<p>Ema, great attitude! You will see some wonderful changes especially as you put more veggies in your tummy. </p>
<p>Mom60, just pick one thing to focus on for this challenge and do it well. If you do the other things well too, that will be a bonus point.</p>
<p>To all of you, thanks for stepping up to a challenge for our health. Healthy bodies also mean better skin complexion, so we will be healthier and even more beautiful/handsome by the new year!</p>
<p>Snowflake- What I should have said was I will challenge myself to be more mindful of what I put in my mouth.</p>
<p>Mom60… Terrific way to state your personal challenge.</p>
<p>@Emaheevul07–I own a Blentec, which makes creating “creamed” soups easy. All the creamed soups use non-dairy milks and or squash for their creaminess. I make 3 different types of soup every Wednesday to each for the next 6 days.</p>
<p>Our favorites are:
Cabbage soup
Cream of whatever vegetable soup
Winter squash soup
Summer vegetable soup
Winter vegetable soup
Carrot soup
Spicy Thai Vegetable soup
Vegetable Tom Yum soup</p>
<p>I own several soup cookbooks and tweak the recipes to my family’s liking. I also find a lot of soup recipes at Allrecipes.com</p>
<p>I noticed when I plan a menu for a week that I stick to eating as written for the day. For example, I cut vegetables for this week’s meals, pre-made several sauces and or marinades, prepared a week’s worth of grains, and baked a batch of breakfast muffins and individual quiche for breakfast, lunch or dinner. I also packaged nuts, vegetables and fruit into 100 calorie snack packs. It only took about 3 hours over the course of the day.</p>
<p>You are awesome, BunHeadMom! Can you post some of your soup recipes?</p>
<p>My personal challenge is to exercise six days a week, 3 gym and 3 run, when I am in town (and do the best I can when I’m away). I was in a study earlier this year which indicated that my hot flashes are worse on days when I don’t get in some serious (aerobic) exercise. That was confirmed last week when I was sick. As a result, worse night sweats, which led to less sleep, which led to more poor eating choices. So exercise works for me in more ways than one.</p>
<p>Giving this thread a bump! How is everybody doing on their holiday goals? </p>
<p>I had hoped to lose 2-3lbs by Christmas and it looks like I may just pull it off! This week I made it back to my pre-Thanksgiving weight and went even a little bit lower. As of today I have officially lost 20lbs since January 16th, 2013 and no longer qualify as overweight. We don’t plan to go too overboard for Christmas, so I should not have anymore setbacks like Thanksgiving! 8lbs left to goal. It will be interesting to see if I am happy when I get to goal or if I want to lose more… At this point I have been dieting a year and can’t wait to transition to maintenance, but if those last 8lbs don’t make me lean enough to see these abs I’ve worked so hard for I may have to keep going a while longer…</p>
<p>I don’t understand the logic behind it since I just went from eating healthy one way to eating healthy another way, but weight watchers has made the difference. I’ve lost 8lbs since joining WW a month ago and broke a 7 month plateau. I owe that doctor who recommended this an apology at my next physical. :P</p>
<p>Glad you found something that works for you Ema! I lost the five pounds that appeared after Thanksgiving. Another party tonight, I’m bring two bottles of fancy fizzy water along, an oven roasted chickpea appetizer, and one with herbed goat cheese filling in rounds made from blanched carrot shavings. (Its very cute looking.) That’s the healthy part of our contribution. DH made baklava and will bring wine.</p>
<p>Ema, I’m so happy you’ve broken the plateau! </p>
<p>mathmom, I’m sure that there will be lots of people who appreciate the more healthful choices.</p>
