Living Maintenance - Operation 5-10 The Holiday Edition!

We're pushing 500 on the original thread, so I thought I'd gear us up for thread #2! Wow, and 10,000 + views of the other thread! I guess we are all checking in a lot!! Lurkers, come out and play!!

Tomorrow's Halloween! Then another National Holiday (my birthday!) is next week. Then Turkey Day (mine's on the counter defrosting....there's a little puddle dripping on the floor....should I be concerned? ;) ) and then Christmas, Yule, NY Eve, etc!!! Lots of food temptations, lots of planning! Who wants to be under their red line on New Year's Day?? I do, I do!!!!!

Let's do this thing!

My birthday's coming up too, Midwife! How old will you be? I'll tell if you will. ;)

Here's where I got the idea for the pizza mummies. There are tons of other cute themed things you can make. http://familyfun.go.com/recipes/pizza-mummies-688188/

Ward, that's funny about the pizza mummies because I was looking at that website yesterday and thinking about making them for our halloween party!

I'm annoyed again because at work they served us the disgusting super-high-cal oily slimy sandwiches again. I took one half sandwich and apparently even that small amount was about 500 cals. Ugh! Way to ruin my eating plan, guys. A super-high-cal tiny sandwich puts me 200 cals over what I planned, and I'm still hungry because it was small. I'm emailing the people who order us food right now to request that if they order from this place again they get me a salad. They already special-order vegetarian sandwiches for some folks so it shouldn't be too hard.

Edit - I should add that I don't mind when we get pizza, and I usually eat about 600 cals worth of pizza. The difference is that two slices of pizza is a good amount of food and keeps me full for the rest of the day, whereas the 500-cal sandwich left me still hungry immediately after eating it.

Can you bring your own lunch? I have waltzed into business meetings with my own lunch many a time :)

I am ON BOARD with this thread, I have about 5 lbs to lose.

I'm still in, everyone! I don't know how I'm doing.. ahem.. but I'm still trying. (Well, doing ok so far today, but every day is a challenge right now for me). midwife, I was noticing we've gotten a lot of views as well. Please everyone, come join us!

Cute pizza mummies! I don't think I'll be making the vampire bite cupcakes (http://bakingbites.com/2007/10/vampire-cupcakes/) I made last year for Halloween. Really cute and delicious but I don't need to introduce any extra sugar into my life right now.

<cough>37, Ward <cough>. But you know, I feel like I'm 22. So that's good!
Megan, I made those Vampire cupcakes last year. I will not be making them this year....same reason as you!
Glory, do you think some of those 5 lbs could be water weight from your trip? I know your pants will be loose soon.
Jessica, I get so annoyed spending calories on subpar food it's not even funny. I don't mind splurging on something high quality. Could you keep a frozen meal on hand for the days they order icky sandwiches?

So far a POP day. I had a kick-*** workout today so I doubt the scale will bop down in the next 48 hrs, but that's okay. I feel really good!

My birthday's coming up too, Midwife! How old will you be? I'll tell if you will. ;)

And mine is at the very end of the holiday season - Jan 7. 65 if you're all telling. :)

For some reason I feel pretty good right now about going into the holiday season. Because we've no kids or other family around we don't get sucked into a lot of events that involve tons of food and drink. I have a work party (at an Italian restaurant, order off the menu) and friends of ours always throw a party with potluck finger food. Otherwise it's the two actual holidays and we go to our next door neighbors and so while we have a traditional meal, there's no leftovers to deal with (esp the dessert kind :lol: ). I will likely buy a small turkey when they're on sale but when I fix it we'll just have a "regular" dinner, not a blowout.

I could bring my own lunch or keep something else handy, but unfortunately I don't really know what they're going to be serving until I walk into the room, and most of the time the food is something I can fit in easily or I've already planned for. I did talk to the person who orders the food for us though and requested that whenever we order from this place we get a salad in addition to the sandwiches. That should take care of my issue.

I did actually bring my own lunch to exactly one of these meetings, because it was during passover and I predicted (accurately) I wouldn't be able to eat whatever they had. Nobody said anything about it to me.

Are we having tell-your-age day? I turned 27 last month. I'm told that now that I'm 27 my biological clock will start ticking overtime, but fortunately I've escaped it so far!

Workout today is not going to happen. It's pouring rain and doesn't look like it will stop any time soon. Sigh. I guess I'll just have to make up for it tomorrow!

I'll be 45 on Nov. 19. ack! Jessica, I had my first child at age 37 and my second at age 39. I don't think you need to start worrying about your bio clock just yet.

As long as we are confessing b'days -
I'll be 52 tomorrow
:haphal:


I often bring my own lunch to meetings. Being a vegetarian, it is the norm for me. We have several folk with food allergies, and special dietary needs - I don't think anyone thinks twice about it these days.

One of the great things about being 52 is that I really don't care much any more what others think. I do what is best for me, I wear what I want, and I'm more likely to say what I think. It is very freeing.

And, my observation has been, that my concern over the years was unwarranted. Most folk don't react negatively at all.

Glory, do you think some of those 5 lbs could be water weight from your trip? I know your pants will be loose soon.


Maybe SOME, but yeah, I ate too many calories to maintain.

Happy pre-birthday, Countingdown!!!

Who wants to be under their red line on New Year's Day??

Me me meeee!!

I ate a few pieces of chocolate today which I argue were not TECHNICALLY Halloween candy... but I ended up not eating lunch because I was just too anxious all day (bad, I know).

I'm off to check out the mummy-pizza link!

I'm kinda cheating to be in this thread. My Thanksgiving is over, my birthday (#53) is next year, and we only have two holiday meals in December, neither of which will be at my house.

I will probably be getting some Belgian chocolate from clients for Christmas. I don't give that to the food bank so that will be my challenge - eating one piece a day.

I might even get down to goal (:rofl: but hey, miracles happen right?) by the end of 2009.

How about we break this thread into months? It's almost November so we could restart with a holiday thread for that and then again on Dec. 1?

A little easier to read/handle?

Dagmar :dracula:

How about we break this thread into months?
Dagmar :dracula:

Sounds like a good idea! Somehow even though I only have 6 lbs. to go I think it may take a few months... *sigh*

Getting a little hungry so I better figure out lunch before I go crazy and eat everything in the kitchen.... Happy Halloween everyone!!

Happy Happy B-day COunting Down!!! :):):)

Well girls, I am still here doing my thing, or not so much. I still feel at a normal weight but that SLIM feeling is gone. I am thinking it is time for a fitness and food challenge to keep me on a better track. Recently I bought ms student office and I am planning on learning excel by making up a BFL spreadsheet for myself. Weight training has been something I've been trying to accomplish for months (um, 1 year) and this may very well be the time.

YOU GO GIRLS!!!

No Halloween candy for me yet! yay! I ran my usual 10.4 mile route this morning, too. The bad news is that my ILs are due to arrive Saturday for a week-long visit. My usual response to the stress and anger I feel while they visit is to EAT all.week.long. This time really needs to be different.

Thanks for the birthday wishes!

I got through Halloween with no damage. I did share the free birthday dessert with DH (raspberry cheesecake). We split a Tomato, mozarella, and spring greens salad too. A lovely birthday dinner :)

Walmart had pie pumpkins for 10 cents a lb. today. I bought a couple small ones and I'm making stuffed pumpkins for dinner with lots of veggies and fruit and quinoa for protein. I love cooking this time of year!

I hope everyone had a great start to November and the week ahead! Stay strong! NOW is a perfect time to re-focus and get that scale moving http://fc05.deviantart.com/fs44/f/2009/111/8/1/Cheerleader_by_CookiemagiK.gif

Well I did it...I shed that last pound and weighed in yesterday at 134. Here's to not gaining it back!

Well I did it...I shed that last pound and weighed in yesterday at 134. Here's to not gaining it back!

:congrat:

AWESOME!

forestroad, :bravo: Good for you!!!

Jay

I'm back. Haven't weighed myself yet but I should be what I was when I left. Don't think I've lost anything. The pantsometers are feeling the same, that is, not zipping up! Feeling a little weird after the trip but I'll settle back in soon, I hope. Gymn tomorrow. Windows are not complete, yoyo, and it's raining hard now so no chance in the near future.

Congrats to you all for getting through Hallowe'en. It's over now. I won't say you can relax but you can at least pat yourselves on the back that you got through it. Well done, everyone! Sometimes slip-ups happen but we just move on, don't we?

Can't really catch up with personals but Happy Birthday to all who've had one!

And re age. I'm 54, for what it's worth. Jessica, I was 44 1/2 when I had the DB here. Using the usual method of implantation. There's a lot of social pressure bubbling under in the 'biological clock' stuff, IMHO.

Hope to see you all tomorrow.

ETA: I have just had two bowls of muesli (after tea of lamb chop and veg). What is that all about? Food has not quite hit the correct rhythm yet is all I can think. Things will be better in the morning.

Happy birthday Conting Down!

Silver, welcome back!

Forest, great job!! :cheer:

Ward, good luck with the in-laws. I always have trouble when family is in town too.

Not too much Halloween damage here. I had my planned very indulgent dinner Saturday night, complete with multiple chocolate cakes and pies and cookies and candy bars. I hadn't planned to eat any more Halloween candy yesterday, but the craving was going to get the better of me so I made a conscious decision to eat some more, selected the ones I wanted, and put the bag away again. The leftovers came to work this morning and are out of sight, out of mind. Even with the extra candy I ate yesterday came in around 1700 cals so not bad.

I've got another challenge today -- I was "voluntold" to go to dinner with some interview candidates we brought to town. It's at Dave & Buster's. I've never been there before, but it looks like their menu has some salads and fish on it so it might not be too bad.

Jessica - I've been to Dave & Buster's. Not bad, though I would bring my own salad dressing at this point . i remember lots of creamy dressings, and I just don't like those. Though they may have updated the menu since then, dunno. :)

Emerging lurker here. I hit my goal of 150 on Oct 14 and promptly hit a bizarre motivational wall that resulted in two weeks of backsliding. I really don't want to go into the holidays with that same mindset, and decided to set a lower target so that I can position my maintenance in the middle 140s.

I've been on and off in the Featherweights for a while, but after these last couple of weeks and seeing my potential for screwing up this year's hard work, I'd like to join the 5-10 thread and gain some more Maintenance insights!

Welcome, ICU!!!

Congrats, Forest!!

Look at all of us---planning, being thoughtful, drawing lines! Yeah!!

Ward, I always think awareness is so helpful. I remember in the spring when DS #2 was having some health problems standing in front of the refrigerator looking for something, anything, and I recognized at that moment that it was all stress. There are so many ways to handle stress. I know that you know that exercise is one of the best ways. Can you add a kickboxing class that week to burn of the angst? :devil:

Happy belated birthday, CD!!!

Let's have a great week moving toward our goals! :cheer:

Hey dudettes,
I am back to 127 still aiming for 5-6 pounds lower, knowing it is all about stick-to-it-iveness.
Ward, I know Iknow Iknow. I second the kickboxing!!
Welcome Glory and ICU!
Welcome back Silver
Forestroad, you are so fabulous, chicks-check out those goal pics :)
Jessica, have a tolerable time at dinner
Midwife, Iris, CD, Jay, Mudpie, hello :)

I like the idea of this being another great opportunity to refocus on good habits and attitudes :)

GOOOOOO TEAM! :hug: :D :carrot:

ICU, welcome! Congrats on making your goal and good for you for taking action against the extra pounds so quickly.

Forestroad, way to get to 134! :carrot: You look awesome in that very cute bikini, too!

There's just no way I can get to goal by New Years, but I am sticking to trying to lose 5 lbs by Thanksgiving and at that point I will set another goal (maybe 3 lbs? will look at the calendar to see what's do-able) for Christmas. My goal this week is to get to the gym 5 days, which I know won't be today b/c I'm hosting my book club tonight. I've got a lot going on this week so that will actually be a challenge time-wise.

Friday afternoon I got a burst of energy that's been missing in my life over the last two weeks or so. I found out that I got a part in the play that I auditioned for, and was excited to I went to the gym and ran on the treadmill. The part is of a former beauty queen, lol, but it was more the excitement that got me going, not the thought of having to pass as a former beauty queen with my little buddha belly I'm currently sporting. I'm hoping this energy continues! Rehearsals won't start for a few weeks though.

Quick post as I'm on the mobile (cell).

Ward - my suggestion is silent roaring whilst bashing a pillow in a room with the door closed. It's just a top-up between KB classes. Nothing but sympathy from me.

Megan - you read my mind. 5lbs by Thanksgiving & then set another little goal. We'll be there before we know. (Better be because the clothes situation is Not Good here.)

Too wiped out by a weights session to say much more. (So *** wiped out I had toast & jam when I came in & fell asleep for several hours. Often like this after a break.) In bed now & will sleep like a baby all night.

Sending good vibes all round.

Megan, that is so exciting! I don't think I would have the courage. You are impressing me :)

Congrats, Megan!

157 this am which surprised me a little. I thought it would be higher. Food is planned for the day, including a restaurant holiday party. Chose to sleep in rather than get up and run (I needed it!) so I'll pack my gear and try to get intervals in at lunch.

Have a good one!

1500 clean calories yesterday, and 60 minutes/2700 yards in the pool. Carb cravings are beginning to subside already. Decided to challenge myself to making it to Thanksgiving (24 days) POP.

Ward - love your avatar! You're much prettier than the big ole pig you've had up! Best wishes with the in-laws - I know that if mine were to stay for a week, well, I just don't have those strategies down.

CountingDown - the pumpkins sound terrific! Can you save the seeds from a pie pumpkin for roasting, or are they too small to bother with?

forestroad - Congratulations on the final pound! You've made an amazing transformation!

paperclippy - "voluntold" :lol: Been there!

Megan - wow, an actress on top of all the neat things you do - wonderful! And what a way to handle good news - not with pie, or booze - the treadmill. Nice!

silverbirch - I NEVER sleep well after a workout ... what's your secret? I'm confined to 7:30pm pool time, and when I get home at 9, I am WIRED.

midwife - In my world, sleep trumps everything else! Oddly, the better shape I get in, the less sleep I seem to need - or maybe I'm just getting higher quality rest. Wish I could get by with less than 8 ... but gotta go with the cards you're dealt, I guess!

Hello to everyone else! I'm looking forward to getting to know you!

:wave: to everyone. I am finding my equilibrium, thank goodness, after the time away. Second day at the gymn: bit of cardio and a lot of stretching has left me feeling much more human. I'll be back to normal-ish by Friday.

ICUWishing - can I join in your challenge to be POP every day until Thanksgiving? I found myself thinking that it isn't very long and that I can do it. I'm in a team with Jessica (paperclippy) and Megan to lose 5lbs each by then and I feel I need a bit of a push. And I don't have any emotional baggage to do with the date (being over here where it doesn't feature) so it's just a date.

And my secret to sleeping well after working out is two-fold. Firstly, probably overdoing it. My life is very busy. Secondly, I work out in the morning. I think I'd be wired if I did it in the evening. What's the Nationals in Atlanta in May 2010? Are you a competitive swimmer?

Forest Road - many congratulations!

Midwife - you are right about awareness being so important. It's central. But so difficult to hold on to when exhaustion or great emotion strike. A matter of practice, do you think? Or Iron Will?

Kittycat - refocus on good habits and attitudes. That is great. We all have good habits and attitudes but they are probably just slightly out of focus. All we have to do is twiddle the binoculars a bit or clean our specs and all should become clear.

Megan - you will be a lovely beauty queen. Past, present and future! How are things going with the 5lb challenge?

Jessica - are you out at D and B's? How was it?

:wave: to all, especially those I've forgotten. Weights again tomorrow.

silverbirch - Of course you can join the VERY informal "POP" challenge - I just figured it was a good, quick jumpstart to get back in the weightloss mentality through the holidays - which last year accelerated me right to my highest weight! Midway through Day 3 and goin' strong!

I spent all my youngster years in competitive swimming, up thru my junior year in college. Came back to it again in my later 20's and my last National event was in 1997. I'm rediscovering it and really want to hit at least one qualifying time (you're allowed to swim 3 events even if you don't). It's a good excuse to go to Georgia in the spring. :)

Aww, you guys are so nice. :)

Busy busy here, but I'm trying to get out of the office so I have time to get in a good workout. That's why I don't have time for personals today, but I just wanted to say hi, and keep it up everyone! :carrot::carrot::carrot:

Checking in as my day starts (0650 now) to confirm that today will be OP.

Me too, Silver! I've been a little sloppy with the odd piece of Halloween candy and BLTs.
ICU -- I need a POP challenge to get back on the straight and narrow!

Despite that, I am notching the ticker down a pound... just one more to go for T-Day!!!

Congratulations on making the challenge, Forest, you rock!!!

Megan -- I'm not surprised you got the part!

Midwife -- I envy anyone who can sleep in... Good for you, putting a priority on catching those Z's!

Good luck to all with your challenges today!

Midwife - you are right about awareness being so important. It's central. But so difficult to hold on to when exhaustion or great emotion strike. A matter of practice, do you think? Or Iron Will?


Both, I think. Either sometimes. Preparation (if I don't HAVE the junk, I don't eat it). And sometimes even awareness is not enough and I still fall into old habits....but it is rarer and rarer....and perfection is not the goal for me, improvement is.

Hi everyone! Sorry I wasn't around yesterday.

I got annoyed by the Dave & Buster's thing . . . rather than just having us all go there and order off the menu, they had a private room, with a buffet. Of course, all the items in the buffet were the unhealthiest things on the menu and NO VEGGIES. :mad: I took a small plate and had 3 chips w/salsa, 1 mini cheeseburger, 2 beef skewers, 2 mini quesadillas, and 1 mini quiche (at least, I think that's what it was). Probably not too much damage calorie-wise (I skipped all the fried stuff they had), but I was hungry when I got home so ended up eating more, although by now I can't remember what I ate. I think it was a slice of bread.

