I'm new here... But I'm joining in!

I just weighed myself for the first time in a while. And shockingly I'm now at 180. I was sure I weighed 195 before (but that was over a month ago).

So starting at 180 and trying to lose 15-20 lbs by the time I head out to California for a trip in November!

Hey guys, just a quick check in:

In the past 5 days I've lost 2.8lbs! :carrot: I know it can't go on forever but I'm loving this trend. Maybe I can get to my 10lb goal this month.

namaste: I hope your slow transition to vegan continues to go well. If you have any questions or need any advice I'm here.

QB: Thank you for reminding me to make a pitcher of delicious fruit water! I've been meaning to do this forever. Yours sounds amazingly delicious. Finding balance while going to school is certainly tough. I'm right there with you.

bea: I'm doing biological systems engineering and whenever I don't hate it, I absolutely love it! I'm pretty nerdy. And good luck with the online and offline dating!

Katbot: I'm glad the breakfast didn't go too badly. I'm sure they will all grow to love each other over time. My mom's parents didn't like my dad until they had been married for like ten years and now he is their favorite person ever! Congrats on your recent woosh!

leighish: Welcome back. You've done it before and you can do it again!

pink: Good luck with another school year. And keep sweating up a storm!

gracie: I first became a vegetarian when I was 12, so I think I just did it back then to be different and to prove that I could do it. As I continued I realized that it was actually a good fit for me. I'm a big time environmentalist, so that's a huge reason for me now. Being vegan also just makes me feel better. I also love plant food. Dairy doesn't always agree with me, so the jump from vegetarian to vegan isn't that tough for me, even though I did grow up in the dairy state.

kahokkuri: Periods and weight loss just don't mix very well! Ugh!

SMF: I'm weird, so cheese isn't that hard for me to live without. I have really strange tastes and crave things people usually don't. Examples: broccoli, garbanzo beans, kelp noodles, kombucha, sauerkraut, beets, tahini. Yummmm! And I agree whole heartedly with your 80/20 attitude. Good luck with your races and training!

shelflife: I'm hoping to break into the 160's soon as well. Best of luck!

MAP: My knees suck too! I have to wear a brace on one whenever I work out and on the other only when it's acting up. Take it easy on them. I've found that building up the muscles around the knees really help keep them stabilized. Your progress is awesome by the way!

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Two days of school down! I'm taking yoga class two days a week this semester, so hopefully that will help me stay focused on fitness and de-stress a bit. For the most part, this is shaping up to be a brutal semester, so I'm going to need all the help I can get to not lose my mind. I really have to focus on time management and not letting myself slack off when things get really tough, which is what I usually do.

My sort of plateau has kind of continued. I'm down fractions of a pound, which is good I guess, but still frustrating. I guess after losing over 30 pound really fast my body just needs some time to readjust. I've tried everything I can think of to shake this weight loss rut, but I think I'm going to have to just roll with it and wait it out. As long as I keep doing what I'm doing, The laws of thermodynamics assure me that I won't be this weight forever.

Hello to all of the people jumping in!

beahawkins Glad the date went well. :)

SoMuch Oh no! pinched nerves are the worst. Can you get to a chiropractor?

leighish Hey, if they stay off, then awesome!! My pantry is never prepared for my diet changes...

Garden If I wasn't bringing so much other stuff to work, I'd bring the pitcher with me!
This week I've been bringing my water bottle, a coffee mug, and another mug with my breakfast smoothie in it. :) Too much!

I think I've figured out a tentative schedule for myself (I love spreadsheets) so that I can balance work/class/exercise/homework/fun. This week isn't a typical week so I can't test it fully, but we'll see how it goes.
Realized that waking up early to work out & shower before work just won't happen. Sleep means too much to me first thing in the morning, and I really like showering at night more.

Now to make a super detailed food plan....

Yay, Katbot! Congrats! :D

Thanks, Garden! I've always wanted to try yoga.. I've youtubed it a couple of times, but I am nowhere NEAR as flexible as the people I've seen. While I own enough yoga pants to warrant opening my own studio ;), I've never done the actual exercise associated with them- how silly! Is there a type you'd suggest for a super beginner like me?

Ballerina, I always thrive with a routine too, so yay to us for getting back on track! I too considered hitting the gym before my 8am class.. then I reconsidered for my own sanity. ;)

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First day of classes went well! I was done with them and done at the gym by 11.. can't complain! :D

beahawkins A break in the middle of the day to go to the gym sounds glorious. I hope you were able to capitalize on it and get rid of the blahs.

