Thanks Emma! Quick question though. I need your opinion. Seeing how thick my legs are (I think theres a good amount of muscle under my fat), do you think its a good idea just to run and not do any weights, lunges, or squats for my legs. I do NOT want them to get any bigger and they seem to have enough muscle; I just need to get rid of the fat. So do you think it would be a good idea just to continue with cardio and not weight lift?

If you run long distances and don't keep up with the strength exercises, you will lose muscle. Running breaks down muscle over time. That said, though, as I recall you aren't running the kinds of distances where that is a factor. And while I have heard before that injury rates in runners who strength train are lower, that's not something I have verified. It does make sense, though.

Personally, I found that losing fat made my legs slimmer without the need to stop strength training. But, then, I love strength training and the health benefits it offers long term. It's all about what your goals are, ultimately.

For what it is worth, you only think your legs are thick. We are always our toughest critics. I think you are lovely.

Thanks so much for your nice compliment. I know were our own worst critics but I am sick of looking at my legs and seeing thick and fat. I carry most of my weight there so my ultimate ULTIMATE goal is to get my legs lean again. One day! But thank you again for your nice words. Have a great Tuesday!

Chelsey, I know how you feel. I am happy with everything down to my legs. Even my stomach and no-longer-there-love-handles! But my legs are still thick. Definitely defined, not flabby... but thick. Oh, well. But I agree with PP -- I think you look fabulous!

EmmaD, you can definitely do 14 days! You've done it before and you can do it again. Think how good it will feel to have 14 days of clean eating and rejuvenating exercise under your [loose] belt! I do find it inspiring to go on a healthy shopping trip and stock up on yummy veggies!

Speaking of inspired shopping, I made the trek to a far-away Whole Foods today. My cover story is that I wanted to go to the party store in the same shopping center, but the real reason was to get Arctic Zero. Have you all heard of this stuff? It's frozen like ice cream, but it is basically a frozen protein shake -- and the whole pint has only 140-160 calories (depending on flavor)! At this very moment, I am eating the vanilla. It's a little bland, so I added some cinnamon and it is not bad! A drizzle of honey would be great, too, and since this half-cup has only 35 calories, it still wouldn't be over-the-top. Not good enough to fully replace ice cream in my life, but for next-to-no calories, it can pinch hit.

Off-plan yesterday -- back on today! Let's go, Feathers!

Wow I've never heard of that. I am going to have look that up. I wonder how the chocolate tastes. Is there a lot of sugar? Preservatives?

There was a thread about Arctic Zero that surfaced a while ago. I went to Whole Foods just to find that. I tried the chocolate peanut butter flavor. It was OK, definitely a good treat for very few calories. But alas, I am supposedly avoiding sugar so I didn't buy it again. I highly recommend hunting it down if sugar isn't a problem!!

ETA: here is the link

ETA again: Here are the ingredients (for chocolate peanut butter flavor)
Purified water, whey protein concentrate, organic cane sugar, chicory root, dutch processed cocoa powder with alkali, guar gum, xantham gum, natural flavors, sea salt, monk fruit concentrate.

ETA a third time A brief glance when I was looking up the ingredients yielded information that low-carb groups consider this ok, that the sugars don't spike blood sugar, etc. Maybe I'll revisit this stuff in a couple of weeks

I bought a giant tub of Elite Toffee-flavored Whey protein from Gold's Gym. With a few added ingredients it tastes just like a Snicker's Bar. Love it!! Low calorie, low sugar, high protein. I'm addicted. I have a special drink machine I bought at Costco that makes protein shakes that are super smooth and creamy.

Thanks for the advice on Arctic Zero. I'll have to try it. I'm an ice cream addict. It's the only thing I can't have in the house. But since Baskin-Robbins is the only ice cream I really love, I'm OK around anything else. Give me BR and I'll hoover a quart faster than you can say Holy Nutty Coconut, Batgirl!