Quick check in... gotta babysit the roommate's Kiddo (better personals and catch up on PMs tomorrow!!)


Gaaaaa... now I want one Krampus - 8 more weeks and I can try it.

The pictures from your trip looked great, and I was laughing so hard because I was looking for you in the yellow shirt... hahaha. It looks like another fun food-filled weekend for you as well! How do you hear about all these food wars? Macaroni, bacon, wings, pizza... if they had ice cream and chocolate wars I'd be IN!

Turbo - Yeah, I was really excited that they contacted me! We'll see if it pans out but I'll make sure to share the website and info with you guys if it does.

I see what you mean about working your booty off at the gym only to 'break even' by eating more calories than you would like, but isn't that a heck of a lot better than NOT working out? Think about how you'd feel if you hadn't! Oh, and 70 pounds added to the leg press is awesome! Keep it up and soon you'll be adding a ton!
I think when I first started I was happy just to push up the sled with no added weight (like in the picture Krampus posted) but now I generally throw an extra 270-360 on there depending on how I am feeling that day.

Ooooh mojitos are one of my favorite! I know it's not the same, but Crystal Light makes a mojito mix that is basically like 5 calories and not as tasty as the fresh real thing, but its a good substitute when you're trying to cut a few calories. Drink mixes like that and liquor are my go-to... no sugary hangover!

Olehcat - I'm glad you didn't think I was being harsh... sometimes tone can be so hard to convey via internet! I just hope that helps you relax a bit (but not too much ) about the whole thing.

Good luck tonight with the FRIDAY PARTY TIME pull!

Well ladies, better late than never, my hubby pulled his head out of his butt;


The card didn't say anything about Valentine's Day but did congratulate me on my 'new opportunity' (the modeling gig) which I actually appreciated. It would have felt almost like adding insult to injury if he had made it for Valentine's Day, even though we both know that is why. We had a long chat about it this morning and about my need to feel appreciated.

****, a lot of 20-something year old women with no children who don't live in the same state as their husbands would be out at the bars and crap all the time. I don't do that because I know too much of that causes trust issues and we are perfectly issue-free in that regard. He said he does appreciate not having to worry about me doing scandalous things, so I said he needs to show it!

Then I got those.


Well today was my first day of starting 60 minutes of cardio a day, as per my coach. I know he wants me to split it up but on days I don't work the idea of going to the gym twice sucks, and I'd rather just knock it all out at one time, so I did weights and then 60 minutes of intervals on the stairs. My butt was kicked! Normally a cardio day for me (prior to this program) would have been 60 minutes on the stairs at a lower setting an no chest/tris/abs workout beforehand. I'll sleep good tonight!

Weight was down a bit this morning by .8 pounds, so that's a good sign. I always seem to hold steady during the work week and then drop a bit when I am able to sleep in. Definitely an interesting pattern but kind of cool to see!

Good morning, feathers! Happy weekend!

I'm so happy, I was able to get my homework done for my classes ahead of time so now I have 2 1/2 days off to enjoy and relax! (1/2 day because while I have Monday off work, I still have to go to my 3-hour class in the afternoon). Two full days of doing what *I* want? Madness! Well, I do have to clean the house because honestly, it's a disaster after multiple weeks of not being at home hardly at all, yet still mostly cooking and sleeping and showering etc. at home ;D. Also I have to start thinking again about what I want to do as far as moving this summer. I have decided not to buy this year, as I don't feel like I have a secure enough savings situation yet. But it's not completely off the table yet either...But basically it comes down to whether I'm comfortable enough to be able to handle stuff on my own. If I was married, it wouldn't be a question, especially if I was married to someone somewhat handy and who had a job to contribute to the income.

Anyway, so last night was a semi triumph! It's true, I did have 2 glasses of wine and I ate more than I should. BUT -- I wanted more than anything to order Thai takeout food from this particular place because I had this huge desire for pad kee mau (or drunken noodles). So instead, I decided to make it myself. It wasn't perfect (and since then I found a recipe that probably would have been way better), but it was darned yummy and satisfying, and guess what, because *I* made it, I was in control of the ingredients. The only thing "bad" in them was sesame oil, and I limited the amount. Also, I made some vegetarian hot and sour soup. I LOVE hot and sour soup from Chinese restaurants, but they're not all equal in quality and I tend to judge a Chinese takeout place based on their hot and sour soup! So I finally found a way to make it at home in a way that I love. I could eat it just about every day, but really I'm a snob about the mushrooms and have to have shitake mushrooms, and they can be expensive! ;D

So anyway, I enjoyed my own hot and sour soup and my own pad kee mau "take out" dinner that I made myself last night! True, I did eat some other things yesterday that were not great, but I consider that a major coup. And also, I had a GREAT workout with both some high intensity intervals on the treadmill for 30 minutes and some strength training.

