Weekly Workout Thread 26th March till 1st April

[Ellen]

Gail, welcome!

 

[gailrmv]

Thanks everyone for the welcome! Nice to be here!
I have two eating challenges today: a catered goodbye lunch for a coworker (goal: eat proper portion, don''t overdo the carbs) and a friend wants to meet for Chinese tonight (goal: order something steamed from the healthy section of the menu, no eggroll). Will let you know how I do. Sometimes writing down your goals makes it easier to meet them!

 

[mrssalvo]

Welcome Gail

 

[Becky P]

Oh my Rod! You had me laughing out loud! Angus Barn is "hokey country-like" - I totally get the picture now. I''m sure at some point during my life in Raleigh, I''ll end up there, but Sullivan''s sounds really nice, so I think we''ll check it out first! Very nice to know that they''ve got the good elipticals in the cardio cinema room - I love watching a movie while doing cardio! I can''t stand things in my ears, so I don''t use an ipod or music or anything, so the movie is a nice change of pace from the gym music which can be totally hit or miss. I''ll have to download the schedule and figure out when I''ll head over there.

I also need to get new shoes because something''s wrong with mine. I can do eliptical or bike or something where my foot doesn''t move too much, but I cannot run in the shoes I have now, which is wierd because I used to be able to. I think the padding moved around or something, and now the right shoe chaffes on the underside of my arch and gives me blisters if I try to walk or run on the treadmill, which is such a shame because in my opinion, running is one of the best ways to get my thighs and buns to be smaller! Have you found a good shoe store here Rod? If not I''ll just have to scout it out this weekend and see what I can find.

Mara, if you can only go to one Sushi restaurant, go to Mura!!!!!!!! They have the freshest, most tasty sushi I''ve ever had in my whole life, and I''m a sushi whore, so that''s a LOT! As for brunch places, I''m not too sure, that''s one thing we haven''t found much of yet. I do know that when I was at Bogart''s last weekend I saw a sign for Jazz Brunch on Sundays, so maybe we''ll go check it out this weekend and let ya know how it is. Also, haven''t heard of 18 Seaboard.. but I can ask around about it. Both the Pleasant Valley and North Hills Gold''s Gym''s have cardio cinema rooms. If you go to www.goldsgym.com, you can search for gyms by location and you can download the class and movie schedules for the month.

I forgot to weigh in yesterday, so here''s the stats. Week 10 is when I really started working out and eating better on a consistent basis, so it''s kind of my starting point. So, I''ve only lost 1lb in 3 wks, but I''ve lost inches in several places, and I can visibly see the changes that are starting to take place in my body! I''m excited to see how I''ll continue to change as I keep going and being consistent! And, I think I''ll probably end up being the type of person who''s at a static weight for a few weeks and then suddenly 2-3 lbs will fall off. My scale keeps bouncing between 163.2 and 161.4, and when I weighed, it was having one of it''s 163.2 moments, so hopefully next week I''ll see a pretty decent drop in weight... we shall see...
Week 10 Week 13
3/7/2007 3/28/2007
Height 5''2" 5''2"
Weight 164.2 163.2
Bust 36.5 36
Waist 32 30
Low Waist 37 37
Hips 44.25 44
Thigh - R 27 27
Thigh - L 27 27
Arm - R 12.5 12
Arm - L 13 12.75
Calves 16 15.5
Size 12 or 14 12 or 14
Body Fat % 35.2 34.2

 

[Becky P]

Hey Mara, I just found on the North Hills Gold''s Gym website under the promotions tab, there''s a thing that you can print out a free 1 day VIP pass. So, you wouldn''t even have to pay to go!! Also, the April schedule isn''t up yet... they tend to be a little slow in getting them up...

 

[Dee*Jay]

Morning all!

Yesterday I tried to be good at lunch, but it didn''t really work. My friend wanted to go to the California Pizza Kitchen so I got a salad with chicken, but I asked for only have the dressing to be used. Well, the thing was pretty wet, so I doubt they followed my instructions. And then when the HH picked me from from work a little after 9:00 pm he had swung by the Indian place that we like and gotten take out for me as a treat. Very thoughtful, but not exactly what I had planned on, especially after yesterday''s lunch. Oh well, I didn''t want to hurt his feelings so I ate some anyway.

Today I''m having the left over Indian for breakfast, soup for lunch, and the HH is making some sort of roasted chicken and vegetable thing for dinner, so that should all be pretty good.

No workout again -- and boy do I miss it!!! I swear I feel like going to the gym for two hours a day for the next few weeks to make up for missing it during this stupid annual project.

Welcome Gail! We''re glad to have you join us!

 

[KimberlyH]

Morning All!

Mara, the splurge was so worth it, even the morning after. That burger lived up to my craving of it, which is awesome.

DeeJay: Sorry your day didn''t go as planned yesterday and that you''re missing the gym. Not so fun!

Gail: Good luck today, and good call planning ahead, it always helps me and a lot of people here, I would say.

Off to work...hope everyone has a fantastic day!

 

[ellaila]

Welcome Gail!

