Yes, thank you Beeps for this challenge. It has really helped me make some good changes with my eating habits and I like looking at the week as a whole. I used to eat all my calories every day and then when I overindulged I was going way over. Now I plan ahead for those moments by eating below on days when I know I can - usually weekdays - very helpful.

Couldn't agree more with this statement. Thanks Beeps!

I am liking this challenge too, even though I end up over every week. But, it helps me to not go WAY over when I am thinking about having something else bad for me.

I am excited I received all the dresses I ordered for vacation in the mail yesterday and they all fit and should fit through most the summer I am hoping. I did just cotton comfy dresses and I actually feel cute in them and not like the blimp I have been feeling like. Even though everyone keeps telling me how cute my bump is....I feel like they are just saying that to make me feel better.

I have been pretty good this week so far, the warm weather is helping keep my appetite under control. Although I did cheat with some desserts at a conference I had yesterday. And I also pigged out on watermelon last night (almost to the point of making myself sick). Watermelon has been my biggest pregnancy craving so far, so I guess it could be worse.

I want to do my DVD as much as possible this week and next to tighten up my butt, it is feeling jiggly since I have toned down my exercising. Plus get in my walk everyday...at least 2 miles.

Dinah--Welcome!

Abigail--Great job last week!

ramalem--Great goals!

Amy--Glad to hear things are going well with your dad! And yeah LA Complex was about a bunch of people trying to make it in LA--actors, writers, dancers, and two comedians. It only lasted for a few episodes though and I think it got taken off the air. That's really cool that he's worked with the people on Last Comic Standing. It sounds like a tough business but a fun one to be in!

Jen--Great job last week, especially working in the planned cheats! It's nice to be able to enjoy a few treats without the guilt. And sounds like a fun trip to Chicago coming up!

Ashley--Excellent goals! FL sounds like fun!

Beeps--That's a long time to be in challenges! You've definitely earned a break.

Chloe--That's great that you were able to get dresses you like! And I don’t think that there is any amount of watermelon you could eat that would constitute "pigging out." That's definitely a good craving to have! I've been craving fruit too actually--first it was peaches, and now apricots.


My week has been so-so. I was so tired from the weekend that I couldn't stay up long enough on Monday to get a workout in, and I was over my calories (mostly because I had budgeted in some exercise calories that didn't happen). But I did pretty well yesterday, and I've already gotten my run in this morning. But this morning I was still up about 3 pounds from where I was before I went to NYC, so I'm a little nervous that that's "real" gain and not just bloat.

HI all just joining the thread... I've been at this (again) for 2 weeks and have seen nothing. nada. zip. zero. zilch results.
Here's a bit about me. I'm 29, 5'4" 142 lbs. I have a larger build so I tend to weigh a bit more than your average lady- I have a large bust and muscular thighs that don't help in the equation.
For exercise, I ride 40+ miles per week on my bike (outside, with hills) and do 2+ hours of mountain biking every weekend. Add to that the strength training 2x's per week and daily calisthenics (pushups, sit-ups, squats)... AND calories under 1400 daily except once a week on cheat days. I try to focus on keeping my carbohydrates under 40% of my daily caloric intake . In two weeks I expected to see SOMETHING happen on the scale or on my body, but nope. UGH so FRUSTRATING. I'd like to lose 10 lbs but more importantly, I'm trying to lose body fat. I don't care if I don't lose a pound if I can just lose this pooch! I used to have an athletic body but 6 years in a desk job has made it virtually impossible to get back!

SO now that I'm done ranting a bit, does anyone have any helpful tips, training plans, meal plans, etc. that I can use (even short term for a jump start) to help me out??

THANKS!!

tiffany - the ONLY way that dumping body fat, for me, that worked, was to LOSE all that cardio you are doing and focus on the strength-training. Strange, but true. (Cardio, unknowingly, was making me hungry, so it was difficult to keep my calories in check. Getting rid of the cardio, I was able to lower my calories, and the scale weight came down, down, down.)

