Morning all!

Good, I am glad we all can concur that the co-worker is evil!

Yesterday I skipped the gym and did 30 minutes of upper/lower body & ab work. My daily calorie intake goal is 1600 - and only ate 1566, so that makes me happy. I fixed the salsa chicken recipe from the recipe seach in this form - SOOOOO GOOOOOOD! I ate it with 1/2 cup of green beans & 1 cup of chopped red potatos w. onions & seasonings. All of that was only 371 for 4 oz of the chicken! Filling & yummy!

My plan for today was to get up this morning and re-start my morning workouts - I laid out my workout outfit, set out the weights & video I was going to do (Pilates - Burn & Firm - one of my favs), set my coffee to brew earlier....and FORGOT to set my alarm earlier! I was not happy! I will just start fresh next week I suppose! GRR ...

Got the gym tonight, so should get in about 75 mins of cardio there.

PEANUT BUTTER SNACKS/FOODS
Apple & Peanut butter (already mentioned - but LOVE IT)
Celery & Peanut Butter
PB&J (a staple of course)
English Muffin w. 1 TB butter, 1 TB Peanut butter (This is my favorite quick breakfast)

NOW...I have never made these, but I have heard of people making peanut butter pancakes!

Morning all! Not too much going on today. Planning for 1556 calories today. That includes a 190 calorie evening snack. I started thinking last night about my evening snacks and remembered that I didn't used to have them daily. So I may see how full I am after dinner and nix it if I'm not hungry. I'm still pretty new at this higher calorie allotment and it's been working so far so I don't really want to toss it so quickly but if I don't need it, why eat it?

Doing my Tuesday cardio today since I took it off. It'll be weird to be at the gym on a Thursday. Hopefully at least one of he handful of hotties that frequent the gym will be there so I can spend some time eye flirting.

And going to get my hair trimmed this afternoon!

I've never had PB pancakes but I can see how they would be easy to make (either mixing the in batter or spreading the PB on the pancakes). I've been having pancakes about once a week so I'll have to give them a go.

My mom used to make PB cake which was sooooooo good. I was thinking about giving that a go sometime soon. Modified to be low-cal of course. And I think now that I've discovered PB2 I'm going to add PB cookies to my business menu soon.

Rainbow- Good luck on your interview!

Northern- You amaze me every time with your planning and thought process!

I weigh in tomorrow. WISHING AND PRAYING AND EATING for 1 hundred something!!

Gotta try that PB2, I don't know where to get it.

Off to the dentist tonight to get 2 teeth pulled, so I wont be eating much. I got all my calories in earlier today so i wouldn't have to try to eat. I went a little nuts again and came in at 1741. My control is going right out the window lately, what's with me? Rode the bike for 20min & will do another 20min tonight. Gotta get on track!

I ordered it online from Linda's Diet Delites but it can also be ordered through the manufacturer's website.

I'd like to join!

My goal is to lose 16 pounds by April 24, which is 1 month and 1 day from now!

To start, peanut butter on pancakes is my favorite Saturday breakfast! I love love pb with syrup, it's ridiculously good.

I ate and ate today. I had a really low cal day yesterday because I wasn't feeling well, but today was back to normal Ate about 200 over normal, but took an hour long class at the gym, so it was just on target. I'm joining a running club at the gym next week. Wish me luck!

Yay! My whoosh last week wasn't a fluke! Down .7 lbs since Saturday, putting me at 183 even. I got to move my ticker down another lb. Woo-hoo! 4 more lbs to go untl I'm out of the 180's!

K15: Thanks. Now if I can just follow through with all my brilliant planning, lol. Hope to see your onederland post soon!!

Ohmydog: welcome!!

Everyone else: Have a fabulous weekend!!

Good Morning ladies,
I've been doing well with my eating and walking. I've been MIA because my cousin's wife passed on Tuesday. Been back and forth to house to help out when not at work. She had a baby two weeks and three days ago then suffered a stroke. So please pray for our family. The services are tomorrow and I've been getting my house ready for family that will be arriving today. I didn't get it all done but I think I may have time when I get off work.

I'm really proud of myself for eating at home before we go by the house. They have all kinds of food that is not on my eating plan. I may have a challenge today because grandma is coming with cakes...mmmmm nothing like grandma's cakes, from scratch. I have to have a slice of the "pig eating cake"...anybody every heard of that before. My aunt said it last night and I was like is that what you called it or is that the real name. She insisted it was the real name...I don't know but I'm gonna find out today.

Sending prayers your way jiggle! How sad and unexpected! It sounds like you are a great blessing to your cousin and his family during this time.

Ohhhh my, I need to reevaluate my goal. For some reason I thought Easter was TWO months away, not one month. So I made my goal attainable for TWO months, at 2lbs per week!

OK, so my new goal is to lose 8lbs by Easter. My apologies!!

jiggle ~ I am so sorry for your family's loss, I will keep you in my thoughts.

OhMyDogs ~ Welcome!!!!

Missjessica ~ How do you make your peanut butter pancakes?? I may have to try these for breakfast tomorrow! I have the healthysmart Bisquick pancake mix I use - so hopefully I won't feel too guilty about the added calories!

Ended up with 1548 in calories yesterday (1600 daily max), so feel pretty good about that. Got in about an hour & fifteen minutes of good cardio! The scale is showing about 4 pounds down since Tuesday - but make no mistake - it is a loss, but I gorged myself over the weekend for my birthday, so I think some of it is because I am really restricting my calories this week like I should! Next week probably won't be so great, but I will take whatever I can get!!

Tonight, I plan on hitting the gym for about 40 mins of cardio, then having garlic shrimp pasta for supper. This will be my first time making it, so I am hoping it will be good!!

