sure that's not 'shopped??

OH I'm sure it is... I don't give a damn about her body... I mean her FACE and her outfit. She looks pretty and somewhat natural.

Hi Feathers!

Was heavy this AM. Will hopefully be lighter tomorrow, had a huge poo at like 10:45 AM. Got up and ran 2.5 miles in 20:46 this morning - I like this whole "pushing for speed" thing I'm doing where I actually challenge myself to hurry up and not drop below 7 mph. I had a late night quesadilla but definitely stayed under 2,000 calories yesterday. I have also made the (deadly) discovery that stirring peanut butter into vanilla Greek yogurt is delicious.

JossFit Have you seen Ke$ha's recent beach pictures? Poor thing, I would HATE HATE HATE to be a celeb and have people commenting how I've "let myself go" and whatnot



That is definitely a good picture of Nicki Minaj, under all that costuming is a pretty woman! I want the jacket too - I LOVE the "sleek black leather jacket with tons of doodads on it" style that's so prevalent.

I'm kind of excited about the race, and I want to try running with my super fit (boxer, muay thai, MMA) friend sometime - he runs 7 minute miles O___o Glad IF has you not fixating on food too much, that's what I love about it!

TheBunneh Haha that sounds familiar. I blame it on stoner brain for myself - I hear "pregnancy brain" is also a thing. I hope today will be better than yesterday was!

olehcat Sorry you fell - stuff like that tends to destroy the drive and motivation to do anything other than feel sorry for yourself and frown. I hope you can get around to running today, it sounds like you need the mood boost! As for the scale...it really doesn't always have to make sense or reflect that day's choices. Don't let it drive you insane!

Turbo Saw TOM came - HOORAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!

MaddieB So glad your knee is a bit better. I am impressed by anyone who has little people at home and manages to get in workouts. If I had a kid I'd put it in a cat carrier outside so I couldn't hear it crying while I worked out - good thing I have none huh...

olehcat : You can't lose all the fitness you gained in 10 days Yes, the first run will probably be painful, but you will not have lost much fitness overall. I'm glad to hear you are alright after your fall though!

TheBunneh : I frequently throw the egg I just broke in the garbage and the shell in the batter. I hate myself everytime

Joss : Are we doomed to have hip issues or what? Hope verything will be better for both of us soon!

Jesus, I almost did not recognize Nikki Minaj. It is so NOT her legs. She is much ore prettier in a natural thing like that instead of her usual stuff.

krampus : a race is a good idea! it really pushes the limit, you're just there in the middle of super fast people, it's an awesome motivation! Poor Kesha, facing all the nasty comments must be hard. I LOVE her bathing suit though!


***

I'm up to 138.4 this morning, but I'm bloated and TOM CAMEEEEEEEEEEEEEE. (I was seriously ready to pop some champagne last night).

I went to the gym and had a great workout, 30' of elliptical, arms and deadlift lifting sessions, 15' of bicycle and 15' of some arc training machine I tried for the first time and hated and 50 crunches. My pulled hip thing was feeling better but after cooling down, I find the the workout probably triggered it a bit. I am having a rest day tomorrow, I can't wait

Last night the neighbor acted CRAZY (like, I used our stair to get to our second floor, and it was obviously too much noise, he ended up banging for 30 seconds at the wall until it was shaking and than screaming bad words for 15 minutes) and we decided that we were moving out on the 1st of July. I called the owner and she understands but sad, she's been trying to kick them out for months but it's kinda hard on the legal side.

Heading off to my interview, hope everything will go smoothly... See you later ladies!

Krampus - Peanut butter, almond butter, hazelnut butter (Justin's is my favorite brand for all of them) in cottage cheese or Greek yogurt have long been loves of mine. Amazeballs! I usually opt for plain yogurt and just add a dash of sweetener and cinnamon.

