I stayed under my calorie goal and tried to not eat a bunch of junk yesterday and the scale is showing a .5 gain from yesterday... ???? I KNEW I should have exercised yesterday even though it was my day off, but John said that it's probably just stress or water retention and that I should just stick to my plan, but I definitely think that this weight has been stalling for long enough, and I'm ready to ramp up my exercise from 30minutes 4 days a week to 30 minutes 5 days a week. I'm getting SICK of this! I've been at more or less the same place for like all of AUGUST!

*determined*

I only have a few seconds, but I will try to come back later and check in with everyone.

Rhonda, thanks for asking about my calories. It's certainly something with which I still struggle. A little low again yesterday (952), but I'm finding it really difficult to squeeze in eating enough low-cal, nutrition-dense foods (which are really the only kinds I want to eat) to get the number I need on days like yesterday. It was a just a crazy busy day. I did survive the McDonald's run yesterday, and I very happily ate my low-cal food that I brought while the others munched on fries and ice cream. Surprisingly, I got in two sessions of cardio. In the early afternoon, I did 35 minutes on the elliptical, 6 on the stairstepper (not so great, but at least I didn't avoid it), and 20 on the stationary bike. Then, when we got back from traveling (around midnight), my 13YO daughter asked if we could go running together - which we haven't done since school started. I really didn't want to, but she kept going on and and about how much she missed our time together and how much she LOVES to run. So, I went, and ran four miles. Not four continuous miles, as she got some cramps and I stopped to help her, but still pretty good. And the scale went down again this morning. It's never gone down this fast before (9 pounds since Monday, some of which I know is water weight), so while I'm certainly not complaining, it does make me a little nervous about sustainability. But I'm not going to adjust or fight it for the sake of controlling the numbers on the scale - because that always ends in disaster for me. So, I will work on getting a good number of calories and some good exercise in today and be happy with that!

*continued from my last post*

I know some of you may say that I am focusing too much on the scale, but I've been trying to be patient, it just seems like whatever it is is just not coming off, and it's been almost 3 weeks now... I did take my measurements and I've lost about 5 inches from my waist (from my starting waistline)... I was a bit surprised by that! My bust, hips and neck are the same as they have been for awhile, but I am feeling a little better now that I know my belly indeed is shrinking. I'm going to try to not dwell on the scale, but I'm definitely going to increase my workouts... if not 4 days a week, maybe going up to 45 minutes a day... though I'll be honest 30 minutes is about all I can take right now so maybe I would be better off just adding an additional day. I ordered YOU on a DIET book & workout DVD off ebay and it should be coming soon, so maybe I can do half of my workouts on the bike and half with that DVD? We'll see.

I'm also thinking about decreasing my calories down to 1400. I know some of you thought 1500 was too low, but to be honest with you, when I eat my full 1500 I wake up the next day feeling "full" and "uncomfortable" ... it's very weird too because about a half hour later I am pretty hungry. Maybe I just eat too close to goign to sleep, but yesterday I ate and then about 4 hours later I went to sleep. Is that not enough time? I'm just afraid if I have more time in there then I will get really hungry right before I go to sleep and then I will have a hard time sleeping.

As for my food, I'm staying within my calorie range (1500), and staying away from "sweets". The only sweet thing I've been having is some sugar free chocolate pudding (60 calories a cup!), sometimes with 1/2 or 1 serving of peanut butter depending on how many calories I have. I've been trying to eat lots of protein -- tuna, eggs, chicken, almonds, pistachios, and some cheese (sparingly). Fresh fruit -- peaches, plums, bananas, citrus, tomatoes. I could definitely do much better with the veggies, which is my focus today -- I've got fresh broccoli, green beans, romaine lettuce, celery, carrots & onions. I've been having a little bread and other "carbs" like popcorn (natural, with just a little salt, no butter). I'd like to maybe add in some more healthy carbs but I'm not really sure what to do. I have to be careful because right now we don't have a lot of money. I don't think I am doing really horrible with the food, but maybe the ticket is to just make more of those calories count with fresh vegetables.

I would appreciate any advice! John calculated my metabolic something or another and it said I was burning (without exercise) about 2135 calories a day. Maybe that little nugget of information will be useful in your advice giving, I dunno!

Rakel, you're losing inches which is also great. Don't become too fixated on the scales and what's happening there - it's only one measure of how you're going, and the one that can vary the most.

How are your portion sizes? It's very easy for them to creep up if you're not measuring every time you serve something.

Could you perhaps post your food and exercise diary for the day so we can have a look and see if anything jumps out at us? Sometimes it helps to have another pair of eyes looking over things...

