So I ate the entire bag of prunes and had a rumbling stomach all night. I googled my situation and feared an impending explosion but..nothing. Which is good, I was so freaked out I'd be spending today on the toilet but I guess I'm immune. Hopefully it's not just a delayed reaction, I cannot afford to be having a pooping marathon tomorrow.

I'm not sure if I'm hormonal or mental or what, I'm feeling like I want to eat everything and I'm a little crampy for some reason. Non prune related feelings. Waking up to 138 again this morning probably didn't help, agh, I really hate that number. I feel so unmotivated right now but at least I did a half assed workout earlier. Better than no workout which was my first choice. I suppose I'm just bored of being alone in a room doing it.

I'm having a youtube music adventure while working on stuff. Fun fun.

Turbo Oh well, a number isn't everything (lol try telling me that). How you feel is what's important and from what we can see from pictures you look great. You also said something about not pooping so that's probably why.
It's funny that I know about different people's bowel movements all around the world. Good times.

Mottainai 112? Awesome way to go. I think cortisol plays a role with water retention so a drop in weight often follows after relaxing. I think something similar happened to LockItUp. I'm trying to relax but it's stressing me out haha

krampus 8 year old crafts are the best. Glue, paper and scissors are the makings of a good night I tells ya. I'm not sure if it was a binge but I did eat the whole bag of prunes. Having 1 of anything is tricky at times.
Gossipy sex talk? When I used to go the gym in the city I lived in the girl who worked there used to tell me all about her sexploits while I worked out. It certainly made the time fly.

Also really pretty new picture!

Jessica Yeah the sun comes up at 8.15 here.. I'd have even less hope of trying to exercise in the morning.
Well I'm with your husband about waiting until December for Christmassy stuff but the 1st should be fine. At least he's coming this year for some tree chopping.

Speechie It takes a while to get in tune with your hunger patterns and figure out best what works for you. I usually plan out meals in my head the day before or during the day but I guess it depends on how tired I am etc. Good luck with the running club!

kakers Funnily enough I find prune juice disgusting.. when I bought some before to help things along I had to hold my nose, down it and then cry. It didn't even really work. Prunes though.. delicious.

Has your husband noticed the dishes?

Joss lol! I'm pretty cool with my prune sucking, tea drinking ways.. I mean I have a nose piercing. Hardcore or what. /sarcasm :P

It's crazy that all of your foot problems came from those shoes but I guess we're all different. I hope the night brace helps! It reminds me of my night guard thing for my grinding. We are turning into old women haha

Pass the prunes.

Just a quick drive by till tonight when I have time for personals.

I am FLIPPIN hungry! Not sure what is going on. I was quite satisfied with my meals/hunger till this week. Still at 116.6 (which looks like my new plateau) and I am still staying OP with food. I refuse to go over my calories. Drinking lots of herbal tea and coffee to stay full. I'm craving grease and carbs like crazy.

I might do a cheat meal on Saturday, but to be honest, I don't want to. It's like I've gone too far to start cheating because one cheat meal will likely turn into another cheat meal and suddenly I will be off-plan and up 3 lbs.

I'm going to make a veggie soup tonight to "snack" on when I'm hungry like this. I need something to keep me feeling full.

bayzee I make soup for that reason sometimes, it's a good idea. Often times I don't end up eating it because I'm not really hungry anyway. It's a good way to determine if you're hungry or just wanting to eat. Are you pre TOM or anything? I'm feeling pretty hungry too. Hope you feel better.

Oh yeah, I forgot about the dishes! How is that going Kakers?

Leila - I know, I love the minimus shoes but my feet were sort of flat to begin with and now my arches are basically gone... hence all the issues. It's horse$hit, but I will do whatever I have to in order to fix the issue.

