Diane...somehow I thought I responded to you....I have lost my mind..LOL...anyway yes I think the 230's have a clench on me too! I know it will eventually go as it always does...I just hate when they have a hold that is so tight! You are doing amazing! And yes it is hard sometimes I don't even want to be in the same house...and I hate admitting to this stuff because I feel so bad :(

Jenni - Blended families are super hard. So sorry about your 18yo. My 17yo has mental health issues, too, and sometimes, I just don't know how to react either. You are there, and you support her and help her, and hopefully, she'll move out and learn to appreciate it. Or it might take her years to appreciate you. =/ Either way, it would be nice to have less drama in your house.

Diane - It's pretty impressive that all he ever sees you drink is water. That's an accomplishment in itself. I read what you wrote, and thought, "Perfection is the enemy of the good." I think, since we're doing this for life, it's important to avoid the perfection trap, especially because there's so much conflicting nutrition science out there. But if it's genuinely morphing into a problem, good on you for getting it sorted out early. You're amazing. I hope that's what you thought when you saw your reflection this morning.

I feel all on-plannish today. Like, relatively effortlessly so. Not white-knuckle. Not virtuous. Just - This is how I eat because being healthy and smaller is important to me. Still need to be vigilant with after work stuff, but for today, life is feeling about right. Even though my husband is freaking out a little bit about my kids "taking over his house." He knows he's being unreasonable, but I feel for him. I love his kids, but sometimes they drive me nuts. Heck, even my own kids drive me nuts sometimes. And just for kid things, like neglecting to throw away a wrapper. Not for the serious things you're currently dealing with, Jenni.

Laurie...yes ....blended families are SO hard I get that. My son has Asberger's or as they now call it high spectrum Autism. And I also get the little things. I can't remember how many kids you said you have in the house....but I always tell my kids if everyone left their stuff around this house would look like a hoarder house. I do have strict cleaning rules ....but I feel like if you do it and keep your school work up and have a good attitude well life would be so much easier and we would all get along....I hope you are right I hope she does learn and not sit in her misery because everyday I try my hardest to choose joy and that is the best thing in the world :)

Good afternoon all! Brace yourself. Wall of text coming.

Laurie - I'm glad you like my imagery, hooker! ;) I'm glad you're having a 'normal' day... Those are the best days. The ones where staying on plan is easy and effortless and makes you wonder a bit why you felt like it was so hard in the first place. LOVE those days. Hoping I can get back to those soon. Today I feel like some kind of ravening beast stomping around going HEY IS THAT EDIBLE? YES? NOMNOMNOM. Ugh. I've kept it at bay for now, trying to get another hour in before I eat. I don't even feel hungry... no belly cramps, no feeling light headed. I just want to EAT. Because there's food. And because I'm home alone for a while. Hubby is home a lot during the day because his office is in the house, so I see him and it helps me stay focused. Kinda weird, but when he's out, I feel like I can be sneaky with the food and I have to really work hard not to eat just because nobody can see me. Leftover mental issues from growing up. I could never eat without some family member commenting about my weight, so it led me to hoarding snacks then binge eating in my room in the middle of the night.

Uber - YAY for on-plan days with no "chips" incidents! (Does that really refer to snacking on chips or is that a metaphor I'm unaware of? I missed so much the last couple weeks!)

Jenni - I have no way of relating to you, as I have no children or step children, let alone children with mental health issues such as your step daughter but I really hope you and your husband can work something out with her to everyone's satisfaction. Maybe her moving out will be the best for all involved, especially if she's messing with the younger kiddos.

Diane - I used to be so hooked on energy drinks. But I was hooked on the really bad ones. I was drinking Monster. Every day. 2-3 cans. Plus Mountain Dew, and coffee. It's no wonder I gained a lot of weight... but it is a wonder my heart didn't explode right out of my chest. The withdrawal from caffeine was the hardest, but I managed it, and am now content with 1-2 cups of coffee in the morning. Going off of caffeine for a year did WONDERS for my ability to sleep at night and I can now get a decent jolt from a single cup or a sugar-free energy drink mix (like crystal light) but oooh man those headaches at first, they were killer.

And for me...

Looks like it's gonna be another make a list and post like crazy day. I was going to wait until Friday to weigh, just to keep myself from getting discouraged. But I couldn't wait, I HAD to know, and it looks like my determination yesterday paid off, because the scale said 289.2 instead of anything in the 290s, which is great, because I'm so happy to be out of the 290s and I don't want to see it on the scale anymore.

I only got in about half of my exercise video yesterday, because my left leg (ankle, knee and hip!) all started bothering me and I think it's because when I did that 5k walk on Saturday, my right ankle (the one with the partially torn ligament) was flaring up, so I definitely over compensated with my left leg and now it's protesting. If my legs are cooperating this evening, I'll try it again.

Food wise, I think I did okay. I definitely didn't do what I set out to do, but I did manage to keep calories fairly low for me (1400)... I did cave and eat half of a bakery fresh brownie with peanut butter frosting, but the important thing here is I hate HALF, and gave the rest to my husband! I used a Walmart bakery calorie estimate for the brownie, so I hope I was close!

I wrote my list out last night, and got some of it done already! YAY!

Goals for today:
My goals are going to have me going up and down the stairs a bunch, as well as carting some heavy things around. That should help with calorie burn! And the last one might seem a little strange, but since he started with this church here, he's always getting a phone call or a text message or having to run over there and then there was the viewing/funeral and everything that went with it yesterday and over the weekend, so we're gonna have a bit of a date night, if I can arrange it! Dinner and a movie at home, sounds good.

Also, I'm really hoping to see that big ol' "starting over" water drop this week, as I intentionally focus on getting enough water, and limiting my sodium to below 1800mg/day

Mandy I just wanted to tell you that I really relate to this and it's so hard! I grew up in a house where my mom was SUPER controlling about food and I also developed a habit of eating in secret. The whole binge in secret thing has been so ingrained in me that I feel like I actually developed a stress management system based on it. I could eat the exact same thing in front of my family and it wouldn't feel so"bingey" but what I like to do is hole up with a food stash. There's something I find incredibly soothing about wolfing down candy or sweets when nobody can see me. I'm 53 years old and so obviously I am far past worrying about whether my mom is the food police, but the habit took on a life of its own. I keep it under control most of the time, but it's still a go-to move when I get really over-the-top stressed. My "chip incident" was me adding about 400 calories to both saturday and sunday by eating Ruffles.... usually I can just eat one or two, but this weekend there was no stopping me...

Laurie Don't you love those days when staying on plan seems so effortless? I have a lot of those days, and it's helpful to remember that even though some days are hard many others will be easy. Nothing more stressful than kid issues, and I'm sure it must be even harder in blended families. Those late teen early adult years are just especially challenging-- it's so hard to parent them when they are itching for independence, yet not fully independent, and often in the throes of making bad choices.

Jenni Good for you for having strict cleaning rules. I have a tendency to do all the work myself and let my kids off the hook. My mom never made me do anything either, but I'm sure getting my turn now with 3 kids and two parents under my roof.

