Oh my gosh girls...I think I've sneezed about 20 times in the last 5 minutes. I don't think anyone at the gym will appreciate me (nor I them at this point). I'm bowing out once again. Oh what will I say to my trainer?

I'm definitely having a greek yogurt crisis of my own. The only place I can find it is Whole Foods, but then I have to drive there and I always spend more $$$ than I planned. I did find a nice little carb control store brand yogurt at my local grocery store, but why can't my neighborhood grocery store stock greek yogurt. Don't they know it's all about me?????

Sigh.

Whining over and out of my system.

Midwife, my local grocery (a Kroger subsidiary) has had Greek yogurt exactly twice that I've found. I've about given up and just buy Nancy's or Mountain High plain. Sometimes I strain it to get the thicker texture; other times I mix it with cottage cheese. Always add my own fruit.

I had a so so weekend until last night. DH left to go on a last gasp car camping trip, and somehow that was a trigger for me to finish most of the leftovers in the fridge. Sigh. I had spent much of the day shelling and freezing peas without eating any too.

Today has been okay (fine caloriewise, not so fine choices for lunch) but I didn't sleep much last night and I've felt like napping all day. I forced myself to stay awake but you can bet I'll be in bed at 10 (or earlier) tonight.

B - pb&j on ww eng muffin; ff latte
L - small serving of lo mein, 2 oz chicken
See- no fruits, no veggies. I'm so tired I can't contemplate dinner. Maybe some soup.

Today was good. I weight-trained at the gym but abstained from cardio today. My back was a little achy; I think I slept all curled up last night since it got a bit cool in the house. Time to pull out another blanket!

Breakfast: Whole-grain pancakes w/ maple syrup
Lunch: Salad w/ grilled chicken and Italian vinaigrette
Dinner: A bowl of Hopin' Johns w/ reduced sodium crackers and Neufchatel cheese

Did well today with staying OP. Have a feeling I am going to be sore tomorrow (I checked out a body sculpting book from the library and did some different strength work today, and I can already feel it) Onto tomorrow:

B - English muffin w/ reduced fat cheese, canadian bacon
S - Cantaloupe
L - Leftovers - Pasta w/ super lean ground beef, roasted veggies, red sauce
S - Popcorn
S - Yogurt
D - Chicken skewer, sweet potato wedges with chili powder, roasted asparagus
S - NSA Ice Cream Bar

E - 60 min elliptical

Hi Shannon. Welcome to the group!!!

Amanda, congrats on the "official" wedding.

Megan, GOOD LUCK with the move (and unpacking). How exciting for you!!

Glory, as you well know, I HATE when stores are out of stock of "my stuff". Ummm, ESPECIALLY when it's ummm - permanent. I must say though, it's really unbelivable how all alike we are. We have so much in common.

midwife, I hope the de-PIT-ifying of your house went well. I sure know what that's like. I also wish you luck getting off another 5 - 10.

I missed posting yesterday, so I'll just report that my Sunday was excellent and OP, well yeah, that's what was excellent about it. It felt good to have a totally OP weekend.

Yesterday was also POP. I was also just thinking about all the fabulous food I ate yesterday. It's just so amazing, when I stop to think about it. I mean I'm really eating some excellent food. Taste wise and health wise. Why in the world I ever go off plan, is beyond me. All right, "beyond me" may be a bit of a stretch, but you know what I mean.

Anyway, after a nice stretch of on planness, I rewarded myself with a nice mini-shopping spree. 2 pairs of shoes. A pair of jeans. 2 really cute tops. And a beautiful dressy trench coat that I am so in love with.

The spree will continue, I'm planning to go shopping Thursday and then Sunday, as I have a bunch of social events coming up. And I mean a BUNCH. This is probably where the "beyond me" of why I go OP will be answered.

Have a great day everyone.

Monday was almost 100% on plan, but I had two servings of dinner.

