Happy Labour Day weekend everyone!

I'm working tomorrow but so far, today has been a really nice day off. I spent the morning puttering around the house. I haven't worked out yet but I plan to do something fitness related later on this evening. I'm feeling a lot better today than I did yesterday. It feels good (really) to be having a normal period again. I know that when it's over in a couple of days, I'm going to feel just fantastic.

I stayed in the house all morning to avoid the chaos in town which has been caused by Princess Anne's visit to our fair city. She's here for a day or something. I think it's to do with something at CFB Kingston or the Royal Military College. Whatever it is, it's just adding to traffic which is already congested by students moving back into town. One thing that I'm certain of is that several thousand dollars will be spent on security and other stuff for this visit. I just wish that she was touring the whole town. Back in '91 when Charles and Diana were here, they re-paved half of the streets in town in anticipation of their royal tour of the Limestone City.


My copy of Chunk to Hunk arrived today. It seems odd to have it in my hands after reading about it for so many months. It must seem quite bizarre to Fred and Robyn to have boxes of them in the house. It looks so good, I'm going to start into it this weekend. I haven't been reading much this weekend but this morning I read a good sized chunk of Good In Bed. I'd picked a copy up on eBay a few months ago but hadn't really spent any time with it. I'm really enjoying it so far, it's funny and insightful and the pages just fly by.

I did my weekly weigh-in this morning. Because we've been eating out all week, I really didn't want to step on the scale at all. Eventually, I did and was happy to see that I was down a pound. I really wasn't expecting to be down at all. We were just so brain dead from work and stuff all week that we got into this bad spiral of restaurant dining. That's ended now though. If we do out at all over the next week, it'll be when we take the little old shopping and then, it's Swiss Chalet or nothing at all!

One very cool thing that's been happening lately is that I'm getting full really quickly at meals now. That has never happened to me, in my entire life. I actually stop eating when I'm full now too. If I get hungry a little later on, I'll grab a piece of fruit or something but that doesn't happen too often. Frequent, small meals are working for me now. I never thought that my body would figure this out but it seems that it has! Yay!!

As each day passes, I realize more and more, how much the supplements I had been taking were messing me up. My periods were particularly fucked up. I had them regularly until July. My period (I thought) started about 4 days early, this was really odd for me, I'm never early and almost always a couple of days late. It didn't really start though, if you know what I mean, it was just dribs and drabs (if you're easily icked out, I apologize). This went on for about four weeks (yeah, you're thinking, "get thy butt to the doctors" -- I have my monthly appointment with her next week and was planning on chatting about it then). Once I stopped taking the vitamins, not only did the stomach trouble end, my spotting stopped too. What this meant though, was that I never had a "proper" period during July. There were several false starts and stops and a couple of weeks ago, I'd actually thought it was over (and had posted as much here) but it wasn't.

Fast forward to Tuesday, this week. My period began, again, in earnest! Now I know why I was so grouchy on Tuesday! This almost might be part of the reason my back got messed up (although the two aren't usually connected). The result is that I'm now having one of the heaviest periods I remember having in a long long time and, at the moment, I feel like a soggy dish cloth. I'm not upset about this though, I'm so relieved to be back on track. I'm going to take the bottles of supplements to the doctor when I see her. Funny how things which are supposed to be good for you can conspire with your body chemistry and make you miserable, isn't it?

I did workout this morning though (yay, 5 mornings in a row this week!) and I've been working hard to get my 2 litres of water down while I'm at work each day. It's good to be feeling "normal-ish" again and back in control. It's been a really weird 8 weeks or so for me. I'm glad that it seems to be behind me now!

Sometimes, Blogger bites. I had this whole post written and just lost it. It wasn't a long or particularly interesting post but it's gone now. This hasn't happened in a while but I've noticed that the net has been really wonky all week. I'm not sure what is going on but I know that I don't like it much.

Anyway, suffice to say that the post was about food and exercise. Well duh, huh? Aren't they all? So far, this week, I've worked out every day, even when my back was bothering me. Fortunately, it's feeling a lot better and I think it's because I worked out every day, except Saturday when I was in a really bad way -- and hey, it's my break day anyway. I can feel myself getting a little stronger every week. I'm hoping that eventually I won't get this stress-related muscle spasm thing at all. Since January, the few times it has happened, each time is a little less horrible than the time before. I'm looking forward to putting it all behind me, for good.

Eating has been just okay this week. Because we're both so busy at work right now and because it's been hot and humid (yeah, lame excuses, I know!), we've been dining out a lot so far. Like the past three nights.... Oh well, I've been trying to make sensible choices so I hope it won't result in a horrible weigh-in on Saturday. We're actually going to do a small shop and cook at home tonight. That should help us to get back on track. I find that keeping the calories under control when we eat out isn't the hard part, it's controlling the fat content. My total calories are usually okay but the fat percentage can really creep up there.

Hopefully, drinking huge amounts of water the next day will keep it balanced out. Here's hoping anyway!

Here is today's edition of the Wednesday Weigh-In:

It's been an interesting week so far with first the NY Times article and now a couple bloggers on Good Morning America. What do you think of all this attention given to our community? What's good and/or bad about it? Would you participate in a piece if asked? Why or why not?

I think that the attention is a good thing. It was my discovery of weight-loss blogs that got me started. I saw a large number of regular folks who had weight to lose. They were losing it without pills or WLS, two things which, quite frankly, scare me shitless.

These regular old fat folks inspired me enough to start my own weight-loss program and to begin this journal. If more attention is shed on the subject, perhaps more people will be inspired to write their own program, start a journal, find support.

I have said this many many times (because it's true!), without the support of my fellow journallers, I wouldn't have started this. They helped me figure out that you can actually lose weight by eating healthy food and moving your body. It's simple stuff, not rocket science. We've all heard it until we're ready to poke sticks into our ears. It's a simple concept but it's not an easy thing to do. It's really difficult actually, but with support, it gets easier. Eventually, it becomes a habit to eat healthy food and exercise regularly. If you do these things long enough you will lose weight. It's really that simple.

I would happily participate in a story if I was asked. I did email Amy Harmon about the article, told her my story and sent her the link to my site. This morning, everyone who was in contact with her, was sent the following email:

Subject: NYT story on diet blogs
Date: Wed, 27 Aug 2003 09:27:22 -0400

Hi, sorry for the belatedness of this email. My story on blogs devoted to weight-loss finally ran on Monday, Aug. 25 on the front page of the Times. I was out of the office without good email access, so I wasn't able to let you all know in time. But if you didn't see it, you can read it for online at the link below (it's free for a week). Many of you receiving this weren't quoted by name in the final version of the story (they are always shorter than we want them to be!) but all of you helped to shape my understanding of this quite amazing community, and I hope you see your collective contributions reflected in the article. Thanks so much to all who took the time to answer my questions.

here's the link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/25/technology/25DIET.html

best,
Amy

I'm so impressed with the Yahoo tips lately, here's a good'un:

Firm Up Your Dinner Plans

Deciding ahead of time what you are having for dinner will keep you from grabbing the wrong foods when you are in a pinch. Set a deadline for yourself, say 3 p.m., to know what you're serving. This will give you plenty of time to plan and pick up what you need. If time is tight, plan on a quick recipe or pick up nutritious convenience items such as canned minestrone soup, precut greens for a salad and pre-cooked chicken to toss on top. Taking 5 minutes to plan can mean a lifetime of balanced meals and good health for you and your family!

