I posted here early last week and promised I would get on top of my life and didn't.... :( I want to I swear I do.

Back from the fair! :carrot:
It was fun that I needed. Hopefully when it comes back around next year I'll have dropped a good amount of weight and feel better about going on the rides. My BF loves the rides, but won't ride without me, I haven't gone on a ride in almost 6 years. i feel bad for that. next year will be different!

I was super good food wise. There was apizza vendor with a wood brick oven. I am forever ruined on Pizza. It was SO GOOD. BF and I ordered a cheese pizza to split. It was just larger than a personal sized pizza so our three tiny slaces was like having one large slice. I loved it. I can never have pizza any other way than in a wood brick oven. Too bad no one here has one.
BF and I also split a small basket of fries and a water.
For our cheat Bf and I split a small basket of Mini dounuts. Cute tiny dounuts with chocolate sauce and powder sugar. It was our fried goody and it was worth it.

It was nice to go to the fair and stick to my vegitarian plan and stick to only one sweet (When there's so many yummies around) And I stayed away from sugary drinks. I'm proud of myself.
... . . .

Riestrella- A trip to Japan would be crazy awsome! it sounds like you already have a bit of a plan put together. What are you more comfortable with? Do you want to find a job? or would you rather wait until your BF knows what he's doing and where he's going? he might not want you to depend on him, but maybe he'll respect your comfort Zone? If he knows you just want to see where it is you have to go work and what kind of jobs you'll have there? I'm sure things will work themselves out. How soon is this all going down? or is that all still up in the air?

LawGirl88 - don't give up! there are lots of false starts.

Ladies, I feel you on the messed up periods. Actually mine is quite regular but the PMS...ugh... it lasts for a week at least. And I hate retaining water, my boobs feel so heavy and tender, as if I didn't have enough trouble with their size and my bras and sport bras already...back when I was at my lowest weight about 145lbs I had NO PMS at all...so there's motivation for all of us, menstrual cycles certainly get more comfortable with losing weight!

Munster congrats! And I'm sure you lost even more than that! Just eat right during TOM and you'll be in 140's very soon! And your persistence is amazing...few people will still workout and not make excuses after two disruptions!

Sgregg just get baby steps back on track :)

Rie ugh, those stupid complicated policies and regulations.... I hope you and your bf find a way that works the best!

Sakai oooh. I also LOVE pizza, but who doesn't? It is certainly one of the best foods in the world...hehe, I might be overenthusiastic about it, but I can't remember the last time I had pizza... Good for you for keeping control on your eating!

LawGirl88 as they say the surest way to succeed is to always try again, every time you fail,just try again! In fact, crossover that 'fail' word, the only way to really fail is to quit!

On to me... well I went totally overboard this weekend! Stupid, stupid, stupid! Anyways before this sudden fall of the wagon I was doing pretty well, and I've actually started getting my momentum and wanted to push harder next week, but considering this total fail weekend, I am still not going to going to take on new challenges.
This is the plan for next 10 days:
-really measure and write everything down (cause I plan to start calorie counting after these 10 days and I need to know where is my baseline!)
-drink 2 litres of water - it’s just 4 small bottles!
-exercise at least 7x20mins
-when you eat something you know you shouldn’t - limit it to 300kCal. 300 is plenty!
and eat that less healthy stuff every other day at most.
- go to bad at 10:30pm max! (waking up at 5:30 some days so I have to make sure I get enough sleep)
-and last, not least, do something every day to keep you motivated and on track (blog, post on 3fc, read others progress/success stories, read a good motivational book…)

Goal weight for Oct 20th: 173lbs
That would equal 4lbs loss in a month, which is low, but is the number I can live with

Have a good start of the week everyone!

Herro!

Man, PMS has been biting me in the arse these days. I don't think I've ever experienced it quite like this! I now know it's definitely PMS, because when my period is approaching I get a sharp pain in my womb region and I KNOW it's around the corner! It's ridiculous though, I'm actually looking forward to starting the pill, I literally stopped my last period about a week and a half ago! Having regulated periods will be bliss.

