Where is everyone?

So, my Tuesday is almost over and I checked in at:

calories: 1435
exercise: ran 6.5km (in the rain!)

Hope everyone is okay and OP!!!

Unna - I'm here. I'm at work and on punishment because I took some sick days last week. I'm on plan.

I decided to wait until this challenge is over to start the P90X. I need to get my fridge prepared for the foods I need to eat during this next 90 days.

Hi everyone!
It was Thanksgiving in Canada over the weekend (well officially Monday, but we had our Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday). And I managed to stay mostly on plan! I’d planned out the meal so that I’d stay in the lower end of my calorie range, and figured that if I overindulged a bit I’d just end up in the higher end of my range. Which is exactly what happened – I guess I’m getting good at anticipating. I had leftover Thanksgiving food last night and definitely overindulged in butternut squash, although I still stayed in the high end of my range. So I’m pretty happy about that, and very happy that the temptation of Thanksgiving is past.

One thing I really noticed was how different I ate this year vs. past years. I had turkey and a WW roll, but most of my plate was filled with squash, cauliflower and corn! In the past, I’d have had a similar amount of turkey, at least 2 rolls and maybe a little bit of corn or cauliflower (I’m pretty picky about my veggies, although I’m trying to be more adventurous). Then I would have overindulged on desert, whereas this year I had 2 fifty-cal brownies and stopped. So I’m really happy to realize how my mentality has changed and that this year “overindulging” meant eating lots of squash, rather than eating tons of brownies/cookies.

Jiggle: I’m sorry your work is punishing you for those sick days. That really sucks. Good idea to wait and plan everything out for P90X – it sounds really intense! I’m sure you’ll see a huge difference.
Unna: Good job getting out and running in the rain! Whenever it rains here, I go on the treadmill instead of walking outside… I have times when I feel skinner and times when I don’t – when I look at individual parts of myself (like my hands, my knees, even my tummy) I can see that they are getting smaller/bonier, but when I see myself as a whole I don’t always see that. Sometimes I feel like I look like a “normal” person (just someone I’d see on the street and not think they were overweight) and sometimes I feel like I still have so far to go and can’t see past the weight I have left to lose. But I don’t think I really noticed a difference at all for a month or 2.
Tdi: Good job on those miles! Your hiking trip sounds so awesome! And it’s great that you can feel that you’ve changed and you’re getting healthier.
Northern: Congrats on walking + doing weights, and on staying OP too! Way to go!
Phat: I’m sorry you felt so sick during your period. I’m glad you’re feeling better now though.
Jen: Chocolate is so hard to resist – I have a hard time keeping it in the house too!

ok 3 days on plan. So excited. Scale met me with 3 lbs lower than I have been in 2 weeks. So I am good eating about 2300 calories. Um, that seems like a lot but if I am losing, so be it.

I can't remember who said "get the chocolate out of the house". But I think I would die. Plus, it keeps me in a good mood. I eat dark chocolate, but I have been very spoiled with belgium dark chocolate, and I have been calorie counting around it.

sparkleB, I noticed myself taking more veggies and less of other things too.

jiggle, why are they punishing you. Catch up? sorry hun.

tdi, you inspire me.

phat, that is one reason I am so HAPPY to breastfeed. NO periods for me and great bonding with the baby.

Northern, I am thinking about a reward system for every on plan day, it makes you feel good.

Tdi: sounds like you had an awesome weekend! I know what you mean about walking vs. hiking (not that I've done anything as hard core as you, lol.) But there's a big difference when you're talking pavement vs. trail.

Jiggle: good luck with P90X. I hear it's tough. I look forward to your reports.

Unna: yes, props for running in the rain! I work out indoors if the weather is too crummy, though I'd always prefer to be outside if given the choice.

Sparkle: Great job not going overboard for Thanksgiving! I also know what you mean about feeling "normal" somedays and "fat" on others. I know I'm still overweight, but compared to most other North Americans, that's pretty "normal" these days.

Jen: yay for 3 days OP! I can't live without chocolate either. I usually have some sort of treat at the end of the day after dinner, 100 cals or less (Skinny Cow bar, fun sized candy bar or something like that.) I find it's better to give it to myself in small, regular doses than to deprive myself and go off the deep end eventually. Of course that's just me

As for me: Another OP day yesterday, about 1400 cals, definitely on my low end. 30 minute walk with the dog with hills. Tonight is zumba night, yay!

Weighing in a day early this week as I will be on the road tomorrow night for another conference Friday. Definitely going to be a "short" week since my last WI was Saturday (was feeling a little "down" after my regular Friday WI last week, so tried again Sat and lost about a lb.) We'll see how it goes tomorrow!

jigglefree: I always hear about people having great success with P90X - Keep us updated on your progress! Maybe I'll have to try it out sometime.