Diane Your story about the energy drinks is interesting. I have such a tendency to get hooked on certain things-- for a while I used to get through every single day by chewing wads of Stride gum. I also love that people notice what a healthy lifestyle you have.


So, I'm doing okay over here. I saw 252 on the scale this morning, but stepped on it again and it said 253. I realized that I'm totally overdue for a whoosh and hopefully that whoosh will whoosh me straight out of the 250s which I'm entirely sick of. It has been horribly hot here and we don't have air so everyone has been irritable although for some reason it hasn't taken away my appetite, LOL.

Uber, fantastic! So happy you didn't have any more chip incidents. Keep up all your hard work and I know you're gonna get the whoosh soon.

Laurie, we all knew you could do it. Now to just string a few more days along until it becomes old hat again. :) Keep chuggin' cause you're going to get through the rest of the day just fine as long as you keep that mentality about why you're doing it in the forefront of your mind. Nothing is a better motivator than reminding yourself how much better you feel when you're living a healthy lifestyle.

Jenni, so sorry about your stepdaughter situation. :(

Diane, lol. I don't drink a lot of anything but water so on the rare occasions that I have coffee or a soda at work to combat exhaustion, I get similar responses.

Mandy, crossing things off lists is always crazy fun. I think that's part of the reason I like to keep so many on-going goal lists for the weight loss/health front. Every time I get to cross one off, it only renews my passion for getting healthy. :)


So I decided to give myself the 203 today. Because the scale doesn't weigh in tenths, I can't be 100% sure that it's not somewhere between 203 & 204, but I'm going to let myself embrace the 203 that I saw. A few tenths of a pound isn't something to let myself get hung up on. I've been working so hard and I deserve to be proud of myself. <3

Additionally, I've spent a lot of time going back and forth about what I want to update my New Year's goal to. Originally, my goal was Onederland. Clearly, I'm going to hit that before New Year's so I need to give myself something to keep working toward. It was weird thinking about it because I've never been this close 199 before to have to seriously consider what I want to work toward next. So I did the math and even if I only lose 1-lb a week, I can be down to 188 by New Years.... With that close, I decided that I'm going to aim for 185 - a weight that will take me out of "obese" and into an "overweight" bmi.

Here's to aiming for 185.

I'm down here on my computer again.

Checking off my list, and reading lots of stuff because I want to be upstairs eating. I've got my food planned out, and it's plenty of food, and I WILL NOT allow myself to go off plan because I'm a little bit miserable. I hate these first days. They are insane. Gotta ignore the devil on my shoulder whispering in my ear that there's a brand new bag of sour cream and onion chips, not even opened, in the kitchen, and listen to the angel on the other shoulder telling me that my ankle seems to be doing well and that I should work on one of my fitness videos. UGH. That would be why there is an angel and a devil around my name in my siggy... one tells me to eat, the other tells me to workout.

The plumber has been here, and gone. He had to replace a seal on the toilet in the master bathroom because it was leaking all over the place. Now I just need to wait until it dries and scrub the heck out of it, because it only leaked when it flushed which kiiiiinda makes me feel like it's pee and poo water that's dripped in the basement (the unfinished side, not the super nice finished area where I'm sitting).

I've been up and down the stairs like 10 times today so far, carting things about. So hopefully that's doing something helpful to my system! I'm also halfway through my water goal for the day, and need to get going on the rest of them if I don't want to be up peeing all night. But since the plumber was here, I can just get out of bed, walk a few steps, sit down and pee... instead of getting out of bed walking down the hall, and then using the bathroom.

And since I am flooding you guys with completely unnecessary and unhelpful walls of text, I will leave you with a pretty picture of my kitties, and of the moon rising over my back yard after we first got here. :)

http://i59.tinypic.com/1433z13.jpg

http://i58.tinypic.com/sg0k9f.jpg

So weird thought I am sitting here wondering why does our bodies go through spells of dying hunger and other times I have to force myself to eat enough calories????

Jenni - I think part of it depends on what kind of calories you're eating. Fiber/fat/protein all take longer to digest, and carbs are absorbed pretty quickly. High carb days are always hungry days for me, whereas high protein days seem to be more satiating. Also, I think another part of it is mental. Are you really hungry? Or are you bored/emotional/hormonal? Are you really not hungry? Or are you super focused on the next lower number on the scale? Big factors for me, both of them.

Uber - I know a lot of people on these forums can relate to that hoarding snacks and eating in secret... because, emotions. It's a poor relationship with food, and ever since I moved out on my own I've been trying to reconcile it with real life. It's no way to live feeling like every bite you eat in public is being judged, when in reality nobody really cares. They're too busy in their own world of insecurities to notice. Or, you know, too busy taking instagram pictures of their own food to worry about what's on your plate. ;)

Jessica - I think that is a good goal. It's not *too* ambitious (read: not impossible), but it will definitely be a great way to bring in the new year! I'm still hoping I can hit 250 by New Years, but I will be super happy with 265. That's 25 pounds (ish) for me. It's 3.5 months... I think 40 is DOABLE, but not LIKELY. So I'll hope and pray and work hard, and see where I end up.

Annnd speaking of working hard... I got everything done on my list except the fitness video (boo!) plus some extra stuff I didn't plan on doing. This house is starting to look much more like home, rather than some building I happened to move into. I don't feel TOO bad about not doing the workout video. According to my FitBit, I climbed the stairs 14 times and where it syncs with MFP says I earned over 300 calories from exercise. I'm thinking I probably burned a little more since I was carrying boxes around, but I'm okay with where I ended up for today. Hopefully the scale will show me some love in the morning.

Bed time for me. Good night! :)

Jessica - When reading about all of your triumphs, I started thinking about my own geographic cure approach. A lot of people say that changing your environment doesn't change your life because "where ever you go, there you are." I disagree. I've been in some pretty toxic environments and I always, always feel better when I leave them. Sometimes I've made bad choices and jumped from the pan to the fire. Sometimes I've made better choices and turned my life around. Either way, lessons are learned. I'm glad you're moving away from what sounds like has been a pretty bad phase in your life (and that bad, bad environment with your ex).

Tefrey - Water weight loss. Fat weight loss. As long as the number on the scale goes down it's all good!

Diane - That is so remarkable. When you talk about losing 20-ish pounds in a few months, that's one thing. To be able to be down 80lb by the end of the year, though, puts a completely different spin on things. That and getting on the horse so elegantly are pretty awesome.

Laurie - I am so proud of you. I don't mean that in any sort of condescending, hierarchical, Martini-stamp-of-approval sort of way. I just know the amount of work it takes (in your head and otherwise) to recognize you're binging, **not** hide when you're in the middle of the struggle (this is so huge), and then ease your way back to being on plan. I don't know if you have the sort of myopia I do when it comes to looking at myself, but omg you wonderful, courageous woman. I'll tell you in case you can't see it. You've done wonderful, wonderful things these past few days. It's remarkable stuff to witness and I am so happy for and proud of you.

Uber - Hey, Über! What's up? :wave: If you're cooking for 6 that means you've got 6+ people in your home. That's pretty intense. Yes, I say this as a single woman who lives alone, but still. That can't be easy even if you like the people you're with.

