Krampus ~ *I be rockin that granny ice cream* Oh, yeah baby. Gettin' jiggy with my inner senior citizen. No granny panties, though. ;) I think you're right that getting back to the gym will help deal with my cravings. It's interesting because when I'm in the exercise zone, I sometimes find that my appetite gets bigger. I thought that it was directly due to the exercise, but it looks like a big appetite knows no bounds. :rolleyes: but you're absolutely right that regular exercise regulates the rest of life. :thup: Hurray for Pizza Wars! Let us know who wins!

Turbo ~ lol @ your bf and his sad puppy eyes after eating that WHOLE Domino's haul. Oh, boys and their metabolisms... Gold star for you, bringing your own protein source to lunch with your cousin.

JessicaB ~ How much fun it sounds to crawl around WITH your daughter! You sound like a terrific mommy. :) Speaking of indoor play space, they just installed this MASSIVE four story obstacle course in a mall by us (of all places) that uses all the free open space in between the floors. (I see at least as many adults as kids on that, too.)

Ohlecat ~ Good for you, signing up for the marathon! And you can't back out either. ;) We DO seem like eating buddies when it comes to figuring out what works for our bodies. I'm definitely of the opinion that an eating plan must include some treats to be sustainable over the long run. For me, depriving myself just doesn't work.

Joss ~ Those farmer's eggs are scrumptious looking! We used to get ones like that when I lived in SoKo: the yolks were crayola crayon yellow. An adventure in natural food! My pizza last night was Target brand spinach and feta. Sauteed some onions and garlic to throw on top of it, too. It was nom-tastic. Sounds like a good thing that you had that chat with your coach and that he was able to reassure you. I like the idea that you're not

Dorian ~ I now associate you with your bf's stack of Swiss chocolate bars. (I swear I remember 'em from this time last year!) The vodka/redbull chocolate mixture doesn't SOUND good, either. Like something a drunk frat boy cooked up in his dorm rooom. I hear ya on feeling like you're looking pretty good... but realizing that you're slowly going up. Awareness is key. As long as you're AWARE that it's happening, you can be prepared and start to make changes.

Wildflower ~ Your eats sound yummy and full of health. I'm not injured, just took a bit of a break from full on running/working out. I still go to a few yoga classes here and there, I just wasn't as intense as I used to be.

~~~~
HURRAY for the last day of January. I feel like this has been a month of *preparation* and re-learning old lesesons for me. I want this February to be a month of action and growth.

This is not weight related at all, but I had lost track of my favorite pair of dress shoes and last night I FOUND them randomly stuffed in a shoe box in the spare bedroom. What was lost is now found! Hurray!!!

Gratitudes for 2013 - Manifesting Intentions:
(I want to be able to say these in December of 2013...)

~I'm grateful that I have stuck with a moderate, sensible eating plan, keeping a reasonable nighttime cutoff, not eating out of emotion or falling into crash/fad diets.
~I'm grateful that I care for my body and mind by exercising regularly at least 3-4 times a week.
~I'm grateful that I feel a sense of calm and focus about my body.
~I'm grateful that all the clothes in my closet are either comfortable or baggy on my slender frame.
~I'm grateful that I am confident enough in my body to lay out on the beach without a cover up.
~I'm grateful that my pride in my body gives me confidence.
~I'm grateful that my strong, slender body allows me to be of better service to others.

bayzee ~ Good work getting back on track right away! (And I second Joss's comment about your "emergency apple") Doesn't sound like that big of a dent at all. Right side up and keep on walkin'!

I'm tired today and not really feeling this whole 'work' thing. I want it to be the weekend but, I am babysitting my roommate's kiddo Saturday night, and then my nice relaxing Sunday (though I do have an appointment for a massage) is now less relaxing since I have to do 45 minutes of cardio EVERY day now. I am going to have to go to my massage early and then go straight to the gym from there to do cardio. It should be the other way around but time isn't on my side in this instance.
Friggin cardio. Oh yeah... it's going to get worse. With 10 weeks remaining I anticipate 2-3 hours of cardio per day and weights 4 times per week toward the end of it. *Reminds self that she signed up for this...*
I'm just hoping at some point I'll have a carb-up so I can enjoy an apple or something... LOL. Its funny, but of all the things I could be jonesing for the thing I want to om nom nom is a f*cking green apple.

Today I did my back, biceps and abs workout and then did 45 minutes on the elliptical. The elliptical has always seemed like a joke to me, but when I'm wearing a HRM and trying to keep my HR up to at least 70% of my max, it's no joke! That sucks! I have to alternate machines (stairs, treadmill, bike, rowing, elliptical) because if I just start trying to run like crazy I'll end up injuring myself again. (I had a really nasty fracture to the head of my femur as a result of rapid increases in my running a few years ago.)
My plan is to only run every 3rd day, and gradually increase the time. I ran for just over 30 minutes the other day and that was plenty... I think doing 30-35 running and then finishing on something else is the plan for tomorrow.

