[nineteen]

Velveteen~ I don't know what I would do if I worked near Starbucks! I used to be practically addicted to their frappucinos and their toffee almond bars. The combination of fat, sugar, coffee, and chocolate is just insane. It may as well be crack as far as I'm concerned. I'm sure a lot of people are overweight just because of Starbucks. I mean, sure, if you just get black coffee or tea or a small latte -- no biggie. But the calories in some of their desserts and drinks are RIDICULOUS. Luckily, their frappucinos make me physically sick to my stomach now, so they're not really tempting. I think the last time I had one was at least a year ago.

Keep passing up that cheesecake. I looked up the nutritional info, and believe me, you do NOT want to be eating that!

Your groceries look beautiful! Nice to see some colorful photos on this thread.

Keep up all the hard work and enjoy all your yummy new food.

[nineteen]

No cooking classes or eating out to derail me today -- I know it's going to be a good day. Yesterday was good, too, and I weighed in at 125 today. (Yay!)

Even though, in terms of weight, I (luckily) haven't really "needed" this thread lately, I'm VERY grateful for it. It's given me that extra nudge to keep going and stay mindful, stay vigilant. Lots of words of wisdom here.

Edited to add: Congrats, midwife!!!

Friendlykat~ Great job with the cheesecake!! And the nice thing is: you got to taste it and enjoy it, without overdoing it and feeling guilty. My motto for overly tempting foods is "when in doubt, throw it out." It's definitely saved me from getting out of control. Great work

[WaterRat]

Just came back from the store (how convenient that it's just around the corner from City Hall where I needed to go!) and in addition to a gorgeous looking spinach salad (complete with tomatoes, turkey, hard boiled egg, and a sprinkling of blue cheese!) I got a container of fruit with blueberries, raspberries and blackberries! OMG, they are sooo good! I ditched the container of peaches I was going to have with my cottage cheese (well, I just put it back in my drawer ). I'm enjoying every bite right now, and there's enough for tomorrow and Friday.

Barbara - we are alike! My DH can also eat anything and weighs a steady 145! Fortunately for me he likes mostly healthy stuff, and I can easily resist ice cream which is his favorite treat. Well, he also eats a lot of pudding which is also a non-starter for me as long as I don't get into it when it's warm. I haven't tried the oat bran, though my grocery store carries it, along with a lot of other Bob's Red Mill stuff. The 10 grain cereal is good, and I also buy the steel cut oats.

[Glory87]

Day 3 of the Snickerdoodle cookie gauntlet continues...

[Meg]

You've come too far to take orders from a cookie.

[Megan1982]

Well said, Meg!

Glory, if you stay away from the cookies I'll stay away from the brownies, cake, and peanut m&m's in my office. I just got back from a long day in the field to be assailed by these goodies. Since I was off work 1/2 hour ago, I'm going to head to the gym without touching them...definitely without smelling them! I'm willing to bet they look better than they taste. I'll bet, but not find out for sure.

Velveteen, I would have trouble at a Starbucks too - the smell alone would trigger me to eat too many snacks. Great job!

I think we're all doing a wonderful job. Keep up the great work, everyone! We are worth so much more than a momentary moment of pseudo-happiness.

I'll be back to read/write more in depth tomorrow. Have a great evening all.

[EofAZ]

May I join in? I know I'm way late and I haven't even read all your posts yet but I so very much need the support, even if there is only 3 1/2 days left in the challenge. Just finding this thread helped me throw away 1/2 a bottle of Mountain Dew Code Red that I was drinking for no good reason at all other then it was there, in the refrig at work and no one else was cleaning it up and I wanted something to drink. I've been in a "give up" mindset from the moment my feet hit the floor this morning and then I came across this thread and hopefully staying accountable for the next 3 days will help get me righted again.

Thx.

[EofAZ]

PS

It was so empowering to dump that stupid soda down the sink.

Thx again.

[WaterRat]

And thankfully, I finished my lunch salad - which was delicious - before two of the other gals decided they were ordering pizza delivered. I'm closing my door as soon as it gets here!

[Mel]

Today was hard for no reason at all- I just feel very down and wanted to EAT. Made it through the business lunch- enormous spinach salad with a few cherry tomatoes and 2 big broiled scallops (almost everyone else was eating pasta dishes and lots of Italian bread- that doesn't bother me because the wheat would do me in!). I sat in a traffic snarl and managed 6 blocks in 35 minutes How do people do that every day??? Then I tried to help my 85 year old aunt (who is in excellent health) cope with the task of deciding which furniture to keep when she moves from her large 2 bedroom condo to a much smaller 1 bedroom apartment in 3 months. She has stacks of books and music everywhere, and years worth of knick-knacks. I managed to make it home with only a set of dessert plates which were my grandmother's, a few bud vases, one set of drinking glasses and 2 chain belts that she probably bought in 1970 but are back in fashion. She didn't offer the grand piano- I would have taken that! I have no idea what kind of calories I had for dinner, but I did manage to get steamed food at the Chinese restaurant with no soy sauce or other sauces, and no rice. I somehow skipped a meal- wow,that must be a first! and just about passed out by the time food arrived. So even without an exact breakdown or count, I think it was a success nutritionally.

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!

Yep, that would be me minus the physical pain.
But I just wanted to EAT. Driving home, I kept thinking about pulling into the nearest grocery store and buying the biggest bag of peanut M&Ms I could find and eating myself sick. I had to find an ATM which meant going into a convenience store (no fees). I kept my eyes firmly on the floor (yuck) except when I was facing the ATM. The thought of this thread is the only thing that kept me in line. I feel like an alcoholic

But I did it. Home, cooked tomorrow's breakfasts, packed lunches with no nibbles, and am hiding from dh's chips while he watches the hockey game.

