Speechie - NOT gaining over Thanksgiving is awesome! I wish I were in that category but I know it's my own stupid fault and now I have to pay the piper. Grrrr...
I don't know why but I've just never gotten into Zumba or any fitness group classes. I guess I just like working out on my own. Give me some heavy weights any day!

Mottainai - I have a really tough time getting sleep when I visit my husband. It's hard enough with the time changes, but then I'm also a super light sleeper and he tends to snore a bit, roll around, etc. He's not a 'bad' sleeper by any means, I'm just super sensitive! A lot of the time we end up sleeping separately (one of us on the sofa) but lately I've started taking a mild sleeping pill to help me actually get some rest otherwise I toss and turn all night. I think when we FINALLY get to live together I want to get a sleep number or temperpedic mattress to help out. Speechie, The sleeping pill helps, and so do soft earplugs, but I don't have much of a suggestion for the body heat issue. My hubby is the same, and then he sometimes likes to 'cuddle' which in man terms means spooning you while they're 90% asleep and basically resting their penis between your butt cheeks. Nice.

Congratulations on 'getting there'. :) Its actually really refreshing to see someone say "you know what? THIS is what I've been working toward!" and taking the time to appreciate it. LOL remind me to do the same when I get back to 116 pounds!! Don't let me gloss over it, because it's going to take a lot of work to get there (and frankly I'm worried if I don't see it again before Christmas I never will!)

LockItUp - We already caught up via email, but I don't want to leave you out! Sorry you had such a frustrating weekend... mashed potatoes in the computer?! OMG, I would BEAT a child to within an inch of their life. Perhaps thats a good indication of why I don't have any...
Anyway, I'm right there with you trying to stay 100% OP until Christmas! (Well, Christmas Eve for me) and then NOT going overboard when the holidays come. I'm honestly not even worried I'll deviate from the plan because I am THAT determined. I'm more concerned about the holidays themselves.
As you know (but the other ladies don't) I wrote up a contract with myself for my Christmas vacation 'rules', and sent it to my husband. It was slightly embarassing to say that I need help, but I know if I start eating like a piggy he'll remind me of my contract.

*Cliff's notes for everyone else; I will NOT eat all day on any of my allowed treat days, just dinners/drinks in the evening of the 24th, 25th (we have solid plans with family) and *if* we decide to go out on the 31st the same goes.
Aside from that, no bringing any junk/goodies/treats into the house, no bringing home leftover food or bottles of alcohol, etc. Hitting the gym every day except Christmas Day - and that's only because my husband will be too hungover from the night prior.

Wish me luck... I know I'll mention this all 500 more times in the next few weeks!

The Bunneh - You are so not alone in dealing with those holiday season issues and food... we are having a lot of that around here! Good for you for recognizing it and just making the committment to do your best. Perseverence, not perfection, right?

Turbo - You're doing so well rolling with the punches and making smart food choices at the !same time! I can hardly hold the 5 shortbread cookies against you... they're pretty much delicious. I might have had some chocolate dipped ones over the Thanksgiving food fest weekend. I probably had my bodyweight in chocolate actually, but that's another story! hahaha

I hope you enjoy the bike ride!



Who did I miss? Hopefully nobody!

Today was day two back on plan and it was a bit easier than yesterday. Not mentally, but physically. I'm definitely mentally ready to do the work I need to do to get back to my happy size/weight, but the crappy food and traveling just wore my body out and it's been HARD to workout. I did manage to lift weights this morning and do 20 minutes of moderate cardio this morning and then PT with my unit this afternoon (45 minutes or so of some fairly difficult circuits and calisthenics... not bad).

Each day is easier than the last!

I got my Xmas shopping for my family and BFF done today, so now I just have to get the hubby and send out Christmas cards. I'm trying to determine just how offensive I'm allowed to be with my cards. There are some hilarious ones out there but I worry about my hubby's family a bit. I know some humor is okay, but surely there is a line where it's just tasteless. I want to toe the line, not cross it.
How do you guys feel about Christmas Humor?

