Well, went to Body Pump this morning. I could tell it had been a while since I was there. It just doesn't take long to lose your momentum on that! I felt like I did well with food yesterday, so that's good. May not be as good today and tomorrow, but we'll see how it goes. Back to body pump on Saturday, but nothing tomorrow.

Kind of excited to get started with plans for 2016. I have one idea already. I like having a goal that isn't weight related, so I know what I want to do this year. It's like what I did last year, riding the zip line. I'll save it to share later. :)

Laurie: Sounds like a good plan! I am hoping to put together different ideas for lunches, in particular. I need a guide so that I keep my calories down, so that's part of planning this weekend. We'll get it!

Nici: Sorry to hear about your foot! But congrats on the weight loss in December! Way to go!

Dread: Enjoy the gym! That's a great way to get things going in the right direction.

Happy New Year!! Onederland in 2016!!!!

Happy New Year, everyone!!!!! :D
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Aaaahh! It's 2016, y'all! I've got a feeling that this year is gonna be an especially great one. 2015 was the year that I proved to myself that if I want something bad enough, if I try just hard enough, I can accomplish anything. This is going to be the year I take that intensity and action from nursing school and pour it into all the other parts of my life that need that extra *oomph*.

So with that *oomph* in mind, I've been super productive today. The boyfriend straightened up our apartment while I deep-cleaned the bathroom (pretty much hosed the whole thing down with bleach and water), I studied burns and (most of) the endocrine system, and I've had a strawberry/banana/yogurt/orange juice smoothie and a lunch of chicken breast, spinach and pasta. Feeling pretty good right now, and we're going to be going to the gym in a few hours once lunch settles. I wanna do D1W1 of C25k and then come home to a health dinner (which may just be another helping of the spinach pasta from lunch).

Update: workout didn't happen, but sugar cookies did. On the upside, I only had two!

Nici: Congrats on ending 2015 on a high (low!) point! That's an incredible weight loss for the month, especially considering the whole holiday food thing. Hope your podiatrist appointment went well! Being able to wear sky-high heels is one of my non-scale related goals. Hope you enjoyed your drinks and snack. :D

Laurie: I need to get on the planning bandwagon! I keep thinking I can make good, healthy choices and it's so, SO, painfully obvious that I just can't.

Well, here we are in 2016. I did all of my updates for my charts/goals/etc. I realized two things... 1. I track everything, almost obsessively, when things are going well. Made my husband shake his head a little bit, too. 2. Last year wasn't a great year for weight loss for me. And that's ok. I see where things started to slip and I'm ready for the new year, to get the weight loss moving again. I'm getting food ready for the week, so I'm good to go, and everything is in place. Exercising hasn't been a problem, but I'll be getting back to running again and tracking more carefully.

As for my goals? I've got a few. I want to make it to onederland first, and then by the end of the year, I want to reach my goal weight shown in my signature. I don't think that it will be my final goal, but I want to make it there. It's been my goal for so many years, I can't even remember when I started thinking about it. However, I also noticed that I start having trouble losing by the end of the year. Probably holiday related, and after hunting season, I relax a lot. So, I want to hit it early. My goal is to lose 5 pounds per month until I reach it. 5 pounds per month should be doable. It won't be easy, but it should be doable. I'll have to work pretty hard to get it. Sometime in May, I think, I'll be reviewing my goals to make sure they are still good.

Other goals? To keep me on track with running, I'm going to run another 5K. Not that I love races, but it does keep me motivated to keep running. I don't know which one yet, but I'll be looking for some as the spring gets closer.

And, last... I am going to climb the Manitou Springs Incline, near Colorado Springs. (You can google it, if you want to see it.) It is a little less than one mile hike up an old cog railway, which means there are steps. In less than one mile, you go up over 2000 feet in elevation, so it is a steep hike. Then, there is another 3.5 mile hike back down a different, less steep trail. So, depending on how it works out, I'll do that either in the spring or fall. It is rated as a difficult hike, but it caught my attention, so I'm going to do it.

