Munster: Man, what a day! Way to completely overcome those obstacles, tres determination .
Sakai: Welcome to the chat! Are you a fellow veginator? I'm a huge fan of 'fake' - facon, feef, nausage... LOVE IT! Also, since cutting out red meet from my diet, my joints LOVE me .
Shauna: I used to use Splenda, but I found an alternative that doesn't have some of the funny side effects (like water retention), Stevia. It tastes a bit sweeter, so I use half a packet, and haven't found anything in its market that packs cup for cup with sugar or spenda for baking (sad face).
HH4L: 5:45 am? *shudder* I draw the line at 6 (with room to snooze for an hour, lol). Going into winter, it was still dark when I dragged my bum out of bed for 7:00 am, lol. You can do it!
Serbrider: Hear, hear! I agree with the ladies. In all honesty, we do most of our personal growth between the ages of 18 and 25, and the odds of you being friends with this person at 25 even if you do get alone are fairly slim (but has been known to happen). It sounds to me like she didn't appreciate you enough to have provided you this feedback at the time she discovered it, and has been harbouring/hiding it. You don't need to put up with that. You're out of highschool now, and instead of having 200 people to pick friends from, you now have 3 billion . The water is warm, jump in!
Rie: OMGOODNESS, that is awesome!!! And as for the scale, it can stuff itself lol. You will get there before you know it!

Not a huge update. Kept on track with exercise and diet, and it finally paid off. Weighed in yesterday at 17 Lbs down, woo! The beautiful thing now is the habits are rebuilt.

Some work stress, bawled my eyes out to some peers who are now supporting me with some of my employees, so it should get better from there. The DW is not feeling so hot today, so we're going to kind of just mellow tonight. Oh, and it's my Friday, which means sleeping in a bit tomorrow!

I know I missed people, and that makes me super lame, but you know I love ya! I'm so far behind on personals that I figured I'd just jump back in on page two. Consider my ninja coached!

Hi everyone!
well it seems as though my fun night caught up to me today. I gained 2.2 pounds.
But! a 2 pound gain over me weekend is crazy good. a 0 pound gain would be amaing but 2 pounds is better than five or six... like normal. So I'll take 2 pounds anyday.

I'm nervious about this week though, we have a short work week and a long weekend. (3 days work, 4 days off) The more days away from my active job, the more I'm sure I'm going to gain. Plus we're going to the fair on saturday. @.@ all those yummy fried goodies and fatty foods and sugary drinks everywhere. I'm going to try and be strong by eating before we go so I won't be tempted. I know the fair is a once in a year thing, but with those 2 extra days away from work, I don't want to undo everything I've done so far.

Serbrider There is one thing I've learned from chatting with friends via text/chat...typed words will sound so much different than if they said it to your face. (or even over the phone) You don't know the tone that was being used, or the body language. reading words off a screen always adds a bit of harshness i always thought.
And yet she was beating around the bush. she might of just wanted to be alone with the other friend to talk about something important or personal to her. She could of just said so and let it drop. (I'm sure you would have too)
You're around the age where your gonna realize the dangers of toxic friendships. what's mor important than the quanity of friendship is the quality of said friendships. Some friends will not make the cut.
And prepare yourself to be friend-dumped as well. as we get older the more and more we understand what our friendships bring to the table. Some friends might be great people...but don't bring what we need for our happy, social personalities.

munstermommy crazy day!! You are stonger than i am. i for one would have given up after failed attempt 2. Fate just didn't want me to work out today. But you did good!

Riestrella I know how you feel. I've been stuck at the 230's for the past year...it's driving me nuts not giving up though...

edit:

Mandelea Yes! I Love meat but I know it's not great for me. so the fake meats help me keep on track. burgers, Vegandogs (taste just like normal hot dogs @.@) chic'ken, ect. My longest streak is 70 days with no meat. Then I took a few months off. (bad idea) I'm back on now. day 20 I think.

