Vanessa--I will be thinking of you and your father.

Purplefirefly--Great NSV!

Cuppajoe--Happy to hear you are feeling better.

Selina--I have probably been thin for about 1 year in my life. That was 2002.
I think there are many reasons that contribute to my obesity. I am an out of control binge eater at the moment. I think of two major things when I think of my weight--there was someone in my family that was inappropriate with me many times and in many ways. I've never been the same. Secondly, my mom was a single mother the first 14 years of my life. She joined the military to try to better the lives of me and my brother. She was assigned to Germany and we couldn't go with her. She left us with an aunt. This aunt thought I was fat and severely limited my food. To the point where I would sneak and eat food late at night. I would hoard food any chance I got. This aunt also treated her grandkids better than me and my brother. We were looked down upon. Thank goodness we weren't there that long but....Based on these two things no wonder I binge and no wonder I'm fat. Issues, Issues, and Issues. I am really trying to work through these things. I can understand the unwanted attention too. I have been wearing a "real" bra since 4th grade.

I feel like Debbie Downer from SNL! Sorry...

On a positive note--I watched Jillian's Frontside and it looks very doable. I fell asleep watching Backside but I'm sure I can do those too. Do love the fact that it is straight exercise. Nothing complicated.

Hi Blueser!

Today is weigh-in for me. I've lost 2.4 pounds and am now in the 220's! :carrot: I cleaned house all weekend as a way to avoid the kitchen and it worked. And, I must say, my house looks great.:D My goal for this week is to start getting the exercise so I lose some inches. Looks like I need to go join our challenge.

I'll be back later today to chat a bit more and get "personal." Hope everyone has a great on-plan day!

GO BLUE!!!

Monday's Question of the Day:We have now completed 1/3 of our competition. In the words of the doctor, "How's that workin' for ya?" Are you where you wanted to be at this point? Is there anything you need to change or is everything going according to plan?

For me, calorie counting is working like a charm. However, I'd really like to start losing some inches and start looking thinner. So, I will be making a true effort to get more exercise...cardio and strength training. My goal for this competition was 25 pounds. There's still a chance I'll reach it, but I'd be happy with a 20 pounds instead.;)

[QUOTE=GirlyGirlSebas;2048418]Monday's Question of the Day:We have now completed 1/3 of our competition. In the words of the doctor, "How's that workin' for ya?" Are you where you wanted to be at this point? Is there anything you need to change or is everything going according to plan?

I really need to change some things. I am exercising but my eatting stinks. This morning I am feeling committed so I am going to stick to my plan 100% today.

QOTD: I'm at a good place. I'm actually pleasantly surprised that I can lose and still eat the number of calories I do. I'm down to those last 15 pounds. I sat at 170 for over a year after having lost over 100 lbs. The scale didn't budge. But I'm now losing a pound a week eating 1600-1800 calories a day (with a splurge meal on Friday nights). I'm finding cardio workouts much easier. I try for 45-55 minutes 5-6 times a week (plus extra walking with the dog each day). I think the magic has come thanks to the addition of some hardcore weight training. Before, I was doing *some* weight training, but I was doing "girly" weight training -- using light weights and only doing that sporadically. Now that I have a regular 3x a week weight session that lasts 30-45 minutes, I'm really seeing results. I've lost three inches off my waist (where I keep most of my weight now) since the New Year! I'm so close to my goal, and, for once, I really and truly think I can hit it!

Morning Everyone!

Well this morning started out ok. I had my coffee, came into work and got the bills paid. Went over the Cruise Challenge to see if people had posted numbers, then started plugging in weigh ins into my chart.

I'm going to have a rant about some things, that's going to be my diet blog for the day :lol:

I weighed in this morning still at 196. For some reason I thought I had posted 195.5 on my weigh in last week but I didn't so I'm safely maintaining this week for weigh in. I'm putting it on lack of exercise cause I was a real bum this past week. :lol3: Thats ok... just something to look towards in Week 5 to work on. Learn from your mistakes right?

This week is going to be interesting for me because I have to drive 2 hours to and from work to stay at my parent's house while they are in Daytona. I have to babysit my pitbull Kujo for the week since he obviously can't be left alone. That means I have to be up at 5:00 to get to work by 8. :faint: Thankfully I got my mom to buy me some healthy foods and she is on a "no bread or potatoes" diet that her doctor put her on. So there shouldn't be any heavy carbs in the house for the week. Not that I really eat them anyway.

