200+ Pushin' For Less Cushion!

I'm going to check in early since I'm actually under in cals!!! So far 2400 burned with more hours to go in the day. I'm not expecting much more since I'm already in bed. 1875 consumed with 30 min of dancing to the oldies with Richard Simmons. Good night ladies!!!

OMG, I just made the best cookies on the planet. They are Mexican Hot Chocolate Snickerdoodles from the ppk website. You can find the recipe here: http://www.theppk.com/2009/09/mexican-hot-chocolate-snickerdoodles/ and they are TOTALLY worth every single one of their 116 calories. (They are also vegan, if you swing that way) I cut the cayenne in the recipe in half (as my Hubbs and Kid are kinda wussy when it comes to spicy things) and I think it was perfect. Anymore cayenne and I think it would have overpowered the cookie. You could probably cut some fat by using applesauce, if you so desired. Anyway, I just wanted to share because they are TOO good to keep to myself. Make them when you are craving cinnamony-chocolate goodness.

I'll post more later, I just wanted to share the recipe with ya'll.

I worked out last night and put 100% into it (although I admit I did skip the prison cell push ups). It was CardioX night and I think thats my favorite workout now. Its just enough of 4 different workouts so that you don't get bored or aggitated doing the same things over and over. Plus I only turned the dvd to play Tony's cues and I turned on my ipod with a penguin speaker thing. (See the link below to get the visual)

The only draw back is that my penguin is possessed. You are supposed to be able to turn it on by pressing the beak and off by pressing the tail, but no matter how many times I turn it off, it turns itself back on. Its the kind of toy that dances and makes "penguiny" noises and its belly lights up, so its kinda freaky when it starts "talking" to you 5 minutes after you thought you turned it off. (It also makes an angry sound when you turn it off). I finally had to take the battery out of it last night, and that compartment is screwed closed, so to make the effort to find a screwdriver and take out the battery proves how annoyed I was.

http://www.thisnext.com/tag/ipod-speakers/items/?start=60


My friend and I are going to the beach this weekend and I'm leaving Lexi with my sister. She's been comtemplating getting a dog but has been back and forth on the decision. She's more of a cat person but we grew up with dogs, so it wouldn't be completely foreign to her. I'm not stressed about leaving Lexi with her, I just hope Lauryn will be able to control her like I can.....recognize where she needs to be firm and what commands to give when needed. The good news is that Lauryn's 5yo daughter will be visiting her dad this weekend, so there will be a lower energy level in the house. I told Lauryn that that will definitely help the situation. I want Lauryn to see how great it is to have a dog and not just be annoyed at having to take care of Lexi.


Amy- loved the bug story and yes, that has happened to me plenty of times and its SUPER GROSS cause they always get stuck in my throat. It always reminds me of the movie Overboard where they are taking Goldie Hawn's character home from the hospital in the back of the truck and she hacks and says "I think I just....ATE A BUG" and she really enunciates it.

Good morning!! Today should be another great day - my 7 mile run this morning will help. Dinner plans will be high cal but who can resist Jimmy John's Vege wrap - all 650 cals of it. Yummy!!! I have the morning off to go get my taxes and shop. Mr. Scale and I are having a fling again (*blushes*) I haven't gone over back to the 190s even for a day. I'll take any loss even 1/4 pound at a time!!! Eunice - getting the Bugg and Kristina's whip got me to start logging again. For 5 months I was at a plateau then slowly gained 11 pounds in 4 months. The Bugg givese a better awareness of the cals o should be eating. I don't think I ate enough during my plateau - I was training for a 1/2 marathon and doing some intense workouts. Then I stopped running and got into bad habits eating too much and not logging it. I seem to be back on track and feel the Bugg had helped. I'm eating more while training for this 1/2 and seem to losing weight again....

Wasn't BL good last night? They talked about starvation mode and finding non food rewards... All the things we talk about.

Kendal - glad you got a workout in. Lacey - way to get back on track and if you wear a long or 3/4 length top, no one will know the Bugg is on your arm... Amy - still drooling over those cookies!!! Kristina - have fun this weekend and give Emma a pat for me...

Have a great hump day!!! The weekend is almost here...

