In happier news, we were able to rescue another goat who had gotten herself stuck somewhere. 

Today has started off better than that tragedy so far. I tried that new-to-me pregnancy workout video again. I didn't do the whole thing (it's about 40 min.), but that's partly due to time and energy. We have a busy morning today, and I didn't want to overdo it. 

Also, welcome, @Penguin! 
@happysmileylady  I hope your DH is recuperating nicely, and that you get in more swimming this month! We have no swimming options around here this year. Other than the local creek, which the kids and I will hit this morning if it isn't already too crowded for the holiday.

Some days are like that. I'm sorry you had goat issues again! UGH poor kid.

[Soror]

We had a pretty good day. We got to the lake early enough that it wasn't busy at all, only 3 other families where we were at so it was quite easy to stay away from people. Dd2 had so much fun she wanted to go back but I told her we'll wait until the holiday weekend is over. We're hoping to get an outdoor (above ground) pool this year if I can find a liner for my mom's that she is no longer using. We've never wanted to because of the upkeep but with not being able to do so much this year (no vaca or camps) and the kids being old enough to help with maintenance we thought perhaps we could handle it. But that is if I can find the dang thing, I guess pools are popular this year b/c I'm sure having a hard time finding anything.

I didn't do much swimming in the water yesterday but lots of paddling and playing around. I did my strength work w/ kb in the am and then my evening walk after dinner. I must have worked something yesterday because I am sore in my shoulders and hamstrings.

I made the black bean burgers w/ my mango salsa but nearly killed my blender, I've got to get a new food processor.

Today's plans- a bit of work on the shed, dh is doing much better but not ready for a full work load but we have to do a bit of set up work.

Exercise: core work and walk; some garden/yard work (before it gets so hot)

breakfast: blueberries; apple carrot muffins and spinach smoothie

lunch: carrots; yummy vegan "chicken" patty w/ tomatoes; lime slaw; black bean brownie

afternoon snack: probably popcorn w/ nutritional yeast or spice roasted chickpeas and fruit??

dinner: simple salad; bibimbap bowls- very excited to finally try these- I found the Gochujang sauce at the store that was GF and vegan; I'll probably do mine with tempeh

I've been working my way through How Not to Diet, it is a giant read, so many little tips. One that I have been doing pretty consistently is cool water and a fruit or veggie before the meal, so I listed what I'm eating in order that way. I'm up to about 20 of the 37 How Not to Diet tweaks, some I'll never hit but I'm trying to hit the low hanging fruit to help with easier maintenance and lose.

 

Edited July 4, 2020 by soror

[wintermom]

16 hours ago, Laura Corin said:

Thank you. Yes, we saw the house in January. I was getting overexcited about voile curtains this evening. I'm to have my own room for work, study and yoga, and as it gives directly onto the street, I need sheer curtains for privacy. 

I've not had a room just for me since we lived in California and I was studying for my Masters,  almost thirty years ago.

Congratulations! That's very exciting to get your own space. Does it look like you will continue working from home for a while yet? 

Remind me about the things that drew you to this house. I believe it's very near the sea. That would be amazing.

[wintermom]

3 hours ago, soror said:

We had a pretty good day. We got to the lake early enough that it wasn't busy at all, only 3 other families where we were at so it was quite easy to stay away from people. Dd2 had so much fun she wanted to go back but I told her we'll wait until the holiday weekend is over. We're hoping to get an outdoor (above ground) pool this year if I can find a liner for my mom's that she is no longer using. We've never wanted to because of the upkeep but with not being able to do so much this year (no vaca or camps) and the kids being old enough to help with maintenance we thought perhaps we could handle it. But that is if I can find the dang thing, I guess pools are popular this year b/c I'm sure having a hard time finding anything.

I didn't do much swimming in the water yesterday but lots of paddling and playing around. I did my strength work w/ kb in the am and then my evening walk after dinner. I must have worked something yesterday because I am sore in my shoulders and hamstrings.

I made the black bean burgers w/ my mango salsa but nearly killed my blender, I've got to get a new food processor.