Today, I returned to work. I even worked out this morning. My back is still tender though so I modified things a bit to avoid any unnecessary stress. I had rode the bike last night after dinner and felt good afterwards. My the end of day, my back was really sore from sitting at my desk but I know that the exercise did more good than harm so that's a good thing.

My eating has been okay over the past couple of days even though we have been running low on groceries. Tonight, I thought we were going to have to go the grocery store but we nicely avoided it. We were both so exhausted and overheated from the return of the humidity that we couldn't face shopping or cooking. We don't have a lot of "dinner" stuff in the house (we have lots of lunch stuff) and didn't feel up to doing the shop and then cooking so we went out to eat. We stopped off at EastSide's on the way home. It was pretty good, had salad and some pasta and a big frosty diet coke with lime. I felt like a bit of a wet noodle when we got there but my demeanor improved after we ate.

For some reason, I felt hungry all day. Hungry and grouchy because of my back. Something happens when my back is doing this, my stomach becomes a seemingly bottomless pit. Fortunately, I don't stock pile food at work so I just ate what I had with me for lunch and snacks. The humidity came back, quickly, this afternoon. By the time I left the office, the humidity was at 71% in our room. That's so gross. Hopefully we'll get a big rain storm tonight and the air will be clear tomorrow. I'd also like not to be hungry and grouchy tomorrow. That would be pretty neat. I really want my back to be better tomorrow, this is getting tired and it's part of what is making me grouchy. I don't want the grouchy to turn into "graze-y" and find me eating anything that isn't nailed down. That won't be good for anyone!

I'm home from work today. I've spent the best part of the day on the heating pad and feel the better for it. I'm sure that I'll be back to work tomorrow. I did my modified arm exercises this morning though, in my chair (with the heating pad on!). It wasn't the same as I normally do because there were certain movements I couldn't do. The ones I could do though, I did with more reps. If I'm feeling better tonight after dinner, I may have a mini-ride on my bike during Canadian Idol. All in all, back pain aside, I'm having a good day. Eating has been good and I'm still feeling a bit of a buzz from my weigh-in this past weekend. Speaking of weighing-in, here is today's Progress Prompt:

How often do you weigh? Does the number on the scale matter? Why or why not? Do you have any other methods of measuring your weight loss?

"Officially," I weigh every Saturday morning. I will admit to taking a peek at the scale between official weigh-ins but the Saturday morning number is the one that I record.

The number on the scale does matter but I'm not obsessed by it. I'm always very happy to see it go down. If week goes by without a scale loss though, I'm usually content because (save for a couple of bad weigh-ins early in the spring) it usually maintains. I know when I'm having a "bad" week and if I can get through a bad week without a gain, I'm happy.

I don't rely completely on the scale though, I use a measuring tape, once a month, to monitor my progress. I've also measured my successes in the way my clothe fit, the way my stamina has improved or how long my workouts last. I'm not a slave to my scale, it's simply one of many ways I measure myself up!

That New York Times article that we've all been hearing about is finally out:

Finding Comfort in Strangers With an Online Diet Journal
By AMY HARMON

From her starting weight of 182 pounds, Jennifer Hardesty, 5 feet 2 inches tall, faithfully recorded her daily weight-loss battles down to 140 in an online diary that attracted an audience of hundreds of strangers a day.

When she abruptly stopped posting last month — still 15 pounds from her goal — Ms. Hardesty's readers, who know her by only her World Wide Web pseudonym, were dismayed. Several sent inquiring e-mail messages. "Where have you gone?" one reader demanded.

The prodding was just what Ms. Hardesty, 32, of Metairie, La., was counting on. She had regained a few pounds, she finally admitted on her Web log. "Sadly, there have been deli muffins," she wrote in a recent posting. "It's time to get back on track."

In one of the most personal genres to emerge from the online journal format known as Web logs or blogs, hundreds of overweight women — and some men — are sharing detailed reports of their calories and cravings on self-created sites like Tales of a Bathroom Scale, Pound and the Fat Diaries.

At a time when more than a third of Americans are trying low-carb diets, low-fat diets, and everything in between — almost all without lasting success — Web journals have come to serve as an unlikely grass-roots support system, especially for the severely overweight. Their collective readership appears to number in the tens of thousands.

"By saying you're going to lose weight, you're admitting that something is wrong with you," says Kat, who does not disclose her identity in her blog on skinnykat.com. She revealed its existence to her husband only after she had lost 15 of the 80 pounds she is aiming for. "That's more difficult to do with people you know than a complete stranger," she said.

Created with software that requires no knowledge of Web design, blogs feature short, frequent updates arranged chronologically, a format that lends itself to long-term weight-loss projects.

Dieters also say the online forum provides a rare opportunity to publicly unburden themselves about a stigmatized subject that some are ashamed to share with family, friends and co-workers. Lists of links to each other's blogs accelerate the feedback loop of celebration and commiseration.

Many who stick to baggy clothes in real life post close-up "before" and regularly updated "after" pictures for all the Internet to see. While typically cloaked in pseudonyms, nearly all publish weekly logs of what they say is their true weight (often to the nearest fifth of a pound).

Among the million or so Web logs, diet blogs are unusual in their blend of deep self-revelation on the same narrow theme. Most eschew the snarky tone that has become a blog hallmark for straightforward reports ("One low-fat strawberry cereal bar, two sliced-up cucumbers with low-fat dressing, one low-fat Michelina's meals.") or sincere introspection. Few are written by the high-tech hipsters or self-styled political pundits who have so far dominated blog discourse.

"Hard-core bloggers tend to laugh at the diet blogs," said Julie Ridl, author of the Skinny Daily Post, where she records her efforts to keep off the 100 pounds she has lost. "But if you're really battling with weight loss, you know how hard it is to get help from people. The blogging technology lets you pound your intentions to the wall and say, `I'm going to do this thing, watch me.' "

More than 1,000 people have signed up to receive her posts by e-mail since Ms. Ridl, 43, a marketing consultant in Holland, Mich., began the blog this year as a New Year's resolution.

The Internet has proven to be a valuable source of anonymous support for groups like gay teens or alcoholics. But overweight people say it is a particular boon for them because of the combination of stigma and silence they often confront on a personal issue they cannot conceal even if they want to.

