Ris - 1 sweet a meal is a good rule I am the same way...it's just better for me not to even have them :grumble: Hope this darn gov't figures things out soon!

Better - I just commented on your thread!! YES!!! Pics, pics, pics!! I take them all the time and they help so much with the psychological game the damn scale plays with our heads! Fantastic work, girl, you are beautifully buff!:bigsmile: I feel the same way about all of you girls! Such a wonderful support group!

Beeps - you will get there my dear! the transformation you have made is phenomenal!

Amy - I'm sorry about the news for your dad Glad the run helped, but don't beat yourself up. This is a tough time for you right now! Just find a balance that is good for you. Hugs :flowerforyou:

I've gotten in 2 lifting sessions this week, next one is Sunday. Food is going well, still not logging and loving it. Feeling leaner and meaner. I squatted and deadlifted 135# during both sessions this week...that means those big 45# plates on each side of the bar, yeah buddy!! That is a PR for me. I think I will be able to go up next time too! I will be 40 exactly one month from today and I have the lazer beam focus in full effect!! Whether I hit my weight goal or not, I will be happy to rock the blue dress I wore in Florida 2 years ago! That is all!!

Have a great weekend!!

Amy - I am really glad you got some time to spend with your Dad....it's just sooooooo sucky that the circumstances aren't that great. I hope you can keep it altogether!

jen....were you BESIDE me in the gym, today?? Because, a little (of asian descent) lady was there and she was BANGING around those heavy weights like NUTHIN'. My hip thrusts are back up-to-snuff, but everything else I'm moving along S-L-O-W-L-Y.

My lifting was good and I came back to the "free" thanksgiving lunch put on by my company. So, I chose only turkey, steamed veggies and GRAVY! Yum. I. Am. Full. (I skipped the potatoes, stuffing and pumpkin pie with whip cream.)

Tonight we are celebrating "International Day of the Girl" with our 11-year-old-daughter....don't know "how", yet, but it will NOT include "food".

Have a great weekend! Especially to fellow Canadians celebrating Thanksgiving this weekend....

Beeps – I am only making strides with my leg and back lifts…not so much with anything else. Great choices for your Thanksgiving lunch!! What did you end up doing to celebrate International Day of the Girl?! Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving too!!

Abigail – Hope the change in your schedule allows you to get to the gym more now!! I’m sure it will be nice to to just be working at one place!

Got in my 3 lifts this week. Ate out once everyday this weekend but managed to make good choices. Fri was salmon and a sweet potato with a skinny margarita, Saturday was Kung Pao chicken with broccoli instead of rice and today I had garlic tilapia with broccoli instead of refried beans and rice (and just a handful of tortilla chips, which is the only processed carb I’ve had in 2 weeks!) Now my hubby is firing up the grill for some steaks and the week starts all over again tomorrow. Can’t wait to see what progress can be made this week!! Let’s have a great week ladies!!!

Good morning ladies! I was 212 under my goal for the week, so that's a gold star for me. Still hanging in there with this baby. I did better yesterday on the desserts (just one), so hopefully my sweet tooth is subsiding a bit. I had a pretty good weekend for exercise. I got in a long swim on Friday (and I was pretty proud of myself--even 9 months pregnant I was passing most of the guys in my lane), did some weights at the gym on Saturday, and got in a long walk on Sunday now that the rain is finally starting to go away.

Beeps--don't beat yourself up! I'm sure you didn't undo all of your hard work in one weekend. You just need to brush yourself off and get back on track today!

Jen--great job on getting in your lifting and making good choices when eating out! Your meals sound delicious!

Abigail--sounds like your busy schedule will be getting a little more manageable, that's great news!

Ashley--you look awesome! I love seeing what a difference lifting makes.

Amy--so sorry to hear things aren't going better with your dad. I'll be thinking about you! Glad to hear you got a run in. Obviously you have enough going on that there's no need to worry too much about your food and exercise, but hopefully getting in a few runs here and there will help you destress a bit.

That's all I can see/remember, hope you all had wonderful weekends!

Ris - I will put you down for GOLD star - I haven't even added mine up, but am sure I'm not a GOLD nor a PLAT star, for sure. This week is TOM....I think I'm done with the "star" challenge for the immediate future.

5 weekends have passed that out-of-town-company has come to stay. 2 more. That will make 7-in a row.

I think, already, I hate people. I hate all people. And even though our guests are good guests and I love them - I totally hate them all.

I am exhausted. Work all week. Entertain all weekend (oh, and drive kidlets to various sporting activities). I'm 100% BURNT OUT.

Blech.

Ris – You go!! Great job getting in your exercise and sticking to one treat a meal Can't believe it's almost time for that baby!

Ashley – Wowzers you have a busy week!! Where do you live again?! I love Festivals! Happy Anniversary!! Your plans for celebrating sound awesome!! Enjoy all of your outings!

Beeps – As you said, maintenance is better than a gain and you still got a star! And movie popcorn is a TOTAL treat!! I am cracking up at your “I love them but I hate them” comment, haha!! I totally understand that comment!! Honestly, a break from challenges may be just what you need. It has done wonders for my motivation and progress!! Just mentally and physically, it can be so refreshing. We don’t want you burnt out!!

I start teaching 2 new Aqua Zumba classes this week. First one was this morning, I about died. My alarm didn’t go off so I didn’t eat breakfast, thought I was gonna pass out! Luckily I did not! Tonight I lift with my son and I have Italian stuffed portabella mushrooms planned for din...yum!

Here's my date-night supper/dessert, all planned out:

Supper (upscale restaurant)

1.5 cups - Korean Fried Cauliflower, Sesame Seeds, Scallions

4 oz. Pan-Roasted Salmon

1/2 cup Roast Confit Potatoes

1/2 cup Arugula & Corn

1 tsp. Avocado-Lime Vierge

Dessert

1 x Maple-Bacon Cider Donuts (donut-hole sized)

(I have no idea how many calories this is - anybody want to hazard a guess?)

All I know is that I have fasted since 7:00 pm last night, it is now 4:22 pm and I am hungry and READY for this meal!

We didn't eat food until 6;45 pm! So, that means I fasted for 23.5 hours....that's as CLOSE to a 24-hour fast as i've gotten, lol. Woohoo! And, I ate and felt full and went home and went to bed. yay!

Abigail - boo on m-i-l who bring tasty food....wha?? I mean YAY on m-i-l who bring tasty food!!! My m-i-l has not, in the 15 years I've known my husband cooked me a single meal. Ever. Not once. Not ever. True, she lives in the UK (and we've only gone over there 1 time!)....true, she only visits us once-per-year (although, this year, we had her the first weekend in October and she's coming back this weekend....she spent the month of October here in Canada!).

Well my class was not yoga-ey at all. It was more pilates but harder. She did 3 rounds of about 8-10 1 minute drills of stuff with stability ball and weights. I am sore still today and not sure if it was from the lifting Tuesday morning or the class. Probably a combo because my quads, tris and abs are sore in addition to my glutes. It was reasonably challenging. I'm going to bring my 8 pound weights next week. The instructor is super strong. I'm a little dissapointed it's not more yoga centered, but maybe she can incorporate some later. Anyways, I think it will be a good addition to my routine. Most likely I will be lifting only twice a week (which has been standard the last few weeks anyways), doing this class and 2 runs.

Typically I would have lifted this morning, but I lifted Tuesday morning, did the class that night and then ran about 3 miles with the stroller yesterday morning and I was just beat - like sleepy and my body was tired. And I slept sort of crappy last night. Still tired. I may try to get up and lift in the morning and squeeze in a run at some point this weekend.

Beeps, that food sounds yummy.

Abigail, I hate that flabby feeling. You'll bounce back once things settle down, which it sounds like they are.

That's all I can see on this thread. Hope you are all doing well!

Better - that class sounds really awesome! The one downfall of my gym is they just are NOT inventive, at all, when it comes to "group programming". You get your standard "yoga" (not for me), your standard "cycling" (off-times, for me), your standard "step-aerobics" (this I *do* like)....but, anything that sounds "creative" just doesn't sell at my gym. Too many of the geriatric set, to be honest.

Amy - congrats on being 'back to work'! I think the whole WORLD is RELIEVED at the most recent USA financial developments.

How exciting Ris!!! Good luck this weekend. I hope he comes soon! This is your first? Mind came on her due date. I hope the same for you. :flowerforyou: I'll be thinking of you this weekend.

No workout this morning. I was up for about an hour in the wee hours of the morning for the second night in a row. I'm also coming down with something: allergies or a cold I think. So I did not get up and lift this morning. I'll probably try to lift during nap time on Saturday and maybe get a run in Sunday. We'll see how the weather is. The cold tends to make me want to get under a blanket and watch scary movies.....

Have a great weekend ladies!

Thanks ladies! Yep this is my first. I am definitely hoping he comes sooner rather than later! I've pretty much wrapped up everything I need to do at work and I did all the preparation at home I could think of (thank you shutdown), so now it's just a matter of waiting. Beeps--I hope your gf is feeling better now! I feel like it's so hard for some people to tell when they're actually in labor, I've heard a lot of stories of people thinking their water broke or that labor had started just to go to the hospital and get sent back home. I'm hoping to stay at home as long as possible so hopefully that won't happen to me, but we'll see....

I think I'm officially addicted to logging. I didn't log at all during the day yesterday because I was so busy, and I was thinking that I should probably give myself a break from logging for a while (if I'm ever going to do it it seems like now is the time), but then last night I went back and logged everything I ate just to check on where I was. I think I'm hooked on the satisfaction of being under my calorie (which is much easier when you're eating for two). I'll be forced to take a break when all the chaos of labor/delivery starts, but I just think its kind of funny how far I've come--it wasn't that long ago that I had to force myself to log on weekends to keep myself accountable, and before that just to log at all, and now I can't help but check up on how I'm doing.

Ris - I hope you're baby is on the way!

Amy - sorry to read about your Dad...my thoughts are with you at this difficult time.

I hadn't heard that "4-burner" theory from Dave S new book - so thank you for blogging about that....because I find it interesting. It makes more sense the way you are approaching it (i.e. burners can't all be on high at the same time....) and I'm glad you are being patient with yourself as you devote some time to your Dad and his needs.

I hope to hear about a baby from Ris soon!

Amy, sorry to hear about your Dad. You will be in my thoughts as well. :flowerforyou: It sounds like you have your priorities in line. You're right; we can't do it ALL all the time. I struggle with trying to be super everything: super wife/mom/employee/fitness guru/cook/daughter/sister/friend/etc. and sometimes, something has gotta give.

Hope you all had a nice weekend. I was lazy Saturday for the most part. It was rainy, cold, and I have some sort of funk. Got some stuff done around the house, had some friends over Saturday night, and had family birthday for Eric Sunday at his Mom and Dad's. I did get one lift in, but no run as I hoped for. I did start a new puzzle. I'm a little addicted to puzzles. I stayed up till 11:30 last night putting together the Hudson Bay. :ohwell:

I've got plans for a run during lunch today; brought my bag to work. Tomorrow I have my class. Wednesday I'm off so will do a 3ish mile stroller run. Thursday morning I should lift, and then again sometime this weekend and hopefully get in another run. I've got meals planned as well. Have a great week ladies!

No news here:grumble: I've been trying to walk a lot and eat tons of pineapple, but nothing's happening.

Amy I'm so sorry to hear that your Dad isn't doing better. David Sedaris' analogy is a good one, and I think you're right that it doesn't necessarily have to be an on/off situation. Obviously you can't blow off work, but now's probably not the time to try to take on a ton of new projects either. And it's probably good to keep working out and eating healthy if if makes you feel better, but not to try to keep up a regimented routine or be stepping on the scale everyday. I'll be thinking about you and your family! ((((HUGS))))