It will be interesting to see what kind of routine she works up for you. Did she ask your exercise preferences?

We talked about that some. I told her now that by the end of the month, the sun would be up in time, and it would be warm enough to run again. She said she would leave the cardio to me as long as I could commit to at least 4x a week. She will give me strength training routine. She did ask if I wanted to build muscle, tone up or had something else I was trying to work on.

I'm back from my mini vacation. I definitely need stretchy pants. DH and I never go out to eat and we ate out 4 times in 2.5 days. I was able to stay away from meat but I did eat way to much cheese and hardly any veggies. The next two or three days I will be doing my best to do vegan and get my water back up where it belongs.

Well, I've decided to start counting on-plan days and have committed to at least 30 100% on plan days before I have anything that remotely resembles bruschetta and wine again.

Hopefully by DAY 30 I'll have that delicious feeling of self-control that I do NOT have right now and will be able to celebrate my 30 days of success with a VERY moderate serving of both bruschetta and wine, which have become my most very favoritest things on planet earth (other than my husband, my dogs, running, and you guys).

Maybe, if I may even dream out loud a little bit here, when I reach DAY 30 I will have broken the spell of bread and wine and will decide to eat a nice big honey crisp apple instead. My body cries as I type that, but I can dream, right?

Today is Day 1 and today's plan is:

Exercise: Was supposed to run, but it is storming outside. 1 hour on the Exercycle.

Food:
Bagel, 1 tbs Smart Balance
Carrot sticks
Pad Thai with Tofu
Apple
Lentil Soup

Billie - Did you have fun at least?
Jo - I hope you start feeling the control soon.

I braved the scales this morning and just about had a heart attack! I guess I thought I was the only one on the planet who is immune to the high calories in fast food, restaurant food, ice cream, etc etc etc. I had to stumble into the bathroom twice last night for a dose of antacids for the heartburn and my stomach is rolling this morning. My ankles are swollen, my skin is dry and itchy, and I'm irritable and moody. So, why am I doing this to myself? The food really doesn't even taste good anymore. I'm eating all of this crapola out of habit. I feel like a freakin' coke addict. I've decided to go back on Southbeach. After work today, I need to pick up some grocery items and purge the kitchen. Get your ear plugs ready. You will probably be able to hear the kids screaming when they realize I threw out the Reese's Bryer's Ice Cream and won't be buying anymore.

Have a great on-plan day.

I was pleasantly surprised to see the scale was only up 1.7 pounds after my weekend of gorging and drinking. I am sure some of that will melt away once I get my water consumption back where it belongs.

I was gonna do the vegan thing for a few days. I messed that up right off the bat this morning when I made my cocoa. I drank half and poured the rest out. I might just have to give it up since I can't seem to make a suitable replacement.

I'll be back later..............

Hey, some action!!

Hi chicks

Jo, you are becoming a living, breathing example of maintenance I have confidence in your 30 day plan.

Rh, you will feel better with cleaner food, hope it helps!

Ok gang, I WALKED today...lungs burning, still coughing, freaking asthma ...but, it was good. It will get better. Happy Monday.

Food plan today:
Oatmeal/banana
Lentil soup/spinach salad
apple/cinnamon

dinner? the big ?

I have been *nearly* on plan all day. I did finish M's egg salad, which was a little overboard. Thank god, it was loaded with celery and pickles.

I am getting up early tomorrow to run. Gah. I thought I might go tonight, but Chris did not get home until this very moment and M is being a terrorist. Better in the AM after rest.

Guac killed me today.

Hiya, Kittycat!
Manick - sorry to hear that the walk was rough, but glad you enjoyed it.
Anna - did you run?

I am drowning in work today. I must make sure not to stress eat. Paul was looking for something to wear to an appointment this morning. He was very discouraged to discover that his shirts are getting too tight. I'm kinda glad this happened today as it has lit a fire under his butt to do this with me again.

Day 2. Other than some plain popcorn I ate in the middle of the night because I was wide awake and snacky, I was OP yesterday.

Today's plan:

Exercise: I ran 6.13 miles first thing this morning.

Food:
Bagel, 1 tbs SB
Carrots
Amy's veggie pocket sandwich and soup
Orange
Black bean burrito

Edited to add funny Italy picture. When we were hiking in the Cinque Terre, we came across this helpful board in one of the towns that explained that you should NOT wear heels to hike the cliffs between the towns, you should wear hiking boots (see the picture of heels in the "do not" red circle). It was too funny, because based on what we saw of Italians, they WOULD wear heels to go hiking unless specifically instructed not to do so.

Morning everyone

Not much going on here. Life's just blah at the moment. Oh except I ate too much cake and drank too much booze over the weekend. I've been waking up early (between 4:45 - 5 AM) in the morning to do my treadmill and then go to work. Am I nuts? Probably . I think I've mentioned before I'm not a morning person but I'm doing it cuz some things you just got to do and also my cardio will be out of the way. Then I can focus on strength or other stuff in the evening. Once I begin my workout I'm ok it's just the getting started part is harder for me. Jo, I admire you for working out early religiously every morning . Eating is going OP I guess. I made some calorie adjustments to my diet. We'll see how it goes along with consistent workout. I'm stalled around the same weight range for a while now and it is getting annoying. So let's see if the changes make a difference.

Manick, woohoo! for walking. I hope you get better soon

Lucy, you're back

Rhonda, how's the GWF working for Paul? Is he recording his meals? Girl, you need to do it for you. Exercise is a great way to release stress. Maybe you can find time to do 20 mins of treadmill today. You can and you will!!

Jo, yay! for the 30 day plan. Definitely keep us posted on the progress. I have full faith in you that you can do it.

Anna, did you get time to run?

Hey gals,
I am trying to post a photo of me taken this past Sat. night. How do you shrink a file to fit as an attachment?
After multiple extremely op days I was an eating machine today. I think it was a variety of factors, nothing super drastic.
As of now I will avoid the box of trader joe's dark chocolate ginger bits and get back to plan tomorrow. I'm thinking super clean for the next few days. --had beer tonight for the first time in ages. But it was red stripe, yum.

Hubbie walked in... must greet with love and kisses

Hiya. I now have a fridge full of on-plan foods and I have TDP open and ready to track every sip or nip that passes these lips. All of this comes not a moment to soon. The morning report from my scales was dismal. I've gone up another 2 pounds since Monday and my body fat % is now at 52%. I've been hovering at 50% on that thing for almost 2 years.

There's no better way to get back on that wagon
you. go. girl.