Sgregg - CONGRATS!!!! :hug: :D

I went to the city today with a group of people and we walked around all afternoon, it felt so good to be walking around again! I just hope it cools off soon!

Chele I am so for baby steps when it comes to adding new things into my diet - this week I've used 3 things I would usually not! Capsicum(bell pepper), blueberries, and eggplant! It feels more manageable to me to do it slowly rather than just be like "eat all of this stuff you've avoided RIGHT NOW". Haha.

sgregg Congratulations!

cataclysmic I'm glad we have been able to boost your mood a bit or at least make you feel supported and that you're back on your wagon! Way to go! Just keep "trucking" (I hate that term) along! And thank you for the compliment on my photo/art! That is the only photo I've liked of myself in a long time, hence why it's from March and I have nothing recent since. I feel like I should be taking photos so I have something to compare to along the way.

Amanda Have a fabulous mini-break! Enjoy yourself! I need to get back into the water habit too, I'm ok when I'm at work because I just put the bottle where I can see it and then am reminded to drink, but at home and while I'm out, I just don't drink it enough. I'm trying to do a similar thing to you where I HAVE to drink a glass before I eat, but even then I sometimes forget.

BlcarterI want to move my ticker too! Hah! I sometimes wish I was using pounds as measurement because I'd be moving it more regularly! But I'm used to kilograms, so I can't move it until I lose the whole kg, as my ticker won't do halves. Bleh. So I don't weigh 79 but I don't weigh 78 quite yet either!

casey I think that as soon as you feel well enough too, just jump right back in where you left off! Best way to do it, I know that I am way too good at procrastinating and if I'm sick I even go so far as making the excuse that I don't want to get sick again so don't exercise even if I'm pretty much better.

Kaitlyn I am dying to ride my bike outside again. I love my bike, it was a gift from my boyfriend - but I don't ride it nearly enough and he keeps thinking I don't appreciate it and stuff - really the reason is that as well as the weather being pretty horrible at the moment, I am kind of embarassed to ride in public, same with jogging... I feel like people are looking at me!
As for ideas for your lunches, you could get a small cooler bag and take salads and stuff? Or sandwiches? Cut up vegetables and some light sour cream as a dip? Sorry I don't have the best ideas!


Woooo long personals hehe. I am so glad it's Friday. I don't know why but this week has seemed really long for me so far. I ended up cooking dinner last night for my boyfriend and his dad, I made a lamb, eggplant and chickpea curry. It was pretty good and about 439 cal per serving - which is not too bad for dinner I don't think!
I've gotten into this kind of naughty habit of eating lower calories during the day and I've been kidding myself it's to allow room for the fact I don't always know what dinner will be - but I know it's also because I want to be able to justify eating icecream or something. And so I have been, eating icecream. Mini ones on sticks and stuff. Not even low fat or anything. I stay within my calories (actually have been below most days this week) and my fat/carb/protein ranges mostly, but I still feel like it isn't something I should be eating so regularly! I also find that I am definitely not eating enough during the day and find it getting to 8.30pm and me being like "oh no what can I eat, I'm 400 calories under" and I think that could be what has hindered my loss this week perhaps.
I made a bit of a rash purchase online yesterday, I've been wanting to reward myself in a non-food-related way for being on plan and conscious of what I'm doing for the past 7 weeks - so yesterday I bought the Harry Potter Lego game for Wii. It arrived this morning and I am pretty excited to play it! I think it's a fairly good reward but I don't think I can justify dropping $70-100 every 6 or 7 weeks just to reward myself for doing what I should be doing anyway haha.
Ok, I feel really good having admitted to you guys that I am consciously eating less during the day so that I can eat "bad" things at night and still be in my calorie range. It is still "on plan" but it's not the best way to be on plan. I know I'm even doing it today because I don't know what's happening tonight! I may end up having to get some food out somewhere for dinner, and I may end up going out somewhere and having a few drinks. I'm pretty determined not to go over my upper limit.
Also REALLY glad to have gotten my exercise out of the way this morning before starting work 40 mins ago. Friday is my half day, but I know the last thing I want to do after work on Friday is exercise.

