Finishing today off on a mediocre nutrition but decent calorie note. I wound up having "agepan" (fried bread) which is pretty much what it sounds like - a processed piece of bread coated in sugar and grease - and some chocolates from a teacher. The good news is that I'm finishing the day off right around 1500. Exercised (Tae Bo Cardio video, 50 pushups, 100 crunches, 10 bird dogs on each side, planks, about an hour total walking) and had a small salad (one "head" each of spinach and mizuna aka "potherb mustard") with chicken and a little sesame oil for dinner since I'd pretty much eaten my day's calorie allotment at work. Feel less gross and 100% more in control.

Daisy - Sorry to hear about the injury! All you can do is wait it out. There are loads of exercises that will make you sweat without aggravating your injury. You're doing really well though, I'm sure this won't be anything but a tiny blip in the big picture.

Indiblue Where are you located again? The Top Chef idea sounds like a lot of fun - what did he end up making?

Krampus, it sounds like you got a ton of exercise yesterday! And you stayed at the right number of calories. Well done.

I just did my first pilates workout video. Whew -- that was harder than I expected. We'll see how this crutching-and-hopping-all-day thing works out. I feel my triceps getting strong already.

indiblue, do you have recommendations for yoga poses/routines that do not involve significant force on the ankles? I've done vinyasa and dabbled in bikram before, but I cannot think of how to attempt this without being able to do downward facing dog, warrior, etc... any of the classic resting positions involve stances and both feet.

krampus I am in India right now. Arrived 7 months ago (wow time flies...) with the bf and we will be here another year and a half. I was pretty impressed he wanted to cook a whole meal without recipes and going off of his own inspiration, haha. Some were hits and some were misses. He did a basic bruschetta with jalapenos (hit), pomegranate/mint/cucumber/lemon salad (BIG HIT!!), and sauted shrimp with green mango sauce (eh.... kind of a miss). I of course cooked for him a Mexican chocolate cake with chocolate ganache icing, following a recipe of course lol, to make up for the calories he would have missed had he only eaten the super healthy meal he prepared. Like all guys he has a crazy metabolism and would be seriously malnourished if he ate only what I ate! It's a little hard sometimes because I have to cook things and keep things around for him with a lot more fat and calories, but then I have to resist them.

lackadaisy, camel pose, boat pose, shoulder stand, plow pose, fish pose, crow pose, and bow pose don't require putting significant weight on the ankle. Handstand or headstand, either away from the wall or against the wall for as long as you can hold it is great for core and upper arm strength. Warrior 3, half moon, plank/chaturanga with one leg, table/bridge pose/wheel with one leg, and tree pose all only require one leg. You could put together a decent strength-building routine at home with some of those. I've had to rely on them when I can't put weight on my stupid hip!

I don't know how much mobility you have, so maybe yoga would be better in a few weeks when you are easing back into running and can put weight on your ankle but just shouldn't be running on it. Or maybe it will provide an alternative to repetitive free weights. Either way, I know how frustrating it is to not be able to exercise when you're injured so will be thinking about you as you recover!!

Indieblue, thanks so much!! I've just taken all those down and will be looking them up soon. They look a little intimidating, but I tell myself that you could do these with your hip, of course I can do them with this temporary little setback of a sprained ankle.

I am wearing a brace under running shoes and hobbling around campus today -- on crutches, but I am SO tempted to just walk. But this is what I do every time, and every time I sprain the ankle again later... so I'm allowing it to stay immobile for now. But it stinks that I was in so much pain yesterday and none today (except soreness in my triceps, lol), and yet I can't run!!! I'm so antsy

I know I posted this elsewhere, but I'm just so excited I can't stop. Eleven days of vacation—with cruise food everywhere 24x7—and I came back half a pound lighter!!!! Yay, me!!!! I ate really healthy except for two "cheat" meals—which actually were also healthy except for the desserts—and always, always took the stairs. I also went to the gym and signed up for physical shore excursions. And it all paid off, despite the fact that I had a glass of wine and sometimes two every night with dinner. I'm so thrilled!!!

krampus, I'm so glad to hear that you are feeling more in control. Sometimes the first step really is to get the calories under control. Then you can tackle the sugar. One thing at a time. I totally feel for you; I have been there many times.