I got another dozen awesome eggs from my buddy today, so I'm set on eggs for about a week now. I can't have the yolks right now, but even the whites tasted, I guess... eggier(?) this morning. I had fun picking out a little combination for my breakfast; one spotted egg, one green shelled egg, two brown eggs. LOL I'm easily amused I suppose.

Wildflower - Hmm, can you find a spot in the house that has more level flooring? I know we typically weigh ourselves in the bathroom but heck, if it's more accurate in the kitchen do it in there! LOL

I have to admit, your lunch from yesterday SOUNDS like a fail... hahaha normally I'm pretty open to food combinations but your description of that meal you picked up didn't really sound like something I would enjoy either. I'm curious though, you said the latte was a 'cheat' due to the sugar in the milk... why? You have sugar in your breakfast smoothie from the fruits and such.

Hmm, well my idea was that you might be having an allergic reaction to something, but unless it's a peanut allergy it doesn't seem like that is the case. No matter... the scale moved! Yay! Now I just hope I can get some of that. I still don't understand how with ZERO change in my program I went from 129.4 on Sunday and bumped up to 131-ish. Yes, it's not much I know, but it's been holding steady for 4 days and the 129's were holding for several days as well.

Oh well, maybe I will see a drop in the next few days. I'm just hoping it's a drop BELOW where I was on Sunday at least.

Dorian - Your BFs boss might very well be waiting until Friday to let you two think things over, but he might also just not have all the details he needs right now. I am the most impatient person ever so I can't really offer much advice on this one; I'd be sh*tting myself in anticipation too!
I know my head would be swimming with all the stuff that would need to be done (heck, with my move coming up in July you know I've been thinking about stuff related to traveling an whatnot since LAST July! LOL)

Is there anything better than real Swiss chocolate? If so I don't know what it is. My other favorite thing is just some great crusty french bread with real butter. If I ever wanted to have a foodgasm and die, I'd get some of that real Swiss chocolate and sandwich it between two hunks of hot crusty bread and let it melt a bit. (Why the F did I just do that to myself?! Treat meal = planned... LOL)
Anyway, my ex's father used to travel a bit for work and he brought us back some of the most amazing Belgian chocolate a couple of times... *drool* I don't blame you at all for getting your fill of the good stuff. Thats not Hershey's... you can't get that any old time or place!

Thats a difficult spot to be in right now with your weight/self-image/mirror-image. It's GOOD that you don't look at yourself and think "Ugh I look like a cow!" but you're right; you don't want to see a picture of yourself an suddenly feel like you have had your head in the sand. You're going through a lot of changes (potentially) right now and things may get hectic. It's great to indulge but those little indulgences build up and if you might soon be facing a cross country move I can only imagine your gym time might suffer. A situation like that makes getting your eating under control even more important.

I know its back and forth of me to say "Mmm, eat the chocolate" and then say "Okay now Hunny, watch what you eat..." but it's a matter of picking and choosing. Eat a bit of those amazing things that are special and leave the stuff that isn't. You just have to dig deep sometimes.
Honestly it could also be that its not a huge priority for you right now, and that's okay too! I think it might just be best to keep logging with MFP and try to keep a tighter rein on things when you can.

Olehcat - I'm hoping with you and Wildflower both dropping some lbs overnight that it is a sign I will too! LOL here's to hope!

What made you decide to sign up for a half? Have you done one before? That's exciting! I can definitely relate to the feeling of motivation from starting something new... *wink wink* not that I'm doing some hardcore 12 week bikini competition program or anything...

And thanks for the support! I'm hoping that the changes my coach made this week will get things moving in the right direction. I'm still skeptical that he can get me where I want to be in only TEN weeks now, but he assured me he can... :dizzy:

Bayzee - It's sort of a catch-22 when you get smaller, isn't it? You have to sort of keep the reins on things pretty tightly to make progress and maintain your progress, but you also have to restrict a bit more and sometimes that makes it harder to stay on track! Ugh, vicious circle!

As far as the alchol thing goes, yeah... you might rebound a bit when you add it back in (if you decide to do the program you mentioned) but I think it's worth it to see some REAL changes. After all, you're talking about building more muscle and stripping off more fat, and a couple of glasses of wine can't undo the muscle part of it. The added muscle will help you burn more calories as you know, so the wine added back in will have LESS impact than it does now. Like any fitness goal, its how bad you want it. I have given up pretty much EVERYTHING I love to eat aside from a few kinds of veggies and chicken, hahaha and we still have a long way to go. Its worth it to me, and I know its temporary. I'm not going to gain back all this fat when I add it back in but right now taking it out will help me to get to my goal. I certainly never eliminated dairy, fruit etc. in the past to get lean, it just took longer.

Alex - That pizza does sound good! I guess I'm too much of a carnivore because what jumps out at me is "needs chicken on it..." LOL. The yolks of my eggs were just like that... SUPER bright. I was sad to have to get rid of them but I'll enjoy them all the more in 10 weeks! I'm excited to add egg yolks, apples, cottage cheese and coffee creamer back in my diet.