Tuesday's plan:
B - raisin bran, milk
S - apple
L - turkey chili & elbow mac
S - apple, asian pear, yogurt
D - Amy's organics vegetable pot pie
S - the rest of the ice cream cake
Exercise - none, I am so lazy

Gym again this morning, and foodwise:

B: 2 weetabix and a banana
S: banana
L: chicken and muesli yoghurt
D: Baked beans and a jacket potato

Also making the move from semi-skimmed to skimmed milk. Tastes odd but I'm sure I'll get used to it. Gave up sweetener in my tea @ lent and got used to that

Plan for the day:

B~scrambled egg whites, 1/4 cantaloupe
S~1 clementine
L~homemade split pea soup, handful of oyster crackers
S~activia yogurt
D~carnitas, rice & beans (from last night that didn't get fixed due to my horrible cold--we had frozen pizza last night)
Gym~still up in the air--I didn't make it yesterday for obvious reasons and I'm not sure how I'll feel this afternoon.


Oh, my, delivery of fresh bagels! I did take one, but no cream cheese...

My menu for today is going to look exactly like yesterday, thanks to yummy stir fry leftovers.

Here's a pic of my gorgeous Super Foods stir fry! It had: bok choy, onions, garlic, carrots, tofu, snap peas, snow peas, red onion and acorn squash.

I've only recently learned to love Trader Joe's, before I just drove past and didn't stop. I think I've gone every week for the last month or so now... I always get really frustrated when my stuff isn't in stock, too. My local Publix is good about ordering special items if you ask for it, but then I have to wait for it, and I'm all about immediate gratification...

I have yet to learn to love Greek yogurt. Considering I didn't like regular yogurt until about four months ago I figure I just need to give it a little time.

I stayed on plan yesterday, and made it to the cardio yoga and pilates videos I was planning for last night.

Today:
B: smoothie, same one as yesterday
S: coffee with 1 tsp amaretto creamer & 1/2 tsp raw sugar
L: grilled chicken sandwich
S: Thinking of trying a Gnu Bar that I picked up at Trader Joe's last week, otherwise, trail mix
S: chocolate milk with protein powder, post workout when I get home
D: white turkey cutlets, wild rice, probably brocolli
S: dunno yet... could be a graham cracker night, might be an indulge in a 'Le Petit Ecolier' cookie. Haven't decided. Either option puts me right at 1490 calories for the day.

Exercise: 45 minutes on the elliptical this morning, 10 min ab/back video this morning, 40-50 minutes on the Weider planned for tonight - probably legs today. I usually do legs on Thursday, but will be doing a lot of walking this weekend so want to be sure that my legs aren't sore for that...

Ah, sleep. It was wonderful and I feel great today.

B: oatmeal with raisins, walnuts, 1% milk; tea
S: unsweetened applesauce; small piece blueberry gingerbread
L: leftover homemade red flannel hash (roast beef hash with beets added)
S: cottage cheese and pear
D: A "clean out the fridge" stir fry; brown rice

Glory - your stir-fry inspired me. It was lovely!

I will not eat my feelings. I will not eat my feelings. I will not eat my feelings.

(Sorry, work is BAD today and I needed to state that to increase the likelihood it'd be true).

Ummmm, so how'd it go?

I had another great on plan day. Woohoo!!! Feels SO good. Why oh why can't I remember this.

Well I've definitely dropped a few lbs although I'm not quite at my "goal" weight yet. Right around my red line I am. Somebody's apparently noticed it as she said to me something to the affect - "You've lost even more weight. You need to stop, your face is getting to thin". This was as she made a hand motion toward her face and made an unpleasant face of her own. Hmmmm. Interesting I told her as she's seen me at my lowest, about 5 lbs away, where my face has been smaller. I told her I'm not so concerned about my face, but when I'm the 5 lbs lighter, my stomach is flatter and that's what I'm after. Not sure why I needed to explain this to this woman. She then said, get this, "You're face is going to get all wrinkly. You really don't need your stomach smaller at the expense of your face." Nice, huh? Sooo glad she knows what "I need".

On that note, have a great day everyone.

I'm back from my Maine trip and trying to settle back into my normal routine. I didn't gain while on vacation, if anything I was possibly TOO strict with food as a result of not knowing exactly the calories of the stuff that was available to eat. But I guess better too strict than not strict enough?

Today's plan:

Exercise: Run/Bike/or Walk for a minimum of an hour.

Food:
Cin raisin bagel with natural peanut butter, coffee with stevia
Black bean burrito
Orange
Potato knish and kofta curry