Hi Amandie: Congrats on the loss! It's always so much fun to break into a new decade! Good job!

Not much going on with me today. Just went to Body Pump this morning, and then Spin tomorrow. Just chugging along.

Thanks, Slash! It sure is exciting. I cannot imagine breaking in the 140s?! What is Body Pump?

Hello and , Easily_Amused! Good luck on your re-boot! You can do it!

Oops, I forgot to talk about me a bit, LOL.

I've got a busy day tomorrow- we are having our annual poker party as well as an early St. Patrick celebration. I'm making my brother a boob cake for the very first time. Making the cake will be easy but frosting is going to be the hardest, ugh! Wish me luck and I will share pictures of the cake if you'd like but it will be NSFW-type of pictures for sure! I'm totally gonna work out today, tomorrow and Sunday to offset the drinks from tomorrow, lol.

Have a great weekend, all!

Oh yay! Someone new is joining us! Welcome EasilyAmused! Just a thought... and I'm no expert... but I think you would be smart to increase your calories. I thought that the BMR was the lowest amount needed for regular activity, and then with working out, too, you may not be getting enough. As I said... no expert! I do think that posting helps, so we'll be looking forward to hearing from you!!

Amandie: How fun! Those will be some great pictures! Sounds like a good time. Body Pump is a class at my gym where you use weights and work all parts of your body. It has a lot of cardio to it because you are doing lots of reps to music. So, it isn't a "heavy lifting" workout, but you do get some strength training in. I like that it hits all of the muscle groups.

Today was Spin class with my favorite instructor. He's so positive! Such a good way to end the week.

Have fun this weekend!

Easily Amused: Nice!!! You have a great start going! Hope you are having a good weekend!

I had a really good workout this morning. I went to spin class which was surprisingly hard. Last week, on Saturday, it was way too easy. But this time, different instructor, it was challenging. Then, I lifted weights with my daughter for awhile. Tomorrow is rest day!

Hey kids. I'm sorry I disappeared for a few days. Last week was nutty, mostly in a good way.

I'm still struggling with binging. Continuing my focus on one choice at a time. I will pull myself back together.

I'll be here this week - posting on this thread each day helps keep me in line.

Carter! Glad you're back! You were missed!

Easily Amused: Way to go on your 10K steps streak!

I had a great weigh in today. I lost 3.2. I've been pushing pretty hard and I'll still push hard for the next 2 weeks. I want to make a really good effort for the weight loss challenge I'm in. I'm not really doing anything too drastic as far as my food plan, just counting calories and that usually falls in the range of 1600-1700. But I've been working out pretty hard, so I think that helps. I just want to win the money! And, I'm just not sure how everyone else is doing. Since it is based on percentage, I can't really judge how much I have to lose to be on top.

Hello everyone, and thanks. I did manage to stay on plan yesterday. Sticking to that on choice at a time mentality - the only way to deal with binges for me. Not today. Not right now. It's tiring!

Slashnl, the drama is mounting as you come into the home stretch of your competition! I hope you win it. You have been working hard.

Hey guys,

It's been a few weeks since I posted. I'm hanging out at 229 right now, after losing what I'd gained after a couple of binges. I'm trying a new approach by going back to WW (which is what I used the first 25lbs of my overall weight loss) and instead of just eating to fill my points, actually considering the sugar and carbs as well as the points. I feel like this is less strict then what I was doing before, but at the same time still aware and efficient. Hopefully this will help with the whole 'urge to binge' issue.

I found the blog canyoustayfordinner.com and that has really inspired me, especially with the binging. To see someone reach their goals and maintain for so long is encouraging...especially knowing that they still struggle with regains but have good advice on how to trust yourself at that point and not let the binging come back.

Hope all is well today

Hi all!

Carter: Good for you, taking it one day at a time. You know, that's all we can control, what's going on right now.

Easily Amused: Sounds like you're doing well!!! That's great!

Not much new here. I had a really odd experience at the gym yesterday. The spin instructor for Monday is a woman, 50 years old. She's always been really good, but over the past few weeks, she's been saying things like she should retire, etc. Well, yesterday, she was in a bad mood, evidently. She taught the class, but it was a little short. The stretching barely happened afterward... she then turned on the very bright overhead light (never happens), and made a comment that it is like a bad marriage and she needs a divorce (meaning she doesn't want to teach the class). She then left. Well then, if you don't like it anymore...QUIT! I don't go to class that early in the morning to have attitude like that mixed in with my workout. I'm going to see if she is there on Monday, and if she pulls that again, I'm going to her boss. What crap!

