Living Maintenance - Operation Take 5 (or 10)

Good morning Maintainers!

It has come to my attention that several of us are 5-10 lbs over where we want to be.

My 10 lbs were originally souviners from Paris, but I should have lost them by now. I really, really should have.

For me, this effort to lose 5-10 lbs is very different from my overall weight loss effort. Because I am close to my goal weight, I don't have that constant drive. I have an occasional drive. And then I sidetrack myself. It is like, 2 steps forward, 1 step back, 1 step forward, 1 step back. Fortunately I am not gaining. I think my body has hit a set point.

It is my own fault. I have no one or nothing to blame but my own food choices. The No Excuses thread is good for accountability, but I would like to start this thread to capture my Drive and Determination. Like Robin says, it is about commitment.

I've been jerking around with these 10 lbs long enough and I declare that I have had enough. They are toast. I am going into full blown weight loss mode, no BLTs. Back to basics and all that stuff.

Anyone who wants to kick 5 or 10 or 15 lbs off their rear or thighs or whatever is welcome to join me.

My plan: return to daily weighing. Water, water, water. Intervals/speedwork rather than steady state all the time. Clean eats....there are no holidays or parties or anything for the next 2 months, so this is war. Forget Rocky, I'm channeling Rambo here people!

Midwife~although I didn't gain on my trip to Italy, I am at least 10 pounds over goal. Well, more like 15, but I need to lose 10 to get below that dreaded 'red line.'

I'll join you!!!

To start, I'm back on the treadmill at least 3 times a week. (Last week I tried and ended up renewing the blisters on my feet--but they're gone now!). Secondly, I vow to abstain from alcohol except for one on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I know this combination works for me because it is what I employed to lose 10 pounds before going to Italy. It took 3-4 weeks to lose those 10, so I hope by the end of September to see 140 instead of 150.

Have you checked out the featherweights forum, it is designed for exactly what you describe.. those of us trying to lose those last few pounds. I still check it out every day, It was very helpful to me when I was trying to lose those last stubborn 10 pounds. I recommend the featherweights forum , there are a great bunch of people posting there, just as this one.

Midwife, it is an honor and a pleasure to join you in this battle.
I actually brought a scale up to our cabin in upstate NY and weighed daily. My food choices tended to be medium-ok in nature along with decreased exercise, but I held fairly steady at 124-126. Vacation ended with a big weekend bash that I made for dh's bday. I baked 6 cakes including 2 icecream cakes.

Dang, it was all very tasty--- get my drift???

So, we returned home and I left my scale in the country and bought a new one for home. It said 134!! I thought maybe it was wrong. I told my husband, you know I gained ten pounds. You see, I was carefully avoiding all skinny clothes so I could believe the info was false. He said, yeah, you're all bulgey. hmmm.

Still disbelieving to a certain degree, I did finally adjust my food choices and saw 131 on the scale yesterday. Yesterday, working in a medical ofice, I checked on a "real" scale. Yup, 131. AND I balanced it to make sure the reading was true.

BACK ON PLAN for me.

I am in! Though I do have some challenges coming up, all the more reason to be REALLY OP when I can, so that the inevitables (Sarah's birthday, which will be an OP meal, but with cake, of which I'll have a slice and then send the rest to her work the next day, and a 10 day Europe vacation...) will be mitigated, somewhat.

OK, the plan - Continue with the 1300-1400 calorie days. Up cardio by 20 min/day, at least 3 times a week. Only water, protein shakes if they're planned, and iced tea for drinking. More errands on my bike.

Gosh, me too. It's both a little more weight I want to lose, and also getting back to eating and exercising the ways that make me feel so much better. You're right, it is so much different than losing the first part, because I might be happier in 5-10 pounds, but where I'm at ain't bad. This past month I have at least stopped the slow gain :)

Oh, yes, hello, I'm here too! I'm glad I have good company for the fight (not that I'm glad that any of us need this fight, but YKWIM).

As I posted in the maintainers chat thread yesterday, my friend put up a photo on facebook of me at my 5-year reunion in May. It was a wake-up call to say the least. Every single one of the 20 lbs I've gained above my so-called red line showed in that picture. It was really embarrassing for me, even more so than just a "fat picture" from before I lost "the" weight, b/c now I'm supposed to still be skinny, ya know? I've known my weight's been creeping up, made several attempts over the past 2 years to curb it and after a few lbs lost been unsuccessful, known my pants are tighter and tighter but somehow didn't think I looked that bad.

It's really been about the food for me. I work out quite a bit. I must get my food intake under control. Even if I have "special events" there will be no special food events, or indulgences, for a while. Period. (I just can't do moderation, so while I'm losing I need to cut out the treats altogether.)

It's sad to say I'm not very hopeful right now, b/c I've been so unsuccessful for the past 2 years. But I know you can do it, and I hope I can to! :carrot: I'm going to try to talk the talk and hope that will get me to walk the walk.

:wave:

:drill: Signing up for duty :drill:

Jay

Yea, yea, yea!! Such great company!!!

Allison--I am so impressed you didn't gain on your Italy trip. Sounds like you have a great plan!

Bargoo--I really ought to check out the Featherweights Forum. Funnily, I send other people there often enough but I have a mental block about considering myself to be a featherweight---even though I do understand the purpose of the forum and that I would also be welcome there. I'll poke my head in!

Aw, Kitty, I feel a little bulgy too. :hug: Scales can sure cause a mind trip, can't they. I'm proud of you for getting on it. I'm chugging water today and I can tell I'm diuresing from some, ah, sodium on Saturday. And carbs. Tomorrow I shall face the scale!

Yeah, Amanda! Sounds like a great plan! I know you'll do a great job with a small slice of cake for Sarah's birthday. I hadn't realized you were going to Europe! Do better than I did, 'kay? Where are you going? What are your plans?

Great job stopping the gain, Julie! :hug: We can reinstitute consistent choices together!

Hi Megan! I saw in the main thread that you might be a little hesitant to talk about recommitting to the weight loss. Don't be!!! It takes as many times as it takes and hopefully this thread will light a fire under all of our rear ends as we need it to.

Yeah Jay!!! It's nice to have a drill seargeant around! Do you know that I think of you sometimes when I am trying to justify junk food? I know what you would say and it helps me make a different choice.

Guys, count me in! I'm 10lbs above red line, 15 above goal. My "operation cut out the snacking" was working, until I ate at restaurants for three meals this weekend and I'm up 3lbs as a result. Sigh.

Guys, count me in! I'm 10lbs above red line, 15 above goal. My "operation cut out the snacking" was working, until I ate at restaurants for three meals this weekend and I'm up 3lbs as a result. Sigh.

Can you imagine restaurants 3 times a day for 10 days? The solution? Salads. Lots of salads. And walking. Lots of walking (but I know you already do a lot of exercise!).

I am soooo IN!
I have been dithering around forever to get off these 10lbs which is now closer to 20.
Plan = journal all food
= more H2O
= good session of exercise at least 4X/week
= no more than 2 'happy hrs'/week
= no shopping when hungry
= quit with the excuses already!!

I've been pretty good today - went a little over on my snack portion of plantain chips:o

Look forward to heading down the slim path with you all.

-S

This is gonna sound like a cop out (forgive the expression - I'm old) but I'm in the day after Labour Day. We're going to northern Ontario from Fri. - Mon. and there are very limited healthy food choices there. I will do my best and then really get down to business on Sept. 8.

I adjusted my original goal up 5 lbs. and have been about 5 lbs. off the new goal weight for OVER A YEAR! Enough!!!

Dagmar :headache: (this is my determined face)

I'll stop by and :cheer: everyone on. It will be an incentive to KEEP me OP during this stressful first month of school starting!

Yea, yea, yea!! Such great company!!!



Aw, Kitty, I feel a little bulgy too. :hug: Scales can sure cause a mind trip, can't they. I'm proud of you for getting on it. I'm chugging water today and I can tell I'm diuresing from some, ah, sodium on Saturday. And carbs. Tomorrow I shall face the scale!

.

Fewer bulges here today. But as mentioned by some posting chicks, my mindset in maintaining is more short term and of course, my goal is long term. This thread is a great tool to help me remember that.

small tangent--Re dh and his blunder of bulge mention... I did feel a tad stung, but I know he did not mean to hurt me. He is just a guy. When I got a little snippy with him and reused the word BULGY (another tangent, I can never spell bingy or bulgy) he said, "oh, is that why you are being short with me? Your arms, legs and butt are tiny, it's just your belly that shows your gain. You got really svelt for a while there. I know you will/can lose it if you want."

I know he is right.

have a good day maintaining chicks!

Yessssssssssssssssssss, sign me up. I have vacations this month AND next month and I'm just DETERMINED not to allow them to stop me from getting below 140. Or at the very least not gain anything, as I did when I went to Italy!

I have to give up the tequila and dark chocolate on the weekends, gah.

Kitty, I think that the thing is that when men comment on weight, they do so as a fact, not as a moral judgment. Women (at least some women!) can take such comments personally sometimes and men just mean them as a fact.

Welcome Dag & Counting Down (yes we need all the :cheer: we can get!)

Jo, YOU didn't gain in Italy either? Clearly France has more delicious food. It couldn't be that I did anything differently than you and Allison....:)

Well, I weighed this morning. 159. Could've been way way worse!

Are you kidding? I *DID* gain in Italy. I ate gobs of bruschetta and drank barrels of wine. Literally.

What I meant was that I want to avoid that kind of gain happening with the next 2 vacations!

Ah, okay, I misread......good luck with the tequila & dark chocolate!

LOL. We're doing Paris and Greece. The French food isn't going to be as much an issue for me (it's always too rich and makes me sort of ill feeling, at least when I've had it in good restaurants here), and while I may have a pastry (because you can't NOT have one croissant in France) I intend to do a lot of walking and we're not going to be there long. Greece, though, is going to be trouble...I LOVE greek food. I hope to stay with the lighter/healthier/delicious stuff instead of relying mostly on heavier dishes. And to walk.

Scale liked my commitment! Even though I'm up an hour and a half earlier than usual, it was down!

Amanda~I'm so jealous! We're thinking of our next vacation and Greece is where I'd like to go.

The way not to gain on vacation is to walk everywhere, all day long!!! That's what we did (and trust me, we ate and drank TONS!). But as soon as we got to whatever town we were visiting, we'd leave the car at the hotel and walk. It seems like we walked at least 6 hours a day. It really made all the difference.

Kitty, I think that the thing is that when men comment on weight, they do so as a fact, not as a moral judgment. Women (at least some women!) can take such comments personally sometimes and men just mean them as a fact.

I agree. That is why I did not really get crazy. He's a guy is most of the explanation. My snippiness has to do with the fact that I am NOT a guy.

Well, I weighed this morning. 159. Could've been way way worse!

YAY!

Do you have room for a late joiner? I definitely need to re-commit, my scale keeps creeping up!

I think the main culprit in my gain has been lack of consistent exercise. Doing a couple flights of stairs several times a day is great, but it can't count as my only exercise! :o

I agree with Allison on the vacation trick - I was in Europe after I graduated high school and I ate LOTS but I walked everywhere and I actually lost about 10 lbs in 5 weeks. Come to think of it.... a European vacation would be a great method of weight loss, if only I could work it in! ;)

This is gonna sound like a cop out (forgive the expression - I'm old) but I'm in the day after Labour Day. We're going to northern Ontario from Fri. - Mon. and there are very limited healthy food choices there. I will do my best and then really get down to business on Sept. 8.

I have a cop out too. Can't even think about starting up C25K right now, as there is ash floating around in my air! But that's no excuse for not getting up early to do my yoga :o

Amanda - can I stow away in your suitcase? I'll pay the extra luggage fee! Sounds like a DREAM vacation for me :D

I walked and ran like an absolute mad woman for the 3 weeks I was in Italy and I still gained weight. Because I can eat ALOT and I can drink even more. *Sigh*

Jo, I'm pretty sure we were separated at birth. My gain was total food/wine related even though I walked a ton. When we were in London, we walked for 8+ hrs straight.

Greece sounds amazing!! I'm very jealous!

POP today with some gum and water helping with the munchies. How'd everyone else do? (Mud & Julie, you start when you can!). Iris, it is never too late to join!

It has been my dream vacation for some time. Last July, my wife's grandpa died and left some money to the family. Her dad had gone to Italy about 9 months beforehand, and brought Papa back a bottle of really good wine. He kept saving it for a special occasion, and he never drank it before he died. So when he passed, we opened it, toasted him, and promised that we would always "drink the good wine" so to speak, which translated into using a portion of the money for this trip. So it has been a year in the making.

I've never been overseas (only Mexico and Canada) so I'm pretty flipping thrilled.

The scale is still liking my commitment and my being POP, which is where I'm headed today as well.

Does anyone else tend to overeat or eat less healthy things when you're feeling a cold coming on? That eensy bit on throat irritation always leads me the wrong direction... tonight i had some ice cream, which at least came in a single-serving cup so it was portion controlled, but is NOT going to help me get back down to 125!

To those who gained in Europe - I ate a lot but I didn't drink THAT much... maybe that's why I still managed to lose.

Mandalinn, your wife's grandpa sounds like my dad - he's still alive, but big on saving things for "special occasions" which actually means they just collect dust. Enjoy the vacation - sounds great!

