burgundy - nice to hear from you! good job on keeping things under control while you were away.

marmalade - how did the weekend go?

maddiesmom - so far I love the baby eggplants (they're about the size of roma tomatoes) sliced and roasted in the oven with a little olive oil, salt and pepper. I like them as a side dish but they would also be good cut up in pasta sauce or anywhere else you would use roasted veggies - like in a couscous salad. I'm going to try 'smooth squash' and 'gray squash' soon - curious to see if you can tell the difference between them and zucchini. Curious to hear how you feel being back at the gym - good luck with Jeff!

I was kind of bad yesterday - I ended up taking it as a rest day (no run) and ate a small cupcake from the cookie party. And a handful of potato chips. It's not the worst ever and an occasional rest day is on plan but this kind of behavior is not helping me get back to ticker!! *sigh*

Hope everyone is doing great...

Dance: thanks for the suggestion - had eggplant over the summer, grilled with some sea salt. I never think to buy them when I'm at the store - mostly because I'm the only one who will eat them! Let me know how the other veggies go, may have to make my way to some new markets.

Allison: Welcome back - glad you'll be back full time soon! Glad you had time with your family. Great job staying on plan!!

Well, after the past 2 months of eating like total crap, I'm getting back on track - all about baby steps. I decided until I can get back under control, I'm back to restricting myself. So, here's the food so far:

B: Special K protein shake
L: Lean cuisine with a small side salad
S: Banana, apple and cutie
D: Roasted chicken with veggies

So far it's going well, not really craving too much. I have the candy jar 5 feet from me still, but I'm saying no. Hard part will be this weekend - it's the baking weekend with my mom, but since I'm baking so much, I tend not to want any of it - hoping to have the same expeience this year. Guess we'll see.

Thanks again ladies for being there for me, I really appreciate it! I only hope I help as much as I receive help from you guys!

maddiesmom - meal planning must be so much harder when you have kids and husbands' tastes to take into account. I'm really lucky that my bf's idea of the perfect meal is fish and veggies (no starches) and that he likes pretty much all veggies. Your baking weekend sounds like a challenge - I had some of that Sunday morning when I was doing all of my cookie baking for the year but luckily it had me too busy to want to sniggle. You are a great friend and we always appreciate your help and advice - so glad we can all be there for each other. I'm absolutely sure you guys are the reason I'm not back at the weight I started with.

Just a small thing but I ran into an old buddy at work that I probably haven't seen in person in around two years and she was very complimentary about my weight loss - kind of funny when you get compliments on something that seems normal to you now. Do you guys find that as well?

Hey girls - how are things going today?

Maddiesmom - are you super sore after your workout last night?

I'm planning on walking with the girls tonight but probably won't have time to run until Thursday

Hi girls! It's been a looooooooong time! I took a pretty long hiatus from diet/exercise.. but never went totally off the wagon. I'm the same weight as I was in April.. but 9lbs up from my lowest point over the last year. So..... it's been freaking me out and I need to get serious and get to my goal once and for all.. The new year is coming up and all. Glad to see you guys are still on here.. been keepin updated on facebook. But I think 3FC really spurred my weight loss to begin with so I gotta come back to my roots. lol Been really busy but will try to check in regularly.

Happy Holidays everyone!

Dance: I'm not as sore as I thought I would be - feeling good! So glad that I went back (even tho it was 17 degrees when I left for the gym). I realized how much being away for 2 months affects your body. I'm so much weaker than I used to be - but I'll get back to where I was. I'm back on the determination wagon! Meal planning is a little harder with a picky hubby and a 3 year old, but i make it work. I have to if I'm going to lose this weight once and for all. How was your walk? How are you doing with planning your meals and working in the office full time?

Neesy: Welcome back! Glad to "see" you. I know you ended up not moving to Korea - what happened? Any chance the hubby will be stationed in the US any time soon?

Doing well the past couple of days, getting my determination back. Lost 1/2 pound in 2 days, so that's an improvement! Still super stressed at work - doing 2 jobs at once is not easy and I can't get overtime. They are trying to get it approved - but we'll see. I wanted the chocolate so bad today, but I stayed away! Getting back on track. I am meeting Jeff tomorrow again and getting another workout. Feeling better about things - guess exercise really DOES help!

neesy - so fun to hear from you! great job on maintaining - that's the real long term secret in the end, right? will you see your hubby anytime soon? I know that's a major motivator to pick up the pace on workouts and stuff.

maddiesmom - woohoo - the workout queen is back in da house!

Doing okay here - good walk last night (super fast pace) and planning on a run tonight. And chicken and veggies for dinner. Hope you guys are having a good one...

