Accountability

[Sue B]

Good idea Chisamba, I will add that to my exercise ball sitting exercises. Come to think of it, there is a chart with seated exercises on my mom's wall, I should study those as well. I went for a walk last night and managed to keep the pace all the up to an "brisk" stroll for 20 minutes but only made it part way down the steep hill the road takes, and so I didn't get very far. I decided I should carry some soup cans when I walk and do arm stuff. Unfortunately, my back was totally unimpressed with my walk and kept me up much of the night. No point in getting mad though.

[heddylamar]

Unfortunately, my back was totally unimpressed with my walk and kept me up much of the night.

Rather than weight right now, I'd try resistance bands. Target sells a cheap set of resistance bands.

Another stretch to try is stand about 6-8" from a wall, feet shoulder width apart. Place your hands on the wall shoulder width apart (like you're going to do a pushup) and finger walk up the wall as far as you can reach, then back down. Do the same at 45 and 90 degrees. This will lengthen your spine and stretch the upper trap. Once you can use weight, you can continue this stretch using a full water bottle -- slowly roll it up the wall using both hands.

[Chisamba]

I had my doctor's visit this week, I am happy to say all my health numbers have improved. Also, as much as I dislike clothing shopping , I have to refit the wardrobe, at least this time it's for smaller sizes.

[heddylamar]

Congrats Chisamba!

Have you tried something like Amazon wardrobe? You can order a box full of items, and only pay for/keep what works. I use Zappos similarly ... except you have to pay upfront, with free shipping on orders and returns. (I HATE shopping)

[Chisamba]

Congrats Chisamba!

Have you tried something like Amazon wardrobe? You can order a box full of items, and only pay for/keep what works. I use Zappos similarly ... except you have to pay upfront, with free shipping on orders and returns. (I HATE shopping)

it would only work if i did not have to return items i did not like, i am so bad at wrapping and shipping back, its worse than hanging up items, and i am shaped in a way that it is hard to see what would look good on my by looking at pictures

[Tuddy]

I had my doctor's visit this week, I am happy to say all my health numbers have improved. Also, as much as I dislike clothing shopping , I have to refit the wardrobe, at least this time it's for smaller sizes.

YAY!!!!!!

[demi]

Is the hatred of shopping something related to horsepeople! I hate it, too. I will order stuff and if it looks bad or doesn’t fit, I just wear it anyway. I have even gone into stores and ended up with stuff that looks bad on me or doesn’t fit. Even when I was thin, I hated shopping. Oh well.

I can’t get away from the more healthful way of eating movement. Last month I spent a week with my mom in Michigan and my sister got me interested in a plan she and her husband are using. They have each lost over 30 lbs and sis really likes the plan. It’s THM (Trim, Healthy Mamas). I wont try to explain it here, but I think it is valuable, scientifically logical program based on the authors’ decades of personal dieting.

Then, I just got back from spending a week in New York with close friends who have been doing intermittent fasting for about a year. They are a married couple in their mid 30’s. They have never been overweight, but both had put on weight since they got married 16 years ago. They now both look fantastic! Not just slender, but very healthy looking. He started doing it because his work is very demanding and he was getting stress headaches and brain fog. Wife told him she would support him fully but NO WAY was she going to miss any meals! Well, after he started seeing huge improvements in his health, she started intermittent fasting and now they both do it regularly.

I have to make a plan...and then DO IT

[Imperini]

Well, now that I have my horse back and I've gained 10 lbs during and after the move (eep!) I guess I better get my act in gear. Somewhere in there I stopped doing the physiotherapy exercises that had helped me so much so I'm feeling really stiff and I've been eating terribly as evidenced by my weight gain.

Now it's time to start back up with the exercises, which unfortunately I probably need to start from scratch again and build my way up, and focus on healthier eating and reasonable portions.

