LMP, I hear you on the pumpkin lattes. I love those! I looked up the calories tho and they're pretty bad. Tho I do prefer them with only two pumps of pumpkin flavor, so if it's a grande skim no-whip two-pump pumpkin spice latte, maybe it's something I could work in once in a while. :) And the baristas love those crazy orders. They tell me it keeps them from getting bored.

I got over the final hurdle of DD's bday weekend calories -- baking and frosting cupcakes for her to bring to school. Thank goodness that's over and no bdays in the house until DS turns two on New Year's Eve.

Speaking of DS, I think I got a legitimate workout chasing him around his gymnastics class today. That child is fast, heavy and determined -- a triple threat.

Chelsey, you may be creating a vicious cycle by trying to go extra low to make up for bad days. Why not work on getting back on track with your original plan? Often, restricting too much can lead to bingeing.

Oy, I need to get to bed. I'm supposed to be getting plenty of rest this week. Just two short training runs left! Oh, Chelsey, forgot to add -- a half-marathon is just a 13.1 mile run. Exactly half the 26.2 of a marathon. Which I am threatening to do if my hip ever gets 100% better. :fr:

Morning Feathers!!

I dont know whats come over me this past month but I have just been in such good moods! My sister even said to me this morning "Oh no Chelsey, you are in a really good mood; please dont tell me you are seeing Robby again? (my first love that put my family and I through ****)" haha Sheesh am I always in a bad mood or something? :lol: Still an emotional little 23 year old, but nonetheless, Ive just been happy and content! I think my body is going through some hormonal thing. Hmm or maybe it's because Im finally on a career tract that I think I would really enjoy. I just recently started classes to prepare for the Sonography proram. Maybe that has something to do with it? Oh well, I wont ask questions and just take this happy mood for all its worth :D

Emma :flow1::bravo::flow1::dancer: You did it!!! I can only imagine how great that feels! And even more kudos for keeping such a good positive attitude. You know, I was learning in one of my health classes that they are linking your attitude with cancer. They are really starting to believe that the more positive you are and laid back and try your best not to stress, the less chance you have of getting cancer. On top of that, if God forbid you ever did get cancer (using "you" as in general), a positive attitue can really help to cure it. I dont know just seemed interesting. Our minds are way more powerful than we think. Dont they say we only use like a 1/3 of our brain power? Use a little more of that brain power, throw in a positive attitude and a little bit of faith from God and we might just have figured out a cure for most diseases :D

llilmisspope You are absolutley correct. I do need support from my friends. But its hard because I think they are all "secret dieters". What I mean by that is, they try to appear like they eat and drink everything they want but Ive noticed they choose their calories wisely. They choose alcohol as their main calories consumption and will only eat one small meal that day. Whereas me, I choose food!! My point is, when we are out drinking, they can "afford" the late night meals and arent as conscious to helping me out. It also doesnt help that they want to go out 4 out of the 7 nights a week!! Not only can I not afford that calorie wise but money wise! Bottom line, IIIII need to straighten up and be accountable for everything I eat and drink. I have control of it and I will succeed. :tantrum:

Amy 26.2 MILES?!?!?! Is this non stop? Is this even humanly possible? OMGAh! Man sure does put in perspective my dinkly little 3 mile victory. I have no excuse to not run more if you are about to run 13 miles! That is so impressive. NO wonder you lost the weight so quickly. You are a true athlete missy! Good for you! This is so random but what is your zodiac sign? You have such a maternal/ caring vibe. Hmm lets see if I can guess this. Are you a cancer, or scorpio or Virgo?

Hope everyone has a fabulous Wednesday! Tomorrow is my weigh in ever since the big Friso melt fiasco. I wanted to give myself a few days so I wouldnt be too shocked by the scale :devil: Fingers crossed it says 136 (where I left off)!!

hi all! i'm a newbie too. its so inspiring to read all of your stories and suggestions.

here's mine: i WAS at 120 a year ago. it might have been because of a medication switch but going back to the doctor this past summer i was shocked and awed (ha!) to see i was at 130. i've been battling this new bulge.

while ten pounds isnt a TON of weight i'm short and it ends up totally changing the way clothes fit. I've been hitting the gym hard and really trying to watch what I eat but I always yoyo. i devote myself for a week and i'm down to 124 and then i take a weekend off and i'm back to 130.

but the good news! ran three miles this morning, and the day before, and six the day before! hoping that with all your help i can get down to 120. and buy myself those two pairs of shoes i've been coveting. :)

Welcome! :)

:welcome: kalefordinner! I have, at least once in my life, had an entire meal composed of nothing but kale (with olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper -- but still -- 98% kale).

