Exhale! Glad to see you joining in.
Jen, pre-prepped vegetables is a great way to go!
We all have busy, busy lives so if buying prepped, fresh vegetables works for you, I say go for it! It's a wonderful way to stay on track. No excuses that way.
Rosie, you're doing great.
: One thing you can do to avoid empty calories when you're out with friends is to skip the alcohol and stick to diet drinks. Eat good, solid meals with lots of fiber during the day when you know you're going out and have a wholesome snack like an apple or two, before going out. That way, you won't feel as hungry and won't eat as much of the pizza, nachos, or whatever is being served. You'll have a taste but be able to honestly tell people, I'm really not that hungry. If someone offers you sugar, tell them honestly, I'm not eating sugar right now.
Unfortunately, the less weight you have to lose, the harder it is to lose it! When you're having those big salads, keep track of the toppings you load on. Make sure to stay away from high-fat items like cheeses, olives, and croutons. Pick a low-fat dressing and stick to the 2 tablespoon serving size. I go so far as to measure mine out in a container at home to take along.
(We do what we have to!)
Think about upping your activity level to burn more calories.
Take the stairs; park further away from where you're going so you have to walk. Little stuff like that adds up.
Consider changing up your exercise routine to challenge muscle memory. If you do the same exercise routine over and over, your body gets use to it and eventually won't burn as many calories as when you started out. The biggest calorie burner I know of is interval training.
Are you doing any weight training? You may find that by doing weight training and shaping up your muscles you'll start looking longer and leaner, more trimmed and toned without significant weight loss.
As for me, I've been on track with my daily calorie target. I scored a loss of 1.2 pounds this week. I didn't sleep well this week which make things challenging. I pushed myself to do 40-60 minutes of exercise each evening after dinner until Thursday of this week then decided to give myself a two-day break. I was exhausted and felt very unwell. If I'd kept pushing myself to perform it would have triggered a binge and set me back to square one. So, I guess you could say I'm still working to find balance in my program.
Let's have a fantastic weekend, everyone!