Holy lightbulb moment! As I was typing that I realized that I have a slew of awesome flavorings and extracts I bought and haven't even thought to add those to my yogurt or cottage cheese! I got them all to add to my oats and shakes while on that program with my coach, and I wasn't eating dairy then. Brilliant!!

Yeah, I totally agree about being a celebrity... there is no way! I'm hard enough on myself, so to have someone else pick my body apart that way? Ugh, nothankyouverymuch.

It sounds like you had a great run today! Training with someone fitter than you is usually a benefit to you, so definitely train with your friend if you can. Unfortunately for me I can't find women around here who lift the way I do and the men generally lift MORE than me, so I'm on my own! Just as well... I prefer it that way most of the time.

Mmm, quesadilla...

Yeah, I'm definitely loving the IF. I'll shut up about it because I'm sure it's somewhat obnoxious! hahaha

Turbo - My hip pain will probably be an issue for the rest of my life because of the fracture/surgery/screws I have in there. I deal with it... but you bet your butt the government is going to be sending me a check for that! LOL I actually have to have my final physical later this month and then I can start my disability claims process next month. Between my husband and I and all our injuries we'll be doing OK when it comes to disability payments. haha

I sure hope YOURS gets better though! Oh, and super duper congrats on finally getting TOM... I know that was weighing heavily on your mind. Now if only your boyfriend would get his and stop being a b*tch. (I kid I kid... is he in a better mood now?)

Ugh, crappy neighbors! If it makes you feel any better, I have a crappy dirty roommate living with me. (Not my friend the female, but her BF that moved in.) I'm sooo ready for him to move out in May when he goes to England, and then she'll move out in June so I have the house to myself for like 8 weeks before I go to Colorado! Score!

Good luck at your interview!!! I hope they throw bags of money at you and beg on their knees to hire you NOW.

Krampus ~ Look at you, woman of many talents! Callin' press on Tuesday, Capital yesterday. What's up for today? :heh: I chuckled over that pic of Kesha. Whatever, man. Those celebs make money off their physical appearance. I have no sympathy whatsoever.

Joss ~ That IS a lot of changes and they are certainly coming up fast. March is half gone already and July'll be here in a flash. This seems like such a challenging year for you and the hubs being separated for so long. They say that the first few years of a marriage are the most difficult and you guys are really earning your strips on this one. Though from everything you've said, Colorado just sounds like such a better fit for your personality. Is that accurate, from my limited vantage point here on the internet?

Hahaha! LOVE the image of a derail not being a permanent "tattoo". One bad day (week, month...) is no excuse not to get up, recommit, and keep going!

I'm sorry, but the only thing I see in the N.Minaj pic is her very aggressive BOOBS. Like dayum, girl! Looks like they're fixin to strangle her or summat. Although I do agree that the toned down make up, etc is very flattering. I just fear for her safety. That can't be comfortable...

Turbo ~ Hurray for the appearance of TOM and for the kickin' workout. Gooood luck on the interview!!! I second the sentiment of "throw bags of money at you and beg you to work for them". You go get it, lady!

Olehcat ~ Yeowch to your knee!!! I hate falling in public. Oh yeah... I'm a "tripper". And I cosign the statement that you probably aren't going to lose all your fitness in 10 days. And that "clear headed lean" feeling is what keeps me going on the lc days. :thup:

Maddie ~ I am a big journal proponent for just that reason. Started a new one today and am trying a new protocol (ha- a Joss special forces word?) where I write out a sentence reaffirming my commitment BEFORE I weigh in the morning. Helps me remember that I am committed to the long haul, no matter what number the scale happens to read.

