Morning lovelies!

Today is my LAST first day of undergrad. Pretty excited.
Last week I lost 2.4 lbs, making it 9 total and hit my 5% goal.

Pretty busy, but will be popping in and out.

Have a good Monday!

Mondays = Not a fan. It doesn't help that I'm sick... again :(

There will be no working out for me today. As soon as I get off work I'm taking thera flu and going to bed. I will be sure to drink lots of water and stay in my calorie range though.

Ade: Congrats on meeting your goal! My goal for August was to make it to the 150's but I don't think that is going to happen. That's OK though, I just keep reminding myself, its just a number. My belly looked much slimmer from the side view in the mirror this morning so that made me feel good :)

Jenn: Congrats on your loss! I still have a plan to try one new recipe every week. I was going to do that yesterday, but I got sick and did not feel like going to the store OR cooking. So, I will be doing that this week!

Jes: :wave: Welcome! Yay for your Grandma buying you nutrisystem! That's a great way to jumpstart your diet. My dad, recently started the nutrisystem for diabetics and lost 10 pounds the first week :eek: I was like Holy crap Dad, it takes me like 3 months to lose 10 pounds! lol, I'll forgive him though because he has a lot more to lose than me, and I'd say a lot of it was water weight.

Thanks casey! I wish I would have lost 10lbs in the first week. But I will settle for small baby steps. and yes mondays do suck. I was up at 4am this morning for a 9 hour shift. I have another 3.5 hour shift to work at another pool oy!

ade: what are you going to school for? and congrats on reaching your goal!

Wow, I had lots of reading to do to catch up after not being around most the weekend.

Saturday I did indeed get to the gym and ate a big salad, bunch of grapes, and small slice of extra sharp cheddar cheese for early-ish dinner before going to a friend's house. Drinks were consumed, but I snacked minimally so I'm fairly satisfied with that. We went to the springs Sunday and another really good friend of mine was able to meet us there with his son, so between hauling around 3 kids all day and playing in the water I burned some calories. Coupled with an upper body workout at the gym the day before, it made for some seriously sore arms today, haha.

A friend texted me a bit ago to see if my husband and I were interested in dinner at a local buffet and I totally told her I pass in favor of a healthier dinner. She's trying to lose weight also so her response was encouraging, and I feel really great about making the right decision. I ate not so well yesterday, but there's always time to salvage that.

We're leaving for a mini-vacay Friday, so I'll be busy this week and trying to fit in proper workouts around animal prep, laundry, packing, shopping, and salon time. Oh, and classes started today so I'll be spending today through Thursday to get well ahead so I won't have to worry about doing anything while I'm out of town for four days.

Geesh, gone for a couple days and I have pages of reading to catch up on! :D Looks like you ladies were active all weekend. I had a very quiet weekend since my husband picked up some overtime and worked a second job. He went into work before I got up and came home well after I went to bed. :( poor guy.

Anyway, happy Monday everyone!

Urgh, Tuesday. I am feeling pretty lethargic and fatigued today, seems to be a trend this week so far.

jes Welcome!

CheleI hope your first day back at school was ok and not too unbearably hot!

JennDid you mention that Texas Beef recipe last week? I really want to try that one, you'll have to let us know how it is - I'm definitely seeing some cooking in my future since my boyfriend's mum is away for a week and a half so I'll probably end up cooking for him and his dad - which is great as it means I can control what I'm eating haha! Also I am really looking forward to being at a stage where I know I need new clothes! The only thing that is noticeably a little big on me are my jeans, but even then I can kind of just wash and shrink them a little.

ade Congratulations on meeting your 5% goal! I didn't even know about percentages of weight or whatever until I looked it up yesterday and found I'd lost 7% or something! I hope you are enjoying your last year of being an undergrad!

caseyI really hope that your illness isn't too terrible, and that you feel better soon! Last year I was sick literally... 5 times in the space of 2 months, it only went away for a couple of days at a time - it really sucks to be sick:hug: I know where you're coming from with Dads and diabetes - my Dad was misdiagnosed as Type 2 when he actually has Type 1, so in the space of 3 months he went from being 100kg to 66kg (220pounds to 145pounds) and I was in awe - we didn't actually know he'd been misdiagnosed til recently so kind of just assumed it was the change in his diet. My mum was jealous and I was a little too. But now he's being treated properly he's put some back on and actually looks a lot better - he got too small and weak and was all bone and no muscle as he wasn't exercising.

Amanda Go willpower at saying no to the buffet! I have texts at least once a week from my sister suggesting restaurants or icecream or other things I shouldn't really be doing on a regular basis, so I don't. It's also fairly dangerous going to her house haha! Your weekend sounds fun! And a mini-vacation sounds extra fun!