[Chisamba]

Nothing lost nothing gained this week. I feel fitter but want to formalize my exercise

[heddylamar]

This morning’s half is done. Another in a few weeks

[heddylamar]

Is the hatred of shopping something related to horsepeople! I hate it, too. I will order stuff and if it looks bad or doesn’t fit, I just wear it anyway. I have even gone into stores and ended up with stuff that looks bad on me or doesn’t fit. Even when I was thin, I hated shopping. Oh well

Stitch Fix, Zappos, and Nordstrom (free shipping and returns on the latter two) have revived my wardrobe. If I could live in running/riding clothes year-round, I'd be happy, but I occasionally have to go into offices or meet with clients face to face

For the rest -- except kitchen/food stuff, which I like shopping for -- I either order from Amazon or, if I can't find it, tell my MIL exactly what I want. Seriously. She likes to shop for hours and hours.

[Dqwannabe]

Hi, gang! I need to climb back on this wagon, too. Every morning on my drive to work, I pump myself up to eat right, work out when I get home. Then, on my way home I'm exhausted and all I can think about is getting the horses in and collapsing with a glass of wine. Or four.
SO has been cleaning my barn almost every weekday and I find myself hoping that the stalls will again be done when I get home. That has always been my main source of movement and exercise (I sit at a computer all day at work).
My workout of preference is lifting weights and I have a more than sufficient setup in my basement, I just have to USE them!
So.... I'm coming here to help motivate myself and be accountable. My goals this week are just to get down to the basement and get started on my weights (I follow the StrongLifts 5x5 program). For this week, I'll be able to lift every night because I'll essentially just be working on form with light weight (even the per-workout increases won't add up to much the first week). AND, cut out the wine. I apparently can't do moderation (a topic for another thread, I'm thinking).

I lost 40 pounds a couple years ago using the My Fitness Pal app (basically, calories in/calories out). I guess I need to add logging to my goals, huh?
Sigh...

Happy Monday everybody! Let's kick some butt!!

[demi]

Heddylamar, my sister, a shop till you drop shopper, also recommended that I try Nordstrom. They even have people who will shop for you . I guess should actually try it. Or stitch fix sounds like a possibility.

DQwannabee, I use (off and on) MyNetDiary which i think is very similar to the My Fitness Pal app. I like these types of apps because they are fun to use, with all the graphs and charts and stuff. I know that, personally, I need to log every single thing i eat, or I will just simply eat more than I need. I guess I need to add logging to my goals, too...

I am not a connoisseur of fine food and I don’t even like to prepare food. I just have an addictive type nature and I am addicted to energy source foods. Especially quick energy foods. Plus, I’m a big emotional eater. Wine and beer have been hard to moderate in the past, but with my older age, I just don’t seem to like it as much anymore, so that helps. I get quite a bit of exercise since i keep my horses at home, and supplement my exercise with age appropriate aerobics and resistance training. Really, as I sit here and think about it, the bottom line for me is logging the food. It keeps me accountable.

Just like horses, people are all individuals, and what works for one may or may not work for another. We each have to find our own balance. It is helpful for me to read about others’ experiences.

[StraightForward]

Also just maintaining here. I've been baking too much with seasonal fruit. Got the worst cold I've had in years early this month. Then work travel followed by horse show. Last week I got plenty of exercise reworking my garden beds. Walked about 4 miles yesterday.

I need to do more low carb meals and get back to my core strength exercises. DH got a slide board thing to get ready for ski season. Might give it a try.

[Chisamba]

So after six weeks of maintaining, my body kicked back into lose mode and I lost two pounds this week. I think show stress helped.

Also focusing on both healthy eating and not eating if I'm not hungry do a bit of portion control too

[Moutaineer]

I've been avoiding this topic, but I really think I need to join you all before I slip into winter torpor.

Of course my life changed rather dramatically this year, with selling my company and now working from home. I was doing pretty well at the beginning of the summer, but ended up on some medication for a chronic cough which just kicked my butt. I put on weight and slept, basically. I rode regularly, but that was about it. Too tired and de-motivated to do anything else.

