Bea: How cool is that?! Great job on placing in the money AND enjoying your plane flight! :D Way to go, love your energy

Debbie: I think your post is fantastic and definitely worth thinking about. I think determination and "habit" (just DOING it, you know?) has been the source of any good things I've done the last couple of weeks. I have had a positive attitude, but haven't necessarily been pumped up. It's just something I'm doing, so I'd better do it right, you know? What an insightful article, thanks for sharing!

Becca: That ferris wheel sounds both cool and terrifying (I have issues with heights), and thanks for the well wishes, I've turned the corner on my cold I think :)

Jenai: Great job!!! I would eat rice anytime as a snack, so I feel you. Make today another good day!

As for me:

I think I've turned the corner on my cold, and I could do a 20-minute workout today (or, at least, the plan is to try! :) ). The scale surprised the hell out of me this morning - 177.4! What the crap?!?! I was thinking I'd be thrilled to see 178.0 by Sunday, but now I'm gunning for that 177.0. I am honestly not sure what's driving it other than my weight catching up with my low calories the past couple of weeks, and even this week - those are pretty low numbers. Being at 180 for a few days shouldn't have happened, because I knew that was sodium/water weight. Putting exercise back into the mix will hopefully only help more, but I will TAKE that drop and dance about it (Or, it could be the chocolate - I had another (mindful) piece yesterday and had another unexpected drop today. Chocolate, the secret to weight loss - I could write a book! :D)

Have a lovely Thursday everyone - I am giving my first exam, so here we gooooo!

1) Rest and recuperate M: Yes, mostly T: big yes W: stressful day, but did the best I could
2) Calories below 1500 daily M: 1,335 T: 1,180 W: 1,228
3) Eat mindfully when I do eat M: yes T: yes, with a mindful snack, even W: yes
4) Workout if I'm feeling better M: coughing too much T: Way too tired W: not yet - but probably Thursday!
5) Keep meals balanced - dinner is 600 calories or less M: No - dinner was 695 T: yes, dinner was ~350 calories, then a snack later W: dinner was 650 - close

Debbie, Yes, I know what you mean about focusing on one thing is good. In my reply to that topic I had many versions typed, but they were long, and my posts are already to long lol so I used the edited version. In the longer version I said that it's good to focus on one thing until you've mastered it, then add things as you master more. And, when I very first started to try to lose weight that's exactly what I did. I added one new thing about every week until I was sure I had my bases covered. I should try that again. I think your idea of getting the snacking under control first before worrying about a calorie number is a good suggestion. I think I'll make it a goal to keep the numbers in my target range, but if I go over and it was on better choices then I won't be mad.

Terri...great job on the scale number today! Glad you are starting to feel better. I'll buy your chocolate diet book! lol

Woke up super hungry this morning. I hope I can keep things on plan!

Goals:
1) keep yeast free diet - Y, Y, mostly
2) walk 3x- Y, Y, N
3) keep up the good work at work _ Y, Y, Y
4) be grateful- N, N, Y _
5) don't be like a little doggie gnawing on a bone, let go - N, N, Y

I thought I had an NSV this morning, but I don't think it turned out well. I woke up very hungry this morning. I didn't think an atkins w/ milk would fill me up enough to keep me out of the pantry. On the way home from dropping off the kids I decided I was going to get an egg mcmuffin, which is 440 calories. After some back and forth in my head, I ended up not going and decided I would make some oatmeal instead...stick-to-your-ribs-fill-up your-belly kind of breakfast. So I made it, 1/2 c oats, 1 c milk, about 2 tsp brown sugar, 2 Tbsp raisins, and maybe 1 Tbsp of sugar (the sugar I don't normally do, but I was too lazy to get out the Stevia). Guess what! 498 calories!!! Even more than an Egg McMuffin!!! wow, now I feel like my decision to make oatmeal was a bad one. It would be less if I left out the raisins, but I love that extra little pop of sweetness. And yes it would be 50 calories less if I had used Stevia instead of sugar. But still...498 calories???!!!

