Just read through your diary and it was a great read , you seem to be positively attacking this new lifestyle with gusto and it is motivational . I see a lot of similarities to myself and will try to follow along on your journey . Snowed in days are hard especially if you were just about to do groceries , I always feel a burst of positive outlook to continuing my diet right after I have done groceries and know I have all my fresh supplies right there . You got this ! And love the horse pics .
One Step at a Time
- Thread starter AnnSparks
- Start date
alligatorob
Respected Member
Wow, what part of the world are you in? That is cold.
Just think about today, that's what matters. You got this, I know you do.
AnnSparks
New member
Thanks for the encouragement guys! So I didn't remember weigh myself in time today and I'd drunk some water and what not but even so, I was at the 217.5 mark. So i think, if I were to weigh myself first thing before eating and drinking a bit, I'd probably be around 215 roughly. Either way, I'm still below my starting weight so I still count that as a success.
Yesterday and today have been even colder. Yesterday we hit -47 C during the night, and today, during the day, we're at -38 C. Way too cold for my liking. But I live in northern Canada so that's kinda what I get for living here. Thankfully by next weekend, it's supposed to warm up to -8 which willl feel like summer in comparison to right now lol.
Latest food that I love are some cookie dough fat bombs. The first one or two taste really weird and off just cause it's used with almond flour and dark chocolate and isn't made quite the same way as regular cookie dough, but after the first two, they start to taste better and better. Now I love them! Plus, they're very filling so in one sitting, I can generally only stand to eat one or two at a time so they last a little while which is nice.
A pic of said fat bombs:
Yesterday and today have been even colder. Yesterday we hit -47 C during the night, and today, during the day, we're at -38 C. Way too cold for my liking. But I live in northern Canada so that's kinda what I get for living here. Thankfully by next weekend, it's supposed to warm up to -8 which willl feel like summer in comparison to right now lol.
Latest food that I love are some cookie dough fat bombs. The first one or two taste really weird and off just cause it's used with almond flour and dark chocolate and isn't made quite the same way as regular cookie dough, but after the first two, they start to taste better and better. Now I love them! Plus, they're very filling so in one sitting, I can generally only stand to eat one or two at a time so they last a little while which is nice.
A pic of said fat bombs:
alligatorob
Respected Member
Whoa, that is a cold and remote place. I am sure its beautiful, and for me would be a great
place to visit in summer. I spent a couple of weeks in Fairbanks in January, so I have a little concept of your weather. How short are your days? How do you deal with the darkness?
Absolutely!
Your fat bombs look like something I would have eaten by the dozens back when I was binge eating. Today I'd give them to the grandkids, the dogs, the compost pile, or throw them away.
Hang in here with us and you'll do great, I know you will.
I count it as a success, too! You're doing fine!
and likewise 
. I have no idea how anyone could manage in that! I'm thinking "snowed in... frozen pipes... but what about the horses...?" Of course, in reality, I'm sure everything's well under control, but you've got to admit, that sounds wild! Let alone what @alligatorob says about the darkness. How long a period of daylight do you have right now?
AnnSparks
New member
It is beautiful with all the snow and frost and fog, but I'd much rather have warmer temperatures lol. Our days are getting longer again. The shortest day we have which is during the week of christmas, is about 9am - 4 pm. But as of right now, it's more like 8:30 am - 5:15 pm. So it's not too bad (at least to me).
As for the darkness, well, you tend to get used to it. I've lived farther north than I am now for most of my life so I've grown up with it. And seeing all the stars so clearly when you arrive home is always nice. It's quite fun to be able to get home, step out of the car, and look up to see all the stars and different constellations and once in a while, even catch sight of a shooting star. So as long as you look at the bright side of having early darkness, it's not that bad.
I count it as a success, too! You're doing fine!
I was snowed in last Saturday. Over two days, we got about 2 feet of snow roughly. Maybe a tad more. And my little car wasn't happy about that lol. But once it gets to -30, it doesn't really snow. No frozen pipes for me though. A few people in town have gotten that, but I've been lucky. As for the horses, I'll put a few pics at the end of this to show how they're doing. And if you read above, I mention much daylight and darkness there is right now.
Honestly, I count myself as quite lucky right now. I live in the country on my grandparents property in a tiny cabin off to the side and literally all I have for heating, is an electric heater and a fireplace. But because how little my cabin is, the fireplace makes my cabin feel like a sauna most of the time, but with this horribly low temps, it makes everything in the cabin feel just right.
