Welcome! Do you need some accountability? A place to list your plan? A place to list your menu? Support? This is the place to get it!!! We can do this!
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Thanks for getting us started Beverlyjoy!

Good Morning everyone! I have a few minutes before work, so I thought I would pop in and say Hi! I started my morning w/ yoga...what a great way to start the day!

I have to deal w/ some personnel issues today--probably one of my least favorite things, so I am going to do those first when I get to work today--get them out of the way!!! For me, that's the yucky part about being a manager! The good news is, I get to hand over the on-call cell phone today YEA!!! Even when I don't get many calls, I am 'on edge' knowing I may get called anytime.

My mom, brother, and sister left early this am for the calling hours and funeral. I still feel bad about not being able to go, but I sent cards and will call. It's the best I can do.

The scale is down one lb this am. I am happy w/ that. Considering I ate 'ok' and not great and my exercise was really lacking, one lb is actually pretty good! I have my gym bag packed, mp3 player charged, and am ready to go to the gym this afternoon! Today is arms/shoulders and cardio.

Have a great day everyone!!

Good morning, Accountability Partners! And, a big welcome to Margaritachic and Bigtxmomma. So glad you ladies are posting with us.

MJ - My condolences to you on the loss of your Uncle.

My apologies for being MIA. My friend and her family did leave for Florida yesterday morning and I've not been feeling very chatty. The good news is that I didn't turn to food for comfort. This is a biggie for an emotional eater like myself.

Week 1 of calorie counting was a real eye opener for me. Although Ive been eating my Southbeach foods for a while, I can only imagine how many calories I was consuming each day. Some of my favorite foods are very high in calories and I find myself looking for lower calories options. Now, I'm eating healthy, but not really following Southbeach exactly. I'm still eating lean meats, lots of veggies, 1-2 fruits a day, whole grains only and healthy fats in moderation. However, I'm allowing myself some potatoes and some corn...just not everyday and not both on the same day. And, I still limit anything with HFCS or added sugars. I lost 3 pounds this week from counting calories. The scales were showing a bigger loss on Friday, but I must be retaining some water. Tomorrow morning, it will probably be gone.

My goal for this week is to start exercising each day. For some reason, the exercise was a real issue for me last week. So, today, I will get on the treadmill for one hour.

Hope everyone has a great on-plan day.

Hi! I did OK at the Super Bowl party - I had a couple hand fulls of M & M's and some extra crackers. It's actually a victory to not binge....so, I am satisfied. Happy to see the Giants win and enjoyed the commercials.

Plans for today-

b - turkey bacon, whole wheat bread, orange, natural peanut butter
s - carrots
l - pea soup, cottage cheese, cauliflower
s - flax, yogurt
d - peppers & onions, turkey Italian sausage, garlic toast.
s - cereal, milk, fruit

Mj5 - have a good day. Hooray for being a pound down! It's always a victory when the scale goes down. Good for you - getting your yoga in. Glad you'll get the hard stuff over with at work right off the bat. I know it's hard to not be at the funeral - sometimes it happens. You are doing what you can.

Rhonda - glad to hear that you are figuring out the calories counting. I agree...it is eye opening. It was for me too. Wonderful job on the weight loss!

Have a GREAT on plan and healthful day everyone.

Morning chicks! After a hot fudge cake indiscretion Friday night, I was on plan all weekend. Here's the plan for today:
B - 1 deviled egg, 2 turkey bacons, baked oatmeal, coffee with milk
S - V8, celery with LCLC
L - zydeco soup, salad
S - latte, half a grapefruit
D - lean cheeseburger patty, salad, steamed green beans
S - Greek yogurt with agave nectar and almonds

mj, sounds like you've got a great plan for the day! Congrats on the pound!
Rhonda, sounds like shaking things up a bit is really working for you! Hooray!
Have a wonderful day Beverlyjoy!

hey everyone! I haven't been online much, things have just been busy around here. Son is home sick today and I'm hoping dd and I are not next in line. His BB pictures are tonight and I don't want to miss that, but also don't want to take him in there and risk getting the other kids sicks. Thought about going in just to get the picture then leaving, but I know he will throw a fit when he doesn't get to play. He's coughin and sneezing all over, so not good for passing around a ball. He'll just not get pics I guess

DD absolutely loved the Hannah movie yesterday. It was 3D and she felt like she was right there at the stage. She said "This is cool! They get to see her, and I get to see her!" By the end she was saying she wished she could be there at the real concert, but this was best I could do for her. She was on the edge of her chair bouncing and tapping her feet the whole time.

