Breakfast—coffee with two tsp sugar and fat-free half-and-half, oatmeal cooked with skim milk, fresh blueberries
Snack—apple
Lunch—quesadilla with one ounce low-fat cheddar; black beans; corn; salsa; and low-fat, low-carb tortilla
Dinner—salmon with two tbsp ginger marinade; multi-grain pasta with one tsp butter, two tbsp grated parmesan, and garlic; spinach salad with grapefruit, dried cranberries, and a drizzle of olive oil
Snack—hot ginger milk with one tsp sugar, three chocolate cat cookies (about 22 calories)

45 minutes on the elliptical today!!!!!!!! It's funny—about halfway through, I felt exhausted and had a headache (like yesterday). But then two-thirds of the way through, I got a burst of energy, my headache receded, and I was able to finish up in grand style.

One great thing about being on track and losing weight is that I'm not wasting lots of money on new clothes anymore. I don't want to buy clothes that won't fit me in six months, so I'm making do with the (perfectly adequate) wardrobe that I have now.

Natalie Jo, I totally want to try incorporating dancing into my routine more often—I really enjoy it.

Breakfast—one cup coffee with skim milk and two tsp sugar, oatmeal cooked with milk, fresh blueberries
Lunch—1.5 ounces corned beef, collard greens with tomatoes, half an ounce cheese, one oat bran mini-muffin, four dried apricots, one square chocolate with wild strawberry filling
Snack—soy protein bar
Snack—100-calorie bag of popcorn
Dinner—fresh herb kuku (a kind of omelette), baked cod, green rice
Snack—100-calorie ice cream sandwich

Today was a day of rest (exercise-wise), since I spent all day watching Macbeth, preparing to teach Macbeth, leading a class discussion on Macbeth, reading Lacan, and writing a paper on Lacan. Needless to say, I am mighty glad that tomorrow is Saturday.

Well today is Saturday and hope your day is going well!!
Macbeth huh, havent read that in a while. I always loved that play. IT was oh so cool ...

Lacan? who is that? I am still mid degree... so the harder lit classes are on their way come next year and its just gets harder after that, but I love literature. I could never go with out a good book, u know

Well I was in the book store in the other day and came across Bradbury.. have you ever read

"that tattooed man" or "The martian Chronicles" by Ray Bradbury. I think they are brilliant. There some of my favorite books..

What are some of your favorite books? I know its hard to tell, but can you think of one lol

well ttylater hun
and keep trecking
sounds like your doing awesome! Keep it up!!

love yas
your friend
natalie jo

Weigh-in morning--YAY NEW TICKER NUMBERS! I can't believe I'm below 275. It's such a small difference, and yet I am lighter than I've been in at least three years. I sat in one of those one-piece desks at school yesterday, and I fit in it without having to be angled slightly sideways! Oh, God, I can't believe this is really happening for me!

I made the start number for the ticker 275 so I'd have a tiny bit of a jump on my next mini-challenge! I am here and now vowing that I will be at 260 by August 1! I will not fail. I will not flag. I will not lose interest or stop caring about my body and taking good care of it.

And seriously, thank you so much to all of you. I never would have gotten here without you--I know that because of all the times I've tried to get here before and not managed it. You guys are awesome.

Sophie, new ticker numbers are the BEST!!! CONGRATULATIONS!! I hope you bought that DVD (Forgive me if you did and mentioned it, I just read the last three entries). The support of the forum really is awesome, isn't it? The boy keeps commenting on how much time I spend on here, and I'm just telling him "but it's so fun and everyone is so nice!!"

Breakfast—one cup coffee with skim milk and two tsp sugar, oatmeal cooked in milk with mango sauce
Lunch—corned beef sandwich with sugar-free, whole grain bread, three Hershey's kisses
Snack—seven jelly beans
Dinner—rice krispies and milk with one tsp sugar
Snack—apple
Snack—90 calories of wheat crackers
Snack—one cup hot ginger milk with one tsp sugar, one oatmeal cranberry cookie

Did forty-five minutes on the elliptical today—it's still a miracle to me that I can go so long now. And when I time things right, it feels really good, more like an exercise of strength than a difficult toil.

