Hi,
Thought I would post again. Since I will be gone tomorrow. And I need to reinforce my plan.

I committed to 179 by September 7th and today I am at 190.5. WoooHooo!

Tomorrow is a mess. Leave at 4am for the airport, fly to Boston, arrive at 10:30. Hang out with the dd till 3:30. Deposit her at the boat and then head back to the airport. Leave Boston at 7:30. get home to the house at midnight. Whew.

This is my plan - because I cannot - will not - eat airport food. Protein shake in the morning and pack protein bars and bananas and some nuts. Healthy and filling lunch with dd in boston. Protein bar and fruit for dinner. Nuts on the way home if I need it. I am being very strict because I am abstaining from bread, sweets, crackers, cereal - so as to break my cravings.


Good luck Chicks!

Well, I don't know what my starting weight is since I haven't been on a scale since before vacation. I have a little dread in getting on the scale tomorrow...

But my Labor Day Goal is to push through the 160s and be 159 by Labor Day. I only have one bump along the way -- a weekend of camping the 3rd weekend in August -- but other than that, there's nothing off plan planned.

I am reinvigorated about exercising, and I am considering pulling my food scale out of the cabinet.

Wow, ICUWishing, congrats on your low!! That is awesome!

I had a good day here. 45 min. on the elliptical trainer and I also behaved myself at a cookout. Time will tell, but I'm expecting the scale to drop tomorrow. I am up 5 lbs from a week ago, and while some of that is certainly real weight, I don't think that all of it could be. So, mindful food and good exercise should lead to a good week for me.

All righty, fab 40's ... first week of the new month and we're gonna kick some butt (off). I popped up a pound over the weekend that's a definite sodium - I got into the chips and the Triscuits this weekend, and I can feel it in my puffy fingers. But July was 2.5# off, mostly due to last-minute discpline in the final week.

Heidi, welcome back! Breaking the 160's is a great goal, and you won't have any trouble. Vacation weight doesn't stay on if you get right back into plan. Good idea with the food scale - it's a great way to reinforce what you already know.

midst, great plan. Always rare to find anything outside your home that's better than you can prepare for yourself!

Surprise discovery - raw zucchini slices with hot sauce ... well, ok, I'm a sucker for strong flavors, and zucchini, um, needs a lot of help. Had to find a way to like it, though, because we're shortly going to be overrun with them. Not too bad sauteed with tomatoes, onions and garlic, either.

ICUwishing - no biggie on the pound. You know what to do... Re: zucchini -- I like to slice it thick, rub some olive oil on the slices, and then grill. The outside gets carmelized and the inside gets really fluffy and scrumptious. I also saw a recipe in Vegetarian Times for zucchini soup that i might try...

As for me, I hurt my foot at 6:30am, stumbling down the stairs holding my cat to throw him in the basement so I could get more sleep. Ugh. I'm going to try to exercise today, although it still hurts a little to walk on it. I don't want to overdo it, but nor do I want to get sidetracked. As I said, ugh.

Newleaf - Ouch! Hope your foot feels better!

ICU - count me in! I'm in another labor day challenge so I'll just repeat my goal schedule here - having it broken out by week is somehow helpful for me and makes it seem more doable. Red is actual black is goal.

Aug 3:178: 178
Aug 10:176
Aug 17:176
Aug 24:174
Aug 31:172

LABOR DAY Sept 7: 170

Good morning All,

So glad to be home. For all my planning - I went off plan in a big way. Anyway back at it today and figuring out how to do vacation starting Thursday.

Happy monday to all of you.

Sorry your daytrip to Boston didn't work out as planned, InTheMidst... At least you planned for it, now you just need to figure out why the plan didn't work and what you need to do next time. I lived most of my life in Massachusetts; I envy you your trip!

For me, the scale moved down this morning, and despite my foot, I exercised. I chose the elliptical since it has the least foot movement, compared to the treadmill or going for a walk. It didn't hurt too much while I was exercising, but it's throbbing a little now. I guess I should take some ibuprofen or something...

Dropped my friend at the airport and now it's time to get down to business! I'm feeling a little cruddy and I think it's because of some of the things I ate over the weekend. Did walk yesterday and today. Rain expected here tomorrow so I may have to hit the treadmill instead of being outside. I'm ready to be a loser again!

OMW - ditto on the ready to be a loser again! : )

Newleaf - glad the elliptical was fairly kind to your foot - that was a good choice. And particularly impressive since working out isn't exactly your first love. What are you reading in large print this week? Congrats on the loss too!

Inthemidst - are you home the rest of the week? That definitely makes it easier for me to stay on plan.

ICU - raw zucchini!?! You're a better woman than I - it's fine cooked (grilled or sauteed) but I just can't see developing a taste for it raw - good for you though! If you get bored of your current recipes, a mexican place near us makes a yummy sauteed side dish of chopped zucchini, purple onion, poblano chiles and corn. I don't have the exact recipe but I've duplicated it roughly at home using whatever quanitities I had handy and it was pretty good.

Back to the grindstone...

OnMyWay - I hope you're feeling better now... And I'm right there with you -- time to buckle down!

DancerInDenver - yeah, pretty out of character for me, eh?? But there have been times in my life when I've been very committed to exercising, so I know what it can be like, and figured I'd fake being committed. Right, because that's what a committed person would do -- not let their foot hold them back! It does still hurt, though... I hope I wake up tomorrow a new woman. Oh, and I'm almost done with my first book. It's about 13 women who went in on a $20k diamond necklace together and how it changed their lives. It's pretty frivolous and certainly an easy read! One more day and I should be done.

I would love to join the challenge. I would like to be at 159 by Labor Day. I have been slacking the last few days about writing in my journal and I know that is not a good thing for me. I also need to give up the sugar...but haven't been able to yet. My positive: I walked 3 miles in the morning and 2 miles this evening. I need to keep this up!

welcome aboard, sukierd!

newleaf - wishing you a speedy recovery with the foot! It's always a challenge when parts don't work the way they should.

dancer - I've been trying all sorts of vegetables in their raw state. Not that I'm attempting to be a raw foodie ... just experimenting. So far the best discovery is raw corn on the cob. The raw zucchini is, well, a work in progress. Love your suggestion - I sent a screen print of your post to the Head Chef.

OMW - echo the cruddy feeling. I bombed out at dinner last night and it cost me a good night's sleep. Extra coffee today - and well-planned snacks/lunches should get it back on track.

I need to make a good exercise plan. I haven't been swimming since I got back from our backpacking trip, but I have increased my "normal" activity level. I plan to start training in the pool after school starts (9/8 for us) and to ramp up for the Masters swim season. Which means more strength training, too. Can be done ... I just need to make it "important enough"!

ICUWishing, sorry about your lapse last night... You have been doing great so I'm sure it was only momentary. On to a new day! Extra coffee makes all the difference. I'm off to brew mine after I'm done here.

Sukierd, welcome to the challenge and to the boards. I'm looking forward to getting to know you!

Here, I have 1.3lbs of vacation weight left to take off, and then I get to pick up from where I left off on 7/25. My foot feels a lot better this morning after a good night of sleep, although it is definitely not 100%. I'm looking forward to a good day.

newleaf - thanks for the kind words! Coffee does fix a lot of morning issues - diuretic, laxative, alarm clock, jump starter ... lol! Glad to hear your foot is improving, and I am certain that your vacation weight will succumb to its unwelcomeness in the next couple days. There's no stopping you!