I know what you mean. I was born and raised here. I went away for school but never liked the city life and came home to live.

My youngest was sick in the middle of the night so I'm staying home today. Maybe I'll get some work done around the house. I did go to the gym at 6am for my shift even though I was really tired.

Aquafit was great yesterday and got some walking in. Tomorrow its aquafit and a walk or hike.

Congrats on working out even with the lack of sleep, yesterday I just napped instead of working out. I've been feeling really exhausted so I slept instead of going to aerobics, I had a meeting and then had supper at a friends (where I ate too much pasta, I know... it happens).

Today a Timmies donut got me, Not the healthiest lunch to be sure but I really wanted it.
And then a frozen dinner low cal and yummy but a little to salty to be something I should have regularily.

Ah well... moving onward and forward. I'll pick something healthier for supper.

It's always one day at a time. I've learned to not beat myself up over mistakes but also try not to let myself slip too often when I'm on plan. It's hard to stay on plan.

I really have to work on portion control and getting more greens in my diet. I'm eating pretty clean and real right now which can be hard to stay on when so far north. Trying to grow my own greens in house.

Aquafit today and maybe hike later.

I haven't been on this board in awhile! We moved and I didn't have convenient internet access for a loooong time. I went back up to 336 - and then I'm back down to about 321 now. I can't seem to break past 316, I just dance around it. I went off diet because the month we prepped to move was pretty stressful - like every waking moment packing and what not (we did it ourselves, 2 full huge moving trucks BLAH). I started nutrisystem and have lost 15 ish lbs in a month. I'm itching to get into a routine but I just don't feel very capable of what I want to do. I'm hoping to work for it!

Hopefully everyone else here is still trying for their goals

Snowbound you are doing so great!

Jolly Green - Tell me about it. I'm with you there, we can get back on track and do this.

So this weekend devolved into a cheat weekend, yesterday was a party at my friends... consumed far too much beer. And then today was thanksgiving dinner, tomorrow may be another one. I just need to eat super clean the rest of the week to makeup for it. And get some workouts in. No walks for a while though, having a nasty day of blowing snow, and its warm enough that its that sticky stuff that coats you with a film of ice... and the roads are super slippery I almost fell about 6 times on the normally 10 minute walk to my friends for the dinner. I didn't hesitate to say yes to a ride home.

You have snow? Sounds awful!!!!! I went out on a nice long walk after work, it's chilly and windy but no snow!

I spent the whole weekend cheating, it's like once I start I can't stop because I feel like I already ruined the day - might as well enjoy myself. First it was husband's left over pizza, followed by sampling the pumpkin muffins I cooked, and then taco johns and then oreo blast at Sonic. Waaaaaaaaaaay waaaaaaaay waaaaaaaaay bad. I only have 1 day off work in the next 18 days so I'm hoping that'll keep me busy and on track

Hi Chicks. I've been on a camping trip and then a visit to friends so haven't posted in awhile. When I got home, I was pleasantly surprised to find out I'd actually lost a couple of pounds. Not sure how that happened because I didn't watch what I was eating and had wine every day. But I'll take it.

Off to the gym -- time to get back into the game again!

jollygreen - we can totally get this back on track!

betsy - sweet congrats on the loss

Today rocked it at aerobics but then had spaghetti at a friends, I had to anounce to them that I think they can count me out on the spaghetti dinners for a while i just can't handle moderation with those kind of refined carbs. I need to go back to restrictive mode for afew days to reset my hunger cues again. :-|

Spaghetti friend and I may bow out of bar plans though, we both want to drop some weight and I jsut don't have the room for alcoholic empty calories right now.

Silentarctic, I totally understand about feeling the need to bow out of plans for spaghetti and bar plans. Just a suggestion as I find that for me when I cut out the socialization to avoid the empty calories, I actually sometimes end up eating more at home out of loneliness. I ask if there's going to be a salad as part of the spaghetti meal and just eat that and stick to diet drinks at the bar. Not always easy to do as the desire to have those foods is still there, but it's an option.