SparkleBE: Isn't it amazing how knowledge of calories in foods helps you make the best choices??! I seriously think they should teach children about the calories in food at school. I think it would save many of them from depression and eating disorders. I wish someone would have taught me.

jendiet: I'm interested to see if you keep losing at 2300 (keeping the fact that you are breastfeeding in mind). I'm assuming breastfeeding eliminates approx. 300 calories a day? Or is it more? Anyway, good for you! I'm always happy when people find they have success with numbers besides 1200.

NorthernExposure: Don't you love finding yourself at the low end of your calorie allotment??? Its almost better than Christmas!


Early this morning it was raining here (again). I went to catch a bus into the city and it was completely filled with school children. If I waited 20 minutes for the next, I knew I'd be late - so I walked 45 min into the city center so fast, I was practically jogging to make my appointment.

Needless to say, I arrived both red and sweating, yet cold and wet!! But I made it. I ended up putting in another 30 minutes walking from here to there, so that was my exercise for today.

I also didn't sleep well last night (maybe 2-3 hours). It is not a good idea to continue to go jogging everyday if you aren't sleeping properly - that is just asking for an injury.

And I ate 1590.

I just made an incredible low-cal pumpkin puree soup.... I'm going to bake some tofu and eat that with grilled romaine (w/ a tad of freshly grated parmesan) for dinner.

I hope you all are having OP and great days! We only have 17 days left of the CC Halloween challenge! I'm still not feeling too much skinnier, but I really hope my weigh-in then is 158-159!

Good Day everyone. I'm still on punishment so this is going to be quick.

Unna - I'm hoping it will help with the loose skin and the fat roaming around in there. I will definitely keep you all updated.
Northern - I was looking at the first dvd this morning and tough is an understatement. It's probably going to take at least 30 days for me to some regular pushups.
Jendiet - Because the person that is punishing me doesn't have a family or life outside of the job. She's always here so she wants me to always be here. As if my life revolves around this job. My family comes first bar none.
SparkleBE - Thanks and from the portion of the dvd I saw this morning it is very intense. I need to start the Saturday before Halloween because I will be sore for the first couple days. But looking at the intensity it may be longer.

I've had some good days this week. I peeked at the scale this morning and I'm three pounds away from goal. So we will see what the scale is saying Friday.

Even though I was very angry with my director when she was talking to me about my sick days, I didn't say anything to her while she was talking. I kept my mouth shut because I learned the value of just being quiet when I took a negotiating class. Thank God I know how to pray and study the Bible so my attitude is in check and not angry with her. My perspective is my sick days are a part of my compensation and if I need them I use them just like I cash my paycheck.

quick WI status: 176.8 same as Friday. Ok tho. Going downward, so yay!

Down 1.5 lbs since Saturday, WOOT! 175.9. AND I'm pre-TOM. SOOOO happy to finally be getting things moving along again.

So I know I'm a day early, but I'm going to share my NSV today since I will be on the road tomorrow.

There's a lady who comes to my school ocassionally to work with some of our students. I was walking by the conference room yesterday and she says, "look at you! You look like a college co-ed." I say, "aw, thanks, you made my day!" Then she says, "It's so unfair. The rest of us keep getting older and you just keep getting younger!" Me: "ha ha. Don't I wish THAT were true. My 20-year high school reunion is coming up next summer. How old does THAT make me feel?" Then she just kind of stared at me and said "You can't be serious. That's unbelievable." And she goes on from there, to the point where it starts getting a little embarassing, lol.

But it still made my day

well, i bounced back up to 189, but since I do that anyways, I am wondering if it is the calories or just me. hmm...well, since i started eating like this, i dropped down, i can only guess it is good for me. I think I will shoot for 2000 today.

Unna, I think i just am a hog. I need more calories. I should only need 500--if I weren't fat, but I am. So I should only need 300. But my body rebelled against low cal by decreasing my supply. I also wasn't losing anything on 1800.

NorthernE, it's great that your face doesn't tell your age, it is good to be in THAT corner. don't be embarassed. yay for weight loss!

chicksing, going down is good!

jiggle, prayer and understanding get me through times when I know I should bite my tongue. Thank God he kept you still through that.

jigglefree: I think calmly listening is also the best way to deal with those types of situations, even though it is amazingly hard. I try to do that too.

