I'm on track today except for water and exercise which I WILL remedy before the day is up. Food is logged except for dinner because I don't know if I'm cooking or if we're going out, but I SHOULD have enough leeway in my food log to eat a sensible dinner and come in on target for goals. Everyone have a fantastic weekend!

Robin, this site has been driving me nuts, but I've had no problems at all today--hope it's all resolved now. Glad your green smoothies are going well. The spinach smoothie blends great for me in my food processor. My kale "clippy" grass clipping consistency food processor smoothie is delicious eaten with a spoon. I'll bet the romaine would be smooth in my food processor. It's really cold here, too--not as cold as where YOU are, so kudos on getting to the gym while I do aerobic walking DVD in my living room. Thanks for posting about the plateau definition--that's very helpful.

Cassie! What a wonderful Thursday report. I know it's hard to get in the water quota when you're so busy--oops, which reminds me I'm water behind my water goal today, too, so I'll work on that.

Darlene, kudos on logging all your food and being under 1400 calories!

Donna, best wishes on your eating to your satisfaction, but with control, this weekend. Sometimes for myself that's easier said than done.

OK, motivators--I want kudos, a trophy, a crown or something. :p DH said we can go out to eat tonight but he had his heart set on a place that has on its menu ONLY fried chicken tenders, garlic bread, French fries, dipping sauce, cole slaw, fried chicken tender sandwiches and wraps. The only low stuff on the menu is diet pop, bottled water, and lettuce.

SO since I've done well on my food all day, I don't want to blow it now.
I have ready to take to the restaurant:
my food scale
a low carb tortilla
low carb coleslaw.

I will pull off the breading from the chicken and weigh the chicken before putting it on my tortilla with the slaw.

It's a fast food place and the manager is very nice. If he notices I made a low carb wrap out of my a la carte chicken tenders, I'm sure he'll be very nice if I explain to him that I have dietary restrictions and the only thing I can eat is the chicken if I pull off the breading. Then I'll politely suggest they consider adding a grilled chicken breast fillet and a side salad or a grilled chicken salad to their menu sometime in the near future for people with dietary restrictions.

HOORAY FOR MERN!!!

Rock on, Wonder Woman :D

Eek! Great plan...you are full of fortitude this week :). Let us know how it goes.

We are going out tonight too, just decided. I offered to fix the hubby whatever favorite comfort food he wanted tonight (he has had to let 5 people go at his job today and is pretty down) and he suggested we go for Mexican (I think he means beer). So, hopefully good choices are in my future, too.

Cassie, thanks for the HOORAY and the support. You made my day.

OMG, it must have been so hard for DH to have to let 5 people go. My heart goes out to him and to those who must seek work elsewhere. I hope both of you enjoy a great dinner and some relaxation tonight. Bit hug to ya!

YAY MERN!!

Started out well on my goals this week and ended up not so great. Didn't get my water in today :(
Was cleaning today so didn't exercise either.

Jenn

I did it! :) The fast food restaurant's chicken tenders weighed 5.7 oz. after I got about 95% of the breading successfully pulled off them without tearing off meat. And I counted a tablespoon of corn oil (forgot to ask them what kind of oil they use) in my food log but I'll ask next time we go. Found out there is sugar in their cole slaw so glad I took my own low carb slaw. I'm quite happy and it was worth it because the low carb wrap I put together was so delicious.

Jenn, thanks for your encouragement. :) Cleaning burns calories, too, so don't feel bad about not getting in any formal exercise today. Keep that positive attitude going--remember to give yourself credit for each and every thing you DID accomplish this week. OK--I Will! YAY JENN!! :)

Ok Mern you are my hero today!!! What dedication! And way to take very good care of yourself. I believe that we have to love our body in order to take care of it.

I have also had difficulty with my water the past couple of days. I am usually ok with that but I think it's the weather.

Got an opportunity to attend a Yin Yoga class tonight (for 2.00). A good way to end a long busy week.

Mern so glad that the clippys and smoothies are going so well. I am finding the green smoothie to be a very helpful addition to my day.

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mb...9iulo1_400.gif

awesome job Mern!!

