Ann -- Those sites are awesome!!!

Thanks for the warm welcomes, everyone!

So I got 8.5 hours of sleep last night and tried the morning workout again. I was hydrated, too -- I got up, drank, and then went. I even had a banana.

Result: I am sitting at my desk, sipping green tea, and praying someone comes over here so I can claw their eyes out.

I think I'm just NOT a morning person, LOL.

NYGiants- That is too funny!! I hope everyone can feel to stay clear. Thanks for that visual! Maybe you're not a morning person. Or maybe your body hasn't adjusted to this new shift yet? I don't know but I say do whatever makes you feel less like clawing out eyes Is there a specific reason that you want to workout earlier? While I wouldn't change my morning routine for anything I definitely envy the ones who can consistently do it later in the day. I have too many chances for mood ruinage during the day or child emergencies. Then I resent the little muchkins for throwing a monkey wrench into my workout plans.

AuntyJam- See I wish I could run that late. Well actually, I wish I wanted to run period! That's something I know that I can talk myself into liking but I just don't want to. I just can't bring myself to manifest that into my life. Now liking new veggies, that I can do! I talked myself into celery, broccoli and many other things!

Beila- Don't worry about bringing us down because we'll try our best to bring you back up! :hugs:
Maybe you should try an eating plan that's easier for you to follow? I've had the easiest time in the world following the "Body for Life" eating plan. There's so much on it that I love that I can't dream of doing anything else. I'm not sure what the fat smash is though. Maybe there are other things that you can have on there that you might love. What are your weaknesses? What foods do you keep going back to?

Ann- WOW! Eating for 4 days on plan is AWESOME! ESPECIALLY when you're sick! When I'm sick, I'm like...plan? What plan? Where's the peanut butter and toast w/ milk? (Although that's on my plan now) I eat waaaay more of it than I should. AND it's just about the ONLY thing I eat. I don't eat veggies and I barely drink water.

Oh and thanks for the personals clarification Got it! I thought there was something that I was supposed to do!

Welcome Carb Queen!! I hope you'll stay for a while

LT here's another forum that's dedicated to LC eating. www.lowcarbeating.com when I did LC that's one of the sites that I frequented a lot and got a bazillion great recipes from it and support to. Although we have TOOOOONS of that here too

Monday I'm determined to break that stinkin' 193 barrier. I posted this annoying phenomena on my blog:
Here's how my scale numbers for the week usually go.
Monday 193
Tuesday 192
Wednesday 191
Thursday 191
Friday 190
Saturday 190
Sunday 191
Monday 193
And the pattern starts again...

This has been going on for a month or so now. This weekend I'm really paying close attention to what I'm eating because this is getting pretty ridiculous! I should DEFINITELY be in the 180s by now! I think I may be sabatoging myself without even realizing it. *sigh*

Ann - Sorry you haven't been feeling well but Yay! for being on plan. My plan mostly goes to pot when I'm sick. I really encourage you to try out the light... even if you don't use it to work out just use it in the mornings and you can gradually shift your body away from being up all night. I used to do the same thing... awake reading or on the computer until 3am, get up at 6:30. I just wasn't tired at night because I would catch my second wind and run on adrenaline. Also I find by working out vigorously during the day I'm much more tired at night.

Suenos - Before I was a (sort of ) runner I was always a walker... I have had very active dogs all of my adult life and I've always spent a lot of time taking them out for walks and to the off leash area. Running was just kind of a natural extension of that for me. I started with the couch 2 5k program on a treadmill in my basement. I find it to be a great stress relief, I plug in the headphones and focus on my feet and the music. Running is a very internal thing for me and I need that meditation time. Not to mention it's cheap and I don't have to depend on anyone else!!! (Since we're broke and my husband isn't exactly a health nut). What is your favorite work out?

Beila - Have you ever read the depression area of this forum? I'm a very active poster over there as well... the people there are wonderful and we all encourage each other a great deal. Try it maybe

Suenos -- It's just hard sometimes to get home at 9 p.m., knowing that I've gotta make dinner for me + hubs, shower, play with our two cats (okay, that's not a chore!), clean up from dinner, organize for the next day ... etc etc etc

But. I. Just. Can't. Do. It. I'm officially throwing in the towel and giving DH all the post-dinner chores. We're gonna have to live with cleaning (beyond doing dishes, and other time-sensitive tasks) only on weekends.