And hey, if we're going to be broken, wearing braces, sucking on prunes and drinking tea (Um, I may be doing that currently) at least we have nose peircings and tattoos! ;)

Bayzee - Just playing devils advocate here, but perhaps a *slight* controlled calorie increase would actually help your mini-plateau. Sometimes when you're dieting too hard you retain a good bit of water and some extra carbs actually helps to flush that out. If you haven't yet, google "Of Whooshes and Squishy Fat" by Lyle McDonald. (Or you can just search for it on his website, www.bodyrecomposition.com). It's a very interesting read that has actually helped me A TON.

I regularly incorporate huge refeeds and as long as I 'get back on track' I end up looking super lean and dropping weight.

It's worth a read anyway.

As far as the hunger goes I again wonder if you aren't dieting a bit too hard. I'm not going to say "eat more" because frankly dieting makes you hungry! I hate when people blow sunshine up your butt and tell you if you're hungry you need to eat more. No $hit, but then you're not losing weight. As a nutritionist, aspiring figure competitor and all around bodybuilding/figure competition enthusiast I can assure you that at your size/weight to continue to lose fat takes some iron willpower.

Perhaps look at your meals and see if there is any way to get in a bit more protein and fiber and cut a couple of carbs. If nothing else, tea and flavored water are my go-to's during times like now when I'm really dieting hard.

Joss...Thanks for the imput. I have read Lyle MacDonald's squishy fat stuff. Actually, I've read most of his stuff.

I have been carb and calorie cycling so I'm not sure extra carbs would help. Although, I'm still not eating bread, sugar, crackers & pasta. My carbs are coming from fruits, veggies, beans, sweet potatoes and greek yogurt. I also eat quinoa or barley once and awhile. I'm getting between 25-35g of fiber each day. On low carb days, I'm doing 25 or under net carbs. I could not possibly go lower (carbs) without feeling weak or affecting my workouts. Trust me...I've tried. LOL! I didn't have any carb or grease cravings in the beginning, so I might just be having my withdrawls now.

My goal is to not diet, but rather eat clean and exercise more to lose weight and bodyfat. More than anything, I want to drop body fat. I have to get the scale out of my head...which we know is NOT easy. I still don't feel at my best..weight and body. So..I continue to move forward!

BTW...I always feel my best after my Friday night wine. Gets everything "moving" and I feel so much slimmer in the morning (dehydration) lol!

Mottainai...Way to go! You are doing great, and you seem back to your "get back on track" self.

Leila...Prunes? Oh no! Stay close to the porcelain god! I can relate to the "want to eat everything" right now. Hopefully, this is just a phase this week and will pass. It doesn't help that everywhere we go, we are tormented with Christmas treats.

Krampus...You've done a great job getting back on track. Good for you for getting back to "normal". I still love reading your posts...makes me feel good that someone else likes their drinks as much as I do! lol!

Turbo...I love that you continue to bake and make the foods you love while trying to lose weight. That is true success IMHO! I envy that you are so much more relaxed than me.

Kakers...Men and women are truly on different planets when it comes to romance, foreplay and helping out. My husband is great...no major complaints. But it's those small little things that make the big difference to me. Men care more about the "act" and not what can actually make the act so much better! Lol!

Speechie...You have to go with what works for you right now. Watching your food is a great step and eventually you will do other things to add to your weight loss journey.

I'm sure I missed someone..so tomorrow I will continue personals! Have a great night!

krampus No, no birth control here, so I know that's not affecting my libido. My husband has a vasectomy so I don't have to worry about that stuff anymore. It's just been quite natural for me to go through slumps where I'm just not interested, especially since having a child, and basically being limited to only being able to do it at night time, when I'm tired.

Your food looks good. I was just thinking that it's been a while since I saw any of JossFit's food pictures, and I sort of miss that!

mottainai You are doing awesome! There sure does seem to be a trend where people start losing once they relax things a bit.

Turbo It is really nice when you can look in the mirror and be happy with what you see. I have days like that too, even when I'm flabby and know I have a lot to work on still. Some days are just better body image days I guess. Once you get a bunch of those days in a row, then I suppose that's when you really know you're at where you want to be.

kakers I'm trying to imagine why someone would need a spatula at work.