Thanks girls! I see you both have been kicking butt. that's awesome! I need to get back into the swing of things exercise wise too. You two have a great exercise routine and you've been sticking with it.. It's been way too long since I really worked out

Yeah.. so I live in tampa now. It was just too much of a stressful and long process to try to get approved to go to korea. Besides.. we can save more $ with me here working. He's doing an extra year in korea so that he won't have to go to iraq or afghanistan... but we're planning for him to come visit in february. He won't be officially back til march 2012.. and out of the army for good january 2013. I'm staying in florida the entire time. ... when he comes in february it will have been a year since i last saw him. my goal is to lose 10lbs by then=)

Neesy - that sounds like a great goal - and I KNOW you can do it! You're on your feet running around all day as a nurse, right? Sounds like you probably don't need the walking/running kind of stuff but maybe some strategic weights to make you a calorie burning machine? What kind of exercise program are you planning to get on?

So, it's now late and dark here - yet another day where work stuff ran over into my personal time. Now I'm starting to waffle on the running thing. May try to shoot for first thing tomorrow instead. Dangerous - I know!

Dance-its so nice to still get compliments even though you are used to your new weight and body. My sister was standing on her porch and I was in the yard and she said I was looking so small now. Its awesome.

Vicky-Woohoo for that 1/2 a lb. We can all get back to ticker weight. Good job staying away from the chocolate. I wish I could say the same but Ive been having a little dark chocolate here and there. How did the workout go?

Neesy-so glad you came back to us!!! I bet you are happy your hubby doesnt have to go to Iraq and you get to see him soon. Its still got to be hard being apart so long though.

So I have good news(not the greatest but I am ok with it). When we left I was at 188 and today I was 189, so I only gained a lb on vacation!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I havent worked out since we've been home. Just getting everything unpacked, tree decorated and house cleaned. I'm gonna get back to it tomorrow.

Gonna try to finish up my christmas shopping this weekend. I have a christmas party on the 12th and then another one on the 18th. My sil wants me to make a roast on Christmas Day. Its nice when we do it at my house, then I can have healthy options. What are everyones holiday plans?

Allison: Congrats on staying so thin on your vacation! I know how hard that can be - especially when you aren't 100% in charge of your food. Great job!

Dance: How has your day been? Able to get out for a run this morning?

Neesy: Your goal sounds great and I know you can do it! Your hubby is going to be so excited to see you! How often are you able to talk to him? How are things in Tampa?

So last night was another workout with Jeff and he had me doing a circuit. It was a tough workout, but I didn't wimp out and I made it through. I'm paying for it today - my abs and legs are killing me. I'm glad I did it though - the pain helped me stay away from temptation - chocolate bars, gooey chocolate cake and of course, coffee.

Work has been super stressful and no one seems to care (boss-wise). I'm super stressed and this is usually the time I start eating sweets, but I'm not divulging one bit - very proud of myself. Hubby had pizza tonight and I had 2 bites and then went back to my fat free ravioli. Not too shabby. Waiting until the weekend to weigh in again, but i do have class again with Jeff Saturday morning. Busy times!

Plans for the holidays: baking this weekend, hubby's side of the family has their party next weekend, then my family and more of the hubby's family for Christmas Eve and Christmas. Sticking to plan for the holidays if it kills me (and it just might!) LOL

Hey girls! Didn't run yesterday but walked around 4 miles to dinner with the girls and got a ride back. Tonight I'll probably get in around 3 miles of walking. Looking forward to running again tomorrow after a whole week of just walking. I've been waaaay too interested in late night snacking lately, gotta turn this around ASAP.

maddiesmom - really good job on avoiding sweets during your stressful time. I can totally relate - I'm still trying to finish up my old job on the weekends, yikes!

allison - I bet part of the extra pound is water weight that will come right back off too - sounds like you were very disciplined - nice job!

Happy Friday, girls!

Morning, girls! Weekend's off to a good start - had a nice evening out with my bf - salmon and veggies and a walk to and from the restaurant. Construction guys came by this morning to help me get my xmas lights up outside (I don't have a two-story ladder) and I'm getting ready to go for a run once it warms up. Already went on a veggie cooking spree and have eggplant, zucchini and spinach all cooked and ready for dinner later. We're going to see a movie tonight and then eat in to help me stick to plan. What's going on with all of you? Hope you're having fun...

Well ladies, I'm exhausted. Worked late last night, got up early and went back in this morning, got home and now I'm dealing with a crabby kid. On the up side.......... I lost 3 pounds this week! Super thrilled.

Back to my baking extravaganza today and hopefully will finish up. Still doing good, I've had 3 small cookies, which isn't too bad - one of them had oatmeal in it!

Anyone else doing anything exciting. Dance: what moving you seeing?

Ugh - so not a good weekend here - I need an intervention! BF got into a mood on saturday so movie plans were canceled and I had a big ole pity party that involved eating too much.I'm going to run tonight after work as it's finally warm here so that's step one. Anyone with me for miles?