Good morning! Thank goodness for coffee!

How was everyone's weekend? No Mothers Day brunches here, thank goodness. I made some lovely grilled shrimp and broccoli for dinner and was perfectly content. Best of all, there are leftovers!

Once the coffee kicks it, it's off to the gym and then a big grocery shopping. I didn't do any bulk cooking this weekend so want to get a lot made today. I'm going to try butternut squash oven fries -- anyone try them? I figure I'll just make them like sweet potato fries.

One more mug of coffee and then I need to fly -- back later!

I'm down 1 lb. from last week's Monday weigh in and my chart shows an overall losing trend over the past 7 weeks.

That's good because I bit the bullet yesterday and tried on a bunch of summer clothes. I am the owner of many pairs of shorts that are just a wee bit too tight . Ditto my summer pants. Luckily my tops always fit - that's the first place I lose weight and the last I gain.

This week is going to be starting this afternoon so my goal is to maintain the weight on the chart for the week, rather than losing that last 6 lbs.

I have another week like this coming up at the end of May. I will again maintain my weight for that week.

I am at that point where I'm feeling a little stupid about taking sooo long getting to goal. I think that might be more motivation than fitting comfortably into the shorts. I just want to get it done.

Great Monday all!

Dagmar

Good morning!

Swim team starts today, and it's only supposed to get up to 72. My daughter is going to freeze her little tushy off. Not to mention life is about to be really busy for the next six weeks or so.

Have a great Monday!

Good morning everyone! I WISH I could say that I didn't have a Mother's Day brunch yesterday. I'll be honest...it did me in. I overate there and the food was average, at best...so it was not worth the calories. I rebounded by walking 18 very hilly holes of golf with DH in the afternoon and felt WAY better after that. I was also relieved that my MIL said next year she's planning to do a potluck style meal at her house for Mother's Day which will be way healthier and yummier!
I'm off to do some meal planning and prep for a busy week.

Le sigh.

I wish I lived in a little community of maintainers, where everyone eats shrimp and broccoli and not bread pudding and orders lunch in for Mother's Day. Overall I did ok. I ate a salad and a turkey sandwich for lunch, but then I had bread pudding. Cause everyone else was doing it....Although if everyone else was throwing themselves off a cliff, would I do it too? Bread pudding is a metaphorical cliff, why fling myself off it? I have plenty of positive examples here at 3FC. I need to think about all of you staying the course, and make my own decisions based on what is right for me, and not use the excuse "Well, everyone else is doing it." Goodness, that is being an adult, is it not?

But still, a little village of Shannons, Kittys, Megs, Amandas, etc., would be a lovely tribe to be part of.

Meg, I second the "thank goodness for coffee" sentiment!

A "maintainer village" would be great. We had a brunch at church yesterday and I didn't do too bad... did have a deviled egg but it was totally worth it. It was almost great - then I decided to share some of my bf's potato salad and he went to get dessert and brought me some boston creme pie, which of course I devoured.

Time to get back on the exercise wagon.

Dagmar, I am also in possession of a whole collection of summer clothes that just don't quite fit. I can't keep wearing t-shirts every day. (well, I can, but I just don't feel great in them!)

So here goes - back on track starting this week. Really, this time! =)

Good morning everyone!
I think we need an acronym for Monday that is the opposite of TGIF. Any ideas? My daughters and I say So Happy It's Thursday (check out the acronym!).

Mother's day was nice. I was cooked for and overate some..... lovely bruschetta, grilled shrimp, little steak, corn, and a chocolate souffle (WW recipe).... yum..... scale is up still and of course!!

Family is giving me spin shoes for Mom's day. I'm not sure where to go. REI?

Great workout on Saturday. Biggest Loser workout for 100 minutes! I am so sore!! I must have slept funny on my arm because it is numb and tingly from the elbow down. Hope it wears off soon!!

Gotta get to work.....sigh....

Love my coffee too.

I feel like I have a midterm this next week or so. Traveling to FL to see launch and planning out my calories. I need to do the planning anyway for the family but there is an overlay of my goals as well.

The final is this summer when the family tours our great western states. That will be for 2 1/2 weeks. FL is only for a week with nice kitchen facitlities in our suite.

midwife~I want to live in that village! Of course, it would mean I couldn't live with my son any longer. The dude, as we call him, needs his calories and has his own way of indicating that the really, really good southwest salad that I served Thursday night wasn't sufficient--yet he refused seconds. I really don't want to have to fix a different meal for him than for me and DH, but I'm starting to think that I may need to do that. He needs the pastas that I'm trying to stay away from. Can I take the next few years off and come live with you?

