Well, what's the twist this week? I know some of you are planning on stringing together several on plan days.
I'm going to check out real stomach hunger and continue with my 'kilometers in March' ticker.
I'm floundering a bit with decent weights days. I should try for two really good ones.

Hi SusanB,
Accountability is the word for me this week!
I am promising myself that no matter how stressed I get, I will try to recognize it and stop myself for reaching for food to cope with my emotions. I had a lovely weekend, which was totally stress-free and guess what? I didn't overeat or even want to overeat. Food is a way for me to cope with feelings of insecurity and I read that this happens because when under stress our bodies release a hormone called cortisol which actually increases our appetites! When I get stressed, I feel ravenous sometimes. Its all I can do to not put something in my mouth. But this article actually pointed me to the fact that there is also a physical reason and it is not all in my head. Its how I deal with this situation that is my challenge and my choice. So, this week, I want to be accountable to everyone who wants to make the right choices. Does anyone have the same problem as I do? It would be interesting to hear others' stories.

Stress I hate it!! Even when I don't over eat when I am stressed I gain weight, or is it because I don't notice that I put food in my mouth when I am stressed... I strongly believe in that cortisol hormone...

This week I want to stay OP all week till at least Saturday night when we are having Chineese with friends...

There's a great article this month in Chatelaine magazine called 'Face your toughest pounds' that really explains the hormone connection well.

Hello! Things for this week are

1) Eating when I'm hungry, stopping when I'm satisfied
2) Getting my @r$e to the gym to do some weights and some running
3) Concentrating on being balanced and healthy and loving life

Morning everyone.
I've packed my lunch and am just about ready for work. I'm very happy that I switch to evenings tomorrow and can sleep in. I don't like the alarm waking me.

Ohmygoodness!

I just signed up for a marathon

This is my first week joining you ladies in planning! I've been posting on these boards recently, but I'm ready to get more involved -- and become more accountable to myself!

Exercise has been working out really well for me lately, though I'm still fine tuning my routine and constantly adding new things. My diet, on the other hand, is a mess.

Let's talk about where I am coming from . . .

I was really bad with some Easter candy last week, so I'm just not buying anymore of the giant bags. It was my idea to buy it in the first place, thinking I could just portion out servings, but I do not have that kind of control. (I'm just not sure how many times it'll take before I realize I am not able to control myself in that way!!)

I think that I am going to buy some of the single-serve portions because not only do they help me control my portion size, but I also tend to relish them more. I'll save a single-serve bag for several days until I'm in just the right mood, as I don't want to waste the treat on mindless snacking and really want to savor and enjoy it. Why I can't have this same control with larger bags, I'm not sure. But if I've found something that works, I ought to stick to it, no matter how strange it sounds!

My weekend was horrible eating-wise, as we spent the weekend with my in-laws and spent an entire day car shopping (for me, yay!!). There were two huge dinners out, a trip to Coldstone Creamery (talk about a weakness -- I love this place!!), a big bagel breakfast sandwich, munchies in the car dealership showrooms, and -- later, on our way home -- a trip to Panera Bread, where I had a bowl of turkey chili, but also a scone and a gigantic cookie for no particular reason.

Now that I have it all in writing, I'm trying to think of how I could have improved this weekend: I could have stopped filling my plate at the Thai restaurant, could have ordered the smaller size at Coldstone, could have ordered a less fattening entree during our second dinner out, and could have skipped either the scone or the cookie at Panera. I don't want to eliminate all of the treats from my diet -- because I do enjoy certain things immensely. I just need to find a way to integrate them in a practical and healthy way!!

---------

So here's my plan:

(1) Always think about portion sizes.
(2) Make the healthiest choice that will also satisfy me (because if I'm not satisfied, I'll just be snacking later).
(3) Set specific times to eat, and do not snack at other times. If I am truly hungry, eat only a piece of fruit.
(4) Journal what, when, and why I eat.

DH is going away this weekend, so I'll have full control of my diet from Friday - Sunday. If I have any bad meals, it will probably be Tuesday or Wednesday night while commuting during the week. If a meal is not as healthy as I would like, I will cut my portion size and supplement with fruit.

I may not have to worry about bad meals my mouth is starting to hurt again i could only eat have my salad last night and it was half the size I usually have. I do not want to go on a liqiud diet but I may have to until I get to the dentist after easter. I just wish my mouth would make up it's mind if it is gonna hurt or get better.

Good morning everyone!

I do have my menu planned out for the week starting with salad tonight, dinner out tomorrow night, turkey enchiladas Wednesday. I'm not sure what I planned for the rest of the week, though!