Mandy - I think there's a lot of wisdom in breaking things down to their simplest components. Listing the things that you need to do and then going through that list is pretty awesome. And educational. It's making me rethink how much I get done on my days.

Jenni - Oh, man. I wish I could give you a hug or a pat on the back or something. That situation at home sucks. There are no two ways about it. It sucks and it sounds like you could use some more support. I spent a lot of time around addicts and alcoholics and what you're describing sounds like a variation of some of the things I've encountered. I found a lot of help by going to AlAnon meetings. I don't know if something like that exists for her condition/issues, but you might consider poking around to see if you find something. It doesn't change the crazy person, but those things are amazing for giving you the tools to deal with these awful situations without losing your own mind.

I'm still fine. Still on plan. The magnesium I started taking for PMS still seems to keep me in balance this time of the month so food cravings aren't as much of an issue at the moment. But they are an issue. I'll look at eyeshadow swatches to distract myself. Nothing overcomes fried chicken fantasies like the search for a nice beige-y taupe.

Hey everyone, I'm back from my Italian week away and it was an awesome, food-filled, hike-filled, fun fest! I've not yet weighed myself because I had a total of 13 hours flying so I would like to lose some of that air travel bloat before I drive myself insane on the scale. I'll know to stick the fork in and get on the scale when I've peed a river. Sorry for the TMI.

I haven't exactly read back all the pages I missed but I have read some and I'm so glad to reconnect with you all.

ubergirl: Yay on saying no to chips!

Ferafilia: I can't believe you're unpacking already! I mean brownie points of life! I'm still living out of a suitcase from my New Year's vacation. Admittedly that's partly because some of those clothes are now indecently tight but still. You're so super organized with this move, it's amazing. Maybe I need to start making lists too! Yay on the 280s!!!! WOooOOOOOTTTT!!!!!

LaurieDawn: It's awesome when it feels reasonable and "normal" to be on plan as opposed to an uphill climb! Yayyy! I hope the trend continues for you! Also yay on the scale cooperating earlier in the week.

jenjenangel007: I'm sorry about the situation with your step daughter. That's truely terrible and would drive even a saint to frustration. I'm praying for you and her and for that situation. Know that. :HUG: And please don't feel bad sharing what you're going through.

garnetrising: I step away for a few days and you're practically in Onederland!!! :carrot: :carrot: You're awesome. Well done on all your hard work and yay on the 203!!!

martini: Yay on being on plan! Well done you!

I will do a weigh in at some point this week. It's been tough to stay on plan since I got back. I'm not eating over, but probably 1800-1900 which for me is pretty much maintenance so not at all helpful. I'm also not yet back to exercising regularly which I had JUST gotten into right before I left. But enough is enough. Today is the day. I'm doing alright with calories at about 520 for the day at 2.30pm and I could work out today. So if I'm doing a to-do list,

1.) Stay under 1300 cals for the day
2.) Exercise to a work out video

I hope you guys are all doing okay today and wish you all an amazing day!!

Toasted!!! I'm so happy you're back!!!!

:coffee: Hi all!
I've been thinking about "Carter" lately, wondering how she is doing, so I'm adding the coffee drinker she always had on her posts each day. For those who don't know her, I believe she was the one who originally started this thread.

Went to Spin today. This is really the day that I normally run/walk on the treadmill, but I just wasn't up for it today, so went to spin. I felt pretty sore from Body Pump yesterday, so just didn't want to do running. Rebellion. :)

Toasted: Glad to see you back on here! You're smart to wait to weigh. I'm sure there's lots of retainage from flying.

Martini: Mmm. Fried chicken! :)

Mandy: Yay for the 280's! And awesome job on completing your lists! You're doing so well!

Jessica: Good goal, going for getting out of obese status! That will be so great!

Uber: Oh boy, I have that problem, too. When it is just me at home, I don't make as good of choices as I do when everyone else is there. It is like a free splurge night. I don't have a lot of times when I am home alone for dinner, but it is something I need to work on. Keep my focus when I am alone!

Jenni: Yeah, that's the thing. We worry about the kids so much because we really want what is best for them and we hate to see them either making bad choices, or living in such a way that you know will cause them pain. Tough stuff!

LaurieDawn: Glad you are on plannish!! Awesome! Enjoy that feeling!

Mandy So true about the secret eating! I might add that for myself, I really don't even care if people see me eating anymore. The reasons behind the behavior are long since gone, but I'm still stuck with the behavior. I'm trying really hard to change it. I LOVE the picture of the moon over your backyard, and I think your goal is totally reasonable! And climbing the stairs 14 times? Now THAT is a workout!

Jessica Yes, I think you can make it into the overweight range! Absolutely! I'm 5'8" so I hit the overweight range at 196 and I can tell you than once you hit the overweight range especially if you are fit, you really look and feel "normal". You are absolutely zipping along!!!

Jenni I have the exact same problem that you have. Sometimes I'm so hungry I can't stand it and other times I really don't care about eating. (I also have a 3rd state, the worst, when I'm not actually hungry but I'm desperately craving to put something in my mouth.) I hear people say all the time that they can lose well without ever being hungry, but for me, sadly, if I want to lose more than a few pounds a month I have to be hungry a lot of the time. So depressing.

As for me, the scale said 253.4, so the drop to 252 that I thought I saw yesterday did not stick. After being stuck for an entire month, I'm stuck again, and I have to admit to myself that I'm going to have to go lower and tighter on calories or accept losing at this super slow pace. I'm really undecided about which way to go. Losing super slow gets boring because the scale just sticks for long periods of time. On the other hand, it's not as difficult. I don't constantly feel like I'm teetering on a high wire about to fall into a horrible binge and never recover.

What I'm doing this time that is different is that I'm allowing myself to be moderately slack-- success without Kryptonite.

I'm thinking maybe the best approach for me is to calorie cycle. Drop down lower and get super tight with my calories when I'm sick of being stuck and loosen up a little when I'm sick of not eating.

Already, I only eat lunch and dinner (steamed milk with my coffee for breakfast) and my lunch is pretty much always very moderate, so the only play comes into dinner...

So, two approaches: 1. very tight calories (if I'm logging around 1000 that's when the scale consistently moves-- my calorie counting is probably not perfectly precise so I figure that logging 1000 probably keeps me somewhere in the 900 to 1200 range.)
2. stick to my three meals a day, coffee and milk for breakfast, lunch, dinner, no snacks. Try to make healthy choices for dinner but pretty much eat what everyone else eats, average around 1300 logged calories with the occasional meal (2-3x a month) going a good bit over. Since May 30th, I've dropped from 285 to 253, and that is including a full week of significant overeating while I was on vacation.

So, I'm just wondering, if you chickies have any advice for me.

Oh my goodness. I just pressed send and suddenly there were posts from Martini, Toasted and Diane that I didn't see. Did we actually all Ninja each other? Good this gives me an excuse to come back and post some more later.

