[bloominbutterflies]

CurvyNotLumpy Good luck with your group & thanks for your support! I bet September is just crazy to work in a college for orientation type activities. Glad things are settling down for you. I think it's brave to share your weight with people you know. People consistently tell me I look "average" and not overweight, and act surprised when I tell them I wear a 16 and XL. But I always figure if they did think I looked fat they would never tell me! But I like to live in denial and pretend I don't look "fat". My scale numbers would be like pulling a sheet off me though rofl. I wish I could say I have big bones, but I got little ones.

So yea back to the dieting! I'm kind of regretting my decision to start early already . Still in the tail end of shark week, and I don't know if that affects my appetite but yesterday I was hungry and that made for a rough first day. I almost cracked and started stuffing my face with a cupcake I found in the fridge, but held it together. I made a pretty healthy vegetable soup for dinner, and rode 1 1/2 hours butt sweating on my stationary bike in our unseasonably warm weather (and again thought to myself why did I start early?!) lol. But yeah, still losing the bloat from shark week clearly. Today I am going out to lunch with my best friend. Planning on making smart choices, probably ice tea with no cal sweetner and taking half of my meal home. I'll also just eat a bowl of veggie soup for dinner to balance out the heavier lunch.

10/09: 172.4
10/10: 172.4 (Seriously? When is this bloat gonna end? Period started today.)
10/11: 171.4

GW: 167.6 by 11/05

[RunningRedHead]

I have some catching up to do!

Merilung: back to the forum! Look at all of the progress you’ve already made! Best of luck to you on your journey this month

Martine: I hope you were able to enjoy a nice, long, work-free weekend!

Bloominbutterflies: I’m with Curvy regarding the enjoyment of reading your posts; they are definitely full of scrumptious-sounding food and fun adventures! Best of luck as you start your diet early!

Curvy: I hope things at work continue to settle down and good luck at your first meeting. I envy your attitude toward the weigh-in and your weight being known; you’re so grounded and rational!

I went out of town to visit a friend on Friday and arrived home yesterday. Our schedule naturally fell into an 18:6 IF pattern, and while we definitely ate out and enjoyed some wine tastings and vineyard tours, we also walked quite a bit. I think the combination of all those factors along with the end of shark week contributed to breaking my stall that was the month of September and gave me a very generous whoosh! I hope everyone is having a fantastic October so far

SW: 248.9
9/30: 248.9
GW: 239

Week 1:
10/1: 247.7 (-1.2)
10/2: 247.7 (+/-0) SW
10/3: 248.1 (+0.4) SW
10/4: 247.2 (-0.9) SW
10/5: 247.7 (+0.5) SW
10/6: V
10/7: V
Total for Week 1: -1.2
Total for October: -1.2

Week 2:
10/8: 244.3 (-3.4)
10/9: 245.2 (+0.9)

[RunningRedHead]

Good morning, lovelies!

My weight stayed the same yesterday and dipped a tiny bit back into the 244 range this AM at 244.9 We’ve had unseasonably warm weather here the last two days that is finally breaking with some gloomy rain leading into more normal temperatures for the area this time of year (50s F), which I am very excited for. I had a friend over for dinner last night and made some chicken parm with marinara and zoodles with a lovely garden salad.

I forgot to share some exciting news! So in addition to being a bridesmaid in June for my friend from nursing school, I was just asked to be Maid of Honor by a childhood friend! I could not be more happy for them or honored for the ask, but the wedding will be at the end of April so I will most definitely be doubling down on my weight loss efforts. Starting Monday night, my goal will be to go to the gym at least three days per week (which I should be doing anyway for my back exercises; I’ve been deluding myself into thinking that the exercises I’m doing at home are enough—they’re not). I am very excited about the wedding though, and my friend is truly fantastic; she has many vegans in her family, and she was telling me about how, when discussing the wedding menu with her fiancée, she mentioned: “we have to find food that works for twelve vegans and Kayla is keto!” I told them not to worry about me, I would sneak food in or something, but I am thrilled they didn’t listen as there will be bacon-wrapped scallops and prime rib, so I’m a happy girl

Anywho, sorry for the rambling post this morning. I hope everyone has a great Thursday. Hang in there; it’s almost Friday!!!

