Whew... had a terrible night of insomnia, sleeping for only 3 hours (if that). I HATE when that happens!! I have to stay on track and go to gym as planned... will go to bed early tonight.

Barbara - I wanted to tell you to hang in there. You'll see a difference soon! Maybe up your fiber??

Barbara That's frustrating. I was under the impression that 1200 wasnt enough to eat. I'm trying to eat 1500 -1700 and now I'm wondering if I'm eating too many? I was eating 1800 and found that didnt help.

Claire It is so tough to stay on plan when you are tired. Drink lots of water. I hope you have a good day.

Yesterday was great for me. I followed my plan to a T! Today I am on site though for testing and this is the first time we've been at this location so everyone is talking about where to go for lunch etc. So far, I've packed very healthy food (hummus, carrots, apple, granola bar) that wont require a fridge. I have my leftovers from last night to have as soon as I get home. Hopefully that will work. I do not want to go to TIm Hortons or Pizza (those were the two things I heard from others.. yikes). I did a really tough gym class last night and felt great after. Normally I do a yoga class afterward on Mondays but I needed to eat something and was exhausted. So I came home, had dinner and then had an herbal tea for dessert!! That was some huge success for me.

Have a great day everyone.

Popcorn was the culprit last night. I stayed up to watch one too many shows. Must go to sleep earlier

Walking: Thanks. I don't think it's the fiber. I get a fair amount, 20g to 30g per day. At one point I was even trying to reduce the fiber in my diet because I thought I might be eating too much, but that was when I was eating more. 20-30g on a 1200 calorie diet seems fine (I think the RDA for 2,000 calorie diet is 25g).

Bikini: 1200 calories is absolute minimum you should eat without professional supervision. It is an acceptable calorie level, you just shouldn't be below that on a regular basis unless your diet is supervised by a doctor or nutritionist. 1200 is what my gym recommends for a person of my height and weight to lose weight (their recommendations are just weight based--there are other websites out there with more sophisticated formulas). Everyone's metabolism is different; I've always had to be below 1400 calories per day to lose weight. But when I weighed a little more, I was able to lose at 1300-1400 per day (in fact, last time I was at this weight, I was able to lose at that level, I don't know why it is such a problem for me now). If you just dropped to 1500-1700, I'd give it at least a couple of weeks before lowering your calories again. If you still are losing, then try dropping another 100. You want to find the highest calorie level where you are able to lose at a reasonable rate, so that if you do plateau, you've got room to drop your calories further.

Susan - We are sooo alike. I love to stay up late, and it often is a dangerous snacking time for me. And, I'm a popcorn fanatic!

Barbara - yes, 20-30 grams is certainly plenty of fiber. I know you are very wholesome and balanced in what you eat... I was just grasping at straws. There was a great thread that may be bookmarked somewhere (maybe on the Living Maintenance thread) about breaking through a plateau. I remembered that upping fiber was one idea, but I can't remember all the others. There were lots of helpful tips though.

Ate about 1550 today with 45 min. walk. Boy, I am really just easing back into healthful living! Baby steps!

Awesome news about your car, Dagmar!

Well, the good news is that I'm down two pounds over the weekend. The bad news is that it's not from diet or exercise, it's from Strep! I felt like I was swallowing razor blades---YUCK!! So, I'll probably gain that right back, but I'm changing my ticker for now!

Hi Everyone,

Lots of good news on here! Mine is not so great but still ok. I was making my healthy lunch today when my friend called and said she was on her way to get me. I had to put my food away since it wasnt ready and ended up splitting a frozen pizza with her at her house because I was starving. I had a healthy dinner though and the rest of the day was healthy but I'm still over in calories a bit because of that pizza. What can I do now? nothing really but I marked it down and hopefully that will remind me to be more careful the rest of the week. I was really craving a treat tonigth but after I logged in my calories and had to put a dreaded x instead of a check mark on my chart because I went over in calories I no longer want anything that will increase my calories! So that's good.

