09 Regainers regaining control and relosing!
 

The old thread was about to hit 500 posts so I've started a new one. This should get us through the summer - let's all make it a great one!

I work the graveyard shift with three other women on a sort of rotating schedule where there's always two on and two off. Three of us have an ongoing battle of the bulge while the fourth has a different sort of eating disorder. Too thin or too fat, we've all got our struggles and I don't think anorexia is any easier than a life of "dieting".

We all know the literature about shift workers having a harder time losing weight and keeping it off (as if losing weight wasn't hard enough!) but the fact that I lost 100 pounds once already and I'm more than halfway there this time proves it is not impossible to work overnights *and* lose weight.

I've been feeling a little frustrated with my co-workers who say "Oh, I could NEVER do that" as if I have some magic formula or secret skill... Meanwhile they are drinking a Pepsi (it takes a fair bit of caffeine to keep us going thru the week) or tucking into a cheese danish (we get day old baked goods donated from a national coffee chain so there is ALWAYS something good in the kitchen....)

A year ago one of my coworkers was diagnosed as pre-diabetic and attended a weight loss class. I tried to show her My Fitness Pal (which I wasn't using at the time myself... Bad Vlad!) be as supportive as I could be. But she ended up not finishing the class at all. She's continued to gain weight, her joints are bothering her, and I suspect her pre-diabeties diagnosis hasn't improved at all.

But! She's just joined a gym and has a trainer/weight loss specialist of some sort helping her with aqua-exercise. She's lost 5 pounds and tonight she was telling me all about this new tool called "my fitness pal" she's learning how to use. I refrained from saying "but I tried to get you to use it a year ago!" and just tried to be as supportive as possible. It's hard and scary to look at the scale and think about how much weight you should lose. She's a sweet person and I really hope she continues on this new path. I want to continue to be encouraging without overwhelming her with my too eager support. I'm going to try to get her hooked on 3FC, too.

Good morning!

Vladadog - Thank you for starting the new thread! And I, too, really like your adorbs dog profile pic, though I do miss your face too. If we were intimidated by the research, we wouldn't be doing this, right? I have done my share of graveyard shifts, and it does make a lot of things challenging. So glad that you're figuring out how to lose the weight -- again -- while working that shift. Not jealous of the donated baked goods. That sounds terribly difficult. Hope your coworker is able to stick to her plan. Even taking just five pounds off has to be a relief. Every time i have made a sincere effort to lose weight, I have had almost immediate improvement to the way that I feel. Hopefully, she'll get enough motivation from the immediate improvements that she won't be overwhelmed by the "ultimate goal."

Frances - Yay for continuing to chug along! Hopefully, you got that other 0.2 to come off for this morning's weigh-in. It is fantastic when the scale is finally cooperating. From your ticker, it looks like you are within spitting distance of Onederland. That is such a huge psychological boost. Thank you for asking about my blow-out. It went well. She only did a partial blow-out, and then she cut my hair for me. It looks good, but it wasn't the "magic bullet" that cured all my hair woes. Maybe if I stopped looking for magic bullets, this would be easier?

PacificaBee - My period tends to do weird things when I'm losing weight too. Yay for staying on plan, despite the wonkiness! Sometimes, I eat way more than I should, and way worse than I should, during the PMS phase of my cycle. Hope your walk to the beach helped restore your energy reserves. Being able to just walk down there from your house sounds like you might be living in some sort of paradise.

My husband cooked dinner yesterday. Huge steaks, potatoes, corn on the cob, and garlic bread. I wanted to eat everything! But I didn't. I should have passed on the garlic bread, but I chose to eat a whole slice and pass on the corn instead, and only ate about half the steak and half the (huge) potato. I was really full by that point, and knew that any additional food would make me uncomfortably full. I also knew that, as much as I wanted it in the moment, my life would not be improved by the experience of eating anything else. So, I stopped eating. But then, when I was shopping after dinner was over, I picked up and ate a box of candy that I didn't need. But I then passed on the s'mores they ate later. And this will, hopefully, be the rest of my life. Good decisions. Bad decisions. None so extreme that they cause me to gain back the 120ish pounds I've lost over the course of the last 14 months or so.

Goals -
1 - Make good food decisions today.
2 - Get 12K steps in (since I'm not running regularly yet)
3 - Plow through this work so that I am ready to take next week off.

Hope everyone has a good week!

Ugh, I knew it was coming. I lost weight steadily all week and my # had been staying steady (1.6 lbs down) for the last 3 days. It was tough to get my ring off last night, though, and today I was UP 1.6 lbs. That's right, it's TOM week. At least I planned for it, know that I actually DID lose 1.6 lbs that is currently disguised by water weight, and that I will, within 10 days or so, have my accurate weight displayed on the scale. But it's kind of demoralizing to see the number. Oh, well, moving forward!

LaurieDawn, that's so true. Just a series of decisions for the rest of our lives and if we mainly make good decisions, it will all even out in the end. I think it's great that you allowed yourself a little splurge, didn't beat yourself up, and just kept going with your plan. Hope you get your steps in!

Vlad, I've been on...is it called a swing shift?...before. 12 hour days, 2 days on, 3 days off, 3 days on, 2 days off, etc. It can be tough. I'm glad you have some kindred spirits there! :smug: I get annoyed with those "I could never do that!" comments too, but for me it's about my hobbies. I wanted to learn how to knit/embroider/quilt, so I took classes, watched a million videos, and practiced, and learned how. The fact is, if you truly WANT to do it, and have the perseverance to put in the time to accomplish your goal, you CAN do it. Same goes for weight loss, I think. It will definitely never happen if you don't try! :D

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Thanks for starting a new thread :)

I have been SO HUNGRY the last 4-5 days. I am trying very hard to stay on track and not overeat. It is related to TOM, but dang it is so hard to control even though I know with my brain what is going on, my body is being a huge jerk. I couldn't help myself at the grocery in the end and bought 2 plums and a bag of cherries that were not on my pre-planned list. I managed to not go crazy and eat all the cherries, but I am disappointed that I couldn't mind-over-matter my burning desire to buy them when they weren't on my meal plans. This was also the first time in 7 weeks where I ate outside of designated mealtimes, which is a line I am trying not to cross in my quest to beat food addiction. Today will be better!