Anyone got any shopping done?

Oh, and here are a few pictures from my most recent trip! I forgot about posting til now!

Me with my hubby's Whiskey! LOL, we were pre-gaming it at our swanky hotel before dinner;
http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto...36724919_n.jpg

http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto...20852350_n.jpg

Me working on our little tree;
http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto...88082068_n.jpg

Mmmm... dinner...

http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto...33847866_n.jpg

Me at the hotel;
http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto...79245316_n.jpg

My homemade pumpkin bars;
(yeah, I ate like 6 of the 9 bars...)
http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto...03685283_n.jpg

Hubby and I getting totally ****-faced at a bar before dinner... haha
http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto...01089998_n.jpg

Us while trimming the tree;
http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto...00695725_n.jpg

Awwwww Joss, just want to quick say I love the pictures! Thanks for sharing!! You're really, really lovely, and I was happy to get to see your husband too, haha. I was so curious.

I'm not a big picture taker, but hopefully I'll remember to take lots of pics while I'm on my trip at least to share with y'all.

kakers : Oh god, your story of your stuff being robbed SUCK! Our living room is facing a big street, and the boyfriend insists on keeping the curtain closed all the time because he's scared that someone we'll see that we have a big TV, come and steal it. I'll definetely stop laughing at him now that I've red about your things!

TheBunneh : Oh, I'm a wimp too about biking on the road.. I don't like ars going so faast next to me! I love my trails but with the snowfall, can't do anymore :( Actually won't be able to bike much with the winter coming! You are doing great, don,t let a little sweet treats slip up break you :)

Lockitup : Kids sure sound stressful... Hope you survived your day! (jeez, mashed potatoes...). Great job on the 100% commitment!

Mottaini : You seem to be in such a better place, concerning how you see your body right now, compared to a few weeks ago. I'm really truly happy for you! :) There is nothing beating this feeling of feeling great about yourself!

Can't be of much help in the sleeping situation with your husband though, in the couple, I'm the one who could sleep through everything while my boyfriend get waked up if I BREATH too heavily. LOL

Speechie : Surviving Thankgiving without gaining it awesome! So just that is a big win, in my opinion ;)

Joss : THIS! LOL! I was reading, reading, and I got ''wait, what did I just read!?'' I was laughing so hard I had to explain why to my boyfriend (who was all ''Pfff I don't do this'')

Love the pictures, your Christmas tree is so pretty! And I am in love with this red top that you are wearing. Where did you get it??

***

Hi ladies! Was up to 137.2 today, but yesterday was a super busy day, and during days like that I tend to forget to go for a bathroom meeting. I'll see how it goes tomorrow and in the next few days.

I had a good day, but over did it in the sweet treats for dessert. It's the dessert that was wrong last week : it's wrong in it shape, it doesn't stand still as a bar, but it still tastes great, so we have been eating spoonful of it for the last days. I figure out that if it is not portion-out already in my plate, I don't stop... Lesson learned. I'm gonna throw the remains away tomorrow and try to bake it correctly, cut it into small bars and put most of it in the freezer for Christmas.

I finally did not go for a bike ride because the weather website was telling me it was like -7 degrees C outside and I was feeling such a wimp today. I need to find a way to get some cardio done, I won't be able to bike forever here.

On a totally random note, we are trying to arrange the Christmas holiday planning as a real couple for the first time (we are going on 4 years together, but I always spent all my Christmas time at home, my mom being sick and not really knowing if she was gonna be around for Christmas... And then we had the first Christmas without her, so I skipped the boyfriend's family stuff...) which lead us NOW, when we decided to split times between our family. Boyfriends parent are divorced, so we have 3 places to go with the currect situations :

- I like 900 kilometer away, so we are spending a week in my family, because I see them twice a year and we won't drive there for like 48 hours ;
- I want to spend the time around New Year Eve in my family because my brother would also spend Christmas in the family of his girlfriend away, so we would all meet to celebrate with our date around those date ;
- Boyfriend's sister works on the 25th and on the Jan 1st
- The new girlfriend of the boyfriend's dad want to celebrate with us at some point, but is celebrating on the Dec 24th with her family and is not really to mix everyone this year.

