Good morning Feathers,

BF leaves today T________T but I'm gonna use the time he's away to work my butt off on music and home improvement and lots of personal projects, spending more time with my folks and hopefully doing more time at the gym.

We had a little "send-off" for him last night - we got dinner and met up with friends for some drinks at Dinosaur BBQ. I had a half chicken with chopped salad and BBQ fried rice (HEAVEN) aaand the waitress forgot our app of 3 wings so she brought us a free slice of key lime pie. I had half a pint of dark beer and a lot of water - the scale was up 0.8 this morning but no big deal.

I'll be taking BF to the bus and then heading to the gym for epic cardio time + a Pilates mat class, cooking dinner at home, and having my roommate's brother and some other friends over for a Super Nintendo party because it's 1995 again.

Bayzee Yep I'm just kinda hanging out. I honestly don't know WHAT my goals are - I guess I have been trying to eat a little more recently to get my lifts improving again, as well as faster times running. It just snowed bucketloads here so no outside running for a while, but I can at least work on getting my pace up on the treadmill and train with my friends who are doing a triathlon (I can barely swim or ride a bike, sad truth). Summer is the hardest time of year for me too - summer equals BBQs and drinks and too much excitement, but it also means long runs outdoors and hiking and the like.

Maddie You seem so zen and "whatever" now that you're in maintenance - it's awesome, right??!!

Joss I hope you get the answers you need from the bodymedia thingamabobber. NOT KNOWING when you want to know is the worst feeling - I hope you won't give too much power to the scale when you do that initial weigh-in. I am interested to see what it tells you - are you counting calories now? How much are you eating? I counted the other day (Monday) and included all the little extras and I was at 1950 or something - so I must be eating like, 2200+ most days. Crazy. I love N's blog - very inspirational, even though I am one of those aliens who is pretty good at moderation.

Turbo BIG HUGS TO YOU - you are totally not a loser, you've only had a couple interviews thus far and you are still a FRESH graduate - you can complain about being unemployable when you've been "job seeking" for 5 years and haven't even gotten to work at Chez Cora or something, hehehe. I hope you feel better after a more relaxed day exercise-wise - I took yesterday off too and today I feel READY to do anything!

I'm FINALLY being trained on how to update and maintain our website at work. No more emailing updates to a third party and waiting for them to get around to it! I can't wait - website is a freaking mess.

Have a good Wednesday! HAPPY FIRST DAY OF SPRING, too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Morning, girls!

Still staying at 132 My body likes this number!

Going to have a lazy day today because the next 5 days are busy ones. Yay for the first day of Spring!! Hope everyone has a lovely day!

Krampus - I think I am definitely more relaxed. I wouldn't mind seeing the scale drop down a little more just purely for wiggle room, but it's not like a battle in my head & on the scale everyday. I'm just trying to work now at being more consistent with working out everyday. We want to try & get pregnant soon & I want to be working everyday before I get pregnant so that I can keep it up while I'm pregnant.

You know that trainers are trial and errors...there's a lot of let's try this, then let's try that. I understand why so many people keep a competition log for foods/exercises etc...so that they can remember what worked and what didin't.

Some people do well with just pics/measurements...I don't. I'm actually quite hard on myself with pictures...worse than the scale. I'm not gaining fat but since I'm still trying to cut fat, I must accept the deficit. I just don't think my body likes it anymore. I've been eating at calorie deficit since October (with the exception of 3 vacy weeks). It's getting harder...not easier!

Krampus Right now as it stands, there is a bit more of a 1% gap between me and the 2nd place person. She's about the same weight as me, so that ends up being between 1-1.5 lbs. But it's not really a great assessment, since she didn't weigh in on the last weekend, as she was on vacation. So in theory, she could be ahead of me, but I would assume she probably stayed around the same seeing that she was on vacation, but I won't know until this weekend. 3rd place is about 2% behind me, but she has a higher body weight, so it's more of a 4 lb difference. If I have a bit more of a lead, I don't know, we'll see what I decide to do.

Bayzee Sorry to hear you're having trouble getting back on plan. That first week is always the hardest. Hang in there.

