Rie-That's terrible!!!! It's too bad you aren't in California so I could ask my boyfriend who's a lawyer what legal action you could take. Its really messed up that in Japan they can just fire you for no reason like that and be so shady about it! You are an amazing go-getter person though and I have a strong feeling that you are the type of person who will always land back on her feet You're so good at planning(obvious from all your awesome challenges) and I know you will have a plan for this whole situation soon! What's your boyfriend think? Is he still unsure about you guys sharing his small apartment? Try and stay positive, you WILL get through this!

Parktrot-Welcome! Your exercise goals are awesome!
Silverfire-haha that gif made my morning You are doing sooo well in the challenge! Keep up the great work

So yesterday was....interesting. And by interesting I mean overwhelming, stressful, and exhausting. My concerto performance with the orchestra is coming up in a little over 2 weeks and its been a mess getting things together with the orchestra. I've of course been practicing a lot and performing a lot preparing and yeah...I'm done with the world, last night I couldn't take it and just started crying. But today is a new day to conquer and I'm feeling positive after getting a lot of sleep
My exercise yesterday was moving concert grand pianos around stages 3x yesterday! haha Such a pianist exercise I'm sore though and was sweating a lot from it!
I got a whoosh! I haven't gotten a whoosh in so long! All that dumb gluten weight is gone plus another 1.2lbs Tomorrow is my official weigh in day so hopefully it sticks!

Rie Hopefully leaving this job will mean you'll be on to bigger and better things! It might be hard until you find another job, but hopefully you'll find something with better business practices. The entire situation just sounds shady. =(

Silverfire That Gif reminds me so much of my Cat! He's such a Princess, for the longest time he refused to drink out of his water bowl and whenever I brushed my teeth or got out of the shower, he would run into the bathroom really fast and drink out of the faucet there. Eventually we got him a fancy water bowl that has an electric fountain that constantly pumps the water rather than just leaving the faucets running for him all the time.

Dottington Congrats on your woosh! I could use a good woosh!

____________

I didn't think I was going to make it through my 64 oz of water yesterday, but I got through it right before I went to bed. I got started drinking a lot later than I usually do. Usually the first thing I do when I wake up is fill up my first cup. But I didn't get around to doing that until about noon, which is usually the time I am done with my first 32 oz and starting on the last 32 oz.

I got my second cardio/gym workout in today, so I have successfully completed my First Tier on the Exercise Pyramid. Super excited and I fell pretty accomplished that I didn't have to cram another gym day in on Sunday night. I fully anticipated that.

kailpea-Great job getting your water in and finishing your exercise goal! I'm sure you'll get a whoosh soon if you keep it up

The whoosh kept! Today is my official weigh in day and I'm so glad it stayed Ahhh the 130s are sooo close now! Hope everyone has a great friday!

The last couple of days have been a close call with water intake, but I've managed to stick to my 8 glasses of water a day! Currently trying to down all my water later in the day, man, it's hard to remember when I'm busy on the weekend! I was going to run today, but I didn't =(. If I don't run tomorrow then I will FAIL and that is not an option! So I will definitely run tomorrow!

The last few days have been a bit shitty as you can imagine. Yesterday I took the day off work, the manager who fired me was going to go into the school and tell the teachers what's going to happen to them next. I couldn't face seeing her, she HUMILIATED me in public. She was completely unprofessional and made it a personal attack and I felt so helpless and unable to defend myself. However, getting rid of me puts so much pressure on the rest of the team if they can't hire anyone suitable soon. So I hope to Jebus that the company suffers for giving me the boot at such a busy time of the year. My co-worker has been looking for a new job, my other co-worker hates working there too, so basically I wish that they go downhill as a result of getting rid of me =D. Spiteful, yes, but they deserve it.

My future plan is to move out of my apartment (just given my landlord a months notice) and either move in with my boyfriend or my friends. Sounds like I should obviously live with my boyfriend, but he does live in a TINY apartment. So I'm going to see if my friends offer is fair, because they have a lot more room (I'd get my own room) so it would be nice to have a bit more space.

