It sure has quieted down around here. I hope everyone's still plugging along.

I'm on plan, but the results are not showing on the scale. This morning my weight was exactly 200. I cannot begin to express my frustration level.

The newest food I am removing from my menu is cashews. I love them, but apparently they don't love me, because I think they are stalling my weight loss.

Today's a fast day, so I don't have to worry about food at all, which is a relief. I'll spend my lunch hour at the gym instead. I have been slacking on the workouts since vacation; I need to step up my game, clearly.

Aww Caroline. That has to be frustrating. To be so close to that magical number starting with "1", yet it just won't give in and get there! Well, I am glad to see that it hasn't made you quit trying. Good job with patience! You can do it!!!! I hope it happens soon for you!

I'm in blah time right now. I have family coming tonight and tomorrow night. I'm not really ready for them and the house will not be the way it should be for guests, but I can't help that. They are just visiting colleges anyway and won't be there for long, and they won't care about the house. It's just that my Mom and my sister are way better at keeping up on their housework than I am. Now, my Mom is retired and my sister only works part time, I work full time... they both live in cities, and I live in the country with animals and dust... but it feels like I should be doing better.

Oh well, moving on. Hope everyone has a great day.

Good morning, everyone! :wave:

I'm finally down to below 210 so I'm feeling better that all this effort is worth it. That's 17 pounds since February 1. I've given up hope that I'll reach the mini-goal of under 186 by Memorial Day, but given that I've been losing in fits and starts I just have to keep plugging knowing I'll get there eventually.

I'm so happy to see everyone still posting and giving/getting so much great support here. I know if I wasn't checking in here regularly I'd have fallen off the bandwagon by now. :hug: to you all.

/I have been struggling. It has alot to do with DH and his darn candy and goodies. I told him that he is an enabler... when I ask him to refrain from bringing large bags of candy. That got his attention. My weekend was crazy eating. I did not have the willingness to stop once I started eating 'goodies'. Part of it is that I refrained from eating 'goodies' and chocolate before my gallbladder surgery - I 'missed' them for a couple of months. However, I didn't want to have a gallbladder attack. Good incentive. I need to PLAN for treats - instead sneak eating some - and then going haywire with overeating. *Sigh*

Today I got up and weighed myself. I am up three pounds from last Wednesday. It’s the same three pounds I’ve gone back and forth with since even before my surgery in February. I am glad I was willing to see that number and will move forward. I do believe that had I not weighed today, I very well would have continued to overeat. But... I’ve done my journal, planned my food & did my exercises so far for today.

Mahtha - you are so right. I think committing to come and post - no matter what or how you've/we've eaten is key. Of course, I didn't come and post when I was into overeating. It has to do with not wanting to 'tell' and feeling some shame. Ugh. Glad I posted today.

Thanks so much for listening.

Back in for some quick personals, it's been too long!

Caroline, I understand your frustration. As trite as it sounds right now, just keep going and you'll get there. Sometimes the loss isn't very consistent despite the fact that our efforts are. Here's hoping you get that woosh soon.

Diane, I've had so much company lately and feel the same way about my house. I keep reminding myself that guests are not here to see the house. My mom reminds me that yes, her house can be neater, but a) they have 4 fewer people living there and b) she's retired so has all day to dust. I have a lot more on my plate than she does.

(((Berverlyjoy))) We all have those days (and weeks...) Please don't lose sight of how far you've come. Most of us fall off the wagon on a pretty regular basis - the difference is this time we're dusting ourselves off and getting back on rather than pretending we didn't fall. I think it's great that you reminded DH that his goodies are an issue for you and I hope he respects your struggle enough to keep them out of your line of vision.
I too felt the shame of bouncing up and down for a while and it really sidetracked me. I'll ask you to think about how you would have responded if I had written your post. Now I'll ask that you treat yourself the same way you would have treated me. :hug:


Rhonda, I hope you find the switch helps you stay OP. I would be a mess without real food!