Last week, I decided I'd rather live with the cough than with the side effects of the meds, so I've come off them, but the withdrawal has been a bit rough.

I'm usually fairly physically active, but I realize I've been too darned tired to do more than the basics of life for the last 4 months. Even my house is a tip, which isn't like me at all. I'm not clinically depressed or anything--just trying to get free of being doped up to the eyeballs, just getting through going cold turkey!

So now I'm looking at myself and I'm bit horrified. Don't dare get on the scale until I can feel a bit better about myself.

I know my demons--I eat too much sugar, I've never met a carb I didn't like, and I need to cut back on the wine consumption quite drastically as it makes me feel like crap at the moment...

So here I go.

Must restore some structure and purpose to my life and get my shit together--and lose 10lbs and work on my core, get a decent haircut, and all those other good things.

Now there's the where to start thing...

(And Chisamba, can I just say, looking at your recent show pictures, you look fabulous!)

[Chisamba]

Moutaineer, I hope you feel better med free and can handle the cough too.

Thankyou for the lovely compliment!

[kande50]

I've been avoiding this topic, but I really think I need to join you all before I slip into winter torpor.

Now there's the where to start thing...

Prioritize, maybe? Decide which you want the most and concentrate on that, and then if there's any motivation left over work on the others some, but without losing sight of your primary goal?

You've done well to continue to ride, as I'd been falling behind on that, too.

My primary goal is to exercise more, although I also keep it in mind that I could cut back on the simple carbs and fat in my diet, too. I haven't been very successful at the diet changes, but the exercise program is going a lot better.

My every other day riding program has really helped me too, as I now look forward to riding rather than thinking of it as just another chore. Or I shouldn't say that I view riding as a chore because once I get on I really enjoy it, but getting started had turned into a chore.

[demi]

Mountaineer, you sound like i feel. Sorta. Mine is more of an angst than torpor. But the extra poundage contributes to the angst. I hope the encouragement on this board will help us all.

Got up at 4:30. DH ate at 5:30 and i had to refrain from eating. I wasn’t hunrgry but have the tendency to eat just because he’s eating and the sausage smells good.

9:15 and Still not hungry. I have a lesson on the school horse at 1:00 and I am trying to psych myself up for it. I will eat something healthy sometime before I leave. I have the luxury of time to think about the lesson so am going to actually think about it (rather than eat simply because it’s easier to eat than to think about how I am going to shorten the reins on this former eventer without pulling back).

It’s raining so I am not going to ride Rocky before I go to my lesson. That’s another excuse i make for eating. Can’t ride, maybe I’ll eat something tasty . Well NOT this time!! I have a great confidence builder to go take a dressage lesson on. That’s a blessing worth thinking about.

[Tuddy]

Mountaineer - I hope your med detox gets easier for you!

As for me - I've been watching what I have been eating, and reduced the wine consumption as well. Unfortunately, my right arm has been giving me grief for about 5 weeks now. It started off with carpal tunnel type symptoms in my hand. Sore forearm, achy bicep. I went to my doctor and sent me for a nerve test on my arm and wrist - results were excellent, everything working well there, and yesterday, I had an ultra sound and xray of my whole arm and shoulder. I will get the results next week.

I have also had weekly massage therapy and been having chiro adjustments twice a week. They seem to be helping as I am not feeling the pins and needles in my hand and forearm as much or as frequently as before. Hopefully, it was just an aggravated shoulder that flared up. Hopefully, good vibes would be appreciated.

But, because of this, I haven't been very active besides doing the bare minimum. I miss the gym, I miss the pole studio.... but my work is holding yoga classes after hours in our big lunch room, for free, on Thursdays, so I am going to see what I can do tonight! I am not a yoga person at all, in fact, and I may have mentioned it, I detest it. But I know it is good for me, and it's free, so I am going to make myself go.

[kande50]

Got up at 4:30. DH ate at 5:30 and i had to refrain from eating. I wasn’t hunrgry but have the tendency to eat just because he’s eating and the sausage smells good.

