Maintainers Chat: May 11 - 17

[Meg]

Good morning! How was Mother's Day? Did everyone survive breakfast in bed, brunches out, and boxes of chocolates?

We had takeout sushi last night and my weight is up 3 pounds today! Yay, soy sauce. I'll hit the water hard today and see how fast it will whoosh away. A lot of times cardio will really get water weight moving so that's first on the schedule when the gym opens.

Later this morning I have to take some returns back to Talbots and Macys. Frankly, I deserve a presidential commendation for economic stimulation but need to try to avert my eyes from the sales racks as I return things. What do you all think of the long dress trend? They look adorable on younger women but I suspect would look ridiculous on someone my age. When we're old enough to have lived through a trend the first time around (late 60s, early 70s) it's probably a good idea to skip it the second time around.

There's going to be a server move tomorrow and the site will be down for most of the afternoon, so don't be alarmed! Even after the site is back up and running, it can take a little while for everything to resolve but hopefully we'll all be back together by Wednesday morning.

Let's all have a fantastic, on-plan week!

[Mudpie]

We saw Star Trek last night - Wowee!! Such a great movie ! If you're a fan and haven't already seen it I highly recommend it.

Was much less fond of the after-effects of the movie food and drink. Had regular pop at the movie last night (no uncaffeinated diet stuff available) and had a terrible sugar crash around 3 a.m. The woke up at 4 craving water from the too salty, chemical popcorn. Time to take my own snacks and drinks to the movies I think.

I'm slowly reducing the caffeinated pop , rather than going "cold turkey" (why do they call it turkey I wonder?). This week I will be down to 1 775ml bottle a day.

The following week I will drop down to 1 500 ml bottle per day and after that I will be done !

Then the redieting starts again. DH has indicated that he's interested. I bought the Cooking Light book that Allison has been trying recipes from and it looks great! Time for some change in my kitchen!

Have a great week all!

Dagmar

[WardHog]

Good morning maintainers!

I am suffering from a food hangover this morning. ugh. I am going to the gym shortly for back to back classes, so hopefully I will feel better in a couple of hours.

[midwife]

Ugh. Chocolate. Pizza. Need I say more? My dd brought some Greek yogurt to the hospital for me for Mothers Day. Awwwww!!!!

Not looking forward to the server move. How will I survive?

[paperclippy]

My mother's day brunch was a success! Megan, I followed your advice. I did buy scone mix and muffin mix, but I only made the scones. All the other stuff I made was cooking light recipes or otherwise light (lf yogurt, fruit salad, lf granola). Everyone seemed to enjoy it.

On the other hand, I was hungry all day yesterday. I was very careful not to stuff myself at brunch, and I took small portions of everything except the fruit salad. I ended up eating a second scone because I was still hungry afterward. Then I calculated the calories -- an estimate because I didn't want to weigh and measure in front of everyone -- and it came out to 900 calories for that meal. What?!? Maybe my estimates were off. I estimated 280 cals for the two scones (based on package information), 125 for 1 1/2 C fruit salad, 93 for about 1/3 C lf yogurt, 22 for 1 Tbsp lf granola, 220 for a small serving of the casserole, and 166 for the fruit gelee dessert. The casserole is the one I'd argue with the most, because I substituted some ingredients (like I used turkey bacon instead of regular bacon) and I don't know exactly how much I ate, except that it was a pretty small portion.

In any case after seeing that I decided I shouldn't eat again until dinner. Then at dinner time I was starving, so after eating my healthy planned dinner (volumetrics thai chicken salad), I also had two spinach pancakes, then a cup of tea to try to fill up more. My total for the day was 1751 but I was still hungry when I went to bed.

:sigh: At least my weight wasn't up. Still 146.0 this morning, which is a good sign because I'm always higher Monday than Friday, so I ought to hit the 145 range this week.

Meg, I haven't seen the long dress trend yet. I avoid long skirts and dresses because I'm short, and they just make me look shorter!

