In my experience, every scale is like that. Then again, you KNOW my experience...

Late to the party. May I join anyway?

Here goes:
1) 6 glasses of water
2) plan meals
3) stay close to plan
4) do not overindulge in Passover foods
5) stretch
6) allow myself to recover

Passover took a lot out of me. Yesterday I couldn't even walk because I stood on my feet so much cleaning. I need to learn how to rest without feeling guilty. Anyone else like this?

Plan:
eggs with cheese (Passover cheese, yuck)
fruit salad (old fruit yuck)
gefilte fish with horse radish, 6 matzo crackers
salmon and salad
Snacks
fruit
nuts
2 marshmallow twists
roast turkey with cucumber slices

haha, yes I do.

You may join, however, you may be charged a late fee.

Count ounces of water, stop guessing! 48, 60
Avoid temptation: good until the Thai peanut sauce episode, sorta
Embrace restraint: did great up until until dinner, not bad!
Exercise 3x : short walk, Gym
Vitamins: N, N
Lose 3.5lbs this week (starting weight 127.4): 127.4, 127.2
Keep calories below 1200: ~1320, ~1400

Work just went through the roof! Not in a bad way, but in a better get my multi-task on and pull in some help to get it all done way. I may not be around much. But still hoping to drop a few lbs this week and get back into my maintenance mode (and out of chocolate cake mode).

Hope everyone is having a great week!

Jezzie, 100 calories for 2 timbits? Wow! Yeah, it was our routine to go for coffee and donut or muffin after grocery shopping as a treat but now if we stop I only get coffee.
Ugh Mike, the #@!! scale.

Jenn

Happy Wednesday everyone.

Mike, hope you find a nice friendly scale. Here's a link showing the one I have. I admired the design when I was out Christmas shopping with my daughter; then she went back and bought it for me. It's cool looking, but it's the scale that gives me a different weight when I turn it around. The next scale I get is going to be digital so I can see fraction of a pound losses.
Footprint Scale. | Modern Urban Living

Ama, hope you get things at work under control

Jezzie - congrats on your weight loss.

***

1. Under 1400 calories Y, Y
2. No sugar, white flour Y, N (had a small piece of cherry pie - it wasn't that enjoyable)
3. Extra hour of movement a day

A late fee huh? To whom am I paying this alleged fee?

OK that is a cool scale. Now I have scale envy.

Hope you are all having a good week so far. As for me I'm sticking to the diet pretty well. I messed up yesterday and indulged in a glass of fruit juice (mmm watermelon!) But anyways I am thinking I was just not drinking enough water, so it was harder to resist.

Oh, and I also haven't been eating enough calories, I let it slide for a few days when I was under 1200 calories, but it's definitely setting me up to cheat on my diet.

Anyways new goals : Make sure I'm drinking at least 8 glasses of water a day. & Eat enough calories everyday.

That's a pretty cool scale

Pay me in cash... in person. ;)

Try eating a little more so you aren't tempted to give in. :)

Do you reach a plateau very often staying on 1200 calories? If so, how do you break it?

Sissy, I just went through my first plateau (?at least a month) and all I did was hold steady and wait it out. That worked for me. I am generally around 1200 cals.

I know that it depends on the person though. Some need to shake up their diet or exercise.

Well got another walk in today. Adjusted my stride on the pedometer and that was definitely the problem. It didn't matter much when I was wading through snow in my winter boots but now that I am in sneakers and on tar my stride is way longer than the default setting. 1.6k again today. Where are you Darlene?

This is the first time ever that I have done small bouts of exercise like this. I am pleasantly surprised at how it adds up.

Oh the struggles with Tim's, such a rut we can get into. I too only get coffee there. It is a temptation though, especially that Drive Thru tv:(

IMO exercising, especially a walk is good for you mentally... almost as good as a motorcycle ride. ;) Seriously, do you find that a walk actually relaxes you (mentally) and relieves stress? I sure do, lifting weights is also an awesome stress reliever. If I feel like I'm ready to rip someones head off, I lift heavier than normal and I leave feeling satisfied.

