My first time starting it! Let's all have a good week!

I have been a bad bad girl....

I am visiting my parents right now and I went out with my best best friend that I do not see often...Well....I had this incredible supper topped with tiramisu for dessert! My first dessert since Xmas! It was soooooo good and the funny thing is, I don't feel guilty a bit! Well, maybe just a lil....

Have a good Sunday everyone!


Sacha

This morning the first thing I did was go for a jog. It was a short one, just around my housing complex, but it was a good way to start my day - and week.
All I have done in the past few weeks has been gain weight. Sometimes I wonder if it will ever come off. I have lost weight in the past but this past year - it has just been different. I excersize, I eat, I gain weight.
Maybe I am just not unhappy enough, or not ready.
I just don't know. Maybe this week I will see a loss. If not, I will just keep excersizing.
Later Ladies.
~krista

Sacha--you have NOT been bad, you simply rewarded yourself & enjoyed a treat! I can't believe it was your first dessert since Christmas--that's pretty amazing! (-;
DH & I went out for lunch today & it was some heavy food (fried, etc)....I found it was actually just TOO greasy for me! I was imagining having some nice light fresh fruit & salad later.....funny how these habits & tastes change over time, isn't it?
I hope everyone's enjoying our "Leap" day! DH & I are totally relaxing & enjoying this day. If we can't do that on Sunday, then when can we, ya know? (-; Have a great week all!

Sacha - I agree with Jen, having that dessert was good, not bad. I think it's an accomplishment to fit the occasional treat into your normal healthy eating routine without going overboard. Really enjoying a decadent dessert once in a while is not going to add tons of calories the way eating sweets on a regular basis would.

It is almost 60 out in Chicago today, I went for a walk out by the lake because I couldn't stand to be on a machine in the gym after jogging outside the past 3 days in a row.

Jen - I know what you mean about tastes changing. I have been craving bruschetta for days now, so I chopped up some fresh tomatoes, garlic, and basil and tossed it with a little balsamic vinegar and olive oil. I'm eating it on toasted french bread for lunch. I never would have thought that I would be craving fresh tomatoes!

Have a good week, everyone!

Sacha - I hope you ENJOYED your indulgence - because that's how this works, isn't it? Yes, we eat right, we exercise, but we also enjoy the fact that food can be fun and delicious too! I bet that tiramisu tasted so much better now than it would have if it was something that you ate often. Keeping it a treat makes it taste so much yummier!

I'm at the close of Day 12 of being completely on-plan. Here's to 13 days OP!

i'm right behind you jenicra -- yesterday was 10 days on plan. yet another cooking class tonight, we're making spaghetti w/ meatballs and lasagna, and i don't know what else. i will definately portion control and come out of there with claims to day 11!

Gang I am having a hard time lately especially with late night eating.... what can i do to stop this?

Sacha: I think it is amazing you’ve held off this long with no desserts!!! I hope you enjoyed every bite.

Krista: It’s great that you got up and did what you’ve been telling yourself to do for so long. I wish I could say the same. You’ve got a great attitude to keep at it even though you’re not seeing results desired. Hang in there!

Jen: I can totally identify with your desire for good foods. I was craving fruits and vegetables this weekend! Amazing. I never figured I would want carrots more than cookies.

Jenicra & Holly: I hope you find the strength to stick with it for a whole month (and even more of course!) Here’s to my day 1…. I’ll try to make 7 days.

Lynnie: If you totally can’t resist, throw away the “bad” food and buy a bunch of vegetables and fruit. Either you’ll end up eating them or wasting them. If you eat them that’s excellent! I did this but wasted them, and eventually I got sick of wasting my money and I made myself eat them and now I’ve gotten in to such a habit, I really miss them when I don’t have them. Good luck!

As for me... Sunday I went to my Grandma's for lunch like last week and instead of pigging out on good food, this week I started with the veggies and filled half my plate, then took a reasonable portion of mashed potatoes *so hard to resist* with no gravy (just a little butter) and not an oversized portion of meat. And only 1 biscuit!!! (Carbs are my love) I feel like I've proven to myself I can eat reasonable when I'm not at home I didn't exercise like I wanted to this weekend. The weather was gorgeous, but little things kept coming up. Today I'm fairly busy, but I am going to squeeze some sort of exercise in, even if it's 20 minutes!!!! As you may have seen above I'm challenging myself to stay on track for 7 days, which means 1500 calories consumed max and at LEAST 20 minutes of purposeful activity a day.

Hey ladies,

Long time no talk. Tanya and Lyn thanks for missing me I've been extremely busy at work and trying to find time to hang out with friends and family that I don't have much time to come on the boards. I just started coming back on 3FC to write in the journals and decided to check on you ladies. I'm glad to see some old and new faces here

Nothing much has changed weight wise w/me. I'm actually exactly at the same weight I was LOL That could be considered a good thing or a bad thing. At least I maintained, but I also didn't lose any. A plus is that I didn't have to change my CW in my signature The reason why I haven't dropped any weight is because of the lack of exercise. I've been extremely stresssed which kind of boggles me at why I haven't been exercised since that is exactly what my butt should be doing. Well I'm getting back on track now and making myself exercise. I'm also making myself come on 3FC because I miss all you guys and also the motivation and support everyone gives on this site.

So its great to see everybody! And I hope to be seeing much more of you soon!

