I wish things like protein bars worked for me. They are appetite increasers for me. I think it's because the sweeteners irritate my stomach and stomach irritation and hunger feel the same.

I've been having a meh week. Just a little more random than it should be and not getting my real work done in a timely manner.

Ennay: Sorry you're having a week like that. It's hard to work out of that funk, I know. Hang in there!

Not much going on with me. Just trying to keep disciplined. Always such a battle.

Ennay - Ugh. I don't use protein bars often, but I am grateful that I can have them for tricky situations. And I know how you feel about the bleh weeks. Hope yours is picking up.

Diane - So excited for you that the scale is moving! Hopefully, you can get into the groove where you are losing steadily, and the losing inspires the discipline.

I fell off the bandwagon yesterday, but I am back on today. I made great decisions on some days during the family reunion. Not great decisions on other days. I played kickball with the kids, went hiking up and down some pretty crazy hills, and then played some recreational volleyball for a few hours. And jacked up my knee on Saturday, which makes walking pretty difficult. If it doesn't feel better by tomorrow, I'm going to break down and go to the doctor. Ugh.

But, I am on track foodwise today. And abs are made in the kitchen, not the gym. Still, I am headed to the gym today to get back into my regular Tuesday / Thursday / Saturday strength training regiment post-vacation. Cuz if I concede the habit, I will find it difficult to start it again later. And I can bench press and maybe row and do some of the arm machines and ... and ... and ... I will figure it out when I get there. Cuz make no mistake. I cannot afford to just skip it.

Hope everyone is having a great start to the week!

Laurie: Good for you to keep going even with a sore knee! Sounds like you had quite the active day though. I hope it gets better for you soon and you don't have to go to the doctor. I'm glad that you're keeping on track with food! That's always a win!

I had a pretty good weigh in yesterday and made my mini goal. Barely, but I made it. So, I made another goal for next Monday. It is to lose 2 pounds this week. Might be hard to do, but I'm going to try. I need to get back below 230. Workouts are going well and I'll be running tonight. So far this week, my food is on plan. Even the weekend was better than usual... not perfect, but better. Just need to keep going!!

Diane - WOOT on making your mini-goal! And for closing in on being sub-230 again! AND for being such a beast in the gym and on your runs. AND for conquering your weekend-itis problem. Well, maybe not conquering, but making progress on it. Such great news to hear.

Had a good day foodwise yesterday and did hit the gym. My gym effort was not particularly impressive. I tried the elliptical, and stopped within two minutes or so. Then I hit the treadmill, and only lasted three or four minutes. Then, I biked at a slow rate for about 25 minutes until the knee seemed exhausted. I was going to just rest the knee, but got advice from a knee surgery patient to try to gently push it. My knee felt so. much. better when I was done. And then so much worse after letting it get cold in the car on the way home from the gym. But I feel great about the effort and maintaining the habit. If I hadn't been in the gym, there's a good chance I would have been in the fridge, so I am adding the calories I might have eaten to the paltry number of calories I burned and calling it a win!

Hope y'all have a great day!

Laurie: Good for you, keeping on track with the gym and food. Even if you can't do everything you want to do at the gym, you're still there and making progress. It reminds me of the sign on the door to my gym. "The hardest part is just showing up." So true!

Went running last night. It was pretty good, I feel like I'm slowly getting it back to what I was doing before. So hot in the gym, though. I was sweating like crazy. It has been kind of funny, there is this guy that always takes the treadmill next to mine. We never talk, and he does more of a high incline walk, but there he is, every time I go. I would be creeped out, but I think it is more that he wants to be next to someone who doesn't talk, and just works out.

I'm having a good week of staying on food plan. Today and tomorrow, I have business lunches. I'm hoping that there are good choices. I would so much rather not go, but I have to be nice to people........

Good afternoon!

I am half-a**ing it at the gym. But I am going. I can't find my FitBit, but I will put some real effort into finding it today. Just finished a major project, and am recovering from that and hoping to get reset into a strong calorie restriction / fitness effort again.

Diane - Glad to hear that the running is going well. Love hearing about your gym-almost-creeper. =) And it's awesome that you guys are so committed that you're both on a consistent schedule! And yay for staying on food plan. That's the most critical part, and can certainly be the hardest part. I am with you on always wanting to avoid business lunches. But, as you say, there are social and work responsibilities that center around food. Ugh.

Hope today is fantastic for you!

I think this thread would be perfect for me to join. I lost about 60 lbs about 4 years ago and I have gained 44 lbs of that back. I am ready to take control and get myself to goal and stay there.

Laurie: It may just be one of those "fake it till you make it" times for you and the gym. I really do think that if you keep going, the desire will return. But making sure that you are still there consistently is really good!!

Kate: Welcome! Yep, you fit in here! Unfortunately, we all know how it is to lose weight and then gain it back. We're all working on getting it off!!!