KayNicoleHopefully you and your husband get to spend some time together this week! For the next few months my boyfriend will be writing his thesis so spending very long hours at university - I basically only see him at bedtime or just before. I guess the overtime for your husband is a good thing though? Extra money is usually always needed right!

So Tuesday. As I said, urgh. REALLY not feeling it unfortunately. I'm wondering why I'm so tired and maybe wondering if I'm not getting enough of some vitamin or mineral or something. Right now the only thing I'm looking forward to is dinner. I know that is terrible, I tried to tell myself that I had to stop looking forward to food - but I know that's unrealistic as I really love food! And what I'm looking forward to isn't unhealthy, it's something I've been craving for AGES. Hopefully we actually have it - we're meant to be having baked salmon and something else. Not sure what else, some veges but the salmon is the main thing. I don't know why I crave it sometimes. I love baked salmon with a bit of lemon pepper and drizzled in fresh lemon juice.
I'm taking today off from exercise as there was no way I could get up early this morning before work to do it and I won't get a chance after work either unless I do it after dinner. But I'll still get in 5 days this week so it's fine to take today off.
My scale does not appear to be moving this week, which is kind of sad, but I still think I could have a loss, I just need to keep my weighing to once or twice a week, I am getting stupidly obsessive and will hop on all the time just to see what's happening. I did it last night after dinner which was ridiculously idiotic, of course it was going to be higher at the end of the day!
I think I've written another essay in here so I'm going to stop. I feel very whiny today and I really just want to go back to bed haha.

Congrats Ashely! My one year anniversary with my company is coming up in a few weeks. I just had a meeting with the partner of the firm I work out and found out what my new raise and bonus will be! I am quite excited. Due to the economy, the raise was not as much as it could be in our industry (it was 14%) but I am still happy about it!

Caseygail, Monday’s are the start of a new week! They are quite delectable. I thinking starting my Monday mornings with a gym session certainly helps!!!

Jes, that sounds like a long day!

Amanda are you a teacher?

Kaynicole, I like your mini goals there! I am going to incorporate some of them into my signature (once I am allowed a signature)!!!

The file I was working on crashed. Waiting for IT to fix it. I should start my accounting course during this down time, but for now I will just peruse the site.

The quesadillas and mexi-quinoa I made this weekend for lunch are both delicious and spicy!!!! And they were quick and easy and healthy!!!

Rainbow- I hope we get to spend time together soon. Our anniversary is Friday but I realized earlier today that I will spend most of the day alone! That will be weird but you are right, it is a good thing. He was unemployed for over a year and a half so he has some making up to do! ;) I hope your dinner is great! It sounds great!

Risssa- Thanks! It took me awhile to come up with them but I can't wait until I can say I have met every one of them! This next goal has been a long battle... still have 8 lbs to go! I am sure you will come up with some fun ones, can't wait to see what they are. :D

i have just destroyed my menu for the day.....for dinner i was supposed to have a nice big tuna salad from subway but instead i got a 6 inch cheese steak sub with tomatos, lettuce, onions, green peppers, PEPPER JACK CHEESE, MAYO, AND CHIPOTLE SAUCE ON WHITE BREAD, AND 3 CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES..............:?::?::?:......why did i do that....my day had went sooooo well :(

Rainbow ~ Today wasn't too bad considering how hot it was outside, but tomorrow is supposed to be at least another 7 degrees hotter which should be good times....especially when the kids are actually in the building so there's more body heat.

Risssa ~ Leftovers are awesome....especially when you're really excited about them!!!

Amanda ~ Good for you for passing on the buffet. Although I'm sure it stunk missing time with your friends, it's definitely a lot healthier!

My first day back was good. It was just teacher meetings all day long, but we were given a lunch break and we went to a local sub shop. I ended up making a salad and then had to splurge on a kiddie ice cream ;) LOL I made it up to NH afterwards to get my new glasses and I absolutely love them!!! They're very chic ;)

I feel like such a little kid....haha. I have my first day of school outfit all picked out and my lunch made and my bag packed. LOL

I attached a picture of my new glasses!! They're pink on the inside, which kind of makes me really happy ;)

do you ladies know how I can get a signature? Is there a time period I have to wait or a post amount I have to reach?

KayNicole Ooh your anniversary! Exciting! I hope you manage to get in some good quality time then at least and do something fun to celebrate!

Chele I can kind of sympathise because I know that I don't really like extreme heat - but right now I'm kind of sick of winter and would love for the sun to actually stay out and heat things up! I want Daylight Savings NOW - do you guys have Daylight Savings?

raznt Its ok! Just pick yourself up and move along. Acknowledge what you ate and why you ate it... and then keep going on your usual route! Don't let it fool you into bingeing on other "bad" stuff. Maybe you needed a bit of extra protein/fat or something. I'm not an expert whatsoever but I think it's ok.

