KimL1214 Thanks for stepping in with these questions and stuff! Our chat thread is a little slower than the other team's I think.

Thursday Question~ What tips or tricks to you have to stay motivated when your willpower falters?

I don't really have any tips or tricks...so far I haven't had too much trouble keeping to my calorie counting and exercise, mainly because I've been getting the results I want to. If I face a day where I feel like eating something over my calories or don't want to exercise, I usually just try to remind myself that I'll feel better if I don't eat that/get the exercise done and remind myself of how far I've come and where I'm headed to!

thursday question- what tips do you have for staying motivated?
music.
right now i kinda have this attitude from Legally Blonde, "I'll show you how valuable Elle can be!" she's standing in line at an apple store holding a mac wearing a playboy bunny suit. love that movie.
many movies also come to mind.
i need a short term goal. i need to visualize it. i have a mental movie of things i'll be doing at goal. know how i'll deal with the challenges in the way. know how i'll get it done. it's all about the exercise for me. when that's going well, it's usually not hard to keep my portions in check and make healthy choices.

reading blogs, writing pms to online friends from 3fc. reading/posting on 3fc. knowing i'm not alone in this journey, that i can do it just like so many others. that's so crucial. sometimes all it takes is a good pouring out your heart to a friend. you feel better, and remind yourself why you are doing this in the first place.

this is really about getting up again. we all mess up. the difference between the old me and a healthy fit person is simple. when the healthy person overeats, they make up for it later in the day or prep for it beforehand. eat less, more active. they don't feel guilty and just share a blood supply with the couch. skinny people overeat too. everyone messes up. we all fall down. what's important is that we get up again. when i realized that a few months ago it was big for me. we just have to keep trying.

sometimes we just don't want to. if we do it anyway (healthy choices, workouts etc) we will always feel proud of our choices. hopefully the next day is better with more motivation.

having workouts we enjoy and look forward to is really important too. sometimes we just need to change it up a bit.

writing a letter to yourself when you are really motivated is a good one too. then read it when you are feeling down.

mantra, your own saying. lately mine is nothing tastes as good as feeling sexy feels.

Ugh. I hope you are all doing well. At least better than me!! I've had a pretty major setback. I was cruising right along on track at first. Now I've been sick for a few days and I let myself fall completely off the wagon. I haven't exercised since Tuesday and I've been eating horribly all week with no regard to my points (Weight Watchers). I haven't checked the scale yet, but I won't be surprised if I'm right back at my starting weight. My lovely Storms - I apologize in advance for whatever my weight is on Sunday, because I am certainly expecting an increase!

All that being said, it's done and there is nothing I can do to change it now. I'm starting fresh in the morning on track with my points and my exercise, no matter what my new current weight is. In the past, the worst thing I could do was quit when I didn't see results or when I had a setback. I'm trying to realize that this isn't a "diet" as much as it is my life and there are going to be more bad days and more bad weeks. The only thing to do is forgive myself and try not to make the same mistakes again.

Happy Friday, everyone!!

oh Island vet, i'm sorry to hear that. i think we all struggle when we get sick. all that congestion always convinces me i'm hungry. i really can't be hungry ALL the time. and then i feel better when i drink tea? um no, i wasn't hungry. the phlem plays tricks on my tummy/brain.
you've got the right attitude girl! that's exactly what it's about. a few days off plan didn't make us gain 20, 50 pounds whereever we are. you get back up, dust your shoulders off(remember that jay z song?). tomorrow is a new day :) YOU CAN DO THIS!


i had a GREAT day today. lots of muscle building exercise. tryed the walking uphill and walking uphill backwards. increased my squats weight from 25 to 50#. that sounds like a big jump doesn't it? well i was using 1 25# dumb bell. today i decided to try holding 2 of those, just to see if i could. i seem to be able to a million squats without weights, and i can still do alot with the 25#, although i never really count. so i think i need to use heavier weights more often. also did about dot com's best butt workout. i recamend that one! really challenging, and you can adjust it alot. like for step ups make the step short, or really high. sub a different type of lunge, use weights, wear ankle weights. since some of us are in foreign countries i'll post the workout. it's pretty simple.

-+
About.com's best butt workout

you do each exercise for 1 set, 12 reps. or 12 on each leg. except hip extensions, these are 16 reps.

squats
step ups
one leg squat
lunges
quadrupled hip extensions( see note below)

go through the cycle, doing each set of exercises with little rest in between switching to the next exercise. then take a short break, if needed, and repeat 1-3 times.
note-quadruple hip extensions. you probably know these, just the name is weird. we get on hands and knees and lift 1 knee backwards. keep your knee at a right angle. you can also do this with the leg straight behind you, pulsing up.

another exercise that really works the glutes(butt) is the deadlift. simply lift your weight up keeping your back and legs straight.

alsom i'm down another pound today. 184. that's 3 down since sunday. and a new low for me :) i'm expecting some pretty serious doms tomorrow. if i don't get any i must be wonderwoman.
and i challenged my fit without trying (it seems) DH to a squats challenge lol. i start getting all superior in my head. hey! i can do these better than him! um probably not lol. but it was fun talking about it.

I guess I'm a little lucky that while it is technically Sunday here for me, and I should post my weigh-in, it's still Saturday for mostly everyone else in this team/the challenge - so I'm not posting my weigh-in til tomorrow morning for me, which will be Sunday afternoon/evening for everyone else.

