MarliQQ - could it be hormonal acne? Losing weight releases hormones stored in fat. I definitely get more hormonal acne when I'm OP, but I know it'll all balance out once I'm maintaining at my goal weight.

paigeinabook - added you on MFP!

merilung I was looking for new friends and I realized that I have a 0 instead of an o form my second o in my MfP account. So it is paigeinabo0k rather than paigeinabook. Sorry about that!

Haha, no worries! Added you just now :)

I'm down another pound to 224.4 this morning - can't wait to get back to my pre-holidays low weight of 218 and then on to bust out of the 200's!

Afternoon, twins!!

My my we are getting quite active here, aren't we?? That's awesome! So glad to see you all ^^. This last week and early into this week has been crazy. Family came to visit and all our diets went off the rails. I'm talking cheesecake for breakfast off the rails here, lol. It's been a nightmare to eat healthy, but I've done my best given the situation. Haven't weighted myself in almost a week and haven't really exercised either (except, I did some gardening yesterday and DAMN are my arms and legs sore. I had the leaf blower going and a weed whacker, so I'm guessing I burned a couple calories doing that, haha!)

Seriously going to try to get into yoga tonight. With my sore limbs and tight back it might be just what the doctor ordered. And while I would love to go for walks in this lovely south Florida weather, I'll try to just work in an indoor cardio routine tonight as well. Maybe. (gosh I'm so unmotivated today, lmao).

I use MFP religiously, but I don't know how to add friends on there through the mobile app, can any of you MFP users show me? Thanks a million!!!

Keep up the awesome work ladies!!!!!!

Hi! I'm joining in! 29 years old, 5'10 1/2 ", 245 pounds, trying to get to 187 at least. I re-started my diet yesterday, but I have already fallen off the wagon twice :( Today was complicated as I had to skip breakfast, since we had to hurry out of the house, so all my eating schedule was bonked, but I am going to get things back together tomorrow.:yes:

Hey ladies! Totally feeling everybody on the TOM situation. It just makes me feel awful and act worse:devil:.

Teacher2B Don't feel bad about falling off the wagon right away. It took me about a week to get to a more solid footing after restarting my diet.

I hope the rest of the week is great for everyone(myself included)!

Hello Twinzies :hug:

So I had an...:shrug: okay day?? I was able to workout and stay under cals, but with TOM here, I am so low energy:sp:. Today was an official weigh-in day and I weighed in at 224.4--merilung and I must have had our Oneder-Twin mojo activated or something :D.
Anyways, I keep notes for each official weigh-in, complete with information on any nsv's, exercise routines, calorie changes--basically anything I might find pertinent later on about the particular week that proceeded the weigh-in. So as I read through my notes, I realized that I have lost a total of 25lbs since Nov.26--less than 3 months--which should be a victory right? However, I found myself unable to muster any genuine excitement. I have been so focused on how much further I have to go, that I really have not taken time to acknowledge how far I have come. I find this disheartening, because I would like to be really excited, but my ungrateful mind is not communicating those emotions. Now, I am not posting all this to get a pat on the back, but instead illustrating, that maybe you--like me--have not taken the time to truly celebrate how far you have come. And we really should be much more proud of ourselves than we are. Onderland is a great goal, but I want to get there maintaining the best mental shape possible. I liken it to getting to goal weight, all cardio and no strength training--so I lost the weight, but now I'm mad because I'm "flabby". I feel just like that. I'm chugging along to Onderland, not particularly focused on enjoying the journey or the "small victories" but instead moving along, anticipating that 199 will be my savior--my happy--and knowing me, it won't be.
I guess what this really boils down to, is that I am afraid of getting discouraged, bored, or uninspired enough that suddenly I will give up. Now, more than likely, this will be unintentionally, because we almost always have good intentions, but nevertheless it's still a setback (whether temporary or not). A setback that could have been avoided, had I taken the time to nurture the happy moments, re-ignite my inspirations, and properly program my mind to accept this journey, as more than temporary or a means to get to a goal, but a new way of life. So yeah, my body is not the only thing that needs some "work" :rolleyes:.

merilung The hormone issue crossed my mind, and honestly I should have entertained it as more than a possibility, but of course I didn't. I will definitely be looking into it though. Honestly, I am hoping it is more of a simple matter....

Hi all, do you mind if I join? I'm 5'8 and 205lbs, hoping to make it into onederland by the end of the month!

Welcome to the party Paisleymama!