I love your list of affirmations! I guess they aren't really affirmations but I don't know what else to classify them as.

I think your post to me got cut off a bit... "I like the idea that you're not..." dont leave me hanging! I can't take the pressure!! :)

Happy Day-Before-Friday, Feathers -

122.4 this morning, I had a great lifting session last night and a little more before work today. Last night the BF and I planned to have shrimp cocktail but the (frozen) shrimp had a weird texture so he tossed them in butter, garlic and olive oil and made pasta - I had a little more than I planned on but calories-wise was fine. We both got stomachaches and fell asleep at like, 8:30 PM.

Not that excited about Pizza Wars tonight but browsing the photo gallery from last year has me at least looking forward to hilarious people watching. It's going to be me, my roommate, her brother and my bf - so a good crew, not just me and roomie's bro standing around trying to think of things to say to each other. He's such a funny guy - he eats a rack of ribs WHOLE like pizza or corn on the cob instead of cutting the ribs off individually.

This weekend I'm going to be on a COUPLES CABIN WEEKEND with my bf's friend and his gf. I don't know either of them that well. She's super thin and a small eater so hopefully I won't compensate for what she doesn't eat by overdoing it all weekend long...I'm getting kind of nervous that I've managed to stay at or under 123 for a few days now!

JossFit Lovely eggs - though I would weep tears of despair throwing out the yolks which I'm sure are incredible. Don't reinjure yourself overtraining with regards to running! F*$k doing anything at 70-80% max would leave me in a puddle on the floor. I am dreading Pizza Wars but I also don't like pizza as much as I like wings, so it's really up in the air. I am getting stressed out that my libido is disappointing my BF (even though he says that's not the case and understands that being sick/constipated doesn't make anybody feel sexy) so that's some incentive not to overdo it too much...

Alexistrophic Thank gosh for no granny panties. If I don't exercise I don't notice my appetite decreases at all, nor have I found the opposite except sometimes the day after intensive weight training I have to fight with myself to not break my self-imposed fast. HOORAY for finding those shoes - I love when that happens. You get all the immediate pleasure you'd get from buying it new.

Bayzee You've been pretty strict for 28 days so no wonder you got hungry! What kind of pasta did you have? My dream career would be food reviewer too - maybe "food and drink" in "Lonely Planet" guidebooks, where they'd pay me to eat and then drink and then go clubbing...

Dorian5 If SD is just temporary I'm sure your mom would hang in there ok knowing you would return! Sorry you've been struggling, it's hard when you know you aren't like 300 lbs with type 2 diabetes and have a happy relationship with a partner who doesn't care how much you weigh - and have great food and drink around ;) Are you weighing regularly? I can't trust the mirror either...

Wildflower The uneven-floor scale scenario you mentioned is the worst thing ever for a hopeful weigher! My friend was just telling me about how he was doing the same thing this week and thought he went from 204 to 202, but putting the scale on a flat surface put him at 208 for the "after" weight. Sorry also about the raw sushi fail, nothing sucks like going out to eat and being disappointed.

olehcat Woo woo half marathon! That's something fun to work toward ("fun," LOL) - finding a sustainable "me" way of eating takes a ton of trial and error but you will get there!

TurboMammoth MEN, I don't think I will ever get over my jealousy of guys who stay fit while eating BIG! Deep frying things is not one of my interests but there are a lot of people out there who will fry things and let me try some.

Joss...I agree; It's so worth it. I know I'm pitty-pottying on my age here, but there so many attractive, fit women in their 40-50's and I want to be one of them. I'm kind of getting tired of hearing, "You already look great". I do look thin, but I am certainly carrying more bodyfat than I want.

Maintaining is going to be harder for me than losing..If I do the program, which I pobably will, I need to learn how to break my "circle" :)

Alex...I love that...a month of action and growth! I'm in!

Krampus~ It was BETTER than buying new shoes because these shoes are discontinued!!! I was actually looking to get a second pair for when these wear out and found out that the company no longer makes them. So double triple win on that front.

Joss ~ Sorry about the cut off text! Lol - the suspense... What I meant to say was I the idea that you're not driving yourself crazy trying to design the "perfect" diet/workout/cardio program; you're basically just following good directions and trusting your coach to know what's best for you. *please forgive if any of this is stepping on toes* I know you've committed to this program and are giving it your all, but I suppose I'm just wondering what this 10 week deadline is for and what might happen afterwards? And I know you've also mentioned that in the fitness sector, your body is your calling card. What makes this program different from other programs you've been on? Obviously, the whole 'having a coach' thing is new (right?) but I'm reading about all these foods and things you want to eat but can't and I'm wondering what makes this time different from other times? I suppose I'm asking you this specifically because you asked me the same thing and I couldn't come up with a good answer. I felt like you were looking out for me and gosh darn it if I just don't want to return the favor...

