Uber: Damn that scale!!! Ha! I think overall, you have a checkmark in the win column. The scale is the scale is the scale. It will do as it will. We just have to keep staying on the winning side as much as possible and never give up. Love that Uber's thoughts for the day included the non-scale victories. Sometimes it is so hard to remember that!!
Pacifica: Ditto to you on the scale! But hey, how awesome to have the empowering moment that YOU CAN DO THIS! I'm with you on the water issue too. I am golden during the week at my desk. Not so much at home....
Laurie: Congratulations!!!!! So proud of you and your 1/2 marathon. It is such a great accomplishment! I think your thoughts are not out of line. I think that when we picture ourselves doing something like this, we have in our minds just how perfect it will be and how good we'll feel. And the reality is that it is hard!!! I don't know if you'll ever want to do it again, but if you don't, that's ok! You know you did it with a very respectable time. It reminds me of when I did the Manitou Incline climb last year. I anticipated it forever and when I finally did it, I was in such pain when I was done, I couldn't believe it. I was actually mad about it for a long time. Now, a year later, I am thinking that I want to do it again. Now that I know what to expect, I want to be better prepared, and do it better, stronger, faster. Next year.
As for me, I had a talk with myself over the weekend, and I am back at it today. I went to spin and my hip was a little sore, but I don't care. It will go away at some point. But I need to keep going. And, I need to be back on track with food. No excuses, just dedication. I can't let my progress slip away. As I said to Laurie, I'm looking to hike the Manitou Incline again next year. And I want it to be better. I am not finished yet, why would I act like I am???? So, onward.
Well, almost onward. I really could not get on the scale this morning. I promise that I will get on it next Monday. I just want this week to solidify my commitment. Work is work, it will be busy. Cannot let it get in the way of being a better me.
My first week back and I'm down 1.4 pounds! Woo hoo! Anything over a pound is total bonus! I'm feeling really good about my "eat what you want in moderation" plan. Anything to keep me from snacking heavily and then totally losing control! Looking forward to a treat tomorrow.
Laurie - That's AMAZING about your run!!
PacificaBee - Woo hoo for being on track this weekend! Weekends are tough - that's a great accomplishment!
Ubergirl - I know that feeling so well...ugh. When that's happened to me, it's helped to actually go back and tally up my calories, to prove to myself that there's no physical way that I could've gained 'x' number of pounds. Usually it's just water retention from eating junk. I hope you have a better number soon! And I love your NSVs!
Slashnl - good for you, going to the gym when you didn't want to! I love that you're skipping the weigh ins right now. Truthfully, it's just ONE tool in our arsenal for losing weight. You're tracking your food, working out, doing all the right stuff...go back to the scale when you're ready. Sounds like you have a plan!
Dread - "BECAUSE I DON'T EAT IT EVERYDAY ANYMORE. It's a treat. I should enjoy it, and then go a tiny bit harder at the gym later. Even if it doesn't completely even out, it's okay because I don't do it all the time and it's the long-run that counts." This is so wise and something I am just sorting out for myself as well. It's good to see it reaffirmed here.
Lilion - Disaster House - oh yeah. Live there, live that. But I'm finding, what with the weight loss and the (too slow) start of Spring, and my (also slow) returning health that I'm more motivated to tackle long ignored projects. There is so much to do. And something need to be replaced/fixed (like I think it's time for a new hot water heater) and $$$ is always a factor. But there are so many projects long neglected that I can concentrate on other things and feel good about checking a couple things off the list.
Uber - so glad you are having an awesome scale week!!! That's always good motivation for more healthy eating and a bit of extra walking. I really recommend the fitbit. They are cheap (mine is a discontinued model which is why my 501c3 employer could afford to offer it to folks who have lasted here 15 years...). I really do find it motivating. Like Laurie says, it's a bit annoying now to exercise without the fitbit since I want the credit dammit. But it does help motivate me to move and that's the main thing. And I think your WLS compromise is elegant and excellent.
Welcome back PacificaBee! - i remember your name from the last time I (we) lost big time. This time we'll figure it out so we don't regain. And welcome back Frances too! I think coming back here and admitting "I regained" is cathartic and a healthy start. It's hard to admit so a big "mistake". We, all of us, were so pround to have lost the weight we lost. At some point we were confident we could keep it off. And some of us (not me) did keep it off for quite a while. It's hard and humbling to restart. But you're here with a great group who knows EXACTLY were you've been and where we're headed. We Can Do This!
