I will totally talk to myself if I have to. ;)

Still down at 179.2 this morning, and feeling just great!

Went to spin class yesterday at lunch with coworkers, and got my ***-kicked. Heading back again today-- going to try to go 4 times this week. It really does seem to be helping the weight melt off, despite tackling my eating in a much more forgiving, common-sense kind of way instead of calorie-counting like I used to. Like, "You had a hashbrown with your yogurt for breakfast, maybe you'll have frozen mango instead of ice cream for dessert tonight," instead of, "Omigod, you had 1,475 calories today instead of 1,350, you ruined EVERYTHING!"

Hope you're all doing great! <3

Hi Jelbb! Won't leave you talking to yourself ;) Love that you're heading back for more a**kicking! And congrats on entering the 170s!! Do you use MFP for calorie counting?

My knee got a little f****d up last week, so I've been avoiding my high impact bootcamp and sticking to straight-up elliptical since Friday. I think that's allowed me to let go of some water weight so I've seen some progress - 173.4 again today! I think my goal of 170 by the 31st is probably lofty, but, whatever, I'll still shoot for it!

Hi all,
I can sooo relate to this thread and hope it will be motivation. I was stuck in the 170's for over a year and finally got out of them this summer. My next goal is to get out of the 160's. I sure hope I'm not stuck here that long. Today I'm 162.8 and my way of eating is low carb. No sugar, no grains.

Shelf:
Woo! I went back for the spin class. My *** really was kicked. But like, seriously. Two days of spin class in a row leaves the rear-end a little sore, even with the seat cushion! Back for more punishment today tho! :carrot:

Hmm. What's MFP?
I'm actually abandoning calorie counting this time around. Previously I was super obsessive about calories, would flip out if I went over my daily allotment, beat myself up with guilt, checked calories on everything, and didn't like eating un-packaged, non-processed foods because they didn't have an accurate calorie-count stamped on the side.
Since it was such mental stress, and I operated on an on/off mentality (either I was counting calories perfectly, or completely ignoring them and eating tons of garbage) this time around I'm operating on a much more laid-back and manageable, "you have a treat for lunch, you eat healthily for dinner," "Oh, you had ice cream last night? You're having fruit and yogurt for breakfast instead of bacon and eggs." I aim for healthier, less-processed options, and continually purchase things I don't want to eat for lunch: like quinoa and chickpea salads in balsamic vinagrettes... I'm hoping if I keep stuffing them down my throat I'll develop a taste for them. Plus, I don't overeat when I don't really enjoy it, HA. ;)

Good job on seeing the water weight drop! Sometimes I think your body needs a little respite from the hardcore workout to get the scale going down! And... very impressed. Bootcamp workouts scare me. When I can't breathe and need to stop and take a drink of water, I don't like having the instructor yelling at me to keep going lmao. I would do baaaadly on the biggest loser!

Sorry to hear about your knee! Injuries are such a freakin' pain... Kudos for switching up workouts instead of STOPPING workouts!

And hey... lofty goals rock, even if you're a tad shy of the exact number. They motivate you if nothing else! And I'm rooting for ya!

Zogo:
WELCOME!!!!!
Super glad to have you, but I hope you're not stuck here for too long either. ;) It sucks feeling "stuck" in any weight decade. But you're so close to the 150s, I'm sure you'll be outta here in no time!
Check in lots, can't wait to hear how you're doing!

As for me...
I'm 178.6 today, and LOVING it. It feels so good to see the numbers going down consistently, and feeling completely motivated for the first time in SO long. I just watched the scale climb for over a year in this defeatus way, struggling half-heartedly to eat slightly better, but never managing to do more than exhaust my mental willpower and winding up binging on garbage. I made it to my highest weight EVER, and undid all of the hard work I ever did in the past.
When I first joined 3FC, I went from 176 down to 137, and never felt better. Since then, I've just yo'yo'd back up and down and finally waaaay back up. I just desperately want to lose the weight and be able to maintain it in an unconscious way instead of this on and off switch to my obsessiveness! Obsessive eating vs obsessive calorie-counting cycle = Pain-FUL.