Today's plans- a bit of work on the shed, dh is doing much better but not ready for a full work load but we have to do a bit of set up work.

Exercise: core work and walk; some garden/yard work (before it gets so hot)

breakfast: blueberries; apple carrot muffins and spinach smoothie

lunch: carrots; yummy vegan "chicken" patty w/ tomatoes; lime slaw; black bean brownie

afternoon snack: probably popcorn w/ nutritional yeast or spice roasted chickpeas and fruit??

dinner: simple salad; bibimbap bowls- very excited to finally try these- I found the Gochujang sauce at the store that was GF and vegan; I'll probably do mine with tempeh

I've been working my way through How Not to Diet, it is a giant read, so many little tips. One that I have been doing pretty consistently is cool water and a fruit or veggie before the meal, so I listed what I'm eating in order that way. I'm up to about 20 of the 37 How Not to Diet tweaks, some I'll never hit but I'm trying to hit the low hanging fruit to help with easier maintenance and lose.

 

Glad you all had a lovely time at the lake. Good luck getting your own pool. We had a lot of fun with ours years ago. The maintenance wasn't bad at all as long as you don't have a lot of leaves and other biological matter falling into the pool. Balancing the water can be very challenging then, and there's more cleaning needed. 

Hope your shoulders recover quickly after the kettle ball work. The little bit of swimming I did certainly effected my shoulders. Glad your dh is doing better. All the best with the shed work and your other outdoor activities.

What are "low hanging fruit?" Does this refer to the type of fruit or where you store it in the house for quick and easy access? 

 

 

[wintermom]

I probably did far too much yesterday - again. I got on a roll with weeding the backyard, then ds wanted to go for a bike ride, then I met a friend for a hike in the woods. I was really hot after all this, and rested for a while. Then our friends wanted to play doubles tennis in the evening. It had cooled off by then, so we played for a little over an hour. Lots of fun, but I didn't sleep well. Today we're going as a whole family to help a friend with haying their field. Heat wave is still on, and I have to wear long-sleeves due to allergies. I'll be roasting. I hope we finish really fast. 

Enough whining about all this self-inflicted discomfort. On our hike in the woods, my friend found lots of very tiny, super cute frogs. They were on the trail and were about the size of a fingernail. At first glance they looked like beetles. We also heard some new bird songs neither of us recognized. There's always something new and interesting to find outdoors. 😉

Happy July 4th! 

Edited July 4, 2020 by wintermom

[Matryoshka]

14 minutes ago, wintermom said:

What are "low hanging fruit?" Does this refer to the type of fruit or where you store it in the house for quick and easy access? 

Lol, do you not have this metaphor in Canada?  It refers to a task that's easy to accomplish relative to others... pick the low-hangIng fruit before the ones that are hard to reach. 

Edited July 4, 2020 by Matryoshka

[EmilyGF]

I've tracked for five full days now. I'm following the Beck Diet Solution pre-diet guidelines of only eating while sitting, focusing on calm before eating, reading my "why's" daily, and making cards to deal with mental hurdles I have. I started today with a zero-point breakfast (Weight Watchers blue plan) of Greek yogurt, blueberries, a banana, and coffee. I planned a 4th of July menu for our family with some tweaks to keep it less pointy for me.

One thing that I find really motivating about Weight Watchers is that I can quantify small changes. For example, I'm going to use only the bottom bun on my burger and sub sauteed mushrooms for cheese. Also, I'll probably eat it with a fork and knife (so I'll enjoy it more and eat more slowly). Pre-WW, I would have had an all-or-nothing attitude.

I haven't been getting up early because close-by fireworks have been disturbing my sleep too much. However, we're planning a 4-mile family hike this afternoon. I guess we'll have a late dinner! Yesterday I took a walk with DH and two kids (oldest and youngest) and ds8 made pancakes for dinner while we were on our walk. It was amazing to come home and find dinner was made.

Emily

[wintermom]

19 minutes ago, Matryoshka said:

Lol, do you not have this metaphor in Canada?  It refers to a task that's easy to accomplish relative to others... pick the low-hangIng fruit before the ones that are hard to reach. 

