Good morning dear Maintainers. I need this thread more then ever, so I thought I'd get the ball rolling.

Let me just say that, I, pardon the French - suck. There I said it.

I let a poor stocked house, used up all the veggies Saturday night, get to me. That and the fact that yet again it was one of my DD's friends birthdays. Sooo, she just HAD to make her her favorite - blondies. Wouldn't you know it - it's one of my favorites too!!! Anyway, she did the baking, but I did the wrapping. Oy. By the time I was finished wrapping those babies up, there was three, count em, one, two, three - less of them. Like I said I s#@k.

I did remember what Jay(ell) once said, gosh it's stuck in my head - thank goodness - I tripped on a stair, but did not throw myself down the rest of the staircase. Somehow, someway, I climbed back up and managed to stay on plan the rest of the day. Big Whoop. I sooo many times thought of having some more "off" plan foods. Like pizza, pasta and ice cream, but somehow managed to talk myself out of it.

On to today where I am enforcing a much needed strict "no BLT policy". No bites, licks, and tastes. If that doesn't "work" I just may go back to the very first days of my journey - where I wrote everything down that I ate - not on the computer, but by hand. We shall see.

There's been so scale damage, luckily, but there's been no progress either. I am still a couple of pounds over my red line. NOT where I wanted to be heading into the holidays.

Ha! If you suck, I suck, and I most definitely do NOT suck. I had a small incident with some miniblueberry muffins and cream cheese yesterday....it was a misstep, not suckage. You do not suck! I am so proud of you for getting right back on plan. That is what I'm doing this morning. Back on plan. Sometimes I get tired of telling myself "Ok, back on plan" but it is the only thing to do.

Thanks midwife. Yes, it WAS a misstep. But d*@m, I've been having LOTS of them. And I just don't know why. I'm not sure, but if my memory serves me correctly, I pretty much think that the year I was losing I had less then ten of them. Less then 10 - in a WHOLE YEAR. Honestly, I think it was less then 5, but just to be sure, I'll say 10. I was so driven back then and determined that nothing much phased me. Nothing much tempted me. I wanted that weight loss so badly, that I could care less about all the tempting foods around me. And now........... I mean I know why I'm not AS driven - I no longer feel that my life is in danger and I am not as MISERABLE as I was back then at 287lbs. But my gosh, I'm soooo HAPPY now with the way I look and feel, why isn't wanting to STAY that way making me just as driven and determined?

All right, enough moaning and complaining.

Robin, have you tried chewing sugarless gum while baking/doing things like wrapping blondies? I was skeptical of this trick at first, but it has actually helped me quite a bit when I'm baking something that's not on my eating plan for an event, etc. I go to lick the spatula from the brownie batter out of old habit, and whoops, I can't, I already have something in my mouth. Reminds me I'm not supposed to be taking BLTs when I genuinely forget!

Maybe you should just say no when asked to help with something like that. Ask if you can clean up or help decorate or whatever else that doesn't involve food, and if pressed, a friend will understand if you say "I've been letting myself have too many treats lately and it's just difficult for me to say no when I'm staring food in the face."

I think there's a reason that so many people gain weight back once they lose. When you're losing, it's mentally easier to deny yourself anything not OP, because there's an end in sight. There's no end to maintenance, which makes it a lot harder. I know that I switched to that "I can eat a little bit more, an occasional treat now and then" mode for maintenance. Now that I've regained a few pounds, it's really hard to switch back (but that all or nothing mentality is the only way my body will lose weight). Maintenance is hard, after all!

Foodwise, Saturday night was not good. Really I should say wine-wise. The rest of the weekend I ate OP but didn't exercise Saturday or Sunday. I was running errands, the gym was closed all weekend, but I could have made the time and exercised outside. My goal this week is to exercise 6 days out of 7.

Monday's plan:
B - Western alt. bagel, 1 T. lt cream cheese, 1/2 T. red pepper jelly, 1 c. sk milk, coffee w/ 1 T. h&h
S - small banana
L - 8 grain tortilla, 2.5 oz. bs chicken breast, 2 T. salsa, lettuce, 2 cups mixed raw veggies, 2 T. lt. sour cream w/ ranch seasoning dip
S - 1/2 oz. raw walnuts, 6 oz. ff yogurt, cranberry relish (cranberry, orange, walnut, splenda)
gym - running, power walking, shoulders
D - chili, asian-style green beans
(rehearsal)
S - string cheese, pumpkin custard
Cal: 1572

