I know I haven't been around much, but lots going on! As of this morning I am at my goal for the month, 275! This is super exciting because I haven't been here since around 2006. I think the body bugg has definitely helped to keep me on track and know even when I eat more than I should, I am still in a deficit so if I am up the next day it is just water retention which makes me not fall off the wagon completely.

I know I told you guys about the puppy we adopted, but unfortunately the dog was psycho.. way too much baggage for such a young dog. We returned her to the foundation (no kill) last weekend and it actually turns out that we are getting a 2 month old puppy on Wednesday and since we know the history of this one it should be better than the last try. It will be nice to run around the backyard other than just doing sprints!

That was just a quickie for me, we are off to the theater to see Avatar, so I will chat with you all later.

Afternoon Ladies,

Ok, this is third try to sit down and write something today, life is very busy my goodness.

Oh well onto more important things,

Delphi - that was my thoughts exactly, something we can all enjoy, now let's hope I don't get a tool set or something. NSM was around a bit then she had some family visiting and we haven't seen her since, and FSA pops in about once a month when she can but she's got uber family issues right now and the other two have been MIA for at least two months now. MsP has seen Lewis in some other threads but not here. I do enjoy your late night rambles, lol, we have missed you ever so much. I'm glad the guys are getting on the band wagon. I've got a small little group of friends back home that we're doing the same thing except I'm helping and not participating since I've got a wee bit of a head start Just call me Obi-Wan. it's brilliant how it only takes one person and it can really get contagious, congrats to you!

Sandye - Gosh, I can't be in pre-menopause yet I'm only 30 and I haven't seen mine since August, let's pretend it's all the working out, lol. I'm still going to worry about you all the way until January when you come back on the wagon, just think the entire time, I'm going to be concerned about what you're eating, up late, chewing my nails, hoping you're exercising. And thanks, it's nice to see the hard work pay off kwim? Well of course you do, lol, you're there too. Enjoy your holidays!

Jellofer - So you must have the most awesome doctor ever, that program sounds super helpful. You will rock a challenge, maybe January? Maybe December part 2?

MsP - All I could think is please let me go home to my safe food, lol. It's totally fine when I'm prepared, I bring snacks or preplan what I'm going to eat but that last minute stuff, I'm going to need to get better at that since that's life and stuff will happen like that over the years. I agree, more on board sounds marvelous, it'll be hard keeping up with personals but I'm willing to make that effort if more people want to work hard. And holy when did you hit 130, OMG! I totally missed that, you're a pound and a smidge away! Yay you, on goal two.

Gekster - Sorry about the puppy, let's hope the second time is the charm then. And WoohooGekster made goal, Gekster made goal Congrats.

Today's been super busy but yet I don't know that I've done a darn thing, just lots of phone calls and dh and dd needing some stuff and feeding myself and all that jazz. Got some cleaning and some stretching to do this pm, and need to figure out my workout schedule for the next two weeks until we go home on the 30th.

Oh and that's right, guess who's 135.8, oh ya, this girl right here! Only 0.8 left to go and another milestone today, Body Fat 23.7% so that's at goal too (now where is that butty shaking dance icon when you need it)

Catch ya later ladies.

I like december part 2. How about December the remake? Or December released in HD? Tummy you make me smile!!!

Bad day today. Potluck.. Had way to much chicken. It had a light spicy crust on it and was white meat though. But It was addicting. So, I need to up the water a ton for the rest of the night. Then the first workout with the trainer in the am. WOOHOO!!!! So. POP through christmas should make my holiday sweater look too cute!!!

Good Evening Ladies...

