I'm not sure how many of you will read this...considering the chat thread is always slow this time of the challenge! But I've got some things to talk about. I decided, for some reason (boredom no doubt), to make a log of sorts of all the challenges I've done and my success with them. I'm probably most known on these forums as the spreadsheet challenge girl, which I'm happy with since it's helped so many of you, but I wanted to see how I had performed in them over the last FOUR years.
Needless to say, the facts are in my last sentence, I've been on this site for four years and I've not reached my goal weight yet. I came so...SO close in 2012, but for 2013 I spent it being between 155-159 lbs and for almost the last 2 years I've been in the 160's. I guess this was finally my wake up call, the numbers are there - I've been wasting time not doing enough to change my lifestyle to lose the weight I so desperately want off my body.
I guess this is my grand promise to myself, from here on out there can't be any more messing around. There can't be loads of inconsistencies, where I'll do great for a week then be crap the next. I have to stay on target, I have to work out, eat better and lose this weight. I'm 26, I'll be 27 in April, I want to finish the last couple of years I have in my 20's being happy with my body. I've said similar things to this in the last few years, but I feel like this time I truly mean what I say.
In 2011 I went to the pub with my best friend, I was around 190-200 lbs, I was eating an ice cream sundae and saying to her how I was going to change. That I was going to do something about my weight. Even with the irony of me saying this while eating a giant ice cream treat, I felt it in my soul that I was ready to make the change. We laugh about that moment to this day, because I was right - I DID change, I had lost 60 lbs the following year. I feel the same way I did back then, I feel the determination for the first time in years. I'm ready to take this seriously, to change who I am to make this happen.
I want to be healthy, feel good, look good, prolong my life and not worry about any jiggly parts of my body ever again.
So I went ahead and made the spreadsheets for next years challenges. Yup. I have sorted the next YEARS worth of challenges for us all! Here's what 2015/2016 is gonna look like: November 2nd ~ December 25th: Delicious for Christmas 2015 January 4th ~ March 7th: New Year, New You 2016 April 18th ~ June 20th: Sizzling for Summer 2016 July 4th ~ August 28th: Sweat This Summer 2016 September 5th ~ October 31st: Haunting for Halloween 2016 November 7th ~ December 25th: Delicious for Christmas 2016
After that, I'm hoping, I can retire from 3FC. I'll always be lurking, I'll probably post now and then, but if I can lose ONE pound every 2 weeks I can reach my goal by the next Haunting for Halloween challenge in 2016. It's all good and grand for me to say "I want to lose 1 lb a week!" which I DO, but I know myself better than that. I know that life gets crazy and I know that there will be weeks where I might lose 1 lb and there might be times I'll maintain. Either way, I want to be moving forward with my weight loss and losing consistently enough to reach my goal by the end of 2016.
I hope you guys can join me on my journey and I know a lot of people will be sad to agree, but I hope 2016 is the last year I'll run these challenges.
I'm also planning on rewarding little badges to people who participate in the challenge. I'm working on these now, but it'll be small pictures you can put in your signature as a badge of honour to say you finished the challenge/came in the Top 3. I hope you guys like them!
Last edited by Riestrella; 10-12-2015 at 06:25 PM.
I'm not sure how many of you will read this...considering the chat thread is always slow this time of the challenge! But I've got some things to talk about. I decided, for some reason (boredom no doubt), to make a log of sorts of all the challenges I've done and my success with them. I'm probably most known on these forums as the spreadsheet challenge girl, which I'm happy with since it's helped so many of you, but I wanted to see how I had performed in them over the last FOUR years.
Needless to say, the facts are in my last sentence, I've been on this site for four years and I've not reached my goal weight yet. I came so...SO close in 2012, but for 2013 I spent it being between 155-159 lbs and for almost the last 2 years I've been in the 160's. I guess this was finally my wake up call, the numbers are there - I've been wasting time not doing enough to change my lifestyle to lose the weight I so desperately want off my body.
I guess this is my grand promise to myself, from here on out there can't be any more messing around. There can't be loads of inconsistencies, where I'll do great for a week then be crap the next. I have to stay on target, I have to work out, eat better and lose this weight. I'm 26, I'll be 27 in April, I want to finish the last couple of years I have in my 20's being happy with my body. I've said similar things to this in the last few years, but I feel like this time I truly mean what I say.
