Are you looking for support on your health and fitness journey? If you are, then this thread is for you.

There are no expectations in this forum. Post as often as you like. Post anything that you feel is relevant to your own personal health and fitness goal. Here are some ideas:

• Monthly health and fitness goal
• Daily health and fitness goal
• Progress (or setbacks) in reaching your goal
• Personal stories about why you are joining this topic
• Healthy recipes that you feel others will enjoy
• Links to articles or books that you feel others would find helpful
• Food Choices (healthy or unhealthy)

Remember, your health and fitness journey is your own. There is no one program, method, or philosophy that is right for everyone. This thread is for support only.

February Goals:

• New habit:  remember yearly theme word of APPRECIATE as I go through my day.
• Firm up old habits:

1. Get in bed by midnight; lights off by 1.
2. Walk 50,000 steps each week.
3. Measure and record blood pressure daily.

• On February 26, weigh at most 232 pounds. (was 234.6 on January 29; trying for 2 - 3 pounds a month this year)

I ended January at the same weight that I started.  I started off strong but life got in the way.  So my goals for Feb will be to firm up the good habits: mindful eating, no snacks after 7 pm (have not been good about this especially the last two weeks), walk every day, conscious water every day.  I also just started doing a three week yoga program.  After 3 days the verdict is out.  I typically do pilates or barre in addition to walking.  I will continue the yoga for this three weeks but then will probably go back to pilates/barre.  I have tried to do more cardio besides walking but I am not consistent with that.  I like more gentle exercise. 

My weight loss goal for February will just be 1 pound lower than January - so 155.  Losing is less focus for me than not gaining.

I realized some of the good habits I did last year when I was making a new one every month have gone by the wayside.  So, for February, I'll try to reignite my habit of recording something in a gratitude journal each night.

I ended up a gain of 5.6 lbs. for January, so my goal for Feb. is to lose 6 lbs. Need to make some dietary changes so will be working on that.

Good luck this month everyone. Hope you reach your monthly goals.

I gained exactly one pound in Jan...not happy with that. I was sitting at 127.8 on 1/29. My goal will continue to be 124 until I get there. So 124 by 2/26 for this month's weight loss goal.

In January I tracked the following habits:
Exercise at least 3 times/week: got in some form of exercise a total of 18 times
Eat dinner in: ate dinner in a total of 26 times
Read 10 pgs of a success book each day: read this for a total of 22 days
Read 30 min/day (not counting above habit): read this for a total 17 days
Drink 48oz of water each day: drank goal amount 23 days
Floss teeth every day: hit this one all 31 days
Nighttime routine (face/teeth): completed this 22 times

Happy with my results on the above. Not going for perfection, b/c I'm a recovering perfectionist & trying to not let perfectionism rule my life like it used to. Tracking definitely helps me strive for excellence though. If I didn't track I wouldn't be consistent.

I'm definitely a goal nerd..in that I set goals each month b/c it helps my mental state so I don't feel like I'm living in such disarray. I had 5 work/life goals for January & hit all 5.
1) to fully be using a leads platform with my front desk employees at the clinic
2) closet, dresser, nightstand & jewelry clean out
3) set up a budget with Scott since he's now no longer in college & working full time
4) make progress on a podcast I'm listening too...started Jan on episode #43 & am now on #78...so definitely progress
5) commit to listening to the podcast that goes with my Bible study every Monday--day it comes out (not the same podcast as mentioned in #4 above)

Still finalizing February. Will be back later to list those.

In addition to the 7 habits I tracked in January I'll be adding Stretching...I need to stretch more & would like to spend time on that at least 3 times per week. The app Rob & I use for workouts in our garage gym has a stretching section, so I'll start with using that & see how it goes. If I leave it up to me I won't stretch. It's a slow activity & I struggle with slowing down enough to do it. So I think having to track it will help me do it.

I will also be tracking my Facebook time...it's the only social media platform I use..no Instagram, no Snapchat, no TikTok, etc. This one is hard to track since my goal is to limit my FB time. I can't go off it altogether b/c I do manage my clinic's page, I do check a book group, a goals group & some recipe bloggers. So my goal will be "limit FB, no mindless scrolling". In other words get on, look up what I want to look up, or post what I want to post for work or personal & get off. If that makes sense. No sitting there & scrolling & scrolling & then notice I've wasted a bunch of time looking at a bunch of nothing.

So tracking 9 habits & I've made 7 work/life goals too. Here's to us all having a great February!

So far for Feb. I'm up 0.7 lbs. Not a lot but it needs to be going in the opposite direction. My only excuse is I've had vertigo the last 4 days and because of that I've been eating things that take little time to fix, so not the best. But I'm doing better today and will do my best this week to eat in a healthier way.

