Biggest Loser Challenges - Red Rockets - Week 5 Chat

Time to step it up ladies, me included. For this weeks challenge I propose we each attempt a 1000 calorie deficit per day. This should be achieved by both diet and exercise and realistically result in a 2 lb. loss at the end of the week.

According to this website: http://nutrition.about.com/library/bl_nutrition_guide.htm

I need to reduce my calories to 1350 per day to lose 1 lb. per week. If I burn an additional 500 calories per day while exercising that is another 3500 calories for an additional 1 lb.

For me an hour on the treadmill at 3.5 with an incline of 8% burns approximately 500 calories.

Remember that we are all different and will not burn calories at the same rate. Do you know how many calories you need per day? Do you know what it takes for YOU to burn 500 calories?

copied from the old chat thread

I'm up again this week. I really don't understand what is going on. I averaged 1400 calories per day, plus I burned over 6000 calories from exercise over the course of the week. I should have lost 2 pounds, not gained. I did have ham (probably the saltest I've ever eaten) on Sunday, so I could just be bloated from the sodium, but still.

To try and push through this stupid stall I've been in, I think I'm going to try something drastic (well, it is drastic for me). Starting tomorrow I'm going cut as much sodium as possible from my diet. No diet soda, no prepared food, no salty meat. I'll eat Kashi ceral for breakfast, then have chicken breast, rice and veggie (not canned) for lunch and dinner. Hopefully that will help. I desperately want to get out of the 150s before I go on vacation. I may have to consider dropping out of the challenge if I don't start moving in the right direction soon, as I would hate to hold the team back.

I do have a NSV to report, despite my ongoing war with the scale. I went swimming for the first time this year yesterday, and I discovered that my body makeup has totally changed. I've always been able to float easily, I could even put my hands behind my head and cross my legs and just float along for ages like I was on a float. But when I got in yesterday, I sunk! Like straight to the bottom of the pool!! Of course that makes it a bit more difficult to just relax in the pool (going to have to get a float now), but I think that indicates that I've definitely got more muscle mass compared to fat than I did before.

I'm struggling today... my stupid brother (hate living at home, can't wait to move back out) took my clothes out of the washer last night which is fine since he mentioned it... the problem is, he left them in there wet and didn't turn it on! So, I discovered 25 minutes before my workout and thus didn't have workout clothes. Ended up wearing some shorts that are too big, so that coupled with my annoyance made for a very cruddy workout.

Anyway, I'm thinking of going to Planet Fitness tonight post-work and seeing how it is and joining. The gym is no-frills, but for $10 a month, if I can access the cardio equipment and some weights, that works for me.

Well, time to get ready for work. Hopefully, the rest of the day is better than the morning has been. I'm going to go in with a good attitude anyway. :p

copied from the old chat thread

I'm up again this week. I really don't understand what is going on. I averaged 1400 calories per day, plus I burned over 6000 calories from exercise over the course of the week. I should have lost 2 pounds, not gained. I did have ham (probably the saltest I've ever eaten) on Sunday, so I could just be bloated from the sodium, but still.

To try and push through this stupid stall I've been in, I think I'm going to try something drastic (well, it is drastic for me). Starting tomorrow I'm going cut as much sodium as possible from my diet. No diet soda, no prepared food, no salty meat. I'll eat Kashi ceral for breakfast, then have chicken breast, rice and veggie (not canned) for lunch and dinner. Hopefully that will help. I desperately want to get out of the 150s before I go on vacation. I may have to consider dropping out of the challenge if I don't start moving in the right direction soon, as I would hate to hold the team back.

I do have a NSV to report, despite my ongoing war with the scale. I went swimming for the first time this year yesterday, and I discovered that my body makeup has totally changed. I've always been able to float easily, I could even put my hands behind my head and cross my legs and just float along for ages like I was on a float. But when I got in yesterday, I sunk! Like straight to the bottom of the pool!! Of course that makes it a bit more difficult to just relax in the pool (going to have to get a float now), but I think that indicates that I've definitely got more muscle mass compared to fat than I did before.

Congratulations on the NSV - muscle takes up less space than fat so even though the scale's not going the direction you want it to that in itself will make you look smaller!