I MAINTAINED MY 170 LBS!! So happy about that!! I'd been weighing in all week at 171/172 lbs and finally on official weigh in day I got to the 170 lbs mark! I feel a bit bloated, and I think I'm maintaining a lot of water weight, so maintaining this week feels good. I'm hoping the weight will just drop off me once my body starts to settle down after this period so it's something to look forward to. In the meantime INSANITY TIME!

I had a bit of a fail weekend in terms of exercise. I can present to you my case of having awkward work hours, feeling drained and tired etc. But essentially it's all excuses! But I have been really good at keeping on track so I'm not too bugged. It's a new week and it's the last week of Phase 1 for Insanity. Next week is a recovery week and the following is Phase 2...NERVOUS!

Today I'm working then I have 2 days off! Bliss!! I can't wait for it! I seriously LOVE my days off now haha.

LawGirl - If you truly wanted to change, you just would. There's no way about it. If you're not ready to commit to this change then you'll fail. You need to really think about where you are now, how you got there and where you want to be and start planning on what you're going to do about it. It's all good and grand saying "Oh, I'll start tomorrow, I promise" but without the research, the method and ultimately without the heart to do it you will relapse.

Sakai - That's a wonderful goal - to be able to go on rides! Definitely lock that one away in your goal bank ;p. Darling...your entire day sounded like a cheat no offence! I'm glad you had a great time, but I think you need to re-evaluate what you consider good food, because pizza is definitely not one of them!
Thanks for responding to my post, you brought up some good points about this whole process. I decided I'm not going to go through with the Interac process, I think I'll stick to applying with JET and see where that takes me. You're right, he should respect my comfort zone. The plans to move to Japan are definitely set in stone, we're 100% going for it. The way we're getting there however is up in the air, but I think I've got things figured out better now. The earliest the BF will be leaving is March 2012, so I would be following him shortly after if that happened.

HH4L - Oh my goose, my PMS has lasted FOR DAYS! I think I'm just more aware of it because I've been at work and been a bit of a grouch to customers haha! I've not been rude, but I try my hardest to smile politely when I seriously just want to say nothing! 4 lbs weight loss is a huge number! Don't sell yourself short! You sound like you've got a great plan, so just STICK WITH IT! That's all I can say! We all fall, we all have those bad moments, but the important thing is is to KEEP GOING! Don't let it phase you!

Good morning, everyone! It's a new day and another fresh start for me! I'm going to get in the 210's this month. I love a fresh start. :)

Riestrella - Good job on staying at 170! It's so hard when you are PMSing. I'm so proud of you for sticking with Insanity! Keep up the hard work!! You will be seeing the 160's in no time! And yes, the food monster has definitely been in the house this past week. Ha!!

LawGirl - I agree with Riestrella. When truly want to change, then you will. You obviously know how by looking at your signature!...get in there, girl!!

HH4L - I like how you set yourself goals in days rather than a month or longer. I think I want to do that. Maybe start out smaller though and say drink my water for 5 days straight or something like that. I can really tell your attitude has changed since you really decided that you wanted to get healthy! Keep up the good work! Your body will thank you for it in the end. ;)

Sakai - Way to go on that fair food!! I know you were worried about that, but you did well! And you had fun on top of that! Since I've gotten older, I've always felt uncomfortable getting on those rides because I'm bigger. I never thought about maybe rewarding myself with something like that when I get smaller. I may have to write that down in my reward goals. Going to an amusement park and riding ALL the rides. Glad you had a good time!

Oh, I went ahead and decided to do the daily weigh-in for this month. I did well in August when I was weighing daily and then slowed down in September when I wasn't, so I thought getting back in the groove of weighing daily would help me stay more accountable. We shall see if it helps this time around.