Vlad: That is so kind of you to let your co-worker "discover" MyFitnessPal, LOL. Sometimes people just need to find their own way, but I think that you get mad props for knowing that and letting her have her moment. That is often that is the kindest thing we can do to help our fellow strugglers. You rock :)

Laurie: I'm retaining soooo much water this week to boot. I went from losing up to half a pound every day for a week in a row to gaining 1.5 on each of the last couple days. So annoying! I am not allowing it to get to me though. I look forward to the woosh day in a week or whenever when several pounds will inevitably disappear overnight and I can finally do a happy dance! And not to put too fine a point on it, yes I live in what I consider paradise. My user name is based on where I live: Pacifica, CA (the Bee is for my name, Brandee) I give daily thanks that I get to sit on my back patio and look at my gorgeous mountain range while listening to the ocean (I can't quite see it from my house, but give me a pair of sneakers and a literal 5 minutes and I am on the sand).

Frances: I am right there with you this week - and maybe next week too since my body is all screwed up! Let's watch cheesy commercials together that will make us cry for no reason while bemoaning the scale, hah!

Hey all. I've tried to catch up on the old thread...but I just don't have time so I'll start over here. ;)

Vlad - I agree...nice of you to be supportive. I know, from this time and last time and for other issues I've had besides my weight, these on-line support systems can be life-savers. My husband is awesome and losing weight with me...but there's just so much venting you can do to your husband. :lol:

Pacifica - Maybe you're fighting off a virus? I know I just STARVE sometimes before I come down with something. So annoying.

LaurieDawn - You sound like you have a handle on this - My inspiration! :D

I'm doing okay...the scale was actually down 2 lbs this morning, but I have a new rule after that gain and fit I threw that I don't count a loss until I've seen it...or something lower...3x on the scale. So I won't be all ticked off and have to change my tracker all the time. If I see it 3x, I assume it's a "real" loss.

Exercise is spotty. I went to the Y on Friday and Saturday is my rest day, but Sunday we skipped it because we just had so much to do. It was noon by the time we were out of church, we had to go shopping (our microwave blew a gasket). I thought I'd get some exercise mowing lawn, but I also needed to wash dishes, clean house, do laundry and cook dinner...so Hubby mowed and I ended my night with about 5800 steps. Never ceases to amaze me how few steps I get if I don't set aside actual exercise time. Hubby decided he needed pork chops, so he bought these huge 8 oz loin chops. I, of course, dried them out. :no: I made potatoes and LOTS of cauliflower and zucchini with them. Other than the dry meat it was yummy. Today may be the same way. It was after 11 when I got to bed and I slept in, skipped my elliptical and had to run out on my lunch hour to take the dog to the vet...so when I'll exercise is anyone's guess. I have less than 1900 steps and it's 1:00 in the afternoon. :mad:

Life goes on.

Argh. I'm frustrated! I can't get a foothold. I've continued to binge. Today was the closest I've gotten to turning things around. I made it until lunch. Then ran home to get my credit card, to buy junk food. Idiot. I KNOW that if I get through even two or three days, it will become infinitely easier, but I'm just stuck :( and I'm wasting SOOOOOOOOO much money. Like. Thousands of dollars since Christmas. It's pathetic. I just keep buying, binging, disposing, and repeating. I know I' in the 250s again, and that I can't lose enough before I move for it to go unnoticed. I just don't know how to push myself over that first hump! I get to the end of the day and feel desperate to change, but morning comes along and it's like groundhog day. I keep catching glimpses of myself in windows and being deeply ashamed of how much I've gained so quickly.

Sorry, I know this is just a negative rant, but I'm hoping that reaching out and being honest might help lift me through tomorrow, then the next day..until it all feels a bit more manageable :( I hate that it's Summer. And I love Summer.

I need to cut junk food out of my life for a while. I have no self-control right now when it comes to that. As soon as I have a donut, I have to have two bags of chips and a box of chocolates, and a bag of candy, and four cokes. Ugh.

I'll plan a menu for tomorrow (which I've done every day and then not followed!) and commit to checking back in here tomorrow night. Maybe some peer pressure will help. I am also going to try to walk to work if I can get up early enough. It will make getting to shops harder and the exercise will give me a boost. God I hope I can get back on track. It's so damn hard.

ding! ding! ding! Laurie's comment: I also knew that, as much as I wanted it in the moment, my life would not be improved by the experience of eating anything else. So, I stopped eating. really rang for me. This is where I am right now - a good sense about eating, why I'm eating, what I'm eating, how much I'm eating. But I don't feel like I can count on hanging on to this ability. But seeing it put into words helps. If I crave chocolate or something salty crunchy and I indulge that craving do I really have to eat the whole bag? Isn't a handful enough? Because I know very well that it's the first potato chip that tastes so good; long before halfway through the bag I'm not even tasting them anymore, I'm just in some robotic "gotta eat 'em all" state of mindlessness.

I'm going to contemplate this whole thing for awhile and hope it sinks in....

