Still Keeping on track for this week.... Glad to here that everyone else is. But I'm still not losing. I will wait to weigh in for a few days.

Hi, I count calories. My goal is 1200/day but I usually end up eating 1100-1300/day. My goal for this challenge is to lose 4lbs by Easter.

SW: 120
GW: 116

Down 1.5 pounds. Kind of disappointed b/c I was already down 2 pounds at the beginning of the week (2nd day in) and thought that I would shoot for 3! Made chicken parmigiana (it was a really delicious recipe), ate very small portions, but ended up with less loss.

So do you guys know of any 'easy' calorie sites that help you calculate calorie totals in an entire recipe. Like you just put in 1/4 cup flour and it calculates it for you. Is there such a thing as this kind of website? I really like to try recipes and I want to build a great recipe collection with super good food, yet maintain my weight by knowing the exact calorie count, once I'm done losing one day. (Feels like time is going by, but the loss is really slow).

Also, I forgot my password and couldn't update my Easter Challenge Ticker. So I made a new one by copying Megems and MissJessica =) Hope you don't mind guys. I love the pink bunny and letters. Also I am a girlie girl (but can talk like a boy).

We are leaving for Italy tomorrow night. Spending 3 and 1/2 weeks in Europe, so I hope I don't sabotage my weight already lost. I always gain more weight when I go on vacation with my husband b/c we eat every meal together. He is one of those fit and healthy guys who watches what I order and doesn't say a word. Well, it makes me crave really bad food. I actually sneak eat it when he's not around. I actually do worse. If he ate a huge piece of chocolate cake in front of me, I probably would pass. (I really LOVE chocolate cake). But, he doesn't. It's crazy, but I actually do better when there is some junk food in the house. I know I can have it, but I choose not to, or to have a small portion. When it's not there, I crave it for days, eat everything trying to satisfy the craving, or just find it and binge on it. That's just me.

Anyway, got to get some sleep. You guys have a great weekend.

Rainbow Stripe - You just hang in there. Things always get better with time. And don't take the job hunting thing personally. Job hunting sucks!

Phat - What a precious little miracle. That little baby is also in my thoughts and prayers.

Jiggle free - I am sorry to hear about the loss in your family. Prayers for your family as well.

Jumping in today for the Easter challange.
Want to lose 6.5 pounds by Easter.
CW 231.5
GW 225
Out of the 230's for good!

Jiggle-Thoughts and prayers are with your family.

k15g15-Great job hitting onederland!!!!!

diet4me & Ekicna - Welcome!

kifli - Don't mind at all :) Very glad to share, I love pink as well! Have a great, great time on your holiday. Smaller portions of great food plus a ton of walking should keep you happy and trim. Have fun!!

Tired - Hang in there! :hug:

rainbowstripe - I've had a second interview before and it was just like the first. There were a lot of people going for a few positions, so they interviewed and then did second interviews (like call backs for a play). The questions were a little more personal the second time around, but other than that, it was just fine. Good luck! :crossed:

jigglefree - Still praying for your family :hug: Congrats on the inches!!
k15g15 - Woo woo, Wonderland!! :carrot:

Ekicna & diet4me ~ Welcome! These are a wonderful group of ladies for support!!!

kifli ~ The pink bunny is too cute NOT to use!

Did good with exercise yesterday. Did good with breakfast & lunch. Not so much with dinner. Got invited to go out to dinner with my fiancee's brother & wife, and there was no planning involved. When I finally added up all my calories for the dinner I hit just over 3,000 for the entire day! Almost double my normal intake. Now, I don't mind going over my 1600 daily allowance one or two days, but it is usually never over 2000. So, I hope I don't pay too much for my dinner. It's hard for me not to splurge when we go out to eat, because we rarely do it!

On a better note, I made peanut butter pancakes this morning!!! I am hoping this curves my pb cravings for awhile, and let me tell you - THEY WERE SOOOOOOOOOO GOOOOOOOD! Here is the recipie I used:

I followed the pancake recipe off of the Bisquick HealthSmart Pancake & Biscuit Mix (using skim milk), added an extra 1/4 cup skim milk, and 1/2 cup of peanut butter. This makes a nice consistency. If you would like your batter a little runnier - I would add another 1/4 c. water to not increase fat/calories. Mix it & measure 1/4 cup batter per pancake. This makes appx 14 pancakes with each panckake being 120 calories. I topped with 1 TB butter, and 1/4 cup sugar free syrup. It was heavenly!!!

