Stella, I feel your frustration with your injury! I got tendonitis in my hip last year, and I couldn't run for months. It is finally almost 100% better and I am running again, but now my knee is giving me trouble. Grrr!

I am noticing this week just how quickly stress leads to eating for me. Thursday was tough -- a busy day with a sick, cranky baby -- and I indulged in snack after snack. Healthy snacks, but too much nonetheless. Then last night, after I had too much dinner (because it was just so good), my husband got called back into work, which ramped up my stress level b/c he is already working so much this weekend, and then leaving for a conference next weekend. His work hours are becoming an issue for us, and when he left I went right for the pantry. ~sigh~ Today is another day (albeit one where he is working all day and I have been up since 4 with the baby) and I commit to eating more carefully and making more conscious choices.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Same7, it's good to hear from someone who's come back from an injury! I think my ankle is better, but it's hard for me to tell until after work (eight hours on my feet).

Sorry you're having a rough time with the baby--hopefully he'll feel better soon!

Did not exercise Friday or Saturday, and I weighed 120.6 this morning. The lowest I've ever seen. But I was bad - I had 3 pieces of stuffed-crust pizza (over 2 days) and a huge ice cream cone. Then I did an hour of plyo and for fun, weighed again, and I was 119.6. All water, of course. I attribute it to already losing muscle from not working out 2 days, LOL.

Getting back on track now.

The weekend has been pretty great after my splurge on Thrusday night. Honestly it felt good to indulge a bit. I was SO disciplined so far this month, I almost needed it to keep me on track in an overall view if that makes any sense at all.
I did another long run Saturday and have kept my calories VERY close to 1500 since Thursday, so that's wonderful. I moved my goal back to 129 since it's the top end of my goal range. I think I was feeling like I should try to get to the low end of my maintenance range before I felt it was official, but now I've decided Goal is Goal and I won't diminish it by worrying over whether it's the top or bottom initially. I will be totally celebrating at 129.0 or lower and I will work my way into the 120's so a little indulgence here and there doesn't knock me back into the 130's. I want to be a 120-er for life!!! Geez, I was blabby there!

Three days of company.

3 days of overeating and the scale is up, up, up.

Ahhh - Monday and a chance to begin again.

Anyone else need to get back on track today?

Ah, I've missed four pages worth of posts! I see a lot of people have been doing well, coping fantastically with setbacks, and doing this step by step the healthy way!

As for me, well, there's a reason I went AWOL. I have not been coping well. I'm about to lose my job; today is the first day of my last week. I've known it was coming for a while--some time in February the library coordinator called me into her office and said they could afford to keep either me or the books =/ But knowing in advance didn't help much because I haven't been able to find a replacement job, and have to put the search on hold until we come back from overseas at the end of May.

My nightmares are filled with dollar signs. The bursar is breathing down my neck to pay tuition for my first semester of grad school, which is three times the amount it should be because I haven't been cleared for in-state tuition yet. This, and not knowing how we'll pay the bills when we get back, has prompted me to indulge in some, um...white bread and butter "therapy."

But I've been working on coming to terms with it, and the damage isn't too severe. As of this morning I'm 127.00, which is a far cry from the post-TOM loss I was hoping for, but no disaster either. I also feel pretty strong physically--maybe all those carbs helped rebuild my muscles eh?--so I plan to get back on the treadmill before I take a deep breath and go in for that final "green mile."

TKM- I hope you keep posting and I am sorry that the recession has taken your job.
_____
My program was all over the map this weekend. On the good side, I got plenty of exercise- running, walking, biking (a little), dancing, and even hula hooping. There were hula hoops at a festival I was at & used the hoop for over 20 minutes. My arms were tired from having them raised that long.

I binged at a BBQ on Friday- endless helpings of potato salad. I felt embarrassed afterward b/c my friend saw me do it. Then I binged last night on rice & fruit after being "good" at a birthday party. After the binge, I skipped a concert I had tickets to. It's old behavior to use food to isolate.

This morning, I put myself on the scale at work. The scale said I was down 1 pound from Friday. I'm a little surprised, but my binge last night had no salt in it so I didn't retain water.

This week, I have our major annual event at work. This means long hours, boredom, and lots of stress. But I must take care of myself and stick to my plan. I hope we can help each other through the week.