After that I'm going to give myself until April to find a job. I am leaving Japan in September regardless, so I'm really looking for a no strings attached kind of affair. A place where leaving wouldn't mean a big deal to them, where I would easily be replaced kind of deal. I would hate to join a school where they really needed me to stay and I just jumped ship early. I know I COULD, but I don't want to. I'm too nice like that! I'd feel so guilty.

If I can't find a job by the end of April then I'm going to move back to England. My parents have been SO supportive, I think my Mum deep down really wants me to come home. But they would let me live rent free until I found a job so there is a plus to that plan. It would mean being away from my boyfriend for 4 months(ish), but we've been away from each other a LOT longer. While it's not what I want, it would mean I wouldn't have to eat into savings just to stay in Japan.

So there's my plan, I'm starting to feel a lot more focused and content with life now that I know what I'm going to do. I'm still a bit worried about not finding a job, because I really don't want to have to leave, but it's not the end of the world if I do leave. I know some people wouldn't even have a safety net like a place in their parents house, so I'm so lucky in that regard.

Thanks for listening to my rants!! Congrats to all of you who have completed phase 1!! Are you getting pumped for phase 2??

----

dehtrip - Thank you You may be a random internet person as you say, but I appreciate your concern more than you can imagine!

Silver - Thank you for your advice, you're right, things will work out ok eventually! That sucks you got sent back to your old job...but great that you ended up being in a better position eventually! How was lunch at the fancy place? That gif...was absolutely amazing. I've stared at it for way longer than I should giggling. He really wants that water!

Dott - You pipped me off the top of the weigh in chart!! Go you! Although I will catch you ;p. Your kind words have been such a comfort to me, I can't thank you enough. You know exactly what to say to make a person feel better about themselves! My boyfriend has come around to the idea of me living with him, thankfully, he had his concerns but actually listened to me when I tried to distill his fears so he's ok with me moving in. I'm still going to see if living with my friends is better for me financially, but it's nice that he's willing to let me live with him. You're right, I will get through this! Just trying to remember they didn't fire me because I was bad at my job or because my co-workers complained, but because they're arse holes! =D. Wish I was in California too ;p.
So sorry the stress got on top of you! I can't imagine the practicing that must go into a performance. But I'm happy that after you released all that stress you felt more focused. Sometimes it takes crashing a bit to pick yourself up and feel more positive.

kailpea - Yeah, shady is definitely the perfect word to describe their actions. I'm doing the same thing tonight, cramming in all my water late! My bladder is going to be like "what the eff?! WHY?" Great job on completing phase 1!!

Rie - I'm really sorry that you got fired! It does sound like you're doing great making new plans though.. I hope living with your friends works out, that doesn't sound too bad.

It's also nice that you have such a great safety net back home! I'm living with my boyfriend in my dad's house for free too, and it's definitely a blessing. Even if you don't need to move back home after all, I'm sure it helps you feel less stressed out knowing that you always have a place to go. I really hope it all works out the way you would like from now on!

As for the challenge, I just completed my one run today. It was difficult this week as I have been super busy marking exams. Most of my students passed.. Though I also read some truly discouraging things. Colleagues tell me I will have to get used to students underachieving, heh.

I have also booked yet another trip! I'm going to London for a few days in March to visit a friend. Really looking forward to that! It takes me only three hours to get into London so it's really silly that I don't go there more often.

Rie- glad to be here for you! I'm glad your boyfriend is now offering for you to stay with him. Living with your friend does sound like the better option at the moment though. I can totally understand why you'd have reservations living in such tight spaces with your boyfriend. Keep us updated on what you decide to do. i'm sure you can find a job by the end of April, but going back to England does have the advantage of not paying rent. You and your bf seem to have a very solid relationship and you have managed well being apart before, so that seems like an option to weigh as well

ruth-Great job getting in your run! And that's exciting you have a trip coming up! I would kill to go anywhere right now haha

So TOM started yesterday and yesterday was also my traditional day off. Kind of not a great day eating wise and life wise. Ended up doing a lot for other people and not doing anything for myself(I hate how often I fall into that trap!). Weight of course jumped first with TOM, then with not getting in enough water, then with yesterday being my cheat day. But Friday is my official weigh in day, so I'm not letting it get to me(too much )

Phase 2 underway! Being really conscious of my water intake all last week has definitely made me more aware of how much I am drinking in a day. Even though I don't NEED to drink my 8 glasses of water to proceed forward I still feel the urge to do so, I call that a huge success! I went on a run on Sunday as planned. It was...so bad! Wow, I can't believe how bad it went! I ran a 10k not too long ago, I barely made it to 20 minutes running! But I went, I did it, so for that I am happy.

