Oh dear, I had no internet yesterday. I very much missed you all.
So what's up this week?

I did not make any of my goals last week ... over ate and under walked DH made ham and scalloped potatoes while I was at work on Saturday.

I'm making turkey etc for supper tonight and am looking forward to turkey left overs for the rest of the week.

I start full-time on the 23rd so we're gonna head south on Sunday for a quick visit with my new great nephew. Less than a week, how much damage can I do? I usually can take a dog for a walk everyday.

I'm having some very positive thoughts about having a set routine when I go full-time. Planning, packing individual sized portions etc. But I guess that's for next week's thread.

It's so great about your new job, Susan. One thing which is really positive about regular hours is that it's so much easier to stay on plan and eat properly. Until about 18 months ago I had a job that required a full day's work and very regular, lengthy overtime as well. The first 8 years of it I managed to stay at a reasonable weight because I smoked. When I stopped smoking I didn't cope with the hours at all well.

I'm having a lovely Bank Holiday Monday. I've done some gardening, walked the 2 miles to my local shop to buy 3 pots of fage yoghurt and generally just pottered. I love the weather we're having at the moment and it's reminded me that summer's on the way and I can't stay hidden in the winter clothes forever.

I've also acknoweldged that I'm a bit pants at this staying on plan business. Things haven't been right with me since the end of February so I'm really looking to get back into the groove. I have a week's holiday next week (starting this Friday) and so my only plan for the next fortnight is to not go mad.

SusanB: Doughnut is right about regular hours. When I worked a "real" job, I got down to 126 because of regular meals and walking on my lunch hour (most of my co-workers were health and fitness buffs also). Now that I work from home and have my own business...I am only a few steps from the kitchen and don't do nearly as much walking!

I used to bring my lunch with me to work (and no cash...so I wouldn't be tempted to visit vending machines). It really helped me stay on plan!

Good morning ladies! I did not stay on plan last week and had a really bad weekend , so on to this week.

I resolve to stay on plan this week as summer is approaching fast and I too, will have to shed these winter clothes.

Hope everyone has a great week!

Hi everyone!

My plan this week:

- Keep exercising! Muscle definition is starting to appear, and I'm loving my new endurance.

- Work on big-picture eating. Try to keep meals and snacks healthy. Stop sabotaging myself by eating lots of junk whenever I'm at home. Only eat when I am hungry!

- If a meal isn't perfect (say, I'm on the golf course with no good food available), eat it, and GET OVER IT! Do not turn one bad meal into an excuse to eat junk for the rest of the day (or weekend). Learn to say no if I don't want ice cream, candy, dessert, etc.

- Think about everything I wrote in the post about my NEW plan and stick to all the goals I articulated there!

My plan this week is to get back to eating well after having cake yesterday my sister showed up with an ice cream cake for my girls ,I only had a sliver cause I was stuffed but there are leftovers and i had a piece of cake for lunch so starting tomorrow (I am having a piece of ice cream cake tonight) I am back on plan and hopefully back to loosing.

I'm starting this week with my 7 week goal in mind! I will make it to my goal by then. I'm ready to make the full effort again after my "break".

I did so well last week and it shows on my ticker. Yesterday my only indiscretion was 2 glasses of wine which I carefully measured at 7 ounces each, so I didn't think that was too bad, but my weight went up to 139.5. I'm going to stay OP all week to get it back down to ticker weight!!

Hi everyone! Had a NSV yesterday - finally ran a 10K, took me an hour and 10 minutes so looking to improve in the timing before the actual 10K event end of April, but I'm really glad I actually ran it! (Have been steadily training up since my benchmark 5K run in early Feb.) And again, thanks to leg toning & stretching exercises afterwards, didn't wake up with soreness this morning. I also had a sushi dinner last night (with some sake that kinda made me burpy during the run )

Foodwise I did fairly well (but not perfect) last week, hope this week to be a little better though Saturday I may be bar-hopping for a friend's b-day, so see how well that goes.

Allison, I'm sure you can make it back down!

Poppins, good luck on your new plan! this is a new week!

Susan, I, too, find full-time very conducive to staying on plan -- albeit, a bit more reliance on convenience foods (canned soups, frozen entrees) than I'd presonally like.

Doughnut, woohoo for day off!

Plan for today:
Breakfast- Steak fajita burrito (380)
Snack1- Bartlett Pear (90)
Lunch- Applebee's, planning on their weight watcher menu (325), the cajun-lime tilapia looks interesting.
Snack2- Yogurt (130)
Dinner- Canned soup or chili (~400) + some strawberries (~60)
Planned Total ~ 1385

Exercise:
Cardio & Weights Circuit - 50 min.
Abs & Bun workout with weights & stability ball - 15 min.

I'm know I'm unusual in this, but it is so much easier for me to stay on plan on the weekends. I now have two on-plan days under my belt. Hopefully I'll have more by the end of the week (although I know Thurs and Fri will both include off-plan meals, but hopefully they won't be too bad). Most of the nuts are gone, so that should make things easier.

Hey all,

Susan, I always find structure helps with my eating. I find I panic less when I know when I'll be able to eat. For me it was school, work used to be a problem for me, but I'm slowly getting used to it.