W00t! Hooray #2 for you, Mern!

I did it, too :D. Mexican restaurant, 8:15 PM, famished as all get out (had a few almonds to take the edge off), and not one single tortilla chip or margarita crossed my lips. I went with one of my go-to orders there, a chicken burrito; the way they make it is extremely light on sauce and cheese; I asked for extra lettuce and just cut it up into a big salad with lots of their homemade salsa. Plus I still have room in the budget for an orange and an apple tonight to meet my fruit and veg goal.

Robin, glad you enjoyed your yoga. I wish I had the patience for it.

Jenn, I agree, cleaning is exercise. Unless you just stand there and point your blow dryer at the dust. Not that I've ever done that.

I hope everyone one is having a good start to the weekend...let's all be weekend warriors, m'kay?

Way TO GO AT THE RESTAURANT, CASSIE! Wow, you did really well today to have saved room for both an apple and an orange. Hope you enjoy/enjoyed them! :)

I will be here this weekend, too. I was talking with DH tonight about having enjoyed really yummy home cooked meals all week that met my goals of low saturated fat, low cholesterol, low carb. The turkey, pasta, tomato and green pepper casserole, the baked chicken breasts, and the pork tenderloin chili were good sources of protein, and qualified as true comfort foods, as did my veggie soup. Everything I made at home could be made the day ahead and, except for the leftover chicken, tasted even better leftover and reheated the next day-- or they could be frozen and reheated another day. But leftover chicken can also be made into chicken salad, chef salad, wraps, etc. Sticking to our plans doesn't mean having to eat rabbit food. :)

Oops, the above paragraph wasn't meant to be preaching. I know how lucky I am to have time to cook and many of you don't. I just want to encourage those of you who are tired of the same old, same old foods to try at least a new food or recipe per week to increase the number of choices you have. "Variety is the spice of life" and it can make the difference between staying on track and getting burned out on our healthful ways of eating. Not that I have weeks as successful all the time, but I feel a lot encouraged by this past week's menus.

Wishing all of you a great weekend--and some WARMTH for those of you in frigid weather right now.

Thanks, Mern; I'm just tickled I finally found my willpower again. We've been taking a break from our relationship, apparently :o.

I really like your philosophy...thanks for sharing. We go out occasionally but by and large I cook meals. I try to plan on leftovers or a "go-to" quick meal on days I know I will be late. I use the weekends to experiment with new stuff. I am going to take that challenge and make something new this weekend or week, and hopefully get the boy involved. These days I live in fear that when he leaves for college he will eat out of boxes, cans, and drive-thrus exclusively. But at least he can't use the excuse that I never taught him, lol!

Joanna, just reading back through...I wouldn't be surprised if your blow out day broke through any plateau you might be experiencing. Fingers crossed for you!


1. Calories under 1300 daily. 1276, 1299 (seriously), 1278, 1266, 1272
2. Log everything; post update daily. Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes
3. Stick to my pie chart rules. Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes
4. Take vitamins and supplements daily. Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes
5. Eat clean; no trigger foods. Yes, Not on purpose, but I discovered a new trigger food, Only not clean food was canned soup-was rushing and I made mac and cheese for the boys and I wasn't eating that calorie bomb after having lunch catered! Yes, Yes
6. 4 fruits/veggies per day. Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes
7. 64 oz. fluids daily. No, Yes, Yes, No, Yes
8. Exercise 6 times.
9. Drive at least 5 times with the boy...last push before the test! One, Two
10. Revise HIPAA forms. *Need to postpone this to Wed...just found out I have a report to get done this weekend

Way to go Mern and Cassie for beating the restaurant menus. I did well today but I am out for dinner with friends tomorrow night I probably won't do as well as you ladies did but I will try to make smart choices and I will be back Sunday night to set goals for next week!

Hi Mike and Joanna its so great that you guys are still doing so well:) Are April, Amy, Terry and Tori still around also?

