Motivational Thread Starting 9/26
 

... or otherwise known as the "I Can't Wait to Start a New Week, Because I Totally Flew Off the Rails Over the Weekend Thread".

Who needs a fresh, new start?? :D

I know Mike was mentioning things on the other thread that make him go off track... all or nothing thinking, being too strict, etc. For me, I tend to give up when I have too many goals as I tend to forget during the day what I was suppose to do. :)

In that light, I'm keeping things to a minimum; just what's really important for the week and see how that goes. So, here's "quinn's over simplified, I'm sure I can do this list":

* Keep calories at 1200 or less.

* Drink 80-90 oz. of water a day.

* Eat clean!

* Try to slow down the pace of my life... I know some things are out of my hands, but when I have the chance, take a break, make a pot of coffee and vegetate, if only for a while.

i lost track on the weekend, i'm not going to make goals this week since i'm still fighting a cold which has made me not really focus on exercise lately.

ME! ME! Poker tournament and all the extra snacks we had left the next day killed me this weekend. So totally back on track today and will be running tonight if it kills me.

Great thread, I'm in. :D

I'm in!

Yunalee, I hope you feel better soon!

Thanks to everyone who posted a "shout out" for me last week. I had fallen off the wagon big time and just didn't care. I appreciate very much the unconditional acceptance by members here whether I'm true-blue committed or occasionally unmotivated.

I'm in and I'm promising myself to stay on track all week.

Climb back on the wagon with us... we have a spot saved just for you! ;)

I'm in :) My cold is finally gone.

Weekly Goals

Food, Exercise, Lifestyle Goals:

1) Average 1,200-1,400 calories for the week. No single day over 1,600 cals.
2) Exercise 4x this week
3) At least 80 oz. of water daily
4) Take my multivitamin!
5) 30 protein for the week (average)
6) Calorie deficit between 5,000-7,000
7) At least three servings of fruits/vegetables a day
8) Report in every day, including weekends
9) Weigh in only on Wednesday

Other Goals:

1) Make an effort on my appearance every day
2) Clean out the car, it's disgusting
3) Take time out for myself every day
4) Really work on the backed-up reading for grant

I've been slacking a bit at work (mostly due to work overload lately) so I am going to make a conscious effort to get back into the swing of things -- since slacking tends to snowball in science (or anything!) I feel like this is a long list of goals, but I also feel like many of them are second-nature to me now, so HOPEFULLY if I get a lot of green it will give me some sort of self-confidence about how real my lifestyle change has been, as I often have self-doubts!

Happy Monday, Motivators!

~Terri

Darlene, I believe you'd use almond milk as you would regular milk.

Health & Fitness
1) Eat clean for 6 days
2) Reduce bread intake (1 serving for 3 days, 3 days with none)
3) Avg of 400 cal/day deficient
4) 4 servings of fruit/veggies
5) Net Carbs under 80g/day
6) Plan ahead (log a good bit of food for the next day)
7) No eating between midnight & 8am
8) Workout 3 times. Get back on my weight training program (Huge In A Hurry)
9) Walk 3 times
10) Daily:
Multi Vitamin
Fish Oil
Glucosamine
Arginine
Floss

Other
1) Shave (3x)
Head
Face
Arms
2) Give blood, if allowed
3) Tell a total stranger something nice (2x)
4) Two random acts of kindness
5) One P&C policy (need one to hit my bonus)

I know it's still early but so far I'm off to a good start. :)

My goals for this week.

Try to keep under calorie budget every day (had to increase it to break plateau, so now around 1800 which I've been losing weight at steadily again)
Don't murder co-workers.

Ma'am, I think what you need is a swift kick in the ass!:D SNAP OUT OF IT! We all fall of the wagon, but don't let it run you over!!!!!!! Now go post up some goals, and stick to them!