Slash - I'm sorry about your hip! And the wandering motivation. Stick with us cuz the hip will get better and we'll keep the motivation going for you. You've got this week to rededicate yourself before facing the scale next Monday.
Laurie - You ran a half marathon!!!!!!! Woot! And your transformative surgery is just around the corner. I am so impressed and happy for you. I know you're struggling with food and motivation and self doubts these days but you aren't giving in!
I tallied up my April stats... only down 1.4 pounds but I upped my calories from 1200 to 1600 and I'm rebuilding a lot of lost muscle so I'm not too fussed about only losing 1.4. It's still a loss. And I'm working on making healthy, maintainable habits. I walked 96 miles in April though. And with Spring slowly creeping in I know I'll get more this month. I'm also out in the yard raking and putting in some raised garden beds and just generally being active in ways the fitbit doesn't fully capture. But I'm making progress on things that have needed doing for literally years. And it feels good.
My struggles right now are: I'm tired of having to think so much about food. If I want to eat healthy I have to pack up food to bring to work, which means I have to think about things ahead of time - for shopping and cooking and finally packing. It's just so much easier to come in to work and eat whatever leftovers there are. I like the foods I am eating, I am not missing my junk food (very much), but mindless eating is just sooooo much easier.
I think my whoosh from last week is being revisited (despite that it all came back since then). I lost 2.5 lbs overnight LOL. The scale is so ridiculous. I hate depending on it for my little (but much needed!!!!) ego boosts in the mornings where I am actually down. Yesterday I drank 144 oz of water before leaving my office - I think that might have had something to do with it.
Side note on a cool scale thing and accountability: I bought a Withings scale back in March. It sends your weight for the day (and other data) to your phone via bluetooth so that you can look at reports and graphs over time. It is really satisfying! If you have weigh-loss buddies, you can also set it up to send the data to them and they can cheer you on Then I linked my Withings data to my MyFitnessPal account, so now my weight is sent right to MFP, and my calories are sent to my phone so I can compare the two data sets. And then I made a MyFitnessPal weight tracker (See my signature) that I never have to update. As soon as I step on the scale in the morning, my tracker automagically updates here! We live in the future!
Ubergirl - the scale is a dumb piece of crap (see above LOL) don't let it get you down. try a water intake experiment and see if you get the same results I did. I am super curious if it really makes that much difference. I know when we lose weight, it comes out in the water vapor in our breath and in our urine, so it might be a legit thing. I am reading a great book right now about making food-eating automatic and the way I am doing it is I am making my meals ahead of time, logging in then, and not deviating from my path. Let me know if you want the book recommendation!
Slashnl - don't ignore pain! Pain is your body's way of telling you something is amiss or you need to slow down (I know you know this, but sometimes it helps to hear it from someone not inside your own head). My own tale of woe is that I ignored pain in my feet for too long and i ended up with chronic planar fascitis which led to me not being able to run or hike and my downward spiral of gaining 90 pounds back =(
Grats Frances, that is great on the loss
Vladadog - I remember your name too (fellow dog-mom here, how can I forget when you have sweet pooches all over your profile hehe). I get into trouble with the mindless eating which IS easier for sure. Have you ever considered food prepping? I freaking love it and don't know how I lived without it. I eat all 3 of my meals in my office and I bring it all with me on Monday morning. On Saturday night, I figure out what I am making for the week. On Sunday I do my shopping cooking prepping and packing. I bring it in on Monday (we have a fridge here, but you could easily just bring your day with you each day). Thursday I figure out my weekend meals and shop on my way home from work, and Friday morning I prep for the weekend (I work 10 hour days M-Th). This week my menu is: Breakfast, 1/2c beans, 1/2 avocado, 3 sliced tomatoes. Lunch, roasted vegetable buddah bowl that I keep in quart sized mason jars. Dinner: baked potato, 3 c. boiled and spiced Kale, 1 large apple (its about 1200 calories give or take). I'd be happy to share more info if you are interested.
Frances: Yay for the 1.4 pounds!! That's awesome!! Always a good thing to see a loss.
Vladadog: I agree! Sometimes it gets tiring to always be thinking about food. The food sometimes is not the problem to me, it is taking the time to prepare and plan. You can't just let it go, and then grab something for lunch. There isn't much that can be "grabbed" that is within calorie range.
Pacifica: Ok, I'm older (50's), so that might explain my amazement on how everything connects together with your scale. Crazy talk!! I don't see how it all works, but I know it does.
