I see, I've been out busy for the last few days and I come back to cupcake talk and food porn! The special cupcakes do sound delicious and worth every bite, Amanda. I'm similar - I will pass up a grocery store, or out of a box baked good without much remorse, but if it's homemade and really "special" I will make room for small servings of goodies in my plan. I try to remind myself of that when I am passing up generic-looking cake that I'm tempted by - "If you want cake/cookies/etc, Megan, eat good cake. Not this."

I did stay POP for the last 4 days. Calorie counts for Mon-Thursday were 1382, 1387, 1527, 1452. I've been getting to the gym as much as time allows.

Since my planning ahead has worked so well this week (knock on wood), I'm going to try to plan out my weekend here. And print this out to remind myself of my plan!

Friday's plan:
B - ww mini bagel, 1 T. lt. cream cheese, 1 tsp. red pepper jelly, 1 c. skim milk, coffee w/ 1 T h&h
S - small banana
L - 1/2 oat bran pita, 2.5 oz. bs chicken breast, 1 c. carrots + 1 c. sliced green pepper
lunchtime walk ~1.5 miles
S - 1 oz. raw almonds, 6 oz. light yogurt, apple
gym - cardio, legs, abs?
post-gym snack - hm protein muffin (+ 1 oz. string cheese if I'm really hungry while dinner's cooking)
D - ~4 oz. pork chop, steamed green beans

Sat:
B - ww mini bagel, 1 T. lt. cream cheese, 1 tsp. red pepper jelly, 1 c. skim milk, coffee w/ 1 T h&h, 1/2 grapefruit
gym - cardio (running!), back, abs if I didn't do them yesterday
L - thinking of making a pot of chili w/ beans, lean ground beef, etc.
S - apple, yogurt, nuts?
D - My (former) boss is having us over for dinner because "he misses us". Aww, we miss him too! He said he'd have burgers, baked beans, and we could bring sides. I plan to smuggle in a whole wheat bun for my burger, and bring a salad.

Sun:
B - protein pancake, 1 c. skim milk, coffee w/ 1 T h&h, 1/2 grapefruit
If it's not windy I'm going to go for a long (~22 mile) bike ride.
L - chili if I didn't make it yesterday
S - veggies, yogurt, apple, nuts
D - Shrimp pasta primavera
rehearsal
maybe snack if calories allow?

Mon (have Monday off b/c it's MLK day):
B - protein pancake, 1 c. skim milk, coffee w/ 1 T h&h, banana
gym early?
L - chili if I didn't make it yesterday
S - veggies, yogurt, apple, nuts
D - Shrimp pasta primavera
rehearsal

Yesterday wasn't quite POP, but my cals were in target range! Unfortunately even though I *feel* like I've been OP all week, my cals have been over every day (over by a little, not a lot, but still). No loss this week.

Friday:
B - muesli, milk
S - nonfat chai
L - gah, it's lunch at work again. I'll plan on salad and a half mediterranean veggie sandwich.
S - apple, yogurt
D - leftover couscous and moroccan chicken thighs
Total - 1465
Exercise - this weather is really screwing me up. No way am I going for a 3 mile run in negative temps, so I'll probably do another DVD workout.

I really don't know what today will hold for me. Fridays mean lunch out with DH and since DS is out of town with his robotics class, we decided to go out to dinner, too. We're going with the in-laws and they picked this restaurant/bar in a seedy area--they like it because they have karaoke. Ugh.

E~45 minutes on the treadmill (3.25 miles, 440 calories burned!)
B~grapefruit
L~tuna and artichoke panini with side salad (probably the best tuna I've ever had!)
D~Lord only knows--I think this place has a lot of fried crap

Good morning -

Midwife - thanks for the little drill sergeant smiley! I did get up this morning and exercised some. I didn't do as much as I wanted because my Weider is in the garage and it was 15 degrees outside so crazy cold in there... Then, instead of going upstairs and getting on the bike or the elliptical I sat under a blanket and shivered for half an hour before my shower. I am going to run today though, even though it is only going to be 27 degrees. The cold is my penance for this morning! I have gloves, wool stocking hat, scarf, running tights that are supposed to keep moisture off, thin sweat pants to wear over the tights, 'antimicrobial long sleeve running shirt' and a thin sweathshirt to wear over the running shirt. I think I have plenty of clothes to survive. And, way to go on the 150.5! Woo hoo!

Megan - I wish I could plan ahead like that! Wow!

Jessica - Sorry no loss this week!

Alinnel - good luck at the fried food place...

Glory - I'm working on the 'heel toe heel toe' thing, too... I tend to hit down very flat after I've been running for a little while. Hope it helps your feet!

My dinner last night ended up being REALLY late (hair took longer than expected) and I was REALLY hungry, so I was very proud of the choices made. I had a grilled chicken sandwich on a whole wheat bun, and Sarah and I did the split salad/fries thing, so I had about 3/4 cup of french fries and 1 cup of salad. No mayo or cheese on the sandwich. And for dessert I had a pint of really good beer. A lovely evening.

Today's plan:
B - English muffin pizza w/ turkey bacon
S - Apple w/ Laughing Cow Wedge
L - Can of tuna, mixed with light parmesan ranch dressing, toasted on Wasa crackers w/ pickles
S - Popcorn
S - Multiseed crackers w/ salsa
D - Gigantic Salad from grocery store salad bar: Greens, grilled chicken, bell pepper, broccoli, carrot, cucumber, croutons, and kidney beans. I'll bring it home and put on a laughing cow wedge and 2 tbsp of light parmesan ranch
S - Aforementioned Food Porn Lemon Cake (though a FitDay approximation says I won't be over on calories, even with cake...yay!)