I haven't weighed myself in a few days again. I just don't feel light. I'm thinking of making Monday a weigh-in day because that will force me to make better choices on the weekend! I know I should weigh in every day (and I often do), but it will be fun to see how this regulates my behavior a little.

@Jossfit - you're not at all harsh! I appreciate your honesty and hard-won wisdom at this! Speaking of harsh, I did have a brief and random dream about this forum last night, haha, in that someone who wasn't one of the regulars here came in and pointed out some typos I had made in a post. And aww...your hubby came through. That's adorable! I think when I was married, my hubby only ONCE got me flowers, and that was when I had the stomach flu or something the first year we were married.

@Turbo - your food night with your boyfriend made me drool! Poutine! Pizza! Probably a good workout will make the bloat go down a bit!

@Krampus - I envy your vacation, it looks so nice and warm there! I miss that (from living down there). You guys look so relaxed and good, too!

WOO great WI this morning. 122.2 and I took measurements and those are going down - I think my hip junk is moving south to my thighs, ha.

I had a very sensible lunch and dinner yesterday, double workout (AM weights, PM 4 mile run), then went out to meet friends and had less than one dark beer, 3 smoked (not fried) chicken wings and some celery, and half a serving of the damned chocolate covered almonds (105 calories). Probably stayed under 2,000 for the day. It wouldn't be a krampus post without mentioning that I've also been having really good poops lately, like 2 a day.

In terrible news, one of our friends has been detained by immigration and we might have to try and bail him out. He's from a western European country and has an 8 year old daughter who lives here, she's the only reason he's still here. He's had some issues with the law and made some dumb decisions for sure, but he loves his daughter more than anything. I hope he won't end up getting deported!

Thought I'd post a "recipe" if you can call it that for a really wholesome veggie side. Based on Hungarian dill mushroom soup my roommate made once - all these things are just tossed in a nonstick frying pan, no oil needed (I used a bit of Crisco spray/PAM), and cooked for about 10 minutes on low heat. The onions get nice and caramelized and you swear you're eating something less wholesome than just onions, mushrooms and herbs.

-1 onion, chopped (works well with Spanish, white, yellow, red...)
-1 pint sliced white mushrooms
-Dill weed
-Paprika
-Salt and pepper if you want


(Trader Joe's turkey burger with some Dinosaur BBQ sauce)

olehcat Hooray for semi-triumphs, getting sh!t done so you have the weekend to relax, and delicious homemade Thai-inspired dinners! Sesame oil is delicious and not SO "bad," I mean, Koreans load it on everything and they're all f-ing supermodels over there Your workout sounds really awesome, too - I totally said this in my post to you like 3 posts ago, but Friday night exercise is the best!

JossFit Ugggghhhhh 60 minutes of cardio sounds like torture and abuse, I would hate the idea of having to go twice to the gym, too. I think the only way I could make myself stay on the stairs/arc trainer/elliptical/whatever for more than 20-25 minutes is if I dosed myself with Ritalin or Adderall or Concerta or what ADD drug have you! It's nice your husband sent you flowers - maybe next time you won't have to "HINT, HINT" at him and he'll think to do something on his own :P How did babysitting go?

krampus : I'm not using the exact same leg press. It's the kind that you don't need to put plates, which is okay with me because I'm not at the point where I will press more than the actual press on the machine anyways LOL

I hope you friend is gonna be okay :S

Joss : Aww, the teddy beeear. Sometimes it's fun when it comes from the own mind of the guy without having to throw tons of hints his way, but at least you got to talk it out and now he probably gets you better

For the mojitos, the boyfriend brought diet soda, which was awesome and no calories, which made me feel muuuch better hehe

olehcat : enjoy your weekend of total freedom! Ymm hot and sour soup! Do you have a recipe for that?

***

I'm having a rough time today, to be honest. My weight was up again today, up to 142. I overate a bit last night, but it's not like I had a bag of chips or anything. I guess salty fish sauce is not helping. And I need to poop so badly.

