You're more than welcome. After all, that's what we're all here for. And I'm very glad to hear that you're doing better today.

Definitely hide that scale!!! Once a week is enough to keep you on track without giving you daily opportunities to beat yourself up again.

That casserole sounds blegh! ... Oh, you mean there are people out there who actually like spinach? You're kidding, right?

The scale is going in the closet tonight.. way in the back where it's hard to get it out!!
And yes, I looooooveeee spinach... although I don't think my stomach is agreeing with it today.. if you know what I mean.

Have a great day Gren!

Zora Hugs to you girlfriend. Hope things are going better for you. I know exactly what you mean by these sentences...."I want to be able to shop in ANY store and buy really cute clothes that I look GOOD in. I don't want my weight to be the first thing people notice when they look at me." You and me both!!!! Here's to us doing it! I know we can!

Grendeldog Good luck with your riding lessons. That is something I've never done much of. Maybe I'll look into that as a long term reward once I get to goal. And I agree on the spinach sentiments. But I do like spinach artichoke dip. Or spinach crab dip. And I don't like artichokes either. Go figure. Hey, I just noticed we have the same birthday. Go Aquarians!!!

I went to one of those home decorating parties tonight at a friends house. You know, the kind where you feel guilted into buying something because the hostess is your friend! Well one of the displays was a Valentine's Day display. It was a long shallow tray with red votive holders in it and guess what was spread out in the bottom of the tray around the votives???? CONVERSATION HEARTS!!!!! They're taunting me and terrorizing me. But I proudly left after only eating a couple pepperoni slices and a couple cheese cubes. (Oh, and $100 worth of home stuff :rolleyes

Hope y'all are having a good week!
Cheers,
Gypsy

For quite a while, there has been a small lo-carb chocolate bar in my night stand. It's a hershey brand bar, and I wanted to try them out. Didn't like them, so somehow, this last one got put into my nightstand. (I probably just wanted to get it out of the dog's reach or something.) Anyway, this bar has been there for probably at least 6 months. (Why not throw it away, you ask? Good question!) So last nite, I see the bar there and I figure, what the heck, I'll give Hershey's Lo-carb another try. I pull out the bar, and I suddenly realize that it ISN'T lo-carb, it's a regular dark chocolate bar (Special Dark), but the size you might give out for halloween. I debated for about 5 seconds whether to eat it or not. I decided to sit down and enjoy the thing, and boy oh boy was it yummy! I savored every bite. And what's great is that I don't feel guilty about it. I really enjoyed it, but I'm fine with not having any more. It was worth it!

Warning: This was done by professional drivers on a closed course. We DO NOT recommend that you try this at home! (For all you non-Americans, this is the warning label you see at the bottom of every car commercial on TV.)

It's friday people... since I found this thread half way down page two, I'm guessing I'm the first to check in. I cheated last weekend (too much low carb beer) but still managed to drop 2 lbs by the end of the week. At this rate there is no way I'm making my goat on this challenge, but I'm sticking to it anyway.

Hope everyone else is doing better! And i guess I'm the strange one, I actually like spinach.

--nw

Love spinach Hate that I'm not losing anything though... Still the same weight

I love spinach too - but only fresh - I haven't been able to quite get my head around the concept of cooked and mooshy spinach. Gimme a spinach salad anyday though!!!

Sorry I haven't been around much - this week has been the craziest of them all (and I only fear it's going to get worse from here on out) - anyways - only 3 more weeks - and then hopefully things will mellow out a little bit.

As for the diet - I've only lost 1 lb. this week (I'm at 211) - it looks like you might not be the only one not making goal this time, nowonder - but I'm still sticking to it - the closer I get, the better. I ate a low carb cookie last night (my journal explains why) - and I've seemed to have knocked myself right out of ketosis. Oh well - sometimes it helps me if I knock out and then jump right back in (my body dumps off a few pounds then) *fingers crossed*. Anyways - the cookie was really tasty - but it made my tummy upset - so I probably won't be doing that for a while.

I'm going to see if I can squeeze in a bit of exercise today - at least doing a few sit-ups or something - I miss doing that.

Ok - I have a ton of work and schoolwork to get done this weekend - so I better get started.

Zora - just wanted to say that I hope you're feeling better sweetie. You're an amazing person, and an inspiration - try to remember how far you've come and how much of an impact you've had on the people of this forum. We all love you tons!!! *hugs*

Ok - I was feeling a little discouraged with only losing a pound this week - but I decided (even though I've feeling all bloaty) to take my measurements....