Does anyone else tend to overeat or eat less healthy things when you're feeling a cold coming on?
For me hot teas (all kinds) and sugar free throat lozenges really keep me from that hand-to-mouth habit when the throat gets scratchy.
Of course, with all that tea, I need to place myself strategically near a restroom :lol:

I'd love to go to Greece, it looks gorgeous. A couple friends of mine were there a few months ago and their pictures were phenomenal!

I was POP yesterday and broke the no booze/chocolate/snacks news to my husband who looked as if he might cry, lol.

Getting ready to head to the gym for chest/shoulders/arms and a couple miles on the treadmill. My legs are sore from running 6 miles outside yesterday, particularly my inner thighs, which feels odd.

Good morning chicks. I am on the train, wearing my running clothes. Plan to run even tho I am on a later train than I usually take.
Food choices yesterday, mostly op. I had some pretzels- better that than chocolate. I even passed up the cheesecake tastes at the market.

Scale stayed same due to massive sodium in dinner, but I am ok with that. I am staying op today with a full fridge of good choices for dinner and all other meals, snacks in my backpack.
Let's make it a good op day!

I think I'm going to have to delay my start of going back to losing as well. This week is so crazy at work that I have no time for exercise, this weekend we have a fancy dinner, next week I'm on vacation, and the following weekend is my birthday involving another fancy dinner.

So count me in on Sept. 14th. :p

Yesterday was right on. Scale is 160 this am. Of course I did a lot of legs on Monday night, so I'm thinking DOMS and water retention.

Great job with the food and exercise choices everyone!!

Jessica, start when you can! Enjoy the fancy dinners!

Hi ladies. I sure would like to join you in this adventure. I have been maintaining for almost 9 weeks now, but rarely visit this section because I really don't feel like a maintainer...I guess because secretly I would still like to lose around 10 more pounds. My weight fluctuates between 152-155 and I would LOVE to fluctuate between 142-145. Problem is I have been thoroughly enjoying my treats. I'm POP Monday thru Thursday and then everything goes a little haywire during the weekend.

I too have absolutely no excuse for the next 2 months to be like a rock and finally get the remainder of this weight off. Maybe I'll get a new ticker too. Besides one family gathering on Sunday, there are no holidays, birthdays, vacations or special events really planned until Halloween.

Oh my yes, I neeeeed to join in! I came back from a visit "up north" a full 10 pounds over redline! :fr: My run has turned into a waddle and it is just Not Good.

I've seen a couple of those pounds drop back off, but weekends are just my nemesis. I do great all week, and then just totally lose it over the weekend. I know from past experience, that one really bad day will derail any weight loss for the the entire week. I have to get my weekend mojo back.

I'm good at keeping up with the exercise program, but I have GOT to stay away from the sweets and junk ...

Amanda~a fun book to read before Italy is Living in a Foreign Language (http://www.amazon.com/Living-Foreign-Language-Memoir-Italy/dp/B002EQ9LJY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1251908049&sr=8-1) by Michael Tucker (of LA Law fame). It really helped me in a few ways (what to expect when going out to eat, how to drive, and that the local wine is often just as good as a more expensive bottle). I read it on the plane on the way over (well, I started it before we left). Have fun on your trip!

CountingDown, tea would have been the better choice than ice cream for sure! Of course I'm already somewhat of a "pee machine" with all the water I drink!

TylerDurden, your husband's reaction would probably be the same as my boyfriend's if I told him I wasn't going to drink anymore... Poor guys! Luckily my bf and I are long distance at the moment I'm not affecting him too much and I'm sure he'll love the result - a more svelte and confident me.

My scale is being kind this week. I am sort of wondering if the painkillers for the shoulder were messing with me and raising the scale up - the original injury was in June, and I've been on and off them ever since, but I haven't taken any since Sunday (still hurts, but I am tired of being loopy and sluggish...it's manageable with ice most of the time) and so far, have dropped 5 lbs. In 5 days. To a level that, while not great, is only 6-7 lbs above my low-happy weight (and 1-2 over redline) instead of 12 (and 6-7 over redline).

I'm happy about this, obviously, but a little annoyed that I've been panicking about my weight for a month and a half while working my butt off, only to realize that likely, it was less about ME and more about the stupid meds. Oy.

Welcome Lori and MBN!!!

Amanda, yea for the scale!!! I remember your frustration with it---it's nice to have it finally behave. I'll breathe a sigh of relief when I am within a lb or 2 of my redline.

:woohoo: Some good numbers posted already! :cheer:

We have dinner out tomorrow night, I'm off to check out the menu online. Plan, plan, plan ;)

Amanda, that's great! I'd be irked too, but it is still great news!

Scale this am: 159.5.

Exercise today: sprint intervals (so fun!)
Today's challenge: a work meeting that is sort-of potluck. I'll eat before I go.

Have a good one all!

Midwife, I'm gonna catch you, I swear! :running:

Jay

Hi Megan! I saw in the main thread that you might be a little hesitant to talk about recommitting to the weight loss. Don't be!!! It takes as many times as it takes and hopefully this thread will light a fire under all of our rear ends as we need it to.

Thanks, midwife. I just feel like I've posted so many times in the past two years "going to get this 5 (10, 15...) lbs off". I do well for a few weeks, then fall off the wagon for a few weeks, back on, etc. What is the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result, or something like that? I've sort of gotten to that point.

All the more reason to just do it already, though, and you know I appreciate the support!

I wish I had weighed myself before my 3-day, 2-night trip but I did really well while I was gone. 12 dives in 2 days plus hauling dive gear and tons of really heavy samples burned mega calories, and I made really good food choices. I didn't join my companions in their McD's shakes and fries, or fried food at the seafood restaurant. My only downfall was one night of sushi, everything else was totally OP. I think it's a good start to my recommitment! Normally I go nuts on all trips out of my comfort zone and away from my own kitchen.

Amanda, I'm so glad the scale is cooperating!

Lori, even if you decide your goal weight is 10 lbs lower, you are still maintaining the loss you've already had - you're definitely a maintainer!

We can do it, we can do it! :carrot:

I just wanted to pop my head in and say that you guys are doing great! :):cheer:

I'm glad there is a thread like this! Having already reached goal once and working to get a few pounds off to get back to it has a different feel to me than trying to lose the last few pounds when I was originally dieting, and this provides an outlet for that. Though I'm totally hoping I can keep the number I saw on the scale today and get to be a cheerleader! :)

Pre-trip weight 159...managed to get down to 150 before I left (took about a month).
Post trip weight 150.
Two weeks post trip? Still 150. At least I have not gained.
Still, I was hoping to be more like 148 by now. Goal? Right now the goal is 140 and we'll see from there. I maintained at 136-139 for a couple of years and felt really good there.

Today was POP for me, and I happily proved that I can be an actual grownup and have 1 glass of red wine with my dinner and not trot down the snacky garden path afterwards...

Ahhhhh, after 1 hour on the bike and 1 glass of wine and a perfectly healthy and scrumptuous day I feel goooood!

Pre-trip weight 159...managed to get down to 150 before I left (took about a month).
Post trip weight 150.
Two weeks post trip? Still 150. At least I have not gained.
Still, I was hoping to be more like 148 by now. Goal? Right now the goal is 140 and we'll see from there. I maintained at 136-139 for a couple of years and felt really good there.

It's awesome that you didn't gain AT ALL on your trip. I applaud you!

POP day here :) Gorgeous summer weather (FINALLY) and the scale is still at 117.6 :)
http://www.amcmotivationalspeaker.co.uk/images/gallery/hooray.giffor everyone making progress! This thread was a GREAT idea :D

Slow start for me - I am avoiding the scale because I have a nasty case of PMS.
Everything is tight...uggh.
On the bright side - I did the 30 day shred just now and i really didn't want to.
I had already talked myself out of it - but did it anyway.
Babysteps.
Very encouraging to see everyone doing so well - I will not give up.

Must account for a not op kinda night. Dinner at friends' ,multiple entrees, all eaten, smores(sss) and watermelon after.

Tomorrow, more friends over to our house for bbq and snacks. Let me remind myself that nothing tastes as good as being thin feels.

well - today was NOT op for me... I became irritated with rude people and irrationally thought eating more (umm, and more CRAP) would make me feel better. That was a very PMS-y response on my part, but it's not time for that yet so I have no real excuse! At least I avoided my co-worker's brownies. She was really nice about it - didn't wave them in my face, just mentioned they were there and dropped the subject.

Big congrats to those who were on track today, and for those like me who slipped, let's kick butt tomorrow! I'm ready to get back down in the 120's!

Great job guys! Sometimes its POP, and sometimes it's not quite, but a little better than we might have done back in the old days. Each choice counts, so lots of pats on the back for the positive choices!

I did end up eating at the meeting, but I had a green salad, watermelon, and a serving of green chile stew (chicken, veggies, green chile)....mmmmm.....now it's starting to feel like fall.

Count me in, too. Lately I've been weighing in at 127, but the scale read 129 today. Eek. I would like to reach 125 lbs. (despite my ticker, I maintained at 120 for almost a year). 120 is unrealistic for me now, but 125 is my new goal.

Today has been very on plan so far. I'm making good choices.

Everyone hang in there!!!

TGIF everyone! Let's have a great weekend! I've eaten breakfast and am preparing to go for a run then do yard work all day (ugh).

My meals are all planned out and my husband even let me plan his meals for the day, so he'll actually be eating vegetables at various points (*gasp*!). His usual Friday night dinner is 3 different kinds of meat followed by ice cream, I kid you not.

Midwife -- good luck at your 5k tomorrow!

I am back to 120.5, a little more than 5 pounds to lose to get to redline! (and another 2 or 3 to be back to comfortably mid-range). Now, I just have to survive the weekend, that's the tough part for me. This morning I printed out an unflattering photo of a significantly obese person (no offense intended to anyone) to post on my fridge along with the words: STOP EATING THAT JUNK FOOD! Hopefully that will keep my hand out of the chips (and bagels, etc)! :p

Since it's a 3 day weekend, maybe I can slip in two long runs instead of my usual one. That should help.

Hi 19!!!

Jo, if cows eat grass the eating cows is like eating grass=veggies! Right? :lol:

Weekends are tough for me, too, MBN. Well, specifically Saturdays are tough for me. But I'm feeling strong.

Like a dork, I've been weighing after my runs all this week. Today I am not running cause I want it to be a nonrun day in preparation to kick butt with my 5K tomorrow. So the scale said 161. I know better than to weigh in an inconsistent fashion! My next postrun, first am weigh in will be Sunday. That is some motivation to eat on plan Saturday!

Today I have the joy of being at a hospital (not MY hospital) all day for some tests for my 14 yo DS. I'm packing some food....I'll not be caught starving without appropriate choices, cause that is disaster for me.

I had problems yesterday with the darn candy dish at the office. Today I vow to stay away from it.

TGIF... sort of! The long weekend could be treacherous in terms of food choices!

Trying to stay back on track after my binge episode yesterday. I'll update later. as always, I'm running late this morning! I've got to get myself out of bed earlier!

I've done well yesterday & today so far. Last night I was full after dinner, BF had gone to bed early and I was reading on the couch before bed... I wanted to snack but said no. Opened my new box of decaf peppermint tea and had a nice cup while I read my book and got to bed at a good hour. That's definitely a good habit... I've been pretty good about thinking about that awful picture of me at my reunion every time I want to eat and I'm not actually hungry. I also ran 2 miles and walked 4 at the gym yesterday.

Allison, you stay away from your candy dish and I'll stay away from mine too, ok?

Midwife, way to plan ahead - planning is key! Hope everything is ok w/ DS.

19, I actually think an unflattering picture of myself would be equally motivating! I've thought about it but would be embarrassed that my BF would see it so often!

Tyler, laughing at your DH's idea of a meal...

Long weekend this weekend so I need to make sure I stay active and really am vigilant about what I eat. And drink. Let's have a good weekend all! We can do it! :carrot:

Jo, if cows eat grass the eating cows is like eating grass=veggies! Right? :lol:

Only if the cows you buy actually got to eat grass!

So far so good on the candy dish today. But it's Friday which means lunch out with DH. We were discussing our options and I couldn't decide where to go when suddenly he said he'd surprise me. He's taking me somewhere that is on the way to a job he needs to look at. It could be anywhere! My only fear is that it's the fried chicken place. Yuck. I doubt it will be Mexican because on that suggestion earlier he said the salt makes the scale go up (Saturday is his weigh in day). So, I have no idea where we're going although he says I'll like it...yikes! I hope I do like it (or that they have salads!).

I sure had a bad night's sleep last night. For some strange reason I was not tired at all. I read for an hour, too (that usually puts me to sleep) and I had taken Advil PM prior to reading. I probably only got 4 hours of sleep in all and you know what that means? I've been starving since I got up. I managed to make it so far (it's 11:30) with only an egg. I like to "save up" on Fridays for our lunch out.

Hi all - hope everyone has wonderful OP stuff planned for this weekend. DH has to work on Monday, so it is pretty much a typical weekend for us. I'm cooking ahead tonights, so that we have food ready to go all weekend. I've got a carrot-pesto-noodle bake in the oven, and salad fixings ready to go. Quinoa and veggies are set to go in the rice cooker. I think that some high-protein raspberry drops will make a nice finish.

I hope everyone has a fun, OP, and safe holiday weekend!

Laurie

The Good News today: weighed in at 128 :)

The Not-So-Good News: ate too much at my friend's BBQ. The temptation there was just too much. Ughhh!! It's so hard when everyone around is just stuffing themselves.