For me, I went to Body Pump this morning. I'm going to be sore, I can tell. But it is also feeling good to get back to the routine. Even though you think it would be so great to just sleep in, or whatever, it never is as good as getting in and getting the workout done. Spinning again tomorrow. I might go run tonight, even if just for a little bit. I need to get that back in my routine, too.
Food was good yesterday. I was tempted when I got home, and gave in to just a little, but stayed within my calorie goal. So, a win! Today is going well so far. I ran out of my protein bars I usually have for breakfast, so I bought one at the gym. It was really more of a protein cookie. Pretty good! Expensive, but it was good. I was surprised at how filling it was.
Hey all. Popping in super fast to just say that I have nothing really to report. Keeping the plan going. Exercising as I can daily and logging all my food and trying to eat under my calorie goal.
On the disaster front, like I needed any additional, this incredibly wet week led to a wet basement. A wet FINISHED basement. In actual fact, the main family room area wasn't too bad. Some water seepage, but at least it's still unfinished as in still no carpet - one of those never-completed projects involved gutting our basement. However the office off the basement, which is the only room I've ever finished remodeling - I opened the door to it for the first time in a month to find the CEILING collapsed and mold growing on EVERYTHING. That's the room we were storing all the furniture in from other rooms we've been slooooowwwwly redoing. Yeah. Wet. Moldy. Stinky. And insurance doesn't cover water damage from ground or surface water.
Did I mention that the office is THE ONLY COMPLETED REMODEL IN MY ENTIRE HOUSE?
So that day I ate 3 glazed croissants, biscuits and gravy, and pizza. And I still was only over my calories by 500 - and back on track the next day. I'll call that a win. Under the circumstances.
Lillion I'm so sorry about the wet basement. What a disaster! And re the glazed croissants, etc. No worries. I do find that if I really feel like I've gone out of control, it really does help to log those days. I always think I've eaten 10000 calories, but it's never quite as bad as I thought. It's just food. It's okay to have high days.
Diane Hooray for new resolve! And hooray for your determination to do the hike! It really does help to set a goal, and really anything with the word "hike" in it is super intimidating to me. The one thing I can't stand is walking uphill!
Pacifica Cool about the Withings scale. I've looked at it, but never committed to it. I have been tracking my weight on and off on fitday since 2009. I love charts and graphs. Regarding water-- one thing that is interesting is that my BP was a little high so my doctor put me on a mild diuretic, and it is fascinating how much it helped with scale bounces. That being said, I still find that (forgive the TMI here) when I wake up in the morning and don't have too pee very much, because I'm dehydrated, that is when I also almost inevitably DO see a scale bounce. I'm upping my water intake today trying to get rid of the current bounce.
Frances Hip, hip, hooray on the 1.4 pound loss. You are on your way!
Vlada I think it is REALLY great that you upped your calories and are down for the month! My new mantra is "Uber, don't crash your metabolism" Absolutely try to lose on the max possible calories!
So, the MOST IRRITATING SCALE BOUNCE of all time continues. After holding steady at 271 for a week, I suddenly bounced up to 274.8. UGH so frustrating!!!!!! This morning was same. Had an appt with my primary doctor and she was really great. Discussed the prediabetes with her and it turns out that I was just very barely into the pre-diabetes range-- and that was based on before I made the lifestyle changes. So, we drew the blood today and she said it might have already gone back to normal. In short, I felt a lot better and it seemed a lot less urgent that I jump to surgery-- she thinks I can make big improvements with lifestyle changes. PHEW!!!!! One thing about being so fat is that you feel like you are just a ticking time bomb healthwise. But in reality, I was just barely edging into some health problems and there is still an exit ramp. Just going on about this because I was being horrible about avoiding health care providers for fear they would criticize me-- and some do, but I found a nice one. Meanwhile in exercise, I did week 4 day 2 of C25k, I'm actually running at a slower pace than I used to walk! But hey! I'm doing it.
Pacifica Bee - I do do meal planning every week and meal prep ahead of time. I generally know what I'm taking to work each day at the beginning of my week. As Rockin' Robin (long time member here who lost a lot and then disappeared rather abruptly) always said: failure to plan is planning to fail. So I plan plan plan. We get free unsold bake goods from Starbucks every week plus the kids we work with love to bake therapeutically. And there are always leftovers from various meals in the fridge. So if I don't bring healthy options from home I will have soooo many temptations to choose from. And I enjoy cooking nearly as much as I enjoy eating.
