Hey Feathers,

We had pretty serious storms here - hope you are all doing OK around the NY area. My parents lost 8 trees in their backyard and there was damage to their windows and roof. Sad to think all the trees that produced the hickory nuts and acorns I played with as a kid are like, uprooted and rotting dead on the ground now - but I'm just relieved no one was hurt.

My tummy has felt funny lately...I lost power at my apartment for about 20 hours and cooked and ate some chicken and mushrooms that were in the fridge, who knows why I can't stop pooping though? I had some wings and half a pint of ice cream last night and pooped so much this AM I weighed in at 121.2. Also tried running - not a good idea with this cold, 2 miles was really difficult and I had a stitch in my chest the whole time!

Tonight my roommate has some art in a show, I'm having dinner with my parents, and tomorrow BF, roommate and I head up north to Montréal (it's the aigu right) to visit my old roommate who is in town for a Ph.D conference! Can't wait to see him, it's been almost a year!

Leaves Well done maintaining despite a Chinese buffet. I can do SERIOUS DAMAGE at those places when I feel like it. The unlimited soft serve ice cream is my weakness. Sorry to hear you had a stupid morning and a scary health issue AND lost photos

Hoopty I'm so sorry to hear of the ongoing issues with eviction and possibly having to flee the country - shame on your father-in-law for being so irresponsible and making his problems your problems.

batmomm NICE PR on the deadlift! That's super impressive.

novangel Pre-TOM is a hard time to control one's caloric intake, that's for sure. I feel like gym motivation comes and goes in waves - you'll be back to normal in no time.

Turbo Good luck PACKING, what a horrible chore to have to do in the heat. Hope your new place will have air conditioning...it's supposed to be almost 35 C here today, AUGH! I hate running in humidity and heat too; it's like I am gasping for breath the entire way and feel pukey and like I'm going to pass out. Sweet race photos - you guys look GREAT!

Aidangm Welcome back from Europe, your sister! It sounds like your weight has been really stable, less binge/restricting, and you're just loving life. What sort of clubs do you like? I get a vibe from you we probably have similar taste in nightlife. Just was at Movement/DEMF this past weekend.

olehcat Asian takeout is engineered to get people ADDICTED, I feel - we have a dearth of decent places where I live, otherwise I'd be like the guys in Big Bang Theory who get takeout Indian/Thai EVERY DAY. I forgot to eat because I was on speed/ADHD meds/Red Bulls the entire time - still not feeling totally human, not worth it.

bunnabear Welcome and good luck with getting back into your regimen lifting, it solves a LOT of "I wish I looked firmer" problems

Alexistrophic Paid gig? Are you a rock star? Hope you have survived the crazy week without toooooooo many bagels and managed to get some sleep. Moderation is harder than either extreme - it's a work in progress. Hang in there!

om namah shiva Yessssssssss so often you imagine you gained 10 pounds but in reality simply maintained. Lifestyle change ftw!

nineteen Not in Dieting w/Obstacles but I read it sometimes. Happy to read you are maintaining.

xiaobaicai NICE measure and weigh there. Looking forward to reading recipes!

WHEW think that's everyone, sorry I've been so lazy lately! Have a fantastic weekend!

Thanks everyone for the kind words and encouragement.
There are a lot of runners on here. I've learned that running is not my thing, but I'm jealous of those who are able to stick to it as it is a results driver for sure.
Has anyone tried Hip Hop Abs? I just ordered it as another "fun" activity to have in my repertoire.

I'll try to do personals in a bit.

Alexistrophic - I hear you about the bagel. I ended up cutting out carbs until after 10 a.m. so I don't go on a carb bender all day.

Turbomammoth - 134 is awesome! Congrats!

Olehcat - I love Asian food too, but my body does not appreciate the sodium.

Novangel - Bloating has been an issue for me too since last weekend. I was 141.2 last Friday and I'm still up to 141.6 today (from the 143s earlier in the week).

Hoopty - so sorry about your living situation

Leaves - congrats on maintaining

Krampus - I'm glad you made out okay in the storm. So much has been going on weather-wise around the country.