"In real life, people look at you and make a judgment," said Erin Shea, who is 5 feet 2 inches and weighed 157.2 pounds as of her last "Lose the Buddha" log. "You're not going to go up to someone in a store and say, `Sister, don't you hate that you can't find a pair of jeans that look good on you?' But you could say it online, and you don't have to be embarrassed if someone says it to you, because you've kind of outed yourself."

With the rate of obesity climbing sharply, weight loss researchers say diet blogs may help people to monitor the calories they consume, one of the few strategies that has been proven to help. But they warn that losing weight and keeping it off requires more than simply discussing it on the Internet, where after all, it is easy to hide the truth.

"Unfortunately, this is likely to be only part of the solution for these people that have so much weight to lose," said James Hill, director of the Center for Human Nutrition at the University of Colorado. "But if it helps them, great. It's not as if we have all these great programs that work."

The blogs provide a window into just how difficult it can be.

Small triumphs ("I was strong and resisted that evil Coldstone place and exercised,") are interspersed with admissions of lapses, stories about life stresses, discussions of how unhealthy eating habits get formed, and advice ("Go STRAIGHT to the gym from work. No going home to change").

Tales of diet sabotage, by well-meaning or not-so-well-meaning others, abound.

When Tamika Carter of Westland, Mich., takes her low-carb lunches to the office, she says, her overweight co-workers often try to tempt her with Chinese food or fries. News of her gym routine is greeted with, "Don't kill yourself," and other black women she knows often warn her not to lose what she refers to on her blog as her "B.G.B.," for "black girl booty."

"A lot of times," Ms. Carter said, "they want to keep you in the same place they are."

Instead, she sought support on the Web, where she has an informal weight loss competition going with another African-American blogger who is the same height and weight. "She'll say, `I'm saving a seat for you,' " in a particular weight range," Ms. Carter said. ` "Hurry up.' "

Not everyone who indulges in weight loss blogs is unequivocally supportive. Robyn Anderson, 35, a homemaker in Huntsville, Ala., wrote about "naysayers" — people who, after she had lost 100 pounds, sent messages telling her that she would soon realize how much harder it was to keep it off. "The unspoken, `I can't wait until you put it all back on and more,' is there," she wrote.

Some diet diarists do disappear from cyberspace, leaving broken links and a collective ennui among their readers that only reinforces the evangelism motivating certain online dieters.

"Baked corn chips," said Philip Gross 33, the 267.4-pound author of Philbo's Diet Blog, who said his primary reason for blogging is to tell people about "the little stuff that makes a diet much more livable."

A number of bloggers find attending the meetings required by diet programs like Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig too public. Others find them useful, but want another outlet for what often becomes a somewhat compulsive need for diet discussion not shared by nondieting friends and colleagues.

And at least one, "Big Fat Blog: A Fat Acceptance Weblog," offers an alternative viewpoint.

But most dieters use their forums to poke fun at themselves, something they say is hard to do among people who are not attuned to what it is like to be seriously overweight.

"I've fallen off the wagon a bit but I'm already back on it," wrote the author of "Becoming Something Greater" on Aug. 8.

"A McGriddle, quesadillas, guacamole with chips and potato chips have been involved in my downfall," the posting continued.

Other blog entries are painfully honest about the drawbacks of obesity.

On July 22, Patricia Rimmer, 33, an accountant in Irving, Tex., who has lost 88 pounds and has 35 more to go to reach her goal of 155, posted a list of her most-hated memories on www.abluenature.com/diet to remind herself of why she should keep going.

Among them:

"Calling in sick/late for work because I couldn't get into any of my clothes."

"Having people step as close to the wall as possible when passing you in the hallway — as if being fat was contagious; or repulsive."

"Most of all, never truly feeling comfortable."

For readers, the blogs are a mixture of inspiration and voyeurism. Marilyn Machlowitz, an executive search consultant in Manhattan who has lost 24 of the 31 pounds she set as a goal, said she was initially drawn to diet blogs because it helped to read about others who were also denying themselves.

"You can sometimes feel like you're the only person who can't have a panini today," Ms. Machlowitz said. "It's nice to know you're not alone."

I haven't been near the computer very much this weekend because my back is acting funny again. I woke up all twisted again yesterday morning. I think that the cold in my neck has moved to my back (in the usual spot). It happened when the humidity broke, very odd.

Other than some laundry today, I've not done much. I didn't work out properly this weekend. I was able to do some upper body weight work in a chair yesterday but couldn't get on my bike for love nor money. Hopefully things will be looser tomorrow and I'll be back in business.

Eating has been not bad, despite being laid up. My weigh-in yesterday was fabulous, down another 4 pounds this week!! That's 69 pounds in total, to say I'm over the moon would be an understatement. I'd have enjoyed it more if I'd been feeling better but I'm pretty thrilled, nonetheless!

It’s still warm here today but I think we must be getting used to it a bit because I don’t feel as sick today as I did yesterday. Yesterday was gross, we were both so worn out by the time we got home that we decided to have dinner out, for a second night in a row. Fortunately, I guess, I hadn’t eaten much of anything either day so going out for dinner wasn’t a big deal (as far as worrying too much about calories go).

Wednesday night, we ended up at Montana’s after taking our little old guy shopping. I had a huge salad and diet coke with lime. Last night, we went to Denny’s and I had a Club on whole wheat with a side salad and another Diet Coke. I don’t normally drink that much soda but I was craving the carbonation and caffeine.

I think that the vitamins are totally out of my system now because my stomach feels totally normal. I’m beginning to think that my gas attacks are linked to the vitamins too because I never had one until after I started on the Calcium and Magnesium. I understand that these kinds of vitamin side effects aren’t uncommon.

I worked out again this morning and feel physically very strong and much leaner than I’ve felt in a long time. I have noticed that over the past couple of weeks, I have lost a significant amount of weight from my face. Last week when I did my weigh-in, my weight was down but the measuring tape hadn’t changed much. Maybe I’m just losing it all in my face and hands at the moment.

I have a good feeling about my weigh-in tomorrow. I’ve quickly peeked at the scale a couple of times this week and the little needle is moving in the direction that I like to see so, keep your fingers crossed for me, I’m hoping I’ll see a good result tomorrow!

Despite the fact that I'm brain dead from the heat, I've been having a great week, program-wise.

We're on "energy conservation" in Ontario this week so our office has been hotter than blue blazes all week. This does wonders for killing the appetite. I've not eaten much at all and I'm working out in the early morning still. I'm so glad that I exercise at home. If I had to go to a gym at lunch or at night, I wouldn't do it, not in this heat. My hat's off to those of you who can!

I've been feeling really great over the past couple of days. My stomach has not been upset and I'm sure now, that the vitamins were making me sick. I think I was od'ing on them or something. I'll have to talk to my doctor about it when I see her again in a couple of weeks.

