Cataclysmic - I get a gold star! We are here for you to share those types of things. We want to support you in your efforts to get healthy, and that means supporting through the good and the bad. Let it out! We all have rough times, now you just have to pick yourself back up, dust yourself off and get back on track. Maybe the diet plan that you are using is not working for you. Can you explore other things? Such as if you are calorie counting, maybe try Weight Watchers instead. Or if the counting and tallying doesn't work for you, try something like South Beach where there is no counting involved?

rainbow stripe- I can't believe I have not shared yet with you my jealousy that you are a kiwi, I am obsessed with NZ!! I seriously can't imagine how awesome it would be to live there ( i actually have 2 friends that do. my dream is to visit before i turn 30, and well i am already 27). It seems to be such a beautiful (or more it is) country, where abouts do you live-sorry if thats too personal? Are you near the beach?
I need to have mini goals for myself, so i understand the wanting something to look forward to. Though i may take it a little too far in general, b/c i have an issue w/constantly planning out the future and not really living as much in the present. Err.

Rissa- Hello there! That's awesome about the supportive bf, always a major plus to have someone like that in your corner. As you can see by my above incredibly self absorbed post, self control isn't my strong suit. Hey, for the last 2 months i didn't have one day off plan, and i'm constantly surrounded by tempting food (live w/my parents. oh so sad) and didn't cave before, but it was allowing one bite of a "no no" binge food (pizza is a trigger for me) and all bets were off.
Depression and anxiety are SERIOUS issues for me (as in i've been hospitalized due to well, basically having a nervous breakdown for lack of a better word) so I understand that. I went off all my medication (and um ate my feelings to death-after not eating too much for many years) which wasn't exactly the best idea, but I'm dealing with it. I've been on/off meds since I was 16 (im 27) and I can definitely attest that exercise is probably one of the most powerful things to use to help yourself. So cheers to that. Eating well, is also incredibly helpful-food is a powerful drug in of itself (as i know on both sides of the coin). I'm actually a fan of green smoothies myself! I love fruit, but on my diet plan atm its something that I limit myself. I actually even love vegetables more, so its all ok. I have been waiting to see a counselor for awhile since i moved, I see someone 9/20. Kinda nervous. It's a shame how difficult it tends to be to get in to be able to talk to someone, its so frustrating.


everlasting- Wow, i'll keep my fingers crossed for all conditions that will affect your marathon, that's awesome your doing that!!!! I have actually ran 2, and am just now starting to run again after a near year long hiatus. My marathons were 4 years ago though, hopefully one day i'll do that again. I would be at a total loss for any computer programming anything-that stuff is a foreign language to me.

brooksrm- Sorry to hear things are going so roughly for you right now, you have some great goals in place though. Exercise and better eating can and will help battle depression and the like, but in plenty of cases that alone won't do the trick, as i'm sure you know all too well. Good for you for taking the first step in talking to someone, and don't belittle yourself for it! **** i've been in and out of therapy for good knows how long and I haven't figured out how to seemingly effectively battle my own demons yet. As a matter of fact in my most intense running days I was pretty much off my rocker. I literally was just trying to run away from my life i suppose. I finally am at a point (after literally screwing up life up totally however, so i suppose i'm a bit of an extreme ex and am never comparing myself to any of you all!) that I hope to tackle my problems head on and learn to accept myself. Best of luck to us both.


TBC, (have to get to class!) goodness takes me forever to write these!

cataclysmic: You're admitting all of that, and that's something. I've been in a similar position and I know how easy it is to lose control. Not socializing can have a big impact, because I've found the most important thing is to have a good support network.. so just make sure you talk our ears off :) Seriously though, feel free to message me anytime, sometimes a good talk helps tremendously.

Risssa College student. More or less... just a local community college for now, so I don't particularly count it :p

Thanks for the kudos on resisting dinner. I made a veggie-laden stir fry with wheat pasta and it was delish! AND, I felt about a millions times better than I would have after a fatty, calorie and sodium filled buffet meal.

Tuesday. Hmph. Monday went well diet-wise, but I totally skipped my planned workout. It became obvious yesterday as my to-do list increased exponentially through out the day, that it would be very unrealistic to expect actual workouts to happen this week. Classes opened yesterday, so I spent some of my time scheduling out my first few weeks of assignments so I could get everything due this weekend done before I leave. I tried to schedule in a to-do list including workouts, buuut.. I'll just play it by ear, I suppose.

