all had a quick scan through the posts above, seems like most people are finding it hard at the moment. I blame the end of the summer holidays :P

I'm finding it difficult right now too. I'm eating very healthily in the day but pretty much every night is a party night so I am drinking way too much. I have a very low alcohol tolerance so I never really drink more than 2/3 drinks a night but still that's a lot of calories.

Right now I have to go catch up on sleep. All night parties and 9am lectures aren't a good mix.

Good luck to everyone who needs a bit of motivation!

I'm gonna post more later but I just realize when I was re-reading something I posted

Leilajey, in my last personnal to you I wrote Hoe!???! JEEZ! I don't even remember what I was trying to type! So SORRY!!!!! Hope I did not offend you with that! ... god, what a nice way to make friend ''HOE all this peeing blablabla''

Bwahahaha. Sorry again! I really need to proofread more!

You can call me cheap skanky strippe in revenge!! ;)

Turbo hahahaha! I didn't even notice :P but when I think of a hoe I think of this http://www.kindlehouse.co.uk/store/m.../o/tools_6.jpg so don't worry I'm not offended.. you, you, you hoe. :D

Mmmm peanut chicken. I remember the first time I had peanut chicken, oh boy was I confused but it was soo good. It's funny how well I remember this and I would have been pretty young at the time.

P.S - I rarely proof read and I usually write things here when I'm really tired.. sorry guys.

krampus Oh I've been there, I guess it helps to know, to make sense of it a little bit. Well that's how I feel anyway. I seem to go through phases of feeling like that. I'm really confused about my body right now, soemtimes I'm in a panic and I don't want to leave the house and other times I feel like I look pretty good. The clothing sizes don't help matters! Glad you're feeling better anyway.
Congratulations on fitting into the clothes too, fitting into things that were previously too small is the best feeling.

Joss Sorry to hear that Joss :hug: .. you've had a lot going on lately and you've made some awesome progress with binges and over coming the urges when you normally wouldn't so don't lose sight of that. I know you know that but it still sucks when it happens. I hope you have a lovely time with your brother and hubby! Don't be too hard on yourself. I also have that thought process about eating more when I'm going to be doing that the next day anyway. Like 'oh well I'm going to be up a bit of water weight anyway so I might as well sneak in x while I'm at it'.. it's crazy as we all know because that could just keep on going!
Also your last weigh in you were lighter than you thought - maybe your body just wants a bit more food, and that coupled with stress and being away. I have a hard time staying OP when I'm away too. I like my system at home and my meals and when that's different I feel like I have way less control/want to eat everything.

MadisonAve Hey and welcome :) I'm really sorry to hear about your miscarriage, I can only imagine how difficult that must be.
Do you usually have goal weights for certain dates?

ManekiNeko Heh, enjoy the parties! What do you usually drink?

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I had a nice day today, it was our neighbours 66th birthday today and we went out to dinner with him. He's a really nice man but he lives alone and doesn't have any family near by. Well it was a countryside dinner of dinner at lunch time and we had a 3 course meal. I came home and just lay on the couch, holy crap that's a lot of food at that time of the day! I had vegetable soup with buttered bread for the starter. It was really nice, fresh, wholemeal bread. The options for dinner weren't exactly healthy optinos and I ended up having a chicken kiev with chips and salad. The portion wasn't massive so that helped as I did eat all of it. And for dessert I had black forest gateaux. I guess it worked out as that's all I ate all day, I'm still pretty full! I was going to eat something a while ago until I realised I wasn't actually hungry it's just that I normally eat dinner around 6 and it felt strange that I hadn't eaten since 2.

I was back to 139.6 this morning, so happy to be back in the 130s so hopefully today doesn't mess that up. I'm still peeing a lot you guys :D

crazygurl disappeared too - come back everyone! Hope you're all doing ok wherever you are.

Joss : Awww *hugs* You've been under a lot of stress lately, I think a binge is a normal thing to happen in the circomstances :( Don't let it go to your get too much though : you are doing such an awesome job, even the best can slip up the slope a little bit! You are faaar from nuts! It's normal that a binge make you get concerned a bit. But let it go to your head too much. Put it in the past and focus on the daily success on going back on plan. I hope everything is going okay with you right now.