Dagmar - I have no idea why they call it cold turkey, that's pretty funny though. Glad to hear your DH is interested!

Ward, I hope you feel better!

Midwife - chocolate pizza? Where?? Just kidding, that was nice of your DD!

I've got my second bootcamp class tonight. My calves have finally recovered from last week's class! Depending how much time I have I'm considering biking to class. The risk is that I will be too tired to bike back afterwards! It's only 2 miles away though.

[paperclippy]

Hunger explained: I finally got around to tallying up my calories from Saturday. On Saturday I ran 5k for exercise, but only ate 1129 calories (since I was running around like a chicken with its head cut off and missed dinner). No wonder I was so hungry on Sunday! I feel much better about the 1751 cals on Sunday now.

[paperclippy]

Okay, sorry for posting like fifty times in a row, but I just have to say . . . BEING ON PLAN FEELS GREAT!!!!

WHY did I let myself gain 20lbs? I feel so much better now than I did eating junk.

[Shannon in ATL]

Good morning all! I had a lot of fun this weekend on my various adventures, but I am glad it is over! I had 60 miles on my trip odometer Saturday morning, 377 when I got to work this morning, and I only work 6 miles from home! Lots of driving, but fun. I did really great with the eating on Saturday - ordered a not too bad for me entree for lunch and ate about half (small amount of goat cheese, smoked salmon, lettuce blend on whole wheat flatbread), did a lot of walking and shopping, had a little less than half of a scone with an iced FF, SF vanilla latte in the afternoon, small dinner. Yesterday I lost it completely - half of a stromboli for lunch (broccoli, tomato, grilled chicken, bacon - at least the toppings weren't horrible), small amount of fried cheese, popcorn & frozen lemonade at the movie, Mexican food for dinner (chips and salsa - bad, the entree wasn't terrible - grilled shrimp/tomato/onion/jalapeno, had one of the flour tortillas, about two bites of the rice, ate the rest of the shrimp/lettuce/pico blend with a fork like salad), then ice cream from Sonic on the way home. I was tired, somewhat fussy at that point, so ice cream seemed like a good idea. Needless to say the 120.9 I was so excited about on Saturday was up to 123.8 this morning... Oh well, back OP today. I didn't exercise yesterday, but don't feel bad. I did some yoga Saturday morning, so I had exercised four days in a row. Planning a run for this afternoon. I feel so much better with regular exercise...

Jessca - I'm with you on the feeling better OP! I feel somewhat icky today, but was feeling great by Saturday morning after four OP days. Back to OP for me to get that good feeling back!

Midwife - that was sweet of DD to bring the greek yogurt!

Ward - enjoy your classes, hope they help with the food hangover.

Dagmar - I saw Star Trek yesterday as well. Wow! Loved it! I had too much popcorn at the movie, too...

Meg - my SIL had on one of those long dresses this weekend. I tried one on and I don't think it is a good look for me... Good luck with the sales racks!

Speaking of, here is a pic of my mom, my SIL and myself (in that order, left to right) from our Mother's Day luncheon on Saturday. Notice, my mom and I are in the exact same dress, just in different colors and patterns. Same size even, hers was just the petite version.


Good day everyone!

[Shanna]

Good Morning,

Meg, I'm doing my part in helping consumer spending too! The deals are too good and my willpower too low.

Last week was pretty difficult - between the emotional stress, physical exhaustion, and trying to get caught up on work I didn't get a chance to post after Monday. I did well on food, but am really having trouble getting in the exercise. I get up on time, but after devotions I just sit and stare off into space like a zombie until it's too late to workout.

Sounds like I'm right on the same wavelength as most other's here - my weekend eating was way OFF plan. Not the OP I want. Saturday we want to see Star Trek on the Boeing IMAX. I agree with Dagmar, it was AWESOME! Must see in the theater! I did bring my own water and snack, but then I ate a bunch of the candy I brought for DH also. We went with two other couple and afterwards went to an Italian place. It's HUGE portions, so we ordered four dishes and split them between six people, then they also brough cheese bread, regular bread, a salad, and cake for the two men having birthdays. Even eating small portions of each item, I'm sure added up to more calories than I'd want to count.

