Weigh In

Jake - 133.5
Nick - 257
Michelle - 148

Notes and Thanks

Thanks A - and don't get discouraged. Not to be too clichey, but if you keep putting off when you're going to start back up, you never will.

TL - the flower show sounds fantastic - thanks for the offer, however in my line of work, weekends are not my own currently. Have a great time!

So last night was a tastefully simple party. I've decided that Friday is my day to not worry about everything I'm eating (not pigging on gross stuff or anything) just not stressing. And I had 2 glasses of wine and was a little tipsy - I'm going to be a cheap date if I continue not drinking except on special occasions. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Class this morning kicked my butt. And since the storm isn't supposed to start til tomorrow night, no excuse to not go to the gym tomorrow morning.

Have a great weekend!

i give up

132

Sarah- I'm so proud of you!!!!!!!!

Maybe I'll get back on track next week. I have visitors this weekend until Tuesday, so.... I don't forsee going out of my way to eat healthily.

I haven't gotten back to the gym yet... just trying to get back in sync with the time change. I have never been so jetlagged in my life!

Flower Show

Sarah... ahh... what ISN'T Flower Show! LoL. the Philadelphia Flower show is the largest indoor flower show in the WORLD. And the longest running (since 1827!) I work at the Pennsylvannia Horticultural Society. We take over the Philly Convention Center and fill it with flowers and music and fountains and ...magic! This year's theme is Bella Italia where we will transport visitors to Tuscany as they stroll through cobble streets and piazzas sipping wine and smelling roses.

let me know if you want to come, I might have a comp ticket left. It starts tomorrow and goes through next Sunday.

http://www.theflowershow.com

TL question

TL - what exactly is the flower show? Are you going to be running around and busy? If so, you might not need to worry as much about food. Sometimes I know when I get really busy at work, I completely forget about food until my stomach growls really loud.
As for the meal replacement shakes, I don't have good experiences with them becuase they don't fill me up that much and I have a hard time not experiencing the hand to mouth for a meal. I feel like I didn't eat if I don't get that hand to mouth experience for 10 minutes.
But definitely give them a shot and let me know how it works out.
Good luck!

plateau

still at 165.
arrgghh! hopefully the meal replacement strategy will work.

was this our final check in?

Weigh In - Teresa

Wow congratulations Sarah that's a big jump!

I'm stuck at 127.6. I'm kinda depressed about the scale barely moving but I know it's my own fault for snacking too much. I'm going to have to cut that out entirely. I have a party tomorrow and happy hour tonight, hopefully I can be good.

Woo-hoo

128.5! I broke through the 130 plateau!
Have a great day everyone!

Another Day

I feel pretty good this morning - I had to change my pants a couple times, since both pairs of gray pants were big on me. So even if the scale doesn't move tomorrow, I'll feel good.
Worked late again last night, I had yogurt for dinner. I had some carrots and pb for a snack too. I wasn't hungry when I got home.
I went to the gym this am, did 2 miles on the treadmill - I'll pick it up and do 2.5-3 in 2 weeks. I don't want to hurt myself again. Then some weights - bis and tris this morning.
I'm debating taking tomorrow morning off since I have class Sat morning and I'm planning on going Sunday. I know you need to rest sometimes and I worked out Mon night with weights and the stability ball, Tues night I ran, Wed morning was weights with my group, and this morning was treadmill and weights. I'll see how I feel tonight.
I hope everyone has a great day!

Almost Friday!

Good morning everyone! Been a crazy week so far and I had to be in work for 6 this morning - yuck! I definitely think my lack of sleep is hurting my weight loss efforts. There's all sorts of studies that show you gain weight if you don't get enough sleep. That will be my goal for next week, try to get 6 hours of sleep a night instead of my normal 4-5.

So far today I am enjoying my delicious dunkin donuts coffee and I had oatmeal with granola for breakfast. I did shoulders and an hour on the arc trainer yesterday, My shoulders aren't sore though so I must not have worked them enough. Gonna aim for another hour of cardio today since I can't go to the gym tomorrow and I know I'll be having a couple drinks.

How is everyone else today?

where is everyone?

Sarah, is it just me & you? Hello, anybody out there?

B - yogurt, banana, 2 coffees
l - salad w/ 2 tbsp thousand island dressing (whopping 190 calories!), tomato soup
s - tea, apple
d - veggies, lf ww pasta
lots of detox tea

1st period day. ick, feels like I just had it! hula hoop, abs & arms

got my tax return and went grocery shopping, bought lots of healthy stuff to prep for Flower Show next week. has anyone tried slim fast? wish me luck! I'm hoping the meal replacement plan will get me through next weeks show, but I'll bring healthy back up in case. advice woould be welcomed....

Wednesday

I couldn't do it. I lasted til 12:30 and gave in and ate. It was about 18-19 hours without eating. It's really hard. If anything, it shows how used to eating at certain times we are without too much regard for how hungry we are. I might try it again next week and see how I do.