MandeLea - I didn't know Splenda had that side effect!! Thanks for the info. I have had Stevia before and yes it is a lot sweeter. I do like that I can buy a big bag of Splenda though. It lasts so much longer than those little packets. I don't use it for baking though. Just for sweetening coffee or tea.

Sakai - I don't see how anyone thinks fair food is yummy....hahaha!! Its just way too greasy for me. lol!

Hey Ladies!

Okay so today went a little better, although wasn't feeling so hot last night so I didn't keep my date with Shaun T until this afternoon lol! Did a light gym workout today because of the yuckies from yesterday and I feel much better now! Have weigh in tomorrow morning which I am not looking forward to. I know that AF should be showing her face any time and I always have water retention which sucks! I am drowning myself right now and am hoping that I can counteract it just for tomorrow lol! Did measurements a few days ago and I lost another inch in the hips! Yesssssssssssssssss! I still have about 2 to go in the waist, and 2 to go in the hips before I get back to where I want to be, but I am "inching" closer haha! I hope that we all have a great Thursday, omg so much closer to the weekend I can't wait!

Rie-OMG that would be AMAZING!!!! This is what I get for buying my copies off of ebay . The only ones I really have issues with are the Max Cardio Conditioning and Max Recovery. It is really frustrating lol! I will be mid Power Jump...and then BOOM! Gone! GRRRRRRRRRrrrrrrrrr lol! Anyway if you wouldn't mind that would be so great . I know how well you are doing, don't worry about the stall, you will kick it soon enough trust me! Keep working, oh and don't worry about missing a workout, as long as you make it up you are fine (from the other thread lol!).

sgregg-Seriously why do they feel the need to know EVERY rationale behind EVERY classroom decision? I know it is so that THEY KNOW you are prepared to take over a classroom but really, it sucks to write lol! Poo for TOM lol! I feel you on that one . Oh well, just pick it up again and keep trying!

Mande-Thanks! . I had one heck of a day (for me anyway lol!). I have to get it in otherwise I just feel blah haha! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT 17 lbs??????!!!!!!!! WOW that is AMAZING!!!! Great job . Keep it up girl you are kicking butt lol! Yay for Fridays lol, I can't wait for mine to come around. I hope that you get to sleep in and have a great and relaxing day, we are glad you are back .

Sakai-You don't know yet how much of that might be water weight, so it might even be less than that! It sounds like you did better than usual so YAY YOU!!!! Stick with it, you will get where you want to be if you keep up that will power! On the fair end, maybe try drinking a CRAP load of water before and while you are there after you eat. I know that keeps my stomach super full between meals and helps to hydrate you so that IF you decide to have a treat you don't retain water like crazy . Good luck with the long weekend, YOU CAN DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!

Ladies, here is to a great weigh in for everyone who hasn't done it yet lol! I will update you tomorrow on how it goes! I'm scared lol!

Herro!

I had an amazing night with my friends last night, we went for a meal at a pub and had a few cokes (naughty of me, but it is a treat when I go out!), and I ended up having a burger. I don't care how bad it was for me IT WAS DELICIOUS.

After thinking about my situation right now with my weight, I think I'm developing early time of the month signs. I'm going to be starting the pill on the 17th (I've timed it so I'm not on my period for when I visit the BF in February, hah!) for the purpose of controlling my periods. The last 4 months I've developed signs way too early, then the period itself has lasted for a maximum of 2 weeks. It feels like I'm constantly on my period! So I'm hoping the pill will sort me out.

After last night the scales were at 172 lbs, but I know exactly why - lack of water, coke and big a$$ burger in my system. Today I'm going to do my Insanity workout, but instead of doing the recovery video I'm going to do the intense Pure Cardio with Cardio Abs to make up for my half arsed effort yesterday! I ran out of time and just did Cardio Abs but it's really not that long. I didn't try as hard either. So I'll make up for it today!