Diane Actually the person who originally started this thread was me.http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/100-...off-again.html Can you believe it? Obviously I did not stick with it!!! I just did a search and I started it on Jan 21, 2012. That is the day that I first stepped on the scale after my regain. I was so upset because my last recorded weight on fit day, five months earlier, had been in the 190s. Obviously, I didn't stick with it, but it makes me happy to know that right now, I do weigh less than I did then. I think I do remember Carter. Just goes to show that if you keep on chugging eventually it will work.

Mandy....Love the pictures!!! That moon wow!!! Your kitties are so pretty. I have a maine coone...I also have a shih Tzu puppy...who is a terror...LOL I still haven't figured out how to post pics... Thanks for the words of encouragement!!!! I think your right with the food...its just weird and hard at times!

Laurie...glad your scale is going down!!!!

Martini...thank you....I have been dealing with this for over 5 years now...its just sometimes are much harder. When I witness her putting her hands on my little's ...well lets just say I have to cool down or I would be in jail. Who can't trust a 18 year old to watch kids for a couple hours??? Me me! anyway I just am taking one day at a time and focusing on her graduating!!!

Toasted...thank you for the kind words!!!! And writing down a plan is a great way to start and focus...one day at a time!!!!

Diane...still love reading about spin!!! And looks like I am right there with you hanging on to the 230's...so done with this decade!

Uber...I am glad I am not the only one with this problem. I am on a carb cycle calorie cycle plan...looks like this:

Monday LC 1200 cals
Tuesday LC 1200 cals
Wed HC 1500 cals
Thurs LC 1200 cals
Friday LC 1200 cals
Satur HC 1500 cals
Sunday reward meal HC no more than 2400 cals

So you do 3-5 weeks like this and then do a week of all high carbs at 1300-1500 cals.

This is suppose to trick your body into guessing so it looses fat. I do stall at times but usually no for long.

I would try either a carb cycle or a calorie cycle to shock your body and see how it goes...that would be my advice :)

Jessica....great losses!!!!

Anyone I missed hope you are having a wonderful day!

Good afternoon all!

Martini - I'm a to-do list queen. I've gotten out of the habit recently with the move, but having gotten here and mostly settled, and with a large house to keep up with (well, much larger than our 2 bedroom apartment!) I need to make sure there are various cleaning things taken care of daily so I don't have to scrub the house down all in a day. Plus, there's always the possibility of drop in guests since so many people know where we live. Also, I love looking for eye shadows. My preference leans toward grays and greens. But, I must confess, my "girlie" side comes out most when it comes to my nails. Nail art videos on youtube can keep me distracted for a while.

Toasted - Welcome back! Your trip sounds like tons of fun. I've always wanted to visit Italy. I hope you took lots of pictures (and will maybe share one or two? So I can live vicariously?) The unpacking is actually almost done! I have several boxes of books that need unpacking, but I need to buy a book shelf first... then there's a couple boxes of decorative stuff, that I haven't decided where I'm going to set my trinkets and knick-knacks. But mostly it's done. :)

Diane - Thanks! :D I think I remember Carter from my previous incarnation on here. I've been thinking about Sandi. She popped in briefly, started our last thread, and then hasn't been back.

Uber - I wouldn't recommend going under 1200... That's pretty much the lowest you should be eating to keep your body going without medical supervision and regular blood testing (some blah blah I got from my doctor several years ago after I thought the best way to lose weight was starve myself and much on lettuce and celery when I was hungry, then take sleep aids to help me get to sleep because I was uncomfortably hungry). Are you exercising at all? Sometimes the physical activity is the bump we need to get things going again, because it helps create a deficit, and if you aren't weighing and measuring your food to count calories it's pretty easy to go way over, so just adding a 30 minute walk to your day would help with those possible underestimating calories and might get your scale moving again. Either that, or grab a food scale for things like meat and cheese (and other calorie-dense foods) to make sure your calorie logs are accurate. Once I got my food scale I realized I was actually eating a lot more calories than I thought. My weight loss this time around has been a lot more steady because of it (last time, it was a bit of a zig zag).

And for me...

I went to bed at 11:45 last night and didn't wake up this morning until 10:30! I must have been exhausted, but I feel wonderful today, so I guess I needed it.

This morning, I also found out why it has been so hard for me to get on track these last few days. Yep. Woke up to TOM arriving. I don't think I could have picked a worse time to get back on plan! :lol: I wasn't even paying attention to that calendar, because of the PCOS it's rarely right. But this month it was... which is also a good sign that my weight loss is helping out.

Hard as it was though, I did get back on plan, and the scale showed me 288.4 this morning.

I've made my list on paper today, so I don't bore you all with the details, but I've decided the first 4 are my health and fitness goals daily, and I will write them out until I make them a habit. (Water, food plan, exercise, and sleep).

Oh. And. I forgot to mention it (I can't believe I forgot to mention it)... but hubby and I bought furniture. Our own furniture. For the first time since we've been married we will have furniture that is OURS, and not generous hand-me-downs from family. We went out on Friday and found this set (sofa, loveseat, recliner) that was just perfect for our living room. It's a pretty basic design, and it's a "mocha" color (I think it's more like caramel, but whatevs) so it should fit in well should we decide to move in the future (please God, not any time soon). It's microfiber, cushion-y, and comfy. When we left the store I called my mom like "OH MY GOSH... do you know how much money we just spent?!" It was a bit surreal. We've never had the funds to do that before.

They'll be delivering it within the next week, hopefully.

Super exciting stuff!

Have a good day! :D

I'm so glad to be back. I'm determined I'm going to work out tonight however late I get home from work and being that it's 6.30pm and I'm still at work and facing AT LEAST a 90-minute commute, "however late" might be super late. I'm hovering around here to stay in that "make good decisions" mindset.

uber: I don't think 30 lbs in 3.5 months that included a vacation is bad and if you're still losing at a steady pace and retaining your sanity at the 1300-level that allows you that, I think go for it! I'm sure you already know everything "they" say about eating under the magical 1200 calorie mark so I won't get into that but rather trust that you best know what your body needs. Have you thought about doing some kind of 5:2 or 4:3 intermittent fasting plan? That way you can stick to 1300 or even 1500 days most of the week and then maybe have 2-3 500-700 calorie days a week. That way you're never deprived for too long and you have days of relative plenty and days of light eating. (The real plan has two 500 cal fast days and the rest of the week at maintenance calories but you seem to like to keep your calories low so...) I tried it out for a month last time I was on 3FC and it was great and I read a lot at the time about how it was actually a really ideal way to eat for the body systems etc. I actually think I might go back to that WOE, maybe starting next week. We'll see.

So update: I just finished my workout. I finally made myself do it at 11pm and whilst it wasn't particularly challenging, it suited the fact that I ate dinner not too long ago and am not quite ready to be bouncing around. I did the 10minute solutions Dance Off Fat Fast DVD. I looked ridiculous because I am super uncoordinated especially following choreography but I broke a sweat even if I wasn't exactly out of breath. I planned to do 2 of the 5 sets for a 20-minute workout- that's how I bribed myself into doing it. I ended up doing the whole 50-minute video with all 5 sets. I don't think I would necessarily do this video again... I'd much rather do Walk away the Palms than this if I'm not yet quite digested enough for a higher intensity workout.

