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Hahaha...my can-do attitude. Your words are kind. I'm trying. It's hard. Lots of challenges. Lots of highs and lots of lows.

These winter blues seem to be hitting me hard this week. I'm trying really hard not to make any rash decisions (quitting my job, moving to Hawaii, buying a new car...) and staying sane (ha! easier said then done!). I'd take some time off from work, but I work in sales. March is the last month of Q1 (first sales quarter of the year) and we're not allowed to take any time off. BUT! - I do have a trip next week to NYC and taking a late train home gives me time to go shopping and visit Whole Foods and Fish Eddys!! Maybe I'll buy a new pair of shoes this weekend...oh wait, I did that last weekend (snicker ).

On the menu:

B - Oatmeal with mangos and flax seed meal (more on this below)
L - FF Refried Bean with chilis and japelino peppers, sauted (in water) onions and peppers, brown rice with salsa. (Last night was make your own burrito at home).
D - Dinner plans tonight to a Mexican restaurant
Snack - Pineapple

Exercise - Stationary bike here at work. Probably no yoga tonight

So, I've been following one of the threads on wrinkles in the lounge. Seems as if flax seed can be helpful, as well as, chia seeds (yes, the same seeds for a chia head...) Drs. Essetelyn and Campbell say flax seed meal is fine to use daily. I'm giving it a whirl since I have noticed fine lines are appearing on my face and the texture of my skin is changing since I've been going fat free. Kinda irks me since I've always had "nice" skin.

Last night at the yoga studio I was speaking to a fellow yogii about this. Now, this fellow yogii is this beautiful, fair skinned, blonde woman. I would have put her in her early 50s. Another lady and I nearly fell over when she told us she was pushing 63.

63?! Wow. She looks great!

Come to find out her husband is a dermatologist and she was telling us all of his secrets about keeping aging skin young (I have his name...) One of them on his list is flax seed meal. Also, Juvederm made the list, but after seeing Lindsey Lohan in the news last week, I may have to pass

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!!!

Follow up -

@carollynne, sigma957 and nicoles - Thanks once again for your kind words. I'm glad to know people are reading my journal and finding inspiration from it. That's good stuff!

I was thinking last night how people can be so vocal about this WOE and feeling obligated to "correct us" from dietary harm. Does that mean I can say something about your Snicker bar and those cans of Red Bull on your desk???

Meh....what ever...we all know this...our numbers our great, we look fabulous, we take no pills (or not too many) and our doctors...well...our doctors don't know what to make of us...

Keep on keeping on!

Happy Monday Everyone.

The weather is beautiful today in upstate New York. We'll be in the 60s all week. What a treat this is. We're usually snowed in with lots of Noreasters....

The weekend was ok. I slipped up. My boyfriend was in town and he likes his junk food. I wouldn't say I was a fat-free vegan, but certainly a vegetarian. I really do much better on my own. I can focus just on my tummy and not worry about anybody elses.

He's really not an exercise person. He doesn't understand how important it is to me or others. He doesn't understand how someone can look so forward to it and want to do it. That's me. I want to go to yoga, I look forward to riding my bike. I don't care if my activity take three hours of my Saturday and Sunday mornings. It makes me feel good.

He complained Saturday about this same exact thing. "Too much time. It messes up the day."

Fine. I'm going. I'm doing my "thing". You can sit here and "stare at your navel."

Well, we went to yoga. He got his butt kicked in a beginner class. He said he needs to do more of it on a regular basis. How do you like that, couch potato...

Looking forward to this week, I have a trip to NYC on Thursday. A meeting at 10am, customer meeting from 12 - 3 and then off on my own. I don't think we'll have any shared eating events, so I don't have to worry about doing that down there in a group setting.

Lots of vegan and vegetarian restaurants to chose from for dinner. Shopping at Whole Foods. Train ride home along the Hudson. It's good to be a New Yorker sometimes.

Today's menu:

B - Oatmeal
L - Rice, beans, corn with Frank's Red Hot
D - Not too sure right now. I think I'll make chili tonight
S - None with me. Need to do some grocery shopping and stock up some veggies and fruit.

Exercise: Walk during lunch time and yoga after work.

Friday is our final weigh-in. $550 is at stake. Personally, I am very, very happy with my results. As a woman who is 47 years old and loses weight at a snails pace I am thrilled. I am planning on to keep this up. We have one guy here is doing quite well. I've lost 7 - 8 pounds, he's down about 9 - 10. I can only hope he'll slip and eat some fatty, super salty foody-thing and sit on his butt all week.

FOCUS is this week's word. If I win, I can pay my car off!

Have a great day everyone.

