Andrea-- I hope you have a wonderful time. I hope you are able to relax and enjoy your trip and not worry so much about the calories.

Me-- One social event down-- took my friend to sushi last night (after bikram so I got that in)--

Today is a little more challenging. I have a work party from 2-5. I know that people leave early or come late so my plan is to go from 2-3:45 and then leave for yoga. My issue is eating/lunch. I usually eat lunch by 12:00. Do I eat lunch and then trust myself not to eat at the party? Do I plan on having a little at the party? I know there will be copious amounts of food but some will be healthy-- I signed up and brought sugar snap peas.

Then I had another work party planned for next week. I stressed myself out enough about it that I withdrew my RSVP. I don't HAVE to be there and it was from 4:30 on. That would eliminate any chance of exercising and everyone was signing up to bring lasagna and much more-- none of which sounded slightly healthy.

Today is the last day for the students here. I work through next Thursday then I'm OFF for the summer!!

Back to my inventory--- 34,000 books and counting....

Whenever I get too focused on my BMI (I still hover above 22, despite being an avid runner, and it makes me upset sometimes), I remember something I read a while back: Mia Hamm was interviewed soon after her team won the World Cup and they asked her weight, for some reason. She said "about 145" and it was clear she couldn't care less about the number. That puts her at a BMI of 23.4 (she's 5'6").

At the time, I was feeling very low about my body - I was in the 160's and couldn't even imagine being able to lose what I thought was the "right" amount of weight, at least 30 lbs. This turned me around: one of my idols who was ridiculously fit and a world-class athlete wasn't one of the "skinny girls", yet she was my idea of someone with a perfect body. It started me down this path that I am on today, that ANYTHING I do to improve my health and fitness will show - possibly not on the scale, but in other ways that are even more important. Because placing well in a race really does feel much better than seeing some randomly low number on a scale.

Sorry for the long anecdote! It was a big "ah ha!" moment for me. My main goal now is to try to love my body regardless of the numeric values assigned to it (not always successful, but always trying).

Have a wonderful time in Greece!!

Andrea - I'm so glad you stopped back in. Incidentally, everyone here is SO much more well taveled then I am - makes me feel like a loser! I hope that you have an awesome time in Greece! Maybe it will give your brain a bit of a reset and make you feel better. Fingers crossed!

JayZeeJay - I liked your story regarding Mia Hamm.

I happened to see the doctor yesterday. It was a new doc and he was very complimentary about my "story". He also was shocked that I am fighting my weight saying that in his estimate I have about 12-15% body fat. I think he's way off, though.

I received some bad news at the doctor's which I am still processing and trying not to over-react to. I think the scale must have heard and feels sorry for me, because I was below my red line this morning on my weigh in!

Jen

Take care, Jen.

Jen - So sorry about the bad news. We're here whenever you need us. My thoughts are with you.

Michele - If you weren't going to enjoy the work social event anyway, I think it's fine that you cancelled your RSVP. So many of those events are, too an introvert like myself, more trouble than they're worth.

Andrea - Good luck in Greece! I hope you can de-stress enough to enjoy the experience without letting the anxiety of food and exercise become an issue. Don't let this steal your joy.

I don't keep up with the Maintainers' Chat thread because I've always felt bad that I can't check in there more often, then I feel behind and like I'm ignoring the group. My schedule is hit-or-miss and I can't really contribute there as much as I'd like. So this is my "home" on the boards. In any case, there's great support and camaraderie wherever we choose to post, and I'm so thankful for that (and all of you!).

Today has been one long afternoon of car repair. I went in for a schedule oil change, which then became an AC recharge (much needed, here in boiling Atlanta), and is now capped of by the purchase and installation of 2 new tires. Those were desperately needed, as well, which is embarrassing because I've always been proud of how well I maintain my faithful 98 Camry.

All that to say I've been sitting in a waiting room since noon, my small, tide-me-over lunch is long gone, and the prospects of me getting in an afternoon run are rapidly shrinking. Ah, well, things happen.

I hope you are ok, Jen.

Dara Torres is my athlete idol. She is not super skinny but has beautiful lean muscles. I have a picture of her inside my pantry door for daily inspiration.

Andrea, I hope you have a great trip. I always find it liberating to go on vacation where no one knows my except DH and the kids. I will throw on a bikini and not worry about what other people think because chances are I'll never see them again.

