Hi Feathers......

Long time no post for me. Why??? Well, I've been out of town for a few weeks. I was lucky enough to go on a long, extended vacation with my family (part of which was on a cruise ship). Guess what? The scale is up....way up! I'm about 8-10 pounds over where I was before the trip. It's crazy! I even ran a few times during the trip to try and offset some of it, but I admittedly ate and ate and ate. And it's showing! None of my pants fit right anymore. I can zip them, but they are tight! Looking back at the pictures from the trip, I love the pictures from early in the trip....the later pics show a little chunk going on, especially the rolls around the middle. It's crazy how fast you can pack on the weight.

So I got home Sunday, and of course vowed to get back on track. Well, it's Wednesday and unfortunately I haven't eaten well still! I start out okay, but by the end of the night, I'm snacking and snacking. I'm getting myself into a really bad situation that I need to pull myself out of. And I know better than this!

To make things worse, my son's birthday is this weekend, and I know the foods won't be the best for that event. I need to clean up my act ASAP. I caught a cold at the end of the trip and am still suffering with the sniffles. It's made it tough to get motivated to exercise because I'm coughing too much.

Just needed to post to hold myself accountable. I'm pretty sure I'm pushing 138 right now, which is way over my goal weight (which I was at in June).

kellost, I think you'll see some of that come off right away once you get back on track. It's water weight. The key is just to know that you can recover from indulgence and to get your head back in the right place. Don't get discouraged and don't give in to continuing to eat like it's a vacation.

In the past I have always struggled with eating right once I returned from vacation. It is that and not the vacation that will truly derail someone: vacation weight comes off fast as long as you are vigilant about it.

Some of the weight gain is probably just water retention from sodium, but if you don't get back on track it will stick! This happened to me when I dieted for a vacation to look good in a bikini. Well the vacation came and went and I really fell off the wagon. A vacation won't kill you, but completely ignoring your eating and exercise will. Good luck getting into it!

Ok, I'm going to change my current weight. Yay! Now if it goes up tomorrow (which I know could be normal fluctuations) do I have to change it ? I'm going out to lunch today, but I'm going to get a salad with chicken (dressing on the side) because tonight we're having BLTs with tomatoes from the garden and a bean salad. I know since I'm having a lot of carbs tonight I want to balance it out.

I had a yummy breakfast today that sounds weird, but is really tasty. I read about it years ago on a fitness board I used to read. It's 1 tablespoon of peanut butter, 1/2 a cup of cottage cheese, a scoop or so of fiber one cereal, and a sliced banana. So filling and yummy! The texture is satisfying too.

Hi, feathers!

I've been away from this forum for a while. I was on vacation, and I'm not doing terribly but overall feeling a bit blah since I got back. It appears that things still haven't "clicked" for me. As much as I know about what are the right things to be doing, I am plagued by what I call "spinning my wheels" syndrome, which means a whole lotta thinking and not a whole lotta doing. I can read healthy recipes all day long and then be starving and go eat something that would be about the opposite of what I would have planned to eat.

But like I said, I'm not doing terribly. I guess I thought things would get easier and I would settle into a healthy routine. Hasn't happened yet. I'm still struggling every step of the way. <sigh>

OK, no whining! I have to get back to real, concrete planning (which includes budgeting the time it takes to make the things I am supposedly going to eat, ha ha). And back on my Couch to 5K schedule; I started just going on intense walks preparing for hiking on vacation.

Anyway, while I have been away, there are a lot of new faces around here and you all appear to be doing so well! It's great inspiration.

kellost - seems like we are on a similar schedule of getting back on the wagon! I didn't gain weight on my vacation (it was a lot of hiking) BUT I also have not lost a single pound since I moved in MARCH. I've been bouncing around 140 (well, above 140. I was only under for like a minute). So something clearly has to change. I'm working on it.

ainsleymom - I change my ticker every time there is a new low... not so quickly when it bumps up. But I don't weigh very often now. It just annoyed me too much that the scale doesn't cooperate.

bama girl - if that old guideline holds true (100 lbs + 5 lbs for each inch over 5 feet tall), 115 might be ideal for you. You'll just have to see where you body wants to go and if it will take more work than you are willing to do to maintain that. At 5'6", my guideline weight would be 130 and I would be thrilled to be back there (even though not that long ago it was my "high weight!!"). I'm about 10-11 lbs above that now. Not good pounds, either, if you know what I mean.

Ainsleymom, tell me more about this yummy breakfast! I love all the ingredients -- but what do you do with them? Mix them all together? With a spoon or with a blender?

EmmaD, welcome back! Hopefully you can push through the blahs. How about a new set of recipes or a new kind of exercise?

It's so yummy! No blender - just a spoon. The texture of the chunky bananas and the crunchy cereal really add to it. Depending on how thick your PB is you can nuke it for a few seconds so it's more runny to make it easy to stir. Then you add your cottage cheese and fiber one and stir. I top it with the sliced bananas. I think blueberries would be good too. Hmm so yummy. It doesn't have to be fiber one either - any high fiber cereal would work.

Your baby is soooooo precious in your picture Ainsleymom!!

Thanks, I know . I should update the picture. She's a few months older now and I've lost five pounds since then.

We're going on vacation in a few weeks I'll get a good picture then.

oH please do post pictures!! She is so adorable!!

