Hi, All:

I am traveling this weekend and will not likely be checking in until next week. We are doing a big move at my office and the computers are being disconnected this afternoon and will not be reconnected until Friday when I am traveling. Seriously, I have never had such interrupted internet service until this summer!

Laurie: way to go with your weight loss. I can completely relate to your struggles (I am going through them also) and am so glad that this thread has been your lifeline. It has been mine, too. Keep on keeping on.

I will check in when I get back next week!

Martini - In 2007, I weighed 250 and lost down to about 160. By May 2012, I gained up to 278. By December 2012, I was down to 204 or 203. I got back up to 239 when I started my trainer boy challenge. I have been at my current job for 13 months. They have always known me when I have fluctuated between 220 and 240. Except for random comments, no one has really noticed when I get down to about 220, but based on my previous weight loss experiences, it takes about 30 pounds lost for people to notice. Your food struggles would be both frustrating and exciting. A new country with lots of interesting new foods! But it would take a long time to figure out what works and to familiarize yourself with calorie counts. And way to go on fighting off the hormone monster. I wish I could give you some insight into filling up, but I either do lots of veggies, lots of water, or accept that I will be hungry. =/

Lotus - Here's hoping for a great travel experience and working internet in your future. Thank you for your reassurance that my yammering is at least relatable. =)

I was 215.6 this morning. So weird to watch the scale stay the same for so long and then just bend to my will. ;-) But I am genuinely grateful for it doing so. I was losing patience with trying to be patient.

I had my weekly work-out date with my friend last night. She just wanted to walk. I love to walk, but I really wanted to stick with my C25K schedule, so I decided to do both. I have done 3 days of Week 4, Day 1. The first time, I did not finish. The second time, I finished, but took a break during my last 5 minute running time. Yesterday, I determined that I would pace myself better. I realized that I was doing things like increasing the pace for the last minute during the initial 3 minutes, decreasing the walking time, etc. to try to push myself harder. This time, I finished with no problem (albeit running at a very slow 4.4 mph), then kicked it up to 5.3 mph for the last minute of the 5 minutes, then ran an additional 90 seconds after walking for a minute or so after the last 5 minutes. I think tomorrow I will try to increase my longest distance to a very slow 1.1 miles, then walk/run cycle to 2 miles. Today, of course, is my weight lifting day!

Hi guys!

Just dropping by to say hello and let you know that I am reading everything being posted and following along. It's just a pain to post from my tablet, and getting hold of hubby's laptop isn't always easy. I prefer a physical keyboard!

I can't wait for it to be September 4, and I can get back to my normal routine (mostly). :)

Have a great day!

Hi all!
Went to Body Pump this morning. It was a new workout, and that was good because I needed to shake it up. The shoulder part and the chest part were really challenging, so I'll be feeling that. There were a lot of lunges and squats, too. I got on the scale this morning and it hasn't moved. Which is ok. Maybe there will be a loss by Monday's weigh in.

Mandy: I'm sure you'll be happy to get some stability back. Can't wait for you to move in to your own house!

LaurieDawn: Nice job on the weight loss!! Wow! It's hard to wrap your mind around it sometimes, though, isn't it? Especially when you've been stuck at a weight for so long. Oh, and I definitely agree with you about the responses from people. It is like they want justification as to why they aren't making the time to exercise. Not coming from me. That's why I loved the "K" response.

Martini: The only thing that really works for me on keeping me full is some kind of protein, so I'm not sure I can help. I do agree with LaurieDawn that sometimes you have to accept just being hungry for a while. But, definitely wouldn't want that all the time.

Lotus: Enjoy your travels!

Garnet: I am so with you about not calling my food plan a "diet". Not a diet!! I am eating what I want to eat, but I'm watching how many calories per day. Why people think they know what you are going to eat or not going to eat is ridiculous. Leave it alone! We can decide for ourselves! Oh, and glad your knee is better. That scares me a lot, that I'll get hurt and not be able to do my workouts. :)

Lotusmama...good luck on your travels!

Laurie...holy cow you are moving again! So wonderful....great job on c25k...I don't think I could make it 5 min jogging...I don't even know how I did 3...I think of 237 pounds doing this ugggg if I could get another 20 pounds off maybe I could do it a little faster...I am slow at jogging!

Martini.....I spent 2 years in South Korea...I think I mentioned that but it was really hard getting some foods and expensive! Protien keeps me full and fat...on my Low carb days I that's what I eat anyway...I would just see what is the easiest to get and try and make a list.

Mandy...hope time passes fast for you!!!

Diane...great job on the workouts and I am sure that scale will start moving again soon!

Well yesterday I did 10 minutes straight on the punching bag...that was HARD!!!! And I did the 30 day shred....I forgot to mention my four week progress!!!!