Weigh in tomorrow. Just a place to start!

Onederland in 2016!

So far, so good for 2016. I worked out for an hour yesterday at the gym, and my whole body is definitely feeling it today. Studied for a while, cleaned for a while...now making a healthy dinner of fish, brown rice and veggies. :)

Diane: Wow, those sound like some awesome goals! I especially like the inclusion of goals that aren't specifically weight-related, like climbing the incline!

Well, had my weigh in. Wasn't great, but I'm really trying to keep in perspective that it is a starting point only. Now, if it isn't great after today, it will be more troublesome. I am back on track and I need to see numbers go down.

Went to Spin today. The gym seemed busier, but the spin class was about the same group of people, so not too bad. I told myself to hit it hard, because of the crappy weigh in, so I put a lot of effort in. At one point, my heart was pounding so hard, it almost hurt. But you know? I found that I could increase my effort. That means I was slacking before, somewhat. I just need to keep my head in the game when I'm working out. So there you go. Learned something.

Dread: Good for you! Sounds like it is going well so far for you! I actually made my lunch today and it is healthy! Yay! Here we go!

UGH, I'm so sore. Worked out Saturday and Monday for an hour each at the gym, and even though it was just on cardio machines such as bike and elliptical, I was still going long and hard doing intervals. Fell asleep at 8pm right after a shower and dinner just because I was so tired from studying and working out all day. Weight spiked a little bit after the first workout, and then dropped 2lb after the second one. Not gonna worry about my weight spiking and dropping until next week...don't wanna psych myself out before I really get started.

NCLEX on Thursday! AAAHHHHHHH. Gonna finish studying today so I can relax tomorrow before the test (tomorrow is also job interview #2!).

Diane: It such a blessing and curse finding out you can go harder, isn't it? lol Congrats on the progress!

Nici: I hope your mom's husband is doing okay! Good job making it work even when the available options weren't the best. :)

Went to Body Pump today. It was a good workout, but I was feeling a little irritable (TOM is to blame, I think). There were more newbies there today. I know they are trying, but it gets so tiresome to have so many people around. The locker room was a little too busy for me, but that's what it will be for now. I can't imagine what it will be like trying to run tonight. I hope there is an open treadmill. Food was pretty good yesterday. Just trying to get back on track.

Nici: Glad to see you back. Sometimes things happen, and it takes us out of our comfort zone of food choices. I think you did pretty well! Hope you get some rest!

Dread: Feeling sore is good, right? :) Sounds like you've been doing well! Good luck with studying and the test!

So food was going well until the stress of the next two days set in...after which, I ate half a bag of puffy cheetos and a pint of rocky road ice cream, along with a small glass of Coke. UGH, I was doing so good. Now I'm studying more and chugging water to try and counteract at least SOME of the damage. Tomorrow is the interview, so I'm going to do minimal studying and I'll be going to the gym to workout tension in the afternoon. Need a good night's rest before the test Thursday.

I feel like a maniac. It's just like being back in school. /sigh

Diane: Haha, yeah, I'd rather be sore than not. And thanks! I need all the luck and good juju I can get right now ;)

Ok, went running last night. I've lost a little bit of the progress I had been making, but that's ok. I'll keep working on it so that I can be ready for the 5K. The gym was ridiculously busy last night. So crowded, but I found a treadmill. It made me a little crazy with all of the people around, and so loud, but I put in the headphones and tried to ignore it all.

Spin this morning was difficult! Some was being tired from running, but it was just a tough workout. Just keep plugging along. Still working on staying on track with food. I'm doing better than I was, just not perfect. I haven't checked the scale yet. I might take a peek on Friday.

Dread: Just forget the little slip up. Sometimes we just aren't perfect and need that little bit of stress eating. You have a lot going on, so you have to forgive yourself! Stay strong!