I am so overly beyond ready to be out of town for a few days. Work is just BS the last week or two, and I need to get the **** away. I won't have a lot of time with the husband, as he'll be hunting, but I'll probably go out an afternoon or two with him. The rest of the time I'll be shopping and having girl time with my MIL, so that's perfectly relaxing as well :) Just being out of Daytona will relieve about a zillion pounds of stress, I think.

Hello! Yesterday was a great day of workout for me, but not so much with my eating. I need to keep myself on track and eat a bit healthier. I can't wait to workout today after class! CPR test first then work out time! :)

Good morning ladies!! So I have been on and off track all day for the past week and have only worked out once. But I have been so exhausted between work and the kids I feel like I'm gonna lose my mind haha.

So I am totally behind on any personals because I have been POed at 3FC lately for taking forever to load all of the pages. Thank god it sseems to be working normally now. I may catch up.

Will do my weigh in Friday morning...hoping to be down after I was back up.

jenn- Thank you so much. I have been thinking about where to go from here, and I think over-all the successes still far out weigh the negatives of my current plan so I think I'll stick to it- though its not any actual "plan" its just rules i made i try to stick to. I think eventually after I lose another 15/20 I might try sticking to phase 1 of south beach for the rest of the weight loss phase b/c of how much harder it will get to lose- though i am sure i'll always still to calorie counting b/c that's a pretty hard and fast rule I have that works for me. For awhile I was actually really just having protein shakes and one "meal". I think i might go back to that for a bit to get back on track. It's boring and rough for me, but if i seem to try to change anything/snack at all I apparently screw up badly. I am so all or nothing that I have to go to great lengths to stay where I need to be.
I love the things you post meal wise, thanks. I'll eventually incorporate them into my life one day haha. Always great to be able to get rid of clothes that are too big and will never fit again, but it sure can be frustrating when you lack clothes that fit at current weight. I have a great wardrobe of clothes that i honestly wonder when/if will ever fit again- and I am not about (or able to afford!) getting things that will fit currently when I'm not going to weigh this for long (hopefully, knock on wood!) so its the same few things i wear. Its not a good look to say the least!

ade903- I'll be an undergrad at over 30-yikes (as i plan to later go back for a full BS but ill be 30 before i even get the degree i am working on now)! Congrats for you are in order i see!! And in both life and weight, nice.

casey- Hope you feel better soon.

Amanda- Thank you as well, thats incredibly sweet of you- it really means a lot to me. I was such a social person, so its a major change. I think in the end it will be worth it, a lot had to change for me to have a shot at a decent life though i wouldn't advise anyone to go to the lengths i have to do so.
Oh mini vaca!! Awesome, glad you ahve that to look forward to.

Kaynicole- While I am sure its has it negatives to the amount of time you get to spend together (happy anniversary!) its awesome that he was able to get a second job for sure.

raznt- I feel your pain. All i can do is look back on my poor choices the day before and try to not let it happen again. so far so good today.

Ah, and i still didn't do all the replies i meant to. Wow i'm slow lately.

Last night, I did something different. When I finished my meal I was not “full” I was satisfied but felt like I could have another serving of veggies or some more quinoa. But I decided not to. Part of me felt like I was cheating myself. Another part of me felt like it was ok. And sure enough, an hour flew by and I realized I was not hungry – I did not want or need any more food.

Today is weigh in day. And I am down 2.4 lbs from last week! I am now 191.2. I am almost out of the 190s!!!

I am still surprised at times, how easy this round of weight loss has been. I just take it one day at a time and constantly readjust my strategy. Eating healthy and losing weight have never been this “normal”. There are times where, after the fact, I realize I ate too much or I should not have had the 4th cookie. But I think the difference now is, I adapt and make a plan to not make the same mistake. And if I consciously decide to eat that cookie, you better believe I am going to enjoy it.

My 10 fruits and veggies a day challenge. Yesterday I hit 7.5 servings. I upped the veggies in my smoothie this morning so I should be at 9 at the end of the day. The funny thing is, I remember 4 years ago when it was hard trying to eat 4 servings of fruits and veggies in one day. It’s nice to see to see how far you’ve changed in other ways besides the scale.

As Aristotle said “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”

Cataclysmic: what happened, happened. You understand your trigger and that you need to improve. I read a quote that said if you don’t fail you are not trying hard enough. I know I’ve been on a food bender before and it always sucks when you realize what’s been done. As Doc Oz put it “take a U-turn”. Learn from this and keep moving forward. Japanese Proverb “Fall seven times and stand up eight.” You can do it. I understand how frustrating it is to be able to get an appointment. I am still waiting to see one of the discount counselors. Apparently I am at the top of the list.

