Are you looking for support on your health and fitness journey? If you are, then this thread is for you.

There are no expectations in this forum. Post as often as you like. Post anything that you feel is relevant to your own personal health and fitness goal. Here are some ideas:

• Monthly health and fitness goal
• Daily health and fitness goal
• Progress (or setbacks) in reaching your goal
• Personal stories about why you are joining this topic
• Healthy recipes that you feel others will enjoy
• Links to articles or books that you feel others would find helpful
• Food Choices (healthy or unhealthy)

Remember, your health and fitness journey is your own. There is no one program, method, or philosophy that is right for everyone. This thread is for support only.

Weekend Update: 119.0 this morning. I didn't think this would happen, but my husband told me to stop losing weight. I ate a dark Belgian chocolate with sea salt for my breakfast dessert.

I read the last posts in September. Way to go girls! So many success stories for September! How is that for alliteration?

Vicki asked if I was okay. Yes, but teaching has become so much more difficult than it used to be. We're short-staffed and the kids misbehave in much more disruptive ways~I hope I can make it to Spring 2025~that's when I plan to retire!

Posted this in September, but I'll do it here too, just so it's connected to the right thread.

My October new habit is to limit sweets/desserts to 2x per week and preferably to have them connected to a meal.  I do so much better, in general, when I don't snack and just attach the snack I want to a meal.

Thanks for the new thread Melissa. Yes, you should stop losing weight!  I think you are at a great weight.  I'm sorry teaching has become so much harder. I know what you mean.  My daughter stepped down from a vice principal position at a Jr High after 6 years.  Her main duty was discipline and the kids are out of control. She was so stressed last year she decided she had to make a change even if it meant lower pay. She is now an Instuctional Coach at the same school.  Much less stress. 

I am still below 150 but not at the lowest I was in the middle of September.  This morning 148.8. Water aerobics is over next week. I have to come up with a plan to keep up the exercising. 
 

Hey Nancy, it should be getting nice enough there to walk soon.  :)

I'm 233.2 this morning. I'm up 3 lbs. from what I was this time last month. I have cut out a bunch of things I normally eat for this month and will see if there's a positive change over the next month. Something has got to give.

Vicki, I think what we eat does play into things.  I've got to start watching the carbs.  They are all sitting in my stomach area and even without a weight change I find my jeans tighter in the waist.

Sometimes I wish I was one of those people that is happy being whatever size they are and just eating what they like to eat without much regard.  I'd think maybe I will be in 20 years, but my Mom isn't and I think that has a lot to do with it.  "Vanity" was instilled in us early.  :)

Lisa, if I could move around easily at this weight, it wouldn't bug me so much. But it takes very little to make me be out of breath and if I do a lot of walking I hurt the next day. And when walking, I do better to hold on to something ( like a shopping cart) instead of free walking. Holding on to a cart takes some of the pressure off of my back.

 I've always been a big eater and cutting way down is hard for me to do. But I am trying. I know I have certain trigger foods so am trying to make sure I don't have them in the house. That's easier to do now since it's just me now. But sometimes I want to eat everything not nailed down, if you know what I mean. But I know if I don't get this weight down it's just going to make it harder on me physically.

Hi everyone, I am back this month. August was crazy busy which I knew it would be, so I was kind of absent. I thought I had my act back together for Sep but apparently I didn't. My problem is that I didn't physically track my goals/habits just kept up with it in my head & that doesn't work for me. So I made myself a graph with good 'ol pen & graph paper of what I want to track this month & will most definitely see good results as I know this sets me up for success.

I started Oct out at 124.6, which is only 1 pound higher than I was on Sep 1. I would like to get back to 123 at least, I hit that in July. And go from there.

I downloaded an app that is programming for workouts I can do in my garage. I think it will hold me accountable b/c sometimes just being creative enough to come up with a workout deters me. My plan is to workout in the garage gym a few days & walk on the others.

I'll be tracking exercise, eating dinners in (we hardly ever eat breakfast or lunch out-so those are never an issue), read 10 pages of a success book, read 30 minutes of any book, sweets only once per week, & at least 48oz of water.

I'm still fasting pretty much daily around 8pm-Noon.

