7 Day Motivational Thread Starting 04/09/12
 

Starting us off this week. I'll post my goals later, too hard to do on the phone. I'm really determined to have a good week. I'm down 2 from last Monday, so I can't complain TOO much. But I could have had a better week had I actually tried. Hope all had a good weekend. See y'all after work.

I'm in! I need to set some pretty strict goals this week and next to get back into the game. I crashed hard after an unexpected 3000 calorie day Saturday. I did awesome until we went for dinner and I made an uninformed 'good' choice of a salad that unexpectedly held over 1200 calories! :eek: Then yesterday I allowed myself to graze on iced sugar cookies a few times during the day and ate whatever I wanted at dinner. I won't even give the awful details of that!

But it's a new week and I am ready for it! My biggest goal this week is to flush out this freakin sodium. I added over 5lbs this weekend.

Health / Fitness Goals ...
1. Gallon of water daily!
2. Shred every day this week (will finish level 3) M: Yep!,
3. No salt on my plate
4. Walk on lunch weather permitting
5. Have endometrial biopsy done Wednesday
6. Daily calorie deficit of 750 minimum
7. Limit one sensible snack after dinner
8. Weigh and post it daily M: 262.4 :eek: ,

Life Goals ...
1. Be more of a participant on this forum
2. Read for 2 hrs this week (not on a computer)
3. Clip dogs' nails (ugh!)
4. Repot plant for the office (take home the one that is already at the office first)

I know I haven't been very active lately. I have been busy and I haven't even really been reading along. I am sure that I have missed quite a bit in the past week or two. I have made it a goal to be more active this week.

Welcome new week! I too flew off track yesterday with some chocolate mouse cake but this week I'm not allowing it. I'm chucking all the sugar from my diet, seeing as that's what usually leads me to red days. And I can't afford to have any of those because my mini goal is due Friday and I still have to lose 1 pound.

Food and Exersize:
no food after dinner
Under 1200 calories
No refined sugar
Exersize 45 minutes a day
Log everything
Over 15% protein
56 oz water daily

Other:
write 400 words a day
At least 30 minutes of 'me' time
No gaming (I can be a bit of a geek at times :p)

Ladies,

I'm back with the He Man Womens Haters Club! I'm giving my GF a taste of her own medicine.

I'll try to post some new goals this week.

Awww Mike, don't be a hater.
OK I went so far off track, I couldn't even see the track. Back on now.

1) 1500 calories or less, awright?
2) stop eating frigging sugar
3) stretch as much as my back in TOTAL spasm will allow
4) 6 glasses a water; izzat too much ta ask, huh? (that's my totally exasperated Brooklyn ax-scent; my original home town)
5) ya ever gonna write again or what?

Good luck all!

Hope ... I love your goals! <3

I'm going to have to play it by ear a bit this week, because my plans are up in the air. Supposed to be walking all over town for my dad tomorrow, and sometime this week I'm supposed to start helping my friend paint her house (I'm thinking Thursday and Friday but I need to talk to her). There's a good chance I won't exercise when I'm doing physical work, so rather than say I will and then have a bunch of red, I'm going to change up my exercise a bit.

1) 1,650 calories max/day (allow myself 1 guilt free day over 1,650)
2) do 2 out of 3 exercises on days I don't work (walking/weights/Richard Simmons)
3) 20% protein minimum
4) 72oz water minimum
5) calorie deficit 600+
6) take vitamins
7) lights out by 11 the night before (except Sunday night because apparently I'm hooked on Celebrity Apprentice)
8) log all spending daily

Had an absolutely wonderful day on Easter. Church, weather, family, food were all perfect. :)

I had such good intentions for Easter: first to eat on-plan; then changed to allow myself 1/2 cup of the carby green bean casserole; then wound up eating anything and everything I wanted with no limit of portion size. I'm back on the wagon this morning.

My 7 year old grandson is home with me sick today (he says, but I have my doubts). I'll have to go read yesterday's thread later.