To make things better, I learned last night that I did not get the job from my monday interview. It bombed me really hard, actually, I ended up crying myself to sleep last night next too a boyfriend that had really panicking about not knowing what would make me feel better. From what I received in the email, it was between me and another candidate out of the four in the end, but the other one was picked for a number of reasons.

I don't really know what to do with myself, I did millions years of school to not being to find a job, I'm getting low on money and I'm feeling fat. It kinda sucks

Hello ladies... super boring day around here; it's a freak snow storm outside and it's insanely cold and coming down in buckets! It doesn't appear to be sticking to the roads at all so driving to the gym tomorrow shouldn't be an issue, but in the meantime I have no desire to leave the house again today.

I was down a bit more this morning when I weighed in, so my pattern of dipping on the weekends seems to be holding true. Its sort of nice to weigh daily now and see how those seemingly random numbers really do have a bit of repetition to them.

Anyway, had a good workout this morning (warmup walk, 46 minute run, 14 minutes on the elliptical) and then I came home and scrubbed the house just in time to have our friends decide to pop over with their 3 kids. Now there are 4 girls under age 8 running around and making messes everywhere; pizza and popcorn strewn all over, little muddy shoes tossed about, pink sparkly toys as far as the eye can see... thank Goodness I have my own living room (with a door), my own bathroom, and my own SPACE!

I sat in the tub for a long time with a bunch of epsom salts just to relax my body. I've never tried it before and I don't know if it actually helps, but it can't hurt right?

Turbo - Aww Hunny, I'm so sorry to hear that the job opportunity didn't pan out for you. I firmly believe that things happen for a reason, and I think something else will come along for you. I know that doesn't make you feel better but you are such a good person and you'll bounce back from this little disappointment in no time.

It doesn't make it any easier that you are feeling 'blah' about your weight and your body right now either... who needs that added stress? Sometimes a good cry does help to just relieve some of that pressure so I hope it worked for you... and I hope your BF isn't freaking out about how to make it stop! LOL that freaks men out! hahaha

I hope you feel a bit better today and have awesome poops like Krampus.

Krampus - Whoot whoot! Great poops, awesome workouts AND a nice weigh-in?! Rockin' it lady... nicely done!

This is totally random, but I was thinking about this on my drive to the gym this morning and how my coach wants to get me to 120 pounds ASAP to "see what I've got under there" (e.g. my fat); I remember seeing somewhere when I was very young a chart that listed women's 'correct' weigh as based on their height. The chart said that women should be 5 pounds heavier for each inch in height, starting at 5' and 100 pounds. (Yes, I know that's a WILD generalization but it always stuck with me.)

So according to that thing, at 5'4 I *should* be 120 and you *should* be 125... it's just funny to me because for both of us those were our goal weights! Mine got below that for a long time and now it's 120 again - though not set by me - and you've been below 125 for a bit now. Again, totally random but I thought I'd share my weird musings.

That side dish is EXACTLY what I had with my tilapia and avocado last night! I added garlic to it too, but other than that it was the same! That's insane!!

I'm so sorry to hear about your friend... I hope everything works out!

Olehcat - Serious NSVs for you! Your dinner sounds awesome! Isn't it great making your own healthy spin on recipes? People get so crazy about it but as long as you have a basic understanding of herbs and spices it's so easy to do! I love to make Italian, Japanese, Chinese, Cajun and Mexican style dishes just by using a few simple seasonings. (Admittedly I haven't been doing as much asian style food lately because I LOVE soy sauce and it's off-limits right now )

I was so hurt that my hubby didn't send me flowers (until yesterday) but honestly thats because I do expect those things from him; he's really thoughtful and amazing and often buys me flowers or does little things for me for no reason. When I'm deployed sometimes he'll send me care packages and cards for no reason and he always takes time to put healthy things in them, funny cards, handwritten letters, and once he even bought me a pink ipod shuffle and loaded it full of new music for me to workout to!