That's funny! In the context of food, fruit and veg, I just assumed it was related to an eating strategy. No, I've never heard this metaphor. 

[Matryoshka]

So I've managed to keep up the exercise, kinda... on Thursday I waited till it got cooler, then took a 30-min Nordic Walk, and got caught in a thunder shower on the way home, so it was a sprint to the finish, lol.  Then I didn't end up doing the rest of the workout I thought I'd do when I got back.  Yesterday we had a friend do a porch visit, then it was time to make dinner (ran out of leftovers!) and at 11:30pm I decided I wanted to make my 5 days, darnitall, so just did a set on the rower - about 30 min actually on the rower, and then 8 minutes of stretching after.  So as long as I get something done today, I'm still on track, except that for not managing all 4 1-hour sessions.

Dinner last night was bok choy and soba noodles with tofu in a soy/ginger broth.  Of course there's enough for at least one more dinner...

Weight is still at top of maintenance range.  I think it's time to make salads for lunch with all that lettuce in the garden...  I bought a big bag of red peppers the other day, and I have a few other things to add to it to make it 'not just lettuce'.

[Ali in OR]

Cat got me up at 6:00--he just doesn't understand weekends. So, after feeding him and his sister (the labrador), I decided to do some more Foundations of Yoga. I did 4 videos--Runners Lunge, Extended Child's Pose, Downward Dog, and The Corpse Pose (my favorite!). So if I do nothing else this weekend, I did manage to get "something informal" done.

Weight is up which I'm not happy about as I have been tracking and thought the last 2 days in particular were good. And it's not like I will make up for it today with a stellar eating plan--this is a splurge day with hot dogs, chips, and a cupcake involved. Oh well. I'm in this for the long haul, so we just go on tracking and trying to make good choices. So I've had my mocha and will delay breakfast until it becomes lunch and then we'll have the splurge meal in late afternoon.

I make masks, usually to donate to our community mask making group (over 30k distributed so far), but I got some special requests from 2 families that will involve 16 masks. So I'll be sitting at the sewing machine a lot this weekend. I do like helping everyone to have masks who needs them, and I'm flattered that my first batch for these families fit well and are their favorites. Both are families of students in my school. So it's a lot of work, but a true labor of love. Not love of sewing, but love for my community! Happy 4th everyone!

[Matryoshka]

13 minutes ago, Dreamergal said:

@Matryoshka Walking and an extra run and porch visit sounds good. But getting up at 11:30 PM to exercise ?? That much commitment I had only when I was a student on exam days. As for growing lettuce, we are attempting to grow too as we miss salads. We have been cooking salads and with the increase in cases in our area decided to grow our own.

😂😂😂😂😂... okay, catching my breath... 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣  Get up at 11:30 pm... hahahahahahaha... that is so funny!  You obviously have a completely different sleep clock than me.😉  I barely remember the last time I made it to bed before midnight.  I was up and wide awake at 11:30 pm.  I've been getting to bed around 2ish lately.  My fitbit tells me last night it was 2:20...  I'm a night owl, very much not a morning person!  My sleep goal would be to get to bed by midnight, and up by 8am.  I'm always astounded by people who get up at something like 4am - if I am awake at 4am, it's because I haven't gotten to bed yet...

Quote

@EmilyGF Sauteed mushrooms I think is umami flavor they sound any day better than cheese to me. Hope you have a good hike with the family !

Even though I love cheese, for some reason I've never liked it on burgers.  I much prefer sauteed mushrooms!

 

Quote

DD wanted to play jump rope, I never realized how hard they were on the knees or I must be doing it wrong. The other alternative is I must be getting older not just in age, but body wise and that thought is not where I want to go. 🤣Ha

I can 'pretend' jump rope all day long (OT workouts during the pandemic have often included this)... but apparently my timing now stinks.  I have a real jump rope I bought years ago (another piece of exercise equipment bought and never used...) that I hauled out thinking maybe I could put it to use.  For some reason I can't seem to time it right?    Hits my shins or feet, gets twisted... Just an old klutz?  So I'm back to just pretending...