Joss I hope your orthotics help, and get rid of your foot problems. I'm ashamed to admit I'm actually guilty of working out with no shoes on at all. I figure it doesn't really matter much for strength training, and I just use an elliptical, so there isn't much impact on my feet. Of course when I go out running, I wear shoes, but just the cheap shoes I wear everyday. It's mostly because I'm too lazy to go to the foyer and bring my shoes down to the basement before working out, if I actually exercised outside of the house, I wear much more appropriate attire.

Leila The sun comes up here around the same time too right now. I am normally up at 5:30 to exercise, so any time of the year, the sun isn't up yet when I'm getting up, so it doesn't make much difference is all I meant.

Bayzee I'm pretty similar with my carb intake. I figure if it's from fruit, veggies, beans & sweet potatoes then it's much better for me nutritionally than pastas and breads, which have much less nutritional value anyhow.

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Today is my mother in law's birthday, so going to the buffet tonight. Tomorrow I will get back to normal, and have 12 days before my work Christmas party to undo a bit of damage and get a bit closer to where I was before.

I actually bought my husband lingerie for Christmas, at his request, so I'm a bit nervous about it arriving and not fitting me. As much as I'm trying to chill and not set any deadlines for myself it does add a bit of pressure. I think I'll feel better once it gets here and I can figure out if it fits, or how close it is to fitting.

kakers : yeah, I know scale is essentially just a number in the end, it's only nice when it fits how we see ourself ;) Licking is tasting is basically my big problem in cooking LOL But I'm much better that I was so, it's an improvement. Did he find out about the strike? OMG we have 2 spatulas here, one of the dollar store and one I use for baking that I paid like 7 dollars (yes, for a single spatula). My boyfriend ASKS permission to use the 7 dollars one LOL

Joss : A shoe with some good support will probably do good at your PF. It must feel so weird though, going from something minimal to this! I was running with a pair of running shoe last year and at some point they go old and I remember than when I bought the new ones (that were basically the same, but just new) my foot were feeling so weird in all this cushy thing! So, imagine going from minimal to real cushy running sport! ;)

About the snow, we were actually so excited about getting it. The boyfriend and I are big on the winter sport, I ski, he snowboard, we snowshoe, etc. We don't usually mind much the cold ;)

LeilaJey : Oh god, eating the whole bag of prunes probably upsetted your stomach a bit. Are you feeling any better? A youtube music adventure? Found anything good?

Bayzee : Drinking hot tea / coffee is also usually my plan when I feel hungry. I don't know, hot things sooth my hunger usually.. I guess that is the reason why I love eating soup for lunch, I feel so much fuller after that.

Yes, I'm still baking a lot, but I freeze a lot of it too, so I just get a little portion out of the freezer and don,t get tempted to eat all of it! PLus most of it is Christmas baking right now, so I'm probably going to give a lot of it to my brother :)

Jessica : Lingerie is suchh a good idea. Might get something like that for the boyfriend. We decided to just to stocking this year and put money together to rent a cabin in the wood for our anniversery in february. Good luck at the buffet!! You have sooo much will-power (that I don't have!) going there!

***

Hey feathers!

136.4 this morning, monthly lowest weigh in, F*CKYEAH!!! Happy, happy women here this morning.

Last night was hard a bit, I finally finished the dessert I was trying to put together. It was the third attempt and it finally WORKED. Don't know if you ever tasted those little devils, it's called Nanaimo bars (but for unknow reason in my family we call it Domino Bar. We're weird). It's chocolaty, it's delicous, and there is ton of butter http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanaimo_bar I really reallyyy wanted to get this thing done, it was always a favorite of me and my brother and I want to bake some for him this Christmas, since I don't have a job and that my gifts giving is gonna be pretty basic.

So last night I was tempted to have MANY, but I stopped after having 2 of the smallest squares in the box. I reached for a third, and I stopped with the hand just above the box and said NO (like you say to a dog. Pavlov works for me).

Nothing much planned today,I want to work on my Master thesis because I have to give it away for good before Christmas. Bleeeh. In term of food, I'm planning a veggies/hummus wrap for dinner and some tilapia/coco oven baked nuggets for dinner with a salad. Can't wait to see how they turn out!