Still feeling good, down a kilo this morning from yesterday which was nice to see. The sugar mania has faded into a dull and manageable dormancy. I'm really glad I'm one of the lucky ones who doesn't gain/retain water during TOM because that's the last thing I need this week. I do feel strangely zen in terms of moods considering TOM should kick off today - I may have gotten that rage out of my system on Monday.

I feel a newfound zeal for healthy eating and weight loss that I haven't felt since before Christmas. My mom is coming to Japan in a month and I told myself I would weigh at the very least 5 lbs less than her when she gets here. If I make it happen (which I can, and have been capable of doing so all along), it will be the first time in our history of mother-daughterhood when we are both thin at the same time. I was looking at some photos from our trip to France in 2008 and boy that's a bit embarrassing!

That's AWESOME to hear, Petite Powerhouse! What was the best experience you had on the cruise, if you had to pick one? I am jonesing HARD for another vacation, even though I just got back from mine on Sunday.

indiblue India, cool! It does take a superhuman amount of control to resist eating to match your eating buddy (in this case, husband) but you seem to be doing a great job. Everything you guys cooked/baked sounds absolutely fantastic, especially that salad!

lackadaisy Pilates is serious business! I remember trying it once pre-getting-in-shape and gave up right off the bat because it was too hard. How's your ankle feeling now?

Krampus, I'm so glad you're feeling better and committed to health again! This year is going to be great, I promise!

The ankle is feeling better -- my triceps hurt like **** but I guess that's my strength workout for the day, right?


I just decided to adjust my weight loss goal today, from 1.5 lbs/week to 1lb/week. It means postponing my intended completion date a whole month, but I think for now I have to do it. It's too hard to bully myself about the 1,150 cal/day "net calorie" goal -- even though I usually make it with exercise, that goal is just this thing over my head, like I shouldn't eat that much in case the exercise doesn't count.

And now I worry that all the exercise I was getting will be impossible with my ankle, and I'm getting a bit exhausted by all this, and I really need to work on my thesis instead of having intrusive food thoughts all the time or thinking "oh **** I have to do 60 minutes of cardio today or I won't meet my goal." That's just unhealthy, and I don't want to think to myself, "I can't eat this, I have to be thin, I'll eat it when I'm thin."

I think the intrusiveness & obsessiveness of this behavior actually got worse during TOM because the cravings were so bad and I had to be so careful with self-control and there was NO scale feedback at all. I'm starting to lose the water weight now, but I still hate the idea of getting addicted to weight loss and battling my own hunger.

So I guess this is a psychological thing and I'm writing here to keep myself accountable: my new net calorie goal is not 1,150 a day but 1,400 a day. It should slow my weight loss down by six weeks, but now that I feel like I have the tools to happily eat about 1,300 a day without feeling deprived, I think this is even a level I could stick with for life. It's a good feeling.

lackadaisy I think that's a good idea - 1,150 is really really strict and I can see how it would easily take over your life. Keep us updated on how it works for you. I can't even begin to describe how much easier 1500 feels than 1200.

I was getting a bit twitchy around noon and wanted to eat my lunch x 1000, so I went for a 50 minute round trip walk to the post office and chatted on the phone. I got a little sweaty and forgot all about feeling "hungry." Small victories. Now lunch is gone and I feel satisfied, even full. I do have a really weird habit of reading Lonely Planet restaurants sections while I eat lunch.