Edited July 4, 2020 by Matryoshka

[Laura Corin]

2 hours ago, wintermom said:

Congratulations! That's very exciting to get your own space. Does it look like you will continue working from home for a while yet? 

Remind me about the things that drew you to this house. I believe it's very near the sea. That would be amazing.

Thanks! I'll be working mostly at home until Christmas or maybe longer.

No, not near the sea. About seven miles inland. It's a good sized village with a general shop, post office, butcher, village hall, church and pub. It's on two bus routes to larger towns with full services. There is good walking in several directions from the village. The house is roomy for two and with space for guests,  with a lovely sunroom and views across the fields.

Edited July 4, 2020 by Laura Corin

[Jenny in Florida]

20 minutes ago, Laura Corin said:

Thanks! I'll be working mostly at home until Christmas or maybe longer.

No, not near the sea. About seven miles inland. It's a good sized village with a general shop, post office, butcher, village hall, church and pub. It's on two bus routes to larger towns with full services. There is good walking in several directions from the village. The house is roomy for two and with space for guests,  with a lovely sunroom and views across the fields.

 

Oh, the house sounds lovely! Congratulations!

[Jenny in Florida]

Just chugging along here yesterday and today. Continuing to meet my step/mileage goals and stay within my calorie range. 

Since I still haven't been able to find hand weights or dumbells to purchase to replace the cans of beans I have been using, I tried taping together cans to create a pair of heavier weights. I used them for the first time yesterday, and it wasn't great. They are kind of cumbersome and tough to hold. So, the hunt for a better option continues. 

I'm doing the WDW virtual 5K series. Each one is themed to a classic WDW attraction. Because I walk the equivalent of that mileage pretty much every morning, I try to find some way to differentiate the experience on "official" 5K days. So, for the Mad Tea Party one, I downloaded the Alice's Adventures in Wonderland audiobook to listen to and went to one of my favorite pretty trails to walk. The one I wanted to do this weekend is Space Mountain, and I'm trying to come up with somewhere to go or some way to theme my outing. So far, all I have in a couple of podcasts about space and science. 

Anyone feeling creative?

[Jenny in Florida]

1 hour ago, Dreamergal said:

Have you looked at weighed gloves or wrist weights ? They may be an option. Hope you find something soon. Lack of equipment is frustrating and the right equipment makes it better. 

As for space theme, there are a lot of songs about space, going to the stars. How about a playlist ? 

 

The last time I checked, those were not available anywhere, either. However, I just looked again and discovered that my local Target (supposedly) has very limited numbers of both 2-pound dumbells and wrist/ankle weights in stock. The wrist/ankle weight set gets mediocre reviews, but I decided to give it a try. Thanks for encouraging me to look again.

I actually prefer to listen to audiobooks or podcasts while walking, rather than music. Good thought, though.

[wintermom]

7 hours ago, Dreamergal said:

You did do a lot of physical work yesterday. Haying today ??? Wow !! You ladies amaze me with all the physical labor you do and do not count that as exercise. I will lay flat if I had to do that on top of working out. 😊

Have you considered writing a book about hiking and nature ? Especially a children's book ? You paint such vivid words pictures about it. The smell, the sounds, the wildlife. You once wrote a post about hiking in the snow. It painted such a warm and safe picture for me. The only description about the woods that has ever struck with me  is "lonely, dark and deep" from a Robert Frost poem I think that I memorized at a child or stories about getting lost in the woods. It has directly impacted how I have viewed the woods and nature and hiking as not safe. I am really changing how I view nature in my backyard as in actually learning names of plants, viewing birds and I share it with my kids and it is very much due to this thread and you in particular. So thank you so much for that. Someday I might venture into the woods too...😀

I don't know about others, but I certainly count the physical labour of haying as my exercise for the day. I lifted and moved many bails of hay today, but it was very manageable because my dh and our 4 dc all came to help out. At one point my tiny dd, she's 5'1" and 20 years old, lifted a bail in each hand and brought them to the trailer. She's just not tall enough to toss them up very easily. She's mighty in spirit!