<p>I’ve lost a bit more weight and I’m now down 19.5 pounds since this thread started (2.5 years ago). Incredibly slow weight loss, but at least I’m going in the right direction. I have to lose about 10 pounds more to get into the normal BMI range.</p>
<p>Bunheadmom, I am also in awe of your vegetable consumption. And your organizational skills. Planning ahead is my bugaboo.</p>
<p>I agree about soups being very helpful. I make a huge pot of soup at least once a week. My favorite recipes are Mark Bittman’s minestrone (full of vegetable) and the soups at mynewroots.org. Her lentil soup is the best I’ve ever had:</p>
<p>[Reader</a> Request: My Favorite Recipe ? Four Corners Lentil Soup | My New Roots](<a href=“http://www.mynewroots.org/site/2009/10/reader-request-my-favorite-recipe-four-corners-lentil-soup-2/]Reader”>http://www.mynewroots.org/site/2009/10/reader-request-my-favorite-recipe-four-corners-lentil-soup-2/)</p>
<p>and last night I made this one:</p>
<p>[Rustic</a> Black Bean and Sweet Potato Soup + How to Cook Beans | My New Roots](<a href=“http://www.mynewroots.org/site/2011/02/rustic-black-bean-and-sweet-potato-soup-how-to-cook-beans-2/]Rustic”>Rustic Black Bean and Sweet Potato Soup + How to Cook Beans - My New Roots)</p>
<p>which was wonderful, and we also like this one:</p>
<p>[White</a> Velvet Soup and a Guest Post at Green Kitchen Stories | My New Roots](<a href=“http://www.mynewroots.org/site/2011/01/white-velvet-soup-and-a-guest-post-at-green-kitchen-stories-2/]White”>http://www.mynewroots.org/site/2011/01/white-velvet-soup-and-a-guest-post-at-green-kitchen-stories-2/)</p>
<p>Woo hoo, NYMomof2! That’s great news! I am convinced that if weight comes off slowly, it stays off. Keep up the good work!</p>
<p>So many pounds disappearing … Great news. I am glad WW works for you ?Email, and NYmom, I love the healthy soups.</p>
<p>I am continuing to eat (mostly) healthy, but can see that the holidays will be a battle. If I go to an event with healthy thinking people, then I know I will have healthy options, but when I go to a general potluck, somehow the healthy options are really hard to locate. Last night I ate a delicious vegetable/pea soup that had delicious kielbasa pieces in it, but most of all the other options were high carb/high fat, so I had to skip most of them. Today I doubled up on my fruits and veggies to make up for it, and also got a lot of movement in this weekend with various labor intensive tasks.</p>
<p>It is snowing here, so I waxed both my skate and classic skis in anticipation of some great exercise this week.</p>
<p>Another great soup:<br>
<a href=“Chipotle Black Bean Soup - Recipes | Goya Foods”>http://www.goya.com/english/recipes/chipotle-black-bean-soup</a></p>
<p>We love this stuff. It has a real kick and is incredibly filling. I made this last week and doctored it up: used veggie broth v. chicken; added a box of Trader Joe’s black bean soup too; used 1/2 can of pureed pumpkin in lieu of the 3rd can of beans. Couldn’t taste the pumpkin at all, and it adds a bunch more vitamins and fiber and volume to the soup. We top it with some Greek yogurt to nip the kick. Yum!</p>
<p>Ema- I am so happy for you. Can you share how your eating differently? You’re going to look beautiful in your wedding gown and on that beach honeymoon.
I weighed myself this AM after reading this thread. I am holding steady which I am thrilled about. I have some hope for a tiny bit of weight loss this week since I usually am up a few lbs on Monday after the weekend.
I do have to get through one dinner out this week at a new Italian place. I don’t due well with bread or a menu full of pasta!
I am walking. Yesterday did over 11000 steps. Whenever I think it is to cold to walk I think of SnowflakeVt.
Thank you all for the wonderful support this past year.</p>
<p>Ema, so happy for you and the weight loss and on finding your path. 