Anyhow, postitives: Heading to spin class today, and focusing on eating well since tomorrow we have a "mandatory fun" work picnic at the president of the company's house. There will be booze and garbage food, and I will be tempted. Not gonna say I WON'T eat anything bad for me, or have a beer, since life happens... so instead, I'll just focus on eating well today to make up for tomorrow. :)

Hope you're all doing well! Check in when ya can! :)

Jelbb: Hurrah for scale movement! MFP is myfitnesspal - a popular calorie exercise tracking site. I definitely support your moving towards whole foods. It's so much better to get nutrition out of your calories. I'm a binge eater, and find I've reeeeally got to track. I'm pretty good about not bringing binge/trigger foods into the house and eating whole foods at home, but really, really struggle with restaurants. I will save *so* much money if I can significantly reduce how much I eat out.
-----
Holding steady at 173.4 today. I'm 100% ok with that as yesterday I was at about 2000 calories (I shoot for 1660), and was just too lazy to exercise. I got off to a better start today with some on the elliptical, and clean eats planned.

Shelflife:
Oh. Man. Do I ever hear you. I have a semi-diagnosed binge eating disorder. Disagnosed in that a hospital had me participate in a study of people with binge eating disorders... I figure that entitles me to say it's diagnosed.

I have to be pretty careful with my trigger foods as well. And... I'm the same. Controlling portions at restaurants, or even resisting the worse-for-you options is asininely difficult for me. If I'm enjoying my meal, I eat until I feel sick. Theres no "off" button...

Interestingly, recently I had my DNA tested at 23andme.com, and one of the more random markers came back saying I "have a greater tendency to overeat." I was like, "Oh great, that's gene-deep, is it?"

And, financially, I hear ya. Every day after spin class, I go to the grocery store around the corner and get a healthy lunch from the deli there, because it's easy... because I'm a creature of habit... and because it keeps me excited to go grab lunch, not sullenly thinking about a non-fresh packed lunch I have back at the office. But EVERY DAY, it comes to almost $11. That sh*t adds up...!

As for sitting steady weight-wise after a more chilled day... that's great! I figure that way, you know when you get back on track that you'll definitely see the scale drop. Super pumped for ya. :)

As for me...
Yesterday was a slightly off-schedule sort of day. Our work's president invited the whole office out to her country home to have a picnic and bask in the glory of her goooorgeous place.
I was pretty good eating-wise, but I aimed for more "normal" eating than "perfect" eating. I had about 5 chips, a burger with no bun, canteloupe, a kale and strawberry salad, and two beers.

This morning I was down from 178.6 to 178.4. Sure, it's a miniscule number, but I don't care! It's going DOWN! :)

Update: Back from today's spin class. Honestly, it's just a miracle that I can keep pedaling the whole way through that class. I do feel a bit pathetic when the WHOLE class is doing climbs and sprints and freezes, and I'm sweating my balls off just pedaling with a bit of tension on...!

today i am 174.2. 5 more lbs and im no longer obese!

Jelbb: Wow! I think we have the same issue with lunch! I'll pack something nice, but the things I buy -- even if healthy -- are so much more appealing! I've never been diagnosed with BED, but I'm fairly sure I would qualify. I've also gone through lose and gain cycles way too many times, and I think it's pretty clear this is gonna be a lifelong battle for me. Tracking my food is a bit of a pain, but when I've proven to myself I have the ability to gain 15lbs in 2 months, it's probably necessary.

Rechyl: Best of luck with those next 5lbs! That will be an awesome milestone to achieve!

I was feeling a bit less motivated today as the scale was up slightly. From 173.4 to 173.8. Normal fluctuations, but, admittedly, it got to me a little. I only had MFP set to lose 0.5lbs a week which had me at 1680 calories a day, but since obviously I'm looking for quicker results I've changed it to 1lb a week. To do that it calculated that my net should be 1380 calories daily. It's obviously a bit more difficult to do, but, with exercise should help move things along. In any case, I still got in some exercise today (40 mins elliptical) and eats are on target. I'm going out for dinner tonight, but have 1024 calories remaining, so should be able to stay within them.


Happy Friday all!

Well I guess I shouldn't have complained. I'm up even more today! 175.0 -- wtf?! Boourns.

shelflife:
Oh noooes, I hate that! Kay, c'mon now. You didn't gain two lbs of fat overnight unless you managed to eat 7,000 more calories than you burned, so for sure, it's water weight. Didja eat something sodium-infested? Are you within a week of your TOM?