So it looks like everyone comes back on and posts updates on how the goals are going. So here is mine:

Track food - yes, yes, yes
Keep within desired calorie range - yes, a little too high, yes
Get back on track! - yes, so far....

yep, you've got the hang of it.

All true. Exercising relieves stress, motor cycle driving relieves stress. I find weights the best too, I had to learn to do cardio because I definitely prefer weights. But I always had to have about 2 hours to go to the gym, do weights, shower etc so if I didn't have time I didn't do it. No I am learning to catch 1 15 min walk if that's all the time I have and it does add up:) and I do feel refreshed:)

When my husband had his accident I went for a long walk the next day while he was in surgery and it helped a lot with the stress of the day before.

Tues, Wed
 

• Calories < 1200 (M-Th): 1148, 1408, 1381
• Cholesterol < 200mg: 46, 258, 63
• Vegetables > 3 / day: 1, 4, 1
• Workout > 120 min/wk: 30, 30, 55,
• Protein > 50 g / day: 60, 116, 61
• Calories < 1600 (F, S, S):

Just the facts.

Monday 3/11/13 - 197.4
Monday 3/18/13 - 188.8

Stating this Monday at 184.0, Tues 189.2, Wed 186.2, Thurs 184.0
1) Lose 3 pounds +5.2, -3, -2.0 (-0 net)
2) 100+ ounces of water per day close, yes, yes
3) post daily yes, yes, yes
4) take all vitamins daily no, yes, yes

I didn't get a new scale yet but according to it, I'm back where I was before my cheat day.

Oh, I forgot to mention that I was finally able to get some satisfaction out of my cheat day. If you like girl scout cookies (tagalongs), the following is your food porn (in white)

ingredients:
ritz crackers
peanut butter
chocolate chips

here's what you do:
lay out some parchment or wax paper, make pb sammiches with the ritz crackers, then set aside. With a double boiler (I think it's called) melt the choco chips, stiring constantly! Put the pb sammiches in the melted chocolate, flip it over so that the entire thing is covered and place on paper. DON'T LEAVE IT TOO LONG IN THE HOT CHOCOLATE BECAUSE THE PB WILL START TO OOZE OUT. Put in fridge until the chocolate gets hard then enjoy. It couldn't be easier! :D

BTW, I do support the girl scouts, we ordered a dozen boxes but they haven't brought them to us... which is a blessing. ;)

Morning everyone.

Well so far so good this week. Losing all the crappy bloat/water weight so down almost 5 pounds. Of course this won't continue this way but my pants fit better so that's a plus. Have to go run outside since its finally not snowing, 40 mph minds or icy. This winter here has been so crappy that the only running I have really done is on a treadmill and I hate doing that.

Hope everyone can finish the week strong and continue to stick with your goals! Happy almost Friday!

Ann, congrats on the 5 pounds so far.

UGH big fail on my goals today. Busy morning running around so we stopped for coffee and I had a muffin. Didn't have much for lunch since it was late by the time I had it. Didn't drink nearly enough water today either. Got to start sipping this evening!!

No excuse for not doing exercise today either!
Only good thing is I stepped on scale this morning and no change!

Jenn

Sip up Jenn! Ban on Tim's - is that where you stopped? It's awful to be out and hungry. So easy to grab a muffin, timbits etc.

Well today ends the work week for me and it was pretty successful in following goals. I am up to 6.4k walking, the weather is definitely getting better. Ann when are you starting to run outside?

I also stayed away from fast food- this takes a lot of planning! It's hard to go home and cook when it's late and you are hungry!

There are definitely some missing regulars on this thread, thank goodness for newbies and the returning people this week.

Donna I assume you have no time other than to report in? If you are that busy you are clearly doing well with your goals.

Mike I am afraid to report that I despise girl guide cookies. You can have them.

