[Meg]

Robin! Good work on resisting the cereal! It's funny but I think I have more faith in you surviving the weekend than YOU do. You're one of the strongest and most determined people here and you absolutely, positively can do it! Think of your track record with weekends when you're were in the losing mode -- invincible, right? Nothing threw you off plan! And if you could do it then, you can do it now.

Back from the gym and inhaling breakfast ...

Leg Day
5 min elliptical warmup
3 sets:
Overhead squats
BB squats
BB reverse lunges
Hacksquat machine
FreeMotion squat machine
BB Romanian deadlifts
25 min bike

If my legs don't fall off, I'll do another 30 min of cardio later on.

M1: Oatmeal and turkey sausage
M2: Protein shake w/blueberries
M3: Salad w/ salmon, strawberries, LF dressing
M4: Fage 0% yogurt, dried cranberries, cinnamon
M5: Apple and natural PB
M6: Shrimp, scallops, roasted green beans
Optional: SF cocoa

Off to proofread DS's final papers for the semester.

[PinkyPie]

Can I just say, WHAT AN AWESOME, DETERMINED groups of peopls we have here!! Kudos to everyone!!!!

Originally Posted by Glory87

Love that dressing recipe!

I was good yesterday - I faced down two cookie temptations! One of the admins at work who ALWAYS has snacks had a pacakge of grocery store bakery snickerdoodles on her desk all afternoon. I love snickerdoodles! I just kept reminding myself how snug my favorite comfy brown skirt felt when I tried it on Sunday. Then, I stopped by my favorite organic grocery store after work. Lately, in my "well, it's healthy and I'm entitled" mentality, I've been getting one vegan energy buzz cookie every time I go. They really are GOOD (chock full of pumpkin seeds and flax and raisins and a little chocolate) but they are COOKIES and I don't NEED a cookie right now, so dodged that temptation as well.

Excellent!!! I had a HUGE piece of cake tempting me yesterday and I thought to myself "It's not even my favourite kind of cake! Why should I give up what I REALLY want for cake that's not even my favourite?" So I didn't do it. Boy people get weird when they are all eating cake and you are not. Since they also tend to not want to hear about healthy vs. non-healthy I just use my upcoming wedding as the excuse

Originally Posted by alinnell

Monday's fitday came in at 1465, but I just remember that I didn't put in my afternoon snack. That will probably take it up by 150-200 calories. Yikes. DH and I did our evening power walk (which I'll have to do two of for the next few days).

So far today I'm off to a good start. I have to take prednisone for this procedure and the side effects are increased appetite. I'll pray that doesn't happen!

Keeping my fingers crossed for no increased appetite as a side effect. You're doing GREAT!!!

Originally Posted by nineteen

Yesterday was a little rough -- "dessert night" in my cooking class, eek! -- but today will be better.

Nice work everyone and keep going!

It's tough, but we have to move on, right?

Originally Posted by midwife

I didn't think I needed this thread, until I walked into the break room for a fork for my cottage cheese and discovered the remnants of a catered lunch....chicken, green chile, sour cream, guacamole, chips, 3 kinds of salsa.

No excuses! No justifications for off-plan behaviors!

Adios, guac!

whoo hoo!! way to stay in control!

Originally Posted by bargoo

I started yesterday and stayed within my calorie limit. Today so far so good. I am only 3 pounds over goal but I know what happens 3 pounds become 5 and 5 becomes 10, 10 becomes 20 etc..................

yep, I hear you... too bad I waited until I was 70 lbs over goal to get into the swing of things again!! You CAN do this!!!!

Originally Posted by mandalinn82

I thought of ya'll while packing my own snack and resisting the donuts, juice, cookies, etc at the blood donor center. They had a girl there whose job it was to give out the snacks...she was very disappointed. Finally I let her get me a bottle of water, which placated her some...even though I had my reusable bottle right there.

GOOD for you!! Job well done!!

