I do like this.

I've been so busy I don't have time to eat - at least, not beyond what I can get that's healthy for a meal, to satisfy my hunger, but no time for boredom snacking. I've actually lost 1 lb during TOM, which is almost unprecedented. Not complaining! If you've read the Maintainers weekly chat you'll know I finally adopted a dog. I'm going to have to modify my activities a bit, I can't go to work for 8 hours and straight to the gym for 2 more anymore. Yesterday BF did let her out and give her some exercise several times during the day while I was at work, so I knew I was ok to go to the gym for a quick bout of legs, then home to do a "wog" on the beach with the pup. I'll be doing a lot more of my cardio with her.

Krampus, glad you haven't exploded. Um, yeah, I've still got more than 15 lbs to go (also rather embarrassing but I'm not going to lie about it!) but I'm here, so I give you permission to be too!

Xty, I hear you, we've all been there. Today is a new day, to be a little bit better.

Losermom, congrats on the 1 lb loss. Yeah, give the chocolates to those young college students who seem to be able to inhale anything and remain stick thin... always hated them. I mean, um, I'm a loving person, really. :devil:

Onward and upward, right? :carrot:

Hi guys! I love this thread, it entertains me greatly.

Krampus - glad that you are starting to feel a little better.

losermom - demon cake and more chocolates for your birthday. Funny. Or not, depending on what day it is. Hehe.

Xty - today is definitely a new day.

Allison - great job on the weight loss!

Becky - hope the worst of TOM has passed!

I'm doing better this week - I did really well with food and exercise during weekdays of the ice storm, then fell off the wagon the weekend afterwards, got back on track last week. Between my treadmill and the park I've gotten out and run six times in the last three weeks, which a significant improvement over my only one run in November and none since then. I'm starting to feel better and remember that I can do this.

:wave: good day everyone!

This morning I weighed in at 140 (I feel like I'm shouting this all over the maintenance forum like crazy today!), which is at the top of my preferred weight range. I still want to go down a lb or two for comfort.

Those kids sucked down the chocolates! I did have one dark chocolate caramel after debating which of the remaining ones were the very best. I deserve the best, don't I? it is all about me after all. :)

Helllloooooo ladies of Op Lose 5-Whatev...

Megan, ditto on busy and eating less as a result. Cool, no? :) But let me also say I put 1.5 lbs of chocolate covered almond toffee into my garbage disposal! Because I noticed no matter how busy I was I managed to take it out of the freezer and pop large chunks of it into my mouth. Downed about .5 lb prior to the toss. Now I fling open the cabinets and find NOTHING!!!!! That certainly helps the process, yes? ;)

Shannon, WTG on the running. I have not gone for a run, or done any exercise since Dec 31. Booo, Hisss. Must. Exercise!!!!!!!!

Losermom, I give you kudos for actually following thru and bringing the chocolates to work. And for the TOM control and loss!

Xty, as a binger I can very easily relate to what you posted and are feeling. The fact that you came around and put it on paper is a step towards ultimately getting the yourself that you love back in your own comfortable body. :hug:

Allison, you are going to be smoking hot! at your reunion :) I have a college 20th coming up. Feeling torn about going. My college years were filled with grief for my father who died a sudden death (endocarditis) in the begining of second semester and massive obvious destructive eating disorders-- yup, the whole gamut.

Saef, even tho our beloved Krampus has pooped (WTG BTW...sounds like there is more tho ;)) won't you pop in every now and then? This is my main forum. I am worried about missing you :(

Midwife, how did you make make out with your most recent chocolate craving? You are in friendly company here. NO JUDGEMENT :hug: Lol, I couldn't/wouldn't be here if there were judgement! :o

Silver, come around and give us that dry UK humor of yours :) Hope all is well in the wood chopping zone :p

Neurodoc, looking forward to your ultimate process of maintenance vs. loss while on maintenance. See you soon :)

Pat, you Hawaiian dog, you!!! Send us that warm and hot sunshine, would'ya???????

Lovingme, anyone I missed, lurkers, all of us....:hug::carrot::):D;):D:hug::hug::hug::cool::D uh huh, that's right!

ETA: xty, in this case the "paper" was this thread :)

OK KC /over

I'll be back. At work. No snow.

:drill::twirly::hyper:

Kitty, your enthusiasm is contagious! Thank you for making me smile today!

I've been slacking this week. I hit the office candy jar a couple of times, and that has to stop. Those stupid fun sized candy bars are like 140 calories each (I think). If I get it under control today, I'll be back to the 8 pound loss by the weekend as a little has snuck back on.

I managed to get on the treadmill this morning. I really, really need to concentrate on doing that more regularly, but I just dread getting up early to do it. Wednesdays are easy as DS goes to school an hour later so my usual wake up time is sufficient for getting some exercise in. If only I could motivate myself to do it after work, but I tend to busy myself in the kitchen which isn't the best place to be that time of day. I've been lucky so far as I haven't been snacking, but I do get the whole kitchen cleaned, dishwasher emptied and table set for dinner and then I get everything prepared (chopped, etc.) for dinner so once DH is home the meal is quickly prepared (in most cases). I could easily skip a lot of pre-preparation and hit the treadmill and watch either Ellen or the news, or even wait until after dinner and watch Wheel or Jeopardy, but I've really been slacking.

:wave:
Sinking into the mire of late January Michigan winter despair. At least there is a real ray of sunlight in the near future - I just need to make it to Feb 17, and then it's off to Florida (Key West) and Cozumel for a long weekend. God, I am SO tired of dirty snow, gray skies, cruddy salty cars, and being COLD. When (if) I grow up, I am moving south. :D OK, pulling up the big-girl panties and getting on with life.