I think I may be "voluntold" to go again next week when we have our second group of interview candidates in. Sigh. Also I ended up missing my workout yesterday that I usually do at lunchtime because our interviews were scheduled back to back all day with only 30 minutes for lunch. I was going to do it when I got home in the evening, but the interview wrap up meeting went long and I was starving when I got home and didn't have the energy for an hour of weight lifting. Current plan is to do my regular Thursday weight workout tomorrow and do the one I was supposed to do yesterday on Saturday. Same thing for next week too since we have more interviews.

Megan, congrats on getting the part!

Wishing, swimming is impressive! I started doing triathlons so I have been swimming more, but I am sloooooooooooooow.

Despite all the weekend and interview food wobbles weight is still headed down. I should meet my 5lbs for Thanksgiving goal with no problems at this point (knock on wood). Not sure if 5 more for new year's is reasonable to expect or not.

Hi everyone. Today will be POP for me! I WILL report back with a pop day.

Started out great with a run when I really did not want to. Felt awesome :)
Found a cheese stick from yesterday in my bag and ate it for breakfast as I left my balance bar on the counter at home. It was absolutely fine. Those things must have so many preservatives!
Now at work. I will buy a tremendous salad and have it for very early lunch and snack. Dinner remains unknown. I have a vat of kim chi which I bought in an asian market in NYC. It is so good that my thai sitter and her bff sent me back for more. I have been chowing on that for the last several weeks. My dh and kids are not too psched (super smelly and spicy cabbage) but they will deal.
Have chicken in freezer. Will ask sitter to defrost with some italian dressing thrown on it. Then I will broil or grill. Frozen broc in masala sauce.
Now dinner is known :) THX!

have a great day all :):):)

today's a bit nutty, will be back later....

3 1/2 days down and still holding it together. Back to the pool tonight for another round; hopefully DS10 will be feeling well enough to go too. He's been troubled by an upset tummy for about a week now - no fever, no cough, no aches, no congestion, no lack of energy - just doesn't feel like eating and is nervous about barfing. I suspect it's dizziness more than anything else, maybe due to inner ear. I'm letting him fight with it til Friday, and then we'll head for professional help.

kittycat40 - my experience with most cheese (except soft-ripened) is that if you can keep air away from them, they'll stay good. Counterintuitive since most cheeses need to "breathe", but if you vacuum-pack your own cheese sticks they'll put up with several days out of the fridge. We take them backpacking and have gone 4 days with no issues. Drooling over your kimchee - I am way too fond of all forms of fermented cabbage. Spouse is currently working on our first batch of homemade sauerkraut - yay!

paperclippy - I swim because I'm way too much of a klutz to do other things. :D At 42, I like the idea of avoiding gravity while exercising. Sorry about the D&B debacle - sounds like you handled it as well as you could. I hate being backed into a corner like that.

yoyoma - hop aboard! It's only three weeks and a day ... how hard could it be? :) (says one who fondled - but did not eat - the kid's Halloween haul that is discretely out of sight on the lowest shelf in the pantry behind the blender).

ICU - I love your little swimming graphic in your signature! It's one way to learn to go faster. :lol:

Jessica - I'm very slow too, but I figure it'll be easier to get faster after I build up more stamina. I swam a lot last winter, and haven't gotten back to it this fall. I probably should as I keep finding any excuse not to do any other sort of cardio. WL is fine, and I really like it, but cardio - not so much.

Pat, I was going to take adult swim lessons at my local pool but then it filled up before I could sign up. :p I think I just have really bad form or something, or I am not training right. I improved my stamina until I could swim about 2/3 of a mile (starting from only being able to go 15 yards), but I never manage to get any faster. I said to DH, "How can I learn to swim faster?" and he said, "It's easy, you just swim faster." :faint:

I'm having trouble staying motivated with NRLW. I'm on Stage 5 but the workouts are so long that I don't want to do them. 2 minutes of rest between each set adds up to about 50 minutes *just resting*. I cut the rest time between sets in half, and do three sets where it says to do 3-4 sets, but it still takes me an hour. Ugh.

To be honest, I don't think there's really any exercise that I don't get tired of after about 30 minutes. I guess I can handle biking for an hour, or running 40 minutes, but I'd rather just do 30. At this point though after months of hour-long NRLW workouts I'm just tired of it.

Yea, active chicks!!

23 days til :turkey:

Just noticed....:)

I can relate to the time limitations! I'd much, much rather do something super-high intensity for a short time and get it over with. Swimming's the only exception - but that's more like a moving meditation. Speed in swimming is mostly efficiency in the pull - not "catching" enough water at the start, or not pulling the body over top of it. Total Immersion videos with Terry McLaughlin can show you the tips/tricks of improving form - even Netflix has them.

WaterRat - I have difficulty embracing cardio, too. I don't exactly love to sweat, which I think is why swimming appeals to me! I bulk up muscle really fast doing anything else - at least with swimming, the muscles are longer and smoother (my perception). And who wouldn't wanna at least TRY to look like Dara Torres???? ;)

Jessica - I took adult lessons last fall. It was about improving your stroke rather than learning to swim, and it really did help. I got some faster just - as ICU said - being more efficient in my stroke. I still have problems breathing to my right side (i.e. left ear in the water), so I end up breathing every other stroke vs. every 3rd, but since I have no inclination ever to be in a race, I don't think it matters. :lol:

Looking like Dara Torres :cp:

Okay, I was posting in the old thread before and didn't even realize it'd gotten locked!
I was not eating so well the past few weeks but this Monday I somehow hit 159 (only lost 2 pounds in October but part of that was from eating badly too!), which is the lowest I've ever weighed before! And I got back on track, doing it because I know I have to, not because I happen to feel like it. It might take me a while to lose my final 14, but I WILL do it!

:wave:

Yesterday was AOP (almost on programme). Today is working out well but the difficult time is yet to come. After I get home and as I'm making the tea. The number on the scales is edging, edging downward.

Yoyo - I'm a little sloppy too sometimes and I must stop. If I do it will make all the difference.

Midwife - improvement is the goal Yes, that's very good. I must read, learn and inwardly digest that statement.

Jessica - :hug: No veg! What kind of place is this Dave and Buster's?? That is outright cruelty. You poor thing.

Kittycat - you are awesome. Keep on running. Hope today is not as nutty. (But nuts are chock-full of EFAs, you know!) Thanks for the reminder about smelly, fermented cabbage (see below).

Wishing - we have some sauerkraut in the cupboard. I'll make something with it one day this week or next. Thanks for the idea!

Pat - :wave:

Meg - :wave:

Megan - :wave:

4 down, POP. 1420 cals for the day, 2100 yds in the pool. I guess it's good that I'm so freakin' busy, I don't have time to misbehave! :lol: Scale is not being friendly - workout weight, TOM, and 3 nights lousy sleep. Expect it to resolve by Monday, sigh.

silverbirch - "edging" down is my story too. Funny how it "explodes" upward, though. :D

megwini - :wave:

More later - need to attempt to get some work done. After all, it IS what I get paid for ...

Keep up the good work ladies! :high:

POP yesterday for me. My run was short (just over 1 mile), but I did it. Somehow I thought I was going faster than I actually went though. :lol: Calories on track at 1380.

Today will be POP as well. Workout is set for lunchtime, so just about an hour until I go off to do it. Healthy lunch is in the fridge, afternoon snack (a pear) is on my desk, and my recipe for dinner is already picked out and on the counter.

Is anyone else having more trouble with workouts now that the days are getting shorter? I hate running in the dark but it's dark in the morning AND dark in the evening now. I still would rather go outside than use the treadmill at work though, mostly because I take the dog running with me since he needs exercise too.

Been to the gym 2 days so far this week, plus one outdoor workout, on track to go for the next 3 to make my goal of 5. I could use a good kick in the pants to get my energy up, though.

It seems like daylight savings hasn't affected me as much in the mornings. I'm always sort of tired and don't like to get out of bed in the mornings. It's the evenings where I'm sleepy earlier. BF and I were exhausted and feel asleep at 9 last night! Usually 10-10:30 is my bedtime.

Jessica, I was on the treadmill at the gym Tuesday, looked outside, couldn't believe how dark it was, checked the clock - 6 PM. Yeesh. I was very glad I was at the gym. Do you have well-lit sidewalks to walk Carter and jog on in the dark? I guess it's just that time of year but the dark really does sap energy!

Is anyone else having more trouble with workouts now that the days are getting shorter? I hate running in the dark but it's dark in the morning AND dark in the evening now. I still would rather go outside than use the treadmill at work though,

I can barely get up in time to get ready for work! I think back to summer when I was up and out before 5:30. This year the darkness seems to be bothering me a lot more.

Megan, great job on the workouts! Some of the streets are well-lit, some not so well, but we bought Carter a PupLight, which is a collar with an extremely bright LED lamp on it. Even with the lamp on I don't go into the really dark areas though (like the woods).

Pat, I think if I ever moved to Alaska the darkness would get to me much more than the cold!

Ah, it's the whole combination Jessica - cold, dark, snow/ice from Oct through March (and sometimes April for the snow), though Dec/Jan are the worst. I grew up in New England where we had all these things, just not as long, more like mid-November to mid-March.

OK, so I figured out this morning why I've been sloppy about eating. I've been trying to address my sleep issue, so I am cutting out caffeine after noon and I stop drinking any liquids in the evening (to avoid waking from full bladder). But caffeine suppresses appetite and drinking tea has been one of my strategies for avoiding the night-time hungries. My eating generally goes off-kilter at the time I am vulnerable from these changes (during/after my last meal).

I'm not sure what I am going to do about it, but at least I know the enemy now!

On the bright side, I picked up a frozen 22 lb turkey on sale (which we will eat before Tday), and was lugging that awkward, heavy weight into the kitchen, when I realized I have lost two turkeys! So, when you heft your Thanksgiving turkey around, think about how many of them you have lost!

POP vibes to all!

Yoyo, are the caffiene and liquid changes helping your sleep at all? That's a good point about the turkeys! I've lost a couple turkeys as well! :lol: :thanks2:

I fell off the wagon yesterday. TOM showed up a day early, not sure if that's related or not. Breakfast was a little bigger than usual (about 50 cals extra). Lunch was leftovers from the previous night and was also a little higher cal than usual, maybe 100 extra cals. I was still hungry after my snack and made a poor choice and ate a brownie, for another extra 250 cals (at least, according to online calorie calculators, it didn't have info on it). Dinner was about the usual number of calories, but it put me over my budget by 200 cals, probably thanks to the brownie. Then I was still hungry after dinner, argh! So I ate some raisin bran. Total cals for the day were 1900. That's maintenance level for me, but still. :sigh:

Today is a new day. I may not have a loss this week but I'm still on track for my thanksgiving goal.

I have made it 25 straight days on plan! woot! The bad news is that my ILs arrive tomorrow and I will probably erase the 9 lb loss in one week. boo! I will do my best to stay on here as much as possible and power through but I don't have high hopes. I will start on a good note, though. Spin-a-thon tomorrow! Three hours! It's a benefit for the American Diabetes Association. I have done it before and it's great fun. :carrot:

I hope everyone has a great, on-plan week-end.

Ward, 25 days OP in a row is AMAZING!!! Bravo! :cp: I'm sure your ILs visit won't be so bad. Stay strong! Great job!!!

Day 5. Not POP with what I planned to eat, but still came in under the calorie limit. Back to the pool tonight - bought new fins and paddles to help spice up the workouts.

Ward - best of luck! When the crap gets too thick, lace up the running shoes and go screaming into the outdoors! Food won't help, but if your legs are too sore to drag you to the kitchen, you might be OK. Breathe!

paperclippy - is today going better? TOM's a ******. It's mindblowing how powerfully hormones affect the brain - definitely an extra challenge.

yoyo - yikes - I didn't know caffeine was an appetite suppressant, but it does make sense. You figured it out quickly ... could you try green tea instead of coffee?

WaterRat - I visited Alaska July 2008 and just fell in love with it. I did notice though, that when I got up at 2am to "rest", that there was so much light in the sky, that I could navigate the room easily. Light can be blocked out, but wow - the darkness would seriously get to me. Denali inspired my whole family to start backpacking - someday we want to come up and get a backcountry permit.

Soldiering on. Some excitement here at work today - between some upcoming time off over the next two months for factory furloughs, and a new VP for my group, it should be plenty interesting!

I have made it 25 straight days on plan! woot! The bad news is that my ILs arrive tomorrow and I will probably erase the 9 lb loss in one week. boo! I will do my best to stay on here as much as possible and power through but I don't have high hopes. I will start on a good note, though. Spin-a-thon tomorrow! Three hours! It's a benefit for the American Diabetes Association. I have done it before and it's great fun. :carrot:

I hope everyone has a great, on-plan week-end.

Ward, you need more positive self-talk and strategies. :drill: You've already given yourself permission to gain that weight back. And you are right to be proud that you've had those 25 OP days, and lost 9 lbs. Pat yourself on the back, and think positively that you will maintain that loss while your ILs are there. :)

ICU - people certainly have to cover the windows for their kids in the summer. It's not unusual to see kids out playing late into the evening. The golf courses love all the light, however! In the dark times, I really try to get out during the daylight, but I also take Vitamin D supplements, because even when it's light, from November to February the sun is still very low. I'm not far enough north to be without daylight thankfully. I couldn't stand that! If you went to Denail, you passed within 10 miles of my house, driving or on the train.... :wave:

Ward, great job!!! :high:

ICU, today is definitely going better. I'm totally on track with healthy food and staying under my limit. The only trick is going to be keeping up my motivation to go run when I get home even though it will be getting dark!

I fancied something else after tea BUT I flossed and cleaned my teeth instead. Oh yes!

Pantsometers in the morning.

I'll say good night now.

Paperclippy -- I'm not sure whether that the lack of PM caffeine is helping my sleep yet or not. I've been alternating between too little and enough. I don't have trouble falling asleep, just have trouble staying asleep long enough. Good job getting back on the wagon after TOM!

ICU -- green tea also has caffeine. I drink decaf coffee, black and green tea in the afternoon. I've also dug out my HappyLite. That is supposed to be able to help too.

Yesterday my food was POP for the first time in several days (finally!!!). I had a huge pan of broccoli to pick at instead of my usual tea.

Ward -- Wow! Congrats on 25 days! Good luck dealing with the in-laws.

Silver-- Good job with the dental hygiene to ward off munchies! I usually don't even think of tryig that Iand even if I did...).

Have a POP weekend everyone!

I am about to leave for the spin-a-thon! Wish me luck! :carrot:

I'm having a hard time getting up and running in the dark too, Jessica. I've managed to scratch out some runs in the daylight but I have not been very consistent.

Yesterday was my birthday. Did some on plan things, ate some pizza & cake. Back on plan today! Water weight, water weight, go away!

Good luck with the spinathon, Ward!!! :cheer:

Thanks, midwife! I'm back and I survived. :lol: Over 1100 calories burned. :carrot:

Fantastic, Ward! :carrot: How many calories??? Let the endorphins float you through the IL visit.

Yoyoma - I just found myself stopping, thinking and then doing my teeth. I'm working quite hard on awareness (it helps that the house is getting tidy and organised again after months of builder chaos). And if something goes skew-wiff I ask myself how I could improve things for next time and do it. Thanks, midwife, you've set me off on an interesting path! It's improvement not perfection we're interested in.

:wave: to all. Will try a fuller post tomorrow. It's not so straightforward on the BB.

Happy belated Birthday, midwife!

Ward - 3 hours of spinning???? Yow!

yoyoma - hope your sleeping is improved! I know green tea has the caffeine, but it's a vaguely different molecule that doesn't induce jitters the same way or make the heart race. What I don't know is whether that action is any different for sleeping.

Maintained over the weekend - I guess I did enough yardwork to offset some misbehavior on Friday night. On the positive side, that same Friday night, I was introduced to an absolutely fabulous chicken/white bean/garlic/jalapeno chili that was heavenly! If numb-lips-spicy is your "thang" like it is mine, I'll get the recipe up.

Hope everyone's week is taking off in the right direction!

Great photo ICU! I'm with you on the spicy - I'll be looking for the recipe. :)

Ward - great job on the spinning. Hope you didn't think I was out-of-line with my :drill: last week? Hang in there with the ILs. :hug:

yoyoma - is this sleep thing catching. The last few nights I've laid awake for an hour to hour and a half, and then last night added in an hour or so awake at 3 am! Grrrrr. Consequently I was 1/2 hour late for work....

Very belated birthday wishes, midwife!

Lovely picture, ICU. Thanks for putting it up.

Yoyoma and Pat - wishing you both a good night's sleep.

Ward - not so long now.

I'm just edging downward, helped by a cold and a poorly, off-school boy (thinks: this combo can send me searching for food but isn't this time ... Interesting). I'm trying to focus on the goal in hand but I'm getting another uncelebrated-by-me day lined up for a January focus. I shouldn't really run ahead of myself. But another 5lbs by Burns Night (25 January) sounds do-able, don't you think??

And then Lady Day (25 March) but that is my name-day.

And then 19 May but that is DB's birthday.

Yes, running too far ahead. I should watch where I'm putting my feet today and tomorrow (but with half an eye on the distant horizon).

Megan? Jessica? How are you doing, team members??

Hello gang!

ICU, that recipe is right up my alley-- post, post!
Ward, sounds like you are rocking the IL visit
Silver, I am still in it until I hit my 122 goal
Jessica, I am going to follow in your op footsteps today
Yoyo and Pat, I will send you sleep vibes.... I cannot sit on the couch for any time without falling asleep!
Midwife, you are such a beautiful person. Happy 37th and many more to come :):):)

gooooooooo team!

Hi all, I'm back from a weekend out in the country with no internet/tv/etc. I ate off plan. Not counting last week's official weigh-in because it was TOM so it was off as usual, but hopefully this week will be better. Now I have to complain about the off plan eating, because while it was 100% my fault, it was also totally not my fault! (I'll just keep telling myself that...)

MIL knows I'm trying to watch my weight. DH's grandmother was my worst critic when I was heavy (although not to my face) and my biggest supporter for being thin. FIL has to watch his diet because he has kidney disease. MIL is also trying to drop a few pounds. Their vacation home we were at Sat-Sun is in the middle of nowhere so you need to bring all of your own food and water. MIL told us "don't bring any food, I will take care of it." I packed oat bran and raisins for breakfast just in case (good thinking on my part!).