Thebunneh ~ I've put things in some silly places before... Why is my phone in the laundry basket... again?

~~~
Was in bed by 11PM last night. Didn't fall asleep until close to 12:30, but woke up wide-eyed at 5:30 with no alarm and ready to go. Strange, but I'll take it. Went for a walk before work and everything.

I thought I might have been coming down with something -- feeling flushed, feverish, and achy. Then I remembered that I'm on Day 3 of moderating my carbs and figure that it might be something close to what Atkins people call the "induction flu". Eh well. Counting down the minutes 'till I can go home and take a power nap.

Also planning on hitting up the library for some book ammo.

Turbo Glad to hear TOM came. My husband is always giving me a hard time when I mention my lack of TOM (though it's not unusual for me to skip months at a time), and always telling me that if I get pregnant, it's because I'm cheating on him. He has had a vasectomy though, and while part of me thinks he is joking, I sometimes wonder what would happen if we ended up in the < 1% failure rate, and whether he'd jump ship and assume I was unfaithful.

Alexis I also worry about a lower carb way of eating not being sustainable, so I just mostly make it work the majority of the time, and don't sweat it when it doesn't fit into my plans. I've never loved bread, so I have no problem giving that up, but I do love pasta, so while sometimes I will have spaghetti squash, I have started having some whole grain pasta every couple of weeks, and I think moderating it like that is sustainable for me. Though I still eat plenty of fruit, etc, I just mostly try to limit my grains because they don't always feel worth it to me.

krampus You sure are running 5k pretty fast, so I bet you'll do well in your 5k, given that you have a month to improve on your time. I'm still holding out on buying a treadmill for financial reasons, but part of me wishes I had one so I could improve my running time. I generally use the elliptical for cardio, so I really have no idea if I've improved over my 5k time from back in October or not.

Maddie It sure is hard to fit in those workouts with a young one at home, isn't it? I usually wake up an hour earlier than my daughter to fit in my exercise, but I usually have to end up cutting my workout short at least once or twice a week to tend to her, and it can be a bit frustrating.

olehcat Great to hear that the IF seems to be working for you okay. It's nice that you've developed a plan that you think is going to work for you

Joss I know you are planning on getting a puppy after you move to Colorado, but are you going to get one right after you move, or wait until your husband gets back so you can raise it together? Just curious. I can see it being nice to raise it together, but on the other hand, it would be kind of nice to have a puppy around for company while your husband is deployed.

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130.7 this morning, almost back in the 120's. This is the lowest weight I've seen since December, and I really only feel like I've had my head back in the game for about 2 weeks. I'm about 5 pounds up from my low weigh in in September, but feeling confident that I will end up right back around there by the time my competition wraps up.

Usually I don't post twice in one day, but I took the afternoon off work to run some much needed errands. Wow, that felt good. Still haven't gone running yet, but the afternoon is young...

Went to go look at an apartment for the summer. I know awhile back I had mentioned possibly buying a house, but this summer will just be too soon. So I found what seems to be this very nice community, very pet friendly, and it has a gym, a pool, washer/dryer in unit, jogging paths around a mini lake, close to stuff, etc. The lady who showed me around was very nice, the apartments seem quiet (full of professionals and retirees, not partying college students) pretty much think I'm sold. I have to be on a waiting list for the apartment of choice, though. I have to have a first floor because my parents can't really do stairs for when they come to visit me.

So I fasted until 11:30 a.m. this morning with NO problem. No stomach growling, no discomfort. It was as I told Jossfit, I knew it takes a few days of adjustment.

Still I am having body image issues today, possibly because of the lack of running for so long. My tummy is jutting out and the pants I wore today felt a little snug (I haven't worn them in a long time and they had been washed and dried since the last time I wore them), but it made me feel ick.

@TheBunneh - thanks! And haha, I've done stuff like that, throwing things away that I didn't mean to! ;D