Just a super quick post before bedtime. I'll catch up with personals in the morning. Not too much to report, other than another POP day and my first session of ST in over two months today. It was all good, but I decided since it's been two months, I started with 3lb barbells, and that seemed alright. If I'm not hurting tomorrow then I know it simply wasn't enough and I can resume ST'ing with my 5lbers. So we shall see. I's got my whole routine laid out for the week even though it should be busier than usual. Tuesday we have this whole tour bus thing to go to, which should be fun and hopefully a lot of walking on the shopping part of it. Then of course there is Christmas Eve...we always have our shin-dig on Christmas Eve, so do you think it would be awfully bad to just not eat anything until I get to our get-together?!?! I'm thinking at the very least a nutrigrain bar in the morning to get me going but after that nothing but water until the party. I know it isn't ideal. But I want to eat turkey and dressing and regular ol' fatten' potatoes with loads of real butter just sitting there looking all scrumptous and stuff...Oh my and the deviled eggs...I'm gonna throw myself into a frenzy just thinking about it. So what do you gals think? Ok so this post wasn't all too quick, but ya know, I'm not one for the whole drive by thing anyways.

Ok I'm gonna get off this PC and get some sleep. Oh one more thing. Since we moved I'm not really trusting the water here, plus my fridge w/icemaker/water thingy, is in the shed and I'm using the one already in here....so I've been buying bottled water since I moved and I hate it. I hate not being able to refill my water and get all icy and stuff. So my question is, what do you ladies do? Bottled water, filters? And if filters ..do you have any suggestions. I was thinking that after Christmas I would buy one of those filters to put on my facet so I can actually drink the water and refill my icy ones. So what cha think?

Ok I'm really gone this time...you ladies have fun and rest well. See you ladies bright and early in the morning. Peace out yo.

Jellofer - I'm glad I can put a smile on your face today, cuz come tomorrow someone's going to be in some personal trainer pain, have fun!

Delphi - LOL i've heard of saving calories but wow, you really mean it, there's worse things I think, my thought would be go low the day before and the day after to average out, that always seems to work for me. We're all water cooler here b/c even with filters our water tastes like blood (well water) but I loved my Brita when we were in the city and it really did the trick. I forgot how close it was to Christmas, lol, it's terrible but we're not heading home until after the holidays so I guess I'm a bit mixed up. And you almost made me want butter with all your food porn there, almost, but not quite

Going to jump in the bed and get some reading in before bed, the book of the day is Food Revolution by John Robbins if any one wants a good read, so far it's awesome. Goodness I think I ate too much supper my stomach is not feeling great all of a sudden, bloaty yuck. Anywho, be back to check in tomorrow.

Delphi- I've actually saved up all but like 50 calories for a dinner, it was rough but I was able to eat what I wanted and not be mad at myself because of going so far over my limit. For your water question, we live in an area that has regular "boil you water" notices.. but after the fact so it does no good. We bought bottled water for almost a year, but then we found a water filtration system by a company called Watts. They are pretty elaborate. I don't know what you think may be in the water, but it has different types to suit whatever. The nice thing is that it is a staging system and the different stages are replaced at different times, some are good for as long as 5 years. It was pricey, but for us totally worth it since we drink a gallon or more per person in our house.

Good morning Ladies

Gekster ~ Thanks for the info. I don't think it's the water, as we are on the same system that we were in in the old house. After all we are like one minute away from the old house. I think it is the pipes in this house. You have to let the water run in the shower, because when it first comes out it's rusty. I guess I'm being overly cautious, but I don't trust it. So I though perhaps just a filter would work and save me some money at the same time.

Tummy ~ Well visiting after the holiday isn't so bad right? At least you guys get to have Christmas at home right? And I'll have you know, my food porn is top of the line stuff, not that cheap b-movie snuff. Rofl! So what's on the agenda for the week since you guys are leaving afterwards?

Jellofer ~ And here I was thinking I would go through life without ever hearing the phrase, I had to much chicken. I didn't think that was possible.

Ok, well Not to much to report as I haven't been up entirely too long. Plan on getting some cardio in and keeping my butt movning. Had a pretty good burn yesterday but I'm retaining water as I ran out of water Saturday morning and my grandma is so busy that I don't know when I'll get to go to the store, hence my worry and inquiries about filtered water. Well I guess I'm off here, time to get my butt moving and go freeze my tail end off bringing the trashcans back around the house. Have an excellent day ladies.