In 2011 I went to the pub with my best friend, I was around 190-200 lbs, I was eating an ice cream sundae and saying to her how I was going to change. That I was going to do something about my weight. Even with the irony of me saying this while eating a giant ice cream treat, I felt it in my soul that I was ready to make the change. We laugh about that moment to this day, because I was right - I DID change, I had lost 60 lbs the following year. I feel the same way I did back then, I feel the determination for the first time in years. I'm ready to take this seriously, to change who I am to make this happen.
I want to be healthy, feel good, look good, prolong my life and not worry about any jiggly parts of my body ever again.
So I went ahead and made the spreadsheets for next years challenges. Yup. I have sorted the next YEARS worth of challenges for us all! Here's what 2015/2016 is gonna look like: November 2nd ~ December 25th: Delicious for Christmas 2015 January 4th ~ March 7th: New Year, New You 2016 April 18th ~ June 20th: Sizzling for Summer 2016 July 4th ~ August 28th: Sweat This Summer 2016 September 5th ~ October 31st: Haunting for Halloween 2016 November 7th ~ December 25th: Delicious for Christmas 2016
After that, I'm hoping, I can retire from 3FC. I'll always be lurking, I'll probably post now and then, but if I can lose ONE pound every 2 weeks I can reach my goal by the next Haunting for Halloween challenge in 2016. It's all good and grand for me to say "I want to lose 1 lb a week!" which I DO, but I know myself better than that. I know that life gets crazy and I know that there will be weeks where I might lose 1 lb and there might be times I'll maintain. Either way, I want to be moving forward with my weight loss and losing consistently enough to reach my goal by the end of 2016.
I hope you guys can join me on my journey and I know a lot of people will be sad to agree, but I hope 2016 is the last year I'll run these challenges.
I'm also planning on rewarding little badges to people who participate in the challenge. I'm working on these now, but it'll be small pictures you can put in your signature as a badge of honour to say you finished the challenge/came in the Top 3. I hope you guys like them!
Oh my god, I was doing almost the exact same thing today. (Also, we are very close in age - I didn't know that). I mean, not planning challenges, but looking back with frustration at my stalling and then planning to wrap this crap up by January of 2017. That will be the longest I've ever consistently worked to lose weight. And you're right. We can't keep doing the inconsistency thing. It doesn't work. And we owe better than that to ourselves.
I will join you on that journey. It scares me because consistency with weight loss has been a rough road for me, but this is what needs to happen. I need to buckle in and be realistic. In less than a year and a half, I want to be done, at goal, in maintenance (which will be a whole 'nother adventure, I'm sure).
I'm coming with you, Reistrella. I plan to see you in the Maintainers section in about 15 months.
Riestrella - I completely understand. It's so easy to linger at the same weight for too long. I'm also planning to finally join the maintainers in 2016. Maybe someone else can take over after that.
Atarimae Hope things are going ok with your sister!
Mongoose Happy Thanksgiving! Definitely a challenging time of year, foodwise.
Penny Ugh, that must be frustrating about the scale, but at least now you can have something stable to rely on as you go forward!
Rie Your posts are always so spot on, and I'm right there with you (although not quite ready to make the big declaration, because I'm afraid of failure). I feel like we met on here around the time you were first on here too. I was here in 2008, then took the hiatus, and was posting a lot around 2011-2012 - the same time I managed to get so close to my initial goal (only 8 pounds off!). And then of course I've been here off and on since, and not in the Maintainers thread, so clearly it hasn't quite worked. But I'm going to try to do the challenges and hope that sooner, rather than later, I can kickstart myself into actually doing this again, and properly.
~Sorry I've been a little inactive. I've been eating my emotions all week, and while in the grand scheme of things none of it has actually been all that bad, it's not the type of habit I want to get back into long term, as it's a slippery slope from having a bit of chocolate here and some chips there, to just eating whatever I want, whenever I want.
I've been incredibly lethargic and lacking in energy since we came back from Seattle last weekend. I think with everything that's been happening in my life the last couple of months, mainly health stuff, I've just reached a point where I'm feeling kind of overwhelmed and drained. I've been putting on this kind of brave face, and telling everyone I'm looking on the positive side of things and trying to stay there, but the truth is I can be a negative person sometimes, and that has always been in me, so it's difficult to block that out and I feel it's inevitable I'm going to experience these downs.
