I'm baking cookies with my sister and stepdaughter tomorrow. My commitment is to only eat one cookie.

Well I haven't done terrific on the exercise so far. But today I went & did my Christmas shopping & parked downtown & walked everywhere - so I guess I got a little in. But I think I am pretty much done the shopping - not that I had a lot to do!

I did do groceries tonight though & with the electrical working that means we can eat healthier, easier!

I also got the tree decorated tonight - I love how cozy it makes the house feel!

Tomorrow - get the house clean for my girlfriends coming over on Thursday, eat on plan and take the dog for a nice long walk to hand deliver some cards & gifts.

Sheila I'm sending you an extra big dose of . I was simply not able to make cookies this year, I just didn't trust myself and now I'm feeling guilty about it. My kids were very understandable about it. But now I'm thinking I was wrong, plain and simple. I guess there's still time to rectify that. But honestly don't think that's going to happen. We shall see. Anyway, good luck Sheila.

Okay this is gonna be a quicker post then I first thought, cause there's a big discolored toe nail to the right of me telling me that I may have an infection and it's making me a little queasy first thing in the morning. For the record, I have no infection. I simply hate, hate that ad. Uch.

Well I have been this neurotic lunatic with shopping the last couple of days. I have 3 party/holiday functions coming up. I keep buying and returning, buying and returning. I was at the same mall twice yesterday. And I'm thinking of going back again, absolutely can not neglect work again, so maybe on Friday. I am just not satisfied with what I bought. I have been neglecting my work, big time. I have business taxes due today and I haven't even begun to get it ready. I have been neglecting my housework even more. I have laundry piled up high and my house in general is a wreck. Very unlike me. The only good thing is I've been running around like crazy and walking like crazy and barely got in 1000 calories yesterday, same for Monday. But I also haven't gotten in my water. And this morning my scale tells me I GAINED A POUND. Which is absolutely impossible. So, I just ordered the scale I've been wanting for a long time. I just hadn't wanted to spend the money. But I don't care anymore, I want it and that's that. Gosh I sound like a 2 year old. Anyway, I'm real excited for it and hopefully it will be here by Friday.

Today's commitments:

-No matter what, drink at least 8 glasses of water
-Stay under 1300 calories
-Exercise
-Get taxes done
-Get other some other work done as well
-Try not to dwell about the stupid scale, man it gets me so mad
-Remember that I want to be thin, more then I wamt the food.

Have a great day everyone.

Mornin everyone! You all sound so stressed! I'm sending you all my de-stressing mojo!
Yesterday went very well for me, I stayed at my new calorie intake...just about 1550 for the day. No snacking, all healthy etc. I even got to the gym...though i spent HOURS in a personal battle with myself trying to rationalize it. It started when I left the office...I don't really need to go today, I'm hungry I can't go before dinner I'll fall off the elliptical, The gym will be there tomorrow, I'm going on Thursday and Friday so who cares, its cold I don't want to go outside.....Then around 8:00PM, after I'd had dinner, made lunch for today, gotten breakfast together and cleaned up around the house I said to myself...Jesus Linsey you are gonna be awake until at least 10pm and you are just gonna sit on your fat butt on the couch and watch reruns of House....so put your damn shoes on and go watch reruns from the elliptical at the gym and I did.... got about an hour in!

I thought that I was done with my holiday shin digs and that I had survived but I just can't seem to get away. I now have one last lunch to go to .... and I can't get out of it cause its with my boss and the folks over at Blue Man Group...poo... I was hoping to take off and leave the city right at 1pm when we close tomorrow and get ready to take off for Maine where there is lots of outdoors to be active, no phones, and no bad food....but alas...lunch it is
so anyway here is where we are going...I haven't checked out the menu yet but since I know there will be no rush like the other night I'm gonna try to plan for it again.
http://www.davios.com/BostMenu.htm
So anyway Rockin... don't sweat the cookies, remember the holidays are about family not food. No regrets. Try not to stress too much...the work will get done, the house will get clean....take a deep breath, it will all come together.
Lifeguard... cheers on walking to all your shopping locations...it can be tough! I have a notorious history of driving from store to store...I'm sure you burned some calories there !
Sheila... good luck with the cookies...just think of how much better that one will taste when all is said and done...enjoy it.
PNG... 20 minutes of dumbbells is great! Good luck with your cardio today!
CC...getting going is the hardest part...but you'll feel so great and accomplished in the end, you can do it!
Casey... sorry to hear the popcorn caused you pain! Cograds on staying in your calorie range!

