Good morning everyone! Thanks for getting the thread started for us Christine! I know I couldnt do cold water in a cold hockey rink. Brrrr!!! Babeinthemoon will have to sticky it I think

Wow I tell you I really struggled not to go over calories yesterday. I wanted to eat all day and was hungry all day. I ended up drinking a fiber drink before bed . It worked. I just ate 1 egg, 1 turkey sausage and a slice of spelt bread and a still ravenous. darn hormones!

Hi everyone! I'm doing my first slingshot this week... should be interesting!

Good morning everyone! Thanks for getting the thread started for us Christine! I know I couldnt do cold water in a cold hockey rink. Brrrr!!! Babeinthemoon will have to sticky it I think

Wow I tell you I really struggled not to go over calories yesterday. I wanted to eat all day and was hungry all day. I ended up drinking a fiber drink before bed . It worked. I just ate 1 egg, 1 turkey sausage and a slice of spelt bread and a still ravenous. darn hormones!

I have read that having fiber before bed helps with sleep....how was your sleep last night?

Hi everyone! Today is day one of week 4 for me. I completely forgot I'm supposed to do the slingshot this week!!! Damn, and I already planned my meals out for the week, maybe I'll need to tweek it. I'm a little nervous about doing slingshot & not sure if I should. I've lost a few lbs, but nothing significant & for the most part just keep fluctuating up & down anyway. I know the slingshot is supposed to help snap me into losing mode, but I guess my mind just can't quite wrap around the idea of the extra calories every day. Ugh...should I, shouldn't I?? I guess if I'm following the CTL the way it's supposed to be, I should try the slingshot week!!! Anyone else get thru the slingshot?? How did it go??

I was scheduled to do sling shot week this week also, but I had a HORRIBLE weekend. We partied Sat night for hubz' birthday...all the foods we work so hard at NOT having in the house were all here!! Because of that, I'm moving my slingshot week to next week instead. I'm interested, too, to hear others who've done slingshot to see how it worked, did you gain any weight, was it hard to get back to low carb, etc.

Yeah, same here!!! We had a bit too much to drink Saturday night (although I did well during the day) and then Sunday I was a bit hung over & ate poorly. I did not brave the scale & don't really want to. I think maybe I will start slingshot next week too & just try to be very diligent this week & make sure I'm getting my workouts in. Still not quite feeling 100% today & I'm hoping to get in a decent workout later. My stomach is sore & I'm not sure if it's sore abs from a couple consecutive 6wk 6pk workouts (Thur, Fri & Sat) or if I'm feeling crampy from the poor food choices....Yeah, next week will be slingshot for me.

UnoDrea good luck on your first day

Losingmybehind I think you'll do fine regardless of if you do slingshot late. We will all have those off days. as long as we keep plugging along it will be a ok I slept great but I was super tired having slept little Sat night as usual.

JB I hope your poor tummy feels better soon! I had too much to drink Sat also. I've got slingshot next week. I am kind of looking forward to it. I've always seemed to lose better on higher cals but that was straight low carb so who knows. If nothing else it will make me appreciate the PB i will be missing more. maybe babeinthmoon can share how her slingshots went. I think it was Sarah that said she stayed the same.

Losingmymarble let us know how it goes

UnoDrea3732 said:
Good morning! I hope everyone had a GREAT weekend!

Today is my first day on CTL and I'm actually really excited about it! I just have to get use to my new meals and then I'll be golden. This weekend, like every weekend, was a free for all and I think my Husband was enjoying it too much. Today is my HC day and I've made the executive decision to have my cheat day this Friday since we are going out to see some fight that night and drinking will be involved.

One thing, is anyone doing off the plan workouts? I don't mind doing Chris' little 10 minute things but I would love to keep doing the elliptical or even add some Jillian Michaels DVDs.

Welcome to CTL!!!!!

I have "always" done off the plan workouts. LOL. Let's see. My first 3 months or so I almost did 0 exercise. Totally off the plan. Then I started walking... and trying to incorporate the "shapers." That didn't work so well for me.

In October I started running with C25K, and also started incorporating "jazzercise" workouts 1-3x a week. Since part of the jazzercise workouts uses weights, or is floor work with crunches, etc, I use it as my "shapers" workout and "Shreader" workout all in one.

Qutie frankly I'm really surprised at how strong I have gotten already. Love it!

Do what works for you with exercise. If you are already more advanced than what Chris suggests in the book, keep up with what you are already doing.... but with the focused effort of trying to increase intensity and length of workout over time.

Hi everyone. Feeling somewhat better today, my stomach isn't as sore, but still not feeling quite 100%. I went for a long hike in the woods last night hoping that would help but I still felt crampy afterwards. I was starting to get worried with all the flu bugs going around, but this morning I think I'm feeling better.