I red about the tough mudder run : it looks SOO fun! OHH and I totally suggest you to try out the plum cardamon jam. It.Is.SOOO.GOOD. I used this recipe http://diethood.com/2012/09/05/plum-cardamom-jam/ but because I can't EVER follow a recipe as it is : I used 2 lbs of plum, half the sugar they say and 4 cardamon pods. The cardamon taste is subtle but there and is aweeesome. I messed up and put 0.5 cup of water, so I had to let it simmer longer... Next time, I think I will decrease even more the sugar quantity. Plus the appartment smells so good while it's cooking ;)

Madison : Welcome to our chit chat!! Woah, your ticker is IMPRESSIVEEE! :) Congrats on all the things you've accomplished!

TheManeki : Oh, the sweet collge life of drinking and waking up hungover to go to a lecture. I (really) missed those things ;) try to catch up on the sleep this weekend! ;)

Leila : how sweet of you to go have dinner with your neighbor! There are a few things that make in cry in life, and lonely older people is defenitely one of them! (oh and black forest cake.. Yummmmmmmmmmm). :) Welcome back in the 130's! OH YEAH! PEEING YOUR LIFE AWAY WORTH IT!!! ;)

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I had another of those days where I wanted to snack all over the place all the freaking tiiiime (is TOM coming? hormones? something?? GOSH). After having a snacking-all-the-time day yesterday, I was feeling guilty so I went for an 11k run in the fresh air at 8AM. it felt great and I was down to 135 this morning (okay?!? let's take it) But tonight again I was munching everything I could fineeeeeeeee Blah. What is going onnnnnnnnnnnnnn!!!

I did my first deposition of thesis yesterday, so I'm getting closer and closer of being some unemployed graduate gal :D I sent 3 resumes for job offer today.

Please hire me. Pleaaaase. :D

Good morning Feathers... I'm up and at em nice and early, as I'm traveling home today... thank GOD!

Turbo, Leila, Madison - Thank you so much for the encouragement. It always helps so much just to see a kind word or two.

This morning I am looking and feeling a mess today because I'm super bloated from a salty dinner with my hubby, a salty lunch with my brother, and... I think I'm lactose intolerant now! Dang! It's actually not uncommon for people who don't regularly have dairy to stop producing lactase, and I'm pretty sure that's what happened to me. I had some milk the night before last and I've been super bloated and puffy since then (moreso than just overeating would cause).

I am getting my diet back in order starting right NOW! ****, I couldn't even overeat if I wanted to today. Blech. I'm having 3 egg whites and a protein shake for brekkie right now and I'm struggling to get it all in.

I know I've been under a lot of stress, and I probably did need a "diet break" so even though I'm bloated and gross right now, that will go away in a few days and the few extra pounds will help to fuel my workouts for the next 6 weeks while I train for the Tough Mudder.

Besides, this trip is now over, the hubby and I made up, and I've had more time to process and deal with the situation with my kitty. Now I can just focus on other things again.

I am giving my wedding ring to my husband today to take it in to get the repairs done. He'll come see me in 3 weeks, so he will bring it with him... but it's going to be weird not having it for so long! My finger already feels naked just taking it off to workout!

Anyway, JossFit's pity party is over... time to suck it up, and get this bloat off.

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Turbo - Thank you for the recipe! My husband and I recently found a peanut butter and jelly shop that makes artisan PB and Jellies and they had a lot of flavor combos like that. He bought a cherry jalepeno one, and he's gone through it all already. It's only been like 2 weeks! Maybe I can try making some of these and see how he likes them.
It might seem counterproductive, but the reason you are feeling so snacky and hungry is probably those long runs! It's hard to balance the two, isn't it? I workout hard so I get hungry and I have to remind myself not to eat back everything I burnt. (Um, normally... lets let this last week be stricken from the record) :D

Leila - I'm pretty sure you hit the nail right on the head; mental game of being lighter than I thought + extra hungry + stress + being away from home = bad news bears for Joss' routine. At least I lifted hard and kept up my workouts... some of those calories had to go to repairing that muscle!
Thats so sweet of you to have gone to dinner with your neighbor for this birthday, and it sounds like it was a pretty delish meal! You had me at bread. Mmmm, I love bread. :)
As far as the weight, I wouldn't stress it too much. As long as you stay OP the next few days you'll make sure you stay in those 130s.