Wonderball – don’t you love that feeling of looking forward to your workouts!!!

Just finished my wonderful green smoothie and now I am off to run errands on my lunch hour on this rain, gross, yucky day in Vancouver.

Cataclysmic Don't apologise for letting out what is bugging you and telling us about what's going on - that is what we're here for, to give support in good times and bad times. It's great that you can admit you did something you perhaps shouldn't have, and I think it's also good that you're going to re-evaluate your plan. Don't keep things bottled up with us! If you don't feel like you have anyone irl to vent to, you can always count on us here at 3fc.
Also, as for New Zealand - haha! I live in Auckland, between my boyfriends parents place and my parents place. At his place, I can walk to the ocean in about 5 minutes. At my place, I can drive to some of the best beaches in about 20-30 minutes. The ocean is never that far away, and that is something that I am really grateful for here in NZ...but I do think we lack a lot that the US and Europe/UK have - choices at the supermarket, choices for clothing, expensive to travel anywhere other than here or maybe Australia - but I shouldn't complain, it's a great place to live! Feel free to ask anything!
As for the mini-goals and things to look forward to, I'm still at a bit of a loss as to what to make as the goals and things to look forward to haha!

Jenn I may just make it for them! I love onion if it's cooked, so I might use as much as it says or perhaps a bit less.

Amanda I'm actually excited for you and your little trip out of town! I want to take a little trip out of town haha. My boyfriend is talking about going to "the snow" ie, somewhere with snow, for a weekend soon, but he really shouldn't with the amount of work on his thesis he has to do and I work Friday afternoons and Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, so that doesn't really leave much time for me to even think about going.