I'm also going to eat good healthy food today and drink plenty of water to clean my system. I'm not sure if I'll see 169 lbs by Sunday, but I'm hoping to get back to 170 lbs!

sgregg - I think I'm holding onto water too, darn our womanly bodies! And yes, Japan is official =). Just need to get a job first! Hehe.

Mande - 17 LBS?! OH MY GOOSE THAT'S AWESOME! Well done!! So happy that you've made a healthy lifestyle a natural part of your day to day life, I think that's the most important thing!! Hope work gets better for you

Sakai - How are you trying to lose weight? Because cheat weekends don't seem to be working if you've been stuck in the 230s for a year!! You might need to start re-evaluating how you're trying to lose weight and commit.

munster - Oh man, I feel Aunt Flow is on her way too...and it's too soon! I swear I get the signs about 2 weeks earlier. Hunger, zits, weight gain, and because it's too early I think I'm doing something wrong! I think we'll have to set up a Dropbox account for you (I can invite you to it if you PM your email address) and I can put in the Insanity work outs you need. Dropbox is basically like a sharing programme, completely legit and safe I use it with loads of my friends.

Riestrella - I try not the cheat on weekends. But I find myself so bored that I eat ( I don't want to go as far as say binge...But once I start I don't really stop, I just have to nibble everything or go get something to nibble)
Being a overnight worker, I'm up all night on my weekends and it's easy for me to get bored. I don't know why boredom = eating. I use tricks like gum and such to keep my mouth busy without really eating something. it works most of the time. I don't really believe in cheating for a full day (or weekend) but I guess I do because I eat things (or amounts) that I normally wouldn't.

I think I might get a little cabin fever? stuck in the house all night. I love to go on walks but i only do so if DF comes with me. (Because I ain't going for a walk in the middle of the night alone @.@ )

But you're right...I do need to commit.
... . . ..

Today I had two bowls of broccoli soup for lunch. It was a lot of soup...but it was only 80 cals per bowl. Sodium sucked though, so I'm gonna down lots of water. Plus TOM is just around the corner and I always gain some water weight and I'm sure it will help with that.

Hey Girls!

So weigh in today, got to move the ticker down to 151! I know that TOM is coming in the next day or so, and my rings are still crazy tight so I AM EXCITED! I am retaining water like crazy, TOM is almost here, and I LOST A POUND! I am really hoping that means that I will hit the 140s next week for weigh in because I ususally maintain or gain about 1-2 lbs during this portion of the month . YAY woohoo lol! Had Insanity Recovery day today, and then hit the gym for Pilates . I love the way I feel when I finish Pilates, I just feel so much looser and I KNOW my core is getting stronger/tighter. I hope that you ladies are all having a great morning, today is a preschool day (woohoo break time for mommy lol!) and DD is taking a nap while DS and I have a snack, life is good today!

Oops, DS just fell off his bike I will come back for personals later .

So, days are passing by more quickly now that I have new obligations, but I am getting close to being 3 weeks on plan! Not perfectly of course, but consistency is the key! I'm meeting so many new people and I'm learning all those interesting stuff...all in all, I'm in a new surrounding. And that makes me want to push harder on my goals, one of them being getting fit and melting off the extra fat. Old friends, old circles are comfortable but being in these new ones, I have to prove myself and show myself as the person I want to be and as a person I am. And I am a fit, athletic person, inside I am, although it's not yet visible from the outside. I'm developing a new eating pattern, and I'm still deciding on that, but I am definitely adding exercising starting this Saturday. I want to get my body in shape and I want it bad. And I'm doing it.

Sorry about not doing personals today! Just wanted to check in, will catch up with you all on the weekend!

Sakai: Mmm nomiful foods, lol. We usually don't do meat more than once a week consistently, sometimes more, sometimes less. More often less for me. Less is more! I don't usually wind up successful if I deprive myself of things I love, so try to decided before you go what you want to eat from the carnival, and have that. It also helps me to look up calories of those foods (like when I want a delicious terribly burger from Wendy's), so I can make a choice on the side of my willpower, and not what I feel I have to do (doing what we're told is so lame and boring!). Good luck and have fun! Also, have you thought about taking up a hobby (my favourites are knitting and World of Warcraft, lol). They keep my hands busy so I don't smoke or eat as much.