Congrats Casey!!!!! And biking with the boy could be fun! I have a bike and I never use it. Maybe this weekend I’ll take it for a spin. Have you tried asking your b/f to support you instead of talking the nagging approach. Tell him “this is what I am doing, this is why I am doing it, I would appreciate your support”. You might be surprised.

Congrats Rainbow! I am proud of you! Diversity in your diet is a good thing. And be patient with the scale. Our bodies have its own way to working things out.

Congrats Shauna. I know there are threatson weight loss while pregnant (I believe its still possible). I guess the key is not to gain any more non-pregnancy weight. Random fact: while pregnant, the body only needs an additional 300 calories a day – you are not really eating for two!

Cata, that is a lot of stuff you are dealing with . Two questions, is your ticker below accurate? And are you seeing someone about your issues? Remember to take it one day at a time. When you said you did not want anyone to see you, I looked at your ticker and you are 5’8” and 169, is that right? Focus on loving and accepting yourself first. Make that your daily priority. Those feelings of you have can be tough to deal with, but you can do it.

Amanda, sometimes the best thing you can do is to take a break from the scale. Remember that you are getting healthy for more than those 3 digits on the scale.

Kaitlyn – a thermos? Get a thermos and do soups and sandwiches (I looooooooooove soups and sandwiches THIS MUCH!!!!!) Salads are great too!! Salads can be quite fun and taste (and healthy).

Rainbow, I had no idea there was a Harry Potter Lego game. That being said, Iam looking forward to the next HP movie. I do enjoy the Potter movie’s better than Twilight. The books have a greater dimension which lends itself to a better film. An remember it is as much about the calories as it is about the QUALITY of the calories.

I took today off so I have a 4 day long weekend. Bad news, I woke up at 4am (boooo). Oh well. I’ll just nap later. I have a hike planned for today and a session with my personal trainer tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am soo excited. She is awesome and I have not see her since, January, February. I wanted to go back earlier, but I made myself earn the privilege.

I went to a meditation class last night. I decided that meditation is something I want to incorporate into my life on a regular basis. I started with a 1 min daily meditation (increasing it by 1 min a week) and will attend meditation classes to help me along the way. Last night was good. And I am looking forward to the benefits of a regular practice. I also went to Ethiopian food last night. I went once randomly years ago. The boy and I had a double date, and it was good and fun!!! Much better than the previous week’s double date.

Good morning ladies!! Its finally cooling off outside..thank god cuz I thought I was going to die yesterday...sweating. Anyways besides working I have worked out the past 2 days and promise to continue to do so!!

RAINBOW- Ugh KG when I was pregnant they always used both lbs and kgs. But guess what ?! Even though its a killer TOM I am down almost 3lbs woohoo:):)

To everyone else...enjoy your holiday weekend...I will be working:)

Morning ladies... still not feeling well. Mornings are the worst, my head is just full of snot, and I had a terrible nose bleed this morning. Gross I know.. sorry if you have a weak stomach :)

So, I moved to a new city about a year ago. I had lost about 30 lbs before I moved here, so all of my coworkers knew me at that weight. I gained about 15 back. New city, new job, the real world... you know how it goes. I started my healthy lifestyle back in June and have lost about 10 lbs since then. Point of the story: I got my first "I can tell you've lost weight" comment this morning. It was from a fellow co worker and a very close friend. It made me happy, and it sparked up a nice little therapy session. She would also like to lose weight, and I hope that we can motivate one another.

I'm so glad it's Friday... my body needs rest. AND tomorrow is SEC Football time! Woooo Pig Sooie!

Kaitlynn- I want to go on a bike ride too... soooo bad.. However, I need a bike first!

Rainbow- That curry sounds amazing.. send some my way! And the confession is a good thing, sometimes that helps to be accountable. Maybe you can replace the ice cream with something healthy but still satisfying. My treat at the end of the day is a bowl of cereal. I found some whole grain fruit O's made with real fruit..I LOVE. They taste like fruit loops... only they are good for you :)

Rissa - Yay for a 4 day weekend! I'm jealous, I don't even get labor day off. Today and Monday will be soo slooooow and that just makes the day drag by.

