lilliesinmycereal Paleo = 'the caveman diet'. Basically, no grains and dairy because they weren't around before the neolithic era, and as such humans aren't accustomed to them yet. It is hardcore if you follow it to the letter, but I don't tolerate grains very well at all and the diet has been said to help acne/period pains, both of which I suffer from at times. I think I'll still eat yoghurt for breakfast though!

skinnybacon My boyfriend lives in Austria. I was living there but have moved back home (London) last week to do teacher training (10 months and counting!)

Amy Congratulations! How exciting!! Relax and enjoy it

I'm still working on getting everything ready but my diet has been OK. I'm not buying scales for my new flat but I will have a body fat test next week and then again before Christmas. I've found a triathlon club to train with, if I can muster up enough courage to do so!! Have a nice weekend

Where the heck is everyone? Today I ate cheetos.

wow, I just looked at the full smilies list! This one, supposed to be "yikes!" is sort of freaky.

I'm getting frustrated! I was 134.4 and now I'm back up to 135 and have been for a few days. My eating has been great and I've been exercising like it's my job! I'm just going to keep on trucking....

Bleeeeh, 125.4lbs this morning since I ate and ate all weekend. PLEASE let me break the cycle this weekend and actually stay on plan! I don't want to be chubby in my birthday dress or my Halloween costume!

I keep ordering pumpkin spice lattes from Starbucks. Even the smallest size made skinny is 200 calories. And I can't say that I've ordered the smallest size every time... and they haven't all been skinny, the full fat ones have managed to creep in there to! Ugh.

I also keep drinking alcohol copiously on the weekends, I don't even want to know how many calories. I mean, sure, it's light beer, but that doesn't matter when you drink 9 of them.

The beau and I watch football together and have season hockey tickets, and fat food and heavy beer go hand in hand with both of those things. I am going to have a hard time losing weight once hockey season starts, I would like to get into my maintenance range in October so I can enjoy the games and then cut back during the week. (That's what I'm doing now -- and I'm basically maintaining -- but I need to be going DOWN, not staying the same!)

Amy3680 -- Congrats!! Wow!

ann71 - That smiley reminds me of Large Marge in Pee Wee's Big Adventure... anyone know what I'm talking about? lol.

OhThePlaces - It's just a fluctuation I'm sure, you'll dip back down soon.

Good luck feathers!

Dorian5 Keep up the good work. I know how you feel about struggling to maintain when you want to be losing. You have done really well and are 10lbs from goal. Its good to be mindful of your end goal but since you are so close its also okay to let yourself live a lil in moderation.

ohtheplaces You've got the right idea! Just keep at it! Something has to give with you working so hard.

amy3680 Congrats that is very exciting! I say relax and enjoy as well!

amy71 Sometimes you just need to eat cheetos or whatever junk food snack you see that sounds good . Its all about moderation

Ive been having a really good month so far. Ive dropped almost 6lbs that needed to go since the start of September. Had a couple of off plan moments this weekend while visiting sorority sisters and attending a tailgate party and going to a game. But I have worked out just about everyday this month and I woke up this morning really eager to jump back on track and finish what Ive started which is new for me. Usually off plan eating makes me crave more junk. Im pleasantly surprised. Have a great day ladies!

Hi Ladies!

Ann Are Cheetos crisps (chips)? I think I liked those when I was younger, haven't seen them for years! If you enjoyed them, why not?

Ohtheplaces Keep trucking, it'll come in a big whoosh soon! ps: Is your user name based on the Dr Seuss book? That is my favourite children's book

Dorian I am having the same trouble at the moment. I think if you break the cycle next weekend you'll be on the right track again, easier said than done! Good luck!!

Skinnyelle Go you! Excellent progress!

I am all moved in (don't like the house but hey ho, it is 9/10 months) back in London now, and my course has started. I've been walking at least 4 miles a day to and from campus (I am a bad bus passenger and don't like driving) and have been eating reasonably healthily because the supermarket is too far away to keep going to. I tend to eat what I have planned and that's it! One habit I'll have to kick is drinking coffee at uni all the time, but that is more for the environment (paper cups, I feel so guilty) than anything else.

I don't know how much/if any weight I've lost but I'm flying back to Vienna on 22nd October (counting down the days!!) and I will weigh myself on my normal scale then.

Have a good week everyone

I started dieting 2.5 weeks ago, lost 4lb over 2 weeks (which is very good for me) and seemingly put 1lb back on over the last few days.

I know this is totally normal and to be expected etc, but it's annoying and i wanted to have a whinge about it anyway!

Hubby's away this week and just me at home though, so no excuses for not buckling down and getting on with a bit of discipline (oh, apart from thurs night drinks and meal in town with a friend from interstate!....)

Claire, it is. It bums me out that my two year old won't sit through it yet... He likes 'Green Eggs and Ham' amd 'Mr Brown Can Moo' though. Ha! All of the walking you're doing is awesome! Hope your course is going well.

