You know, I don't see how I managed to lose 3 lbs in one week, but my scale seems to think I did. I know I retain water, but I usually don't retain *that* much water. Anyhow, I think yesterday was my weigh in day..not real sure actually...so I weighed in today and scale told me 165 (you'll recall that I said I fluctuate a bit in the upper 160's), so I suppose next week will tell if I am actually losing any weight or not. Aside from gradually going Vegan, I am watching my calories and fat intake (because some vegan foods are quite fatty indeed!). Frankly, I think I eat too few calories- I range anywhere from 800-1700 per day depending on how i feel that day, whether I remember to eat or not and what I do eat. I try really hard to keep it on an even keel, but I have alot of trouble with it. I don't know how I manage to gain weight like that except that maybe my body holds on to all it can because of how sporadically I eat...*shrugs*

Anyhow, that's where I am at the moment...just trying to get into better habits.

Tankgirl

Hiya
 

Well I seem to be on the mend. I worked out Sun/Mon/Wed and I feel good. I am starting to get on track with water. I was bad and weighed myself on saturday. I had lost 1 1/2 pounds (which is good), but I need to stop weighing myself.. its really bad for me.

FM: CONGRATS on weighing 145!!!!! I am so happy for you!

Monique: Congrats to you as well on your weight loss!! You seem to be doing really well staying on plan. You should be very proud of yourself. Keep up the great work!

Lobocal: My TOM really increased my weight so much it depressed me. I think the moral of the story is not to weigh during TOM :) Great job getting back on track though... I had a a hard time doing it too.

Tankgirl: Welcome to the challenge and congrats on the 3 pound loss!! Being vegan must be very difficult when going out to eat.. which is probably good incentive to cook at home huh? Maybe I should go vegan..... err maybe not :)

Okie.. I have so much homework its insane. Back to the grind!

I made it to 6am classes all four days this week! Whew, today was tough because I hardly got any sleep. Stayed up until DH got home (10), then tossed and turned, then he and Rita kept me up.

But I made it! Can't imagine how decedant it will feel to sleep in until 6 tomorrow. hehe.

And today is Thursday - my "de-stress" day (ironicly - I just got pulled away from my desk for about 20 minutes for something VERY stressful).

But anyway, I am getting a massage this evening, then stopping at Boston Market to pick up dinner (chicken, steamed veggies, cinnamon apples, cornbread and dessert Mmmm), then to Blockbuster to pick up another movie. Won't watch it tonight because of the Survivor premiere, but DH is gone this weekend (Camping with female friend - how cool of a wife am I?) so I will have Movie night on Saturday.

I can't wait! I know I am way too excited, it's very pathetic. But oh well...

I think my weekend is going to interupted by a vet visit. Snake has not had an "movement", and I don't know how long she can continue. Plus, I cannot give her mineral oil with out DH!!

And Rita's ears are bothering her. Great, she barely will come out from under the bed, and now I have to be a meanie and clean her ears.

Monique - I was a vegetarian for about 3 years while I was a teenager, but I must admit that I eat more vegetables now than I did then! Ever since I've always enjoyed trying soy products.

How are you doing? Any of that evil caramel corn left?

TankGirl - Congrats! If you have made a real effort to eat well this past week, then 3 lbs. is not unheard of. Take it for what it's worth and use the great feeling to do well next week!

I think you are smart to vary your calories so much. It is really true that you feel better when you listen to what your body needs. Sometimes that can be 1000 calories, sometimes 2000.

Tanya - glad to see your face and hear that you're feeling better. I can't tell how many times TOM has snuck up and pulled a whammy on me! I like keeping a chart of my weight and when TOM is - that way I can remind myself the next time it comes around.

Hope everyone is doing well. I am riding a high...I will try to not be dissapointed come Monday no matter what the scale says.

BTW - During this time of bouncing around 146.5, sooo many people commented that my face was looking thinner. I think there may be some truth to the whole concept of your body "catching up" when you lose weight.

I'll just try to remember that next time!

I am sitting here dying to leave (struggling with concepts that make brain hurt - prolonged exposure must surely be fatal) and I am sneaking on the web more than I should, so I thought I'd post two funny things that happened to me today.

