Oh man was I bad. I was off-plan last Sunday. Then on-plan for Monday and most of Tuesday, then fell right back off Tuesday night. Then off-plan Wednesday night again. Then totally off-plan Thursday. On-plan Friday, off-plan by Friday night. Yesterday I was back on 100% and that's how I plan to stay. There go the 160s! That was quick! I have a feeling I was having a hard time dealing with the number itself - maybe I got a little scared of success - not to mention the holiday, leftovers, and stress. Yikes! I was up to 176.5 on Saturday morning, but already I'm down 2, so I have a feeling that the vast majority of this weight is water weight. So hopefully I haven't thrown myself off course too much despite what looks like a major gain. Definately sticking to 165 by X-Mas and heck, I'll still shoot for 162.5 on our 10 lbs. X-Mas Challenge. Ugh... oh well!
How'd everyone else fare?

hey jenicra, most of that is definitely water weight. you can't gain all that in less than a week!

i did okay on thanksgiving, had a little of my favorite stuff. it is much easier not living at my moms because i didn't have to deal with leftovers. otherwise, forget it, i'd be all done.

it looked like the scale may have gotten to 149, but i don't know, i'll check again later in the week. this week i am starting on my new and improved eating plan that consists of 5 smaller meals 3 hours apart. we'll see how that goes.

yesterday rob and i got into a fight and he said he wanted to break up. then he left and came home later and he seemed like he was trying to be nice but we didn't really talk. now today i havent called him and he hasn't called me. i think that if he's going to say he wants to break up with me, he should really mean it... if he didn't really mean it, then he's stupid. it isn't really easy to break up when you've been living together for a year and a half. i'm just trying to not think about it.

did anyone else watch desperate housewives last night? they just keep coming up with so much good stuff!!!!

I love Desperate Housewives!!! What a great show!

Also - boys are stupid.

I put up my Christmas tree yesterday. It needs more stuff on it but I'm going to wait until the after Christmas sales!

I'm trying to get psyched up to go to the gym right now.

Have a great day everyone!
Jocelyn

Hey Meg, sorry to hear about you and your bf...I hope things work out. Keep your head up!

I watched DH, and I just love it, it is hilarious..I'm glad that they finally have something for us to watch on Sundays. I'm happy that the gardner is still around, he is a mucho hottie!!!! Lucky Eva!

Meg - Sorry to hear you and your bf got into a fight. I agree.. he should mean it if he says he wants to break up. I suspect that he did not mean it and may have said it to get some sort of reaction out of you. Perhaps he just wanted to see if it would bother you? Not sure. I know when my husband and I were dating and we went through a really tough time.. I did say "lets break up" once or twice.. just because I wanted to see if he cared or not.. obviously that was a stupid and immature thing to do, but I learned a lot

thanks guys! i know he didnt mean it, because he's trying to be all nice to me now. we havent really talked since the fight, but our schedules have been conflicting. he just gets so angry over the most ridiculous things, and i am more laid back. blah, whatever.

i want to post what i have been eating so you guys can tell me what you think. the trainer at the gym put me on this 5 meal a day diet but i changed it alittle to go with what i prefer to eat.

meal 1 - 1/2 cup egg whites on whole wheat english muffin
meal 2 - approx 1 cup of plain yogurt with 1 (medium size, i guess) banana
meal 3 - can of tuna with 1 tbsp of mayo
meal 4 - protein cookie (really good, minimal sugar, 12 g protein, 160 cal, 5 g fat. this is generally what i eat before i work out)
meal 5 - 4 ounces grilled chicken, half cup brown rice, some sort of veggie.

okay, meal 5 has been a bit off, last night i had stuffing instead of the brown rice, haha. but i figured i had some calories to spare. i'm trying to eat around 1500. what do you guys think? i am getting sort of fed up with not really losing weight... AND, importantly, this is really what i'm eating ( i dont think i am underestimating the calories in anything) and i am doing 45-60 mins of cardio 5-6 days a week and 2-3 days of weights 45-60 mins.

i haven't measured myself because i didnt have a tape but im going to get one. i can't really tell by my clothes because they are all big to begin with from losing the initial weight before starting to exercise hard core.

hey spill, that gardener boy is from connecticut like me. i wonder if he's going to be home for christmas??