Tues and Wed am

So yesterday wasn't bad - I worked late, so dinner was a rice cake and wasa w/ pb.
Lunch was 3 shrimp and 3/4 cup rice, and homemade butternut squash soup. Breakfast was cheese stick, and yogurt. Snack was cheese stick and my smooshed fruit.
I went to the gym late last night and did 2 miles on the treadmill - tried not to go too hard since my knee is feeling better and I don't want it to feel worse. And then this am, I did weights with my trainer. Ouch - I'm going to be sore.
I think I'm going to try this 24 hour fasting I read about. You're supposed to carry it through 2 days so you still eat every day. The last time I ate was around 5 yesterday, I'm going to try not to eat today til 5. Obviously, if I feel faint or can't focus, I'll eat something, but I thought I'd give it a shot. If any of you want to read the e-book, let me know and I'll send it to you. (heroux33@msn.com)

different for everybody

I've done the calorie calculator thing too. I'm supposed to eat less than 1700. I shoot for 1500. I think it works.

welcome back A! how was Hawaii?

today
b- cottage cheese, 1/2 apple, coffee
s- 1/2 apple,n\hot chocoloate (it was COLD out in the parks today!)
l - tomato soup, too many pita chips
s- wasa w/peanut butter, tea
s- 2 sqs 70% dark chocolate bar
d= tea, veggies, lf ww pasta (2 servings worth, I'm sure)

no exercise. I ate too much. I can feel it. I'm so stressed at work I find myself wanting to eat. I'm thinking maybe I have a stress related eating disorder. I think I over exercise to compensate for when I I've eaten too much.

More calorie info

So I did the calculator. I'm never sure what to call my activity level since I sit all day long. So sedentary was 1340 to maintain 131 lbs. Slightly active was 1638 calories to maintain and moderately active was 1935 calories to maintain. So if I want to lose, subtract 250-500 calories and I get 840-1090 calories for sedentary activity, 1138-1388 for slightly active, and 1435-1685 for moderatly active.
I think that means that a range from 1200-1400 per day should work if I'm going to lose weight. I guess I just feel that since I have been eating probably about that for awhile, and eating healthy, that I really can't make any food changes in order to lose weight (i.e less sugar, less fat, etc), it's strictly exercise that will make the weight loss.
So glad you're back A!!!

i'm back!

thanks for keeping me the same- although I am certain that I gained some weight. TL- you're outta control with you 7%!!!

Calorie Intake

1200-1300 calories a day is low for someone who is working out. I've read you aren't supposed to ever drop below 1200 calories or it could slow your metabolism, but who knows if that is right.
Have you tried using a calculator to figure out how much you should be taking in a day?

http://www.self.com/calculatorsprograms/calculators/calorieneeds

Then you can subtract that number by 250 to lose 1 lb a week or by 500 to lose 2 lbs a week. They also have some good weight calculators on that site.

feeling discouraged

So, this is my problem. After reading a lot of advice on nutrition and changing your eating habits to lose weight, etc - I discovered I really don't have any bad habits with food. No soda, no juice, I haven't been eating fake food (a couple exceptions, but 3 fried wontons do not make you gain a pound). And you can't eat perfectly every day for 8 weeks. Everyone slips up and has something bad from time to time.
I don't know - I guess I should stop reading so much literature. Apparently, the only thing that's really going to help me lose weight is going to be working out since I don't think I have any bad food habits. Maybe you all will tell me something differently.
I usually eat between 1200 and 1300 calories a day (I've been tracking pretty consistently and if I don't know the exact count, I do all the pieces and add extra - pretty conservative). I don't think it'd be healthy to drop below 1000 calories a day.
Before starting this, did any of you have bad food habits that you dropped?

what I feel like doing

so much stress and it's only 1.33 on a Monday.

I feel like eating a bag of Hershey Kisses and slipping into a coma.

I'll go for a cold run tonight instead, but chocolate sure would be nice. I'd buy myself a treat if I didn't think it would set off a binge!

~sigh~

Sarah's weekend

Wow - looks like a couple of us were a little bad this weekend. It's a brand new day.
No gym Sat or Sun. I had a friend's bday party Sat night and I didn't eat horribly, but still not great. And I had a couple glasses of wine and a couple beers.
Sunday wasn't much better. Fried wontons and vegetable lo mein. New day. I will eat better today.
Let's have a great week!

Good Morning!

Ok good and morning don't normally go together, especially on Mondays, but we can pretend! My weekend wasn't so bad. I didn't go to the gym but I did have my belly dancing class on Saturday. Only a couple of glasses of wine the entire weekend, but I did eat a few too many dark chocolate chips. I need to get those out of my house!

So far today I've had some greek yogurt with bare naked fit granola and of course my dunkin donuts coffee with splenda and skim milk. I've decide I definitely have to go hardcore at the gym Mon-Thurs this week. Unfortunatey I have to hit a quick happy hour after work Friday because a co-worker is leaving, but hopefully I can limit it to one or two beers!

suffice it to say

that this weekend was a bust!
saturday was fine, ate healthy, was active, no workout, but that's okay. Sunday was a disaster. I woke up late for the race so skipped breakfast (not a wise move with 7.5 hilly miles in front of me) Post race meal was a turkey footlong sub. yes, I ate the whole thing. and chips. then I took a nap. then my friend was playing at a pizza brewery so I ordered a personal piza and I ate the whole thing. oh, add a couple of beers.

starting fresh today!

:-/

I went to Stuff Yer Face in New Brunswick last night. It's been 3 years since I've experienced the decadent Stuff Yer Face "boli".

I'm not sure what possessed us, but we also ordered a starter. Dear God, what was I thinking?
"Potachos" Think of nachos, only with fresh cut thick potato chips, with cheddar cheese, bacon, onions, tomatoes, ketchup and Lord only knows what else. I think the stack was about 6 inches high on a 12 inch dish. We were shocked when they came out. :-O I can promise you, if I took a pic, I could have posted it on the "this is why you are fat" website.

Ugh

Week 6 Stats

TL.............7.821
Jake..........3.956
Sarah........3.333
Teresa......3.030
Aileen.......2.818 we'll keep her the same for now
Michelle....2.020
Nick..........1.526

TL end of week 6 check in

also no loss no gain. I remain 165

first the scale said I lost a pound. Woo Hoo!
then it said I gained a pund. WTF??
I'll split the difference and call it even. Stupid analog scale.

