The Great Featherweight One Week Challenge - Dec 3rd to 9th
 

It is Sunday, the day of rest. And a good day to think and reevaluate.
How'd last week go? Is there something on which you can improve? What is your plan for this week?

I have three cardio days and three weightlifting days. I'll stuff some more cardio in there for fat burning. And I have to watch my mini-meals better. Trailmix and chocolate covered raisins are not on BFL's food lists ;) And it's not a good idea to take the peanutbutter jar into the TV room.

There is definitely, DEFINITELY room for improvement in my life. I have really gotten sick of myself for being such a slacker. It seems like at the beginning of every week I vow to do better, and it lasts just a day or so (and sometimes only about 15 minutes).

This week will be different. It is three weeks from today until Christmas Eve, four weeks until New Years Eve. We don't go out on NYE but all of DH's family will be in town for Christmas. I'd like to be at goal by then.

So the plan: today I'm going to guzzle the water nonstop. I know I have Friday and Saturday beer and salt bloat built up. Tomorrow, I'll be back on my WW Flex and will be strict with myself. I still can't do cardio but will try to get either some walking, weights or stretching in somewhere.

No ifs ands or buts.

This week I'm going to try to get out of my tiny, itty, bitty little room more and exercise. Regardless of the fact that none of my friends do, I shouldn't use their lack of interest in moving as an excuse not to move myself. Though I have been doing pretty well on floor exercises this past week :) And drinking water by the bucket (practically).

I also have to keep in mind that I have soooo much other stuff to do, so I need to not get down on myself when I sacrifice going for a walk to study -- the exams are worth 40% for gosh sakes.

P.S. Has anyone ever done a juice cleanse/detox before? I was thinking of doing one sometime in the spring, not to lose weight, but because I've talked to some people who have done them to remove the toxins. Any ideas, comments, talk, chatter, singing etc? :p

A New Week
 

Happy December Chicks!

Susan, thanks for your thoughtful questions that make me actually think about my goals for the week. :kickbutt:

Last week was great - I ate healthy meals and worked out 5 days. I took the weekend off, as I usually do - drank and ate lots, needed a break from the gym as well, so I took it. The splurging continues for now as hubby and I are planning to see the Bond movie tonight (which means popcorn) and then going out for dinner to a little Italian place on the water. :hat:

Goals for this week include eating healthy meals, no snacking, drinking lots of water, and working out 5 days again.

Unfortunately, I'm expecting my monthly visitor, so I'm sure I'll be famished as I usually am around this time of the month. :mad:

Love to all!

There are just two weeks left in the school semester. I've got three exams and two papers due. In the past, I've nearly always gained weight at the end, so my goal this time is to just maintain. I'm going to exercise everyday, try to minimize late-night snacking, and stay positive! :goodvibes

Wow!!! We sound SOOO simliar! I have one week of school left, and also have three exams and two papers left. How strange! :D I try to minimize late-night snacking too...But at the same time, when I eat dinner at 6:30, and am up until 1:30..As a grazer, I feel it's ok to snack! I usually have a bowl of puffed rice (no sodium, no sugar) and some skim milk.

Good luck with everything :)

Any living creature will do, depending on the circs. So far today we have had rabbit, ankylosaurus (dinosaur with a very nasty club on the end of the tail) and swallow. He has a cold so he's at home with the Man. I think they are going to look up a prehistoric fish with a bite more powerful than Tyrannosaurus rex on the BBC website. (Can't remember its name but it's in the sea monsters section. You can pivot it. You can play other games. There's a lot of scope for fun there. ;) )

I have lost my balance (food, exercise, sleep) and it's so hard to get back. My mantra today will be Avoid Carb Cravings. I simply can't be doing with carb cravings. They make me tired and take up too much time. Begone!

:wizard: Begone carb cravings ;)

My goal this week is to get back on track, stay away from the red wine, and concentrate on losing again. Tomorrow, after I weigh in, I will be moving my ticker to the correct weight. I've gained a couple pounds. At first I thought it was temporary, but it isn't coming off. So I have to be accountable. So far, my eating today is great. I will continue this for the rest of the week.

