The Cauldron

Congrats on all the weight losing, everyone. Hmmm...I've gained a size or two recently...the freshman fifteen. I really don't have time to do any diet changing at the moment. Like Niewen, I'm out of the house for a long while on an average weekday. But I really think that I need to start exercising more. Not just for losing some pounds that have appeared out of nowhere ( too many excursions to Taco Bell and the Chinese restaurant), but just for basic health. There is a history of diabetes, high cholesterol AND high blood pressure in my family, along with some other things I don't remember. Those are some of my thoughts, but I must admit that I've been quite lackadaisical about it.

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"All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream."
~Edgar Allan Poe
"Darest thou now O Soul, Walk out with me toward the unknown region, Where neither ground is for feet Nor any path to follow."
~Walt Whitman
~Avatar made by Me, madhatter.

Apparently I have lost almost three sizes in jeans! I took my favourite pants on yesterday morning, let go of them, and they fell right back to the floor. I complained to my friend, who also recently lost alot of weight, and she dragged me home after work and dug through her wardrobe, donating me five pairs of jeans/pants that actually fits (well at least in the waist, they are actually too big elsewhere!).

So hooray for weightloss+new clothes for free. :)

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avatar drawn by me.

~If the future isn't bright, at least it's colourful~

LOL! That's great, Sil!! You hadn't noticed that your clothes were getting that loose? Keep up the good work!!

Off topic: How's the moving going? Did you get it all finished?

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Avie pic by me.
Elwood: It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses.
Jake: Hit it. ~ The Blues Brothers (1980)

Well, I hadn't been wearing these for a while, last time they were a bit baggy only (like they would slowly slide down even when I tied the tie-belt tight) - and I have been wearing skirts, which has a smaller tendency to fall off that way.

(off-topic) Moving things is mostly done with, there are some stuff left that my ex will hopefully come by with some day. I can't really unpack anything though, because they are coming to change the floor friday. But in the weekend the re-building begins. All that exercise carrying things sure did me good though! Oh and I put up a few pictures on the blog (though nothing that shows the true scope of the chaos). (end of off-topic)

Now my goal is to get into some sort of shape where I won't be embarrassed to wear a bikini in the end of may! I will tell more details later on but my holiday is approved by HR so at least work will let me go. Now I just got to book my tickets. I never thought I would be in shape (other than very round shape) by may but now it is beginning to seem less impossible (oh I will still be round but not embarrassingly so), since I have been dropping about 3-4 lbs/week for a while.

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avatar drawn by me.

~If the future isn't bright, at least it's colourful~

Valecynos wrote:

Yah, but taking off 14 lbs. of diamond jewelry should't count right?  *just joking*  (that's for the "dating himself" comment, lol)  IMO the fact that you maintained the loss over a one month period is the more impressing thing.

madhatter wrote:

I really don't have time to do any diet changing at the moment.

Yah, I'm lucky; I can eat whatever I want and then get really fat.  LOL.   So, I just eat less...  and save my money for anime stuff.  LOL.

Silhelmina wrote:

So hooray for weightloss+new clothes for free. :)

Woohoo!  Alright, see, the future...  so bright...  gotta wear shades.   LOL.  BTW your avatar has a purple outline of a house in it.  LOL.

Sam I am. wrote:

Woohoo!  Alright, see, the future...  so bright...  gotta wear shades.   LOL.  BTW your avatar has a purple outline of a house in it.  LOL.

Yes, because I got my own place to live finally! :)

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avatar drawn by me.

~If the future isn't bright, at least it's colourful~

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Avi is my family crest.

Alright, so a bit over a week since my friend gave me five pairs of jeans/pants. One pair of jeans were too tight, which is good luck now - because the other four pairs are too large already and are falling off!

I have no idea about my actual weight - due to the move I have no idea where to find anything like bathroom scales. But the three sizes of clothing that are now way too big for me and where the largest used to fit in january are encouraging! And to think I haven't even been trying to lose weight, not really.

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avatar drawn by me.

~If the future isn't bright, at least it's colourful~

Winebrat wrote:

So everytime I go grocery shopping I start off with a Spiced Chai with Skim from the coffee bar...I finally decided to look up the points for Weight Watchers...HOLY CRUD!! 3 points I am waisting on that!! Won't be doing that again! Instead I bought some of the Chai Teabags and will make my own with skim...0 calories for the Chai and only 80 for the skim..."free" on the core plan.

 You can make your own chai (Indian) tea from scratch and it's much nicer and healthier than the chai teabags.
One small pot of boiling water - add 2 green cardamon pods, 1 teaspoon of fennel seeds, half a stick of cinnamon - simmer for about 7 minutes - add one caffeine free tea bag - simmer for a further minute before adding in your milk and turning off the heat.  Strain and enjoy!
Everyone has their own way of making Indian tea but this is my favourite and it's great for insomnia,  headaches and cramps. Sometimes I add ginger and cloves, especially when it's cold and wet outside.

 Also you will feel really full after it, like you've eaten a meal! After having a chai in a coffee shop, I just feel stodgy and unhealthy.

There is also a really nice recipe here that I have never tried but it sounds delicious!