The Good News: I ate a cookie for dessert, and after that, I felt like, "you blew it. You did so badly tonight. You may as well taste/try all the other stuff." BUT...I stopped myself. The "what the ****" effect is so strong! I'm proud of myself that I stopped and didn't dig myself into a deeper hole.

Honestly I am hiding from the scale again - was back on track until wine led to more wine and then chips and pitas and salsa and hummus last night. It really wasn't even THAT bad, but I'm STILL feeling bloated this evening so I'm feeling a little discouraged.

Girls, I've been at party central.
Entertained yesterday, this afternoon, and had dinner at neighbor's this evening. Not op at all.
I know that entertaining does not have to mean stuff your face with chips salsa and hamburgers on the bun. And the cake and fruit tarts that you made-- you hostess with the mostess kinda chick----I really do know that!! But at least my cocktails had diet orange soda with the raspberry rum and lime twist.

Tomorrow is another party in the afternoon. But I'm thinking it is time for good choices. I plan to report back with some smarter decisions. DH sick, so might not get the long run I had hoped for. Maybe I'll utilize that indiana jones dvd I have in the closet, and set everyone up on the couch, before I race out the door ;)

I did have one small victory this am-- got a quickie 1 mile run in before a meeting I had to attend at the start of the day. coulda passed, no time excuse... but rallied :)

Gah, I was not POP this weekend. Today was great, but late Fri night and most of Saturday was decidedly not great. I could smack myself. I don't know how I'm going to break out of these bad weekend habits, they have really taken hold.

OK, :drill: and :cheer: checking in.

C'mon gang we CAN do this. We absolutely DO know what to do and how to do it. We are the mighty MAINTAINERS after all!

We hold all the keys to success. We know what works and what doesn't work for us. And, we also know that the only thing keeping us from staying OP is our very own hand.

So - we still have Monday to get through. Lets

PARTY!

P - Planning
A - Accountability
R - Resistance
T - Tenacity
Y - YES, WE CAN! STAY on PLAN!!!!

:write::carrot::cp::grouphug::dust::cheer:

CD -- that's an awesome acronym! And you definitely have the right answer: I'm going to cut off my own hands. ;)

Gah, I was not POP this weekend. Today was great, but late Fri night and most of Saturday was decidedly not great. I could smack myself. I don't know how I'm going to break out of these bad weekend habits, they have really taken hold.


This. Except substitute Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. I need to PARTY Counting Down's way.

CD -- that's an awesome acronym! And you definitely have the right answer: I'm going to cut off my own hands. ;)

Hmmmm....that might be about a 5 lb loss....

Kidding (if anyone thought I was serious)

I need to get in here. When I first saw this thread I thought "great, I can join that thread after the wedding to get back on track". I am now a week away from the wedding and I need to get back on track NOW, even if I'm not on plan the day of. This past week the impending wedding has been the perfect excuse to go off the rails a bit. I had a danish, my first french fries in 2 years (and boy did they make me feel ill afterward) and a bran muffin, just because. I've also been way over my calorie count on healthy foods (guacamole and wine, for example) and lazy about exercise. I'm not going to get on the scale the day after I get married to find 10 new lbs showing up! So, if you all don't mind, I'd love to join this thread.

Thanks for being here!

Hmmmm....that might be about a 5 lb loss....
:rofl:

Cindi - :congrat: on your upcoming wedding!

PARTY! I love it!

Welcome, Cyndi, and congrats on the wedding!

Tomorrow I'm going to start counting calories again - may have to estimate with the picnicking, but making excuses to start tuesday instead is just that - making excuses.

Happy Labor Day!

Have been genuinely, entirely not too bad this weekend! Considering I had a bachelor/bachelorette (steamed crab/shrimp/corn dinner, 1 glass of sangria, then switched to club soda and lime and drove some people who DEFINITELY had more to drink than I did). I do have Sarah's cold, which is making me not want to eat, so we're on PBJ and Chicken Soup duty for the near future.

Great job Amanda! Sorry about the cold, hopefully you get over it soon!

Congrats on your upcoming wedding, CyndiM! I think you're smart to focus on avoiding the stress eating now!

Thank goodness I made it through Sunday POP and put a great run in the bank as well. So I'm determined that today is going to follow suit. I have to stop allowing my husband's choices (particularly on the weekends) affect me. Every time I think I have that issue solved it rears back up.

I've got today's meals all planned out in TDP so I should be set. 11 days before I leave for vacation, I want to make them ALL POP!

Yes, YES CD-- that is the PARTY we all need. Good job to all who can claim any good job done :)

Did a nice 7 mile run yesterday and I'll leave it at that......

today starts the real CD style PARTY.
School's on for tomorrow. boo and yay at the same time ;)

Hey everyone! I am going to jump in and join here. I have gotten so complacent where I am that I am having trouble getting off the last 10 pounds! It's just a matter of getting the food a little tighter and I have been acting like a maintainer instead of a loser LOL!

Hey all! Two quick things to report, and I'll check back in tomorrow when I have a bit more time.

First, I weighed myself today and while I am still 132. I'm not thrilled but wasn't really expecting to have seen a loss so as long as I'm holding steady I won't complain. Getting back in gear now, though!

Second, since I vowed to start counting calories again today - I can safely say that what I ate aside from the picnic was just under 600 calories. I'm sure the picnic will have but me up around 2000 for the day - I sat around munching.

Great job on positive choices!!!

Yesterday was POP. Today, so far so good. Another day of doctor's appts. Got my run in, so that's good.

Yesterday I ate really well. So far so good today and got in some exercise. Lighter day of 3 miles walk/jog combo.

Yesterday I ended up with an unplanned Chinese restaurant lunch. I did not make the best choices, but stayed within respectable portion sizes. I also pushed myself out for a vigorous walk, though no weights last night.

I'm back at work today, should be a bit easier. There will likely be a party here this week. Everyone knows my usual food choices and I hope they will stick to those for planning. The trick will be finding time for exercise with everything else going on. I felt awful last week after the sugar and processed foods so maybe that will stick with me!

Planning, planning, planning!

I ate way too much at dinner last night. We had gone to a grocery store to pick up a few things and their meat counter is just fabulous! We got lamb chops for tonight and some bulk hot turkey Italian sausage to keep on hand and then I saw them--jalapeno burgers! Wow! Too yummy looking and sounding to pass them up, but they were clearly 1/3 pound or more each! Let me tell you, they were every bit as good as they sound BUT I could have eaten just half. Instead I ate the whole thing...

The scale rewarded me with a 1.5 pound gain.

I'll be extra good today to get that off by tomorrow!

Allison, cheeseburgers have been part of my maintenance downfall as well.

Well, I got on the scale. OK-umm, not. Will adjust ticker back up and then back down later this week!!

I've been plugging in all school dates and sports and afterschool related activities into my calendar----lots and lots....

want to hit the road for a run, just need to be house/kid productive for a few more minutes ;)

POP yesterday through the food & booze firestorm which was my husband's labor day celebration. I'm glad every day isn't a weekend I tell you. Week days are so much easier.

Today is going great; my head seems to be on straight and my food demons are quiet. Already hit the gym and did 3.2 miles on the treadmill plus a great legs & back work out.

We are starting to get the tiniest hint that our monster summer heat is relaxing a bit. I've been running about 1 run a week outside and the rest on the treadmill, but I'm looking forward to fall where I can move all my runs back outside. Though I will say, the treadmill has been very gentle to run on, as far as being easier on my joints and arthritis (particularly on my hip with the bone spur). I do like that.

Hope everyone has a great Tuesday, we seem to all be getting it together!

Holding steady at 2 lbs above redline - again, not great, but way better than the nearly 10 I was for much of August. Still have a cold, but today will be forcing myself through an abbreviated version of my plan (lighter cardio, but more weights).

Yessss, I was POP eating-wise and very active for the whole long weekend! :carrot: I forgot to weigh last week before I left for my dive trip, but haven't lost any weight since I weighed Thursday morning when I got back. (Normally I weigh every Tuesday AM). Kind of bummed, but I'm sure I'm less than before the dive trip. My shorts are not belly-bustingly tight like they were for a few weeks in August, so that's a step in the right direction!

Ok, need to remember the PARTY acronym this Friday when BF and I go road tripping to see his fam for his nana's birthday party. At least it will be a short trip. We've got to come home Saturday for his work Sunday. It's a 6-hour drive, so I'll pack us healthy lunches.

It sounds like lots of us had good weekends! Great job everyone! :cp:

Cyndi, funny how food we used to love can make us feel so ill now! Welcome to the thread!

Megan, what's the PARTY acronym?

Jay

I was good on Saturday, good on Sunday and then ... horrific yesterday. <heavy sigh> Starting over again. I swear that these perimenopausal hormones are playing havoc with my appetite and water weight. I haven't struggled this much for MONTHS. Back to 10 pounds above redline .... aargh!

Megan, what's the PARTY acronym?

Jay


CountingDown gave us all this great post/acronym:

OK, :drill: and :cheer: checking in.
Lets

PARTY!

P - Planning
A - Accountability
R - Resistance
T - Tenacity
Y - YES, WE CAN! STAY on PLAN!!!!

:write::carrot::cp::grouphug::dust::cheer:

Okay, MBN, you know what to do! :drill:

Yea, me! :cheer: Just coming to pat myself on the back for having a peach after lunch instead of an ice cream sundae! :cheer: Oh yeah baby! Go me!!!!!!

Great job midwife!!! It sounds like that peach was nice and tasty, too.

MBN, you can do it! :carrot: Hormones can play terrible tricks on my mood, too, and I don't like it at all. It's a part of life we women in particular must deal with. But also what midwife said! :drill:

Apparently I need someone to follow me around all day repeating "wedding stress is not an excuse to eat sugar". As if I don't really already know that. My day was 90% POP including exercise. The other 10% however was disappointing. I have to do better tomorrow (I'm definitely done with food today). Time to start reading my "reasons I want to lose weight" list and pulling up some of those great before pictures, just to remind myself where all these excuses lead.

Hello, go team! That said, I woud rate myself as medium today. Had cottage cheese and ricotta cheese followed one hour later by roasted brocc and mozz. with prociutto and basil. I tallied about 750 for all.
Then a 5 mile run and a 2 mile power walk with heavy stroller. Then quite a bit of chocolate cake with choc frosting, gone now. Then a few bites of white meat chicken, maybe 2 oz at most. Then 2 pieces apple with peanut butter. And DONE now.

tea tea tea and I am moving myself to my bedroom. leaving the kitchen in my dust.

:woohoo: lots of success this weekend. Even those not POP, did great!

We did it - we got through the holiday weekend. Clear sailing for September (OK, Cyndi has a WEDDING, and some other trips and parties on the horizon - but MOSTLY clear sailing!).

Way to go, everyone! Onward and DOWNWARD!

:cheer:

And, for the record, I'm checking in with a solid 117.0 - same as last week :) I'm glad weigh-in was today - the wine tasting event tonight will probably bump me up tomorrow :?: Though, I'm still within my calories for the day - sot TECHNICALLY I'm POP ;)

I'm back to post vacation weight. The jalapeno burger weight disappeared over night!! After reevaluating it, I decided it wasn't just the burger but the fact that I ate bread at all three meals on Monday. I often go days without bread. I'm certain that had a lot to do with the 2 pound gain!

Today was good for me, and even though I was stressed all day going to doc appointments, I managed to keep things together and not use food inappropriately. I was up with bad insomnia last night, sometimes that leads me to make "poor me I deserve dark chocolate" type choices the next day but I hdidn't do that today (with some effort).

I'm probably going to go to bed early tonight though and hope to catch up some on sleep and stay out of the kitchen.

CD-- that is my "wow, could I ever get to that weight?" weight

I am at 127-- with a self proclaimed 124 red line. I feel truly fab at 120.

Is sept doc appt month? seems like there is a theme here...

Cyndi, I know you can stay on plan! You can do this!

117? Wow, CD!

Allison~ I'm so glad the scale is back down for you. :carrot:

Jo, I still have those desires of wanting to turn to food. Last night I wanted to fall face first into a pizza but I didn't.

Kitty, have you had a loss then? WTG!!

I'm finding since I started counting calories again that I'm coming in around 2000-2100 a day. Great for maintenance and totally explains exactly why I AM maintaining and not losing again! So I'm going to try to bump it down a little. I think my downfall last night was my house mate bringing home beer to share.... oops!

I'm really surprised today. Last night's dinner was anything but diet friendly, yet the scale is down another half a pound. I must be doing something right. Still have 10 to go and it's not going to be easy. DH said to me the other day that he likes me where I am and that I was too skinny before. Who do I want to please? Him or me and my doctor (who actually wants me to lose 15).

Allison, please you! Congrats on the scale victory.

Iris, the darn beer (or wine) gets me every time too.

Food & exercise have been going really well and I know it's making a difference in how my pants fit. I just need to keep it up! BF and I leave for our trip to see his family first thing tomorrow (probably too early for me to work out first). It's his nana's birthday and I'm assuming there will be birthday cake and booze, certainly after the party at his DS's. I must not have either of those things. We're coming home Sat. but I've got to find the time to sneak in a little activity one of the two days. The other will be much-needed rest.

The other challenge are the brownies & ice cream that just showed up at my office. We had a bday party for someone's dog...sigh... not going to have any, or the sugar low will ruin my after work workout. :snooty:

Great job everyone!