The thing that struck me when I saw your calorie counts vs. exercise was are you getting ENOUGH food to fuel that level of exercise? Is it possible you are throwing your body into starvation mode and causing it to hold onto weight?

Congratulations on the NSV - muscle takes up less space than fat so even though the scale's not going the direction you want it to that in itself will make you look smaller!

The thing that struck me when I saw your calorie counts vs. exercise was are you getting ENOUGH food to fuel that level of exercise? Is it possible you are throwing your body into starvation mode and causing it to hold onto weight?

I wonder about that too, but I've tried eating more and exercising less, and it didn't change. It doesn't seem to matter what I eat, or how much I exercise, I bounce from 154 to 157. High one week, low the next, for three months. I do eat a lot of junk (within my calories, but junk nontheless), so that is why I'm going to try the rice, chicken & veggies for a while.

I'm struggling today... my stupid brother (hate living at home, can't wait to move back out) took my clothes out of the washer last night which is fine since he mentioned it... the problem is, he left them in there wet and didn't turn it on! So, I discovered 25 minutes before my workout and thus didn't have workout clothes. Ended up wearing some shorts that are too big, so that coupled with my annoyance made for a very cruddy workout.

Anyway, I'm thinking of going to Planet Fitness tonight post-work and seeing how it is and joining. The gym is no-frills, but for $10 a month, if I can access the cardio equipment and some weights, that works for me.

Well, time to get ready for work. Hopefully, the rest of the day is better than the morning has been. I'm going to go in with a good attitude anyway. :p

Not having my clothes ready and oversleeping were my two big challenges when it came to working out in the morning. (Probably why I no longer try to work out in the morning....I'm really not a morning person.)

$10 a month for a gym membership is a good price, and no-frills works every bit as good as the fancy places. I was paying $39 a month to go to Curves and when I calculated what it was costing me per month vs. the amount of time I was actually using it per month (not much because hours weren't compatible with my work schedule) I decided to let that membership go. We've also been members of 24 Hr Fitness a long time, and I think our membership for that runs about $99 per year.

Hope you have a good day - it definitely sounds like you've got the right attitude and will make it one!

i use daily plate.com to track my food andi exercise. It has almost all foods in its data base as well as exercises. I do track all my food in a journal but on the screen it tracks it week to week and gives me a realistic calulation of my calorie intake. It will also help you figure out how many calories you need to consume to loose weight. it tracks your weight loss ect on charts. i have found it to be a wonderful weight loss tool.

I'm just ecstatic that I'm down 4 pounds this week! No other words for it....felt better than Christmas and my birthday all rolled into one :)

On the exercise side I was reading yesterday that exercise from cleaning house is as beneficial as working out at the gym, and I was wondering what you all think about that?

i use daily plate.com to track my food andi exercise. It has almost all foods in its data base as well as exercises. I do track all my food in a journal but on the screen it tracks it week to week and gives me a realistic calulation of my calorie intake. It will also help you figure out how many calories you need to consume to lose weight. it tracks your weight loss ect on charts. i have found it to be a wonderful weight loss tool.

This sounds very similar to fitday.com which I've used in the past and am just starting to use again to watch my carb counts. I haven't tried dailyplate.com, but I'm curious how it compares.

I always try to make sure I'm creating a calories deficit of 1000 calories because I really really want to lose at least 2lbs a week. However I refuse to drive myself crazy trying to figure out my exact calorie burn from exercise. I eat about 1500 calories and exercise( running/walking/weights) 5-6 days a week. Right now but workouts burn between 350-650 but I have no idea how accurate that really is...

no change in my weight this week- due to inconsistent exercise. Gearing up to do a run right now.

Hmmm- not sure how many calories I eat in a day ~ 1700+ (based on my weight loss coach & lose it apps on my phone). I try to aim for 300-500 calories burned based on my pedometer, but like Mikayla said- not sure how accurate that is.
Will attempt to do better this week- was derailed Friday with my daughters 9th birthday party.

Cat- thanks for the link- very informative

A plus for this week though was I measured my blood pressure and it was 96/67!!

copied from the old chat thread

I'm up again this week. I really don't understand what is going on. I averaged 1400 calories per day, plus I burned over 6000 calories from exercise over the course of the week. I should have lost 2 pounds, not gained. I did have ham (probably the saltest I've ever eaten) on Sunday, so I could just be bloated from the sodium, but still.