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Mern and Cassie thanks so much for your inspiration. I agree Mern that having the option to homecook gives far more choices. I am always on the go and. like Cassie, try to plan around that (e.g., leftovers) I do find it more challenging than homecooking. One of the things I have done since starting fitday is bringing my lunch to work. Supper choices are more difficult. I have been ok in my calorie choices on supper but not great with nutrition. I have not had a frozen entree or take out for lunch since starting fitday, so that's a huge improvement.

I too am going ok for dinner today....chinese buffet for my birthday. Yep this could be really bad. My plan is to make reasonable choices without feeling deprived. I don't know about logging but I'll try. I am not going to have any dessert (and they have awesome dessert there) because sweets are a trigger food for me. Normally I would go to a buffet starving (get your money's worth) but today I will have a snack before I go.

For anyone who thinks their mind is too busy for yoga- haha- that's what yoga is for- to train your mind to settle down. It might take years. I don't usually get to go to Yin but it is very relaxing for me.

WAY TO GO, CASSIE AND MERN!!!!!

CASSIE AND MERN = SUPERHEROES!!!!!!!!!!! WOW!!! WOW!!!

Welcome back, Darlene!!! So great to see you on the thread, girl!!!!

Thanks to Mern and Ama and everyone for your good wishes on my vacay.

Well I too couldn't get on the site, then I was travelling home to the frozen north.

I was SHOCKED to find that I actually lost 2 pounds on vacation (back to 132.) I wasn't that active since I blew out my knee about two days before I left but I did walk as much as I could. Also I stretched and did floor exercises every day. I ate more food and more rich food than I ususally do and so my tummy was weird. I think part of what the weight loss came from was what Mike was talking to Joanna about, also the part about sometimes eating more or more carbs. Anyway, whatever it was, I'm grateful and hope to continue in this trend. On that note....

Plan for Saturday
scrambled eggs (not much in the house)
roast chicken and salad
fish (I'm thinking some nice grilled salmon) and veg
Snacks:
nuts
cheese stick
almond milk shake
kippers or sardines

Who was it who talked aobut roasting a chicken for the week? Good idea!!!

I will be back. I'm hungry.

I'm here for the weekend, too! So after my big calorie day, I had another bigger-than-usual day with about 1900 calories, which was still less than I burned for the day. Then yesterday, I was back down to normal. I weigh in on Monday, so we'll see!

I met my goal of doing boot camp class every day this week. Like I said earlier, there was no way I was going to be running in this cold. I'm going to try to do a run tomorrow since it's supposed to be sunny with a high of 30.

Nice job, Mern and Cassie, on your willpower. Major kudos.

Hope, that's awesome that you lost weight on vacation - the best news a woman can hear! Haha, not really, but wouldn't it be nice if that's always the way it worked?

Darlene, I meant to welcome you back the other day but was having log in issues. WELCOME BACK!!! April, Terri and Amy have been MIA for a while. Tori is still with it.
Hope, sorry to hear about your knee. I haven't been around much so I didn't know about your vacation... but I know one thing, if you're down 2 pounds, I know you didn't come to NOLA!

Joanna, yeah maybe I should go away more often!!! haha

Mike, I was NOT in NOLA. I was in Turks and Caicos, lots of yummy (and expensive!) food there. But for food (and fun) I know NOLA is the top.

Yeah, I have knee replacement and I got up to walk to DH and the replacement felt like it moved onto my bone. Yow!!!!!!!!!! I was on the floor. Now I can walk but not as much and my knee feels weird and sometimes not happy. So I have to go back to Dr Scum Sucking Pig and see what's up. Gotta find another doctor too.

How are you? How's the back? You're not getting lost in Blizzards and rum cake, are you? BTW, Joanna, if you're gonna binge, you gotta have pizza. What's a binge without pizza? IMHO. Ok gotta stop with the food porn. I am tempting myself.