Turbo Sorry to hear you didn't get the job. I always hate going for interviews for that reason, the rejection hurts, even if you know that it generally takes a few interviews to get an offer. Getting that first job out of university is the toughest. I remember it took me a while. Once you have some job experience under your belt it gets so much easier.

Joss Well, it sounds like you are well prepared to do the one weigh in to calibrate your body whatchamacallit. I know you don't like knowing what you weigh, but I think you have realistic expectations anyhow, and I'm sure you'll be able to take it with a grain of salt.

Maddie I admire your commitment. I don't think I'd be able to be so on track if I knew I was going to try and get pregnant soon, but I'd like to think that if I did, I could at least keep up some of my fitness routine / healthy eating. In fact, right before I got pregnant the last time, I lost around 15 lbs, and just kinda threw it out of the window as soon as I found out I was pregnant. Mind you, then I didn't really have very healthy eating habits back then, despite the weight loss.

-------

Feeling a bit frustrated with the puppy house training, he is regressing big time, but trying not to let it get to me too much. Our last dog practically house trained himself, and I'm starting to realize that we really lucked out with him.

Been trying to contact the school to schedule my daughter's admissions test since before March break, but it seems we are playing phone tag. It is very frustrating, as I'd just like to get it done with, so that I know if I need to enroll her elsewhere.

Joss : I love the link you posted, her attitude is great. It might sound stupid, but I love when people are honest about their diet/food habits. This girl enjoy pizza, and when she gets some, she's not faking the thing! I love it. Do what you gotta do and find way to embrace life and food at the same time.

Thanx for the nice words about my crappy day, by the way. You girls are all so sweet, just coping with my episodic whiny phases LOL I ended up eating having a 200 cal-cake pity party, which was no that bad in term that I hit around 1800 cal yesterday.. Could have been muuuuuch worst!

Did you receive your Bodymedia yet? It's gonna be fun playing with it! Upping your calories and everything and observing results on your body and everything (okay, it's probably my nerdy scientific ''let's do an experiment!'' side talking right now :P)

Bayzee : God, your post about struggling on maintenance and feeling squishy, it is basically all what is happening in my head. After reading the article Joss posted, it cross my mind that maintaining might not be staying at the same exact weight (like I tried last summer.. and failed :P) and maybe more indulging a bit and making up for it later. It is still weird to me that losing weight is almost easier than maintaining.

Maddie : Thank you for the wake up call... I've been acting like a big whiny baby lately, I let myself get depressed with.. everything that comes up and that is not working up. Like you said, I was maybe going on the hoarding thing concerning my diet. I was probably just holding on sooo bad to this little thing I was able to control. Did you get fun things during your shopping trip?

krampus : SUPER NINTENDO PARTY! What are you playing? Mario Kart? It always end up at screaming bad stuff at each other when I play with the boyfriend LOL. ''TAKE THIS BANANA MUUUUTHERF*CKEEEER'' is comon. It's nice to hear that you are keeping busy while the boyfriend is gone! What kind of personal projects will you be working on?

Oh Jesus, I don't think I could survive working at Cora LOL. I'd probably gained back all my 50 pounds lost in like a month :P

Jessica : Aww, that sucks for the phone tagging AND for the doggy training (he must be getting SO big!). Are you still trying to get your daughter in the french school? How is the exercices for the test admission is going?

***

Hello ladies! First, I want to apologize for being the big cry baby that I was in the last days. I was feeling a bit depressed about many things lately and I think this news probably did not help. I'm feeling a bit better today and spotted a few jobs I need to apply on tomorrow.

I was back to 135.8 this morning, which is okay, the huge sudden drop was freaking me out a bit. No poop today, so I might be up again tomorrow.

We ended up getting about more than a feet of snow last night. What a better way to KICKSTART THE SPRING than to shovel your enormous deck for more than a hour?! I was running in a light sweater last week, jeeeeez.

