Welcome to Monday ladies! I hope it's ok for me to have started the weekly chat thread? I'm at work on Monday morning so let's start this week again with positivity shall we? I woke up from a bad dream feeling very strange this morning so I'm keen to get on with being positive!

It's my parents 30-something Wedding Anniversary today so we're going out for dinner tonight to one of mine (and theirs) favourite Italian restaurant! I was great this past weekend with keeping on track with my calories, though yesterday I was too low, despite trying so hard to get it up to a normal number for me!

So today I'm keeping the calories fairly low for breakfast, lunch and snacks because I know I want to indulge a little tonight. Not too much of course, but I think I want some of the meatballs - this place makes amazing meatballs. I'm also thinking I'll split my portion in two and have the rest for lunch tomorrow!

How was everyone's weekend? Did anyone get up to anything super exciting? I saw Scott Pilgrim vs. The World on Saturday night, I don't think I've laughed in a movie so much in quite a while!

Hope everyone is good! And once again hope it's ok for me to have started the thread!

Ah, you poor thing, already sitting on Monday morning! haha Sunday evening here, and I'm taking a break from all the boring house related stuff I've done today. This entire weekend was quite boring, actually, but I suppose we need one of those now and then for recharging.

We did do some great grocery shopping yesterday... for the first time in a couple of weeks, I feel good and prepared for the week food-wise.

Exercise wise, I've been the epitome of fail. But the sun is sinking, and I'm thinking I'll be required to tackle a day of my c25k program after such a slow weekend. In fact, you ladies should hold be accountable for it... I expect to be punished if I decide to be lazy and wuss out!

I've said it a zillion times, but I really need to sit down and make an exercise schedule for myself. I think it might help keep me on track.

I say - go for it! Start the c25k thing or do a day or whatever it is heh - maybe making an exercise schedule is the best idea?
In my diary (as in weekly planner type diary, not oh-my-life-is-horrible diary) I go through and draw a little rectangle on the days when I know I SHOULD have time to exercise. Usually it's 4 or 5, sometimes six. And then I do something and I actually love filling in the little rectangle with the time and type of exercise! I know that sounds silly and not quite as planned out as perhaps what you're thinking, but it's kind of fun!

I wish I was as well prepared for the week foodwise! I am pretty sure tonight will be a little high calorie, but I'm hoping to stay in or just above my calorie limit. Other than that, it's a little frustrating for me living with my boyfriends and his parents. They eat pretty healthily but I never know what to expect haha!

Luckily Monday morning has turned into Monday afternoon. Just less than four hours left at work! I wish I had time to exercise tonight but I just don't think it will happen, I don't fancy exercising at 10pm and I don't think it would be that good for me anyway.

The planner idea actually might work for me, especially with my classes starting in a week. I work full time, so all of my classes are online but as a major procastinator I have to schedule specific times to work on all projects. Exercise-wise, I like to play it by ear.. Swim, gym, c25k.. Whatever my body tells me it wants to do, though I do try to be more consistent with getting my c25k workouts in, in a somewhat regular fashion. Blocking out time without holding myself to a specific plan might be a good compromise. And, I know what you mean about filling in something.. I like keeping journals, checking things of lists, etc.

I didn't do my run.. My husband came in and asked if I'd like to go swimming, so we did that. I feel better knowing I skipped the run in favor of another form of activity and not just sitting around all lazy like. He and I have been busy this weekend too, so spending time together made it a mood boosting plus

I'm going to set a tentative goal of getting up earlier to run tomorrow. I'm not an early riser in the least though, so my gym bag is also packed should I need to plan for an after work session

Back! Yeah!

Rainbow and Amanda, I can't plan exercise. I fit it in whenever I can ... although gym membership's coming in September, so it'll be exercise at the ***-crack of dawn. BLECH.

I spent all day yesterday cooking and freezing food so that all I have to do this week is throw salads together. It's nice to feel prepared for the week (for once). This week is going to be crazy hectic, and it'll be nice to not have to worry about having healthy food on hand.

The only way I get exercise is to plan it. I'm very schedule orientated, but that's what happens when you work full time and go to school part time, I guess.

I am dragging major a** this morning. I had a crazy fun weekend. I went home and spent the entire weekend with family. My little nephew is just a doll.. I wish I could see him more often. On Saturday I swam for like 9 hours straight. It was exhausting, but fun. I had drinks while in the pool, but did not feel bad about it. I can't imagine the amount of calories I burned that day!