Because I know how easy it is to land right back where Bookmark currently is: fighting for traction, knowing what needs to happen, and having a pint of ice cream while you contemplate how hard it all is.... I gained back 80 pounds all the while thinking "I know what I need to do and I know how to do it so why did I just buy these cheese curls?".

The first time I lost weight it was because of my older brother's pre-diabetes scare (same genes, same destiny) plus I was going to an amusement part with friends for my 50th birthday and I wanted to ride all the roller coasters. (and i did and it was great!) This time it was a health crisis of my own. But both times it took an external kick in the butt to get me going. I don't seem to be able to jump start myself just with good common sense...

I wish I had words of wisdom or inspiration for you Bookmark. I really do believe coming here regularly helps. But I also know for myself it's easier to keep coming bck when you feel like you are making progress. What I really hope is you find some insight into this pattern and it goes "ding! ding! ding! for me like Laurie's thought did.

I updated my ticker pic to a summer dog picture. And swapped out my avi of sweet old Marty for one of at least part of my face.... It was too hot to exercise yesterday, or to eat much. But the simple 3FC housekeeping stuff makes me feel like i'm accomplishing something....

Hey all! I'm back. I only took off 2 days from work, but it seems to have really buried me. So I'll keep this short. I weighed today, and it was down from last week, but I haven't been recording it much lately. Started on that today!! Also, missed working out this morning, but just couldn't make myself get out of bed. :)

I'll be back tomorrow!!

Good morning!

Bookmark - I absolutely, positively, 100% feel your pain. As you know, I come on here far too often to whine about how out-of-control my eating has been and trying to figure out why I just can't get it under control and have it stay that way. I have had way more "false starts" than I have had successful starts. But you know what? If the start is successful, and leads to a long period of success, one is really all it takes. (At least until the next time you need a successful start - but that's a problem for another day.) Don't know if this will help, but I have watched a show called Inside Brookhaven Obesity Clinic to push home the point that I could be disabled by my obesity. (I don't really "stay the same," so if I'm not losing, I'm gaining, and when I was pushing 300 pounds, potential immobility was a real threat.) From t here, I just have done what you are doing -- meal planning and accepting that each minute will be white-knuckling. After about three days or so, I tend to find myself on more solid footing. It doesn't always work. But, like you, I keep trying until it sticks. Cuz the only alternative to weight control, at least for me, is morbid obesity, and I want to be healthy and active into my 90s. I love that you're here and posting, though. For me, maintaining that focus despite the challenges is critical.

Frances - Period water weight. Ugh. That's the worst. But if we get any benefit from being on the "relosing" cycle, it's that we are educated enough to identify why the scale would go up 1.6 pounds overnight, even when we're on plan, and don't overreact to it. You are still doing fantastic. In a couple of weeks, I think I'm going to tuck in and try to do some of the things you're doing that are making you so successful.

PacificaBee - I am so jealous of your beautiful surroundings! Mountains and beaches sound so incredible. I don't mean to make light of the importance of staying on plan, but if you're going to cheat, it sounds like you chose some fairly healthy options to do so. Period hunger is the worst to fight off, and if it were me, I would consider it a win if I made the choices you did to deal with the intense hunger that Aunt Flo brings with her. Glad you're not beating yourself up over it, and excited to hear about your return to plan.

Lilion - Glad to have you back! You have been missed! Yes. On days I don't work, I never get in my steps without intentional exercise, and rarely do on days when I do work without intentional exercise. It sounds like you were busy and burned calories doing housework, though. I don't think Fitbit does a good job at tracking that kind of work, which can be frustrating, as housework is killing both the exercise and the need-to-clean birds with the same stone. I like your 3X rule, too. It's a great way of coping with the head games the scale sometimes uses on us.

Vladadog - I love your new profile pic! (I liked the last one, too, but am glad that you brought your face back.) I think you're exactly right. I get into "robotic eating mode," and feel like I have to finish a portion. My husband makes this worse. If I put a container back that doesn't have a significant enough amount, he chides me for putting back an "empty box." Sometimes, I'm pretty good at throwing the remainder away, but if I've given myself permission to eat something, that makes me concerned about the slippery slope of getting too restrictive about my food. Ugh. Why can't it just be easy?

Diane - So glad you are back! And, of course, you're buried in work. Again. Or still. Glad that the scale had some good news for you, and can't wait to hear about your work-out successes.

I have huge hips, calves, and thighs. I look at the Wonder Woman posters, and although I can convince myself I look like Gal Gadot on top (I don't, but I can convince myself I do), I know that my legs will never look anything like hers. Ever. And I look at Mama June. She has lost so much weight, and had tons of plastic surgery. And she looks nothing like Gal Gadot. I am grateful for Mama June. She is a reminder to me that weight loss and plastic surgery are not enough to turn any of us into genetically-predisposed models like Gal Gadot. And she is a reminder that this whole thing is NOT about trying to find a modeling career, but about being healthier and more mobile and being able to go about my business without being judged because of my size. I am hopeful that my obsession over my body "imperfections" will pass. It is not fruitful, and I am annoying the h*** out of myself with it.

Hope everyone has a great day!

Bookmark, I know I don't know you...haven't been back on here long enough...but you ARE on here and that means you want things to change. Wanting it is #1.

My one suggestion that might help you get a handle on it is to log your food. Log it obsessively and do it BEFORE you eat it! Every bite! My husband and I use My Fitness Pal and we literally sit in restaurants and log the food before we order. I'm sure the waitresses hate us...we take forever. Not after you eat it - before! (You can erase it later when you DON'T eat it.) When you even THINK of eating junk, look it up, log it and see in black and white what the calories are. That might be enough to take the wind out of the junk food sails.