) Plan meals - yes, yes, yes, yes no
2) get close to plan -meh, planning meals on vacay not working out so well... close enough W&TH, no but I didn't eat much
3) meditate (I have been and it's been amazing) yes, yes, yes, yes no travel day went to beach instead
4) STRETCH (ditto) yes, yes, yes, yes, yes
5) Write as much as possible -no, yes but not that much was possible I am working so much on this piece I am memorizing it already, yes, yes no

Hope! OMG! http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3zR-IIrIKL...200/Trophy.jpg Whatever it was that made the difference, major congrats on that 2 lb. loss ON VACATION! Could be extra carbs like Mike suggested, or how the carbs and proteins were combined, but whatever it was, you did it right! :) Thanks for your encouragement on my control yesterday. I'll bet it was quite a shock coming home to the frigid cold. Ooh, thanks for posting your menu. It inspired me to make chicken salad for tomorrow's lunch. I hope Dr. Scum Sucking Pig :p can give you good news there's no serious damage to your knee and you're on the mend. What don't you like about this doctor?

Joanna, glad to see you here today. Keeping my fingers crossed for your pleasant surprise on the scale Monday. :) Way to go on the bootcamp! Keep in mind you could retain a little water in your muscles from bootcamp, but that'll go away quickly once your body accepts you're not trying to hurt it.

Darlene, thanks for your encouragement as always. Your intent to try to make smart choices while out for dinner with friends tomorrow is really admirable. And way to go on your intent to set your goals for next week Sunday night!

Robin, I agree that your lifestyle presents more nutrition challenges than my having more time to do home cooking. Kudos on bringing your lunch to work now and on your plan to snack before you go and make reasonable choices without feeling of deprivation at the Chinese buffet. Yeah, Chinese is especially hard to log--maybe the nutrition tracker has something in the database, but if not, just remember that the log is secondary to how your body responds to your choices. Remember to try to drink extra water to help combat the sodium from soy sauce if you eat any. I don't know that I'm flexible enough for yoga, but maybe I'll see what I can find on the Internet in the way of free videos to entertain that idea as a method of relaxation. Thanks for putting that out there for us.

Cassie, I'm so glad that you've got your willpower back. I do that, too--plan on leftovers. A lot of people don't like leftovers, but I learned to appreciate them in my childhood from what Mom called "get it yourself or go hungry night." Planning on cooking to have leftovers is of great benefit to me since I'm busier than I prefer to be in this stage of my life. It's really wonderful that you taught your son healhful eating so when he does have the opportunity at college he can make some healthful choices. OMG, your report for yesterday was fantastic AGAIN! You're really rocking it this week!

Back to my being busier than at prefer to be at this stage of my life. OK--I've been putting off this announcement--not that I feel I must announce it, but I want to share this mixed blessing which will cut into my FitDay time beginning the end of summer. 18 year old live-in GD got engaged on her birthday last September. Much to my surprise because I thought they both had a better grip on life's curve balls, she and her fiance are expecting a baby in August. Luckily they both attend college locally full time and work about 30 hours per week at their fast food jobs--and we live only 4.5 miles from his family. His family is wonderful, and they are going to help me with babysitting so I won't be the sole caregiver while GD and fiance are at school and work. His parents, my daughter, DH and I are all hoping that with our help they will get at least their bachelor's degrees before getting married. Baby will be sleeping in my room and I will do the night feedings on school nights until he/she starts sleeping through the night so GD will get enough sleep for school. (That's OK--I'm a light sleeper anyway and have always loved the special quality/bonding time of night feedings.) At some point during the day, depending on college and work schedules, her fiance's mother will take some babysitting duty. (Another blessing that she does not work outside the home.) One of her daughters and my daughter have offered to babysit some in the evenings in the event that both GD and her fiance are at work at the same time --to give both his mother and I a break. It'll all work out--I know that. This baby will be great grandchild number 3--the first two being from DH's first marriage.

Today's planned menu:

Breakfast was a mashed broccoli and black soybean patty, 1/2 tsp. non-dairy creamer in half a cup of coffee

Lunch: pork tenderloin chili with black soybeans, broccoli slaw

Dinner: baked cod, more mashed broccoli and soybean combination, tossed salad with ranch dressing

Snacks: almonds, tuna with Walden Farms Russian dressing, and homemade chocolate, coconut, and almond protein squares

Wow, Mern, congratulations on the addition to the family! I think those two are EXTREMELY lucky to have you and other family members so devoted to making sure things work out well for them. I really, really admire that.

Fri.
 