Two days of catching up posting:

1. Keep calories below 1300. 1200 is better, but often backfires in the evening. 1183, 1185, 1199, 1174
2. Make the time to get some exercise. Being busy is NOT an excuse. 6 days of workouts this week. Yes Only one so far...Nope...time will not make itself; get it together!
3. Take vitamins and supplements. Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes
4. Stay on top of work; falling behind makes it hard to catch up. I'll give myself a B, Pretty good today, Meh, Fair
5. Sleep. Enough. Not last night, no, Pretty good, Nope, Fair/Good

Track food - yes, yes, yes, yes
Keep within desired calorie range - yes, a little too high, yes, yes
Get back on track! - yes, so far....yep

Thanks everyone for listening, sorry I am not too motivational for anyone else. Just trying to hang on!

Ann, it seems like we are in similar situations:
180 lbs after kid #2
I am at 161 currently and hoping to be around 135 for life.

I haven't started exercising more than walking after baby #2. Hoping to start getting at least 4 hours consecutive sleep before I add that in. Sleep deprivation is kicking my ass!

Happy Friday everyone! I can't believe that its going to be in the 50's today and tomorrow! Time to start grilling out! Couldn't get to run outside last night since I got stuck trying to finish up a project for work until 10pm. But my butt will be hitting the pavement today. Happy that I have been sticking to my goals for the week. The real challenge will be to eat super healthy on Sunday since there will be all kinds of goodies for Easter.

I actually decided to go bathing suite shopping on my lunch break yesterday and found a two piece that doesn't look half bad. Still need to tone up the butt and legs more but otherwise, not embarrassed to be wearing it when I go to Miami for work next week and then Ft Myers at the end of the month for a little mini vacation with the hubby. Even more motivation to stick with the clean eating and working out. :)

TGIF!

Hey Ann, hope you have the weather we have for your run today! And good news on the bathing suit:).

Our weather here is great today. Did a smaller walk than I needed to because my son went with me, and he is reluctant to do too much cardio (afraid of losing weight) but it was great to have a buddy. I am now up to 8.2k for the week. Cassie are you going to get to go out for walking?

To those of you who have young children I read an article that Jillian Micheals got a wake up call herself about this. Apparently she was hard on young moms but now that she has 2 babies herself she has changed her tune. Of course you should not neglect your fitness but yes things like sleep need to come first:)

Good for you!!! And you get a nice reward!!! Enjoy your time in FL and rock that bathing suit!!!!

I agree with everyone about the benefits of exercise, even walking, on so many levels. AND WATER. Two bad days, plan for today:
eggs with cheese
fruit - orange or clementine, apple or berries
chicken, salad or cucumber or sf cole slaw
nuts
chicken matzo ball soup or whitefish salad on 6 matzo crackers
prunes, dried apricots
fish with salad and veg
a small handful trail mix (with mini choc chips)

MIke, I DO like Tagalogs, how can you do this to me? I guess this is payback for the food porn texts. You know I"m gonna try this after Passover unless I can...control...myself...

Here goes:
1) 6 glasses of water - yes, no
2) plan meals -yes, no
3) stay close to plan - no, no
4) do not overindulge in Passover foods - yes, no
5) stretch - yes, yes
6) allow myself to recover- no choice: I literally could not walk; better but grouchy

Wow Ann that's awesome! And a 2-piece too, you go girl!!
Jenn

Where is everyone? Get your paws out of the Easter baskets, that does not belong to you!

Buried in logging insurance payments and reconciling EOBs...can I have fun on Friday night or what?!?!

No Easter basket sneaking for me...especially since I've been too busy to get it done :o. Tomorrow's job...

My food's been right on point and great all week. I can already feel how much better my energy is, eating clean. Hoping to hit the exercise piece hard this weekend.

Sounds like you're being buried alive. At least you have the strength and energy to fight your way out.

I forgot to update my weight earlier. I weight in at 184.0 again, no loss. The only progress so far was that I was able to recover back from my cheat day on Monday.

I just found out about a restaurant in NOLA What We Believe | Reconcile New Orleans, Inc.
After reading about it, I feel like I need to go check them out and show some support. The crime rate in NOLA is devastating and they are helping the community by helping the kids that are living a life of crime, homeless, etc., and pointing them in the right direction. Their missions statement is "We are a community of concerned people committed to addressing the system of generational poverty, violence and neglect in the New Orleans area. Our innovative life skills and job training program assists young people (ages 16–22) from severely at-risk communities who desire to make a positive change in their lives. Reconcile’s students arrive facing a vast array of challenges, from extreme poverty and high school attrition to homelessness, violence, and participation in the juvenile justice system. Nonetheless, these young people possess a deep desire to break the cycle and become productive, contributing members of society."

