kareno

Thanks, Doug! I've felt like I can really relate to you, so I appreciate that. Robert and I have traveled a lot together for lots of vegan events... Maybe someday we'll have an excuse to "have to" go to England! Today I took a rest day from exercise. Not feeling bad or depressed or anything - just took a day off. Breakfast: chocolate strawberry oatmeal. YUMM!! (oats, chia seeds, strawberries, and unsweetened cocoa powder) Lunch: At coffee shop: ordered herbal tea and salad with tempeh, hummus, cucumber, sprouts, tomato. Dinner: pumpkin-sage pasta and garlic bread. Tried my first recipes from the Happy Herbivore cookbook, and it wasn't good. I wanted so much to like it. Bummer. I'll keep trying more recipes. Snack: raspberry almond Truebar

Good job! Have fun in CO!!! It's supposed to be a snowy weekend...

Where do you live, if I may ask? The best yogurt I've found so far is WholeSoy & Co. (hello, key lime!) You can check it out here, and they have a store locator, as well: http://www.wholesoyco.com/store-locator. I see a downloadable request form there, too. Good luck with that!

Safe travels, Patrik!

I had several setbacks this month as well. It happens to the best of us, eh? You're doing so great, though! Keep at it!

You're doing great, Sherrie! Feel well soon.

Hey there, Glais! Yeah, I was also going to suggest soy yogurt, which I think is really good. I'm not as big a fan of almond yogurt as I used to be. But, if you're into making your own, maybe it wouldn't be half bad! And there are more than a few non-dairy coffee creamers, if you're interested in trying them, including flavored coconut milk creamers. Yumm!! If you have any specific questions or need advice, I'm happy to help out if I can, so feel free to reach out! I'm subscribed to your journal here, so post here or in my journal, or private message me, etc. How is your fitness aspect going? Good luck!!

Mary, that's fantastic!!! You did such an awesome job this month! We'll be posting an announcement soon with details on claiming prize packages for eligible journals. I'm glad VBB was able to provide you with the tools and support for improvement. Consistency all comes from YOU, though, so you have much to be proud of!!! Hope you'll stick around VBB beyond January and stay an active part of the community here! Karen

Happy birthday, Matt! Hope you had a great one!!

Hey Kane! You've done such an awesome job this month for the NYNY challenge, with consistency in journaling and training. Congratulations!!!! We'll be posting an announcement soon with regards to eligibility for the prize package, so just be on the lookout for that! Fantastic work, and I'm so thrilled that you've seen results! Hope you'll stick around the VBB forum even after the challenge is over and continue to share in the community with your results and encouragement! All the best, Karen

Doug, you've been so amazing this month! I mean, on the one hand, as one of the organizers of this New You for the New Year Challenge, you've been amazing with your consistency in journaling and exercise! And on the other hand, on a personal level, you've been incredibly encouraging and kind to me on my own journey towards health and fitness! You're very inspiring!!! Thanks for everything! ~Karen

Hey Jessica! I responded to your question about calories and the myfitnesspal app over on my journal. But, I honestly don't think you need to spend 2 hours in the gym. I'm no expert by any means, but I'm sure as long as you're being productive in the hour that you're putting in at the gym, you ARE making a difference! But it seems to me like you're putting a lot of pressure on yourself in terms of specific numbers. I could sense your frustration in your last post, and felt it too! If you are being consistent and productive, you're doing great!! Maybe you need to be p-a-t-i-e-n-t! Trust me, I know it's not easy. I've needed to lose weight for a long time, and haven't been on a scale in a couple weeks and am scared to get on it again and not see a drop. But, I'm trying to focus less on specific pounds and dates and just to readjust my focus to being healthy. I wish you the very best!!!

Jessica: Well, for the longest time I aimed for 1200 calories because that's what the program told me, but for over a year I was always going over 1200 and feeling like a failure. Finally, after working with Amanda, she told me to aim and plan for more than 1200 calories - more like 1300-1600, or something like that. The reason for that was two-fold: 1) I'd be more likely to succeed. 2) I'll likely need to lower my calories later on down the road after losing some weight, and 1200 is the minimum anyone should have anyway. So, I manually adjusted the settings on my profile to make 1400 my base goal, and then work from there, depending on how many calories I figure I burn working out. Does that make sense? Does it answer your question? Doug: You're ridiculous (in a good way)! Thanks for trying to cheer me up with your silly jokes. You crack me up, you diamond geezer, you! Iris: "Perfection is the enemy of good enough." I love that! That's a great quote! I can totally see the value in that. Hey, let me know if you end up trying the ACV thing. I only did it one day, but not the past 2 days. It's not the easiest thing to get down!! Amanda: YOU are so wonderful! I'm so, so, so thankful I was able to have you as my coach this month. Thanks so much for agreeing to do the program, and for agreeing to coach me. You've really inspired me a lot with your wealth of knowledge and experience! You are a beautiful and generous soul! OK... Last day of the NYNY challenge! Gosh, as I said in another post (to Amanda), I feel like we're all saying our goodbyes on the last day of school before summer vacation, and that we're all going separate ways! NO! I intend to be here tomorrow just as today, and on February 2 just as January 2, and so on! I hope most people will continue to stay an active part of the VBB community and help motivate and support and educate one another! Today I went to the gym, but didn't manage to complete anything other than my C25K run. Started the week 3 runs today, which meant that my "long" runs were 3x longer than my runs when I started 2 weeks ago! I know that considering a 3-minute run "long" is laughable by most standards, but doing three of them today was hard for me! I worked up quite a sweat, which felt awesome! In any case, I'm actually quite sore from yesterday, and after finishing the C25K run, I just looked around and didn't feel like doing anything else, so I went home. My eating was a little off-kilter today. I got up pretty late, so my meal times got off. Then, mid-day, I ate un-balanced and random stuff, so by dinner, I just had a fruit and spinach protein smoothie. So, I still managed to end the day fairly on-target in terms of calories. "Brunch": Leftover salad from last night and the last of the enchiladas from a few nights ago. Mid-day: "quesadillas" with Daiya Dinner: smoothie Snacks: soy yogurt Hope to continue seeing all of you well into February... and December!

