Meg: I don't have a basement (living in the earthquake zone and all that) so I can't hide my cashews there. Hmmm, I guess I could put the cashews in the crawl space. That would be quite the deterrent; I NEVER EVER go in the crawl space. I hate to think what kind of bugs and spiders are lurking there. It would be a tough decision--do I brave the crawl space to get the cashews?

Robin: I have an evening snack every night and I'm saving plenty of calories for it, I don't need to be saving any more. Lately, after I finish my evening snack (which is usually around 11:00 PM), I've wanted to eat more. I'm not hungry and I'm just going to go to bed, so I definitely don't need to eat anymore. I just want to eat. The wanting to eat more when I'm not hungry is not unusual, it's just that I've been a little closer to giving in than usual. I'm sure this too will pass.

Michelle: I'm glad you liked the Tamale Pie.

Evening all - well it's already Sunday for a lot of you! We had - at last - a gorgeous spring day! Lots of sunshine and warm weather with no wind. A day for short sleeves (and I saw lots of folks wearing shorts - I don't in public )

Just finished a nice cup of hot tea, and am calling it a day. It was another good food day.

B - oatmeal with dried cranberries, 5 walnut halves, 1% milk; 1/2 kiwi, spoonful of raspberries (frozen - the end of them), 1/4 c ff yogurt, toast with whipped cream cheese

S - ff latte
L - 1/2 turkey sandwich on sourdough (from the store - I was hitting all the stores in a 15 mile radius with garden centers); diet coke
S - the other half of the sandwich
D - grilled lamb chops, sweet potato, cabbage on the grill

Michele, my DH loved the cabbage on the grill, I thought it was okay. Easy though.

Robin was right -- I had a mini-whoosh last night and lost a pound, so I'm down 2.8 pounds since we started two weeks ago.

Fortunately I don't have to negotiate Mother's Day meals today, so it will be the usual. DH has to go out of town this afternoon, so I don't even have to worry about cooking for a few days!

M1: 1/2 protein shake (pre-gym)
M2: Turkey sausage, oatmeal (post-gym)
M3: Salad w/ salmon, s-berries, LF dressing
M4: 12 bean soup
M5: Apple and PB
M6: Protein + veggie

Yesterday I did 1/2 hour on the elliptical and 15 minutes on the bike. Daft Punk's Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger was the first song on my cardio mix and it was just perfect. That will have to go into the Gym Songs Hall of Fame, along with Remember The Name, which is the best song to do squats by and may also be the perfect weight loss song:

"This is 10% luck
20% skill
15% concentrated power of will
5% pleasure
50% pain
and 100% reason to remember the name"

Today's plan is more cardio and back to weights tomorrow.

The french fries ran out before they got all the way around the table So I had too much turkey and buckets of salad but I have done much worse.

All in all, I'm happy with this week and will weigh at the gym on Monday

Happy Mother's Day Everyone.

Meg,

Susan, running out of fries before it gets to you -

Barbara, I understand the desire to want to eat - just because. 1000% in fact. My *final* food of the night is exactly what Pat said she did last night - a cup of hot tea. Once I've done that, I know my night is done. Since Meg and Glory turned me on to the Sensible Delights 25 calorie hot chocolate, I've done that a couple of times instead. The hot liquid is very satisfying.

I'm so happy to report that yesterday was PERFECTLY on plan. Perfectly. Even with going out to dinner. We went out late. We started out with appetizers - nachos and buffalo wings - I didn't even have one tiny bite. I ordered a salad with seared tuna, dressing on the side. It said it comes with crispy wonton strips. I told them to leave that out. I did something I never have done before. I usually do completely without the dressing. But the salad needed a bit of a pick me up. So, I dipped my fork in the dressing and then the salad. It worked out quite well and I would estimate I had about 1 tsp of it.

I'm headed out for a walk, then a shower and then to do some cooking for Mom. I've already made butternut squash soup. When I'm done showering, there sweet potatoes, 2 salads and roasted brussel sprouts to be made.

Have a great day today everyone.

So I was all set to go off-plan last night and I feel asleep before I could do it. I was sitting on the sofa at midnight, seriously thinking about getting into the chocolate covered espresso beans and the next think I knew I was dozing off. Saturday is my early day because I get up at 6:30 AM to go swimming (most days I don't get up until 9), so I guess I was a little tired. But whatever works to keep me out of the espresso beans...

I met a friend for pedicures yesterday and then went shopping afterwards. The whole thing was right over my lunch hour, so I packed a nice lunch of PB&J, some pickles, an apricot, and a Fiber One muffin (it was sort of my lunch and my PM snack combined into one). It ended up being perfect. I got my pedicure, then found a nice outdoor area to eat lunch in the shopping area. I sat in the sun, read a magazine, and enjoyed my lunch. It was perfect. And then I found two pairs of black pants that actually fit! I seem to be between sizes in a lot of stores, so finding pants that fit has been a problem. Hopefully they will fit for more than a month. And I bought my first size 0 ever--it was in a jacket, so not quite as exciting as a size 0 in pants, but still a nice pick-me-up.

Anyway, with falling asleep before I could get into the chocolate covered espresso beans, yesterday came in at around 1600 calories, which is POP. Exercise was an hour and 15 minutes of swimming.

Home again, home again. I was MOSTLY on plan Wednesday and Thursday were pretty darn good under the circumstances of traveling with family, Friday was not bad, although it ended way off plan, then back on plan Saturday and Sunday. Exercise was out the window except for a great workout with Lydia on Thursday

Haven't weighed andwill probably wait until Tuesday.

Mel

everyone and on to Week Three! No Excuses Week #3