August is sort of getting better. I got to hang out for an extra day with my lovely, Saturday we played some mini-golf and laser tag (I got repeatedly tagged by a guy that looked about my age whom I swear was enjoying tagging the fat chick and was following me around everywhere, lol) Then lovely and I ate a nice light dinner. Yesterday was kind of horrible eating-wise though because lovely and I went to SerbFest with my mum and dad (big Serbian population here, including my boyfriend-- half-Serbian) and we ate at this place here called Ted Drewes, which has ice cream cups the size of small planets... I got the smallest planet and tried to eat healthy, and the collateral damage to my diet was only +0.8 lbs. Phew!

Went back to my normal schedule today. One hour of water aerobics plus some weights afterward... did my first ninety-pound weight today! I'm going to try this machine again over the week and hope to get to triple digits (!!!) in this particular weight. Wow, for a gal that got winded doing half a mile and using 5 lbs of weight, this is a pretty awesome milestone.

My dad got my boyfriend and I reservations at the Westin in Chicago!!!! He used one of those travel sites and got us a room for 62 a night. We're just beside ourselves since this is our first trip together and we get to live it up while we're there. It has a NICE pool and all kinds of crazy stuff.

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1yr- Congratulations on the looser jeans! Maybe you'll get to go down a size soon? And I've heard about lululemon... a lot of my girlfriends are crazy about them and I've thought about giving them a try. As for the 1 lb weight loss... just think, that's one pound you haven't gained! Try comparing inches lost too, I've only lost 3 lbs but I've lost 4" in my waist.

QB- Good to see you and thanks for the post on July! I was wondering why everyone was chatting over there still lol. Water aerobics is a lot of fun, I am the second youngest in there besides my younger sister who also likes it, but since I spend a lot of time in the water and at waterparks, I figured I might as well do something constructive in the water. Hope you feel better, Crystal Light makes me feel a little wonky sometimes too.

Laneyy- Keep away from the nose ring! It will heal much faster if you leave it alone. I am no stranger to knee injuries, and what works for me is to do some low-impact aerobics til the knee heals up and then gradually ease back into your routine. I feel you on the moving around, I can't sit still either, but look into something like yoga or bellydance, something low-impact.

Icon- Good to see you again! You're in my thoughts... hope you feel much better soon!

Hotaruchan- I think my sister found a ride. She has a part-time caregiver who comes in and helps her and I think she is giving her a ride home. I'm sure she's relieved.

If I didn't get you, I'll be back. Hope everyone has a good day/evening.

Katbot I'm glad to hear Polish people are friendly. I have traveled to Budapest last year and people there had been very rude and quite mean to me and my friends. It really put me off traveling this year and had not my friends really insisted I would had not traveled anywhere. I bought a dialogue guide and have been learning some phrases on my free time. Also I think you are allowed to splurge this once since things are so hectic with the new apartment.

Iconised Ghost The problem in my country is that most people are graduates. In fact it is still considered a taboo not to go to university here to the point traders are very, very scarce. I was even reading that this year our ministry of education is going to try to promote trade in schools. So when everyone has a degree it makes things even worse.

beahawkins I agree on the whole issue. Imagine that my best friend and I are seeing the trip to Poland together as a mean to reconcile and heal our friendship. Yep she causes me more stress than a boyfriend would.

Quiet Ballerina Let's just say that both the crush and I make it really obvious we like each other. There are things stopping us from being together right now, the main one is the financial uncertainty. Adding to the fact that he is a foreigner (and unfortunately most people in my country don't like foreigners) he made it clear to me that as much as he would like to date me and be with me right now he can't until he finds a job. He says the last thing he wants is having people from my family telling me that he wants me for my money or to get a visa. I told him, of course, that whether he has a job or not is not an issue for me, neither what people says concerns me but he asked me to wait for him for another 2 months. He says that if he gets a job within the next 2 months then he will immediately ask me out. If not then he will have to leave the country anyway.

Laneyy: How is your knee? Have you seen a doctor about it yet? I hope you are feeling better soon!

Serenity: I hope you have an amazing time in Poland!! Will it be your first time? Let us know how it goes! I love going to new places on vacation.

Quiet Ballerina: The gift sounds like something that should be on pinterest! I love personalized gifts like that. I'm sure she's going to love it.

1yr2mkovr: Congrats on your jeans! I can't wait to comfortably fit into a pair again. I've been wearing workout shorts and summer dresses all summer long. Btw..I love lululemon. My mom got me into it. My first set came from her for my 23rd birthday.

As for me...I went out to eat with my mom and boyfriend for dinner last night at a vietnamese restaurant. I had my meal planned out nicely before we got there and then it all went down the drain when the pan fried noodles and orange chicken came out. Oh well. Today is another day and I'm determined to stay within my calorie budget and eat healthy this week.

Thanks Everyone!!!

Ladybug10: Don't worry about overdoing it once in a while. As we try to lose weight we have to remember that there are two goals... One is to lose it and the other is to keep it off. Chances are that we will all have thoe days when there's a restaurant outing, birthday, anniversary, etc. when we'll overdo it, so the goal is not to be perfect all the time but to maintain a workable balance.

