Hi lucky-lucy-Tricia. We missed you!

Really frustrated with the weight loss this week. I've been on plan every day and have managed to gain 2 lbs. (hopefully it's just due to my cycle) Plus we're going away this weekend so that usually means a slight gain as well. ARGGGGHHHHHH!! Any advice??

Just keep up all that hard work, getncontrol! usually it's when you relax a little on calories (like, going away for a weekend?) that you see an unexpected drop. Don't give up, you are so close!

lucky - I'm having one of those kinda weeks too! I need the rest though! We're having chinese tonight and pizza tomorrow - we have friends over 2 nights in a row! I am going to restrained both nights. I usually buy little flapjacks and brownies for visitors, but I've decided I either won't buy them, or if I do buy them I won't eat them... *ahem* remind me I said this!

getncontrol, if you've been as good as you can be then that's all you can do! The scales will show it in their own good time! As you say, it's probably water.

Susan - thanks for starting that "what are you looking for..." thread, it was really interesting.

I'm black and blue from flying across the room at kickboxing and kicking people HARD! Going back tomorrow for more abuse!

lizz and 2frus Thanks so much for the support! My weight was the same this morning so I'm going to chalk it up to my monthly friend. Have a great weekend ladies!!! 'See' you Tuesday!

Gaylyn

getncontrol, I gained this week too so you aren't alone. I didn't eat as well or exercise as much as I could have but I didn't do anything that would have caused a gain either. It is just one of those things that happens and is beyond our control. Everything will even out eventually.

2frustrated - I am sure you'll do fine this weekend. Just remember that having a good visit with your friends is what is important - Chinese food and pizza are secondary.

Susan, I'll have to go check out that thread of yours. I'm finally done working around the house and have a little extra time on my hands.

I'm finally back into the swing of things. My eating has been fine but it has been hard to keep it that way. I've faked it long enough that things are getting easy again. I'm still struggling with exercising though. It is partly this little bug I've got but I think it has more to do with our weather. It has been cloudy and the temperature has been up and down - I never know whether to put on a sweater of throw on my shorts. And now we are supposed to have rain for a week. Anyway, we've had the kind of whether that makes me lazy and I haven't tried hard enough to overcome that laziness. I keep setting my alarm for 4:30 so that I can get up and go to the gym but I find myself crawling right back into bed. The good news is that I suspect DH is going to kick me out the door himself if the alarm wakes him up that early for no reason again. He's one of those that once he's awake, he's awake. He doesn't mind if I actually get up and go workout but I think he's annoyed that I fall right back to sleep when he can't. Poor guy.

I'm working on a plan for this afternoon. We have a birthday party to go to this afternoon at Chuck E. Cheese. It starts and three and normally wouldn't be much of a temptation but the stretch from 3-5 is when I get the munchies. I'm going to eat a late lunch today and probably build in room to have a salad while I'm there. Since the kids will be eating pizza that late in the afternoon we'll end up with a late dinner and so it is really the time between when we get home and eat supper that could be a problem. I don't want to get the mucnchies, come home hungry, then have to wait for supper too. That would be a recipe for disaster.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

The party went off without a hitch, I didn't even get the salad while I was there. Yay me. I'm convinced tomorrow will go just as well, and the next day, and the next. Why can't EVERY day be like this? I've started a nasty cycle of a few awesome days, then a couple of lousy ones (lousy being relative - nothing horrible just not necessarily "on plan"). I've been so wishy washy lately. I have a day like today where I eat well, exercise and feel great and I can't imagine NOT making sure that every day from here forward is exactly the same. Then out of nowhere I lose that drive. I apologize in advance for contradicting myself while posting. LOL. But, for now, things are going great and I am positive I'll have this 20 pounds knocked off in no time. Do I have a choice...swimsuit season is just around the corner!