I didn't do good with food yesterday. I rushed in the AM and went on an empty stomach We were starving, ended up at the only open restaraunt in the mall, 5 men, and had a HUGE burger, I mean I have never eaten one that big. I had never been there and wasn't expecting it to be that large, and I even had fries I was very mad at myself. Though I ate very little the rest of the day, I was up 1.5 lb. this AM. Three days to get it back down before my WI.

I am right back on track today. I have to just put it behind me and move on. I know I didn't eat near enough calories to gain 1.5 lb. overnight, so I believe it is mostly salt from that horrible meal.

Rhonda-- I know exactly how you feel and I very proud of you for not reaching to the food. It is SO hard not to when you feel such intense emotions. You'll get through this...just hang in there.

mj--Yoga is an awesome way to start the day!

Schmoodle--So glad to hear you got right back on plan and didn't let the slip bring you down You are strong!

Bev--Congrats on doing so well during super bowl!

Hi ladies!

My plan for today: I'm gonna Walk Away the Pounds this morning! lol That DVD always makes me laugh. I bought two sports bras this weekend, which I hope will inspire me to work out more.

Food:
Eggs & Gimme Lean sausage for b'fast
Black beans/tomato/onion concoction and some kind of veg for lunch
Homemade tomato soup for dinner
Probably SF jello and LF cheese sticks for snacks
And coffee and diet coke

Rhonda- I'm so happy that calorie counting seems to be working!!!
It's strange with all those other "diets"...I never understood how they could work if "calories in, calories out" wasn't part of the equation.
I'm so proud of you!

Purple, hope you stay healthy!
Bigtx, I want to try those WATP videos. I've heard such good things about them. I've got a couple on hold at the library, just need to pick them up.
fam, I think calories in, calories out is always part of the equation. Just on some plans you don't have to actually count them. If I eat the recommended amounts of veggies each day (4.5 cups) on my plan, plus the other recommended foods, and limit amounts of grains and fruits, then I am naturally eating nutrient dense, lower calorie foods, and the calorie counting kind of takes care of itself. There's also a natural appetite suppression that goes with eating foods that keep your blood sugar levels in balance. I did combine calorie counting with the plan for a while, out of curiosity, and to see if my ideas of "portions" were good ones, but it's nice not to have to because it's a lot of work! When I did, I found my calories averaged around 1500, and varied from 1200 calorie days to 1800 calorie days.

Okay, posting to be accountable to someone other than myself...because to myself is not enought today I am just wanting to EAT all day, and having to drag and force myself to do anything else besides curl up on the couch. It is so dreary, yucky outside and this is the first day in awhile that we have just been home, and I just can't get it together.

I took my waist measurement, and saw I am down 3 inches there in just about a month, that's amazing but didn't change focus from food. I made myself do Jillian's backside this AM, and drug msyelf through an hour of cardio this afternoon, and then drug myself through cleaning just trying to distract myself but none of it has worked. I stayed OP until just a bit ago. I made a batch of brownies and soon as I set them in the oven I pulled out the WW ritz crackers and started shoving them in. I stopped myself at 5 (1 serving) and the brownies are still in the oven right now...so I am typing here instead of scarfing down more crackers than half the pan when it's done.

Good news is I didn't really have enough time to make those...soon as they are out of the oven I will have to literally run out the door to get my daughter and somehow I hope I can not eat them when I get back. They will take the rest of my calories for the day I'm sure I'm just stuck in a black hole guys...help! The past couple weeks I have been having a couple days like this, just darky unmotivated days, and I still have managed to lose 3 lb. in those weeks but I'm afraid this won't be like that

Beverlyjoy - I LOVE these weekly threads already. It is nice to see what everyone else is dealing with on a daily basis. Good job at the Super Bowl party!

mj5 - What a great way to start your day! I hope the personal issues aren't too stressful.

GirlyGirlSebas - Good job with the calorie counting. I want to exercise daily too. Hopefully, I can do it on my lunch hour when I get back to work. It is too difficult at home with the baby.

