Morning ladies, I've been staying with my calories for the last three days. I've been consuming close to 1600 calories a day which is at the high end of my range. Some of my choices haven't been the greatest but its a work in progress.

Zenor-how'd the bagels turn out.

Grammy-great job on the inches lost! The roads were really crappy here yesterday morning too! I had to take DD to preschool yesterday and we skated to the whole way there. The sun finally came out and started to melt some of it so the main roads are pretty good, but side streets still aren't the greatest.

Irish-Its great that you are able to fit into some of your old clothes. It makes all your hard work worth it!

Impala-great job on the loss. You'll eventually find your groove. I have a 1200-1600 calorie range I try and stay within. Then I look at the weeks average more than on a day to day basis.

dream~ The bagels turned out pretty good for a first attempt. A few were kind of deformed, but they're tasty and the right texture. Next time I need to weigh the dough out though, I ended up with huge ones and cute baby ones. I'm taking some of the little ones to work this morning. We have a meeting today.

Well, I must be off to work.

Hello ladies -- hope you don't mind if I jump in. I'm new-ish and I've posted a few times on this forum, but never in the chat threads. I just wanted to share because I've had such an awesome day.
First, the scale hit 158.0 this morning, which was my first mini-goal! (It won't be official until tomorrow, which is my weekly weigh-in, but it was still so nice to even SEE that number, you know?)
Second, I ran over a mile today for the first time in YEARS.
And third, I got to work to find somebody'd brought in a huge plate of seven layer dip and chips, and I had ONE. That never, ever would have happened, even a month ago. I've tried losing weight so many times before but it just feels substantially different this time. I can only assume it's having this website to come back to. YAY!!!

Zenor -- mmmm. homemade bagels. that sounds soo good. I love baking.
dream -- you know, I've been thinking that lately too, that looking at a running average of calories might work better for me than aiming for such a narrow range every day. I think it's important to give yourself room for special events, or just the fact that your hunger fluctuates from day to day.

Hope you're all doing well!!

coldbrightday~ and congrats on making your mini goal! I think it's awesome you are able to run! I have a knee defect that prevents me from running and high impact exercise. Can you feel the envy through the screen?

just venting -

I'm pissed because I've already had 938 calories today and I'll have to be really CAREFUL at home tonight. Darnit... We went to O'Charleys for lunch today and I made good choices, but my overall today is a bit high for this time of day. I guess I'll have the veggies and salad portion of whatever I serve for dinner - and maybe a glass of skim milk to get my nightly sweet craving under control.

Honestly, I wouldn't worry too much about it if it weren't Thursday night. We've got a fitness challenge going on at work and we weigh-in on Friday mornings... so I HAVE to be good.

Coldbrightday. I find that it really helps having people to talk with about my victories, speaking of victories congrats on your mini goal, and trouble spots. I did running for a while but I have a bum hip from an accident. I was doing great and thought that eventually the hip would stop hurting and be able to take it but after 2 months I gave up and figure it wasn't going to get better. I was a little disappointed.

Zenor ~ 4 wheel drive wouldn't even help with what we were slammed with over night. There were places that reported as much as 15 inches of snow. I would say we were close to 12. My neighbor plowed our drive way so I could get out but the road hasn't been plowed yet. There had been traffic up and down it which helped.

It was so scary driving home last night. Whiteout conditions and snow covered icy roads. I went shopping first and the parking lot was very dangerous. I had a cart to keep me from falling but a lady feel right behind a moving vehicle and I went running, screaming at the top of my lungs waving my arms. Finally the lady stopped backing up. She stopped within inches of hitting the lady with her bumper and possibly going right over her. Thank goodness no one was hurt. The lady that fell just keep saying they almost backed over me. She was obviously in shock. Sometimes God puts in the right place, at the right time, facing the right direction. Oddly enough I was pulling my cart to my vehicle or I wouldn't have seen it. I pulling because I couldn't push it any further because of the snow.

My eating is all messed up today because work was delayed until 2:00 so I went back to bed. Got up 3 hrs later than normal and nothing has been on schedule since. I think it will do some good for everything to be off schedule . They say its good to mess things up. I took the dogs for a walk this morning, lots of snow but its nice out. Now I am getting ready to leave for Curves.

Today is going to be a little lower than normal calorie wise because I decide not to eat after 7:00 and I just ate my lunch at 3:30 but that is also good. They say to fluctuate your calories and today is going to be my low day.

I have to get going for now and I will talk to you all tomorrow.

Dream ~ I really hear you about the roads. The sun has been working on the main roads here. You can tell the plows can't even tell where the road really is. We are all a work in progress. You will get to where you want to be it just takes time and trial and error. Good job on the calorie count.

Zenor ~ The bagels sound wonderful. I really like bagels but don't keep them in the house because I like them a little to well if you know what I mean. LOL!

Now really, I have to go for today.

ITS FRIDAY!

Just wanted to stop in quick this morning and say HOWDY! I am always so happy on Friday that I could do a little dance. LOL! Good exercise you know.