For me, logging is the ONLY thing that gives me control. I've never been a real binger - but I definitely have been an overeater. It takes very little to get me to say "YES. YES. YES!" to sweets, pastries and ice cream, etc. But, if I look it up and see it's 1/2 my daily calories - it seems much less desireable.

Thanks everyone for the support. I appreciate it.

I do log, and I use myfitness pal as well. Sometimes it helps, sometimes it becomes too obsessive - although I feel better about being overobsessive and successful than otherwise, it's not healthy either.

LaurieDawn: This really describes me too -"the only alternative to weight control, at least for me, is morbid obesity" and that is something that I need to battle, long term ...to be able to simply eat intuitively and maintain a healthy life..but first the healthy (and happy) weight, right? At least, that's how I insist on viewing it. Although making peace with it all and eating intuitively and being healthy would ultimately result in weight loss, there always feels like an immediate need to get the weight down first and then make those efforts. Patience is not a virtue of mine.

The idea that eating another whatever wont better my life has hit and miss success with me. I suppose I just need to seek out and cling to the hits.

Today has been pretty good, so far. I did have a half bag of cheezies that I found in my desk, along with my lunch, and several very close "will I, wont I" moments. It's 5pm now, and I've come on here to check in at this point, because I'm in one of those moments right now. I'm lucky, in that, I don't binge on "regular" food. So there's nothing in my house that I will stuff myself with. I will have to go out to buy junk foods. . . of course, when I do, I feel extra stupid for doing so:P . . . currently I'm feeling pretty lazy and very tired, and that may be a bit in my favour right now.

Bookmark, I agree with Lillion's tip about logging your food. EVEN IF YOU HAVE A BINGE, log it. The calories are being consumed whether we track them or not. Why not educate ourselves about what we're actually taking in? I know that I'll never not be able to log my food. It's just too easy to start slipping. I keep that from being obsessive, however, by being relatively permissive with what I eat, within the boundaries I set. Also, besides the book/podcasts I recommended earlier, let me recommend intermittent fasting. As someone who has been a binge eater since elementary school and who had no hope of ever stopping, intermittent fasting has been a powerful tool in my anti-binge arsenal. Set your own times: "I can eat whatever, but ONLY FROM 11 a.m. until 6 p.m. Then I'm DONE until tomorrow." Whatever works for your schedule. I have been mid-binge, looked at the clock, realized I was slipping into IF time, and "put the binge on hold" until the next day. But the next day, I didn't want to start it again. It's been amazing.

LaurieDawn, I totally hear you about the body imperfection thing. I think we all have a lot of baggage there! I think it's good to put it in perspective that way. You know, like Oprah used to say: "Be YOUR best self." :)

Running late, so my only updates: still PMS, expect TOM today, still totally bloated. Did have an NSV yesterday. Pulled a frozen brownie out of the freezer and sawed off one tiny bite. Instantly I wanted MORE. But, per that podcast I listen to, I forced the thought from my lower brain to my higher brain and made myself have a conversation about it. "Okay, are you hungry? Do you want the whole brownie? You can have it. Or you can have a substitute. Or you can have nothing. You're going to be cranky and unfulfilled no matter what because of PMS. So you can be on-plan and cranky or go over. No guilt. WHAT DO YOU WANT?" I decided to leave the brownie alone. It doesn't seem like much but for someone who has that severe PMS disorder and has a history of hormone-triggered binges, that was huge for me. Still up weight-wise but patiently waiting out my cycle.

Hope everyone is having a good week!

Lilion - Food logging is something I struggle with. I hate doing it, and the obsessiveness makes it impossible for me to just relax and enjoy the food that I eat. I will do it I need to figure out what I need to tweak with my food, or to remind me that every bite counts. But, as impressed as i am by your discipline and how it works for you, I know it makes it difficult for me to maintain any degree of mental stability when I do it. However, I totally relate to the calorie shock when I read some of the nutrition information. Candy bars and soda. Oh voy.

Bookmark - I think I am currently at what I would consider to be a healthy and happy weight. I am at the very top of the "normal" category for BMI (which doesn't mean a lot), and while I know I continue to have a healthy dose of fat on my legs and butt and arms, I am generally happy with how I look. At least when I'm not focusing on the fact that I don't look like a model and have to remind myself that it is not important for my life or realistic for me. I don't know that I'll ever be able to eat intuitively, though. I tend to always want to eat more food than I need, or even than I can comfortably consume. And, even though I love many fruits and veggies, it's still an effort of will to consume them. I hope you find your way so that you don't have to deal with the demons all of the time, but I have not yet found it. I hope you made it through yesterday while maintaining your good food choices. The first day is the hardest, I think. And I hope you are on your second straight day of success. Let us know. Either way, we've been there.

Frances - See? It's the super-long discussion with myself over a brownie that I wish I could avoid. But I have been there with you so many times! It's exhausting and time-consuming, but sometimes, it's just what we need to do to reach a critical goal -- to control the weight. I am so excited for you that you won your brownie war. I agree - it would have been fine to have the brownie. If it fed a critical need and made you feel better. But, sometimes, eating the brownie is like slamming the heroin. Or maybe I should have chosen a less destructive drug for a simile. The first shot of alcohol is good for someone who is not an alcoholic. For someone who is, though, it too often leads -- very quickly -- down a road of destruction. Food addiction is really hard, though. Not saying you're a food addict. Saying I am.

I am going on vacation, starting on Sunday. Taking the kids on a cruise, after driving 15 hours to the cruise port. The road snacks are the worst for me. Trapped in a car all day with all these people crunching away on stuff I shouldn't consumer very much of. And I tend to be a "break the seal" kind of person. If I open one single-serving bag of chips, I want to eat them all. I am going to bring a few fiber brownies and some protein bars and maybe some blueberries for the ride there, but I'm also not going to worry about it much. Cruises mean lots of walking, enough time to work out, and enough food variety that I can select low-calorie options without too much of a challenge. Gonna get packed tonight and make sure I have everything I need.