Hugs to you Jen. Please take care of yourself.

I also love the Mia Hamm story. I need to keep reminding myself of it.

Off to my work party in a few. I'm going home to have a quest bar first (and let the dogs out) so I won't be ravenous.

Jen, can we help ?

Speaking of ice-cream, my new favorite is Talenti Gelato, Sea Salt Caramel flavor. It’s creamy and delicious, and there’s no way I can get some without eating the entire pint in one sitting. Has anyone tried this?

This is exactly why I have resisted the temptation to go on a low-carb diet to get rid of the 5 lbs. that's plaguing me. I know I could lose pretty fast on even reduced carbs, but since I don't intend to stick with that way of eating, I don't see the sense in trying it.

Ever since I read your post about this on another thread, I've been wondering how it is working out for her. I think it's great that she is eating so much without gaining. Even maintaining on that high number of calories is unbelievable.


This week has been an "easy" week for me, meaning that I've had a few scrumptious treats, but I've still managed to stay within a reasonable calorie level without feeling hungry or deprived. But my calorie range by the end of the week will still average out to about 2000 per day. That's below what my maintenance calories are (or what they were??? not sure if my body is rebelling), but it's not enough for me to see any sort of loss, and I'm planning to weigh in this coming week. I have a feeling that I'm not going to push it, though. I think if I can just stay below my weekly calories for a few months, that might actually be more do-able for me than drastically cutting my calories, even though it will obviously take months for me to lose the few pounds I'd like to.

I seriously don't know how she does it either. She came for a few days visit near the end of May (for her brother's high school graduation). One day I watched her fix lunch. Albertson's (a grocery chain here) sells a wonderful pre-seasoned mix for fajitas. Either steak or chicken and the onions and pepper mixture separately wrapped. Each package will satiate two people easily. All you need to add is the tortilla. She fixed two huge tortillas full of the mixture and ate them both! I had a stomach ache just watching her!

She claims that what she is doing is very, very high in protein and very, very low in carbs and then with her exercising, she is able to up her calories without gaining weight. See if you can see her photo here: DD
It's a Facebook photo, but I think it's an open page. If you can't see it, let me know and I'll put it on my photobucket and share it there.

I can see the pics-- she looks incredible! WOW! Great abs!

My concern would be that I would get "used to" eating that many calories and would have a hard time greatly reducing that if needed-- like if she was exercising less for example.

Allison, she looks great. I could never eat that number of calories with out blowing up like a balloon.

Exactly! I fear this now and am only working out 3 times a week....but these are the type of changes I am hoping to see eventually. Less fat more muscles and no weight loss.

Photos are amazing. Especially the last two. Only one pound difference.

I am trying to figure out calorie cycling with a new workout schedule and increased calories in maintenance.

After all the ice cream and peanut butter talk around here I thought I would try some vanilla Greek yogurt/ PB2/ slivered Dove dark chocolate square/ and TBS slivered almonds. yummy!!!

I am such a creature of habit/ routine.
I went home briefly yesterday before my work party. That made me sleepy. I drug myself to the party and left at the planned time to pick up dh and get to the gym or yoga. I couldn't drag myself back out to the gym though. Dh went without me. My weight is up as a reward. Tomorrow is my monthly weigh in. I'm quite discouraged with myself but trying to think of Mia Hamm and other strong, fit women because I know that I am one.

Yesterday was our last day with kids at school. I work through next Thursday but I'm going to try to get focused now.

Dh told me the other day that I could "get" a maid. I've wanted one for years but he never wants to spend the money. I decided not to be offended by him noticing my lack of a clean house, but instead happy that I can maybe have a clean house soon! We'd probably just have them come every other week but it will help with the dog/cat hair and dust that I'm constantly chasing!

Allison - Your daughter looks AMAZING! I was literally like "WOW!" when I saw her pics!

Michele - I literally just had a housekeeper in for the first time in my life last week! She charged me $350 to clean TOP TO BOTTOM. I mean they scrubbed EVERYTHING. She wants to come in every 2 weeks at $90 a pop which is beyond my financial ability, so I am trying hard to keep up from where they left off so I don't need her! But BLAH! Who has the time??

Thanks for the well wishes everyone - my medical situation is nothing acute - and I tend to be a drama queen about medical issues. Still processing....

Jen