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome back!

Ferafilia: I did that awful touristy thing where you take lots and lots of pics of sights and not enough of people or yourself at said sights. I 'll take a look tomorrow and find a couple to share.

Jenni I don't formally do a plan like yours but i do end up having some higher calorie days because I've eaten out or what have you. I never believed in the whole "shock your body into losing more" idea, but this is my second time in four years trying to lose almost 100 lbs (hence being a re loser) Last time, I kept my calories super low all the way down, but this time, I'm finding I can still lose even if I have some higher calorie days, and it does help me keep my sanity. Your situation with step-daughter sounds tough!

Mandy Well, I definitely don't think that I'm eating a lot more than I think I am. I weigh and measure and like most serious dieters, I have a lifetime of experience estimating portion sizes... but it's really hard to always know exactly how many calories your consuming. There is always a little bit of wiggle room, especially when you eat food that you didn't prepare. I find myself needing to guesstimate fairly often. I know from previous experience that I don't need a lot of calories and I lose very slowly. I think age has A LOT to do with it. I see younger people losing well on much higher calorie counts than what I eat-- the plus side is that I also don't get as hungry... Btw, CONGRATULATIONS on getting the furniture! That is so lovely! DH and I really never had enough money to buy furniture... we've brought other people's discards into the house, taken lots of hand-me-downs, picked up garage sale finds, and occasionally splurged on a piece from IKEA, but buying a matched set must be a REALLY great feeling!

Alright, ladies. So not weight related... I've never been the type to have man problems but I might just have them now.

There's Missouri/M. This is a guy from my past. Clearly I never got over him because I cut off all contact with him when I got married because he meant more to me than my soon to be ex husband. We started talking again back in March and it seemed really good for a while but back at the end of May he pulled away. Okay, whatever. Except I still think about him on a daily basis even though we didn't talk for a month - aside from occasional likes and comments back and forth on Facebook. Well, until I told him about the job offer today. But even that was a pretty short conversation...

Other is D. Mentioned him before... he is a guy at work who is clearly interested. The thing is, he's sweet, but I can't help but see him as a bit of a man child... and his work ethic infuriates me.

Now, I realize, there is a third guy. J. He is interesting, funny, can always make me laugh, might be interested.... we do a lot of flirting, but not sure about the level of seriousness. Also, he's about 12 years older than me. Not sure how I feel about him... but I know that when we worm together, I forget to think about M if that makes sense....


Until later... and then I almost feel guilty about flirting with someone other than M...

garnetrising: I think you almost officially qualify to put your Facebook relationship status as "it's complicated." I love it!!! #mankiller #InTheHotNellyFurtadoWayNotTheCreepySnappedWay You're probably not really looking for advice but my 2 cents is this: Regarding M. you can't make anyone prioritize you. Obviously last time, it didn't work out for a reason. Now, he's pulled away again. You can take the bull by the horns and ask what gives (not necessarily putting out the fact that you want him as relationship material but even just saying that as friends you're feeling the distancing act) OR you can just let it go as one of those things that is not meant to be. What I don't think you should do is keep letting him jerk you around and only talk to you when he feels like it. You deserve better and there is better out there (not that I've found it personally, but I've seen other people get it and we can too!). D-the manchild, does sound sweet, but you don't have to put him on the list of potentials just because he likes you, if you already don't feel the attraction. Now J is the intriguing prospect. My name starts with a J too so he already is the prize winner in my book. (I kid). But seriously, he's interesting, you're interested, you're not thinking about M with him, age is just a number and 12 years isn't so very dramatic unless you're like under 21... then it can be a little... y'kno... odd. Plus, also in J's favour, is that it seems he's in your area which removes the long distance aspect I'm sensing when you talk about M. Do you and M. have some sort of understanding even of the vague sort that you might be approaching exclusivity? If not, I don't think you should feel guilty. I think you should be open to the possibilities with J or if not him, someone else that makes you happy.

Yesterday was better food wise. Not as amazing as it could be but I ended up at 1340 calories which is at least 500-600 calories under maintenance so that's better than I've been doing. Today so far has been a snack pack of veggie straws (130 cals) which unfairly I think, aren't made off any actual veggies other than potato but ah well. I'm not sure yet what to eat for lunch as I was in a hurry leaving home this morning because I was already dramatically late for work, thus the veggie straws. I didn't bring my usual lunch from home so all the scary fast food options abound around me and I'm overwhelmed.

Mandy...what plan are you following??? It almost sounds like mine. Woohoooo for new furniture!!!! I love the smell of new furniture!

Martini...thank you that meant a lot. I have had to treat it that way in my head just to cope at times I don't know if she has a mental illness she really has not been diagnosed with anything. But I do know she gets really angry fast, jealous, frustrated, does not listen, does not take direction, talks bad about everyone, is very negative in general. It just makes me sad. We have worked and worked with her. Her brother has some issues but is polar opposite!!!!

Toasted...I am happy you are back as well....I love reading all your posts and input! And great job keeping on plan yesterday. For me it is a one day at a time deal. Some days are harder at times but it is so worth it when I get through that day and know I did a great job!

Jessica....Wooohooo for being a man magnate ....LOL....that has to feel so good in some ways! I agree with Toasted to a tee. I think M is not worth your time and not worth making you feel bad. You are beautiful inside and that is a rare gem these days! And if you are not interested in someone just make it known you want to be friends. and the older guy well my husband is almost 9 years older than me....I have seen no difference yet anyway LOL You go girl!!!!

Uber...I still wouldn't go under 1200 very long....when we deprive ourselves it is so much easier to gain it back...that is scarey to me. that is why I have chose to do a one day reward meal each week...I don't feel deprived and I feel like I can have what I have been craving....this would be so manageable when I get to my goal!

Diane...you keep rocking it as usually...Hey what part of Colorado are you from? We lived in Colorado Springs for a couple years.

Laurie...where are you????

Anyone else hope everything is going okay!

For me...I upgraded to the 20 pounds lost but just had to laugh because the scale showed me exactly 230 I mean really it couldn't just give me 229.8??????? That hooker is mean!

Jenni - I use MFP + FitBit and count calories... also Intermittent Fasting. Currently going lower than I should be, because I'm coming back from being much higher than I should be. My goal is 1600-1800/day with 200+ burned via exercise but I've been sticking to 1300-1400 the last couple days, because today and tomorrow are both going to be kinda high. Hubby requested a full on spaghetti dinner, complete with scratch made garlic bread. That means yeasty chewy 3+ hours to prepare bread is being made in my kitchen today. A weakness for me (http://comfortablefood.com/pull-apar...-garlic-knots/ <- could you resist that?!). And tomorrow is dinner with a couple members of the congregation. But mostly I stick to a 1600 (no exercise) to 1800 (-200 out via exercise - FitBit or HRM counted) calories per day.