Hi all. Sorry, another quick check in. I am so swamped at work....

Mornin' All, hope you are doing great!

I've had a really good couple of days since I last checked in. I have remained on plan and enthusiastic to remain so. I have a couple of 'events' coming up that I am already making plans for so as to stay healthy and within my personal goals & boundaries.

For whatever reason, I have had a LOT of energy the past few days. I am at my office 10.5 hours a day, and I have an hour commute each way on top of that. I am usually completely zonked out by the time I get home in the evenings. Normally, I just plop my butt down and play video games for a couple hours until bed time. But, Monday night I got home and ended up doing some serious gardening for about an hour and a half (and I hurt my hip doing it, but that's a whole 'nother thing). And then last night on my drive home I was pretty much dancing in my seat listening to music, and when I finally got home I immediately got my puppers ready for a walk and headed to the beach and ended up walking up the cliffs a bit too; I ended up being out and about for over an hour! So weird, but I am not complaining. I love it and I hope that it continues every day!!

Scale wise, with TOM coming a week early and plaguing me for what I expect will be the full two weeks, I have been ignoring the scale as it crept up up up. But this morning when I weighed I had dropped everything that I was holding onto, plus some, so my official total loss for the week is 2.2 pounds. Great stuff!

Laurie: where are you going on your cruise? That sounds lovely! Also, some alternatives to road snacks might be those little baby carrots, or if you can pre-bake some fingerling potatoes and toss them with some herbs. It would drive me up a wall not to eat while everyone around me was eating. Good luck!

Frances: I want to to check out that podcast you mentioned! What is it called? I scrolled back through a couple of your posts but I am not seeing it. With the lifestyle that I have been trying to lead, I need a lot of daily support to stay on track and give me external encouragement. So far I have been watching a lot of vlogs and using this forum and a reddit forum for my 'check ins'. Thanks for mentioning it.

Lillion: I agree with what you mentioned to Bookmark that logging is so very important for people who tend to overeat, like myself. It seems like my brain can make all sort of mental gymnastics around eating more and more when I don't take control and log it. Seeing the numbers in black and white are so impactful for me to stay in control. In the 5 years where I regained half my original loss it was because I wasn't logging. Clearly my best guess on what I was eating was just my minds way of getting my mouth to eat more.

Bookmark: maybe planning whole menus is too overwhelming for you just now and you can start smaller. You mentioned that you want to cut out junk food and specifically mentioned eating a donut. Do you think that it will be helpful for you to say "ok no donuts for a week, but in a week, if I want it, I can have it". When the week goes by, re-evaluate. Do you want the donut? Or do you want to push it for another week and maybe also add "no chips this week either". Baby steps are much less complicated for some folks then diving in with your eyes closed. For myself, I am pretty all or nothing, but I did just watch a fabulous blog on building flexibility into rules which I think I am going to start employing. For example, I have a hard rule that I do not eat between meals that I have broken twice in the last week and I was very disappointed with myself. I think my new rule will be: I will will only eat at meals times 95% of the time. That way, if I eat a tad away from meal time, I haven't broken my rule and I can still be in my all-or-nothing mindset without falling off the wagon.

Just a quick pop-in. Logging is just so important to me. Yes, I do get a bit obsessive about it...but it's the only thing that keeps me on track. For instance, I was snacky at work. I know what we're having for dinner, so I just went ahead and put in my dinner to be sure I had enough calories left for a snack. I did. Snack done. Now I know I'm not going over with dinner tonight absent some unforeseen change of plans.

Still walking, still working. Saw 286 for the second time. One more and I change my tracker. :) That will be 20 lbs down from when I started over.

Diane - I love that you check in, even when you have almost no time to post. Hope work gets a little more manageable soon, and hope all is going well with the work-outs, the food, etc.

PacificaBee - I love the "lots of energy" part of this. Especially since you have such a great place to go for walks. And I love that the scale has finally responded the way it was supposed to. One of these days, I am legitimately going to check out Bright Line Eating. It's working great for you. Thank you for asking about my trip. I'm going to the western Caribbean. I think there are two stops in Mexico. I am really looking forward to access to the running track on top of the ship, exploring the beautiful waters of the Caribbean, checking out the cenotes and the ruins, enjoying the on-ship entertainment, and having lots of delicious food readily available.

Lilion - Tracking is an incredibly useful tool for so many people. It sounds like it works wonders for you, and you have the commitment to be able to use it effectively. Twenty pounds is such a great achievement, too! Congratulations on seeing it twice on the scale. Can't wait for it to be "official" for you.

I am down to 145.8, a new low for me since I went fat-free in 1994. I am technically trying maintenance, but actually loving the slow reduction in weight and the chill attitude I have been able to adopt these past few days. While I am looking forward to the food on the ship, I am really looking forward to the walking and exploring and swimming and dancing -- all stuff that is made better by the fitness level I have worked hard to achieve and the fact that I am no longer carrying the same amount of weight as I did the last time. Maybe this is worth it.

Got a super weird compliment yesterday. A woman I work with is putting on weight. I actually initially thought she was pregnant, though I was not stupid enough to ask her about it. She didn't weigh much to begin with, though, so it's not like she's fat now, even with the small amount of extra weight around her middle. She said, "You're so tiny now! I should give you my old clothes that don't fit me any more since I've put on weight." I am rarely speechless. But I had no idea what to say. She has put on a bit of weight, and it is noticeable when she tries to fit in clothes that are too tight. But she's still probably thinner than me. I guess it's a good reminder that regardless of how much we weigh, it's easy to fall prey to unrealistic photoshop ideals.

:( Sad face.

I did not see the magic number today. Instead of 286 it was 287. I did have a really large dinner very late last night and, well, with the risk of giving TMI things haven't been "moving along" like they should be. You'd think with all the fiber I eat that would not be a problem. :o So yeah. I'll give it another day or two I guess and see what's what.

LaurieDawn Your vacation sounds awesome. I want a vacation. You know, besides the one I just had. You need to change your tracker! It still says 160!!! How awesome that you are able to relax a tad now and still lose. Truly impressive.

Well...I have nothing to report really so I think I best get some work done. Later ladies! :wave:

Ok, this week is fried and it is only Thursday. I am just swamped.... I will tell you that I'm going to just work hard to get to a reasonable place and then maybe next week will be a little better. I have some planning to do this weekend, and hope to get back on my normal routine.

Happy Friday, everyone!

Lilion - Ugh. You saw it twice! Sorry it went away on the third try. Hope things get "moving" and that allows the scale to better keep up with your efforts.

Diane - Hope the work gets caught up quickly and that you can focus on other things. Weekends are fantastic for planning.

I am getting back on track with running. I ran for 1.25 miles at 5.5 mph (11-minute mile pace) and then went to C25K Week 3, Day 1, 90 seconds of running, 90 seconds of walking, 3 minutes of running, 3 minutes of walking, with two cycles of this at 6.0 mph. It sort of kicked my butt, but I feel like I am going to be able to run decently again soon enough.

Hope everyone has a fantastic week next week.

Just checking in to say grumble, grumble...still no movement on the scale...going to keep working out, drinking tons of water, and hoping that things move. Attempt to move the scale #1 is going to be eating a ton of fiber today. Fingers crossed!

Slashnl, sorry you're so swamped at work!

LaurieDawn, your cruise sounds like so much fun! And congrats for your tiny low #! 145 is amazing. I'm pretty sure I haven't seen that # since high school! :smug: Anyway, I know what you mean about the snacks. Road trips have been a major trigger for me. Looks like you have a great plan in place!

Lillion, feel your pain about the #. I guess we have to keep chugging along and wait it out!

Pbee, congrats on your amazing loss! Now I'm side-eyeing your eating plan. If things don't move soon...anyway, Pacifica is a beautiful area. My great aunt lives by Santa Monica and my uncle lives in La Jolla, so I've made many a trip to CA and gone up and down the coast a hundred times, it feels like. That must be very conducive to being outside and keeping active! :) The two eating-related blogs I've liked are HALF SIZE ME (tons of interviews with people who've lost weight, general advice on different issues) and BRAIN OVER BINGE (limited podcast episodes but some amazing tips about outwitting a binge). I'm going to be looking for more when I have time.

LOL! In all seriousness, I'd say that is the news of the day. In fact, the scale said 285...but in line with my "three times" rule, I'm using 286. This is definite proof of the "weight loss is not linear" thing. The scale this week has said, 286, 288, 286, 287, 285. I'm tempted to log it on MFP daily just to see the "report" that looks like someone's EKG. :dizzy: Weirdness.

Got to work today and my coworker said, "You're doing really well on the weight-loss aren't you?" :) and I hadn't said a WORD about it. So yeah. It's a nice Friday. :D

Now...5 more just like that and I'll be at the REAL goal. I totally have never weighed under 200 in my adult life. Wonder what that would (WILL) be like?

Lilion: Yay!!!!!!!! Such a good tracker number!!!!! For sure, weight loss is not linear. I do have one app on my phone that I track weight on a daily basis. So funny to see it up and down. I like that app because it also gives an average trend line, that shows it going down. I just wish the slope of that line was a little steeper!!!

Frances: I feel like if you can keep doing what you are doing, there will be a nice loss in your future. The scale seems a little stubborn, but you are doing good things, so I FEEL like you will be rewarded!

Laurie: Glad that running is coming back for you! I have been away from it for a while now, but I'm going to go back to it using C25K again. I'm not sure how far back to go, but I'll be doing that again. :)

Just trying to survive to the weekend for me. I'm making good progress, so hopefully next week will be better. One can hope! I will be going to the grocery store to restock good things for lunches! Planning is in my future for the weekend!

Thanks for the reminder from Slashnl and Lillion that weight loss is NOT linear. I was stressing out this morning about my lack of movement on the scale this week and had to laugh at myself. I'm going to eat this way for the rest of my life...I will keep going and the weight will come off. Maybe not as quickly as I'd like, but it WILL EVENTUALLY. I stopped planning super restrictive menus and instead made a batch of my favorite healthy raw honey chocolate muffins that I've been avoiding because they're higher carb. I'm living my life and my body will eventually reflect my hard work! :D Side note...a silver lining to being a "slow loser" is that I'm working so hard for every ounce that I haven't even CONSIDERED giving up and eating junk food. I'm over it! There's no way I'm going back! :snooty:

Lillion, btw, that's WONDERFUL about your loss! :carrot:

Frances - "I'm going to eat this way for the rest of my life...I will keep going and the weight will come off." soooooo true and exactly what I needed to read this week, too. I saw a mid-week bounce up (during a mid-day weigh-in so I wasn't surprised but still hate to see it) and ultimately didn't lose this week. So close to Onederland and so frustrating. But my fitbit and my best fitting pair of shorts are both fitting decidedly looser than even a week ago so I'm making progress even if the scale doesn't show it.

Slash - i hope you had a productive weekend planning lunches. I'm still reaping the benefits of weekend awhile back where I packaged up a pile or pre-planned things. I'm gonna have to do it again in a week or two tho...

