I can't have the fiber bars on low carb days I love those things! And no fruit.....I don't know how people that are low carb everyday do this!!!!! Maybe I will have to have a little more calories at breakfast and have 2 of the tortillas that would make it 20....

You guys are all so great! I love this place.

Just doing a drive by because I'm super wiped from an awful day at work. Still on plan and my new scale is here, so come morning, I'll know the damage.

Be back tomorrow!

I started this as an afternoon check-in, but got distracted. So it's turned into an evening check-in.

On Tuesday, I have my check-in for my Trainer Boy Challenge #2. I am confident that I will have the 12-pound loss required to win the challenge, but I kind of want to knock his socks off.

On Wednesday, I have the final weigh in for my Biggest Loser challenge. I am in the lead, but I really want to bear down and win the $135 prize. That would be SWEET!

And, of course, these are things that can help me tighten up my too-sloppy-as-of-late eating. I am working late tonight, which can be a trigger, but I have on plan stuff in my office, and am thinking about maybe going for a walk/run this evening and getting in a 2-a-day.

Love the swarm of activity lately. It is so nice to be in this together, and know that not everyone is of the "People are only fat because they're lazy and eat too much" camp.

Evening update: I have had a super productive evening at work, and am all geared up for a straight-up, no email, no one's allowed to interrupt me, get stuff DONE day tomorrow. Woot! I will probably just do a quick check-in tomorrow morning.

Between my starting this post at about 3:00 and finally finishing and posting it, Mandy created a 7-day challenge that is absolutely perfect for my challenges right now. Yay, Mandy!

Have a great evening, everyone! Or for the Martinis, Toasteds, and Kellys of the world, whose schedules don't coincide with mine - have a great 12 hour span of time until my next check-in.

RadioJane Congratulations on your new scale on on being back in the saddle!

Rhonda Waiting to hear that you're feeling better!

Mandy Good luck with your party! Sounds like you are really started to get settled into your community and it will be great to make some friends.

Jenni I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you for the job search. I know that job-hunting can be kind of soul-sucking, but the great news is that with every pound you lose you will be more awesome and confident in your interviews!

Kelly Congratulations on your baby turning 2. It goes SO FAST!!!!! Shark cake, LOL. I'm the kind who can't keep her hands off any type of frosting so I feel for you.

Diane Hungry days are so hard, but I think they are nature's way of telling us that we are about to have a whoosh!

So, as for UBER, good day yesterday and nothing special to report.

Still up two from my low weight on Oct. 31. The good news is that I'm sticking with it in spite of numerous detours. The bad news is that all the detours are preventing me from losing at anything like a reasonable clip.

Sometimes I think that what I'm doing is okay, and that maybe if I keep going off and getting back on and going off and getting back on that eventually I'll realize that the whole "goal express" vs. "marooned in flatland" paradigm doesn't apply anymore and that if I keep eating like this forever (on most of the time, off some of the time) that I could average 3 or 4 pounds a month off, which would get me down to 200 in 12 months and to 150 (theoretically, although I really don't think I'll ever weigh that little again) in 24 months.

So I'm really not sure... obviously, the hyper-focused "get it off" super strict meal plan and TONS of exercise worked great for me last time, but maybe most ordinary mortals can only marshall that kind of effort under extraordinary circumstances.

Just getting back under 230 would really be fantastic as I know that's when I start to look and feel distinctly different and better.

STILL wrangling with the idea of joining a gym-- only due to $. I've got beautiful places to walk outside and of course that's free, but I do love a gym routine... but $ is pretty tight right now. Decisions, decisions.

Missloud...my baby is going to be 3 in March! It does go by fast!

Uber ....thank you I needed to hear that! It is so stressful knowing we live by each paycheck and having to find a job on a time limit....I mean don't get me wrong if I have to go get a job in the mall I will to pay bills but hoping something comes up And I believe in you! You CAN do this! The trying each time puts you closer and closer to you finding your way!

Laurie...I hope you rock your challenges! You are doing so good!

Today I need to perfect my resume... I do not like doing resume's LOL But I will conquer it!

Just going to do a quick check-in this morning.

Uber - I wanted to address your thought, too, cuz I'm thinking a lot about that kind of stuff as well. Finding ways that this works forever is the goal, of course. I think it's well worth exploring all different types of strategies. I keep thinking and hoping that maintaining will be easier than losing. I wonder if that's true. I've never gotten to the point where I was actually trying to maintain.

I'm 194.0. Staying on the right side of 195 so far. Plan is: low cal during the day, reasonable dinner, and NO SNACKING this evening. Going to run 3 miles at some point today. I really want to stay below 195, and get a good weigh in.

Guys. I'm still up 3 pounds from my low a week ago.

I am so ready to pull my hair out. Ugh.

The scale has literally not budged all week. No matter what I've done food or exercise wise.

Starting to remember the reasons I gave up the last time. Grr.

Mandy - I don't know what your loss patterns are, but these are the times when challenges like the one you started REALLY help me. I have a target that I can hit (whereas I can't guarantee hitting scale-related targets), and I have something external from the scale to guide me. I am really looking forward to your post a week from now, which, hopefully, will be, "Yay! I successfully completed the challenge and got this great scale result!" But may also be, "Yay! I successfully completed the challenge! Unfortunately, the scale is still not budging. Maybe I need to do another identical challenge to give it a good two weeks, or maybe now is the time to see if my new smaller body requires some tweaks to my plan to continue to lose." Or whatever.

This is the stuff that puts hair on our chests!

Laurie - My loss, until recently, had been a steady 1.5 to 2 pounds per week, with the occasional stall of a few days, followed by a whoosh. The only times it went up were after restaurant food, but always came back down fairly quickly after a couple days on plan and a little extra water. This time it's been over a week and hasn't budged. Frustrating. I've been dealing with wonky scale numbers since the beginning of October.