Yesterday was pretty tough at times, but we also did manage to have fun together as a family. My youngest son's girlfriend (living together - might as well be my daughter-in-law) had a "Pricess Tea Party" for Mother's day. Between mom's, grandma's, siblings, etc, there were 6 ladies and our twin girlies in Pricess attire (dress, boa, tiara, gloves, the works). We had tea and snacks, then later made the men take us all to Mongolian Grill still dressed in our Pricess get-up. It was halarious and fun, but I ate and ate and ate... ugh!!

I was down to 126.5 on Friday, back at 127.5 today, but with the sodium and all, I'm expecting tomorrow to be worse. Oh well, I need to get my exercise back up and drink lots of water today.

My girls have cold symptoms, nothing bad, but due to the paranoia I'm working from home today to make sure they don't spike up a fever. Hopefully they'll be back at school tomorrow. They've missed too much already!

[alinnell]

My weekend was okay. Kind of disappointing in all. First, my DD had applied for the job of RA at her dorm for next year and got two glowing letters of recommendation from two instructors. She made it through the group interview and onto the individual interview (4 on 1!) but found out on Friday that she didn't get the job. That would have saved us over $10,000 next year.

Second, my DS was taking his second attempt at his black belt in Karate and didn't make it again. He just ran out of steam about an hour into the test. I hope the third time will a charm for him--that won't be until late October.

Mother's day was okay. Nothing special, in fact at times it was a bit boring. The highlight was seeing Star Trek. WOW great movie!!! DD sent me a DVD (no wrapping--I got to open the Amazon package!). The movie is The Princess Bride. I'm going to save it until DD is home from college as she wants to see it, too. I told DS I wanted Big Fish DVD but he gave me a hug and kiss instead. I think he was too tired from the Karate test to get DH to take him to Target.

Dinner last night was very good. I picked up a huge artichoke on Saturday and steamed it for DH and me to share (I make a really good dipping sauce that is very minimal in calories). We also had a shrimp dish from my new cookbook with a side of steamed veggies. yum. Oh, and I made SF/FF pudding for dessert.

So far, being on plan is working. DH says he's lost 3 pounds and I'm anywhere between 2 and 3 pounds down. It's been about 2 1/2 weeks total (with a 2 day break in the middle--unplanned!). Anyway, I hope this week is just as good.

[MtnChic]

Morning ladies! I hope everyone had a lovely weekend, and I'm glad to hear that all the moms had a nice mothers day. All I got from my "fur kids" were muddy pawprints all over the house lol

As per the usual, my weekend was pretty atrocious haha. During the week, I always eat really well but have trouble motivating myself to exercise, but the weekends are always the complete opposite for me - usually I'm busy working hard outside alllll day, but then I eat & drink like complete crap!

I spent 8 hrs each day this weekend doing yardwork - climbed 20 ft up into all the trees to cut down all the dead limbs, dug out these 5 huge ugly bushes that smelled like cat pee that were eating my back porch, cleaned out, fertilized, re-mulched and re-planted the back flower beds, aerated and fertilized the front and half of the back yard, mowed the grass and cleaned up the edging and fences, etc. .... Can you say OWWW - I can barely lift my arms this morning haha! Buuuut then after all of that I fell victim to way too many beers and a huge take-out Chipotle burrito that was practically the size of my head

I was really beating myself up about it til I sat down this morning and calculated out my calories for the week, and found out that although Fri & Sat were over-plan, I had enough calories left over from the beginning of the week, that actually I came in at 300 under my total goal for the week I'm still trying to get used to this whole maintenance idea...Can it really be that simple? Just try to eat healthily more often than I eat poorly? Make mostly good food choices throughout the week, but allow room for the occaisonal gigantic burrito that life throws my way?

