Damn you ladies are AWESOME. Just wanted to share that. I've stayed good so far today and just did the running around to the box offices and let me tell you it is painfully cold in downtown boston! I'm much more looking forward to the working out indoors!

Best of luck with the evening
HAPPY WEEKEND!!

I'll second that!

I kept my commitments again today: good eating, walked for 30 minutes, and did something fun. I saw the movie, The Holiday. Super cute!

Food-wise, I cooked up a bunch of chicken breasts (the thin sliced ones from the market-- they stretch over more meals and cook faster) and salmon in the oven with the idea that I would have ready to eat good protein in the fridge. While the oven was hot, I threw in some small yams and cooked those for leftovers too. I find I can't expect myself to cook for every meal, but darned if I can't reheat for every meal!

In the scheme of things, I haven't lost much of the whole amount I want to lose, but I must say I feel so much better in such a short time. I have to remember that when I get the urge to eat poorly...

Hope you all have a great weekend! I wish you nothing but success and small victories!

Good morning oh group of wonderful, motivating and oh so inspiring ladies,

Sunshine, I'm so very happy and proud of you, but I gotta tell you you're scaring me with that cold weather up there in Boston, cause I don't think my daughter's got the right clothing. I was shopping here for her for a new winter coat and nothing seemed warm enough, do you have better stores there in Boston? with clothes made for your bitter winters? Actually she's coming home for winter break next Friday. But anyway KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!!!

C.C. You are so INTO this, it is AWESOME. What with your cooking lots ahead of time. I truly believe planning, planning, planning and more planning is the only way to go. This way you're PREPARED. And you got in a walk!! Beets, I just don't know. We shall see.

Sheila, I hope you feel better soon, man a cold can really make you feel lousy and wreak havoc with your food and your whole life in general.

Caseygail, Wow you sound like you're doing great!!! You do want to eat enough cause you don't want to go into starvation mode, something I still don't quite understand.

Nalynn, Too cute, dancing with your son!!! You've got your own little Emmit Smith or myfavorite MArio Lopez (ya know from DAncing with the Stars) right there in your own home!!!! Great exercise, just great!

Yes, I am off to the comedy club tonight and I do want to go, I enjoy it for the most part, but I do have to admit there IS a part of me that is worried he'll pick on me or some other fat girl, just part of life, I'll deal. And I'm hoping to indeed make good choices.

Pretty much stuck to yesterday's commitments, except for of course the additional exercise at home. But did walk a lot at the mall (or maul as it should be called) Had quite an interesting trip there, shopping wise I'll have to tell you about it another time, I'm prressed for time.

Today's commitments;
Stay within calorie allotment, making good choices out tonight
Exercise, please, please exercise
Lots and lots of water, maybe 1 glass of wine?
Remember that you want to be thin, gosh do I want to be thin, more then you want the food.

Have a great, great weekend everybody, filled with good and healthy choices.

Good Morning!
Happy Saturday.

I'm definatly getting off to a slow start today but still so far so good. I stayed pretty good yesterday. I couldn't bring myself to go back outside after getting home last night cause it was soooo cold...but that doesn't mean i sat on my but in front of the tv! I got a workout in at home and they did all of my housework and most of my laundry done last night so I was movin!

Rockinrobin- Its better up here today, don't get me wrong its just as cold as it was yesterday but without the wind. Thats what really gets you is the wind. Warm clothes? Yes she will need them, by the time it gets to be mid january she is gonna be needing a good pair of boots, the gloves/hat/scarf trio and a really good jacket. I'm usually good with a long knee length wool peacoat and a nice toasty scarf. I buy my jaket a size or so to big so that I can wear a nice fleece or sweater under it for those really bitter days. The trick to New England weather is to be flexible cause you can never predict it....hey it was almost 70* a week ago! Always travel with layers! If you are from a generally warm climated area then there may be a better selection of warmer clothes up here.

CC - that is exactly what I do too! I find that I have no time during the week to cook so I shop and cook for the week all on Sundays. I keep a couple of tupperware containers of cut veggies in the fridge, cook up a batch of chicken or turkey and a big salad and brown rice etc. I also keep no junk in the house and a big bowl of fruit on my kitchen table. I find that by having this be the food that I have on hand that it keeps me from takeout and if i'm gonna snack i'm reaching for some chicken or some veggies. It really helps having these plans and the food on hand!

