Let me be your reality check . You didn't go on a binge. You didn't eat pizza and cheesecake and cheese and bacon fries (oh gawd, now I'm hungry). You had some sugar free stuff that had a little more fat than you'd planned on. You lost a "little" control and ate more than you intended. I know you're feeling guilty over this, but HELLO!! It's not that bad. Look over the last few days, weeks, months. You're kicking serious butt. And on the most dedicated diet, there are stumbles. This would barely classify as a stutter step. I wish you'd be a little easier on yourself. We all look up to you, but it's acceptable to have a bad day. You didn't even have a bad day, it was barely a boo boo. Ease up girl.
As for me, yeah, I'm afraid when I see a loss on the scale, to say anything. It's almost as if I say it to anyone, or goodness forbid, LOG it somewhere, it will POOF dissappear. So, giving into that fear, I'm not going to say, but I have seen a consistant loss. I'm gearing up for TOM (a little over a week away now) so I expect to start putting water weight on soon. But I'll be ready for it.
I'm waiting for the water to heat back up (Pooh Bear just took his shower) and then I'll take my shower too. We're going to go run around, he loves to hit all the thrift shops and then lunch somewhere . He's pretty supportive when it comes to picking a restuarant that fits into my plan (salad bar). I feel like I'm getting a handle on this. I'm getting my water in (72oz) and exercise (tapes or treadmill) in every day. Jennifer constantly encourages, challenges and sometimes DEMANDS it of me. And even though Mother WINTER has come back with a vengance (2-4 fresh inches of new snow), I think it's going to be a great Summer. Dare I hope to get out of the two-hundreds and into "ONE-derland"?
How many more smilies could I possibly use? Giggling. Bye chicks. Time to wash my turtle shell and wade out through the snow.

The scale is not kind to me. I'm back up to 169 - you don't take back the awards, do you? It's now highly unlikely that I'll make my weight-goal (9 lbs in 3 weeks?) , but hopefully I'll make progress on it and I can still make my other goals.

My eating wasn't great over the weekend. I had a potluck meeting at church, and had to try a little of everything . I did my planned workouts on Friday and Saturday, but did not make up Thursday's on Sunday like I said I would. (Did that make sense?) But yesterday (Monday), I did make up the UB part of the missed workout, in addition to my regularly scheduled stuff.

Anyway, exercise schedule for the rest of this week:
Tuesday - LB dumbbell workout, ab workout, 2-3 mile walk
Wednesday - Curves, jog 1.5 miles @ 4mph, walk 1.5 mile @ 3.3mph
Thursday - UB dumbbell workout (up the #s), ab workout, 2-3 mile walk
Friday - Curves, jog 1 mile @ 4.5mph, walk 2 miles @ 3.5mph
Saturday - run/walk intervals for 3 miles, 60 sit-ups, 6x6 push-ups

Hello ladies,

Sorry I haven't been in in quite a while. I've had a bit of a stomache bug and have been down for the count. I'm going to try to get back on plan this week. I'm gonna go to the gym tonight and do my weight regiment . I'm going to do 20 minutes on the bike and see how my ankle feels. If it doesn't bother me to much I'll try to increase my time this week. I definitely need to get back in the groove. Ever since I hurt my ankle I've been on a downhill slide. I've pretty much spent most of my time in bed reading. tsk tsk tsk. Just because I have a bum ankle doesn't excuse me from all activity. Well I hope everybody has been doing well. I feel so out of the loop since I haven't been in since last Thursday.

Have a great day!

Today's workout may not be allowed, after all. I have 3 tapes to do (not sure how long yet, either), and husband's coming home early because we have a meeting w/ the lawyer at 4... ack! It's almost noon!! I JUST woke up!! It's okay.

I'll do the tapes as fast as I can, and try to get in the workout before he gets home, and then take a superquick shower.

Agh!

Food -
B - Cream of Wheat w/ brown sugar, peaches on the side
S - Popcorn
L - Top Ramen, I think
D - Not sure yet... spaghetti with meat sauce, i think.

Jennifer - you didn't slip up THAT bad. But you did show yourself that you don't want to do it again!! No big deal. =) Just keep on track, hon!

2sweet - Perhaps you've gained a little because you grew a little muscle, which weighs more than fat? =) Take those measurments!!!

