I hope that everyone had a great weekend.

It was very nice here...windy, but nice. Kids rode there bikes and I took a nice long walk on Sat. I am up .8 of a lb this week, but it is that TOM so crossing fingers that it is just some extra water.

I had better get to work. Here is to having a great Monday.

I haven't had the best week in terms of eating...and I know I shouldn't let myself turn stress into bad eating habits, but that's totally been what's happening. It's been a ridiculously hard week, and I just haven't had the brainpower in me to "make good choices".

Thanks to everyone who helped me out last week -- you all are angels

I'm going to be gone until Thursday -- it's Spring Break and I really need to get home and see my mom and my dogs!! I might be able to check in once or twice, but we have satellite internet which is slower than death.

Sorry to hear about your eating, arts. I haven't had the best morning because I was up half the night with a croup-y 6 year old, so I can definitely relate to making less-than-stellar food choices. Have fun on Spring Break!

Hey guys!

So the big trip with my mom is this week. The snacks I decided to pack are a box of Fiber 1 cereal and a package of rice cakes (healthy and filling). Here's a question, I have been very good about counting calories everyday for 2 months. When I go on this trip, should I still try and write everything down...? I mean I know it's going to be hard to be AS good as I have been, and I know it is a vacation and I should enjoy...

Hey everyone,
I'm back from vacation. Lets say I ate (and drank) too much but at least I normally stuck to eating heathier food. Phoenix was great again, I really want to go back. I forget how much I hate airport food, it seemed like there were no good options at either Phoenix or Dever that were "good" then I got stuck on the plane in Denver for 2 hours waiting for de-icing so by the time I made it back to Detroit I was starving and ended up eating a big hamburger. Oh well back to school work.

Livin - Sorry about being up, but it's less then a pound, so could totally be water weight.

Arts - have fun at home

Cookie - Have fun on your road trip. It's up to you on whether or not you think you can not write things. Its really 50/50 on whether or not I decide to write things down on vacation, I didn't this past time (i've been doing it for almost 2 years now), other times I do not.

ARRGGG! I'm trying to leave a msg for my personal trainer, b/c I have to reschedule my training tomorrow morning. I forgot that I had a denist appt. For whatever reason the freakin receptionist at my gym can't put me through to the personal training department!!!!! I have been on the phone for over 5 minutes and I keep telling her that the extention she transfers me to is not the right one and she has transfered me back to it 5 times!!!!!!!!!! Then she tells me he doesn't have a personal voice mail. I know he does coz I left me a message last week - on his personal voice mail! I'm about ready to filp out completely on her. I have to let him know asap that I can't make it in the morning or I'll be charged for the session. %*&^!!!!!

shantroy, that's really frustrating! I hope you get through!

CookieMonster - I recommend not counting during the break. Try to make healthy choices, but part of the point of a break is to reduce stress, which is really good for your body. Maybe don't weigh in until a few days after you get back to give your body a chance to readjust to dieting, and see what happens? If it's a disaster, then clearly you'll need to keep counting during your next break. But if you've been counting for a few months, you know approximately how many calories are in the various foods that you eat, so you can use that knowledge to make good choices without ruining your holiday.

I called back, got a different receptionist and she put me through (on the first try) the correct department and I managed to leave him a voice mail. Freakin' incomptent employees....

I posted this last night on last weeks weekly chat:

Hello Ladies! I had a good weekend, still not feeling well, but I got in plenty of rest, hopefully I will be getting better soon. I was down 2 pounds on Wednesday, my bf and I went out to eat on Friday, I wound up doing good, I had some rice, grilled shrimp, grilled chicken and grilled veggies. I wound up eating probably around 1500-1600 calories that day. That was about 200-300 more than I had been eating all week. I woke up the next morning and got on the scale and I had lost ANOTHER 2 pounds. Which gives me a total weight loss of 4 pounds for this week. That is the most I've lost in one week since I began this whole thing. So what do you think ladies, should I up my calories to around 1500-1600? I think I'll try it and see if I'm as successful.

Here's a NSV for me: I didn't drink a drop of alcohol this weekend

I hope you girls had a great weekend!


lovinlife: The weekend was beautiful. I love warm weather, and I love taking walks outside. Unfortunately, looks like it's about to get cold here again. We have freezing rain and snow in the forecast. Which is ok with me too, because that usually means canceled classes here (we don't have the proper road equipment for winter weather around here, because it's so rare.)
arts: I hope spring break gives you some time to relax and refresh!
Cookie: I think you should enjoy your trip, but continue to remain conscious of your eating choices. When I do this, I find that I continue to make fairly good choices out of habit (at least better choices than I would have made before.) Have a good time!
remember: I'm glad you had a good trip. I love your positive attitude.