First four weeks:

Lost 13.2 lbs
Lost 12 inches!!!

I think my body does not release fat as fast but I am okay with that...I am focused on the long term goals!

Just wanted to join you guys! I was on 3FC a few years ago, when I was doing the 6 week body makeover. I could not stay on that plan and I gained that weight back. Then, last year I went on a diet (following WW w/o going to the meetings or doing it online) and I lost 34 pounds but quit that too. Gained all of that back....plus a few BONUS pounds! I'm such an overachiever like that! So, I started back on my own "home edition" of WW on the 4th of this month. I have a really long way to go! I started at 281.4, I am currently at 271.4, and my goal is 165. I just need a place to go and vent about the bad days and celebrate about the good days with people that know the mind games that come along with this journey.

Welcome J B

Hi all!
Here we are at Friday! I went to spin class this morning. It just about killed me, but made it. This is the one that uses the heart rate monitor. I am getting more used to it, but it is challenging. I looked at the scale this morning and it wasn’t looking very good, so I need to be careful this weekend. I may have stalled slightly right now. I won’t panic…. for now. We'll see what Monday looks like.

Martini: Good job on staying on plan for most of the week. I think that's great that you're checking into the gym possibilities. If weight loss could be done just with working out, I'd be so happy. But, that's just not the case. I absolutely love my workouts and how my strength is improving. I struggle more staying in line with calories. But I guess it all has to come together!

JB: Welcome!! We all can totally relate to your experiences with regaining. Hopefully, we can offer you some support! This is an awesome, supportive thread!!

Jenni: Great progress! Your numbers are looking great!

Mandy - Thanks for the drop-in! Glad to hear all is well, and can't wait for you to have access to a keyboard again. Such exciting life changes for you!

Diane - I have a friend and we do weekly work-out dates, just to keep us both motivated and going to the gym. She lost about 70 pounds three years ago, and has kept off 50, putting her at about 220. When we started these dates, I was talking about my weight fluctuations, and finally just told her my number, cuz I have nothing to hide. She responded by saying she was surprised that she weighed 20 pounds less, so that's how I learned her number. She, however, has not had a lot of success losing, and I have been fairly successful. She has said that she only lost 2 pounds over a 4-week period because she doesn't always hit her 1600-2000-a-day calorie range. Hmmm... I don't comment, cuz she doesn't ask, but I don't know a lot of 5'5" 220-lb women who would lose on 2000 calories a day. On Wednesday, she asked me how much I had lost, and I told her. Turns out, our morning weigh-ins were exactly the same. And, for some reason, she thought that meant that she needed to tell me why it was a bad time for her to lose weight. You know what? If you're venting, great. Spill it. But she seemed to be looking for me to give her some sort of approval for not losing weight. You know what? I don't care. I am not the weight loss police or judge, and I am certainly not enough of a hypocrite to judge you for not being in the weight loss headspace when I have struggled for a year or so to finally get back there. Wow. I didn't realize I would type that much, but it really makes me sad. So many wonderful things are happening in her life. Weight loss is great, but it is not a necessary component of who we are. We can be both fat and wonderful human beings. Don't look to me to validate your decision to not focus on weight loss.

Jenni - My C25K buddy! I want to run a 5K on Sept. 20th, I think, so I'm going to try to step it up. I had a court date this morning, so I tried to stop and pick up real actual running shoes on the way back (I am still running in my $5 K-mart clearance shoes), but the stores didn't open until 10:00. Sad. But I am super excited about reading your post in a week or two weeks or whenever about how great it was to run 5 minutes. Cuz it's coming. =)

Jb1975 - Welcome! So great to have you here! I am the resident "can't shut her up" venter, and I can tell you this thread has gotten me through some rough patches. I am excited to be part of the support group for you, and I look forward to you being a part of it for the rest of us.

Martini - It sounds like you are easing into this exercise thing at exactly the right pace. And yep. The hunger thing was a rediscovered epiphany for me. I was consuming small amounts of calories multiple times during the day, as often as it took to stave off the hunger. And when I tracked for a few days, I realized that I was consuming far too many calories. The reality seems to be that the hunger follows the food supply. If I am eating a lot, I am hungry all of the time. If I white-knuckle through a few super hungry days, I am less hungry most of the time. But it's a balancing act. If I eat an indulgent meal, or if I am dealing with hormones, I again face raging hunger. So, just accepting that I will be hungry sometimes has been my breakthrough this time around. I try to honor the "deep down in my bones so I know I actually need food" hunger with food, but to ignore the "my stomach's feeling a bit empty" hunger. Okay. Now I'm sounding crazy again. But I hope you know what I mean.