I felt sluggish today but pushed myself out of the door to head to the park in town to run (on of the only spot where I could find a path where the snow had already been taken out). The path was a mixture of compact snow, ice and mayby 15% of dry road = sucky traction. Paired that with a wind I had to face while I was going up a hill, this run felt so much worse that it was suppose to be. At least it is done and I'll be able to head to the gym tomorrow for cross training cardio and weight arms workout.

Can't wait to take my day off (... of working out) Friday This will feel soooo.good.

Good night ladies!

Alexis, you okay? Last time you posted, you thought you were coming off with something... Hope everything is okay with you!

Turbo...I'm not sure I know how to maintain. I lose and maintain for a while but then I just let go "Knowing full well" I can just diet down again. The longest I maintained was 111lbs for a year and I felt fit, healthy and great! Not sure what's going on now. I'm working much harder, and still not seeing the same results.

I'm sorry that I also missed the post about the job. I am a true believer that things happen for a reason, which means there will be another job that will be a better fit. And you have not been whiny...people whine more about their jobs

No time for personals right now, but just wanted to pop in and say hi! And also to say that that article that jossfit posted? YES YES. That is so me, too!

This vacation week I haven't weighed or gotten stressed about food or weight, and it's honestly the best feeling ever. Okay, maybe not THE best. The BEST feeling would be breaking my code for weight loss and staying on a plan that works for me and seeing success, but hopefully that's next! ;D I needed this break from the angst and stress of it. I haven't stuffed my face all day long either, so hopefully I'll just stay about the same and not gain. I have gone a bit over the top with wine consumption a few of the days, and I have eaten out a few times, but other than that, I'm pretty much eating "normal." I've also run a few times this week, and the runs have been fantastic. I don't know if it's because I'm just not putting pressure on myself or if I really needed that rest from running the last few weeks, but I'm not complaining!

Oh, but I do NOT feel like getting back to my usual hellish schedule starting Monday! I wish time would just slow down right now...am so in love with not having to be anywhere I don't want to be this week!

Later for personals!

Hi ladies:
Just posting in to update.
I finally got fed up with feeling miserable, so I caved and went to the Drs on Monday. The verdict was bacterial bronchitis. I'm on antibiotics (zpack) and still feeling crappy, but finally back at work.

Have been eating lots of soft foods (oatmeal, for some reason, and sweet potato) and not really caring that much about active weight loss.

But interesting to note, I don't think it was the dairy that was bothering me after all...

When I was monitoring my carbs (before I got sick), I discovered that I could have all the dairy I wanted (ff yogurt + cottage cheese) and have no adverse reactions. Once I added the carbs back in, things got a little "hairy". I guess my previous food trials might have been faulty. Interesting the things you learn when you're sick.

So am just working on getting back to health. Not excited at all. The last time I had the bronch (early 2007) I was miserable and took like a month and a half to fully kick. This time I went to the doc earlier (thank goodness) so hopefully this won't be as bad.

Forgive my absence if I'm not around as much. Am trying rest, rehydrate, and "unplug" as much as possible. Lots of time "lying in bed reading books" and pushing as much fluid into my body as I can. I normally drink over 100 ozs of water a day. Go figure: Sick = absolutely no desire to drink.


(((((Turbo)))))) ~ My twin. Thanks for the love. You still my inspiration, girl. Chin up with the job search. Sooner or later someone's sure to spot your awesomeness.

thebunneh ~ Thank you! Me, too!!!

Maddie ~ Seems like you're doing great out there. Keep it up, girlfriend! Hope your busy days are proceeding smoothly and aren't too hectic.

Olehcat ~ I can relate to everything you've written, especially the part about weightloss taking a back seat. Right now, I feel crappy and Where I am right now, unfortunately, food makes me feel better. I'm working on incorporating better coping mechanisms, but for

Joss ~ That body media thingie looks feature-rific! I'll have to live vicariously through you to see how it works out. And man, do I ever relate to the whole "search for moderation" post you posted. So much more difficult to find that happy medium. It's an ongoing quest, but the more you learn, the more you grow, etc. No one knows your body better than you do.

Aidan ~ Yummy fooood porn!