BL- Isn't the weather amazing? It felt like fall when I walked outside this morning! The air is so crisp and fresh.. I love it!

Hi all! I hope everyone is having a wonderful Friday! I'm soooo ready for the 3 day weekend!! No real update here. Down .6 from Monday's weigh in (YAY!)

That's pretty much. Gonna try some new recipes this weekend, but haven't decided which ones yet. May do 3 since i have the 3 days off. I will update next week.

So yesterday I biked to my moms school 2 miles... and it was HOT! But I enjoyed it. I ziptied my GPS to my bike so I could see how fast I went hahaha. My average was 10mph. Once I got there, I helped her move books. Heavy books. By the time we were done, it was getting dark so we put my bike in her car so I wouldn't bike in the dark.

Hope everyone has a good friday!!!

Risssa I know what you mean about it being just as much about the amount of calories vs the quality of calories - I do try to make sure that the majority of the time, everything I put in my mouth is meaningful in some way, not just "empty" calories. But I guess that is the thing that I like about calorie counting - that sometimes I can have "empty" calories and not totally ruin my lifestyle haha. Also Harry Potter Lego - yeah! I've played all Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and Batman Lego games and they were all for Playstation 2. Luckily I have a Wii as well because the Harry Potter game was only released for Playstation 3! I am a bit of a geek haha.

Blcarter I kind of wish I was measuring in pounds because I would feel like I was losing faster - but then in kgs I kind of feel more of a sense of achievement with each kilogram haha. I had a dream last night that I was down to 72.5 kilograms, which would have been a 6kg loss. Overnight. I almost expected to get up and weigh myself and have that loss haha.

casey The curry was pretty good! I am thinking about next time making it with just eggplant, maybe no meat to save on some calories. I'm still not sure how I feel about chickpeas either - I'll eat them but I don't love them, would rather have rice. As for replacing the ice cream, I know I could easily do it by eating an apple or something - I love apples. I just usually keep my apples at work haha. And also half the time I eat something like icecream because I am trying to bump up my calories. It's really silly I think, I just need to start eating more during the day!

So it's Saturday morning... I had kind of planned on exercising, but I knew the plan wasn't as solid a plan as it usually is. I've done 4 days this week and I kind of don't feel like it - however I might do some later...I'm not sure though. I'm sure you guys know what it's like to just sometimes REALLY not want to exercise.
I ate something pretty bad last night...had McDonald's for the first time in 7 weeks, maybe longer. I was really craving a McChicken and some fries, so I put them into my FitDay, and went out and got them. Fit into my daily calories (under AGAIN) but I can definitely say that it didn't make me feel the best. My insides (TMI warning) felt all compacted and gross and it definitely did not help any poopy motions haha. It tasted ok but more than anything there was just a lack in the depth of flavours you get when you cook for yourself. I think I could have made a chicken burger that would have been less or similar calories and tasted WAY better. As for the fries, well...McDonald's fries are pretty limp aren't they... my boyfriend and his friend had "gourmet" expensive burgers from this other place - they were MASSSIVE burgers, no way I could have eaten one of those, and I still don't think they're that great for you, even if they do claim to be a "healthy alternative" to fast food burgers. Bleh. I went over what I like to eat in fat grams, so I didn't eat anything after dinner even though I was below my calories.
The weird thing is that I didn't feel that full or satisfied after that meal. Oh well. I have learnt! If I really want to eat McDonalds, at least I know what I'm getting myself into.
I have been craving french toast for a while as well so this morning I made myself a couple of pieces using multigrain bread, light milk and an egg, a bit of vanilla and cinnamon and a drizzle of syrup. More than I usually eat for breakfast but then again, it's nearly 12pm so I think I'll be fine.
I really wanted to go for a bike ride OUTSIDE today - I think that's part of why I don't want to exercise on the stationary bike, especially on a Saturday - I want to be outside in the fresh air! Unfortunately the weather is on and off, raining then sunny, raining then sunny, it's annoyingly unpredictable. So I'm not sure what I'm going to do.
I wanted to go out last night but the boyfriend wasn't keen. We ended up doing a lot of nothing for hours it seemed, and then had a kind of early night for a Friday. Maybe something more fun will happen tonight... I don't know.
I feel a bit weird today so I'm going to go off and find something to keep me busy.