Hope everyone has a good Sunday!

Well I made it 22 days without a binge but that streak is over as of last night. :mad: I don't know what goes on in my brain to allow myself to say, "It's okay to binge." Because that's totally what I do, I give myself permission to binge. No idea why I did last night. And the funny part is, a half an hour before the binge, I talked myself out of having a big bag of popcorn and only had a 100 calorie bag! I wonder if I had had the big bag (and only had 40 calories over my allotment instead of the hundreds I did) if I wouldn't have then binged? :?: But it's done and over with now. I will probably feel crappy all day but that's my own fault so I'm just going to have to deal.

And this really wasn't the week to have this breakdown because the gym is not open today or tomorrow and Friday is Opening Day so no gym and no restrictions on food or drink. Wondering about doing some sort of cleanse (fruits and veggies as my main food intake instead of just as sides) for the next few days to get what I took in out of my system. Going to try to keep my calorie intake for today and tomorrow under 1400. Less than my typical but my body doesn't need as much either with no weights and cardio. See if I can't keep the amount of weight I put on to less than 3 pounds. :(

kifli - Livestrong has a recipe creator that I use and it works well. However, I started with my recipes on a spreadsheet so I still do them there and then on livestrong. I do it both places to check myself because sometimes I get a bit confused when converting the portions i.e. if the listing is in grams but the recipe is in cups. But I'm sure just doing it in livestrong wouldn't be an issue. I'm guessing when I got the one thousand and some odd carrot cupcakes calorie value like I did, I would know it was wrong. :D

Ate all healthy whole food, but went over my calories again, this is 3 weeks straight now i've been doing it. Doesn't seem to matter too much as long I don't go over 1700. Today I had 1635, seems like too much to me since I used to eat 1200-1300. I'll probably gain weight. Just lost 4 lbs. would like to lose 2 more. Rode the bike for 20min & walked 25min.

k15g15 Congradulations on onederland & 50 pounds of loss ~THAT IS SOO AWESOME!

Fruit~it's all this peanut butter talk~LOL ~All I can think about is peanut butter everytime I eat~

EVERYONE ELSE~In a hurry Just was doing a quick check in~trying to ignore the peanut butter pancakes that sound heavenly!~LMBO! I have been 129.4 the last 2 days~Which is good~It's in my maintaining range.(BUT I AM FOR SOME ODD REASON CRAVING PEANUT BUTTER "LMBO" THAT COULD MESS THAT UP tehe)

Anyways before I go..... Jiggle & PHAT ~u are both in my prayers still~ TTYS!!!



Love y'all~Hang in there & do your best & remember we all have some crappy days Just do well on every decent one u have & u will be to your goal before u know it~NEVER GIVE UP! g'nite

Well today I plan to get back to my workout regimine so I can tone up and see more inches lost. I'm exhausted from this past week but I'm going to do what I have to do to take care of myself.

:hug::hug::hug:Thanks to all of you for your prayers. We need them. We were talking yesterday and the pain is still fresh. I think everyone is just going through the motions to make sure things are done and haven't had time to really deal with the grief. It was sudden, unexpected and hard to process. But we will be fine with time.

