:( I cant open any of the links :(

Karen: I got one link to open but I believe it's just your profile picture. You look great by the way :)

I hope everyone is doing better. Looks like we all were going through some holiday/family stress. I went back down a pound to 306... still not as low as the week before (304) but at least I'm on the right track again. I really wanted to be under 300 before the end of the year. Just to prove that all this is working. I wish it was working on my body shape though. I don't look any different and I'm still a size 28. It's less snug (I really should have been wearing a 30) but nothing drastic. Sigh. Anyways back to work I guess.

Hope everyone is doing well, I have got down to 280.3. I really want to get that 280 goal struck off my list by the weekend.

I have been really good on food the last few days, but I have had to up my carbs just to stop feeling so hungry. I am still losing without having such high protein intakes.

So today I went up a tiny little bit to 280.4, I have also had quite a stressful day trying to get my internet back on, I am not tech savvy in the slightest so it has been a spaghetti junction of cables and garbled speak. Either way..... Its still not on and I am piggy backing off of the hotspot again.

Phae and Everyone else What about a new year challenge? I wouldn't mind setting one up if people were interested? I could make a google doc and all you would need to do is set yourself a target? weigh in every week?

We could call it "The Big Spring Slim Down" :D It might give us a little motivation :D

Greetings Guys! Doctors appointment this week went well. My new doctor was pretty open to most of the things that we discussed. He even had some suggestions for some additional migraine solutions that may help and cause less issues with hindering weight loss. The one thing that I was worried about was my Thyroid medication. I have been stable on my dose of thyroid medication for several years, but I don't really feel well unless I am slightly hyper thyroid. My old doctor was okay with this, but the new doctor wasn't okay with the number that I have been at. He wanted new labs and to lower the dose if I was still at that level. Well, my labs came back and my levels were actually very Hypo at 11.3 this time. No wonder I stopped losing weight lately. Hopefully once I get back on track, it will make things get back to being a little bit easier. Never easy, but at least a little bit easier!

Phae & Scotsgal - I think your idea with the mini weekly goals and the New Year's Challenge is a good one. I know that I could use some accountability for sure and doing it in the 300+ section seems less intimidating to me for some reason… probably psychological, but true!

Still haven't really gotten back on track with my exercising. I keep telling myself every day that I'm going to go to the gym on my lunch at work and every day I am too tired. I have been too tired to do anything, really. Hopefully once my thyroid meds kick in, I'll feel a little better.

So I have been good to myself the last 24 hours, I ordered in a BBQ wrap with fries last last and had a can of soda :D it tasted soooo goood :drool: Today I got up and had breakfast, I never had lunch as I was busy (but also never felt I needed it), this afternoon I have had some pringles, a few little candy treats, my dinner, and I am going to either make some homemade ricepudding or a hot chocolate with cream on top. I think my body needs the little reminder boost. Today I gutted the kitchen out and it was quite a work out brushing and scrubbing and loading washing. Tomorrow I will be getting some steps in so that I can burn some of the extras I have had. I am relaxing slightly on my macros but still keeping an eye on my calories.

Living2Lose I hope they put you back on the treatment that you were on before, my family suffer from thyroid problems, so know how important it is to get it right. I know what you mean about the challenge being in 300+, I take part in one in 20-somethings that is also ran in Chicksupforachallenge, but I something feel like a need the extra motivation to get going. Maybe it would help bring some of the 300+ members back out and posting.

I think it sounds like a great idea. I take part of something in the challenge section but it's pretty dead. Plus it's almost over.

Are you in Riestrella's Christmas Challenge?

Phae Ahh see her Christmas Challenge at one point was more alive in the 20-Somethings page, She jumps between and has mentioned that there has been a lot of people drop out for that exact reason. We keep going strong because it is usually a challenge for accountability for both me and Rie. She flew back home to the UK today though so not sure how accountable she will be this next week. I am currently an online travel organiser for Scottish Pipe Bands and Highland Dancers, but I have been thinking about starting up a drop shipping website for plus size clothing. I noticed while working in the states that the availability of plus size fashion is much better than back in the UK. So I wanted to drop ship across :D. Macros are basically the breakdown of whats in your food, Protein/ Carbs/ Fat. Each gram of Protein is 4 calories, and the same with carbs. Each gram of fat is worth 9 Calories, so it is possible to create a more structured diet by calculating the types of food your body needs. My body needs a low carb diet and high carb protein in order to help muscle repair from my work outs. So I worked out that with 80g of carbs per day/ 40g of fat/ 148g of Protein, my body will lose weight better than If I was to only hit my 1350 calorie goal.
It took me a few weeks to try and up my protein to a point where I was hitting my daily goals, but I noticed that I was fuelling my body better and I was recovering from workouts better as well.

Your could google a MACROS Calculator and maybe find one to work it out for you. I use one by Grenade.com, it is great to get into.

Good Evening! Freezing Cold in the Rocky Mountains, but I get the feeling that it is freezing cold just about everywhere but Florida right now! I still have a little bit of Christmas shopping to do on my days off (Monday and Tuesday) and I am absolutely dreading going out in this weather! My family has been planning to move for quite some time and the colder it gets here, the more we talk about moving South... Texas sounds good right about now!