SW: 248.9
10/5: 247.7
GW: 239

Week 2:
10/8: 244.3 (-3.4)
10/9: 245.2 (+0.9)
10/10: 245.2 (+/-0)
10/11: 244.9 (-0.3)

[bloominbutterflies]

RunningRedHead Congrats on your wedding nominations! That must be so exciting for you! Vegan food is...tricky. I have a vegan friend, and when he rolls into town I feel lost as to what he can eat because they sneak animal products into virtually anything. I"m glad they went with the shrimp and prime rib. Solid choices. You'll have to tell me about the champagne and cake too! I love hearing about cakes.

Ugh, so my diet has just been very frustrating. Oct 3rd I was 168.2 lbs. The next day I bloated and I've been bloated since. I mean I know there is no way I gained 3-4 lbs of fat over 5 days, I would have had to been stuck with IV's filled with mayonnaise or something. So why am I still so gosh darn bloated?! I honestly thought I would see the 69's by the end of the week. .

I've also been rethinking my weight loss strategy some more. I've been looking at my calendar and frankly I'm terrified. I have plans up the wazoo, right now my next free weekend is November 17th . And it's food, food, and more food. I'm going to have to figure something out to get through this holiday season alive. So I've decided to incorporate cheat meals. The rules for my cheat meal is that I am not allowed to start cheating until I actually get to the party/event. Then I can eat what I want, but try not to go overboard. If I can, I will pick between eating my calories or drinking my calories but I won't do both.

First trial is tomorrow, which is the Smores Bonfire party. My friend wants to make up as many different kinds of smores as possible. I don't know about you guys but I love a perfectly toasty marshmallow with chocolate. I do eat burnt ones too, or just plain uncooked marshmallows will do . I'm planning on bringing oreos and bananas for some yummy beefed up smores. I'll also stop by my dollar treasure and pick up some arizona diet green tea to drink during the party.

10/12: 171.2
10/13: 171

GW: 167.6 by 11/05

[bloominbutterflies]

It's the day after the smores party! I ate pretty decadently, I had a donut, 4 smores, a bit of nachos, and a cup of hot chocolate. Oh, and quite a few oreos. I brought the mickey mouse addition ones that are birthday cake flavors, they are really delicious and remind me of dunkaroos back in the day! I was reluctant to buy them because I think mickey mouse is creepy, but totally worth it. The diet green tea seemed like a good idea because I stopped eating because I literally felt like I was gonna explode after 2 big cans of it.

Now it's back to hard work till next Saturday where I will have another cheat meal for Sweetest day. For sweetest day I really don't plan on going ham like the smores party though. Some lamb, mashed potatoes, and 2 glasses of red are all I plan on doing. Maybe a dessert if Jason pushes for it. Today we are going to Jason's parents house. His mom makes everything super healthy and boring so I'm not worried about over eating. Her husband has diabetes and she uses like no salt now too because of his health. IMO she is going about it all wrong because her husband scarfs down cookies when she's not paying attention, but hey it's none of my business I guess. Maybe I'm just channeling my own life because my mom had/has some severe body dis-morphia/ eating disorder when I was growing up. She wore size 5 or 7 pants from the juniors department and constantly worried she was too fat. I was a size 9 as a teenager and that was just "obese" to her and she put me on diets without my free will. I would have to sneak and hoard food and that just made me more obsessed with eating imo. I was like 8 years old when she started obsessing over my weight and body shaming me, it's disgusting lol.

