erikahollister's Journal, 14 October 2016

Changing up the exercise often helps me get over a slump. Good Luck. 

I see you are thinking of a Beast Mode challenge. I could do that. 

Do you still work with the same student population in another capacity during the off-season or do you get a break now? 

I've seen a Beast Mode challenged mention on FS before. What is it exactly? 

It's one meal a day with total calories under maintenance. Usually participants do include some sort of fat in their morning coffee. 

Kpw- I'm certified as an Earth Science teacher, but end up teaching topics in biology and contemporary sustainability topics. At one of my locations my classroom is a heated greenhouse, so we grow a salad garden and potted flowers all winter :). I just ordered a wholesale batch of amaryllis and paperwhites to give the students something to grow and give as holiday gifts! I love my greenhouse - and they love it too. Its like a tropical island in the snow and ice of mid-winter Massachusetts. - must cost the state a fortune it heat costs, but I think it does the residents more good than all the mental health services that they get! @ PhillySue - Beast Mode has been my most successful intermittent fasting so far. It's a one meal per day approach. I drink creamed coffee all day, then have one feeding window of 2-4 hours. I lost weight very well on this and found it quite intense, but doable. So, a 20:4 IF. It imposes a discipline that really works for me. Phil (are you there) did it for months ver successfully. Want to give it a try? I'll post a challenge, if we get a response. LadyinDenim - that would be great, even if it's just the two -- or a few of us! 

What's up with that Erica? Last week you were promising Ladyin denim to lose 8 by Nov 30th. Come on here Sistah, we said we wouldn't let anyone drop the ball here... so again, what's up with that "inconstant diet". 🙇‍♀️ Is there an emoji for "tongue in cheek" ? Do you remember Aretha Franklin,WE ARE FAMILY, IVE GOT ALL MY SISTERS WITH ME...LIKE JIMMYPOOP SAYS #grindtime 💩 

I pretty much live in beast mode these days...so count me in! 

I'd be interested in beast mode to since I pretty well live it now 

LOL Sarah1950 - that's the way! We all are here together! 

I'd give it a go... 

That greenhouse sounds wonderful! The beast mode sounds like what I'm pretty much (not entirely) trying to do at least twice a week, so I can do this. Let me know when it starts. 

LOL @ "JIMMYPOOP!" 

Oh Erika I wish you could come to my house and show me how.. Sure, I could google.. but its not the same as good old conversation! I had a small apartment and grew peppers and tomatoes, along with some herbs in the kitchen. I got soil to refill when needed and ended up getting fungus gnats! Hubs said all the plants how to go. They were all over. Now, I'm in a bigger place, with a balcony. I'd really love to get something on the balcony, but worried about having to bring them all in during the winter time. Hubs would be paranoid... Anything that will sort of hibernate out there and be ok til next season?  

**edit** all the plants 'had' to go...  

Pickles. Most veggies are annuals, so they need to be planted anew each spring. Even the few things (parsley, chives, sage, oregano etc.) that might winter over are less likely to do so in pots. The pots freeze harder than plant in the ground. So plan to start fresh each spring with seeds and seedlings. 

Wash out you pots with a mild chlorine solution. Those soil gnats leave eggs. Don't bring them in the house. They will infest all your plants; then they're hard to get rid of. The natural solution in nematodes - they eat the gnat larvae. Counter-espionage! 

Back at ya Sistah Sarah! Join my challenge: Beast Mode! Are you down for it? 

No... "beast mode" hehehe. I'm a couch potatoe. The most I do is walk 2 miles a few times a week. I know it sounds too involved for me.  

I'm telling you, it's every time I buy Miracle Gro soil it ruins my plants!! This last batch gave my house plants Spider Mites...