Hi All,

I was going to post in the 200s post but think I'm rattling around there alone so thought that I would make a new monthly chat, hope that's okay!

So, spent the last 3 days really thinking about and evaluating my eating habits and keeping this whole thing real....

Wednesday, snacks, wine and pizza. Enjoyed it, didn't feel at all guilty but did leave before I could go crazy and came home for a glass of water and sleep... walking away and managing to stop was a huge step forward, previously it's been abstinence or binge.

Thursday, was kind of full so didn't each much (also didn't use the loo) but went to bed feeling quite restless and unfulfilled.

Today, woke up early, made myself eat breakfast and have continued to make myself eat throughout the day, healthy and planned foods but fuel none the less. It is boiling here today and I've spent half the day dripping in sweat (and the other half horizontal on the sofa!) Feel good tonight and really hoping that all the good, high fibre food I've eaten will see me sleep better as I'll be more content?!

Today I also did a grocery shop and went in with a list, came out with everything on it and no snacks/baddies, that must be almost a first, yippee! If it's not in the house I wont eat/drink it! got a bottle of wine in the fridge teasing me, but leaving it there as good practise as I'm about to get a housemate and can't expect her to not keep anything I don't want to eat in the house! Got my on-off guy here at the moment, luckily he can be told what will and won't go in my fridge! Hope the week's gap between him leaving and the housemate arriving and being alone in the house won't see me slip up either.... gosh this retraining is tough!

And to top it all off, tomorrow brings the challenge of work, sigh! I've planned to have porridge oats with banana and smidge of honey for early breakfast (will be in the office for 7) whatever fruit is at work for a snack, normal sandwich and salad take out for lunch but no milky/sweet coffee or extra treats. I will eat the sandwich at lunch time and then the salad before I teach at 4. Then dinner when I get home at 7ish. I will get something out of the freezer soon, homemade and healthy, that I can just stick in the microwave....

Right, this has got long for no reason..... back to the sofa it is (exercise is my next addition!)

Have a great weekend everyone

Good Morning! Well I woke up confident that the scale would budge for me, but I got on and it was still showing 198.0....so frustrating. Then I got off, jumped up and down, and got back on and 197.8 - LOL! So that's what I logged. At least I show a small loss for the week.

This week I am going to make some definite changes. I am going to lower my calorie intake (1400 on active days, 1300 on lazy days, one semi-cheat day of 1500-1600 cals), not eat after dinner (it just makes me want to eat more), and I'm finally going to invest in a food scale. Hopefully with a bit of a shake-up my weight will budge.

stepbystep - You did great by walking away from the pizza! It seems you are really thinking things out which is great. What plan are you following? Calorie counting?

Love it when the scales budge for you in the morning like that! Look forward to hearing how your week goes with your changes, what exercise are you doing? It really is the next thing for me to implement.... I need les mills back in my life!

I'm not following a plan.... too lazy to calorie count and eat out too much to ever really be able to do it accurately. I'm just thinking about what I'm putting in my mouth and doing things I can do forever..... I feel like I've got a pretty good knowledge of what's healthy and what isn't from years on boards like this one, so I'm making it up really. My biggest thing is making treats treats and not the norm. I think I'm lucky with a pretty fast metabolism because when I put my mind to it the weight shifts, so not doing anything drastic because this time I really really want it to stick!

You're really blessed! When I try "intuitive" eating, it just doesn't work for me....I have to work REALLLLY hard at losing weight.

For exercise, all I'm doing right now is walking and then the occasional bike ride with the family. I do minimum 5km on weekdays, but I'm working up to 8km hopefully by the end of the month.

Oh man I was so bad today, 6 hours in a car did me in, I wasn't prepared, I ate a bag of Doritos. I was picking up son who I hadn't seen in 12 days because he was visiting grampa. He wanted ribs for dinner. So I ate 4 ribs, coleslaw, garlic bread. I've got to get back on track tomorrow!
My only saving grace is I cycled this morning, but back on track tomorrow and some food prep for sure!

Hey Ladies! I did pretty well yesterday....walked 5.3km (briskly and sweatily) and kept fairly well to my calorie intake.

We went to a local amusement park last night for opening night, so we packed muffins for snacks - and don't you know they THREW OUR MUFFINS AWAY!!! They said they were considered more of a meal than a snack - grrrrr. Who throws homemade, low fat, muffins away?? Anyway we walked around and went on rides for 4 hours and we were so hungry but refused to buy food just because they threw away our muffins. So we left and I got a small Nutella Pocket/donut thingie (150 cals). That's my muffin story! LOL and I woke up and saw a drop on the scale - so yay!

Today I am heading to lunch with my Mom and sisters for Mother's Day and I already checked the menu and will be ordering a light salad with grilled salmon. I'm armed and ready!! I'm hoping for an actual loss this week!!

nickilaughs - Onto a new day! Sometimes our bodies need a shake up anyway, right?