Yahoo is just rockin' with the neat little articles this week, here's today's:

Exercising just before bedtime may be asking for trouble. Aerobic exercise -- and exercise in general -- helps you fall asleep more quickly and sleep longer, but generally not if you if you work out just before turning in. Don't be tempted by your gym's late hours if you have to get up early the next morning; most of us need a few hours to relax and decompress after a workout before going to sleep, so you might pay a price the next day.

Let's hear it for the Veggies:

Listen to your mom; veggies will enhance your workout. Most veggies contain pantothenic acid, an essential nutrient that helps you stay fit and alert. This essential part of your diet contributes to the production of amino acids, helps metabolize fat and assists in the manufacture of neurotransmitters, the chemicals that carry messages in the brain.

I'm feeling so much better today than I was yesterday. I think I figured out what was wrong with me. My stomach started bothering me a couple of days after I began taking Flax Seed Oil Supplements.

I had read up on it and decided to add it to my vitamin regime. They suggested that you take 3 of them a day but I started out taking it in the morning and evening (before breakfast and after dinner). A few months ago when I started taking Calcium and Magnesium supplements, I was taking them twice daily and I felt crappy. I reduced it to once a day and felt fine, my body mustn't have needed that much of it or something.

I remembered that last night and decided to stop taking my vitamins for a few days. I feel terrific today so I think that it must have been the flax seed oil. What I've decided to do, when I start taking them again, is to alternate, take a calcium one day and a flax the next. That way I don't have too much stuff in my system at once. I'm pretty happy to have figured it out, I was getting really worried that I wouldn't be able to eat anything at all (because everything was making me sick -- not just "crap" foods).

Despite the heat and humidity, I've worked out the past two mornings. This morning, I slept in and didn't think that I'd have time to do my whole workout but I did it. I kept negotiating with myself "just two more minutes and I'll stop..." But I managed to get my regular routine in. I feel so good about that. I rock!

It's the yummy edition of the Wednesday Weigh-In:
What is your favorite on-program recipe? Please share it with us...

We eat a lot of stir frys. Like, a lot! My hunny just throws them together with whatever we have in the fridge. They come together pretty easily and you can make as much or as little as you want.

Firstly, we have a rice cooker so that makes cooking rice SO easy and we don't have to add margarine or butter to it, like they say you should with the stove top method. We eat a lot of brown basmati rice (well, we eat it often, not in large quantities).

Basically, we use 1/2 canola / 1/2 olive oil from Loblaws, about a tablespoon. Sautee ground fresh garlic and ginger (we use the fresh jarred stuff, it is much faster and economical for us than buying the fresh stuff, we actually use it all up and there is no waste) in the hot oil, add chopped red onion and whichever meat product you're using (we eat a lot of chicken and lean pork), toss in chopped veggies (whichever you have in the fridge). We also do this with tofu or shrimp or scallops and it's very good with ground turkey for a different texture. If you're using tofu, I'd suggest getting the extra firm stuff.

Our favourites are sweet peppers, broccoli, baby bok choi, zucchini and crimini or portabello mushrooms. We usually use 2 or 3 different veggies. While the veggies are still crunchy, my hunny usually mixes a bit of corn starch with some soy milk and ads either mushroom soy sauce or some hoisin to the mixture and tosses it together. If you start cooking about 20 minutes into the rice cooking, by the time your rice is ready, the meat and veg is ready to go too. Serve that mixture over a bit of rice and break out the chop sticks!

I know that this is just common sense but it's nice to read it in print every once in a while, thank you (again) Mr. Yahoo!:

Want to lose 30 pounds or have killer abs? Great, but remember: Every long journey starts with one step. By focusing on smaller, incremental targets unrelated to results -- say, following through on a promise to walk a little every day at lunch for a week -- you'll feel a sense of achievement early and more often. Big goals take time to reach, and focusing on them too soon may do more harm than good.

The humidity is back, with a vengeance! It is 63% humidity in our office, as I type this. No wonder I feel like I could vomit.

Honestly though, I've felt vomit-trosis (sp?) for a couple of days now, almost all weekend. On Friday night, I was up most of the night with a wonky tummy. Saturday was okay but Sunday and Monday, everytime I ate, I felt gross. I took a lot of those gas pills that I bought for my gas attacks and they helped a lot. Today though, I've had no appetite, quite unusual for me. And before the heat really got crazy, I was feeling clammy. My muscles are achy too...Yesterday I figured it was from weeding on Sunday but now I wonder. I can't tell if I have a flu bug or not. Sometimes I feel fine but then others, I just feel wiped out.

I had a really tough time getting up this morning but when I finally did, I did workout. I felt okay too, after breakfast, until about 1/2 through the morning. I decided to work through lunch because I wasn't going to eat it anyway, and leave early. I'll be leaving very shortly. If I still feel like this tomorrow, I'm going to stay home. Something is not right but I can't put my finger on it. I'm wondering if my stiff neck last week was related to it? I wonder if our water was really okay on the weekend like they said it was. I drink a lot of bottled water but I did, once in a while, grab a cup in the bathroom and I brushed my teeth with it. I'm not freaked out or paranoid, just curious. I'm not usually nauseous. I'm usually the polar opposite of that, happy to eat, eat, eat!

On the up-side (and yes, there always is a up-side), lack of appetite could lead to big losses this week? Right? I mean, if my body doesn't go into starvation mode and start retaining fat and water anyway...Hopefully that won't happen. I'm having a very good week and did workout through the whole weekend. I'm loving my workouts lately, I'm putting a lot more into them and can feel my muscles growing, I'm not Popeye or anything but I feel firm underneath the fat. The fat seems to be getting thinner and hopefully, the firm will pop through soon!

So I'm not at work again today.

I got up and worked out and got ready for work. Just as I was getting ready to leave, my boss phoned to tell me that we were closed again today. I hopped in the car and went out to see my folks and have coffee. I was out there shortly after 8 and stayed about an hour. We had a nice visit but I cut it short so I could get to the grocery store. I wasn't sure if they would even have anything there. When we'd gone to Loblaws on Friday afternoon, the shelves were almost bare. When I walked into No Frills, I was surprised (pleasantly) to see a full stocked, beautiful produce counter. They must have just finished filling the shelves. I stocked up on fruits and lots of veggies so we're set for the next few days. Now that the humidity has broken, we will be barbecuing a fair bit. I can eat grilled veggies until they are coming out of my ears. Yum!

Not sure what I'm doing with the rest of the day. I may go for a walk or just putter around the house. This unplanned, four-day weekend is going really well so far. I can't believe how much stuff I've been able to get done around the house (not to mention, I got groceries too!).

Today's Progress Prompt:

List 3 likes and 3 dislikes about losing weight.