Here's to a successful Oct for all of us :)

But sometimes I want to eat everything not nailed down - Me too Vicki, and that is one of the things I'm trying to choose new habits to defuse.  Sitting at the table to eat everything helps, although when I'm really in that 'don't care' frame of mind, I don't care about that habit either.  But, if we get back on track quicker, then I think we are making progress.

Shayla, I'm sort of like you with tracking.  Just in my head doesn't work as well as physically tracking.  I just mark on my calendar, but I try to do that for meals out (which I want to limit to 6/week), and now my new habit (sweets/dessert only 2x/week).  The other ones are things to do daily, most of which are pretty well ingrained now.  I have kind of got off on the limiting TV goal because of baseball.  But, I'm definitely not just sitting and watching TV all day and evening.

As we're approaching the end of the year, it's getting harder for me to think of new habits to incorporate.  Hoping I can think of two more and end the year with 12 new habits for health and wellbeing.

Have BSF Leaders Meeting in a few minutes, so need to get off here.  Have a successful day everyone.

Happy Sunday all. I'm one pound up from the 1st of the month but still trying to get the numbers down. I'm still going to push myself to drop 5 lbs. this month. I'm drinking more water and I've been moving a little more so hoping to see the numbers go down.

Hope you all have a good week.

Good morning.  Down 1.5# this morning from last Sunday morning.  Concentrating on just following the plan and staying off the scale between Sundays.  I don't do well when I get "consumed" with what the scale says.

Last week was a success for my October 'new habit.'  I only had 'dessert' once and I chose a bag of trail mix from the snack box for volunteers at the radio station.  That was on Thursday, and then when I worked Friday I avoided the snack box entirely. 

I'm doing better with my September 'new habit' of no seconds.'  I have to keep reminding myself that if I fix my plate and then choose something else immediately after, that's 2nds, even if it is something different.  I guess my ultimate goal is to think carefully about everything I want to be my meal, including dessert if that is in the equation.  Get that, eat, and be done.  Not think "I'd just like a little more."

And, I think I finally have pretty well nailed the sitting at the table to eat.  When it was a snack as opposed to a meal I was having trouble, but now when I choose to not eat at the table, it is a deliberate rebellion against the restriction usually because I'm also eating the wrong food at the wrong time.  Those "I just don't care right now moments."

Hope y'all are doing well with whatever your goals/habits are right now.

I sucked it up and paid the large copay to start up Ozempic again. I figured with my upcoming week in Tucson visiting with my dad, plus the holiday season coming fast, I was willing to put out to help me manage my insulin resistance. It was worth it. I've lost more weight, hitting 207 for the first time in forever. As a compromise to make my cardiologist happier I'm no longer buying jumbo eggs, switching to a smaller size as well as cutting back on the ham/bacon. My cholesterol wasn't that bad so I'm not stopping eggs and bacon because it gives me a stable blood sugar to start the day. If I start the day with carbs, I get shaky before lunch.

At GriefShare last night, someone had left bowls of chocolate miniatures on the tables. It smelled good but I resisted. It helped to move the bowl to the other end of the table!

Stopping in to suggest a book...Sugar Shock...I know there aren't any copies here but maybe it could go on your WL or maybe your library has it. Sugar has always been a problem for me, I'm definitely a sweets person not a salty. Anyway this book has been a good reinforcement for me reminding me just how bad sugar is on our body...not just talking about weight loss here. It also gives suggestions on substitutions. 
(It wouldn't let me make the link on the title above so I posted link below.) 
 

https://www.paperbackswap.com/Sugar-Shock-Hidden-Food-100/book/1950785009/

Thanks for the book recommendation Shayla.  I'm definitely a sweets person too.  I do better to never start sweets than to try to control them, although I know I need to learn that self-control to be successful in the longrun.

Good job Teri, on seeing a "new" weight.  :)

I'm both a sweets and salty type. I have to try to watch both but the salt is my bigger issue since I retain fluid badly. Right now I'm having issues with it and my weight is slowly inching higher (234.1). It seems the harder I try to watch my weight, the more the numbers climb.

206 today! Ozempic rocks! I'm jazzed! But I know I must still eat wisely and continue to journal what I eat. Dad will not believe the difference when I visit him in Tucson next week. The last time he saw me I was 250. Well, I always knew I could do it if I applied myself, and having meds to combat the insulin resistance helps.