I have a tendency to do this too, as well as decide to have a snack to see if it'll help motivate me to get started on anything I don't want to get started on. And because I'm not hungry enough when I do it I always want calorie dense snacks, which are not the healthy ones.

Somehow I get away with it weight-wise, but my arteries probably suffer, which is why I think exercise is important.

I did get a longer ride in yesterday with a lot more trot and canter, so maybe that will help counteract my less than ideal diet?

[Dqwannabe]

Four days in and I've been religious about logging everything that goes in my mouth. The weight lifting... I'll add that to my goals for next week. If I try to force it this week, I'm setting myself up to fail - I'll give up on everything I'm managing to do so far. I'm one of those all-or-nothing kind of people. If I fall off the wagon, I throw up my hands, claim "what's the point?" and spiral into junk food and wine.
Chisamba, it sounds like you're making fantastic progress!
Mountaineer? Baby steps!! I strongly encourage logging even if just for a few days. It's a serious eye-opener!

[StraightForward]

Nice work on the food logging, DQ.

Demi - well done on stalling on eating and listening to your hunger. I find it really curious that I can be active all morning on the weekend on just coffee with heavy cream, but I go sit in the office on a weekday and I'm famished if I don't eat by 10 or so. Chalk it up to boredom, but the physical hunger pangs are real!

With Annabelle on stall rest for two weeks, I have no excuse for not getting my act together. I've settled on just cutting out sugar and wheat, and cutting back on cheese diet-wise. So far so good for two days. Exercise-wise, I'm walking, but need to get back to the running and core work... sounding like a broken record there, lol.

[StraightForward]

Feeling better just a few days in on cutting the wheat and sugar. Spent a crap-ton on meats and veggies the last couple days, so no excuses for not eating well. Need to do some prep work today. Went for a run yesterday, and seem to be down about 2# this morning compared to where I was a week or two ago.

[Chisamba]

Feeling better just a few days in on cutting the wheat and sugar. Spent a crap-ton on meats and veggies the last couple days, so no excuses for not eating well. Need to do some prep work today. Went for a run yesterday, and seem to be down about 2# this morning compared to where I was a week or two ago.

Congratulations. I do find healthy eating is more expensive and takes more planning.

Do, I cannot log it much too controlled and I despise it. Funny how different things work for different people. Congrats on bring so disciplined

[demi]

I have a love/hate relationship with logging my food. I love data and the apps have a lot of fun ways of looking at the data. Like graphs and charts of cals, macros, weight, and more. And then the charts and graphs can be manipulated in various interesting ways. But I hate collecting the data, even tho with the new apps, the actual recording is quite easy and even fun A lot of stuff can be entered by the bar code and the bar code readers have gotten really good. The hard part for me, I guess, is the control issue that Chisamba mentions. Unfortunately that’s the same part (the tight control) that makes it work for me. Quantity has to be carefully controlled. Weighing and measuring is tedious and I dislike it.

I said I was going to start logging, and I did start...then I quit...then started...then quit. With Rocky back to work, I may soon be more motivated.

[kande50]

I said I was going to start logging, and I did start...then I quit...then started...then quit. With Rocky back to work, I may soon be more motivated.

I was a short term exercise for me, because as soon as I changed my eating habits I didn't need to do it anymore.

[Tuddy]

I got the okay from my doc yesterday to hit the gym again! Yay!

[Moutaineer]

I'm feeling a lot better than I was. Seem to have got the drugs out of my system, so I have more energy and will to get things done, and I'm being more mindful about my eating so I've lost (drumroll...) a pound

But on the other hand I'm coughing like crazy, which is exhausting in and of itself, so waah.

[heddylamar]

My hip was achy post-half marathon, so riding and running have been on the back burner. After a week of suffering, acupuncture (the horrors!) on Monday finally did the trick, and I'm back on track. Just in time too -- I'm running another half on 11/10!