Likes:

1. That my overall health has improved. I'm stronger and happier and my doctor is really pleased with my progress and the results of the tests I had recently.
2. That I have more energy than I used to. I never realized how slow moving I had become until I started losing weight and began to move more.
3. That I'll be able to buy new clothes, in smaller sizes. This means that I'll have a larger variety of clothes to choose from too.

Dislikes (these aren't bad at all, really. In fact they are positive things when you really think about it):

1. That it took me so long to figure this out.
2. That I get sick when I have a "treat" (aka junk food while on a break day).
3. That I'll have to spend a small fortune on a new wardrobe once I get to goal.

My garden looks great. I spent the morning weeding my flower beds at the back of the house. I also weeded our patio. It was looking pretty gross. There were big huge weeds growing up between some of the cracks. It was really hot and sunny but there was no humidity. I felt great doing it, was so pleased with how it looks now and didn't get completely exhausted by it. If it hadn't been so hot, it was after 12:30 when I finished up, I could have done the flower beds at the side of the house as well. Those are in pretty good shape though and can wait 'til later on in the week. I am just loving how much extra energy I have these days, it's a super feeling!

My eating was good today. I didn't actually eat very much at all for some reason. I also worked out this afternoon. I'm so glad that I didn't take a break from it either Saturday or Sunday. It's been a good weekend, power outage aside. Hope you all had great, on-program weekends too!

I had the best sleep last night. I don't think that I even moved and, for the first time in a long time, I slept the whole night through. The weather has suddenly gotten a lot nicer here and I'm sure that is why I had a good night. Oh, that and the fact that I hadn't slept at all on Friday night!

Yesterday was my break day. We went out for a nice dinner last night, I had an entree and salad and bread but didn't go too nuts. I was only about 50 calories over what I normally eat in a day. I had had a late breakfast / early lunch so I was able to save up some extra calories for our meal out. It was really yummy.

When we got home from dinner, I realized that I hadn't exercised yet. I let my meal digest a bit and then I worked out. I had a great ride on my bike, almost 7 miles. I was sweating up a storm and really felt great afterwards. I had a good upper body workout too. I can feel my biceps getting bigger but I have to work hard to try get rid of that granny-arm situation I have going on.

Today we're having the little old guy over for lunch. We had originally planned to have him for dinner but we decided that it was better for all of us to have it at mid-day. The past couple of weeks, we've been doing that, having our big Sunday meal at lunchtime. I find that it digests better for me and I tend not to eat as much.

It should be good, I can smell the tomato sauce simmering downstairs right now. I actually did some housework yesterday, I know that we're supposed to be conserving energy but I had to vacuum and do laundry. I did wait until late to do the wash and I didn't run the dryer as much I normally do. I didn't get into the garden yesterday due to the heat, I may get out there this morning, we'll see. I may decide to do nothing. It feels like it might be that kind of Sunday!

So much for long peaceful sleep...I was up most of the night last night. It's my own fault though, really.

Yesterday, when we went for lunch, I had a few onion rings. About 1 a.m. this morning, my stomach woke me up to tell me that the onion rings were NOT a good idea. I should have known better. Really, but I'm stoopid. I got up, took one of my Ovol gas pills and waited. I waited and waited and then I waited some more. I fell asleep for maybe a couple of minutes but I couldn't get comfortable. When this happens, it always feels better to sit up. Finally, at around 3:30 a.m., I got up and turned the computer on. I read mail and news and stuff until about 5:15 a.m. and then got back into bed. I was finally starting to feel better and was able to sleep for a couple of hours, thankfully. I feel better now, a little groggy but okay. When I get these gas attacks, it feels like my ribs are going to explode. They only happen when I eat crap. I should not have had the onion rings. They were crap, and I paid for it, dearly!

On the bright side, I had my "official" Saturday weigh-in this morning. I'm extremely happy to report that I'm down another 3 pounds this week. I've now lost 65 pounds since January 6. My mum keeps saying, "that's X # of bags of potatoes" to me. When I think about it like that, 6.5 10 pound bags...That's alotta taters!

I'm so happy about the losses the past couple of weeks. It'll keep me motivated to stay on track all weekend. I find that they weekends are toughest for me. We're having our little old guy over dinner tonight (I think -- might be tomorrow) and we're having fresh pasta with jumbo shrimp. I haven't had fresh pasta in ages and am looking forward to the treat but I'll make sure that I don't go overboard. For dessert we bought a beautiful fresh pineapple so we're not going totally decadent for the meal. It should be delicious though. My hunny is an amazing chef (really -- he's a classically trained French chef) so everything he makes is always wonderful.

Hope you're having a good weekend so far. Stay cool if you can. It was in the high 90's here the past couple of days and I think it's supposed to keep it up through the weekend! Yikes!

So I got sent home from work today. They didn't want non-essential folks on campus. I know that there have been rolling black outs all over town, so far, we've been spared at home.

I did my normal workout this morning before I went in to work. My eating was okay today. We took our little old guy out for lunch, which was nice. It was a much bigger meal that I normally have at lunch though so we had a really light supper. I kept pretty much on plan even with the large lunch. Over the weekend, I plan to get some stuff done in the garden (if it's not too hot -- it was TOO hot today) and that should distract me from snacking. Weekends are always tough! We did get the grocery store late this afternoon so I stocked up on fruit and veggies and other healthy snacking stuff (skinny sticks were on special, whoo-hoo!).

Other than puttering around in the garden, I don't have much planned for the weekend. Because we're supposed to be conserving water and hydro, I can't do any housework (well other than dishes and straightening up) because I don't want to run the hoover or the washer too much. I may try to do some laundry in the early hours on Sunday. I also plan to keep working out. Ordinarily I take Saturdays off but I'm planning on exercising tomorrow. I did it last Saturday and felt the better for it. I got the Will & Grace 1st Season DVD so I've been watching that while I ride the past couple of days. I laugh really hard while I'm doing it but it makes the time go really quickly, it's great!

I'm heading off to bed now, well, very shortly. Last night was not the most restful I've had recently. I'm looking forward to a good, long, peaceful sleep tonight!

Yay! The power is back on.

It came back on at 10:50 p.m. here. From a dead sleep, I heard our computer come on (our UPS had shut it down and I totally forgot to manually turn it off like I had done with everything else). I reset my alarm clock but I didn't turn the a/c on.

Last night, during the blackout, we were pretty bored, just listening to the CBC to find out what had happened and it would have been really easy to pig out on crap. Fortunately, we didn't have any so we had tuna salad stuffed in yellow peppers with leaf lettuce for dinner. It was good and filling. We didn't want to barbecue last night in case the power was off again today and we'd had to been cooking everything that way today.

I'm prett surprised that I slept through an entire night without air conditioning, I'm such a spoiled baby! The one thing I did turn back on last night was our ceiling fan. Anyway, I'm off to workout, just wanted to let you all know (for those of you with power anyway!) that we're okay! Hope you're all well and safe too!!

