How is everyone's Monday starting out?

Mine is not great. I weighed myself this morning (I always do Monday morning) only to find I gained a pound. I'm keeping in mind it is that TOM so I should be gaining a few pounds which is normal for me. So I'm assuming that really this means I still probably lost a pound. I'm just hoping that it will drop off in a week. Fingers crossed. I'm sticking to my plan. Not letting this little glitch turn me into an eating frenzy like normal. I just have to tell myself that it will come off on it's own schedule.

Needless to say I'm not happy about having to adjust my ticker up. Could be worse, could be worse... ommmm.

I also want to admit that I feel like eating crap all day. I've already eaten what I would normally eat in the whole day on another day. oops.

I hope everyone is having a good day!

Good afternoon!

I'm sorry you were up a pound Bikini Dreader! But it is your TOM, so it probably is just water retention. I haven't yet had a week where I've been up, but I know it'll come eventually, and I'm dreading it!! Just do your best to keep on track. Figure out what you're craving, then see what it is about what you're craving that appeals to you (saltiness, crunchiness, sweet, etc.). See if you can find a healthy substitute.

I was down a pound this week, and down another 3", for a total of 16", which makes me VERY happy! I finally broke the 4-day exercise barrier, too, and exercised 5 times last week. Whew! There's that monkey off my back!

I'm SO BORED at work... I honestly have nothing to do. I need a new job. We're hiring a summer student to do some development work, and we've received two resumes. Both make me feel very inferior. Master's students who have BA Honors in Psychology (I have a measly BA in Psych and can't get into a Master's program) with a ton of volunteer experience and work experience, too. I just don't think I'm where I'm supposed to be in life... need to figure out what I'd like to do, and DO IT!

Hope everyone's having a good Monday! Quiet around here...

OMG, I am sooooo hungry right now. I could eat my keyboard, and water isn't filling me up. I just haven't eaten a lot today and I leave in half an hour and go home! hooray!

I hate gaining on weigh in days. The good news is that it happens to all of us and it can come right back off again. I keep telling myself that i won't be weighing myself till the end of the month, but i have a hard time sticking to that when i feel like i am losing. I wanna peek, but at the same time, i have been stuck at the same weight for over a month and i don't want to see the same weight again so i just won't look.

Hope everyone has a good week!

I have to report that I did not do well yesterday. I definitely had many extra calories. I have to work out extra hard after work today which I'm already dreading. I hope everyone is having a better day than me.

Seems like we aren't using this chat any more. I love reading the individual posts but I like this dialogue as well. Oh well. I'll continue and whoever is around will keep this thread going!

Last night I was soo tired after work and I was goign to allow myself not to do a workout but I got to the gym and just kept telling myself that I should start the class and if I was physically incapable I could quit. It was really hard. The hardest class at the gym - burns the most calories and I did the whole thing. I actually teared up in the stretch because I was so happy for myself. Then I came home and had a super healthy dinner. Hummus and veggies and a big salad. It was great. I had rice and chicken at lunch so I wanted to keep my dinner more veggie focused. That workout got me back on track. I could feel myself slipping and I turned it around!

Hope everyone has a good wednesday!

*high fives bikini dreader*

Things are still sorta the same here. Today is ahigh point day for me, so I am going to go out and have a little bit of a happy hour. fun! Not too much though, because I need to come home and work out.

My weigh in is Friday morning, and I am sorta nervous about it. I am trying something new, so I reall really really want to see results. But I am worried that I am not going to, just because I haven't in like a month. And, TOM is being wierd, and staying away just to spite me. Just to punish me, and give me an extra three or four days of PMS. Much appreciated.

Bikini Dreader, I like this chat too. I will help you keep it going! Here's some good news to share: Last night I found a mango in my fridge that I forgot about. It was still good. Score! This was a much needed boost in my feelings about produce because i have been on a major nectarine kick lately, and three out of five nectarines have been ranging from gagworthy to not tasty. The others are exquisite. I love fruit.

I just started in this website. I joined weight watchers just after my 24th birthday at 195.6 lbs. I had an all you can eat pancake meal on my bday and said to myself I need to do something. That was the 5th, the 10th I was in a weight watchers meeting. I lost almost 10 lbs so far and feel great. I'm so hungry this week though. Any suggestions?? feel free to contact me!