I didn't put my weight in this week because I know it's a gain. Not a huge one, and I know the challenge is also about being honest, but I just couldn't bring myself to put it in. Next week (or should I say this week, it is Monday!) I will put a weight in for sure. It's Thanksgiving here in Canada, so emotional eating aside, we did have a big meal last night with friends - so I'll give all that sodium a couple of days to subside...
Now there is a positive from the past week I should be proud of, and that is my water intake. Water is something I struggle with endlessly. Seriously, there are weeks and even months I can think of where I've probably not actually had a glass of water...yes, it's bad. So, on the urging of my sister, I downloaded a water drinking app this week that reminds you when to drink - and from Tuesday - Friday I was doing pretty well, and actually getting in what was recommended to me. I guess I felt a little less sluggish those days? I still have to work on it being an everyday thing, because the weekends come and I just don't do as well at it, but it's a start, and a good one I think.
Last edited by rainbowstripe; 10-12-2015 at 07:12 PM.
Hey guys! Thank you so much for your responses to my post, I'll reply to you later today. I just spent some time coming up with the badges for the challenge, what do you think?
rainbowstripe: Thanks. I am not happy with the new number, but it is what it is.
I'm sorry you've been down lately. Hopefully things start to look up soon.
Congrats on your water intake, btw!
Hi ladies, sorry I have been MIA! My job transitioned to full time (yay! I love it!), a friend came in town for a few days and I've been otherwise busy. Generally, life is so good right now and things are falling into place perfectly.
As for exercise, I've admittedly not been running much, but generally riding the bike a ton. Aside from last week when my bike was giving me ****...but now I have a new one and plan to get back to my routine! I miss running and will try to fit it in once a week, but it just isn't a priority right now.
I've been okay with food. My friend's visit got me a bit off track and the week before I had some work related things that made sticking to my food routine difficult, but I have been basically maintaining my loss in this challenge for three weeks. To me, that's a win! I still have more than two weeks to lose the last half pound to reach my goal, though more would be nice :P
Riestrella - I understand your frustrations, but at the same time I hope you recognize your successes. You may not be at your goal weight yet and yes you have gained some back, but maintaining a forty pound loss over a few years is a HUGE accomplishment. You've obviously made some life-long changes that have helped you do that. So to you! At the same time, I will be here for the next year to cheer you on to the finish line! YOU'VE GOT THIS!!!
Same goes to you, Penny and Mongoose!
Related, I would like to hit my goal by my 30th birthday, which is Dec. 6 of 2016...so I am right there with all of you. 2016 will be a fantastic year!
Good morning all, I have been MIA as I was in Maine from Thursday-Monday. I managed to weight the same weight this morning as before I left Thursday (whew).
NNS Here is to full time employment!
Yay Ri like your badges. I also understand your frustration! I feel like for years i went to that resolution place without success, but it sounds like this time you have a lot of momentum and determination. But why retire from 3FC? You can become an experienced Maintainer! No judgment, but just curious!
I've been thinking about how I'll stick to weight loss for a year and a half, essentially. That's longer than I've ever gone at a stretch (about six months was the most, but it was very effective). I think my pitfalls are not weighing daily, being lax with calorie counting, and allowing "free days." Looking back at my notes, doing those things sent me right off the rails. I'll endeavor to stick to them and still be flexible (because extreme rigidity stresses me out). I still have no idea what to do about cravings (the bad, monstrous ones)...
Hopefully this site will be a good resource with all that. I'm fairly terrified (), but I want this very badly.
NNS - Congrats on your job changing to full time!
2016 (or for me, 2017) seems like the year a lot of us want to be moving out of weight loss and into maintenance. Hopefully by then all of us will be those sage, senior members who frequent the maintenance section.
Penny105 Maine was great! Beautiful time of year, but who doesn't like fall?! I hear you on the slipping habits...for me I have to keep calorie counting and the key is to make myself do it even when I know I will be over, just to keep in the habit, and because it definitely does make me less likely to go over if I know I will log it. I also realized after conferring with my doctor that getting extra calories from exercising was totally sabotaging me. I would say ok I exercised for X minutes, so I get x more calories. Which was not leading me to a calorie deficient. Now I set a calorie goal regardless of whether I exercise and I have been much more consistent. It also help decouple exercise from calorie counting, and so makes it seem less "punitive" to me- I don't have thoughts like "I ate an extra cookie now I HAVE to go exercise." I exercise because I want to, and I want to be fit, and it has just been easier for me when it is not tied to my calories. That was rambly, I am sorry!
