4ArtWorks
My scales weren’t quite so snarky this morning, registering my loss of almost 15 pounds – finally. Even a turtle looks like a race car in comparison to my weight loss, but it IS happening, and I AM learning healthier habits. So, a very small celebration of moving in the right direction plus “keepin’-on-keepin’-on!”
Filed under DIET!, getting the lard off
Your e cards – http://www.LaFunny.net – Deborah Ann – Pinterest
A bit more progress this morning – almost 14 pounds off. If I can keep this up, only 6 years or so to go and I’ll be where I would like to be. :0) I just finished getting the ingredients for chili in the crock pot for dinner tonight.
I’ve pared down what I’m eating for lunch and drinking a lot more water during the day. If I eat between lunch and dinner, I’m watching what I eat VERY carefully. I’m watching my portions at dinner and then not eating afterwards until lunch the next day. (Intermittent fasting.)
On day where the weather allows, I’m walking out to the shop and garden a couple of times each day, plus I’m doing careful old lady yoga stretches each afternoon.
The progress is so slow I tend to lose my patience, but I’m looking at this, besides trying to get the lard off, as a character-building exercise, working toward a long-term goal and realizing that if I’m moving in the right direction, no matter how slowly, I’m doing well.
I found this on Pinterest and they didn’t say who this artist is. I LOVE this turtle and will keep it as a symbol of my ‘slow-but-steady’ battle to lose the lard…
Filed under DIET!, getting the lard off
This morning we fought our way through what my husband calls, “The Mommy Traffic” where moms are dropping their kids off at school in order to get Amber to the vet’s office for her leg surgery and the fine needle aspiration of the lump in her neck.
We made a quick trip to Walmart and then my husband suggested we have breakfast at The Dari, one of our favorite places in Greenwood. I’m on DAY 3 of my Intermittent Fasting addition to my diet and managed to get a pound off this morning, so I thought, “No.” THEN I started fighting with myself. We eat breakfast at The Dari after we get blood tests for upcoming doctor visits – that’s twice a year. What is one more time in the grand scheme of things. If I do the fasting like I should all the other days, wouldn’t that outweigh one breakfast with my husband? We ate there, both enjoying a big, no-holes-barred breakfast, where every bite was delicious, and we also splurged with orange juice. It was wonderful.
We are ready to leave our trash at the bottom of the driveway when they call and tell us Amber is ready to be picked up. Now is the hard part of the day – the waiting. The lady at the vet’s office said they might call or text with updates, but that Amber would definitely be ready to be picked up after 4pm today. (They close at 5:30). Our vet suspects cancer, so I don’t want to be waiting for a call. The lady said they might or might not know the results of the test today. Part of me is hurting already. The other part is numb. Part of me is watching my cell phone. The other part wants to go somewhere and cover up my head. Wishing I had a magic wand…
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This morning I’m down almost 11 pounds.
FunnyTab
I seem to have finally put together a group of behaviors that is working for me –
I’m eating breakfast nowadays – Fiber One Cereal, blueberries and milk. 18 grams of fiber, NO sugar. The milk and blueberries add a bit of sugar, but not much in the grand scheme of things. The cereal tastes like rabbit pellets, but I’ve been having trouble finding more, so I’ll quit griping. I finally found some at Walmart on ONE of our trips, but none there or at Harps last week, so I ordered more from Amazon. It took a month to get the first order from Amazon, but there was no problem this time. I have no idea what the problem has been. I’m just glad I can get some.
I’m having a pretty heavy lunch – deli slices of turkey, some cheese, a hard-boiled egg, and some fruit.
Dinner is either a frozen dinner (like Atkins or Healthy Choice and a roll) or something I’ve cooked, with careful portions and the rest frozen in individual portions for another night.
I’m weighing each morning because the prospect of that – and MAYBE seeing good results – is keeping my motivation high.
I’m trying to include more veggies, drink more water and I’m eating nothing in-between meals now. I’m trying to move more with yard work outside or yoga inside daily.
The fact that I’m seeing some steady progress now is motivation to continue. So
123RF
Filed under DIET!, getting the lard off
My husband and I have laughed for years at what we have named, “The Lewis Effect.”