Had oral surgery Monday. Was really out of it yesterday. Trying to catch back up today. So this will be short.

Nici - I ordered a white Russian on NYE. It was AWFUL. Just thought you should know. =) (In all fairness, I am a complete newbie to alcohol, and I have never had coffee, so it's probably a delightful drink for most.)

That's all for today. Hope everyone has an incredible day! Will check back in tomorrow.

Went to body pump today. The gym seemed a little less hectic. I think that had to do with the snow we got overnight. I left early from home, but barely made it in time for the class. Oh boy. I am so much not a snow person. I just look forward to spring. I guess that might be a while yet! Body pump was good. We were going to do flys on the bench (chest workout). I normally use 10 lb dumbbells, but there weren't any left, so I went with the 15 lb ones. I knew I could do it, but I also felt like my arms were going to fall off once I was done. But, overall, good workout.

Still struggling with food plan. I wasn't too far off yesterday, but went a little high. Keep trying....

Nici: Boy, you do have a lot going on right now. I hope your foot is getting better. Living with a mini fridge and small microwave must be tough. I agree with what you said about not looking at past low weights. It is just so frustrating to do that. I know that I'm aggravated that I went up so much. I just hope I can stay out of the 230's at my next weigh in. I hope it goes down, but I've been feeling like I'm retaining water or something. I don't know if it is getting back to harder workouts, so retaining water for muscle repair? I know that it happens, but not excited about it. But really, what is the option? Just have to keep trying to do what is right. Such a battle!!

Laurie: Hope you are getting back to normal after the oral surgery. No fun for you! I'm not much of an alcohol person either, so I probably wouldn't like a white Russian either!! Ha!

Went running last night after work. It was much better than Tuesday, so I was happy. The gym wasn't quite as packed, and I felt a little stronger with my running. Today I went to spin class. It was a very good workout. We had a couple of woohoo girls acting up, but I guess they were having fun shouting out woohoo! I'll never be one of those girls, although there is nothing wrong with it. I'm more of a grunt/gasp type! Ha!

I'm going to go to Body Pump tomorrow and hopefully stay for Body Flow. I haven't done it for a while, so I'm sure it will be challenging.

Nici: Glad you dropped back down to the 30's. That's a plus! Hope you have a good workout!

I'm so tired! It's been a crazy couple of days. My interview was on Wednesday...I feel it went well, I could've played my strengths up a bit more, but we touched on all the major points and I feel like I came out looking like a pretty good choice for the position. Spent the rest of that day studying and went to bed that night feeling like I knew absolutely nothing about nursing lol. Took the NCLEX on Thursday. My test shut off at the 85 question minimum (which is good, but I've heard of people failing at 85 questions and people passing after the max of 205). Anyways, I find out my "unofficial results" tomorrow on the website, and I've been an anxious mess since yesterday. Went home and got drunk off wine after the test out of pure relief. Spent all day today cleaning my closet and then an hour at the gym on the elliptical and bike (I am SO SORE).

I read this book yesterday by Marie Kondo called The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up, and it's inspired a total apartment makeover for myself. It's so awesome! I got rid of about three garbage bags full of clothes today, and completely organized and rearranged my closet and dresser. Highly recommend! Gonna finish the rest of my apartment tomorrow and Sunday.

Cherry on top: my weight has stayed completely stable! Woohoo! All I can really ask for considering my stress level and eating habits from previously mentioned stress.

Diane: I'm not a woo-girl either. I'm a gasp/grunt/try desperately not to throw up or fall off the bike kind of girl! LOL

Nici: Good progress! And considering all the medical issues you and your family are facing, your progress is that much more impressive. :)

Laurie: Hope you're feeling better from your oral surgery!

Woke up this morning to half a pound lost, putting me at 261.6. Woohoo! Two hours till I get my results. UGH.

I Did It, I Passed, I'm A Nurse!!!!!!!!

Dread!!!!! Congratulations!!!!!!!!!