Shari

Hi everyone,

As usual last weekend wasn't so great. Big St. Patty's Day Saturday with lots of food and drink. However starting Monday morning I've been really good. I'm trying to talk myself into keeping it up through the weekend. I always go into the weekend with good intentions and end up with friends or BF hanging out and tell myself "oh, a glass of wine or two will be ok..." and end up overeating and drinking. I think keeping my activity level up is key, b/c the gym is closed Sundays. I need to go walking or go for a bike ride. I'm also going to try and plan healthier versions of the weekend "treats" BF and I usually end up eating - e.g. make my own pizza with less cheese and lighter crust, or have (lean) steaks ready to cook.

In one month the play I'm in will be performed, and I'll be wearing an all white nurse's outfit (complete with white panty hose - how unforgiving!) on stage. I'm setting a goal to get down to 140 by then, which would mean losing my winter pudge. 5 lbs is a lot for my body in a month but I'm going to try really hard.

Bikini Dreader, awesome job at the gym and turning a slide around! WTG!

futurepixie, your mango sounds good. I have been eating a bunch lately - I love mango season, and all fruit. I have some delicious grapefruit right now.

RidiculouslyAddicted, sounds like you had an awesome week body-wise. 3 inches! Wow! Sorry your job is so boring ...hope something changes for you soon.

MrsAltena, welcome! I drink a lot of water, crystal light, hot tea (something about the heat in particular helps - maybe b/c it takes longer to drink) to fill me up, and eat a ton of low-cal veggies. A cup of celery only has 20 calories, and cucumber slices only 15 calories, carrots 50 calories...etc. I eat at least 2 veggies w/ every meal. The fiber and water in them helps fill you up. The weight watchers "zero points" veggie soup is great b/c it's both veggie-full and hot. Also make sure you're eating a good balance of protein, fat, and carbs - take one away and you may get hungry. At times I've inadvertently cut too much fat and stopped losing weight while still being starving. If I'm eating and don't want to stop, I try to go distract myself by packing my bag for the next day, cleaning, taking a walk around the block, and false "hunger" will go away. Good luck! There are a lot of great people around here.

Hi all you lurkers out there - you know you're there! Have a great Wednesday everyone.

Hey Megan and Shelby, and hello to everyone new! I have been sick for 2 weeks, this cold and sinus thing. I've been missing you guys but I haven't felt like getting on here to talk, just to update a few things and head back to the couch. Oddly enough though, without exercise I've been losing weight and I have officially lost my first 10 pounds! It has taken much longer than I wanted to, but for some reason busting my butt with exercise and eating right wasn't working. Cutting out exercise, I've done better than with it. It's so crazy I'm just going to start walking at least 60 minutes every weather-permitting day, and do my cardio video and use the gym on the days it doesn't...so mostly this week I'll be inside It would just be a lot easier if I could sleep at night and breathe normally at all times, not just when my sinuses want to let me. I did manage 30 minutes of pilates while Tim used the gym Monday, and yesterday I grocery shopped so overall I walked for 2 hours, luckily I do most of the shopping at super walmart so I can walk the store before actually shopping. Anyways, back to the stuff I need to do around here. Things got backed up with me being sick, so there's lots of laundry and dishes. I never knew 2 people could go through so much...
I am just so happy!! No more 200's, I will NEVER see it again!
back to the 100's and I'm never looking back!!!

Bikini Dreader, It's so nice to see you're back on track! That must feel good. Congrats for picking yourself back up. I really like this thread, too!

futurepixie, good luck at your weigh-in. What's new that you're trying? Does it FEEL like it's working?

Shari, WELCOME!! Nice to have you here. Congrats on your first 10 pounds, that's awesome! When I'm feeling nibbly, I chew gum. I chew a lot of gum. I drink a lot of water, too. I find that having protein + fat + carbs in the morning really helps keep me satisfied throughout the day. I have pretty much the same breakfast every morning... it's just under 300 calories, which seems to be working for me.
-2 slices chicken bacon (50 calories)
-1/4 cup egg whites + tiny bit of mozza cheese (50 calories, max)
-1/2 cup Fiber 1 cereal (100 calories)
-3/4 cup 1% milk (80 calories)
Protein and fat definitely keep me full longer than just carbs, that's for sure!

Megan, my boyfriend and I make pita pizzas when we're craving pizza. Whole wheat pitas, pizza sauce (haven't found a NSA one yet), lf mozza, fat free ham, green peppers, mushrooms, pineapple (for the BF only), YUM!!!!!!