Morning Ladies Wwll the few of us that are around anyway Gekster - Oh I've heard of those filters being awesome too! I can't imagine that water boil thing all the time, that would be crazy. And congrats on goal again, I was admiring your 275. Delphi - I think I might be hesitant about the water too, better safe than sorry. At our old house when we used the filter it was for old pipes too and it took the taste right out. If you have any movies laying around about refined white flour, that's the stuff that will do me in for sure, that stuff is my crack but the less I eat, the less I want. Nope there are definitely advantages to visiting when we are, but we are traveling on the 30th and 31st so it will still be busy but we get to spend new years with family anyway. Also, most of the nasty food will be gone, yay. Dh is off until the 24th so we're having some nice family time this week but he gets to take calls from home for the 24th and 25th so we'll actually get all week together, unless he gets a call out of course. Another office invited us over for christmas dinner so we'll probably go there and then drinks at another place sometime this week too. That's about it but I like it low key so I'm in heaven. Are your guys having Christmas at your place or where is that party with all the sultry butter? Going to head over to dh's office to use that treadmill soon, so nice to go earlier in the day with dh home. Then upper body STing this afternoon and some family Christmas movie action tonight, good times. Have a wonderful day ladies!

Hi Ladies

Only 4 days till Christmas!!!!! I am very excited! I love this time of the year, Christmas is my favourite holiday by far!

But as much as I love Christmas it can also be a very depressing time of the year for me. My whole family is back home in Australia and every year I go through a bout of depression, missing home and my family, which usually leads to some very bad food choices ... it has already started ... on the weekend I ate some cookies and chocolate .. and by some cookies I mean several ... and when I got into work this morning one of our contractors had left us a huge tray of Christmas cookies, which has been placed like 3 feet away from me

The realization that again I am not going to be spending Christmas with my family has hit me early this year, it usualy doesn't happen until Christmas morning! So I am trying very hard to stay OP and I know it is just going to get harder and harder to stay away from that cookie tray plus all the other goodies that are going to be coming throughout the week.

This is when the support of you girls and 3FC really helps - just posting this is helping, I need this distraction. I know that I am not the only one in this boat - this is a hard time for everyone and knowing that plus knowing that you have all had temptation and pushed past it makes me think that I can do that too.

I'm just hoping that my feelings don't encourage me to make emotional and regretful food chocies and that I can be strong enough to make it through the day and then the next. All I can do is take it day by day.

Lauren-I'm glad you came on to air out those feeling. It's much lower in calories than the cookies! LOL Ya know, I love Christmas too! It's just such a beautiful, wonderful time. Anyway, I'm sorry to hear you're away from your family, but maybe you can get together with local friends and enjoy the holidays with them. You can make it through the holidays successfully! I just know it!!

Delphi-We've lived a few different places and used mainly bottled water and filtered pitchers, depending on the situation. Our last house had very hard water and it did rust the pipes. I would let it run a bit (20 sec.) and then run it into a filtered water pitcher. The first 20 seconds would allow the water sitting in the pipes to clear out and the pitcher could clean out any other suspect materials. Just a thought. As for your question about January, my main goal is going to have to do with reducing body fat. I'm sitting around 26% and would like to get down to 21-24% (fitness level). I won't consider myself in maintenance until I reach that mark. That's right...I'm still a LOSER!! Heehee!

I'm having a nice OP day. Got my workouts in and may squeeze in some extra to make up for my weak efforts this weekend. Time is not on my side today, but 3FC time is a priority for my mental health, so I had to come on and check in! Here's to a fantastic day to all, and to all a low calorie night!

Tummy you have fun with your Christmas movies this evenings and Ms.P thanks for the water info. I'm definitely gonna look into something after Christmas.

Lauren ~ I feel you on the holidays being a joy and also depressing. This is how most holidays are for me. Very difficult. Broken home and all...so although I feel anxiety and depression around the holidays, I try to remember and focus on the holiday and try to celebrate it as it was intended. OUr holidays have gotten so out of hand these days, that people just don't appreciate why we have them. So my advice is to focus on the "reason" for the season and enjoy every minute of your holiday.