Toasted - Is there a Subway nearby? You should be able to get a salad there, with all the toppings you'd get on a sandwich. If you go veggie with a little cheese, you should be able to avoid a ton of sodium, and if that's not a concern, you could get some grilled chicken thrown in for proteiny goodness. :) Most fast food places have salad options now, so you should be able to find something that's not a slab of fake meat on a super processed bun with a ton of condiments jacking up the calories. Good luck to you on that. I can't resist the draw of Arby's and their sandwiches. Mmm.

Jessica - I agree with Toasted, about the sweet manchild with the poor work ethic. If the only reason he makes the list is because he is interested, then he shouldn't be on the list. You shouldn't make "he is interested in me" a reason to be interested in him. If I were you, I might even take a break from serious romantic involvement for a while, at least until the mess with your ex is taken care of and completely done with (once he's actually an ex not a soon-to-be ex), and you've had time to mentally and emotionally adjust to life on your own as a single chick again. Flirt a little, test the waters, see what's out there, but don't feel like you have to attach yourself to a man again so quickly. But then again, what do I know? I was coming off of a horrible break up where a guy cheated on me (like, he spent the night with me one night, avoided me all the next day, then the day after that texted me that he "met someone else and it just feels right") and I absolutely hated men when I met the guy I married... SO, take it all with a little grain of salt. :)

Uber - If you are happier with your current weight loss plan, you should stick to it. You know it's working, because you've seen the results. Staying super low and strict all the way down will make it quicker, but you'll probably be miserable. So, you can be miserable, but not impatient... or a little impatient, but happier. I'd rather take a little longer and be happier (if impatient) on the way! Even on the days when I go lower than normal to balance out the high day that's coming, I still leave a little room for indulgence. Not like a 500 calorie huge dessert or anything, but maybe a 100 calorie ice cream sandwich or something. Something sweet that would be 'off limits' were I being super strict. Toasted mentioned the 5:2 plan, which might be something to look into. 5 days of slightly higher than "normal" foods, and 2 days (non consecutive) of fasting all day until a 500 calorie (ish) dinner). I generally do a 16:8 IF plan, which is 16 hour fast, followed by an 8 hour "eating" window, which for me, is set from about 2:30 to 10:30 and we go to bed around 11:30 or so. The only thing I have outside of my "window" is water and a cup of coffee. But you know yourself and what works, so hopefully you can find the sweet spot of calories in and calories out to make your weight loss work for you.

And now for me.

Scale this morning showed me 287.6, so down 0.8 from yesterday which is kind of shocking considering TOM is here. I wanted to hit 280 (50 pounds lost) by my birthday, which is in 3 weeks. I don't know that I'll make it, but we'll see what happens! Still hoping for a whoosh after TOM to make it more reasonable. :)

Also, because I'm super excited about the delivery tomorrow, this is what's coming. There's a recliner, too, but it's not in the picture. We're just getting the sofa, love seat and recliner, I'll find an area rug later to add some color to the room (Tan carpets, wood trim, off white walls).

http://i61.tinypic.com/2lk4sd4.jpg

Dang it! And saweet! I had a computer-free, work-free day yesterday, and then was in court all morning. I was going to quickly read through posts, write a quick reply, then come back and get more specific. But we have so many great posts from so many people that even the reading thing is not going to happen just yet. And probably not until tomorrow, as I'm trying to catch up from being away from work, and I only have my kids for a few more days, so it's not going to be an evening project.

I am still only somewhat on-plannish. I admit to sending my kids (17, 14, and 10) into Arby's by themselves for lunch yesterday because I knew I would be eating stray curly fries and that would most definitely set me up for a day of binges, and I just can't do that anymore. So, I stayed in my car and ate an on-plan lunch while they went inside. I also bought sugar-free gum for the movie. I didn't do great for dinner, but I did avoid another binge day, and I'll take that as a win. I am back at work today, which means it's much easier to be on plan until at least 5:30, and I will probably sneak away for a work-out this afternoon (if I plow through enough of my to-do list in the next few hours), so I will focus on what I can do to make the evening work for me.

And I am so proud of myself for stepping on the scale every day and posting almost every day of this struggling time. Even if I look at it as a new start, I have never "started" at 219. And I think it should be a lot easier to make it to Onederland with a 219 start than my 250 start in 2007 or my 278 start in 2012 or even my 240 start in July 2014. (Of course, I've "started" way too many times to count, but the first two of these represent losses of 75 or more pounds.)

Going to start running through my list as quickly as I can to make space for my afternoon gym time. Love this thread SO MUCH and can't wait to catch up with everyone. Welcome back from Italy, Toasted!

Laurie - It's great that you are staying mentally aware of everything, especially when you start backsliding. It's when we start telling ourselves that it's nothing, doesn't matter, everything's JUST FINE, and then a few months later we've noticed a pretty significant gain on the scale. Staying aware is a great way to keep it under control, long term. I'm wondering though, do you know what triggered your binge days, or did they just sneak up on you? I'm glad you're getting to a place where you're comfortably back on plan though! I think we found that cross walk. :) I might have to send you on ahead though :lol: after tonight's carb fest with spaghetti and garlic bread (I'm going to try to limit to a small portion of each, and a BIG salad, but I can't guarantee anything, that bread is amazing) and tomorrow's dinner with another family... But I'll do my best to keep up, especially after seeing the new low on the scale this morning.

I came back to share with you all a couple NSVs regarding clothes.

- This morning I went rushing up the stairs (and didn't get to the top out of breath!) and my pants LITERALLY fell down past my butt. I caught them on the way down. They would have hit the floor! I guess it's time to say good bye to my 24s, and start wearing my 22s. Which I did. Comfortably.

- I also managed to put on a bra that I absolutely adore (it's white with a black and teal zebra print, so cute) which I bought in Texas, then promptly got too fat to comfortably wear it. I've lost enough so that I'm able to hook it shut (in the middle loops!) and it isn't uncomfortable to wear.

Just going to jump out real quick and say I'm not in any way approaching a serious relationship with anyone. In some ways, it surprises me that I'm flirting at all when the divorce isn't legally done, but they I stop and realize that it's been something like 8 months since he dropped me off at my dad's and six months since I told him I wanted a divorce. Still, I have no desire for anything serious until after my divorce is put to bed and even then, I want the courtship, if you know what I mean. I let my ex completely cut out any of that sort of thing and don't want that to happen again. I'm just finding myself incredibly confused some days and I needed to express that confusion somewhere to someone who could help. You guys do that. <3

In M's defense, he's a slow mover and I've always known that. Not to mention he more or less had his heart broken last December/January by someone he'd been in a long-distance relationship with for several years. He went to visit the girl in Germany for Christmas to discover that he had a boyfriend he'd never mentioned. Now that's leading someone on.

... It's like they say about timing and chemistry. If you have chemistry, all you need is timing, but timing can be a b*tch. I don't know. I'm not looking to jump into any relationship right now, but it doesn't stop me from getting all emotionally turned around and I don't know why it is that I feel like I'm betraying M by flirting. Our mutual agreement right now is friends. I don't know if it speaks to how deep my feeling for M run or just how crazy I am.


