Ran for an hour this morning so feel back in the game with you all!
AJ - I like your idea and your food plan sounds super healthy.
Here's mine
Breakfast - peaches (too hard to eat more with the run)
Lunch - chicken, broccoli, raspberries
Snack - grapes
Dinner - chinese spicy ground turkey tofu dish with veggies over brown rice, canteloupe

How's everyone else doing? Mygrits - we so need a wedding update!

Hi chickadees!

Well I am back in the office at my desk...I totally hit the wall this morning, slept in until 9AM, brushed my teeth, washed my face and came into the office. Plus, TOM showed his ugly mug this morning...not impressed. So I am cranky, bloated and feel generally horrible (I also have a rotten arse cold).

However...I did eat a very healthy chicken salad loaded with vegetables, hard boiled eggs and fruit. I am on total detox. Drinking tons of water and just trying to flush out every impurity I have consumed.

Last night though I got my stuff together. I took new photos and never sucked in...ewww. I put them on a big piece of 11X17 paper and every 21 days I am going to take another photo. It's amazing sometimes how I don't see if in the mirror or whatever but then a photo and I am like - EWWW. How can I think that looks good. One of the things I really noticed on the weekend was how chunky my face has gotten again...dimples are gone and I look older and tired.

I made goals, I planned my week. So I am happy about that. I have to do this...I feel so unattractive and icky poo. Tonight I am going to load up on chicken and vegetables and stay away from alcohol. No cheating.

Vicky - good choices and control...I think for the next 21 days I just need to avoid anything that will tempt me (just kidding) - that is impossible. I live right next to a cupcake store and sometimes I can smell them...I am sure it's my imagination - but still!!! And yeah for the 3 lbs And I do experience the 'why do I have to do this' it's so tiring, will it ever end...but then I can look at a reason why and I can sometimes pull myself out. I hope to find the motivation that I had a few years ago when I lost all that weight...I was a rock - I never cheated on anything for months!

AJ: Good that the needle on the arse scale is participating with you...I can imagine how hard things have been for you with everything going on...you should really applaud yourself that you have maintained and use that as an incentive to go hard for when things start to settle down a bit

Burgandy - oh no about the burn, that happened to me about a month ago - exact same situation and it's so uncomfortable. Isn't it weird that we know we shouldn't indulge and then we do...I wish there was some switch we could use turn off - I wonder if our brains are just wired wrong sometimes. But I guess you always want what you can't have and the grass is greener on the other side but when you get there, it's not as great as what you thought...oh I am so reflective today. Stupid TOM!

Lindy - sorry about the hair...what color did you do it darker to? You look so great in your avatar!! And heh you may have left spinning but at least you stayed for something else and didn't go home and eat pancakes!! High five!

Well I better get back to work...I really don't want to be here today - AT ALL But I am leaving early so that is good.

Check in later - glad to be back I missed all of you!!!

Hi Ladies! Back from a weekend of Sailing and Writing! ANd right back into the first day of school. Crazy Crazy Crazy~!!! Didn't gain any weight even though I went totally Off program.

Hope everyone had a great long weekend!!

Hi Ladies,

Today wasn't a bad day, it wasn't great either. Just have a case of the "blahs" where I don't feel like doing anything. I really didn't want to be at work today and found myself just crabby. I tried not to indulge, but I think the TOM is coming because I just wanted to EAT!

Didn't take any of the fudge brownies or donut holes that were in the department today, opted for fruit and lite yogurt. Lunch was a Healthy Choice steamer and I was still hungry so I had a caesar salad. Didn't go light on the dressing, oh well. Had a sweet and salty bar for a snack, then a grilled chicken breast with lettuce and tomato along with 1 serving of healthy tortilla chips and salsa. Had a WW toffee ice cream bar with Maddie for dessert. All in all, not terrible, just wish I could shake the blahs away.

Taking today off from the gym, working with Hott trainer tomorrow night. I may do some sit-ups with my medicine ball and work my arms a bit before tomorrow.

Talk to everyone tomorrow. BTW: anyone heard from Tiff or Basics?

