Ashley103, I hear you on the packaging food in smaller quantities.

I can either go one of two ways:

1) Binge binge binge. A lot of times when I actually do go (decent) grocery shopping (which isn't very often), I eat majority of the food within the first few days, and the stuff I'm not particularly fond us just sits, never opened.

or

2) I'll have leftovers of something and it'll just sit in my fridge for ages until it crosses my mind that it's no longer any good.

- - - - - -

I don't really have a dinning room - and my table faces the wall (lack of room). I don't have cable, and I don't seem to have the attention span to sit through a movie - but I do eat while watching parts of a movie. Once I'm finished eating, I turn it off; however, I could probably eat through a whole movie.

I want to try and do something a bit different, though I'm not quite sure what though.

I do want to stop eating after 7. My mom did that for awhile, and she said she felt great while doing it, plus dropping a few pounds. The only acception to this will probably be on my school nights (two nights a week). My classes are from 6pm - 8:40pm, and I try to come home even if it's just half an hour - maybe I can squeeze something in then.

So, I'm not quite sure.

Nicole, I hope the scale registers your new focus this week, and you chase those holiday pounds back to where they came from! You're cross-stitching--I pulled out my new "How to Knit" DVD last night and finally figured out the knit stitch...on to purling...

Hey, Spunker, I'm originally from your neck of the woods (and still in mourning over that awful football game last Monday ). I bet you can figure out a way to manage your eating on school nights with a late, larger lunch and something small and portable during the break between classes.

I have been lounging around a little more than I'd planned this weekend. I've working out and eating on program and in good spirits. Hope everyone else out there is doing well, too!

judy

judydc, I don't know much about football... I'm assuming Ohio State lost then? Well, I'm assuming it was Ohio State that was playing since I remember going into stores and just being bombarded with OSU stuff.

For school, it's only twice a week, which isn't bad. I tried four nights a week (in addition to working eight hours five days a week) - that absolutely killed me. I only have on class on each night. Each class is 2 hours and 40 minutes.

I honestly need to change my whole way of eating during the week. I really don't eat while at work. I just have random odds and ends. It's difficult for me to eat and work at the same time, and I get distracted with other things during my short half hour lunch (sometimes homework). So I'm used to just eating when I get home. Last semester I wouldn't have an actual meal until around 8pm.

What kind of exercise do you do?

- - - - - -

Tomorrow is my first appointment at Bally's. My mom and I were supposed to go, but we both freaked out in the parking lot and left. It was packed, and plus we weren't feeling too confident about what we were wearing.

So we rescheduled, and we went shopping for clothes to exercise in instead. We both feel a bit better about going tomorrow evening, which we both swore we'd go no matter what.

Hope everyone enjoyed their weekend

I weighed today and has very happy to see that I'd lost the two pounds I picked up over Christmas, plus two of their friends! Down a total of four pounds. Decided to celebrate by buying a better scale. The LCD was messed up on the one I was using, so only the last digit was displaying. Bought a new one that actually shows all three numbers.

I had to laugh at Spunker's departure from Bally's parking lot. I've done that before! The gym I go to now suits me very well. It's a family gym, with very little spandex to be seen. Pretty much everyone that goes there wears baggy t-shirts and shorts. Much less intimidating.

Happy Monday everyone! I hope you have a successful day to start off your week.

spunker- My favorite exersize is walking. With the days so short and cold and wet that I have been walking at the gym. I like it most of the time. Like around the holidays when it would be almost empty in the cardio area so i could change the station on the t.v. to something more interesting then football. Now that the new year has rolled around the gym is packed both when i go at 5 a.m. or if I go after work at 6 p.m. It is very hard to stay when all the machines are in use. I go to a very small YMCA that I really like but there were two days last week when i did not go just thinking about all of the people. It was better this weekend because I can go at different hours like mid morning or early afternoon. You could gym staffwhat the busy times are. Most of the gyms I have every gone to (and there are only three) have a surge in Janaury that slows down after a few weeks. Ask gym staff if the level of activity is normal or a Janauary surge. Good Luck!

Ashley103- I try to shop at stores that allow me to select and bag my own produce. That way of I want three snow peas i can get three snow peas. You might try the salad bar to buy small amounts of spinach, mushrooms, and peppers for a stir fry or other dishes when you will only need one serving. With meat and rice I cook a few serving and freeze them. I have to freeze them or i some times have eaten a few days worth in one evening. For example i cooked six boneless skinless chicken breast in the oven with just salt and pepper. I ate one of the chicken breast with my dinner last night and the others I put in small snack bags i put the small snack bags in a quart size freezer bag. i throw all of that in my freezer and plan to have easy meals for the next two weeks out of the checken. I will also cook meat loaf and maybe pasta sauce. Buying the larger pack allowed me to save $$ and freezing the chicken cooked helps me with portion control and creating fast meals after work through out the week.