I got some headache alreadyyyy

Just wanted to pop in and say hi. Hope everyone is having a good day! I will have to come back for personals tonight..just on a break at work.

Yesterday and today and I've been REALLY hungry! Still staying OP and drinking a lot of tea/coffee to keep me full. Not sure why, I am usually pretty satisfied with my food intake, even under the 1200 calorie days. I think I'm getting bored of the same old protein and veggies. I try to mix it up, but really, it's still protein and veggies.

I am happy to be eating clean, but my cravings come and go. I can't give in though...I'm determined to keep my wine as my treat on the weekends and stay OP with food. Haven't missed any workout either in a long while...in fact I've added some HIIT sessions thoughout the week that I do at home on youtube with the Apple TV.

Do I feel proud of myself?..of course! Would I rather have a burger and sweet potatoe fries?...**** ya!

138.4 this morning.. guests just left and I have more coming this weekend. Oh dear.. tomorrow the plan is to exercise like a mofo and not eat everything. I'm currently nibbling on a chocolate Santa and just had a lot of nachos so tomorrow might be even scarier. Everyone over ate as much as I did but I was still definitely the biggest. Waaaa.

Time for me to get back in here and face the music. I have been REALLY bad the past month since I stopped posting here. Like, my weight is up 15 pounds kind of bad. I'm sure 5 pounds is probably bloat but it has just been one binge after another. I've used the excuse of one last hurrah before getting back into diet mode way too many times, so I'm going to focus on eating normal for a change and forget about weight loss. I hate the thought of accepting the new higher weight, but there is just too much going on in December, and dieting now is too much pressure for me that it's just triggering binges. So I'm just going to try to eat normal, and enjoy the days that there is something going on that will have me eating more than usual and then re-evaluate in January, when it will feel like less pressure.

At least I have been keeping up with my exercise regime through all of this, and am still at a healthy weight, but it does suck to have to own up to it and take responsibility for the gain. I'm not sure if I'll keep weighing, or ditch the scale for the while, but I am going to start planning small treats into each day until I get my barrings again. My mother in law's birthday is on Friday, and we are taking her to the buffet, so I'm just going to do as I'd usually do there, and indulge, but it feels wrong given that it's so soon after having been so off track. But if I'm going to just focus on living normally, I'd like to remind myself that I should enjoy those special occasions.

I have actually been reading here regularly, despite not posting, because I've just been too ashamed! Obviously that's not working for me and I just need to own up to it. I'm going to try to make a point of checking in daily (well week days anyhow) to keep myself accountable.

Heavy weigh-in this morning. 127.8. I made an appointment with a doctor to get my back checked out - still hurts. Being benched and not being able to lift or run or do pushups or anything really sucks and historically, injury impeding exercise is my worst trigger for wanting to binge eat. We had the friends edition of Thanksgiving last night and I had a little bit of everything which was still too much.

Yesterday I went to the gym and did 20 minutes of HIIT on the elliptical. It might have made it worse? I'm going to go tonight and go more steady-state on the elliptical and maybe speedwalk on the treadmill for a while. Siiiiiiiiiiiigh.

Hi all,

A bit bloated this morning from my one million carb refeed day yesterday, naturally!! But I hit the gym and had an energetic workout at least. I'm making it a goal to go to the gym EVERY day for the next two weeks until we leave for the trip-- got to get in as much as I can now, because I'm sure I'll be not working out so much while I'm there!