Heck I have NO clue where I am right now and don't plan to WI for a while! Eeek!

Madison - Welcome to the chat! It sounds like you've been through a lot and all you have accomplished so far is amazing! I think that you CAN make it to your goal, and even just the pursuit of that goal is a challenge worth taking on. I find that I have to have something to motivate me, otherwise I start to backslide.
Case in point; last saturday I did my weekly WI and came in way lighter than I thought, and at my lowest weight in my adult life; 113.4lbs. Without a need to continue trying to stay on plan, I totally deviated and set myself back a few pounds I'm sure. To combat that, I signed up for a Tough Mudder! LOL I'm in a constant cycle of gaining and losing 5 pounds, and I know I'm not the only one around here. :)
Anyway, welcome again! I look forward to chatting with you.

TheManekiNeko - Good luck to you as well! Trying to balance a new social life in a place where you are just getting settled and studying AND keeping up a healthy lifestyle is not easy. Can you start cutting down on the drinking a bit? Maybe limit it to one/two nights a week and do other social things the rest of the time?

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Okay, wish me luck today ladies... I'm going to need it. Time to wake up the man and get out of here for the airport.

Oh, and by the way Leila, the water weight peeing is hitting me hard today too! I have fine three times in the last 45 minutes, and havent had a drop of water in that time. Not just a little either... Like "I am going to wet myself if I dont go NOW!" I'm glad its already coming off though!

Have a nice trip home, Joss :) And take some time for yourself when you get home, you diserve a little relaxing time girl! ;)

***

Well eating like I had no bottom to my stomach for the last 2 days without pooping much yesterday : 136.6 lbs this morning. BOOOOOH. I'm gonna try to have a light lunch today 'cause we had apple pancake (whole wheat at least) for breakfast and we are having chocolat soufflé for dessert (well, if I manage to get this sh*t baking...) I was so happy to see the 135 yesterday morning, the crackers are my bad karma ;)

I was supposed to go for a run today (my last long run before the hald) but I want to keep my legs fresh for tomorrow's hiking trip, so I'll just skip it... I'm gonna a have a nice workout with the hiking anyways.

Have a good weekend, Feathers!!

Turbo Well I am a hoe who loves to pee, I pee all day.
Yeah I always feel so bad for lonely old people too, there was a much older lady down the road who just got put into a home. She had left the gas on when somebody came to check on her, and another time recently somebody came to visit her when some men were selling her some curtains and she'd handed them the wallet for them to take what they need. They were just trying to take advantage of her in the first place. Anyway this man is really lovely, he's just shy and never married. He had to retire last year even though he didn't want to. He keeps cattle still so we help him with that sometimes when he needs to move them. He also has a total sweet tooth so we eat apple pie together sometimes haha, yum yum.

I hope you hear something about a job soon! It seems to be really hard everywhere at the minute, I know it's bad here anyway. I'm assuming it's better over there though because half of is over there now. The other half is in Australia..
Don't sweat it, hiking's great exercise and I'm sure you'll be back to 135 in no time.. yay :) Have a great weekend!

Joss Yikes, can you get a quick test done to see if you're lactose intolerant now? I think over here you can get them done in a pharmacy. I had a friend who seemed to develop it over night too. Stinky farts I tells ya ;) I hope you feel better soon.

Hehe, the peeing thing is so funny isn't it! I was the same, I had to keep stopping when I was driving to use the bathroom and even though I was thirsty I was only taking little sips so I wouldn't be stopping every 5 seconds. I wonder if that's what it's like to be pregnant? It's also weird because before I started paying attention to my body and weight loss I never noticed peeing more after eating pizza/over eating in general but I guess I did. Totally oblivious there.

Anyway take care of yourself! Do something nice when you get back, something just for you.. safe travels!

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138.4 this morning, yay, I seem to be dropping the water weight pretty fast (well I guess I've dropped it now.. maybe a bit more to go as I was just at the end of TOM when I ate everything last weekend) and I'm eating well. I'm feeling pretty damn good today and I already worked out.