Lizzie, I did think of you yesterday while we were eating. :)

Same goals, different week. Will post them in my Monday report.

Hugs to all.

Thank you, honey!! Now lemmee see if I can meet em, ya know what I'm sayin'?

Nobe ... Walking all over town will be good exercise, as is painting. I try to get my actual workouts out of the way in the early morning that way I still go about my whole day as if there isn't a dreaded workout looming at the end of the day. I still usually am plenty able to do extra work. I get really nice deficits those days.

Hope ... I have faith in you! You can do it! Now hopefully, I can too. :)

Mern ... The same thing happened with my Easter dinner. I ate anything and everything that I wanted with no regard for portions. Oh well, it happens and it's over so now I just need to do repair work for those added pounds from this weekend.

Last week the work scale said 257.0 on Friday morning. My home scale said 262.4 this morning. That is 5.4 lbs. My biggest goal is to not show a gain when I weigh in at work on Friday morning. Our scales read about a pound different so I log from my own, but I don't want to show a gain for our team. :o

That would be a good idea if me and early mornings got along better, haha. I usually feel pretty nauseous for the first hour or so that I'm up. And to work out before the kiddo gets up, which is the only time I could really do it, I'd have to be working out by about 6. I know, excuses, excuses!

I'm not saying I won't exercise those days, but I'm not going to make myself. I haven't walked or painted for hours in a day for a long time, so I don't know yet how I'll feel. But I'll still get in 4 days of exercise if I don't do it those days. Also, I'm due for crippling cramps (and weakness, dizziness, rage) in the next few days, so that's part of playing it by ear. I gotta do things in a way that I'm not making myself feel guilty, because guiltiness just makes me give up. If I do more than I planned, it'll motivated me to keep going.

MERN. We had a toast to you yesterday, though everyone said "who's Mern". I just told them that it was someone I admired and felt deserved a toast and they all said ok.
We had a lovely day and I wore a dress which was a surprise to my Mum but I felt good and quite classy. Next time BF is over I think I'll wear it again as he would like to see me dress like a lady more often.

Please don't feel that I was trying to push you or say your method was wrong. Every person has to do this their own way. And yeah, by doing it before my day starts that means I have to start at 5am. Not the most fun time of the day to be sweating & grunting, but it's over and done for the day then. And I definitely sympathize with the TOTM stuff.

Health / Fitness Goals ...
1. Gallon of water daily!
2. Shred every day this week (will finish level 3) M: Yep!,
3. No salt on my plate
4. Walk on lunch weather permitting M: 38mins - 2miles,
5. Have endometrial biopsy done Wednesday
6. Daily calorie deficit of 750 minimum
7. Limit one sensible snack after dinner
8. Weigh and post it daily M: 262.4 :eek: ,

Life Goals ...
1. Be more of a participant on this forum
2. Read for 2 hrs this week (not on a computer)
3. Clip dogs' nails (ugh!)
4. Repot plant for the office (take home the one that is already at the office first)

There should be an activity for walking facing into the wind. I just walked 7 laps around my building (each lap = 1/4 mile plus 1/8 mile each direction to get to the building that I walk around) and I swear that 75% of that time was spent with wind gusting in my face. Why does the wind never come from behind me when I am walking in a circle?

When I finish the cup of water I have right now it will be 98oz so far today. :) I joined the PCC long ago today.

Hello ladies! I have decided to join the 7 day motivational thread for the first time this week. Some of my goals I am pretty good at keeping, others not so much. :) It will be fun to report in to others and get to know you all.

Health Goals:
1- Exercise 5 days
2- Drink 80 oz water daily
3- Keep a minimum 600 calorie daily deficit
4- Get 7 hours of sleep each night
5- Practice clogging dance 3 times this week

Personal:
1- Do 2 spring cleaning/organizing projects this week
2- Read a book 3 times this week (I love to read, but have been sucked into my computer a lot lately and have neglected my book love).
3- Help daughter with violin practice

I'm in. Ate terribly Friday through Sunday, but I'm glad to be back in control today. I was the cook for the weekend so it was pretty tough to stay out of the kitchen... and of course, I now have all of the wonderful ham and dessert left-overs. Ugh...