Thanks for the welcome back, Quinn. :)

Terri, glad your cold is gone. My list is long like yours but kinda has to be because so many of my goals have to do with my lifestyle changes for blood sugar, cholesterol and triglyceride management. I feel like you--when I see a lot of green in my report, I find that encouraging. Hopefully someday we'll be able to join the people with the short lists. I really am glad they can do short lists--and from what I've seen they certainly paid their dues to achieve their short list status. :)

Oh, I forgot to tell something to those who were involved in a conversation we had a few months ago about family members not taking care of themselves the way we wish they would and about trying lifestyle changes before resorting to meds--not for everything--just where it makes sense to try. Good news: my DH got aggravated with his doctor for not prescribing a refill for his Lisinopril for high blood pressure (140 over something) unless he came back for another checkup. He didn't feel at that BP he should have to go in for a checkup every three months. He was on a low dose anyway so rebelled against her by going off his meds for several months and eating more low carb after I told him I read low carb may help reduce high blood pressure. He's not logging his food, just not eating as much starchy potatoes and cut way back on cookies and snack cakes and chips. When he finally went back to the doc, his blood pressure was normal and she told him to just keep on doing what he's been doing and she didn't give him another prescription for meds.

Mike, you shave your arms???? Rooting for you to sell that one policy to reach your bonus. Congrats on being off to a good start.

I'm in... goals are the usual suspects, nothing crazy - I've got exams this week, so that's kind of my focus, but I should be able to stay on track, of course, because busy weeks don't mean I get a break!

Best wishes on your exams, Joanna! :)

I'm in! Just poking my head in to say that I am super busy at work right now but will post my goals later. Glad to be a part of this amazing group! You are all awesome!

Mern, welcome back! :)

Mern, yes I do but not as often as I should. I didn't worry about it when I was really fat, I only do it when I'm working out.

I'm in. I'm feeling motivated again. Finally back in losing mode. The regained pounds are gone - now on to smaller and better things. This week

Y workout X 3
Calorie defecit for week -- 5000
Other exercise X 5
Drink WATER

One other goal is to get my bike serviced. Brakes would be sooo nice. Mary

Quinn I appear to be suffering from obsessive compulsive dieting right now, can I still play.:) Simplified goals and focusing on life and not food sounds great to me.

Yunalee Sorry to hear you are still sick, get well soon.

Mern Glad to hear you are feeling better this week.

Terri Glad to hear you are over your cold.

Joanna Good luck on your exams.

Ladies and Mike just wanted to say thanks for the great advice you all had when I had my emotional Monday. My calories were too low, I added a grain, I upped my protein, I feel more emotionally stable and lost 2 pounds all because you gave honest opinions I could try. Thank You.:D
Goals
Say something on the forum every day
Do not talk diet with family
Exercise daily
Calories less than 1500 per day
Calorie deficit of 5000 for week

I'm in. It's too bad Mike didn't put together a slacker list this week, I would be at the top of the list in bold, underlined letters. Ugh, this weekend was filled with diet disaster and at the same time some really good steps in the right direction. I made my exercise goal last week, which is the first time since the swim season ended that I've managed to reach 7 hours. But ultimately this past weekend was a calorie disaster.

And wait for it, my stream of excuses: our oldest turned 10 on Sunday, so we hosted a slumber party on Friday night, and of course she wanted to have a pizza party along with cake and ice cream. And I mean seriously how often does your only oldest child turn 10? Just once, so you have to eat cake and be a party mother for the weekend right?

For entertainment we took her friends to the movies, but I didn't have any popcorn or junk during the show (score 1 for mom). I bought all the kids a "munchie" box, which has a drink, about 3 cups of popcorn and a piece of taffy, so all in all not too bad really. Except some of the kids got Mountain Dew slushies as their drink. Ugh. Then we had the pizza party back at the house, and once I got started I spiraled out of control and ended up eating like 4 pieces of pizza and a bread stick, and that was BEFORE cake and ice cream (strike 8 against mom)!!!! What a nightmare, I was so bloated and uncomfortable that I almost couldn't sleep.