So I am out of Fage and TJ''s frozen oatmeal (and the store hasn''t had it the past few times I''ve gone - booo), so I decided to "splurge" and go to Starbucks this morning and get myself a latte and a bagel. And you know what? I didn''t even enjoy it. The bagel just feels SO heavy to me now, I just feel it sitting in my stomach like a rock -- and that''s even after I scooped out most of the middle of it! I can''t believe I used to eat bagels and drink lattes almost every day. Eeek! The latte IS good though

And since it''s nonfat milk and sugar-free syrup, I don''t feel too bad about it. Though it''s definitely a lot more calories than my usual black coffee!

I haven''t been to the gym since Monday, so I''m going tonight after work and will do 45 minutes. I will, I will, I will.

And there''s a TJs just next door to the gym (nice!), so I''ll run there after and maybe pick up something good for dinner, as well as more Fage and hopefully oatmeal. I noticed last time I was there that they have rotisserie chickens -- anyone ever had one from there?

 

[nejarb]

i got my joseph''s syrup this week and i''m really enjoying it so far. (i haven''t noticed gas, but i''m just using a little bit.)

everyone here is so good at balancing thier lifestyle with healthy food choices and not subcumbing to weird diets, so this probably won''t be taken well, but i''ve sort of started a weird diet. it''s working and it''s not too weird. it''s not a foodie diet though. it consists of these items: ntrigrain waffles w/ smart balance & joseph''s syrup; atkins chocolate drinks; slimfast chocolate drinks; bananas; doctored up lean cuisines (like last night i had cheese ravioli but i added parmasean cheese and olive oil and fresh pepper); hamburger buns; and frozen peas.

throughout the day i have waffles, one atkins + banana, and one slim fast. that''s about 600-650 cal, depending on size of banana. then at night i have a lean cuisine w/ a toasted bun w/ smart balance & sprinkle of parmasean cheese. plus about 1/2 a cup of peas. this dinner is about 500-600 cals, depending on cals in lean cuisine. add a glass of wine and i''m at 1300 cals for the day. i''ve only been doing this for 4 days, and it seems pretty sustainable, at least compared to other times when i''ve tried going under 1500 cals and then the next day was hungrier than usual. i''m not getting as much fruits and vegies as usual, and not as much fiber either. so i think i''ll get soem fiber pills. and i''m just going to do this for a few weeks and not on the weekends. i may add an apple next week, b/c 1300 is really low for me but i think it''s fine for this week at least.

i went to the y this morning but didn;t even go into the locker room, so i don''t know how much i weigh. i''m just going ot wait until next wed to weigh/measure myself and report. hopefully i''ll be under 140 and have lost some inches!

i wish i had time to catch up on this thread, i didn''t even read anything from this week yet! there''s so much here! i''ll do that later tonight though.

hope everyone is doing great!

 

[Mara]

gail i think it definitely helps to map out your goals for the day or a splurge out or something. many times before we go out i already have in mind what i'd like to have so that i don't get too derailed by the menu. but bread is my weakness. hehe. however, knowing that also helps me because i can plan to not have something else and eat more bread etc. in any case, sounds like you have a great plan.

nejbarb, i don't think your diet sounds odd...whatever works for each of us right? i do think you can add more veggies and fruits in as snacks as they are relatively low cal and you can also juice up a LC with extra broccoli or cauliflower or mushrooms, just steam them in the micro for a minute then mix them into your dish. I have done that sometimes for lunches before with LC's pasta dishes or similar. lastly on the fiber, maybe try replacing the hamburger buns you are eating with something like the thomas 100 cal multigrain english muffins, they have 8g of fiber each so it will help you meet your daily allowances but not spend too many cals and you can still have the 'bread' with the dinner kinda thing. also think about adding maybe 1/2c of fiber one into your breakfast, it's 14g of fiber and only 60 cals. or even just mix it into your atkins shake if you don't want to spend more cals on the milk. they also have powders and stuff you can sprinkle on food in a pinch.

thanks for the tip on the gym becky...i think i might just try golds just to see if i like it there since that might be where i actually go. i just love the idea of the cinema room!

DJ so funny about HH wanting to surprise you with the indian food. sometimes greg does that to me, like when he was on his ski trip, he came home all happy with himself because he brought home donuts. i love donuts and he does too but i was like 'did we really need two boxes of donuts? it's just us two'...sometimes you kind of wonder what they are thinking even though they are super sweet to think of us. hehe. the other day greg told me 'oh someone just brought me some GS cookies, should i bring them home?' i said NO WAY. he ate them at work and i was so grateful. they were thin mints too, my favorites! hehe.

ela..that's interesting about the bagel..funny how our tastes can change after a while of doing something else. i read somewhere that it takes like 2 weeks of doing something consistently for it to become a habit in our psyches...so i am always like ummm why doesn't 'not having chocolate' count? hehee. i could not have it for a month or 4 months and still think about it. hehe.