And in other news next door's cat has figured out how to jump in my lounge windows. My cat doesn't seem too bothered, but I'm trying to actively discourage her from coming in - far easier said than done.

Ok I'll start posting everything I eat! I do measure things out, and am pretty meticulous about everything... I started off posting everything I ate but I just got tired of writing everything out and then typing it out... it's just enough that I'm actually writing it down! BUT I will try!

I had a bad bad two days, I am off track food wise, I have done fine with water and exercise, I know I am nearing the TOM"S could be that I don't know. But I know I can do better tomorrow, because I am worth it, and there is no going back to what I was.
cheryl

Cheryl - I just have no doubt at all that on Monday, you will report that you are back on track. None of us is perfect every day, and we don't need to be. Just as long as we are good enough to keep heading down the scale, that's all that needs to happen. I look forward to hearing about how you were able to conquer the weekend munchies!

Rakel - I don't think that Nicole is asking for your menus every day. Just a sample menu to perhaps give you better advice. I know you will get different advice from everyone on tweaking your plan. Some stay the course and find that it works well for them to do it that way. I am all about tweaking - and tweaking all of the time. If the weight isn't coming off like I think it should, I will change what I'm eating or how I'm exercising. Sometimes, I change it up just because I start to get bored.

The thing is, it's really tricky to figure out how many calories you're consuming and how many you're burning. The "calories in" part of the equation is easier, especially because you're measuring and recording everything, but it's really tough to be 100% accurate. It's the "calories out" part that gets so tricky, though. I get so mad when I see "experts" spout the calories in versus calories out thing. "It's just a matter of physics." Maybe so, but it's not that simple. Each of our bodies are different, and it's really difficult to tell how your body is dealing with certain foods until you experience it. I know that Rhonda deals with lots of health issues, and I know that if she ate what I ate, she likely would not lose as well as I do. I am also relatively convinced that I would not lose as well on her plan as she does. So, my advice - if you want it - is if you have been doing the same thing for a few weeks and not getting the results that you want, shake it up a bit. Absolutely add in the extra day of exercise. It kicks up your metabolism for hours after you're done in addition to the calories you burn off from the actual exercise. And, actually, I've been debating whether or not whether to tell you this because you've been so excited about the high number on the exercise machine, but you are likely overestimating the number of calories you burn when exercising if you believe the read-outs on the machines are accurate. Here is a sticky from the exercise forum about that subject.
http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=88023 I use them as a benchmark to make sure that I am pushing myself when I am on the equipment, but they aren't giving you very accurate information.

It is more about the food than the exercise, though. It sounds like you're getting a great variety, which is wonderful for both your nutritional needs and your weight control needs. I know that some people on 3FC struggle with fruits, though, and I've heard some weight loss experts recommend limiting them. While they full of nutrients, fiber, and antioxidants, they also tend to pack a fairly high sugar punch. And just about every nutritional expert will warn you away from white flour, or at least suggest severely limiting it. Popcorn without added fats, though, generally gets a thumbs-up from those who aren't anti-carb. I think that punching up the veggies is a great idea, though. I'm actually trying to do that myself.

So, this was pretty rambling without saying too much. Hope it was a little helpful.

Nicole - This is the neighbor who treated you like you were an irresponsible pet owner? That would drive me insane!

MJ - It's great that you're not falling for the "I've messed it all up. I'll start again on Monday" thing that made all of my weight loss effort ineffective for so many years. Congrats on getting right back on plan!

Diane - Hope the shins are feeling better and all is good on the water intake front! That pizza and couch combination - deadly for me!

CC - I trust you've recovered from your fall. How terribly frustrating that you were getting back into a groove with the exercise and something like that happened. Hope it didn't discourage you for long.

Tricia - Glad to hear about the tests. I had no doubt you would ace them.

I had a pretty good on-plan day today. I am still planning on heading out for a walk, and I only had a few minutes at the gym. But I spent them on the evil Stairstepper - 15 minutes! My longest time ever, as sad as that is. I ate mostly on-plan stuff, but I did small things that I really shouldn't allow myself to do since I still feel pretty vulnerable, like steal two or three chicken wings from my husband and munch three or four of my son's French fries. My calories weren't terrible (1038), but still not adequate - and about 400 of those were from nutritionally inadequate sources. So, back to Square One tomorrow. Sunday tends to be my toughest day, so I have to be especially vigilant.