Lilion - Yay!!!!! 20 pounds down is a fantastic start to Summer!

Congratulations Laurie on a new low and on getting back into running. I don't think I'm ready to handle cruise food myself but you sound like you have a good plan there too.

Pacifica - I'm envying you our weight loss and even more your energy to do stuff when you get home. We've had a blast of hot humid weather and i'm pretty useless after about 10 minutes. I can tackle a piece of a tiny project and that's all I'm good for. You've inspired me and I've promised the dogs today we're heading into the woods for a good hike no matter the weather.

Bookmark - don't give up! Sometimes it's a real slog but it takes forever to break bad old habits and build new better ones.

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! Mine was nice, but calorie-heavy. Saturday we were doing pretty good until the movie...finally saw Wonder Woman. OMG Ladies! Talk about a "Girl-Power" boost! :D BUT, husband was the snack buyer while I got tickets and he gets a LARGE Buttered Popcorn - and I'm so easily led into misbehavior. Of course, the real problem came when I asked the boy behind the counter as I was leaving how many cups did a large popcorn hold and he told me - 150+!:yikes:

So yeah...over that day.

Sunday is usually workout day, but it was Father's day, we were both tired, and when hubby suggested we just take a good walk instead of going to the gym I jumped at it. And it was a LONG walk - my fitbit gave me almost two miles - but...then he wanted the Japanese steakhouse hibachi for dinner and I should have planned better. Biggest problem was I ate dinner at like 2:30 in the afternoon - more of a late lunch - and was STUFFED, but was hungry again at 8 p.m. so over the second time.

This a.m. skipped the elliptical and now I'm paying for it with low calories available. Unfortunately, my food is rather high calorie...so...

I may be eating lettuce leaves tonight for dinner. I simply won't go over 3 days in a row.

Back to the grind. :wave:

Mornin All

Well The Never Ending Period is still beleaguering me. As I suspected, just because it came a week early in no way indicated it would go away a week early, so here I am retaining water and hard-core jonesing for salt like a mad woman. I have been having bouillon instead of my hot tea, and pickles as part of my meal for the last 3 days. I don't even want to tell you what the scale is doing this week! It's is 100% water-weight and I even feel puffy, especially in my fingers. I'm looking forward to next week when I will finally be able to see the work I put in this week pay off, because I sure as heck am not seeing it now.

The period-munchies did a number to me this weekend too. I had guests over for a small dinner party and I made fixin's for DIY vegan tacos and nachos. I managed to stay strong and not have any tortillas and made myself a taco-salad instead. But, I did not weigh and measure so I know I overate. I also munched on cherries and strawberries while we watched a movie (set up the outdoor projector and watched a movie under the stars. It was awesome!) and I know I WAY overate those.

I did have a talk with myself beforehand and decided that I would be a little looser that night with the understanding that the next day it was back on track no ifs, ands, or butts. I did not want this dinner to turn into a defeatist binge if it turned out I felt uncomfortable weighing my food in front of people. I forgive myself this small transgression, and I will move forward successfully for the rest of the week. So far, so good!

Thanks to all of you for your continuing encouragement. I love that i have you all to turn to when things are both good and bad. :hug:

Vlad: one great thing about living here is that it doesn't get overly hot very often. The worst heat we get is in our Indian Summers come Oct/Nov. I am happy your doggos are getting a walk inspired by me! I am probably going to tackle some more weeding today if I have the energy after work. I figure if I can put in a couple hours every day, maybe the yard won't look like the Savannah come winter hahahaha

Lilion: YAY look at you go :D Big congrats to you on your loss

Frances: Thanks for the name of the podcasts. I will have to check it out. And yes, living here gets me outside a lot more than I think I would venture if I lived in the city or anyplace that wasn't quite so picturesque.

Frances: Yep, I'm with you on not giving up. It might take forever to get to goal, but I'm not going back to the old ways. It takes forever to get it off, but so quickly goes back on.

Lilion: Sometimes the weekends get away from us with food plans. But here we are at Monday, back on track.

Pacifica: Gotta love the large popcorn! At least it doesn't happen all the time. And, like with Lilion, back to Monday, back on track.

I had a good weekend of planning. I went to spin class this morning, so that was a good start to the week. I really need to buckle down, tighten things up. I think I've been allowing too much off plan, so need to get back to what was working before. Work seems to be better now since I had a very productive Friday. Now, just need to stay on track.

Just hanging in...working out, drinking lots of water, eating lots of veggies, no sugar/flour, great protein, mostly whole foods, and scale jumped UP a pound overnight with no loss last week. But I'm hanging in and NOT quitting. "Weight loss is not linear. Weight loss is not linear. Weight loss is not linear." - my mantra for the week.

PBee, sometimes it seems that we need 2 weeks to recover from TOM - seriously! My PMS is so severe that my doctor actually prescribed a low-level anti-anxiety med (starts with a P...?) to take "as needed" then. I almost never take it, but I definitely struggle with hormone-related snacking, impulsive behavior, and the never-ending water retention! Ugh! I hope you feel better soon!

Slashnl, great with the planning and spin class!

Lillion, and great for you for getting back on track after a snacky weekend! :smug:

LaurieDawn, hope you're having a nice vacation!

Frances: Glad you are sticking to it! That scale is just no help at all sometimes. Hopefully your payoff will come soon!!

I'm kind of with you this week. I'm just trying to keep it going. I went to spin yesterday and then to Body Pump today. Food was on plan yesterday and I'm working on keeping it going this week. You would think I'm not eating at all considering how my mind/body are acting right now. I've felt very deprived and hungry. :) But I'm just reeling it in a little. It isn't that drastic. I think it doesn't take long to get used to the undisciplined lifestyle with food, but it takes so much more effort to scale it back. Just not fair!