I'm going to submit my taxes this afternoon and see what my return is. I have about 11,000 on my 1098T's so I'm hoping that I get a huge chunk back. I know next year we will be considering not only did we close on our house in 2008 but we'll be paying 11 months of interest on our mortgage. I'm seeing dollar signs!

Well I need to run so I can update both blogs and post more of my novel. I'll try and be back in a few hours for personals and to answer the QOTD. ;)

I think I am doing good. I got a little stressed lately, but have kept at it. I am almost 1/2 way to my TBL Challenge goal and am 1/2 way yo my ultimate goal. As for change ... not really change, but get more of. I need to do more strength training (weights). I just hate the machine we have and I put it off. So if I am lucky, I get it in 1-2 times a week, when I need to be doing at minimum 3-4 times a week. I think this is what I need to work on.

URGHH!! I was down to 240 yesterday and back up to 242 today. I would assume water weight from sodium but I went back and looked at my spark stuff and I don't think that is it. I've been doing okay on my calories. I certainly could be better but there was only one sorta bad day. I got in 4 days of exercise last week when I should have gotten in 6 but so far I am on target to make my cardio goal for the month.

Monday's Question of the Day:We have now completed 1/3 of our competition. In the words of the doctor, "How's that workin' for ya?" Are you where you wanted to be at this point? Is there anything you need to change or is everything going according to plan?

It's not working for me at all. I've lost a grand total of 1/2 pound. I'm eating on plan and exercising 5-6 times a week. I tried upping the cardio, upping the calories, adding weights, and serval combinations thereof. I think after doing this way of life for a year, my body just wants to take a break and maintain for awhile. I'm still slowly loosing inches, but I'm not seeing the dramatic losses that I was just 2 months ago. Okay time for a new plan. I bought "New Rules of Lifting for Women" last week and I'm ready to step away from the 'barbie weights" and start lifting with a renewed purpose. I'm going to up my calories again to where the author says they should be and see if I can't reset my metabolism.

Well my goal was to lose 20 pounds and I've already lost 12.9 pounds so it seems to be working for me. I'm doing WW Flex. I really need to get more exercise.

Just wanted to let you all know I'm still alive lol I'm really down I didn't lose anything however it was better than having a gain. My next weigh in will have to be better. I've not been on here much for several reasons.

1st My computer went nuts on me (and I hate using my husbands)
2nd Our daughter had a really rough time with her asthma
3rd I took our 4 year old son to the eye Doctor and didn't get good news. They are sending him to Charlotte to see another dr who works more with children. The Dr said that he may need surgery. For now we are patching up the good eye trying to help the weak eye get stronger. If you believe in prayer please keep him in your prayers.

I've been off track and not counting calories or doing much of anything but being down and depressed. So today is a new day and I'm going to make the best of it.
[COLOR="Red"] About Theresa, I was so happy to get to be with her when she went shopping yesterday. She was picking up pants size 18 and I had to stick a 16 in the pile lol But I really knew she could wear them. She saw the size and said Pam there is no way and of course I said just try them.

Well she looked amazing! She really blew my mind! I was so proud of her and I only wish she could see herself the way she really looks. You all will be so suprised to see her change. I can't wait to see her at the end of this 12 weeks. Her before and after pictures are really going to be so so different.

Okay so that's my story lol
I hope all of you did great this week on your weight loss. I'll do better next week I promise. Sorry to let you guys down with this weigh in.

Pam

Sorry for this gain this week, team. Up 3 pounds :( I would love to say I'm shocked and I don't know why, but really...I do. I've been eating like crap and getting in very little exercise.

Yesterday my food wasn't too bad, but the exercise was non-existent. I could of gotten in 30-60 minutes, but surfed the web instead and just plain procrastinated. I really need to figure out what's going on with myself and why I'm not taking this seriously. Perhaps it's the monotony of the exercise...maybe I need to switch it up a little. I need more Walk Away the Pounds in my exercise rotation, daily even, and a bit less of the bike.

Either way, I gotta figure this out soon or I'll end up finding some new shiny and forgetting all about this diet for another year or two, and then I'll have another 50 pounds to lose :( I don't think I can allow it to come to that!

For now, I'm going to work on earning some "walking around money" so I can enjoy London! Thanks for the great challenge, Chelle! It sounds like a lot of fun.

Take care Blue!

John

Hi all - sorry I wasn't around all weekend, I was busy!! Two trips to IKEA, lots of furniture assembly, and the beginning of a BIG Winter Cleaning of our apartment. Eeesh.

I'm taking a freebie this week because I ate out a lot (Mum was in town and took us out a couple times), and because in all our cleaning yesterday, the scale got tucked away somewhere, and I couldn't find it to WI this morning! Sheesh.