Basically, this says that when we buy something, move in a certain direction, decide something, it causes something in the universe to realign – causing the stocks we purchase to take a dive, difficulty in being able to purchase things again, or even companies deciding to no longer make things or go out of business completely. This pattern has persisted over many years. We used to laugh about starting “The Lewis Effect Newsletter” so that we could warn people not to buy – or do – what we just did.
The latest example of this has been that we have been trying to increase our fiber while avoiding sugar. The answer we found was Fiber One Original Cereal.
It has 18 grams of fiber (65% of the daily recommendation for fiber) and NO SUGAR. It’s the only cereal that we found that met our needs so well. I wrote a post comparing it to ‘rabbit pellets,’ but it doesn’t taste BAD and we sweeten it with blueberries (me) or blackberries (my husband). We bought three boxes of it so we would have plenty.
When we decided that this was the cereal we wanted to eat every morning, we went to purchase more. AND GUESS WHAT – the Lewis Effect had begun and Walmart didn’t have any. Neither did our local store, Harps. We asked the manager to see if he could get them for us. I got online and found that NONE of the stores in Greenwood, Fort Smith, or other surrounding towns had any. I went to Amazon. They didn’t have any. There was a notice that they couldn’t get any and weren’t sure when they could. I couldn’t find any information as to WHY this problem had occurred, but to say we were ‘upset’ was to understate the issue.
A couple of weeks later, I was able to order 3 boxes on Amazon, but they wouldn’t be delivered until the ‘week of Sept 7th. ‘ We bought another bran cereal after reading MANY labels in the store. It had half the fiber and had 9 grams of sugar per serving, but it was the best we could find. ‘Rabbit pellets’ would taste better, but we were determined to do the best we could.
Yesterday after Lunch Bunch we went to Walmart and FOUND some Fiber One! We bought the 3 boxes they had. We are still supposed to be getting the Amazon order from over a month ago – the week of the 7th.
We HOPE that this was a supply glitch and that we won’t have any more trouble trying to eat right. We have a lot of ‘discussions’ around here about what we SHOULD or SHOULD NOT be eating because of our health conditions, overweight, etc., and we need all the help we can get when we FINALLY agree that one food is doable…
Filed under DIET!
ViralHog – Tenor
Ugh. I gained back one of the pounds I recently shed.
YourTango
I’m TRYING to act like an adult, attribute it to ‘retaining water’ – only a temporary glitch – but it’s hard. Like a small brat, I want STEADY, POSITIVE results ONLY.
We have Lunch Bunch today, so we’re skipping breakfast and eating our normal Lunch Bunch fare. (It’s Kay’s birthday celebration today, so I’m HOPING that the core group is all there.) We’ll be eating either frozen dinners tonight or main meal salad, so hopefully this pound will go away.
One can hope.
QuotesGram
Filed under DIET!
2012 NBC Universal Media LLC-Time
As of this morning my weight is down almost 10 pounds. I’m happy about this, except that it’s the SAME 10 pounds I keep losing and then ‘somehow’ gaining it back. UGH.
THIS time I’m doing a combination of things that I think are sustainable –
If I get past the 10 pound mark and continue steady loss, I’ll start to build hope that I can get to my goal.
Filed under DIET!
I stumbled upon what is coming to be a favorite dinner.
I wanted to find a healthier way to cook the chicken strips we like.
I decided I would bake them, but didn’t have any Shake-n-Bake for Chicken. I didn’t have any regular flour, either, since that’s one of the things we don’t stock anymore. I DID have some Shake-n-Bake for Pork, though, and I decided to use that.
It actually had much more flavor that the bake for chicken and we really like it. My husband even requests it now.
Cut boneless chicken breasts lengthwise. (One breast makes 4 or more strips for us.) Coat with a thin coat of the Shake-n -Bake and place on a baking sheet. 30 minutes in a 400 degree oven and they are ready to serve with a salad or veggies. YUM. (Two strips is a serving. I freeze the leftovers for another meal.)
Filed under DIET!, Funny Signs - Humor, Trying New Recipes
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I tried a website new to me called, Klinio.com, recently, hoping to get a better handle on cooking for my husband, who is a Type II diabetic (although he denies this, saying he ‘has a sugar problem’). I was looking for a lot of good information, lists of what TO and to NOT eat, possible meal ideas, a place to record meals and see how we were doing as to calories, sugar, salt, carbs, etc., log exercises, research and be able to find answers to questions reasonably quickly, etc. I was looking for an all-in-one, “go-to” site.