You guys are doing a great job! Have an awesome day, everybody!

O.K. friend Jennifer, remember telling me to "dust myself off" and get right back to the program? Let's practice what we preach dear . You are doing awesome - you are a super motivator, a kick-a** cyclist , and after all, only human. You stop being so rough on yourself right this instant!! This is an order! (From your friend).

Good news!!! I got on the scale this morning again (I know, I know, I shouldn't weigh more than once a week, but I felt kinda "light" this morning (I guess all that water yesterday). And...I had a 2 pound loss! I had a one pound loss on Friday. Do you hear me you fickle, hateful scale???? I know I tempt those beings in the scale for even telling you this. They will "get me" for being so excited! Oh, well, I am a bit reckless today I guess. I have had the BEST DAY! My husband was off from work and we got to spend some time together. He got to spend some "extra special" time with my 4 year old, he took him to school, etc.. Everyone is in a great mood.

Hotcupojava - I wish we had some snow here. My kids have wished for it all winter. I wish they could just build one snowman. We hardly ever get snow here (North Georgia). I am so ready for spring, yet...love to see falling snow.

My eating is on track so far. We had lunch at a Mall Food Court- (potential disaster zone), but I did o.k. and ate at Chic-Fil-A. I'm going to have some healthy vegetable soup for supper.

I am starting my water late again today. Ugh! When will I learn?? I need my sleep at night; it's rough getting up to go potty.

I need some guidance. I want to add some light, light toning in addition to riding my exercise bike. How do you get started? I have to be careful with my back. I had back surgery last year!!! (All is well now).

I'll try to check in later on tonight. Talk to you chicks soon!

Well today was weigh in day for me. I was feeling hopeful...until that ugly piece of metal reared it's ugly face and would NOT budge...not even 1/4 # for me! I am stuck at 174 forever! *Sulking* I'm sure that doesn't sound bad to some of you, but if you could just realize that I have been at this since Jan5 and my start weight was 181, well... <sigh>...you might understand my dilemna!! I really thought it would be less...really I did! I went a whole week (almost) sacrificing sugar and working out 6 days and really eating healthy for the most part! So...I did what I usually do when I am disappointed and sulking...I went to the candy machine and bought some...yep...you guessed it...chocolate! It wasn't until about 3 this afternoon, though and I had weighed in around 9:30am, so I guess it could have beenworse! I bought some peanut butter M&M's, ate a few right a way, held onto the bag just like a little kid and went to my desk. I ate a few more and had enough! I probably ate less than 1/2 the bag and gave the rest to a co-worker. Had I bought a candy bar, I would have probably inhaled it, so maybe the M&M's were a wiser choice! Hmph! I'm not happy!

I got home and worked out tonight...tried Jennifer's suggestion of lowering the resistance on the bike and go for the fat burning mode. I almost rode 9 miles in 30 minutes...not quite, though. I stayed around 75-85 rpm's the whole time (as much as I could...there were some moments where it was around 70) Then I did my weights...all of them and my toning exercises for my butt and legs!

DD had a rough day today, I think. I spent the better part of the last hour trying to calm her down and get her to bed. She had a "meltdown" (which she rarely does, but has been having more and more over the last couple of months) tonight over the littlest thing (IMHO) and I tried every trick Iknew from giving her time to cry, to holding her, to trying to get her to stop crying...Finally, I gave her some allergy medicine (which made her stuffy nose unstuff and made her happy) and then laid down with her until she fell asleep! Phew! I am exhausted, but more than that...stressed. I am thankful for the good little girl we usually have and don't know how I would be if she were like this all the time! So, I did what I do when I am stressed (seeing a pattern here, yet????) I made popcorn and caramel to top it off! Bad, bad, bad me!!!! I didn't eat all of it, but I could and I just may! It has been one of those days!

Here's my food so far...started out good:
B- Cheerios, fresh strawberries, splenda, milk
No snack
L-Pizza Hut Buffet...salad ( a huge one ), 2 pieces of pizza (one thin, one pan) and a large helping of their pasta! Not a good lunch calorie wise, but did get the veggies in!
Snack-The 1/2 bag of PB M&M's
S- Hubby made burgers on the grill w/ slice of cheese...they were good. and had a salad.
THAT WAS PROBABLY ABOUT 2000 (OR MORE) CALORIES THEN ADD THE CARAMEL CORN...I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT! HOW AM I GOING TO EXPECT THE SCALE TO SHOW A LOSS, NOW????