To answer Selina's question from Sunday - I was a post-high school gainer. In my childhood I was always active - dancing, playing sports, etc. I was always on the larger side, compared to the girls I danced with, but not compared to the girls I played sports with. In HS, I was in the 150-160lbs range, but I was already my full height (5'8) by the end of grade 8, so that was pretty normal/healthy. Then I moved to uni, quit dance and quit most sports, started eating at the caf in my residence... and the pounds crept on and on. From June 2003 to June 2004 I went from 160 to 188lbs. Then I lost to 170ish in summer 2004. Between Sept 2004 and January 2007, I gained up to 209lbs, and now here I am, floating around 200ish. I had thought my goal weight was 160lbs, but now I'm thinking I would be happy to be 180lbs if I were fit and strong.

Today's QOTD: NO I'm not where I wanted to be, but I think I have a pretty good handle on why (not eating thoughtfully, and not moving my butt enough), and I'm working on it. It WILL get better!


Kelly – I cannot believe they are trying to get your kiddo to sit for 3 hours!! I’m a Brownie leader, and we can’t get our girls (7-9y.o.) to sit still for more than 15minutes!

Dionne – I’m so sorry to hear about your cat. :hug: Congrats on your big weight loss this week and moving to a new plan, though!

Anna – How did the fast go?

Heather – HOORAY on good biopsy results! Hope your recovery is going more smoothly.

Selina – Are you feeling any better today? It’s that time of year with everyone getting wicked colds, eh? I hope you find the answers you are seeking in therapy. As for how your body is changing as you lose – give it time! Our bodies (esp. skin!) adapt sooo slowly sometimes.

Ellie – :drill: Girl, get your butt into this chat more often! :drill" :D Everyone here is SO helpful and supportive, but we can only support you if you make the effort to come in here and chat with us! Sweet things are a challenge for many of us – can you work them into your calories, for example by “budgeting” your cals for a smaller version of something you enjoy?

Shay – So glad to see you popping in to say hi to us all. I totally understand your frustration about being between sizes – when I was in the mid-190s, I was feeling that way… I guess the benefit to being back at 200 (HAHAH no! no benefits!) is that my 16s all fit without being baggy. I’d rather have baggy pants and fewer pounds, though!

Chelle – Did you get the fitness room done this weekend? I checked out your rant, and it compelled me to come and write this post to check in. :D I’ll check on your novel later today – probably my lunchtime reading!

Rhonda – YAHOOOOO 220s! Congrats girl! :woohoo:

Vanessa – I’m so sorry to hear about your dad – I hope he has a speedy recovery. What a scare!

cuppa – Feel better soon – pneumonia is so awful with asthma, isn’t it? Don’t feel bad about the pound up – your body was busy taking care of itself and healing!

Pam – Hope your kiddos are both on the mend soon – they’ll be in my thoughts.

John – Switching it up will shake your body up a bit, and keep you from getting bored! Can you put reminders up for yourself around your home – little inspirations about WHY you want to do this, or quotes that motivate you?

Good Afternoon all! Wow, it's crazy that we are already 1/3 of the way through the challenge. I've been doing okay and will keep calorie counting and continue to increase my exercise. I am in the process of increasing my weekly mileage but get so nervous that I will injure myself by running either too much or too far, so I've been adding 1 mile per week. It is a painfully slow increase but I'm confident it is slow enough to avoid stress fractures, which I have a history of.

SCgirl32 - I hadn't realized how much weight you had lost overall until your last post. That is awesome! When you were stuck at 170 for so long what did you do? Did you just keep on your plan or did you switch to a sort of maintenance mode? You are so close to goal and you are right, you CAN and WILL get there!

Karen - Your numbers have been amazing. It will be interesting what the scale shows if you are able to get more exercise. Clearly, though, you are doing many things right to be losing as you are.

Dee - Hang in there! I swear there as something about 170-172. I know we are all different, but that being said it seems like SO MANY people get stuck right around there. I know I did, SCgirl just mentioned that she did, and I can think of a half dozen others who have had the same "plateau" at that number. It is so frustrating to be doing everything right and not see the rewards you are due on the scale, but the scale will eventually catch up, just keep doing what you're doing.

Pam - hoping for the best for your son's eyes.

Have a great day everyone.

Marianne - Oh my goodness I had to laugh when I read your reason for using the freebie week. I don't know why I found that so funny, but I did. And today could have been such an exciting weigh in too, you are so close to the ones!