I don't know if I should count that as a victory or not. :confused:

Jenai, I'm sorry. I forget that most of you are not used to me yet. I was speaking tongue-in-cheek. We all know what a serving is, IN THEORY, but practice is completely different.

Just think of me as the late-blooming class clown. I was too shy to be funny as a kid.

My progress:

1. Walk 1 mile without resting at the halfway point - 5 days Yes Yes Yes Rain
2. 1 set of 12 each, 8 exercises for seniors with 4 lb weights - 5 days Yes Yes
3. Write at least 1 chapter of my book - 3 days
4. Practice Piano - 5 days Yes Yes

Hope: Good day yesterday!

Jenai: Remember what you said earlier: "I think I'll make it a goal to keep the numbers in my target range, but if I go over and it was on better choices then I won't be mad." -- I think oatmeal and raisins is a better choice than fast food (sugar or no sugar), even if it is the old standby Egg McMuffin, just because the nutrition in the food you chose is probably overall better! Don't be mad about being 50 calories over an Egg McMuffin -- be happy you made a choice for nutritious food!!! I think that's a win!!

UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM I didn't know you were from LA? I was in Metairie and it was HOT!! I was only there the weekend, arrived at noon Friday and left at noon Monday

I am used to 50-60 degree Sept weather.

I have an office in Metairie. If you're ever down this way again, let me know.

Sorry, I meant to quote... not edit your previous post.

Yo nunca podría salir libre de levadura ! No hacen levadura donas gratis , ¿verdad?

Terri & Debbie, thanks for the confirmation that oatmeal was better than an egg mcmuffin. You're both right that making a good breakfast is better than a drive thru. Whole, real foods are always the best choice.

Annette, I know you were not being critical. I definitely logically, intellectually know what servings are. But in practice? That's a different story. 5 crackers? That's not a serving!!! lol That's just enough to get stuck in your teeth!

It's been a bumpy road today a bit. So far I have stayed out of the pantry. But I baked cookies for a bake sale fundraiser this afternoon, and I had a couple. I don't have them every day, and the family ate the few extras I made so I can't have any more. At dinner I made chicken salad sandwiches. i had 2. :( Is it that bad though? It's mostly protein. I feel like I am fuller and less likely to raid the pantry or go on an ice cream run. Between the cookies and the extra sandwich, though, I am over on my calories. I'm not that upset about having another sandwich, but I am slightly annoyed at myself for the cookies. But not so much that I'm going to let it ruin my day.

I think that I should have made myself half as much oatmeal. I think it would have still filled me up with less calories. I need to find another store that sells HG breads. Regular sliced bread is not that good.

Bright note for my day so far...I've hit 100g protein. That's really amazing for me! I used to struggle and fight to get to 60g, but the atkins has lots of protein and I had extra chicken today.

On a personal note, today dh is officially laid off. He's a commercial electrician. Of course, they pay you to build it, not to watch it run afterwards. He had a good run on a job site at Intel for well over a year. The economy here is still poor, though, and it looks like it will be another long lay off. His last lay off was 6 months. Things may get a little stressful around here in the next little while. If nothing else, my husband drives me crazy when he's home 24 hrs a day. I love him to death, but he makes me crazy sometimes. lol Fortunately, we did not spend all my inheritance when it came to us after my dad died. We spent a big portion of it to buy this house, but we left some in the savings account knowing that we would need it for a time like this. We're praying for one of the big projects they're talking about pop and that the contractors who use union guys get the bids. There are (I think) 2 casinos being built on the west side and a new terminal at the airport as well. The airport will be a big job...probably 2 years of work. We're praying something happens soon. A lot of the developers are using the shoddy "rat" companies (non union who work for little pay, and have far less knowledge and care in their work) to save a few bucks. But they'll get what they pay for. Usually the rat companies don't meet deadlines and end up going over budget in the end. But they don't think about that. They just see how nice the numbers look on the bid.

Anyways. I will be conscious of my stress levels rising over time as he's laid off and will do my best not to relieve my stress through binges and poor choices.

I didn't do perfect today, but I think I did better...so far. (the day is a long way to being over for me.)