hahah Love your smiley typing at the computer Same7. Also, I think that was very well put. If we could only control our hunger, thirst, and indulgences!!

How funny that we were having the conversation about "normal" people just yesterday and then yesterday afternoon someone pointed out this article. Food for thought (ooooh - no pun intended, but a good one!).

Scale bumped up a bit today -- is it water, is it weight? :shrug: I guess I'll know in a couple days...

Same 7, very interesting article. Thanks for the link. This quote jumped out at me:

"When obese people see high-calorie foods, a widespread network of brain areas involved in reward, attention, emotion, memory and motor planning is activated, and all the areas talk to each other, making it hard for them to resist," says Susan Carnell, a research psychologist at the New York Obesity Research Center at Saint-Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital and Columbia University and one of the investigators.

That food symbolizes ever so much more than just nourishment to do other things in those with dis-ordered eating, it makes sense that the emotions involved would change the brain chemistry.

How delightful that restoring order to ones' relationship to food can change the emotions that control that brain chemistry.

I'm enjoying restoring that order. :)

Hope you all are having a lovely morning today.

Thank you for sharing that article same7! I just bought a huge watermelon and cantaloupes! So excited to eat them :)

Have a great Tuesday everyone!

Thanks for the article, same7! It was really interesting.

I saw 124.8 on the scale today and all my thoughts of stopping at 125 went out the window. I'm really happy about it but also still kind of panicking about being so close to goal. I'm now considering lowering my goal weight a little bit because I'm still not feeling like I'm where I want to be, and I don't know that 5 pounds is going to make a difference. I am not, under any circumstance, going to go under 110 for now, but I'm thinking about changing my goal to around 115. Does anyone have thoughts on this?

It's so odd, I've finally gotten to a point where I don't feel obsessive about losing weight, but I don't know if I'm ready to quit. In a way, I do feel "normal", but it's like I've gotten into a comfort zone with my current lifestyle.

It's good to hear from you, bargoo! Congratulations on maintaining for so long! Seeing your amazing accomplishment is really encouraging.

Good morning, Feathers!

Ugh. I am doing this Peak-VO2 testing today -- running on a treadmill breathing into a mask to determine my best training zones. Then the trainer is going to set up some training program to help me increase my running speed. Unfortunately (and this is where the "ugh" comes in), I'm not supposed to consume any caffeine today. Of course, I wasn't supposed to have any alcohol last night, either, and I forgot... so now I'll be extra sluggish.

I've been trying to do a better job of planning my food in advance and logging it ahead of time, so that I can apportion my calories a little more evenly. Frequently I eat lightly during the day and have a lot of calories left at night. Now I'm trying to plan my dinner and log it, so I can better see what I have to work with during the day. My ultimate goal is to plan a week of dinners in advance and do one big shop each week with little trips to the market only for fresh stuff. I used to do that... back when I only had one child. Now I'm much more scattered!

BamaGirl, congrats on your new number! I think you will find that that 5 lbs between 125 and 120 will have a big impact on your shape. At 124 I decided to shoot for 120, and at 122 I decided, "Nope, this is it!" Those 2 lbs, literally, were enough.

Ainsleymom, how old is your DD? I started bringing my guy to the gym at 4 months. I specifically chose one where the child care is a HUGE open room with half-walls dividing the different age groups (a baby area, an under-three area, and then the rest). I read once that large open spaces mean the germs are less concentrated. Don't know if it's true. But the gym has been my salvation from the constant rigors of motherhood!

Bargoo, I am so impressed. I can't wait to say I've been maintaining for 18 months!

Originally Posted by thesame7lbs:
Ainsleymom, how old is your DD? I started bringing my guy to the gym at 4 months. I specifically chose one where the child care is a HUGE open room with half-walls dividing the different age groups (a baby area, an under-three area, and then the rest). I read once that large open spaces mean the germs are less concentrated. Don't know if it's true. But the gym has been my salvation from the constant rigors of motherhood!

She turned 1 a few weeks ago. So fun! The gym daycare is one room for all ages, so I'm a little afraid she's going to get trampled. Luckily she's so cute the ladies dote on her :D. I think we're going to try it tomorrow since we have a lunch date today. I'm looking forward to running on the treadmill. We went on a long walk with hills yesterday, which was nice, but not the same workout. Although maybe burning the same calories with pushing the stroller up the hill. Yikes!

Do you guys only change your 'current' weight on weigh in day? I was 133 this morning :carrot:.

Congrats Ainsleymom!!

Congrats on your weighin, ainsleymom! I change my current weight every time I weigh! It's just always exciting to be able to do that.

Originally Posted by bama girl:
I saw 124.8 on the scale today and all my thoughts of stopping at 125 went out the window. I'm really happy about it but also still kind of panicking about being so close to goal. I'm now considering lowering my goal weight a little bit because I'm still not feeling like I'm where I want to be, and I don't know that 5 pounds is going to make a difference. I am not, under any circumstance, going to go under 110 for now, but I'm thinking about changing my goal to around 115. Does anyone have thoughts on this?

At our size there is a HUGE difference between 120 and 115 and between 115 and 110. Your clothes will start to fall right off with even a five-pound difference and your body will look vastly different.

You might want to do it just to see how you like the look. You can always gain the weight back (healthily).

An alternative would be to change your body composition with strength training while staying the same weight.

Hi Feathers......

Long time no post for me. Why??? Well, I've been out of town for a few weeks. I was lucky enough to go on a long, extended vacation with my family (part of which was on a cruise ship). Guess what? The scale is up....way up! I'm about 8-10 pounds over where I was before the trip. It's crazy! I even ran a few times during the trip to try and offset some of it, but I admittedly ate and ate and ate. And it's showing! None of my pants fit right anymore. I can zip them, but they are tight! Looking back at the pictures from the trip, I love the pictures from early in the trip....the later pics show a little chunk going on, especially the rolls around the middle. It's crazy how fast you can pack on the weight.

So I got home Sunday, and of course vowed to get back on track. Well, it's Wednesday and unfortunately I haven't eaten well still! I start out okay, but by the end of the night, I'm snacking and snacking. I'm getting myself into a really bad situation that I need to pull myself out of. And I know better than this!

To make things worse, my son's birthday is this weekend, and I know the foods won't be the best for that event. I need to clean up my act ASAP. I caught a cold at the end of the trip and am still suffering with the sniffles. It's made it tough to get motivated to exercise because I'm coughing too much.

Just needed to post to hold myself accountable. I'm pretty sure I'm pushing 138 right now, which is way over my goal weight (which I was at in June).

kellost, I think you'll see some of that come off right away once you get back on track. It's water weight. The key is just to know that you can recover from indulgence and to get your head back in the right place. Don't get discouraged and don't give in to continuing to eat like it's a vacation.

In the past I have always struggled with eating right once I returned from vacation. It is that and not the vacation that will truly derail someone: vacation weight comes off fast as long as you are vigilant about it.

Some of the weight gain is probably just water retention from sodium, but if you don't get back on track it will stick! This happened to me when I dieted for a vacation to look good in a bikini. Well the vacation came and went and I really fell off the wagon. A vacation won't kill you, but completely ignoring your eating and exercise will. Good luck getting into it!

Ok, I'm going to change my current weight. Yay! Now if it goes up tomorrow (which I know could be normal fluctuations) do I have to change it :devil:? I'm going out to lunch today, but I'm going to get a salad with chicken (dressing on the side) because tonight we're having BLTs with tomatoes from the garden and a bean salad. I know since I'm having a lot of carbs tonight I want to balance it out.

I had a yummy breakfast today that sounds weird, but is really tasty. I read about it years ago on a fitness board I used to read. It's 1 tablespoon of peanut butter, 1/2 a cup of cottage cheese, a scoop or so of fiber one cereal, and a sliced banana. So filling and yummy! The texture is satisfying too.

Hi, feathers!

I've been away from this forum for a while. I was on vacation, and I'm not doing terribly but overall feeling a bit blah since I got back. It appears that things still haven't "clicked" for me. As much as I know about what are the right things to be doing, I am plagued by what I call "spinning my wheels" syndrome, which means a whole lotta thinking and not a whole lotta doing. I can read healthy recipes all day long and then be starving and go eat something that would be about the opposite of what I would have planned to eat.

But like I said, I'm not doing terribly. I guess I thought things would get easier and I would settle into a healthy routine. Hasn't happened yet. I'm still struggling every step of the way. <sigh>

OK, no whining! I have to get back to real, concrete planning (which includes budgeting the time it takes to make the things I am supposedly going to eat, ha ha). And back on my Couch to 5K schedule; I started just going on intense walks preparing for hiking on vacation.

Anyway, while I have been away, there are a lot of new faces around here and you all appear to be doing so well! It's great inspiration.

kellost - seems like we are on a similar schedule of getting back on the wagon! I didn't gain weight on my vacation (it was a lot of hiking) BUT I also have not lost a single pound since I moved in MARCH. I've been bouncing around 140 (well, above 140. I was only under for like a minute). So something clearly has to change. I'm working on it.

ainsleymom - I change my ticker every time there is a new low... not so quickly when it bumps up. But I don't weigh very often now. It just annoyed me too much that the scale doesn't cooperate.

bama girl - if that old guideline holds true (100 lbs + 5 lbs for each inch over 5 feet tall), 115 might be ideal for you. You'll just have to see where you body wants to go and if it will take more work than you are willing to do to maintain that. At 5'6", my guideline weight would be 130 and I would be thrilled to be back there (even though not that long ago it was my "high weight!!"). I'm about 10-11 lbs above that now. Not good pounds, either, if you know what I mean. :p

Originally Posted by ainsleymom:
I had a yummy breakfast today that sounds weird, but is really tasty. I read about it years ago on a fitness board I used to read. It's 1 tablespoon of peanut butter, 1/2 a cup of cottage cheese, a scoop or so of fiber one cereal, and a sliced banana. So filling and yummy! The texture is satisfying too.

Ainsleymom, tell me more about this yummy breakfast! I love all the ingredients -- but what do you do with them? Mix them all together? With a spoon or with a blender?

EmmaD, welcome back! Hopefully you can push through the blahs. How about a new set of recipes or a new kind of exercise?

Originally Posted by thesame7lbs:
Ainsleymom, tell me more about this yummy breakfast! I love all the ingredients -- but what do you do with them? Mix them all together? With a spoon or with a blender?

It's so yummy! No blender - just a spoon. The texture of the chunky bananas and the crunchy cereal really add to it. Depending on how thick your PB is you can nuke it for a few seconds so it's more runny to make it easy to stir. Then you add your cottage cheese and fiber one and stir. I top it with the sliced bananas. I think blueberries would be good too. Hmm so yummy. It doesn't have to be fiber one either - any high fiber cereal would work.

Your baby is soooooo precious in your picture Ainsleymom!!

Thanks, I know :D. I should update the picture. She's a few months older now and I've lost five pounds since then.

We're going on vacation in a few weeks I'll get a good picture then.

oH please do post pictures!! She is so adorable!!

Happy Friday, Feathers!

Feeling a little rough this morning. I had dinner with a friend last night and I will neither confirm nor deny that too much wine was present. And consumed.

I can confirm that there was Spinach and Artichoke dip. Just try finding a reliable calorie count for that (we were at a non-chain restaurant). The numbers are all over the map. I decided to estimate on the high side and went with Olive Garden's estimate of 650 calories/serving. OMG! Luckily I had sensible salmon for dinner, and skipped the bread (which I am pretty sure I've never, ever done!).

We are expecting a big blast of summer heat today -- heat index of 105, even higher tomorrow. Bleh. The kind of heat where it's too hot to be at the pool even. A good time to go the gym and let them play in the big air-conditioned kids gym!

Here's to an on-plan weekend for everyone!

I am fighting my way back.
I thought summer would be easier - but it has been harder.
I was able to stay around 127 -up and down for a few months.
But then just lost it for a couple of weeks. A week of camping
with family didn't help my waist - but loved the family camping.

I was finally ready to get serious again when my summer clothes
got too tight. I have not gotten on the scale because I am afraid
that I would be so discouraged. So I am 4 days strong of
reasonable eating. I am going to stay off the scale until I
can feel a real difference in the clothes. Came back with some
sort of summer cold - so have not gotten back to gym yet, but
will fight my way back to fittness also.

We are having the 98 and 99 degree temps with humidity here
in the South. Don't want to wish my life away but will be glad
to be in the 80's again!

Originally Posted by thesame7lbs:
EmmaD, welcome back! Hopefully you can push through the blahs. How about a new set of recipes or a new kind of exercise?

Thanks!

I wrote out a whole message yesterday which was lost when my computer froze... I'll have to come back if any of it floats back into memory. It was a concise summary of all the diet/nutrition books I have read recently, which mostly end up being about the same thing. The only real discrepancy is whether to have small meals & snacks or just 3 meals... most saying the small meals & snacks, and that's what I do.

The thing that freaks me out is this hyperlipid thing - I could never do that. I want to understand it scientifically, though. Maybe when you consume so much fat at once, your body is overwhelmed and most of it passes through undigested so therefore you lose weight? It just doesn't make any sense how this diet could work or be good for your body. It is exactly the opposite of what I have concluded is the healthiest diet. But apparently it is working for some people. Who knows. Regardless, even if it is declared THE healthiest diet ever in the world, I will never drink cups of heavy cream for breakfast, use pounds of butter every day, etc.

ANYway - I've been busy so I have let my exercise slide, which I HATE. But in June, I hit my "hour a day" of exercise for the first time ever and I think I am still on track to do so again in July (even with these last few slacker days), so yay for that. In general I am doing better with the planning again, which is the only thing that keeps me on track. Can't be trusted to make last-minute decisions, oh no.

Welcome back, danni. Luckily we have this place to come to when we're struggling.

Happy end of the week, feathers!

Hi Feathers...

Thanks everyone for the words of support. I wish I can say I've completely turned it around, but I'm still struggling with the food this week. It's like I'm in mourning over the vacation being over. LOL. Or I'm hungrier because of my poor eating. Or I feel sorry for myself for all the work I have to catch up on. So I snack. But I'm only hurting myself.

Today has been great so far, actually, foodwise. Tomorrow morning I have plans to get up and go for a run bright and early. That should help get me back on track. Summer has been SO hard. But we can all do this thing.

Seriously, my pants have gotten so tight, that I might actually need to buy a size up. I gave all my bigger ones away. But I refuse to buy more...I just need to hunker down and get back into the size I was. Hopefully it won't take too long!

I love this forum, because it's a good place to vent, to get inspired, and to hopefully inspire others. Thanks for that, Feathers!

Kellost, EmmaD, Danni, I will call you the Fightin' Feathers! Maybe later I will make up a cheer. I was a cheerleader a loonnnnng time ago...

AinsleyMom, I made your yummy breakfast today! So good and so filling. I added a teaspoon of ground flaxseed. Tomorrow I'm going to try it with almond butter. Thanks again for sharing that recipe!

So I think I mentioned that I bought a pair of fabulous size 26 jeans last week. I have been trying them on every day. They are tight, but in the way that kind of jeans are supposed to be tight. Last night, my fashionista friend demanded that I keep them, while her 20-yr-old babysitter deemed them "perfect." So I am about to cut the tags off and wash them, The kicker is that if I gain I think even 2 lbs they won't fit. So I really have to commit to maintenance! I want to believe I can do it but if I gain, these jeans will definitely taunt me. :devil:

So now I really can't remember if I've posted about this -- but I've been doing 1/2 hour to an hour of yoga after the kids go to bed and I LOVE it! I tivo'd a show called Namaste Yoga on Fit TV. Each show has a different focus, but they're all "flow" yoga. Some are relaxing, some are more physically demanding, some focus on core, some on flexibility. I highly recommend yoga on TV! I am planning on trying a class at my gym when I can fit it in the schedule.

Wishing everyone a good weekend -- stay cool! :sunny:

thesame7, you go girl! Size 26?! I can't even imagine. Right now I'm thrilled my 29s are loose on me. What brand are they? When I get to a weight I'm happy with I want to buy a pair of Hudsons. It's good to have motivating clothing. Glad you liked the breakfast. I'm out of cottage cheese right now, but I'm definitely picking some up next time I'm at the store.

Ainsleymom, they're Hudsons. And I love them. Finally took the tags off. So that's it -- I'm committed. 122 for life.

I had a crazy :dizzy: day yesterday. The short version: ran 8 miles, had out-of-town friends over for breakfast, met an out-of-town friend for lunch, got caught in an unbelievable thunderstorm on the way home -- I was so sure I was going to die, couldn't see a thing with the wipers on high, branches falling left and right (one right in front of me), phone squawking tornado warnings. I was terrified to pull into our neighborhood -- we have tons of old trees that form canopies over the road and they are always dropping limbs. Hands shaking -- heck, my foot was shaking on the accelerator -- I pulled into the garage and burst into hysterics. I was emotionally exhausted. Later, decided I didn't feel like cooking, packed the kids in the car to go out to dinner only to find that most of our town is out of electricity. No traffic lights working. Drove all over looking for an open restaurant. Finally found one and it was packed -- because everyone without electricity went out to eat. The wait would have been forever. So we drove home and cooked.

Now, today, they say it will take days to restore power to everyone. Hundreds of traffic lights are out, so we really should stay off the road. The girls' day camp is cancelled (DD#2 is sick anyways). Mandatory water restrictions (pumping station without power). The very, very good news is that we have power! I really feel for people who don't.

Up a bit today -- just to 122.8, but wondering if my maintenance cals are too high, or if it's due to TOM arriving yesterday, my salty salad at lunch, the plethora of diet cokes I had to wash said salad down... it's a "focus on protein" day today!

Happy Monday everyone!

How are all of the lovely Feathers doing this morning?

I have had an INSANE past week and it's not looking any less insane this week. Work has been very, very hectic. I work full-time as a co-op student in an engineering research company in AL every other semester when I'm not in school full time. There are some days when there is very little work do be done, and other times, it all piles on at once. The latter was my whole week last week. Aaah! And it's still pretty busy right now.

On top of that, my roommate and I have to be packed and ready to move apartments by Sunday... we're just moving up a couple of flights of stairs into a top floor unit, but packing ALWAYS sucks. Plus, I'm just super disorganized anyway! But now is a good time to be sorting though all my fat clothes(!!) and getting them ready to donate, so I don't have to move them. I'm doing that tonight, and I'm kind of excited about trying on my pants from my high weight. I might just take a picture! Haha.

Ya it's been a crazy month for me but next month will be crazier for sure. My hubby has been out of work for the last 9 months. Almost all of the savings are gone so we may have to find a new place to live soon. I an so worried that this stress will cause me/to relapse and be heavier than where I started.

I have got to stay optomistic and do my best to stay healthy and exercise. Life will only be worse if I don't.

Ya it's been a crazy month for me but next month will be crazier for sure. My hubby has been out of work for the last 9 months. Almost all of the savings are gone so we may have to find a new place to live soon. I an so worried that this stress will cause me/to relapse and be heavier than where I started.

I have got to stay optomistic and do my best to stay healthy and exercise. Life will only be worse if I don't.

SweetyKins, take good care of yourself! Financial worries are stressful, and we need our best selves to meet the challenges. Am sending you lots of good thoughts and will keep you in my prayers. :hug:

I spend less money on food now that I'm sticking to my food plan. It's wonderful to be thrifty with money and become slimmer simultaneously. :)

Originally Posted by thesame7lbs:
Kellost, EmmaD, Danni, I will call you the Fightin' Feathers! Maybe later I will make up a cheer. I was a cheerleader a loonnnnng time ago...

:cheer::cheer3:GOOOOOO US! (all of us):cheer2::cheer:

WOW, a lot of people here have some crazy busy lives. Moving, vacations, too much work/too little work, crazy *** thunderstorms! Congratulations on surviving it all!!

SweetyKins, I've been there - unemployed husband, unemployed me, blasting through the savings. It is quite an art to be able to eat well on a budget but it is true that a lot of the healthier stuff is cheaper. Of course some is more expensive as well, the challenge is to strike that balance and not succumb to the cheap *un*healthy stuff. I find making a lot of our own "processed" foods - bread, yogurt, refried beans, tortillas, fruit preserves, etc - saves a LOT of money and is really fun too. Also there are some great web sites out there - I found Hillbilly Housewife when I looked up refried bean recipes. I think there is a cooking on a shoestring thread somewhere on 3fc.

Currently I have no excuse for not doing well. Only myself to blame. I am feeling very disorganized and have to get back into a regular routine, including setting time for planning the next day. That's my goal this week to get back into some solid planning.

That being said, I went to my *planned* yoga class today, which I didn't have time to walk to and it was cancelled. So then I ate an *unplanned* burrito (which was pretty healthy - ww tortilla, no rice, whole pinto beans) but still a lot of calories, for sure. Every day is a new challenge.

I saw that a copy of "The Beck Solution" is waiting for me at the library. I am excited to read it, based on comments here at 3fc.

Thank you for the replys, thoughts and prayers.

How is everyone doing today? I'm right at 126.4 this morning, which is kind of blah, but I guess I can't expect miracles. I got in a great workout last night, so I'm pretty proud of myself. The boyfriend has started working out with me, which is nice, because he has been talking about needing to lose weight, plus, it's kind of a friendly competition. :)

Originally Posted by bama girl:
How is everyone doing today? I'm right at 126.4 this morning, which is kind of blah, but I guess I can't expect miracles. I got in a great workout last night, so I'm pretty proud of myself. The boyfriend has started working out with me, which is nice, because he has been talking about needing to lose weight, plus, it's kind of a friendly competition. :)

Haha I love that Bamagirl. A "friendly competition". Oh how I wish I had a boyfriend to kick his butt in a workout :devil:

Hi Feathers! Things are going better for me this week. I'm on track, but I'm ignoring my weight gain. I usually do Tuesday weigh-INS but I'm afraid I'll be discouraged. So I'm trying to just not worry about the scale for now. I happen to know it's above 135, but I'm hoping that will change ASAP!

I ran this morning, and I'm pretty weak compared to where I was in June. I was previously running 3 times per week, but in July I ran only 3 times the whole month! Not good! So I'm getting myself back on a running schedule. To motivate myself, I'm going to sign up for another race, and this one will be a 6K. My first race was a 5K, which I ran in May. I'm hoping that signing up will be just the incentive I need.

I am back in the kitchen cooking healthy meals, which helps tremendously! When I cook, it's so much easier to stay on track. So I'm looking over my recipes and making meal plans through the weekend.

I have had weight issues for so long! I am really proud of all the progress I have made, but sad that I slipped this far by overeating. I really must turn it around now before it gets way too out of control. So I'm fighting to do that now. My husband and I are going to Vegas in October, and I keep telling myself that I need to be back at goal for that trip (hopefully even before then).

Thanks for listening, Feathers! And thanks for the support!

Half way there...
 

Ha! I changed my goal to 129 so I am now officially half way there. Whew, wish the rest of the process was that easy.

I've been pretty on plan with eating - but not at ALL with exercise. It's always something!! I got off my routine when I went on vacation and then I had work (a lame excuse) and then my yoga class yesterday was canceled... Oh well. I'm going to make myself take a break and go for a walk later this evening, so that's a start.

I got the Beck Diet for Life book last night. I've just started reading it but what I have gotten so far is that there are several habits you should work on before you even actively try to lose weight. That's an interesting concept. The skills are:
Motivate yourself daily
Weigh yourself daily (I sure don't do that)
Eat slowly while sitting down
Give yourself credit
Get moving (yeah!)
Overcome hunger, cravings and emotional eating
Plan and monitor your eating
Follow your plan, no matter what (ummm, OK...)
Get back on track right away

It also includes the most complicated calorie-estimator I have seen, which boils down to:
(your weight in pounds x 4.95) + (your height in inches x 16.78) - (your age in years x 7.31) + 187

Mine ends up being 1736.58. Interesting. I usually eat in the 1400-calorie range.

That's all I know for now. Carry on, Fightin' Feathers!

Sweetykins, :hug:. I am thinking of you and your family and hoping for good things in the future.

Bamagirl, hope your crazy week is going well. It's nice to work out with someone, isn't it? My husband suggested we try to exercise together, but it's hard with the kids. We did get to run together one day when we had a sitter and I kicked his butt. I probably already posted about that, didn't I? Well, I still gloat about it. :devil:

Kellost, EmmaD, it sounds like you are both getting back on track! nice work

EmmaD, I am reading the Beck Diet Solution (which isn't a diet per se, but a book about making a successful lifestyle change to lose weight, no matter what eating plan you choose). I am finding it helpful. The first step was to make a list of the reasons you want to lose weight and then you read it at least twice a day. I like my list. There's some deep stuff and some shallow stuff on there and I think it's all important!