I need a fresh start! I really slumped in September. I couldn't figure out what was going on. I was not (and still am not) fully unpacked from moving, but everything was in the condo, and so the worst of the move was over. But I could barely make it through the day, barely get hours in at work, barely make any progress on unpacking.

I mostly managed to stay on an IF schedule, and my weight didn't go up (or down), but almost all good habits from this year just fell away. And I didn't keep up with various threads here on PBS. 

I joined a research study in September on the effect of movement on various health measures. They did a lot of baseline tests, and then gave me devices to wear for a week that measured lots of sleep functions and movement. Then I started the intervention, which was to wear the Fitbit they gave me and I meet with a health coach every week for 8 weeks, and each week we set goals and I mostly made those, so my walking stamina has increased a lot. The blood test showed high cholesterol (but very high in the good kind) and glucose 102 (eek, never had it that high before).

September 26 I finally had my doctor appointment. Even though I scheduled in August, this was the earliest I could get seen by anyone taking new patients. Lots of blood tests, worst blood draw ever, bruised for a week. A metabolic panel, which I don't remember having before, but every measurement was solidly in the normal range. Glucose 86 (Phew!) TSH WAY too high! Thyroid meds too low! Aha, that explains a LOT about my motivation/accomplishment in September! I had been taking half a pill every day, because taking a whole pill was too much, and I have the smallest pills they make. Now I am taking a whole pill 3 times a week and half a pill 4 times a week.

Finally, after a couple of weeks at the new dose, I have energy again, and my weight is going down again, slowly but surely! 
 

so, October goals (for the rest of October, anyway)

• Follow the IF schedule (which I have mostly been doing, but sometimes I allow eating to go a little past the cutoff)
• do the exercises I got from the physical therapist I finally started seeing last week. (Not really a new goal, since I was doing this before my move.)
• do the walking goals with the research study (not a new goal)
• eat oatmeal 4 times a week. (This is my new goal after the high cholesterol test. I really want to stay off cholesterol meds.) I thought about a goal of every day, but I'm just not sure that's doable.

weight report: last month it went up and down on a daily basis, but the first two digits were always 23, except toward the end of the month it changed to 22. This month the daily readings fluctuate, but the first two digits are always 22, and the trend is down. I started the year at 250.6 and today the scale says 225.6. My long term goal is 180 and then to decide how much more to lose. I'm 5'5" so 180 might sound like a lot but last time I was 180 I was in size 14 pants, which I think is ok. At this rate I might not get under 200 by the end of 2022, but I'd still like to get there by my 60th birthday in February 2023.

I'm busy reading the posts from September. Won't reply to all of them, but it's interesting how Vicki and I are losing at about the same rate! Also Teri inspires me because she started about where I did and has lost so much, so I know it can be done!

Lisa, I've never considered my sparkling water to make my fasting "dirty" but then mine have 0 calories and as I get more settled I plan to get back to making my own. I do think any drinks with artificial sweeteners would make it a "dirty" fast.
 

Unfortunately I have been drinking the occasional Diet Coke again. Started in September to wake up. Looking back, I know the problem was the thyroid meds, but I gave up the habit I started here in January, and need a reboot.

I got my flu shot on 9/26 at the doctor appointment. My left arm was just sore, no other reaction. But they did a very painful blood draw from my right wrist, so I decided there was no way I could type, and used my sick day for the month. I got my Covid bivalent shot on October 1. My daughter got really sick, wiypth chills and such like Vicki described, so I stuck around home all day and never felt sick, though I'm blaming the shot for head fuzziness because I went out shopping that night and left my purse in the shopping cart in the parking lot! Though I didn't know that till later. On 10/2 I woke up with a headache, so I didn't go to church and later that day I felt dizzy, so I didn't go to a potluck, either. 10/3 I stayed home all day with low energy, so it wasn't till 10/4 that I realized the purse was missing and I spent all day looking for it! Finally realized there was nowhere else to look, so I went to Walmart ( I never got through when I called) and they had my purse. Such a relief!

Vicki, glad you came through the hurricane ok. I spent a lot of time looking at news since I used to live in FL, but it was hard to find news on the Tampa area because all I could find was the Stuff farther south.

