Loving the Journey - Feb 2020 W.I.S.H. Challenge

[HappyGrape]

1. Considering that she is an 18 year old university student living away from home I am going to guess based on the fact that most schools in the US require students who are freshman and who are not married or have dependents other than a spouse and not living at home to live in student housing that some guidance on what to select in the cafeteria or food court is one of the first things that needs to be discussed along with how much is being ate at meals as well as snacks.
Breakfast for example if your in a rush to get to class good choice options could be a container of cottage cheese and a container of mixed fruit-don't forget to grab a spoon and a napkin, a hard boiled egg (my school had them all peeled in containers), or even a bagel and cream cheese or peanut butter. If you have more time any of the above, a bowl of oatmeal-if your lucky your school will have things like raisins, walnuts, brown sugar, cinnamon, ect to add to your oatmeal, scrambled eggs and some toast better if you can choose whole wheat white, cracked wheat or any other non white bread a;pmg with some fruit and a carton of milk.

2. Learning how much she has as far as cooking skills are concerned and building on the skills she has or teaching her how to do more than slice a bagel put in toaster and operate of coffee pot or call the delivery driver for pizza or all we know how to do is make fried or scrambled eggs and toast. Thank goodness both those roommates of mine knew how to operate a toaster.What does she have available as far as stove, microwave, toaster, toaster oven, fridge (what is the size is it a full size shared with an entire dorm or just a floor, or is it a small dorm size in the room.

3. Time management so maybe for this week it is make 1/2 to 1 dozen hardboiled eggs and having them in the fridge along with making a batch of her favorite flavor of muffins or invite a friend over and make a batch of a couple different kids and split them or two friends and make 3 different kids maybe one person makes blueberry, one makes banana nut, and one makes cinnamon strussel-considering unless you use the jiffy brand you get a dozen regular sized mufffins that gives you four of each flavor on Sunday afternoon/evening so that you can grab those in the mornings. Spending some time cutting vegetables and fruit for grabbing and going out the door, ect.

4. 1-2 activities to try the next week such as go to the basketball game this weekend which should be free with her student id, check out the habitat for humanity club, attend the dorm students association movie showing, ect.

5. If things are really bad as far as homesickeness and her major is one that could be done closer to home looking at finishing out the term and transfering. My sister did that when she decided to drop from two majors to one major and the one she kept did not require her to be within a few hours of an ocean. Technically she should have had to live in the dorms because she was not living at home but the school she transfered to was so overcrowded on dorm space they not only had 4 students in doubles and 6 crowed in tripples, they were using portable walls in common spaces to make rooms. When she asked if she could possible live with our aunt and uncle they were well normally it has to be a parent or grandparent but since you have a term living in dorms and actually have 18 credits go right on ahead.

6. Making sure that she knows about campus resources such as peer tutoring as well as acting out how to approacher her professors for extra help or clarification on things including when is a good time to do so. A simple do you want our paper to be double spaced in 12 point font is different than I am not understanding where x city in Europe was back in date is today for my research for this paper as far as the time you need to get the answer and when it should be asked. The first one can be asked after a class really quick where the 2nd one is going to need time during office hours and not showing up the last 10 minutes is going to be a wise idea.

I am amazed by how well though of this plan for our Kelsey is!

 

[HappyGrape]

I go to different stores at different times as well, so that doesn't help.

Trying to shop mostly on the perimeter of the store, making a mid-week run for fresh fish, and trying to avoid impulse sweets purchases or too much salt (for DH).




So important to know!!

I would also go over some other label highlights with her - especially looking for reasonable sodium content and good protein and fiber numbers.

I would show Kelsey how to "doctor up" bagged salads as well. It's not the most economical way to make salad, but it may be the most practical in student housing.

As for saving money, I would tell Kelsey:
* Track your store's sales. - Many things go on sale at predictable intervals, and if they are non-perishable items, you can plan when to stock up to get you to the next sale.
* Shop on the high and low shelves. - Stores tend to put the highest-priced brands at eye-level.

I shop in different shops too! I am so fussy but I don't mind too much. There is just not one store that has everything I want

 

[HappyGrape]

My husband does the grocery shopping. I’m very specific on the grocery list so that I get what I need. Unfortunately he is my saboteur. He brings home junk food. When I ask him not to, he says, “It’s for the house.” He did that with Valentine candy. Even though he respected my request for Valentines Day and gave me a Valentine card and Disney gift card, on Sunday he brought home two large boxes of Valentine candy “for the house...it was on sale.” If the junk isn’t “for the house,” it’s for him. He really doesn’t like my weight, and yet, he goes out of his way to sabotage me.