@Jossfit - oh, man, it's a dangerous idea for me not to weigh. I have gone through WONDERFUL periods of time in which I do not weigh, and oh it's so liberating, yes it is! But sometimes the daily weighing keeps me in check, too. Like I often make choices like, "ooh, I can't eat that or it will really show up on the scale tomorrow." Then again, weighing once a month or so sounds good, too. Surely if the scale was going in the wrong direction I'd feel it in my clothes, right? Of course I'd be really scared that I'd weigh myself in one month and see absolutely no change. I don't know, I have to think on this a bit more! OH, and I so agree on being annoyed by a certain celebrity trend to dress as crazy as possible, just to get attention!

@Krampus - I am SO IMPRESSED by your super fast running! I feel like I'm going to DIE at 6.5, and I can only do it in intervals for a minute at a time (with a much slower minute afterwards), so 7??? WOW!

@Turbo - thanks for saying that about the fitness! That made me feel better! I don't want to start from scratch! And as for your crazy neighbor, OMG, I once lived in a complex in which I encountered crazy neighbors TWICE in two different apartments like that. The first lived below us (I was married at the time) and she couldn't stand it if we walked. At all. In our own place. So every time one of us would walk across the room, we'd hear THUD THUD THUD from downstairs. My nerves eventually shattered and we ended up moving to another apartment in the same complex. THERE a crazy lady upstairs kept thinking we were playing Johnny Cash music in the middle of the night and slamming doors at odd times. She called the police on us. It was NUTS. SO yeah, sometimes you have to move for peace of mind...

@Alex - hope you get through the lower carb flu soon! Thank you! My knee still aches today, but it seems no major damage, whew!

@Jessica - thanks! So far, so good, *crosses fingers* I hope to tweak things a little better, especially once spring break is over (I have a LOT of stuff going on then, hope I can stay on plan!)

Quick dinner food porn drive by! This is what I've munched on the last couple of nights;

Tonight; Turkey meatballs braised in tomato sauce and worchestershire sauce with mixed veggies (broccoli, jicama, carrot, celery, cabbage, etc.) with a sprinkle of parmesan.



Yesterday; shrimp stir fry with about a billion shrimp, avocado, fresh ginger, zuchinni and onion.

You've seen similar, but IF allows me a TON of shrimp and the extra avocado. Score!



And this is two gigantic tilapia filets (buried a bit) with about 1/2 of an eggplant and 1/2 of a sweet potato, topped with my avocado that I adore.

Late check-in. The scale said 135.4 last night, so I'm assuming it still said 133 something this morning, so blah, screw it. No weigh-in! Just went shopping with a gf & her bebe & we ate some lovely Mexican food for lunch : ) Lovely afternoon.

Hope everyone is having a good day!!

Maddie - You know what I love about Mexican food? The combinations are SO SIMPLE to replicate at home if I want to! (Well, nachos are harder to do in terms of saved calories) I love to use some sort of mix of a protein with fajita seasoning, a light shredded cheese blend, salsa, tomatos, avocado, corn, black beans, peppers, cilantro and maybe greek yogurt in place of sour cream to make mexican dishes. Throw all that on lettuce and you've got a big taco salad. Put it in some low calorie tortillas and BOOM, tacos. Nice.

Of course to me there really is no beating a huge plate of loaded nachos or a ooey gooey quesadilla with all the trimmings and some punch-bowl sized margaritas. It's nice to be able to satisfy those cravings for lower calories though, if I wish to.

Sounds like you had a nice afternoon out shopping too!

Olehcat - Yeah, I understand all that... just a suggestion. I am also in a spot right now where I am trying to find what works for me but in order for me to do that I have to go out on a limb and not be afraid to try some things. The idea of not weighing and gaining a bit is a little scary, but I'm smart enough to see that it's what I eat and my exercise that determines my success, not the scale. It was making me crazy.
I suppose part of it is this forum and the women here. I 'chat' with you all on a daily basis, and when I saw that I was getting a lot of somewhat concerned comments from people I didnt push that aside. If ladies I don't know IRL can see that I'm not doing well with a certain program, that I'm stressed out, and that I'm unhappy, SURELY that has to mean something right?