7. Let your greatest fear be that there is no PMS and this is just your personality.

15. By the time a women realizes her mother was right, she has a daughter who thinks she's wrong. (applies to my sister LOL)

my favs LOL

Cals for yesterday 1713 consumed/671 burned/158 left. Yesterday when I got home I decided to squeeze in a run.... walked for 5 minutes/.3 miles and then started jogging and didn't stop to walk again... I only ended up going a mile because I was running through our neighborhood and Chris drove up next to me on his way home from work, so I had to let him pick me up. It was cute. But I'm super happy that I can run a mile without stopping and without feeling like I'm going to die. I think distance will be my first concern, then speed.

This morning was Plyo, and I loved it more this week than last week. I downloaded an app on my phone that uses the led light to read your heartrate, so I checked my heartate at every 30 second break in the workout... It was always somewhere between 160 and 180. Is that too high? Or too low? I think my resting heartrate is around 85 or 90. I have no idea. All I know is that is an amazing workout.

Lacey, I'm still cracking up at the thought of you burping up ginger throughout your run. For some reason sushi does not sound appealing to me at all after that, and I LOVE sushi. I always end up really super hungry not long after I have it though, which is weird. Oh and I checked foodgawker.com this morning and just searched for quinoa - you are totally right, food porn. That site is amazing! Thanks for letting me know about it! They have a quinoa recipe with leeks and brussel sprouts that I totally want to try.

Amy, you are totally going to hit 199 this week. I can feel it. Its gonna be amazing.

Kendall, awesome that you rocked out to P90x... good for you! I haven't seen CardioX yet since I'm on day 9. I really like Kenpo actually... apparently I have frustration that I like to work out via kicking and punching. :laugh:

Eunice, if I find a good quinoa recipe I'll let you know. I'm the same way with a lot of foods. I used to hate cabbage, couldn't even stand the smell of it, and now I love it. Same thing with tomatoes.... used to hate them, now they are pretty much my favorite food ever.

Victoria, that list was super cute. Thanks for sharing it! I hope your run went awesome this morning and enjoy your wrap tonight!

Kristina, I feel your pain with Emma. Chris and I don't have a dog, but my parents have a yellow lab who is basically my little brother. We joke that we have joint custody of him... I'll steal him from my parents and then we have him for a month or 2, and then we give him back. When we do have him, I can't stand leaving him at home. I always feel terrible coming home on Friday and then going out to dinner without spending a bunch of time with him. I think that's one of the biggest reasons we haven't committed to getting a dog all to ourselves - I'm just not ready for the responsibility. Amy is right though, they really don't know how long we are gone for. Plus you seem like an awesome doggy mama... you are always doing stuff with her!

We are picking up Chinese food for dinner tonight. I'm figuring I can't really do much to control quality of what I'm eating for dinner, so quantity will be the name of the game. Unless you guys have healthy Chinese takeout options that you get. I'd be curious to hear them. Have a good day everyone! :flowerforyou:

Hey I never win anything, I always lose a lot the first 2 weeks but then it slows down. It seems I haven't anything this week, i hope its just water retention. So my starting weight for the challenge was 231 and my current weight is 224. I'll be weighing in on Saturday. I'm not sure about the %. Sorry about the confusion, I'll use the "in new" excuse. Thanks for all the great advice guys x

Ronnie - that sounds fun, to be married on the ship at TI!!! I was just in Vegas and from my window at the Wynn I could watch the pirate show there. Not a fan of the new Sirens show with all the kids around, I just flat out liked the old one better..but I get its appeal.

Hey Everyone! Ah, it's so amazing to hear how everyone is dropping their weight, staying the same, or even dealing with the setbacks. This community is so amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ronnie-I made my own ticker! - Thanks for the idea!

Kendal-I think that's amazing that you keep pulling through no matter the outcomes of the dates with those guys. Thanks for the help on the signature part; I don't consider it nerdy, just observant.

Victoria-What do you like about Zumba? I loved those quotes you shared with us also.

Lacey-Ah, your post about Mexican food made me crave some Mexican food. Why does it always have to give us that "cruddy, shouldn't of ate Mexican food" feeling afterwards? Hopefully, you got back on track the next day.

So TOM is almost ready to leave me! YAYYYYYY!!!!!! Plus, I've stayed at 261.5 the entire time, which I'm happy that it didn't go up. It would be even better if the number would go down. Lately, I've been at my grandparent's house and they have a "sitting" elipitical machine, it's weird but I try to watch a movie and work out for a hour. I miss being at my work (never thought I say that) but on the bright side I work all day tomorrow so I'll be able to workout! Whhoooo hoooo!! I can't seem to find that bodymedia fit bug thing everyone is talking about. Where exactly could I find it? As I was writing this I decided eventually I'll want to average the magic number of calories during workouts. Once I burned "1234" calories in an entire workout, that's why it's my magic number of calories to burn during workouts. I'm a bit stressed because I have the *sarcastic* wonderful *sarcastic* ACT on Saturday. I'm horrible at timed tests and I tend to eat A LOT when I'm stressed. I've been attempting to control my munchies with drinking 3-4 nalgenes/day. Wish me luck for Saturday on the ACT, I'm going to need if I want over a 20.

