I was pretty much POP yesterday but did have seconds on my manicotti. I haven't figured the calories yet, but probably closer to 1500 rather than 1200. Not bad, though.

An hour at the gym with my trainer went well.

Robin~great idea for the lunch with your friend! I probably would have hit a restaurant.

Megan~I've been to a fondue place in Texas with my sister. I was not at all impressed. I think what I disliked the most was the smell of the hot oil. I couldn't get it out of my clothes and since I was traveling, I had limited clothing options and had to wear the same pair of pants home on the plane. I thought I stunk (and I probably did--all I could smell, regardless of perfume, was the oil stench. Yech.).

Today's plan
B~cottage cheese
S~clementine
L~Lean Cuisine garlic chicken stir fry
S~yogurt
D~BLT sandwiches with avocado and leftover tortilla soup (although I may skip the soup or only have 1/2 a bowl).
Gym~1 hour (ish)

Okay, I'm coming quietly back in here, feeling really badly about how my eating has been the past few weeks. I need to just jettison my guilt feels about reacting to all the stress with food and dust off and move on. So, here's today's plan.

B - cheerios with 1% milk, blueberries, 1/2 peach, ww toast w/pb (a standard breakfast for me, and I'm OP for breakfast 99% of the time)
S - ff latte, 4 tea biscuits (a non-sweetened small cookie - 16 cals each)
L - leftover chicken pasta salad (the last day!)
S - peach
D - grilled chicken, broccoli, rice, salad

Good going on the stocked fridge Robin. Ours is currently overflowing as we are beginning to harvest lots from our garden. I have broccoli I need to freeze, plus beets, carrots, peas, lettuce, swiss chard and green beans. Oh and raspberries and peaches (didn't grow these ), plus last night we froze about 5 quarts of currents.

Robin - I offer to cook for my friends all the time. Seriously, all the time. I have a whole barrel of excuses, including my favorite "Oh, I've already done the grocery shopping for the week, and I have stuff that'll go bad if I don't cook it...why don't you come over for lunch instead!".

And then I make a delicious, OP meal and everyone is happy. It's one of my best strategies for dealing with social situations...

Back from the doc, starving and eating breakfast. But he DID want bloodwork, so fasting was a good idea. Now I won't have to go back and do it later.

Megan - I love fondue, but I'm definitely not that restrained when I go. The cheese, the chocolate, the wine...Oh My!

Pat - Welcome back. Just get back to it...you know what to do. Let go of yesterday and focus on now.

I have a mix of a victory and an unexpected setback. First the victory - someone came around offering ice cream bars, and I refused. Yay! I attribute my will power in that case to all the exercise I got yesterday.

The unexpected setback is that my MIL called and invited us to meet her & family for dinner at Bravo (Italian restaurant) as a send-off for my sister-in-law, who is leaving for a year in Munich tomorrow morning. They don't have nutritional info online, but at least they have a menu so I can be somewhat prepared...

Yesterday became my rest day after my podiatrist's visit. She cut out a bunch of ingrown toenail (sorry if I'm being gross!) and I couldn't feel my foot for a few hours. I'm supposed to limit standing for a few days but as long as it's not bothering me plan to do some weightlifting and abs (that keeps the foot elevated, right?) this afternoon. Cardio is TBD - probably not today though.

Jessica, how was dinner? I swear your office sounds worse than mine with all the food!

Ooh, Amanda, "I have food that will go bad if I don't cook it" is a good one! I'll have to remember it.

Pat, we've all been there. Today is a new day.

Allison, I'm glad this restaurant didn't reek of oil! Of course we also didn't get a main course, which is where the oil comes in.

Friday's plan:
B - 1/2 c. oatmeal, 1 c. sk milk, coffee
S - 1 c. strawberries
L - Moroccan Spiced Chicken and Bulgur Salad, 1 c. carrots & celery
S - 6 oz. lt. yogurt, 1 c. cherries, 1 oz. walnuts
gym - shoulders and abs
D - darn, forgot to take the pork chops out of the freezer! maybe pork chops.

Meg, I hope your toe gets better soon! I feel like I did a pretty good job at dinner. I ordered mahi mahi which just had a mango salsa on it, and came with roasted asparagus and potatoes. I did eat all the potatoes, which I probably shouldn't have, but I didn't eat all the fish (of course I ate all the asparagus!). We split three desserts between six of us so I got to have a few bites, but luckily not a whole dessert. I also skipped the bread and oil!

