Week 2

That was the longest week one I have ever had! lol.  anyway I'm still in.  I am regularly drinking 5 glasses of water a day.  10 cups whatever that is.  my goal for this week is to consume at least 3 salads.  I have lost 4 pounds since we started!

I'm totally still in, but I'm dragin ass and feeling the strain.  My goal: keep the healthy eating this weekend and no drinks!  No wine, no beer.....
 
I miss beer.  []

Well, I'm still in as well.  I didn't loose anything this week...but I'm noticing the pant legs are looser so I think I probably lost weight and gained muscle if that makes sense.  I'm told that muscle actually weighs more than fat, so......at least I'm even.
 
I've quadrupled my number of trips up and down the stairs this week since I've been organizing and packing....story of my life here lately......and done some pretty good weight lifting in the form of boxes.....in addition to the doggie walks so exercise wise I'm pretty on target, but I'll be soooo glad when we get some nicer weather so i can REALLY get out again.  Plus I always eat lighter in warmer weather.  Cold weather just screams for comfort foods like homemade pasties, thick and hearty soups and stews and casseroles.
 
So another week starts.......

MMMM homemade soups.... I have split pea soup in the slow cooker.  Is that good for me?  Well its filling and not loaded with sugar or anything so I'm gonna say it is. 

I too am waiting on the nicer weather.  I hate mud.  Never worried about it before but 2 of my dogs are white on the bottom or at least they should be...  Plus my kitchen floor used to be white as well... Did you know that a husky puppy can get mud in her ears from a normal walk down the sidewalk?

THAT is the one soup DH will NOT touch.  I've even made it with the yellow split peas since green isn't his color in food......yet he loves all the green veggies......I should make DS and me a pot....I LOVE split pea soup!
 
And actually, yeah, as long as you don't dump in a bunch of salt, it's pretty darned healthy for you.

I'm not a big fan of salt anyway.  I mean I love bacon and I cut up the better part of a small ham to put into it but mostly I just love the texture of the soup.  I made it with yellow split peas this time.  I've always used green before.  I hope it turns out.  It really smells yummy though.

I've had a pretty good week.  I've started strength training this week.  It's kinda hard for me, because I'm always been anti-weights.  I think it's dull, but I realize that it's important.  Anyway, I'm using an at-home circuit that requires only a set of weights (I'm starting with 3 lb weights and will move up when I'm ready).  It's at [linkhttp://www.self.com]www.self.com[/link] if anyone's interested.  You have to sign up for the Self Challenge, but it's free.
 
As for food, I'm new to vegetarianism and so far I feel great.  I've cut out meat, but I'm still eating eggs and dairy.  I've done a really good job of eating lots of vegetables this week and avoiding processed foods (although I DID eat about 5 fresh-baked peanut butter cookies on Friday....mmmmmmmm....).
 
I don't know if I've lost any weight.  I don't have a scale and I have no intention of buying one.  So far my clothes fit the same, so I don't think I've lost weight.  But I feel great and have much more energy, and that's what's most important to me!
 
re: soup, I love soup.  I love everything about making soup.  I love the smells, the colours, chopping up veggies, the fact that it makes me feel all suzie-homemaker, listening to CBC radio while I prep, eating the soup with crusty bread...  Soup is just one of those things that make me happy.
 
Except that I tried a new soup (coconut milk and butternut squash) today and I put waaaaay too much green curry paste in it and it's so hot that it made my eyes tear up.  I now have a huge pot of soup that makes me cry.
 
Anyone want to share some good soup recipes?  I would love to make some old-fashioned soup like split pea...what do you need to put in it?

My split pea soup is really easy.  I just diced up some ham, added a bag or two of split peas, green and yellow, then covered it with water.  I added some salt(not lots) and pepper, a couple other spices that i dont remember and simmered it on low in my slowcooker for the day.  I added water periodically throughout the day.  Now you dont have to be as strict as I am with the measurements and you could vary some of the spices if you dont like mine.  I'm not sure if you can make pea soup without ham though?  I'm obviously not a vegetarian.  []

Sure  you can make it without ham...I also like to put some teeny pieces of carrot in mine.....

Wooooooo!! 143 as of this morning! I have eaten all meals of the day, so there's no deprivation at all. Just 1/3 of what I would normally have eaten. No greasy foods anymore. And a longer walk everyday, plus more moving around during the day.
 
It's so nice. I have a lot more energy now. Before I would dread taking the dogs out, but now I can't wait. Oh, and loads of water. That's pretty much the main beverage.
 
Good luck to all! It's easy if you put your mind to it. And stick with it. My kids have even been eating healthier.

Take your measurements!  That way when the scale doesnt move you can still see the inches are going away, very satisfying. 

Taking your measurements is a great idea! I did that last year, and let me tell you, on "fat" days, it really feels good to be able to know for sure that I'm not imagining that my clothes are looser.

I had a terrible weekend. The flu I had last week has thrown my guts into a tizzy, and so I wasn't able to get out and take advantage of all the great weather we had. And I ate almost a pint of non-dairy ice cream; although it was relatively low in calories, it was still emotion-based (read: pity party) eating. So, it's a setback, but I'm feeling fairly good today and was able to walk into work.

I had a good breakfast and lunch - turned down pizza from my DH, in fact. Tonight, I'm hoping that I'll feel well enough to get some extra walking in. And, I'm on target to stay within my caloric goal for the day, so send me self-control vibes!

I'll post a couple of great soup recipes under Recipes tonight when I have a minute.

Good luck all!  

Well, today, my first day.....since I joined this group.

I bought a foot-long Subway sandwich and ate half for breakfast and half for lunch. Drank water all day. Actually, that's what I usually drink.

When I got home from work I had some fish sticks for dinner, and just a *few* Chee-tos. [:-]

Anyway, it's a good start. I spent the morning running around unsucessfully trying to take care of cell phone stuff. So I didn't get a bathroom scale yet. So tomorrow I finish the cell phone business and get a scale!

Jeano, did you know there are baked cheetos now?  They taste really good too!  That would mean you could have a few more!