Happy October, Feathers! This is my favorite month, cause my birthday is right in the middle of it, and the weather gets cooler, and I LOVE Halloween!

Hope we can make this month count! I was supposed to be at goal by now!

Anyone planning on a cute Halloween costume??

I have no clue what to wear for halloween, though I haven't been invited to any halloween parties yet. I'm hoping to have one, but we need to finish unpacking (from late JUNE!!!) before we can have people over. LAME.

Signed up for fitocracy last night, hoping that keeps me motivated to be more active. Haven't been losing much weight (ok basically practically none) so I really need to start doing something more about it. I put on the weight by sitting on my rear end on the couch all the time rather than being active 2+ nights a week, so I supposed I can take it off by upping my activity level right?

~Katy

I am also very excited for Halloween

I am 1.5lb from yesterday's meal out. I plan to eat very little today to get rid of water weight. I had nightmares last night about me eating more and more. It's funny how I am so scared after consuming a meal

I want to slowly get my body back to adjusting to food. I maybe limiting myself too much and its becoming like a mental illness.

Hope you ladies had great weekend. This week i got long weekend coming up

Hey! I've never been part of a monthly chat, but I'd love to jump in..I really want to stay motivated. You girls have had some really impressive weight loss..congrats!

I'm invited to a halloween party, but I gotta get out of my shift in order to go. I have tons of fun activities this month though, I'm in Canada so I have a long weekend and thanksgiving this week

Dorian, I'm right there with you! Halloween is my favorite day of the year. Plus, if I get that job, that's the day it starts too. I love the fall because it starts to cool down too, and makes running that much easier.

Yesterday I did a hard workout and felt pretty good. I was traveling all last week and hardly worked out. I don't like that feeling. It's so much harder to gain fitness than it is to lose it!!

So good news and double bad news here >.<

Yesterday I starved myself the whole day to get rid of water weight from the dinner feast on Monday. I weight myself at 121.5 today. Woot.

Then the saboutage came in. I went to my dentist appointment, she said I have 5 cavatis due to sweet/pop consuming. I dont drink pop. I haven't had a single drip of pop in a year! Definitely not candy or sweet either.

Due to the morale crush. I decided to binge since "I didn't eat/drink junkfood n I got cavatis then I might as well go all out before I get them fixed." so there goes my 6inch turkey sandwhich with light mayo + 6inch oven roasted chicken with light mayo, all on Italian white bread. It's not over yet! I had guts to continue devouring a lay's baked chips AND another 450 calorie sandwhich. All of those in 40min!!

After that I was beyond mad with myself, so I went to gym for 50min on the dreadmil, burnt 281 calorie and almost puked(I had my boots on).

Never again will I ever do something so reckless again..

Ivonnely, I am sorry to hear about the cavities, that is awful! But I have to say that you sound like you are restricting way, way to much -- unhealthily so. It sounds like you are on a binge/restrict cycle. Starving yourself for an entire day to "make up" for the previous day seems like very disordered thinking. Please be sure to take care of yourself and not wreck your metabolism!

>.< I know, I will try to get a somewhat healthy diet in. It's just really really hard to face the gain in the initial phase since I will be eating more. I kept wanting to get lower then gain some to maintain a 120lb.

I'm really happy because (thanks I think in part to recent weight loss) I have had more confidence to go out and be sociable, and as a result I'm at the beginning of a new relationship. I forgot how nice it is to date and to go out to pubs with friends

Sounds good Juniper! Good luck!

Neko, glad that you're going out more. I know that when I'm working out and feeling better it's easier for me to go out too.

This might be a strange question, but I'm curious about why everyone has chosen their goal weight. Is it because you know that you look great at that weight, or you just want the number? I used to be 5'3" and weighed 114 pounds and I felt that was a great weight for me. I was recently measured and I am now 5'4.5" (I am in my late 20s and I grew the extra inch and a half late in life). I figure if I add about 7 pounds that will be the equivalent of 114 that I was at 5'3", so maybe I should set my goal to 121? I honestly don't know why I picked 118... I think because, for some reason, I want to be under 120, but I really don't know why. Maybe I just like the way the number sounds? How and why did you guys pick your numbers?

I want to have a body similar to Maggie Q. We are the same height and she's 103.

I know it's foolish to chase a celebrity but I've lost 100 pounds, might as well go all the way

Hey Ivonnely, I had some CRAZY bloat and stuff last month. After being at 124 for a while I ate out a few times (soy sauce, miso soup, all the usual salt culprits) and my weight JUMPED to 129. It was awful. I felt so bloated and huge. 4 pounds??

I continued to eat like I normally do, 1200-1300 cals a day, and the weight just stayed up. I didn't feel hungry because I was so bloated. Then got constipated, which just added to the awful "huge" feeling.

But I continued to drink an absurd amount of water and eat properly. I ate SUPER clean- fresh fruits and veggies, lean protein, no grains, nuts, etc. I limited my sodium to 1500 or 1000 mg a day.

Finally the water started coming off about two weeks ago and my body started to function normally again. It took a good two weeks, but it got there.

Last week I whooshed down to 123.5 (1.5 lbs overnight) and this week I have weighed in at 122.something THREE days in a row. I have never lost this quickly!!!

My yoga teacher last week said "Have you lost weight? Your middle looks much thinner." That was just after 1 pound of actual loss- that's how gross I felt!!

The point of all this is that it SUCKED a LOT to see such high numbers on the scale- numbers I haven't seen in months and want to never see again. It sucked feeling bloated all over. But I knew what would suck even more is depriving my body of the nutrients and proteins and fats it needed to function properly. I want to exercise for performance- to run more efficiently and to lift heavier weights- not just jump on an elliptical until I die. I know that eating properly and just waiting it out through the awful weight fluctuations is the key to that.

I share this because I commiserate with fluctuations and just wanting to get to goal. I have accomplished NOTHING of what you have accomplished, so I can imagine you are just ready to be done way more than I am!!

I think what keeps me on the right path is checking out the maintainers forums. They ALL have not only lost weight but KEPT it off, and they do so by finding what lifestyle changes and diets work for them. Waiting it out, putting your nose to the grindstone and keepin' on keepin' on with what you know is the right path, regardless of what the scale says, seems to be a trick.

I hope you are able to find your balance between seeing results and staying healthy. I hope regardless of whether you are 125 or 103 you are happy with your body as an incredible being that can run, jump, think, and do. And be so proud of yourself for the weight loss!!!!

<3 awesome story!

I have a small question however.. I am just running around between work and school and I don't have money to get a membership at any gym. So atm I have zero workout.. I wasn't sure what else I could be doing except eating less because you girls have been so great with yoga/fitting >.<

Is there anything I can do if I want to eat a 1200+ calorie day without having to workout?