Today begins my new nutrition goal: Make meal plans and DON'T eat ready meals/eat out alone!! Hmm...this one is going to be a little tricky since it's SO easy to say "meh, can't be bothered cooking" and just get something ready made. But for 2 whole weeks I vow to cook and not succumb to laziness! I made myself Japanese style curry tonight. The best part about it is that it lasts for DAYS. It might get boring, but it's not a ready made meal that I had no part in making!

As for my phase 2 exercise goal, I will strength train/do a bit of yoga once this week as well as run once a week too. I really don't want to forget about my previous goals as I move on to the next one, otherwise this challenge is pointless!

How are you all doing with your new goals?

As for my personal life, today was the first day of my last month at work (phew). I was terrified to go in this morning, I just had this sense of dread. What would people say? Will it be awkward? I was actually considering not going in, but I thought "if you don't go in today then you might lose the chance to finish February." So I kicked myself in the behind and went. The Japanese staff didn't say a word about what happened, which is a typical Japanese trait. They probably didn't want to bring it up and make things potentially awkward so they just move forward. Being a Westerner this type of behaviour confuses me a bit, but it didn't offend me or upset me. My American co-worker was very upfront with me and asked me how I was feeling. I have a master plan now, I told him, to which he responded how great that was that I've bounced back.

Which is true! I do feel like I've got a firm grip on what's going to happen. I still need to decide on who I'll live with: my boyfriend or my friends place, but I think I'm swaying more towards my friends. No rent and a room to myself? It's too good to be true. I'm going over there on Saturday to talk details so I think once that's done I'll decided where it is I'll be living.

--------------

runthec - Yeah, it is such a relief to have a place back home should all not go well! It's difficult to understand the mindset of young people, you want whats best for them but sometimes it's just impossible to make them see reason!

Dott - Thank you once again for such kind words! Are you aware you're falling into a "trap" with doing too much for others, or is it something you figure out upon reflection? Don't let TOM get you down, you're doing so well! I try and only weigh myself if I feel like I've been successful, otherwise I too would be bugged if I saw a gain no matter how justified it is!

Rie-Unfortunately, I have yet been able to catch myself when I start doing too much for everyone else. Its only upon reflection and then I get annoyed at myself. I'm trying to be more aware though. Great job getting in your run, and I'm sure in a few weeks you will be back to doing 10ks

So I actually did all my meal planning/cooking for the week last night Every morning for breakfast I have a banana, berry, soymilk, soy protein powder, and avocado OR peanut butter smoothie(or if I'm in a real hurry a piece of fruit). For lunch I have salad with lots of raw veggies, 1/2 tbsp sunflower seeds, homemade dressing/dip(either thai peanut or creamy vegan veggie), berries, soy yogurt, a hard boiled egg, and baked tofu. Dinner is left over polenta bake or african peanut stew with a hard boiled egg. Snacks include veggie jerky, nuts, berries, gf crackers, protein chips.

Exercise I'm keeping with the 15min each day(which has been really making me feel better even if it isn't a lot) and a hike once a week. I'll have to wait till the weekend for my hike.

Scale keeps going up each day since the start of TOM Sigh, I know it'll come down though. As far as weekends go, this one was actually really good for me. So I know its not actual weight and will be down in a few days.

Good luck with phase 2 everyone!

runthecontinent:
awesome, I haven't been to London since high school but it was so much fun! I've actually started taking more vacations and I love it. I went to Big Bear earlier this year and Las vegas, and I plan on going to Colorado in April.
I work in education, and yes, it is very discouraging to see students who are not where I feel they should be I especially get mad at those I know have so much potential, and then they just kind of let it go to waste.

Riestrella:

So happy to see your spirits are up and that you seem to have a very solid plan! Good luck in staying in Japan.
Congrats on going on that run! Doesn't matter how long it took you, it matters that you attempted it! I want to start running again too. I actually had to drop from the students running club at work, but I want to try to start running a few miles a week again.