Oh how great - a trip to NYC should really be nice, even if it is mostly work. Will you have time to go to a vegan restaurant? We love Candle Cafe, and they do perfect McDougall stuff (upper west side) also on the east side, there is Blossom. We love that also. I like Mana - very plain - no oil or anything. Anyway, have some fun!! Me, I'd rather eat than shop! Take care, LauraA

Friday is our final weigh-in. $550 is at stake. Personally, I am very, very happy with my results. As a woman who is 47 years old and loses weight at a snails pace I am thrilled. I am planning on to keep this up. We have one guy here is doing quite well. I've lost 7 - 8 pounds, he's down about 9 - 10. I can only hope he'll slip and eat some fatty, super salty foody-thing and sit on his butt all week.

FOCUS is this week's word. If I win, I can pay my car off!

Really hope you do well too. I've been reading your journal on and off and you are doing really well. You have a great sense of humor too! Even if you don't win this contest you're already winning with your life style choices. Secretly hoping you'll win too of course. Hang in there. Everyone 's rooting for you. Dlee

'Morning Everyone....We're gonna be in the 70s today?! Wow. I have a couple of iris blooming already. I need to seed our lawn, but I'm really going to wait till May. You never know when it's gonna snow around here.

So, Laura, yes. NYC. Thanks for the restaurant tips. I'll be heading into Penn and then down to City Hall / NYPD / Brooklyn Bridge area. I'm pretty good about getting around on the subway. I'll take a look to see where the restaurants are and hoping be able to check one out. There's a vegan shop on 7th between Penn and Times Square - but I think they use oil and tofu (tofu...yuck).

Thanks for the support DLee. It's quite a roller coaster ride. My weight is down. My weight is up. I'm hoping come Friday, it's down!

I did my hot yoga class last night. For some reason it was a lot harder than usual. I was drenched coming out of class and didn't sleep well at all. I'm wondering if it's a reflection of what I ate or drank over the weekend. Yoga really, really lets me know my body's "ebb and flow" from day to day. Somedays I can touch my toes and somedays I can't. Sometimes it's easy and sometimes it ain't so easy...

Today's menu:

B - Oatmeal with a banana or mango when I get around to it
L - E2 Chili with rice, beans, corn and greens on the side
D - E2 Chili
Snack - Mangos

Exercise - Walk at lunch if it doesn't rain, hot "power barre" in the afternoon. (If yesterday's class didn't smacked me around enough, today definately will...)

Last night I made E2's chili with smoked paprika. It's quite a powerful spice! I used what was called in the recipe, my suggestion - use less. Much less. Does my house stink now. Maybe thats why I didn't sleep so well

Well, keep on keeping on everyone! Till tomorrow....

Late post.

I'm home on the couch. Seems I have a pretty good cold. I woke up with congestion, sore throat, headache, aches and pains. I don't have a fever so that rules out the flu. The nurse at work doesn't think it's a sinus infection. She told me to go home and take it easy.

I feel like I've been body-slammed into a wall.

We have too many new people at work with no sick time. So, they get sick and then come to work and infect the rest of us. Doesn't make me happy.

So - Today's food:

B - I choked down two bananas and some oatmeal at work

L - I feel like doo-doo. The only thing I can handle right now is chicken noodle soup. I'll beat myself up later for eating it. Right now to consider eating anything else is making my stomach turn.

D - Let's see if I'm awake

Exercise - Not gonna happen today.

For as much as I want to get up and move about, I'm going to take it easy. I have to be up at 5 to make a 7am train to NYC and I need the rest. The nurse said it's ok to go. She said to be rude and not shake anyone's hand.

You may not hear anything from me tomorrow since I'll be on the road. Have a good day everyone and stay healthy.

Sorry you are feeling sick, VS!

I have a theory - once we eat this way long enough, we become more immune than the average person to those germs that inhabit or social spaces.


Here's hoping you get that extra immunity sooner rather than later! OR that is expresses itself min the form of a speedy recovery!

hi vegsexy!! you are doing great. I love the idea of hot yoga, and have heard ofit but it is not offered anywhere here , but as my fitness center, I love to get into the steam room,and do a few stretches myself. Good luck on Friday's weigh in too! would be so col if you won!

Nicoles and Carollyne - I will say this...since I've been eating this way and doing the hot yoga, I've been bouncing back rather quickly from what gets me down. Supposably, hot yoga increases your immunity - but I think any yoga will do that for you.

It's been a rough year in the office. ALOT of people have been sick. No flu, just colds. I've had two colds this year and the duration of them have been only two to three days, not the week(s) my coworkers have been going through. I still wish they would go home when they are sick. I'm tired of getting colds!