I dunno... this is the first time I'm trying to calculate my calories on a weekly basis (IE shoot for 10500 calories a week = average of 1500/day, but allowed to distribute them throughout the week however I see fit) rather than just set a goal # for each individual day (i.e. 1500/day - but if I eat more/less it doesn't impact my next day's calorie goal). If that makes any sense, since I am terrible at explaining things. Anyone have any comments or wisdom on whether this approach is effective???

[traveling michele]

Good Monday to everyone!
I started to post this morning when there were only a couple of people to reply to, but I got busy, and so did the thread!

I need you guys more than ever this week, I think....

Warning-- here comes my whine, though I'm already somewhat over it.... Last week at my weigh in I was up 1.8 pounds. This week I was up 3.2, for a grand total of 5 pounds in 2 weeks. I immediately started beating myself up and allowing myself to think that 5 pounds in 2 weeks will turn into 10 pounds in a month, and I will have gained back ALL of my lost weight in 4 months. I couldn't get myself out of my negative self thought. So destructive. I was mad because I am still exercising and only ate one meal off plan and one dessert... I have to work so hard to maintain... poor pitiful me, right?! I pulled out my tracker and started tracking my points again (I do WW) as I haven't tracked in months. I really think I was eating too much overall-- good foods, but just too much. So, even though I went over my daily allowance Saturday and Sundy by a little, I made better choices and the scale is starting to go back downward. It just scared me a bit to see how quickly I let my negative thoughts take over. My dd is here for a few weeks from college and she is more overweight than ever and I know that is stressing me out-- how to deal with her without being negative-- how to help her without pressure-- I really want her to do WW but she has to want to. Dh said he talked to her and she said she might start WW in the fall when she goes back to school. I sure hope so because she did it with me initially (she was 16 then) and she wasn't doing it for herself, she was doing it because I wanted her to, so it didn't work. I want her to want to do it and to be able to stick with the plan. Dh told her we would pay for it and even pay for her roommate if she wants to do it with her as we know that most of her temptations come from her friends. In the meantime, she is working out 3X a week with a personal trainer while she is here so I'm hoping she can start to see some results before she leaves for the rest of the summer. She will be working at a camp in S. California so the heat and activity will hopefully keep her from gaining any more weight and maybe she can even lose even if her meals aren't the best.

Mother's Day was very nice. I had to work Saturday and Sunday (not so nice) but yesterday when I got home, both dd's took me to lunch. Then I went and had my nails done. Dinner was made for me (salmon and spinach) and a special WW chocolate souffle dessert as well (delicious!). They gave me flowers, a PJ outfit, and a certificate to buy a pair of jeans. They want me to buy an expensive pair but I have trouble spending the money. We'll see....

Saturday dd (14) had her first boyfriend over for dinner. I am not ready for this dating stuff as older dd hasn't dated. He seems like a nice boy but after dinner we hung out watching movies and they snuggled and held hands. Like I said, I AM NOT READY for this!!!! This weekend dh and I are hopefully going to go to a local hotel overnight. We have a certificate for the night and breakfast that I got from an auction. We want to do it when older dd is home so she can keep an eye on younger dd! The hotel is attached the most amazing workout facility/spa so we are hoping to use that while we are there. Unfortunately we won't be able to go until fairly late Friday and have to be back fairly early Saturday but we'll try to make the best of it.

MtnChic-- you and I are both beating ourselves up. Let's try to be more nice and gentle to ourselves. We woudn't be so rude to a friend would we?

Allison-- sorry your ds and dd didn't have better news. My dd also applied for an RA position (and had glowing recs) and didn't get it either. Must be stiff competition. When your son does get his black belt it will mean so much more to him because he will realize how hard he worked for it!

Shanna-- I know you have your ups and downs but I am so impressed by how well you seem to be functioning overall. You must be a very strong lady with a great family.

Shannon-- sounds like a lovely Mother's Day weekend. Beautiful photo--thanks for sharing!

Paperclippy-- glad you are feeling so in control! I hope to be joining you there soon!

Hi Midwife and Wardhog!!