Jessica - See, I don't know! I would LOVE to pick out a puppy with my husband and have his input, as well as to increase the chances of the puppy bonding with both of us. I also really want the puppy to keep me company at home while he's away, though I generally am fine anyway.
I'll just play it by ear and see how things pan out.

It must feel SO GREAT to be nearly at your goal! I really wish I was there but it seems like I just keep backsliding and backsliding. Hopefully I've found a good combination of strategies to make some forward progress now. Any updates to your standing in the competition, or is it a weekly weigh-in? (I imagine it is). If you don't mind me asking, what is the difference in terms of prizes between 1st and 2nd place?

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Hmm, nothing significant to report over here... it's Friday, I just got paid... haha. I actually just got in from the gym and another great workout (Weight supersets with a total of 50 minutes of cardio mixed in - Energizer bunny over here) and now it's about time to hop in the shower. By the time I'm done with that it will be time to break my fast.

Today's menu (in case anyone is curious, and really just because I have no funny or interesting stories to share);

Meal 1: Chocolate protein shake, large green apple, 1/2 of a chocolate peanut butter Quest bar

Meal 2: Ginormous salad with lots of chicken and sweet potato with balsamic vinegar

Meal 3: 2% Greek yogurt with cinnamon and almond extract, flax seeds, vanilla almond butter and the other 1/2 of the Quest bar

Meal 4: 2 big-@ss tilapia filets, asparagus and avocado

As you can see, not a huge departure from my 6 smaller meals, but I have a lot more protein in each meal (double the chicken/fish/etc.) more fat at a time, and instead of having a protein bar on it's own I'll add it to other small meals.

Joss : Yes, the boyfriend's mood got better. I did confront him the next day he was like ''maybe you were cheating'' and he was much softer. I think he was actually REALLY starting to be scared there might be a baby on the way. He said the cheating thing was cynical. DUDE, you never get sarcastic or cynical on a pregnancy scaaaaaaare. Ah, men, lols!

Aww, still having trouble sharing the space with your roomates? :S Sharing the space with a kid (that is not mine) would already be a challenge for me, I can't imagine putting another dirty roomate on top of that. Is your female roomate is moving to England too to follow him?

Your food porn looks amazing : now I want to eat turkey meatballs and tilapia and avocado ALL AT THE SAME TIME lol.

Alexis : Waking up at 5:30 all by myself (meaning, not using an alarm or a cat throwing everything that is standing on my night table on the ground) never happening LOL. Getting things done so early is such a great feeling though. Hope you're not really getting sick!

Jessica : ''I sometimes wonder what would happen if we ended up in the < 1% failure rate, and whether he'd jump ship and assume I was unfaithful.'' It is like you just took everything that was in my head and put it out there!! Like women need something else to worry when they are already worrying about the lacking TOM.

Your weight is going down! You so got all this in control. Where are you at in your weight loss competition?

Olehcat : AAAAAAAH thank you, now I don't feel so alone about the crazy neihbors! Yours who went nuts when you were walking sounds like the charmin one we have right now (but we also have the drug dealing thing in BONUS lol). I know it is not funny but the Johnny Cash story got me laughing, this one was really ''out there'' as I can see! It just sucks having to find a new place because they OTHER are a problem, we were loving the place we were in right now

Maddie : Sounds like you had a great day. Mexican food, yummm!

***

Hi everyone! 138.0 this morning, which is awesme, -0.4 compared to yesterday. I was actually expecting to be much more up, I went to the pub after my interview with the people from the bf lab. I had a amaaaazing India Red Ale and I shared a nachos with the boyfriend. It was sooo salty, I thought I'd retain 5 lbs of water, so that is a win. It was really fun though, it is the St Patrick week here so everything was green and they had even but a green hat on the head of Gilbert, the huge moosehead standing above the firepit lol.