Anyway, the next 6 weeks are going to be crazy busy for me and I probably won't be around a whole lot, but I'm not going to abandon my healthy eating. Warm weather is coming, and I want to look good for the grad party soooo, I better behave.

Goals remain pretty consistent:

1. Calories at or below 1200.
2. Water bottle at all times.
3. Take all vitamins and supplements.
4. 3 fruits or veggies a day, minimum.
5. No bread, cheese, butter, etc.

Personal Stuff To Accomplish By Friday:

1. Order photo invites.
2. Call wholesaler about cups for party.
3. Figure out decorations, table count, etc.
4. Figure out band set-up, power sources, etc. (Make call...)
5. Napkins from daughter's work... remind her.

Welcome Terri! Good goals!! Good luck with em!!

Mern and April, I also just went hog wild. Hog wild on Passover food. Hmmm...doesn't sound kosher...

Mern I am raising a glass of water to you, in honor of you and in trying to complete my goals, which is nowhere near 98 oz!!! I raise my glass also to April who is doing AWESOME with the H2O.

Welcome Terriene!!! Nice goals for a 'newbie'! LOL ... Look forward to getting to know you too. :)

Hope ... I usually do 100oz a day so I kicked it up to a gallon in an effort to flush out the extra sodium that I gathered over the weekend. Me and the potty are becoming good friends!

Quinn ... Good to see you! I was the cook too and I cooked with no restrictions! :eek:

Oh, I know :) I was more just justifying it to myself. I know that if I said I would do it those days I would just be mad at myself if I didn't rather than proud that I didn't have to but did it anyway, ya know?

My best time for exercise seems to be late morning/early afternoon, which is good for walking but I usually do my weights in the evening, which is actually a nice way, for me, to end the day. House Hunters and weights!

TOTM showed up today, which explains why I've flt like a giant cow the past couple days, but I've had no symptoms yet otherwise...I can't help but think my lifestyle change has improved things in that area, which would be AWESOME. Tomorrow will be the real test.

FitDay Challenge
 

I'm back again this week. I may add on DAY (Life) goals next week.
_______
FITDAY Challenge *~* REMEMBER WHY http://yoursmiles.org/tsmile/heart/t4521.gif
Check-in:
Sun = Cushion Day -> Respite with Reason . . . Daily = x6/wk
It's easy to say 'no!' when there's a deeper 'yes!' burning inside. -Stephen R. Covey

_____FIT___health_____daily
....FOCUS * Mind & Heart..........
1. Health Group BK Study &/or Audio Bible
............INTAKE * Nutrition......
2. Water (100 oz)
3. Log
4. Follow Food Plan (5 Grains/Meat/Veg/Oils<>3 Dairy<> 1.5 Fruit + Extra)
5. Eat Clean per Pact
...................TRAIN * Exercise..............................
6. Focused Exercise x5
7. Daily Activity (1 hr minimum)

I ate my way through Easter day, regrets, yes; but the next holiday is a few months away so I can give myself a break, right?

Started the day off with brunch at my folks house: Coffee x2 – with real half & half and sugar, peppered bacon (lost count), mini sweet rolls (like 3 of them). OJ, scrambled eggs with cheese. Then at my house for dinner with the “extended’ family; glazed spiral ham, mashed potatoes with gooey butter, fruit salad with a sugary orange juice dressing, baked brussel sprouts (my recipe and the only low-cal thing on the menu), 2 glasses of red wine (absolutely necessary to get by), Hawaiian rolls with butter, slice of lemon meringue pie, cherry pie (just a little bit), ½ of a sugar cookie, and some jelly beans. Okay, this was all spread out over several hours, but going back to read it I can’t believe I fit that much food in my body! Needless to say I chose wisely not to weigh-in this morning… I brought left-overs for lunch and ate the whole thing at 8:30am! What is up with that? I ate enough yesterday to last at least 4 days and I wake up hungry…????