Weighed in today & have lost .8 of a pound since last Sunday.  I put as one of my habits to track as stretching...haven't done it even once yet since the month has started. Need to decide how to fit that in or is it more like a pipe dream than a habit I really want to form.

I am almost down to my goal for the end of January.  Maybe I can be there by next week and then still meet my end of Feb goal if I don't derail like I did last month!  The hardest thing for me is this time of day when I want to snack. and then I snack some more. and then some more.  I think I will go upstairs to the bedroom so I am physically farther away from the kitchen!

I figured out the trap in my mindset.  I'm still rewarding myself with food. I work hard, meet a weight goal, then reward myself with the very things that made me fat! That seems self defeating. For example, I got down to 199 before my Nephrology appointment! I rewarded myself wirh food for a day and now I'm at 202. I'll lose it again no doubt. Clearly I still lack the strength to control my cravings. I'm still not satisfied or at peace with my diet regimen. I haven't given up anything, not really, because food reward is out there as something to strive for.  Well, I'm an addict.....with a taste for sugar, salt, fat.  However, I also greatly enjoy fitting into smaller clothes. Maybe my rewards have to expand to non food things. Buy a new book for 5 pounds lost or something!!!!!

Teri, I am right there with you, and I also have decided I'm a sugar addict.  I know I need to just give it up wholesale, but if I'm honest I don't see that happening.  So far, the best I've been able to do is pretty much limit it too "outside my house."  At least then it's one serving and done because there isn't more to keep going to.  But, it still messes with my mind.  This yo-yo of 3-5 pounds is ridiculous. 

I made my January goal on 1/31, but today am 1.2# above that.  So that is 2.2# from my February goal.  I have lots of "events" this month too where I'll be eating out.  2.2# doesn't sound like so much, but it's going to require some sacrifice and discipline to get there.

Off to the gym this morning.  It was too cold last week and I only went once.  Need to make my 3x this week, starting with today.

Teri-I think non food rewards are smart. Food rewards just continue the cycle we are trying to beat. 

Debbie-I think getting farther away from the kitchen is smart, remove oneself from the situation. My end of the night hack is I go brush my teeth. Had to use that hack last night. I was sitting here reading & Rob was sitting eating a few cookies & then Adam was sitting eating a few cookies...all this at 11pm. Both of them were at the kitchen island but we have open floor plan so it's like we were in the same room. Of course I then wanted cookies so I decided to get up & go brush my teeth & get ready for bed. I know it's a mind over matter thing but for some reason going to brush my teeth helps.

Lisa-I'm a sugar addict too. Once I start it's hard to stop. 

When I did noom a few years ago and read all the daily "lessons" those were some of the things they taught us - remove yourself from the room where the food is AND brush your teeth after every meal AND non-food rewards.  The brushing your teeth after every meal has something to do with the flavors of food still being in your mouth and making your mind think it wants more even when you have just eaten.  So when you brush your teeth you are washing away the food flavor from your mouth.  But I think the non-food rewards is a big one.  And when I think about it, I gained back the 25 pounds I lost when I did noom because I was not being mindful anymore about what I was eating or about exercising and so old habits came back.  And for the past year or so I have had this mindset of I can eat out on the weekend and have pasta and bread and dessert and a glass of wine and it will be ok because then I will exercise and eat mindfully all week.  Food rewards. Well you can really have one of those things and it will be ok but when you have more than one and go to excess you are just doing the see-saw between those 3-5 pounds - have one crazy day or weekend with ALL the food and then have to spend a week doing all the good things just to lose the 4 pounds you gained and then start all over with the next weekend.  And I feel like that is what I have been doing for a year.  Which is why I ended up in the same place this year as I was last year.  And the reason I am in the same place week after week. So the more I think about it, for me, that is the mindset I need to break to get off that see-saw.  I love eating out but I just need to make smart choices when I do eat out.  Maybe when I lose the weight again I can have that mindset and call it maintenance.  But I am not there yet!

Sure sounds like we are all in the same place.  Mindset is such a key thing, but it's hard to muster up.  Once I've got it, I can pass up all kinds of things, but when the mindset is gone. . . . .

I like the non-food rewards and am going to try to think of what those can be for me.  The brushing teeth after every meal makes sense too, although I typically don't brush immediately after any meal.  Maybe a habit that should change.   ???

I'm glad I got up early and went to the gym because I have to take my car for service and it's likely I'll spend a few hours just sitting waiting for them to finish.  Well, sitting and reading.  Now I have to get ready for a Zoom meeting.

Mindset. . . Mindset. . .Mindset. . .

I was doing so well in January, and then... I've gained 3 pounds in February! Like the rest of you, food rewards. I'm so busy that food rewards are the quickest. But I hope I can use this as a lesson... what not to do!