But on a more positive note, once the kids had eaten pizza they got to playing "Just Dance II" on the Wii, and regardless of weather or not they had a remote they were all dancing. It was hilarious! Makes me wish our living room were twice the size so we could have Just Dance parties every Friday after school. Okay, maybe only every other Friday, but seriously it was great to see all the kids laughing and having fun together, doing something positive and good for them.

So now I'm back in the diet zone as it were, although I've had a little trouble today because I had to attend a "Birthday Club" luncheon for the eldest. But hopefully the birthday business is now over with and I can get back on the buggy.

Healthy Goals:

1. Calories at 1,400 or less 4 days, 1,500 (or less) 3 days.
2. Exercise 7 hours.
3. 100 oz of water.
4. Calorie deficit of 4,000.
5. Protein at 25% or higher.
6. Log intake and report here, every day no matter how ugly.

Other Stuff:

1. Get oil changed in car.
2. Clean car.
3. Big fat load to Goodwill.
4. 30 min housework + 1 load laundry + 1 drawer, cupboard or closet.
5. Make appointments for orthodontist and wizards.
6. Call Grans.
7. Work on Halloween costumes.

I didn't make it to check in over the weekend and I did eat some things that I shouldn't have but those foods came in between all the work that I did in my bathroom. I spent over three hours with my fingers picking off a wallpaper border that was applied directly to the drywall instead of over paint. Almost no piece was bigger than the size of a quarter :eek: and it was about 15ft long. Then I spackled behind it because some drywall paper came loose too. And sanded, then spackled some more and sanded again. And clean up. Then Sunday I taped up and painted. Then rehung all the towel rods and TP holder & a new shower rod (new curtain & hooks too). Another day or two and I can put the caulking strip around the top of the shower/tub and then put my border on the walls and reinstall the cabinet doors. It looks great already though! :) And to top all that off, I am barely sore from all that work. Just the bottoms of my feet from standing on a step ladder barefoot. lol

Rose ... fall decor for me is to get rid of the summery flowers in the vase and replace with fall type flowers (wheat strands, peacock feathers, brown & reds), also I like to have acorns and pine cones in dishes or baskets in different places in the house and sometimes I will go in the woods and find really vibrant colored leaves and iron them inside wax paper so they don't dry out so fast and use them as decoration too. There are a few figurines as well.

Ann ... I think a dog treat fundraiser would be an awesome idea!

Mern ... That is great news on your hubby's BP! It just goes to show what a healthier diet can do for your body.

Mary ... A bike with brakes would be a good thing. ;)

Darlene ... I hear you on the diet talk. I was going a bit overboard in the beginning as well. I then realized that I was doing to people what another girl had previously done to me and that was to tell me how bad everything was for me when I wasn't ready to hear it. I have backed off on it and mostly only talk about if asked because I don't want to alienate people or give them the feeling that I think I am superior to them.

Amy ... You only get one double digit birthday per child. It sounds like her party was perfect and I bet she had the time of her life!

Most of my goals this week will probably be life goals instead of exercise but that doesn't mean that I will be vegging out, just moving in a different way. Dad is supposed to be coming on Sunday and I need to have everything ready so I can just enjoy his visit instead of worrying about the state of my home. I know he doesn't care what it looks like, but I do.

Health/Fitness Goals
1. 80 oz water daily
2. No mindless eating
3. Only one diet soda daily

Life Goals
1. 1hr house work daily not including daily chores
2. Border bathroom
3. Caulk around top of tub
4. Laundry

Wow some big scary looking goal lists in here :o

I'm going to start small right now I just really want to keep under 200lbs now that I'm under the mark.

I also need to lower my sodium intake, due to some money issues (Not for much longer since my boyfriend finally found a job :D) We've been scrimping on cheap and fast food. So I've been getting way too much salt.