Rainbow - A second interview is a good thing. It means they like what you have to offer and want to take a second look. I will be praying that this comes through for you and it will be good for you as well. I always say any loss is a good loss. So keep plugging along and you will get there.
Tired - Sometimes it gets like that but you have to keep pushing. You will get a breakthrough.
Ekicna - Welcome and have fun. This is a great group to be a part of!!
Kifli - Have a good time in Europe. The best thing to do is manage your intake if you can't keep up with the calories. Eat smaller meals 5-6 times a day and you can at least maintain if not chalk up a loss.
Diet4me - Welcome. This is a very supportive group and it you keep coming even on bad days you will not find it easy to give up.
OSU - It's never too late to join. We have a great time and get results...even if they come slowly...they come!!
Megems - :wave: hope you're having a great day!!
Manders - It may be that the bigger bag would have been enough but then again when the permission was given it could have been worse. Then too the 100 calories on the bag will lead us to forget what happens after that bag is finished. Chalk it up and keep going.
P H A T - My cousin that passed had a preemie and she is doing really well. So hopefully you will be visiting her at home soon. I would suggest that you pack your meals before heading off. I had to do that when I first started. I would be going out of town and would take my own food so I would stay on task. I have been doing it for work as well. It gives me less of an excuse to get off plan. Also if you aren't working out do a little something and it will help as well. I also know how it is when you say if you calculate it in your daily intake then it's easier to indulge. Also ask yourself if it's a healthy part of you intake and how it will benefit your body. I started doing that recently and it really helps with my choices. Not counting this past weekend when I had all that cake.
Fruitlady - You win some you loose some. Looks like you are loosing and winning. Can you tell me something...eating more to maintain and even finding the balance to add the right stuff is that hard coming from 1200-1300?
Norther - We need to talk. I want to know what you are doing because though the progress is slow there is progress. Before last week I was toggling around the same five pounds and it gets very frustrating. I'm hoping after TOM is over I have a whoosh. Though I'm not tracking my weight this go around I still check it weekly to make sure I have some loss somewhere.
Lori - You know I have mad love for you and I appreciate you so very much. I think of you and how far you have come often to keep myself motivated and hopeful!! I keep coming back and it has helped me not give up. Even though my week was out of the ordinary and extreemely busy I didn't over indulge. I ate at home and kept my calories in check. Now that life is slowing down I want to stay there.

I'm a little long winded today but I have missed you all and wanted to get it in.
:cheer2::cheer2: Okay everyone lets have a great day and enjoy the journey to better health and feeling better!!:cheer2:

Gotta love Denver weather! It was in the low 60s with a steady breeze and sunny yesterday. Today I wake up to snow on the ground. :D Not a lot, it will be gone by this afternoon. But that's so the way it is here. Thankfully the forecast for Friday (Opening Day) is 70 and sunny!!! :cb: Perfect baseball weather!

Gym is closed today so will be taking a walk this afternoon. I put a book on my phone and listened to that during my walk yesterday. It was a nice change of pace. I'm going to try for 6 laps today. I was going for that yesterday but only made it 5. I'm going after lunch instead of before today though so I should have more energy to get the 6 in. Aiming for 1343 calories today with lots of fruits and veggies and will move back up to my 1638 allotment tomorrow.

Have a great Monday everyone!

Originally Posted by jigglefree:
P H A T - My cousin that passed had a preemie and she is doing really well. So hopefully you will be visiting her at home soon. I would suggest that you pack your meals before heading off. I had to do that when I first started. I would be going out of town and would take my own food so I would stay on task. I have been doing it for work as well. It gives me less of an excuse to get off plan. Also if you aren't working out do a little something and it will help as well. I also know how it is when you say if you calculate it in your daily intake then it's easier to indulge. Also ask yourself if it's a healthy part of you intake and how it will benefit your body. I started doing that recently and it really helps with my choices. Not counting this past weekend when I had all that cake.

Thank you for the encouragement. I will definitely try packing my own food when I know I'll be away from home for extended periods of time. Also, I was thinking of investing in one of those little bike cycles that I can put under my desk at work to work my legs while I'm working.. We'll see :)

Unfortunately I didn't make it even close to 6 laps, only 1. :mad: The wind has kicked up something fierce this afternoon (I think it's the storm we are supposed to get tonight blowing in) and walking was a challenge to say the least. Never mind that I was way cold even with gloves on. Oh well, I have cleaning to do to get ready for the party Friday and in general this will be a busy week so that will help burn those calories.

Lori- How do you stay away from the peanut butter? I just can't, it's always here for hubby, I had like 6 servings today again!

jiggle- I'm having a hard time trying to figure out all this maintaining stuff for almost 2yrs. I am having trouble adding all these calories, I feel like i'm eating too much. As long as I eat whole food, nothing processed & eat plenty of lean protein at all three meals, it's ok so far. I'm actually losing weight right now, I'm very active though.