good morning all, I am trying to stay on track, or rather I am determined to stay on track today. I ate my usual breakfast, and am planning on going to a local parkt to go wallking for a while.
I feel horrible, bloated, icky , what junk will do. I got rid of the binge food, so hopefully this will help. I found a juicer at a goodwill store( mine got left behind in Louisiana 2 yrs ago, and I have been without a juicer for for 25 months), so I am going to make carrot/ginger juice today, and hopefully it will clean out my system today, and get me feeling better.
I will post later on , I hope everyone has a great on plan day.
cheryl

Good Morning! I want to thank each of you very much for your support these last few days. It is SO nice to talk to people who totally get it. I am back on track food-wise--last night dinner could have been better, but overall I didn't do too bad. I need to eat some breakfast asap and I already have healthy snacks, lunch, and dinner planned. I should go for a walk today, but my foot is really, really sore, so I don't know if I will make it or not.

CC--I hope you aren't too sore after your fall! I am a super-klutz! My hubbie frequently tells me "don't fall" or "be careful" because of my history! Lucky for me (not so much for him...) he has been there to catch me, literally many times!

Sunshine--Sorry to hear last week was so icky. Good for you for doing some nice things for yourself! That's awesome that you have a friend who is losing weight and being healthy. That makes it SO much easier when you want to hang out!

Rhonda--How was dinner last night? And the movie...hmmm, well, hope it was ok!

Nicole--I am so glad that the groceries were so good! I have to say, I was a little skeptical about that, but it sounds great! I love having a day to myself! In fact, I try to make sure Sundays are pretty low-key around here. It's easier for me to get up for work on Monday when I have been able to rest a bit on Sunday. Too bad we live so far away....I would bring my Ellie-Mae over and she would "woof" at the neighbors cat--then it might stay away! She is SO funny!! She sounds all big and bad, but really is afraid of her own shadow!

Rakel--Hang in there!!! I think we all go through slumps and then all of a sudden the scale will drop.

Laurie--It sounds like you are doing great! Wow, 15 mins on the stairstepper! I'm impressed! I have a bad knee and can't do that one at all (can't say I am sad about that!!!!)

Cheryl--Exactly! You will do better because you are worth it! I am just coming off a couple of bad days (one was terrible), but we will NOT let it totally send us off track!

Not much planned for today. I have the laundry started already and I plan on just hanging out w/ the dogs today. I spent some time yesterday adding some new music to my mp3 player, so that is all ready for me to hit the gym tomorrow.

Hope everyone has a great, on-plan day!

mj

Hi Everyone.

I am sorry to report that I crashed and burned yesterday. It started off with dinner that was at someplace other than what Hubby originally planned. I ordered a great on-plan entree, however, the family wanted an appetizer that I just had to try. Of course, I just didnt have one or two bites...I had several. Then, the restaurant brought a free big warn chocolate chip cookie with vanilla ice cream and hot fudge sauce for Hubby's birthday. Of course, I ate a few bites of that. Then, for some insane reason, I felt the need to get a box of my favorite Junior Mints for the movies. This morning, I woke up with a raging migraine...probably from the sugar. And, we missed out on going to church. The scales are showing absolutely no loss for this week. I am so discouraged and depressed today! But, I'm staying on-plan. Tomorrow is weigh-in, but its not all about the scales, right? This is my life now, so why not get back on-plan.

Hope everyone else is enjoying their weekend.

Morning ladies!

Well, it's Monday again. How is it that the weekend goes faster than any 2 days in the week? I didn't really do much, but that's not a bad thing.

Back to ticker weight after being 1 - 2 pounds over all week, so that's good. I'm not worried about a loss this week - I'm PMSing like crazy and retaining so much water at the moment, so I'll settle for staying the same or a small gain if needs be.

Rakel, just post a typical day on plan so we can see whether there's anything you're missing. As I said, it helps to have another pair of eyes look it over.

Laurie, yep, same neighbour. The cat is gorgeous - sweet nature and very friendly. I'm just worried what my cat will do if he catches her inside. He's definitely been fixed, but he's very territorial, so...

Cheryl, enjoy your walk!

MJ, no sense in doing yourself harm if your foot is sore. Is there something you can do at home that wouldn't hurt your foot? What sort of dog have you got? I want a dog, but it's not practical at the moment between working full time and having no garden. One day, though.

Rhonda, hope you're feeling better soon! One day off plan is only a bad thing when it extends to 2 days or more.

Have a great day, everyone!

Confession time...

I had a bad Saturday evening - I couldn't stop myself from eating, eating, eating until I felt sick. It was the old me, come to let me know she's still in there waiting to take control if I let her. No sense dwelling on it. I'm shaking it off and back on track today. Let's not speak of it!