And I'll stay away from the office Christmas candy.

Oh man, I am so jealous, you found a reason to use the wizard haha

I am drinking water like a girl who is trying to grow a rainforest in her stomach. :lol: I don't even know how to explain what I just said, it just came out! But, I assure you, it is a good thing.

AND I am using my pedometer today. I'm going to take a minimum of 10,000 steps everyday until I get home, then I will see where it goes from there. :)

Wow, now that I'm onto this whole posting thing, I am really posting up a storm :dizzy: Anyways....I have a question:

Today, I've put everything, very accurately, into Fitday and it comes to only 911 calories; but I am SO full. (This is VERY strange for me.) Everything I've eaten today has been mysteriously healthy and I've drank lots of water, but, it's only 911 calories, I feel like I should eat more. Is this strange? What would YOU do?

I'm jealous that you're so far under your calories for the day. I usually end up right at or a little above my goal. Anyway, 911 (interesting number) seems a tad low. Since you're studying for exams, you may be going through some unusual stresses. If you're full and this isn't an everyday thing, you could just go to bed. If you do get hungry, though, you could have a snack and not have a twinge of guilt!

Man I would eat some chocolate if I had sooo many calories left! :lol: That's what I would do :yes: Not necessarily the right thing to do... :lol: Either that or a protein shake, something that doesn't feel like food. Also, it could be all that water filling you up if you've eaten high fibre foods.

Things is going good this week. Started off the week well with gym, weights and cardio, a mad kickboxing class (OMG those kids were :hyper: Hyperactive yesterday! :crazy: ) and good all round healthy eating! I even managed an early night last night since DH wanted to watch Minority Report so I watched with my eyes closed! :rofl: :D I had planned on watching it tomorrow when he's out for the evening, so I can still watch it then! Unfortunately I woke up for the ending so I will know what happens (I've seen it before but a long time ago!).

I did quite well yesterday. Thanks for the wizard, 2F; I hadn't seen him before. I think the spell must have helped and so ....

... I'm upping the ante now. No carb cravings all week. :wizard:

:D There's nothing a bit of magic won't cure :wizard:

She's magic that Jenfrus!

Was it Carey who was under calories? I agree with Becky ... one day won't hurt. Heaven knows there are enough days we go over! Can you tell us what your percentages were? We'll come up with some good bedtime snacks for ya.

Amen to that! Notice I had to move my ticker up rather than down? Thats because of the number of days I did go over!!! But I'm back to recording everything in Fitday--that really does keep me accountable!

Accountables are us! Good job on digging in your heels!

I had to dig in my heels. Someone on the other end of the rope keeps pulling and I'm not gonna let them pull any more (otherwise I might end up in that big mud puddle!).

Oooh, I would really appreciate the help with ideas for those, because I'm so not used to having room for them...I find this both exciting and strange. I posted my Fitday (I think!!) so you can see exactly what my percentages are, and as you can see from yesterday...I used the free room for a carton of chocolate milk and a sizable piece of banana bread. Not the healthiest, but at 11pm at night, after studying for hours, it was definitely welcome :)

As always, thanks for the help :D

And if the link on the side for my FitDay isn't working (it isn't working for me and I can't understand why...grrr :mad: computers are frustrating..) here is the link:
http://www.fitday.com/WebFit/PublicJ...sweet%5Ftalker

I'm back from my dinner (and the after party) it was fun. No alcohol for me and only reasonable portions of dinner and three reasonable portions of dessert!

Carey ... how about a protein like that chicken and some crunchie vegetables? Cottage cheese and fruit?

Three reasonable portions of dessert. Susan, I want to know what planet you come from and where I can sign up.

I took one of my three finals today and I treated myself to a club sandwich as a reward. It was decadent. Oh, what is it about bacon?

SusanB, your willpower is astounding...if desserts are there...mine would not be reasonable!! :) And good job on finishing an exam today, Becky...they are exhaustingggg...