Hey Girls!

Okay so I was MIA over the weekend because I was SICK AS A DOG!!!!!!!!!!! OMG soooooooooooo bad. I ended up switching around my Insanity workout so I did Core Cardio and Balance (a much easier workout than I was supposed to do lol) on Friday because I was feeling off. Then, Friday night and Saturday...let's just say I was stuck in the bathroom for hours lol! I don't know what happened, but I think I may have picked up a stomach bug from a friend I was hanging out with earlier in the week. It was BRUTAL. I didn't weigh because I didn't want to get excited and then be disappointed 3 days later lol! So, hence the non posting. I am back into it now, and I missed a day of Insanity :( so I am going to be done with Round 2 on Sunday instead of Saturday like I originally thought. Oh well, feeling better now, hit the gym with hubby this morning (he has the day off :D) and getting ready to rock out with Shuan T! I hope we are all doing well this week, and here's to coming off of the stomach flu lol!

Okay wow I am so far behind on personals I might take a few days to catch up lol!

sgregg-If daily weighing helps to keep you on track, I say go for it. Some weeks I get on every day but I only count the "challenge" day one lol! It does help though because I can tell if I am retaining water and then I drown myself until "real" weigh in day haha! Keep it up and don't stress too much about the eating thing, you just have to kick that and get back OP! You can do it!

Rie-OMG I can't believe you are almost to recovery week! I AM SO PROUD OF YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Amazing, don't you feel so great!? I hope that you like recovery week, I did it was nice to have a break from the jumping and stuff, but I would recommend you do a little extra only because my body was a little on the sad side when I started the second month the first time lol! I hope that you figure out what you want to do with the whole job thing, that is a bit stressful. You will work it out and you and the BF will have an amazing time together :D. I have no clue how any of that works, I have never been outside of the US, so all of that sounds so interesting!

HH4L-Keep it up girl, falling off the wagon a little happens to everyone at least a couple times a year lol! You just have to do what you are doing-reaffirm your resolve to stay healthy, and not get too crazy with the goals. I think 4 lbs is a great number, and it's not low, it is HEALTHY. You are far more likely to keep that 4 lbs off than if you lost 10 in one month. So keep up the realistic goals and you will do great!

Mande-Thanks! He is okay lol! I love the sweating the butt of feeling lol! Isn't it great!? I think that you are doing such a great job, stay with it! OMG I had a total issue with my satellite also this weekend! I hate that lol! Keep with the 30DS and I think that Jillian will work you out girl!

Okay ladies, sorry for anyone that I missed, I will get you all later but I have to get baby girl up from nap :) Talk to you soon!

I was wondering about you, Munster!! Glad to hear you are over that tummy bug. Those things are awful!

Today has been successful. I still didn't get in as much water as I need to, but I drank more than what I have been lately. I'm hoping I'll be down in the morning. Planning to hit the gym before class tomorrow. Right now, I am so not feeling motivated, but I'm going to do it anyway. The last time I went was last Tuesday and I did Day 3 of Week 3 on C25K. I may do a day of week 2 since it's been a week since I've been to the gym. I don't know. I need to see what happens in week 4. Who knows? I may be able to go ahead and tackle that week.

Well, I better go. I gotta get stuff together for in the morning. Hope everyone has a great day tomorrow!

Retaining water!! I had a super salt heavy meal last night and i think that's what did it because I was super good food wise.
Egg drop soup ended up a little blah and added salt to it.
Spring rolls were yummy (But the veggies and noddles were cooked with soy and oyster sause.) I also used soy for dipping. It was low sodium soy but it was still more sodium than my body is used to.
Water jug is attached to my hip tonight. Was planing on Miso soup for dinner but now having second thoughts.

I jogged yesterday!! I did two minutes of jogging and one minute fast walking for 15 minutes then did 47 minutes of the treadclimber. I plan on doing the same right now and try and sweat some of this water out.