Yay lucky! You can do it! I have the same problem. But I build my bad days in. If I over-indulge one day I try and reduce the calories the next day by a little bit, to try and even things out. It kinda works!

Oh and yesterday was really horrendous, but today is promising good things. Especially when I know what I did wrong yesterday! Ie, try and save calories for dinner, then ended up way too hungry and had to eat before dinner and ended up eating the wrong things! I'm sure if I'd eaten a small healthy meal in the afternoon I would've worked out just fine. Anyway, I was carbo loading for kickboxing this morning that's my excuse anyway!

Where's everyone this morning? Did y'all have an "off" weekend like me and scared to check in? Well I admit I didn't make the best choices but this morning has started off great and I am going to keep it up. Let's keep this thread alive, it really helps to have people in similar situations, weight-wise.

Okay, I am confident that I am back on track for good. The last few days have been great and I am no longer content with where I am. I don't know what clicked but I got a glimpse in the mirror the other day and I DID NOT like what I saw. And I don't mean that in a negative way. I mean I think I am finally seeing myself as I am rather than as I am in comparison to the 214 pound me. I guess I've been hanging out in this weight range long enough to have gotten used to it and to be certain that I'm NOT regaining this weight. So, the light bulb went off that THIS is me now and there are a lot of improvements that I want to make. I honestly haven't felt this way since December 26, 2004 when I finally thought to myself, "Enough is enough."

And the best part is that the scale has already started to move. I hate to admit it but I am a scale addict. I don't get emotional if it doesn't show me what I want it to but I do enjoy watching those numbers go down! I had forgotten how much fun the anticipation of waiting to see if I'd lost was. Ohhhh, I'm excited again and that is just the kick in the pants I needed!

How is everyone else doing today? Where are all you skinny minnie's?

Hello!

Yes I had a terrible weekend, but I'm back on track. Although I did deadlift 100lbs on Sunday

Went for a really horrible run yesterday, my MP3 died, my GPS didn't work, I got lost, I dropped my phone, got shouted at and it was really windy! But I'm doing it again tomorrow Then taught kickboxing class which was ok, but it depresses me when the tiny kiddies just show no improvement, they are HOPELESS but then they are only kiddies - but they just dont listen or do anything you say

Had a good food day yesterday, planning on having a good day today, I have lots of goodies packed and I'm feeling optimistic. I really must drink more, I've been feeling really thirsty for the past few days. I think I will shelve the Pepsi Max for a week or two to see what happens.

Kickboxing tonight, hoping to practise my new sparring technique, which is fast and sharp and contains many hook kicks and hook kicks with roudhouse kicks (which are so fast you can hear my trousers whip in the air ). But I'm still aching - it hurts to sit down! It will go once I'm warmed up.

I hope no one minds my posting here; Tricia told me about this little corner of 3FC, and I have to admit I was thrilled to catch up with other people who are in the same boat I am (though I'm probably a bit farther away from goal than most of you).

I have been losing weight for over a year and a half and have lost about 116 pounds total (Like how I say "about," as if 116 is rounding off? Ha!). I am still s-l-o-w-l-y losing (with myriad small ups and downs in between), but I must admit that I'm getting inpatient. My initial, rather arbitrary goal, which I made back when I had no clue what I'd look like even 20 pounds thinner, was 145. I know now that I'm going to want to go lower, but I'm having a terrible time even getting to *that* goal. I'm only 5'2 (or 5'3, depending on whether it's to my advantage to add or subtract! ), so this is definitely still too high a weight for me, but I AM thrilled to be where I am and proud of my accomplishment. As far as size goes, I'm hovering between an 8 and 10 at most stores. I'm pear-shaped, so my pants are always larger than my shirts, though I *did* buy my first size 8 skirt a couple of weeks ago.

Anyway, like many of you, I've gotten slightly more complacent about my exercise and eating. While I used to go to the gym AT LEAST six days a week, I feel good if I go 4 or 5 now, and I'm realizing that it's really not good enough. I've also gained 2 pounds since my husband got home from Alaska last week (ah, "celebration mode"), so these things combined add up to BACK TO BASICS for Jen.