Lindsey, Welcome! You've found a great group here who understand the struggles of doing it all over again. Do stop in as often as you can, I'm finding it makes a huge difference in my outlook!

Diane, I'm so happy you're finally feeling better. You'll have the energy to devote to getting back on track soon and you'll do great.

Heather, congrats on making your goal for the month! As arbitrary as those numbers can be, they hold a lot of power over us.

Muggles, it's a wonderful thing to teach your childrem about health and fitness. I was a skinny kid so my mother assumed I'd always stay that way. I didn't and struggled to assemble those tools much later in life than I should have.

Back to the grind, I hope everyone has a fantastic OP day!

good afternoon ladies!!

i hope you all are having a great day! if not, i hope you can turn it around and salvage some of it.

feeling a bit sore from my workout last night. but i like it. lets me know i worked hard. i think my abs are the worst of it, from doing dead lifts. but my shoulders, back, arms, and thighs are all chiming in occasionally.

helping a friend move tonight, so we'll be skipping the gym. i feel like lugging boxes and such counts as exercise. i'll even wear my HRM to track it. :D

probably will be having pizza for dinner, keeping it light today so i can enjoy a couple slices!

I have learned my lesson about giving up, thankfully! At least I hope I have. Though I admit I've been pouting for a few days.

I feel the same way about my mom and sister. They don't even judge me for my lacking of housekeeping skills, but I *feel* like they do. So I get feeling like the house isn't ready. I hope you start feeling better soon.

mahta, congratulations on getting below 210! I know very well how frustrating those arbitrary barriers are, so I'm glad to hear you managed to get past that one. I hope to be right behind you. :)

Beverlyjoy, you are always so kind (and so quick to remind us to be kind to ourselves!) that I hope you will turn that same kindness on yourself right now. It's so hard when our loved ones put temptation right in front of us; I hope your husband will support you by keeping the candy out of sight until you're back on track, at least.

Though I practically have to close my eyes when I'm in the grocery store right now so I won't fall face-first into a pile of Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs. I hate them as much as I love them, and it seems like they're around a LOT longer now than they used to be. (I guess that's because I'm not the only one who loves them!)

We'll be out of the holiday candy season soon, and we can make it through. Onederland is just around the corner for us both, after all.

I SWEAR we're twins separated at birth! ;)

Checking in :)

I hope everyone is having a great day. I have been happy with my choices for eating today and now I just need to motivate myself to get in a good workout. I really struggle with getting back in the swing of working out when I stop for awhile for whatever reason (even if I know that I feel good after I'm doing it, I know it helps with my weight loss, etc.). Blah. But I will get on that stupid elliptical and show it who's boss.
But first....a healthy dinner. Then workout. Then a bath, and some reading... :book2:

Bought a few tanktops today. Maybe it was a bad idea. Wow, arms are looking pretty flabby. Friend had a birthday, so a night out at the bar set me back a little. I have today well today.

Ha! Well, I wasn't born in MA, but my dad and sister were, and I was raised there for awhile, so you never know!

I have a tough time with that too, Heather. I made myself get on the elliptical during my lunch hour today, since I was fasting and didn't have an excuse to avoid the gym. I am currently posting here instead of forcing myself to go do another workout, but I'm going to quit procrastinating just as soon as I post this comment! Honest. :D

My arms are SO BIG. I gain weight there like you wouldn't believe, and I HATE it. A couple years ago I got a shoulder tattoo in an effort to force myself to learn to accept my arms, and I've finally come to a sort of peace about them. It's still not perfect, but I'm getting there. Maybe someday they'll even be normal sized!

My very long-winded point is this: Wear the tank tops. Nobody cares how your arms look but you, I promise.

Just popping in to say a quick hello to everyone!

