Good morning ladies!! I started this weeks because its already 9 am. WHERE is everyone?? I hope everyone's weekend went well. Mine is ok, For everyone that knows Mike and I are a little better. He is going through some weird stuff. Guys are weird all together!! LOL My diet and whatnot was CRAPPY this past week and weekend. Oh well we all make mistakes. I hope everyone is doing well!!

Glad to hear things are going better for you this week!

Good morning and Happy Monday. I am very proud of myself because yesterday I went to a party at Lou Malnati's, my favorite pizza place, and only had 1 piece of veggy pan (I can usually eat an entire small pizza myself so it was quite the milestone). I am trying to learn how on special occasions to eat a little portion of what I like and not completely jump off the bandwagon and binge. Hopefully this week I will maintain being very healthy and keep the weight "jumping" off of me.

Hey all...I've been hiding for a week or so...I've just been so swamped at work. Project after project after project with problem..I beg the bf to "save" me from this but he's clearly not hearing me. Diet and excersise still going well....ate semi bad this weekend. I held a softball tourny with my mentee/mentor group and the kids brought dessert so I had to have a taste. Hope all is well with everyone else. I have weigh-in next monday and am really nervous.

Morning Ladies,

Here we are again, Monday already!
I got off plan this weekend, but am back on track this morning.
Everyone have a great week!

JustForUs- I'm glad to hear from you! I was just thinking about you. You seem better, and I hope that you have a better week!!



I'm so glad it is Monday, a weird thing to say, huh? I just have such a hard time staying on plan on the weekends. Fried foods, weird eating patterns and too much alcohol. Monday-Friday I am almost perfect and then I consistently fall off the wagon on the weekends. I know this is a common problem.. does anyone have any tips or solutions? I think that if I could get Sat and Sunday on my side I'd see much better results.

This week is the first time I've ever made it to Week Five of Bob Greene's Total Body Makeover and I'm actually really excited to push my workouts even further. Hope everyone is having a good monday!!!

Hey everyone.... hope you're all off to a great start this week!

JustForUs... Glad to hear that things are at least a little better! Don't worry about last week's eating habits, just focus on this week... today even. Best wishes.

mmmLatte... Congrats on fighting the pizza-temptation! That's a total accomplishment! I'm not sure I could be so strong! Isn't it funny how we tend to celebrate with food... holidays, birthdays, special occasions. WTG for staying OP though! *Big ol' pat on the back*

April Showers... Sounds as though you've got your hands full with work! Wowzers! Very impressed by how you're managing to stay OP as far as diet and exercise goes... that's phenom! Try not to worry about WI next week, I'm sure it'll go over very well!

Spillthebeans... WTG for getting right back on the wagon! Take care!

WastedThermos... Congrats on getting to Week 5 of the Total Body Makeover! That's KILLER! WTG!

As for me... Weekend was surprising well, we kept very active which made it very easy to stay away from all the yummies. Diet and exercise were right on target for once! Somehow I managed to rack up 17.5mi in walking and keep my cals a little below my maximum daily intake. That is so not usual for me! WI is tomorrow and I'm really hoping to be down. Guess we'll see.

Busy busy this week, what with MIL's arrival tomorrow. Yes, it's really that bad!

Anyways, I should run... got lots to do! Take care and have a great day!

~mel

Hello everyone!

JustForUs -- glad to hear things are getting better.

Latte -- that's great that you managed to resist! I am still really bad at that, if it's food I like I will stuff my face.

April -- I'd say playing softball makes up for eating dessert!

Beans and WastedThermos -- glad to hear you're getting back on track! I always fall off on the weekends too. I've gotten way better though, since I am so used to eating healthy that I don't crave bad food as much anymore. I still have one total cheat meal each week (the one night we go out to dinner!), but I am much better the rest of the time.

This weekend I went to the beach with some friends, it was great! I love the beach (one of the reasons I chose RI for grad school over the middle of Texas!). I did some snacking, but not too bad - two mini-cans of soda (I love these new 8oz cans) and some veggie tortilla chips. We did have dinner at Chili's, but I only ate half my food. Yesterday I got ice cream, but I was really good the rest of the day (even though I had a little too much pasta for dinner, oh well!).