With that being said, I'll be straying away from my diet tomorrow when I go there and will likely enjoy the foods that I shouldn't on Easter Sunday. I will be extremely happy right now if I can finish off the week flat (184).

Monday 3/11/13 - 197.4
Monday 3/18/13 - 188.8

Stating this Monday at 184.0, Tues 189.2, Wed 186.2, Thurs 184.0, Fri 184.0
1) Lose 3 pounds +5.2, -3, -2.0, 0 (-0 net)
2) 100+ ounces of water per day close, yes, yes, yes
3) post daily yes, yes, yes, yes
4) take all vitamins daily no, yes, yes, yes

Sissy - plateau's stink. I'm stuck on one now. I think that's partially what's gotten me off track this week. Not seeing the results I wanted made me less motivated. I know that's really counterproductive, so I need to get re-focused.

Ann - congrats on passing the 2-piece bathing suit test! - and your trips to Florida sound fun.

Mike - That's good of you to support that restaurant. On cooking shows like "Chopped" and "Chef Wanted," quite a few chefs say that working in a kitchen saved their lives - learning discipline, being mentored, etc.

My worst week goal-wise. I'm going to be back on track tomorrow.

***

1. Under 1400 calories Y, Y, Y, Y, Y
2. No sugar, white flour Y, N (had a small piece of cherry pie - it wasn't that enjoyable), N, Y, y
3. Extra hour of movement a day Y, Y, N, N, y

4. Eating smaller bites and putting fork down between bites - mostly no - I often forget to do this.

Hi Cassie - I have some work stuff to catch up this weekend as well although I am splitting it up over my 4 days off. Good to hear that the food went well this week and that you are feeling the effects.

Today I am going for a massage because I have a hip/lower back thing that has been bothering me for a while. I loved the fact that I could book this on-line:)

I have been walking daily (2x yesterday) as the weather has been beautiful, it is very motivating. 10.2k in so far this week. For me it truly comes down to making time for myself.

Today I am going to buy some Easter treats for the kids. One doesn't eat chocolate so I am going to make him some fudge. Another really does not like candy much so I won't buy him too much otherwise it will hang around and tempt me. My husband is now down 23 lbs in 5 weeks. He's getting around a bit now, so I have less control over his food but he is really liking the weight loss. He's actually doing weights for his upper body and he went driving his 4 wheeler yesterday although he forgot to take his crutches so would have had a problem if he got stuck.

Welcome back Carolynnq I wondered where you were. Stick to it you'll break the plateau.

What a great idea on the restaurant Mike, I am sure you will have a very rewarding day.

Hi everyone. Went to a friend's house for bible study but ended up being social since there weren't that many. Because my friend knows I'm trying to eat healthy they had carrot and celery sticks, pineapple and strawberries. I did have a piece of toast with a little bit of peanut butter for snack before I went to bed because I just had a big salad for dinner.
I even made cookies for them to share with their nephew and niece and only sampled a little bit of the batter. To me cooking is showing love for someone.

We are having turkey tomorrow but will try not to go overboard.

Jenn

MUST REMEMBER TO DRINK THE WATER TODAY AND TOMORROW!

Jenn

Thurs, Fri.
 

• Calories: 1148, 1408, 1381, 1796, 1702
• Cholesterol < 200mg: 46, 258, 63, 55, 220
• Vegetables > 3 / day: 1, 4, 1, 7, 3
• Workout > 120 min/wk: 30, 30, 55, 15, 50
• Protein > 50 g / day: 60, 116, 61, 49, 86

Feast week! I'll have to get back to some kind of food discipline on Monday!

Got more realistic about my calorie 'goals,' and deleted the numbers.
Goal for the rest of the weekend: Keep track of what I eat, and drink, so I can log it!