I'm getting spoiled with eating all these calories and still losing weight. I noticed that as long as I eat a healthy breakfast, lunch & dinner, even if I'm not hungry, makes me lose weight. I'm thinking it's the lean protein(at least 20g) at every meal that's making my metabolism run faster. Along with the exercise I'm doing, it's doing wonders. I feel like I have to force myself to eat lunch & dinner cause I'm never hungry. That's not fun, but I weigh less if I do it. You would think the extra calories would make you gain. Confused???

Rode the bike for 20min then walked for 22min. Too cold & windy to stay out longer. Ate way to much peanut butter & light chocolate ice cream again. I was so full, but forced lunch down. Really don't want dinner, already had 114g of protein, a majority being from the P.B. Don't know what to do, eating all three meals helps keep the weight down. But my calories are high enough ( 2726) Way too high!

One more pound down, 2 out of 5 for my Easter goal!

Weighed in today! DOWN 3.4! Holy Cow! And that was with my son's b-day (which means cake)! I hit my 5% goal (17 lb) and am 1 lb away from my Easter goal. I think I might bump it up to 25 by Easter! :)

Keep up the great work guys!!!!

Great work osu!

I'm super late, but can I join? I have been in a few challenges in the past, but I've fallen off the last few months and I have finally picked myself back up. I only have 3 weeks left until the holiday, so I am just looking to lose 5 lbs, that's less than 2/lbs a week.

Today, I am doing pretty well on my calories, I use myfitn3sspal and with my almost 2 hours of brisk walking, it added 587 calories, so my goal today was 1,600 and I have eaten dinner and I have 241 calories left. Tomorrow, I am doing my own self-made stair routine that really get's my heart pumping (with a friend) and I am soooo excited about that.

That's all for me!

Welcome!

jiggle Thank you so much for your kind words and encouragement - I am very nervous about the second interview tomorrow - having just lost 8 hours a week at my current job, I am getting kind of desperate for full time work. I am still thinking about you and your family.

~So I broke the plateau and I am definitely over 63kg / 138.8(I hope I'm not speaking too soon!) and solidly at 62kg / 136.6 pounds.
I'm eating mostly well and I got straight back into exercise last night with a 3.55kilometre jog/walk after my week off due to my neck injury. It was hard but I felt good for getting out there and doing it.
I have Zumba tonight after work, I'm really hoping it loosens me up a bit - I am SO nervous about this interview tomorrow morning, my nerves and anxiety have been building basically since I got the call about it. Not good.

Originally Posted by rainbowstripe:
jiggle Thank you so much for your kind words and encouragement - I am very nervous about the second interview tomorrow - having just lost 8 hours a week at my current job, I am getting kind of desperate for full time work. I am still thinking about you and your family.

~So I broke the plateau and I am definitely over 63kg / 138.8(I hope I'm not speaking too soon!) and solidly at 62kg / 136.6 pounds.
I'm eating mostly well and I got straight back into exercise last night with a 3.55kilometre jog/walk after my week off due to my neck injury. It was hard but I felt good for getting out there and doing it.
I have Zumba tonight after work, I'm really hoping it loosens me up a bit - I am SO nervous about this interview tomorrow morning, my nerves and anxiety have been building basically since I got the call about it. Not good.

Good luck at your interview! I'm sure you'll do great!

Welcome fit4lyfe!!!

Had weigh in this morning and lost 4.8! I usually don't see numbers like this, but I had a heavy week last week with my birthday celebration & TOM. But I will take it!!! :D

This weekend was good. Did okay at the birthday parties - but Sunday's are my off days so I didn't count anything. I didn't over eat though!

I weighed in this morning and while I am down 4lbs from last week, I joined the challenge mid week, so am only seeing a 2lb loss from when I joined! I'm ok with that though!!

YAY!!

Welcome fit4lyfe!!