Funny thing #1. I brought a rarely worn outfit to wear to work today. It had been tight last time I wore it. It has some weird pants with a half elastic and half cloth waist.

When I put it on, it almost fell off! The elastic half and my large hips (that's a proud statement, BTW) kept them up, but there was literally about six inches of cloth hanging down from my belly button!!

Now remember, I'm at the gym. 45 minutes from my house. 20 minutes before I plan to be at work.

But, I did not panic at all because the safety pin fairy had been already been by, and sprinkled one right on the changing bench. So, yay to the safety pin fairy and yay to me for getting into such a silly situation!

Funny thing #2. Since I am going to have a larger dinner than usual tonight, I was very frugal with my sweet potato for lunch. It was a large sweet potato anyway, probably ½ of it would be considered one portion, so I took less than 1/3 of it, cut it raw, and packed it for lunch.

When lunchtime rolls around, I put it in the microwave for 6 minutes like I always do with all my potatoes.

Do you see the issue here? This was not like "all my potatoes" - it was almost 2/3 smaller! I had sweet potato jerky for lunch.

Which didn't taste too bad actually, it was kind of good that way….but it just goes to show what happens when you don't adjust your way of thinking when it comes to your portions!

Fell off the veggie wagon..
 

ugh...well, i broke down and drank some milk today. The soy milk is just so nasty! I bought some 2% for the kids because they weren't going for the soy at all. I also had minestrone in it- it had some animal product in it :( Well, I *did* admit that I have stuff in my house that has meat in it still...I'm not keen on just throwing it out, but I'm not keen on the idea of actually eating it either- what's a girl to do? :shrug: Oh yeah- and I ate some supreme pizza last night. I have run out of vegetarian stuff and we can't buy groceries unti tomorrow (payday). I have one lb of hamburger left that I said I would cook this weekend, but man I'm really dreading it- I may just have to make a big salad and eat that myself and let the rest of the family be carnivorous. I thought I was going to gag trying to get that pizza down...even though it probably wasn't real meat anyhow (you know, a cheapie party pizza). Anyhow, I am *almost* out of meat products so I can start fresh with my grocery shopping. Gosh, I felt so good until I ate that pizza, but it really grossed me out!

On a better note, despite my ankle injury, I managed to dance around my house while trying to clean it today. It wasn't very strenuous, but at least I was up and moving- actually it was easier to dance than to walk... :?: I dunno- seems a little odd to me, but whatever. I am going to try to get my tennis shoes on tomorrow and see if I can walk well enough in them to maybe take a very short walk.

Monique: I *love* caramel corn- it would have been long gone if it were in front of me!

FM: That's great! Glad the safety pin fairy visited! I wish I had that problem...well except that I can't buy any new clothes...

Tankgirl

I'm feeling a tad witchy (or something that rhymes with it) so bear with me here…

Yesterday was a great de-stress day. I was very happy to find out that the masseur I had previously (which I thought had quit) was still there and gave me a great massage.

Dinner was perfect, and I felt very full but without eating to the point I was sick. And while buying dessert, I considered getting 3 (2 for me, 1 for DH), but I told myself I wasn't kidding anyone, DH almost NEVER eats dessert when I buy them, so it was really going to be like 3 for me. So I only got 2. And only ate 1 ½. I was pretty impressed with myself.

The problem I had with yesterday is that DH is going to be gone all weekend. I volunteer weekends, he doesn't. So, while I clean the bathrooms (men do NOT know how to clean bathrooms), do the grocery shopping, most of the dishes and generally tidy, he cleans the house on the weekends.

Did he even make an attempt yesterday? Nooooooo….Now, I had asked him to fold some laundry that had been sitting on the floor since Tuesday. He decides I meant for him to do ALL his laundry. He literally said to me, "Well, you asked me to do laundry…" My note specifically only mentioned that one pile. Why can't men break down things and multi-task? It is ALWAYS all or nothing.

And it's not fair because I can't be mad about the vacuuming (which I also specifically asked him to do), because he did "laundry" all night. Hello? How are you "doing" laundry during those 30 minutes that the machines are doing the work?