I read their information and decided the monthly fee to join was too high. Someone got back to me and offered me a much better price, so I decided I would try it for 6 months. I filled out all the information to join, a little frustrated that it would be for me, alone, but figured I could use the information I got to apply to both of us.
Long story short, I cancelled my subscription today. They don’t give refunds, but did tell me that although my subscription was canceled and I wouldn’t be charged anything more, my subscription would be honored for the full 6 months.
They asked for reasons why I canceled. I gave them several, but then the ‘cancel my subscription’ button wouldn’t work. I then got on my phone and reached a person on chat. He asked me why I was canceling, and I said I had filled that out online, but that the website wouldn’t accept it, and would he please just cancel it. He did, very promptly and courteously and agreed to send me an email confirming that. He did, so I’m pleased at that part of the service.
I’m glad that this website exists. It is probably good for a lot of people. They offer lots of meal ideas and offer the option of printing grocery lists. They give suggestions for exercises, and there are some good articles on the site. If you’re looking for something like this, I suggest you check it out.
Filed under DIET!
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This morning was DAY ONE of eating Fiber One Cereal. We put blueberries and milk on it.
My husband and are are of the same mind – the rabbit-pellet-looking cereal has very little taste. I was very happy for the blueberries. The cereal wasn’t objectionable in any way, other than making me feel like a rabbit eating Purina Rabbit Chow.
The fact that one serving is 18 grams of fiber is really important to us. The fact that it contains NO sugar is equally important. That outweighs any other considerations, and we are super grateful.
Filed under DIET!, taking care of yourself
Adobe
co·nun·drum
noun: conundrum; plural noun: conundrums
My husband is a Type II diabetic, though he describes this as NOT diabetes, but ‘a sugar problem.’ I’m borderline high, as well, so we eat the same.
The latest problem is breakfast cereal. You would think that would be a simple decision – We wanted to increase our fiber. Raisin Bran tastes good. It has 7 grams of fiber in a serving, so we got it. We SHOULD have read the full nutrients label, but we’re lazy and just grabbed it. I discovered later that it has 26 grams of sugar per serving and 262 mgs of salt – something I am trying to avoid. So we’re back to square one.
I Googled “High Fiber Cereals” on the net because I have a lot more patience here at the computer than with my husband at the grocery store. (He is always in a hurry and wants to come with me, so that’s in the mix.)
I found a good list of high fiber cereals that listed fiber content, but not sugar, so I went back and searched for low sugar cereals. I got a completely different list. ARRRRRGH.
Finally, I found a cereal that looks perfect for us. Fiber One by General Mills has 18 grams of fiber per serving, 140 mg and ZERO sugar! This means we probably can’t get it at our local stores, but we’ll try tomorrow. Failing that, we’ll get on the net and order some – hopefully.
Trying to eat healthy, adapting for health problems as you age, should not be so difficult.
Filed under DIET!
Amazon
I’m down almost 12 pounds now, so I’m encouraged that my current efforts are bearing fruit (if you’ll pardon the expression.) I have a LOOOONG way to go, so I’m just quietly smiling a bit, but it’s good to know that if I just ‘keep- on-keepin’-on,’ I may live long enough to see the results I would like.
I’ve changed two things –
THING ONE – I’m eating breakfast. Nothing fancy, my husband and I are eating Cheerios, blueberries, and milk.
THING TWO – I’m trying really hard to not eat anything in-between meals, before I go to bed, or allow myself to get up in the middle of the night and snack because I can’t sleep. (this has been hard, but has been the biggest reason I’ve been yo-yo-ing, so I’m trying to be really serious about it). I now picture myself getting on the scale in the morning and hoping to see a lower number.
As a preliminary, I checked what I’m eating on MyFitnessPal.com. It basically decided I wasn’t eating enough, but I’m paying attention to what I’m eating, trying to increase my veggies and fiber. I’m eating some fruit, some protein, some carbs.