so i just had a great call with this one company i have been talking with for a few weeks about a 6 month (potentially longer) contract and they want me!! she told me to take the day to think about it but i am 99% sure i am on board, and i am really excited. so i just need to let them know, and i'd start in about a week and a half which is perfect. the company is closeby, it's a fabulous well-known company with the right kind of attitude for me, the team seems great and they have been excellent about letting me know *realistically* what this job entails and what i might be in for...positives and negatives. which i REALLY appreciate after my last experience. i would much rather someone try to throw me a bunch of 'this might be happening so how would you deal with it' rather than acting like everything is rosy and then you get in there and find out that you really have some roadblocks to bypass. one of my fave things is that the manager seems very mellow and capable...no crazy volatile mood swings and one gal on her team has been there three years and still loves it. so that bodes well to me. in any case, i just had to share since i just had this call early this morning and i am really excited. i have been working on this one since almost the day i decided to leave my last company and while i was going through the motions with other people, this is the gig that i REALLY have wanted since day one. so please keep your fingers crossed for me that i accept it and all goes well (their budget resets april 1st so part of me is like hmmm what if their budget is not what they expected or is cut or something even though i talked with her today about budget and she seemed confident..sometimes you never know) and i end up loving it. i even hesitated kind of mentioning it here, since i don't want to jinx it! hehee. so fairy dust pretty please!!

breakfast was another egg mcmuffin with cheddar and bacon, yum, so loving this breakfast. snack will be some fiber one, cinnamon and almond milk. for lunch i am making a turkey and avocado sandwich on my multigrain bread with dijon and sprouts. i think dinner tonite will be this recipe i found in the rachel ray magazine which is basically a tarragon and tomato sauce sauteed shrimp dish over spaghetti but i don't know that i am 1000% feeling it. i bought some polenta the other day (readymade) because i want to make polenta fries after having them recently at some restaurant, and i came across a recipe for homemade baked chicken tenders so i was thinking that could be kind of fun for a dinner...chicken strips and polenta fries. but i might save that for sunday night. so we'll see.. i have so many recipes sometimes it's like which one do i want to try?!

anyhow...hope everyone is having a wonderful day! i am doing a long walk later this afternoon for my exercise. another beautiful day here, which i am jazzed about...i might be able to get a bit of sun today.

 

[Rod]

Date: 3/28/2007 11:52:04 PM
Author: Mara
gosh i dont know how we will narrow it down on where to eat in our 2.5 short days there rod, hehee. i definitely am thinking mura and sullivans and from there it's kind of a hit or miss. becky or rod, any great breakfast place suggestions? and omg i have to check out that gym with the cinema in it, ever since someone on here recently said their gym had that i was like 'oh where can i find something like that?!?!'...that just seems so cool. talk about the ultimate distraction while you work out!

so i had a really busy but fun afternoon! went to the gym and did 50 minutes on the elliptical for 450 cals and then did arm weights for 10 minutes for about 50ish cals. so 500 total. and with my walk today that's about 750 cals. yesterday i did 800...wow. that's a lot for me. but i can tell my body is tired...well not really my body, more specifically my poor crying legs! so, tomorrow i am just doing a long trail walk for my workout...and hopefully that will let them recoup a bit. the funny thing is that overall i still feel pretty energetic which i am attributing to my eating which has been really good the last few days and i have really been trying to feed my body with the right types of things. it's so funny how i can go in waves of being really good...and then suddenly i am like 'mmm 20 pieces of bread'...greg says it's my body crying out for carbs so it doesn't off and die, lol.

after the workout i came home and quickly ate 1/2 a pear with a laughing cow wedge to just get my body some nutrition and protein to keep me going...then showered and headed off to meet greg for dinner which was very yummy!!! we both love this cafe...it's such a european kind of feel where they serve fabulous wines by the glass, and specialty coffee and desserts, and also food and the food is VERY good and isn't just regular sandwich fare. they have all sorts of things like a cold italian meat and cheese plate and lasagna and really yummy soups and salads etc. so i got my fave spinach salad with pecans, carmelized onions, apples and lots of fresh spinach, and used my own TJ dressing on it. we shared a bowl of their veggie minestrone and a toasted baguette with butter (well i ate 75% of it, haha!)...their baguettes are sooo yummy. and then for dessert we shared a piece of chocolate layer cake, woo hoo FINALLY got my fix! and i had a sugar free vanilla nonfat latte with some splenda.

the funniest part is that the chocolate layer cake (along with 2 other cakes they have there) are actually made by this local bakery that i absolutely LOVE (some of my fave birthday cakes have come from there)...so little did i know at the time that i was about to get not only a 'chocolate layer cake'fix...but it would be slice of one of the absolute best chocolate cakes ever known to man. so it was a double treat when the gal told me that.

and it was a nice sized slice, but nothing insane ala cheesecake factory portions, so i didn't feel guilty in the least chowing down...and greg shared it with me thank goodness, hehee. typically when we go out to restaurants we do apps and soup and salad and dinner then dessert and by that time he can't fit anything else in (but somehow i can)...but here at this place he just shared the soup and then had a pastrami sandwich so he was more than happy to share dessert. i said okay, so we have to do this cafe thing more often. i would so much rather share a dessert than eat it all myself...i typically just want a taste but if it's there i will be like 'what a waste' and eat it. hehe.