Fattitude I totally feel you on the first world problems! I hope your day improved from there, though. Seems like it's always the littlest things that make staying positive on OP difficult.

Orr123 Welcome! That's an awesome loss so far. Good luck keeping up the momentum!

Katbot Congrats on the loss! It's only the 6th; I'll bet you can hit that 10lb loss.

Good luck with the crazy semester, GardenBurglar. Exercise, especially yoga, always kept me sane when classes got rough, but it was also the first thing I slacked off on when I got busy. I hope you can find a good balance!

I admire your ability to stick to a plan, Quiet Ballerina. I joked the other day that I couldn't even stick to a routine of waking up at noon, eating breakfast and playing video games.

Is that 11AM or 11PM, pinksparkles? Either way, glad you had a good first day!

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I had a super rough night of sleep. I woke up once because the air conditioning had turned off, leaving me super sweaty. I had to turn on all the lights and rummage around to find the remote to get it back on. During this time I realized I had severe cramps and took some meds to calm that sh*t down. Woke up again a couple hours later to more cramps so I took more meds and slept until my alarm.

Weighed in at 92.2kg this morning, which is 7.3kg (16lbs) higher than my low in November. Trying really hard not to beat myself up over this and just move forward. Packed a lunch of raw veggies and a small dessert, and I unearthed my Nalgene to make sure I get a full 3L of water. I'm re-committing to not snacking after 8PM, and I'm going to try to keep myself busy at work when I don't have classes so I don't sit around snacking or thinking about snacking.

hey have you guys heard this guy??? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9TPj...feature=relmfu im having a bit of a metalgasm here

Kahokkuri: Thanks!

And yeah, its been an up and down journey for me the last 5 years or so. Started at about 210 lbs when I was just out of school, now I've been as low as 170 and generally 190lbs. So now my goal is to get to 160-170 and stay there! lol... But I tend to be an emotional eater... so thats never goood!

Today was one of those days!

GardenBurglar - I crave odd things sometimes too, but can't say I've ever had kelp noodles or kombucha. haha! I did yoga for quite some time, but ended up switching to triathlons and the training consumed my life.

Quiet Ballerina - My mom (RN) informed me it's from sleeping too hard/wrong way on it and give it a few days. I only got 5 hours sleep in 3 days because of Pork-A-Pocalypse and when I came home I slept 13 hours. haha! Today there is a marked improvement. I'm a spreadsheet queen too. I love them. Im super organized and they make me feel better. I wanna see your detailed food list! Those things intrigue me.

Kahokkuri My mood only got worse and my knee issues flared up during a run. Today is a new day though! I cannot sleep when it's higher than 66F in the house. It's bad news. For guests and my bill. Oh well. Ouch to cramps. :(

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Yesterday was a wreck. I ate well (roasted butternut squash, chicken and a huge greek salad for dinner) but everything else was just off.

My knee bothered me and I basically power walked 2.5 miles, which sucks since I need to work on my run; however, it's better than nothing.

I've been toying with only weighing in monthly because I get too intense and too hard on myself. Like a fool, I weighed in today despite knowing I would 100% be up 5+lbs because of Pork-A-Pocalypse and I'm PMSing, and guess what?! Yeah, I definitely was. So, I do think I'll move to monthly weigh ins so I don't defeat myself. I already eat well for the most part and exercise 6 days a week so, no matter what the scale says I'm never happy unless it's my goal weight. Which I'm 69lbs from. So, see you on Sept 29th scale!

I remembered my burrito today, and my splenda for my Pumpkin Coffee (I effing love fall.) I also I have spin tonight and I *love* spin.

Here's to a better day! Hope you're all doing well today!

Hi ladies--quick check in here!

Fattitude: sorry to hear your day was rough. at least you have a pumpkin coffee to look forward to. i have such a thing for "fall flavored" coffee drinks and "holiday flavored" cocktails!

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September is turning out to be a crazy month for me. It's the last month of my grant which funds my teaching here, so it means I've only got 3 weeks at my school with my students and coworkers. Crazy and super bittersweet. It's also been a little stressful, because I'm not sure what's coming next. I applied for a job that would allow me to stay in Bangkok for two more months, but if that doesn't work out, I'm heading home in about a month. I'm hoping to find out if I get the job or not soon so I can mentally prepare for either moving to the city or returning to America. OOF.