Don't let it get you down, chica. Just drink tons of water, have a healthy, light day, and try to forget about the scale in favour of knowing you're going the right way. :hug:

Cheryl:
Woot! No longah obeeeese!!! Super exciting!
My no-longer-obese is less than 5 lbs away, so I'm pretty pumped myself. ;) <3

As for me...
Crazy drop this morning that I don't expect to hang around unless today is a model of eating perfection... but either way, it's nice to see. And I changed my ticker regardless, because... WHY NOT! :) 178.4 down to 177.4 this am.
Off to go shopping because I desperately want to have one dress I can wear. Just one. It's too hot for this jeans b.s.!

Happy Monday ladies!

I was back up to 178.4 this morning (from 177.4), but... can't say I mind too much. I'm aware that I was far from perfect this weekend: I had some ice cream, and rice chips and (oh em gee) a McChicken sandwich. I also exercised for this many minutes: 0

I feel a little bit like I'm slipping in my resolve. I'm so used to being all or nothing-- today I bailed out of spin class ten minutes early, disgusted by the fact that I'd forgotten to wash my gym clothes and I could smell myself sweating the OLD b.o. out of the top (ew), and decided that I HAD to have time to shower privately before everyone else came charging into the changeroom, lest I go back to work smelly. (It is a very un-private sorta changeroom/shower in this boutique-y little spin club, and I am very un-fond of the exhibitionist nature of said changeroom/shower.)

It was a lot easier to leave early today because my normal spin class companions all bailed today... I'm proud of myself for at least going, though.

....That being said, immediately afterwards I got a turkey sandwich on a cranberry baguette from the deli next to the spin place... not exactly the healthiest follow-up, but... I can't muster the energy to beat myself up over it.

UPS AND DOWNS! :)

Aiming for a healthy dinner tonight and a great day tomorrooooow. :)

Jelbb: I'm sure the people who were at your spin class appreciated you bailing to wash your gym clothes hahaha Mine were stinking pretty bad yesterday, and I was so relieved to have the gym to myself (there's one in my apartment building). Today I went down smelling of Gain's Apple Mango Tango detergent!

The rise was enough to make me be really careful, and went from 175.0 to 172.4 in a day -- I'm not close to TOM, and things hadn't been overly salty, so I think the blip up might have been from ovulation or something. In any case, today is was 172.6, which I'm 100% fine with, as long as the overall trend is in the right direction!

10 minutes into my elliptical workout, I got a phone call I had to take and went upstairs to deal with it. I managed to gather enough motivation to head back downstairs and do another 27 minutes, which took me to the end of my Futurama episode ;) I bought a black bean & yam sandwich for lunch today, which probably isn't so great. I tossed the bread it came on and threw the contents on one of those Flatout wraps, which should save about 150 calories. I've been nursing a headache for the last 48 hours, and always crave crap when I have them. The sandwich is better than poutine, I guess.

Oh dude. Don't even TALK to me about poutine-- I live/work in Toronto, and there seems to be a "Smokes Poutines" everywhere I look. The most absurdly unhealthy poutines you can imagine, man. 1000+ calories a pop. SHOCKING.

But anyway. Point: Sandwich most definitely better than poutine. Tho, those b*tches are delicious.

OH-- and, in an ep of Modern Family I watched the other day, one of the characters turned down poutine when it was presented as a weird exotic dish the character had never heard of and was too picky to try. I was appalled. I was like... yelling at the TV, "DON'T YOU KNOW IT'S JUST FRENCH FRIES, CHEESE AND GRAVY!? EAT IT NOW, BECAUSE I CAN'T!" :lol:

Kudos on going back down and kicking butt for another 27 minutes! And I applaud your resolve in chucking the bread. Woulda been sucha better option for my lunch turkey sandwich. ;)

And.. WHOA, drop! 175 to 172 is cray-cray. (That's right, I said cray-cray.) Good job, you!

Hope your headache passes, darlin. <3

Went to the gym this evening with my sister, then had froyo after. Not necessarily the greatest thing ever but TOM already had my weight all out of wack so I gave in to the craving. Not too bad considering 4oz is only 120 calories. Off to bed now, need some sleep so I can motivate myself to go to the gym tomorrow!

At least you went to class! That's the important thing :)
Good for you to have the motivation to go back for another day in a row. You rock!