That’s a cute visual of the puppy following you around as you complete your steps!
Still adjusting back to the healthier eating. I fond that eating an avocado, while yes its high in fat, is pretty filling. I had an avocado, and then a banana. Weird, but it did the trick.
I read somewhere a recipe for chocolate pudding made from avocados. Another thing to do is to have them with eggs on toast for breakfast. I read somewhere that when snacking balance a healthy carb and a protein. For example some cubed or stick of cheese with almonds or pistachios or carrots with hummus (chickpea for protein) celery, banana, or apple with any nut butter. My BIL has done Atkins for years and these are some of the snacks he has. He always keeps lots of berries to snack on too. I also try to incorporate seeds. (chia, flax, pumpkin)
I think avocado is now considered a “good” fat. The last 2 weeks I’ve been eating a lot of avocado. My friend has a ranch and has been giving me tiny extra large egg sized avocados that fell off her tree in a wind storm. They ripen nicely and are just the right size for adding to a salad or top off a protein.
I still have that extra pound on. WIll go to the gym today and hit sprouts or the supermarket to get more fruit (still have apples, grapefruit, grapes, raspberries and blueberries, but am down to 2 cuties and have no bananas left). I have some healthy snack foods, but need to get back in the head game. Now that the ski trip is over, it’s hard to have a target.
Hmmm… Good morning America is reporting on people addicted to exercise… Followed by it being national chocolate cake day!
OK- just made some hi fiber oat bran hot cereal for breakfast. Yes, it’s hi carbs, but it’s very filling. Have my shopping list ready for sprouts.
ETA: GMA’s segment of “breaking the bank to stay in shape”: $500/mo to attend Barry’s boot camp? $250/mo for a membership to the bar method club? I pay $19/mo and DH $8.50/mo for our memberships (I should also have the $8.50/mo but that’s a long story).
Sick and tired of being sick and tired . . . 
(sorry vent)
Oh no! Feel better!
Feel better southfloridamom.
Only a half hour at the gym today, and first day back since getting off the slopes. But did 12 min mile pace for 2 miles on the treadmill and then some weights.
@“Cardinal Fang” , Fit Bit and all the other wrist trackers are very inaccurate for calorie burns during activity. For that matter so are the calorie counts on most cardio machines. To get an accurate estimate of calorie burn from heart rate, the software must factor in your age, gender, max heart rate, resting heart rate and current cardio fitness level (usually expressed as some measure of exercise history). Firstbeat is some of the better software out there to use heart rate to measure calories (and other performance metrics) and is used in many of the Garmin FR and Fenix series watches.
Thank you @jym626 and @FallGirl. Attitude has improved since this morning. And you all are motivating me to get my act together.
Remember, baby steps in the right direction on both diet and exercise (‘nicer’ terms eating healthy and active lifestyle).
Someone told me last night that Avocado has some properties to help reduce BP. Moderation is key.
H made rice and beans the other day and it was terrific (I made the rice in my rice cooker that he protested about me getting, but now I think he realizes it makes great rice and is very easy for me to make) - the only problem was H put a lot of butter with it. It was delicious, but honestly…H has no sense with calories and fat, but he is starting to figure it out. Last night he brought home a large potato and a large sweet potato for himself (didn’t call and ask me if I wanted same too…the obtuse thinking of an engineer/man). He made the potato with creamed corn and was shocked at the creamed corn label - calories/fat grams/sugar content… I am making rice and beans this afternoon.
Sometimes eating what you are craving but keep portion size down.
Another go-to for me is a spoon of Nutella (1 T = 100 calories/55 fat calories).
I have a page titled ‘workouts’ - was the Etc from some magazine, and it is “Super Combo Moves” - exercise efficiently thanks to newfangled classes that meld classic routines, by Kayleen Schaefer. Looks interesting, once I am at that fitness level…
Some people do well with classes. I have a friend that is doing serious workouts, but between wine and calories is not dropping the weight. I am getting my caloric intake under pretty good control.
Until I did Weight Watchers a few years ago, I never realized how much fat I was eating. I love certain types of dairy - cheese, sour cream, butter. To really lose weight I have to cut some of that back. For some reason I really crave fats, but I don’t like avocado unfortunately.
Now I log calories on MyFitnessPal (when I remember). I honestly think I have adult ADD. I have to put notes up around my house to remind me to log my food, not eat too many almonds, etc. I will be standing at the cabinet, mindlessly eating almonds, before I even realize it.
When looking for “filling” snacks, look for a combo that has both protein and fiber and as little simple, easily absorbed carbs as possible. The former two stay in the digestive system longer creating that filling effect. That’s why unsweetened, all-natural nut butters with apples or chickpea spreads with celery/cucumber slices work well to quench hunger, and cookies and bananas don’t.
Carbs are important nutrients, but a sedentary person should limit her intake of carbs to no more than 1g/lb of body weight as you might have seen in one of the links posted in the “other thread” (for me, that would be 125 g carbs per day on average).
And BTW, there is no such thing as “negative calorie” or calorie-burning food. There are foods that have little caloric value (mostly fiber), but eating just those will make you run for the cookie jar. 
Wow, I hang around some fitness sites and I’ve never seen this rule of thumb, but I like it. Very helpful.
I do better on higher proteins, lower but high quality carbs (not “no carb”) and good fats. My problem is getting enough good proteins without going over on the fats.
Sometimes I also think it would help me to get a job and get out of the house. It’s too easy to eat at home. And I’m an emotional eater, with an adult kid who recently flew the nest. Depressing, even though I’m super happy for him.
Here’re more details on carbs in follow up of BunsenBurner’s post:
0-1g carbs per lb bodyweight per day: Sedentary work (office job), vehicular commute (taking mostly car, bus, or train to work, gym), low training volume (sets of 3-5 reps or lower)
1-2g carbs per lb bodyweight per day: Moderately active job (personal trainer, waitress…), walking or cycling commute, moderate-high training volume (multiple sets of 8-12 reps, workouts that last 1-2 hours)
2-3g carbs per lb bodyweight per day: High activity job (fitness instructor/class leader, construction worker…), high use of walking or cycling to get around, high volume training (workouts that last 2 hours or more, multiple workouts a day, combinations of weight training and endurance work).
These recommendations are from a PhD professor of exercise physiology at Temple University who is also a very accomplished athlete.
Glad you are peaking in this thread @MichaelNKat