Since I'm "here," I decided to go ahead and start next week's thread. First of all,

PLANS FOR SUNDAY'S MEETING HAVE CHANGED! See the planning thread for details. Please contact me if you are interested in attending.

--Sheri

MEDITATION MONDAY! -> Have you started incorporating meditation into your daily/weekly/monthly routine? If so, how is it going? What do you like to focus on when you meditate? Any tips on how to make meditation successful?

For Monday's optional mini-challenge (meditation), I have to admit that meditating is still hard for me. It's hard for me to quiet my mind and focus on nothing or a single thing for an extended period of time. ("Extended" to me means more than a minute!) The closest thing I've come to successful meditation is ho'oponopono - "I'm sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you. I love you." I try to do this chant without other distractions during my morning routine after stretching. I will typically focus on a person I want to send healing or loving thoughts to in order to create a positive effect for them and/or for our relationship. I will usually start by thinking of one person, but then I almost always let my thoughts flow from one person to another. I will often think of 4 or 5 (or more) people while chanting this quietly. I will often feel better after doing this, and I do believe that it has an effect on the person(s) I focus on. I love ho'opnonpono!

--Sheri

Quick fly by post - to say hello! Happy Valentine's day! Hope everyone is well. I use a guided meditation cd, and truthfully, my mind still wanders some times. I'm not consistent...YET.... but I believe you don't have to formally meditate.. you are meditating at other times in the day and probably not realizing it? On a long run? While doing dishes? A good tip is to meditate early in the morning before we start thinking too much... .. okay.. gotta go! only 6% battery left on the macbook and I am also very sleepy! long day! good night all!

Hello hello! Just stopping by to visit Sheri's food thread! I'm trying to figure out what EFL recipes I want to try this week. It's an intention of mine to select 3 EFL (or EFL style) recipes each for breakfast, snack, lunch, and dinner that taste yummy to me, and are reasonably easy to prepare. That way, when I don't know what to make & don't have a meal plan (I make up that meal planning feels like a ball & chain to me, and pushes me to binge more. Unfortunately, I'm pretty gullible when it comes to some of my made up stuff) - I'll have at least 3 go-to recipes that I default to.. you know?

Also, today is Day 1, week 1 of my 18 week journey. Is it strange that I feel a tad anxious and nervous? My camera battery is charging up so I can take my before pictures later today (pretending that I don't notice that I'm not looking forward to this). Okay, I should stop talking about these feelings and instead choose to focus on just taking it easy - relax. I don't have to be perfect. I just have to give it my best, and understand that one's best is changing in any given moment. Don't be so hard on yourself Divina! (and everyone else who thinks even an iota similarly to me about trying to do things perfectly).

Also - have you been outside?! That rain that Sheri has been talking about it on it's way! Aahhhh!

Okay... gotta click "Post Quick Reply" now & step away from the computer!

Hope you all are well! Have a great week, and enjoy this cloudy / soon-to-be-rainy weather! I'll be sending positive energy your way HHSD'ers!

xoxo,
Divina

Hello! Wishing you all well!

My Day 1 of this second go at the 18 week challenge:

http://www.transformation.com/nthvrt...Tuesday/132671

Happy Wednesday! 2 full days left until a 3 day weekend. Ahhh...

I haven't read any posts yet, I'm hoping to check back and do that today or tomorrow.

I just have to say that my free day has turned into 3 free days and I feel like I'm on a roller coaster being whisked along on an eating spree! I want a hamburger and fried pickles from Smashburger tonight so badly!!! I am trying to stop this mindlessly-eating-not-so-healthy-food-ride in it's tracks, but it's challenging. I thought if I posted it here it would help me. I want to keep up my weight loss and fat loss so far, so I must focus on it! Hmmm, I guess this is more of a blog entry. But gotta get the kids out of bed from nap and don't have time to put it there now. All we all women here? I can't remember. Darn those stupid monthly hormones! At least I figured out what is making me want to eat like this.

Hope you all have a great day!!