Water: Drank a ton of it today! Probably wll over 90 oz. I am hoping that and the exercise will get me out of this mess today and it will all even out!! Such rationale, eh? So Mama Jennifer...you think you have problems??? Want to come to my house and trade places for a day??? The sugar demon is really BAD around here!! LOL!

Tomorrow's plan (I need to get to bed soon here so I can get up and do this)
Exercise on bike in AM 30 minutes
WATP tape when I get home (if time permits) or weights!
Food: Forget about today and start again with no sugar. STart counting calories....again and try to stay 1200-1400
Water: Drink at least 80 oz.

Thanks for letting me rant tonight all. I know tomorrow is a new day (Thankfully) and I will get it together then!!

Lisa - I have a really bad back, so, for toning... what part of the body do you want to tone? I can definitely suggest BalanceBall for overall toning, and it's EXTREMELY easy to do, even with a bad back. Let's put it this way -- I physically cannot turn my body to the side, ever, because my back doesn't -do- sideways. I also can't bend over very far, etc etc. Balance ball works really well, and it's fun. =)

Hikein: Honey... we all have bad days.

Now... my bad day. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I got thrown off kilter, to start, because I was frazzled from having little-to-no sleep last night/this morning, and having extra-long tapes that kept me up until almost 5am. ARGH. So for breakfast, I had a bag of popcorn (MY bags of popcorn, mind you, so around 200 cal), the normal cottage cheese, peaches and today, I added some smoked salmon for protein.

Then, lunch... which came about an hour or two before dinner, was a bowl of cereal, one cracker, and a few kernels of popcorn I found in a rogue bag on my desk.

Then dinner, around 7:30, was pesto (yummy).

Now, I am starving and desparately want something yummy. I even flipped through my cookbook and settled on making yellow cake, but told myself NO NO NO NO NO when I saw it had over 400 calories PER SLICE. ACK!!! Screw that, I say.

So I made some carnation instant breakfast, and it's freezing. So if I have to do it, at least I'll do it with some darn vitamins!

In other news... we rescued the kitty. *purrs* You should go check my journal for the details. I am SOOOO happy!!

I did 9 minutes on the bike today, 4 min on the stairstepper, and that's about that.

Tomorrow will be a better day, it will, it will!

Good Morning, Chickies!

I've been tied to the desk, and phone, and now clients all morning...I promise I'll get in here at lunch time and respond.

Happy Hump Day.....we're almost through another week!

Maybe the scale-gain is muscle, though I'm always hesitant to call it that - I don't want ignoring the scale to become too much of a habit. I only get measured at Curves once a month, and I'm waiting till the end of the challenge for this month. I know I could measure myself, but I don't think I'd be very consistent.

Anyway, I did my planned exercise yesterday and ate properly, so yay for that . Today, I have Curves and the treadmill. I find myself wanting a brownie, but not enough to try to fit it into my calorie count. Does anyone know any good, low-cal brownie products/recipes?

Babs - sorry about the bug, I'm glad you're feeling better and ready to get back to exercising

Hikein - it sucks when the scale doesn't move (or moves in the wrong direction!), but over the long haul, exercise and eating healthy will overpower those evil critters living inside the scale. You had a tough day, but I know you'll get right back on track!

lucy - glad you rescued the kitty, and I hope you find the little fluffball a good home (if it doesn't get claimed)

lisa - congrats!

Jennifer - I hope your day is going well!

Hotcup - I love your use of smilies!

Well.... Yeah.

Workout today:
30 min bike w/ ankle weights
5 min stepper w/ free weights
350 situps
leg-toning stuff

Food today:
B - frozen meal shake thingey...I made a carnation instant breakfast, froze it, and I'm eating it like frozen yogurt. YUM.
L - veggie burger w/ cheese & pickles
D - Spaghetti w/ meat sauce

Today is DEFINITELY laundry day. When I'm out of clean underwear AND clean socks (which I rarely wear), then it's time to just do the laundry.