I've been OP, but apparently the scale is still punishing me for my mis behavior last week. I'm holding at the point I was at before I had my wonderful treats. I usually go down a few days after..like I was 133.0 the morning of the day I overate. So typically after 3-4 days I'd be UNDER 133.0 and moving on, but I'm still waiting to get under 133. No worries. I've long since hit my goal for the month. I was just hoping to get closer to the 120's than I am.

MsP, way to get back on track. How long are your long runs? Anything long makes me sooo hungry all day, so I'm super-impressed you can stay at 1500 cals.

Tkm, so sorry about your job. I was just telling my husband how white bread with butter is such a comfort food for me... probably because my mother considers it the bottom row of every child's food pyramid. Where are you going overseas? Somewhere fun, I hope!

Stella, how's the ankle? Hopefully not slowing you down. I'm off Advil and feeling pretty healthy for the first time in months!

I had a small victory at the gym today -- when I went to bust DS out of the child care, he was not crying! Yea! Usually he cries when I leave, perks up for a bit while I'm gone, and then crumbles by the time I get back. But today he was playing and having fun. This is so encouraging b/c his troubles there were really discouraging me from going (or I was using it as an excuse -- depends on the day, I guess). No fun to be 10 minutes into a class or the stairclimber only to be called back to get your child.

I will need extra willpower this week with TOM coming at the end of the week, plus DH leaving for a week. Like MC said, I hope we can help each other through!

Same7, glad the baby is doing better! I remember long hours spent tending church nursery holding my cousin's crying baby--now of course she's very outgoing!

I can't decide what's going on with my foot--at first, it was all classic plantar fasciitis symptoms, pain in the heel worsening after rest. Now, it's like I was walking funny because of the pain and I've hurt my ankle. It's really swollen, and the back of my foot (achilles tendon area) hurts when I roll my foot. That being said, it is BETTER than it was! It just looks awful and I'm having trouble with shoes for work (dress code calls for dress shoes) because of the swelling. I should probably go to the doctor, but I just don't want to cough up the copay for them to tell me to rest/ice it.

I am making friends with the elliptical and the pool at the gym!

It felt good to get back in control on Monday.

Scale went down to 126.5 so here's to losing the same ole pounds again.

Party to go to tonight - will really try to not overdo it.

Stella - hope the foot is better. I am having to get up each night and take advil for the knees and legs. The weather here is giving everyone the big sinus head - feels like a hangover - ugh. Can't wait to wake up and feel peppy again. But love the warm weather so I guess I will be positive about that.

Have a great Tuesday everyone.

Scale went up for the first time in a month. I want to blame the jeans I was wearing or TOM, but I must remember that weight fluctuates & not always in the downward direction.

I don't feel too badly about it because I was on plan yesterday and this morning I got up at 5:30 am and did my longest run yet (4 miles). Serenity now.

thesame7lbs-My long runs are 7 miles right now. I run about 3 miles my other running days, then do 1 long run each week. It's getting really hard to fit some of my "short" runs during the week with the kids' soccer schedules now in full swing, but so far I haven't missed more than 1 a week. Yay for DS not crying at the Y!! I've been there!

stella-Here's to continued improvement with your foot and finding shoes that'll work until the swelling is gone!

danni-Way to go getting back on track! Hope the allergies improve soon.

motivated chickie-Yep, normal fluctuations. But isnt' it great when you can say, "Eh, it's okay. I know I was OP, so no worries."

I'm down to 132.8 this morning inching closer to the coveted 120's. I hope to drop down to at least 132.0 (preferrably lower) by Thursday morning, so I can go into my family reunion weekend knowing I kicked April's butt! Then comes May which will be awesome as well!

Thanks for the encouragement guys!! I really appreciate it Still pretty rough today but I'll power through it. I have yoga tonight, lots of nice stretching and I'm off so not much time on my feet. Should help!

Danni, I hate allergy season too! It'll get better very soon and then it'll be beautiful and sunny too I hope your legs and knees are better by then so you can get out and enjoy it.

Ms P, you've come SO far! I hope you go into this weekend with a huge sense of accomplishment that you have not only lost almost 70 lbs., but you can eat what you want without going overboard. I'm happy for you and jealous at the same time, lol.

Motivated, I remember my first 4 mi. run--I was just smiling for the last two laps. It was the most amazing feeling!

Only 2 beers at the party last night (new bud 55).
But way overdid it on the snacks.
So the scale is back up - again.
Hope the month of May is going to be my rush to the finsh line and my beginning of maintaince.