To try and push through this stupid stall I've been in, I think I'm going to try something drastic (well, it is drastic for me). Starting tomorrow I'm going cut as much sodium as possible from my diet. No diet soda, no prepared food, no salty meat. I'll eat Kashi ceral for breakfast, then have chicken breast, rice and veggie (not canned) for lunch and dinner. Hopefully that will help. I desperately want to get out of the 150s before I go on vacation. I may have to consider dropping out of the challenge if I don't start moving in the right direction soon, as I would hate to hold the team back.

I do have a NSV to report, despite my ongoing war with the scale. I went swimming for the first time this year yesterday, and I discovered that my body makeup has totally changed. I've always been able to float easily, I could even put my hands behind my head and cross my legs and just float along for ages like I was on a float. But when I got in yesterday, I sunk! Like straight to the bottom of the pool!! Of course that makes it a bit more difficult to just relax in the pool (going to have to get a float now), but I think that indicates that I've definitely got more muscle mass compared to fat than I did before.


Awesome NSV!!! And please don't drop out of the challenge!:^: Just keep tweaking your food and exercise, I'm sure you'll bust through the plateau.

I'm struggling today... my stupid brother (hate living at home, can't wait to move back out) took my clothes out of the washer last night which is fine since he mentioned it... the problem is, he left them in there wet and didn't turn it on! So, I discovered 25 minutes before my workout and thus didn't have workout clothes. Ended up wearing some shorts that are too big, so that coupled with my annoyance made for a very cruddy workout.

Anyway, I'm thinking of going to Planet Fitness tonight post-work and seeing how it is and joining. The gym is no-frills, but for $10 a month, if I can access the cardio equipment and some weights, that works for me.

Well, time to get ready for work. Hopefully, the rest of the day is better than the morning has been. I'm going to go in with a good attitude anyway. :p

Gotta love brothers! lol
I'll have to see if we have a planet fitness around here. I'd like to go to a gym, but all there is is Balleys and Gold's and I'm sure they're expensive.


I'm just ecstatic that I'm down 4 pounds this week! No other words for it....felt better than Christmas and my birthday all rolled into one :)

On the exercise side I was reading yesterday that exercise from cleaning house is as beneficial as working out at the gym, and I was wondering what you all think about that?

:carrot: yea on your loss!!! Some days I've counted housework and yardwork as my exercise.


Sorry I've not participated much in the chatting this week. Been in a funk since my boys are gone. It's just weird them not being here and I have another week to go til they're back. Stayed the same weight this week, which is good since we went to a graduation party Saturday and I drank blueberry lager and got a bit toasted and was eating homemade pretzels. But went walking sunday and today and mowed today as well and have eaten on plan. Hope everyone is doing well. I'll stay caught up with this week's chatting. :)

ugh, I've been struggling too, with mostly my eating. I cant get back into seriously tracking my calories. I'm trying to, today, but its hard with what my husband cooked for dinner, as I have no idea what the calories are. I think I did a pretty good guess, but its hard to say. lol I was happy he cooked dinner, that I didnt want to bug him about the calorie count in it :)

According to the site posted, its pretty close to what I've read/calculated on other sites, so thats good.

You need 2432.5 calories per day to maintain your current weight without exercise.

You need 2168.8 calories per day to reach your goal weight slowly and maintain that weight without exercise.

If you reduce your current caloric intake to 1932.5 calories per day you will lose one pound per week without exercise.

If you increase your current caloric intake to 2932.5 calories per day, you will gain one pound per week.

Exercise and Calorie Needs

If you exercise for 30 minutes each day, you may increase your caloric intake to 2704.3 calories per day and still maintain your current weight.

If you exercise for 60 minutes each day, you may increase your caloric intake to 3044.1 calories per day to maintain your current weight.

If you exercise for 30 minutes each day, you will be able to reach your goal weight with 2408.9 calories per day.

If you exercise for 60 minutes each day, you will be able to reach your goal weight with 2709.1 calories per day.

I cant believe I gained weight this week, I havent lost any actual weight in a few months - I keep gaining and losing the same few lbs! I need to get over that! And I know its mostly my eating thats holding me back.

I'm going running in the AM, so I feel good about that.

Congrats, Lucky, on your WL :carrot: thats awesome!!

Ranger - I hate that when my husband does things like your brother did to you. And I know that if I'm not wearing the 'right' work out clothes, I dont have a good work out. I dont know why. I've thought about joining a PF, but I'm enjoying being outside this summer. Maybe in the winter I'll consider it, since it is pretty cheap.

I am very happy to report that when I weighed again tonight I was down a pound, so I'm only up 0.8 for the week. Things are looking up already!

Well, considering that I'm down to the end of my weight loss, creating a deficit of 1,000 cal a day is tough. I tend to create 500 to maybe 750 or thereabouts. I was eating 1400 cal/day, but have decided to play with going back down to 1200 to 1300 to see how that goes. I know my bmr is just under 1400. I'd love to lose this last 8lbs in a month, but it's most likely not gonna happen. My goal right now is to get to 125 by the middle of August if not before.

:wave: ladies.

:carrot: for all our losers this week and :hug: to everyone who gained (including me!).

Nothing new here, as usual. TOM is basically gone, thank god. Less than a month till I get to see my family and friends again! :carrot: I want to change my WI day. Thursdays aren't working for me anymore, I've noticed that I tend to binge on the weekends especially after payday when I have a little (and I mean a little) money. Which do yall think would be better: Saturday or Sunday weigh in?

I'm working on team stats for the week but wanted to remind everyone that you are only allowed two (2) freebies. If you miss a WI please do not post a weight after midnight on Monday, you will need to use one of your freebies. I have several people who have missed WI on Monday then posted their weight after the fact instead of a freebie.

Since I'm trying to bust out of my plateau, I don't think it will be a good idea for me to try and get a 1000 daily calorie deficit. For the next couple of weeks I'm going to shoot for burning 500 calories in my daily workouts and eating about 1500 calories (AMR is about 1650), so I'll have an average daily deficit of 650.

Since I'm trying to bust out of my plateau, I don't think it will be a good idea for me to try and get a 1000 daily calorie deficit. For the next couple of weeks I'm going to shoot for burning 500 calories in my daily workouts and eating about 1500 calories (AMR is about 1650), so I'll have an average daily deficit of 650.

How are you coming up with your AMR? I plugged your numbers (used 30 for age) into the web site provided and it came up with the following:

If you reduce your current caloric intake to 1527.5 calories per day you will lose one pound per week without exercise.

Makes one wonder just how accurate these things are. I know the website provided is within 25 calories of both FitDay and LoseIt for me.

How are you coming up with your AMR? I plugged your numbers (used 30 for age) into the web site provided and it came up with the following:

If you reduce your current caloric intake to 1527.5 calories per day you will lose one pound per week without exercise.

Makes one wonder just how accurate these things are. I know the website provided is within 25 calories of both FitDay and LoseIt for me.

I use Jillian's calculation for BMR [ 655 + (4.35 x wt in lbs) + (4.7 x ht in inch) - (4.7 x age) ] which for me comes out to 1537. Then to get the AMR you multiply it by a activity factor (1.1 for sedentary, 1.2 for lightly active, 1.3 for active, etc). I'm desk bound, so I use 1.1 which gives me a AMR of approx 1690 (at this week's weight)

Very interesting.... I did mine and there is a 238 calorie difference, Jillian's being on the low side of what I supposedly need. I know that muscle mass can play an important factor but I would NOT consider my self muscular. Although in your case that might be it.... with your age and the workouts you do my guess is you have a great deal of muscle and your body needs more calories and may be in starvation mode. I would be very curious to know what your true BMI is. Have you ever been professionally tested?

Very interesting.... I did mine and there is a 238 calorie difference, Jillian's being on the low side of what I supposedly need. I know that muscle mass can play an important factor but I would NOT consider my self muscular. Although in your case that might be it.... with your age and the workouts you do my guess is you have a great deal of muscle and your body needs more calories and may be in starvation mode. I would be very curious to know what your true BMI is. Have you ever been professionally tested?

