I'm so sleepy. I don't know if it's because of the storm or the eliptical I was on at lunch. I at at 1054 calories and the machine said I burned 842. I'm always sleepy or famished when I get off that thing. I still have to figure out some balance in my eating and workout.

I will have to see how the day ends if I'm up this high in calories already.

I just tried the 90 calorie Fiber One bars as well. I liked the chocolate and PB. Special K has 90 calorie bars as well (slightly less fiber). I really, really, REALLY like the chocolate and pretzel but not overly crazy about the chocolate chip cookie. Too cereal heavy for me. The chocolate and pretzel doesn't seem so cereal-y.

Looks like I'm not alone with having some trouble this week, is it something in the air?? hope we can all get back on track soon!

It was raining & cold here, so no walk. I'm sore from the yard work I did yesterday, so I skipped exercise for the first time in months. Did some walking at some different stores w/ hubby instead, at least my feet were moving, lol. Had 1406 calories, that's right on target. Gained 3.3lbs from that peanut butter 2 days ago. It better come off soon, pants are getting tight.

OhMyDogs- Yes, I'm a basset addict. I have two, Elmer and Wallace. Everyone has a good story involving a basset, but the slobber and shedding almost kills me!:)

I stepped on the scale today and I am down 1 lb.Yeah! Tomorrow I give blood so we will see if I go up after that or not, I did not loose the last week I gave blood which doesn't make much sense, but we know how that works!:)

Things are moving right along and I've been eating great! I weighed in at 197.2 this morning!

SW: 199.7
CW: 197.2
GW: 189

Positive comments are so encouraging :) Looks like I'm in full company with a rough few days! I don't know what the deal is, I just want to eat, eat, eat. Today has been going much better though, so hopefully those days are over for now. Staying away from the scale until next week so no disappointing numbers send me guilt eating again! Hope everyone else is finding this week better than last as well :hug:

Yum chocolate pretzels sound great :p

Yeah I'm proud of myself for the past couple weekdays, I've done pretty well about controlling my snacking & staying on schedule. Hopefully this weekend's weigh-in will reflect, but if not, I'm gonna try not to let it bother me. Have a wonderful day chicas! :grouphug:

:belly:

Hey guys,

I don't know if it's too late to join the challenge. I've been on here before and I gave up and gained alot of weight and now I'm desperate to get back and lose it. I have gained 25lbs and keep seeing the scale go up, I have no choice and i'm at the end of my rope!

The only negative thing in my life is the weight gain, everything else has been going great, got a better job, happy relationship, new place...just let my health go. :( so if i can still do the challenge i'd like to lost 5lbs by easter, get under 140lbs...yes I said it...i wass between 118 and 121lbs before...now...this morning i was 144.2, yesterday was 144.0, the day before 143, and before 142. It keeps going up. I'm getting back into counting calories.

Thanks for reading, and hope I can back on track with you guys :)

Good Morning good morning!!

So I have sort of done something completely insane. I have decided I'm going to do a mini triathlon on July 10. I have NOOOO experience with a triathlon, but years and years and years ago, in my skinny days (when I was a teenager, 20 years ago), I used to be an avid runner, and an avid cyclist. I'll probably come in dead last, but that's ok. Mostly I want to be able to say I did it.

It's a 300 meter swim, a 10 kilometer bike ride, and a 3 kilometer run (which I'll probably walk most of, but who knows for sure?).

Talk about freaking crazy!

Morning ladies,

I think there IS something in the air! I *counted* 1600 calories yesterday (right at the top of my range), but I know I consumed more with too much grazing...a handful of pretzels here, a lick of PB there, a bite of DH's granola bar somewhere in between...it's GOT TO STOP! At least I am keeping up with my exercise. 20 minutes wii zumba and 20 minutes yoga last night. Tonight is my WATP 3 mile "boot camp". Great overall workout with cardio, strength training with resistance bands and a 10 minute ab workout at the end.

Phat & Manders: I do a fiber one bar for breakfast every day. My favorites are the oats & PB and the chocolate chip. I sometimes do fiber plus bars, but they're just not as filling to me for some reason.

JD: nice to see you again! Sorry to hear about the weight gain, but glad to hear that everything else is going well.

Dogs: that's so awesome! I should really look for something like that to try...like you said, I wouldn't care if I came in dead last....just to DO it would be so awesome! You go girl!

K15 & Indiabound: congrats on your losses!!