However, despite all of this, MIL shows up with the ingredients to make persimmon pudding, and DH's grandmother shows up with a huge batch of homemade cinnamon rolls. Both of them brought them specifically for DH, who is also trying to watch his weight. They didn't bring much else in the way of food. Can I refuse homemade cinnamon rolls when there are 20 of them sitting in front of me, everyone else is eating them, I'm hungry, and there's nothing else to eat? Of course not, I don't have the willpower. Ugh.

In any case I had two cinnamon rolls and some persimmon pudding. I volunteered to make dinner and made my healthy low-cal veggie soup that can be made entirely from pantry ingredients, so that was a win at least. The next morning I ate my oat bran and raisins before MIL started making breakfast, which was a good idea because she made blueberry pancakes and bacon.

However, probably my biggest failure was after we got home Sunday afternoon. I ate some raisin challah, the two leftover bat-shaped cheeseballs from Halloween, two glasses of wine, then made meatloaf with ground round instead of ground sirloin (it was cheaper) and scalloped potatoes (american heart association recipe, but still) for dinner.

In all of those mishaps though, I do have a success to report! I went to the supermarket Sunday afternoon and it was chock full of holiday goodies. I DID NOT BUY ANY. :cheer: Boy am I glad that places like 3FC exist, because otherwise people would be like, big deal, you went to the store with your list and only bought stuff on your list. But you guys understand the immense effort of willpower that was required to walk past the sweet potato pie, pumpkin pie, cranberry bread, stollen, pannetone, moose munch, holiday blend trail mix, hot cocoa, and on and on and on.

Enough about me, how about you all? Let's be 100% OP this week! Go team!

:hug: Jessica, you're right. We understand. And you did the best you could in the circs. Well done! :hug:

(Nightmare set-up at the country house. Very, very good thinking to take your breakfast. That is a Top Tip for the rest of us.)

Jessica - :high: on making it through that weekend! The shopping trip IS a huge deal too - I wouldn't have "got it" at all last year ... but this year? It's almost like being on an acid trip (forgive the drug reference - I'm 42 and I did misbehave at college for a brief period) - hyper-aware of all the forces working against health. My last shopping trip was basically an eyes-on-list-only scurry around the perimeter! I am reserving room at Christmas for one small McDonald's eggnog milkshake, heavily doctored with dark rum and cinnamon, however. :drool: This year, just one ... instead of two a week all the way through December. :rolleyes:

Successfully battled off the negative thinking and "deals" with the voice in my head last night, and swam 2300 yds. Had to swim with a couple of high-school guys getting ready for their competitive season - that was motivating! I did waver off plan and had a 1x2 inch piece of cashew brittle - but otherwise I've been very well behaved this month. It paid off the morning. :D

Hi all, I've been MIA b/c I live on the Gulf Coast and all the sudden had to deal with this potential hurricane/tropical storm threat! Both at work & at home we were most worried about the storm surge/high tides but after moving some property around all should be ok. I refuse to let the windy and rain stop me and I've been going to work, gym, rehearsals, all with my big bag of OP food packed.

I've lost about 3 pounds of my 5 so far, but I've really been, um, farting around here. Not eating terribly but not always in the quantities I should be. I'm buckling down to get the other 2 off before Thanksgiving! I day OP eating under my belt, and my gym goal is to get to the gym 6 days this week and do at least 20 minutes strength training 5 of those days.

Jessica, it sounds like it was a really tough weekend food-wise, and when you've been eating sweets and off-plan things, it can be hard to get back OP! Good job with a healthy shopping trip so you can get back OP this week.

Ward, wow, an 1100 calories spinathon! I'm impressed!

ICU, I also love your new picture! Thanks for giving us a face to put with the name!

Kitty, Silver, Pat, midwife, yoyo, everyone, hi and let's keep it up!

Megan, you can do it! Just 2 more pounds! If they're not gone by Thanksgiving then get them gone by xmas!

Speaking of which, once our 5lb Thanksgiving challenge is done, anyone up for an additional 2lbs for New Year's, followed by 3 more for Valentine's Day? That would get me back to my red line finally and is approximately a rate of 0.5lb/week.

I get the day off but am heading out in a bit for a good long sweat at the gym, then 2 evening rehearsals. I had a nice relaxing morning and I prepped everything for dinner when I get home, though, I just need to grill the steak. Yummm. 2 days POP under my belt, still going.

Jessica, I'll definitely be up for another challenge from Thanksgiving to the next set of holidays (Christmas for me)! I may be ambitious and try for 3 lbs from turkey day to tree day. I might just try to maintain the week of Christmas... will think about that then. And then, yup, will continue onto Valentine's day!

ICU, way to ignore those voices in your head and get your workout in. Keep it up!

Yesterday we had to give our measurements/sizes to the woman doing costumes for this play, and I know mine were a bit larger than the last time I gave them to her for a different show about two years ago, though I don't remember exactly what they were (I should probably take my own measurements more often, not just weight). Eek! Off to :wl: now!

Hi folks!

I'm reporting in to take credit for meeting the Thanksgiving 5 lb challenge!!! I've actually been weighing in low enough most days for the past week or so, but I wanted to see how high I got before TOM, which I knew was due soon. Well, today it's here and I'm still at goal (exactly). :) I hope I will shed a little extra this week, but that hasn't been reliable lately. At any rate, I don't expect to go up!

Unfortunately, I'm not making any progress yet on the sleep issue. I actually had to see my doctor this week and brought up the topic. I just got confirmation that there's really no medical intervention to help my issue ("sleep maintenance insomnia"). Today I started my "day" at 1 AM. :( Avoiding caffeine isn't helping. Well, I'm not out of strategies yet. There is some reason to think light therapy might help, but I haven't been organized enough to get on track with it. There's a few other things to try as well, but I'm going to focus on the light therapy now.

Megan -- Congrats on the POP days!!! You go!

Paperclippy --Big congrats on the uber willpower you exercised at the store! And great job on the compromises you made over the weekend. You did the best thing possible -- learned and adapted. Next time you will be even more prepared to do battle with the minions of the Forces of Offplan Eating (your FOEs :) ).

ICU -- congrats on the swimming and the scale victory! Did you post the recipe?

Silver -- congrats on edging down the scale -- hope you are feeling better!

Ward -- Wow... if I could spin that much, maybe I wouldn't have sleep issues! (increasing exercise is another thing-to-try on my list.)

Midwife -- Another (very belated) happy birthday being sent your way!!! Congrats on getting back on plan!

Sending POP vibes to all!

Still begging for the recipe - sorry about the delay on that! I've got a pretty good idea of how it went together but I want to accurately report the levels of garlic, jalapenos and white pepper so that everyone will have a reference to work from. As made, it was one of those "glowing lips" chilis, but no eyebrow sweat. :lol:

No scale progress to report. I must be swapping muscle and fat with all the swimming, though - DS10 mentioned this morning that I wasn't "as soft to hug" any more! I'd better see some movement with the measurement tape at the end of the month ...

yoyoma - not much advice on the sleeping issue, just lots of commiseration. My DH has this problem. He says the thing that helps more than anything else right now is to change locations. I often find him asleep on the couch, or on the foldout couch downstairs. Doesn't always work, but sometimes. He also uses a SAD light and keeps the bedroom very dark. :shrug: like I said, no real advice.

Well done, yoyoma! Great news. Not so good on the sleep front, though. I gather 'sleep hygiene' is important: doing the same dull things at bedtime, I think. You don't watch television in bed, do you? My SO suffers from time to time. I think he thinks yoga helps.

Megan - glad you got through the storms OK. Your life is sounding busy but STOP messing about with trying to lose pounds!! :drill: Just do it! Great to have all food packed for the day.

Jessica - I'm in for a Christmas challenge. 3lbs, I think, like Megan. It's started to fall off this week but I think that's because I'm ill and not eating as much as usual.

Kittcat - :wave: Did I read you were travelling a lot? That's hard.

Pat - are you still on the PN regime?

ICU - you are a hard woman! I laughed at 'not so soft to hug'! That exercise/increased appetite balance is hard.

Hello to anyone I've missed. Let's go!

Midwife? Are you there?

I don't like carrying bags. When I wear my lightweight anorak with my BB in the top pocket, my glasses case in the LH pocket and my wallet and two sets of keys in the RH pocket it usually tightens up, unattractively, around my bottom. NOT TODAY! Yes, not much change in wallet so I borrowed a few handfuls from DB's piggybank. SAME RESULT!

I am thinner. Can't wait to try on the pantsometers tomorrow!

Almost at the 5lb goal but I want to see it firmly for several days before moving the ticker.

Silver, great news that you're thinner! :high: But what is a BB? Like a BB gun? :?:

Hmmm, 3lbs for xmas . . . I'm in if I can start the scale at my thanksgiving goal of 140, which I'm hoping to hit by next week (140.8 today). So, 137 by xmas. Trying to give myself an extra week here! Although for me it is more like I would have to reach that goal by December 22, which is when I leave for LA to visit my folks for the holidays. I'm anticipating a gain while I'm there.

I don't know about my fellow 5-lb challengers, but I am totally pumped about finally getting back down a "decade" to the 130's! I'm so close! Although it is kind of depressing to look at my weight spreadsheet and realize that right now I'm basically where I was in November 2008. Still a lot of work to do to get back to goal. On the other hand, this is the first time that my weight has gone steadily down since long before I got diagnosed as hypothyroid.

BB for me is a BlackBerry phone. What's a BB gun??

You know the LA set-up, Jessica, but (don't know how to put this) *must* you anticipate a gain when there?

LOL Silver, a BB gun is a gun that shoots these little pellets. Here's the wikipedia article. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BB_gun) They used to be sold as toys in the US, but I was thinking it was pretty weird for you to be carrying one around! :lol:

My week in LA is my holiday indulgence week. I only get to go to LA and see my folks once a year, so it's a combination of the fact that I already planned it to be an indulgence, I will be eating at a lot of restaurants (my favorites that don't exist in Indy), and my parents show their love with food. My plan is to get a lot of exercise, refuse to go out to eat for breakfast, and refuse to eat at any restaurants I could eat at in Indy (e.g. McDonald's, etc). I'll try to eat at a maintenance level but just from eating at restaurants I know I'll come back with water weight.

Actually, speaking of holiday planning, I know we have another thread for it but what are you guys planning to do? I think it might help if I put down concrete rules for my trip, so here they are:
1) Exercise every day.
2) No seconds.
3) No restaurant breakfasts if at all possible.
4) Eat lots of veggies.

Where is everyone? 3FC is finally back up! How were your weekends?

I'm up water weight today after last night's cheat meal. Ate too much. I much prefer the setup where I can choose how much to put on my plate to the setup where we pass our plates to someone who serves up the food. I would have taken much less of the pumpkin fondue if I was serving myself! OTOH I served myself extra dessert, so obviously I am the one to blame in general. In any case, it was a planned cheat meal, so I'm not worried. Hoping to hit my thanksgiving goal this week.

Hiiiiiii!!!!!! :):):)
Wow, guys, I had some serious panic moments. no. joke.

I've been having a very rough time logging on lately and started thinking this was the begining of the end of 3fc. Say it ain't so!!!!!
eating green beans and tofu. will browse with one hand and return with complete posting....;)

Blew the POP streak. Still have time to get in 10 more days before Thanksgiving, and that is what I will do. I went to a swim meet yesterday and swam 5 events (respectable times), but when I got home I was just beyond exhausted. Did I do the sensible thing and take a nap? Nope. Apparently being tired is the same thing as two drinks - they equal a loss of food inhibition. Grrrr. Lesson learned, one more tidbit for the fattening file of "How to Hold on to the Loss". I am wiser today.

ICU, I totally agree about being tired (it has been wreaking havoc on my evenings ever since I gave up PM caffeine) -- and you are absolutely right that when we slip but learn from the mistake we may have lost a battle but we are better prepared to win the war!

Kitty -- like you (and many 3FCers), I was very concerned about the outages. In fact they started as I was trying to read the thread about the buyout, so of course I assumed there was a connection! Turned out to be just an amazing coincidence.

Paperclippy -- I have been fretting about Xmas week for months, lol! I have to camp out with the in-laws as usual. None of my usual support foods, issues with exercising, etc. Last year I gained way too much and I need to turn that fretting into a constructive plan!

Silver -- big congrats on the scale NSV!!! If only my waist weight would migrate elsewhere I might not mind the scale where it is. Congrats on the Pants-o-Meter reading!

Pat -- it's the oddest thing, but once in a while when I wake up, I really want to sleep on the floor. When that's the case, I do that. That has sometimes happened to me ever since I was a kid. At this point we have radiant heating, so it makes sleeping on the floor even nicer!

News on my front -- I saw my primary for shoulder problems I've had for months. Initially, there was a lot of pain but although that mostly cleared up, I got frightened cuz my mobility suddenly dramatically decreased. Turns out it's a "frozen shoulder" and pretty common as part of the healing process. Will be going for xrays and to see the ortho to make sure there isn't a tear or something (rotator cuff). I the meantime, I'm scheduled for PT 2xweek and exercises at home. It should resolve by itself in 1-3 years but PT will speed it up.

Early results on the light therapy are very encouraging!!! At first I just kept forgetting to do it/time it properly, but now my happy light is on a timer. I don't have a lot of data points yet, but I've had one of the best nights of sleep that I can remember!!!

I'm getting on board with the Xmas goal -- hoping to reach my goal weight!!! I will change my ticker after Thanksgiving... I just want to bask in the goal met glow until then, lol!

Hope all are doing well!!!

More pool time yesterday, after a truly POP day of 1500. I didn't go in planning for a hard workout because I was a little sore from Sunday ... but everything loosened up nicely so I cranked it and had the 2K in 40 minutes. Woke up in the middle of the night just STARVING - tried a big glass of water and it didn't help a bit. Made the growling stomach even louder. :lol: I need to remember to eat a cheese stick or some nuts after swimming. It's good to be back in the losing mindset again!

Yoyo, glad you had a good night's sleep finally!

I am extremely concerned about being able to meet the christmas goal. I feel like since it took me the whole 10 weeks to lose 5lbs for Thanksgiving (assuming I get there this week), there's basically no chance that I'll lose another 3lbs in the 4 weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas, especially since all the holiday parties will be happening. I already feel my holiday resistance willpower eroding. I dreamed of eating cake and cookies last night (and I'm not even joking, I really did).

Oh well. I made a good decision today. My boss's boss took us out to lunch at a mexican restaurant, and I researched the menu beforehand. I ordered the dish I had decided on yesterday, which was a tilapia fillet with a couple shrimp and scallops and a tomato veggie sauce, with a side of veggies and rice. I ate the veggies and the fish but only a couple bites of rice, and I only had three tortilla chips. Still probably not as low-cal as I was hoping since I could see the oil on the plate, and it was definitely salty, but still probably the best choice of all the options available.

Just calling in very briefly at bedtime to report a not-very-good-at-all day. This is my second day back after that virus & I'm very tired. Too tired, really, to do all the planned and unplanned activities of my daily life. And we know where tiredness leads, don't we, everyone?

Well, I'm putting out the light half an hour earlier tonight and tomorrow is another day.

Jessica - please don't run before you can walk! The TG goal comes first. Focus on that. Then think about a realistic goal for Christmas. It could even be maintaining over the festive period. We're all at different stages so we don't all have to have the same goal.

I'm hoping things will look better tomorrow with more energy (but less sugar) in the tank.

Hi guys! I'm here!!! :wave: It's been a crazy 10+ days.I'm so proud of all of you who are marching toward your Turkey day goals. I'm looking to be at my redline (and that would be a positive change from yesterday am!).

My turkey's been defrosting on the counter for a few weeks now. The package is inflating. Is that a bad thing? ;)

I think I can smell it from here, midwife. Is that bad?

Midwife - I'm no expert with turkeys but can you see anything moving inside? If so, what colour?

Hey everyone :)
Midwife, how is nano land, are you writing furiously?
Silver, hope you are well rested and feeling better today.
Jessica, I also have a tendency to avoid the immediate by focusing (positively or negatively) on a longer term prospect. You are doing it just keep doing what you are doing :)
ICU, I am a impressed by your swimming!
Yoyo, thank goodness you got some quality sleep. congrats :)
Ward, Megan, and everybody..... hello :)

let's all rock this thang :)

I have changed my ticker to an official weight loss focus, not a maintenance focus so that I might remind mself to lose the one day on, one day off plan plan that I have been recently unsuccessful with. Time to change things up a bit! (go. me. ;))

Kitty, my ticker says the same thing - 2 down, 6 to go!

Nothing much to report here. I've been good this week, and have erased the 3# of bad-food fluff. I wanted to get back down under 150 for TG, and I'm optimistic again. More pool time tonight - thank goodness I can swim the same time as DS10 - it beats sitting in the bleachers!

I think I might be coming to grips with a bit of the Maintainer mindset, finally. Veterans, please let me know if I'm getting close to turning the corner.

I hit goal 10/14 and apparently couldn't handle it, began to get sloppy with logging and letting misbehaviors with things like chips and candy sneak back in. Been doing a LOT of thinking lately, what with relationship issues, general need to find fulfilling work, and getting back to the pool. Sunday, a month and a day after goal, I was 5 pounds up. I got pissed off. Since Monday morning, not a bite has not been logged, and the processed crap food is gone. Much water and green tea has been consumed. And today, 3 days later, 4.5 lbs are back off. This tells me that I didn't overconsume on the calories - what I did was eat things that cause inflammation. Low level chronic inflammation is now being correlated with nearly every degenerative disease out there ... and if the newest studies are right, could even be the cause of aging itself. For candy and chips, I very well might have risked shortening my life. Stunning. I have too much left to learn and too many things to do, to voluntarily give up one more single minute. It's all about choices, and this week so far, I am happy with the ones I'm making. :) It's a better kind of happy than was in the potato chip bag.

