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!

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!

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

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. 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.

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.

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 - 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.
Okay everyone lets have a great day and enjoy the journey to better health and feeling better!!

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. 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!!! 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!

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. 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.