Hi Laurie great to see you!!!

Oh bad weekend for me to much chocolate, booze and had a big steak meal last night so not looking good for weigh in tomorrow :( my own fault so onwards and upwards!!

My mother is driving me nuts, so have decided to keep her out of the loop with this whole weightloss thing. She puts way to much pressure on me to loose it fast, by now I know my body and if I'm honest I'm super stoked still to be trying after 6 months let alone to have lost 15kg - but no shes like 'you should have lost 30 by now' arg!!!! Slow and steady wins the race. Have put blinkers on and digging in my toes till I get to 99kg - I think I'll cry when I get there lol. Why can't my mother just butt out.

Anyway rant over, going to do my fast day today since I missed yesterday due to going out with my girls, back on the wagon all 235 pound, hormone ravaged, cold suffering me!

Hey my peoplezz!!!! So I disappeared for a couple of weeks. If intentions were posts, honestly guys, I'd have been on here multiple times a day posting... but procrastination and busyness and the bottomless pit of good intentions. It has NOT been a great 2 weeks plan wise. I FEEL like I've COMPLETELY gone of the rails off plan, last week especially. Looking at my food recording app, it hasn't been AS BAD as it feels, but guys, it has NOT been at all good. When I was last here, I'd made it down to the mid 170s in the 175 zone... I'm nervous to get on the scale to see where I am now... I'll do it tomorrow. I once read somewhere (probably Quora) that you're lightest on Wednesdays (not that that makes sense to me but still).... I need the encouragement. Not only have I been eating terribly, I can't get my exercise act together, I'm not sleeping well because I'm a stomach or side sleeper that's been sleeping sitting up because I'm having terrible self-inflicted digestive issues.... I need you guys because I've been a mess!

Okay so what's been good? Errr... Well I finally started Week 8 of C25K which means I'm on the penultimate week with 28-minute runs. Even though I'd been eating like a fool and hadn't run in 10 days, it went okay. On the other positive, I'm back on here with you guys instead of trying to figure out what to get for lunch on what's supposed to be a fast day. (Yesterday was my brother's birthday AND a public holiday for Easter Monday so Monday's fast day got pushed to today. #sigh). I'm feeling extra munchy and of course I am. I've become accustomed to eating larger than normal portions...

Okay now that the whining and self-recrimination is over, I can get to the more important things like:

Wordy: You're backk!!!! Yayyyy!!! And still rocking it even if you're nomadic. I've been thinking about you for weeks and hoping you were getting done with everything for your move finally! I admire you for always making the best of being on plan and holding it together even through your complicated move. It was only Easter and life and I fell apart and it does my spirit good to see you're still on it. I'm inspired! And hahahaha at dial up internet... At some of the places I travel to for work, I would actually do a Beyonce dance routine if they had 1 Mbps... I mean they may have ACTUAL dial up with the beeping and screeching and internet speeds in the 56 Kbps range! YES! In 2015!!!!

Diane: Heyyyy!!! I'm so glad the scale has been cooperating with you AND that you've been rocking out your workouts as always in spite of at times annoying habits of fellow exercisers. Did you do Week 9 of C25K yet? Are you done?

Kelly: I've been struggling too and then wallowing in the struggle as well but there's a time for everything and I agree now is the time for upwards and onwards. Let's get on it! 15kg in 6 months is magic and amazing, don't be told otherwise by anyone. Not everyone will understand or be able to be part of this journey and as lovely as it would be to have their support, it's not necessary so yeah #ByeFelicia at least when it comes to your weight loss journey. It's like my parents and I and politics... I adore them but we don't need to go there. I'm a huge believer in respecting parents etc but it doesn't mean there's always agreement and so I try to stay away from topics that will instigate either me or them to be annoying. I'm sure there are other ways you and your mom can bond. You're right to keep her out of the loop about this part of your life.

Skinnygirl: Hey, I think special occasions like Easter and having family visiting are always hard to eat around. But yay on your commitment and managing your lasagna temptation! I think 10k steps is an amazing goal/accomplishment at work. #TheEnvy And your meals last week sounded AMAZING! I'm drooling still!

Nagazim: Hello!! How goes Whole 30? I've heard people say they're doing it, but I'm not sure what it is? What does it entail?

Laurie: Heyyyy!!!! I'm so glad you're back too! I'm sorry about the life stress but I'm stoked you're here again and I'm going to be praying that everything sorts itself out with your life for the best and you are filled with peace. Eeeee about the 5ks in a couple of weeks. Well your best is always good enough. You've got 2 weeks to get to your best.