Lynnie - I have a tendency to snack a lot in the evenings, too. When I first started trying to lose weight, I would just get out of the house. I went to the gym in the evenings or I would go for a walk or something to get away from the food. Now I can usually resist the temptation, but I do plan some sort of after dinner snack into my calories for the day. I like sitting down with an apple and slicing it up into paper thin pieces so it takes a while to eat. Oranges are also good because getting the peel off takes a while. Popcorn is also fairly low in calories for the amount of food you get.

It's easier for me to plan around my weaknesses than to avoid them altogether. Something that requires work (like slicing up an apple or peeling an orange) or has lots of pieces (grapes or baby carrots) and a big glass of water helps to distract me from wanting to snack AND I get an extra serving of fruit or vegetables.

Hi ladies! This is my first time on this forum, so be gentle with me. You all sound so friendly and positive--I have little doubt that you'll all meet your goals in life, be they weight-related, personal or professional.

Krista, it's easy to get discouraged. I feel like I just lost this same 30lbs three years ago (which I did)! But for me, I've discovered that I need to pay attention to my body, or else I get out of shape and feel worse about myself. I was so proud of myself yesterday when I got tired, instead of napping or eating (which I normally would do), I worked out. That was really hard for me, but I feel better for having done it.

Lynnie, I'm prone to late night eating too, but usually I wake up in the middle of the night because I'm hungry! Not emotionally hungry, but literally the hunger wakes me up. I'm not on a special diet, just 3x meals and 2x snacks totalling 1500 cal/day, plus exercise, but I'm trying to save one of my snacks for just before bed, so that I don't go to bed hungry. Even just a couple of whole grain crackers and some tofu cheese will do me. Also, and I can't stress this enough, make sure that your "sleep hygiene" is good! That means no caffeine after 4 pm, no reading or watching TV in bed, and a whole slew of other considerations.

Hope to get to know you all better,

Welcome Fey!

Holly - TODAY is actually my Day 12 (so far, so good) so you're really right there with me. The motivation is lacking a bit today, but doing good. Determined to do well.

Lynnie - Yup, late night snacking gets me too. I found that eating breakfast helps me stay away from snacking later in the day, go figure. And I hate eating breakfast, but I do it so that my tummy isn't roaring by the afternoon. And keeping only healthy things in the house helps, too. Although there is such a thing as too much of good thing - I've been known to go wild on a box of sugar-free fudgesicles!

Jessie - Good to see you around again. I've seen you lurking a bit for a while - glad to hear you've maintained and stayed on track. Wonderful!

Katia - I love the idea of slicing an apple into really thin pieces! I'll have to use that one later!

Dee - Good luck with your challenge! The first week OP really flew by for me, but I think I'm starting to feel the pinch and the slight loss of motivation... but I refuse to give up! This is definately a record for the longest amount of time I've ever stayed completely on track - and the scale loves me for it! Can't wait to see what my friend the scale says Wednesday morning. (It said 210 this morning - I'm such a peeker.)

Welcome Fey! It's always nice to see a new "face" on here! (-; We're glad to have you.
Jess--it's good to see you back on the board! I've wondered about you on & off since Christmas, and I'm glad to know everything's fine. How wonderful that you haven't gained a bit! That's so encouraging--now you don't have to "do the same thing twice." I hope you're able to get your stress under control, and I hope to see more of you around here!
Today was a crazy Monday, but that's okay. The workday started with a dead battery on my car (DH rushed to my aid! yay!) and ended with a child overflowing a toilet at work. Lots o' mopping for me.....but it was actually quite good in between those 2 happenings. (-; And now, the evening...time to relax & unwind. Hope everyone has a great night!

Welcome, Fey! Glad you're here.

Welcome back, Jess! I'm so glad you're back. We've been wondering about you.

Lynnie: I just started doing this -- going to bed earlier. It really helps the urge to snack in the evenings. I don't know if this is a possibilty for you, but I was staying up too late anyway, and it's really stopped my evening snacking.

Dee: It sounds like you did a great job with your dinner at grandma's.

Holly and jenicra: Great job of staying OP!

Sacha: No big deal. You deserve a treat -- you've been doing great!

Krista: I know how you feel. I've definitely been there. Just keep on exercising!

Katia: When do you leave for New Zealand? Are you excited?

Jen: Wow! What a day! Glad everything worked out OK.

I had a great weekend. My dad came to visit, and we went to Yankees spring training. I absolutely love baseball, so it was fun! We also went out to eat a couple of times, but I made healthy choices all weekend. On Sunday, I went for a long walk on the beach at sunset -- it was beautiful. The weather was perfect! Sometimes I'm in awe of all the wonderful things God has given us. I always realize that when I go to the beach.

And the best news, I lost two pounds this week! Yay! I'm so close to the 170s. I can't wait to get there!

Hope everyone is having a great week.

Take care,
Jina

Thanks for the warm welcome, guys! Jina, I've often napped to avoid eating or feeling hungry. But I'm learning that avoidance like that isn't always good for me. It's a fine line between being self-aware and obsessive, though. And I have a tendency towards the latter.

I went over to the gym today for a swim, and discovered it was closed. But I'm so proud of myself--I WENT BACK after work with my gear and worked out for an hour. It would have been so easy to just go home... I was pretty tired, so I was forcing myself, but I'm glad I did. Now if I could only do that every day.

Okay, back to the term paper I was supposed to finish last week! Oh, who am I kidding. Lost in Translation is on TV in 20 minutes here!