Thanks Abi. :) I really needed that today.

Blake Shelton was a lot of fun last night and his fiance Miranda Lambert showed up for a couple of songs. I'm not the biggest country music fan, but I am a big fan of any man as hot as Blake. :)

Food yesterday was alright until we were leaving the festival and Domino's guys were begging us to take the last hot pizzas off their hands as they were packing up. I made it all the way home and then buckled with 1 1/2 slices of cheese pizza without crust. At least it tasted as good as it smelled. :/

Today's Breakfast: english muffin with 1 egg and one slice of cheese & juice - 400

Snack: Grapes - 100

Lunch: tortilla chips with leftover chicken pieces, parmesan cheese and salsa. -500+

5:00pm and at 1000 calories.

Hello friends -

My Friday

breakfast - oatmeal with a few slices of peach and banana, raw almonds, cinnamon. coffee with skim.

lunch - pita bread pizza with lots of garden veg.

snack - ice cream (about 175 calories) :( Had a stressful moment at work. Still, didn't eat any more than I did.

dinner: homemade burritos - low carb whole grain tortilla, lean ground beef (from our cows) sauteed with onions, garlic, peppers. Shredded lettuce, cheese, fresh tomatoes, and a slice of avocado on top.

workout: Yes, Diana, I got my workout in! Went for a run in the evening - I can't wait as long after eating as I used to because it gets dark sooner, so I headed out shortly after eating, which means it felt like I was running with a burrito in my belly...cause I was running with a burrito in my belly. But I got out there and hoofed it for 45 minutes even so. :running: With it being fall, I may (gasp) have to consider getting up and running in the morning to take advantage of the daylight.

My Saturday (cause I don't think I'll have a chance to post tomorrow, and I won't eat anything more today :crossed:)

breakfast: 1 1/2 homemade waffle from whole grain organic mix, almond butter, 1/2 pear (from our tree!) and a few strawberries on top. Coffee w/ skim.

lunch: leftovers - black beans, pinto beans, cheese, polenta, sauteed veg: onion, peppers, garlic, okra, greens.

snack: small amount of popcorn - like 6 handfuls (popped w/ canola oil, no salt) brought from home to the movie theater. 5 oz fat free vanilla/chocolate frozen yogurt.

dinner: sauteed veg: onion, peppers, garlic, summer squash, fresh tomato, basil, sage, parsley tossed with some olive oil over whole wheat pasta. Sprinkle of parmesan cheese on top for token protein, but probably not enough to balance out the carbs. But lots of veggies.

Securely back in onederland - all the water weight from my trip is gone after 4 days of being back in my normal routine. Just goes to show, not freaking out at a crazy high number Monday morning was valid.

Raven - :bravo::cp::bravo::cb::bravo::flow1::bravo::goodvi bes:bravo:
Way to go on onederland! Doesn't it feel great. And, Raven, I agree with Abi, I tend to get stitches in my side if I work out after eating...like last night when I went for a run after dinner.

Diana - down another pound, I see. You'll be at 190 in no time - you've pulled ahead of me and I'm motivated to catch up! I also wanted to say I'm so impressed that you're doing this eating out all the time - I have a harder time making good choices when I eat out than at home, so WTG!

Somebody asked what polenta is - it's basically cornmeal that you cook by pouring it into boiling water and stirring. It's an Italian food, but I also like using it in Mexican-style cooking. Nice b/c it is a whole grain, and tasty. Can season it with almost anything. You can buy it ready-made in a tube so you can just slice it and bake or pan-fry it, or you can actually cook it on the stove from scratch. Should be able to find it at natural food store, or maybe even regular grocery.

Roxanne - sounds like you planned ahead for your trip to the fair. How did it go? hope you had fun!

Vixsin - glad to hear you enjoy the elliptical. That is a huge benefit in this weight loss journey.

Ebenz - how was your night out?