First of all I wanted to say WOW! Thank you so much for reading my rant and replying to me! I put that up in here for myself mainly so it's great to get so much support from you all. I'm so psyched that a lot of you feel the same way that I do and that you're ready to join me on this quest to happiness! WE CAN DO THIS!! We just have to stay committed and stop making excuses to be unhappy. We deserve better than that. We live this life once, we shouldn't waste what time we have feeling like we can't do this. We CAN do it!
Yesterday I went on a run with my boyfriend!!! Reason for all the exclamation marks is because for years he's said that he hates it immensely, but all his kickboxing instructors say how great running is as cross training. So he sucked it up and went on a run with me! We didn't stick together, his level of fitness is way better than mine, but seeing him in the distance made me run faster. I even sprinted at the very end!! In 25 minutes I ran 2.27 miles, which was my fastest time yet for this half marathon training I'm doing! It's great to have a running buddy, even if you don't exactly run together it's nice having someone with you.
Today I'm going to do a Strength workout, I've become a little disenchanted with lifting weights recently so I might only do 2 rounds instead of 3. Then I've got to tidy up our area of the house (which is essentially an entire floor of a house!) so that'll get me moving too.
I'm probably going to tweak my workout routine after my recent revelation. I lost the most weight doing 10K training and then Insanity...so I figured I'd combine the two together when I finish my current table of workouts (Looks like this, I've got 3 weeks left) So I'll loosely follow that training schedule again. It will probably look like this:
Day 1: Yoga
Day 2: Run
Day 3: Cross
Day 4: Run or Strength
Day 5: Rest
Day 6: Cross
Day 7: Run
I'm tempted to put cross training in 3 times a week since I love it more than Strength/Cardio and I would tell other people to do what they love the most. I know the benefits of lifting weights, but I find it really boring! I guess technically Insanity is kinda like Strength training since it uses body weight...and my boyfriend doesn't lift weights and he's got big muscles...am I giving up on weight lifting as I type this?! Haha! Sounds like it!! Either way, I won't religiously do workouts on set days, because I get really down on myself if I miss a day. But I'll aim to follow the guide weekly!
Penny - Yessss!! Let's do it together!!! If we just focus on being happy and healthy then we can definitely lose this weight together by the end of 2016!! It's going to be a long journey ahead, but I have so much faith that we can do it. God, we literally sound like the same person!! I'm the same way, if I have too much structure then I freak out, if I don't have enough then I gain. I used to count calories but if I overindulged I would feel terrible about inputting it to MFP and then go off the rails again. I focus more on getting serving sizes correct, trying to not eat more than 5 portions of grains in a day and getting my vegetable intake in too. I would highly recommend a cheat MEAL a week, rather than a day. I weigh daily now too, I think it really helps. I had to take a scale break for a while because it was affecting me mentally, but now I'm strong enough to deal with it. It helps me realise the mistakes I've made the previous day and what I can do that day to help. If I see a gain, it's no doubt because I didn't drink enough water and ate too much sodium, so that means I have to focus on those areas. It's become a super useful tool for me.
Mongoose - It's totally feasible to be at goal weight in a years time. Please join me and stick with the challenges and spur each other on!
rainbow - I understand not wanting to scream it from the rooftops like I did, but as long as you stick with me on these challenges I'm sure you'll do amazing. Plus you're a good friend and I want to keep in touch and see how you're doing, through the good times and the bad. *big hug* I don't want to offer advice on your situation, not because I don't care but simply because I don't understand it. I hope you find the strength and the happiness that's definitely in you to get through this time and look forward. I tend to look on the dark side too...when my boyfriend is late coming home my first thought is he's died in a car crash or something...I've had to work for years on conditioning myself not to do that because I want to be happy. HUUUGE congrats on the water intake! Holy wow!! I know how much you've struggled with that, so it's AMAZING to hear that you were so on top of it! That app sounds like a life saver!! Keep it up and I'm sure you'll see a flush with weight .