kimberly your splurge sounds soo yummy. we go to our local best burger place every once in a while and it's a total splurge but so worth it. their fries and burgers are amazing, and i eat my whole burger (but usually leave some bun as it's too big) and then end up mowing on the fries, so yummy. gotta love a great, fresh burger sometimes! i was at the gym today and some lady near me on the machines had some mag open and it was like a picture of the worlds biggest burger or something and i thought of you having your burger...and also i was like darn that looks good. hehee.

welcome gail...hopefully you can get some tips and inspiration on this thread...!! it's a great group of people who pretty much do all the right things 99% of the time, but also know how to have a fabulous splurge once in a while as you can tell from the last few posts, hehee.

Sorry Mara, I don't have any breakfast recommendations from personal experience. All this time here and we have not been out to breakfast once. I've heard the brunch at Irregardless Cafe is fun, quirky and good, but we've just not been out to breakfast. Now, if you were coming to Tampa, I'd say the Brunchery, which has the absolute best breafkast in town.

And the Cardio Cinena is at the Golds Gym at North Hills. I must admit that it is a lot of fun. Recently, I spent 45 minutes on the elliptical and watched the newest Superman movie, which was pretty fun. It's a nice size screen and the sound system is really good too.

ETA: I just noticed that Becky commented there is a Cardio Cinema at both Golds, Pleasant Valley and North Hills, but they still don't have LifeFitness Ellipticals at Pleasant Valley and that is pretty important to me.

I must admit after all these months of working out at Golds, it would seem so funny for our Mara to be writing about working out at the gym I used to belong!!

 

[Rod]

style="WIDTH: 96.68%; HEIGHT: 760px">Date: 3/29/2007 11:59:58 AM
Author: Mara
gail i think it definitely helps to map out your goals for the day or a splurge out or something. many times before we go out i already have in mind what i''d like to have so that i don''t get too derailed by the menu. but bread is my weakness. hehe. however, knowing that also helps me because i can plan to not have something else and eat more bread etc. in any case, sounds like you have a great plan.

nejbarb, i don''t think your diet sounds odd...whatever works for each of us right? i do think you can add more veggies and fruits in as snacks as they are relatively low cal and you can also juice up a LC with extra broccoli or cauliflower or mushrooms, just steam them in the micro for a minute then mix them into your dish. I have done that sometimes for lunches before with LC''s pasta dishes or similar. lastly on the fiber, maybe try replacing the hamburger buns you are eating with something like the thomas 100 cal multigrain english muffins, they have 8g of fiber each so it will help you meet your daily allowances but not spend too many cals and you can still have the ''bread'' with the dinner kinda thing. also think about adding maybe 1/2c of fiber one into your breakfast, it''s 14g of fiber and only 60 cals. or even just mix it into your atkins shake if you don''t want to spend more cals on the milk. they also have powders and stuff you can sprinkle on food in a pinch.

thanks for the tip on the gym becky...i think i might just try golds just to see if i like it there since that might be where i actually go. i just love the idea of the cinema room!

DJ so funny about HH wanting to surprise you with the indian food. sometimes greg does that to me, like when he was on his ski trip, he came home all happy with himself because he brought home donuts. i love donuts and he does too but i was like ''did we really need two boxes of donuts? it''s just us two''...sometimes you kind of wonder what they are thinking even though they are super sweet to think of us. hehe. the other day greg told me ''oh someone just brought me some GS cookies, should i bring them home?'' i said NO WAY. he ate them at work and i was so grateful. they were thin mints too, my favorites! hehe.

ela..that''s interesting about the bagel..funny how our tastes can change after a while of doing something else. i read somewhere that it takes like 2 weeks of doing something consistently for it to become a habit in our psyches...so i am always like ummm why doesn''t ''not having chocolate'' count? hehee. i could not have it for a month or 4 months and still think about it. hehe.

so i just had a great call with this one company i have been talking with for a few weeks about a 6 month (potentially longer) contract and they want me!! she told me to take the day to think about it but i am 99% sure i am on board, and i am really excited. so i just need to let them know, and i''d start in about a week and a half which is perfect. the company is closeby, it''s a fabulous well-known company with the right kind of attitude for me, the team seems great and they have been excellent about letting me know *realistically* what this job entails and what i might be in for...positives and negatives. which i REALLY appreciate after my last experience. i would much rather someone try to throw me a bunch of ''this might be happening so how would you deal with it'' rather than acting like everything is rosy and then you get in there and find out that you really have some roadblocks to bypass. one of my fave things is that the manager seems very mellow and capable...no crazy volatile mood swings and one gal on her team has been there three years and still loves it. so that bodes well to me. in any case, i just had to share since i just had this call early this morning and i am really excited. i have been working on this one since almost the day i decided to leave my last company and while i was going through the motions with other people, this is the gig that i REALLY have wanted since day one. so please keep your fingers crossed for me that i accept it and all goes well (their budget resets april 1st so part of me is like hmmm what if their budget is not what they expected or is cut or something even though i talked with her today about budget and she seemed confident..sometimes you never know) and i end up loving it. i even hesitated kind of mentioning it here, since i don''t want to jinx it! hehee. so fairy dust pretty please!!