[StraightForward]

Tuddy, glad to hear you are off of stall rest!

Moutaineer, also glad to hear you are feeling better.

Heddy, well done on the half-marathons, even if you need placebos to keep you going, lol. I'll be pleased if I can get back to running an HM a week, much less in one go.

If actions didn't have consequences, I probably would have flopped in front of the TV with a bottle of wine in one hand and a cheesecake in the other tonight. But, I went for a quick run instead, ate a sensible dinner, and only have a partial bottle of wine.

Re: food logging - several years ago I lost over 50#. Logging helped, and it doesn't have to be forever. For one, I could review what I ate and figure out where I could shave off some calories with the least pain. For two, when I was about to eat something, I'd ask myself whether I really wanted to have to log it in later. That kept a lot of things from going into my mouth. I'd do it for a week or so when I hit a plateau.

[demi]

Good for you SF! A partial bottle of wine is a good deal. I opened a bottle while making dinner and FaceTiming my mom. Mom was supposed to have wine with me tonight but my sis is visiting her from Chicago and they are stuffing huge artichokes. Mom said wine would make her tipsy and sis would get mad Sis can be a real prude but they did send me some pics of the artichokes and they looked great. DH is watching tv and I am just going to drink my Sauvignon blanc and contemplate how my horses worked today. I will only drink half the bottle.

I’m not logging but Rocky is motivating me as i had hoped and I was more interested in dressage than eating today. My weekly lessons are good workouts for a person my age. Another couple of months and Rocky will hopefully be up to giving me a good workout several times a week. I would like to get Emma in shape enough to give me a good workout, too, but I’ll just have to see how that works out. It could happen

Here’s the artichokes!

6D8D7689-6D7A-480F-9310-F114AF7926AC.jpeg (45.7 KiB) Viewed 43941 times

[Moutaineer]

You know, they do look pretty, Demi, but it artichokes were the only food in the world, I would be very thin

[Chisamba]

I started exercise and gained a pound this week. Hope its muscle!

[demi]

Haha Mountaineer! I feel the same way. My family goes nuts over them but not me.

[kande50]

You know, they do look pretty, Demi, but it artichokes were the only food in the world, I would be very thin

I finally realized that a big part of why I love artichokes is because I dip them in butter. If I dipped just about any veggie in butter I'd probably like them just as much. Except beets, and avacados, although dipping avacados in butter would be kind of redundant.

[kande50]

. I would like to get Emma in shape enough to give me a good workout, too, but I’ll just have to see how that works out. It could happen

It could! I retire horses all the time, and then circumstances change and back to work they go.

[StraightForward]

Oh, the holidays are coming...

[demi]

Ha ha! Don’t get derailed by the holidays!!! I know to well that it only takes one cookie to derail me, let alone crazy holiday eating! BAD holidays!! BAD!!

My doctor is really into the keto diet, and my reaction has always been that it is just too difficult. He has reccommended books for DH and myself over the years and they have all been along the lines of strictly limiting carbs. Last week he told my about “The Everything Guide to the Ketogenic Diet” so I finally got it. After reading it (I read all but the recipes sections), I was again reminded that one of my biggest eating problems is my addiction to carbs.

Ok, so I admit it. “My name is demi, and I am a carboholic”. I started a keto diet (again) yesterday. I kept net carbs at 17 g yesterday and logged.

Something I have been misunderstanding about my carb addiction is that I’ve always thought with other types of addiction one can just quit cold turkey, but with eating, you cant just quit! Somehow it just sunk in that I don’t have to quit eating, all I have to do is quit simple carbs and limit the complex carbs drastically. Once my body chemistry gets straightened out, I will be able to have the occassional complex carb fruits and vegetables, but if I am careful to limit them, I won’t be as likely to fire up my carb addiction.

[StraightForward]

Interesting that your doc likes keto!