I've lost 6.4 inches this week!!! JEEEEZ!!! So I plugged in my stats into the mybodycomp.com site - and realized that I've lost 4 lbs. of fat, and gained 3 of muscle!!! wooo hooo!!! Even though I've only "lost" 1 lb. - I've still lost a ton in inches and fat. Yippie!!! *doing a dance*. It must be from all the walking I do at school - and carrying all of my art supplies plus my book bag. YAY!!! I wish I could do kartwheels...hee hee - soon enough!

Check-in time. I'm down a whopping 1 pound from last week's weigh-in. Disappointing but not discouraging. It will come off eventually. Goal-wise: I did fine with the veggies, barely fine with the water, and not too well with the exercise. I did do some weights this week and that felt good.

The horseback riding wasn't much exercise for the first lesson with this new barn. They use a whole different method than my old barn, so we spent a lot of time going over the barn, where the equipment was, what their program was, etc. Only spent about 15 minutes actually on a horse, and that was all at a walk. I hope next week's lesson is more energetic. Anyway, other than that, I really didn't do a whole lot of formal exercise. OK, so my exercise goals for the next week are going to be toned down a bit.

mini-goals for this week: Continue eating the berries that I added to my list of edibles after the 2 weeks of strict induction, but make sure to keep the total day to 20g carbs. Eat at least the Atkins recommended level of veggies most days. Continue the same water goals. Exercise goals: Do at least one weight workout. Do at least 2 other workouts of at least 10 minutes each. Go riding.

Hey, I just realized that I've actually lost TWO pounds since last Friday's check-in. I messed up because I had lost a pound between last Friday and the end of my 2 weeks strict induction. Anyway, last Friday, I was at 189, today I'm at 187. See? I told you the weight would come off eventually!

Friday check in, already??????

nowonder on the 2 lbs!!! That rocks!!!! Enjoy your spinach!!!

Sinbad Not losing but also not gaining!!! YAAAAYYYY!!! And still hot! LOL!

Soon 1 lb and 6.4 inches. Whoop whoop!!!!! That is awesome!!! Here's to you and I cartwheeling our way down the road in Chicago!!!! Hopefully not breaking anything vital in the process!

Grendeldog 2 lbs is great! Good luck this week with your goals!!

As for me....... I'm down 1 little tiny pound to 192. Not as much as I like to see but not unexpected since I didn't exercise once this week!! Very bad! So that is this week's mini-goal..... exercise at least 4 days. I also am upping my carbs for one day (today) because before Christmas I found if I upped my carbs one day a month it helped to kick some weight off. I know it's been discussed on the boards and some people are for it and some against but I don't actually do a full blown carb blast I probably go up to about 50 carbs for one day.
Just as an aside..... I have now lost an even 25 pounds!
Congrats to the losers!!!

Cheers,
Gypsy

Hey everyone! Well, I've finally managed to lose 3 lbs. this week - woo hoo! I've been much more strict recently - cutting out the low-carb candies, coffee, etc. I've also continued cycling (up to about 50 miles a week!) and walking the plank...er...treadmill when it's been too snowy/icy to do that. Hoping for another good week - I wish everyone the best!

Carbs Congrats on the loss!!! That is very cool. And 50 miles a week on your bike is awesome! I'm hoping to get back out to Denver this summer....... I still want to hit the trails with you but you'll probably leave me in the dust!! Just promise me you'll stop every 5 miles or so so I can catch up.

OK - A question...... does anyone use one of the digital scales that measures body fat along with weight? I'm thinking of getting one and was wondering if anyone had any recommendations. Are they accurate?

Thanks,
Gypsy

Hey Gypsy, just let me know when and I'm there! Oh, and I promise I won't leave you too far behind. As for the scales, I'm interested to hear any opinions as well. I've looked at the Tanita models and been tempted, but then I consider the cost and begin to wonder if they're really all that great...

Hi All!

Thanks Gypsy and Soon for your encouragment. It sure is needed lately. I'm not doing too well with my WOE lately. I need to get my butt in gear. Still haven't weighed in... part of it is fear, and part is I'm trying to stay off it for awhile.
Soon, I'd really love to talk to you about exercise. Do you still have my number? If not, I can PM it to you. I need some motivation!!!!!
Gren and Carbs - Congrats on your loss!! Awesome job!
I hope everyone is having a great weekend. I'm at work doing some over time - again! The pay check wil be good though.
Take care!