Tuesday: (off from work)
B - 1 c. All Bran Strawberry Medley, 1 c. sk milk, coffee w/ 1 T. h&h
S - 1 serving fruit - orange or banana
L - L - 8 grain tortilla, 2.5 oz. bs chicken breast, 2 T. salsa, lettuce, 2 cups mixed raw veggies, 2 T. lt. sour cream w/ ranch seasoning dip
S - 1/2 oz. raw almonds, 6 oz. ff yogurt, cranberry relish (cranberry, orange, walnut, splenda)
gym - 45 min. elliptical, 45 min. legs, walked 1 mile on treadmill & stretched out
D - turkey eggplant casserole, asian-style green beans
(rehearsal)
S - small apple & 2 Tbsp peanut butter - I was really hungry
Cal: 1634

I did my 20 minutes on the NordicTrak this morning

B~egg white "mcmuffin" (280)
S~nuts (if I'm hungry) (100)
L~salad (spring mix, chicken, pomegranate arils, lf blue cheese, 4 pecans, lf dressing) (350) apple (100)
S~Activia yogurt (70)
D~chicken parmesan sandwiches (300) simple salad w/ff dressing (100 tops), wine (100)

Weekend was OP, except yesterday we had Pho and I'm all sodium-bloated. Oh well. The scale will return to its proper place tomorrow.

Planning for today:
B - English muffin w/ cheese, ham
S - Asian Pear
L - Leftovers - Super lean burger stuffed w/ laughing cow, caramelized onions, light sourdough, side salad
S - Popcorn
D - Well, this depends. We -may- be getting keys to our very first house today. If we do, we're having a celebratory picnic of really good cheese, some french bread, turkey, and procsciutto, with some fig jam, and probably some crudite. And wine. On the floor of the house. Celebratory (this house is 6 months in the making, as some of you know) and well-deserved.

If we DON'T get keys today, I'll be having a BBQ pork tenderloin w/ multigrain pilaf and steamed broccoli.
S - NSA Ice Cream cone

Rockinrobin-- you do not suck-- you ROCK! C'mon, didn't baking used to be eating most of the goodies? It did for me Now? upset about 2 or 3? yes, not super well disciplined, but suck? nope.

My deal... I had a rough time last week. Don't know why exactly... but it did suck feeling that way. (I'm trying to see how many times I can write suck )

And just wanted to say one thing more (for the moment), midwife I too use the word suckage. as in, "traveling with kids sucks, it's just a matter of the degree of suckage"

please don't moderate my suck talk. I'm done

Thanks gals.

Megan, I use the "gum trick" all the time. Another thing that really helps me while baking/cooking is to have a glass of water on the counter. I keep sipping at that.

The thing that did me in this time, well, I was cutting those blondies and the edges got a little well done, but not too much at all, and I decided I should trim the edges. Ha. Whatever. Maybe it's time to stop baking for awhile.

Maybe it IS time to stop baking for now. Sheesh.

Anyway, I feel good. Not as down as I had been this morning. I did a little "shopping therapy" this morning. Nothing like new clothes to get me back on track. It was funny. I tried on this poncho type thing-y. I've been wanting one of them. Well, it was "one size fits all", well it didn't fit ME. It was swimming on me. Really looked silly. I remember back in the day when I would see that "one size fits all" label. It drove me crazy, cause naturally, there was no way it was fitting on me or even close.

Kitty, I hope you have a better week and Megan, 6 days out of 7? Nice and ambitious!!! Good luck.

Hiya folks.

Well, the good news is the house closed today! The bad news? The realtor changed the lockbox and we can't get in! So hopefully she'll call us tomorrow and we'll be able to get the ball rolling. I went with my alternate dinner plan (pork roast, red beans and rice, and steamed broccoli) and was OP.

SO - plan for tomorrow:

B - English muffin pizza
S - Asian Pear
L - Leftovers - Pork roast, red beans and rice, and steamed broccoli
S - Popcorn
S (if hungry) - Greek Yogurt
D - the much anticipated cheese, wine, and french bread.

E - 60 min stairclimber (oh, I also broke a belt on my elliptical. It wasn't my day!)

Hey big congratulations on the house Amanda. How wonderfully exciting. Best of luck to you and Sarah.

Yesterday was a great day. I did a lot of thinking and realized I was probably being a spoiled brat. Wanting my cake and eating it too. Haha. As we all know, in order to stay fit and trim we just can't have it both ways. Splurges have to be far and few between. And then of course, I remembered that I'm eating foods that I LOVE. There's no reason for me to have UNhealthy splurges. That's the whole reason I'm always shopping, chopping, dicing and cooking. So that I can eat yummy - HEALTHY - foods. I am grateful that my body was forgiving to me and let me shed all the excess pounds which freed me up to be healthier, fitter and happier.