Phae - It's funny that you mentioned trying to self adjust your thyroid meds. I have absolutely tried doing it too! I'm sure we all have at one time. How hard could it be, right? VERY. I guess it really is an exact science. Not something that I would ever try doing again. I'll leave that to the professionals, for sure. Glad you're back on a stable dose and able to lose weight. We'll have to compare notes on what foods work for you in what amounts, to see if we can get this figured out thyroid issues definitely don't help on this journey.

Scotsgal - It amazes me that you have your body so figured out. When you talk about the MACROS and how much of what to eat to begin losing. Mine is a mystery to me still. I have no idea what I'm doing still... It is kind of hit or miss. If I eat too little I don't lose. If I eat too much, I don't lose. I have to eat perfectly and exercise perfectly. The problem is, I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT PERFECTLY IS. I feel like it is some kind of a trick. HaHa. Hopefully I'll figure it out eventually!

Night all... Bedtime for me and tomorrow I brave the cold and the crowds. Wish me luck, I'm going to need it.

Scotsgal & Phae: I'm just in a small one with Vickielou. Its more for accountability than anything else. I wanted to check out some of the other ones but I felt weird because I didn't know anyone else (silly I know).

Living2lose: The roads are so bad here and I still have some shopping as well. I don't mind snow and cold but we had rain all day then it shifted to below freezing. It was gorgeous to see everything covered in an inch of ice...but not really conducive to comfortable driving conditions.

I'm so close to my year end goal of reaching 300 pounds that I can practically feel it. I just want to be able to say I did it. Then I'll worry about the other 100 pounds haha. Random topic; but I'm re watching Top Model (I'm a sucker for reality competition shows) and this one super skinny model said in confessional that it is so much easier to lose weight than to gain weight. Umm...no. Made me die laughing.


EDIT: I just looked at Riestrella's challenge. It looks amazing. Is she going to start another one after this one is done?

Today I am back on track, I have been pretty good the past few days with meals, but have been snacking and bringing my food up to 1500 calories :( So today I will work out and start on a list of stuff to get onto before the weekend.

Living The problem with figuring out your own body, you don't always stick to it :lol: While my journey started back in January, I had spent all last year trying to figure out what it was with Pasta that makes me gain :lol:. I felt that I couldn't lose weight properly until I had addressed the reason why I put it on in the first place. Except for the sheer laziness part of not wanting to work out, I realised that I started gaining at about 9 years old when I became a vegetarian. I completely ruined my growing body with carbs, because I was a veggie who didn't like vegetables :lol:, so all I ate was pasta, potatoes, fries, cheese, bread, and rubbish veggie options that were also carbs. It made me realise that my body may not particularly like carbs anymore. I also was stress eating while at UNI, I had a lot of personal issues that I was dealing with, money issues, and felt like I was the glue holding a million things together. After 6 sessions with a counsellor at the Uni, I felt like the world had lifted off of my shoulders. My head was clear, I was dealing with issues and stress much better, I stopped worrying about a lot of things that didn't need to be worried about. Then the switch just flipped in January this year, I had all the knowledge to start losing weight, I just needed to want it.
All year I have been learning about calories, macros, why my body acts certain ways. I feel that by knowing about me.... It makes me more inclined to make better decisions when I stress, or when I am prone to eat takeout and stuff. I have been on every diet imaginable, they never worked! So instead of going on a diet, I was starting a journey, or a project to better health. I wanted to learn how to get down to 12 stone (168lbs) with a body fat of under 25% by the time I turned 30 year old. 43lbs down...... another 112lbs to go :lol:

Slow and steady wins the race right?

Ruby Rie will be starting a new one either just after Christmas or just after the new year. But I can 100% get one ready for us for next year :D

confession time...

a few weeks (what feels like it anyway) ago i dropped my phone was thinking should get more memory for it ...and a screen protector...then bugger it goes pop out of its case screen down onto concrete cracks all over the top 1/4 of the screen

anyway went and sorted out phones and walked away with one for me as well...
at least I got the other two as well.......

I was doing great all day, I had to go into town and get some more little bits of presents for the weekend. I never had lunch before I went, but ended up buying a protein bar to keep me satisfied while I was in. Once I got back, I had some lunch which consisted of a very small turkey and cucumber sandwich. Next minute I know I have opened one of the chocolate candy treats I bought my niece, and scoffed it! Today my calories will by 1550 instead of under 1350 which makes me mad :mad: but I am hoping that considering I have been really good all day I hope it doesn't affect the scale.

My weakness! Reese cup trees (or pumpkins...or any form of giant reese cup). I bought a bag of them for my secret santa present. They aren't very many calories (90 i think..I'd have to look at MFP and i'm being lazy) but they really add up. I went about 100 over for the day. I was so close haha. Oh well. I'm trying to not get too upset every time I mess up. I keep telling myself that it happens but I wish I had better will power.