Well I was just checking in. Waiting on my lunch to digest so I can start my cardio. The house is a madhouse with all the boys home and running wild. I'll check in later...(now, where did I put that duct tape)

Delphi- when we moved further away from the city we were put on the Joliet Illinois city well. The water is terrible and was always white in color. We got a water softener for the house, but we do get our drinking water delivered from Ice MOuntain. We drink 6 5 gallon jugs every 4 weeks. Not including what we drink in bottles and at work. I couldn't believe it either when I said I ate too much chicken. But I did. It takes a strong women to admit it.

Tummy-You are right about the personal trainer pain, but it it good. I really like him a lot. The best one I have found. He really worked me hard. we did 60 minutes worth of stuff in 30 minutes. Like circut training. Then I did some cardio. So, for now, I will be spending 30 minutes a week with Paul to have a sort of "last chance workout". He will then give me my homework for the week and the blast the fat with an intense cardio workout when he is done beating my muscles into submission. I love it! Even though I cannot lift my arms up over my head right now and holding my glass of water is exhausting. After January is over and my physical therapy time is over then I will go see him 2 times per week. I think that is a good thing. And he is affordable.

I totally fell off plan last night, but boy was it worth it. We went out and finished our christmas shopping at a local tea shop and found a great greasy burger joint. Called, 5 guys burgers and fries. MMMMM!!! So not on plan, but that was what I needed to finish geting me through my little wall. I am back in the game. The depression is over. It was tough. Best burger I have had in years. And the fries, fresh and hot and a ton of them. back to perfect plan today. wanna dump 5 pounds by sunday. I can do it. I have given up on 228 for the end of the month. I want it for my birthday on 1/8/10. That would be a gift. then It is back to business. I was losing at an average of 10/month and that is gotta happen. My thighs still touch and I have had it.

Have a great one ladies.

Love and light to all the peeps!!!

Thanks for the support girls, so far so good! I have not touched the cookies! And I do not plan too

Well...here I am posting again. The day was alright for me. I did get my session in with maya and my six yr. old, joined me in about half of it, before he gave out huffing and puffing. It was still fun. I have these hard wood floors so now I can shuffle my arse off, but bejebbers maya, not back to back. Anywho, my calories were a bit high, but nothing earth shattering. I still should have a bit of a deficit. So all and all, it was a good day. I just hope I can get some sleep. That anxiety just kills me the days before our family shin-dig. I truly hate going...and then theres this whole thing tomorrow night, in which I swallowed my pride, yet again, to ensure my boys find a little extra joy at Christmas. Anywho, I'm gonna get off here. Oh and if any of you haven't seen A Christmas Cottage, I'd definitely recommend it. It's a little story about Thomas Kinkade that is heart warming and quite the tear jerker. Ok, you ladies have a great evening. Tootaloo!

Evening Ladies,

Lauren - for you I know the feeling, this is our first Christmas away from our family and it's a bit harder than I thought, but we do get to go see some folks in January but a lot will be back home by the time we get down. It's hard but cookies don't make it better for sure, so hang in there.

Jellofer - Well that sounds like the sort of trainer I'm going to be, lol, arse whopping can't life a glass of water, marvelous. Holy crap ladies, the food porn, oh my eyes, my delicate eyes, they're bleeeeeedddinnggg. Now glad you enjoyed it but your butt is firmly on that wagon now I hope, lol.

Delphi - you sound rather busy with the festivities my dear, hopefully you'll not be run all raged and things, I can't imagine trying to keep track of your brood while out visiting, one is a lot for me. I'm not such a good multi tasker I suppose.

Oh my it's getting late, we baked Santa's cookies tonight so that's checked off the list and can someone tell me when it's ok for my 3 year old to ask why people have to die? Honestly, if I have to have the sex talk with her tomorrow I'm going freak the heck out.

So enough of that, two good workouts today, about 1000 calorie deficit and heading to bed,without a cookie I may add, and all the happier for it. Better get rested up, I have a two hour massage tomorrow afternoon, merry christmas to me, woohoo.