It's not. :)

Well, generally when someone is doing a fitness/figure competition they ramp things up for 12-16 weeks 'out' from their show. I hired a coach who specializes in that arena so the program he offered was 12 weeks in duration. It's not my personal timeline, but his. That is the amount of time I have him to help me and after that I'm back to training myself but hopefully with some new tricks up my sleeve.
Afterwards I plan to just continue what I had been doing; eating a balanced diet and training hard.

I've actually never been on any other program. I hired a trainer when I FIRST started trying to get into shape, but just to learn about general fitness. Everything was very basic and the only goal was just to gain some knowledge on how to lift weights, how much cardio to do to balance it out, and how to eat for performance and fueling my workouts. Since then (2006?) I've been just doing my own thing. I've never done a program, just been learning and implementing things as I go. Lately I've gotten tired and have plateaued in terms of my progress. I have a specific look I am going for but haven't been able to achieve it. Not for lack of knowledge mind you, but because I keep second guessing myself. I would say "OK, I know I need to lift heavier and do less cardio to build more muscle" but then I would also want to keep seeing the numbers on the scale drop so I wouldn't eat enough for myself to build muscle. It was a neverending circle. Yeah, I looked good but I knew I could do better.

This frustration sort of led to boredom and then I just slacked off and ate way too much over the holidays. I really don't have any trouble staying on this diet at all; it's just not an option to do otherwise in my mind. There is ZERO debate. There is no "should I have a treat/more calories?" Nope, I just do what I'm told and it's so freeing, ironic as that sounds.

On my own I've gone months on end without a single bite of chocolate and been totally fine with that because it just wasn't even on my radar. I can turn off my connection to food with the flip of a switch and so I'm not worried about rebounding at all.


Yes, for the most part... I did have the one some years ago but that was more of an introduction to a healthy lifestyle. I didn't even know what calories were! LOL

I dont' think I fully understand your question; "other times" in terms of what?

I might be misunderstanding the question, but the difference in the meals this time is that we are trying to maximize my fat loss, and some foods have to go in order to speed up that process. Yes, it is restrictive but believe me when I say that I don't have any food cravings right now and I'm not feeling sorry for myself that I "can't" have those things. It's temporary, and when I'm done I can have them again. I have gotten very lean and very fit without ever cutting things out of my diet but it took a lot longer. I only have this coach for so long so I'm going to do whatever he tells me in order to get the best result.

For me, the whole thing is constantly progressing so that I don't get BORED. I see this as a challenge; its' exciting, it's fun, and it really doesn't feel like deprivation. I'm not worried that I'll finish this program and binge eat my face off because that's not why I'm doing this. I'm not going "on a diet" so that I can finish it and go "off a diet". I'm simply going to take the tools I'm learning and ride high on the momentum of having to have had the opportunity to work with someone I greatly admire.

Also, not many people can do this (or think they can do this) and that in and of itself is motivating. I also want to be a trainer and if I can show people that I went through a bikini competition preparation program it gives me more credibility in that regard. I wanted to compete for that reason alone but didnt' have anything available in my area to compete IN, and as I was saying a few days ago it's also not appealing to have myself judged in that way so publicly.

I know you don't know me, but if by "other times" you meant periods of binging and weight regain, etc. I've actually never had that until this past few months when I gained. (It might seem that way from my posts over the past few months, but thats because for the first time I have started to struggle to keep my motivation - that whole boredom thing again.) I am normally very good about eating well, training hard, and eating things I enjoy. yeah, I have my big huge eating-fests like all Americans around holidays, parties, etc. but they never resulted in any sort of yo-yo behavior or weight gain until this winter.

So... I'm rambling, but I guess that pretty much sums it up. Does that all make sense? LOL yes, I would love to have an apple, but I don't sit around thinking about them all day. :D I look forward to having a wider variety again but I thoroughly enjoy each of my meals I'm eating in the meantime.

YEAAAAAAHHH!

And STILL woke up to that teeny scale readout. Nice!

Sounds like a good group, and yeah, I was wondering if it was just the two of you going! LOL you'll have a good time and won't have to awkwardly overstuff yourself with pizza in order to avoid making conversation. :)

Fun! LOL I'm sure you'll be fine and won't be snarfing up her leftovers. Besides, you're in amazing shape AND get to be a big eater. Thats much more fun. :D

It was sad, BUT, I figure I'm still saving almost a dollar a dozen by not purchasing from the store so it's still somewhat justifiable.

Heck no, that's exactly why I'm going to pace myself. LOL, PACE myself... running? See what I did there? I made a joke. :rofl:

krampus I am fairly certain that the 14oz includes the bone, but what I'm not certain about is how a rack of lambs compares to an 8 oz steak. I've done a bit of comparing looking at nutritional info for other steak houses (this one is family owned, and doesn't have nutritional info posted), and I'm a bit torn, because the lamb seems to have about twice the calories of the steak. Part of the reason I want the lamb is because a rack of lamb is so damn expensive even at the grocery store, so it seems like I'm getting better value for my money, since they charge about the same for it as for their steaks. Plus, I just like lamb, and it's not the sort of thing that I get to eat very often.