Mandy: How did the big reveal go??? Huge congratulations!!!


Okay so this has been good. I was about to chip some wood of my desk and start nibbling on it, I was that hungry (ok not really but almost) and now I've read back and caught up with you guys and been inspired and lifted and felt challenged to get my act together, so thank you! I feel so empowered and ready to take on the rest of my day and make good decisions. It's a fast day yes and there's some restriction, but it's not the end of the world and God-willing, not the last day I get to have a snack. It's good discipline training for tomorrow when I can eat more and yet hopefully not everything all at once. I hope everyone has an awesome day filled with a lot of joy and many blessings. Hugs guys!

Hello everyone!

The cat is out of the bag and the world knows about the bun in the oven. I no longer have a uterine secret.

We told the people at church on Easter Sunday during the breakfast between services, so we could catch the most people at one time. We decided to wait until after we got our food, though, because we wanted a chance to eat.

So, after we ate (and we were last through the line), hubby got up and asked for a microphone, and I sneaked off to the office... and while he was speechifying to the church folks, I was In the office posting the news to Facebook (and I did use that picture I shared before).

Hubby about gave the folks at the church a heart attack though. He started talking about pastors of the church, and how the history there has shown that sometimes pastors stay for a very long time, and other times pastors have a change in calling early on... Then told them that it's been about 7 months since we got here and he wanted to let them know that we had a change in calling, too. (He let that hang for a second, and there were a couple people that looked like they were about to cry thinking he was about to tell them he was leaving)... Then he continued with "Our calling to serve here has not changed, and we are not leaving... Our new calling is to be parents."

I'm pretty sure there was a standing ovation. They are crazy excited about the baby, and I felt like a broken record saying, "Thank you... I feel tired, but mostly fine... October 21st."

So, it went fairly well and the one person I thought would have mixed emotions about it (since my due date is right before her wedding... which hubby is supposed to officiate) seemed nothing but happy and excited for us. :)

It was a wonderful Easter!

Well, weight is up a pound. I'm thinking that the weekend was not good to me at all. I need to keep disciplined....

Still working out though, went to Body Pump this morning. I ran last night, but I felt pretty slow. Then, I was passed by an older guy, so yep I was going slow. Admittedly, he seemed to be in great shape. Just need to keep going forward.

Mandy: I'm sure that you had lots of happy people! They'll all be excited for you now! How fun.

Toasted: Yay! You're back! Good to see you! As for C25K, I am on the 9th week, but it is only one workout. I've been repeating it, so that hopefully I can be faster/better. It is the 5 minute warmup, 30 minute run, 5 minute cool down.

Wordy: I am sure it is hard to pass up the seafood. I would have a hard time with that. We have so little of it in Colorado and it is usually not so fresh, and quite expensive.

MissLoud: That's too bad about your mom. She needs to stay out of it!! My mom is usually supportive, so I'm lucky. Lately she has been talking like I am no longer working out. I don't know why she keeps saying stuff like, "it is ok if you aren't going as much as you were before." Um... I'm going more than before.... But she doesn't live here, so I guess she just assumes that I'm slacking?? Oh well. Just gotta keep concentrating on my own stuff. :)

SkinnyGirl: You do much better than I do with getting steps in during the day. I'm still in the office challenge here at work, and I usually end up having to walk after work, if I'm not on a running day.

Hello All,

I've been posting in one of the other boards for a while and just found this 100 pound club. Is this for people that have lost 100 pounds or trying to? I am down 86 pounds since last September with an ultimate goal of 136 (hope i make it!).

I am wishing everyone here the very best of luck to meet your goals!

https://mindstar.com/scratch/WL_2015_04_06_FULL_sm.jpg

Good to be back! Love catching up with people.

Diane - I am so excited that you're doing a 5K too! I have decided to move past the "wish I had been more diligent this last 5 or 6 weeks" to "I'm so glad I have a consistent commitment to my fitness, which has not translated into consistent effort, but has led to my not giving up." I only ran 1 miles yesterday (and only at 4.8 mph), but I think I can run 1.5 miles tomorrow. Combined with race-day adrenaline, I might be able to do the whole 5K. Or maybe I'll only do half of it. But it will get done regardless.

Skinnygirldreams - I love the functional fitness focus. The mile walk sounds lovely, and at least for me, would reduce the "want to eat everything" impulse I can get with lots and lots of good food around.

Kelly - Your mother is the worst! At least with the terribly unhelpful comments about weight. But you're moving forward. Woot on marching steadily to the 99kg goal!