For the horses, they're doing fine. Sam, my giant thoroughbred is a wimp lol. Once it -25, he started shivering like a leaf. So I got out his blanket and put it on him and now he's fine. Though with these colder and colder temps, he's not very impressed.
Jack on the other hand, has such a thick natural fur coat that he's totally unfazed. I've been watching him very carefully and despite being covered in frost and it being -47 (maybe even -50 during the night), he's still running around, playing in the snow, having the time of his life haha. He loves the cold and snow.
When I named him Jack, I thought I'd make it stand for "Jack of all Trades" since I want to do a lot of different random stuff with him. But now seeing how he is in this cold weather and how often he has frost on him, I'm thinking it his name should be "Jack Frost" lol. I think it's rather fitting. Plus he has the same goofy, carefree personality that Jack Frost in the Guardians movie had. So it works quite well.
(Also, yes, he did scrape himself which is why there's red on his little white sock. He's totally fine, he just got it while he was goofing around and not paying attention to things >< )
That sounds so lovely! And your horses are so beautiful!!
The bright stars in the night sound beautiful too
alligatorob
Respected Member
Thanks for the pictures, your horses really look great, their winter coats are impressive.
Something I remember from Fairbanks was the aurora borealis, really impressive. I bet you see it all the time. You live in a very special place, keep warm girl!
Something I remember from Fairbanks was the aurora borealis, really impressive. I bet you see it all the time. You live in a very special place, keep warm girl!
AnnSparks
New member
So my body went through a bit of a roller coaster in the weight department this last week or so. At one point, it went up to 219.5, and today it was down to 217. I think part of the problem is that it's been so cold out, I haven't been doing as much walking/riding that I normally would do. Plus those two days of being stuck and not getting groceries I needed really sent me back to square one. But oh well. That's just the way things go sometimes.
It's also not helping that I am struggling mentally right now (mostly due to my job) and it's just affecting my outlook both on general life goals I've had, as well as my weight loss journey. I generally can find the good stuff in negative situations, but I also bottle up and store a lot of those negative emotions without realizing it, but it still wears me down. And with the way work is going, I'm ready to quit everything. But I can't so I must push forward. I know a lot of your are commenting on how positive I've been so far, so I figured I should also log my low moments too so it doesn't look like I'm always so cheerful and whatnot with it all. After all, this diary/journal is to track not just my highs, but my lows too.
I do feel accomplished in the fact I did buy some groceries yesterday that despite my mindset at the moment, I managed to stick to what I needed, and avoided the sweets even though they were/are so incredibly tempting. I just need to learn how to cook with spices and get this stuff tasting even better. Also need to drink more water. Last two days I've only had maybe 5 or 6 cups. Need to bring it back up to 8 minimum since that generally helps and prevents me from getting charlie horses which I tend to be rather prone to getting.
Also new plan for exercise. When it comes to the bike thing, I find that only my lower half really gets a work out from it. But I realized if I sit up straight and don't use the handles, it engages my core muscles a lot more. I also have small weights. So I'm thinking that while I work my lower half with the bike, I'll sit up straight to engage and work core muscles, while also using the weights to work out my arms (not too big or crazy exercises for the arms though, don't want to push it too far). So hopefully, I'll be able to work more of my body and see results all over, not just in one area.
And since you guys seem to enjoy when I post pics, I'll put another one up. Didn't have anything new of the horses as I haven't been able to do much with them with the temps, so here's a pic I drew a little while ago to have a creature that actually enjoys the cold and snow which I don't ><
It's also not helping that I am struggling mentally right now (mostly due to my job) and it's just affecting my outlook both on general life goals I've had, as well as my weight loss journey. I generally can find the good stuff in negative situations, but I also bottle up and store a lot of those negative emotions without realizing it, but it still wears me down. And with the way work is going, I'm ready to quit everything. But I can't so I must push forward. I know a lot of your are commenting on how positive I've been so far, so I figured I should also log my low moments too so it doesn't look like I'm always so cheerful and whatnot with it all. After all, this diary/journal is to track not just my highs, but my lows too.
I do feel accomplished in the fact I did buy some groceries yesterday that despite my mindset at the moment, I managed to stick to what I needed, and avoided the sweets even though they were/are so incredibly tempting. I just need to learn how to cook with spices and get this stuff tasting even better. Also need to drink more water. Last two days I've only had maybe 5 or 6 cups. Need to bring it back up to 8 minimum since that generally helps and prevents me from getting charlie horses which I tend to be rather prone to getting.