Hey guys,
I dunno what my issue is. I have been working out extra hard this week (and more often), and while maybe consuming 100-200 more calories a day, I have been making healthy choices and feeling fantastic. In my first 2 days I was down .4 lbs. Then, I got on and weighed myself this morning- up almost 3 pounds. WHAT??????? I really don't know what to think. I am starting my TOM, but I asked my gyn today about water weight and she said the pill doesn't cause water weight gain, even during your period. Maybe my scale is whacking out? I put it in one spot and it put me at 158, then I moved it to another spot and it put me at 152. At the first spot (my regular weigh in spot) it was 158. I know I shouldn't freak out and I should give it a couple days (because 3 pound gain in 3 days makes no sense since I have stayed OP) but I can't help but get frustrated. Grrrr. :-P Hope you are all doing well. I am so bogged down with homework- just trying to push through this last semester and keep above a 3.9 for my overall GPA on graduation day (which i will be spending in the Caribbean instead of in a stuffy gymnasium in my cap and gown). Everybody, thanks for the support. I dunno how I would ever diet without this site.

Just went to the gym, ahhhh it feels so good. I think it definitely helped a lot to get out some of the tension from last week's midterms, which were a little psycho.

I'm up a little in terms of the scale, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's water since I ate some seriously salty food yesterday. I'm not stressing about it at all, though, which is good for me!!

I agree with everyone. I feel like my body actually needs a bit of a break. I really have been "perfect" with eating and exercise for the past 2 months. My body is sore though (I kept telling myself no days off of working out since I probably won't work out as much on vacation so that will be my "break") and maybe the changeup of food will be good for my body. I will just try and make the healthiest choices possible... I leave Wednesday morning.

Casey~ Sounds like a good idea to just try it for a couple weeks, if your weight begins to go back up, drop your calories back down. Our bodies adjust to routines and it can become harder to lose weight if you don't mix things up every now and then.

So far so good. First day back in the school, and I am a little surprised at how well I have done. I continued to eat the same size breakfast and lunch today and still feel fine, am not hungry... interesting... I'm also surprised at the number of steps I take in a day, and I didn't move as much today as I normally do. I'm just over 5600 steps right now and still have an hour left of work. I haven't decided if I am going to keep my pedometer on during my workout or not as I would really like to try for 10,000 steps today, but knowing that it was part of everyday activity. Does anyone wear a pedometer during their workouts? I have no idea what I'm going to make for dinner, which worries me a little, but I know I have salad supplies so I can always turn to that.
School is almost over...

Today was a good day I stayed pefectly to what I planned which was hard because my calories where high last week because of the vacation so my body wanted more. It was a rough day back I'm exhaused now and just wanting to take more time off. I go to Florida for a few days for my intership next week, sadly I don't get to spend all of my time hang out at the beach but it will be nice to be somewhere that doesn't have snow. I just found out that I most likly have to share my hotel room with another intern (a friend of mine) which isn't terrible espically because they are putting us up in a really nice hotel with suits so I guess I can't complain. I'm espcially excited for the cook to order breakfast that is compelmentary every morning. How nice is that, I'll be able to keep to my plan.


Shan - I hope you got threw you should someone higher up when you get there because she needs to be corrected.

Casey - Great Job!!! 4 pounds in one week is amazing. And great NSV I wish I could have said the same thing.

LittleMoonRabbit - I know they say you don't gain weight but I always find that I do. When I was on Yasmin it has a durietic so that caused a flucation but event with Ortho I still am up a pound or two during that week. Maybe it is less to do with my homones and more to do with the fact that I eat extra salty food at that time and don't always drink enough water.

Ants - itsn't it nice when then gym becomes a destressor rather then a stressor!!!

Kim - Good job on staying on track while in school. Sorry I don't wear a pedometer so I'm no help there.

Lovin -- stupid TOM.

Arts -- It's break for you guys this week? Isnt that early? Anyway, enjoy home!! Where are you from?

Frog -- good luck with the 6 yr old!

Cookie -- I can't believe your trip is here! I remember when you first wrote about it it felt miles away to me…as for writing everything down, I know I wouldn't, but that’s me. You gotta do what feels comfortable for you!

Remember -- Welcome back!! Wow, your internship sends you to Florida? I should have gone to law school...

Shantroy -- I am sure that whatever was going on is long since solved, but I hope you were able to breath through the stress without flipping out on the receptionist! She was probably doing the best she could…or maybe it was her first day...

Emmy -- that sounds like good advice.

Casey -- WOW!! Good for you!! People have probably already said this (haven't read ahead yet) but there is something called calorie cycling, where you eat more calories some days. Maybe that would work for you!

LittleMoon -- wow that is frustrating. And the scale does sound kinda funky if it changes when you move it….And, I hear ya on the 3FC love!! Glad to be here for you!!

Kim -- glad your eating plans are working out!!

As for me, things have been going really well. I've been thinking a lot about where I want to go with my education/career/relationship, and I've come to some decisions that I'm pretty happy about. Also, I've been awesome about sticking with my plan, and getting to the gym, and I FEEL really good. Energetic and all that good stuff that happens when you eat well and exercise!

I weighed in on Monday and I'm officially down 10 lbs since I started trying to lose this time around. I realized that I haven't been below 137 in my recent life, and that would be a whole new world...136...

S