Good morning ladies. It seems like it's been a little empty around here lately. I hope that everyone is doing well this fine Monday morning!

I had a bad Saturday night and I only worked out 2 times last week, but I still feel pretty good and am hoping for a great weigh in Thursday morning.

It's the week before finals for me, so there's a mixture of relief, stress and a great sense of the need to get all the stuff I have left until the end done. I am excited for next semester though. Aside from my academic classes (4 of them of course) I am taking a Hip Hop dance class that's once a week and a Pilates class that's 2 times a week. I am hoping that will help to get me a little more exercise in, even when I get busy, because I have to go for credit. Even more that being excited for next semester I am excited for the month off!!!

Anyone else have end of the year goals? As many of you know, mine is to be at or below 155.

Ok ladies I hope to be seeing you around here!!!

Well my whole last week was crappy as far as food is concerned, but I must say I've worked out more over the last couple of days that I have for the last month so that's good news! I finally feel like I have a craving for exercise again and it's wonderful! BUT, after a few days of working out like mad I'm up 2.5 lbs...hoping that's just water weight or my body adjusting to extra muscle or something...

Stephanie, that's awesome you get to schedule in some exercise for credit--that would be a HUGE help!! Good luck at weigh-in Thurs and with your finals!

I do have a end of year goal...I would like to be at 160 or below. I would REALLY like to be at 155 also so I could be at an even 50 lbs lost but I just don't see losing 20 lbs in less than a month, especially considering how slow my loss has been the last couple of months. Never know though...

Hope everyone had a great weekend...spent Thurs through Sat at Myrtle Beach myself so that was nice!! Happy Monday everyone--here's to a week full of exercise!!

Good morning ladies,

The weekend was ok food & exercise-wise. I even went for an extra-long run/walk yesterday and was actually sore when I got home. Friday I was so sick of being upset w/ BF I went to the bar w/ some friends after work a started doing shots...at 4:30 in the afternoon... yeah. Anyway by the time I headed home at 7:00 I was sober, had 2 messages from BF, and ready to stop being so angry. It's just emotionally draining and I hated being so negative. But I bet it burned a lot of calories! I called BF and he had made reservations at a really nice restaurant to surprise me, but then I hadn't called him after work and we missed the reservations. Doh! Anyway BF and I talked and things aren't perfect but are better now.

Saturday I got a lot of things done around the house, and went to a friend's b-day party & bonfire that night. Sunday night we spent in, rented a movie and cooked at home. Friday & Saturday I had ~1900-2000 cals each day. I try to only have a high calorie day like that once a week, but that's still ok, especially since I exercised quite a bit this weekend. Sunday was only 1200 cals, too.

My end-of-the-year goal is to be at 140 by Dec. 22, the day I leave for my holiday travels.

Stephanie, good luck with finals! That's great that you can do Pilates & dance classes next semester. Sounds like fun.

Christy, way to go with the exercise!

How is everyone else?

Hi everyone!
This weekend was alright, i got sick on saturday... i think from eating junk food the night before to sober up from a couple drinks i had at a friends house. I've been doing okay so far this month fitness wise. I've got about 300+ minutes down so far, i would love to have at LEAST close to 500 by the end of today. I'm making it a mission to reach my december challenge goals no matter what!

Wish everyone luck on everything!

Hey girls! Sounds like everybody had fun over the weekend. I'm proud of those of you who didn't let a minor slip-up totally derail them. Bravo for getting right back on track! This is a journey, so you have to take the good with the bad along the way. I just try to put my best foot forward everyday, and if I make a mistake, I tell myself I can do better, and continue to try to do my best. It really is all about your attitude.

I went on a 2-hr hike Saturday afternoon, took a walk/jog in the evening, and went on a 5 mile walk/jog yesterday. Eating was pretty good....although I can always stand to eat more veggies. No matter how many vegetables I eat, I always feel like I can do better. Water was great...I had at least 80 oz. everyday. I exercised 6 out of 7 days last week. I lost 1.2 lbs since last Monday. It's not a huge loss, but 7.8 lbs lost in 2 weeks is not too shabby. I'll take it.

Stephanie, the hip-hop and pilates classes sound like a lot of fun. You'll have to let us know how you like them.

"Fat"Christy (You don't look fat to me in your avatar! You look like you're a normal weight and very pretty as well ...you're going to have to change your username!), continue what you're doing and even if you don't quite make your new year's eve goal, you will be close to it! I'm jealous of your trip to the beach! I wanna go to the ocean! I guess that's why my reward for reaching goal is a trip to the Bahamas!