TGIF is RIGHT jake. And yes I have SEVERAL ideas of how bad this week is. What is going ON?

TL

Plateau!

Actually I think I'm going to blame the fact that I was ridiculously lazy over the weekend and skipped the gym Sat Sun and Mon. But we are in the right time frame for possibly hitting a plateau, though you did change your workout up by doing the elliptical. I just started changing the weights I do so we'll see what happens. Now that I'm not sick anymore I gotta start cutting carbs out again, that always helps me.

Sarah's weigh in 2/20/09

130.5
Same for me as well - Teresa I think we've hit a plateau. Although I'm going to blame my nonmovement on not running. I miss it. But I think my knee is 90% back so I'll take it easy a couple more days and then slowly ease back into running.

Teresa's Weigh In

128 again! Better than gaining I guess. Need to step it up a little so I see some movement on the scale. I agree with the TGIF....I wish I was back in bed!

Jake's Weigh In

133.5

In a week of LOTS of cheesecake, non smoking and no exercise. I'd say it's a pretty good week, in regards to weight. Now if only I could get rid of the mental whirlpool in my head, I'd be so much better.

TGIF.... you have no idea.

Eww

Teresa - that was gross. I don't know if it made me feel better or not hungry. But it was definitely disgusting. I can't even believe people eat some of that stuff. Ewwww.

To make us all feel better...

My friend sent this link to me. At least we aren't eating anywhere near this badly!!

http://thisiswhyyourefat.com

I feel your pain TL

Don't give up TL! You've been kicking butt for the past couple weeks. I know that late meetings def can ruin your workout. I may not have late meetings, but during this time of year I'm usually at work til 7 or later. And I have an hour commute. No gym for me at night usually, so I have to get up in the morning if I want to fit a workout in. When I don't want to get out of bed, I think about Cancun. My friends are getting married there in May and I want to look super hot in my bikini. That's been my motivation!
Think of your new dress! 1 more inch in 2 weeks! I know you can do it!

I don't wanna work tonight!

~sigh~ I'm so tired of meetings these past few weeks. It wrecks my workout schedule. No matter how hard I try I can not stay motivated to get up in the morning to run. ~sigh~

yesterday:
b- oatmeal, banana, coffee
l - tomato soup, wasa, lf cheese
s- mint tea, lf cottage cheese w/ mango
s- apple, water
d- 2 slices tomato pie, water

home late- munchy hungry. wasa & preserves. more than I should have eaten. white wine too.
boo!

Sarah's lesson from Tues night

Yesterday was a good day. B- coffee, yogurt, lf cheese stick, L-chicken with beans and rice, green beans, S- yogurt, apple, cheese stick, D - whole wheat pasta with chicken and broccoli
Gym - 1.5 miles (20 min) on the treadmill -I ran a little to see how it felt - feels better, but not 100%, then 3.7 miles (20 min) on the elliptical. I put it on the interval mode - ouch - after 5 minutes I wanted to stop, but there's a poster right in front of a girl running outside that says "determination" and it totally inspired me to keep going. But what a workout. Then weights - upper body and abs. So post workout meal was milk and a hardboiled egg around 930.

So my lesson is if you work out at night and drink too much water and then have a glass of milk and then tea when you come home before you go to bed, you wake up at least 5 times to go the bathroom. I don't know how much water I drank at the gym, but it was prob 2 1/2 of my water jug that maybe contains 32 oz? I don't know, but I woke up at least 5 times to go to the bathroom. Oops - I won't be drinking that much again if I go to the gym late.

Jake - don't give up hope for the week yet - you've got all week to be good and work off the raspberry cheesecake!

Lesson from the Weekend

DO NOT STOP SMOKING WHEN THERE IS A DELICIOUS RASPBERRY CHEESECAKE IN THE FRIDGE AND YOU DON'T HAVE WORK FOR 3 DAYS.

That being said I think I did pretty well and I'll do better today since I have work. I must say, the time gained from not smoking has been quite beneficial. My bedroom looks so much better. My bathroom is nearly clean and the laundry got washed and folded really really nicely. My curtains are clean. I think I was keeping my hands busy.

My food intake really wasn't horrible. I would have eaten the cheesecake anyway, whether I was smoking or not. Not the best choices, but I'm not going to feel guilty for indulging on my birthday weekend. And I know that I will be passing on the night out to celebrate my birthday at the bar. I'd rather keep the focus on my house and me.

Have a great week ladies. I don't expect I'll be down any weight this week and I'm just fine with that. I'll still be more careful for the next few days.

mondays are mental

every Monday I have to gear myself up for another week of portable low calorie lunches. I'm not sure why it's such a mental hurdle for me. It's also the night I want most to have a glass of wine after work. Instead I bought a case of seltzer water.

b - oatmeal banana, coffee(I missed morning coffee, forget tea, it's not the same)
l - wasa,tuna, apple, water
s - tea, home made shortbread cookies (6 little tiny cookies)
d - low fat soup, wasa, low fat cheese

hula, abs, arms

I found a dress in a thrift shop for $20 that I really want to wear to the black tie opening of the Flower Show. I need to lose another inch in my core to get it to zip! I've got 2 weeks! Give me some love!!!!!