Dorian, I don't like football or hockey, but fatty food and beer sounds great! I've been enjoying some Pumpkin Spice Light frappucinos.... so good.

Ange, I TOTALLY understand your frustration!

AFM, went to the gym today (I've been going daily). I am slowly picking up running again after a 3+ month hiatus. I foolishly entered an adventure race on Halloween, so I feel the pressure to get back into shape. I huff and puff and wheeze after about 6 minutes. LOL

Skinnyelle, it's great that you were able to hop right back into your healthy lifestyle after a weekend of indulging a bit. 6 lbs so far this month is awesome!

Hey everyone. I'm hanging in there somewhere around 135 which isn't great but could be worse. I broke up with my boyfriend of almost 5 years on Sunday and that sucks but I think it was time for it to happen.

Today I went hiking and shot a gun for the first time ever and had giant dinner because it was my parents' wedding anniversary. I walked 3.5 miles before hiking, did pushups and didn't really eat aside from dinner, but now it's 11:35 pm and I'm thinking about the leftovers........

Krampus, resist, resist! Those leftovers will be there tomorrow...eat them for breakfast or lunch? It's easier said than done, because I probably would have already eaten them.

Today I had a pretty good day. I didn't eat too much and ran nine miles at an easy pace (~8:15/min miles). It was better than I expected given that the past three days I ate like crap. I could feel the extra jiggle and that was my incentive to keep going. Does anyone else feel like after just a few days of overeating you've suddenly expanded and you're more sluggish? I really need to lay off the cake.

5km (about 3 miles?) run round the 'lovely' sights of the industrial estate where i work at lunchtime, then a Step class at the gym on the way home.

Step is fun!! Ages since i've done it. The teacher was sick and kept almost throwing up every 10 minutes, which was a bit disconcerting. Poor thing!

Krampus - sorry you've split with your boyfriend - 5 years is a pretty good innings though. Good effort.

Krampus, breakups are hard. You day sounds exciting though! Did you end up resisting the leftovers? lol

Pinkrunners, go you! I had to laugh at your "easy pace" of 8:15. I'm huffing at puffing at best to run 10 min miles. Ha!! I definitely feel 10x larger and so lethargic after just a few days of overeating.

Ange, I want to take a step class soon! I joined the Y a few weeks ago but have only tried zumba and pilates so far.

Another disappointing day on the scale...134.8. I just can't get over the fact that I have been SO strict with my calories and doing 90 minutes of cardio daily and I'm somehow UP from last week. WTF!

Krampus Sorry to hear about the boyfriend. Glad you are hanging in there and agree that is was time.

pinkrunner Yea that mile pace is awesome! How fast would you estimate you are running? I need something to aspire to. Totally feel you on the expanded feeling. Had a day and a half of not so great eating and I yesterday I swore my hips and thighs had gone back to the size they were at my starting weight lol.

ohtheplaces There must be a huge woosh coming up! Hang in there.

Feeling kinda crappy today I was struggling to stay awake during my ride to work. I think my working out consecutively for the past 10-11 days and not getting enough sleep is starting to catch up with me. Jumped on the scale this morning and its up due to my weekend indulgences and way too many bedtime snacks last night.

Was craving french toast sticks from BK this morning but I resisted... just finished up my morning bowl of oatmeal. Throughout the day I do pretty well with my eating. But Ive put myself on a 8 or 9 pm cut off time and every night at about 10:00pm I get attacked by the snack monster. Just gotta resist.... Have a lovely day girls!

Skinnyelle, totally hear you on not getting enough sleep and feeling ragged. For me, that's the #1 reasons my workouts will suffer-- not enough sleep. Never a bad idea to take a day or two off to catch up on sleep and let your body recover.

OhThePlaces, do you think it's possible that you're not eating enough? Doing a lot of cardio and being strict with your calories can be counterproductive... at least it has been for me at times. Or it could just be your body being stubborn. I've been there too!

Haha, you guys shouldn't be impressed with my running. I've been running for more than half my life and my times are way slower than they used to be. My philosophy is that everyone is good at something- mine has always been running. I am absolutely terrible at every other sport and activity and I'm uncoordinated, so running was kind of my default. I run about 30 miles a week, with easy pace being anywhere from 8:15-9:00 mile pace, and the shorter, quicker ones being anywhere from 6:45-7:30 mile pace (depends on the distance). Honestly, I haven't been doing many short runs so I'm not entirely sure what my quickest pace is at the moment. I can go on and on about this nonsense so I'm sure you guys will regret asking me about it.

i'm in exactly the same situation as you. I've been strict with the eating and done about the same cardio as you daily and i'm also up a full lb from last week as reminded by my scales 5 days in a row now.

Have resorted to trying on clothes to try to persuade myself that i'm on the right track, which didn't achieve much but at least i didn't think i'd got fatter in my clothes from last week so it was a better answer than the scales could deliver!

Anyway, i totally understand how you're feeling