Hurmph. Perhaps I'm pissed because vacuuming is my second-least favorite cleaning activity. Dusting comes in first, and I have to do that tonight as well.

And don't tell me that I could let it go for a week, because a lot of times DH skips many dusting items. ("Did you dust?" "Yes" "Did you dust the coffee table?" "Yes" "It's funny how it gets so dirty so quickly…." "….")

For someone who finds being called a liar the worst insult ever, perhaps he should confess his dusting indiscretions. I mean, come on, does he think I'm BLIND???

Besides that, I am pissed off because it has come clear this week that I will not be able to attend my 10-year high school reunion, one of my reasons to lose weight and become a complete knockout.

I can't go because someone who shares duties with me booked a trip without asking about my schedule. Her attitude is, "Why don't we train someone else?" Gee, call my responsible, but since the two of us are supposed to be in charge of this, how about we live up to the commitment and not foist it on others?

If it sounds like I'm being a stuck-up martyr, let me assure you that if these were copying/filing-type duties, I'd be willing to consider it. But this has to do with caring for a disabled animal who needs consistency in her care-taking and every little detail of her life must be documented. The only reason two people rather than one are caring for her is so that the primary keeper (her) can get some days off and there is someone to cover when a keeper is out of town.

There are other reasons why I can't go, but this is long enough already. Suffice to say, while I am feeling a tad virtuous and high-and-mighty for not just booking my trip and ASSUMING everyone would pick up my slack, it is annoying as **** that everyone else in the world isn't as considerate.

To be honest, I really don't care that much about the reunion. It's just that it was a made-for-TV-movie waiting to happen. I was a gross, uncomfortable geek in high school - now I have a great job, a MS in physics, the coolest volunteer position ever, and a husband who looks like James Dean.

Hurmph. I said I was feeling witchy.

I hope no one finds this post horrible or makes them feel different about me. I truly love my husband, he tries so hard to please me.

And I am really not that upset over the whole reunion. As you see above, it is pretty shallow reasoning that makes me want to attend in the first place. I am not a shallow person, so it was very easy for me to give up the idea of going.

But these nit-picky things just kind of fester in my mind, and I felt the need for a good temper tantrum. Thank you for listening.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled weight loss, already in progress….

wow! you guys have sure been busy posting! & i have been busy at work. i am lost in a sea of paperwork the last few days. my boss is going away for 2 weeks starting on monday, so it's a last minute rush to get all kind of s**t together. aaauuuugggghhhhh!!!!
monique-i don't know if i missed it or what, but i see you are down to 136. good for you! also congrats last night. i know the feeling. i'll sit there thinking about all the things I can eat when my bf leaves or goes to bed. but honestly, this last week since i've been "non-dieting" i haven't really thought about it!
FM-a massage sounds soooo good right now! the last time i had one was after christmas-maybe january or february-my bf & i went w/g.c.'s i bought as an x-mas gift for both of us.
i am not a vegan or a vegatarian (sp?). i love steaks, hamburgers, chicken, etc. you would think i would be anti-meat the way i love animals.

i hated high school. i would never want to go to class reunion in a million years, except for if maybe i were a multi-billionaire & could take my private helicopter. hhhehheheheheh.

anyway, back to the mess!

everyone have a nice weekend!

Monique - The homework is kicking my *** right now. I really should drop my pottery class, but I love it. Although I am a bit frustrated with it today.. but I am sure that will pass. Right now I have my first project for compilers and also for networking in the queue. I hope to get done with the compilers this weekend and start/finish my networking project. I *really* want to get ahead this weekend. I am not necessarily behind.. just feel like deadlines are approaching.

I am actually getting exericse in. I am trying to go Monday, Wednesday, Saturday, Sunday. Friday is optional because its tough to get in before the gym closes and I usually do stuff.

