megems, congrats!!!! :carrot: Getting past that 190 mark seems like it's a huge relief for you, and a great reward for your efforts!!

It sounds like many are making good plans with new strategies - I hope everyone sees the results of their persistence in the coming weeks!

Had a tiny drop this morning to 249.8, and so have met my St. Pat's goal!! Official weigh-in is tomorrow, and so I won't change my profile and ticker until then. Still stubbornly holding on to the weight this week despite eating within my calorie range and staying on plan with exercise. It seems TOM is due any moment, which is insane considering I just finished TOM 1.5 weeks ago... but the progressively worse cramps over the past three days don't really indicate anything else. I'm getting tired of this - this will be my fourth TOM in 2.5 months, and these cramps and the tiredness are really getting to me. At least I can look forward to seeing a drop in weight once I'm past it again...

Well so far, so good on the upping of the calories. I weighed myself at the gym on Saturday morning and I'm usually a pound or two low since I'm weighing before lunch instead of my usual after. Last night when I weighed I was the same weight! Along with PMS bloating :mad: being over in the next few days, :cb: I think this might actually work. While I still felt a bit beat during the cardio portion of my work out, I have to wonder if part of that was having a lazy day prior to working out instead of having an active day. Need to go to the kitchen this afternoon and make cupcakes but am not going to frost them and I've allotted one in my calorie count for QC'ing. :D

- Breakfast: 1 serving of Rice Krispies (130) with 1 banana (105), 1 serving of strawberries (45) and 1 cup Blue Diamond Almond Breeze Unsweetened Chocolate Almond Milk (45). 325 calories total.

- Lunch: 2 hot dogs made with 94% Fat Free Hebrew National dogs (80), Sara Lee 80 calorie buns (160), 1 tbsp of ketchup (15) and mustard (0), 1/2 a serving of baby carrots (17-1/2), 1 serving of light string cheese (60), 100 calorie pack of Cheese Nips (100) and 1 container light black cherry yogurt (80). 502-1/2 calories total.

- Afternoon Snack: 1 triple chocolate fudge cupcake w/out frosting (68) and 1 orange (64). 132 calories total.

- Dinner: 4 servings of spaghetti squash (100) with leftover sloppy joes made with ground turkey plus some extra diced tomatoes for sauce (204-1/2), 1/2 a serving of Parmesan cheese (55), 2 slices 45 calorie wheat bread (90), 1 wedge of LC mozzarella (35) and 1 slice of tomato (4). 488-1/2 calories total.

-Evening Snack: Skinny Cow Truffle Bar (100). 100 calories total.

1548 calories total for the day

Just cardio today though I will probably be adding some time on the elliptical.

Is anyone going out for Mardi Gras tonight? Thought about it but I think I'll save my calories for my St. Patrick's day going out on Saturday. :D Also, best of luck Rainbow & Megems!!! :cheer2:

Congrats Megems and Chickadee!!!

I'm gonna jump in for the last week! No weight loss goal but a goal of tracking calories everyday, 100%! I can do tht for 9 days, right? lol

Looks like everyone is doing great!!!

Rode the bike for 20 min. then went for a 30min. walk since it was 45 degrees & sunny. Now it's cloudy & dreary, nice weather doesn't last long around here. Calories are higher today(1400), hungry from the extra exercise I guess. I'm 120 cal. over my limit, not good. But at least it was cause I ate extra fruit & a few more almonds than planned. Lost 1lb. I hope it keeps dropping. I'm not eating spinach for a while, I was eating it for extra sodium. I think that's what is causing my stomach problems. I'm gonna stick to other veggies with sodium in them since I need the sodium. I'm cooking Hamburger Helper for my daughter right now( not for me!!), the ground beef looks disgusting. I don't eat red meat, everytime I have to cook it, it makes me sick, I will only eat lean chicken or seafood. I'm not into processed food at all, so I suffer everytime I have to make something for hubby or daughter.

Good luck to all!!

natamars Thanks for the encouragement! Glad you're feeling good:)

Northern I tried to kid myself it was just my loss slowing, but it's been over 2 weeks now with no loss at all...I wasn't too keen on lowering calories, but I'm also not keen on upping the exercise hugely - at least not right now, I know I won't be able to keep it up - so that's why I'm taking a little of both - upping the exercise and dropping the calories a bit. Hopefully it works! Thanks for the encouragement! I hope you see your whoosh soon too![/B]

manders Thanks for the luck! Cupcakes sound amazing.

~Alright so I know I'm not very far into this week of changes, but I feel positive so far. Monday I was at 1240 calories, yesterday was 1410. It's been a little odd, but surprisingly easy, to change that thing in my brain that reminds me of my daily calorie limit - down from 1500 to 1400. Of course weekends are different depending on the average from Monday - Thursday. I got to my Zumba class after work last night and I got up this morning and did a Turbo Jam dvd workout.
So far so good!
Today I am going to the hairdresser, it's time for a change. I've been a redhead for 6 months now and I'm sick of the fading - so I'm going somewhere nice and brown I think.

While they should have been, they didn't turn out that great in taste or presentation. I'm going to have to take them off my menu for a bit until I can get them right. Unfortunately, since they weren't quite right, I made a second batch to see if could fix what I had done wrong which in turn meant extra taste testing. Thank goodness I had room in today's calorie allotment and can easily adjust. Goodbye sloppy joe "pasta" and tomato basil sandwich, hello marinara "pasta" and tomato basil toast. :D

Gonna post the results? I'd love to see the change.

