I will eventually shut down this 3FC blog but want very much to keep in touch with you.

A lot of you have the default settings on your 3FC blog that means you cannot receive comments EXCEPT from other 3FC bloggers.

I’ve taken two screenshots to show how to make the changes to allow non-3FC bloggers to comment (your 3FC friends will see no difference at all).

Step 1 :

In your “admin” panel go to the far right & click on “Settings”

Don’t forget to “Save” (you don’t see it on my screenshot, it’s on the bottom left!

Step 2

Same story with the “save” button in the bottom left
Stop over to my new blog to let me know if you did this so I can come by & comment!

Thanks

We’ve known each other for quite a while now, and it’s hard for me to say this, but it’s time for us to move on in our lives.  I have other decades to explore, and you have plenty of other people who would be so happy to welcome you into their lives.

I was so excited to meet you last year, and I’ll never forget the excitement that I had in leaving the 200’s behind and entering into Onederland, and meeting you, specifically 199.  I’ve spend almost a whole year with you, although I admit I’ve flirted with the 180s a bit, but always came running back to you.  I know we both thought we were finished with each other in the first quarter of this year, but of course a series of events lead me back to you in April, and we’ve been hanging out again together since then.

I’ve really liked getting to know the whole 190 family.  I’ve passed such a huge part of the past year with 194, 193 and their friends 195 and 192, I know them really intimately and they’ve been there every week to say hello again for several months now.

For the past month or so I’ve gotten to know 191 and 190 and of course 193 keeps coming back over and over.

But it’s time for us to part ways.  As great as it’s been to meet you, the slow weight loss & the “treading weight” periods are getting to me, it’s time to move on with my life now.  Plus, I know so many people who are so anxious to come to Onederland and meet 199 and his friends.  It’s best for us both to move on.

I know breaking up is always hard to do, but I don’t want you to feel like I don’t appreciate the time we spent together.

I learned a lot from you.  I learned to hang in there through hard times (like this recent miscarriage), and I learned I could get back on track while we were friends.   We made it through some really hard times together.  A cancer diagnosis. A hysterectomy.  A really eye-popping infertility story.  We’ve also had good times, of course - remember our happy list?  I started that after I met you, and I’ll cherish it always as a reminder of you.

But now it’s time, and I’m moving on to other decades.  I don’t want you to be jealous of the 180s - I’m not going to stay with them forever either. And it’s not like I’ll never see you again, either.  I’m sure you’ll pop up now and then over the next month or two, and after that I’ll still see you if I hop on the scale at the end of the day after eating and drinking a lot…  Several months down the road we won’t see each other very much - but if I get nostalgic I can always pick up something heavy when I get on the scale & come & say hi.

I know you’ve always wanted the best for me, and I really appreciate how you’ve been there for me this past year.  But now I feel ready to move on, and I know that you will make someone else really really happy, so it’s best for us to part ways.

Much love,

Sarah

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I’ve moved my blog!  You can find this post and all the rest of my blog at http://LowStressWeightLoss.com
Please come leave me a comment at the new location (comments are closed here now), and you can sign up for posts via email too!

• What worked
• What didn’t
• What we should change
• If we should do FOCUS like activities in the future (and which ones)

I’d really appreciate it if you would stop by to give your feedback, it shouldn’t take more than 5 minutes.

http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/324291/3d9a56b1644e

Thanks!

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I’ve moved my blog! Find me now at http://LowStressWeightLoss.com

I’ve written a lot about “Low Stress” weight loss over the years, and when I saw that the name was available a few months back, I grabbed it.  It’s been pretty much the central theme of my weight loss blog over the past few years, and my commitment to a low-stress way to manage my weight is certainly not decreasing, so I’m excited to have a platform that fits with what I want this blog to be about (and I’m also happy to leave the 3FC-placed ads on my blog behind).

I’m hoping over the next few months to make this new blog look a lot better, and I’ll be trying to add some of the features you suggested and I’d love your feedback and suggestions as I work through that.

I’m particularly interested to know if leaving comments is difficult for you, since there aren’t a lot of choices in setting up for commenters on this platform, and it’s something a number of people said could be a problem.

If you have me bookmarked or read in a reader, please change those to :

http://lowstressweightloss.com/blog

Thanks!

PS : to keep things simple I’ve closed comments over here as I’ve opened  them at the new location - please head there to comment!

Last Friday I had a few comments on my weekend plan post that made me realize this could be a really effective way for ALL of us to have a better weigh in.