Though, I am really seriously thinking to find a gym in Tokyo while we are staying. If it were a shorter vacation I wouldn't worry about it so much, but we're staying for nearly a month, so I want to keep up regular exercise while I'm there, especially my weight training. Plus, of course I'll be glad to burn a few extra calories if I can, since I know I'll be eating differently, eating more in general, less "cleanly" and also majority food prepared by someone other than myself, and so I won't be able to gauge as well exactly how much I'm eating.... That's not too weird, is it, to hit the gym even on vacation when it's like for 3-4 weeks, right?

Still being happy in my body and still pushing on with moderation!! Maybe by the end of the year I'll be around the 110 mark....hmmmmm haven't seen that one for yearssss.

Lots of work this week!

-----------------------------

Krampus- I'm so so sorry about your back. I hope the doctor can get you something to help!! That sucks so bad. Go easy on the exercise!! ):

JessicaB- Hey, my name is Jessica too! haha. Anyway, well done on coming back to face the music. It's always hard to really take a hard look at what's happened after rebounding a bit. Believe me, I know, lol. I think you've got a great idea in planning in treats and respecting those special occasions. Sounds like a great way to keep on plan long term. Good luck and hope to see you posting more often here!!

Leila- Waaaa, sounds like you're having fun but not enjoying the aftermaths, lol.

Bayzee- It's great you're staying on plan and saving your treats. You're showing such determination lately!! Very cool. Don't forget it's good to have a burger and fries sometimes too though. (;

Turbo- Wow, sounds so complicated making plans for the holidays!! I'm kinda glad we just decided to go to Japan, so we can see all my husband's relatives there but my family can't complain about seeing them becuase we'll be on the other side of the world, haha.

Joss- Yes, it's so awesome to take the time to really appreciate how far I've come and just ENJOY having a healthy and fit body. I feel like it's especially important now, especially since I used to totally just take it for granted. I think that's part of the reason I spiralled so out of control all those years ago, like I didn't even realize that I even could gain so much weight and really didn't see it coming at all....

Speechie- My husband is a total "heating pad" too, lol! I'll let you know if I find a good solution. Going to get some earplugs today to see if that helps any. I agree, I love this community here so much!!

Hi Everyone!

Joss: OMG you crack me up! I had a good giggle for a couple of minutes! I didn't hit up Zumba today due to work. I'm exhausted at the end of the day, and to have a hard time working out. Do you have a schedule/circuit that you do? Any tips? BTW, I loved your pictures! Thank you so much for sharing! It looks like you had a great time!

Turbo I am the same way with pre-portioned things! I can't even make dessert at home because the thought of it being there kills me. Although, I am doing much better. I pretty much stick to skinny cow ice cream sandwiches. I can't help myself!! On another note, I see that planning the holidays will be a little hectic. My hubby and I use to travel to see my mom, dad, and his parents. We did that for about 4 years and it was exhausted. However when we got married we made arrangements... my Dad got Thanksgiving, my Mom Christmas, and my Hubby's parents got Hanukkah/Passover or a random time during the Christmas Holiday. It's been working for us the last couple years and we tell everyone welllll in advance. I'm the youngest of four kids and my letting my brother's and sister know where I plan to be way ahead of time, it usually works out that we can all get together. It's something that's worked for us. Just thought i'd share :)

JessicaB Never be ashamed to post here!! This is our place to be able to talk about what happens and support each other whether we lose or even gain. We're all in the same boat!

Krampus.. I feel a little silly but what is HIIT? I would def. get your back checked out before you continue exercising, you might be injuring yourself more without realizing it! Just my two cents to hold you over before you can get to the doc. I love love love Tiger Balm. okay i'm kind of obsessed with it ---think my Big Fat Greek Wedding and the Windex--- I would give it a try to help with pain/discomfort.