Suenos--I have a similar problem with the scale. As soon as I am 150, it jumps up 1-2 pounds. I think it's mental for me, cause when I'm near the 150 cross over mark to the 140's, I think I may eat more or something, thinking that I can since I'm doing so good. This has been going on for quite sometime for me, since the beginning of February. So I'm really frustrated with ya! But let's keep an eye out. When we get to that cross over point, be proactive and do everything in your might to lose that extra pound. Do an extra jog around the block, eat some steamed veggies for a meal or a salad instead of a higher cal meal, just really make it happen. Think of what things you've done in the past that helped you lose a pound the next day, and repeat it. Also, maybe don't weigh yourself for 2 days when you have a "good" day weighing in at 190-191, and just be very cautious of what you eat and how much you exercise. Maybe the fear of not knowing where you stand, will "scare" the pound away. Good luck! Let us know when you're back at 190 so we can cheer you on!

Aunty Jam--I haven't seen the depression site, but I have come out of the depression mode thankfully! I just found motivation through taking baby steps and just trying to do something about my weight. The baby steps lead to bigger steps, and before I know it, I'm already out the door exercising, planning my diet for the day, and being more productive. Also, I did something quite interesting which I think I will do in the future...I looked back at notes in my journal which was an exercise from a diet book I was reading...it asked me to answer questions like "what are your strengths, weaknesses when it comes to exercise/dieting? why are you overweight? why have previous weightloss efforts failed? etc" and when i read what i wrote (nearly a month ago), it somehow inspired me to get back on my feet and do something about the weight. So I'm really glad that I'm out of the doldrums of binging. It was no good!

NYGiants--I am trying to do my workouts in the morning too. I did 50 min this morning jogging/walking around the block. I read somewhere that there was a study done and found that exercising before breakfast burns calories 3x faster. I'm not sure if that's true, but I do find that I lose weight when I do a workout in the morning and one at night. If you're not a morning person, maybe have your coffee first and then do the workout?

Carbqueen--Nice too meet you! Hope that you will join us gals here!

Ann--I am back down to a lower weight, so yeah, it wasn't permanent after all! I'm like 152-153 now, so yeah, maybe just water weight? Not sure. But I'm really sorry to hear about your bronchitis I hope it gets better. Maybe just some nice soup will do some good. Like a healthy chicken soup, boiled veggies like carrots and potatoes and celery. That might clear it up and at the same time, help you lose a little weight since it's so low cal. Feel better girl!

Good morning everyone. Hope you're all well and that you have some fun weekend plans on your agendas. What's everyone up to? Me, I'm just trying to recuperate so that I'm able to get back into the swing of things by Monday. I'm still managing to stay on plan though. Yay!

Those of you who are following a low carb diet might be interested in trying to rent the movie Fathead. I watched it yesterday through Netflix online (I heard you can also get it through hulu). If you can't get it that way or don't want to pay a rental fee, do a youtube search to watch a few clips or go to the movie's website to see clips there. Interesting stuff.

Beila--I wonder if 150's is your body's set point at the moment. Maybe you should do some google searches on lowering your set point and see what kinds of tips the experts are sharing. In the past I've come down to weights that my body just doesn't want to budge from. Also, I wonder if you're losing inches at the moment even if you're not losing the lbs. Have you been measuring yourself at all? I do find that sometimes those plateaus happen because I'm a muscle building phase. I don't see changes in the scale at that time, but I see changes in inches (particularly on the waist). Just some thoughts...

LT--How's Atkins going for you and DH? Hope you're surviving. Got my period yesterday and at least now I can wait for my bloating and irritability to go away. LOL. Hope your now over your PMS too.

NYGiantsGirl--YAY for you! Let DH help. So many times we women try to do it all ourselves. You need some down time and some "you" time too. Maybe you just shouldn't do morning workouts. It's not for everyone. Who wants to be cranky all day? It's just not worth it. Get your extra sleep and do a later workout. See if you're less cranky.

Aunty Jam--I'll definitely look into the light box. How are you doing?

suenos--Great website...thanks for that! My fingers are crossed for you to get through your weight plateau on Monday. Maybe just really watching yourself on the weekends will help? I tend to let myself slip a bit on the weekends. Let us know how you do.

How's everyone else? Happy weekend!