For anyone that does the C25K, what are you thoughts? Does it work? How do you feel? Is it worth it? I'm not a runner at all, can't run to save my life. I'd rather swim 4 miles than run 1 mile. I'm a swimmer all the way.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful week! The weekend is almost here! Spring is in bloom!

P.S. Sorry that my replies/post is a little behind.

Hallie - I think you gave to buy the BodyBugg or Body Medi Fit on-line. Try a google search. Apex or 24 hour Fitness are the 2 sites that support the BodyBugg. Dancing to music doesn't seem like exercise to me - that's what I love about Zumba!!!

For anyone that does the C25K, what are you thoughts? Does it work? How do you feel? Is it worth it? I'm not a runner at all, can't run to save my life. I'd rather swim 4 miles than run 1 mile.

I completed C25K a year ago. It's a 9 week program that takes you from sitting on the couch to running 30 min. There are free programs that will cue you when to walk and when to run. I loved it. Running is free except for the cost of shoes. It's also a great way to cross train for swimming. When I started I was gasping for breath after the 60 sec runs. The first week alternates running 60 sec with 90 sec walks. I felt great running and have continued to run...

Hey sorry i seem to be monopolising posts....i was just reading Victorias post about starvation mode. Maybe im not eating enough...what do people think of this? Is it a 500cal defecit i should be aiming for? My BMS according to MFP is 1700 and i dont do high powered workouts just walking. Advice muchos appreciatted, i feel so dumb when it comes so all this :blushing:

Ah thank you Victoria. I was eating 1200 but I've increased to 1500. I really appreciate the encouragement and the great advice, I just feel a little lost. 6 years ago I was 140lbs and I went to college and I don't know what happened, i never thought about any of this before. Thank you

Lacey, I hope you get the bmf figured out... I'm sure once it gets into a routine it will be awesome!

Kendall, thanks for the heart rate input... I looked stuff up online too and feel a little bit better about all of that. My resting heart rate is closer to 75 (thank goodness). If I were to work only in the target zone I'd be at 153. I'm sure that it fluctuates a ton while I'm working out, and I figure it can't be bad to bust my butt as much as possible. I hate that I am so broke right now (stupid 2 car payments until June), because I REALLY want to get a heart rate monitor, especially now with P90X. And thanks for the Chinese food advice. I did my best to log it.

Ronnie, getting married in Vegas sounds sooo fun! I have friends that went out for a weekend and eloped and then came back and still had a big wedding here afterward - the best of both worlds! I haven't been to Vegas in forever (and when I was there I wasn't 21 even!). I'd give you all kinds of advice, but I pretty much just agree with everything Victoria said. I have my settings on MFP for 2lbs lost per week, so my base calorie intake is 1200, but I always eat back my exercise calories (or at least most of them). So if I burn 400 cals, I'm eating 1600 that day, if I burn 200 cals, 1400. You'll read on here a bunch that weight loss is 80% diet, 20% exercise, and that's pretty true. If you just sat on the couch all day but only ate 1200 cals, you'd still lose weight... but you'd end up a flabby skinny person, which who wants that? Exercise is so important because your are building lean muscle, which will burn more calories than fat, plus your body will look so much better because of it. I also started running just about a month ago, and not on any real schedule or regime. I did look at C25K and used its theory a bit... every time I go out, I walk for 5 minutes first to get my body warmed up, then start running. At first I was just running for 60 seconds and then walking for 3 minutes, and slowly I have been changing the ratio. Running is amazing. Its cheap, it gets you outside, and I really don't think any other type of workout leaves my head clearer or my self esteem higher.

Hailie, eek! ACTs! Just make sure you get a good night's sleep before, have a good breakfast, and just relax! Don't think about the time so much and just focus on each question in front of you. You'll do great, I know it.

Its kinda rainy out right now, but apparently later its going to be sunny and 55. I am SO going to be out there this afternoon. I'm thinking a run and then some yard clean up. Did shoulds/arms/ab ripper this morning. Good times.