Hey Carolina! I'm bummed that you haven't posted in a while, but I also understand that sometimes life gets in the way of things. Hey, we're planning to host a Summer ShapeUp challenge, similar to this New You for the New Year Challenge, so maybe you can join us again for that one! In the meantime, stick around the VBB forum website and keep posting, as lots of us will still be here to encourage and motivate and learn from one another! All the best! Karen

Amanda, we're so lucky to have YOU! You've been so generous with your time and efforts, and thank you SO MUCH! Your knowledge and experience has been invaluable. And your support, incredible! Thank you for being so awesome! Gosh, I feel like we're all saying our goodbyes, like it's the last day of school before summer break! Whereas, I hope that in actuality, little will change between today and tomorrow! Haha! Thanks for being so awesome!!!!!

Hey iris, you've done such a great job this month with the New You for the New Year Challenge! You've done an awesome job with your consistency in journaling and fitness! We'll be posting an announcement soon with details about eligibility for the prize package and all that jazz. Hope you'll stick around VBB through February and beyond! All the best, Karen

Hey Miranda, you've done such a great job this month with the New You for the New Year Challenge! You've done an awesome job with your consistency in journaling and fitness! We'll be posting an announcement soon with details about eligibility for the prize package and all that jazz. Hope you'll stick around VBB through February and beyond! All the best, Karen

Hey Carley, you've done such a great job this month with the New You for the New Year Challenge! You've done an awesome job with your consistency in journaling and fitness! We'll be posting an announcement soon with details about eligibility for the prize package and all that jazz. Hope you'll stick around VBB through February and beyond! All the best, Karen

Jesse, you've been doing so great this month with the New You for the New Year Challenge! You've done an awesome job with your consistency in journaling and fitness! We'll be posting an announcement soon with details about eligibility for the prize package and all that jazz. Hope you'll stick around VBB through February and beyond! All the best, Karen

Awesome job, Lisa! I'm really looking forward to being able to run that long, but for now I'm only in week 3 of the Couch-to-5k program, so running 3 minutes is still a challenge for me! Hahaha! Have a wonderful time in CO! I live an hour north of Denver. It's been unseasonably warm here - sounds like the same where you are! Anyhow, have a safe and fun time! Great job this month with the New You for the New Year Challenge! You've done an awesome job with your consistency in journaling and fitness! We'll be posting an announcement soon with details about eligibility for the prize package and all that jazz. Hope you'll stick around VBB through February and beyond! All the best, Karen

Happy Birthday, Sherrie!!!!!!! Have a wonderful day and a blessed year ahead! Way to finish up the January NYNY Challenge strong! Let's keep going strong in February!!!!!! I love VeganProteins and VeganEssentials! Super wonderful people running both those companies. Can't go wrong supporting them! Have a wonderful birthday, Sherrie!

I'm bummed, I just saw your journal for the first time just now. You've been so consistent and motivated, and if I'd noticed before now, I would have been cheering you on all month! Anyway, you've just done so awesome(ly?), and you should be proud! Like Robert said, this forum is for all kinds of people, so don't feel out of place. That being said, I do love to read that you've been slowly transitioning to a vegan diet anyhow. Hehe! Great job on your journal, and keep up the awesome work!! All the best! Karen

Hey sandra! Just wanted to say that your journal is impressive and inspiring! Love the consistency and motivation!

Thanks for the encouragement, Amanda! I know I just get a little neurotic about certain things sometimes. Great suggestions, thanks! Sherrie, thank you for your kind words. No nightmares last night that I remember, but just haven't been sleeping very well. I use the My Fitness Pal app. I think it's great! You can also use the website, and the two sync up. I've also heard great things about the Livestrong app. Today I met with a trainer at the gym. It was OK. Nothing groundbreaking, but it was still a good experience for me. I did a few minutes on the rowing machine, followed by 1 or 2 sets of 12 reps of: seated cable chest, wall ball squats, assisted chin-up, lunges/side squats, seated DB raises, and step-ups. I realized today that I need to start doing wrist exercises, as my wrists are really weak. I felt a lot of pain in my wrists, as well as between my thumb/index finger. After I finished up with him, I did 20 minutes on the stair-climber (50 steps/min, ~60 floors), then 20 minutes of 4.0 walking on the treamill. Breakfast: grapefruit, oatmeal with chia, strawberries, and a splash of almond milk Lunch: Green smoothie with PlantFusion protein powder Dinner: Salad with kidney beans and Gardein chick'n strips, and garlic bread Pre-exercise: Vega Energizer Post-exercise: banana I'm ready to finish out January strong tomorrow!!! My mom had a setback in her recovery. She had a bad reaction to something and wound up in the ER yesterday and passed out today. Broke out in hives, her face swelled (said she was unrecognizable), and she couldn't breathe. Scary! Hopefully, they figure out what caused the reaction soon!

Nice, Sherrie! Yeah, moving is a TON of work, and that's so nice of you guys to help out your friend! P.S. I love reading your food journal!