10/14: 171.4
10/15: 170.8

[curvynotlumpy]

Long time, no check-in ! I hope everyone is doing well and had a good week. It was very busy week for me mostly due to meetings where my presence was so not needed You know how that goes. Thanks for all the good wishes regarding the health and wellness class. Wednesday's class went very well. The weigh-in wasn't bad at all. We were all weighed individually in a separate room so there was no public embarrassment involved . We spent the hour discussing the overview of the course, and as part of our materials were given two booklets where we record everything we eat and drink for the week. I asked if the goal for us was to be "food saints" over the course of the week and our group dietician responded, "not at all." We needed to have a realistic baseline for each of us to work from and that can only be done by tracking everything we eat and drink. She said that we also needed to include every BLT (bite, lick and taste) we take. This is a year long program with the goal of losing 7% of our starting weight. Bloominbutterflies, you make a good point in regards to Jason's mom's approach to caring for his dad. I think it's very loving to want to serve healthy meals but I also think everyone on this thread knows how when you're deprived of all the the fun (and yes, not healthy) things to eat it can really push a person to desperate measures--sneaking or hiding food, over-indulging. My mother was a diabetic and I'm actively working to not become one myself; diabetes is not a disease to mess around with. I hope there is some way he can find some balance so it's not a constant cycle of doing the healthy thing and then undoing it. Are there diabetes classes offered in your area at any of the local hospitals? This may provide more insight into finding that balance.

RunningRedHead: on being selected to be part of two wedding parties of two good friends! What an exciting time for you all. I can only imagine the increasing conversations when planning weddings, parties and celebrations as dietary restrictions and choices have become so common place. Very thoughtful of you to sneak food in and thoughtful of her to consider options.

Happy Sunday!

[Martine]

RunningRedHead congratulations on your other friend's upcoming wedding. Sounds like you will be even busier as the maid of honour. As a vegetarian I really appreciate your friend thinking of her vegan friends in her planning.

bloominbutterflies I am such a homebody and an introvert that just reading about your busy social calendar I get tired. I think your approach to deal with all these food-related activities will allow you to stay in control while also enjoy yourself.

curvynotlumpy glad to hear that the first meeting for your health and wellness class went well. I agree with their approach to have a starting point to improve upon. Weight loss can occur with simple modifications over time. It will be interesting to see what they will suggest based on your food journal.

David and I will try something new to help at suppertime, when for the past couple of weeks we haven't felt like cooking and ended up eating whatever was fast and convenient. When either of us has a day off, we'll cook a few meals ahead of time. I'm used to planning meals for the week but this is the first time we're trying this. So today I'll be making vegetable soup, penne arabiatta and a new recipe: spinach and feta pie with a phyllo pastry.

David has grown concerned with the amount of weight he has gained in the past few months since injuring his shoulder and not being able to do all of his normal work. He used to burn a lot of calories ripping out flooring and painting, which he hasn't been able to do since his tendon tear. And I've noticed that I'm getting headaches more frequently now (I never had headaches before) so I'm concerned about my blood pressure. Yet another thing to worry about. So we talked about it over the weekend and we both feel that we need to help each other improve our health. Maybe working on it with my husband will help me, because I am sure failing on my own.

[RunningRedHead]

As always on a Monday, I have some catching up to do!

Bloominbutterflies: Thanks for the congrats! I used to eat a lot of vegan-friendly recipes, but now most are completely incompatible with my WOE The problem you mention with animal products I find is also true for avoiding sugar! I will tell you all about the food and cake. There will be no champagne Much of what they’re doing is not traditional. (Although, I wonder if there will be champagne at the bar…) Sorry to hear about the bloating issue! Is it related to your cycle, possibly? Glad to hear you enjoyed some s’mores! They sound great right now!

Curvy: Glad to hear your class and weigh-in went well! I love the term BLT by that definition, it’s quite clever! I love that the weigh-ins you mentioned were separate. I always remember when I was younger tagging along to WW meetings with my mother and being shocked and appalled, even as a child, that the weigh-ins were done so publicly. Thank you for the congratulations. I am very nervous, but very excited. There’s so much planning and excitement happening over the next few months, I can’t wait to experience the result of it all!

Martine: The bride is definitely one of my more thoughtful and considerate friends. Thank you for the congratulations Your plan for todays meal prep sounds delicious! I just did some meal prep myself and while I wasn’t looking forward to it to begin with, I’m so relieved now that it’s done! Best of luck to you and David as you navigate your respective health issues.