No brunch here, either. We golfed instead. I did much better yesterday than the previous week. I got my 3 pars, but no birdies. My putting was off in the beginning, but came back on the back nine. DH pampered me a bit and DS gave me a nice present (laptop "desk" with a shelf for a mouse and a new mouse) and DD wrote some really nice things about me in her blog. It was a nice Mother's Day!

We went to see Iron Man 2 on Saturday and then watched a video Saturday night. We were going to watch another last night but DH and I decided to catch up on our DVR shows.

i had my boys with me for mother's day so it was perfect! i cooked for myself so no problem staying on plan that way. did make pancakes for lunch but that is an OP treat so to speak.

i am really proud of myself actually - i "mutually" broke up with my bf last thurs night and didnt turn to food. then fri he emails me and say "just kidding". (He was getting me back for an April fools joke, apparently, where i sent him an email saying i was going back to my ex and the next line in the email said "gotcha, april fools!" ) ... so needless to say, we chatted fri night. i have not spoken to him since. i am also wicked sick with a massive sinus/ear/eye infection... and yet, i STAYED ON PLAN all weekend! no extras! no binging! if anything, i am actually down a little bit!!!

i would love it if we could educate everyone on what it means to maintain! it is like when you are pregnant and people think it is okay to eat for two - it really isnt! just because i've lost the weight doesnt mean i can eat whatever i want now!!! if you ever start that village, i am in!!!!

happy monday!!! TGIF - OGIM (Oh god its monday!)

The women in my immediate family are obese or overweight (except my 3 yo niece) & always trying to lose, so family holidays are a bit dysfunctional. My mom and I got along well on Sunday, but I was self-conscious for having lost a lot of weight. She was supportive & actually bought me a couple nice running tops.

My mom wanted to eat at Chili's at 4 pm and I said okay, but I'm not going to eat b/c it's not time for me to eat dinner. I told her I'd go and get a soda. (Plus, I didn't want to try to eat on plan at Chili's and 4 pm is too early to eat dinner for me. I'd be wanting to eat again at 9).

She didn't want to eat in front of me so we had green tea in her kitchen instead. My sister came over and we talked weight loss for a bit. She told me her trainer is insisting that it's food, not exercise. I laughed b/c I think that's true. No amount of exercise will get me thin.

My sister said the nicest things to me. She said I never say a bad word to people & that I don't judge anyone. It's true. I strongly believe that everyone is good & we don't do negative stuff on purpose. We all do the best we can.

Meg, dinner sounds great--yum.

Dagmar, congrats on the losing trend. It's nice to have a plan.

Wardhog, that must mean an outside pool? My DD was on a swim team with an outside pool. Really tough before the weather warmed up--and during thunderstorms.

Ms. P, way to rebound!

Midwife, ah, the bread pudding. I know I wish I'd never been introduced to it. Now that I have to be gluten-free it's a non-issue. Oh, get your dr. to diagnose you with gluten problems whether you are or aren't--then no more bread pudding for you.

Iris, isn't it great that today is another day when we can start anew?

Michele, maybe you can google spin shoes and see where you can get them? Doesn't sound like an REI thing, but who knows.

Karen, that's an interesting analogy. Sounds fun, though.

Allison, sound like you had a nice relaxing Mother's Day.

We saw a mother duck and 13 tiny ducklings waddling along the sidewalk of a fairly busy street in our neighborhood. It was so cute watching them line up two by two behind mama. No water around so not sure where she was doing, and no dad duck around. I can't remember if the dad ducks usually stick around or not. Dad geese do because I see entire families where my DH works. Saw Mom, Dad and one gosling this morning. I'm betting there were more goslings at one point. Not too sad about that because they grow up and become messy, honking geese.

We met my DS and his GF yesterday morning for breakfast. I ate two eggs and some potatoes--a normal-size portion. No dairy and no gluten stuff limits me, which is a good thing. We went to church afterward, then my DH and I went and bought a water plant for this little fountain-in-a-container we made for the patio. Also planted more stuff.

Meeting my sister in Oregon this evening, then off to the Redwoods in our RV. Will get to see my DD today, too, then again when we return next weekend. Hope everyone has a great week!

Good morning!