I am still doing well - though I am really not used to a cold making me not hungry! I'm still not having breakfast until like 11, which isn't great, but I know its just because I'm sick so I'm not stressing too much about it.

1 lb from redline!

http://fc05.deviantart.com/fs44/f/2009/111/8/1/Cheerleader_by_CookiemagiK.gif

Lots of progress posted as of late :woohoo:

Looks like everyone is back OP after the weekend!

Amanda - only 1 lb over redline - FANTASTIC!

Megan - stay strong!

Allison - I don't know the answer to your question. I think only you can tell where you will feel best - and everyone else's opinion should come second (unless your doctor has a REALLY good reason for wanting you down further).

Iris - DH is a home brewer - I totally feel your pain!

Kitty & Midwife - 117 is a good weight for me. I'm quite petite with a smallish frame (which I VEHEMENTLY denied for years).

Keep up the great work everyone!

I think it is doctor month! Tomorrow I have a mammo and blood work done.

I have been doing really well this week. Ate well today and ran 5 miles. Now no more eating because I have to fast for the bloodwork. That's incentive LOL!

Onward and downward everyone!

Oh, man! I hate fasting for blookwork. I eat breakfast early in the morning and I like it that way! But I like my bloodwork results lately! :D Single digit size jeans are cool; normal cholesterol and glucose readings are COOLER!!! Woohoo!

I am 2.5 pounds away from my redline. Yeah!!!! 158.5 baby! I'll watch for a few days and then I'll get to change my ticker! Intelligent eating and exercise really works. :D

Scale is up, confirming my "vicodin makes my scale bad" hypothesis. It would seriously indicate poor priorities to tolerate considerable pain so I can have "happy scale", right?

That's what I thought.

Still sick, but I think I prevented this cold from fully taking hold. I'm sniffly, but not unable to function.

Tonight we fly off to Portland for the weekend. I'm not going to lie, there will be cupcakes involved (I have a list of cupcakeries I want to try in my lifetime, and 2 are in Portland...we're picking up cupcakes for everyone for the family get-together). And exercise time will be non-existent, but hopefully I'll have some time when we get back Sunday afternoon and can just take Saturday as my regular rest day.

Off to do my cardio!

Amanda~we don't have cupcake places here, but I did have Sprinkles twice. The first was at a wedding (oh, so yummy) and the second was from the actual Sprinkles store. Why is it that the ones in the store weren't as good as those from the wedding? Perhaps it was my guilt, I don't know. Anyway, have fun in Portland and enjoy your cupcakes. Walk a lot and you'll burn those cupcake calories!

Have a nice trip, Amanda!

I've been a bad, bad girl... two huge slices of pizza for lunch and a giant chocolate cupcake w/ peanut butter cream icing (my roommate and I made them, so I KNOW how bad they are!). I knew we were ordering in pizza for lunch but for one thing ONE slice should have been sufficient, and for another - I noticed one other woman was eating a pretty healthy looking packed sandwich instead. I still have not learned to say "no" to a free meal!

Moving on from here!

:drill: Step away from the pizza :drill: ;)

Jay

I just saw this thread so I am sheepishly stepping in. My weight has been creeping for months! I am just back from our last little mini vacation of the summer and I am determined to get the extra pounds back off by Thanksgiving. That's 75 days away, if you're counting. At this time last year, I was almost at goal - 127 pounds. And today - 141.8. I am embarrassed to even admit that - but that's the first step, right?

My exercise is good - it's an ingrained habit and I feel gross if I don't do it. It's the eating that's getting me. I will be on plan today!

Wardhog-- hi! we've all been doing the creep. Last year at exactly his time I went to the same party I am going to tonight. And I was lighter by several pounds. ugh.

I have just 30 days until my in-laws are back in town. I was hoping to be back to at least red line by then, but I have not budged since returning from Italy. I really need to buckle down!

Jay is right! :drill:
We absolutely CAN do this!
We know what to do!
We have done it before!
We WANT to be OP - we feel so much better.
http://fc04.deviantart.com/fs5/i/2005/125/c/2/_cheer__by_probably_edible.gif

Allison, I really need to buckle down as well. I've been noticing the creep... or sprawl... but just haven't gotten dedicated enough to take care of it.

Last night I kind of had a moment. I was getting cleaned up for dinner and put on a shirt in which I usually feel really cute and thin. Weeeeeeelllllll.... last night I pretty much felt the OPPOSITE of that and it was just such a slap in the face.

So I'm with Jay and CD - we can do this! I have to do it!

I stayed on plan yesterday and will do the same today. I also ran 10.4 miles this morning. Take that, extra 15 pounds! Weight this morning was 140.8. 74 days until Thanksgiving.

:drill: Step away from the pizza :drill: ;)

Jay

OMG, how did you KNOW???

Oh, I see....you were talking to Iris....

What pizza?? Okay, I had pizza too. But, a reasonable portion. So that was good!

Ward, I like the looking ahead to Thanksigiving! 74 days, huh? Should I start defrosting the :turkey:?

Come on everyone! Keep it up! We can do it :D
:cheer: :cheer:

Team, this am I was 2 pounds above red line. AFTER 2 parties last night. woohoo!
Now..... to stay OP for the rest of the day!!


go team maintenance go!!!

After a week of being sick I'm sitting at two pounds over my redline... I'm hoping a lot of it is water and constipation from codeine, but don't know yet... gotta get back on track... I can do this!

I am peeking in here.

Anne

OK, a new week is upon us! We ARE the MIGHTY MAINTAINERS!

WE CAN DO THIS!

C'mon, gang - we set the curve for everyone else around here. They look at US as the model for success. We CAN stay strong. We CAN stay OP. We CAN be the leaders and success stories that motivate everyone else.

We WILL be part of the 5% stat of those that MAINTAIN their weight loss.
We WILL stay focused and refuse to accept ANYTHING other than excellence!!!!

thanks, counting down! much needed pep talk!

I refuse to be lumped with all those people who regained weight, because I can do this!

My weight is the same. Gah.

Ok, ok. My weekend was inactive. Eating was... not OP. I had 3 1/2 glasses of wine Friday night! :fr: (the NOP eating wasn't due to the booze, though, I can't blame it).

The only good thing I can say is that my body did need a good rest day from the last 1 1/2 weeks of workouts. Maybe not 3 rest days, but 1-2 were needed. I'm starting the week back home, right back OP with food & exercise. Also I've decided after seeing Halloween candy everywhere already that I just won't be eating any this year!

Countingdown, you're totally right. We can do this!!! Let's make it a great week everyone. :carrot:

Monday, a good day to be POP. after a Sunday that was too rewarding of the party night weight control--- multiple b.l.t.s and non ideal choices.

5 miles done, op breakfast eaten
have huge, not low calorie salad but still op food to eat thru the day

yeah baby-- we will join the maintenance queens!!!

I had a pretty good weekend but was up Monday morning from Sunday morning. Sometimes I think it's due to the time of day of my weigh-in. On the weekends I'll sleep in until 6 or even 7 AM yet on Monday morning I'm up at 4:30 to do my exercising. Could that amount of time result in 1.5 pounds? Who knows, but I'm still hovering at the same weight I was when I left (and returned) from Italy.
MUST. BUCKLE. DOWN!

I had a good last week and a not-so-terrible weekend, so am flat weight-wise. I may not have made a lot headway, but at least I stopped the gaining part. This week I'm going to make a concerted effort to increase the calorie burn (extra workouts) and see if I can't make some progress.

I am also going to PLAN out every day's menu ahead of time, instead of making it up as I go along. Hopefully that will help me keep from getting derailed!

My scale is up, but we have a) flying weight, b) cupcake weight (but I was MODERATE, for me, when it comes to cupcakes, and they were on the list so they were worth it), c) sodium weight from Pho yesterday, d) TOM weight, and e) vicodin weight because my shoulder has been killing me. I am giving myself a few days for it to calm down, but jumping right back on today, obviously.

This weekend was, considering the travel, actually pretty good. Even when I got STARVING and had only a diner in which to eat (we landed late, nothing else was open), Sarah and I split a sandwich, and each got a side salad. Even when I was uncomfortable with Sarah's fam, I stuck to water and avoided the alcohol. And other than the cupcakes, I stayed off of the sweets.

Clothes are starting to feel pretty good again - we went shopping for Greece/Paris and I was buying things that fit comfortably in my normal sizes. Got some great bargains and am now ready to travel (except I need current converter thingies, and possibly a phone).

Amanda~what cities in Greece are you planning to go to? How long will you be there? And as for travel gadgets, try Magellan's.

Same weight this morning: 132. For a second it flickered to 133 but thankfully didn't stay there.

Monday is indeed a good day to be POP! I'm a little worried because TOM is knocking on my door but I can beat him.

Let's do this!

Right now, we're 3 days in Paris, 3 days in Crete, and 4 days in Santorini.

I'm envious, Amanda!!! DH and I are looking at a cruise which would take us from Barcelona, to Monte Carlo, a few places in Italy, two or three stops in Greece and then Croatia and end up in Venice. It all looks good until you check the price tag!! We might end up going to Mexico, lol!

My vacation is over and I AM ALL IN! With the holidays looming I NEED to knock off these pounds. If I can pull off 1lb/week, I can be back to my red line by my four-year maintenance anniversary (which is right at Thanksgiving, 10 weeks away).

Sadly, the "holidays" are already arriving since I'm Jewish. This weekend we're hosting Rosh Hashanah. Hopefully it won't be too bad! I promise I will eat NO MORE THAN TWO slices of challah. If we have leftovers, I will send them home with our guests.

My plan:
1) Only one snack per day, in the afternoon.
2) Work out at least 5 days a week.
3) Make all runs HIIT runs.
4) Sign up for a 5k and get my running back in shape.
5) Go back to basics and suck it up and count calories. Aiming for no more than 1400 per day to start with. I guess that means I should go calculate what I already ate today...

I haven't checked in for awhile. Good job everyone. I'm down 2 since the start after a weird 5 pound gain for no reason...other than a terrible cold. Last Thursday I came down with a sore throat, followed by all the great cold related symptoms and by the next morning I was up 5 pounds. It lasted for 4 days even though I was POP all of those days. This morning the fog has lifted and I was down 6 pounds. (The 5 I was up plus an extra one). I guess I was retaining a lot of water being sick. I must have blown a few pounds of liquid from my nose, and yesterday I had to pee about 20 times...(sorry TMI). This is the first time I can remember being sick in a LONG time. Keep on trucking everyone!

I need some daily accountability for my action plan items. Here's my run-down for yesterday:
1) Check, I had my one snack of two small apples at 3:30.
2) Check, I ran last night.
3) Check, it was a HIIT run.
4) Semi-check, I didn't sign up for a 5k yet but I did run.
5) Check, I calculated my calories. Turns out yesterday only came in at 1000. Oops. No wonder I had a headache last night.

Random question . . . It's common knowledge that you should average at least 1200 calories per day. Does that mean you should eat at least 1200 every day, or that if your average for the week comes out to 1200 then you're still good? Suppose for example you ate 1000 M-F, then 2000 Saturday and Sunday. Your total cals for the week would be 9000, which is an average of 1285 per day. I'm not really proposing doing this, I'm just curious.

Hi Team!

Not sure, Jessica...seems to me that a less wild variation might be easier on your body, but who knows?

Most of the Portland weight has disappeared...I'm now up 1.5 lbs from my lowest (or 2.5 over redline) and I still have TOM weight going on, so that's positive. Just trucking along!

Jessica~I think there are two camps on that issue. One says that keeping a steady 1200 per day is the better approach. Others use the calorie cycling thing where they're up for a day or two and then make up for it for a day or two with much lower calories to come out to an average of 1200 per day. I don't know if one is any better than the other except that if you do come in way low for too many days you can actually sabotage your efforts metabolically.

There is a number of calories that differs slightly for each person that you really need to get EACH DAY for your body to function smoothly - that being said I'm sure you can occasionally dip below that amount but have more another day you will be fine.

Jessica, what is your basal metabolic rate (BMR)? That number should serve as your lower limit, on average, instead of an arbitrary 1200 cals. And keep in mind that your total burn takes into account your activity level--that total is what you should use to calculate a possible deficit.

It's OK to swing above and below, but don't go too far either direction. 600 one day and 1800 the next is average 1200, but that's really tough on the body.

I usually take a weekly average.

Jay

Jessica - I am right there with you, vacation is over (as of tomorrow) time to buckle down and stop mucking about.
I didn't really police what I ate and drank this past week while on vacation and I am paying for it now! The scale reached up and slapped me in the face.
Enough said:o
So it is time to get serious! No time like the present - I am off to do a strenuous hike - 1 mile straight up.
Will check in later with my proposed regime.

OK, hump day tomorrow - let's stay OP
http://fc01.deviantart.com/fs7/i/2005/248/8/b/_cheerleader__by_lexy04.gif

Jessica - while I like calorie shifting, and an occasional dip below 1200 won't hurt - I really think keeping it in that range is important. Your body needs basic nutrition and fuel to function optimally.

I've been a day ahead of myself all week - I was totally thinking TODAY was wednesday. What a letdown!

I had a grueling track workout this evening for half marathon training but it feels good and I've been eating OP. I started planning out ahead of time on thedailyplate so I can keep track of calories again... so far so good!

Thanks guys, like I said I don't really intend to do the 1000/2000 thing, I was just curious.