Another busy day preparing for the party (cleaning and shopping) plus this afternoon I'm starting laser hair removal on my underarms. :cb: I know, why the **** would she be excited about putting herself in pain??? :D Well, I've had laser hair removal done before on my eyebrows I haven't touched them since. And that was 4 years ago! So the thought that in a few months I won't have to worry about shaving my underarms again is just wonderful! And it's made even better because I got 6 treatments on Groupon for the cost of just over 1! Love the saving of the cash. :love:

Back to my typical calorie allotment and work out routine...aiming for 1555 calories and weights and cardio this evening.

Congrats megems and OhMyDogs!!! :cheer2:

Down 1 more for a total of 4.... not sure what went on last week other than tom is visiting.... hopefully gone by tomorrow... will re-weigh in then :-)

Have a happy week

Thank you so much for the welcome ladies!!! I am already starting to lose water weight, which is awesome, I'm down .5 today (I'm a daily weigher) I really want to knock out these 5 lbs (or more) by Easter. Crossing my fingers.

fruitlady It sounds like you're at where I want to be when I hit my goal weight: maintaining with hearty filling and healthy foods, I can't wait

Missjessica besides the fact that we share a name (Viva the Jessicas!!!) you're weight loss is awesome, only a few more pounds to go and you'll make that Easter goal

osu2k1 Dang, 3 lbs even with birthday cake?!??!?! I LOOK at a cake and I gain half a pound, and happy belated b-day to your son

Rainbowstripe I am in a job transition too and interviews make me nervous too, but you can do it, if they called you in for a second interview, then they must like you! Good luck

megems Thanks for welcoming me!!!

ohmydogs Thanks for the welcome and awesome weight loss!!!

PHAT Thanks for the welcome and I totally feel you on the working out with a work schedule thing. I am not working right now because of school but I when I did work full-time I had to wake up at 5AM to workout, then go to work and then I had class 4 days a week, so it happened that I was up for 15 hours a day, but I wasn't that tired until Saturday, then I conked out and could not be woken up. LOL. I lost weight and I got good grades, but the job suffered.

Good afternoon ladies. I'm having some really good days. I ended yesterday at 1300 calories and today looks like more of the same. I did a 2 mile run/walk interval on the treadmill yesterday and today for my lunch. So I'm expecting some results. I've increased my protein intake and reduced my carbs as well. I made a few minor changes to my workout and will be adding the kettle bells this evening. Last week was so off workout wise because work was extremely busy and then dealing with family stuff. I feel like I'm back in my routine and committed to getting results.

It's good to see everyone getting results. That's always fun to be with people getting results..it seems contagious.
fit - Welcome!! Join the fun!!! :D
kim - Congrats on the pound. It all adds to the bottom line.
p h a t - Go ahead and get it...it can't hurt. You may find being at the desk exciting.
ohmy - :carrot::carrot: that's a great loss for the week!!
megems - You are rocking it!! Congrats on the pounds lost.:goodscale
rainbow - How did the interview go??? :bike: I love interviewing...especially when there are two or more people. I get excited and it becomes a competition in my mind.
osu - That is pretty awesome!!! :cheer3:

Everyone else - Enjoy the rest of today and lets end it with a loss of some sort or a NSV. :yay:

Hey guys,

Been MIA longer than expected. Stayed on my weekend plan until I came down with the stomach flu early Monday morning. I guess the good thing is I never did indulge in that breakfast buffet, lol. Been living on 7up (sugar kind...can't stand the taste of artificial sweetners when I'm sick), crackers and white toast the last day and a half. Going to try to eat some real food tonight. No idea where I've been with calories...just been concentrating on getting better. Tomorrow I should be able to get back into my normal eating/exercise routine.

I will try to catch up with the chatter later. Hope everyone is doing well!

phat- you gotta do what works!

Rode the bike for 20min, walked for 32min today, It was nice & sunny, but still cold. I'm finding out that raising my calorie limit is not such a good idea, it's giving me permission to eat too much. I'm going over my new limit everyday by hundreds. That peanut butter & ice cream yesterday did me in, I gained 1.6lbs. I knew it would happen, I'll most likely gain more tomorrow. I threw hubby's P.B in the garbage, i was so angry. He got mad, but oh well. And what did I do today? I ate too much again! (not P.B, chocolate this time) It's like I care til I see something I want to eat, then all of a sudden I don't give a sh**. I'm at 2406, ate most of it this morning, still had lunch( greek yogurt & fruit), I'm not eating dinner cause I'm too bloated and not hungry at all. I felt so guilty this morning after I ate like that, I knew it was time to get back on track for the rest of the day and put it all behind me. Fresh start tomorrow, with no fattening food here.