breakfast was another egg mcmuffin with cheddar and bacon, yum, so loving this breakfast. snack will be some fiber one, cinnamon and almond milk. for lunch i am making a turkey and avocado sandwich on my multigrain bread with dijon and sprouts. i think dinner tonite will be this recipe i found in the rachel ray magazine which is basically a tarragon and tomato sauce sauteed shrimp dish over spaghetti but i don''t know that i am 1000% feeling it. i bought some polenta the other day (readymade) because i want to make polenta fries after having them recently at some restaurant, and i came across a recipe for homemade baked chicken tenders so i was thinking that could be kind of fun for a dinner...chicken strips and polenta fries. but i might save that for sunday night. so we''ll see.. i have so many recipes sometimes it''s like which one do i want to try?!

anyhow...hope everyone is having a wonderful day! i am doing a long walk later this afternoon for my exercise. another beautiful day here, which i am jazzed about...i might be able to get a bit of sun today.

Fairy Dust coming your way Mara. Sounds like a great opportunity for you!!!!

 

[TravelingGal]

Ellaila, I can totally see how a bagel would sit there like a rock. Just thinking about it gives me a stomach ache!

Nejarb, as Mara said to each their own, and it doesn''t sound like you are starving yourself. Just make sure that when you do lose the weight, you will be able to make the right food choices to maintain it!

Mara, a premature congrats to you with a large sprinkle of fairy dust. This sounds great!

Breakfast was Fage this morning. Going for a noontime quick walk to Fed ex to get my ICUs and then rollerblading in the afternoon. Doing another TJ''s pizza for lunch (I''m hooked on these things lately) and the rest of the chicken and rice for dinner. That puts me at exactly 1000 cals for the day so I will make room for a few snacks...most likely another Fage. I wonder if it''s possible to OD on yogurt?

Also, I got a new TJs pizza...portabello mushroom and garlic. It''s only 20 (or 40) cals more than the chicken artichole one so it will be a nice change.

 

[aljdewey]

Congrats to everyone for all the great work this week.

Welcome Gail!

Rod, glad to hear you guys had a good day off. My mom has taken her b-day off for about 15 years now, and she swears by it!

 

[FireGoddess]

*fairy dust*fairy dust*fairy dust* for Mara.

I ended up having to work so late last night that I had to eat a Lean Cuisine I had stashed at work. A friend is coming over to make Cooking Light spinach ravioli tonight, so the gnocchi will have to wait for Friday night. I am going to go go WF and see if I can score a yummy sauce for them because that sounded like a good idea.

This morning was the only morning I haven''t gotten on the treadmill this week due to the presentation I had to give this morning and that''s okay. I will be back on it tomorrow morning. Hope everyone is having a great day!!

 

[Rod]

Date: 3/29/2007 2:12:01 PM
Author: aljdewey
Congrats to everyone for all the great work this week.

Welcome Gail!

Rod, glad to hear you guys had a good day off. My mom has taken her b-day off for about 15 years now, and she swears by it!

Thanks Alj......we''ve actually never done it before, but it just goes to show how "old dogs can learn new tricks!!"

 

[mrssalvo]

sending good fairy dust your way mara...good luck...

so breakfast was a larabar and then to the gym for 500 calories on the elliptical.,woo hoo and then i took the kids swimming for an hour. on our way home we got a call that someone whated to come through our house (it''s for sale) and the kids were starving. I was planning on eating at home but there was no way they''d last for an hour so we hit wendy''s. I couldn''t look up nutrition info prior so I just decided to go for the small chili since I was still a little cold and wet from the pool. when we were finally on our way home I got another call for another showing so we decided to grab zoe''s leash and go for a walk and to the playgound. my legs are so tired. i was planning on doing another elliptical session tomorrow but will have to see how my legs feel in the morning. when i got home I looked up the chili online and it''s only 220 calories so I made the peanut butter fage mix which was so yummy. will have a piece of fruit or larabar for a snack and making the dijon chicken for dinner with steamed broccoli and a small salad. so that will put me at around 1250 for the day leaving room for a little dessert if I want

 

[Rod]

Date: 3/29/2007 4:17:34 PM
Author: mrssalvo
sending good fairy dust your way mara...good luck...

so breakfast was a larabar and then to the gym for 500 calories on the elliptical.,woo hoo and then i took the kids swimming for an hour. on our way home we got a call that someone whated to come through our house (it''s for sale) and the kids were starving. I was planning on eating at home but there was no way they''d last for an hour so we hit wendy''s. I couldn''t look up nutrition info prior so I just decided to go for the small chili since I was still a little cold and wet from the pool. when we were finally on our way home I got another call for another showing so we decided to grab zoe''s leash and go for a walk and to the playgound. my legs are so tired. i was planning on doing another elliptical session tomorrow but will have to see how my legs feel in the morning. when i got home I looked up the chili online and it''s only 220 calories so I made the peanut butter fage mix which was so yummy. will have a piece of fruit or larabar for a snack and making the dijon chicken for dinner with steamed broccoli and a small salad. so that will put me at around 1250 for the day leaving room for a little dessert if I want

You go mrssalvo!!! Working out, eating healthy is a wonderful thing!!!