Originally Posted by traveling michele

I was so proud of myself today at work.
A salesman came by and brought me an Oatmeal Cookie from Starbucks. He hadn't seen me since last year and (just like men) he asked what was different about me. He said I looked so different but I think he was afraid to say that I'd lost weight. I pointed it out and he said I looked amazing. So I wasn't about to eat the cookie after he left.
Ok-- maybe I thought about it. Ok-- maybe I really thought about it. I had tons of excuses why I could eat it--it's just one cookie, how bad could it really be?, I'll work out extra hard at the gym, no one will know, I can't just throw it away, it's a gift......
I offered it to one of my co-workers and she took it happily-- made her day!
Then I checked dwlz.com to see the points and it would have been 10 points-- half my points for the whole day! Sooooo not worth it!!!
So, I had no excuses (once I finished arguing inside my head!!)

I WORK at Starbucks. Mind you, not at a store, but we have a store in our building with EVERYTHING available. And the blueberry cheesecake is calling my name everytime I go to get coffee. I don't even want to KNOW how many cals/ WW points it is. I'm just NOT going to do it!!

Glad you were able to say "no thank you!"

Originally Posted by Meg

10 points for one cookie! That's about 500 calories, isn't it?

to all of you who resisted temptation today!! Isn't it funny how, when we wake up in the morning, we never regret passing something up the day before? I've never said to myself: "Darn it, now why didn't I go ahead and have that box of Girl Scout cookies? And the matching can of Pringles? Wish I hadn't talked myself out of it!"

Another good day for me here. This was the third day of hard-core, no excuses for me and it really DOES get easier as the days go by. Tomorrow will be Leg Day and that always makes me hungry, so it will be a bit of a challenge. I may increase my oatmeal from 1/3 cup to 1/2 to get a few more carbs in.

Hope you're all having a wonderful evening!

too true!! I have never regretted NOT eating something I didn't really want or need!

and it definitely does get easier with each day! way to go!! you are such an incredible inspiration!!!

Originally Posted by goalsuccess

This is going to sound stupid, but the one thing I am willing to have no excuses about this week is giving up some sugar free caramel hard candies I really have become quite attached to. I realized there are several things I'm "letting" myself just have--yes, I write them down, but... anyway, when I went to buy 6 (yes, 6!) packages of the caramel candies today, I realized that this "love interest" has gotten out of hand. So, for this week, one day at a time, I'm going to give up my sugar free caramel candies. The way I look at it, each of those sweet babies is 9 calories. I chew them up, and eat a bag like they're nothing. Perhaps they're affecting my weight and I don't even know it. Now, what will I use for a substitute? Time to get out the carrots and munch away. My mouth will be busy, and I can do this...just keep repeating I can do this. SF caramel candies cannot be in control of my choices; I need to have control over them!!!!!!!!!!!

Not stupid at ALL! It's great you recognised it and you are nipping it in the bud RIGHT NOW!! Awesome!!

Originally Posted by sweetnsassyfied

Hi Renee perhaps I can help here! I am an American living in Austria now, who happens to be on the WW Flex as well!

I have found a Splenda substitute here. It's called ( and please let the umlat u show up... ) Süssli Streusüsse. Per half a gram its 1.7 calories. And you use it as you would normal sugar. Trust me when I say nobody knows the difference when baking with it. Or using it in salad dressings, fruit salads, mixing it is practically undetectable. Now if your going to use it in your coffee or tea its a little sweeter then normal sugar so a little goes a long way. ( If you use a teaspoon of sugar try a half teaspoon of the Süssli ) There is a subtle after taste but after a couple of cups you wont notice it anymore. Its all what you get used to.

I don't know if they sell it in the Netherlands but I am willing to bet if you know where to look you can find a similar product. I found my product in the isle where they sell food for Diabetic's.

Good luck!

Thank you so much!! I will look into it, but to be honest, I *rarely* use sugar at all for anything. And I'm kind of weird about "fake" sugars, not that I think other people shouldn't use the stuff... pretty much the only fake stuff I ever use is in diet drinks (which I don't have much of either).

Originally Posted by Mel

Starting day 4 POP...this will be a hard one. I did a kick *** interval workout this morning, but can't go to the gym. Lunchtime business meeting in center city , then I am taking the rest of the day off to visit my aunt who lives there. She only eats out- I've tried to cook for her, to bring food, but noooooo...we HAVE to go to a Chinese restaurant!