I don't think I'll ever go full keto, but I've had good results with going fairly low carb. The nice thing is that it gets easier. Today is my birthday and there were delicious smelling baked goods at my polling place this morning. It would have been easy to justify a donut, but was easy to pass up since I've been limiting carbs for the last 10 days or so. We even gorged on homemade pizza Saturday and got right back on track and turned down the ice cream DH brought home without much temptation at all.

[kande50]

Something I have been misunderstanding about my carb addiction is that I’ve always thought with other types of addiction one can just quit cold turkey, but with eating, you cant just quit!

True that we can't just quit eating because then we'd starve, but I do think we can quit one particular food, or group of foods, cold turkey. And I would think that quitting might be easier than trying to limit carbs, but maybe not?

Is the plan to stay on the keto diet forever, or is it a temporary diet to lose weight? IOW, will you add carbs to maintain, or will you just add more of what's on the keto diet?

I think my son's been on it, but I haven't remembered to ask him if it's working for him.

[demi]

Good for passing on the doughnut and ice cream SF! Yes, interesting about my doc. He has said for years that keto, if done right, is healthy. It’s just so freakin hard.He also thinks a lot of gluten intolerance has to do with the way wheat is grown in our country. He never exactly explained that to me and the references he gave me to read were too technical to wade through, so I didnt.

I havent done well on the diet and it’s only 3 days I got Atkins low net carb bars and I am eating 2 a day. Plus i got some low carb tortillas and gobbled a couple up three when I wasn’t even hungry. I started with under 25 carbs a day but then yesterday and today was only under 50. I have a feeling that i wont get into ketosis unless I go under 25. I am giving myself till the Atkins bars and tortillas are gone, and then I’ll buckle down.

Kande, you may be right about quitting carbs being easier than limiting them. But I am just going to limit them drastically only till I get some fat off, and then go back to a modest amount. Maybe 50-100, I don’t know yet. Have to experiment. I will probably have to stay away from simple sugars for ever...

[Chisamba]

If I try to go too low carb I eat a lot of calorie dense fats. I do not count carbs but only eat vegetable carbs, no pasta, rice potato bread cereal carbs, but I eat squash, veggies, carrots, and leafy greens, no counting.

I measure blood sugars because I am diabetic and those Atkins bars are fake. I get very high blood glucose if I eat them. Just FYI.

[demi]

If I try to go too low carb I eat a lot of calorie dense fats. I do not count carbs but only eat vegetable carbs, no pasta, rice potato bread cereal carbs, but I eat squash, veggies, carrots, and leafy greens, no counting.

I measure blood sugars because I am diabetic and those Atkins bars are fake. I get very high blood glucose if I eat them. Just FYI.

I had a feeling the Atkins bars weren’t good for me. The problem I have, is that, after I eat one, I want another, so they aren’t helping my sweet (ie simple carb) addiction. I wonder though, if they could be used like methadone is used for heroin addiction to wean off of the hard stuff. At any rate, I bought three boxes and when they are gone I wont buy any more.

With really low carbs I am also eating too many calorie dense foods. But I think that will taper off since even nuts and really tasty cheese doesnt seem to fire my carb desires. Still, I will have to limit the nuts and cheeses that I buy, sticking to my less favorites.

[Tuddy]

I went back to the pole studio last night to see if my body remembered what it was supposed to do... it felt great!

Cutting sugars and carbs is hard, so hard! Congrats to all you doing it.

Demi - my naturopath said the same thing about gluten intolerance and the way wheat has been grown, her opinion is that wheat varieties have grown so fast due to technology, that the wheat we had even 20 years ago, is not the same as what we have now, and that our bodies are not evolving to meet the changes as quickly as the wheat is. I have to stay away from gluten, I try to think I can have it and nope, my body turns against me.

[StraightForward]

I have not tried the Atkins bars, but I keep Quest bars around for emergencies. The trick is - I only find them passingly palatable, so I don't eat them unless I'm really hungry and don't have a better option. When I was tracking and toying with different carb levels, I found 100 grams per day was a good spot to be (and I was working out a lot, so eating a fair # of calories). This is definitely not keto, but helps with blood sugar control so that I could do intermittent fasting, or just have bulletproof coffee and not eat until 1pm without any problems.