Turbo I don't have will power going to the buffet. I just don't have the choice, because it's not my birthday. I thought of pretending to be sick to get out of it, but that's just silly, and if this is supposed to be a way of living, then I should just let myself go and enjoy it. I totally plan on eating EVERYTHING, and just getting back to normal tomorrow.

Originally Posted by JessicaB:
Turbo I don't have will power going to the buffet. I just don't have the choice, because it's not my birthday. I thought of pretending to be sick to get out of it, but that's just silly, and if this is supposed to be a way of living, then I should just let myself go and enjoy it. I totally plan on eating EVERYTHING, and just getting back to normal tomorrow.

Sounds like a good plan to me! It's not the first time you mention going to a buffet for someone's birthday, is it you usual birthday celebration place?

Anyways, have fun and enjoy yourself! ;)

Bayzee - It sounds like in terms of diet you're doing everything right! The only other things I can suggest are to make sure that you are getting enough rest, perhaps change up your workouts (though I know you've already done that and have added in the Kettlebell training -- which is awesome!) and most importantly... patience! You were getting a bit stressed when you couldn't seem to bust your 118 pound mark, but then you did. Just keep doing what you're doing and realize that as you continue to trim the fat those drops on the scale will be smaller and less frequent, or even non-existent if you are doing some real weight training.
I know your overall focus is reducing your bodyfat so maybe the scale isn't the best tool for you right now. If you go by the mirror and caliper measurements you might have more success seeing your progression. After all, plenty of us (myself included) have at times shot themselves in the foot by concentrating on the scale.
When we do that we sometimes forsake additional muscle, which in turns leads to a lower BMR. Lower BMR means we look less lean, we can't eat as much, our hormones can get all wonkey (your ravenous hunger lately is probably telling you your leptin levels have plummeted) and when we DO go 'off plan' less muscle means more of those excess calories end up being stored as fat in a lot of cases.

I know that none of that is new for you, but sometimes a reminder is helpful, no? Take it with a grain of salt...

Jessica - I haven't been taking a lot of pictures of my meals lately because they all sort of look the same! LOL I haven't come up with any really different recipes so I just carry on. I will definitely try to do more soon. I did put up pictures of some pumpkin pie bars I made on Thanksgiving, but that's been it lately.

As for the shoes, I normally just used the minimal shoes to lift and ran in lightweight running shoes. I never liked the idea of running in them, thinking that it would be too much impact for me. It turns out the heavy olympic lifting and high intensity stuff I do is still too much impact and over the course of a couple of years my arches fell anyway.

I would suggest (but again, take it with a grain of salt) that you do invest in some good cross trainers to workout in. Proper footwear is so important and I'm really seeing it now that I can trace all of my foot/leg injuries back to those shoes!

Mmmm, buffets... yum! I actually went to one for the first time in YEARS on the 23rd because they had a great one at our hotel that was doing breakfast. We were hungry and hungover after our Thanksgiving celebrations and didn't feel like waiting for the menu service so we did the buffet option instead.
I ate a TON. I 'sampled' a bit of most things and honestly if my husband hadn't been there I would have sampled it all again a second time. Talk about no willpower! I had eggs, 2 sausages, 2 pieces of bacon, a cheese blintz, bread pudding with vanilla sauce, granola with fruit and milk, like 4 miniature pastries (fruit tarts, a chocolate croissant, etc.) roasted red potatoes, coffee with cream... that might have been it. I didn't have the patience to wait for a custom omelette or I would have, and I didn't even get to the bagels and lox, cheese platter, or assorted fruits. Yeesh...

Then about an hour later I ate a toffee and chocolate covered pretzel and 3 chocolate covered Oreos from this amazing confections shop in the hotel. :o

I'm sure you'll handle it a bit better than I did!

Turbo - Heck yeah, low weigh in! Whoot whoot! Congrats lady... what a great way to end the month! I'm sure that gives you some added incentive to kick December off on a good start.