• Cholesterol < 250 mg/day: 166, 143, 131, 98, 320
• Exercise > 30 mins x 3: Y(50m), Y(45m), Y(40m)
• Eat Vegetables > 3 servings/day: Y(4), Y(3), N(2), Y(3), ~(2.5)
• Protein > 50 g / day: 82, 72, 59, 71, 57
• Total Calories < 1750 / day: 1445, 1300, 1411, 1859, 1337
• Less Sugar intake (subjective): N, Y, Y, N, ~

Had allergy issues, so didn't do as bad as I suspected. Chicken soup was counted as half a vegetable serving.

Robin: HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Hope you enjoy the Chinese buffet. You can try to 'get your money's worth' by sticking with the high protein items, even if the sauce is sometimes a mine field.

Mern: Four gold stars for staying on track while eating out! Sounds like you'll have your hands full later this year.

Hope: Sorry your vacation had to end. It sounded awesome.

Cassie: Kudos for skipping the chips at the Mexican place. I can never do that, even though I abhor the thought of eating genetically modified corn.

Joanne: Five days of boot camp! Impressive! Good luck with your run.

et Al: Saw a feature in the Washington post yesterday regarding a new book titled 'Fat Chance: Beating the Odds Against Sugar, Processed Food, Obesity and Disease.'
WaPo had a photo excerpt called 11 common-sense tips to eat, live healthier, with some really good tips.
I've linked one of my favorite tips: If it has a Nutrition Facts label, you probably don't want it.
The others are interesting, too. For instance, when you eat a Yoplait [my favorite brand] you're getting a yogurt plus [the equivalent of] eight ounces of Coca-Cola!
& Make sure cereal has more than five grams of fiber and less than one gram of sugar.
Check it out if you have a chance. It's pretty quick to flip through it.

Mern, how lovely to be expecting your 3rd grandchild :). I agree with Joanna; your family is so lucky to have you. I'm sure it will feel strange getting up for night feedings again, but enjoy the time. I was lucky enough to have my grandmother live with us while I was growing up and it was nothing short of a blessing and a very special bond. I hope she has a wonderful, happy, healthy pregnancy and that all goes well.

Those are interesting, Donna, thank you. It's good to see those reminders and learn new ones every once in a while. Yogurt is the one that ticks me off. Those Yoplaits are so popular, but they also have HFCS (or they used to...they may be phasing it out now) and the same with Special K...touting themselves as very healthy. But maybe they are listening to consumers and making changes. And personally, I don't think they should include Fiber One in their list because it has aspartame and some other modified crap in it (but that is a personal opinion/soapbox; your mileage may vary).

You might like these two books: Mindless Eating by Brian Wansink and The End of Overeating by David Kessler. They aren't diet books per se; rather, they are books about why we are compelled to eat (habit, tricks food companies play, etc.), and by extension, how to make better food choices.

Thanks Donna for the suggestions about the buffet and the link. The link helped too. I am going to take 1 reasonable plate with mostly protein and eat really slow. Not worry about what others are eating. I have 2 sons who are on body building diets, trying to eat 3000 cals a day. I will try not to be envious lol.

Congrats Mern. I am sure with all the family help things will go fine. I had 2 children while in university and it was definitely not easy but it is certainly possible. I agree with Cassie, having a present grandparent (or 2 or 3 or 4) is such a gift. Lucky her or him!

Joanna I wish you well for your weigh in Monday. I admire you that you can wait.

It's quite obvious to me that food companies have been selling a load of crap calling it healthy because we blindly buy it believing the hype. I personally feel that I am just waking up to this. My rant Cassie :)

Hope welcome back to realty! Cold and all. What a great time to go on such a lovely vacation.

Mern, your family is so lucky to have you. I wish you and them all the best. You are such a giving soul. I hope you can always do the same for yourself.

Though I have to say these meal plans are awesome! I want to come eat at your house. Those coconut protein bars sound very intriguing...