Thanks so much for your kind words about my nature descriptions. What were your experiences in nature like when you were a child?  Did you have any opportunities to walk in wooded areas? Were secluded woods safe to walk in where your grew up? Perhaps you were correct in being wary of the outdoors, because there was very real danger (e.g., snakes, predatory animals, etc.). 

Where I live, there are no dangerous snakes or spiders, and the predatory mammals are mostly afraid of humans. I only have to worry about ticks, and they've only been a concern within the last couple years. I was fortunate to have a lot of positive experiences in nature growing up. I've also taken outdoor education courses to learn about safety in nature (e.g., first aid, reading maps, safely storing food at night, hypothermia, heat stroke, etc.). It all builds one's confidence so it's easy to relax and enjoy the beauty in nature. You do need to know your region, though. I made the mistake of trying to walk off the trails in the woods in Paris (Bois de Boulogne), and fortunately a local man pointed out the dangers. It's not the animals, rather predatory humans preying on unsuspecting tourists. 

If you have any State Parks near you, there are often opportunities to learn about the local wildlife. There may also be hiking groups where you and your family can join experienced hikers and learn more about the region where you live.

[Matryoshka]

Got my workout in today, so that makes 5 days!  Went on a 30 min Nordic Walk plus I've been sometimes adding a 30 sec. sprint at the very end to peak my heart rate - I leave my poles by the fence and time it on my phone... then I came inside and did an OT workout minus the warm-up part, as I figured I was already warmed up - that was another 43 minutes including the stretch at the end.  Lower body focused today.

The OT challenge they've given us this month is a certain amount of time in different heart rate zones each week - supposed to be 120 min/week in the "Green" zone (71-83% of max hr) and 30 min in the "Orange/Red" zones (84%+ of max hr).  At least on my OT hr monitor, I always skew high, so thus far (since Weds the 1st) I've got 52 min in the Green and 112 in the Orange.  I have till Tues, but it's the Green that will be a challenge!  

[Matryoshka]

@wintermom  wow, I would also count tossing hay bales as my exercise for the day!!

[Soror]

16 hours ago, Jenny in Florida said:

Just chugging along here yesterday and today. Continuing to meet my step/mileage goals and stay within my calorie range. 

Since I still haven't been able to find hand weights or dumbells to purchase to replace the cans of beans I have been using, I tried taping together cans to create a pair of heavier weights. I used them for the first time yesterday, and it wasn't great. They are kind of cumbersome and tough to hold. So, the hunt for a better option continues. 

I'm doing the WDW virtual 5K series. Each one is themed to a classic WDW attraction. Because I walk the equivalent of that mileage pretty much every morning, I try to find some way to differentiate the experience on "official" 5K days. So, for the Mad Tea Party one, I downloaded the Alice's Adventures in Wonderland audiobook to listen to and went to one of my favorite pretty trails to walk. The one I wanted to do this weekend is Space Mountain, and I'm trying to come up with somewhere to go or some way to theme my outing. So far, all I have in a couple of podcasts about space and science. 

Anyone feeling creative?

For weights- 1/2 gallon (get juice or milk if no water this size), 1 gallon/5 gallon jugs. 1 gallon of water should be able to be available and is around 8 pound, if you dump the water and fill it with sand (available in construction section, play areas, landscape or pool) it is nearly 13#. Of course 5 gallon will be 5x as heavy if you are looking for something to hold with both hands for something like squat or deadlifts. I'm glad that you are having better days, congrats on all the walking, I'm not very creative myself I'm not sure on the other.

18 hours ago, Ali in OR said:

Cat got me up at 6:00--he just doesn't understand weekends. So, after feeding him and his sister (the labrador), I decided to do some more Foundations of Yoga. I did 4 videos--Runners Lunge, Extended Child's Pose, Downward Dog, and The Corpse Pose (my favorite!). So if I do nothing else this weekend, I did manage to get "something informal" done.