Turbo I always do a crustless quiche, so it's pretty much the same thing as eating an omelet, I guess, though tends to be a bit fluffier.

Joss A 10 minute increase in cardio doesn't sound too bad, and the lack of a rest day shouldn't be that bad easier, since, if I remember correctly, you usually didn't naturally take rest days too often. And a small decrease in calories sounds fine considering you were full all the time anyhow. How much time are you spending on your workouts with your weight training included? Just curious. I can't manage to spend more than an hour, because of other life commitments, but I envy people who seem to be able to do more than that regularly.

Those fresh eggs look good. I could never be bothered to pay more than what the cheap eggs are here, and I sort of admire that you always are willing to spend the money on your health (i.e. with the trainer, and with those expensive protein bars, supplements, etc, etc). I actually have a hard time allowing myself to buy greek yogurt, since it's so much more expensive than the regular stuff, and the sale prices are never great. I've managed to allow myself to justify it by telling myself that I spend more than what it costs on my husbands junk food, so it's sort of like my equivalent little treat (though I still buy the cheap yogurt for my daughter -- every time I see her eat my greek yogurt, I feel like it's being wasted on someone who doesn't really need the extra protein). I've just started getting into the habit of buying boxed egg whites, even though they are more expensive too, but I was conflicted about it for a long time. I've been struggling with produce lately though, the prices seem to have more than doubled in the winter. I just try to get by buying whatever is on sale, but these days, not many veggies tend to be going on sale. It's silly because it's not like we are hurting for money, but I'm just very naturally frugal, from having been raised in a large family where money was tight.

olehcat The half marathon sounds exciting. I've only ever done a 5k (and only one at that), but I toy with the idea of registering for a 10k. I won't even consider it until the spring though, when I feel like I can convince myself to run outdoors.

Dorian Those types of decisions can take a while, so I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't hear anything about San Diego tomorrow either, especially if they are trying to figure out an appropriate salary. Unless they gave him a vague idea of when they would get back to him. I asked for a raise earlier this month, and it took them nearly 2 weeks to get back to me on that. Then again, I work for a very small company, and the money is a bit tighter, but they also re-assessed everyone's salary at the same time, since they don't generally give out raises.

wildflower 1 pound down or 2 pounds down, either way it sounds good, and you should be happy. I have to admit I've never had troubles with slanted floors and messed up readings, but I hear people on 3fc mention it all the time, so I guess I can be glad for that.

Bayzee That doesn't sound too bad for an indulgent day. I know restaurant pasta is generally full of calories, but had it been me, I probably would have said screw it and ate a ton of crap at home afterwards too.

Alexistrophic I noticed all your 2013 goals are weight / body image related. Do you have any goals that are outside of that? Sometimes I feel like I can only concentrate on one big goal at a time, but I would really like to make strides in other areas of my life as well, especially in the parenting department. I do try my best to be a good mom, but I have a horrible temper too, and sometimes I lose it. I always feel horrible afterwards, because whenever I do it, my daughter says "Be a good mother", and then I just feel guilt. She learnt to say that because I told her a few times when I was losing it that I was feeling frustrated and I was sorry and I need to work on being a better mother. Aside from that, I'd really also like to work on improving the quality of life for my daughter's rabbit. He gets about a 1/2 hr of free run time while we do story time in her room, but by the end of it, I'm so anxious for me time that I sometimes scare him into his cage, and I'd like to be more gentle about it, and work on his bonding with humans (he much prefers the cats to us). I'd like to get to the point where I can give him free reign of her room, because as it is now, he is litter trained and fairly good when he is out. I just have to make sure anything that can be chewed is somewhere where it won't tempt him.

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I don't remember who asked, because I missed it when skimming to do the personals, but a couple people asked about how things are going with my daughter. She has been eager with the french thing, and willing to practice, though not a whole lot of progress yet. The school gave us a french DVD with some stories and songs and she's been asking to watch it practically every day, and has been asking more and more what certain words are in french, so she seems motivated at least. Aside from that, we've had a great week of daily pooping, until yesterday, when she didn't go, and this morning she expressed some fears again, and hinted that maybe she was going to hold it in. We talked about it and she seemed willing to try, but we ran out of time, and had to go out the door, so we'll try again tonight, and hopefully it's just a fluke that she didn't poo one day, and we won't be repeating the awful holding it in cycle.