LMAO well whatever you do, do not not underestimate me, I am completely insane. I woke up this morning realizing that I should probably be committed. I am no where near in good enough shape to do well, and right now, not even in decent enough shape to finish. But, I am pig-headed beyond belief, and am determined to do better than people expect for a fat-girl, and for ME, that's awesome motivation. I am pretty sure I have gone completely nuts, but at least when I dove off the deep end, it was towards the "healthy" side, and not the "junky" side!
Also, I just keep thinking back to the episode of Heavy where they did a triathlon, and that keeps me motivated. I can do it too, I know it!

OhMyDogs I think it's totally awesome that you've signed up for a triathlon, congrats! You can most DEFINITELY do it! :carrot:

As for me, I am 134.4lbs this morning. UGH. Was 132.6lbs on Sunday! I posted recently in minigoals how stoked I am that I fit into one of my old cocktail dresses, since I'm going out to dinner at a VERY ritzy restaurant on Thursday night with my boyfriend's new employer. Now I'm afraid I'm going to look like I was crammed into it. :(

I was perfectly within my calories yesterday, plan on being perfectly in them today as well... getting my red hair touched up (RED IS A HIGH MAINTENANCE HAIR COLOR!) so I feel a little better, even if the dress is super tight.

Did I mention I'm dealing with my TOM? Could account for the excess poundage, I guess... however, usually by the 2nd day the weight has fallen off. Idk. Frustrating!

Hope everyone else is having a better hump day. <3

Oh My Dogs AWESOME!!! That is such an great goal and you're right the "deep end" you're jumping off of is healthy and when you finished I know you are going to be stoked

jdonato welcome back

Anyway, today I had a little gain of .4 but I did do a very vigorous stair workout yesterday so I can attribute that to lactic acid, but I also had 2 pieces of Red Velvet Cake (thin slices) and a veeeeery salty pack of Ranch-flavored sun-flowered seeds, so it a combination of lactic acid, too much sodium and me being a piggy (even though I stayed within my calorie range)...oh well, just gotta keep on keeping on! Have a happy Hump Day ladies!

Last night could have spiraled out of control :halfempty but I managed to basically stay in control. :halffull: I came home from the gym and put on the baseball game. I went to the gym earlier than normal so I would be home for the game so when I got home I thought it was too early to eat dinner. Well I was wrong about that. I got super hungry and ended up eating 3 servings of mini carmel rice cakes while making dinner. I decided to nix the evening snack from my planned meals because I had pork stir fry for dinner. I'm never hungry afterwards when I have that for dinner. However, while totally stuffed, I so wanted more food, sweets in particular. I came close a couple of times but 2 sticks of gum managed to get me through. So I ended up 30 calories over my allotment which I'm totally okay with. Would have preferred not to but I'll take 30 over 300 any day of the week! :)

Aiming for 1570 calories today with weights and cardio this afternoon. My gym closes at 5 today for a private event so that means early gym time but since it's weights day, I have a post-workout snack. That should stave the hunger off till I'm ready to make dinner.

Denver has hit spring...expecting rain for the next several days. Couple that with my TOM and it's going to be quite challenge for a while. Definitely going to need lots of :dust:

jdonato- Welcome! good to hear from you!

Took a 30min walk, weight has been the same for 3 days. So depressing, usually if I eat too much it only takes 2 days to see a loss, well this time it's not going anywhere. Don't get it, I've been in the 1400 calorie range for the past two days, that usually works. Today i had 1621 cause I had 1 serving of peanut butter. I threw the rest of the jar away( not much left in it) before it was too late. I've been so stressed over financial matters, that may have something to do with not being able to lose weight.
Hope we all have some good luck this week!!

Finally able to keep my calories happily under control today :) That, plus a good workout, things are looking up...including the scale. Hoping it's salt, but I'm up 2lb from a few days of over-eating. I only went past my range by a few hundred, so I keep telling myself it can't be "real" weight... can't wait for the week to be over so that number will get back down where it belongs! :) On the plus side, the health food store here had a "buy one, get one for 1p" sale so I have delicious new fruit tea to drink before bed tonight. :)

OhMyDogs-Awwwwwesome! You can do it!

Gave blood today but had for first time ever that I was almost turned away for having low hemiglobin (low iron),I guess this is a sign that I need to get myself more iron in my diet.

My weigh in is Friday so we will see if my body wants to let go of anything or not.
Good night ladies!

Today was my official weigh in day and I have almost made my challenge goal of being in the 240s before Easter - 250.1! Have been really good on plan lately after bouncing on and off all month last month. I'm also finding working out not such a chore lately - I am (almost) enjoying it! Actually, I find the dressing up in gym clothes and getting ready worse than the working out itself, I don't know why!