I'm still trying to figure out how I lost weight on vacation. We basically had two meals each day (that's their routine), and even though there was wine time each day, breakfast was at a diner so a lot of protein and dinner was often a meat and veggie based meal. The wine we drank was in the form of wine coolers with a lot of diet Sierra Mist mixed in. I felt as though I was just splurging like crazy, but evidently I wasn't.

Lots going on here right now with trying to get the last of the yard work done before it gets too bad to work outside. I feel like I'm running a marathon (that would take a miracle!).

betsy - I'm not saying cut out all social activity but I can't eat supper at my friends who aren't calorie counting or watching what they eat and eat the high carb, foods we all love and adore without any sort of idea of the calorie count and no measuring cups. There aren't usually salads as an option. I can't do that most nights of the week. Don't get me wrong I am greatful I have awesome friends like that, I just... have issues they can't understand. They are ALL overweight but none of them are obese like me. I have to be VERY regimented and when I am socializing I'm not being very present with my eating too. it's just TOO easy to overeat at dinner parties I can't handle doing that more than a couple times a week.

As for the bar, there are no gauranteed diet drinks at the alcoholic events unfortunately. When its house parties at least I can bring my own diet pop or crystal lite. And chose not to mix alcohol in with that... and honestly I'm just exhausted and the idea of staying up until 1am, drinking water, and being sober around a bunch of intoxicated people isn't that appealing.

Roomie is a nightowl, and stays up much much later than me. While I'm "naturally" like that, I'm really trying to adjust to these 6am mornings but going to bed early isn't working. I'm also trying to stay out to give her quiet and time to study for her exams but then I get home and we end up chatting, we're both at fault for that. It doesn't affect her as negatively because she isn't getting up at 6am to workout... ~L~

That's kinda why I want to kick it low key tomorrow and just have a salad, and maybe some grilled chicken and watch a movie and drink WATER. lol

A few friends at work, we used to go out for drinks and mexican several times a week, but now that we are all trying to lose weight we've swapped it for walks - I can't stomach sugary drinks or alcohol anymore (i've waded back into it, it makes me too sick even just a small bit - not worth it!)

I always find it irritating though when you're trying to do a good job and other people sabotage you - you can resist treats in the break room but once people start waving it infront of your face and telling you how much they could NEVER resist that - it makes you mad!

So I agreed to the bar-type plans, but now I'm regretting that. I'll probably go but I think I might bow out early. I FEEL fat, I know I AM fat but I FEEL fat today. One of those days, ya know?

Silentarctic -- I understand what you're saying about it being hard to find alternatives -- especially if you're with friends who are enjoying everything that you're trying to stay away from. Sounds like you're on the go all the time, so a night at home eating a really healthy meal might be just the ticket. I do tend to forget what it's like to be young and have a really active social life......it's a distant, fading memory!

So much is going on here right now, and I always have a tendency to eat poorly when I'm trying to get a lot of things done in a short period of time. I need to learn to add eating right to the to do list instead of coming in from working and then just grabbing something -- usually laden with carbs and salt.

I know here we have issues with produce since we are so far north. I have an aerogarden and this fall I planted tomatoes and peppers. I'm going to get started on some spinach soon.

Just got back from an amazing weekend away with the girls out in the bush at a wilderness retreat. Sauna, hottub, hikes. My only issue was my blood sugar dropped, we didn't realize the hike was so long and I forgot to pack a snack and now one else had anything, the girls found me rosehips and cranberries and that got me through to the end. Didn't over do it with food. The guy cooked us a cheese fondue, steak and potatoes the first night and breakfast both days. We had snacks and the second dinner one of hte girls brought a quinoa salad that was amazing. I missed my gym shift today, so that was sa downer, we got back too late.

I' going to really work on getting my blood sugars and all that figured out as well as planning healthy meals.

Scale moved in the wrong direction over the weekend, going to take today to eat cleanly. Low salt, ideally somewhat low calorie, all my friends should be busy, my roomate is studying and I will either try and get a lot of work done or... go for a long walk. One of the two..

Friday I did go to Circuit training, Saturday I was super sore, went for a short walk with my friends, and later went to another friends and we played kinnect just dance... yesterday I didn't do much physical though. A rest day I guess!