Great weekend

awesome TL - Definitely don't feel guilty about your postrun meal. I wish I could run 11 miles.
And happy belated birthday Jake!
My weekend was pretty good. Friday night I went to the gym and did the arc trainer - I have to say I didn't really like it that much. I actually prefer the standard elliptical. But I did 20 minutes on it and then some pushups and crunches. Dinner was a salad with white beans, olives, mozzarella, tomatoes. Yum. and tea.
Saturday breakfast was 2 hardboiled eggs, lunch was yogurt and apple with pb.
I went to Whole Foods for produce after work and when I got home my bf had been slaving over the stove all afternoon. I had suggested towards the end of last week that maybe we should make a couple dinners over the weekend since both of us were super busy at work last week and ate takeout all week. So he made a couple dinners and now our fridge is full.
Sat dinner was chicken with beans and rice and cauliflower.
Sun morning I went to the gym and walked a mile and then did the elliptical for 20 minutes. A surprisingly good workout. Then weights. Breakfast was yogurt and a clementine. Lunch was homemade shepherd's pie. another yogurt for a snack. Dinner was more chicken with beans and rice. I've been very good with my portions and eating slowly.
I hope everyone has a great week!

TL's Valentine's weekend

I had a good weekend. Friday night Salsa was AWESOME and kicked my ass! It's amazing what 3 hours of dancing in heels can do for your butt! Went to dinner with a friend before hand and the lightest thing on the menu was french toast with chicken and apples. Which sounds gross but is strangely yummy.

Saturday exercise was nonexistent but I ate super well. Although I had a couple glasses of wine, it did not turn into bad eating. YAY!

Sunday I ran an 11 miler with the club, breakfast was a banana, Gu and gatorade during the run. Lunch was the post run meal of bacon egg and cheese (which I refuse to feel guilty about because 11 miles = 1250 calores burned). Dinner was a healthy chicken stir fry that my friend Miles whipped up.

I got my hair cut yesterday and it's short again... I look super cute. :) (nothing like a beauty stop to make a girl's day!)

Happy Birthday Jake!

Sorry I'm late.. LOVE YOU, Happy Birthday!

Week 5

TL.....7.82%
Sarah....3.33%
Jake....3.23%
Teresa....3.03% (and I spelled your name right)
Aileen.....2.81%
Michelle....2.69%
Nick.....2.29%

TL's friday

I'm psyched about the weight loss. I'm feeling pretty good.

b- oatmeal, water, tea
l - soup, 3 wasa w/ lowfat Peanut butter
snack - fruit and nut mix (too much, bad idea to have the bag on my desk, I should measure out a portion and then put the rest away)
snack - 1/3 or a Think Thin Brownie Crunch protein bar (ick, I'll eat the rest only if I'm really hungry and won't ever buy these again, water
d- TBD but I'll choose something healthy.

SALSA lesson tonight - A, when you come home let's go together!

Have a nice weekend everyone, happy Valentines. You are all my sweethearts!

TL!

Awesome! You are really kicking it into high gear! You are an inspiration.

have a Great trip A!

bring back some sunshine!

I checked three times

I thought maybe my scale was busted so I put my hand weights on it to make sure it was reading weight correctly. It is.

165

:)

nope, nuts! :-)

High school my dear, high school! You know how many years are in between then and now!? I know you are motivated but give your body some time to adjust!!

I'm not totally nuts - just a little nuts

I did use to sprint in high school - and I was definitely going faster than 8 back then on the track. I had been doing consistent jogging on the treadmill before I started the intervals. But you're right, I probably should have stuck with the 6.5, 7.0, 7.5 intervals for a couple more weeks before I pushed it to 8. I just get bored quickly and I wanted to see how fast I could go. I'm looking forward to spring/summer to start getting outside to run.

Aileen's Weigh In

131.0

i had a terrible week. stress, too much eating, no exercise, the whole package of badness. ugh

sarah- if you have an "arc trainer" at your gym- it's a cybex machine- it works really well. great workout, and it's easy on your knees and everything. it's kinda like an elliptical... also, an incumbent bike works well too... when my foot started acting up really badly, i was using that bike. not sure how it will be on the knees, but it's worth a try...

Sarah - You're NUTS!

Damn girl, that is a little too much too soon! I've been working out consistently for years and never go up to 8. Granted I HATE the treadmill, but still. I usually vary my intervals depending on how I'm feeling . Sometimes I'll do 2 min jogging, 1 min running, sometimes I do 2 min running then 4 or 5 minutes jogging. You can also do intervals with the incline, not just speed. I'd definitely ease up on the speed for a while. Your poor knee! By the way, make sure your sneakers aren't worn down!

Sarah's weigh-in - 2/13/09

130.5
Still losing - I worked a lot more and didn't eat as well this week, so understandable.
Teresa, for intervals I was usually walking for a couple minutes, and then I would punch it up to 6.5 for 2 to 2.5 minutes, and either jog or rest for a minute and then go up to 7.0 for 1.5 minutes, rest or jog for a minute, then 7.5 for 1 minute, then rest/jog for a minute to 1.5 minutes, the go back down to 7.0 for a 1.5 minutes, rest, 6.5 for 2 minutes, rest, 7.0 for 1.5 minutes, and so forth for between 2 and 3 miles usually. Last week I had added 8.0 for 30-45 seconds for a sprint and I think that was too much for my knee too soon.
It definitely pushed me a lot harder than my 2 mile jogs.
Only yogurt for breakfast yesterday - it's harder to eat well when I'm not in the office with access to a fridge and Whole Foods, etc.
Lunch was cream of broccoli soup with some croutons and a half turkey wrap with honey mustard and provolone. The soup wasn't that creamy, but I shouldn't have eaten the croutons. I also split some chips with my boss.
Snack was some summer squash I had sauteed the night before, and then dinner was just some chicken soup. I didn't like it that much so I only had about a cup. And then tea.
I iced my knee again last night and I think that's definitely helping.
My Saturday class has been cancelled for the next two weeks which totally sucks, but I'm going to go in the afternoon after working I think.
Jake, I remember when I quit smoking, between that, not working out at all, and busy season at work with lots of snacky foods, I did gain weight, but I really think if you're still working out and eating well, you shouldn't have a problem. You'll also feel a difference in your workouts because you'll be able to do more. I know you can do it!
Aileen - have a great time!