Friday's plan:
B - muesli, milk, 1.5 tomato slices, 3 slices pickled beets (yes, bizarre breakfast, I know)
S - apple
L - more leftover crustless veggie quiche (it's almost gone now!)
S - apple, half PB&J on ww bread
D - herbed rice with chicken, maybe zucchini
Exercise - 30 min wog with dog (c25k wk 1) - DONE!!! UBWO this afternoon.

Megan - You will laugh at this one -- this morning, someone came around offering glazed donuts to everyone! It's one thing when they just leave it in the break room, or even when they send an email that it's in the break room, but when they actually come to your desk it's harder to refuse!

I did refuse though (even though I'm actually hungry right now), and I credit my workout this morning with giving me the will power.

Great job on all the healthy choices guys!!

I need to be here today. I am feeling more positive today than I was yesterday (I really should have been here yesterday).

My plan:
1/2 bagel, peanut butter, protein shake
fruit, protein shake
ham sandwich, laughing cow, tomatoes (from the garden!) and carrots
fruit, cottage cheese
dinner will be either turkey breast or tilapia, veggies
protein shake before bed

exercise:
long run (>6 miles) with DH
hr with personal trainer

Megan~hope your toe heals quickly. My MIL had such horrible ingrown toenails that she had to have surgery to remove the nail bed on each side of her big toes. She no longer has a problem, but her nails are really narrow!

So Pat, how do you feel about your governor being picked as VP with McCain?

Not much of a plan today...

B~cottage cheese
S~1/4 c cashews
L~Italian (probably vegetable lasagna, but I may have soup & salad)
D~chicken and salad
Gym 1 hour
Tonight will be the challenge--DH and I are going to a bar to watch a friend play in his band. I haven't had any alcohol since Sunday...can I behave?

Megan! Ouch!

Yesterday was OP in calories, but off in choices...I cut out several snacks and then, I'm guessing due to hunger, had way more dulce de leche than anyone needs to eat (I was making a batch for Sarah's birthday cupcakes...dark chocolate cupcakes with salted caramel buttercream...) I actually made myself sick from the sugar and spent the rest of the evening nauseous.

Scale was, strangely, down this morning, but I still feel like crap.

In other news, there is a spider who is convinced...CONVINCED...that the best place to build his web is directly across my door. This is day 3 to waking up to a giant spider in the middle of a GIGANTIC web, directly blocking my exit. It makes me shudder.

Plan for today does not involve ANY of that, though it WILL involve a drink tonight (I cannot get out of it. I've tried. I'm really not feeling it AT ALL).

B - Light English Muffin, Laughing Cow, Turkey
S - Pear
L - Leftover mixed bean, sausage, and veggie soup
S - Popcorn
S - 1 cup greek yogurt w/ pineapple
D - Laughing cow stuffed burgers on light buns w/ caramelized onions, side salad
S - A drink at whatever bar I'm dragged to tonight.

E - 55 min elliptical
75 min strength (and I intend to make it hardcore)

Ouch, Megan. Hope your toe feels better soon.

Jessica - sounds like you did okay at dinner. I love potatoes, and I eat them, just in a measured portion. We actually grow several kinds of white potatoes and they are just now ready. Soooo good when they're fresh.

Allison, we were as surprised as the rest of the country as the governor's staff has been denying all along that she would accept the VP position if asked.... She's very personable, but young (44) with 5 kids ages 20ish down to born in April, and has been only a city councilwoman (2 years) a small-town mayor (6 years) and now governor for going on 3 years. What's more interesting is that our Lieutenant Governor is in a tightly-contested primary race for the republican spot in the US House race (our primaries were last Tues). If he wins that, he's likely to win the general election since Alaska is a strong republican state, and we would be down to the Attorney General as governor! Going to an interesting few months.

Anyway, food. I did pretty well yesterday. Had to change out my dinner menu due to time constraints, but managed to keep the calorie count about the same. Here's today:

B - oatmeal with 1% milk, walnuts, raspberries; ww toast;
S - ff latte, 6 tea biscuits
L - chef's salad with oil (little) and vinegar (lot)
S - peach and/or yogurt
D - trying again for grilled chicken, broccoli, potatoes

Well, it's a little darks and lonely in this thread today!

Food

1/2 bagel, pnb, protein shake
peach, low carb yogurt
sandwich
cottage cheese, berries, walnuts
protein and veggies
protein shake

exercise will be 400 meter intervals at the track
and we're going raspberry picking as soon as I get my work done---so I better get going!