Hi Ddel30!
Nope...my "scale" weight has not changed in the past few weeks...which I am stating as a good thing considering the Thanksgiving/Hannakuh/Solstice/Christmas season and the events I have been to.
My goal really is not to "lose" during this month...but to maintain through the holidays...and start losing again after the New Year. I am not "off plan" by ANY means...but for instance-we had two Christmas gatherings last weekend-Friday Night and Sunday-and both involved huge meals. This weekend-I have events Friday Night, Saturday (two events with meals!) and Sunday afternoon!!!
(We also had TWO Thanksgiving dinners to attend last month-one on that day, and one the weekend after-we have a LOT of family and they "spread it all out" for us...good that we get the chance to see them all...but not so much for the zillion days of food.)
My mindset has been such...I am kicking along in my workouts...especially Mondays and Tuesdays because I have "double workouts" those days due to dance rehearsals those nights. I have been on plan on the days that I am here...and doing as well as I can on the days we have family gatherings.
On the days that I am out of town with family...I bring snacks with me in my purse-portable fruit like apples, bananas, clementines, and maybe a high protein meal replacement bat, etc. and try to make the best choices that I can make-and have my backup food there if there isn't anything "salvagable".
Sunday for instance-I had roasted turkey, some raw veggies from the veggie tray...and a scoop of green beans. At a birthday party we went to the weekend before last-I ate a couple clementines I brought and made a cup of tea instead of having cake and ice cream with everyone else. I am doing what I can!
I also do not go only by the scale as a measure of progress...as I strength train and professionally dance...and I have really been doing some muscle building in that arena. There are many times in the past few years do to muscle gain-that I do not lose for a little while in scale weight-but my measurements get smaller.
If someone only does very light weights or mainly cardio (walking/aerobics/jogging) type of workouts their losses will almost always show on the scale...with strength trainers our progress isn't always measured in pounds.
Lately my progress has been in the aerobic endurance area and core strength (back/abs/thighs). I have kicked my cardio walk/jog workouts from 1-2 miles to 2-3 depending on the day. In dance we are doing a new routine for an upcoming show...and it is VERY athletic. We are doing lots of core strength moves-heavily using the back, ab, and thigh muscles. Definitely not sissy stuff. I have been wearing knee pads for knee protection, and legwarmers to cover the tops (bony part) of my feet due to the extensive floorwork in this routine. (You oughta see the bruising on my knees and tops of my feet from the hardwood dance floor...I look like a 6 year old kid in the summertime!
)
Yes-I still want to lose over 20 more pounds...but there are many times being a performing dancer, that my #1 fitness goals are not anything to do with the scale-and I focus more on endurance, flexibility, balance, and strength for certain things.
It is nice when the scale goes down...but that is not the only measurement I go by...my body measurements, actual clothing sizes, and being able to physically do something I could not do before are the biggest "progress" signals for me.
Yes-I do try to keep a tight ship.
I have people in my family who whine about being fat/out of shape/overweight...and are whining about this while drinking a Pepsi sitting in the recliner, while their treadmill is being used as a coat rack.
We all have bad days where laziness or temptation gets to us...but we have to keep getting up and doing what we have to do. If you slip up, you slip up...get back on the horse and start going forward again.
I understand 100% when one of us has a slip up and eats a piece of cake...or caves in and orders fattening food at a restaurant. What I try to convey is that we can't let that slip up turn into 2 weeks of pigging out, feeling sorry for ourselves.
Last year there was a tempting dessert here in the house-and I remember slipping up and eating a piece. I sat and battled with it...and after a while I regained control. I took the rest of it and threw it in the trash. It was very empowering to me...I took control and was not going to eat any more of it...and I took action. My husband thinks I am crazy when I do stuff like that...but oh well.
Today is strength training for me...I am really kicking it in lately-I want defined dancer's legs this summer...
back and seasons greetings to all...
. When I got home last night my DD and DH had been wraping my gifts and that was one of them! I can't wait to get back into it this weekend and use a new machine. I am burt out on the treadmill. I am so short on time with my overtime at work and shopping that I am thinking about starting to get up about 45 min earlier in the morning to work out for 20-30 mins on my machines but it will be hard becouse I am not a morning person at all and can not get up on time as it is? I just feel that excited feeling like I am getting re-motivated again and I want to be at my goal weight this summer for my vacation to Maine to see my family. 