I can definitely manage the fruit or veggies (easy to take back to my room to store in the SMALLEST fridge you can purchase), but after 7pm the regular cafeteria closes (where I get the cc or chicken) and the only stuff available are drinks (non-alcoholic, of course), pizza, chicken fingers w/breast meat, burgers, fries...that sort of thing. It's a bit of a dilemma. :p

I should have made this :eek: after the desserts remark. But that is much better than I used to be.

The gals I work with kinda poke at me for being a health food nut. Whether or not they actually watch what I put on my plate ... I think they might. So I took the teeny tiny plate that had one portion of some creamy thing on it and set a chocolate and a mini cheese cake on the side.

I did find my eyes wandering to see if they'd put the desserts away yet :o

Carey? can you just buy cc and tuna and string cheese and tuck them in the worlds smallest fridge? Do you have a grocery budget or just cafeteria coupons?

SusanB, Recently, my DD and I were at a Mother/Daughter tea. The small tea sandwiches were just wonderful and then they had two larger ones that they could have left off--too big to be considered a tea sandwhich. Anyway, that and the tea were great. Then they brought the desserts (mind you, this was all served--no buffet). Each plate had 5 desserts!!! Every plate had a different combination--and all were full sized portions. I was still full from the sandwiches (but I did eat most of the desserts!). Anyway, I guess what I'm saying is now and then, having some dessert isn't such a horrible thing. I rarely eat dessert at home--maybe once every two months, so if I splurge now and then when I'm out, I don't beat myself up about it.

Carey, maybe you should have gotten the 2nd smallest fridge in the world--then you could keep a few more healthy things in it!! Maybe petition the cafeteria to have a few healthier items available after hours....

Everyone have a wonderful day!

5 full sized desserts :faint: OMG!!!! I get told off if I ponder having dessert... Let alone 5!!!! :eek: :lol:

I've got blisters coming up on my palms from pull-ups. :doh: I wore my gloves and everything. bah!

I'm the same with desserts. It's been years since I bothered and nobody cares. All I have at home now is DH and DS-24 ... they're big boys. If they want cookies they know where the grocery store is. Actually DS made cookies last week.
Once in a blue moon we go out for ice cream.

I love love love calorie counting (I may have mentioned that) you can eat whatever you want as long as you're willing to take your lumps.

What a great week
 

I am back on track. I have a new job and a new gym. I hopped on that eliptical this morning for a hard 30 minutes. I sweated and felt great. I still need the motivational help to get into weights, but one step at a time.

The people at the new job do not eat well....more chocolate sitting on the table and more wine after work, but I am starting to conquer that too. I brought in the healthy snack this morning. My new gym partner does not believe that I will eat raw almonds over chocolate Tim Tams brought in from Austrailla. That sounds like a challenge for me this week!

Water intake is good again. I am traveling with my Camelbak water bottle. I swear with that thing I drink a minumum of 9 glass/day.

I am sure part of my great attitude this week is that I haven't been on the scales since before Thanksgiving. I am in denial about what might have been gained!!! I hope it is a good week for all!!

Jen & Susan, let me explain the 5 desserts...1 lemon bar (about 5X8 cm), one brownie triangle (about 10X10 cm cut on a diagonal), one drop cookie with a huge chocolate chip in the middle (do they call those thumbprint cookies?)--I didn't eat that one!!!, one shortbread (about 5x5 cm) and one hard chocolate covered mousse cake (about 4 cm round and about 10 cm tall). Sometimes these things look nicer than they taste. I loved the brownie and the lemon bar. The mousse was interesting, but I could have skipped that one. I love shortbread, so that was great. I just didn't get turned on by the thumbprint cookie, so I stole a couple of bites from DD's plate!:o One was some raspberry chocolate thing and the other was a white chocolate thing. Again, two pretty desserts that were prettier than they were tasty!

PS, are you proud of me for using the metric system??? I had to get a ruler out to do it! LOL

:lol: Allison, it's a nice thought...the second smallest fridge in the world, but they have size restrictions so that you don't use all their power stowing bushels of cc or what have you.