Also new plan for exercise. When it comes to the bike thing, I find that only my lower half really gets a work out from it. But I realized if I sit up straight and don't use the handles, it engages my core muscles a lot more. I also have small weights. So I'm thinking that while I work my lower half with the bike, I'll sit up straight to engage and work core muscles, while also using the weights to work out my arms (not too big or crazy exercises for the arms though, don't want to push it too far). So hopefully, I'll be able to work more of my body and see results all over, not just in one area.
And since you guys seem to enjoy when I post pics, I'll put another one up. Didn't have anything new of the horses as I haven't been able to do much with them with the temps, so here's a pic I drew a little while ago to have a creature that actually enjoys the cold and snow which I don't ><
alligatorob
Respected Member
Great picture, is it a rabbit-bird-deer, as LaMa guessed?
About once or twice a year I wake up with a very painful charlie horse in my calf muscle, I know the pain can be intense. I did not know drinking water reduces them, I will have to try that.
That's an accomplishment, buying the right food is a good step towards eating the right food.
Hey, I thought about you today, we went on a sleigh ride to see some elk, and the sleigh was drawn by big draft horses with heavy coats. Kind of reminded me of your pictures. It is not so cold here, so the coats weren't as impressive as your horses.
Sorry you are continuing to struggle at work Yes that can really affect a person over-all. We are all prone to ups and downs but its just sticking with the plan in the long-term that's important. you seem to be right back on track so that's very good!
That's excellent art. You seem to be a very talented person!
I find it hard to drink enough water too!
Yes that can really affect a person over-all. We are all prone to ups and downs but its just sticking with the plan in the long-term that's important. you seem to be right back on track so that's very good!That's excellent art. You seem to be a very talented person!
I find it hard to drink enough water too!
I love the frosty eyelashes on your horses! Shaggy, frosty winter horses!
And well done on just buying what you wanted to buy at the store, and not getting suckered into buying what they wanted you to buy! In terms of cooking with spices, I think cumin is a good basic one to have handy. Of course chilli (unless you don't like it). I used to make a vegie curry with cumin, cardomom, coriander seed and a touch of chilli - I called it All the Cs Curry. Do you like chillis and curries?
And well done on just buying what you wanted to buy at the store, and not getting suckered into buying what they wanted you to buy! In terms of cooking with spices, I think cumin is a good basic one to have handy. Of course chilli (unless you don't like it). I used to make a vegie curry with cumin, cardomom, coriander seed and a touch of chilli - I called it All the Cs Curry.
Do you like chillis and curries?
AnnSparks
New member
Thanks for the encouragement and positive words everyone
@LaMaria Really? Charlie horse is the only term I know for those types of cramps. Maybe it's a canadian thing? Not sure lol. But that term gets applied to cramps mostly in the calf muscle, but also for cramps in the foot as well. Not sure how it got that name though.
@alligatorob It is. More specifically, it's a rabbit, lynx, arctic owl, and reindeer combo lol. Or at least, those were the specific inspirations for this creature. And I find that charlie horses occur due to being dehydrated which is why I realize that drinking more water cuts down on how many charlie horses I'll get.
Those are some pretty horses! Definitely looks like fun. I'm hoping to train my younger horse to pull a sleigh one day since it looks like so much fun.
@aiminglow Sounds like quite the curry. I tend to be rather sensitive to hot/spicy foods so I don't normally eat much in the way of chilli's or curry's. But that does sound good!
@LaMaria Really? Charlie horse is the only term I know for those types of cramps. Maybe it's a canadian thing? Not sure lol. But that term gets applied to cramps mostly in the calf muscle, but also for cramps in the foot as well. Not sure how it got that name though.
@alligatorob It is. More specifically, it's a rabbit, lynx, arctic owl, and reindeer combo lol. Or at least, those were the specific inspirations for this creature. And I find that charlie horses occur due to being dehydrated which is why I realize that drinking more water cuts down on how many charlie horses I'll get.
Those are some pretty horses! Definitely looks like fun. I'm hoping to train my younger horse to pull a sleigh one day since it looks like so much fun.
@aiminglow Sounds like quite the curry. I tend to be rather sensitive to hot/spicy foods so I don't normally eat much in the way of chilli's or curry's. But that does sound good!