Hi all,

It's been one of those uneventful/somehow busy weekends for me. I have a big week of tests and papers coming up, so I've spent a whole lot of time studying and barely any time working out :-( I'm hoping that can change sometime soon this week though!! I just always feel more focused and awake when I've worked out, so we'll see how that goes.

The boyfriend situation has cooled down for the moment. We've decided not to make any rash decisions and just move forward as is and see what happens. Not exactly the best considering my type A personality, but it's honestly the best way to deal with it at this point I think.

Riestrella: Haha maybe!! It sounds like we've got similar stories! And I may have totally made this up, but have you mentioned before that your boyfriend lives in Colorado?? Because I grew up my whole life there, just moved away for uni--so my boyfriend is still in Colorado too! It's really nice to hear that a couple with similar issues have been able to work through them and make it! We're just at a point where we're really the only ones each other has been with, and he's getting asked all the time by friends how he knows I'm the one. So he's starting to question how he would really be able to know without us taking a break and him dating some other people to realize how perfect a thing we had. He's very much "if it's meant to be, it's meant to be"...whereas I just think if we're still ridiculously happy together, then why do we need to PROVE that we would be less happy with other people?

Anyways...sorry i'm dumping these problems on you! It's just nice to talk to someone who has actually been through something similar about it! Having a week off should be so nice! Like you said, hopefully you'll be able to get back into your workout routine!! Christmas shopping already?? eek! I need to start too!

Laney: I hope you get to join the chat more regularly now!

ARGG I get so tired in the afternoons that all my well laid plans go to waste. How do people deal with that? Obviously ive dealt with it in the past, but arrrrrgg. Its harder now. Also, I want nice food. I think i need to incorporate a nice afternoon snack or something but its hard to find something like that within calorie limits. What's everyone eating at the moment? I looove peanut butter at the moment and i found this amazing one which is nothing but peanuts (no salt, sugar, preservatives, colours, win!) but after a while its like, im having that because i want something nicer but i dont have anything else. Sigh

Rie- sorry to hear about the loss of your dog They become such a part of our family we almost expect them to last as long as the rest of us, particularly as theyre usually our "babies". But you're right, a life of suffering isnt right, and while you might have been able to prolong it, the quality wouldnt have been good So you did the right thing. It'll take a while before you stop thinking you hear them or seeing them out of the corner of your eye, but when my old cat died i kinda took that as sort of a sign that they were trying to comfort me. Im not religious at all, but it was nicer than being driven mad by it. I think you are right, that I need to get back into the exercise, that always helps. I had an epiphany yesterday when i realised that the people i see at work are the 5% or so who are really struggling (because by definition they dont get referred to a psychologist unless they are suffering!) and that they arent the norm, that most people are like me- might have had some bad things happen, but a lot of good things, they are coping and functioning (and take their meds!!!). I know that sounds dumb, like "why would you think everyone is crazy??" but when thats all you see all day everyday, it becomes your whole world. I also love dropbox!

namaste- what's your new major? Give your boyfriend the challenge of making low calorie, low fat delicious food! You reminded me about exercise classes, maybe thats something i should try to get back into

Jamie- for me its always the case that if one of food and exercise is in place, the other easily follows. Getting started on one of them is the hard part though! Maybe i need to set some small, easy goals- ie take some of my own advice for once!

cm- relationship decisions are really hard sometimes Make sure you have a good think and go with what you think is best, dont leap into anything based on emotions that you will regret later. Did you end up completing your business degree? Auckland uni has a relatively new business school, it looks all space agey (while the psych department dates back to the 1940s or something and looks like it hasnt seen a lick of paint since -__- )

Hi all!

Day 2 of my week off. Yesterday I did an Insanity workout and it sucked. I really wasn't feeling it, sort of did it half arsed but still did it to some sort of standard nonetheless. Then I went to see Evanescence in concert, whoop! They were really good, I felt like they could have done more songs and interacted with the crowd a bit more, but Amy Lee sounded perfect. Couldn't believe how amazing her vocals were live after hearing a few recordings and thinking "eep!" So had fun there, going to see Within Temptation tomorrow, crazy!

I'm still weighing in at 165 lbs (just) so that's still good news. I've got my break in my pill this week and I just want my period to get out of me now! I went on the pill to regulate my periods and make sure they came and went within a week and after showing signs of wanting to come out for 3 weeks it now decides it doesn't want to show when I give it the window! Grr! If my period was a person I would punch it in the face.

Going to keep drinking water today, do Insanity and just chill out. I've nothing to do today and that's a great thing. Hope you're all well!

cmwelp - Good luck with all your school work, I know how stressful it can be but just don't let it be an excuse to not workout for like 20 minutes or to cram your face full of treats. I'm saying it like that because that's exactly what I did when I was in my final year at Uni, and I gained so much weight that way!!
You did in fact either guess ridiculously right or read it, but the boyfriend is from Colorado! Where abouts are you from? He lives in Boulder. If you've ever been you know how stupidly in shape everyone seems to be there, when I last went I actually felt like a hippo amongst little tiny fishes.

Icon - Honestly, I don't diet. I gained my weight because I went through periods of time just gorging on fast food, soda and snacks because of Uni work or because I was on holiday and felt like I deserved it. It took me 4 years to gain 35 lbs just to put it into perspective. So I just work on eating 3 times a day, no snacks, no soda, no junk food and go from there. And hey, I've lost that 35 lbs in 11 months so it works. But I exercise A LOT so that's where my weight loss is driven from. Which is why I feel like such a spokesperson for exercise, because I still eat what I like and see results. I naturally make better choices because I don't want to ruin the work I did exercises, but I don't feel like there are set rules. Losing weight should be an entire lifestyle change you make by choice and because it feels right to and you love the change.
Definitely get out and meet up with friends and family who are happier after work! I can see what you mean when you're surrounded by doom and gloom. But seriously, you've just got to put things into perspective and honestly? Just chill out a bit! If I could go back in time and visit my 19 year old self I would slap her hard in the face and yell "JUST FRIGGIN CHILL OUT!" Surround yourself with positivity. Whether that's in your own mind or meeting up with friends or watching fun films at the end of the day, do whatever it takes to be happy.
Thanks about your kind words about my dog, I appreciated them. Pets are amazing things, but it is so sad when they leave so suddenly.

Hey guys!

Thanks for all the welcomes and well-wishes! I've been so busy lately, I have had two tests this week and I have been studying like crazy.

I have been doing a lot of exercise lately, I started a couple of exercise classes and also a yoga class on Tuesday mornings. I reckon actually scheduling a time makes me more likely to go, like its a class for school or something.

And next Sunday dbf and I will celebrate at this surf and turf type of restaurant, which means I definitely will have to eat half and take half, lol. We were actually thinking about getting photos done, but everywhere we've looked is ridiculously expensive, so we might wait til this time next year. Nevertheless, still sounds like fun.

Icon- I am in Health Informatics/Health IT, which is basically controlling the records in hospitals and outpatient clinics. I graduate in approximately 2-4 years, since I am going part-time and I'm not sure when I will start full time.

Rie- Within Temptation is one of my favorites. My best friend got me started listening to them, and I like them. Do you listen to Nightwish as well? They sound somewhat similar to Within Temptation and Evanescence.

cm and Icon- My boyfriend and I are actually trying to get some healthy recipes together. He is trying to lose weight also and has been curious about finding some healthier recipes. I look forward to it, especially since his food is awesome and I'm sure he could make healthy food awesome too.

Well, gotta get back to studying. Talk to you all soon!

Hey Girls!

So I am back from vacation/bridesmaid dress shopping and finally back into the routine. I don't weigh in until Thursday which I am sticking to because I don't want to see it until then lol! Still got in the crazy workout with the brother in law (my butt and legs are still sore from Saturday lol!) and that was really great . I am doing a whole bunch of stuff right now, but I will come back tonight to catch up on everyone's personals, I am just glad to be home and back into the swing of things...talk to you all again soon!

Hi y'all! Bit of Shaun T lingo creeping in again!

So last night I went to Within Temptation - was an AMAZING gig and I had so much fun! It was a lot more energetic than Evanescence, even though Evanescence were really good too. Man, those girls can SING.

I've done Insanity twice this week, took my rest day early (again!) so I'm dedicated to not slipping up again!

Some great news this morning - I WEIGH 164 LBS. Which means I've officially met my Mini Goal 3.1 - I'm now the weight I was at when I was 18 years old. I can't believe I've lost 4 years of weight gain in 11 months. CRAZY!! My second ticker in my profile is my next mini goal to reach the weight I was at 17, after that it's the Healthy BMI goal!!

I changed my main ticker to have a starting weight of 200 lbs because I'm almost positive that's how much I weighed last summer. I had eaten unhealthy for months then gone to America and carried it on, all my clothes were tight (I was in so much denial I thought that my bf's Mum was shrinking my clothes in the wash...) and looking at the pictures I'm pretty sure it was 200 lbs. Plus, saying I started at 200 lbs is so much easier to say than 193 lbs!
Which means I've JUST PASSED THE HALFWAY MARK FOR MY OVERALL GOAL! 36 lbs down, 34 lbs to go!!

I seriously can't believe I'm here, I still feel like I have so much more to go (I want that flat stomach, dammit!) but I'm so happy to be where I am.

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namaste - Sounds like you're doing great, well done! And yes, I love Nightwish! I've liked these types of bands for about 8 years! It's great to see they're all still going =D.

munster - Oooh, bridesmaids dress how exciting! Glad to hear you're loving your new exercise class. And good luck today with your weigh in!

Augh... my baby has cried non-stop for the past 2 weeks for up to 12 hours a day. It is soooo frustrating. The past few days it has been pouring rain and I haven't even been able to take her on walks outside of the house and walking with her in the baby carrier is the only thing that helps with her colic! Augh. She is so cute even when she is crying but I feel like I'm missing out on the enjoyment of cuddling my newborn because she screams so much!

We also have no food or heat in our house, and my husband has been as much a grump as the baby has. Oh joy. I don't even know what to post right now. I miss being able to go outside whenever I feel like it. I need a jogging stroller... with a rain/snow shield. Being able to exercise intensely I discovered last year was the perfect cure for my anxiety... and now I can't do it... ughhh... my incision feels good now but I know if I do something intense I'm gonna rip it open. I need to wait at least 3 more weeks before I do ANYTHING other than walking. Please encourage me!

I offically lost 25 lbs total from my heaviest, 237, yesterday morning at weigh-in. I am very excited about that. I can tell a huge difference in my stamina and endurance just from the exercise classes this month. I realized today that I had gotten through one hour of Zumba with total enthusiasm and was almost sad that it was ending. It's little things like that that make you very excited.

I also start my bellydancing class tonight. I haven't done bellydancing in almost two years but I am very excited. My best friend and I will probably go hip scarf shopping today, and it will be an awesome reward to myself for all the hard work.

I will try to make it back sometime this evening and let you know how it went. Take care!

Woohoo for belly dancing class! I moved away from my classes and troupe and now can't find anything in the area to continue dancing with a group but I have a song to finish choreographing on my own right now when December hits! Congrats on the 25 lb mark too!

Everlasting- Thanks! I would love to dance with a troupe someday but right now I'm trying to refresh some of the beginner stuff. It's been awhile since I've done it and I want to make sure I feel ready before I move to Intermediate.

My boyfriend and I went hiking today. It was a 70-mile trip but we had a great time, and the views were really pretty. We ended up walking up one trail of about a mile and a half and then tried to go for a second trail but then when we got there we saw pretty much a tiny path going up this huge precipice going practically vertical. Then we pretty much decided that one was plenty for the day. Next time, maybe. The drive there and back was absolutely beautiful too, there were just enough trees with leaves on them to make the forest pretty.

Gotta get back to studying, I guess. Got a test on Tuesday evening, gotta love school lol. Take care!

I feel so bad that I havent posted in like a week! I am so sorry all!