My sweet 18 year old son said that I should try to be patient, that she might be having personal problems. I can understand that, but I can't have a meltdown like that in my job if I'm having personal issues!

Anyway... have a great day!

You all are doing great so far!!!

Easily- sorry to hear about your arm- please be careful!

Diane- yea, I'd go to her boss if it happens again. Hopefully the next time, she will be in a better mood.

Okay, the party went great, no drama or anything. Most importantly, the cake turned out awesome!!!! I sure had a workout with making all the frosting, 3 sticks of butter and close to 10 cups of powdered sugar!!! *thud* I'm still finding little bits of frosting here and there in the kitchen, LOL. Warning:Picture may be NSFW.

Today was the second day back to school after Spring break, so far so good!!! Im up right now still thanks to TOM and alcohol/food. I just finished doing a paper and now I'm off to do an half hour on the elliptical.

Oh oh, I made something new for the first time... Vegetable casserole with a polenta "crust" on the bottom. It was good but next time I'd cut the polenta in half as well as reduce water a bit since it was very soft/soggy and double the vegetables. It sort of tasted like a pizza casserole with all the stuff I put in it. I added green peppers and mushrooms since I only had zucchini, no yellow squash on hand and tomato paste instead of regular tomatoes. I've never had polenta before and I liked it, with a bit of tweaking.

Have a great evening, all!!!

Hi folks. Glad to see everyone's having fun, making awesome cakes and sticking to plan.

I managed to stay on plan yesterday and most importantly resist the urge to binge. Today, same approach: one choice at a time. I am tired of of this extra 20, tired of not quite fitting comfortably into my clothes. I wish I could channel that tiredness into more discipline.

My knees complained loud and long at the gym this morning. I had to cut my workout short and spend some quality time on the foam roller. Ouch ouch ouch.

Good going Carter! Ouch on your knees, I feel your pain. I've never foam rolled... One day though!

Easily_Amused- I have no idea as I have yet to work with almond meal. I want to say yes, it is possible, however I might not use all the water/broth the recipe asks for if you want it to be like a firmer crust. Perhaps you could look up recipes on using almond meal as a crust then follow the vegetable and cheese part of the recipe I shared. This recipe seems to be very versatile in that you could use any vegetables you'd like. Someone in the comments said you could even use a ricotta layer as well for a sort of lasagna flavor or something. I might try that next time, although I tend to use cottage cheese.

Carter: I missed your coffee guy, so I'm adding it here. Ha! Hope your knee is better today.

Easily Amused: Definitely, don't give up the exercise! I think it is so important! Good plan on just going with eating above your BMR and not worrying about the calorie deficit. It's what we have to do.... tweak, tweak, tweak those plans!

Amandie: Loved the cake! So cute!

Went to spin class this morning, not the same instructor as Monday, so no drama. She was mentioning that she bought some dark chocolate covered blueberries and put them in the freezer for a quick snack when she wanted something sweet. Thought that sounded pretty good. But, chocolate of any kind is quite the slippery slope for me.

Have a great day!

Oh my goodness, I am falling down on the job.

Easily Amused: I had the crunchy knees for a long time. I read on stumptuous.com years ago that there is nothing really pathological or dangerous about knees that do that, so I stopped worrying about it. It sure is weird though!

I think what happened today is that my muscles around the knee are just too darn tight. I have been lifting hard and I've never stretched enough. And, I'm not as young as I used to be. So have to force myself to lay off the lifting for a week or two and use the time with that infernal foam roller instead.

ANYWAY. I am back in the thread today because today is a SLOG against bad choices and the temptation to binge. I'm managing but boy it is not easy. I went for a walk after lunch instead of buying the cookies that were singing my name at the cafeteria. This evening I have to stop at the grocery store on the way home because I'm short on vegetables, and I have to discipline myself to make a surgical strike and stay away from the things I buy when I choose to binge. Saying it here so I feel some shame when I come back tomorrow.