It is only Tuesday and I am having a crazy week already... I did pretty well yesterday and for the first time ate more protein than carbs and was pretty close on all the macros! I only got in a very short run yesterday and was pulled into meetings all morning today so no run yet. My goal to run every day this week is already not looking good :grumble: I do have training tonight so that is something to look forward to! I always love how I feel afterwards!!

Amy - I am going to have to try your lower-cal chicken cordon bleu - it sounds yummy. I am doing technical sales support now for a large IT services company so we travel to do presentations to the potential clients. I used to work in another area in IT and was very active in a professional organization that would send me to do presentations or attend conferences. With my job now they are trying to reduce costs in all areas (typical) and one of the easiest is to cut travel, so we do more web presentations and conference calls and limit the number of people who need to actually meet a client. I have gone from having a very high level in the airline programs and knowing the gate agents (seriously) to not really traveling much at all. This is not necessarily a bad thing though!

Better - I love the Northwest! It is so beautiful and really great for outdoor activities all year round. I live in the Southwest and would really prefer the NW! It is nice here and the weather is generally ok but it is definitely not as pretty as the NW. I also love the east coast - not FL so much but pretty much everything north. Also very pretty! I totally agree on the midwest - meh...

Beeps - I am sure you will be worrying about all of us while you are in Europe :laugh: Seriously I hope you have an awesome trip and forget all about MFP while you are there!

Have to postpone my lifting, today.....because I am going to take my lunch hour to go see my grade 7 son's band perform (he plays trumpet in his school band!).

That means I'll lift tomorrow and Friday - 2 days in a row! Yikes!

I'll be totally fine....I'll lift a bit early in the day on Thursday - and will use less weight than ordinary.

And then, that leaves Friday to be its own (great!) lifting day.

BOOM!

cardio on saturday....it'll be a THREE-peat!

Thanks for all the Chi-town love :happy: It's a beautiful city. There really is no "best time of year" to visit tho. I would probably say summer, but then you chance it being 100 degrees and 100% humidity. I would say your best bet is probably September though. Although there is the stray crazy weather day during that month too. Gotta love the midwest!

I want to see Chicago, too!

And New Orleans!

And New York City!

But, mostly places beyond North America interest me most.

PS - I am WAY over-budget on calories today....THAT SUCKS.

Hey ladies! I love talking about travel. I love SF. My bro-in-law lives there. I went when I was 12 with my fam and have been twice with my husband. So much fun. He and his GF of 20 something years also do nature photography and trips so they always take us to gorgeous places in the area. Probably my most favorite trip ever was a trip out there in 2001 I think. We went to some amazing places, which names escape me.

I've had a pretty bad week. I haven't been terribly over cals (well 300ish Tuesday) but I have not been making the best food choices. We had dinner out Tuesday (not planned) and I woke up yesterday and just felt icky. I stepped on the scale just to see how bloated I was and it was up 2.5 pound from last weigh in! I determined I would not be weighing in this week, but decided to step on "unofficially" this morning and it was down 1.5, but still a pound over last week. So I really need to make better food choices this week. I seem to be in a cycle of good week, not so good week. I think it has to do with my every other week weigh in. So I will "officially" weigh in next Wednesday or Thursday and each week from here on out. I need the accountability. Vacation looms and I need to kick it up a notch.

I've done well with workouts. I ran Monday, did 6 week 6 pack Tuesday morning and then walked to and from dinner, and did some yoga yesterday as well as ran and walked with Daphne, and then carried her in her backpack about 40 minutes round trip to and from a free concert downtown. That was fun. I packed a picnic (chicken salad, cheese, fruit, crackers) and we sat out on a blanket and listened to a concert. The weather was gorgeous, just a little chilly and plenty of sunshine.

OK, I need to get to work. I've got my circuits class tonight. I need a good sweat. Have a great day!

Jen, how did you like the Bizzy workout? I'm thinking I need something structured, and 21 days sounds like a perfect time frame. I like the circuit style. Looks like I could get it done in 40 minutes.... I'll have to see if I can find 40 minutes of time that I could spend in my gym 4x a week. That may mean working out in the morning. Hmmmm....... Maybe 3x a week.

LOVE New Orleans. I went to law school there, it’s definitely my favorite city in the US. DC (where I live now) is a close second though.

Jen—I also love spaghetti squash! My husband has celiac so it’s our go-to substitute for real spaghetti.

Amy—Your garden sounds fun! Rabbits eat just about all the vegetables I try to grow, so we’re just going to stick with tomatoes this year. We also do a farm share so I still get lots of fresh fruits and veggies from that.

Beeps--what are koala jumbo sour soothers? I've never heard of them.

That's all I can see/remember.

The baby is still sick, and now I'm sick again, so workouts have been mostly a fail, except that I did get in a quick lifting session on Tuesday when I got home from work. I'm going to try to do that more often since it worked out pretty well, though it only works if my husband is home when I get home (he usually is). I have a walking lunch date today, and a running date tomorrow, and another walking date Sunday, so that will help. Tomorrow will be tough on food though. We're going to some horse races and there will be a lot of snacking, so it'll be hard to log.

Hi Everyone - haven't had much time for catching up this week until now. I missed running the first part of the week so missed my goal of getting in 5 runs, but i did go Thursday and today and because of schedule changes I may get to run Saturday morning.

Ris - I can't imagine running marathons in every state, probably because I can't imagine running a marathon period. A half is plenty long enough for me! Have you run Boston? I would love to go to one of the big ones (Boston, NY, Chicago or even LA) just to see the event. Also - you mentioned going to Bombay (Mumbai) for a wedding... I work with quite a few people from India. Mumbai is much better than other cities as it is the capital and has more international visitors. Like the rest of India though it does have a very high number of people living in slums - I think over 50%. The streets are pretty crazy with cars, people, bicycles and of course cows... and there is a lot of trash, etc.. If you can get beyond that and the people begging there are really beautiful places to see there. I'm sorry you and the baby are sick! I hope you both feel better soon!

Jen - I am exhausted just reading all that you visited and did while you were in California. I love that drive up to SF - did you stop in Santa Barbara at all? It is so pretty there.

Beeps - I am with you on the garden. I really like the idea of it and love having the fresh veggies when my daughter has hers but I really don't like bugs and dealing with all that. I have fruit trees though and enjoy having fresh oranges and juice, grapefruit, nectarines and tangerines. I think I need to find a really good farmers market instead of having my own garden. The Baltimore Farmers market was one of my favorites and always had the best veggies!

I am doing fair so far with eating. I have been doing a better job with the protein but still going over a bit with my calories - not a lot but still over. But I am eating good things and not junk or lots of snacks. The pound I thought I lost has come back and brought a friend so now I am up 2 pounds even with all the running, strength training and change for more protein and a bit higher calories :huh: If anyone has any other suggestions I am open to them. I just can't figure out why I can't get these last few pounds off!

Have a wonderful weekend! Supposed to rain here - no complaints we definitely need it!

I am in day 3 of my "do what you say you will!" challenge and it has gone very well....no snacking AT ALL after supper! So, that is GOOD news, because I totally feel that if I get THAT 'input' done correctly, the scale weight, albeit slowly, will whittle down in the right direction.

That's awesome, Beeps!
Sorry Shannber, I have gained and can't seem to lose!

The good news, I took 5 week measurements and despite a 2 pound gain, I have lost 1/2-1 inch EVERYWHERE- except my right thigh which was already 3/4 smaller then my left. It only went down 1/4.

I was 313 UNDER my goal and my macros were the best they've been 43% carbs, 27% fat and 30% protein. I failed at two cheats though. There was like 6. I am going to try harder this week. Yesterday, I had a horrible PMS attitude, today, I have a can do attitude. Gotta love hormones. It's early. I am sure the grumpiest will back! 8 weeks until vacation. There may be a juice fast or a soup diet between now and then.

Beeps—I like your “do what you say you will” challenge! I really believe that telling other people your goals helps you stay accountable, so I’m glad your husband is on board too!

shanaber—At one point I couldn’t imagine running a marathon either, and then I met all these “normal” (i.e., in fine shape but not in amazing shape or anything) people who either had run or were training for marathons, and I decided to give it a try. They’re a lot of work, but once you do one it’s easier to maintain that endurance than it is to build up the mileage the first time. I’ve never run Boston. I’m still hoping to qualify someday, but I have a ways to go. I did Chicago and loved it, and I’m doing NYC in November. And thanks for the info on India! I’d still like to see it, but it’s good to be prepared for it. And I’m sorry you’re having trouble with the last few pounds! They are always the hardest. It sounds like you’re doing most things right, but at the end of the day it’s calories burned that matter when it comes to weight loss, so until you have a deficit you’re not going to see results. It’s kind of a catch 22 though because you need to eat to fuel your running and weight lifting. My best advice is to be honest with your logging and to tweak your calories a little until you go back to logging. And drink lots of water—you don’t want to get discouraged by holding on to water weight!

Kelly—Great job on the measurements, staying under your calories, and sticking close to your macros! Sounds like a good week despite the extra cheats!

Ashley--Sounds like you have a busy week! Great goals!

I had a good week. I was under by 168 calories (are we still in the star challenge? I’m giving myself a platinum either way!), I got in two good runs over the weekend, and the scale says I’m down two pounds. I’m only logging one of them in case it’s a fluke, but it’s giving me some inspiration to keep up with the logging and working in exercise. I’m also finally healthy again, and the baby is slowly getting better (and sleeping better thankfully).

Not much time to respond. But, I am going to say NO star for me. I didn't even bother logging the weekend it was a mess. And we leave for vacation Thursday to visit friends in Missouri. So I am going to just call this an off week. But, when I get back Mike wants to go on a lean cycle and whenever he does that I lose weight too. So it will be about a month until our vacation in June that I would love to drop about 8 pounds for.