I'm a bit ashamed to admit that I totally pigged out last night on candy and cookies. We had pizza for dinner, because we have a couple frozen pizzas in the freezer that have just been there since before I started losing weight, and need to be used up. Well, it was a brushetta garlic bread pizza, and actually very good, but I added some extra veggies to it and some chicken. I was planning to eat 1/6 of the pizza, which would have stayed within my usual calorie range, but I just wasn't satisfied and decided to eat another slice. That would have put me near maintenace calories for the day, but after my husband and daughter finished, and my husband put a piece away for his lunch today, all that was left was a half a slice, and it didn't make much sense to wrap it up, and I hate to throw things away, so I ate it. After realizing I ate 5/12 of the pizza, almost a 1/2 of it, I decided I might as well just eat a ton of crap. My weight was up 3 pounds this morning, but I had a great workout this morning, longer than usual too, since I couldn't leave for work at the usual time, as I had to wait for the vet to open to drop the rabbit off to be neutered. And I just naturally haven't been very hungry today, so I'm hoping the damage ends up being minimal when all is said and done.

CHATTY CHATTY feathers!

Olehcat : Yumm, healthy chili! :) This stuff is definitely one of my favorite meal EVER. We are having some tomorrow night in fact! Congrats on your 2 pounds overnight! DANG! That is awesome!

Dorian : Swiss Chocolate! God. We received a huge box of Belgium Chocolate for Christmas and HELLO, how do you resist eating them!?!

Yes, the boyfriend ASKED for the veggies omelette! I was really taken aback, we already had our meatless monday this week, so two meatless meal in a week? But he was really feeling bad after his celebration meal, he slept so bad and had tummy pain all through the night while I slept like a baby next to him. He said he cursed me actually, at some point around 3AM. LOL

Funny you mention your team playing Ottawa tomorrow hehe. Canadiens were doing fine and then last night lost like 5-1 to Ottawa. When they lose, they do it big time :P But it was their second game in 2 nights and it was not the regular goalie... Hope your team beat Ottawa! (Just let Karlsonn do a pass or two, he's in my hockey fantasy team :P) LOL

Wildflower : OMG, I live in a old house too and the floors and is sooooo not even through the appartment! We actually put the scale in our living room not so long ago, because it was in the bathroom since we moved in but the floor there is the worst. I'm trying to put the scale at the same spot so even it the floor has something with the weigh in, at least it is a regular effect from a WI to another.

Bayzee : Yeah, I see a trend about the good pooping too... I have good pooping day only the day after I get loose on the food. And reading your post got me craving for chips LOL My water taste so plain while I imagine Doritos... LOL

Alexis : Aww, your Grateful For 2013 list is so inspiring! I love the laying on the beach without a cover up. That is such a great goal for this summer.

And may I say OH YEAH for the found again pair of shoes!? :D

Joss : 2-3 hours of cardio per day! Oh god! Well, I guess it the amount increase a bit everyweek, the shock won't be as big, but still.. this is a lot!

Hope you are okay, training while you are tired can suck so bad. Jeez, 70-80% on the elliptical, this thing must be spinning HARD!

krampus : Have fun at the Pizza War! Woah, looking at someone eating ribs that way must be a show. I always end up getting all messy eating a ribs at a time, I can't picture myself eating the thing whole like that LOL Hope you'll have fun at the cabin!

Jessica : We posted almost at the same time, glad to hear the things are going smoothly with your daughter! :)

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Okay, I was a bad girl. I stepped on the scale yesterday but did not mention it in here, and today too. I really have to work on this ''Only on friday morning thing''...

The annoying this is that I was up to 140.6 yesterday (I was 140.0 last friday) and I was at 140.6 today. I'm trying to be rational about this : the omelette we had last night was pretty salty after I threw feta in it and. There might be also the fact that I starting doing muscle workouts, that might be retaining water in the muscles!? But I so sooo light muscle workout (like, light in term of the dumbbells I used and stuff, I'm so freaking weak it is ridiculous).

I was just so ready to be out of the dreadful 140 and back in the 130... I know it is just a number and everything but stiiiiiiiiill. At the gym, as I was stairing at myself in the miroir trying to figure out if the posture was okay, I even told myself ''You look better than when you got back from Christmas Vacation'' but I'm still high on the scale. I am really controling my portions, I guess I was expecting so much more. At least I had this killing workout at the gym, it helps me feel a bit better.

Oh well, I'm off to bake a lemon pie to get me out of my bad mood. Raaaant over! ;)

I got my Quest bars (Strawberry Cheesecake, PB&J, Cinnamon Roll, Coconut Cashew, Lemon Cream Pie, Apple Pie) in the mail today and they threw in two samples of HYDROXYCUT HARDCORE ELITE and XENADRINE XT XTREME THERMOGENIC. Maybe I'll take them just for sh!ts and giggles, or is that an absolutely awful idea?

Hydroxycut?

Xenadrine?

Thermogenic?

Just the names are scaring me LOL

Krampus - I guess it depends on how your body responds to thermogenics. If you don't have any issues with them, try them before a workout one day when you're feeling low on energy. :)

Oooh, the cinnamon roll flavor are in my top 3 I think. You'll like those, especially in the microwave for a few seconds.