Toasted, yay for keeping calories in check yesterday. Even if it wasn't absolutely what you wanted, it was still a good day as far as I'm concerned. :)

Jenni, CONGRATS! I'm so proud of you for hitting that 20 lb mark!

Mandy, ooooo purdy! Also, yay for the loss and SUPER YAY for the NSV victories. <3

Laurie, take pride in the fact that while dinner might not have been on point, you didn't let yourself have a binge day. So, as far as I'm concerned, you're still succeeding at stringing successful days together. :)

Hi everybody! I'm happy to report that I finally saw a drop this morning. Two pounds-- down to 251! That got me excited because I'm spitting distance to a new decade!!! I doubt I'll drop another pound by tomorrow, but it is funny as I mentioned that when I looked at my old weight loss log from 9/09, on the way down, I hit 250 on 9/19. And actually, I have two scales in my house-- one used to weigh me a pound heavier and now weighs me a pound lighter, and I was 250 on it this morning. Ten more pounds and I will have lost half my regain. I definitely heard all of you loud and clear-- my looser plan with slower loss but some opportunities to eat more from time to time seems to work okay, and just when I despair of every seeing scale movement again, it moves! I don't know why I go two weeks with no movement and then drop 2 pounds over night, but it still averages out to a pound a week, which isn't bad for a slow loser.

Mandy Salivating over the furniture! (which is pretty funny actually, as it looked even tastier than the yeasty bread!) And pants falling off? HOORAY!

Jessica Lots of good advice from the other ladies about the guy issues, but may I just say that it is obviously a GOOD problem to have!

Toasted Sounds like you are doing well and I ditto all your advice to Jessica!

Laurie Honestly, girl, if we can learn to binge a little and then stop, then we will be able to maintain a weight that we like in the long run. Getting off track is too easy to let it be a ride on the express train straight back to fat land! Thanks to this group, for the first time in my 53 years, I've had a few bad days here and there and still kept up the downward trend. I'm convinced that if we can master that one thing we will end up being thin ladies!!!!

Diane and Martini Hope you guys are both doing well!

So while I've lost a lot and I'm on the brink of entering Onederland for the first time ever, I find myself once again looking at some of my faults more than my successes. By which, I mean the belly fat. Whenever I mention it, I tend to get "toning and scuplting" from my brother's fiance. Yes I'm working on toning and sculpting but I still have extra belly fat on top of my muscles so you can see that sort of progress. I'm hitting one of those periods where I see inches coming off my arms/legs more than my gut and that's okay. But it can still try to undermine my pride in how far I've come.

So to see if it really is bigger or if it just feel bigger, I went and compared my inches to previous one. Turns out, it's almost exactly the same. And in the places where my measurements aren't the same, they're actually smaller. Now I didn't specifically measure my muffin top before, so I can't say whether or not it's huge in comparison to the past, but it was a nice reminder of how far I have come. I have lost 8.5 inches from my muffin top alone in the last three months. That's something to be nothing less than extremely proud of. <3

I have been having one of those weeks. I explained some with the step daughter....I feel some relief as they are with their grandma for a long weekend. But now we are going to see my husband and I feel all the pressure of getting things packed and making sure I have on plan foods. I am really freaking out. My life runs good when it is planned out to a tee. But it seems when something comes up I freak out. I also had a filling fall out and my mouth is in pain...now I am spilling all of this because why is it I know where every bad thing for me is in the house? Guess what there is one piece of ice cream cake my kids didn't finish staring at me in the freezer. There are a bowl full of candy bars that my husband bought last weekend laughing at me. There are fruit loops and apple jacks taunting me in the pantry....oh and there is ice cream left over from a birthday that gets my attention every dang time too! So what do I do.....I get a big garbage bag and throw it all away....even the cereal my kids eat....boy oh boy am I going to have angry kiddos tomorrow but you know what???? It made me feel oh so much better. Now I have to figure out how to plan good things when we have to eat out most the weekend! Rant over!

Jenni ((((hugs))))) Good for you for throwing it all away! I never have the guts to do that, but it is exactly the right thing to do! Why oh, why does food seem to taunt us sometimes, while it stays quiet at other times? I also do best when everything is just ticking along and I feel worse when things unexpected things come up-- but hang in there. You'll do just fine.

:coffee: Hi all!

Wow, just didn't have time to get on here yesterday. I am so glad it is Friday! It's just been crazy busy with 2 coworkers gone. Nothing much to say. I haven't weighed for awhile, and I didn't work out this morning. I had trouble with my legs cramping last night, so I just felt like I needed a break. So, instead, I came in early to work. Got a lot done! I'll go back to the gym tomorrow.

Jenni: I live near Grand Junction, CO, which is clear on the western side of Colorado, very near the Utah border. Love it here! Oh, I'm impressed that you were able to throw away all the bad, tempting food. I am not good at doing that, so I am impressed!

Uber: Sorry about not giving credit where credit is due!! You did a good job starting this thread. It was just so fitting for so many of us. Oh, and congrats on more weight gone!! You may want to reconsider changing much of anything. You're still losing at a pretty good pace, so you hate to mess that up!! But, it is totally your call, and we'll support you!

Jenni: Sorry you're having one of those weeks. I know how you feel when the structure is gone for a while. Hope it all goes well for you!

Jessica: Sounds like fun times with flirting! Timing is not always the way we think it should be, though. If something comes from any of these relationships, then so be it! Just enjoy the process! You deserve some fun.

Mandy: Love the furniture! It is so nice! I really could stand to get some new furniture, but for now, we'll keep the old stuff. Oh, and love the story on the way too big pants!! You are rockin it!

LaurieDawn: Enjoy your last few days with the kids! It sounds like you are still doing well keeping on plan, so good for you!

Toasted: Yep, fast food is frightening! It is hard to find something you can feel good about. But, it is just one day! Hang in there!

Laurie...great job on keeping on plan...you got this!

Mandy...wooohooo for the NSV's those are just as great as the scale movement. It's something to be VERY proud of!

Uber...thank you! and great job on the scale loss I hope it continues to drop for you to see an even bigger wooosh!!!!

Diane...I know where that is. We drove past there on our way to California one year. I love love Colorado it is so beautiful.....it is the only other place that I have lived that I truly miss!

Jessica....I think that is a true problem with women we always focus on the bad parts of us! You have the right attitude to just look at things as positive. I always tell myself if I focus on the negative everything is bad but if I focus on the positive than anything is possible. I LOVE the fact that anything is possible!!

Martini...hope all is well with you...

Lotusmama...toasted...and anyone I missed hope your day is awesome!

So let the drums roll.........229.6 I am hoping for a little more of a drop before weigh in tomorrow but we will see I am just happy for this. I am packing for the weekend and getting the girls stuff together and probably will try to do their hair to hold up for the morning....Do you all know how hard it is to do my girls hair???? They are mixed and my hubby is black...it takes hours sometimes!!! I love how beautiful it is but wow oh wow ....if I can figure out how to post pics I would love to share a picture of them and my puppy!