It's about a million degrees here today. I don't mind though, I'm hoping the heat is helping to melt my fat. We'll see.

I figured out my stiff neck problem. I'm pretty sure that it was a cold in my shoulder, caused by air conditioning. Going in and out of the heat and the air conditioning that is. I think it must have happened on the weekend as we were out running errands a lot and were in and out of the heat / cold. I figured this out this morning when I got to work. Last night and this morning, the stiffness had traveled north, more into my shoulder. When I got to work I started to loosen up. My office is not air conditioned. The longer I spent in the non-air conditioned room, the better I felt. The same thing had happened yesterday (I hadn't quite figured this out until today though). I was feeling okay all morning and when we got back from lunch, T & I stopped off in the parlour to cool off (we work in an old mansion which was built in 1837 -- the parlour is the last room in the West Wing which is still in tact -- we use it for meetings, it's the only air conditioning the wing). When we headed back up the stairs to our offices, my neck started to get tight. I now know it was the A/C that caused it.

I slept in quite late this morning because of it. Every time I rolled over last night I would wake myself up. Because of this, my hunny let me sleep late this morning. I couldn't believe it, how late I slept in. All I could think of was "how am I going to get my whole workout in?" as I crawled out of bed. As it turned out, I was able to get my whole ride in and some of my other exercises. I did take things sort of easy though because of my neck. I was really proud of myself though, for doing my 4.25 mile ride, sleeping in and all. I knew that we had to take our little-old-guy shopping and that he'd want to go for dinner (he did!) and that I'd never do it if I didn't do it before work.

My eating was really good today. Even with eating out, I kept my calories really low (which surprised me). I had a nice chicken wrap and a salad for dinner. I've been eating a lot more salad lately because of the heat. I'm finding too, that in the humidity, my appetite has decreased.

Wednesday Weigh-In:

Now that we're well into the "dog days of August", summer vacations and hot, sticky weather can trip you up. What tips or tricks have you discovered to help you keep yourself on track during a holiday or a heat wave?

I submitted this week's question to Carla because this was something I struggled with in late June and all through July. I'm looking forward to seeing what folks have come up with. In August, since it's been really hot where I am, I've actually been doing better than in June and July. I think that part of it is that my body is getting used to the heat and part of it was fear based. I could see how easily the pounds I've worked SO hard to get off could just slide back on. Fear is an excellent motivator. One thing that I've made sure that I'm doing in the heat is keeping lots of water in the fridge and lots of fruit. Different stuff, berries, grapes, melons. Always a variety and mostly stuff that I keep in the fridge, icy cold, until I'm ready to eat it. I've also discovered the joys of putting regular yogurts into the freezer before eating them. I'm a big fan of ice cream and popsicles so having these cold treats readily available is helping to keep me honest. Fortunately, as I mentioned above, the heat is zapping my appetite a bit so that's helpful too!

My neck is stiff.

I'm not sure what I did to it but the left side of my neck, well really from mid-shoulder to my neck really, is sore and it's making it difficult for me to turn my head quickly. It started suddenly last night, right after dinner. I hadn't been doing anything too strenuous and/or weird at the time. One moment it was fine, the next I was sore.

During Canadian Idol, I sat with the heating pad on my shoulder and that helped to loosen things up but it kept waking me up through the night. I slept in a little bit and felt okay enough to workout. I did modify some of my movement slightly though. After lunch today, it started feeling tight again. Hopefully more heating pad tonight will help and it'll be better tomorrow.

Today I ate lunch out. One of our volunteers wanted to take us out for a thank you lunch and it was really nice. We went to a French bistro and I'd been able to check their menu out online before we went. Given the type of cuisine it is, they serve a lot of cheese and heavy cream stuff. I ordered a smoked salmon sandwich with greens. The greens were fabulous and I didn't eat all of the bread so it wasn't too bad on the calories. The salmon was delicious as were the cucumber and tomato in the sandwich. The bread was beautiful and super fresh and I enjoyed what I had but didn't feel bad about not eating what I left behind. When I got back to the office and figured it out, it wasn't too high in calories. I didn't have any wine or an appetizer (I didn't even touch the bread basket before our meals arrived!!) and feel good about that. I'm finding that I fill up really quickly now. This makes me so happy!! I've always been a "cleans her plate" kind of girl but fortunately, I'm becoming an "eats only 'til she's had enough" kind of girl.

Other than the stiff neck thing, I'm feeling great today. The eating is totally good and I've worked out every day for the past 10 days now. I even did it on my "break" day. I feel so good about that. I'm going to try to do something everyday, even if I'm not feeling great and it means that I only do 10 minutes of something. If I can keep my body moving, it helps me to keep my eating on plan and that will (hopefully) show results on the scale on Saturdays!

I'm not sure what we're doing for dinner but I know that we'll be eating at home so it'll be healthy and low-cal! That's the best thing about eating at home, the control!

Hope you're all having a happy, on plan day today!

I'm feeling really good today.

I've been saying that a lot lately (happily!) and it's true! My eating is going super duper today so far and that makes me really happy. I had a terrific workout this morning. I've been pushing myself a little harder the past few days and have been really sweating up a storm. Exercising early in the morning, in an air conditioned room, is my saving grace. If I had to exercise outside right now, or some place that wasn't cool, I know that I wouldn't be doing it. I get my workout done and over with before I've stuck my nose outside. The air quality is really poor right now due to the humidity and heat. Hopefully, it'll blow out later on in the week. I'd love to do some serious walking this week but I know that my allergies would not let me go too far in this weather!

Monday's Progress Prompt:
Do you eat breakfast? What do you usually have for breakfast? People are always saying that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Is it vital to your weight loss program? Why or why not?

Yes, I eat breakfast, every day. Monday through Friday, I generally eat the same thing. I have a glass of unsweetened cranberry juice, Special K cereal with calcium enriched organic soy milk and either strawberries or banana slices. I eat about 15 minutes after I work out in the mornings. On the weekends, my exercise schedule varies and so does what I eat. I have found that eating a well-balanced breakfast is very important for my program. Prior to starting this program, I would have a bagel with peanut butter on it, when I got to work. Now, eating before I leave the house, I eat a better meal. It's got a lot less calories a lot higher nutritional value than what I would eat in the past. Also, the breakfast is a reward for working out, sort of. I don't eat until after I exercise so, if I wake up hungry, it's a good motivation to get to my workout and get it over with so I can have breakfast!!

This is the first weekend in a while that my eating was poifectly on plan. Even though we ate out a few times this weekend, I was able to order sensibly and keep within my calorie range. I also worked out yesterday and today. Ordinarily I take Saturday's off but I didn't this weekend. Today I had a super workout, I did 6.67 miles on my recumbent bike and has a really tough (ie good!) upper body workout. I felt really invigorated, not to mention sweaty, when I was finished.

