Good Morning Ladies!

I have returned from the dead... well, I wasn't actually dead, but I did disappear for a weekend. The trip to Charlotte was really awesome! I ate horribly and was scared to step on the scale this morning, but seem to be holding out at 191.5. I guess all things considered...I should be pretty happy.

The hotel which I thought was going to be so FABULOUS turned out to be ghetto fabulous. It was an old hotel that they half a$$ rennovated and staged really cool pictures to make it look awaesome. Plus, the room looked like it was sponsored by Ikea (don't get me wrong, I love Ikea!).... and let me ask you guys this... The king size "sleigh" bed they had.... they didn't put on a fitted sheet, they just put a regular top sheet on the bottom so of course when you wake up in the morning there isn't any sheet left ON the bed itself. That's just gross. I don't have a bed like that at home... wouldn't you USE a fitted sheet? Seriously?

You guys posted entirely too much for me to comment on but I will say this - Jelbb WELCOME BACK!!! You have been missed! I was wondering how you're doing!

Everyone else - I missed you guys this weekend.

I am sooooo freaking tired. I think it was a food induced hangover? I didn't drink nearly the amount of water I needed to this weekend (and noticed it horribly). I didn't eat ALL that bad except I did have fast food for dinner last night.... I had part of a chicken philly "cheesesteak" for dinner Friday with veggies, "upscale" Mexican for lunch Saturday which was bad - chips, salsa, queso, and these deep fried fish tacos that were amazing, Sat night we went to a really nice restaurant and I had "tuna steak" and asparagus, Sunday for lunch I had 2 chicken soft tacos, chips and queso for lunch and then fast food for dinner. *sigh* BACK ON PLAN TODAY!

Eric Clapton is tonight.... is it bad that I'm like "ughhhh I'm so tired already" ???

Have a great day ladies!

Feral - Congrats at maintaining, and I'm glad you had a good time! I don't remember or I probably missed this... but I'm curious, how did your aero pants fit? Were they the curvy cut?

I'm going out for lunch with my two girlfriends. We're getting hibachi, which I love love love. But I always end up eating all of the rice. How bad do you think it is to just get chicken/shrimp and the veggies and no rice? Well, I'll probably get white rice, which I don't like, and give it to Erin because she hordes that stuff (and maintains her perfect size 6, of course).

After lunch I'm hanging out at the campus for a little while and then Roy is picking me up and we're going hiking on the new nature trail I haven't seen yet :3 :3 :3

Have a good day ladies!

Feral:
Hey darling! It's good to see people I recognize! Thanks for the warm welcome back!!
Hmm. I vote... if you're paying for a hotel, you deserve a fitted sheet. And no hotel room should make you think "Ikea." That's all I'm gonna say.

Jess7:
Ahhh, I probably could have had someone take me around, but now that I've managed to find those machines, and have a little routine in mind... I won't have any problem usin' em, boys around or not!
That's awesome that you were asked to spot for someone, hehe. I wonder if now that I'm gonna be going almost every day... if I'll start seeing the same people over and over. I get the feeling that I won't be going at the same TIME every day, and most people do...

Icon.Ghost:
Ha, well, you guys can call me by my middle name if you want, it'll make one fewer Jess's around here... my middle name's nowhere near as cool as Warrington tho, it's just "Lauren"

Mary:
Ahh, I don't think the chicken/shrimp and veggies would be too bad a meal. Depends how the meat's cooked... but chicken/shrimp, veggies and rice altogether really aren't too bad! You've just gotta avoid doing what I do--- eating after I'm way too full already.

And as for me...
I'm 142.2 this morning! I love when I'm being good eating and working out-wise, and I can watch the scale literally just... slowly crawl in the right direction. And every single day I look in the mirror and feel just a little less bloated and a little more slender in the tummy. It's probably imagination, but I don't care, it's how I feel about myself!

I'm moving my ticker!

I'm off to college today... no class, just have to go have an assignment printed, and hand it in. Then, since I'm gonna be on campus anyhow, I'm gonna go to the gym. 3 days in a row... 22 days left in my own personal "25 days of gym before April 21st"!
I think I may take tomorrow away from the gym to let my body recuperate tho, as I've got chronic achilles tendinitis, burgeoning shin splints and issues with my illiotibial band. I don't want the working out to start hurting!

How goes everyone's Monday?

Jelbb!!! Welcome back! I'm just going to call you Jelbb because that's what I always called you

Feral - glad you had a good weekend. I heart IKEA (come to my apartment, you will see) but I agree with Jelbb, hotel rooms should NOT scream IKEA.

Mary - I have to cut myself off from the rice, as well. Chicken and shrimp are awesome, but I always need a filler carb. Do they have brown rice?

Me - 177.6 this morning. Or 177.8, depending on which time on the scale you count Its fine - its a combination of water retention from hiking, the kabob house and I really think I overestimated calories on Saturday, so I'm paying for that. Not a big deal. I was so good - I went to sleep early last night - DESPITE the Oscars - in the intent of getting up to go to this bootcamp class. I woke up at 4:45 (easily) but my shin splints were killing me, so I went back to sleep. Tonight I have an appointment, then I'm going to go to the gym and do 30 minutes of cardio and strength training. I don't have to stand up for that, so I might be okay. I really want to go spinning tomorrow morning...

Good Morning ladies... I just finished reading everything in last weeks thread... lets see if I can remember this

Jelb- Welcome back... I now go to the gym in the evening...and all of the boys scare me haha... in the morning it use to be old people and I had no problem using the weight area... I guess I need to get my butt back there... you have slightly motivated me

Feral- I missed you!! also I feel like hotels seriously dont have fitted sheets anymore... I was paying for a $200 dollar a night hotel in Atlanta that didnt have a fitted sheet... I think it makes it easier on the cleaning ladies

Mary-I have never eaten there but yesterday while I was eating subway in the mall foodcourt I was thinking I could probably get away with eating something yummier from Hibachi lol

Jess- I cant even run 1 mile You inspire me to run though... eventually I'll get there... Also I saw the title for the lettuce wraps thread and the first thing I thought was OMG Jess needs to make a healthy lettuce wrap recipe..please...they are my favorite

Teff- Welcome... lurk and chat...were pretty friendly

Samantha- I'm glad you're having a good time being home and enjoying the boy

Jazzy- My boobs have been pretty strange... I wouldnt say they are much smaller however they are a bit more droopy... I cannot wait to get a boob job.... my boobs still look amazing with a bra on though...without one... not so much

Stella- You finally really broke through that 180 that was haunting you... I saw 211 on the scale for 4 days in a row... I know thats not a big deal but I hated it...today I didnt see 211

As for me... bra shopping was a no go... and I didnt even look for jeans...but I got a cute little yellow sweater thing

Also I locked myself out of the house yet again... and my cute dog let me in yet again...he is pretty amazing and clearly I'm training a master haha

EDIT- I forgot to add how yesterday at Sephora I had them try red lipstick on me... I felt like such a badass and walked around with red lipstick on for the rest of the day ... I sent the boy a picture..he liked lol

Stella - No :C Only fried and white. But I'm having a huge bowl of (delicious) oatmeal for breakfast so I think I should be good on carbs until after lunch. I can even bring a 100 calorie pack for the lab. With the salad, I worked the meal to be 422 calories, so I think that's acceptable. Go spinning tomorrow! Tomorrow's my spin day too

Jelbb - That's the problem with hibachi, lol, even if you're full you just want it in your mouth. It's the way they cook the rice. I'm eating a bigger breakfast than normal to make up for no rice at lunch Congrats on 142! I love that feeling when you are visibly less bloated than the day before (today for me, ugh I was sooo bloated yesterday!) and it's an awesome day when you know the scale is going to be lower!

Haley - Missed you in the cross-post You most definitely could, hibachi is delicious!!! But don't get the rice, no matter how hard you try you will eat it all. That's pretty awesome that your dog can let you in lol! My cat used to jump at the french doors and hang on the handle to get out.

Oh man. Worst weekend ever food-wise. Gotta get back on track this week. Luckily boy has a treadmill at his house so I can at least get back with that, too.

Also, big TMI news. I GOT MY PERIOD. For the first time in like 6 months. WTF.

OH ALSO x2! I bought those NEW ADULT GUMMY VITAMINS! I've been looking for chewable of gummy vitamins for ever and they finally exist! They're pretty tasty, and I don't have to swallow a giant vitamin anymore. I am happy.

Feral: Sorry about the bad hotel experience, but great job on maintaining during vacation! And you're getting to see Eric Clapton? So jealous!

Haley: Your dog let you into your locked house? That's incredibly impressive, you ARE training quite a dog!

Stella: Anybody who can be awake before 5 am is a hero in my book.

I had a bit of a stressful weekend. Finals happen this week, and even though my workload is not awful, it seems like everyone around me is freaking out and in a terrible mood. It's been hard to be at my school this winter... this is the first time in my three years here that I've been looking forward to going home.

I also had a meeting yesterday that lasted for quite a long time, and ran straight through the time the cafeteria was open, and included junky food. I was so frustrated by the end of it that I went to the gym to work-out my pent-up energy. I felt proud of that. But this morning I stepped on the scale (it's my official weigh-in day) and it was one and a half pounds heavier than last week... sigh.

Seventeen - It may be just water weight. And seriously, the hardest part for me about getting up early is going to bed early.

Haley - Red lipstick? You are my hero I am a big eye makeup person, lipstick scares me.

Sam - Hey, at least there is a treadmill. I set mine up and just watch TV while walking. I time myself based on shows. It works

Seventeen - Don't let that scale get you down! You should be very proud that you coped with all that frustration by going to the gym. Maybe you can use the frustration of that unwarranted 1.5 pound gain to go to the gym again today

aliquot - Congrats on getting your period! That is, if that is exciting to you. I somewhat recently got my period after 10 months of not getting it. But it happened 4 days before my annual pelvic exam xD So I had mixed emotions.

Haley - I am so impressed with your dog, but I wouldn't make it widely known around where you live that he knows this little trick. You don't want him to be welcoming thieves into your house!

stella - I'm sure that is just water retention. I'm curious though, you think one of the contributing factors is that you OVERestimated your calories? And ate too little? I'm always fascinated by how that works sometimes. I'm sure it's a combination of factors. Including being sore, that's always a big one for me. And I can always tell just by looking at my lower belly in the bathroom mirror if I am bloated or not.

Jelbb/Lauren (think I'm just gonna call you Lauren) - Welcome back! I definitely think you should listen to your body and take a day off when and if you feel that it is necessary. Especially with certain types of pain (like in your tendons!).

Feral - Your weekend sounds so very... cheesy! Mmmm I'm jealous. All of that queso and eating out would have me very bloated and food hungover. I'm sure a day or so of cleaner eating and drinking your water will have you good as new! Glad you had fun.

Me - I just made an appointment with a nutritionist for tomorrow (there was a cancellation) as per doctors orders. I won't get into it too much here, but basically, I am chronically fatigued (making it VERY hard to work out or even just to have a life in general), my heart rate is too low (RHR in the morning is in the lowww 40s, not normal for me at all), and my body is showing weird signs of starvation mode but that all doesn't make sense because I eat 1400 calories a day on average and that should be plenty to support me at this height/weight. So I'm nervous, because this nutritionist is an eating disorder specialist and they have me down on the referral as having an eating disorder... Which may be true, as I have a very unhealthy relationship with food but I don't want to be labeled as anorexic. I'm scared of her tearing apart my diet, I'm pretty defensive about it because I'm only doing what I know I am okay with. What's even more frustrating is that at my doctor they took a bunch of blood (and urine!) to run tests and all they'll tell me is that there were "abnormalities" in my results, and I can't find out what's wrong with me until I go back in on Friday. Gahhh well I'll let you know how that all goes.

Teff - Yes, because I didn't eat enough on Saturday - so the low number on the scale means I may have starved myself into it, to a degree, and yesterday I ate a normal amount - so my body was re-setting itself.

I look at it as if you have a stomach flu you can't eat for a few days, so you lose 4 lbs - but as soon as you can eat, you gain those 4 lbs right back.

Mary - Super jealous of your hibachi, but you're right. The rice TOTALLY sucks you in... especially whatever the white sauce it is that they have there. *drools* Man that's dangerous stuff right there.