Risssa I wish I knew! Have you gone to the User CP page and checked if the option is there yet? If not I guess perhaps you have to be a member for a certain amount of time or have posted a certain amount of posts - sorry I can't be more helpful!

My day took a dip, I started getting really grumpy. I was told by my manager that my earnings are now over the threshold where I have to start paying back my student loan so my tax code has now changed - which means I have money automatically deducted each week to pay off my loan. She told me it was 10% of my earnings per week and I basically freaked out and then phoned my Dad to complain (my parents paid all of my sister's university fees but I had to get a student loan, so he seemed like a good person to complain to). I then found out it's only 10% of anything over a certain amount. So I'm only losing out on $8-9 a week. It's still annoying but there isn't anything I can do about it.
I think that just compounded my already pretty bad mood. I am feeling a bit better now but have not eaten much today. Don't feel like eating my usual snacks so am low on calories, but still looking forward to salmon tonight so that's ok.
I just phoned my dad to apologise, I felt pretty bad taking out my frustrations on him.
I work 2 doors from a Starbucks as well and they have a sign out for Creme Brulee Macchiato - I WANT. But I can't have as I have no idea on the calorie counts. Starbucks here is pretty far behind Starbucks anywhere else I think in terms of informing their customers.

hey everyone,

been a bit mia but i have been kinda on track lol xD I went to my friends wedding on sunday and it was pretty awesome, but since then ive been finding it hard to get back on track and eat things i know are good for me, rather than just having my calories from less nutritious food stuffs :lol: But i have a plan and i'll get back to it tomorrow!

I want to do personals but i have to head off, so I will try in a couple of hours! When im trying not to eat myself out of house and home lol!

Ok. Sorry to have been absent and then come back with a me me me post! I am going to make my next post a reply post, b/c i have a confession and I might lose my nerve to share and i need to vent about it somewhere. I went on a horrid binge.:( Like I ate EVERYTHING i could get into me, ok ok not totally but i am pretty sure i consumed nearly an entire bag of chips among other things. I feel literally sick today, and of course mentally destroyed. I was also drinking, and drinking too heavily (kinda an issue in of itself). I had been doing so well, though I also am aware that how overly restrictive my plan is sets me up for this kind of behavior so I need to re-evaluate things. Yet I also know myself, and know most likely I will restrict my intake that much more to "make up" for the binge. I know better, but doubt I'll change anything with I get really pissed at myself for how much I allow food to control me. Arrggh.:mad:

It's odd, an email from my ex I suppose set me off. We had a particularly painful breakup, and I had not heard from him in well over a year, and never expected to (breakup my fault. well for the most part, its never totally one sided, but i was a raging alcoholic at that time. it took losing a lot for me to start to get my life back together which i am still in the process of doing, now just having to deal w/weight gain on top of it all) and he was really sweet. Just it made me remember a lot, and I hate myself for letting myself "go" like I have. So yeah, consuming a million calories really helped.:snooty:
It will take me nearly a week most likely to lose what i gained, not that i am weighing myself- i feel i'd totally break down if i did that. My weight loss has slowed a lot as it is, and I will lose valuable time undoing this damage and that is unacceptable. However, it is what it is and I can't take it back. I am so mad at myself.

If you read all this you deserve a gold star. I am really sorry to have gone on and on and on like that, it hit me how much I am keeping bottled up now that I don't really socialize/allow anyone to see me.
(another issue i need to deal with i suppose. though nothing will change it, and for the most part until i lose another 20 pounds I will battle constant anxiety doing everything b/c i can't handle my current size, and until i lose it all i'll still avoid old friends)

Rainbow - I did mention the Texas Beef Sandwiches. We made them last night and they were really good! The only thing that I would change about the recipe is the amount of onions. It calls for 2 cups and I think that was a little excessive. Next time i'm just doing 1 cup. They would be a great thing to make for yoru BF and his dad! Very much a man-type meal.

Jazzercise was a no go last night. I rushed home, got dinner ready for my boys, changed and rushed out to class ( a tad late), drive up to the center and there is a sign on the door that class was cancelled. Grrr!!! This means the only night that I can go this week is Wednesday. I hate that! So instead I went back home, ate a yummy Texas Beef Sandwich and played with my little man.

In the 10 minutes that I was gone from the house, my DH had taught Jackson the cutest thing. We call him Monkey, so he has a ton of monkey stuff. Yesterday he was wearing a one piece short/top outfit with a monkey face on the chest. DH would say "ooo ooo ooo" (like a monkey) and Jackson would stop what ever he was doing, bend halfway over and look at the monkey on his shirt then he would "ooo ooo ooo" back. That child is soo stinkin cute! I think his round little belly contributes to the cuteness.