Hey everyone! Thank you for all your kind words - I just wanted to let you all know that I got the job!! I will start full time work next week on Wed!! I am nervous but excited too - now I just need the wardrobe to match!

Originally Posted by fruitlady:
phat- you gotta do what works!

Rode the bike for 20min, walked for 32min today, It was nice & sunny, but still cold. I'm finding out that raising my calorie limit is not such a good idea, it's giving me permission to eat too much. I'm going over my new limit everyday by hundreds. That peanut butter & ice cream yesterday did me in, I gained 1.6lbs. I knew it would happen, I'll most likely gain more tomorrow. I threw hubby's P.B in the garbage, i was so angry. He got mad, but oh well. And what did I do today? I ate too much again! (not P.B, chocolate this time) It's like I care til I see something I want to eat, then all of a sudden I don't give a sh**. I'm at 2406, ate most of it this morning, still had lunch( greek yogurt & fruit), I'm not eating dinner cause I'm too bloated and not hungry at all. I felt so guilty this morning after I ate like that, I knew it was time to get back on track for the rest of the day and put it all behind me. Fresh start tomorrow, with no fattening food here.

I know exactly what you mean! In fact, I'm going through it myself today. I just don't care how much I eat, if it's over my calorie allotment, if it's at all good for me (though that's hard to be since there isn't much that isn't good for me in my house these days). I have been trying really hard since my binge Saturday night. I did really, really good Sunday and yesterday. But then I just said to **** with it. And the b*#$% of it all is that my two days of very good did nothing to negate my two days of not good and I weighed in at 171 today! :eek: I have to believe that's water retention because there is no way my net calories in the past 5 days has been 17,500 calories!

Here's to a fresh start for us both! :cheers: (That's water in those glasses...no extra calories :D)

Congrats Rainbow!

Glad you are on the road to recovery Northern!

Fruit and Manders, Tomorrow is a new day!

Struggling today with just wanting to eat. I'm at 1445 for the day which is great, but I think the answer is to get in bed with a book before I find myself in the kitchen.

So wieghed in today.... I guess I'm losing, just slower than in the beginning. I'm glad to see all of you on tract. And Northern I hope you are feeling better.

Be back soon.

Rainbow - :woohoo::congrat:I'm so excited for you and wish you much success!! You gotta love the second look!!!!!! Now go buy you something nice.
K15g15 - Did you get in bed with that book? I know how you feel, I was feeling the same way last night. I ended my day with 1298 calories and was happy with that.
Fruitlady - Alas a day of struggle...everyone has them but don't be so hard on yourself and don't punish your husband..:D
Norhtern - Hope today is a better day for you and your body is back on track.

Well yesterday ended well for me. Today is a day of victory so I will be victorious in my eating. I'm going to the gym for lunch. I was wondering why my WHOLE body is sore and realized that it's because I started running again. I do walk/run intervals. It's been a minute since I did those and I can see my body missed it.

Happy Wednesday ladies!

Doing good so far this week. Ended up eating about 250 more calories then I should have yesterday. Teach me to forget to log something! But I did get in 80 minutes of cardio, so that is a plus.

I weigh in daily but only count Tuesday's, but the scale is slowly creeping down! So YEAH!!!

Having lunch out today with my bosses, so I am going to have to order carefully!!!

Hope everyone has a fabulous day!

Today is going really well, healthy choices so far and a good workout planned for this evening. Weigh-in isn't until Monday, but TOM just ended, so I'm crossing my fingers it'll be an extra good one! Have a lovely afternoon ladies!

Rainbow - Yay! Congratulations on getting the job, enjoy shopping!

Northern - 7up is my bev of choice when I'm ill as well! :getwell: