Great to see you back Candi, sorry to hear about the anxiety attack, hope you are back on top of things :flowerforyou:

Mon, you are a powerhouse!! Good to hear that the sugar thing is working out - or LACK of sugar. Gen is doing a sugar free February and she appears to be doing really well on it too. Sounds like a good thing!

I had a terrible food day yesterday, lets not even go there.

Today I feel horrible. I'm not sure if it was from the wheat/sugar from yesterday or if I'm just tired, or if I'm coming down with something. I was exhausted before I even left home for work this morning. SO tired that I couldn't be bothered getting all dressed up for work, and I'm wearing "mufti" today which is ridiculous, because I am still all dressed up - LOL!! Just not in corporate type gear.

Plus tonight Bumper is coming over, no wonder I don't get enough sleep these days. The problem is that he is a talker, and I am a talker, so we just talk and talk and talk and before you know it, it's midnight. Last night we were on the phone until 10:30 and I should have been asleep... I think this is why I'm so tired.

Anyway, I had oats for breakfast this morning to give me a bit of a pick up. Thought I would share how I make them:

30g rolled oats, soak in boiling water for an hour, then microwave for one minute, stir and cover for 5 minutes, add more water if needed, microwave another minute, stir and cover 5 minutes. In another bowl, beat one egg white. Add to oats and stir, microwave 30 seconds. Stir in one scoop of vanilla protein powder and it will be all thick and creamy and delicious. Eat. It's good for carbs and protein and tastes yum. Optional to add cinnamon. I had 4 prunes as well, because I like them.

What does everyone else have for breakfast?

Go Helen!!! Any old exercise will do, and gardening is great because you get something pretty to look at and a workout - it's a hard slog working in the garden! Hike sounds good in the cooler (?) weather too.

Mon - bacon (or ham), eggs, spinach and mushies is my all time favourite brekkie! Yum!!

I think I'll start making my Quinoa breakfast bake again too. I have plain chobani with it - will make up a batch and post the recipe. It's also good for morning or afternoon tea and/or dessert.. or anything really!

Good morning everyone, I can't tell you how happy it makes me to see some new updates this morning and chitty chat!!

Hello one and all! It doesn't matter if you haven't posted every day or every week, I'm sure we are all just happy to have you all here in our group - posters and lurkers alike.

One thing that has struck a chord with me this morning is that we are all so very hard on ourselves. Don't get me wrong - I think there is a time for a good long hard look in the mirror and time to face the music and give oneself a kick up the butt to get moving in the right direction. But on the flip side of that, we are so critical and self effacing a lot of the time.

Isn't anything ever good enough? So often we tell ourselves that we didn't do enough, don't earn enough, aren't good enough. Bloody hell. It's got to stop.

Yes. We are good enough. That's it. End of story. Go and look at yourself in the mirror and say to yourself: I AM ENOUGH.

That's going to be hard for some of us. It might bring up some issues. But you are. I am. We all are. Enough.

So with that out of the way... Here is my story from yesterday:

I woke up in the morning with a pain in my right hand which got progressively worse throughout the day. I'm really not sure what it is, it's also in my wrist and hurts when I pick things up. I couldn't put my hair in a ponytail and had trouble picking up my wine glass last night - fortunately my left hand is fine :drinker: Having difficulty picking anything up really.. Today it's worse so I'm really not sure what's going on there. I've taken some Nurofen and will ice it later. Maybe I did something at the gym on Monday (legs and shoulders) could have been my wrist angle with shoulder presses??? No idea, I didn't feel any issues with it until yesterday morning. We shall see.

So - no weights for me today. :ohwell:

Also yesterday I bought a packet of Licorice Allsorts and ate the entire bag on the way home from work. Still haven't logged it, OMG how many calories is that going to be? All sugar... Very naughty of me. I should do it now... hang on...
GULP.. 784 calories, 165g carbs, 111g sugar.. (oops). Total of 2865 calories for the day.

Moving right along. Then Bumper came over for dinner and we had pizza and chicken ribs. Do chickens even have ribs?