Divina - I'm looking forward to reading your blog!

Doreen - Hi! So glad you're here!

Haha!! I'm such a dork! I just saw Doreen's picture on the group's page and wasn't thinking that she wouldn't see the greeting because she hadn't posted anything! In my defense, I have two small children so I'm almost always distracted and in a hurry, and I'm still getting used to the site.

Hi, everyone! I'm so sorry I've been so absent! In my defense (uh oh--does that mean I'm being defensive?). Ok, scratch that... just to let you know--I've been working on writing out my thoughts on the half I ran a week and a half ago. I finally realized my feelings were affecting my health, so I decided to drop pretty much all my t.com stuff in order to process.... I'm on my second pass at writing my thoughts out, and I hope to be done sometime tonight or tomorrow. I'll probably finish it up just in time to post it on the weekend (when there is the least amount of traffic to blogs! Of course!). Oh well, anyway, that's where I've been, and that's where I'll probably be until you see me back in the swing. The bright side is that I'm already feeling better after writing so far, and I do believe I will be back to my "real" self once I'm done. That all being said, let me at least do some shout outs (because I love you gals, and I really want this group to keep up the great work!)....

D - Oh, my darling Divina! Happy belated Vday to you!
- Thanks for making me think about meditation in a different light. You're right--I need to stop trying to be "perfect" at meditating and take what I can get. What I can get isn't too bad!
- And thanks for the props for the food thread. I have so many ideas--it's just a matter of taking the time to put it over there in that thread. For example - Robin Miller style - how to shop for or prepare a few things and turn them into 2 or 3 meals.... Like cooking a bunch of brown rice at the beginning of the week and using it for EFL sesame beef stir fry and then EFL santa fe chicken soup and then plain with teriyaki chicken (or some healthy-ish meat) and steamed broccoli....
- And on the meal planning--maybe you can think of the meal plan AS your fall-back plan. Instead of feeling like you HAVE to have what's on your meal plan, think of it as what to cook if you can't think of something else healthy to make? That way it's assisting you instead of forcing you? Having several go-to recipes is a great idea, though. You want suggestions? FYI on the meal planning - the first time I did an entire week's worth of meals in a plan, it took me HOURS. I don't want to scare you off--just keeping it real. However, the 2nd week ended up taking WAY less time, because I had so many ideas for the first week that didn't fit into the 7 days, they just spilled over into the next week's plan. And I don't know if you feel like you have to have something different every day or not. I have the same thing for my morning mid-meals and afternoon mid-meals pretty much every day. I thought I'd hate not having the variety, but the simplicity of the plan and the ease of executing it every day (I hardly have to think about it anymore) won me over.
- Day 1 week 1 can definitely be anxiety-causing. Just know that your journey will be awesome--whether you decide to acknowledge it or not. Hopefully you will decide to acknowledge it. (I'll be there to remind you every step of the way!)
- I love your "step away from the computer" comment.... Oh, I can SO relate!
- You're awesome, and I will get to your blogs--I promise! (I know it's not required by you, but my heart really WANTS to read your blogs!)

Jamie - I actually wrote a blog about respecting my monthly "visitor." Do NOT underestimate the impact changes in hormones have on you, not just physically, but emotionally, too.
- And don't beat yourself up about the eating. Just know that you can decide at any time to jump back onto the healthy nutrition bandwagon. No amount of set backs can keep you from making progress from wherever you are at any given time. It can be super frustrating to feel like you're losing ground on progress previously made, but you should also remember that you MADE that progress, and you can make it again--one meal at a time... one decision at a time.
- Oh--I also wrote a blog (http://www.transformation.com/sherik...houghts/132411) a few days ago about something I realized about the snacking--I was using it as a distraction from having to deal with stuff on my mind. I finally decided to that when I go to reach for a snack in the coming days, I would stop and try to think about what I'm trying to distract myself from thinking about. Then instead of going through with grabbing the snack, I would try to take the time to work out what was bothering me. It's the harder choice--and the harder choice is often the right one.
- And we'll get Doreen up to speed on posting to this forum, so she'll see your greeting!