I think I may be in starvation mode to, that is why I'm upping to 1500 calories, and just exercising 500 calories per day. I would say I'm pretty muscular (or dense), as I look like I weigh a lot less than I actually do (I wear a six right now) I have never got my BMI tested, maybe I'll do that sometime.

Take a high calorie couple of days and that should help bust any plateau or stall. Seems to work for me anyway. I do that on weekends every once in awhile and then jump back into my normal calorie days with full intensity during workouts. Although, now I find that I can't really eat more than 1600 to 1800 even when I want to eat more. Ha. So funny in a way.

I think I may be in starvation mode to, that is why I'm upping to 1500 calories, and just exercising 500 calories per day. I would say I'm pretty muscular (or dense), as I look like I weigh a lot less than I actually do (I wear a six right now) I have never got my BMI tested, maybe I'll do that sometime.


According to several of the websites we have roughly the same BMI @25 which is at the low end of "overweight". I can tell you that I still have HUGE amounts of fat/rolls on my belly and my thighs are still big. I am mostly in a size 10 with a couple of 8's fitting.

I'm thinking that YOUR body likes being where it is and this "plateau" might actually be your ideal weight, or close to it. The thing you will have to ask your self is why you want to be smaller than a size 6 and IF you could lose another 20 lbs. how on earth are you going to maintain it?

EDITED TO ADD
The maintainers section here on 3FC has some GREAT information regarding goal setting and maintenance.

According to several of the websites we have roughly the same BMI @25 which is at the low end of "overweight". I can tell you that I still have HUGE amounts of fat/rolls on my belly and my thighs are still big. I am mostly in a size 10 with a couple of 8's fitting.

I'm thinking that YOUR body likes being where it is and this "plateau" might actually be your ideal weight, or close to it. The thing you will have to ask your self is why you want to be smaller than a size 6 and IF you could lose another 20 lbs. how on earth are you going to maintain it?

EDITED TO ADD
The maintainers section here on 3FC has some GREAT information regarding goal setting and maintenance.

It does like where it is, I just am not quite happy with it. I don't really want to be smaller than a 6, but I want to be in the 4-6 range, not 6-8. My original goal was 145 instead of 136, and I'm thinking that maybe I need to revert back to that. I need more definition (I'm going to start back up with weights after my vacation), and I would still like to lose some inches off my stomach.

I appreciate all the help and suggestions, and I think I'm going to go ahead and change my goal back to 145. I'm going to try 2 weeks with my new plan and see what happens.

Back from Chicago, but comp is broke. Just stopping to say hey. I didn't gain this weekend. YAY!!!

Joined Planet Fitness today and did a 30-minute workout there after work. The gym workout coupled with my morning workout put me at burning 450 calories in exercise alone today which is awesome. Going to try to put in an extra gym workout 3 days a week and see if it helps my weight loss.

Hi All,
Congrats to our Biggest Loser Luckybusart and the runner ups.

What a weekend, between rain, tornados, and Hot hot HOT weather I don't know what's going to happen next. Everyone is ok, and nothing came very close to us, but it got pretty exciting on Sunday. We had family over for a party for DD's b-day. Everything was planned for outside, a cookout and just beingoutside, the kids were loving running around. it was after supper and we were sitting outside wondering if it was going to rain when the sky opened up and poured. We rushed inside, I stayed out and put some stuff away so I got pretty wet. When it let up my brother and his family left for home. He called us about 5 minutes after he left because he saw a tornado on the way home. It made for an exciting evening anyway.
Monday and today it have been very hot, I don't mind it a lot, but the air conditioner in the car is on the fritz, DH didn't think it's been hot enough to bother getting it fixed before now. All this and TOM. I'm truely blessed this week. I'm sweating off the weight tho, it's not all bad.

Hope everyone has a good week
Bette K

Where is everybody?

Even though I ate more than usual, and all healthy whole foods, I was absolutely starving and exhausted all day yesterday. I ended up eating some banana bread midafternoon because I felt like I was going to zonk out. I'm not sure what was up with that, maybe my body had a hard time adjusting to the healthier food. I'm doing much better today.

I did well yesterday, I was at just over 1700 cals for the day, and went on a 4.5 mile bike ride, and did it the fastest I've done so far.

Today, I'm doing good too, so far. Keeping track of my calories, but may not work out - its so hot here.

yes.... where is everyone. Come on Red Team check in and let us know how you're doing.

I feel really good this morning after getting back on the treadmill first thing in the morning the last couple days. I really need to stick with it, back to what worked so well the first few months of my journey.

Being honest with myself I know exactly why the scales have stopped moving or have moved so slow the last couple months; no consistency!!

So yesterday I was watching CNN and they reported that an extra 10-20 lbs. could help you live longer..... hmmmm do you think this is a case of telling the people what they want to hear?

Hey team. I am pretty tired today. I did my JM Cardio Kickbox workout before work yesterday and then went to the gym for another 30 minutes last night for a workout. I've also lowered my calories this week to 1200-1300 again from the 1400 I was eating. Looking forward to sleeping in on my full day off this Sunday. :)

I don't think I'll get in much exercise today, maybe an hour of walking. I have to go meet with Dad's divorce lawyer tonight........you know, somethings are just not fair. Both of my parents are losing weight through this ordeal, and it is making me want to jump into a giant tub of ice cream. I wish stress would speed up my metabolism, I'd be a skinny mini in no time. :shrug:

My comp. is broke. Will be out about 5 days. DD is letting me use hers. Posting will be random for a while.

The trip to Chicago was fun. Even though I didn't track food I maintained. I am happy with that. I probably won't lose anymore until after TOM on the 5th. We'll see. I am writing down food again and continue to workout daily. Hopefully some more weight will come off.

Not doing great, how can one justify eating chocolate while watching back episodes of the biggest loser?!? :(

Not doing great, how can one justify eating chocolate while watching back episodes of the biggest loser?!? :(

Oh, I bet that is easy. Several times I'll get all dressed up in my workout clothes and be heading out the door for a workout, and get totally waylaid by the icecream in the garage fridge on the way out. :D

I'm heeeere-(I think) Holding steady weight wise, but life is just crazy- last week of school for the kids, dh is busy with work commitments so I'm flying solo for a few days....Just having a 'Calgon take me away' moment.

trying to SOP as best I can and hope to be back on track asap!

Still doing good here. I've lost all the stupid period bloating weight, and have lost another lb. I was down to 236.2 this AM. My goal was 235, as I knew I didn't really weigh 242, like I did on Sunday. We'll see though.

I went for a bike ride last night, and the night before. I plan to go again tonight.

Hey Rockets! Busy week last week with VBS. This week work is crazy and the kids are at camps all over the place.

My eating and water is good. Exercise is bad. I know I'd be amazed if I could just get my entire act together for the same week!

You girls losing and working so hard are doing GREAT and inspiring me so much!

Hi All,
Hope everyone is having a good week, it's been hot here and busy but some good things have been happening. DD is taking swim lessons and doing well. She is taking private lessons this year and loves her teacher. Last year she had a bad experience in a group lesson and has been scared of takinglessons, but she has even been putting her head under water and wanting to go to the pool. TOM is here so no pool this week even tho it would feel so good.
Next good thing, a friend is moving away and going back to school and has given me his eliptical. I need to pick it up and find a place for it, but I've been looking at them and wanting one for quite a while but couldn't aford it. It will have to go in the LR and I can watch tv while on it.

NSV today is one of the first days that I really felt like I've lost weight. I was getting out of the shower and realized that my stomach is smallerthan my bre@sts are.

New goal/reward When I get to 210 I'm buying Fearless Fifteen by Janet Evanovich, I need a good lauch and I'm going to buy it in hardcover instead of waiting till it is in paperback.

Depressing night with the news of my childhood icon dying... anyway, don't want to bring the mood down here so I won't go on anymore about it. Going to bed shortly here so I can get up and do my walk/run before work.
Hang in there all, everyone is doing great!

:wave: girls!

I got the dress for Sunshine's wedding today! It's actually kinda cute. The picture on the website did not do it justice. But....it's a little tight around the boobies. :( I could live with it but BACK FAT! Sooo I'm going to try to find a little jacket to go with it that won't have me sweating buckets at the wedding. I'm off this weekend so it's gym and mall. I want to get a official bra fitting and order a strapless bra for the wedding.