:high: for activating our twin mojo MarliQQ! As you already know, 25 pounds in 3 months is awesomesauce. I totally relate to your feelings, though - I always had a hard time feeling like I've done something until I've lost over 50 pounds (which probably explains why I spent a lot of years losing and gaining 50 pounds). Do you have before and after pictures? I was seriously surprised by the HUGE difference the 25 pounds between 250-something and 220-something made in my appearance. Like, shocked when I saw the photos level surprised.

I think there's almost always some setbacks in a journey this long. In January of 2013 I was ALL SET to lose 120 pounds that year. Instead, I lost 50 pounds last year. But I lost 50 pounds and I quit smoking and I'm still at it, so I can't be all that bummed about not hitting my crazy goal! I've taken a maintenance break a few times when I started feeling overwhelmed and discouraged, and it helped to remind myself that as long as I'm not gaining weight, I'm winning. Whenever I felt more mentally/emotionally ready, I could pick up right where I left off!

A regular fitness routine also helps me to stay in the right mindset and see this as a forever thing. My yoga practice has been essential to getting my head on straight during this process.

When I first started this journey, I was always under the impression that the dieting would be the hard part, and exercising wouldn't be bad. Boy, was I wrong. I don't know what it is, but I just can't seem to get myself to exercise. And it's totally discouraging, because I weigh myself and think "wth?? I've been eating good, how come I'm not losing weight???" Well duh, because you aren't exercising. Been about a month now, and I've yet to do any real exercise-- how terrible is that?? x.x

I need some motivation, because it's not for lack of tools. I've got Zumba for Xbox Kinect, wii fit, plenty of walking grounds, a bowflex, numerous pilates, yoga, and even oxycize (yeah those are old lol) dvds. So someone please explain to me why my lazy butt wont doooo eeeeet.

Alright, enough complaining from me, haha. You ladies have a great day, and STAY FABULOUS!

SamanthaAngela - have you considered a workout class? I WILL NOT workout at home for some reason (okay, I'll do 15-20 minutes on the treadmill here or there, but that's IT) even though I have a number of exercise videos, but I love going to yoga class or a dance class. I also walk through the park quite a bit since I have a sweet dog that needs outside time!

By the way, I'll be in Ft. Lauderdale/Miami in May! Any must-see/do things you recommend as a local?

I can't do any type of class because A) I don't have my own car with me down here, and B) I work 7:30-6:00 Monday through Friday, so I'm not sure where a class would fit in. :(

I'm actually not a local, lol I'm from Sullivan, Missouri :D But I've been working/staying with my aunt and uncle for about 5 months now. While you are in the Ft. Lauderdale area, you gotta hit ocean drive and Las Olas Boulevard. Las Olas is the ritzy part of town but it's awesome at night to walk up and down the street and check out the restaurants, clothing stores, and art galleries :D

Hello Twins. :coffee::coffee:

I was pretty busy today, but I think I did good. I played it smart and worked out earlier before I even left the house today, just in case I came home too tired--and I did. I had :jeno: today too and managed to stay under cals, thank god :D. TOM is here :sumo: and she wants yummies :).

merilung I have taken photos, and that has not helped. I think by about 50lbs I would see the difference definitely, but right now I just don't see enough to be excited by.

SamanthaAngela Maybe you need more of a social element when you workout? Seeing that you are away from home, maybe you can still get some motivation from home. I myself was able to keep a strong long distance relationship with one of my closest girlfriends--most days we would chat away for hours about any and everything. It got so bad, that sometimes we just both left our speakerphones on, so we would "watch tv together", or to simply just go about our day and still communicate with one another. Now you don't have to be as obsessive as we were :D, but maybe you can get a friend to motivate you for a half hour via the phone, sometimes a friendly voice is good to hear if you can't have the physical presence.

Paisleymama :welcome:!!:welcome:!!:welcome:!!

Thanks for the welcome! I hit 25lbs lost this morning, it feels like a small victory :) I need to find the motivation to work out though. I'm eating as cleanly and low cal as I can but I'm jiggly and I know I'll lose it faster and tone better if I could just get myself to MOVE.

Hi everyone, I'm just hovering around 235. :)

It got here pretty fast so I'm alright here for now. I'm excited to see the 220's!

My weekend was long and complicated and now I'm all stressed out. I'm a little behind in my homework so tomorrow I'm going to eat as good as I can and try to get back in the groove.

It's been rough this week but I'm ready to get back in the game.