Angie - hope your baby feels better soon. Thanks for being such a rock-solid supporter and example!

Enjoynlife - I do intervals when I do the treadmill, so an average of 4.0 means I walked way more than I ran, since I walk at 3.7. I also graduated with a bachelor's degree in 2009. And got married before 25. Way before. We could be twinners. Congratulations on your scale pledge! I think it's a good thing.

Day #3 successful! For a minute, I debated whether to call it that. I rejected tons of candy opportunities, and felt good about it. Informed my children that unless they hid their candy from me, I would be junking it. They don't need it either. But I did decide at the end of the day to have a Reese's. And when the first small bite didn't taste as good as I had imagined, I tossed it. I also ate a few handfuls of cereal. But I also ate enough healthy protein to support muscle recovery and kept my calories low. So, not as strict as days one or two, but successful nonetheless.

And I am jonesing for the scale. Weird, cuz I have been happy with weekly weigh-ins for about four months. But it is in the closet instead of on the bathroom floor, and in the closets it stays!

Day #4 - Bags of candy surround me already from last night's trunk or treat, and official trick or treating tonight. #sigh# Going to limit the number of houses they go to. I will allow myself two pieces of candy AFTER 9:00 pm. Going to do 3 miles on the treadmill. Going to transition back into more 'normal' on-plan eating.

LaurieDawn - that's awesome that you were able to toss that Reese's in the trash after realizing it wasn't what you expected. Gosh, I can remember countless times that I've eaten candy and junk food and although it wasn't good to me, I just kept eating it. See, you've got this! Oh, and when you say you've eaten enough protein to support muscle recovery, how many grams are you taking in? I've been wondering if I'm taking in enough myself. And stay away from that scale! LOL! The jonesing that you're experiencing is your scale-withdrawal symptoms LOL. They'll pass soon

Day#1 of no scale. Is it sad that I woke up thinking about it? I had my partner put mine away as well so I wouldn't be tempted to cheat. I have to admit though, it's slightly freeing to not have that number flashing over my head like neon vegas lights all day, like it usually does. Unfortunately I can still remember yesterday's number, before I started this challenge, but I'm trying to leave it in the dust.

I've been in a new position at my job since June, and with it came a new building. This building has food days EVERY DAY. It's ridiculous. There's rarely a day that I don't walk in to either amazing smells or a group of people gathered around talking about the various flavors of pies, puddings, dips, and cupcakes that they brought in. And it's really the way they all bond, so me not joining in is kind of like dissing the new group. I know technically I could bring in something healthy but really, I'd rather not even go within range of the 'Table of Dooooom'.

I am glad I don't have kids yet, at this moment. Having to resist their loads of candy would be pure torture, so I feel for all you Mom's out there having to resist. Stand firm! It's not worth it...mostly.

Day 3 of 365

I did my 3rd day of the 30 Day Shred today and can already start to tell a difference in that I am able to almost complete every repetition needed. I'm glad I am beginning to get stronger, and am hoping for a decent loss for my next weigh in. I'm highly considering only weighing in once a week and no more because daily weigh ins are beginning to drive me insane, even though I did get away from 229 again and weighed in at 226.6 this morning. Guessing my gain last week was from water weight.

Also thank you everyone for the kinds words and thoughts for my husband. He will be wearing one of the heart monitor devices for two weeks starting soon so they can hopefully get to the root of the problem and fix what is going on. It's been stressing me out but I'm staying positive.

Hi Ladies! I am so excited for you all! I started my "one year journey" last August 17th 2011. My goal was 100 lbs within a year. And thank the Lord, I made it (technically, it was the end of Aug Now I am onto losing the last 25 lbs. Well, about 23 now. :-) And then onto a lifetime of healthy eating. I am so blessed because my Husband is on board with all of this and we made the changes together (he has lost about 80 so far). I was on a bit of a plateau for Sept and Oct, but since yesterday have been foscusing on making more of a concentrated effort. We never did go off our healthy eating plan though-like for example we do not eat sweets or fast foods. Anyways, looking forward to finishing strong and being as healthy as I can be! Wishing you all the best as well! :-)

Penny22 - that is AWESOME!! WOW! You are such an inspiration! I, too, want to lose 100 pounds in a year (well more like 126 pounds), and so far I'm off to a good start. I hope to be able to say the same thing in months to come. Thanks for sharing your experience

Enjoynlife & LaurieDawn - thanks for the well wishes for my baby. She has a stomach virus and has been running to the toilet all day long! The doctor said no school or trick-or-treating as she should be indoors because of her fever and loose bowels. Crap! On Halloween! I had purchased her a custome and everything. So I decided to do a halloween hunt inside of our house (I live with my parents and they have a pretty large house). So I had her and her sister (4years old) put on their customes and I hid piles of candy all around the house. They ran from room to room filling up their bags with candy..it was so cute! lol They told me "this was the best halloween ever!" LOL! Good thing it doesn't take much to please kids

I think my crazy hunger has leveled itself out. I haven't been getting as hungry this week like I did last week. I've been trying to stay out of the mirror because I was becoming obsessed with staring at myself in it LOL! Why is it so easy to move from one obsession to another? Geeeez. Anyways, the new pants that I've been wearing are starting to bag on my waist, butt, and thighs. Wow! Already? But the one thing I'm worried about is loose skin on my stomach. After two babies and being large for so long....it's jiggly and I have tons of stretch marks. I'm hoping I can make some decent progress on it when it's all said and done. I want to wear a bikini on the beach for once in my life!!!!

Hope you ladies are doing well! HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Riddle me this. Through most of this journey, I have weighed weekly. Even when I gave myself permission to weigh daily, I didn't always do it. Now that I am scale-free, I wake up looking for the scale like I did when I lost almost every 100 pounds four years ago. Weird.

Angie - what a great mom you are! This is a story your kids will tell for years. (And something I need to work harder to remember - they won't remember how much you weighed, just that you loved them and found a creative solution to make their holiday special.

Penny - Thanks for the inspiration. It is really helpful to hear stories like yours, especially with all of the doom and gloom stuff about obesity.

Enjoynlife - I graduated with my bachelor's in 2009, then went to law school and got my
JD last May. Lots of school! I am not a good source for nutrition information, but I absolutely will share what I do. I am, as you know, a bit OCD and am also prone to ED. I could easily get obsessive about numbers, and lose my job and lose track of my kids. So, instead, I have chosen a plan that I can do without triggering OCD. It is immeasurably better than my off-plan eating, so I try not to obsess about the fact it's not ideal. I eat very simply. I eat, primarily, pre-prepared chicken breasts, tuna and salmon packets, egg whites, protein bars, and Greek yogurt. I supplement with veggies and fruits. That's it. I will throw in an egg yolk every four eggs or so, maybe add some cheese. Otherwise, I supplement with a daily vitamin, drink tons of decaf green tea, and take fish oil supplements, glutamine, magnesium, and zinc. I am not recommending it necessarily. But it does keep me full and feeling good most of the time. Plus, I have pretty well-developed visible muscle (under layers of fat) and have been losing sizes pretty steadily.

Pink Hurricane - WTG on the Shred! Glad to hear you're getting more information about your hubby. Keep us updated, please. Hope it's all great info. Impressive way to manage stress, too!

Leben Alles - my scale challenge buddy! I know exactly what you mean about the neon light. Mine still flashes, but it's kind of broken, flashing all these numbers that it 'might' be. And the work food! It's the worst! Right now, the break room has cornbread, cupcakes, pumpkin cake bars, and some cool-looking Japanese snack cakes. And I have to continually there to make my decaf green tea! Still, somehow my head's in the right place, and I am having no problem resisting. Totally was NOT the case last week!

Day #3 a success, though not ideal. I ate four pieces of candy, and skipped dinner to give me the calorie room to do it. No guilt, though. Just gotta figure out how to get the candy out! And three of the pieces had peanut butter. Protein, right?

Day #4 - I will lift weights. I am at work until 10ish, and work is the safest place for me foodwise, usually. I promise I will be trashing some cupcakes if everyone is gone and they are still here, though!

I am a little concerned about the kidney thing. I had stones 18 months ago. But I don't have kidney disease, and I am drinking lots of water, and losing weight - all of which are good for my kidneys. And yes ED is a guy thing. :-P At least one version of it. (Could not think of an appropriate funny thing to say here.)

Day #5 a success. In fact, it was easy-peasy. Stayed away from breakroom treats. Not a single piece of Halloween candy. Had a great lifting session. Coulda used more sleep (didn't get to the gym until 10:15, and I get up at 5:15), but good day otherwise.

Day #6 - Back to normal on food. Rest day for exercise. Going to intentionally loosen up a little this evening. Not a splurge per se. I don't think I can yet handle a small serving of ice cream, for example. I will think of something awesome, though.

Hey Guys,
Day #3 for me on the no scale, and really, I'm still not missing it. I did gaze at the empty spot on the bathroom floor for a minute but then I had a little conversation with myself.
I was like "so what if you weigh next weekend and the number still hasnt changed? It would be disappointing, yes, but you're doing everything you need to be doing, so it's either possibly have a disappointing day that day, or have a disappointing day every day that the scale doesnt move. At least this way, there is hope!"
And then I moved on. Yes, I do talk to myself often. And yes, I most always answer myself as well. Definitely nuts.

Laurie: I'm glad I'm not the only one who has to suffer past the endless office food. What really gets me is when I see the same tiny girl loading up a plate day after day. I want to corner her and demand she tell me how many hours she spends in the gym burning all this off. Because thinking that she can eat all this and not have to burn it off at the gym is too depressing.