Mottainai Tokyo! That's awesome! You might have said this before but is the vacation to see family or just explore? I would like to be able to fly somewhere like that but i'm deathly afraid of flying! About a week ago I was flew to Atlanta and back. I was okay getting there ( Awesome flight crew who fed me drinks) but on the way back the Captain was making jokes about the plane being like new Denzel movie flight.. the one where they crash! This was followed by the guy behind me saying, oh we're heavy, we're taking off heavy. I had a full panic attack on the plane. My poor hubby was trying to calm me down.. but once I was scared, I was scared the whole flight. He was practically begging the crew to give me a drink. lol. I'm trying to work my way up, so that one day he and I can travel to Europe. -- for now i'll keep dreaming!



Question for Everyone: How much are you currently working out and what do you typically do?


Well, today I did pretty well. I have been using the old weight watcher's point system. My friend gave me all of her books when she became pregnant, so I thought why not give it a try. It works for me as of now because I love doing things old school. Oh yes, you guessed it I'm walking around with the book, point slider thing, and a small notebook. It makes my type A self smile. I really love planning, so I've started planning out the menu's for the week on Sunday to keep me on track. I notice that many of my bad choices revolve around motivation for cooking, not having an idea of what to eat/make/get, and what my hubby wants. By making the menu I'm trying to eliminate the chance that i'll make a poor choice. Have any of you been on SkinnyTaste.com? If you haven't and love yummy food, I would check it out! I've made a couple of wonderful meals from there that are healthy and yet satisfying for my carnivore of a husband :)

-Sorry to ramble there. lol

<3Speechie

Speechie, to answer your question real quick,
I generally have been shooting for 20 minutes of cardio each weekday, usually doing hard intervals on some combination of the treadmill, elliptical, and stairclimber, occasionally rower, depending on whatever the heck I feel like doing. And then I also do a weight-lifting split routine again every weekday, probably change up my routine more often than I should. Lately I'

Bayzee : You seem to be battling the hunger monster right now... Any chances that TOM is coming your way? I always feel like eating everything coming into my eyesight at this time of the month.

I do agree with you, I got bored with food especially when I was on a more restrictive diet. I made a lot of efforts by going through TONNNS of recipes website to find stuff to spice up my food a bit.

LeilaJey : I guess raclette does not forgive easily... Give yourself a few days to let the time make his way through your system! Oh god. Nachos. Hellp, best thing in the world.

Jessica : Glad to see you back! If you red a bit, you probably saw that almost every single one of us at major falling off the wagon during those past few weeks. You seem to be really dedicated without putting too much pressure on you with Christmas coming.. Good for you!

krampus : That is sooo frustrating when you want to workout and the body is just falling appart. When is your doctor appointment?

mottaini : It's not weird hitting the gym while you are on vacation! Especially if you are staying over for a long time. I'm kinda jealous of your dedication, I'd really love to be able to say ''I'm so going to workout during the holidays'' but I know it's going to.be.so.haaaard!

Speechie : Your plan for the Holidays sounds so easyyyy. It SHOULD be easy for us too, but the family of my boyfriend always like to make this... complicated. Like the week in my family is already all solved out (''hi dad, is it okay if we do our Christmas dinner when we get down there after the 26th, it's okay with the bro, cool, perfet!''). We are easy going. His family is ''okay let's discuss it through AND THROUGH for hours :D'' yayy ;)

For your question, I used to work out a lot, running 3 times a week long distance plus biking once a week with an abs routine morning/night. But I got injured this fall and right now I'm a blob :D (Oh, I love Skinnytaste too! I bake the zucchini/white chocolat bread all the time!)

***

I was back down to 136.6, which is the lowest I've been this month (OH YEAH). It would be cool to break this before the end of the month.

I did some kind of quick bodyweight workout (sequences of crunch, plank, lunges, etc). Took about 15 minutes, which isn't the longest thing ever, but at least it got me moving. I tried a few squats and the hips was still a bit weird... won't push it much more in the next days.