So my challenge to you : comment here

It’s simple : think about what you’re facing this weekend & comment on how you’ll handle it and balance the fun stuff with the weight loss goals.

Of all the days of the week, most of us struggle the most with the weekends - less structure, more temptations, more special events & unplanned stops. A bit of thinking ahead can do wonders for all kinds of situations.

Sometimes it’s about just letting go & enjoying, sometimes a weekend can be a great time to get in a longer workout.

My weekend outlook :

As you know, I am VERY focused on losing that one stinking pound to get to 189, kick the 190s to the curb, and grab that purse that’s been taunting me for months. So I’m planning to be pretty focused this weekend, and probably exercise will play a big part in my plans (plus I’ve been under some Work Stress, and need to blow that steam off a bit too). I’m also going to keep the food/pleasure journal, which will be a first for a weekend.

Friday : dinner at a favorite Michelin starred restaurant that is soon closing it’s doors (this place, actually). I will enjoy it, probably a tasting menu or at the very least all my favorites, and then it’s back on plan for the rest of the weekend. Maybe I’ll take a picture to share. I will also make sure to get in a workout during the day. Would be great if I can get to the market Friday morning, but not sure that will work out with my flight…

Saturday : nothing unusual planned, will get in a good workout

Sunday : Outdoor market, stock up & prep veggies & other healthy foods for the week (low travel next week, woo-hoo!). Dinner at my mother-in-law’s for the 90th birthday bash of my husband’s grandma. My MIL is not a great cook and certainly not a diet one. I’ll pick politely. I’ll eat before I go & have a healthy snack at home after if need be.

Now you : leave a comment on how your weekend will go

What are you facing this weekend? What are the challenges, how will you deal with them, and will you balance your weekend & your weight goals?

I’m on a diet, watching what I eat, trying to lose weight, and I always travel with chocolate.

I have a job where I travel a lot (at least 50% of the time on the road).  I have a lot of travel tips which I’m happy to share, and “travel with chocolate” is one of them

5 Reasons Why I Travel With Chocolate

1. My chocolate is better than most of the temptations I face : I buy high-quality stuff, not junky mass market stuff.  I know my chocolate will be tastier than grabbing a stale cookie at a meeting, or some goopy hotel dessert at a dinner.
2. I know I have emergency rations (I usually also have something else too, but in an emergency I can get by a few hours with what’s in my bag instead of hitting a fast food joint)
3. Chocolate is good for you (healthy antioxidants and all that jazz) I’ll be honest, this is just justification for me, it’s not a real reason why!
4. Chocolate is a real pleasure - I savor it, I focus on it, I enjoy it. I believe in Enjoying the Process of losing weight, and regularly indulging in pleasures
5. I can manage it without going overboard - I use very dense chocolate so I get satisfied easily and I know it’s something I can eat a small amount of.  If I was someone who ate large quantities of chocolate I’d probably have a different strategy than traveling with chocolate, but I’m not.

What kind of chocolate?

• Very high quality, boutique brands (although in a pinch I’ll buy Lindt)
• Small quantities
• Very dark (usually 85% cocoa, sometimes even 99%, in a pinch I grab 70% if I must.  I dont eat milk chocolate - it doesn’t have the same pleasure for me)

It’s summer, so the chocolate travel has to adapt - even smaller quantities, in my purse (which is more likely to be kept cool with me) and double-ziplock bags so that any melty leaks are less likely to cause a big mess…

Current chocolate (including wrappers from Tuesday night) :

How do you PLAN so that you succeed in weight loss?

I wanted to find out what kinds of things you like & dislike on the blogs you read (and write!).

I have some diverse interests in the blog world, so I come across a number of different things, but the diet blogs are generally pretty similar.

I am going to go ahead and move now and design it into something I like later, because I’ve already spent 2 months of intertia paralyzed by of the number of things I’d like to do (versus the limited time, knowledge and money I have to spend on it).  I think I’ll have a lot more incentive to get the things done once I’m in the new location (like moving into a house with a bathroom you hate - every minute you spend there reminds you to get it fixed up!).