Ris - I'm in the midst of fibonacci pyramids. So, the sets are reps of 21 - 13 - 8 - 5 - 8 - 13 - 21 (that's 7 sets!) and there are 6 different exercises in each day. So, 7 sets x 6 exercises = 42 sets total. Exhausting. And, yes, Phase 1 was mostly 9 exercises x 3 sets each, so only 27 sets. Fibonacci's are a bi-atch!

Welcome Tiffany! You sound like a similar build to me; I'm just a bit shorter: 5'2" and this morning I was 130 (More on that later..... ). Large chest, muscular legs.....desk job. I used to be a cardio junkie but have tapered down to about 2 runs (around 3 miles each) a week and I lift 3x a week. I do 4 moves and aim for total body stuff. For example, yesterday I did Bulgarian split squats, bent barbell rows, 1 arm rows, and skullcrusheers. Another day I do squats, deadlifts, overhead press, and upright rows. My third day is bench press, pushups, dips, and barbell pullovers. I do 4 sets: 15, 8, 8, and a 6 and lift heavy. I strive for 40/30/30 on diet, but I like salty crunchy things and wine quite a bit. My goals right now are 1350 a day with a 2000 calorie cheat day. This was resulting in 0.5 pound loss a week untill that last 2 weeks.....

Which brings me to....*kitten* the scale. I have been doing my "challenge" for about 6 weeks, losing pretty consistenlty 1/2 pound a week and gained 1.5 last week, and another pound this week. OK OK, so Derby was in there, and a really high calorie day on the day of my mini, but REALLY? I don't think so. Thank God I've been taking measurements. While they don't show amazing results, they show my body is changing. I lost/gained:
Waist: +0.25
Chest: -0.75
Hips: -0.25
Legs: Up 0.75" and 1"
Arms pretty much stayed the same; I think I had a faulty measurement before
But what has made it all worth it is that I lost ONE INCH off my belly!
My biggest problem area! I'm back to lifting heavy and I can see that my body IS changing and that is what I am happy about. To prove my point, I am going to weigh and record each day for at least a week, maybe 10 days after vacation to see/show the effects of water retention from booze and food, what clean eating can do, strength training (possible retention), etc. So that's that. I admit, these last 2 weeks have not been stellar with Derby, dinner out this week, inlaws over last night, drinks...but really? Again, thank God for measurements.

I go to FL Saturday morning and am off tomorrow so probably no checking in from me. When I get back, I'm in for the star continuation. My sister and I are going to start a new challenge too. Mine are going to be more measurements driven: I'm aiming for 31" belly and 28" waist. I suked it in to how I'd like it to look this morning and that is what I got.

You all have a fantastic week and I'll be back and ready to tone up my midsection for Bonnaroo!!!

Tiffany - good luck with your "new" calories....give it a couple of weeks before changing it up (again!)

Better - YAY ON 1" DOWN ON BELLY! That would be *HUGE* for me - am aiming for that prior to May 25 boudoir photo shoot.

Chloe - in fairness, the 90 minutes in the gym is entirely my making....my cardio is so sh*tty that I need to take WAY longer rest breaks than are called for in the work-out itself! 60s-75s between sets. and, if the sets are "each leg", I have to take a rest period between "each leg" set. Ugh!!

Beeps--That's a lot of sets, I can see why fibonacci pyramids take so long. I don't think I have the attention span to try those! And I agree with you on the boudoir shots for your friend, if I was getting them I'd definitely want to prepare!!!

Tiffany--I agree that 1400 may be too low, although I know a lot of ladies here have pretty low calorie intakes so its hard to say. Though I have found that when I eat at maintenance for a few weeks and then reduce my calories, I've been able to break through plateaus and start losing again. Pre-pregnancy I was able to maintain my weight by netting about 1700 calories a day, and I was able to lose at 1600 after that (I'm 5'6 and that got me from about 126-130 down to 123, which seems to be as low as my body wants to go). And I agree with Amy, more protein and fewer carbs seems to work for most people. I generally focus on the protein part and try to get at least 100 grams a day.

Amy--Nice job on not having booze last week, even if you didn't do as well as you hoped on eating/exercise!

Ashley--Hope you're having a great trip!

Chloe--Great job last week!