Alright for today...
1. stay with in the new calorie range
2. water water water
3. pick lunch for tomorrow
4. get my license renewed...it totally expired monday

cheers

Good Morning Everyone! Sorry for being MIA yesterday.... it was a crazy day! In fact I'm going to post commitments through Christmas incase I don't make it back again before then.

So here goes....

I will drink all of my water
I will take my vitamins
I will eat veggies for snacks
I will be more active in anyway I can (taking the parking spot furthest from entrance, etc.)
I will allow myself goodies, but not overdo
No alcohol for me

I know my commitments are kind of relaxed.... but I think at this point all I can do is try to do better than usual around the holidays. I'm really trying to keep from gaining weight right now. The last couple of days the feeling of the holidays have really gotten to me.... which means I've been enjoying the holidays with food (my favorite way... uugghhh).

Well, I will try to check back.... but just incase I can't....

I wish you all a very happy & healthy holiday!!! This group will be one of the things I'm thankful for this holiday!! Merry Christmas. God Bless.

Good morning! Just a quick post....My jabbering shutter installer is coming back today, so I've got to run soon. but yesterday was a good day! I got on the elliptical and didn't make it as far as before, but I got on it nevertheless. And the scale moved again to reward me!

Today, again: Exercise...

Take care everyone!

Well, the exercise fell through yesterday... in my 2 weeks without her, I forgot what a handful a 19 month old can be but, today, I got started early, did 40 minutes of belly dancing before hubby got up... once again, my little fitness fiend found me out though, 20 minutes in, she woke up, and came out to sit on the couch and cheer me on... hubby did bring me goodies today, but, he's making progress... it was a ONE serving bag of Reese's pieces, and a cappuccino, and my favorite red wine sausage... maybe I'll do some time on the bike later for that lol. I've noticed that the calorie counts on fitday are a little skewed on some things, and the activity logger doesn't give nearly the calorie count that crosstrainer did... bleargh... don't want to go through installing crosstrainer again, so I'll just deal with it... I know what I did, I don't need to know every last little calorie that I killed LOL.

Sheila: Good luck with the cookies... I've surrendered baking this year, I have a good excuse though...for all the anti-diet "It's the holidays, you have to!" people... my oven is completely unpredictable...lol

Lifeguard, good job walking to shop... we live in a small town, so you pretty much have to drive to the stores... usually, we have to park our huge van way in the back 40 though, and I'm an infamous stroller while shopping, can take me hours for 2 things...lol, so I make up for not legging the whole way

Robin, I just got new scales, WW ones, my old scales weren't...erm well, equipped to handle me, lol, so it was pretty much guesswork once I got to a certain point, unless I went to the Kmart, and used the quarter scales there... PITA, lol, so I chucked out the cash for the new ones :|

Sunshine, *drool* House reruns...lol! I try to get on the recumbent when there's something on that will hold my attention... when we had satellite, hubby would laugh at me, because I'd pedal away to food network... usually Iron Chef, I'm such a foodie, ha, but, it kept me going, and oddly enough, I didn't have the snacking problems I do now LOL.

Nalynn, Good luck with those commitments, if you don't make it back before Christmas... well, I think we all understand...lol, my Christmas is melleow this year... not the quiet cozy mellow that I crave, but... hubby working 12 hour shifts Christmas Eve and Christmas Night (and New Years too... stupid casinos...), and I may or may not have the extra kid... so on...

C.C.: you need a gag for your installer?

Ok... I've hit most of what I was gonna post for commitments... so, I'll just go with slooooow on the snacking, lol, and erm, get in a couple more mugs of water, if I can, lol, I've already hit 2 of them... got started REAL early.

Ok so today I got the wrapping done. Can't figure out how with the few gifts I had to wrap it took me almost 3 hours! Oh well. Didn't accomplish much else - I've been kind of sulky all day since I stepped on the scale and found I gained 2lbs. I know it is stupid to let the scale determine my mood, especially when 2lbs at this weight is just a good bm (sorry to be rude!). I think it is probably just because I am getting sick that I'm feeling so discouraged - sometimes it all just feels so futile. When I think of all the changes I have made and how little weight I have lost (in relation to how much I need to lose in total) it just seems like maybe I would be better off to except my fatness and eat what I want and stop having this constant stress over me. UGH! Sorry to be a downer - I'm sure I'll feel better about things in the next couple of days.

So tomorrow:
- visit a friend in the a.m. to do a gingerbread house with her son (my christmas gift to the kids in my life)
- see the allergist - somehow I'm thinking this is not going to help my mood: last year he told me to move somewhere warm (I'm allergic to the cold - haha!), quit lifeguarding, quit swimming, and get rid of my animals. At least it is only once a year!
- drink as much water as I can stomach to flush this sickness out of me.
- clean up the house
- have my girlfriends over in the evening for Winter Solstice - the days will just get longer from here - WOOHOO!