ICU, your ticker is now different from mine! :)

Thanks, ICU! Very interesting about 'low-level chronic inflammation'. I'd just not put that together with 'being bloated' but, clearly, they are part and parcel of the same thing. Very, very interesting.

Still on early bedtimes here. My work has suddenly got very busy (good as I run my own business) so I have to make sure I've got enough time and space to unwind. Or else I'll nibble ... or worse.

Wow -- I know I've already made this point, but light therapy FTW!!! I got 7.5 solid hours last night. It's game changing!

I am starting to figure out my strategy for Xmas->New Year's at the in-laws...

1) Pack Happy Light and timer!!!
2) Get Curves travel pass (and go every day possible)
3) Pack emergency food/drink supplies (green tea, etc)
4) Weigh every day
5) Check in at 3FC every day
5) Try to steer restaurant meals away from trigger cuisines (Pizza, Thai, Chinese)
6) If possible, research restaurant meals online beforehand.

More to come. I need to get a better handle on what I will be eating on a daily basis.

Silver -- sorry you're busy, but glad you are getting to bed early!
ICU -- thanks for the tip on inflammation -- I am amazed at how much important stuff I keep learning!
Kitty -- keep switching it up till you find something that works... you already rock maintenance!
Paperclippy -- choose a goal that you find motivating but attainable. My goal for Xmas->New Years is just to gain less than last year! The goal doesn't have to be a scale weight either.

Hope everyone's week is going well!

yoyoma - so glad to hear you're getting the sleep you need finally! I'd like to try the light therapy - would you tell me more about what/how/when? I'm a terrible sleeper!

Hi all, I've been MIA once again but it's NOT because I've been off plan. I've been out on the boat every day at work and not anywhere near a computer, but I'm proud of myself for sticking to plan - work, get in a workout, and to rehearsal. I've packed healthy foods for all my meals every day, have managed to get around 8 hours of sleep each night, and have not let "I don't have much time" be an excuse not to work out. Today will be day 13 OP, and the scale is cooperating! It's reading 157, which means I've more than met my 5-lb Thanksgiving goal (started at 164). :carrot:

I feel really good, too, very energetic (at least for me) and my body feels pleasantly sore from my workouts. I just need to keep it up!

yoyo, I'm so glad you got a good night's sleep! Your holiday plan sounds like a good one to keep you on track.

ICU, I can't remember if I've mentioned that I love your new avatar picture! I also definitely see a connection between "clean" and "not-clean" food and bloat/inflammation/whatever it is... It seems to make so much sense that what we put in our bodies effects how they perform, yet many people don't even think there's a connection, our bodies can just handle anything. Nutrition science has been a very interesting subject to me for several years now. Good for you for working right to get rid of that inflammation!

kitty, way to re-focus. You can do it!

Jessica, don't get too far ahead of yourself! If you're overwhelming yourself by thinking so far ahead, don't. Just think one day, one meal, at a time. I occasionally have the "binging on cake/cookies/sweets" dream myself, I had one the other night. When I have them I do have to do a quick check on making sure I'm getting proper nutrition (e.g. that I'm not low on my healthy fat intake etc) or that I'm not too hungry, might need to bump up the calories by 200 for a few days. Or maybe I need to buy a little square of dark chocolate and enjoy that, that I'm not depriving myself too much. And it's also totally fine if we say we have a Christmas goal, and we have different goals - if you say between Thanksgiving and Christmas you want to lose 1 lb, or maintain, or whatever, that's fine too! One person's goal doesn't have to be all of our goals, we all know our own bodies and capabilities best. Don't stress out. Breathe. :)

So glad I live so far from midwife and can't smell that turkey :p

Hi Silver, Ward, everyone else! Let's all stay strong! 6 days to Turkey day here in the States.

Yoyo, I'm so glad the light therapy is working!

Megan, great job staying OP and meeting the Thanksgiving goal!!! :high:

ICU, IMO maintenance is about gaining and losing the same 5 pounds over and over again for the rest of your life. :shrug: I can't seem to ever stay exactly at any given weight consistently, but the 5lb window is doable.

Scale was at 140.4 this morning. It may be another few days to get 140.0 on the scale for my 5lb goal. I took the day off today to avoid the free lunch and other junk food at work. Took the dog for a nice long run (2.8 miles is long for me!) to the park, then walked him around and walked back this morning. Now my plan is to eat my healthy, OP lunch, then take him to the dog park (he should be too tired to cause trouble! :lol: ), then go run errands for the rest of the afternoon.

Woohoo! I hit my 140 goal!!! Now, onward and downward!

Jessica, :congrat:

I feel my resolve slipping s-l-o-w-l-y away. :(

Hello all-- scale down to 124/125 keeps bouncing but it is lower in either case. Dinner out with friends if hubbie's back allows (it's been BAD since Thursday) and I plan to have one glass//possibly two but likely one glass of wine and some very op food. my goal- to see 124 or 5 again in the am.

Megan, very proud of you :)
Yoyo, nice planning-- so helpful!
Jessica, wtg on goal!
Ward, keep fighting the good fight-- fake it till you make it ;)
Silver, sounds like busy is good. now to keep a good balance....
ICU, I had a poptart last weekend and had immediate heartburn--- lesson relearned!
Midwife, I am seeing you in yoyo's avatar-- I think primates are cute ;)

go team!!!!

3 days under 150 ... despite a decently grueling 2400yds last night in a too-warm pool. Challenge ahead this evening in facing off with pizza and beer. Yours truly is bringing the big colorful salad. Will check in tomorrow and tell you that I perservered and at minimum, stayed under the calorie limits!

Great job guys!!

Kitty, Nanowrimo has died a slow death. November is really such a busy month for me! I think I should do my own nanowrimo in March---31 days and no holidays! That makes more sense to me!

Well, I came into my kitchen this morning and the turkey was gone. All that was left was the package and a puddle of green liquid. The local news keeps breaking in on the TV to report some kind of foul zombie running loose by the river....or do they mean fowl zombie? I'm certain there is no connection to my missing bird! :)

All kidding aside, I went and ORDERED a roasted turkey from the local farm store. I don't even have to cook it!!! :woohoo:


Time to go rescusitate (sp?) the house!

Ward! :drill: Cling to that resolve, lady!

Brilliant work, Jessica and Megan! That 5lbs is feeling distant for me at present though I could surprise myself. Scales have pinged back up in last few days. Pantsometers were about the same this morning.

Successful in dodging the caloric bullet last night ... but need to weed out another "bloat" culprit somewhere - I was 3 pounds up "magically". :rolleyes:
Another case where the calorie numbers work just fine and yet something in what I ate (not salt - I was looking out for that) got the inflammation going again. Such an adventure. Sigh. Back to the food diary again to try to figure it out.

Hey guys...I popped in to report that even though I haven't been active on this latest take 5-10 thread, I did take my vow to lose the last 10 seriously. It took me a couple months, but I'm happy to report that last 10 pounds are officially gone...just in time for Turkey day! The scale was at a sweet 143 this morning and I celebrated by staying POP, (and dressing up for Church in a knock down gorgeous new outfit I bought in Lincoln yesterday!)

Oh, I'm scared to death now. I actually have to start a real maintaince plan now...I can't just keep changing to a lower goal weight. I've been doing some SERIOUS clothes shopping the last few weeks and there is NO WAY I can afford to buy smaller clothes...or bigger clothes. (I need to stop buying clothes period for awhile! ) Anyway, I just needed to tell someone. ;) I hope everyone else is working hard at it too!

Lori----- Congrats!!!!!! :):):)

Wow, great job Lori Bell!!! You are always such an inspiration to me, I've been maintaining for almost 5 mo. now and it seems so long! I think it's harder to maintain than to lose weight, but i have accepted that I will be watching what i eat, counting calories and exercising forever to keep it off! It's worth it!

Jessica, Megan and Lori - Congrats on your victories!

Good morning everyone!

Well, I'm now officially five pounds over where I'm comfortable. Seven pounds over where I would like to be. Have to be POP this week so I can start the holidays on a better foot. I'm hoping you guys will inspire me to stop the spiral of the last week.

:wave: good day everyone!

Great job Lori! :high:

Midwife, I always thought that it was weird to have Nanowrimo in November since it is such a busy time of year. I've never participated but I always wanted to.

Silver, my scale is back at 141 today, but I only count Saturdays as my "official" weigh-in.

It's only 5 days until my 4-year maintenance anniversary. Last year I weighed 142, and 138 the year before. It would be nice to be under 142 this year but with Thanksgiving water weight I'm not sure.

Thanksgiving week everyone!!! Who's cooking??? NO BLT'S!

paperclippy - do I see that date right, and you hit goal the day after Thanksgiving 4 years ago? AFTER Thanksgiving??? You are absolutely a role model!

No cooking here - we are traveling an hour to the inlaws. Turkey will be overcooked, all the veggies except the salad will be sweetened, and dessert is consistently pie. I fully expect to be eating white meat with a smidge of gravy to moisten it up, maybe a smear of mashed potatoes, at least a half plate of tossed salad, and possibly a bit of corn (this woman puts SUGAR in sweet corn!!!!). I'm not even going to bother to be polite about pie. I don't like pie, and I ain't gonna eat it. :) Bigger challenge is to avoid drinking to numb the political conversation.

ICU, it was the Monday after Thanksgiving that year. I was pretty surprised that I hit goal then! :lol: Sucks about the inlaws cooking. :( Who puts sugar in corn??? :?:

Bigger challenge is to avoid drinking to numb the political conversation.

:hug: and you made me :lol:

Lori, congrats on reaching your goal!!! And Jessica, congrats on making your Thanksgiving goal, too! My goal for this week ("weeks' are from Tues-Tues for me, so until Tuesday, Dec 1, my weigh-in day) was to "break even". Then PMS hit and for no reason whatsoever other than the PMS my weight jumped 3 lbs overnight, and has held there from the weekend. I'm trying to be calm, I know it's PMS and I did not do anything "wrong" to cause the gain, and now my goal through Tuesday is to get back to 157, my pre-pms weigh! . I ran out of time to exercise over the weekend with the play, but I'm back at it now, and was still pretty active w/o the exercise, and ate OP.

My first Thanksgiving is today, with my office, but I'm not in an indulgent mood this year so I think I will stick to turkey and veggies (ones not drenched in fat and sugar - I echo Jessica, who the heck puts sugar in corn?). I made a sweet potato and apple bake for that, and for Thursday's lunch with friends I need to make a pumpkin pie. I can handle those things. I'm looking forward to having Thursday & Friday off but not to having the gym closed for 2 days, eek! I'll have to work out at home.

ICU, good for you, if you don't like pie, don't eat it!

Lori, I love your new avatar! You are so pretty!

Gosh midwife, glad you could order an already-cooked bird. I don't know if we can trust you to care for one yourself... :D

Hi everyone else! Keep up the good work and willpower, everyone. Let's stick to our holiday goals, whatever they may be!

ICU - your family meal sounds like my family meal. My grandmother puts sugar in everything, and I am the only liberal in a family of long term conservatives. Can get scary. :) Good luck to you. :hug:

Hey girls,
I walked right into the aftermath of a work holiday party yesterday and helped myself to a cup or so of pineapple and grapes and then 1/2 a piece of zuc bread and then the other half. Went home and had a mostly op night (cals around 1700/day) and found myself up 1.5 this am to 126. MAN, my body is fighting those lower numbers!

and today I ate kid frozen pizza for dinner after eating their pirate booty snacks. SAVE me from myself!!!!!

Team, for the rest of the night it is tea, tea, tea. I know there are hormones involved here. They will not rule me!!!!!

midwife, as you know, I strongly support the made elsewhere turkey ;)
ICU and Shannon I cannot even drink because I am the designated driver. My DH is having shoulder surg tomorrow am.
Megan, can you also make the fruit tart I was instructed to make? Mine has 3 cups of white flour, .5 cup oil and 1.5 cups of sugar. whaaaa? uh huh! that be true. ETA: it is 1 cup oil, not .5 , hmmmmm

Has any one else been trying to convince themselves that they will not overeat on Thanksgiving? I surely have! I'm going to my inlaws house for dinner and I'm trying to plan in my head what i will eat a head of time. I'm a pescatarian , i eat clean, and I know they don't cook my kind of food. But, their cooking is real good, and you know what that means! It's made with sugar, fat and sodium and crappy stuff. I am afraid that if I eat it I will be tempted to go back to my old eating habits which I gave up 14 mo. ago. I am never tempted any other time or at home, but the longer I am maintaining the harder it is getting to resist it. I keep telling myself to be strong and continue to stick to what i believe in, eating clean is very important to me. I am doing real good right now with my binging problem and I really don't need to be tempted.

Fruitlady, I think that is the theme of this week! Argh!!

I did successfully mind my snacking last night and woke up at 125. I also got rid of a ton of extra water retention all thru the night O_O

Dh's surg just gave me the post op report- will be a longer than hoped for recovery but all went well.

We can do this Thanksgiving Challenge!!!

Megan, how did the office thanksgiving go?

Good luck with Thanksgiving everyone! My challenge for today is that I'm making pie (it has to freeze overnight). NO BLT's. NONE. You guys, as soon as I'm done pouring the filling into the crust, the mixing bowl is going straight in the sink and full of soapy water. NO LICKING THE BOWL.

I keep snacking after dinner. This is getting to be a problem -- when I rededicated myself to getting back to goal one of my rules was only one snack per day, which I eat at around 3:30 or 4pm. I've been snacking after dinner nearly every day for the past two weeks. No wonder my weight isn't budging anymore! :p I'm still under my calorie limit, but the snacking has to stop because it's mindless eating.

What's everyone's Thanksgiving day plans? What are you going to eat BEFORE dinner? What exercise are you going to do?

My plan is to eat oatmeal for breakfast, go for a run in the morning, and not eat anything else until the big meal. I'm still trying to get used to this Thanksgiving dinner at 2pm business that people do out here. My family always had Thanksgiving dinner at, well, dinner time -- 6pm. Friday morning if I get out of bed early enough I will go to the gym for their "burn off the turkey" 2-hour group fitness class.

For this past week I've been experimenting with limiting the hours in which I can eat,
in combination with my normal calorie restriction...(eat my total burn or less).
The last time I did this was for two weeks around Thanksgiving of 2007,
and that was the first Thanksgiving I ever kept within my maintenance calorie limits.

The concept is from a free diet e-book I found online called "Fast-5".
The premise is to set a 5 hour eating window, such as from 5 p.m to 10 p.m.
for all of one's food intake.
The 5 hour eating window I set for myself is from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
because I'm a "morning person", and because since I've retired,
eating during the daytime is far more important to me than in the evening and night.
The timing of my "5 hr window" can also be flexible...depending on the circumstances.

I've seen Research that indicates eating all one's calories in one large evening meal is unhealthy,
however, I've been eating two tiny meals and a snack during my 5 hr window of time,
and since my maintenance calorie burn is only around 1100 calories,
it seems to be working out well....
....so far...at this point I can't say that this will be a long-term plan.

The office turkey lunch was ok, food-wise. I did stick to turkey and the veggie dishes that looked good. I caved and had a sliver of the pumpkin and apple pies. I ended up more full than I normally am after a meal, but not stuffed to the gills as I would have been had I really let loose and eaten large portions of everything that looked tasty. I was actually surprised I felt as full as I did b/c I really thought I was skipping a lot of dishes and taking small portions of those I did.

fruitlady, I know exactly what you mean. I always want to stick to the healthy stuff, I know what's healthy (I'm pretty good at guessing/judging what's in a dish), but sometimes when you see/smell the junky stuff you want it anyway! (read: why I ended up having pie yesterday despite my intentions of not having any!). I usually end up eating a lot less of the bad stuff, so I try to tell myself I could have done a lot worse, don't feel too guilty, and make the next meal better. I suppose if I eat well 90% of the time that's pretty good.

kitty, glad your DH came through surgery ok. That tart recipe sounds, uh, not clean! That recipe would never appear in Clean Eating magazine! Just remember, no BLTs while cooking!

Jessica, good idea to plan! I'm making pumpkin pie tonight, I will be with you in putting the filling bowl straight in the sink and not taking any BLTs. We're eating at 1:00 tomorrow, which is much later than my normal 11:00 lunch. I'm going to have to eat before hand, I'll be starving! I'm going to eat a normal breakfast (protein pancake, milk, coffee), go for a run/power walk, snack (piece of fruit), and before we go to Turkey lunch I'm guessing I'll need to eat so I'll have some raw veggies and some nuts. I'm unsure what exactly will be served, so I'm just going to try and eat sensibly, pass up on things that aren't "special", and stick with small portion sizes.

Stay strong everyone!

So a turkey update! I cancelled the order cause it was $50 and I could get a free fresh one at my local store. So I have a fresh 17 pounder sitting in my refrigerator....I'll let ya'll know!

Bright Angel, I know I have seen some threads on Fast-5 or some related programs. Since you're trying it, you may know better search terms to use than me, but you can probably find them. It's not a terribly common program, so I'm sure they'd love to hear from you.

OK, made two tarts, cannot lie, did have some BLTs, but really not too many and I am counting them. I gave one to my elderly neighbor who has a large side yard that she always lets my boys play in. She will serve it to her family this weekend. :) The other will come with us to my mother's husband's son's house -- so that is step brother's house? but they married as older adults so it feels weird to say it that way.
AND I made a red pepper tomato soup with pureed white beans. It actually tastes like the soup in an italian seafood stew, so I will put some shrimp in it and call it dinner!
stay cool :) I am feeling pretty cool myself as I just realized this is my second thanksgiving in maintenance. Looking forward to many many more :)

2700 yds last night in the pool. Gosh, it feels good to be getting stronger! And to not be afraid to be seen in my suit. Probably just do a protein shake this morning and dinner will be at about 2pm. Breathe, breathe, breathe. I think this is my first Thanksgiving with trying to make choices with the food and drink instead of just participating in the snarf-down ... it will be a very different holiday for me. :crossed:

Ok everyone. Tell me I just need to throw away the 1/6 pumpkin pie still staring at me from the kitchen.