I think Chisamba's approach is a good one. The tough part is eating all the veggies and not just plates of bacon. The veggies will provide enough bulk that then the tasty calorie-dense foods are OK, because you'll self-moderate. My understanding is that berries are mostly OK with keto, so at least not all fruit has to be cut out. If you haven't already, you might try reading MarksDailyApple. It started out as paleo/primal, but he has gone more towards keto and posts some good recipes and tips. For me, it is easier to just eat lots of veggies, protein and fats, and not try to replace high-carb food with low-carb facsimiles. You might have better luck going with a lettuce wrap instead of a low-carb tortilla, for instance.

Ran again last night and did a few kettlebell exercises afterwards. I was actually surprised that I got my 3 miles done in 28 minutes, despite taking a few walk breaks. Hopefully I can get it down to 25 minutes once I'm back to running the 3 miles without breaks. It's hard to make excuses for not having 25 minutes for a workout.

[demi]

My carb craving is gone! I first noticed it last night. I go to a lively Bible study every Thursday night and every single time when I get home I am so wound up (in a good way!) that to calm down I eat.Carby stuff. Last night I came home and just settled down with one glass of low carb, very dry, sauvignon blanc. This morning I made DH brown sugar oatmeal and was totally not tempted to even taste it. I had coffee and then did chores and finally ate a small ham and cheese omelette.

Now I have to be very careful not to eat any tasty carbs. I too, like Chisamba’s approach. I won’t count carbs or log cals (what a relief) and just stick to the good vegetable carbs. I over did the cheese and nuts earlier this week and now they aren’t tempting. I bought my fav cheeses and salted nuts to start, but now I am sticking to only one fav cheese and unsalted nuts.

The Atkins bars are gone, and I wont get any more. I like SF’s idea of having protein bars around for emergencies but I’ll have to find some that aren’t too tasty. I’ve had Quest before and I kinda like them...

NO TRAIN WRECKS OVER THE NEXT FEW MONTHS!!!!! By spring I hope to be able to get into my old white show britches.

Keep at it everyone!!

[Chisamba]

One of the things i really dislike about winter, is my increased appetite! however I am trying to make hearty vegetable, low carb soups, and having a few bowls does not threaten the healthy eating. but dang something about cool weather and dark and rain makes me hungry

[heddylamar]

My husband makes a big pot of a vegetable-heavy vegetable soup for snacking on in the winter. Lots of cabbage/kale, onions, green beans, a carrot/parsnip, garlic, spinach, tomato, and whatever else looks good in a really low fat broth (he only uses 1-2 tsp of oil for sauteeing the onions and garlic). It warms you up, and has enough calories that it'll hold him until dinner if he skipped lunch (never by choice).

It was a chilly half marathon this morning! I went from mid 50s-60s runs to a 40 degree ("feels like 32"?!) morning with gusty winds. Fortunately, I like running in the cold and shaved 20+ minutes off my time from 3 weeks ago!!

[StraightForward]

It was a chilly half marathon this morning! I went from mid 50s-60s runs to a 40 degree ("feels like 32"?!) morning with gusty winds. Fortunately, I like running in the cold and shaved 20+ minutes off my time from 3 weeks ago!!

Wow, that is a serious time difference! Did you have a tailwind? I read somewhere that 50f has been identified as the optimal temperature for running. I'm sure it varies a little by person, but in general, that seems to be where running gets good. I'm very happy down to low 20's with the right clothes.

For soup, I love Green Soup. You can leave the rice out if you're cutting carbs. It works well with any combo of green stuff you have on hand - I've used spinach, broccoli, chard, carrot tops, collards, parsley and mustard greens all in different amounts. I make it with homemade chicken stock, plenty of garlic and chile flakes. It's drinkable, so I like to have a big mug of it in the morning to start out the day with a big dose of greens.