Megan, you did great w/ exercise this weekend! Your Dec. 22 goal weight sounds very reachable....you can do it! Good job dealing w/ your anger w/ your bf too. I have 5 brothers so I know how aggravating boys can be in general.

Transfrm, you WILL reach your exercise goals this month. I just know it. Look at how many minutes you have exercised already. You are doing soooo well. I am so proud. Keep it up.

Hi everyone! I had to work most of the weekend, blah! Luckily I only have one more week after this one and I will be done, and most of the work is for this week. I haven't gotten around to talking to our graduate advisor about getting my masters degree . . . the more I think about it, the more I want to just get that degree and then withdraw from this place instead of going on a leave of absence! I can't imagine anything that would ever make me want to come back here!

In other news, I ate a lot of red meat this weekend. That's not a bad thing, I just don't do it too often, so it's probably good (I probably got some iron in me!). Saturday we went to TGI Friday's for dinner and I got a steak, and then we bought roast beef instead of turkey for lunch meat this week so I had a sandwich yesterday and today for lunch. Saturday I had a burrito for lunch, which was okay, but I really have to say it . . . Mexican food in the northeast sucks!! I can't wait to go back to LA for Christmas and eat loads of yummy Mexican food.

It snowed yesterday, and it is kind of pretty, except the snow is already crunchy and icy, and I almost died walking down some icy stairs (I didn't actually fall or anything, but I came close!). But that makes it extra hard to get up and go to the gym in the morning . . . I can't wait for my dawn simulator alarm clock to arrive! It should get here tomorrow, I'm totally excited.

I am really tempted to go to Starbuck's right now and get one of their seasonal drinks. It is cold, even in my office, and I have a final coming up in half an hour . . . . But I will be good and eat my banana instead.

My only end-of-year goal is to not gain a single pound during Christmas, and to not allow myself to overeat uncontrollably. I'm starting to think about making New Year's resolutions though -- last year my resolutions were to run a mile without walking and to do a full girly-style push-up. I was running a mile back in like March, and I managed a push-up in August, but since my wrists have been causing trouble I can't do a push-up anymore. I'm trying to think of some good fitness goals for next year!

Do any of you ladies have any good recipes for healthy foods involving fresh cranberries? I love cranberries and I just bought a bag, but I don't want to make anything fatty or sugary. Last time I bought them I made some low-cal muffins that were pretty good, but I'm looking for something new!

I hope you all have a good week! Don't let little slip-ups get you down!

Oh, I forgot to add that my new year's eve goal is 169....it's in my signature, too, so I'm reminded of it every day...I'm getting close!

My Mom makes this delicious baked cranberry butternut squash dish. It consists of: peeled & cubed butternut squash (they're a pain in the butt to cut up, but it's worth it), cranberries & extra virgin olive oil (regular olive oil would be OK, too). I believe that she has used both canned as well as fresh cranberries. I'll ask her for her recipe later on today. It's super simple, but I don't know what temp. she bakes it on or how long it cooks for....

In general, cranberries go well w/ squashes and fruits such as apples.

Ugggghhh work last week was very hectic and the weekend was busy hanging out with friends. I’m glad I get a chance to check in here and see how everyone’s doing. I didn’t do well yesterday with eating. I actually did horrible! I was hanging out with friends and we had a bunch of food. I ate without thinking. In went chips and dip, M & M’s, soda and little brownie bites Eekkk. Not good at all. I’m determined to get to 181 by the end of this week!

Stephanie - on your finals! I remember having to study hard around this time and looking forward to having time off from school. My end of year goal is my mini goal of being 180 by end of year. I’m almost there!

Cristy - Good job on working out! The numbers will go down if you keep it up!

Megan – Sorry to hear about the BF troubles. Glad you worked everything out though

Trnsfrmnreplace – Sorry to hear about you getting sick. Yeah, too many drinks will do that to you Good luck on reaching the 500 minutes by today

Jenn - Woo hoo!!! That’s a great loss! I’m with you on needing to eat more veggies. Gosh it’s so hard. Why can’t icecream be a vegetable?!?!?

Paperclippy – I’m so jealous that you get snow!!! : I have to drive 4 hours if I want to see snow Make a snow angel for me!!! Sorry no cranberry recipe here. I don’t cook that much as it is LOL

Jenn - that sounds really yummy! I am a big fan of squash and other fall/wintery foods! BTW, I was going to post on the food log thread but I figured I'd say it here, your menus always sound SO good and healthy! Yum!