So I am doing the best I can :)

I hope everyone has a a great weekend!!!!!!
-Tanya

Hello all

hope everyone's week has gone well - from all the reading, it seems like it is...

mine has gone okay - started off bad though :( - was sick as a dog on Monday - don't know if it was something I ate for lunch or what, but during a 2.5 hour meeting in the afternoon sitting right behind the heat from an overhead projector, i had to go to the restroom at work and get rid of my lunch - twice...I normally work until 5:30 but finally at 5:00 after my second "return-to-sender" I headed home to get stuck in 1 hr worth of traffic. there is nothing worse than feeling unbelieveably sick and not being able to just drive home!! that night i got sick 2 more times before i finally fell asleep. the next day i stayed home and went to the doctor - :?:

i am feeling much better since tuesday but still haven't made it in to the gym yet this week...

on the plus side though - i haven't had much of an appetite either -- i'll lose weight one "weigh" or another (cheesy joke - I know!! I couldn't resist)

anyway, i wanted to get in on the discussion about men and cleaning - my fiance is really good at cleaning - the two times a year he actually does it!! same with laundry - he hates to iron, so he will make sure when the clothes come out of the dryer, he hangs them or folds them right away - me, i'm too lazy for that!! one plus is that when i got home last saturday evening he was actually cleaning the apartment - that was the best thing ever!!! :cp: even though it's the first time in a really really really long time he has helped me out, the fact that i didn't have to ask or ***** made it all worth it!! now i expect it...whoops! - shouldn't get my hopes up for that one!!

hope everyone has a great weekend! :dancer:

Emily

hooo...I was in a snit this morning! Hehe. My back is bothering me (I think I have been slouching more lately), and I think it just brings out the worst in me!

Thanks for letting me rant. DH has actually gotten a TON better about cleaning than when I first met him.

Tankgirl - everyone takes some adjustment to living a different lifestyle. And going from a meat-eater to a vegan is very tough. It sucks that you don't have many "ready made" choices at the grocery store. If you decide to just eat salad while everyone has the meat, please make sure you are getting enough protein and iron! I used to get a magazine devoted to vegetarians to keep me up-to-date on getting all my nutriants. It also had great recipes!

Monique - hey, we all love cheesecake, and no way should we pass it up for the rest of our lives! But kudos for keeping it to just the cheesecake. That is something I am still trying to master.

I am holding off on buying clothes until the rest of the weight is off, but I can't wait!

Jenn - I pretty much hated HS too, but that had to do with many personal things that were just aggrevated by snotty HS people. I really just wanted to go back home (haven't been in 3 years) and get to see my parent's farm, go up to our summer cabin, etc. But I am thinking that instead of the reunion, perhaps I will just go in August. All of my family (Brother, Dad, Mom) have B-days in August!

I'm glad you had a good week "non-dieting" week. How are you feeling?

Tanya - good for you! Getting exercise AND getting ahead in classes...you go girl! Exercise is always the first thing to leave my schedule when I get busy, yet it's the one thing that makes me feel good! I'll have to remember that come Christmas time.

Emily - poor dear! That sounds absolutely miserable. I can't stand getting stuck in traffic, and that's when I'm feeling well! What did the Dr. say? Do you remember what you ate for lunch? After I've been sick like that, I usually get sick at the smell of whatever food I last ate.

My DH can iron better than me, and sew better than me. I'm actually not sure why we own an iron. If it's wrinkled, I wear it wrinkled. Fashion Plate, I'm not. (I also hardly ever makeup and don't own a blowdryer)

Cat Update: Rita is a bed hog! I woke up hovering on the edge, only to find a fluffy lump wedged between DH and I. Somehow she goes from 6 to 300 lbs while sleeping and could not be budged. I think I will kick her out tonight. She has to learn to live in the whole house, not just under/on the bed.

Well, I hope everyone has a good weekend! The snake has to have surgury, but I have to call back for an estimate and schedule the appointment. I hope they can do it tomorrow. I can't imagine how it feels to be blocked up that long!

Weeeeellllll, I have decided to just got vegetarian. It's a start and I can always dump the dairy later on if I still want to. I *do* want to, but I just have very limited choices n what to replace it with. Our grocery store has Morningstar Farms, Gardenburger and Boca Burgers and that's about it. They have tofu, soy cheese (that are gross and VERY expensive), and ground soy (wanna be hamburger meat). Oh and wannabe chicken strips. I found a whole 2 cans of soup that aren't made with beef or chicken stock, and their rice is limited to brown and white. Great selection of beans though! I think I can manage on what's available, but I bought a multi-vitamin/multi-mineral supplement anyways. This weekend I treated myself (I do that about every other weekend)- we went to Quiznos and I had a veggie sub and I got a smoothie from Smoothie King- it was delicious!