Megan - that sounds like a reasonable meal plan to me. Glad to hear everything's good with the boyfriend. And definately get a tape measure - it's a huge motivator when the weight isn't where you want it to be. Someone advised me to measure when I first joined the board and I'm really glad I did, because I can now look back and see that I've lost 41.75 inches in the last year. I mean, that's an accomplishment that always feels great, even when my weightloss is slowing down.

Just saw a cute message on another board, thought I'd copy it for everyone here to enjoy... thanks to HeidiL.

Sung to "White Christmas".

I'm dreaming of a thin Christmas.
Where all my Christmas gifts will fit.
My belly is shrinking,
And boy, am I thinking
Of how I'll look on Christmas Day.

I'm dreaming of a thin Christmas.
Oh, the vision is so clear.
And if all my wishes come truuuuuue...
May all the dreams of Fat Chicks come true too.

AWWWWWWWWWWWWW,
what a cute poem.


Megan: the food plan sounds good to me. How many times do you meet up with your trainer? Does it cost a lot? Do you feel like having the trainer has helped more than if you were doing it alone? Defn. get a tape measure!

spill - i meet with the trainer on sundays. i got 10 sessions, so i'll be meeting with him for 10 weeks. 8 weeks to go. it was expensive but necessary for me because i needed to jump back in to weight training. he is really showing me some great exercises and i am definitely better off getting started with him. he gave me a weight training program to do 2 times a week and then i work out with him one time and we do wacky, cool stuff. i'm going to write more about it tomorrow.

okay im back. i just wanted to add that im sure anyone could benefit from a personal trainer, i especially needed it since i hadn't weight trained in so long and ive always had a problem with form. i probably wont be able to do any more sessions after the 10, but i think i'll be in pretty good shape to continue on my own at that point.

Megan, Did you hire the trainer at your gym? How do you like working with a guy? I always wondered if I would prefer a female or a male trainer. I guess it depends on how hot he is. Just kidding.

I actually worked at a gym in college and I really enjoyed working with the members. The only problem with working there is that you don't want to stick around after work to work out. Also, people would always approach me while I was working out on my own time and ask for help. I didn't mind except when I was in a hurry.

There are a few trainers at the gym I go to now but one of them looks a bit out of shape. Not that everyone has to be perfectly cut, but I would probably not hire her.

Keep it up - you're not far from your goal!

Jocelyn

Megan: Thanks for the info. I am considering doing the same. I've taken a weight training course, but I really would llike some individual, or a more taylored plan for me! These last 15-20 lbs won't budge. The semester is over next week, and I'll have time to meet with a trainer....

Happy Friday Girls, we made it another week! Good luck to you girls studying for finals....I can't wait until I can get some sleep!

jocelyn - i worked with a female trainer in college and now im working with a guy, and i have to say that i am really liking working with the guy a lot more. it's probably not gender related, though, it's probably just their personalities. my trainer now, Dean, is so funny and really encouraging and even though he's in great shape (8% body fat or something ridiculous like that), i don't feel intimidated around him at all. women that are in great shape are a bit intimidating sometimes. he's also teaching me exercises that i'd never figure out on my own. my female trainer, adrienne, just did the weight machines with me, and not much free weights. kind of pointless. dean is also helping me a lot with food.

the funny thing about the trainers at my gym is that you don't really see their bodies. they all wear long pants and jackets or polo shirts but the sleeves don't show off arms. dont you think it would make more sense to show off their hot bodies so people will want to look like them?

thanks for the encouragement, jocelyn, but i feel REALLY far from goal. it seems like it wasn't THAT difficult to get to 150 and now its really tough to go lower. i dont know why, but i feel like 150 is a set point of sorts for me, since that's what i weighed in college. i just have to hope that my body fat is diminishing and with that, the scale will go down some too. 130 for goal may be unrealistic, but i do have about 5% body fat MINIMUM that i want to lose.

i always felt that if i worked at a gym, i'd never want to work out there. who wants to stay at work longer than they have to?? in fact, most of the personal trainers at my gym DONT work out there, they work out at other gyms, and i dont blame them. there is no way they could be left alone long enough to really work out.

spill - congrats on your semester ending! wow i remember how much finals used to suck when all i wanted to do was get home for christmas. but you'll have a nice long break. im sure that whatever personal training program you want to try, you could get some free sessions out of it. don't spend too much either!! the sessions at my gym are around $50 a session, depending on how many sessions you do. but I got 2 free before i even decided to do more.