Teri, I do better with an egg first meal too, or oatmeal with protein powder and peanut butter mixed in. A first meal without a lot of protein is bad news for the rest of the day. I say first meal instead of breakfast, because my first meal is usually around noon, and often later. Last week the fasting was from 8 pm to noon every day, but this coming week is way more varied.

Melissa, how motivating to see you reach your goal weight and switch to maintaining! Maybe I'll get there some day. Not to 119, though! Just to my own goal. I haven't weighed 119 since I was in elementary school and shorter than I am now. I think if I weighed 119 I'd be in size 0 clothes!

My sister is considering retirement too... she works in a school as an ASL interpreter, but there are more and more fights and the mayhem turns into people trying to see the fight or get closer to it and in the process she has been injured twice by being knocked to the floor.

Vicki, I understand completely about just the size being a problem. I don't mind being heavy, but it is actually hard to bend over and tie my shoes. I'm getting better at walking, though. I have walked so much with the research project that now a 30 minute walk is just routine unless it has lots of steep hills. I do have to figure out what I'll do when it gets colder, but maybe I'll swim. I'm with Teri that I don't really like workout routines much, especially in a group setting. Even my walks are planned as errands... I walk 30 minutes to the store to buy something instead of driving, as long as I'm not getting too much or anything too heavy.

The book sounds interesting, Shayla. I put it on my wishlist.

Hi everyone.  Was surprised by the number of posts here, but I see several are Maragaret checking in and getting caught up.  :)

Vicki, maybe concentrate less on the number on the scale and more on the good eating/exercise habits.  I get derailed super easy when I concentrate on the number on the scale.

Teri, you are doing great.

Margaret, nice to see you popping back in here.  Sounds like you had a time in September though.  Mostly the thyroid issue I guess though, and now that it is resolved maybe things will be better.  The research study you joined sounds interesting and also like it will help you stay on track since you have to do things for the study.

Lisa, I've never considered my sparkling water to make my fasting "dirty" but then mine have 0 calories  -  And, mine does not which explains why mine makes it a dirty fast.  Mine has 5 calories for the can, due to the flavoring I assume.

I really need to get my flu shot.  I don't think today will be good though beause I'm about half sick.  I guess it's a cold because 2 covid tests were negative, but I hardly have any energy today.  I feel like I could sleep all day, but I have to take my car to get the oil changed and the State Inspection so I can renew the tags.  After that though, I can just sleep if I want.  :)

So many people say they need protein with breakfast.  It's never made a lot of difference for me, so I guess I'm not "carb sensitive."  I don't know exactly what makes the difference for me because sometimes a carb heavy breakfast doesn't last me well, but sometimes the protein heavy breakfast doesn't either.  And, both sometimes keep me from being hungry for hours and hours.  It's probably psychological hunger or something.  Who knows.

Need to get out of here and take my car.  But, keep up the good work everyone.

My college freshman is on fall break so we are on a mini vacation at Lake Lure, NC. Rob & I have 3 college freshman & 3 high school juniors with us as we let both of our boys each bring 2 friends. Today we went to Chimney Rock State Park to hike. We hiked for hours, went for miles & were on some high elevations. It was awesome. We hiked the Chimney Rock trail & the Skyline trail. Definitely got a great workout in today. Now my eating on the other hand hasn't been stellar. Not completely off the rails, but not good by any standard.

Hopefully all that hiking offset the eating Shayla.

You are on vacation, so I think you can relax the strict eating a little bit.  :)

Long fast today, so not eating till 4.

also it got colder, so I may need to adjust my walk.

As of today I'm up 2.8 lbs. for the month. I know that doesn't sound like a lot  but when you're already in the 230's, it feels like a lot more. But I can't say it's unexpected. I know better than to eat foods that are high in sodium but for the last week I have been on a Chinese Egg roll kick. My favorite grocery store makes them daily and puts them out in the deli section, and I've bought up a few packs of them and have been eating them daily for lunch. They are so good. I have 4 packs left and once they're gone I won't buy more for months, so I'm enjoying what I have. But I know while I still have them and am eating them, the weight won't go down and could even go up a little more. So I'm having to be ok for that to happen for the next few days. Then they'll be gone and I can get fully back on track. Thankfully I don't constantly want egg rolls. I just get a real craving for them once in awhile and when I do, I get them. The last time I bought them was almost a year ago. So I'm going to enjoy them while I have them.