Teresa's Weigh In

128.0 lb - I'm a little disappointed. I remember a few years ago losing so much weight so easily. I was also counting calories then, maybe I should again. My cardio routine needs something new as well. Sarah, you are right about the intervals, they are the best way to burn fat. I need to start doing those again! What type of intervals were you doing, like how fast for how long for each interval? It's probably more the treadmill itself, I notice my knees hurt afterward sometimes too. That's why running outside is better cause it's so much easier on your knees, but alas, we live in New England!

Jake's Weigh In

134.5

Not bad for a week where I did nothing physical. :-) Could it be stress? :-(

Now the tough part. I promised the boy that if I got the Step 2 Patch for my birthday, that I would stop smoking. I'll manage the non-smoking part ok....I guess, but I know it means I'll gain some weight. No, I won't be eating more, but it will slow down my metabolism. I know it's worth it, but I was hoping to be at 130 before I stopped. (I refuse to say 'quit' until I've been a non-smoker for about a year... until then it's 'stopped'.) If the weather stays nice, I'll walk it off.

I'm going to need some support ladies!!

My thoughts on the bagel thing. Hmmmm.... I know they are loaded with carbs, but for me personally, I eat one every morning at work. Nothing on it. It may not be the best choice, but it gives me the carb boost in the morning and really does carry me through until lunch. I'd probably lose a little more weight more quickly if I ate something else, but nothing else seems to fill my belly quite like that bagel, so maybe I'd snack more? But I also think what works for one doesn't work for others. I am such a huge proponent of limiting cheese but everyone else seems to eat it just fine. It all really comes down to finding what works best for each of us individually, moderation and some form of physical activity.

Aileen - have an absolutely fantastic trip!!!

Knee pain

So since we've started this, I've started doing interval training on the treadmill since I've read a few things that consider it a better fat burning method than running (jogging) a couple miles. Unfortunately, I think I may have gone too fast too fast (if that makes sense) because now my right knee hurts. Not necessarily walking, but def running and sometimes if I move it a certain way. I've started icing it and will continue to do that, but I think if it still hurts after a week or so, I may have to go to the doctor. Yuck.
So now I've got to find a new cardio method - I've never biked, so I'm going to try the elliptical first. Does anyone have any tips?

I can't help but love bagels!!

Bagels are super carby, it's true... super dense dough, boiled then baked. I have to say, I've felt better about them since Mark started making them at home. (what's a "southern" girl to do??! LOL) Anyways, this way, we were able to get our "bagel fix" but watch the portions and the ingredients. He likes to use unbleached flour, and I think he's even tried a mix of whole wheat and the unbleached... we haven't mastered using all whole wheat... the stuff seems to fall apart without that 50/50 ratio. We make them a decent size... my biggest problem with a bagel and cream cheese is that I can't seem to justify all the calories because I feel like I'm getting no nutritional value whatsoever...

Not so bad this week

I've gotten back to the gym Tuesday and yesterday and my eating has been ok this week. One moment of weakness with some chocolate but oh well! Hopefully I can carry this into the weekend, which is always the toughest.

As for the bagel/Big Mac discussion...bagels have around 3-4 g of fat vs 29 g for the big mac. It does have a lot more carbs though. So I would definitely still choose a bagel over a big mac since it also has approx 200 less calories, but I try to never eat them. Seriously, it's boiled bread, does that even sound healthy?!

TL's Tuesday

Could've been better...
b- oatmeal, tea
s- cottage cheese w/ mango, decaf tea
l - ww lf noodles & veggies
2 cups of coffee
d- 4" sub (at a meeting - no other options!) small bag portion doritos (instead of potato salad), pepsi, oatmeal cookie :( ~sigh~

the icky feeling of eating poorly forced me to run last night at 9 pm. It was warm and wet, like a spring evening. I was glad I went. 3.5 miles plus 25 minutes abs & arms.

tonight will be equally as challenging. stupid meetings!

More bagel info

Also on the bagels, they're usually made with flour which is stripped of all nutrients and then enriched. Not as good as if it was just made with whole unstripped flour.

Yesterday lunch - shrimp and rice (leftover from Mon night - 3 shrimp and 3 bites of rice), annie chun's chicken noodle soup (not that good - I won't buy that again)
Snack- carrots and apple with pb
Dinner - yogurt, shrimp, butternut squash soup
I had 2 glasses of wine while I did my friend's taxes. I did do weights and the stability ball for a half hour before starting the taxes.
Maybe gym tonight? depends on work. Last night ran later than expected and I don't like waking my bedmate up early when he comes in late so no gym this morning.

Bagel vs Bic Mac

I always thought that bagels weren't so bad. THEN I read in a nutrition book that one American size bagel is equal to the carb and fat content of FOUR Big Macs. FOUR!

Don't eat them. Keep that in mind when you are tempted.

Monday

Monday was terrible. I had eaten 1000 calories by lunchtime... someone brought in bagels and I gave in... and I've been eating these generic ritz crackers like crazy. ugh!!