I felt like I had totally screwed up eating this weekend until I actually looked at it written down and realized it wasn't very much at all. Back in college at the dining hall, on the weekend I would have for brunch pancakes, sausage, hash browns, a donut or two, mac and cheese, and probably some kind of BBQ chicken or something, then in the afternoon I'd probably get ice cream, and for dinner I'd have like green beans (smothered in butter), fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and two slices of cheesecake. No wonder I got so fat! I'm embarrassed just THINKING about how much I used to eat.

Hi everyone,

Weekends are awful for me too, I never stay on plan. It seems like that's a common theme today. This weekend was not great foodwise or alcohol-wise, but even though I didn't stick to my "normal" exercise of running and weight training I was very active - did a lot of canoing, snorkeling, swimming, etc. Hopefully that helped counteract the margaritas. My date with the new guy went so well Saturday we spent Sunday together too. Weight issues didn't come up at all, though health in general sort of did. Turns out he's a fairly healthy eater too. I'm trying to see if I can be really "good" during the week and allow myself some leeway on the weekends. The problem for me is that a treat quickly turns into lots of treats. I still haven't figured out this maintenance thing. Tuesday is my weigh-in, we'll see what damage I did.

Mel, great job! mmmLatte way to go with the pizza. I admire your willpower!

Ah the remorseful Monday. I'm going home for another hot date...with my running shoes. *sigh*

~Megan

My weekend was half on half off. So, better than usual. I had grilled food and good veggies on Saturday and then Sunday I had fast food and pizza. Too bad those good days don't counter the bad days. It seems like it takes 13 good ones to undo a bad one! At least I got some swimming in. It was too hot for anything else.

Back on track today. I think I'm going to try on my wedding dress tonight. Six more weeks until I have to wear it, so I know it will motivate me to work out more religiously!

Have a great week everyone!

I totally agree with you guys! I have fantastic willpower over the week, even my coworkers (who although they complain about how much they eat always bring in donuts, cookies, and muffins) tell me how impressed they are that I always decline their food offerings. But then the weekend comes and the devil on my shoulder starts whispering in my ear that I have been so good and that when we go to the yummy restaurants like say Chilis instead of just eating a "guiltless meal" to order a margarita, bottomless chips, and burger with fries. I am trying to learn how to treat myself a little bit, but not go overboard. At least now that it is Monday it will be a little bit easier to watch myself.

paperclippy I totally agree wtih you I gained sooo much weight in college, but I have been working on losing it. I have one more year left at my University so hopefully I will stick with this healthy lifestyle I have going on.

WOW! I missed so much yesterday!! Thank you everyone for the good wishes. Everyday it gets easier.
On the whole weekend thingy, IM THE WORST! I drink at least once a night, 3+ beers, then we have some kind of fattening food. AND I NEVER work out. Unless its in the yard or cleaning or something. My problem is the gym is close to my work, 35 mins away. So I go int he morning before work shower there and go to work. Ont he weekends, I just dont want to drive. SO... Im looking for a DVD to do at home, for weekends, and evenings. I need to double up here soon!
Paperclippy~ I Hope your not made me for starting this, I know you usually do. Sorry!
Lizzie~ Im glad you are back! I hope you had fun on your cruise! any hot ship boys to stare at whike you were there?? thanks for thinkin about me!
Megan~ WOW on your date, sunday too?? How fun was it?? tell us more, do you like like him? sorry Im so nosy!
April_Showers~ Hun I wouldnt worry about "your dessert" YOUR KICKIN A$$ over there in the excercise and DIET plan you've got goin on! Im jealous!
Skinnyjeans & Macdeez~ Thank you, break ups always suck, keep keep keepin on though!!
mmmlatte~ CONGRATS on that pizza! I couldnt do it!
Shemullet~ Aren't you scared your dress wont fit??
Spillthebeans~ Where are you?? back on track, good for you!!

ok sorry I was gone from my computer yesterday and I wanted to touch base with everyone today!! Hope all is going well !!

Hello all!