Grandma story: plate full of her left-over lemon meringue pie which she is placing on the floor and calling my dog over to eat it. I told her not to and she quit talking to me for quite a while. Then she thought the next holiday coming up was Christmas… poor dear… now where did I put that wine?

Goals for this week:
1. Clean out the *&#% fridge of all the left-overs (my Mom “oh no you keep it all, it is just me and your father and we’ll over-eat if we take it home…”)
2. Toss out the candy – 3 Easter egg hunts this weekend – my son is 3 – he won’t notice if I throw away most of his candy!
3. Keep up the H2O – 70oz/day.
4. Go to the gym – really, just go, exercise in heels if you have to, just GO!
5. Don’t stress… learn to say no at work.
6. Keep portions small.
7. Limit 1500 cals per day.
8. Dig myself out from under The Wagon and get back on!!!

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

LOL - Ama
For fellow space junkies (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amalthea_(moon) )

Age 39, Height 5’6”
Short term goal: Fit into my favorite old Levis 515’s – and still be able to breathe. (6 or less lbs to go)
Short term goal #2: Be able to wear a swim suit this summer and not feel like I need to suck in my stomach all the time. (about 9lbs to go + a miracle suit)
Long term goal: Live a healthy lifestyle; physically, mentally and spiritually.

Hi everyone! I'm new around here, but I really want to get connected with people so I will keep doing this. It's been 5 days since I've been logging my food and trying to exercise more, and so far I've already started losing. So I hope it keeps going that way!

We're moving in two weeks, and so I have my last two weeks of work to do. There's a lot of things that need to be transfered and prepared for whoever takes my place. And I've got all my packing to do and cleaning. So, I know it's going to be hard to stick to healthy regular meals instead of just binging at night for these weeks. I usually get right into work as soon as I wake up and only stop around supper time. So I've been trying to get used to more regular meals instead of only eating at night. So far so good, but we'll see when the stress starts packing on.

Anyway... my goals for this next week are:
1) Eat 3 regular low-calorie meals a day.
2) Keep at least 600 calories restriction per day.
3) Exercise at least 3 times and go for a walk at least twice.
4) Plan meals ahead and have everything handy so I don't have excuses not to eat.
5) Hide all the chocolate given to me this morning!
6) Log in foods and activities every day and get more involved with the forums.

How does that sound? Am I doing this right?

Have a great week everyone!

*Becky

Hi Everyone, good to see you all here on Monday! Glad to see the regulars and welcome to Terrienne and Becky :). No right and wrong here, Becky; it's all up to you to set goals and up to us to provide applause and support! Personally, having someone else hide tempting food is one of my preferred coping mechanism, lol!

Add me to the club of those who ate their way through the weekend. I had wonderful weekend goals but also computer problems...as if not being able to log means the calories don't count :rolleyes:. I made great progress with life and work goals, not so much with the health ones.

Anyhoo, same old goals for me, till I get back on the straight and narrow. We had a lovely spring break week, but the race has once again begun and it's balls to the wall again. I will check in as much as I can to keep myself sane!

1. Calories 1300 or fewer.
2. Exercise 8 hours.
3. Drink at least 2 big sports bottles water per day.
4. Sleep at least 7 hours per night.
5. Follow my pie chart rules.
6. Log everything and check in daily.
7. Take all vitamins and supplements

8. Repot the plant that's been on my list for the past 3 weeks!
9. Scope the new part of the trail for summer/fall goal.
10. Wash car.
11. Take the boy driving twice.
12. Make time to scrapbook at least once.
13. Start taking notes on college applications/finances.