I did okay with the food today, and I even had a homemade burger tonight, we had them on WW english muffin. I stole about 5 fries from the boyfriend plate (I am the one who bought them for him, wanted to be nice, I picked him the best extra crispy fries ever, god they were so good, should have picked him the worst flabby fries ever) but I mostly kept it with my salad. I indulged on 2 small dattes and nuts cookies I baked this afternoon (most of them went in the freezer)

Hope everyone is having a great day!

Turbo... Good for you for monthly low! It's so hard to watch the "other half" eat fries in front of you. TOM is not on the way..which is good because I have little will power during that time. My cravings are just crazy right now...I was thinking of a poutine today! Yum!

Krampus...hope you are feeling better. Get to the doctor, if not for anything but a good pain killer! Back pain is the worse; I had a tailbone injury that plagued me for a year. So frustrating!

Mottainai...I sort of need to prove to myself that I can stay OP with my eating. I was seriously out of control this summer and I need to prove to myself that I can get back to my comfortable weight. I had no idea I would struggle like this. I will have a burger if I make it at home. It would be a nice treat!

Joss...OMG those pics are amazing! You look so relaxed and seem to be having so much fun! And I also must know where you bought that blouse..it's so flattering!
Just a note about the snoring...my husband just started snoring this summer. I WAS a sound sleeper till this started. I just can't get back to sleep if he wakes me up. It's so frustrating! I would hate sleeping apart, but honestly I have considered it...it can be that bad! I wish I had the miracle cure for that too!

Leila...nachos is the best word I heard all day! That sounds heavenly! Don't weigh in tomorrow..just take a day off. It will help...unless of course you're like me and are a bit OCD about weighing in!

Speechie...HIIT is high intensity interval training. Check out YouTube for some ideas. I love them because I am not a runner, and I feel I get a great cardio workout without running. Tabata is similar. Most of my workouts are like hitt, tabata and boot camp 4 days a week and 2 days Kettlebells and 1 day power Pilates. I just added Kettlebells as a full workout (I have used them before but just in a circuit style class). I like it a lot, and bought some for the house.

Sorry if I missed anyone...I will catch up again tomorrow.

This thread. It's just too much. Trust I have read it all down the the penis and the butt cheeks. That reminds me of a funny story! Tonight my husband was getting ready for bed and took off his PJ pants (cause apparently, pajamas aren't for sleeping in) and he's in his undies and... well... he needs to throw them out. They have a HUGE hole in the crotch and while it was still containing certain body parts... others not so much. Neither of us could stop laughing.

In other random news, my feral kitty, Splenda, has taken up watching TV. She sits in front of the TV and just watches. It's SO CUTE. She's been an indoor kitty for coming up on 2 years now, and just now has taken to watching TV. Well, I suppose she used to do it in our bedroom at one point when we had a TV in there. Ya know, before it got stolen.

Speechie- your question makes me feel very lazy. I work out for an hour and a half each week, and usually that is it. Once a month or so I go out swing dancing, but usually the slower kind of swing dancing. I liken it to "walking with style."

And on one last note, it's the second day now where my calories have been like LOW. Yesterday I stayed under 1300. I had McDonalds for lunch and left over McDonalds for dinner and a Hostess cupcake before bed. Just because I could. Today I had the other Hostess cupcake for lunch, and a frozen pizza and potato chips for dinner. Why am I eating so little? WE HAVE NO CLEAN DISHES. We are down to ONE clean plate. I have nothing to cook in. The only thing we can make is frozen pizzas. Even if I could find a pan somewhere (to be fair, at least one of our woks is clean) there'd be no room on the stove with all the dirty pots and pans piled there. I'm on strike until my husband runs a load in the dishwasher. I've done the dishes at LEAST 4 times to the last ONE time he has done it. And then I do 90% of the cooking. Not working for me, so I am on strike. And ultimately, no clean dishes and no cooking means very little eating! I could milk this for a while. For him, he'll be all "I'm starving" and for me I'll be all "OO! Lookie I lost another pound!"