Eating has still been on plan and going really well. I noticed the "hungries" are going away, which is good, since going from eating massive amounts of food to meal replacement shakes and mini meals has definitely been something for my stomach to adjust to. I'm definitely in much better spirits than I was before I started and I'm getting excited about the prospect of being able to wear all of the cute clothes in my closet again. It'll be a while, but that's okay! Time goes by quicker than we all think. I'll be very happy once I can shop at NY & Co. again and the regular sizes at JCPenney. I always love the clothes that Worthington puts out. More than that, though, I'll be happy when my white coat fits me and can actually button. I'm probably about 40 or so lbs away from that. Sometimes I think I'm the only one at school who isn't absolutely swimming in theirs... *sigh*

Oh well, back to studying and thanks to all of you ladies for the warm welcome! It's nice to know there are a few familiar faces around here and I look forward to getting to know the new faces, too. :)

CAROLINE ~ ah heck, you'll be there by the weekend -- come on, you can do it!!! :cheer3: GO, CAROLINE, GO ... :cheer2:

HEATHER ~ I've got the same issue; lost lots of fat off my arms and now I only have skin left -- eeks! I don't own any tank tops; only T's with at least partial sleeves. Actually, my T's are so big around the shoulder and arms, that the arms go down to my elbows anyways ... oh, that's bad & good! :lol: Wear what you want ...

:welcome: back, LINDSEY ~ I remember you too; good luck with the test, and healthy eating ... :D

I like the saying -- IT'S EASIER TO STAY ON PLAN, THAN TO TRY TO GET BACK ON PLAN ... whether that's our eating plan or exercise plan! We should make that our motto ... ;)

To all those who are struggling a bit; just stay the course, like DGRAMIE says -- something will move eventually! I find this thread moves pretty fast, still lots of our RG/RL's coming in each day.

Today, I made a pasta dish with 2 slices lean bacon, 3 colors of sweet pepper, mushrooms, onions , zucchini all in a tomato sauce -- was really nice. Have one serving left for lunch tomorrow. Yesterday, just had a thrifty meal of a chicken super dog (no bun) & beans & a salad; gearing up for summer ... :lol: Geepers, I've got all my days mixed up for sure ... anywho, we had deli spit BBQ chicken for Sunday & Monday with veggies & salad. I'll get it right yet ... ;)


We had a big dumping of snow last night; enuff DH had to shovel, but we know that won't last too long. Put up some new aluminums blinds getting ready for summer too; only got 4 more to go. Doing OK with my exercise but pulled my lower back yesterday, so kept it to cleaning the bathroom, meals, and dishes today.

Hope you all have a great OP week -- keep on, keepin' on, Chickies ... :grouphug:

helped a friend move tonight. no pizza... but we did manage to get a promise from her to help us in a couple months when we have to move :D

bonus: it was up and down stairs outside. we worked for 95 minutes carrying stuff out, down the stairs and into the vehicles, then driving them 3 blocks and moving them into another place, drive back and repeat. it wasn't too bad, just a bunch of big stuff she couldn't fit in her little car. according to the HRM from when i got out of the car until the last item was brought in, was 95 minutes, and i burned 760 calories.

also, i got a comment of "wow mandy, you are strong!" :D

Happy to report that I had a very healthy dinner, worked out, took a bath, and read. Just like my plan!! :D
However...I did not feel like doing the elliptical for my usual hour, so I did 30 minutes and then took a brisk 40 minute walk outside. It was about 50 degrees here and it was wonderful to get the fresh air and listen to music on my iPhone. I think I need to reward myself with iTunes giftcards--I am loving having new music on it this week for the car and so on and I think that would motivate me a lot. I try not to buy new clothes as rewards because I actually need them, you know? And I also try not to spend much on them because (with ANY luck) they won't be staying long in my life...;)

It sounds like everyone is doing well! Yay! Keep it up, guys. We're going to be skinny beans before we know it. :cheer2::cheer3::cheer2::cheer3::cheer2: