Please feel free to call me, Coralee or Chic. Looking fwd to the info on plateaus. Thx.

chicpanda-- found it. Had to give the baby a forbidden monitor to play with to keep her distracted. Hope it helps. Chris

Several years ago I worked with a trainer and when I would hit a plateau I would hit them harder than anyone she had ever worked with so I feel your pain. She said the only way to get through one is to do one or more of three things-- increase your intensity, your duration or your frequency. I hated her a little for it but it always worked. So, for example, if you are doing 30 minutes (duration) of exercise once a day (frequency) you may want to up it to 45 minutes twice a day until you break through. Or you could increase the intensity and step up the incline on a treadmill, up the resistance on an elliptical or increase your heart rate by 10 beats a minute. I would have to do two one hour exercise sessions to get through some of mine... thus the hating her just a little.

She also always encouraged me to vary my exercise so my body didn't get used to doing the same thing. So one day walking, one day elliptical etc.

She said you can expect to plateau every 10% of your body weight that you lose but can preempt it by doing the above things. That also helped, I skipped a couple plateaus that way.

Ack the plateau! I hate hitting them. I feel like all my hard work and good eating is paying off for nilch. Stick with it, you'll get through it. Like KidsLibrarylady has said, I always had to do a bit more exercise and even in some instances changed my calorie intake.

Todays Totals
Calories: 1349
Water: 64 fl oz
Exercise: Curves (30min)

Today is the first totally on plan day I've had in a while. It feels good to be back on track.

Good for you. Traci! I hope you have another great day today.
I believe we are all on the other side of the stomach flu here. Thankfully. The upside is I still don't want to eat. A rare occurrence indeed.

Hi Ladies!

Chris- I hope you are feeling better! Where is Lori??
Traci- Congrats on having a completely OP day, they DO feel good!

Well, yesterday I stayed OP, only omitting the apple from the afternoon. My workout was one of the best I have had yet, I had the energy and drive to walk faster, thus farther, than I have in my 30 min lunch before! I wish I could figure out how, so I can keep doing it! Maybe my legs are just finally getting used to working out, because my shins didn't burn, which is usually which ends up slowing me down. It felt good to just get out there and enjoy the workout rather than trying to talk myself into sticking it out through the horrible burn. My legs have that good soreness, I love that! Tomorrow I have a longer lunch so I am going to try out a new path.

For today:
4-5 bottles of water (of course!)
30 mins of walking

B: Yoplait light with 1/8 c sliced almonds and english muffin with butter (342)
S: Kashi GOLEAN Roll (190)
L: Brown rice with veggies (260)
S: Everything crackers with string cheese (220)
D: PB and honey on seed harvest bread, skim milk (534)
S: Apple (75)

Total calories: 1742

Well, I better get back to work! Have a great day everyone!

So much for that OP fluke Today I blew it calories wise. I had a bigger lunch then planned and I thought ok.. I'll just have to have a lighter dinner. Yeah real light.. not one but TWO grilled cheese sandwiches! The only thing light about it was I used spray butter. What was I thinking?!?! And the evening before weight in.. GEESH!

Calories: 2098
Water: 70 fl oz
Exercise: 1 hour (low impact aerobics work out video)

Morning ladies! I was so OFF plan the past 3 days. I was also sick Back on the wagon today. Planned my food last night and I am back to work. Both things help

Plan is for 23 points today. 21 is my target, but I will go to the gym tonight to earn a few points as well.

Traci: I feel you on going way over! That's ok, we just pick up and keep going! Tomorrow is supposed to be my cheat meal (fondue with bf) and I WI on Firday, so yesterday was no good, but oh well. I am exercising extra today, at least!
Lori: Glad to see you back, hope you are feeling better! I have also found that being at work keeps me OP, I plan and stick to it! Weekends are when I get into trouble, I guess I need the structure. Of course, lounging around with my bf while he eats junk, does make it a tad bit hard!

So, I made a boo boo...I decided not to eat what was planned for dinner, BIG MISTAKE! I thought, "Hmm...how about a salad instead of that sandwich." Well, I put almonds and rax sunflower seeds onit, homemade lowfat ranch (yum), caesar baked pea pods, had a sourdough english muffin, half of a small cantaloupe! As if that wasn't enough, I had a serving of sherbet and 2 cookies! I went over by about 200-250, but looking at the day, I did eat a lot of fruit and vegetables, so I guess it could've been a lot worse! I was so paranoid about it that I jumped on the scale this morning and I lost a pound! I am sooooo confused by my body!! LOL! I guess I needed that extra food. And I drank @ 10.5 cups of water, maybe that helped. So, today is my 2.5 mile walk, instead of 1.5, so that will make up for it.

Here's the plan:
4-5 bottles of water
45-50 mins of walking

B: Honey nut cheerios with skim milk, strawberry melon FUZE (269)
S: Kashi GoLean ROLL (190)
L: (b4w) Pineapple cottage cheese with 2 canned pear halves (228)
(aw) Pear (121)
S: half a medium cantaloupe (113)
D: Fiesta Besta salad with salsa and ff ranch @Blendz (645)
S: 10 Multigrain mini rice cakes with 1 tb nat pb (182)

Total Cal: 1737

Well, I hope all you ladies are having a great day!