I know that the big loss this week is going to keep me motivated throughout the next few days. I'm feeling really good about things. Last month, a lot of stuff was bothering me and I was pretty stressed out. I've managed to sort a lot of it out and feel better emotionally as well as physically. Overall, the weekend's been great, restful and yet, invigorating.

I'm ready for another good week!

My hand is burning / cold. My hunny has injured his arm/shoulder somehow and I put some of that Icy / Hot stuff on him. I've washed and washed my hands but they are still tingling and cold from the stuff. I think it works though, he's starting to feel a bit better.

I have to admit, I'm feeling fabulous today. I had a terrific week, excellent eating, lots of exercise, positive doctor's appointment. Everything's going well for me. My period is finally over too. I've had a really weird cycle just recently. I wrote about it last week, how it started early but didn't really start, it just sort of was there, enough to annoy me...It lasted for almost 2 week but it's finally stopped. It happens when I'm under a lot of stress. Same with the back thing. Emotional eating, same thing. Stress. We've been dealing with some family stuff just recently that's been causing us both more than the normal amount of stress. Also, I know that when the weather is messed up, like it is now, that throws me into a tailspin, or can anyway.

This past week though, I kept on plan, totally. Fortunately for me, over the past three weeks, I didn't go and gain a shitload of weight back. I was really scared about this happening. I mean, it could have happened so easily but I guess the exercise helped me to keep that from happening. I gave up on weekly measuring on July 26. I decided that I'd just "measure up" every four weeks. I'm still weighing in though, every Saturday. Today's weigh-in was amazing, I checked it three times to make sure I wasn't just seeing things. I'm down 8 pounds this week!! That makes 12 pounds in 3 weeks and puts me at 62 pounds lost overall. I know that my messed up period was really throwing my water retention for a loop but 8 pounds!?! That's almost crazy but I'll take it, like I said, I did check it 3 times, in different parts of the room. The scale was definitely on my side today!

I know it's not just the scale lying to me either. I feel thinner. Back in June, I had to go out and buy a bunch of underwear because my old stuff was all way too big. Now, the smaller stuff I bought in June is getting too big for me. It's a great feeling! I know that in October, when I pull my sweaters out, a lot of my fall/winter stuff is going to be miles too big for me. I'm not upset about this in the least, I feel so happy today. I also feel strong and healthy. 8 pounds?!? I'm still scratchin' my head!

Hope you're all having a Happy Friday!

I don't have a whole lot to report today. There isn't much going on that is overly strange or different today. I guess that's why this week is going SO well as far as food and exercise goes. I'm feeling great today, really strong and full of energy.

My eating has been fabulous. The past few days have been on plan and I've exercised every morning. This morning, I did not exercise for as long as I usually do but there is a good reason. Last night, after dinner, we decided to tackle our lawn. During Summer '02, our lawn was basically dead. Once the heatwave began at the end of June, it was basically brown until October. The nice thing about a dead lawn is that it requires almost no care (you do have to trim the weeds once in a while). This summer has been steamy and rainy and the grass is growing at a super speedy rate. Our lawn has needed a trim for the past week or so but every time we were actually home, it would rain. I know this sounds unbelievable but it's true. We decided to try to get it done after dinner last night, once the sun started going down.

I did the front lawn and about a third of the back and the weed whacking. While I was doing it, I was sweating and working but I wasn't getting winded and just kept going. It was a great workout and I felt so good about getting the lawn trimmed up, it was looking really scary. After I stopped and went into the house, I nearly died. Walking into the A/C I realized how hot it was, the humidex was 31 degrees. Yikes! I grabbed a shower and drank a bunch of water but when I lay down to sleep, I was experiencing Charley horse like spasms in my legs. I know it's from the heat because this doesn't usually happen.

Once I got to sleep, I slept like the dead. I woke up at my normal time this morning but fell back to sleep. Not good. It was quite late when I got up and I thought about skipping my workout entirely. I made the bed, made my lunch, got my breakfast stuff together, put coffee on...All the time thinking "I'll do it tonight." Instead, I hopped on the bike and rode for a couple of miles and then did some weights before breakfast. I felt so good afterwards. I'm so glad that I didn't let myself wait until tonight. Depending on where the evening goes, I may ride again tonight, we'll see.

I definitely feel like the scale will reward me tomorrow for my efforts this week, I hope so anyway. I'm not a person who gets hung up on the numbers too much but I do want to see a downward motion on that needle tomorrow morning. I'll let ya know how it goes!

My appointment with my doctor yesterday was great. My weight was down a bit since my last visit but the good part was the chat we had, we talked for about 30 minutes about a lot of different things.

I told her about my struggles over the past month, mostly due to boughts of emotional eating. One of the difficulties of doing this with my hunny is that when I feel all emotional and want to eat, he gets sucked into my vortex of bad carbs and I do the same for him or at least we did last month. As I explained to the doc what exactly had happened and how we’d over-eaten, what and why, she asked me if I would like to try some anti-depressants. Apparently, in some of her other patients who are emotional eaters, she’s prescribed something like Zolof. She said that these folks would then notice a decrease in their appetite and wouldn’t eat due to stress or whatever else would send them to the DQ Drive-Thru. I was a little surprised at the suggestion and said, “no thanks.” I explained that part of the problem was that members of my support network at been away on vacation recently and it made a huge difference in my attitude. Fortunately, almost everyone is back now and things are getting back to normal.

I sat down with my hunny last night and I told him that I’m going to be a “Food Nazi” from here on out. No more DQ’s, no more bad meals out, not for a while anyway. I want to take things back to the way they were in January when we started out. He agreed that this was for the best and promised that he wouldn’t hold it against me if I put my foot down and became (temporarily) a real hard ass about things.

The other real pearl of wisdom I took from the doctor was this. She said, “we only really have 10 weeks of summer in this part of the world. I think grown-ups should be allowed some play time when the weather is nice.” She explained that an extra cocktail here and there, or a binge of fresh cherries or strawberries (or big steak barbecues or whatever) is just fine. I think that she’s right and she’s onto something. For me, summer’s basically over because we’re heading into our busy season at work but I’ll bear that in mind next year during June and July. It will probably result in less me beating myself up and more me enjoying the precious little summertime weather that we experience here in Ontario.

I feel re-energized after yesterday’s visit. Completely recharged and back on track. My eating has been fabulous over the past 3 days and I’ve worked out each day. I’m feeling a lot better than I did over the weekend. I actually feel pretty terrific today! Yay!

Here is today's Wednesday Weigh-In:

As people lose weight they often "rediscover" parts of their body. What body part have you recently rediscovered?

This is such a great question. Last week I wrote about how I have recently rediscovered my legs. Something else that has happened, just recently is that rather than actually discovering parts of my body, I'm noticing that I have bones and muscle under my fat.