Today I had my first "leg day" (weights) in a month. Somewhere around the millionth lunge , I thought I would pass out, but it feels good to be getting back in the groove. I know most people love leg day, but I hate how immobile I feel long afterward. The difference between my upper (pretty darn good) and lower body (pretty lame) strength is pathetic.

Anyway, that's my story. I hope you guys don't mind another face around here... this forum seems like exactly where I need to be right now. I look forward to getting to know you better!

Jennifer, I'm glad you found us! I didn't realize we were the same height - we really ARE in the same boat. And I'm also trying struggling with a 2 pound weight gain. In my defense it wasn't because I was totally off track (although I wasn't exactly "on" either ). I have been playing around with my maintainence calorie level and things got a little out of hand. I had upped my calories and didn't gain an ounce for a couple of weeks then all of a sudden on came this extra weight. I'm not going to let it stick around though. I'm afraid it will invite friends!

I've gotten my eating under control now but I've got to start pushing myself in the exercise department. I absolutely love to work out and I feel so good afterwards so I don't know why I haven't been able to make myself get up and go in the mornings. I'm eating anywhere from 1500-1800 calories and I really feel as though I can lose these last 20 pounds at that level if I just kick my butt into gear and get back to exercising 5-6 times a week. For a long time I was getting up at 4:30 so that I could be at the gym by 5:00. It was perfect because I got my day started on the right foot and got exercise out of the way so that there was no chance of it getting put on the back burner. But, the weather has gotten cold (okay, cold in Mississippi is relative, but it is cold to me!) and I just haven't been able to roll myself out of bed. Tomorrow might be the day, though. I've got my water bottle in the fridge, my clothes and shoes out, and the MP3 player charged - and I'm going to bed by 9:00 tonight. I'll miss the Daily Show and the Colbert Report but that is a small price to pay to get myself up bright and early.

Okay, I'm facing two challanges. First of all, Girl Scout cookies were delivered today. I'd forgotten I even ordered the stupid things. Obviously, I was feeling very much in control when the little girl across the street knocked on my door because I bought 6 boxes. Second, my son's school is doing a fundraiser selling "World's Greatest Chocolate" (chocolate covered almonds and some sort of carmel chocolate swirl I've never heard of ). Here is the thing. I don't really care for any of it. So why I feel so tempted by it is a mystery. Maybe because they are both the kind of thing that you can walk by, grab a couple of, and not really count it? I don't know. But the cookies will only be opened one box at a time with the others kept in the freezer so that access isn't easy and those damned almonds (which I do kind of like) are going to work with DH.

How is everyone else doing? A little better than me, I hope! Anyway, I'll pop in tomorrow and let you know if I made it to the gym. No, let me rephrase that. I'll pop in tomorrow and let you know how great the gym was since I KNOW I'm getting my lazy arse out of bed and going. Hope y'all have a great night!

Hello Jen!

I had a good day yesterday. BUT the scales are still being my biggest pain! I've gone UP 3 1/4lbs in a few days And I KNOW I didn't eat that much! I think I'm a bit bloated and I'm feeling thirsty... I think I might drop my cals a little lower this week. The trousers I'm aiming to fit into for a week on Saturday are still tight. I will have to go shopping...

I'm with ya, 2frus. I'm up another pound (!) today, but I've been really careful this week. Body fat looks lower usual on the scale, however, so I think I must be retaining mad amounts of water (don't they say "never weigh after leg day"?).

Here's to a massive sweat-a-thon (or something) to get rid of these weird extra pounds!

Lucky, thanks for the welcome, and I expect a full report on your early morning gym-going. (I've been having more trouble with that myself -- I swear it is the cold and lack of light... it's OK if you go later in the day, honest! Just GO! )