*hugs* You guys will be the reason that the weight is going to stay off this time - plus you keep me sane! I love that some of the old gang checks in now and then. Hope we hear from neesy and maddiesmom soon.

Lindy - Your meal plan sounds yummy and like a great solution! And yeah, I know it's really soon to have met her but I don't think I'll be seeing her regularly for a looong time. You are totally right about people moving at different paces

I'm thinking this guy might be a keeper - we'll see... And no, the folks in the pictures are other friends - he was camping with his daughter somewhere else while I was hiking. We are meeting up for lunch tomorrow and going to a concert on friday night - should be fun.

I'm really trying to keep up with exercise - hikes on the weekends, running or walking 4-5 days/wk - and am staying low-carb but the scale isn't budging. I think my body is stuck at this weight. Ughhh!!! Any suggestions? I've been hovering around this same number since march - at least I'm back on the low side of it again - but geez! I so want to be in the 140s and start fitting into some 6s *sigh*. Any suggestions?

Hey Dance....when I worked out with a personal trainer...many moons ago, he told me there was two ways to break a plateau. One was going hard at the gym with weights because it boost your metabolism and is thrown off by the "lacksadasical" as he would like to call it, workouts that your body is used to. He also encouraged cleansing but the problem with that is it isnt for everyone. But he said that alone would jump start a plateau. I never got to a plateau really because when I got to 170 I just threw in the towel so I cant give advice from my own experiences.

Great idea, lindy - maybe I'll start hitting the weights this weekend and see if I can bust through this. Off for an early morning run...

Hey ladies, I think I am finally back to reality. I've gotten back into walking, just need to start going further. I did the air stepper tonight and some an exercises. I also started a 30 day beginners push up challenge. I only had to do 3 push ups today. I haven't been on the scale so I don't know where that is. I feel a little bloated so I will probably wait a few days for that.

Hope y'all are doing good.

Hey burgundy - nice to have you back. Sad stuff is just going around right now - I'm headed to Houston tomorrow for the funeral of a high school friend's mom. A couple of us are going together so it will be nice to have company.

Weight is holding steady but at least not going up. Things are good with new guy - will fill you in on more details when I get back.

Hey girls....glad to see everyone checking in again.

My plan to hop on the scale once a month is scheduled for August 30th, so that is the next time I will have an update on my weight for you girls. I am FINALLY starting to get compliments from everyone on how much weight I have lost. Its funny because no one notices at 15 pounds but all the sudden you hit 25 and its like...omg, you have lost a ton of weight. haha Anyway, it feels good to get the acknowledgements that you worked so hard for. I am doing the gym twice a day 3 days a week and then doing a 30 minute walk and weights 3 days, with one "rest" day. I should feel fantastic with all this clean eating and working out but I dont, I feel tired ALL THE TIME. I tried adjust my calories from 1200 to 1400 to 1600 to 1800 just to see if any of those number affected how I felt but nada. I may need to go in for a physical to make sure everything is on the up and up. My mother has Lupus and that is a side affect and I get tested every year so it may be time.

Ok, Im babbling and I have to go give blood at our blood drive today so I will catch up later. Cant wait to get more detailed updates from everyone else soon.

Bah! So the boyfriend hops on the scale every day and I've been avoiding it. Yesterday he hops on and tells me its broken. I told him, it probably needed batteries. So we put new batteries in this morning and it still is not working. TOTALLY bummed and hoping to replace it before my weigh in. Its up to him to pick up the "extras" based on our new budget. I might have to give him a nudge. Unfortunately, with a new scale comes a possible varying weight. I dont know yet if this is a good or bad thing. We will see.

Sounds like that scale is messing with you, Lindy but you know you are looking great and fitting into your clothes which is the important part.

All good here - this weekend will be week 6 with new guy - he's actually out of town at the moment on a backpacking trip but I'll be picking him up at the airport on sunday morning and am hoping we get some good catch up time the rest of the day I've been a little tired lately and am having trouble getting enough sleep - am hoping that passes (not particularly stressed at work or anything). Weight is holding steady despite some offsite meeting days which involve lots of eating out. I'd rather be making progress but I'll take holding the line for right now. I can't believe that a year ago I weighed 50lbs more than I do right now and that I was so unhappy about my ex - amazing difference 12mos can make!

How are you girls doing?

Hey Dance! Glad to see you checking in. I am so happy how much a year has changed your life for the better, and adding a cute boy to the mix is just an added bonus. :-D Good job! People always say that winter is a bad time and thats when you put on weight but I find summer to be the hardest for me. There are SO many social outings and it is hard to say no. And even if I eat healthy, there is always alcohol, lol.

Welp, the DF ending up buying a new scale and we tested it out on the kids. The girls needed to get physicals so they weighed in at home before they left the house and then at school. The numbers registered the same so it seems to be a consistant scale. On that note, I hopped on and low and behold, I am still losing. 165! Woot woot! I expect to hit a plateau soon because that would put me at a 29 pound loss and anything over 25 I hit a pleateau. Fortunately for me, I wont be hopping on the scale again till late September so I have time for the scale to play games. :-) I wont off my clean eating today as someone made me empanadas. So I had that for breakfast. Then I am going out for dinner and drinks with one of my best girlfriends so I just plan to do better tomorrow to make up for today. I am eating clean at lunch to make up for things. Zucchini lasagna....yum!

What is everyones plans for the weekend?

Lindy - that is wonderful! Woohoo!! We need to see some recent progress pics, btw - you keep forgetting to post them!

Finally got some good sleep yesterday and am feeling much better. Am getting a massage after work and then going for a run with a friend (yeah, I know the order is a little weird but that's how it worked out) so it will be a good healthy evening. I need to get back into cooking and plan to cook up a bunch of my mom's yellow squash so that I have some veggies around and ready to eat.

Happy Friday, girls!

Hey dance...yea, I really stink at posting pics. Part of it is because I do all my chatting with you guys while at work and Im not allowed to upload personal pics. Then I get home and forget, lol. I dont really want to post too many pics on Facebook because I want my weight loss to be a surprise to the many people coming to my wedding. :-) Ill try to remember.

Same here exactly - I mean with no photos on my work computer and checking in on 3fc mainly at work.

Getting excited because new guy should be back in texting range again tonight (he's been backpacking out of range since monday). Sometimes it's the little things

Sorry I've been mia again. I thought I was back in the swing of things but its just so hard. Today is a new day and I feel good. I'm not going to let this derail me. I'm going to get healthy and do it in honor of my nephew. I got out for a run this morning. I went two miles in 25 minutes. I don't think that's too bad for a fat girl, lol. It was so hot but I made it. Now to keep it going. Hubby wants BBQ chicken and potato wedges for dinner. I'm gonna have baked chicken and zucchini fries.

Dance-sorry to hear about your friends mom. So happy to hear things are good with the new guy.

Lindy-165, that's great. Your are looking great from your pics on fb. Glad your new scale is accurate. I hate buying new scales.

Burgundy - woohoo in your running accomplishments! I love the idea of celebrating your nephew's life by getting even healthier - what a strong woman you are.

Went in a great hike with a friend today and new guy called from Canada so life is pretty good here.

Hope you guys are enjoying the weekend...

Well, it was fun while it lasted. New guy just broke up with me tonight - he wasn't feeling the way he thought he should feel. Back to the drawing board!