NNS - WOOHOO! Congrats on the full time job, I'm so happy for you!! I bet that's a weight off your mind. Well done on all the biking, I'm sure running will be a piece of cake when you get back on it . Please do stick with me on my journey, I love having you in the threads!! We can totally do it. Thank you so much for your kind words...I actually never thought of it as an achievement but I guess maintaining weight is something positive. I know people tend to regain all the weight and more, but I know that every time I saw the scale creep up is scared me to death so I did something about it. Now I'm ready to just take it to the finish line!
HDWD - Congrats on maintaining, that's awesome!! I guess it's because I came here to lose weight. I don't particularly like talking about what I've been eating, what I've done for exercise...but I know it helps to stay accountable with someone. When I'm at my goal, maybe I'll still feel the need to do that, but I can't imagine wanting to do it as often. I'll definitely stick around in some way, but I don't think I'll be as active. If life isn't too hectic, then I'd still be happy to run the challenges...but we'll see! I'd happily hand over the spreadsheets to someone who wants to run them if not.
Last edited by Riestrella; 10-13-2015 at 03:20 PM.
Penny Thanks for the kind words. I'm working on feeling better, it's a process for sure. This site is definitely a good way to keep accountable - I feel like when I started dropping off in terms of keeping on plan, I would post here less out of guilt - and that's when things took a turn! So posting here regularly, even when things maybe aren't quite on plan, is definitely a good way to go about it. I'm with you on "free days". I was ok when I was super committed in 2010, and could have a cheat meal on a Friday or Saturday, but the moment I started giving myself full days was when I slid into gaining again. We can do this though!
NNS 30 is a great motivator - I think I actually should make some sort of similar goal. I'll be 30 in just under a year now, so I think that is plenty of time to lose at least the gain I've made, if not more. Do you find riding is good exercise? I've been considering getting a bike to ride to work, though I guess we're coming into the wrong season for it.
HaveDog Good to see you after your trip, glad to hear it was good!
Rie Thanks for the kind words and support, it means a lot! I think I also don't fully comprehend and understand my situation, and it is so unpredictable, I don't know what it's going to mean for me. OMG I am the same way with my bf (and other things), but seriously, if he's late home, I just envisage that he's been smashed off his bicycle and is lying dead somewhere. Ugh. Such a frustrating mind game, and I also really want to be a truly happy person.
~Ok so the slovenly weekend is over, I need to kick myself out of this lying around laziness. It's all well and good to be listening to my body and taking care of myself, but I think I've been listening to it a bit too much when it says it wants the couch. Yesterday I literally got out of bed at 11am, showered, and moved straight onto the couch for the remainder of the day - I may as well have just stayed in bed! I was lying in bed last night thinking about how I enjoyed swimming when I picked it up about a month ago. The habit only lasted a few visits to the pool over a couple of weeks, but I want to pick it up again.
Today I had oatmeal for breakfast, a salad for lunch, and I've had 1.2litres of water so far, and a mug of herbal tea. I am on track for food, and have a nice dinner planned (italian meatloaf) and I'm thinking that after work tomorrow (1 day at a time!) I'm going to head to the gym/pool complex and actually pay for a 12 month membership. I get $400 "health and wellness allowance" as a benefit at my work - $400 to spend on basically a gym membership or other sports club type thing - and I don't have to pay it back - so it's ridiculous I haven't made use of it yet, because I'd basically be getting the membership for free once I was reimbursed.
So that's my goal for tomorrow, as well as sticking with eating well and drinking water.
Feeling stressed today. Very nervous about upcoming changes with my job. Nothing major, just big projects that need to pan out. So far I haven't turned to food. Not done until Sunday night, though. Wish me luck (and success)!
Havedog: Yep, I agree with your doctor. For me, exercise is for fitness, not burning calories. Plus, my workouts are so relaxed they don't burn calories anyway.
I'm glad Maine was good! It must be gorgeous with all the leaves changing! Makes me want to go on a trip.
Reistrella: We do have a lot of similarities! Although I wish I was as into exercise as you. I'm jealous. As for cheat meals, I have to be so very careful. Oh, the fine tuning weight loss takes.
We can totally do this! We know we can. We're smart, capable women who know exactly how to lose weight. We just need to realize it'll be long, it won't always be easy, it'll get frustrating, we'll slip (and get right back up), but it's WORTH IT and it will GET DONE.
I want the life I see for myself. I want to have health be a major focus. I want to upend my life for that, because the new one is better.