But I still just get tired of having to think about it, plan about it, prep it, cook it. What can be a delight instead becomes more of a chore. But I 100% recognize that meal planning and tracking is something I will have to do for the rest of my (independent) life. I can't just go back to living on coffee and grilled cheese sandwiches. My gallbladder is (well, technically was) proof that that was not a healthy lifestyle choice. Still, some lazy part of me just rebels at the unfairness of being forced to think about what I eat. Talk about first world problems.
I took a big step helping my meal prep situation last weekend though. The freezer part of my fridge died a while back and I've just been shopping often and eating fresh stuff. I don't have the $$ for a new fridge (even a cheapie) and finding one on Craig's List, gettting it home, and getting rid of the broken one just kept getting back burnered in favor of more urgent things. But i devoted last week to finding a replacement, borrowed a dolly, enlisted a strong friend - and now I have food options stored in my freezer and plenty of room for ingredients and made ahead meals. Adulting is hard. Healthy adulting is even harder but I keep trying....
Vladadog, I think meal planning is a great idea! I wish I could do it. It's a little too restrictive for me. I've tried it, can do it for a while, but then I go off the rails. My main goal is to stay within a calorie range, whatever I eat. I'm amazed at your organization! It does sound exhausting...but hopefully the payoff will inspire you to keep at it!
Lillion - SO sorry about your wet basement! Yuck! I can't believe your insurance doesn't cover that! Wait, maybe I do...we had a big storm that knocked down or heavily damaged 5 big trees at our house and insurance refused to pay. Ugh. At least you managed your stress, had your treat, and tracked it! That's a HUGE NSV!
Slashnl - did you have a good workout? I love Body Pump. I'm sore today too - super tough boot camp on Monday (who does 100 burpees and 100 jumping jacks as a WARM UP?) and then TRX yesterday. Does your weight fluctuate after a tough workout? I drink a ton of water always, but always jump up a pound after those 2 workouts. Always sore too. Hooray for staying within your calorie goals!!
Pacifica - that's interesting about the technology! I'm totally behind the times...I just keep a chart in a Word doc. Congrats on the loss!
ubergir - sorry about the scale bounce. I hate how unpredictable it is - that even when you're doing well, it doesn't always reflect on the scale! All I can say is - I feel your pain!
For me, not much to report. Maybe an NSV. I have a MAJOR sweet tooth and have gone on various restrictive diets in the past...which fail...and cause me to have weeks-long sugar binges. Now I'm just doing moderation, eating a serving of whatever I crave, and then moving on. Last week I craved blueberry muffins like crazy, so I baked some. Had a muffin a day for 4 days and then was over it. This week I craved cookies, so baked some, ate two yesterday, saved 2 for today, and sent the rest to my husband's work. I feel satisfied, not deprived, and I'm still on track and losing. I just hope I can keep it up. PMS wreaks havoc on my resolve!
Frances: Yeah, bodypump tends to make the scale go up a little the next day, so I try to not pay attention to that too much! ha! Running seems to be the one thing that can make the scale much better the next day, for me. What is TRX?
Vladadog: Glad you were able to get a new freezer. That would be tough not having one. I'd probably have to go to the store every day.
Uber: Good news about the pre-diabetes issue. I'm sure you're anxious to hear the results from the new blood work. I read an article in our paper about two people who had WLS and their very different views on the subject. One did well and was happy. The other one did pretty good too, but then plateaued before reaching goal. What was kind of disturbing to me was the commentary that they probably would not reach their ultimate goal because the set point that their bodies could handle would not reach that low. I thought that was strange. I don't know what all the specifics were on that, though. Anyway, glad you may not have to worry as much as you thought!
Lillion: Sorry about the wet basement. What a mess! Hang in there.
For me, I woke up a little late today, but I rushed and went to spin class. It was a tough one, so I'm kind of stiff and sore. And, that's ok. I wasn't perfectly on plan for food yesterday, and ended up a little over my calorie goal. It wasn't too bad, though. Onward!
Uber – reversing prediabetes is fantastic! That’s what I’m hoping to see with my exercise and weight loss. Fingers crossed for both of us. Hope that weird scale bounce stops. I know just what that’s like.
Vladadog – I don’t think I ever really thought about it, but you’re right. Complaining that you have so much to eat you have to make an effort to eat less is without a doubt the epitome of first world problems. Meal planning is really key for my husband and me, but we have a difficult time getting it done. Worst is he doesn’t help me much with the planning. I’ll tell him we HAVE to sit down together and do a meal plan for the upcoming week…but somehow we don’t get around to it. It shouldn’t be just me doing that every week…I have such a hard time deciding what to cook in advance.