Morning! (ha, I'm always popping in here in the morning, it's the time I let myself wander the internet, I guess)

YOU KNOW WHAT I DISCOVERED?? On the Fitness Pal app, you can click on barcodes of food and it will add it to your diary! You can adjust serving sizes, etc., too. So if your food has a barcode, keeping track fo calories is crazy easy! Now, of course, in an ideal world I wouldn't be eating much with a barcode. In an ideal world I'd be eating lean meats and veggies primarily and some fruits. But my world is not ideal right now and I'm looking for a VERY easy way to get my calorie count down to where it should be while I get used to the portion sizes/amount of food. I think I could lose weight on 1400-1500 a day, given that I am running 4 times a week and that I walk around quite a bit at my job. I think once I was losing pretty nicely on 1400 AND having a once a week cheat day of 3000 or so calories.

I'm working really hard this weekend on getting my attitude, figuring out why I haven't really seemed to "want it" badly enough before, why I am obsessed with losing weight and getting to my ideal weight and yet not willing to give up just about everything necessary to get there. I can't imagine what my deal is, except that I tend to suffer if I know that this will be a very long process and I'm trying to make it happen that i lose weight while still getting to enjoy life. I want it to be natural. Like my friends who are very thin and still enjoy eating cake at special events and still eat normal food (not just diet foods). So I'm working through this this weekend.

@jossfit - oh, man, that's stressful, having lots of screaming kids in your house. At least you have your own space! And taking a bath with epsom salts is delicious! Yes, making my own food is great. I feel so much more in control and less guilty! Granted, I still probably have eaten above my calorie needs the last few days, but I just feel so good that it's NOT because of getting fast food or takeout from places where the calorie count would be REALLY off the charts! Your hubby sounds REALLY considerate! I never had that in my marriage, and it's something I always longed for. I'm still good friends with my ex and he is a very good person and very generous and good-hearted, but that sort of consideration never happened, :-p

@TUrbo

**BIG BIG HUGS**

I know how disappointing that is. I hate the job search part. But like jossfit said, something better will likely come along. I know this from my own experience. I remember once going through a job search and being SO upset and bitter that I didn't get a particular job, I wanted it so badly. The next week I interviewed for a job that was WAY better and a way better match for me, and I got it. Anyway, it might not happen that quickly for you, but I think it will happen.

@Krampus - oooh, I LOVE mushroom recipes!!! I could live off mushrooms, seriously! Love them! And yes, Friday night workouts are the best! As are Sundays (*ahem, am trying to get myself going to get to the gym this morning on a very cold morning*)! I'm sorry about your friend. That sounds monstrously stressful!

Joss : Is it still snowing bad at your place today? We were super excited because we were supposed to get some snow today too but now the forecasts have changed and we wont have anything to be much excited about.

Woooooah playdates! Was it a surprise playdate or was it planned? Were you still babysitting your kids roomate yesterday?

Thank you for the comforting word *hug* I'm having such a rough time, and its been MONTHS, to find a job, that I really beleive I had chances with that one... So I guess it just made the disapointment bigger when I learned I did not get it

Im sure something will come out at some point, but the thing is that right now I'm on my savings and they are getting low. I probably have to start searching for a random retail working place or something soon.

Olehcat : Balancing losing weight and still eating ''normal'' is hard. I've been doing this for a while now and I'm losing at the snail pace, to be honest. When I was calories counting correctly, I could lose 1-2 pounds a week... now that I try to eat basically ''healthy'', the pace slowed up a lot.

Thank you for the warm words about the job search Seriously, this is such a sucking tiiiiime. Doing all this studies to get there get me really bitter, as you said but I have to look forwad, I guess!

***

Hi ladies!

I was down to 140.2 this morning, which was ''Okayyyyyy, I don't get this''. It is great! But I don't get it lol. I was doing okay with the food yesterday until after dinner when the boyfriend took out truffles and some white choco/preztel/cranberries bouchées from the freezer and I had to say I had a few.

Maybe the 8k run (longest run since being hurt in November! F YEAH), the awesome late pooping last night (OH YEAH) and the drinking of a lot of water saved me? The dinner itselft was fairly healthy : the boyfriend roasted some beef and served it with veggies. The only bad thing was a creamy sauce, but the rest made it up

Maybe going for a snowshoe ride this afternoon, but maybe not. It will depend how lazy we are LOL

Heya, anyone remember me? I was posting briefly before the holidays... and since visiting family I have not been able to get back into the swing of things at all. And I have about 8 pounds or so to prove it. I'm trying to pull myself back into the right routine. Can I jump back in here?

TheBunneh - Yeah, get in here girl! We aren't going anywhere! Sorry you've been having such a hard time getting back on track. Start NOW!