Risssa Isn't it so good when you get to that stage when you're really aware of how much you're eating and how you feel after eating a decently portioned meal? You know you could eat more, but you also know you don't need to? I LOVE that. Also, consciously making decisions to "eat that cookie" like - I love that I don't just mindlessly eat anymore! I think about the calories, whether I can afford them, whether there is something more beneficial for me to be eating, whether I really need to eat it!
I am still really intrigued by your green smoothies... are they.. sweet? What do you put in them?
~~~

Alright... so after yesterday was really ****ty for no reason and I felt so horrible all day, I came home and kind of just perked up a bit. The salmon was really good - my family had a salad but since I'd had a big one for lunch, I used a frozen steam pack of corn/carrots/sugarsnap peas.
I wish I'd gone to sleep a little earlier last night as well, but I didn't. I am feeling exponentially better this morning. I wanted to sleep in for hours, but decided to get up and get my exercise done before my dentist appointment.
I did 20 min turbo jam workout and felt really really gross and overworked and unwell sometimes - just goes to show that sometimes you think you are doing things with maximum effort and then when you actually do - well, I think this morning is evidence of what happens. I kept going but I was glad to finish, and even though it was only 20 minutes, it was RIDICULOUSLY intense. Had a delicious banana smoothie, showered, went off to my dentist appointment. I hate dentists, I am not going to go into it now it would make my essay more like a novel haha.
Now I'm just relaxing and trying to decide what to cook for dinner tonight. I'm guessing you all won't be around today, but if anyone is I would really appreciate recipe ideas! I have to keep in mind my dad's requirements, which is that he is Type 1 Diabetic and therefore has to be low sugar, fairly low sodium and not too many high Glycaemic Index Carbs (white bread, potatoes etc..) and my mum wants me to make something with chicken. I have no idea what to make, I was thinking of just doing something mexican ish with some salsa etc... maybe some wholewheat tortillas, kind of a twist on an enchilada or something...
Anyway, I won't ramble on any longer, I am very aware I write epic posts that most likely aren't read haha.

Jumping into the weekly chat late this week.... I feel dead already! x____x

It's my last week as a nanny for my two cousins, but I have a few other short-term jobs lined up for the fall (thank god, because I'm booked solid with traveling).

Today I have been working on my final website project for my web design class and allll of my energy went into it today. I literally just posted the project-in-progress in my lab folder in class.

I still haven't really gotten a solid workout in, except for hiking last Friday. And the heat spiked back up to 95-100 this week. (Fall, where did you go!?)

The good thing to report is that I'm getting my eating back under control! I still haven't started formally counting my calories again on sparkpeople yet, but I'm not the ravenous beast I've been for the past three or four weeks.

And now for some knitting and then sleeeeep!

Rainbow - see http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/bl...esadillas.html

I made these for lunch (I throw in some spices, because I love spicy food) and they are quick, easy, and delicious. I eat them with a side of mexican-quinoa (see below, I just use quinoa instead of rice).

closetcooking.blogspot.com/2009/01/mexican-rice.html

Both yummy, yummy, delicious, delicious, delicious!

Green Smoothies: It started with a 2 day cleanse and they had a berry smoothie. And then I figured "let's up the health content" and now, I have it for breakfast.

This morning I had:
-1 cup of frozen berries (I nuke them for 20 s so they are slightly melted, makes for a smoother smoothie)
-2 cups of mixed greens
-1 cup of spinach
-1 cup of almond milk (I don't drink milk or soy milk, but either would work)
-a dollop of organic french vanilla yoghurt (for flavour, its optional)
-2-4 tbsp of wheat germ (for mood support)
-sometimes cocoa powder.
-sometimes grapefruit (for something tart).

My bf says "it tastses like green". I don't mind the taste and by noon I had ~5 servings of fruits and veggies and good mood support.

Play around with different combos of fruit and veggies and mix it up. I assemble the smoothie in a container in the fridge the night before and blend it in the morning.

Anyone tried cold Swiss Museli before? I am thinking of trying some this weekend. I have a recipe to try.

On a diabetic note - cinnamon helps with insulin sensitivity!

hi ladies jsut sticking my head in for the week, TOM arrived and i'm not going near the wii fit for now. my anniv is saturday and we still dont have plans yet they might get cancelled thanks to Earl...i hate the summers in VA

platformnine Yay for being back on plan! I'm worried about heat + exercise as well - we're heading into Spring here and I hate the heat! Also I keep meaning to say, I really like your pic - your glasses are awesome hehe!

RisssaThanks for those links! I actually just cooked up the filling for some enchiladas which I'll assemble and bake later - chicken breast, green and yellow bell peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes, garlic, seasoning - will use wholegrain tortillas and a bit of light cheese and salsa on top. Will definitely keep those recipes aside for later though! Also the green smoothie..still scares me haha, and less for the fruit this time! Maybe I'll try to add some berries to my banana smoothie as a way to get more fruit. I am already eating things I would usually avoid, the bell peppers are an example, before today I had NEVER bought or cut them up myself and would usually avoid them in a meal!

lissa Silly TOM. I know that I really hate exercising when I've got my period, like REALLY hate. It just feels so uncomfortable with the cramps and the bloating, but I think I'm going to force myself next time it comes around, otherwise I'll feel lazy - of course that's what I'm saying, I never know what I'll actually do!

Erg. I was just talking to the boyfriend and we were talking about getting healthier. He said that we just need to admit that we have both gained a lot of weight since we started dating. I know that I have... and I gained most of it when I went on birth control. It just sucks to hear someone say that. Oh crap, now I am slightly venting on this. Well anyway, I guess its just better motivation...

Hey Kaitlyn89, I know EXACTLY where you're coming from. It sucks. The pill made me gain weight and then when I got with my current boyfriend, we both put on quite a bit in the first 4 months we were together. He managed to lose his and more when he spent 6 months overseas, I only managed to lose some of mine and then gained some back.

It's good to get motivated! Everyone here is really good motivation - I find that seeing other people doing similar things to what I'm doing and doing it in a committed way is great motivation. Even sharing little mistakes we make along the way is reassuring. It's just good to have others around for support so make the most of it!

Thanks, Rainbow! I'm getting more and more excited, too.

This week is all about making it by the skin of my teeth, haha. I'm missing the gym (woohoo! Love when that happens!) and might just shove it right in the middle of things tonight. I've come to terms with the fact that this week won't be the week I get on a proper schedule for sleeping, so I can do a few things when I get home, hit the gym, and stay up a bit later finishing the rest of my list for today.

Two of my very good friends have a membership at the same gym I do, and are trying to lose weight. They prefer morning workouts, as do I because I feel like the morning is wasted time (of course when I'm in bed sleeping, it sure doesn't feel wasted :P) and my evenings fill up sooooo quickly. I did it for a while, but couldn't keep it up. We're going to try starting mornings next week. I'm thinking if I just suck it up and do it for a week or two, it will become routine and I'll be feeling the benefit, further motivating me to drag my butt out of bed.