Hi Everyone

It's been a while since I have posted. I see some of the same ladies are here (Ann, LT, Beila).
Well, I have a new mgr at work who believes we are all children, although he is younger than all of us (I'm 36, he is 30), and I have been doing the job for 10 yrs. Oh well. We will have to break him in .

Rose73 - I feel like I am reading myself! I will be 37 in April and also have 2 girls 5 &2.

Itee - I'm so sorry for your loss. I also lost 3 before we had our daughter. It also helped me to gain about 50 lbs that are still hanging around.

Well, hope to be around more. The sun is shining so I hope to be more committed to losing weight. Also, I'm making my husband do it too!

Congrats Slim! That's so awesome that you finally had your bundles of joy My best friend had about that many before she finally had my beautiful goddaughter!

Ann- I'm definitely watching it this weekend because I refuse to be mocked by that inanimate object on Monday! Did you eat veggies while you were sick? Or better yet if you did HOW did you do it? I really want to know so that when I get sick again I can use your notes!

Aunty Jam- That makes sense! My friend wants to run a 5K next year we walked the 5K Gate River Run this year and it was a lot of fun! The time flew by because I was walking with my boss who was preparing me mentally for taking over her position when she retires next Decemeber *sigh*. I wish she could stay forever. When the time comes though I'll be ready. I just don't like thinking about it too much right now.

NYGiantsGirl- Makes sense. That's very difficult! I guess because I have to wake up to get my oldest to the bus stop between 7:00-7:30 most mornings, it's easier for me to just wake up an hour earlier to get my workout in first. Not to mention my workouts are only 20 minutes HIIT cardio and 45 minutes weights. So that makes it more doable for me. How early do you wake up normally?

Beila- I totally agree! I think that I eat more than I normally would or need to because if the scale doesn't move then there's a reason for it. But if I'm good and the scale doesn't move then I'll be frustrated. I don't really celebrate my weight loss success with food like I have in the past. I've only been as low as 178 once and that was about 5 years ago and then I gained it all back plus some of course. I just KNEW that wasn't going to be me. But this time I'm POSITIVE that's not going to be me because I'm extremely excited about the foods that eat now.

So NOW for my semi-exciting news. This morning I weighed in at 188.8!! Which would be my official 30 pound loss! However, it's only semi exciting because it's Saturday and not Monday! I am drinking water like a psycho and I'm even forgoing a surprise birthday party tonight because I refuse to be tempted. My students like to show me their love through making me eat stuff that I really don't want to. They are all international so I know it's really cultural and I don't feel like saying no a hundred times. I don't always have the resolve to say no more than 5 times! So keep your fingers crossed for me that I am permanently saying good bye to the 190s! I hope the 180s just sail by...wishful thinking huh?

Oh and you can see my progress pictures on my blog too. At least from 218-193 or so. I'll be taking more progress pics April 16th!

Suenos! Congrats!! You must be sooo stoked right now! Goodbye 190's! Adios! Never go back there again! Please stay in 180's and be a motivational spirit for us all! You are so strong not going to the part to be tempted! I would do the same, but stay on track, and be good!

LetintheSlim--Nice to see you again! Your hubby will be great motivation to help you get through this. Also, hope that we can all help you as well. Check in more and let us know!

Ann--I checked out the "set point" thing you were talking about. Does that mean my set point is 150? I hope not! I want my set point to be 130's. I used to be 130's for a while. Last summer, and for several years in my twenties. Now, I'm 30, and have been in low 140's for the last 2 years or so. The 150's started this year. I'm hoping it won't last forever. I'm gonna try to "reset" my set point. Not sure how that works though. I've done it in the past when my weight crept up, and just not sure how to get out of it now. This is the first time that getting out of 150's has been such a struggle. It used to be so easy in the past. Just a few days or a couple of weeks of cutting back, not really needing to exercise at all would drop me out of 150s. My weight is so strange. Well, hope to see you get some LBs dropped by monday. I always do when I get sick, so maybe that will help you get jump started once you recover.

Day #3 today of extreme fat smash diet. It's going well, so just gotta stay on track. Hoping to lose 1 pound by tomorrow! About to hit the gym, and it's not even noon yet, so that's a good sign!