So.. today was a very tempting day for me too. I had cravings for just about everything. but i did not indulge. I was so good. I'm not gonna sabotage myself now. I weighed 201.6 today. So so close i can feel it. I can't help but weigh myself everyday this week... well at least until I see a 1 at the front of the scale. Though.. I still feel really fat for some reason. I know I'm thinner in my upper body.. but my lower still needs a lot of help. Hopefully running will take care of that. Well I'm just rambling now. I'll check in tomorrow

maddiesmom - good luck fighting the blahs!
hotsplashes - way to maintain!
staccie - you poor thing!! with the hours you've been working, no wonder your immune system is in open rebellion! Hope you feel better tomorrow and best of luck with your detox program : )
Lindy - I did some more reading on mastercleanse and I'm a little nervous about you going for 21 days - sounds like it can be hard on your system to get used to normal food again and lots of other weird stuff if you do it for too long. Does the idea of two mini-cleanses with a break eating really clean in between appeal at all? I'm so happy for your success so far - just worried a bit about the health consequences of something so extreme. Sorry to get all mom-ish on you - since I'm not actually a mom, I take out my maternal worries on my girls : )

Doing good so far and bound and determined to beat the munchies tonight - hope everyone's doing well...

Neesy - that's SOOO exciting! Woohoo! And I know what you mean about how even when you're losing you can all of a sudden feel extra fat in part of your body. My guess is that we lose at different rates in different parts of our bodies and having some parts shrinking faster than others makes the slower-to-shrink bits seem bigger in comparison, even if they're smaller than we started with. Somehow that simple idea got really garbled in the telling but I'm sure you know what I mean You are so on the verge of Onederland - WTG!

Aj-your whole day of food looks yummy. Good for you to getting right back on plan.

Dance-I need to step it up and start running. Gonna have to wait til this sunburn is gone, it even hurts to walk fast.

Staccie-of course now that you can get things back to normal, TOM has to come around. Hope you get to feeling better soon. The photo paper is a great idea. I need to take more "progress" pics to show off at the end of this journey.

Hotsplashes-yay for not gaining, but get right back on plan.

Maddiesmom-TOM is mean and nasty. Sorry you had a bad day, maybe tomorrow will look better. You have to be proud of yourself for not indulging in any of the snacks. Have a great workout will HOTT tomorrow.

Neesy-You are so close, I bet you can taste it. By Sunday we will probably be seeing a 1 on your ticker. Good luck and great job not indulging today.

I had a good day, went to the grocery store and got a few things for the week. We grilled today, I had my squash and zucchini, it was yummy, put a little fresh garlic in it. Went for a short walk, the dogs were pulling me and the sunburn was rough so we didnt go as far. I have to work tomorrow, first time since being back from vacation, I hope they arent monsters. Gonna take them to the park to run around. I think I will pack them a lunch. I am gonna have a healthy choice before we leave and take me a snack and lots of water. Hope everyone has a great day tomorrow. Big hugs to all of you

Burgundy - hope your sunburn is healing - that must make everything so tough! As far as running, lots of people rave about the Couch to 5K program (you see it as C25K on lots of threads) but it's basically alternating jogging and walking and gradually increasing the length of the jog intervals over time. You might like that approach. Nice job with the grilling - what a great way to fix veggies! Good luck back at work...

Small NSV for me today - I'm going to wear a new pair of pants from the Limited in a size 12 that were too snug a week and a half ago when I bought them. No workout for me this morning - need to get an early start at work but may try to do something light tonight. Have a great day, chickies!

Yeah... Not on plan at all. Been rushing from one surgical ICU to another with my best friend. Her dad was struck on his motorcycle and is in really bad shape. He was flight for lifed to where we are now and they seem to be stabilizing him better. But we had muffins for lunch and pizza @ 10 last night. I have had 2 sodas and a coffee with real sugar. BOOoooooo!!!!!
Neesy!! A. I need you here and B. I have a whole new erspect for you that is way above and beyond what I already had. Our nurses have been God sent but I wish I had someone to shoot really straight with me right now. He really is in bad shape but it looks better than yesterday!

I will probably be on all day seeing as I need something to keep me awake today after the longest day and night ever!!!! Hope you each have a great day! AJ

AJ: So sorry for what happened to your friend's dad. That is such a tough time. I will keep you all in my thoughts and prayers. Perhaps you can walk down to the cafe and get some healthy snacks...I know that will keep you awake more than the heavier unhealthy food. Be strong, you're all in my prayers.