As for me – It’s raining. :sigh:
I did the elliptical this morning, but I’m just NOT going to walk at noon. It was 50 when I left the house, and raining, and is supposed to only get colder all day, and keep raining. Really, we’ve got flooding everywhere – not my town, which is on a hill, but the whole darn state it seems like – and we’re supposed to get 3 inches of rain today! I have a headache and I’m tired and I’m just not leaving this office until I have to go to the car!
I have a LOT of food-oriented things coming up. Tonight is a carry-in dinner, then there’s a carry-in lunch at church on Sunday. I’m doing lunch with friends on the 10th, then out with co-workers at happy hour on the 18th. Planning, planning, planning. And saving all the calories I can for the splurges.
Frances I'm with you about the food planning being too restrictive. I too am very prone to bingeing (that's my major issue) and I do best with the least restrictive plan I can come up with. . What helps me instead of food planning is that I really don't eat that many different kinds of food-- I stick to the usual stuff. I've always known that if I could learn once and for all to only eat treats as "treats" out of the house, special occasion, etc. I would enjoy them more and probably be able to end my binge habit. I'm sure the food planning works great-- but some of us are really restriction/binge susceptible. I know I am.
Vlada Hooray for a new freezer! I'm a big freezer girl-- makes it so much easy to shop less often! I totally admire your discipline to do all the food prep. Now that I work at home it's not such a problem, but the work environment was always tough for me-- lots of treats combined with (in my case) being tense and miserable a lot of the time. Bad combination!
Diane Regarding the higher set point,etc I spent a lot of time talking to the obesity doc about this. He explained a couple of things that made sense to me. 1) the reason that WLS patients don't keep losing and losing until they're super skinny, in most cases, is that the surgery is specifically designed to make sure that you can get enough calories-- he said that if they made the procedure even more restrictive, some people might actually get too skinny, so even after WLS you can eat enough calories every day to be like a normal diet, but it's much easier to stay at the 1200-1300 for life than for people who never had surgery-- basically, it's really more about helping you maintain than helping you lose-- at least according to him. He said anyone can lose, but few people can successfully maintain over the long haul (he didn't say no one can, he just said it's hard.) Also, he did explain that most people who have been morbidly obese can't maintain a normal BMI in the long-term because their metabolisms are permanently slowed after weight loss-- so if you used to weigh 275 and now you weigh 150, you would have to eat 600-800 calories less than a person who had never been obese to maintain at the lower weight. Makes sense right? All of us regainers can attest to the fact that maintaining a normal or near-normal weight takes constant vigilance and that we really can't ever eat like "normal people" or we'll regain. I think that fat people have been saying that for years, but the scientific proof is just now emerging proving us right. And TBH in some ways it really does sound reasonable-- because I've been fighting and mostly losing this battle for almost my whole life. That being said, I really do think that for me, the answer is not WLS. I think the answer is to find a weight somewhere between 296, which is unbearable and unhealthy, and 185 which was amazing, but I was unable to maintain. I feel like it's probably reasonable for me to maintain somewhere around 210 or 215 and exercise and stay healthy and hopefully not have to go under the knife OR live on 900 calories a day for the rest of my life.
LillionBoo for all the rain and flooding! I live in CA which has been drought stricken for years and then this year it rained non-stop and my garage and bedroom flooded. No fun! (but we did get gorgeous wildflowers this year) Hope it dries up soon. In the meantime, go you on the elliptical! You rock!!!
Laurie Hey girl! Hope you are still feeling that post-run glow!
So FINALLY lost the out-of-the-blue four pound bounce that was bedeviling me for the last couple of days. Planning to do a round of C25K today. I think I'm going to repeat week four as I don't feel totally solid on it. Just in general doing pretty well and hanging in there. Really want to see the stupid scale drop below 271. I'd really like to see a number with 6 in the middle.
Hello to all! Nice to see the same folks checking in pretty much every day. It is nice to have a group like that! I've been on plan for the last 24 hours, making my streak of being happy with my choices last into a 2nd week, which is amazing.
