Worked out already this morning so abs are done for the day. Off to work now.

No Soda 15 Days

Abs 11 Days

Yesterday was day 13 of ACE.

DH is bumming because we never go out to dinner anymore, so we went out for sushi last night. I had Ocean City Rolls (which I think are philly rolls with grilled, rather than cold, salmon), Da Bomb rolls (i don't know what they are, but dang they are good - shrimp and other stuff) a piece of tomago, and 3 shumai (little shrimp dumplings).

Wow, you guys are all doing so well! Shad's on day 19, Curly's on 17. StageMom, you are whipping through your first challenges You all should be able to sneak in one more full challenge before the New Year!

i was off work today for an interview,,,, geesh do i hate them! I always feel so stupid>> duh what are your goals? umm to be able to pay my electric bill?

anyways.. i stopped and worked out for an hour after my interview... so day 17 is complete!

I got home at 7 pm yesterday with a horrible migraine. Took some Tylenol and laid down to wait for it to go away. And then suddenly it was 1 am...

Weight and measurements!!!! Yes well.
For some reason I had this thought that things were getting better - if not weight wise then size wise anyway. However a trip around the tape measure this morning is not good news. Not only am I 1/2k up from my last weigh in and 1kg up from when I got home from Japan, I am up in just about all the measurements as well.

I'm so tired of all this. So fed up with getting up early and exercising, with being diligent with food, with being GOOD. I think I will be BAD for a while.

Day 19 came and went. Same old story. Day 20 - Same as before no doubt. Second verse, same as the first........ and on, and on, and on
It's okay, I am just feeling sorry for myself. Day 21 will be the end of the challenge. Habit maybe formed but thats about all. No other changes have been made.

Sushi - look after yourself. Migraines are not funny.

Curly - Good luck with that interview. Have to agree with the goals bit. My goal at the moment is simply to get throught the day. Why can people just understand that the majority of people just go to work to pay the bills and have a bit left over. Not everyone is lucky enough to get the exact job their hearts desire and quite frankly the way the workforce gets treated from time to time, it's a wonder there isn't more murder in the workplace.

Fish - the sushi sounds good. Don't know them by those names but they sound nice anyway.

Red - nice to know you are going on the crunches again. Anything is better than nothing and at least these are portable. You can do them just about anywhere - although the aisle of a plane is always a challenge.

Gotta go - do some work, I'm training a co worker in the joys of the OnDemand program today. Sometimes I fail to see how companies can pay so much for a program that while a good idea, delivers so little. See you all later when I get out of my snitchy hissy fit.

shad
dont give up and be bad!!! you will hate yourself for it later!! I didnt lose one ounce from the middle of August thru the middle of october well i did lose and the next time i would be back up 2 lbs.. lose 1 back up 3 .. and i was excercising and watching every morsel that went in my mouth..

I think its your bodies way of finding an equalibrium>> it says no u cant lose any more weight!!!.. i wanna keep this weight on.. and by exercising u are saying OHHH yes u are coming off and finally you win and the see sawing stops!!

on another thread Jillian michaels told me to actually eat 200 more cals per day not junk.. but healthy things for 1 week.. and then cut back the next week to kinda give your body a bit of a "jog" also u can try rotating your cals each day a little lower one day .. and then a few higher the next day...

Thanks Curly - much appreciated advice.

We seek it here, we seek it there etc.etc.etc. Boring. But thanks for commenting.

It's all coming back to haunt me. Years ago when I was the Pres of a Weight Reduction club someone asked me how they could lose 10Kg in a hurry. I told them to chop off a leg.

I will survive this. It is annoying. It is sh*tting me off. I am getting antsy. But although I might just go off the rails a bit, I won't be getting off them forever.

Hello all. I have been avoiding a long "oh whats the use?!!" post for a while, but since there have been a few others who are feeling exasperated, I thought I'd join in......
I think this challenge thread is a great idea, it encourages good habits etc, but I don't think it's quite perfect for me. Either I challenge myself with something whimpy like sit ups, easily done and without obvious results, or I try a hard one and set myself up for failure. Either way, the end result is NOT a thinner happier me.
So I'm angry at my self for still being fat. And not really doing anything about it. STILL.
What I need to do is go on a diet. Really. Eat less. Eat better. Stop eating M&Ms and drinking beer, because any nit-wit knows you can't lose weight if you do stuff like that. Say NO THANK-YOU to temptation. But don't kick yourself if you screw up a little, just eat a little less the next day, or exercise a little more. It's not rocket science, it's just a matter of committment.
And now I would like to announce that I just blew my challenge by eating a granola bar after I put the kids to bed. I just plain forgot I wasn't supposed to eat after dinner. Pause days used up thanks to the holidays. OOPS. Can't we get an extra pause day for major holidays? Oh boy, would we ever get creative with holidays.
I can see Red now:
Anyhow, Red, Shad and I will get through our rough spots and we'll think positive once again. Thanks to everyone else who inspires with their success and encourages us with kind words. That's why we're all here after all... Love you guys!!!

Apple -- Just saw your post and, of course, it's No, really, I hear you on the challenge not being a perfect fit, but it's not supposed to be. It's just what it is, not the solution, not the key to anything except doing the thing we're supposed to do for the 21 days. I think what has happened is that people, including myself, have begun to use the thread as their sole support thread and that is not really what it was intended for.

The idea of doing something for 21 days was just to make habits, just to get people recommitted. It wasn't meant to be what will see us through to all our goals. That is impossible. I too had been bringing too much of my life and other goals in here and realize that that is not what it is for. And, Apple, there is a happy medium. I think we just have to find that again and either make the other goals on another thread or just not let them get in the way of the challenge. Perhaps we can all be a bit more like curly, who simply does her challenge thing, reports and is gone. Well, I mean, I certainly would miss hearing from everyone, but it shouldn't be affecting the challenge. We got to keep it simple.

I started the challenge up again when I was totally out of control and wanted some simple structure back in my life. I think I more or less graduated from that, but others have not, and that is really who the challenge is for, people who need to get some consistency into their lives. It has a place for me too I think. I still like it for just that, its simplicity and am going back to that starting with a new thread either tonight or tomorrow, a new 21-dayer that is. I, too, was making things too complicated, and, as you say, setting myself up for failure.

Like I said earlier, I may start up another kind of challenge-type thread. I know there is a weekly challenge thread but I don't think it would fit me.

Still, if I may offer some advice Apple, make it simple again for this challenge, as I don't want to lose you or anyone. I would love it if some people would go over to a new type challenge thread, while others would stay here. I would probably continue with both, but keep this one simpler and only for the record. I think the chitchat and more complicated goals and routines can be fit into another type thread.

Apple, I found that when I kept my challenge simple it was easy to remember and I didn't blow it, like you did, by simply forgetting. When I started to add elements and make it complicated, I did the same thing. If not eating after dinner is the only part of your challenge (I forget) then I think you'll just have to remember better. Hang a sign in the kitchen or do something to keep it foremost in mind....whatever. And you know, you didn't have to tell us you had the granola bar...I'm not the judge and jury. You are. If you honestly just plum forgot, why not let it go...we're not going to sig the cyber police on you.

Well, I've had enough moping around and *****ing about things....(from me that is) I am getting this arse off to the gym!! Ciao!!

I'm stuck at work till 6:30 pm
or even longer!

No Soda 16 Days

Abs 11 Days

I'm off to bed now it's been a long day.

stagemom -- Great going!

sushi -- why so upset? Were you planning on getting to the gym after work?

And, yes, I'm making the crunches my new challenge. Normally I would not give up but just start over on the old but I think this is best and I will make the new thread....stay tuned...