Sounds like everyone is in the thick of the season - so remember to take some time to actually enjoy it!

Just a quick check in as we head down the home stretch towards the upcoming food fest, ummm I mean holiday.

I had an unplanned run in with a pan of baked ziti yesterdy, made it for my daughter, I never bought the fish for me that I was supposed to. I first just picked at the pan, then gave in and took a small plateful and then picked some more. I don't think I ate more then 1 1/2 small portions, but nevertheless I felt out of control again. And I did not like it. And I still can't trust myself to have "regular" foods in the house. The rest of the day was very good though, so I probably still salvaged it, although I ate more then I would have liked to probably about 1500-1600 calories . Not terrible, not great especially since I know I will overeat this coming weekend. Drank a ton of water, peed all day long. Did the taxes, some laundry, some other house stuff, not enough work stuff. Did exercise a bit.

LIFEGUARD: I'm sorry you had a not so great day. We all have them from time to time. You have been doing amazingly well. Stopping where you are now and accepting your "fatness" will give you more stress then trying to get rid of it. I know that sounds harsh, but I don't care. Think of all the reasons you started this in the first place. Ummm, I don't know maybe YOUR HEALTH. Go reread some of your NSV's and everyone else's for that matter, or the I wanna stay fat thread if you need a reason to go on. This is a VERY stressful time of year and it will get better. Hang in there. You know you want this. You're a young woman with your whole life ahead of you and you deserve to be the best YOU that you can be. Don't settle for second best.

Today's commitments:
-Plan dinner better then yesterday
-Drink a sea's worth, all right maybe a small pond's worth of water
-Stay under 1300 calories
-Exercise, be Nike - JUST DO IT
-Housework, work-work.

Have a great day everyone!!!!!

Mornin everyone... I can see the stresses are running high for everyone! I suppose its not fair that I'm not sweatin the holidays....I've taken over control of the cooking and we have no big events happening so it shouldn't be hard for me to avoid junk since there won't be much around... I'm fairly mellow so I'm sending all of you more de-stressing mojo today!

Well there is no nice way to put it....my job is so dead and so boring! I left the office yesterday at 4:30! And we are closing today at 1:00pm and not re-opening until January 2nd....so I will be left to my own devices without the structure of work (which really helps me keep my meals on a nice schedule) I had hoped that leaving work early yesterday would make it possible for me to hit up Target for the last minute stuff and hit the gym but I ran into an old friend in the store and as the old story goes we stood in the aisle talking for over an hour so there was just no time left.

Due to a severe lack of cash this year I've limited my gifts to just my parents (I'm an only child and extremely single) and our cats! We will be spending the holidays at our place in Maine...and its fairly cold there, often snows alot and there is no phone, no tv etc. so I thought it would be nice to start a board game collection for up there so I got 'the house' a fresh monopoly, scrabble, trival pursuit and a couple others. I bought AWFUL wrapping paper, that I didn't realize had glitter all over it so now my whole apartment is COVERED in gold glitter which will mean twice the cleaning today before we leave! As if the dishes and laundry wasn't enough
My eating was ok yesterday....but not at the new set rate of 1600...I was at about 1750 yesterday. I got lots of fruits and veggies in and was down a half a pound this morning so I'm not gonna sweat it (I'm also not gonna log it...half a pound just doesn't seem worth logging yet... i feel like it might be bad luck)

Nalynn... if we don't hear from you through the holidays best of luck with your commitiments!
CC... I hear duct tape works too for chattery workers
PNG...Ha Ha.... I'm a food network junkie too.... I'm that fat girl at the gym watching Rachel Rae on the elliptical ha ha ha! It is surprising though that it keeps me going, I get some cooking tips, and I'm never really hungry by the time i get home.
LIFEGUARD... Take a deep breath. You are amazing! Along this long hard road we are all bound to hit some frustration and obstacles. This is for you, and your health and you deserve it! Listen to Robin...she's brilliant and wise.
Robin.. ya you heard me...brilliant and wise! I'm glad you got some of that work done! Sounds like you made a pretty good dent!

Alright me for today
1. Survive my lunch with the industry folks
2. no alcohol with lunch...I'm going to the gym today
3. go to the gym
4. drink some water with my bottomless cup of coffee...i'm real tired today for some reason
5. renew my license...today....before I get a massive ticket as is always my luck
6. clean, pack, hold on and get ready for the holidays

Best wishes everyone...and if anyone is stuck out west in that horrible blizzard stay warm and safe .... I have a friend who has been stuck at JFK airport for almost 16 hours with her 15 year old pug trying to get to Denver for the Holidays! poor girl!

Grrr! I lost my whole long cheery post!

I'll just sum up... Good day yesterday: ate well and 22 minutes on the elliptical.

Today: Eat well, exercise, wrap presents

Personals: Hang in there Lifeguard! You are doing so well, don't let the scale bring you down. Robin, when are we able to trust ourselves around food? I'm not sure it's ever. . PNG, stay strong and tell your hubby to bring carrots next time! . Sunshine, glad you're having a stress-free Christmas! And great job with the gym!

Have a good day everyone!

Hello everyone! Just thought I would drop in real quick. I've been busy busy busy! I have a christmas party tonight! And that means tons of yummy food. I'm going to bring a fruit and veggies tray so I will have somthing to munch on and maybe I wont pig out on all the other stuff lol. I have two commitments for the rest of the day:
-squeeze in a workout
-don't overdo it at the party!
Hope you guys have a great day!

Everyone thank you for your support and encouragement. Today was MUCH better! I went to visit my friend & helped her son with the gingerbread house & then went to the allergist & all is good there. This aft I did some cleaning around the house & dh made up some nice healthy treats for me & my girlfriends who came over to celebrate winter solstice - the days just get longer from here!!!!

I'm at a cross-roads as my energy level has improved (yeah) so I can no longer lie in bed for hours (a real problem for me with my type of depression) & food no longer seems to have the appeal or ability to soothe. So the 2 ways (yes, both not so positive) I had to soothe myself when upset are gone. Need to find some healthy replacements. A bath still won't work with the tub still out of commission. Hmmm - any ideas?

For tomorrow:
- clean up the kitchen & catch up on some laundry
- walk across town to herbal magic (unfortunately our budget dictates that this will be the last visit until I get a job as we can not afford it right now).
- drink lots of water
- pull nails out of salvaged boards & stack neatly in garage (as long as weather holds)

Have a good one everyone!!!

Mornin everyone
This is going to be quick today. Well yesterday was a bust! I went to my lunch and thought it would be a safe choice to have the grilled turkey paninni...so what was I thinking! It came with bacon, cheese, a garlic sauce/dressing, and tomoates on a rosemary fococcia....and french fries...which had i realized they even served frenchfries there I would have asked to replace it with a side salad. The sandwich was delicious...I'm not gonna lie, it may have been the best sandwich I've had all year. I ate half at the restaurant and brought the other half home, I nibbled on the fries but didn't even come close to polishing them off which old me would have done. I maybe had 10 or so fries and they weren't real greasy and salty at all. We got appetizers too...good thing about gourmet food...small portions. I had one piece from one of the 2 dishes of appetizers (though it was some sort of chesesteak pastry concoction...good thing it was really only about 2 bites) We also had wine, I had a 1.5 glasses. I suppose the good thing was that I had the other half of that sandwich for dinner and didn't eat anything else last night.
The food was good...but the havoc it cause on my stomach made it seem not worth it in the end. When I was eating really crappy food I had...well lets just say...some stomach issues that had become so common to me that it was just a way of life. Since I've cut out a lot of crap and take out and restaurant food I've had almost not 'problems' what so ever. I'm sure that my stomach problems were caused by the food.
I also never got my license renewed (I'm off to do that now) and didn't go to the gym (I'm going there second) I did get the apartment cleaned and 5 loads of laundry done and I'm packed and ready to head to Maine this afternoon.
Today...
1.don't let yesterday mean today is off track
2.everything I didn't do yesterday needs to get done today
3.WATER WATER WATER
4.Exercise!

Good morning!

First the confession, no exercise. Everything else went well.

For today, I'm going to find time to get some exercise and start thinking about how I'm going to hold it together eating-wise at my parent's house. I've got Christmas, of course, followed two days later by my birthday followed a few days later by New Years. Tough time of year! But we can all be strong, right???

Lifeguard, when I'm feeling blue I like to snuggle up on the couch with a comforter and watch my favorite movies, or I'll drag myself out to the movies to see a comedy, but to be honest when I'm really depressed I do what you used to do. Sleep and eat. That and watch tv in bed. Funny how sedentary my coping mechanisms are! I've always poo-pooed the idea of taking a walk, but much to my sedentary chagrin, it kind of helps. Hope you feel better!

Sunshine, your outing could have been worse, right? That was smart of you to split the sandwich. I might have just said, oh well it's here and eaten the whole thing right there. So good for you!

Hope everyone else is having a great day! It's so quiet arond here this week it makes me kind of bummed, but that hopefully means you are all having a fantastic time!