Monday. Oy. Happy New Week ladies! Hope you all had decent weekends and are now ready to start a new week!

I already posted today in the old thread but figured I'd better start off the new thread!

Kawaii Are you following any particular plan? Cashew nuts are pretty good but the calories definitely add up - maybe you'd find it easier if you planned ahead? That way you could eat your cashews and enjoy them hehe. I know how hard it is though, snacking on stuff like that can be addictive!

JL I really hope I can find another job as well. Its harder because I'm only looking for something part time (no more than 3 or 4 days a week) so that I can keep up my art (something that I've let fall by the wayside too much this year). I will definitely be where I am til at least the end of January I think, so I just have to deal with it until then.

yeah, it's a new week!

right, planning ahead would definitely be better. it's not like i eat them very often anyways because i know they are evil... i was just at the grocery store earlier and saw they were on display in the "healthy dry food" section and they seamed roasted or something (packaging is all in japanese obviously so i have no idea...) so i thought "hey! i wanna try that... could be a healthy snack", so i just bought them. i shoulda known that i wouldn't be able to only eat a lil bit of it

oh well

Just have to add that I'm pretty jealous you're in Japan! It has been my dream for a few years now to visit Japan. I'm obsessed.

I've had a horrid day, plus not great eating.. Here's hoping that Monday is better for me! (it's still Sunday night here)

::::sigh::::

I definitely got too excited with some cashews the other day too. I bought a bag in the beer snacks aisle at 7-11 and assumed it would be resealable, but it wasn't. No clothespins or anything to keep the bag shut, so I ate them all (and gave maybe 1/5 of the bag to a friend).

rainbowstripe, come on over! The best time to visit (and the most expensive/crowded, I imagine) is March-April.

you should totally go! japan's awesome. and you're lucky New Zealand isn't too far... although to hear my Kiwi friend tell it, plance tix are still pretty expensive i'm still **** at japanese though, and not being able to read even the simplest things can be pretty overwhelming!!

It is definitely not cheap to get there...and our dollar is not that great either so I imagine accommodation/food/fun things aren't that cheap either! But then great experiences are worth money I guess...I will make it over at least in the next few years, I will be upset if I don't!

So I just wanted to tell you guys about this, because I'm kind of excited and kind of nervous - a really nice youngish woman (probably about my age) came into my store before with fliers for something - usually I ignore these people but she gave me one and said she was starting up a once-weekly Zumba class! It's in the church hall pretty much 1 minute walk from my work and it's on a Tuesday at 6pm. I finish work at 5.30pm so it's pretty much perfect! It's $10 per class with no obligation to go to more than one. So, I'm going to go tomorrow after work. I think. I don't want to talk myself out of it but group fitness with strangers is a little scary to me...I've never been to a gym or done anything like it, and the area I work in is full of superfit young mothers and the like...so I'm apprehensive.
I need to kickstart my exercise again though, so an hour of Zumba on a Tuesday sounds like something pretty good to me...if I can manage it, I've heard it can be hard!

Rainbow- you should totally go!! It would be a great kickstart and maybe you'll start to love excercise- hehe! PS- I miss New Zealand. I visited there about 2 years ago. It really is a beautiful place, but the food is so different than in the US! I should come back just to lose some weight! haha!

I'm trying to down as much water as possible this week because I didn't do so hot with my eating on Saturday and Sunday AND TOM is this week....

Happy Monday! We had a very nice weekend. Spent lots of time with my little man and did yard work yesterday. I did yoga Saturday morning and Ab work this morning. I have Jazzercise tonight and tomorrow night.

I am a little sad this morning as i am up 2.2 pounds since last Tuesday. I'm pretty sure its water weight as I have been feeling a little bulgy in the tummy area and TOM is a week away. Still sucks though. I may weigh in again on Friday to see if I've gone back down.

Also, discovered a new, yummy dessert! Sugar Free Chocolate pudding mixed with a tablespoon of natural peanut butter. YUM!

Ugh woke up this morning to see that the scale is back at 182 ..Oh well hopefully tomorrow will be better. I did awesome on my exercise yesterday did Day9Level1 of 30DS & a mile trail walk with my dad and hubby. I woke up to my legs killing me so I will probably just try to stick it out today with 30DS the last day and thats alls. I dont know if anyone has an experience on here with taking birthcontrol but I started birthcontrol at my 6 week post partum appointment. Every since I have started it I have been bleeding continously ( I know TMI1 ) ...has this happened to anyone else? I will be on my 4th week of the pills Thursday and am starting to think all this bleeding might be causing my weight to fluctuate...I'm just ready for my cycles to be back to normal.

I'm not a doctor of course, but wouldn't worry too much about the scale until you get that bleeding controlled JLN, just keep an eye on your food intake . I'm not too savvy on the BC pills, but I understand the wonky works, keep an eye on it and I hope 'normal' happens again soon for you .

Rainbow, let me know how that class goes! I was thinking about trying to find one around me.

Thought I'd jump in since it was a new week, are newbies welcome ?