The nanaimo bars look good! I checked out the link you posted because I wasn't sure what they were. Cookie crust with like, custard, and topped with chocolate?? Sounds pretty hard to resist to me too! I applaud you for only having the two small bits! LOL I had to laugh at the visual I got of you reaching for more and scolding yourself like a dog... I do the same! I have literally said 'NO!!' out loud to myself before with things like that.

I too love the snow and look forward to it, but more to look at and not actually BE in... hahaha. I know that I'll probably get to enjoy another white Christmas since I'll be spending it in Colorado this year with my amazing hunny buns :) (Can you tell I'm excited for it?!)

I do feel like I've got big pillows strapped to my feet with the new shoes, but already my feet feel so much better! I've been sleeping with the brace on (Well, I did the first night, the last two nights I've pulled it off in my sleep apparently) and I've been wearing the shoes for 2 days. Even just in that short period of time my pain is down about 50-60%, which is pretty amazing.


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This week has kicked my butt! I am friggin exhausted. I did cardio on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday and did weightlifting AND cardio Monday, Wednesday and Today... PLUS an extra weights session today, Unit PT Monday afternoon (which was challenging!) and CrossFit on Wednesday. That's 9 workouts so far this week! I'm definitely ready for a bit of sleeping in tomorrow.

I think tonight I'll 'treat' myself to a pint of Arctic Zero (LOL I really love that stuff!) and a DVD before bed. I just have to keep my eyes open until then... :yawn:

Happy Friday, Feathers! I feel very "quiet" today but I have a feeling I'll be in better spirits after my doctor's appointment at 2:30. I overate yesterday - my boyfriend had a double root canal so I went to Boston Market to bring him his favorite soft sides. He had gotten a pint of "Chunky Monkey" (real great for toothache, right? Those chunks aren't soft at all!) and I ummmmm may or may not have chowed down on like 1/3 of it. Then we went for friendly drinks with our buds and there was free pizza...and at the next place he ordered "wing fries" (French fries in Buffalo wing sauce, with bleu cheese) - which I sampled liberally.

I obviously weighed in heavy today - 127.4 - and I'm really starting to feel like a water balloon, having only been to the gym twice this week for 30 minutes or less of cardio only. My back continues to feel better so I will go tonight and maybe flat bench press 15 lb dumbbells and do my usual non-lower-back-straining workouts at reduced weights. We'll see.

JossFit You sound pooped for sure! 9 workouts is impressive. A quiet night in with Arctic Zero and a DVD sounds like the perfect way to end your busy week. What do you have planned for the weekend? Cook something and photograph it - I miss those posts! :D

TurboMammoth Heyyyyyyyy well done on the low end-of-November weigh-in! I looked up Nanaimo bars...you are strong-willed to only have 2 small pieces. They look amazing! Are the tilapia/coco-baked nuggets an original TurboMammoth recipe?

JessicaB I'm also really terrible about self-control at buffets, and POTLUCK parties are even worse - I have one coming up next Thursday. What kind of lingerie did you get? I've always wanted some nice ones but I have literally no boobs and it looks comical to wear sexy bras with no cleavage and a gap between my skin and the bra :(

Bayzee I have no wisdom to offer aside from the cliche "body fat % matters more than scale weight" - being hungry and cranky and craving things for days and days on end however raises the risks of a total binge, doesn't it...SAYS THE GIRL WHO IS NEVER HUNGRY BECAUSE SHE'S ALWAYS STUFFING HER FACE :P

LeilaJey The whole bag?! How'd that "come out?" I don't know what it is but I am "heavy" and using it as a mental block from exercising any kind of self-control. What am I going to do in 3 weeks when I'm PMSing and legitimately hungry 24/7 again?!

Okay, I'm going too look like a no-life who post 10 000 times a day here but to be fair I'm eating my lunch right now and working on my thesis is soooo boring.