I’m trying to drink more water. My exercise varies all over the place from basically nothing to being outside in the garden, then doing yoga and/or my elliptical trainer, and cleaning the house, all in the same day. I’ll concentrate on trying to even that out over time. Paying attention to my eating is enough for now.
Filed under DIET!, getting the lard off
@chubby.animol
I didn’t LOSE any lardage yesterday, but I didn’t GAIN any, either, so I guess that’s a win – at least in my book.
We’re trying to add fiber to our diet – a difficult thing in that my husband doesn’t like veggies much. I made a list of some fiber-rich food and printed it. I put the list on the dining area table so that we could go over it together. My husband honed in on ‘beans,’ deciding that this means he can now eat the deli baked beans he likes so much. I reminded him that the reason we avoid them is because they are loaded with sugar. Deaf ears.
I have started eating breakfast again, and that seems to be helping curb my hunger. Today we had some cheerios, blueberries, and milk. We’ll have our normal lunch and then I’m fixing hamburger patties and some black eyed peas with onions for dinner.
Trying to accommodate different tastes in food, different dietary needs, age, and more is quite a tightrope. I’m pleased that some of the changes I’m making are resulting in my scales snarking a bit less. (Down 7 lbs so far) I’ll see if there are any changes with the measuring tape at the beginning of next month.
Filed under DIET!
PicQuotes.com
I told you I was going to ‘change things up’ trying to shed some of my lard.
I started eating breakfast again – namely Cheerios and milk. I started using MyFitnessPal.com again, listing what I’m eating. It tells me that “You may not be eating enough,” but I know that’s not true in my case. Since I’m listing everything I eat, I’m very aware and try to plan. Then I KNOW if I can ‘afford’ to eat a bit of a snack before bed or not (something I know isn’t the best, but might keep me on track.)
The result thus far is I’ve lost 6.4 lbs. This is just a drop in the bucket as far as what my goal is, but it IS a start. I AM seeing a difference on my scales each morning. I also know that this will probably come to a screeching halt one morning soon, but it’s nice NOW, and I know it IS possible.
GymQuotes.co
Filed under DIET!
“Dorky Dogs” – BoredPanda.com – Liucija Adomaite and Justinas Keturka
This picture made me laugh out loud. I have no clue what’s on the other side of the fence, but they’re sure interested. :0)
I have a new lease on life this morning. A package arrived from Amazon with new jeans and a top. This is usually not a cause for “celebration,” but I’ve gained some weight recently and my jeans have become too tight for any comfort at all. I now have some with elastic at the top, rather than a zipper and button, so I’m sitting here comfortably for the first time in quite awhile.
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I told you, though, that I’m trying really hard not to eat anything in-between meals. I’ve lost 4 of the pounds I gained so far. I’m determined to keep doing this. We were up in the middle of the night (Imagine that!) last night, and my husband asked if I wanted him to make us hot chocolate. Oh, wow. I said, “Yes, but no thank you.” I’m patting myself on the head just a bit. :0)
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I’m also doing my yoga sessions daily, albeit more slowly and carefully than I was previously, in an effort to try to relax, stretch out, alleviate some pain and stiffness, etc. I’m putting silver sparkly stars on my desk calendar, earning two stars per day the last few days. If I can keep this up, I’ll be delighted.
I’m heading out to my tomato planters now to see what they need. I hope you have a wonderful Tuesday.
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
Clipart Library
I’m going back to an ‘old faithful’ for me – rewarding myself with a sparkly star on my desk calendar when I achieve one of my goals.
Otherwise, I’m a reasonably nice person… :0)
SO
I started yesterday (DAY 1) in a serious effort to mend my ways. I got one star for not eating in-between meals and not putting any extra salt on anything. I made an excuse for not doing my yoga, so I only got one star yesterday, but put that silver sparkly star on my calendar a couple of minutes ago.
Today I’m trying for 2.
Filed under DIET!, exercise, motivators
Forwarded by my friend Marsha
She and I are trying to encourage each other in our efforts to lose the lard and exercise.
She has lost a pound or two already recently and purchased a peddler that she can use several times a day, rain or shine, to try to build muscle and stamina. Huge kudos!