My husband sabotaged me last night. Usually after work I work out & then start dinner while he works out, but I guess he couldn't wait last night & while I was on my walk, he made venison burgers & peas - with butter on them. When I returned from my walk, he had a plate made for me. The burger was on a white bun with cheese melted on it. Ugh. I really didn't even want to eat it at all, but he gave me a bunch of crap - "it's venison, there's not much fat in it at all.....and I only put a little butter on the peas....." So, I ate it anyhow. I did toss the bun, but still wasn't too happy cuz I really wanted to stick to the plan diligently this week & to be honest, I didn't even enjoy the meal cuz in my head all I could think about was the fat from the cheese & butter on the peas. It was my HC day so the meat & peas were fine, minus the cheese & butter. Damn him. He usuually is much more supportive & doesn't make it a habbit of screwing me up. He isn't following CTL, but eats whatever I cook & enjoys it with no complaints.

I stepped on the scale this morning & I was up 2lbs from my weigh-in on Saturday before my "free day" & my poor choices this weekend. It seems as tho this is the norm. I am having a hard time seeing a significant loss & I'm just starting my 4th week. I realize I need to be patient & I'm trying, but I think the weekends are screwing me up. I think this weekend I need to be much more careful. No drinking & really limit my glutony on free day. Then next week I will do my slingshot & see how it goes from there.

To be honest, the free day is not all it's cracked up to be anyway. All week I look forward to eating something sinful & then when I do, it's just not as enjoyable as I expected it to be. I tried to eat a burger from Wendys on my free day & I couldn't eat much of it, it tasted horrible. The taste of the grease grossed me out!! And even ice cream isn't as delicious as it used to be. I guess my mind is switching into health mode. I'm craving things that are good for me & looking at food as fuel & nutrients. On my free day I'm eating bad foods because I think I can & I know I can't all during the week, so I think I need to eat what I can while I can & I'm finding out I'm not really even enjoying it. And then I feel like crap when I'm up again on the scale & feel like I just took 2 steps back. Not to mention I usually feel slow & sluggish & overall crappy after eating poorly on free day.

So, this week I plan to put a little more thought into what I really want to eat on free day. Maybe I can trick my mind into eating something healthy, but is somewhat sinful too. Like a delicious whole wheat pasta & veggie dish but with olive oil & garlic sauce & cheese. Mmmmm....I think that will be what I shoot for this week. And I think I'll also stick to healthy options through out the day & only eat one sinful meal on free day, and maybe a small dessert. And to think the "free day" was one of the things that attracted me to the CTL plan & now I really don't even look forward to it that much. I actually look forward to getting back to my HC & LC days after having a free day.

Anyone else feeling like this?? How are your free days going?? Are you seeing big fluctuations on the scale after free day?? I do have to add tho, that even tho I've only lost a few pounds, I am seeing & feeling a difference in my body since I'm working out. Clothes are fitting better, starting to feel some tone in muscles I forgot I had, starting to not hate how I look naked, etc. All in all I do really like CTL & I think I will be following these guidelines long term.

I agree about the "free" days and things not tasting as good as they used to. Except for last week when nice Aunt Flo came to visit, I haven't had any sweet cravings. A sweet apple or other piece of fruit at breakfast is all I need now.

Good afternoon!

It's great to hear that everyone doesn't just follow the workout routine because honestly I'm not a fan of push-ups. lol.

Christine - Sorry to hear about your knee pain. Take it easy!

JB - Sorry to hear about your weekend troubles. I self sabatoge every weekend and it puts a huge damper on my weight loss. I was down 102lbs before xmas and it felt great but I did the typical self sabotage. It is taking forever to get this weight off this time around but I am determined.

Well, today is a LC day and it didn't start off too great. My toddler decided that sleep wasn't in her agenda so I was up until midnight, woke up at 5am to realize that I couldn't eat because I needed to fast for a health screening test, and then I finally ate at 9am. I always eat within 30mins of waking, unless I am working out, so today seemed like a flop. The good news is that I stayed on plan - LC days are my favorite!

Have a great rest of your day everyone!

Good morning everyone!!! Nice to be half way through the week. Good news for the day, my weight has drifted back down some, but still up slightly less than a pound from my official weigh in last Saturday morning. Damn fun day gets me every week. Hoping to really kick it in high gear the rest of the week & see another loss for the official weigh in Saturday morning.

I love checking in on our weekly chats, it's nice to see everyone's progress & challenges. Nice to know I'm not the only one!! Everyone is so supportive & encouraging. Thanks everyone for being so great!

Babe - I'm glad to see you & your husband are working thru the financial hurdles. I'm sure everything will fall in place soon. I've been there, I was a single mom & had to work 3 jobs & use public assistance & whatever means neccesary to make ends meet. Even now that I'm married & with two incomes it is hard to keep things going. And with today's economy, you just never know when things could fall apart, we're always nervous about our job stability. You mentioned before tho that your husband is going to school, so I'm sure his hard work will pay off soon!!!