 

[royalasscherlover]

hi all! it''s been a really busy week and i haven''t had much chance to check in, but i have been sticking to my healthy eating and exercising. i have been feeling pretty good about myself ever since i went shopping on sunday and fit into smaller clothes. congrats to all who have been experiencing similar loss of clothing sizes or weight! i still need to get a measuring tape...

today i had tj''s black bean and corn enchiladas for lunch - love those! and tonight i am going out for a friend''s birthday. i kept my calories pretty low so far today so i think i am going to splurge on a couple slices of thin crust pizza and a salad, and will still be able to come in around 1350 calories for the day. i have been craving pizza for a few days, and the place we''re going has good ones with a nice crispy crust. i am going to hit the gym first though to limit the damage!

then after dinner i need to make a chocolate cake for a dinner party tomorrow night. i''ve told myself i can have a very small slice at the party, but will leave any leftovers for the host!

 

[Ellen]

Mara, I''m crossing my fingers and toes for ya!

 

[Mara]

thanks for the fairy dust and well wishes everyone!! i pretty much just have to email her and tell her i want it and finalize all the details and confirm start date, but i am the type where i don't really trust it til i actually am there ensconced in a cube! hehee. but i am really VERY excited.

it's TTOTM right now, so i am really tired..i met my old coworker at the mall since saks 5th outlet was having a big sale and got the cutest pair of jeans by Yanuk...totally not familiar with them but they are SUPER cute on and were more flattering to me than a bunch of seven A pockets i tried on and also joe's honey and some others. these went on and i was like omg perfect! and only $90 hehe, retail was like $180. then i got a pair of apple green juicy couture short shorts, cute with espadrilles. but i was so tired trying everything on, i felt like i was moving through molasses.

finally got home and hadn't had lunch (probably also why i was tired) so i made the YUMMIEST thing. it was basically a turkey and avocado wrap, i used the la tortilla factory white flour wraps (the big ones for 90 cals but i tore off 1/4 of it to make it a better size for my wrap), heated it up on the stove then put 7 deli slices of turkey, 1/4 of a super thin sliced avocado, some fat free feta crumbles from TJ's and a bunch of alfalfa sprouts and then rolled it up. i meant to put dijon and forgot but it was REALLY good even without it. i mean REALLY good. and it had good fats which i am trying to get more of, protein from the turkey and cheese, fiber from the wrap (11g!) and some veggies in the alfalfa sprouts. and it was a total of 210 cals.

i'll have some pineapple or strawberries in a few minutes and then i'll head out for a walk...i was going to do a 4m jaunt, but honestly i think a 3m is what i'm capable of...i'm tired!! i know i will feel better in a few minutes from eating, but it's pretty warm out so i don't want to overtax myself and be passed out the rest of today. then i plan to sit on the patio in the sun and read. if i take this gig i will have one more week of freedom so i figure i should enjoy it. hehe.

for dinner i decided we'd do grilled tandoori shrimp on the BBQ and then grill up some veggies as well...and then i will make my baked polenta fries. yummy. anyway hope everyone is having a good day!!

 

[nejarb]

ahhh! my new low cal diet does not work when i go to the gym and burn 650 cal in the morning! i was starving this afternoon and had a 2nd slimfast (3rd diet drink b/c i had 1 atkins too earlier) and about a cup of goldfish. so i dunno, i wasn''t working out hard this week (or last week) until this morning, just walking 2 miles every other day--in other words, back to my normal routine. but now i want to work out more again, like before i started getting sick/going out of town every weekend, etc.

i don''t know about everyone else, but i feel like it''s soo much easier to loose weight if you''re not exercising hard.

well, i got where i am, about 10 lbs over my ideal weight, by sometimes over-indulging in things like ice cream, cheese, bread, etc. so if i just indulge occasionally, and never over-indulge, i think i can get where i want to be and stay there if i just do the 1300 cal thing a few days a week, on the days i don''t work out? or maybe i should not work out so hard and just keep doing the 1300 cal thing next week? again...ahhh! why did i do this to myself? i can just see myself now, 1 year ago, scarfing down pimento cheese sandwiches and root beer in the library at school, no care about how many calories, and no second thought about going out for pizza and beer later that night. what was i thinking??

i''m totally motivated to loose weight now, b/c i really want to buy a few new pairs of jeans and i found out a few weeks ago that some of my favorite jeans come in 36" length so i want to get some in white & some in blue, but i''m not going to buy them until i can wear the 28" waist. oh, not to mention my wedding is in less than 3 mo!

mara, the lean cuisine pasta dishes are so much better if you add fresh veggies, i totally agree. i think i''ll get some broc & cauli and munch on some raw during day, and add some steamed w/ my LCs at night. some baby carrots too. good idea! i''ve never steamed veggies in teh micro--do you just put it in a shallow dish of water and set it for 4 min? cover it w/ plate?