I, on the other hand, am a dismal failure. I do pretty well, and then my husband, trying to be nice, brings me a dish of ice cream with chocolate syrup. Or, failing that excuse, I decide I’m starving to death mid afternoon and have some pretzels, even after drinking a bottle of water first and waiting to try to curb my hunger. I’ve also been using my meager yard work as a substitute for my yoga practice. Bah. Humbug.
I’m trying to do one day at a time – even one morning at a time. I’ll try to get my act together VERY SOON – if not TODAY…
taolife.com
Filed under DIET!, exercise, taking care of yourself
The mission to quit stuffing my face continues, some days more successful than others, trying to watch my portions really carefully.
I did an experiment a couple of nights ago. I started to bake some chicken breasts and discovered that the seasoning/coating I thought I had in the pantry wasn’t there. I didn’t want to just use flour, but I wanted to use something that would hold the juices in and give the breasts a bit of flavor, too. I did have some seasoning I use for pork chops. I went ahead and used that and my husband raved. :0) I had cooked two chicken breasts, cutting them in half lengthwise and serving each of us 1/2 breast, plus veggies for our dinner.
I used one of the remaining half-breasts for dinner last night. I cut it up and added chopped onion and chopped mushrooms, plus some cream of chicken/mushroom soup. I served this over rice and my husband complimented the dinner – twice.
I’ll cut up the remaining one tomorrow to make a big chef type salad.
Filed under DIET!
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I made it through the day yesterday without stuffing my face the way I have been. I’ll try to do it again today.
Another arrow in my quiver – I’m NOT going to loosen the fastening on my jeans to make myself more comfortable during the day. I’m going to keep them fastened, reminding myself that my overeating has CAUSED this discomfort, and that acting ‘maturely’ might relieve that if I keep it up.
I’m in this fight by myself, since my husband insisted we stock up on a bunch of assorted chips. Maybe a bit of frustration and anger will help me in my goal…
Each person makes a decision – or a series of them – when he or she wants to change, in the effort to STOP a bad habit or START a good one. I’m trying to look at all the excuses for what they are – smoke.
TODAY I will eat healthy meals and try not to eat anything in-between. I will drink a bottle of water if I get hungry, and I will do a good session of yoga this afternoon. Maybe I can earn another small pat. :0)
Tenor
Filed under Challenges, Changes, character-building exercises, DIET!
memes.com – wattpad
I don’t understand people who ‘adulterate’ their food and drink. Like putting weird flavors in their coffee. I want PURE coffee. I don’t want flavors. I don’t want fancy. I just want black coffee, and lots of it, at all hours of the day.
I feel the same about chocolate. I don’t want people messing with mine. I have no interest in fancy boxes of chocolate. I don’t want fillings, toppings, dark chocolate, etc. I want milk chocolate. PURE milk chocolate. Like Hershey’s kisses. Just perfect.
As much as I love chocolate, though, my diet downfalls are two: THING ONE – salty, like chips. THING TWO – white, like rice or pasta. I could actually give up desserts forever, including chocolate, without a backward glance. I essentially HAVE. Every other year or so I get myself a bag of Hershey’s kisses and put them in the freezer. Then I take out two at a time and enjoy them.
I would rather have REAL food rather than try to eat the things dieters are supposed to substitute for the good stuff, like cauliflower when you want rice, or zoodles when you want noodles. I DO this stuff, but it makes me hostile.
My dream would be a switch in my brain that makes me wish for nice fresh salads, fish, and veggies. That same switch would have a setting that said, “FULL” soon after I started eating, making me feel full, saving the rest for later or another day. The switch might even make me FORGET to eat, having to remind myself to refuel…
If you’re going to dream, do a GREAT JOB OF IT!!!!!!!
Filed under DIET!
I found this and walked with them yesterday. I was reminded how much I need this by my hips talking to me a couple of times, but I think this will do me a lot of good. It’s short, gets me moving, and I like this mother and daughter.
I also did a careful, abbreviated version of my yoga practice yesterday for the first time in a couple of weeks. I have no clue why my right upper arm is hurting, but I’ve decided to try to work through it very carefully and see how it goes. ONE DAY AT A TIME.
I’m also being more successful in NOT eating in-between meals. This week has been a good start. If I think I’m hungry, I’m trying to drink some water and see how I feel later. If I’m STILL hungry, I have some dried fruit to eat. 2-1/2 pounds down for the week.
