I've noticed that when I check the scale and see progress in the right direction, I immediately give myself permission to back off my goals and start justifying food choices that I wouldn't normally go for otherwise. I did good these last two weeks, and I am down a pound which is right what I expected to be - but then I just become really lax instead of focused. Not that having a little break sometimes isn't OK, but I should probably apply myself for longer than a few weeks before I relax. :laugh:

Chloe - I'm at 1,350 calories per day. I really try NOT to eat back my exercise calories (whatever they are)...although, tonight, I am going to give myself permission to include them in my alottment.

PS - I've been to the restaurant's website, have pre-determined what I will order, and calculated my supper at 1,100 calories. So, it's within my calorie allowance for today!

I'm still trying to figure my calories out..... I had a 0.5 pound gain this week. Granted it may be due to the fact that a) I've had a couple glasses of wine every night this week...oops b) I did Insanity yesterday and my muscles are sore (therefor potentially holding water right?) or c) TOM is on the way. Or a combination of all three. I was doing 1200 cals a day for a couple weeks, and have since bumped up to 1300 this last week. But it all is useless if I'm eating 2000 calories a day on Friday and Saturday. Which I probably am. So I am going to log weekends the rest of February, no matter what and get this thing figured out once and for all. I can't remain "in diet mode" forever during the week and eat and drink whatever on weekends. I'd say one cheat day a week is fair.

I did Insanity at lunch yesterday and like it though. I may start doing it with my coworker once a week at work. It sucks being sweaty the rest of the day, but it was so nice to not have to get my workout done when I got home.

Today is my Friday! Have a great weekend chicks!

It's all "trial-and-error" on the calories in v. calories out piece.

Husband and I did have a lovely supper out, last night. We shared appy's and then each had our own entree. The owner brought us out 2 desserts (which he paid for!), but I did NOT even taste either one! I really was "full" after my meal and I knew even ONE MORE BITE would toss me over and I'd have a sore tummy all night. So, husband ate BOTH desserts, lol.

I'm happy with my discipline!

Tonight, I have a hair appointment and then immediately off to an open house to try and figure out middle son's junior high school sitch. That means my supper will be a protein bar. I expect it will be a lower calorie day - good because I'd like to water-out all the salt from last night's meal AND get a lower scale weight tomorrow!

Beeps, I'm so impressed by you skipping even a bite of dessert!

Amy, Hangry! I use it all the time. And I get hangry a lot if I'm behind on a mealtime, haha. I can't do the IF thing. Maybe I could skip breakfast sometimes, and sometimes I won't eat lunch until 2 or later. When I miss meals it's cause I'm really busy - but I couldn't do it otherwise. I get ILL with low blood sugar when I don't eat. It's not pretty, haha.

Chloe - You and I are very similar. I'm trying to average 1500/day too. I find it fairly easy to hit that number and not be really hungry. For me it means three square meals a day, and little to no "treats" on any given day. So that's OK with me.

You are diabetic, right, Schmoozy?? It makes sense, to me, that you cannot do IF at all....

PS - I didn't have an alcoholic beverage last night, at all. My husband had 2 manhattans, instead, lol.

Today, all I've had is 1 protein bar. I have to get my daughter to a dr appointment, so I think I'll grab a salad w/ grilled chicken on it prior to my return to work. Then it's off to a hair appointment followed by an open house - so, check, no time to eat!

I don't mind it when low-cal days come because I'm *busy*....but, if it's just me sitting at my desk at work, I have to fight HANGRY, MUNCHIES, GRAZING all the time!

I MUCH PREFER TO BE BUSY!

Which reminds me - I *finally* got a line on a very decent job....have to get an updated CV into the recruiter, today. So, will make final tweaks, send off and HOPE that I get an interview really soon.

I sometimes wake up hungry (no hangry) if I have a very light dinner. Usually I will feel hungry for a bit and then it goes away. I get up around 7 and typically don't eat breakfast till at least 9. Sometimes I won't eat until noon. Sometimes I'll get hungry around 10 and have a handful of almonds. It's weird. In my head it makes me feel like I have a slow metabolism. Of course I am only 5'2" and have a desk job. But even days I'm home running up and down steps, cleaning, running errands, and doing 1-2 workouts, I'm still not super hungry. Monday I ate 2 bites of banana, then ran 5 miles with a stroller, showered, and then ate lunch around noon. I was pretty hangry by that time, but not as much as I would suspect. Don't get me wrong....I'm not one to "starve" oneself. I LOVE to eat. And cook. And go out to dinner. I just don't get super hungry. But I often eat like I am. My worst "binge" time is after work and before dinner while I'm cooking.

Anyways....I like the idea of averaging a number each day. I looked back to September when I was my thinnest. I was eating 1800-1900 calories a day and breastfeeding so I reckon that equals about 1300-1400 consistently a day. I'm going to shoot to average between those numbers next week and see if I can lose a couple pounds and then play around with maintenance in a few weeks. My main goal is FL vacation in May, so I have time.

SchmoozyQ--Making frozen greek yogurt would probably be much healthier, but I buy it. This is the kind I get, but I think it's a Safeway brand (not sure if they have Safeway near you or if its a local thing): http://www.safeway.com/ShopStores/Open-Nature-Dairy.page

It was in the freezer section along with the rest of the ice cream. It's definitely not low cal or low sugar like the greek yogurt I usually eat, but I figure that it has to be at least a little better for you than regular ice cream since it has more protein. At least that's what I tell myself

Hey chicks. I hope you all had nice weekends. Mine was pretty good. Not the healthiest, but not terrible. I logged my whole Friday and came in right under 2000 calories, as I suspected. Saturday I was around 1000 before dinner. It would not surprise me if I wound up close to 3000! I had three presumably high calorie beers, a pork belly lettuce and tomato sandwich, and duck fat fries for dinner. And some red wine for dessert. :blushing: I should have done a little better Friday to help with Saturday. Lesson learned....I'm going to continue to be diligent with my logging this weekend and try to only have one real cheat day this week. Also cutting out most wine during the week with chocolate kisses. I did that almost every day last week.

Yesterday wasn't awful. I didn't finish out my logging but was probably just a little over. I had the strangest hangover yesterday. I woke up exhausted (even though I got about 8 hours sleep), almost like I was coming down with something. I shook it off, rallied and painted for a bit. Then laid around and was lazy and snacked on carbs. Then I rallied and cooked some lunch for the week, some chili, baked some chick peas, and made some food for my daughters lunches (we're transitioning from bottled formula to milk/formula in a sippy cup....she is stubborn....so she requires more "real" food at day care now....more prep). Then I started feeling terrible: horrible headache and very nauseous. I thought I was coming down with something so went to sleep at 9 and feel fine today. Just puffy. Anyways, that's the most I've drank this month and I remember now it's not worth it. Moving on.

I did get a good 4 mile (cold) run in Saturday. I have plans for 3 runs this week and another day of something. I planned on a workout yesterday but just felt blah. I don't know where we stand in goals, but mine are for the next 2 weeks:

1. Log everything everyday
2. 3 runs + 1 day of "total body workout"
3. Only 1 cheat day
4. Average of 1300-1400 calories daily
5. Don't get hammered