Coralee - where are you getting your numbers for calories burned from? They look very high to me, so I am curious. If they are incorrect, it may be contributing to your plateau

Well, Happy Valentine's Day to everyone! I hope you are all resisting the chocolate temptation successfully! So, yesterday's long walk was so nice and refreshing! I wish I had that much time everyday to walk at lunch! The path I took was challenging, but enjoyable and I had a good time. Wait, did I just say I enjoyed working out? OMG! It can happen! LOL!
Anyway, since we are going out to dinner tonight, right after work, I didn't want to walk on my lunchbreak; I got up at 530am, got dressed, grabbed my ipod, etc. I went out the door and it was raining!! The one day I get up to exercise early and it rains! And of course, it is on the day that I know I am going to go over my calories! I looked at the menu, it is downright sinful...I am going to try to stick with the veggie tray, but may give into the teriyaki sirloin...YUM!
The plan for today:
at least 5 bottles of water
I guess I'll just have take the stairs as much as possible today to get my heart pumping!
B: Yoplait light and harvest toast with butter (219)
L: Mac n cheese with steamed veggies (423)
D: Fondue-cheese, broth and chocolate (alot!)
S: 1 diced cantaloupe to eat throughout the day (188)

Total calories: 829 before dinner
That leaves me 1000 for dinner...Does anyone think this is possible? Tomorrow is weigh-in, so I don't want to go too overboard! I am working towards my Easter goal of saying good-bye to the 300's!! Hope everyone has a great night!
--Misty

Hi ladies! No real plan for me today. I am fasting for a medical test I have this afternoon. Let me tell you though - I plan on stopping and getting those candy hearts on the way home. Craving them today, but don't know why! Hope you are all doing well

Misty - Where are you going to eat? I've been to The Melting Pot before and it is DELICIOUS but we had a 4-course meal and it was EXTREMELY high in calories - like way more than a full day's worth even if you were trying to maintain

We are going to Forever Fondue and we are having the 4 course meal too. I am going to get the veg entree to help save some calories. Also, I plan on tasting everything but not totally indulging. I can have a little cheese, I hope the broth/sauce isn't too bad and I know the chocolate is going to be crazy. I am so bummed that I couldn't even work out today. I have been moving around as much as possible today, but its not the same. I feel like a chicken couped up in a pen!!! Oh well, it is a special occasion, neither of us have ever been there, our anniversary is less than a week away, so I will do my best not to go overboard. I'll just workout extra hard tomorrow and over the weekend. I am getting up early tomorrow, but I will walk, even if it is POURING!!! Please send all of your willpower my way tonight! Oh and to top it off, we are eating at 930pm! My darling bf thought it would be nice to see a movie first, so I am going to go to bed with all of that food still digesting! OMG! I might as well stay up all night, digest, work on homework and then workout. If I get everything done tonight I can just sleep after work tomorrow, instead of staying up all night working on it tomorrow (like last week). I was up till 330a doing hw Fri night, then back up at 9 Sat morning to finish it, then we went out and got home at 3a!
Anyway...hope everything with the test works out Lori. You are in my thoughts and prayers!
~Misty

Misty - Hope you did well last night with your choices at the restaurant!

I won't get the results of my test until Tuesday or so. I am feeling better with respect to those problems I was having, but now my throat is sore and my body aches so I think I caught a bug I really hope not, but we'll see. It was REALLY hard to get out of bed this morning!

Today's plan:
21.5 points (out of 21)

No gym if I still don't feel good

Hello Ladies--
I am glad that you don't work out when you aren't feeling well, usualy that only serves to make things worse. If your body needs the energy to fight off what you have, it isn't a great idea to instead use that energy to work out. I did quite well actually, if I do say so myself! We skipped the cheese appettizer, which I am sure saved a TON of calories! I opted for the garden platter which had fresh veggies and spinach gnocchi, it was out of this world. It also came with a salad, I skipped the feta cheese and had raspberry vinegarette. Since I was so good for the rest of the meal, I did enjoy the choloate with caramel and pecans! I took all of the strawberries and pineapple, spilt the rice krispie treat, took one cube of poundcake and gave my bf the rest and the banana and the cheesecake. All in all it was a great night, full of delicious food! And when I WI, I had lost 1.6 lbs. I am starting to think I may need to up my calories. The 2 mornings after eating a little more and not working out I had lost weight, but the mornings after eating a little under and working out hard, I stayed the same! What does everyone think?
I hope everyone had a Happy Valentine's Day!!

For today:
4-5 bottles of water
some kind of moving around (I am going to a party right after work)

B: 1/2 bagel with margarine and yoplait light (282)
S: granola bar, if hungry (120)
L: organic bean, rice and cheese burrito (260)
S: green seedles grapes (138)
D: whatever non-meat items are at the party at Dave & Busters
Total before dinner: 800
I should be able to keep dinner under a 1000!

Tonight is going to be another night of temptation. We got home so late last night that there was no way I could get up at 530am and walk...I will be doing stairs and at least strolling, instead of walking fast on my lunch. I figure some moving is better than no moving. Tomorrow when I wake up I will go to clear my head before my midterm. Tomorrow night is another doozy...It is my bf's bday and we are going to a comedy club and buffet dinner. I am hoping limiting myself to the non-meat items will help me to stay in-check. We'll see how it goes. I am just glad that going out last night and not drinking all my water 2 days this week combined with not walking yesterday didn't derail my plans. I still can't believe I lost 0.6 lbs in the 24 hour period that I didn't work out and I ate extra! My body is weird.

Misty - As far as staying the same the day after working out - your muscles are probably retaining water from your workout. I wouldn't worry about it. The thing you really need to pay attention to is what the scale says over a larger period of time, a week or more. You're doing great so far!