I didn't have a stellar weekend, but still had a loss. I know it would have been better if I would keep on track. So, hoping for better this week and into next weekend. Keep pushing, keep trying!!! Going running tonight, we'll see if my buddy is there. Ha!

I am on day 2 and right away I had to try to navigate through eating out. I did have some advance notice so I was able to eat light for most of the day.. I ot a mushroom sandwich with broccoli and stole some of my husbands fries. Not too bad.

What plan do all of you follow? The last 2 days I have been calorie counting.

Hi Kate.

What plan. Well. I primarily calorie count with a heavy lean towards (original) South Beach Diet as the basis of my food choices - more on the fruit, less on the starch and a little bit towards intermittent fasting (usually dont eat before noon). With a little bourbon thrown in for GI control (years of GI issues that seem only to respond to low doses of bourbon).

Kate: Yay for day 2! I do calorie counting, using myfitnesspal for logging food/calories/exercise. As long as I consistently log and don't "forget" to include stuff, I do pretty good with it. It isn't as good when I think I don't need to log, and I can just estimate what I'm eating.

Went running last night after work and then had a really tough spin class this morning. I need to be careful now not to overeat to make up for it. :)

Kate - It is fantastic to have you join us! I am a very loose calorie counter. By that, I mean I very rarely track a full day's worth of calories, but I sort of keep a running total in my head. If I get too off-track, though, I find that a day or two of strict calorie counting can pull me back. I really, really hate to track. I also do a bit of intermittent fasting. I rarely eat before noon, and I try to stop eating by 7:00. Exercise too.

Diane - Sounds like you are making good progress! Very glad you are finding the discipline for both food and exercise and getting good results. We could all do better, absolutely. And I'm willing to bet that you will continue to progress and do even better. But I am so excited for how well you're doing now! Hopefully, you're able to have a great day of nutrition to couple with your total bad-assery in your work-outs!

Ennay - I have occasional GI issues as well. Bourbon, huh? May have to give it a shot. =)

I had a really strong work-out yesterday. I ran for a minute -- not super impressive, but the first time that I have run since the knee-twisting incident and wanted to make sure that I wouldn't suffer repercussions from it. The walking/running was just my warm-up for the lifting, and I rocked it. Good advice, Diane. I definitely faked it for a while. And yesterday felt like I made it. Hopefully, I'll be able to maintain my groove for a bit.

I also had a business lunch with someone I had never met before. I was resolved just to find something on the menu that was reasonable, then act so absorbed in the discussion that I was unable to eat much of it. Yuck, though. But the bakery where we met for lunch had protein packs for sale as boxed lunches. Ham, cheese wedges, and a few almonds. And I bought it. She said, "I hope you bought that because you are saving room for dessert. They have excellent desserts here." And I just said, "I am really trying to be responsible about my calories," and made an off-hand comment about how difficult it was with the selection there. Cuz it's not a secret that I'm fat. And it's not a secret that most fat people are concerned about weight issues. And when I order dessert, I feel self-conscious anyway. And that was it. She said something about wanting to go low-carb after she gave birth, but there was no awkward weight-related conversation. We had an enjoyable lunch, I had the satisfaction of actually being able to eat what I purchased without getting off-track, and I was able to get the information I needed to make progress on my project.

Hope everyone is having a fantastic week!

ennay-I have never heard of using bourbon to control stomach issues. How did you discover that?

Slashnl-How did you get into running? Did you use a program?

LaurieDawn-Way to stick to your guns and keep on track. Eating out is tough.

Day 3 for me has gone pretty well. I almost (would have) caved a bit today when we had a drug rep lunch. I was going to get a roll, 150 calories of pure carb that I did not need. The only reason I did not get it is they ran out of food! I think that was “someone's” way of telling me I did not need it. I made a great lentil dish for dinner that was tasty, filling and pretty low calorie.

I was at a cast party and I just didn't feel like having wine and the host had a bottle of expensive bourbon. I hadn't had hard liquor in decades, but I decided to have some on the rocks. That night I actually had quite a bit - maybe 8-10 shots?, but spread out over many hours and sipped slowly.

Anyway I woke up the next morning and my stomach, which had been VERY bad the previous 2 weeks was better. A lot better. Better than it had been in months. I went and bought a bottle of the bourbon on a "I'll try anything" (7 years, many doctors, many tests, many remedies, no improvement) and started having a little on the rocks before bed.

Suddenly things improved rapidly. I did about every other night the first month, now I have some if I flare up or start to feel my hunger is abnormal. Abnormal hunger is something that I had not considered to be one of my GI symptoms before. I have just always been ravenously hungry my whole life. Always. I considered 2000 calories a day starvation level and 1200 calories a day ridiculous - that is barely more than a meal. After a week of the bourbon I was satisfied with normal size portions of food. Now if I feel my hunger can not logically be actual hunger, I will have a sip or two of the bourbon before bed.