The interview went okay I guess. They had the most ORIGINAL questions I've eveeeer heard (they asked me what was my favorite TV shows, for exemple LOL). They were also asking tons of question to get me out of my comfort zone to see how I would react. They are looking much more for a personality than someone with specific skills right now. They were seeing a few candidates and I should have news by Monday. And unfortunately, no matter what, I doubt they will throw big bags of money at me, it is a barely starting company and the people hired would work on a monthly contract for now, or something like that and the pay probably won't be incredible. But I least it would be some experience. I'm trying not to hope too much right now, I don't want to feel crushed if i don't get it.

I am not planning any workout today, maybe just a walk because it's sunny and beautiful outside. Have a great friday ladies!

Good morning Feathers! TGIF!

When it rains it pours - haven't been able to stop pooping ever since yesterday. I weighed in at 124.2 this morning and my tummy still feels delicate. Pushed through an upper body workout yesterday and played an open mic with friends which is definitely going to be a weekly thing. This morning I was on the toilet too long to make it to the gym and an out of town guest is coming at 5 PM so I probably won't see the weight room again until Sunday X( - but a friend who just moved to my neck of the woods joined my inner city gym, which is nice.

The BF tension must be contagious, we made plans to have lunch together yesterday and he thought I was going to pick him up at work and I thought we were meeting at the deli. So I texted him once I got to the deli saying "I'm here" and then he called and said "What?! I thought you were coming to my office! I'll get there when I can, I have to take the elevator and I parked far from the building" and sounded annoyed. I immediately got really sad because for fvck's sake I envisioned a mushy lunch date with no snags. He got there ten minutes later and I was visibly frazzled and could only act normal three-quarters of the way through the meal. We apologized a lot and shared a cookie and kissed a lot, so that was resolved, but then my brain decided to snowball the negative feelings and feel positively AWFUL for a good couple of hours in the afternoon. Everything's fine now though - I think we're both stressed about work, not getting quite enough sleep, and he goes away for 2 weeks (longest we've been apart, I know it's really no time at all!) from next week.

St. Patrick's Day is this weekend...yawn. My roommate has a 19 year old Japanese kid she Couchsurfed with in Kyoto coming up tonight. I'm picking him up from the Greyhound station. Wonder what we'll do with him...

JossFit All those meals sound INCREDIBLE. And proof that lowish-carb doesn't have to feel like punishment. I had an epic protein dinner last night - tuna, pickles, eggs, and Greek yogurt with PB. How is the experimental extracts/flavorings project with cottage cheese and Greek yogurt going?

MaddieB mmmmm Mexican, sounds perfect. Have a great day!

olehcat I hope the apartment works out! Sounds promising. I don't think I am that fast at all but then again I'm comparing myself to boxers, athletes and people who actually win races. I also have a few inches on you :P

JessicaB You are so close to winning the competition! I'm glad you feel like you've gotten things under control and aren't struggling with binge eating anymore.

Alex How "moderate" are you doing the carbs? I thought carb flu was only symptomatic of totally ketogenic diets.

TurboMammoth How was the interview? I'm sorry you have an insane neighbor bad enough to make you guys MOVE. Do you have a new apartment/house in mind? Will you stay in Sherbrooke?

olehcat Do you know how long the waiting list is for the apartment that you want? Hopefully you'll get it and won't forever be waiting not knowing when you'll get to the top of the waiting list.

Joss The turkey meatball meal looks awesome. I will admit I'd like to work on my seafood / fish consumption, but it was something I never really cared for before. I do have fish every now and again, and usually enjoy it now, but I haven't been able to convince myself to eat shrimp. My daughter loves it though, so I'm sure she'd really appreciate if I started incorporating it into meals. She's only ever just eaten it in a shrimp ring.

I don't really feel like I'm that close to my goal. I know at the end of the competition, I'll still probably want to lose a few lbs, but I promised myself I'd work on maintenance after that, because of how much I struggled the past 6 months. I feel like a big part of my problem was trying to keep trying to lose weight when I was just mentally exhausted from it all. It resulted in a lot of one last binges. I really wish I had just upped my calories back in November when I noticed the binge behavior starting. I could have really saved myself a lot of trouble I think. I don't really know what I'll do when the competition is over, I do plan on upping my calories though, and I'm hoping that will translate to a slower weight loss for the last few pounds that I'm sure I'll still want to lose. I've been consistently all or nothing, and so I've never had an issue losing 2 pounds per week when I've tried. I'm sort of hoping for a 1 pound a week loss as a result of a gradual transition to maintenance that will make me feel like I'm finally done wanting to lose weight once I've figured out what my maintenance cals are.