Don't know why I couldn't get around to eating a proper dinner tonight—I just didn't feel like it, I suppose. The cereal was to give me energy to exercise, but after that, even though I was hungry, I just didn't want to do anything but graze.

Natalie Jo, I haven't read those books, though I have liked all the Bradbury I've read. My favorite books are mostly a hundred and fifty years old, but there are a few modern novels that I like. Dreamhouse by Alison Habens is a favorite, and so is Temples of Delight by Barbara Trapido. It's hard for me to find time to read for pleasure right now, though, so most of my reading is either Victorian novels, literary criticism, or theory (at present psychoanalytic theory).

Heather, I did indeed order my DVDs! They should arrive within a week, and then I'll let you know how the ballet workout is.

Also, happy Easter to all those who celebrate it!

Steph, I can familiarize with your new-found stamina completely. It's crazy how in such a short period of training our bodies, we can feel more energized than physically exerted. I'm still surprised I can run for so long given, in the beginning, I felt like passing out after just three quarters of a mile.

It's nice how do something good for your body no longer feels like a toil, you're absolutely right. I never seem to feel drained, or exhausted or as though I can't complete my mileage goal. The word that comes to my mind is 'paced'. My breathing now never feels rushed or erratic or hurts my chest instead, it feels as though my lungs are getting a gentle workout, kinda like an internal massage. My chest never burns when I workout anymore, and I'm assuming, this is the point where you are at. Sure, my legs can feel as though they're on fire momentarily if I push myself, but the fact that I can respirate at an even pace while elevating my heart rate is truly amazing to me.

I hope you continue to have such amazing success with your elliptical routine! Wait and see, in no time at all, you'll be able to go a whole hour and then some!

Happy Easter to you, honey! I hope you're having a good one!

Breakfast—two cups coffee with one tsp sugar and fat-free half-and-half, CANDY (two squares of dark chocolate, one Cadbury egg), fresh cantaloupe, small handful pecans
Lunch—hot cross buns, coffee with skim milk and three tsp sugar
Snack—two squares dark chocolate
Dinner—peas, small portion brown rice, roast lamb, one small row of Lindt chocolate

Did my strength training routine today.

And, as you can see, I had a definite Easter splurge. It's done with now, though. I put the candy away in the pantry, and it'll be doled out over the next couple of months.

Rach, it's Sophie, not Steph. I know what you mean about the endurance, though. I occasionally feel my leg muscles tremble towards the end, but beyond that, I don't feel bad during my workouts (as long as I time them correctly in my day). I can't wait till I can go longer at full intensity, though. I think that's going to feel really good.

Sounds like what I read during the year in school ... they do have one class I have been tempted to take .. Pop Fiction lol
it would be different ..but its only a 200 course ..and I need 300 and 400 courses now .. you know ..
harder courses for the next two years lol

Your doing well on the machine ..holy meow! You go girl!
I can't wait till I have built myself back up to a forty five minutes walk

did a twenty two minutes today ..half way lol

ttylater hun
love yas
your friend
natalie jo

There is nothing bad in my house now, but I am craving it ... I dont know what to do lol

I should have never had any of that stuff on Easter lol ... I have been so horrid ...

You sound so good Sophie!! Keep trecking!

love yas
always
your friend
nataliej o

Breakfast—fiber bar, apple
Lunch—one roll with one pat butter, cup of soup, chicken caesar salad, chocolate cake, coffee with one tsp sugar
Snack—half a bagel with cream cheese, one cup coffee with one tsp sugar and fat-free half-and-half
Dinner—sushi
Snack—hot ginger milk with one tsp sugar

Bleh. I'm so down today. Not only did I emphatically not have time to exercise, but I'm pissed about that chocolate cake at lunch. I wouldn't be so unhappy if I'd wanted it and enjoyed it, but I just ate it because it was in front of me, joylessly forking it into my mouth.

