OK. Meg, maybe I didn't mean that like it sounded. No more slinking! I'm marching proudly back to this thread to announce that I've maintained.
And yes, good point you made. I think what I discovered is that being aware and not tracking may work for maintenance but I need to track for weight loss.
Mandalinn82,
I don't want to count the amount of times in the past 7 months+ that I've come on this web site and whined about gaining weight for no apparent reason--was eating as usual, exercising as usual, etc.--so I know from several experiences that our bodies do weird things to us sometimes. It could be water gain, could be stress (yes, that definitely raises the number on my scale from time to time). When I hit a point where my weight is going up and up, I make sure that I take a really close look at what I'm eating and how I'm exercising and am very honest with myself about whether I'm eating and exercising OP or not. If I am, then I work hard to not think about the scale. I know, at least for me, that that is very hard to do. Sometimes I'm up incrementally for a week and all of a sudden, again seemingly unexplained, my weight will start going down. Those kinds of changes make me absolutely insane, but they happen; and I have to believe in myself and that I'm doing the same things I usually do. So, hang in there, provided you are on plan and doing what you usually do, the weight should start changing directions. You do have to be very patient though!
Well, after this weekend, I know at least -some- is actual weight. But it was a fabulous relief and I actually got to be relaxed some, so that's great.
You guys are right, of course. Stay the course, settle in, and it'll work itself out.
I did keep my commitment to myself for the weekend - no matter what happened, or what I ate, I'd exercise both days...and I did! I got 60 min on the elliptical on Saturday, and today 30 min on the elliptical plus 35 minutes doing a treadmill 5k. And I wore my skinny jeans on Saturday, too, just to prove that they really DID fit. And they looked good.
So I'll try to relax. The scale is going on a week-long hiatus, I decided, while the weekend away water weight goes away, because stressing over that won't help and my body is so unpredictable. As long as I'm on plan with eating and exercise, we'll call it a victory.
So the plan for tomorrow is:
55 min elliptical
60 min strength training
B - Pizza english muffin
S - Small peach w/ sliced strawberries
L - Tuna melt - light english muffin, canned tuna, pickles, light cheddar
S - Popcorn
S - Greek yogurt w/ strawberries
D - Sausage and lentil soup
S - NSA Neopolitan Ice Cream
Putting the scale away for a week sounds like a wise move, Amanda. I hope this week is a little less stressful for you than the past few have been. And good for you for keeping up the exercise!
Amanda suggested that we keep the thread running from Friday to Friday after we had the server crash and I think it's a brilliant idea since so many of us have trouble on weekends. This way, the weekend can be the start, not the ending to our weeks. So we'll keep this thread running until Thursday, then start a new one on Friday. Sound OK?
Last week was a good one for exercise (seven days of cardio, six of weights) but the darn scale still won't move. Whatever. I think I retain water when it's this hot out. The gym opens at 5:30 am in all its steamy glory and I'll be there for bike, elliptical, and a back workout. Meal planning?
M1: Protein shake w/blueberries
M2: Oatmeal and turkey sausage
M3: Salad w/protein and LF dressing
M4: 12 bean soup
M5: Grilled chicken breast, touch of BBQ sauce, roasted green beans
Maybe the Friday to Friday will help me going forward- I've been having dreadful times over the weekend. This one was no different. I'm back...I have to be back! My clothes are tight and I go to bed every night with a sickening sense of failure and wake up every morning knowing that I again did not keep my promises.
B- Smoothie(just finished!), English Muffin w/pb
S- hmmm...I'm normally full morning from this breakfast. Maybe I'll take some string cheese
L- Kashi meal, apple, yogurt
S-no clue
D- 3 Cheese chicken penne from Cooking light(one of my fave recipes!)
S- Dark chocolate pudding cup or Skinny Cow ice cream
Exercise--A quick but effective session. I'll try for 30-45 minutes of cardio and some quick weights. I have a ton to do tonight. I will be walking around a lot at lunch today running errands though.
Amanda, I wasn't posting much last week but I had read your original post re: weight gain and wondered if it was just gain due to muscle mass, especially since you say that your skinny jeans still fit! You mentioned upping your strength training intensity. Also, I agree with everyone who's posted that stress & hormones can cause you to retain water. Maybe you should give the scale a rest for a week or two. Ask Sarah to hide it for you. At this point it seems that if the scale is upsetting you so much it's just destructive and can be put aside for a bit. It's not sticking your head in the sand - you're eating & exercising OP. Then, take a step back and breathe. I don't know about your schedule day to day, but can you find a little bit of time to do something that you find truly relaxing and center yourself? Hang in there!
Tammy, maintaining is a victory!!! Don't be so down on yourself.
By the end of last week the scale was sliding back to where it should be (144 this morning), exercise was POP all week, and I'm slowly increasing my cardio intensity again. I actually stayed on plan all weekend! Saturday night BF & I made pizza, but I controlled my portions and all was fine. All my food and gym clothes are planned & packed for the next 2 days.
Hi everyone! I am feeling so unmotivated to track my food right now. I have been eating well and with the hot weather all I really want to eat is salad and fruit anyway. Weight is very slowly creeping down. I think I may take a week off from tracking my food just to see what happens. This weekend I'm going to visit my sister in NYC so I'm sure I will be eating a lot of junk that will be impossible to track anyway. I'll try to make good choices.