Great job at getting back on track Beila! That's always the hardest part!
Now I'm stoked. I was hesitant yesterday because I just couldn't believe that it was actually real...I weighed in this morning and I weighed in at 189.4! So for me it's official. There's no way I could possibly go back to the 190s unless I lose track of eating today and by that I mean that I don't eat all 6 meals. I realized a few things this weekend about my previous weekends. I don't actually eat more. I actually eat less. I don't eat every two hours like I normally do during the week. I lose track of time and I forget to get my meals in! AND I don't drink enough water normally. It's easy during the week because I talk a lot so I have to drink a lot of water.

I also think that getting out of the house and walking to the park at least 3 days a week helps also. I took my boys roller skating Thursday and I could have skated all night long! It was their first time and while they had fun. It was enough for a first time. I haven't skated since I was maybe in middle school and I use the wall to stop!

Hey suenos, I think you figured out the key to your weightloss success, water and frequency of meals. Eating every 2-3 hours, staying under your calorie requirement, and drinking water is in every popular diet out there. Keep doing that and you'll be in the low 180's soon enough!!

Good news everyone, weighed in at 151 this morning! I'm so close to crossing over to 140's. Just need to stay on track for 2 more days.

I hope to lose another pound by tomorrow. It's a "light meal day" for me on extreme fat smash, so I won't be getting many cals, plus I have about an hour of exercise to do. Wish me luck, and that I don't fall prey to binging!

So I weighed at 190.6 this morning. I wanted it to say 180 something BUT at least it didn't say 193!

How did you do yesterday Biela?

How was everyone's weekend? Mine was so/so. Mostly I was just recuperating from this bug. I feel a lot better today, thank goodness. Still not breathing all that well, but at least I can function. LOL.

Yes, I did manage to stay on plan while sick. Being sick might have actually made it easier since I felt so crappy that I didn't want to eat much. I weighed in this morning to see a pleasant surprise...down 6 lbs since last Monday. Yay low carb! I realize it's mostly water this first week, but I'll take it.

Woohoo! Way to go. It must feel so good just to get over that 193 hump! Sorry that you got that 180's tease yesterday and then it was gone today, but I know it'll be back...probably tomorrow.

Beila--You're getting close. 140's will be here soon, I bet. Glad you're doing well on EFS.

Slim--HI!!!!!!!! Welcome back!!!!! So good to see you. As you can see, I haven't budged much since you left. Actually, I mostly ate like a pig for a month, but I'm trying to get back on track. Your new boss sounds like a real jacka$$. Hope that isn't making work too miserable for you.

How's everyone else today? Check in and let us know.

Good morning ladies. I weighed in this morning at 170.4. I have not been sticking to my low carb plan. We started over this morning. I thought it would be easier with DH home....not so much. Still the same struggles.

The kids are home on spring break! So it is pretty noisy in my house for the next week. I just wish it was warm enough to take them to the park. Maybe tomorrow. High of 62 but extremely windy. I guess we shall see.

Not much to say today. Will chat with you all soon.

Hey girlies! 151.5 today it was 151.0 yesterday morning, and 150.5 post workout yesterday. I also binged on a 7oz bag of puffed cheddar corn puffs No more binging for me! I was really upset about the binge and skipped 2 meals cause of it. It was just a bad idea.

I did lose weight since last week, although coming from a post binge phase. So like 2 pounds lost since last week. I guess. Should be happy about that. I still have 3 more days on cycle 1, and need to lose another 2 pounds to stay on track.

Gonna have to do 2 workouts today. I'll get through it, like I always do.

Suenos--keep working at it, don't let the scale go up anymore. Could be carbs and water weight? Carbs holds on to 3-5 times its weight in water. Let's smash through this and get down to our next weight goals!

LT--good job! I think you lost weight right? Keep going girl! You are on the brink of 160's!!! What are your struggles? Let's help each other figure it out! Is it time? Temptations? Stress? Talk with your hubby about it too. He will understand, he's your hubby! The kids will keep you occupied and away from overeating, and burn cals since you'll be taking them out soon

Ann--i binged like no ones business that one time last week (depressed week) and bounced back like nothing happened! You can do the same! The gym was no problem at all, worked out just as hard, and the weight would come off sooner than when I was dieting. Its as if the binge pounds are temporary and check out before you know it. Don't be discouraged, you will be where you want to soon! I'm sure of it!

----

What are everyone's mini goals? We need them right now to pull us through!

Me: 145 by easter...135 birthday (end may)
Reward: haircut easter...new tennis shoes birthday

Does it seem realistic? Let me know, honestly. Thanks!