congrats

Question, how do you ladies personally deal with personal acceptance and (I cannot think of another word for it) “fat acceptance”. I personally do not like this idea that beauty is “thin” but I do believe that leading a healthy lifestyle is the key. I do like that there is greater acceptance of people of different sizes. I like how more clothing lines are making clothes at bigger sizes. But I do feel that everyone (regardless of size) should strive to be healthy. I mean, I have friends that are thin and eat crap and I wonder what damage they are doing to their bodies.

And the Crystal Renn backlash I think is silly. If Crystal Renn is getting healthier and went from a size 12/14 to a 10, and she is being true to herself, what should it matter to us?

Rain, speaking of bowel movements, (I know this may be crossing the line for some people – but very few topics are off limits to me) don’t you love how when you are eating healthy and “good” you bowel movements are? Its one of the signs I cannot ignore when I’ve been making poor food choices is what happens on the white throne.

Yesterday was a good day. Went on a hike with the bf, I got my paycheque with my first raise (yes!), cooked with the by. Had homemade, baked French fries, quesadillas, mexi-quinoa and veggies (so yum) and we made cookies for a bbq/picnic today! I love how now, I can (usually :) ) eat in moderation. WE made flourless chocolate and peanut butter cookies. And for dessert we had them with a small bowl of frozen yoghurt….yum!!! And I made a quinoa and veggie salad to take with us to the bbbq. I made the dressing, but it does not seem right. I might have to make a another dressing. I do love quinoa salads, especially with beans – they are yummy and filling. Hmmmmm. Its only 6am and I cannot wait!!!!

And I am so excited to see my trainer. At work we have a fitness allowance, so I sometimes I use it to see my personal trainer and I don’t have to pay out of pocket. I don’t go very often, but it is something I look forward to.

Another question, do you ladies crave sugar when you are dehydrated?

Have a good Saturday!

Rissa ~ Have fun with the trainer. Sometimes I wish that I had one to meet with, but I definitely can't afford it at least right now since we haven't gotten paid yet for the new school year and I haven't had a paycheck since June! haha I mainly just need someone to quickly show me exercises to do with the weights.

I am so dizzy this morning. I woke up and thought I was going to seriously pass out when I was brushing my teeth. I feel kinda blah still.

RisssaI know what you mean exactly haha. I can tell if I've been eating good for me food because my trips to the toilet are hassle free...whereas if I've been eating not so good for me stuff...well, it's not that fun.

As for the topic you brought up on size/fat acceptance, I think it's great that there are clothes catering to all sizes and that there is a whole movement out there that supports beauty at any size - but I think a lot of people take that as free reign to continue eating unhealthily and not leading a healthy lifestyle. I know there are people that are genuinely overweight not because they eat badly or don't exercise, but have health problems behind it. But I've read stuff on the net about girls who "don't care what they look like because they'll always be hot" which is great...until they go on to say that they'll eat all the brownies and fast food they want because it's ok to look however. I know it's not a direct correlation between food/body in all of those cases...but in a lot it is. I don't really want to get too much into it haha. I like that I *can* be attractive at this weight, and I know I'm not an unattractive person - but I've never been entirely happy or comfortable being overweight and I know that that is partly due to not being healthy so I'm doing this for me, not to "conform" to anything. I think I rambled a bit haha.
Your day sounds pretty good yesterday! Good food, good exercise, yay!