I am the same way--weekends are the devil as far as dieting is concerned During the week, I pack all of my food, so I am forced to plan ahead and keep track of everything. Come the weekend, though, it's time for eating out and parties and being lazy and blah blah blah. I was okay for Friday and Saturday, but on Sunday, I went to one of those PartyLite candle parties, and she had SO many goodies for us!! Needless to say, I had to try them all (some of them 2 or 3 times ). Then I binged on Wendy's in the car on the way home. I wasn't hungry, but I had this "oh well, I already blew the day, I might as well really make it worth it" kind of feeling. Bad Jill!!

But come Monday morning, it was back to plan as usual. No cheats at all yesterday, and none so far today (though I have only had breakfast so far ). This weekend is a weekend of amazing food, but it is my 3 days off-plan that my diet calls for, so I can eat what I want. I will still watch my portion sizes, though. My parents and sister and boyfriend are coming to visit me (my bf comes every weekend, but my sister is coming up from Va Beach and my parents from CT) because last week was my birthday, so we are celebrating a little late. Friday night, we are eating at PF Chang's (if you have one near you, you MUST go--soooooo good Chinese food), and on Saturday night we have a reservation at Maggiano's (AMAZING family-style Italian food). I hope we do lots and lots of shopping so I can walk off some of those calories

JustForUs -- Haha, I don't usually start the chat thread actually, just the exercise thread. Besides, I just do it if nobody else has done it yet, as long as the threads are there I'm happy!

Jill -- what is a PartyLite candle party? I've never heard of that before.

Megan -- water sports count as exercise!

Meredith -- do you have pics of your dress?? (I love wedding dresses!)

Latte -- I have the same problem at Chili's, I don't even LOOK at the "guiltless" section! I figure I'm already there for my cheat meal, so might as well make it a good one. I almost always get dessert too

I'm doing pretty well so far today -- circuit training this afternoon, each class is getting easier so I know I must be building some muscles!! Today is abs and arms. I'm thinking about picking up the 8-lb weights today, for delts and such, since I didn't have much trouble with the 5-lb last week (although I don't know if "it didn't hurt afterwards" means I should be using a heavier weight). OTOH, last week I switched to the 3-lb weights for pecs, because I was still sore from the previous week. Maybe I will try 5-lb again today for pecs. I love ab stuff though, I really ought to take the time to do abs on our off-days too, since I love it so much.

I'm trying to wean myself off of Lean Cuisine and stuff onto regular food for lunch, since I don't plan on eating Lean Cuisine for the rest of my life. Yesterday I had a turkey sandwich and some grapes. Today I brought Lean Pockets, but I think I might leave it in the freezer for tomorrow and go buy a salad from Au Bon Pain instead (I'll have to check the calorie count on their website first though). What do you ladies usually eat for lunch?

Good morning girls! It feels nice to be included in your chat (I am new to this site as you guys know). And whenever I try and post on other threads no one ever answers my questions or pleas for help when they find out I am in my 20's (they think 20 year olds don't have weight problems...HA!)

Jillybean you have "cheat days?" Do all of you guys? See my problem is that if I do "cheat" on a day I literally gain 5 lbs that day, I eat till I get sick, and then instead of making progress in my diet over the week I am just trying to lose all of the weight I gained over the weekend...

I hate when you KNOW an occasion is coming up that will test your diet. Here are my challenges coming up that have been stressing me out (I am trying to be extra good this month so that when I go back to school I can look good and feel good):
FRI JULY 29 My friend's 21st birthday she is "serving" dinner at her house but won't tell anyone what it is so I have no clue if I should eat before or pack a snack or accomodate the rest of my day, and then we are going to the bar but I think I am going to offer to drive so no one can yell about me not drinking.
AUGUST 5 last day at my internship so they are taking all the interns to Magiannos and preordering...
AUGUST 13 my sister's engagement party at a tapas restaurant... oy!
AUGUST 15 my sister is hosting a gourmet club and the them is cheese (and I'm going back the 17th so I don't want to eat too much...)

I want to enjoy... but I would rather feel good about myself. Like Kermit the frog says, "It's not easy being green."