Turbo Fingers crossed that you have good news about the job come Monday.

Joss & Turbo Right now I'm 2nd in the competition, but it's just a weekly weigh in. Unfortunately, I won't really know how I'm doing compared to the 1st place person until another week and a half from now. Everyone is allowed to miss one weigh in, and she mentioned she'll be skipping the one this weekend, as she's on vacation. Part of me finds that reassuring, as she probably won't lose on vacation, but at the same time, I can't slack off when the competition is so close right now.

1st place gets $125, 2nd $75 and 3rd $50. I paid $25 to join in the competition, so as long as I place in the top 3, I'm making money. And I know I should, because while the top 3 are pretty close, there's a fair amount of a gap after that.

Krampus Boo to missing your workout from being on the toilet too long. I'll admit I've had that happen before, and then thought to myself, if I had just done 15 minutes of cardio first, then I wouldn't have needed to spend 15 minutes on the toilet, and all my time would have evened out and I'd have had a calorie burn.

I do regularly miss or cut my workouts short to keep my daughter company in the bathroom though. She still has poop anxiety, so she won't go unless I'm there hugging her the whole time, and it usually takes her a good 1/2 hour to empty herself completely. I struggle in my mind between wondering if she really has to go, and knowing if I don't give her all that time to try, 4 days down the road I'll be beating myself over the head from dealing with a child who's literally full of poo.

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Not much going on this weekend. We are going out for dinner Sunday night for my father in law's birthday. I won't have too much of an issue eating reasonably, because we're going to Swiss Chalet, which for all you Americans is a restaurant that serves rotisserie chicken. I'm planning on getting the 1/4 chicken white meat dinner and skipping the roll. They have a health menu where they remove the skin and don't serve it with the sauce, but I love the sauce, and it's not too many calories, although probably pretty high in sodium, so I'm just going to enjoy my chicken with the skin & sauce. I'm torn on what to do as a side though. I'd really like to order a Cesar salad, but the calorie count on their cesar dressing is ridiculous. I'm debating between that, or a garden salad with a light italian dressing, or just veggies as a side.

My 4 year wedding anniversary is also next Thursday, but I think we've decided not to do anything for it for financial reasons. A few weeks ago, my husband got fired, and while he found a job really quickly, and we shouldn't have been out any money, we're having trouble getting his old company to pay him the week of termination pay they owe him in lieu of notice. Not to mention they cancelled his insurance plan early (by law they had to keep it in place for a week), which resulted in us paying for my gum graft out of pocket. I think we've sort of decided that we'll just count my FIL's birthday celebration as our anniversary dinner also, but part of me thinks it's stupid that we are forking out money for dinner on his birthday but not our anniversary. It almost makes me feel like my father in law's birthday is more important than our anniversary, but I'm trying to let go of that feeling. On the other hand, it's one less dinner out to worry about fitting in, given that the competition only has 3.5 weeks left of it.

Turbo - I don't know if a truer thing has ever been said... "DUDE, you never get sarcastic or cynical on a pregnancy scaaaaaaare." SERIOUSLY! hahaha

Yeah, the roommate thing just sucks. I mean, it's OK most of the time but I don't feel really at ease and relaxed unless I'm home alone. As soon as someone else gets home my immediate thought is "Damn it!" Probably not a good sign. Its not like hes a slob, but he's not CLEAN like I am, and occasionally they'll get into a fight at night and wake me up or just with being loud in general. I sleep with ear plugs in... have I ever mentioned that?