Anybody bored yet?????

Day 4 in the bank.

Mel

[rockinrobin]

Well this thread and the fact that I made a commitment to stay perfectly on track helped me stay away from Chinese Food. DH picks me up from work tonight and is eating chinese food from the carton, in the car. Schzeuan Beef and Fried Rice. Asks me if I want some. I almost said yes. Figured I just have one bite. But then I got to thinking and said NO. Then he asks me if I want his fortune cookie, one of my favorites (granted, it's not Glory's Snickerdoodle gauntlet, ) and I thought about saying yes for a second to just a bite, but said no. And then he ate it. And it's over with. Another perfect day in the books. I love it!! It feels so good to be able to gladly say NO.

Megan, Peanut M & M's are one of my all time favorites. I used to buy the king sized bag and down it in probably well under 5 minutes. Great going!!

Wow!!! We really are doing great, aren't we?

Go us. Go us. Go us.

[rockinrobin]

Mel, we posted at the same time. I'm so glad you didn't cave. You've now got 4 great days in a row!!!!



I think this would be a good time to review one of the greatest "diet" quotes out there.

Nothing tastes as good as being thin feels. Nothing tastes as good as being thin feels. Nothing tastes as good as being thin feels....

So yeah, once again - Go us!!!

[Lydia227]

Wow Mel that does sound like a tough day. I'm really impressed with how everyone is steeling themselves against the office food as well. Pizza has to be the worst though. Good job Pat.

This is actually beginning to pay off. The scale is down to the lowest I have been since October. Water weight to be sure but it's still a welcomed sign!

How did I do today? I think okay. So much of what I eat is automatic with little time to sit and enjoy it. The real challenge is still that late afternoon when the boys are home raiding the pantry. I made it through with the 3:00pm cottage cheese/yogurt snack and held my own.

B: Oatmeal/cottage cheese/protein powder
S Chai tea bag steamed in ff milk with a scoop of protein powder
L 3 oz of turkey 2 slices of whole wheat bread 1 c of watermelon
S cottage cheese mixed with yogurt and blueberries
D 1 C of whole wheat pasta topped with marinara sauce, 3 oz of ground 99% ff turkey and ff cottage cheese mixed in the sauce, tossed salad with no dressing and a handful of grapes/strawberries/orange slices combined
E Tea maybe 1/2 c of ff cottage cheese warmed in the microwave with cinnamon and splenda if I get too hungry

[BlueToBlue]

Today has been POP for me as well, but I didn't have to face any of the challenges you all faced. No one ate Chinese food in the car with me (the smell would have been hard to resist), my toenails are all fine, no one ordered a pizza around here, I haven't been into any convenience stores, I don't work at Starbucks, and I didn't go out to eat. So all in all it was pretty easy to stay on plan. I still have six or so hours to go, but I don't think it will be a struggle.

These days I'm a big fan of Starbucks because they offer six--count 'em, that's six--flavors of sugar free syrup. I wish the other coffee chains would get on the clue train. I never get anything more dangerous than a tall or grande decaf coffee, but I have them add two or three pumps of SF syrup, then I add a little whole milk. It tastes like a latte to me and it's a lot lower in calories. But I'm sure glad I don't work there. It's easy to avoid the pastries when I'm ordering my decaf coffee (which is a pretty quick order), but if they were staring me in the face all day I think it would be a lot harder.

Here's what I ate today (or will be eating):
B: FF plain yogurt with High Fiber Cereal and raspberries
S: Decaf coffee with FF half and half and SF Torani
L: Beet Haters' Salad with 4 oz chicken added (I'm not sure why this salad is called Beet Haters' Salad; if you really hate beets, I don't think you'd like it much. But maybe I'm just not cutting veggies up small enough.)
S: Multi-grain cereal with FF cream cheese and SF Torani.
S: Salad of FF plain yogurt, dijon mustard, chickpeas, cucumber, roasted pepper, and minced mint. Fiber One muffin with FF cream cheese. Small apricot.
D: Chipotle pulled pork in corn tortillas w/o cheese. Salad of greens, cucumbers and radishes in low cal dressing. Maybe also some cauliflower in the salad.
S: Pumpkin pudding with ginger cookies. Tea with FF half and half and SF Torani.

The whole day comes in at 1510 calories and I can go as high as 1600, so I might eat something else, or I might not. We'll see.

Exercises was one hour with my trainer.

WaterRat: Wow! We do have lots in common! I wonder if we have other things in common. Did you play the accordion as a kid? Do you hate peas? Are you a swimmer? My SO is 5'10" and weighs 135. I think there's something wrong with him that makes his body incapable of storing fat. He's so thin, we can't find pants to fit him. He buys the smallest size they sell and then has to have them altered. And he eats pop tarts for breakfast! (Although he does eat just one, whereas if I open that pack, I can guarantee I'm going to eat both).

[EZMONEY]

Breakfast ~ Total cereal and OJ...again

Lunch ~ Thermos of homemade soup and turkey on wheat...again

Snack ~ Apple

Dinner ~ 2 bratwurst on rolls...humm...salad...good...baked sweet potatoe fries...good!

Did 5 miles after work...a combo of walks and treadmill with Angie and the dogs! Me and the dogs 3...Angie ran 5 but walked with us for 1.5...and 2 treadmill for me!

keep up the good work ladies!