I’m working closely with my Noom counselor to deal with all of the saboteurs in my life. I have them at work too.

I think everyone’s thoughts on Kelsey are right on the money. I have nothing to add.

how is noom different than mfp? I see ads all the time

 

[HappyGrape]

It depends. I try to make meal plans and make a list for them. But it does not Always work. My big Shopping day is Saturday as in Germany Shops are all closed on Sunday. And I find that I am often too tired at the end of the week to plan and then Saturday I just want to relax. Maybe I Need to meal plan for the week on Sunday and then go Shopping Monday after work… Good Question. Made me think About my own Routine...

That happens very often to me too. I don't want to shop on Sunday so I end up doing the big shopping on Saturday. We often have food waste but it isn't dramatic enough to make me concerned about it

 

[HappyGrape]

And try to surround yourself with people that don’t overeat or drink.

Grocery shopping is much less of a pain since I retired. I don’t have a regular day-when I was working I always went Thursday for some reason. I have a general idea of what we’re going to eat over the next week but will change out if something is on sale. We always need fresh vegetables and fruit. I love summer when we can eat corn and tomatoes every night! Watermelon for dessert.

It's very hard when the norm is eating too much and people around you have very poor diets. Even healthy choices when eating out are so large and hard to get to terms is what is served as portion, it's actually portion for 2.

I love summer too and as you we always need fruit and veg. And if we have fruit and veg/protein I can always come up with something

 

[Flossbolna]

how is noom different than mfp? I see ads all the time

I have been seeing ads for it too and was wondering!

 

[Summer2018]

how is noom different than mfp? I see ads all the time

There’s a strong psychological component which is what I was missing.

 

[HappyGrape]

It's WOOHOO Wednesday you all! Apart from having such great advise for Kelsey, and great refresher/brain storming session for all of us - what else do you celebrate today.

I am 4kg down since first of January! Whoo hoo for that

 

[PollyannaMom]

I'm celebrating a real walk outside yesterday. I love my treadmill, but there's just something about fresh air and sunshine that makes all the difference in the world!

 

[MickeyMom76]

Ugh. I forgot to hit post yesterday. But here’s what I was going to post:

I would introduce Kelsey to the MyFitnessPal app. Honestly, I think I would simply start by reading the label for calories. I know a healthy diet is more than just looking at calories. But to help Kelsey, I think it needs to be simple and easy in order to get her started. She’s already overwhelmed with life. I would help her get started with the app to determine what her daily caloric goal is. Then we could work together to plan some simple meals before going to the grocery store. I would encourage some fairly simple food prep for the week such as making a dozen hard boiled eggs. Before shopping, I would talk to her about what she normally eats. Then in the grocery store, I would show her the difference between two food items such as cereal, snack bars, salad dressings (sort of an eat this not that approach). I would also point out on the label about serving size. Then as she eats eat day, she can log it into the app to help her keep track of what she has eaten.

 

[MickeyMom76]

My woohoo is that I had a wonderful getaway with my husband and feel refreshed and ready to head back to school today. And (although I gained 8 lbs on vacation) I’m already down 4 pounds since getting back. Workout complete for this morning and meals prepped for the rest of the week.

 

[Oneanne]

Woohoo! I had an awesome work day yesterday... all last week I struggled laying out the final plans for the activities coming over the weekend, then yesterday morning I powered thru it and now we are in good shape. Plus I really like the group of folks who will be on site, so that'll make it all more fun.

And yipee! A couple of the Disney bloggers I follow did stories on Villains After Hours last week and I got to thinking I might like to do it again during my March trip. I was poking around here on DIS for some recent "real people" reviews and a thread that was also talking about Harambe Nights came up, so I read up on it and in everything I found people were raving about it, so I booked that instead! So excited... and it even aligns with a day we're at AK, so perfection!

 

[sjrec]

Went through my pantry and kitchen cupboards and filled a large trash bag, a box for Goodwill and found some things I forgot I had! Need to make some decisions about dishes and glassware, but that’s another day!
Cold but sunny today, so will get out for a walk after lunch.

 

[Summer2018]

My WooHoo is that I just came back from a mini winter break, and after almost crushing today (faculty meeting ), I only have two more days in the work week! I could really go for a three day work week.