Joss : I FREQUENTLY argue with myself if it's okay to to have more of this or more of that... The thing is that I do this out loud LOL At least my boyfriend is used to it now hehe. He even gets to participate now (like Me : Okay, tell me ''NO, I had enough'' Him : No, you had enough. Me : Thank you. Him : You're welcome. I guess.)

You do seem excited of going out to Coloroda and seeing your hubby ;) When exactly are you flying out? And, oh, awesome news for the feet!! I'm so glad to hear your pain level is down!

krampus : Okay. Wing fries do sound like the best thing in the world (but I think that anything with blue cheese would be the best thing in the world, so...). I would not have been able to say no to that either.

The tilapia coco baked nugget recipe is actually something I stumbled onto on the Internet during my way too big free-time. They are actually supposed to be made of chicken, but we had chicken like 4 times last week, so I swapped for tilapia that was on sale. The breadcrumb is supposed to be with coco and cornflake, but I'll use Holidays Rice Krispies because 1. I have them at home, and not corn flakes and 2. green and red nuggets gonna rock. I think. Or I hope. LOL

Turbo - I too am going to look like a loser who has nothing else to do but post here today, but I too am chained to my desk right now and have NOTHING going on. Boo!

LOL your dinner creation sounded less weird before you explained it more. Red and green rice crispies and cocoa coated tilapia? Okay, I tend to eat some seemingly odd combinations of things and I always say 'don't knock it til you try it' so I'm telling myself the same with this! I trust you but I do expect a thorough review post-meal... pictures are a bonus. :)

I'm not flying out to Colorado until the 23rd of December, so I have quite a bit of time left (3 weeks and 1 day, not that I'm counting...) which is both good and bad. It's good because it gives me more time to focus and stay on track with my workouts and clean eating, since my husband and I tend to 'celebrate' a lot. It's also good because I'm in such a holiday mood already that I want to buy ALL THE DECORATIONS and candles and goodies but since my tree is at his house and all that, it seems silly to buy more decorations for my house here in NC. It's saving me a bit of money. :) Lastly, going out there right before Christmas means I can actually stay longer and spend New Year's Eve with him. Thats kind of a big thing for me since the last 3 years we've been apart on that day.

It's bad though because, well, I'd rather be there than anywhere else and I miss him, and I feel like I'm jumping out of my skin waiting to get there!

Krampus - Call me crazy, but I'm not a huge fan of Chunky Monkey B&J! I think I just don't like banana flavored things in general, but I tried it and was less than impressed. The chocolate chunks were actually too big for my liking, considering they are hard and nearly flavorless due to the cold ice cream. I can also take or leave walnuts depending on the use.

I find that I really like the IDEA of a lot of their flavors but am generally a little disappointed in them. It sounds nutty, but they end up being too sweet for me most times!

I saw your post regarding giving yourself some 'leeway pounds' for the holidays... what are you thinking? I know you wanted to stay around 125 and considering you are probably a little bloated, you aren't far off of that. I think you can totally hover around 125 without *too* much trouble, considering you've been drifting under that by a few pounds lately as well.

I'm just amazed your BF wanted to go out at all after having his teeth worked on earlier in the day!

Yeah, I'm looking forward to a quiet night at home. My roommate wanted to go see The Guardians tonight but I don't really feel like going 'out' tonight... I'm pooped!
Sometime this weekend we're going to do some shopping for holiday dresses, and I have GOT to do a deep cleaning on my house! I usually do all my laundry, vaccuming, bathroom scrubbing (I'm really really clean... LOL) etc. on the weekends but since I haven't been home the last few weekends those things haven't been getting done. My house is still clean and tidy, but not freshly vaccumed and such, which I prefer.

I will try to take some pictures of my meals and post them up even if they aren't super creative or new! I do have some carrot cake baked oatmeal and pumpkin pasta planned for this weekend, so it might be something to take a shot or two of.

Originally Posted by JossFit:

LOL your dinner creation sounded less weird before you explained it more. Red and green rice crispies and cocoa coated tilapia?

OOOOPS noooot coco!! It is shredded coconut! LOL In french we call that Noix de coco, which would mean Nut of coco in english... Bad translation from me! ;)