Keep up the great work, ladies! (Guys are invited to jump into the conversation, of course!) I'm excited about Sunday! I washed the t-shirts and hope to make the stencils tomorrow--but only after I finish processing.... Until then. *HUGE HUGS*!

--Sheri

P.S.: Sorry I haven't posted mini challenges. I'll try to come up with more soon!

THIRSTY THURSDAY! -> Drink your fluids! The guideline is 1 ounce for every 2 lbs of body weight. Let us know how much you typically drink and/or how you get it to go down!

Quote:

Originally Posted by sherik THIRSTY THURSDAY! -> Drink your fluids! The guideline is 1 ounce for every 2 lbs of body weight. Let us know how much you typically drink and/or how you get it to go down!

Ok, so I admit it--I selfishly chose this one because I think I have a good system, and I like to talk about it.... When I started transformation, my goal was 67 oz. of water. Instead of trying to drink it all at once, I figured I'd distribute it across my 6 meals. So, that was about 11 oz each meal. Well, I didn't like that, so I changed it up to be 12 oz with B,L,D and 8 oz at each mid-meal (including the "light dessert" which I also refer to as a mid-meal). That's 60 oz. Then if I drink 8 oz. with exercise, that's 68. BAM--DONE! My fridge will allow me to punch in how many ounces of water to dispense, so I get myself 12 oz for each major meal. And those little contigo cups (that I originally bought for my kids) hold 8 oz, exactly. I would fill one of those up and bring it with me whenever I knew I'd be eating a mid-meal on the road (after dropping kids off at school or going to pick the kids up from school, etc.). If I saw the cup with water in it later, I'd just down it. Now I have a 24 oz contigo cup, and I'll down the 8 oz (or 12, depending on the meal), and then I'll also drink to thirst, which is more in the winter than it was in the summer--weird! So I guess I started off by getting myself used to doing the bare minimum, and now I do the bare minimum and give myself the opportunity to drink more if I want it.

Also, advice on getting it down--chug it! Drink as much of it as you can before you start eating your meal. Try to drink the entire meal's allocation before that first bite. It will help your stomach feel more full as you're eating, and it takes care of your water requirement. Two birds, one stone.

Sure, you'll have to pee a LOT more, but the inconvenience of having to use the bathroom more often isn't as bad as the inconvenience of your body being dehydrated. Plus, if you have a young child, odds are that s/he has to go often, too! So it's like a bonding opportunity. LOL. Yay for having to use the bathroom a lot!

Ok, that was much more than you ever wanted to know.... But there it is--I've had my say. Drink, drink, drink! (Water, that is!)

--Sheri

Hello all! Just wishing you all a Transformative Thursday & report my Day 2 blog is up.

http://www.transformation.com/nthvrt...dnesday/132876

Gotta make this quick & get ready for work! Just know that I read your blogs/posts but may not always have the time to comment. Life can get pretty busy for all of us!

Be alive... LIVE..

Will do some "catching up" soon! Also.. HELLO DOREEN!!

-- Divina

Please welcome our new members

Doreen - http://www.transformation.com/Doreen

Kendra - http://www.transformation.com/KendraPfef


And Divina - thank you so much for taking the time to read this group's members' blogs! Always leaving a comment is definitely not required, and knowing that you're making an effort to get to know everyone through their blogs is just so important! It will make it easier when we finally meet in person.... Like on Sunday... right?!? *nudge nudge* *HUG* (I'm not letting up. Don't MAKE me come find you! )

--Sheri

FUN FRIDAY! - Do something fun today! If you can't go out and do something fun today, then make plans to do something fun within the next week. It can be something big or small, but make it FUN for you!

Quote:

Originally Posted by nthvrtx106

Hahaha--I like it! For my fun thing, I'm planning on putting the goodie bags together for the get together on Sunday! I LOVE goodie bags! (And I hope you ladies do, too!)