Feeling much more relaxed today - I made it an early night last night and slept well, and then struck a balance between productive and chill today. I made up this color-coded calendar (green for work, blue for school, red for personal, etc) with everything I have to get done before I leave for Peru on Oct 18 so just to have organized that and being able to see how it all lands is better than thinking constantly, "oh, yeah, and I have to remember to do this and that, and when is that meeting scheduled?" Weight loss isn't the only place where writing things down is a good strategy...

Planning for a dance class tomorrow and a run on a new trail (just short of 5 miles) near my SO's house. Only food-related thing the next few days is a breakfast with friends, but I can get a small piece of veggie quiche and some fruit salad with a skim latte, so shouldn't be any problem. I used to go for not-so-sweet pastries like scones, but now that I am aware of not only calories but carbs, I gotta pass those by.

Abidabbi Hi :wave: It's great to see you check in. See you on Monday!

Blueridge Great job on getting back to Onederland. I find it easier to eat out and count calories. I guess it's because I have done it for so long. Normally, if I cook at home, it's going to be a higher calorie day for me.

(Total Approx 1500 + Morning Joe - Not bad for eating dinner at home :D)

Breakfast (365 Calories + coffee)
spritz olive oil in pan
egg 70 cal
egg whites from carton 60 cal
Handful of spinach
2% Reduced Fat Cheese 40 cal
high fiber English muffin 100 cal
1 teaspoon jam 20 calories
coffee w/sugar and cream
juice 75 calories

Lunch (300 calories)
Grilled chicken snack wrap, no sauce 250 calories
Venti iced coffee w/sweet 'n low + cream 50 calories

Dinner (835 Calories)
Salad (lettuce/tomato, cuke, less than 2 tablespoon Low fat dressing) 100 calories
3 Grilled Shrimp skewers w/teriyaki glaze 250 calories
1/2 cup Saffron rice 85 calories
Garlic spinach 100 calories
Grilled zucchini 100 calories
2 brownie bites 200 calories

Exercise:
~Billy Blanks This Is Tae Bo

Thanks everyone for all the words of encouragement! :hug: You really have made it so much easier for me. You guys rock :high:

And I was able to stay on plan tonight! While everyone else had yummy quesadillias, nachos and cookies, I took my mushroom risotto entree and mixed it with a little diced chicken breast from the quesadillias and salsa. It was yummy and I was satisfied. *whew*

abidabbi: Thanks, and great advice about the side stitches; it makes sense. Maybe they will go away when I get more into shape :strong: Great exercise plan you've got going on. Hopefully there won't be too much falling in the mud tomorrow!

dallas: It's impossible to be in a car with a hot pizza and NOT dig in. Good job only giving into 1 and half slices. It would take a lot of self restraint for me not to inhale the whole thing, lol. Glad you had a good time last night :)

blueridge: Thanks! Glad you are securely back in Onederland, too- Congrats :D

Here was my day:
Chocolate "pancakes" (made from my chocolate shake mix)
Chicken Pasta Parmasan
Mocha Shake
Mushroom Risotto with some chicken and salsa
Chocolate Vanilla Shake

PA: 35 minute walk and 4 hours of running around at my church tonight ;)

9-25-10

70 ounces water
arm exercises with weights

Breakfast:
Peanut Butter Chocolate Protein Shake

Lunch:
Quinoa

Snack:
Sliced turkey & string cheese
Fiber one bar

Dinner:
Pumpkin Pie protein shake
Vegetable Soup - homemade

Total calories approximately 1325. It's only 9:00 but I am so tired . . . not sure how much longer I'm gonna be up.

Ha! Thanks Raven... I took the rest of the pizza to my parents when I went to visit today. Had to get it out of my house. :)

Hey all~
I'm SO exhausted. Fair was FANTASTIC! We had a lot of fun. The best part, Disney had an exhibit there called Get Animated that was the history of animation. Coolest exhibit ever! The new movie coming out is called Tangled and I can not WAIT to see it.

Food, oh lord.
Breakfast was a little higher in calories because I made a big breakfast so we wouldn't be hungry. But I reckoned with out SO's mom. Lol.