For lunch I had an egg white omelete (4 egg whites and a little bit of sneaky yolk got in there) with a little chorizo, tomatoes and a blob of cottage cheese on top (I can't think of a cheese I don't like..), slice of crusty toast and the salad was beetroot, chard and spinach.

http://i.imgur.com/HPt5n.jpg

I just baked banana bread too, it's cooling right now.. I'm excited! It looks really good but looks can be deceiving so hopefully it's not crap. Wish me luck not eating it all ;)

Going to a gig tonight but nothing crazy and I'm not sure if I'm the designated driver or not.. hmmmm...

Have a great weekend everyone!

Lelia - Thanks! I don't usually set a weight loss goal + a date, but I happen to have a family event that day that I am working towards. When I decided on it, I had a good amount of time to lose it all, but as you know, weight loss doesn't always go as you planned.

Joss - Thanks! I am going to push myself until we leave on the 9th, but if I don't get there, it'll be ok. I'll be as close as I can get, knowing I did everything I could to make it happen. I want to look HOT when I go, so it's a good motivator :) Although, it's family so it's not like I need to look a certain way. I just want to look hot for myself :)

Turbo - Thank you! When I'm feeling fat, I make myself go look at my before & after pictures. Puts things in better perspective to see the very evident change. :)

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Back down to 146.8 today! I cut out 100 calories yesterday, so I'm hoping that was the trick. I know it gets tougher the closer I get to goal, but it's not like I'm near 100lbs or something! Anyway, staying OP. Having a goal date is serious motivation. PLUS, all my jeans are too big - like I'm swimming in them - so it's so rewarding knowing I can go put on some 8s & they'll look HOT! :)

Happy Saturday, girls!

Holy crap, I made it through the day without stuffing my face yet again, AND managed to do that while traveling through the airport (that's two for two on junk-free trips home!). I feel like garbage and I know I put on some ugly pounds, so I'm ready to get back to work. It's not like I slacked off on exercise (I actually pushed it pretty dang hard this week) but my eating so far this month has been junky.

Time to unpack... back for personals tomorrow!

thanks for the input on the numb foot, everyone. i think i'm gonna stick to walking and maybe save up for a bike (exciting!)

i hope y'all are doing well :)

LeilaJay while I've been in Spain I've discovered Calimocho, which is a mixture of red wine and coke, of course I've been using diet coke so it's not quite as bad :/

TurboMammoth I hate turning up to a lecture after only having 3 hours sleep feeling half dead. Got to cut down on the parties. The nightlife here just isn't the same anyway, prefer it in the UK.

JossFit fortunately for me because I'm so short I actually rarely drink more than 2/3 drinks a night. But after this week the partying is coming to an ending. Unfortunately I'm on to a full schedule as of Monday with 30-40 hours in class then lots of fun assignments to keep me busy in between. Not to mention all the extra time I need to learn to explain all of the course material in Spanish.

Yesterday I spent the day wondering around town with friends. It was over 30 degrees (centigrade) here so no one was moving very fast. This is one a the few things that I get annoyed at here. Everyone walks so slowly! Seriously, like at the pace of a snail.

I ended up cooking Mushroom Spaghetti for about 10 people. So much more stressful than what I'm used to. But it was yummy and I think everyone enjoyed it. Also being the chef means you don't have to wash up :)

And I had a pretty good day food wise too. Next week I am going to try to go out partying less, make my excuses and really focus on working and being healthy.

I've been avoiding this forum for the past 3 days because everybody seems to be doing soooo good right now, and honestly since thursday-friday, all I seem to be doing is EAT EAT EAT! I am ashamed, JEEZ.

The scale was up to 138.0 this morning. I guess I diserved it! Some of it is probably water though, I ate some pretty salty stuff in the past 3 days and I look like I'm 3 months pregnant :D

And ON TOP OF EVERYTHING, I skipped my last long run this weekend. I was suppose to run a little one (for a long run) like 11k, but I had to go at the lab on saturday and we had a BIG mess there, so 3 hours laters lost there, I had no motivation to head out for a run in the rain a 5PM. At least we went hiking with some friends of the bf on sunday, 9k with 550 meters of difference of altitude, better than nothing!