Hope you guys are having a great day!! =)

Mary- where did you guys go for lunch? How did it work out for your plan?
And LOLOL at all your smilies. I know you're going to get to ONE-derland, even if it takes us both a while. Heck, I'd give my right boob to get there.

2sw33t- I'd never take back the awards- in fact, when you have to lose the same pound again, it's harder, so I should be giving out double awards. Workout plans for the week look good- keep it up, chickie!

Angie- missed seeing you around. You & Cristin both- we need you ladies back in tip-top shape! How did the biking with the ankle go? Hope you're feeling better, chica.

Lucy- saw that you rescued the kitty in your journal- that's awesome. Boy or girl? And what are you going to name Kitten Dearest?

Lisa- hey, no fair using my words of encouragement against me! Yeah, I can dish it out, but I'm so much harder on myself than anyone else. Big old flaw of mine. But I like that whole ordering around thing. Everyone, Lisa & Mary are now in charge of me....LOLOL As far as the light toning, if you can stand Leslie Sansone ("I gotta tell them, you're a grandma now....(good looking grandma...)...Go Randy!") there is a ShortCuts series that she does, and even in my advanced stage of "outtafreakingshape" I can do the upper and lower body ones, but not the abs. Check them out by clicking here... they sell them separately, or in the set.

Julie- you're adding muscle, you're improving your cardio capabilities- you're working hard, and granted, the scale is being pissy, but don't look at that for your only measurement of this success. Have you taken your measurements? I'll betcha there's a difference there...if there's not..well, then you can be in charge of me for a week Put the M&Ms down! That is not going to make things any better. I'm proud of you for giving away half, though. WOW with the bike, woman! Way to go! You probably stayed in your target heart rate the whole time, which is great for fat burning. I'll trade with you for a day if it gets you away from the caramel corn...DD is such a doll- I'll take her off your hands for a few days so you can detox from that sugar. ((( It's gotta get better ))) (And I have a chart for measurements if you don't have one!)

OK...my day...

Breakfast:
1 pineapple cottage double
1 oz fat free swiss
1/3 cup smart start

Lunch
3/4 cup chili
3/4 cup elbow macaroni
sprinkle of cheddar cheese

Nothing decided for dinner, but rest assured I am going to make sure I am under my #s for the rest of the week to stave off that horrible scale after a chocolate indiscretion, and then tortilla overload last night.

Tonight, I'm doing the 1 mile WATP- am considering the 2 mile, but I think my legs would be like jello if I did the 2 mile and then tried to do the bike for 5 miles. I added up all my miles biked so far & it's just over 61 miles. Woo Hoo. I can't get to far on 61 miles, but I am working on it. Heck, I need a map & that way I can bike to "visit" each chickie. (Wow- that's a thought for a challenge....)

All right...enough babbling...Oh- I did get 3 24oz glasses of water in so far today, so I'm right on schedule with that...but my face is still flaking. You'd think with all this dang water I'd be super-hydrated. You should be able to poke me & I drip like a full sponge.

All rightie, chickies. I'll catch you later on. Hope everyone's having a good afternoon! (((( 2 more days until the weekend! ))))

Jennifer - exfoliate!! =) St. Ives makes some awesome facial cleansing cloths (they're actually fabric or something, and there's 30 of 'em in a pack), and they exfoliate and soften your skin and smell soooo good! My skin peels constantly -- drives me nuts.

And about the kitty... I can't name it. I think it's a girl -- if it is, she's so matted we can't find her kitty organs down there. It is so sad!! If I find who her owner is and they do this to her purposely, I will kill them with my bare hands. Argh!! *Fumes*

But if I named the kitty, I would have to keep the kitty. I already love her to death... *sigh* I'm gonna be sad when she's gone. But, in the good news department, husband's dad might be the guy to take her!

I'll post a picture of her if I can... can't seem to get her to look at the camera!!

Today I cleaned out our bedroom closet, folded ALL of the clothes, did my workout, did the laundry, washed all the dishes, etc etc etc. What the heck is with my cleaning binges, you guys? My husband came home and said "Who are you, and what you done with my Kitty?!" (nickname). Hehe!!

Anyway, keep up the good work! You guys are all doing awesome!!

Hi guys! I absolutely WAS NOT going to post here until I could honestly say I had drank my water (I am drinking even now as I am at the computer). I am being a whiny little child about the water issue. I like lemon in my water, and it's not so bad getting it down. So....I am having a new attitude about it!!!!