My roommate (the female) is stationed here so she's staying here when he moves to England. Unless you are married (which they arent') the military doesn't care about your personal life and moves people as it sees fit. ****, even if you ARE married sometimes it doesn't matter.
It's sad for them that they're being split up, and obviously having been through that with my hubby when we were dating (and even now) I can understand. Regardless, I'm still looking forward to living on my own for a bit!

Those are some random interview questions! I do hope that you get the job, but I'll pretend like I dont' care so that if you don't it's no biggie to me either.

Krampus - Are you sick? You mentioned that your tummy was feeling a bit "tender" still... just a reaction to something you ate or what? I've noticed since doing IF that I'm still regular in terms of frequency, but my times are all off. Normally I would have a pretty nice BM before I left for the gym, but now it just sort of happens sometime during my workout once I get moving. I guess eating breakfast got things moving for me.

Ugh, those situations with the men-folk are just hard. It's like, not really a 'thing' but you can both feel that there is some tension so you aren't quite sure what level of apology, if any, is necessary. I really hope next time I go see my hubs that we don't have any more of that crap!

I'm sure you two will be all kinds of excited to see each other after 2 weeks apart! LOL, man... 2 weeks apart would be heavenly for me. The longest my dudester and I have been apart is about 13 or 14 weeks (3 times) but of course we have this huge separation coming up that will be from mid-May until February or March. Thats like 38-42 weeks! Ugh! *Okay, think about something else*

Hmm, couch crashers sleep better after drinking heavily... just a thought. Is he staying with you guys tonight or are you just meeting up and hanging out?

Oh, I haven't eaten the greek yogurt with extract concoction yet, but I'm pretty sure that it will be tasty. I went with a "safe" flavor today (almond) because I also mixed flax seeds and almond butter into it. I have a ton of other flavors though; apple, cinnamon, white chocolate, pumpkin pie, rum, anise, butterscotch, mint, caramel, chocolate, coffee, vanilla, butter, ginger, etc. I bet any of them will be a welcome addition to my Greek Yogurt but just not with the almond butter and such. I'll just have to plan it out a bit better.

Jessica - Well it looks like in any case you'll get your money back out of the competition! The big reward is the weight lost, of course... so either way you've done great so far!

I definitely relate to this; " I feel like a big part of my problem was trying to keep trying to lose weight when I was just mentally exhausted from it all. It resulted in a lot of one last binges. I really wish I had just upped my calories back in November when I noticed the binge behavior starting. I could have really saved myself a lot of trouble I think."
I wish that when I started struggling I had been able to see it for what it was and adjust my plan. I think now the biggest thing is just mental burnout, but you know how it goes; you have one 'last' whatever and get back to your diet, but it just leads to more pressure, pushing harder, and burning out again... and you haven't fixed whatever it was that made you deviate so horribly in the first place. I think I was just sick of the routine and same as you, mentally exhausted from it. With all the other stuff going on in my life it's no wonder!
Regardless, I think your plan to just maintain and enjoy it and take it slowly is a good one. I switched things up in an effort to simplify my life and make myself happier... weight loss isnt my primary focus right now; happiness and preventing additional weight GAIN is.

I think you have a good plan for dinner! I personally would go with the veggies and nix the salad all together. Salads at restraunts can be a bit skimpy and unsatisfying unless they're loaded with all that good fatty stuff. Veggies tend to be more filling and I actually love plain veggies with a touch of salt and pepper, so it's a win for me!

I am so sorry about the situation with your husbands employment and your financial strain! The important thing is that you are doing what's right for your marriage and agreeing not to do something silly to celebrate your anniversary that ends up being more than you can comfortably afford right now. It wouldn't be much fun if you were stressed about it anyway.
Maybe you can make a nice relaxing (and healthy!) dinner at home and perhaps someone babysit the kids for a few hours? Being together is what's important, not going out for a fancy meal.