My status for Tuesday:
1) Check, had my two small apples at 3:30.
2) Check, did NRLW.
3) N/A, Tuesday was strenght day.
4) Still haven't signed up for a 5k, running is N/A.
5) Check, Tuesday came in at 1309 calories.

Today is a little rougher so far. I'm pretty hungry right now but lunch isn't for another hour and fifteen minutes. I'm just telling myself "it is normal to be hungry before a meal. This doesn't mean that I have to eat every time I get a little hungry."

Jessica - I did the 1000-1300 cycle by accident for several weeks last summer. I wasn't paying attention and was just learning about calorie counting, didn't realize how little I was eating until I started logging it. I didn't notice any strange symptoms, other than I was a little tired on the lower calorie days. When I evened back out to more of a 1200-1300 swing instead of the difference being so drastic that seemed to go away. Though, don't know if it was caused by the low cals, or just a coincidence.

Hang in there, it will be lunch time soon!

ugggh, hello TOM. I'm feeling exhausted and bloaty but trying to at least wear a cute shirt. The temptation just to slip into an old tee is strong.... sometimes I wish I had a job that required me to dress nicely.

Jessica, I agree it's okay to get hungry before meals, but I always have to be careful not to get TOO hungry or I'll scarf my meal and feel gross and still hungry. I find it better to grab something tiny - I have almonds in my desk and I'll eat 5 or something - sometimes I really think it's mental with me and that seems to help.

Since I've got doctor stress going on right now and have been spending significant time in doctors' offices, I would like to take this time to say that:

1. I don't appreciate the huge Reese's Pieces and M-n-M gumball machines in the Radiologists waiting room.

2. I also don't appreciate the chocolate chip cookies, peanut butter cookies and variety of crappy muffins that I must stare at in the women-specific mammogram waiting room. Not a single item of fruit in sight.

Even our medical establishment is pushing crap food on us, and it pisses me off. Here I am, stressed and vulnerable, and *that's* what they put in my face?

Thanks alot jerkoffs.

In the mammogram waiting room??? Okay, sorry, but I'm in public health and that's completely ridiculous! There are proven links between good nutrition and reduction in a number of cancers - including breast cancer. How can you have cookies and crap but no fruit in the waiting room where they are screening for breast cancer? That's missing a perfect opportunity to reach people!

*end rant*

Oh, how IRRITATING with the docs office. I can't remember the last time I saw unhealthy food in a doc's office (except blood donation...but even then, they have healthy stuff too!) What are they thinking?

Trucking along, holding steady at redline + 2, but with TOM and pain med weight, so that's OK.

Our pediatrician gives lolly pops only if she's done a throat culture. I used to think they had a no-pop policy, but then....strep came our way:yikes:

On operation 5-10, I am a perfect example of one day mop (mostly op) leading to one day well well nop (not op). Today I am vop (very op-- avoiding urge towards perfectionism ;))

gimme some op vibeage!

:dust: for Kittycat - and me - and all of us!

I am seriously FIGHTING with TOM right now... I'm so hungry but I've got all my food planned out, just within my daily 1800 cals and i'm NOT giving in! Going running, then my planned dinner, then some work this evening.

But seriously I'd rather hit dairy queen and pass out till morning. :devil:

Making my roasted veggie pita pizzas with vegan "mostly pesto" (missing some key pesto ingredients but I do have evoo and basil!) now, to top off my perfect OP day. Ran hard this morning, have been fighting some hunger throughout the day. Hopefully dinner will put the hunger to bed for good.

I send a hang-tough hug to any and all who are having a hard day!

Yesterday was almost POP. I had one unplanned apple. Here's my accountability for Wednesday.
One snack per day: Failed this one. I was starting to get a headache when I got home and decided to have an apple to give me the energy to do my workout.
Workout 5days/week: Check, did another run last night. That makes three days so far this week.
HIIT runs: Check, 20 minutes.
Running: Check, I ran. Still looking for a good 5k to sign up for.
Calories: Check, yesterday came in at 1310.

I'm hoping as my body adjusts to getting fewer calories I'll stop getting these headaches. Weight today was the same as yesterday, 145.6.

Wow, weighed in this morning to see a HUGE surprise. 149! I haven't been in the 140's for well...hummm, since Jr. High School a LONG time ago. I guess what ever I;m doing is working. Maybe the 8 weeks of maintaince helped to move things along...maybe it's a fluke and tomorrow I'll be up 10 pounds. I've been working non-stop out in the yard and garden, and getting tons of exercise, 1200 calories/day POP. Looking forward to tomorrow (and the weekend) so I can have 1500 calories...lol

Tyler, that's terrible! My blood donation unit usually doesn't have anything healthy to offer post-donation. I was just remarking in the weekly chat thread that when I donated yesterday after I refused the cookies they offered, saying I'd eat/drink the walnuts and water that were in my purse, one of the techs brought out 90-cal packs of dried fruit. Even dried fruit w/ sugar added is the healthiest thing I've ever seen there. Maybe it ties the Quaker chewy granola bars I've been offered occasionally. Everyone else was eating the cookies.

Lori, congrats on the 140's! What you're doing is obviously working! :carrot:

Iris, you can beat Dairy Queen!

Things are going well this week with me. I've flushed 4 of the 5 lbs from last weekend away, maybe I'll do it in time for this weekend, lol. But this weekend I'll be staying OP and at home. I made a yummy "Layered Mexican Chicken" casserole last night that is filling, healthy, comforting with this rain, and BF loves it too. That will be dinner for a few nights.

No DQ for me last night! Whew!

Lori, congrats on the 140's! =)

I've never seen much of anything besides cookies at blood donations either... frustrating.

Megan, can you post the mexican chicken recipe? It sounds delicious!

Congratulations, Lori!

I was in the grumpiest possible mood earlier this morning. I got on the scale after over a week of strictly following my eating plan and working out every day. My weight was exactly the same as last week. I felt like diving into a bag of M&Ms or something. A pound bag. Anyway, I went to the gym and did my cardio workout and by the end I was feeling like a million bucks. It just reminded me (again) that I do this for more than one reason. Yes, I want to see a lower number on the scale, but there are other benefits that are immeasurable! I wanted to write this down because it's something I seem to forget over and over.

Oh, and it's Thursday, so for those of you who are counting ... 10 weeks until Thanksgiving. ;)

Yeah, so mostly OP all week and no change in weight. It could be TOM that is doing that. I really thought I'd see something this morning because I was up three (3!) times during the night to pee. I thought for sure there'd be some water weight missing, but no. Nothing.

I know what you mean about wanting to hit DQ or the M&M bag until you pass out, but I'm not going to do that. Really? Right now I'd love a baked potato--loaded!

Megan, can you post the mexican chicken recipe? It sounds delicious!

Sure Iris, I just posted it in the Maintainers "Our Favorite Recipes" thread here (http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/living-maintenance/135145-our-favorite-recipes-6.html#post2929737).

It makes a bunch but I've frozen individual pieces in the past and they thawed pretty well for a quick dinner down the road.

Ward, what?!?! 10 weeks! I've got to get my rear in gear! :woops::ebike::wl:

Megan - I just saw a very similar recipe to this on Good Eats, Alton actually made a sauce that he layered in with the tortillas and stuff as well. l I'm going to have to try it, sans the beans for DH... :)

Yay, Lori!

TOM weight is slowly coming off. Will not be exercising today, unfortunately, beyond some gentle walking (SIX cortisone shots in my shoulder this morning. It ain't pretty, folks).

Amanda, in case you didn't know--cortisone can also cause water-weight gain. So, be prepared just in case.

Jay

Congrats Lori, that's awesome!

I got on the scale after over a week of strictly following my eating plan and working out every day. My weight was exactly the same as last week.

We are living in the same world, it was exactly the same for me as well. And I wanted to smash the scale to smithers. What to do, but just keep on keeping on? As you said, the scale isn't the only reason to eat well and work out!

Amanda, ouch! I've had cortisone shots (well, dexamethasone, but same idea) before in my wrists for repetitive stress injury, so I know they are NO FUN. The most I ever had at one time was four though (three in one hand and one in the other) and I remember basically putting a massive icepack on my wrist to numb it enough just so I would be able to stand it.

Megan, we can do this! Shall we set a goal of 5lbs by Thanksgiving? That's only 1/2 lb per week, I know we can do it! Those extra pounds have stuck around for far too long!

Ward, I know the feeling. I'm being even more finicky lately though -- I lost so much water weight the past three days that it was kind of depressing that today the scale was the same as yesterday. At least it's not going UP, that's the most important part. I know better than to expect to lose weight the way I lose water weight, and I knew that losing 1-2lbs per day had to be water and it would stop in a couple days, but it still bugged me. :shrug:

Guys, let's set some weekend goals. Here are mine:
1) We're having a family holiday (Jewish new year) dinner on Saturday. Other than that meal, NO CHEATS.
2) Do something active Saturday and do something active Sunday. Doesn't need to be a workout per se, just something other than sitting on the couch.
3) At my family dinner, I will have no more than one glass of wine, no more than two slices of challah, and no more than one serving of dessert. I will load up my plate with salad and veggies and take a small portion of meat. When we dip our apples in honey, I will NOT coat the entire piece of apple in so much honey that you can't taste the apple anymore.

Go Lori on the 140s! I am slowing drifting downwards. My goal is to get below 145 by the end of the month, and I am 1/2 a pound away. I would hope I could do at least that LOL!

Let's keep it up! :cheer:

I am trying to convince myself that it's way silly to feel guilty about not exercising when I have to brace myself to walk and stand. The last time I took an unscheduled day off was, I think, when I had the flu - it feels weird!

Mandalinn, take care of yourself! You'll exercise again as soon as you can. =)

Also, I like the 5lbs by Thanksgiving idea... nice.

Hi chicks! I dig the enthusiam. Keep it coming.

Medium on my end. Maintenance has a changed driven commitment level for me. When I was "in mode" I had very little trouble keeping my hands off my kids plates/snacks. Now, I could really use a muzzle. :p

exercise good and overall intake ok. struggling with coming home ravenous and eating standing up too fast to realize I've had enough. Perhaps sitting down like someone with manners might help with that one!:o:dizzy:

Mandalinn-- this is all from the elliptical, right? Have you contacted the company? be well *hugs*

Go Lori on the 140s! I am slowing drifting downwards. My goal is to get below 145 by the end of the month, and I am 1/2 a pound away. I would hope I could do at least that LOL!

Let's keep it up! :cheer:

fiberlover, you are ahead of schedule by 23 days! woohoo!
lori bell, 140s, WTG!

Not sure what my food situation will be tomorrow - I'll be out of town and last week they provided lunch (pizza...) but this week I think we may wrap up right around lunchtime and I'm not sure what the deal will be. The best answer is probably to pack my lunch and eat it regardless. Then in the evening there's happy hour and birthday cake - can I just call that dinner??!

I'm in a strange place where I'm kind of maintenence and I know I should be able to enjoy a beer and a piece of cake for a friend's birthday but yet I'm trying to get a few lbs back off so I'm kind of in weight loss mode again - hmmm.

anyway - I hope you all have a great weekend! Just getting this off my mind before bed because I'm not sure I"ll be up early enough to check in before heading out of town. =)

Megan, we can do this! Shall we set a goal of 5lbs by Thanksgiving? That's only 1/2 lb per week, I know we can do it! Those extra pounds have stuck around for far too long!

Yes, we can do it! 5 lbs by Thanksgiving. We'll do it together. :cheer2::cheer3:

Yesterday the power went out at the office at about 12:15. We waited 1 1/2 hours...no power... so we finally left. I wanted to go home and take a nap (rain-induced coma) but I went to the gym and put in a good, long, satisfying cardio & legs workout instead. Then I went home and read my oxygen mag until dinner and found a new legs workout for next week. I'm really excited to do it, actually - legs are my favorite part to train.

Amanda, your health comes first! I second the suggestion about contacting the manufacturer. Even if an elliptical breaks, it shouldn't throw you from the machine with enough force to hurt you so badly. It's not like you were using it wrong. The company I work for makes (among other things) centrifuges, and we have to do all sorts of testing to make sure that if the centrifuge breaks, it doesn't sent the rotor flying across the lab breaking things (and hurting people).

Megan, we are on!!! :high: 5 lbs by Thanksgiving, and it starts with being OP this weekend!

WTG Lori and Fiber! :carrot:

My accountability for Thursday:
One snack per day: Check! Had my small asian pear and tiny apple at 3:30.
Workout 5x/week: Check! Did NRLW S3W4B, my 4th workout of the week.
HIIT Runs: N/A, strength day
Running/5k: N/A on the running, still haven't found a good 5k. I'm looking for a turkey trot but they haven't posted them yet.
Calories: Check, came in at 1343.

They're feeding us lunch today at work and it's a taco bar. I'm not sure exactly how to count calories for that. My plan is to make myself a taco salad -- lettuce, chicken, salsa, and some beans. I don't know what exactly is going to be in the taco bar though (they said beef and chicken, rice and beans, cheese, guacamole, tortillas, and lettuce, but I assume there will be salsa too).

Thanks everyone for the kudos. Feels good that people "get it", I told a local friend about 140's and just got the evil look...lol

Everyone is doing so well. This is exciting. 5 pounds by Turkey Day is very doable. This weekend will be semi hard because we are going to Lincoln tomorrow and Grandma always wants to take us out for doing her yard/house work for her. We usually go somewhere "diet friendly" though. My in-laws have been so awesomely supportive in my weight loss. Yay for them!