Sheila - I hope you feel better soon! No self medicating....just think the healthier the things you feed your cold the better your body will be equipted to fight off the bug!

Caseygail - You are so right about those pilates videos...good stuff but when you are just starting out a routine it is all about being sore! I used to go to yoga a while back and our teacher was out and the class was covered by the pilates instructor...I couldn't walk for a week from all those hip circles and that was when I was in shape!

Nalynn - I love the dancing! How cute is that....if that isn't motivation then I don't know what is...and its FUN too!!!

Anyway here goes for the day, and I know that I will have to work extra hard...weekends are just the worst for me! Its so much easier to control my eating during the week when i'm at work and on a schedule!

1. its the weekend...GYM GYM GYM, WATER WATER WATER...I'm aiming for 10 miles on the elliptical this weekend
2. Eat the same as I eat during the week, no extra snacking!
3. no snacking while finishing my final paper, or making out my holiday cards, or because i finish everything and get bored
4. Keep up with everything on my fit day!
5. Limit the TV....do not fall into couch potato mode.

Alright good luck all!

Cheers

Hello Everyone! Posting on a Saturday is pretty huge for me..... the weekends are usually so busy that I don't get a chance. But, today I am making the time. I have two Christmas parties this weekend..... so I will be surrounded by every fried appetizer you can imagine, cheesecake, chocolate cake, alcohol.... and more. Uuuuggghhhhh.

I know this is going to sound weak, but I am going to go easy on myself this weekend. I am going to allow myself to have some "junk food", but I'm really going to limit it. So, my commitments might not look as good as everyone else's.... but here goes.

This weekend.....
I will start the day with healthy breakfasts
I will limit my calorie intake during the day because I will allow some "junk" at the parties
I will drink water at the parties...... no alcohol
I will find ways to have fun other than eating
I will focus on my "jumpstart" to the dieting that everyone else starts in January
I will not take home any left overs... no matter how much anyone insists
I will think about how last year I pigged out at these parties, and I will never do that again.

Okay ladies, that's it for now. I don't know if I'll get a chance to post again this weekend.. so good luck to all... and I'll check in on Monday.

Have a great weekend!!!

Hello,

Poor Pitiful Pearl, here, feeling sorry for myself. My foot is killing me - I can barely walk around the house let alone go for a walk or exercise. When I woke up today I knew that there was just one commitment for today: Don't overeat while sitting on the couch all day! I did okay with that one, but I'm going to have to get creative with other ideas to exercise.

It's sad that there aren't many posts here on the weekends. But I'm happy that people have lots of things to do. It helps keep the mind off of dieting. Tomorrow I go to my parent's house to help them decorate their Christmas tree. That should be fun!

Commitments for tomorrow:
Don't overeat.
Eat more fiber.
Fewer diet cokes, more water
Try out the new workout video I got and see if it's foot friendly

Hope everyone is having a great weekend! And Nalynn, be strong and go for the least naughty of the tidbits at your parties this weekend! I'm sending good thoughts your way. You'll thank yourself later!

My Daily Goal for 12/10/06:

Drink 8 glasses of water and 3 cups unsweetened tea and NO SODA
Take 3 supplements
Follow tomorrow's food plan (below)
Treadmill for 30 minutes or DDR for 60 minutes
Lift weights
Make starter for sourdough bread
If I eat out tomorrow, pick something healthy.

Breakfast: eggs and wholegrain bread
Snack: apple
Lunch: steamed vegetables
Snack: nuts
Dinner: Steak and roasted red potatoes

Hi everyone, just a quick check in for now, yes the weekends are crazy.

Nalynn, I don't think you sound weak at all, not even a little bit. If we're to do this for life then of course there are going to be special days when we eat more of the so called wrong things. This is what I plan to do for those special days during the year - try to pick out just a few of the no-no items and keep the portions tiny, this way I don't feel deprived. And then get right back to basics the following day. This is what I did on Thanksgiving and will do again later in this month as I have to attend many upcoming holiday parties and events. I don't look at this as "cheating", I look at it as being realistic and enjoying myself, cause umm yeah food tastes good and I want to partake from time to time in the decadent stuff. I saw someone on this website write "Let's really make it holi-DAYS, not holi-MONTHS" and I try to remember that as we are faced with all these temptations during the holiday times. I hope it turned out well for you and that you enjoyed yourself!!!