Turbo - You're so bad about not peeking at the scale! LOL why is it that you are only weighing on Fridays? Is it just THIS Friday? You're normally a daily weigher aren't you?

What are you making the lemon pie for? Any special occasion?

You are VERY close to being back in the 130's, so I bet if you just watch the salt for a few days and keep on doing your thing you'll see it soon!

How have your workouts been with the hip lately?

Jessica - You know, you bring up some very good points!

It just seems a bit daunting to jump up to 45 minutes a day 7 times a week when I normally don't do NEARLY that much cardio, but it's not extreme yet. A lot of people do that much... right? :^: My weight workouts are about 60 minutes so on the days I have both I'm spending about 2 hours in the gym... give or take.

And you're spot on about the food too. I did miss my sweet potato with my dinner, but the other little adjustments I barely noticed. I still get taters with my lunch too so it's not a big deal and my calories are STILL up higher than I'm used to them being.

Yep... you're a smart one you! :) Thanks for the perspective. I wasn't sweating it but there is always that initial "whoa" factor.

I suppose I do spend a fair bit on my health, but it's really my only indulgence (and I don't have a family to provide for either) and it's not too expensive; groceries, my trainer, massages for recovery, and new gym shoes when I need them. I don't shop for clothes or jewelry except once in a blue moon, I don't have any debt, and I have a roommate so my living expenses aren't hardly anything.
I decided to bite the bullet and pay for the coach now because I won't have disposable income once I separate and go back to school!

It does sound like your daughter is doing better and I too hope yesterday's incident was an isolated one. It's got to be so hard on her, and you too of course.

I'm sorry things didn't go well with your meals last night, but as we all know, it happens and we move on! It's so easy for that to happen exactly as you said; you had the best of intentions, let yourself have a liiiiitle bit more, and then just that one thing makes you suddenly rationalize that you're just 'off' for the night and thats that... How many times have we all done that? Ugh, too many!

You're right though, you ate lighter today and I'm sure when all is said and done it will balance it out. It sounds like the pizza itself was probably a bit salty anyway so that might have accounted for a good portion of that extra on the scale today.

It will be gone soon... just gotta keep pushing on. :)

Well, before Christmas I was a daily weigher and since I got back I decided to try the weighing once a week, to put some kind of distance between me and the numbers (FAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIL). I usually do okay until thurday or wedneday, when I become excited to see if I lost something.

No special occasions of the lemon pie LOL. With the boyfriend being able to eat anything in the world without getting any impact, he frequently feels like eating something sweeter for dessert :P We had no dessert left so... lemon pie! The creamy lemon thing itself would have not been THAT bad if I would have not messed up and put like 3 times the sugar it needed first... LOL I had the smallest part ever

The hip has been working fine, thanx for asking! :) I am slowly increasing my running and I think the toning muscles thing is really helping. How is your feet doing? No more pain since you burned the wart?

Hi Feathers,

As today is the last day of January I had to go back and check my starting weight. I weighed in New Years eve at 136. Today I weighed in at 131. That's 5 lbs in a month, which makes me pretty happy. I just want to keep losing 4-5 lbs a month. :carrot: If I can, maybe I'll be at my goal weight by my Birthday in May.

In other scale related news...I continued this afternoon obsessing over the accuracy of my scale. :o I took my dumb bells, which collectively weigh 40 lbs and weighed them all over the apartment. :dizzy:

Their lowest weight was 40.2 and their highest weight was 46.0

I couldn't get them back to the 40.2 weight, when I went back to that area (where I usually weigh in my bedroom) they weighed at 43 and then when I moved it 41.2.

So, I think that if anything, the scale has me heavier. I mean, 40 lbs weights should weigh 40 lbs right? I did have them in their light plastic case so they balanced right. I would assume it weighed ounces and the 40.2 is accurate (or the very heaviest, I guess it could weigh a lb).

Feel free to tell me if I am losing it.:joker:LOL.

Anyway...my day went pretty well.

Exercise was: running at gym - attempted some speed intervals for about 20 minutes. Tonight I worked on my planks and headstands at home.

Eats were: 1/2 banana before the gym, other half went into a green smoothie when i got home. raw veggies and homemade hummus for lunch. cooked mushrooms and a sweet potato with hummus for dinner. tea and a tiny piece of dried fruit for dessert. Kind of a light day, I wasn't super hungry.

Friday and Saturday night will be meals out with friends...so OFF PLAN.

In NSV news...the clothes I tried on and reported about fitting me, with the exception of some being a little tight, all totally fit now! I think that was maybe last Thursday I tried them on (some time last week?).
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Turbo - That pie sounds so good. I love anything lemon. I was trying to only weigh in once a week too (Mondays), but I went back to daily. I like to see all those days I am lower than normal. :D they give me hope! Glad you are back to running, what did you do to your hip by the way? I have hip pain occasionally and the chiropractor told me to work on strengthening it up.