It was seriously freeeeezing at the top, probably not hotter than 35-37 F degrees. My boyfriend though I was a freak when I packed my had and mittens in the morning but I was so happy to have them.

It is at Mont Gosford, right next the to american lines. The lines are in fact jusgt at the bottom of the mountain we are standing on. In the picture, you can see Mount Washington in the background (the one with that looks like it's flat on the top, is actually hidden in the clouds)
http://imageshack.us/a/img526/4460/img0986i.jpg

Hi everyone!

Weekend was terrible eating-wise, but the scale did not go over 126. CHIPS and CHICKEN WINGS factored heavily into the mix.

Yesterday I decided to go for a leisurely run after getting diner breakfast with a friend. It was so nice out I thought I'd push myself. I ended up going 11K/6.9 miles in about 65 minutes - not winning any races but hey, I've never been able to keep running that long before!!! Awesome, right - well I lost my car key somewhere along the run, and ended up backtracking 3 miles to look for it (1.5 each way) before giving up and walking about 3 miles home. Fail! There's a happy ending though; my friends and I went out to dinner for some Latin American food (rice and beeeeeans!) and I keep a spare car key at my parents' house, which is near the restaurant. Note to self: get a necklace or something for the car key, the "key pocket" in your shorts is not secure!!!

I got up and lifted this morning before work. 125.8 this morning but I can feel I'm retaining water like mad.

TheManekiNeko Damn Spaniards and their slow walking. Reminds me of Hawaiians and Australians, who are kind of like that - their pace of life is much more um "relaxed" than the northeastern US. Mushroom spaghetti sounds really good - hosting and entertaining is really stressful but it's all worth it not to have to wash the dishes.

JossFit Really glad to hear you managed to avoid binging on the way back! You'll feel good as new once you're back to routine...it's crazy how much a couple days of overdoing it affects how you feel in general. I'm happy to read that you and your husband talked things over and made up. Sucks about the recent lactose resistance. :(

MadisonAvePhoto So glad to see you posting here! I remember reading your posts in the 20-somethings threads like 40 pounds ago.

LeilaJey Awwww you're so sweet taking your neighbor out to dinner! Your omelette looks delicious, I love cottage cheese and could probably put it in everything I eat ever. I never pee when I'm bloated/retaining water - it's always the opposite. Farewell water weight!

TurboMammoth Amazing photo! Hiking always makes me retain water for what it's worth. Sometimes you're just hungry and nothing can be done about it. It's tough when you're doing a lot of exercise, because you gotta balance your caloric intake with fueling your workouts. I remember reading on a few threads that it's common for distance runners to put on weight during marathon training etc.

Nom nom nom... Homemade spicy turkey sausage with tomato, zuchinni and spinach. Delish.

http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto...91370034_n.jpg


What is going on with everyone buggin out and falling off again? That seems to happen in here a lot. :(

Not a whole lot of excitement over here now that my kitty/husband/traveling/diet drama has passed. Thank goodness! I've been back OP since Saturday and there was definitely some, um, passing of food and shedding of water weight. I can see my definition took a hit so it will probably take me a couple of weeks to get it back. My next WI is Saturday, which also happens to be my birthday, and I'm hoping it doesn't put me in a shitty mood. I'm preparing for the worst and hoping for the 'not so bad'... LOL.

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Krampus - Running almost 7 miles is AWESOME! LOL heck, thats about the furthest I've ever run anyway, so it's awesome in my book. :) You ended up doing quite a bit more than that and earned your lunch for sure with all the key-searching madness! hahaha I'm always paranoid about losing my keys too!
Good thing your parents had a spare.

Turbo - I'm certainly not doing good, and Krampus said she had an off weekend too, so don't be embarassed! You certainly don't need to avoid us. Heck, we have all been there, and some of us still are! If nothing else it could give you some peace of mind, if not inspire you to get back OP before some major damage is done.
Your hike looked gorgeous! I love hiking, but this area is horrible for it. (Reason number 143 why I'm so excited to be moving to Colorado next year... HIKING!)

TheManekiNeko - It sounds like you've got a good plan worked out to refocus on your fitness, so I wouldn't sweat it too much! Cutting down on partying and focusing on your studies should do the trick. :)