Enjoynlife: I completely understand your frustrations with the whole calorie in/calorie out, BMR business. I eventually had to stop reading about it all because I got so much differing information. I'm just sticking to MFP on my calories for now and doing what feels right. It's nerve racking, though, to think that my 'formula' could be wrong and I'm either not eating enough calories or eating too much or need to be altering it or less carbs or less sugar or more protein or... Ugh. Why can't it be simple? Some people say it's simple, but then they usually go into a deal about what -they- think is the right way, and it's usually different than half of what other people say. AGH!

Enjoynlife - did that pharmacist explain why your chances of kidney stones increase from eating healthier? And LaurieDawn - you had them in spite of the fact that you were eating healthy? That's crazy. I'd be interested to hear the theory behind that.

You ladies are doing awesome avoiding the scale! You make me proud

LebenAlles - You are NOT nuts! Girl, I talk to myself ALL the time! People don't talk to themselves enough....we could talk ourselves out of a lot of stuff we'd end up regretting if we only had that little conversation LOL!

Angie - High protein is supposed to be hard on the kidneys. Lots of different opinions about this, but my doctor said that unless your kidneys are damaged, it shouldn't be a problem. Kidney stones are not caused from damaged kidneys, so I'm not too worried. And Enjoynlife - I was thinking back to my eating habits at the time I got the kidney stone. I was actually vegan at the time, ironically enough. (I was vegan for about two years 14 years ago, and I went through a short phase of trying to return to the vegan lifestyle about at that time. Lasted about two months.)

Just wanted to report my "loose" day, intended to make me less crazy after my strict series of days. I spent the whole day trying to decide what was so good it was worth splurging on. Had a bite of a reportedly "amazing" cream horn. Not worth another bite. Did have a few mini-pumpkin sugar cookies. Quite good, but I threw the rest away. Then I went to the store, and found pomegranates for $.69 each. I LOVE pomegranates, but won't spend $3 or $4 for one, the usual price here. So, as I dedicate my Friday night to work (Yay?), I ate an entire half of one (and got delightfully sticky doing so), and feel like I had a GREAT splurge day, though calorie-wise, I'm probably still eating at a decent deficit. I may even go for a walk later. Nothing major, as I want to respect the rest day, but it would be fun. Maybe I'll plan splurges more often. I had a great time choosing what I would eat, and making choices about what wasn't worth it. And I am feeling quite full and satisfied right now. =)

And Leben Alles - I agree. Talking to yourself keeps you saner!

Thanks, Enjoynlife! It was only slightly worse than Halloween, a 'strict day.' Being on plan makes it so much easier for me to make choices that support my long term plan! P. S. I really like your long (and short!) posts.

Tomorrow would have been a great weigh-in. Post-TOM. Back on plan after being off for a week or so. All of the elements in place. But I am not doing it. #DeepBreath

When I started I had hoped to loose as much weight as I could as fast as I could. Now I realize this is a process and will take time. I will give it a year and maybe more. It has to be a life change rather than a quick fix. I would love to get this fat gone right now but I know that is not going to happen.

Like Lauriedawn I lift. Probably not as much as her but heavy for me. I was lifting for toning but decided to push it. I am amazed at how much I can lift. I still am using some machines and some dumbells. I just leg pressed 190lbs. When I started they were having me lift 40lbs. I knew I could do more.

Sorry to ramble. I hope everyone is having a great weekend.

Lifting is no joke. I sweat just as much heavy lifting as I do when I do Insanity. I be huffing and puffing lifting those weights!

Tomorrow is a rest day. I love my Sundays. I'm fighting a cold but I still got my exercise done today. I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Lost my post! Hate that! The brief version:

Lisha - Love that you posted here. I so enjoy keeping up with your amazing progress. You're so positive all of the time.

Angie - Woo hoo on both lifting and Insanity. Hope you conquer that cold quickly.

Did not weigh today. Really wanted to last night. This morning, I let it go without too many tears. Glad I did this challenge.

Yesterday - Stayed on track with food. Lifted in the morning. Sore today (woo hoo!)

Today - Fasting until 5 p.m. Going to get to the gym and do some steady-state cardio for the first time in forever. Going to try to go for at least 10 minutes at a very slow run (4.8 mph) rather than my usual intervals that have me running at a still pretty slow 6.4 mph for 1-2 minutes followed by walking at 3.7 mph for 2-3 minutes. Just want to be able to say I can run a mile. Hoping for good results, as I have been definitely been improving my fitness levels. Just haven't tested them in this particular way.

Last day of the weekend! Only seven days left before I get to see if I finally broke out of the 220s. (And, in my mind, I already have, so it will be interesting to see how delusional I am. =))