Dottington:

I hate TOM, it messes with my weight by a few pounds. Good luck on your hike this weekend!
__________________________________________________ ______________
I am currently at work and I am counting down the hours! I slept badly yesterday because my brother had an accident and I was up all night watching his son. He's going to be fine, but I spent a night of worrying. Couldn't miss work as I've used up all of my sick days with a back issue I had earlier.
I'm excited to start a new phase, although Yoga for me will be a lot tougher for me to accomplish than hiking

In personal news, my boyfriend told me he loved me. lol that is totally unrelated to weight but I'm so freaking happy that I had to tell someone!
Good luck in phase 2 everyone

KISSKISS YAY FOR YOGA! I love doing yoga. MY phase 3 goal is to incorporate one exercise session away from the gym. But if its too cold for jogging outside, I fully plan on hitting up a nice little yoga studio not to far from home.

So this week I am going to try and stick with drinking my 8 glasses of water. The weekend was the toughest for me to get through, mainly because I don't work so I don't have the same schedule that reminds me to drink my water. If I don't make it, I'm not going to fret.

The goal for phase 2 is to have one vegetarian day per week. I used to be a practicing vegetarian for health reasons, before I met my husband. He is kinda veggie phobic so I start changing how I ate, and packed on the pounds. He has become a lot better about eating vegetables, but he is still a carnivore at heart. So this week rather than making us the exact same food to eat, one night he's going to have some leftover chicken quesadillas that I have in the freezer and I'm going to have a yummy lentil and spinach curry. I have planned to eat a sesame asian salad with spinach, cilantro, mandarin oranges, green onions, and toasted almonds for lunches this week.

As far as exercise, I am going to try to get to the gym my 2x a week for some cardio but the main goal for phase 2 is to add one strength training session in there. I also plan on trying out the first week of C25K. It might be hard to get to the gym at the beginning of this week since we are expecting to get a decent amount of snow. My car doesn't like the snow (and neither do I). I'm going to go buy a shovel tonight after work because I fully expect to have to dig myself out tomorrow morning. =/

Yay for a successful Phase 1 guys!! I revamped my goals a bit, still with some wiggle room in phase 7... I'm not sure about that one yet I think I am going to have to bite the bullet in phase 3 or 4 and switch gyms if I want to incorporate Yoga and such. Poking around online and classes are expensive! I don't think I can afford to pay for both separately, so I might as well ditch my cheapo gym (while I like it, it isn't going to offer everything I'd like to work towards) and move up in the world and get a Motion Fitness membership. 50+ bucks a month and that includes all sorts of classes, (including yoga) steam room (!!!!!) and tanning.

Still going to do my best to hit the gym 3 times this week, even though its a hectic one. I think I have worked out a schedule that works! I decided to start my plank and squat challenge at 5 seconds and reps, and then up it by 5 each a day 5 days a week (repeating as needed!!!) I have almost zero core strength so I thought I'd start small!

Phew! Busy Monday! One job almost done, job #2 soon!!

Kiss-I'm sorry about your rough night! Glad your brother is ok though. And that's so exciting that your bf told you he loved you!!!

kailpea-Good luck with your goals! And yay for a veggie night, your menu sounds yummy

Silverfire-That gym sounds awesome! Sounds totally worth the extra cost.

Ugh so scale has leveled off, but still 4lbs up with stupid TOM. Yesterday was..not great. I was STARVING all day and I kept fighting the urge to go off plan and I lasted till about 9pm and yeah totally ate junk before going to bed I'm finding it really hard actually the keep with my first weeks goals. I mean, its not that big of a deal that I went off yesterday bc my first goal was 4 days on plan a week. But I also forgot my 15min of exercise. I REALLY need to remember my first goals too! Any advice?

How are we all doing??

So far I've been good with sticking to meal plans. My curry lasted me 3 whole days, tonight I was supposed to be going out with a friend but she cancelled. I don't have a plan for food tonight so I will do my best to not succumb to a ready meal/takeaway! A challenge on day 4...

Still need to fit in my strength workout, which I really should do tonight and get it out of the way so I can run this weekend!