Anyway, yesterday was one of the "easiest" POP days that I've had in awhile. Being ever so hard on myself, I'll say that of course it was a Monday and Monday's are ALWAYS easiest for me. All right, all right enough.

Have a great day everyone.

Congrats on the house Amanda!!!

20 minutes on the NordicTrak this morning

B~cheese sandwich
S~nuts
L~Smart Ones entree, apple
S~Activia yogurt
D~fish tacos
45 minutes at the gym this afternoon

Good morning everyone!
I have got to get better about posting in these chat threads... I check in every day and post questions, responses, etc, but I'm finding when I don't post in the 'accountability' type threads I slip off track...

For example:
1) I didn't exercise Friday or Saturday because I was just lazy when I got up, then didn't exercise when I got up yesterday either. (Same thing happened last week on Thursday and Friday, too.) Had big plans to exercise yesterday evening - got in ten minutes of an ab video and 12 minutes of a new yoga video before I dropped on the floor... Two days off in a row just doesn't work for me, they need to be spread out during the week...
2) I've had almost a dozen iced pumpkin cookies since Halloween... DHs ex-wife is an amazing baker and we got stuck with the leftovers from daycare. They were so pretty I just didn't have the heart to throw them away... Well, tonight when I get home the three that are left are going in the trash! No more pumpkin cookies for me! And, don't get me started on the tootsie rolls...
3) I've found myself logging in all the extra at the end of the evening and have been shocked at where I've ended up calorie wise several days. I think I'm averaging 1850/day right now - 200 up from just two weeks. Hasn't hurt me yet, but I feel all puffy today, have for several days now. So, no more! I'm back to planning everything the night before, or at least in the morning every day. I'm not saying I can't have the tootsie roll if I have room, it just has to be part of the plan! No more "I think I have room, 45 calories won't really matter"... Every calorie matters! I may find that 1850ish is my maintenance number, but I know 1850 cals of pumpkin cookies and tootsie rolls with no exercise isn't the right way to do it! I'm targeting 1700 this week, as that was my target of a few weeks ago before I got crazy.

I'm way too early in the maintenance game to slide!

So, to that end, today's food plan:
B: Smoothie (oikos, milk, OJ, fruit) - 415 cals, coffee with 1 tsp sugar, 1 tbsp creamer - 52 cals
S: String cheese, small apple - 120 cals
L: small grilled chicken sandwich only lett, tom, pickle - 210 cals
S: kashi go lean or mini rice cakes - 140 cals
Post Evening Work Out: Chocolate milk with protein powder - 175 cals
D: Homemade chicken curry with long grain and wild rice - app 400 cals if I eat the right portion
S: Peanut butter on a graham cracker - 140 cals
approximately 1660 total

Exercise: 45 minutes on elliptical done, 35 minutes kickboxing when I get home is the plan.

Have a good day everyone!

Amanda, very exciting stuf!!
And Robin, I'm learning from you. So reasonable.
very pop good day for me yesterday.

today good up until kids pizza dinner. but I'm not diving off the abandoned plan deep-end.

feeling pulled in a gazillion directions. maybe gazillion billion directions...

I haven't posted in this forum in awhile but feel like I need it more this week. Feel myself slippy sliding....
I think it is because I am finishing up a four day weekend with a few splurges, plus I have just felt tired and lazy. I still need to go to the gym today. I have talked myself in and out of it 100 times. I told myself I could do wii fit instead and I did do it. It told me it had been 100 days since I last did it! That is pathetic. We got the wii and the game to be more active and we haven't been using it. On the plus side, it said I had lost over 7 pounds since the last time I was on. I had fun, but I didn't break a sweat so I am not counting it for exercise. I.....will....go....to....the...gym....even....tho ugh....it....is...cold....outside...and....I....am ....warm....and....snuggly....in...bed...with...my ...two...kitties!!
I have a big event to go to Sunday (WW party for employees) and I have my cute new dress to wear. Right now I feel bloated and disgusted and that dress is TIGHT so I better get my booty in gear!

Off to the gym now and I WILL BE ON PLAN food-wise the rest of the week!!!!!

I guess I just needed to post here... I am back from the gym. I ran on the treadmill for 30+ minutes-- not sure how long exactly because I pulled out the stupid stop button halfway through when I was looking at my ipod-- I do that all the time! I always feel better and more motivated after exercising. I am drenched so I know I got a great workout.....