Saturday will be good, lots of cleaning & laundry, and want to spend about 2 or so hours at the gym. Sunday I have 2 birthday parties to go to! Suggestions on making sure I don't overeat?!?

Sorry I have been MIA. I've been super busy at work. I will attempt to reply to what I can. Sorry if I missed anything.

rainbowstripe-So sorry to hear about your car accident and that you didn't get that job. I am sure you looked fabulous though. Job hunting is depressing, I hope things look up soon.

NorthernExposure-I am glad you didn't get the huge snowstorm you were expecting. We are expecting snow in Iowa today and tomorrow. Its supposed to be rain or snow. Low is 18 high is 40 so it could go either way. I had flowers starting to come i hope they dont get frosted and die so I am hoping for rain. How do you like Wii Zumba? I have the regular Zumba dvds but I have never used them. Horrible I know. I got them a few years ago to get back into workout dvds but i'm too embarrassed to do it around my hubby. So they sit unopened. Congrats on your WOOSH!

jigglefree-Sorry sorry to hear about your cousin's wife! That must be so difficult. Prayers and positive thoughts to you and your entire family.

manders-that spaghetti squash recipe sounds wonderful. I tried spaghetti squash when I was low carbing and it was yummy. I saved some seeds to try and plant in my garden this year. I also saved and roasted the rest of the seeds. They taste like little pumpkin seeds. Very yummy! Oh and if you get that pb cake recipe, please share!!

Phat-So glad your neice is doing well! I agree she is definitely a soldier!! Thanks for the picture!

meg-salsa chicken sounds yummy. I make rotel chicken all the time. put 4 chicken thighs or breasts and then top each with rotel and bake then the last 5-10 minutes i add a slice of deluxe american cheese to each to get all melty. Very good, low carb and my husband loves it and would have it daily if he could. Peanutbutter pancakes sound heavenly.

To all those talking about peanut butter - I too adore peanut butter. I've tried to find that PB2 stuff too and haven't been able to find it locally. I may order online. Right now I just eat a half serving of a regular. Reeses PB cups are addictive, I can't eat just one so I totally wouldn't those around me.

To everyone else- Congrats to all the losses! Keep up the good work and don't give up! We can do it!

As for me, I haven't been doing the best. I tried to set my calorie limit at 1700 but I am having issues sticking to it. I will do so well all day and even through dinner. Then I will get hungry or my hubby will be eating something good and I will want one (or more) of whatever he's having and I go over. I am still under 2000 calories so I'm not gaining but I'm not losing either. I really need to get my butt in gear. Maybe start exercising more regularly. With my hubby and dog being sick taking care of them has been my priority BUT my hubby is FINALLY feeling better. And you know why? He went off his low carb diet. After I went off last month he too went off a week or so after. At first I felt bad, he was able to stay low carb last year when i did calorie counting, but he was feeling so awful and bad he wanted his comfort food...carbs. He had been getting progressively worse instead of better lately. Well a few days into eating high carbs he was feeling better. He was getting better daily with no medication changes just what he ate. So a few weeks into that he had a doctor appointment and thought he'd bring it up. Turns out his low carb diet could have been causing gout and with his severe psoriatic arthritis it would have been hard to diagnose unless they were looking for it. And thinking about even last year he felt worse on his diet than when he was off. Sure he lost 130 lbs but he was in alot of pain. I thought it was always just emotional but apparently it was causing physical pain. So no more low carb for him and despite my best efforts getting him to eat healthy carbs and not swiss rolls and chips I'm not doing too well. However Tuesday was the first day in OVER A YEAR that he has woken up with NO pain! Wow! I am so happy for him! So long story short (or longer at this point) I need to get my butt in gear my hubby isn't as dependent on me now so I should take advantage of that.

Thanks Megems!!

It's cooooold outside here today. It should warm up later, but I am energized now, and looking/thinking of a way to get some working out in from home. Normally I would go for a walk, but it's -21C right now, and frankly, that's below my cold tolerance level for an optional walk (I can handle it if I HAVE to). Also, I have both my girls home today (Pro-D day at school yesterday and today), and it's just too cold to drag them along, and they are too young (5 and 7) to leave home while I go. But later it will warm up to about -6C, which is much more tolerable. And we will be outside playing. I think I'll climb the "hill" (LOL it's actually a bunch of snow pushed into a mound) with the girls. It's only about 5 feet tall, but better than nothing!

In the mean time, I am thinking about (not sure, cause it scares me) putting on my work out DVD that we bought like 2 months ago, and I have yet to open! LOL

Jiggle - Very sorry to hear about your loss. You and your family are in my thoughts and prayers. Never heard of Pig Eating Cake but am very curious to know what's in it.

Elizabeth - I haven't done much "experimenting" with the spaghetti squash as far as using in more pasta dishes instead of just pasta and marinara. But I have lots of ideas about using it so I must get on it. I believe she made the PB cake by making a box yellow cake and adding 1 cup of PB but I don't quite recall. I'm sure the cake was not from scratch, not my mom's style. But I don't remember if there was more in it than the PB and how much.

I only have 616 calories planned for breakfast, lunch and a post-work out snack today because I'm going out with some girlfriends for happy hour / dinner. It should be a pretty fun time and qualifies for my weekly night out. I thought about not going because that eighties band is playing tomorrow night and I wanted to go see them but they play like almost nightly so I will see them again soon. So I left a little over 1000 calories for this evening. I think it shouldn't be hard to stick to it cause I don't feel like it's going to be a huge drinking night but if I don't, that's okay. Weights and cardio this afternoon.

Hope everyone has a great start to their weekend!