I have to be proud of myself for passing up two days of treats. I have been doing work on another site which included trays of stuff like danishes, muffins and croissants. I did not touch a single one. And they smelled AMAZING. It was really hard but I did it!

I did a step class today and my biceps and triceps so at least I'm sticking with the gym.

Have a good night everyone.

Bikini - Good job today, girl, passing on the tray of pastries - pastries are one of my very biggest weaknesses. If they are in my house, I will eat them (hence I don't ever have them in my house, but they sure can be hard to avoid at work!)

Well Claire, I hope you're having better luck with that than I am. I'm thinking of taking something that puts me to sleep at about 7 pm

I had a brain wave! When I make my bed, I'm going to put my knitting on the pillow! In theory ... I'll knit while I watch TV instead of fetching a snack!

Great idea! I've wanted to start knitting but I need to go to a lesson or something. I have been taught by a couple people but they weren't very sure themselves and I didn't really get it. I just spent 3 hours doign work that I thought was useless in the beginning, pointed it out, was told it was necessary, then after wasting time doing it, finally got through to the project manager that there was no point doing it! if only he had listened to me the first time I'm so frustrated, I'm off to the gym to burn some of that off. At least I'm no longer eating in times like this!

Well, the good news is that my weight has finally come in a lb lower for two days straight. Hopefully it will stick and that progress will continue. The bad news is that I'm sick (which is particularly frustrating because I was just sick less than a month ago). So that probably means no exercise for a week. We'll see, right now I don't feel so bad that I couldn't do a light workout. And at least my trainer is sick right now too. If he's going to be sick and I'm going to be sick, it might as well be at the same time--fewer missed sessions that way.

Bikini: That's great that you managed to eat healthy for the rest of the day despite the pizza and didn't give in to your cravings at night. I have one off plan meal and I throw in the towel for the day--it's really something I'm trying to work on.

Susan: Great minds think alike. I've also been thinking of taking up knitting so I can do it while I watch TV. Keeping my hands busy definitely keeps me from snacking. My SO has pointed out, however, that maybe I should just finish one of the quilts I have started, rather than starting a new project. Somehow starting a new project is always more alluring than finishing an old one.

Day 3 as an invalid (of sorts) - feeling like Jabba the hut.
Think I am over the pouting phase and can get back on track with the food plan.

Trouble is - I am bored, stuck in the house...and we know what that can lead to.

I quite sure I've only sprained my ankle, I can put weight on it today, swelling is not so bad and I can rotate my ankle.
Hmmmm, I wonder how long before I can ski again.

I've been surfing like a fiend - signed up for the PC fitday - seems well worth the $$, maybe I will put in all my custom foods while I am stuck here.

Sounds like everyone is on track to getting off those pesky pds so far.
I am hoping to follow in your tracks very soon.

Have a great day.

-S

So I find my car, save the insurance co. a bunch of money for my claim, and now they are treating me as the criminal.

My adjuster, who never answers her &%*@ phone, is treating my claim with "prejudice" . Some other insurance person is coming out to "interview" me on Tuesday before they will even fix the little things broken by the thief inside my car.

I am out just under $1000 for new locks and a new door handle, which he also broke. Plus there are all the things I had to replace like gloves, backpack, planner, etc. and a towing charge that should never have happened. And I lost two days pay at work - no compensation as I'm self employed.

Dammit!!! I am staying away from the grocery store for now but it sure is tempting to console myself with something very sugary and fattening.

Dagmar (I need a smiley with steam coming out its ears)

Hugs, Dagmar. I'd be looking for wine if I were in your shoes. I understand what you mean about the insurance guys. I've had my homeowners insurance with the same company for 17 years (two houses) and until this week, I'd NEVER filed a claim. They are sure making it difficult to get $500 to replace my $2500 tree--it's almost as if they think I'm making it up (why don't they call the police department and ask for a copy of the report--why don't they ask for my photos of the evidence?). Aargh!!! But no, I'll go home and try to stay away from the nuts in the pantry while I make my low cal, low fat minestrone for dinner.