I can’t believe how fast October has gone by! I’ve been hovering around the same couple of pounds this past week, but I’m definitely retaining some water today by being behind 1L from goal (hydration) and only napping today to get back onto a day schedule. Happy Monday, everyone (what’s left of it)! See you all in the AM.

SW: 248.9
10/5: 247.7
GW: 239

Week 2:
10/8: 244.3 (-3.4)
10/9: 245.2 (+0.9)
10/10: 245.2 (+/-0)
10/11: 244.9 (-0.3)
10/12: 244.6 (-0.3)
10/13: 243.7 (-0.9)
10/14: 244.9 (+1.2)
Total for Week 2: -2.8
Total for October: -4.0

Week 3:
10/15: 245.5 (+0.6)

[bloominbutterflies]

Martine My social calendar isn't so bad compared to a busy mom lol. Funny thing is, I consider myself an introvert too, but I think of introversion and extroversion on more of a spectrum. I think I'm close to the middle, but lean introvert. I think your meal planning idea is great!! If the spinach and feta pie turns out good will you share the recipe please? Best of luck to David and you on your new diet change, and I hope his shoulder heals well.

RunningRedHead: I think the bloat is related to my cycle, but it's never taken this long to level off before!

So yea about Jason's parents. I do have to confess that it would be the one time I finally complain about Jason's mothers super healthy cooking and she made me look like a fool. I got there and the first thing I could smell was bacon. This lady had made an entire plate full of bacon! She also made a delicious soup with vegetables and chicken cilantro dumplings (she said she got them at Sams Club if anyone is interested). So yea, I ate my words in bacon that Sunday. That lunch was seriously yum.

I think my bloating is leveling off. This morning I looked and felt thinner, and hopped on the scale and saw that I had dropped a whole pound! I'm hoping I can squeeze out a little more water this week, because I still feel like I'm holding onto more than my fair share. Tonight I am making thai curry chicken drumsticks and summer squash. I've never made these yellow squashes before so I hope they turn out edible. . I'm also going to start working on making about 6 dozen sugar cookies on Wednesday. It's going to be an all day event lol. My brother's fiance's sister is having a pumpkin carving party Sunday and I wanted something cool to bring. So I'm making black cat sugar cookies! My mom is coming into town on Monday, so I can give some to her and Grandma. So yea, between all those people I figure about 4 dozen, and that way I can keep the last 2 because I love sugar cookies and they keep great in the freezer!

10/16: 169.8
10/17: 169.2

GW: 167.6 by 11/05

[Magicsusan]

2018:
Jan 1: 264
Jan 8: 260
Jan 15: 258
Jan 22: 256
Jan 29: 254
Feb 8: 251
Feb 14: 248
Feb 21: 248
Feb 28: 246
Mar 7: 242
Mar 14: 241
Mar 21: 238
Mar 28: 236
Apr 4: 234
Apr 13: 233
Apr 18: 230
Apr 25: 227
May 2: 225
May 8: 225
May 16: 221
May 23: 219
May 30: 216
June 6: 214
June 13: 213
June 20: 210
June 27: 207
July 4: 206
July 11: 202
July 18: 200
July 25: 197
Aug 1: 198
Aug 8: 196
Aug 15: 193
Aug 22: 190
Oct 17: 184


There were weigh-ins in September, I just never had time to log them.
Anyway, the holiday in the US trashed my 1kg a week loss rate, but I expected that. Back on track now. Hope you're all on track too. The struggle is real.

[bloominbutterflies]

Magicsusan your weight loss is incredibly impressive. To lose 1 lb a week is hard enough, but 1 kg?! You must really know what you are doing. Hope you had a great time visiting us in the USA too .

So what is new in my world? I've gotten sick, and I'm not sure whether it's a cold or a flu. The symptoms seem more flu like, but it's milder like a cold. Yesterday I was freezing all day and my throat hurt. My abs hurt too which is weird. Today it's more like head congestion, but the day is still young.