Total mystery but I didn't have a gain. I'll take it.

Am I the only one that gets an urge to poop every time I run but once I get to a bathroom the urge is gone? Extremely annoying..

hola, everyone!

I've been absent for a few days, I guess! I haven't been weighing at all, and I'm pretty sure it's not great, although probably not terrible either judging on my clothes.

I have been much more active the last few days (running/walking up to 10 miles total for the day between a morning run, various longish walks, etc) but I've been eating a lot, some healthy, some not so much. Well, I'm all thrown off, as I predicted, because my ex is here and we're having a great time and going out a lot (as friends haha), but I feel a little out of control with the food. I want to enjoy life and to enjoy the thrill of getting to go out and hang out with someone all the time after being so lonely all semester, so I've been just enjoying. The first day he was back, I didn't care about healthy eating, I just ate whatever. Yesterday I made an effort to make sure that while I was eating, I was choosing healthier choices. For example, we went to a Chinese buffet for lunch that he likes, and you all know I have a problem with Asian takeout, right? Still, I was able to mostly stick to the healthier stuff, like a grilled fish, steamed vegetables, hot and sour soup, fruit, etc. Still, I know I ate too much. Then around dinner, we ended up walking downtown where there are lots of outdoor restaurants and we ended up sharing a Greek salad (again, pretty healthy overall but still higher in calories) and some chips and salsa. All that wasn't SO bad, since in total we walked/ran about 10 miles yesterday throughout the day, but then later that night, M. (my ex) heated up a frozen pizza and the smell just killed me dead, and I ended up eating 3 slices and had a lot of wine. Ugh! I need to pull it together! Now maybe that the "honeymoon" phase of having a live-in companion is over, I can pull it together for the rest of the summer!

OH! But I did buy new running shoes yesterday! Aesics and they have pretty purple shoelaces, yay!

@novangel - I make a HUGE effort to make sure I poop before I go running, but that doesn't always happen, eep. I have had that urge while running before, no fun! I have more of a problem with peeing with that, though. That happened to me several times during my half marathon! And mmmm...Mexican food!

@bunnabear - oh, yeah, definitely my body doesn't appreciate the sodium either. *nods* Yeah, running isn't for everyone, but I wonder, have you ever built up gently, like through a program like couch to 5K? A lot of non-runners I know who are now runners got their start that way! And I use my own variation of it whenever I've been out of shape for awhile!

@krampus - yikes, storms! These storms have been crazy! We had some wild ones the other night, here, and next morning there were HUGE branches down all over my neighborhood! Yes, I can definitely see that the Asian takeout food is meant to addict us! I start thinking about it and I know it's NOT EVEN THAT GOOD and yet I'm drooling over it. Crazy! I prefer Indian and Thai to Chinese takeout, but man, I could rotate it all for life, if I could get away with it and not gain a thousand pounds!

@Leaves - yes, I've made my own Thai food. I actually got decent at the Pad Kee Mao (drunken noodles) but it still wasn't the same because I'm obviously not going to make it as disgustingly greasy and full of bad things as the takeout stuff is, lol! But I should DEFINITELY go back to that. I haven't been able to find the right noodles yet, though, even at an Asian grocery store I go to a lot! Go you at maintaining after going to one of those buffets!

@Hoopty - ugh, I'm just so sad for you guys that your'e going through all that with the housing. Too bad your f-i-l is so irresponsible. It sucks that all this is forcing you to make a hard decision so soon.

@Turbo - yay, at least since my ex has been here, I haven't had the urge to order Asian takeout, haha, but well, he and I are probably doing worse damage as I've written above. I WILL get this under control so that I can still enjoy this summer and yet not put my weight at risk! Wow, good luck for the half marathon coming up!

Running has for sure been my go to thing. I also bike and walk, but running has been the main thing! I also just decided that im running a half marathon on the fourth of july!! It will be my first so im just trying to finish. Also, I FINALLY made it into the 130s this morning! Yay!!! Im hoping to stay here, and considering ive been good lately i think i will be able to. Ive been seriously plateauing at 140-143 for a while. I was starting to think my scale was mocking me!!!!