Fruitlady I can totally relate on the PB issues! I can seriously eat a ton of PB so I feel your pain.

Manders Hang in there! I read about your progress when I first joined and it really inspired me because we are the same height and had similar starting weights. You can do this!

Missjessica Good work staying on plan! Fruit tea is so yummy! I recently got some Peach tea by twinnings and I drink that before I go to bed too! Really keeps me from night eating, which is totally my weakness!

Thanks! Oh, I love that tea! Ginger Peach by Republic of Tea is really nice too. You're SO close to your goal, great job!!

Good morning Ladies ..

Missjessica ;; good job with the control ;; & trust me I understand, some days, you just overeat!! it probably is salt cause it doesn't seem like you'd gain 2lbs of fat through going over a few hundred for a couple days ;; Im sure you'll be right where you need to be by the end of the week :yes:

k15g15 ;; Ive always wanted to give blood but never could on account of my anemia .. good luck on friday's weigh in!! :cheers:

pochamma10 ;; you're moving closer & closer towards your mini goal .. good for you, keep it up :yay:


;; as for me; im at work right now trying desperately to stay awake! I haven't been getting much sleep at all .. I went to visit my niece in NICU last night at 9 & didn't end up leaving until 10:45 ..I stopped to pick up a few things from the grocery & I didn't finally get into the bed after a shower until 1am ;; Im so exhausted right now but I'm trying to stay awake! :frypan:

I'm doing pretty good for the week as far as my food choices. havent done much exercising besides walking briskly around the hospital .. I did wear my heartrate monitor & I ended up burning around 600 calories just doing that.. Oy, I need this busy season at work to go ahead & end so I can get back into the flow of exercising & getting proper sleep!

that's my rant; have a beautiful day chicas. :grouphug:

Hi Everyone! Have had limited internet access, so haven't been able to keep up very well.
So I ended up gaining weight during our stay in Italy. Too many chocolate hazelnut cookies, restaurant food, and periods of long driving. I did manage to lose it now that we are in Hungary. So just 1 pound net loss this past 2 weeks. Considering how badly I ate in Italy, I am happy with this. Probably won't make my Easter Challenge goal, but will still not give up the fight =)

Nice to read your posts when I can. Good luck everyone. Talk again soon!

Well I went waaaay off plan (far enough off plan that I didn't even count my calories). I tried some short interval running yesterday morning, which made it 2 mornings in a row that I did it. My arthritic knee threw a major hissy fit, and swelled up like a balloon (not to mention hurting!!) so my husband asked if I wanted him to bring something home for supper. I said PIZZA! And I snacked on pizza all night (as well as a little Reece's chocolate and peanut butter), and it was wonderful! I am back on plan today, except that I am taking the day off from my daily 3 mile walk, as my knee still feels stiff and swollen this morning, so I thought I'd not risk making things worse.

Oh, and to top it off, TOM made a surprise visit yesterday (I am used to a 5 or 6 week cycle, this month she showed up 'on time')

OH MY MY MY!!! We were all losing together and now we are all getting off task together. Well at least we are sticking together. Last night was a rough one. I got off track for dinner. I made burritos and one too many. I had some good results last week and I don't want to blow it. So lets start losing together again. I did my kettle bell workout this morning and will be going to the gym for lunch.

I am way WAY down this morning! 131.8lbs! I think it's because I am hungover. :lol:

Had a great day yesterday until the boyfriend surprised me with hockey game tickets, which meant gigantic beers in between each period. And a salted pretzel. And some peanuts in the shell.

Sheesh, get me back on TRACK! I won't get a scale reading until Saturday, tonight we're going out to an expensive steakhouse (Angus Barn, doesn't that sound like a burger joint? But it's very ritzy.) and so tomorrow morning I will be way back up.

HOW MUCH DO I WEIGH!? I keep getting way high (almost 135) or way low (131.8) -- I need to get consistent so I can figure out where I am!

Good Morning Ladies,

Yesterday I didn't do that well on my calories, however I didn't keep snacking after dinner and kept to my water. I weighed myself this morning and I lost 1lb! Small victory but I'll take it. Every pount is counting right now. Now that i'm keep track of what i'm eating I'm really starting to see how I put on the weight like I did, and I'm trying to figure out ways to cut back.

I'm starting to notice frozen meals are easier for me to keep track of calories as I'm starting up again, then I'll work up to substituting whole foods. the only problem is the sodium in most of the frozen meals, but it's better than me eating out. I'm getting off the pop and energy drinks, which I started cuz of my new job i was adjusting to the schedule again. One day at a time.