When I get back from my visit home I'll buy some cc, but as far as tuna...I don't eat fish...I just can't stand the stuff, no offense or anything. I've learned to love a lot of stuff for the health benefits of it, but fish are just going to have to put up with me not liking them. :)

Good willpower, Betsy! When people offer me stuff, I have a hard time refusing! :nono:

And dontcha just hate when things look better than they taste?! What a disappointment, blowing calories on stuff that isn't that good, because even if it doesn't taste *that* good, I'm still going to eat it, obviously...Hmmmm ...Maybe that should be a goal for me. Stop eating things that are supposed to be decadent but are really actually not :lol: Seems pretty simple, but I think I'll have to work on that.

I did notice at that party that folks think nothing of sending unfinished food back. I wonder how many calories I would have saved if I'd sent back one bite of each thing ... not the peanutbutter dipped in chocolate thing!

peanutbutter dipped in chocolate thing?? YUM!! I'm going for dinner soon...I must keep it healthy, but chocolate and peanut butter are such a delicious combination.

How does everyone feel about cheat snacks or cheat days or what have you?

For me it's a necessity to have a cheat snack occasionally. Otherwise, I think my binges are worse.

Cheat snacks are absolutely necessary, sometimes. Tonight at my church somebody brought a tray of ww crackers topped with some herbed cream cheese and sun-dried tomatoes. Fortunately, I had some calories left, so I are a few. I'm not that big on sweets, but that kind of thing really tickles my taste buds.

As you all may know by now, I treat my weekends like cheat days! It's not the best idea though - I usually spend the entire week trying to be super healthy and make up for my indulgences. This week has been good - eating healthy and worked out Monday and Tuesday. Tonight was devoted to groceries, writing xmas cards, shopping, and other misc. errands.

Tomorrow a few of the other associates at my firm are going out for drinks after work...to go or not to go! I'm tempted just for camraderie's sake, but I don't really need the extra calories - and it will likely mean I won't make it to the gym again. Hubby and I have holiday parties on Fri night and Sat night, so I think I should just skip the partying tomorrow and head to the gym.

Anyway, off to bed...Gnite Ladies!

I'm studying for finals and i'm using exercising and watching what i eat as a procrastination technique. It's only now that the light bulb has gone off and I've decided there's no time like the present to start being serious about losing weight.
At least this time my procrastination doesn't involve sitting on the couch watching Food Network for hours :)

I think my problem with cheat snacks is that they always lead to cravings for more cravings. :dizzy: I will be DONE my first semester's exams tomorrow, and I think I might have to indulge in...hmmm...I'm not sure yet. I will have to give it some thought, and make sure none of that "unworthy" food gets into my magnificent plan of decadence. :lol: How elaborate!

Safe planning LwyrChick, have fun at the parties!

:lol: nomorefatpants. I LOVE the food network. It doesn't even make me hungry, usually, I just love cooking and baking and all that jazz. I totally know what you mean about the light bulb going off, that's exactly what happened to me, too :)

I can cope with one treat snack every week or so, but if I have more than one snack, like if I have a doughnut :barf: AND a chocolate bar, then I find it hard to not to eat junk. However a small piece of chocolate now and again, or half a doughnut :barf: is ok. Doughnuts... I had half a Krispy Kreme Mince Pie doughnut at the weekend and it was SO greasy! I really have to remember that I don't like doughnuts. :barf: I couldn't get the greasy taste out of my mouth, it was horrid. Now give me a nice piece of chocolate cake however and I'm anybody's! :rofl:

Ho hum, my legs are still smarting from Tuesday's leg day! :eek: I've got 3 hours of training tonight :D I'm really :hyper: excited about it! :hyper: :dancer: I'm looking forward to it so much! I'm aiming to carb-up and eat plenty this morning so that I don't pass out later on. I was really really hungry this morning for breakfast, so I had 1/2C egg whites scrambled with 1 whole egg, 2 small slices of toast and a small piece of cheese. I'm full to bursting now and I don't feel like snacking on my good carbs! :lol: It is only 9am, but usually by this time I feel like a little smackerel of something and have to force myself to wait till 10am! :rolleyes: Must eat bigger breakfasts more often!

I don't plan cheats ... I cheat often enough. Opportunities just arise!

I think the trick is to cheat wisely and stop!

Cheat wisely and stop. That should be our mantra!