I wouldn't worry too much about the weigh in being a little bumped into the 140's...it's so close to 130's you'll be back down in no time.

Yay for old houses! I love that we live in an old place, as it has so much character, I guess the slanted floors are just part of it's charm. :)

Joss - Glad you got in touch with your trainer and you are on a more aggressive plan. 45 minutes of cardio a day sounds do-able. It's nice you are mixing it up so it's not just all running. I have to say, I never understood the elliptical either....it feels so awkward to me and like I'm not really doing anything (maybe I'm not working it right!). Glad you were able to get your heart rate up doing it.

I am with you on the spending on health thing. My hubby and I look at things as an investment in our health. That's why we don't mind buying healthy foods, vitamins and running stuff. We don't go over board or anything, and I'm sure I could be cheaper about things for sure, but we are fairly cheap people in general and sometimes you just have to indulge.

Oh and pretty eggs. I live in a big city, but the homesteading laws allow for chickens even on tiny city lots. We are in an apartment, but hopefully when we get a house next year we can have some chickens. We do have a friend who raises them and sells the eggs. We can have bees here too, and I'd love to learn all about beekeeping and making (harvesting?) honey. Someday I'll have my little urban farm! It's a dream!

About the sugar in the soy milk...I'm just avoiding refined sugars. So fruit is okay, but dry fruit is limited. Also trying to have more berries since they are a lower sugar fruit.

Krampus You are probably enjoying your pizza right now, I'm so jealous! Is it weird I am more excited about this than you seem? LOL. Anway, hope you have a great time and on your couples cabin weekend. I like staying at cabins but my hubby is not as keen on it. I love having the freedom of cooking whatever I want as they generally have kitchens. :) Are you guys doing skiing or hiking or something too?

Oh and the hydroxycut, I thought they took that off the market because the ephedra was killing people? Or maybe they just reformulated it. I thought that was it...10 years ago, I worked with a guy who loved hydroxycut and lost a lot of weight taking it. But then they pulled it from the market and he was devastated. :?:

That's interesting about your friend weighing all over with his scale and being more on the level area. I really hope that's not happening with me. I actually did the weights thing before I read your post, so that's making me feel better about the whole thing.

And yeah, raw sushi = massive fail. And, it was expensive. Lame. I did have something really good there before, it was raw "soup" but it was essentially a green smoothie in a bowl. Hahahaa. Raw desserts are AMAZING though, if they were not so expensive I would have been bring home raw macaroons, the raw brownie and the raw lemon bars. Delicious!

JessicaB - Your frozen pizza sounds really good. It doesn't sound like you went too overboard, with only 1/2 (or 5/12) the pizza. I could seriously eat an entire frozen pizza if I tried. I do relate to the mentality of, "oh well, I already went off plan so might as well just eat all this other stuff I've been wanting" I look at it like at least it was just one meal and that's easy to move past. Sounds like you had a great workout before taking bunny to the vet. I have to admit, I didn't realize they needed to be neutered, but I guess why wouldn't they. It's just the one bunny, right?

Glad things are going well with your daughter, both on the learning french side and the digestion side. Hope you have a great time celebrating your hubby's birthday at the steak house and having that delicious cake. Is that on the weekend?

Alex - Love spinach and feta pizza! Yummm! Awesome you found your old shoes too, sounds like they were new if still in the box? I love shopping from my own closet!

Also, I like your suggestion for February being about growth and action! I might just steal that!

Bayzee Love that you put tape on the floor to mark where the scale goes, I should do that! I try my best not to move it but generally end up having to as it's sort of in the way where I like to use it. :)

Hey, congrats on going 28 days with no cheating, that's phenomenal! :carrot: One dinner out after staying on plan that long is certainly no deal breaker, even if you ate a lot. I keep trying to remind myself this health stuff is a journey, and some times I just won't be able to be entirely on plan, but that just means I need to get right back on track as soon as I can.

Dorian - homemade soup, homemade bread, wine and chocolate sounds AMAZING! I love that you guys stayed up late giggling at youtube videos too, that's awesome.

That sucks that TOM is bugging you and you're not feeling your best. Sounds like you've got a lot on your plate to think about with the SD change possibly happening. I hope you find out soon!

Glad you remember the Amy's diet person....driving me crazy too, I can see the avatar and want to say her name had something with Cat in it. :) Lots of those here thought.

Oleh Cat - Awesome you signed up for a half! Is it a big name one we've heard of? It's my goal to do one this year too, but I looking at one in September and one in June. I was thinking the September one sounds more do-able so I can run all summer and train. I wanted to do one last fall but was going to see how a 15K went first, and I ended up getting sick and not racing it, so my running season sort of ended early. I'm trying to get back in shape for a race I signed up for in April too.

Congrats on the 2 lb loss, that's awesome!

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Night feathers, hope I ddn't miss anyone. And seriously, why is everyone eating pizza but me. So jealous! :)