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Maireann croí éadrom i bhfad - a light heart lives longest

Sounds like you could make up a big batch of the dry ingredients to keep on hand when you want to have a cup. Thanks for the tip. ILG!

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Avie pic by me.
Elwood: It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses.
Jake: Hit it. ~ The Blues Brothers (1980)

Awesome!  Gonna try this this week.  Thanks.

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Avi is my family crest.

Woo Hoo!  I got my 10% keychain this week AND the 25 pound charm!  I'm psyched!!

Val...are you still losing weight?  I haven't seen any updates from you lately.

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Avi is my family crest.

So my coworker and I are going to Disney in June and we decided to get in shape before hand.  The hardest thing is when I am traveling for work and have to eat out every night.  And this last trip I forgot to bring workout gear, so I couldn't even do that.  But I feel for around 2 weeks, I am doing good so far.  Been eating alot of fish because it helps to increase metabolism.  I have also not had a steak in over 3 weeks now because it bulks you up, and I don't need that.

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I am still eating well, but I haven't been working out. My clothes are still loose (some jeans are very loose) but I have to buy a new scale because I'd been using it and I knew it was a little off but one day I stepped on it and it said I was 240 lbs. Now considering I started at 230 and my clothes are all still falling off, I find that difficult to believe.

Team Lean is over (nope I didn't win but I didn't really expect too, either). I need to get back to exercising for sure. For me, that is the whole key to losing weight. I really eat pretty well, after tracking what I ate for over a month. I actually didn't have to work too hard at that, just keep my portions down (and stay away from burgers & fries at fast food places) and be sensible. Obviously, fried foods are out, but that's no biggie if I am cooking (because I hate to fry stuff; now they'll kick me out of the South for sure! LOL). I have still been cooking and eating healthy food. But if I don't get back to working out everyday, I am never going to get very far. I will try to remember to post here still, so I keep this "on my mind". It's too easy to let it slip by. That's what has been happening. I've procrastinated. I've pulled a Scarlett O'Hara.

I made this killer pasta a few nights ago. I'll have to share the recipe here when I get a chance.

Good luck, Seek_Me!

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Avie pic by me.
Elwood: It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses.
Jake: Hit it. ~ The Blues Brothers (1980)

Seek_me, Congrats on the 5 pounds!  Great start.

Val, head to Walmart and get a scale...or you can just do measurements.  I think the ticker had measurements, too.  Gotta stay motivated!

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Avi is my family crest.

Sooo...is anyone still trying to get healthy?  I'm still going in the right direction and may even get myself a sexy new bathing suit for Bermuda in July.

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Avi is my family crest.

Well, I'm not NOT trying. My clothes are still loose, so that means I am not gaining. That's great news, especially after being sick a couple of weeks and not really trying to do anything but get something edible for dinner. I'm still trying to keep up the whole grain foods and healthier choices, though.

I am now completely addicted to baked chips, so much so that I am leary of keeping them in the house for fear that I will over indulge. This is ironic because I am not actually a big fan of potato chips. But I'm still keeping to the high veggie and whole grain foods. I think this is the reason that I haven't put on weight while not exercising. I have set aside 30 minutes every morning now to get some in, so I have no excuse.

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Avie pic by me.
Elwood: It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses.
Jake: Hit it. ~ The Blues Brothers (1980)

Valecynos wrote:

I have set aside 30 minutes every morning now to get some in, so I have no excuse.

Set aside 30 minutes to get some chips in??

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Avi is my family crest.

I think (don't know for sure) that I have gained weight while being on sick leave - its the fourth week now and I still am not really able to DO much. Passivity combined with comfort eating haven't done me good. However I haven't gained so much that I've had to go back to using the old clothes - Still using the same small size, so I haven't gained much anyway. Just not losing any either, though. Had hoped to lose another size before my trip to Hawaii in 1,5 weeks, but since that isn't happening I went and bought myself a new bikini yesterday. At least I will feel comfortable in fitting clothes!

My trick of losing weight has been to follow my cravings but not overindulge - this sunday I was reminded about WHY I was doing that in the first place when I got a severe cookie craving. "I am not baking cookies!" I thought valiantly, and with the feeling that I was hungry, went and ate two pieces of wholegrain rye bread with cheese instead. Then I ate four carrots because I still wanted something to chew preferably cookies. Then I gave in and baked cookies (low-sugar oatmeal cookies with chocolate chips - when I have refined the recipe further I might post it here), ate one - 1 - cookie, and was satisfied. My hunger was stilled. If I had just done that to begin with I could have skipped eating bread+carrots - the only thing I did now was eat more than I needed since I wasn't really hungry to begin with. Ah well.. forceful reminders like that are good for me. Now I am back to listening to my body and not really eating every time I get bored like I have been doing (again) for some weeks.

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avatar drawn by me.

~If the future isn't bright, at least it's colourful~

I've been working out...I got a pedometer and am shooting for 10,000 steps a day, but only making about 7,000...At least I am conscious of it now.  I am hoping to say at tomorrows weigh in, especially since I was soooo close last week!

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Avi is my family crest.