Wow, I have eaten out 4 of the last 5 days... I made decent choices for the main course items all of those days with some minor badness on side items, but just the volume of sodium has to be choking my insides. Seafood burrito Wednesday (rice, chips and salsa, some cheese dip), two slices of pizza Thursday with strips of mozzarella/tomato/basil (one slice of bruschetta which was actually lighter than I remembered), Saturday I had a wheat flatbread with goat cheese/ olives/ sweet onion/ fennel/ small amount of spicy sausage (bite of carrot cake and 1/3 cinnamon roll as a starter, lemon pie later in the afternoon), Sunday we had more Mexican so I had steamed veggies with shrimp and a small amount of rice, more chips and salsa. Then DH and I had popcorn for snack during "The Pacific". There. I've confessed. I don't think I did a terrible job with choices and portion control, and we actually ate very healthy on vacation and for all of my other meals on the eating out days, but I am feeling the salt. So, back on point this week. I did do some yoga every day last week, ran my 5k with DH on Saturday, ran on Thursday. Not much other formal exercise all week though. Back home, back on track with the exercise, too!

Meg - great job with Mother's Day food! I had a dentist appointment today and she pointed out my new coffee stains on my teeth. So of course, I'm about to make some right now since it has been an hour past my flouride rinse!

Dagmar - on the loss! Those pants and shorts will fit fine again soon!

Ward - definitely chilly today for swimming!

MsPerception - I hate it when I overeat at just average food... The walking the golf course must have been fun! They are so pretty.

Midwife - I could totally go for a little maintainer's community. I've never had bread pudding. I think I will just never try it.

Iris - I'm right back on the exercise wagon with you. We can do it!

Michele - spin shoes... hmm...I've seen them at Zappos, and a couple of other online cycling stores. Never in person... Hope the are feels better today!

Karen - that is a great analogy! I feel like I'm being tested every major holiday myself. And every time I walk past the ice cream at the store.

Allison - my MIL says that she cooked two different meals for herself and DH when he was young sometimes. Or, cooked one meal for the two of them and then a second different meal for him to go along with the first. Boys...

Happy - I wish the same thing on people trying to get me to eat... just because I met my goal doesn't mean I can eat whatever you hand me, or I'll just be setting a new goal and dieting again! So you did or didn't actually break up with your bf?

Motivated - that sounds like a fabulous afternoon! It is great that your mom didn't make you go to Chili's when you weren't up for it, and the conversations with her and your sister sound fabulous!

Sheila - have a great trip! We have a group of ducks that often wander up into our parking lot here at the restaurant where I work. I'm not sure where they come from either.

Good day everyone! We are going to have a great week!

the bf saga continues! i am calling him tonight (he lives 1.5hrs away so a visit is not going to happen easily) and telling him we are over... i think the 'funniest' thing that was said last week was

Kim: I think I have a lot to offer you and your daughter
BF: But I am not materalistic

Dooh-head!!!! I didn't mean I could buy him stuff! oh well... HIS LOSS!!!


motivated - it is amazing to me that you said that to your mom! i am just now feeling like i could say things like that to my mom...although i would feel very nervous about saying it and guilty about it (i am working on both those feelings!!).

i totally agree that is it both exercise and food! i exercised 45 min x 5 days a week yet weighed nearly 300lbs at the time! real weight loss didnt happen until i started eating right too!

guess with the break up i will be eating in mostly these days! ha ha ha... which is good... i am not a big fan of eating out since it tends to make my belly do backfills with the added fat and salt that they use...

Staying with the midterm analogy a bit longer. I having been having the refrain, "failing to plan is planning to fail" running in my head. Sat down and mapped out the meals, on the road and at hotel, and at all points in between. I do this is anyway when we head to the beach in the summer. Same set of skills.

So as I was writing it down, I realized I could just as easiliy put it in my iTouck. No paper needed. There are my reference notes nicely typed and discreet. Relying on all of the recipes I have seen zipping by, like microwaving scrambled eggs.

I also called ahead (a habit I have this time around) to see what constitues continental breakfasts. Their breakfast is great for my trim and active teenage sons. Not so good for me. However, I can fix things for me in our kitchen, beautiful things with fresh berries, and not feel a bit deprived. Oatmeal pancakes will be one I fix for breakfast when they have having their syrupy breakfasts. By really taking about 10 minutes to think these meals through, I have taken a lot of the eating burden off of my shoulders. Which will translate into a happier trip. And happier weighing when I get home.


So about this being so long a post but it is like I am seeing my weight management as an A grade this time.