Walked 6 miles before lunch yesterday and ate small portions. It's the darn pie I need to avoid! I've got no convenient person to thrust it upon, and I left the other pie at the house where I ate - they wouldn't let me leave both. I'm thawing out some healthy chili and have some barbecue-cranberry chicken breasts and kale planned for tomorrow. If I keep my butt moving I will be a-ok. I reminded myself this morning I need to keep moving because I've got to be a "former beauty queen" on stage in 2 months and Christmas is still coming!

ICU, great job on the swim! How was your Thanksgiving meal?

midwife, oh my, how did the turkey come out?

I hope everyone had a fun and successful turkey day.

I haven't posted in this thread in a while, though I've been reading it. Just wanted to let y'all know... as of this morning I weigh 155.5 lbs, which means I'm pretty much on my last ten pounds now (at last!). Excitement.

Megwini and Bright Angel - :wave: I'm new-ish to posting here also, although I lurked for months. :)

Megan - No horror tales! Even with one "pushed" gin and tonic, I still came in under 1550 for the day. Nobody paid attention to what I picked (I OWNED the tossed salad!), and they kept the appetizer/munchie stuff out in the kitchen where it was avoidable. I'm a happy camper today!

kitty - your soup sounds yummy! I'm usually up for anything with tomatoes and shrimp in it - the beans as a thickener would be fantastic!

Shannon and midwife - NO political discussions! A couple of cracks about health care reform, but my MIL shut it down really quick in an atypical show of force. I think the discussion occurred before we got there. :lol:

On to Christmas ... and the New Year!

Megan - you throw away your pie and I'll throw away mine. I have a slice of pumpkin and 2 slices of razzleberry. They are going to have to go, I can feel it.

Megan and Shannon - Step away from the pie! :drill: And toss it, then throw something yucky on top of it! :)

Thanks Pat! :)

My evening snack is vanilla 0% Oikos with blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, arils (which I extracted from the pomegranate myself!) and a broken up Ghirardelli 72% dark chocolate square. Fantastic blend of flavor and so much better for me than the pie of yesterday...

I am going to Llandudno today. I wish to place it on record that I shall not be having a piece of Toscana cake in Waterstones bookshop cafe. It is not very nice and I have only started eating it since I've felt so tired and over-tasked. There is no need.

Thanks all! I'll report back.

141.2 today. Hoping that it's water that will go away now that I'm back at work. I drink way more water at work since I'm sitting in one place all day with a full water bottle in front of me.

I've been falling down on the job, folks. My 5x/week workouts has turned into 3x/week. :?: How did that happen without me noticing? Here is my official commitment -- I WILL exercise 5x/week. If it's raining outside, I will do an exercise video at home. If I'm sore, I will do some form of exercise that doesn't exacerbate it too much.

I'm going to sign up for adult swimming lessons at my local pool. It's through the parks department so it's a good price ($65 for 4 weeks of twice a week lessons). Hopefully this will get me a jump start on improving for next year's triathlon season. That starts in January, so in the meantime it is all about running and strength training. NRLW Stage 6 starts tomorrow (still not sure what to do about the fact that I don't have a chin-up bar, but I'll work something out).

Jessica, if the swimming "lessons" are anything like what our pool offers, it should really help. The instructor I had last year was very patient helping me improve my strokes. We had only 8 people so she was able to work with us one on one, or one on two, most of the time. Warm-up was about the only time we were all swimming together. I've signed up for a 3 week, 8 lesson session starting 12/15 and my NY resolve is to keep swimming in my cardio rotation 1-2x/week.

Third time trying to post ...

Jessica & Pat - swimming lessons sound very good. When I have more mental space I'll look into it.

Jessica - you will exercise!

Thanks, everyone, I did well today even though there was a mean NE wind coming off the sea. You could hear the waves crashing. But no fat & sugar mixture for me.

Checking in quickly cuz I'm at work late and I need to get to the gym -

Ahem, I ate the pie. But then our friends who had custody of the 2nd pie didn't eat any of it, gave it back Saturday night as they packed up to leave. Are you kidding? The whole pie? I froze it for my Mom at Christmas. I should have thrown it out, I need to work on that skill :p, but at least I won't eat touch it in its frozen state.

Walked 6 miles Thursday and a whopping ~10.5 miles Saturday. Just went grocery shopping and I'm stocked up on tons of fresh fruits and veggies. I'm going to hit the gym and get a jump-start on December! We can do it everyone!

Jessica, the swim lessons sound like a great idea. I start training in January as well. The trainer at the gym said he wants to start training for this year's benchpress competition (April) in January.

ICU, great job refusing the gin & tonics! Sometimes I water nearby plants with cocktails that are pushed on me. :p

Have a great day all!

Woohoo - swimmers! I logged in 2200 tonight, and discovered that the guy sharing my lane is our new Michigan Masters president. Before the workout was done I'd been recruited - looks like I've got a team! Yay!

Megan, I wish I had your discipline. If a drink gets in my hand - it's goin' down! Great job walking - can you recommend a pedometer? I'm curious to know how much a typical day at work does for me.

paperclippy - you won't hear me barking about workout slippage; I've only accomplished 2x week. I dunno - I have this irrational idea that if I put off the intense, long duration, every day type of exercise that y'all are doing until I actually get to maintenance, my old bod might not DEMAND it as the price for keeping the weight off. Stupid, I know!

Off to bed. I so wish I didn't need 9 hours of sleep a night - I could get so much more accomplished! (like exercise?)

ICU-- yay!
Jessica--uhh, no comment here either
Silver--does that mean food is op? if so, go you!
Megan--I think you get the prize :)

I did great durung the actual day, stayed the same at 125. Then cam,e rewards weekend with cheese crackers wine olives homemade pizza in an outside stone oven (worth every bite, actually) to a reuben and fries and 2 bowls of cereal for dinner last night.

BACK ON PLAN--so far, ham and mustard, cottage cheese :)
did I say BACK ON PLAN (scale at 131 :()

Woohoo, I went for my run last night even though it was freezing outside and I didn't want to! Only did 1.7 miles but at least it was something, and I ran intervals.

Going to go check out the pool website to sign up for lessons right now. The group size is limited to 4-6 people so there should be a good amount of one on one instruction.

Almost POP yesterday. I snuck a second snack in the evening. :p

Megan - that pie! You've really had to overthink it! You seem to have worked out a happy ever after solution though.

ICU - I'm impressed you were recruited for a team! Go you!

Kittycat - yes, Go Me! Two (2) almost POP days and the slips were tiny and will not kill me. Surely that weight gain of yours is water?

Jessica - good going on the run in the cold. Colder here and I need to fit into the winter trousers. I don't have the time or inclination to try to buy more.

Jessica, great job going for your run in the cold! I forgot to say a few days ago congrats on your 4-year maintenance anniversary!

Silver, yeah, I tend to waaaay overthink things. :faint: It's a weakness of mine, I know.

Kitty, I agree, surely that gain is water. I personally "lost" 5 lbs over the last 1 1/2 days. It was all water from some super salty black-eyed peas, I'm sure. You will flush it out in no time.

ICU, I hear you completely. My body is mad at me if I get anything less than 8 1/2 hours of sleep. I have to keep telling myself, sleep is really important, instead of trying to "get more done".

Hi everyone else out there!

As I mentioned I had major salt overload from the weekend. Yesterday my weight was 164 (!), this morning down to 159, so I'm working on continuing to get rid of this water weight and onto my Christmas goal. I had said 3 lbs when I was at 157, but I'm thinking 2 might be more realistic. 155 it is, and I'm leaving early Dec. 24 for a week of travels to BF's family and my own.

It will be a challenge to fit in 5-6 workouts a week w/ my schedule until Christmas, but I will do it! My feet have been bothering me a bit so I'm looking to tack on extra body weight and core workouts in particular, rather than more impact cardio.

Two POP days in a row... Resisted a Hershey's milk chocolate Santa for the second night in a row last night when DH had one for his evening snack... Had a peanut butter protein smoothie instead. Look at me go.

Megan - salt is a killer to me, too...

ICU - :high: on the swim team!

Silver - good job OP!

Jessica - way to go on getting the run in even though it was cold! I hit the treadmill last night myself.

I was at 127.8 yesterday, 124.7 today, would like to settle at the 122.5-123 range to give myself room to wiggle for Christmas. Though, since it won't be at our house I'll probably eat less than I did at Thanksgiving. Or at least that is what I'm telling myself. :dizzy:

Hey Megan! No criticism! Just seemed like a lot of work to find a good path between your family's TG traditions and the friends who had custody. Good outcome! :hug:

Shannon - you are quite right. Milk chocolate Santas are not worth it. They really do not cut the mustard at all. Well done!

:wave: to all.

Things are looking good here tho' scales are stuck. Work trip to London tomorrow & Friday - food could go either way. I'll let you know.

ICU, I didn't respond earlier to your pedometer question. I don't actually use one, so I can't recommend one. I know the mileage of my routes from paying attention when driving in my car, as these are roads I drive often, and also I've mapped some of then on this "mapping running routes (http://www.usatf.org/routes/map/index.asp?)" website.

I got a new iPod mini, the latest generation, a few months ago when my old one died, and it does have a pedometer which I believe is a new function with this generation, if you have a new iPod or are thinking of getting one. Actually that reminds me I meant to figure that function out, but was so busy when I got it didn't have time to sit and play too much, and forgot about it! I'll have to play with it later today as I've got a powerwalking/running workout planned.

Oh, I've been looking and :drool: over the new iPod minis/nanos. My 1gb is fine for the gym, but it's 5 years old, and doesn't have all the cool new things. :)

hey chicks, down to 129, progress...

I like the google maps mileage counter
www.gmap-pedometer.com

love it, in fact :)

POP yesterday! Woohoo!

Went for another run this morning since I knew it was going to rain in the evening. Didn't go very far -- I don't have good energy for running when I haven't eaten anything yet. My legs felt like lead weights! Even the dog didn't want to go, he went and hid behind a chair when he saw me putting on my running clothes! :lol: (He came out when I jingled his leash though, and pulled me along on the run.)

In other news, my arms and shoulders are super-sore after yesterday's NRLW workout. Legs, blissfully, are not (probably because I don't have barbells or a squat rack, so I couldn't use weights heavy enough for leg exercises). Maybe I should just only do upper body strength, that way I will never be too sore to run! :lol: JK.

I did sign up for the swimming lessons. It starts January 11!

Megan, thanks! I was going to do a 4-year anniversary post but totally forgot. 5lbs of water weight is a lot! I will change my xmas goal to 2lbs too. Much more reasonable, especially since I'm still hovering at 140.4.

Hi guys!
Congrats on the swim team, ICU! :cheer:
Shannon, WTG POP!!

I tend to have my routes already...I have 5 3-3.5 mile routes that I almost always run. I like GMAPS pedometer for when I venture out though. I've been trying to think of a Christmas gift for DD #1 (17 yo, doesn't have any burning desire for any particular gift) and I read on teh Dec Runners thread about the Garmin heart monitor/pedometer. I think I'll look into that for her.

I need to crack down on my food....so what else is new. The scale was inexplicably up 3 lbs today from yesterday. But I am also sore, TOM, and retaining water. Blah.

ETA: Have fun in London, sliver!! (I'm sooooo jealous!!! I'd like to trot off to London for a work meeting. Sigh.....)

About the running routes -- I use http://www.mapmyrun.com. It uses google maps and lets you keep a set of maps and a training log. Basic accounts are free, but if you have a GPS or something you want to integrate with it you can do it with a paid account (I'm cheap, I have the free account). It also records other types of workouts if you want a general training log, although with the free account you can only access three months of history. It has a bunch of variants (mapmyfitness, mapmyride, mapmytri) but they are all essentially the same thing.

Quick post to say I'm going to bed *slightly* hungry and that is always a good thing for me. We'll see.

Midwife: I'm leaving on the 9:22 train. You can make it if you hurry. I'm going to have my hair cut. OH YES!! Then we'll hit the West End.

I'm going to have my hair cut. OH YES!! Then we'll hit the West End.

Work? :rofl:

I'm jealous. The closest "big city" I could jet off to is Seattle, and that's a $400, 3.5 hr trip.

Pat, I'm hurt. :wink:

It's a 3.5 hour trip too. I actually do have a work meeting too but, well, I'm trying to fit in some other stuff too. Will lug a bale of hand-me-downs for the DB back from my friends.

Defensive? Moi?

I'll reserve a whole train carriage and we could have a 'works' outing!

Oh, oh, oh, shopping in London - I'm your gal!! :) Bet ya Midwife would come too. It's oh, only a 12 hour flight to London... Can I make it by tomorrow midday???

Can I come too??

I am here to electronically pat myself on the back. 2 days POP!!!! :)

have a great day, all :)

I never even thought about the iPod - THANKS! I bought an iPod Touch 3rd gen (32G) in mid-October when I went under 150 (my original goal) the first (ahem) time. As the commercial says - "there's gotta be an app for that"! The very first thing I loaded on it is the LoseIt app, and it's replaced my paper food journal.

Wow, am I tired from last night's swim. I forgot how incredibly unforgiving that swimming with handpaddles is - just a couple of degrees off on the hand entry and it's like dislocating your shoulder. Note to self- do the pulling at the BEGINNING of the workout before getting too tired to do it right ...

I want to go to London too!!! Too bad it is $900 and an 11-hour flight (or longer, depending on the layover, there are no direct flights from here). :p DH and I wanted to go to the UK for our honeymoon but weather-wise it was a bad time of year. We still want to go -- he wants to spend an entire week at the British Museum and I want to admire the scenery in Scotland! :lol:

Pat, my nearest really big city is Chicago which is a 3.5 hour drive from here. On the other hand, Indianapolis is bigger than Seattle! Although less popular. ;)

I have friends in London, I've threatened to come visit them before. One day I'm going to have to follow through on the threat. :)

Hi gang! I have arrived and, on behalf of you all, have just eaten a fabbo salad (spinach, frisee lettuce, apple, sundried tomato, ginger Stilton - cheese, pecan nuts). The best I've had in ages. It will tide me over until I get to my friends who are just not very good cooks who eat a bit late. This way, I shan't be ravenous and will be able to be sensible not desperate at the table.

Have had my hair cut. What a relief! Hairdresser & I go back at least 25 yrs altho' I've never lived in London. Bought a lovely bra at a swish and friendly lingerie shop by appointment to Her Majesty the Queen. (Bet we have different taste in underwear though!) About to look for new leather gloves and then head off to my friends.

Tomorrow is the work meeting in Greenwich. Thrillingly, it is practically on the Greenwich Meridian (0 longitude) so I can have a foot in E and W. I'll look at a bit of architecture (latest project). Then home, tired, happy and Not One Jot heavier. I'm concentrating very hard on this.

:wave:

Oh, thanks for the salad - sounds delicious! :) My DH loved Greenwich, and did stand straddling the line. :lo: His favorite London place was a lovely little steam engine museum we found near Kew Gardens. We spent a great afternoon there, but had an, um, interesting time getting back to our hotel which involved swapping trains/tube several times.

ICU - I've never tried hand paddles, and am not inclined to after hearing that. I've had enough problems with my right shoulder in my life.....

Ooh, ooh, pick me too! I want to go shopping London! I've never been to England but would love to go. I can't get anyone in my family or BF to take a vacation with me, though, and I'd rather not travel alone - it's just more fun to me to have friends around. Stinkers.

Silver, that salad sounds really delicious! The haircut and shopping sound very lovely too. Believe me, I understand about needing to take advantage of opportunity when going to "the big city"! I live in the boonies and the city is 1 1/2 hours away, and it's not even a really big city. I stop at the store when I go there for a work meeting, too!

3 1/2 days and counting POP... onward and downward (scale-wise, I mean)!

Writing this down to wrap my mind around it. Challenge schedule:
Friday 12/4 - lunch meeting at work
Saturday 12/5 - cooking club holiday party
Monday 12/7 - dinner @Ruth's Chris for Ben's work
Tuesday-Thursday 12/8-12/10 - job shadowing program, working funny hours
Saturday 12/12 - dinner @Thai restaurant for Ben's birthday
Sunday 12/13 - Hannukah party + Ben's birthday dinner part two
Friday 12/18 - lunch meeting at work
12/22 - 12/29 in LA for xmas, all bets are off.

Jessica - that looks like a tough month food-wise. Good luck... :)

Thanks Shannon, I think I just need to make sure that all of my regular meals are super-OP since I'm basically having two "cheat" meals per week this month instead of one.

Guys, I'm on track with my exercise! 4 workouts so far this week, 1 to go. I'm planning to do my run tomorrow and take today as a rest day. So far I'm really liking stage 6 of NRLW, mostly because the workout is only 30 minutes instead of an hour! :lol: But I screwed up my wrist a bit by using a dumbell that was too heavy yesterday. Wearing a brace today, hopefully it will be better in a day or two.

Good morning!
So I rescheduled a NYC appt and cut my 8 mile run short to a 6 so I could be on time to a breakfast date which my friend totally flaked on!!! She has 5 children incl. twin boys who are 20months, so I cannot be too upset with her. Still, I called her mobile and said, you suck!! Am now sitting in diner waiting for another friend. She just showed!

I have been POP every day this week and I've exercised every day, so of course that means that the scale is back UP again today... 126.7 Monday, down to 124.2 by Wednesday, back to 126.2 today.... I know I had one of my saltier meals last night, but geez!

Kitty - annoying about the no show!

Eee. A trip to London would be just what I need.....That would be soooo fun! Sounds like a yummy salad, Silver! I spent 1 day in London in June and it was not nearly long enough. DH jokes about moving to England. Maybe we should have an adventure and just do it someday! The weather might kill me though!

It was 18 degrees F here at 8:30 this morning. Brrrrr!!!!!

Kitty, I'm sorry you got stood up! Have a fun weekend!

Jessica, how come you're job shadowing? Sounds like lots of challenges! I have a work party (that we ordered a spinach salad for just for meeeee!!!!!), 2 birthdays, and then Christmas Eve/Day, NY Eve/Day....I need to get a grip on all the other days!