--Sheri

P.S.: Bonus Friday "mission" - BE FABULOUS! Give a fabulous hug to someone you love. Smile a fabulous smile at someone you don't know. Celebrate who you are--you ARE FABULOUS!

Welcome Doreen & Kendra!

Divina- GREAT JOB ON WEEK 1

Sheri- I'm saving a FABULOUS hug for when I see you tonight!

Jamie: I just had basically two weeks of mostly free days with no hormones to blame. :-( I haven't been myself since the half-marathon. I just got back from Mammoth today and am happy to say that I jumped back on track! :-) That is the great thing about healthy eating......you have a new chance to make a good choice every few hours at your next meal! :-) You don't have to be perfect to make progress! Awareness is key......and you have GOT IT!!!!!!

I am really looking forward to meeting up with you guys this Sunday! I am pretty sure I'll be able to make it! However I've got 2 in my family that have the flu. I'm hoping my flu shot is protecting me. Or perhaps it is the healthy eating and exercising that has boosted my immune system! Thanks Transformation!

Take care!

Kath - I definitely feel FABULOUS after our talk tonight! I'm looking forward to more fabulous-ness on Sunday! I would blog about our talk, but it's late and I want to do the goodie bags. I think I might choose to sleep in (until the kids no doubt come bustling out of their rooms at 7 AM, sharp) to compensate for going to bed late. Maybe one our daily mini challenges next week will have to be about getting enough sleep. Ooooh--that just gave me an idea!

--Sheri

GET-YOUR-SLEEP SATURDAY and SUNDAY! -> Sleep is SO important. Find a way to get enough sleep to feel refreshed this weekend. Take a nap, go to bed early, sleep in--do whatever you need to do to get enough sleep this weekend!

Quote:

Originally Posted by sherik GET-YOUR-SLEEP SATURDAY and SUNDAY!

OH, the IRONY! I went to bed late, but with the clear intention of sleeping in in the morning - at least until my kids woke up, which is usually 7 AM, but I was hoping it'd be later this morning because they went to bed late last night. I went to bed around 1 or 1:30 AM, but if I slept until 7:30, that's 6 hours--not bad. I can function at 100% when I get 7 hours of sleep, so 6 isn't too bad. Well, Sean came to our room crying at 4:15-ish AM complaining of severe stomach pain. He didn't have to throw up, he didn't have to poop, and neither sitting up nor laying down helped. He was moaning that his stomach hurt and then every so often he'd cry out in pain. I laid down with him for a while just thinking if he relaxed enough, he'd fall asleep and wake up feeling better (plus, I was exhausted--I only got about 3-4 hours of sleep Thursday night, too--D'oh!). Well, he couldn't fall back asleep and didn't seem to be getting any better. I can't remember if I asked or if he offered, but he said he thought maybe it was from the junk food he ate last night. He had some pretzel crisps (stale?) last night with dinner and then he went to a birthday party and ended up eating a bright blue gummy bracelet for dessert. (He chose to bring candy he got at his school's Valentine's Day party instead of eating the cake--we have been giving him the option of bringing a treat to have instead of cake due to his milk allergy.) After he yelped a couple more times, I thought - what if this is appendicitis? so I called the doctor's office to speak with the on-call nurse. After fumbling through talking to the first person (sleep deprivation!), I spoke to the second person who gathered more information and said a nurse would call back. Well, he finally fell asleep while I was talking to the person gathering the info! Thank goodness. Anyway, I just finished talking to the nurse, and it's a good sign that he fell asleep. If he wakes up with severe pain, or moderate constant pain for 2 hours, or has intermittent pain for over 24 hours, I need to call back. (They would suspect appendicitis or something like that.) I hope when he wakes up he's fine, but we'll see. Oh--Sara also woke up to go potty around 5 AM, so she might still be awake, waiting for her clock to show 7 AM to get up. *sigh* UGH! Well, I'm going to go try to sleep now that that's all over. Fingers crossed for kids who sleep past 9 AM today and a chance at a nap later on!

--Sheri