Everyone is doing GREAT

Day 4- why aren't my clothes hanging off me????

Mel

Challenging or not, I am SURE you will do all right!!

Originally Posted by rockinrobin

I have still yet to get myself to a Trader Joes. Or a Whole Foods MArket. I have both of them, but not very near by. Probably an hour or so away.

Yesterday was FANTASTIC!!! Simply wonderful. A couple of times I was ready to grab a handful of my kids cereal (Life) and stopped myself. Knowing that I would have to report it here and also knowing that for me one handful can very easily turn into 2 handfuls and then 3 and then, well I probably don't have to tell you the rest. So, I thought about it and said, "nuh-uh, this is NOT what I want to be doing. It's not worth it to take the chance and start." I also had in mind what Meg said, no BLT's. It felt good to turn it down. So though my day was wonderful, I too was not faced with enormous amounts of temptation. But still........


Here's to another stellar day. But I can't get thoughts of the upcoming weekend out of my head. All right, one day at a time.......

So glad you had a great day!! and YES One day at a time! Hang in there and focus on today!
-------------------------
A quick Hello to everyone else out there!


I've got to make my shopping list and go to the supermarket and have a few things from here on my list
salmon
strawberries
LF/FF mayo (I think I can get the Hellman's here)
asparagus
oat bran (might have to hit the health food store for this one)

Thanks again all for the inspiration and the challenge to Kick Butt this week! You guys really help me keep going!

[PinkyPie]

did a wee bit of shopping. Can I inspire anyone?

strawberries, roma tomatoes, skim milk, mushrooms, asparagus tips, alfalfa, spinach, salmon for sandwiches, laughing cow light cheese, light feta, cottage cheese...


extra lean beef, chicken, almonds, pinenuts, walnuts, garlic


I didn't realise, but we already HAD very LF mayo - DF says he's been buying it for weeks and I just have been avoiding anything like mayo for about 6 weeks!

[friendlykat4u]

Starting 4 day OP after my wknd "slip", feels great. I already schedule a lunch time walk with one of my friends for today.

Yesterday a co-worker came in with a huge cheesecake (one of my favorite desserts), I was avoiding it like the plague. Next thing I know she just plops a cup on my desk with a piece of it in it, it had cherries on it too, I love fruit on cheesecake. Then she proceeds to tell me she made it with splenda, FF sour cream, low fat cream cheese. I'm listening to her and saying to myself "it's still cheesecake". When she walked away I had 4 spoonfuls of it and threw the rest in the trash.

I gotta tell you, it was absolutely delicious, if she made it with Splenda, FF/low fat ingredients, I couldn't tell at all. So I wrote down 100 calories for the 4 spoonfuls I had and made it part of my plan for the day. I had a hard time thowing it out, I wanted to eat it all. But today I don't regret not having it, that's just like Meg was saying.

Everyone else is doing so wonderful, great job everybody!

[joyofsix]

Good Morning! I made it through yesterday. I keep saying 'one day at a time'. I scrubbed the bathrooms today, washed all the walls in there, cleaned baseboard, etc. I'm sure glad spring only comes once a year, lol. Walking while soccer practice goes on is convenient so I'll so the same while dd practices tonight. They have a road that rings the park so I walk there while carrying the baby in a sling. She is getting HEAVY.


Today's food plan:
B-2 eggs, 1oz turkey ham, pico de gallo
S-diet cocoa
L-brown rice, chicken stir fry
S-high fiber cereal with blueberries
D-huge salad, brussel sprouts and salmon
S-fat free decaf latte, almonds

[alinnell]

Well, the predisone doesn't seem to be affecting my appetite or making my stomach sore, so that's all good. I had a good food day yesterday and got in a long evening walk. When I was hungry for a snack, I remembered the no-oil microwave popcorn I had picked up a while ago. 200 calories for the bag and I shared some with Chico (he liked it). My only downfall was a pretty rich dinner (trying to get rid of leftovers--seafood enchiladas) and a small bowl of ice cream. I'm heading off to enter it all in fitday, but I'm pretty sure I'll come in around 1400.

[Meg]

Sometimes it's scary to realize how close my inner fat chick is to the surface. Just when I think she's gone for good ...