Good luck paperclippy on the taco bar. Mexican food can be tricky when you don't know how lean the meat is.

Jay, you weren't kidding about the water weight! But at least I know what it's from (steroids + vicodin = 6 lbs overnight). I didn't even eat 1200 calories yesterday so I know that isn't it. But today I'll be back on track with a lighter workout.

Okay, I need help counting calories, you guys are all pros, right? The taco bar was actually not as dangerous as it sounded -- it was catered from On The Border. They have their nutritional info here (http://www.brinker.com/gr/nutritional/OTB_NutritionBW.pdf)but of course it is for the portions served at the restaurant, and I have no idea how that translates. It was surprisingly not greasy, and had grilled chicken and grilled veggies.

This is what I ate: 1 flour tortilla, about 4 strips of fajita chicken, about 1/4 C fajita peppers, 2 T shredded lettuce, 2 T salsa, 2 T pico de gallo, 1/3 C mexican rice, 1/4 C black beans (not refried), 2 strips grilled red pepper, 2 strips grilled zucchini. Anyone have a guess as to how many calories that adds up to?

(Also, yay me! I skipped the cheese and guacamole altogether, and avoided the sopapillas.)

Jessica~as long as all the veggies were roasted or fresh (like the lettuce) and not sauteed (which they usually aren't) you're probably looking at less than 100 for all the veggies and salsa combined. The rice and tortilla are probably the most calorie laden (and of course tortilla sizes vary). I usually see the soft taco size at about 150-200 calories. Rice would probably be about 100 and the beans at about 75 and the chicken at about 100 for a total of around 550ish.

Thanks Allison, I entered in the closest approximations I could find on CalorieCount (where I log my food) and it came out to about 475 with the breakdown really close to what you suggested (but assuming 140 for the tortilla, which is what Misson tortilla values are for fajita-size). That's not too much more than my usual allotment for lunch so I feel pretty good about.

I'm even more glad now that I avoided the sopapillas after looking at the nutritional info -- I don't know how many are in their standard serving, but their standard serving is over 1300 calories!!

Hi All,

I'm in for 5lbs by Turkey day - but ours is in less than a month so I need to be diligent.
Doing so so since my return from San Fran.
Need to kick it up from so so to excellent to meet this goal.

Jessica - I think those nutritional listings are a real life saver. I can't believe the amount of calories in some things - ie. Starbuck drinks...yeesh almost a half days calories in one of those frufru drinks.
Luckily I've never really liked those kind of drinks so I am safe.

Ok - I need to exercise before I find excuses not to.
Keep up the good work every one.
-S

Just checking in with my weekend http://fc05.deviantart.com/fs44/f/2009/111/8/1/Cheerleader_by_CookiemagiK.gif

Stay strong! No food is worth it! Holidays are approaching quickly and they will go so much better if we are BELOW redline before they start.

I love the 5 lb Turkey Day challenge - great idea!

Is that a new smiley face? Cute! =)

Today was bad for me foodwise. Greasy Mexican (but it was free!) for lunch and a mini-bagel binge this evening. I am just in a bad mood and decided to be antisocial. So I skipped happy hour and probably consumed more calories munching on the whole bag of mini-bagels in the fridge anyway.

I'll be up early tomorrow for half marathon training - hopefully that will start the day off on the right foot and it'll be better than today!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Iris - put today behind you. Tomorrow IS a new day. :hug:

And - the smiley is from the Firefox smiley add-in. I'm TRYING to find different cheer smileys for this post. I DO like that one - it makes me smile ;)

I hope you have a great run tomorrow!
http://fc05.deviantart.com/fs27/f/2008/096/6/6/Afternoon_jog_by_CookiemagiK.gif

5 lbs by Thanksgiving is totally doable! Yea! I've been super busy this week. Food has been about 80%. Exercise about 80%. Scale has been maintaining. Which goes to show that 80% is not good enough for a loss. But it was the best I could do this week and so it goes.

I'm getting a cold. I'll get a run in this morning and hope that I'm feeling well enough to run tomorrow.

Ugh, I hit the wrong button and it deleted my post! :mad:

I'm starting out well for 5lbs by T-day -- down 0.5 this week (not counting the 2lbs of water weight). Kind of sad that 1300/day only equals 0.5/week, but at least it's the right direction. Hopefully I won't screw it up this weekend.

Accountability for Friday:
Snacks: I did have my apples at 3:30, but I also had a glass of skim milk at around 9pm.
Workouts: Check! Ran last night for my fifth workout of the week.
HIIT: Check, I did a HIIT run last night.
Running: I'm going to remove this bullet point because it's covered by the other ones.
Calories: Check, came in at 1360.

Gah! Totally not hungry last night but did my usual routine of cooking dinner for DH and DS and therefore ate with them. It was just burgers but I should have had mine without the bun. Weight is down half a pound, but I really attribute that to weighing 2 hours later than usual due to the weekend.

Allison - one of the hardest things for me to learn was to sit with the family and have a cup of tea at dinner if I wasn't hungry.

I often have a substantial snack when I get home from work before I exercise. Thus, that means that I am not always hungry at dinner time. Having tea or a cup of vegetable soup and still participating in the dinner experience seems to work well for me.

It felt weird at first, but now it just comes naturally.

Thanks, counting down!

It was sooooo hard for me to drag myself out of bed this morning for training. I had that carbohydrate hangover. But of course I'm glad I did it.

I recalculated my calories using the daily plate and changed my activity level to "very active." I figure this should be the case if I'm running a couple miles a day... but my estimated daily calories with that to lose 1 lb/week are about 2100! It seems like a lot. I was shooting for 1800 before, maybe that's why I ended up binging last night.

Accountability for Saturday!

Snacks: Check, I actually didn't have any snacks yesterday. Wait, maybe I had a small slice of an asian pear. That doesn't really count.
Workouts: No workout on Saturday, but I already did 5 for the week. I did take the dog for a walk.
HIIT: N/A, rest day
Calories: Came in at 2244 thanks to the holiday dinner, although I did stick to my plan for the dinner almost 100%. Weight was actually down this morning, so I'd call it a success.

I have a feeling my general calorie cycle is going to be 1300-1400 Sunday-Friday, 2000 Saturday. I just can't NOT have a cheat meal (although being a holiday this weekend's was a bit bigger than most). That averages out to about 1450 per day for the whole week which should still be a losing level for me.

The only problem is now we have a bunch of leftovers in the house, including an entire loaf of challah. I haven't had breakfast yet today because I'm still deciding whether I want a big bowl of cereal to be fuller, or I want to sacrifice those calories to a small piece of challah and just deal with being hungrier.

Good job sticking to the plan, Jessica! :carrot:

I had to take my Sunday run indoors today. It's been raining cats and dogs for days. sigh. Anyway, 10.5 miles in 1:41. Maybe I'll see some movement on the scale tomorrow. I've been back on plan for 11 straight days (average calories: 1470), working out every day, and I am down 0.4 so far. I will not give up.

Did pretty well this weekend, although today I was a little over on calories. I did a 15 mile bike ride and a 2 mile walk, so it isn't a disaster. Trying to not snack tonight during the football game!

Did well on calories this weekend, but not on food choices...I basically went long periods of time without being hungry (I think this is a med side effect...it's WEIRD, for me!), but then had events where a lot of eating was done. Still even in the events, I was moderate, so I'm calling the weekend a win. The scale agrees, for the most part, so that's good.

In a wedding next weekend so it's going to be a busy, crazy week...but I went to the Farmers Market and got my food supplies all laid in (and a lot of delicious stuff planned, including a soup I'm thrilled about, inspired by the fact that I could buy 7 stalks of lemongrass for a dollar...), so it will be OP and marvelous.

Lots of canning projects too (I am genetically incapable of not buying apples to make apple butter, peaches for jam, and cucumbers to pickle when they're 50 cents a pound...just seems too good to pass up!). My Christmas gifts this year are going to be a bounty of summer-fresh goodies...can't wait to share them! I also gave my neighbor who mows my lawn a jar of pickles and a jar of reduced-sugar peach raspberry jam, as when I tried to repay him with cookies for the lawn-mowing, he took one, told me his wife was diabetic, and said he couldn't take the rest of the tin. This time I know it's healthier stuff!

OK, the weekend is about over - time to gear up for the week.
Meals planed http://fc05.deviantart.com/fs48/f/2009/185/a/8/_check__by_nonparticipant.gif

Healthy foods bought/made http://fc05.deviantart.com/fs48/f/2009/185/a/8/_check__by_nonparticipant.gif

Exercise planned http://fc05.deviantart.com/fs48/f/2009/185/a/8/_check__by_nonparticipant.gif

It is going to be a GREAT week! We can do this!

http://fc08.deviantart.com/fs42/f/2009/108/5/e/Cheer_together_by_gamefreak97.gif

I survived the weekend!! I did extra workouts on Fri and Sat, on top of my usual Saturday run and Sunday long run. And, most importantly, I stayed on plan food-wise. I always eat a little more on the weekends to fuel the long run, but I was able to avoid my food traps. It's the first weekend in a while that I've been able to do that, and it feels darned good! I even saw the scale drop below 120 for the first time in a while. I'm finally seeing progress!

My weekend was MOP. I got in a great running workout Saturday, better than I've had in a looong time. Food was POP Saturday, mostly OP Sunday. I slept terribly Saturday night for no obvious reason, so Sunday I took off from exercise as my rest day of the week and had 2 extra snacks (I did manage to get a nap in so I felt much better). Nevermind, right on track today. It's going to be a busy week at work so I've got healthy food prepped & planned, and workouts are a priority. Having a MOP on weekend feels good!

MBN, awesome! :carrot:

Countingdown, sounds like you're all set for the week!

Amanda, mmm, apple butter! My mom makes tons every fall and gives it away as holiday gifts. Since I can't get inexpensive apples here, I make water melon rind pickles, pepper jelly, and I've tinkered with peach jam and butter (and put in my personal order with mom for apple butter). I give it away as holiday gifts too. Everyone loves it.

Jessica, get rid of the challah. Freeze it. Send it to DH's office. It doesn't sound like it would be a good calorie bargain for you!

Sounds like we're all doing pretty well. Go us, we can do it! :carrot:

Amanda, I hear you on the cheap apples -- we have been going to a local orchard to pick apples and they're only 59 cents/pound. What a deal! Fresh-picked and delicious.

Megan, great job with the MOP weekend! :cheer: Keep it up this week!

I did end up having one piece of challah for breakfast, with a glass of milk, and wasn't really very hungry. I haven't had any or even really wanted any since. Over the course of yesterday DH finished off the homemade (by MIL) challah and ate half of the store-bought loaf we had (I'm not exaggerating, he actually did eat half the loaf) -- and of course his weight is down today. :lol:

My weekend was almost 100% POP and the scale is showing it. 144.4 this morning. This is the first time I've seen 144 two days in a row since February!

Accountability for Sunday:
Snacks: Check, I had no snacks.
Workouts: Rest day, already did 5 for the week though.
HIIT: N/A, was a rest day.
Calories: Check, came in at 1178, I guess my body was making up for Saturday's 2244.

Yea, for MOP and for behaving scales!

Challah + me = disaster. That is one of those things that one bite, and it's all over but the crumbs. Great job limiting yourself to appropriate servings!

I went out with two girlfriends on Saturday night and I'm still sick... I can't imagine that it's a hangover, but that's sure what it feels like! I drank too much in general, but no more than I have in the past and the same amount as the girls I was out with, who bounced off to brunch Sunday morning.

All the talk about apple butter and canning makes me miss home!

Are you feeling better, Iris?

Well, I have 2 pop days under my belt. Going for #3. How's everyone else doing? 5 lbs by Thanksgiving is going to take a lot of consistency! :turkey:

My main problem is that I don't wanna get up and run in the dark. Boo hoo, wah, wah, wah, pout! I'll run at DD's practice this afternoon, but I've gotta get my butt out of bed more consistently in the mornings.

This morning was my weigh-in. 2 weeks ago before I went to my BF's family for the weekend, I weighed...um, let's say weight A. Came back at A + 5 lbs. By Friday I'd gotten back down to A. Weekend MOP, did a 5 mile run, etc. etc. Felt good. Today... weight A. Really, nothing down? That makes my weight since re-committing 3 weeks ago... A. Started at... A.

Don't get me wrong, I'm going to keep plugging away. It's just a little disheartening.

To top it off the speaker in my ipod mini started going out suddenly a few days ago. I might just buy a new one, it's 3+ years old. But bummer. It is absolutely essential to my workouts! Tried to run yesterday without it and I just couldn't do it. How sad I'm so dependent on it!

I'm not feeling it, but I'm going to try and rally!

midwife, I agree, with the days getting shorter again it's tough to pull myself out of bed in the dark!

My recommitment is going really well actually. I weighed in at 144.2 today, so unless something crazy happens between now and the end of the week I'll be able to post a 1lb loss (and finally move my ticker!). I feel kind of stupid because I spent so long early this year wondering about why I wasn't losing any weight. The answer is just so obvious -- I didn't cut enough calories. Turns out 1300-1400/day is a losing level for me, but 1600-1800 is not.

