Well, you could go totally psycho like me and up your calories! :crazy: :D

I've been hanging out within a 10 pound range for about 3 months now so I completely understand your frustration. As many have said on here before, you have to do what feels right for your own body. If you feel like the stall has been too long, it might be the right time to change something. You'll know what to do. :hug:

I haven't gone missing, just been very busy. My weekend was pretty awesome. I ate on plan and worked out both days. I tried on that suit this weekend and what that dadburn jacket still doesn't fit. I don't know what to think. I just have to keep working. I hate the fact that my arms are being so stubborn. I've gotten addicted to the kettlebells so I've been really working my arms. Hopefully before the summer they will comply with my vision. The pants look great. So I can say I'm probably going to be half at goal since half the suit fits. It's kinda frustrating but I'm glad I have a workout that I love to do.

Didn't track all weekend, and didn't go to the gym. I keep waking up in the middle of the night after only a few hours of sleep, then I'm up for hours, and finally fall back alsleep just before it's time to get up. Was draggy and cranky all weekend. Luckily last night was better and I got a solid 7-8 hours. Have healthy food packed for the day and will be back at the gym tonight. Writing everything in my food log. Not weighing in until Friday, though - I'm sure I'm up.

Catch up w/ everyone later.

It's cold with a dusting of snow here today. :tantrum: Not exactly the way to make someone, i.e. me :D, feel energetic about the day! Oh well, this is only supposed to last till tomorrow and then we'll be back to the high 50's and sunny.

First weekday of my enlarged calorie allotment. Really interested to see how it works for me. Today is a weight lifting and cardio day so I'm hoping the extra fuel helps out with the cardio. Friday I got through my weight lifting fine but getting through the cardio, and a lighter one than typically done after weight lifting, was quite the challenge. I came home and sat on the couch for 30 minutes before I regained my composure!

- Breakfast: 4 blueberry pancakes made with 2 servings of Batter Blaster and 1/2 cup of blueberries (202) topped with 4 tsps of margarine (66-1/2) and 1/8 cup sugar free syrup (10). 278-1/2 calories total.

- Morning Snack: Fiber One bar (90). 90 calories total.

- Lunch: 2 slices 45 calorie bread (90), 2 tbsps sun-dried tomato hummus (50), 1 slice turkey (30), 1 slice tomato (4), 1/2 cup arugula (5), 1/2 a serving of baby carrots (17-1/2), 1 serving baked Kettle chips (120) and 1 container light strawberry cheesecake yogurt (90). 406-1/2 calories total.

- Afternoon Snack: Medium orange (64). 64 calories total.

- Dinner: Leftover sloppy joes made with ground turkey (180) over baked potato (110) and roasted veggies made with 1 tbsp of olive oil (120) and brussel sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower and mushrooms (151). 561 calories total.

- Evening Snack: Chocolate banana granita made with 1 medium banana (105) and 1/2 a cup of Blue Diamond Almond Breeze Unsweetened Chocolate Almond Milk (22-1/2). 127-1/2 calories total.

1527-1/2 calories total for the day

WOW! That is a sh*t ton of food!!! :eek: I will honestly be surprised if I eat it all.

As mentioned, work out today will be lifting weights and cardio afterwards.

Let's have a great week everyone! :cheer2:

My weekend was kind of all over the place. I already mentioned my seafood buffet on Friday (no idea on calories, obviously high)! Saturday I did good, 1450 cals. Yesterday I was at about maintenance. No exercise, but I was pretty busy.

Back to my normal weekday plan today. Hope everyone is having a good start to the week!

Larry, congratulations on meeting your St. Pat's goal!! :carrot: And Horo and mjlova, congrats on the losses!

jigglefree - I hear you on the arms. Mine have actually gotten bigger, as I've lost no/little fat in them but have gained muscle. LOL, it's funny right now... but I won't be so thrilled if I don't see some inches lost before short sleeve season.


I've been at 250.0 for the last two days, but since I phrased my St. Pat's goal as getting BELOW 250, I haven't technically met my goal yet. Grrrrr. I typically see a small drop each morning (a few tenths of a pound), and thought I would be below 250 this morning, but wasn't. It seems like the same thing happened around this time in my cycle last month: I hovered around the same number for a few days before seeing a drop. It will be interesting to see if the pattern continues in future months... I find these patterns in my weight change really interesting (nerd that I am).

Lost a whole 2 ounces, this is the second day I'm staying within my calorie range, 1279, I'm right on the edge, but still ok. I did a stupid thing again, almost ate all my calories for breakfast, it was like a feast, but all healthy food. Now I'm not hungry for lunch, so I'll wait til dinner. Rode the bike for 30min, hopefully I'll see a loss tomorrow. Since I can't limit sodium or fat as much as I used to, it takes alot longer to lose weight.