My foot is doing better- I think I may actually be able to take a short stroll by next weekend. I had attempted it earlier, but it just wasn't happening.

Well, I better go find out where my kids are...haven't seen them in a while.

Tankgirl

A happy Monday to all. How was your weekend?

Mine was uneventful. I didn't eat the best I could, however it was better than some of my past weekends. It is TOM as well, and I managed to hang on to last week's loss, so I am happy. Happy and back on track.

DH says we have to give Rita back. I think that's because he spent the weekend in a 5 cat/1 dog/1 snake/1 ginuea pig-free house. We'll see.

Snake might not have surgury! She passed some stuff this weekend. Dr. took another X-ray today and wants her to have 1 more mineral oil treatment, 24 hours in a warm bath (how in the heck do I ensure she stays in there for 24 hours?? And keep it warm??), and then leave her be for 3 days and see if anything more progresses.

Do you know how difficult it is to discuss a snake's bodily functions with your grandmother??

Besides many euphemisms, I had a great conversation with my grandma last night. Turns out they are getting a car this week (both were totalled this spring - g-ma won't drive anymore, and it's possible that g-pa shouldn't/can't). And they put their condo in MI up for sale.

This brings tons of feelings/questions into play. I hate that they are getting old, when for so long they acted so young. They traveled extensively, and had a good hand in raising me.

...I also wonder if I will get the new car if it turns out g-pa can't drive....horrid thought I know...but still, they keep mentioning how my current car is getting "ancient" (octogarnian's are calling my 5-year-old car "ancient"..hehe.)

Another bright note in the conversation is that she said my brother has announced the wedding date! (I love his fiance) It's June 28th, which is about 2 weeks after his graduation. Hehe. After having such a long engagement, I assumed they were going to wait until they were free from my parent's aid a little longer than 2 weeks...but now I have a new time and reason to go home this summer. Assuming....(they are young, and come on, I had doubts that *my* wedding was going to occur, so why not wonder about others?)

On the health-front, I made it to the gym this morning but the instructor overslept and by the time she got there, I was feeling good on the elliptical trainer.

My back hurts which is soooo not fair because everyone practically coddled me while volunteering this weekend - it was possibly my least-strenuous weekend since April!

But I didn't sleep well all weekend, so perhaps I twisted and turned too much. At any rate, I think it was a good thing that I didn't do an actual class today. I did 20-minutes in intervals on the trainer, and got to work early. Which means I can leave early. yay me.

I shall cease babbling now.

Tankgirl - good luck with all of these life changes. I think you are doing the smart thing to play around with it. I love Quiznos too, but the ones near work have horribly service.

Monique - Glad you had a good weekend. You certainly seem over your plateau. Could it be for me as well? We shall see on Wednesday... How is the diet coke going?

Everyone - hope to hear from you soon. Have a good day!

good afternoon everyone! i can't beleive it's monday already. :(

i had a nice weekend. went to my first pilates class on saturday. now, i think i will like pilates, but the problem is it 30 min away. it's only 12 miles but it's like 12 miles of traffic lights. ugh! and my first trip there (i have been in the area before but not in a few months) i come to find out one of the roads is under construction. okay-take detour. problem is, i see NO SIGNS FOR A DETOUR. I see one going the opposite direction saying "follow detour" but nothing in my direction. so i drove for a while, and then decided to stop & ask someone, who got me back on track. I ended up getting to the cglass 25 min late! but she actually didn't start activities until I got there. She must have been talking the whole time. Anyway, i was able to go the usual way home, apparently the detour did not apply to the south side of the same road. But I'll have to take an alternate route "To" next time. I hope it's not longer (time wise). I guess i Really don't mind driving there-because what else am i gonna do on a saturday morning anyway. And it doesn't seem like it is 30 minutes because of the start/stop/start/stop flow of the traffic. The class is only saturday mornings from 11-12. I hope we don't get any snow on those days (the class goes through December)!