It's especially hard to stick to healthy eating with a limited budget. That has been one of my challenges, my food budget is strict, in fact, I've been trying to reduce my grocery spending. Surprisingly enough, I have been able to save about $50 a week since starting CTL. I think it really has alot to do with meal planning for the entire week & ONLY buying what I need & nothing more. I'm really doing a good job at not wasting food also. My husband thinks I'm a little OCD with the over the top planning & list making, but it really is keeping me organized & saving money & time. The first couple of weeks of CTL were trial & error, but I'm really getting a system down that works for me & it's becoming so easy now.

So, a long time ago, someone on MFP posted a super cute poem they wrote. I really liked it & saved it to look back on once in awhile. I thought I'd share it with everyone because it makes me laugh & who couldn't use a good laugh?! So, here it is:


I want to run and not jiggle
Wear a slinky dress and not wiggle.
I want to see light between my thighs
And buy boots in normal calf size.
I want to dance and have fun
And not be "Right there - the fat one!"
I want to still be rockin' skinny jeans
When my kids are in their teens.
I want to be fearless when I'm nude
And have a charming, sunny attitude.
I want to go on a cruise and lie on the beach
And fly on a plane without buying two seats.
I want to turn heads when I walk in the room
To my husband, be the sun and the moon.
I want a healthy, happy, long life
And be a better mother, best friend and wife.

I was debating having a free meal tonight when we take my mom out for her birthday tonight. Now I am really debating but heading towards NO. I was shocked to lose 2 oz last week since I bloat from ovulation on. Tom due any day so I am generally way up. I stepped on the scale this morning and I am exactly where I was last Saturday (funday) I am expecting if I stay the course I will actually see a loss with tom. last week at this point in the week i was still up 2.5 from Funday. This week is astounding instead of a 5 lb gain like usual. I don't think I want to mess that up! I seriously about fell off the scale when I stepped on it. Sorry for all the girl talk here but i also notice pms is not as bad when eating more carbs vs. a super low carb plan.

I'm not sure where we are eating since Mom didn't want to decide. i had my guys write down their picks. I wrote them on slips of paper and will have mom pick a slip when we pick her up. I can order last so there will be no getting pushed at the restaurant but my mom will for sure push the cake I am baking her on me. I can freeze a piece for sat Funday.

Babeinthemoon I have my fingers crossed for you! So did you make it to jazzercise? It sounds fun!

Losingmybehind it sure is a learning curve I'm sure you are just bloated from the funday weekend stuff. Even if you are only down a couple pounds for the month in the end that is still EXCELLENT!!!! As a former low carber struggling to not fall off the wagon and have it roll over me I thought this plan was a dream. I like your last paragraph so much!!

UnoDrea great job staying on plan regardless of your schedule! yeah!

Hey everyone! I'm back from my trip and the scale shows I'm up 1 lb. I'm not worried though and I'll record my official WI on Saturday. My first slingshot week was last week and I didn't do horrible on my trip, but I didn't do great either. We had an awards banquet for my son at his college last night and I'm glad I'm back to eating 100% CTL today.

Have a GREAT day!

Thursday morning - Ugh...had a nice couple of days for January in PA, it was 60+ degrees & I woke up to snow on the ground & high winds, about 22 degrees. Back to reality - it IS winter.

Anyhow, I was doing so great yesterday, ate good all day, worked out & then spent the rest of my evening cleaning. BUT....then I was corrupted - again by my husband. He just had to induldge in a piece of warm homemade apple pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Of course it was right before bed. I'm usually much better at turning it down, but last night, I just felt like I deserved a treat. So, I had a piece & let me tell you, it was wonderful!! And worth it. And I don't care cuz I know I've been eating well otherwise & I've been keeping up with exercise 6 days a week, no exceptions.

I did it. I'm guilty. I'm moving on.

Good Morning everyone! Well... for most of you it is probably afternoon already, since it is 11am on the west coast right now. LOL

I went to bed later than I wanted last night (was shooting for midnight, actually was in bed by 2). So, getting up at 8am was really hard... but I did it. Went to 9:15 jazzercise class, and am finally having my breakfast shake... so today's eating will be wonky that's for sure. Sigh.

Yesterday afternoon I got what I think is the last of the paperwork into DHS for our food benefits. Hopefully that will be processed soon, since I really want to go grocery shopping and pick up lots of fruits and veggies. We are down to bare bones... still plenty to eat in the house, just starting to run out of "healthy" options for me. I'll probably go to the store and pick up a couple things today so I can make another batch of soup, since that is what I really want.

I did not workout yesterday. By the time 8pm rolled around I was just way too tired. So, I snuggled with my hubby on the couch and watched some Dr Who instead. It wasn't exercise, but it was good for my soul.

Hope your Thursday is grand!