Happy Friday, Feathers!

Feeling a little rough this morning. I had dinner with a friend last night and I will neither confirm nor deny that too much wine was present. And consumed.

I can confirm that there was Spinach and Artichoke dip. Just try finding a reliable calorie count for that (we were at a non-chain restaurant). The numbers are all over the map. I decided to estimate on the high side and went with Olive Garden's estimate of 650 calories/serving. OMG! Luckily I had sensible salmon for dinner, and skipped the bread (which I am pretty sure I've never, ever done!).

We are expecting a big blast of summer heat today -- heat index of 105, even higher tomorrow. Bleh. The kind of heat where it's too hot to be at the pool even. A good time to go the gym and let them play in the big air-conditioned kids gym!

Here's to an on-plan weekend for everyone!

I am fighting my way back.
I thought summer would be easier - but it has been harder.
I was able to stay around 127 -up and down for a few months.
But then just lost it for a couple of weeks. A week of camping
with family didn't help my waist - but loved the family camping.

I was finally ready to get serious again when my summer clothes
got too tight. I have not gotten on the scale because I am afraid
that I would be so discouraged. So I am 4 days strong of
reasonable eating. I am going to stay off the scale until I
can feel a real difference in the clothes. Came back with some
sort of summer cold - so have not gotten back to gym yet, but
will fight my way back to fittness also.

We are having the 98 and 99 degree temps with humidity here
in the South. Don't want to wish my life away but will be glad
to be in the 80's again!

Thanks!

I wrote out a whole message yesterday which was lost when my computer froze... I'll have to come back if any of it floats back into memory. It was a concise summary of all the diet/nutrition books I have read recently, which mostly end up being about the same thing. The only real discrepancy is whether to have small meals & snacks or just 3 meals... most saying the small meals & snacks, and that's what I do.

The thing that freaks me out is this hyperlipid thing - I could never do that. I want to understand it scientifically, though. Maybe when you consume so much fat at once, your body is overwhelmed and most of it passes through undigested so therefore you lose weight? It just doesn't make any sense how this diet could work or be good for your body. It is exactly the opposite of what I have concluded is the healthiest diet. But apparently it is working for some people. Who knows. Regardless, even if it is declared THE healthiest diet ever in the world, I will never drink cups of heavy cream for breakfast, use pounds of butter every day, etc.

ANYway - I've been busy so I have let my exercise slide, which I HATE. But in June, I hit my "hour a day" of exercise for the first time ever and I think I am still on track to do so again in July (even with these last few slacker days), so yay for that. In general I am doing better with the planning again, which is the only thing that keeps me on track. Can't be trusted to make last-minute decisions, oh no.

Welcome back, danni. Luckily we have this place to come to when we're struggling.

Happy end of the week, feathers!

Hi Feathers...

Thanks everyone for the words of support. I wish I can say I've completely turned it around, but I'm still struggling with the food this week. It's like I'm in mourning over the vacation being over. LOL. Or I'm hungrier because of my poor eating. Or I feel sorry for myself for all the work I have to catch up on. So I snack. But I'm only hurting myself.

Today has been great so far, actually, foodwise. Tomorrow morning I have plans to get up and go for a run bright and early. That should help get me back on track. Summer has been SO hard. But we can all do this thing.

Seriously, my pants have gotten so tight, that I might actually need to buy a size up. I gave all my bigger ones away. But I refuse to buy more...I just need to hunker down and get back into the size I was. Hopefully it won't take too long!

I love this forum, because it's a good place to vent, to get inspired, and to hopefully inspire others. Thanks for that, Feathers!

Kellost, EmmaD, Danni, I will call you the Fightin' Feathers! Maybe later I will make up a cheer. I was a cheerleader a loonnnnng time ago...

AinsleyMom, I made your yummy breakfast today! So good and so filling. I added a teaspoon of ground flaxseed. Tomorrow I'm going to try it with almond butter. Thanks again for sharing that recipe!

So I think I mentioned that I bought a pair of fabulous size 26 jeans last week. I have been trying them on every day. They are tight, but in the way that kind of jeans are supposed to be tight. Last night, my fashionista friend demanded that I keep them, while her 20-yr-old babysitter deemed them "perfect." So I am about to cut the tags off and wash them, The kicker is that if I gain I think even 2 lbs they won't fit. So I really have to commit to maintenance! I want to believe I can do it but if I gain, these jeans will definitely taunt me.

So now I really can't remember if I've posted about this -- but I've been doing 1/2 hour to an hour of yoga after the kids go to bed and I LOVE it! I tivo'd a show called Namaste Yoga on Fit TV. Each show has a different focus, but they're all "flow" yoga. Some are relaxing, some are more physically demanding, some focus on core, some on flexibility. I highly recommend yoga on TV! I am planning on trying a class at my gym when I can fit it in the schedule.

Wishing everyone a good weekend -- stay cool!

thesame7, you go girl! Size 26?! I can't even imagine. Right now I'm thrilled my 29s are loose on me. What brand are they? When I get to a weight I'm happy with I want to buy a pair of Hudsons. It's good to have motivating clothing. Glad you liked the breakfast. I'm out of cottage cheese right now, but I'm definitely picking some up next time I'm at the store.