Monique-congrats on 135!!! it seems like you are really back on track! I am happy for you!! I am happy to report that i have not gained any weight on my "non-diet". :) :) I am definitely "snacking" less, and I feel less & less need to "sneak" food. It is a nice feeling.

I have been looking on the internet for stories to encourage me, and I print them out so that I can read them from time to time. It think it helps to read about other people who have overcame their "obsession" with dieting.

just to throw my two cents in-i take a multi vitamin, calcium, and vitamin C. I read somewhere that if you are on the pill & exercise regularly you should take extra vitamin c. don't ask me why, but i guess it can't hurt. It is only an extra 500 mg daily.

FM-my bf can sew & iron, but he'll only do it if it is 100$% obvious that I do not want to do it, and then he gets all pissy about it. as much as i hate to admit it, i think it he is the old fashioned type that thinks certain things are "womens work" and certain things are "mens work". he denies it though. he does help with the cleaning but i definitely do more than he does. yesterday he broke down & did the dishes. you think i would be happy about this, right? but he says that the garbage disposal "quit working" yeah, why is it that it only stops working when you use it?!?!?!?! I'll have to call the landlords & have them come replace it again. this is the second time. then he said "he did the dishes to be nice to me & so i could relax" and in my head i am thinking "oh so normally it is Jenn's job, but you did me such a big FAVOR" i am such a ***** sometimes. i didn't say that of course, but i was thinking it. i should just be happy he did the dang dishes! (there were a lot of them!)

FM-how is rita-still hogging the bed??

well i better go do some work. going to the gym tonight-aerobics class. yesterday i did 45 min treadmill jaunt, no running, just walking (high speed & incline-my legs are sore today!) and weights.

ttyl,

monique,
congrats on the job! when do you start the new job? what exactly will you be doing?

MSN.Com actually just had a link on sunday about getting over a bad body image. It was a link to lifetimetv.com Unfortunately it was only there for the day. I went to lifetimetv.com to try to find it again but I haven't yet.

well i better go!

Can you guys believe it's the last week in September? The first half of the year always drags (no work-holidays until Memorial day) and the rest of it just flies. My mother asked for ideas for Christmas last night. Eek!

I admitted it to myself this morning in the gym shower - I cannot keep up the pace with these classes. I noticed in my posts and in my journals that my back has been bothering me more for almost a week.

I really like the idea of having my exercise done and over with before the evening, so I think I will try to still make it to the gym. I'll use the cardio machines and talk with my personal trainer friend about a weight routine.

We'll see if I can keep up this schedule, and maybe I can work in a class here and there when I feel up to it.

I'm feeling pretty blah this week - all those family things going on, my future up in the air (2 years future-time, but I am always the girl with the plan), on top of the fact that I am nervous about weighing in tomorrow. I haven't had a span of consistent losses since the beginning of August. But even if I just maintain on through Christmas, I would end up weighing 5 lbs less than last year's Christmas goal (which I was about 10 lbs over Dec 25, 2001).

I just have to keep focusing on how far I've come, not how much further I have to go.

Monique - I'm so excited for you! What's your new job? I can't remember off hand if you were actively looking, or did this just fall from the sky?

I gave up trying to understand how bad caffeine/nutra-sweet is for you. I think your body will tell you what it needs.

Jenn - I'm so glad your "non-diet" is working for you. Way to go with getting to the class! I would probably have given up and driven home.

I also enjoy success stories and particularly like reading diet journals online. It is nice to read about other people struggling and overcoming with my same obstacles.

Rita is still a bed hog. And she's still there to hog it. She is becoming more adventurous and I think I will put the litter box back in it's room (cat's own the 2nd bathroom) and see what happens. We see the friend who we borrowed her from tomorrow. I hope DH doesn't say she has to go yet!

Well, I guess I should go get stuff done. I really haven't adjusted to getting up so early yet - I definitely do not have as much energy to work as I usually do. (Such a pity, I know) On the other hand, I fell asleep quite well last night with no drugs. Not something that usually happens to me...

Take care everyone!