Our weather is nice today, so I’m planning to at least walk around outside this afternoon. It’s hard to believe it’s January. The high will be around 62!
I’m thinking about at least spending some time in my art room today. I have ideas rattling around in my brain during the day, and am dreaming about them at night, so it’s time. :0)
I hope you’re enjoying your Sunday, too.
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
Except for enjoying a surprise brunch at The Waffle House when out with my husband, I’ve been good this week. In fact, when my husband said we should go somewhere out to eat when we found out our friends wouldn’t be at Lunch Bunch yesterday, I convinced him to stay home and make our own lunch – even though it was nice of him to suggest it.
I’m hoping that my new “One Day at a Time” affirmation will continue to give me the strength of purpose to keep my mouth shut, not eating in-between meals or in the middle of the night when I am finding it hard to sleep, and getting back into my exercising daily.
So far this week my scales are still laughing at me, but I AM showing about 2 lbs less now. I’m hoping for 2 to 3 pounds per week, or at least that I hold whatever I’ve lost from week to week before showing more loss. Onward and downward.
Filed under DIET!
plus.google.com
I KNOW this, and yet, seeing this in writing really caught my attention. Since I’m a ‘sparkly-stars-on-my-desk-calendar’ type of gal, I DO tend to feel like a failure and lose momentum when I ‘mess up.’ It takes me a bit to get going again.
I also have to admit that I have been TRYING to change my thinking for a long time. If I had a gravestone, I guess it would be the truth if it said, “All or nothing.” My house is either ready for House Beautiful to come photograph it for their magazine, or looks like an explosion (or six) has occurred. I’ve either cleared out my garden and covered it neatly or it’s completely overflowing with weeds. I’m either eating exactly what I ‘should’ or have gone off the rails and am enjoying a bacon cheeseburger. I’m still on my ‘first husband’ after almost 54 years. Do you see a pattern here? :0)
A resolution I’m trying to keep this year is giving myself a break. Not only realizing that I’m not perfect, but ALSO realizing that it’s what I do MOST of the time that will make the difference I want. If I mess up, or I’m not feeling well, no one else CARES whether I did my yoga for the day, or ate more comfort food than I should have. What MATTERS is that each meal is a chance to eat in a healthy manner. Each day is an opportunity to be good to my body, giving it what it NEEDS, rather than what my mind might be craving at the time. Each day is an opportunity to keep my body moving, making my future full of what I would like to do, rather than only what I CAN do, given my limitations.
BoredPanda.com
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Yeah, it’s the holidays and the latest excuse for stuffing my face. We’ve been gifted pumpkin bread, Mt. Dew Cake, a box of chocolates and more. Add on that the weather has been encouraging comfort food, and the excuses pile up. UGH
I’ve been trying to keep my food diary on MyFitnessPal.com, but there is no real way to list the wonderful goodies above, so it’s a ball park estimate. We have almost eaten our way through these, so that problem will be gone. The weather is improving a bit each day, making the desire for comfort food less. As the excuses drop off, hopefully willpower will increase.
I wrote a letter to Santa the other day, posting in here on the blog. A selfish addition to it would be for me to lose my food addiction. It sounds wonderful to me to be the rare person who doesn’t think of food, who actually has to be reminded to eat – at least until further notice. Is that too much to ask Santa?
Filed under DIET!
depositphotos_viperagp
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Beachbody on Demand
MyFitnessPal.com is helping me get through the holidays and not cause the scales to simply give up on me, though they ARE definitely smirking.
I really like this site because they do a lot to make it easy to keep track of what you’re eating. I particularly like their extensive data base of what others have added so it’s usually quick to find and list it. If you’re making a home made thing that is not on the list, you can add the ingredients once and then save it so you can easily add it again by name and others can use it, too.
Exercise can also be added, plus how many glasses of water you’re drinking, plus note about eating or exercise. I keep the tab open on my computer so that I can add things during the day, or plan what I’m eating and then modify, if needed, BEFORE I make a mistake.
The scales and the app are both doing THEIR part – I just need to do mine…
Filed under Challenges, DIET!, exercise
creativeartworksblog 