Wordy - Oy! Routine is such a friend to me when I am trying to stay on plan. But you're making your non-routine routine work. Let us know how the fitness room is. Hopefully, it's a really nice one that isn't crowded.

Toasted! - Love reading your super-long posts! Your running despite your extended break (although 8 days is really more like a well-planned rest) is so good for me to read about. After all these years, you're still my running inspiration. I will use these two weeks to get to be my best. And it will be awesome. (Or at least 1000 times more awesome than whining and dropping out and feeling like a failure.)

Mandy - The big news is out to the real world! Such an exciting time! So happy to see that all is going well with the pregnancy, that you're feeling good about the weight thing, that your congregation is excited for you. And thrilled you decided to hang with us through it. Can't wait to see pics of the little guy. (I claim "guy" is a gender-neutral term.)

So - in my world. Had a few minor health issues. My back/neck sort of seized up for a couple of days. I could still manage to work from my standing desk, but when someone spoke to me, I had to turn from the trunk. This resulted in an aborted "restart" to the gym. I have had weird gynecological issues going on. I went to the doctor today (after a week of waiting for an appointment) and discovered that I have a prolapsed uterus. Yay. Six kids'll have that effect on people, I'm told. (Fair warning -- Do. Not. Google. Images.) But it's not serious. I wouldn't have noticed it even if I didn't use menstrual cups. However -- heavy lifting can make it worse. ARGH! So, rethinking my whole lifting plan. I don't want to overreact, but I don't want to underreact either. Of course, being overweight makes it worse too. =)

Life changes. And for the week I was randomly Googling symptoms, I was half-convinced I had cervical cancer. So the diagnosis is comparatively good. Just one of those things that I have to watch.

Wow Avalon thats impressive! Nice to see you.

Laurie so sorry you have been having body issues! Hmm Prolapsed uterus, things we go through for kids huh! Now I can remember them, as I grew up on a farm, will not google but I'm sure the remedy won't be the same as what we used on sheep - note it involved a safety pin of sewing with dental floss!!! Mandy you will be crossing your legs lol

Diane and skinnygirl you guys have inspired me to excercise more, I went on a 8km walk yesterday, and I'm feeling it today. Was nice to get out in the fresh air with just Hank the dog. And Skinnygirl nice to see a fellow knitter! My friends call me Nana because I knit and sew, but I find it so relaxing.

Mandy so exciting to be telling everyone your wonderful news. I actually miss being pregnant sometimes, its nice knowing they are tucked up in there safe and sound.

Toasted yay you're back! Ah the struggle fun times isn't it, lol I've started weighing in on a Wednesday!

Soo I put on a booze, chocolate and hormone induced 2 pounds this week, *sigh* I'm so over this number!!! Its a new week though so build a bridge I guess. I'm determined to get out of this rut, next week better be a big number or I shall take to my bed.

Right I need to put my 2 year olds socks on for the hundredth time today and sort tea, washing, dishwasher, and feed the kindy chickens. Drundge :(

Hey guys. So yesterday's fast day went... if not well, then not disastrous as days go. Okay it wasn't the "fastiest" but I stayed under 1200 calories so baby steps to getting back on top of things. I'll take it. I finally got on the scale today and would you know, I'm down 1 lb to 174.5... #shock But okay, I'm not complaining. Maybe there's something to be said for this Wednesday being one's lightest day thing. I also got up early enough to go running before work today so C25K W8D2 done so I'm feeling positive about day 2 back on plan.

Mandy: Whoop whooop!!!! It sounds like the big reveal went great. I'm glad everything went well and people were as excited as we are on here!

Diane: Yay on finishing C25K... My plan is also to hang out on week 9 running outdoors for a while and then maybe do the journey to 10k after that, although I don't know if I have the attention span to want to run longer than 30 minutes at a time. When are your races?

Avalon: Hey! Welcome!!! The 100-lb club I think is mainly for people who have/had 100-ish lbs or in that range of weight that they'd like to lose. So you're in the right place. Well done on all your success so far!

Laurie: OMgoodness!!! I actually googled. You can't say don't google... I googled and think I'm a little scarred... I'm soooo glad yours isn't serious but it must still be pretty uncomfortable and unpleasant to have things not be where they should be. Ooooh on the lifting restrictions this might place on your plan... That sucks but you're good at planning and I'm sure you'll figure something out.

Kelly: I think I'm more scarred by the safety pin-dental floss sheep remedy than I am by the google images... Eek. Yay 8-km walk!!! Booo the bad week but all the better to fuel the bridge building to have a good next Wednesday!