This whole year so far hasn't been great for me food wise=weight wise and it's no one's fault but my own. But because of my bad choices, my weight is back up to 241.4 as of this morning. I don't understand why I keep buying things I know I eat too much of, yet I continue to do so. Going to try really hard the rest of the month to be very careful over my eating and hopefully actually see a loss for the month instead of a gain.

I know that apps aren't for everyone but I credit my success in losing weight and keeping it off with consistent journaling of everything I eat & drink.  Good and bad. I keep buying things like bakery sugar cookies, yes, but I figure it into my daily total.   The accountability keeps me honest and in focus.  I went to the grocery store today to get food more in line with my new low sodium regimen, and fresh veggies. Tomorrow I'll go through my cupboards and remove anything with high sodium, donate it.  I'm torn about the cans of soup. I think I'll keep them for quick meals.

Sunday morning:  199.5 today. 

I have a mystery!  The past 3 nights, I laid my BP pill out on the stand next to my chair so I'd remember to take it in the morning. Each morning, I thought I took it upon rising, not remembering taking it, but its gone.  I now suspect that a MOUSE is stealing the pill each night.  Meggie has been telling me there's a mouse but I haven't taken action.  The pill isn't on the floor, and there should be 3 of them unless they are being carted away, or eaten.  I can't imagine it would taste good.  I absolutely put out a pill last night and its gone this morning. So today I just have to get after cleaning my side table drawers, disinfecting and setting a trap.  I do have a daily pill container.

I'm keeping  a BP journal now. My doctor was unhappy with me so I'm focussing more on BP.  At my last office visit a week ago, my BP was 147/93.  day before yesterday it was 128/85.  Yesterday afternoon it was 137/88. This morning it was 120/82.  I've tossed (figuratively) the salt shaker. My neighbor gave me some swell herbal seasonings. I like them although there's a garlic aftertaste. I don't cook much with garlic.

I just can't seem to get a handle on my eating lately. And the scale is telling the tale. I'm up 4.2 lbs. from last Sunday. And I'm up 8 lbs. total for the year so far. This doesn't make me happy at all.

I think my biggest issue is mild depression. When Bob passed the doctor put me on an anti-depressant but after a few months I went off of the meds because even cutting the dose from 2 pills down to 1, I was still feeling more like a zombie. I had no energy and all I wanted to do was sleep. Granted while on the med I rarely ate so I dropped a good bit of weight. But once I got off the meds I regained my appetite and put back on every pound I'd lost plus a few extra pounds. I don't want to go back on the anti-depressant . I see my doctor Tuesday for my 6 month wellness check-up and I'm going to ask him if he can prescribe something to help curb my appetite somewhat. I hope he'll do that instead of just telling me to eat less and move more. That wouldn't be helpful and would royally piss me off. I'm in this apt. 98% of the time, by myself, and I can only clean the apt. so much. So I'm sitting around reading or watching TV and I end up grabbing something to snack on or I'll fix a meal but enough for 2 then eat it all. Even if I put part in the fridge I end up eating it before bedtime. So I do need something to curb the appetite. I'll let you know what happens.

Vicki, I hope your doctor can help with the depression and the appetite. Its hard to fight all of that at the same time without your support system (DH)

Up .2 today which I guess I should be pleased with considering I ate Italian (pizza and yummy garlic rolls) on Friday and Red Robin on Saturday.  Now I need to lose 3# to get to my end of February goal.  I obviously need to 'get with the program.'

Teri, you'd think besides the BP pill not tasting good it wouldn't be good for the mouse - unless, of course, he has high BP.

Vicki, I'm not trying to be "ugly" here because I have the exact same issue of snacking out of control and making a meal, putting half away for another day, but then eating it before the end of that day.  I'm struggling with staying in my fasting time and just plain eating too much.  So, really, it's not a judgement, but think about if an appetite suppressant is going to help if the reason you are eating isn't actually hunger.  Myself - I'd eat anyway, because most of my eating has nothing to do with hunger - especially the out of control/excess eating.  If you really are eating because you are hungry, then it probably will help.  I eat because I'm bored I think.  If I can make myself get involved in something to take my mind off of it, then I do much better.  And, I eat out too much.  Forgive me if I'm speaking out of turn here.

Lisa, no, that's ok. I know if I don't feel the urge to eat, I don't eat. But if or when I do eat, I end up eating too much. So I feel if I had something that would help me not have the urge, then I'd only eat because I need to. It's like when I'm sick; the last thing I want is food. Have zero appetite. I don't want to be sick; I just don't want to have the appetite. Hope that makes sense.

Perfect sense Vicki.  It sounds like you start eating because you are hungry, so less appetite should mean less eating.  I wish that was true for me.  I can be standing at the counter stuffing my face and saying "you aren't even hungry - why are you eating." 

I do much better as long as I stay away from sugar, but I'm not always good at that either.

Anyway, hope the doctor hears you and is willing to prescribe something to decrease appetite.  Getting the weight loss going might help with the depression too.