Weight is up which I'm not happy about as I have been tracking and thought the last 2 days in particular were good. And it's not like I will make up for it today with a stellar eating plan--this is a splurge day with hot dogs, chips, and a cupcake involved. Oh well. I'm in this for the long haul, so we just go on tracking and trying to make good choices. So I've had my mocha and will delay breakfast until it becomes lunch and then we'll have the splurge meal in late afternoon.

I make masks, usually to donate to our community mask making group (over 30k distributed so far), but I got some special requests from 2 families that will involve 16 masks. So I'll be sitting at the sewing machine a lot this weekend. I do like helping everyone to have masks who needs them, and I'm flattered that my first batch for these families fit well and are their favorites. Both are families of students in my school. So it's a lot of work, but a true labor of love. Not love of sewing, but love for my community! Happy 4th everyone!

It does take a long haul and dedication. It could also be some soreness has your weight up. That is wonderful that you are making masks for everyone.

19 hours ago, Matryoshka said:

So I've managed to keep up the exercise, kinda... on Thursday I waited till it got cooler, then took a 30-min Nordic Walk, and got caught in a thunder shower on the way home, so it was a sprint to the finish, lol.  Then I didn't end up doing the rest of the workout I thought I'd do when I got back.  Yesterday we had a friend do a porch visit, then it was time to make dinner (ran out of leftovers!) and at 11:30pm I decided I wanted to make my 5 days, darnitall, so just did a set on the rower - about 30 min actually on the rower, and then 8 minutes of stretching after.  So as long as I get something done today, I'm still on track, except that for not managing all 4 1-hour sessions.

Dinner last night was bok choy and soba noodles with tofu in a soy/ginger broth.  Of course there's enough for at least one more dinner...

Weight is still at top of maintenance range.  I think it's time to make salads for lunch with all that lettuce in the garden...  I bought a big bag of red peppers the other day, and I have a few other things to add to it to make it 'not just lettuce'.

MMM, that dinner sounds yummy, care to share?

20 hours ago, EmilyGF said:

I've tracked for five full days now. I'm following the Beck Diet Solution pre-diet guidelines of only eating while sitting, focusing on calm before eating, reading my "why's" daily, and making cards to deal with mental hurdles I have. I started today with a zero-point breakfast (Weight Watchers blue plan) of Greek yogurt, blueberries, a banana, and coffee. I planned a 4th of July menu for our family with some tweaks to keep it less pointy for me.

One thing that I find really motivating about Weight Watchers is that I can quantify small changes. For example, I'm going to use only the bottom bun on my burger and sub sauteed mushrooms for cheese. Also, I'll probably eat it with a fork and knife (so I'll enjoy it more and eat more slowly). Pre-WW, I would have had an all-or-nothing attitude.

I haven't been getting up early because close-by fireworks have been disturbing my sleep too much. However, we're planning a 4-mile family hike this afternoon. I guess we'll have a late dinner! Yesterday I took a walk with DH and two kids (oldest and youngest) and ds8 made pancakes for dinner while we were on our walk. It was amazing to come home and find dinner was made.

Emily

Excellent job tracking. It does really help with awareness to keep track in some way. A lot of these changes match up with the suggestions in "How Not to Diet", some is related to how you eat but a lot is behavioral. Awesome job, ds8 for making dinner, that is a nice surprise.

20 hours ago, wintermom said:

I probably did far too much yesterday - again. I got on a roll with weeding the backyard, then ds wanted to go for a bike ride, then I met a friend for a hike in the woods. I was really hot after all this, and rested for a while. Then our friends wanted to play doubles tennis in the evening. It had cooled off by then, so we played for a little over an hour. Lots of fun, but I didn't sleep well. Today we're going as a whole family to help a friend with haying their field. Heat wave is still on, and I have to wear long-sleeves due to allergies. I'll be roasting. I hope we finish really fast. 