Anyways, stress + end of the year goodbye parties = big challenges for staying on track!

Hope you're all having a fabulous day!

pinksparkles Hopefully you were out at 11am vs pm? Sounds like a great first day! :) Yes, I'm much better when I have a schedule.

Kahokkuri (apologies in advance if I ever misspell your s/n) :) I do better when I'm strict with myself. If I meal plan and prep, I'm much more liable to eat something healthy for dinner....vs a bag of chips. :-P Especially on the nights I have class. Sometimes work needs me to stay a little late and then I only have time for a quick snack before class. So I need to make it count.
Nights like that are the worst! Hopefully you'll sleep better soon.
I'm the same boat as you; trying to re-lose weight that I lost and put back on. :( It's hard, and definitely frustrating when the jeans I was all set to donate for being too big...are now almost too snug.

Somuch I could be wrong, but heat might help? To loosen the muscles? When I finish my food list I'll post it. :) Been gathering ideas for breakfast/lunch/dinner.
mmm....I love Greek salad....for a week I had nothing but Greek salads for lunch. So delicious. 69 lbs til your goal? Awesome!!

gracie Fingers crossed that you hear news soon.

I don't really have much to say. Drinking a ton of water. Don't miss soda at all, which I'm pleased with.
One thing that I also like about doing meal prep for the week vs every other day or so? It means (ideally) I can do the dishes in one swoop. I feel like every day I'm washing an ice cube tray or a muffin pan or my crockpot or my blender (well, that is everyday because I've been having a smoothie every morning). Soooo tired of doing dishes....and I try and use mostly tupperware for my lunch so that means more washing to do. Siiiiiigh. :)

Kahokkuri: The break didn't happen. I left early because I was sick.

I don't know what happened. Yesterday I was feeling iffy and gross at school so I left early. Normally my stomach is like iron I never really feel sick like this. I have been sick to my stomach (both ways) for the last day now. I think it is food poisoning or something. I had chinese for the first time since starting the diet. I had it for dinner tuesday and lunch and an early dinner yesterday. It didn't hit until a little after I finished dinner last night and it was like a wave of death.
I'm def not worried about my next weigh in. I just wish my muscles would stop hurting.

: )

Kahokkuri/Ballerina: Yep, 11am! ;)

Beahawkins: Hope you feel better soon :(

Gracie: What were you teaching in Bangkok, english? Food challenges are tough, but also a chance to prove your resolve to yourself :)

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So I skipped the gym this morning in favour of a run outside. I've been running outside (on the sidewalk) all summer because of the beautiful weather, but it's been tough on my knees. (I hurt my left in a rugby game in high school- nearly 5 years ago :o) I've been on the treadmill the last couple of days and it's felt great.. then this morning, I got 4K into my run and had to stop :( Back to the gym it is!

Seems my exercise over the summer is working, though..I wore an old pair of pants to run in this morning and they were falling off!

Happy almost Friday, everyone! :D

Bea- No bueno on the food poisoning. Hope you feel lots better soon.

Garden- Thanks, that is nice of you. I do yoga too, have been doing it off and on since 2008. I go to a small studio close to downtown (which in a town of 50K doesn't really mean a lot) and it's really nice. :)

Fattitude- I know the feeling. I'm sure you'll get a much more accurate reading that way anyway, since I can get 4 or 5 different measurements during the day and sometimes 2 or 3 variations in the same weigh-in.

Kahokkuri- Way to get back on track. :) I'm sure you'll be on the path to success in no time. And don't beat yourself up, mistakes happen. :)

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It's been chaotic for me, to say the least. More fun with the medications, I had mentioned earlier last month about problems and now they discontinued one of my meds altogether. They sent me home with a new med and I am playing guinea pig tonight. So far, so good. :)

I finally think I have the momentum (not to mention the finances!) I need to become vegan full-time. I am very excited about the change and hope to make it a lifetime habit.

I will be back later on tonight, hopefully. I hope everyone has a great day/evening.

I'm back after about a year and a half! At the end of my first weight loss run, I ended up losing about 40 pounds. I've jumped in after gaining about 20 pounds back so it's time to get back on track. My official life-style change won't start until the end of the much (trip to vegas planned and I know I'm going to have a hard time staying OP), but I figured it'll be good to jump in now and get in the right mindset and support. Yay!