Jess - (haha, my name is Jessica, and I used to always sign emails "~Jess", that's so funny!) Next time it snows I will make a snow angel for you, right now it is more ice than snow! It's funny that you are jealous of snow, because I miss SoCal's nice warm weather so much! I talked to my mom the other day and she was like "Oh, I had to wear a sweater today, I think the high was around 70." I was like, uh, our high here was 34!! I am so glad that our heat is included in our rent! I think I'm burning a lot of extra calories just trying to stay warm.

I forgot to say before, since I haven't gotten around to posting on all the new threads, to all the new people!

Hi everyone! No partying for me this weekend. We decorated the apartment for Christmas and went to the zoo on Sunday. I did well on my exercise last week. Not GREAT, but well. Tonight is my official weigh-in so we'll see how I did.
My sister had a baby last Thursday! Some of you might have read my other post about it but I'm so excited to see it over Christmas break (she's in Pa I'm in Ca).
My December goal was to be at 200 by the time I go visit my family but I don't think that's going to happen now! I had a few weeks of no weight loss because I wasn't eating enough and that completely threw off my goal. Since the last time I got weighed I was 216 and we have 3 weeks left....I would like to be 207 by the end of the year.
This is also my last week before finals! Eep! It's going to be so busy. I only have one official final (calculus), two online ones so they'll be cake, and two essays. The one essay is CRAZY for my anthropology class. I literally put like a week nonstop into those things. I already signed up for next semester (my last at junior college) but they don't have any good fitness classes that fit my schedule. Oh well.
Good to hear from everyone. Have a great week!

Stephanie I totally understand where you are coming from. Finals are next week for us as well and it is sooo hard for me not to do my usual, buy BIG bags of chips and boxes of cookies and just be constantly stuffing my face because I am so bored with studying.

In addition, me and my boyfriend are possibly breaking up... and it has been very hard on me. I want to just order a pizza and eat it all myself but then I will hate myself even more because I will be lonely and gaining weight.

Tough times...

Jenna - I am really sorry to hear about you and your bf. Breakups suck!!! I hope that you can work it out (if that's what you want).

About Finals - I added up the point in my Bio class today, and with all the points I have earned doing extra credit I already have an A before the final, so I just have to show up and take the test! That's a load off. I am just really dreading the paper I have to write!!!

I have been so bad about working out lately. Some days I am so into it and I workout a ton and other days (more often than not lately) I don't want to go at all and don't. Other than Saturday I have been eating greart! Ever since I let up a little and found out that I don't have to work that hard and I still lose, it has made me want to do the minimum. It seems like I am losing momentum the closer I get to my goal. I have like 2 attitudes about it. I am starting to feel comfortable in my skin again, but I still am not 100% happy. I have never been "thin" so I think I really am afraid that I'll change or something weird like that. I want it so badly but I think there's part of me that doesn't think I deserve it. I am consistantly losing, so it's not like I have haulted things, it's just my frame of mind. Sorry to rant! Does anyone else ever feel like this, or do I just need to open the phone book and find a therapist?

I did pretty well this weekend considering I made Christmas goodies. I kept a bottle of water by me and pretzles to snack on. My son kept stealing my water from me and I had go on a water hunt between batches of cookies. I worked out like a maniac this morning and can't wait to get back up there tomorrow. I feel like I am going to have a better attitude at exercising since I am doing it in the morning and not at night anymore. I hated leaving work and not getting home for an hour and a half. This way I can work out and be home all day long. Oh yeah, I am on a month lay off from work and go back in January! Woot! Keep up the morale everyone!!!!

My finals are next week too - I can't wait until this term from **** is over. It'll be nice not to have 12 hour days with NO BREAKS AT ALL for awhile.

We've got a ton of snow in Eastern Washington - more than I've ever had before and for way longer - there's been snow on the ground for a whole week! I'm ready for it to go away, though - it's all icy and slushy and dirty now.

My best friend in the whole wide world called me last nght with the news that she's pregnant!!! I'm so excited for her (and a tad bit jealous too, in a nice way). I want to be skinny Auntie Jennie, so I'm aiming for goal by July.

Sorry to hear about all the boy trouble the board is having - sometimes those men are such pains in the you-know-whats.

I have somehow managed to fit gym time into my schedule for two days in a row. It's a miracle. Let's see if we can make it three tomorrow.