I posted a blog the other day and this girl actually thanked me for posting a pic of Whitney from ANTM (I was saying that if I had to be fat, I wanted to at least be proportioned like her). It kinda made me happy because most of the girls on Xanga are dealing with eating disorders (or acting like they are), trying to lose weight the unhealthy way and always posting pics of horribly bony girls. When I post pics, I always post pics of girls I find very attractive and healthy looking. So this girl thanked me, saying that it was nice to see that she could still be pretty even while big. :^:

I've watched Sleepy Hollow about eight times in the last three days. I don't know, I just keep rewinding it! :lol: Johnny Depp is walking sex. I also unpacked (yes, I still have alot of stuff packed!) some of my books and I started to reread a Harlequin book that I haven't read in a long time. It's actually one of the first romance books I've ever read, when I was 10. I think this book and some others helped start my fascination with cowboys. To this day, I still want my own cowboy, chaps and all. ;) :D TMI, sorry. :p

Whoa, this is more than I've written in a long time! Gotta get to bed. 'Night!

I weighed this morning for Jillian, and I'm down 1.6 from Monday to 154.6! :woohoo: It looks like things are finally heading down again.

Hello everyone...congrats to recent biggest losers!!

I am very sorry to say that I must drop out of this challenge for the summer. I believe I have missed too many weigh ins and it is just extremely busy here now that my family has arrived. Increasing your household by 4 people is quite a change!!!! I'm not complaining, it's just so busy....but fun busy!! I am loving it! I am looking forward to a fall challenge...I will definately need it because eating is not going well..but we are very active, so I am trying to maintain for now and just enjoy my family!

Huge NSV - When I started the life change one of the goals on my 'motivation card' was to be able to ride amusement park rides with my nieces. I can remember feeling so bad when they would ask me to come on the rides with them and I would so no, or spend the entire time in line panicking that I would not fit. Yesterday we went to DorneyPark (an amusement park by my house) and I went on every ride with them. Kiddie rides and all...all the bars and seatbelts fit with room to spare!! We were flying around a small rollercoaster, screaming and laughing, and I thought to myself...This was SO worth it!!!!!! I know I have more to go, my sis and I continue to wo at the gym, but if I can just maintain and enjoy the summer with my wonderful nieces; I will be completely happy with that.

So, I will try to drop in to read and post...good luck to everyone! Keep up the good work!

Hi everybody!
I have been terrible with keeping up with the threads and have even missed a weigh-in this week. I am trying very hard to get on my feet and get re-motivated. Just a lot of personal things going on here! I started a six-week boot camp at our YMCA on monday. I walked/jogged/ran about 3 miles up and down hills. It was awful and my side hurt like crazy, not to mention I could barely keep my breath half the time. I was very proud of myself though. As terrible as I thought I did, I was the first in our group to finish...something that is very rare for me. I used to always be near the end or last place. So this made me feel great. :) Wednesday, we did cardio and strength training and yesterday we did team drills and an obstacle course. I'm hoping this will help me get back on track. My eating last weekend was absolutely horrid. I ate too much on Father's Day including an ice cream sundae! AHH! Anyway, I hope everybody's doing well and have a great day!

So yesterday I was watching CNN and they reported that an extra 10-20 lbs. could help you live longer..... hmmmm do you think this is a case of telling the people what they want to hear?

Honestly, I don't think so. I think it may be more of an attempt to get people to stop thinking the supermodel ideal of 6 feet tall and 110 to 120 pounds is some kind of ideal we should all be striving for. Real women have curves - they do NOT look like the 14 and 15 year olds you see in the Victoria's Secret ads.

I personally look my best when I'm about 10 to 20 pounds over what the weight charts says I "should" weigh. So I think this may be more about rightsizing our expectations. If a person is 10 to 20 pounds over what the weight charts says they should weigh, they're still going to be trim and healthy looking. As opposed to more and more Americans are in the OBESE range these days -- it takes far more than 10 or 20 extra pounds to qualify a person as being obese.

I am trying to keep up, but since I am borrowing my DD comp. it gets tough. Now my fridge died. It sucks. Can't get a new one till Wed. Looks like I will be eating take out for while.