Not a great weigh in again for me. It is totally on me though. I went up, back into the 230's. I'm owning it though, and I recorded it. I don't really know why, but I had a really off plan weekend. I didn't go work out on Saturday because I was feeling really sore and honestly, just didn't want to face the crowds at the gym. But then, my food choices were unbelievably off. So, there... that's done.

Went to spin this morning, determined to get back to doing things right. I am also going to be diligent in recording my food this week, and I have to see a loss at next weigh in. I'm debating with myself to see if I want to start weighing every day for a while, just to try for more accountability. Might do that.

Nici: Congrats on getting the workout in! That's great! We'll get back on track this week together!!

The boyfriend took me out last night to celebrate my passing NCLEX, and consequently, I've been really, REALLY hungover all day today. There were margaritas and shots involved, along with chips and queso, and then tacos at the end of the night (along with today). Today's food has been tacos and a big ol' bottle of Coke (burns so good). I've refused to weigh myself the last two days because of all the bad choices, but I'm not all that worried about it to be honest. Just gotta get back on track.

And with that in mind, we're going to the grocery store tonight, where I can make some much, MUCH better choices food-wise. Gonna get my act back together tomorrow :)

Nici and Diane: sounds like all three of us made some iffy choices the last few days lol. Cheers to starting new and fresh again this week!

Good morning! I am all about the iffy choices lately! But you know what? It's only Tuesday. A whole week full of promise.

I only skimmed, and I promise I will get better at regular check-ins and responses now that the craze of the holidays are over. But AMANDA - WOO HOO! I am a little jealous that you got fairly immediate results. I remember the **** of waiting six weeks to find out if I passed the bar exam. =) But I also remember the HUGE relief. What a great accomplishment!

I forgot my gym bag today. I normally keep it in the car, but I had to wash the clothes. And I have some crazy days ahead, so today was really my best hope to escape in the afternoon for some gym time. So, I will just focus on good, relaxed food choices and clearing out some of this work.

Have a great day, everyone!

Ok, so new plan. Well, adding on to existing plan, I guess. I am going to weigh every day. I'll probably update my weight on MFP everyday because I like the graph they have on there. But I probably will only update 3FC and the paper journal I have once a week. I'll let you guys know what's going on, so that I can continue to stay accountable. I sometimes drive myself crazy with my "rules", but it is just how I am and it keeps me disciplined. I'm not one that can fly by the seat of my pants and be successful. I saw a loss this morning, so that was good. I had gone up 2.6, but I was down 1.6 this morning. Who knows what the fluctuation is. I'm just moving on.

Went to body pump this morning. Good workout. I also did well on calories yesterday, so that's a plus. One day at a time! I'm planning to go to the gym after work to run. It's so cold here today, I'll have to keep focused so that I go, rather than running home to my couch and blanket.

Nici: Good job on the workouts and keeping on track! And thanks for the positive attitude. That helps!

Laurie: Dang it! Too bad you have to wash the clothes! But, sounds like you'll do well anyway, even if you don't get to the gym.

Amanda: You deserve the celebration time! Now you can get back to good eating again!

Alright ladies...it sounds like we're out of our collective "iffy choices" slump and we're all getting right back on track! Congrats, team! lol

Went grocery shopping last night and bought a crap-ton of healthy, good foods for me to eat instead of junk food. By the time I got out of the store, it was late and the boyfriend didn't want to cook anymore, so we just got some fast food (womp womp). BUT TODAY! Today I ate a bowl of Cheerios and milk for breakfast with a banana, and I'm making a roast chicken in the crockpot to eat for dinner. It's seasoned with some butter, salt, pepper and poultry seasoning and I want to cut it up/shred it for dinner tonight and lunch tomorrow. Feeling pretty good about these choices so far. All my workout clothes were still dirty, so they're getting washed right now. As soon as they're done, off to the gym I go!