Take today. I had a doctor's appointment this morning and ended up having an ingrown toenail removed. The son of a gun hurts! So of course, my first reaction when I walked in the house was ... I deserve a treat! As if food is going to make it feel better or I deserve a reward for surviving the experience. Sheesh, give me a sticker instead!

I ate my planned salad and am not going to succumb to IFC's voice, though it's still there in the back of my head. No more exercise for the day, so I'm glad I got the gym early, and I'm cleared for tomorrow morning -- as long as it doesn't bleed too much.

Renee, droolworthy groceries! What's for dinner?

[mandalinn82]

Renee - gosh, that is one healthy looking bounty! We went shopping on Monday and went to the local produce market...everything there is so cheap and fresh. Granted, it's a also a minefield (they take any kind of fruit and dip it in chocolate, take all of their different kinds of nuts and make both chocolate/nut clusters AND brittles, make homemade tortillas and tortilla chips, and have every type of candy imaginable in the store...but I just go straight to the produce side and it all works out.

Meg - in lieu of treats, have a balloon bunch... My doctor always gave me a balloon when I left as a little kid.

Plan for today:
B - Alternative bagel, 1/3 cup egg beaters w/ cheddar
S - Grapes and Strawberries
L - Leftovers - Grilled salmon, lentil and brown rice pilaf, steamed broccoli
S - Greek yogurt w/ strawberries
S - Popcorn
D - Ground turkey breast sloppy joes with added veggies, whole wheat bun, side salad
S - NSA Neopolitan

[rockinrobin]

Great going everyone!! Meg & your ingrown toe nail (ouch), Lisa and her cleaning diversion, Velveteen and her yummy bounty, Allison & her popcorn, friendlykat & your 4 spoonfuls of cheesecake & to the whole rest of the crew.

Well I bought grapes today. It's just not fair to the kids. They need SOMETHING to snack on. I ate 2 of them, both while in the store. And that was that. They're rinsed and inside the fridge and I've told myself that it's not mine for the taking. It's earmarked for the kids and that is that. I'm okay that I ate 2 of them. No guilt.

I also bought 2 1/2 calorie SF ice pops. And 25 calorie creamsicles.

The day is going well. As for the upcoming weekend, thanks Meg for having such confidence in me. It really is amazing though, the year I was losing, nothing, absolutely NOTHING got to me. I went through holidays, birthdays, huge extravagant weddings and other social functions, stress - you name it, with flying colors. No caving in. So I know that I AM capable of it. That of course, it IS doable. But nevertheless, I can't help but be a bit worried about it and would like to have a great weekend under my belt. One day at a time..... No excuses.

[jtammy]

Renee, What time should we all be there for dinner?

Yesterday went fine. About 150 calories higher than I wish, but I came in after running kids all over the place after 9 pm last night and didn't calculate what I was having for supper until I had already eaten it. That's a bad habit that works fine when I'm trying to maintain but not so much when I'm trying to lose.

I have made it to the gym each morning this week. That's where I really feel vulnerable lately. I know that it doesn't take much for me to get out of that habit. So I need four more mornings with no excuses there.

Today's food plan

B- Oatmeal
S - yogurt with pineapple, fiber one
L - Veggie burger on a WW bun, broccoli veggie mix
S - soup
S - Popcorn
D - Grilled tilapia, roasted zucchini, green salad, brown rice
S - strawberries, NSA fudgesicle

[WaterRat]

Morning -

Yay! Yesterday matched my plan! Made me feel really good. On to today.

B - oatmeal w/raisins, walnuts, skim milk; toast with whipped cream cheese (30 cal/TBSP),
S - cottage cheese, peaches
L - I grabbed the last remaining frozen dinner in the house but I think I can get to the store and get a salad - depends on how long my pre-lunch meeting lasts
S - apple, lf cheese
D - lean pork chop, sweet potatoes, roasted asparagus

NO EXCUSES!

[alinnell]

Well, I entered everything in fitday and came in over 2200. Ouch. Better day today. So far, yogurt for breakfast (not hungry) and a cup of strawberries as my snack. Lean cuisine and carrots and pea pods for lunch (and more strawberries--they are so good and cheap right now). I'm thinking salsa chicken and broccoli for dinner sounds good.

