Lighten Your Limbs With Friends

@retiredteacher I am confident I will be on track tomorrow. My daughter and her husband are leaving first thing in the morning and any remaining goodies are going with them! I have been cooking up a storm, plus my dishwasher broke last week and the new one won’t be installed until Thursday so that has made more work too. My son-in-law did all the dishes tonight after I prepared a full turkey dinner, so that did help. I am exhausted, I was so tired tonight I was actually sort of dizzy. Off to bed in just a few minutes, getting a few last minutes in with my daughter. Tomorrow is their first anniversary.
JK

Bless your heart.@contentandwell, JK, I cannot imagine all the work. I can't picture having all of that to do for other people in my house. My husband and I have one son that we see once a year for two days. We have no other family, so the idea of strangers in the house, even family and having to cook and look after someone else is foreign to me. My husband is an adopted only child; I am an adopted only child, and we have one grown biological son. He is a grown man, but he is not married and no children. So I cannot even think of what a large family gathering would be like. I'm sure preparing and cooking and cleaning and keeping things going have burned more calories than walking. I definitely think you can count that! You probably more than exceeded your walking time. Yesterday my husband and I got out all the Christmas décor and worked on getting every room set for what goes where. We did not walk either, but we worked so I didn't just sit around and be lazy. Sometimes a break from a routine helps because the body can get used to the same movements, so breaking it up gives the energy, health, and strength a boost.
It sounds as if you deserve a little relaxation, and then when you are ready, you can get back to exercise again.
Christmas is coming---not as tempting as Thanksgiving, but still goodies..
@etiredteacher, Carol
Volunteer Mentor

@retiredteacher Thanks Carol. That's a good way to look at my lack of formal exercise -- I did a lot of running around and standing. I did go to my health club today and did my pool exercise, and I wasn't perfect about restricting food, but I was pretty good. Tomorrow I will go to the club and do the gym (blah, I hate the gym) and try to do a better job of resisting temptation.
I really do need to get this weight off, and soon! I don't want to have to buy new clothes because the others are now too tight, that would be admitting defeat.
JK

It is hard to believe but tomorrow completes Week 4---a whole month of Lightening our Limbs! That is amazing to me. Every time we hit a goal, I am so excited that we're keeping on. I hope everyone is with me still as we check off Week four and start Week 5 on Friday. We are almost 1/2 way through the Mayo Plan. What a difference it has made! How is everyone doing?
@retiredteacher, Carol

Worked really hard this week putting in extra days. Will do my best to get my days in next week, but I will be heading for Rochester on Monday. On Tuesday, I have my 6 month PET scan (pancreatic cancer) and an ultrasound of my kidneys.

That's great Marvin! You are definitely an inspiration for working hard with health issues to deal with too. You motivate me and others; I'm sure. I hope you have a safe trip and that the results of your tests are perfect.
I'll be thinking of you.
Carol

@marvinjsturing I still don't know exactly where to post. I posted one reply, but now I don't see it. Oh well. I think you are doing great and you definitely motivate me to keep on going. I hope you have a safe trip and get good results from your tests.
I'll be thinking of you.
Carol

@retiredteacher I am really excited for the members who were inspired to get moving with your nudging. It has helped me along too, even though I was already doing quite a bit of exercise. I'm the type of person who needs incentives and between the goals on my fitness tracker, knowing my son sees my progress because he has the same tracker, and this forum, I am really trying to stay inspired at a time when I was losing momentum.
I am still having trouble controlling my diet though. Each day I think I will be better and I think I am doing a little bit better each day.
JK

@contentandwell I do think that diet may be harder to control than exercise. I still have cravings, and they may never subside. But, I try to choose foods that taste good and that helps my want for sweets. Some things I just cannot eat, so my diet is monotonous. Do you plan your meals? I plan a week at a time, and I write down each meal. That is another way to be accountable. If it's not on the plan, I don't eat it. Do you cook at home or eat out? I know it's harder with a son who wants everything that's youth food, I have to be aware of my husband's diet because he has heart disease, so sometimes our food allowances aren't the same. I have come to terms with diet, and the needs we both have as well as what we shouldn't eat. Maybe your son will follow your model and not choose food that's bad for him as he sees your struggle with diet now. My husband and I plan together. Would it make a difference if your son helped you plan?
Carol

@retiredteacher I don't plan a whole week ahead but we have settled into having fish two times a week, my husband has a starch with his, I do not. I generally just have a vegetable or a salad.
I do most of the cooking at home but we do go out on the average of once a week. I try to be good then. We are going out tonight and I have already checked out the menu and decided what I will probably get -- broiled scallops.
My son is actually very good about what he eats about 95% of the time, and he lives in Colorado anyway so he's not an influence on what I make. He's pretty much a fitness buff and goes frequently to the gym.
My husband on the other hand really likes his treats. I pretty much buy a dessert every time I am at the supermarket, plus a roll to go with dinner, and either a croissant or muffin for breakfast! He does also go to the gym too, about 3 times a week. Not bad at 83!
JK