Shauna: If it's for sweetening drinks, I wouldn't sweat it. It's more when you have large quantities (I found I was retaining a ton of water from drinking a lot of diet pop, and that is how I found out this handy little fact . Now I sweeten with Stevia or honey).

Munster: WAY TO GO, GIRL!!! That means you most likely lost more, and that is freaking fantastic!!!!! Glad your day went better today . Eep, I hope the little guys is okay!

Rie: I had very similar issues. In fact, I just had a visit from AF this past week, and finished up yesterday... For the first time in a year, lol. I know it's related to weight gain, and is coming back after weight loss. I also have PCOS which can cause major irregularities. If the pill doesn't work, as your doc about metformin, and see if it's a viable and safe option for you.

HH4L: You go girl! I love that you are taking this opportunity to reinvent yourself into the true person you are inside and how you want to be outside. Declarations are really powerful statements. Saying them out loud to people makes me remember my goal, why I chose that goal, and always makes me think twice before I do something to jeopardize my goal. I absolutely love it. And you are going to be there in no time! Good work on staying on top of the lifestyle choices! You go!

Not much to report here. Just finished 40 minutes of Turbo Jam and sweating my (literal) butt off, haha.

Ohhh, funny story!
I work as a supervisor for a major telecommunications provider (TV, internet, phone, and satellite) in western Canada (Shaw), on the satellite side of things.
So.. there was an X-factor solar flare on the sun that caused our Anik F2 satellite to move out of orbit (so it's beaming it's satellite signals at the sun instead of the earth) and has caused us to lose ALL channels on that satellite (we have two, Anik F1 and Anik F2). ALOT of people have lost their french programming (a huge deal in the east) and their sports, like NHL Center Ice and NFL Sunday Ticket. Am I GLAD I wasn't at work today, LOL!

I guess they're going to use the jet that was originally meant to propel it out of orbit when we're done to try and propel it back into orbit. If not, I suppose we're launching our G1 satellite sooner than we anticipated!

What a crazy world this is, and while I'm not a conspiracy nut or anything like that, I do believe the earth and natural disasters are reacting to what we do to our home. The many reasons why I recycle, sweep carpet instead of vacuum, and try to lose less packaging among other things.

Le sigh!

Ooo, also, was there anyone that hadn't posted their picture in September, but still wanted to? I'm curious about the other faces!!

Goooood morning, folks! Yeeeaaahh, I'm really not that excited and chipper in the morning.

It has been a very off-plan week for me and I don't want to post my weight on the challenge boards. I guess I'll go ahead and do my 3lb gain from Wednesday anyway...ugh! It's my own fault though. I have not been drinking my water or tracking my food. I'm going to stay on track today though.

Mande - I do love my Diet Dr. Pepper. I thought the sodium content would be more of a contributor than the artificial sweetener. I would be one upset customer if I didn't have my satellite channels. Will the company offer any deals because of the lost service?

HH4L - Way to go for staying on plan!!

Munster - Woohoo for getting to move the ticker down!! Hope your DS is ok!

Rie - AF regulation is a reason I take the pill too. Its so nice knowing when she will be here and also the lighter days are nice too.

Morning everyone!
on break right now. Only 2 more hours till my short vacation! Looking forward to the fair and the horse show in a few hours. I'm ssurei'll be on here lots as I try to keep motivated over my long weekend. I plan on long walks/jogs with CF and the dogs. Gotta get those steps in!

Hey hey!

Life is going good for me. Having a bit of a dilemma right now. Basically, my BF and I want to live and work in Japan for a year. I'm a UK resident, so technically I could get a work visa and just go there without a job and look while I'm there. However since the BF is a US resident he can't get this type of visa (because the UK and Japan have a special deal for working holiday visas) so he ideally needs a job offer to move to Japan.