Day one of my calorie counting is done and I feel great!! A little hungry but I think its all in my head LOL I also meet one of my goals of finding a buddy. I updated my blog if anyone wants to read it, I had a yummy dinner and posted the recipe there!

Don't get discouraged.. from looking at your stats you have done awesome already and if you just keep working at it more will fall off.

Great job!!!!!!!!!!! CONGRATS!! Keep it up! :carrot:

Making some changes this week. Dropping calorie average to 1400 per day. Picking back up my exercise again, to at least 3 days per week, ideally 4, 5 would be great. Hopefully I can get over this plateau.

Monday: 1265 cal. 55 min treadmill, including jogging 3 mi @ 4.7mph

Yesterday went much better. Felt good to be on track. My sleep has been better the last few nights.

rainbow, good luck with those changes! hope they get you through that plateau.

tam, welcome! How many calories are you eating? It does get easier, I promise.

chick, you are SO close!!!

Gotta get back to work - will read more later. Hope everyone has a great day.

1550 cals yesterday, 30 minutes elliptical and a few minutes of weights.

TOM should be over tomorrow. Hoping for a nice little "whoosh" this week!

Rainbow: good luck with your changes. I should think about shaking things up as well. Not really in a "plateau" per se as I am still losing, but it's just very slow now. Don't really want to drop my calories, so am thinking about adding more exercise. Let us know how it goes!

Morning all!

Weigh in today for me, was down 1 pound. And it took me to 189!!! This is like my Onederland! I always was back & forth between 195 and 205, so getting below 200 wasn't that important to me, but getting below 190 was, since that means I am succeeding in losing my weight! I feel great knowing that I won't ever have to see that 200 number on the scale again, since I have control of my eating habits now! YEAH!

I wanted to get down another 6 pounds from the V-day challenge to bring my weight loss this year to 20 pounds by my birthday (3.20), so I am hoping I can make it! I changed my goal for the challenge to reflect this, I had initially tried for 8 pounds in the challenge to push myself, but I think 6 pounds in 10 days is asking a bit much of myself! If I make it great, but really the 6 total pounds is what is most important to me!

I am going to start back in with my morning exercises! I did really great with them at the beginning of the year, but I think I just got burnt out! I was doing them 5 days a week, going to work, then hitting the gym in the evening. My weight loss was good, but I was simply exhausted!! So, I think I am going to do 2 this week, 3 the next and so on. This way I am pushing myself a little harder, but not exhausting myself completely. I get married in September, so I have full faith that I can reach my weight loss goals - as long as I can stay focused!

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...

Nice Jiggle! I think I need to remember those promises too.:hug:

No loss no gain on the scale today:rolleyes:......gonna keep on truckin..

Did OK yesterday, but went over on my calories a little. I was at 1525, but after my workout (50 minutes of aerobics/strength and pilates mix) I was hungry for something salty...so I had a serving of Sun Chips, which put me over 1600 (my upper limit during the workweek.) I estimate I still "netted" about 1400 for the day...but I hate how I seem to "eat back" a good portion of my exercise calories when I do a more intense workout. Oh well, I guess it's still better than doing nothing! Even if the day is a "wash" calorie wise, I'm still building muscle, boosting my metabolism and getting more fit, right?! :)

At least TOM is over. Hoping that will help with my WI tomorrow! Can't believe we only have a week left in the challenge!

Well, the scale is still moving down! Could be that I'm transitioning from PMS to TOM. Though when I got home from the gym last night, I couldn't get the food in fast enough. As joyfulloser once said, I could almost feel the food being burned off immediately. And managed to make that extra food and Fiber One bar and an orange which still kept me under my daily calorie allotment so there was absolutely no guilt associated! :cb: So maybe it is that my metabolism has been kicked into high gear with my upping of the calories. :crossed:

- Breakfast: 4 pineapple pancakes made with 2 servings of Batter Blaster and 1/2 cup of crushed pineapple (230) topped with 4 tsps of margarine (66-1/2) and 1/4 cup sugar free syrup (20). 316-1/2 calories total.

- Morning Snack: Carrot cupcake with whipped cream cheese frosting (137). 137 calories total.

- Lunch: Leftover sloppy joes made with ground turkey (180) on 80 calorie wheat bun (80), 1/2 a serving of baby carrots (17-1/2), 1 serving baked BBQ Kettle chips (120) and 1 container light vanilla yogurt (80) topped with 2 tbsps Fiber One cereal (15). 492-1/2 calories total.