EmmaD, :dancer: WTG on getting back to the 130s. You're on a roll! I love the Beck Diet Solution. I borrowed it from the library but I think I'm going to buy it so I can reread it periodically. (as you will see, I need a refresher, because...)

So yesterday I had a big, ugly, horrible, ridiculous binge. It was unbelievable. So before I went to bed last night I sat down with myplate and planned my entire day. And you know what? It was wonderful. I knew what I was eating when, and my only decision was whether or not I was hungry enough to eat what everything I'd planned. So guess what I'm doing before bed tonight?

In addition, I'm attempting to plan dinners for a week at a time just to cut down on supermarket trips and to accommodate my DDs' activities. On Tuesdays and Thursdays they have activities that go until 6 pm, so we won't be getting home until at least 6:30. My goal is to do a crock-pot meal one of those nights and either leftovers or a cooked-earlier-in-the-day meal the other. Somehow "crock-pot" and "low calories" don't seem to go together, do they? Anyone know of a healthy crockpot cookbook or website?

Tomorrow's my last training run before Sunday, and it's a short one. Chelsey, LOL, not only is 26.2 completely humanly possible, but I have a friend whose brother is running this race on Friday. Well, on Friday and Saturday. Now that's hardcore!

OOH, I have a great recommendation for a slow cooker cookbook, aptly named "The Healthy Slow Cooker" by Judith Finlayson. You can find it for as low as $5.99 but it's around $16 on Amazon. I check out a lot of books from the library, and this is one of the few that I had to purchase after looking through it. It has so many delicious recipes. I also bought her vegetarian slow cooker cookbook. I used my crockpot all fall and winter last year.

When I was searching for the book I found this site and this site that seem to have some good recipes as well.

Thanks for the congratulations, guys! I probably would have given up by now if I hadn't had the feathers to complain to... I only have another 10-15 lbs to go. Easy-peasy. :p

mmmm, kale. It feels like fall... :welcome3: kalefordinner!

:rofl: - I just looked at "before" and "now" photos of me today with an 11 pound difference (I'm 5'6", the difference was 149 to 138). It is ASTOUNDING to see the difference. I mean mind:dizzy:boggling. Partly it's because for the first photo I crammed myself into my jeans that I am comfortably wearing today, so it is the most ridiculous muffin top ever. Horrifying, truly, that just 11 pounds can make such a difference. So :yay: for featherweights, who can appreciate this fact.

Happy Thursday Feathers! :carrot:

I finally weighed in after my horrible frisco melt/cheeseburger/chips/alcohol episode on Sunday and I am at 136.2! Yay!! Only a .2 pd difference. Hey Ill take it! Now time to get back on track. I am going to try to stay at 1500 calories a day till I leave for NJ on the 22nd. I am hoping to be at 134 by then! We'll see!!

I am going to have to check out this Beck book. I keep hearing all over 3fc how great the book is...

Have a great day Feathers!!

Good morning, Feathers!

Happy Friday to everyone! I am in a very buoyant mood today (hence all the !) because I am done training! And have a half marathon on Sunday!

(OK, maybe time to cut back on the coffee...)

But this is such a great feeling. All the work, all those training runs are in the bag, and now I just get to do the big tuna. Unfortunately it's supposed to rain on Sunday but I am hoping it will hold off til after 9 am!

I plan to keep running for sure after the race, and have my eyes on another half marathon ini March, but I plan on mixing in more yoga, spinning, and maybe some other fitness classes. I think it's better for my body to do a variety of activities. Too much running = too much pounding and too much repetitive motion.

So I have today and tomorrow off from exercise (I think it's only the second time in 5 months I've taken two-days-in-a-row off), and I'm allowing myself to go 200 calories over so I have plenty of energy. There may be a pumpkin latte in my future!

Anyone else have fun weekend plans?

Dianne: Awesome on the loss! At least you know you are moving in the right direction, hopefully this helps you battle those urges in the future!!!

Amy: Thats great! I could never run as much as you! Im sure you will do great on Sunday! Also, get a pumpkin spice latte and I will live vicariously through you! (I can account for it in my daily calories ((obviously not everyday)) but I just don't know if I will like it with skim and less pumpkinny goodness.... I should try it.) could you give me a calorie count for that?

So tomorrow is my official weigh in day for the week.. but I cheated and weighed myself today and I am down another pound. YES! But I will weigh tomorrow as well and see how that goes (I just finished TOM yesterday... maybe some water weight still?) We will see... hoping I will be down a couple more ounces... Anyways, once I reach 126 that will be 10lbs lost. I am so excited to get to that milestone!! I think I will be rewarding myself with a couple things as well.... oooh and my mom got me a new coach bag that I get once I prove I am at 126...