So putting aside my flip flops and putting on boots, grabbing my down jacket instead of my bathing suit, I took a short walk. I bit off a bit more than I could chew (which wasn't much) but I kept telling myself on the way back: you only have to make it to that church and then you can rest; you only have to make it to the pizzeria and if you need to call DH to pick you up, you can. And I made it the whole way that way. I underestimated it. DH said I prolly walked about a mile, a big deal for me at this point.

Mern, you asked why I don't like Dr Scum Sucking Pig. Really I went to the best hospital and got the latest device from the top doctor. But the device has glitches. Last time (two years ago on my DD's birthday) I crossed my leg and the same thing happened. The device moved somewhere it shouldn't have, causing bone crunching pain. When I told the doctor this, he said, "Then don't cross your leg." Really? I accepted that I would never been able to run, never be able to squat. But I was not warned I would not be able to cross my leg or get up from a chair. So I am figuring PT, building up my muscles, hard because of the fibro. I have hope cause - pardon the bad pun - that's who I am. And this time I want to do it sans painkillers so wish me luck, y'all!!

23 degrees out. Reality, huh, Robin? Gimme back the fantasy!!!!!

Great to see so many warriors here. Glad you're here, Joanna. Love how you are facing your struggles. Boot camp. Booyah!

1) Plan meals - yes, yes, yes, yes no yes
2) get close to plan -meh, planning meals on vacay not working out so well... close enough W&TH, no but I didn't eat much; yes I had to add pretzels because of my tummy; I think I may have a bug either that or it's fibro; hard to tell
3) meditate (I have been and it's been amazing) yes, yes, yes, yes no travel day went to beach instead yes
4) STRETCH (ditto) yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes
5) Write as much as possible -no, yes but not that much was possible I am working so much on this piece I am memorizing it already, yes, yes no, no

Plan for Sunday:

Ezkiel English muffin
1/2 chicken sandwich
grilled swordfish and grilled zucchini
Snacks:
apple
lox or slices of ham or roast turkey
pretzels if I need em


How I did today:
scrambled eggs (not much in the house) yes
roast chicken and salad- chicken and cucumber slices
fish (I'm thinking some nice grilled salmon) and veg -salmon and broccoli
Snacks:
nuts - no
cheese stick - no
almond milk shake - no
kippers or sardines -no
instead, I had red pepper slices and guacamole and some pretzels

Hope, I wouldn't have a very high opinion of the doctor either! Hang in there...fingers crossed and prayers that your healing is as quick and complete as possible. Also, high honors to you for finishing that walk! Way to go! Capping off the time you DIDN'T gain over vacay...I bow to you.

Got in a bit ago from doing some driving...still need some night hours for the driving log. Getting close!

I'm beat; hitting the bed. Catch you all in the AM.

1. Calories under 1300 daily. 1276, 1299 (seriously), 1278, 1266, 1272, 1293
2. Log everything; post update daily. Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes
3. Stick to my pie chart rules. Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes (little low on fiber but I'll make it up)
4. Take vitamins and supplements daily. Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes
5. Eat clean; no trigger foods. Yes, Not on purpose, but I discovered a new trigger food, Only not clean food was canned soup-was rushing and I made mac and cheese for the boys and I wasn't eating that calorie bomb after having lunch catered! Yes, Yes, Yes
6. 4 fruits/veggies per day. Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes
7. 64 oz. fluids daily. No, Yes, Yes, No, Yes, Yes (and then some!)
8. Exercise 6 times.
9. Drive at least 5 times with the boy...last push before the test! One, Two, Three
10. Revise HIPAA forms. *Need to postpone this to Wed...just found out I have a report to get done this weekend

Cassie, honey, thanks. You're rocking your goals this week!!!

Good luck driving with kiddo. Have you been stomping on the imaginary break? I still do that and DD has been driivng a while!!!

Thanks, Hope :). Just need to get the exercise piece back. There's really no excuse for that.

No imaginary brake, but I do tend to grab the door handle ;).

Problems logging in?
 

It is still a struggle for me but I wanted to pass along some hints from admin:

1. Be sure to try the method suggested by the devs if you can, which is: always keep a FD tab open in your browser. That *should* allow you to stay logged in for days at a time.