- Afternoon Snack: Medium orange (64). 64 calories total.

- Dinner: Safeway Organics Spinach and Cheese pizza (480). 480 calories total.

- Evening Snack: Chocolate banana granita made with 1 medium banana (105) and 1/2 a cup of Blue Diamond Almond Breeze Unsweetened Chocolate Almond Milk (22-1/2). 127-1/2 calories total.

1617-1/2 calories total for the day

Thursday would typically be my day off from the gym but will be taking Saturday off to enjoy the Denver St. Patrick's Day Parade and many libations. :D So I should really go today but feel like if I do, I might burn myself out going 5 days in a row. And I have lots of work to do today so it might actually need my gym time to accomplish things. So I'll see if I'm up to it later this afternoon. I might compromise with myself and go but do a lighter work out. We shall see! ***EDIT: It's a GORGEOUS day in Denver. I will be working out today via a nice, long walk!***

One week left to meet our goals! Good luck to all! And I hope the ones that might / will not meet their goals (like me, at least my original one), aren't being too hard on themselves! :hug:

Well I counted all my calories yesterday again but I went a bit over due to homemade low carb lasagna (low carb but still high calories and fat) I meant to just eat one peice but I was sooo hungry I went for a 2nd. :P Total was 1969 for the day, So not that much over I guess.

NorthernExposure - Good luck on your weigh in! I hope mine is good this weekend too.

Manders- One of my PMS symptoms is insatiable hunger too. :P Congrats on your healthy choices!!! Have fun at the St. Patty's day parade!

Good Day Everyone!!
I had a great day yesterday. I got two workouts in but like Northern, I went over my planned calories yesterday. I was about 50 calories over. Oh well!! Those night time snacks got me. I thought the skinny cow sandwiches had 100 cals but after eating one last night I thought about it and read the label and there it was 140...how sad was I?? Anywho I'm having a good day and going to workout in about an hour.

QUESTION: I'm wanting to take my calories back to 1200 but with my workouts I'm hungry and end up at the max end of my calorie range. How do I do this??? Do I just suffer through the hunger knowing in a couple days my body will get used to it? What should I do? I was thinking maybe I can lower my calories and not workout and when my body gets used to it I can add

BEEN M.I.A.
BUT BACK!
Been depressed a little lately (think it is the weather) I am so ready for spring~I love outdoors & due to my stupid asthma have basically been stuck indoors for months~I need relief~I need some good fresh air~I can breathe without A mask or running like a maniac to my car to stores ect to not have attacks in the winter air.
Anyways~Welcome to anyone new
Good job to those doing great
Keep trying & hanging in there to those having some problems.
(We all do~were only human)
& Sorry for THE M.I.A.~1 week to go on this challenge~ANY SUGGESTIONS FOR THE NEW HOLIDAY CHALLENGE???
I weighed 132.2 this morning~Which is super~I am anywhere from the 128 to 132 most everyday...So as long as this remains ~I am pleased with those results.
HAVE A GREAT DAY EVERYONE & HURRY UP SPRING!!!!!

Jiggle~ I started my very first month November 11th 2008 On 1200 calories I could have killed a cow & ate it raw ~LOL(Just a joke But I was a hungry mainiac) Anyways, I cheated the whole month & still lost 13.3 pounds~ I upped my calories to 1400 the next month & I was super comfy with that number to 1500 & have stayed there every since.~I Would say do not starve yourself eat where your comfy~We (give or take) are suppose to burn the amount we weigh a day in calories without doing anything extra X 10~So anything we eat under what we weigh X 10 will help us lose with or without exercise.....Hope that made since~I am in a super hurry ~Got a meeting to go too.(a quick example someone who weighs 190 Would burn approx 1900 calories a day~If they ate 1400 calories a day~They would automatically burn close to 500 calories a day without exercise~Losing approx a pound a week since it takes 3500 calories to gain or lose a pound~(This is all give or take)~TTYL:hug:

Wednesday: 1335 calories. 45 minutes on elliptical.

My weight is definitely up. Will probably show a gain for this week. Back to the up 2, down 2 pattern. Starting Monday(need to shop and prep first, and no time til then) dropping calories and carbs further, and no cheat meals until my birthday in April. This is depressing.

Thank you! Though this was the first time in a few months that my PMS didn't bring along ravishing hunger. My hunger definitely sprouted from my hard work out. It reminded me of a time when my blood sugar dipped too low and I ate fruit / drank fruit juice to bring it up. I could feel that fruit sugar running through me, making me feel better. That's how the food felt. As I was eating it, I could feel my energy returning.

My goal is to weigh 280 lbs by St. Patricks Day :)