Hmm...lucky 13. We'll see how it goes! Hope everyone's had a great day so far; chat with you all later!

Some NOT copy and pasted goals.:p

health & fitness
1) calorie deficient of 3000
2) workout 3 times
3) walk twice
4) bench press 270#

other
5) work 5 days
6) write 3 auto policies or $4500 in premium

Alright kiddies I am going to try this again. I got knocked off the wagon by a bad respiratory infection that is lasting almost 2 weeks:eek: But i think I am on the mend and hopefully up to going to the gym by midweek. My goals are small as i have been out of the gym for more than two weeks.

Goals starting tomorrow:
Calories 1600 or less
Gym 3 x week
Weight lifting 3 x week
Water 80oz

Monday Check-In:

1. Calories at or below 1200. 978 (so far)
2. Water bottle at all times. Yes, I'm sloshing.
3. Take all vitamins and supplements. Yes
4. 3 fruits or veggies a day, minimum. 4
5. No bread, cheese, butter, etc. None

Personal Stuff To Accomplish By Friday:

1. Order photo invites. Photog won't call me back... grrrr.
2. Call wholesaler about cups for party. Done!
3. Figure out decorations, table count, etc. Working on it.
4. Figure out band set-up, power sources, etc. (Make call...) No
5. Napkins from daughter's work... remind her. Reminded her, but it won't get done.

Stuffed myself with 2 bowls of a veggie-rich soup and I'm about to burst! Who knew that you could get this full on soup! ;) lol Think I'll put on a pot of decaf to keep my hands out of the lemon meringue pie, half pound fudge Easter egg and raspberry/blueberry pound cake... but it's going to be tough...lol.

Hi all! I am a newbie to the forum and I want to give the 7 day goal a try.

Health and Wellness Goals
1. Keep a deficit for the week of at least 3000
2. Walk every day for at least 30 minutes
3. To bed by 11pm
4. Eat meals at a regular consistent time - and eat 3 meals a day.
5. Drink at least 150 oz of water / tea a day.

Other Goals
1. Set up shelf for fabrics
2. Complete quilt club project by Wednesday
3. Complete at least 1 overdue job at work along with regular work
4. Do my dishes every day
5. Clear the paperwork off my desk by Friday

I think these are realistic and doable. Look forward to updating this in a positive way tomorrow!

Hi Jeanne!

I'm new here too, so good job on stepping out and getting out there. Hope you have a great week and see the results you're looking for!

Welcome to the club!

*Becky

Thanks! Definitely going to get my husband to hide the chocolates. It's great to be on board with all of you! :)

I guess it's finally time to make my goals.

Health/Fitness
1--at least 1100 but no more than 1500 calories
2--64 oz water
3--walk 3 times for at least 3 miles each
4--workout 3 times
5--log everything
6--post weight daily

Life/Home
1--finish all laundry....this means wash, fold, and put away
2--change litter in litter box
3--CAR!!!...clean out, wash, change oil, and change out wiper blades
4--fill bird feeders
5--call GYN and set appointment, talk about BC
6--get pretty every day
7--make Mommy Jasmine time daily
8--keep up with paperwork

I not only fell off the wagon this weekend, but am pretty sure as it was coming back for me, I got ran over by it too. It was BAD! I wouldn't even want to venture a guess as to what I ate. But it was good!!! I'm in much better spirits so far this week, and am really hoping it lasts. Will update this later on....

3 'newbies' so far!! Woohoo!! Welcome!!

So the easter bunny broke my pinky finger and I fell off the wagon and drowned in a pile of chocolate eggs and other such easter snacks...my mom is the worst! I don't think she realizes that I'm 30 and I don't need her to by me chocolate bunnies anymore! I've made it to the shallow end of the mini eggs and will be back on track tomorrow likely with a HUGE chocolate hangover :cool:

I feel like a bag of crap - that'll teach me.