Ali - ummmm that sucks about TOM (Mostly because you're with your bf right.... not to uh assume anything, hope that doesn't offend you). Don't beat yourself up about not eating too well this weekend, just get back OP! Good as new!

Seventeen - Yes, very excited about Clapton tonight. Although its going to be another late night, but I don't feel as tired as I did earlier so that's a good thing. Don't you LOVE working out when you're stressed? I need to remember that because there have been days I was PISSED and I worked out and felt 1000 times better! Keep up the good choices!

Haley - pics of red lipstick or it didn't happen! I HATE lipstick.... I love chapstick but for whatever reason I cannot stand lipstick so I avoid it at all costs. Super Dog to the rescue, AGAIN!

Teff - I love queso... what can I say? It's my downfall really. Good luck with the nutritionist tomorrow. Do you think maybe you could go in and have a conversation with the nutritionist first and lay things out and just be like "look, this is kind of a sore subject, this is what I'm doing, maybe we should approach it like _________ ? " I *HATE* when doctor's withhold info and freak you out all at once. If there's one game I HATE playing its the waiting game.

Jelbb - It's so good to see you around again!!!! Seriously! What part of Ireland is the boyfriend from? I have friends in Northern Ireland (and yes, I know they are 2 diff places). Be careful with your working out girl... glad to see you're back in the swing of things though.

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Not too much more to report here. Today is going by soooo slow.

I did post a review of the hotel up online and emailed their contact email and basically said - here's a review I posted... read it. I'd be really surprised if I heard a response back. Of course, next time I look for a hotel I will be doing a little more investigating. There were LOTS of really poor reviews in regards to it. *DOH* Oh well, you live you learn. I had a GREAT time aside from that.

Jess, so glad you're back!!!!!!

I feel like a total tool, I forgot to put my letter for the pen pals in my bag this morning and now I'm worried it won't get to my "pal" in time! Stupid Canadian postal system! It's so slow. Silly Shan for forgetting it at home. Fingers crossed that if I mail it tomorrow it will get there in time for the 21st deadline.

I had a good weekend, super busy, lots of school work. Actually saw the bf for more than a minute this weekend, we went out to dinner and watch the hockey game of Friday. I went a bit off plan, I'm doing low carb, and i had two potstickers and shared a sticky toffee pudding with my bf. I also had a diet coke for the first time since new years, and I couldn't drink it! Way way too sweet. On Saturday I woke up to a 3 pound loss! I don't fully trust it, I wait to see what my next weigh in on Friday says, but for now I'm happy. I've lost over 10 pounds! Woohoo! It's a good feeling. I went over to my mom's this morning to pick something up before school and she say's it's really starting to show.

She also told me that she'd buy me a a couple of new pairs of jeans this week! I work for the GAP, so I get a 50% discount at Banana republic and the GAP and 30% at Old Navy. So she said that if I went and picked her up the two shirts she wants, she'd buy me two pairs of jeans. Sweet!!!!!

***Warning rant ahead****** In other news, I saw on facebook that my little bro and his gf spent a week in Washington, Boston and NYC. I have to admit that I'm a little jealous. In the past year, my UNEMPLOYED brother and his girlfriend have been to Montreal, Vegas, Miami, Toronto and now this trip. I've worked my *** off for three years, and the bf and I have never been anywhere aside from a few weekend trips to the mountains. I'm frustrated that I do the right thing, work hard, save, go back to school and I don't get to do any thing fun. My brother gets kicked out of university, doesn't have job and gets to travel all over the place. It's totally not fair, and I'm beyond jealous and pissed. I constantly do the right thing and my brother seems to screw up left right and center, yet gets rewarded for it. *****IT'S JUST NOT FAIR!!!!!*****

Got to run to meet a professor to discuss my essay. I'll be back in a bit for personals!!!!!

It looks like I missed a lot over the weekend...internet is down all over my town apparently so I was completely unhooked. Not before I bought a gorgeous made-to-order dress off Etsy though...if it turns out well in 2-3 weeks I will post pics Anyway this week is going to be nuts so I doubt I will be checking in as much but I will try to follow as much as I can!

Yay - Forest I love your fashion updates

Edit - I fixed that. I meant Forest, but I was talking to Feral on gchat. Whoops.