Thank you all for the warm welcome and it's great to see all you again, and for those who I haven't met, I'm excited to get to know you :)

I have alot of catching up to with with reading your posts and I will get back on here later to comment on them.

Hope you all have a wonderful day!

WI day tomorrow, not feeling very optimistic about this week :(. I did do better on my calories yesterday. 1600 on the button...still at the top of my range, but no extra snacking this time at least. I did get my exercise in too, so I guess it could be worse. TOM has lasted FOREVER this time around. Should have been over yesterday, but still lingering today. UGH.

Hoping for a "no gain" this week at least. Assuming I'm that lucky, I will have 2 weeks left to meet my challenge goal (I will be out of town over Easter weekend, so my last WI will be the 22nd.) My last WI was 182.8, so if I shoot for 179.9, I still have 2.9 lbs to go. Not sure if this is going to happen...but I will keep trying!

So, a question...should I cycle my calories low today, since I went way overboard yesterday?

Typically I eat 1600-1800 calories, should I drop it today at all? If so, by how much?

Well this may be the most obvious thing in the world but I found out yesterday if you feel a binge coming on, going grocery shopping is not a good idea. :o I got home from my workout, had my post-work snack, had another one and then was still hungry so grabbed a granola bar on my way out the door. While driving to the first store (I'm a multiple store kinda gal), I was determined not to binge and popped in a stick of gum. Looked at all the bulk candy / nuts / snacks but managed to resist. Got to the car and decided I needed something so I grabbed a banana. But by store two, my willpower was pretty much gone. I grabbed a candy bar on the way out. Store three just kicked my butt. I proceed to buy ice cream sandwiches and take-and-bake cookies. Ate most of both last night along with several other snacks. :(

I'm just having such a hard time kicking these binges. I think I know why they started (I went home in November, ate a normal breakfast and lunch but big dinners and snacks) and gained 7 - 8 pounds. Came home and got rid of it pretty quickly. So I think I have this mindset of "No big deal if I gain, I can just take it off again." But that's really not the case. Because at some point in time, I'm going to gain before I lose. And 1 -2 pound gains will start adding up. I think it's also not helping that my weight had not really gone down prior to this binge-fest I've been on. Well hello you idiot, you've been lifting weights like crazy! You've probably put on muscle weight! :idea:

I do not want to gain back this weight I've spent all this time and energy taking off. Not for health reasons, not for vanity reasons. I mean, I've created a business around this. How would it look for me to balloon up??? I think I'm going to take the rest of the week off (at least today), think about what I need to do to refocus myself and get my arse in gear! :D I have to keep remembering that I've done this before, I can do it again.

For those of you that are stumbling as well, I can't be much of a cheerleader but I can tell you I know how frustrated you must feel. I wish everyone on this challenge the best of luck for the last half of our challenge. Maybe overcoming my demons will be the success I find at the end. :)

I'm so sorry we all are having such a rough week! We all need :hug: and :dust:
and we'll be alright...no time to do personals but I will say that yesterday I ate close to 2,000 calories; I ate my exercise calories and then some...

EEK! But I drank plenty of water and today I weighed in at 242.2, a .6 lb loss from yesterday, only 1.2 lbs away from my Easter Goal, but I would like to lose even more by the 24th (I thought Easter was the 21st? Am I a bad Catholic? i can answer that myself: Yes.) and go at least 2 lbs past my Easter goal, I still have 2 more weeks and 2 more official weigh-ins, so I think I can do it...

Off the stairs!!! Let's end this week with a bang ladies!

I got my second workout in at lunch and felt great. I think I've done too much because I just want to eat now. I did a mile on the treadmill..incline 5.5 and 3.8 speed. I did those in intervals and then I did some leg presses and leg lifts. One thing I will say is I can see the muscles in my legs coming through when I'm lifting. I will have to check when I'm squatting. Long as I don't over do it after dinner.

manders- hang in there. It is a bad idea to go to the market when you want to binge, I can never resist all the temptation either. I go through binge stages too, I know how your feeling. The day will come when you put your foot down and say that is it! you'll be ready then to get back on track, and you'll be rewarded with a loss!

As for me, I rode the bike for 22min then went food shopping for my mom. I seem to lose better if I only do 20-30min a day, it's stupid & not normal. Had 1518 calories, about 100 over limit. Not bad considering it was from eating too much fruit. I'm just being as careful anymore! I did lose 2.5lbs.!

