That could technically be considered your cheat meal, Dorian5. Just a thought. Not necessarily a bad thing, you know?

@ Dorian - Idk where you went, but there is a BBQ place in Durham that me & my guy LOVE. It's called the Q Shack. Mmmm. Now my mouth is watering! Haha

Coming up for a difficult week next week. One of my friends from uni is coming to visit so this means probably little to no work outs and possibly some off-plan eating.

Hoping to just try and maintain this week.

TheManekiNeko - GOOD LUCK! But have fun while it lasts, because afterwards you're gonna have to make up for it.

Dorian - Oh dear! And after I had so much respect for you with your healthy drinking. :P Yea I'm with fitmom - it was a cheat meal. Forget about it, move on, and hopefully it won't affect next weeks weigh in. And it's good practice for when you're maintaining your weight. You're not that far off, so maybe it's okay to start introducing these bad days. You're going to have them once you finish your diet.


Well I have had a bad/good day. Firstly, I weighed myself a day early... I couldn't help myself, I was sure I hadn't lost anything this week and I was getting fed up - I was wrong. I've lost nearly 3lb!! My official weigh in is tomorrow so hopefully I'll be able to move my slider 3lbs down. Yey! And so I went back to the mirror and tried to suss out where this weight loss was coming from.... and I was delighted to conclude that it's coming from my boobs! My bra is looking a little roomier for the first time ever! I'm so relieved - everyone told me that the weight wouldn't come off my boobs.... they lied! :P I have very big boobs, and my friend thought I shouldn't lose weight because they'd look even more ridiculous (He still calls me fat though. Urgh.)

So it got me all motivated to do some exercise, and I bravely decided to go to the "Boxercise" class at my local gym. Oh my GOD! It was awful. It was so hard. I felt so unfit. At the beginning I was worried I was going to faint. Nearer the end I was kind of hoping I would so it would all be over! :P What made it worse was there was only two people in the class - the other girl being a regular, a basketball player and with super muscular legs (like trunks) so she was crazy good! I was embarrassing. And you're going to say "at least you stuck it out!" ... well err, I didn't. It was like circuits... 90 seconds jogging, 90 seconds doing resistant training over and over again. I just stopped after about 40 mins. The man kept trying to encourage me with "Come on Nicola! You can do it!" Which didn't help. My name's Nicole. I'd already corrected him once, it felt rude to do it again. :P And then he finished the class 15 mins early. I think it was for my benefit. SO HUMILIATING!

And I ache ALL OVER! I doubt I'll be able to move tomorrow, let alone exercise.

Hey feathers!
I've been reading your posts, and I'm glad to see we're all sticking with our plans and making progress.

My focus today is on some self reflection, namely surrounding my emotional eating. It feels like a never ending battle... but I'm trying to view it as an ongoing self-improvement project.

Hoping to have a peaceful, take-care-of-self day today.

A few personals....

cantgetneoughchoc-- Hello again! There's always room for shorties. hahaha. Let's try and motivate each other! I'm pretty much right where you are. It's so hard to lose any weight at this height. Rhhhhggh! Congratulations for making it through that class, it sounds like it was brutal!

philana-- Hope your retreat is lovely.

Ninenna-- Welcome back!

Dorian-- Wow, what progress you're making! Totally admire your dedication. I agree, the BBQ was a cheat meal.

fitmom-- You are always an inspiration, and there is no shame in having an off day. No guilt here!

TheManekiNeko-- Sending you positive/strong vibes for your tough week ahead. You've got this!


Keep on sharing your progress, gals. I love to read about how you're doing, it's always inspiring.

Off to enjoy this day, rain or no rain!

--FPSJ

Hey gals! Still on plan here, still staying around 126. Thursday evening a friend came in town and wanted to have dinner. Hubby suggested we go to a sports bar in the neighborhood. There was not one healthy thing on that menu! I'm vegetarian, so I settled on the veggie burger (one that was noticeably lacking in veggies--the patty appeared to be made up of fried white rice and tomato sauce??). I sat there frowning at it and thinking, "A calorie splurge for this?" But I estimated calories and figured them into my daily range, and went home and had some Greek yogurt for protein and some actual vegetables. No harm done, I guess, as I didn't gain any water weight or anything.
------

FatPantsSkinnyJeans: I feel your peace from here!

cantgetenoughchoc: I'm always happy to lose from my boobs, too. They're nearing a size I'd consider "normal" now. I think you did great in your class. Sounds like you pushed yourself really hard, but stopped before you risked injury. Yay for you!

TheManekiNeko: Good luck! A friend of mine always tells people, "Make good choices." I'll be visiting family for a week in the middle of this month, so I'll also be facing an off-plan week where I try to maintain...

Dorian5: At least you enjoyed your cheat meal! Those calories need to be worth it.

fitmom: Hope you got your sleep and had a good run! I've always needed my sleep, too, but I need it even more when I'm exercising hard or eating at a deficit.

nikkinouille: Happy bday to your bf! Hope you guys had a nice evening.

philana: Hope the muffins turn out better next time! At least they were edible.

Nienna: Welcome back! And good luck getting rolling again.

Well I just thought I'd quickly share my good news with you guys...
Officially I lost 2.5lbs this week! Woop!