Dagmar-- sounds like a positive sign that your dh is interested. That would sure make your life easier. Hopefully he and my dd will both get on board.

Meg-- I am hoping to stimulate the economy myself.......
Don't know what we'll do when the server is down. Hope we can all stay OP!!

I seem to be the only one that didn't see Star Trek! I am not a trekkie but I did see the previews and it looks really good, so I may have to see it (sneaking in my own snacks and water like I always do of course!!)

[alinnell]

Originally Posted by traveling michele

I seem to be the only one that didn't see Star Trek! I am not a trekkie but I did see the previews and it looks really good, so I may have to see it (sneaking in my own snacks and water like I always do of course!!)

We have one theater here that advertises that you can bring in ANYTHING you want--they don't care (although the girl at the counter said to hide anything alcoholic). It probably had to be that way as there are so many good restaurants in the immediate area. So we always bring in our water and on occasion bring in munchies, but we find it much better to have lunch and immediately go to the movie--that way we're not hungry and there is so little temptation.

[WaterRat]

I seem to be the only one that didn't see Star Trek! I am not a trekkie but I did see the previews and it looks really good, so I may have to see it (sneaking in my own snacks and water like I always do of course!!)

No, I didn't see it either! My DH is totally not interested, so I need to find someone else to go with. My sister is coming on Memorial Day for a couple of weeks - hopefully she'll want to see it! I usually bring in water, and either go after lunch/dinner, or just before going out for dinner and don't want to spoil that, plus I'm so cheap I won't pay movie prices for things I don't need!

We had a nice weekend, though mine was mostly at home catching up after being gone for 2 weekends. THe weather was gorgeous and I hung all my laundry on the clothesline. DH is still cutting firewood, and then yesterday he took his canoe and met a friend at a nearby lake. He's going on a week long canoe trip in mid-June so wants to get some practice in beforehand. He's canoed most of his life, and went on a similar trip last year - this is just getting in shape for the season.

I have my bike on the car and I'm going for a ride after work. My gym is conveniently located on a bike trail, so I can park - and change! - there. I think my butt will give out before my legs as its the first time for the year.

[Sheila53]

Meg, I'm so out of it fashion-wise that I didn't know there was a long-dress trend. I bet you would look great in anything you put on.

Dagmar, glad the movie was good, but the aftermath doesn't sound like fun. Congrats on reducing the caffeine.

Wardhog, sorry about your food hangover. Been there, done that--many times.

Midwife, how nice of your Dad! Have you seen Ricki Lake's new book? Saw her on The Doctors and she and the OB/Gyn got into it about home births.

Jessica, sounds like you had a fun and busy day.

Allison, sorry about your DD not getting the RA job (and the $10,000 savings!). Bummer about your son! I thought for sure he'd get it this time. Glad he's thinking about taking the test again, though. Does he need to eat differently before the test? Maybe that's why he's running out of steam?

MtnChic, quit beating yourself up--these things happen. And, yup, it's just that simple. Think of the 80/20 rule.

Michele, you quit beating yourself up, too! It's tough to watch our kids fight the same battle we've fought. Just like us, they've got to want to do it for themselves.

Pat, I'd go with you if we lived in the same town (or perhaps even the same state). The canoeing sounds fun. Have a good bike ride!

Spent most of Saturday doing yardwork in the gorgeous sunshine. We took my granddaughter to watch a Challenger baseball game because we want to sign her up for next year. Challenger is for special needs kids--they have buddies who help them bat and run. All of the kids could run and hold the bat, but my DGD won't be able to do that. I was concerned about that, but the mothers said there are some other kids who are in wheelchairs, etc. Just not the day we were there, I guess. We took DGD to the little park afterward and helped her down the slide. She loves the slide--she gets this huge smile on her face at the end.

Had a nice Mother's Day. Even got to spend some of it with one of my kids, which I haven't done in a few years. Got on the scale on Sunday morning and had dropped two pounds so that was nice. Didn't blow it too badly on Mother's Day, but did enjoy the free TCBY sorbet.