And to top it all off, I showed up on the Texas Board of Nursing website today! I'm an official nurse now, complete with my own license number! :D

Laurie: Haha, thanks girl. I legit just stared at my computer for like half an hour, reading and re-reading my results to make sure I wasn't hallucinating a "Pass" result. Then my best friend called me crying because she was so happy, and then I cried out of joy and just sheer relief LOL. If it wasn't for the online quick results and the online license registry, I would have to wait six weeks also! I can't even imagine!!

Nici: Way to break the cycle! Great job!!! You've totally got this! And super congrats on the new low for 2016 ;)

Diane: I'm the same about rules. I have to write them all down too, so they seem more real! MFP is great, but I've really only been using it for weigh tracking lately. I really need to start putting in my meals again. As a matter of fact, I think I'll do that now. :D

Ok, down another 1.2, so that took care of whatever happened over the weekend with the 2 pound gain... I must have been retaining water or something to make it jump like that. Who knows?! I'll never get this figured out, haha! I do think the daily weigh ins will help me for now. I am paying attention to it a lot more now. Or maybe, I hope, I'm turning the corner and am really back on track. One day at a time. I did well with calories yesterday.

I went running after work last night, even though the gym parking lot was packed. The treadmills were not completely full, so not a problem. It went much better last night. I finally felt like I could run without feeling like I was going to die. My husband thought that now I can see that even if I fall off a little bit, it isn't as hard to get it back as it was to get there in the first place. Maybe. Oh, and I went to spin this morning. Such a workout! Feeling good!

Nurse Dread: :) Congrats! What a great accomplishment! And now you are buying healthy food and cooking what sounds like a great chicken dinner! Yum. I do like MFP for keeping track of everything.

Nici: Good job on the workouts! And don't compare to others! Although I know what you mean. Last night, I was feeling pretty good about my run and had about 5 minutes left when this very tall, fit, lean, maybe 20 year old guy got on the treadmill next to me. He started running, way faster than me, but his stride was so incredible. He had these long legs and he made running look effortless. I kept looking over at him just because he was amazing to watch. So, I finished and took my short, choppy stride and went to stretch out. Ha!

Another quick check-in. I am off my gym game, and totally overwhelmed by work. But in a good way. Cuz I am being productive and feeling great about it.

Diane - Woot on the running improvement, and on the continuing consistency at the gym. I know that I say that a lot, but I never want to let it seem commonplace. Your level of commitment is definitely not commonplace.

Amanda - I had to print out the results and circle my name to convince myself that I had actually passed. Yay great food choices and prep! I need to get back there.

Nici - I LOVE "competing" with other gym goers. Not that I can win against most of the regulars, but I can "win" something -- even if it's just to push harder for 30 seconds. I find it very motivating to focus on the little victories, cuz it makes me try harder and feel good about myself, and that's what the gym is for.

Made bad food choices just now. And I had planned on coming on here and reporting that I was out of control. But I am glad I am here because I had to think it through. I am not really. I am just struggling to get to the gym, and ate cookies with lunch (and ate lunch, which I typically skip). I am not out of control. And things get better when I make good planned choices. So, for dinner, I will eat something reasonable. See? Easy peasy.

Have a great day, my peeps! And Diane, I LOVE that you're calling Amanda "Nurse Dread." If I read back, I would probably find out why. (Assuming it's more than the obvious - her new status as an "official" nurse and her username.) But regardless of why, it's just fricking awesome.

Bahahahahaha, I love my nickname, Diane! Laurie, you're exactly right, it's my "officialness" and my name is all lol. So far I've been called Nurse Dread, Nurse Panda, and Nurse Ratchet (LOL). I love it.

The chicken was amazing. Came out half between roasted and boiled, and sooooo delicious. I shredded it and we added it to some pasta, spinach and alfredo sauce for a quick dish. Went light on the sauce and pasta, and heavy on the spinach and chicken, so it came out to a decently healthy meal.