I'm applying for places like Interac and JET and so is he, but I'm just in two minds because I literally could just cut out the middle man and do it on my own! You also don't get to chose where you live in Japan through Interac and JET, so the BF might get an offer for a job in the middle of nowhere and have to turn it down.

I guess what I'm trying to get at is should I make all this effort trying to apply for these jobs when I could potentially be offered a job I'd turn down? I want to be happy in Japan, and I don't think I'd be happy living in the middle of nowhere as bad as that sounds (BF feels the same). I don't necessarily want to live in a major city but at least in a place where I can visit a big city when I feel like it.

But as I said, the BF has to go through this process where as I don't have to...I could just get a work visa and leave and find a job while I'm out there. There's a risk in that, but there are A LOT of ALT jobs going (there's always a demand for ALT's over there, that's why programmes like JET are set up). It could turn out that he gets a job and an apartment, then I move over there and live with him and find a job while I'm there and contribute to rent. It's just a bit confuzzling =S

Sorry about the rant!

In terms of weight loss, I'm back to 171 lbs, and I've got a feeling it might stay that way tomorrow (official weigh in day) and I'll lose my shiny 170 lbs ;_;. I'm PRAYING it's because of the blob approaching and the weight will drop off eventually and I'll be in the 160s.

I got to Skype with the BF too, and I showed him my before picture then showed him what I look like now and he was super impressed and said I look amazing. I know I always promise myself I'll hide my progress but because it's exciting that I have lost weight I have to show my nearest and dearest! My sister came over today, and usually she's critical of me, but she said that I look really slim and that my jawline is really defined. So huzzah!

Insanity is going well, some days I really don't want to do it, but then once I get halfway through the warm up I'm pumped and want to do it well. Been trying to drink plenty of water too, but sometimes I'm just not thirsty and end up peeing it all out anyway, haha!

munster - Woohoo on 151 lbs!! You're so close to the 140s!! I hope your son is ok, you never did come back to finish your posts! =S

HH4L - I bet it feels amazing getting a new start in life. College is an exciting time, so really use it to your advantage. You've got the right mindset, you've just gotta follow through!

Mande - That's crazy about what happened at your work! Thanks for the advice, I'm hoping this pill works - I've had bad experiences in the past with the pill so I'm trying to just relax so I don't over think any symptoms.

sgregg - What sort of foods have you been eating? I've just started to track my calories on a website. Since I'm doing Insanity I should be eating 5 times a day and it's so hard to stick to that but I've seen amazing results when I do. Work gets in the way! Wish I was a full time weight loser =p. Don't worry about the gain, just pick yourself up and keep moving.

Riestrella - I think you should let him find a place first and then go over after he does. About my food...ugh...I've been eating really bad food. Haha! Full of sodium. Chinese, Mexican, just not paying attention to what goes in...junk. I can feel it too. Yesterday was a better day, but not as good as it should have been. But it's ok...I'm getting over this hump.

I've got my water by my side today...well, actually, it's not by my side at this moment, but it should be...hmm...where is that bottle of water??? Anyway, I have a little surprise birthday party to go to today. It should be fun. Nothing else planned. Just trying to get through the weekend without rummaging through the cabinets.

See, that's what I thought! But he doesn't want me to rely on him getting a place?! =S. He's a bit weird like though, he likes to feel very independent and like there's no pressure on him...he's a bit of a commitment-phobe even though he's actually really committed! But shhh, don't tell him that . I might just leave the Interac interview and go for JET if anything - I've just heard a lot of crap about them, some people get assigned like 10 different schools to work in o_O. Just seems like a lot more effort!! If I don't get into JET then I'll just go over there any way, so it's not like my life in Japan depends on these job offers.

Ugh, I had a week like that, it sucked by the end! But as long as you feel guilty, that's the important part. My period turns me into a food monster, and if I don't get food I feel really drained. Damn being a woman!