Kelly--There's nothing wrong with maintaining when life is crazy, especially if you haven't logged or worked out! As long as you're not gaining I think that counts as a win. You'll start losing again when you have the time to log and exercise more.


I had a fun weekend. Yesterday I did a marathon with a friend (I signed up before I got pregnant and got the okay from my doctor to go through with it as long as I took it easy), though I walked about half of it so I wouldn't exert myself too much. It was actually a lot of fun since I was trying to take it easy rather than trying to make a certain time, but even at my slow pace my legs are pretty sore today. So Saturday involved a lot of pre-race carbing up, and yesterday involved a lot of post-race refueling, and I'm guessing that at the end of the day I probably ate more than I burned, but I'm okay with that--better safe than sorry. So this two-week period I'm focusing on recovery and eating lots of fruit and veggies to make up for the fact that I didn't eat much of either over the weekend. So here are my goals:

1. Walk every day
2. Do yoga 2-3 times per week
3. Eat fruit and/or veggies with every meal, and try to make veggies the focus of most of my meals

How was everyone else's weekend?

Morning gals - I clocked in (somehow) at 185 calories under goal. Seeing my calories burned for gardening and walking the dog just don't seem equal to sweating in the gym for me, so my goal this week is to get back into the gym/running and to do Jillian Michael's shred a few days before work. I feel like I keep making excuses and it's time to get back in there. My weekend was way too heavy on the drinking, but was really fun. I got out and did a lot of yard work this weekend (wanted to get it done before it started raining again) and tried to wear the dog out on a zillion walks.

Quick question for all of you ladies who weight lift in this group, did you up your calories when you started lifting? I find that I am STARVING when I get done, and 1,260 calories a day (which MFP says I should be on to lose 1lb/wk) is not going to cut it.

RisontheRun - that is amazing that you did a Marathon pregnant!

Beeps - super horrible surprise. I don't know what I would do if my friends "surprised" me with that. Good luck to you though, I'm sure you'll do great. It's my goal to try and do something like that in the next few years

Hope everyone else had a great weekend. Monday came way too quick.

Goals:
Finally take measurements (didn't do it last week)
Develop and stick to a lifting schedule
Cut down on the booze

So I ended last week 43 calories under my goal. You would think I would be very proud of this, but I am up another 2 pounds according to my scale this morning. I got in all my workouts last week and overall I felt pretty good about my eating, this really bugs me. So I am up about 15 pounds at 15 weeks WTF!

Ok rant over. I am just going to keep trucking along and watching my food and keeping up with workouts. There really is nothing I can do about this. I am hoping the couple of pounds from this morning is just from all the sodium from eating out over the weekend. I saw a lot of family yesterday and they all were saying how good I look. (they could have just been saying all tat to make me feel better). But, my mom did say the only thing that looks bigger is my boobs and by belly and she would not lie to me. So I am hoping that this is just how my body reacts to pregnancy and maybe I will level off for awhile. I really don't feel like I have gained 15 pounds.

Thanks for the support Amy :happy: I really do feel like it is some water retention. I am downing my water like crazy today, which maybe I don't focus as much on during the weekends. And no I am not stressing, I do just want this to be as healthy of a pregnancy as possible. I just get worried about gaining too much weight and being more uncomfortable than necessary towards the end.

Wow that is pretty interesting!

I definitely feel like I have already gained more than 2 pounds in my boobs though!! Ha Ha, which normally wouldn't be a bad thing....especially since I am pretty flat chested. My husband is liking them, but too bad he cant touch them because they hurt too bad :laugh: TMI??

Amy - sometimes doing the "daily calorie count" just forces you into a (good) routine - NO BINGE-ING! I do it sometimes (like this week and next week), even still. I've recorded your tally for the STAR CHALLENGE!

Chloe - everyone is right that this is NOT the time to "focus" on weight-gain as some sort of FAT-thing....it isn't! By the end of my third pregnancy, I wouldn't even LET the dr. tell me what my weight was!! Those weekly weight-gains were messing with my mind....but all 3 of my babies were super-healthy and I attribute that, frankly, to me staying "active" all through my pregnancies!

ramalem - what an interesting post about what "baby weight" is all made up of! I had *no* idea!