Anyway, look, that wasn't the best day I've ever had, but let me tell you it certainly isn't the worst either!! :noway: So I am not going to feel guilty, I am not going to feel bad about it, I am going to move on and get on with things today. Might have a slightly lower day with calories, but I'm really just going to focus on getting the SUGAR and WHEAT back out of my diet because it really does make me feel like crap.

Confession over, thanks for listening. I am enough.

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Matilda, you are doing so well with your Whole 30, and everything really. I admire your consistency.

Caitlin, thank you for dropping us a note, it's so good to see that you are getting amazing results with your weight loss and your C25k as well. You sound like you are absolutely on track for your goals!!! Great effort!!

Candi, I'm so sorry that you have been going through this anxious time, it's horrible. Get whatever help you need to be able to work your way through it and surround yourself with people who love and care about you. Keep up the exercise if that helps you to stay grounded.

Danielle, it just goes to show that the changes you have made are staying with you. I admire you for having a rough time at work and still going to the gym in the afternoon when it would be very easy to go home and sit on the lounge with a glass of wine. Go You!! I wouldn't be too worried about a slow loss, it's just a period of re-adjustment and the weight will continue to come off as you put your plan into action.

Lou - yes!!! You maintained, and we are all a success for exactly those reasons!! Thank you. We are enough!! Fantastic work on the running, I do better in the morning as well. I figure if it works for you, then do it.

Tansy, keep on keeping on and the changes will happen. That boxing combo class sounds good, I used to love Body Combat (sounds similar) and Step can be a bit hard on your knees.. See what you can fit in, maybe even leave a suggestion with the gym for a time change and ask others to do the same? I was over my maintenance by 1000 yesterday so you aren't the only one...

Megan, good to hear you are travelling along - have fun at Pump

Mon, I've never done Bikram Yoga but people who do rave about it. I'm pretty bad a any type of yoga, I think it's one of those things that comes with practice, but I like to smash it out at the gym and whenever I do yoga I find myself watching the clock the entire time and wishing it was over... (I'm not very patient).

Have a great day everyone! You are all fabulous!

Nice work on the hill runs Michele! Mighty impressive.

I thought I'd post here about the updates in the Weigh In Thread http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1203099-week-5-weigh-in-17-23-february so we don't get chatting in 2 places. It seems that everyone is kicking goals, even though they might not necessarily be weight loss ones, I'm seeing some really positive outcomes.

Jen, that's great going - I like to try to get a lunch time walk in as well. Even if it's just 15 minutes, it helps get a little bit extra activity in, hopefully next week you will be at your mini goal

Allie, you are on fire!! It doesn't matter that you said your food and exercise was a bit off, look at those measurements going down!! Awesome!!

Maurice, 59km steps in one week... WTH!!! Great going! Rest days are just as important as training days, so good on you for recognising that you needed to take one.

Ray, ah, sounds like a good week to me!! 120km riding is not to be sneezed at and you were under your calorie goal for the week, sounds like a win. Unfortunately work does get in the way sometimes, but we have to do it.. :ohwell: Better luck this week with the weather so you can get your rides in.

Flyer, well done on the lowest weight! Fabulous news for you!!

Donna, you are going great guns! Good on you for getting off the light and easy and doing your own thing. I'm sure you'll save money and even with the extra calories, I think you are on the right track. You need food and with the added pump class, you'll need protein. All good stuff

Lorelei, don't worry too much about the scale, those measurements are what counts and they are decreasing. Waist measurement especially! Good work!

Ricki-Lee, congrats for getting back on track, it feels good when we do that and well done on the gym membership, I look forward to hearing what you do there.

Weighty, NOT binge eating is a HUGE achievement!!! As a binge eater myself, I know how hard it is to stop the pattern, and one week without doing it is amazing. I'm sorry you don't feel great just yet, but you will. Have faith in yourself, as we do. I know you can get to where you want to be.

Looking forward to seeing more updates and everyone's progress. Remember: "I am enough"

Hi Challengers!!

Today was a weird day for me today, hand still hurting so no weights, and had a super super busy day at work, so no time for MFP

Hope you all had a great day! I'll be back tomorrow!!