Training is kinda happening in fits and bursts right now. I'm a slacker. There's so much going on right now, and that's the first thing that I always let slide. But I will try my best to wake up early tomorrow and go run hills again. I did that earlier in the week, and I felt pretty good about it when I was done. Only 2 more weeks to go (oh no!!!)

I ate like crap yesterday, and today I feel like crap. Ugh. I had a morning smoothie, and I'm starting to feel a bit better, but I am bloated and my stomach hurts. Starchy carb overload... yuck... Nothing makes me want a big salad for lunch more than how my stomach is feeling right now...

For supper I am going to roast some brussel sprouts. I had that for supper on Monday night and they were divine! I am craving them again...

Does anyone have the OSG cookbook readily available? I want to make the red lentil & kale soup, but I have to buy the supplies, and I don't want to run home first just to run back out again for groceries. Fingers crossed that someone can help me out before I leave for the day!!

I'm SO glad it's Thursday. This is the first full week I've had at work all summer. Longest. Week. Of. My. Life.

Hi all! Been a super busy week, but, finally seems things will calm down for a while. The big focus has been on my little sister (S2). My younger sister (S1) (I am the oldest of three girls) and I have been planning a baby shower for S2 the last couple of months and this past Saturday was the big day! I have been working my butt off to get a quilt done for S2 and basically drove myself batty this week trying to get everything done for the big day. We haven't seen S2 in a little over a month and she officially looks like she is now carrying a basketball in her belly. It is so adorable. This is her first baby and the first new bundle of joy in our family in ten years. Everyone is super excited! Everything went fabulously Saturday, it was just perfect. The whole family has been exhausted ever since! lol

I did have a very meaningful conversation with S1 after everything wrapped up Saturday. (I think I have mentioned she had gastric bypass surgery in February and my struggles with it.) I had overheard some conversations she had with various people and comments she had made about herself and I really had an epiphany. I realized after listening to her that even though she looks amazing on the outside she is still struggling with a lot of stuff internally that I am struggling with. I realized just how hard it must be for her to be dealing with all of that internally while everyone keeps telling her how great she looks. That has got to be a crazy disconnect. After the party I quietly talked to her and gave her a really big hug. I told her I had heard some of the things she was saying and just wanted to let her know that I love her and am here for her if she wants to talk. I told her she really does look fabulous and that I hope one day her mind catches up with her great results. She teared up and gave me a huge hug and said thanks. It was a really great moment that really lifted an enormous weight off of my shoulders. It is hard to explain, but, I feel so much better about being on my own journey (albeit slow). I guess it made me realize that the outside isn't always an accurate reflection of what is happening inside and to be careful and not judge too quickly.

Sunday rolled around and I woke up still feeling kind of tired, so, it was a pretty low key day. At one point all the kids were gone, everything was prepped and I found myself asking "well...now what?" So, I changed into my workout gear and got in an awesome workout. Spent some time cleaning and lubing my treadmill, did some self pampering and just really enjoyed myself.

Love getting on here and reading about everyone's success and such positive energy. You all continue to inspire me to keep making continuous improvements!

Hi guys! Just popping by briefly to commend everyone on their awesome successes!!!
Woohoo, Karrie, that is a huge accomplishment re pizza! Good for you I also lost the pizza battle this weekend.
Laura, awesome job with all of your activity time!! I would be so excited with my Polar too.
Mihani, you meant to say, I HAVE BEEN THREE DAYS WITHOUT A CIGARETTE!! That is amazing. Twizzlers are inconsequential! Great job.

I am here and struggling along but also doing well. I sort of (finally) had some sort of epiphany this Sunday. I, like you Mihani, sort of just slug along until luck would have it that I am fully motivated and involved! I've been forcing myself to try to get there but it just hasn't been happening (not that I'm avoiding responsibility, but again, the all or nothing mentality!). Anyway, I realized how it's become a lot more than just losing weight, but wanting to FEEL healthy again. I haven't felt healthy or light or strong or anything related to healthy lately and I miss that feeling, and that gives me motivation to eat all the good foods! I had a great day yesterday and today too so far.

Found a new organic CSA in our area and placed an order for Monday too!

A thread month should be named for epiphanies. Although it really doesn't sound right with any particular month. Mihani, do you want a kick in the @$$ to keep you off the cigarettes? I'm back on the gum. I had to do something to stop the binges, and I just decided I WOULD swap the gum for binges. So far, so good. But, I've been down this road before, so I know how giving myself leeway turns into a gateway. Currently, I'm working on eating healthier.... nothing close to ETL... but, if I'm not driving from the McD's drivethru to the Timmies drivethru, anyways... I might as well eat some salad. It's a start. I can't seem to get motivated to make a really futile and stupid gesture <Otter in Animal House> so I"m sticking with small moves. It's almost like... <gasp> moderation?

*gasp!* -- Sloth, don't SAY the "m" word!!

I'm in agreement with just wanting to feel better again. Still struggling with carbs. My first week was pretty successful, but since then, I've gotten pretty complacent again. As always, I've been eating too many carbs. Stupid!

Today my goal is for just ONE ETL day. So far, so good.

I woke up with my alarm this morning, for the first time in quite awhile... Got up and ran 7km (nonstop - yay!). That felt REALLY good. Glad I did it.

I packed all my fruit, 1oz raw almonds and my soup for work. CHECK! BUT.... My biggest struggle is when I get home from work. There's about a 2 hour window between getting home and eating supper when I kinda binge on carbs like a giant fool. So tonight I'm going to try to redirect myself somewhere else in the house. Make myself busy. See how that goes.

And then I will try again for just ONE day tomorrow.

If I can just focus on one day, the weeks will take care of themselves...

Oh, and Mihani, no - I'm not too nervous... YET.

Hi all, hope everything is going great. Not much new here; I've been eating about 80 or 90% ETL (adding protein powder at breakfast and chocolate cashew milk in the evening, and using about 1/3 the oil I used to for cooking) and doing my hikes three days a week.

We did 8 miles on Friday, which was great but made my legs awfully sore. At least we did the biggest hill right at the start while we were still fresh, so it wasn't as brutal as when we drag ourselves up it at the end.

I'm going home to Canada for a week next Wednesday so I'm trying to come up with a plan to not go too far astray. I'm staying with my parents, so I thought volunteering to cook might help my mom out and solve my "what the heck am I supposed to eat" issues. They eat pretty healthy, but they aren't vegan so I'm going to try to find the best omnivore-approved recipes I can. I'm definitely thinking OSG enchilada casserole and that sweet potato chili I tried yesterday. Any and all suggestions welcome.

Karrie, I think you're going to do great on the TM. It seems like such a blast, too.

Sloth and Lia, I definitely third the "adding not subtracting" school of healthy eating. I actually used the Eat for Health book and exercises to get back on track this time. The first two were adding 8oz of fresh fruit before breakfast and adding 8 oz of raw veggies before dinner. It really helped me get away from the heavy, processed stuff I'd been eating and I didn't feel pressured or deprived.

Mihani, how goes the quitting? It's tough, but you've done this before so you know you have it in you. You've got this.

Laura, sounds like you're doing well with both the eating and exercise right now, nice job. I, too, live with a pizza fiend. I don't bother asking him what he wants for dinner anymore, because it is literally always pizza.

Hi all. Popping by quickly. The weekend was here and gone before I realized it! Friday night we went out with friends and were out wayyyyy too late. Which meant the kids were up super late, so, Saturday we all slept in until 9am! For us, that is super late. Typically everyone is up by 7am (with me leading the pack lol), so, 9am is a big thing. I got up and got in a workout then spent the rest of the day running around getting errands done. I got my grocery shopping done Saturday and then spent early Sunday morning getting everything prepped. I have a rainbow in my refrigerator right now. I actually commandeered one of the produce drawers as my own. It is filled with bags of pre-chopped veggies and I cooked a bunch of chicken breast as well. So, now I know I can just open that drawer for my food from now on. I spent the rest of Sunday (literally from 11am - 6pm) outside cleaning out my spent summer veggies from the garden and planting new things for the fall. The clean out in and of itself was a LOT of work! By the time I got to planting things I was already tired, but, I did it anyway. The tomato and pepper plants are still doing so well they are staying for a while. I planted about 8 broccoli plants, 8 cauliflower plants, 8 brussel sprouts plants, 4 romaine plants and a mixed lettuce plant. Since that wasn't enough I planted 15 mums around the house. :-) Eventually a thunderstorm drove me inside. I was pretty well done for the night! I am anxious to see how the fall garden goes. This is the first time doing a fall garden, so, should be interesting and hopefully productive!

Hope everyone is well! Will check back later today!