I'm in trouble today. I'm off (yea!), need to clean (boo!) and am already feeling "munchy" which I know is just a distraction from what I need to do. I think I'll plan my food out on the No Excuses thread to help me keep from eating for no good reason.

Almost POP yesterday, but I needed to eat a snack (like needed to, blood sugar bottomed out after working out and then giving blood and stupid chicken wasn't going to finish cooking for a while longer). I had planned a snack anyway and when I got home BF had left a pizza in the fridge, so my snack was a piece of pizza. It tided me over until dinner anyway and didn't prompt any munchies, so I'm not going to beat myself up over it not being the cleanest food out there...

This weekend I am going to 1) work out; 2) stay OP with food and 3) finish cleaning and prepare for next week, which will be very busy.

Jessica, you do have a lot of social events and food events coming up. Did you ever get to talk to the person who orders the food for your work lunch about ordering salads etc.? You're doing great sticking to your workout goals, keep it up!

Shannon, don't stress out too much. You know you've been POP so what's going on with your weight can't be anything but water fluctuations. Sometimes it takes more than a few days for our bodies to even out.

Kitty, I hope you have fun w/ your friend at the diner! Annoying about the no-show but you're right, 5 kids, wowsa that's gotta take a lot of time!

midwife, sorry about the stress from work. Munching won't make it any better though! How about you tell yourself that if you whip through your cleaning you can do something fun afterwards?

I hope everyone has a fun (and OP) weekend! Stay strong everyone! :carrot:

OK, bkfst with other friend very rewarding. She is 11 weeks preggo at age 41 and giving up on fertility! Had egg white with feta spinach and tomato with tomato and russian dsg on side.

Midwife, love the special order :)
Shannon, keep the faith in the power of POP. I had 2 days POP and went over by 500 cals yesterday -my op dinner was just too darn good and then I had dessert...
saw a loss this am bringing scale back to 126. So I am .5 up from Thksgiving and want to be several pounds lower for New Years.
That's right scale gods, do you hear me?????

Jessica, that is challenging but you are on it! :)
Silver, enjoy the work holiday ;)
Megan, ICU, all you fabu maintainers, :carrot::cheer2::wave: go us!

silver - what a yummy-sounding salad! I have some pear/ginger Stilton in the fridge - you've inspired me!!!

WaterRat - 18F is ... ouch. I'm only facing 32-33 in the morning, and I'm already turning on my heated seat all the way to work! I'm totally amazed that I'm getting away with hand paddles myself - I battled shoulder tendonitis for 7 years (the 7 years I tried to run instead of swim), including PT, steroid shots, even an MRI. Some of it helped but nothing fixed it - til a chiropractor took an x-ray of my neck. C7/T1 vertebra- the shoulders. It was so screwed up that even I could see there was an issue! In 3 months I was at 100% again, except for all the weakness from not doing anything for years. I go back once a month to make sure it's still right. I can totally relate to not wanting to do ANYTHING that might aggravate it - ever!

kitty - nice work recovering the morning's fun! I don't consider myself a true "maintainer" yet because I'm still tippytoeing my way down-scale, but I guess since I do want to maintain the 25# off no matter what ... I can get a great headstart here.

paperclippy - that's a scary schedule! My sympathies. You will overcome!

shannon - The plan works. It's the salt. Tomorrow's a new day! I think Megan said it just right. :)

I've been into my pistachio stash today, not to the point of being off-plan, and I have kept count of them. It's just unscheduled nibbling, which could be considered off-plan. I think I'll just be happy I was smart enough to have something worth nibbling on in my desk, and not making furtive, desperate moves toward the vending machines! :)

Flying visit - well, from the train.

0715 large bowl of muesli as I knew am snack wd not be possible. Tea. Coffee.
1000 coffee
1330 tomato, mozzarella & basil salad (small); lasagne (small); sparkling water; white coffee
1600 indigestion; lots of water
1730 apple, walnuts
Now (1835) indigestion. I have an apple & more walnuts. Perhaps I'll just tough it out until I can go to bed. It's that long morning session without food that's done for me.

Midwife - there is a shortage of midwives in the UK as older ones retire. There was a glitch in training numbers somewhere along the line.

:wave: all. Tomorrow is another day.

Eee. A trip to London would be just what I need.....That would be soooo fun! Sounds like a yummy salad, Silver! I spent 1 day in London in June and it was not nearly long enough. DH jokes about moving to England. Maybe we should have an adventure and just do it someday! The weather might kill me though!

It was 18 degrees F here at 8:30 this morning. Brrrrr!!!!!

Midwife, we spent 3 weeks in UK in 2005, about 1 week in London (not continuous), 1 week in or close to Wales, and the other in various places. We too have contemplated a longer - several month - stay there. It's the exchange rate that's the killer at the moment. :)

You were colder than us this morning!! We had 20F which is my ideal for winter - nothing melts, but it's warm enough to do stuff outdoors (unlike -20F which is too cold to walk to your car! :brr: )

SB - glad you had a good - if fleeting - trip. Sorry about the indigestion.

Midwife, the job shadowing program is for us to get to know our customers better. My company produces clinical diagnostics instruments (hematology analyzers, immunoassay, chemistry, etc), so our end users are often hospital medical technicians. The idea is that we will make better products if we understand what their day is like better!

Megan, funny you should ask that, because today's work lunch was the gross sandwiches again but she did make sure to order a salad for me! Of course the salad had salami and cheese on it, but I was able to pick it out well enough, and there was a packet of fat free dressing. I had brought a backup lunch from home just in case, so I ended up having a small salad, then eating my lunch from home later, and skipping the apple I had intended for a snack.

Winter has finally arrived here in Indy -- it was in the low 20's this morning. DH went running with the dog and they were pretty funny to see. DH had on a base layer top, running tights, running pants, a mid-layer top, and an outer layer top, gloves, and a hat. The dog had on his regular collar, his collar with the LED light on it, his fleece coat, and his reflective vest. Even with all the gear DH was pretty frozen when he got back. I told him when it's that cold outside he should go for shorter runs to reduce his exposure time.

We're supposed to get some real snow next week though! Should be exciting (the first snow of the season always is, the subsequent ones not so much).

As is typical pattern for me lately, I self destructed over the weekend and fell off plan... Friday night was a milkshake after Mexican food, which I had planned for actually. Unfortunately it spread to gellato on Saturday (better than more ice cream, though...) and then my MIL made fried chicken and potatoes today. Maybe I need to just embrace the slightly higher weight and stop putting so much pressure on myself. Really, I didn't eat tons any of the three days compared to my previous life - 2700ish Friday (planned high day for the week), 2300ish Saturday, haven't totaled today yet... Hmm...

Ahh, I had a binging dream last night. Now I'm thinking about chocolate and cookies. :p I went to the gym before work and am looking at early workouts for the next 2 days, otherwise I won't have time. I hate getting up so early but I will do it! POP all weekend, healthy food planned/packed for the week, workouts planned for the week as well. The only foreseen "eating challenge" is my book club meeting tonight and I need to limit myself to 2 glasses of wine and small portions. This morning the scale finally got back to 157, or what is was reading the day before Thanksgiving.

Jessica, your shadowing program sounds like a great idea. Sometimes I wish the higher-up people in my org. would come visit us b/c they have no idea what we do. How was cooking club this weekend?

Shannon, I think it's important for a maintenance weight to be realistic for one's lifestyle, and only you can be honest and tell yourself what's really best for your body.

Pat, I could never, ever live in Alaska. I 'm sure it's wonderful and I'd like to visit but :brr:

Silver, ICU, kitty, midwife, how were everyone's weekends?

We can do it everyone! :carrot:

I've given in to the inevitable and moved my maintenance range to 123-127. We'll see if the change makes me feel better about myself. :dizzy:

Megan - good luck with the early workouts!

Megan, the cooking club was fun, but I ate way too much junk and I'm paying for it now with a gain. Hopefully it's mostly water.

I got in my 5 workouts last week though! Nearly didn't, but I went to the gym Sunday and did 30 minutes on the stairmaster. Today I went for a run on the office treadmill at lunchtime (20 minutes @5.7mph). I'm not sure what to do about my NRLW workouts this week. I wrenched my wrist during my workout last Thursday and it is still screwed up. I'm not sure if I should do the workout anyway while wearing a wrist brace (because it only hurts if I bend it, which I shouldn't do during any of the exercises anyway) or just postpone until it feels better.

Jessica, can you do the rest of the workout, or does the wrist figure in most of it? Like DBs. Maybe just concentrate on cardio and/or LBWO until the wrist is better?

I haven't got my equilibrium back after last week in London. The weekend was OK but yesterday was not good and today is not looking good either. I think it's because I am so busy or, rather, I've got too many things going on in too many locations. Brain can't cope, need a rest, rest not possible, brain suggests that food with fat and sugar would help, and we all agree! Let's have a party! Or a half a flapjack in the car. Or an egg custart tart http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Custard_tart Or three chocolates from the box of chocolates which does not belong to me.

In addition to the above, I am (I'll let you know as you are my friends) annoyed/angry with having to do so much. It's not at all that SO and DB don't do their fair share (we are an equal opportunities household with regard to responsibilities and chores :)) but There Is So Much To Do!! I'd better retire!

I am working at home waiting for the chimney sweep who is well known for being a bad timekeeper. He'll be here 'around lunchtime'. The choice for this task was me (I can go to the gymn and get back here) or SO (who would have to miss an adult education class completely). This means that we are both able to do something we like, in addition to work. DB was not in the running as he is 9 7/12 and at school listening to a talk on safety from a police officer and being plyed with chocolates from a giant tin by his headteacher (she was spotted this morning).

/rant over, I think. Thank you for listening.

I'd just like to add that the fat is looking jiggly. That's a good sign. Meg has told me so in the past, so it must be true. :lol: I must just stick at it.

Thanks, gang. Feeling much, much better now. :dancer: Onwards!

Personals later but I love you all.

And I'll redo that ticker as well.

Morning all. I stuck to my 2 glasses of wine and "small portions" last night at book club, but there were still many dishes so I ate too much and was uncomfortably full afterwards. You know, I always say that my ability to eat huge amounts hasn't changed but I realize it really has - it seemed I ate much less that I used to, took what I seemed were small portions, but it was too much anyway. Did a bit of powerwalking and heavy legs this AM and am sore, healthy food all packed, and am trying to flush out any bad results of last night before them become permanent (you know the flush out the fat before it sticks theory).

Silver, I also recall Meg saying jiggly fat is good. We are so funny, Meg could tell us that aliens are coming to invade and we would take it as gospel. Sorry you've got so much to do. Repairmen who will come "sometime during the day" are so annoying. Take it one thing at a time.

Jessica, if your NRLW workout involved holding a lot of dumbbells I'd suggest postponing it, doing a lower body or cardio workout instead. I don't see how holding dumbbells, even if you're not rotating or curling your wrists, could not antagonize your wrist further.

Shannon, there's no shame in changing your maintenance range! You seem like you think it's the end of the world - it's not! Our bodies do change.

Stay strong everyone! We can do it! :carrot:

Thanks guys, I decided to postpone the workout because my wrist seems to be getting worse. The workout is mostly chin ups and push ups in any case. I'm a little worried I did something worse than spraining it since it's getting worse instead of better. If it's not improved by the end of the week I'll go to the doctor. In the meantime I'm going to get started on RICE for it.

I had a breakdown of willpower at dinner last night. DH's office took us out to Ruth's Chris steakhouse. I saw their menu in advance so I made sure to specifically order my steak with no butter (who puts butter on a steak? seriously!). Did well with light dressing on the salad, snuck a couple pieces of bread, went heavy on the steamed broccoli and light on the mashed potatoes. But then it turned out that everyone got an individual LARGE dessert. I ordered bread pudding, even though I knew I should have ordered sorbet, and I ate the whole damn thing. I had a flashback to that time when I was at my high weight and went out to eat with DH's grandma and when I cleaned my plate she said, "I can't believe you ate the whole thing." Ugh. It tasted good, but was not worth it. When will I ever learn?

Ha, I stink at early workouts. Mon & Tu were pretty good workouts, but instead of my third (and final) AM workout of the week today I decided today would be my "rest day" so that I could get a full 8 hours of sleep last night. Even when I try to go to bed early, early workouts cut into my sleep time. I have more time to work out the rest of the week so I'll still get all my workouts in but it was amazingly hard to give myself permission to have a rest day so "early" in the week. Food POP.

Jessica, today is a new day. Maybe you could do some cardio that won't aggravate your wrist - I suggest that because exercise really helps me reinforce that I'm recommitted and makes me feel good if I've slipped.

Keep up the good work and steely determination everyone! :dust:

Weight was back down to 141.8 today. Totally not on track for my xmas goal at all. I think I may have to change my goal to be "not gaining too much" instead of losing.

Wrist still isn't better, and the weather is so nasty that all I want to do is curl up with a book, a blanket, and some hot tea. Exercise is not happening today. Tomorrow afternoon I'll call the doctor's office to make an appointment about my wrist just to make sure it isn't broken or anything. I'm going to bed early tonight since I have to be at "work" at 4:30am! :fr: Friday I will run on the treadmill at lunchtime at work since I'll be back in the office, and maybe Saturday I'll drive over to the gym to work out depending on my wrist.

Is it bad that I'm at the point where I'm thinking it's only a few more weeks until the new year, so I might as well give up on counting calories until then? I have so many uncountable meals coming up that it seems like it's not worth attempting. I can still make good decisions without having to type it into my tracker, right? (or maybe not :p)

Is it bad that I'm at the point where I'm thinking it's only a few more weeks until the new year, so I might as well give up on counting calories until then? I have so many uncountable meals coming up that it seems like it's not worth attempting. I can still make good decisions without having to type it into my tracker, right? (or maybe not )

No. Track it. Try to count the uncountable meals in some way. It's better to know.

Jay

Hi, everyone :wave: Sorry I've been AWOL this week ... I see that paperclippy has already thoroughly described the mindset! I look at my calendar and just choke. Short of a near-fatal illness setting in before Saturday, I have a minimum of 10 "holiday meals" before the end of the year. However ... I'm more than 20 pounds less than I was at this time last year - the good news. I'm kind of morbidly curious to write everything down -just to document for NEXT year what sort of challenges I faced.

Weather threw a wrench into the exercise - I didn't feel like risking my life for a workout last night. Now the juggling really begins, to see where the heck I can fit the replacement. Need to develop a backup and lube the treadmill. :)

I'm holding my 3 least-favorite water pounds right now (fat HANDS, for cripes' sake!). Evidence is piling up that there's a food allergy involved, and the likely culprit is an artificial color used somewhere in the M&Ms process. I like the part about getting it down to something like 8 candidates ... but the final weedout is probably going to take months. Yuck. I am encouraged, though, to potentially be eradicating one major cause of scale fluctuation.

ICU, you're in Michigan, brr! Looks terrible there on the weather channel.

ICU, Jessica, and everyone else who might be feeling "why bother tracking anything when there are so many 'temptation' meals coming up" - yes, you should track! Jessica, I know from posting together for years that you are a lot like me in some of our eating habits. If I'm "not keeping track" I "let" myself have all kinds of BLTs, extras, even in my own home, not just at those holiday meals, and I think you do too. The damage will be so much more. Even if it's impossible to figure out all the calorie counts, sometimes just writing what I ate down in my food journal is enough to keep me on track and right back on track for breakfast the next morning and working out the next day. Jay's right, it is better to know.

I ate too much fried turkey at my friend's last night and the scale is up a pound today. I'm hoping to sweat it off tonight. I have no commitments after work, so I'm hoping I'll get a good run in, my first run of the week.

Silver, Shannon, Jay, Midwife, how's it going?

Thanks everyone, I am still tracking. I'm just discouraged since my weight has gone up instead of down. 142 again this morning, although to be fair I weighed at 3am, haven't had much water the past few days, and have been kind of, uh, irregular (TMI :o ).

Trying to convince myself to go to the gym right now. I've been up since 3am and I'm pretty tired. I might do Megan's 20 minutes rule -- 20 minutes of exercise, and if I'm still tired, go straight home to sleep.

Wrist was feeling a little better this morning so I didn't call the doc yet. I've had it in a brace all day.

Paperclippy, if your wrist is fractured, it is better to find out sooner than later. It will start to heal and may heal wrong... Why not just go to the doc?

I am staying with my current plan, and my weight is stable so far--meaning hovering around the same number, more or less.

Jay

I went to the gym! Woohoo!

Jay, thanks, I don't really think it's fractured, I was mostly concerned because it seemed to be getting worse. But I will see my FIL this weekend and he is a doctor, so I'll get his opinion on whether or not I need an xray.

Hi all,
Last week I fought the good op fight and had a 10.5 mile run as well and found myself 126, 125, 126.5, 125.5, 126, 126 and such. kinda frustrating.

off to watch the office with hubbie, i'll be back with personals-

I lost my pound of fried turkey overnight. ;) Man oh man, my running workout was tough yesterday! I'm going to try to run again this evening. Running takes weight off of me better than any other form of cardio, which is why I persist even though I clearly don't like it all that much. :tread:

I've got a Christmas party Saturday night and a birthday party Sunday evening this weekend, and my choral group's Christmas concert is Sunday afternoon. I'm going to try and do the usual before the social/eating events - eat a big salad and a bit of lean protein beforehand, work out, etc. Might even ask BF to hold onto me if I grab his hand to keep me away from the food...

Jessica, way to get to the gym!!! I hope your wrist improves. Hang in there! :dust:

Kitty, at least stable weight is better than weight going up. I know it can be frustrating. Stick with it and the scale will budge, sooner or later. The Office was so funny last night! I love that show.

Have a great weekend everyone. Stay strong!

paperclippy - speedy healing! It's so frustrating when the mind is prepared to exercise, and some part of the body fails. I've had a few twinges out of the historically-touchy shoulder since I started swimming, so I'll be scampering off the chiro next week for certain.

JayEll - you've reminded me to look back at where I came from at this time last year (174#) ... and be grateful for the solid day-in, day-out performance of keeping more than those 20 pounds off for three months now. I *could* be OK with doing that for the rest of my days, but I will always be wondering if more is possible and realistic if I don't keep trying to move the needle.