Susnshine, No, we do live in a cold climate, just not AS cold as you have it up there. And we definitely will be purchasing a knee length coat when she comes home next week as opposed to the short one she now has that doesn't even cover her butt. And the layering is a good idea, cause unless you buy fur coat or a big fluffy down one, she won't wear either, layering is the only way to go. Good for you with your workout, and housework and laundry, what a motivated young woman you are!!!

CC, I am so very sorry to hear about your foot, what a bummer to say the least. You've really got to rest that thing, you don't want it getting even worse. I hope you have some improvement soon. Try not to be so hard on yourself, this too shall pass. Have fun decorating that tree!!

Well we never wound up going to the comedy club last night, the friend who had the free tickets wound up she couldn't go, was chauffering kids around, they offered us the tickets,, but we felt funny going without them and my hubby was really, really feeling lousy, so we stayed in. So therefore I took the opportunity to go through my old clothes, and I got rid of them all, gone outta here, never to be worn again by me anyway. I made two piles, one to be donated, which I have already bagged up and they pick it up from my house this week and a pile of garbage, stuff that was not in good enough shape to give away. Let me tell you lots of memories, weddings, graduations, big birthday parties, there was sooo much stuff, winter coats, 3 of them, raincoats, dressy clothes, casual and every thing in between, lots and lots of money, oh well, onward and upward. Before I got got rid of the stuff I tried on practically every piece and gave my family a "fashion"" show. It was incredible to see just how huge those clothes are on me, I'm down about 5 sizes since September 4, 2006. I actually bought a size 14 skirt on Friday and a 1x winter coat and a 1x sweater. My family couldn't believe it either, piece after piece they were just amazed. It really was very emotional for me. I did hold on to a few pieces to keep as motivation and to show me just how far I have come, and just in case when I go on the Oprah show I can stand in my old skirt and have that great before and after shot.

And those friends that we were supposed to go out with popped in and we just hung out for a bit. No eating involved, sigh of relief. I even managed to take a walk yesterday, but man oh man was it windy out, so it only lasted about 22 minutes, better then nothing I suppose, did do 120 situps and 120 leg lifts but zero dancing, which is what I have been doing lately, although I haven't a cute little partner like Nalynn has .

MsHelena you sure have a nice day planned, you are sooo ambitious, good for you!!

On to today:

Stay under 1350 calories, no nibbling
Drink lots and lots of water
Sit-ups, leg lifts, dancing
Remeber how badly you want this.

Have a great rest of the weekend everybody.

Alright all,
Well its mid afternoon now and I'm just posting cause my internet has been down since last night. I did make it to the gym yesterday and did an hour on the elliptical and 30 minutes of weights. I couldn't track my calories on fitday cause my internet was down and I couldn't remember what I had put in already etc. so I was left to eyeball calories. I wrote down what & how much I ate for the rest of the day and just plugged it all in now and who woulda guessed I suck at eyeballing. I was way over on calories, about 1950! I suppose it could be worse. I wasn't paying much attention to anything yesterday since I was terribly drowsy and had a nasty headache...I hadn't noticed the smell in my apartment during the day but I did notice it after I had be gone and out in the fresh air for a few hours and then came back....and that would be the smell of gasoline....I live above a 2 car garage and when we went down to check it out we reallized that the snowblower was leaking gas and had been venting the fumes up into my apartment....hmmmm probably was the reason why I was just drowsy and headachy yesterday! Anyway we got it all cleaned up and I'm feeling much better today. I've got my internet fixed and I'm back on track with my calorie counting. I've got all my healthy food for the week already made. I haven't gone to the gym yet today and I have a paper I have to write before I can go....so we'll see if I make it. If I don't I will just do a home workout this evening.
I would have gone this morning but going with the home catastrophies I was at my parents house...and my father, who is not a plumber, was taking apart the kitchen fixtures because one is broken...needless to say he took the one that was still working apart too, the water wasn't turned off, and well lets say it made quite a mess and managed to break the other side too. So in the end I just got ultra held up today!

Ok so here goes for the rest of the day

1. Keep with today's trend staying within my calories
2. more water!
3. whether I get to the gym or go for a walk, or work out at home get in at least 1 hour of exercise!

Alright thats it for today!