Win-win really.

~Katy

krampus Sorry to hear about your back injury. My husband hurt his back working back in August, and he was on light duties for over a month! Back injuries do take a long time to heal, hopefully you can figure out what is going to work out for you with your exercise routine, and not aggravate it.

mottainai I think it's reasonable to want to work out when you'll be gone for so long. I went away for 4 days in the summer, and had a heck of a time just allowing myself to relax and forget about my usual routine. More than anything, I also hate skipping my strength training days, the cardio I allow myself to be a bit more lenient on, especially if I'm on vacation and doing extra walking with sightseeing, or whatever.

Speechie I do 3 days a week of strength training usually for 30 minutes. On those days, I try to fit in 15 minutes of cardio as well. Then I do 45 minutes of cardio on alternating days, and take one rest day a week. Though, that's in an ideal week. Lately my workouts have been suffering, because my daughter has been waking up earlier than usual. I was already waking up an hour earlier than her to fit in a workout, and if she sticks to this earlier waking schedule, I'll have to compensate, but as it is, I practically go to bed at the same time she does! I think our cat is waking her up in the mornings. I know on the weekends, he meows outside of her door until she gets up, because he knows it will get everyone out of bed.. that little bugger!

TurboMammoth I wouldn't say everyone had a major falling off the wagon. Sure, everyone struggled a bit, but not to the same tune I have been (no one in here went up 15 pounds!). But I can appreciate that it's a tough time of the year for all of us. Especially for those of you who usually exercise outside, or are injured. Hope your hip mends itself soon.

Bayzee I also have troubles falling back asleep sometimes. My daughter wakes me up in the middle of the night about 50% of the time. Just so that I can put her music back on. I don't mind it too much, when I compare it with a couple years ago, when I was getting up with her 3-5 times a night, and having to go to work in the morning, so I try to appreciate that if I'm having trouble falling back asleep, then I am truly not that sleep deprived. I use the same sort of logic to justify waking up early to exercise. If I managed to function before waking up all night long with a baby, then I can manage to give up an hour of sleep for keeping myself fit.

kakers This thread is really overwhelming a lot of the time. And there are so many new faces in here since I was posting before. I know before I'd only post like once a week because I just felt too overwhelmed to do personals all the time, but even so, I always read it, and find comfort hearing about all you ladies who I can relate to many different ways.

My husband doesn't touch the dishes much or do any of the cooking either. But I'm happy to do the cooking, as it's the only way to ensure that I can eat something healthy. If my husband were to do it, we'd be eating freezer meals all the time, with no veggies at all. Even if sometimes I feel like I'd rather not eat my veggies, it's always a priority for me to make sure I've included some veggies in the meals, if not for my sake than for my daughter's sake. Does he know you are on strike? Men don't always clue in to those sort of things.

JessicaB - Welcome back! I know it's hard regaining... I may not have put on 15 but I did put on 10, and it sucks. The only thing we can do is own up to it and get our rears back in gear right? I won't sit here and blow sunshine up your a$$ about how it's "only" X number of pounds because when you are 5'4/5'5 or even shorter 10-15 pounds feels like a massive amount. That's several clothing sizes for some of us!
But, what can you do? Burying your head in the sand doesn't fix it and while it is 'hard' to get back to working out all the time and even more difficult to really watch what you eat, that's just what has to be done. Either that, or we accept the new pounds and be happy with it.
You're back here so I assume you are of the former mindset. :) We all struggle from time to time and right now it's our time... next time it will be someone else and we will be the ones saying 'hang in there' to them.