Feel free to comment with anything you want - but here are some ideas to spark your thoughts on what you love & hate about blogs you read :

• Colors
• Mascots or other illustrations
• Organization - how many pages
• Ads & ad networks
• Blogrolls
• Featured posts
• Recent comments
• Dates on posts (necessary or not)
• Categories & tag clouds

And anything else you can think of - all input good, all opinions matter, but ultimately the blog I will produce has to serve ME first and foremost!  Although I love the community aspect of blogging, fundamentally I blog for myself most of all…

Meeting our goals together

Yet again, most people who are participating in Spring Focus are benefiting from the group accountability to motivate them to help meet their goals at least partially : 72% are meeting their goals this week

Weight loss for the week

Weekly weight loss for those reporting in was 14 pounds, but averaged between those reporting in it’s -1.25 pounds per person (and there are a few people who report in on goals who don’t report weight, so that actually drags numbers down in that kind of analysis).   Anything that can get to a steady consistent weight loss is great in my book, and so that -1.25 pound average is exactly what I’d love to see in my own weight loss over time.

Cumulative weight loss in 6 weeks has topped 100 pounds!

Again, some of the folks haven’t even checked in, so it’s a great result: 101 pounds in 6 weeks for the 11 participants who reported in by midnight Monday!  Woo-hoo!  Three of those are from people who’ve each lost more than 15 pounds (one more than 20!).

It’s focus time, people!

There are still two weeks left. Even if you haven’t done much to move the numbers to date, two weeks is a solid time to do so, and it’s a smart time to start - imagine how happy you’ll be to be at the 4th of July BBQ a few pounds lighter or just knowing your eating is under control & that you’ve been exercising recently.  If you think you’d be helped by joining for the last two week, just leave a comment and see how accountability helps you.

Survey to Spring Focus participants hopefully will go out end of the week or this weekend - and will also be available to others reading the blog.

Assessment of the past week:

I had a better week last week in general.  Less stress, less travel, a little less uncertainty on the “next job” situation (although still not completely resolved).

I’m starting to think about what else I might do to get my weight down more. That in itself if a huge step forward, considering that 6 weeks ago I couldn’t even make it through 3 straight days of being even remotely on plan.  I haven’t made any firm decisions in what to do next, but I’m even considering counting calories again, and that’s a Big Step for me.  But it won’t be this week, just something simmering on the backburner.

How did I do on my goals this past week?

1) Keep a simple paper food journal : done on the road. Once again I did the pairing of food + pleasures and that seems to work really well for me.  Like last week I dropped it as soon as I got home, and now I’m wondering if that was such a good idea.  I suspect I’d do well to pay as much attention to both when I’m home.

2) Keep a pleasure journal : Again, done on the road. As mentioned above, I’d like to move doing this to 7 days a week for a while to see what it adds.

3) Four exercise sessions this week : I rock! This was a bit of a stretch objective because I either had to be in 100% attendance over the weekend (hard when I’m worn out from travel) or fit in more than one on-the-road session.  I was smart, I got two sessions in during the week.  Even though on Friday I planned to get to the gym each day this weekend, Saturday was busy with “must do’s” and in my limited time I could have done this I just didn’t feel like it.  Nevertheless, I met my goal for the week!

And the weigh-in for the week?

-190 : Another -1 bites the dust! It’s actually pretty rare that I follow a -2 pound drop with another drop of any kind, so losing one pound last week is great.  It also means that there is an excellent chance I will have used Spring Focus to bid farewell FOREVER to the 190s.  Hopefully next week I’ll reach that 189 goal and earn that new purse.

A look at the upcoming week :

This week is what is for me a pretty “average” one.  Some travel, some home.  It should be only 2 nights away, but there is a call for a national strike on the day I’m supposed to fly home, and that is usually such a logistical nightmare that I’ll likely extend my stay one more day to avoid the hassle (and guarantee me one gym session that day).

Goals for this week :

1) For SEVEN days, keep a simple paper food journal : adding this in for days when I don’t travel too

2) For SEVEN days, Keep a Relaxing journal : again, adding this in for all days of the week, regardless of travel

3) Exercise at least 4 times this week : That “at least” means I’d like it to be more, the main reason to push myself a bit harder so that I drop another pound this week.  I’m pretty confident I can hit 4 sessions even with the travel, but 5 will be a stretch.

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Spring Focus update :

Reporting is open until Monday midnight, and  I’ll report on group progress on Tuesday or Wednesday.

TWO WEEKS LEFT!

There are still 2 full weeks left!  That’s enough time to knock off a pound or two, and enough time to “get started” if you’ve been thinking about getting serious again this summer you could use these two weeks as a way to get yourself going.  Even if you haven’t been part of our group to date, you can still  join us by leaving a comment and see how accountability helps you.