IT'S HERE! YAY!!!

http://i58.tinypic.com/33v2i6p.jpg

Super excited to have furniture that's OURS not "well, this was my parents and they don't want it anymore..." First thing in our marriage that we picked out together for our home. I LOVE it. :D

In other news. Even after my pasta and garlic bread affair last night, and TOM being annoying, the scale showed a little drop this morning to 287.2 :woohoo:

I don't have time for too much more, it's hubby's day off and we've got errands to run before going to dinner at someone's house.

<3 be back later!

I am becoming the worst poster. Which is unforgivable, given that I so regularly rely on this group to read and respond to my craziness. But if I don't make this quick, I won't have time to hit the gym, and my fledgling re-commitment to plan is way too vulnerable to skip the gym before pizza and movie night.

I was hard-core on plan yesterday. Finally. Woot! Not that I was perfect perfect, but my plan allows for a double-stuffed Oreo or two on occasion. =)

So I am down to 215.4 Still a good 9 pounds up from when I picked up my children from the airport, but 4 pounds down from the 219.6 I saw a few days ago. It is what it is.

I will be back this weekend for a proper post! Until then, so good to skim everyone's posts! And Diane, thanks for the reminder of Carter. I hope things are going well for her. She's one of my inspirations.

CONGRATS LAURIE! I know that you're still up from where you were, but you have got to be feeling so good about seeing that downward trend! Lady I am so proud of you and I can't wait for you to creep in behind me again. :D

Jenni, congrats are falling into the new decade! You're doing so awesome!


I had an incident at work last night that was a rude reminder of how deeply scars from my marriage still run. Two of my co-workers got into a disagreement with me and decided to essentially block off my only exit from receiving and one of them told me that I needed to listen to them. About that point, I pushed past them, more than willing to run either of them over if they didn't get out of my way. After one of the other guys came in and I talked to him, everything was more or less better. Like I'm not angry at the other guys or anything. They didn't really think about how the approach might come off. And the other girl said something about us all being equals. There is a yes and no factor to that. By which I mean they never would have approached any one else on freight in such an aggressive manner whether they meant to be aggressive or not. That aside, what really has been bothering me most about the whole thing is how much of a slap in the face it felt like it was by reminding me how much the bad incidents from my marriage are still there, just hiding beneath the surface. I felt like I was back in a house with my ex and I'll be d*mned if I'm going to go back to that place mentally.

In other, much happier news. I've been at 201 for two days now.... It's starting to feel real. The prospect of 199 by the end of September is still crazy, but it's close. <3

:dancer::dancer::dancer::dancer::dancer::dancer:

More good news from UBERLAND.

Dropped below 250 this morning!! Why it's even more awesome? You guys might remember that I checked my weight loss log from last time around back in September 2009 I sped through the entire 150s decade in just 19 days starting on September 1. I was wishing I could equal that but I figured it was unlikely... but this morning, Sept. 19, I hit 249.8, meaning that once again, I sped through the entire decade of the 250s in just 19 days. What makes it even better is that I did this using my "looser plan". I had one really over calorie weekend included in that 19 days! In other words, I'm achieving the elusive success without Kryptonite!! I really CAN'T wait to power through the 240s. I know from before that once I get into the 230s, I start to be able to wear nicer outfits, etc.

Laurie Obviously having the kids around threw a little monkey wrench into your otherwise awesome trajectory, but the awesome thing is that you are already heading back downward even though they're still here! You are doing awesome!

Mandy Congrats on the furniture, and on the drop! Sounds like you are settling right in without letting it detour you. Since my regain came along after a move, I realize how hard it can be to keep your groove through a lot of changes, but you are doing it!

Jenni :carrot::carrot::carrot::carrot: a new decade!!! Awesome!

Jessica 201:carrot::carrot::carrot::carrot::carrot: You are going to enter ONEDERLAND:carrot::carrot::carrot::carrot::carrot: But I'm afraid your story of what happened at work made my blood boil on your behalf. I'm really sorry that it brought up issues from your marriage-- that's hard. But honestly, they should not have treated you that way at all.

Jessica. Anyone you work with blocking off the only exit because you "need" to listen to them... You might consider filing a statement with human resources. Saying "this is inappropriate behavior" doesn't mean that it will change the person engaging in the behavior, but it does remind you that you're not some sort of passive thing upon which others can just dump whatever crap they want to dump. You weren't treated with any sort of dignity or respect and no one ever, ever deserves to have their humanity messed with.

Diane - I also liked Carter's posts. Lots of very good, very wise things in them. I'll join you in wishing her well.

Uber - Congratulations on getting into the 240s!!!! It's terrific news and a very, very well earned reward for all of your patience with the last two weeks!!!

Toasted - Wow. Long day, long commute, and you did the fitness dvd. And then you were under 1400 calories for the day. You are such an inspiration.

Jenni - :hug:

Mandy - You are doing so well!! That's wonderful!!! I mean the furniture is awesome, too, but the weight loss!! zomg!!!

Laurie - I'm so happy for you that you had a good on-plan day! Every day is a little bit better... until it isn't. If you stick with it long enough, though, the better days start coming again.

I wrote an earlier post that I deleted. I said I was tired and drained and on and on. It's Saturday morning here. I had some coffee and started puttering around and then I remembered that I tend to pull away from the world when things get tough. And they are tough. There's an issue at work and a family issue that are both just profoundly ugly - a sort of dirty, lose-faith-in-humanity, despairing ugly.

So by writing this I'm actually trying to do things differently. Rather than pull away I'm forcing myself to put that out there and say hello and keep in touch with my people who get where I'm at, fatness and ups and downs and all of the rest.

I had an off plan dinner last night. A sandwich and chips just made me happy. I expect to have an off plan weekend. I'm not in binge mode. I just need something that feels familiar and grounding at a moment where I'm not getting that sense from anywhere else. Or maybe this is an excuse to go off plan. Too early to say and I'm not particularly self aware at the moment.

What's surprising me is that the sandwich and chips didn't taste as good as I expected it to. I'll have an off plan dinner in the name of science to explore whether or not my taste buds are changing.

I hope all of you are doing well!!

Hi all I am just gaining information and getting myself ready to "battle" this weight off. I keep gaining and losing the same amount for the last 30 years. I am 60years old and want to stay healthy and off medications. I am considering going on IP but doing it myself as the $ doesn't seem to be worth a "coach" when I have all of you to speak with. Can anyone help with what salad dressings are "acceptable on this diet thanks I also am NOT techno savy so I hope I can find my way back here. LOL

Not sure why my profile says I'm a "junior" more like Senior.....
Newbie

mmmeaton - you might have better luck in the diet-specific forums as far what foods are okay for certain eating plans. I think there is a sub forum for Ideal Protein, and there's also a couple different low-carb diet sub forums as well. Good luck. :)

Just popping in to say I wandered over to the church rummage sale. Ended up buying a weight bench with 3 different bars, a complete set of plates, and a set of hand weights for $30. Awesome.

I get to start NROL again (I actually found my copy, shoved in with my husband's books. Apparently the friend I thought didn't give it back, gave it back to my husband and he didn't tell me. Therefore, she's not the hooker, HE is!) :D YAY!