Turbo - Nope, no more snow... just a freak thing yesterday I guess! It didn't stick to the roads thankfully, so I was able to get to the gym and back safely today.

I'm sure the thought of running low on money is really scary... I've been in some bad places financially before and vowed never to be there again! I know it's not ideal, but perhaps while you're looking for a full time position you could get a job somewhere in retail? Any money coming in would be helpful.

No, I wasn't babysitting yesterday, just Friday evening for a couple of hours. The playdate was unplanned and I guess they were in the area... I was in the middle of vaccuming the stairs in my sweaty gym clothes when they came over. I guess my roommates knew about 10 minutes ahead of time. Um, can you warn me?! LOL

I'm so happy to see your running is picking back up, and your weight isn't... Good way to start the day huh?

Olehcat - That is a pretty neat feature! I don't eat much packaged food normally (meaning before I started working with my coach) but if you do I bet it helps a lot!

I hope you're able to figure some things out this weekend, but don't stress over it if you don't have some sort of "ah ha" moment. Some times things just fall into place on their own. In the meantime, just do what you can to stick to your calories (or range) and don't sweat the small stuff too much. You're like me; you think a lot!



Happy Sunday Feathers! Back up a bit on the scale today, but hopefully it'll drop off and I'll continue seeing some downward movement. I had a good workout at the gym today, and they made my morning when I saw they brought in a jacob's ladder! If you don't know what that is, it's a cardio machine that you climb on... kicks my butt! I started off with 10 minutes of that and then did 20 on the elliptical, 20 on the stairs, 10 on the bike, and then P90X Ab Ripper when I got home just for giggles.

This is a Jacob's Ladder;

Hi Feathers,

122.4 WI today after being up for a few hours, having 2 cups of coffee and a poo. I'm being lazy today because my arms, back and legs are all sore - I might do some stretching or yoga or something cause neither of my gyms are open after 5.

The Mac and Cheese Bowl yesterday was pretty fun. I got pretty sick of mac and cheese by the end of it - 30 different restaurants and bars made mac and cheese for the event, and I tried every single one. Sadly a few of them were BAD, as in so bad I spit them out into trash cans rather than waste calories and stomach room on them. The good ones were GREAT though - some interesting and creative recipes. I really liked one that was made with saffron and another that had meatballs in it, and of course the local farmers market superstars with buffalo wing sauce mac and cheese were good too. After the fest my friends and I sat around digesting and hanging out, I did some errands and grocery shopping, went to the gym, and had a very healthy dinner. One of my BFFs from middle/high school was in town for the weekend and I felt a distance between us that made me really sad.

My roommate is baaaack! I picked her up from the airport this afternoon after having Panera (Fuji apple chicken salad and chicken noodle soup...still hungry, I need my BIG BOY protein lunches to feel sated) with my parents for lunch. On my trip I brought back some Key Lime oil...hope she bakes something good with it soon! She is working her restaurant job tonight and my BF and I are going to make dinner and save some for her so she doesn't have to pack a lunch (because she has to work tomorrow...gross).

JossFit Jacob's Ladder looks like a big PITA and a serious a$$-kicker! You must be sleeping like a baby with all the cardio you're doing. Bathtime sounds really wonderful - I may do that today to try and assuage the soreness in my muscles. Did the snow stick or is it melted by today?

TheBunneh Yes of course I remember you! I'm glad you are back in this thread. Better late than never...winter isn't exactly the easiest time of year to try and lose weight.

TurboMammoth 8 km, woah! I almost died running less than 7 km on Friday night. I'm very sorry to hear you didn't get the job, but this is only the first one you interviewed for, right? You graduated very recently - there are surely lots of opportunities in MTL and elsewhere for you. Don't give up or lose hope!

olehcat There definitely isn't a defining moment for everyone in their weight loss efforts - ways to cut down, hmm, what are your natural hunger patterns like? Is it even necessary to go as low as 1500? Maybe you could lose on 1600-1800 if you are working out regularly. You have to say "no" to a lot of things to keep steadily losing/maintaining, but I find it helps a lot to have a very regular "weekday" eating schedule/menu so that when you let loose on weekends, you have something to return to.

*waves*

I'm alive. Been eating too much this week with Valentines Day. I had the genius idea since we were both off at lunch time to go out for lunch... and again for dinner... um, yeah... and now I'm visiting my family spending timewithmy 6 month old neice and weall just went out to eat at the only place I always order dessert. Toll House Pie. It doesn't get any yummier than that.