Yay Petite Powerhouse and krampus! Successes for both of you! Incredible willpower, Petite, I'm super impressed. And krampus, it seems like your Korea weight is coming off very steadily. Future is looking bright for you guys :-D

krampus, the willpower that living her in India requires is CRAZY. The food here is so calorie and fat packed. I think just a simple lunch of a few tablespoons of veg korma and some naan has got to be upwards of 600 calories. Serving sizes are enormous. Even harder to battle are the social requirements when locals invite you over to eat at LEAST 2-3 PLATEFULS of food. Otherwise, you offend the lady of the household. Most of the women here are definitely overweight and except for among the very rich there's no concept of calories/fat/dieting. Once we were invited to someone's home and I put a tablespoon of every vegetarian (I'm veg) option on the table, ate it slowly with steamed rice, and got chastised by the wife because I hadn't eaten enough of her food. I had to get seconds of everything and she still wasn't happy. I went to bed feeling so full and awful and I think gained a pound just from that meal :-/

Also krampus, I just saw your funny habit of reading Lonely Planet while eating lunch. I LOVE Lonely Planet!! I just got my Lonely Planet Bhutan in the mail- am hoping to go in April. Mmmm..... momos....

lackadaisy, your adjustment makes a lot of sense. Regiments are more likely to work if you are happy with them, not if you have to do them begrudgingly. Sounds like you have set up a plan for success.

Lackadaisy Congrats on recognizing an obsession before it become too much! I think you are going to make it the long haul

Krampus Doesnt it feel so good to be back on track and feel more in control of life. I hate the times when things seem so chaotic and just plain shi**y! Good job on getting back to the routine!

Petite WOW! What an awesome accomplishment. I dont think I have ever met someone that can go on vacation and LOSE weight lol Impressive my dear!!

Finally back in the 120's. Working on being at 117-118 by Cindo De Mayo!

Have a great day feathers!!

lakadaisy - Sorry about your ankle, I hope you stay off it and it heals up soon!

PetitePowerhouse- good work on the cruise! Half a pound is really good! I have never been on a cruise but I have heard there is just so much to eat!

Krampus & Indiblue - It is so nice to here from both of you. We all are living abroad and have such different experiences, but still can come together here to ***** about size/customs/food issues in our respective countries. I remember last year when I was dieting in Istanbul, Turkey and I just felt so alone dealing with the high calorie foods and different cultural standards. Indiblue - the Indian customs sound hard to deal with, but delicious! Indian food is one of my many weak spots!

This week has been pretty tough. I was mugged for the second time in three weeks on Sunday. If getting my bag stolen and being pretty shook up isn't bad enough, My husband and I have been arguing for the past three days about it (he is accusing me of it all being my fault) I know it is just his way of dealing with something upsetting and out of his control, but it really makes me feel bad/over eat/binge drink/get in a bigger fight.

HOWEVER, on a better note, I went to the gym yesterday and took a killer 4.5 mile run and feel good about that. I stepped on the scale and I was up a half kilo from last time I was there. Sucks, but I'm making an effort to get back on track.

maenad Ugh, how is getting mugged your fault?! Sorry things are rough with your husband. You didn't get hurt or anything did you? I know a few people who have been drugged and either raped or mugged in SE Asia; hope it doesn't happen again.

Japan is pretty drastically different from India or Turkey. I'm not sure how I would handle living in a culture that isn't obsessed with weight loss, since I've only ever spent time in/traveled to places where "thin is in" - USA, Western Europe, Japan, Taiwan, Korea...

I'm down 0.3 kg on the scale, which means I'm finally back (technically) in the 120s. Really excited about my planned food for today - oatmeal with yogurt and raisins for breakfast, apple for a snack, salad with beans/cheese/raisins/strawberries/sesame oil for lunch, omelette for dinner.

maenad I'm really sorry about the mugging. Being a target of crime sucks in your own country and it's even more disconcerting and upsetting abroad. Hope they didn't get away much and glad that you are safe.

SEAsian food of all kinds are MY weakness, and I LOVE me a good bowl of pho. I would probably be in big trouble weight-wise if I lived there. Maybe it's good we are in our current respective places, away from both our weaknesses :-D

krampus YAY! I thought it would come off pretty quickly! Looks like you can change your signature now

Krampus: Luckily I was fine and managed to stay on my bike despite the shake. My husband is just very worried about me, and never wanted me to drive here, but I insisted on getting my own bike and learning to drive. I can't rely on him to drive me everywhere! Things will cool down once he calms down about everything.

Your food plan sounds great! I'm going to make a fruit salad for breakfast once I can peel myself off the computer, Mexican for lunch (burrito for the hubby and a salad for me) and pasta with tons of broccoli for dinner.