Well I hope everyones weekend is good! (I am going to try and work out the next 3 days since I have time to!)

Like Same7, I too am in a good mood today. In addition to some work-related things that went well, I realized today that MY THIGHS NO LONGER TOUCH AND RUB when I walk. I think it must have actually happened a week or so ago, and I just consciously processed the lack of friction today. Yippee.

Kalefordinner, are you serious about the kale? I love spinach the same way (I go out of my way to order it when I'm eating out, because hubby and sons hate it so I can never cook it at home).

neurodoc: my husband doesn't like spinach BUT i typically buy one bag of baby spinach a week and just cook it for myself along side of my typical dinners. I do this because I LOVE IT and it is so easy to just put it in a pan and let it cook down real quick. I used to load the pan with butter, but since I am counting calories I just let it cook down with a little bit of water. It is honestly easy to eat half of a bag of spinach on your own, it is only a couple of cups and is SO good! You should make yourself some if you really enjoy it, just make another veggie for the hubby and kids. (which you can have as well if you would like!)

morning feathers!
thesame7bs and EmmaD, I LOVE crock pots. I wish I had the money (or space) for one right now! :lol:
thesame7lbs, GOOD LUCK for your run! I wish I had the determination to do a half marathon. In my home city, there's a very popular (has been said it's the biggest road half-marathon in the world before, but I don't know whether that's true/how out of date it is) half marathon every year and I've NEVER done it. Maybe one day. I hope you LOVE it, I'm thinking of you! :D
I'm pretty sure I will have gained on Tuesday when I measure in. I've been good about my exercise, but I've drank too much alcohol. We'll see :) I'm just happy that I can feel that my ABS are sore --- because that means, SOMEWHERE, I HAVE some abs, even if I've never seen them! :lol:

Good morning everyone! just wanted to give some of my good news....

125.6 today :D I'm very excited!

I think I will treat myself to a pumpkin spice latte :carrot:

also, I see these ads for SoyJoy bars ALL OVER this site. are they good? .. lol

Just a quick check in - I dont like to spend much time on the computer on Saturdays :)

Good luck tomorrow AMY!!!!!! Ill be thinking of you!! I KNOW you can do it!

LILMISSPOPE Congratulations on your loss!!!! Over 10 pds!! That is remarkable. Do you mind telling me how long it has taken you to lose those 10 pds and a brief descrption of what you have been doing? I am always curious to hear what works for people..

Yesterday morning I was down to 136! Another .2. Slowly but surely. Im not complaining; I havent been eating that great (although been close to my calories goals around 1500 just not all healthy foods) and I have been slacking on my exercise :/ So Im glad I am still losing. Official weigh in was today but I missed it so I am going to do it Monday. I hope to see 135 something!

Have a great weekend everyone!!!

I've been so off for the past 2 weeks. I don't think I've gained anything, but I sure as **** haven't lost anything!! I plan on counting, but then I just start munching during the day, which I need to stop. It's just a slum I'm going through (plus TOM comes this week so that's REALLY not helpful). I need to set up a schedule for myself and stick to it!

I need to put into my mind "dress for wedding". I'm going to a wedding in november and it fits me perfectly! Plus I'm proud because it's a junior's 7 and I've never fit into that size ever in my life. I can't zip it all the way up on my own, there's just an inch at the top that I need help with, so I know that I need to really behave so I don't gain and so I look great in the dress! I've come so far, I just need to stick with it.

I found this blueberry cobbler bread yesterday and I made french toast with it today. It was delicious!! But because today is a new day, I counted everything about it, and it ends up being short of 500 calories...so that's definitely a treat breakfast.

I also was bad and bought double stuffed oreos yesterday. Some friends were over so they weren't immediately hidden and some damage was definitely put in by all...but now they're in the back of my highest cabinet. If I want one, I have to make an effort to get it. So I'll probably forget about them which would be pretty nice!

Our neighbors are throwing us a pizza party today because we're letting them use our internet until their is turned on..so this is their thanks to us. UGH PIZZA. I'm going to eat an apple before I go over there so I'll only eat one slice....that's going to be hard.

Well I'm going to let my stomach settle for another 30 minutes and then I'm going to go to the gym for a good long workout.

amy: good luck on your run!!!!

lilmisspope: pumpkin spice lattes with skim milk are still incredible! they taste lighter, but they just taste healthier and you still get your fix.

neurodoc: congrats on the discovery!! I'm at my lowest and my thighs still touch on the top, but I've come to accept that they will always touch just a bit.