Thanks for the encouragement! And can I just say, I love these little pictures? I've always wanted to use this one, but cannot think of a time to use it. Now I know - when I don't get a shower until 1am and have to be functional the next day :)

Today I was back down, thank goodness! Still in the 150.something range, so still no 140's, but hoping this weekend will push me over. I've got a lot going on, so thank goodness, not a lot of time to sit and eat :)

:grouphug: to everyone who is having a poor week, I agree with Fit4Lyfe, lets end this week strong!

So sorry to be M.I.A. ~To tired to catch up on all the pages~But I love y'all & I hope everyone is doing great.~My kids Have been keeping me busy (& this awesome weather~I AM FREE FROM WINTER & CAN GO OUT & NOT HAVE ASTHMA ATTACKS AT THE MOMENT)~cold air sets them off badly & Muggy hot~But hopefully we don't have many of them this year.Staying inside can so suck! So I have been outdoors & eating like crazy~Been eating about 1800 But I am sure exercise wise just from walking outside I am burning 800 or more of them a day~Was 131.2 this morning during weigh in so that was good. I FINALLY GET MY PARTIALS On the 20th ~(of side & back teeth~they saved all my front teeth) Been months of work But I am nearly to reaching my teeth goal~I set like 2 years ago also LOL~Anyways I am so sleepy~off to snuggle with the hubby!

p.s. Hopefully The avatar pic is the last one with a sweater till Fall.~I So wanna wear some shorts & short sleeves!

Please Count me In!!! I'm New to the forum.
I'm a calorie counter.

Current weight as of this morning was 190.6lbs, Easter Goal 182lb. :carrot:

I am down about a pound to 181.9! Considering that I wasn't expectig a loss this week, I will gladly take it :) Exactly 2 lbs to go until 179.9!! (Hoping for 179 even, but I will take anything in the 170's!) I may just make my goal yet!

Have a great Friday, laides!!

Tomorrow is measuring day and I'm hoping for something!!! I have been feeling really tired today and it's only 9am. I'm feeling melancholy today. I have no idea why but been a little teary eyed but work must go on.

Sounds like we have gotten back on task. So lets finish this week with a BANG!

I was kind of hoping this would be a specified challenge. But that's okay! haha Hhhmm. A goal reasonable to reach before Easter. Let's see....
To lose 5 lbs! I think that's reasonable. I'm still at the beginning of my weight loss and the 1st 20 lbs always go fast. I'm certain this is a goal I can achieve. As a sub goal....no sugar! I'm addicted! No sugar intake except for what's natural...like in fruits and such. So far so good! Good luck to everyone on their goals!

Ok so this morning I weighed myself and I gained .2lbs...how is that possible...because I drank a crap load of water, walked around the office as much as possible and went to the store walked around for an hour, had only 1350 calories, and took in a crap load of veggies, the only thing...i was 2,000mg over my sodium intake, and i'm a week before TOM. So those are the only things i can think of. I was in and out of the bathroom constantly yesterday so I thought i was gonna lose more this morning...booooooooooo!

Anyway, went to the store last night got my frozen meals and snacks. It sucks cuz I know they have alot of sodium, but it's the only way to get me to start eating less and counting calories again. After a couple of weeks i'll begin to substitute whole foods back in. Ive been craving cheetos lately so instead of getting the regular ones out of the vending machine, I picked up the bakes cheetos and counted out the serving size in a little baggy so i have them here at work. Way less calories and fat and sodium.

The frozen meals are basically lean cuisine and kashi, then i picked up the green giant frozen veggies so i can add more to the meals and mix more veggies in. The only problem is some of the veggies, even though they say "healthy weight" on them, normally have a sause with it and I don't want the sauce, but the smaller ones are easier to keep at work. so something im' trying to tweak on. I've been having to use the crystal light packets to get my water down. I've been drinking pop for so long I lost my taste for water. I will develope it again soon just to drink it plain.

so i guess i'm wondering is it bad that i'm doing the frozen meals for a little bit? I don't know anyother way to make it easier to stay within calorie and watch portion control. I don't have time to cook food always for lunch, and don't have desire to cut up fresh veggies and cook them. Anyone know of some good frozen meals with low sodium? any comments and suggestions would be great :) thanks

sigh....yesterday was another day off plan for me. I am back on plan and staying there now though. Yesterday was just an awful day.

Usually I fluctuate by up to 4lbs during the day, but for some reason TOM has me at 276.4 every single time I get on the scale LOL. I am hoping some of that weight comes off by Monday (which is weigh in day), but if not, then I know it will come off by next Monday.

Since I have been off plan for the last 2 days, I am going to cycle down to 1400 calories for today and tomorrow (rather than my usual 1600-1800)...I was far more than 200 calories over each day I was off, but it's better than nothing! LOL