The scheduler position I interviewed for didn't work out, but I just got a call for an interview on Monday morning for a nursing position at an adult day care center! It's a Monday thru Friday, 8-5pm job; this probably means less pay, but the hours are to die for so I'm willing to make that trade.

Nici: I have a love/hate relationship with comparing myself to other gym-goers and "competing" with them. For instance, if a cute skinny chick gets on the elliptical next to me, I make it a point to stay on it longer than them. Makes me feel better about my workout. But when I go with my boyfriend? UGH. The guy freaking looks like a gazelle when he runs, it's ridiculous. I hate him the entire hour we're at the gym. Especially because he only goes when I go. :mad: I love him but he drives me crazy with his naturally in shape physique!!! Good job on making your workouts more efficient! ;)

Diane: Sounds like you got some awesome workouts in! Good job on the loss, even if it is just water weight. It sounds like you really are back on track, with watching your calories and getting gym time in!

Laurie: It's so hard to not see things as all-or-nothing and black-and-white, but I'm glad you realized it wasn't as bad as you originally thought it was! Planning your dinner is the first step to gently correcting course. There is absolutely nothing better than feeling productive!!

Went to Body Pump this morning. Good workout, but we didn't have our regular instructor. Evidently she'll be out for a couple of weeks due to an injury. That's too bad because I really like her. The other one that is filling in talks WAY too much. Oh well. I'm planning to go running tonight after work. Kind of looking forward to it this time. I am going out to lunch today, so need to try to keep it in check and then hopefully running will help burn a few! I saw another loss on the scale, down .8, so finally back to where I ended up at the end of December. Not sure why the increase happened, but at least that is gone. I do think that weighing in every day is helping. I do think about it when I'm wanting something extra.

Nurse Dread: I just like the "dread" part of your user name, so I'll keep using that! And, must honor the recent achievement! Had to laugh at what you said about competing with the cute, skinny chicks. They are the ones that I will beat. And honestly, it hasn't been hard most of the time. They must not want to sweat too much. :)

Laurie: I like what you said about reconsidering how far off plan you were. Sometimes if we aren't perfect, I think we tend to be just a little too hard on ourselves. So, way to go! Keep it in perspective. And you can comment on my working out anytime. It is the one thing that is going strong for me!!

Mind if I jump in here? I'm a regainer - used to post here faithfully 5 years ago but have fallen off the wagon. I lost 70 pounds but have regained 50 now. I've avoided posting here because I go through phases of not being very chatty or social (let's just say I'm a touch autistic, my son has been diagnosed and he didn't fall far from this tree) and feel guilty when I get "lurky".

Also, I am also named Diane and feel really inadequate exercise-wise when I see the other Diane's posts. I just use my elliptical in the basement and that's just boring compared to her posts! :)

Ugh, what a day. I'm a huge Harry Potter fan (HUGE), and Alan Rickman passing away hit me pretty hard in the childhood feels this morning.

Weight is all crazy today. I think I'm retaining water because of upcoming time-of-month and because I ate a chicken sandwich around 1:30am last night. Picked my friend up from the airport and hung out for a while...by the time I left for home, was overcome by the munchies and Jack in the Box was just calling to me! Resisted the urge to get a huge meal, and satiated the craving with a small chicken sandwich and a small curly fry. Not optimal, but not the absolute worst decision I could have made. So! Going to chug water, sweat it all out at the gym, and hope for the best. Not gonna weigh myself again until after my period is over next week. Getting mad at myself for things not completely in my control isn't going to help, so all I can do is work it out and make the best decisions possible until then. My goal is to be down into the 250's by the time I weigh again!

Diane-Slash: Congrats on getting back down!! And yeah, they don't tend to be all that hard to "beat." Not gonna lie, makes me feel good ;) And I'm pretty partial to my screen name too, I love that movie lol. Still loving my nickname! :D

Diane-kuchick: Welcome back and congrats on getting back on the wagon! I have several autistic people in my family, and I'm no stranger to being less than social. So glad you decided to come back!