I found myself today daydreaming about a couple of goal treats for myself which is something I haven't done since being mid-weightloss last time. 1) I have it in my head to go to Hawaii in February. I haven't been since I was a kid, and now I know someone with a time share who offered me a great deal to stay there for a week. So now I have it in my head that if I maintain a goal of 2-lbs a week loss, then I could actually be down at around 170 by then, which is totally bathing-suitable for me; I don't do bathing suits, but I looked at pics of myself at 170 last time, and it isn't that bad. I might even be comfortable with myself on the beach. 2) I have been in absolute LOVE with a certain clothing store which carries a designer that I am also in love with, but since discovering them I have been too big (and gaining) to wear the clothes comfortably and/or be able to stay in them long enough to allow myself to splurge. But, I decided if (when!!) I hit 150 again, I am going shopping and it is going to be glorious. I should really add these to my blog... For the curious: Magnolia Pearl is the designer, and the store is called Kati Koos.
Lilion - omg I am so sorry. That sucks! I hope you will be able to get your basement sorted
Uber - I went through a pre-diabetes scare back in 2010. You are lucky you have a good doc. Mine was a total *** and I hated her. I have no idea why I didn't insist on someone else at the time. Losing a bunch of weight - despite her telling me I never could and I should just think about surgery - was actually mentally great for me because I had someone to rebel against. In hindsight though, if I had someone kind and who would listen and work WITH me, who knows where I would be today. I envy you! Oh and in your response to Diane you mentioned your doctor talking about how few people can successfully maintain a loss... there are studies out there that show that of obese people who try to lose weight, literally only 1% reach their goal, and of that 1%, only 1% of them can keep it off for more than 5 years. Can you imagine? Only 1/1000th of dieters are ever long-term successful. That makes me sad, and angry, and makes me question a lot of things, but also makes me strive to be that unicorn.
you mentioned your doctor talking about how few people can successfully maintain a loss... there are studies out there that show that of obese people who try to lose weight, literally only 1% reach their goal, and of that 1%, only 1% of them can keep it off for more than 5 years. Can you imagine? Only 1/1000th of dieters are ever long-term successful. That makes me sad, and angry, and makes me question a lot of things, but also makes me strive to be that unicorn.
Believe me, the obesity doc has been quoting this to me ad nauseum. But the reason that I am skeptical about WLS is that their statistics are very reductive. They can tell you that if you have a BMI of 44 you have x chance of developing Y and they can tell you how unlikely it is that you'll be able to go from a high BMI to a normal weight and maintain. But what they can't measure is that lots of people with high BMIs lose part of their excess weight and manage to keep it off. Which is more significant? That you have regained from your lowest weight, or that you have maintained a significant loss from your highest weight? I'd say the latter. I started trying to lose weight in 2009 and by 2017 I very briefly hit my high weight again. But for most of the last 8 years, I've weighed less than my high weight. Sometimes a lot less, sometimes a little less. But haven't I been WAY healthier over the last 8 years than if I had just sat at 295 this whole time and maybe even kept going up? So that's what I try to focus on.
Just checking in. Ugh - rings are tight - retaining water like crazy and not dropping an ounce. I drink a ton of water (at least 150 - 160 ounces a day!), including water with a little lemon juice...any ideas on reducing the irritating bloat?
Pacifica, I love the idea of having a goal treat. Hawaii sounds amazing. But I would totally encourage you to go for a swim NOW! I stayed away from water for YEARS because I hated the way I looked in a suit. But I forced myself to join an Aqua Tabata class at my YMCA and I *love* it. I put the suit on every week no matter what and it really feels empowering. Just an idea!
Ubergirl, you sound SO much like me. Bingeing is my problem too and the more restrictive I am, the more likely I am to lose it. I, too, rotate through the same boring few meals...but it's comfortable for me. WOO HOO for your loss!!
Lillion, good luck on those upcoming food events. Those terrify me and that's when I have my worst "offenses." I think you're right about planning being the key there. Good luck!
Slashnl, TRX is a suspended-strap system where you use body weight resistance to do your workouts. I don't know if I'm allowed to post links here so I'll just say - I love it, it's tough, but I highly recommend it - there are lots of youtube videos showing various routines!
I'm feeling really good about my "eat what you want in moderation" plan. Anything to keep me from snacking heavily and then totally losing control! Looking forward to a treat tomorrow. 
Then I linked my Withings data to my MyFitnessPal account, so now my weight is sent right to MFP, and my calories are sent to my phone so I can compare the two data sets. And then I made a MyFitnessPal weight tracker (See my signature) that I never have to update. As soon as I step on the scale in the morning, my tracker automagically updates here! We live in the future!
And insurance doesn't cover water damage from ground or surface water. 