I had a good workout today and did well with food, too. On the way home from the supermarket I realized I'd bought arugula, goat cheese, strawberries and a rotisserie chicken -- all the ingredients for a rockin' salad (with a little balsamic vinaigrette). Even sprinkled on a few walnuts. It was so very good. I have realized that a key for me is taking the time to make food I really like. Lately I've been roasting veggies for my lunch wraps instead of just settling for a plain ol' sandwich, or taking the time to make my own salad dressing, that sort of thing. It's a luxury of being a SAHM, I guess, that I am at home to make my lunch and often I can carve out enough time to make a good one. I don't usually put "luxury" and "SAHM" in the same sentence so I will remind myself to appreciate that!

And my .8 bump is gone today, so I'm hoping my maintenance calories are about right. 122 on the dot!

Hope all you Feathers are doing well!

Originally Posted by thesame7lbs:
Sweetykins, :hug:. I am thinking of you and your family and hoping for good things in the future.

Bamagirl, hope your crazy week is going well. It's nice to work out with someone, isn't it? My husband suggested we try to exercise together, but it's hard with the kids. We did get to run together one day when we had a sitter and I kicked his butt. I probably already posted about that, didn't I? Well, I still gloat about it. :devil:

Kellost, EmmaD, it sounds like you are both getting back on track! nice work

EmmaD, I am reading the Beck Diet Solution (which isn't a diet per se, but a book about making a successful lifestyle change to lose weight, no matter what eating plan you choose). I am finding it helpful. The first step was to make a list of the reasons you want to lose weight and then you read it at least twice a day. I like my list. There's some deep stuff and some shallow stuff on there and I think it's all important!

I had a good workout today and did well with food, too. On the way home from the supermarket I realized I'd bought arugula, goat cheese, strawberries and a rotisserie chicken -- all the ingredients for a rockin' salad (with a little balsamic vinaigrette). Even sprinkled on a few walnuts. It was so very good. I have realized that a key for me is taking the time to make food I really like. Lately I've been roasting veggies for my lunch wraps instead of just settling for a plain ol' sandwich, or taking the time to make my own salad dressing, that sort of thing. It's a luxury of being a SAHM, I guess, that I am at home to make my lunch and often I can carve out enough time to make a good one. I don't usually put "luxury" and "SAHM" in the same sentence so I will remind myself to appreciate that!

And my .8 bump is gone today, so I'm hoping my maintenance calories are about right. 122 on the dot!

Hope all you Feathers are doing well!

CONGRATS on figuring out your maintenance calories! How many calories have you found you can eat and maintain?

Ok, so I got brave and jumped on the scale this morning after my overindulgent vacation. I am at 133. Not as bad as I thought, actually. I will be fighting to get back to the 120s ASAP! When I crossed into the 120s before, I swore I would never get above 130 again. Never say never, I guess. I need to change my ticker, too, just to be honest with myself. Maybe I will do that now.

Deep breath....it's going to be okay. In years past, a setback like this would have sent me into a tailspin and I would gain all my weight back and then some. I'm determined to break this cycle! I can do it, and it is really going to be okay.

Same7: Your lunches sound great! I love cooking, too! And my husband also began running recently, though we have never ran together. He says he is scared I'm going to kick his butt (and I probably will). I think we are both signing up for the 6K race in August, so we will see what happens then! lol

We're going on vacation in a few weeks - I'm afraid it's going to kill the momentum I have going right now. But you have to live life you know? We're going to hike a lot, but I know there will be much wine/beer consumed and a few treats too. I know the key is getting back into the groove when we return, but that's easier said than done.

The scale went down again this morning, and this is the lightest I've been in over 4 years save for a small bout I had with rotovirus a few years ago. I was so dehydrated I had to go to the ER, but I made my husband wait to take me until I could weigh myself. I was practically dying, but I took the time to strip to weigh myself. That's kind of disgusting isn't it? I really need to get a handle on these issues before my daughter grows up and learns them from me. :( Anyway the scale read 131.5, and I'm almost there again - this time it won't be so fleeting!

I've realized how much I enjoy healthy eating and cooking. Going out to eat just doesn't sound appealing because it's so salty and processed. I'd much rather eat in and have yummy real food. This is a break through I think. I do think being a SAHM has helped immensely though. If I were working right now I know we'd have to eat out a lot more or rely on frozen convenience type foods. Plus when I was working I was more stressed, which was a trigger for me and there were always cakes and treats around the workplace.

I've been getting some recipes from 'Paleo' blogs, and they're quite tasty and filling. One we're trying this week is stuffed portabella mushrooms - yummy! I can't wait to make it.