So me... Well Saturday wasn't my best day. After my french toast (which granted, wasn't that unhealthy) I didn't get any exercise in. I had some macaroni with olives and a bit of meat sauce for lunch, and then played some Wii with my boyfriend. Then he invited some friends of ours over with not much warning so I had to quickly shower and while they were over they all hatched the plan to go to my favourite restaurant for dinner. It was me and my boyfriend and another couple. I keep trying to tell myself that it's ok, because this is my life, and there is no way that I'm going to be able to avoid having a night out at a restaurant with friends on the spur of the moment - and who would want to avoid that in all reality? It's a Japanese Yakitori restaurant - so grilled meats, seafood, veges on sticks with sauces. Not *too* bad, but I'm sure I ate over 1000 calories. And because I was out and decided it could be a cheat day - first REAL cheat day in 7 weeks, I had dessert as well. I'm kind of torn about whether I should feel bad or not. I was the most full I've been in this entire 7 weeks, but I also felt fairly happy. I know it's not going to happen every week. I probably could have ordered a bit less - you order per item and each thing you order comes with 2 small skewers on the plate, I had 4 items to myself and shared 1, but I did avoid the deep fried options and I didn't have any alcoholic drinks. I don't know. I know some people prefer to avoid going out to restaurants that don't have a defined healthy option, or like to plan in advance if they're doing something like that - and usually if I'd known I was going out, I would have had lower calories during the day.. I don't know. I know I'm rambling and I don't want to beat myself up over it or anything. I deserve to go out with my friends. We played blacklight minigolf after - mini golf in the dark with blacklights that light up the balls and parts of the holes and stuff. Then had an earlyish night.

I got up this morning and did 25 minutes on the stationary bike before getting ready for work - I wanted to do longer but I was sleepy and my boyfriend had some vice like cuddle grip going on haha. It's ok right? Like...it's ok that I went out and had a fun night and maybe didn't eat exactly on plan?

It's father's day here so we're having a family dinner at my aunt's house tonight. I know there will be healthy options and I know I can weigh my food there without getting too much slack haha. I dunno. It's like I'm in two minds about last night - part of me knows that things like that are part of my life that I will not give up because in the scheme of things, they aren't that bad, where as part of me, the part of me that's been all "keep to daily calories, etc etc" knows that an unplanned meal like that wasn't in calorie allowance - but then again, maybe it was since I've been going under most days this week.

Ok I'm really sorry for the rambling worries!

Lots of tailgating went on yesterday and I had a blast. I'm so happy with how well I did. I went to the grocery store before and I got some fresh sushi and a turkey sandwich out of the deli. We had chips and dip, ribs (not really a fan anyway, so that made it easy), cupcakes, and cookies. I didn't eat any of it... I enjoyed my sushi and my sandwich. I drank my Sportea, and a ton of water. I didn't have a single drink. And I enjoyed every minute of it. I didn't feel deprived. I felt good that I wasn't doing something I would regret the next day. Everyone kept asking me why I wasn't drinking. I just said i didn't feel like it and that was that. No peer pressure or anything like that. It was a good day. And the Hogs killed Tennessee Tech!

Today, I'm just laying around the house. I'm still feeling sick. I'm probably going to the doctor Tuesday if I'm not better by then. My cough sounds terrible, and the color green is involved. I won't go into anymore detail than that! lol

Rainbow: There is nothing wrong with going out to your favorite restaurant with good friends on the spur of the moment. My main goal when I do things like this is to not overindulge. I have a huge overeating problem when I go to my favorite restaurants. I try to avoid them, but every once in awhile I will go, and my goal is to not overeat. I don't really worry about counting calories, but if I can leave the restaurant without feeling like I'm about to explode then it was a success! Don't beat yourself up! Like you said, this is your life. Part of this process is learning how to deal with situations like that. I'm glad you had such a good night, sounds like fun :)

Rissa: That is a really touchy subject. I'm all for the whole "accept your body" movement. Especially for the younger girls these days who think they have to look like Lindsey Lohan or Paris Hilton to be beautiful *gag* But, sometimes I think it's taken too far. I think the focus should be a lot more on health (healthy: body, mind, body image etc) instead of the way we look. I don't know.. there is a very narrow line there that can be easily crossed. Interesting subject.