Bayzee ~ Thanks for the well wishes. Sounds like you're already killing it on the scales, girl! Do you have a lower goal in mind?

Jessica ~ So close to the finish line on that WW comp! Do you think that will that keep you motivated through Easter? Good luck on the admissions process and fingers crossed for your first choice, too.

Krampus ~ Hugs to the time away from bf! Hopefully it will make you all the more excited to see eachother when he returns.

Apologies if I missed anyone!

~alex

Hi Feathers!

I think my body knows when it's pullups/dips day and throws runny poops at me. Not fair! I want my stomach to stop gurgling and churning.

Had a nice time playing video games with roomie's bro and friend last night. I need a break from exhaustive social interactions and time to just do diddly squat and focus on me. Friend brought over peanut butter ice cream and I had some, but not a ton. Weighed in at 124.2 this morning - totally OK with that number - hit the gym in the AM and will again after work.

BF landed in Seattle safely. He was kind of stressed out when I took him to the bus and it left me with a sour taste in my mouth. Everything would be perfect if he handled stress better and didn't let himself get hangry every other day and I didn't let it bother me. That said I already miss him. It'll all work itself out.

My boss is still out with pneumonia and no signs of slowing. Poor guy.

Weekend's almost here! I plan to spend mine catching up with my dad and going to see "Jack the Giant Slayer" at the theaters, then heading to NYC Sunday to see a friend before my 8 hour Quickbooks training course on Monday for work. -___- What's everyone else getting up to?

olehcat Glad your spring break is going well and you feel freed of the shackles of constantly worrying about food and weight. There really is no reason to be constantly overwhelmed and anxious about stuff you have to do every day (eat). High five for great runs too!

Turbo Last night we played Street Fighter 2 and Super Mario Bros 3 "Battle Mode" because my friend's bro is ABSURDLY GOOD at it and makes everyone play against him. Sorry you got SO MUCH SNOW up there - we ended up getting only a little here, but it's still cold and not melting.

JessicaB I can't imagine trying to house train a dog, play roller derby, take care of a little person AND lose weight all at the same time. You are a strong woman - if you can handle that, you can totally win the contest.

Bayzee The mirror and how we view our own reflections are pretty crazy sometimes. I feel like I am just getting bigger and bigger when I am obviously NOT because I've been the same weight for months on end. I'm sorry it's been so hard lately to stay at a deficit - staying at a deficit and cutting body fat is like fighting gravity for women.

MaddieBPhoto I saw your WI this morning - NICE! What kinds of exercises are you doing? Happy second day of spring - good luck with the 5 busy days coming up!

Alex Sorry you've been under the weather, I was wondering where you'd gone. I hope you recover speedily and won't be out of commission for anywhere near as long as in 2007.

Bayzee : You maintained for a year? That is already so much better than me, who maintained for like 5 days :P I really do hope you will get the results you expect soon, you are working so hard!

Olehcat : Enjoy your vacation!! Get some rest, you diserve it!

Alexis : Ah, poor thing! I was getting concerned about you! Get some rest and enjoy all the books you want! I hope getting to the doc earlier will help your recovery... bronchitis do suck BAD. So carb would be the problem? Hmm! Interesting! At least now it means you can enjoy your dairy!

And thank you for the nice words... Means a lot to me! Big hugs to you and get better!

Krampus : That sucks that your boyfriend was off in a weird stressful situation, but I'm happy that everything get sort out by itself. Awww, I'm jealous because you get to see Jack the Giant Slayer''. I want to go but everyone around me laugh and say it looks bad when I talk about it. HELLO, there is EWAN McGregor in it, I loove this guy. And the effets look awesome. Hope you had a nice workout!

***

Hi ladies! Still 135.8 this morning, good poop, awesome workout where I increased the weight/or the number of rep of my arms sections. I had an awesome lunch of a big salad topped with the remain of chicken fajitas of last night paired with the awesome veggie pate I loved.