I had such a good night sleep last night! I feel energized! I'm 100% certain that it is because I took it easy on the wine last night. My in-laws took us for an early dinner and we were home by 7:00 PM (when we usually eat dinner) and at that time I started drinking water. I wasn't particularly sleepy when we finally went to bed, but I slept so well. So, for this, my plan is no more than 1 glass of wine per night. I don't care if it is before, during or after dinner, but I will stop at 1 glass. Trying to stay away 100% is just too difficult but I'm certain I can stop at 1 (especially after that good night sleep). I'll check back daily and let you know how I'm doing!

Carolyn~planning for a week isn't too difficult. I've been having a blast checking out the Cooking Light web site and printing new recipes to try. After I choose 5 or 6 to try, I list all the ingredients I need and go to the store. I don't have a lot of time to run to the store during the week, so this works well for me.

Jen~a MARATHON? Wow! When is it? How's the training for it going? Good luck with that!

Welcome, poppins3!~Isn't it so much easier to plan when you don't have to worry about another person?! I have to plan for our family of 4--with all their likes and dislikes. Thankfully the kids are past the stubborn phase and are willing to at least try something new (and a lot of the time they LIKE it!).

Susan~have fun working the evening shift. I am actually a morning person and usually don't mind that alarm going off.

Whittlin~it is hard to stay away from those snacky carbs. I actually bought a box of crackers yesterday. I don't know what moved me to do it, but I think if I dole them out to myself in small amounts I'll be okay. It is all about control.

suerose~is there a website for that magazine? I agree stress is not a fun thing to have around when you're trying to diet.

Ilene~stay away from the egg rolls!!! Actually, have a fun time with your friends.

I had something else I was going to say, but now I can't remember......hate getting old!

Hi All

Well, I 'fessed up in another thread that I didn't have the best week last week (birthday), so my plan this week is just to get back on track this week and undo (some of) the damage. "Plan" is simple - 3 reasonable meals plus a healthy afternoon snack, no eating after supper, working out 5 days/week. I got up this a.m. and worked out, so I'm off to a good start! No major events (book club, dinners out, parties, etc.) this week so it should be OK. Will likely have people over for dinner on the weekend, but I can control the menu, and make a dessert that's reasonable, because everyone needs a little treat once a week, I think!

2 Frustrated - congrats on signing up for the marathon. I don't run, but have buddies who do - they tell me that the high when you cross the finish line is like nothing else!

As for stress causing poor eating - I'm not sure if that's my problem. If it is, I'm not very conscious of it, I guess. But I do know that when I'm not eating well, nothing else in my life seems to be very "together", and since I'm a bit of a control freak, THAT causes me stress (perhaps making me eat even more?)

Alli - I think I read somewhere about the effects of alcohol causing a poor night's sleep. I think you do right to cut down. Especially when you think about the poor night's sleep making you more susceptible to snack-eating type things!

Janie - chill out man! I think being a little more relaxed about eating sometimes does amazing things. I'm a firm believer in Intuitive Eating and really getting down to the reasons that I eat when I'm not hungry. I also believe in giving in to cravings in a small way. F'rinstance, on Friday I was really REALLY wanting digetive biscuits with nutella spread on them (don't ask me why, I really have NO idea!), and I did think about going down to the shop to get some nutella. However I didn't and I had some chocolate ice cream with digestive biscuits instead. That didn't do the trick! Then yesterday I still wanted digestive biscuits with nutella on them and I didn't have any nutella, so I whipped up some chocolate icing! well that was too sickly sweet! And in the end when we went to the shop last night, I bought nutella, and I had 2 biscuits with nutella before bed. I have one or two biscuits left in the packet, which I'll probably eat tonight and then the wierd craving for nutella on biscuits will be gone! Vamoose! So I think that if I'd just gone out and bought the jar of nutella on Friday I probably wouldn't have had ice cream, or had to stop reading my book and make chocolate icing yesterday So yeah, relax and try listening to your body

As for the marathon training - well I ran/walked a mile on the treadmill today! and it's not until October 21st, so I am building up gradually and just seeing what happens for the next couple of months

As for the finish line high - last year I cried all the way round the athletic track that was the finishing line! And I was only doing the half-marathon! So lawd-knows what I'll be like this year! The men in white coats might have to carry me off!

2frustrated - I have heard of the Intuitive Eating plan, and am quite intrigued. I think that ideally, we would all eat intuitively (though I'm not sure if it's possible for everyone). Problem is, I can't seem to find the book. Do you know who the author is?

Good morning everyone.

I think this week my goal is to lift HARD and run FAST. This is all relative of course. But I am determined to gain some real muscle and loose some of this ridiculous fat that I have accumulated over the years. What was I thinking. Kids. They really distract me and I get into "feed me" mode. I don't do hormones well. But I am free from pregnancy and nursing (knocking on wood repeatedly) and so I am now going to reclaim this silly old body for me.

Susan I love the way you start these threads with a positive question. You are a real motivator. Great plans all. We can do it!