I am maintaining right now. TOM is about a week away and I feel some pre-TOM gain coming on. Still working out everyday, just not as intensely. It's hard when it's hot.

Well keep working girls. Never give up.

Hi everyone! Hope you're having a wonderful weekend so far :)

Thursday night I started a series of classes I'm so excited about. It's on preserving the harvest -- yes, canning and dehydrating foods! Guess what, it's not just for little old blue-haired ladies anymore...lol Anyway, it was extremely easy and a lot of fun and what I'm really excited about is that we have a lot of farms and farmers markets where I can get fruits and veggies quite inexpensively and this will allow me to enjoy that yummy fresh taste all year long.....tastewise, food you've canned yourself just blows the doors off that stuff you get on the supermarket shelf. So far I've canned tomatoes, salsa, peaches, peach juice (this is going to be incredible in a martini or a bellini some day real soon), plums, and mangoes. The dehydrating classes are at the end of the series, but I've already dabbled in that a bit -- dehydrated strawberry slices make the most incredible snack, as does dehydrated pineapple. Hubby is wanting me to dry him some apple rings so I may pick up some apples for that today. Our instructor was telling us about this grower's outlet that has all this local produce at incredible prices so I'm going to check that out today. Strawberries and tomatoes are definitely on my list -- maybe cherries and hopefully apples. I have to make some more of the salsa we canned night before last -- it was easily the best I've ever had!

Sorry I have been MIA this week. I have been on Vacation and we had a tree struck by lightening and it caused our internet and satellite to go out. Just got the internet back up today. I was worried i would not have a loss this week. But today is my offical weigh in and I did not gain, I of course will weigh again on monday and post my official loss then. Hope everyone is doing well.

Hello Ladies!

My brother is getting married this afternoon and I am one of the bride's maids....that said I have been in crazy wedding land all weekend and it doesn't look like things are going to stop spinning until sometime next week (relatives in from out of town and all that.) So as a result I am having incredible difficulty focusing on my weight loss goals and staying motivated. Good news is I don't think it's going to be a gain this week! That's really all I'm hoping for at this point... Hope the rest of you are doing fabulously and kicking some major hiney!

:wave: girls!

I hope you all had a good weekend. I was off so you know mines was fantastic! ;)

I did lots of walking yesterday....around the mall. :eek: That was a moment in history folks! I despise the mall. Crowds of people surrounding me.....most of them teenagers....*shudders* This was actually my second time going to the mall since I've moved to Texas.....the second time in almost two years! If it wasn't for Sunshine's wedding, I wouldn't have put myself through it. But I was looking for bra, shaper, something to help my tatas fit more comfortably in that dress. I browsed around DebPlus, Torrid, and Lane Bryant. Tried on some things and remembered why I hate clothes shopping. :( I hope that gets easier as I lose the weight.

Speaking of weight, I decided to move my WIs to Sunday and today was the first. It was horrible but I accept it. Though I have slowly amped up my movement, I still need to rein in the eating. Today was a good day, my cal intake was too low but at least I didn't binge. I really want a bike so I can hop on at night when it's not killer outside. I have to pay rent, then I'll see what I have left.

Work tomorrow, feeling ill already. :p

Peace, loves. :grouphug:

I went ahead and weighed early this week. I knew that TOM bloat would hit on Monday, and what good would it possibly do me to see an ugly number like that? So I went with my Friday weight. I had a pretty good week, and ended up dropping 1.8lbs, actually getting below my starting weight (finally!).

Sooo glad that I have Friday off this week! My job is closed on the 3rd, and it's awesome! Anyway, I walked around a garden yesterday for over an hour taking pictures and it was great. Then, I went to the gym for a workout. Of course, the walk even though I was stopping was a bit of a workout as well and it was hot as heck out too.

Hope everyone is doing well. Sorry I haven't been around, trying to get stuff done when I'm not at work.

Hi all,

I wish I could say my week 5 went better, but in reality I had a few cocktails and on Saturday I went to a bonfire had Sangria and pretty much all the food that was served there. Thank God I still lost 2lbs or I would be crying right now. This week I really have to be good, I NEED to get out of the 220's and I want to eat a little more than normal on the 4th, so it's 1200 calorie days for me until Saturday.