Also, a friend of mine did something hurtful today. She told me that a professor spoke "very highly of my teaching, but somewhat less highly of my grading." Now, you have to understand, my graduate program is seriously like the Smurf village, all knowledge-sharing and encouraging and, "Hey, Bob, that presentation you gave in class was really smurfy!" So to have someone telling me something like that, which I really don't need to know and cannot in the least benefit from (I'm this guy's TA for one semester. If he has problems, he can tell me about them, and if not, I don't need to worry), kind of breaks up the safe space that is what keeps me happy and productive. I don't really know what he said, nor do I care. It's her behavior in telling me something that could only worry me that bothers me. I feel like sending her an email telling her that she's being kind of unsmurfy.

Oh, well. She's one person. And you know, I've had other excellent encouragements from Smurf Village today. I'm not going to waste my time worrying about one thing that I can't do anything at all about.

Natalie Jo, don't fear the 300 and 400 level classes! I solemnly promise you that classes get twice as fun at the higher levels.

Hey Sophie!!
Don't listen to her... I love your "smurf" metaphors .. they are awesome ...
Anyway ... I am looking forward to those 300 and 400 courses actually, but they will be hard. Just the names of the courses make me shake a little ... worried a little, but I took extra 200 courses to prepare myself for the 300 courses. I took extra, which was not a waste of money, but it doesnt count toward my degree, but I needed to. Because I didnt feel prepared last year. Now I feel prepared after my last class this year. A Harvard prof was teaching and thats how he run his class. He taught me how to write a REAL annalytical essay ..which was actually really thrilling for me .. I know literature just drives me wild ..but I love the written word.. I look up to you!!
You are doing so awesome!! Don't think about that stupid woman's remarks ... You rock Sophie..

and about the chocolate cake ... Your doing good ... just keep trecking ...

always
love yas
your friend
natalie jo

Soph, I can understand completely your weakness when it comes to chocolate cake and it being right in front of you. It took me MONTHS to resist proccessed sugars plated before my eyes. Next time this happens, my advice to you would be to sip on some water or perhaps take a longer time drinking whatever you're sipping on. This is what works for me.

We have a klatche after church where donuts and cookies are served and in order to properly resist, I take a really, really long time drinking my coffee or sipping on my water. Anything to keep my mouth busy keeps my itchy fingers off the chocolate. Over time, this really does become routine and you don't even recognize that you're distracting yourself with what's in your styrofoam cup.

I too love your smurf-isms. I haven't watched that cartoon since I was a wee lass. I do like asking people if they enjoyed licking a smurf when their tongue is blue from just eating a blueberry popsicle. LOL.

I hate it when people tell me things I don't want to hear. I have enough problems in my head, why would someone want to purposefully add more? I think writing her an e-mail is a good idea. It'll put her on the right path for the future. Perhaps she could learn from this mistake.

I hope you're having a good Tuesday otherwise. I hope Smurf Villiage is treating your rather hospitably today!

Sophie! I didn't catch this post!! Whoot Whoot! You are under 275!! You go girl!!
I am so happy for you
I can't wait till I am there, but I will be there by June.. I am slowly working on it

You go girl!!
You rock!!

love yas
always
your friend
natalie jo

Hey Sophie! Don't let those comments from that woman get to you. I know they're probably laying heavy on your mind, but you're right - if it was something necessary for you to know, you would know it from the professor.

And the chocolate cake is OK! You're doing so well, I love reading what you eat throughout the course of the day. One indulgence every now and again is ok. But I can understand what you're saying when you say you ate it just because it was there. That kind of eating is frustrating. Still, though - you're doing a WONDERFUL job and you're doing so much good for your body. Don't let it get you down!