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I had another exciting thing happen to me today, and I have no one else to share this with who will truelly understand, so thank you for listening in advance... Today I got a workout DVD in the mail (from 1983 or 1989). I did it with my mom when I was in Junior High and I ALWAYS loved it. Well the tape disintegrated and I finally found it, after all these years, on DVD!!! I played it right away and everything was going well until she said bend your leg and grab your ankle (to stretch -- In a standing position, you need to grab your ankle as you bend your leg to your bum...) So, this is something that I couldn't do before (at my highest) because there was just too much fat on my legs! But today, I did it! Without struggling!!!!!! I was shocked! I mean, I noticed that I was able to cross my legs better than before, but I DID NOT think that I could do this! Anyway, hope this doesn't sound stupid to you guys

1yr2mkovr!!!! It is always awesome when the little things start showing up!!! Yay!

Thank you!!!!!

: ) Oh congrats on the onederland too!! That is really exciting!!

Not until August 31st!!!!! I'm going nuts!!

1yr2mkovr: Exciting!! Congrats! I can't wait to slide my fav pair of jeans on...

Ladybug10: Eating out is always the hardest, eh? I always have it all planned out and then I just see that other dish sitting there beckoning me. Gah!

August is a little defeating for me right now! I worked really hard all last month and this week... and I weighed in and actually gained .7lbs... definitely not what I was expecting after a hot and sweaty week... Trying not to lose motivation, still went out and did some cardio today but couldn't pull together to do strength. Fan Expo is on in Toronto soon (like comicon only more awesome with sci fi stuff)... I can't wait until I hit my weight goals and I can go in a super awesome costume!!!

Ladybug10: Double thanks!!!

Katiekish:I'm not enjoying Aug. at all either!!! After losing well for an entire month, I weighed in this week having only lost 1pound! ONE! I haven't lost less than 4 for a month and this week; 1!!!!! So, since I don't excercise on my weigh in day, I thought, don't freak out, these things happen, and then weighed in today at +1!!!! WHAT????

Anyway, I too got angry and took it out on myself by working out for 3 hours today! I swear if I'm not back down tomorrow... Well- I guess I'll workout for another three hours... I have an August goal that I will not get to at all if I keep going down a pound a day.

katbot "decluttering" has been on my to-do list for....oh, at least 2 or 3 years now. It's just so daunting! I really need to buckle down and do it.
Have fun at the fair! Make good choices.

1yr2mkovr You work out twice a day?! Kudos to you! I'm a little jealous. Are you eating enough & drinking enough water for all that exercise? That is fantastic news about the DVD! Good for you!

namaste That is an amazing hotel rate! Wow!! Sounds like the trip will be awesome. Yeah...I think I just need to stay away from Crystal light. I'll flavor my water with real limes/lemons instead if I want to mix it up.

preetylady I hope things work out with your crush. Where do you live (do you mind if I ask)?

Ladybug Thanks! I think it'll be cute.

katieish Sooo soon!

It's Wednesday!! Which means...
-The work-week is halfway over (woo!)
-I don't have ANY classes (even though I do have some homework)
-I definitely need to drag my booty to the gym because you gals are putting me to SHAME.

Hey all, I haven't posted on these 20-something threads very much but am hoping you don't mind if I jump right in! You guys have been so succesful it looks like-congrats!

I'm super jealous of everyone's travels!!!!

I hit my first mini-goal today!!!!

Jolly Green- Jump right in, the water's fine!

QB- I love water with lemon. One time I was in another hotel in Chicago (I think) and they had the most amazing lemon water! Just straight from a water cooler with tons of lemons and oranges in it. It tasted very refreshing. Ya we were quite surprised at the rate too. My dad is pretty good at finding cheap hotels, I think at one point he and my mum stayed at a five-star hotel for $81. It was pretty cool.

Serenity- Have a great time on your trip!

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So, did my official WW weigh-in today, and miraculously was only 0.6 off of their scales. My official weight loss was -3.8 lbs, and I lost the most weight of anyone that week! I couldn't have been happier.

We're getting all packed up for our trip this evening. My mom bought me a new swimsuit for the trip (cause the bf and I are waterpark fanatics), and I'm excited about showing off my more sexy legs at the pool. Tomorrow we're going to a mall with 300 stores, and seeing what there is to do around where we're staying. I SO can't wait. *happydance*

Hope everyone has a great evening/morning/whatever.

Jolly Green: Welcome!!!

QB: I think you might be right about the food thing... I used to eat a well balanced diet, but then I was told I couldn't workout by the doctor the week that I was aiming for onederland, so instead of working out I went hard core oin the diet... Since then I went back to working out but didn't change my diet back. I think I might have to risk it and try eating more this week. We'll see what happens

namaste984: Congrats on your weigh in!!!!! You know, when I was with weight watchers I saw a girl come in and she was shocked that she didn't lose anything one week despite being sooo "good". She was wearing jeans and a tank tops -- it was summer -- and the ww people forced her to change out of her jeans and put on a pair of boxer shorts that they kept behind the counter. She weighed in then, and was down a pound!!! So don't pay too close attention to the decimals when it comes to their scale!! You are doing an amazing job!!!!!

beahawkins: Congratulations!!!!! That's very exciting!

1yr- Don't be afraid to tweak your diet every once and awhile! When I first started WW they suggested I write everything down, and when I did I was surprised how much I was really taking in! Now that I write everything down most of the time, it is a lot easier to keep track and I can see that if I need more, and if I have enough points, I eat them. If I don't want food, I don't eat. It might really help you if you write your caloric intake down, and look at where you can improve. Wow, they made her strip down at a meeting? I would be embarrassed if I had to go through that. At least she was down a pound and that made it a little better. I actually measure my weight by my mum's scale plus three, which is what the WW scale adds, approximately. I actually weigh around 216.6 on her scale.

Beahawkins- Congrats on the mini-goal!