See yall tomorrow - save me a seat in the middle of the wagon so I can't fall off!!!!!!!!!! :p

This is just a quick checkin seeing as I'm way too tired to actually say anything.

Food and Exersize:
no food after dinner Y
Inder 1200 calories 1200
No refined sugar Y
Exersize 45 minutes a day 46
Log everything Y
Over 15% protein 24%
56 oz water daily 70

Other:
write 400 words a day 450
At least 30 minutes of 'me' time Y
No gaming (I can be a bit of a geek at times )Y

Tomorrow to-do:
Clean out wicker basket!

Oh and hi-hi to the newbies! I just joined a few weeks ago myself.;) hope to get to know you all and good luck on your goals!

Monday
 

Health/Fitness
1--at least 1100 but no more than 1500 calories--1517 (on the conservative side)
2--64 oz water--13.9
3--walk 3 times for at least 3 miles each--no
4--workout 3 times--no
5--log everything--yes
6--post weight daily--192.4

Life/Home
1--finish all laundry....this means wash, fold, and put away--1 load down, 2 to go
2--change litter in litter box--no
3--CAR!!!...clean out, wash, change oil, and change out wiper blades--no
4--fill bird feeders--no
5--call GYN and set appointment, talk about BC--no
6--get pretty every day--yes
7--make Mommy Jasmine time daily--yes
8--keep up with paperwork--no
9--3 random acts of kindness--one down

Oh, Hungry Monday got me again. This time in the form of a burrito, rice and beans....but it was OOOHHH so worth it. I will most likely be up in weight tomorrow, but am not really stressing it. I made an informed decision and went with it. I know it looks like I'm swimming in a sea of red, but honestly, the day wasn't as bad as the report looks. I didn't workout or walk today because I took a nap. I wound up on Skype with CN until 2:30 this morning, and had to be up by 6:15 for work. I'll take the nap in that situation. Going to call it an early night tonight. See y'all tomorrow.

Welcome Newbies, Welcome Back Kim!

Anyone heard from Amy?

Ha. Well today started out good. Bran cereal, cottage cheese and cantaloupe for breakfast! Plans to walk and do weights! Immediately following my last post (the one about having no TOTM symptoms), cramps and PMS hit me like a freight train. And immediately after that, I stopped caring. We went out for lunch to a diner, I had a big greasy chicken burger and salad, but also ended up eating about half of kiddo's chicken strips and fries (he just wanted to lick plum sauce off a cucumber slice for lunch, apparently). Had two big hot dogs with mayo and cole slaw for dinner, and about half a box of Girl Guide cookies for dessert. I'm an eating machine and I don't care. I'm probably not done yet, either. And I didn't walk or do my weights. I've hardly had any water. I'm just going to make this a guilt free day, because I feel like crap and I'm not going to beat myself up for not eating right (or doing anything else right, either). I'm sure my digestive system will pay me back tomorrow, anyway. I stopped logging food after lunch, but let's just say that lunch put me over my daily limit.

I usually leave my guilt-free calories in black, but since I'm not letting myself feel guilty about any of this mess, it would look phony if I didn't highlight it, so...welcome to my red day.

1) 1,650 calories max/day (allow myself 1 guilt free day over 1,650) - ???
2) do 2 out of 3 exercises on days I don't work (walking/weights/Richard Simmons) - nada
3) 20% protein minimum - ???
4) 72oz water minimum - maybe 24oz?
5) calorie deficit 600+ - surplus for sure
6) take vitamins - yes
7) lights out by 11 the night before (except Sunday night because apparently I'm hooked on Celebrity Apprentice) - no
8) log all spending daily - no

FitDay Challenge Check-in
 

*~* Just a Reminder :) *~*

http://yoursmiles.org/ssmile/pozitive/s0801.gif"EAT CLEAN" PACT
*Jho82, Mern, Ama, nobe, Hope, Amy, & Luv*
*STARTS anew weekly thru 4/28. Sun MN thru Sat MN.*
"You can set your own clean eating terms--it may mean different things for different people Just be honest with yourselves--there are no food police here." ~ Mern
Please let me know if you want to opt in or out.