I'm not all that sore anymore from the fall, but I have an impressive looking knee that is literally all the colors of the rainbow! It doesn't hurt to walk, so I've no excuse not to get back out there tonight.

I have to run, so no time for personals today, but I'm thinking about all of you and sending good thoughts your way!

Laurie -- Thanks for the post! I do realize that these numbers are not entirely accurate... but I just go by them to gauge how I'm doing. You're right, figuring out how many calories go in is a lot easier than determining how much you expend.


Alrighty, here are some menus from earlier this week:

Tuesday
Zone Perfect - 210
FUZE - 200 (I don't have a lot of these, but it's just a juice/water drink with vitamins in it)

lean cuisine pizza - 350

granola - 140

almonds (1/2 serving, 14 nuts) - 85

1.5 Enchiladas - 450
sour cream (half of it was fat free and then I ran out so I had some of the fiance's regular) - 50
rice - 75

total calories - 1560

overview: should have had less enchilada, no rice and more veggies

exercise: 30m on the exercise bike, 143 average HR, 8.1 miles "510" calories
weight: 290

----

Wednesday

1/2 serving of almonds - 85
Enchilada - 450
sourcream (not as much as I had last night, a little more than 1/2 serving) - 30

lean cusine stir fry - 300

1 cup frozen yogurt - 100

lean cuisine dinner - 330

pudding - 60

2 cups popcorn - 80

total: 1435

exercise: no exercise day
weight: 289.5

---------------------

Thursday

Enchilada - 300 (FIANCE never eats leftovers *sigh* lol)

pudding - 60

3 deviled eggs - 303

3 ham & cheese rollups (no bread) - 161
.5 egg - 51

peach - 61
almonds 1 serving - 170

lean cuisine orange chicken dinner - 390

total: 1496

overview: too many eggs? I went a little nuts but at least managed to stay under my calories

exercise: 33m on the exercise bike, 145 average HR, 9.3 miles
weight: 289.5

------------------------

Friday

Lean cusine sandwich - 280
.5 devilled egg - 50.5
pudding - 60

bourbon chicken & lo mein - 300
eggroll - 160

peach - 61

popcorn (4.5 cups) - 192

peanut butter & pudding - 240

.5 devilled egg - 50.5
1/4 cup of triple berry granola - 115

total: about 1508 - 1510

overview - probably should not have had the pudding twice, keep them to once a day and not every day. positive: the peanut butter was filling, delicious, and I did not gorge myself on it.

exercise: no exercise day
weight: forgot to weigh in

--------------------------

Saturday

1 egg - 101

hot dog - 150
bun - 110
1/2 serving BBQ - 35
1/4 serving vidallia onion relish - 5

popcorn (3.5 cups) 130

1 ham & cheese rollup (no bread) - 55

salad:
romaine lettuce - 12
broccoli - 30
cheese - 20
dressing - 30
roma grape tomatoes - 15
almonds - 85

chocolate - 220

popcorn - 68

enchilada - 300

total: 1356

overview: I caved in on the chocolate and shouldn't have. Good news is that I didn't plow through the whole chocolate bar and keep thinking about it until I demolished the rest.

exercise: beginner session on "You on a diet" DVD workouts
weight: 290.5

-----------------

today I weighed in at 289.5.
so far I have eaten:

1/2 serving almonds - 85
lean cuisine stir fry - 300


-----------------

areas I think I need improving on:

wean myself off lean cuisine dinners. I could do worse, but they do have 28% of the daily limit on salt for 2,000 calorie diet (and I'm on a 1,500 one), and I should stick to fresh veggies. I'm not totally convinced they are really bad for you though, because I did notice the stir fry one I have a lot has 20g of protien... and if I get the hankering for pizza, their frozen ones are delicious and are less than 400 calories. I do, however, need to stop eating them as frequently and resort to them on a once in awhile basis.

I need to eat more fresh vegetables and incorporate more nuts and whole grains into my diet. I'm already trying to add more nuts and veggies, but I could do better!

sweets. I have a MAJOR sweet tooth and while I have been keeping it in check, I think I have still be having too many sweets. Fortunately they have not really been leading me to binges, but I could have very easily gone on one yesterday so I really need to be careful, and as much as I don't like it, I may need to consider eliminating them completely until I can handle it on a once in awhile basis. On a side note, I've had some frozen strawberry yogurt in my freezer longer than any half gallon has ever survived in the past, which is good! In fact, it's still in there with about 2 more servings left :P

I know it's not perfect but it's a lot better than last week! Here's to hoping for another good BETTER week!