I had the most frustrating discussion on Skype while I was eating my super duper lunch though with my former colleague/running buddy. Last time I saw her, she was telling me that she was a the doctor office a few days ago and that she gained over 10 pounds and that she never weighed that much except during her pregnancies (she is 54). She was running a lot last year but she really did slow down but her diet stayed the same = so she obviously gained. She knows I am really dedicated to my healthy food and training program. So while I was eating, she came to me on Skype stating me everything she ate today and wanted to know how many calories there was in there. Already in my head I was ''okay you could have use whatever calculator online, but because I'm nice, I'll sum it up for you''.

She really wanted specific information. For example, she was asking how many calories there was in the lunch dinner she gets at the cafeteria. COME ON, that is VAGUE. The cafeteria serve everything from salad to wrap to big time bagel with cheese and big meat to creamy tuna/chicken casserole overloaded with pasta. So I told her ''well, it really depends, probably from 600-1000 cal depending on the meal''.

After answering many more question about ''and what salad. and dressing. and coffee. and creamer. and the sugar in my coffee. and butter''. When the salad dressing came up, I told her that she could use low cal dressing for exemple, that was an easy change to do.

- No can't do low fat. They don't have low fat at the cafeteria.
- First, you can ask that your side of salad be served w/o dressing and pick the little italian low cal dressing thing there OR you can bring your low fat dressing from home if you really don't want to bring your own lunch.
- Okay, so that brings me to a total of 2100 calories. Will I lose weight?
- I don't know what is your basic metabolic rate, but I doubt it.

She did not seem willing to bring her lunch to work, which would be the best solution in my opinion. You never really know what it's on your food if you don't make it, even if it does look healthy... She ended up throwing at me ''Oh this is too difficult. I'll just run more'' and quit skype without saying another word to me.

I kinda got frustrated. If she does not want to make some real change, it is her business. But if I had knew that she would treat the information I took the time to give her with such a BLAH, I would just had copy pasted the website url of calorie count and said LOOK IT UP YOURSELF.

I don't mind helping people with diet stuff, but if you're not really to listen and aknowledge basic stuff like ''crap I'm eating too much when I shouldn't'', then why do you even bother asking!??

Arrrrrrgh. Rant over.

Have a good day! :P

Afternoon, feathers!!

Yay for today's WI! I have a weekend of dinners out with friends, so I will pop back up, but that's ok. This is what maintenance is all about!

I have a stupid engagement session this weekend that is stressing me out. The girl is flying out from Texas FOR THIS ONE WEEKEND to do engagement photos - wedding is in May (could you have cut it any closer?!) & what do you know...it's supposed to snow all weekend. She wants to do it up in the mountains at her family's cabin, but it's like a major drive up there & now it's snowing with a high of 18. I have to bite the bullet & tell her no, but I feel badly BUT this is on her. It's Colorado - it can snow in effing June in the mountains! DUH!

Krampus - I'm doing Pilates & then adding in a quick arm & leg routine & maybe some abs if I'm feeling motivated. I LOVE LOVE LOVE seeing my hip bones so much now!

Sorry about your bf. You always envision those sendoffs more romantically than they actually happen in real life. He's just stressed - it's not about you.

Turbo - Don't apologize! We all have weeks that kick us while we're down! That's why we're here!

Buh. Getting a cold. And PMS to top it off. I'm going to relax my eating a little. I'll still log everything, but I'm going to allow myself a couple hundred more calories wiggle room until TOM leaves.

Hope you all have a good weekend.

Good morning, feathers!

I'm excited. A few days ago I ordered myself a fitbit, one of those devices that keeps track of your activities, etc. I didn't get the super fancy one that keeps track of your sleep cycles, too, as I don't want to know, actually, since my sleep problems that I sometimes have I can't do much about. But anyway, I got the Fitbit Zip, and I'm SUPER excited to see how much it will motivate me to move more!

Anyway, it's getting toward the end of my vacation and I'm already getting sad and cranky about it, but I'm trying not to since I do still have three more days. Strangely enough, I feel light. I know that doesn't make sense since I can't possibly have actually lost weight over this break. That would break the laws of physics since I certainly have eaten more and had more wine and eaten more of things that are not good for me, including takeout Chinese food! So I kind of think that it's just a psychological thing, that because I'm not stressed this week about weight loss AND all other things in my life, that maybe that's why I'm feeling light. I still think I'd be unhappy if I were to actually weigh myself right now. Not surprised, but not happy. And since there is no angst allowed this week, I will not weigh until probably some time next week (and that's with a few days of clean eating thrown in).