216.8. Scale returned the 1.2 pounds it had taken away at yesterday morning's weigh-in. It is what it is. The only alternative to being on plan is not being on plan, and I know that I am miserable when I am completely off plan. I eat too much. I feel uncomfortably full, sometimes to the point of physical illness. I feel sluggish. And my clothes get too tight. Back to feeling kinda zen about it. =) Still not at kryptonite, but I can sort of see kryptonite from my vantage point.

Diane - I have this weird love for the soreness after a good workout. Not to the point of injury, of course, just when you wake up and you can feel that you really did workout as hard as you safely could. :) Not panicking about a potential stall sounds like a good idea. Even if you do hit a little plateau as long as you maintain your forward momentum, the scale will have to bow to your superior willpower eventually.

JB - Welcome, glad to have you.

Jenni - Congratulations on your first month's numbers! I'm so happy for you. :D

Martini - Your support is a big part of my success as well and I'm excited for you to be able to start hitting a gym soon. <3

Laurie - It's awesome that in spite of the small gain that you have slid back into a zen zone. It makes things so much easier.


I know those are such small updates for me. Honestly I'm feeling a little bit like my brain is kind of shot. Not to mention that I feel exhausted. I made a comment this morning about how I couldn't believe I'd actually slept until 11am (ONLY 8 hrs since I went to sleep about 3am) and my brother decided to make a smart-*** comment about me being lazy. I am sorry that I sleep later than you do, but you know what? I go to bed way after you, too. I've already decided I've got to force myself to get up earlier so that I have the time to write November and National Novel Writing Month come charging at us. But I can't deny my body sleep when it's physically exhausted. And I don't want to have to streamline coffee or other caffeinated beverages just to be able to function. It's not like I don't already feel lazy because I stay in bed (not always sleeping) for eight hours. I don't need you making snide comments and making me feel worse about it. Just one more positive to the possibility of moving into those living quarters by my horse.

In scale news - it showed me 213.6 twice today. I'm so reluctant to accept that number. It feels like anything below 215 lbs is surreal and going to be snatched away from me at a moment's notice. Honestly, I've hit this area with my weight that is becoming so emotional for me. I'm lower than I've been about six years. I'm only 10 lbs from my lowest adult weight of 205 lbs. I've stuck with this longer than I ever have before and I think I'm so afraid of failing... I don't expect myself to fail. There's nothing that can get in my way because I don't have anyone to answer to or try to please. Maybe being back in this weight range is somehow tapping into old emotions associated with the previous times I've been this low? I don't know.

I ended up taking the weight I accepted yesterday (215.6) and the 213.6 of today and averaging them for today's official weight of 214.6 lbs. I am under 215 lbs... It's scary. Additionally, I'm gonna see about getting a copy of 30DS again or at least the sets & reps used for the exercises because I can do the sets/reps without the video and reap the benefits.

Jessica - The sleep thing is SO important to the scale. Don't know what the mechanism is, really, but it really does affect my ability to lose weight if I don't get enough sleep. My husband likes to stay up late sometimes (and so do I, actually), but I have made it clear to him that sleep is now a priority to me. I have set a goal to get 8 hours. Doesn't always work out well on weekdays, but unless I have some place to be on a weekend morning, I will sleep the 8 hours. So, if we got to sleep at 2:30, he should not expect to see my bright shining cheerful face out of bed until 10:30. Losing weight is so hard. Unless you absolutely have to cut your sleep short, prioritize sleeping. <Gets off the soapbox, stows it for the next time your brother or his fiance make me mad. ;-)>

And this short trip to Onederland is going to be tough for me too. But I am counting on you to do it with me. I know you got some stuff going on, but I am thrilled you're committed to work through it (maybe some venty posts from you on this forum?) so that we can continue to be weight loss/life twins. Cuz I got down to about 204/203 the last time I quit a major weight loss effort. Not gonna happen again.

Have a great weekend all!

Aw, Laurie! <3 This is exactly why I came and posted. I knew you guys would have something to say that would prove uplifting and beneficial to me. I'm a firm believer in the power of good, quality sleep, myself. I spent something like six years suffering from insomnia and the inability to sleep for more than four hours without waking up - and then spending another 30 minutes to an hour to fall back asleep. It was horrible. It's why, although surprised and feeling guilty about it because that's my nature, I wasn't angry at myself about it. I did wake up when the garbage truck went by, shut the window and fell right back asleep, dead to the world until shortly after 11am. It's not like I was just refusing to get up. If I'm dead to the world - especially being an incredibly light sleeper - than clearly my body needed the sleep. :(

As for sticking with it, believe me, Lady, I'm not going anywhere. I just have to accept that the next 15 pounds are going to be a bit more of an emotional journey for me than the last 45 lbs were. They're a big, huge, intimidating goal leading up to an even bigger, awesomer, more frightening threshold. A lot of my lowest points emotionally also, unfortunately, coincided with low weight points. One thing I'm going to have to push hard to get past for the next 15 is the recurrence of a negative self-image of my body. I tend to hold on to stomach fat longer than anything else and it means that even as I'm losing pounds and inches, all I start to see is the giant stomach and how it just won't go away. It's a daily process of remind myself that it can't stay there forever and it's not like it's not getting smaller, just that it's not getting smaller as quickly as everything else... But all I can think about is how while I can fit a size 16, I can't wear it because of how huge my stomach ends up looking.

Anyway, I forced myself to get in 2.144 miles even though all I seemed to want to do for most of it was cry and then I came home and did my strength training. I'm feeling a little bit more level now, but I'm not exactly looking forward to having to go to work tonight. We've got so much to do and never enough time to get it all done. Gah, it'll be okay. It's just 6.5 hours, an hour drive home, and then I don't have to worry about doing anything that I don't want to do for two glorious days.

Diane...still jealous with the spin!!!! I LOVE LOVE spin! You are doing awesome on your exercising!
3.8.
Laurie! I don't know if I will get to 5 min....I tried to do my other 3 min this morning and I couldn't....I have to job at like a 3.8...uggg! I will get there eventually but I am probably going to stay with the 2 min for awhile and do my own!

Martini...I was in Seoul....it was such an experience...I learned so much there and being there with 6 kids was also an experience LOL

Jessica...girl you need to rock your weight! Rock it like you are gonna rock the 100's! You are doing fabulous!

I had a busy day up 530 to work at 630 got off took my neice birthday shopping and did school shopping...I didn't eat dinner until 7!!!! Anyways you ladies always inspire me so much and I am thankful for that..

Hi Everybody! Uber is Back!

I don't have time to go read everything I missed, but I wanted to quickly check in to start off my day.

So... vacation.... First, I had a great time, with all of my kids in the same place. I got in some swimming and some 4 miles walks, although the weather wasn't great so there was also some sitting around.

The first week, I did reasonably well but the second week, I just sort of gave in and started eating more-- first I started eating more in a well-balanced way and by the end of the week, I was in full-on eat whatever you want even if it feels bingey and you know you are eating too much.

i gave myself a day to recover from the trip, and I weighed in this morning. I thought surely I would see a much higher number, but in fact, I was at 261-- up 3 from my lowest weight of 258.6 but still not as bad as I feared, especially since I know I still have travel-related water weight on board.

Bizarrely enough, this is LITERALLY what happened to me last year. I got down to 258, went on a trip, and weighed 261 when I got back. Unfortunately, last time, I just couldn't get my mojo back.

So, I've been giving this whole thing a lot of thought since I'm determined to learn a new way. It goes back to something I wrote earlier about getting off the goal express and getting marooned in Fatland.

I realized that I have this all-or-nothing mindset so deeply ingrained probably since I was an eating disordered teenager. I seem to visualize the pathway to weight loss as the narrow rail that I just barely cling to. When I lose my grip, I spin off and I can't get back to it. I have a very exaggerated sense of how much damage it will do if I eat normally or overeat for a few days and I have a longstanding tendency to panic and give up as soon as I can't sustain being perfect.

So, here are the insights that I've come up with.

1. I'll have a much more pleasant and sustainable journey through weight loss if I allow myself to go off track sometimes, especially for example, if I'm on vacation. But I need to work on my tendency to feel like I'm losing control when I do that as it seems to lead to just more eating.

2. What happened yesterday is irrelevant. If I had bounced up from 258 to 261 just due to water retention, there is no reason that I would have abandoned my whole quest to lose weight. ButI realized that the second I go off plan for a little while, it starts to factor into my head. But today is no different from any other day-- the fact that I didn't stay on plan during vacation says nothing about today.

I arrived home late Wednesday night, and since then, I've been eating maintenance calories.

I feel ready to get back on track, but something inside me is hesitating, so I'm going to concentrate on eating reasonably rather than drop my calories all the way back down to 1200.

Hope you ladies all had a terrific two weeks while I was gone!!!!

Uber...I hope things get a bit easier! The mindset is the whole thing behind the healthier eating....I think that was one HUGE idea to get through my head that it is NOT a diet it is a healthy lifestyle. If I continued to think of it as a diet I wouldn't last. Unfortunately, for me I am going to have to be in a healthy lifestyle my whole life... I think that is why what I am doing works so great it goes from 1200 to 1500 and a cheat meal....We all have to find what works and doesn't wear us down! You can do this though and you have done it and rocked it

So I am at the same weight 236.8 but I know it is the High Carb week ...I still was at a deficit all week and exercised all week so I am thinking my body is holding on to extra water! We will see!