I am so not prepared food wise this week. I really need to go to the store, but I'm running low on funds. It might be Ramen Noodles for me for a few days ... that's OK, that's life as a 20 something I guess, I'll be sure to drink lots and lots of water. Oh! And I got my mace now, so I'm prepared to hit the trails again. I'm really looking forward to that! The weather is supposed to drop down to the 80's this week!

Hope you girls have a fabulous Monday! And I really hope 4:30 gets here QUICK.

Hey casey! I was looking at my mace this morning and it says "Use by: December 2014". Now I'm not sure if I'm just sleep deprived or if it was actually funny...but hopefully I never have to use it! lol.
Okay, it's Monday. I'm delirious.
Have a good day!

Stella, boo on school + work! I did that for a short time as an undergrand and it was miserable. You're so motivated and determined, I'm sure you can do it though, and do it well. Good luck!

Casey, oh man, Ramen noodles. I've been there too. Or beans and rice for a month straight. UGH. Any eggs, broccoli, or other healthy proteins and veggies laying around the kitchen that you can throw in there? I used to buy eggs and make ramen egg drop soup. Just beat an egg, then pour it in slowly on top of a slowly moving fork. If you have any sesame oil sitting around, you can throw some on top too, with some cumin and chili powder, and it makes it better too. Can you tell I did this for a while? (PS, your ticker shows up as a broken image for me ... may be a slow connection on my end, but you might want to make sure!).

Ade, mmmm ... chemicals that last forever. Happy Monday!

Today has been an awesome Monday. I've gotten so much work done. I ate a whole flatbread pizza instead of just half of one as planned, but it's been such a productive day that I've already forgiven myself. That, and I can have a salad for dinner and stay in my calorie limit. Heh.

I'm thinking of joining the Biggest Loser challenge, but it sounds kind of unhealthy (focus on weight instead of health). On the other hand, I need some accountability as I get back on track post-malaria. :-P Turns out, remembering to count every thing that goes into my mouth is HARD. Has anyone else done it?

Theresac- I haven't done BL, but I don't plan on compromising my health for it! I'm using it as motivation. But if I'm not the biggest loser, I'm not going to quit eating for a week to be the winner. I think most people use it as an extra push, or when your going to grab that candy bar you'll think "I don't want to let my team down." Who knows...it couldn't hurt!!

Theresac- You sound like a Ramen Noodle expert! haha, the egg drop soup actually sounds really good, but I think we may have one egg left , so maybe I can do that tonight. A few years back I remember seeing an entire cook book with recipes for Ramen Noodles. That's definitely something I could have used in college! On the BL subject.. I did a competition at work and I can see how you could easily get sucked into the competition part of it. Just keep reminding yourself what your here for and use the challenge as a motivator!

Ade-That is really funny, you need to go find a mugger ASAP before your mace expires!

P.S. There is a giant ad on my screen with a glorious picture of a dozen glazed donuts. Why?!

Tuesday morning!

Stellarosa I guess I am really lucky then that I have more than enough time to exercise - though I find I still have to plan for it otherwise I get lazy and put it off - not good!

Theresac I am kind of jealous of your planned out week meal-wise! I guess that really helps with knowing what you're eating and calorie counting - which is what I do as well. I wish I could spend a day cooking and such but I think I'd run out of ideas of what to make!

Casey Your weekend sounds like fun - 9 hours of swimming! Craziness! But good exercise I'll bet! Ah the curse of the ramen - sad part about me is that when I was at uni I'd eat them not because I couldn't afford anything else, but out of sheer laziness... urgh. They're good though. Hopefully you have a brand over there that is better than what we get in New Zealand!

Ade Haha! I don't think we can even buy Mace in New Zealand! Then again, most of our police don't carry guns.. so what do you expect. BUt in comparison to most places we're pretty safe I suppose!


On the BL thing - my cousin (who is seriously not overweight at all- she claims to have 2 kilograms/4.4pounds to lose, but I've seen her in a bikini and she is skinny - and plays indoor netball like a million times a week, so is very fit) has decided to start up a BL competition within our family/some friends. I'll take part because it's nice to have the idea of other people working towards something similar to me - and I'm actually pretty sure that as I have the most weight to lose anyway, regardless of whether that is my real goal, I could probably win anyway. Monetary prizes haha! I'm not sure how they'll judge it, considering most of the people doing it are fairly slim to begin with, but I like the idea of having people supporting me in my quest for healthiness, even if they aren't necessarily thinking of it in quite the same way as me. And hey, if I can win some money, that's extra towards my new wardrobe of clothing!