Somehow I managed to finish about 50 black cat cookies, all with black icing and faces. The recipe did not make 7 dozen, the cats were much bigger and I ended up with less. It took all day, especially since I could only fit 9 cats on a sheet at a time and my oven heats pretty unevenly so I was too nervous to try 2 sheet pans at a time. Was worried the cookies on the lower rack would burn. The cookies turned out really cute though, and taste great. I am excited to show them off at the pumpkin carving party on Sunday. Assuming, I'd still be going. I'd like to stay in denial until then. Today I got a midterm I can't miss (of course). Weight bounced back up a bit, but I did have instant creamy chicken ramen for dinner.

10/18: 170
10/19: 170.2

GW: 167.6 by 11/05

[RunningRedHead]

Bloomingbutterflies: Bloat is definitely annoying! Here’s hoping it’s over with soon and you get back to your normal progress Way to go on your whoosh! Best of luck to you on your midterm

Magivsusan: Hoping that now you’re back to your normal routine your weight loss picks up where you left off!

SW: 248.9
10/14: 244.9
GW: 239

Week 3:
10/15: 245.5 (+0.6)
10/16: 245.2 (-0.3)
10/17: 244.6 (-0.6)
10/18: 243.0 (-1.6)

[curvynotlumpy]

and good afternoon!

It's a beautiful sunny Saturday here. The weather is certainly changing though; our mornings are starting out in the mid-40s before climbing to the low 80s. It was another busy week so I find myself at work catching up. Later I'll head home and do some laundry and cleaning. This was week two of the health and wellness program and I was down .08 of a pound. It's a negligible loss and it actually surprises me since I was bloated and crampy until Thursday when TOM started. This week we're counting fat grams which has been fascinating. When I was most successful at weight loss I wasn't a calorie counter or a fat gram counter. I did manage portions and cut way, way back on sugar and refined foods. I'm finding that I don't have a problem sticking with my calorie limit but 'fat' is always on my mind ! We started this on Wednesday and except for today I've been over significantly. Today, I'm under and have half of my recommended allotment remaining. It's frustrating but a good experiment.

bloominbutterflies: I hope you're feeling better and that your symptoms are dissipating. Your black cat cookies sound great AND time consuming. That's how cooking making often goes. Whenever I make large size cookies I can never seem to get the number the recipes promises .

Martine: How's the meal planning approach working out? I think it's a great idea and maybe with David taking the lead on some meals he'll feel more empowered and confident about losing the extra weight.

RunningRedHead: October has been a blur for me as well.

Wishing everyone a good rest of the day and weekend.

[bloominbutterflies]

CurvyNotLumpy mid 80's sounds sooo amazing! I miss the summer weather here already, but I've come to terms that I won't be getting anything good until a freakily warm day in February or March (we get a handful in Michigan.) It sounds like you live in a desert climate by chance? Thanks for wishing me well!

The last 24 hours or so has been a lot of coming to terms with my current situation. My bloat theory does not seem to be true, and while I look at numbers and feel bewildered by the pattern, I've decided to just let it go. Maybe getting down to 168 a few weeks ago was a big abnormality, and it only seems like I've bloated up ever since. Either way, I am mentally dropping it for my own sake. I am still sick, and have a lot of fatigue and some trouble breathing. I've decided to take a break from exercise. I tried lowering intensity, but I felt like crap afterwards still. I'm just going to spoil myself a little, but the idea of slowing my progress is kind of disheartening.

Today I am enjoying a cheat day (sweetest day, happy sweetest day everyone!). Jason and I went to a koney island, and I don't know if it's a Detroit thing but there is nothing like a fried chicken hani combo on a cold, rainy day. Tonight we are making super buttery smooth potatoes and some seasoned lamb we got from aldi when it was on sale. I think I'll be adventurous and have a glass of wine even though I probably shouldn't cause I'm sick. I got lots of cooking to do tomorrow and Monday for my Mom coming into town. Normally I love cooking, but it just feels like work lately.

10/20: 169.4
10/21: 171.2 (Cheat Day Yesterday)

GW: 167.6 by 11/05

[bloominbutterflies]

Been super busy and running all over the place. Having lots of fun though with my mom in town! Planning on resuming exercise on Wednesday.

10/22: 170.4
10/23: 170.6
10/24: 170.4
10/25: 170

GW: 167.6 by 11/05