Ate a corn dog, a handful of fries, 2 deep fried mushrooms, one deep fried cauliflower, one deep fried zucchini, had a nibble of deep fried pepsi because I wanted to try it, (i thought it was icky) and then SO and I split a chicken teriyaki meal and a HUGE ice cream cone. I drank part of lemonade and part of a coke.

I still think my fluid intake for the day was only about 20 to 25 oz. I am REALLY thirsty. First time in a long time. Just downed a whole bottle of water and still feel thirsty. My lips are dry and cracked so I know I got dehydrated.

Oh and we were there and walking for most of the time we were there. Our total time at the fair was 8 hours. I am guess we walked for 6 of those. My feet, hips and knees hurt. Can't wait to lose weight so that walking doesn't hurt.

It was a great day. I haven't figured out the calorie intake for this stuff. I will tomorrow.

Going to bed. Talk to everyone tomorrow.
Roxanne

September 25,

coffee 50

½ Panera Frontega sand 430

apple and PB 275

pork tenderloin 140
squash casserole 360
bread 240

ice cream sundae 400

Total = 1,895

Exercise
Ped = 6,736


Weight,
216.8

Sorry to have been MIA. With my sis in town we were eating out all the time and I got tired of keeping track of cals. Gained a few pounds, too. :o That will teach me to keep posting!

Congrats on Onederland Raven!!! And great job staying OP while everyone had quesadillas- you go girl!

abidabbi, thanks it feels great to be in control for sure! And your plan with the gym sounds great! I also find that if I take more than one day off it makes it harder to go back on plan.

dallas, I'm glad you had fun at the concert! And don't worry too much about the pizza, it could've been a lot worse!

blue, your menu sounds delicious and healthy as always! Good luck with your breakfast with friends, it looks like you have it all planned out!

Mama, hope you are doing well. That pumpkin pie protein shake sounds delicious!

Roxanne, I'm glad you had fun at the fair! I know what you mean about eating too much fair food, I did the same thing yesterday and it's tough to find all the calorie counts too.

Penguin, hope you had fun with your sister!

Hello to anyone I may have missed! :wave:

So yesterday was pretty bad. I went to the fair with my boyfriend and I think in trying to save calories, I let myself get way too hungry. I'm right back OP today but a little worried about my WI since I've had two higher calorie days this week. Oh well, we had a slight cold front move in so I am making homemade chili for dinner tonight yum! Will be back later to post my day. I hope you're all having a good weekend!

Morning all~ Hope everyone is having a great weekend. I'm sore today from all the walking!
Penguin: Isn't it nice when family comes into town? It is hard to keep track of calories though. But at least you are ready to get back on track!


I figured out my calories for yesterday as best I could and it was 2500 for the day. Could have been much worse. SO and I are talking about going one more day before the fair is over. There were a lot of exhibits we didn't have enough time to go through and I want to go again.

So today is back OP

B: cereal and milk
155

L: Shrimp bowl
350

D: 1/2 c Brisket, 2c green beans and 2 red potatoes
652

Calories for the day:
1157

My goal for fluids today is 40oz

Hi guys! I miss you all. :(

We're still fighting in the sick trenches here. We ended up having to take our oldest ds in to the doctors. He's now on a steroid to help keep his breathing ways open and has been referred to an allergist due to his constant breathing issues and croup. Also, my daughter woke up croupy, but it wasn't too bad. Needless to say, the sleep situation hasn't improved at all here. This week has gone by in a sleep deprived haze.

But, on a positive note, I reached the 249 this morning and I also have a ticker now! Little blessings.

Today has been a better day with the children. I think they're slowly getting better, so I hope to be around tomorrow to chat with you guys! :)

shells, I'm glad to hear the kids are getting better slowly but surely. :hug:

Here's my today!