I had a pretty good day today!! I wasn't ravenously hungry as I had been the past few days. I am doing WW, and I am right on points. Yahoo!!! Hmmm...about my eating -
Breakfast - Light chicken sandwich with a few WOW Doritos and (I know this sounds kinda strange...) a Smart Ones Ice Cream Sandwich. I thoroughly enjoyed this meal at 7:45.

Snack (around 11 am) I had a bowl of spicy bean and vegetable soup. This really filled me up, and I am going to try to make a point of eating more soups.

Lunch - Szechuan chicken and noodles with vegetables

Dinner - low-fat tuna pasta (one serving)

I am proud of my eating today .


Hikein - did you have a better day today?? I know a few M& M's and some caramel corn won't get you down for long!!! Boy, do I have days like that!! It's not enjoyable to hear that someone had a bad day, but it makes me feel better that I am not alone! My two year old has been melting down now for 2 days! I feel the terrible twos coming on!!! You guys - I have a feeling I'm about to need you more than ever .

Lucy - Thanks for the advice! I need overall toning (boy do I ever!) I have a Fitness Ball. The video that came with it sort of gets on my nerves, and the ball is deflated and down in the basement!! I am going to get it and give it another try Do you have a video you follow or do you have another type routine? Also, Lucy, when I read your post today, I first misread the part about your laundry- I thought it said you rarely wear clean underwear I just started laughing!!! Can you tell I need a bit more sleep??

2sw33T - I have some good low-fat brownie recipes!! I have these because I LOVE chocolate, and I have to be able to enjoy some without trashing my points for the day. Try this: Mix 1 box Devil's Food Cake Mix (just a regular mix) with 1 regular sized can of pure pumpkin with about 1/2 cup water. Bake as directed on box for a slightly less time than shown. Trust me, these come out so moist - they are awesome, and I also make them as muffins. As muffins (for a batch of 24), each muffin is only 1 point!!! For a low-fat frosting, I blend 1 container of fat-free Cool-Whip and 1 box fat free/sugar free Chocolate pudding. I ice the cake and then keep the cake in the fridge. It tastes like chocolate mousse!!! Sorry to ramble! I get excited about my recipes

Jennifer - I hope you are having an awesome day!! I promise, I won't order you around any more Hope you are staying away from the Cuban restaurant today!!! Have you already gone your 5 miles on the bike??


Thanks guys for listening!! Hope you all have a great evening. I'll check back in tomorrow!

Ok, my 5 miles is done. 5.065 miles in 17 minutes. That, plus the 1 mile WATP when I got home.

Dinner was chickarina soup (I skim anything that looks fatty off, and add half a can of water, and it doesn't really affect the taste.) 10 wheat thins, 1 slice provelone, and 10 slices turkey pepperoni. Drinking a diet lemon iced tea Snapple, because it was cold, and doesn't have caffeine.

NSV for tonight....I'm squirming around in the chair here at my desk at home...and wondering why I'm so squirmy...well, it's cuz there's some room between the arms of the chair & my thighs- they're not mushed in, so they have room to move, and squirm. Woo Hoo!

Lucy- I've been using the St Ives apricot facial scrub- it's supposed to be gentle, but get the job done. Nope And I am so tired of flaking. I mean, I know it's Florida, and we're always hot, so you'd think with the humidity I wouldn't flake either. I tried 2 different lotions, and the one I tried tonight made my skin burn the second I put it on. Felt like tabasco sauce in the cream. So I think I need to find a baby lotion, or something else super-gentle, because this just isn't working the way it was supposed to. I'm washing off what little makeup I wear before I exercise- in the mornings, I wet my face in the shower, but don't scrub to irritate it...I'm so fair skinned it's not even funny. Hummmmph

Julie- 3 am??? Is your husband a sadist??? Mine is like that- he usually gets up at 4am, and is out cold before 11pm- I'm not a morning person, and I could linger in bed. I need about 20 minutes worth of snooze alarms going off to ease me into the day- I'm not one of those people thrilled to greet the day. 3am is the end of a really good night, not the start to a day.

Lisa- yup, bike done...and please- order me around...I could use the added prodding!