Mornin' ladies :) Hope everyone is doing great so far today.

I continue to have the hormone munchies and desire to eat mounds of salt. Last night I was either super-hungry, or I had acid-belly that felt like hunger. I am not sure which it was but I ended up drinking 2 glasses of almond milk and then I had 2 mugs of bouillon to both help settle and fill me up. It helped, but it also may be the cause of why I went up 0.1 lbs overnight instead of seeing a loss on the scale. In the end, I am down 1.6 for the week which is just shy of my 2 lb goal. I am glad that the 6 pounds (!!!!) I had gained Sunday-Monday went away overnight.

I am trying to incorporate some more of the the BLE strategies for successful weight-loss, namely, the parts that aren't food related but more spirit related. I picked up a journal for my daily gratitude's, a 5-year journal and a couple of overeater's meditation books. These are activities that you are supposed to do in the AM and PM so to get into a routine of self-care. So far I managed one of the PM activities, and then played catch-up for two nights in a row. I really need to figure out how to make the habit stick as I really believe the scientist behind BLE has it figured out! There are other things I am also supposed to be doing, but I am taking baby steps. The food/dieting part of the lifestyle has been easy for me since I did it before. I have never been a spiritual or self-care person, so these other aspects are proving really hard. I will continue to work on it though if it works for long-term success!

Frances: I am going to join you in the mantra , especially considering my last week: Weightloss is not linear!!!

Diane: isn't just the worst that it is so easy to fall of the discipline wagon and just stay down? Why does it have to be so easy to fall into unhealthy habits, and such an uphill battle to do the right thing for ourselves? Our brains play such cruel tricks on people like us. It really isn't fair. sigh...

PacificaBee: I would agree that the non-food related and non-exercise related parts of a plan are the most difficult. I don't really address that as much because it just takes more effort. Food and exercise are more easily measured, so it seems easier to me!

I came across the following, thought I'd share:

Sometimes you fall off the wagon for months. Sometimes you tell yourself you're gonna start fresh on Monday and by Wednesday, you've already fallen back off. Sometimes you have to restart 100 times and it's frustrating. But it will be okay. You can do this. One day at a time.

I thought that was timely for me! One day at a time.

I am doing a happy dance this morning. The water retention finally lifted and my body completely skipped ever showing 221-220 on the scale and went right down to 219. What a nice way to start my 'Friday'! I also got to change my avatar to the 110 lost chick. I get so much satisfaction being able to change that thing. It is sort of an unwritten mini-goal for me to look forward to updating it every 5 pounds. Since the myfitnesspal tracker in my sig below automatically updates every morning when I weigh myself, the avatar is really the only thing I am updating that shows progress in a definitive manner.

I also had a nice moment yesterday when I looked at my arm and I noticed that it looks slightly less rotund. I read that you really only start to notice body changes when you are down about 10-15% of your starting weight. I have lost about 14% of where I started so maybe there is something to that.

Hope everyone is doing good. Been kind of quiet the past couple days. Summer heat must be kicking everyone's butt :) Hang in there!

PacificaBee: Congratulations on the new number on the scale and the new avatar!!! So awesome to get some love from that scale!! And I agree that it is quiet. Looks to be just you and me right now. Ha!

Not much going on with me. Made it to Body Pump today, so that makes 4 times working out this week. I definitely wanted to make it 4 times at least.

I'm still here, just nothing to report. Despite my best efforts, I'm still at the exact same weight I've been at since JUNE 4th. I'm super bloated/stuffed/no appetite and am convinced that it's that @#*#&$ candida again, which brings your metabolism to a standstill. I'm making an appointment to go to a naturopath since my regular doctor won't listen to me. Hopefully I'll have some good news soon. Meanwhile, I am staying ON PLAN!

PBee, congrats on your great news! I love that post-TOM feeling! :D

Slashnl, glad you're making it to the gym regularly! That is a great accomplishment, especially in summer.

Frances: Sorry you are stuck on the scale. Never a good time, but at least it isn't going up! Hope you can find some answers.

Not much to say here. Hope everyone has a good weekend!

:bravo:PacificaBee:bravo:

Hello Everyone! :wave:

As for me...well, it's been a weird and up and down kind of week. Like I said, my weight loss chart would look like a freaking EKG.

I had two days of training this week and that's never a good thing, because they require working lunches purchased in the cafeteria. Nice, in that it's free up to $10 and if you eat more than $10 worth of stuff from there, you have to really be trying. Bad, in that ... calories. On the up side, they have a decent salad bar and I did TRY to steer clear of the junk. I didn't go over either day.

I did, however, show an increase from 286 to 289 that lasted three days. Then today, back down to 286.5...just in time for snack day (I logged everything and skipped breakfast. At least there wasn't a lot of chocolate.) and the weekend. But today is workout day and Sunday too. So...with luck I'll maintain or lose. We shall see.

Three days of the scale up again made me take a good hard look at my food log and I've not really been doing well. That has to change.

And that's all there is to report. Later ladies! :wave:

I'm alive, y'all. Exhausted but alive. Have been taking a bit of a break from the strict healthy eating and working out. Work is crazy busy...we're down a few nurses and we took on three trainees. I love my trainee but DAMN am I tired lol.

Weighed myself this morning. Apparently all the stress and being stupid busy at work is helping because I've only gained back exactly one pound and keeps me at 16lbs down. I'm pleased with that!

Hope everyone is well!

200.8

200.8 two days in a row. That's just cruel. Onederland is just taunting me.