 

[KimberlyH]

nejarb: Your diet isn''t wacky. When I originally lost weight 5 years ago I lived off of: Oatmeal, LCs for lunch and bean and fat-free cheese burritos w/ taco sauce for dinner. I ate the same thing for 9 months straight, no joke. I finally got the point where beans made me gag, and that was when I started adding other foods back into my meals. You need to do whatever works for you!

Mara: ~*fairy dust*~

mrs.salvo: way to go on the workout!

Rod: Glad you had fun celebrating Charlie''s birthday.

SO I just got home, it was a long but great day. Maybe we''ll get a walk in after dinner, I''m hoping it''s still light enough!

 

[Mara]

nejarb you have to do what works for you but i agree that you have to think about a sustainable lifestyle later. don''t deprive yourself to get to a goal then try to think you can just eat normally. unless you plan to keep a vigorous workout schedule when you reach your goal, i think it''s harder to maintain than people think. it takes a lot of push and pull and trial and error to see what works out long-term so you don''t backslide. i''m still figuring it out. and i know what you mean about it being easier to lose weight without working out because you can consume less than when you are working out...but everything i have read says both exercise and diet is the long-term payoff. i keep seeing more and more stats about that. and that maintenance is easier long term with both. so keep at it!! and yes on the days you work out you should eat more. i think if you are eating the right things and working out, your body will be much happier...mine totally is and i am pushing it harder than ever and making SURE to give it the right fuel for what i am asking it to do.

 

[gailrmv]

Thank you guys so much for all the warm welcomes! I am so glad to have found the WWT. I know it will help me stay accountable!
So I was half successful with my goals. The lunch for my coworker was actually easy, they didn''t have any of my temptations (bread, pasta). So I had a sensible piece of baked chicken and a big serving of salad with minimal dressing, and a small piece of cake. Not so successful at dinner, had that eggroll. However, I did only eat half my entree, saving the rest for lunch tomorrow. I ordered chicken with vegetables and cashews. Unfortunatley the place did not seem to offer any steamed options on the main menu and I just didn''t ask.
I had not planned a workout today (I got 5-6 times a week, today was my day off) but I did manage to get 60 min of walking into my day.
So, mixed success I guess.


So Mara, are you thinking of moving to Raleigh?

 

[Rod]

Hey.........

Meant to welcome Gail earlier, so welcome!!!

Mmmmm, barbecued shrimp on the grill sounds yummy Mara!! It won't be long till we'll be able to barbecue on our own grill again soon!!!!

For the past few days I've been feeling not too well, but I didn't realize I was getting either a prostrate and/or a urinary tract infection until this morning (I tend to get at least one a year

). Of course we haven't needed to see a doctor since moving here, so I had nowhere to go. I ended up going to three different walk-in clinics only to find the wait times were in excess of 4 hours at each clinic. So out of desperation I called my urologist from Tampa and explained what was going on and he called in a prescription for me as long as I promised to come see him when we get back to Tampa. So, I already feel better after just one dose (Ciprofloxacin is a miracle drug).

I toyed with not going to the gym after work, but then I figured as long as I didn't push too hard I'd probably be OK, so I went and actually working out made me feel better. I didn't push as hard as I might normally push, but I had a good workout none-the-less. Tomorrow, will be a day of rest and Sushi at Mura anyway, so I didn't want to miss two days of working out.

Today was a better day at work. The president was at least nice to me. He's been treating me like I had a communicable disease, but I was determined to be a consumate professional, continue working and doing my job and I have done just that. The management team is taking a road trip tomorrow, so they won't be around for my last day, which is a blessing IMHO. So, they said goodbye to me this evening and we at least shook hands and the Pres even said that I had done an outstanding job while here and that's why he's been so upset. He said he was ANGRY that I was leaving. Yeah, like I didn't get that message??? He seems to only have two emotions that I've witnessed. One is he's hungry. The other is he's angry. It is a shame this didn't work, but it's also a blessing that I learned it long before buying a home up here and making a total comittment to NC.

After tomorrow, I can concentrate on getting things ready for the drive home. We're now looking at April 12 as the date and to avoid having to put the kitties through a night in a hotel, which they freak over (and many of you recall how we almost lost Sakai moving her up here), we've decided to drive straight from Raleigh to Tampa. It will be about a 12 hour drive, but at least we'll wake up here and go to bed there.

Anyway, I hope you all had a good day. Woo Hoo to my last day tomorrow!!

 

[Sevenwires]

Hi everyone... Today was a good day considering this whole TTOTM thing and I usually constantly feel hungry. But maybe it's the going in and out of the office that kinda kept me from thinking about eating all the time. Up to know I've eaten about 1100 calories... which isn't bad at all. I just have about 500 to go before the end of the day.. and since it's 7:19p.m. I think it'll work out just fine.