This morning I was better.... 1 1/2 egg whites and coffee... lunch was a michelina's lean gourmet and more of those stupid crackers. I have some tough meetings today- going home tonight will be a big relief.

Monday

Stay strong TL in your meetings today! I have faith.

Yesterday mostly good, except for 2 boneless habenuero (sp?) wings from Chili's.
L - leftover veal, mushrooms and asparagus from dinner Sat night, green beans
S- yogurt, apple and pb
D - 2 wings, 3 shrimp, broccoli and 2 bites of rice.
As usual, about 5 cups of tea.

Today so far - b- yogurt, lf cheese stick, smooshed organic fruit, s - apple with pb

No gym yesterday - worked til 630ish (my commute is an hour each way)
no gym today - doing a friend's taxes tonight.
Tomorrow morning I'm going to the gym. No excuses!

monday not so bad overall

b- tea, oatmeal
s- 1/2 cup cottage cheese w/ tsp raspberry preserves, decaf tea
l- water, 3 whole grain Wasa, small can tuna
s- 2 whole grain wasa, tsp lf peanut butter, water
d- 1 small portobello mushroom, 2 tsp caviar hummus, 4 pita wedges, 2 slices of bread (bad!) small greek salad (left much of it on the plate) 2 glasses white wine, 2 glasses water

got home from the meeting and I was hungry-ish? so I had a cup of my noodle/veggie/broth concotion, drank a huge glass of water and went to sleep.

I did not sleep well and this morning I feel tired and cranky. That usually presents eating challenges and today is the All Staff meeting, where we are faced with nothing but bagels, muffins and cinnamon raisen bread. Luckily I brought my oatmeal and decaf tea into the room with me!

Teresa's Weekend

I'm still sick, so I ate ok on Friday and Saturday but not that great on Sunday. No work outs except for my belly dancing class on Saturday. I'm contemplating trying to do some cardio today after work to see if it will help my breathing but I'm so exhausted cause I'm waking up like every hour during the night.

Aileen - going to the gym in the morning is tough! I had to do it for a while and I got in a rhythm and really liked it but once I stopped that was it. Now I think going to the gym in the morning is the most miserable thing ever and just won't do it. After work is definitely the best time for me to go, it's great stress relief after a hard day. Is there another time you can try going? You might find you like it a lot more and actually look forward to working out!

Aileen's Weekend

By friday, I had just about had it. Stressed with work, sleeping only an average of 5 hrs per night since I was going to the gym in the mornings.... I just went nuts. I overate Friday through Sunday, and now I feel gross. I almost didn't get out of bed this morning.

Hawaii is on Saturday and I'm almost getting to the super apathetic point. Maybe I should only go to the gym every other morning? It's wearing me out... :-/

Sarah's weekend

My weekend was pretty good. I had my gym class sat morning and then I went to work. B-smooshed fruit thing, tea
L-shrimp and rice and carrots
D - out at a nice restaurant - i only had 1 piece of bread, veal rib chop with mushrooms and asparagus with a red wine sauce and a glass of red wine. I only had half of the dinner because I wanted dessert. Tiramisu with an expresso martini.
Sunday morning - gym - i ran 2 miles and did weights for 45 minutes (abs, arms, back, shoulders)
L-tuna sushi, glass of milk, cheese stick
S-2 chicken samosas (frozen meal thing)
no dinner - I had ordered french onion soup and it was gross. I had more tea.
even though i splurged on dinner sat night, I still feel good since I went to the gym. Workouts get harder now for me with my busy season at work starting. I definitely need to get up in the am and go. After work will not work.

Let's all have a great week!

TL's weekend

The good news is that I felt REALLY good running a hilly 11 miles yesterday. AND I did my ab work out, resulting in another lb lost. Woo Hoo! It feels great to be below 170.

Realization: Red wine is the enemy. Sad but true. When I have a couple glasses of red wine I make HORRIBLE food choices. Luckily that's all I do. This weekend the opportunity came to make another kind of bad choice (wink wink nudge nudge)and I wisely declined. Yeah, I didn't have THAT much!

Eating was fine except the residual pretzels hanging around the house. So yesterday I threw out the bag. If it is not there I can't be tempted. I also read a lot of nutrition information over the weekend and come Thursday (payday) I am going grocery shopping armed with a list of healthy and wise choices and a plan for the weekend. It seems I fall off the good eating schecdule I get myself on during the week, but I hope that I can train myself to knock it off and eat right while home.

Lastly, this is going to be a rough week for me with night meetings EVERY NIGHT! but I will try to stay focused.

Week 4

TL....9 lbs...5.02%
Sarah....4 lbs... 2.96%
Theresa....3.6 lbs...2.72%
Aileen....3.4 lbs....2.52%
Michelle...3.5 lbs.....2.35%
Jake.....3 lbs...2.15%
Nick....5 lbs....1.9%


Great job everyone!!!!

bad-ish saturday

B- Smart Start Cereal and Fat Free soy milk
L- big portabello mushroom w stuffing, spinach, lo fat cheese, side of orzo
D- out with parents at sushi place.... fried calamari, salmon sushi, spicy scallop roll, shared dessert.... ate too much :-/
water
coffee
tea
30 minute walk

Jake's Weigh In

136

It has becoming increasingly evident to me that I'm not focused on this right now.

:-(

TL's weigh in & Thursday

170
:)
:)
:)

B- yogurt, 1/2 apple, tea
L- soup. 1 wasa, salad w/ tsp italian dressing
S- 12 almonds, tea
Exercise - 4 frigid miles
d- pasta w/ veggies. water, salad, too much wine
s- pretzels & dip (when I have wine, I lose all will power!)