I've been reading LONG success threads at Myfitnesspal and trying to get ideas and inspiration. There is nothing more I like than reading about someone getting to goal by doing something realistic (for me). If someone did it by eating only seaweed and flaxseed and doing super complicated strength training routines and running marathons? Not so much. I wouldn't give the story a passing glance. But if the person sort of seems like me -- with real weaknesses and some things against her (maybe a health problem or age-related hormone stuff). Bonus if the person is around my age, around my height, and doesn't have a lot to lose (no more than 30 pounds). While I am amazed by success stories of people who lose 100 pounds or more, it's not my reality. Iv'e never been that overweight before, so I don't know how that would feel and I can't relate to it. That being said, I think there's ALWAYS something to be learned from someone's success story, whatever the parameters.

@TheBunneh - hope you're feeling better! I hate that feeling of coming down with something when you're trying to eat well and exercise!

@Maddie - I don't blame you -- I sure wouldn't be driving up in the mountains in snow. Shoot, I'm phobic about driving down the street in snow!

@Turbo - you're doing great!! And oh my gosh, it's frustrating to talk to someone who will not listen. Wow, if someone is really serious about change, bringing lunch to work would be one of the most obvious choices! And I'm sorry about the job. I know that had to be disappointing. This does not make you a loser at all, this one just wasn't the One.

@Krampus - Sorry about the boyfriend stress. Ugh, I remember back wheN I was married and my husband had an interview in South Africa -- yep, a 15-hour flight, and he was SO NERVOUS and anxious about travel that he made our lives **** for like 2 days before he left. Then once he was on the plane, he totally relaxed and he ended up having an awesome trip. He didn't get that job, but hey, free trip to Africa, so who could complain?

@Alex You poor thing!!!!! That's a bummer, and that takes so long to get over. Just rest and do your best to do well. That's all you can do right now. I just hope you're feeling a lot better soon!

I'm sorry if I miss someone, I'm not going too far back through stuff I missed yet! Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Turbo - Your friend sounds ridic. Half the time girls talk to each other, we want the other person to tell us that in spite of what we are doing wrong, it's an injustice & that we are right. She's wrong, but she doesn't want to hear it. That's on her though. You were very kind to bend over backwards to guess how many calories are in foods you've never seen before, & she didn't care. Maybe she'll get it one day, but yesterday wasn't the day.

Olehcat - I love reading success stories too! And I think we can all relate to some & not to others. I'm with you though - that's part of my problem with SIL - I don't relate to only eating steamed broccoli & drinking Shake-ology until I'm a twig. There's no enjoyment in life if that's all it is.

I'm actually a little frustrated because I have family members that are VERY obese who I try to encourage & share with. They are open to it, but one of them told me the other day that her niece needed someone in her boat who she could talk to. I WAS there, but now that I'm a size 6, I've lost my cred with heavy people? Kinda frustrating. Thought it would be motivating. Anyway, random rant there.

Hit 131.8 today!! Woohoo! Tonight is girls' night out, so I'm eating light all day then I'll have my beer with chips & salsa! Tomorrow we're going out with our friend from church who has cancer, so I'll have to do the same, but maybe just get something light tomorrow. THEN, Monday is a family birthday lunch out. I HATE eating out. I told my MIL I wanted to fake sickness so I didn't have to eat out. I have issues with paying $10 for a plate of plain, grilled chicken & broccoli when I can just eat what I bought for the week at home & save money & actually enjoy it.

That's my rant for the day! I'm excited for girls' night! I like getting to do this more often Off to play with the toddler who is messing around with the ancient computer sitting on the floor next to us

Good morning Feathers,

Will you let me to join your group? I am kind of stuck in "a little below 140lb" and need support and motivation.