---------------
I simplified goals. For some reason I almost feel like when I first started, because I need to focus on just a few health goals this week. As with many of you, I'm fighting eating temptations this week. SO the reason I need to keep in mind WHY I'm losing weight and exercising daily. I want to have a healthy mindset because this time I plan to maintain my lost weight. :rolleyes:
----------------
FITDAY Challenge *~* REMEMBER WHY http://yoursmiles.org/tsmile/heart/t4521.gif
Check-in: MON_
Sun = Cushion Day -> Respite with Reason . . . Daily = x6/wk
It's easy to say 'no!' when there's a deeper 'yes!' burning inside. -Stephen R. Covey

_____FIT___health_____daily
....FOCUS * Mind & Heart..........
1. Health Group BK Study &/or Audio Bible*~* YES {MON_ }
............INTAKE * Nutrition......
2. Water (100 oz) *~*YES {MON_ }
3. Eat within Food Plan (5 Grains/Meat/Veg/Oils<>3 Dairy<> 1.5 Fruit + Extra)*~* YES {MON_ }
4. Eat Clean per Pact *~*YES {MON_ }
...................TRAIN * Exercise..............................
5. Focused Exercise x5 *~* YES {MON_ }

My week hasn't really started yet cos I'm still on holidays and I have so much snack food left from the weekend that I have to get through. So tonight my main meal will be nibbles and then tomorrow it's blitz time cos I'm straying off track and I can see the scales slowly creeping up again.
Welcome to all those just starting out and stick with it through the ups and downs, it will be worth it.

Luv and Lizzie, it's incredible that the first two posts I saw when I woke up this morning were yours because you were my two companions in my dream last night. Equally incredible is that the nature of your posts fits in perfectly with where I am right now. In reality what happened was that yesterday I used my 7 year old grandson's being home from school (I'm convinced he was faking a stomach ache) as an excuse to chuck my plans to jump back on the wagon after eating out of control on Easter. In my dream last night I had joined you two at the beginning of a long line of a cafeteria where we went past tons of foods we could have on our diet plans and you two chose wisely, but there was nothing at all I could have except for raw chicken and raw lobster because I had fallen off the wagon so badly. And of course I couldn't eat even those and catch up on where I should be in my goals. The dream was quite vivid but to make a long story short I wound up running down long hallways looking for the two of you but I was hopelessly behind and unable to find even one person from our entire group. I wound up on a bus asking for help and everyone told me I was lost because I wasn't a native, but a "tourist." My self-dream-analysis tells me that was an expression of feeling like I don't belong/lacking sincerity.

Back to common sense reality. My actions are what makes me belong. The past two days WERE truly out of control so badly that I'd practically have to starve myself for the rest of the week to catch up. BUT I can make the BEST of each day to do SOME damage control. So I will set simple DAILY goals the rest of this week.

Today's goals:

Exercise and minimum of 64 oz. plain water and green tea. Use vitamin fortified protein shakes as small meal replacements until dinner at which time I will have baked, skinless chicken and a nice tossed salad. Any snacks today must be in the form of low carb veggies with low carb Ranch dressing allowed.

Still haven't read the posts from Easter and yesterday so I will have to skim and reply as best I can.

Catching up with Monday's posts.

Newbies: so you can learn who we are, I'll put usernames today in parenthesis if addressing someone by a known first name if it's not totally obvious. We have one male member, our moderator, Mike.

Lizzie (Lizards13) OMG, that is SO SWEET that you and your family toasted me, even though they don't know me. What a nice bunch of people! But the way I ate on Easter was certainly nothing admirable. I did truly think of you as I was preparing and later eating Easter dinner. :) So cool about the dress--had to make you feel really great.

Tori, congrats on being 2 lbs. down from last Monday!