I have been crazy busy with midterms and all that... I did alot of meetings and some presentations and small papers last week, and now this weekend I am slammed because I have two papers and a presentation on Monday, a paper due Tuesday, and readings to do! Ugh!!! And to top that off it is TOM! Not cool

But on the bright side, although my diet has faltered most of the past few days, I have kept up with going to the gym. I set my goal to burn around 800 calories six days a week, and I have done that. It has been alot of running on hill courses, exercise bike, and elliptical. Trying to concentrate on the cardio since my time is limited and I gotta read and workout. I weighed myself today, not sure why since I have not eaten well and I am retaining water, but I only gained 1 or 2 lbs. Once this week is over I will kick back into gear

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I have a ton of homework to do so I am gonna make personals short

Cm: I am feeling you, school is busy and tough... But we will survive ( I hope lol)

Icon- I am a natural peanut butter addict!! I love it! But I also try to bring in some veggies and hummus or sometimes a small serving of soup or reduced fat cheese as a snack

Rie- Yay!!! You met one of your goals, and you are getting so close!!! Awesome job girl!!! Keep kicking it to that insanity. I hope you are enjoying your time off work and I am super jealous of all your concerts!!

Munster- I wish I had a brother in law to kick my butt!! Lucky! Although I am pretty sure you do a good job at kicking your own butt

Namaste- great job on your weight loss!!! Way to go!! And about those classes, get it girl! Dance it up! Weight loss is so much easier when it is exciting and fun! good luck

Everlasting- I hope your little girl is doing better.. That has got to be so tough not being able to get out on top of it. I am sorry *hugs* .. I hope you can find someway to make it work!

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Back to the homework

Goodnight ladies

Hi everyone!! Like Jamie, I'm so sorry for not posting at all the past week or so--life is so packed with work/school/homework/trying to hold onto what little social life i have!! I'm sure you can all relate on the busy-ness factor though, so that shouldn't really be an excuse!! Either way, I'm back to chat!

I haven't been as good about working out lately as I was all of September and October...I think it really relates to my schoolwork as I've just been drowning in all of November pretty much. And thus, my weight loss has been at a standstill for nearly 10 days where I've fluctuated between 141 and 141.8 the entire time. I just want to see 140 (very quickly!!) and then 139!!!! But I know that the reason I'm not is because I haven't been taking the time to fit in the workouts, so it's all on me. However, I have been keeping my eating really in check because i KNOW i'm not getting in the exercise--so that's at least a success!!

Jamie: Sounds like we are handling our time deficit completely opposite!! Haha. You are not eating as well, and I'm not working out enough. Maybe we can rub off on each other and get some sort of positive balance going between the two of us! Good luck on your papers and presentations!!

Namaste: Way to go on losing 25 pounds!! Hiking AND bellydancing?! That sounds so amazing!! I'm a Colorado girl, so hiking is like one of my FAVORITE things :-) How is bellydancing?? It's something that I've always wanted to try, but never been able to push myself to do! Also, make sure to share those delicious healthy recipes your bf comes up with please! Good luck on your test!

Everlasting: I'm so sorry, girl! That sounds like a really frustrating situation to be in I hope your baby is feeling better! It sucks that the weather is keeping you all locked up. Maybe one of the ways you can get through the next 3 weeks is by researching a new gym, or new exercise plan that you'll want to start then? And then figuring a way to chart it out with goals and dates you'll achieve a certain weight loss or fitness goal by. Seeing that you will be achieving these milestones may help you see that in the grand scheme of things 3 weeks is really nothing, and you'll be back in full gear in no time, with your body back feeling strong and healthy!

Riestrella: You are hitting those mini-goals like crazy!! I'm so so excited for you!! Halfway to goal sounds like such an amazing place to be it--because you know you've been able to lose that amount before, there's no reason you can't do it again! My boyfriend is at uni at CU-Boulder! That's SO CRAZY!! Haha. We're actually from Greeley, CO. It's about an hours drive north from Boulder. I cannot believe your bf is in Boulder too, wow! I completely understand what you mean about everyone in shape--Colorado is the healthiest/most fit state in the US. And Boulder is #2 within the state of most fit/active. So yeah, everyone pretty much could be a fitness model there, hahaha

Munster:How was the vacation/bridesmaid dress shopping?! Sounds like it was a fun weekend you had planned!! I love those kinds of workouts when you can feel it the next two days.

Icon: I completely understand the want for nice snacks, too! I often find myself taking lots of snacks with me like carrots and apples and almonds, and then not eating them because they are so boring as I eat them day after day after day. It's hard to not get drawn away from your healthy snacks for something that looks so yummy! I actually was only in Wellington for one semester, just on a semester abroad program--so like 5 months. I actually stayed in the dorms at Auckland Uni for a couple of nights with a friend when we were sight-seeing in the city for the weekend--and yeah, the campus looked pretty impressive, at least what we saw of it!

Well, the morning after my anniversary, I'm still here and very pleased with how it went. We were together 9 hours that day, we did some bowling and lasertag and a very intense 4 games of air hockey. Maybe not the conventional thing for an anniversary but both of us are very active and now that both of us are exercising 2 hours or so a day, it's impossible to stop us, lol. So, all that to say, I am more in love with my boyfriend then ever and had a wonderful time.

Tried to stay as much on program as possible too. We both got smaller portions and split one slice of cheesecake rather than one apiece (and our waitress was nice enough to split it in two for us!). Anyway, we were running around more than eating and I expect the damage to be minimal.

cmwelp- I totally love hiking, it is one of my favorite things to do! I would love to live in Colorado, I would be in hiker's heaven lol. I also take some nature photography so I would have lots of things to take pictures of. Bellydancing is fantastic, it makes you feel gorgeous and it is totally low-impact. I totally love all the accessories that go with it too, I can't wait til I dance with a troupe someday and get some of those myself.

Jamie- Thanks! I like the idea of classes, and also, since my parents were awesome enough to donate a full gym membership to me, 90 percent of the classes at the gym are free or at a significant discount. Also, all my school classes are in the evening so I am pretty much open to any class that meets in the morning. So it all works out.

Well, I gotta get back to homework. Take care, see you guys later!

Hey y'all! My week is just starting, but in a positive way! I'm down 1.5lbs of water weight from Saturday! Yesterday was tough eating wise but I pulled through ok - we had a surprise 50th birthday party for my Mom at a Dublin Square (Irish food and drinks), and I indulged a bit but I didn't go crazy I have a busy week in front of my computer though, lots of editing to be done (I'm a wedding photographer).

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Rie - Keep busy! How do you like Insanity? I've seen the infomercial a few times and I'm curious about it! I've tried p90x before and have a love/hate relationship with it.

Namaster - Yay! Congrats on 25lbs!!!! And your anniversary

Jamie - Good luck on your presentation today!

cmwelp - I hope you see 139 this week!

I wish I could get my husband to share in some delicious activity with me! Like a walk... or anything! I get bummed that it gets dark so early up north here and by the time he is home from work it is black outside... sigh.

The good news is that the heater is working again, and we have food in the house.

The other good news is that the pants I bought not 2 weeks ago, size 18, when I couldn't fit into any of my pre-pregnancy stuff (size 14/16) are trying to fall down on me now. I must have just been horribly swollen in the waist and hips and everything from the c-section. I haven't pulled out my smaller pants yet though because my incision still hurts a bit and I don't want anything remotely tight on there... but maybe I'll be surprised in a few weeks when I try them on! But bad news... I don't think I'll ever fit into any of my smaller shirts ever ever ever again! I went from a size A cup pre-pregnancy to at least a DD. I don't even know... the D I wore while I was at the hospital delivering is now way too tight once the milk came in, and I'm just wearing sports bras now. I don't know how I will ever run again with all this... baggage. All I can say is that my shimmies when I start bellydancing again will be a bit more astounding I should think.

More good news is that my friend and her husband came to visit me yesterday and held my colicy crying baby for 6 hours. I was with them the whole time, but it's just such a relief to not have to go through all that screaming alone! Her husband actually got the little girl to quiet down and sleep for a couple of hours!

Namaste- I'm with you now, got to be getting back to some of the beginner stuff again! I finally had gotten belly rolls and flutters and all those sweet tricks down and now I have no core strength again. Bellydance is such a great workout though. You can amp your calorie burn too by simply moving from flat footed to up on your toes! Feel your legs burn! So great. I can't wait to get back into it. My little girl seems to like the drummy music so should be good... she can play in her baby swing and I can dance.