Well I achieved my goal this week and lost a pound. Oddly enough, it was a pound that counted. They say if you lose a pound of fat that it will actually shows in inches more than if you lose a pound of muscle and water. I believe it now. I also am still letting the fact that it is going to take me almost a year to finish losing the weight sink in but I can be at goal by Christmas if I keep my nose to the grind stone. At least I will be losing it the right way and not the wrong way and I won't gain it back like I have been bouncing up and down like a magic yo-yo. You can't put a time frame of getting healthy and getting there the right way.

My working out at Curves is also paying off. I can actually see muscles starting to pop out in my arms. I have always wanted nice strong looking arms but not to much. Now its just getting rid of that pudge on the back of the arm, you know the flaps that flap in the wind. LOL! I know, give it time but I hate waving at myself.

Well I am going to go and nose around some. Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying this beautiful Friday. I will be back (terminator voice)LOL!

Welcome Coldbright and awesome work!!!!!

Zenor: bagels...man I miss my breads I had to cut them out cuz they were a trigger food :P

Lara: OMIGOODNESS!!!! that lady was lucky you were there!!!!! god works in mysterious ways!!!!!

Well I lost 2lbs this week...I wish it was more but a loss is a loss!!! I know things start to slow down to 2-3 lbs a week around this time anyways so I better get used to it.
I have another birthday party tonight (3rd on since I started jan 2) another night of avoiding all the foods that make me afraid to step on the scale :O We got a terrible snow fall here too about 3 feet!!!! my driveway is up to my waist lol. I want to start walking but with this weather and the recent scare (a girl went missing last year and they found her body in pieces..they just found another pile of human bones I am a little nervous that there is a connection) so I dont like walking out by myself with the baby. by the time my husband gets home its too cold and late to bother.
anyways I am gonna exercise then I am going to a used things sale at a school in my town ( ths kids in the school put it on) so I will talk to yall later

Ok Irish, I won't complain about my knee high snow. WOW! I don't even want to imagine that much snow. I wouldn't walk outside by myself either. That is so scary. Have you tried walking in place inside while the baby naps? Dancing is another good way to get cardio in. There are also some really nice walking videos out there. I like George Forman's walking video. I also have a gazelle that I use several times a week. Can you tell I have been at this for a while. LOL!

2 lbs is a great loss to me. I felt great getting just one off. Like I said I am still letting 42 weeks set into my head. I could lose faster on the other program I have if I could be 100% on their plan but I just got sick of it. I should actually try to figure out the date and maybe that would make me feel better. I might get there faster but I have my metabolism so messed up from years of wrong dieting I am not holding my breath.

Good luck at the party, you are doing fantastic and keep up the good work.

OK. So I figured a pound a week and I will have my weight off, this is funny, the week of Thanksgiving. I reach that goal and I definitely will be giving thanks because it has been 6 years I have been trying to get this weight off. I have been doing different plans, YADA YADA and I need this. It is my turn. Thanksgiving here I come.

Yeah, Irish, I agree with Lara. 2 lbs a week is great. They say more than that and the likelihood of keeping it off starts to drop. I aimed for 2/wk the first 3 weeks, and now I'm hoping for 1.5/week from here on out. We'll see.

Happy Friday, y'all!

Interestingly enough, bread isn't an issue for me unless it's warm and crusty. Once it's cooled it's not a trigger. So, as long as I can wait when they come out of the oven I'm fine. It's at restaurants where they have the dipping oil that I get in trouble.

Our weather is kinda wacky right now, but in a different way. It's warmed up just enough for the snow to start melting and then it re-freezes. So we have lots of ice! They don't plow many of the streets in town (and certainly not our alley way) so it can be treacherous walking around town.

Grammy~ Thank goodness you were there to help that lady! I think more vehicles should have the cameras in the back like the Toyota Prius does. A friend of mine has one and as soon as the car is in reverse you can see the view from the back bumper. I think it's really good if you have small children too. Oh, and yay for the 1lb loss and more visible muscle!

Irish~ Congrats on the 2lb loss! I would be scared to walk too if something like that was happening around here. Maybe you should invest in one of those walking videos or a mini trampoline? I've heard they are fun.

Happy Friday!

Oh I have a question. Dh is going on a trip with his students to Wyoming. He'll be on the bus for almost 24 hours. I'm going to make him granola bars and hermits (to share), but what else can I make that travels well? I'm a little freaked out about them driving on a bus that far in the snow and ice, so my way of dealing with it is to load him up with food. Lol. Hey, if they get stuck they won't starve right?

Zenor ~ First thing that came to mind for me was peanut butter sandwiches or peanut butter on graham crackers. Other than that I can't thin of anything that wouldn't require being cold. Cheese sticks sometimes travel well and I actually prefer mine warm, brings out the flavor. Thanks for the congrats, I am very pleased and thankful because I am really enjoying my food again.

Well I am off for the weekend. We don't really have any plans except that we are going out for fish tonight and I have to pick our grandson up.

Talk to you all on Monday.

Zenor -- Nuts, granola, apples, carrot sticks, and hard cheeses all travel pretty well. Oh, and chocolate.