As for me, well I did a bit more research into my visa status now I'm losing my job. I have 3 months to find a job in an English school (can't be public school or private tutoring) or I will have to leave Japan. Honestly, I think I've come to accept that I might not be here for as long as I initially intended and that's ok. I've seen some amazing things, met great people. I would have liked to travel Japan a little more outside of Tokyo this summer, but I'm not sure I'll be able to do that now. I need to think about myself and my future and not just stick around for the sake of it. I still go back and forth though, so my feelings might change soon enough!

---------------------

Dott - Perhaps your instinct is to say yes to people, so you may have to start training yourself to counter your instincts and really analyse the situation. Ask yourself a set of questions like "do I have things I really need to do?" if the answer is yes then you simply say "no" to the request. It would be hard training yourself to essentially be a different personality type, but you are the most important person in your life so prioritizing yourself is key!
Your food plan sounds so healthy! I still have to work towards that level of clean eating, it's something I truly struggle with. Happy to hear you're still focusing on your previous goals as well as your new ones! Even if you do slip up, don't put too much pressure on yourself. I find having the pyramid right above my laptop is good because it reminds me of what I need to do. But the fact that you're THINKING about your previous goals is great! You seem to do well with challenges, so why not consider your previous exercise goals a part of your new goals and that's the way you can pass. It puts a bit more pressure on yourself, but thinking about it as an all or nothing type way can work for some! However, the challenge isn't designed to punish yourself though, once you have passed a goal you can incorporate it into your life in a way that's comfortable. So go easy on yourself =).

kisskiss - Sorry to hear you had a rough night followed by work, but glad your brother is ok! Eeeee!! I'm so happy for you!! I remember you talking about saying I love you not too long ago so I'm stoked it happened at last!

kailpea - Man, I sound like your husband...I'm pretty anti-veg myself. But I really do hate myself for it, but I just can't help it! I was brought up in a very meaty/carby house hold and vegetables were always thrown on at the time plain and boring. It's the reason why my phase 7 is eat more vegetables, because I know I'll struggle! There are always home workouts you can do if it does snow!

Silver - If you love the gym, then it's probably best to invest in one you'll get the most out of. I joined a gym and LOVED the classes but the gym itself was so small it made working out a struggle. I had to wait for equipment and then I would have a time limit on it too. It sucked! So I quit.

Rie- Thank you so much for the awesome advice. You really are so sweet Yeah, I've tried being a little more firm with people. I'm thinking about it now so I hope being more aware will help. It is hard to change some so intrinsic about ones self. Yeah, I worked on not beating myself up too much and was back on track yesterday and today I think its important to remember this isn't about perfection but and overall lifestyle goal challenge and things don't always go smoothly and its best to accept the hard days for what they are and move on. That's rough with the visa and needing to find a job so quickly! And then you'd have to leave soon after, it must be a very tough situation to be in. I'm sure the right answer will come to you though and its great that you are keeping aware of all your options

So scale dropped today 3lbs Only 1lb away from Thursday and Fridays weigh ins. I really hope to be back to 143 by weigh in day friday! If not though, I won't sweat it(or at least will try not to ) and know that TOM messes with things and that I will be back there soon. I really have kept aware of my previous goals and have met them the past two days(I'm trying to think of them as being a part of my current goals like you suggested Riestrella and that's helping!).
Today was a long day and I can't wait for the weekend so I can relax. I'm going to LA to visit my bf and it will be awesome to get away from here and piano(i'm over practicing a bit and physical separation is the only thing that's going to stop me from practicing lol). My concert is in a little over a week and Monday is my first rehearsal with the orchestra. I'm meeting with the conductor on Friday. Seriously, I'm so freakin sick of this piece and preparing for this concert haha I have so much rep to learn for my recital and for another concert with the orchestra in April. I just want to play already!

Hope everyone else is doing well with their goals!

Fly by check in!

Sticking to the plan and so far all is well. Last night was some beer and wings and chocolate cake for dinner. It was sort of a celebration, perhaps a "coming out" celebration for one of my friends It was a fun and happy night, although... I didn't want to do the numbers on those cals... I'm hoping to work it all off tonight at job #2

Just want everyone to know PLANKS ARE FREAKING HARD! I'm super glad I decided to start at 5 seconds. I just about didn't make it 10 seconds. We'll see if I can hit 15 tomorrow