Laura78 - well done for the walking, sounds like you're getting loads in, no 'only' needed! I'm thinking about trying out the walk the way the pounds DVD series as I'm kind of over brutal workouts just now, but can't really exercise outside here (easily).... walking can really work it seems! And go you for saying no to fair food even after they took away your snacks.... meh!

Nickilaughs - You weren't bad, you were real! Days like that will always be part of your life so roll with them, dust yourself off and get 'back on it' for the rest of the weekend btw...... mmmmmmmmm ribs!

Mad busy day at work done here, totally on plan, even turning down workmate treats worried I didn't drink enough vs the amount I sweat though.... let's see how the scale looks tomorrow.... so desperately want to hold onto this loss for Monday!

Hey gals...so I went out to lunch yesterday and seemingly made a good food choice (tilapia with tomato sauce and capers with veggies on the side) and I have apparently gained 2 lbs. I am crushed because it has taken so much work to take those 2 lbs off. Sigh.

Don't let it worry you too much Laura, you haven't 'really' gained 2 lb from a meal, our bodies do crazy things.... eat 'clean' today and drink plenty of water and I'm sure you'll be down again in the morning.

Last night before bed I weighed 93.8KG and had eaten only a light dinner.... my body was holding water as I was dehrdrated and as a result drank a load before bed then got up and peed three times in the night and was down to 92.1KG by morning.... I didn't lose/gain 1.7KG (almost 4lb?) in a day in terms of fat/muscle genuine weight.... this was all water or whatever messing with my numbers...

If you weigh daily you'll see the ups and downs, use it to log what causes teh rises and learn to understand how your body ticks from it....

Don't let a number spoil your weekend, take care

I again went up another .6 which makes me up 2.6 lbs in two days despite staying on track. There is something wonky going on with my body for sure! It's really disheartening but I'm going to keep on keepin' on. I know people say they have fluctuations, but I generally don't see fluctuations like that, so who knows what's going on. Maybe I'm just holding on to a bunch of water....

My journey into the 91's was shortlived, back to 92.0kg this morning..... probably my own fault for skipping dinner last night, even though I know I do better when eating... eating healthy but eating.

Messed up by my on/off bf leaving yesterday evening, so haven't had breakfat today either... all I want to eat is bad stuff, so not eating seems safer.... Day off today but off into work, so much to do after the public holiday last week will hopefully be home by four and will cook up a delicious and nutritious dinner and try get myself back on track before I de-rail....

Laura, really hope you start fluctuatiing the other way soon (( ))

Have a good everyone,

Sounds like none of us are having a good week! So I was off track most of the weekend. Too much family and I wanted to have fun. My stomach and gas are terrible. Which is good because it reminds me my body doesn't do well with that junk.
I food prepped tonight, made baked chicken, cauliflower, chopped fresh veggies and hard boiled eggs. Only takes an hour and sets me up for the next several work shifts. Feeling better because I know I can do it. We all can!
I'm sort of at a exercise impasse. I love spinning, but I feel likes should be trying out the weights, more heavy lifting. I know it will derail my scale numbers some temporarily, but I sort of want the shift in focus. I'm starting to get burnt out just focusing on a number on a scale. Fitness is more than just one stupid number.

Hey Ladies. Well, DH has hidden my scale and sent it into the naughty corner. So I am not going to weigh-in until Friday May 15th if I can make it. I was getting very hung up on the number. I have been walking a ton (~5-6km most days) and also going on almost daily bike rides with the family. So I'm thinking (hoping) my body is holding onto some water? Who knows. Anyway, I'm going to focus on fitness goals for now until I see what my body does for a couple of weeks weight-wise. According to my HRM, I am burning 400-600 cals per day of exercise. Today is a cooler day so I'm going to attempt 8km.

stepbystep - Big hugs to you....what a stressful situation How did your dinner go? Be nice to yourself....allow yourself a bit of wiggle room for a day or two, mourn what has happened and then bounce right back

nicki - LOL, I read your post after I wrote mine....it's true that getting healthy is more than a number. Maybe make the change and don't weigh yourself for awhile. I've been reading about this phenomenon about gaining weight when changing exercise programs, and it seems to indicate it can take 2-4 weeks for your body to regulate. I have toyed with lifting heavy myself, but it's too expensive for me to join a gym and for now DH doesn't want to get weights. I feel like I can butter him up eventually. We have a whole empty room waiting to be filled with weights.

I'm taking a day off.... this is a life thing and not a diet for me, going out for dinner with a girl mate to get drunk, eat good food and try not to end up in a crying mess at losing the boy again....

hope that the less frequent weigh ins and stepping away from the numbers work out for you ladies, I'll probably join you soon and cut back to weekly weigh ins when I get back from my trip next week.... I am toying with joining a gym, but it's EXPENSIVE here so need to work out how much time I could put aside to using it properly.

Right, time to get out of bed and stop moping

Absolutely stepbystep - great call. Not that I'm condoning overeating BUT you really need to allow yourself some space to just "be". Have a great dinner and be ready to jump right back in with us