E - 40 min on the step, 60 min Jackie Warner strength video (I love weight lifting videos where you just...do the exercises. None of this dancy stuff!)

Friday

B - Trader Joe's fat free Greek yogurt with honey, about 3/4 cup of frozen wild blueberries I let defrost a little (about 200 calories)

L - big salad with romaine, shredded carrot, red cabbage, grilled chicken, pomegranate seeds, 1 tbs pumpkin seeds, Trader Joe's fat free balsalmic vinaigrette, 2 tbs crunchy onions (hmmm about 400 calories)

S - mango (150 calories)

S - little container of dill pickles, string cheese (80 calories)

D - ended up not making pizza. Jason had to work late and I didn't get home from the gym until nearly 8 (home from the gym! moi!) I got a spicy lentil wrap from Trader Joe's and it was fabulous! About 500 calories, still good for the day. According to the treadmill, I burned 230 calories.

Update: I ran for 2 miles on my break this afternoon... in 29 degrees... So, today's exercise is done! (Unless I decide to hit the bike when I get home, which I might. DH thinks he has a stomach bug so I have to steer clear of him and DSS who also has symptoms so I don't get sick before surgery.)

And, still OP with my food for the day! Yay!

Well, last night wasn't as horrible as I anticipated. The food wasn't spectacular, but I had a small side salad and a grilled chicken sandwich. Ok, we had too many cocktails, but all in all I'm pretty happy about my choices. The scale did go up half a pound, but that's not bad at all.

E~18 holes golf, walking
B~egg white "mcmuffin" on ww Eng muffin
L~probably a sandwich from the diner at the golf course
D~Parmesan encrusted chicken breast, salad, perhaps rice?

Today:
Plan to run this afternoon

B: peanut butter and jelly sandwich, coffee
L: chargrilled & fruit salad from CFA
S: Rachel's vanilla chai yogurt
D: hamburgers - mickey mouse head shaped patties in an effort to get DSS to eat something that isn't a chicken nugget...
S: Kashi dark chocolate oatmeal cookie

Ha Mickey Mouse shaped patties - that's awesome!

Saturday

B - Trader Joe's fat free Greek yogurt with honey, about 3/4 cup of frozen wild blueberries I let defrost a little (about 200 calories)

L - leftover home made soup - spinach, tomatoes, leeks, chickpeas, summer squash, 130 calories of this GREAT crusty artisan cheese, I sprinkled some parmesan cheese on top (did not measure, probably 50 calories worth)

S - mango (150 calories)

S - tall non fat sugar free latte from Starbucks (100 calories), 100 calorie Nonni biscotti

D - still up in the air. I have to take the kitties to get their booster shots at 3:40, then I am supposed to stay home with them for a few hours to make sure they are okay. Maybe I will make BBQ chicken salads, or maybe we'll hit Chipotle. I'll update later! I have about 500 calories to spend.

*dinner update* ended up going out for sushi. I had half the appetizer order of edamame, hot tea, tuna sashimi salad (which was really disappointing - the raw tuna was mushy and the lettuce was ice berg) with the dressing on the side and a california roll. After dinner, we went to a yogurt place that had chocolate yogurt for 7 calories for 4 ounces. I had that topped with some crushed graham cracker. Not too bad for "treat" night.

Sunday

B - I caved and bought a box of Special K Red Berries waffles. I used to love Special K Red Berries cereal (back when a serving was a ginormous bowl) and I just couldn't resist the waffles. They are pretty much junk food (of course) but I thought they were great - very crispy and I loved the red berry bites. I was trying to keep breakfast at 300 calories, so I had one waffle with 1 tbs of natural peanut butter and 1 waffle with cherry butter. Not too bad but got hungry for lunch a little early.

L - leftover home made soup (the last of the soup! so sad) - spinach, tomatoes, leeks, chickpeas, summer squash, 130 calories of this GREAT crusty artisan cheese, I sprinkled some parmesan cheese on top (did not measure, probably 50 calories worth)

S - mango (150 calories)

S - ended up not having a snack

D - Jason is going to have leftover sushi from dinner last night, so I'm going to have some leftover pasta sauce I had frozen a couple of weeks ago over 2 oz of whole wheat pasta (400 calories)

With the soup and the sauce, it's kind of a tomato-y day, but should still be okay and right on target calorie wise. I actually might have enough calories for a latte when I go out and run errands, that would be nice

*edit* did not get a latte

I did alright today, not over calories, but more junk than I needed -
B: PB&J, coffee
L: mandarin salad from Wendy's with my own dressing
S: 1 slice of wheat bread, 1 slice of bologna, pomegranate blueberry juice
D: vindaloo chicken and wild rice - made this last Sunday,too, and something went horribly wrong. Had to try again.
S: don't know - can only afford one if I go exercise right now...

Assorted items through the day - 1 hershey's kiss, 1 bite of black beans and rice, 1 tootsie roll, 1 pack of sixlets.

Exercise - hopefully about to go ride my exercise bike for an hour or so.

ETA: 40 minutes on my stationary bike - 12.5 miles. 10 minutes various calisthenics. Didn't quite make an hour...