Teresa Weight In

128.4 lbs

Bad week with two 14 hour days traveling to NYC for training and no gym. Today I'm sick and totally miserable so I probably won't be going again. Oh well, at least when I'm sick I don't eat as much :-)

Sarah's weigh-in Week 4

131 weigh-in
no gym yesterday, i did some pushups and weights at home.
L- veggies from whole foods, hard boiled egg, zucchini latke (not bad), carrot ginger soup
S - green beans, yogurt, apple
no dinner - I was bad and running around after work too much.

Breakfast today - coffee, lf cheese stick, smooshed organic fruit flat.

Aileen's Thursday and Weigh In

Weigh in - 131.4

Thursday:
B-Special K Protein Bar
L-1/2 roast beef and lo fat cheese sandwich
S-Grapes
D-Leftover pasta stuff (I made this on wednesday, and it was about 500 Cals per serving... not bad for cheesy pasta goodness!)

42 mins arc trainer
1 hr salsa lesson
coffee, tea, water

rough wednesday

As I mentioned, I woke up early, ran in the snow (3 m) and did an ab work out, Great start! Then things got hard

b- tea, oatmeal, 1/4 apple, more decaf tea
L - went to Taco Riendo in northern Liberties with the team. Apparently this place has great corn on the cob (which it does) it is grilled then sprinkled with chili powder and parmagian cheese. mmm... I had 1/2 an ear. Then I had an Azteca Taco (minus the steak) which consists of cactus and mozzarella cheese and some really hot spice. I didn't eat the soft taco shell because they microwaved it and I hate the nasty taste of microwaved shells. PHEW! dodged that bullet. But then they wanted to go to Brown Betties bakery. (Gotta love Northen Liberties!) There I succumbed to a coconut icing covered poundcake cupcake. Luckily Claire was there to split it with me.

S- celery, lf moz cheese stick, decaf tea

D- community meetings are bad for calorie counting. By this time it was 6.30 and I knew I wouldn't be home until 9 pm and my stomach was growling. I had a bite sized tuna sandwhich on a little tiny potato roll, then a bite sized turkey sandwich on a little tiny corn muffin, 2 strawberries and 5 grapes. an hour later I was still hungry so I succumbed to roastbeef on a roll. I avoided more cupcakes, cookies and chips.

S- 9.30 HUNGRY! lf moz cheese and celery and the last of my detox tea.

my calorie total was still way less than 1500 so I think I'll be okay and very mindful today.

Go for a walk OUTSIDE!

A unique benefit of being out in the cold is that when exposed to subfreezing temperatures, tiny receptors in our skin initiate greater levels of thermogenesis, enabling the body to produce more heat and metabolize fat; we can burn 25 percent more calories when we walk in the cold than when we walk at room temperature. Additionally, research has shown modest increases in the secretion of human growth hormone—as close to the fountain of youth as anything discovered so far—in individuals that exercise in cold weather. Lastly, and maybe most important, most of us feel more empowered after braving the elements.

- John Bagnulo, Nutritionist and Hiking Guide

Snow Joy

I LOVE THE SNOW. It even inspired me to get up and run before work this morning!

Tuesday was good. Purposely no exercise (rest days are very important!)
B- yogurt, 1/2 apple, plain tea
l - celery stalk, lf moz cheese stick, tuna, wasa, water
d- sushi, veggie dumpling, seaweed salad, detox tea

meditation, watching the snow fall, deep dream-filled sleep.

Tuesday

40 mins arc trainer
B-Hard boiled egg white, special K bar
S- one Wasa and 1/4 svg of reduced fat PB
L- Roast beef, lo fat cheese, lettuce & tomato sandwich (only ate half of the bread)
20 minutes exercises with weights & stability ball
D- brown rice and stuff dad made, asparagus. I actually controlled my portions... yay!
Lots of tea and water

Tues & Wed

so yesterday was pretty good for me except at dinner I had a couple boneless wings from Chili's. Other than that, I had 1 cup chicken with beans and rice for lunch and green beans. Snack was yogurt and 3 olive crackers. Besides the wings at dinner, I had 3 shrimp, broccoli and rice.

Since I felt guilty about the wings, I ran 3 miles this morning and did pushups and squats. Ouch. I'll be feeling those the rest of the day.
I hope everyone has a great day!

Blog

Good article. I like mostly everything this guy talks about.

http://www.truthaboutabs.com/overeating-weight-gain-or-loss.html

Monday was GREAT!

B- oatmeal, 1/4 apple, plain tea
L - wasa w/ lemon pepper tuna, 1/4 apple, water

pre-run snack - powerbar, detox tea
run - 8.5 miles + 1/2 hr AB workout

D- celery stalk, lf moz cheese stick, soup, 2slices ww bread w/ brummel & brown "butter", detox tea

Then I took a hot bubble bath and crawled gratefully into bed.

:)

Monday

40 mins arc trainer
bread and cheese (there was nothing else around....)
"healthy" new england clam chowder (120C, 2g F), 1/2 serving of michelina's lean gourmet pizza snack thingies (splitting with mark is good... so I eat less!)
bread and cheese (ugh...)
grilled chicken salad with romaine, artichokes, cucumber, tomato, carrots, and croutons... half serving of lite caesar dressing
lots of tea and water

I went grocery shopping last night so I'm armed with healthy snacks... no more random bread and cheese for me!

