Good Morning,

I hope it's OK - I thought I would start a new January Chat thread I would like to start coming here more often, I was doing very well, but got a little side-tracked with work last June and am just getting back to my routine.

Meg, so sorry to hear of your shoulder troubles, but I know you will be back to your old self in no time.

My goal is to post at least 3 or 4 times a week, hopefully even daily, to help keep myself on track. Right now I'm focusing on eating more fruits and veggies and staying away from sugar Sugar is evil. We bought new gym equipment for x-mas, so I have no excuses not to exercise. I'm really loving having everything right here, it's so convenient and I find I'm exercising longer because I'm not rushing to get home.

How is everyone else doing? How is your first week of the new year going?

Anne - thanks for starting us off. Cool on the home gym!

My goal is to post as much as I can too (with one hand) ... it's helpful for me to stay on track also.

Love to hear from some of the other old-timers!

I resemble that old timers comment Meg!!

Hi Anne

Well I want to post more often too... I've been very good on the food homefront and the exercise too, I feel really really good.... The scale shows no gain anymore the 2# lasted 2 days

Hi guys,

I've learned some pretty painful lessons this last week about overscheduling. Now that I'm done passing out from sleep deprivation I can try to be a little more human again.

Eating is going very well for once, hanging in there on the exercise--major reversal. DD is starting day care situation #3 this week and it looks like this one is gonna stick, but this new Mommy is DYING to go get her kid. So far I have managed to resist and do my tri training and even got a sports massage this week. I'm hoping the stress of taking some time for myself goes away soon. BTW: DD had a rough first day , but is now doing just fine.

Started working with my triathlon coach again, and set some goal races for 2006. That is helping with motivation.

Anne

hi Anne,

Just dropping in to say that the DD situation at daycare, and YOU longing to go get her is typical...I had the exact same thing. But with my 2 kids it actually went quite well after the first week...so just get through the first week and DD and you will do fine.

succes!!
rabbit

Good Morning!

Anne, Leaving your little one in the care of others is always difficult - good for you for knowing when the situation isn't quite right. You'll find your groove, it just takes time.

I've had a pretty good week, one bad day when I broke down and went out to dinner at the local italian chain restaurant...the food was not even good - stale bread and all! The experience ended up reminding me that good fresh meals are homecooked. Exercise has been great, I'm really lifting again and it feels wonderful.

Ilene, Meg & Rabbit - Enjoy the weekend. It's a cold one here in NH.

Hi ho,

It's another Monday, and I can't say my week has started off all that well. I made the mistake of indulg ing in a mid-afternoon coffee yesterday, which kept me up until after 11; then the $%*&@ dog barked to go out at 1 a.m. She went right back to sleep; DH and I tossed and turned until 3. I was comatose at 5, when the alarm went off, so no gym this morning. Aaarrrgg, I hate it when this happens. The good news is that water aerobics resumes tomorrow after a 3-week break. Just in time, if you ask me.

Having a little trouble with the eating, in part, I think because my exercise is off. It's the exercise that keeps me whole and on track. However,it's a new week. I had my protein shake this morning, and I've got a couple of nice hard apples in the frig. So, here we go.

Have a good one everybody.

Hi maintainers,

Happy new year maintainers!

I'm not big on New Years' resolutions, but I have made some new changes in the new year already. Though I've gotten my exercise back on track in the last few months, I've finally concluded that I just hate running. I bit the bullet and paid the gym fee (and then got a 3-month gift certificate from BF for Christmas!), and have been going faithfully for a week and getting much more complete cardio and strength workouts than I have in a long time. I actually only gained 2 lbs. over the holidays, so I'm still teetering at the top of my maintenance range but I've committed to not only getting back into range, but getting to the bottom of it. Other than tacos last night (I'm ashamed) I've been eating much, much cleaner than I have in a long time as well. BF and I have also started playing tennis a few nights a week. I feel good!

Meg, so sorry to hear about your shoulder troubles. Anne, I can't offer any parenting tips, but it sounds like you're going to be supermom.