Megan, sorry about the uncooperative scale! I noticed that you avoid saying what you weigh -- would it help your accountability to come clean about it? You know we would never judge you for your weight. Ugh about the iPod -- I had to go buy some new headphones the other day since my headphones broke and I was only getting sound in one ear.

Midwife, I have been having trouble waking up too! Of course I have been bad about morning workouts and I've been doing my exercise pretty much entirely in the evenings (when it is light out). Once it starts being dark in the morning AND in the evening it will be even tougher. Do you have safety gear for running in the dark? When I was out last winter I had reflective clothing, a blinky light on my gloves, and a giant bright light on my dog's collar (he always runs with me!).

Disheartening is right! Okay, I did lose 10 pounds prior to going to Italy and kept it off while there but I've been home over a month now and haven't lost a single pound more! I'm not giving up either!

I am feeling better today - still not sure what that was! But hopefully will be running again tonight.

I have enough trouble getting out of bed, period - I've just accepted the fact that I'm an evening workout kind of girl.

I definitely feel for those of you who haven't seen the scale moving. I'm actually avoiding weighing in right now because I know it'll be back up.

We better get it in gear if we're going to be down 5 by turkey day! =)

Hello everyone. Today I caught some babies! :) I am a midwife but have not done deliveries since my 5 year olds were born. This am and this Thursday I'm back on the labor floor.

Gotta tell ya-- I still got it :) great morning, came home and uhhh, emptied the fridge. Calories tallied for day so far 1900. Plan: tea and maybe some veg. for dinner. Just tea if I can do it. But I don't want a hunger binge tonight.

the dark am is a bummer and while in loss mode I was ok getting out of bed to run. it has been impossible to move my butt for those early am runs lately.

ETA: I forgot to add the canned pineapple that I "cleaned" out of the fridge into my mouth -- make that 2200 cals for the day at 4p. Actually, I am pretty stuffed, so maybe abstaining from eating for eating's sake will not be that hard to do.

My scale is being mean too.
Ok, maybe I deserve it - I haven't been 100% ...but like 75%.
That's better than nothing, but not enough for the scale to budge.
Going for a run now and I WILL have an OP dinner tonight.
:o - except I had a piece of leftover pizza from a party @ work 100% mindless eating!

Yah, Kitty! Catching babies is good for the soul. I highly recommend doing it on a regular basis! :carrot:

Jessica, I bought a new headlamp, but have I even opened it yet? Nope--cause when it is dark I roll over and go back to sleep. Bleh! I did get some interval mileage in this evening though.

I'm really encouraged -- I saw 118.6 on the scale this morning! Yesterday, I bought fried chicken for dinner for DH and two sons ... I knew it would sorely tempt me, but I can't make my family stay on my eating plan all of the time! But, I was very good and stayed out of the fried chicken and on plan. And was rewarded on the scale this morning!

I still have a ways to go -- 4 pounds to get below red line and another 3-4 to get where I'd like to be. But at least I'm seeing progress!! I've been working out twice most days and staying on plan food-wise, so eventually it HAD to start working.

I missed posting my accountability for Monday! Here it is for Monday and Tuesday.

Monday:
Snacks: I had an extra piece of bread since my apples didn't taste good, and I threw most of them out, so I was too hungry to go for my run without a snack.
Workouts: Check, workout #1 of the week was a HIIT Run
HIIT: Check
Calories: Check, came in at 1317

Tuesday:
Snacks: DH wanted to cook the quince I had bought, so I had that after dinner in addition to my afternoon apple.
Workouts: Check, did NRLW
HIIT: N/A, strength day
Calories: Check, 1396

Still trucking along.

Last night was the first night in a long time I remember actually -sticking- to my restaurant rules, 100%. I ordered a fish dish with no starchy component, I had 1 glass of wine, I said no to the bread basket, and I had less than 5 bites of dessert. Normally I do good with one or two, but then flub up the rest.

Scale rewarded me, too, and I'm sitting just above redline. I'm really hoping to be under red line by France/Greece...it's a week and a half away!

131.5 this morning - that's back up a little bit but I wasn't really expecting the 130.5 to stick.

This may be a silly question, not sure, but do you eat more on days you are more active or just eat around the same amount every day (or otherwise eat not in conjunction with your workouts) and let it even out?

150 this morning! Usually I don't see that until Friday, so all is good. Well WAS good until the tamale guy came in. I bought a dozen and since they were hot, I had one for breakfast. So much better when they're fresh. I didn't eat all of the masa, so hopefully I didn't do any damage! I can't imagine 1/4 c of spicy chicken with a little masa is much more calorie wise than the egg I usually eat.

Jessica~when I used to run in the dark, I had a reflective vest-like thing that I picked up from the running store and a really nice headlight. Those headlights really eat through the batteries, though. I'd buy them in bulk from batteries.com to save on the normal store price of about $5 each (and it takes 2!). Chico has a blinking collar and leash, but I rarely used those as it gave me a headache and didn't really show up all that well. I wish they'd make the vest-like think for dogs! Maybe I could just buy a second one and see if I can adjust it to fit him! Now that it is cooler, I might start doing my walking outside instead of on the treadmill.

Back from vacation in Maine and I'm up 3 pounds from when I left, bah humbug. I hope some of it is travel weight but some of it is probably wine.

I did several runs in addition to the many all-day hikes through Acadia National Park, it was gorgeous! Below I am coming down a very devilish boulder section after climbing up and over one of the smaller mountains (hence the horns I am making). If anybody has plans to go up to the Acadia area I can recommend some fantastic hiking/rock climbing trails.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v144/looky-here/devilish.jpg

This may be a silly question, not sure, but do you eat more on days you are more active or just eat around the same amount every day (or otherwise eat not in conjunction with your workouts) and let it even out?

I mostly do not intentionally increase my calories unless I'm doing something physical that is REALLY significantly over my normal routine, and even then I don't increase them by much. On days where I run over 10 miles I add in a post-run snack for a few extra calories, but it is relatively small. Otherwise I just let everything even out on its own.

Allison, we got my dog a PupLight (http://www.puplight.com/site/592684/page/235283) collar, which has a massively bright light on it. It doesn't blink, it just has an on/off switch. I'm not sure the dog is a huge fan of it, since dogs see better in the dark anyway, but it sure is bright. You could see Carter from a mile away with that thing! Plus it's bright enough that I can see where I'm going in the dark too, without needing a headlamp or anything like that. Carter also has a reflective collar just in case.

They do make reflective vests for dogs! When I was googling for the PupLight since I couldn't remember the name I found this site: http://www.keepdoggiesafe.com/ I think I might get one of those reflective vests with the bright orange, because we do take our dog out into the woods during hunting season and I'd feel safer with that than with just his orange bandana and collar.

:dizzy: Well, I don't get it but I'll take it ;)
Yesterday evening found me eating cookie dough and cookies, long grain and wild rice, a small piece of fried fish-thai style-HOT, and fighting the urge to binge into oblivion.

Today I stood on the scale, fully expecting at least a 3-4 pound gain and what did I see?? A one pound loss! :carrot:

So I feel like if I get myself way back on track today, maybe the scale karma gods won't take my loss and turn it into a gain. :p

Iris, I have been at maintenance weight for one year and one month and I feel like my control is not such that I can say what my planned caloric intake is per day or workout. I'm still generally playing catchup with my calories. My goal for this operation is an actual measured, weighed and prepared in advance meal plan for at least one week.

Amanda, I use those restauarant rules also. I have tried to follow them since I hit maintenance.

Hey Jo, welcome back!

go team!!!! :carrot:

Iris, I try to eat about the same every day, unless I'm in training for a race (in which case a really long training session may require extra food). My typical workouts are only about 30 mins, so I don't burn all that many calories. If I planned a 2 hour workout I might need more food to get through it. Sometimes if I haven't eaten much before a workout I will shift some of my calories from later in the day up so that I can get some more energy for my exercise.

Jessica~on the page where the dog vest is, the lighted collar is similar to what I have for Chico. It isn't really bright, and it has a strobe effect to it. If you watch it too much your eyes get all buggy! I don't think Chico would like that vest. Mine isn't a whole vest--just the reflective part. It's elastic so you can make it as tight as you want so it doesn't flop all over. I'll see if I can find a pic.

This is what I have--I love it! http://www.night-gear.com/xinglet-pocket-reflective-vest-by-amphipod-543

Tyler Durden, I love your photo! It definitely makes me want to go to Acadia! Maybe once I move back to the east coast. =) For now I still have to hit the Grand Canyon.

Thanks for the food/exercise input. I'm always kind of concerned that I should be eating less if I don't work out as hard or something. '

I seriously need to get my dad (and/or the dog!) suited up with a light or something reflective. They always go walking at night and their neighborhood is in a residential loop, not a through street, but people who live there drive through really fast sometimes. I worry....

This may be a silly question, not sure, but do you eat more on days you are more active or just eat around the same amount every day (or otherwise eat not in conjunction with your workouts) and let it even out?

Not a silly question! I do plan to eat a little more the day before and day of my Sunday long run which is usually 10-15 miles. I need the fuel the day before to stock up to sustain the run, and need a little more that day for recovery. But otherwise I don't eat more, and I'm active pretty much every day. There are other exceptions: on my hiking vacation in July, we were doing strenuous hikes of 12-15 miles every day. I could eat anything I wanted! :p Of course there are the falling-off-plan days when I eat more that I mean to, but that's another topic!

I've been good so far this week ... the scale is showing it as I'm now down to the 118-119 range. 4 pounds to red-line!

Welcome back, Jo!!! You looks so healthy! (nice quads!)

Hi all,

I had a long, hot day of field work yesterday and ended up using that as an excuse to skip the gym, drink a beer, and then eat too much for dinner/snacks. Came to around 2500 cals for the day. I will do better today.

Iris, I occasionally eat more on the day after a big workout, but I let how much I eat be dictated by hunger, not just "because I worked out more I should eat more". I find that the day of a heavy legs workout or a long run I don't feel the need to eat extra, but the day after is when I'm hungry. I suppose that makes sense because that's when my muscles are repairing themselves (ie building) after "trauma". But I might eat an extra handful of nuts, not an extra cheese pizza etc.

Tyler, once again my stupid computer at work can't see pictures posted here b/c of the firewalls that are up. Glad you enjoyed your vacation!

Ok, time to shape up Megan! I know tomorrow will be a stressful day at work (big event at our office), and then it's the weekend. Neither of those things are an excuse to eat more food or not exercise.

Accountability for Wednesday:
Snacks: Check, apple at 3:45.
Workouts: Check, workout #3 of the week.
HIIT: Check, did a HIIT run.
Calories: Fail, I came in at 1516.

I'm annoyed with myself about the calories. I really wanted to eat the leftover brisket and tsimmes that was in the fridge, so I said, okay, I'm a calorie counter, nothing is off limits, I'll just eat a small portion. I got out my scale and weighed out a portion of each that would leave me inside my calorie limit for the day -- put me right at 1390, in fact. Turns out that's a pretty darn small portion, and after eating my dinner I was still really hungry. I had a bowl of cabbage soup to fill me up, but while the soup is really low-cal, it was still 125 cals, which put me over my 1400 limit.

I just need to keep the high-energy-density foods out of my house. Today will be better. The scale is punishing me a little too, it's gone up the past two days (but still down from last week). I was hoping for a 1lb loss this week but it's looking like it will be 0.5 instead.

Tyler, welcome back! You look great in that photo!

I'm going to a conference in Tucson next week and I'm terrified of undoing the work I've done these past two weeks. Ugh! Right now I'm going to look up what sort of facilities there are for fitness at my hotel.

I'm annoyed with myself about the calories. I really wanted to eat the leftover brisket I ate that tuesday and tsimmes that was in the fridge,I ate that toay.

ohhhh, the leftover factor. I'm headed over to daily plate to account for it!

Jessica, what conference are you attending in Tucson? That's where I'm living right now... If you happen to be staying at the Mariott I know they have a fitness room with cardio equipment at least (long shot but I know it's a nice hotel where they host conferences fairly often... I attended one there but of course stayed at home!).

Currently I am fighting the urge to crawl back into bed, but my coffee just finished, so hopefully that will help! :coffee2: I didn't sleep well last night - kept tossing and turning until after 2am. I just couldn't get comfortable, but of course my bed felt PLENTY comfy this morning when the alarm went off!

Iris, it's the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing. I'm staying at the Doubletree at Reid Park, and the conference is at the JW Marriott Starr Resort. Looking online it looks like the Doubletree has a fitness room, plus it is located right at a park so there should be jogging trails. It also looks like the Marriott resort has a Starbucks onsite so I'm hoping that means I can get oatmeal for breakfast.

Paperclippy, one of my travel strategies is to take along packets of weight control oatmeal (more protein than the usual) and/or protein bars for breakfast. You can heat water for the oatmeal using your in-room coffee pot.

MBN, I use the hot water from the coffeepot for oatmeal trick too! At business meetings I always bring oatmeal, protein/fiber bars, no-drain packets of tuna, apples and bananas, etc... things that don't need refrigeration if I'm not sure if I'll have a fridge. Since I'm away from my home (chores), BF, and friends, I usually get to bed earlier at conferences than I do at home, so I can get up nice and early to use the hotel's gym.

I'm make sure I pack Zone bars or other protein bars when I travel. No, they aren't the perfect nutritional powerhouse, but in comparison to the cookies they put out at every. single. meeting. they're a big improvement.

This morning - ON my red line! :cheer: Hopefully the down trend will continue through tomorrow so I can be officially under it.