Megan - you are absolutely right, and I have returned to the "write it BEFORE I bite it" methodology. It works to see the calories stacking up, and if I don't like what I see, that's why pencils have erasers. I can still choose not to eat it, but if I do, I intend to have full knowledge of what I am doing. Robin's note of "I've never regretted staying on-plan" was an "Of course!" moment. I haven't, either! Resisting a temptation successfully is still almost a naughty thrill for me - not yet a habit. :D

Off to deliver some gifts for a foster kid I'm sponsoring. DS10 saw the pile and I'm sure is hoping that his will be at least as big, but to his credit, he hasn't said anything. It does feel good to GIVE this time of year.

OK, I'm back :)
Meagan, you're right, The Office was great last night. Thanks for the kind words and much needed dust.
Jessica, I'm having wrist stuff too- bah! good luck and let us know what FIL says
Silver, I have pantsometers and I think I stretched them with all the trying on and finding them too tight ;) last night the snap did not pop open but they are still too tight to wear.
ICU, you are a maintainer-- I did not address that a while back but it's been on my mind. You ARE a maintainer!!
Midwife, Jay, everyone joining me in the batte of the bulge--- let's do it!!

Hi everyone! Yesterday was POP, especially since I went to the gym, and the scale is rewarding me by being back at 140.4. Actually my last "official" weigh-in last Saturday was 139.4 but I didn't move my ticker since it seemed like a blip. If tomorrow's "official" weigh-in is there again I will move it.

Lunch meeting at work today. The office is having a "holiday lunch." The menu is ham, turkey, green beans, mashed potatoes, salad, and rolls. I'm planning to have a small portion of meat, and big portions of green beans and salad, and nothing else. It sounds like a pretty on-plan meal that way so hopefully my calories will be right on track.

Anyone else have holiday challenges this weekend? We have our family hannukah party Sunday, plus DH's birthday. DH has requested Thai food for dinner Saturday and a lemon tart for dessert at the hannukah party. I will plan the Thai food for my weekly "cheat" meal and try to eat mostly OP at the party. Lemon's not my favorite so I think I'll be okay with only a small portion of dessert. I'm just crossing my fingers that MIL or the other people coming won't bring jelly donuts (for those who don't know, jelly donuts are a traditional hannukah food).

I have two events this weekend Jessica. One is tonight, the library staff party at a local Italian restaurant. DH and I may be splitting an entree since they are large. Tomorrow is a friend's annual glug (his version of gluwine) party. It's a potluck of finger foods and of course the warm spiced wine, and other adult beverages. :) This will be a tough one being as everything will be homemade and delicious. Fortunately it's a small house and once you're seated, it's an effort to get up and back to the food area. The wife just had surgery for a broken wrist last week, and I'm frankly amazed she's still up for the party. I went down there last night to take her some stuff (she and DH are officers in our square dance club). She says she's bored, can't get out and cross country ski, which is how she broke her wrist. It's her main form of exercise, along with swimming, which she can't do either. It was a bad break, and she has a plate and pins and is looking at 8+ weeks with a cast.

Challenges start tonight. I'm off to a wine-tasting in a few minutes: 24 calories an ounce, 2 oz pours, 7 wines, plus lots of nibbles - has to be cheese, 110 per oz ... crackers (don't even go there, just DON'T!) and Lord knows what else. It's at Whole Foods. I just ate my orange, I've been chugging water, and determined to bring it in under calorie plan. Tomorrow I have to play my very FIRST public piano performance - a duet with my mom for a group of elders at a rest home, and I'm scared witless. There's a reason that I've never done this in my 42 years! There will be cookies, and the dragon to beware is the post-performance "relief binge". Bringing gum for that one. Next day, DS10 sings in choir and the in-laws are coming for dinner. DH will be doing the cooking, and the entree will be either grilled salmon, or fried perch. Massive salad, much steamed veggies ... MIL is bringing pie. And y'all have heard it already - pie is not an attractant. :D

I'll probably need to check in a couple of times this weekend. Kitty, thank you so much for calling me a "maintainer"! It's an image that's still awfully foggy for me, and there are a lot of days I feel underqualified ... but I shall fake it til I make it! If I have to fake it for the rest of my life, that's fine, but those 20+ are off for real. :D Always ... learning!

ICU and Pat, good luck with your challenges!

I made it through the work lunch unscathed. Took a little ham and turkey, a pile of green beans, and a bowl of salad. I did end up eating one roll also. But I'm proud of myself for skipping the mashed potatoes and skipping dessert! Luckily their dessert was pies that looked like they'd been mass produced, frozen, and sat out on a shelf for a week before being cut up, so they weren't very appetizing. :lol:

Sorry I haven't been checking in -- I wanted to let you all know I am plugging along. Lots of stuff happening -- holiday business on top of work, PT time for my frozen shoulder, DH recovering from hernia surgery, etc. With everything on my plate, I am at best treading water on the weight loss front. I am clocking in at 132, which is what my ticker shows, but that's up a little from where I had been weighing at my low.

My goal for this holiday season is pretty modest -- just to gain less than I did last year! Last year I gained 10 pounds during the holidays (*blush*), but so far I think I am doing better than I was the same time this year. I would be ecstatic if I could maintain, but given my upcoming trip to the in-laws, I think that is unrealistic.

A more important goal is to really get back on the weight loss track in January. Last year I maintained for most of the year. Regardless of how well (or not) I do over the next few weeks, it's more important how I do over the next several months.

Paperclippy -- hope your wrist is feeling better soon!!!

Congrats to everyone who is working hard at getting or staying OP during these exercise- and diet-challenging times!

Weekend is done and I managed not to get into anything with the offensive artificial colorant. It was still a 5 pound swing week - don't wanna do that again. :rolleyes: All challenges met, and I kick off the week at 150.5 today.

Upcoming: Friday lunch with ex-Chrysler coworkers at a bar (I know the menu - it'll be fine), meeting friends for a drink that night (not too scary - I can plan for it), and the biggie - our annual trip to the 1913 Room in Grand Rapids. I would dearly love some advice on the entree - I'm really intrigued by the vegetarian option (and I'm a Loooonnngggg way from vegetarian). I will post it in a separate thread since I know not everybody visits this one.

yoyoma - I'd read it as a success, given the huge improvement over last year! I remember that I was closing in on HW and rock-bottom self esteem at this time last year, and I made the classic mistake of saying "screw it" til the first of the year. I don't remember how many pounds I managed to add in the last two weeks of December, but I'll bet it was close to 10. Still blows my mind that I'm here posting in Maintainer's a year later, holding off 25 pounds.

paperclippy - well done! It's funny how much misery you can avoid by overloading on salad first! How's the wrist doing?

waterrat - how was your weekend?

Ok, troops, how did all the food events go this weekend? Laughing at my use of the word "troops", sometimes I do feel like I'm in a battle! :dizzy:

Food went well at my Christmas party Saturday! I planned for a few glasses of wine. There was tons of food but a lot of choices really didn't look that appetizing to me. Very little vegetable content, though. I was glad I'd eaten a large salad before I went. I stuck to shrimp, turkey, and tried bites of 3 other dishes that weren't so great. One small cookie, one small brownie, and that was it. At one point I was standing next to the desserts again. They didn't even look all that great. I just said to myself "don't even go there" and walked away.

I did a lot of bulk cooking yesterday and I once again am facing a week (full week, this time) of early morning workouts, or none at all, due to 5 pm play rehearsals. This morning went ok. :D Must keep my energy up for these early rise and shine days! I don't have any more big "food" events until Christmas eve dinner. (That I know of - who knows when baked goods will appear in the office.)

yoyo, glad you checked in! It's true that we focus on the few weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas b/c of all the seemingly food-focused events, but January onward is just as important.

Jessica, how's your wrist? Did FIL give you any advice?

ICU, we cross-posted. Glad you're staying out of whatever's causing that reaction. Sorry I can't offer any advice on the Grand Rapids dining out. Would it be too weird to just call and ask about the entrees? It's not like you have to identify yourself on the phone, you could just say you're dining there soon, are watching your food intake, and would like a description of the different entrees...? Call when they're not busy though.

How was everyone else's weekend? What holiday events are coming up?

The wrist is totally better! It was really weird -- for one full week it hurt and didn't get better, if anything it got worse. Then in the next two days it went from there to 100% back to normal. I totally don't understand my body's healing process, but I'm glad it's better!

At too much at Thai food Saturday night, but magically weighed less Sunday morning. Did a good job with the main meal at the Hannukah party last night, but fell face first into the desserts. :o Originally we were planning to just bring this lemon tart, which I could have resisted, but then we found out there were going to be 17 people there, and the tart only made 8 servings, so we made brownies and brought ice cream too. Then of course there were actually only 15 people, 2 of whom are kosher and wouldn't eat anything, so we had a lot left. Pawned off most of the ice cream on the in-laws, took the brownies to work this morning, but we still have a little lemon tart left at home.

Yoyo, thanks for checking in!

ICU, good luck with the upcoming challenges! I will go check out your other thread.

Megan, it is a battle! :drill: Good luck with the workouts.

No more food events for me until we go to LA. I think I'm going to hit the 139 mark this week for my official weigh-in, since I've been bouncing around 139-140 the past few days. If I can sneak my way down to 138 before leaving for LA I'll be ecstatic, but it probably won't happen because there just isn't enough time.

It's been quiet on this thread lately! Is everyone slinking off with their tail between their legs since they've been falling down on the job? :lol:

It's been quiet on this thread lately! Is everyone slinking off with their tail between their legs since they've been falling down on the job? :lol:

I'm still here! But you're right, it has been quiet lately. Well, I think a few people who really did have just a few lbs to lose reached their goals and don't "need" us anymore. Tear, tear.

I had a very good workout this morning. I added an extra 5 minutes on the elliptical, and did heavy legs, adding a few extra reps to my hamstring exercises and a little more weight. Of course now I'm sore, but it's the good kind. Official weigh in today - 155.5! (Last week 157.) I've been flopping between 156-57 for a few days so this is good! :carrot: I feel like the weight loss is taking forever, but it's really not - 2-3 lbs a month is really good for me.

Jessica, I'm glad the wrist is better! Are you picking up your NRLW workouts again this week? Sounds like you've made it over the food hurdles and have another week of few food temptations before Christmas vacation - that's sort of how I'm looking at like right now, too.

ICU, kitty, anyone else out there?

I'm here. :) I don't have any stellar successes or failures to report, beyond the success of just holding the line. I started a thread that has a link to the 1913's menu ... if you wanna see some serious food porn, go there! :lol: And I'd still love some more input on what buzzwords in the menu set off your alarm bells. I'm thinking I'm going to go with the beet salad and the vegetarian entree ... and the forbidden apple. :D Maybe if I walk the 150 miles back from Grand Rapids???

I'm here! :wave: Trying to keep the balance between food, exercise and sleep; between cardio, weights and stretching; between work, home and the rest; between Christmas stuff, school holidays and stuff just to do with me.

Worn out! :hug: for myself!

Making tea now: salmon en papillote (you know, those little paper parcels with veg and protein which I've just discovered you can staple together and the steam will not escape, unlike folding and twisting), brown rice and cabbage.

And caring for the DB who has a held-it-off-but-now-I've-got-it virus. He's weary but conversational.

Work day for me tomorrow whilst SO keeps the home fires burning.

Good to see you all around and about.

PS Have just eaten a few choc or yog covered nuts and fruit - meant for little bags on the tree but unfortunately we just had to try them out. I didn't, I suppose, but the Christmas card writing had shot away that part of my brain. Here's hoping it will grow back.

Well, I think a few people who really did have just a few lbs to lose reached their goals and don't "need" us anymore.

I guess so! We slackers who had 15+ lbs to lose still have some work to do. :p

Thanks for checking in everyone! But where's midwife? :?:

:wave: I totally gave up and slunk away. My 15 pounds will be attached to my a$$ until January and probably joined by a few others. :o

Ward, come back and join us again! If nothing else, maybe it will help keep those 15 pounds from turning into 20 over the holidays. ;)

I do have two POP days under my belt. I can make it three! :carrot:

I'm here too :) cannot be succinct just now. so bummed that my family's dinner tastes yuck. Ima gonna hear it :(

I'm here guys! I'm just a big loser right now, and I'm not talking about weight! Just sooo busy. Too busy. I don't like it.The running's been hit or miss. I only go in the morning if I've committed to DD or my running partner and they've not been going often, so I roll over and go back to bed. I lifted twice last week. Food has been spectacularly on or spectacularly off, as usual. I'll weigh in the morning. Egads....

I had 2 small chocolates and 2 small cookies from the treat table at work today. I'm a mess with stress. SIL had a surgery today and I think that is what is putting me on edge. Plus work stress.....

If anyone stopped checking in cause they dropped their 5-10, my hat's off to them. I'm just.....blah....

I'm muddling along. Not giving up, but that's the most important key, isn't it?

Sorry dinner's yuk, Kitty.

Oh hey.. I just don't check in because I spend all my time at the 20-somethings... :lol: 9 pounds to go though! :)

I do have two POP days under my belt. I can make it three! :carrot:

Yes you can! Go Ward, go ward, it's your birthday, get busy, go go go!

Kitty, sorry dinner's yucky.

Midwife, the holidays are especially busy. Nothing wrong with just trying to get through them and re-energize weight loss after the craziness has died down.

Silver, you sound very busy too. The salmon sounds delicious. Mmm, maybe I'll make some salmon this weekend. :drool:

Aww, megwini, we're fun too! Lol, just giving you a hard time. Glad you're still sticking with it!

Another day, another workout, another set of clean meals... I don't mean to sound blah, but given my schedule it's all pretty routine right now (good routine, not bad routine). Yesterday a huge batch of Christmas cookies appeared in the work kitchen's fridge, so I'm keeping my lunch in the lab fridge (don't worry, no chemicals or anything bad kept in there) so I don't have to look at them.

Keep it up everyone!!! :carrot::dancer::dust::cheer3::cheer2:

:waves: Good morning! The "puff 3" is back off. I think this 149 is what I weigh when I don't eat stuff that triggers inflammation. I've got it down to 2 colors now, a red and a green (I think).

I'm in the same mood as a lot of you - Let's just get this holiday over with and go back to normal business. :)

Ward, you can do it! :cheer:

Midwife, :hug: I hope the stress level goes down soon. Probably after the holidays?

Kitty, sorry your dinner was no good.

Megwini, hey, some of us here are still 20-somethings too! :lol: Actually Megan and I met originally on the 20-somethings forum but are both on Maintainers mostly nowadays.

ICU, I don't get it, what are the colors?

I'm grumpy this morning because I made myself tea, but I didn't double-check the water temperature and apparently the hot water spout on our coffee maker wasn't nearly as hot as usual. Lukewarm tea is pretty gross. What a waste of tea! I'm drinking it anyway but it's just not good. :p

Less than a week until my trip to LA! I'm excited! But bummed that my weight is still bouncing around. Even though I've been POP the past two days, my weight is up 2lbs since Sunday. How does that work?

paperclippy - "ew" about the tea. Been there once or twice - you're absolutely right about yuck. Re the colors - I finally made the connection that when I get into artificial colorants, I add 3# in water overnight. It's inflammation - an allergy or sensitivity. I've only noticed it recently after I had one of those spikes, and the only thing I'd eaten that wasn't clean was a handful of M&Ms. I flushed it out after a few days ... and then tried a half-cup serving of my HUGE fave ice cream - peppermint stick. Spike again next morning. Checked the label, and there are 2 colors used in the candy chunks. It's better than the big long list in the M&Ms, but now I have to locate a new brand of ice cream. :P I always wondered, because salt doesn't make me swell up anything like this - it's eyelids, backs of hands, stiff joints, and that infernal extra 3 pounds.

:I'm in the same mood as a lot of you - Let's just get this holiday over with and go back to normal business. :)

Count me in! I can't say that I've lost more than 1 or 2 lbs in the last month, but I still consider it a success. I am getting real tired of every party (too many) centered around food and I am going to one at lunchtime today too!

I've been reading here, but have been running crazy for over a week and haven't updated... I'm still working on the same three pounds I started out wanting to get rid of, but haven't worried about it as much since i adjusted my maintenance range.

It seems like a lot of us are stressed out right now, hope things settle down for all of us! :)

Jessica, I feel you on the yuck of tepid tea water!
Midwife, hope SIL's procedure goes well. *hugs* Just keep fighting the OP fight!!!
ICU, I took a look at the first menu and started drooling. Keep us informed...I think the food color thing sensitivity is a good discovery. Was it just with careful tracking that you made the observations?
Sliver, sounds like you are hanging in there and fighting a good op fight!
Megan, I have not lost my 5-10 and am agreeing with Jessica that this thread is truly helpful in maintenance keeping me at least stable and not upswinging!! How's the play going?
Losermom, Hi! :) I agree with your outlook, it is reasonable and positive :)


Dinner did not incite a riot as I had feared but i am still not clear on where things went wrong. I regularly make turkey chili. It is pretty simple. My sitter generally is aroud and observing (she likes to cook) when I make it. Last night DH came home early and he and I took my 4 boys to a local school for H1N1 vaccinations. I left my sitter with a pot, the ground turkey, the other ingred. and what I thought were pretty clear directions. It just didn't come out tasting good. I doctored it as best as I could using cheese melted into it(not a standard ingr.) lots o salsa, ketchup. I then made white rice ( a not eaten often favorite of the guys) and served it with choice of rice or ww tortilla and it was tolerated. Nobody asked for seconds.... but nobody screamed either....

I am at work hearing many rumors, some substantiated, about plans to close my clinic. Prob one day but I will not hit the panic button just yet.

later chicks! Happy Holidays :):):)

Sliver, sounds like you are hanging in there and fighting a good op fight!)

Yes. I'm feeling quite tough today! Ate a large piece of leftover salmon with a lot of veg for lunch. No other starch. There were, er, quite a lot of raw carrots and I am feeling rather full, several hours afterwards. I think that's good. :cool: I am watching out to see whether I change colour.