So Goals:
- Lower Salt
- Don't Gain

Glad to see so many back for another round! Well, I finally got my wish and I'm having a totally lazy day... and it feels pretty darn good. The weather here is absolutely terrible... high winds, cold and rainy and it doesn't appear it is going to change for several days.

Spent the morning cooking supper so that I could take this afternoon totally off. That's the problem with rotten weather... I usually find myself in the kitchen... close to the food... close to the fridge... well, you get the idea. ;) I've been good though and treated myself to a nice, big mug of apple cider instead of something high calorie and nasty.

almeeker,

Birthdays are always a disaster for me! And I have a ton of them from now until Christmas, including husband's and daughter's 18th. Then you factor in Thanksgiving, Halloween and Christmas and it's no wonder the scale tilts in January! Plus, you know how it is in the north... when the weather gets cold, we start cooking and baking (and eating!) Then there's this addiction that I have with birthday cake... if it's in the house, I'll eat it continually until it's gone. Sounds like your kids had a wonderful time, though!

April,

I did the bathroom remodel thing a year ago on two of our bathrooms. Ugh. It's so much more work than it looks! Luckily, I had no wallpaper to peel (although I've peeled a ton in my life) but I did do floors, walls, fixtures and vanities. They look incredible and I saved a ton of money doing it myself. (Thanks Dad for teaching me how to do minor home electrical and plumbing!) My dad was a Mechanical Engineer who insisted on doing everything himself... well, almost by himself. He made us kids help as a "learning experience". He remodeled a 90 year old Victorian home (everything, including electrical, heating, drywall and plumbing) and although I hated it then, I've saved hundreds, maybe thousands over the years doing as much as I can myself. My neighbors all think I'm crazy when they see me work around the house, but secretly I kind of enjoy it. Men always treat me like this little stupid blonde until I start to answer some of their remodeling, plumbing or electrical questions. My home-repair mentor, my FIL, recently asked if I would teach him how to finish drywall as he had never tried it before! :) (My recent garage project must have passed inspection!) As long as it doesn't require lifting, I can probably do it. Besides, I think women are pickier than men when it comes to finish work. It's always fun to have men assume that I'm petite, blonde and dumb when in reality, I can handle my own. ;)

I am with you there Quinn. Finished our guest bathroom as well...took wallpaper down, put new vanity top in, light fixture, faucet, etc. Didn't cost that much and looks like a brand new bathroom. And I love doing projects myself as well...you feel a sense of pride and accomplishment when its over. And I am a blonde polack so I totally get the underestimated thing you encounter as well!

Good grief I can totally relate to that being underestimated business. I actually have brown hair, but to a brunette it's blond, although any self respecting blond would say I have dark hair. Anyway if you add big boobs to that blondish hair thing, people can't believe I tie my own shoes, let alone conquer a home improvement project (and don't even get me started on the guys at the auto parts store!). In fact I could redesign the whole thing and get a job offer from the planning department in the process. But at Home Depot or Lowe's I'm too stupid to push my own cart and talk at the same time. Heaven's.

I went for a complete health assessment at my gym. The fitness trainer checked everything from my blood sugar, cholesterol, blood pressure, waist to hip ration, BMI, etc. The good news is I am pretty healthy! AND I was weighed and am down another pound! The bad news is my cholesterol is slightly high which I have never had before! I was shocked. The trainer said it was probably British food that caused it. I am perplexed but I am going to try and get it down by lowering my fat intake.

1. Calories capped at 1300. M:1274
2. Average 30% protein for the week. M: 29%
3. Keep fat at 25% or lower. M: 24%
4. Minimum 2 litres of water per day. YES
5. Take my vitamins. YES
6. Exercise 4X.
7. Achieve a 6000 calorie deficit for the week. M: -917

Quinn, thanks for starting us off this week!

Terri, I am so happy to hear that your cold is gone!

Mern, I am really thrilled to hear that your hubby is watching what he eats. Looks like you had a positive influence on him! Good for both of you!

Darlene, yay! Congrats on losing 2 pounds! Great job!