Made the mistake of complaining to the boyfriend that even though it's only been two weeks of solid workouts, I still feel fat and like I haven't made any progress whatsoever. He then laughed and put me through a very intensive hour-long workout. My whole body hurts! We did a lot of floor work doing core, weights for the arms, and then elliptical/treadmill for the legs and cardio. I think we're going to pair up during our workouts more often from now on, because he said working out with me pushed him further as well.

Went running last night. It was pretty good. I didn't feel very good, just from something I ate, but thought I better go anyway. I'm glad I did. Then, went to spin today. It was a pretty good workout, but the instructor was a substitute, and she was distracted at best. So, pretty much had to motivate myself. The regular instructor is way better at keeping you on track and pushing harder. Still going to try to workout tomorrow, but we'll see how it goes. I know that one of the instructors will be out because of an injury. I'm sure they'll have someone fill in, so I just need to go. :) Stayed on plan fairly well yesterday, but I was up .8 this morning. I knew that can happen when you weigh every day, so I wasn't too freaked out. Hopefully it will come back off. I kind of wonder if running caused the increase, just because my legs were pretty tired/sore this morning. Oh well, no one really understands weight fluctuations!!

Kuchick: Welcome! Glad you posted. I can always go with "Slash" instead of Diane. I've always liked Slash from Guns & Roses, although that's not why my user name is slashnl. In fact, funny story... I dressed up as Slash for Halloween last year. Ha!

Nurse Dread: That might be a really good thing, to workout with the bf every once in a while. For me, that's why I do the classes rather than working out on my own. I have trouble keeping up the intensity when I'm by myself.

Ooooh, I'm so full (but it was sooooo worth it). Had a banana and some string cheese for breakfast and a fruit and yogurt shake for lunch - saved all my calories for the day for two delicious bowls of homemade spaghetti for dinner. It had ground beef, onions, garlic, mushrooms, all sorts of tomatoes and spices....OH, it was SO GOOD. I'm such a good cook lol. Even better is that because I held out all day, I'm comfortably full instead of feeling like bursting. It's a very nice, not-guilty feeling. So good.

Slash: I get the same kind of increase the day after a workout! I wonder if it has to do with the soreness and the lactic acid in the muscles? Or maybe the body retaining water because it lost so much sweating during the workout...hmm, I'll have to look this up lol.

Nici: Man, y'all's willpower is super impressive lol. I'm getting better, but it's one of my goals to be as strong as you guys are! And I loved him as Hans Gruber! He was so good at playing the bad guy. ;)

My goal is to lose just over 100lbs from my highest weight sooooo maybe this is the/a place for me??

I'm a bit of a chronic rebounder as well...

I generally make forward progress but it's like...seventy pounds off, thirty on, thirty off, fifteen on...back and forth....longer intervals of maintenance as I go on, though! So...focus on the positive and all that ****.

Currently (I mentioned this elsewhere, sorry for repeating if that's annoying), after getting down to 195 after years of being mid-to-high 200s, just before Christmas, I have regained up to 210ish and I'm having a hard time leveling out and getting back on track. January is always a drag for me, following the holidays. It's cold and dark and blahh. So it's all too easy to curl up in the warm with a pile of something stuffing and comforting, night after night. I really want to knock it off, though.

I'm dreadfully fearful of regaining all the way back up to 280. I have twice rebounded that far, or nearly, in the past ten years, and I just cannot do it to myself again. :s

On the flip side, I had not been below 200 since I was a teenager, and I'm still within range, and that is positive. Meh. I don't feel positive, tonight. lol.

PS: DreadPiratePanda - I was really affected by the death of Alan Rickman as well :/. I'm also a massive Harry Potter fan, and have always felt that Rickman was just a genuinely good person...69 is way too young. Mortality is balls.

