Matt- I've got this little problem. No, I really haven't been eating a lot lately, and I need to watch my caloric intake and maybe increase it. My main problem lately has been my schedule. I was talking to Karl (reluctantcabbie) last night and basically told him about my eating schedule. One of my main issues is sticking to a routine eating schedule... my husband works third shift, so I usually stay up quite late, but when I wake up, around noon, I don't feel hungry until three hours later... then when I do get hungry, I'm feeling starved because I didn't eat earlier!

The exercise is going well, except for the fact that I need to quit working on my legs. My calves are already in great shape from carrying all my weight around. But when I work on my calves, my legs are too sore to do more than 20 minutes of cardio! I went to the gym last night and I'm going again tonight, too! I usually go every other day, but I'm slowly trying to increase that to go five days a week.

Sara- Thanks, hon'! Cottage cheese is one of those foods I can tolerate. It doesn't taste great, but it's not that bad, either. Good luck on your journey! *hugs*

I am a culinary genius! I've made two new meals today, all with healthy ingredients. For breakfast, I made an "In Your Face, McDonald's!" breakfast sandwich. I cooked two egg whites with fresh spinach, added a slice of turkey breast and put it all on a toasted 100% whole wheat English muffin with a few spritzes of "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!" spray. Super yummy delicious!

For lunch, I had a salad made of Romaine lettuce, diced tomatoes, a sprinkle of Feta and Mozarella cheese, hard-boiled egg (white part only), and 3 oz. of turkey breast. I made my own dressing by mixing red wine vinegar, EVOO, and a little Mrs. Dash.

It's interesting to see what you can come up with when your options are limited.

Hats off to the culinary genius!!

Actually the breakfast sammie sounds really good.I miss stuff like that. Breakfast used to be my favorite meal of the day sometimes. But only when it was made of all those horrendous things for you, like a plate of cholesterol?

Hey, I just ran across your diary!

Way to go on the 9 pounds so far! It will add up as you go.

Are you omitting the egg yolk for any health reason, or because of the belief that it is bad?

Granted, the yolk DOES contain fat, but it also contains the bulk of the nutrients and proteins that eggs are known for. I haven't denied myself whole eggs during this whole journey. Unless you are really watching cholesterol, I feel there's really no reason to omit the yolk. Unless you just plain can't stand them.

Phoeynx- Thanks! I will allow myself a yolk or two every once in a while, but I'm sure that since I have high blood pressure, I have high cholesterol as well.

Went to the gym tonight. I'm really beginning to hate cardio because for some reason, my ankles are starting to get really sore from it. But I ignored the pain and kept on going. Worked on my arms as well, along with my back and abs.

Rest of today's meals included a Healthy Choice dinner, a protein shake with strawberries, and some grapes. Going to have my last snack for the day in about a half hour. Probably a banana with peanut butter... or some more grapes.

Hey Gina My first time dropping by your diary.

Your diet seems really healthy. Great job on that. Only thing I would slightly be worried about is how much you're eating. I agree with usedtobefatmatt. Make sure you're eating enough!

GREAT job with the exercise as well. A healthy diet and exercise go hand in hand. About the ankles being sore, are you stretching properly prior to the cardio? Anytime my legs are sore or hurt from cardio is when I don't stretch properly.

Kudos to you on the culinary inventions. I wish I knew how to cook! :-P Those meals sound yummy.

Congrats on losing the 9lbs.

You're doing awesome. An absolutely amazing job Keep it up!

Definitely worth checking with your doc about with the high cholesterol. Double check with your doc about the egg yolks too. Just to be on the safe side.

Hey hun, just checkin in on you,..hows your day going?

So now that my weekend of shameful gluttony is over, it's back to the old grind... ugh!

Note to self: a little less drinking, a lot more working out! I got drunk Friday and Saturday nights... which led to me stuffing food in my face that I wasn't supposed to!

I don't think I can bear to step on the scale tomorrow. I'm scared of the numbers. Maybe I'll skip this week's weigh-in and wait until next Monday to weigh myself.

I know how you feel, I just had 2 drinks last night at a friends house and then all the people that were there are like ohhh lets make pizza. So next thing I know 2 pizzas are in the oven then while they made them they brought a bag of chips to the table along with a massive halloween variety m&m bag. Ill be honest I ate 1 mini bag of peanut m&ms (90 calories) and 2 slices of pizza.....the whole time going no no get it away from me!! Anywho, lets get back on track....see you at weigh in tomorrow cuz its my weigh in day to! My goal: 2lbs!

My weekend almost went that way too. Managed to pull up short Friday night on drinking 'cuz I knew there was driving involved afterwards. We were having such a good time though... Glad I did, my wife went to work saturday morning with a hangover not me though.

Hope your day goes wel Gina!

This week right, hon?

Last Weigh-In: 331
Current Weight: 335

Karl- We're still on, honey. Thank you so much for the support. *hugs*

So I pigged out all last weekend. I knew full well what I was doing and yet, for some reason, I didn't stop myself. I knew after my weekend of gluttony that I had gained back some weight. I tried to convince myself that I wasn't going to step on the scale because seeing how much I had gained back would put me in a serious funk. I tried to resist getting on it, but I had to for some reason. I left the gym early... I was so mad at myself for what I had done. How could I betray myself? Sometimes, I think I'm way too hard on myself, but if I'm not, who's going to be? Sometimes, it seems like I'm the only one who gives a shit about me losing weight.

I'm not giving up though. I can't. This is my life. I've made a pact with Karl that this week, we're both going to eat right and drink plenty of water. I've made him a promise and I am not going to break that promise.

Me either sweetheart. I've been good so far, no slip ups. I'm not happy with the scale... (see my rant for that one), but I'll survive.