:lol: Oatmeal, South Beach Living Protein bars, bananas, apples, Laughing Cow, tea bags, and Flatout bread go with me on every trip. I have a small lunchbox that looks like a cooler. It has saved me from several conference luncheon disasters.

http://fc00.deviantart.com/images3/i/2004/173/5/d/Cheerleader_Emote.gif

Let's stay strong going into the weekend! Fall Festival going on this weekend for me - I definitely need a PLAN!

Jessica - Reid park is actually where I go running a lot - the "multi-use path" there is just about 3 miles. =)

CD, be strong at your fall festival! Does it involve pumpkin pie? I'd crumble...

I triumphed over pizza yesterday! :jeno:

On the way home from work, DS #2 (15 yo) begged me to pick up cheese pizza for dinner. We don't do pizza very often, but I caved this time and went by the pizza shop. Ordered 2 pizzas (for DH and DS#1 too), waited in the shop for them to be made, carried them to the car ... all the time smelling the cheesy-greasy yummyness. mmmmm. It would have been SO easy for me to fall face first into the pizza pie. BUT, I firmed my resolve, changed clothes and went to PiYo class. Came home, ate on plan, then off to choir practice. This morning, I am in the 118 range, 3 pounds to redline, and making progress.

It may not seem like much, but I'll take all of the minor NSV's I can get! :carrot:

Now I just have to Not Blow It Over The Weekend!

I feel kind of stupid because I spent so long early this year wondering about why I wasn't losing any weight. The answer is just so obvious -- I didn't cut enough calories. Turns out 1300-1400/day is a losing level for me, but 1600-1800 is not.

:wave: Just popping in to say this has been resonating with me ever since Jessica posted it a few days ago! Thank you, Jessica! Obvious, yes, but definitely worth restating. :)

Silver, isn't it weird how things can be so obvious and yet so difficult at the same time? You wouldn't think a couple hundred calories would make that much difference, but it does.

Iris, maybe we'll "run" into each other! :lol:

Thanks for the conference advice guys! I'm hoping because it's a women's conference that they will have some healthy food for the lunches and dinners, but you never know. I'll keep my fingers crossed that I don't gain much.

Accountability for Thursday:
Snacks: Check
Workouts: Check, NRLW
HIIT: N/A, strength day
Calories: Check, 1284

My scale is mad at me. It went down steadily until Tuesday, then started creeping back up (why? It's not like I ate that much!). Tomorrow is my official weigh day so I hope it will be down again.

hi,midwife!i would like to join you...i really want to lose weight..now i always sit in the office,and i feel i become fatter than before.because i have no time to go sports,eveyday i do is sit ,sit ,sit,and eat ,eat ,eat...i know it is not good for health,but how can i do...everyday i spent 8 hours working in the office....

Great job, MBN! That is a great triumph!!!

Jessica, sounds like you are ready for that conference. In my experience, conference food is always terrible though---even for women, even for women's health, even for women's health weight loss professional conferences. Oatmeal, exercise, water....you'll do great! Control what you can, right?

Welcome, Nish! Losing weight is both simple and difficult but so so worth it!!! I really think it is 80-90% nutrition, so even if you don't have a lot of time for sports or exercise right now, really look at the foods you are eating and see how you can make healthier choices. How much do you weigh? How tall are you? What do you eat on a regular basis? We can give you some feedback.

This week had gone so great food-wise for me, and then yesterday after work was the PERFECT STORM for me....stressed out, overly hungry, poor planning, and the easy foods to reach for were neither satisfying or nutritious. It could have been a lot worse. I crawled into bed at 8 pm and slept straight through until 6:15 this morning. I needed the sleep, I think. Lots of water today, and back on plan. I feel terrible. Not guilt, but terrible, bloated, thirsty, my eyes are puffy. I just can't do certain foods anymore. I had some ritz and pepperoni (300 calroies worth) and I feel like I'm hungover.

It's FRIDAY, people!!! I know that the weekend is a DANGER zone for me and a few others here. So, I pledge right now to have a POP weekend.

:mad: :mad: :mad: So, we get fed lunch every Friday at work since we have a meeting at lunchtime. When we were asked for what type of food we wanted (months ago), I put in my request that we have a healthy option at each meal. Usually this is no problem -- we almost always have a salad, unless it's pizza day, and I can handle a couple slices of veggie pizza.

But today's lunch was just GROSS. Bellacino's grinders. The most disgusting food on the planet. (Of course, the guys on my team love them and have been asking for them for months.) Basically, it's a sandwich with oily bread, coated in mayo, with 1/4" melted cheese, some small pieces of meat and some wilted veggies. I swear they brush the entire thing in oil again before toasting it. SO. GROSS. Bellacino's also sells salads, but for some unknown reason, today there was no salad. All there was was these disgusting sandwiches and potato chips. But I hadn't brought anything else for lunch, anticipating it being one of our usual lunches, so I ate it anyway. One veggie and one chicken.

I went to look up the nutritional info after lunch, and it made me really angry. Why? Because the nutritional information on the website ONLY has nutritional info for their "light" items. WTF?! Since when do I only care about nutritional info for the "light" items? I want to know the info for ALL the items! The "light" chicken grinder for the size that I ate is 308 calories, and that's with "fat free" cheese and "fat free" mayo. So how many calories is the one with full-fat cheese and full-fat mayo?

They have a phone number to call for more info on the nutritional info part of the website, but I hate calling people (I seriously have phone-o-phobia), and I certainly don't want to call from my cubicle where my coworkers will hear me and think I'm a nutjob.

GRrrrrrrrrrrrARGH. :mad:

So, despite the yucky lunch yesterday and going over my calorie limit, my weight was 143.6 this morning. Yay!

Accountability for Friday:
Snacks: Check, except I skipped the apple and instead had a snack at night
Workouts: Postponed until Sat morning because of rain
HIIT: N/A
Calories: Fail, came in at 1647.

So far today I did my workout already so I'm on track.

Jessica, sounds like you made the best of a hard situation. Yea for behaving scales!

My scale is not behaving. Weekends are always tough for me. The kids wanted breakfast burritos after the cross country meet. I really wanted one too, but I'm eating my cottage cheese and strawberries as planned. For lunch I'll have eggs, beans, and chile and it will be good and on plan.

Jessica, I hate calling people, too. That's frustrating that they didn't have a salad or something on the side... but I'm glad it didn't set you back!

MBN, congrats on the pizza triumph! I love pizza... almost ordered one myself last night but instead made a homemade, much healthier one.

Midwife, breakfast burritos sound so tasty! Good for you making them and not indulging!

This afternoon my department is having a fall gathering for dinner... catered for the main dish (although they didn't say what it will be - last year we had tamales) and then everyone's supposed to bring a side dish or dessert. I need to tread VERY carefully. It's so easy for me to overeat at functions like this.

On the bright side - I have weighed in at 129 2 days in a row!! I want to keep it there, so that should be good motivation this afternoon. =)

Yesterday at our weekly lunch outing, DH and I tried a new Italian place. I ordered the small sub sandwich and a side salad. Wow! Good thing I didn't order more! It was huge! The side salad was on a dinner plate (mostly just lettuce and tomato, so no harm there) and the small sub was a chicken parmesan with so much sauce I had to cut it and eat it with a fork, but it was very yummy. DH had lobster and shrimp canelloni which they served on a bed of spaghetti! Amazing prices for all that food, so that much was good.

We had a light dinner so my weight was just fine this morning. And so far today we've eaten quite light.

Tomorrow we'll probably golf in the morning then we're going to go see Surrogates. Should be an interesting movie. There are so many movies out this weekend! I want to see at least four of them!

OK, one day down - weekends are hard! We CAN make it through the weekend!
Some victories above :cp:

Let's finish strong!
http://fc01.deviantart.com/fs9/i/2006/019/f/7/_strong___revised_by_LeoLeonardo.gif

Well, hi.
I'm not actually a maintainer.
I still have 20 pounds left to lose.
But I've been at 165 for about 3 weeks and I look pretty good at this weight (but not what I feel is my best) and my body seems rather happy here, so it seems more like me fighting a setpoint rather than a plateau, so to speak, so I think this last 20 pounds is going to be verrrrrrrrrrryyyyyy slow if at all, very tooth-and-nails.
I'm very bad at going very low-cal (1500 is fine, but any lower than that is impossible for me) and average about 1700/day over the course of a weekish.
Maintenance for this weight is 2200 calories.
Oh well.
I find it harder to get motivation to stop maintaining and REALLY try to lose the rest since I look good at this weight and am at a healthy BMI, so I thought this might be a good thread for me to join, because I kind of do feel like I am maintaining now but want to lose a bit more.
So uh... hi?
:wave:

Welcome, Megwini!

My weekend is over. I am at the hospital today and, while there are lots of temptations, I tend to do okay cause it is a controlled food environment. I'll hae all my food planned for the day.

Today the scale read 158.5. That is because yesterday was POP! This is HUGE for me! My usual MO has been to break into the 150s on Thurs/Friday, eat poorly Saturday/Sunday and start the week at 163...repeat. Starting the week in the 150s is a huge victory for me. I will be POP today! Already got my run in.

midwife - :woohoo: What a GREAT start to your week!

megwini - You are at a healthy weight for your height - thus it may indeed come off slowly from here. My last 20 lbs came off very slowly! And like you, that was OK since I looked good, felt great, and was fit and healthy. Being able to maintain at 2200 is GREAT (my maintenance calories are 1400-1500).
Glad you joined us! And, it looks to me like you are indeed a maintainer - awesome loss so far! :congrat:

Doing great here, I plan to cook ahead for the week. I need to make protein bars, and a healthy apple crisp, and a few main dishes. So - I'm off to finish my planning and cooking.
http://fc05.deviantart.com/fs18/f/2007/195/b/3/_bar_lift__by_chibixestella.gif

Hang tough - we CAN do this!

Apple crisp! :drool: How do you make it healthier?

I overdid it a little bit last night on the desserts, but was still holding steady at 129 this morning... whew! So long as that carries over till tomorrow!

This morning I had a bowl of Kashi cereal and soymilk and felt pretty good to go - set off for church and stopped by Target on the way home. By the time I got to target, I was RAVENOUS. Major drooling over the halloween funfetti cake mixes and of course all the candy... but no purchases! I came home and had a whole wheat english muffin with some cottage cheese. Hopefully that will hold me till lunch time!

Welcome, megwini! It sure is hard to lose those last pounds, but stay confident in yourself as you are, keep working, and they come slooooooowly but surely. =)

Thanks guys! I'm figuring I might have to put back in some actual structured exercise now to boost my metabolism up.
I really like walking. I don't do one set exercise right now but rather always make an effort to walk and walk around campus a LOT and take the stairs everywhere, which all added up is quite a bit, but although it's good for me, I don't think it's really boosting my metabolism at all, so I think it's time for me to have to put genuine structured exercise back in to beat out the last part.
I don't want to get tanned but simultaneously hate exercise machines, so maybe instead of what I did last year (getting up at 5 to go out right at sunrise) I'm thinking of just walking/running up the stairs in my dorm. They're pretty much always vacant because I'm one of the few people that takes the stairs instead of the elevator, and it's 12 floors if I went all the way to the top, so a couple rounds of that should leave me panting!

Aaaaaaaah desserts. I can pass up a lot and not really mind it but my weakness will ALWAYS be good ice cream. I'm addicted to ice cream. I have to incorporate a little bit a few times a week as my one... well... not so good food. Like I go off to a frozen yogurt place near campus and get a little bit often, or like today me and my friend Cody are going to ColdStone (I'm getting the smallest size with no mix-ins... but I haven't been back since like May so I wanted to go). <3 Ice cream.

Apple crisp! :drool: How do you make it healthier?

Preheat oven to 375 F

Combine and put in a greased (non-stick cooking spray) casserole dish

3 c. sliced apples
1 T whole wheat flour
1/3 c. non-fat dry milk
1/4 c. 0 Calorie Splenda (for baking) (can substitute your favorite sweetener)
1 t. cinnamon
1/8 t. salt (optional)
1 T water


Cut together with pastry blender or food processor:

1/2 c rolled oats
3 T peanut butter
2 T ground flax seed
2 T bran
1/2 t. cinnamon

Sprinkle on top of casserole mixture.

Bake 35 minutes (I prefer to cover it while baking)

Serves 9
http://img75.imageshack.us/img75/297/crisp.jpg (http://img75.imageshack.us/i/crisp.jpg/)

Saturday accountability:
Snacks: Check, had ice cream in the afternoon
Workouts: Check, 5th workout of the week was a 5k run
HIIT: Check, did the middle mile as HIIT
Calories: Almost, came in at 1418

Today we went to DH's company picnic at the zoo and I ended up having more ice cream. Oh well. I plan to go over calories a bit today anyway since tomorrow is Yom Kippur (= no food from sunset tonight until sunset tomorrow). Not sure how the fast will affect my exercise plans, I might have to skip it to avoid making myself sick. Leaving for the conference on Tuesday!

Hi! Poking my nose in here because I am having such a hard time with these last few pounds, even though I am staying OP. I'm probably doing fine, I just wish progress was faster. I have managed to lose 2 pounds in the last 5 weeks, since re-committing. I am logging my foods again, which I haven't for the past several months. In that time I wasn't able to lose any weight, but at least I managed to maintain. It's time for me to get serious about moving that ticker down to goal!