Also, I am right on track with Noom right now in spite of tremendous temptations at every turn. I feel like a warrior! I will not let the Saboteurs win!

 

[JacknSally]

Popping in to say HI! I used to be pretty active in these monthly challenges, though it's been a few years now. There are still a few faces (usernames? ) here that I recognize!! I was feeling pretty frustrated with my weight loss goals today and thinking I really missed having this group around, and got the urge to see if it even still exists. I'm glad to see it does! I don't see a March thread yet but I think I'll be back for that one when it's up!

Wishing you all strong February finishes!! YOU GOT THIS!!

 

[sjrec]

Popping in to say HI! I used to be pretty active in these monthly challenges, though it's been a few years now. There are still a few faces (usernames? ) here that I recognize!! I was feeling pretty frustrated with my weight loss goals today and thinking I really missed having this group around, and got the urge to see if it even still exists. I'm glad to see it does! I don't see a March thread yet but I think I'll be back for that one when it's up!

Wishing you all strong February finishes!! YOU GOT THIS!!

Looking forward to seeing you next month!

 

[HappyGrape]

The door is always open, you can join us now if you wish!

Gratitude Thursday

What are you grateful for today?

 

[PollyannaMom]

What are you grateful for today?

DS is going to be home from college for the weekend! I'm going up to get him today.

 

[MickeyMom76]

I’m grateful for choices. I am not always the most decisive person. And when I have trouble make a decision, my husband often offers me more choices. For me, that usually just makes the decision harder to make. But I am embracing the fact that having choices is a good thing. Choices in all areas of life, from foods eat to vacation spots. We are very fortunate to have many options from which to choose.

 

[sweetpeama]

I do a major grocery shop every 6 weeks or so depending on what we need. This is usually when I purchase things such as boxed potatoes, rice, pasta, canned soups basically dry goods that can keep for a while. 90-95% of our meat is either from the hog(s) we get as our pasture rent or hunted by DH though I do purchase things like chicken usually breasts but occasionally thighs or quarters and once in a while a whole chicken, once in a while a small turkey or a turkey breast, occasionally when it's on sale 10 pounds of extra lean ground beef. I would buy more but they always limit me to 10 pounds and you have to have the store app which is tied to your phone number. The nice thing is they will package it how you want so if we are running low on meat and tight on funds I can ask for it in 12 3/4 pound packages and a thirteenth in a 1 pound package so that I can get more meals out of it. Most recipes you can get by reducing the amount of meat by a little bit such as if you use hamburger helper and not effect the flavor. I also tend to stock up on frozen fruit and vegetables along with frozen potatoes such as tator tots, and fries (we bake them not fry them) on this trip.
Every 2 weeks tends to be a what are we out of that we use regularly in more than one recipe or could just be used together. This might be boxed macaroni and cheese, processed cheese in blocks or cans aka velveta or cheese whiz, peanut butter, dry cold cereal or oatmeal depending what we are out of. I also pick up fresh produce that tends to last longer such as apples, oranges, cabbage, carrots, and potatoes. This is also where we tend to buy our cheese blocks
Every week is usually a produce run date varies as I like to go on Fridays but if we run out of time I have gone on Sunday morning or even put it off till Tuesday and have DH go after taking 12 year old to speech therapy. On this one we get what we are out of along with the produce that tends to have a shorter shelf life such as celery for eatting as I like it a bit crunchier, cucumbers, mushrooms, lettuce.
As needed stops done by DH on his way home from work so he is shopping between 1 and 4 am to pick up things like milk, bread, and small items we have ran out of.

While I generally plan what we are going to have each week I am fairly flexible with moving dates around, dropping stuff out if we get too many leftovers in the fridge, my fibro is acting up and 15 year old is not in the mood to cook a full meal for us-that is when it is a frozen meal for me, items like hot pockets or pizza rolls for 15 year old and corn dogs in the microwave for 12 year old. I also plan to make something different if we have ran out of items and I have not caught it to let DH know the night prior or we are short on money till payday. Most common seems to be changing items that call for cheese because 12 year old tends to find the cheese and just eat it. OK I am glad she is choosing a healthy food and considering she is at a 25% for her BMI it's not going to add that much more fat for her-we actually have to watch her that she does not dip below 15% BMI at that point her medical team tells us to start feeding her every high calorie food we can get her to take including peanut butter smoothies and shakes.