Tracy, WOO HOO!!! CONGRATULATIONS on hitting Onederland!! That's incredible, you must feel so good. Sorry you've been sick, though. Hope you're doing better soon.

I've starting counting my calories (I'm doing SBD) this week and have been shocked at how much I eat -- 1400-1900 calories a day, average of 1600. But, I've been losing on this (1 lb per week, on average), enjoying my exercise, and I'm very rarely hungry, so I guess it's okay. What do you guys think?

Shelby, 1600 calories is great! I usually stick to 1600 and without exercise and a couple days at 2000 or more, I still lost 2 pounds. If you want to reduce your intake you can try, just never let it go below 1200. At a certain point your body will actually store more calories because it's not getting enough to function properly. If you're moderately active, meaning you exercise most days of the week (even just 30 minutes of walking a day) then 1600 is a good place to be.

Helloooooo!!! (echo, echo, echo)

Still pretty empty around here I see. Hi Tracy, Shelby, and everyone else!

I had a very positive day yesterday health-wise. I ran several miles, ate really well. Ate a small dinner between the gym and play rehearsal, got home at 9:30, and had a baked sweet potato sprayed with some I Can't Believe It's Not Butter as a snack. It was tasty. The scale said 143 this morning, even with TOM! Now if I could just keep it there...and continue going down.

Shelby, I eat pita pizzas too. The problem is just using the pitas before they all go bad. But coincidentally I've been thinking about them for a few days, I might have to get some. I like pepperoni so I get Hormel Turkey Pepperoni to go on top, and use Newman's Own marinara. I like to make them on La Tortilla Factory Fat Free tortillas, too (8 g fiber/torilla, only 100 cal), but they only sell those at the store 1+ hour away from me.

1600 calories/day sounds perfect, especially if you're active. In "losing" mode I try to range from 1400-1600, and perhaps one day a week at 1900-2000 (ideally, hehe) to sort of keep my metabolism revved up and my body guessing what's going on.

Tracy, congratulations on getting to the 100's! I read once that it takes 2 weeks to build muscle and only 3 days to lose it (how depressing, right?). But being sick works your body, too - your body burns a lot of calories fighting a cold! I hope your cold disappears soon so you can sleep better.

Have a great day everyone!

Good morning!

RidiculouslyAddicted-- I am trying to pay really close attention to how much salt i eat and cut way back, and I am trying to zig zag my calorie intake a bit to boost my metabolism. I feel like its working, but right now is TOM, and I have recently had bad weigh ins- the ones where you are SURE you've lost, but your scale says otherwise. Thanks for the good WI wishes!

Bleh. I am kinda disappointed with how I feel today. Today is a C25Kday, and it is the first big jog without stopping to walk! I was so excited, but then I woke up with cramps today, the ones that go all the way down to your legs. I hate TOM! I hope that it doesn't give me a bad run, but if so I can try again tomorrow. Oh and yesterday i went to happy hour instead of working out. I planned for the happy hour, but I didn't plan to have this low of a tolerance, so I thought I could have three beers and still do pilates. Nope. Oh well. Today is another day. And tomorrow is a half day- yay! That means nice long run in the sunshine, a nap, some pilates and some slow and deliberate yoga with no need to rush. Love Fridays!

Okay, so I got a slap on the wrist from Alix. I'm still around! Just sooo busy, and I know that the time I spend on MySpace could be spent here.
I'm just out the door, so I will do personals and an update after work.

Tata!

-Mande

Yoga and pilates might not be a good idea...I've seen so many places, including my yogao and pilates videos, that doing some of the poses can be harmful during that time. It can cause stress and pressure on already painful, swollen areas. But if you've done it before, just ignore me

Megan, I've seen that too, about losing muscle really quickly. I must say that I did get good workouts coughing. I told Tim that if I didn't have the extra layer of flab then I would totally be rockin a 2-pack I just don't know what to do about the exercise causing less weight gain...I mean, I was doing cardio! Nothing to cause muscle building, plus I've always read and heard that it takes a while to replace muscle with fat, so you can't really assume that's why you're not losing unless you check your body fat.

Also, does anyone know where I can find a BMI calculator with a frame size input? Everything is based on height and weight only, and I can't remember where I found one with the frame size and mine alters the BMI because I have a large frame. Not the excuse "oh, I'm just big-boned" kind it's a frame that caused the doctors to tell my mom to put me down and teach me to walk at 9 months because I was too big for her to carry with her smaller frame.