Kakers - Why is it men have such a hard time buying new clothing, even when they desperately need it?? My husband has about 30 pair of really expensive jeans and he constantly complains that none of them fit because his 'a$$ has gotten so fat!' In all fairness, is muscle and is really really nice... haha. When I met him he ran a lot and hardly ate and since he's started eating more and lifting weights he has put on about 30-40 pounds of sexiness. ;)
Anyway, one of his Christmas presents this year is a gift card to the Buckle to buy himself a new pair of jeans... haha. I haven't found any totally destroyed undies yet but I'm sure they're lurking in a drawer somewhere! These are the things I'll probably discover once I move in with him.

If you don't mind me asking, how do you feel physically? I think I would want to do nothing but eat more sweets and take a nap if I had Hostess cupcakes, McDonalds and chips! I'm jealous that you can get away with that! I'm definitely one of those people that just craves more of that sort of food once I eat some, so it's best to avoid.

Bayzee - *If* my husband snores it is very light and totally normal, but I'm such a light sleeper that it does disturb me. I realize that it's totally my issue and not his, but he always feels bad about it. He goes to sleep later than me so a lot of the time we'll have our 'quality time' and then he stays up to watch zombie movies or do whatever, and ends up just sleeping on the couch so he doesn't wake me. Honestly he prefers the sofa for some reason and if I'm not visiting he rarely sleeps in his bed at all. Sleeping apart really isn't an issue for us... I think we both prefer it! LOL

Congratulations on sticking with it and breaking through that plateau. I know you were getting so frustrated for a while! I'm going to stay away from it because I know I won't like what I see and I don't need any sort of 'wake up call'... I'm well aware I've gained. My plan is just to check where I am the day before I go on Christmas vacation just to see where things are at. That's not until 22 December so I should be able to weigh in that day and not cry... hahaha.

Turbo - With 3 more days this month I think you can end up seeing your lowest by the end of it, if only by a sliver! That would be a great way to end the month I think.
I'm glad the hip didn't give you too much trouble, and you're right, any workout is better than nothing! Sometimes just a quick circuit to get the blood moving can do so much for your mental health and keeping your diet on track. We all know the diet is the big thing! I'm sure it helped you to only have a couple of fries instead of stealing them all from the BF! :) good work.

Speechie - I workout a lot, but more because I love it and not so much as a method of weight control. My diet is 80% of my results for good or for bad.

Anyway, I currently do a split like this;

Monday - Full body HEAVY weight training - supersets, giant sets, crossfit style (basically pretty intense workouts) plus 10-20 minutes of cardio mixed in or done as a warmup/cooldown.

Tuesday - Cardio day - Generally 60-80 minutes of cardio comprise of the stair machine, running sprints, jogging, incline walking, rowing, biking or the elliptical (though I don't use the elliptical or bike much). I'll often times to an extra few sets of ab exercises and stretching after cardio.

Wednesday / Friday / Saturday: Repeat Monday

Thursday / Sunday: Repeat Tuesday

I also am in the military so I do PT with my Unit up to 3 times a week on MWF. Sometimes it gets cancelled or just skipped because of appointments, so I consider it an 'extra' workout if it happens. We also do Crossfit with our trainers on Wednesday, but today was actually our last session on our contract.

In summation; 4 days of various methods of weight training with light cardio, 3 days of just cardio, occasionally 2-a-day workouts, rest days as needed. :dizzy:

Mottainai - I always plan for workouts on vacations, even if the vacation is only 2 days! I'm sure looking at my 'normal' schedule I posted for Speechie you can see why. Not working out makes me feel horrendous.

In fact, I did a light workout on Thanksgiving, and took Friday off because we were hungover and Saturday off because I was traveling all day... and I STILL feel like absolute garbage. My body does not respond well to more than 1 day or so off.
I even got up each morning while I was on my marriage/honeymoon trip and hit the gym at the hotel... in Las Vegas. If I were going to Tokyo for nearly a month you can bet your butt I would be looking up where I can go for that month to workout, how to get a gym membership, etc.
Working out is non-negotiable for me.

Krampus - when is your appointment for your back? I hope it's feeling better and it was just a minor tweak!