OMG, I totally forgot to mention - there is an animal in the attic of my apartment and it SCRATCHED HOLES IN MY BEDROOM CEILING. UGGGHHHH, I was so freaked out! I heard these scratches and walked in just in time to see something poking holes in my ceiling. I screamed and my boyfriend ended up spraying the holes with wasp spray just to get whatever it was away from the area (literally the only anti-pest liquid/aerosol we have in the household). Maintenance came out today and looked around up there. They said it was building a nest by digging into the drywall and insulation (ergo the holes) and from what they could see, it was probably one of the feral cats that wander around our complex. A trap was set up in the area of the nest with some kitten food from my kitchen and they said to call whenever we hear a wild rumpus and crying from above us. Fingers crossed it happens during the day and not in the middle of the night. Right now we have duct tape covering the holes. /sigh

Bookmark: Welcome! You're absolutely welcome here! :) And going back up to 210, especially when you've come so far from 280, is definitely still within the "do-able" range. You're still so close!

Thanks! Yes, it helps to remember the big war rather than focusing on the most recent battle. I have come far. :)

I usually don't get to this site on the weekends very much, but keeping with accountability and discipline, I'm posting! I admit that I didn't go to workout today. I will get back to Saturday workouts, but for now, I felt like I needed to rest my legs some. I might go for a walk if it doesn't snow today, but no workout. I weighed in and lost .8. Again, not sure why the fluctuation, but whatever. I just want to keep on top of it. Food plan was on target yesterday, even with eating pizza last night, so I'm happy! I think I'm doing better.

Bookmark: Welcome! You are really close to going below 200, so that's great! There's a few of us with that goal for 2016. I know what you mean about fearing gaining the weight again. I put on some weight over Christmas... alarmingly fast... and it was an eye opener. Scary!

Nurse Dread: Yum! Sounds like an awesome dinner! I did the same thing yesterday, conserving calories to make room for pizza! Love it! Sorry about the animal issue! Hope that gets resolved soon.

Nici: Yeah, Myles and Slash sound great together. I would really like to see GnR get back together. They had some great music together. Sorry you are in a funk, but it sounds like you are also muscling through it. Way to keep going even when things aren't perfect! That's a good attitude.

Thanks, Slashnl.

I'm not entirely sure I have caught it, exactly, Nici....today has not gone as hoped. Well done on staying within calorie range. That's usually my bottom line...if things don't go exactly as planned or I have a few less healthy things, or even don't work out..I'm not allowed to beat myself up if I stay within a healthy calorie range. Not that I should beat myself up otherwise, but it happens.

Had a less-than-ideal calorie kind of day, but it wasn't anywhere near disastrous. Bowl of cereal and banana for breakfast, plate of leftover spaghetti for lunch, and a plate of beef tips and gravy and roasted red potatoes for dinner. Went over my calories and had a lot of sodium, but I also went to the gym for a while so I'm not feeling TOO guilty lol. Might have small bit of apples and spice cake for dessert, because my boyfriend is making it in the crockpot and the delicious smell is filling my apartment.

Slash: Rest all you need! With that loss, you're definitely doing something right ;)

Nici: UGH, sodium. So tasty, so water-retaining. The bane of my existence. That and cheese! lol

Bookmark: You got this! It usually just takes a minute to really get back in the swing of things. You can do it!

I can!

Maybe posting a plan for tomorrow will help.

Quick post before the Bronco game. Down today by 1.8. Weird. Well, hopefully it will be a good "official" weigh in tomorrow. No workout today.

So not weighing in every day really paid off for me! My previously achieved lowest weight for 2016 was 261.6, and I weighed in this morning at 261.2! This is after jumping up to 264lb earlier this week, which just makes it that much sweeter. I think I'm going to make weighing in on a weekly basis my new policy. :) So much less pressure!

Bookmark: I saw your plan post! I think it's a good idea, getting it laid out that way.

Nici: Boooo, my TOM is coming this week. I'm looking forward to the same great water retention :/ I've never had much luck with portion control, so this is seriously taking all of my will power available lol.

Slash: Congrats on the loss!!!