NorthernExposure: That is SO great! You are almost at the 100lbs. mark! You are my inspiration for today - that took a lot of consistency on your part!

jendiet: I can imagine trying to find the right number of calories, while breast-feeding, is extra hard. I dunno about the 2000, still seems a bit low for your special circumstances - I mean, you have someone literally eating your calories away every few hours.

I got really upset today, it made me bawl my eyes out, then I felt super super tired and passed out. Crying always makes me SO tired. I woke up and went jogging for 45 min. Then took a longish hot shower and am finally feeling alive again. Today was just in the pits - need to wake up early tomorrow to finish the work I missed today!

I think I'm hormonal! The period is coming! I always have a major freak-out from crazy hormones once a month - but I can only recognize the hormones after it is already over.... I can't think rational at all during the freak-out.

So, I did have a 'skinny-ish' feeling this morning. We'll see.

Today:

calories:1450 - 1500
walking:30min.
jogging:45min. (and stretching)

I'm checking in for the week, been so busy. Don't have time to come here as much as I should. I'm just a maintainer anyway, so my goal has been to just keep the weight off.

Still exercising 30-60min a day. Average daily calories were 1650 this week. I over ate on Tuesday, but stayed under 1300 cal. the rest of the week. I'm planning to stay under 1300 tomorrow & maybe have a cheat day on Sunday cause I'd like to bake an apple cake. We'll see how it goes!

Good luck to all of us this weekend!

I stayed OP all week, although I didn’t eat the best today… I’ve been getting in my hour long walks despite the rain here (it seems to rain more in the afternoon rather than the morning, so I’ve been walking in the morning instead). I’m looking after my parents’ puppy this weekend, so I’ll have to walk him whether or not it’s raining. But it’s good incentive to go out and exercise. I also went to my second BellyFit class yesterday, and it was so much fun. I’m a little sore today, though. It was a good workout

My NSV (kind of): I went to the grocery store today when I was really hungry (always a bad idea) and they had free chicken wing samples. I unfortunately gave in and found the smallest chicken wing I could. Still, not something I’m proud of. After trying the sample, my mom decided to buy a box of wings and have them for dinner. Now for my NSV - I didn’t have any more! I said no, worked my 1 wing into my calorie count and then ate my own healthier dinner! So I still stayed on plan despite my little slip-up. Yay!

Fruit: This does seem to be a busy time of the year. Good job staying OP this week and that apple cake sounds yummy!

Unna: I’m sorry you had such an awful day yesterday I hope today was better.

Jen: It must be really hard to figure out how many calories to eat while breastfeeding, but I’m glad that you seem to have found something that works for you. Hopefully you’ll break out of that 189 zone soon

Northern: What a great compliment! Isn’t weight loss great?

Chick: Downward is always good!

Jiggle: It’s hard to deal with people like that, but good for you for not arguing with her. I’m with you though – if you need to use a sick day, well, that’s what they’re there for…

Hey chickies! It has been a few days on my end.
Jen: I'm glad I could inspire! HA! So many here inspire me to keep going as well! That is what's so great about this forum and these challenges! Love it!

Everybody else: Awesome with NSV as well as scale victories! Everyone seems to be moving forward with their journey's!

The last few days have been great. I haven't felt like tons of exercise, so I've been walking a bit. Today was a day off I guess. I didn't exercise besides walking 1.5miles and I've eaten pretty much whatever I wanted.
Tomorrow will be back to normal and maybe some more exercise. We'll see!
102.85 down, 47.15 to go!
We'll see if I make the miles!

I had one of those cooking evening where you keep testing the food and suddenly you have no real idea anymore how many calories are in what you just ate! GRRRRR!

Everything I cooked was basically a form of veggie with little to no oil or cream, so I just had to average out about how much. I hate the feeling of uncertainty. It usually leads to overestimating and feeling super hungry later!

And my boyfriend just came back with this special beer from another region in Germany (Germans really are crazy about beer and bratwursts, not so much the sauerkraut, its not just a stereotype). He really insisted that I drink some - it was like his little present to me. So, I had half of mine (about 100 cal.) and poured the rest in his glass.

So, that leaves me with around 1700 cal.? for Friday. No exercise, rest day. We have two longish jogs (10km) planned for Saturday and Sunday.

I wouldn't say I went off plan Friday - I never overate or ate anything bad.... just feel a bit guilty for not keeping better track of the calories. Today I'm buying gum to keep in the kitchen.

I really want to reach 159! My reward for 159 is new highlights - I'm in desperate need of a bang trimming as well. If I reach 159 in November, then I should be quite close to 150 by my 30th B-day in January!

I've actually never been OP this long before in my life - I think these little challenges really help.

SparkleBE: how many calories was the chicken wing?? Just curious.