Nailkita, welcome! Definitely go at your own pace. I think it's better to make goals that you feel you can achieve. I started out with less goals and gradually added more as I went along.

Amy, of course you have to celebrate your daughter's birthday. The great thing about you, is that you always get back on track and you always take immediate responsibility for your deviations. I think that is really admirable.

Ann, I hope you had a great run tonight!

Mike, glad to hear that you are off to a good start! I bet you will have an amazing week!

P.S. I cannot get this forum to work for me tonight! Can't do colours and this is literally my 5th time posting this. So annoyed.

Hi guys!

Remember me?

I've been insane lately - more so than usual - and one thing that helps me remember what I'm trying to achive is reading your posts.
I'm kinda like the prodigal wowgirl, except you didn't give me half your inheritance when I left. :D

So I'm at 101.75, and doing Paleo. I tried to do it a few weeks ago (there's a 30 day challenge that is basically only meat, veggies, fruit, nuts, eggs - except fruit and nuts aren't that good for weight loss...), but crashed and burned, but this is officially day four of my rebooted challenge, and I just had to duck in to say hi to everyone, and post my very basic goals. :D

• 5 bottles of water daily (600ml each) - Y
• Gym - Y
• Eat Paleo - Y
• Find out if I should be taking a supplement - N

Cause I'm one day ahead of ya'll, that's Monday's results for me.

Oh, right, and I quit my job, so gotta go and keep tying up lose ends... four more days! :D

UGH! The Home Depot thing! Don't even get me started. (By the way... can I borrow the big boobs?? Got shorted there somehow...lol) Like I've said before, I was young and single (early 20's) when I bought my first home. Although I had offers to go out to dinner, I rarely had offers to help me shovel the driveway or do home repairs. ;) Thank God for the library and home repair encyclopedias! lol At a party last year, I wore a black, short dress, black, high heeled knee boots, and piled my hair kind of loosely on my head. On one side of me, I was talking to a contractor about a floor tiling project that I was working on. Seated on the other side of me, was a dear friend of mine who is a flamboyant chef. I was bouncing back and forth between the two conversations when my husband walked by, shook his head and said, "That's my wife."

Mern. Welcome back, we missed you.

Darlene. Good loss, way to go girl.

Quinn and April. I am more than impressed with your bathroom projects. I am no stranger to doing most things myself, having had years of no money and no one around to help I tackled most things. Last year I decided to have the bathroom ripped out and completely redone and if my partner had been in this country I might have taken time off work and given it a go with his help ( we built a lovely garden summer house in a weekend last year). However I went with a contractor and although the finished room is fabulous it cost a lot both in money and frustration with the workmen. I'm planning on re-jigging the kitchen before Xmas, just have to decide what I want to move.

Hanging my head in shame, I have adjusted my signature to reflect the 3.5 lbs increase which has crept on since I got back from hols. They will go.

Wow, you guys are amazing! I'm pretty sure I could mow the lawn if I had to, but that's about the extent of taking care of the house (aside cleaning! :P).
My folks aren't really hands on, so I wasn't ever around that kinda thing, though I'd love to learn. You go DIY-girls! :D

Had a blissfully, boring, unproductive day! I had forgotten how wonderful it is to sit around in sweats for an entire rainy day!

* Keep calories at 1200 or less. Yes

* Drink 80-90 oz. of water a day. Yes

* Eat clean! Yes

* Try to slow down the pace of my life... I know some things are out of my hands, but when I have the chance, take a break, make a pot of coffee and vegetate, if only for a while. YES- I did nothing productive whatsoever!

It is always fun to be able to do the unexpected. A few years ago I needed repairs to my seadoo so I read up on fiberglassing. My neighbours got a kick out of watching me fibreglass and gelcoat the bottom. Still not leaking! I also do the odd plumbing and wiring repair as I dislike waiting on people to come and do it. It's so much easier if you can do it yourself.