As Shannon says, quite a few of us are under stress and strain at the moment. Hanging in there is Very Very Good.

Kittycat - ignore those rumours if you can. :hug:

Wrapping presents secretly at the office before going home. :wave: to everyone! Keep strong. You know you can do it. :yes:

(SO is making tea. I hear that it is spicy delicious chickpeas and sausages. I'm certain there will also be greens of some kind and potatoes for the others. I shall only eat a modest portion ...:angel: naturally.)

kitty - yep, thanks to food journals! One of the things I tried a couple of years ago was a full-blown allergen elimination diet. It was pretty miserable for 3 weeks - no gluten, no eggs, no dairy, no peanuts, no shellfish, no meat except free-range organic chicken and lamb, and no soy. But within about 5 days of starting it, I could see a drastic change in my eyelids, hands, and how my joints felt. My nose cleared up, and I also dropped 11 pounds in 5 days. Sure - it's all water ... but what's water? Water retention is inflammation. I started to add the "forbidden foods" back in per the diet, and nothing worth noting happened until I got to soy. Turns out that unfermented soy "reacts". No great loss there - I'm not a big fan of any soy products except miso anyway.

I wasn't ready to commit to weight loss back then and I got sloppy with processed food. The 11 pounds came back on and brought a few friends with them. :) About a year ago, I hit my highest weight and started lurking here regularly. I started my own journey on Feb 1, with a food journal, an Excel spreadsheet, and calorie counting.

Somewhere between the food journal and the spreadsheet, I noticed a pattern in the spring. Many 3FCers report a "sawtooth" shaped downward slope with little spikes that tend to correspond to TOM, and sodium. I could find TOM on the chart, but that was always a specific 1.5lb spike. A couple of times a month, at no predictable point, there'd be a big 3-4#. By early summer, I was noticing that the day before one of those big spikes, I would have eaten something processed. I was hunting for MSG, sulfites, nitrites and any of the other million "approved" ingredients. It's really tough to sort one out, because most packaged crap food will have multiples.

I was losing hope in the fall - stalled right around the 150 mark - and then I had a handful of M&Ms. I had the "bloom" within hours this time - I could FEEL it. Read the label, and wouldn't you know it, I had experimentally eliminated everything except colors. The only bad news is that M&Ms have a longggg list of colors and they're not called out by the color of M&M. :lol: I couldn't get that lucky! But I wrote down the whole list.

Entirely possible that it might be all of them - and to find the culprit(s) I have to go out of my way to eat artificially colored foods, which after a year is really losing its appeal.

That's my color story! What I do know is that the further I get away from them, the shorter the "teeth in my sawtooth" get. :D

Aw! Yeah I'm definitely going to have a long time as a 20-something maintainer, because I'm only 20 now, and I am NOT gaining my weight back (*is determined not to be just another dieting statistic*). I guess I just need to get to know you guys better.
Maybe you can answer a question of mine... I had 3 finals back to back today starting at 7:30AM, on top of having a huge project due at 1PM today... so I pulled an all-nighter. I'd eaten dinner about 6PM that day, so I thought it'd be good to eat something at midnight since I was going to be up for the next 7 hours... so I got a sandwich and yogurt (about 500 calories combined). Now... should I have counted that on yesterday's calories, or today's calories, or does the fact that I wasn't sleeping change things completely?
I HATE pulling all-nighters and am looking forward to lots of sleep tonight (:)), but it does make me wonder where to count those calories.

Still going strong here. I really wanted to stay in bed instead of go to the gym this morning, but I dragged myself up and out the door and had a good workout. Now I'm ignoring the new batch of Christmas cookies that appeared in the office this AM. Lalalalala.... Food & exercise POP.

megwini, I suppose I would count the calories for the night before, or split them between the two days. Wow, you're still counting calories during finals? Color me impressed. By the time I got to the pulling all-nighters to get through finals week in school, I was so far past caring what I ate, skipping the gym entirely, etc. let alone writing down calories. Good job! (But go study! Check in with us after finals. And after a nap. And good luck! :p)

ICU, what a process to figure out what was bothering your body. Glad you've almost got it narrowed down now, though.

Silver, I can assure you, if one turned colors from overloading on carrots, I would have turned long ago. I haven't. Hopefully that means we're all safe.

Kitty, the play is going well, thanks for asking. At first my character was tough for me to get into/relate to, but I think I'm doing better now. We've dubbed her "the ditz with the heart of gold". I've got to learn my lines over Christmas, yikes! I hope your clinic hangs in there!

Losermom, 1-2 lbs in a holiday month is great. Keep it up! I haven't lost much more than that but I know if I wasn't so committed right now my weight would be going up, up and away with all the holiday treats.

Stay strong everyone! :cheer2:

ICU - that is fascinating about the colors. I had a similar result with my Splenda and other artifical sweeteners experiment. I never even thought about colors....

Shannon, ordinarily I wouldn't have either. Our neighbors have an adopted son who's my son's age - they're good buddies. They have explored every avenue in trying to get their hands around this kid's behavior - he can be like Jekyll and Hyde. Long story short, through the Feingold diet and its support, they found out he's violently sensitive (literally) to one of the artificial Yellows. When he eats right, he's a happy, normal little kid. When he gets into that Yellow (#5, I think it is), I'm seriously afraid of him.

One of the gals who works for me has a son with bad reactions to one of the red dyes - more along the allergy type though than violent behavior. Now he's a teen-ager he monitors his own intake and has been very compliant. :)

Silver, I can assure you, if one turned colors from overloading on carrots, I would have turned long ago. I haven't.

But I know that babies can definitely get an orange cast to their skin if they get too many carrots or other yellow/orange veggies (usually in breastmilk). It's a condition called Carotenemia. In reading some entries found when searching, some adults also eat enough to have the condition as well. Usually those who drink carrot juice from my unscientific scan. :lol:

I'm hanging in there, though it's still snowing. It stopped long enough yesterday afternoon that the plows caught up at least on the main roads. No school closures though the AF base had a delayed start for workers today.

I've had two of my swimming coaching sessions, with the 3rd tonight. I'm getting some help, esp with my breathing, but there are several needier folks there - like they can't swim a length yet - so those of us needing minor tweaks are not getting as much attention. To be honest though, once she's told me what I need to do, a few laps of practice and then another review is what I need, not someone watching every stroke. :)

LOL Silver, Pat is right, you can actually change colors from too many carrots but it's usually from drinking carrot juice. Did you know that it takes a whole pound of carrots to make 1C of juice? So you get a lot more carrot per volume from drinking the juice.

ICU (everytime I type that I think Intesive Care Unit), that is really fascinating about the dyes, especially about your neighbor's kid. My slope has spikes pretty much every Monday, because I have a cheat meal on the weekend which usually has more sodium than usual, and I drink less water. However, it's been headed up the past three days for no obvious reason at all. I'm crossing my fingers weight will go down again soon, but it will be hard to tell since I go on vacation next week. If it continues to go up when I get back it will be time for another thyroid test.

Megwini, does it really matter which day you put it on? I would put it on whichever day had lower calories from everything else. :)

Megan, did you avoid the cookies? Great job on being so POP lately!

Pat - :brr: I hate temperatures that low! After living in colder climates for the past five years I'm okay with temperatures down to about 20 now. Any colder than 20 though and I do not want to leave my house! :lol: When it's below 20 we even put a coat on our dog.

Thanks, all. I think I made this remark because I had this info lurking in the back of my mind from when I was feeding (nursing) the DB. And some other dimly remembered stuff about vitamin A, betacarotene and tinies. If Midwife could call in for a moment? Thank you.


Not a bad today but formal exercise is being pushed out with pressure to meet deadlines. Only a few more days like this.

Good to see so many people checking in.

Good night, all.

Wow, glad I eat my carrots in carrot form. I eat 2 carrots every day with my lunch. My co-workers make fun of me for all the carrots I eat. One of them was a "chaperone" on BF and my first um, group activity. He was taking us fishing, it was our job to bring lunch. We started to get out the food and he said "hey, did you bring carrots?" I thought he was teasing me - I glared at my friend and said "what did you tell him?!" He said "no, she said you eat lots of veggies and carrots, I really like carrots!" It took me a few months to believe it... at this point if he's lying he's kept up the facade for over 4 years! He really loves salad and carrots, more than any man I've ever met. See, it's fate. :carrot:

Yup, Jessica, I avoided the cookies, though there are still some left today. I feel better about ignoring them today, though, b/c I got some more sleep last night (sleep = willpower). I was a bit tired yesterday. I don't have rehearsal tonight, so I can go to the gym after work, so I got to sleep an extra hour. It was nice. I'm oddly excited about doing HIIT on the stairmaster this afternoon. I'm not going to question it, just go with it, lol.

Pat, glad you're enjoying the swim classes.

What are everyone's weekend plans? Any big food events?

Good morning chicks! I am posting from California. I flew from NJ yesterday afternoon and am waiting around until it is 6am so I can go for a run. I am here to take a course. So far so good. Yesterday and the night before there was much grabby
and carby eating but last night was smooth smooth smooth.
Poor exercise so far this week d/t stress of holidays and knowing I will be gone until very late Sunday night. This is the first time i will be away from my kids for so long. Dh and I have been separated for a few days here and there but not me and the kiddles.

On the carrot thing; my mom did have carroteinemia when she was a younger woman. She had married young and divorced. As a mid twenties single woman she traveled to Egypt and was so nervous about the food she mostly ate carrots. Thru the trip she thought she had a great tan but when she returned home she realized the color was from carrotein! :)

Have a great day chicks :)

WaterRat - Glad to hear you're enjoying the lessons! I'm sure it's a little aggravating to have to wait on the less-skilled. You might find that once you're down to tiny details in technique, it may be worth it to get a private lesson or two. I know I was helped most by underwater videotaping - there's something about getting to actually see what I'm doing that makes it much easier to fix problems. Another drill that will help you really be in tune with your relationship to the water is to swim with your hands balled up into fists - you'll feel like you're at a dead stop in the water, but you'll be able to concentrate on the force the rest of your arm is generating.

paperclippy - you're more than welcome to just call me Becky! :) I agree with you there - wonder why that never occurred to me when I set up my username? I've been ridiculously lucky with my thyroid - have never had to have my prescription adjusted. Mine's just an "underperformer" and my doc, who's a thyroid specialist, says he thinks there's a chance we might be able to wake it up with time, nutrients and toxin reductions.

Phew - a week til Christmas. This weekend is the 1913 Room dinner. I'm planning on wearing a dress that I have not fit into in NINE years (yes, I was always an optimist, even if it marks me as a lousy closet-shuffler). There's one more, that's even older (and smaller), that if I ever put on and get zipped, will cause a total meltdown ... and I think I'm almost brave enough to try it. :)

Thanks, Becky! I was remarking to DH last night that I can easily see what others are doing wrong, and I'd like to see myself swimming. I can always tell I have my head to high to breathe by the fact that my legs are too deep. :lol: I didn't go tonight as I was in Anchorage all day, and I have my next-to-next-to-last Christmas event tonight. (One quick stop at an open house tomorrow night on our way to a play, then a brunch on Sunday and I'm done til the actual day).

The sweets have landed. DH is on vacation and is baking....Plan what I eat, eat what I plan....holiDAY, holiDAY! How are all of you?

Becky, thyroids are so weird! :lol: I had awful symptoms from mine before getting diagnosed, but my medication dosage is extremely low compared to most people with hypothyroidism. On the other hand, I also have to take a T3 pill because apparently my body can't convert T4 to T3 very well, which is why my symptoms were so bad.

Midwife, I baked yesterday and ate too many cookies. :o Which of course led to eating ice cream too. :o :o

I didn't make my 2lbs for Christmas goal. I did manage to get down about half a pound at least though, so that's certainly better than going up! Tomorrow I leave for six days in LA. If I manage to maintain on this trip, it will be great. I'm assuming I'll at least gain 2-3lbs of water weight, which I always do when I'm not at home, but hopefully I will be back below 140 for new year's.

I leave early Thursday for my holidays, and will be gone at least a week, possibly a day or two more. The Christmas cookies have all disappeared from my office (none into my mouth), and only a few people haven't taken off for the holidays yet, so no new ones will appear. Worked out early this morning + 2 more to go (maybe 3 more? departure time not set Thurs - depends what time Christmas eve dinner is, will work out early before I leave if possible). I've made my 2-lb Christmas goal of 155 and was hitting 154 for the last 2 days until I ate a bunch of salty, delicious ham for dinner last night, back to 155 today. :p

I'll be around for a few more days before I leave, though, and plan to stay POP during that time!

Jessica, have a great time w/ your family!

midwife, here's some :dust: I've said it many times, but I'm so lucky that BF doesn't care for sweets (at all! gasp!) and doesn't often bring lots of high-cal and/or tempting off-plan foods into my house, or have them at his. If he were baking goodies in my house I'd be a goner. Stay strong!

Becky, how was the 1913 dinner? It sounded like it would be divine, a well-worth-it splurge indeed!

kitty, how was your course and your trip in general?

This is home stretch week!

All of my events are done. Yesterday's was probably the worst for foods eaten, and it wasn't awful. :) Between now and Christmas day will be normal eating!!

Hey all :)
My course was phenomenal. It involved spiritual growth as well as excellent and useful information. That southern CA living is pretty spectacular also ;) Every morning I woke at 5 (to talk to kids at 8a) had coffee, balance bar and a gorgeous run to the end of a Venice beach boardwalk and back to my hotel (about4.5miles).
Then it was fruit and learning and growing and learning and growing. Meals were veggie and I ate tons and left out the grains. No eating after dinner but there was some snacking. I came home and saw 125 on scale. My stomach was as close to flat as it gets :)
Now I am home and am not going to bed early, not running and not not eating after dinner. The almond tofee is now in the freezer but I need someone with strength to throw it away for me. DH said he will put ketchup on it and get it out of the house for me.

Sorry to be me me me but now dh is waiting (and calling) for me to go to bed.

Personals tomorrow-- and hopefully a better report of the day :)
nighty nite!

Sigh.
One poor choice is not the end of the world. A week of poor choices = 167 on the scale today. I'm embarrassed to write that. You all are doing so well and I'm sliding into a pit. Or not sliding---that sounds too passive. I'm running into the pit.

It's not even red line. My red line is 159. This is all-hand-on-deck, red lights flashing, beat-to-quarters, uber emergency. I'm sad and annoyed with myself for my choices.

What am I going to do about it?

Well, weighing myself was step 1. Admitting it to you all is step 2. Packing my food for today is step 3. I've stopped packing snacks lately and then I get really hungry and make poor choices. HIIT camp tonight.

Yesterday afternoon my brain asked me why everyone else had gone from the office, and I was still there. And then it asked me why if everyone else's vacation had started, why shouldn't mine? And then it just took over my body, carried me home (note: NOT to the gym!) an hour early, out fishing w/ BF, beer in hand, and garlic bread with dinner! I swear I was possessed! Mental state is tenuous today... decided to take off from work and pack etc. Right now I'm making labels for the homebrews I'm giving people for the holidays.

We're leaving tomorrow morning. My plan for the holidays is this: stay active. I'm allowed to enjoy small portions of special foods if they're truly special, but pay attention and stop eating when full. Minimize alcohol. Eat "non-special" meals as OP as possible (yes, my canister of oatmeal is coming with me). Enjoy seeing my family, which is what this is about. I'll be in pedestrian-friendly places, so at the very least I have access to good walking/jogging places. I'll have my car, so I can go to the grocery store and stock up on OP snacks etc. anytime I want them! My goal is to maintain where I am, then come back with a "losing" vengeance in January.

Given the current possession of my brain I'm worried about this! I feel so weird today, my brain just isn't communicating w/ my body! Is this what my beer and garlic bread carb hangover has evolved to? Yeesh!

midwife, it's ok, just get back into a your OP lifestyle as much as you can for now, then as soon as holiday clutter clears out you'll be totally back OP! Sounds like you really need to remember to eat healthy snacks, so why not put some extra effort into that?

Kitty, I'm glad your trip was so good!

I'll probably be more offline than on for the next week plus, so I'm going to wish everyone who celebrates it a very Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and I'll be right back on the wagon in this thread in 2010!

I'm on tour in Liverpool. Having a great time with lots of walking. We're staying in an apartment for a few days and it's turning out to be a very good food environment. It takes so little to upset my tummy (whipped cream, for example) and I can't be bothered with indigestion. So I'm being very careful and starting to feel better. And observing one or two things from when I last lost a few pounds. For example, I always had a pretty substantial, sit-down & relax kind of morning & afternoon snack. I'll be making sure I do all of this over the next few weeks.

How are you all doing? I know you're there!

Pecking this out on the BlackBerry so will close now.

Hope you're having fun in Liverpool, Silver! Lots of folks are out and about visiting other places. It's always nice for me to think of 3FC people out and about and we are all working on incorporating healthy choices. It's nice to know we aren't alone.

So I had the high alert 12/23 and was POP that day. Christmas Eve Dinner---through Christmas night were NOT POP. I didn't go over board but I did eat what was served, including a few cookies and a couple of pieces of pie in that 24 hr period.

Saturday was POP. Sunday I'm considering POP. I added a tuna fish sandwich around 8 pm but since I was awake and running around the hospital for 23 hrs, I'm not too concerned. I bypassed all the leftover Christmas treats ( that was easy, I thought, "how OLD are these cookies/truffles/brownies/etc.?")

Anyway, scale a few minutes ago was 163.5. Not where I want it to be, but so much better than that 167 business.

SIlver, that's really great that you are following the things that work. The basics are vital. My basics are healthy snacks! I can't get too hungry or all bets are off.

Hope everyone is having a great week!

:wave: midwife and everyone!

V impressed at your POPness, midwife. Good going.

Just icing my back (slightly twingey) before heading out. We are going to the shops & a great delicatessen (it'll be OK, friends, relax). They have big shops here as well as street lights! So different from home.
RC cathedral this afternoon.

Good luck, all. Midwife's right - that stuff is old & stale. Yuck.

Darn it....my scale battery needs to be replaced....