So, I am feeling much better. I felt like I was hit by a bus yesterday. I slept a total of 12 hours. Waking up here and there. I was up at 5am to catch a 7am train to NYC. Got up with a slight sore throat - but that's it. It should be a good day. Whole Foods here I come!

My eating yesterday was not good. Probably the first day in months that I've eaten "junk". A slice of pizza and some popcorn (10 minutes in the penalty box for me). Rice, beans and chili wasn't gonna cut it.

I'm not worried about the weigh-in tomorrow. My scales shows I'm down a couple of pounds - but my scale has always been an optimist. It says I'm in the 160s, but I don't believe it. It's lied to me in the past.

Don't know what we'll be doing for lunch down here, but I'm not worried about it. The menus in NYC are so broad and they really almost cater to every one - except for Anthony Bourdain's French Cafe (which is delicious when you eat meat).

I'll get plenty of walking in.

So, I'm enjoying my view of the Hudson. It's a beautiful day out. Have a good Thursday everyone. Catch you all on the flip side!

Hey VS - great journal!
I am DYING to hear if you win the contest or not!

I hope you had an amazing day in NYC today - so glad the sleep did your body good and you woke up feeling mostly better this morning.

Remember your key word is FOCUS.
Have a great day!
Amy

The results are in!!

I've lost: 9 pounds, 5% body fat, 2 percentage points off my BMI, 13.5 inches and one dress size. Woohoo!

Here are the team results. I've changed their names. We really don't have people at work named Curly, Moe and Larry - though sometimes I feel like I'm working with the Three Stooges. (sorry about the formatting, it's wonky with this editor):

Name %Wt loss / % Body Fat loss
Moe: 5 / 5.2
Curly: 7 / 1.4
VegSexy: 5 / 1.7
Larry: 0 / 0
Groucho: 3 / 0.9
Barney: + / 3.3
Fred: 3 / 0.4
Mr. Rogers: 5 / 0.9

So, being that I was competing with a bunch of "young guys". I feel I gave them a serious run for their money. I guess I came in a strong 3rd. The results were based on %Wt loss and % Body Fat loss. The guys knew the odds were not in my favor. I knew that. The nurse knew that. I still rocked.

I want to mention some key weigh-ins I did on my own:

November, 2011 - 184lbs.
January 1st, 2012 - 179lbs
January 20th, 2012 - 177lbs
March 16th, 2012 - 168lbs

So, depending where you want to start the clock I've lost 16 to 9 pounds. Not bad. Not bad at all. Proof is in the numbers, this way of eating will let you eat to better health.

This has been a journey for me since 2011. I used to have migraines, GERD, IBS and PMS. I've always struggled with my weight. This WOE has helped me beyond dropping a couple of pounds. I'm not stopping.

We're extending the program another 6 weeks at the suggestion of the nurse at work to make it a real contest. Sign me up! With the weather better, I can get out biking in the evenings. I'll keep up with my yoga and this way of eating. There is no way I'm going back to my old habits!

I really want to thank everyone for your support. This board has some of the best people I've come along on the web. I've learned so much and made changes based on suggestions that were honest and brought about true results.

So, my journey continues!

BTW - My trip to NYC was good yesterday. Good client visit. Stopped at Whole Foods at Union Square. Nice walk up to Penn and train ride along the Hudson was really nice with the sunsetting to the West. My cold is pretty much gone.

Congrats! Proud of you!

Forget Curly and Moe, you're a winner in my book any day! I was tempted to skip out on my between-class walk earlier this week because the weather was wet and windy, but I thought of your journal, zipped up my jacket, and hit the sidewalk. I figure the wind just added resistance and made it a better workout, right?

Happy Monday Everyone. Hope you're all doing well.

So, I'm very happy with my accomplishments I've made this year so far with my eating and exercising. Even though our "biggest loser" competition is over - I'm still planning on continuing. We talked about extending it 6 more weeks, but I haven't heard anything more about it.

I guess I'll do a daily or weekly weigh-in here? Sounds good to me.

Today's meal plan:

B - Oatmeal with bananas
L - Couscous with peas and corn. Greens on the side
D - I'm planning on roasting some potatoes, carrots and tomatoes
Snack - Pineapple, frozen fruit

Exercise - Hot yoga and a walk during lunch

I've been having some strange aches and pains. I don't know if it's from the cold last week (really, I felt I was hit by a bus) or if I ate something that's causing inflammation. I'm going to eat super clean this week, take in a couple of yoga classes and see if that will help. The only thing I can point it to is coffee. I had a couple of cups this weekend...could I have really detoxed myself from it so quickly?

Anywho...have a good day everyone! See you all tomorrow.