I have a person coming tomorrow to discuss some renovating work I need done. You will likely hear me whining about it over the next few weeks. Mary

I did thanks! Another 4 miles tonight and felt great

Today went great. I did have one tortilla. I guess that should be counted as bread, right? I did avoid a PB&J and have a chicken quesadilla for dinner.



Health & Fitness
1) Eat clean for 6 days yes
2) Reduce bread intake (1 serving for 3 days, 3 days with none) 1
3) Avg of 400 cal/day deficient -377
4) 4 servings of fruit/veggies 4
5) Net Carbs under 80g/day 92.5
6) Plan ahead (log a good bit of food for the next day) yes
7) No eating between midnight & 8am no eating
8) Workout 3 times. Get back on my weight training program (Huge In A Hurry) no
9) Walk 3 times no
10) Daily:
Multi Vitamin yes
Fish Oil yes
Glucosamine yes
Arginine yes
Floss yes

Other
1) Shave (3x)
Head yes
Face yes
Arms yes
2) Give blood, if allowed no
3) Tell a total stranger something nice (2x) no
4) Two random acts of kindness no
5) One P&C policy (need one to hit my bonus) no (should write it tomorrow)

Quinn, Great job!
Mern, where are you?
Ann, I'm jealous of the 4 miles.

Monday Report

Healthy Goals:

1. Calories at 1,400 or less 4 days, 1,500 (or less) 3 days. 1,500
2. Exercise 7 hours. 75 min (total 1:15)
3. 100 oz of water. Y
4. Calorie deficit of 4,000. -1,208 (total -1,208)
5. Protein at 25% or higher. 24%
6. Log intake and report here, every day no matter how ugly. Y

Other Stuff:

1. Get oil changed in car. N
2. Clean car. N
3. Big fat load to Goodwill. N
4. 30 min housework + 1 load laundry + 1 drawer, cupboard or closet. YYY
5. Make appointments for orthodontist and wizards. N
6. Call Grans. N
7. Work on Halloween costumes. N

Well today was nuts busy and frustrating. Okay on Th & F last week my weekday baby was dry for the entire day, no accidents wearing big girl panties all day except for nap. I get her back this morning and it's like starting over at square one. 3 accidents before she'd been here an hour. SERIOUSLY? Apparently her mom worked all weekend and even though dad had been told of the situation he chose to ignore all of it. Ugh. So again I had to clean pee up all morning and deal with temper tantrums and tears. The inconsistency is enough to make me scream. I've told the mother over and over again, once we start this process, it has to be consistent and once she's potty trained through the day you have to disassemble the crib. You cannot potty train a child through the night that is sleeping in a crib, end of discussion. I guess the next step is to hide the diapers from dad?

Anyway enough rant. I had an okay day health-wise and nearly a zero for other stuff. The rest of the week should be quieter than today, so maybe I can get some stuff done, although I'm not going to hold my breath.

Quin, I would gladly give you a whole boob, that should give each of us plenty. Truthfully they are overrated, they would be more helpful to me if men equated big jugs with extra intelligence, but the opposite is true really. When DH and I bought this house we were both working as architects, so we had all the info we needed to buy the right materials, installation however was a completely different issue. There were times when we would be on the verge of starting something or already in elbow deep and he would look at me and say, "Have you ever done this before?" And I would say, "uh no, but I've seen it on TV, how hard can it be?". Well a lot harder than it looked between commercial breaks, that's for sure, but not too hard for us to muddle through - eventually. We used to religiously watch Norm Abrahams on his show "The New Yankee Workshop", but seriously if I had all his toys in my workshop I could be that good too. What I really wanted to do was send him our little bucket of power tools and challenge him to make something impressive with that. Now talk about your reality television program... Sort of like New Yankee Workshop meets Survivor LOL.

Hunny, great job on the run. How long does it take you to run 4 miles? How's the poopy training going?