What I've noticed this particularly in my legs and ankles. It's been really (really!) hot and humid around here lately. Last summer we had a lot of hot, humid weather and my feet and ankles would get very swollen and (by the end of the day) sore. This summer, it's not been a problem. If a humid day coincides with PMS I do notice some swelling in my ankles but it's nothing like last year at all.

Yesterday was particularly disgusting weather-wise. You know the kind of day where just standing outside makes you sweat. Last night, I was on the sofa watching Canadian Idol (yes, I'm addicted!) and looked down at my feet. They were normal sized, not two swollen ham-like extensions of my legs. I've also noticed that I have knees and elbows and shoulders and wrists again, I can feel them more than see them actually. I can actually feel the joints under my skin and not just a cushion of fat.

In my arms, I can actually feel my biceps when I cross my arms. There is still a good amount of "chicken" fat flapping around but there is solid muscle underneath. Same in my calves, they are starting to appear less smushy and more solid. I love how that feels. These are little things that no one else is probably noticing but I'm noticing them. It's little things like that which keep me going. I keep thinking about how much my body has changed over the past six months and how much more I'll be able to modify over the next six months.

Now, onto non-Wednesday-Weigh-In related stuff, the heat worked in my favour yesterday and I kept things really low calorie yesterday. The heat had really zapped me and it was too hot to bother with cooking. For dinner, we had tuna salad pitas. I used the President's Choice fat free salad dressing, some sweet relish, green onion, tomato and cucumber with whole wheat pitas. They were really yummy and filling. Might do a variation on that theme for tonight's dinner. Cool and fast is the key in this weather I think.

Back to work today. It's busy and the day is flying by. I have to say that I'm looking forward to the fall. August is proving to be hot and sticky and disgusting, weather-wise. I'm finding that my energy is easily zapped when it's like this. If I wasn't working out first thing in the morning, I know that I would not be doing it lately.

I had a tough time getting up this morning. The mornings are growing darker and darker and I know that this is making me want to sleep later. I'll adjust to it again, I did last fall, it's just weird waking up in the dark again. I worked out this morning and yesterday as well. I feel a lot better for it. Eating was okay yesterday, it's going better today. Getting back to work always makes it easier to stay on track. We're going to stop off at the store after work to stock up on more fresh veggies for dinner.

I go back to the doctor again for my monthly weigh-in / check-in(up) with her. I'm not showing a huge loss this month but I'm down a bit (which makes me so happy -- at least it's not up!). I really like checking in with her, she's always so positive and upbeat and she reminds me of all the good reasons that I should be (and am) doing this!

Happy Holiday Monday!!

We've been having a very low-key weekend so far. Partly because I wasn't feeling that great for the first part of it and partly because we've been really busy lately and chilling out is something we both needed to do.

We went out for breakfast this morning and had nice time. We went to a neighbourhood diner that I'd not been to before. I had nice scrambled eggs and dry toast and a bit of bacon. They had lovely coffee and it was really tasty.

I'm not planning much for the rest of the day. After I'm done in front of the computer I plan to exercise and then do some laundry. Other than that, I'm not going too far or doing too much. Hope you're all having a lazy Simcoe Day too!!

The food hangover is over. My stomach does not feel hard and distended anymore. I ate really well yesterday and feel better for it. We had our big meal at lunchtime instead of dinner time and then just had a snack at dinner time. That seemed to work really well for us. We had a delicious stir fry with ground chicken and tofu. The local broccoli is really good right now, although we have noticed that it is a bit chewier than the stuff that was coming from the states over the winter.

Exercise wise, I didn't actually officially workout but I did walk around a bit and feel good about it. Today is a holiday here so I'm not working and shall ride my bike and do some weight work today.

Other than that, the weekend has been quiet and relaxing. I was really tired yesterday after being up half the night so I ended up having a nap in the afternoon. I must have needed it badly or I wouldn't have slept 90 minutes yesterday. I had no trouble at all falling asleep last night either. I was worn out I guess. Today though, I'm feeling good again, back on track and ready to burn some fat!

I feel so much better this morning, groggy but good. I went back to bed at around 4:30 a.m. or so. I'd been up for almost 2 hours I think. I slept in until around 10:15 a.m. or so and feel pretty good right now.

I plan to workout today and I have planned out my meals for the next few days. I find that if I don't do that, after a slip-up like this, it's just too easy for me to fall back into the muck again. Fortunately, as I mentioned earlier, I bought a huge pile of really healthy food yesterday. I am certain that by tonight I'll be back to my old self. I even weighed myself this morning. Luckily, I maintained this week. I was fearful of a huge gain but it didn't happen. Next week will show a loss! I'm not going to let this happen again. I mean, a break is a break but what happened to me over the past few days is way more than a normal break day. I've paid for it though and now I'll put it behind me.

The eating like shit has made me feel ill. I've been up for an hour now and will hopefully be able to get back to sleep soon. I woke up about an hour ago with an upset stomach. Food hangovers are the worst! Why do we do this to ourselves? I guess to remind us that we can't do it anymore, our bodies don't want it and it's so not good for us. Yuck!

Ya gotta love those Yahoo Tips:

Weight Loss Appetizer. Eat any filling, low-calorie food as an appetizer or first course, and you'll be less likely to overload on calories at that meal. For example, eat an apple on the way to lunch, or order melon as a first course. More tips: Start with a salad with just a little low-cal dressing; when you go to the salad bar, fill up your plate with "big" foods like greens and colorful vegetables before you consider any calorically dense choices. It's a kind of preemptive eating strategy. Find the filling, low-calorie foods you like, ones that you'll turn to easily.

I had a slight relapse with my back this morning. Last night I was feeling really good but I think that I slept in too late (whoo-hoo, until 7:30!) this morning and I was really stiff and sore when I woke up. Eventually it loosened up and now I think I'm mended.

I spent the day running errands and stuff and basically, the past couple of days my eating has gone to shit. It happens when I'm not able to exercise and I don't feel good. Tomorrow I'm working out, first thing in the morning. This should get the food thing back on track. It usually does. I'm not really pissed off at myself but I do have a weigh-in with my doctor on Wednesday and I doubt very much that it'll be good. On the other hand, I can probably undo the past couple of days by then. I did get groceries today and I got a tonne of really good stuff. All healthy stuff, much of it snacky stuff as we're in the midst of a long weekend at the moment. Removing all temptation from the house and focusing exercise tomorrow will definitely straighten me out. I know it. Once that happens, I'll be a happy kid and will totally enjoy the rest of the weekend. Hope you're all having a good weekend so far!

The back thing is still giving me some trouble. Not crawl-around-on-the-floor trouble but it's tender enough to keep me off my bike again this morning. I'm a little ticked off about this, I really wanted to get back at it this morning but, at this point, I don't feel that I want to risk it.

Eating was good yesterday so I feel alright about that despite the not working out. I can't wait until I'm feeling back to normal. Being sore and tired is not fun!!