And thanks to everyone who posted soup recipes. In the summer it is so easy to throw together an appealing salad. In the winter I want something more.</p>
<p>My personal challenge was to exercise 6 days a week when I am in town. (I know, a bit of a copout.) I was four for four the first four days; then traveling for four (very stressful, dealing with elderly parents). Today I was back with my trainer and we did a really good dumbbell workout that I could “take on the road”. As a bonus, my husband had to take the car on a business trip so I walked to the Y (a couple miles, 15 degrees but brilliant sunshine) and on the way home bought groceries which I had to schlep a mile uphill. He’ll be gone a few days so I will be walking everywhere.</p>
<p>Soup for dinner tonight, courtesy of my pet/house sitter. (I don’t even want to think about what I ate when I got home yesterday after getting up at 4 a.m. and driving 630 miles.)</p>
<p>I was silly and changed a few things at once, so I am not sure which thing made the difference or if it is a combination of several things. When I joined weight watchers, instead of eating 1400-1500 calories every day I started cycling so that some days I am at 1200, some days I am at 1300, some are 1400, and some are still 1500-1600-- I am not eating the exact same number every day. I also don’t eat past 7pm besides maybe an apple in the evening if I get hungry again before bed (0 ww points). I also don’t eat more than around 35% of my calories from carbs (and none of which are refined carbs.) I actually wanted to be more like 20%-30% but I am struggling to figure out how to accomplish that without just eating chicken three times a day. The non carby or fatty sources of protein that I can come up with besides chicken are so low calorie I’d have to eat a ton for it to knock the ratio in the right direction. I’m still playing with it. </p>
<p>I actually am exercising a bit less, too. I was doing 45 minutes of cardio 5 days a week, an hour of weight lifting twice a week, and 35 minutes of pilates twice a week, but the last three weeks I just did weights and pilates once each and only did the cardio 3 or 4 times… I am not sure if that is helping me or hurting me but the lessened stress from not having to cram such long workouts in is making me very happy. I just have been too tired to do it lately.</p>
<p>I think what might be making the biggest differences are the calorie cycling, and striving harder to eat “normal” on the weekend. We tend to eat like saints all week and then order pizza or have pop with dinner on Saturday, JUST enough for me to gain one little pound or two (for me I just have to think about bad food and I gain a pound), and I think during my plateau I was gaining 1-2lbs on the weekend, losing it all week, and then gaining it again the next weekend. I gained and lost the same 2lbs over and over again for months. I guess I know what to do when I want to maintain… now I am working hard to eat my “work” food even on the weekend. We have a naughty dinner maybe once a month now instead of once a week. And I still always stay within my calorie range even on our “cheat” day… except thanksgiving!</p>
<p>We went out last night for my mom’s birthday and went to her favorite pizza restaurant. I had two small slices of cheeseless pizza (allergies) and it was only like 16 points, a very heavy dinner but I was still well within my range for the day, and I’ve gained 2lbs. So I might not lose this week. That’s all it takes!</p>
<p>I’ve heard of people breaking plateaus by varying calorie levels, Ema. I’m so glad it’s working for you (or something else is!)</p>
<p>I sometimes track my food intake on MyPlate. I’ve found that it’s very hard to get much below 50% carbs, even when avoiding bread and sweets. I eat a lot of beans and lentils and they are high in carbs.</p>
<p>It is hard! Before I changed my habits, I naturally ate around 50% (unrefined, non-white) carbs, 30-35% protein, and 15-20% healthy fats. Now that I tried reducing my carbs, I am actually getting an average of anywhere between 30-40% carbs, but then my fat is more like 40% and my protein 25%-- on average, I have better days but that’s usually as bad as it gets. I was really unhappy with that but anything I tried to do to increase the protein or cut the fat added carbs, and/or cut my calories too low. My fat is still higher than I’d like it to be but since it is healthy fats and I was eating possibly too little healthy fats for a long time I am not sweating it too much, but I am still trying to figure it out. Apparently whatever I am doing is working for now, but I am keen to build good nutrition and not just lose weight.</p>
<p>And another weird thing is, for example, I actually probably eat more protein rich food now than I did when my protein % was higher. But I am also eating lower calories and lower calorie sources of protein, and what few carbs I do eat want to take up a LOT of my calories by comparison, so even though I am eating a lot more protein rich food my ratio went DOWN instead of up.</p>
<p>It doesn’t help that I am awful with math. I spend a chunk of every day staring at a calculator in bewilderment.</p>
<p>Does anyone have insight into the Withings scale versus the WiFit scale versus others? MrsCollege mentioned earlier this year that she bought a Withings scale, which connect via wifi to the internet to log your info somewhere. I’m curious if anyone has it working with MyFitnessPal?</p>
<p>If there is a better scale, I am open to that as well. It will be an extra present under the tree for H and I as we continue our path towards optimal health (with the wine option).</p>
<p>Btw, I meant fitBit scale, not WiFit, but regardless, after reading feedback on Amazon, I did end up getting the Withings wifi scale for hubby and I. We both are slowly losing pounds so that will keep us in check and help us keep up the good behavior. I just hope it will allow us to each upload our weigh ins to our individual MyFitnessPal accounts.</p>
<p>Son just arrived home from college, and two buddies stopped in, so we gave each of them some of the goodies that have been arriving in the mail. It looks so good, but if it’s open, we know we can’t control ourselves.</p>
<p>Happy holidays everyone! Enjoy the time with your families and friends ,</p>