This is because I know I am retaining water due to excess sodium consumption. Hugely. Ugh. I had a bit of an off-plan couple of days - I accounted for every calorie, but there were definitely a lot of calories I shouldn't have eaten. I am learning. This is the first time I've actually noticed the sodium having this effect on me - my feet are swollen, my fingers are swollen - I feel generally puffy. I hope I don't have to post a gain for this week, but we will see.

drink lots of water and do cardio :) hope it goes well for you.

katy trail Thanks! Cardio might not happen today (work and then silly after work plans) but the water I am trying trying trying to get in while I'm at work - even drinking the tap water here, which I usually avoid because it has such a nasty taste.

Well, I'm up this week, which isn't a huge surprise. I was actually pretty good this week. I avoided most of the treats at the trade show (it was a food industry show, so just about every booth had some sort of snack!) and I was pretty good about portions the rest of the week, but right now I'm dealing with monster TOM (had an IUD put in about 2 months ago and still adjusting - sorry for the TMI!) and sore muscles from dancing on Thursday.

For now, I'm trying not to let this get me down. It's frustrating to see the numbers go up, even if I understand that it's for reasons that are out of my control. I'm definitely looking forward to a big whoosh next week once this all clears up!

I also gained this week. I developed a stress fracture in my foot this week, and my old "all or nothing" mentality came back. I was thinking: if I can't exercise, what's the point of eating properly? Then it was my birthday and I gave myself whatever I desired. And now, I'm out of the gym for at least another 2 weeks but I can lift weights at home and I can control my eating. Starting now. Oy.


Sorry for the gain, team.

Sorry ladies - had to post a gain this week. Instead of the 1.1 pound loss I should have been posting had my weekend not gone a little awry, I had to post a 1.1 pound gain. Urgh. If it were only half a kg / 1.1 pound in reality, I'd be ok - but since I had gotten down another 1.1 pound in the week, it was more like a 2.2 pound gain overnight! Please please please go away.

I'm sorry I had to post a gain. Everyone hang in there!

Hey team!
Well I was in canada and it was pretty cool but I had a cold the whole time. I ate not too great but not terrible. I did however eat pretty bad last night! That set me up for another gain this week! But I know it will go back down. I was down during the week so I know it will go back. What a disappointment!
I feel like I gain and lose the same 7-8 lbs it is so disgusting and annoying! But I've been OP all day and loving it!:D

rainbowstripe- no worries with the gain!!! we have more than half the challenge left! Hang in there! I know about the salt thing. I noticed on days I eat canned soup, I gain a lb or so! I mean come on now!!!!

fatmac- I have been there.. I had a stress reaction in my leg and was beyond bummed. I had to abstain from exercise for 6 weeks it was awful! I have been there with the all or nothing mindset and it sucks! You can totally lose weight by just cutting calories.. it is math! But I know what you mean about not wanting to care if you can't exercise. Don't do it! You will totally regret it!

smisen- hang in there girl. That damn scale will move the way we want soon!!!

IslandVet- I was sick last week and I totally know what you mean! I ate not so great. I was bored because I couldn't exercise and I just kept snacking! I feel so much better now so I know I can get back OP! So can you!

Let's make this week a success!:)

Tuesday & Wednesday Question~ Holidays are quickly approaching! Are you someone who is going to sit down for Thanksgiving/Christmas/ I don’t know all the holidays coming up... dinner, and stay completely on plan? Or are you someone that is going to plan out your week so you can eat off plan and not feel completely horrible about it? Why?

We don't really have Thanksgiving here in New Zealand, though since my mum is obsessed with all things American and my boyfriend's dad is American, I can assume there may be some sort of Thanksgiving Feast. For that, I'll probably just have a lower calorie day and then have a normal ish meal. I won't go overboard, but I won't be too strict. Since I'm calorie counting I feel it's ok.
As for Christmas, I'll probably take that one day off calorie counting. I took my birthday off, and I think Christmas and my birthday are the days that I don't mind relaxing a bit. That being said, I know I won't be able to stuff my face on Christmas. I will have a bit of everything I want, but I think that my journey so far has made me realise I feel crap if I overeat so I'll be avoiding that.
I'm more worried about my holiday away at the beach over New Years (it's summer here). My boyfriend and our friends will definitely be making it into an eating festival, chips, dip, lots of meat and lots of alcohol...I'm just hoping I can manage to bring my own stuff and keep on track as much as I can - and keep up exercise while I'm away!

~I'm back down to 72.5kg, 159.8 pounds as of yesterday and today. The water weight is coming off! Yay! Hopefully I'll have a loss to post at the end of the week!

wed and thur. Q. re:holiday meals.

Actually, the holiday meals haven't been a big deal. We never host, bc our home is waay too small. However, several of the houses we looked at buying would be great for entertaining. So likely in the future it will be a big deal.

This year, we'll go to a family member's house for thanksgiving. dh's cousin i think. so i'll probably bring something safe for me to eat, and just try to choose the best choices. the biggest problem is trying to find lowerfat dishes. some of it is soulfood with all the drippings. but in the past there's been a wide variety of foods, so i'm not worried.

for christmas/new years the tradition is to go to mil's for delicious gumbo. i'll have a moderate amount and probably a salad.
for both holidays i'll bring home leftovers individually packed for dh's lunch next day. other than that no leftovers to worry about, unless i decide to make a dinner for us. in the process of packing/moving i'll probably skip making a special dinner. we're not big fans of traditional turkey anyway, and we don't eat ham.