Haven't done any workout today... and I'm not feeling the gym either. Man I just want to go home and plop onto my couch and be a big BLOB. Sleepy sleepy sleepy. I think this time of the month is torture. I don't get any pains/cramps or anything "during"... but this draggy feeling beforehand drives me NUTS. I feel like a big whale sometimes. -- Though excercising has made a difference during this time. I don't feel as "big" as before.

So I dont' think I want to go to the gym today. But I will force myself to take the doggies out for a one hour speed walk.

The weekend is almost here! 1 more day!

 

[monarch64]

Tons of fairy dust being sprinkled about here for you Mara! Best of luck to you!!!

I got lots of housework done tonight...laundry, mopped some floors, vacuumed both stories, finally washed the pots and pans that had been in the sink for the past few days...la la la. So between that and watching the dogs constantly, was my workout! I barely sat down all evening until now! Lunch today was a Morningstar black bean burger cut up into bite size pieces over an American salad from TJ''s with a couple tbsp. of lite ranch dressing, and dinner was a frozen TJ''s black bean and veggie burrito which was really good all by itself for 410 calories...I had some snacks in between--a little cottage cheese and some sliced peaches (the Del Monte type from the glass jar), and some TJ''s lemon creme wafer cookies for something sweet...I''m eating a bit better this week since I indulged all my cravings last week as far as pizza and such!

Hope everyone has a great Friday...tomorrow I get my expansion appliance installed in the roof of my mouth which will stay in (except for my surgical expansion) for the next six months...it will suck but I''m ready! So tomorrow for lunch I''m planning on a big veggie sandwich from Jimmy John''s (avacado, cucumbers, tomatoes, sprouts, and thick wheat bread) because I won''t be able to enjoy something like that for a long time! I''m pretty excited about it!

 

[Mara]

gail, yeah we are talking about raleigh but at this point it''s just research....greg''s fam lives out in maryland and PA and we are visiting them and we would like to see raleigh and check it out so that''s the plan for right now! do you live out there?

so the bbq''d shrimp were really yummy...it''s so funny but we always bbq chicken and steak and then today suddenly i was like ding ding what about shrimp? we LOVE bbq''d shrimp when we go out to dinner...so why not at home? doh. big hit definitely and super easy!! we do skewers with chicken all the time so i just marinated the shrimp, skewered them up then grilled. we did 2 skewers of grilled veggies too. and then the crispy polenta fries which were super easy and yummy. recently we had some crispy polenta at a restaurant and i was like gosh that''s so tasty and simple. so at the store, i just bought the block of organic polenta at the store, chopped it up into fries, sprayed with a bit of evoo and put some garlic and cayenne and then baked at 450 for 30 minutes til crispy. seriously yummy. next time i might make the fries fatter so that you really get the taste of the polenta going on inside. rod, we love bbq''ing as the taste is just always so divine...i''d be sad if we weren''t able to to do it that often.

nejarb to steam the veggies i just put wash them down, put them in a plastic baggie and put in the micro for about a minute. you could wrap them in plastic wrap or probably put them in a container of some sort but i''m too lazy.

seven congrats on sticking with things even though you are tired. i feel your pain, today i was the same way. but once i got out and was walking etc i could just keep going. it always feels so good to be active.

today i was a little lower on cals, it''s so funny but i wasn''t that hungry. i had my turkey wrap later in the afternoon so i didn''t even have 2 of the other snacks i''d have planned. for dessert instead of a cheesecake sliver i had a big piece of sugar free angel food cake with fresh strawberries and fat free whipped with some chocolate shavings on top. it hit the spot and was like 1/2 the cals of the cheesecake sliver. greg had a cheesecake and gave me a little taste so it was all good. so i ended up being at like 1300 cals for today whereas typically i am about 1550, but i feel full and i ate a ton of fiber and protein today so i feel good. plus tomorrow night we are going out into half moon bay for dinner at our fave seafood place where i get a little platter of fried goodies (though because i use a ton of malt vinegar it tends to kind of make the fried part just fall off, which is kind of funny because then it''s so much more healthy!) like scallops, shrimp and fish along with chips and a veggie based clam chowder that we just love. there''s never room for dessert at this place!! but we have cheesecake at home if necessary, hehe. so i am sure i''ll use up extra cals tomorrow night.

i wrote the director at the new gig and told her i''d love to take the contract and she wrote back tonite with a mind-boggling hourly rate and said they were very excited, i am sooo jazzed about this!!! it just feels like it''s right. so keeping fingers crossed. thanks for all the well wishes, i start work in about a week...so i have one more week of ''freedom'' and i am SO going to take advantage of it. bonus is that this company is literally up the street from my old bad company, so it''s the same commute which means it''s also really close to my gym. i was afraid wherever i''d end up would be farther or away from the gym or whatever. and this is literally 5 min from my parents house as well so i am very familiar with the area. overall VERY happy with how things are turning out so far.

 

[Lorelei]

Welcome Gail

*

sprinkles and sprinkles some more for Mara!* Eagerly await the outcome of this job offer!

Good for you Rod with your last day, getting yourselves and the kitties home ASAP sounds like a good plan, hope you feel better soon too.

No workout yesterday as a few things going on, but maybe later today.