Now I am stuffed and feeling fat and gross.

So yeah, no progress since my last post, more damage control. Up a couple pounds on a good day, but once I get home I will buckle down and get back on track!!

~Katy

Hi everyone, I am new. I've been here before, but a long time ago.

I finally broke into the 110's from being in low 120's for...5 years. I know this does not sound like a lot, but for various reasons, I found it SO hard.

I am so, so close to reaching my goal weight, and it's been such an incredible journey for me. I just want to get it done, though, I am so tired of this long...long journey and just want to maintain already.
...I think I'm just sick of the winter. I feel so dead! Nothing seems new!

Hola, crew! I'm just catching up on personals, so forgive me if I missed anyone.

Joss ~ Big smile for the hubby on doing the right thing and sending you something wonderful. Props to you both for keeping it together, even though you're physically apart. And congrats girl on the modeling opportunity (though really, I'm not surprised. Hot stuff. ) The Jacob's ladder looks intense for sure! Looks like it would give you one heck of a glute workout.

bayzee ~ It sounds like your coach is looking out for your long term progress, which is always a good thing. And too true about the little things being what keeps the relationship together. Did hubby manage to get himself off the "naughty list"?

Turbo ~ *hugs* SO sad to hear that the job in Mtl didn't pan out. I second Joss's suggestion: can you pick up something on the side, just to have some income coming in? Maybe tutoring or proofreading papers for through your university?

Krampus ~ Beautiful vacation pics, girl. And the mac n' cheese festival sounds AMAZING!!! Dude. What is it with your area and their epic food festivities?

TheBunneh ~ Hellooo! And welcome back. Sometimes I feel like just posting in here is a step in the right direction. Good bad or indifferent, just being accountable is the first step.

Ohlecat ~ That's commitment to the plan, girl. Way to go with finding a different way to track items on the fitness pal. Sounds like you have had a ton of victories lately!