Aquawarlock. Awesome NSV. Is this your first time training for a 10k run? Do you a goal time in mind? An hour and 10mins is a good time too. Good luck in the run!

Blue, that's so funny, weekends are horrible for me, if I'm not busy... I just sit around the house and eat. However, this semester I was working on weekends so they weren't such a problem.

Poppins3 good goal idea. I especially like the one about getting over eating not-so-good-for-you food.

Canadian mom. Hmmm ice cream cake. Yummy. I myself had easter candy for breakfast this morning. It's horrible, but I enjoyed it so much!

I'm not sure if I have a goal this week. I think right now I want to concentrate on studying and doing well on my tests. And not stress-binging I guess. I'll still hang around here (what can I say? I have to procrastinate somehow.). Plus while my rib is improving fabulously it still doesn't feel well enough to get out for a run or an aerobics class, it hurts with jarring movements.

Later

I need to get back on track too. I looked back in fitday and about 6 weeks ago I switched from assigning a meal to each food and it seems that things have gone downhill since then, so back to assigning a meal category. I think my lunches were growing and then I was overeating because I was used to being able to have a big dinner. I dont want to eat a smaller dinner, so back to trimming elsewhere.

Also been struggling with treats. I am not a sweets girl normally, for the first 4 months I did great having ONE chocolate a day and we had icecream in the house and it took 3 months to eat 1/2 gallon (dh and me) and then suddenly whoooooomph. 1 spoonful occasionally grew to 2 oz a night to 4 oz a night to 2 huge bowls 2-3 times a week

Oddly enough I think the solution to my never hitting target (have only hit target - 6 times since March 1) is to lower my target. I need a week or so of strict eating, there is too much wiggle room in my normal allotment. Normally that is a good thing as I dont do well with too much restriction, but I need to reign in the sugar cravings and portion sizes...reset.

TO all of you who did so well last week!!! GREAT JOB!!!!!

Oddly enough (it seems) I do the best when I'm home, near the fridge. I then tend to graze on great choices and wind up with fewer calories than even I thought by the end of the day. What screws me up are planned big meals.


A new find to share with my featherweight friends ~ it isn't a dancing broccoli, but it's pretty great:

Thomas' Light multi grain english muffins - 100 calories, 8 g fiber, sugar less than 1g. They ROCK and make an awesome snack. I've been putting laughing cow light swiss cheese (35 calories) on them.

Last week: Was awesome - in that I joined the Y and added four nights a week of water aerobics (ranging from deep water pilates to circuit training) to my schedule. That's a HUGE increase of activity for me, previously only doing swing once/twice per week.

I had many on plan days - one evening slip up with pizza and yesterday went over with the alcohol. YAY! :

This week the plan: be OP during the week - next friday-Monday I'll be in Chicago, out of town, and largely not able to choose all of my foods. SO: the plan for the weekend is to try to stay within the calorie zone. SAme for tonight at dinner at our friends home.

I made graphs to chart my progress- hand made, b/c even when I went into Xcel I was having issues. I obviously am a bit technically challeneged

Today has been a great day so far:
slim fast breakfast
whole grain english muffin w/ the cheese & some pineapple for lunch

It's only a couple of hours until dinner - I'm trying to go into it under calories since I won't have control over what's served.

Happy OP week to my featherweight friends!!

What I want most is my at-home scale to say my ticker weight. Without my having to adjust it, of course

After finally getting on track.....after feeling for so long that I was off track....I can truly say that two things are responsible for me being on track:

1~I have virtually given up alcohol. I used to be a glass or two (sometimes more) of wine every night. Last week, I had 3 glasses all week (2 were yesterday) and all three were carefully measured!.

2~I have cut down the size and frequency of my snacks. Yes, I know I can still have them, but I was starting to see them as necessary--even if I wasn't hungry. I am trying Jen's (2frus) intuitive eating thing I guess! I have a few snacks available, but I'm not going to eat them just because they are there. I'll eat them if I'm hungry.

In addition to being on plan all weekend, I also finally made it to the pool for a swim on Saturday morning. I went to my local outdoor pool and the weather was just warm enough to make it very enjoyable. So much nicer than the indoor pool, which is hot, overly chlorinated, and full of kids. We'll see if I notice a difference in my cardio this week as a result of the swim (I did finish my Sunday run 4 seconds faster than my last time).

Cats, I work from home, so during the week I'm sitting at my desk all day, just a short walk away from the fridge. It can be hard to resist. But the weekends, I'm totally busy. I'm rushing from one chore/errand/activity to the next, so sometimes it's hard to fit eating in. Plus my day starts later on the weekends, so there are fewer hours to eat and get hungry in. Hmmm, can sleeping be an effective strategy for weight loss?

Yuppiegirl, maybe try PowerPoint for the charts (if you have it). I find the charts there easier to use than Excel. Have fun with the water aerobics. I've never tried that, but I'm a big fan of swimming!

Alinnell, great job on the wine and snacks. I'm pretty good about limiting my wine to only once every couple of weeks, but when I have it, I'm not so good about measuring it!