AJ - hang in there, sweetie! I hope you can get some rest today and that your friend and her dad are doing okay. What a great friend you are to be there with her.

Dance-I have thought about trying c25k. I was going to do it months ago and never did. Its a good place to start. Yay for fitting into your size 12's. 10s here you come.

AJ-so sorry to hear about your friends dad. Hope things start to look better for him soon. Hopefully you can stay awake today. Maddiesmoms suggestion is great, walk to the cafe for some healthy snacks

I have the boys here at my house today. Gonna pack some healthy snacks and head to the park when my husband gets home. Really need to clean my truck out. I will check in later. Where is everyone today??

Hey ladies--

Today is a tough day for Master Cleanse, I am desperately craving Red Lobster and so is a co-worker, so she is trying to talk me into going. This is bad. I almost want to chain myself to my desk so I dont go. If I do it now, I would be on Day 10, 10 days is still very good and impressive, but it would defeat the purpose to go to Red Lobster, I was doing this to help me swing into a more organtic diet. Grrrr....this just sucks. On the exercise front, all is well. Managed to keep up in Bodyworks class, so thats good.

Neesy - so freakin close. Good job to not giving into those temptations, you will for sure be in onederland by Sunday weigh in, if not sooner. Woot-woot, all aboard Neesy's Onederland train. Haha.

Stacie -wow, you have some extreme drive considering TOM is here. Good for you. I also think the picture idea is genius. Neesy and I had both done that at one time. I never think I look big in the mirror, its not until I see myself in pics that it makes me sick to my stomach. Good for you girl, Im really proud of you. On the hair front, I went brunette, I had it professionally fixed yesterday and its growing on me. I have gotten a ton of compliments, so I guess thats a good sign. When I went blonde last year, no one never even said anything, which is usually a good indication that no one likes it, lol. So--maybe this is more flattering? idk...oh well, Im stuck with it for a while.

AJ - sorry sweetie your dealing with another round of stress. If its not one thing, its another. Keep your head up and stay positive. If your hospitals are anything like ours, they probably have some healthy choices in their cafeteria, no? Although, my brother had a very bad accident back in March and my diet went down the crapper that whole month. I mean...it was like - what diet? At the time, it seemed justifiable but now, Im like...dang it--I could have been more swimsuit ready if I didnt do that. Anyway, point of the story is, try to handle the stress the best way you deem appropriate, just understand, that there is always consequences in the end. That sounds...bad, but you know what I mean, right?

Dance--thanks for your concern, I have researched the consequences and all agree, there is potentially some side affects, which is why you have to stick to the program tick for tack...ie today. I CANNOT just dive into RedLobster because I am going to do some serious damage if I binge eat. I need to ease into it with the OJ...then veggie soup...etc. I have every intention of also listening to my body still. If I get to the point where I dont feel physically well, then I will definately stop. I checked my stats yesterday and amazingly, my blood pressure is PERFECT and everything else seems on point, so, Im going to keep going. Once again - thank you. BIG HUG for looking out.

Mygrits - still waiting for that wedding update. lol

Maddiesmom- considering TOM is lingering, I think you did substantially well.Hows the exercise routine going these days?

Burgundy - those boys that you watch are exercise enough, lol. And your din-din sounded yummy, I love zucchini and squash with garlic its my favorite type of mixed veggies...yum.

Ok, so I stepped away from typing this and my extreme craving for salty shrimp scampi makes total sense. I think we are all on the same clock, because TOM is here with a vengence. PLEASE let this be gone before my beach weekend.

Lindy - just think how cute you'll look in your bathing suit if you skip Red Lobster! You can do this! And can you update your avatar with your new skinny brunette self? I want to check out this new look you're rockin'.

Burgundy - have fun at the park! All that running around with the kids counts as a workout, definitely

3 more days until <<DUH DUH DUM>> I need to wear the dreaded strapless bridesmaids dress! I'm so much better off then when I started this - I have to keep reminding myself of the 28lbs lost since I get really self critical when I look at myself in the mirror. I'm going for a spray tan tomorrow to give me that skinnier feeling you always get when you're tanner. Hope it doesn't turn me bright orange! Will keep you posted...