Kakers ~ Welcome back to you! I know at least for myself, coming in here usually means that I'm looking to be in a better place, regardless of my food decisions.

~~~

Can I just take a moment to say thank you to all you ladies who post in here regularly (Joss, Krampus, Turbo, in particular)? It means a lot to have a community of smart, strong women who are committed to health and fitness.

[Soppy drunken thank you speech/end]

All that being said, I want to recognize that I've been stressed over the top lately. There have been a few new factors in play:

~stress over living situation (in essence, my "rent" is going up by about $1000 a month ...)

~stress over my digestive issues (may be tmi: but lately I've been getting hysterical amounts of gas. This has been a problem in the past, but I guess it's just starting to bother me more now. It's all different food types: protein, starch, simple/complex carbs, fat. I started taking a digestive enzyme, but I don't think it's doing much, although I'm going to try different brands to see if certain enzymes are more effective.
Case in point: I stopped eating last night around 6. Had a cup of tea at 8:30 (Good Earth original caffeine free, which I've had before loads of times) and got gas. Like wtf? WTF, man. Argh. It's just a puzzle...

~Stress over the whole relationship/lack of relationship... Not much, and not always, but still.

Then last night I had a freaking blow out b.c all three of my jeans ended up going through the dryer (I did not put them there). so now they're short and tight and I'm heavier to begin with. I was ready to flip out... but I went for a walk instead. It was freaking freezing last night (around 19 degrees F) but it felt good to be moving and I feel loads better this morning.

I know that the answer is to stop, realize that I've not been coping in the best way possible, and make a commitment to do better. Realize that it could be a lot worse, but the recommit to making better choices. I haven't been to a yoga class in ages and I've stopped doing it at home, too. More yoga, more running, more good care, less stress reactions. I know what to do, now the challenge is to actually DO it...

/end confessional.

Awareness is the first step.

Well, now. Onward and upward.

Sorry I've been MIA. I had planned to weigh in on Valentine's Day at 135lbs, and I actually clocked in at 134, so that was fantastic.

My mother was pretty depressed this week and I organized a surprise for her on Valentine's day at a hotel she was staying at for a work meeting, so that was great -- but then my cousin's husband died so we had a funeral to go to (which upset my mother all over again) and my sister (who is 10yrs my senior) moved back home with Mom this weekend, so that's the last thing she needs.

The boyfriend and I finally got a night to spend together on Friday and we made a big, fantastic dinner (WAY OVERATE) but then I found myself after the funeral on Saturday getting sick. STILL sick today, so sick, but I'm at work because I just have TOO MUCH F*CKING WORK and if I was out I would still have to just do it tomorrow, plus what is due tomorrow. I am feeling BEAT UP, sh!t.

Wonderful beau sent me a text this morning of a crock pot full of lean, low calorie beef stew that he made, it'll be done by dinner -- phew, looking forward to that, wonderful boy.

Personals soon, I promise -- I have a STACK OF WORK and a fever that I'm working through. Thanks for letting me vent.

TheBunneh : Glad to see you back! Jump right in!!

Joss : I'm definetely going on to look for some stuff in retail or something like that while I keep looking for a job in science There is a few I'm going to send my resume this week, might drop it to a running gear stuff. The thing is that I haven't worked in retail for YEARS lol. I'll need to put up another resume together, I'm not sure my science things will impress them much

I ALWAYS wanted to try one of those stairs machine! I've seen them on the biggest loser and they seem to KICK *SS.

I remember, a few seasons back, they were doing a challenge of Jacob Stairs, but the thing were suspended like 10 feet or more high above a pool. So when they were losing the pace... splash in the water LOL Talk about a motivator to get going

Krampus : Girl, your weight is sticking to this low point! That is so awesome!

Mac and cheese with buffalo wing sauce? God. I'll need to do something like that soon. I never though putting blue cheese on a mac and cheese but it seems like the best idea ever to me now.

Sorry you felt some distance with you high school friend but yay for your roomate being back! That is nice from you and your boyfriend to prepare her a lunch, so thoughtful!

Kakers : At least you got the damages under control. Glad to see you back

Breeandbutton : Welcome! You are sooo close to your goal Don't give up yet!

Alexis : May I say that you are a big part too of this community? Don't forget yourself!

Thank you for the nice word concerning the job issue. I just need to go through this. I've look a few months ago in tutoring thing, but Sherbrooke being not such a big town, there is not a lot of opportunities... but with the spring coming, and exams and everything, there might be more coming along... I'll have another look into this

Concerning the tmi issues, it is soo hard to pin point a specific thing in that area! Do you eat a lot of dairy? Any chances you might slightly be lactose intolerant? Just a guess here

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Hi ladies! I was down to 139.4 this morning. I don't know why, but I'm taking it! I had an okay day yesterday, but gave in to sweet treats while watching LOTR part 3 with the boyfriend last night. I really cut down the salt though, and my period are finally over, so I guess all of this together helped for the drop.

I also did some abs workout in the living room yesteday. I'm really happy because I'm seeing improvment and it is sooo motivating (more in the term of reps than in the term of definition, I still have flabby fat all over my tummy to hide all of this :P meeeeh). When I started back exercising a few weeks ago, lying leg raise were the pain of me and now it's not much of a challenge anymore. I'll need to increase the number of rep soon!

Also in another term of acheivment, I did 25 kneeling push ups yesterday, which is a first freaking ever for me bwahahaha. That is nice to see that all this dumbbells lifting are paying up somewhere! (now I just need to work on real pushups.. of dear). We finally did not go snoeshowing yesterday because I was not feeling like it. My legs felt heavy from my saturday's run and it was grey and cold outside.

My kitchen is looking like a cupcakes factory right now and smells amazzzzinnnng. I told you a few weeks ago that the boyfriend decided to for a first half marathon at the beginning of the summer, to raise money for the fundation of the hospital of our town. He was a bit clueless on how to raise money in a original way, so I suggested to make cupcakes and sell them at his job. I did that when I run the Run for the Cure race and people got crazy. I raised 130$ for 24 cupcakes... When it is for a good cause and people get something sweet, they tend to give more

Because I'm low on money, I offered to bake the base of the cupcakes for him and we will work on the icing and stuff when he'll get home tonight (he also said it was safer if I was making them, he tends to improvise a bit to much while cooking, which is not such a good thing when you bake...)

Soooo it is kinda awesome : I get to bake and I won't have the results of the baking all week in my face to tempt me! F YEAHHHH!

Have a good day ladies!

Dorian : Ah, you posted while I was rambling on my super duper long post! Sorry you are feeling so insanely beat up You seem to have so much thing to take care off, while you are already super busy with you work and everything! *hugs* Hope youll get rid of the fever soon too