I'll hopefully have some photos by the weekend - nothing right now as I'm in a hurry kind of.
Unfortunately I have to break my "no fast food during the week days" rule already! Going to be out interviewing artists for the final member of our collective between 5.30 - probably 9.30 once we're done chattering. I know cooking after that would be a better idea, but I will starve if I don't eat, I have nothing to cook now, and I'm staying at my boyfriend's where I'll get odd comments if I cook that late.

Just under 1500 cals yesterday, 30 minutes WATP and 15 minutes yoga. I banged my knee up pretty good yesterday (on a desk...it was stupid)...so I have to be careful what I do for exercise. I wanted to do my wii zumba tonight, but I don't think my knee can take it. I will see how the elliptical feels, otherwise I might have to to WATP again. Probably some upper body strength training too. No lunges for a while!

Meg: congrats!

Chick:Congrats to you too! I feel your pain on the weird TOM issues. This is the first month in a long time that mine were a reasonable distance apart. Seemed like I was getting it every 2 weeks or so for a while. UGH!

Manders: glad your experiment is working out so far!

Rainbow: new hair color is fun!

Tuesday: 1430 calories. 35 min on elliptical

Ended up having a WW angel hair pasta entree when I got home and I think it was NOT the best choice. I usually have something like pb&j on a low-carb wrap before I hit the gym. I also had some whole-grain pasta with my turkey chili for lunch, and last night I was bloated and crampy and the scale is up today. Definitely going to work on lowering the carbs, esp. once I get through the celebrations on Saturday.

northern, hope your knee feels better! I'm always banging mine on my desk too, but the pain is usually fleeting - you must have gotten yourself good!

congrats to all those already meeting goals and breaking past decade/century marks! Looks like there's no way I'm going to meet my goal but I'll keep posting!

Yesterday was not one of my better days. I didn't workout and I was eating everything. I'm going to go low calorie today. Drink a lot of water and I got in a kettlebell workout this morning. I have my stuff so I can get a workout done at lunch. Today is a new day with promises and I will go and enjoy some of those promises that are involved with taking care of my body.

Still looking good on the upping of the calories as last night's weigh in had me at 171, another 1/2 pound gone. I could seriously get used to eating all this food. :p Have been having major weighing of the pros and cons as I really want to go to Keegan Gehard's D Bar Desserts restaurant for Denver Restaurant Week. Have until Friday to make a decision. Have basically decided not to but still leaving the door open a smidge to change my mind. :D

- Breakfast: 2 Eggo FiberPlus Chocolate Chip waffles (180) with 1 tbsp margarine (50) and 1/8 cup sugar free syrup (10) and an orange (64). 304 calories total.

- Lunch: 1 serving white bean spread (121) on 2 slices of 45 calorie bread (90) and 1/4 serving arugula (5), 1/2 serving baby carrots (17-1/2), 1 serving sour cream and onion mini rice cakes (70), 1 serving light string cheese (60) and 1 container light apple cobbler yogurt (90). 452-1/2 calories total.

- Afternoon Snack: 25 red grapes (50). 50 calories total.

- Post-Workout Snack: 1 tsp Jif Natural (63) on 4 chocolate mini rice cakes (30). 93 calories total.

- Dinner: Pork and veggie stir fry made with mushrooms, broccoli slaw, broccoli and edamame (660). 660 calories total.

1559-1/2 calories total for the day

I highly doubt I get through my entire dinner. Last time I made stir fry with all those ingredients I couldn't. So I'm guessing my day's total might be less.

:lifter: and :bike2: today. :D

Thank you!

I tracked 100% yesterday. Total was 1553. I feel SOOO much better being higher carb. I only had 90 net carbs yesterday but I felt so much better overall. More energy, less tired. Also I went all day without having a stomach issue or indigestion. It was wonderful! I am on track for today so far. :) I am done with lunch and only have 510 calories. Still need another snack and dinner though.

Oh and I weighed myself this morning since AF left. I am at 192. I am going to do an 'official' weigh in this weekend, but since 191 was my low weight on Atkins it looks like it really wasn't doing anything for me.

Once I hit 180s I am getting my hair cut. I hope I reach it soon my hair is looking unruly. lol

I gained 3 ounces, from what I don't know. I've been on plan for 4 days straight, I should be seeing a loss. It made me so mad that i tried so hard all those days for nothing. Today I skipped my workout cause I was sore from painting our sunroom ceiling last night. I was hoping the 3 oz gain is from my muscles holding fluid from being sore & I did do extra exercise yesterday. Had 1276 calories( right on track), but I have to change some of the foods i added to my diet for more sodium. I just don't have any energy anymore, I need to add my extra fruit I used to eat w/ lunch back again. I had replaced them with veggies & a lean protein for more sodium. Well, I had enough of feeling like crap, greek yogurt & fruit for lunch agreed with my stomach & i felt great, so tomorrow that's what it will be. This drives me nuts!

Hello everyone-
I've been on plan with diet and exercise but nothing to report along the lines of weight loss other than that I'm enjoying my monthly bloat-fest. :b I haven't even stepped on the scale because I know I'll be up a few lbs in water weight.

I'm hoping I'll get a woosh when this is over...