Well I did manage to get out of bed yesterday. I got up around 10 to discover my boyfriend had ordered pizza. He thought of me and got me a thin crust hawaiin which was about 190 a piece. Not bad. I decided to work out not long after. Let's just say that didn't go as well. I got through the work out but puked soon after. Sorry for TMI. I stayed in bed pretty much the rest of day and was just proud of myself for getting in that work out haha. Last night the in laws wanted to go to Cat Fish Hole. They seriously couldn't have picked a worse restaurant. EVERYTHING is fried. As soon as you get there they sit a giant bowl of hush puppies in front of you. Of course I had a few. I had 3 pieces of shrimp and some french fries. I stayed in my calories yesterday but all of the fried food is making me feel yucky today. I'm glad the weekend is over. I felt completely off plan and out of wack.

We have company coming again this weekend, but I'm going to be prepared this time. And NO BAR FOOD OR CATFISH HOLE. I hardly EVER drink like that and I can tell you it will not happen again for a while, that is for sure!

We have a new burger place here. It's called "Burger Life" I rolled my eyes when my boyfriend told me about it but he wanted to go Friday night so I got online and looked at the menu. Not bad! I got a delicious veggie burger on a whole wheat bun with mushrooms and swiss, with a side of sweet potato fries. YUM! I have left overs waiting for me in the fridge

Kawaii I feel ya! It is so easy for me to get carried away with snacks like that. Especially when they are salty and crunchy! I usually separate what I am going to eat before hand or I will sit and eat the whole bag!

Linds Hope your Monday is better. I had a terrible weekend as well (food wise). Here's to a fresh start!

Rain Sounds like fun! Let us know how it goes. I have your same feelings towards group exercise. I have been wanting to try a pilates class but it makes me nervous.

Jenn My weight always goes up the week before TOM too and the week of. I think it has a lot to do with these plateaus I see every month and then the sudden drops. Not fun!

JL You are so close to level 2! I am excited for you. I like it better. I am dripping in sweat when I am finished!

Check out this website:

Lots of useful tips to be calm. I hope you enjoy!!!

http://thehealthylivinglounge.com/20...-of-your-head/

hey Casey, that's a lot of fast food! but glad to see you did good i like your idea of separating stuff out... i can even get some cute hello kitty baggies from the dollar store and i could just make me some cute little packages! haha...

hmm... so yesterday was weird. i was feeling super cravey and i don't know why! i managed to stuff myself with heathy stuff (some dried prunes and carrots, and some tea) but still, it took forever for the feeling to go away. i hate that feeling. i wish i wouldn't have that feeling!! that i would just eat my supper and then move on to other things! grrr... but anyways. at least i worked out a little, but now my legs hurt, haha, and i have to go to the elementary school and teach the kiddies who live on the 5th floor!! (and go down to the staffroom between every class) *cries* i know it's extra exercise, but god i hate stairs!!!

Linds I am definitely going tonight, I hope it's not so hard that I can't do it! New Zealand is pretty nice...and yeah our food is different, but there is still a lot of junk if you want it!

jenn That dessert sounds pretty yummy! We only get sugar free puddings and such on occasion from a store that ships stuff over from America and then charges ridiculous prices for it haha. I've had a Jello Butterscotch one that was pretty tasty but at $6 a box it's definitely an occasional treat only! I'm sorry for your gain! I'm sure it must just be water weight!

JL I've never had it with birth control pills, but when I did the depo provera injection one time, I bled the whole time I was on it. I guess if it doesn't even out soon maybe you should go see your doc? Don't stress too much about the small gain!

zanheltangia Newbies always welcome! Look at your giant post count though, I'd hardly call you a newbie :P

casey Your burger sounds good! Isn't it weird how fried food can make us feel that way the day after? I'm sure I never used to notice not feeling so great after fried food when I was eating it more often... Good on you for learning from the weekend and making goals for this next one. I will report back on the Zumba!

Kawaii If I had access to Hello Kitty baggies I would DEFINITELY be making little baggies of snacks! Amazing! I love Hello Kitty. And other Sanrio characters. Heh. I hate the super cravey days - I keep having them when I want french fries. The other day I even though - oh well I can have french fries for lunch and nothing else...but I knew I'd be super hungry if I did that, so I didn't. Haha. Now I still want them!


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I felt pretty proud of my exercise efforts last night, after work I did 30 minutes on the stationary bike followed by 15 minutes on the rowing machine. I'm lucky that my boyfriend's parents have these 2 machines in their house actually I think. I was wondering if rowing machine kind of counts as strength training?
Who knows. I woke up late this morning and was almost late to work, had to grab breakfast from home to eat here and all that I could find that seemed like something decent to take was a small can of creamed rice and a banana. It tasted really good but I'm guessing it's not the best breakfast food, even if it is low cal.
I'm kind of nervously looking forward to Zumba after work today. My cousin and my boyfriend's mum are coming along too. I'm just kind of scared it will be super hard and I won't be able to do it at all! Or that there will only be super fit other people there! Eep. I wish I had more food today.