In other news, I found a recipe that sounds yummy, and fairly light... if you like pasta with alfredo sauce and chicken --> http://www.whatsanniemaking.com/skin...-greek-yogurt/

Edit to add: Calculated this out (using 8oz chicken)... it's about 350 calories for 1/4 of the recipe, 9g fat, 33g protein, 41g carb, 5g fiber. So a little carby, but not too bad for a pasta dish.

Mandy - I love that you are doing the one week strictly on plan, then. It sounds like you need to make a determination as to whether the unusual scale numbers are related to you not being as strict, or whether it truly is that you need to make adjustments to your plan as the result of you being both smaller and fitter. I think your plan is perfect.

I'm still holding below 195. 193.2 this morning. I did wake up in the middle of the night really, really hungry, and I got up and ate, which is something I never do. I think I just need to adjust when I take in my calories. I was so focused on not doing the evening snacking I'm so prone to doing, I probably stopped eating altogether too early. Eh. It's an evolving process.

Laurie - I've been adjusting my calories downward as I've been losing. I've gone from 1700 at the start down to 1550 (avg per day) now (MFPs recommendations) as I've logged my decreasing weights. I started the 5:2 plan last week because of October's weirdness, so the current scale weirdness could be because of the change up in my plan. And in various places I've read that it can take 2-4 weeks (or longer if it's not a big change) to see the benefit. So, I'm using November as my 5:2 test drive, and my weekly on-plan challenges to make sure I stick to it.

Yesterday was good. I did 5 miles with Leslie, and kept my calories to about 1520. I drank lots of water, and my miles were 3 consecutive, then 2 consecutive. So, that's good. 3 miles without stopping was something I thought I couldn't do... because she says it's a walk, but with all the other stuff she throws in there it's more like low-impact aerobics.

The scale moved down a smidgeon today, to 278.6 after 279.x for the entire week. Taking into account last night's high-sodium dinner, I'd say that's pretty good. I'm hoping that I can see a decent drop in the next couple days because of yesterday's high sodium + high fiber foods making their exit.

There will be a lot of food temptation today at the craft fair, so I'm limiting our purchases to Christmas decor (of which we have none), hand crafted jewelry items (specifically earrings, possibly necklace + earring combos), and one single food item if my husband finds a pie he REALLY wants.

I have another high sodium dinner on the schedule for tonight, because hubby requested a smoked sausage food for dinner. Butterfly pork chops and veggies for tomorrow night. My fasting dinners are usually 2 egg whites + 1 egg + green pepper + onion + cheese and some yogurt so I can get a good amount of protein in. Spaghetti for Tuesday. Something with chicken on Wednesday. That should close out my week on plan.

Hope y'all are having a good weekend!

Well I got my scale... I'm up to 414, so 40 pounds...

Good news is my joints are starting to loosen up again

Mandy you sound like you have way more willpower than I do. I can't go to fairs/trade shows without giving in. I tell myself it's a "rare" treat. Yeah right.

Oh well Radiojane half the battle us getting back on the scales, we've all been there. Onwards and upwards I guess!

Hmmm my sons birthday did turn into a couple of days of picking, so hard to log calories when I do that, hopefully the damage isn't too bad for weigh in tomorrow. Darn you cake

Hi all. Busy weekend here. I've been off plan all weekend, food wise. It isn't horribly off, but I just haven't been keeping track. I am not too awfully freaked out about it and not getting too worried. I may think differently tomorrow at my weigh in. It just is getting busy with holiday stuff coming up, and I'm not making it a priority to be super diligent on the weekends. I am good during the week, but weekends are a challenge.

So, I thought about it and I am not giving in completely, but I'm also not going to expect a lot for the next several weeks. I'm going to keep on track with my workouts because they are important to me and I don't want to have to start over on those. I'm going to keep track of calories, but I'm not going to be depressed and beat myself up if I go over. No, I'm not letting it be a free for all, but with all of the other stresses of the holidays, I don't want to be unhappy because of calories. The way I look at it for me is that I have done really well this year, since starting in January. I'm thrilled, so far, with the results. I want to be happy with myself! I still have goals, and starting again in January, I'm going back to the super disciplined, absolutely on plan mindset that I was for most of 2014. I will get down to goal and hopefully beyond! I want next summer to be the best ever. I know I can do it, and it is my plan. I promise myself that I won't let it slip away. I'm just too close this time. So maybe for now, I hope for some losses, but may be more of a maintenance time for me.

Radiojane: Well, now you know where you are. That is your starting point and now you can celebrate as your numbers start declining!! You can do it!! Glad to hear your joints are feeling more loose! It all gets better now.

MissLoud: Yep, logging those calories is not easy. Cake is such a temptation!

Mandy: Sounds like the Leslie tapes are working well for you! That's so great! I'm sure you are just building more and more endurance and are making your cardio functions so much stronger! That is so important, so don't forget that!! It is easy to get down about not losing weight like you want, but you have to give yourself credit for making your health better!!

Laurie: You are so right, it is all about tweaking and evolving. Glad you are holding in under 195!

Jenni: Hope the resume is coming along well for you. What a pain that is!! I had to do that a few years back when I was laid off due to economy issues. So difficult!!

Uber: I like your attitude about the speed of your weight loss. I think that is a healthy approach. What choice do we have? We just have to keep going and keep losing. If it takes awhile, then it takes awhile. What is that motivational phrase? "Never give up on a dream because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway."

Hi to everyone else: Martini, Toasted, LotusMama, and any others I have missed!!!!!!!

Oh, and one more shout out to Rhonda. I hope you are feeling ok!!!!! Let us know how you are doing!