Alright guys, I need to get back to work. I hope you all have a great, blessed day.

Thanks all! It's been a long road.

Good morning!

Avalon's great graphic inspired me to just quickly look at the progress of so many of us. We're all still struggling with this, but wow. We're all still in the fight! From Toasted's 100-pound loss to more modest, but still significant, losses, we have all been fighting for a long time.

Yesterday's diagnosis, with its "Those things you have been doing to improve your health -- like using a standing desk and heavy lifting -- might have contributed to a health issue" element, was discouraging. But then I remember Diane's hunting story, Mandy's triumphs with Leslie, Toasted's descriptions of defying even the trainers with her treadmill prowess, Wordy's successes staying on plan even in nomadic circumstances, Kelly's consistency despite young children and a nagging mother. And that's just the people on this page.

I plan on living another fifty or sixty years. I want to make those good years. But as I age, things will happen that I don't want or expect to happen. I can plan a heavy lifting program that doesn't include deadlifts. (I kinda hate them anyway.) I am (very, very slowly) learning to eat in a way that doesn't cause me pain, either physically or socially. I can get through the setbacks and get back on plan.

Avalon - "Long" is really the only way to describe this road. Long behind you. Long in front of you. And so exciting to see all your success!

Wordy - You're so balanced! Some breaded stuff here and there, but salads and gyms and determination are leading to success.

Toasted - I absolve myself of any guilt for Google scarring you received. My only obligation was to warn. =) You are now solidly in the 100+ pounds lost club. Again. I will join you there eventually!

Kelly - I just finished reading the Game of Thrones series. George R.R. Martin may be an American, but he writes very "British," and I love seeing some of the same expressions in your writing. "I shall take to my bed." So. Awesome. Yay for getting more exercise too! We're headed into spring, and you into fall (I believe), so it looks like outside weather for all of us for a bit! At least I hope so. It's actually cold and rainy here today, but I am looking forward to sunshine!

I am doing a Toasted here and have been working on this post off and on for about three hours. I just need to post. I've missed this place. I am not back to daily weighing (or even weighing at all), but I went to the doctor yesterday and had a clothed, mid-morning weigh-in of 213, so I am not terrified of the number I will see. It's still much higher than in recent months, but so much lower than it has been for the better part of the last 15 years or so.

Happy Wednesday, everyone!

Yay! Lots of activity on here again. Good to see!

I went to spin this morning. Didn't love it, but got a workout in. It was a different instructor and I think I'm in better condition than she was, so she was kind of dogging it for the whole class. We had lots of breaks. But, I tried to push my own workout and it was ok. Running tonight, even if the weather is looking kind of nasty. It might just be windy.

Laurie: Just want to say I'm glad that you are posting. It's great to see you. Sorry you have the issues going on right now, but I love your attitude! Just tweak everything, but keep going. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

Wordy: I'm sure that all of the travelling and staying in motels gets old. Good for you for keeping up with everything! Very challenging!! Hoping that you have a nice, updated facility to use soon.

Toasted: My 5K race is on 4/25. I'm not sure if I'll continue with any races, but I want to try one at least. I will keep running though. I'm going to try "MayMyRun" tonight. My cousin's daughter was talking about how great it is, so I'm going to try it. So, I'll either keep up with that, or move on to the 10K training app through C25K.

MissLoud: I completely understand what you mean by being tired of a number. I am so ready to break below 225! If I could just get to 224, I'd be at 70 pounds lost. But I seem to be hovering.... Hang in there. We'll get past these numbers at some point!!

Avalon: Welcome! I like your chart! You have made a lot of progress, and it is really impressive!

I'm so glad all of you are here! I lost 140lbs about 4 years ago and I've slowly regained a lot of it. I'm honestly too frightened to weigh myself because the self hatred that comes up is really overwhelming. I really struggle with binging when I come home from work and I've been feeling so so down about it. Today I had a good day and I'm grateful for it.

When I lost the weight I was in a program that basically told me that God was doing it for me. (I hope I don't offend anyone here) Unfortunately I went back to binging and then kept asking for help from unknown entity and help didn't come. But I've realized that it was that amazing placebo effect of believing that some magical entity was going to give me magickal powers to make me break my habit of overeating and if I could just use that placebo effect and realize that the power resides within me then I don't anything could stop me. So that's where I'm at. I'm thinking about starting a meetup group for people who struggle with food and overeating. :) I love the support y'all give one another.