Schmoodle - Sometimes a little chocolate is necessary! lol Glad to see you are back on track.

Purplefirfly - I can't leave the house on anm empty stomach either. But you are doing the right thing.. get back on track today and don't beat yourself up about 1 slipup. You may be hungrier today because you over indulged yesterday. Don't deprive yourself too much. Eat low calorie. That way even if you eat more volume than normal, it won't be a huge amount of calories,

bigtxmomma - I have that DVD! I used to do it twice a day. It really gets you moving... good idea about the sports bras!



I am just trying to enjoy my last couple of days at home before I go back to work. Who would think that 8 weeks maternity leave would go by so FAST. Eeeek!

I still have to try on my old work clothes to find out what fits me and what doesn't. The weird thing is that I weigh LESS now than before I got pregnant. Hopefully some old clothes will fit me. It would feel good to fit into a size I haven't worn for a while.

Have a great day everyone!!!

Hi everyone! I only have a few minutes before I leave for a meeting, but thought I would pop in!

Rhonda--Thanks. I am SO proud of you for not turning to food!!! Great job! 3lbs, that is fantastic!!!! I struggled w/ exercise last week too. Back to it this week for me as well!

Beverlyjoy--Great job at the party! Thanks for the kind words!

Schmoodle--Great job staying on plan all weekend!

Purplefirefly--Hope ds feels better! Glad the movie was so much fun. Like you said, one meal is not going to throw you off. You CAN do it!

bigtxmomma--I love my watp dvd's! I just 'found' them not too long ago. They make me laugh too, but they get me moving!

Linda--How are you?

I am still planning on going to the gym tonight, but my knee hurts already. Ugh, I am SO sick of this! I know from past experience that for me (I certainly do NOT recommend this for anyone else), it is better to give myself a little push and work through the pain--I worked a long time w/ my physical therapist and learned a 'balance'. I am thinking I am going to try to 'push' a little tonight. If it doesn't work, I'll stop and run for the ice pack. Good thing I made that ortho appt for this week!!!!

Food choices have been good so far today. Water, well, not so good, but the day isn't over yet!

Have a good afternoon/evening!

Aww MJ, thank you!
I am doing great. I was thrilled yesterday, because I took my measurements (going to take them once a month), and I've lost 7 inches! Waist-2 Hips-1 Bust 2 and chest below breasts (bra band line)-2!
I was pretty impressed with that! I'm also down 12 pounds

I feel badly sometimes...posting just about myself on this thread. You guys are so great at doing individuals for every person!!! I feel like I'm insulting, or leaving people out...but that is SO not my intention!

Do you guys care if not everybody does that?


Linda

Well, the weight seemed to come on all of the sudden, in a matter of days. I can't say I was doing real well, but I definitely don't understand going from 272ish to 279 in the matter of a three-four days. I wore a pair of pants today that I wore only a week and a half ago and they fit just fine, today they were tight. So I'm sure the gain is real weight. VERY frustrated at this point, but I managed to stick to my chocolate rule (one piece/serving), and am doing good on food so far. I'm planning on having either a salad and sandwich or making some stir fry for dinner. I'm about to go over to the exercise room to do 45 minutes on the bike since I didn't get in this morning. I stayed out pretty late last night at a superbowl party and on the way home our tire went flat, so we had a good time trying to remedy that situation. By the time I got home and in bed I was beat and overslept my alarm in the morning by 30 minutes. Thankfully I was able to get to work on time anyway.

*EDIT* Just got back from exercising. I did it for about 43 minutes, burned "515" calories (according to the exercise equipment anyway), and I'm feeling pretty good!

Hi again! I am about to make a cup of tea and settle in w/ the dogs for some relaxation time this evening, but thought I would pop in again first.

margaritachic--Enjoy these last few days! I hope you find some clothes that fit! The personnel stuff wasn't fun, but I was able to get the research done in the am and met w/ the person as soon as they came in to work. At least it is over--I really dislike that kind of stuff!

Linda--Great job! Don't worry about not being able to post to individuals.

Rakel--You can do this!! Great job on the exercise!

I went to the gym and it probably wasn't my best idea. I was in a LOT of pain by the time I left even though I kind of took it easy while I was there. I immediately used ice, then a nice hot bath, then ice again. I think it is a little better.

Gotta take the dogs out, then make that tea!