April (wildbeanerz) those "uninformed 'good' choices" are so aggravating, aren't they? I HATE it when that happens: the best of intentions and then it sets off cravings for me. I hear ya on the sodium: I overate on ham so badly that I went to bed Easter night with my feet and legs aching from water retention. Yesterday I ate a ton of ham again, even knowing it wasn't good for me, and couldn't quench my thirst even with drinking over three quarts of water. Life gets in the way of keeping up with this thread. Don't fret about not having been able to keep up. I didn't even weigh yesterday. I'm afraid I regained all I lost last week and I'd been doing SO well. But for both you and me, a lot of the gain must be from water retention. Still, I may not weigh at all this week because I'm afraid having to face my gain could easily draw me back into the "I don't care" attitude for weeks on end. I refuse to allow that. I can do this!

HKG (hardcoarKittyGirl) I KNOW you will lose that one pound. I'll be cheering you on as you pass your mini-goal line.

Mike (01gt4.6), trouble in paradise again? Hope you and GF can smooth things out. DH and I had a spat night before Easter over something really stupid and we had to agree to disagree so we would keep the peace on Easter.

Hope (canary52) I'm glad you're back on track. You are certainly not alone--many of us fell off the wagon over the holiday weekend. I wish I had read your post about the water toast yesterday--maybe I'd have felt guilty enough about not deserving it that I'd have gotten back on the wagon sooner. But I truly do appreciate your friendship and confidence in me. I'm gonna be all green the rest of the week and that IS A PROMISE!

Nobe, nice, sensible goals. Being flexible due to different activities is the way to go. :)

Terrienne Terri, welcome! We also have a Taubele Terri who is an active member of our group so I'll make an effort to be sure you know which Terri I'm addressing. Really nice goals! I was very close to your current weight pre-Easter. Too chicken to get on the scales after eating out of control over the weekend. I hope my scale can catch back up with yours.

Becky, welcome to you, too. Congrats on having lost after only five days. Well done! Best wishes on your move. We all set our own goals and we all support whatever works best for the individual. Your goals look wonderful!

Quinn (quinnesec) welcome to the bunch of us trying to regain control! I'll be rooting for you to stay on the wagon as life takes you away from us over the next several weeks.

Ama (amalthea189) you did better than I did on Easter. Does look like a lot you ate, but when we consider the reality of it being spread out over several hours, it's not so bad for a holiday. I had to chuckle about your grandma story. I'll bet my grandkids giggle over stuff I do, too. LOL Best wishes with your goals this week.

Cassie (cjohnson728) LOL on whether lack of computer access means calories don't count. I hope that also applies to those of us who are simply not logging on because we're hiding under the paper bags over our heads. (OK--that's just me. LOL)

OK, I gotta get moving to get my grandkids off to school. Will resume catching up AFTER I exercise this morning.

Morning, all...and HUGE hugs to those climbing back on today. Re-entry is hard.

Jho, how did the Easter bunny break your pinkie? Do you have the killer bunny from Monty Python pulling duty at your house?

I need to get to jail so I can't do individual responses right now, but please know I've read the posts and am ever-thankful for the wisdom and honesty here. It really helps keep me on track, when I use it. As I've said before, if I'm not posting, I'm likely eating. Thanks for being here, all of you.

Quick check-in from last night, then I'll be back later:

1. Calories 1300 or fewer. 786
2. Exercise 8 hours. 2.5
3. Drink at least 2 big sports bottles water per day. Yes
4. Sleep at least 7 hours per night. 6
5. Follow my pie chart rules. Fair
6. Log everything and check in daily. Yes
7. Take all vitamins and supplements. Yes

8. Repot the plant that's been on my list for the past 3 weeks!
9. Scope the new part of the trail for summer/fall goal.
10. Wash car.
11. Take the boy driving twice. Once-briefly
12. Make time to scrapbook at least once.
13. Start taking notes on college applications/finances.Bookmarked a few sites