Snacking

I definitely have the same problem with snacking. But I'm lucky since I work down the street from Whole Foods. I can get out and grab some veggies to snack on. I also have a bunch of healthy and filling foods in my desk drawer. The Wasa cracker with peanut butter always seems to take 15 minutes for me to eat.
So Teresa, maybe you should try to keep some healthy stuff in your drawer so you can fulfill your craving without eating bad things.
One of the exercise and diet blogs I read talked about overeating healthy food and he said he didn't gain any weight when he ate all healthy stuff without regard to portion size.
I'll find the article and post the link. It's very interesting.

I love oatmeal!

Oatmeal and Dunkin Donuts coffee in the morning makes me so happy! Now if I can just stay that way the entire day I'd probably not snack as much. Didn't do too bad yesterday, expect for a few too many nuts from my coworker's stash. I'm swearing those off today. I even made myself a healthy dinner last night which is pretty shocking since I never cook. And I managed to get chest and 45 minutes on the arc trainer done at the gym yesterday.
I think anytime we get cravings to snack during the day we should drink some water and post to the blog. I bet the craving will pass by the time we finish. Half the time I only want to snack because I'm bored and looking for something to do. I can't stand it if I'm not busy. Does anyone else have that problem or am I just the weird one?

February so far

Well, so my Sat night wasn't so great either. I was at the same D&B event with A. I only had one slider, and I didn't eat the bread. A couple chicken nugget things and 2 mini pizzas. 3 glasses of red wine, 1 1/2 bud lights, and one shot of vodka.
Before that, I had my usual Sat morning class that kicked my butt. Breakfast, lunch and snacks consisted of cheerios, preztels, and carrots.
Sunday was eggs benedict with fresh fruit. No lunch, 1/2 piece of lemon cake from Starbucks. Dinner was shrimp cocktail, and some pita chips. No alcohol for the superbowl for me.

Today was okay for food, except for those preztels that are at the client I've been working at. B-cheerios, snack - snap peas, L-vegetable soup, apple, snack - yogurt (I tried that Greek Fage stuff - it's pretty good), D-steak teryaki skillets.
Gym after work - ran 2.5 miles and did about 30 pushups.
Tomorrow I'm back at the office with my desk drawer of healthy goodies and the Whole Foods down the street.
Good luck in February everyone! I know we can do it!
A -text me whenever you need some help staying strong!

Bad weekend for me too...

So- my bday surprise for Mark went so well!! But the eating was terrible. ugh...

Friday-
breakfast/lunch- leftover pasta from Thursday dinner
snack- half a turkey sandwich (no cheese... amazing!)
dinner- 1/2 grilled chicken caesar salad- very little dressing (maybe 1 tsp)
chamagne, chocolate covered strawberries and bananas....

Saturday-
Breakfast- fruit (some had chocolate on it... i know, terrible!)
Few laps in the pool
Lunch- mussels, fries, roll
Dinner- dave and busters... a bunch of chips, sliders, chicken fingers... ugh, gross!
multiple vodka/tonics


Sunday-
egg white omelette with mushrooms and cheese, toast, home fries
1/2 soft pretzel
half grilled chicken panini, half bag of chips
home made pizza

I have less than 2 weeks to hawaii!!!! I'm cleaning out the cupboards and fridge this afternoon....

Focused for February

My objective for the next 28 days is absolute focus.
I have knocked out caffeine, sugar and alcohol.

Sunday was a pretty good eating day considering all of the temptation around me.
pre-run - oatmeal & 1/4 apple, decaf tea
run - 11 miles, gatorade
post run - 1 egg (fried), 1 slice wheat toast (plain), 2 bites homefries, decaf tea
snack - 1 celery stalk, 1 lf moz cheese stick, detox tea
lunch (knitting circle)- 1 slice homemade thin crust pizza 1 cracker w/ goat cheese, 3 tortillas with dab of homemade salsa, 1 pita wedge with smear of hummus, seltzer water, decaf ginger tea
detox tea
dinner (superbowl party) - 1 small bowl of my soup, 1 small bowl of homemade lf chili, 4 wings, seltzer
pre-bed - detox tea

Bad weekend - as expected

Yup, too much drinking and bad food this weekend as expected. I did make it to the gym for arms on Friday and then I did 35 min on the treadmill Saturday. I actually ate healthy on Saturday (oatmeal & turkey sausage, sushi, soup & crackers) and then proceeded to succumb to my friends peer pressure of tequila shots, which are always a bad idea...
Definitely ate horribly on Friday night and Sunday night. Today starts my new diet though and with it I have to totally cut out drinking, sugar, most carbs and vinegar (which is in everything btw). It's a tough one to stick with so I hope I can do it!

Jake's Saturday

Lots of running around today but got the out of the house stuff done. The Officer Down Gala was really nice. There was a guest speaker, his name is Will Jimeno. He is a retired Port Authority Police Officer. He is a survivor from 9/11. If you ever watched the movie World Trade Center by Oliver Stone, this movie was about his experience. He is one of two surviving officers that went into that building as it came crumbling down on top of them. He is one of the two that the two marines found as they were walking on top of the rubble and heard him call out. To hear him was bone chilling. He talked about that day, from the moment he woke up (he skipped down the steps of his newly purchased home, kissed his 4 year old daughter and seven month pregnant wife), what it was like being trapped under concrete, his being ready to make peace and die and then his 'vision of Jesus' that brought him the strength to survive. He said he asked the "faceless vision" for water. This man that had a building on top of him was standing in front of me inspiring us all to never give up, be the best people we can be, to be decent human beings and give it all we've got.

In a week when I saw morals, values, character and integrity go down the toilet, I was inspired by a man that could have given up, that has not lost his sense of team work or his faith in humanity and while I know this is not what this blog is for, I wanted to share it.

Screw the Super Bowl. I know what I'm watching again tonight.