Robin, sorry to hear about your rough start this morning. I can kinda relate. Drunk BF woke me at 12:30 after his friend (whose couch he had intended to sleep on, knowing I was asleep) kicked him out. Of course I would much, much rather him come to my house 1/2 mile away than his own 30+ miles away, and he apologized. But I've been sleeping badly all weekend and have a cold dragging on, and I just wasn't in the mood for it! He'd better be niiiiice to me tonight. I think I'm supposed to have more tolerance for this at 23, but really, haven't I grown out of this phase yet?

Have a good one everyone!

Good Morning Everyone,

Robin, I can relate to your morning, although I did sleep last night. But my DS was very grumpy and bossy with me this morning and it made for a very trying morning as we were up at 6 am. I awoke ravenous for some reason, even though I ate a lot yesterday. I've cut the sugar out of my diet for a few weeks, I actually dreamed of being in a bakery and eating whoopie pies last night!!! What a dream!!! Anyway, when I cut out sugar and reduce my carb intake, I find I am hungry OFTEN, and never really feel full. But it's the only way I can keep my weight in check and stay on track. I'm going to experiment with eating more whole grains though, and see how that goes.

Exercise has been great, I just love having equipment to use at home. I'm going to cancel my membership at my gym and start working out only at home.

Have a great day everyone!

I'm back and my eating today has not been good. I'm here to try to prevent myself from stuffing in any more junk. I just have not been completely honest with myself lately...for example, I completely cut out sugar as I mentioned, but I've been eating a lot more than I usually do and doing things like making sugarfree muffins and other comfort foods like meatballs and eating with loads of wheat pasta. Even though I'm eating BETTER, I'm eating MORE and still using food as comfort. Today I fell off the wagon, and now I'm so upset.

So, back to basics. Back to the eating plan I followed 2 1/2 years ago when I started the journey to being thin & healthy. No carbs, no sugar. It sounds extreme to some, but it WORKS for me. I must do this. As of right now, load on the veggies, I need to eat clean for several weeks and get some momentum going because I also tried on my jeans this afternoon and they are so tight, which is a lousy feeling.

Robin, I hope your day got better instead of worse. Meg, keep up the good work on your exercise program.

For the next two days I'm going to be squeaky clean, even post my menus just to help me get started.

Hi lessismore,

You sound like you need some support...Get on the wagon again!! We're here to give you a hand.
You can do it, you know what it takes ...now just do it.

And keep posting, so we know how you are doing,

rabbit

Hey Anne ... Hang in there, don't be too hard on yourself or too strict. Being too harsh on myself usually backfires... Are you measuring? For example when I am feeling like you where I could eat all the carbs and sugars in the world, I measure out half a cup of good carb like oatmeal or brown rice, then fill up on veggies and a lean protein... after eating I RUN out of the kitchen, the bonus is that DH does the dishes but seriously, it does help to get the heck out of the environment, even if the dishes do stay there they aren't as difficult to clean after I have brushed my teeth and been away from the kitchen for a half hour or so... Be gentle on yourself, today is a new day....

Humph ... all of a sudden I seem to have a hit a bad patch ... lousy eating, can't get to the gym. Sheesh, I hate it when this happens. So, let's see why ... DH had to make an emergency trip to his mom's, after she fell, which makes me a single "parent" to two irrascible Airedales and one all-American mixed breed. They're a handful. And my board is having a special meeting on Saturday, which is posing challenges. Now, let me see .... does anyone see any reasons herein why I should be scarfing down cwappy food or skipping the gym? No? Me neither. I think this is called life, and I just need to adjust.

So, it's a new day. Let's make this work. I will journal. I will eat well. I will plan on water aerobics tomorrow and weights on Friday. Seems like a reasonable plan to me.

Thanks guys. I needed that.

Robin -- I find you so good in putting your pieces together when things get rough, I wish I would do the same but when I do, I go into denial and take a week or TWO to get back on track... Kudos for rationalizing and making a plan so quickly

I find it very comforting to read here too. Everyone seems to be learning to take things in stride.
This forum is going to be my prize for getting under 130 lbs. Thanks for just being here.