Mary, so when is that fiber glass class you're teaching? I would love to learn how to do that stuff, although I'm sure the fumes are toxic as all get out.

mtlgirl, it could be English food, but it seems odd that it would be higher after only being there a few months. Did they use the same test you've had before? Could it be the tests were run on completely different types of analysis machines? I don't know too much about that equipment anymore. I've never had my cholesterol tested, even though I have asked my primary care physician over and over again to run it. Ugh. My mother has had issues with hers since she was 40. Hello I'm almost 43, it seems like it's past time.

Cassie, where are you? I know you're super busy, but we miss you girl.

Hey wowgirl of course we remember you.

Mike, dude it's your turn, and if I get an "S" it's all mine baby.

would you like one of mine?;)

April you will have to post your finished bathroom photos it sounds like you are working hard on it. I am in awe of your talents. I hate to admit it but I am the girl who picks the colors and lets her husband do the work.:( I did help when we remodeled the kitchen but it was a lot of work and I couldn’t of done it myself I am just not talented at building things.

Quinn we are also experiencing a bad storm here today it kept me in so I made a large pot of Mexican chicken soup, I can’t wait for dinner. I also didn’t want to venture to the gym so I dug up some old tapes and found a Richard Simmons tape from the 80’s I must of burnt an extra 50 calories just laughing my head off at the clothes and hair.

Nailkita, welcome.:)

Rose way to go on your health check and your 1 pound loss that’s hard to do when you’re on vacation.

Lizzie Thanks. Do not hang your head in shame hold it up because you are here trying to be healthy.

Mike glad you had a good start to your week.

Amy its sounds like you had a great birthday weekend for your daughter. I am sorry you had a crappy start to your day my friend does daycare and she has a cross stitch in her bathroom that says “kids are great too bad they come with parents” it seems fitting as it’s usually the parents causing caregivers the grief. Glad you did so well on your food goals even under stress.

Have a great night everyone.

Goals
Say something on the forum every day M=Y
Do not talk diet with family M=Y
Exercise daily M=Aerobics
Calories less than 1500 per day M=1267
Calorie deficit of 5000 for week M= -794

Hello everyone!

I have been gone for I don't even know how long. But I am back to the thread, I have been mostly on the wagon, just not getting to the forums, then some weeks I tried to come here and catch up but felt too overwhelmed to do so. Today however I am determined to not let the day go by without posting here. I hope everyone is doing well.

Goals for the week:

1. Stay under 1200 cal during weekdays, 1500 during the weekend
2. Drink 3 liters of water per day
3. Exercise 4 times during the week
4. Go to bed before midnight

April, thanks for sharing your fall decor tips. It sounds to me like you are really handy around the house. I hope you post some pictures of your finished bathroom.

Darlene, thanks so much! I usually gain weight when I leave home but this time, I really wanted to come back lighter. I am here for work after all and although, I am enjoying the travelling I really wanted to dedicate myself to improving my health. Thank you so much for the encouragement.

Lizzie, don't feel shame. It happens to ALL of us, every single one. There is no such thing as perfection and you have done amazingly well. You've lost 24 pounds! Woohoo! You'll get rid of that pesky 3.5 lbs in no time!

Wowgirl, welcome back!

Quinn, yay for your relaxing day!

Ann, way to go! 4 miles is amazing. I can't wait to get back to running outside when I get back to Canada. This town I am in so hilly that I couldn't really run. I tend to get injuries when I do hills.

Mike, I don't know if a tortilla is bread. I don't think it has yeast in it so maybe you can get away with not counting it as bread.

Amy, it was definitely not the same test that I have had back home. This one was a different machine and I was only fasted for two hours prior to the test where as the one my doctor ran back home was on a complete blood work-up and I had to fast for 12 hours prior to the test. I am definitely going to watch my fat intake from now on!

Monday:

Keep Calories under 1800:
Calories 1933

Don't murder co-workers:
Co-worker 1: Still alive
Co-worker 2: On Vacation, out of reach