Meg~I think it was my IFC that said I needed the ice cream last night after my procedure. I should have said no.

[PinkyPie]

haha, you guys are so cute. You are ALL welcome to come over for dinner - It's Velveteen's Special Extra Lean Hamburger Night™ (on the grill of course) accompanied by a spinach salad with roma tomatoes, red onion, LF feta cheese and Meg's Famous® Salad Dressing.

After which, This Happy Bunny is going to enjoy one or two glasses of wine...

Better get started on it - just finished my work out (40 min elliptical) and enjoyed some crunchy celery sticks. Don't want to wait too long to eat dinner!

[BlueToBlue]

Meg: I'm a night owl, so I'm always up late. I actually don't eat dinner until 8 or 9 PM because I'm up so late. But I'm rarely awake before 9:00 AM; so I can go to bed at 1:00 AM and still get a solid 8 hours of sleep. Your 5:30 AM gym routine would kill me. I can do it in a pinch if I have a really busy day planned, but every day would be really hard.

If you have a GNC near you, they sell Bob's Red Mill oat bran (at least mine does); you can also order it online at the GNC website or at Bob's Red Mill website. I'm afraid it's not quite as good as Trader Joe's, but it's still good (and actually 10 calories less than Trader Joe's). Bob's Red Mill has a whole collection of hot cereals that all sound incredibly yummy.

Robin: The Chinese Cabbage Salad is awesome! It's really a great mix of flavors and easy to make. Here is the recipe:
- 4 oz thinly sliced cabbage (you could use cabbage slaw instead of slicing your own)
- 3.5 oz (1/4 package) lite extra firm tofu (water pressed out and sauteed in 1/2 tsp olive oil)
- 1/6 cup sliced almonds (about 16g), sauteed along with the tofu until toasted
- 4 oz chicken (broiled and shredded)
- 1/4 cup edamame (I used frozen)
- 3 oz snap peas (diced and I blanched them in the boiling water I used to cook the edamame)
- 1 green onion (I used the green parts only)
- 2 tbsp Asian sesame vinaigrette (I used Trader Joe's but any brand you like would be fine)
- 1/2 tbsp Tamari (you could also use regular soy sauce)
- ground black pepper to taste

This makes one HUGE serving at about 400 calories (assuming the dressing you use is around 15 calories per tbsp) that is packed with protein--42g! It is a little light in terms of dressing, so if you like a lot of dressing on your salad, you might want to add an extra tbsp.

And I have total faith that you will get back to where you were before; where staying on plan isn't a struggle. I've been in your shoes and I know the first week or so of staying on plan can be tough. But you'll get through it and then it will be like that off-plan weekend never happened. Be firm and soon eating on plan will be automatic again.

My SO can eat whatever he wants and not gain an ounce, so I buy a lot of food for him that I cannot eat (chips, frozen Mexican food, pop tarts, granola bars, pastries, samosas, parathas, full-fat cheese, chocolate, nuts, the list just goes on and on). I try to think of that food the way I think of my co-workers' lunches in the fridge at work. No matter how good their lunches look, I would never in a million years eat one of them--coworkers' food is completely off limits. I think of my SO's food the same way; it is off limits--it's like it doesn't exist. Maybe you can try to think of the grapes that way. It also helps that my SO would squawk if I ate his food; maybe you can train your kids to complain if you eat their grapes.

[midwife]

Great job with sticking to it everyone!


Pat, we had roasted asparagus last night. I sprinkled them with red chile flakes and they had quite the kick. The kids chowed down on them as well. All of us are eating better these days!

My planned day:

half a bagel with peanut butter, cappucino protein shake
turkey sandwich with laughing cow cheese, strawberries
blackberries, protein shake
turkey and cheddar
tilapia and broccoli
post-workout protein shake

I have an hour at the gym with my trainer this evening and I have no idea what exciting new exercises are in store for me. I used the ab wheel on Monday....I'm feeling it today!

As for my avoidance of the guac, sour cream, et al yesterday? I had a new low on the scale this morning.