Enough whining about all this self-inflicted discomfort. On our hike in the woods, my friend found lots of very tiny, super cute frogs. They were on the trail and were about the size of a fingernail. At first glance they looked like beetles. We also heard some new bird songs neither of us recognized. There's always something new and interesting to find outdoors. 😉

Happy July 4th! 

That is hard, hard work, especially in the heat. I hope you get some rest time.

20 hours ago, wintermom said:

Glad you all had a lovely time at the lake. Good luck getting your own pool. We had a lot of fun with ours years ago. The maintenance wasn't bad at all as long as you don't have a lot of leaves and other biological matter falling into the pool. Balancing the water can be very challenging then, and there's more cleaning needed. 

Hope your shoulders recover quickly after the kettle ball work. The little bit of swimming I did certainly effected my shoulders. Glad your dh is doing better. All the best with the shed work and your other outdoor activities.

What are "low hanging fruit?" Does this refer to the type of fruit or where you store it in the house for quick and easy access? 

 

 

Thank you, I'm feeling just a bit of soreness today so I think it will be ok. I actually think the shoulder soreness was from swimming, the hamstrings from the swings. I haven't swam since last year.

9 hours ago, Matryoshka said:

Got my workout in today, so that makes 5 days!  Went on a 30 min Nordic Walk plus I've been sometimes adding a 30 sec. sprint at the very end to peak my heart rate - I leave my poles by the fence and time it on my phone... then I came inside and did an OT workout minus the warm-up part, as I figured I was already warmed up - that was another 43 minutes including the stretch at the end.  Lower body focused today.

The OT challenge they've given us this month is a certain amount of time in different heart rate zones each week - supposed to be 120 min/week in the "Green" zone (71-83% of max hr) and 30 min in the "Orange/Red" zones (84%+ of max hr).  At least on my OT hr monitor, I always skew high, so thus far (since Weds the 1st) I've got 52 min in the Green and 112 in the Orange.  I have till Tues, but it's the Green that will be a challenge!  

Good job getting in your workout, you worked it today! Interesting in the HR, I've only looked at FB and I'm not sure what there zones are calculated as for Peak, cardio, and fatburn. I know I hit fatburn all the time just cleaning house but I'm guessing that is quite a bit lower than your green zone.

Edited July 5, 2020 by soror

[Soror]

It's a new week and I'm very pleased that this week was a much better one than the last. I met or exceeded my goals for exercise and I am continuing to meet the Daily Dozen food goals and a growing number of the tweaks designed for weight maintenance and lose. After bouncing up to 124 one day last week my weight has continued back down, I hit 123, 122, 121. We'll see how this week goes, I'm due for my period in a couple of days. My appetite has been pretty stable, energy good. I've settled into big breakfast, fair size lunch, decent afternoon snack, and small dinner. I had some things with eggs in them this week but no meat and plan to continue on. I haven't felt the desire for junk food or crappy carbs except rarely, I guess because I'm finally eating plenty of carbs in my regular diet. I had some jelly belly jelly beans yesterday- I measured out a serving size (2 Tbsp) because I thought it sounded good but ended up giving some to the kids. I enjoyed the ones I had but didn't feel like I needed more- and didn't go into a spiral eating other things but continued on with my meal plan.

After 3 months of tracking my food on here I think I'll take a break, it really helped me to plan out my day as I did it first thing in the am and could see where I was coming up short or hitting too much. I massively increased quality of the food over that time. When I first started I had some days I'd only hit 8-10 on the daily dozen (there are 24 check marks for the dozen categories), now I've hit them all 24 days in a row and feel like I'm in a good groove so I'm going to back off for a bit and just use my checklist.

This week's goals:

3x strength train; 3+x walk; 1+x bike; 1 barre and core (short); 10k steps a day

Daily Dozen food goals

Thai red curry vegetable soup for lunch food prep this week I made a veggie broth yesterday and will finish it off today- I'll be having mine w/ brown rice and I think some tofu

___________________

Getting ready to do a bike ride in a bit, want to see how my HR does now on my 3rd time on the route and with it being nice and cool (only in 70s so far this morning- will just hit 80s by the time I finish).

Edited July 5, 2020 by soror