Last night was my parent's anniversary dinner - I think I stressed out a little bit too much at the restaurant - I was sitting opposite my boyfriend and he joked to my sister that he needed to swap seats with someone because I kept giving him worried puppy dog eyes! It is probably true - my sister, as per usual, ordered 2 antipasto plates and 2 pizza breads for the table - I was really good, and probably a little bit too pedantic - I took myself 1 small piece of feta, 3 olives, 2 mushrooms, a small piece of smoked chicken, a dab of pesto and 1/3 of one a piece of the bread. And then I wrote it all down in my little notebook, which probably sounds crazy. I ordered spaghetti and meatballs and as soon as it came, I took the extra plate I had asked for and put half the meal on the extra plate. Again, I think I was given some odd looks, but I don't really care. I didn't over eat last night and I now have a tasty portion for lunch today. I even had dessert, and again, as soon as it came, I cut it in half and only ate that portion. I left the rest at the restaurant as I'm pretty sure Tiramisu is something I shouldn't be eating too often, let alone 2 days in a row haha! It kind of pained me to see my sister eating and eating and eating. Granted, she did only eat about 2/3 of her pork belly main, but then again she did eat a lot of bread and stuff from the antipasto plates. My boyfriend ate and ate as well haha... I was surprised at how much food he can shovel in! He said he was full after his main and then ate the rest of my sister's pork and ordered a chocolate brownie dessert - more than enough for 2 people and he polished off the lot!

Last night I decided that I'd get up at 7 this morning to exercise (something I have never done) since I knew I wouldn't have time tonight as after work I'm driving in peak hour traffic to go to my parents for dinner/the night. This is a huge deal (the getting up at 7) as I only have work where I start at 9 two days per week and I am one of those people that will stay in bed til the absolute last minute I have to. But I was determined to exercise this morning, so I set my alarm for 6.50am. Not early for some I'm sure, but ridiculous for me. It was hard. I stayed in bed til 7.15. I complained, I whined, I told my boyfriend all I wanted to do was have cuddles and ignore exercise and he said that it was up to me.
BUT I DID IT! I got out of bed at 7.15, changed into exercise clothes and did 30 minutes on the exercycle. Granted, I yawned all the way through and made grunting moany sounds at my boyfriend when he came downstairs to shower, but I did it. I was hoping to feel more energised but now I'm at work I kind of feel like I didn't do anything haha. I mean I don't feel like I got up any earlier and exercised. I sort of feel like I usually would at this time.

Lunch today is my leftover spaghetti and meatballs, a smaller serve than what I had last night - but with FitDays calculations, by the time I get to dinner (including my snacks) I'll be at 1000 calories. I usually try to be below 800 by dinner since I'm never entirely sure what I'll be eating. I just hope it's nothing to high calorie or I'll be raiding the pantry instead!

Anyway that was the longest update on a weekly chat, if you read it all, good on you haha! I think I type too much!

Hey ladies - I'm relatively new here! Started doing bootcamp a week ago and watching what I ate. More about portion control and changing up the small things (such as not getting fries but still getting a chicken burger just taking off a slide of bread with it) because counting calories is not for me!

After one week, I finally weighed myself today and lost 6.2lbs. I'm very pleased and feel GREAT. It's because of all you ladies that I started on this journey and I feel SO HEALTHY! I Can actually run for more than a minute (may not seem like much to you but it's a lot to me!). Bootcamp is kicking my arse but I'm going and I LOVE IT. It's amazing what our bodies WANT to do! Even at 5:45am in the morning!

So, I spent about 3 hours today moving boxes up and down the stairs from my old classroom to my new classroom and I still have to go back in tomorrow. I was kind of disappointed that the custodians hadn't even tried to move some of the stuff that they were supposed to last month. But I knew that if I just waited, it would be the first day of school and nothing would be in my room. So, at least I got in a pretty good workout carrying armfuls of text books and files up and down the stairs. LOL

I went to the eye doctor and ordered new glasses. I haven't been to the eye doctor in over two years apparently (although i swear I went last summer...but whatever) and my eyes are just a little worse than they were before. So, my eye doctor said that I technically didn't need a new pair since the prescriptions weren't that far off from each other, but I really want stylish new glasses..chic almost! haha They're so pretty and I even had a $25 coupon for them...lol, even better!!! When they come in, I'll have to upload a picture wearing them because I also got my 'back to school' haircut.

My neighbor is outside in his driveway swearing his head off about something to do with a ruined vacation. I have no idea what's going on, but I am totally being nosy and eavesdropping out the open window. LOL

A Biggest Loser thing is actually what started me on my weight loss journey. One of the teachers that I work with was starting one up at school, so I joined. I actually came in third and won like $40! haha