MunsterMommy- ugh, sounds like you had a heck of a weekend. it's good to take a little rest when sick though so your body can recover. Glad to see that it's all gone and you're feeling like yourself again. ^.^

Good morning, everyone!
I had a good weigh-in this morning!! I was expecting it since all I did was pee yesterday and last night. I think I got up 3 times to pee. Anyway, I had a lower number on the scale, and that's what's important.

Sakai - Hopefully that water retention will be gone soon! I'm sure it will with you drinking your water.

I have a long day today, so I wanted to go ahead and get on this morning and add my weight to the daily thread. Anyway, gotta go get everyone ready. Have a great day, everyone!

Where is everyone??!!!

I had a very long day of classes today. To top it off, all the treadmills at the gym were taken this morning, so I had to do my c25k on the elliptical, which I do not like. I just feel like I get a better workout on the treadmill. And the elliptical makes my feet hurt. I worked out anyway, though. I only went over my calories today by about 50. I'm not worried about it though because I got my workout in this morning. Gosh, I'm exhausted. It's amazing how sitting in class can wear you out.

Well, I hope everyone had a good day. Miss y'all!!

Hi everyone! *waves at sgregg* I'm here still =)

Ok, I like to think I'm an emotionally stable person, I also like to think I don't let the scale get to me, but MAN, I am so FRUSTRATED! Haha!

This approaching period has taken it's toll on me, I've never in my life experience PMS combined with pre-period bloating to go on for so long. I will embrace the day I start taking the pill and hope that it keeps these pesky hormones that are controlling my life these days at bay. Did anyone else see the same success when taking the pill to help their period symptoms?

I know, I know, I should just be drowning myself in water which I haven't done - so I am partially to blame. It's quite funny actually, I dictate how much water I need by the colour of my pee >_>. This morning it was very dark, so I thought "oop, better get some wawa in me."

According to my countdown there are now 3 MONTHS TO GO until I see my boyfriend! 121 days to be exact! Maybe I'll make a ticker and put it in my signature...would that be sad?!

After having a few fail days at Insanity I got back on the horse and galloped towards the sunset so to speak. I always have this feeling of dread starting Insanity but then when I'm in it I'M IN IT!! The hardest part is getting ready I suppose!

I've been counting my calories and I've been doing well with staying on target, so I'm happy about that. Not much else to report!

sgregg - Woohoo! So glad to hear you're still on it with you c25k training! And I'm also glad that you're finding the daily weigh in useful. As long as you don't let it affect your mood too much, it's a great way to stay accountable.

munster - YAY YOU'RE BACK!! I was starting to worry!! Sorry you felt so ill =(. That sucks. This sounds gross, but did you lose any weight?! I'm sure throwing up loads might have helped you lose a pound or so, haha. I'm so crude. I know, recovery week is next week, crazy!! But I am READY for Phase 2!!

Sakai - I hope you managed to get rid of that water retention. Seems like a lot of us are feeling its wrath! And congrats on the exercise, it'll make the weight just fly off you!

Hello I'm new on here (this is my first post), and I've properly started dieting for the first time in a year (before I would over diet then cave in and eat more and gain weight and the cycle would go on) any tips for the first few weeks of weight loss? Thanks :)

Hey guys,
I have been reading through some of your posts and I would really like to join into you chat. You ladies are so supportive of each other and so open. I could really use a group of people to share successes and struggles with.

My situation right now is that I lost about 10 lbs in august/September and now I am stuck. I am 13 lbs away from my goal and I have been seeing the same number on the scale the past few weeks (ugh). I am also stuggling with TOM and my body swelling up like a balloon and I can't seem to kick off any water weight.

So a lot of you are into this insanity workout?? I have heard so much about it but can someone tell me more. Maybe it would pull me out of my rut.

I look forward to getting to chat with all of you throughout the coming months, that is if you will have me :)

Good luck with today all

Hello everyone!
I'm just getting back into the whole "losing"mentality and am trying for at least 5 posts a day. I feel like I avoid this (and other) places of support when I'm not doing well, so making myself post makes me want to do better. I echo Jamie1985 in saying that this looks like a great bunch of supportive gals.

I turn 29 on Sunday, so I may just be phasing out of the 20-somethings group, but might as well rock it while I can. I can relate to a lot of the issues discussed in here. I'm a single gal rooming with my momma after living abroad. Have been back in States for about a year and was working in Sales/marketing, but am about to give notice to start working as an "independent contractor" doing office support for a private company.

Rie~ So cool about you looking into going to Japan! I taught in South Korea for 2.5 years and it was one of the best things I've ever done. I was only supposed to be there for a year, then ended up extending for another year and 6 months. While I never would have planned it for myself, I'm so glad I took the leap.
Re: the 'You applying for jobs on your own vs. bf applying for jobs then you joining him' dilemma", I'd definitely keep applying on your own. Go ahead with the JET thing. Worst case, you'd have to turn it down. It might take some pressure off the BF, too, if he knows that you're also actively looking for somethih for yourself. Also, if location is a major factor for you, do you have a list of the 5 or so top cities/locations that you'd like to be in? I was in a city of about 2.5 million people and it was the perfect size: Big enough to have modern conveniences, but small enough that I didn't feel too overwhelmed.

What are you doing in the meantime?

3cats - Welcome! The biggest tip I'll give to you is find out HOW you want to lose the weight. You've tried dieting and that hasn't worked, so I would suggest exercise. If you take exercise seriously then eventually you won't want to over eat because you'll think "all that hard work I just did will be ruined!" Furthermore, you might get to the point where you want to eat healthy to fuel your body. You might scoff now but believe me, it happened to me!! But ultimately, this is a lifestyle change. You have to figure out WHY you overeat, and try and change that. The decisions you make regarding food need to be for life, so you need to really educate yourself on what is good for you and what's not. I don't agree with diets, because telling someone you can't eat something makes them want it twice as much! Just take it one step at a time.

Jamie - By all means, come on in!! I know how you feel about TOM blues and water weight, it's been kicking me in the metaphorical balls for the last week or so!! Ugh, hate it! Well done for losing 10 lbs! I think the closer you get to your goal the harder it becomes.
At the moment it's just munster and I that do Insanity. Insanity is basically circuit training/interval training. Normally you would do easy exercise and then do hard rigorous exercise for a short amount of time and then rest again. However, Shaun T has said "eff that" and created a 'max interval training' programme. So you're working your arse off to the LIMIT and then resting for 30 seconds. The programme comes with about 11 different workout videos and you get a calendar which tells you what workout you'll do each day. Which is why you'll hear us say Day __ of Insanity done!!
It also comes with a nutrition guide, which if I'm honest, is the best thing I've read on nutrition. It really educated me on when I should eat, how often I should eat and most importantly WHAT I should be eating. You work out your caloric needs by an equation that is based on your age, height, weight and also by how much exercise you do.
If you want a challenge and can dedicate yourself then GO FOR IT! You'll feel like you're torturing yourself but it's amazing =).

Alexis - Oh please, I know a few 30 somethings who post here! Age is not an issue! I think the college/student threads are quite 20 something specific but everything else is easy going =). That's amazing how you went to South Korea! Were you teaching there? Everyone has said they're glad they did take the leap so it puts my nerves at ease!
I basically want to live near a city/in a smaller city like you. I'm fine with the suburbs, good transport to major cities is always a plus for me. The transportation system is one of the best in the world in Japan, so again, a suburb or a small city would be ideal. I'm going ahead and applying to JET because what's the worse that could happen?
I'm working at a cinema at the moment, I graduated last year and am living with the parentals to save money (and because I had none to live on my own!) It's fine, I get on with them and I'm lucky to have them so I don't mind.