9/26/2010 Check-in:

9am (290)
2 eggs scrambled w/ 1/2 slice 2% American cheese melted in- 165
2 slices turkey bacon- 70
1/2 cup oj- 55

11am (105)
large coffee w/ 3 tbsp Coffee Mate cinnamon bun creamer- 105

2pm (350)
2 slices 100% whole grain low calorie toast- 90
3 slices turkey bacon- 105
shredded lettuce- 2.5
1 1/2 tbsp light mayo- 52.5
1 cup veggie soup- 100
H2O- 0

8pm (580)
1 cup homemade chili (extra lean ground beef, black beans, tomato sauce, diced tomato, spices)- 255
2 tsp shredded cheese- 15
1.5 tbsp light sour cream- 30
2 jiffy cornbread muffins- 230
1 tbsp light veggie oil "butter"- 50
H2O- 0

8:30pm (160)
1 tbsp peanut butter- 95
2 squares 50% dark chocolate- 65
H2O- 0

= apprx 1485 calories

ETA: No time for my afternoon snack today so I had a treat tonight instead. :)

Thought I wouldn't get online today but found a minute to jump on.

Roxanne - Glad you had fun at the fair...at events that we can think of as being pretty food-centric, it is good to focus on the non food elements, like the history animation display. (BTW, I've seen the preview for Tangled and look forward to seeing it, too!) One question - deep fried pepsi? Did I read that right?

Shells - glad to hear the kids are improving...thanks for jumping on to say hi!

Dallas - WTG on only having 1 1/2 slice pizza and then getting it out of the house....wow, I would not like to have the domino's guys shoving free pizzas at me!

Penguin - don't worry about scale being up, could well be water weight that goes away in the next 3-4 days when you settle back into routine.

I'm in get serious mode...you know, those days when you just say, "let's do this!" I've been eating too much sugar and just need to cut it out, to get things moving again. I really want to get from 199 - 190 faster than I got from 209 - 200. Seeing Diana zip through the 190s is my inspiration! Well - all of you are with the progress that you are making - I want to move slightly faster than a snail. I'm coming up with rewards for myself (196 - pedicure, 194 - new nightgown, 192 - size 10 old navy jeans, 190 - trip to victoria's secret) and hoping to just stay on track. And when I am at 191, then I have BMI under 30 which is an awesome reward! :carrot:

I think the key for me is to really keep carbs under control - I'm setting the goal of not consuming more than 35 g of carb (minus fiber, so if a serving of beans has 25 g carbs, but 7 are fiber, then counts for 18) at a time and balancing with protein. I have insulin resistance to keeping an eye on carbs and glycemix index is important. My SO is supportive but doesn't get I need to limit carbs - we sat down to lunch and he had a can of soup with tons of crackers, and two big pieces of toast, and offered me some bread. Carbs, especially whole grains feel healthy b/c are often low cal and low in fat, but I have to keep portions under control. Off to my dance class, then have my run scheduled tomorrow. Thanks for providing a bit of a motivating kick in the butt, all of you with your daily posts and losses.

Hi Everyone!

Blueridge I tend to have issues with carbs for a variety of reasons. One problem I have is that they tend to trigger me to eat more than I should. I start having cravings. It's just not good for me. I'm talking about sugar and starchy carbs. Fiber seems to be OK for me.

Total Approx 1435 + Morning Joe

Breakfast (365 Calories + coffee)
spritz olive oil in pan
egg 70 cal
egg whites from carton 60 cal
Handful of spinach
2% Reduced Fat Cheese 40 cal
high fiber English muffin 100 cal
1 teaspoon jam 20 calories
coffee w/sugar and cream
juice 75 calories

Lunch (900 Calories)
2 Grilled Pork Chops 600 calories
Steam Squash 100 calories
Collards 100 calories
Pole Beans 100 calories

Dinner (170 calories)
1/2 cup cottage cheese 90 calories
Tropical fruit 80 calories

Exercise:
~TF Fire 45 EZ
~Cardio & Core Dance Blast w/Fitstix (this was my upper body workout)