Rainbow: We most definitely can do this! And congrats on your great on-plan day! That gym reimbursement from your job sounds awesome! If you like the gym, definitely the way to go! I wish I loved swimming - it's amazing exercise. It might be that I'm a bad swimmer, though...
So I've gotten in a really good habit these days - drinking green tea with my breakfast! It's so yummy and it flushes out my system too (i.e. it makes me poop!). When I first tried it in Japan I didn't care for it, my sweet tooth said "pass me the soda!" but knowing how healthy it is I stuck with it and now I actually really like the taste. Woohoo!
I've been working hard on my new workout routine too, in my last post I was convincing myself out of doing a strength workout, but I know that studies show that lifting weights is really good for you and it helps tone/strengthen your body for everything else so I grudgingly decided to keep it in my routine. However instead of doing it twice a week like I am now I decided to do it once a week and make my own full body workout. I looked at about 4 different articles and mushed them all together to my liking and now I've come up with a rather attractive looking strength workout. Here it is!
Reps: 20 seconds + 10 seconds break x 4 = 2 mins each exercise.
[Warm Up] Chest: Dumbbell Press Shoulders: Shoulder Press
[Burpee x 10] Back: Deadlift Triceps: Tricep Extension
[Squat x 10] Biceps: Dumbbell Curl Abs: Russian Twist
[Lunges x 10] Chest: Dumbbell Flye Shoulders: Shoulder Raises
[Burpee x 10] Back: Dumbbell Row Triceps: Tricep Dips
[Squat x 10] Biceps: Hammer Curls Abs: Bicycle Crunches
[Lunges x 10] Extra: Push-ups Extra: Jack knife Crunches
The whole thing should take about 30-35 mins depending on how long the leg/cardio intervals take. I'm pretty happy with it, I think it'll be tough but I'd rather get it all out of the way at once and only do it once a week. So my ideal weekly plan will be:
1. Strength
2. Run
3. Cross
4. Yoga (need to improve my flexibility/posture!)
5. Run
6. Cross
When I'm earning money I really want to take up a dance class, I also really want to start doing Krav Maga too, but that'll be second. So those could be my twice a week Cross training workouts. Until then I'll stick to Insanity and feel the burn!
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rainbow - It takes time to train your brain. I used to call my BF frantically if I didn't see him come online when I thought he would to make sure he wasn't dead...like literally call him 20 times in a row until he picked up. I was really bad. I didn't want to live like that anymore so I just started to breathe in and out to calm myself down and sort of talk to myself to say that I was panicking for no reason. Like I said, it's taken years to train myself, but I'm much more calmer than I was 5 years ago. I know what you mean about couch days! I literally had one yesterday...had a big day of chores/errands but ended up getting distracted. Looked at the time and it was 5pm!! Whaaaat? So today I'm going to be sure to do everything I need to do, workout, eat well and move on forward just like you! We can do this. Sounds like you were having an excellent healthy day!! How did the meatloaf turn out? YESSS, definitely take advantage of that!! That's such a generous bonus!!
Penny - Good luck with the big projects coming up, you can totally handle it! Trust me...I'm into exercise because I know I HAVE to be!! I'd love nothing more than to not have to throw my body weight around to lose weight, but I see big weight loss when I work out so I suck it up. Besides, the more I exercise the more I can get away with treating myself once a week . I do genuinely enjoy doing races though, I want to do a Half Marathon as soon as I figure out what's up with my knee (injured it in March). I love the feeling after the exercise rather than the build up. I'm not one of those peppy "hey guys, let's go on a run, it'll be fun!" people . I completely agree with you, it'll be a tough year, but just think of the reward! What better way to treat ourselves next Christmas than with complete happiness in our own bodies? That, to me, is something worth the struggle for!
to you! At the same time, I will be here for the next year to cheer you on to the finish line! YOU'VE GOT THIS!!! 
), but I want this very badly.
. 
And congrats on your great on-plan day! That gym reimbursement from your job sounds awesome! If you like the gym, definitely the way to go! I wish I loved swimming - it's amazing exercise. It might be that I'm a bad swimmer, though...
. I completely agree with you, it'll be a tough year, but just think of the reward! What better way to treat ourselves next Christmas than with complete happiness in our own bodies? That, to me, is something worth the struggle for!