Hugs

Good morning!

Diane - Can I just tell you how much I love that your struggle at Spin yesterday was because the instructor couldn't keep up with you enough to even challenge you? That's AWESOME.

Babette - Welcome! Losing 140 pounds is an incredible accomplishment. So is your good day yesterday and coming back here and developing a strategy to get control of your weight. String enough small successes together and the big successes follow, as you know. I stepped on the scale for the first time in a long time this morning (my "official scale" - I weighed at the doctor's office Tuesday). It was tough. But I know that it was a necessary step for me. Maybe it's not important for you? Maybe you can use other methods to measure progress and stay on track? If not, and it's important for you, I would encourage you to just get it done. I will save the rant about how unfortunate it is that we get so many "fat is shameful" messages that the scale inspires self-hatred, but I will ask you this: If you had known me at my highest weight, would you have hated me? Would you hate me now? Or would you have compassion for me, knowing that I am someone who struggles with weight, but is pretty fantastic in a lot of areas of my life? I suspect you would be compassionate toward me, even though we are strangers. You are every bit as deserving as that compassion as anyone else. Step on the scale, and I challenge you to respect and admire the woman brave enough to take that very challenging step on this lifelong journey to lifelong health.

I ran 1.3 miles straight yesterday, and finished out at 2.5 miles. I feel like I pushed myself a little harder than maybe was wise, as I didn't feel good for the entire evening, and even hard work-outs usually rejuvenate me. I want to actually run this 5K, and figured if I pushed myself a little harder every other day with rest days in between, I would increase my chances of completing the 5K. Who knows? I'm going to do an "active resting" day today, then see how I feel tomorrow. Regardless, I'm going to finish the 5K, and the focus on the training has helped curb my slide into consistently bad food and exercise choices.

On the bright side, my food is finally getting under control, and I was finally brave enough to step on the scale. 213.4. Up 24 from my lowest, which I believe was probably in December. But still 65 pounds down from my highest. But only about 10 pounds from being able to fit into the majority of my current wardrobe. =)

Have a fantastic day, everyone!

Well, interesting run day yesterday. I had been thinking about getting a different running program set up on my phone since I was done with C25K. My cousin’s daughter had said that she really liked MapMyRun, so I set that up and tried it out yesterday. Well…. reality check. With C25K, I was running based on time, not necessarily distance. And, that was good, it helped me increase my endurance. And I knew that I wasn’t running a 5K distance during that time, but I really thought I was going farther than what it turned out to be. With the MapMyRun, it uses GPS to determine how far you are going and how fast you are running. It also gives a calorie burn, based on your age/weight, etc. Anyway, I found out that I was only running slightly over 2 miles. So, I used the program to determine where I needed to continue running to, in order to get to 3+ miles. Wow. That was a long way. The good news is that I was able to do it. I was totally wiped out afterward, but I didn’t stop during the run. The bad news is that I am extremely slow in running. Now, I wasn’t discouraged, but it showed me that I have a long way to go yet. So, I was considering not running in the 5K race in two weeks. I was telling my husband this, and he told me that I needed to do it. His point is that there will be people who will be walking and no one is going to care how slow/fast anyone else is going. True that. So, I’m going to do it anyway. Just need to work on increasing my speed. I’m really surprised at how much I like running, so I want to keep with it. I think this new program will be helpful. The calorie burn was phenomenal!!!!!!!!! (Which is good after the 4 cookie "treat" I had after lunch yesterday... confession.)

Oh, and went to Body Pump this morning. Feeling very stiff today….

Laurie: Good job on your running and keeping food under control. And let me tell you, your inspirations that you are sending to Babette are spot on! Very well written! Did I tell you that I'm glad you are back???

Babette: Everything Laurie said was right! You were able to lose a tremendous amount of weight! That is awesome! But, like a lot of us, you regained. It's ok! It happened, you recognize it and now you can move forward. You can do it. Just take it one day at a time. God gives you the ability to take control and to start again. If you feel negativity sneaking in your thoughts, just come back here and post about it. We'll help you through. Then, soon you will be back on the road!!! You CAN do it!

Hey you guys and thanks for the positive feedback! I know I need to weigh myself and that it's important to be honest with myself about what I do to my body when I relieve my anxiety by eating food. I ate pretty normally today but yet I think I ate too many calories...sigh. I hate how calorically rich food is. Oh well. I didn't binge and that makes me happy. I don't believe in a God anymore but I am slowly learning about Buddhism and I love it. :)

I like to think that the power to change my life resides within me.