Oh and another great achievement - I've just come back from a house party. All my friends were there, and they usually can count on me being drunk (not proud of myself, just unfortunately bad with handling the alcohol. :P) But they were shocked to find that I only turned up with Fanta Zero (A drink that's FREE on my diet, I can have as much as I want!) and no alcohol! At first I sort of regretted it - they wouldn't shut up moaning about it! So they went on and on... offering me drinks and trying to get me involved in playing drinking games... but they eventually stopped. And I'm so glad I didn't give in, because I feel so much better for not drinking! I had a really fun night too! YEY! Very proud of myself.

fatpantsskinnyjeans - Hello again! Argh I know what you mean. This has been my first loss since my first week. Only two losses in a month! Not good. But I'm happy with this one. If I lose 2lb every week I'll be a very happy girl! :P What rate are you losing it at?

sumire - Glad to hear! I hope mine get to normal size too. OOoh it's such a shame that you didn't enjoy it! I feel that with chocolate now. I LOVE chocolate, and normally I like all chocolate, but now that I am days between chocolate treats, I am very picky. I have had lots of different chocolate treats that I've been disappointed with - chocolate that before the diet I loved! Out treats don't come often, so when they do come I expect to LOVE it! :P

Uhg. I gained 2lbs. Though it might be waterweight because I had really bad salty-carb snacks yesterday. I really can't get myself back into the swing of being on plan again. Argh. I don't know whats up with me!

cantgetenoughchoc-- Uhhmm I'm not losing at any rate, really. hahaha I wish I was, though! I'm struggling with my eating, unfortunately. Anyway, congrats on your progress, SO good!

One week has passed and I feel gross and bloated and ready to eat light and clean and get some exercise. I have been somewhat depressed since coming home - doesn't feel like home - and am hoping I can jump-start myself into feeling human again with more exercise and better food.

krampus - goodluck! sucks when you don't feel joy over being home, hope you can get settled in quickly!

--
A co-worker brought in petit fours. So i've had about 1200 calories worth of those. Uhg. I'll go to the gym tonight and go running and just won't eat more than 1000 calories tomorrow. lol. This kickstarting myself again is really difficult. Don't know what's up with me!

Morning Feathers!

Since we had monsoon-like rains by me all weekend long, my Saturday run was unfortunately cancelled. Oh well. I'm still feeling not like myself b/c my dreaded TOM is due any day which b/t the scale moving up and my stomach looking bloating is not making me a happy girl, lol.

On the positive note, I trimmed my bangs this weekend and bought some new makeup. That always helps. I spent some quality time with my boys and DH so that did boost my mood slightly. My hubby recognized that I was in a funk, so to speak so I basically went out to eat all weekend; not having to cook is so nice, lol. I did stay on plan. I was proud of myself for that. I didn't give into any of the sugar cravings that I had so that was great.

This morning I planned to do HIIT outside but there were so many puddles that I quickly nixed the idea. I geared up in my exercise clothes and went down into my basement while everyone was still asleep and ran in place really fast for 20 seconds bursts followed by 40 seconds of walking briskly in place. I did this for about 20 minutes. I was sweating up a storm but wasn't as tired as I get with the sprinting/walking combo I normally do. The only thing I can think is that maybe I'm a little more conditioned that I was before. But make no mistake, I was tired just not dragging. Although I'm fully prepared for DOMS to set in later on tonight. Looking forward to my Pilates later on as that always helps with the soreness. I'm gonna try to work up to 40 seconds of fast intervals and 20 seconds of slower recovery but baby steps, you know?

krampus: I'm sorry that you've been feeling blah. It takes time to make any major change. Moving is a big adjustment no matter what the circumstances. Getting back into your routine will definitely help. Hope this week is better for you.

philana: We all have days like that. Don't sweat it. Just continue onward. You're doing great!

cantgetenoughchoc: Congrats on the progress thus far! What an inspiration, seriously. You should be really proud.

sumire: One question: is that you in your avatar? If that is, you have awesome arms!! I'd kill for those arms, for real. Glad to see you are doing well.

FatPantsSkinnyJeans: Thanks for saying that. I guess there is no shame in having an off day as long as I keep my eye on the ball. We all need a self-reflection day every now and then. Losing weight and getting fit is as much emotional as it is physical. Sometimes I think we forget that. Good to see you are taking care of your whole self in this progress.

There's a heat advisory by me until 6 p.m. so I'll be indoors all day today. I plan to finish a few loads of laundry and do my nails later. Hope the week is a good one for everyone!!

philana- Sometimes it's so hard to pass up those "little" treats, and then you eat more of them than you intended. Sounds like you're going to be right back on track tomorrow though, so kudos!

-----
I've been eating more healthily and going to the gym the past few days, but I am so sore! My back feels like it's been run over by a truck. Going to the gym again today anyway because I feel so much better than I have in a long time. Sore but happy!

I just ate chocolate cookies to the point of sickness, then a spoon of peanut butter, then a devil dog. I have no idea why, and I still want more.

All weekend I ate and ate and ate and drank a TON of alcohol. Ugh! I'm so frustrated and I feel so fat.

Joining the chat for the first time!

Weighed in at 126 this morning, the size 4 pants I bought over the weekend seemed a little big by the end of the day (feeling GREAT about that), and a coworker asked if I've lost "a ton of weight" - ha!

I went for a walk in my neighborhood this evening after work -- what part of me thought it would be a good idea to walk briskly in 99 degree weather? I was sweaty and beet-red when I got home - LOL. I probably shouldn't do that again.

Have a couple of events this week that will involve tons of food and drink, so I need to stay on plan the rest of the time. I really need to see these cankles get outta here. And the arm fat can join them.

Keep on keeping on, feathers!