Megan, congrats on the dog! Dogs are so great for reminding us that movement just plain feels good. :) My bunny does HIIT first thing in the morning and in the early evening - 3 full laps around my living room, at top speed, with high-G turns around the sofa. I MUST try to catch it on videotape! :lol:

losermom, kudos for the role-model behavior regarding the chocolates! And yes, waiting for the very best of the best tastes is always worth it.

Shannon, I'm surviving - thanks! Glad to hear you're recovering the can-do-it; I see little glimmers of it now and then.

kitty, Mixed feelings about the toffee - that is a sacrifice of stellar proportions. I made the mistake of picking up a box of Trader Joe's dark chocolate and sea salt caramels. Fortunately, I had a lot of help destroying them, and I suppose if nothing else, I ate enough of them in one sitting that the desire for more is long gone. :D

alinnell, your post made a lightbulb go on for me - I'm doing the exact same thing with dinner. That time in the kitchen is really doing me in on the weekdays, and I need to find an alternate strategy.

xty, sending you the resolve that I don't seem to be using these days - I know you'll put it to good use!

Hellos to everyone else - I'm short on time for looking back to see the latest posts, but hope to come back on later as a reward for accomplishing a particularly pesky task that I'm procrastinating on ...

Yes, I'm always astounded how eating less, moving more helps one lose weight. I forget continually, and have to remind myself often. But the reason you listed is also why I don't put things like trail mix in my house. Too delicious, too easy to eat handful after handful. Some things just don't cross the threshold. I somehow forget every once in a while (I'm very forgetful sometimes) and re-learn this lesson repeatedly.

ICU, thanks, yeah, yesterday she managed to squirrel her way through the door and took off down the street to see her new BFF (aka the neighbor's dog she met earlier on her walk). They did some HIIT up the block, down the block, up the block and did not give a hoot what I said. It took me about 15 minutes to catch her. This after we went for a 3 mile wog. Apparently that didn't tire her one iota.

Alison, sounds like you need to re-do your PM routine to eliminate the kitchen for a while. Maybe have DS empty dishwasher & set table, and forget the prep work until DH is home. Just a thought...

Losermom, awesome scale victory! Woohoo!

Exercise today: 30 minutes of abs, core, & pushups at the gym during lunch, then I ran to donate blood. Will wog the dog again - maybe we will make it to 4 miles or go to the beach with the new tennis balls I bought? She likes to chase. Hopefully I can do about 2, ~45 min. lunchtime workouts a week to get some strength training in, in my newly rearranged workout schedule. Food good, OP. I feel very efficient this week, but could use about 30 min more sleep a night.

Pros: I'm running regularly and not smoking and eating lots of vegetables and staying faithful with workouts. And pooping, I'm doing that too.

Cons: Packing on 1000 extra calories from cookies and crap --> weight gain. I'm sort of in the "amazed at how much sugar I'm eating and then having another one" phase.

Creeping back down - 153.0. Eating is about a B+; holding a reasonable 1600-1700 calories. 3 weeks to go to cruise time, and the target is 149.5. I like the 140's ... that's where the squishy stuff on the back of my legs goes away. :lol:

krampus - bust that sugar! Sugar seems to be that one thing that only responds to "cold turkey" methods - it's easy to ease off other triggers, but wow, does sugar have a pull. A little dab WILL do you ... do you in! What is it about people that can eat one cookie and be done? :)

Hi everyone and thanks soooo much for the support. As usual, it helps me a ton. I really appreciate it.

I have had a better week so far. Zero horrible sugar binges, only a mild binge or two with the allowed foods. Counting calories again, eating good protein and feeling considerably more sane.

Megan - yay for dog adoption. Will be something to adapt too, but overall Im sure it will help keep you active and also lower stress.

Shannon - Congrats on getting on the treadmill more, woo! (and Ill be in ATL tomorrow, *waves*)

kittycat40 - thanks mucho for the support and encouragement. And way to go on the garbage disposal of choco..better there than in your mouth.

alinnell - I soooo feel you on the fun size candy bars! Good luck :)

ICUwishing - oooooh the Keys, *love*. I am from FL and I adore the Keys. Thanks for loaning me your resolve, it helped actually.

krampus - Yay for doing some stuff right, lets call that a partial victory and keep chugging along.

Next few days will be interesting. I am headed to ATL tomorrow to see some sick fam. Only there til Sunday night, but it might be a little hard. The fam eats horribly (processed meats and cheeses, fat laden frozen veggies, etc.), so I am planning on bringing enough to sustain me….but that sets me up for possible binges. Will report back Monday. Have a good weekend all!

Stay strong xty and remember, no matter what happens, you won't go back to the crack den of sugar.

ICUwishing, agree totally. I'm thinking of setting up a "cold turkey" week and vetoing sweets.

Weight is down a little today. I ate somewhere between 1400-1500 yesterday and went on a long run, maybe 5.5-6 miles. Polished off the cookies (there were only four left) so now they are no longer a threat. Have been faithfully exercising; got up early this morning. Meals have been very healthy - lots of tofu, fresh veggies, no processed sauces.

http://www.experiencelifemag.com/iss...up-in-food.php

Thoughtful reading. Was drawn in by the "tangled up in food" title. I think a lot of the folks who've arrived in the Maintainer's group have mastered these demons (at least most of the time), but I didn't find this a bad piece to help rein in the headgame.