Hi all! I did a quick post Saturday, but lost it (silly server) and didn't have time to re-post b/c I was running out the door. So I'm back now. Had a 1/2 great, 1/2 not great weekend. Fri. and Sat. - wonderful. Exercise - terrific. Sun. - disaster. So I am a big fan of Friday to Friday No Excuses threads - I clearly need weekend motivation!
Today I'm back on track. Heat wave here in NY is making me a bit prickly, but also makes me not so hungry, so exercise will be hard and food easy. It's always something, right?
My measurements are settling down again, the scale is slowly deflating back to where it was weeks ago (144), and I'm wearing a skirt to work for the first time in ... well, practically ever. I usually hate my calves in a skirt, and today I think they look good, so: !!
Now, very quickly (b/c I have to get to work):
Amanda - skinny jeans! That's a wonderful accomplishment in and of itself!
Tammy - maintaining - ditto!
Mel -
Meg - congrats on the exercise!
WaterRat - ONE blueberry pancake? I'm impressed!
Megan - so glad you're back on track.
Paperclippy - hope you have fun in "my town" this weekend. Lucky for you, I think the heat wave should break by then.
Everyone I missed - hello!
This week will be very difficult for me-- there are way too many excuses!
I know I can avoid some of them, but others I may not do as well.....
Wednesday night is my 8th grader's graduation from middle school and we are going to an amazing Italian restaurant after. I plan on having fish and a salad hopefully.
Then, Thursday is my end of year staff party from school. They are ordering food from another italian restaurant. I plan on paying for my portion but not eating. I will bring snacks for myself and hope to remain strong.
Father's Day looks to be my biggest challenge though food wise as we are going back to Italian restaurant #1 for a Father's Day Buffet. I will do my best to make wise choices, but buffets are hard for me!
Exercise will be a challenge too as some days/nights are really full. I will do my best.
Today after school I have to bring my dog to the vet for the 3rd follow up following him ripping out one of his toenails last week. Dd also has to get an allergy shot so I will have to exercise much later than usual; I like to exercise right after school but that will be impossible.....
I leave for Houston 3 weeks from today so I need to remain strong!!!!
Well, count me into the disaster weekend group. Sigh. Potluck after church was my downfall.....
Today:
B - cheerios w/ 1% milk and 1/2 peach, ww toast,
S - ? ff latte (if the line is not too long); luna bar if I'm feeling hungry (I have a meeting 10-12)
L - homemade veggie soup; small serving of pasta salad from potluck
S - apple
D - chili
Wow, I just realized that both lunch and dinner have beans - that could be um, interesting.....
This is the last week of visitors. Everyone leaves on Wednesday after an extra late Tuesday dinner--graduation is from 5-8 PM. How do you plan dinner around that? We'll hit a restaurant at about 8:30 PM and just do the best possible.
Meanwhile, I have to put up with my Mom's super frugality (which means do NOT throw away ANY food). Geez, I can only handle just so many leftovers. Granted she and my Dad make use of a lot of them for lunch, but as soon as they're out of the house I'm doing a major fridge cleanout! There's nothing worse than leftover containers calling my name (like the leftover rice I had for breakfast this morning).
Plan for Monday
B~rice (see above)
S~cereal bar
L~salad, yogurt and a slice of watermelon
S~? nuts perhaps
D~chicken, salad and rice
S~cookies (also a benefit from having my parents stay for two weeks) UGH
Plan for Tuesday
B~peach and toast
S~water (I'll be busy setting up things for graduation)
L~salad
S~hors d'oeuvres (have to have something to keep us going before heading to graduation)
D~Mexican restaurant--we'll see how I fare
My weekend was a planned disaster. I had one of the top 5 meals of my life, though, so I really, really am OK with the off-plan-ness. Even if it takes me a week or two to burn off the extra calories for that meal, I think it was worth it. Mmmmm. And actually, I ordered one of the leanest things at our table (BTW - are all of you aware of how lean duck breast meat is if you don't eat the skin? Duck has this reputation for being fatty, but duck breast is sooo good and so lean when cooked!). We did share 3 desserts between the 4 of us, but again, worth it (and the portions were small, so I probably had a total of 6-8 bites of dessert). One was the most amazing cheesecake-ish thing (It was not at ALL dense...very light and fluffy...but they called it a cheesecake) flavored with Lillet...oh my.
OK, apologies for my food porn. Today I'm glad to be home, hydrating, and on-plan (and so far, I've stuck to my "no scale" rule).
[QUOTE=mandalinn82;2217815]My weekend was a planned disaster. I had one of the top 5 meals of my life, though, so I really, really am OK with the off-plan-ness.
[QUOTE]
Ok-- I have to know where you went that you rank as one of the top 5 meals of your life? I might need to make a trip out your way.
I am so proud of what I just passed up. One of our parents brings our school the most amazing egg rolls once a year. He brought them today and I was the ONLY one who avoided them. It was hard. I literally kept hearing, NO EXCUSES in my head! It probably helps that I'm wearing tight pants today. I find that if I feel like I have more room in my clothes, I am more likely to think I can cheat-- anyone else do that?!?!
No more slinking! I'm marching proudly back to this thread to announce that I've maintained. 
Mel!