I have a question for you all, can you share with me any ideas you may have for non-food rewards? I am trying to move towards food for fuel. I enjoy food and i don't think there is anything wrong with that but I need to diversify how i reward myself and how I sooth myself or deal with stress. Any ideas?

Hi Ayanna, how about a warm bubble bath for a reward? That's my favourite comfort.
applecake

Spunker, a Bally's gym in January would be awful crowded....they have that big national marketing campaign on the Discovery Channel this time every year, so probably 2/3 of the cars in the parking lot belonged to nervous folks like you and your mom! I'm glad you're going back. I know you won't be intimidated once you get started--anyone who can tune out football in NE Ohio would have no trouble ignoring strangers at the gym!

Re exercise: I try to get in at least 45 minutes of cardio six days a week, and three circuits (strength training while keeping your heart rate up) at least three days a week. I like doing videos early in the morning, and I go to Curves a couple of times a week. I'll probably move from Curves to a "real" gym this summer. I love to walk, so several days a week I can add 20-40 minutes to my cardio by getting off the subway 2 stops early, etc.

Non-food treats? Does watching the Food Channel count ? I like to play "Home Spa," call a friend or curl up in a corner with a book and a cup of tea to deal with stress. I have had mixed results with attaching rewards to meeting goals, like a scheduling a massage after losing 15 pounds. But if I lose another 10 lbs or more by the spring, I'll have to shop for clothes--and I love shopping for clothes, so that will definitely be a reward!

judy

Yes you'll need new clothes. I've heard 10 pounds is a "dress size" but it might depend on how tall you are.

I'm still clinging to my skinny clothes, hoping to fit back into them before they go out of style.

It's so nice to shed a few pounds and feel a bit of space in the waistbands of my clothes! (Though I haven't lost lately.) Congratulations! Exercising 6X per week, you deserve to feel great!

I'm all about the new clothes. I've been throwing out my fat clothes as I outgrow them, just to force myself not to fall off the program. This is the thinnest I've been in at least 10 years, so I don't have any old "skinny" clothes. I put that in parenthesis because even my "skinny" clothes weren't exactly skinny.

I've also bought a few gadgets as rewards for hitting a goal. My latest was a new scale. Bought a new blender a couple of months ago. I used to buy ice cream as a reward, so I see this as a tremendous improvement.

Wow Ashley103, you rock! The lightest you've been in 10 years, plus overcoming ice cream urges. Fab.

Okay, so another thing about being single is that it can be easy to get into an all-work pattern if there's no one prompting you to have a life outside the office. This week I got a taste of what the next several months can be like if I don't really take control of my time and choices. I've been working late, and sleeping into my exercise time...and wanting to much from stress after dinner. I'm already figuring out how much time I can put into work this weekend....arrgh!

Ashley, I think that gadgets are a good reward, especially if they're connected to exercise and health. Although you can put ice cream in your blender for a milkshake . No, seriously, congratulations on diong so well.

Applecake, I have skinny clothes that I've never worn, since I was "just a few pounds away" from being able to wear them six years ago! I have been ditching everything that is too roomy. At my size, though, a dress size is a lot more than 10 pounds, and right now I have 22s that are tight and 20s that fit me well, so go figure!

judy

That is way too much credit. I'm trying to redirect my ice cream urges, but do have lapses fairly frequently. I no longer allow myself to buy a container of ice cream. If I absolutely must have some, I've been getting an ice cream cone from McDonalds. It's 150 calories with 3.5g of fat.

I hear you on the work/life balance issue. With nobody at home to nag at me, I can end up working way too much. Then it becomes tough to get in a workout or even to eat properly. It's a vicious cycle.

Clothes sizes are really funny. I was a thin 130 pounds in high school and wore size 10s. Now I'm a much heavier 185 and wear size 14s. They must have resized the clothes at some point.

I've read that because women are so vain, sizes are definitely mroe generous than they used to be...and vary widely by the company that makes them.

I hope everyone has a good and healthy weekend--step away from the ice cream!

judy

Sorry I haven't been posting. I've been sick with a wretched cold. My only accomplishment has been moving from the bed to the couch and back again. Hope to be back again within the next day or two.

Ashley, I hope you're feeling better today!

I had a good weekend, not as prodcutive as I hoped, but that's normal. I have been better about not snacking at night, hooray, and thanks to a dual-alarm strategy, I got up early enough this morning for 60 minutes of cardio.

I've been thinking a lot about whatever mental barriers I have that keep me from using all the tools I know when a craving hits...I've pulled out a book that I read a while ago, The Solution, by Laurel Mellin. I like how she breaks down the internal issues without a lot of psychobabble. The book has several writing exercises that I think I will try over the next few weeks.

I'd love to hear if anyone else is doing something similar.

judy