2. On any machine you have trouble logging in/staying in on, try this:

- Go to forums specifically
- Manually or otherwise delete all cookies while on that page

Tech believes it's that you have received a bad cookie and this will clear it.

Mike, thanks for the dancing banana! Gave me a good giggle as we haven't used that for a while. Your encouragement is very much appreciated. :)

Thanks to all for your kind words and good wishes about our additional great-grandchild on the way. :)

Cassie, I've done the night feedings for two of my grandchildren but, yes, indeed, it will feel strange (yet bonding) doing it for a great-grandchild. It's just wonderful to learn that you have fond memories of growing up with your grandmother living with you. :) GD mostly buys and cooks her own food and I'm so tickled that she is "healthing up" her purchases, taking healthful snacks to school, and keeping healthful snacks at her fiance's house. Wow! AGAIN your reports for the whole week are absolutely AWESOME! I wanna be like you when I "grow up." Thanks for your tips on getting into the troublesome forum. Thanks to you, whenever I have problems now, I just go and clear my web browsing history and then I can get in. BUT yesterday and today I had no problems at all.

Robin, kudos on having continued university while having two children. :) I know it'll work out here, too--my daughter got pregnant once in high school and once in college by the same boyfriend. She and the children continued living with us until she graduated college and then she married the children's father.

Hope, as always, thanks for all your encouragement. I had an egg substitute mushroom omelet with cheese for breakfast this morning but after receiving and beginning to read my new Diet-Free for Life book yesterday I learned I'm not eating enough calories for breakfast. The chocolate almond coconut protein bars brought me up to speed as each bar, the way I cut them provides 121 calories plus low carbs and good protein. I love your menus, too. I very often get inspired by them and it keeps me from getting burned out. Kudos on your walking, you brave soul! How did you feel afterwards? OMG, how rude and uncompassionate for Dr. Scum Sucking Pig to tell you "Then don't cross your leg." Really!!!!! I can't imagine how difficult it must be to get out of a chair and to have to remember to not cross your leg. I hope the PT works and you can at least be able to rely on less painkillers. Kudos on your reports through Saturday and I hope you can enjoy more writing soon.

Donna, it's all about averages. That 320mg cholesterol on Friday followed four very low days. Kudos on that. Great effort on the veggies. You are rocking your calorie goal! So sorry your allergies are acting up. Thanks for the tips from the "Fat Chance..." I'll check out that link for your favorite tips later.

Well I am plead with how the chinese buffet went. I was hungrier than I meant to be when I got there but I ate slow, and drank plenty of water.

Had a little bit of lots of stuff and logged it the best I could. Came in at 1445 for the day (I am aiming for 1200-1400). So I am happy with that. I certainly did not eat $24.00 of food (cost for one adult buffet) but it was a wonderful time with family.

Thanks again to Caissie and Mern for some restaurant inspiration!

Robin

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3zR-IIrIKL...200/Trophy.jpg That's the WAY at the Chinese BUFFET! Well done!

I second that, Robin! You did fan-freaking-tastic! Mad props to you :D. I also know how hard it must have been to have kids while still in the midst of your education. I had friends in grad school that did and I marveled at how they were ever able to do so, knowing I wouldn't have had the strength ;).

Mern, it gets even better...my other grandparents lived next door. It was just wonderful and I never had a babysitter in my life. I always loved the way it was, but I especially appreciated it after moving here, then having our son with no family around. But we did it and now my husband's parents are only a couple hours away, since they retired.

We just got back from more driving and I'm going to get some reports done before doing dinner and some granola bars, and laundry which I've put off. I hope you all are enjoying your day :).

Hey guys! My weekend is going fine. Nothing to report really, just wanted to stop by. I ran this afternoon - first time in a week 'cause of the stooopid weather. I'm thinking about hitting up Starbucks to do some work, but haven't decided yet. Otherwise, pretty lazy weekend. Went a little over on calories yesterday (1431) but I'm counting it as a win because I went out to dinner with friends after already having eaten dinner, so it could have been worse! Last time I did that, I ate an entire order of pad thai and crab rangoon. This time, I had a house salad with some salmon, in addition to the small (<200 calorie) sandwich I'd had earlier.